Five Frugal Things | in store pickup, please
I rarely do my daily necessity shopping online, but I did twice this week!
I had a single day off in the midst of five shifts, so efficiency was the name of the game. 😉
1. I got two bottles of Maui Moisture for $1.66
I know! I just bought some last week. But then they sent me a $2/$10 shampoo coupon, plus a $4 Maui Moisture coupon, plus a $4/any purchase coupon...so I bought some more!
I always like having backups anyway. 😉
I also got an eyeliner pencil for free, using my Extrabucks.
2. I placed an online order with Safeway
I needed only a few things to get me through, so I didn't feel like making an Aldi trip.
I had a $10 online order coupon, my 5% student discount, and some clipped deals. I made sure my order was $30 (to avoid the $3.95 low order fee).
My necessities didn't add up to $30, so I filled in with some things I can't buy at Aldi, such as cocoa powder.
My total at the end was $30.34, so I worked that pretty perfectly. 😉
3. I got some beverage syrup for $3.60
Sometimes Zoe and I use the Monin French vanilla syrup when we make iced coffee, and our big pump container was almost empty.
I added one to my Amazon cart, used my Amazon credit card rewards, and brought my total down to $3.60.
But also, I would have bought it even at full price, because making your iced coffee at home is significantly cheaper than buying it. If you use it instead of buying your iced coffee out somewhere, a big ol' $17 bottle of syrup is gonna save you way more than it costs you,
Getting it for $3.60 was fine with me too, though. 😉
4. I used some very dry raisins in my overnight oats
I have a package of raisins that has gotten...very dry. I know raisins are dry to begin with, but these are beyond normal levels of dryness.
I made some carrot overnight oats for my last few work shift breakfasts, and I threw some of the raisins in there because they get nicely softened overnight.
I also put some in my kale salad, which worked out nicely because I was low on dried cranberries anyway.
5. I prepped more breakfasts and lunches
Since I did overnight oats last week, I made some egg bites for this week's breakfasts.
And for lunch, I am using a Thai mango salad kit (from my Safeway order) topped with some seasoned, sauteed chicken for the protein.
Did I pack some cheddar popcorn each day as well? Maaaaaaybe.
--Our feline trio has been making bank on free sample offers for pet food and treats. Of all the mailing lists to somehow end up on, at least this one is handy! Most samples also include excellent coupons, which I use if it's something they already eat, anyway; extra coupons get passed on to friends. For the record, our cats' diet is 95% predictable/arguably healthier than ours. Samples for them are like a human having the odd take-out night.
--I dropped two more pairs of pants by the coffee shop free clothing rack. I plateued hard in March but still dropped another pant size, making the donated pairs two sizes too big. It was time to set them free!
--Our Easter dinner was a $2 clearance pork tenderloin dug out of the freezer. My husband cooked it--with carrots, potatoes, and onions--in the crockpot so that we could enjoy the laziest day together possible.
--After a dry winter, a thunderstorm filled up my rain barrels nicely. I'm planting vegetable seeds next week, so any water is most welcome!
--I'll be staying with friends for an out of town work event. In thanks for the free room, I'll be bringing hostess gifts for their seventeen-year-old feline overlord. (This couple always brings host gifts for our feline trio, so it's an established tradition.) Offerings include fancy soft food pouches, squeeze tube treats, and new toys from each of *our* cats. To be clear, I didn't steal our trio's toys! I just thought about what each of them would give their senior counterpart--jingle ball, fuzzy mouse, sparkly pouf--and shopped accordingly.
I am attempting an umber frugal(ish) month. Wish me luck!
1. I line dried some clothes.
2. I cancelled a subscription.
3. I put money in my emergency savings account.
4. I got some suncream (sunblock) on sale.
5. I went for a walk yesterday and brought coffee in a thermos.
6. When I was in the airport I brought an empty bottle through security and used a water fountain to fill it afterwards.
*Uber! Why is it I see the typo the second I hit comment..
Kristen, I’ve found cocoa powder at my Aldi. Do you prefer a name brand that isn’t an option there ?
Oh! Mine hasn’t carried it in months and months!
Five Frugal Things: Easter flowers!
--I made four arrangements for our church altar, plus got some potted lilies, hyacinths, and tulips. Total for all of them was around $140. That's a lot, but WAY less than buying four arrangements, one of them quite large, at a florist.
--I can plant the hyacinth and tulip bulbs in our own garden when they're done blooming. We've tried planting the lilies before, but they won't flower before winter here, so they don't work as an outside flower for us.
--I use the same box every year for the largest arrangement. It came from the one year I did use a florist for that one (which cost me $200 then, yikes). The other arrangements went in vases from the stock at church.
--The liner for the big box was a big plastic box from salad greens I bought to plant seeds in. I realized before I used it for that (meaning before I poked drainage holes in it . . .) that it was just about the right size for the flower box, yay. The liner the box came with started leaking last year, so this worked out perfectly.
--I did try the sheep's wool as a replacement for florist's foam to support the flowers, but when I got it wet, it compacted. Last year I used criss-crossed sticks and twigs, which worked well when a large portion of the plant material in the arrangements was lilacs, with their sturdier stems. This year, I found a piece of chicken wire in the pasture and cut that to fit inside the box.
Photos of the finished arrangements here, if anyone would like to see.
https://going-country.blogspot.com/2026/04/easter-altar-flowers.html
Oh, and a bonus number six is that there were quite a few flowers in the mixed bouquets I got that I didn't like with the altar arrangements. So I arranged those into four different bouquets to put around my house. That included a tiny one for my daughter's dresser, which made her very happy.
That reminds me of my mother's frugal; she picked some wildflowers and made an Easter bouquet for the table 🙂
I wish I could do that, but our wildflowers come after Easter. And they won't come at all this year if we don't get some rain . . .
The flowers are lovely!!!
Thanks!
My Frugals:
Cooking: made yoghurt, grew windowsill broccoli and oats sprouts, soaked and cooked expired chick peas for salads
Laundry: washed on solar power, line dried laundry
Repair: repaired small holes in gym clothes and a sweater
Electricity: boil kettle of water and keep water for later drinks in a thermos (I also like to drink hot water as it is)
Purchases: kid leaving the nest needs many items and weighs off new versus thrifted. For new items, the consumers association tests are consulted and the best bargain found. We also made use of some 20% discount vouchers for wallpaint that I had for my birthday earlier in the year. And over the last half year I set aside quite some B1G1 cleaning liquid and other stuff to have at hand cleaning the apartment.
Gifting: kid went through belongings and passed along several boxes of stuff to younger people. And we passed on quite a few things from my late mother, and also a huge cast iron pan that is becoming too heavy for me.
Relaxation: borrowed "Reading Lessons" from the library - such a great read. Someone of the commentariat recommended it last year but cannot recall who. Thanks anyway!
My five:
*We had a relaxed Easter dinner. It was just us. My dad bought on-sale ham, and I used whatever else we had on hand. It wasn't a big feast, but since we had a dessert (carrot cake made with frozen shredded carrots from the ginormous amount we were given), it felt just fancy enough.
*We used an app to check for the best gas prices. We have to use the gas because of where we live, but we tried to limit the running about. We have one learning driver who needs hours, but she refuses to drive unless it is a needed task. She's turning out quite frugal.
*I am prioritizing making the veggies I buy so that they don't go to waste.
*We accepted leftovers from a Bible-study dinner.
*We went to a free-admission art museum for a meet-up with friends. We packed a no-frills lunch that included homemade bread and leftovers.