Five Frugal Things | When in doubt, buy a mirror
1. I bought a round mirror on FB Marketplace
I'd been wanting a round mirror to hang in my office because the walls are awfully empty in here.
And when I don't know what to do with a wall, I usually buy a mirror. Or a clock.Ha.
Even at Target, these things sell for $70, and at a lot of other places, they are $150 or more.
That was a little steep for me, so I looked on Facebook Marketplace and found one for $15. Yay!
Now I just need to pop by Home Depot to get a hanger for it.
2. I got $15 worth of bagels for almost free
Zoe really likes Panera's cinnamon crunch bagels, so on her birthday, I stopped in and redeemed a $15 Panera reward and paid $0.96 for ten bagels.
I don't really know how I got the $15 reward, but it was in my app. Sweet.
3. I got free cream cheese and marked-down rice cakes at Safeway
Safeway is expensive, yes, but sometimes I get good deals there!
I had a reward in my app for free cream cheese, and of course, while I was in the store, I took a glance at the mark-down rack and found a bag of chocolate rice cakes marked down to $1.50.
Yes, please.
I also noticed that the Safeway brand of butter was $3.49/pound, which is actually a good price at this point in time! Of late, it's been more expensive than that even at Sam's Club and Aldi.
4. I inadvertently got a discount on a ski rental
I don't deserve credit for this, but it did save me money!
I rented skis and boots for four days, and unbeknownst to me, you get the fourth day free.
Then when I was checking out, the guy said, "Are you staying at the Marriott resort nearby? Because that can get you 10% off."
I said, "I'm staying at a condo further up the mountain, so nope!"
And he said, "Actually, I heard you say yes. Here's 10% off."
So I just said, "Thank you." 🙂
And I didn't feel guilty because it's not like I lied! I told him exactly where I was staying.
5. I did a post-trip food rescue
I took inventory of the food situation yesterday for the first time since getting home, and I:
- made a pot of this butternut squash soup to use up a huge squash with a bad spot
- refreshed some Romaine lettuce in cold water
- sliced up a cucumber
- sauteed and froze some bendable celery
- froze some slightly "off" heavy cream to add to bread the next time I make a batch
I do the same thing with empty walls 🙂
1. The nearest supermarket has added a with a stand of not so nice fruit and vegetables that sells for $1 for a kilo. Got heaps of ecological lemons, mushrooms, spring unions and a salad for $2.
2. Sold the last small weaving loom. Bought it used myself and sold it for a $30 profit.
3. Accidentally found a half price sale on my favorite knee high wool socks (Corrymoor mohair socks from the UK). Underwear is excluded from my shopping ban, so now with four pairs bought I’m set for years to come.
4. Froze leftovers for future meals and dragged myself to the kitchen the day I was so tired after cleaning out the old sewing room and just wanted to get pizza. But now the room is empty and my partner has started tearing the old interior down. Hopefully the last winter with renovations!
5. Had a big “flee market” sale on fb. Listed a bunch of things for $2 each and met my sale goal of $40. When I do this I take one quick picture of each thing in my hand for size reference, pre-payment via the mobile and I leave the things on my porch in a plastic bag with name tag on. If not collected in a week I donate the things to The Salvation Army, as stated in my listing. Quick and easy, well worth the $40 for me.
@Gunn from Northern Norway, I never heard of a "flee market" sale, but I love your tactics! This would be a great thing for me to do here in Central Texas. (We also have a Salv. Army here.) Thank you for sharing!
@Gunn from Northern Norway, That sounds terrific. That sounds just my speed, as someone who finds the selling process onerous.
Aww ... nice guy at the ski place!
Your ski one reminds me about our big frugal win on our recent trip. We'd had a very early breakfast on a big driving day, and around 9 a. m., folks were getting hungry. We thought something warm sounded good, so we stopped at a Burger King for a breakfast sandwich. We decided on bacon, egg, and cheese croissants for the 6 of us. The young lady who rang us up asked, "Is it okay if I ring up each sandwich separately so I can use these coupons I have so you can get them for $1 each?" Um, save at least $24? Yes!
This week:
*I cooked a stored pumpkin from our garden to make pumpkin pie.
*We butchered with friends and gratefully accepted their gifts of pork and pork products.
*We asked for bones and broth from the butchering and made more broth and canned broth. I've never used pork broth, but I'm planning to use it for stir-fry-like applications. Any other suggestions?
*We cooked up beef bones for broth. . . and canned. (Lots of broth this week!)
*I needed some fresh vegetables to eat, but I didn't need anything specific. So I went to the store and bought what was on sale and looked good.
@Jody S., For the pork broth: Ramen, pork stew with green chiles (or red chiles), goulash, pork and sauerkraut stew . . . lots of options.
@Jody S., I just used pork broth in a ham chowder. It didn't make a difference in the flavor to us!
@kristin @ going country, Thank you! I think the Ramen sounds yummy; I like to make Ramen when we have lots of little leftovers to add to individual bowls.
@Lisa, Thank you! I'll bet the ham flavored it nicely.
@Jody S., pork broth tends to be a bit sweet, compared to beef or chicken. I use it mostly with beans and usually add some vinegar or hot sauce to complement the sweetness.
@WilliamB, Thanks for the tips. I really have never used it...other than ham broth, and I don't think that counts.
1. I agree, Safeway is crazy expensive. However, this week they offered $5 off on a $5 order. They also had bags of Sumo Citrus on sale for $2.99. Since I was near there I stopped to get two bags of the citrus (the limit) and it was $.98 out of pocket.
2. I am currently marinating chicken breasts in a marinade intended for turkey chops. There was some cranberry juice languishing in the refrigerator so that was the impetus for that decision. The chicken will be baked before I am away much of the morning so I'll have some nice chicken for my lunch. I covered the baking dish with a piece of aluminum foil I used twice before. I stored it in the freeze between uses and it's getting ratty so I'll recycle it after today.
3. I submitted our federal and state income taxes. I used a copy of Turbo Tax Premier that I bought on sale online from Target. Part of the purchase price was paid for with a gift card earned by shopping through Top Cash Back (a rebate site). I will share a copy of Turbo Tax with our daughter. I filed the state return through the state website since they offer free e-filing regardless of income.
4. I snagged some 60% and 75% off snack bars at Giant. DH shared them at work.
5. I gave away some non-stick skillets, on Freecycle, that a neighbor no longer wanted. They went to someone that said they could really use them.
@K D, Thanks for the tip on Sumo Citrus. I feel like I've gotten a decent deal if I pay $2 each! I'm going to Safeway today.
@WilliamB,
They cost $2.50 each in my neck of the woods, and they sell them individually, not by the bag. It's times like these that I wish I had a Safeway nearby!
@K D, I am thrilled that you are bringing attention to Sumos! A close friend is one of the main farm advisors to Sumo growers, and we LOVE it when he brings us a bag or box of them. They are just magical.
FFT, Spendy Frugality Edition
Not Frugal Fails so much as “Yikes 2023, that’s enough, please and thank you!”
—ORKIN came and went $5k+ richer thanks to the double whammy of a tiny bat family AND a tiny termite family. Our installation tech was thankfully kind, didn’t upsell, and showed me where and what he did in addition to promptly sending written reports of the same. We even received extra interior bait boxes for the termites, as I requested the max we could have installed without costing more. For $5k+, I want ALL the boxes, never mind our modest square footage! The bats were humanely relocated, which makes me happy; the termites can just &*#*$(#$#. (We caught the signs so early that there doesn’t seem to be any damage, thank goodness!)
—ORKIN’s financing options were laughably predatory—as in, an additional $3k for the privilege of owing them money in the first place! Nope, nope, and nope. We arranged a small loan with our credit union instead, as we weren’t comfortable taking $5k+ out of savings. We’ll power pay the loan off, starting with our tax return (already filed and received), and further polish our credit along the way. This loan is our only debt, and debts drive me crazy, so I’m hoping to have this wiped out by the end of the year.
—We paid ORKIN off with our credit card, then used the aforementioned loan to immediately pay off that amount. At least we’ll get some cash back points out of this nonsense!
—We paid our very first property taxes in full (<$400) just to have them out if the way and off our mind for 2023, especially with how weird/busy/pricy it has been already! Even so, I know we’re fortunate to have our taxes so low—yay, country living! Since buying within our means priced us out of the city, we pivoted to a village and are so glad we did. Indeed, our entire fungal journey centers on a willingness to pivot so that we can still get what we want, albeit in a roundabout way!
—Our house came with a hollow core back door that was an absolute joke in winter. Thankfully it leads to a mudroom and a heavy-duty door on the adjoining kitchen. While no heat was lost in the house thanks to the kitchen door, that didn’t make the hollow core door less crappy/warped. Even locked, it would blow open in high wind, and the mudroom (where my husband’s work gear and the deep freezer live) was always the same temperature as outside. We also use this as our main door, so it was a daily irritation. We searched high and low at Habitat Restore and the like for a used door that fit the oddly-sized opening but to no avail—-no doubt that's why the hollow core door was cut (poorly) to size to begin with. Thus, our minor tax return treat to ourselves was paying a local handyman $200 to make and install a custom solid pine door. (The rest of our refund went toward the ORKIN loan, as mentioned above.) While it’s more than we wanted to spend, the door is gorgeous, mighty, and has already made a 20+ degree difference in temperature. We appreciate the bonus of directly supporting a neighbor and his family; we will have him over for other projects once we’ve recovered more from ORKIN!
@N, Yikes, that is a dramatic financial beginning to your year. We had a nesting colony of bats--hundreds of them--that lived in the attic of our historic home. The estimate I got to remove them and make the attic bat-proof (this was in 2007) was around $10,000. I wasn't convinced it could be made bat-proof, and anyway we didn't have that much money, so we decided to live with the bats and enjoy our mosquito-free property. Less than five years later, they were all wiped out in the white-nose epidemic that killed so many bats in the east, and I found I sort of missed them. They're starting to recover now, though.
Oh wow. 5K!!! Yikes.
I hope you have a niiiiiice long break before you need to see the Orkin man again!
@N, Good idea for the door. My kitchen door (out to the unheated garage) is a hollow wood door, so it's on the list for replacement this summer. I've also found that the cabinets and broom closet on that wall (adjoining the garage) are "refrigerated storage" during the winter months. I'm thinking I'll have to have insulation blown in, but I have to do a cost benefit analysis before I spend that kind of money. Unfortunately, your termites won't sit around waiting for you to do any kind of analysis, so you've spent your redecorating $$ for a while. Insulation is not a sexy home repair!
@N, Termites are the WORST. We had some in a house we were renting out, and didn't realize it had termites until the tenants asked about it. Shelled out 1K for treatment and prevention. Luckily I had just won that exact amount in a writing contest, but man it was a bummer to use that money for something so not-fun as termite treatment.
@Kristen, We get an inspection/check up every quarter as part of the sticker price, with any additional measures (of which there had better not be any needed!) included in that. Since our house is so small, our garage and shed also received preventative treatment. Our termites and bats are apparently refugees from our neighbors across the street, who had the same problem last year and paid $13k+!!! They have a much larger house, but still, damn.
@kristin @ going country, wow, you are one kind woman to live daily with hundreds of bats.
@Anne, Well, I did avoid the attic where the bats were, and I don't miss finding bats in my kitchen or washing machine (!), but yes, I think I would probably be considered somewhat unusual in my ability to live with things most people wouldn't. 🙂
Hooray for no food waste - repurposing is the way to go! I feel like not a lot of thrift has happened here recently.
*Two weeks after the ice storm I noticed dead and dangling limbs and branches in my big oak tree, not to mention one grazing the side of the chimney, so $300 later, the problem is resolved by way of my friendly neighbor's yard guy. He was quick, stacked the limbs neatly for the city to haul away, and very thorough. I'm sure the tree company would have charged so much more - good thing they did not return my call.
*check engine light on in the truck I just bought $973 of new tires for. Hopefully Firstborn can change out a sensor for $ instead of $$. Will take it by his shop next weekend.
*Will likely end February with a total grocery shopping bill of $204 for the month, and though its hard to want to cook every night, I'm happy to be reigning in the grocery spending.
*bought my mother a new ironing board cover using Cap One credits on my Amazon account and took advantage of a free prime trial so it cost zero dollars and she was thrilled.
@gina, sometimes that check engine light is because you didn't turn your fuel tank cap until it clicked. annoying but true, I have a car that does that and needs to be reset. my local garage likes me so does it when I ask them to and I HAVE learned, but anyone who fills the tank usually has to make the mistake, once, and resolve it before they remember to listen for the click
Its my birthday month so lots of goodies in my email.
~went errand running for work ON work time since we were fully staffed. Stopped at Einsteins and got a free bagel sandwich with purchase and since my head was pounding that fountain Coke was perfect!
~went to texas road house for birthday supper and used my Free Birthday app.
~Got my Free Starbucks- but since it was almost 7pm I got a trenta peach iced tea and tossed it into the fridge! It was so sweet- too sweet I cut it with my homebrew and enjoyed it all day! lol
Work enjoys ANY reason for a food party so I arrived last Thursday to a "Yo Girl, its your birthday, Yogurt bar"-lolol We left all the granola in the office for future yogurt toppings but I came home with other leftovers to avoid waste.. Kids and I have been enjoying leftover berries all weekend. I tossed bags of coconut and chocolate chips in the freezer for future baking.
Today I am taking a dessert to work- frugal yummy. I found 2 bottles of syrup in the fridge at work from our National Hot Chocolate day. Caramel and chocolate. My friend had brought a bunch of pantry staples from home trying to purge so I grabbed the bottles and her devils food cake. I bought a tub of cool whip and a bag of toffee chips.. Made a
version of this recipe
https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/7515/better-than-sex-cake-ii/
and taking it into the office!
And the least exciting frugal-ish benefit.. Properly handled car insurance. We were victims of hit and run over the weekend.. On the exterior there is mild damage so it looks minimal. car seemed drivable so we did what we needed over the weekend. we were concerned about what we could not see and when they body shop owner crawled under the car he just told us he was not letting us leave with the vehicle cause the damage underneath WAS more than we realized. Thankful we went with the agent recommended local business too when I was starting to try to figure out who I was calling for a ride (local business still not conveniently located to us!lol) and the guy told us he could handle our rental also. Took some info from us, called the assessor/enterprise for approval info and sent us on our way in a car much smaller than we are used to, but nothing additional out of our pocket! Sucky situation all around but grateful for the ease of transition.
Ugh, so sorry to hear of the hit and run. Thank goodness you are getting it fixed, though.
@jes, My Not Frugal Today But Perhaps In The Future item is car insurance. Last November I replaced my 25-year old station wagon with a new-to-me used RAV4 and asked my long-time insurance agent to adjust my insurance policy. Was happy there wasn't much of a bump in the premium. But last week I suddenly/belatedly remembered that I had dropped the collision/comprehensive coverage for the old car because its blue book value was less than my deductible. Had we put the collision/comprehensive coverage back in for the new-to-me car? We had not! So a quick call to my agent got that taken care of. And it's only another $20/month because I pay on an annual basis with a bunch of other credits and bundle with my homeowners coverage. I never had a claim in the 25 years I had the old car, and hope to never have a claim on this car, but ... Really?! Peace of mind for $20/month is well worth it.
@jes, A yogurt bar is such a cool idea! Now my wheels are turning for the next brunch I attend...
@JDinNM,
So glad to hear you remembered that and made that change! Some days adulting is hard and juggling all the little pieces can get overwhelming! My husband was acting slightly irritated that the rental was a smaller car than our Traverse. I explained that I only paid insurance for the smaller vehicle! lol When we no longer needed to be prepared for a vehicle large enough for 3 car seats, I changed my options. I was not paying more in insurance for a larger vehicle we may never need. The car is adequate and will do! lol (We are both taller/bigger people so ask me again in a week or so! lol)
It's been a very expensive month for us, so I'm going to try to put a positive spin on what did work out for us this week. Frugal wins this week include:
1. We ate dinner at home every night last week and packed all out lunches.
2. Returned some refrigerator parts and got a $100.00 refund.
3. Occasionally, we take our young nieces to church with us and then out to brunch. This Sunday, we saved and purchased a Sam's Club pizza and added a salad and drinks at home for the girls which cost less than the cost of 1 brunch meal.
4. Used a gift certificates to get a facial. Only out of pocket costs was for tip.
5. Received a lovely crock of homemade chili from my sister on Saturday and turned it into two full dinners by adding rice/green peppers and salad.
FFT, More Fails Than Wins (cont. from yesterday's FFT at the NCA):
(6) I've laundered the Salvation Army "tankini" bathing suit (mentioned in #5 at the NCA) and tried it on. So far, it's a qualified success: It fits all right and holds up all the necessary parts; I just don't like how I look in it. 🙁 But it'll do for those rare occasions when I do venture near a pool or a body of water.
(7) Forgot to mention yesterday that I got busy Friday (when I started to feel a little better) and did a few small around-the-house FTs: I mixed up a container of Dijon vinaigrette salad dressing, and brewed myself another batch of tea. Given the price of soda these days (not to mention the sodium content, which isn't good for my BP), plus the amount of tea I have on hand, I'm trying to convert myself to iced tea from Diet Pepsi.
(8) Also forgot to mention that the Bestest Neighbors (who, like me, are trying to sneak more greens into their diets) gave me parts of big bags of kale, cilantro, and spinach. I'm going to put some of the kale into a "creamy tomato mushroom pasta" dish I'm concocting tonight (recipe off a site called Last Ingredient) to use up various things in pantry and fridge.
Th-th-that's all for now, friends.
Big bags of greens are so hard to use if you are feeding only yourself; what a nice thing that your neighbors are sharing with you!
@A. Marie, what a nice surprise - I was behind on my NCA reading. Congratulations on finding a reasonably priced Tankini bathing suit! Those never wear out. I have alternated between two, a larger and a smaller, for most of my adult life. I like wearing them with light weight nylon capris, to hide my less than firm thighs.
I'm convinced that Diet Pepsi has a mystery ingredient that causes addiction. During my working days, I looked forward to 2 pm when I would take a break to enjoy a diet soda. Soon it grew to include weekends. After years of this delicious habit, I started waking up in the morning wanting a Diet Pepsi. Recognizing a growing addiction, I decided to go cold turkey. It took months to not think (obsess) fondly of my old habit. However, now I can have one or two a month and they really don't taste as good as a cup of tea. Hang in there, you've got this!
@A. Marie, Don't know if this would work for you, but I buy bags of chopped Kale from Aldi's and immediately toss them in the freezer. Then, when I have whatever veggie soup I made that week, I grab a handful of kale and add it to the individual bowl. It wilts quickly in the hot soup, but doesn't get all yukky as if I had added it to the entire pot that I eat off for several days. Gets my greens in painlessly and in the portion sizes I want.
@Stephanie D, What a great idea! This never occurred to me. I'm stealing this one.
@Kristen, When I find myself with too many greens I usually blend them up and make a pesto. You can use a variety of nuts, cheese, oils, etc. Really whatever you have and like and make a nice sauce for pasta.
@Elaine N, I was seriously addicted to Diet Pepsi in high school and college. (I can honestly blame my parents; they loved the stuff and always had it on hand, and even sent me to college with a small fridge and flats of cans from Sam's Club!). I didn't like coffee and used D.P for my caffeine fix. I was up to 10-12 cans a day until I decided to wean myself off. The headaches from the withdrawal, OY. I realized over time it was the bubbles I really liked, and now enjoy an unsweetened seltzer once a day. Club soda with lime is my absolute favorite, but that's fairly high in sodium, so it's an occasional treat.
@A. Marie,
I put a big handful of kale (or other greens) into my morning smoothie each day. It disappears in there in the form of little green specks, doesn’t alter the taste of the strawberries or other frozen fruit at all.
And I’m right there with you in making my own salad dressings. Store-bought ones taste like chemicals after you’ve made your own. Vinaigrette, ranch, carrot-ginger (like the one you get in Japanese restaurants), and many others you can customize to your liking, take about 5 minutes to make.
@A. Marie,
FYI, Diet Pepsi isn't particularly high in sodium (about 35 mg. in 8 ounces), unless you drink a LOT of it. Still, I applaud your efforts to stop drinking it. I stopped drinking diet pop a few years ago in favor of plain (or fruit flavored unsweetened) seltzer water. I really don't miss it. My DH, on the other hand, has a terrible addiction to Diet Mountain Dew, and Diet A & W root beer. No amount of discussion, sharing of research suggesting that it's not good for him, etc., has been able to change it. He has tried so many times to kick this habit, to no avail. Not even the crazy high prices right now have deterred him.
@Liz B., My dad wasn't deterred from his Diet Pepsi habit even when I told him that the aspartame breaks down into methanol, which then breaks down into formadelhyde in your body...he just said, "Welp, less work for the undertaker!" *eyeroll*
@Karen A.,
At least he had a sense of humor about it! Totally with you on the eyerolls....especially when my DH told me, "I just read that diet soda is bad for you!". Ummm, what have I been telling you *for years*? (Major eyeroll)
@A. Marie, I realized I don't like kale raw but I like it in a stir fry. It is great that there are ways to get the greens in the meals besides a raw salad.
@Stephanie D, great idea.
@Karen A.,
If you switch the club soda to seltzer, there's no sodium.
Just one notable one this week, although it was a funny one.
My son went to the state FFA (Future Farmers of America) speech finals in Las Cruces with his school FFA group this past weekend. He already had all the FFA uniform things he needed, which included a white button-up shirt and black dress pants and shoes that were all purchased from online consignment stores. But he told me the day before he was supposed to leave that travel attire for FFA trips is "business casual."
I had to laugh at that, because what does that even mean anymore? I was also kind of annoyed, as we can't just go to a store for last-minute purchases. He didn't know himself, though, since this is his first year in FFA. So I started digging to find a remotely appropriate outfit.
From the storage bag in my daughter's room that holds clothes meant for handing to the next child, I found a pair of khaki pants that still fit him. He just doesn't wear khakis, so I had put them away for one of his brothers.
He has several button-up shirts that are technically Western shirts he uses for outdoor work, but we found one in good condition that was passable when ironed. (My favorite thing about FFA so far is that they have to iron their clothes really well. I hate ironing, so I had to be forced into teaching him, but I'm glad he knows how now.)
It was too cold to go in just a thin shirt, though, and he doesn't have any nice jackets or sweaters. I, however, have a really nice V-neck Merino wool Banana Republic sweater that I bought a few years ago for myself--used, of course--that happens to be a men's size medium. He had to roll the cuffs, but it fit otherwise.
Last, the shoes. Not a lot of options for these, because he exclusively wears sports shoes or western boots. Good thing this is New Mexico! Western boots (known as cowboy boots to everyone else, but my sons informed me NO ONE says that here 🙂 are all-occasion attire here. His were pretty scuffed, so he rubbed them down with olive oil to make them more presentable.
I don't know if it was true "busniess casual," but he did look very nice in the end. And I didn't buy a thing. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, That is no small feat, outfitting somebody out of what you've got on hand! Well done.
@kristin @ going country, Here in Texas, FFA members used to have blue corduroy jackets embroidered with their names in gold thread and decorated with the FFA symbol. Are they no longer handing out those uniforms? Because they look like they'd be really warm.
@Fru-gal Lisa, Yes, that's the uniform for the competition, and our school supplied that. But the traveling clothes are different and have to be supplied by the students.
I salute you, Kristin! This is very impressive.
@kristin @ going country, Hah! "Business casual" in NM is just wearing pants and a shirt. I moved from Philadelphia to NM years ago but still remember the first time I went to a classical music/symphony concert here. I wore what I would have worn in Philadelphia on a Saturday night: dress, jewelry, heels. To say I was overdressed would be such an understatement. Formal dress apparently means wearing a bolo tie and swapping out the baseball cap for a stetson. I've come to love it, but still have a commemorative Yves St. Laurent black wool pencil skirt hanging in the back of my closet. Just for nostalgia.
@JDinNM, I went to a wedding once in rural Washington State. Boy, you could tell the difference between the Easteners and the Westerners. I was wearing a long silk dress and Stuart Weitzman silver sandals; the Westerners wore sneakers and denim jackets.
@Rose, You can also tell a difference, usually, between rural and urban. I bet if you had gone to that wedding in Seattle rather than rural Washington, the difference wouldn't have been as noticeable. I myself am happy to have left behind Eastern urban dressing. 🙂
@kristin @ going country, so true,we live in farm country in Illinois&jeans are worn everywhere. Y husband loves it as his idea of dress clothes is his flannel shirt instead of tee or sweat shirt.
@Rose, living in the Midwest, the difference between country formal vs. city formal is noticeable less than an hour in either direction. Though we didn’t move far, we’re now firmly in country formal territory, where one’s “good jeans” are often enough. I am half country mouse, half city mouse, so I can switch modes as needed; my husband is full-on big city mouse and is still adapting to not needing a suit and tie for events.
Husband, a few years before we moved, watching me pack for a family event several hours away: “Wait, where are your nice clothes? It’s your brother’s college graduation!”
Me: “I did pack nice clothes—my good jeans and a blouse.”
Husband: “But it’s—oh, right, Wyoming.”
Husband, after we found our country home and on the verge of attending a local event: “This is ‘good jeans’ formal, right?” 😛
Lots of frugality this week for me.
1. I went through my house and found a pile of books and things to list on eBay and Marketplace. So far I sold some kids' book series and have earned $100 so far.
2. I conserved resources by mending a hole in my daughter's coat, eating leftovers, reusing packaging, borrowing board games and books from the library. (With four voracious reader kids, we routinely have 80-100 books checked out!)
3. I got a nice backpack for my son on Buy Nothing and a standing globe too. And a free bag of coffee!
4. I found an extra large bottle of shampoo on markdown for 73 cents. And a 50% off bag of valentine Hershey's kisses.
5. My husband had forgotten about a Menards certificate voucher from 2016 sitting in his glove box. I rescued it and used the $16 to buy snacks for an upcoming family trip. (Who knew Menards has a grocery section?!)
1. I needed tomato paste for the hamburger stew my oldest son was going to make, but instead we got tomato sauce. I told him to use it anyway, and IMO it was just fine, better in fact. I froze the rest in an ice cube tray, and we'll use that up.
2. Just because we have a lovely new dryer is no reason to go crazy. I still set up the indoor clothesline and dry our towels at night with a fan in the laundry room. It saves over running the dryer every night, and the towels don't get mildewy and gross. Six people taking baths and showers and small bathrooms with no ventilation=gross towels if you're not careful.
3. Gave everyone home haircuts, one of my favorite frugal activities. Not only is everyone neat and tidy, it saves a whompload of money over the years. I keep telling my oldest that it would not offend me one bit if he decided he wanted a different cut and to go to a barber, but he said, "Oh, no, you are the only person I trust with sharp scissors near my ears!" Aw.
4. Gave myself a home haircut, after debating going to a salon to get my outgrown pixie mullet trimmed finally, but I decided I couldn't be bothered and hacked it off myself. To my surprise, it turned out fine! It's been a year and three months since my last professional cut; I may be able to hold out until my birthday this summer.
5. Reading a library book by Will Cuppy, a fantastically underappreciated humorist, and found this quote: "My riches consist not in the extent of my possessions, but in the fewness of my wants."--attributed to J. Brotherton, according to Cuppy
1. Got a bag of sweet mini peppers on the marked down shelf at the supermarket for $0.37. I can't see anything wrong with them!
2. We received a check from our mortgage company refunding the overage of our escrow account, a little over $200. We plan to put it directly back towards our principal balance.
3. Utilized public school transportation to our kids private school, which is offered even when the public school is off.
4. Packed a lunch and went to a playground near the kids school on a particularly nice day last week. A few other families joined so it was a cheap fun playdate!
5. Made coffee at home, packed kids and hubby's lunches, gratefully accepted in-law's free babysitting so hubby and I could go on a date, continue to sell excess chicken eggs which covers the cost of their feed.
Aww, I like your ski discount story! A similar thing happened to us in London. Children 11 and under were free on the subway. I was traveling a lot with my daughter who was 12 but tiny. Of course I paid for her tickets. Then a worker stopped us going through the turnstiles and asked how old is she. And I said 12 and showed him her ticket. He says "No, she looks like 11 to me. Next time do the child ticket". It probably only saved a few dollars since we were just there for the weekend but it is a nice memory.
I don't usually join in on these (because I'm not very good at being frugal), but I think I can come up with five!
1) We drove across the state to see my best friend and her family, and stayed with them, so we could squeeze every minute out of our visit. We would have had to leave for a hotel (or home) by 8:00. Sleeping there let the adults stay up until one.
2) Instead of eating out, or getting carryout, we each provided some components of a meal we dubbed "Mid-East Feast." I made tabbouli, hummus, and crushed lentil soup, and bought some good pita bread and toum (garlic sauce) from the local IGA. My friend made shawarma marinated chicken, which her husband grilled), a chickpea salad, and tzadziki sauce. The only eating out was done by our five-year-old - we got her a Happy Meal as a treat.
3) We played board games and chatted instead of going out to do something. Throw Throw Avocado was chaotic fun, especially for the 9 and almost 13 year olds. Big Roll Bingo made the little one extatic - she got all of the grown ups to play with just her. The big kids were playing air hockey in the basement. After the kids were in bed, my husband and I taught my friend and her husband how to play euchre. We all had fun, and now our friends have a new game in their repertoire.
4) In the morning, which came too early after staying up so late, my daughters and my friend made us breakfast. My eldest (9) scrambled eggs for the group, and my littlest (5) manned the toaster. I was up getting ready for the day, so I can take no credit for their helpfulness. It definitely saved us from a breakfast on the road!
5) We stopped at the local children's museum on our way out (definitely not frugal), but managed to find an open spot of free on-street parking. The nearest paid parking lot was $27(!!!) for anything beyond 2 hours.
YAY! So glad you joined us today.
That sounds like such a wonderful visit with your friend, and oh man, your mid-east feast sounds so good.
@RB, Sounds like you had a fun and frugal visit with your friends! Cooking together and playing games are wonderful ideas for the rest of us to try.
@RB, Thanks for mentioning the games! My kids are similar ages to yours (ranging from 4 to 9) and I'm always interested to hear what games other families enjoy. I think Big Roll Bingo will make a great birthday present for someone this year!
And as someone from the Midwest, I also love euchre.
@Ruth T,
My son (13) bought Throw Throw Burrito with his own money, and we've been having fun with it.
@Ruth T, It is funny how different card games are regionalized. My parents grew up in euchre country but my husband's family didn't. My grandmother and her siblings and their spouses would play "500" euchre and they would cheat something awful! Dad couldn't even be in the room where they were playing as it bothered him so much. I wonder what sibling roles I would see them living out if I could go back fifty years and watch a game.
@Liz B., Throw Throw Avocado comes with a bonus set of cards that lets you connect both of the Throw Throw games. We only have the one, so I haven't opened it up yet.
@Ruth T, we were shocked that they didn't already know how to play!
Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is fun, especially if our littlest is paired with an adult.
@Fru-gal Lisa, it was really so much fun!
@Kristen, it was so good! My friend and I are going to be swapping recipes for sure.
1. Made two lasagnas, one for the freezer. I made the ricotta from discounted milk, used generic cheese, bought the lower-grade mushrooms, and Mr. B made the tomato sauce from discounted canned tomatoes. Whew, it was a big effort but yielded a lot of food.
2. Found a toddler learning tower on FB marketplace. Those things are EXPENSIVE new, and we need a fairly slim one to fit in our small space.
3. I'm on a mission to use all the odds and ends of soaps and moisturizers that I've accumulated. The ones I got on sale at The Body Shop when it was my birthday, the ones we bought for the baby that were too strongly scented, the fancy one that my husband got me (for free!) as a gift, etc.
4. Had thought to bring takeout when we visited a relative but instead I made chana masala, rice, and Priya Krishna's sheet-pan aloo gobi (which I strongly recommend and will definitely make again!) Not cheaper than takeout pizza, but healthier and cheaper than nice takeout.
5. Joined a no-buying-fabric challenge on Instagram (#lastsewiststanding) and so far so good 🙂
@Meira @meirathebear, Awww, the learning tower. We had a kitchen helper for our kids and they spent so much time in it. Snacking while I made dinner, helping me mix, washing fruits in the sink, watching to see what mama is going to do next, just keeping me company. And best of all, no worry of someone getting pushed off or falling off while horsing around. Worth every penny.
@CrunchyCake,
I so agree on the learning tower. Best invention for toddlers in a long time!
FFT:
1) Daughter brought me a sweater with a hole in the armpit area and a pair of jeans that had a small tear in them. I sewed up the sweater by hand. Thanks to Kristen, I had saved an old pair of jeans and used them to sew a patch around the tear. Would not have thought to make that repair without Kristen showing us how she did it.
2) Continued cleaning out Mom's hoarder house. This weekend we brought home an air compressor and a desk chair that is in better condition than my current one.
3) After a long day of cleaning on the hoarder house, I stopped and bought a family meal of chicken tenders, even though it's just the two of us. It was enough food for lunch and dinner that day.
4) Avoided take out last night by making what we affectionately call "poor people's food": pinto beans, sliced cucumbers, and cornbread
5) Cooked a big pot of steel cut oatmeal that will be my breakfast this week and made a chickpea salad using vegetables in the refrigerator that will be my lunch this week
I like that mirror! And I like that person giving you the discount even though you didn't stay at the Marriott.
1. I had a nice visit from a family member this past weekend and one of our entertainments when together is thrifting, and craft supply and "antique" hunting. Some of the things we found:
Two perfect condition Pottery Barn hand towels
Two new-looking Williams Sonoma dishtowels
A needed magazine rack
Lovely papers designed for crafting, 50% off, which I bought for my guest as an inexpensive birthday present
Other craft supplies that she bought, 60% off
There was more. All of it will be used. We each ended up spending about $20 all weekend on our finds.
About as important as our finds was the number of times we picked something up that we liked, considered it, and put it back.
2. She bought my lunch one day, but I used the app I have on my phone to get part of it free, to reduce her cost.
3. She brought me some craft paint organizers she made from Dollar Tree items, little games for my grandkids and some nice cleaning cloths, and I gave her a custom-framed print we no longer hang that she had always loved.
4. My employers are once again providing us with 2 logo shirts from Lands End, our choice of style and color.
5. My daughter bought us a meal one day last week. There was enough for leftovers to take home and have again.
Oh, and 6. I have a Crock Pot of bones cooking at home right now, to make pork bone broth.
That's so nice that your work gives you annual shirts; if you don't have to buy work clothes, that's a big win!
We had a "potluck" family meal at my brother's house last week. I love these get togethers where there's not pressure to bring something special, it's more about spending time with people you love. I brought butternut squash I had from our garden and rolls that were in the freezer.
Not only did I cut my husband's hair, but he cut mine. He did a great job, too. I told him he may have a new job. (He's not thrilled with the prospect, ha!)
We are on vacation staying with a friend in Florida for a few days. He flew us down, picked us up at the airport, is giving us a car to use and we are in his house, so the only cost is food.
I found a pair of sneakers on a free table area that are in pristine condition.
I used a Walgreens coupon to get a free 8x10 and then used some printed coupons from them to pick up 2 bottles of cranberry juice and some shampoo for 38 cents total.
So I've missed this for a week or so due to being crazy busy but here goes:
1.) My wife and I went traveling together (our daughter was staying with my family) and at the hotel we decided to check out the attached restaurant for breakfast. Turns out breakfast was included. We didn't know so that saved us a bit. 🙂
2.) Came upon a whole bunch of clearance at Walmart. I got my nephew a fleece pullover for a dollar, my wife got some shirts (also for $1) and my daughter got a very nice normally $50+ winter coat (that will fit her well next year) for all of $13. This will help keep her warm for a couple years and will hopefully make for a nice hand me down either for a young girl at church or for my niece (whomever fits into it first after my daughter!)
3.) Got an 11 month CD from Capital One at 5%! I've not seen 5% CDs in years! Yes, I know someone will chime in on investing vs bank savings but this is money I need to keep somewhat liquid.
4.) Used a coupon for Domino's to get a deal on some pizza when we were stuck. I'm good on eating Domino's for another decade or so. It wasn't bad but it just wasn't that great.
5.) Repaired (at least temporarily) a remote control. There are more permanent fixes out there but to get it going again, I was able to repair it for the present.
@Battra92, We took advantage of #3 as well!
Yay for the ski discounts and the mirror find!
Frugal wins...
• Getting a free coffee drink via a coupon from the EN.
• Repurposing leftovers and eating them up instead of cooking new meals.
• Stopping by Focus on the Family to meet Crystal Paine (MoneySavingMom) during her interview about her upcoming book release _Time Saving Mom_. My kids got a behind the scenes tour of the Odyssey foley studio too!
• More drinks from the two month trial of the Panera SIP club.
• 8oz bags of Lindor chocolate truffles for $1.62/bag. I foresee teacher thank you gifts...
My frugal fail this week was not realizing our closest Shell gas station was in a price war on the same day I had an extra discount. So I fueled up at Sam's and ended up not saving $4. And wasted 10 minutes sitting in line. *sigh*
And my splurge this week was a vacuum sealer. MrA knew that I had thought about one for a while to help us avoid freezer burn and help us stretch out our freeze dried backpacking supplies. So he researched and found a good one (that actually ATK rated as their best) and ordered it. Now I need everyone's best tips on using it for jars and bags. 🙂
@Dorinda, Our vacuum sealer is on its last legs. I need to look at ATK recommendation!
One frugal win: I mentioned earlier on “What Did You Buy That You Didn’t Absolutely Need?” that I bought a pair of pale pink cowgirl boots (online) that I didn't actually need and didn't like and I was planning on returning them. I filled out a survey online from Altar'd States about the boots. They actually told me to keep the boots, they have issued a full refund to my CC, gave me a 50% off discount on my next purchase and a code for free shipping. I passed along the discount and code to my lovely daughter-in-love and will try to find someone who would love the boots.
Mirror, mirror on the wall. Who's among the most frugal of all? Kristen! And all the folks who read her blogs and contribute to same. I'm learning so much from all of you! Thanks for sharing!
Kristen, I hope you were able to put a good review online for that nice clerk; of course, you wouldn't want his bosses to know that he heard you say Marriott. But you still could commend him for his excellent customer service.
Meanwhile, here are my frugal wins:
1. I had my birthday this week, so I did my usual birthday thing: I went to Denny's and ordered a "Grand Slam." When it's your birthday and you show 'em your ID (driver's license, it has to be official), they will give you a free Grand Slam meal if you buy the coffee and pay the tip. (Contrary to popular belief, I tip generously for excellent service, which I certainly did for this nice lady. Here's looking at you, rude waitress at Brown House Cafe in Woodway...) So a $13 bill was reduced to $2 and change, not including the tip. If you add in the tip, I paid about half price for my hot breakfast. Still frugal.
2. There is no way I can eat a whole Grand Slam by myself. I had ordered eggs, turkey bacon, hash browns, and pancakes. After enjoying the eggs, bacon and potatoes, I requested a doggie bag for the latter, since their pancakes are the size of a large dinner plate. I took it home and had a pancake for breakfast for the next 2 days. Just reheated in microwave! Still delicious with fresh butter and maple syrup added.
3. Took a gold crown that had fallen out of my mouth to the dentist for him to "re-seat" (dentist term for re-install). Found out that yes, this is possible under certain circumstances. But be sure to take it in ASAP. I no longer have dental insurance that pays 100% for crowns, so this was a big frugal win.
4. Instead of buying a book that our Sunday School class was reading, I went on Amazon and was able to "look inside" and read the first chapter for free. This was the chapter we went over this week. I have the book on reserve at the library, so I won't have to buy it.
If it doesn't come in by next weekend, a friend said I could read Chapter 2 in her book before the class. (I'm a fast reader so this is probably do-able.)
5. Sent emails for Valentine's instead of mailing paper greeting cards. Also used what I had around the house to concoct Valentine's gift bags for close friends. One friend loves tea, so I put her goodies in a commemorative tin for Lipton's Tea that I'd bought at a garage sale for 25 cents. Some others went into red bags or boxes left over from Christmas. (The green ones can be used for St. Patrick's Day, if necessary....)
@Fru-gal Lisa,
Ah, Denny's. We used to have a Denny's here. My one birthday meal with them back then was truly memorable. They were offering free desserts for birthdays back then at our Denny's. They refused to give me my free dessert at first because it was February 28th and my license said my birthday was Feb. 29th. It took several minutes to get them to understand that I couldn't just come back tomorrow for my free dessert - tomorrow would be March 1. My DH was working, so my then-young girls and I split a hot fudge sundae. All three of us ended up with food poisoning later that day that kept us horribly sick and awake all night.
Your meal sounds much, much better!
@Fru-gal Lisa, Happy Birthday to you!
Another way to bring home giant breakfasts is to order hard boiled eggs, which are fairly easy to carry out and eat cold. Have not done so myself but the idea makes sense.
And great sympathies to JD for her birthday event. Don't really want to know how a hot fudge sundae could be a source of food poisoning....
I get discounts like that all the time. "Well no, we don't offer your affinity discount but I wish we did so I'll give you the employee discount instead." Y'all know what I'm going to say so all together now: it never hurts to ask.
Over my mini-cation weekend, asking yielded 50% off chocolates made by a local chocolate shop.
Also over the weekend, I made restaurant food better in several ways: I asked for garlic to perk up the bland green beans, perked up the coleslaw with minced pickled onions, ask for house-special cheese biscuit instead of hush puppies, and gave away the hush puppies they accidently included anyway to a family that really likes them. Leftovers were road food or breakfast. I brought my own bought-on-sale soda, of course.
Bought 5 used books for $20: 2 knitting books (it's rare these days to find something new to me), 1 Doonesbury, 1 shipboard cookbook for SIL who lives on a boat, and Michael Lewis' The Premonition, about how the Feds messed up the pandemic. Highly recommended.
I rescued a bunch of veggies, along the lines of FG's refreshing lettuce, and used already-boiling water for several purposes, the last being to soak dirty dishes.
While I was gone, my bro & SIL continued to go through the tens of thousands of photos my mother left behind. They brought roast chicken to my place for dinner yesterday and I used the carcass for stock.
Continued to use the library heavily.
I bought a trash can at an estate sale for $1. We knew that eventually we would find a cheap one at a yard or estate sale.
We used a buy one get one free coupon at Jersey Mikes.
I hand weeded for a couple of hours yesterday--cheaper than round up.
My husband took left overs to work for lunch.
I made more gluten free flour mix instead of buying premixed fGF flour from the grocery store.
I think I have five...
1. My George Foreman grill broke awhile ago and I like to have it for indoor grilling in the winter. I have a friend who sells Pallet finds. I bought one from her for $30, saving $50 over the cost from buying at the store.
2. I save coupons on my phone and before going into a store I check to see if I have any I can use at my stop. Recently I saved $10 at Home Depot, $8 at Petsmart, $25.50 in miscellaneous paper coupons, $9 at Old Navy, $10 at Shoe carnival.
3. Our washer died and instead of paying a fee for Home Depot to take our old one, I sent a message to our neighbor and he picked it up to turn in for scrap.
4. Our newer oven knob was spinning and husband order a new one online. In the meantime, he found the spring for it on the floor and fixed the knob, so I returned the new one & got a refund.
5. Our friend has 3 dogs and we have 2. He said his dogs like sweet potato treats, but they are pretty expensive. I had off yesterday and pulled out our food dehydrator and cut some up and dehydrated them plus bananas and made natural treats for his dogs and mine for way cheaper.
I was thinking this morning that I guess it’s being frugal that I only get my hair salon-trimmed 3 or 4 times a year though it needs it more often. I don’t trust myself to trim my hair but I don’t pay much for the professional trim.
Thinking of hair care this morning, it occurred to me that since I only wash my hair a few times weekly and I rotate shampoo products between cheap dollar store shampoo and a more expensive one that I use to help my hair feel not so dry… I guess I’m practicing frugality.
I used up a few “ older” apples and pears in a fruit crisp. When fruit isn’t eaten as quickly as I think it will be, I debate putting overripe fruit out for the birds. But I prefer when I can use it in stretching a meal. Fruit crisps, banana bread and smoothies are my go-tos for using overripe fruit.
I used a store coupon to buy some eggs. I don’t know why eggs are so expensive these days but I’m grateful to have been able to pay a little less.
That is a wonderful mirror, Kristen. Mirrors also maximize the light in a room.
My FFT:
1. Cleaned out and organized our bathroom, and spent nothing on organizing supplies as I used what we had on hand.
2. Brought up the last jar of ketchup from the chest freezer and defrosted it for use. During the pandemic when there was a ketchup shortage, I bought a restaurant-sized can of ketchup for less than $5, decanted it into jars and froze it. Absolutely no change in quality from freezing and thawing and it's been nice not having to scrabble around for a bargain.
3. A lot of the Wasa rye flatbreads in the last package were badly broken, so I crushed them back into rye flakes and will add them to the next loaf of homemade bread.
4. Also tidied up the chest freezer and the over the fridge freezer to plan future meals.
5. Used rewards cash accrued at Walgreens to buy to cans of large pitted black olives for a total of $1.19 after tax. We eat and use a lot of olives, so this was a good score.
“Actually, I heard you say yes." Oh my goodness, that's hilarious! And your mirror looks awesome.
My FFT:
1. We went to the zoo yesterday on our day off of school. We are gifted a membership every Christmas, so the only expense was gas to get there.
2. I said "Yes, thank you!" to bringing catering leftovers home Saturday night. It supplied much of our lunch on Sunday and much of our dinner last night. There's still parmesan-crusted chicken left that I'm planning to use on my salad today.
3. My son wanted to build wooden crosses to sell for a fundraising effort for schools in Africa and we had a number of leftover spindles that he was able to use. There was enough wood to build 17 crosses with no expense. (I made a Facebook post and they all sold within half an hour. People were very kind to his 6yo heart!)
4. I baked muffins to take to a brunch using things I already had at home instead of buying muffins.
5. Organized and took inventory of my girls' clothes. I like to know where we're at so I know what they will need - and what to avoid buying, even if it's a good deal!
1. Is this frugal? I don't know...I think it is sort of frugal! My teenagers went to DisneyWorld with their high school band and chorus. They worked hard and saved lots of money for this trip and made a lot of careful choices so they would be able to go and have fun. My older daughter did many hours at her job as a waitress at a senior living and my younger daughter babysat! I think they spent a lot on food and souvenirs while they were down there, but I support this.
2. They return today and I am making pulled pork for supper with rolls and slaw. The pork is a roast from the freezer that was given to me by my neighbor, she received it as a "freebie" with purchase of beef from a farm but her family doesn't eat pork. Making rolls and slaw are very frugal! Cabbage is the best...so delicious and so cheap!
3. I went to BJs (warehouse club store) because there was an advertised low price on stew beef and there were lots of good prices on produce and the produce looked good. I got the beef I wanted and some produce. It was the best price on russet potatoes I had seen in a while and I got a big bag of those.
4. The farm where I like to buy milk and eggs is offering a special deal if you return at least 3 empty milk bottles and then use the returned deposit as credit to shop at their store rather than take cash, you can get a dozen eggs for $1.50. I do have 3 empty bottles (or maybe 4 depending on how much milk we drink today), so I am going to try to do this tomorrow. It will be like "free" eggs because I will get $4.50 back from the bottle deposits.
@Ann, I wish we had bottle deposits here in New Jersey. We do have curbside recycling pick up. When I was in my late teens I went to see my sister in Florida and took all her empty soda bottles to the Publix right next to her development. I don't know how much I made but I thought it was great.
The water thing works for celery, too! I refreshed some "bendy" celery yesterday, and then used it to make a BLT salad (bacon, chopped tomatoes, and celery mixed in mayo, on top of a bed of romaine). It was kind of a double-win - the "chopped tomatoes" was me chopping up the ends of the tomatoes I'd sliced for the rest of my family to make BLTs (I try to eat lower-carb at dinner, as it seems to help my overnight blood sugar regulation).
Mended some holes in my kids mittens and snow pants
Cooked and prepped a bunch of food for our waterpark vacation so we didn’t have to eat out.
Hubby fixed a broken part in my stand mixer and now it works as good as new.
Made lots of sourdough discard crackers and pancakes.
Valentine cheerios were on clearance so I picked up 4 big boxes. The kiddos don’t care if the cheerios are pink.
Do you ever use the 2good2go app? It is for rescuing end of day food from eateries and often has good deals — maybe not as appealing to you as you like to bake, but great for me!
I did try it once, but nothing was close by! Maybe I will give it another try.
I had two remaining pumpkins I had picked up late fall for free from FB Marketplace. One, I baked, then used the pumpkin to make pumpkin strudel muffins with my granddaughters. The other went to the chickens. Pumpkin enjoyed by all.
While my daughters were here this weekend, they took me out to eat twice. I got the leftovers from both of those meals which was my lunch yesterday and today. They also went to the grocery store while I painted with the granddaughters, and they picked up a few odds and ends for meals (that I hadn't gotten yet). Bonding time for the sisters and for me with the granddaughters. When they went home, they left the grocery store items here, so I'll use them later this week for meals.
Did my 2022 taxes yesterday and used a free tax filing option from the IRS. I owe a bit this year, so I'll send a check, instead of paying a 2% processing fee for using my credit/debit card.
A couple of weeks ago, I called my insurance company to see if I could get a better deal on my home and car insurance. They said they couldn't give me a better rate, so I contacted a local insurance agent/broker who found me a great deal for both and I made the switch, saving hundreds of dollars for better coverage.
Good morning! I have to say that the only Safeway I've ever seen and been into was on vacation in Hawaii. The store there was a whole grocery store while Walmart was a minimart. It did seem to cost more, but their cashiers (and they had many) offered to use their reward numbers for us!
FFT this week:
My husband made bread, burger buns, and your french bread.
We took coffee and snacks to the hospital for breakfast while waiting for our son's tonsillectomy to finish.
Not cheap but we met our insurance deductible for the year... any more incidences will be very cheap for us. (We don't "normally" use any deductible, but have met it twice two years in a row now.)
We own chickens, so we use their eggs.
While it isn't a fun use of pto, I am using it to get paid during my FMLA.
I love mirrors. I probably have one in every room. That said, I am becoming at peace with the idea that I have to part with a lot of wall art. I have too much to hang 3x over in my house and it's ridiculous to store things like the nursery rhyme prints from 1915 I hung in my baby daughter's room. Baby daughter is 26. I need to sell them (she can have the money) and move on.
1) Yesterday I menu planning, grocery shopped, and made bread. I made dinner with things we already had before I grocery shopped, and I packed up left over servings of mac and cheese from dinner to add to my train commute meal. (I have been tempted to visit the cafe car because my packed meals are a little too small. Adding a mac and cheese I heat before I leave for the train will help, I think.)
2) I applied for two more fellowships yesterday.
3) We started rustling up our relatively frugal summer travel last night. One trip will be to visit my husband's sister. It looks like we might be able to stay in their friends' airbnb for a discounted rate. They will also be free childcare while my husband and I sneak off for a few days to celebrate our 20th anniversary.
4) I made an appointment for our appliance repairman to come tomorrow. I was starting to think this 16 year old dishwasher was giving up the ghost, but, low and behold, it just needs a $150 part. If I have to put a $150 part on the thing every couple of years to avoid spending $700 on a dishwasher that will die in five years, I'm in. I would say I was going to run the wheels off of it, but we already did and just bought more wheels for the dish rack off Amazon for a few bucks.
5) I canceled our mid-year dental appointments. I am on leave from my university for a few months for a fellowship, so our dental insurance is not in force. Instead of paying for mid-year checkups for 6 people, we'll just wait until the summer. No one had any issues to watch at our last checkup.
1. As part of tax prep ritual of reviewing year-end credit card reports to find all the business deductions, also reviewed all the subscription charges for newspapers and magazines and canceled/did not renew quite a few, for annual savings of about $350.
2. No grocery shopping so far this week as I eat down the freezer. Back in late November I found a (proverbial) ton of beautiful fresh Bell peppers in a rainbow of colors (green, red, orange, yellow) and cooked up most of them for fajitas and diced up the rest for other uses and popped all of them in the freezer. So Today Me thanks November Me as I pull out a bag to defrost, reheat and toss in some (also pre-cooked and frozen) chicken or steak for a fajita and an easy and very tasty meal.
3. Inventoried the existing supply of shampoo, conditioner, moisturizer, toothpaste, mouthwash, body wash, and you name it and realized I won't have to buy any more until this time in 2033. Curse you, CVS, with your mile-long receipts with all those coupons!
4. Had an opened jar of delicious salsa that wasn't going to be used up in time so looked online for freezing recommendations, and found a suggestion that it worked best if you heated up the salsa and added some tomato paste before freezing. Well, lucky me! I had to open a can of tomato paste to get 1 tablespoon for another recipe and knew the rest of the can would go bad if I just stuck it in the refrigerator, so I had frozen the remainder of the can in 1 tablespoon portions, and was able to use some of it to prep the salsa for freezing.
5. I am nowhere near as pretty as Kristen so I did not spend $150, $70 or even $15 for a mirror that would remind me of that every time I walked into my office. ;-}
@JDinNM, I'm not terribly fond of mirrors lately either. Not that I ever was. . . but I did like to make funny faces and such. I can't even make proper funny faces now!
1) We need a new coffee grinder as ours is breaking. Hopped on to FB marketplace to see what I could get. Someone posted a brand new burr grinder (which is better than blades apparently) for $30 bucks. Come to find out, he works with my husband and gave it to us for $10. Score.
2) Made bread crumbs from TGTG bread I picked up.
3) Hosted lunch for the in-laws and for once didn't have to buy anything. We had all the ingredients already.
4) Had Valentine's dinner at a winery. They gave us 10% off wine for attending the event so we took advantage of that to stock up a few bottles.
5) Chickens were on sale so we bought one to use in tonight's gumbo and made broth with the bones and another that my husband broke down and froze the pieces for another day (and saved the bones for more stock).
1. I signed up for a yoga class with a friend. The teacher didn't show up, so the cafe the class was held at gave us a $10 gift card. I hadn't paid for the class yet, so I used the money to buy a bagel and a latte at their cafe. Another attendant of the class was in the process of receiving her yoga teacher training, so she taught the class instead to practice.
2. My son wanted to see his first movie at the theater. I took him and my daughter to the theater that shows slightly older movies. We went to a matinee, so it only cost $5/ticket.
3. My husband is selling his old video games on Facebook Marketplace. Some are worth $100/each.
4. I used leftover sour cream to make cornbread. It went great with our jambalaya. The jambalaya used kielbasa I picked up off Buy Nothing recently.
5. People I work with brought in clothes for my daughter and son. When the word is out you will accept used clothing, people are happy to bring it to you!
Have you ever bought ultra pasteurized milk and cream? I buy mine at Ralphs (Kroger) because it will last (unopened) 3+ months in the frig. I use a lot of heavy cream because I make diabetic ice cream for my hubby and also use it to make diabetic condensed milk...so i need to keep a couple of quarts on hand at all times.
Yes, I think this was unpasteurized, actually. But it was opened, and I think that's why it was starting to go off.
1. I made our meals at home.
2. We enjoyed free or cheap entertainment.
3. I cleaned my kitchen and found stuff that had been misplaced (this happens when children are learning to do dishes) and some items that I can sell.
4. We waited to place an online order until we had enough for free shipping. (Without buying stuff we don't need)
5. I used some gift cards for some items that were 'wants'.
6. We're researching some cheap road trips for the summer.
What a gorgeous mirror! And it was a steal for $15! The bagel deal was awesome!
Here's my FF:
1) I've been debating on getting new gutters on the home since we had flooding in the basement. As a start, we had the gutters cleaned. There were a few leaky areas that got repaired and I was told that bigger gutters are not necessary. Great! Savings- $1500
2) This year is the year for home maintenance. So alot of my projects will be geared towards that. On that note, part of the driveway needs repair and I found someone who will do it, as long as I buy the supplies. A trip to Home Depot for a kit is all it takes.
3) A purchase of a gallon of paint is needed to do touch-ups on the home. That way, we avoid a paint-the-whole-house letter from the HOA. Savings- $6,000
4) I decided to make lasagna today and wasn't sure I had everything in the pantry/freezer to make it. Sure enough, I had everything except the noodles. I freeze meat bargains for times like this. (I had gotten 1 lb. italian sausage for 49 cents)
5) I've been getting deals on produce at 99 cents a bag for oranges/pears/apples. There are 4-6 in a bag. Savings- $4 each
#3: yes! A gallon of paint is a steal in comparison to that.
I’ve been in the market for a round mirror too and have been put off by prices. I’ll have to check marketplace and buy nothing groups.
My FFT
1. Rented drum sander to sand hardwood floors rather than pay for new carpet/laminate to cover them. A surprisingly cheap project that will *hopefully* get us good looking floors (taking a break right now from sanding, having just finished the rough grit round)
2. All of us spent 4-5 days with a stomach bug/recovery, which reduced grocery costs by about 80% last week.
3. Found a hand soap sale (over 50% off) so I bought a few for my kids to encourage lengthier hand washing hoping for fewer sicknesses. (Has anyone else had a particularly rough winter of sickness?)
4. Played the piano. A lot. It’s turning into my new form of self-therapy during a really hard patch of life. It’s free (unlike drinking excess coffee or shopping) and it’s been helpful.
5. Bunched errands, packed lunches for school, baked at home, avoided shopping almost entirely, turned off unused lights etc.)
I really like the mirror!
1. I repurposed a shelving unit by taking it apart, prepping the boards and painting them. I now have the perfect size solid wood shelves for my laundry room/closet.
2. We had a flood at our office from a clogged a/c line. It was leaking into the wall and in a rarely used closet, so I didn't catch it until quite a bit of drywall was damaged. My husband ripped it all out and is in the process of replacing and repairing it himself.
3. I cooked a butternut squash and pasta recipe from the Cookie and Kate website. I needed to use up some food before it went bad and it was delicious. I also revived some wilted lettuce for a salad on the side.
4. I signed up for a couple of credit cards that have good bonuses. I read about them on the Doctor of Credit website. I have some large business expenses coming up that I'll use them for.
5. My son had a few friends over for game night last night. They used our vintage card table that my grandparents bought new back in the early 1960s.
1. So glad we are back at home and can cook again! We’ve been back to lunches of beans and veggies, steel-cut oats for breakfast, homemade bread in a breadmaker purchased for $7 at a thrift store years ago, and our mostly vegetarian staple meals.
2. Still on the subject of food, I realized we have too much rhubarb saved in the freezer from May 2022. May 2023 isn’t that far away and we will have fresh rhubarb soon, so best to eat the frozen rhubarb now, as rhubarb cake! Yum.
3. I was able to pick up an extra shift on the President’s Day holiday as my husband was off and could cover childcare.
4. I thought ahead and canceled a subscription to a mindfulness app I haven’t really used this past year. This way it won’t auto-renew like it did last year.
5. Continue to work on earning DH and I health rewards through watching online wellness workshops. I’ve almost hit our maximum of $100 each for workshops.
1. Withdrew earnings from using TopCashBack for online purchases over the past few months. Transferred part of it to my bank account and the other part to a virtual Visa, which gives another extra 5%.
2. Redeemed coupons for a free bag of oats and a plant-based chicken for review during my regular grocery shopping trip.
3. Reorganized my pantry and pulled out older items that need to be eaten, also eating up food from the freezer.
4. My husband forgot to pay a doctor visit co-pay with our FSA card, so I submitted the receipt for reimbursement from our FSA account and I discovered they also reimburse for mileage driven to the doctor's office!
5. Hung clothes to dry, returned and borrowed books from the library, and batched errands.
Love the mirror Kristen!
My frugal 5:
1. Got cheap gas - $3.08/gal - at a new Wawa station. Went by Costco this weekend and it was $3.02 so I don't feel too bad about $3.08. This tank of gas will last me at least 2 weeks.
2. Got a credit back on my credit card that I'm using now for purchases at Aldi. I only go in for a few things at a time. Today I got bread - 2 loaves - and a gallon on 1% milk because it was the cheapest and my family doesn't mind. I did see that egg prices had dropped a bit.
3. Daughter works at a liquor store and the boss was getting rid of her favorite type of chips cause they were 4 days pass the expiry date. Dd got the chips for free.
4. Hubs and I decided to go to the Outer Banks in NC for our summer vacation. I found a home with an in ground pool for $4,460 ish dollars. I'm getting a $100 senior citizen discount. Our IRS refund - first in about 3 years - will pay for half of it. I invited my sister who lives in South Carolina to join us. While she is only 71 she has health problems so who knows how long she'll be around.
5. I'm filling out a form to get money back from the lost money site, whatever that is called. I don't know how much but it's between $50 - $100 from the old UPromise program.
6. Hubs is buying food to bring to work or eat at home for lunches. He always takes one for the team with eating the leftovers, unless it's something I like.
Just to explain one of the reasons we are going to the Outer Banks this year is that last year we rented a 3 bedroom, 2 bath tiny condo at the shore in Jersey and it cost $3,130 for the week. No in ground private or condo association pool. About a block from the ocean. We will drive down to SC in hubby's company car and the company will pay for our gas. It's part of his compensation for his job. He hardly goes anywhere with it as he works from home 3 days a week and goes into work 2 days. So I'm planning this vakay frugally. Invited my sister and she's in charge of buying and cooking most of the food in exchange for her free stay at the house. We've done this before.
Love your frugal stories from this week! The discount especially made me smile; extra-nice customer service really stands out lately since it seems less common.
My five frugals (trying not to repeat from NCA too much):
1. Just got back from a local ladies' craft night. It was too short but a much-needed couple of hours away. Instead of buying the supplies to do the night's craft (a cute spring pillow when I have plenty), I brought my own craft - handmade cards made from vintage photos and snarky captions. I got to enjoy the big girl time while a got a bit done and didn't spend a dime. Plus, they sent me home with some leftover snacks.
2. Scored 11 precooked hams from Aldi marked 53% off plus $5 off that! When the savings cleared they were about 50 cents a pound.
3. My husband was doing some handyman work this weekend and came home with several pieces of furniture the customer didn't need anymore. We can use some of it and will sell or donate the rest. We got a round mirror too and you inspired me to find just the perfect place for it!
4. Because of my husband's position on the local chamber of commerce, he often gets calls when the local food bank needs to get excess donations out to folks. As a thank you for delivering, they often give us extra goodies as well. This Sunday afternoon he came home with cereal, chips, juice, milk, corn, and more. We got to share a lot and still had plenty left over. It sure helps the grocery budget and is also a good experience for our kids to be involved with the needs of others in the community.
5. Kristin @ going country, you reminded me of how frugal clothing mending/repair is, along with thrifting it! My Senior is headed out tomorrow for a 3-day speech tournament that requires suits and ties every day. He's beautifully turned out in thrifted finds, looks like a million bucks, and his most expensive purchase was a $20 Banana Republic navy suit (a deal for a guy 6 feet tall!). I heard one of the other moms talking about what a great find her son's $100 suit was, and that was for a child size!
Even though I was a 100% sure I was out of some personal care items, I actually checked the hallway closet before running in out to the drug store and found I actually needed nothing!
I made the trek to the lower-cost grocery store this week even though I have had a cold and desperately wanted to just pop into the nearest (and most expensive store) to pick up a few groceries.
I tried out the slow cooker function on my instant pot instead of replacing the crockpot I broke on New Year's Eve. It worked ok but it is definitely different than how I am used to slow cookers working. I think I will probably, eventually, get a new slow cooker but for now the IP is fine. And it was nice to finally make use of the slow cooker lid I bought when I first got the IP several years ago.
The usual stuff - packing work lunches, using the library, mending clothes, streaming tv shows and movies from free platforms. Blah blah blah. 🙂
Love the mirror!
We took my two teens & one of their friends with us on a ski trip this week, and that's not a super frugal activity. But, we did save a bit here & there:
1) Ate most of our meals at the condo, minus one (planned) dinner out. I ended up with the soup & bread, because it's my favorite & also happens to be the most inexpensive item on the menu.
2) Needed to pick up a few items from the store (Safeway) & loaded coupons on my phone before I went in, to save an extra $2.
3) Used my pass discount for the snacks we purchased on the slopes. Split a lunch with my husband each day, and paired mine with a protein bar. It was the right amount of food, and much less expensive.
4) Bought lunch on the drive to Tahoe at Costco. Lunch for three teenagers for under $6 is a steal.
5) We got home yesterday, and I really, really wanted to order takeout Thai. We agreed to do that, but have never ordered since we moved to California (almost 10 years), & after doing some research, nothing looked great, so I just made dinner at home. We don't eat out a lot, which means we don't have many favorites to tempt us, which saves a lot over time!
I use Buy nothing on FB to find items I need.