Five Frugal Things | Unlimited Sipping
1. I got two free months of Panera's Unlimited Sip club
I noticed that they had sent me a limited-time offer in the app, and I took advantage of it!
For two months, I can get any hot or cold coffee or tea, plus fountain drinks for free.
(After that, it's $10.99/month, and I will likely cancel.)
Sometimes I like to go study somewhere other than my house, and this means I won't even need to buy a drink when I go do that for the next two months.
2. I made a batch of chicken broth
I had two sets of rotisserie chicken bones, so I used them to make a pot of chicken broth.
(Here's how I make my chicken broth.)
Not only is this super cheap (you get broth out of something you'd have thrown away), but I really do think homemade broth makes recipes taste better.
For instance, I think my Swedish meatball sauce is way better with homemade broth.
3. I opted for no blow dry when I got my hair cut
I think it has probably been about 6 months to a year since I got a haircut, and I was noticing that the ends were getting rather uneven-looking!
So, I booked a haircut and chose just the basic wash and cut. I don't usually like the way other people blow-dry and style my hair anyway, so there is literally no point in me paying for that part of the service.
Better to just drive home with a head of wet hair and then do it myself. 😉
4. I called about a $600 medical bill
I got a bill that seemed abnormally high so I checked the insurance website and didn't see it listed in the Explanation of Benefits column.
Hmm.
Soo, I called and apparently they had not run this one through the insurance at all!
That explains why I didn't see it listed in the EOBs.
I gave them the insurance info, they'll run it through, and then the bill should mostly disappear.
I've said it once and I will say it again (and again and again): always regard your medical bills with an air of skepticism.
If something seems wrong, it probably is! And it will almost always be wrong in a direction that does not favor you.
5. I used some slightly-old milk to make egg bread
In case you didn't know: when milk gets slightly sour, it's not delicious for drinking or eating with cold cereal, but it does work fine for things like baking bread or making chocolate pudding.
(Here's the chocolate pudding recipe I use.)
So, when I found myself with a neglected end-of-the-milk-gallon this week, I made a couple of loaves of egg bread, and then I froze the rest of the milk to use in some future baking.
And in case you're worried...it's not just me that thinks slightly sour milk is safe to cook/bake with. Here's a Heathline article about it. And another from NPR.
1. I got a price adjustment on a skirt I ordered online. The $ amount was worth the few minutes to make a call.
2. As the temps drop lower and lower I have been cleaning out the garden. Canned and froze whatever I could.
3. For a variety of reasons I paid a bill late and got charged a late fee. Called to have it dropped.
4. Did not have a huge birthday party for my 5 year old. Invited the only friend he wanted and the friends’ family. It was lovely time spent together.
5. Took my kids to a free family fall festival. Lots of fun and activities and time spent with friends.
1. I had a friend over for lunch. She was happy to eat leftover Chicken Tortilla soup and even take some with her to enjoy another day. It was more relaxing, healthier, and cheaper than going out.
2. I had an email from Walgreens saying that $7.20 in rewards would expire the next day. I walked there and bought a couple packages of super-on-sale Hershey's bars to use for Halloween.
3. Flash Foods showed a box of fruit available for $5. I purchased it and walked to Giant to pick it up. The refrigerator contained no box of fruit. They sent a produce employee to put together one for me. I'm sure it was better than what I would have received but I felt guilty (I offered to just ask Flash Food for a refund) and it was not a quick errand.
4. I saw fruit cake in Sam's Club (they are ready for Christmas) and texted a picture to my brother. He likes fruit cake but lives 1500+ miles away. A day later I remembered that Sam's Club ships items for free for Plus Members. I ordered him some fruit cake and it will be a goofy birthday/just because gift. The price was crazy good, hopefully the fruit cake will be too.
5. My husband's vehicle came with Sirius/XM in 2015. He enjoyed the free trial and has continued to enjoy having it. Every year we get a notice about auto renewal for the next year and the price is always way more than we think it is worth. As a birthday gift to him I call and eventually get a price we consider reasonable. On Friday I called and I did not have to (wait to) talk to a person, The automated system offered a price I was okay with. While it was a bit more than last year it was nice to have it done quickly and not have to figure out what to say. It is still a 50+% reduction in price.
@K D, if its Colin Street Bakery fruitcake it will be the BEST fruitcake he's ever had - sooo gooood!
@gina, you are so right! Fruitcake gets such a bad rap. I love it, spicy cake full of pecans? Yum! And the candied fruit is delicious too, like gummy bears lol!!
@gina, I live close by and they are reduced in price. The apple cinnamon and apricot are the best. Collin Street sent to my nephew, a navy pilot on an aircraft carrier stationed in the Adriatic, and they made it-took 6 weeks-loved by all the pilots in his squadron.
@Nan,
Their apricot pecan cake is to die for!!
Hm
-We filled up our fuel at a discount
-We ate homecooked meals at home
-We linedried our laudry (inside when it rained, and outside when it was sunny)
-I canceled a subscription service I hardly used
-I watered our house plants with water from the tank
So it is the usual small things, they do add up over the years though.
A recent post had responses about (inherited) tins of buttons. I have a huge tin from my mother and I plan to have a look if there are any vintage buttons I can use on my winter clothes. There should be some sixties ones!
@J NL,
I was about to protest that sixties buttons are not vintage, when I realized sadly that, yes, they are. And I'm even more vintage than they are. 🙁
@JD, I'm another member of the Vintage Person club. I was reminded of this today when I attended the grand opening of our Habitat for Humanity ReStore, in what used to be a perfume factory. Some old advertisements for the factory's products were hanging in the hallway, and I heard several 20-somethings giggling over an ad for "toilet water." Nowadays it's "eau de toilette," of course, but I can remember when the English phrase was still used (and no one thought we were talking about what our dogs drink when we're not looking).
@A. Marie,
I laughed out loud on that one. I remember toilet water!
@A. Marie, a little while ago my husband said to me that I could put on my "glad rags". Now there's one I haven't heard for many, many years. I think I'll try to work it into conversation with some young people.
Ok, so, I googled this phrase, and a menstrual product came up. But then I kept going and saw the meaning you are referring to!
@JD, Back in my childhood, Grandma Edith walked to “the dime store” every day for fun, as there wasn’t much going on in her town in Nebraska. She would buy things and stockpile them for grandkids’ birthday and Christmas presents, and we sure did look forward to most of them. I remember being pretty surprised and disgusted that she sent me some toilet water! With a little box of “dusting powder”, which wasn’t like the Pledge I was used to!
Recently I saw the little (empty) boxed set of that fragrance, at the antiques mall, for $9!!!
@J NL, love all the toilet water stories here, however you reminded me that I line dried my clothes on my NEW clothesline. It promptly rained, first time in weeks. I left the clothes out and brought them in the next day, calling them 'rain-washed'. we are in a drought like dry this fall, after way too much rain this spring. maybe I should hang more laundry to encourage more rain?
@J NL, -- I had a lady that I buy her kitchen hanging towels from at craft shows go through my huge glass jar of buttons I had in exchange for a few of her towels. She only took about 10% of the buttons few years ago.
—Thank you, Kristen, for offering the Dollar Shave Club link the other day! My husband shaves his head, and the DSC razor refills are half the price of the Gillette razors he has been using. We’ve already received the $5 starter box, and after a test run, he’s definitely switching!
—I made a game out of using rewards programs for free food last week. I used $15 in CBS Extra Bucks to restock our coffee (which was on sale, woot!) and our gas station rewards to stock up on my husband’s work snacks (NOT junk—50 cent packs of unsalted peanuts and the like). Our neighborhood free tomato fairy is also still delivering. 🙂
—Goodwill provided three like-new pairs of jeans for $5.99 each. Despite being in the men’s section, only one pair fit my husband, but the other two fit me just fine, so we’re keeping the lot. (Our GW nixed the fitting rooms but allows returns.) I’ll need to hem the legs, but I’m short/used to that. 😛 Thankfully the nicest, thickest pair (LL Bean) are the ones that fit him, as his groundskeeping job is hard on pants.
—Yay, free flu shots! We actually managed this several weeks ago, but I forgot to include it. Having finally beaten my Covid fatigue after two months, I’ve no interest in catching anything else!
—A friend who works as a garbage man saved an antique fridge for us! It’s a 1940s Frigidaire and does turn on, though he didn’t leave it on long enough to check whether it still gets cold to avoid causing moisture/mold. It is currently in our garage and awaits tidying and a new door gasket. Contrary to most old fridges, this thing is huge! It will either be an awesome working fridge or, if it doesn’t cool, an awesome storage unit for tools, etc. It will stay in our locked garage, so there’s no danger of “Neighborhood kid trapped in fridge” headlines.
Oh yay! I'm so glad the razors are working out for him; we love our DSC razors here.
@Kristen, Hopping on this thread to say my husband tried the Dollar shave razors and likes them as well! We can now find them at Kroger's, too.
@Kristen, My husband loved his also. Great share on your part!! Lots of new converts:)
@N,
I'm glad you finally beat your Covid fatigue. I hope you stay healthy going forward.
@N, I forgot. I got a feee flu shot last Tuesday!!!
@K D, thank you, you’re so sweet!
1. My husband took a picture of the price of the eggs at WalMart because they seemed much lower than the others. They rang up more than a dollar a dozen more at the register. We showed the attendant the picture, and saved on our 7 dozen eggs.
2. We used buttons from our collection to replace the missing/broken buttons on a vest we found in our "dress up" clothes bin (the ones the kids play with) that my son will wear as ring bearer in a wedding. Each part of his outfit is being repurposed from something else we have. (Note: He's supposed to be dressed like a hobbit.)
3. We've cooked meals at home.
4. We made a large batch of homemade broth to can.
5. I shopped at our local thrift store and found another item needed for the wedding (for my daughter/junior bridesmaid).
@Jody S.,
Smart idea taking a photo of the eggs! I’m also very intrigued by the wedding with a hobbit ring bearer. I hope he enjoys his trek to Mordor (or down the aisle, rather) 😉
@Jody S., I've started doing this at the grocery store too - photos & writing the price on the product. Usually when one flavour of something is slightly less than the same brand but different flavoured item. I try to include both items with the price tags showing in the photo. It's often faster if the clerk will accept the photo and not have to have someone run to the shelf and find the price.
@Kyndra, Two of my children are supposed to look hobbit-y and a third is to look elven. And I don't even know what the two ushers are supposed to wear, but I think they're wearing black dress pants/white shirts. I think I am wedding-ed out; but I love the new brides coming into the family this October.
I bought a discounted half gallon of 2% milk to make homemade pudding- so good! Made a batch of vanilla and used a can of coconut milk and the last of a bag of shredded coconut to make a second batch.
Used a coupon to buy pizza/chicken for Sunday night supper... When I arrived to p/u they realized they forgot to put my chicken in. I expressed my displeasure that now my pizza sits and waits another 15 minutes... Ran across the street to get some fruit at Aldi and when I returned they had my chicken, 2 fresh pizzas and 2 original pizzas ready.. (My kids/husband are living off pizza leftovers this week)
shopping around for best car loan % rates
Took a meal to a coworker and skipped the dessert! 1- she was just diagnosed as Type1D,
2- I did not want to make anything or go shop. So I grabbed a disposable container and filled with freshly washed grapes and strawberries from my fridge- I am sure the kids were just as happy about these! ! I DID take a treat for her though, from my pantry- I buy these thin rice cakes with a layer of dark or milk chocolate on them. They are actually pretty low carb so and my kids KILL every package I have. She was so excited to try them- such a simple thing but so good!
Isn't it magic how nasty milk turns into delicious baked goods? I'm always amazed, but if you think about it, most of your standard baking ingredients are nasty in their raw form...think of choking down a spoonful of flour or cocoa powder or slurping up a raw egg...ick, but a nice brownie...that's heavenly.
My FFT this week are pretty standard and boring, but I was proud of myself at Aldi.
1. Went grocery shopping and used a new strategy. I put bags in my cart and filled them as I shopped which limited my impulse buys because of lack of space. I was very pleased with my much lower than usual total.
2. Watched gas prices and filled up at the lower point of the fluctuating cycle.
3. Cooler weather means no AC use and haven't turned on the heat yet. Hoping to hold out until Thanksgiving this year. We'll see if we make it.
4. Decided not to buy the bacon wrapped steaks at Aldi as a birthday treat because I wanted to avoid the nitrates in the bacon. Bought the last four tiny steaks left from my farm instead and have asked my husband to make me something using the steaks and some bacon we already have-sort of like a cooking show inspiration challenge. It was initially more expensive to buy these steaks, but I'm supporting my farm and we will probably get four meals out of them instead of just the one from the Aldi steaks. Plus they are grass fed, etc and will taste better.
5. Bought less fruit at the store because we are eating through some fruit that I picked at the farm (figs and persimmons) and some from my yard (kiwi berries) as well as fruit that we have in food storage (frozen, canned, dried, etc). I also kept my Aldi bill down by telling myself not to buy a produce item on my list if it looked like it might spoil soon. I usually shop on Wednesdays, but had gone on a Friday instead and this Aldi is pretty picked over on Fridays, apparently.
Have a great frugal week, everyone!
@Becca,
Oh, I forgot. I also picked maypops at the farm (a native variety of passion fruit) and I used the pulp to make a sweet bread- kind of like banana bread but tangier and crunchier because I left the seeds in.
I have never heard of maypops!
@Becca,
Remembered another frugal food thing! I had picked up three yellow eggplants from the farm's "cull" table which is reserved for edible but lower quality produce. When I brought them home, my husband thought they would be too bitter to eat, so I thought maybe I would just save the seeds. Then I looked up tricks to reduce the bitterness in eggplants and I tried them all! First, I peeled and seeded them. Then I cut them into slices, salted them and left them weighted down in a colander over a bowl for 12 hours. Then I rinsed the salt off and squeezed as much moisture as I could out. Then I put them overnight in the fridge in a bowl with about a quarter cup of milk. The next morning, I oiled, spiced and roasted them on a sheet pan with some red peppers and garlic cloves I had also gotten from the cull pile, as well as one onion. I put the roasted veggies on top of homemade sourdough toast that I layered with mashed avocado. I also put a fried egg on top. The breakfast was really delicious and I figured the cost was less than 3 dollars for five servings since I only paid for the eggs, onion and avocados and minimal ingredients for bread. Best of all, the eggplant was edible! I did do a lot to it, but most of the strategies were hands-off, so I thought I'd share in case anyone else is offered free elderly eggplants.
@Becca, THank you for the eggplant tips. I love eggplant and have tried the peel and seed trick, as well as salting and weighting it, but still sometimes I was unhappy with the results. I will add the milk trick to my next batch. You vegetable toast breakfast sounds devine.
@Lindsey,
Yes! I was so pleased with how the milk helped! When I first cut into them, the bitter smell was very strong, so I thought they were goners for sure. I'm happy to report that the milk made a big difference. I did NOT squeeze them after soaking in milk, and I soaked them overnight when the internet just said thirty minutes, so maybe that made a difference, too? They sort of soaked up the milk like sponges, and I'm assuming the milk replaced the bitter liquid I drained out. Anyway, it was totally worth the time, especially since it was mostly waiting. I will say that you do not need to add salt when roasting because even after rinsing, the pieces were still a bit salty from the salt and drain steps.
Frugal things this go round involve me mostly eating out of my freezer for meals instead of eating out, altho tomorrow I will treat myself since it would have been our 37th wedding anniversary. I organized my garage yet again and now I'm thinking I will have a garage sale to empty it further, then use some of the proceeds to paint and freshen the garage walls. I have done a GREAT job of staying off Amazon and really, any kind of on-line shopping. Driving less on the weekends, still doing my own yardwork and minor repairs, and trying to get into a mindset of "having less means more". I love seeing everyone's ideas here!
Hugs to you, Gina. I am sure tomorrow will be a bittersweet kind of day for you. I hope that some good memories surface, even though there will also be difficult feelings too.
@gina,
I hope happy memories pop up all day for you tomorrow.
@gina, I'll be thinking of you tomorrow. It'll be DH's and my 43rd anniversary on 10/30, although of course he won't remember the day. Similar bittersweet feelings.
@gina, be kind to yourself. I hope you feel beautiful sunshine on your face.
Made a batch of mini muffins with the leftover juice from a can of pineapple and some orange zest.
Made two batches of chocolate mini muffins with leftover Coca Cola from our kids’ birthday party. We don’t drink regular soda but I do like having some snacks around for the kiddos, and these muffins were just a little bit sweet.
Renewed our library books right before they were due and avoided a fine. I forget to often so I’m glad not this time.
Hubby’s work is trying out a gyro sub for their next season, and so they had a ton of leftover meat, feta cheese, and tatziki sauce for people to take home if they want. So we got several meals out of it, plus a ton of feta is going to go in the freezer.
Made herbal tea from the garden instead of drinking canned soft drinks.
1) used up some wrinkly apples to bake apple cake, a family favorite. Hubs substituted milk for cream for the Carmel sauce saving the cost of a trip to town and the cost of buying cream (which has gotten horrendous)
2) tracked down my list fleece jacket that got left at a continuing Ed seminar last week. The organizers graciously paid the postage.
3) finally found a set of cheap garage sale furniture for our basement. Leather Sofa, love seat and chair in good condition for $50. Yay - also got myself a second fleece jacket for $2 at the same garage sale.
4) made beef broth from soup bones to use when I can up some stew beef from the freezer this week; tomatoes into the freezer (for canning later); dried beans shelled and into jars.
5) baked bread; ate at home; picked up library books.
My list always seems very ordinary. Mainly I try to stay away from stores.
@Carol,
Leather furniture for $50 isn't ordinary! That's a deal.
@Carol, your #3 bargains are amazing!
1. Ate all our meals at home.
2. Cheap entertainment--discovered a new-to-us gem of a little park, that looks perfect for future LARP games (Live Action Role Playing, which my husband and kids love to do).
3. We were looking at a large Amazon credit card bill, due to investing in battery backups for our computers, but then were pleasantly surprised to get a very large refund from the oral surgeon who did our son's wisdom tooth extraction this summer--apparently our insurance finally reviewed it and refunded half of it. That refund actually will pay for most of our expenses on that card! That was a nice surprise. A good reason to have used the Amazon card on that bill.
4. I learned to drive the truck so my husband can take the most fuel-efficient car on a weekly work trip.
5. Took advantage of the beautiful weather to get a hike in at our favorite (no entrance fee) state preserve.
I am the queen of pushing milk use, which is inevitable given how difficult it is for me to get milk. If it's been kept really cold (which pretty all milk in cities should be, not always the case here in the hinterlands), it will last unopened even a few days past the day printed on it. I just wait until one of my kids complains of the taste, then use it to make yogurt, custard, or rice pudding. 🙂
--We have our first cold weather arriving today. We haven't yet gotten our delivery of firewood yet, so while my husband was hunting this weekend with eldest son, I took the other three kids to our house next door and we loaded up the wheelbarrow with prunings from the apple tree, random splintery boards, and chunks of wood in the weeds over there. Enough wood for a few days, anyway.
--Then they got an hour or so of free entertainment jumping on the branches and breaking off kindling, or, for the older ones, sawing the branch. Good times, country-style:-)
--I love my big Cherokee Purple tomatoes, but they are prone to splitting and rotting. So when I'm picking tomatoes, I take the yucky ones off too and put them in a separate bowl for the chickens.
--The dill and cucumbers have staged a comeback, which means more refrigerator dill pickles, yay! I posted the recipe today, too, if anyone wants to see it.
https://going-country.blogspot.com/2022/10/tt-refrigerator-dill-pickles.html
--Working today as a substitute at school. Never my favorite, but I guess it will mean a bit more on my next paycheck.
@kristin @ going country, I agree that milk best-by dates are a very loose guideline.
We use very little milk and I ignore the type when I buy it, (fat-free, skim, 2%, whole), and just pick out the one with the farthest out sell-by date. I have the unscientific impression that the fattier milk lasts longer once opened.
@Heidi Louise, Your impression is correct. Chocolate milk lasts longer due to the sugar and full fat milk due to the fat. These facts brought to you via a home ec class one of our foster kids took. He had to practice reading out loud for 15 minutes every night. I would cook dinner and he would read to me, so I learned all sorts of amazing things. This was maybe a decade ago and I was impressed that they still offered home ec classes where he learned how to cook a few things, how to open and use a checking account, how to calculate interest on a loan and how to mend.
1. I had a cooking fest over the weekend and in one morning made chicken broth from leftover roasted chicken, tomato sauce for the freezer, chili, vinaigrette, and chocolate cake. Whew.
2. On our "date night" (our first night out since, well, the pandemic, which started before we were married and we've now lived in three different places and have a one year-old so WOW it's been a long time!) we had dinner at a restaurant but took in an art festival for free.
3. I downloaded an app that lets me compare flyers for our local grocery stores (Flipp)
4. I am taking transit and walking to work, even on days when I could have the car. It's cheaper and better for my health.
5. I've got leftovers packed away for lunch today. Veggie chili and rice.
Frugal fails: mid-day cafe visits. My frugal nemesis!
Ohhh, so fun that you got to have a for-real date night. Yay!
Because it's early yet, I first read that as "Welcome to the Unlimited Strip Club," and thought, "That really does not sound like Kristen at all." There's great value in a second reading. 😀
Having now had two cups of coffee, let's see if I can recall my Five Frugal Things this past week:
1. Altered a pair of my pants that suddenly became too loose to safely wear in public (why does elastic not give advance warning of impending death?) and a pair of my husband's pajama pants.
2. Line and rack dried the dogs' laundry and some of mine. These warm autumn afternoons are perfect for stringing up the back porch laundry line and hanging out the heavy stuff.
3. Bathed and trimmed up our three little dogs in the laundry room sink, thus not spending many bucks having them groomed. Also remembered to tie up their collars in an old pillowcase and launder them along with the towels, so they smell fresh too.
4. Did not succumb to the lure of custom-made clip-on sunglasses for my prescription eye glasses ($78!) but instead did some digging around on eBay and found some $9.99 Foster Grant ones with free shipping that fit great.
5. We went to Big Lots Saturday to stock up on some discounted coffee, bar soap, canned beans, nuts and puppy pads on a 20% off coupon day. As with all discount stores, you must know your prices as some things are no cheaper than in a regular store, but we did well.
@Ruby,
Hahahahaha!!!
Ahahaha, yeah, I will not be going into a strip club one time, much less frequently enough to warrant an "unlimited" type of membership. Ha.
@Kristen, my brain enjoys entertaining me by substituting letters in words. I don't think it's dyslexia so much as a side effect of reading really fast. Occasionally I'll ask my husband, while we on a drive, if that sign we just passed actually said what I thought it said and he thinks it's pretty funny.
I feel this. I am a super fast reader and sometimes this gets me into trouble, like on tests at school. I have to purposely slow down and reread to make sure I don't put something in order from greatest to least when the question ACTUALLY said to do it from least to greatest.
@Ruby, My brain does this with spoken words, because I have mild hearing loss and tinnitus. We were watching Star Trek the other night, and one of my sons referred to an unnamed character as "Expendable Crewmember" and I misheard it as "Expandable Crewmember."
@Ruby, oh that made me laugh!
@Ruby, I have that reading quirk too. (Most of mine tend to be even more risque than yours--not suitable for a family blog!)
And I'm with you on your #4. I've used ordinary old clip-ons ever since I left a pair of prescription sunglasses in the airport on the way home from a tropical vacation. Massive frugal fail.
My mom accidentally donated her prescription sunglasses with a bag of Goodwill stuff once. That was an expensive donation!
I feel like I mostly failed at being frugal this week, but I did some mending. Over the weekend, my 8yo daughter got a small hole in the knee of her favorite kitty leggings. It took all of 30 seconds to close up the hole. It’s not a perfect fix and won’t last forever, but it will keep the knee from ripping all the way through for a little while longer. By the time winter gets here, she’ll want to wear some warmer pants anyway.
I never would have even thought I could fix a hole in leggings without reading all of Kristen’s mending posts!
Oh, I am so proud to hear the story of your mending. Yay you!
@JenRR, @JenRR, If those leggings still fit when there's warmer weather (or if you have younger girls), just cut it off at the knee and call them cartwheel shorts.
Frugal for me: husband filled up my car on HIS credit card
Cooked from scratch
Sold 7 items on eBay
Used my 50% discount at the thrift store, making eBay profits even higher
I was going to say, “shopped at Aldi”. And indeed I did, but unfortunately spent more there than I did at Walmart a week ago. (Both shopping trips were my regular weekly shopping, which hovers around $130)
1. I listed our Halloween costumes from last year on Marketplace.
2. A co-worker gave me some clothes for myself and a bag of clothes for my daughter for next year. It's worth it for people to know you are willing to accept used clothes!
3. I took my daughter to the dentist. Cleanings and exams are free with our insurance.
4. We continue to use the gift cards for fruits and vegetables, for our public market, we received for taking online nutrition classes.
5. We have been using our YMCA membership a lot. Friday the kids participated in a foam dart league.
So smart to list your costumes right now! I bet they will sell quickly.
The spending spigot has been opened at our house. My eldest son is getting married in 3 weeks. Spending all this money is making me very, very nervous. However, I’m trying to keep things under control. None of my frugal things sound frugal but I’m doing the best I can.
1) My younger son is in the wedding and hadn’t bought his suit yet. He just returned from Alaska. I took him to the men’s store to purchase one. (Please no judgement. He is my difficult child.) We received $100 in coupon cash to be used next week. It’s like Kohl’s cash. This was immediately given to my husband. My son is more of the Patagonia type than the button-down type. Dad will happily use this now that he has to dress for the office again.
2) Younger son had a emergency of his own making and needed help getting home from British Columbia. I put him on the cheapest flight home from Vancouver (a red-eye). He hates red-eyes, but they are often the cheapest alternative. It also was the last flight in before the airport was closed for the hurricane. I listened to him grumble and told him to buck up.
3) I am still trying to buy a dress for the wedding. I thought I had one, but the color ended up being just wrong enough to clash. There was a nice sale this weekend on mother-of-the-bride gowns. I threw all caution to the wind and ordered 5 dresses at 25% off. Hopefully one of these will work and I’ll return the other 4. I’ve been at this since May. I know this event is not about me. However, I don’t want to be an embarrassment either.
4) I turned down an offer from my auto insurance company. They are trying to declare my vehicle a total loss after my accident 2 weeks ago. It’s not. They have undervalued the vehicle and overstated the cost of the repair. I have proven both. Meanwhile, I drive my car with its dented front fender and wonky headlight everywhere while they harass me to sign over the title and have tried to have the vehicle picked up. The vehicle is safe and still drives very well. Although this doesn’t sound frugal, I believe not allowing a company to cheat you is thrifty.
5) I’m trying to do all the usual things — although not very well. I’m cooking from scratch and brewing my own coffee. I made chicken broth this week out of a carcass. I’m using my library and trying to maintain my sanity.
Wishing everyone peace and good health.
@Bee,
Bless your heart! You really don't need this car issue right now! I know someone else who had to fight the insurance company about her car not being a total loss and she finally won - I hope you do too.
And I'm sure you won't be an embarrassment at the wedding no matter which dress you end up wearing.
@Bee, I would strongly suspect that the insurance company would have the minor damage to your car fixed and sell it for an outrageous profit. The phrase "you mendacious dirtbags" would probably enter into the conversation if I was talking to them!
@Bee, hang in there with all the different stressors. And I wish you and yours a pleasant, relaxed wedding.
@Bee, Your ability to cope with all that is going on is envious! And you still found time to turn a carcass into broth!! I hope the next three weeks shoot by, so you can go back to regular life quickly.
@Lindsey @JD @Ruby @A. Marie — Thank you for all the support. Sometimes life seems to spin out of control. I keep reminding myself that this craziness will pass. It’s just stressful at the moment.
My Five Frugal things:
- 1) Happily parked and walked 1/2 a mile through an adorable beach town (Laguna Beach) to avoid the pricey parking lots closer to where I was headed. Looking at the adorable cottages along the way is always a pleasure for me, so on top of being free, the farther-away parking is also a lot more fun.
- 2) Along the same lines, packed a lunch and arrived early over the weekend to a free airshow in order to secure free parking in one of the surrounding areas. As we carried our chairs over to the beach for the show, we passed slightly closer to the show parking lots advertising spots ranging from $30 to $100 dollars. Plus, by arriving early we had enough time to enjoy a long and scenic walk along the beach before the show started, an added bonus.
- 3) Planned my weekly meals based on the proteins in my freezer. Each week I scour the grocery circulars for sales on fish, chicken, and meat, but pretty much just for future, not current usage. Once I got into this 'future, not now,' buying habit, I've been able to avoid ever having to pay retail for my proteins, a big help given how much prices have risen this year.
- 4) Flash freeze everything in small batches. As tempting as it is, I continue to resist the urge to toss my protein bundles into the freezer as is, and instead break them down and flash freeze on cookie sheets before rebundling and freezing. I even do this with my bacon, because I very often use it just one or two strips at a time. All to say I can really stretch out a package of bacon, lol.
- 5) Continue to shop at four markets each week to leverage each one's price advantages. Although a bit of a pain, the fact that I'm still under $100 a week for two people while eating very well does keep me motivated.
@Tamara R, I love Laguna! We have spent a good deal of time down the road a bit in Dana Point.
@Bee, Dana Point is the best as well!
@Tamara R, ---I'm glad to hear someone else shopping at multiple stores to save $$, most people I talk to say they only shop at ______ (Walmart/Aldi/Dollar store, etc). I get best price from stores/farmer in my area. Most my shopping is close proximity in certain areas making it not difficult. Why would you not go across street to get same item for ____ less (usually times multiples)? Of course I try to keep extra on hand of things use regularly (if have extra $$ & storage) because prices continue to go up.
I've been trying to keep track daily of my frugal items so then I can post more often.....
1. Not frugal for me, but for my boss/neighbor......we were gifted a bottle of Tennessee whiskey from another neighbor who travels frequently and we get their mail and paper and watch their house while they're traveling. Sometimes they bring us treats as a thank you. We don't ask for anything, but thank them for anything they do bring us. I gave this whiskey to my boss as we don't drink whiskey.
2. We used rotisserie chicken in a recipe and had some leftover that didn't get eaten as lunches. Froze that bit of chicken to use in a future soup/meal.
3. Did a quick survey on a store receipt for a future frozen ice cream treat just for participating.
4. Cancelled our lawn fertilizing service for the remainder of this year (2 treatments left) plus all of next year as a trial experiment to see if it's affecting our puppy licking his paws plus to see how our lawn will now hold up on it's own (now that it's finally come in nice with the help of the treatments). Bonus is the $ we will save!!
5. Hubby's coworker asked us if we needed a spare fridge; we picked it up to use as an extra fridge in our garage.
Free sips is worth some money! I met my Stephen Minister at Panera last week and we each bought a drink and snack so we wouldn't take up a table without buying something - ouch, they are expensive.
1. I have been diligent about keeping the A/C on 78/79F downstairs, and the upstairs is set on 78 at night, 85 during the day, since no one is up there during the day as a rule. Even so, I was surprised to find I used less than 1000kw last month (998, so close!), so didn't get the excess surcharge for all KW over 1000. It didn't reduce this particular bill because I'm on averaged billing, but it will help lower my monthly average, which should eventually help lower my bill. Last year my usage in the same time period was about 1600kw.
2. I bought some fabric online and was automatically given 20% off for using online and store pickup. But I had checked their coupons first, and had seen another one for 25% off on fabric, so I entered that coupon's code instead.
3. Four of my young grandkids visited this past weekend. I have bags and jars of lemon juice from my lemon tree in the freezer and the kids love my lemonade, so I thawed out a bag of juice and made a big pitcher of lemonade for the cost of a little sugar.
4. My daughter, the mother of those four kids, took them to eat at the little pizza shop in my town, where my teen granddaughter from my other daughter was working, so they could visit a little. Since my daughter definitely wanted me to come with her to help wrangle four kids aged eight and under, she generously paid for my meal (a chef salad), too. I was able to take home enough of it for another meal.
5. I'm so glad I bought the frozen sweet potatoes and frozen beets from Azure Standard. They have no other ingredients, they are organic, the price was definitely competitive, and the ease is wonderful - no peeling or chopping, and they are cubed small enough to cook quickly, so less electricity use. I love both vegetables, so this was a good purchase for me.
Dh gets Botox injections for posts stroke spasticity, which causes great pain, every 6 weeks and the total insurance amount billed is over 2K. I started getting a $200+ bill above and beyond our copay. I called the office and the neurologist had transposed 2 numbers in the billing code. That $200+ magically went away after that.
Can I get a little feedback on something from anyone? Dh's insurance company had partnered with some medical testing company and is sending out test kits that test for kidney disease - he's diabetic, colorectal cancer, he's 62, with more to come. I'm skeptical of these for fear of it being something that will allow them to deny treatment at some point as a pre-existing condition. He sees his neurologist every 6 weeks, our family dr. at least twice a year and the same for his cardiologist, with no issues at this time. Am I being paranoid or stubborn?
@Jennifer, Our insurance company also sent us some screening kits (the company they use is BioIQ, I believe) and the way they put it was it was a way of catching things before they are really bad. That is to say, it's better to catch colon cancer in its early stage, when treatment is less invasive and less expensive, than later. As somebody whose grandmother died of colon/ovarian cancer due to her refusal to see a doctor when she had symptoms, I am all for screening.
@Jennifer, I can't speak to the pre-existing concern, but any extra testing you can get is helpful. I'm speaking as a diabetic whose diabetes is well-controlled but who wound up with diabetes caused kidney disease that's easily spotted with a simple urine test, so if your husband isn't getting regular blood panels/urine tests, he should take advantage of the testing. To tie it in together and oversimplify, this type of kidney disease does not cause kidney failure but can predict a heart attack and impair kidney function, so it's an extra way of keeping an eye on things and of keeping his kidneys functioning optimally. And at 62, he's got just three years to go for Medicare, so I'd go for it.
@Jennifer,
My diabetic husband has kidney disease, too. End-stage renal disease can be a problem for getting coverage, but kidney disease itself is not usually a problem with insurance in my family's experience, and is something that's better to find out earlier rather than later if one has it. It's very common amongst long-term diabetics, unfortunately.
@Jennifer, I thought pre-existing condition restrictions went away with the Affordable Care Act. Pretty sure of it.
That does not necessarily mean coverage won't be very expensive. But a company cannot flatly deny selling you a policy if you have a pre-existing condition.
Anyone?
@Karen A., Yes, this is the same company.
@Glenna, He is disabled due to the stroke so this is his secondary policy through Medicare. The tough part will be getting him to agree to do it. 🙂
@JD, As we don't know how long he has been diabetic - his stroke was caused by undetected diabetes 5 years ago, I'll definitely get him to do this one.
@Heidi Louise, I've gotten insurance under the ACA since dh was declared disabled, so I should know this. Either way, I think my paranoia got the best of me. Thanks for the help.
@Jennifer, I quite understand the paranoia about health insurance and health costs! It seems like some whimsical and vindictive toddlers keep the books sometimes. (Let's pay her $3.18 for no reason! Let's bill her $23.45!).
For my own paranoia, my insurance company sends me notices to use a tele-health counseling service that will coordinate all my conditions and medications, and I have avoided them, in spite of the bribes offered. So far, (and doctor and NP), I am fine coordinating my own situation and I like to pretend I am keeping my health information out of one more database.
1.) I too made some chicken stock. I needed the freezer space and it is getting to be soup season, sooner rather than later!
2.) Eating a lot of leftovers and really clearing out the fridge. I know restocking everything will be tough but it's nice to just use up all we have and not have to toss it out.
3.) Paid my property taxes online which was cheaper than mailing a check. Still kinda dumb that they charge me a fee but it is what it is.
4.) Sold an item on eBay and used used shipping supplies. Always nice.
5.) I am going to count this but my wife wanted to watch a movie that had been taken off Netflix just days ago. I reminded her she owned it on DVD so it saved her from having to either rent it or get yet another streaming service. Blu-ray & DVD players really are handy things to have (especially with all the movies available cheap out there or even free to borrow from the library.)
@Battra92,
Your #3: I can't stand online "convenience" fees. What's convenient about it? Mailing is not better, though, and I've had important mail get lost before.
#5: I have a Blu-ray/DVD player, too. I own a number of movies on DVD that I always enjoy watching again, like "White Christmas", the Charlie Brown holiday specials, and MST3000. As you say, the library has plenty to watch, too. I enjoy using my player.
@JD, This is how old we are: we have White Christmas and the first version of All Creatures Great and Small on tape. Our tape player broke down once and my husband managed to cobble it back together. You would be surprised how many times I have gone to a garage sale and found tapes in the "free" box! (I did get rid of my 8-track tape player a few years ago...)
@Lindsey, our ability even to *remember* 8-track tapes puts us both back in the era when dinosaurs roamed the earth.
@Battra92, @JD, I am so astonished about your posts and others talking about convenience fees for online bill paying. up here in Canada, we have been paying most of our regular bills online from our banks for at least 10 years (probably much longer). We also have a country wide way of transferring money easily - e-transfers - that involve our banks and are so simple. I can send money to my 92 year old mom, she gets an email and clicks to deposit to her account. we can even set up auto-deposit so we don't have to bother with those clicks.
the joys of strong national banking laws and systems, I guess? Anyway, I can't remember when I last paid by cheque. I bill-pay or etransfer from my online banking and it is done like dinner.
@Ecoteri,
If I go through my bank to make payments, it's free to me as well, and that is how I pay most of my bills. To use a vendor's site to make a payment directly, however, one may or may not have to pay a fee; it depends upon the vendor. The government's sites often charge a convenience fee for paying them directly online.
@JD, Classic MST3K is so good!!
I too, used a Panera promo this week, as part of my Frugal Five. 😉
1) Took my 15 y.o. to lunch after a tennis tournament. Used a few old gift cards & the Panera offer for a free loaf of baguette, with any online purchase. The teens polished off that baguette in no time.
2) Our kids have a soda stream, but rarely use it. I've been using those bubly drops in my water bottle. Adds a lovely flavor, and they don't go to waste. The drops came free with the soda stream.
3) Gave away a bunch of Halloween costumes on Buy Nothing. Frugal for others, and gets junk out of our house!
4) Realized that our kids go back to school later than usual after the winter break, so took advantage of lower priced lodging at a few places in Tahoe, for skiing.
5) Meal planned, uploaded receipts to Fetch, cleaned up my eBay inventory, took advantage of free fitness classes/car charging/meals at work...the usual!
When I bought my Johnny Was duster they take your phone number and text you promotions and coupons. They got a shipment of Allbirds for $25 a pair so I went back. With all their discounts and coupons I got 2 pair of wool allbirds, a johnny was top, and a pair of jeans for $45. These shoes are so cozy in the fall and winter.
@Tiana, that’s a bargain!!!!
@Tiana, I sit here open mouthed over your Allbirds deals! What a haul!!
1. I got a floor lamp that was sitting next to the dumpster. I had been doing research and comparing lamps on Amazon for 2 weeks, and I'm so glad I didn't buy one yet. This free one is not ideal, but it works.... and it was free.
2. Inside said dumpster I also found a new-in-package set of body wash and lotions. My husband was squeamish about my reaching in to get this, but I grabbed it, threw away the dirty outer box, and went happily on my way.
3. We went to the bakery outlet and stocked up on some snacks. Snacks that I love that cost $2.25 for a 3-pack cost $.33 for the same pack at this outlet. Score!!
4. I took advantage of Target's 10% off gift cards sale to get enough gift cards to cover groceries for the month. 10% is 5% more than I get using my Red Card, yahoo.
5. We discovered that the local (expensive) grocery store has rotisserie chickens on sale for $6 on Thursdays. Prior to the pandemic I was able to find these on sale for $5 at a different store, but this is by far the best deal I've found lately. Each chicken makes 3 meals for the 2 of us and keeps us from eating out. (And, as Kristen noted, you can make broth from the bones!)
1.kept snacks and drinks in my car for my diver. She’s the one and only diver on her team and has to practice elsewhere as there is no legal dive well at the team pool and too young to drive.
2. Used a five year old coupon to get her pizza free ( no expiration date) for her meet. Although not close to us, it was less then a mile from the dive meet only competition.3. Bought two little ceasars sauces to take advantage of an offer with purchase for a free pepperoni pizza and crazy bread. Brought a cooler so I could take the leftovers home. 4.dh and I signed up for the Flashfood and had a code for 8 off a purchase. Got some great free meat. 5. Picked up apples off the ground and made sauce
Road-trip to see my dad. Five hours each way. Fri to Sun!
Bought no snacks. Made an adult lunch able type meal for trip down. In a small Tupperware : sliced salami sliced cheese rye crisp broken in pieces and two almond bark candies husband made for dessert.
Made iced coffee at home and took it in big travel tumbler.
Got two albums to listen to off of library HOOPLA app.
Gas! Not frugal. At all.
Spent zero dollars while visiting. Sister bought brunch!!
1. I did self check out at Walmart, and despite being very diligent checking out - I noticed a box of crackers got rang up twice. I immediately went to the service center and got my money back. ALWAYS DOUBLE CHECK YOUR SELF CHECKOUT. Almost every time I find a mistake, though one time my bananas rang up $0.03 despite weighing them twice, and I gave up and took them for $0.03. Not sorry Walmart! Your self checkouts SUCK!
2. I used up a $5.00 gift certificate for Starbucks I forgot I had! Yay! I also organized the rest of my gift certificates and coupons, for later usage!
3. I used to pay my ex-brother in law $20 every week to pick up dog poo from my yard. He needed cash, and I was busy and needed the help. After the divorce, he quit speaking to me. So I bought a nice little rake/shovel set from Amazon and I now clean up my own dog poo. I don’t even mind, and I save myself that $20 every week. Yay for divorce making my life cheaper!
4. I wanted a cactus and found a Mickey Mouse looking one at the local farmers market for $5.00. Yay for Farmer’s Markets!
5. I’m about to go to a friends house to pick up dog treats. Apparently she gets a Bark Box, but won’t give her dog the treats - so I get them instead. This same friend also sent me a Coma Inducer blanket for my birthday, and I love it! She is very kind, and I appreciate her kindness! I also try to match it whenever I find a way that I can!
And how was your week?
@Michaela, After I cut out the few I know we will use and put them in a handy spot, I just stick fast food coupons that come in the mail in my cupboard, just in case. I clear out the expired ones every few months. I write the expiration date in Very Large Letters on the brochures, as they are not printed in anything like easily readable type.
@Michaela, it's probably a bunny ear cactus! I have them too, but be very very careful with those spines - they are NOT easy to get out of your hands! Mine made so many cactus pups that I repotted them to make more plants, and at first I tried using my hands (I grow lots of cacti varieties and don't mind spines), but after a go with those now I only touch them with tweezers, ha. -_-
@Michaela, I am very curious about your coma inducer blanket? Where can I get one? Hubby has trouble sleeping more than a couple of hours at a stretch and we have tried so many suggestions--melatonin, different types of tea, sound machine, lavender on his pillow, etc.
Our local library set up an area to donate garden groen vegetables and baked goods to the community I have noticed quite a savings by getting vegetables there for free
I added a few books to my kindle with good ebook deals.
I made apple brownies to take to a small family gathering.
I used less chicken in a recipe then froze the chicken I reserved for future chicken soup this coming winter.
I bought a few food items from the clearance shelf at our grocery store. I also strictly adhered to my food list instead of impulse buying ( which I sometimes do then regret once I’m home unloading the bags).
@Ruby, I tripped over the strip shop trick of the eyes too. But then, I was amazed that bars brought Kristen so much joy last week.
It's not been a terribly frugal week, because my husband and I made an uncharacteristically impulsive purchase at Costco -- 8 place settings of every day china. Plus a set of very colorful soup/salad bowls. Not at all necessities. But I have to say that I enjoy those lovely new dishes three times a day.
Also, I failed to choose the correct shipping packing size on an ebay auction, then bought the shipping label through ebay, which of course did not work. So at the post office I had to buy a new label, totally throwing away $8. Oh the pain!
The good news is that when going through our credit card statement, I found an unexpected refund of a $30 medical copay.
And like the Nonconsumer Advocate, I too did not buy a gold plated apartment or a jet.
@Elaine N, You can request a refund for the shipping label on eBay. Takes a bit of time to refund but I've done it several times!
@Alex, thank you - I will work on it.
We visited friends/family over the weekend, which resulted in several free meals. But we also gave food toward those meals and bought hostess gifts. It all evens out, but I am so thankful for the gift of hospitality and enduring friendships.
I helped a friend pack for a move and took several pairs of wool socks and baking mixes that she was leaving behind.
I canned 13 pints of beets yesterday and am canning applesauce today from apples that were gifted to us.
My husband used leftover wood to put together a makeshift platform to use under a new queen mattress (rather than buy a new boxspring.) It works for now.
I made fried green tomatoes out of the last of our garden tomatoes.
You are so right about the medical bills. I recently was looking over the charge details for an ER visit and it looked like they had charged me twice for a procedure. So I called and after two reviews, I got a letter stating that $751 had been taken off my bill!
SWEET. The payoff for disputing medical bills is usually super high per hour.
Found a friend of a friend to help with handyman jobs on the farm, his first job is fixing barn roof and coating tin to eek out a few more years (it is 48 years old) his quote was a tenth of what a pole barn contractor quoted me.
Finished putting in 10 cords of wood. That will help with heating costs this winter.
Found some flower and garden fertilizers on super clearance this week. Should be enough for next season.
Took cuttings of the geraniums my friends have oohed and awed over this summer and will gift them their own plants next spring (holding them over in my greenhouse).
Purchased a box fan at a moving sale to run in the greenhouse this winter. When the weather dips below freezing, runny fans and not heat will keep plants from freezing/damage.
Bought 2 gallons of Simple Green concentrate at an estate sale for $1, this will last me years of cleaning the exterior of the house & painted and vinyl fencing around the farm. Win!
Watched a youtube video on how to clean and maintain my sewing machine as my usual place I take it for it's yearly check up just went up $100 to $200. Yikes.
Getting ready for my winter's sewing/quilting fun.
Thanks for the milk safety links! I haven’t read them yet, but I worry about that. Lol. Takes my mind off bigger worries, I guess!
1. I was also planning to list my 2 free months of Unlimited Sip Club! We've already gotten at least 3 free drinks. Today I needed some encouragement for my 4yo to be cooperative through one more store before lunch and I offered her a lemonade since Panera was across the street. Perfect!
2. The stop mentioned above was Goodwill where I found Lands End bermuda shorts for my oldest daughter to wear to school next spring. They're in perfect shape and were even half off! Can't beat $1.00.
3. We used costumes we already had for a dress-up day at school last week.
4. A friend gave me some beautiful slicing tomatoes from their garden and I've enjoyed tomato sandwiches for lunch the last 2 days.
5. I looked through my freezer and made a list of meals that I can make with ingredients I already have in my freezer or pantry.
I do the same with haircuts- they always make my hair too big!!
1. Circle K in Fl (and other southern states) has a similar program- Sip- n-save- 5.99 a month for coffee or soda. I do like my "Bladda Buster" sodas, as my sister calls them.
2. Packing breakfast and lunches for my family.
3. Needed new "work sneakers". I looked at the ones I like and they were 140.00 a pair!! Found two pairs for 119.00 total on EBAY.
4. Started Christmas shopping- early for me- and because I have time, maybe I won't panic buy at zero hour.
5. Reviewing insurance options- think we can do better.
@Michele, Circle K does the same in Alaska, only it costs $8.99.
Thanks for posting about the egg bread. I’m going to try your recipe. We go back and forth eating bread so I usually have some store bought in the freezer. But I was out and went to pick up a loaf for chicken salad sandwiches. I couldn’t believe the price, $4.29! It was just a regular loaf of wheat bread. Fancy sandwich loaf’s were $4.99. So I decided to try making some now that the weather is cooling off. Your post is great timing.
I also wanted to mention we had a large surprise medical bill for a ct scan($2000). I called the insurance and was told the NP couldn’t refer. Which I didn’t understand because the Dr can. I then called the provider and was going to ask for a cash discount and pay. But they offered to resubmit. The bill then went to $35. So yes it’s a good idea to question those bills.
That is a SERIOUS discount. Good for you!
I was having a great frugal week until this morning, when we found out all of our studded tires need to be replaced. Being frugal in the past has made it easy to pay this bill in the present, but somehow it still stings when the money goes out on giant purchases.
Anyway, your post about freezing milk about to go bad for future cooking reminded me that I wanted to pass on something that helped me do that consistently. I tried saving milk remains in canning jars, which sometimes cracked, and in baggies, which sometimes broke and if they didn't it was a pain to wash and recycle them. I tried using silicone muffin tins but if the tetris of my freezer moved before things froze the milk spilled all over other freezer stuff. Then my sister sent me Souper Cubes, which are like ice cube trays with lids only the compartments are enough for one cup each. There are four of the one cup compartments to a tray. They were a game changer. I ended up buying another set, only with 2 cup compartments, for saving stock since it seems I use it in 2 cup portions for soup. Maybe this product is old news to other frugals, but in case anyone is looking for an alternative to the canning/baggie/muffin tin route to freezing liquids, this might work for you. They are pricey but I have had them for over a year now and use them pretty much constantly, so I think they were worth the price. I also used them in the good neighbor plan, when someone had a party and needed large cubes for a punch bowl (people still use those?) and I was happy to let her use them.
I used my Kroger points to get $.30 off at the gas pump. Paid $3.19 per gallon here in northern KY.
I had nearly $32 in credit at Kohls after a return a couple of months ago so I used that to replace my unmentionables which have developed holes at various spots around the elastic waist.
I used the Rakuten app to order new athletic shoes. My old ones were toast & since I have wide feet, I rarely find my size in a physical store.
I am still taking advantage of my YMCA membership. I am getting physically fit, meeting new people, & staying mentally sharp as well, all at 0 cost to me.
I am doing the usual daily frugal activities as well - making coffee & iced tea at home, cooking from scratch, using up leftovers.
@LDA, just wanted to say hi from Lexington 🙂
I haven't done a FFT in months! But we're home from vacation, and it is time to get back to real life.
1) we came home from vacation. Food there was expensive. We ate at home and took pbj on day trips to help save money, but cheap (1.00 bread here) is 3.92 there.
2) We had a redeye on the way home and then a four hour drive to get home. We ate on at the airport lounge before boarding the plane, ate on the plane, and planned to not eat while driving. Well, we (the parents) were starving, so we got BOGO for 1.00, burgers on the way home. Ate for real at home.
3) We picked a ton of peppers that our chicken sitters didn't pick while we were away.
4) We went back to work today. Not so fun after a vacation, but financially necessary.
5) We packed our lunches for work from last night's leftover soup.
*while on vacation we were talking to a couple from LA. We were sad to be leaving from vacation, and they reminded us how blessed we are to live in an area with all four seasons. It was a good reminder to appreciate little things we don't always enjoy... like the weather during the month of February. 🙂
NPR’s Planet Money did an episode on milk expiration dates which was fascinating. (“Best by, sell by, use by” from July 15, 2022 if this sort of this is interesting to you 😉 )
This past week:
1. I made beeswax candles using thrifted supplies. I love candles but they can get expensive so this is a win.
2. Nagged Eddie Bauer (twice!) about my missing order and finally got a refund. The order had "shipped" but USPS was showing "label created, awaiting item” (pre-shipment). I had to wait 3 weeks before Eddie Bauer conceded it was never going to come and issued my refund.
3. Used old milk and some lemons lingering in the fridge to make a lemon drizzle cake.
4. Cooked lots of meals from what we have on hand, trying to use up items before they go bad. (Butternut squash pasta with leftover bacon, roasted the seeds from said squash, homemade soup and focaccia bread, and hot chocolate bombs)
5. Brought in green tomatoes before our first frost. Letting the, ripen on the kitchen counter and freezing them as they ripen. I lost steam for using them up but that hard work gardening means I don’t want them going to waste! I know winter-me will be thankful to pull them out of the freezer for stews and soups.
Bonus! Joined my community’s buy nothing group and was blown away by how active it is. Most things get snatched up incredibly fast but I did manage to get 3lbs of beeswax to make more candles with. I’m thrilled!
1. I made our meals at home. We ate up leftovers.
2. I fixed the washing machine myself by watching YouTube videos. The company has a large collection of diy repair videos available.
3. I ate the free meal at the conference.
4. I signed up for a free class through my union.
5. We went through our collection of winter coats and snowpants before shopping. Two kids needed new coats. One got a Columbia coat from a secondhand store. The other got a new one from TJMaxx. Not ideal, but it can be hard to find nice used coats at that size.
Medical bills…I received one asking for full price for an anesthesiologist (insurance covered it) because the billing department couldn’t talk to the doctor or hospital about our insurance. I’m pretty sure they were just hoping if they sent enough out someone would just pay it out of fear or ignorance. This was 3.5 years ago and I’m still mad about it.
My frugal things:
—found ground beef for under $3/lb (a steal here) because it needed to be cooked or frozen that day. I was planning to do a week of meal prepping following the grocery trip so it worked perfectly.
—meal prepped for a week, thereby reducing the temptation to eat out and simplifying afternoons with kids.
—purchased a solid maple dresser for $35 at an estate sale. Will need some work at some point but for now it’s staying the way it is.
—Signed up for a library card in our new home. Excited about all the fun events the library has. And excited to read all kinds of books, especially those by local authors
—Played outside at the local park, found an apple tree with public picking allowed, and picked some apples which we turned into just enough applesauce for dinner.
Yep-it's not like this doctor's billing office reached out for insurance info. They just sent the bill over as-is, with no note saying, "Hey, we need your insurance info!"
What the heck??
1. Bought a brand new Costco dress at a flea market for $1.00 - bargain shopping at the local flea market is my absolute favorite thing ever.
2. Had a BBQ instead of eating out. There's five of us in our family so eating at home is always a frugal win.
3. Stopped myself from buying a new purse on Ebay. I loved it but do I really need a new purse?
4. Cancelled hotel reservations and stood with my daughter when we found out her roommate moved out saving us $353.00.
5. Returned a Costco jacket that I hadn't worn since purchasing it - saving almost $20.
Thanks for creating a space where frugal living is embraced. 🙂
1. Bought a Groupon for a $5 Shutterfly photobook and paired it with a free unlimited photobook pages sale this past week. Essentially paid $5 + shipping for a photobook worth $40 and we have a great souvenir from our summer vacation.
2. Used a Groupon for dinner at a local restaurant that we love, giving us $15 off our bill.
3. Earlier in the summer, bought a Christmas themed puzzle at the thrift store for $3 and finished it last week. Someone in my FB puzzle group then posted that they were looking for that exact same puzzle and I was able to sell it for $8. I recycled an old Amazon envelope to mail it and dropped it off to the post office during errands.
4. My printer ran out of ink last week when I needed to print the shipping label to ship the puzzle. My new ink was still being shipped, so I stopped by the library to print the shipping label for 10 cents.
5. My son needed a specific book for English class and he was able to borrow it from a friend a couple years ahead in school instead of having to buy it.
1. I returned a pair of bike shorts with lace trim (sweet) because they had shipped the wrong size. the right size isn't available, so I took the credit. I had already ordered a pair of plain bike shorts on steeper discount so although i won't be fancy I saved a few bucks.
2. on that same errand I took in the wrapper for a pair of cotton capri leggins with lace trim. Because that is what I got, however what I had ordered was something different, and more expensive. The gal credited me for what I didn't get, and then charged me for what I got, which was now on sale for just $12. So the return $ I got for #1 was over $30. I often feel is isn't worth fussing about low value online purchases, but this could be dealt with as part of a town run and the store is a friendly place to visit, welcoming me even if all I was doing was returning something I bought online.
3. I got some of my enormous cherry tomato harvest pressure canned, saving them from the sudden influx of fruitflies.
4. Also canned some Broiled and stick-blended tomatillos (4 pints) and cherry tomatoes (not stickblended - 3 pints) and one 1/2 pint mixture. Pressure canning late at night isn't my favourite, but this is harvest season.
5. Eating from the pantry and garden - spent a bit too long [but had a great garden view out my kitchen window], while I scrubbed and hacked at some bug-bitten potatoes. Boiled them and a sad cauliflower that I rescued from the crisper. I had already made boiled eggs, so we filled up our plates with lots of white foods and ate them with homemade bright green chimichurri (sp?), made with my overabundance of parsley. I learned how to make chimmichuri (I do NOT know how to spell this) with a new-to-me friend, who had made me some after I gifted her an enormous bin fill of she-picked mint and parsley and other herbs. She came by to return a cookbook I had lent her, and ended up staying to show me how to make MORE chimmichurri (new spelling there... ) with some additional herbs I had harvested. My new favourite condiment! Yummy on just about anything from veggies to tofu to meats to salads...
6. Number One Daughter came up on Saturday so that she could pay for the car insurance on my car that she has and drives. I would give her the car but that would promptly increase her insurance by over $500, so we are staying with our current system - I own it, she is now taking on the maintenance costs. Big $1000+ savings win for me to not have to pay any more!
7. Said daughter bought ME coffee!
8. after I bought us lunch. However, we looked at many lovely things at stores and at the farmer's market, and I didn't buy anything else. She got herself a new pair of boots however that is totally justifiable, she had worn a previous pair until the sole was falling off. The new boots were cheaper than the other brand yet have a better warranty and reputation. She paid for her own boots, Momma is learning to keep her wallet in her pocket.
9. Mostly eating at home and ensuring that there are lunch-ready foods in the fridge for #2 son, who seems to have rather awful working hours. He loves it when I make a variety of things, an I love not getting bored. Win win. Much is garden harvest and pantry/freezer food, and I am inspired right now to make different foods.
10. Expensive and future frugal? Had my plumber come by because I had a rusty hosebib needing replacment. while we were investigating, he looked at the hot water heater in the barn and some water lines, and the end result was replacing said heater, and said-sad lines, plus the new hosebibs were twinned. The heater was 25 years old, he figures there is a foot of rust in it, frugal avoiding the fail by pre-emptive replacement. Ouch, however he always gives me a good deal. BONUS is he was very interested in the tall display cooler that my ex left in the barn (it works, but I use it for 3 days a year). He is a hunter and it would be perfect for hanging his bucks. I will gift it to him and HE will take it away, clearing many cubic feet of space out of my barn.
It is definitely future frugal to replace an elderly water heater before it causes a huge problem!
I've been tracking prices at a variety of stores via in person visits and sales ad prices. I took advantage of a sale on meat at a higher end grocery over last weekend. Then later in the week I was able to go into a store next to a salon that is known for it's clearance and mark-downs. However, in looking at prices, I was very well aware that their markdowns were HIGHER than the sales at the other stores. I passed on buying those items.
I made all meals at home.
We picked up our grandson early on the day we were already in the town where his nursery is located rather than make a long drive home and back again.
Used the clothesline to dry clothes.
Used leftovers. That meant going through the fridge several times this week and thinking on the fly when making meals. But nothing got wasted!
Mended a torn pair of jeans