Five Frugal Things | treasure house notecards
Guys, I promise that one day in the future, I will have a little more time and space for interesting frugal things.
For now, I spend so much of my time on school and all the associated requirements, I am really doing the bare minimum in many other areas of my life.
But in about 7-8 months, if all goes well, I will be done with school!
And I am super duper positive that working three 12-hour shifts a week will not compare to the way that nursing school completely takes over one's life. There will be more breathing room.
Anyway. Let's see what I can come up with for this week!
1. I used Treasure House notecards for exam prep
I had a pack of slightly wrinkled index cards in my drawer (I think they got a little damp at one point at the treasure house) and I used them to make some little brain-dump info cards about hematologic disorders.
I know a LOT of things about anemia, leukemia, lymphoma, and multiple myeloma right now. 😉
2. I bought a stethoscope on eBay
This is kind of a sad one: someone took my stethoscope at the hospital two weeks ago. 🙁 I think it was initially an accident, but still, now there's someone at that hospital walking around with a stethoscope that has a metal cuff on it that says "Kristen".
UGH.
Why did they not bring it back once they realized the error??
This is double sad because that stethoscope is one that a dear reader kindly sent to me before I started nursing school.
I am still holding out hope that it will turn up in the lost and found at some point. But at this moment, I need a stethoscope to use for clinical days.
So, I bought one on eBay, and I picked a light, bright color.
Many people have dark-colored stethoscopes, so I am hoping that the light color of this one will prevent future accidental mixups.
3. I went to a $10 symphony
Well, the symphony is not normally $10. I'm just milking my college student benefits for all they're worth. I got a $70 ticket for $10 thanks to my student ID. 🙂
I barely made it in time because I had a late Friday sim lab...but I did a quick wardrobe change in the back of my van (with the shades pulled down!), and I made it there in the nick of time.
Once I graduate, my budget will not allow symphony trips at this rate of frequency (that was my second one in a week's time!) but for now, it is lovely.
And I do plan to get my BSN after I graduate, so that will buy me one more year of student discounts. 🙂
4. I jumped through lots of medical hoops to keep costs down
So, right now, I have sorta crappy health insurance that I bought through my state's open market health insurance site. This is a temporary situation; once I get a job as a nurse, I will have decent insurance through the hospital.
But for now, it is a whole unpleasant experience. Lots of offices don't accept my insurance, including my usual mammogram spot where I get my routine checkups each year.
If I wanted to go there I'd have to pay out of pocket but if I stay in-network with the appropriate referrals, preventive appointments like that are free.
After a lot of headache, and many phone calls, I did find a new spot to do mine, plus I got a referral for a dermatologist checkup at an office that takes my insurance, plus I scheduled an eye exam, plus I scheduled my gyn checkup.
I gave myself gold stars for hanging in there with all of that!
I booked most of the appointments for the end of the semester because heaven knows I have very little free time at the moment (and very little availability during business hours.)
5. hmmmmm....
I am still largely eating at home
I make my coffee at home.
I am spending almost nothing on entertainment (aside from the occasional $10 symphony).
Nursing school makes me too busy to do anything expensive. 😉
I have mammography every 2-3 years in a nationwide program for women aged 50-75. However there is quite some discussion on the "breast press" as abnormalities are not always detected in dense breast tissue (not to be confused with breast size). Their are voices that radiography would be a better option in many cases. However, I participate in the program (as well as the smear test program and the colonal cancer prevention program) on top of monitoring my own body well. I hope your results will come in fine, Kristen!
Small frugals this week:
- baked a remaining egg white in a pan that I had used for bacon
- sewed a button on a shirt
- did laundry on solar power, and managed to line dry it as well
- bought 2 garden plants at 50% off - it is the right season to plant shrubs and perennials
- made beef stew with odds and ends of vegetables (the guys cooked last week when I was feeling unwell and they tend to overlook the vegetable drawer in favour of canned vegetables or ready made salads)
My bike has been repaired and cost less than I expected. I've been for a long bike ride already last Sunday and it was a joy to ride with such ease on the sunny roads.
@JNL, as someone who deals with a breast density issue, the new recommendation is to have an ultrasound along with a mammogram. At least that’s my personal experience where I live.
It’s also VERY helpful to also have your mammograms done in the same place time after time, as they can be more difficult to interpret, and having multiple priors for comparison helps.
@JNL, now is the perfect season for bike riding! I did 10 miles last night, but the rail trail is getting a little covered with leaves, so you have to know it pretty well. Also, my gears are not correct, so I have to sit with You Tube and see how to fix it. We already had it tuned up in the spring.
@JNL, I, too, have the dense breast tissue problem. My hospital routinely calls me back for an ultrasound after performing the regular mammogram, to make sure nothing is amiss. It’s all covered by insurance so I figure it’s pretty normal to do this by now?
@JNL, Yes, every year they send me for a mammogram and every year I end up needing an ultrasound. It has happened so many years now that my doctor just automatically orders both so I won't have to go back. I think they only continue the traditional mammogram for me to compare it to former results and then ultrasound the really dense areas.
@JNL, @Kim from Philadelphia, @ErikaJS,
I have read (or been told) that the newish 3D mammography is a better option if you have dense breast tissue. The hospital where I work offers them, so I started getting the 3D mammograms once our insurance started covering it. I don't have dense breast tissue, but I also understand the 3D mammograms are generally more accurate and pick up on early breast tissue changes sooner. (My mom is a breast cancer survivor of many years, so I am faithful about getting my mammograms).
Obviously, if your doc tells you to get an ultrasound in addition to a mammogram, you need to do what is advised for your particular situation.
@JNL,
Your guys cook??? Mine explore the freezer for containers of chili or soup.
Hang in there, Kristen, the end is in sight.
A frugal habit that I developed years ago is when I have to go grocery shopping to start with the bargain stores (discount grocery outlet and day old bread store) first. I check for items that are on my list and then go to my regular discount grocer. I also watch weekly ads for loss leaders and compare them to the discount grocer that I use. Many times I am saving significant amounts before I even step in the regular store.
Another one is cooking and prepping ahead for the week. The time spent is time saved later and much appreciated when my schedule is hectic. Ready made meals or having items ready to cook quickly really help when I am tired or overscheduled.
Last one is staying hydrated by always carrying a drink with me. I thank myself again and again when I don't have to stop to buy a hot or cold drink. It's already in the car with me. Likewise small snacks for busy days that keep me from splurging on fast food or vending machines.
These aren't new to you or your readers, but just a reminder to myself that I have good basic skills that keep me on budget, on time, and give me peace of mind.
@Sandra, Thanks for sharing that grocery store tip. You are a genius!
@Sandra, we used to have a bread outlet store, but no longer, and I miss it. (My sister and I joked that it was the used bread store — true but also not true, lol.) Whatever bakery does the supply around here simply got a whole lot better at managing returns and/or guessing consumer demand, somehow. Good for them? But unfortunate for me.
@Karen., I had to start calling it the store of misfit foods after my children protested “used.”
@Karen., we no longer have a bread outlet here and I also miss it, but my regular grocery store has a markdown bakery area in the back of the store which I call the dead bread area. 😉
Nothing spectacular to report here:
1. Our community (neighborhood) had their annual fall yard sale. DH and I walked around and didn't see any sales. He had to go to work for a short while and I walked around again and saw a few sales with nothing remotely of interest. I did meet someone that lives about two blocks from our house and we had a lovely chat. It's always good to know more neighbors.
2. A yoga center that is not convenient to our house has my email address. I noticed they were offering a walk on a local trail yesterday and one of the leaders was a teacher that once taught at the studio near my house. I signed up for the free walk and invited three friends I met know the studio. One was able to make it and lives near my driving route so I picked her up on the way. It was a lovely walk and I met a wonderful 80+ year old that was a spit fire. Very small but mighty, a real inspiration.
3. Meals at home. In looking up something in my old planner I saw a note about making pulled chicken and it jogged my memory so I'll add to to my rotation this week. It's quick and easy and great for leftovers and sharing. I just use a pulled pork recipe but use chicken breasts instead.
4. I ordered a couple books for my great niece for her 4th birthday. They were from her wish list and happened to be 30% off with coupons. I also received free shipping.
5. I brought home outdoor folding chairs and a love seat from a neighborhood free pile.
That stinks about your special stethoscope. I hope it reappears!
Finally, a morning when I've time and energy to join in again! A random frugal assortment from the past few weeks:
--A free eggplant (garden sharing) became homemade baba ganoush. I also learned how to roast eggplant in the crock pot, as I needed to cook it while I was sick and didn't trust myself to stay awake for the oven. For the curious, you wrap the eggplant in tinfoil like a baked potato, throw it in the crock pot, and just let it cook away for a few hours. The immersion blender and spices finished out the baba ganoush.
--Speaking of which, shout-out to my crock pot, which kept us fed while I battled the not-Covid-but-not-fun-cold-chills crud that's going around. (I stayed home for a week so as to not share.) I made great progress through both the fridge freezer and our half chest freezer in addition to roasting three garden pie pumpkins for puree.
--I was short two containers for the amount of pumpkin puree made, so we had pumpkin chili (crock pot again!) one night and pumpkin mac and cheese the next. My husband the self-proclaimed "pumpkin slut" was in heaven!
--One local coffee shop has a freebie table, from which I picked up sunflower and morning glory seeds.
--Another local coffee shop has a rack of free clothes. Having scored several excellent shirts, I repaid the favor by bringing in several things that were in great shape but no longer in rotation at home.
--A friend gifted me seeds from her own butterfly garden so that I could start my own.
--The same friend gifted me delicatata squash and bell peppers from her garden. In turn, she had her pick of our basil and jalapenos. The peppers went into a crock pot of tomato soup, and the squash will be roasted as part of tonight's dinner.
--I continue to landscape our backyard with free rocks from Facebook marketplace. I complete another step in the master plan as free materials become available. Bonus: Such necessary patience prevents me from accidentally overdoing it and hurting myself. No doubt we've all been there! 😛
--We were able to take advantage of Chewy's latest "Spend $100, get a $30 gift card" special. When I went to use the $30 gift card, Chewy was running another special for a free sample pack of cat food. I carefully chose one with the most bang for buck (six 3 oz cans) and that I felt our boys would enjoy (salmon anything). It also happened to be one of the most expensive choices! $65 in cat food for $20 after the gift card and the special isn't too shabby.
@N, I use our crockpot every week, either for a side dish or a main. Love it. We even use it to cook corn on the cob in the summer, rather than boil a pot on the stove. Shawarma style chicken and ham and bean soup this week, plus DS#3 uses it to keep taco meat warm! Still nursing my dumb digital display pot along until I feel justified in buying an analog one. Maybe that will be my Christmas present. 😉
@Karen A., have you checked second hand stores or any yard/garage sales? Crock pots are always being donated. I have picked up extra ceramic inserts for most used size to have in addition to regular crock pots.
I did get my BIGGEST (TURKEY) crock pot on early Black Friday sale at Meijer on sale & bonus coupon discount last year(?).
@Karen A., @N, 5-10 years ago my 2nd crockpot croaked, and I happily dumped it. If I had been reading the FG at the time, I would have had more ideas for how to use it and might have replaced it. But for now, I'm happy to have more space in the pantry.
@Karen A., My crock pot is a 1960s model--avocado green, baby!--that has just a dial for Low, Medium, and High. I bought it at Goodwill for $3.99 nearly a decade ago and love it so much that, when a twin turned up at Goodwill, I bought it as a back up for when this one dares to leave me.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, Counter space is why we've happily lived without a microwave for nearly 15 years, through two apartments and now our house. My crock pot, however, has its own dedicated countertop (a small cabinet on wheels--yay, Habitat Restore!) because it's used so often. Our small appliances are limited to the crock pot, an immersion blender (which tucks in a drawer), a stand mixer, and a toaster. I love your vintage toaster, by the way!
@Regina, I would love to hunt one down at a thrift store, but my DH is leery about used cooking pots (and tumblers, etc). I may hold out til there are big sales later. In the meantime I've upgraded the tape holding the plastic shield on the buttons from white first-aid tape to clear packing tape, so at least it looks nicer! 😉
@N, I have never had a microwave because of counter space and my maxim, "The more stuff I own, the more stuff breaks". Your wheeled cabinet sounds perfect. My immersion blender is a keeper, but I use a wooden spoon in a big stainless bowl in lieu of a mixer. The toaster is funny, the way it just keeps going and going and going. . .came with the husband who found it in an antique store.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, our microwave used to hang on the wall. After the 2nd one died, the price of a 3rd one was outrageous. Better half built a shelf and now that is where the microwave resides. I find a microwave over the stove the most ridiculous place to reside. While our current kitchen is not large, it is considerably larger than the prior house. But only the crock pot, toaster, and coffee grinder (not large) merit appliance space. Tis one of the reasons we don't have an air fryer. Insta-pot has never peaked our interest.
@N, I love your avocado green story! Mine is an early 80's cream version with low, high, & auto-shift and beef stew is a family favorite 🙂
I am so sorry to tell you... The stethoscope was probably not taken by accident (ESPECIALLY if the original was as nice as the replacement). When I was a student, we steered clear of brand name stethoscopes for that very reason. To be fair, it was a large academic hospital with hundreds of nursing, medical, EMS and allied students, not to mention permanent staff. I finished my course with a basic stethoscope, and very basic scissors (nonetheless, my third or fourth pair).
I can confirm that my first year as an RN felt like something of a holiday. Not because I didn't work hard, but because the work stopped when I went home!
@CarolineRSA, most likely there is someone at Kristen’s hospital whose “five frugal things” list includes “picked up a free stethoscope at the hospital.”
Hahahaha, that is maybe true!
1- got the bill from my annual gyn/mamo and called the office about a charge on that bill. They tried to charge me for talking to the nurse in the hallway after my appt was over- I realized I forgot to tell them to send a new script for my estrogen. They coded that as an entire visit- Ummm no!
2-husband bought a vehicle/son got one also(with dad as cosignor)- both got a nice discount using dad's work ID. Thankfully husband had to call car insurance for updated ID card and was told to NOT have car put in kids name to keep insurance costs lower with him on our family plan
3- Due to previous item I put us on a spending freeze! Partly to evaluate monthly bill payment schedule... and
4- using up all things frozen as much as possible since my deep freeze needs a good defrost! Saves money for a while and forces a good food/pantry purge!
5- made some delicious banana bread loaves cleaning out the bags of frozen fruit! #organizing
@jes, Number one. OMG!
Kristen, no apologies necessary! School is no joke. It’s alot and overwhelming, even for a strong, disciplined student such as yourself.
My stethoscope rule is do not have it leave your body. Do the around the neck thing instead of putting it in a pocket. Having a brightly colored one helps, as well. You picked a good color!
My error was setting it down as I prepared to into a messy cleanup situation in another room. I didn’t want it dragging in what I was dealing with. But I supposed I should have walked to the locker room to put it away or something!
@Kristen, life happens!not always convenient to get to a locker when you are busy
Especially when a poop-related situation arises!
@Kim from Philadelphia, I agree that distinctive items are less likely to disappear or are easier to find.
I was in a shared room office of six teachers and the pen next to the single phone and paper kept disappearing. My Mom had given me some some rather ugly novelty ones, and I put the french fry shaped pen out by the phone. It was never stolen.
I just bought a whole bunch of stuff on Amazon, but I purposely had a really big shopping cart of things I've been adding to and saving until the sale day started today. So most of it was pretty deeply discounted. Better to spend $200-some on jeans, socks, sheets, etc. than $350-some, right? Right. (I hate continually buying socks for six people. So unsatisfying, but so necessary.)
@kristin@going country, I too resist buying new socks...but the feeling of putting on new socks is so nice!
@Karen A., once I heard a sermon on "old jeans and new socks". The analogy to something Biblical has escaped me, but I still love thinking of the comfort of those 2 items.
I am doing a great job on tracking all my spending. I usually stop after a few days because of not tracking and being confused, but we went away this weekend and I track all the money that was spent. I have a monthly budget, but I don't track outside spending and I want to see how much we spend on extras and why we are short.
Went to our daughter's this past weekend and had a wonderful time. We brought coffee with us and even made breakfast for everyone before we left -- way cheaper than going out!
My husband is without his usual for lunch and there were 2 hard-boiled eggs in the refrig. I just whipped up some egg salad for him to make a sandwich with.
I continue to scrapbook and make cards with paper I already have. And since I have a ton, that is easy to do.
We continue to eat at home and enjoy some coffee in a mug rather than a paper cup. And I will not shop Amazon Prime Days while enjoying said cup of coffee.
Another thing we did this week is swap out our broken Roku player for an older model that was sitting on my desk. I was going to send it to my sister, but she doesn't want it, so it was just sitting there. When the Roku player stopped working on our usual TV, I just swapped it out and it works great. Our TV is a little older, so we need a Roku player to watch our streaming TV channels.
@Maureen, congratulations on tracking your spending well! It will definitely show you where you "spend on extras and why we are short". I was never able to relax about income and outgo until I started tracking every single dollar. It sounds tedious but I enjoy it now and don't feel guilty on splurges, knowing that not only are the bills are covered, but there's usually money left over to add to savings.
I'm sorry about your stethoscope!
I can't think of much for this week, but I managed to break myself of my soda buying habit. Maybe it's because the weather's cooled down but I don't have the need for them anymore (at least not as much!)
Otherwise, I used the library, packed lunch for work and bought some food reduced at the supermarket.
FFT, Belt-Tightening for the JASNA AGM Edition (revised/updated from yesterday's FFT at the NCA):
I leave a week from today for the Jane Austen Society of North America’s Annual General Meeting in Cleveland. As I’ve mentioned previously, this is my first AGM for 8 long, long years, and (in case you can’t tell) I am **really** excited about it. 😀 But in the meantime, I’m economizing ahead of the planned expenses:
(1) Thrift shopping and most grocery shopping are on hold until after I get back.
(2) As part of eating down the fridge, freezer, and pantry, I made what I call one of my “rollover” curries. I have a naughty tendency to eat the protein (chicken, shrimp, whatever) out of a curry before I finish the sauce and veg, so on the second day of this curry, I got the last four filets out of a bag of frozen tilapia and cooked those in the sauce and veg. Nom nom nom.
(3) I’ll be driving solo as far as the next city over to the west, and then carpooling the rest of the way to Cleveland with two friends. It’s always good to be able to split gas, tolls, and hotel parking fees three ways.
(4) JASNA BFF (with whom I’ll be bunking) and I are conferring about bringing food for our room. Since she’s flying from NYC and I’m carpooling, I’ve agreed to bring apples and other weightier nosh.
(5) But I’m not tightening my belt so far as to forget about hurricane relief: I’ve just made a hurricane-designated donation to the AARP Foundation, which will (a) double it and (b) get it to vulnerable seniors. (And now Florida is looking at yet another hurricane. Ai yi yi!!)
@A. Marie,
I hereby order you to have fun at the General Meeting!
Well, I am VERY excited for you about this JASNA meeting. Yay!!!!!
@A. Marie, how often does JASNA meet??
Kristen, I think your 5 frugal things are great. Sometimes being frugal is just not exciting.
Although I have some frugal things to report, I am finishing up my hurricane preparations today. Although I live on the NE Coast, I am under a Hurricane Warning. Hurricane Milton is forecasted to bring high seas, hurricane force winds, storm surge and 12” of rain to my area too.
Please pray and/or send positive thoughts to the people of Florida. As a life-long Floridian, hurricanes are just a way of life, but this one is different. This storm is one of the five strongest on record and will potentially hit two major metropolitan areas with populations of over 6 million people. Fortunately, local and state governments have been working tirelessly to mitigate the loss of life and property. They also have assets staged to aid in rapid recovery.
I wish everyone peace, good health, and prosperity.
@Bee, please be safe, as you said this hurricane is going to be different. And unfortunately the whole state of Florida will feel something from it. Unfortunately it comes on the heels of beginning of clean up & before most insurance claims (those who have flood insurance). My family will get hit head on again. 🙁 Luckily my dad convinced my Aunt to evacuate with him at his house 20 minutes east of Tampa. He said No gas available Monday afternoon at many stations & food was already limited. My cousin is locked in her hospital (Bradenton) for the next 3 days staff will live at hospital in hopes of limiting people on road & staying in harms way for work.
@Regina,
That sounds nervewrecking. I hope people will stay safe, and damage will be limited.
@Bee, Be safe and let us know how you are! Will be praying for all in the path; Milton is scary big.
I am wondering about your part-time job - do you qualify for insurance benefits with that? At my hospital, only PRN employees do not qualify.
Frugal things for me lately:
*saved 30% on my Getaway cabin with a Fall promotion they were having. It was a nice little break for me and will help me get used to vacationing alone.
*Son #2 and I enjoyed a short stroll to the greenbelt and a freebie ice cream, courtesy of the HOA last week
*Briefly considered a professional pedicure, then decided that if I can still see and reach my own toes, I may as well DIY it!
*Instead of going to a movie theater this week as I had planned, I think I will catch up on a couple of shows I want to see on Netflix, which is so much cheaper.
Hooray for those future three 12 hour shifts, which afford you a whole four days OFF! I love this schedule. (:
@Gina from The Cannary Family, great decision on the pedicure. . . maybe that will be needed incentive/inspiration to do whatever stretches are necessary to reach and see one's toes. I will follow your lead on this.
1. I went to the eye doctor last week and my contacts cost quite a bit more than I'm used to (turns out I'm only supposed to wear them for 2 weeks, not a month, which doubled my cost). But since I bought a year's worth, I qualify for a rebate. I picked up my contacts yesterday, hopped online right away when I got home to submit the first part, then put my receipt in the outgoing mail. I should be getting $100 back within a month.
2. My in-laws are here doing lots of helpful things for free. They painted our living room yesterday and are helping with things like window trim today. I'm just feeding and housing them.
3. In light of my higher contact cost, I've worn my glasses 3x in the last week. I much prefer my contacts, but $400/year is a LOT. (Well, $300 after rebate.)
4. At one point yesterday it was just me, my husband, and my oldest kid at home. She really wanted ice cream and I didn't want to spend a bunch of money at the ice cream store, so we used my grocery gift card to let her pick out a tub of ice cream.
5. A friend picked apples at her neighbor's house last week and brought me 3 bags. I've been making apple chips almost nonstop. They are SO GOOD!
@Ruth T, if you have a Sam's club or Costco nearby, you might want to check how their prices compare. I still go to my regular doc, but have my prescription filled at Costco. It is half the price of going through my doc.'s office and my contacts are mailed directly to my home.
I had root canal #6 yesterday. It was... pretty traumatizing. I was never fully numb. So, taking it easy today before we close on the house this week and start to move.
1. I don't remember exactly when we got these, but friends dropped off more free boxes for moving. So far we have only bought the $10 worth of boxes specifically for books.
2. We went to the flea market Sunday, where we found a set of 1961 Children's Classics books (Heidi, Alice in Wonderland, Robin Hood, etc). We got 8 for only $10! See below for the Diderot Effect....
3. I made cheesecake for husband's birthday instead of buying a pre-made cake. We love The Frugal Girl's recipe!
4. More thrifting finds: we got a board game my husband loves but did not own new in package!! The game is Quacks of Quedlinburg.
5. We went to a local historical reenactment festival (kind of like a Ren Faire, but Colonial). We bought our tickets online to save some money instead of buying at the gate, and enjoyed a lot of programming included in the ticket (historic rifle and dancing demonstrations). We brought our reuseable container for the historical root beer and cream soda, so the "refill" was only $1 each instead of $10!! And we didn't buy any wares, just food to enjoy there.
Frugal fail (? or maybe just why I'm frugal, to spend extra on things that I value ) & the Diderot Effect on the Children's books. I later learned the books were originally a set of 10, AND there were two versions of the set, both published in 1961. One seems to be less popular and features more vibrant cloth colors (which is the one I have). The other has paler cloth colors. So, it took some time to hunt down the blue King Arthur book with the pink spine decoration (versus the yellow spine decoration) and the yellow Arabian Nights book (versus the pink book with blue spine decoration). $10 for the Arthur on eBay, and $14 for the Arabian Nights on Etsy. I did ask the seller to split the Arabian Nights from a set of 4, because I already had the other 3, and they kindly obliged ($27 savings)!! Inthe end, I spent almost 2.5x on the last two books than the first eight, but now I have the full matching set!
@Andrea G / Midwest Andrea, you are such a trooper ---6 root canals, my teeth hurt just saying that!
Rethink the frugal fail part of your books. $34 for 10 classic books that most likely are a rare set to find. I think $3.40 a book of classic hard covers is a steal. 😉
@Regina, I appreciate that perspective, thank you!!
@Andrea G / Midwest Andrea, I just had to look up those books - that's pretty cool! I love older children's books.
@Andrea G / Midwest Andrea, six root canals?? That seems like cruel and unusual punishment. I hope you feel better soon.
@Andrea G / Midwest Andrea, remember, BOOKS DON'T COUNT! 😎
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, And the cost per book decreases each time you re-read 🙂
Kristen, I can tell all about Myeloma since I've been dealing with it since 2005. SCT etc. Right now I'm on maintenance, Velcade, which is a subcutaneous shot.
My husband is a MDS survivor, and had an all so I could tell a lot about that too.
I'm sure you're learning all you need at school.
@christina,
He had an ALLO trandsplant in 2019.
Kristen, doesn't your state provide free annual mammograms? Ours does! And I got one the other day. I had to get a diagnostic mammogram bc I felt something hard and rocky in one breast, and also bc I have dense breasts. Turned out I'm OK: the hard "rock" was actually an "oil cyst," a souvenir of last year's car wreck; when the other car slammed into me, some books on the passenger seat went flying and hit me on the side, causing bruises all over my breast and ribs. Anyway, to encourage women to get mammograms, Texas -- which is usually stingy about health care benefits and terrible about women's health issues -- covers them for free. I thought that was the law all over the U.S., but apparently, it isn't.
I think I already listed that as one of my FFTs some weeks ago, so maybe it doesn't count today. Like you, I've been horribly busy and often too busy/tired/stressed to go to the grocery store.
But let me think some more....
This week, I:
-- Used the free football schedule I got from the school district to look up the event for the Friday I subbed at they high school. Yes, it was a home game, so they held a pep rally. Its theme was "pink out". Everyone was supposed to wear pink. So I grabbed some springtime slacks and a blouse in that color and was able to participate in the fun. At no extra cost since I already had the pink clothing. (I fit in nicely, but I was nowhere as flamboyant as those big, strapping high school boys who were wearing pink tutus over their jeans -- LOL!)
--Made coffee at home. When the mini Keurig stopped working (phooey hooey--I only bought it in August), I got out my old coffeemaker and used that.
--Packed lunches from home, or if in a super rush, bought Junior Whoppers (only the small hamburger, not the whole meal) from Burger King for $3.59, much cheaper than Mickey D's and they have tomatoes, lettuce and pickles...you just have to remind them to leave off the ketchup.
--Dried clothes on the clothes racks instead of using the clothes dryer. As always.
--Watched free TV since I have "rabbit ears" (indoor antennas) and receive over-the-air broadcasts; I don't pay for cable, satellite, streaming, etc. And when I heard about a really good talk show segment I missed, I was able to watch it over the internet the next day. (Thank you, Jimmy Kimmel.)
Nope, no free mammos here!
@Fru-gal Lisa, the mini Keurig failure brings to mind 2 things I try to live by:
1. The more stuff I own, the more stuff breaks.
2. No unifunction items in my kitchen (except the popcorn popper and the toaster, both of which are quite old)
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, I agree with your two points.
What kind of popper is it? I still use my 40+ year old air popper. Poppers of the same era with a flat base to put oil on and then pop the corn up into the (clear gold plastic) lid can be used to make pancakes, grilled cheese, or other such items, though I've never had that kind of popcorn maker and never tried it.
@Heidi Louise, mine is an airpopper, Westbend Popperty 2. It was a gift in about 1983: the popcorn measurer is cracked and the lid is a little melted, but it just keeps going. I got rid of the one with oil way back when we were told that fat is The Enemy, so I never tried those other things in it.
I just closed an out of state two month performance gig. Here's my frugal five - Gig Edition.
1. Packing make a head freezer meals in a cooler helped loads to keep me eating food allergy safe and healthy food for much less than if I went out to eat on show days. The show provided food allergy safe lunch. My performance food costs were buying an extra cup of coffee on the show days when the iced coffee I made and drank on the drive in needed a booster 🙂
2. I got two free sewing patterns from a tub backstage that had a Free for the taking sign on it.
3. I got a very nice first aid kit from a health care charity which is much more complete than the kit I cobbled together. Unfortunately I tested it out later that week when I got a minor burn from a camp stove making tea. At least I know the burn cream works!
4. I didn't shop much during the show because I was way too busy performing and I already have a lot of the types of handcrafted things the shops at the show sell. I bought a Christmas stocking stuffer (I usually shop for Christmas presents at these things.) The shop gave me a lagniappe (a free gift) because I had a call security situation the previous day (I'm fine.) Very sweet!
5. I found a free app with ads for performers that has helped me with this year's goal of better tracking and recording of receipts and expenses for tax purposes.
@lazy budget chef, what do you do?? music? acting? cooking on stage? Do tell!
I was gonna ask the same thing!
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, I'm a comedienne and professional improv storyteller (I create stories on the spot based on the audience's suggestions) primarily on the renaissance festival circuit. My stage name is Nissa the Gnome.
Ok, that is seriously cool!
@lazy budget chef,
On historical fairs? That sounds fun, I'll look up your stage name!
@lazy budget chef, What fun! We just had a Renaissance Faire in my town located on the property of a historic Tile Works ceramic museum. I wonder if you performed there. I’ll look it up.
@lazy budget chef, that is truly unique and very impressive! What an adventuresome life you lead.
@lazy budget chef, I nominate you to do a Meet the Reader post!
Well, for my frugal five today, just check last week's frugal five. I'm at it again.
We are - for now - out of the main "cone", the path most likely for the hurricane to travel, but we may receive strong winds, rain and storm surge as part of the tropical storm on the edges of the hurricane. Of course, that would probably make us lose power. I feel so much for those still dealing with the debris and damage of Helene while watching Milton approach. The debris will become deadly missiles. Places that survived the Helene storm surge could be compromised and collapse this time. Some people are literally living in tents on their property. A lot of people have used up their extra cash. Almost the whole southwest portion and many of the central sections of Florida seem to be evacuating, and the roads are packed while gas stations are being drained dry. Which means, if the storm does move my direction, there will be no gas to evacuate with, and no rooms available for hundreds of miles. It's happened that way before. The hurricane is still not expected to directly impact us here, however, so I'm being optimistic, although, heaven knows, I don't wish Milton on anyone else, either. Bee, take care!
I've replaced my defective camp stove with an Alpaca kerosene stove, which I hope I don't have to use this week. I shopped around for the best price and got a Capital One discount on it as well, with free shipping to the store. I also saved some money on my replacement umbrella clothesline by shopping all around; I won't put this one up until Milton passes. Helene broke the umbrella arms on my old clothesline.
Non-hurricane:
I may check Prime days deals to see if there is anything I need there or a Christmas gift I have wanted to buy. I'm not buying things just because they are on sale.
I was able to buy a Christmas gift online using Swagbucks for most of the cost.
I accepted some free hangers from a relative. I needed them.
I went to the dermatologist for a regular 6-month appointment today and had a place biopsied just to be sure. The biopsy will be free as part of my checkup, and it is better to be safe than sorry anyway.
Be safe, everyone!
@JD, when my Aunt was rescued during Helene she was taken to American Legion & VFW. They also provided meals afterwards. not sure if have any in your area. Charge everything now & keep plugged in until (hopefully not) loose power. Be safe & I hope the best for you & your family.
@JD, I'm keeping my fingers crossed (again) for you, Bee, and your families, as well as Regina's family and all other Floridians.
@JD, What a wearying year for you - I surely hope Milton keeps away from you.
@JD, We have a cousin who lives in a town near Tampa, whose wife passed away on Sunday. She fought a valiant battle against kidney disease, a lovely lady.
In view of the coming storm, they need to delay the funeral and she will be "held" at the morgue until all settles down. My goodness, talk about adding insult to injury.
Our thoughts will be with you and everyone in Florida throughout the week.
Kristen, you are doing great! Sorry about your stethoscope. People are too "finders, keepers" in the workplace.
My frugal five: Used register coupons and a store coupon to knock 20% off my grocery shopping trip. Aside from pet food, it was all basic stuff for the pantry and freezer. Did some hand-sewing to tack down the neck facing on a cute thrifted blouse. Used stuff from my shelf of painting supplies to spiff up the finish on the porch furniture. (Purdy brushes and Black & Decker sanding blocks for cheap from Ollie's Outlet for the win!)
Made supper of hamburgers with all the fixings and oven fries for the entire family for the same price as one restaurant burger plate. Had leftover burger patties to chop up for future soup. Took a patio rug that looked like a lost cause and cleaned the daylights out of it. My son helped me hang it on the fence to dry, and it came out looking great.
1. I've been doing my own yard work, cleaning out flower beds. We don't pay for any lawn services since we are still capable to do our own.
2. I was able to use a $5 off $25 coupon that someone left behind at the store.
3. Hubby wanted takeout pizza and I didn't want to spend the $ and also drive there to pick it up. I talked him into having 2 mini pizzas we had in the freezer. Another day he wanted takeout pizza again & instead I made a snacky type dinner & used up 3 things from our freezer.
4. We visited my dad for his birthday and had a wonderful lunch my mom had prepared. We also had dinner at our friends' house & they sent us home with leftovers plus 3 dozen eggs from their chickens.
5. I redeemed Sam's cash and used it towards my order at Sam's Club.
The stethoscope solution reminds me of when I was in college, in a fairly rainy East Coast location. Very few students had cars, so we were constantly walking around in the rain. Unsurprisingly, umbrella theft was rampant because certain students would just grab whatever umbrella was handy instead of taking the time to go back to their dorm rooms for theirs. My solution was to only buy deep pink umbrellas. Some students wouldn't carry a pink umbrella, and some were aware it was more likely to get them called out for snitching someone else's. Never lost one in four years of undergrad...
Hehe, I love your solution!!
@Jenny, pink is also good choice for the once popular iPods and phone cases. If my 32+ year old LL Bean umbrella ever gives up the ghost, I'll make sure the next one is pink. I have a pink baseball bat lol..
I'm sorry about your stethoscope. That is sad...and nervy of them.
We are eating almost exclusively out of the freezer to prepare for moving so I'm spending little on groceries except fresh veggies/fruits/etc
I am buying zero holiday decor. I went through all the storage containers in the attic and pared them down (new house is smaller, though more attic space...but less decor needed). Down to one rubbermaid storage tote for Halloween/Thanksgiving and 3 for Christmas.
My doctor switched one of my medicines and it is less than $1/month compared to the $9/month I was paying. Not winning the lotter, but better in my pocket than theirs...and the new med works better.
I'm pretty much not shopping at all between now and the move so staying out of thrift stores or antique stores is always frugal for me. I have dropped multiple boxes off at the thrift store, but haven't gone in!
Sourced boxes and paper for the move from people on FB marketplace for free or from the neighborhood liquor store (they have the best boxes for canning jars/vases/etc). We're only moving a couple miles down the road so most small items will be put in my car and just drove over without packing them up, but things not used every day are being packed up.
Made a list of any small repairs this house needs before it goes on the market and we have been knocking them out ourselves one by one (caulking any gaps, touching up outside and inside paint, adjusting the shower door to close without so much effort, etc).
@Marlena, wait, didn't you just move? Or am I mixing you up with someone else? If I lived close, I'd be bringing you boxes.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, I moved about20 months ago to be near my kids. We found out that we aren't neighborhood people (we hadn't lived in one for years...there was a reason haha). We have been looking for about a year and found a place with a couple acres just a couple miles from where we are now.
So, yes, I did must move, but this will be a better move. We've met all the neighbors and they're lovely...probably cause we have a couple acres between us helps ha!
Good for you Kristen, keeping up with frugal efforts! I also, sadly, lost my stethoscope. Someone is walking around my old city with a stethoscope that clearly has my full name on it. I didn't get my replacement monogrammed.
Anyway, my five:
1. PRAISE BE I'm working from home for 3 months. It is so much easier to meal-prep when I can throw dinner together on my breaks. Also, no temptation to buy caffeinated drinks 🙂
2. I prefer to organize myself with paper notebooks, but I rely on my phone when I'm working in the hospital. Now that I'm back home, I dug out an old, partially used notebook to use.
3. We needed to get rid of a bookshelf because of some major repairs happening in our condo (which we rent.) We packed up the books, stored them at my parents' house (thank you, parents) and disassembled the bookshelf before storing the pieces under the couch. It's an old, cheap shelf, but we decided against tossing it.
4. No sewing this week because I had covid (recovering nicely) but I also didn't buy any fabric, even though there was a good sale.
5. Sigh. I signed myself up for more extra shifts to build our downpayment fund. Yesterday, I heard that two people my age just bought houses. Sometimes, it's discouraging. I remind myself that Mr. B and I are making different choices that will pay off very nicely when we're in our 40s and 50s.
Not a lot of super frugal things..
1. DH discovered the water softener had suddenly decided to go on strike. He thought to do a little research as to how hard, exactly, the water is in our area...turns out they have just started softening all the water for our county! The project just finished in September. If that isn't timing I don't know what is. We'll still tell the landlord that it's not working, but also that the water is now 8 grains as opposed to 27, so hopefully they'll be fine with that. We'll save about 200 a year on water softener salt!
2. Getting my money's worth for my college class by turning in things ahead of time and getting A's. (not-so-humble brag)
3. Biking to the library and the post office, and I discovered two little free pantries near both so I am taking what food I can carry in my backpack along with my books to those.
4. Clark is proving to be a frugal cat, choosing to play with the seal-rings off water jugs and unmatched shoelaces rather than those snooty storebought mice. He will also take an ice cube as a treat. (Both toy and treat, as he baps it around like a hockey puck before licking it!) He is still enjoying occasional, very-DH-supervised walks outside, and loves to eat grass.
5. Rather than purchase a fancy cat grass kit, we though to try to just bring some grass indoors. DH dug out a patch from a hidden part of the yard and we put it in a cut-down reused water jug. Clark is so far bemused and delighted. (For those worried about chemicals--nobody around us uses lawn treatments, and we don't either.)
Probably a good chance your stethoscope walked away with a Dr. They are notorious for never having their own when they round at my hospital. I ended up buying one that was mint green for this reason. Easy to spot when someone has picked it up and is walking away and my kids got me an engraved lego when I graduated that hangs on it so that helps. Hopefully yours will turn up soon though.
That was my best guess too.
Do I sneak a peek at every doctor's stethoscope now when I'm at the hospital, trying to see if it's mine? WHY YES I DO.
@Kristen,
I do hope you will run into them again!
@Kristen, I'm having fun imagining what you'd say if you saw it around the neck of a male doctor: "Oh, is YOUR name Kristen too??"
Precisely. He better give it back to me.
@Kristen,
I am imagining a meet-cute where a very dashing looking single doctor falls all over himself apologizing for stealing your stethoscope and then feels the need to prove to you that he's not a horrible person. Sounds like a Hallmark holiday movie or something...
Haha, well, if it happens, I promise I will tell you guys. 😉
I'm glad you made it to your concert, Kristen!
1. Made a party dish with items already in my pantry or growing in my garden, as I had missed the window to go to the store (due to our other frugal choice of sharing one car, which was gone a lot this weekend). I made a lemon basil pasta salad with basil growing in the yard, using up the juice from some lemon halves sitting in the fridge and end bits of parmesan grated in.
2. Since I had no car the day of the party, carpooled with a friend who was also going.
3. Also carpooled with another friend to an estate sale I knew she would like and had shared the information with her, but refrained from buying anything I didn't really need apart from a Pyrex measuring pitcher. My friend found a large garden storage box that I helped lug to her car.
4. Helped my sons sell some clothes in an online yard sale, in which they got some money back for items that they had bought that didn't fit.
5. Made sure to use up my $10 dollars in extra bucks at CVS before it expired, and at a reminder of Kristen's, checked my Safeway app for reward points and cashed in on $10 dollars as well 🙂
5. Cont. Also remembered to cash in on $15 worth of gift cards from Ikea that we got in last year's Christmas calendars. Took my son to the airport and swung by Ikea on my way home.
Hated to hear the news about your stethoscope. Fingers crossed that it shows up.
We hosted friends for happy hour to celebrate selling a house, buying a house, big birthday for DH, and another trip around the sun for me. While not exactly frugal, was much cheaper than 15 people going out for a celebration.
1) I made a charcuterie board for happy hour using cheese and crackers bought on sale or at Aldi.
2) Used regular paper plates for happy hour that were in the pantry instead of buying "party plates"
3) Used glassware instead of plastic cups for happy hour
4) We ate leftover meat, cheese and crackers for dinner on Sunday
5) Guests were very kind and brought housewarming gifts to happy hour. We're stocked on scented candles for the next year.
NOT frugal, DH picked up petit fours from my favorite local bakery for happy hour as part of my birthday gift.
Nothing at all feels frugal here. I hired two strong guys via Taskrabbit to move furniture up and down stairs and finally put our piano in the right spot. I threw out my old mattress and bedframe and bought new, but they're pretty cheap since I prefer memory foam to anything else.
I've also been decluttering and downsizing; some things I tossed and some I gave away at the curb, including some bookcases, a large sheet of plywood, etc. Other things I will pop on eBay. I sold a couple of paintings but then bought a new one (sigh, but I love it).
The puppies continue to run around, rip and destroy things, sigh. Jasper, the younger one, did not piddle in God's house on Sunday's Blessing of the Animals, but he barked through most of the service until I couldn't take it any more and we left. Rescue Pup, the other dog we took, behaved impeccably, although Jasper as the overenthusiastic beagle puppy got all the attention.
I continue not to buy new clothes, although there is a gap between "lovely evening dresses" and "scrappy junk for around the house" I need to fill.
I sent a good donation to hurricane relief. This is giving me flashbacks to Katrina, where I didn't hear from BFF for days and days and I was so terribly worried. In fact, she managed to call me eventually, but she herself was then traumatized by Katrina wrecking her house and most of her belongings.
@Rose, Oh, plus I was surprised by a $450 vet bill for giving the two older dogs baths. ACCCCCK! My son dropped them off; they told him the coonhound needed a vaccine. Fine, he said. Well, to give a vaccine, the vet has to examine her. That was $150. They noticed the beagle was coughing, so he was examined and given antibiotics. He gets a Benadryl with dinner every night for his allergies. His chart should have noticed he has seasonal allergies. Another $150.
Yes, I can bathe them at home, but the coonhound loses her shit when I try to clip her nails, and the beagle always has terrible anal glands, so....easier to drop them off. Oy. They agreed to refund the beagle's exam as it was unncessary. Maybe I'll try to be a big girl to save money and do his glands next time.
@Rose, Jasper is the prettiest beagle I've ever seen, so he must get lots of attention everywhere he goes. His barking was probably just shouting for his adoring audience to come pet him. 😀
@Rose,
I would pay so much money to NEVER have to think about an animal's anal glands...let alone deal with them...
@Becca, I am frugal to the max and regularly paid the vet to deal with that issue for our sweet longhaired dachshund. Her little body was just not put together correctly, to the point that we used to wonder if she was a chimera. Our vet was always fascinated by her dental deformities and not so much with the troubles with her rear end. She was the sweetest little soul, though.
Planning meals is always my #1 frugal activity.I don’t like the food in restaurants or take out,anyway! But planning means I spend less on the grocery and use more from my pantry and freezer.
Am hosting my Canasta group today, 4 of us, I provide lunch,used up all pantry and freezer items to make a pot of black bean pumpkin chili and cornbreas.
Went out in my back yard and cut some basil for the flower vases, did not buy flowers this week!
I am STAYING OUT of thrift stores and consignment stores! Because WHEN YOU DON’T NEED ANYTHING, even thrifting is a “hobby” not a necessity!!!!!
Coffee at home,always!
Prayer and meditation to start the day: Health and spiritual benefits, and FREE!
AND I HOPE SOMEONE DOES THE RIGHT THING and gets your stethoscope back to you! Post an index card in the hospital, on a bulletin board?????
@Madeline, exacatacally on thrifting is a hobby WHEN YOU DON'T NEED ANYTHING! Thank you for the reminder.
1. My family and I got our COVID and flu vaccines, which were all free through my insurance
2. We took the kids to a hayride that they love. The price of the tickets increases by $5 each at 7:00 PM, so we saved the $5/ticket and rode at 6:50 PM instead.
3. I used some leftover potatoes, along with eggs, to make my lunches for the week.
4. I took my cat to the vet for a physical and vaccinations. Although there is a price to veterinary care, prevention is always the most frugal option.
5. My son dragged a bunch of sticks/limbs from our neighbors' curbs to our backyard. We had a fire in our fire pit with them.
Enjoy those symphonies, it's a release for all your hard work. I giggled just a little reading changed in the van. Sometimes that's the price we have to pay when time is crunched. 🙂
I participate in a program that is for unisured/underinsured that women can get FREE Mammograms & FREE yearly Pap smear test at any doctor/hospital. A few years ago (while also going through my unexpected divorce) my first 3D scan showed lump. Did another 3D scan & then 3rd 3D scan & placement marker all in less than 3 months. All were paid for by this program. IF YOU FIND OUT CANCER THEN THEY DO NOT COVER TREATMENT but do help to find resources/programs. I share this program information with any woman that qualifies or people that work in fields that share with women who will qualify.
Frugal things---
● met a gas challenge & got increased automatic savings for next 6 months from $0.05 to $0.10
● plus my TMOBILE rewards savings $0.15 each week (up to 20 gallons) which helps with teen driving also
● used $10 off $50 Ace coupon & $5 off Rewards to get another metal trellis (only 12 left in warehouse to order online since seasonal)
● Domino's had 50% off any pizza last week & teen & I each got pizza
● I got XL BBQ Chicken to have leftovers for 3 days
● in 30s overnight (& dropping each night) so I looked through garage to find gas line antifreeze for both vehicles that I had purchased BOGO 1/2 OFF
● closing up everything before sun goes down to keep warmth in house & not turn on furnace yet. House was 64 this morning. Luckily 60s during daytime until next week when expected mid-low 50s. 🙁
● teen took 2 more loads of leaves (from back yard) to compost & picked up (random) big landscaping rocks. (Less) Front yard leaves are just going to curb as FREE CITY leaf pick up starts next week.
frugal fail---
● Next (& last) round of Early Voting coming up & I am only scheduled 4 shifts out of 12.
@Kristen, good job on using your established frugal habits during a time when it would be easy to spend for comfort or convenience!
1. I was very frugal in a gaspingly expensive situation last week—it was a 7-day painting retreat that cost an enormous sum in a very swanky part of California. All I spent (after the initial sum plus gas for Fernando) was $9 for entering a state park, $30 to my roommate for gas, $10 tip for the room maid, and then I hit Trader Joe's on the way home (because there isn't and will never be one where I live).
2. At home I started rooting several basil clippings from existing plants.
3. And the library, always the library.
4. Oh yeah, I took a sweater that I knit to the retreat and the sleeves kept growing, so last night I hit the frog pond (rip-it rip-it rip-it) and will rebuild those saggy bad boys.
5. AND, my neighbor put a little table by his trash can, which will be most totally excellent when I paint it to go with some of the Adirondack chairs in the yard!
Not too shabby a summary of a fancy-pants-rich-people week!
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, thank you, I just learned something new - hitting the frog pond. My sister-in-law, who crochets, told me that ripping out knitting is "tinking". Knit backwards is tink!
@Book Club Elaine, when I just pull the yarn, it is "hitting the frog pond". When I carefully unknit one stitch at a time, it is "tinking". Doncha just love that word? 😎
I have one of those anemia conditions, and it is decidedly no fun! Was just doing more research on options today.
1) Sold old jewelry & made way more than I was expecting. That's good, as it will help offset some of the cost of DS17's orthodontia.
2) Sold DS18's old bike & made $300.
3) Brought leftovers home from date night, and had that for 2 lunches.
4) Bought a bag of spinach & ate all of it with no waste! This is so impressive for me, as I find spinach always goes bad before I can eat it.
5) We've been working on eating lots from the garden (tomatoes, basil, peppers & our pomegranates are finally ripening. Yay!) We've also done well at eating things from the freezer, I've made DS17 & friends quick meal options between sports, etc.
@Hawaii Planner, where did you end up with the good deals on your jewelry (e.g. physical store, online)? My mom has some she wants to part with but is stuck trying to decide where her best bet might be.
Let me know if you’re interested in putting your heme/onc skills and knowledge to use in Baltimore - I’m a hematologist at University of Maryland and we’re always looking for good nurses.
I had friends over for Rosh Hashanah dinner last week and bought and made way too much food (joyful but not frugal). The thrifty part is that we’ve now had leftovers for multiple meals, including a pot of soup made from extra broccoli.
I’ve been skipping buying an afternoon coffee at work, mostly because I’m trying to decrease my caffeine dependence but it’s also nice to save a couple dollars and a disposable cup. And I’ve been packing lunch consistently.
I bought some work clothes for myself and school clothes for the kids - we probably could have made do with less but at least everything was on sale.
I took advantage of great weather and walked to work yesterday. (Also, living a mile and a half from work is a pretty frugal decision even when I drive, in terms of gas consumption and wear and tear on my car.)
Ohhh, so you truly are an expert on what I've been studying right now!
I live as close to school as you do to work and I do really appreciate the proximity. So handy.
Just one this week but it’s a doozy: I couldn’t pay my gas bill.
Not “I couldn’t afford to pay” but “The gas company wouldn’t take my money.”
Turns out that the company never switched the bill to my name when I moved last year. I’ve been paying a dummy account for 14 months. It worked, the gas flowed, I didn’t notice. But there was some weirdness in the past couple of months and as a result, the gas company and I noticed the dummy account and we changed it over to my name. Somehow, this meant the $128 owed literally disappeared from the system. I couldn’t find it online to pay it, the automated phone system couldn’t find it, and live customer service isn’t authorized to accept payment.
Haha, well, that worked out VERY nicely for you!
1. I cashed in rewards for 2 free iced teas for me and my husband.
2. I bought pajama pants for me and my girls. Then I happened to go back to the site over the weekend and saw that there was a sale and I saved way more so I repurchased them. The store is nearby so I'll just go and return the first order.
3. Sold a few more items on OfferUp (a costume and an office chair)
4. Turned in another expense for reimbursement to my Dependent Care Reimbursement account through my employer.
5. Can't think of a good one so I'll resort to my usual - saved money by doing things I wanted someone else to do by doing them myself: painted my nails, cleaned my house, cooked our food, bathed the dog,
So sorry about your stethoscope! In those cases I try to say a prayer that whoever “found” it really needs it, and maybe they be blessed by it. I try to turn it around in my head, I choose to see it not as a theft but an inadvertent gift and a blessing. Doesn’t always work but it’s about my attitude and that’s all I can control! I hope you find it though!
Does staying within a budget count as frugal? I just want to keep it real. I have spent a bunch on some bucket list items. I know if I needed to do so I could cut my spending way down. I guess that is why I am posting here to remind myself that paying for less on big ticket items is still good stewardship.
1. I changed my 10 days Carolina Shores trip to 5 days in New York city. The weather was mostly my concern in that I am traveling/driving alone. The itinerary change means no additional output in money. It is using up vouchers that have an expiration and credit cards reward points. I am super excited.
2. I am spending time hunting down a $67.00 refund Big 5 owes me. So irritating but I will not be defeated. It is time or money in this retirement phase.
3. I lowered some jewelry prices on REAL REAL to move it. I will not use this service again just because it is so much slower than EBAY/ Poshmark. There is really no reason to return because I will have no more fancy jewelry to sell. Making an "engagement ring of my dreams" has been a huge lesson in ego deflation and humility. I want to move on. If it is not sold in a week, I will melt it down. Yep. Keeping it real.
4. I had to do a last minute trip on the hunt for 9 ceiling fans in the Riverhouse. I thought I would stop to get something to eat. I just stopped at my house instead. DUH!
5. I am researching a way to get a cheaper Sam's Club renewal.
@Mary Ann,
Let me know if you find the Sam's Club renewal cheaper. They always offer great incentives for new club members, but have nothing for existing members ;(
@Gina,
Couldn't find anything. Drat! It is very much worth the $50 though for the chicken and the fresh fruit. I also have found some great deals on car rental
1. I sold an item on Ebay, packaged it in an envelop I already had, and sent it promptly.
2. I used some pot roast and spaghetti sauce from the freezer. At this point I think I've eaten down most of the random stuff. I can see that the next step is to make a bunch of turkey broth to get turkey carcasses out of the way. But, its still a bit warm during the day for that process; maybe Thursday. I've worked through two of three freezers so the turkey is really only blocking the last one; its just not worth the effort to pull it all out just to shove it back in even if then I can see what's behind it.
3. I ate a frozen egg patty for breakfast; I think there's one more to go. Again, easy as long as I remember it.
4. I cut the last of the cucumbers and green/wax beans from the garden. It is getting cold enough at night that the plants are dying.
5. I dug out some markers that haven't been used in at least 15 years for my kids who needed to make posters (which hasn't been done in this house in a similar length of time). Happily discovered that they worked. Also happily discovered that we already had some poster board of a similar age for them to use, and one of those foam core tri-fold things which I know a different kid will need this coming spring. One less thing to buy.
I can't think of much that I've done this past week. I had a cold, so I didn't do much, but I also didn't buy much. So 3 frugal things:
1. I used chicken soup, medicine, and handkerchiefs that I already had. I didn't buy anything special to treat my cold.
2. I ordered some basic groceries through a credit card offer that should give me 10% cash back. I also used $8 in loyalty rewards to reduce the total.
3. I refreshed my Ebay listings and lowered some of the prices. I made a sale and earned $6.28 after the fees and shipping. It's not much, but at least it's something.
As October is our busy AF month and celebration month I haven't been super frugal.
But we are doing some things, I guess.
1. Avoiding shopping when I don't need anything. We have a nicely stocked pantry and freezer so we are set for a good long while now.
2. Getting ready to list a few more items on eBay. Also getting ready to donate more stuff.
3. Line drying still!
4. Just doing without for the most part.
5. Avoiding Amazon's non-sale. There's nothing I want, less that I need and I am good just having nothing new. I'm actually even avoiding thrifting at the moment because I have enough.
@Battra92, what does "AF month" mean?
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, it means "as f-ck".
I hear you on the stethoscope! I lost 2 my first year. After loosing my 2nd, I found it on an ER doc and she sheepishly gave it back as she had borrowed it and liked it better than her own. It was bright coral. Crossing my fingers that you get yours back, too.
We have a large tree farm and a local boy scout troop use it to do private camp outs. They found 3 stihl chainsaws in the woods. My deceased brother had a habit of 'stashing' them when he was working...why stop to sharpen a chain? 2 of them started right up (miracle, he died 3 years ago). All 3 had moss growing on them. I gave one to my favorite cousin and then I gave him a matching one that had been destroyed by a cat (equipment, not meow) for parts.
Potted up over 100 geraniums to winter over in the greenhouse.
Picked up 5 free food buckets at a local deli. I use these to store grains in the larder.
Today I am volunteering to help with fall clean up for 10 homes, 3 are veterans, 4 adult foster homes and 3 elderly.
Oh for heaven's sake. As if an ER doctor has less money for a stethoscope than a nurse does!! SHEESH.
@Kristen, yes, that was really disgusting what that doctor did. What if someone took her car because they liked it better?
you are doing so well. it stinks that someone stole your stethoscope. i hope you get it back. you are doing great with your posts. frankly when you said you were going to nursing school i was afraid the posts would stop. you are a blessing to so many here. perhaps when you are done with the first round of nursing school we could have a celebration
where a person without a car can get to easily.
@Anita Isaac, do you have a location suggestion? We had a wonderful time at the FG meetup this past summer, and I'd be game to do something similar in celebration of Kristen finishing nursing school!
@PD, i was so upset that i had to miss it. have no car. there was only a tiny mention of the meetup. would of love to hear more detes.
Doing well in nursing school is a very frugal move. 😉
I keep reminding myself of that! Not failing classes = very frugal.
Have you considered putting an Air Tag on your stethoscope?
Hmm, I never have! I don't own any air tags. I wonder if they are hard to attach to a stethoscope.
@Angie, what's an Air Tag?
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, https://www.apple.com/airtag/
I deposited a $17.28 check I received from a class action settlement (not sure for what, maybe an insurance-related something or other). I was going to deposit it using my phone app but the back of the check said "identification required" so I stopped at the bank on my way somewhere else and apologized to the teller for taking up his time with something so trivial and handed over my driver's license to prove it was, indeed, my $17.28. But there weren't any other customers at the moment and he was happy for the company and we actually had a fun and longish chat about class action claims and what not.
And CVS sent me another email telling me I "saved" $53.79 in September! and I "saved" $366 this year! and I'm in the "top 2% of savers in all of New Mexico!" and managed to convince me I'm going into CVS way, way too many times.... Probably not the reaction they were going for.
Haha you have become SUCH a CVS convert.
@Kristen, I think it was @Battra92 who theorized CVS's estimation of "savings" was based on their inflated original "asking" prices for the things they sell. So I take it with a grain of (generic) salt.
I'm so glad you were diligent about getting your mammogram.
From a recent breast cancer patient (in remission,yay?)
@Kathy M, Congratulations on being in remission! I pray that you never have a recurrence. I'm a 13 year survivor.
Sold some old kids’ toys on eBay.
Mended a hot pad.
Score a bunch of free tomatillos and jalapeños from my sister in law and made salsa with them. Yum!
Used up a bunch of tomatoes from my own garden by making chili.
Made pancakes with a bunch of sourdough discard. Scored a ton of marked down strawberries at the store that needed to be used right away so I made strawberry syrup to go with the pancakes.
I may have said this before, but if your symphony does rehearsal concerts, they are great! Everyone is dressed casually, the conductor sometimes stops to give notes, but the soloist is there and gives a full performance. They cost a fraction of the regular prices, and they are on Saturday afternoons. It's fun to "watch the sausage be made" and the musical experience is stunning.
Praying you find your stethoscope!
My Frugal 5’s
1) Received a box of garden veggies (tomatoes, celery & zucchini, etc.) from my kind friend again. Been cooking new recipes and eating healthier from home.
2) Made returns fromWalmart and Amazon. Returned OTC med that we didn’t need and was an extra. Will be returning a bottle of new unused bleach and binders too. Will return a few items at UPS from Amazon that I found cheaper later from there and reordered at the better price.
3) Brought a 2 inch durable binder for $3, half off its original price. It’ll replace my other binder that’s overflowing with papers.
4) Brought discounted water filters we needed and a few extra gifts off Amazon to cover my girls future Christmas and birthday gifts. These should last till the end of next year.
5) Discounted or free birthday gifts. Gifted my girl a $5 ukelele from Five Below and free ukelele lessons from the library.
Borrowed books and DVDs for her birthday months according to her interests.
Will also give her an experience gift to the pumpkin patch with her sisters (half off admission on Thursdays) and free bundtlets for her and her sisters through their reading program.
Her other experience gift will be 1 on 1 time with me. We’ll be playing pickle ball and table tennis at the local tennis arena for free through my gift certificate I received from my library’s reading program 2 years ago.
I am also in a phase of life where I am doing the bare minimum in some areas. 🙂
1. We made our meals at home. We brewed coffee at home. We ate up food that needed to be eaten.
2. I took the younger kids to a secondhand store to pick out winter coats. No snow pants are needed yet for them. There are hand-me-downs aplenty in the right sizes. Hats and gloves are also plentiful. The oldest needs new coat and snow pants, but I'm waiting to see if he'll get anything from his cousin.
3. We enjoyed free entertainment.
4. I went through a closet and found some items to sell.
5. The older kids checked their closets for concert clothes. Everyone is good for now and the oldest has a new, bigger band shirt. I'm deciding if it's worth trying to sell the old one or if we'll donate it to the school for a kid who couldn't afford one.
1. A friend sold me some severely discounted amber bottles (32oz, 4oz and 2oz which have droppers). I am learning to make herbal tinctures & oxymels.
2. Another friend gifted me a bunch of baby toys & a high chair for when I start babysitting in our home more regularly.
3. My iPhone XR was on last legs so I swapped my phone # to my mom’s old phone (iPhone 13). It took 2 hours with customer service in chat, and on the phone but it is squared away.
4. I found a changing table & pad topper for $20 total which I feel is a pretty good deal. These knees get sore when I try to change diapers on the floor!
5. I picked up a gift for my sister in law at goodwill (brand new item) for a fraction of the price!
Only the basics pretty much this week:
1) Trying to eat down the freezer. I have no idea how many packages I have of cut up bananas in there. Made some shrimp scampi with a package of shrimp that was starting to look freezer-burned, but they had shells still on, so not too bad.
2) Was gifted 18 eggs from a BN member whose chicks are producing like crazy!
3) Got a bag of pants from another BN member; kept 2 corduroy ones that fit, and re-gifted the others that didn't. I just need to hem them up (I'm 5'1"), and I marked them today.
4) Still driving 6 miles to the Circle K that is always 15-20 cents cheaper per gallon than any of the more local stations, plus have their loyalty card for another 3 cents off, and always use my Upside app to get some back.
5) Finally got over 60,000 points with Fetch, and cashed some in for a $50 virtual gift card for Amazon. Will be using this for Christmas gifts, because I avoid Prime Days. I am too gullible!
Non-Frugal Decision
I think I've said before that I pay the team who mows and weed-eats my grass every week in cash. I withdraw the money in advance from the bank, and what doesn't get used due to drought or torrential rains gets saved for bigger projects.
I had plans for the amount saved so far, just needed to see which was more important--the non-functioning-since-January dishwasher, the stove whose burners are super-heating on low, the awning we need over the back porch by winter, or the chicken fat injections I need in both knees.
But then Helene came, and I lived and worked in Henderson County in Western North Carolina for 13 years before moving her to VA and I know those places and still have friends there. So I took October's $225 allotment and spent it all on items needed in WNC. I can do without those plans awhile longer; I still have a house.
I have been wondering about the Treasure House. I assume it is all done. Can you give us some before and after pictures?
This week was actually kind of frugal...
After working for 2 months on a medical test bill that wasn't billed to my insurance carrier is resolved. They sent me a final notice to pay $0.00.
Traded puzzles with a coworker.
I stuck to my very short grocery list and made a second list of freezer items I need to use up.
I used up the rest of my FSA $.
Free lunch at work, yes please.
- I have decided to do a ''no new clothes and jewelry year''. If I do need/want something in the next year (apart from socks and underwear) I will get it thrifted.
- Cancelled a massage on saturday. I just don't feel like it. Saving me 35$ (massage school). Also cancelled an outing with hubby, saving us at least 75$. I can find cheaper activities for us to do together.
- Online shopping for Christmas gifts. Makes it less tempting to spend impulsively. And on that note, my Christmas shopping is already DONE! yay! (I don't like shopping)
- Using whatever products I have at home and not buying more until I`m done with them. I get a lot of free products on Buy Nothing like hair gel, creams, shampoo, hair conditioner, and I have zero problem using those different products. I don't have sensitive skin or particular needs. I don't buy into the marketing ''because you're worth it''...... I don't buy into the idea that I ''need'' a special face cream, body cream, eye cream, etc. A cream is a cream. And I don't ''need'' it. I would like at some point to get down to having only one shampoo, one bar of soap, one deodorant, one cream, and that's it. Simplicity.
- I realize that the older I get, the less I seem to need or want. I am content with my life, my situation, my finances, my current hobbies (reading, mostly), my sporadic social activities (introvert), etc. I'm just content, as a whole. This feel really.... peaceful?
Several weeks' worth on my list!
1. I soaked my moldy and mildewed shower curtain in OxyClean then ran it through the washing machine. I didn’t expect much but it looks completely new! Next time I won’t wait so long.
2. As I’ve mentioned over the last two FFTs, I have received an abundance of free veggies. I’ve been working to eat and/or process them. This week I’ve made some tomato sauce, and also a veggie soup that used some eggplant, celery, and potatoes. I also chopped and froze the last bits of the swiss chard that hadn’t gotten slimy. The slimy bits went into the compost…oops. Free food is only frugal if it isn’t wasted!
3. Thanks to a commenter on NCA, I once again ordered 4 free Covid tests from the government. We’ve occasionally used them (in fact I used one last week and another one this week for new cold symptoms) and I am grateful to have never paid for one.
4. I’m grateful to be tagging along with DH to a conference in Colorado. Lovely fall weather and sunshine and high mountain altitude thin air! The buffet meals are horrifically expensive but this morning I went during a mad rush of school age kids and the staff just waved me through, so I saved $15.
5. Someone didn’t show up for their shift at the cafe, so reception put out a plate of free pastries and a vat of coffee. Since the coffee is really terrible, I was happy to not pay for it that particular time.
6. While we were in CO, my sweet mother made baba ganoush from the excess eggplant and also mended some toddler clothes with the sewing machine. I need a tutorial for the sewing machine eventually…
After having my expensive student nurse stethoscope stolen shortly after purchase, I bought a cheap one and everyone leaves it alone. Been using it 20 plus years now. If I need a fancy one, which is rare, I borrow one like all the doctors do. Ha.
1. I stopped back to the CVS in Target to claim my $5 off $20 purchase coupon for getting my flu shot (they were out of the coupons when I got the shot).
2. I then used four $2 off $2+ purchase coupons, and two $5 off $20+ purchase (mine & husband's) at Target to buy groceries. Yes, they'll tell you that you can only use one coupon, but they neglect to tell you that it one coupon PER TRANSACTION. So I patiently rang 6 different transactions through self-checkout at a slow time of day and paid what it would've cost me at Aldi 🙂
3. Picked up an unopened box of tea on the "free take it" table at work.
4. Mornings are in the 40s! 🙂 It's time for homemade pumpkin spice lattes.
per mug: (microwave or stovetop--either is fine, & this can absolutely be doubled, etc)
mix & warm: 1T pumpkin puree, 1/2t pumpkin spice (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves), 1t sugar
mix in 1/2 mug of milk & warm
mix in 1/2 mug of coffee & warm
stir in 1/2t vanilla
Enjoy 🙂
5. got the furnace it's fall tune-up/cleaning to hopefully prevent breakdowns this winter, and we have a service plan to greatly lessen any repairs/parts/labor.