Five Frugal Things | Well, hello!
Hey everyone! It was good to unplug for a few days, but I'm glad to be back.
How about a Five Frugal Things post to kick things off?
1. I checked around for a deodorant sale price.
Lisey was out, so I searched to see if the kind she uses was on sale anywhere. I found a buy one, get one 50% off sale at CVS, with a $2 ExtraCare Bucks offer. And I had $3 in ExtraCare Bucks to use on my purchase as well. Yay!
2. I planted the ends of two green onions.
I actually did this about a week ago, and as you can see, they're growing quite nicely.
They're growing in a pot I salvaged from the things some neighbors left behind when they moved rather suddenly.
3. I re-potted my basil and parsley.
Some months ago, I bought small basil and parsley plants for a recipe. I managed to keep them alive through the dark winter days, so yay me!
Since it's warm now, I replanted them in pots (with one basil plant in my front bed) so that they can get healthier.
4. I used some of my compost.
I kind of hate buying potting soil, so I just added some of my compost to the soil in the pots to give the plants a bit of a boost.
I also mixed some into the dirt in the bed where I planted the basil.
I'm guessing this will have something close to the effect of fresh potting soil. Or at least I hope it will!
5. I ate leftover pizza for lunch.
I don't adore leftover pizza, no matter how I heat it up (I've tried all of the ways, I think!), but hey, leftovers are some of the cheapest things you can choose to eat.
And eating leftovers prevents food waste like nobody's business.
1. Brought a homemade pie to my family's Memorial Day bbq using fruit we grew.
2. Got togetger with a friend for coffee at home
3. Created a vacation out of my husband's work trip.
4. Ate my first few salads from this year's garden.
5. Bought supplies to replace our own roof this weekend (saving us $10,000).
1. Got a free Yeti cooler in the mail from a drawing we entered in February. Always enter those drawings, you never know!
2. Cut my hair myself.
3. My son doesn’t like lettuce and tomato on his Hamburg so when we eat out I ask for it on the side then I eat it as a nice little side salad.
4. Had an impromptu memorial day cook out at my MILs using meat from our freezer and she supplied the corn on the cob
5. Had a friend over one evening fir snacks and drinks instead of going out.
6. Did a long tedious project on our rental property rather than paying someone to do it. Bonus was I got to listen to lots of podcasts!
#3, I never thought of that!
The thing about leftover pizza is: you're supposed to eat it cold (Almost better than fresh in my opinion). But if you must heat it up, I would guess some butter & herbs & possibly garlic in a cast iron skillet would make a crispy tasty bottom to the pizza if you could keep the butter from burning.
Yes, I always eat anything Italian cold. Also, once bread is cooked, for me, I can't abide it being cooked again.
I love cold pizza but have found reheating it on the bbq gives is an almost fresh pizza taste.
cold pizza is the best breakfast food
Cold puzza with a tiny sprinkle of salt, and a glass of cold milk sounds so weird but tastes so good!
Pizza not puzza!
1. Waited to buy paint for repainting until there was a sale at the paint store. And we're painting the walls ourselves, which we normally do, but for a brief moment we considered paying someone else to do it.
2. Camped in our backyard one night for our daughter's birthday present. Cheaper than going somewhere else (since she's enthralled with the tent, location doesn't seem to matter), and since two of the other kids couldn't handle the excitement it was no big deal to split up and have half the family inside and half the family outside.
3. Started date swapping with another family. Each couple gets dates. Kids are cared for and well exhausted. No one shells out loads of money for the childcare part. (Can't tell you how exciting this is given we have not been able to find a qualified babysitter for our kid with with profound medical needs.)
4. Make my own coffee and iced tea at home.
5. Bought necessary supplies in great bulk at a local bulk retailer (for 1/2 the cost I can get it elsewhere) before our membership expires so we don't have to renew our membership. Happened that one of the items was also on sale.
Love #2, I'm sure memories were made!
Your #2 & #3 are terrific! We don't have children at home anymore, but these would have been so fun to do!
Wow I like all of your frugal things this week, especially planting the edible plants.
I don't mind eating leftover pizza. I usually just microwave it for a minute or so. Everything tastes good when I'm hungry hehe.
1. We used up the last of our green bean harvest from last year to make up a big batch of Southern Green Beans for a cookout yesterday.
2. Also took some canned applesauce we made from local apples in 2017.
3. I meal planned for the week with what we had on hand and ended up only spending $50 at the grocery store ($20 of that being my husband's cashews. Geesh)
4. We have been throwing our coffee grounds in the garden rather than throwing them away.
5. We did our budget for June, paid ourselves first and have hit our down-payment goal! We are comfortable enough now to officially start looking for homes.
Congratulations on getting your down payment together. That's so exciting. Happy house hunting!
Yes! So great, Savannah!
1. Turned some on-the-verge mango and pineapple into a smoothie, which I froze in small portions to have as a frozen treat now that the weather is FINALLY getting warmer.
2. Reading lots of library books and listening to audiobooks from the library as well. A few weeks ago, I went a little crazy with the library requests, never thinking they'd all come in at once, but they did!
3. The audiobook of _Crazy Rich Asians_ is making yard work more enjoyable. No need to pay someone else to do this! Also, free exercise.
4. Also in the yard, I'm going to move some plants I already have to fill in spaces where other plants have died. I spent $15 on vegetable plants, which should provide me with way more than $15 in food, plus the beans, lettuce and carrots I will grow from seeds I already have.
5. Not buying a new, or even a new-to-me dress for a wedding we are attending this Saturday. I'm not the bride, so no one will be looking at me, and I have plenty of things to wear.
Smoothies are an awesome way to save extra fruit from going to waste. Good for you!
Welcome back!
1. We didn't spend any money going anywhere or having a fancy meal for the holiday weekend. We sat and watched it rain, and rain, and rain, and... well, you get it. Life with T.S. Alberto. We lost power for about 3 hours on Sunday, but no damages in our area.
2. My nice cotton bedspread suddenly started developing holes near the top, right where it covers a pillow when the bed is made, which I do every day. I've stabilized it for now with lightweight interfacing that I dug out of my box of sewing supplies.
3. Since I had a long weekend off from work, I cleaned, pressed, and bagged up clothes for selling to ThredUp. I don't know that they'll accept much of it, but at least shipping is free, and I opted to have the rest donated.
4. I picked and chopped basil -- we grow ours in containers -- and froze it in an ice cube tray for later use. I also sliced and froze some bananas that were on the verge of being overripe.
5. I finished painting and sealing our new-to-us kitchen table. It took a long time, but I'm done with it. Now, onto the chairs.
De-lurking over leftover pizza. I know what you mean about it being less than, and this method has changed my life! Sharing *just in case* you haven’t tried this one 🙂
Place it in a dry frying pan of any size, add the lid, and put heat on very low. Keep heating til its the way you like it, takes a little while for first pan, a little quicker for the subsequent ones, as pan will be already hot. That’s it! With this method, the crust gets crisp, the middle rehydrates, the the top gets melty all over again. Just the best method ever! I used to look forward to buying Costco pizza just to have the leftovers for breakfast.
Yep, that's the method that I like the best. But even so, I'm still a little on the "meh" side.
It's way better than microwaving it, though!
I totally agree. Best method ever.
1) I divided the dog's food into meals so I could see if I could stretch buying more food until next week. Turns out, I had plenty!
2)I did a meal plan for the week!! AND I took inventory of everything before I left for the grocery store. I only spent cash once there and took advantage of store points and the app "Checkout 51"
3) I listed some things on Kijiji to sell.
4) I went through ALL of my rewards cards and cashed in some points for a gift card and also found out I could use some hotel points towards an Amazon purchase. I'll save that for a future gift.
5) We have been eating at home, packing our lunch and making coffee at home.
1) Making pizza instead of ordering pizza for babysitter tonight.
2) Decided to do a date night at home and cook dinner together, with a free (ie - grandma) babysitter for our anniversary.
3) Used a free meal coupon at Chipotle
4) Bought fruit for the week from the discount bin at the store (it's in perfect shape!)
5) Made coffee instead of going out yesterday.
Having good coffee always indoors
Bought shoes for a wedding in charity shop
M
Made onion omelette to use those up
Used cotton bud to get last of foundation out of bottle
Egg white as face mask
1) moved some heavy furniture myself with help from a friend instead of hiring someone to do it -- rental van was less than $100, and definitely worth it.
2) made ahead 3 meals for this week, since I know it will be a busy one. (Chicken enchiladas, ziti with vegetables, chicken tikka masala).
3) didn't go out for any meals over the long weekend, despite the temptation
4) mostly stayed home and got things done over weekend, which leads to having more mental space for frugal activities this week
5) have started to consider Katy's nonconsumer advocate-style reselling efforts, but want to do it in a way that is intentional and doesn't create clutter. There is SO MUCH usable, resellable "heavy trash" furniture in my neighborhood that it makes me a bit ill.
FFT
1. Finished planting my garden which will save us lots of money in groceries throughout the year, as I also do canning (tomatoes, peppers – sweet & hot, okra, cabbage, green beans, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries)
2. Made two batches of homemade strawberry ice cream with berries harvested from the garden
3. Stocked up with on sale boneless chicken breasts from Aldi @ $1.69/pound
4. Made two new recipes for dinners with on-hand ingredients from cookbooks I already own
5. Finished up an audiobook borrowed from Hoopladigital.com (A Year of Less – Caitlin Flanders) and moving on to another free audiobook
These are my favorite posts! I have been slacking a bit, but today's my day for getting back on track for a lot of things. I'm challenging myself to 100 days of productivity (work, health, etc...), so I'm going to include financial stuff, too!
1) I ordered chicken from Zaycon during their $0.99/lb chicken breast sale. Yowza! It'll be here in the fall, so we'll have plenty of time to eat our order that arrives in June.
2) I ordered some clothes on Thredup. I have lost enough weight that I need to downsize (woo-hoo!), but I don't want to spend a fortune on new clothing for what I hope is an in-between size. I also found T-shirts on Zenana Outfitters and got a great deal on some new summer sandals. The sandals were not weight-loss related, just regular wear and tear replacement needed.
3) I water our lawn after dark to make sure we don't lost as much water to evaporation. I never realized how much we'd have to water in SE Texas, but the hot summer make it a necessity. Someday, when we aren't renters, I'd love to explore xeriscaping for our area. I hate dealing with grass!
4) I limited driving by batching errands and increased my tank economy by 5mpg (I track it with an app).
5) I wanted to purchase a book, but instead checked my university library. Surprise! We had an ebook available. I was able to download and print the essential parts of the book.
I forgot to mention that I used your Thredup link! It was better than the other coupon code I had, so winning all around!
Ain't nothin' like leftover pizza. 😉 I admit I love leftovers -- I like to heat them up in the oven for extra crunch.
This week:
1. I harvested seeds from our lettuce plants. We have so much seed that it’ll last us several seasons!
2. Hubs made sauerkraut and pickles this weekend.
3. I made more homemade yogurt and turned a portion of it into yogurt cheese, which I use as a healthy replacement for cream cheese.
4. I got a $6 store credit to ThredUp for sending in some old clothes. I was able to buy a nice piece of secondhand clothing with this credit and a coupon. Woohoo!
5. Our neighbor gave us two pounds of honey from his backyard bees. We’ll use it to make mead.
I love leftovers too
I keep meaning to try that green onion trick.
Let's see . . .
1. I accepted a free 12 oz bag of ground coffee from Einsteins Bagels when I went through the drive-through the other day. Turns out the best by date was last October (I was wondering why they were giving them away!) but I am going to make some cold brew with it anyway and see how it is.
2. I used a friend's code to save $10 on a my first Wal-Mart grocery pick up. I think you can get $10 off your first order anyway, but by using her code we both get a credit. I'm not a fan of Wal Mart's produce so I don't think I will be a regular customer but it is a convenient option.
3. I saved $10 on a Blue Apron box by applying a coupon they sent me by email. Even with the credit, Blue Apron is not exactly frugal but its fun to have once in a while.
4. Oh the big one! I saved $470 on the purchase of a new sofa by waiting for the Memorial Day sale AND asking for an additional discount when I went in the store, which the salesperson readily gave me. Just goes to show how much of a mark-up is built into retail furniture.
5. After backsliding a bit, I have been better about sticking to my meal plan and eating my leftovers this week. Whee!
I’m new or trying to get back into frugal living. My aims are to get a 2nd job to save towards as big a deposit for a house
1.I made sandwiches at home but went to a high street store and purchased crisps & a sandwich (I know..........). I’m going to the grocery store to purchase my weekly shop
I don’t have a list.......
2. I’m also going to make food at home before it goes off........
3. I’m trying to use up everything before purchasing things
4. I’ve stopped buying clothes however I’m spending on little things everyday.........I’m annoyed with myself.
It’s not the conventional list if frugalness however can I use the excuse I’m new to this & it’s hard.....arggggggggg
Thank you
Fina, It can feel hard! Changing habits, especially a lot at once, is a challenge.
Pick out non-financial ways to reward yourself, like publicly posting when things go well. Good luck!
here here, good for you for trying, I think well done for making the sandwiches
1.Planted veggies using the same buckets as last year, adding.....
2. The soil I got on sale and sent in the $15 rebate.
3. We used a few containers of frozen baked beans for our holiday meal
4. My husband fixed the smashed end of our garden hose instead of buying a new one.
5. Replanted my parsley that I overwintered outside. Yay! I didn’t kill it and my dog only ate a little. Lol. 😉
Your #4 reminds me that my husband also repaired a hose so we didn't have to buy a new one. Yay for handy housemates!
1, Made homemade chocolate pudding from scratch last week and saved all the whites.... used the egg whites to make a mock angel food!
2, Kids tossed all their partially used notebooks and school supplies into my bin so I will use those for work and then back to school in September! lol
3, Stopped by Rite Aid for the Kotex b2get1 free deal.. used a $3 off coupon and a $1 coupon that was on the package... Saw laundry pods on sale and used $2 off coupons on those.. Then saw 2 Splenda boxes on 75% off mark down.. when she rung it up the machine spit out a $2 off 2 boxes coupon!! I also made $2.00 in Rite Aid dollars!
4, Cooking dinner when I am just uninspired and just don't wanna!
5, Remembered to return a item to Kohls!!
Wow! Homemade chocolate pudding sounds wonderful. Although I cook a lot, that's something I've never made.
It's actually not super complicated! Here's an easy recipe: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2011/09/how-to-make-chocolate-pudding-from-scratch/
I was really unhappy with commercial deodorants because I'm sensitive to fragrances, and even the so-called "unscented" varieties have FRAGRANCE in their ingredients! But the so-called natural ones really irritated my skin (and most still had fragrance). So I bought a deodorant crystal and that was much better--for $5 it lasted about 3 years. But an ingredient of suspicion in deodorants is aluminum, and it turns out those crystals are aluminum crystals. Sheesh. Now I am using a pink salt crystal. I bought it for about $11 on Amazon and it is the shape and size of a bar of soap. To use it, I wet one end and rub it under my clean underarms. I'm careful to dry it off afterward because if I don't, then the salt on the surface of the bar crystalizes and it's like rubbing glass on your underarms next time (I have used a nail file to file down some of those crystals!). Although it seems pricey, very little gets used, so I expect this bar to last many years--and no plastic waste besides. It seems to work really well and doesn't leave any residue. The only problem I have had is that it looks weird on X-rays at the airport and I've had TSA agents make me take it out to inspect it--I carry it in a plastic soap dish.
My frugal thing is something I started recently. I am buying nearly all of my groceries in one day right at the beginning of the month. We have three boys that eat a ton and I work part-time and those two things combined means we are always out of things they recognize as food. The items to make soup, for example, are there but the 9 year old isn't able to deal with that on his own yet. So...I started filling the house with a month's worth of granola bars, yogurt, fruit, (except bananas and berries, of course) hummus, veggies, and all the things I needed to make meals. It runs about $530-550 to do that and then throughout the month I replenish the milk, lettuces, berries and bananas, mainly, and pick up perhaps an ingredient I am out of. I was impulse buying much, much more than I thought and this has nearly eliminated that, saving us around $300 a month in "that looks yummy" and "are we out of that?" and "maybe I will make this tonight instead but I need literally EVERY SINGLE INGREDIENT". In short, I have been shopping like an idiot and didn't realize it. I will still spend about $150-$200 this month in milk and perishables, but this is a big improvement. I'm too impulsive to go to the store two times a week. End of story. This one frugal choice is such a big change I am just leaving it as my only frugal thing today. LOL We still won't be able to spend just $150 a week. The boys eat too much for that. This is much better, though, and I will be able to invest more. I'm thrilled!
That sounds like an awesome plan!
So helpful when you can recognize what works for you that's awesome & thank you for sharing
It was a busy 3 day weekend!
1. Reorganized the clothing in the boys (7, 10) closets for summer and on into fall.
2. Donated a bag of clothing from closet cleanout. Shipped a box of clothing to a friend whose grandson is 3 and will grow into the 5's and 6's that were included.
3. Meal planned for 8 days out.
4. Used some fruit in a smoothie rather than waste it.
5. I got lucky and found 2 quarters on the ground.
1. My sister brought lobster and steaks over for my birthday dinner. Hubby grilled them with corn on the cob that I got on sale for 10 for $2 and the kids did the dishes.
2. Went to a friends house for Memorial Day. Made a chick pea salad https://mcoia.blogspot.com/2018/05/chick-pea-salad.html and an apple cake spending less then $4 total. They were both hits.
3. Received usable and edible gifts for my birthday. My favorite kind.
4. Hung laundry outside on this beautiful day.
5. Eating leftovers for lunch and dinner. Ate bagels for breakfast that my son brought home from work.
1.) Worked overtime last week and will be working overtime this week. Yay /sarcasm
2.) Wrote a huge check for two garage door replacements that didn't come from a loan but from savings.
3.) Went to some garage sales over the long weekend and got some nice stuff for cheap. I also didn't go wild and buy a bunch of stuff I didn't need.
4.) Found my daughter a cute dress for cheap.
5.) Been watching things on Netflix, Amazon, YouTube etc. or that I already own instead of seeking out new stuff to watch.
I helped my dad put a small garden in as he loves fresh tomatoes and a friend of my brothers had started his from seeds and had to many so he gave them away.
We went to several parties over the long weekend and brought home enough leftovers for several days for lunch and dinner.
My hubby helped a lady buying bags of mulch at Lowes by loading them onto our cart and taking them to her car, she was so kind and paid for our mulch for us.
Someone was throwing out a fire pit and we were looking for one.
Throwing a handful of items in my brothers garage sale this weekend, his daughter is moving to Phoenix and rather then move her stuff she is selling most of it.
1. I peeled and cut up 2 lbs of carrots (89cents) instead of buying baby carrots.
2. I cooked some dry pinto beans and froze the extras.
3. We finished planting our garden tonight! Most of the plants we started indoors are looking soooo good!!!
4. I super-glued a part of my kid's shoe that was falling apart. I bought them at a yard sale and now that I cut off the frayed string and glued the velcro part back together it looks just fine.
5. I resisted buying a cute muslin wearable blanket from Aldi. I'm 35 weeks pregnant and the wearable blanket is a great price, way cute, and I love all things Aldi. BUT, I don't yet know if she'll prefer being swaddled or having her hands/arms free, so I resisted. My, my, how Aldi tests my self-control!
Hey, y'all! I'm new here, and this isn't a great week to start, but what the heck.
1. Didn't go grocery shopping for this week. My hub and I will eat out of the fridge, freezer and garden. Can you say tomatoes are ready??
2. Took my lunch all but one day last week.
3. Ordered some stuff from Amazon (maybe not so frugal but time is money too in my house) BUT we used the slow delivery option (we have a family Prime account), which earned us credits towards books and audio books on Amazon.
4. Ate in every night last week even though Hub and I both got home after 8 p.m. several nights. The urge to grab something out is strong in me on those nights, I'm tellin' ya.
5. While traveling this weekend I read Kindle books I had stored up that were purchased via the Book Bub website so they were cheap (less than $2 per).
Welcome to the Frugal Girl community! So glad to have you.
1. Bought a child seat for my bike for $10! It’s in great condition and they are $75 new.
2. Used groceries I already had plus what’s coming up in the garden to make everything we took to two dinners over the holiday weekend.
3. Used garlic scapes from the garden for the first time. They made yummy pesto!
4. Took advantage of Memorial Day sales to stock up on kids tennis shoes and socks.
5. Made my son a costume for the upcoming parade completely out of stash fabric.
Filed my wrongful foreclosure
Lawsuit on Wells Fargo
11c mi to drive to Tx n back
Filed claim on Sun Communities
for seizing and selling my
Mobile home over a 34.00 late
Chg on a 44.00 WATER BILL
Yay for you keeping plants alive! We're trying window flower boxes this year, even though we don't have much a green thumb:)
1. Our Memorial Day was pretty free, just an afternoon at the splash pad, grilling at dinner and writing soldiers from DIY cards.
2. Joined the library summer reading program & the whole family gets prizes along the way.
3. Ate leftovers of a soup that wasn't so great as a leftover:)
4. My girls don't eat crust on their sandwiches, so I started saving crusts for French toast.
5. Can't think of another!
Leftover pizza? What's that?
1.) The husband is out of town all week, so I've been eating out of the fridge.
2.) My Bible study group always goes to lunch afterward - we're the queens of coupons, lunch specials, and senior discounts.
3.) We were way out of town for a family graduation & party over the weekend. Used hotel points for a night on a VERY comfortable bed (thank you, Holiday Inn Express), which allowed us to give our grad a nice cash gift. And our son took care of the dogs overnight, so no pet sitter.
4.) I'm making the big move today, and canceling our cable TV. My husband is retiring in July, and we need to cut back wherever we can. We'll keep just the internet, and watch from there. I'll definitely miss my Food Network and Hallmark Channel. And the old reruns on AntennaTV. *sigh*
5.) Made a pot of rice & vegetables to mix with the dog's kibble. They think that's pretty special, and a nice change from canned dog food.
Oh, and I bought the $.99 a pound chicken from Zaycon, which will be here in October. A good time to can it.
Just found this group and I'm ready to "jump in" - I've always been somewhat frugal but lately things have been spiraling out of control. Need to be held accountable - so thanks for letting me join your group.
I just found your blog a few days ago!! I love the concept of living with less, and I have done many things over the years that have helped some, but committing completely has been hard.
For the foreseeable future, my goal is to reduce wasteful spending and use what I have! My five frugal things are basic right now and include:
1. Making my coffee at home (I love Starbucks, but it costs too much)
2. Taking leftovers to work for lunch
3. When berries start to get a little mushy, I freeze them for smoothies (they aren't cheap, and throwing them away makes me sad...
4. More meal planning = less dining out during the week
5. I have subscribed to or joined rewards programs at local stores. Walmart Savings Catcher, Ibotta, and Safeway Rewards are my favorites!!
Welcome, welcome! So glad to have you here.
Coffee at home is SO much cheaper, even if you buy the Starbucks beans at the store. Good for you!
I reheat pizza as a work lunch sometimes by sandwiching together two pieces so the bread is on the outside top & bottom, I wrap it in baking paper & reheat it in the sandwich press; i love it.
I have struggled with frugality the last month with all the stuff I've had going on but here goes:
1. Made myself cook a lamb roast with vegies when I really didn't wanna
2. Used some jerusalem artichokes a friend gave me out of her garden in the roast
3. Bought the cheaper tissues on sale instead of my usual brand
4. Pay bills out of savings
5. Cut my thai takeaway in half last night before eating any & put half in the fridge for tonight; saves some money & my waistline as I really don't need the whole serve in one go.