Five Frugal Things | stupid yellow jackets
1. I mowed my grass and used the leaf blower
My house sits on about ⅔ acre, and luckily, my dear neighbor lets me borrow her riding mower when I need to mow.
Still, it is not a job that I love, and every time I mow, I consider just hiring someone to do it for me.
I may crack at some point this semester and hire someone to do my leaf removal this fall. We shall see.
For the moment, though, I have resisted, and every time I do the yard work, I give myself a pat on the back.
All was fine during the mowing, but as I was leaf blowing, things took a turn for the worse because I inadvertently disturbed a yellow jacket nest.
Sigh.
So....
2. I used wisdom tooth ice packs on my ankle
I got stung on my hand, but the worst were the stings I got on my ankle.
My foot, ankle, and lower calf swelled up something terrible; I looked like I had some kind of one-sided edema going on.
Luckily, I had saved the gel packs and stretch band that the oral surgeon gave Zoe last summer after her wisdom teeth removal, and I was able to make those work to go around my ankle and foot.
So, yay for a free ice pack!
I did end up going to Patient First because the swelling got so bad, I could barely walk. The doctor gave me some Prednisone and my foot has improved a lot!
Still, I'm needing to elevate it and ice it, and so I am thankful that my past self saved these ice packs.
I'm not delighted with my sting situation, but Chiquita has been very pleased about my increased couch time, because now she can snuggle with me more easily.
3. I got my rusty knife sharpened
When I was at the beach with Sonia in June, I came across a rusty knife in the sand during one of my morning walks.
I noticed it, walked past, and then a few steps down the beach, I thought, "Hmm, maybe I will grab it and see if I can fix it up."
It was extremely rusty and sandy, but when I got back to our rental, I looked the knife up and discovered that it's sort of an expensive little pocket knife.
I let the knife sit here for a while, but eventually I used my rust-removing jelly (the same stuff I used on my old rusty Christmas tree stand), and that did a pretty bang-up job of getting the rust off.
Of course, the blade was very dull after the salt and sand bath, so I popped up to the knife sharpening truck here, and he got it restored pretty well.
(He took one look at the knife blade and was like, "What happened to this thing??" Ha.)
I thought he'd charge me a few dollars, but he said he sharpens pocket knives for free all the time. So this ended up being even more frugal than I'd anticipated.
4. I bought a "cooking for two" cookbook on eBay
I saw that America's Test Kitchen had published a cooking-for-two cookbook at some point, and I hopped over to my library website to see if I could put a hold on it.
Sadly, my library did not buy this one. So, I went to eBay (always my second stop when I'm hunting for a book) and found a copy for just a few dollars.
I spent my teen years doing most of the cooking for my family of six, and I spent most of my adult years cooking for my own family of six.
So, I have spent most of my life cooking for way more than two people and I thought I could perhaps clean some good ideas from a cookbook on the topic.
5. I did not buy the Snoopy hoodie at Sam's
I saw a black hoodie with a Snoopy on the front for $14, and I said to myself, "Hmm, I don't have any oversize hoodies in my closet."
I went so far as to pick up the size Large and try it on, and while it was very comfy and cozy, I reminded myself that I have eleventy billion hoodies already.
A sampling:
I will be fine without that hoodie. 😉
I am so sorry about your foot and leg! Glad you went to urgent care- so many stings can overwhelm your system even if you're not sensitive to them normally.
I've not been very frugal. But here's scraping the bottom of the barrel for frugality.
*I am using up the huge pail of cheap cat litter I bought, even though it does not control the odor well.
*I finished up the bathroom cleaner that irritated my nose whenever I used it. It was so tempting just to dispose of it.
*I did not drive out to see daughter at college, but her big sisters went so I don't feel guilty.
*I helped husband and sons prime and paint inside walls of garage. Goodness, we used so much paint. I'm sure professionals could have done it more efficiently. But we got it done.
*I did not buy large birthday cake for a celebration- it was too hot to bake, but it would have been way too much for the people at home now. I did buy a small box of donuts instead.
@mbmom11, paint is one of those things I find is more frugal to buy the more expensive stuff. The cheap paint needs so many coats to look good. It saves time and money to get a more premium paint.
Agreed; you don't need bougie paint, but upgrading from the cheapest stuff does help a lot.
I’m so sorry about your foot! Gods forbid it happens again, but my mom (a redhead who’s skin overreacts to everything—thus, my skin, too) would use meat tenderizer to help keep a sting’s swelling down until she could get to a doctor. I’m so glad you went to the clinic to be on the safe side!
FFT
--It's free flu shot season! My husband and I both got ours at CVS vs. waiting a month for the doctor's office to have them on hand.
--Further proof that everything ends up at Goodwill eventually: I wanted a handmade ceramic sponge holder for our dish sponge, and I found a handmade ceramic sponge holder for $3.99.
--My husband and I have enjoyed several free movie nights thanks to accumulated slow-shipping credits on Amazon. We seldom need anything in a hurry and always choose the slow/future credit option if it's available. It was nice to finally cross “Notorious” and “The Great Train Robbery” off our list.
--I glued the flapping sole back in place on one of my boots. These dress boots were a Goodwill find I don't even know how long ago, and they're wicked comfortable on my fat feet. They must live on!
--Past me did future me a solid by turning a neighbor's gift of 40 lbs of tomatoes into soup and sauce for the freezer. My husband's medically mandated diet means home cooking 99.3% of the time, so it's so nice to just pull out a jar to thaw and have a lazy dinner one night a week.
@N,
My mom would use a paste if baking soda and water, if we didn't have meat tenderize.
I don't know if it cuts any better than ice, but it's easy to have on hand.
@N, Gah, whose, not who's. Autocorrect strikes again!
@N, I originally read your comment as your mom used A meat tenderizer (the spiky mallet) for stings, and I was mighty confused for a moment there 😀
@LeslieMichael, You just reminded me how if I complained that X hurt, my mother would offer to stamp on my foot to take my mind off X.
I usually use meat tenderizer when making pepper steak. It's a comfort food from my childhood, but unlike my mom's, my steak is reminiscent of shoe leather unless I use tenderizer. (And yes, I know, don't boil the meat etc. In fact, kind of tempted to have it tonight.)
@mbmom11, my mom did the same. Benadryl can also help, but I'm glad you went to an urgent care clinic, Kristen. Will this affect your ability to attend your classes?
Luckily, no! The prednisone worked fast enough for me to be able to walk in time. Whew.
@Rose, I thought my father invented that distraction/cure for an injury!!
@Lindsey, Ha! I have a vague feeling it came from my mother's father, which means it's pretty old. He also would say "Che puzz!" (what a smell--pronounced kay pootz), which I'd forgotten about until Paulie on the Sopranos said it. My grandfather was Irish and English, but he also was an NYPD detective and picked up lots of ethnic stuff.
@N, My dad would use tobacco from someone's cigarette, wet it, and apply it to the sting. Must work somewhat like the meat tenderizer to draw the chemicals out.
@StephanieLD, that’s a new one to me! I looked it up, and apparently the nicotine acts as a mild anesthetic.
@Kris, I was worried about that for you, too, Kristen!
Sooooo sorry that happened to you...but happy to hear it's better!
I did not know yellow jackets but I looked up the word. Auch, painful! Hope your leg will mend soon. I have prescription antihistaminicum tablets at home because if I get stung by horse-flies, the place where I am bitten swells up to the size of a frying pan in no time. I hardly ever use them but it is good to have them at hand.
Frugal things: bought marked down groceries and one day old artisan bread (still so much better than fresh storebought!). Made yellow soap/spiritus liquid for intensive (post sewer repair) cleaning. Line dried our laundry. Read a library book.
Have a good week!
I believe I saw those same hoodies at Sam;s Club many weeks ago and I also resisted the urge to buy any. They were cute but I did not think they would wear well.
1. We took a day trip to celebrate my birthday. We visited a museum with free admission, though we did make a donation. We also visited a national wildlife refuge and used our Senior pass for admission. We packed a lunch as we were not going to be near restaurants and I usually like meals from home better than meals out anyway.
2. For my birthday I requested a specific pair of slippers to replace my five year old pair. I also received a hanging basket of mums. They can be planted later and in theory will come up again, perennial or not I have never had good luck with that. A friend gave me some Gluten Free treats that a nearby store recently started selling. I love useful and consumable gifts.
3. A friend loaned me another jigsaw puzzle. DH loves to build them and this eliminates both the cost of purchase and the need to decide what to do with it after it has been built.
4. I went to the grand opening of the Grocery Outlet store. I received a $10 gift card for being one of the first 100 customers. It was crowded so I didn't get a good look but it seemed there were a few items with good prices but most were nothing extraordinary. I think you need to look carefully at expiration dates as one of the samples they gave out was beyond the best By Date. For the most part I don't worry about those dates but I heed them for meat.
5. I rebooked three times a rental car reservation for an upcoming trip. The last price is $65+ less than the first price. It takes just a minute or two to make a new booking and cancel the old one.
I'm sorry about your stings. My boys had a little honeybee incident just before the oldest went away to school. There were only 4 stings between them, but the one on the forehead looked "interesting." The one on college-boy's hand behaved the way they always do with him--- swelling for days. Because of the swelling (and the benadryl), he couldn't help me drive to college that first day of driving.
FFT:
*We've been eating garden produce.
*Sunday was potluck, and we brought many things home from it that were left down at church. I didn't have to cook supper on Sunday, lunch or supper on Monday, I had easier things for breakfast for yesterday and today, and I won't have to cook lunch or supper today.
*This isn't really frugal on money, but it is a frugal on time thing for me. We got new internet service. The previous one was quite limited except for the hours of 2am-8am. That caused me to get up in the morning and look at what I wanted to look at first thing in the morning. Now we have unlimited internet usage. I am hoping to break the internet morning routine because I could get started on my school day earlier and accomplish more. And yet, here I am, typing up my frugals.
*I am enjoying wearing my new thrifted clothes this week.
*We helped our friend surprise his wife for her birthday at our house. We made homemade pizza for 17 instead of buying take-out. It tasted so much better.
Kristin- holy cow!! Glad you’re doing better. On Labor Day i was on my knees weeding a flower bed & came face-to-face with a yellow jacket nest. Literally! I was wearing jeans, a long sleeve t, & a canvas bucket hat & was still stung 5 times, including my scalp. I was scheduled to go to the beach with a friend & canceled because I was so miserable- huge localized reactions & flu-like symptoms for several days. One even stung me on the back of my thigh as I was running away. Vengeful little buggers. Ugh!
Oh no! I'm sorry about your ankle. Those yellow jackets are mean.
I had a similar injury-after-frugal-task recently. I pulled a muscle in my back helping move a treadmill out of my van. I'd purchased it on FB marketplace cheap and was so proud I was saving money, only to have to do a doctor visit and prescription, not to mention lost productivity.
Enter a whole shame/guilt spiral. Stupid brain LOL! But then I remembered that frugality is also the eco-friendly choice. I saved a treadmill from certain death in a landfill so YAY ME. That made me feel better. 🙂
I am not convinced I have a list of 5 but I will certainly try.
1. I found a cabinet shelf from Target that I wanted. With students returning to my area they disappeared, so I have been periodically checking. I haven't wanted to spend $14 for the bamboo one, and the metal ones were a reasonable $9. Late last week I found two of the ones I was looking for so I used a gift card to purchase them. After checking out I realized they were marked down to $6.50 which means that my gift card extends farther.
2. I bought half off air fried shrimp and limited myself to two packages, even though there were a lot of clearance items left. I also bought half off chocolate. All in the same Target trip, and all with the same gift card.
3. I limited my driving so much last week with time off around the holiday that it was half as much as it usually is to fill it up. I like to fill it up weekly to make sure I don't run too low.
4. I got coffee with a friend and only purchased a coffee. The pastries looked amazing, but I opted away. We also went for a walk while we drank coffee, which while not frugal, was a very enjoyable way to spend part of my day.
5. In all things shrimp. I found a sale on shrimp randomly at a local market, so I bought a slightly unreasonable amount. Half of the bags I purchased were half off wild caught shrimp so that felt like a reasonable way to purchase it. I slightly regret not just sticking with that kind, but I will remember for next time there is an excellent sale. I didn't buy any other sale seafood, even though I was tempted.
One of my frugal goals is to put more focus on spending my money in alignment with my values, which is both frugal, and will reinforce what I care about and what I want to support.
I overlooked the obvious here. I am so sorry about your stings! I think one of the first things I would do if I had the budget for it would be to have someone take care of my lawn. I love my gardens, but the lawn seems like a beast of its own.
If you can afford it at all, I think you should have someone mow your lawn and take care of leaves. The threat of allergic reaction to other things, too, is always possible.
@Carole, I agree 100 percent! I am generally pretty frugal, but I do hire a landscaper to do all my tree trimming and yard clean up.
I join everyone else in commiserations on those yellow jacket stings! I hope the swelling hasn't made you miss any classes. There's a nest of ground-dwelling bees in my main compost pile that will be keeping me from spreading that compost in my garden beds till after a hard frost, but I only got stung once on discovering the nest, and that sting wasn't too bad.
And I repeat my earlier recommendation that Chiquita ought to start a career as an advertising model for cat products. That face could charm any cat parent out of her/his money!
I put up a long FFT yesterday on the Non-Consumer Advocate, so I'll refer folks to that for a long account of how my JASNA bud in the next city over (who works at a Panera) and I made personal pizzas with day-old Panera Asiago round breads.
@A. Marie, Yes, Chiquita would be a perfect cat model! Here is AZ, we have an animal talent agency. She casts dogs, cats, and even some tame wild animals, such as foxes and raccoons, to be in commercials, movies, etc. It's pretty cool!
Now I want the SNOOPY hoodie. Lol
I hope that knife wasn't a murder weapon. (Yes, I watch too much Dateline!)
Hope your stings get better soon. Looks like you were appropriately dressed; shorts & flipflops aren't the best for yardwork, I had to learn that the hard way.
@Bobi, I don't watch Dateline at all, and I wondered the same thing.
@Bobi, haha, surprised I didn’t think of that as I too am an ID channel addict!
It's pretty hard to murder someone with a blade that small.
My levels of real crime media consumption are pretty low, so I was just over here thinking someone was using it for fishing and then dropped it and lost it!
@Kristen, "My levels of real crime media consumption are pretty low"
What?? Are you even a middle class American woman past 40???
That said, I've always loved true crime.
Haha, well, Sonia, who is 19, is a much more avid true crime consumer than I am.
@Rose, But much easier to hide the weapon in the teddy bear or ash clear-out.
@Kristen, Sonia and I see eye to eye on many things.
@Heidi Louise, Hysterical. And correct!
Oh!!! Very sorry about the stings! Yikes!
Five Frugal Things here
1. Didn't go thru a drive thru when I definitely wanted to on the way home from a cross country meet. Just ate at home.
2. And cooked at home. Did some freezer meals and freezer cookie dough. (Silly me thinking cookie dough would last... my kids made them all the next day!)
3. Used up food about to go bad. Almost too old tomatoes, tortillas, and other things.
4. Took my younger kids to a free family festival at our church for some weekend fun. It was free and they won some prizes.
5. Goodwill shopped for "new" clothes. I look for LOFT and other quality brands. GW price is $4.99 each which is crazy but still cheaper than new. I found three.
Ouch. Yellow jackets are horrible! I once disturbed a nest when I was walking my then puppy and we both got bit and stung multiple times. I hope the swelling has gone down and you are feeling significantly better now.
Ouch, I’m glad you’re on the mend!
1. The school in my neighborhood is acting as a produce hub, so every week, I can buy a bag full of seasonal fruits and vegetables for $12, pictured below. It’s keeping me out of the grocery store longer and I am enjoying the variety of the summer bounty.
2. Volunteering my time as social media manager for my local arts group.
3. Travel edition: Booked a flight on Frontier to save airfare. And booked a room with Extended Stay America, as they have a kitchen, to help with travel food expenses.
4. A scanner/printer/copier machine was offered for free on NextDoor and I got it! It’s going to be very helpful in my project to archive and share all of the family photo I recently inherited.
5. My husband’s work offers a free lunch to the team every Wednesday. It’s one less lunch to cook and pack, which I appreciate.
My 13 year old started a lawn mowing business. He saved up enough money to buy himself a John Deere and now as customers all over our neighborhood. He started going door to door, but now people see him out there and approach him. I am so proud of not only his desire to work, but also the pride he takes in his work.
@Michelle, I wish your budding entrepreneur was in my neighborhood. I'd happily hire him!
One of my friends' brothers wanted a job when he was too young to work. So he started a lawn care service. At first, it was just watering and pulling weeds but he saved up enough that first year to buy a mower and started mowing lawns, too. He grew that business year after year, starting when he was about 10 or 11 years old, and was able to work his way through college this way. Not just any college, but the private university that charges an arm and a leg. All his buddies were lamenting they couldn't find a job, but he created his own job.
@Fru-gal Lisa, your friend's brother is very impressive! That would go over big in my town, and the same thing for someone who is willing to clean houses. Did the brother develop his little business into a full-time career after college?
@Michelle, My lawn kid has been working for me since he was 13; he is now 18 and I can trust him to do everything from mowing to transplanting tender greenhouse plants. His mother told me one of his buddies asked him why he keeps working for us once a week (shovels our snow in the winter) when he has a "real" job now and he said, "They are old. It is sort of like giving to charity to keep working for them." I laughed so hard I snorted.
@Lindsey, Oh my goodness! What a response! Thanks for the laugh. 🙂
Wasps had invaded our school playground over the summer, no one noticed until the first day of school when unfortunately multiple kids got stung. Needless to say that was taken care of quickly!
I took care of a billing mistake, it finally cleared this week. I had gone to an instacare that I had visited before with no problem. But this time I got a big bill, because they said my insurance didn't cover it. I called and it turned out that they had billed it under the doctor, not the instacare. After a few phone calls it got fixed.
Yikes, I've never encountered a yellow jacket nest. Glad you're on the mend!
1. My sister took me and my husband out to lunch for our birthdays. Plenty of leftovers and still full enough later in the day that dinner was unnecessary.
2. Received lots of veggies and herbs from other people’s gardens.
3. Attended an event that was catered by a local restaurant. The party hosts were going to throw away all of the serving pieces (what?!) so I took them home, washed them, and called the restaurant to see if they could take them back. They could and they did. If they weren’t going to take them back, I was going to offer them on Buy Nothing and/or donate to the thrift store.
4. My husband and I went out for breakfast and, oh my stars, the portions were ginormous. Next time we’re going to buy one breakfast and split it rather than bring home leftovers.
5. Based on other readers’ comments, I looked into online newspapers and magazines at my library. The system isn’t very intuitive so I signed up for a free class the library is having to learn all about it.
Quick question: How do you dispose of the rust-removing jelly when you're finished with it? I'm looking at a cool old tool box with drawers AND rust. PS Props to you for "edema"! It's terrible about the wasps but you've got the medical terminology down!
@Jean,
I though the same thing, lol!
I'm sorry about your encounter with yellow jackets! I hope you feel better soon.
I will note (if you haven't done this already) that it might be worth checking if your library 1) participates in interlibrary loan, which means they could get things from libraries all across the country if they don't have it OR 2) a purchase suggestion form so you can submit things that they don't have for consideration for their collection.
My public library takes requests for books to be bought. I've only made one request, but they did buy what I requested. You might look into that next time you want a book.
That happened to me once. Wasp bite on my ankle and my ankle swole up* terribly. Ugh, I hope this doesn't affect your schooling. And Chiquita is sooooo cute. I'm so glad you gave that little nugget a home. Betsy, my large dog, kept licking my face on-camera during a Zoom meeting yesterday, which everyone loved.
Frugal-wise, I haven't purchased any new clothes, although I probably should because all my clothes are falling off me. I did have to buy new flip flips because as usual, one of the toe pieces ripped out. Wish I knew how to fix.
I did sell a gold pendant I didn't really care about and hand-washed a wool blanket that smelled like beagle. The dry cleaner refused it. OK then!
I did pay $10 for a large jar of merlot grape jam from my good friend who's starting to sell her preserves and pickles, which--about time! She's a wonderful cook and baker and one of my best friends and I want to support her. Also, I've been too tired and stressed to pick wild grapes for my own jelly this year.
*I know this is terrible grammar. Just seems funny to me right now.
@Rose, "swole up" is right there with "prolly" and "liberry". I write that way on purpose in my blog sometimes because it makes me grin.
Some flip-flops can be repaired by using one of those little plastic bread bag closures. Found that on one of those life-hack websites.
I only handwash my dry-clean-only clothing. Nothing bad has happened as a result.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, I LOVE "liberry." I don't know why. Some things like "lightening" and "reign in" and "real trooper" make the red mist appear, but other things I find funny. Maybe the difference is that no one really thinks "liberry" is correct, unlike "reign in."
@Rose, one of my favorite non-grammatical usages is "I snuck in." And that merlot grape jam sounds divine.
@A. Marie, I fully expect her to be nationwide soon! She has come such a long way! She didn't even have a cell phone when I first met her! This is her description of the jelly: "Merlot grapes from a North Fork winery transformed into an elixir almost exactly like concord grape jelly IF CONCORD GRAPE JELLY WAS ACTUALLY DELICIOUS AND NOT SO SICKLY SWEET.
"FLAVOR OF NEXT MONTH: APPLE WITH A VERY GOOD CHANCE OF PEACH"
I'm gonna hang with her on Sunday, God willin and the creek don't rise, and if she has any more jelly, I'll mail you a jar, A. Marie.
So sorry to hear about your yellowjacket stings. Those are extremely painful. Glad you went to the urgent care and got some medication for the swelling.
FFT:
- I borrowed a walking boot from BFF for my sprained ankle. The ones I had were all for left foot and I needed a right foot one this time.
- I used a credit on our account at the doctor's office to cover the co-pay for the appointment for the doctor to examine my sprained ankle
- I hobbled through the grocery store on my sprain long enough to buy supplies to make a big pot of chicken noodle soup that we ate all weekend. Standing to cook is still difficult for me and DH is still recovering from having his gallbladder removed, so having easy, nutritious meals was a bonus.
- Our dog usually goes to doggy daycare on the days that the cleaning lady comes. Today DH is working from home while he continues to recover from surgery, so he's keeping the dog at home and out of her way today.
- My office provides drinks and snacks that I take advantage of each workday, reducing what I need to buy to bring from home.
1. Having two Boxer pups in my home means that I am furiously searching for a reasonably priced dog trainer. The last person I had quote me a price wanted $1500 for 4 weeks and that was essentially 4 sessions totaling 4 hours. Insane. I spoke with a neighbor and she gave me the info for the trainer they are using and loving. He is awesome, local, close to where we live and very effective. He is also very cost efficient. I cannot wait to get started!
2. I was out running some errands and needed a cool drink so I popped into CVS remembering that I had some lingering rewards. I pad $0.50 out of pocket after using my rewards for a free diet soda and a bag of peanut butter filled pretzels - Yay!
3. My husband is off to they eye doctor today an d will have his prescription filled at Costco saving us about $1000 over getting that filled at the eye dr's office.
4. Used th4e last of the ham I made last week to cook up 4 quarts of split pea soup for the freezer. The last scraps went to the dogs along with some leftover rice.
5. We bought a Dyson stick vac back in December during a Christmas sale. We have a large portion of our home that has hardwood floors and the majority of that is living space so we thought it would be a solid piece of equipment to help with regular daily cleanups. Goodness we have never had more issues with a vacuum. It never held a charge that was more then 20 mins long even brand new. When I first reached out to Dyson they sent me a new battery but that only made things worse. So after a very long phone call, they have agreed to send me a brand new vacuum with the most up-to date technology. Hooray for companies that actually stand behind their warranties!
@Angie, Two boxer pups, yikes! Ex MIL was a boxer breeder of champions. Which meant there were sometimes cute puppies, but mostly 7-8 adult boxers in the house, some of whom would fight. You had to be very careful going from room to room, because if Boxer A caught sight of Boxer B, they might fight, and if you drew the curtains to the sliders to the backyard, Boxer B might see Boxer C in in the living room and go through the glass. Back in my sewing days, I made MIL a button down shirt of boxers wearing boxer shorts that was apparently highly envied in boxer circles. Heh.
@Angie,
You don't happen to live near Dallas? We might be searching for a trainer for our adopted boxer soon.
Sorry to hear about the stings! That sounds terrible. Good for you for keeping your attitude up. Many of our frugal efforts have been thwarted lately, because Mr. B and I have covid. We are recovering slowly. A lot of my spending this week was "not the most frugal, but better than the most expensive."
1. We had groceries delivered, including some prepared foods. It was very expensive, but cheaper than ordering takeout every night.
2. The grocery delivery was several hours late, so the company removed the delivery fee and gave a gift card for free delivery another time.
3. My daughter's 2nd birthday is this weekend (sniff sniff) so we bought her a toy fire truck on sale. We live down the street from a fire/EMT dispatch, so she loves firetrucks!
4. I was *thiiiiiis* close to buying myself a new cookbook and some stationary to cheer myself up...so I closed the browser window 🙂
5. Anything from the grocery store is still cheaper than takeout. Especially when you have absolutely no sense of smell and aren't particularly picky!
@Meira@meirathebear, So sorry about the Covid and particularly the loss of smell! Hope you both get to feeling better soon!
Ouch, ouch and ouch again! I got stung dragging tree limbs in the yard, but it was a quick, warning sting, I guess. It hurt some and I can still see the place where I was stung a week later, but it wasn't remotely as bad as a sting from a wasp or hornet intent upon teaching one a lesson.
I am still waiting to see how much my roof repair or replacement is going to cost me after hurricane deductible and insurance portion. Of course, asking for upgraded shingles or something similar will increase my portion of the roof bill. My hurricane deductible is close to $4700 for house and outside structures and I will owe at least $1500 for the portion of the yard clean up that wasn't done by volunteers. I may get reimbursed for some of the clean up cost. That remains to be seen. I spent much of yesterday out in the heat with a roofer and roofing inspector, and the inspector has submitted the report. He said it will go through several offices and reviews before we hear back.
Not a lot of frugality then, but:
1. Before I grocery shopped on Friday I first checked to see what I absolutely had to replace, as opposed to what I might need. I managed to keep my two-week bill down to a normal amount, even though I had to replace much of what was in my refrigerator.
2. I didn't do this as a frugal move, and in fact I didn't want to do this at all, but living six days without power sure brought down this month's energy consumption.
3. Even without power, I used saved potable water to wash dishes by hand instead of buying a bunch of disposable stuff. I noticed paper plates, plastic cups, plastic eating utensils and paper towels were pretty well wiped out in the stores anyway.
4. Speaking of washing dishes, the dish washing liquid bottle is currently turned upside down to get the last drops out of it.
5. I bought bulk (cornstarch-free) baking powder and used a saved glass mayonnaise jar to store the powder in the pantry.
Ouch, scary about the yellow jackets. My husband once stepped on a nest while we were camping and we had to rush him to the emergency room as his face and airways were swelling up very quickly. Luckily his most recent sting on the lip did not produce as much swelling.
For the mowing and leaf blowing, could you leave some of the cut up leaves on the grass for composting purposes? I have to be hones, there is no sound I detest as much as the sound of commercial lawn movers and leaf blowers in our neighborhoods 🙂
1. Past couple of weeks, I've done a complete decluttering of my kids wardrobes as they've gone through growth spurts and have also changed their clothing style/hobbies. Since it turned out to be quite a lot, I also emptied out some storage holds and participated in a kids clothing consignment sale this weekend. It's always a ton of work but feels good to see these clothes be immediately reused, rather than dumping them into the black hole of a thrift store bin.
2. Borrowed a tag gun from a neighbor, did not want to buy one for just one use.
3. Since my kids have aged out of most kids consignment clothes, I bought nothing there except one school binder. (I miss the days when most their clothes came from there!)
4. Did not order out on nights when it felt like we had nothing in the fridge, chances are you can always find something in the freezer or dry pantry.
5. Still making due with one car here in the suburbs, giving rides to each other and combining trips when possible, even biking.
@Kristina M., I'm glad to have a buddy in the one-car lifestyle! My husband and I have been making do since we married 7 years ago, mostly because he is so flexible. It is so, so much cheaper to have one car than two. 🙂
@Lindsay B, That's great! It works for us because we both work from home most of the time. I try to bike to my office when I need to go, and my husband takes the commuter bus (I give him a ride to the bus stop). We were going to buy a second car, but months pass by and we realized we can make do, saving so much money in the process.
So sorry about your stings! Heal quickly Kristen!
I'm doing a freezer/pantry challenge all month and so far so good, I'm eating what I can find, I'm nowhere near the level of "Chopped" ingredients where things get really unusual. But, it feels great that I only spent $10 at the grocery store for greens and eggs. By the way, eggs make cleaning out the veg drawer so easy.
I will often do a tedious house cleaning chore and remind myself what outsourcing the job would cost me. I love to say to myself, look you just earned yourself $50! (by not giving it to someone else) This week it was weeding out the flower beds.
I no longer send my husbands shirts to the dry cleaners, it takes extra steps at home obviously, but we are saving a ton my washing and ironing the shirts ourselves.
Cheers to a quick recovery. Karen
I remember when I had my hysterectomy and my cats thought it was the greatest thing ever.
I am in a season of life where convenience unfortunately trumps frugality, but I:
1) followed up on an Amazon delivery that was deemed undeliverable but I never got a refund for and made sure I got the refund.
2) made smoothies and popsicles from fruit I froze, half of which came from my yard! If we get too much of anything at once, I'll freeze a lot to use in smoothies, and then I make popsicles with the leftovers. Popsicles are expensive these days!
3) I made granola using your recipe (my daughter calls it "granilla")
4) I'm trying to meal plan. I'm finding it difficult with two small kids underfoot, but I'm doing the best I can.
5) we bought an e-bike! Not a cheap purchase, but we got it second hand and have been using it every day to take the kids to and from school. My husband wants to start taking it to work soon too, which is great because we've been spending a fortune on gas (we're in California, our local station is over $5/gallon, so it adds up quickly). Bonus is that it's pedal assist and it's heavy, so it's helping me get a little bit of extra exercise every day.
6) bonus! It's been cool enough at night to open the windows and turn the whole-house fan on, so we've been doing that to get the house cooled down overnight. I'm incredibly grateful that there hasn't been much wildfire smoke so far this year, because our electric bill has been increasing lately and being able to minimize the use of AC is really helpful.
After a crazy couple of weeks, I'm back to participate. And I have a big car repair, so I really need to get frugal. I'll see if I can come up with 5.
1. Stuck to my list at the grocery store. Nothing extra snuck into my cart.
2. Earned my points at bing and Mypoints for gift cards. Also scanned receipts into Fetch.
3. Have not stepped foot into a thrift store. And I can't think of anything I need, so I'm going to continue to do so in the near future.
4. Helped my guy clean out the garage, which is frugal because now we know where stuff is. He actually exclaimed at one point "I forgot I had those tools!"
5. Have not signed up for exercise classes. I have a free gym membership from work, but it doesn't include classes. I'm going to try to just exercise on my own.
We had a large party at our house this weekend which is not very frugal. But here's a few:
1. I did bake some of the desserts myself.
2. Did all the flower arrangements myself which cost way less than ordering from a florist
3. Had free dinner at work yesterday
4. Made sure to get all my work parking expenses reimbursed, which is a hassle, but well worth it.
5. Ordered library books but did not actually have time to pick them up. But did not go buy books instead so this is maybe a win?
Yellow jackets are among the prettiest of wasps, but also are very painful. Ouch! Hope the injury isn't interfering with nurses' school, and that you're feeling better now.
My FFT, changing season edition:
1. This is an old one, but I haven't shared it here: I bought a patio set from the Salvation Army thrift store. A long rectangular glass-top table; metal chairs with cushions; it will seat 6. Even had the "plug" for the hole where an umbrella would go. Paid less for it than what Walmart was selling a new four-place table and chair set that was on clearance. It pays to shop secondhand! Right now, we're getting cooler weather so I'm cleaning it up and redoing my covered patio = a place to eat breakfast and drink coffee in the mornings!
2. Re-arranged the den furniture. Back when we had Winter Storm Uri, which knocked out all the electricity throughout our state, I had to leave the house due to the HVAC system/furnace needing electricity to run. After that, I purchased a natural gas heater that looks like a fireplace. Had it installed in the den. If the power goes off, it will still work -- and will heat at least that one room. Thought perhaps I may need a sleeper sofa to stay in there during future blackout events in the winter. Last night, however, I tried sleeping on my current sofa. It's nice and comfy, so I won't need new furniture. I just positioned it differently, near the "fireplace," in case we get hit by another winter storm. (Yes, I'm thinking WAY ahead: it was 95 degrees F. yesterday. But extremely hot summers often lead to extremely cold winters.)
3. Overhead LED lights in the entrance hallway hanging fixture are too bright, even though they use a minimum amount of electricity. Instead of buying new bulbs, I just loosened three of the four bulbs and am using only one bulb for illumination. It gives off just the right amount of light. Didn't have to buy a thing.
4. Found items to take to a consignment shop for possible resale. It was too hot for a yard sale this summer.
5. Bagged up leaves for free trash pickup. City won't take them away unless they are Just So. Got the sacks filled and the garbage collectors took 'em way. Beats paying the hired man to car them to the landfill and paying a dumping fee.
Love the hoodie sampling.
Boo about the yellow jacket stings! Glad you are on the mend. I really dislike those little buggers but I recently read that wasps/yellow jackets help with pollination just like bees (in fact, maybe it was 30% of total pollination was due to wasps), so I decided to try to think more charitably about them. But I still think they are mean little buggers.
1. While my husband was out of town for work, Baby E and I drove to visit my friend an hour away. She is super frugal but tends to overbuy food when it is on sale (or before she expects inflation), so we are always happy to help her avoid wasted food. All that to say– we enjoyed eating leftovers, and I came home with some homemade sourdough bread, two giant heirloom tomatoes from her dad’s garden, and a frozen entree.
2. I saved a quarter by using my own bags at the local supermarket (5 cents off per bag). I also found a quarter on the ground.
3. I feel like I’ve used this one about a million times already, but I cut open a tube of hand cream to use the last bits. I’m also making a point of using up some small toiletry samples I had laying around (they seem to breed like rabbits, even though I purposefully don’t take them from hotels or as freebies).
4. Enjoyed a day out by myself with a meal from Panera. I used a $5 gift card and a $3 coupon in my app to make my lunch only cost $1.69 including tip. Aaaand then I treated myself to a pumpkin muffin! Still a cheap "date."
5. Received a new-to-me stroller via Buy Nothing. I’m hoping to replace the one we’ve been using as it’s starting to fall apart after having been through TSA multiple times. We found our current stroller thrown away on the side of the road (along with a car seat, but we didn’t take that one!) some months before Baby E was born and it has served us well.
I just placed a hold on the America’s Test Kitchen cooking-for-two cookbook at my library! Thank you for the recommendation! I also placed a hold on a slow cooker for two cookbook. We are a household of three but even recipes for two provide us with enough food for leftovers.
My son asked to be signed up for before school music ensembles at his school. This was a very easy yes. It’s additional music instruction, one less day of before school care that we have to pay for, he enjoys going, and all for the low cost of $20 a year!
This week I made my menu centered on using our pantry and deep freeze items. I’ve had a little fun the past few weeks getting creative with the items in our CSA and now we have some odds and ends that need to be used up.
We are taking advantage of the free breakfasts and lunches that are being offered to all students this year. It’s one less thing to do each morning and a few less items to add to the grocery list each week.
I’m not buying an EZ pass to shave off time during my commutes to and from work. I only go into the office twice a week so I’ve convinced myself it’s great podcast time but traffic is getting worse and it is so hard not to look at the express lane with envy.
I'm sorry about the stings. That sounds painful!
FFT:
1. Target had spray sunscreen on clearance for $2.49 a can. I bought several. Lotion is usually cheaper per ounce, but the guys in my house want the spray.
2. I planted my tomato and lettuce seeds.
3. I flew back and forth to my Mom's house using points on Southwest airlines.
4. My son and his girlfriend needed new outdoor cushions and we found nice gray ones on clearance at Walmart for $18. The outdoor patio looks so much better without the faded, moldy ones.
5. Hurricane Lee is turning north and not heading to South Florida. I always worry when I see one is out there. I will count that as a huge frugal win, no prep time, no loss of power and food, no down time from work and no clean-up and repairs. I just hope the rest of the hurricane season is safe and storm free for everyone.
@Sandy Beach, I love your name! Maybe you will do a Meet-A-Reader and elaborate on it for those of us with curious minds. (I live near a river, so maybe I should have used "Muddy Bank" as my handle. . . But "Muddy" is not a good first name like "Sandy".)
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, LOL. I picked Sandy because we live at the beach and there is a constant battle with sand in the house. I'm not complaining though, it's a fun place to live.
I'm glad you're ok from the stings! About two years ago, my husband got attacked by a yellow jacket nest while mowing, and had an anaphylactic reaction. He's gotten stung by them before, but never so many at once. The doctor at the urgent care told him that if it happens again, the possibility is that the reaction could be worse. He has a prescription to an epipen now.
Kristen, sorry you got stung and had to go to the doctor's. I, too got stung by a ground bee this summer and swelled up badly to the point of me visiting the doctor for help, too. I hope the swelling goes down quickly and you get some relief. I love your pictures of Chiquita giving you extra love and comfort!
Now onto some frugality....(most deals with food)
1. Hubby's coworkers gifted him with garden extras including 2 grocery bags of green beans which I cleaned & froze for future use, 6 dozen of eggs, watermelon, 2 zucchinis (which I shredded & froze for future use), 2 yellow squash, a jar of refrigerator pickles, a bag of cucumbers which I preserved, 7 red onions, 5 huge tomatoes, 2 pumpkin gourds and a jar of homemade spaghetti sauce. We've been so blessed!
2. I redeemed a coupon for a free large cheese pizza (birthday reward) but paid for the one topping we got on it (under $3).
3. Hubby's coworker loaned us his furniture dolly twice & in exchange, we helped him cut down a huge cherry tree on his property. He even offered us free firewood from it for our camp.
4. Listed a few items on facebook marketplace & only sold one so far....an old metal window fan from when we bought our camp property. The buyer was so excited to buy it as her fan just broke.
5. I used a Walmart refund and also used some Sam's cash towards purchases made this weekend.
6. Our fridge at camp died, so I put out a request on facebook for a free or cheap fridge that anyone was looking to rehome. We found a free really nice stainless steel fridge that supposedly the seal wasn't working on the freezer. We picked it up this weekend and the actual problem was one of the wheels was off the track, thus the door wouldn't close all the way. Hubby figured out the problem in 2 minutes and now we have a really nice fridge and freezer for camp. The previous owners also gave us 2 extra water filters as it has an ice maker on it. Score!!
For books, including cookbooks, I go to my favorite source Paperbackswap.com. It's more than paperbacks! I've been a member for a long, long time, and it keeps my shelves from looking like a hoarder's and allows me to get books I want from other members. I have the $20 membership, but there's a free membership, too.
Random money saving things we have experienced while on the Last Hurrah Tour (five more weeks to go!):
1. Between Alaska and NYC, I saved $79.81 by downloading apps for various gas stations. They were a bit of a pain, but really, I probably only spent about 20 minutes total installing all of the apps, so that is a pretty good return.
2. I have a dress I loathe but I refuse to get rid of it because I spent too much buying it. We went to a Russian restaurant in NYC. The waitress spilled borscht all over me while setting down the plate. The owner comped our entire meal and gave me $20 to have the dress cleaned; he thanked me repeatedly for not screaming at the server, but I felt so badly for her that all I wanted to do was reassure her that I was not burned, and I hated the dress anyway. Alas, the red stain on white linen did not wash out, so as a bonus I had a good reason to get rid of the dress, all for the price of a free meal for the two of us.
3. While in the lobby of a hotel, waiting for our room to be cleaned, I saw a guy get up and leave, having left his newspaper on a chair. I snagged it.
4. The husband and I never use up a bottle of hotel shampoo and I know they just throw them away. I always travel with a plastic 20 oz. bottle and each day I pour any leftover shampoo into the bottle. I am lucky that my hair is not picky about shampoos, so the final mixture when I get home is fine for me to use, thus saving money and in a very tiny way helping things not end up in the landfill. I also have a baggie for soap slivers and at home I put them in a net shower scrubby and use them up, too.
5. It poured rain during one of our days in NYC. Of course, I had no raincoat but I always have gigantic black plastic garbage bags in my truck, since I often am hauling plants and so on from the local nursery. I cut a hole in the top for my head and arm holes and used that as a raincoat. The husband was horrified but I don't think I looked any odder than some of the people I saw walking the streets, and none of these people were ever going to see me again, so I felt fine about my free raincoat. The husband chose to get soaked but at least he was a good enough sport to walk with me and hold hands, despite my trash coat. It could have been worse, this bag was clean and often the bags in the truck are mucky with dirt or assorted dead leaves and plants.
@Lindsey, I laughed so hard reading all of this that I'm still trying to catch my breath. Thanks so much for the Report from the Road Trip!
@Lindsey, I join JDinNM in delight over your travel report, especially your #2 and #5. I just had to ditch a t-shirt and a pair of pants after a **very** messy cleanout at my elderly next-door neighbor's (long story), and my good juicy rationalization about that was "I never liked them anyway." And as for your trash bag raincoat, (a) I'd have done that myself, and (b) the husband proved once again that he is a pearl beyond price by holding hands with you as you wore it. (But you knew that already--the pearl-beyond-price bit, that is.)
@Lindsey, Yup, #2 and #5 - awesome! I love the garbage bag raincoat; genius for using what you had. And just this morning I took 2 linen dresses out of my closet and stared at them, willing them to fit nicely on me. They don't. I've kept them because I love the feel of linen, but these dresses are clearly designed for someone tall and willowy, and I am neither. One I am going to try salvaging with my rudimentary hemming skills; I've already started seam-ripping the other for some nice tea towels. I would have traded either or both for soup!
Haha, I love your dress story! What style of dress was it?
@Kristen, ow ow ow. Nobody here will criticize you for hiring yardcare people.
FFT:
• Squeezed the weird grapes* from my yard after protecting them from the deer all summer, froze the juice for something as of yet unknown
• Oops, bought yarn, BUT it was all on sale!
• Needed art supplies and ordered enough to get free shipping
• Cleaned my house instead of hiring someone (as if I know anyone or can afford such a luxury)
• Dug up volunteer vitex trees to share with neighbor for her vacation rental (frugal for her, not me, but I hate wasting good plants)
*very tiny, very sweet, zillions of seeds
Happy to hear you are mostly recovered from your yellow jacket sting!
I had several yellow jacket nests dotted throughout my yard. An exterminator told me to note where the opening is that they are flying in/out of, AFTER DARK (very important!) squirt some Dawn dish liquid in the hole followed by boiling water (at least a gallon). I tried it on one of the nests in my yard and it seemed to work! I also had them under my siding so I had to have the exterminator come out anyway, so I just let him deal with the remaining ground nests (because me + bug of any kind = hard NOPE!) But I think if you just have the one nest, the Dawn + boiling water could be a frugal option. Glad you are okay, yellow jacket stings can be nasty!
Also, life is short. Buy the hoodie. You deserve it! And because Snoopy!
Thank goodness for Patient First and good medical care. I have hated yellow jackets since the tender age of four, when I was minding my own business and one of the nasty little vipers went out of it's way to sting me on the neck. Yes, I'm still mad about that.
I don't have any noteworthy frugal wins over the last week. Just the normal habits built over the years - minimizing expenses where you can and giving lots of thought before spending. Amazon really challenges my "lots of thought", so I generally use it only once a month or so for things I don't need in a hurry that are not available locally like books. I don't pay for prime so I wait until I have $25 worth of items to hit the buy button.
Oh, I do have one frugal thing - this morning I cut the top off my toothpaste tube to get at the toothpaste that won't squeeze out. My husband thinks I'm silly but I get several more days of brushing before opening a new tube. Like the Non-consumer Advocate says - I'm not a Rockefeller.
Oh no! I'm sorry you got stung by yellow jackets! How awful. I really love how you look on the brightside of things too though. It inspires me to do the same.
Excellent knife find!
I hope your stings are healing and the swelling is going down quickly! A few years ago, I was working in our yard, and went to plug in an electric hedge trimmer. We have a covered electrical outlet on the side of our house. Little did I know that yellow jackets (or maybe wasps) were hanging out in there....they angrily flew out when I lifted the cover, and I got stung at least 4 times. I didn't have any swelling, but boy, did those stings hurt, and then ITCH like crazy! Lesson learned. I now use hand trimmers. 🙂
The itching is so awful! It's hard not to scratch your skin into oblivion. Thankfully the prednisone is helping with the itching, but I'm also using ice packs and topical cortisone to help keep me from scratching.
Leave the leaves and just mow over them. It’s better for the ecosystem and your soil, and bonus - you won’t have to rake or blow. 🙂
@Laura, If you were referring to my post, these were live oak leaves. They are small and do not make compost when left on the ground. In fact, I had about 3 inches of the leaves, the oldest being from at least 2 years ago, and they are still there, blocking the light, and about to kill the Eng. ivy groundcover. Live oaks are evergreens but shed their leaves right around Spring Break, so there goes my holiday each year. I'd raked and bagged them at least 4 times last spring but there were still some on the ground. I love my gigantic, shady live oak trees but the leaves are a nuisance. Some farmers will plow them under -- that's suitable for acreage but not for a lawn in the city -- and I'm only too glad for folks to come pick up my bags before the trash collection. Wish they'd come help with the raking, or at least leave me some new bags, but I guess that's too much to ask.
So glad you sought medical treatment for the stings. I am blessed in that I live in a relaxed neighborhood regarding lawn care. There are still city rules, but my neighbors understand my efforts. As a pollinator steward, I leave leaves, grow native plants and have plethora of wasps, bees of all sorts, dragonflies, and a limited number of butterflies. IF they are not endangering anyone, the good they do is enormous.
I have the Cooks Country or was it Test Kitchen? Cooking for Two. There is a great recipe for garlic green beans in it.
Frugal fail. Pulled into a gas station and used the wrong pump. Here in mid America, gas is still less than $5 per gal, but chose the no ethanol gas at $4.79, instead of ethanol added a dollar cheaper. It was Iowa after all/corn country. Grateful my gas tank on my vehicle is small, so the pocket damage wasn't horrendous.
Frugal wins: 1) sent a receipt for Roadside Assist d/t lockout to my car insurance company. I don't use the app though. It's easier to call the service and explain where I am, than it is to explain to the person not familiar with the area and less hassle filing for my friends at Roadside Assist. The payment for it on my insurance is minimal compared to the security and actual cost of a service call.
2) Used a gift card for Walmart for purchases for a trip.
3) Did not buy a commemorative t-shirt at the rodeo this weekend. I bought them probably for twenty/twenty-five years in a row and finally realized a few years back that that they just pile up on the shelf. I occasionally wear one as a night shirt.
4) Went to the carwash and manually washed my car. This business allows you to use their car vacuums free once you've washed your car. Molly's confetti infiltrates everything. They are in competition with the new Turbo Wash Drive Thru Car Wash across the street
5) Used the Dollar General bathroom rugs I purchased just for in car use when taking Molly anywhere, saving the time I just vacuumed. Took her to a great pet care place for the weekend. She walked right in liked she owned the place, and did not want to leave when I picked her up. Kinda like having a good babysitter, I guess. I miss her severely and feel guilty when leaving her, but with a response like that? The lady who checked her out thanked me for sharing her with them. She gets the same response from the groomer.
Oh my goodness, what a nightmare with the yellow jackets! That reminds me of the story in The Little House in the Big Woods (if you've ever read that...). I hope you feel better quickly!
Our house is on 0.6 acre and we have to mow by hand...it is definitely not the way we'd want to spend our Saturdays, and we've longed for a ride-on mower many a time! I'm glad you have good neighbors who are willing to let you borrow that.
Here are my own frugal wins for the week (which also involve bugs, though at least not the stinging kind!):
https://www.toloveandtolearn.com/2023/09/12/weekly-frugal-wins-no-more-earwigs/
Funny enough, I thought of that Little House story multiple times. My foot was so uncomfortable, and I tried to imagine how awful it would be to have that experience all over my body like Laura's cousin did. And they had no prednisone back then!
Ohhh, not feeling good today so have to think about what frugal things did.......
1. Meijer had (local) spring water gallon on sale still so picked up more. Have enough for few months adleast.
2. Went to local vendor event downtown looking for glass terrarium house had seen last year, but no luck. Found some gallon size thick glass containers with handle pair. Asked if would take $10 each since I did not want candle or greenery inside. Accepted offer & told me that has more at home & took my phone number.
3. Not much selection of mums (flowers) at vendor event so glad I had picked up purple flowers at Lowe's on clearance last week. Took out dying summer annuals & replaced with purple perennial flowers in pots/urns of front porch & steps. Will look at local farm stand for large white mum to put with pumpkins on porch steps when go in few weeks to pick up pumpkins.
4. Ordered few things from Amazon that were on sale & needed to finish projects that ran out of & got on sale. Got another mattress protector (my first one not living up to standards & only had on 6 months. Ordered another that had gotten for teen mattress & is much better quality & less exspensive. Will be canceling free trail Amazon prime in another week so checking on my list before then.
5. Ordered some Legos from Target.com, getting free shipping & now have to figure out how to add my online receipts to my Lego.con rewards account. Lego started adding Target Lego purchases to rewards earlier this year(?) & had not done yet. Target had 20% off select Legos & teen & i just looked at some last week at Target but I decided to wait because no sale. Ordered 2 adult Lego sets (fall dried flower arrangement & succulents) & Lego carrier bag (gift for another child). With this Lego purchase I fulfilled my bonus offer & should have free $15 Target giftcard added to my account. I think I'm going to have teen do Lego succulents & put inside gallon glass container just picked up.
6. Ate out of freezer & pantry when felt like eating. Allergies have been crazy up & down with weather drastically changing. Though I think I heard on news Covid numbers on rise again. Probably should find my box free Covid tests & see if more than allergies as teen & I both taking turns not feeling good.
Frugal win for my dad as he left last weekend to go back to Florida I sent them home with large basin full of hostas to transplant at their house. Gave them some (less) last year & planted in different spots to see if would take & some did come back this year in two areas. Now as long as my dad doesn't mow them over when lawn mowing hopefully should have lots next year at their house.
Waiting to here from them how the ceiling fan with lights works out from my kitchen that I didn't want. Really didn't do anything where at for me & not necessarily something wanted to relocate.
I spent most of last week helping my daughter move from our location in South Texas to her new graduate school life on the shore of Lake Michigan, which was mostly the opposite of frugal. But when I flew back home alone, having left the car with her, I opted to take the city bus home from the airport instead of a taxi or ride share (my husband was at work so he couldn’t come get me). Total cost to get home from the airport: $.25 (I have a senior pass) and a six minute walk in the heat from the closest bus stop.
Just in case there is another Meg (not my real name) on the site, I have added a descriptor.
I'm so sorry about the yellow jackets - they're not nice! I hope it doesn't get in the way of your classes.
Hope your foot heals soon!
1. I sundried cherry tomatoes from our garden. While the dehydrator was on, I also dehydrated some over-ripe pears and grapes. I made 5 jars of salsa using vegetables from a friend's garden. I pickled some carrots leftover in the refrigerator and I pickled some beans from our garden.
2. I picked up ski gloves for my son off Buy Nothing.
3. My kids started school last week. Our youngest started kindergarten, which means no more daycare payments!
4. I have been reading lots of books from the library. I am really loving psychological thrillers lately.
5. We used potatoes, garlic, herbs, and tomatoes from our garden to make beef stew for dinner this week.
I have 3 Frugal things:
1. I read and take inspiration from this blog!
2. I bought knockoff brand allergy pills. Same medication, less $$.
3. I unsubscribed from Amazon Prime (I havent been using it lately) and was in the window to get a full refund.
Feel better!
This week, we...
- accepted free rhubarb
- accepted an entire grocery sack of tomatoes (!)
- ate all our meals at home
- made yummy treats at home
- turned a pair of leggings into shorts
- didn't buy anything at the city-wide rummage sales
- used some coupons to get a new pair of jeans and some clearance items from Old Navy
- signed up for a "free" class (just pay to get the credit on my transcript plus the book, which I ordered used)
-frugal-ish... we noticed a problem with an outlet so we had an electrician replace all of the outlets in that room at once...
Ouch! Sorry about the sting, scary swelling. Glad you're on the mend.
I have resisted the InstaPot craze for years and I kept telling my friends "one will show up at a garage sale or estate sale". This week, it did! I went to a moving sale in a fancy schmancy neighborhood and there it was! I paid $10 for it and I have already made 3 things in it. Swoon!
I bought 6 bags of kitty litter (same garage sale) for $1 ea
I picked up 2 food safe gasket buckets to store dried beans for $1 each.
We donated 6 bags of clothes to the free closet in town.
I sold 3 pairs of hiking/outdoor boots on ebay
Hope you’re feeling better today!
1. Found a discount code before ordering tickets to a waterpark. Saved something like $50.
2. Thrift store was my first stop for kids school clothes, I did find a few needed things.
3. Continue making meals around what’s growing in the garden.
4. Made a gorgeous bouquet for a friend, with flowers from my garden. I grew the flowers from seeds saved last fall.
5. Saying no to a lot of seasonal decor purchases.
1) I decided that I can clean the house myself through chemo. I like a tidy house, but I am not a natural at cleaning and fitting cleaning into my life. We ended up bringing in a really talented cleaning person when things got out of hand after a couple of babies. But two years ago I decided to take it back on because the youngest is now four, so I don't have the babies excuse anymore. And I've gotten used to not having that line in my budget. When I was diagnosed and learned that I would be undergoing chemo, I thought, "well, this is something I can take off my plate." But after a round of chemo, I am learning what to expect and what I can handle. The regular cleaning is making me feel like I accomplish something and doing it myself will save me a good $500 in my monthly budget.
2) I also didn't buy a thing! I got a $20 off any purchase coupon from Ann Taylor. I did go to the website to see if a good, basic item could be had for $21. But using this coupon would still have me spending at least $20 for something I don't need.
3) I made mac and cheese and incorporated odds and ends of cheese from the freezer. The last slice of swiss that had been tossed in the freezer. The rest of a block of monterey jack bought for who knows what. It was delicious.
4) My husband and I are putting lots of shoe leather into buying a commercial building. We have been renting space for our business for years. Then the perfect building in the perfect location came up for sale. The current owner loves us and really wants us to get the space, but we have to get the financing right. And we don't know what we are doing. We have a mortgage, but have no experience with any other kind of loan or property purchase. So instead of jumping in we are being cautious, asking tons of questions, and talking to lots of people. This makes sense for a lot of reasons, but we will only take the plunge when we know exactly what we are doing. I think that is the only way to do this without spending a lot of money we don't have to.
5) My whole experience with cancer and chemo has made me so thankful that I have access to short term disability through my work (which is not our business). Without it we would have to go without income and health insurance, or I would have to work through chemo and surgery. What a difficult decision. It is something I had never thought about in our own business. What if we had an employee get sick? Morally, how could we make them work or go without income? So I've been working with our insurance agent to check prices on plans that would allow us to do the right thing by our employees. And it is actually much cheaper than I thought! Hopefully we never have to use it, but in the long term, paying these premiums is a whole lot cheaper for us than paying an employee who is unable to work. And it will give us and them peace of mind.
You can always ask your library to order a book that you want to read. Or there is inter-library loan where they can get it from another library.
1. Dh and I got up early - me at 5:45 a.m! - to go to the somewhat local Lidl grocery store grand opening. Dh and I were #6 and 7 in line. First 100 people got gift cards and swag. We got 2 $5 gift cards and two reusable grocery bags. The store offered free coffee, oj and croissants. I passed on those and dh had coffee and a croissant. We both spent our $5 gift cards. I was less than impressed with the store and prices. I still say Aldi for the win! But I got to go to a store opening and I can cross that off my bucket list.
2. Dh went grocery shopping and only spent $158 and got enough chicken for at least 3 months. Thighs were .99/lb and boneless/skinless were $1.99/lb. I'll fill in with eggs and milk from Aldi.
3. Electric bill was only $62 this month. That's cause dd moved out and so less electric usage. Dh like to watch tv in the dark.
4. Natural gas payment plan went from $97 to $82. Again, due to dd moving out.
5. Got an iPad cover, protein shakes and a book from Amazon. Haven't had an iPad cover since I got this iPad - which dh thought I needed and I don't - two years ago. I only use it on vacation.
I followed the advice from the frugal girl FB group & cooked some chicken quarters in my freezer in the crockpot. I used the meat to make a chicken bacon ranch dinner salad & the rest to make chicken salad.
I've spend $90 in total for 3 vintage cabinets/hutches that I'll use for kitchen cabinets & laundry room cabinets in our new house. I'm looking for one more hutch set for the pantry & am hoping to find one for free.
I scanned my receipts on Fetch. I scan one a day so I can spin for extra points on every receipt.
I got 2 free bags of apples & 2 free bags of nectarines. I gave one bag of apples to a friend, shared the nectarines with my son & his ex wife & have really been enjoying the rest myself.
My husband carried an EpiPen as a child for yellowjackets. (Why not anymore? Good luck getting a needle terrified person to go to an allergist) He was recently stung while mowing, thankfully on his leg. It hurt him for probably 2 weeks. We sprayed the hole and put out a bait trap. We will put I out again in early summer to prevent more nests from being made in our yard. I learned that yellow jackets will go after you even if you don't disturb them, especially in fall when they're hungry and grumpy. Basically the worst. I let all the other pollinators be in my garden but not yellow jackets.