Five Frugal Things | mostly about Lisey
Lisey's been making some good frugal moves lately, so I'm sharing the spotlight with her today. 🙂
1. Lisey bought a used toolbox set for $150
Our neighbors across the street were having a yard sale, and Lisey ran over and snagged a huge Craftsman toolbox for herself.
He threw in a bunch of Craftsman wrenches as well, so Lisey was pretty tickled about that.
Buying a new version of what she has looks like it would cost about $450, so she saved herself a whole lot of money!
2. Lisey's repainting her toolboxes
Parts of them were in pretty rough shape when she brought them home, so she's been busy degreasing, sanding down some surface rust, and repainting.
She already had red and black paint for metal from when she painted her calipers, so this is costing her nothing out of pocket.
She also lined the shelves with felt, so things are looking pretty snazzy now!
Did Lisey use glitter glue to attach the felt to her drawers?
Yes. Yes, she did.
I gotta say, it does make my mama heart swell with pride to see her rehabbing something old with paint.
3. Lisey switched to Mint Mobile
Mr. FG, Sonia, Zoe, and I are all on Ting, which is still the cheapest option if you don't use much data.
Lisey, however, is often out of the house, away from wifi, and she really likes to do video calls with her friends while using data.
So, Ting was just not the best option for her.
I suggested she switch to Mint Mobile, and now her bill is a fraction of what it used to be on Ting.
(Mint Mobile's plans start at just $15/month, and even if you bump up to the plan with unlimited data, your bill will be only $30/month! Click this link (Lisey's referral link) to get $15 off your first month.)
4. I used a birthday coupon for our last date night
A local restaurant sent me a $15 off any purchase coupon because April is my birthday month. So of course Mr. FG and I got takeout there on Saturday.
5. I got a big ol' Starbucks birthday drink for free this morning
I chose a cinnamon dolce latte, venti size because the birthday freebie (good only on your actual birthday) is for any size.
I love that Lisey bought her own tools! It is wonderful that she is pursuing what she loves. Awesome!!!!
Happy Birthday to you and many more!
Happy birthday, Kristen! My mechanic husband says Lisey got a sweet deal.
My middle son needed a display poster board thing for a project at school, and I was very loathe to drive 180 miles roundtrip to get one. I saw some giant boxes as part of a delivery of bookcases for one of the teachers, and I asked her if I could have a box when she set them up, thinking I would just cut it, fold it, and cover it with white paper. I explained why I wanted one, and she found a display board for me that's been sitting in her room and she was happy to get rid of.
Last week was homecoming week, with all the spirit days that entails (dress like a pirate day, etc.), and my sons and I all managed to find things to do the spirit days without buying anything. My favorite was the hooks they made out of coat hangers for pirate day.
All the other stuff is just the same. Keeping calm and carrying on . . .
Excellent score on the display board. I tried the cardboard display for my son when he was school and he wound up getting marked down for it. It made me furious, since it wasn't obvious and gave a second life to perfectly good box cardboard.
Woah. That's.... terrible. I can think of other words, but just wow. Major equity issue there.... teachers should grade on content knowledge ONLY. Sorry.. that touched a real nerve with me. I'm sorry for your son's experience.
The teacher got an earful from me about that. I was very glad when my son moved to the next grade level and away from that nonsense.
My goodness, that is such a dumb reason to mark someone down!
Dollar tree carries the display boards. When I saw them years ago I picked up 5 to have for the kids. Best deal on n a long time.
Congrats to Lisey on scoring that Craftsman tool box! Craftsman is outstanding quality and will last her a lifetime! How fun to get some bonus tools, too!
Let's see:
* Being consistent with making coffee at home rather than buying expensive coffee on the run.
* Choosing leftovers for lunch to avoid food waste.
* My teen son is wearing his dad's dress shoes for an upcoming event. Luckily they both wear the same size now.
* diligently searched for a promo code for my son's graduation announcements order. Yikes, they were still expensive, but having 50% off was quite lovely.
* took our truck to the "quarter" car wash (the kind where you wash it yourself) as opposed to the much more expensive drive-thru type.
Have a blessed day, everyone!
Happy Birthday
Happy birthday Kristen!
My frugal things this week:
1. Our college-aged son asked for taco salad for his birthday celebration so I bought and prepped all the food at home, packed it in a cooler, and took it with us on the 2 hour drive to his house. I could have gotten it catered but thought we could get more for our money if I made it myself.
2. A church in our community was giving away a cartful of groceries. It took a long time for me to get through the line but I got a ton of free food.
3. I gave the kids and a friend the extra food that we could not use so that supplemented our son's grocery budget this week too.
4. I planned my menu around the free groceries
5.The usual - cooking meals at home and bringing lunch to work every day
Happy Birthday!!
Happy birthday, Kristen! And the toolboxes are great!
1. I've been doing some alterations on thrifted tops with spools of thread gifted to me years ago and buttons saved from other clothes.
2. While recovering from the second Covid shot, I did not feel up to a big cookfest to make my workday lunches on Sunday, so there was a compromise: used up a few quick things on hand to make my husband's lunch and two lunches for me, and the rest of the week was filled out with frozen vegan burritos on sale for $2.99, each with a $1 sticker.
3. Also made a super quick recovery supper of a vat of chili, made with pork sausage cooked ahead of time, that made many leftover lunches for my husband, who loves a hot lunch.
4. One of the slate tiles on the kitchen floor keeps getting a hole in it where my husband pushes his chair back. He does not lift his weight off the chair and push back, but just shoves back with his legs. The slate is not strong enough to stand up to that abuse. We discovered the holes can be refilled with flat quartz pebbles and grout and then painted (with our stash of paint samples) to match the tile. I did that over the weekend. The quartz withstands the wear. Anyone who thinks an Indian slate tile floor in their kitchen would be lovely should take this as a cautionary tale.
5. We need to repair the antique steel window blinds that came with the house, but could not find the right color blind cord. My husband bought cotton cord of the correct diameter, and we're going to dye it to match. Rit to the rescue! 😀
I used to think heaven was probably a shop with all the tools — like whatever tool you might need, no matter how specialized, it would be there.
Anyway, good score, Lisey. Happy birthday, Kristen!
At our house, we're on kind of a run where basically nothing feels frugal. Every time I blink, something costs a dollar or two. It's a thing. Looking forward to it passing.
Happy Birthday! May it be simply lovely and full of sweet moments!
*Hit it just right at a local discount store and came home with 2 overflowing buggies full of organic and name brand treats (Lindt truffles, the "fun" cereal my kids like, organic juice, quality trail mix, etc.) at 10 cents an item. My total was less than $40.
*Found a great sewing machine that looks brand new with tons of extra attachments retailing for around $200 for $13 at a favorite charity thrift store. My older machine is being finicky even after I've done all the YouTube tune ups I can find. A machine servicing around here is about $100, which is totally worth keeping a workhorse going, but this was a happy find!
*Used an old Silhouette snagged from the same thrift store last year to make personalized water bottles (nice insulated metal ones on the clearance rack at Walmart) for 7 graduates this week.
*Spent yesterday afternoon weeding flowerbeds and potting perennials from the Lowe's clearance aisle. The pots were big, beautiful hand-me-downs from friends that moved and I already had the soil. I'm finally learning what won't grow in our shady yard and simply admiring it at the store, but not bringing it home!
*Totally didn't do it to save $ (would have been honored to buy something, but she's at the place in life where she's got even more than she wants in tangible items), but got creative for a Grandma's 80th birthday by making a huge card with over 80 things that were special about her and had the extended family sign it with messages. She absolutely loved it and it was fun to give her something that was so personal she couldn't buy anywhere. 🙂
WOW! Awesome deals on the organic products!
Happy Birthday Kristen!!!
1. We made all meals from home this past week recreating leftovers and using odds and ends from the freezer as well.
2. I cleaned out sunscreen on hand to see what was still good to take on our trip before buying new.
3. This is the week that I will be preparing & meal planning for our trip. I will make several items to take with us on our trip from food that we already have on hand. This will make meals and snacks on our trip super easy and maximize our time on the beach 🙂
4. I have several coupons on hand that I will use to stock up on a few necessities such as eggs, cheese, etc. to put together meals before our trip and to take with us.
5. I scheduled my annual eye exam for the year. This will maximize my insurance coverage and allow for the use of Flex dollars before they expire. Plus healthy vision...win, win.
Enjoy the week everyone!
Happy birthday, Kristen! Hope it's a great day:
1) Bought the boys favorite quick freezer lunch (Costco angus cheeseburgers) for $4/off per package today. Although homemade is always cheaper, teen boys are sometimes ...ahem, lazy.. & this is an easy option for them.
2) Used iBotta & Fetch to save $6 on a grocery purchase.
3) Listed things on eBay, sold a few things we don't need
4) From a big decluttering win, cleaned a bin in the garage & sold 140 old CDs & a few movies on Decluttr. Gave away the remaining CDs via Buy Nothing. It freed up so much space in the garage! Hurrah for cleaning & earning money at the same time.
5) Prepped a lot of food this weekend, as we have a busy week. We have grilled chicken, kebabs & curry, which should get us fed the entire week.
6) Bonus, garden edition. I have no luck in the garden, but grew both radishes & spinach from seed. We've been having radishes in our salads, and sauteeing the radish greens & spinach for dinners. I was also able to make pico de gallo with garden jalapenos & cilantro.
Not 5 frugal things but a comment. Remind Lisey that craftsmen tools have a lifetime warranty. No questions asked whether you flung the tool in frustration. Ask me how my husband knows. . She did a great paint job! Lining the drawers is a good idea.
Happy Birthday!!!! Great job Lisey. So handy and frugal and girly.
Yay Lisey! And happy birthday, Kristen! Do you show your driver's license when you get your free Starbucks? My birthday is coming up so inquiring minds want to know.
I got my free birthday offer through the app; it automatically applied on my birthday today.
Happy birthday, Kristen!!
Happy birthday!
1. I used up some heavy whipping cream this weekend that otherwise might have gone to waste.
2. I made an anniversary cake for some friends using all ingredients I already had on hand.
3. I found a wordpress plugin with a "free 14 day trial" to use for a site migration. I won't need it for more than a day, so I can cancel well before the 14 day free trial expires!
4. I saved gas by riding my bike to meet a friend for coffee yesterday.
5. Continuing to use up items from the freezer daily!
Happy birthday! Appreciate the cheerfulness of this post and your daughter’s frugal endeavors this week.
1) Our daughter was able to take her ACT exam after all, when a big mix up occurred resulting in her testing reservation being cancelled on her. At first we were told we would have to pay a reschedule fee, but I called back a second time and talked with a different customer service agent, who assured me we would NOT have to pay a reschedule fee since it was ACT that cancelled her reservation, not us. We had to drive farther, but they did manage to find her a testing spot at a test center an hour away.
2) We covered our new garden plants when our weather frosted two nights, avoiding losing any of them.
3) I repaired the Velcro on my son’s hiking boot, so the boots can now be worn longer before needing to be replaced.
4) We read the new posts on my daughter in law’s History blog. I count these as part of our homeschool history, though they are interesting posts for anyone, not just for homeschoolers. This week her post was about Charles Coolidge, a National Medal of Honor recipient from Chattanooga. My son also guest posted this week on her blog, writing a post about the Civil War, so of course we read his post as well. If anyone is interested, you can read the posts here: https://www.telling-their-stories.org/post/men-of-honor-part-1-mountains-of-type and here: https://www.telling-their-stories.org/post/musings-on-the-civil-war After reading these posts, we went on a field trip to the Medal of Honor Museum in Chattanooga, and visited the Chattanooga National Cemetery where we saw the grave of Charles Coolidge—he passed away just this month, and is a Chattanooga native so was buried here. We also saw the grave site of Desmond Doss, another Medal of Honor recipient that we saw featured in the museum when we visited. His story is remarkable, almost unbelievable, but the neat thing is it is true! So many lives saved, not giving thought to his own!
5) I got the bright idea to repurpose an outdoor dog kennel into garden structures for our plants, instead of purchasing new cattle panels. I am thrilled with the result, and thrilled that it cost us exactly zero to do!
Lots of pictures over on my blog at: https://chickadeecove.blogspot.com/2021/04/frugal-friday-week-of-aril-18-24-2021.html
Greetings, Susan, from a Chattanooga native (now living in Upstate NY). The National Cemetery was one of our favorite places to go when my sibs and I were young: We'd run around freely (but as respectfully as kids can), clamber all over the monument to the folks who stole the "General" locomotive, etc. And by sheer coincidence, a great-great-uncle from my mother's side of the family who was a Union drummer boy for a Michigan regiment and died of measles is buried there.
I'll check out your and your DIL's blogs.
And happy birthday to Kristen, with thanks beyond measure for the community you've created here.
Happy birthday, Kristen! Whenever it is, have a splendid day!
Lisey got an awesome deal on the toolbox with tools. My husband started out with all Craftsman tools and still has them over 20 years. We have used the warranty on some of them.
1. Last week I really didn't feel like cooking, so I got subs for all 4 of us at Subway using 2 coupons and the rest of a gift card saving me $12!
2. When using self checkout at store, I found 3 pennies in coin slot.
3. Husband and I are wiring the whole inside of our camp ourselves saving lots of $.
4. Using up all leftovers in my lunches, bits of this and dabs of that.
5. Cutting open tubes of hair product and getting a few more uses, tipped a lotion bottle upside down and getting the remainders out. Daughter also gifted me two makeup concealers she didn't like the shade. Works for me!
1. This past weekend we went yardsaling for the first time in 18 months. You could tell a lot of people missed this activity as the 5 yard sales in the one neighborhood were swamped. Many of the prices were ridiculous but one woman seemed to price everything at 10 cents or 50 cents. For 50 cents I bought a mini mate cooler for my daughter to keep in her car. My husband whispered "but its dirty". I said "its dusty not dirty and will clean up fine". With a little Dawn and some elbow grease it does look brand new.
2. We have a "traveling little free library" and it was parked across the street from my house at a middle school - just for one day. I donated a few books and took a few including a brand new edition of Gray's Anatomy. I tend to read 99% of my books on my kindle but I will read these and then donate.
3. When the pandemic began I stocked up on dried beans even though I barely tolerate them. I made 15 bean soup over the weekend with some spicy Italian sausage my daughter had thawed but wasn't going to use in time. I thought the soup came out well.
4. We are going on vacation for the first time in nearly two years. Therefore we are trying to eat everything in the freezer and fridge. Whatever we don't spend on groceries this week goes into the vacation food budget. Eating what we have in the house makes for some boring meals but its only temporary. We also have a case of protein drink from when I had colitis last Summer and it "expires" May 3. Therefore, my son and I are drinking it for breakfast and most lunches. Sometimes I add a few ounces of cold brew to it for a little bit of caffeine-boost.
5. I sold something on FB Marketplace and made a whopping $10. I also "gifted" a used Fossil brand purse on our local Buy Nothing FB page. The purse came from a free pile so no loss to me.
Just wanted to mention what a great deal Lisey got on that toolbox. My husband has had his for decades. Also, Kristen, you have the best set of teeth on the whole internet. Really.
Oh, thank you! I was just blessed with teeth that just came in almost all straight; they are not even the work of an orthodontist.
Not a frugal comment but a “good job” for Lisey. In the early seventies I worked in a full service gas station/garage doing everything the guys did. Especially carburetor rebuilds-guess I had smaller fingers and got picked for that more often. In the nineties my daughter worked in an oil change place and had her state inspector license. Just to say it’s great that females are now not so uncommon in traditional male jobs
I passed your comment on to Lisey; she is always so encouraged to hear from other women who have braved the automotive world!
1. Baby boy needed a little jacket for chilly evenings. Found a cute one for $3 at the consignment shop
2. Not really using our central air or heat at all right now which is great!!
3. Sold another eBay item. Socking the money away feels nice (I'm saving for something specific).
4. Used a coupon to buy my mom's Mother's Day gift, and ended up paying $6!
5. Trimmed my three daughters' hair for the summer rather than taking them to a salon. I do take to them to get a salon haircut occasionally (like once a year), since they love it and consider it a super fun treat. But normally I just trim it myself.
Happy Birthday Kristen! Have a wonderful day 🙂
Also, you must be so proud of Lisey and her smart frugal decisions. Good job, mom.
Happy happy birthday to you, Kristen, and go Lisey! That toolbox was an amazing score.
FFT: All (or at least mostly) about the furniture!
—A friend was cleaning house, so I now have new-to-me and a much-needed bedside lamp. It’s nice and heavy, too, which means my silly old man cat can’t knock it over!
—We gave a stand-alone bar we weren’t using for anything more than display space (it was very pretty and only $25 on Craigslist* ten years ago) to one of my husband’s co-workers, who thought it a great score.
—The space freed up by the rehomed bar allowed us to rearrange furniture. Swapping just a few things between the living room and dining room made such a difference! We also moved some art around.
—I “stole” the wire baskets I had been using for cleaning rags for more pantry storage. An old pillowcase wrangles the cleaning rags just as well, especially since they live out of sight in a cubby.
—Our $10 from Goodwill coat rack needed some love after years of use and a few tumbles when it was unbalanced. I tightened all the screws and reinforced the one cracked hook with glue and tightly bound electrical tape. The last actually isn’t that noticeable, thanks to the dark wood and, well, coats!
*Ours is the house that Craigslist and Goodwill built. If ever we move to a smaller or more distant place, we can curb 80% of our furniture since most of it was either inexpensive ($25 and under) or free. The other 20% consists of either heirlooms or exceptional finds we’d debate keeping. Example: I write this sitting on a $400-500 wooden futon that was a curb freebie!
OH! Re: the Craftsmen tools, I've read on other another frugal blog (I want to say the Simple Dollar--it was admittedly a while ago) that Craftsmen will honor the warranty on their tools regardless of whether you're the one who first bought them. It's certainly worth checking into! Maybe Lisey can sweeten her haul even further, should there be anything that needs repaired or replaced.
Yes! They will replace some of their craftsman tools for free with no questions. Walk into a Sears-(if you can find one) and exchange. My husband does it with broken sockets and wrenches. The only issue is you are normally getting an inferior replacement product. The old ones are made in USA the new are Made in China.
Happy birthday, birthday twin! I had my free Starbucks today too -- although I used it for a drink for my daughter and drank my coffee from home.
Ohh, happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to both of you!
1. A couple of days ago my husband got a call from our HMO who wanted him to take a health survey. Honestly, we are inundated with phone and online requests for surveys and he told them he didn't have the time. Then they mentioned they would pay $10 and suddenly he found the time. 😀
2. We have a totally spoiled housecat and another 1/2 feral who eats here and comes into the house. They can't decide what they like and don't like in the way of food. So far we keep switching their foods back and forth to trick them. We buy tons of food ahead of time and were afraid we were going to have to give a lot away. But so far, our trickery is working.
3. My almost 12 year old granddaughter has a birthday coming up. I usually try to give experiences (helicopter ride, indoor skydiving) rather than stuff as she has lots of adults lined up to indulge her. She couldn't think of a thing she wanted this year, so I'm giving her a small amount of cash instead. Honestly, it's LOTS cheaper than those fantastic experiences. (Geez, I wish I had had a grandmother like me.)
4. For the most part I am staying out of nurseries. I can't seem to not load up a cart with beautiful plants if I go to Lowe's.
5. We are wasting almost no food. I have learned to cook for two and we eat up all we have left of that meal in lunches before I cook again.
6. I am still seriously enjoying the free bread and bagels I get from volunteering weekly at the local food bank.
Happy Birthday!
I'm more than a little Jelly about her toolbox find. My tools are currently in an old metal carry toolbox I bought in college (so going on 20 years) and an IKEA Helmer (which was around $40 or so.) One of my current goals of 2021 is to get my tools sorted out and into some proper storage.
I'm a little surprised she didn't paint it some custom color or is standard Safety Red more her style?
As for me this week:
1.) My kitchen sink is a pull out model by Delta. The water has been coming out with flecks of black rubber lately as the internal hose deteriorated before its time. I called Delta's CS and they promptly shipped me a new hose which I replaced. Now my water is clean again!
2.) Eating out of the freezer, and having a lot of leftovers or transforming them into other meals. I've been lamenting the increases in food prices lately so the best first step is to get back to reducing waste.
3.) Bought new engine air filters and cabin air filters for both my car and my wife's car. I'm sure Lisey can attest to this but it's a super, simple job that just about anyone can do.
4.) Nice weather so I'm line drying again.
5.) Got a quote on replacing the doors in our house and while we'd really love to do the internal doors of our house, the cost of everything is just too high. I suspect we'll just do the exterior door as that's the only thing which really needs doing. :-/ I guess we'll see how the lumber market goes long term.
I hear you on the doors! We replaced one exterior door a little over a year ago. We had a hard time finding anyone even then who was interested in bidding on such a small (to them) job. We ended up going with Home Depot - our only real responder. We had been hoping for a local contractor versus a big-box, but mostly couldn't even get calls back. Anyway, just thought I'd say that we were pleasantly surprised with the Home Depot door installation. The initial ordering process was a little bumpy (not unexpected - have to make sure you find a person knowledgeable in that area or their info is wrong), but that was pretty easy to stay on top of, and the actual installation went quite well and the subsequent year of use has been great. Good luck with yours!
I have had Home Depot install all my home needs. Replacing 2 outdoor doors soon and will have install. I agree it is hard to get an outside person to do a small job these days.
I can confirm this as well. Right now contractors are swimming in work or don't have the ability to get the materials to take on "little" jobs. I'm handy with a lot of things but I draw the line at major construction.
I second HD - We had a contractor all lined up to install a new backdoor in our home. The door arrived and the contractor disappeared. We started the process from scratch with HD and aside from asking them to recheck their quote (it was $1000 higher than it should have been!) the service was outstanding. We even ended up getting a $300 credit after the service was complete because the installation crew didn't need all of the materials they anticipated. The crew was also very professional and friendly.
Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday, Kristen! 🙂 Enjoy your birthday freebies. I have an April birthday too, and enjoy the freebies too.
Hmmm. I'm dealing with upcoming orthodontic things for 4 children, so I'm not feeling any frugal vibes right now.
Cheers all around for both Lisey's project and your birthday!
1. Received a sampler pack of onion plants from sister-in-law. Never grown them before, so fingers crossed.
2. Needed (okay, wanted) two outdoor side tables. For one, we bought a concrete stepping stone to place on an existing metal table base. For the other, we used a scrap piece of quartz and placed it over an existing wooden end table, adding much needed inches all around. Extra bonus is that the quartz protects the wood table from the elements.
3. Chicken-sat for our neighbors for several days and they gave us a large bottle of syrup and a restaurant gift certificate. We got the better end of that deal!
4. Made nice rags out of a soft cotton tunic that had hopeless splatter stains.
5. Rescued some large, sturdy outdoor signs from my husband's work that were headed to the landfill and used them for garage shelving.
Happy Birthday, Kristen! And way to go Lisey, that toolbox was a steal!
Yay! How exciting for Lisey! My husband does so much to our house and cars that I know the process of acquiring all of the tools you need can be really pricey. Good for her!!
My FFT:
1. I said, "Yes, thank you!" to a free massage. I just had to give unbiased feedback.
2. I said, "Yes, thank you!" to 2 different friends who gave me a BUNCH of boy clothes that their kids have outgrown. Finding good secondhand clothes for boys in the 5-7 age range can be tough and these moms are blessing us immensely!
3. Instead of turning our heat on and off upstairs based on the weather, I'm just adjusting our sheets. Last week - flannel sheets. Today - switching to "summer" sheets.
4. Taking advantage of Hoopla and Amazon Music to get some free stuff my littles will enjoy. Did you know that Amazon Music has 3 albums of songs from Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood for free??? Probably not since you are past that stage. But I'm really excited about it!
5. Baked and froze loaves of banana bread from the time that all 3 of my kids wanted to pick a bunch of bananas at the store but didn't want to eat that many bananas once we got home.
I hope you have an awesome birthday, Kristen!
Happy Birthday!! And Lisey has cool stuff.
Happy Birthday! If I lived close to you, I would pay Lisey to teach me some basic car maintenance.
1. I received my utility bill for the month ($45!). Last month was $154. There's no way I used less than 3 times this month. I live alone and consistently do the same things. I think the company just makes up the usage amounts, but $45 for electricity and gas for a month is great!
2. I redeemed a Kroger mailer coupon for a free jar of peanut butter.
3. I found a pair of needed shorts at Goodwill for $4.99.
4. I redeemed rewards points for a $5.40 statement credit on my Visa bill.
5. I went with my sister and brother-in-law to help my niece move last weekend. We took food for most meals and air mattresses for sleeping at her new place.
6. I found 27 cents at various stores.
We have a natural gas furnace and I feel the same way every time the weather gets warmer. My bill goes from $150 to like $40. I guess the furnace just takes way more than I realize compared to my cooking (I mean I bake bread almost every day and cook all our meals so I think I use a lot, but the furnace most use way more).
Happy birthday! I hope you realize what a blessing you are to so many people, via this blog.
Doing all the usual boring frugal things but I did have one notable victory that especially pleased me. On Saturday a friend dropped off a huge cuke and corn and onion salad. We appreciated the gesture but both hated the dressing, we just could not choke it down (LOTS of cilantro, which tastes like soap to me.) I washed it off but you could still taste it. So, I washed it again, put it in a pot and covered it with home made stock from the freezer. Boiled it up and used an immersion blender to whirl it up and thicken it up. Added a little cream that I had been wondering how to use up without turning it into a dessert, and it was delicious! The dressing flavor was masked perfectly. I have done something similar before but this dressing was more pervasive so I hesitated to try it. We had two really tasty dinners and I was pleased not only by the money we saved by eating the food but also that we did not add to the landfill, since the oil residue made it unsuitable for my compost pile. It does occur to me that I have a pretty boring life if resurrecting a salad makes me so happy.
Great save; it would have made me happy too! Cilantro tastes bad to me too. Others in my family like it, so I don't generally have to figure out how to repurpose food since they'll happily eat it - but it's good to know your techniques!
Sonia is a person to whom cilantro tastes like soap! I love it, but she hates it.
Lindsey, thank you so much for that sweet compliment!
Good on Lisey or rehabbing her toolbox. My Dad had a similar one in his garage. Still get a lump in my throat when I see it, miss him so.
Happy Birthday Kristen!!
Donna
A girl who paints her calipers zooms right to the top of the awesome list in my book!!!
Such an awesome young woman!
Oh, and a very happy birthday, Kristen!
Happy birthday! And I love the glitter glue detail 🙂
Happy Birthday! And aren’t daughters amazing? I’m sure your Mom is amazed by you!
I've been reading your blog for several years (it's my fave), but I never comment. BUT I just realized we're birthday buddies which is fun. Hope you have a wonderful birthday!
Oh! Well, happy birthday to you too then. I hope your day is great.
Happy, happy birthday, Kristen!!!! And good job on the toolbox, Lisey!
1. We were able to get mulch for 2.00 a bag. Spreading it around the perimeter of the house makes such a difference and by getting it early, we were able to not only finish early but do it in stages.
2. A new section at the side of the house had steps from the deck. When we changed where the steps were, it left a blank space. We did buy a dogwood for the corner but I filled in with chicken feeders and a chicken waterer with succulents from our yard. Looks nice!
3. I've used Flash Food a couple times now. This week I got 21 apples for 3.00 and a box of cherry tomatoes and small variety tomatoes for 5.00. The app is supposed to get me 3.00 off my next order since I spent 5.00. Hope it works.
4. I had a good idea for friends' gifts this year. It's good when I come up with these early as I often need to collect the items. A friend gave me a round silicone mold and I just replanted lavender. Bath bombs, hot chocolate bombs and lavender scented sugar scrub will be enjoyed!
5. A large community is having their garage sales this week. I've downloaded the map and descriptions and have plotted a route. My sister and niece are also going and we've been exchanging lists of items each of us want. The area is huge so this helps us cover more sales and then we meet up for lunch. It's one of our favorite activities!
Have a Happy Birthday!
Lisey has learned and is applying lots of great frugal tips from her Mama! Happy birthday!
Happy Birthday!
A very happy birthday!
1) I realized that my "points" expired from OpenTable (you know, because nobody has eaten in restaurants for the last year). I wrote to them and they restored my points, which I'm now plotting to use right away....
2) Filled out a survey and received a $10 Amazon gc
3) Borrowed the "mifi" from the library, and I'm figuring out how to not turn on the internet at the work apartment for next semester (I'm only there for 1 night a week).
4) I had some cream left over from a recipe that hadn't been used for 2 weeks and some broccoli that had seen better days. I made cream scones and cream of broccoli soup to use them both up.
5) I was assigned to bring a charcuterie platter for dinner at friend's house for 8 people. Rather than purchase prosciutto or jamon, both of which were going for $30 per pound +, partner made homemade duck liver pate with some duck livers that we had in the freezer. I made baguettes, which allowed us to keep the price reasonable. We also ate the leftovers from the platter the next night for a "pick plate" dinner.
Happy birthday, Kristen!
Happy birthday, Kristen! And great job with the toolboxes Lisey!
1. Wrote mealplan for May just using things from the freezer and pantry. So only dairy products and produce is needed next month. Fingers crossed we manage to follow the plan!
2. Made some great deals on the mark down products at the local supermarket. Now we have eggs, grated cheese and cottage cheese for weeks.
3. Bought two cardigans and a linen dress from the thriftshop on Saturday. Listed them for sale online and sold them the same day. Made a profit of $65 which went straight to my savings account for when I need to pay my back taxes in august.
4. About a month ago I put a book on my wishlist after the author was a guest on my favorite podcast. This weekend I found it on supersale. Saved $34.
5. Bought a ergonomic chair for my sewing room. It has wheels so the boyfriend can easily use it when he has homeoffice. Paid $70 (seller gave me a $15 discount when I picked it up). The zipper needs some fixing, so I went online now to see if they sell new fabric cover. New chairs retail for $950! New fabric cover is twice the price I paid for the chair. Safe to say I will try to fix the zipper myself.
Happy birthday Kristen and everyone here that shares her birthday! I've signed up for a few birthday freebies in the past, but I finally gave up, because the computers don't seem to compensate for the fact that my birthday is Feb. 29 - so most of the time, I got nothing.
Huh, I could have mentioned my weird birthday in my interview, I guess.
1. I mentioned that I bought a heat pump/hybrid water heater - well, today it got installed. The heaters exhaust cool air as they heat the water, so I think I just helped my air conditioning bill as well as my water heater bill. What this will do to our home temperature in the winter, I'm not sure, but we'll find out. It's in the laundry room, so no one has to sit in the same room with it and I can shut the door.
2. I food-prepped this weekend, as I don't know what my schedule this week will look like. I like cooking ahead, as I can do multiple dishes at once and heat up the house just once.
3. I got the second half of the bag of dry dog food out of the freezer and thawed it out. She loves her "fresh" food. I've been using this use-half-freeze-half method for quite a while now.
4. I refilled my reused bottle with my own toilet bowl cleaner -- vinegar and Dawn or vinegar and Sal Suds. Currently, it's vinegar and Sal Suds.
5. My sweet brother-in-law made a little wooden box with two drawers for me, to hold the insulin pens' needles and individually wrapped alcohol wipes my husband uses. My husband can no longer operate an insulin pump, so we use insulin pens, and a fresh needle and wipe is needed each time. Now I won't have flimsy cardboard cartons sitting on my kitchen counter, getting damp and sticking to the counter. I only have to pay the postage for him to mail it to me. I'm so glad I asked if he could make that for me. Of course, I had stated that I would pay him, but he refused payment.
Oh, you are a leap year baby!
Honestly you can just put whatever date in for most of these rewards; just put your birthday as the 28th and you should be good to go. None of them check my driver's license. 🙂
I may try again, but I've actually had to show my license twice at local places, and had to argue with one of them, if you can believe it, that I should get my free sundae on the 28th because there was no 29th that year.
Gee whiz. That's so nit-picky of them; do they think you should only get freebies every four years??
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU KRISTEN!
I hope you have a glorious time!
My youngest daughter worked at a tire place as a temp for several years. She started as a senior in high school and it was a great way to earn a little extra money. She enjoyed it and the people she worked with. Reading about Lisey made me remember that.
I can only think of one frugal thing right now, although there is probably one or two more. Grocery prices have definitely been going up. We had one of those weeks where so many of the products we use was on sale for a really good price. I spent $98 (more than I've spent in over a year for 1 week), but I saved $62 using sales and coupons.
Happy Birthday Kristen!
1. Had to replace a pair of sandals that finally wore out. Waited patiently until a coupon showed up in the mail and got a new pair for a nice discount.
2. Got a sample of a favorite moisturizer in the mail. It's a rich ointment type and a little goes a long way so it will last for a while.
3. Froze the Girl Scout cookies we bought a while ago so they will last longer since we don't eat them up that fast.
4. Took stock of my cosmetics again so I would know what I have and won't be tempted to buy more until it is used up.
5. Replaced the stuffing in the cushions of our old sofa and chair with high density upholstery foam. It feels brand new and looks much better. Spent less than $200, much cheaper than buying a whole new sofa and chair.
Hope you are having a terrific birthday!
Happy Birthday! And kudos to your clever girl -- gotta love the glitter glue -- She is awesome!
Well just the usual -- using up food, eating in mostly, pulling out all my older clothes and not remembering them so they seem new ;), checking the sale item foods and doing meals around them, reading library books, etc. Nothing huge to report
Happy Birthday!!Hope you had a great day. And as others have stated thank you for your blog especially during the pandemic.
When things were getting tense and negative you started blogging more and kept everything light and positive.
I don't think you realize what a blessing you were for a lot of people, myself included.
I got up at the crack of dawn to take a $49 each way flight to visit my grandchildren.
I didn’t pay for early bird boarding as that would have bumped each flight up by $25 each way, and figured I could put up with whatever seats I ended up in.
Drove myself to and from the airport after using GasBuddy to find the cheapest gas in my locale.
Booked valet parking as this meant an extra 10 minutes in bed, but found a coupon that significantly reduced the cost.
Took my breakfast to the airport although I treated myself to much needed coffee.
Repeated the process on the return journey and was very pleased to achieve a weekend away for $150!
Happy birthday! Hope it was spent being bathed in love by those you love!
My frugal things for the week:
1. My husband and I have really been in to murder mystery games over the past 6 months. Most we have purchased used and then resold on ebay or Marketplace. We have made back most of our money spent this way. This week I stumbled on a Facebook group for swapping these games. I wasn't able to find anyone to swap the 2 games I had with, but I was able to quickly sell them through the group. Hoping for a swapping opportunity in the future, through this group, though!
2. Our neighborhor gave us a blackberry plant, which we planted in the backyard. I also got our snow pea seedlings planted. Can't wait for our last frost to get the rest of our seedlings in.
3. My daughter's daycare had too many bananas delivered, so they were giving away a large box full. We took some home and made a loaf of banana bread, which the kids ate all weekend as a snack.
4. A local maple farm is having a Mother's Day brunch. You pick up your food, picnic on the lawn, and tour the maple farm. I am still very hesitant to go out in crowds, so this is a "safer" option for our family to celebrate together and will only cost us $40.
5. As I put my 2.5 year old daughter to sleep, I realized I have been breastfeeding for over 7 years now (there was a 2 month rest at the very end of my last pregnancy). I can't imagine how much money this has saved us. But, I also wonder how much longer?!?!
1) My husband recently earned a Companion Pass with Southwest Airlines and added me as his companion. We had already purchased tickets for a flight in June, so I called and they cancelled my ticket and added me as companion to my husband's flight, saving us $173, which can be used for the tax fees for my future flights. Yeah!
2) I used coupon points to get a free bottle of sparkling water at our grocery store.
3) I picked up some "The Laundress" brand fabric refresher from our free table at work. It smells so nice! I looked up the price online, and it goes for $16 a bottle. Somehow, that always makes the freebie seem even nicer.
4) My husband and I took advantage of a B1G1 free entree offer at a local restaurant for our date night last night.
5) I fixed the strap on my leather bag to get me through the rest of the school year. It doesn't look nice, but it works, and I really didn't want to buy anything to use for just a couple of months.
Happy Birthday Kristen!!Love Lisey's frugal find. I think Craftsman tools have a lifetime warranty too.
I didn't say happy birthday to you! I thought it, but somehow it didn't get on the screen. Not that your day was incomplete without another wish of birthday felicitations from a person you've never met, but . . . happy birthday (late)! I hope your giant fancy coffee was just the beginning of a day full of large and small joys.
Well, I mean, it did kind of ruin my birthday, seeing as you are not just an internet stranger; you are my country twin! 🙂
Seriously tough, thank you for the birthday wishes.
Happy birthday! And nice score for Lisey! Since we are in the middle of 2 major home projects, it feels as though we’re not being very frugal these days. However, I did score my all-time favorite coffee, Cafe Vienna, for a close-out price of $1.33 per can as opposed to the normal $2.99 per can. I bought several!
That's totally a thing I would do too! See a good price, stock up.
1. Continued to use freezer items for meal planning to use up what we have. One big success was finding some leftover Cuban Roast Pork and using it to make some delicious tacos.
2. Sorted through everyone's spring clothes BEFORE shopping for more. Older daughter passed some items to younger daughter. Some items were passed along to a younger neighbor. Some were donated.
3. Older daughter found out she needed a formal dress to wear on May 14 for the "premiere" of her theater club's filmed performance. Decided to wear a beautiful full length tulle skirt that my sister wore as a bridesmaid with a top she already owns. She may decide to buy some earrings, but she made some good frugal choices.
Happy Birthday, Kristen!
Most of my week was saving food!
1. I had some carrots and celery that were getting iffy, so I chopped them up with onions and froze them for quick meals on busy nights.
2. I had 9 (yes 9, head hanging in shame) old bananas and so I'm making 3 loaves of banana bread.
3. I had a whole package of chicken that needed to be used so I froze it and shredded it into bags and froze it for easy meal prep.
4. I bought a bunch of strawberries and had a few that were starting to age so I used them to make strawberry sauce for ice cream.
5. I ended up with lots of extra heavy cream so I'm using some of it up making some homemade ice cream.
I'll be trying to eat mostly from the freezer and pantry over the next few weeks to use things up, food waste is a huge pet peeve of ours!
Should be cooked* it and shredded it, not froze it and shredded it
I think it is so cool that Lisey picked using tools as part of her life. I took car repair classes in school and I loved them.
Frugal wins-
A small bike and chair booster seat at Goodwill $6. For the grandbaby when she visits.
My co-worker always asks how I am when I come into work, I always say "good how are you". I stopped this time after I said that and said "you know I am not good". I explained some care issues with my dad and as luck would have it she told me about her dad needing care and I think the universes aligned. It is a game changer. She called the person who set up her income based and hospice care and now we will have additional help for him at home. He will be 99 in June. I may have thanked her more than 5 times. After that conversation I was back to "good". I had no idea that hospice care includes elderly care.
Only grocery shopping for fresh fruit this week, spent $9 on some veggies and fruit. I am in week 3 of using up freezer contents. My only loss will be some carrots I think, even though I parboiled they still have a weird texture once unfrozen. Tried them in soup and well blah. I might be able to grind them into something.
Had no leftovers to throw out, all were used up.
Wonderful for your Dad and you, and your friend's family, too!
Good job, Lisey! Craftsman tools used to have a lifetime warranty and whenever the tips of tools got dull or the plastic handle cracked, we would get them replaced....Not sure the policy now, but it's worth a shot to ask at stores that sell Craftsman.
Not much going on in the way of frugality this week, but let's see what I can remember.
1) Got 2 free simmering sauce bags of Tikka Masala. I sent a complimentary email to the company and they sent me coupons. Savings- $6.59
2) I was given 2 make-up samples to try and report about....In return, I get $10.
3) I spoke to my boss about needing help as we are short staffed this week. He said my husband could come in to help out! Helps me and adds some extra $ to his pocket.
4) My youngest was stressed over an issue that he thought had no resolution. I thought about it, got online, printed out a paper and voila'. Stress relieved.
5) I put items up on ebay..I hope they sell.