Five Frugal Things | Thanks, past Kristen!
1. I stored my black nylons in a Ziploc bag
I had a funeral to go to on Saturday (I wrote a little about it here, on my other blog), so I was looking for some legwear to go with my black dress.
Happily, I had put my one pair of black nylons in a ziplock bag in my sock drawer, so they were there, safe and protected, waiting for the next black-nylon occasion.
I almost never wear nylons, so I was thankful to my past self for preserving my single pair in the Ziploc bag! Without the bag, I am sure I would have accidentally snagged them.
After the funeral, I washed them in a lingerie bag, let them air-dry, and put them right back into the Ziploc bag for next time.
2. I wore my black Goodwill/Target dress
I bought a classic black dress at Goodwill years ago for $9.99. It was new-with-tags from Target, and it's been very useful for the times when I need a conservative black dress.
I have several body-con style black dresses, which are fine when I go out to a restaurant.
But that type of dress is not quite what I want for a funeral, and this more conservative one fits the bill quite nicely.
Since it's a very classic style, it's a handy dress to keep around for occasional use. Even if there are five years between uses, it doesn't really go out of fashion.
Definitely a well-spent $9.99!
3. I printed out a $4 Cerave coupon
All four of us here use Cerave lotion and/or facewash, so I was delighted to see what I thought was a coupon opportunity.
First I filled out a skincare survey to get a $2 coupon. Then I printed it out and showed Sonia and she was like, "Uh, Mom, that's for Cetaphil, not Cerave."
Ha. I am forever getting those two brands confused. They both start with C, they both have three syllables...
(If you do indeed use Cetaphil, here's the link to get a printable $2 Cetaphil coupon emailed to you.)
I was a little bummed at this mixup, but I decided to search and see if I could find a Cerave coupon, and I found a $4 one. Yay!
I used that one at BJs since they are a warehouse club that lets you use manufacturer's coupons. And that is pretty lovely.
4. I took down my dead vines and saved the seeds
It's been cold enough at night to kill my purple hyacinth vines, so I removed some seed pods for next year and then cut the vines down and tossed them in the fire pit.
Bush/vine trimmings make very good kindling!
I'll let the seeds dry thoroughly and then store them until it's time to replant next spring.
5. I used up leftover fried rice + bok choy
When I got home from class yesterday, I chopped up and sauteed some Hungry Harvest bok choy, added some leftover fried rice, and topped it with two fried eggs.
Scrambled eggs would have been a more authentic addition, but fried eggs are a little easier since you don't need to whisk them in a bowl first. And I was impatient for lunch. 😉
I'm sure the youth group leader will have felt supported by you both attending.
My FFT:
I updated my meal plan to include some foods Tha were gifted to us.
The gas we use for heating and cooking is more expensive now, so I calculated the new rates. An increase but fortunately doable to us
We did solarpowered laundry and also dried the laundry on the line
I returned a top that looked great on the internet but was a bad fit when I tried it on
A cooked with some stock items, as I intend to "refresh" my stock before the winter
I am slowly furnishing the empty apartment we will move into after the holidays (long story, but we are staying overseas with only our suitcases). So far, I have freecycled or purchased secondhand a dining table and 6 dining chairs, 3 occasional chairs, some dishes and utensils and a tea kettle. I have purchased new some linens and towels that I am wrapping up as Christmas presents, as well as a large new area rug.
Before I moved in the summer, I had packed a large suitcase full of winter clothes that I left behind, as we didn't need it immediately. My husband brought it back after a visit, and now we are replenished with clothes for the colder season.
It's an interesting experiment to consider what is essential for living!
Whoa! How long are you guys overseas with your suitcases?
@Kristina, well a tea kettle would be at the top of my list so GREAT JOB!
@Kristen, I am thinking a year before we decide. Here, we have family and my mother who is not in the best of health, there, we had established ourselves in a community we loved. The largest non-frugal aspect is that we have our house in the U.S. and have not rented it out or sold it, but we are doing some repairs first before deciding this spring what to do with it. Selling our second car in the hot used car market helped offset some costs of paying both a mortgage and rent, luckily.
@Stephanie, thank you! A coffee maker is at the top of the list as well, but a tea kettle can always make pour over coffee 🙂
* We have been eating less meat lately. Strictly for an economical reason (I believe meat to be healthy).
* I need a laptop for school. I am not technologically inclined person. So I asked a friend to help me pick one. She did, and I ended up buying one on ''sale'' for 700$, regularly 975$?. Not cheap, but I`m hoping this will last me the 6 years of my University program. I really (really!!) don't care about new technologies. So the frugal point here is that as long as this laptop works, this is the laptop I`ll be using. Not upgrading.
* Still eating produce from the garden
* Night ''out'' with friends consisted of a at-home movie with snacks brought by everyone. Fun!
* Going for Zumba classes with my daughters, offered for free by my City.
1. I was making dinner last night (homemade mac and cheese) when I realized that we actually did not have any cow's milk for the white sauce. My husband was away at work, and I had the thought to pop out to grab a gallon of milk, or send my oldest, but saw we had an extra carton of unsweetened oat milk, and decided to try using that. It worked perfectly. (in fact, everyone said it tasted fantastic! Ha.) So I saved gas and the cost of a gallon of milk.
2. I have a big reading habit, and try to borrow e books as often as I can, but sometimes the older books I want to read are not available through the library. I found this wonderful site: https://archive.org/details/inlibrary that has a lot of older books you can read for free. Some are only available for an hour, some for 14 days. It depends. It's been great for the times I want to read an older book that otherwise I would be tempted to purchase online. There's a lot of older cookbooks, too, which are fun to look at for frugal recipes.
3. I recently cut my hair short--pulling it back was giving me bad headaches--and I'm really liking having a pixie cut. It's a lot easier to style, and I use so much less shampoo and conditioner! Also, without all the heat styling, I'm in less need of fancy shampoos, so I've been using Suave and it's working great. I do have to get it cut more often, but since I cut everybody else's hair and save that way, I "earn" my own salon haircut.
For what it's worth, I buy the Walmart brand version of Cerave. I haven't done a side-by-side comparison of the two, but the store brand works for us.
Oh, that is good to know! I haven't tried any off-brands of it.
@kristin @ going country, coming here to say the same thing! Target has the PM version (which is what our family uses) and we haven't noticed any difference!
https://www.target.com/p/pm-facial-moisturizing-lotion-3-fl-oz-up-38-up-8482/-/A-80113694?ref=tgt_adv_XS000000&AFID=google_pla_df&fndsrc=tgtao&DFA=71700000086530542&CPNG=PLA_Beauty%2BPersonal+Care%2BShopping_Traffic_Local_Traffic%7CBeauty_Ecomm_Beauty&adgroup=SC_Health%2BBeauty&LID=700000001170770pgs&LNM=PRODUCT_GROUP&network=g&device=c&location=9007840&targetid=pla-895745642360&gclid=CjwKCAiAv_KMBhAzEiwAs-rX1OsZMTc3tmE82OJbFskRSP42aE0cCHPiImNIxm1kbk19etO0JWsQ0xoCaCgQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
I keep my black hose stashed safely away, too. I wear regular pantyhose to work, but almost never need black ones, except at funerals.
1. My car's low-beam headlight bulb went out on the passenger side. I bought a replacement bulb at an auto parts store and replaced it myself.
2. We have frost warnings for tonight and tomorrow. My husband always had extra PVC pipe and couplings lying around in our shed, so I grabbed the PVC cutters and built a 5 ft. x 10 ft. temporary frame to hold frost cloth or regular cloth to protect my container garden. I also hung more of his CFL grow lights, so that I can leave the cloth on but the plants will still have light. Since I leave home before daylight for work, I can't uncover the plants before I go, or I risk them getting frosted.
3. For the umpteenth year in a row I made homemade pumpkin pie and used whole milk instead of evaporated milk in the filling. Since I always buy whole milk from a farm, I already have it on hand, so I don't need to pay for a can of evaporated milk. I've also used half and half if I have it. My pies turn out just the same. Unlike Kristen, I like pie, and I even like making pie. 🙂
4. Kristina's remark about wrapping up linens for presents reminded me that when I give someone small kitchen items as a gift, I wrap them in cute dish towels that are part of the gift.
5. When baking the pie, once it was time to drop the temperature to 350 deg., I added in a pan of raisin and nut stuffed apples and baked them along with the pie to save energy. I baked the apples in a nice Corning lidded casserole dish I found at Goodwill.
1. I bought some used holiday clothes for my kids on the Kidizen app. This could potentially end up being a fail because it’s individuals selling items so I’m depending on them packing it up and mailing it to me in a timely fashion. If it ends up taking too long, I’ll need to run out and buy something new for holiday photos but I’ll just hope for the best for now!
2. Trying to teach my 3 year old to use up what we have and think creatively in the kitchen! I had a half can of coconut milk in the fridge that I was using to make oatmeal. He said we need bananas (we usually make banana oatmeal) I said we don’t have any, and rather than melting down over the lack of bananas (which happens sometimes too) he thought for a minute and suggested apples instead. We cooked the apples in butter and brown sugar before adding to the oatmeal and it was delicious!
3. We’ve been back in the office 2 days/week but my work decided for thanksgiving week we could work from home the whole week, so I saved on two days of gas and parking costs.
4. I’m not usually very organized about Christmas shopping in advance but I’ve actually got a pretty good start on it already. What I’m enjoying most is I’ve been able to order things from Etsy and eBay and other sources rather than buying things in a panic from Amazon because I need their fast shipping.
5. Relying on my usual free sources of entertainment: free kindle books from the library (reading This Is How It Always Is, which someone had recommended in the comments here, really enjoying it!), free podcasts, free meditation app.
FFT - canine companion edition:
The joy that our new little beagle mix brings into our lives is priceless so we are happy to spend money on her. Of late:
1. Bought her third halter collar in as many months since she chewed through the first two. The second time was while she was wearing it! Not clear how she managed that but she seemed quite pleased with herself.
2. Due to her allergies, we changed her food to one that is more expensive. Mixed it in with the old food to get her acclimated and to use it up.
3. Tried to buy her new food from a local store but they're having trouble stocking it. I will plan further ahead next time so that I can support my local store.
4. Filled her Kong and LickiMat with free pumpkin puree from our Halloween pumpkins.
5. Her heartworm treatment requires house arrest and close supervision so I've been spending a lot more time at home, which means less money spent on gas, meals out, activities, etc. Doing a lot of free YouTube videos for exercise.
@MB in MN,
My daughter rescued a heartworm positive beagle that she adores, but that little rascal has escaped the fenced yard so many times! The beagle I had as a kid used to wander away from home a lot, too. Keep an eye on your sweetie, and may this one be content to stay home.
@MB in MN, next time buy the Lupine brand of harness, collar, leash. If they get chewed the company replaces them for free. I’ve done this a few times. Worth the price.
@MB in MN,
I am a beagle nut. They are so cute and I adore them, but they do chew, howl, and try to escape. On the plus side, they are super easy going, completely safe with children, funny and smart. Hit me up if you have any questions about beagles since I've had my own since I was 20.
Two stories I thought of re little kids and beagles:
my son, aged about ten months, once bellowed EYE! at the top of his lungs and poked my dog right in the eye. Blinking, my dog gave me this look like, "No, seriously, when is that thing leaving?" My poor dog. He lived for a long time, including when my two year old daughter decided he needed to wear a football helmet.
Years later my friend's 18 month old was visiting. He grabbed my beagle's junk, hard, and announced "HE IS A BOY!" Beagles are masterful at the long-suffering facial expression.
@Rose: Beagles are the best! This one is our fourth. We've had 40 years of beagles!
@Julia, thanks so much for the tip!
@JD, beagles are rascals! We have a double fence system to reduce the chance of her escaping.
@MB in MN, I buy my pet food, meds, etc. through chewy.com. Good people, fast shipping. I love the fact that I save gas and time, and I don't have to shlep heavy cat litter from store to car to basement.
I'm dealing with mysterious skin problems right now and feel like I'm spending extra money on prescriptions rather than being frugal, but I keep reminding myself that taking care of my health is frugal in the long run. Your Cere Ve comment triggered my thoughts! I prefer Cere Ve to Cetaphil. It feels like my skin absorbs it better, for what that's worth.
Frugal ... I have cooked meals, baked snacks, and since I'm trying to lose weight, I have been avoiding all forms of eating out, since I find it extra hard to lose weight if I do that. I haven't rejoined a gym but have been upping my exercise routine using YouTube videos and they are kicking my butt. Plus I save on gas and time by not going to the gym.
1) This one falls more in the category of frugal for others, but our kids have outgrown their ski gear, so I posted it all on Buy Nothing, & had takers. Stuff out of our house! I've priced options, although you do need high quality ski clothes. Nothing is worse than being cold/wet on the mountain. There are several good deals with Black Friday.
2) Used a flight credit from a cancelled COVID trip to treat my sister to a trip to London. She'll join me on a work trip (free hotel, courtesy of work) & I'm taking a few days off in between work activities to spend with her.
3) Bought gift cards for our preferred airlines, at a discount. Used them to book additional travel.
4) Took advantage of a few very small iBotta offers. I haven't been buying anything that qualified lately, but I try to remember to upload my receipt for the basic $.20/$.50 off any item. It all adds up. I also continue to upload all of our receipts to Fetch, for a bit extra.
5) Not for me, but my son is reffing soccer games. This is a busy time of the year, as all clubs are trying to wrap up their season. He doesn't have his license, so I drive him to & from, so he can earn money. He's learning about how to invest his money, and we match his earnings for retirement. He's enjoyed learning about different types of stock, retirement accounts, etc.
I also keep my only pair of black hose safely in a Ziplock bag so they don't snag. The waistband elastic may die of natural causes before the legs ever develop a run. This happened to me once with a pair of old winter tights, which gave up the ghost as I was walking up the church aisle to receive communion. There was sort of soft pop and the top fell down. Thank heavens I wore knee-high boots and a long skirt that day so that they did not abruptly fall to my ankles. I was able to veer off out of the communion line, mince off to the ladies' room and dispose of the tights.
My frugal things were few this week: Used a $3 coupon on a package of manager's special pork chops to make them only $2.52, and another $3 coupon on a tube of Voltaren arthritis gel to make it $6.99. I will need a lot of $6 wins to make up for accidentally destroying the passenger side mirror on my car ($400 for the part, but I'm still shopping around).
@Ruby,
The phrase "mince off to the ladies room" could not be more awesome. I'm still chuckling. Heehee.
@Ruby,
The hose story is hilarious.
@JD, It is funny in retrospect, but at the time, I was sweating it out and trying to be all stealth about holding them up through the folds of my skirt. 😀
@Julie P., I am sure everyone thought I had a very sudden need for the toilet, considering the strange way I was walking! 😀
@Ruby, We had an elderly babysitter and one time her underpants, the granny kind, fell down to her ankles as we were all going through the crosswalk downtown. She stepped out of them and kept walking, leaving them in the crosswalk. Not a word was said, by her or the six of us...
@Lindsey, Now I know how underwear winds up in the middle of the street!
I love how often you eat eggs. I'm the same. Eggs are such a great quick meal addition!
Let's see...Frugal stuff...
- we walked the golf course yesterday which saved us the cart fee (we have a membership to this course which saves us TONS on rounds of golf. So when we show up walking we literally don't pay a thing.)
- We used up leftover chicken and rice to make a stir fry last night and also used the last of the eggrolls from the freezer.
- I'm going to make broth today with the chicken bones and some I'd stored in the freezer a few weeks ago.
- Ok here's a long one: I finally, like just right now, logged in to this SEO site I'd signed up for for a client to help with his website issues. I was going to cancel my subscription. But then I realized that the site is really useful and I just need to be more diligent about using it. SO I didn't cancel, but I DID make sure to make a note in my "monthly expenses" spreadsheet to deduct that as a business expense and THEN I remembered I still had one outstanding invoice from October! So I sent a reminder email about that.
Woah wait. How do you make fried eggs? You whisk them in a bowl first? I thought you did that for scrambled eggs... I crack an egg into a pan and poke the yolk. Then just flip as normal. Do explain! I need to try eggs different ways I guess 😀
No, no, I was saying that scrambled eggs would be more work!
@Kristen, Oooh! That totally makes sense. I had not yet ingested my coffee when I read that comment and I was like HOW DOES SHE MAKE THIS MAGIC FOR FRIED EGGS. Alright then. I'll carry on. But if you do come up with a new innovative way to cook eggs, I'm all ears 😀
I will keep you posted if I have a revelatory discovery one day. 😉
So, this is a habit clearly born of laziness, BUT, I almost never whisk eggs in a bowl before scrambling anymore. I throw them right in the pan and stir them up really quickly. I've never really noticed much of a difference, to be honest, especially in something like fried rice.
Something accidentally frugal I did was not realize I needed 2 cups of creme friache for a fancy birthday ice cream recipe and bought 1 cup. Added a cup of sour cream and it still turned out great!
Yes, Susannah, that's exactly how I make scramble eggs too. Just dump the eggs straight into the hot pan and whisk them a little with a fork while cooking.
@Susannah,
Same for me with scrambled eggs (most of the time). I love to cook them in bacon fat (guilty pleasure but so yummy). Just crack them into the pan and stir. I call them “frambled” eggs (cross of “fried” and “scrambled” ha!)
@Meg, My guilty pleasure for scrambled eggs is to add two tablespoons of heavy whipping cream to them, but I use a bowl and not directly into the frying pan. They come out so soft!
Thanks for the CeraVe coupon! My twenty-year-old told me he'd like some sunscreen / face cream, which I feel like is a win (especially with our high desert sun).
On the expedience of fried vs. scrambled eggs, I have a nylon whisk that I use for scrambled when I am impatient. I crack the eggs in a heated skillet and whisk in the pan. My 13yo actually prefers them this way.
Just a thought.
Yes to the bagged nylons for this occasion. The dress is perfect and you look great in it as well.
Here's the 5 for the week:
1) Our son got a college scholarship for $2,500 and was so happy to get that email.
2) I earned a $20 gc to Target by taking a survey
3) I got a trial of Amazon Prime for free for a month. It was great timing with the season.
4) I used cc rewards to order a winter face covering from Amazon. It was free and will be delivered in 24 hours.
5) I got a free dehumidifier from my sis, who sent it as a gift.
Goodwill has been exceptionally kind lately! Recent finds for us include:
-- A $6 Uno-Vac Thermos for my husband’s work (he requested a thermos for hot tea). The Uno-Vac thermos brand is apparently defunct (manufactured 1950s-60s) and retails on eBay and Etsy in the $15-$30ish range depending on condition. This one is still in amazing shape and was happily clean—so much kitchen stuff is donated dirty! I still washed it again before putting it to use, like always.
-- New-in-the-box YakTrax (think snow chains for shoes/boots) for $4 instead of $30. These will hopefully keep me from slipping and falling this winter. I managed to concuss myself *last* winter despite wearing my winter boots with heavy tread.
And now for the Christmas gift thrifts!
-- A $6 pristine stainless steel Planetbox lunch box that retails for $60!!! This is going to a family member who works in range management and is *really* hard on things.
-- New-in-the-1970s-box counter top meat grinder, never used, for $12 instead of $50+! Another family member wants to start processing his own game meat. He appreciates a good thrift, so I can give it in the original box (it’s older than either of us!), complete with Goodwill tag. :P. (Side note: Thank goodness for flat rate shipping boxes! The grinder is comically heavy.)
-- Several DVD box sets (Jimmy Stewart westerns, Alfred Hitchcock, etc.) for $4 per set. A relative prefers classic movies to paying for cable but doesn’t have home internet for streaming. New-to-them movies are always welcome!
Important caveat: Some friends and family love a good thrift or a charitable donation—others, not so much. I'm careful to respect everyone's preference and never chance a thrifted gift, even new-with-tags, unless I *know* the recipient will be absolutely okay with that. The few recipients on my gift list who mind second-hand things *really* mind.
1. Found a dime and five pennies- first found change in ages.
2. Finally mended a thrifted fleece and some hand-me-downs.
3. Sold a BLS textbook on eBay, and some garden furniture on Marketplace. Glad to have things out of the house!
4. Mailed multiple cards from my free card stash, courtesy of MIL.
5. When home, mom reminded me of some sterling silver I’d left there to eventually sell, so that will be mailed off to a reputable buyer.
6. DH and I both got our Covid booster shots.
7. Picked up free steel cut oats and veggie pasta, courtesy of coupons from Social Nature.
I'm glad you were able to attend the funeral. I don't like attending funerals (who does) but I feel awful that I wasn't able to attend some for family who passed on within the last 18 months or so. My dad's first cousin passed a few weeks ago (for all intents and purposes his last relative that isn't us kids) and I'm glad he got to go but I wouldn't have minded going. 🙁
Doing my best to be frugal around here but admittedly lately it's not been super easy with inflation.
1.) Collected up all my scraps and have stock in my IP currently. This will come in handy on Thursday, I'm sure!
2.) Cubing up bread before it fully goes stale so that I can use it for making dressing (I agree with Alton Brown that stuffing is evil and should be cooked outside of the bird.)
3.) Bought my daughter a book for Christmas off of eBay. New copies were still around $15 (which for a kids' book is outrageous!) so I hopped on eBay and bought a Like New copy for $4.
4.) Made some poultry seasoning as I wasn't sure we'd have enough Bell's. I should be able to make it through Thanksgiving but Murphy's Law being what it is, I felt it better to be prepared.
5.) Using my enclosed porch as a (temporary) fridge. It's about 30 degrees out there so colder than my fridge so this helps with storing things (or cooling things like stock which you don't want to put in the fridge where it will warm everything up.
Other than that, just business as usual. Have a Happy and Blessed Thanksgiving everyone!
@Battra92,
Ha! Using the cold outdoor temps to work as a fridge is something I totally understand over here in Michigan. 🙂
@Ruth T, It's like having a walk-in fridge or freezer half the year here ... 😀
@Battra92,
My parents also would use their porch for holiday extras because it would be as cold or colder than their refrigerator, usually. One time she set freshly made pumpkin pies out to cool for Thanksgiving dinner, covering them with clean dish towels. When we took the towels off, one of the pies had a neatly formed cat paw print dead in the center, where the cat had just strolled across the towel on top of the pie. We ate the pie anyway.
Thanks for reminding me of one of my favorite holiday memories!
@Battra92, I often store things in my gas grill on the porch when I need and extra cold storage in winter. Putting stuff in the grill and shutting the lid keeps critters out of my food. I just have to remember it’s in there! Lol
@Battra92, I just watched an updated Alton Brown episode about stuffing vs. dressing, and he has changed his mind!
@JD, Oh man, there's no way I would've gone near the pie at that point. LOL 😀
@Jenny, Ahh, I've kind of given up on old AB as he's gotten to be quite the grumpy old man in his elder years. It's a shame as much of my cooking skills came from him.
Don't meet your heroes, I guess.
1. I got a side hustle at an old world Christmas event. I'm hoping it will put me in the mood for celebrating (I'm a sucker for Christmas lights!) after some not great things happened this year.
2. I made a warm period shift (shirt) from white flannel and machine embroidered a Christmas design and made an apron for the outdoor market from fabric I already had. Fortunately with modern base layers and a closet full of years of historical entertainment, I don't have to buy any new winter weather things to work the event - just wear more layers that I already have!
3. Refilled our empty reusable sports bottles with water and stuck them in the refrigerator for DIY bottled water on demand.
4. Cleaned and reorganized a messy dresser drawer and switched some items from summer to winter. I have a whole bunch of matching socks again!
5. Bought foodie Thanksgiving extravaganza ingredients at Aldi. It was a bit more expensive than last year but still way cheaper than buying that duck at a conventional grocery store. I also bought two Christmas gifts from the Aisle of Shame that were cheaper than the same thing I planned to buy on Amazon which was a nice surprise.
1. I got all 5 of the turkeys that I wanted for my freezer! Yay! 5 turned out to be perfect for the year for my family last year. I got 4 of them from Meijer at 33 cents a pound and one for free from WalMart from an Ibotta rebate.
2. I mended my daughter's snow glove. Here's to hoping it'll hold up on the playground this year!
3. I make a photo calendar for my in-laws for Christmas every year and I did it during the time that Shutterfly was offering a free calendar. Just had to pay for shipping.
4. Decided not to attend a craft fair on Saturday that I was looking forward to attending. My decision was based on high COVID numbers in my area right now, but I console myself with remembering that I didn't need to buy anything and I saved myself from unnecessary spending.
5. We ran out of toilet bowl cleaner and I tried some DIY stuff with ingredients we have at home instead of buying some in a bottle.
One frugal fail: I started to make crock-pot yogurt on Saturday but didn't set an alarm to remind myself for step #3, the final step. I woke up in the morning to a half-gallon of milk still hanging out in the crock-pot but not as yogurt and had to dump the whole thing.
After reading several comments about eggs, I’m chiming in with a recent fail. I used to open each egg in a sauce dish first, which was advised, but gave that up years ago. Last week I was going to poach two eggs for myself ... cracked the first one into the boiling water and in the few seconds before I got the other one in came the unforgettable scent of a rotten egg in boiling water. Ewww! (That will wake you up.) Glad it wasn’t the second egg, but I lost my appetite for eggs that morning anyway. Can’t blame a store though. My son has been doing grocery shopping for me lately and also organizing the refrigerator while he puts things away. By combining partial egg cartons, over time some very elderly eggs apparently got saved. I’m back to cracking them into a bowl first, for awhile at least. Also using up eggs before starting the new carton!
My frugality is all about my Thanksgiving week trip.
1. I ate up all the stuff in the fridge in the week leading up to my trip. There were some unusual combinations, but nothing was wasted, and I was fed.
2. I went to Kohl's and JC Penney looking for new clothes to take on the trip but left both stores with nothing. What I have is fine.
3. I arranged free transport to the airport yesterday by asking my brother-in-law to take me. He had to pick me up at 4:30 am for my 7 am flight. That saved me gas and 5 days of parking costs.
4. I packed sandwiches and snacks to eat during the 9 hours of airport waiting, first flight, more airport waiting and then second flight.
5. My brother-in-law will be picking me up from the airport on Friday.
I am extremely thankful that I was able to take this trip to see my daughter, her husband and his family for the holiday.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!
Dh has to use Cetaphil lotion and body wash and on our budget, it's tough to do. I grabbed the Equate ( WM ) version of the body wash once since it was $4 cheaper and it worked just as good, I did the same with the lotion. Note: I did not tell dh because I knew he would say "My dr. didn't say I could" or decide that the name brand HAS to be better. We'll be married 29 years next week, so I knew how it would go. When I told him a few weeks later, he was shocked and verified that there was no difference.
1) Last week we smashed up the bumper of our van. Since this vehicle is running on borrowed time anyway and has a lot of miles and a lot of issues, my husband was not keen on a pricey fix. So, he used pop rivets and sheet metal to put all the pieces in place, then covered it all with white Gorilla tape (the color of the van). And voila! Our redneck van will hopefully get us through the winter.
2) I cashed out $20 on my ibotta app.
3) Our church has a "secret sister" prayer group, and I've happily used a few of the gifts that I needed, like new pot holders and a dishtowel...and chocolate. (I always need chocolate!)
4) I signed up for free Chick fil A gift cards for peppermint shakes, and they came in the mail this week.
5) I have been increasingly unsatisfied with out living room (not in the extreme, just "ho-hummy" about it). I moved around the furniture and brought up a different rug that we had stored in our basement, and I am happy to report it gave me a brighter outlook!
@Tricia, I can relate to your #1. DH used to say that he could do 80% of all home and rental property repairs with duct tape, WD-40, and/or his Swiss Army knife.
@A. Marie, I would add J-B Weld to your list.
Had some dental work done yesterday so have only been eating soft foods yesterday and today-soup, more soup, applesauce, pudding. It has been frugal and necessary, but I am getting kind of hungry.
Wrote a check at the dentist’s office with a 5% discount on the bill. We don’t have dental insurance, but always pay right away to get the cash discount.
My husband’s birthday was a couple of weeks ago and we have been taking advantage of a few free items and discounts that have been sent to him. We have had a free entree at an Italian restaurant, 20% off his meal at another restaurant, a free sundae, and a few others. It is nice when businesses do that.
I have been going around turning off lights in the evening. For some reason my husband thinks there needs to be a light on in the kitchen and other rooms in the evening now that it gets dark earlier, even when nobody is in those rooms. I just go and turn them off without mentioning it to him again and again.
We decided not to go on a weekend away in December that we were thinking of doing, partially because the covid numbers are getting higher and partially due to the cost. We are just going to stay home and do Christmas things at home instead.
I like the stories about using porches and garages as extra refrigerators. We do that too. Sometimes we put stuff in the car so critters won’t get them.
Buying minimal holiday gifts and only buying from sites or deals that offer free shipping.
Not getting a new tree even tho ours has seen better days. Might try to snag one after Christmas on clearance.
Cooking and eating at home.
Filling out majorly annoying forms. Printing receipts to get reimbursed 90 dollars from work.
Staying in my grocery budget when planning for the holiday.
Saving on gas whenever possible.
Not sending xmas cards this year to save on postage. Kind of sad about it but hubby is now retired and we are in cost cutting mode. ( it will be okay!)
FFT, Pre-Thanksgiving Edition:
(1) First, my sympathies to all the folks who have attended funerals recently. And Kristen certainly looks better at hers than I probably do at mine. I have exactly one dress for funeral-going--a black print number that's long enough to cover the fact that I wear knee-highs under it. I said sayonara to pantyhose several decades ago.
(2) I was knocked out of Thanksgiving at the Bestest Neighbors' lake house this year by the fact that I have to give my cat a week's worth of antibiotics for her third UTI in 2 months (frugal fail). But first I invited my widowed next-door neighbor to the south over for a meal on Thursday--and then the neighbors just to the north of the BNs across the street invited us both over! Further proof (if I needed any) that I live on the best street in the world. Frugality and friendship for the win.
(3) On Thursday, I'll be taking a kale salad (made from my own abundant kale) and a loaf of bread machine bread. That machine is at least 15 years old, still going strong, and a blessing to me and my 60-something arthritic hands.
(4) With the onset of winter weather here in Upstate NY, I'm running my gas furnace a bit more. But I've got my various laundry racks next to heat registers to offset this. (The only things I use my dryer for are sheets.)
(5) And, weather permitting, I'll be using Thanksgiving weekend for a major thrift store crawl instead of doing the typical Black Friday madness. Hit 'em where they ain't.
Oh, I am so happy to hear that you've got some friend plans for Thanksgiving! Holidays can be a tough time when things have changed in your family situation (as yours have) and I am delighted that you will be with friends.
Hi all,
I have a trick I learned years ago when I wore panty hose for work. Does anyone remember Leggs in the plastic egg? Ha, the egg made a fun easter egg. Put your nylons in the freezer overnight when you first bring them home. Somehow they magically resist getting runs.
I also store clean bathing suits, rolled up and placed in a plastic baggie, and stored in the freezer over the winter and it prevents the elastic from becoming wonky.
Have a nice Thanksgiving everyone.
Living frugally means that I am choosing to splurge on a cab to the airport for tomorrow’s very early flight, it’s safer for everyone if I don’t drive while struggling to stay awake! Bought the cheapest SWA tix which still means 2 free checked bags, no seat choice but it’s only a 2.5 hour hop so I can manage the middle seat if that’s where I end up. Will buy coffee at the airport but have packed breakfast from home. Inflight entertainment will be a downloaded Audible book from my last 1/2 off 3 month subscription. It’s a balance - I paid $85 for 5 year’s TSA pre-check which means my frequent trips are much more pleasant, but I buy cheap flight tix/use airmiles and spend as little while traveling as possible.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Will you leave notes for your service?
How about writing them now?
Would you want people to wear black to yours? I imagine brighter colors at a celebration of life for you.
1. I brought my daughter to her 3 year physical. Her pediatrician recommended a wake up clock (it turns green when she can get out of bed). Someone posted one on Buy Nothing this weekend that I picked up for free. We will see if it works.
2. My son has been using a Pillow Pet as a pillow for many years. I picked up the same one off Buy Nothing today. It will stay in our camper and make packing for camping just a bit easier.
3. I am bringing frozen leftovers to work, for lunch, this week. My breakfast is homemade pumpkin muffins that I had frozen too.
4. We have multiple large trees in our yard. My husband considered paying someone to clean the gutters this year. He instead decided to buy a leaf blower. He blew the leaves in the yard and the gutter, which took him substantially less time than last year.
5. Our state pays for free home energy assessments, which we took advantage of this week. Unfortunately, this professional feels we need a new water heater and that the one we have is not vented properly which can lead to carbon monoxide build up (don't worry we have multipe detectors!). So, the assessment was free and we will now be purchasing a new hot water heater. But, hopefully the new hot water heater will be better for the environment and our utilities bill. And may have saved our lives! If anyone has suggestions on hot water heaters, feel free to comment!
I always struggle with this.
1. I topped up the shopping this week solo. The shop was at least $100 cheaper.
2. I am trying to make stuff for Christmas to keep the cost down. It has taken more than a week to clear a space in which to sew. Please don't judge me as it is a small house and the other person who sews takes all the space.
3. I have reached the free medicine threshold weeks ago so I am trying to build a small stock of medicines such as asthma puffers. I don't hoard this stuff I just like to know I have a replacement waiting if I need it.
4. Our petrol/gas price has gone up to over $2 (AUS) per litre. If I see fuel at lower price I am topping up the tank.
5. A few times this week I have talked our way out of taking away food. Always a win.
1. Made beef broth and chicken broth. Love how they can add flavor to a meal, eve if I don't actually put beef or chicken in it. And I freeze it in Pb, jelly, and mayo jars.
2. Cut holey t-shirts into rags for cleaning.
3. Trying to get $80 back from an online subscription I don't want anymore... Hope they reimburse me.