Five Frugal Things | starting with a makeup eraser
1. I ordered makeup-removing cloths
Sonia told me about these and I was intrigued. They're a type of microfiber cloth that promises to remove makeup with just water.
I am very interested in reusable products that replace disposables (cheaper in the long run, plus they're eco-friendly!), so even though I was slightly skeptical, I ordered two types; the original Makeup Eraser, and a knock-off (Erase Your Face).
I'm pretty impressed with how well they work, even to remove mascara.
(Though I have to disclose that the knockoff ones do not, in fact, erase your face. Mercifully.)
Normally I feel hesitant to wear mascara because it's so annoying to remove, but now that I have these cloths, I'm happy to brush a little mascara on in the morning.
You just throw these into the laundry with the rest of your clothes, so they're easy to keep clean. And I imagine they will last for a super long time.
By the way, Sonia said that the original Make-Up Eraser brand cloths are at T.J. Maxx right now for a really good price, so you might check there.
2. I got a free $10 bowl at Panera
I have no idea why, but Panera randomly put a free bowl into my app.
I was not unhappy about this situation!
3. I got two pairs of undies for $0.53
I have a Victoria's Secret credit card that I pretty much never use (I got it eons ago), and they sent me a $10 "We miss you!" coupon, plus a coupon for a free pair of undies.
So, I used both of them when I was near the mall anyway, and I got two pairs for $0.53.
4. I got some free contact solution (inadvertently)
I stopped in at BJs to get some Clear Care contact cleaner, but they were totally out. I asked at the optical center to be sure I hadn't just missed it, and the lady there gave me two free sample boxes!
Since sample boxes don't last all that long, I stopped at Harris Teeter on the way home and picked up a Clear Care box with a $2 coupon on it.
While I was at Harris Teeter, I bought some eggs and canned tomatoes on a super good sale, and I got a rain check for a Smithfield pork butt that was out of stock.
5. I...
- scanned a receipt with Fetch for 300 points (if you neglect receipt scanning for a while, they send you a 300 point offer. At this point it's purposeful laziness on my part!)
- did not buy Chick-Fil-A on my way out of class, even though it's in the same building and my class lets out at 1:00 pm
- made dinner last night using a bunch of things I already had on hand
JD's comment the other day about bringing her lunch to work made me realize that in the past five years when I have worked, I have purchased lunch exactly twice. At my cubicle job, I worked there for three years and only one time ate something other than a home-packed lunch. And that was when my dad came to visit me and brought me food. At my current job at the school, I ate in the cafeteria for the first week of school, when I was in charge of a pod of kindergarteners and ate my lunch with them. But teachers have to pay three dollars a meal, so I started bringing my lunch again. Which was of great interest to the students, of course. 🙂
When I was an intern and later a staff member at the Arizona State Senate after college, I did occasionally go out for lunch with other interns, but that was maybe once a month, because we were all on stipend and had no money.
I suppose this is just a good illustration that once something becomes a habit for me, I will do it almost without exception. And also, it seems like a complete waste of my lunch break to spend time going somewhere or waiting for food when I could be eating leftovers and reading.
@kristin @ going country, this is a wonderful habit. Imagine how much money this has saved you over the years! Life-long frugality is really developing a series of habits that save money - bringing your lunch, carrying a refillable water bottle, brewing your own coffee in the morning, meal planning , and so forth.
@kristin @ going country, I second the "waste of time" comment! That was what made my current workplace a little more difficult - there's a cafeteria on site, and the walk to/from is actually quite pleasant (can be indoors or outdoors, depending on the weather).
@kristin @ going country, I feel the same way, plus it's super expensive here in NYC to eat lunch out everyday. If you want something healthy you'll spend at least $10, YIKES! Plus, I like that it encourages me to use up leftovers, I hate seeing food go to waste.
@Bee, This is something that I know in my head, but reading it today was very encouraging. Thank you for writing those words!
1.) My daughter needed to practice on her penmanship. She's been able to write since she was like 3 but now that she's in school they are more picky about things like the size of letters and such. I found some templates online for the Kindergarten paper. This is one of those things that is far more expensive than it should be but I suspect with such limited demand there aren't exactly people rushing to make a ton of it.
2.) Still working on eating out of the freezer and have just stopped buying certain things. Deli meat has reached a point where it's just not worth buying much any more. So there are more peanut butter sandwiches in our lunches these days. I also do leftovers and stuff like grilled cheese on the days I am home for lunch.
3.) Did not panic at all at yesterday's stock market. Panic makes for bad times. Besides, it's not like there's anything I can do about it.
4.) My wife and I were traveling this past weekend (first time in ages without our daughter) and we happened upon an L.L. Bean outlet. Most outlet stores are garbage and are just cheaper made versions of the products they normally sell. Well this was a genuine outlet in the sense that it was mostly made up of returns and such. You could buy a shirt with someone else's monogram on it, for example.
I ended up buying two shirts: a flannel and a button down. Neither were ... cheap ... but they were high quality items that should last a lot longer than something similar from Target or Old Navy, or at least I hope so.
5.) I know Autumn is almost upon us and Winter is right around the corner. The days are getting shorter (which I hate) but I am taking advantage of my working from home days and running laundry in the morning so that I can still continue to line dry it. Occasionally I have to do a touch-up dry but running the machine for 10-15 minutes is a lot better than running it for an hour.
@Battra92, L.L. Bean is my favorite, to the point that I inadvertently own almost no other dressy tops than theirs. I have been buying my kids' backpacks from them as well because in kindergarten my oldest went through three of the kind from Walmart before I knew any better, not having bought a backpack in a zillion years (approximate). I thought he was just being hard on them, but that seems to not be the case, even though he is genuinely very hard on his stuff.
I know Kristen uses a rewards card for everything and pays it off 🙂 but I don't love using credit because it's so easy — it's a know-yourself-better thing. I only use it short-term as a means to an end. The L.L. Bean Mastercard doesn't have a great interest rate, but I've held it so long that I have a pretty high limit, and it gives free monogramming and free shipping as well as cash back. I decided to go ahead and use it this summer because we have a fourth-grader who'll need a bigger backpack before fifth grade, and I've just about earned enough cash for it merely by directing all our usual cash purchases through it.
@Battra92, I used to live near a Lands' End *and* an LLBean outlet, and I miss it. I got some really good quality towels and sheets that I still have, some 15 years old!
#3-yup. Best to invest the money and then just not look at the stock market for a nice long while!
@Karen., My parents bought me an LLBean backpack when I was in middle school. I just used it again recently and I'm almost 40!
@Battra92, if you have one nearby, Dollar Tree has a paper tablet with learn to print lines in the school section.
@Battra92, can you move your clothes line now that the sun has shifted? I move my clothes line to a sunnier location in my yard in the fall to extend my outdoor drying season.
I continue to discover the usefulness of Facebook marketplace (late to the party on that one) This week I used it to sell one of the kids old toys for $10 and gave away for free another bulky item of baby equipment that I was going to have to pay to have hauled away if no one wanted it.
Thanks to a helpful tip I read from one of the commenters here, I downloaded the Sprouts app and there were coupons on there for free items so I got a couple free food items from Sprouts this week.
We are going away for a belated anniversary trip this weekend and are lucky enough to have our parents nearby to provide free babysitting and dogsitting!
I love the makeup eraser!! Works great, washes well and cheaper than buying disposable wipes all the time, plus less waste!
I was on the road yesterday, returning from an out-of-state funeral, which is why I didn't greet MB yesterday. Hi, MB! I loved your post!
Being on the road with my sister, we:
Split the cost of gas, taking turns fueling up and watching for best prices.
Packed food and drink for the way up and only ate one meal (Chick Fil A) on the way back, as we had enough leftovers for breakfast before we left on Monday.
Brought clothes we already had, to wear for the weekend and the funeral
Made do, if we forgot to pack something
This was not our frugal effort, but a number of kind people opened their homes to the family arriving in for the funeral on Sunday, so we had no hotel expenses. We were fed by the church, family and friends Saturday night (which is when we arrived) and all day Sunday. We literally only bought that one meal on the way home for all of Saturday through Monday.
It was actually quite frugal - I think I spent about $50 on gas and $12 on lunch. That was it! Of course, being able to be there to share our grief and to see family I haven't seen in a long time - or ever! - was priceless, and would have been worth whatever it might have cost. I got to see new babies, see new spouses, and talk privately with my widowed aunt who was so happy to see us all come to celebrate the memory of my uncle, her husband of 70 years.
Totally get that about funerals; they are hard occasions, but they are sometimes also sweet times of fellowship with people you love.
@JD, 70 years! That is quite amazing and wonderful.
@JD, thank you. Greetings to you!
Kristen, that bowl looks amazing! So yummy!
My Five Frugal Things:
1. Had the lowest weekly shopping total in ages: $89 and a few cents, which included a $2 personal hygiene item and $18 for beer, with beer being an entertainment item, not food. So that's $69 for food.
2. Started to make chili for my husband's lunches on Sunday and we did not have enough ground pork sausage for the batch. (Husband prefers it made with sausage.) The depths of the freezer yielded a lone small beef steak. I minced the steak up fine and sauteed it with the sausage and onions. It was delicious chili.
3. I work in an office and rarely get dirty at work, but my clothes do wrinkle a bit. This weekend I took all the slacks and blouses worn during the week and ran them through the dryer on delicate/low temp with a clean, damp washcloth added to the load. That took just a few minutes and took all the wrinkles out.
4. Froze some leftover grapes to add to frozen yogurt parfaits for my lunch. The grapes help stretch out the more expensive bags of frozen berries.
5. Used an Amazon gift card to buy a new blade and corer attachment for our trusty crank apple peeler, since apple season is upon us. This is more virtuous than frugal, but it will be frugal when I start making apple pie filling from bags of inexpensive apples. 😀
@Ruby, I think my crank apple peeler is one kitchen tool I can truly say is FUN to use!
@SandyH, oh, it is fun! And so much easier on my arthritic hands than using a knife.
@Ruby, I froze our grapes from our grape vine and I use them in my smoothies! The do stretch the frozen fruit much further!
@Ruby, what a great idea to count beer as entertainment! Although I'm a teetotaler (for health reasons, not by choice), my husband drinks a little and I like to have adult beverages on hand for guests, so I'm going to take your idea and update my budget spreadsheet pronto. Anything to get that food total down!
This is my first time responding but wanted to see if I could come up with 5 frugal things.
1) We have an abundance of sweet peppers in the garden so I made some pimento to freeze, chopped some pepper to freeze, and made 5 stuffed pepper meals (2 servings each) to freeze. (Maybe this should count as 3 frugal things??)
2) Because of all the garden and baked things I froze this summer, our freezers are full but unorganized. We usually clean and organize them in the winter but I am going through one shelf or section at a time to make sure we’re eating the oldest things.
3) Now that most fresh summer garden produce is done, we’re trying to eat from our freezer and pantry.
4) We have planted a small fall garden with romaine lettuce in a hoophouse, and spinach, turnips, and kale in a raised bed. The romaine is an experiment and may not mature in time before cold weather, but the others should provide fresh veggies through the winter. (I’m in NC.)
5) My husband set up a rain barrel which we’ve been using to water the plants in the hoophouse.
Hey, I made it with 5 frugal things! Some are ongoing so it may be hard to do this every week.
Welcome! I'm so glad you joined us!
And it is totally ok to repeat things; frugality is often repetitive. Think of how often I say that I sold a book or that I used up some leftovers. 🙂
I love love love my make up eraser! I'm always shocked at the amount of make up it takes off when I use it. I know it doesn't clean all the gunk off my face but if it's really late at night just getting the make up off is better than sleeping with it on. My husband is probably fed up with me telling him how much I love my make up eraser because I say it every time I use it
I love this makeup eraser! Mine has been going strong for two years so far. I don't wear a lot of makeup (and have only worn it a handful of times since Covid) but everytime I use it, I'm thrilled with it's effectiveness.
5 Frugal Things
1) Continue to slowly use up food that we had.
2) Combine trips together within the same area to save gas.
3) Mend kids clothes and fix toys.
4) List fall/ winter items for sell on Facebook.
5) Got Ibotta & Fetch rewards from grocery purchases.
6) Others Frugal Wins
- Deposit $20 birthday check into checking account.
- Used a coupon and got a free cookie from Crumbl Cookies for me and my daughter.
- Got a few girl pants belts for free from a friend.
- Got free crib sheets from our Buy Nothing Facebook group. Been posting items for free there too and just recently gave away a new nativity and music CD.
- Brought sandals for my girls at OUAC.
Frugal fail: Did not shop at Aldi. Boo to me! I was shocked, truly shocked to see the prices on things I usually buy at Aldi. I actually reached for a product on a shelf, and snatched my hand back when I saw the price! Lol
Sold over $200 worth of things on eBay. I am a new reseller and I really had a good week. Many are things I have de-cluttered from my own home.
No takeout for the second week in a row. It helps that we are on diets. I’m 10 pounds down, so we’ll continue this regime!
Did not go for Mexican food Friday night.
We’ve decided to do every other Friday, mainly for the expenses ; but also because of aforementioned diet. The only drawback is, we always take my 85 year old mom with us, and she was kind of disappointed not to have her queso and chips, lol. I took her dinner instead that I had cooked.
Wrapping up Christmas shopping for the grandkids. I started in July, which enabled me to wait for good sales and shop around. It’s mainly, though, that I have 6 grandchildren ages 12-5, and spreading it out over many months is the only way I can afford it. We also have a bunch of fall birthdays in our family, so that’s another reason to start early.
Cooked from scratch.
I love that you included a conscious decision to NOT buy something as a frugal thing!
This week I...
1. Made applesauce with some wrinkly, bruised apples that promptly disappeared at dinner that night - applesauce is so much more appealing than wrinkly apples! (Note: I was weirdly excited to report this particular frugal thing this week!).
2. Made homemade eggs Benedict for brunch on Sunday. I am reminded again of how ridiculously easy it is to make good Hollandaise!
3. Packed my lunch every day.
4. Picked up some $1 cards from Aldi. I like to keep these on hand for my family to use when birthdays, anniversaries, etc., come up. Regular cards can be $5+!
5. Did NOT join the group for beers after a community bike ride on Sunday. Which also meant I didn't end up ordering out lunch! I had a great time riding with that group, and I'm really looking forward to helping to plan next year's ride.
Fist bump about the applesauce save; good for you!
@EngineerMom, One of the things I do when we have only one or two wrinkled apples, which is not enough for a decent amount of applesauce, is to slice them, brown in a little butter and put on a small amount of cinnamon sugar. I learned that trick from this blog some time ago. I think my husband hides apples just so I have to make this for him every so often.
@Lindsey, Ooh... I love this idea! The "one lone apple" problem always exists at my house.
@EngineerMom, skipping the lunch after your bike ride is such a great idea. It seems that all social outings revolve around eating out somehow. It never occurred to me that I could just skip it!
@Dorinda, I'll chop them up and freeze, then when I have a few I use them in a cake or bread recipe.
1) I have spent the week reorganizing my kitchen, pantry, garage and laundry. Not specifically frugal, but it helps me to complete frugal activities such as cooking with greater ease. It was difficult to keep everything in its place during Covid when my house was truly lived in by members of my family besides just me.
2) I was not given a 2000 point bonus on Fetch that I should have gotten. So I followed the app directions and received it within just a few minutes.
3) I found some items that I no longer needed while reorganizing and listed them on eBay. I gave some garden and pet items away on Buy Nothing. I also sold two items this week. Both were purchased for resale. Both were packed in recycled packaging.
4) I borrowed two books from the library. I had been on the list for one of them for nearly a year. Some frugality requires extreme patience.
5) All the usual things … brewing my own coffee, planning meals to reduce food waste and eating leftovers.
I thought I would give everyone a good belly laugh, or a good wince, with a major frugal fail.
Husband and I have always been frugal and when we need something he can often build it. When we moved into this house, 18 years ago, he needed some sort of wooden cabinet to house his air compressor outside due to no space in the garage. He built one out of scrap lumber that didn't cost us anything.
Fast forward to present day, husband is almost 80, and has given away many tools including the air compressor. The box looks really shabby and I asked him to take it apart and trash it. After struggling with it for a few days he told me he had built it so well he couldn't get it apart and had to get something from the hardware store.
When I finally came across the receipt from the hardware store I realized he had to spend $75 DOLLARS on a cheap saw to get that free box torn apart. I almost fainted. All day I kept mumbling, " $75 dollars to tear apart a free box." I told him if I had known I would have attacked that box with our axe.
It didn't break us, and in retrospect it is kind of funny. But a hard pill to swallow for a cheapskate. 😀
Ok, this did make me laugh. I would totally have felt the same way if I were you!
@Anne, DH and I had quite a few frugal fails of this type over the years. I feel for you.
@Anne, oh, I simultaneously feel your pain and share your laugh! (and would have come over with an axe to help out : )
@Anne, ouch! Both painful and funny. To lessen the sting, divide the $75 by 18 years and reframe the situation as only $4.16/year to "rent" the box!
@A. Marie, Yes! We definitely have to keep an eye on them
I....
1.Took 5lbs of ground beef from the freezer which will be made into a meat sauce for spaghetti using basil and green peppers grown in our garden. We will enjoy spaghetti for dinner and I will freeze the bulk for easy dinners in the coming months.
2. I reorganized my freezers. This is critical to frugality and minimizing food waste so that I can keep track of what we have on hand, plan meals, and be prepared for upcoming sales.
3. Rain. We have had so much rain which is a blessing and a money saver - every seed in my garden has germinated and is thriving & I have saved money on my water bill since we have not had to water at all. I admit I am ready for some sunshine though.
4. I contacted our power company and they came out and trimmed trees that we would have trimmed ourselves. This saved us the work but also the cost of renting the equipment to trim these branches.
5. We raised the temperature on our thermostat. We do still have temps in the 80s here and high humidity but no sun means the AC can run less & this has lowered our electric bill. I am looking forward to fall temps later in the week and being able to turn off the AC soon.
Happy Tuesday Everyone!
1. Waited for a sale and got the supplements we need buy one, get one free, plus 20% off the whole order on top of that. Sometimes timing is everything for a good deal.
2. More clothing repair to keep things wearing longer.
3. Made more stock this weekend from saved chicken bones and veggie scraps. Was able to turn some of it into Cock-a-Leekie soup with matzoh balls. An unusual combo, but used up stuff we had on hand like leeks that were on sale and matzoh ball mix before it goes stale.
4. Finally cut cable! We settled on a Roku box. We have only three subscription channels that my husband was already paying for so we saved over $100 a month after the switch and ditching Netflix disc service too. Plus, cable TV is such a wasteland. With Roku we are actually spending less time watching TV, and watching more intentionally as our choices are much better now, rather than settling for just whatever's on.
5. Got a duvet cover on sale, rather than buy a new duvet. We've had our duvet a long, long time and it is getting shabby, but a cover will help extend it's useful life and was much less expensive that replacing the duvet itself.
1. I needed to purchase a book for the mom ministry book discussion this year and happened to check christianbook.com on the day they were having a big sale. I got the book for half off and got a children's Bible for almost half off that I've been planning to give one of my kids for Christmas. Then I shared the news of the sale with the other moms in our Messenger group and my frugal heart beamed with pride and joy as they were working together to combine orders to save on shipping.
2. We got our first notification from our insurance company that they are denying some treatment for one of my kiddos. I cried, then called for clarification, then spoke with the provider to see if there was a second diagnosis that would be covered (we believe there is) and they're going to work to see what we can do. The provider was fantastic to work with and even said that they may just write off the cost of what we've done so far if we can't get it resolved with the insurance company.
3. I made our last Thanksgiving turkey from the freezer. We get 5 or more meals' worth of meat from each turkey and I think it only cost about $5 for the turkey.
4. We're about to get 2 solid days of rain, so I picked all of the tomatoes and peppers I could this morning.
5. Part of me really wanted to go to our town's art festival over the weekend, but I didn't think that we could get out of there without spending anything and our fun spending has been a little high lately, so we stayed home. We had a lovely evening at home and maybe we'll go to the festival next year.
1. I've been slowly selling the items from the three $5 Michael's clearance boxes I purchased (total with tax $16.46). So far, I've taken in $40 so I've covered the price I paid and am making a little money now. I still have TONS to sell.
2. I purchased two 12-packs of toilet paper at Walgreen's that were on sale buy one, get one 50% off. I used a $1 digital coupon so paid $7.23 for 24 rolls of toilet paper. That brand got me extra points on Fetch when I scanned the receipt.
3. I used some clearance zucchini that was in worse shape than I thought to make some zucchini bread. I haven't made any in a long time and had forgotten how good it is! I also roasted some to have with meals this week. I still have 2 left so I think I'll make more bread to put in the freezer.
4. I redeemed some points on Swagbucks for a $5 Target card and some points on Kellogg's Family Rewards for another $5 Target card.
5. I used a coupon and gift card (given to me 2-3 years ago) to treat myself to a sandwich from Subway so no out-of-pocket cost.
6. Oh, and one more - a woman on Nextdoor posted she had an unopened box of unfrosted strawberry Pop-Tarts to give away that her husband had purchased by mistake. She said she would only eat frosted ones! I don't know why she didn't just take them back and exchange them, but I picked them up (about 3 minutes from my house). I've been eating them as treats.
Tell me more about the Michael's boxes! What's in them? Did you buy them on clearance at Michael's?
@Kristen, several times a year, Michael's has a $5 "grab bag" event (at the end of a "season"). The store I went to had huge boxes instead of bags for $5. Some stores tape the boxes so you can't see what you're getting, but there was no tape on the ones I got. I was able to look through them and choose the best boxes. I got lots of kid's craft kits, stationery items, boxes of 40 candles, etc. My sister got 1 that was full of silk flowers which we will use for our Mom's and brother's graves for many years! There are lots of YouTube videos showing people unboxing their finds. Check them out.
@BarbG, and everyone- I’m not sure this is true, but I have been told that for the last twenty-plus years, stores have to, or choose to throw away any food returns, even if sealed and untouched. Maybe a liability/insurance issue? Maybe the person knew that? They will give us our money back, and immediately toss the food, so in the long run, prices will go up for everyone…
My pharmacist confirmed that they throw out all medication returns, prescription or OTC, no matter what. And she thinks they throw out any cosmetics or stuff like that as well, because there could have been tampering or something unsanitary. Maybe some staff get a chance to take stuff home, “off the record”; who knows? I’m from way back times before everything was quadruple-sealed, tamper-proof, with best-before dates, etc.
I've heard the erase your face cloths work great for cleaning grout in the shower. Perhaps it could work for other cleaning jobs around the house too...like a reusable "magic eraser"?
Gosh, I'd never have thought to try it on grout. It seems like it would get caught on the grit. But maybe it does actually work!
1. Ordered gravel for my driveway. Measured. Asked around. Called for prices. Got best deal. They'll deliver Thursday. 300.00. Found a man to spread it for 285.00. Driveway for under 600.00!!!! 2. Made slaw for slawdogs and regular eating. 80 cent cabbage. 3. Dylan and other great record albums 1.00 each at thrifty. 4. Got 3 good books to read...2 dollars each. 5. 5.99 each for like new...2 prs pants.. sweater...blouse. all fit perfectly
FFT, September This and That Edition:
(1) I do realize that a lot of women prefer to wear makeup, and that's fine; it's every woman's individual choice. But I haven't used most cosmetics since high school (50 years ago now) and threw out my last few ancient lipsticks at least 30 years ago. Consider the savings...
(2) September is minestrone season Chez A. Marie, and I made an excellent one a week or so ago, with odds and ends of veggies from my own and neighbors' gardens. One set of neighbors had two small eggplants and a zucchini with insect/slug damage; I just cut out the damaged parts and added the rest to the soup.
(3) The 2021 edition of the 1/4 steer that DH and I have bought each year from a friend who raises the animals has arrived, and since DH is no longer living at home, I'm sharing even more of the beef with friends (at my extremely low cost). Dr. and Ms. Bestest Neighbor have both bought some for themselves and bought some more to carry to Dr. BN's relatives in Massachusetts (packed in a styrofoam cooler with plenty of ice). And the line is forming on the right for more of it.
(4) All the rain this summer has made my "Cut and Come Again" zinnias explode. I've been taking bouquets to every neighborhood social event I've been invited to, and will continue to do so till frost wipes out the plants.
(5) Finally, one set of newish neighbors invited me over for dessert last night with another set of newish neighbors. I took a bouquet of zinnias for the hosts, as well as a bag of my homegrown onions for each couple (my onion crop was also insane this year, and I can't possibly use all these on my own). And I told stories of life on our street over the past 36 years; believe me, we've had some doozies. I'm rather enjoying the role of village elder.
I don't wear a whole lot of makeup, so the makeup remover cloths are less for me and more for Sonia and Zoe (who are very artistic with their makeup and who would not even consider giving it up right now. Ha.)
I'm so glad you are making friends with the newish neighbors. Yay!
@A. Marie, I'm allergic to practically all makeup (eyes on fire!) and though that has been inconvenient for things like being a bridesmaid, it has been frugal for sure. (Only drawback being that I also have never found a sunscreen I can use.)
I die so hard at this. You get ALLL the gold stars for avoiding the super convenient and delicious chick fil a AT lunch time.
@holly, the university I work at has a Chik-fil-A in the student center. I am frequently glad that deep fried foods give me ridiculous heartburn or I would be tempted by the easy access to chicken sandwiches. 🙂
Here's our Frugal Things for the week. I could only think of four:
1. My high school class reunion is this weekend and I wanted something new-to-me to wear. I splurged at Goodwill. I picked up 4 skirts, 2 tops, a sweater and a pair of cute slacks that, with tax and rounding up to support the charity, I spent $36. All of these items would do for the reunion and at work.
2. Used an Amtrak discount to purchase a ticket to see my sister in downstate New York.
3. Purchased clearance items at Hobby Lobby that I will use as holiday gifts.
4. We have been freezer and pantry eating to cut down on grocery cost and rotate best-by dates so we don't have expires supplies.
1. I sold a pair of shoes that I can no longer wear due to my leg brace but had been holding on to just because I could not bear to let go of my fantasy of wearing them again. $60 in my pocket and I no longer have a reminder of my fantasy every time I go into the closet.
2. I had to feed four people on short notice. Rather than order in or rush to the grocery store, I looked around the fridge and freezer and ended up with a baked potato bar with 10 different toppings. It was 31 degrees out so I think people arriving cold helped them enjoy a steaming hot spud more than they would have in June.
3. We said we would care for a young soldier's dog while he is in Ranger school. We don't know him but there is a program where you can sign up that you are willing to take in the dog of a soldier going on TDY and this dog seemed to fit well with ours, in terms of size and temperament (you meet up before any commitment). We are not charging him, he just had to bring us enough food and also leave his credit card info with our vet so that if the dog is injured, his card will pay for it. He arrived with the dog, the food and a truckload of treats and stuffed toys for our hound as payment. We should never have to buy treats again, so a savings there for us. And it is good socialization for our pound hound, who really does not know how to play with other dogs.
4. Husband replaced weather stripping on the house doors leading to the outside and the garage door, which will save us money this winter.
5. The night before our first snow (which melted within a few hours) husband and I pulled in everything from the garden and spent two days processing it all. I had been doing some all of September but we had a lot left. While working with the leeks and potatoes, I made leek potato soup and we ate that for three days.
@Lindsey, your #3 is beautiful. And your #5 proves that you and your DH are Alaska Tough. Even here in Upstate NY, I couldn't handle the first snow in mid-September.
@A. Marie, There are a lot of community volunteer things I cannot do because of my health, but caring for a dog is easy when we already have a dog. I have been very blessed in my life and feel like I want to pay it forward and this is a way we can manage to do that.
@Lindsey, it is wonderful that you are caring for a soldier’s dog. Showing your love of country and love of dogs in one kind gesture. Awesome!!!!
@Lindsey,
#1 just resonates for me -- it made me think so much of my clutter and hanging on to stuff relates to my dreams of who I think I am or what I was or maybe could be or some weird mash up. I am so happy for you that you removed that bump in the road and that you are free (and $60 dollars richer!) I hope I can pick up some of your excellent energy. Thank you for sharing that!
This was an expensive week, so I'll try and look for some savings.
We attended an out-of-state wedding and as we unpacked the car we realized our garment bag with DH's suit, dress shirt and all other shirts, as well as my dress and another casual outfit were left at home! Luckily we had time to shop and were able to get something appropriate in a few hours. So making coffee at home doesn't quite make up for that...
1- washed all clothes in cold and mostly air dried, with a few minutes of 'fluff' in the dryer
2-continuing to meal plan, eat less meat and eat the fridge and pantry.
3-redeemed points from our credit card for Amazon gift certificates which covered our granddaughter's birthday gift.
4-went through all our billings and made a few decisions about cancelling/reducing services
5-not exactly frugal, but charitable. Had a dresser to sell but decided to donate it to an Afghan family being sponsored by a local church. I'd much rather "lose" money that way.
Kristen- I am in love with those makeup erasers. Tried my first one on a BOGO deal and I've never looked back. I wear a decent amount of makeup and realized cleansers weren't doing a great job when my face towel still got makeup on it afterwards. Now, I don't have that problem at all; even if it's fancy makeup for a party or something. I'm sure my skin is cleaner than before and also feels very gentle and smoothing.
First time posting here, but a long-time reader and here via Katy's NCA blog, where I've been posting for a while.
1. Mended a shirt for DH. Eventually we will have to find him some “new” ones at a thrift store, but he is content, so I am too.
2. Earned $50 in gift cards for chain restaurants and coffee shops via surveys, which will be used for special occasion treats.
3. Volunteered for a local community garden group and was able to take home salvageable basil, tomatoes, and tiny potatoes. Was also given some green beans by a friend.
4. We took a road trip out west to see Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Badlands National Parks. While we spent $350 on gas, this was much cheaper than flying and renting a car (and still paying for gas).
4a. We bought an Annual Parks pass for $80 versus paying $30-35 for entrance at each park. Plus, we were happy to support these beautiful parks!
4b. Used a gift card for dinner one night that had been in my purse for 2+ years. Was lovely to have a free dinner and finish the gift card by leaving a very generous tip for our server.
4c. DH and I were each able to purchase needed outdoor gear at a used gear shop in Jackson Hole: a rain jacket for DH, and a fleece for myself (although it will need a little mending prior to use, sigh).
5. My manager asked if I was available to pick up a shift in December at my per diem job… yes please! Even if it is not for several months I’m glad to have it on the calendar. I will look into floating to a different clinic to pick up additional shifts as well.
6. My parents visited a few weeks ago and my mom brought homemade muscadine grape jelly, made from grapes picked by my 96-year-old grandpa. It is delicious and so much better than store bought grape jelly!
Oh, welcome welcome! If you like Katy's blog, you'll probably enjoy the community here too.
I am super impressed that your grandpa is still picking grapes at 96. Good for him!
@Lindsay B, What a wonderful trip!!! It is such a beautiful part of the world and so vast. Your 4c — high-quality, 2nd hand outdoor gear is a great find. My son has bought several things in Jackson when working up that way - perhaps the same store.
1. Spent the afternoon painting a bathroom, instead of hiring someone.
2. Ate leftovers for supper.
3. Accepted some free rabbit meat. I just cooked it into the peanut sauce instead of defrosting the beef I had planned to use today in the sauce.
4. Over the weekend I canned 24 cans of pickles using a packet à friend gave me. Cucumbers are in season, so they were either cheap or given to me free.
5. I swished water into the hair conditioner bottle to get more out.
All the usual stuff . . .
1. Eating in all meals except for Friday treat day.
2. Making dinners as cheaply as possible and using up stuff: turned a couple pounds of fresh tomatoes from the Scratch 'n' Dent section into roasted spicy pizza sauce to go on very discounted cauliflower pizza "crusts." Trying not to waste.
3. Double checked grocery receipt and discovered my own mistake was preventing me from receiving my $5 off for 5 participating items. The lovely cashier allowed me to go get the toothpaste that worked and somehow $6 and change went back on the credit card.
4. Continuing to drop into the grocery store to pick up the deals -- lots of bargains (meat that has to be used or frozen; salad kits; slightly vintage produce, etc. I think we keep our usual meal costs pretty low this way.
Well, I am out. Just doin' all the things 😉
I used a Target coupon to get $50 worth of free stuff (for signing up for their credit card), including a pair of dress/casual shoes I needed for work.
I returned some items to Staples for a refund after finding out they weren't what my husband wanted.
I'm doing really well with "shelftember" and using up what I have. I think I'll make the goal to spend less than $100 on groceries this month.
I sold a small dresser on marketplace for $25. It's not much, but I was pretty happy because the person who got it was SO EXCITED about it. I love it when old things get new homes and everybody is happy.
I had a dental exam/cleaning today because my husband just got dental insurance with his new job. It was hard to find anyone who who was taking new patients, so I was happy to get in at all and just generally glad to be able to have health/dental care when it is unattainable for some people. I grew up poor, and never got to the dentist until a little low-income clinic moved into town when I was 12ish and I was able to go. It's not something I take for granted and I am grateful.
Not 100% sure, but the microfiber cloths may "shed" microplastics. Something to investigate. I am *all* for reusables, but we must be careful, lest we negate our efforts.
Microfiber materials are an ecological conundrum; if you use them instead of single-use disposables, it seems like they'd be better for the environment, though not as good as a cotton cloth.
If someone was using disposable single-use makeup remover wipes, it's hard to imagine that this cloth would have a worse effect on the environment than that. But if I'm wrong, I definitely want to know. Feel free to leave reading links for me!
1. Read the book "The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan" and enjoyed it very much. So enlightening. Really good info and such heart-warming stories.
2. Cooked down some wrinkly plums and blueberries to make refrigerator jam.
3. Found a more convenient and closer site for recycling small amounts of scrap metal. Also took items to the household hazardous waste site. Love to keep things out of the landfill!
4. Brought bubble wrap to the local independent bookstore (they use it when shipping books).
5. Continued making refrigerated pickles using leftover juice and garden cukes.
@MB in MN, Thanks for the book recommendation; just put it on hold at the library!
Thanks for the tip on the makeup remover cloths! I added some to my Amazon cart. I use a wash cloth and coconut oil to remove eye makeup, but the oil leaves a film on the sink, so these are worth a shot!
1. I made more sundried tomatoes using tomatoes from our garden. Used more tomatoes from our garden to make BLT's and chicken cacciatore.
2. I love slip-on sneakers. My current pair I got off Buy Nothing and the heel is falling off. I found a pair at Aldi for $12 this weekend and they are super comfy.
3. My husband and I have been heavily using our neighborhood Little Libraries lately. I love not having to worry about returning books and it's a nice "destination" for an evening walk with the kids.
4. I picked up lots of clothes for my son off Buy Nothing. They will fit him next year and the year after that.
5. My daughter's daycare gave us 2 loaves of wheat bread that they weren't using.
Frugal fail: We buy large bags of brown rice from an Asian grocery store to save money. We got pantry moths from the bag being not airtight and had to throw out quite a bit of food this weekend. So gross! Sad face. Lesson learned: keep food in airtight containers.
@Corrine,
Pantry moths are no joke. I've been battling them for months now. I called an exterminator and he said it's nothing in our house. They come in on food (especially grains) that you purchase in the store. I bought some pantry moth traps on amazon that are working pretty well. I keep setting the traps in hopes that they eventually go away. UGH!
@Corrine, as Gina said, the moths come in on the grain themselves, and I've had them infest airtight containers before. My only tip is to freeze your rice or grain for a few days immediately after you bring it home to kill any pests on/in it, then store in an airtight container. Good luck!
That's what I do with my 50 pound bags of flour; they go into the chest freezer for a few days and then I store the flour in big plastic bins.
@Gina, from what I read once you have them you have to get rid of any food the larvae would eat (candy, dried fruit, grains, nuts, flour, etc). So, I just threw out quite a bit of food. I then cleaned the whole pantry with vinegar. I also read not to replace those items until certain the moths are gone. Good tips below about putting all grain in frezer first! They are so gross!!
1) I didn't spend money for a few days. This one seems obvious, but hear me out! I don't usually spend a lot of money day to day, but it still feels good to just not spend any at all. I have a separate sheet on my budget spreadsheet to track days where I don't spend anything during the month. I like to tally them up at the end of the month to feel good about myself.
2) this may be cheap rather than frugal: I have been battling a skin rash for a couple of months. I was hoping it would clear away on its own, but no luck. it's a fairly common skin rash, so I diagnosed myself on google and bought the required antibiotics for very cheap directly at the pharmacy rather than (a) paying to see a doctor to get a prescription and then (b) buying the antibiotics from the doctor where they are marked up a lot. I do the same with my differin - I got a prescription for it the first time, but ever since I just buy it at the pharmacy. Now, obviously don't do this with anything serious.
3) I've been sleeping without the AC on when my boyfriend isn't there. It's just about 90F at night. I'm happy the worst electricity bills for the year are behind us!
4) my cell phone provider billed me for incoming call roaming charges while I was abroad, even though I purchased a roaming package. Apparently the roaming package doesn't include roaming for incoming calls. I am extremely dismayed! I paid about US$40 for the roaming package, and the charges for a 30 min incoming call were around US$ 125. I contacted them and was able to get the roaming package refunded. I guess taking the time to sort this out was somewhat frugal, but it still stings.
I am very wary of microfibre cloths as they have been found to leech fibres into the water ways. I don't know if they have found a way around that yet.
1. I have stuck to shelftember an even when I didn't feel like cooking I have done so.
2. I still trying to reduce food waste by using what is in the fridge before it becomes a science experiment.
3. I have rinsed out bottles to use the very last of the detergent etc.
4. By doing the shelftember stuff I have found some gaps that I need to fill. I will be hunting for those items when I find them on sale.
5. Spring has sprung here and I have been trying to not use the air conditioner. So far so good.
Did you see that Aldi has these makeup removing clothes on sale next week? I wonder how theirs compare.
No, I had no idea!
I'm guessing they would be super similar, if not exactly the same thing. If you try 'em, let me know!
I have been using the microfiber cleaning cloths for some time and they are amazing. I got the first one, Erase Your Face, as as part of a gift basket and loved it. Since then I have found some knock off ones at Dollarama for 2.00 each and they work equally as well but are cut just a bit smaller. I keep a small stack in my washroom, a clean one for each day, and toss onto the laundry with towels. The savings from using these versus the disposable ones are huge as they wear well and last forever.
Love the blog Kristen! These really inspire me to live frugally! Keep up the great work!