Five Frugal Things | mostly from yesterday
I thought I could find five just from yesterday but I came up one short. 😉
1. I glued my toothbrush holder back together
My cute little toothbrush holder got knocked over and it broke in two.
So sad!
But I used some super glue to put it back together.
And it's working just fine to hold my toothbrush again.
This was originally part of a set of four that I'd bought for my kids (I think this one was Lisey's?), so I'm glad I could fix it because I don't really want to buy a whole new set of four.
2. I got some free undies at Victoria's Secret
I keep thinking they will eventually stop sending me coupons for a free pair since I never give in to the temptation to spend more in store. But I still do get the coupons here and there and you know me; I faithfully redeem them.
Free undies are free undies. 😉
3. I walked to school and back
It is a tiny savings, yes. It's really more of an efficiency win; I had to be there at 8 am which meant I didn't have time to go to the gym or go for a walk prior to school.
But by walking to and from school, I managed to get in a couple of miles of walking anyway!
4. I made a lunch salad of random stuff
My salad used up:
- the last of the lettuce
- the last few roasted carrots
- the last of the pork tinga
- the last cucumbers
I also added some crumbled queso fresco and I mixed up a quick dressing made of mayo, chipotle chilies, and a little milk to thin it out.
I know I've shared this a million times before, but just in case you've missed it: here's how I store my chipotle chilies in the fridge. Having them on hand like this makes it super-duper easy to mix up a quick sauce.
5. I used my school library for internet
I'm out of stuff from yesterday so we're going back to Friday for this one. I had some school assignments that required the internet. Unfortunately, my home internet went out, and Verizon guesstimated a restoration time of 1:30 am.
(!!!!)
So, I hauled myself over to the school library for some free internet and printing privileges. It was a very distraction-free zone and I got a whole bunch of my assignments done. Yay!
I'm considering this frugal because I did not go somewhere that required buying food or drinks to use the internet (such as Starbucks).
Your toothbrush holder is cute - so good that you can still use it!
My (small) frugals:
Redeeming loyalty point at my artisan baker, for cake for our visitors;
Finding an empty beer bottle;
Remembering to check offers on my favourite lip balm. It was on offer at 30% off at a shop I do not go to regularly, so I bought three at once;
Buying a Too Good To Go box that included a bottle of egg yolks, cheese, mince meat and artisan fudge (again, for the visitors). A lot of good stuff at an affordable price;
Also the weather last week was housewives heaven: sunshine and a little breeze, neither too hot nor too cold, ideal for running and line drying multiple loads of laundry, airing blankets and duvets, and beating out rugs.
Ofcourse I made vanilla custard with some of the egg yolks, I had forgotten how good that tastes -
@JNL, ooh love too good to go.. bought some to treat my kiddos swim team buddies with bakery items
@Jenny b,
I have the TGTG app, but the really good offers get scooped up immediately (understandably, but long before I can even look at the app), or have pick up times later in the evening - again, understandably, but I'm a homebody. Lol. Maybe one of these days, I'll hit it just right. 🙂
--I thrifted a beautiful matching pair of handthrown ceramic bowls for $1.99 each.
--16+ years of home hair cuts and counting. It helps that I've no need to switch up my style (long, tapered, with a side-part--think 40s-50s). A trim takes 10 minutes, tops.
--I packed all of my food for an out of town work event.
--I dug out an additional garden bed, assembled and installed an 8 x 2' metal planter, and assembled and installed a garden arch. The bed was $30 on clearance last fall, and the arch was a $15 Facebook Marketplace find. Both have been waiting for their debut all winter.
--A friend who lives nearby asked if she could plant potatoes in our yard, as hers was out of room. She'll be over this next weekend to choose her plot! This is the same friend to whom we owe at least 25 of our free irises and countless other transplants, so my husband and I are delighted for a chance to do something in return. We've a whole quarter of the block to ourselves, and our <800 sq/ft house leaves A LOT of yard to fill even after our own garden beds, patio, etc. Our end goal has always been "More food and flowers, less mowing," so friendly potatoes are just fine by us.
@N, I love this garden trade where you get transplants and your friend gets extra planting space. What a win-win.
Whoa, early two days in a row. I am into my second week of staycation, and have not been able to sleep at night. Which is weird because when I'm working, I don't usually have much trouble switching back and forth. I'll be going to bed while everybody else comments.
1) I have actually cleaned out the kitchen drawers and tackled the craft room today. I bagged up many things I will no longer use to take to Salvation Army. Included some holiday decor/ribbons. I'm listing this as a frugal endeavor because I did not pay someone to do it. I did list a brand new Bissel upright that I got two years ago and never took out of the box, because I fixed my Dyson and didn't need it. I also listed a loveseat recliner cover that I also never opened. My loveseat needs replaced and there's no point in wasting the new cover. One end of the loveseat has this annoying issue of reclining without asking whether you're sitting on it or not. The items were listed on one of the swapshop groups.
2) Filled up w gas for $2.79 on the way home from having recall issue fixed. It is $2.87 here. Drove five blocks to my mechanic shop to have a new under cover put in place and then did errands.
3) Prepped salad again after making eggroll in a bowl. I am generally not big on salads but the elements are so flavorful and the dressing is my favorite so I'm actually enjoying them. I feel better, too. (That has got to be some sort of frugality.) Also cooked plain old white rice to go with the ERIB.
4) The ERIB makes more than I can eat so am sharing w my niece. I've been doing that w several things to avoid having items sit in the fridge and spoil. She says "You don't have to do that!" I put a note in the bag last time that said, "I know I don't have to do this, but too often I've tossed things wishing I had shared them."
5) I will be going out of town for a long weekend to attend a Master Gardener event. Dr. Ben Carson will be speaking in the area so have planned to hear him. I decided the night before the tickets went from $15.00 to $20.00. I would not have minded paying the $20.00. I am looking forward to hearing him and going to the MG event.
@Chrissy, becoming a Master Gardener is one of my goals. Do you have a particular area of interest?
@Bee, I am a Master Gardener in Louisiana, and am heading to a nearby elementary school this morning where we plant veggies with the kids and try to teach them where their food comes from. Becoming a MG is one of the best things I've ever done. You meet people with similar interests and learn a lot.
@Carolyn, I do that in Florida! Our garden club has a project in 3 local elementary schools.
@Bee, Our club initiative was the "plight of the monarch butterfly." That in turn led to many of us planting milkweed, our group selling milkweed and butterfly plants at our annual plant sale. Then it evolved into pollinators and providing native perennials even in our own yards. It is bees (and other pollinators) that rule the world.
Becoming an MG starts with learning the basics about plant life with an unbiased look at ways and means for the best outcome, whether for food production of landscape enhancement. It's goal is to provide community education and service.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience.
I had some wins vacation/post vacation this week:
1. Despite my whining, we did the 800 mile drive home in one day, saving a hotel night and meals for another day. I survived.
2. I persevered and got up early yesterday to hit the grocery store for a restock before work. We are now ready to eat in this week.
3. Filled up the gas tank at Costco when picking up pet from boarding yesterday since I was in the area.
4. I meal prepped after dinner so I have lunches ready for the week.
5. Checked out a new book I'd had on hold on Libby from my local library account. Libby saves me $$$$ because I read 2-3 books per week.
May your week be peaceful with few unexpected expenses!
@Susan,
Congrats on going the distance!
Long trips like that are hard but frugal. We drive the ~900 miles in a day to visit family- I just try to get in trip mode - no past, no future, just the road ahead. We bring tons of snacks and stop occasionally to use the facilities and stretch our legs. But stopping with a hotel room seems silly - if we stop before 450, it's not even half way, and past 450 , well, we've already done half.... the mental game is key to staying sane!
@Susan, Good job on the driving! We've done similar trips; the last one, our long leg was decided for us due to an impending snowstorm, but we were so happy to get home and to have saved a hotel stay.
@mbmom11, yeah I was making it out worse in my head than it actually was. The time change on top of it was a little rough for re-entry!
@Karen A., it was nice to sleep in my own bed!
1. Received several things from Buy Nothing – three pizzas, two audiobooks and one bulletin board – and was able to group all of the pickups while I was running other errands. I also listed some things that we no longer need/want.
2. Husband went to lunch with a friend and she paid for his meal.
3. Sister and I went to the 25% off matinee. Spent some of our savings on a light meal afterward.
4. Took our dog to the vet for shots and a checkup. Since she was already sedated, we cut her nails at home using a clipper that we received via Buy Nothing.
5. After exhausting all other options, I used Amazon for the one-of-a-kind shower ring for our quirky bathroom. Saved $11 in shipping by signing up for free 30-day Prime membership which I’ll cancel before the month is up.
@MB in MN,
I have done the same thing with Amazon this month -- signed up for a free month of Prime. We had several things we wanted to order and this saved us more than $100 in shipping. I have a reminder on my jphone calendar to cancel a few days ahead of the one month mark.
@MB in MN, you can cancel it now and they'll let it continue for you for the rest of the time you signed up for. No need to set alarms to remember!
I’ve been trying to get someone to paint a tall post and two beams on my front porch, without any luck. This week I remembered I have an extendable pole that I used to paint the stairwell at my old house. I seriously have been putting this task off for years because I completely forgot. Now that I remembered the pole, I can paint it myself.
I’ve been swapping out half my Diet Coke for iced green tea. I make it at home and it costs me almost nothing. Soda is so expensive these days!
I started my garden plants indoors. I already had everything except the soil starting material and have been using the same seed packets for years, so no seed costs yet.
I organized my plant stuff in the garage. Being able to find everything will keep me from buying things I forgot I already had … plus the headache of searching the house thinking it must be somewhere.
I deleted my Amazon account and have cut out most unnecessary spending.
@JenRR, Also … I got a price match when I saw the desk I’d ordered went on sale. Luckily, I just randomly checked on it and saw the price went from $140 to $90 before it was delivered. I did an online chat with customer service to see if I could get the sale price and they refunded the difference without any issue. It pays to ask!
@JenRR,
When you said you swapped out half your Diet Coke for tea, at first I thought you were putting half Coke and half tea together into one glass. LOL! Silly me!
Haha, like a variation on an Arnold Palmer!
@Fru-gal Lisa, same here
@Fru-gal Lisa, Oops. It does read like that. I’m not sure what Diet Coke and green tea would taste like mixed together, but I’m not sure I want to find out!
Last week we put in an offer (it was accepted) and paid earnest money towards buying a house! So some of these things seem kind of silly in the grand scheme of everything else going on, but I try to remember that doing a thousand little frugal things adds up.
1. When we suspected that my kid broke his finger last week (it's fractured), my friend that's a CPNP recommended that we try to get straight in with the ortho doc since he was an established patient from last year's fractured elbow. We were able to do this and avoid paying for a regular pediatric visit that would have ended up in ortho anyways.
2. I needed to get lunch on the road before my well visit last week and Tropical Smoothie Cafe was running a 'buy an entree, get a free smoothie' deal and I took advantage of it.
3. Since I had recently downloaded the Tropical Smoothie Cafe app and used my friend's referral code, my purchase gave me a reward for a free smoothie that I redeemed for yesterday's lunch.
4. I cut open my toothpaste tube and have gotten many more days of toothpaste out.
5. I had some ricotta that needed used up, so I made a few pans of stuffed shells for a gathering where I had agreed to make the main dish.
@Ruth T,
Good luck on the new house!
A great goal do to small savings for.
I also cut my toothpaste tubes open for the last bits. They last several days, as you pointed out
@Ruth T, Congrats on the new house and I hope your son's fracture heals ASAP and doesn't hurt too much.
@Ruth T, @JNL I also cut open toothpaste, lotion & shampoo bottles to get every last drop! And when my lip balms stop moving up, I get cotton swab and use that to get every last bit out of the tube opening!
FFT, Tax Paperwork Handed In and Other Matters Edition:
(1) As I may or may not have mentioned earlier, I got my own tax paperwork to my own accountant last week.
(2) I got my next-door neighbor’s tax paperwork to her accountant Monday morning. I’ve been watching her mail like a hawk for the past 2+ months to make sure we got most if not all of her 1099s, but the deed is finally done.
(3) And the first thing that NDN’s CF and I are going to do when we get our DPOAs for NDN will be to consolidate some of her numerous small PITA accounts (annuities and small oil well accounts) into her IRA. I thank my stars that all I’m leaving for my own DPOA/executor to deal with are two bank accounts, an IRA, and a TOD BENES account. Simplify, simplify! (And, by the way, how’s that for a dazzling string of acronyms?)
(4) I’m rigidly refraining from doing any of the preliminary yard cleanup I want to do this week, even though it’s sunny and unseasonably warm. The last thing I want to do right now is to undo the healing of my broken rib.
(5) Finally, I went with a current and a former neighbor Monday afternoon to pay a call on another former neighbor, who’s just been moved to assisted living in her continuum-of-care community. In other words, we three young-old folks (me with my broken rib, Bailey dog’s mom in remission from cancer, and the former neighbor just coming off her second hip replacement) had a good visit with our favorite doughty 92-year-old Englishwoman, who joined with two teenage schoolmates to send a wedding gift to the then Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip in 1947. Huzzah!!!
I'm so glad you are resting your rib. 🙂
@A. Marie, Depending on the weather in your area, you can just say you are letting the pollinators, insects, etc sleep in a little longer by postponing yard work until it's above 50degrees for a few days.
My frugal things:
- Repaired a yard statue that came apart during a snow event
- Sewed cherry pit bags for gifts. I had already split a large bag of pits with BFF
- Opted for a large meal when dining with girlfriends so DH could have the leftovers for dinner
- Swapped jigsaw puzzles with BFF. She and DH both love to do puzzles so we have an exchange system going
- Purchased card for upcoming baby shower at Trader Joe's for $1
Frugal fail: went to Joann's fabric for the going out of business sale, picked up a spool of thread without checking the price and it ended up being $5!
@Beverly,
Fascinated. What is a cherry pit bag?
@Mary Ann,
Per the internet, "It's a pillow filled with clean, dried cherry pits. When heated they deliver moist penetrating heat. Place them on tight muscles, tummy aches or just to warm beds."
@Beverly,
I love Trader Joe's cards.
1. Cut DH's hair. Also trimmed his eyebrows and beard. I imagine all that costs a good bit at a salon.
2. Worked on a sewing project while listening to a free audio book from the library.
3. Sewing project used two spools of thread given to me by a long-ago neighbor who did not sew but inherited two tubs of thread from her mother and grandmother.
4. Mended a run in the leg of one of DH's socks.
5. Made up several jars of inexpensive trail mix for DS. The jars originally held applesauce and are so useful.
I miss the FREE Victoria secret undies. We have not had a Victoria Secret in 10+ years & it's an hour away to next one, so needless to say I don't go anymore.
Frugal things---
● teen & I (both) saved $0.10/gallon ($2.89) on gas & earned $2.50 in rewards
● Meijer is doing away with our local/Spring water gallons but still keeping (slightly smaller) 3 liter jugs. So I grabbed jugs at 2/$3 instead of 3/$5 (gallon)
● bringing lunch to work everyday
● picked up 2 nice date night (semi formal) dress & 1 spring dress $9 each (not half off color of week) at Goodwill
● picked up Pampered Chef large bar pan $6
Frugal fail--
● someone took a multi pack of soda out of the back (bed) of my truck (but left the water) when I stopped at Goodwill after getting groceries at Meijer
@Regina, wow, someone stealing soda out of the back of your truck is terrible!
@Regina,
Your frugal fail reminds me of an incident that happened many years ago when my mom was the secretary at Summer School.
Back then, there were no early pregnancy tests and women had to take a urine sample to the doc to find out.
A young teacher didn't have a jar, so she put her pee in a rinsed-out whiskey bottle. She drove a convertible, and after school, she was planning to take her sample to the doctor's.
En route, she stopped at a convenience store to pick up an item. She left the bottle containing the urine sample on the car seat.
You guessed it: the booze bottle was stolen!
What do you bet the thief went on the wagon after that? Serves 'em right!
@Fru-gal Lisa,
Hahahaha! That's amazing. Thanks for the laugh!
@Fru-gal Lisa, thanks for my best laugh of the day so far!
I'm home alone this week while my family is in Arizona, so this is my five-frugal-things-for-one-person list, I guess.
--I made a use-it-up soup for dinner last night that included the chicken stock I had in the refrigerator (and the fat that had risen to the top to fry the onions and garlic), the chicken I had pulled off after making the stock, the last couple tablespoons in a can of tomato sauce, the free carrots I got this past summer that I blanched and froze, a jar of sauerruben (fermented shredded turnips) I had canned last summer, the last baked potato, and some milk that has a use-by date of today. Tasty.
--I had more chicken and stock than I needed for soup for just me, so before adding the potatoes and milk, I frozen about half of it for a future almost-ready-made meal. All I need to add is some cooked potato or rice or something and it will be instant food.
--I used the digital credits accumulated on Amazon from choosing slower shipping to watch a movie for free last night.
--I have a lot more milk on hand that needs to be used quickly, and I don't drink it. So I think I'll try making your cinnamon bread, Kristen, since I have so much time to just mess around in the kitchen--as opposed to daily cooking--and freeze the loaves.
--I made myself get on Thredup and spend two hours finding clothes for me and my daughter. We're the only ones I can ever find things for there anymore--my sons have grown out of their sizes mostly--but it takes so long that I hate doing it. I did it, though, since I have the time right now. I always spend more than I want to, but I also get brands like Banana Republic or Hanna Andersson that I would never pay for new, so it's worth it. I also need to remind myself that $212 for 19 items of clothing, including a wool coat for me to replace my 20-year-old coat with a separating zipper, works out to about $10 per thing. Perspective.
@kristin @ going country, enjoy your week alone! Maybe this is your chance to have one of "my" popcorn and fruit dinners!
Oooooooh, enjoy enjoy enjoy your week of solitude!!
The toothbrush holder is very cute. I can see why you wanted to save it.
My frugalities are all small, unless I suddenly think of a big one I'd forgotten.
1. I received the water-resistant watch I'd ordered on sale and of course the band was too big since it's a watch for men or women and I have weeny wrists. I took it to a local jeweler and the owner reduced the band for free.
2. When the propane was set up at my house, I paid the bill with my cash-back credit card (no CC fee was charged), and will pay that in full from the money I had set aside for the propane.
3. It is time to fertilize some more fruit trees and ornamentals, so this past weekend, I went out in a steady, gentle rain and fertilized them, then let nature water it in for me.
4. I found butter on sale and bought six pounds. It went straight in my freezer.
5. No big frugality has come to mind, so I'll end with this: I made more hummingbird nectar instead of buying it, made a fresh gallon of rooibos tea for drinking at home and work, used some of the cubed sweet potatoes I had roasted and frozen ahead for meals this week, used my silicone, metal and glass containers for packing my lunch and storing leftovers, wrapped a grandchild's gift in a reusable cloth bag I'd made a while back with sale fabric, cleaned the house with reusable microfiber cloths and mop heads, used my thrift-store weights to work out and stirred up a new batch of hot pepper bird seed using cheap vegetable oil and the hottest pepper I can find in the South Asian grocery store.
@JD, why hot peppers?
1. I picked up a toy off Buy Nothing for my daughter. It is a toy she has been asking for and costs about $40 new.
2. I juiced some oranges and clementines that were getting old.
3. I purchased some sourdough bread and naan bread from Aldi for 50% off.
4. Our home got reassessed, resulting in the value of the home doubling. For NY, that already has high property/school taxes, this is a large increase in taxes. We have scheduled an appointment with the assessor and compiled data showing the assessment is too high.
5. We took the kids to a roller skating party at the YMCA that is free, signed up for a free family cooking class at the YMCA, and used our museum membership this weekend.
@Corrine, Good luck challenging your assessment! We had to do that every time we were re-assessed on our lakeside home in upstate New York. It was crazy.
I should try that with chipotles. I usually get dried ones and pound them a bit with a mortar and pestle, but I’m curious whether the canned ones have a different flavor.
I’m continuing my quest to empty the freezer and stay out of big retail stores as much as possible. This is a frugal thing. I hate it when something stays in the freezer so long that I end up having to discard it. I’m happy to report that nothing has been in there very long. My freezer gets full because I can’t resist clearance meat. Also, I have a lot of frozen fruit and vegetables that I grew.
In second thought, maybe I should stick with the dried chipotles! Ha!
The chipotles can sit in a container in your fridge for SO LONG. Don't be afraid! 😉
@Kristen, ok!!
Hey, you can reuse that gift bag! It's nice sturdy one. So count it as a frugal win!
I've not been frugal at all. Stocking up on groceries, new sneakers and pants for assorted kids , having to buy expensive eggs.... I have to decide if the cost of gas and time to go to big city to get to Sam's Club is worth the effort. Oh well, maybe next week!
@mbmom11, it would make a nice lunch bag!
@Ann on the farm, I used mine as a lunch bag before I retired! My male co-workers got a kick out of it.
1. The month of February and the first part of March have been very busy for me. So busy that I haven’t had time to spend much money.
2. I rescued an amaryllis bulb and a huge Staghorn Fern from a landscaper who had thrown them at the end of the road for yard trash pick up. The amaryllis has now been planted with my other bulbs and the giant Staghorn has been put in a giant hanging pot.
3. I had to visit the dentist yesterday and get a crown. I paid for this using pre-tax money set aside in my flexible savings account (FSA). As much as I did not want to do this, there was potential of a much bigger and more expensive problem down the road. So I put on my big girl pants and got it done.
4. My grandson who is 2 1/2 is absolutely fascinated by binoculars. At an estate sale last week, I found a nice pair that were drop resistant for $5. I bought them and took them with me when I was babysitting on Saturday. My grandson and I spent hours in the back yard looking at things. He walks around the house with these around his neck like a birdwatcher. So cute! Best $5 that I ever spent.
5. Despite having a full schedule, I have been doing all the usual things - eating simple meals at home, brewing my own coffee, drinking, primarily filtered water, and batching my errands.
Wishing all of you peace, good health, and prosperity.
@Bee, I love your #4! We can't start the next generation too early on birdwatching.
@A. Marie, it’s never to earlier to teach an appreciation for the natural world! At GS’s age, he is a little sponge and is constantly gathering data about the world around him.
1. Used an old Kohls gift card and found a purple hoodie sweatshirt and a black fleece athletic jacket, all on sale. Cost me $6.85 after clerk rang up total. 2. Used coupons for 3 gal of bottled water, 3 jars pasta sauce, 4 cans tuna, 2 link sausages, some zucchini and bag of carrots. Total of $11.52; says I saved 71%. 3. Made all lunches and coffee at home. 4. Using up freezer items. 5. Found $20.00 in my cars coin drawer. Not frugal: my dog got very sick and had to spend almost $6,000.00 at emergency vet for her.
@Kalena, I hope your pup is doing better.
Funny - most of my things are from last Tuesday.
I went to Party City (70% off or more) and Joann's (only 20% on most things). I bought wrapping paper, garish artificial yarn that feels nice for baby clothes, a cordless reading lamp, some cookie decorating tools, and other odds and ends. I also had fun talking knitting with another customer.
I did not buy a small set of drawers at Joann's for my growing set of in-process knitting projects. My patience was rewarded by realizing something I already had worked much better. I grin a little every time I look in that direction.
After that, I Freecycled yarn and wrapping paper, making the Party City and Joann's runs a little less frugal. The Freecycled yarn included a nice subtle dark blue bulky Chilean wool and just what I need to make a small blanket for the living room. I will contribute the yarn & needles I don't want to the library's craft club's stash.
I bought 5 books at the library's sale shelves - those clever librarians put them in the entry hallway so we see them every time we go - for $3.
I found an unused $25 gift card on the ground. I couldn't trace it back to the purchaser and there was no name on it, so I decided it was OK to keep it. Virtue rewarded perhaps: I picked it up thinking it was trash to throw away.
@WilliamB, I love how you smile every time you see the drawers you didn't need to buy. Well done. And, as a fellow trash picker upper, I think sometimes you are rewarded by good karma. Nice score on the gift card.
@WilliamB,
I never mind supporting the library in any way. The local public school and the library are these most worthwhile charities in any community because they directly serve the most vulnerable and our critical to keeping our democracy strong through an educated voting populations.
I will buy new books to support favorite authors and then donate them to the library to reduce holding queues of 224.
I'm doing the Amazon Blackout/ boycott on top of the Target/ Walmart boycott.
@Farhana, Thank you for joining the boycott. I'm also doing it. It's so important.
Adorable toothbrush holder! Glad you were able to repair it. Now it has more "personality" 🙂
1) We cancelled a trip, so much of our frugality this week is related to that. I was able to get a refund for our train tickets (minus a small processing fee), which was nice.
2) I cancelled our hotels, and got the points, awards & cash back. I had a free night award that would expire & no plans to use it, so I gifted it to an ex coworker. This ex coworker is the same person who used his airline upgrades to upgrade our kids on a flight to Dubai, so it felt really nice to return the favor.
3) I was able to shift my parents flights (they were originally coming to stay with DS17) to attend his graduation, and they got a $108 credit in addition to that.
4) For our flights, supposedly we will get one ticket back in cash + $700 from the second ticket. That hasn't appeared yet, so we shall see. We also received a large flight credit that needed to be used. I: gifted part of the credit to my BFF, who hosted us last weekend. She's using it for our meet up in Sedona. I also booked travel for four to Christmas to see my parents. Those flights tend to be insanely expensive, so that will take care of that. And, finally, DH & I are using the rest of our credit to spend our 20th anniversary in Hawaii, which is also where we got married, on the beach!
5) A miscellany of tiny things: made a chicken stir fry to use up a bunch of expiring veggies, made a couple of smoothies to work through our stash of frozen veggies, used a grocery store reward to offset the cost of items I brought to a soccer banquet, and used another grocery store reward to offset the cost for snacks & drinks for a tennis match I was assigned to cover.
I hear a lot of people praising public libraries because they are one of the places where you can truly go and enjoy - and NOT have the pressure to spend any money there to do so. You really proved that point today! It makes me extra heartbroken that my only-3-blocks-away neighborhood library is closed this year!! Ugh, the agony. I am excitedly counting the days until it's back open again (and been going to some of the libraries that are a bit further away) in 2026.
I have some good ones today:
1. I put off my shingles shot till after Antarctica and because I heard I would have to pay something. I was at Sam's club and they gave me a five dollar off total coupon if I chatted with the pharmacist. In the end she gave me my shot for free plus I saved $5.00.
2. I was going to a potluck and wanted to use what I had on hand. I am calling this month : Modest March. I had Tastybite Chickpea Masala. Precooked, in a bag and I buy them when I am traveling and heat in a microwave in a hotel. I searched up a recipe that makes it a dip with my homemade greek yogurt added. It was just ok but I am finally ready to experiment a little. I have a lot of shame over cooking for others. Things have to be just right. I don't want to live that way anymore.
3. I bought naan bites from Sam's for the above dish and saved half for dinner for hubby. OK anybody have a favorite recipe to use naan with?
4. In the River House renovation, I chose the tiles for the Harlequin floor. I matched it with a gorgeous tile mural in the vein of William Morris for over the oven. Hubby
( who has never pushed back on any of my choices) looked at it and said, "UGH!!!!" later he took it back. But my tile man priced it out at $1200! What? So we came up with a plan to use excess floor tiles.
5. UN-frugal: I am tracking down a gal who makes the BEST designer cookies for my Mom's 90th. It is literally 2 hours away but I love them and I want to do something special for her. We have become so close since she got sober AT 80 YEARS OLD! She is God's greatest gift to me.
@Mary Ann,
My daughter makes mini-pizzas with naan bread. I never buy it (gluten) so that's all I've got.
But your number 5 is fantastic about your mother! Congratulations!
Aww, amazing about your 80 year old friend!
@Mary Ann, Congrats on your #2 - I struggle with that - so I applaud your shift in attitude! And that is so cool about your mom; hope she has a great birthday celebration. (And: now I'm curious what the cookies will look like...)
1. (From yesterday's NCA post:) I had to hire a crew to blow/rake/pickup/haul away the tons of live oak leaves in the front yard. Not frugal but necessary: Because they were spread 3 or 4 inches thick all over the yard and it's physically just too much for me to be able to do. The guy then said I owed him more $$ than he'd originally estimated because there were many more leaves by the time they came to work (4 days later); in fact, they completely filled up his trailer (1000s of leaves!) and he preferred to take them to the landfill instead of put them in my bags/trashcans. Meanwhile, bc of spring break and my other (volunteer) helpers being out of town, I still had not gotten anyone to move the large furniture back into the LR-DR area that had just been refloored. So I asked if they'd do me a favor, and they moved the buffet, china cabinet and sofa that were in the way (so much so that I could've stumbled and fallen-- broken hips are not frugal!)So this was sorta kinda a frugal win-win: the crew got the price they wanted and I didn't have to hire anyone to move 3 large pcs of furniture. (There are 2 more large items, but they're not in the way and the guys from church can do it when they get back.)
2. Setting up the room again, I had a CFL in the antique lamp (it's been in the attic for over a year!). Of course, LED bulbs are cheaper to run than CFLs. While I didn't have a LED bulb that fit the lamp, I did have a very bright LED, one of several that I'd taken out of the overhead entryway light. (They were waaaay too bright and made my foyer shine like a tennis court at night! Changed them out for something more subtle.) But -- wouldn't you know it! -- this LED bulb had a narrow "chandelier base" that wouldn't fit the lamp socket. Junk drawer to the rescue! I found a converter socket that will fit a regular socket and you can screw a chandelier bulb into it. Everything fit into the lamp just right, no need to buy a new LED bulb, and the brightness from just one bulb is exactly what I need for that part of the room.
3. Found the missing bedknob from the headboard of my IKEA metal bed. It keeps falling off. Rummaged through the junk drawer again and found a longer bolt. Was able to fasten it tightly to the rest of the headboard.
4. Earlier frugal win: when I got the IKEA bed off Craigslist (sold cheap, from a graduate student leaving town who didn't want to move it across the country), it looked like an antique brass bed except it was all white. Too stark modern looking: The gleaming white color didn't go with my antique furniture. So I took the bedknobs and spray painted them antique gold. (Not the whole headboard/footboard/frame, but just the knobs that go on the ends.) This little accent made 'em match the color of the metal in the antique light fixtures, so that the bed looks like it belongs in the room.
5. Re-melted/remade an expensive Magnolia jar candle that still had an inch or more wax in it, and put in a string wick to replace the little stick of wood that was supposed to make it crackle like a fireplace. (I got it as a gift, wouldn't spend that much to buy it, sorry Chip and Joanne!) Burned it last night and my fixer-upped LR-DR now smells wonderful!
I made my protein coffees at home this week. I don't buy one every day but maybe twice a week...so I cut that out.
Meals at home. Lunch sent to work for my husband. Leftovers eaten.
I have been shopping for an entertainment cabinet for over 6 months now. The price tags have been shocking to say that least. I bought a modular piece that provides all the storage we need and was less than half the price of pieces elsewhere. I am not sure how long such an item will last but the reviews were stellar and I saved 20% with a sale. I figure if it gives me 5 years it will more than pay for itself.
I reorganized closets and cabinets and purged lots of things that I will deliver to the Goodwill later this afternoon. Organization make me feel so much calmer and someone who needs those items can get use out of them.
We are finally at the stage that we have to move my Aunt downstairs. She has a chairlift but her balance has become so bad that we cannot risk it. I will be purging her room completely of all items that are not being used or worn, selling what we can and donating the rest since we cannot fit everything into the new room she will have downstairs.
Joanne's is going out of business so I stopped in and scored some drawing supplies for my son's Easter basket. For those of you that have a Joanne's near you check it out. They had tons of yarn, crafting stuff, quilting stuff fabric all at 10-40% off. I imagine those discounts will become deeper as they approach their closing date.
@Angie, a friend of mine noticed that the prices for big-ticket items at Joanns, such as sewing machines, are much higher than they were during the Xmas sales. Made me sad to hear that.
@WilliamB, The 'sale' prices at my Joann are also higher than regular times. I guess they'll fool some people. But not me.
1. Made butterscotch pudding out of the expired whole milk
2. Packed my lunch.
3. Sent my ins claims from my car accident to the car insurer.
4. Picked up some activity kits from buy nothing for my tween.
5. Bought some 75% valentines merch to make a goody bag for my synchro swimmers "little sister" there's a limit of 20 to spend. So in actual dollars or what it would have been if I hadn't hit the clearance sale?? Idk.
As always, I have a hard time thinking of frugal things!
We had a potential frugal thing when DH thought he had fixed the small fridge (one of those college-dorm types) that was sitting in our garage. He diagnosed that the relay to the compressor was shot, and got a replacement relay for just $5. He was so happy to be able to put the fridge in his office to store his lunches! He installed it on Sunday. Alas, though it seemed to be running very nicely, when he got there Monday morning it wasn't running. Boo. At least he was only out $5 for the part. Being persistent, he's going to try one more time but if that doesn't work, he'll haul it to the junkyard. I'm awarding him Frugal points anyway, as it was a good effort to restore something and avoid buying something.
--By keeping my grocery trips down, I brought our food bill down a bit last week, and that felt good! And I didn't buy eggs.
--Library books forever. Am impatiently waiting for Miranda Hart's memoir, which has finally been purchased by our library.
--First bike ride of the year to the library!
--Prevented Clark from gulping down a rubber band, a screw, and then a fruit sticker he found on the floor, thus averting an expensive vet bill. He does this for attention mostly.
--We've been using aquafaba instead of eggs in our tuna burgers, and other things, and DH thought to also mash up the beans and use those as well, sort of a tuna-bean burger. They were good! And stretched the food dollars.
--MIL had been having gas line leaks in her [decrepit] historic house, which has a propane tank, and said she'd called the gas guys out three times since, to have them check because she was certain she smelled gas. Each time she ended up paying $100 for them to check the gas lines. DH found her an explosive gas detector, and set it up for her. While he had to drive four hours to do this, in the long run it will save her money, hopefully, because she won't call them to come check when she *thinks* she smells something.
@Karen A., Did DH smell anything? The company guys aren’t always right. A few months after moving in, I smelled gas from my stove. The gas company guy and his fancy gadget didn’t find it. I made him come back (on the company dime) and, in short, didn’t let him leave till he found it. Because I was right - there was a leak.
@WilliamB, No, he smelled nothing, and when he set up the detector, it registered nothing. Quite a relief!
@Karen A., Miranda's memoir is worth the wait! I was able to listen to it, which I enjoyed SO much. Hope you get it soon!
@Amy C, I love her sitcom and her standup comedy, and she played my favorite character on Call the Midwife. Who can't relate to Chummy every now and then??
That is a very cute toothbrush holder.
My small frugal things:
1. I compared prices online and chose to get eggs from Tom Thumb because they were cheapest there, $6.99 for 18.
2. While I was shopping there, I found a good sale on meat and bought several packages of it. I also got cereal and tortillas on sale.
3. I redeemed $1 in loyalty rewards.
4. I have been taking walks every day the weather is good enough for free exercise and mood boosting.
5. I have found and reclaimed some things that had gotten lost, or just put away in storage, imstead of buying new things for the new house.
@Elizabeth M, bonus number 6, I meal prepped by making a batch of rice, beans, and tomatoes to use as burrito filling over the next few days.
Late to the party, but here are mine:
1. We opened the final massive box of hand-me-downs that Mr. B's friend gave us when I was pregnant. Sizes 4T and 5T *sniff!* We will need to thrift/buy a few things (a few t-shirts, some pairs of pants, and socks) but those boxes have saved us so much money over the last few years.
2. Even if I run out of time to make a whole lunch, bringing something from home means that I can buy a snack to round it out, instead of a full meal. Imperfect is better than nothing.
3. We decided to fix up our car before the tariffs increase the cost of parts too much. Luckily, we are diligent about having a large emergency fund and we can pay for it in cash, and replenish the fund over the next few months.
4. My parents are going out of town and we gratefully accepted some of their perishables.
5. Mr. B and I might impulsively take a train trip or drive to a nearby city for our anniversary weekend (5 years married in April!) When I looked at the cost, I had a touch of sticker shock, but then I remembered that the colleague I sit next to at work, who has the same income as me, is planning his third intercontinental trip in six months. No judgment--he and I have different goals, and his trips seem fun. But it was a good reminder for me to just spend the money, because on the whole Mr. B and I are very, very frugal compared to our peers.
@Meira@meirathebear, My husband & I were waiting to travel until after our youngest graduated college. Cancer had other plans & we didn’t get to travel together. Take the trip!!!
@Meira@meirathebear, I'm with Diane. Carpe diem!
@Meira@meirathebear, Happy soon-to-be-Anniversary! Take! That! Trip!
Your toothbrush holder is so cute!
My Frugal 5's
1) Had an inexpensive time out with my dear friend. Got to visit a local thrift store and Home Goods that just opened up in our area w/o spending anything. Also paid for a $10 meal at Panda Express and split it with her per her suggestion. She's always generous in doing things for me and my family so I was happy to treat her out.
2) Went for a walk around the block and played a game we borrowed from the library.
3) Hub made mock subway sandwiches at home with homemade bread. So yummy!
4) Kept up on mending clothes with holes on them. Our girls continuously get holes in their clothes. I'm guessing we saved a lot of money through the years by doing this.
5) Listened to audiobooks for free through the library app. This has been very helpful in keeping me preoccupied while doing the dreaded house tasks like folding and putting away laundry, washing dishes, and tiding the house.
@AW, that sounds good! How did you make the mock Subway sandwiches?
1. After multiple failed attempts, “chats”, and phone calls with VistaPrint, I ordered checks online with SuperValueChecks. Might have been cheaper than Vista, but the shipping probably cancelled out the savings.
2. Duluth Trading had an extra savings from TopCashBack so I bought several things on sale. I swore I was going to quit TCB and if I had, I wouldn’t have been tempted by Duluth. Now I will need to dump items from my closet.
Neither of these feels frugal. The first one is a result of total frustration and giving up after wasting almost 2 hours; the second falls under “the more you spend, the more you save.”
Now I am going to spend $15 of gas to drive to the Big Town and pay too much for a haircut because I don’t want to remind my friend that she offered me a haircut; it is SO HARD to call in a favor, even if it was an offer.
Guess I’m saving a lot of money by not going to therapy to sort all this out.
1. Had leftover pot roast and leftover chicken taco filling. Made taquitos instead of letting it go to waste! I love a good repurposed leftover story.
2. Line dried my clothing yesterday bc it was sunny.
3. Had the plumber who was already here for toilet issues also fix a leaky faucet. Saving water=saving money.
4. Met my sweet niece for coffee instead of lunch. Still plenty of time to chat but I spent $12 instead of $50+.
5. Went to the YMCA and exercised. I didn’t waste my membership last week 🙂 go me.
@Caitlie, go you!
Five frugal things –
– oven toasted cut-up leftover hamburger and hotdog buns, added spices and made breadcrumbs out of them using my food processor. Put them in the freezer.
– cut off the end of the tooth paste tube and got two more days worth of toothpaste.
– saved bags from bread, hot dog and hamburger buns for short term refrigerator storage or to double up when using freezer bags.
– picked up a few books from a local Free Little Library to take to a 96-yr. old friend I visit monthly out of town who loves to read - she’s into murder mysteries!
– blanched and froze some fresh broccoli I bought from Sam's before it went bad so it wasn't wasted.
@Joyce from Arkansas, I too save an assortment of bags to reuse like that. We take our smelly garbage and freeze it until garbage day so always have a use for random bags. I have a small drawer that I stuff them in.
I also cut off the ends of tubes to extract the most product I can. When it comes to makeup, I now look for "pots" that I can more readily get 100% of the product out.
I love little free libraries. In addition to books, I have been thrilled to get a magazine (Down East) that someone occasionally drops off. I add books to our local little library as often as I can.
Supposed to be 80’s all week so my $1 buys at Goodwill are getting use early. Cotton capris, shorts, sleeveless tops, Keds and sandals, summer wardrobe 12 bucks. I did need some socks and Target had a 3 pack marked down to 3 dollars.
I wanted A hotdog. So I had to buy a pack and have been eating A hotdog for more meals than I’d like. Horseradish helps.
ALDIs had two of my favorites, a bag of Cosmic Crisp Apples and a bag of Cara Cara oranges, tasty treats. ALDIs bananas taste better than bananas from other stores. I don’t know why.
Ponytail weather, if I need a hair tie they are on the ground everywhere *sanitize*.
My cat is a wonderful little smooshie.
Do you ever freeze hot dogs? I hear they freeze/thaw pretty well.
Enjoy your wonderful little smooshie. 🙂
Well that toothbrush holder was too cute not to save
I know, right?
1. Dropped some stuff off at Salvation Army. Decided to walk through & got a pair of grey trousers & 2 prs of cute khakis for $9
2. Used a $10/$100 Food City coupon. Was not hard to reach the $100 threshold
3. Turned my upstairs heat down to 63 during the day & the downstairs to 65
4. Windows open & fresh air!!!
5. Thanking past Diane for having the foresight to save 2 invisible fence receivers (I am the queen of purging- often to my detriment!) The receivers were covered by a lifetime warranty, so both new puppies have brand new ones. The others were at least 15 yrs old
This is a Frugal Things house edition for me.
1) Our fridge got mysteriously warm last week. And the ice maker was acting up. My husband did some googling and developed a theory that when the ice maker overflowed a couple weeks ago, water got into the vents at the back of the freezer that connect to the fridge. Saturday we decided to clear out the fridge (best to do it before we grocery shop on Mondays) and let it completely thaw out over 24 hours. On Sunday night there was water in the bottom, so ice was built up somewhere. We loaded everything back in and plugged it in. Low and behold we now have an appropriately cold fridge! And a clean one too because I took the opportunity to wipe out the whole thing while it was empty.
2) At the same time our dryer started to break down. Lately clothes have been coming out damp. This time I did the googling. Last spring when we bought this new-to-us dryer, I also bought a packet of dryer cleaning tools and gave it a good "un-linting." The internet convinced me that nothing was mechanically wrong, so it must have just been that it needed a good cleaning again. So my husband also did this cleaning on Saturday, and the dryer is back in business!
3) On Monday morning I canceled the repair man with plenty of time to spare before we would have been charged for canceling. (I had scheduled him on Friday to come the following Thursday in case we couldn't solve these issues on our own.)
4) Daylight savings time and the resulting exhaustion from loosing an hour of sleep really crushed any drive I had to meal plan and grocery shop this week, but I did it anyway. For dinner I made an easy Mexican-inspired dip, which we ate with chips and fruit.
5) Come to think of it, Sunday night I was sorely tempted to get take out for dinner, but it proved much easier to eat up food that I didn't have to load back into the fridge, and we were able to scramble ourselves into dinner.
i ordered trash bags from home depot. they were not delivered. (or so I thought). ups had a photo of the bags not in a shipping box but just sitting in the vestibule of my apt building in NYC. hello thieves come get me. so one did. i calledhome depot customer service and they said they don't refund or replace stolen items call ups. ups said call home dept. was hung up by home depot 3 times. hopped on the better business bureau website. filed a complaint. two hours later home depot called and we were getting a refund.
when i was six i bought dipsey doodles snack that was supposed to have rocky and bulwinkle coins. my bag dld not have any. i sent the bag to old london, with a letter and voila i got rocky coins in the mail.
glad you repaired your toothbrush holder. sentimental stuff is important no matter what professional declutterers say.
1. My son decided he wants to try reselling shoes that he finds a Goodwill on Ebay. I had him talk with his grandpa who has been an Ebay seller for over 20 years. They have a plan and I’m feeling better about his endeavor with my dad’s guidance.
2. While he was looking for shoes at Goodwill I browsed the book section and found two books to buy for $2 each.
3. I am in need of new dressy work pants for an upcoming work event (my old ones no longer fit) and I found a few pairs at Target’s clearance section.
4. My parents were unexpectedly at my house around dinner time so I stretched our planned meal by adding a couple sweet potatoes to the baby potatoes and defrosted a loaf of bread. We ended up with one serving of leftovers which made a great lunch.
5. I was craving something other than water and I didn’t want carbonation so I brewed some herbal tea to have as iced tea all week.
One more comment. I love your toothbrush holder. I love quirky things. When we redid our bathroom recently, I made a little sign (because I couldn't find the size I needed on line), that has 5 stars and says "Would poop here again." On that note, I recently realized that with two men in the house who often don't put the seat down when they flush, (I've tried!) my bare toothbrush in a holder on the counter might be getting exposed to "toilet mist," so I got a toothbrush cover. Yikes!
What an adorable toothbrush holder! You have very well-behaved kitties that they don't jump up and chew on your brush as our monsters definitely would.
-Eating what's already in the house (husband was skeptical about the chicken and noodles dish, but enthusiastic after trying it--he even ate all the leftovers!)
-Showering every other day to save electricity and my skin from drying out.
-Trimmed my own bangs as always.
-Cutting husband's hair tonight
-made chili, & ham & lentil stews for the freezer ($12 ingredients=20 servings at $.60 ea)
Such a cute toothbrush holder! And way to go using the resources your school provides - I’m sure they would be delighted to know that they met a need.
My frugal wins:
1- My scotch tape dispenser long ago lost its center spindle to a preschooler helpfully disposing of the empty tape roll, and I had looked at buying a replacement spindle but they all came in multipacks on Amazon, which felt silly. A friend just got her son a 3D printer for his bday and was able to print me off a new spindle in the 45 minutes we were already hanging at her house! My teen son insists I should have paid her since 3D printer filament is spendy, so maybe I’ll offer next time I see her.
2- I got a cute winter hat from a clearance bin for $10, with the caveat that it has a really ugly brand patch on it that I should be able to unstitch easily.
3- Coming back to town Sunday from being away for the weekend, we did leftovers and eggs for dinner instead of ordering pizza. (Despite the higher price on eggs - $11.19 for an 18 pack here in CO - they’re still a pretty cheap protein.) Healthier and cheaper both!
4- We planned ahead and bought strap on emergency chains at a good price via Amazon for a trip to the mountains, which saved us on a slippery incline with fresh powder. (We do have snow tires, but front wheel drive …) Cheaper and easier to use than what stores carry or needing a tow truck to help us out.
5- I actually took my coupons that the grocery store mails me into consideration when making my grocery list for the week!
6- Planned ahead and brought food for breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner on a mountain ski weekend, so no need to eat out, particularly at the overpriced ski lodge restaurants. A PB&J and an apple meets that need just fine.
I use a regular glass as a toothbrush holder. Easy to clean
Much of my frugals this week are related to friends' visit.
1. To fluff pillows as they were drying, I made dryer balls out of some old socks and lacrosse balls we had around the house.
2. I've replaced a couple of meals with friends while they are visiting with my own snacks vs going out. Still hanging out with them and having lots of fun.
3. Related to the above, I've also adjusted my eating schedule to align with their jet-lagged eating schedule so we are all only eating 2 regular meals per day (plus snacks) to save on going out.
4. I've planned our trips so that we see a lot of sights without having to pay a lot of fees. There are still a few experiences we've paid for, but being a bit of a tour guide is saving me and my friends money.
5. I avoided parking fees for all but 1 trip this week. However, frugal fail in that on the parking fee day we stopped at Costco and had to pay $10 in parking for a 30 minute stop.
5FT? Here goes:
1. I had bought a pressure cooker thinking it was for canning but I was wrong. I paid $20 for it. Brand new, in box, circa 1970, harvest gold. I sold it as "midcentury modern kitchen decor" on eBay and got $50 for it. Best result for my mistaken purchase ever.
2. A church member had an actual canning pressure cooker and I offered to trade her a water bath canner. That left me to hunt down a second kettle and rack so I did--it took me about three weeks. I bought one today via NextDoor, $35, and I immediately traded it to the church lady for her pressure canner. Now we are all happy, and I am still $25 in the black.
3. I bought a ginormous bag (25 lb) of carrots "for juicing" but I instead cut them up for snacking, cooking, baking (shredded), roasting, etc. I still have a few more pounds to go but it was definitely a worthy purchase (it was $9.99 at Safeway; 5 lb bags are about $5).
4. Husband's dear friend is coming to visit this weekend so I am planning the food: carrot cake! Corned beef and cabbage + carrots/potatoes, tacos, pasta. Almost all on hand except the corned beef, which is coming from Smart & Final later today (sale at $1.99 a pound).
5. I bought a beautiful all-wood cabinet from Facebook MP and got it for half-price. I am making an old cabinet into my farm stand for use this summer, so I needed a replacement. The new one is better than the old one for sure!
Sorry about your internet problem, that's annoying.
1. Went on a walk for free exercise and found a penny.
2. Needed a book for a Bible study. Found it $5 cheaper on ebay than Amazon, so I ordered that one.
3. Planted some radish seeds, stirred my compost, hoping my garden turns out this year!
4. Since we have free electric rates at night, I'm doing a load of laundry and cooking some pinto beans in the slow cooker tonight.
5. We bought some used chain link fence...cheaper than brand new!
Today’s the 17th day in a row that I’m working, so I’m trying to remember that being efficient with time is sometimes more important than saving a few dollars.
That said, I do have a few things:
1. Like Kristen, I commuted by walking a few times (a tiny direct gas savings, and an indirect savings because it meant my husband drove our more fuel-efficient car while running errands and taking kids to activities on Sunday). I remembered to walk in sneakers and change into the pair of nice shoes that I keep in my office - walking in dress shoes is less comfortable and wears them out faster.
2. I made a big pot of lentil soup, which is always inexpensive, and used up some wilting celery and half a can of leftover tomato paste.
3. I used past-their-prime grape tomatoes in an omelet.
4. I had breakfast and coffee at home every day and packed my lunch most days.
5. I made good use of the public library, checking out a stack of books for my 9-year-old and a great audiobook to listen to on my walking commutes.
1. We packed most of our lunches. My husband had an odd schedule one day and decided to support a family-owned business next to his work.
2. We brewed coffee at home. We ate up food that needed to be eaten.
3. I went through the mending pile. I fixed 2 pairs of pants and found one pair of jeans that I could cut up for my quilt project.
4. My daughter has sold almost all of her Girl Scout cookies. This is frugal because we ourselves have to buy everything she doesn't sell.
5. We went to the library. Everyone returned their books and found new ones. I played chess with one kid at the library. We checked out a version of Clue Jr.
6. We went out of town for a celebration at my sister's house. We took my dad with. We pack food for the kid with food allergies.
7. We baked a cake for a different celebration at our house.
I…
Made “coleslaw” last night from shredded carrots when I realized I’d forgotten to buy cabbage on the Saturday grocery day.
Made an egg bake with cottage cheese & pepperjack to stretch my eggs out (I’m diabetic, breakfasts have to be under 10g of carbs but at least 600 calories, so I tend to eat a lot of eggs, which has gotten expensive!)
Inventoried the freezer & pantry, and made a plan for Pi Day (Friday) that doesn’t require a store run.
Used a gift card to order a grow light and heated sprouting mat to start seeds for the garden instead of dropping $600 on our local CSA (it was sold out!).
Our house is too dark/cold in the spring for me to successfully start plants without these tools. I’m expecting to spend about $50 on seeds & a couple of plants (our local high school sells plants in the spring, I like to support), and another $50 on soil & mulch, with the goal of providing about the same amount of produce as I’d get from our CSA. Likely not as much variety! But since I already have a garden & just need to stay on top of the work, I think this is doable. I’m counting this as frugal given the high cost (and expected increases) at the grocery store. Plus, just stepping off the back deck to grab some kale is really nice. 🙂
I use butter wrapper paper to separate hamburger I make into patties that I freeze.
Oh, I love that idea! I am totally going to do that next time.
@Lisa, @kristen, I save butter wrappers in a quart size bag in the freezer (it takes little space), and use them to grease pans instead of oil on a paper towel.
1. I picked up a day of virtual work as a healthcare provider. Fortunately for this clinic I will just be there if someone needs something urgently so I will be able to relax and also work on a small pile of tasks that it’s easy to put off (mending, using Catalog Choice to opt out of mailers or emailing/calling the company, etc.).
2. I was solo parenting today and didn’t have what it took to make food, so we had snacky foods and I pulled out a small container of previously frozen soup for myself for dinner. I was sort of tempted to order pizza delivery, but boy is that expensive!
3. I mended multiple books (including library books) and a toddler shirt.
4. I bought a phone case from a company that has a 2-year warranty. Part of it is coming apart after only 6 months of use. Even though I bought it on Poshmark, it looks like I can get a replacement case from the company for free!
5. I finally used some tofu that was very expired (it was fine). I liked the oven-baked crispy recipe I used so I will try that again. I’m trying to avoid food waste as much as possible so I was glad to have it out of inventory. However it’s impossible to avoid all food waste with a 13-month old!
While saving money you're saving the planet while keeping your cash away from greedy billionaires. That's what I call, Three birds with one stone. You go girl.
That toothbrush holder is so cute!
Looks like it was meant for shorter, lighter kids toothbrushes.
Maybe glue it to a heavier square of something to help stabilize it?