Five Frugal Things | I'm swimming in strawberries
1. I got two big tubs of strawberries from my parents
I don't deserve a lot of credit for this but...my mom texted me and said, "I have a frugal deal for you! We're going out of town and we have more strawberries than we can use. Do you want to come get them?"
So I drove over and came back with two huge bins of berries, and I didn't even have to pick them.
That is a serious bonus for strawberries because picking them is sort of back-breaking work. Blueberries are way easier to pick.
I made pancakes that night so we could top them with berries and cream.
Then I rinsed and hulled most of the rest of that bin. I froze them on half-sheet pans and then transferred them to Ziploc bags to store in my chest freezer and I'll mostly use those for smoothies.
Man, I love having a chest freezer again!
We've also been eating tons of berries just plain, and on bowls of yogurt.
And I made a batch of strawberry muffins.
I'm pretty sure my body composition right now is 73% strawberry. 😉
2. I mowed my grass myself
I really do not love doing yard work. And I have been tempted multiple times to just hire a company to come mow my grass for me.
Butttt, my neighbor has a riding lawnmower she kindly lets me borrow, and I do have time right now to mow.
So, I've just been doing it myself.
Luckily, a lot of my yard is in the shade, so my grass (mostly weeds, let's be honest) doesn't grow super fast. So it's not like I have to mow every single week!
3. I booked free flights for the girls
They wanted to do a little sister trip before Lisey leaves for Hawaii, so I booked some plane tickets for them and I used my Southwest points.
(I opened a new Southwest card last year, and so I got the big points bonus that you get when you open a new card and meet the minimum spend requirements in the first few months.)
4. I have been working hard at getting my nursing medical tests done
First of all, this is smart because if you don't get this stuff done by the deadline, you lose your spot in the program. That's a terrifying thought to me, so I started getting my tests scheduled the minute I got the paperwork from my college!
But also, I am trying to be financially smart about it. I have a bunch of lab work that I need my primary care physician to sign off on, so I made a physical appointment for early June, and then I went to get my lab work done last Friday.
That way it can all be finished and I can bring the results to my doctor and she can sign off on them. Then I won't have to pay for two appointments with my primary care physician.
I don't know that I have ever had this many tests done at once in my life before! And I definitely know I haven't been tested for tuberculosis before.
(My first one was negative, but then I also have to go in a week and get a second one done, since my school requires two.)
5. I got some travel-size products for just a few dollars
The girls mostly used my refillable product containers for their stuff, but they still needed a few more small things, like toothpaste and deodorant and Zoe needed a toothbrush protector.
So, we stopped in at CVS and I used my monthly $10 Carepass, my $3 birthday reward, and a few other deals to get everything for almost free.
One of you asked for a post about how I work deals at CVS, and that's forthcoming, promise! 🙂
This time of year where my strawberry weight makes up so much of my body weight really is a delight. And the strawberries in my area have, so far this year, been really excellent.
Because I'm old, I remember getting TB tine tests as a kid. They hurt! I also still have a smallpox vax scar.
When my son was hospitalized with odd symptoms in 2017, one of the possible diagnoses was TB, which floored me. Turned out to be empyema which required surgery and tubes to clear. He then was annoyed he was in the hospital and missing his friend's Super Bowl party. I said, "You have a machine making you breathe. The party is the least of your concerns." sheesh.
@Rose, funny enough, I remember those too, and I'm 30! My pediatrician was in his 70s, though, so maybe he preferred them. I still recall how shocked I was when they stuck that pronged thing into my forearm! I talked about it for YEARS as a kid. Like Kristen, I have to get tested regularly for work. It's pretty much painless these days.
@Meira @ meirathebear, heh. A propos of our nurse uniform discussion (last week?), in the early 90s I had an ENT doctor who actually wore one of those stereotypical doctor headlamps. Even at the time, I was delighted. (I'd had a sore throat for about a year by then. It's a symptom of chronic fatigue syndrome.)
@Meira @ meirathebear, i'm 76 and yes i have the scar on my left leg. lol
I confess to treating myself to not mowing this summer. A local boy (15?) with a riding lawnmower does our giant yard for $25 every 3-4 weeks. That’s plenty to keep our lawn beneath the 6” city limit while my clover takes root (it’s coming up nicely but takes a year or so to fill in). What would take me at least an hour takes our young neighbor 15 minutes, tops, and I consider not being sunburned (I can burn through multiple layers of sunscreen) or covered in bug bites well worth $25!
Garden update: THINGS ARE SPROUTING!!! I’m grade school-levels of excited about this. I check on our vegetable patch at 6 am, before the sun and insects are out to get me. 😛
@N, It's also worth it to employ a local teenager. Kids that age are so stoked about working, and that is definitely something worth encouraging. (Says the mom of one such child.) And I'm with you on the sprouting excitement. I tour the garden multiple times a day just to examine the beds for anything new and exciting. There's always something.
@kristin @ going country, doing outdoor odd jobs for neighbors was a huge help during the covid period--my son was at the age where he wanted to work, but vaccines were still rolling out and I was feeling cautious about his exposure. I was so grateful for the neighbors and friends who employed him.
@kristin @ going country, There's a local lawn company that does a very good job, but they're $40 a pop. I could excuse it a few times when we were both sick with COVID last summer, but $25 and a young entrepreneur are certainly more our style. I'd even joked with my husband this spring that if a local kid with a mower knocked on the door, I'd totally take them up on it, and lo! 😛 We're hermits and are slow to meet people in our little town, but I've noticed an uptick in warmth (in an already welcoming place) since employeeing our intrepid neighbor.
@N,
I think it is wonderful that you have engaged the services of a young neighbor. It's a win-win. I think spending money locally, and on services, is wise spending.
@N, I bet that kid has more work than he can handle. If we lived in a more populated place, I guarantee that's something my son would be doing. As it is, there's no shortage of work for him here with older neighbors needing help with splitting wood, feeding cows, fixing fence . . . He loves earning his own money, and I'm very happy he really wants to work.
Wow, Kristen, what a score on the strawberries. (And what great parents you have, as if we didn't already know!)
Now, FFT, Use It Up, Wear It Out Edition:
(1) I'm finally getting my dental implant crowned; that is, I got the impression for the crown yesterday, and it'll be installed in a couple of weeks. But I almost fainted when I saw the bill, even after the usual 5% discount for writing a check. (Honestly, I think it cost more to crown this implant than to crown King Charles!) So extreme frugality will be the order of the day here for quite a while. Time to polish up the buckle on my black belt--and wear the belt a little tighter.
(2) I planted the two tomato plants that my next-door neighbor and I grow in pots behind her chain-link fence (as we've done for several years now, thanks to our wacko deer population). I put fresh bags of container mix in the pots this year (bought on sale at Country Max and Ollie's), and I'll be using the well-shaken-out empty bags as kitchen and bathroom trash can liners.
(3) I'll soon be harvesting lettuce, from the crop I'm growing in an old Easy Washer copper/zinc tub (found in the basement of one of DH's rental properties years ago) with a wire screen fire pit lid (trashpicked) on top for protection. And it looks as if I'll actually have a decent crop of cilantro this year, since the deer don't go for it and the two woodchucks who used to love it seem to have gone to the Great Veggie Garden in the Sky.
(4) I'm *finally* using up several bottles and tubes of toiletries that I thought I'd never finish. Like cooking for one, shopping for one takes some time to get used to.
(5) And my quarterly water bill was down $3 from last quarter. I think this is because I've been making an effort to shower less and do fewer laundry and dishwasher loads (without completely turning into the Great Unwashed, of course!).
@A. Marie, your crown joke is my first laugh for today. Thanks!
@Elaine N,
Mine, too, Elaine!
@A. Marie, after we went a decade without dental insurance, my husband needed a lot of crowns. I joked that he had more than than European royalty. 😀
@A. Marie, I liked the crown joke, too.
@Ruby, great minds run in the same direction, as usual.
And thanks to all for the compliments. I think I'll tell my dentist that I want Queen Camilla's crown, since it had the most diamonds, including the famous Cullinan III and IV (which the late QEII used to wear hooked together as a brooch and jokingly call "Granny's chips"). When the dentist hears that the Cullinans are worth about a cool $50 million USD, *he* may almost faint! (Fortunately, however, he has a good sense of humor and knows how to take my off-the-wall remarks.)
@A. Marie, I'm sure you know this, but they were actually chips. Just....very large chips.
@A. Marie, I just had a crown installed on my implant today. I have a supplemental Medicare insurance policy that provides some dental insurance for a fairly small monthly fee. It paid for a good chunk of it but my share was something I squirreled away some $$ for (but it still hurt). I am happy to have the enhanced dental and find it surprisingly affordable. I love in Michigan and use a Michigan based company. Perhaps there is something similar in your area?
I found two, count them TWO, rugs in the attic that should work in hard-to-match rooms the new house. One room's challenge is that it's painted a sort of orangey-red (looks much better than it sounds), the other is the size and shape. These, plus modifying a hall rug, may be enough to cover the movers.
I am planning very carefully how I will use the new house and my future needs, and addressing them now. For example, it's taken 4 hrs of work so far to plan the grab bars, and how can you take 4 hours to place one circuit? Just ask me, I know! Future Me better be darn grateful to Current Me for all the work I'm putting in now.
More successes at using up things in the kitchen. Did you know that you can make cookies and brownies using hot chocolate mix? KAF has a really good HCM cookie recipe, which I made even better by adding crushed peppermint.
I bought a lot of on-sale chicken and stored it in the new place.
I bought snacks and frozen meals to keep at the new place, to eat instead of going out.
Non-Frugal: the nearby lobster shack is really, really good.
@WilliamB, the hot chocolate mix makes me think of my grandmother. She could use it to make fudge but never told us how lol
@WilliamB, you'll be glad you have the grab bars when you're my age. One of the last jobs around the house that my DH did before his wits began deserting him was installing grab bars in the main bathroom, and I could chin myself on those babies if there was room.
@WilliamB, dang, but I wish we could see pictures of your new place.
@Anne,
Same here! Another vote for Meet the Reader Update.
@A. Marie, We have so many grab bars all over the house that they often double as places to hang wet laundry to save on dryer costs.
@WilliamB,
I have *a ton* of hot chocolate mix - my family likes it, but we just don't drink it very often. Good to know it can be used in cookies.
Also glad you can use those rugs. My DH and DS apparently dislike the (very large) Persian-style rug that was in our living room and matching runner in the hall that was pulled up when we had the (ridiculous) off-white wall to wall carpet cleaned. Unhappy sigh. I will get the rugs cleaned, and then try to relocate them. I love the colors in the rugs, even if they don't.
Yum! Strawberries!!!
My FFT
1. I worked a paid opportunity at church. I've actually been doing this every week since February I think. Small bits add up.
2. Free donuts redeemed for son's reward for getting his checkup shots
3. Doing the free trial at Panera sip club. I tried it out once last week. I don't go to Panera much, especially with a very active Kindergarten one. My older kids like studying there sometimes though.
4. Redeemed a giftcard for Nathan's Famous. Saved cooking after we'd been at the park for hours.
5. I got a random mailer with a free Pediasure coupon. My KG actually loves these for some strange reason, so I went and picked it up.
Bonus:
I walked 3 miles/day all seven days of the past week. This is frugal because it is free and healthy!
If only I could trade some of my rhubarb for your strawberries! Rhubarb grows so well here, but strawberries do not, and so I am forced to buy frozen strawberries for our the strawberry/rhubarb jam (and pies) so beloved of my children. Oh well. If only one has to grow, it's better that it's the rhubarb. I've never seen rhubarb for sale at a store, whereas strawberries can be purchased anywhere.
Anyway! Frugal things . . .
--My eldest son is working on a fencing project with a neighbor, and needed some quick to eat food with him to keep him going during the long days. Last time my husband was in town, I asked him to go to the dollar store specifically to get jerky. It's MUCH less expensive there. I typically avoid buying food there, because at least at this one, it is more likely than not to have that absolutely disgusting chemical fragrance taste that seems to permeate things more and more, but the jerky is sealed tightly enough that it's not a problem.
--I also made him his favorite gingersnap cookies, because cooking is what I do. 🙂
--You know what DID have that disgusting fragrance problem from the dollar store? The three metal water bottles I also asked my husband to get. I keep a water bottle in the refrigerator for each of the younger children so they can always have cold water without using ice or a new cup every time. They've had 12-ounce bottles for years, but now that they're bigger and drink more water (especially in the summer), they needed new ones so the bottles aren't constantly needing refilling. I didn't want insulated or otherwise fancy bottles--just plain ole metal bottles. However, the ones from the dollar store were unusable because of that horrid scent on the plastic spout of the bottles. It really is completely disgusting. The metal bottle part was fine, but I spent a full day trying to deodorize the tops. I washed in hot water and soap, ran them through the dishwasher, soaked them in vinegar, and finally, packed them with used coffee grounds. I think the coffee grounds were the real winner. After all of that, I finally got them usable. I was really annoyed about it, but determined to triumph.
--I made a very satisfying green chile hamburger soup this week that I realized included only three ingredients I paid moeny for: the meat, carrots, and frozen peas. The rest of it came from either this year's or last year's garden, excess commodities, or things given to us (like the roasted green chile my neighbor is always giving me or the roosters for the stock that everyone gives us).
--I completely re-organized the room two of my sons share in an effort to reduce the chaos (fat chance . . .). In the process, I found 12 cents on the floor and in the toy box. Considering it took me almost two hours, that's not a great hourly wage, but it makes me happy whenever I walk past the door and can see the floor. And I did keep the 12 cents. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, I would happily take your rhubarb off your hands if we lived close by. We live where we can grow both rhubarb and strawberries--the rhubarb isn't quite ready yet and we have several weeks before we get strawberries. When I saw Kristen's pictures of them, I thought, what????? Those look fresh-picked, not from the supermarket. It's so interesting to see how geography affects what grows when.
I don't think I've ever seen a supermarket that didn't have rhubarb! I love it. An old friend of mine came from a family who prided themselves on their rhubarb only pies, too. Mmmm. Not that I don't love strawbs.
@kristin @ going country,
I was visiting my family on the eastern shore of Maryland last weekend. My mother and I went to a local produce/farm market. The rhubarb was $8.49 a pound! My mother was going to buy some until she saw the price....
@kristin @ going country, I was just thinking about that awful "dollar store smell" yesterday. I was walking past a Dollar General, and I thought, "Even if someone blindfolded me and led me in there, I could tell where I was by the smell."
@Rose, I suspect it is more of an eastern thing. Although I don't remember seeing it in New York much at stores, but then, I never had to look for it at a store because I could get the best rhubarb ever from our Mennonite neighbors. It doesn't seem to be well-known in the west, probably because much of the west is too hot to grow it, so there's not much of a tradition of using it.
I made a rhubarb custard pie last year that my husband, who was raised on prize-winning pies, declared the best he'd ever had. Unfortunately, he is alone in his appreciation of entirely rhubarb pies. The rest of the family prefers them with strawberries as well.
@A. Marie, It's so horrendous. Like, what on earth are the products that are so strongly scented that they permeate EVERYTHING in the entire store? It can't be healthy.
@kristin @ going country, I think it's the laundry detergent. Every Dollar General stocks heavily perfumed detergents. It makes my nose run just to walk in the store.
@kristin @ going country, Even Alaskan winters cannot kill rhubarb so we, too, are flooded with it starting right about now. I wish there were more ways to use it as a savory though, since I don't really need the pies, muffins and cakes it does so well in. I do have a chutney, but even that has sugar. I have a recipe for rye rhubarb bread...if you know of good savory recipes, please offer them up.
@Lindsey, I tried pickled rhubarb for the first time last year and found it delicious served with grilled meat/white fish. Like chutney it does have a bit sugar in it, but personally find it okay since I eat so little of it. I’ve also made low carb version of rhubarb soup with erythritol sweetener (Sukrin gold) and psyllium.
@kristin @ going country, I reuse plastic water bottles that "Eternal" brand drinking water is sold in. They are about 2 liters in size and look like glass -- just too pretty to throw away. I fill up those jugs again whenever I go to the next town, which has aquifer water instead of lake water. And as for individual sized travel bottles/coffee mugs, thrift stores are a great source. A lot of these water bottles and travel mugs have advertising on them, and salesmen often give them to clients. Who then donate 'em. None of these are "smelly." I get 'em really cheap and just have to wash 'em out before use. Of course, I'd also wash out brand-new glassware, bottles and mugs after I bought those, as well.
Suddenly realized that you probably meant savory as non-sweet/ non-dessert kind of way in stead of just minimal sugar recipes as I thought first. Sorry! We don’t really have a Norwegian word like it and I usually think of it as another word for tasty, he 🙂
@Fru-gal Lisa, I miss thrift stores for just this reason. (I'm now more than a hundred miles from a good one.)
@kristin @ going country,
I agree with you 100% about that horrible, chemically odor in our neighborhood dollar store. I now wimp out - I just won’t shop there. Part of it is because I get migraines, which are aggravated by awful smells.
@Gunn from Northern Norway, Never heard of pickled rhubarb! I will look up a recipe today, thank you.
@Lindsey, Someone (maybe on this site?) once advised to use it fresh just as you'd use celery and it works pretty well that way...in tuna salad, chopped and added to other salads, in pasta salad, added to soup, etc.
@kristin @ going country, My father loved rhubarb. His rhubarb joke: "Do you think the rain will hurt the rhubarb? Not if it's in cans."
Well, there's been some wicked non-frugal activities and frugal fails going on. But here are the successes.
1. I am on vacation (yay!) and I am going to stay home and do crafts with materials I already have.
2. I am soaking a bunch of my daughter's clothes in oxy-clean to get the tomato sauce stains out.
3. Also laundry: you know when womens' shirts get that caked on residue of deodorant under the arm? A bunch of my shirts had that, so I used my #1 favourite pre-treatment....a squirt of dishsoap! Following a wash in warm water, all were clean and nice again.
4. I need to exercise more (in a physio/strength building way) so I've started some exercises at home. I love Fitness Blender on YouTube.
5. I started checking the flyers and building the grocery list/meal plan around that last year, and I've kept it up! Sometimes I can't believe I didn't used to do that, but to be fair when I was a single student I fed myself pretty inexpensively anyway.
@Meira @ meirathebear, Thanks for the dish soap for icky under the arm shirt gunk idea! Trying that right now!
Hubs got 5 yards of free mulch. It is enough to do all the flower beds plus a walking path in our yard.
Our yard has large areas that are moss, no mowing there.
Our wood pony broke, we were able to drill the handles out and put a bolt in and now it is fixed for free dollars.
My son bought me a robotic vacuum for Mom day. It has mapping!! 🙂
I worked from home part of last week, I at least saved some gas.
When I was gearing up to start xray school, I realized I could not put my hands on my shot record...): So guess who got to repeat a lot of immunizations? Thankfully I already worked at a hospital part-time in a non medical role, but still. I got the shots for free as a perk of employment. Frugal things are maybe few and far between lately. It just seems like life is costing more and more. My cell phone bill went down a bit since I managed to pay off the phone I bought just before Hubby died, so that helps because the house note went up a smidge. Heavy sigh.
@gina, life is costing more and more these days. Each trip to the grocery store is a reminder. That's why Kristen's cheerful approach is a tonic to my soul. Hang in there, you're not alone!
I know; the process of trying to find childhood shot records is hard! I was in the military healthcare system when I was a kid, so that's another layer of complication. Thank goodness for the option to have titers drawn.
@Kristen, "titers drawn"??
@Central Calif. Artist, it's an analysis of your blood to see what you have antibodies to.
@Central Calif. Artist,
You can have labs drawn that check for antibody levels for things like measles, mumps, rubella (mmr), varicella, hep b etc. If your antibody levels (titers) are high enough you can avoid unnecessary vaccines.
@Dawn, thank you! Brand new word (but probably one I won't find a use for).
It is strawberry season for us too!
Frugal wins:
1. I've picked 15lbs of strawberries from our garden in the last week. I purchased 5 plants about 4 years ago and they've expanded to a 4' X 30' section. So far, I've frozen some and used some for strawberry tarts. I'll probably freeze the rest tonight and then rest because my back is killing me from all the picking!
2. Dinners at home every night, lunches packed as usual.
3. Gave myself a manicure.
4. Got the bikes up and running and have used them as our entertainment at least 3 times this week.
5. Harvested lettuce/basil from our garden for a salad. The was lettuce that re-seeded itself from last year, so a zero cost this year!
When we were going back to grad school, my husband's family doctor had retired so he had to redo a lot of immunizations, Me, on the other hand, I just had to go to the local health department because Mom always took me there for immunizations because they were free!
We do pay for someone to do yard work since DH can't do it because of his MS and it sends my allergies into overdrive. I found two college students to help me out and they are so respectful and do a great job. Not frugal but at least I feel like I'm helping these young men out.
FFT this week:
1) We have also been enjoying the bounty of strawberries. But some of mine were getting soft so I used Kristen's recipe for strawberry syrup. We used it on Belgium waffles and it was delicious!
2) Sewing button back on DH's shorts. He hasn't worn them in ages because of the missing button and he finally remembered to tell me about it so I got it fixed quickly.
3) The makeup foundation I guess is quite expensive and I noticed a difference in pigmentation towards the end of the bottle. I asked my consultant about it and the company is going to send me another bottle for free as a way to apologize for the issue.
4) I placed our order for 1/4 of a cow from a local farm. I'm excited to be able to stock our freezer!
5) We usually go out to eat on the weekends, but we had convenience foods from the freezer instead last weekend. We'll go out tonight instead since it's our 36th anniversary. 🙂
@Beverly, Happy anniversary! 36 years is excellent.
@Beverly, Happy, happy anniversary! How very wonderful!
We've also been enjoying a lot of berries lately, although not so many free. What a lovely offer from you mom. We do have strawberry plants, but the squirrels love them, so I'm mostly growing them to feed the squirrels this year, it would appear?
1) Picked up hoodies at the the airport in Japan for the teens. It was my last work trip to Japan (and likely, ever), so I went to Uniqlo per their request. The hoodies were about 2/3 of the price of the ones in the US.
2) Completed a status match on my trip, which gives me hotel status that I can use for the next six months. I have a trip to France coming up with my sister, so this will likely save some money.
3) Other than said hoodies, and birthday donuts for my coworker (who wants to spend their birthday while traveling for work?), I spent zero dollars out of pocket on the trip. And, the donuts were Krispy Kremes only available in Japan. I'm not really a donut fan, but the Cookie Monster donuts were super cute.
4) Ate lots of Japanese food, for free, while on said work trip. Ramen, katsu, yakitori, etc.
5) Came home to a fridge that had been somewhat neglected while I was gone, so went through everything, tossed a few things that hadn't been used, used what I could, and got back to menu planning & avoiding waste.
Love the strawberries, Kristen! I'm completely stumped - is there really black toothpaste? My insurance switched me to CVS this year and I'm picking up my first prescription today so I'm looking forward to getting the good deals you seem to get so often.
Five frugal things in my life now:
1 - Lower electric bill - My windows are open full time and blinds on the sunny side of the house are closed in the afternoon so the hvac system has not run in weeks. I LOVE fresh air so this and autumn are my favorite times of the year.
2 - Lower food bill - My husband and I are between out-of-state trips to babysit various grandchildren. We got home exactly a week ago and leave again a week from tomorrow. I'm taking this opportunity to use up all the animal protein sources in the freezers andminimize this month's grocery bill. (Well, we do grocery shop with the grandkids and buy all sorts of things we would not buy otherwise, but those are FUN groceries so maybe I should put them in the entertainment budget category instead of groceries.) Anyway, as a former food hoarder, emptying the freezer is kind of exciting for me. Yes, I have a very news worthy life.
3 - Free financial annual review - My husband and I got a late start saving for retirement so don't have anywhere near the amount of stockpiled money recommended by the How-To-Have-A-Decent-Retirement experts. I quit listening to those talking heads years ago because they were always very gloom and doom and gave advice that did not work for us raising and educating children. (#@$!&^%!!!) So we ignored their advice. However, we do have some IRAs in a company that offers a free yearly financial review which I've declined previously. Yesterday I had a zoom meeting with an expert named Charles who congratulated me three times on how well we are doing in retirement. Before the meeting I knew we were doing fine, but it was nice to hear an expert say so. And my sixty something self is looking back at my forty something self and asking -- why did you worry so much???
4 - Not frugal, but joyful - I LOVE nice clothing that is comfortable and lasts many seasons. In my effort to save money, I sometimes buy second hand things that are just not quite the right size. I have an almost perfect favorite summer weight cardigan that is just. too. big. While messing around on ebay this weekend, I found one just the right size, so I bought it and made plans to sell the old one. The new one arrived yesterday. Ah, just right! But instead of selling the too big one, I've decided to offer it to a friend who is always giving to others but never spends money on herself. I hope it fits her perfectly.
5 - Normal everyday not exciting automatic frugal habits. I often see people here referring to this and it's truly the best way to live.
Haha, yes, that is charcoal toothpaste!
My biggest frugal win was returning all of the new prescription eye wear I couldn't see clearly from and was adjusted so poorly the glasses sat at a 90 degree angle on my face instead of level. They didn't want to take the glasses back (apparently this has been happening since the practice changed ownership) but I was polite but firm (mostly firm.)
I thinned he personnel herbs we use as ground cover in our flower beds and replanted them in the bare spots that still need living mulch.
I hooked up the rain barrel to the downspout diverter for the summer.
I made rye bread dough in the bread machine, let it rise, and then baked it in the oven. It came out nice and fluffy instead of dense like it usually does when I use the machine from start to finish. Win!
I spiffed up two sad and faded hanging planter pots with spray paint and cord from my stash. I filled them with the last of the sale marigolds I bought for pest control (I hope) in my vegetable planters.
Our strawberries aren't ready yet here in Wisconsin. We actually just got 3 more ever bearing plants and set them out last weekend. But the really nice thing about our terraced yard is that the strawberries don't require bending over to pick!
Those strawberries look so yummy. I think I am going to try to grow them again. We tried them before a couple of times and they never took off, which is weird, because Florida grows strawberries.
I also remember TB tests at school every year.
When I went back to college in my 30's Florida had just had the big measles outbreak, and they were going to make me take the vaccine because, although I'd had measles as a kid, I didn't have any way to prove it. I went to the hospital and they still had my records for my pre-natal bloodwork which showed immunity to measles, and I was allowed to use that to skip the vaccine, which was frugal.
FFT:
1. We had an old cracked planter in which DH always dumped his pocket change. He preferred to use cash while I never use it. I realized the other day that I've used change from the planter just once in two years, so I dumped the change in a bag and took it to my credit union where the coin machine credits the total to my checking account. I got a little over $32 added to my account. (I do keep a quarter in my purse for Aldi.)
2. Someone left a perfectly good tarp in our office's parking lot and after a week of it blowing around I picked it up and took it home. I was prepping an area for paint outside this weekend when rain started to blow in, so I used the free tarp to cover it.
3. I started to buy a bag of organic citrus fertilizer at the garden store, then decided to check Walmart, where I found the same brand for less. I dug it in around the two citrus trees just as the rain was about to fall, so I didn't have to water it in using my well water and pump.
4. I have potted blueberries I'm waiting to plant and the berries are ripening. I put them on the screened porch where they get sun but the birds and squirrels don't get them.
5. I usually sit on the screened porch under the fans on weekend days to relax. The dogs join me and I felt bad about them lying on the brick paver porch floor, so I started looking at outdoor rugs. In the meantime, I pulled their two inside floor cushions to the porch to use, as long as I was also out there. I was rocking and reading when I realized the dogs had chosen to lie on the brick, ignoring their cushions. They did that all weekend. I won't be paying for outdoor rugs after all.
@JD, I bought an outdoor dog bed for our coonhound, who loves sleeping outside. Of course, she's studiously avoided it for the past few weeks. She lies next to it but not on it.
@JD and @Rose, JD's #5 reminds me of both our late lamented dogs. We bought both of them LL Bean dog beds, and both avoided them as if they were stuffed with nails and ground glass.
@Rose, I am quite demented about our three cats. I am constantly buying them new houses, beds and toys. Apparently, that is part of my love language. When they turn up their noses, yet again, at my latest offerings, I take the stuff to a thrift store that supports a shelter. I am, apparently, a very slow learner.
@JD, our cats prefer lying on concrete because it is cooler.
@Anne, to all of you who buy these great pet beds your pets don't use - I've only ever bought dog beds at thrift shops, and they always seem like new, so - thank you! I'm sorry your pets didn't like them but they get great love from mine (though she always shakes them around for a while first to teach them a lesson for smelling like other dogs or cats).
My dogs actually like our indoor dog beds fine, if for some reason they can't lie on human beds or sofas. Back in the day, I had two dog beds embroidered with our then-dogs' names. The dogs are gone but the beds keep trucking along.
When my son gets back from Cannes, I'll have him lie on the dog bed outside and maybe the coonhound will snuggle up with him. I'd do it myself but the bed is only a few inches off the ground, and, well, I am still having a lot of problems getting up without help.
DinGus the cat loves the expensive cat tree I bought him. (Expensive because I can't stand the look of conventional cat trees.) https://ibb.co/vYqrzM8 <-- Dingaling in person. (I love that cat.)
@A. Marie, Our wolfhounds grew too big for even the largest dog beds. We bought them twin mattresses for night time sleeping and during the day they just had to suffer, since we were not about to have multiple twin beds all over the house. One of the boys lived to be 11, which is very old for that breed. The last few years of his life, he learned to drag the down comforter off our bed and into the study to lie on it. After a few days of trying to change that behavior, I gave up and just let him keep it. He was my heart dog and I still miss him many years later. I feel guilty that I do not adore Pound Hound to the same degree...
@Lindsey, It's OK. Just because your current pup is not your favorite of all time doesn't mean anything. My favorite of all time was my Basil, who I adopted when I was 20 years old and who saw me through meeting my husband, marriage, and two children. I always told everyone he had lifeboat privileges before anyone else in the house. One of my favorite pictures of him is his old gray muzzle, patiently putting up with my toddler daughter shoving a plastic Jets helmet on his head. He was the best dog ever.
@A. Marie, when we brought home our current rescue pup, she wouldn't pee outside on the appropriately named pea gravel in her area. After a couple weeks of this, we re-landscaped part of her area with six rolls of sod. She took one look and promptly peed on the gravel! I almost peed my pants.
Made sourdough bread and used some discard to make rye seed crackers.
Picked up two extra shifts at work to pay off the last of our car. We mostly paid cash but we have a few thousand left on it due to a bunch of things breaking at once.
Picked some rhubarb from the yard and made rhubarb bread.
Line dried our clothes on some of the warmer sunnier days.
Made tea with mint from the yard instead of drinking canned soda.
Made stock with a rotisserie chicken carcass and made it into tomato soup.
While I was buying the kiddos new summer jammies at Target I also got some clothes one size up for next year 50% off from the clearance rack. I try to buy a lot of clothes secondhand, but it is nice to still have some brand new with tags items for them.
1. Last week I mentioned that I had received a $50 gift card for donating blood platelets. When I got the email to claim my gift, I had the option of donating it back to the Red Cross to further support their mission. That felt right.
2. Paid forward the generosity of those who let us stay in their homes over the last few months by donating money to causes that are important to them.
3. Spent another 30 minutes on the phone trying to receive the free one-night's stay that we had requested - and were promised - from the hotel chain (rhymes with Hampton) that maddeningly cancelled our reservation because they had overbooked the hotel. This was the third time I called so hopefully the third time's the charm. They said it would take up to 30 days to receive. I'm patient.
4. Enjoyed some freebies at our temporary apartment: dog poop bags and a bagel breakfast in the common area.
5. Received some new neighbor coupons in the mail including a free meal, free bottle of wine and a $10 oil change.
@MB in MN, I just re-read my own #3. This was the third time *in three months* that I have had to call them. Makes me wonder if they just wait to see if people will follow up before they send out freebies, hoping people will either forget or give up.
It was quiet week, spending wise at our house.
1. I returned a pair of shoes I'd bought through Zappos in December. At that time they offered a good discount but I decided the shoes were not comfortable. I love the Zappos return policy. Free shipping both directions and a 365 day return period. I dropped the shoes at the local UPS store when I was near there.
2. I returned a portable A/C hose that was the wrong orientation (clockwise instead of "anti-clockwise") to Amazon. I had to drop it off at Kohl's to receive free return shipping but I was going to be near one anyway. While at that shopping center I stopped in to Safeway for a $3.88 watermelon and $1.99 seltzer water. I also had rewards from a gift card promotional purchase which I redeemed to lower my out of pocket cost.
3. Meals have been at home. There is still not a lot grocery shopping going on beyond produce since the weekly ads have been so meh and we have plenty of food in the house.
4. Our neighbors were away for the weekend so we looked in on their cats and brought in their mail. They return the favor of keeping an eye on our house when we are away. It's good to have a relationship with neighbors in so many ways.
5. While walking on Friday we noticed a community yard sale sign for Saturday. We walked over there and did buy a few things. A new cotton king size blanket and a couple of new collage picture/photo frames. I also gave $1 to a young entrepreneur with a lemonade stand since he was so earnest.
I bought a glider-style rocking chair from Offer Up for $30. The original owners had a dog so the chair was in rough shape. Over the weekend I used my fabric shaver and $8 of upholstery cleaner to work on the chair and it is much improved. (I'm keeping the chair but I feel like I could now resell it for $100-150.)
I made granola instead of buying it.
I bought some strategic pieces of maternity clothing. I think I can make it through with a few outfits in heavy rotation since I work from home.
I packed dinner for a car trip. (This was mostly because I'm on a very restrictive diet right now but packing dinner is more frugal than fast food.)
We are "sneaking" small pieces of concrete into our trash can each week rather than renting a dumpster.
@Rebekah in SoCal, We sneak things into our trash can all the time!
* so... that is not quite frugal, since my premiums will go up, but last week I totaled my car. My insurances covers a new car, same model. I also have the choice to upgrade the model and pay the difference. I'm sticking to the same one.
* Got fancy hot chocolate powder, chocolate candies and hot chocolate bombs on Buy Nothing, everything sealed.
* My brother in law is lending us a truck until we get the new car, so we don't have to spend hundreds (thousands?) renting one in the meantime! It will take about weeks.
* Was a day off work today but I decided to come in for 4 hours
* Still enjoying my public library books
@Isa, you don't mention injuries from the car accident, so I'm hoping you didn't have any. I'm still thanking the universe that I walked away from the one in which I totaled our 2013 Prius in 2020. And I'm glad you have such good insurance.
@A. Marie, thanks for asking 🙂
I was with my daughter in the car and we are both totally fine
I will try to see if I have 5 as I haven't been keeping track like normal....
1. Yesterday was my father-in-law's birthday and he loves ice cream cake. We stopped to buy one and I had a coupon to use towards our purchase.
2. My sister-in-law brought my husband a German Christmas carousel that she found at the thrift store. We used to have one but it broke and I've been searching online to buy him one, but they're so expensive. My husband was thrilled!
3. My daughter had a dog-sitting gig and bought some food to eat while staying at their house. Whatever she didn't eat, she brought home for us all to eat and not waste.
4. My husband had a Carhartt hoodie that his work gave them and the handle of the zipper broke. I took it to a local alteration place and she was able to fix it instead of putting in a whole new zipper, at less than half the cost she quoted me over the phone.
5. I wanted something good to drink with dinner tonight besides my normal water, so I put a jug of sun tea outside and it will be ready when I get home from work. Only cost was the tea bags.
I thought you were going to make freezer jam.
1. My rhubarb plant is thriving (yay spring), so I’ve been pruning the plant every few days and storing the cleaned and sliced stalks in 4 cup portions in the freezer. I have plans for lots of crisps and rhubarb jam in the future.
2. My husband and son will both be out of town over the weekend so when I was menu planning I planned vegetarian/vegan meals for me. I eat very little meat when I’m on my own. I’m sure my husband will counteract this by picking up steaks to grill for his friends on their trip, but I dinner in is still cheaper than dinner out!
3. I did my research and discovered I only needed a part to repair the fountain in our little pond. I was convinced I would need to replace the whole setup (it came with the house so I didn’t know all the parts that were involved) but I only needed a $20 part.
4. My son’s broken arm has slowed life down at home. Thankfully we have everything we need on hand to make things less uncomfortable for him: ice packs, pain relievers, ice cream. Now that we are a week in, he’s slowly rejoining activities. We won’t be attending any out of town games which is saving gas money but I’d rather drive him to games instead of having him hurting at home.
5. We’re looking at houses again so the urge to purge is on. If we do end up moving I would prefer to not move things we don’t use. My donations pile is getting larger and I’m hoping to find a creative way to get rid of items that don’t fit in my car to be donated.
@Geneva, See if there is a No Buy group or Freecycle group where you are. Or even Craigslist free items category. You can give your unwanted large items away via those places. Although some thrift stores will pick up large items, as well.
Kristen, I have to thank you for recommending Erie Insurance. We just switched to it for combined home/auto and are saving $1k a year with better coverage than we had with the previous company.
My FFT consists mainly of fixing things and cooking things, as a chunk of my money is going to physical therapy sessions lately, but it is money well spent.
1. Altered a pair of my jeans and pajamas to be smaller and fit better. Mended a hole in the leg of of my husband's old jeans.
2. Baked a batch of apple-bran muffins for breakfasts and made a loaf of honey-oatmeal bread in the bread machine.
3. Brewed up a gallon of iced tea with tea bags on hand and added some lemonade mix for homemade Arnold Palmers. So good on a hot day.
4. Used some remnants of Velcro from the junk drawer to corral charging cords for my husband's phone and tablet after the vacuum cleaner chewed up a cord. Turned a worn-out footie sock into soft cord to tie up tomato plants.
5. Made chili for my husband's lunch. Less expensive and better nutrition than smoked ham sandwiches.
Your story, Kristen, of doing your own yard work reminded me of the first Spring/Summer I was going through the separation of my first marriage years ago. I was determined to take care of the house and small property on my own. A friend loaned me her lawn mower until I could buy one of my own. Because she and her husband also needed to keep up with their own lawn, she would bring the mower to my house then come and pick it up again the same day after I was finished using it. Taking care of my lawn gave me confidence to do new things and I felt proud of my accomplishment each time the yard was completed.
Additionally, neighbors would see me working in the yard and reach out to see if I needed help. Eventually I gave the yard upkeep to a young neighbor who needed the extra cash.
Now for a few frugal things:
My husband and I are approaching our 30th anniversary in October. We had toyed with grand ideas of special (and very expensive) getaways but finally decided on a nearby 2-night getaway that will include some dancing one night and a concert the next night and we are so excited about not spending too much money to have this very special time away with each other.
I made some cards for some special friends.
I downloaded a few free books to my Kindle.
I’m so happy to see my adult daughter ( still at home) taking frugal approaches to making costumes. She enjoys attending Cosplay conventions a few times each year. She makes costumes by taking clothes and accessories she’s bought from Goodwill, or from repurposing some things she already owns, and reassembling the items into fabulous outfits. This year she has a summer Cosplay convention she’ll attend as well as the local Renaissance festival in the Fall. She’s working on costumes for both events.
Finally, I decided to cancel subscriptions to 2 magazines I love. I had reasoned that the subscriptions were less expensive than buying the zines in a store but I’ve decided they don’t bring me as much refreshment as they used to so I don’t need to continue receiving them. I still receive one beautiful zine by subscription but then I pass it on to my sister when I’ve finished perusing.
1. Someone backed into me at a gas station. The insurance company will be sending a check for $670. I have to decide if it is worth repairing ('96, 247,000 miles) or if the $ should go toward a "new" car (sob).
2. Learned how to grow basil from cuttings rooted in water BEFORE the bugs ate my entire plants outside.
3. Picked up a side job doing yardwork for a friend who manages vacation rentals.
4. Found an AWESOME rock by the river to use as a block next to the gate so no one can drive around it. My walking buddy and I are figuring out how to retrieve the rock.
5. Rolling that rock is a free workout.
@Central Calif. Artist, you could call your #5 the "Sisyphus Special."
@Central Calif. Artist, Can you flip the rock onto an extremely sturdy cloth or tarp and drag it?
@Heidi Louise, while I was reading through the FFT, the neighbor brought it by and set it exactly where I wanted it! I think she and her husband put it on a tarp and dragged it to their truck, but I don't know how they got it up or how they got it off. Such a fun surprise!
@A.Marie, Sysiphean indeed, but thank goodness it didn't keep rolling back down! I'm so glad we had end-oed it up a ways a few weeks ago because snowmelt has started, and it would have been underwater if we had left it.
Man, I love strawberries. Strawberry season is the best. I used to make my grandmother's strawberry shortcake and I wish I had the recipe.
Frugal things here:
1. Library books!
2. DH had the genius idea to put the Little Free Library on a garden bed in the front yard that was an eyesore; we weedwhacked, mulched, and now it looks adorable with the library perched in there. So we improved curb appeal in a fun way. I need to make a sign for the yard so people are aware it's okay to walk up on our yard to get to the library, though.
3. Three home haircuts.
4. Cooking at home, as always.
5. Waiting till the new Ant Man movie came on Disney+, rather than renting it from Amazon, and I'm glad we didn't pay more for it, what a stinker.
One of my friends gave my family a strawberry cobbler for Mother's Day. That was the first time I had one and it was delicious.
The sister trip is a marvelous gift if lifelong memories.
1 - I got the second round of seeds into the garden before the rains last week. We're still getting warnings to cover our plants at night and its barely reaching 70 during the day so no strawberries yet.
2 - I made a sale on Etsy, packed it in boxes I had, and promptly sent it.
3 - I returned something within the, very tight, three day return window thus avoiding the late fee.
4 - I made pork roast Sunday which used up a number of things that needed to go including some over the hill apple cider (still fine for liquid for the pan), old potatoes, tired celery, and last of the spinach & blue cheese.
5 - I made dinner last night even though we got home from baseball at 8 pm.
1) I used $4 in CVS bonus bucks toward generic allergy medicine for the kids. I could get it cheaper at Costco, but I am too frugal to go to Costco often. I only go if I have at least a few things to get and other errands to run on that side of town. I will stock up the next time I got to Costco.
2) We got a $4,000 water bill from our city. This is evidently a problem all over the city as the administration switches from some COVID-era policies. Our upstairs neighbor decided to just pay her outrageous bill so she wouldn't have to stress. But I am fighting it. The idea that we used this much water is absurd, so I am starting the process of politely but firmly fighting it all the way up.
3) Now that we know what health insurance we will have in place over the summer, I have scheduled all the usual covered checkups.
4) I went to a funeral yesterday for the son of a family friend. Visitation started at noon, followed by the funeral, and it was a 45 minute drive away, so I made a quick lunch I could eat in the car on the way there. It removed all temptation for a fast food stop.
5) I had physical therapy over last summer, and when I finished up in October, my therapist gave me a list of exercises to do daily. Then I . . . didn't do it even once during the academic year . But now I am on summer break, and have worked it into my daily routine. I consider this a frugal activity because a) I already had all the very basic workout equipment I needed to do the exercises, and b) doing what your physical therapists says is a good way to avoid having to go back to them.
I redeemed all the cans and bottles that I've been picking up roadside all winter/spring and came out $5 richer.
I gladly brought home half a casserole from a recent pot luck dinner that an older lady did not need and would have thrown out. 2 more meals for my husband and I.
I picked up 2 brand new bags of cotton balls at a yard sale for 25 cents.
I found LL Bean gift cards on the BJs Club website that were $39.99 for a $50 card, so I picked up several to use for Christmas shopping during Black Friday sales.
All the usual: clothes on the line, homemade meals, mowing the yard, oil changes at home, planting the garden, saying no (or later) to things I want....
Our (now) 22yo daughter went through nursing school during the pandemic. I know what you are facing, but it shouldn't be quite as bad as virtual nursing school. It encompassed her (and her husband's) life during that time. She found what types of studying worked for her. There are all kinds of You Tube videos that better explain when the Professor's explanation didn't suffice. ...podcasts as well. She is now an ER RN in the largest ER in the city. An exhausting but very rewarding job. I'm sure you will do well...I am pulling for you!
1) I spent $650 on groceries. Sounds not frugal but our borough taxes food at the rate of 8.75% for the summer months starting 6/1. I have a big pantry and freezer to store these staples. When cleaning it out to put them away, I threw out only 2 premade Indian meals that we didn’t like, and some spice mixes we were gifted from friend’s travels that also didn’t get eaten before getting old. So we’re not hoarding food that doesn’t get used! Also, i work long hours in the summer so this will save me the time and energy of going to the store crowded with tourists, and minimize shopping trips by my recently retired husband. I appreciate those but they do tend to result in extra unneeded (and sometimes expensive) not on the list items. We have only 2 grocery options in our town (this was from the warehouse type store) so shopping sales and price comparing is of very limited use to us.
2) I traded frozen fish with my SIL. She had too much salmon, we have too much halibut. Now we both have more variety.
3) I bought 3 basil plants on sale for $1.25 each. Not as frugal as growing your own from seed, but far cheaper than grocery herbs.
4) i bought less than half the annuals for pots as usual and supplemented with seeds left from previous years and given to me by friends.
5) Paid off the credit card bill from our recent European vacation so no interest charged.
6) have been using YouTube for free art and exercise classes.
@Jenn, frugal tip on growing basil: next year, buy one plant, clip off some of the stems, root them in water, and turn them into new plants. I started doing this a few weeks ago because sow bugs (roly-polies) have been devouring one of my 2 plants. They root in about 3 weeks time and then are ready to be planted.
1. Two young ladies who work with me at the retail store (my evening and weekend job) are graduating. I wanted to give them each a little gift. For the high school girl, I went to Goodwill and found a cup that said "Happy Graduation" (didn't have a specific year) and had a Bible verse on it along with artwork of a diploma and graduation cap. My roommate had earlier ordered some hard candy from Amazon and didn't like it. So she gave it to me; I'd been saving it for Halloween or something. But I filled the cup with the candy. I bought a handmade grad card for $1 from a retiree who sells her cards in the teachers' lounge and used that along with a gift bag I'd gotten (as a gift) on another occasion and saved along with a bow that I'd saved. So really I only spent $3 -- about $2 for the cup (used their 20% off coupon) and a buck for the card. When the girl got it, she exclaimed "How did you know that's my favorite candy?" (I didn't. Frugal luck!) Recipient of the 2nd gift had gotten her associate's degree from the community college. She's a real girly-girl so I regifted a white elephant gift of a pink teacup and did the same thing, using a pink gift bag. This one only cost $1 for the gift card. Hey, it's the thought that counts.
2. A much sadder occasion was due to a relative's death. His current wife was never one to visit or socialize or otherwise contact our family, to the point of being extremely standoffish. (Not sure if that is because she may be painfully shy or perhaps she is just rude. Either way, she is practically a stranger.) She had the funeral ASAP during a workday, which meant none of us could ask off work to go out of town (8-10 hour drive) and attend. So I emailed her a nice video with an appropriate poem ("The Traveller" by James Dillett Freeman, which can be googled if you want to see it or use it.), very beautiful presentation for the bereaved. Free to use. I'm following it up with a sympathy card, 54 cents at Dollar Tree. Wrote a nice note extending my condolences and thanked her for taking care of my relative. End of story. (Maybe I should feel guilty for not sending flowers, but money is tight and I've seen her only 2 or 3 times in the past 30 or 40 years. So I don't.)
3. This is the last week of school and I signed up for as many subbie jobs as I could.
4. Fixed the stuck sliding door to the patio instead of hiring a handyman.
5. Filled up some water jugs at the out-of-town school where I subbed today; that town's water is so much better-tasting than the city water that flows through my faucets. Also bought a few more cards from the retired teacher (see #1 above), this time for other occasions.
Well done Kristen, you have a great list of frugal activities.
I'm drooling over your strawberries. I have two beds of them. Squirrels eat the berries before they even get ripe. I recently learned a tip to keep birds from pecking at the berries. Paint rocks to look like strawberries, then place them in the bed while the plants are in bloom. The theory is that birds will peck at the rocks, learn that the berries are inedible then look elsewhere for food. Here in Washington state strawberry harvest is in June. I'm eagerly waiting to see if squirrels will also be fooled by this trick. They usually eat my harvest before the berries are even red.
1. My son loves Jersey Mike’s sandwiches. I’ll buy him two a month on our way home from karate. One night, he really wanted a third one, so we decided to make dupe sandwiches at home and went shopping for all the ingredients. As I’m typing this, I’m realizing that this probably sounds really simple, but because we are not meat-eaters in our home, we also haven’t been big sandwich eaters. I love showing my kids how we can eat (often even higher quality food) for far less money at home. Jersey Mike’s sandwich: $9.62. At home sandwich: less than $2.
2. We did another family dupe…at my daughter’s workplace, they sell $9 caramel and biscoff shakes. We made them at home for about $2.50 each. Yum!
3. Used a free pizza reward at Blaze.
4. Did not participate in some group giving opportunities. I feel bad, but I have to accept that in this season of my life - single mom, four children - it is okay to sit some of these things out.
5. Spent a lot of time with my 8 year old playing outside and playing board games for zero cost.
@Christy, I was very sorry to read about the biscoff shakes because I do not need one more food item to love. I had never heard of them before and feel the loss for the years I could have been enjoying them!!
I weep with envy for your strawberries.
1. Did two more curb side grocery shops so ended up with $64 of free groceries.
2. Cut up a bath towel that was developing some holes and made it into wash cloths, with seamster husband sewing the edges on the new cloths.
3. Needed new glasses. They were over $300 locally so I ordered them on line for less than $50. I don't like not going local but that really was too much of a price differential to swallow. And I frequently sit on, step on, and lose glasses so replace them frequently. (Then there was a time in Lithuania where I went to a restaurant and it turned out to have indoor outhouses. I have no idea why I was looking down into the hole when my glasses fell off and into the hole...now I always travel with extra glasses.)
4. Bought a raffle ticket from a kid's athletic team. That $5 won me a dinner for two at a pricy restaurant. I don't happen to like their food but the husband wanted to take a buddy out for a birthday dinner, so all we paid for that gift dinner was the tip.
5. Sold three books. Ate a casserole I would rather have thrown away. Did a gas shop that took 9 minutes and gave me some gas and two bottles of pop that I would never buy. Traded excess onion transplants for pansy transplants; I always start too many onion seeds so pretty much every spring I can trade them for something else.
I hope the girls have a blast together!
My 5:
1. Daughter and son graduated last 2 weekends. 2/3 done! This was frugal because kid #2 graduated in 4 years despite 2 changes in career plans and kid #1 got paid to do his master’s degree. We helped with car insurance and groceries for last 2 years but otherwise he paid his living expenses and tuition.
2. Ordered groceries for pickup since we were traveling. I had a bunch of deals to use in the app and my grocery haul was <$100 which never happens with my gluten free groceries!
3. I wore dresses I bought for a trip to Hawaii in February to the 2 graduations with shoes and jewelry I already owned.
4. When we were at my son’s graduation and when we dropped him off after his sister’s, we loaded up the car with his belongings so we don’t have to rent a uhaul when he moves out next week.
5. Meal planning, cooking, making coffee using Libby app, paying bills on time.
Wow, look at all of those strawberries.....Kristen, you are so lucky!
I stopped at a local u-pick farm for strawberries....the cost was $21 per basket, which holds about 6 pounds of berries. So, not exactly frugal, but wonderful tasty berries AND helping to support a local business? Well worth it. 🙂
1. I went to my PCP for an annual physical yesterday, which is covered in full through my health insurance. I also went for my bi-annual dental cleaning, which is also covered for full with my health insurance. Unfortunately the dentist thinks I may have TMJ, which apparently is tricky to get covered my insurance.
2. We planted our garden using seedling we grew and some seedlings we purchased. I believe all of the seedlings cost us $18.
3. I used some leftover milk and whole wheat bread my daughter's daycare was giving away to make baked French toast for the my kid's breakfast this week. It cost about $2 to make them both breakfast for the whole week. My lunch this week is leftovers from last week I had portioned out and froze.
4. My mom gave me a jar of local honey.
5. I cleaned my stove and refrigerator while I worked from home last week. Such an annoying task, but it's done!
Yum. Strawberries.
This week, I...
-accepted some gluten free meal kits from my mom
-accepted some new dishes from my mom, who is cleaning out her kitchen before a remodel
-found a notebook in a box of leftover school supplies
-used an old bedsheet to make some pajamas
- borrowed some books from the library
-used a loaner computer at work instead of driving across town to get the charger that I forgot
-got some free snacks from work, got a coupon for free food from Applebee's, ordered a free shirt through work
I don't have many frugal things to report but I do have a few.
1) I got $5 off a flatbread while volunteering at the farmers market (one could argue getting the pizza wasn't exactly necessary but this place does a lot of fundraising for local orgs so I like to support them and I did need lunch).
2) I got 2 free tickets to a screening of the movie Joy Ride. It was pretty funny but also pretty darn crude so if that isn't your thing you might want to pass on it.
3) Went to a Haitian Espageti cooking demo at the library last night w/ included a good size portion to try for dinner. It was really good. We would make it again at home.
gave $1 to 3 young girl entrepreneurs with a lemonade stand, ice water with lemon, it hit the spot after a long walk!
We get a lot of our travel size things from Dollar Tree (and they're often a bit bigger than the travel bin items at CVS or Target, and are still below the allowable size) - just some info if anyone's looking! Nothing frugal for me this week. We're in full-on birthday mode.
I am jealous of all your strawberries! I love them and they are so, so expensive here. We plan to go strawberry picking soon, it's slightly cheaper and a great adventure.
I have actually had a TB test! We had to get them for our adoption home study. I recall it being super weird- they inject this tiny ball under your skin? I’m sure that is not the proper medical terminology. Anyhow, we did not have TB. So that was good.
Yeah, it's this little thing they stuck under my skin and then I came back in about 48 hours to have them look at that spot to see if it had reacted. And mine had not!