Five Frugal Things | I've only got one thing
Hey everyone!
If you follow me on social media, you know that I have been spending these last days sanding and painting my free furniture.
Which means that I really don't have a whole lot else to report in the way of frugality.
When I was about to get started on this project, I realized that I do not have my usual painting clothes with me.
The usual:
But I did have this old striped shirt, which had recently sprouted multiple armpit holes.
So I cut the arms off (it was a warm day) and now I have a new ugly shirt to wear for painting.
Anyway. None of the pieces I'm working on are done yet, but I am making good progress.
A sneak peek of the part I'm happiest about: the stained tabletop!
Hopefully I will have some finished pieces to show you in a week or so.
Beautiful grain on that wood! How great of you to rescue those pieces that might have ended on a landfill.
I also only have a few frugal things to report.
-Our thrift shop has a big clearance every other month to get rid of inventory and make room for new. I shopped at the dollar sale for some more spring shirts, and refrained from buying anything from the full (thrift) price new inventory.
-Washed some covers of couch pillows and spot treated the rug to extend their life.
-My son took his boots to the be resoled and a hole fixed, which I will gladly pay for.
With the rapid rise in food prices I have been focusing my efforts there.
1. I joined MyLidl which gives me access to some sale prices and also gave me $5 off a $30 order.
2. I have been buying a big pineapple every week. I don't love cutting them but they provide many cups of fresh fruit for less than $3.
3. We were out of bananas so I stopped at the grocery store. They had a bag of bananas for $.29/pound. I knew some of them would be fine for eating and that the more banged up bananas will be great for baking.
4. We took a day trip for our anniversary and hiked in a state park and checked out other things in the area. We drove the hybrid vehicle.
5. Since we had a mountain of bulk mulch delivered using it has been a big priority. A lot of time was spent in the yard over the weekend. We did take some time to sit outside with some neighbors since it was such a nice day. My lilacs are blooming so I cut some for in the house and for a neighbor.
The kitchen table looks awesome!!!! It’s really amazing what can be done with hard work and a vision. I can’t wait to see the end result.
I'm always so inspired when I see furniture makeovers. I have a garage full of tools and things I could do it with...just need to empty out all of the crap so I have some SPACE. That, and learn how to use said tools...
The only frugal thing I can think of is ordering super cheap address labels, and I did that this morning. Oh, and I also switched lamps around my house this weekend and made that work instead of buying a couple of new lamps for my office. I shopped my house!
@gina,
Ever since I first heard the phrase "shop your own house" I’ve been amazed at how often it works! So often that I now consider it a significant frugal move and big savings win.
@Erika JS, Kind of supports the school of thought that says if you always buy what you love, it will always go together.
I haven't been very frugal. I making a real effort to fill gaps in my pantry at good prices. Today I succeeded and I am happy about that. I am trying so hard to eat at home. Mum and I have very different tastes and I have the dreaded crustacean allergy along with eggs and FODMAP issues so planning meals is very difficult. However, it is becoming easier to eat at home. I have decided on my winter television watching craft projects. The problem? We have been without tv for a month now. I think I could do without but tv is the bulk of mum's entertainment and she is bored. Over the last few days I have done pretty well at not wasting food.
Love the furniture.
Wow! That table is so beautiful! I'm glad you will have some beauty surrounding you in your new place. I also think your new sanding shirt is cuter without the sleeves. Did you save them to use as sanding rags?
My five frugal things:
1. Continued to work on the existing garden and resisted urges to go out and buy plants for it.
2. Found a source for the pepperoni that we use on Friday focaccia that is 4.00/pack instead of 10.00/roll. I stocked up.
3. Planted the top of a pineapple, an onion that sprouted and the stems of some basil. I love getting free secondary food.
4. Bought an 4 lb boneless pork loin for 2/lb and cut it up into 4 pieces to get four different dinners out of it.
5. Rescued some sale priced strawberries that started to mold by cutting off all the bad bits and soaking them in vinegar water. We did still have to eat them all up instead of having them last a couple weeks like I had originally hoped, but my boys were delighted to have a big bowl of strawberries with lunch.
And of course, the usual stand-bys: food at home, leftovers for lunch, wearing the familiar wardrobe, driving only to work and back with errands batched on the way to save gas, analyzing grocery receipts to find more ways to save, etc.
@Becca,
I'll have to look into planting onions that have sprouted! We have a couple and were discussing planting some onions this year. That sounds like a win-win.
@Ruth T,
I figure at the very least I get some green onions out of them. It would otherwise be compost, so there's really nothing to lose other than maybe garden space.
@Becca, thank you for the inspiration. I just planted a lot of sprouting garlic.
1. Purchased some meat that was seriously marked down but still had five days to go on the sell by date. Promptly froze it!
2. All the new pipes are being installed in our house this week, an expensive project, but every leak was $500 so it wouldn't take too awfully many to equal what we are doing now. It’s a mess, but will be grateful to have it finished.
3. Had no food waste in the past two weeks.
4. Am thoroughly enjoying the photos of Kristen’s furniture flip project!
5. Had points at the grocery so 0.45 cents off of each gallon of gas at fill up.
I haven’t been very frugal because I’ve been focused on my new job and not on other efforts, but I’m doing a few things
-refinishing a table from my local buy nothing group
-throwing a fresh coat of paint on my outdoor furniture rather than buy new
-got a piece of marble from buy nothing and am trying to figure out what to do with it - probably an end table top.
Those look great. I miss doing projects, I have a few ready to start. One was 2 lamps that my parents had forever, which came from my aunt. No one wanted them as they are 70’s round brass. I’m taking them apart to combine them into one floor lamp.
Used a $10 off $30 coupon to buy coffee. I now have coffee for the rest of this year, maybe longer.
Used a 40% off coupon to pick up mineral oil. I want to try this tip on some rusty items. https://adirondackgirlatheart.com/how-to-clean-care-for-antiques-rusty-metal/
We had scalloped potatoes with leftover ham. I also made pinto beans with ham in the instant pot. I usually make beans in the crockpot but want to use the instant pot more. And 30 minutes cooking the beans was nice.
Received 20 cents off gas using grocery points. $3 off.
Not really frugal but on a whim I started sending pictures and letters to friends and family. I’m cleaning out lots of save items that meant something to my parents but not really to me. So instead of tossing them out I’m passing them along. After the feed back I received it encouraged me to take a closer look at these type of things.
@cc, with my aging parents in the processing of moving, we are going through pictures as well. Lots of them came from my Grandma. So we are dividing them according to which family should get them, then Mom is writing a note and we are mailing them out. One smaller box to move.
@Lana Popejoy, I’m sure it’s appreciated. Along with their own stuff, my father had his parents and his sister’s who never had children. The sad part of all this is I don’t know who some of the people are. A surprise was that a few pictures that are close to 90 years old look really good. Pictures from the 70’s and 80’s are in bad shape.
@cc, Thanks for the link - since you first mentioned that site, I've found a lot of useful tips there. I just got an old wooden breadboard from my mom, and since I already bought mineral oil for that, now I'll try it on some rusty things.
Thanks for all your sharing as your clear-out process unfolds - I can see that task coming for me, so it's really interesting to get your perspective. I love that you're sharing pictures and letters - in our family, I think the interest in that kind of thing skipped a couple of generations, but I can see it coming out again in some of the younger cousins who like all the ancestry stuff and are happy to have actual documents.
@Suz, I’m looking at everything and one item I found, an envelope my mother had wrote a simple note on. It surprised me by how much I enjoyed seeing her handwriting. And of course I saved it but it won’t mean anything to anyone else.
@cc, I know what you mean - I recently found a quick note my grandma sent me way back when I was in college, just a couple of lines of everyday stuff like what was blooming, and I treasure it. It made me feel special that she made time to write to me among her numerous grandchildren (I'm sure she wrote us all)!
@Suz, I had a recipe for a pound cake, written in my grandmother's hand. I found an Etsy person who was able to transfer the writing/recipe onto a tea towel, plus added a different picture of my grandmother at each of the four corners. I gave the result to a sibling who was especially close to my grandmother---best Christmas gift ever, according to her.
@Lindsey, What a great idea!
@cc, 70s brass is hot right now! Would love to see a photo.
That is such a beautiful table that you rescued and are restoring.
1. Went to a discount foods store and saved $4 just for being old (senior discount day). Splurged on a $2 jar of Harry & David lime curd that I mix with vanilla yogurt.
2. Gleaned some new food waste tips from the book "Eat It Up! 150 Recipes to Use Every Bit and Enjoy Every Bite of the Food You Buy" by Sherri Brooks Vinton.
3. Bought cheaper peanut butter for the pup. Using the $7 jar for the humans.
4. Helped friends purge and organize their belongings and they made me the most delicious food (while I toiled and to take home afterward). They are taking this approach with their possessions: Rather than wait for their heirs to inherit their stuff when the time comes, they're gifting items to them now for birthdays, Christmas and just because. Everyone is happy with this arrangement.
5. Purged our own home of three boxes worth of stuff. I love donating things that we do not need.
@MB in MN, I’ll have to pick up “Eat It Up.” Food prices have me worried. Our grocery bill has me worried as it is up 40%. I feel for those with a family at home.
Wow! That's incredible.
Aside from thrifting for summer clothes (I get 90% of our family's clothes at thrift/charity shops), I got a Herschel backpack off the side of the road today.
Where we live (in Canada), we have two "Big Garbage" day pickups each year. One in the spring and one in the fall. It is a big deal, as it becomes - essentially - a massive swap in our town. People put out old cans of paint and broken things, but there is always a lot of "treasure" to be found. For a week, there are constantly people driving around with trailers looking at items.
And this morning, on the walk to school with my kids, we got a Herschel backpack that's in great shape. Earlier this weekend my husband found a stereo receiver that works great. Last year we found a Dyson hand vacuum that just needed a new battery ($20)...we use it almost daily now!
@Elisabeth, I love these kind of town swaps. Amy Dacyzyn talked about her town doing it back in the '90s. Unfortunately, I have never lived in a town that has done it.
@Anne, on our street and in the surrounding neighborhood, we just sort of pick off the curbs informally all the time. Last fall, I put our old BBQ grill (filthy but still functional, but DH was the grillmeister, and I'm not doing any more grilling myself) on the curb. Within 30 minutes, the neighbor diagonally across the street scored it--and brought me four wheelbarrow loads of scrap wood for kindling in return. And this week, I rescued two Barbie dolls and one Little Mermaid doll from the landfill. Dunno yet what I'll do with them. I may donate them to a thrift, or I may use them for a bizarre art project!
@A. Marie, I remember when I was little seeing a cake made perhaps from a bundt or angel food cake pan or bowl, decorated with all sorts of frosting flourishes, with a Barbie doll standing in the center, so it looked like her giant southern belle skirt. I wanted one, though of course never got one.
A few decades off from a more distinguished Jane Austen straight skirt.
@Anne, could you start one? A neighbor of mine started a free swap here 15 years ago and it keeps literal tons of clothing, furniture, toys, household, etc. out of the landfill.
How nice the stained portion of the top looks! I think you'll be very happy with this table when done.
1. Speaking of furniture, my 23 year old cypress porch furniture is still good, but the round dining table had gotten seriously wobbly. An inspection revealed that some of the bolts are now loose in their holes due to wear. I put some exterior wood screws in by the bolts and more in where the table's supports criss-cross at the bottom. Much better.
2. I found a signed, framed collector's edition painting, with it's matching wildlife society stamp, at a consignment store at 50% off the original consignment price. It features a dog that looks just like the dog belonging to my daughter's fiancé, who loves all things outdoors and hunting. I bought it for his birthday, to hang in his practice office; his dog accompanies him there most days and is a client favorite.
3. While at that store I also found a lamp to replace the broken lamp at my house. It suits my style and is the first one I've seen in ages that wasn't made in China. It was also 50% off the original consignment price. I always worry about the labor practices for products made in China.
4. I planted seeds for summer squash and okra in my raised beds, now that the nights have warmed up. I planted a squash variety that is supposed to be more pest resistant than regular summer squash. Any food I can grow is less I have to buy!
5. My sister visited me and together we got my fountain pump supply line cleaned out so the fountain is splashing and tinkling as it should again. It takes some effort and some climbing around on the pond's brick walls, but I don't have to pay for this to be done.
Your table looks great! Motivates me to get to work on some furniture projects of my own.
-Usually the weekend is my time off from cooking and we get takeout but we did not get take out all weekend.
-Finally coordinated a day for the company to come and replace our wonky kitchen floor. The floor was poorly installed after a water leak and with the help of our insurance company, the floor is being replaced at no cost to us.
-We have a customer in town this week so my company is providing lunches for the team all week.
-Cut new laminate countertop for our wet bar renovation.
-Cleaning the old bar sink instead of purchasing a new one for the renovation.
-Not frugal - broke a crown and now have to have tooth extracted and get an implant. Thankful for good insurance and rainy day savings to cover the cost.
1. I haven’t used Instacart lately but they sent me 4 coupons for $25 off of $50 at Sprouts which is where I shop anyways. All 4 coupons expire within a week so I don’t know if I’ll be able to use all of them, I did do one pickup yesterday just on some stock up items and then will use another at the end of the week for my regular grocery trip. $50 in free groceries is pretty good though!
2. I volunteered at the kids clothing swap this weekend so that I get first pick of items. These swaps are every 6 months so hoping to plan ahead and figure out what they’ll need over the next 6 months and focus on finding those things.
3. Cooked all the food for my sons birthday party. I’d briefly thought about buying pre-made food but instead I just planned a fairly simple menu with things that could mostly be prepared in advance (I dislike needing to cook while a party is going on, too distracting and stressful)
4. Having oatmeal for breakfast everyday as a way to use up fresh fruit that’s about to go and some pantry clutter (trying to make it through a jar of powdered peanut butter that’s been sitting in there awhile, ends up being pretty good in oatmeal)
5. Still driving our electric car more than the gas car, due to gas prices
@LB,
Good to know about the powdered peanut butter in oatmeal....I have a bag of powdered PB that I need to use up. Thanks!
Well, Kristen, what with converting the shirt, sanding, staining, and painting, I think you can give yourself at least four frugal things. (BTW, I have that same shirt if it's an Old Navy, and it isn't holding up very well for me either.)
Now, FFT, Spring Things Edition:
(1) I've agreed with some neighbors who have a **fenced** backyard vegetable garden to help plant the garden and to tend it for them while they're away for a couple of months this summer; we'll share the produce. Oh, boy, vegetables that'll be safe from the deer!! (For those who wonder why I don't fence: My "garden" is actually a series of small beds scattered around our double lot--mostly in the front yard, which gets a lot more sun--and fencing them all would be both expensive and unsightly.)
(2) I cut back my perennial herbs this week, and most of them seem to have survived the winter, so I won't have to buy many replacements. I'm aiming for as close to a zero-spend gardening year as possible.
(3) I've started some annual herbs and a few flowers in my small portable greenhouse. Most of my flowers and some of my herbs (dill, fennel, cilantro) are self-seeding by now.
(4) I'm delighting in watching the spring migration of birds. And it was so warm Sunday and Monday that I was able to open a window and enjoy the full pre-dawn chorus. Money can't buy that music.
(5) I opened as many windows upstairs as I could Monday afternoon before hanging a load of laundry to dry on my racks. The warm breeze got the duds dry in no time!
@A. Marie, I just ordered raw wool to use as mulch in my garden and on the website it said that this was good to keep deer away as they don’t like the smell. I have never heard about this before, but they sold small hearts on sticks for this, decorating with a practical use 🙂 I would think that one need to use other woool than the normal white sheep wich don’t smell so much, this was from an old breed called Norwegian Short Tail Landrace.
@Gunn from Northern Norway, I love it that there's a breed of heirloom sheep called Norwegian Short Tail Landrace. I know "landrace" just means a local animal breed, but I still have this mental image of sheep running a race.
But, sadly, (a) even raw wool costs a lot more here in the US than it may cost in Norway; and (b) I tried a version of this myself back in the days when friends of ours raised llamas. I fertilized with llama manure, and I used llama hair here and there around the garden. Unfortunately, this had no effect whatever on our Eastern white-tailed deer or their love of my vegetables!
@Gunn from Northern Norway, that’s so interesting about using special sheep wool as garden mulch! That’s a new idea for me! But, no access to any type of sheep. My town has spring and fall days when landscape stuff (branches, mostly) gets picked up for free and ground into mulch, which anybody can pick up at the town service yard for free. There’s a mountain of it right now! I take 6 or 8 old garbage cans in the back of my old (1990) pickup truck, which I keep for reasons like this, and shovel away- then bring home and spread when my sore back allows! I have 4 big flower beds and one vegetable garden. In the front yard, every few years I pay for some better looking mulch to cover the free stuff, so it looks nicer.
Wool would be cool!
That table is WOW! already. And I love your new painting shirt. It's really cute without the sleeves.
1. I took some of Kristen's advice and bought a little fabric shaver. Sunday I used it on two tops I'd bought from an online thrift store that arrived with pilling that had not shown up in the photos. Now they look awesome. Thank you, Kristen!
2. Our youngest rescue dog fell ill this past weekend with a gastric complaint, and the vet advised a bland diet of chicken and rice for a few days. My husband wanted to run to the store to buy canned chicken and a container of rice cereal for babies, but we had a pack of marked-down organic chicken thighs in the freezer and brown rice in the pantry. A big pot of really delicious chicken and rice for her cost $3 for me to cook, which is about the cost of one small can of chicken. There is so much that I am going to freeze some for other uses, as she won't be able to eat all of it in a few days. Four chicken thighs and cup of rice really go a long way.
3. We came in under budget on groceries on Saturday ($68.50). Eating lots of oatmeal, beans, and veggies these days.
4. Used some flannel that's at least 10 years old to make blankets for the dogs' beds.
5. Used some fabric from a yard sale to sew a box spring cover for the end of our bed. When the bedspread is tucked in, the end of the box spring shows, and it bugs me. I had previously used some of this fabric to make valances for our bedroom windows, so now there's this coordinated look going on. 😀
@Ruby, I hope your rescue dog feels better with the homemade chicken and rice. So nice that you care enough to cook for her since I believe that will be much better for her than a can of chicken.
@Beverly, thank you. I have cooked for her older "sister," who has severe food allergies, for years, so I'm a pretty good chef of canine cuisine. Bone-in organic chicken makes for a very tasty broth, so she wagged her tail like mad while eating.
Free food/items edition:
My dad stopped at my work and brought me 3 different kinds of breads that my mom bakes around the holidays and also a soda (that I took home for one of my kids to enjoy).
Our local food pantry operates out of my work building and they had a bunch of fruit and veggies leftover that they shared with me. I got 4 huge containers of blueberries, a huge bunch of bananas, 3 big sweet potatoes and a small bag of a vegetable medley.
A neighbor in our township made my family a nut roll for Easter....it was delicious!
A friend gifted me a few bags of snacks to try. We are in a weight loss group together. I've made things and brought in for our group to try a few different times in exchange.
Hubby and I went to a hockey game for date night and were standing in line to buy tickets and a guy and his wife gifted us 2 tickets.
In order to avoid food waste, I froze a bag of ham leftover from Easter for a later meal and froze 2 bags of blueberries (see above) for future baking.
Our smoke detectors were on their last legs, so we got a few free ones from local fire department to replace them.
Husband's co-worker gifted us 2 dozen eggs; i baked some blueberry muffins and gifted as a thank you.
@Gina, Wow, that's a lot of gifts! Lucky you!
1. Didn't try to have a veggie garden this year. I usually fail to get enough to even cover the cost of plants, and since seeds don't sprout for me that's a waste of money also. (No advice, please.)
2. For a party, made cookies using the vast amounts of honey I have plus peanut butter bought on sale. Then made banana bread using more of the honey and some bananas past their prime; sadly, it's not very good but my coworkers will be happy.
3. The big one: spent 20 min finding a lost contact lens. The special ones I need are very pricy - the 20 min saved me several hundred dollars.
@WilliamB, just wanted to let you know I'm with you on the gardening of food. NOT a simple thing. I'm doing ONE tomato plant. I don't know if it saves any money as I get so few, but, if it saves a trip to the store I'm thrilled.
Also, coworkers will eat ANYTHING. At work everyone is always a little bored and a little hungry.
@WilliamB,
I do garden a little, but I understand you completely! Gardening is not always cost effective.
If I hear one more person tell me how Swiss chard will grow anywhere for anyone, I'll scream. It has NEVER grown for me, from plant or seed. And apparently, it never will, since I refuse to try anymore.
@JD, I have grown Swiss chard--but have never liked it. As I once told a friend, it tastes to me like the bottom of a muddy lake. So I don't grow it any more either.
@WilliamB and @Anne, I agree with JD that gardening can be seriously non-cost-effective, especially when you're just getting started. Even now, after 40 years' accumulation of tools, supplies, and experience, I'd say I probably do no more than break even--except for the cash value of the dried herbs I put in reused jars and give as gifts. For me, it's more about the fresh produce/herbs/flowers and the therapy value of gardening.
And I'm sure Kristen is getting therapy value from her furniture rescues, as well as saving money on furniture. I haven't the slightest skill at furniture restoration myself, and I admire her skills.
@WilliamB, you know how everyone always has bushels of zucchini to give away? It has never produced a single zuke for me. I got curious the last time I planted it and checked the beautiful, abundant flowers: every single one on every plant was male.
@A. Marie, I have realized that I garden largely because it forces me to go outdoors in the summer. As I have said before, I absolutely hate our 24 hours of daylight during the summer; if left to my own devices I would close the curtains from now until September and never leave the house.
@WilliamB, I cannot even grow zucchini. One year I grew a single canteloupe, and I waited for just the right moment to pick it. When I lifted it, I screamed because the back side was eaten away by bugs that were still munching away on my melon. So apparently all I can grow is slime and bugs.
@Ruby, I was going to ask how you tell a male flower from a female flower, but probably the answer is embarassingly basic. Heck, I didn't even know flowers came in two sexes.
@Anne, in the case of zucchini and other squash family members, it's sort of counter-intuitive. The male flowers are the ones that have all the pollen; the female flowers are the ones that have...the big thing in the middle. And one way to increase production with these crops is to pick a male flower and introduce it gently and tactfully to the female flower.
@A. Marie, I endured some supper table jokes about my gay zucchini patch after discovering all the flowers were male. Since the garden plot had never produced zukes, I assume something with the soil was making that happen. We did very well with cucumbers in the same patch. It was quite odd.
@Ruby, Fry up the flowers. They are delicious.
@WilliamB, This was certainly an interesting thread! :--D
@WilliamB,
I do like gardening, but I find that I am also quite bad at actually feeding us from it. I admire people who do, but frankly find I am either too busy (if I'm being generous with myself) or too lazy (bit more accurate) to actually get any proper results from food gardening. What I have embraced is a benign tolerance for weeds, as well as a willingness to eat some of them and landscape with others. Sort of like "well, if I prune this trash tree, maybe it will look intentional..." Four years later..."wait, that trash tree was mulberry and I can eat the berries if I beat the birds off first? Sweet..." Neighbors tell me they love my garden, so my weed pruning must have curried some favor (or they're just being polite to the crazy lady with the secateurs as my husband claims), but seriously, if we had to live off my garden we would totally starve.
@Anne, The flowers on the tip of a long stem are males. Think penis with a flower on top and you will easily be able to recognize the males. The female blossoms are atop what looks to be a small zucchini, although that will rot away if the flower is not fertilized by a male flower. You can pick off the male and use it to pollinate every female you see---one male goes a long way.
@WilliamB, This is not where I thought the conversation would go but it was fun and I learned something.
Very nice look on the table. It's amazing what some sweat equity will earn you!
Here's my week:
1. Went to a bunch of garage sales. While this can be not frugal (and an introduction to clutter) I did get a few nice things such as some books for my daughter, a pencil case for her and some rubber stamps she's already used.
2. Side note about the rubber stamps. I never realized how expensive stamp ink pads can be! The large one in particular seem to be quite a bit much. So we improvised last night and she colored on them with markers and then stamped with them. She was making some birthday cards for some family members so I guess double frugal in that we didn't need to buy a card!
3. Sent my daughter in school in a hand me down dress (her pick) and a jacket that was bought from the clearance rack (and is technically a boys' sweatshirt but I'm not going to be the one to tell her; it's just blue.)
4. Reading some books (or at least referencing them) that I was able to borrow from the Internet Archive. It's a great service even if you can only check them out an hour at a time.
5. Another month closer to being mortgage free. I have no secrets other than simple math and time (bought my house years ago.)
The one downside to this life of frugality is that my daughter has now started asking questions like, "How come so and so can go to Disney World?" or "How come so and so has a much bigger house than we do?" etc. It's tough and at her age it's hard to teach her that having a financially stable home and no debt is a really big deal.
We do try to concentrate on everything she *does* have but I guess sometimes it can be hard when she sees her friends moving to a bigger house or other friends just getting back from vacation (even though we'll be going on vacation this summer as well.)
No one said parenting was easy!
@Battra92, parenting is definitely not easy! There were some great comments about a week ago on responses people had for their children. I told my children that all families do things differently, including how we vacation, what we drive, and where we live. I would point out all the pluses in our life and say that we have everything we need and some of what we want and that makes us rich. I tried to be matter of fact with them and avoided saying negative things about what we don't have. They are 16 and 18 now with good financial heads on their shoulders, if that makes you feel better!
@Battra92, also you might point out to your daughter that 1. you don't need a big house because you have a small family. And you might throw the word "cozy" in there. And that lots of people have to rent because they can't afford to buy.
2. As far as going to Disneyland, you can say you prefer camping (or whatever) and watching Disney movies on TV, it costs less. I'm sure she does watch Disney movies and I'm sure any five year old daughter of yours has already gotten a grasp about making choices. They are pretty quick to catch on about money.
@Anne, as much as my son loved Disney movies, he never had any interest in going to Disneyland because he knew it was big (that means a huge amount of walking), in Florida (walking while very hot), and probably quite loud. He also knew we'd drive instead of fly and the prospect of twenty hours in the backseat of our car was a big no.
@Battra92,
I remember my eldest son getting quite upset with me and asking, “Why do I have to work for everything? It’s not fair.” Fast forward 20 years — he is quite successful, because he learned to work hard.
But, I seriously had to field those questions too. They are difficult ones.
@Battra92, Having boys in their 40s now who have come back and thanked us for teaching them thrift and how to work hard has made up for the times we felt a little stab when one of them would comment about our old truck or not having the latest toy. With luck, your kid will eventually reach that point.
It also helped our kids get some perspective when we started doing foster care for teens and they heard several of them marvel out loud about how comfortable our house was and how great it was to always have food and clean clothes.
We had barely anything when I was a kid. We went out to eat once a year: fast food for lunch on the last day of school, as thanks for doing well in school. Every single other day, we ate at home. We never once as a family went on a vacation that wasn't a trip to my grandmother's house. There wasn't enough couch space for all six of us to sit in the living room together and we had no other other communal spaces. Tiny living room, tiny dining area, kitchen with no room to eat, one bathroom, three small bedrooms, 6 of us. But I never considered us less than anyone else in any way because my mother didn't. This was the way things were, and we were plenty happy.
My own kids grew up in a huge house and we went on two trips a year, once to Disney and once to Europe, and my kids went to expensive summer camps and we have a beach house and I don't think they were a bit happier than I was as a kid.
Just be matter of fact, don't apologize, and I wouldn't, personally, point out what she does have. Just, this is the way it is, some people have more money, some have less, that's the way the world is.
@Rose,
I agree with Rose about not apologizing for your family values. You could try empathizing with her feelings, like "It sounds like you're feeling jealous of Suzie because she was telling you about her vacation. Sometimes I get jealous too." Then let her talk if she wants to and just say things like "Yeah. I hear ya." Sometimes they just want to complain a little and feel heard and that's ok because we all want that sometimes.
1. I've been really good at bringing my lunch (and dinner, when necessary) to work! I make a big batch of something on Sunday and eat it all week. This week is chana masala and rice.
2. Passover prompted me to stop buying tea at work. I started a month ago as a "back-to-work treat" but then didn't stop, so it was good to have something to prompt me.
3. We couldn't find a bookcase to buy, so we took a free one from a retiring relative's office. It's shabby, but it'll be covered by books and plants, so it doesn't matter too much.
4. I finally finished a pair of mittens that I was sewing. Only took me three months lol! But they are nice and warm and made from recycled clothes. A small thing, but I enjoyed making them and they were free.
5. I'm still walking to work (almost) every day. Last year, I had to stop once I was in second trimester, but oh my goodness parking passes are SO expensive! Not to mention gas! Now that I'm back to walking there and back, it's better for my health and saves a lot of money.
That table looks great! I'm always amazed at how relatively "simple" it is to bring stuff like that back to life. Can't wait to see the finished projects!
Hi! I'm new to your site. I am enjoying so much watching your furniture refinishing projects. I used to do a lot of it myself back in the day, and it was something I really loved doing. My frugal thing for the week is having a no-spend week -- no groceries, no gas for the car, nada, until May 1 when I get my next social security check. I am blessed and grateful to have everything I need until then.
@CS, I was happy to just avoid buying gas this week - congrats on a whole no-spend week!
So excited about the furniture projects.
I had a terrible week last week concerning frugality. This does not happen often.
Multiple Walgreens trips plus impulse buys plus some alterations plus new to us car tags plus hair appt plus dog hair appt plus gas at Easter equals spendy week. Back on the wagon this week!
WAH!
1. I was reading through a bunch of the Food Waste Fridays archives, and had a dream that night that I was turning everything in the fridge into smoothies XD Woke up and took some near-the-end spinach and made it into a smoothie and froze the extra into spinach ice cubes for later smoothies.
2. We went camping for an overnight instead of spending money on a hotel; spent at least $60 less and made a good memory!
3. Not this week, but I went on a mending spree a bit ago and recovered several garments from unwearable to wearable -- so satisfying.
4. I'm sharing a ride with a friend into town this afternoon to save gas 🙂
5. Haven't done this yet, but am planning to call the library to tell them the book they thought I damaged was damaged when I checked it out--trying to avoid that unjust fee.
Love the shirt!
My week didn't feel very frugal. I took lunch when I went out with a friend earlier, made all my meals at home, reserved library books and went to a cheaper supermarket. All the usual things!
By spending your whole week focused on that project, it kept you from spending money in other ways which makes it a very frugal week! That table is looking great. I don't enjoy furniture projects (at all!!) but I absolutely love seeing the progress that others make when they transform furniture pieces!
We took a day trip with another couple on Sunday and decided to take a picnic lunch rather than eat out. Always the cheaper, healthier option. We sure were glad we did because we thought we might indulge in an ice cream cone for dessert in the tiny little Arizona town we were exploring. However, the ice cream shop was charging $7 for one scoop on a cone! Needless to say, we skipped dessert. The frugal option. Frugal and fun day all around!
I feel like your labor of sanding and painting free furniture counts for at least 2 frugal things! For mine...
1. I got an email that I had a medical bill and I looked at it right away. It said I owed over $100 from my well-visit in February and that I was uninsured. I called my PCP and made sure they knew which insurance provider I had at the time and it turned out that the visit had been coded wrong, too. So they're fixing the coding of the visit and resubmitting it. It should be covered 100%.
2. I did a Meijer grocery pickup order on Thursday that should have qualified for a $15 discount but the discount did not apply. As soon as I got home I called customer service. They verified that yes, the discount should have been applied and gave me a $15 mPerk coupon, which I used when I went to the store yesterday. 8 minutes on the phone for $15 is a pretty good deal.
3. I finally started tackling my Massive Mending Pile. There are a few items left, but I stitched up 2 pairs of sweatpants, a pajama shirt, my daughter's favorite zip-up hoodie, an inner seam of a fancy dress that is too small for my kiddo but will be passed on, and I got most of a pillowcase repaired. I debated for a long time on if I wanted to put the effort into the pillowcase because it's such a long tear (and I only sew by hand) but now I'm glad that I'm doing it.
4. I found some organic milk 90% off at Meijer yesterday because it was at its sell by date. I combined it with a partial can of pumpkin from my fridge to make baked oatmeal for our breakfast this morning. Whatever we don't use today I'll freeze for Saturday morning pancakes or waffles.
5. I brought my tomato seedlings up from the basement closet so I could keep a better eye on them, but one of our cats got the lid off and dug up every single one of my plants! Ugh! So I replanted all 72 cells. Thankfully the grow light and warming mat helps them sprout back up quickly. It was discouraging to have to replant so late, but I am not giving up!!
Made homemade Lara bars and blueberry muffins as snacks for the kiddos.
Harvested asparagus from the garden and have had it with several dinners this week.
The grocery store had pots of tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths for $3. I grabbed some for the yard and I thought that was pretty cheap for beautiful blooms that come back every year.
Saved the plastic eggs from our family Easter egg hunt to use next year.
Eugh it was my birthday so we got sushi to go and I got presents and I really wasn’t frugal, we spent money. Um we got the sushi from the grocery store instead of a restaurant so I guess that is cheaper?
Great color on that table!
We traveled last week, which never feels very frugal, even when I try. BUT, I used credit card points for 5 nights in hotels that had free breakfasts, and I also snagged the toiletries to bring home to use. And it was nice to get away.
I am transplanting some rhubarb, lupines and pussy willows from my parent's old homestead (my brother owns it now) to our property. We'll see how it goes.
We used a local vocational school to do some mechanic work on our truck and saved over $100. Students do the work, so you have to sign a waver, but they did a fine job.
I was denied a claim on my health insurance for $83. I thought about just letting it go and paying it, but I knew that it should be covered, so I called. Come to find out, they said my uploaded receipt was too dark to read, so they just denied it, instead of telling me the problem! I uploaded a clearer copy, so hopefully it will go through now. (Rather frustrating)
The table is looking good! I thought the hot pink lid was the color of the paint 😀
1. Sold a sweatshirt with the embroidery «tired» (in norwegian) for the same price I paid. Loved it, but the fit was wrong so I hardly used it.
2. One thing I didn’t think to much on when buying a new and larger bed was that I also needed new sheets. I wouldn’t mind buying second hand, but our local Salvation Army shop don’t sell used bedding. Finally found GOTS sertified sheets and signed up for newsletter for a discount. Still far from frugal, but I sleep better knowing that the people who made the sheets earns a living wage.
3. Finally managed to lay the puzzle that allows us to use points for our planetickets for the summer. We have to have two nights in a hotel since my partner feels to old for sleeping in the airport, but there is a campaign now so we got enough points from the two nights for a new domestic flight 😀
4. Reviving my Coleus and Oxalis triangularis from their winter hibernation. Looking good so far.
5. Finally managed to get a TGTG bag from our local grocer (they are very popular). Got a package of beef that will make a nice break from all the moose we’re eating.
Ohhh, that pink lid color would be a very bold paint choice. Ha. That's the lid of the spackle container I bought.
@Kristen, excuse me while I go mutter quietly to myself, ha! BE BOLD! BOLD is good! will stop nagging now.
1. I am coordinating a pizza party for my younger daughter's middle school drama club. We needed 10 pizzas. I asked the pizza place if they could make any donation and they offered to give 3 pizzas free if we paid for 7 and they also donated paper plates and napkins. We will thank them in our program!
2. My friend is going to do my older daughter's hair for prom and I am going to help her in her garden in the summer. Win-win because she is great with hair and I am great with gardening.
3. A book I was on hold for at the library appeared on kindle for 99 cents. I bought it!
4. My sister in law was in need of some twin size bedding because she is rearranging her kids' rooms. I looked in my linen closet and had just what she needed and we weren't using it. I was happy to send it to her!
5. I donated 5 boxes to the thrift shop. They offered me a 10% off coupon as a thank you for donating so I went in (usually I do not go in to shop after I make a donation). I found a brand new box of stationary, including 12 note cards, 24 sheets of paper, envelopes and even stickers to seal the envelopes, for $1. It will come in very useful because I write a note to all my seniors at the end of the school year, so I go through a lot of stationary each spring.
I envy your talent/patience for refinishing furniture. I would just live with the ratty look, rather than take the time to find the beauty of the wood under the old finish.
Not having a very frugal time lately, but a few things stand out:
1) I scored two tickets to the hockey game on my Buy Nothing group, so son and I had rink-side seats to a very exciting game. Go Cyclones!
2) Was gifted several t shirts and shorts from the same Buy Nothing group. My old ones are pretty ratty, and my new-to-me clothes are like new. Love my BN group!
3) Went thrift shopping, and found a new, never used SoClean machine for $16.99 (complete with instruction manual). This machine disinfects cpap machines, and my hubby and I both use a cpap machine for sleep apnea; we are not very vigilant about cleaning said machine parts (we know we should, but we don't), so this is a wonderful find. New, the SoClean costs $200+.
4) My job provides free meals and beverages while you work, so I have been taking advantage of free breakfast, lunch, coffee and iced tea 5 days/week. With rising food costs, I am aware of what an incredible benefit this is.
5) Have been tussling with my dental insurance about covering a needed crown from back in October 2021. Will be filing a grievance, having apparently exhausted all appeals. My dentist's office has been so kind and understanding regarding this issue.
Have a great week!
@Liz B., The ozone cleaning machines like SoClean have been shown to destroy the insulation inside the popular CPAP machines and cause it to put particles out that you end up breathing in. My CPAP machine and thousands of others have been recalled due to this incompatibility with ozone cleaners so I would check with your machine provider to be sure you are not going to ruin your machine and harm yourself by using this machine. Sorry if you already know this and don't have a machine that is impacted by ozone cleaners. (I heard that is why they pulled the SoClean ads with that Captain Kirk actor, because they were actually toxic.)
Here is more information on the alwsuit about SoClean
https://www.aboutlawsuits.com/soclean-class-action-cpap-lawsuit-188444
@Lindsey,
Oh, my, I didn't know this! I will check the link - hopefully, either hubby or I can use it. If not - well, I guess it will be re-donated. Thank you!
Kristen, I am so impressed with your furniture improvements! I hope to do this one day too when Baby E is a little older.
1. Avoided food waste while parents were visiting by freezing items we weren’t going to eat immediately.
2. Paired 15 cents off/gallon fuel points with buying gas at the cheaper station in the northern part of town, saving a total of $4 on gas. I then spent the extra $4 on an upgraded car wash in order to have the underbody flush, making sure the last of the winter's road salt was washed away and hopefully preventing rust.
3. Found 36 cents while cleaning in new house.
4. Purchased a pack-and-play and baby play mat at secondhand shop rather than ordering online.
5. Lots of small expenses since buying our first house, including several hundred spent on redoing gutter drainage and buying tools. However, having DH do this work with assistance from my dad is much more frugal than outsourcing it. He was also able to replace an electrical outlet that had no socket cover— a serious safety hazard. Proud of him! And in the long run we will want and need tools to do some of our own preventive maintenance.
6. My sweet father and DH spent nearly all day cleaning out the dryer vent, getting out massive amounts of soggy lint from the line and the blow fan. Buying the lint brush and doing it themselves was cheaper than hiring someone, and not having as much risk of a house fire due to a clogged vent line is also frugal(!). Plus I think maybe the dryer should work more efficiently?! I still prefer to hang dry when possible, but with a newborn I am sometimes taking the quicker route, ha!
@Lindsay B,
No one who has ever had a newborn would fault you for using your dryer! Lol!
And yay to your father and DH for cleaning out that vent...your dryer should definitely work more efficiently, as well as having a much reduced risk of a house fire.
Kristin,
Your initiative is most impressive and a ton of fun for us to follow. That half-stained table is gorgeous!
Also impressive—besides seeing you using a belt sander—is your Dad's garage with all those tools in the background. You have the space there to work on large objects.
Their support for you in so many ways is beyond cool. I’m so happy for you!
My dad has an insane collection of garages. And tools. Seriously...anything you could possibly want!
They look great! I also have "painting clothes".
We went across state to attend a surprise graduation party for a cousin graduating with her Masters.
We: used gift certs that we received for Christmas for dinner (we don't have a Jersey Mike's near us)
We: walked to the grocery store to chips and a 2 liter of pop instead of buying from the restaurant.
We: rented the hotel room about 3.5 months ago at a discounted rate. While we could have stayed with my parents, the hotel just works great (and my brother always brings his kids to visit us there)... it worked out being a great decision as my parents had the flu or something.
We: drank coffee and got breakfast in the hotel
We: packed our lunches for work today
1. My Medicare Advantage plan includes a dental benefit which I utilized today for a free exam, x-rays and cleaning.
2. I found $5.39 in the CoinStar machine at Kroger. I've found coins lots of other times but nothing like this. I also found about 40 foreign coins, but I'm not sure what to do with them.
3. I had my annual House Call visit (part of my Medicare plan) yesterday. I will receive a $15 Visa card in 2 to 4 weeks for having the visit.
4. Nothing else out of the ordinary this past week - just the usual - eating all meals at home, reading library books, shopping the grocery loss leaders, etc.
@BarbG, If you come up with a place to use or share foreign coins, please share! I have a few Euros, which I can probably find someone to use who is traveling there from the US, but otherwise, the coins I have are all older and obsolete.
Except most of my Canadian coins still have a future. Canada no longer makes pennies, though most places accept them, and has plasticized its bills, which wiped out fifteen dollars in old "paper" bills that I had tucked away for a trip that never happened.
@Heidi Louise,
At our house, the tooth fairies (there are three of them assigned to us-one per kid) have been known deal in foreign coins.
@Heidi Louise, Google says that CoinStar will exchange foreign coins, but I got these from a CoinStar machine. It also says that some banks will exchange them, but they generally charge a fee.
@BarbG, @Heidi Louise - some airports have "dump your foreign change for charity" bins.
@Heidi Louise - I believe you can exchange old bills for new at Canadian banks so take them with you on your next trip. Heck, given that my motto is it never hurts to ask, I'd try using them at a store, explaining that I'm an foreigner and didn't have a chance to use them earlier.
@WilliamB, Yes, thank you, Bank of Canada will take the old bills.
And I fear "I'm a foreigner" would be self-evident, even traveling just from the U.S. to Canada.
I love Tuesdays!!
1) I have an expensive now-frugal later. Our House AC used a discontinued refrigerant sooo we replaced it with a Heat Pump to cut down on our winter oil bill.
2) cooked budget bites lenti chili and ate every bite, although it took 1 dinner and 5 lunches.
3) My husband used my car more than usual last week (better gas mileage)
4) Didn’t buy cereal for kids’ breakfasts this week. Cereal + Milk = $$$
5) Got my new glasses at Costco and when they were ready, only picked them up. Resisted all the things we “needed”
1. I patched a pair of pants for my son and my husband.
2. Our neighbor gave us her mature blackberry bush and 10 hostas. I planted one of the large hostas where I dug out a dead bush. 7 of the hostas I gave away on Buy Nothing, as I just didn't have the room for them.
3. We went to a free birds of prey event this weekend that was really awesome. We packed lunch and drinks. The kids had fun.
4. I picked up some plantable small pots, from Buy Nothing, to put our mature vegetable seedlings in.
5. I ate leftover homemade banana muffins for breakfast this week. For lunches, my husband and I are having ham soup which we made using our Easter ham.
Looking good!
1. Had a late Easter celebration. I save all my plastic eggs to reuse every year so I don't have to buy more. Also keeps that extra plastic from going in the trash.
2. Walmart had Dickies work pants on clearance for $7 a pair. My husband needed new work pants so it was a good deal.
3. Received free jars of baby food and oatmeal from an in-law that wouldn't be using them.
4. Redeemed a $5 gift card from Kitchen Insiders.
5. Enjoyed a lot of free outside time when the weather was nice.
Kristen- Are you SURE you've never sanded before? You look like a pro!
My fab five this week:
1) Saving gas by bringing our son to the bus stop so he can get to college... Otherwise, I'd have to drive to the train station, which is 20 x the distance.... Now, if there is no bus driver (which has happened), then I must drive to the train location.
2) My sis sent me a vacuum sealer. She gifted me her dehydrator, which gets used 6-7x/week for fruits. Now, I have a new toy.
3) I got a tiny blueberry bush and wanted to put it in a bucket, but I couldn't figure out how to drill holes in it for proper drainage. For now, that cute plant resides in a mason jar.
4) Speaking of drilling holes in buckets....I couldn't figure out the drill because the chuck is loose but there's a way to tighten it that involves turning it, putting the bit in and trying to start and reverse it, etc....The instructions over the phone were confusing. So, I threw up my hands, used my CC rewards and got a free drill on Amazon. Should be here in a few days.
5) I was given a very old fairy tale book dated 1909. I was going to donate it but instead, found a young girl who is into old books and was even named after a fictional tv character. I told her she could have it.
This looks beautiful. You are inspiring me!
Outstanding work! Man, this makes me realize how a lot of my furniture looks a lot like the before pics you posted. LOL You are making me want to learn how to refinish. Can't wait to see the results.
And happy birthday and congratulations on the lease!
@Amanda,
I was thinking the same thing about my kitchen table.....though my table top isn't even as nice as Kristen's salvaged table! Lol!
Believe me, if your tabletop was this dirty and smelled of cigarette smoke like this one does...you'd have sanded it by now. 😉
Made carrot, banana and pineapple muffins from gleaned fruit.
Made coconut "milk" to use in pancakes with 1 tblsp coconut flour/1 cup warm water - we were out of the good stuff (Blue Diamond), and I thought, "Why not?" It was...maybe not great for drinking, but just fine for cooking.
Put together a birthday basket for my daughter using items from the gift box, and used recycled wrapping.
Four flights, four airports in two days, (funeral) no spending aside from plane tickets. Fortunately all eating was family meals or breakfast offered by hotel.
Summer pajama shorts by cutting the legs off an old, thin, much mended pair of hand-me-down flannel pj pants. Just need to hem them, but wearing already. Now to use the rest of the legs for something else...hmmm.
Home-cooked meals and coffee, drinking home-brewed iced tea and water instead of soda.