Five Frugal Things | It has pockets, ok??
1. I bought an unnecessary dress on sale
I'm comin' out of the gate swinging, with a dubiously frugal item. 😉
Do I need another summer sundress? No.
But this one is very comfortable, it was on sale, and I used my Target Redcard debit card for an additional 5% off. 😉
And as we know from when I bought my black Target dress, I will wear this everywhere during the summer, like to Home Depot.
2. I bought a clearance sport bra
My two main sports bras hail from around, ummmmm, 2010-2012. Soo, I don't have tell you that they are a bit worse for the wear.
Given that, I picked up a clearance bra top when I was in Target buying my unnecessary sundress. 😉
3. I used Upside for a gas discount
I did quite a bit of driving to and from the airport last week (!), which meant my tank was getting pretty low.
So, before I headed home from Target, I pulled up the Upside app to find a gas discount nearby. And happily, one was available right on my way home.
4. I responsibly used my kale for a salad
My Hungry Harvest box included a big bunch of kale, so I made a batch of Gimme Some Oven's kale salad, which is my go-to for using up kale.
You massage the kale with some oil and salt, and that really does help make it less like eating shoe leather.
I ate the salad with some shrimp for my dinner on Sunday night, and I packed the same exact thing for my lunch for my hospital shift on Monday.
So, yay me! I will not throw any of this kale away. 😉
Also, I used a geriatric lemon in the dressing, so the salad was a double win for me.
5. I listed my scrub watch on eBay
I had to buy a watch with a second hand to use in clinicals and for competency testing, and now that I'm done (!!!!!), I no longer need it.
Sooo, I listed it on eBay, where hopefully a fall 2025 nursing student will snap it up. 😉
Bonus small item: I froze my extra bacon
I made a batch of the imitation Starbucks egg bites, and I did not need the whole package of bacon for those.
So, I rolled up the rest of the slices, put them in a zippered bag, sucked the air out with a straw, and put them in the freezer.
Now it will be easy to grab out just a few, which is important for a tiny household!
Scraping the bottom of the frugal barrel:
*on picking up my daughter and friend from college, we made a stop at Sam's Club to get some things and get gas at 40 cents per gallon cheaper. The minivan took over 18 gallons, so a decent savings.
*eggs were $2.20 per dozen for the big box, so I bought the box of 90 eggs.
*Tired after the long drive, we used gift cards for dinner from Domino's.
Skip over the next week as I spent money like it was going out of style...
* Used Target card with $15 gift card back for spending $50 to buy laundry detergent and cleaning supplies for daughter and self. Also got 5% off with red card, and got $2 off coupon from pharmacy.
*Returning daughter and friend to college town for their summer jobs, I hit Sam's club again for gas- 50 cents off a gallon this time. And more eggs as I packed most of the other ones up for daughter and friend for their apartments.
Frugal fail: we stopped at Trader Joe's on the road. I've never been in one, so the cool displays and decent prices caused me to buy a bunch of treats ( daughter and friends picked out healthy foods for their apts). However, several of the treats meant for my kids at home got packed in my daughter's bag, so a loss for me.
@mbmom11, that's great deal on eggs! Our Sam's club & grocery stores eggs are still expensive.
My frugals:
- We had a rainy, windy, chilly weekend so I seasoned a new cast iron skillet and used residual oven heat to warm our kitchen. Plus I reseasoned my other (bigger sized) skillet at the same time, so I only had to heat the oven once.
- I propagated my own soy bean sprouts in the window sill. I like my sprouted vegetables very fresh
- We ate seasonal vegetables
- I also made more yoghurt
- We topped up gas when we passed the cheapest gas station on our way
Plus one: we will be going on a shopping spree to Germany this weekend, where many groceries are cheaper and/or products have highter quality for the same price. Ofcourse we are investigating some prices difference in advance. Meat for the freezer will definitely be on our list and we will also need shoes for large feet. In our experience clothes shops cater for many sizes in Germany against very reasonable prices. I hope we will find a good pair of leather shoes for the Tall Guy.
I do hope we have our emissions sticker in time though - we had to request a new one for the new (emissions friendly) car.
You should be as dressy as you like when not wearing scrubs!
--The zipper on my freezer bag broke during my last grocery shopping trip. By broke, I mean the zipper pull came off, there was no getting it back on (I tried), and I ended up having to cut the stitches to get our food out! I replaced the worn bag with a large cooler we had stored in my husband's car trunk. The cooler was free from my parents when they brought our last round of game meat--they specifically told us to keep the cooler.
--Our bathroom stash included a random bar of Dr. Bronner's almond-scented Castile soap that I had grabbed on clearance ($1) ages and ages ago. Since we're about out of our liquid Castile soap for laundry, I spent a few minutes shredding the almond soap bar using the finest side of our cheese grater. The results went into a small Tupperware by the washer.
--The garden's first wave is massively contributing to and/or deciding dinner. Thus far, we've enjoyed salads, sauteed radish greens, and fresh basil in innumerable things. I even pickled and roasted radishes for the first time. Roasted radishes may be my new favorite thing.
--A neighbor gave me a generous amount of hens and chicks plants thinned from her own garden in return for radishes I brought from ours. I wasn't out for a trade, but it was incredibly sweet, nonetheless!
--Repainting our garage is on next year's docket, both for time (it needs some love all over beforehand) and budgetary reasons (ditto). My husband and I still know our two top color choices, so I spent $10 combined on sample pots. The two swatches I painted side by side will help us decide which color looks best with three seasons' worth of flowers planted by the garage. The colors range from dark purple dwarf irises first thing in spring (they bloom early); to lighter purple full-size irises (just fading out); to the yellow 7ft daylilies later this summer and early fall.
Very few frugal activities. I'm on the road for a week in New England, staying in 4 different places so there aren't a ton of opportunities. Unless you want to count it father's irreversible habit of paying for hotels and restaurants. It makes him happy so I let him.
Unfrugal things:
- I bought a lot of cheese and maple items.
- I bought a t-shirt. Nice looking and soft beyond belief but still, I don't need another T-shirt.
- Drinking soda instead of only water.
- Tipping generously.
Vaguely frugal things:
- Ate restaurant leftovers for lunch.
- One hotel gave us wine and cheese; I'm saving the wine for a house gift for some friends.
- Asked the cheese-and-maple store for a discount since I was buying so much. (I had been chatting with one of the owners already, and thought she might be amenable.)
- Only bought one bag of maple sugar-encrusted nuts. They are wicked good and rather pricy.
@WilliamB, the maple sugar-encrusted nuts sound delicious and worth the splurge!
Oh yes those sound SO good.
@WilliamB, wicked good! Your adopting the lingo as you voyage through New England 🙂
A dress with pockets is always necessary!
1. I wanted to read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood but there was a waiting list at the public library. I am a member of another library and was able to get a copy from there, and the sequel. It's somewhat distressing seeing the US get closer to that reality, but that's another post!
2. I went out earlier and felt hungry but decided to wait until I was home to eat lunch, and settled for a muffin instead.
3. I made payments on loans.
4. I reserved a film on DVD at the library, as well as some books.
5. I managed to get some good reductions on food at the supermarket. This is somewhat balanced/cancelled out by my having to throw out some food earlier in the week!
@Sophie in Denmark,
Good for you on those points! I am very impressed on your lunch delayed gratification. It is always difficult to be wise when you are hungry
@JNL, It really is! This is why I never go to the supermarket hungry!
@Sophie in Denmark, who buys clothing without pockets? I sure don't. No pockets (and I mean usable, real pockets) means not purchased by me.
@Selena, Unfortunately the bozos who design women's clothing seem to think pockets are an extra, not a necessity!
*I mended two items of clothing. One was an easy fix. The other was a rip. I told the boy it would be a visible mending project. I was proud when I was finished. . . but when I held it up to admire it, I realized I'd done it on the wrong side! So I was disgusted. Then the next day, I made it a little better on the side it would show. It's done. I'm sure he'll wear it because he really likes the shirt.
*I made yogurt. But I forgot to put starter in the milk in the jars. Hours later, I check to see if it was done. It, of course, wasn't. So I just stirred the starter into each jar, added a little more hot water to the cooler, and it worked!
*I made coffee at home. My husband also made martinis for us yesterday. Both of those things are far cheaper at home than out.
*Frugal things my kids did: got free symphony tickets for a date (student discount), asked mom to mend clothes instead of asking for new, helped mom cook in the kitchen, helped dad fix up the chicken coop (This one is questionable, but it would be way more expensive to hire help, right?). One got a raise at work since he's driving now instead of being picked up.
*Not frugal: College boy brought home 2 abandoned and struggling kittens from his grandparents' house. We had to buy food and formula. Frugal: Our friends lent us a kitty warmer and gave us their de-worming stuff leftovers. The kitties are doing MUCH better now. Also frugal, maybe--- they will be living outside with our other outside cat and, hopefully, killing rodents and such.
*We used our library.
*Made a crockpot creamy salsa chicken that used up 2 partial party dips brought by friends, frozen black beans, a partial jar of salsa, & canned corn bought on sale- it was/is delicious! Leftovers before pickleball tonight
*Gorgeous haul at the farmer’s market, including mini beets (roasted on Sat) with such a healthy bunch of greens. I washed them & have been using them in my savory breakfast bowls (sautéed in saved bacon grease)
*Used strawberries that were getting soft to make a cast iron skillet crumble last night. Served with BOGO Mayfield ice cream
*One of my daughter’s friends is staying in my garage apt in between moves. They gave me an original piece of their art. I found a framed piece of mass produced art at Goodwill with a gorgeous frame for $3.99! We popped the other piece out- I’ll donate it. The new piece looks so good on my wall
*All the routine things- tea at home, all meals at home, windows still open, outside plants watered with H2O from rain barrel, library books & Libby, etc
@Diane, Mayfield ice cream? Are you in east Tennessee?
@A. Marie, I am!!!
Geriatric lemon; love it !
That's a beautiful dress! I wish dresses like that flattered me, but, alas, they do not.
1. Made a huge pot of chili for dinner that used up some cooked beef and some black beans in the fridge (avoided opening another can), and some crinkle cut carrot chips I regretted buying as nobody else thought it was a keen idea to use those instead of chips with their meals. But they got eaten up in the chili. I also skipped the step of sauteeing the vegetables on the stove before plopping them in the crockpot, and that worked pretty well--saved energy.
2. Mended ANOTHER mouse.
3. Helped DH organize stuff in the garage and convinced him that yes, DS#1's printer is working wonderfully, even scans to my computer, so no, we do not need to "hang on" to the old, busted printer that he was thinking he could fix. This does not mean we have taken the printer to the recycling center or anything, but it has made the painful transition off DH's workspace in the house to the garage, so progress has been made.
4. Cancelled Subscribe and Save for a few items that I've determined I really don't need to keep using. Mostly supplements.
5. Commodore Fluffington graciously allowed myself and DS#2 to trim his razor-sharp murder mittens, with the help of a Churu treat, thus avoiding needing to take him to any sort of groomer. Also saving potential damage to our window screens, as he's gotten very excited about the birds and bugs outside lately.
6. Eggs seem to be going down in price, which is good--not that we use a lot of eggs, but with DS#4 having braces scrambled eggs are a good soft food for him. I got a carton of brown eggs on clearance for under $3 at Kroger last week!
High-fiving you on the claw trimming. I feel the same way every time we are successful!
@Karen A., Commodore Fluffington razor sharp murder mittens, I can't stop laughing though I know cats claws can be sharp. I have to share that description with my teen who who compare my fingernails to cat claws.
@Karen A. et al., oddly enough, I've never had a real problem with clipping any of our six cats' claws. My MO is to wait till they're napping, sneak up on them with a pair of human toenail clippers dedicated to feline purposes, and do one or two paws at a time.
@A. Marie, I would love to do it that way, but the Commodore seems to sleep with one eye open--you so much as touch a paw while he's apparently sleeping, and he will be awake in an instant!
My cats are like this too; no way would they sleep through a trimming of even one nail.
@Regina, I am not kidding. His paws look so soft and plush, and most of the time he is very, very gentle--he'll sit up for a treat and hold our hand with his paws, and never use his claws, but if they do come out while he's playing and forgets, OUCH.
@Karen A.,
Our cat - Lafayette, King of All He Surveys - had a brief love affair with Churu treats. Once he figured out they were connected to taking his hyperthyroid medicine, he became disenchanted......BUT, he looooooves the gooey Churu stuff (it's kind of a very soft paste?) that he gets when we give him his steroid medicine (it gets applied to his inner ear. Yes, he's high maintenance). I don't know what Churu puts in their cat treats, but I hope they never stop! 🙂
@Liz B., We call them squeezy treats and they're the only way I was able to get Clark to agree to let me brush him when we brought him home! He needs regular brushing or he gets mats in unseemly places. I made a rookie error by giving him one in the morning his first day here, and after that for a while he tried to wake us up at 4 am, or 5 am, whenever he thought it was time for SQUEEZY TREAT. We had to resort to a) locking him out of our bedroom for a while, and b) switching his daily treat to lunchtime. Even so, around 10:30 he starts staring at me, and trying to telepathically communicate that maybe, just hear him out, just maybe it's time for lunch already. Still better than being nosed awake at 4:30 a.m. by the Commodore.
DH has a theory that cats are very smart to crave Churus, since they're mostly water and cats, being descended from desert-dwelling animals, don't really drink water the way other animals do (they're used to getting their moisture from their fresh kills). So when they get that nice moist Churu treat it triggers that need. All I know is Clark would probably let me shave him if I gave him a Churu at the same time! 😀
@Karen A., I've seen videos of people putting a lickable treat on their forehead and cat licks it off as they trim their nails. You might Google that.
Should I be rolling my bacon for freezing? I usually lay out flat slices on a cookie sheet to freeze hard then move to freezer bags or container so I can microwave or to fit the griddle pan.
Oh, I think either way works well! I have sometimes laid them flat, but I like the speed of rolling them up because I can easily do it right in the bag.
Kristen, you graduated summa cum laude. You have a summer job, then a nurse's job lined up for this fall. No need to feel guilty about treating yourself to a new dress. For goodness sakes, it came from Target, not Neiman-Marcus. So it still counts as frugal!
But...Aren't you going to need that watch when you start your nurse's job in August?
1. Picked up 2 more store shifts from other workers who wanted off for the holiday and for a graduation party.
2. Got a free hamburger from a coupon I found on the sidewalk in front of the school.
3. A young man from our church just graduated high school and is headed out of state for college. It's also his birthday. Rounded up some school supplies from my teacher's supply closet to put in a care package for him. (Sadly, I know I won't ever get hired for a FT teaching job again at my age, + my teacher certification has expired. So no need for a second electric pencil sharpener, several staplers and scissors, etc.) Also found some goodies from my Xmas gift closet, such as a bedside phone charger I'd gotten at Habitat ReStore. In addition, I bought him a college flag and a set of playing cards with their mascot on it from our store. (Would've thrown in a matching set of poker chips, but his mom might object.) It all goes in a "Happy Birthday" gift bag I've saved to reuse.
4. Our local Fuzzy's Tacos and Applebee's restaurants have both closed. I still have some gift cards from both places. Looked it up online, and they are still operating in the young man's college town. Those gift cards will go in his care pkg., too.
5. Frugal fail, but one I couldn't resist: when buying dog food and chew bones, I saw that Walmart had doggie T-shirts including one that says "The Snuggle is real!" Mr. Snuggles Dog now has a Size Large he is wearing around the house. He looks sooooo handsome in it!
@Fru-gal Lisa,
What a lovely gift you put together for that young man! Very thoughtful!
@Fru-gal Lisa, You treat your church friends soo well. That young man and his parents will think of you often.
@Fru-gal Lisa, Mr. Snuggles is a lucky dog and surely looks quite handsome in his new shirt!
1. Delightful neighbor girl stopped by to sell raffle tickets for her fastpitch softball fundraiser. It was $20 per ticket so I limited it to one. Her family has been very good and generous to us, so it was worth it. It would be really worth it if I win one of the 15 cash prizes – anywhere from $100 to $2,500.
2. Husband and I went to a coffee/OJ/donut get-together to welcome a new neighbor. This was hosted by the new neighbor’s son who lives next door to his dad. Stayed until the end and took a cup of leftover coffee home to dilute and drink during the week.
3. Received several things from Buy Nothing: two packs of coleus, produce box of onions and potatoes, shirt for husband and two large bottles of hand sanitizer. My husband used hand sanitizer well before Covid and hasn’t stopped. Was able to fulfill several requests from other Buy Nothing members, including large pieces of cardboard for a weed barrier, packing materials, and something else that I can’t remember.
4. Received $10 off groceries at Target using a Circle Bonus.
5. Made two loaves of homemade bread.
I think if you know you will wear a thing often enough and it fits your style, its frugal to buy it and get good use out of it vs. waiting until you need the item and having to pay more and be under a time gun. Prepare for future you, I guess. Future me knows I will live in shorts this summer so I bought a certain pair in almost every color, using a sale and Kohl's cash. I have plenty of storage room in my dresser and they fit and wear very well. Other things:
*eating down the contents of my freezer and cooking creatively. This includes eating prepped meals from leftovers that I happily take to work.
*going to free Thursday night live music concerts in downtown Austin. Parking is $10 and well worth it.
*using my HEB app or my Partner card to buy only what I need until my Big Shop. This is mostly fresh veggies. I gave up creamer - go me!
*I switched to liquid laundry soap vs. pods which lasts longer and is cheaper.
@Gina from The Cannary Family, I switched to powdered Tide from Costco.
@Gina from The Cannary Family,
From what I understand, and I'm certainly no expert, the plastic from pods can clog up plumbing, and is also terrible for the environment. I stopped using laundry pods, and am using up the backlog of dishwasher detergent pods I have. I use liquid laundry detergent, and will use tablet dishwasher detergent in the future.
@Gina from The Cannary Family,
Have you ever made your own laundry detergent? It's very easy, way cheaper and there are lots of recipes on the internet. I've been doing it for about 10+ years when powdered detergent seem to irritate my husband. Check it out.
Your Target dress is cute! And personally, you can never have too many summer dresses. 🙂
Teen said I was spendy this last weekend, but I got some great deals!
Frugal things---
● fresh corn on cob 5/$1 that we grilled this weekend with
● chicken leg quarters $0.49/pound (10# frozen bag)
● buy 2 get 2 free Lays chips ($6 for 4 bags)
● picked up few more $2/bag dirt for planting in pots (mixing with compost)
● dug out graduation cards from card box (previously bought years ago) along with Thank you notes (got box of 10 from Dollar Tree) for upcoming graduation so do not need to buy any
● went to Flea Market this weekend & found the following: ceramic outside end table $20 (normally $75), stainless steel countertop compost bucket with lid $1, vintage Pyrex glass measuring cup $1, A & W rootbeer (first series etched glass) mini (kid) mugs 3/$10 (I paid more than that for 1 at other sales & antique stores), new outside rug $4 (1/2 off), outside scrub brushes (washing vehicles) 3/$1, extender scrub brush that hooks up to hose $8 (washing house or vehicles)
Frugal fail---
● did not finish my salad mix & no salad spinner is going to save this salad, so composted
● did not finish pulling Rotisserie chicken apart (to put in freezer) (10 days old, dogs will get as treats unless smells bad then garbage
● bought fresh pineapple at Meijer then went across to Aldi & Aldi pineapple $1.50 cheaper (but 1/3 of size)
@Regina, I love when the teens get involved in my frugality-- because that means they are learning about it all!
Also, composting (or feeding chickens) with my produce fails is like a consolation prize. Compost isn't free, after all!
Kristen,
Consider it a graduation gift to yourself.
It's very pretty and looks good on you.
- I made another garden gate with some leftover wire mesh and clips I had on hand. My daughter later mentioned how nice my gates were, so that’s a bonus.
- I found a cheaper source for some extra soil for my garden, and less expensive compost. The compost is local and you fill your own buckets, so no plastic bags and the buckets make it easier to store or carry to the back yard.
- I used up a few seed packets. Not a huge cost, obviously, but I always end up with way too many seeds.
- I stopped buying clementines. My daughter and I love them, but had to accept the season was over. We were throwing out a lot of chewy juiceless fruit, just to get a few good ones. It happens every year around this time, but it’s a sign that summer fruit is just about here.
- I’m still working on using up more of my freezer food.
- Only two days of school left (including today), which means another year of carpooling is about over. Split between three families, we use a lot less gas. I’m also continuing to walk my youngest to school.
Frugal things, camping edition.
We're in week two of our month long camping vacation in our Rv.
We spent the holiday weekend with friends, parked in therbdriveway, and stayed last night in a free campground in a county park. That brings our free site total total to 5 for the trip. We're headed to a state park tonight.
We stopped for gas at Love's yesterday. I checked the ap for any freebies and scored a free package of trail mix.
Shopped for groceries with my friend and was able to find marked down beef and chicken.
We took our friends to dinner but otherwise are eating in.
I had some leftover peppers, mushrooms and cheese from making pizza and used them to make omelets.
I hosted a tea party for six yesterday. From what I remember from my couple of visits to tea rooms, I probably saved a couple hundred dollars doing it all myself. Not that there are a lot of tea rooms to go to here on the range, anyway . . .
@kristin @ going country, I find myself singing, "Home, home on the range/With English Breakfast and Earl Grey/Where seldom is heard a discouraging word/And the scones are made fresh all day." 🙂
@kristin @ going country, I love a tea party. When I was a little girl, my mother and I would have tea parties. I had my own miniature set of china just for this purpose.
Later in life, my mother developed dementia and was in memory care. As the dementia progressed, she loved to have tea parties again. Before going to visit her, my daughter and I would brew a thermos of tea, make mini sandwiches, and buy petit fours. She always delighted in her little make shift party.
Recently, I tried to have a tea party with my nearly-two granddaughter. It did not go very well. She may be a wee too young or just a little too active for that kind of thing. The jury is still out.
@A. Marie,
Love your song!
Frugal.
Somehow the digital coupons aligned. I spent 71 dollars at Kroger pick up but saved 76 in the APP. It was a full pick up of food.
Did not shop Memorial Day Sales.
Bought some baby shower gifts off of Amazon BOGO 50 percent off. Board books are always a hit and pretty cheap to ship for out of town family.
Continue to use Libby and Kanopy for entertainment. Love libraries!
Planted some herbs. This will save money for my future self. I also planted green onions scraps from my grocery order!
You know, if you leave about an inch open on the top of the baggie, you can submerge the baggie up to the line under the zipper and the water pressure forces the air out which is both easier and potentially more sanitary. I like it for the easier part.
@Mesha,
So, you put the open zipper bag in some water up to the line....and then close the zipper top? But then your zipper top bag is all wet, which could be a problem if its then going into the freezer....? Meaning, you have to dry it off, and hope you dried it well enough? Just trying to decide if this would be easier for me.
FFT, Memorial Day Edition ("simulcast" here and at the NCA):
(1) Summertime, and the weather has finally improved enough for folks to want to be outdoors. So the pickin' is easy: I've found $2.55 in NY State deposit containers and 27 cents in change in the last two days. Cha-ching!
(2) I took my NDN down to Country Max on Monday so that she could pick up her usual petunias and geraniums (she still enjoys planting a few window boxes), and so that we could use my 20% Memorial Day discount on all nursery stock. I used the discount myself to pick up four pots of spearmint, since I need to replant my spearmint, and since none of my usual "mutual mooching" gardening friends have any either.
(3) And tomorrow, NDN and I will enlist the help of her home care aide in planting our usual two tomatoes in pots behind NDN's 8-foot chain-link fence. My ribs are much better, but I still don't think I'd better be hauling 40-quart bags of potting soil around.
(4) I was finally able to get out in my garden beds for a little much-needed weeding with my trusty "Hula-Ho" (hey, that's the brand name; don't blame me) scuffle hoe. No complaints from my ribs or any other portion of my aging anatomy so far.
(5) And I enjoyed a Memorial Day gathering Monday evening with like-minded friends. We set the world to rights generally, and made plans for supporting the best candidate in our upcoming mayoral primary in particular.
Unless you are overloaded with summer dresses, getting a dress you love and will wear is frugal!
I have a few frugal things:
1. My sister and I found a new thrift store with very nice stuff, supporting the hospice where DH passed away, so we definitely wanted to shop there. We found we had stumbled onto their monthly 50% off day. We were really pleased with what we bought.
2. My sister picked up my meal tab when we ate lunch out one day.
3. My sister is fine with eating leftovers, so we ate them all up, and nothing got wasted.
4. I did some mending instead of replacing.
5. My present for the birthday boy last week was bought (new) at half off with an online discount code. For myself, I bought 3 pairs of cozy sweatpants from ThredUp at deep discount. Getting ready for more days at home after I retire!
@JD, your #1 in particular sounds like a win/win/win!
@JD, I have bought a blue dress with shoulder pads (lol!) from Thred Up and use it as one of my special occasion dresses. It just traveled with me to son's graduation in California. Very easy to roll up and it doesn't wrinkle.
The keynote speaker at son's MBA graduation was the founder of Posh Mark. Very capitalistic speech for a founder of an on line thrift shop. But they were all MBAs.
We did not eat out at all this weekend. I had made a pot of chili for Thursday dinner since it was very cool out, and we had some for lunch leftovers. There is a dinner serving that I was able to put in the freezer. The other meals were food from the fridge and freezer.
We started working on our vegetable garden (yes we are a little late) and it's way more work than we thought. So we are going slowly and will complete the plantings around the rain this week. We didn't have a garden last year, so the ground had to be turned over a few times.
We did have to buy new fencing to go around the garden, but we used credits from Menards that we had on hand. Unfortunately, we miscalculated what we needed, so we had to purchase more without credits.
Love your dress, and wish I could wear that style. But oh well, I'll enjoy you wearing it! And I agree with others to think of it as a graduation gift to yourself.
What is extra bacon?
@Jenni, ha! I have a dish towel with similar sentiments re: ways to use leftover wine!! What is leftover wine?!?!
@Jenni, I'm with you and @Diane: Chez A. Marie, there is no such thing as leftover bacon or wine. (I'd add corn chips.)
I think someone who just graduated from nursing school can impulse-buy herself a dress!
My five are mostly cooking-related:
1. I keep my freezer stocked with chopped celery for soups/sauces, but I left it too long and my head of celery got wilted, so I cut it, soaked it in water until it was firm again, and then dried and froze it.
2. I made chicken broth and froze it. It didn't come out pretty (it boiled and got cloudy, and I forgot to keep in the onion skin to make it a pretty golden colour) but it'll taste fine.
3. I acquired green curry paste and coconut milk on sale, so I now have the makings for an easy dinner.
4. A frugal save: we bought a few different herbs on sale (usually we only buy one kind a week because they're so ridiculously expensive) but Mr. B forgot them in the car. The next morning I couldn't find them and texted him at work; he went to the car and stuck the herbs in the fridge at work so that they wouldn't go bad.
5. I used up a lot of odds and ends this week: some bendy green onions, two sad-looking lemon halves, the end of a bag of chickpeas, three rapidly-softening mangoes, caught the strawberries before they got mushy...
I'm curious. Do nurses not need watches with secondhand anymore?
• I enrolled in the rewards program at my YMCA. I earned 25 points for each visit. These points can be used to buy workout gear and personal training sessions. I've already earned a $10 credit at the gear store.
• I made a big bowl of Jennifer, Aniston's salad and ate it for lunch last week. It was quite tasty and made lunchtime easy. It is gluten-free, vegetarian, and can be vegan if you eliminate the feta cheese. Here is the recipe if anyone is interested. https://www.eatingbirdfood.com/jennifer-aniston-salad/
• I cleaned out and straightened up my pantry. It really needed to be re-organized. I used to think I had on hand to eat in the organizational process. No, it's not Instagram worthy, but it's neat and organized just the same.
• My SIL is an interior designer. I am helping her clean out her storage room in exchange for some of her project leftovers. I love textiles and there is no longer a design store in my city. I hope to find a few things to redo some cushions and throw pillows.
• I have done all the usual things -- brewed my own coffee, drank primarily water, cooked my own food, and read library books.
Wishing all peace, good health and prosperity.
@Bee,
**That should read - I used what I had on hand to aid in the organizational process.
I'm really not sure what happened here. Sometimes AI makes us look dumb!
@Bee, fabric stores (online & physical stores) are becoming hard to find. Then add sewing notions to that hard to find list.
@Regina, I have had good luck putting together a nice mending basket by shopping estate sales. However, I must purchase upholstery and pillow making supplies online.
Love the dress, and sounds like a fun splurge. I like the idea from one of the other posters that it's a graduation gift to yourself.
1) Lots of meals prepped & cooked at home this weekend. No meals out. Plenty of leftovers for the rest of the week.
2) Met a friend for a hike yesterday, for a free get together activity.
3) Picked up popsicles & ice cream bars using a grocery store reward, so DS18 would have treats for the car wash party he hosted at our house.
4) Set out all of our supplies, and DH showed all of DS18's friends how to properly wash their cars. They were so pleased.
5) Used lots of garden goodies in our meals. So far, we have: cilantro, basil, mint, strawberries, peppers & lemons. The cilantro is especially exciting, as we have killed it many times in the past.
Love the sucking the air out trick with a straw and that dress looks great on you!
- We went out for breakfast for our anniversary. Our ticket was lost in the kitchen, and our server did not notice that we hadn't gotten our food. I commented on the poor service and spoke to the owner, who decided to comp our meal. I didn't speak out hoping to get a free meal but appreciated the gesture.
- We took a day trip to a state park for our anniversary. We packed a cooler with drinks and snacks for the trip.
- Neighbor's friend cut down a tree for us for free after the tornado hit our neighborhood. That was a big savings and was so helpful since the tree was blocking the front door.
- Son-in-law has a chainsaw so he came over to help cut up the trees laying in the grassy part of the yard. We still have about a dozen mature trees that are in the yard that have to be cut down, so it was great to be able to do some of the work ourselves to save a little money. I never realized before that homeowner's insurance will only pay for tree removal if the tree hits the house or a fence.
- We did not go out to eat over the long weekend. We grilled burgers and sausages that I bought at Costco when we were there picking up our son's prescription glasses from the optical department.
Racking my brain on the frugal front...
I have not been shopping for a couple of or maybe even three weeks except for milk so no impulse buys. I am compiling a list of need/wants to go today or tomorrow.
I was able to roast some wizened strawberries from the Farmer's Market and also roasted the hard as a rock ones from Misfits and salvaged them as a spread for toast or ice cream. I also roasted some rhubarb and added that in. I sprinkle them all (and more on the latter) with sugar. Actually pretty tasty.
I made my favorite zucchini casserole (with jiffy mix cornbread) that uses said zucchini, onions, eggs, sour cream, and the mix. I put half in the dish and placed some American cheese with bacon (bits mixed in) and the rest of the batter. The cheese was going nowhere prior to that in spite of the bacon. It's great warmed up for breakfast, to take to work, etc.
I finally had the dead ash tree in my yard cut and hauled. The tree cutter underestimated the price. (I already had an idea of how much I would/could pay d/t the tight spot and ginormous size). When he gave the estimate, I told him I would pay x-dollars more (a significant amount) if he would also carry off the pile of limbs and yard debris I had piled over the year. He agreed. I was able to pick up more limbs and sticks from the yard and add to the trailer. Once he and his brother completed the task, he agreed it was more difficult than he anticipated. They did a good job. Cleaned everything else up and it was well worth the price. Frugal! No more worry of it breaking and causing damage!
I can only think of the usuals: distill my own water, chai latte at home, bunch errands, car hasn't needed any repairs. And I haven't "driven thru" for meals as much this week.
@Chrissy, Your zucchini dish sounds delicious. Any chance you could share the recipe?
Hmmmm. . . .
so knowing that frugal is relative:
I bought two sconces for the 1912 River Renovation house at Lamps Plus. The next day I still was not satisfied so I spent time researching internet options. I choose two gorgeous brass sconces and saved $300. Also from Wayfair I bought two porch fans and a freestanding bathtub. I had been researching for a year and feel I got the best values.
I joined the Wayfair rewards before I bought anything. I get 5% back. The fee of $29 has easily been paid for. I will cancel in a year when hopefully the house is finished.
The River House has a 6 foot concrete planter filled with thriving succulents. One end of the planter has a 1 foot, super rough break in it. I spent about $200 in faux silk succulents, real branches and real seed pods. It sounds like a lot but the hope is the hanging faux will cover the break and while the other items hide height and interest. These are VERY HIGH END Fauxs. Anybody who has done the research knows what I am talking about. I believe they will blend in and look great. Better than $1,000 for a replacing the planter which is the center of the front yard.
I did not go to a baseball game. I did not buy snacks at a movie theater. I did use up about 10 "Hail Mary Buys" at Grocery Outlet from the freezer - most of which turned out great and all of which were a replacement for eating out.
you look fabulous in that dress. you deserve it. a present to yourself for graduating nursing school. enjoy it!!!!!
I'm impressed with how much air you got out of that bag with the bacon!
My FFT:
1. It's grad party season, so I purchased a box of graduation cards rather than buy them individually.
2. My in-laws (who recently moved here) are willing to keep our dog while we're camping next week, so I cancelled the kennel reservation. Oddly enough, someone at work a couple of weeks ago was talking about how they had a dog crate in their car that they tried to sell and couldn't, so they wanted to give it away and just needed to find a home for it. Perfect!
3. I worked a couple of big catering events last week and brought home some leftovers.
4. Passionate Penny Pincher was running a sale on their menu plan pdf's yesterday and when I checked my rewards, I saw that I could get one for free because I had enough reward points. Yay!
5. I just finished a salad for lunch that I got on clearance at Meijer this morning.
Not gonna lie, sucking the air out of bags is kind of fun.
(I might not be the most fun person in the world. Ha.)
@Kristen, I believe that one characteristic a lot of us share as die-hard frugalists is a high threshold for boredom. Maybe we should have a Frugal Olympics sometime, with such events as sucking the air out of bags, watching paint dry, hanging laundry to dry and then waiting for it, etc., etc.
1. I talked my husband out of buying more brats (he wanted to make beer brats, and we only had flavored brats) and to just use the brats we had in the freezer. Somedays it feels like a majority of my frugal wins come from convincing him to use what we already have.
2. I stopped by Costco to fill up my gas tank.
3. I brought a few meals over to my grandma’s house this weekend. My parents are staying with her while she is recovering from a broken leg and getting ready to move to assisted living and I wanted to take one item off their to do list. I already had the ingredients on hand so I didn’t have to run to the store.
4. The insert of our programmable slow cooker broke so I ordered a replacement. Replacing the entire slow cooker with a new non-programable slow cooker would have been cheaper, but the slow cooker itself wasn’t damaged and having the programmable option is really important to us.
5. I kept up the normal habits: shopping the pantry before making a menu/shopping list, leftovers for lunch (and sometimes dinner), reading the books in my TBR pile, taking care of the things we already own, coffee at home, staying in a “enjoying our mortgage.”
I’m curious!! Do you have a strapless bra you like? I’ve found some nice summer dresses on sale but they are spaghetti strap, much like yours! I don’t even own a strapless bra 🙂 thank you!
I have one from Target (I actually bought in in a Hawaii Target. Ha.), but I think strapless bras are such an individualized purchase. I always have to try on a zillion of theme to find one that works right. And that's even with me being small-busted! I can imagine that the struggle is even worse for people who are well-endowed.
@Kristen, there is no such thing as a strapless bra that works well for those of us in the Zaftig Zone. That is all.
That 100% does not surprise me! I believe you.
@Kristen, thanks! I know that’s the truth, I guess I was hoping you’d found the holy grail 🙂
I mostly avoided grocery shopping last week, in order to use up what we had.
I said no to my daughter when she asked to go to our county fair, I wasn’t interested and it’s so expensive where we live! She got to go anyway when a friend invited her, their family got free tickets!
Picked/ate blueberries from our own backyard bushes!
Used sales to buy some summer clothing for our trip to the Bahamas! Which is also slightly frugal (?) as my husband earned it through work! Our airfare and hotel are free! this isn’t usually how it goes for us, so I’m still shocked!!
Drank coffee at home 🙂
Ironed dress shirts instead of dry cleaning them.
Didn’t hire a house cleaner even though I desperately want too.
While the whole family including our daughter in law were in California last week for son's MBA graduation I tried to do some frugal things. Believe me the vacation was expensive but for a chance to spend time with my adult children it was worth it!
1. I brought 2 library books to read. I felt very old school on the plane coming home. While everyone else were on their devices I was reading an actual book with pages.
2. Our son paid for one dinner and breakfasts for he and his wife.
3. We hit Walmart there and stocked up on bottled water, sodas, yogurt and snacks. Hubby bought 3 cooler bags for us to use while traveling in the car. Ice was free at the hotels we stayed in. Stupid me for thinking we could pick up a styrofoam cooler in California, lol! If it wasn't so expensive and crowded I would love to live their just for their recycling efforts. Aluminum cans of water with screw on lids!
5. Picked up the freebies in our hotels. Small bars of soap, small bottle of Palmolive, Scrub Mommy sponge, pens, make up remover pads and bottled water.
6. Made sure I enjoyed the ammenities at the resort that we stayed at near Yosemite. Lovely warm pool and huge hot tub and a bonus...clear skies to see the stars. Also free s'mores around a fire every night. We had Alexa in our room and I enjoyed shouting out singers to listen to...i.e. The Eagles, Bob Seger, Bruce Springsteen. Told dh I want one for Christmas.
@Auntiali, re: your #1, I'm known in most of my health care professionals' offices as **the** patient who always brings a book.
@Auntiali, we have canned water (like soda cans) Waterloo (is one brand we tried) & (blue) glass bottles with screw on metal lids (which people look to collect or buy for outdoor (art) bottle tree.
I wish recycling was more realistic like California recycling.
There should be a law that all women's clothing must have functional pockets.
1. I packed a cooler with a weekend full of meals I made from leftovers/food we had on hand for a one weekend out of state festival performance. Good thing, because there wasn't much in the way of food allergy friendly food available.
2. I used Michael's reward $ to lower the price of the chalkboard paint I needed to finish making signs to advertise my show at festivals. Having a chalkboard area on each sign means I don't have to make entirely new signs for every gig I do listing my stage and show times.
3. I had a lot of water leftover from camping at the festival. I'm using the water jug to refill the reusable water bottles we keep in the refrigerator instead of dumping it down the sink.
4. We have to use paper bags for yard waste in my city. I used paper grocery bags instead of buying bags at the home improvement store.
5. I mended several clothing items.
What a great idea for the bacon! I will give that a try the next time I buy bacon!
Somehow while recouping from lung and body crud on someone’s couch with a tv clicker in hand I found my way to QVC and LOGO clothing. Ooops! Well at least I got some amazing deals and they are so pretty and soft and stretchy. I’m keeping everything! Good to know that even when I’m delirious frugal still kicks in.
My 5 pounds of potatoes for $1.50 is finding all sorts of ways to be used. With on sale eggs and mayonnaise I have a huge bowl of potato salad. I think the bag is bottomless though because a quick peeks show so many potatoes left.
And on the counter is a huge purple bag of boom chicka boom for $3, snacks for the month.
Walking is always free and enjoying the pink cockatiel in a swing homage to Fragonard and beautiful puffy cloud frescoes in cooled air marble walkways is quite pleasant.
@Tiana, Took me much too long to figure out Fragonard's "The Swing" reference; her dress is rather that color. Thank you for prompting me to go look for a copy of that lush painting!
1. We went camping this weekend even though the weather was 55 and rainy! We brought our own food, drinks, and firewood. We hiked, took walks, read, had fires, and just relaxed. Total cost was less than $100.
2. We planted our vegetable gardens. All but a few seedlings we grew ourselves.
3. I found some peppermint growing in our lawn, so I dug it up and put it in a pot.
4. My mom gave us lots of food. For example fruit, bagels, sweet potatoes, potatoes, flat breads, muffins, corn, etc. I roasted the potatoes and sweet potatoes to eat for my lunch this week. We ate the muffins and bagels for breakfast while camping.
5. I paid my cell phone bill in full for the whole year (Mint Mobile). This saves about $5/month.
1. My hubby applied for a promotion that would give him a company car. Insurance and gas is covered and it is well and truly his car so he can use it for personal needs as well. This will save us about $700 per month when we add up the car payment we won't be paying, insurance and gas expense. Plus he got an 18% raise. Yay!
2. I shopped grocery sales to stock my pantry & freezer with Memorial Day sale items. Many of these things will be useful during the summer for our family.
3. We needed dirt for several flower beds and found a great deal on Miracle Grow for $2/bag at Lowe's.
4. I had an estimate from landscapers to plant the flowers/bushes and clean out our garden area for $1k. We rolled up our sleeves and did the work ourselves to save that money. It was piecemeal and we were all dead tired the next day but we saved a chunk doing it ourselves.
5. Meals at home. They are cheaper, healthier and taste better than anything we can get out.
You DESERVE a new dress! Treat yourself and do t feel guilty!
When I was still working, I kind of had an idea that if I bought five new things each season that would take me through a whole week of work and make me happy.
My frugal things --
-- We went to a free movie night at a local military museum. They not only showed the movie, “War Letters,” which was very good, but had free popcorn and drinks including water, sodas, beer and even wine. The museum offers monthly events including movies and speakers. We got on their mailing list and we will certainly attend again.
-- I saved two plastic containers from lunch meat I bought. I can use them for leftovers, etc.
-- I made chocolate chip banana bread with frozen bananas I had saved when they got very ripe. I always make two loaves and gave one to our neighbor.
-- Free fabric! My sister found a hospital gown outside her car in a parking lot (!) -- wonder what the story was there! She's a retired nurse and said it was an intensive care gown. ( I didn't know there was a difference!) She gave it to me after she laundered it. It's a nice heavy cotton in a cute pattern. I'm going to see what I can create from it. An easy top, probably!
-- A nearly-free meal! Our neighbors gave us a dozen homemade chicken tamales his mom made for a birthday party. I made pot of chili and added cheese and fresh, chopped jalapenos from our garden for a great meal. We shared a bounty of lettuce and squash from our garden with them.
@Joyce from Arkansas, hospital gown in parking lot!?! Really would like to know that story. 😉
@Regina, likely someone like me who got fed up being treated like dirt. Change into your shirt, dump the gown.
Made another batch of skyr. Fresh strawberries with skyr, honey and vanilla: what a treat! I also use the skyr as the basis for ranch dip and the garden is providing so much yummy produce. I chop my kale Julienne style and that helps with the tough factor. I don't always get the leaves cut when they are young, before becoming chicken feed.
I love that style of sundress, I made that style using a gunne sax pattern in high school and college. I like to pair them with my linen jeans jacket style jackets. Gee, if I wore a dress to home depot I would probably get help loading...
The chickens are producing well right now, making the neighbors happy. Meanwhile we are enjoying egg bites for breakfast, egg salad sandwiches and homemade mayo. I've been selling the quail eggs to a friend who has a fancy shmancy restaurant in the Portland area.
Pickling my first batch of beets and canning for next winter's salad.
Taking advantage of the hot weather to wash down the house using my solution of 1/2 tsp of dry laundry detergent, 2 tbsp oxy clean granules and 1 tsp dawn liquid add 1 gallon warm water. This leaves the windows streak free. A real estate guru gave me the recipe a few decades ago. I use a car/truck washing brush to apply it.
1) Volunteered w/ a food rescue and got a couple food items to take home. Sometimes the food isn't quite up to the standard to give to people but still edible for volunteers to take.
2) Made some burger buns and bagels instead of buying them.
3) Took the leftover lobster shells from dinner at my parents house. 9 lobsters will make plenty of future lobster stock.
4) Used the flashfood app to get a few prepared foods at a discount instead of getting take out that would cost at least 3 times as much.
5) Received some plant starts from my farmer friend, friend, and parents. Our seedlings aren't doing as well as I would like so this helps us not have to buy some new ones.
Congrats on graduating and the new dress looks great on you!
My Frugals
- Got 3 free bundtlets for my girls through Nothing Bundt Cake monthly reading program.
- Stopped by the dentist office on our way home to pick up the free sample bag of toothbrush, toothpaste and floss she left behind from last week’s dental visit.
- Got a free print out of the girls’ school calendar and event flyer at school. Don’t have a printer at home.
- Used a $30 off coupon that my girl won through the library’s winter reading program for gas.
- Brought 10 lb ground beef versus 5 lb and saved $10.
- Used my grocery rewards card and saved $3.
- Found $1 bill and my girls found a few coins at the playground.
- Free entertainment. Read books and watched dvds borrowed from the library. Had a picnic and flew kites at the school playground. Also took the girls to a cafe to play in their play area and outside playground.
- Mended a hole my my middle daughter’s favorite panda bear stuffy.
Patiently waited for pet food to go on sale at our local grocery store, which saved $4.90.
Used one of the cartons of mashed potatoes that I froze the other day to top a vegetarian cottage pie that also included fresh herbs from my tiny garden. It is amazingly delicious and the mashed potatoes did just fine with being thawed and reheated.
Dried a load of laundry on a rack on the sun porch. Altered two shirts for myself so that the sleeves fit. Mended a holely t-shirt for my son.
That style of dress looks lovely on you (though the sheath dress you wore under your graduation gown also shows so well with your figure), therefore, it makes sense to have several. You will have more social occasions now, with new friends from work and events at the hospital and symphony.
Plus, pockets. Women's clothing is so often sans pockets, which is a pain.
I have nothing but frugal fails this week...
They're all kitchen Renovation fails.
The 2 corner cabinets are too big. So I'm waiting for someone to cut them back, before I install them.
Our new appliances arrived. However they no longer take your old ones away. I need to pick up tags to have them taken away by the city.
The electrical didn't show up. So I have nothing to plug the above appliances into.
I set a kg of bacon out of old fridge with the intention to cook it. I forgot. 13.00 in the garage.
Using the cooler, I didn't snap the top tight. Everything in said cooler tossed in the garbage.
I had a bagged salad at work. Brought it home, and forgot it in the car. 6 dollars in the trash.
On a positive note, my helpers will be around next week to finish the kitchen hopefully!
@It's me, Sam,
In our neighborhood, pickers come by and pick up nearly anything that's put on the curb. You might see if people pick up appliances in your area. Also, when we got a new fridge a couple months ago, the company we bought it from took our old one away for free.
1. I made a meal plan. I combined errands. I brewed coffee at home. We used up food.
2. We helped a child declutter. We have another box of items to sell at the secondhand store.
3. The same child has a stack of pants with holes in the knees. It is a perfect opportunity to practice sewing (or using the sewing machine).
4. I got a free instrument repair, but the story is too long for here.
5. I found a gift card in my desk. It must have belonged to the previous owner and I don't know if there is any money on it yet.
6. I booked an upcoming trip and got the room at the main destination for half off. It is too far for a single day drive with our children; the other rooms were regular price.
I love everyone's comments, they help put my noggin in a frugal space.
1) I found a vintage orange anchor Hocking pitcher in a free curb pile. This has tempered my desire to go thrifting, at least temporarily.
2. I received a $20 gift certificate for donating blood. I chose Door Dash, as I will be treating a coworker to supper at work for a favor she's doing for me.
3.The red cross also gave me a $10 gift card because I earned enough points over 5 donations. This was also for Door Dash.
4. I had enough fetch points to cash in for a $25 gift card to my favorite restaurant.
5. I returned an unused item to Lowe's, $13.00 worth. I have a few more small unused items to go back also, on my next day off.
Ironed? Not in my book. Don't know from where you purchase bacon, we do from a butcher shop. Better half cuts the bacon in halve and freezes it. Very little shrinkage meaning the pieces end up a good size for sandwiches or chopping into bits.
So unless you paid more than $100 (does any article of clothing from Target cost that much?), I consider it a non-event.
1 - weeded my patches of annual edibles.
2 - cleaned my shed, converted from winter to summer. I dumped the shop vac into the woods as plenty of feed seed (it gets spilled no matter how careful I am)
3 - paid all the property taxes in one installment. The paltry amount of interest I'd earn if worth far, far less than my time.
4 - cleared out a spot in the garage so I can store cat litter without hogging up floor space
5 - continued stealth stocking up/buying extra - don't want to draw attention pushing a cart (or two) overflowing with items.
Agreed on the interest plus the risk of forgetting to make multiple payments! Not worth it for me.
* Bought 4 packs of bacon at 2.50$ each. Screaming deal here! Might get some more today
* Wearing thrifted short and t-shirt today
* Wanted quality walking shoes (Hoka), but they are expensive! Got the '9' version instead of the new '10' one (would think we are talking about Iphones!), which saved me 40$. 160$ instead of 200$. Will wear them ONLY for my daily walks, extending their usage life as much as possible. Got free shipping too
* Using clothesline instead of dryer
* Used a gift card to buy a meal
1. I used some ham from our freezer that was given to us at Easter to make a delicious ham and potato soup...twice. I requested the last piece of salmon (also given to us) from the freezer for my birthday several weeks ago, and DH obliged. I also continue to use frozen swiss chard and celery for savory scrambled eggs.
2. I made our first rhubarb cake of the season. My toddler was thrilled to help pick the stalks and make the cake, and of course he enjoyed eating it too. We also used some shelf-stable whipped cream with a BB date of Sept 2023 which thankfully was not just fine but delicious. Nice to have it out of inventory.
3. A friend gave me some foraged golden oyster mushrooms that I need to cook up. I love free food, especially free wild/foraged food… but haven’t had the time in this season of life to get out much.
4. It rained buckets yesterday which I appreciated as our car was covered in both pollen and bird poop. It looks much better today.
5. I was picking weeds from the mulch covering one of our local playgrounds when I found a quarter.