Five Frugal Things | in 15 minutes
Hey everyone-
I have 15 minutes before class and I have spent my morning doing homework in prep for a quiz.
So...let's see what I can type in 15 minutes!
1. I resold a book Zoe didn't need
I think I mentioned she ended up switching health classes...but this was after I already bought her book.
Whoops.
I'd purchased the book on eBay, but I'd gotten it for a really good price.
So, I relisted it for more than I'd paid, and it sold within a week!
Even with eBay taking its portion out of the sale, I think I at least broke even and I'm happy with that.
2. I did not go to Fincon
I decided I was too snowed-under with schoolwork to take five days away.
So, I cancelled my flights and got my money back in never-expire Southwest credits. I saved the money from the hotel stay and all the meals I'd have eaten out.
And the only loss was my ticket, which I'd bought at the rock-bottom price at the end of last year's conference.
I was bummed out to not go see all my content-creator pals, but it definitely was the right decision.
3. I've been using random stuff in my oatmeal
For example, this morning I used a honey stick that has been sitting around forever, and I also use peaches that I froze last summer.
(I snagged some of this type of thing from my chest freezer at my house when I moved out!)
4. I listed a jersey on eBay
Zoe had a sports jersey she'd outgrown, so I put it up on eBay. Hopefully it'll sell!
5. I used a $4 Walgreens reward
I don't often go to Walgreens, but I do always put in my rewards phone number when I go. This never seems to net me any rewards...until now!
I needed some makeup, and when I put in my phone number this time, I had a $4 reward. Yay!
Your turn! What frugal things have you been up to?
Here are a few from around our house:
1) Used a gift card to purchase lunch for a hungry soccer player, between games
2) Optimized menu planning & meal prep around a wild weekend of driving & logistics. This meant that, other than the Subway purchased with a gift card, we ate at home all week. This often feels like an accomplishment, given how busy we all are.
3) Drove my 15 y.o. to reffing games, where he earned some money. This is a long term investment, both in him understanding the value of money & earning it himself, as well as the fact that he's eligible for his learner's permit soon. We are helping him with that process, because reducing our driving time is time frugal, if nothing else! (We drive our electric car, that we can charge for free at work, to basically all of our errands.)
4) Made a creative lunch, with lots of random fridge leftovers, including a tiny container of some sort of sauce from Greek takeout. It's nice to see the fridge getting emptied out.
5) I've given notice at work (I have a long exit time - potentially as long as 6 months), and I'm trying to take advantage of all the fabulous perks before I go: lots of free gym classes, electric car charging, meals, etc.
I have a few and most of them deal with food/food waste prevention....
1. My co-worker gifted me with a pint of tomatoes. My daughter's boyfriend also brought me a 4 quart basket with tomatoes. I used a few in salads and froze a bag of them for future use. I didn't want them to go to waste.
2. The food pantry that operates out of our work building offered me free bread. I took 2 loaves to use.
3. I had 3 yellow squash (from same coworker in #1) to use up. It's not my favorite, so I looked up a few recipes so I could use it up. I made a squash pound cake that was really good and also a squash casserole that was super yummy. Squash is all gone:)
4. Hubby has called Verizon as they claimed they never received an internet modem back from us. Luckily, i keep good notes and had proof of when we mailed it back with tracking number. Verizon is reversing the charges as we mailed it back early on when we knew it wouldn't work for us.
5. Hubby and I continue to do our own yard work, mowing grass, household tasks ourselves, thus saving us money from hiring them out.
@Gina, Yellow squash isn't my favorite either, but it seems to grow better than anything else in my garden! We had some cooked in bacon grease and everything bagel seasoning last night and it was pretty delicious!
@Ruth T,
That also sounds yummy! I may have to try that if I receive any more.
@Gina, need that squash casserole recipe! My neighbor keeps gifting us some!
@Gina, I'm glad you've found some tasty things to do with yellow squash. I still haven't recovered from the times my mother used to make it in her pressure cooker when I was a kid. As I have said several times, I loved Mom dearly, but it wasn't for her cooking.
@Gina, Latkes are always a favorite at our house when we have summer squash. Also this recipe is a keeper: https://alexandracooks.com/2022/07/16/zucchini-tortillas-4-ingredients-gluten-free-baked/
@A. Marie, my mother made so many dreadful dishes in the pressure cooker. She did not like to season food, so everything was bland and boiled to death that she cooked in it.
I feel like even in my lifetime, well-seasoned food has become much more the norm in America. The cookbooks published in my early childhood are so bland by comparison to what I see now!
@Gina, what is yellow squash? Spaghetti squash or butternut squash maybe? I am wondering if I could do the same recipe with all the acorn squash taking over my garden. One plant apparently equals 20 acorn squash!
@Leann, yellow squash is not the same as acorn, butternut or spaghetti squash. It is sometimes referred to as summer squash. It isn’t a hard squash and has a texture more like a zucchini. It is similar in shape to the zucchini too, but with a crookneck. Has anyone tried to make squash casserole with zucchini?
@Bee, we love this zucchini casserole. Cut 4 - 5 medium zucchini into 1" chunks. Cover w/salted water and let simmer about 5 - 7 minutes. Drain squash well. Mix together 1 C. each cottage cheese & grated cheese (we like pepper jack), 2 eggs and a dash of dill weed. Put Squash in casserole dish & cover with cheese mixture. Top w/ crushed Ritz crackers & dot w/butter. Bake @ 350 about 30 minutes or until crackers are goldenbrown.
@Ruth T, I use yellow squash in a baked oatmeal in place of zucchini. I freeze squash so I can make the baked oatmeal all year round. 🙂 Delicious!
Hello all!
Cooking And eating at home.
Mended two shirts.
Been getting some nice samples from Kroger pickup. All will be used.
Using library apps for all the things entertainment.
Putting money aside every paycheck for future healthcare costs into a HSA. NO FUN NOW but I retire in 2024 and will need that savings.
@Stephanie, I get so excited when Kroger (Fry's where I live) gives out those sample bags with pick-up orders!
My FFT this week
1) Took our son to Costco to purchase his glasses since the ones at the eye doctor were so expensive
2) Bought gas while we were at Costco. Was nice to see it was only $3.01
3) Had purchased a large watermelon at farmer's market so I cut up a quarter of it to take as a snack for our weekly happy hour and have been eating on the rest for a week haha
4) Had not renewed my subscription to streaming workout service because the price was too high. After 3 weeks, they sent me a special offer to rejoin for $149 off! I really like Get Healthy U and love that I got a year subscription for only $20!
5) Planned meals around what we had in the frig and pantry and skipped grocery store run for at least a few more days
Used some frozen bananas to make banana muffins for breakfasts and snacks
Line dried our clothes on the hottest days this week
Foraged some oyster mushrooms and shrimp of the woods mushrooms and ate them with homemade sweet potato gnocchi
Was craving cinnamon raisin bread but it was so expensive at the store. Waited for a cooler day and made some at home from scratch instead.
Made buns for grilling brats instead of going to the store to pick some up.
—I transferred everything in garage purgatory* from cardboard to plastic containers with the help of four empty cat litter tubs, two large plastic totes we already had, and just one new $9 tote.
*Most items are destined for when we’ve converted the back of the garage into my husband’s shop/gym. A few others merely await their final places becoming apparent, which has been happening with greater frequency now that we’ve fallen into a groove with our house.
—I thrifted a folding drying rack for $3. This will be handy come sweater season!
—I also thrifted a pair of like-new Bass Pro winter boots in my husband’s size for $14. Since he works outdoors and just discovered a hole in his previous pair, this was a fortuitous find!
—I look forward to when we no longer need a constant stream of things for our new house—thank goodness for open box deals on Amazon! I check our various lists now and again to see if anything we need (that has withstood the thirty day “Yes, we do actually need this” waiting period) has a “used/like new” option available. My latest score was a hand towel bar for $4 instead of $16. Last week’s was a fancy marble-patterned toilet seat for $25 instead of $35–glamorous! 😛 The previous toilet seat had weird melted places, presumably from unattended candles?
Related: The new toilet seat’s screws were much smaller than the previous seat’s, resulting in a loose fit. I just swapped the new screws for the old, and now we’ve a nice tight fit without the questionable melty bits. 😛 Everything got a good cleaning while I had it apart.
Also related: Thank goodness for the GIANT box of vinyl gloves I nabbed on clearance for $3!
Hopefully next year you'll be able to go!
My FFT (mostly food-related like Gina):
1. A couple of weeks ago I bought a bag of Kraft shredded cheese (on sale plus an Ibotta rebate that made it cheaper than Aldi) and when I went to use it 4 days later, there were at least 10 mold spots in it. (Thankfully I had a block of cheese on hand that I was able to shred so I could finish my dish!) The best by date was still months away, so I contacted Kraft customer service and sent pictures of the cheese. Yesterday I received a coupon in the mail for a free bag of cheese.
2. I canned 3 batches of salsa and am in the midst of making pizza sauce today with tomatoes that are mostly from my friend's garden. She is done canning and still overwhelmed with tomatoes and sent me home from her house with 2 boxes full!
3. I made my final Thanksgiving turkey on Sunday since I needed meat to make fajitas for 25 people. I followed that up by leaving the carcass in my giant roaster and making a ton of broth.
4. There's an Introduction to Food Preservation class offered tonight through my husband's work. I didn't see an employee/family discount code advertised, but emailed to ask. I get to attend for free!
5. One of my kids went to a birthday party on Friday for twins in his class and since I had noticed a section of clearance toys at Meijer when I had done my grocery shopping earlier, we started looking there first for the birthday gifts. We were able to find things that were nicer than we normally would have gotten and still come in under budget.
@Ruth T,
What a nice idea,. To offer, food preservation classes!
It is always nice to learn something new, enjoy!
@Ruth T, that happened to me w cheese recently, too (different brand, but I wonder why? Any cheese experts? Brought home, refrigerated it, turned green and blue in a week. I threw it away because I wasn’t going to be near that store and hated to see it every time I opened the fridge. This was in August and the expiration or “best-by” date was October! I wish I had done what you did, and will next time.
How do you make fajitas for 25- any special tips?
Shelftember (eating up what's in the house without buying much) is still going well, even when I has unexpected company twice in the last week! I pulled together the ingredients for a pumpkin sheet cake after finding a can of pumpkin and some cream cheese languishing in the fridge, and made a dessert fancier than expected!
My SIL works at Starbucks and she sent us 2 pounds of coffee yesterday. It was on my grocery list, so yeah for family.
I have a massive abundance of tomatoes...canning, canning, canning.
My phone app for Hannaford (our local grocer) showed a $5 off $5 coupon, which I will use to pick up a couple of necessities this week.
I scheduled a mystery shop after a doctor appt on Friday and will be able to treat my sister to a free meal at Five Guys.
And I LOVE September!!
@Tricia, I love "Shelftember"!
Continuing to use up mountains of produce. Cockaleekie soup tonight with garden leeks and leftover roast chicken. I'm saving by not putting prunes in it since my son couldn't find prunes at the supermarket. eyeroll
Made pickled watermelon out of excess watermelon.
Refused to pay for a hotel room for my daughter to hang with friends after her art exhibition opening on Saturday. Too expensive.
Putting up excess junk on eBay to sell. Mailing BFF old art deco chandelier. As she said brightly, "You'll get it back in a couple years anyway!" (she has terminal cancer)
Meeting my tenant at court yesterday and not killing him with my bare hands. Criminal lawyers are pricey.
@Rose,
Good for you for keeping calm. What about "looks can kill" however?
@J NL, My dream is to be able to kill people with waves emanating from my hand like Emperor Palpitine.
@Rose, re: your scumbag tenant: Sometimes I wish that the adage "Time heals all wounds" could be reversed to "Time wounds all heels."
@Rose, as Mark Twain said, "It's not that life is unfair: it's that lightning is not striking the right people." Should lightning strike your scumbag tenant, it would definitely be hitting the right person.
@A. Marie, We may be settling this week. It won't be that wonderful, as he won't pay me back a dime, but I never expected him to, anyway. So having it settled, less stress, fewer lawyers' bills, will be great. He doesn't know I am working hard as an unpaid amateur detective helping all the other lawsuits against him in an effort to get him behind bars. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (still trying to get those Palpatine vibes)
@Rose, "criminal lawyers are pricey" had me rolling. Love it. I work in a prison and I need to remember that.
@Rose, your BFF comment - “You’ll get it back in a couple years anyway!”. I teared up, and yet my heart also rose at her courage and attitude. Go her, go you. Glad you are sharing beauty with her for while she is here...
We did not water the lawn. A surprise summer rainstorm dropped quite a bit of water and we decided not to run the sprinklers.
We sprayed for black widows on our own instead of hiring Terminex. Next week I plan to go out after dark (when the spiders come out) and make sure the spiders really are dead. (We spotted 12 spiders last week and devoting a lot of energy into getting the number down.)
We left for church early so that we could stop at Costco before church.
I did not buy a book I wanted because I discovered that the author has released the whole thing as a free podcast.
I planned our meals around the meat that was on sale at our grocery store.
@Rebekah in SoCal, We're in orange county and the spiders have been crazy this year. 0/5 stars. Would not recommend. And rain over the last week has been so strange. It was warm while raining...also, it was raining in September. And not like a desert rain where it pours for 30 minutes. So unexpected (but needed!)
@CrunchyCake, sounds like South Florida rains. Glad So Ca got some much needed rain.
@CrunchyCake,
Because it was warm, we opened all the windows and listened to the rain. It was glorious.
Not a very inspired week, so some small things
-A car lamp needed to be replaced, it was free because part of our (very good value for money) service subscription
-I cleaned out a wardrobe and now know I do not need any more clothes for winter (sob)
-I am swapping plant cuts and such with a friend
-Not watching telly a lot in the evenings, knitting socks instead from my stash. This is my stress reduction therapy and I am not counting this as cost for my wardrobe
-We have charged some solar lamps every day and used them at night as "orientation lights". They have a very nice warm light are well
Bonus points to me for having eaten toasted old stale bread at tea time. I always take care to defrost only little sourdough at a time but my husband's yeast-bread management is a bit behind. However we are not throwing out bread and unfortunately I do not in the least like bread pudding. So 'tea and toast" it is.
I just bought paper towels at Aldis. This 6 pack was the first I've purchased in over a year and I'm hoping to make them last for at least 2 years this time! To make this possible, I use them for only really yucky messes and use rags for everyday use. Then I had a lightbulb moment when I realized that for really yucky messes I can just THROW THE RAGS AWAY!! I have plenty of rags and can always come up with more, so why am I buying paper towels at all? We'll see if I have to ever buy paper towels again! LOL!
@Terri W,
I now keep some really worn out rags just for that reason - so I can throw them away if the messes I clean up are really icky. It's a real light-bulb moment to realize that's possible, isn't it?
@JD,
Hmm, and depending on what the "yuck" is, you might even be able to compost them instead of throwing them away.
I still buy and use paper towels, but I often compost them.
@Terri W, that is brilliant. Thank you!
-Had to come in to work so I am charging my car up here (it is subsidized, so it's less expensive than charging at home)
-A friend had us over for labor day and she sent us home with half a cake. I was about to say no thanks but then my daughter intervened and said it was delicious so she sealed the deal. It was from a very popular bakery and it ended up being the best red velvet cake I've ever had.
-I bought some bedding that was was on sale for a better price than I've found elsewhere. When I put in the order, it gave me the option to get an additional dollar off if I'd be willing to wait a few more days for the slow shipping. I'm not in a rush.
-Bought flowers for a friend and rewrapped them using ribbon, butcher paper, etc. that I had lying around the house (the ribbon was even reused from a gift I had received). They looked much more expensive than the grocery flower price I paid for them.
-Feel like I've had food fails all week. Family ate out too much this week, let too many foods go bad, didn't get great deals on groceries. Hoping to get back on track this week.
Kristen, I'm impressed at how you set wise boundaries for yourself and graciously walked away from an already purchased event ticket. I'd struggle with that.
Even though I haven't had much luck selling recently, I listed a no longer needed item on Facebook Marketplace. I included lots of photos so am keeping my fingers crossed that it is exactly what someone is waiting for...
I am working to use foods we have on hand, except for fresh produce, which is SO GOOD right now. Yes, I'm enjoying watermelons too.
My husband is working to clear out decades of potentially useful but never used things from his workshop. So he is not spending time at Lowes. Woo Woo, that's a frugal win!
I am working to clear out decades of potentially useful but never used things from the rest of the house. Putting perfectly good but unnecessary things in the donation box is not a proud moment, but it is what it is.
To quote Katy, I did not buy a Lear jet.
@Elaine N, I too am working to clear out both DH's garage and the rest of the house. The garage tool sale a neighbor and I were talking about having didn't pan out (we agreed that neither of us has the energy). But DH knew some people involved in our local Habitat for Humanity, and I'm going to contact a couple of these and see whether they'll make a house call to pick up a truckload or so of his garage stuff.
1. I used CVS super bucks to go towards purchase of some contact solution and hair gel. Plus I needed to pick up prescriptions so an errand was combined.
2. I brought coffee with me on my drive into work and resisted the overwhelming temptation to stop and buy more when it was gone. Note to self…must buy large thermos.
3. Signed my son up for sample karate class for two weeks for $25 to see if he likes it before shelling out more $$$ to enroll in karate classes.
4. Made a meal using frozen tater tots that have been languishing in my
Freezer for far too long.
5. Drank free coffee, hot tea and sodas while at the office. Also ate snacks provided so I didn’t need to bring my
own from home.
Some will be related to moving next year - same city, different neighborhood.
1. Took stock of my freezer and make a long list of easy chicken dishes to cook, to use up the dozens of packets of chicken I bought on sale over the summer. The list includes any ingredients I don't usually keep on hand.
2. Working to use up pantry food. For example, what to do with the honey-in-comb that's been in the fridge for about 4 years? Answer was to experiment. I gently melted it in a glass bowl just to see what would happen. What happened is the wax and the honey separated - there was a lot less wax than I expected - so I filtered the honey into a honey jar and tossed the wax.
3. Set some rules of thumb for what to keep and what to not to keep (donate if possible, compost next, trash can if necessary). If it's a stash of something we're actively using, such as dog food, keep. If we're not actively using it, such as some bottles of hot sauce, give away.
4. Realized that I'll be able to move stuff to the new garage a few months before the main move. I probably won't have to pay movers for that part.
5. Realized that if I 100% empty out my current garage, I can put anything I don't want in there, and hold a Garage Give Away - like a Garage Sale but everything is free. Friends and family first, of course.
@WilliamB, Dude. Beeswax is great!
@WilliamB, see my comment to Elaine N above re: Habitat for Humanity. And the idea of a Garage Give Away is great; that's what a friend of mine did before moving out of town last year. My JASNA NYC BFF still talks about "the garage sale where everything was free."
1. We had a fairly low-cost family outing on Saturday at a nearby historical site, so only the cost of driving there. We were tempted to eat out that night but instead grabbed some frozen pizzas and a container of ice cream at a grocery store on our way home. Still a treat but much less $$.
2. Making coffee at home with Starbucks grounds that I bought with several accumulated gift cards. This was also a bit of a frugal fail as I had bought more than my gift cards covered and misheard the woman at the register as to the total. Oops. but still cheaper than otherwise so I'll count it as a win ha.
3. Utilizing a playground near my kids school for free entertainment and enjoying the beautiful weather.
4. Went through clothes in the attic before a local consignment sale to make an accurate list of what I need for my 4 kids for winter. Found almost everything on my list for just under $100.
5. Packing snacks and lunches for my husband and kids each day.
I don't usually get a chance to comment but I am having a very frugal week so I had to make the time.
1. The street where I live is shut down once a year for our annual 'Lit Fest'. Booksellers and authors converge and there are tents where every book is $3, free author talks and lots of great people watching. It was a fantastic day of fun!
2. That same weekend we have a neighborhood rummage sale in the park (downtown Chicago so no one has a yard). I bought 10 puzzles and 3 crossstitch/needlepoint kits for less than $40 and have hours of entertainment lined up for the cold winter ahead. Several of the puzzles were on my Amazon wishlist and at $3 a piece were quite a savings over buying new.
3. I made my mom a birthday gift using almost exclusively things I already had. This has the added benefit of clearing things out of my space, putting useless things to good use and creating something for my Mom that she has been searching for.
4. My company just announced that every weekday for the remainder of September they will be catering lunch. I had a lovely Greek salad from Panera with chips, an apple, a cookie and a drink. I'm excited for the money saved but also the time saved in prepping my lunch.
5. Someone on my local buy nothing group just posted 2 pairs of like new Born ankle boots in my size. I get to pick them up tomorrow and for the price of a trip on public transportation I'm all set for winter!
@Cat, Thank you for sharing your excitingly frugal week!
It is fun when special savings stack up on top of each other.
@Cat, if I lived in a big city, your Chicago neighborhood would seem to be an ideal place!
@Cat, neighbor to the north here- is there a website for the Lit-Fest? Sounds amazing!
Ate leftover pizza for dinner last night.
Got a free 8x10 photo from Walgreen's as part of their email list.
Use a senior citizen discount at an Irish Festival we went to. It saved us $3.00 a ticket and we enjoyed ourselves at the festival.
Eating leftover grilled chicken in my salad for lunch.
Will be attending a free webinar tonight as part of CEUs that I need to get for one of my coding classes. Unfortunately, pretty soon they will be going back to in-person classes and I find those very tough to get to.
That was pretty good, coming up with a post in 15 minutes. Good luck on your class!
My frugals: (just typing this always makes my mind go blank immediately)
1. I checked out a book and a DVD from the library. I'm enjoying both.
2. I had a return for Thredup and made sure to get it sent right back, reusing the box it came in and downloading the prepaid label. This is the first time I've had this happen: I ordered what appeared to be a light jacket. When it came, it was a jacket liner, not a jacket. No buttons, just buttonholes down both sides, at the nape and at the wrists. I couldn't see all the button holes in the picture, but surely they did at some point.
3. I walked into a store just brimming with fall stuff that was sooooo tempting, but came out with only a replacement seat cushion for a wooden porch chair, on end-of-summer clearance, which I actually needed and had planned to purchase.
4. I'm using paint I already have to paint some wooden pieces I got on half-off sale, to make a game for a grandchild.
5. I scouted through the button tin my mother-in-law left behind when she died 38 years ago and to which I add buttons on occasion, and found four matching buttons I needed for a project, instead of buying them. It's an old cookie tin, from back when they were made more sturdily.
@JD, once again, I think we're related to each other in some alternative universe. My MIL was a professional seamstress, and I inherited her considerable stash of buttons, thread, and notions (i.e., my SIL would have put them in one of the many trailer loads DH hauled to the dump if I hadn't intervened). I gave most of these to Ms. Bestest Neighbor and a friend of hers, both of whom do far more sewing than I do. But I've kept a couple of tins/jars of the buttons.
@A. Marie,
I swear, it must be!
I love it when people have stashes of buttons. You can also use them to make art projects if you like.
Which reminds me that Second BFF bought me a set of 1920s Austrian crystal and Bakelite buttons about 30 years ago and they've been sitting in my jewelry box ever since. Where do the years go, seriously? I gave them to my daughter, the up and coming textile artist queen with her show in Williamsburg Brooklyn right now. Must now kvell.
That set was from Tender Buttons, the best store ever (named after the Gertrude Stein book). I miss that store--it was amazing.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/on-and-off-the-avenue/tender-buttons-a-one-of-a-kind-new-york-institution-closes-shop more info. the best.
@JD,
I have a tin with buttons too, inherited from my mom. I can recall some of the clothes we had by looking at the buttons. As a child I played with them a lot and I was allowed to pick out the teensiest buttons for the clothes I would fabricate for my doll.
There are one or two big buttons from the sixties that I may be using as a brooch on a cardigan, they are cut from wood and originally from a coat - a, swagger I believe.
@JD, I discovered that my mom, without consulting me, gave the button tin to my niece. I am still very sad about it. Must ask niece if she is feeling sentimental about it, because I sure am. Reminds me of my great-grandmother!
Sorry you did not get to go to FinCon, but maybe next year things are less frantic, perhaps?
My frugal things largely center around sewing and cooking:
1. I altered a blouse and a pair of slacks to fit better, hemmed up two pairs of jeans bought super-affordably on eBay, made a cover for a reading pillow I made for my husband a couple of years ago using fabric bought at a yard sale (got tired of seeing the "naked" pillow sticking out of his nightstand), and used some upholstery foam and upholstery fabric recycled from the last set of cushions on our old Morris chair to make a comfy seat cushion for my husband's recliner.
2. If decluttering is a frugal thing, I finally cleaned out my huge tub of fabric scraps, some of which pre-dated my 32-year-old son, and kept only the stuff large enough to make something from. The only exception was a strip of the upholstery fabric I used to make the current current cushion covers on the Morris chair, just in case I have to patch a hole. Also took two bags of clothes I shrank out of and various odds and ends to Goodwill. While in the same shopping center, I stopped at clearance store and replaced our hot pads, which had worn out after a decade of use. Snagged three very swanky new ones for less than half price.
3. Decided to be super-organized-frugal and inventoried the pantry, fridge and its freezer before making my work lunches for the week, using up what I found, and then made the grocery list. This cut our grocery total by about half. The inventory revealed a need to use up a lot of carrots and a big onion, so I shopped for a chuck roast (at a fairly decent price) and made a pot roast. This made leftovers for my husband to eat all week for lunch.
4. Also mended the dogs' favorite fluffy rug, so that the foam pad underneath it stays put.
5. My husband and I sent our sofa to the repair shop to have the attached cushions restuffed, which cost $600, but it's our "secretly Italian" sofa: it was sold at Macy's long ago as a house brand but turned out to have been made in Italy and is actually a high-end piece of furniture. So it was definitely worth the expense and it should be great for another 15 year or more. We had to rent a truck to transport it there and back and discovered the best deal on renting a pickup truck is at Home Depot: the cost was less than 1/3 of what it is through a car rental company.
It's been a fairly discouraging week here, frugality-wise--more fails than wins, plus I did end up getting poison ivy after all from the one garden bed where I had it. But I have some Burt's Bees poison ivy soap on hand and am scrubbing like mad with that as one commenter recommended, and I'm running the hair dryer on the affected areas when the itch gets bad (briefly, heat can kill itch for a good while). And I'm entertaining myself by commenting freely on other folks' posts!
@A. Marie, AAeeie! (Or some sympathetic poison ivy noise).
If it has been on you for several hours, I don't think it can scrub off, though also, (strangely), it isn't contagious once it is established in you even if it is weepy.
If you ultimately can't stand it and end up at Urgent Care, the treatment is steroids: either a step-down pack (starting with many pills and tapering off the dosage over several days) or an injection or both. The only good thing for me was the steroids cleared up my arthritis for several weeks.
Ice packs also provide a distraction in the way the hair dryer does. Good luck!
@Heidi Louise, It's not strange it's not contagious because it's an allergic reaction to an exposure to skin of oil. It's not something you can catch from someone else--the blisters will weep lymph, not poison ivy oil.
It's odd to me that people really don't know what the lymphatic system is.
@Rose, I am familiar with the lymphatic system and lymph nodes but had never heard the word "lymph" before, just lymphatic fluid. Thank you for your comment!
@A. Marie, I put liquid band-aid on mosquito bites to stop the itch, wonder if it would work on poison ivy?
I hope your poison ivy is better soon!
@A. Marie, I am a big fan of Benedryl cream for itches.
I am horrendously allergic to poison ivy and had to have shots for it couple of times as a child, back when steroid shots were regarded as dangerous.
1. Unpotted all my dahlias and tuberous begonias and they are in the garage drying so I can put them in straw for the winter and use them next year. I have a lot of both, so this annoying task saves me about $150 a year over constantly buying new bulbs and tubers. Plus, I know I will like the flowers that result.
2. Had a frost last night, which killed off my tomatoes and squash. I knew it was coming but thought I had a few more days. I went out and picked the frosted veggies and turned them into soup. I freeze tomatoes and squash every summer, to eat over the winter, and a few years ago it occured to me that I could use the frozen-on-the-vine produce the same way.
3. Sold a purse I was given as a gift. I have never, ever in my life carried a purse, yet twice in the last year I have received some really nice ones as gifts. I am starting to think these people don't know me very well. If it doesn't fit into my pocket or my bra, I don't carry it. Made $51 off eBay.
4. Had to go to a funeral potluck. I cracked over 200 quail eggs (a gift from the neighbor) and the husband made crepes which we filled with raspberries from the garden by way of the freezer. The only thing we bought was the whipped cream for the top. They disappeared in record time and I am thrilled to have used up some of those tiny eggs.
5. I had yet another medical test. It is not an invasive test but with my medical history I manage to get worked up over anything related to hospitals or doctors. I was going to treat myself to a meal out afterwards but decided that I should go home and eat some of the tahini-poppy seed cake I had made. Money saved. Not sure it was healthier than a fish fillet sandwich, though.
6. Apparently, a kid fell down on the sidewalk in front of our house. Pound hound jumped the fence and ran over and began licking the young girl until she stopped crying and then followed her home to make sure she got home safely, before running home and jumping back into our yard. I didn't know any of this until the kid's mom came by with a bag of dog treats for pound hound being so nice to her child. The treats were much better quality than the ones we buy him! Nice that he saves us money by earning his own treats, but it makes me wonder how often he leaves us and comes home and we never know it---we think he is sunning himself in the yard but he has acutally changed into his Super Dog suit and is off rescuing young maidens.
@Lindsey, re: your #6 and several of your earlier comments: I can just see a kids' book titled "The Adventures of Pound Hound."
@Lindsey,
Years ago I had a dog and would let her be outside in the invisible fenced yard while I dropped my boyfriend off at work. He worked 20 minutes away, so I was usually gone for 40 minutes on weekend mornings (he worked double weekend shifts). One morning we forgot something and circled the block to go back only to see the dog hurrying back into the yard under the fence! My neighbor saw us scolding her and said "she is out every weekend morning making her rounds." Apparently she had discovered that she could wear out the battery in her invisible fence collar by making it give a warning beep, then backing away before the shock. She did this over and over and made the fence useless in about a half hour, then went about the neighborhood as she pleased, but until that day was always back at home before I got back! Clever girl...
I've spent all day (literally--I started at 6:30 a.m. and it is not 1:30 p.m.) canning the two gallons of applesauce I made Sunday, as well as another sixty or so pounds of peaches. Thirty jars have come out of my canner today. I anticipate many more pounds of apples coming my way tomorrow. So I guess my frugality this week is entirely enclosed in jars for this winter. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, " . . . now 1:30 p.m." Sigh.
Good for you!
1. I bought a box of peaches from a stand and asked if they had any seconds. They did! I got a big box of peaches that were nearly perfect for $15. They are amazing. I'll freeze whatever we don't eat by the end of the week.
2. A friend posted a free ticket to a play, so I got to go see a play for free. I had never gone to a play alone before, but I had a lovely time.
3. I made a meal Sunday that makes good leftovers, so I have eaten it for lunch the last two days and I'm not sick of it yet, so I'll probably keep eating it for lunches for the next couple of days.
4. I went to an exercise class at the rec center yesterday. It was $6, which wasn't free, but a reasonable price and I got a solid workout in and I feel like was a good investment in my health. Also, it was a longer and different type of workout than I would do on my own.
5. There was a game I wanted to play and my library has board games you can check out, so I put it on hold and it came in this week, so I just checked it out and I have it for three weeks, which is plenty of time to play it multiple times before I need to take it back. I'm a big fan of the library. So many great resources for free!
Ugh, ugh, ugh...just paid half of my property tax bill and got an estimate for having a tree removed, so it will be good to think about the ways I have NOT been pouring money down the drain this week...
1. After my scores at Giant and a big Aldi shop last week, I did NO grocery shopping at all this week-thinking maybe I can do a no-spend for the rest of the month, like a proper Shelftember? We shall see.
2. Made overnight oats a few times and rescued some items languishing in the fridge-pumpkin seeds, leftover marinade, etc.
3. Started the process to get money back on health insurance premiums by doing physicals and other intrusive surveys, etc.
4. Cut the nails on my cats myself and was able to successfully treat one overgrown nail at home without an expensive vet trip. I was ready to call in the professional if needed, but thankfully my cat cooperated and all is well now. Phew! If only I had the skills to cut my own tree down too.
5. U-picked some more figs when I picked up my farm share. There wasn't a whole lot on u-pick this past week, but I always try to add a few items each week for a little sweat equity.
6. A bonus: I had called customer service about a gift card that didn't work right out of the package last December and after lots of paperwork and months of waiting, a new gift card finally arrived! I will not activate that bad boy until right before I spend it this time!
And, of course, the usual-packed lunches, brewed coffee at home, kept an eye on grocery sales, entertained myself at home, didn't quit my job even when it sucked, etc.
-I have not gone out to eat at all lately other than taking the kids for ice cream once.
-Took my little one to the local pool which is free for residents.
-Went to a free concert with my parents
-Have been avoiding driving and walking more
-asked an airline to cover a taxi ride for us which we had to take because our flight arrived in the middle of the night when all the buses have stopped. They reimbursed me for $89.
1- I was gifted some greeting cards & used one to mail to a friend this week.
2- we've been eating my favorite tomato salad for about 2 weeks now because our neighbor has kept us supplied with fresh tomatoes.
3-twice this week we started to get take-out & decided to eat at home
4-I won a free book in a blog drawing.
5-I needed to wash my car & the local car wash is running a special...Unlimited wash for September for $10. Normally a basic wash is $10 but this is for the works. I've washed my car 4 times so far....I live on a dusty, dry gravel road.
1. I had 2 BOGO coupons for a really awesome local museum. They saved us $40 in entrance fees. We brought lunch and drinks. We had a great time and stopped at a local farm to pick apples on our way there.
2. We made wood fired pizzas for dinner this week. My husband made the dough, I made the sauce using herbs from our garden and tomato puree, and most of the toppings were vegetables from our garden. My lunch this week used a leftover ham bone, leftover corn, leftover beans, herbs, and other vegetables to make soup.
3. I had my gallbladder removed about 2 weeks ago. My co-workers gave me $150 in gift card during my recovery. So groceries were free this week and I still have a gift card left.
4. I got my COVID booster
5. I submitted receipts for my medical and childcare FSA
1. I made most of our meals at home. We ate up food in the house, even if we had some odd combinations.
2. I repurposed material for other projects.
3. I cut my child's hair.
4. I sold clothing and toys to Once Upon a Child.
5. I had a garage sale. My parents watched our kids in exchange for selling some if their stuff for them.
I've been trying to remember my wins so I can play this game, ha ha. I live a pretty frugal life, overall, but it can get spendy so here are my wins:
*Asked for, and got, a Labor Day discount on some tree trimming I'm going to have done. Sometimes you have to remind the business about their own advertising, which is annoying, but...
*Made $12 worth of fried take-out chicken into 4 meals. I took all of it off the bone, used the bones to make overnight bone broth in my crockpot, and will integrate the chicken meat and crackly bits into salads and such. YUM. Plus, you can freeze the portions in foil and reheat as needed.
*Made a fancy birthday dinner at home for my daughter - we aren't one for restaurant crowds. I pulled out a fancy tablecloth and served pre-mixed margaritas with our Sausage and Spinach turnovers and acorn squash and it was all delightful.
*Batched all my errands this weekend, but mostly stayed home and worked on various projects. Ordered take-out once, which made two meals.
I think I have decided that for future weekends, I will figure out what I would love to eat from a restaurant, then go buy the ingredients from the store to make it myself. Eating out has become waaay too pricey for me. And this way I can also get leftovers or have one of my kids over to dinner!
https://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/2022/09/make-it-stretch-fried-chicken.html
1. Giving away more stuff on the Buy Nothing Group and to Goodwill (not frugal for me, but maybe the frugal karma will return the favor).
2. Speaking of karma, our neighbor ordered the wrong kind of meat in their meal delivery service, and gifted a whole dinner to us!
3. When I bought shoes online, used my credit card that I pay off every month to activate some extra rewards. Also cashed in old rewards to pay down the balance.
4. Oldie, but I am using old cloth diapers as cleaning rags, they are so absorbent! Thought about it this week as I realized my rags are getting very raggedy and I need to update them.
5. Bicycled to the farmer's market for fresh produce, again, not the most frugal but healthier and less driving to shop elsewhere.
I drank coffee I made at home every single day this week. I love my fancy espresso drinks and never was able to commit drinking drip or keurig coffee at home (bleh). So I finally purchased an espresso maker for my home and have already amortized out the start up cost within 2 months. And I think my coffee tastes BETTER than 90% of the coffee shops out there so it's easy for me to continue drinking homemade coffee every day. 🙂
- I canceled the free Apple TV trial before we were billed for continuing.
- I bought nothing for kids soccer season this year as we were able to use what we already had.
- I received (and used) a $20 grocery coupon that was an apology for their discontinuing a service I regularly used.
- While at said grocery store, I used a $5 off nuts coupon.
- Three of us got our free COVID boosters & flu shots.
While hubby was in the hospital, I spent every day there, and after the first meal I ate there (unexpectedly), I knew I had to find a different way. I had ordered some of Dr. McDougal's powdered Orientsl/Asian soups, so I carried them. They weren't enough, but the hospital cafeteria had veggie sushi for $6.00, so with my soups, and my water, I ate that once a day. I carried packages of instant oatmeal and bought a banana or two and ate that for breakfast. As I was staying at my daughter's house about 20 min from the hospital, I had brought some of my veggies and fruits that would have gone bad in my fridge at home, so was able to eat some of those, when I happened to be at the house.
In addition, I had a potato bag, and a microwave steamer. I used these at the cafeteria to steam potatoes to go with some vegan single serve soups I picked up at the grocery store a couple of times. During the 2 weeks he was in the hospital, I managed to get home twice and picked up my CSA box, so had some yellow squash ( I love to eat these raw) and some cherry tomatoes that were portable and able to add to my meals.
Staying at my daughter's saved me a lot of gas money, as I live 45 min away (at the very least) from the hospital, and my daughter has a dog and a fenced in backyard, so she was able to keep my dog for me, saving me boarding fees.
Now that he is at a rehab 15 min from the house, I can eat all my meals at home, and I plan to use this opportunity to eat from my pantry, fridge, and CSA box to use up things I might not have cooked otherwise. I don't have to worry about cooking for anyone else, and can adapt my meal times to whatever time I'm home, so should save some money over the next week or so.
1. Helped a friend make spaghetti sauce from her dad’s heirloom tomatoes, and ended up with a few servings of sauce as well as a half flat of tomatoes. She also gave me a 2-lb bag of coffee and some bread she couldn’t use.
2. My parents are in town, and they are always super generous about buying groceries once or twice. This time included a Costco trip in a nearby town, which was exceptionally nice of them.
3. Ordered a book that was supposed to be in like-new condition, but it arrived with a giant tear down the spine. I notified the company and they promptly issued me a refund. I’m content to own the book despite its condition, but now I need to purchase another copy as it was meant to be a gift.
4. I didn’t receive a Rakuten bonus from a purchase in July, and had the email sitting in my to-do pile all this time. I finally emailed the Rakuten folks and they deposited the $1.37 I was missing into my account. Honestly, I wouldn’t have pursued it if I’d remembered how little a credit it was, but since it credited me immediately I’m glad I did (and it pushed me over the $5 limit needed for a payout).
5. Picked up an extra shift or two through my as-needed job because a full-time employee quit. I continue to wear my old-but-good work clothes over and over again.
Bravo Kristin for chosing to do what was best for you despote having to forego the purchased ticket.
Having been back now just one week since relocqting from abroad, I have been really assessing what we have and need and do not need to have. Frugality has come in the form of:
1. Took stock of what died good had in the pantry and avoided unnecessary purchases.
2. Cooked all the dried white beans I have had for à long time and making à least 6 meals out of them.
3. Made some laundry détergent out of what I had to hand and saved à lot. Works perfectly well.
4. Finally got DH to replace the kitchen sink fauchet with the one we had bought three years ago...savings on drip and future maintenance.
5. Am shopping around for à Mutuelle to booster my health insurance.
DH checking with his provider which means I am not along in my search..
Sunday: My friends and I went to a free book talk walk. A locally produced tourist magazine puts on book talk walks in our local--southcoast MA. I learned about them after reading The Bookwoman's Daughter. The author spoke about walking book discussions, which I thought may be a great idea for the weekly walking group I am in or maybe when we get the outside space planned at the local Sr. Center. And at the book talk walks, they provide a food item that goes along with the book that they are promoting.
Wednesday: I took a free course to memory techniques for elders. (I learned that elder (wise older person) is a better term than elderly (rather old being past middle age
old-fashioned). Then I joined a group of women to progress and improve on our watercolor painting and socializing with acquaintances. In the evening I went to a free zentangle class (meditative doodling).
Thursday: I spend time with my youngest grandchild. He just had his 4th birthday. I took him to a park that has a small zoo and a playground and a nice walking area. We only did the zoo and playground. The weather was so nice.
We made a trip to visit my brother in law in the UK on our way back to Africa, so here's a travel themed one:
1. We stayed at my brother in laws place all but one night when we split a cheap hotel in London.
2. We did order take out and eat street food some, but also combined it with packi g a lunch or meals at his place.
3. I've never been big on buying expensive souvenirs. We gathered beautiful rocks from the beach and took a free newspaper about the queen's passing as remembrances of our trip.
4. We did a lot of walking, which was free. We also did a taxi, borrowed a car, train and the tube. All different prices, but the walking was the cheapest!
5. We did a lot of free sight seeing, only paying to see one or two places.
My favorite grocery chain posts manufacturers' coupons in the aisles. They had a coupon for $2.50 off the purchase of pork products if you bought two. One of the items covered was ground pork rolls at $2.19 each. The final cost for me was 94¢ each per 12 oz. roll. The coupon was available for weeks. My freezer is full.