Five Frugal Things | Will write for $2500

1. I started the process of applying for a hospital grant

Part of the tuition reimbursement program at my hospital is grant-based, and that requires the usual scholarship/grant hoop-jumping.

Luckily, I’m good at this after all my previous scholarship applications, as well as my divorce paperwork and name change paperwork.

I made a folder on my computer’s desktop to hold all the documents, and now I have a little collection going, including my RN license, my college acceptance letter, and my course of study.

I’m just waiting on some transcripts to arrive, and I also need a signed paper from my clinical director.

Of course, an essay was also required, but that was honestly the easiest part for me!

This up to $2500, and that’s enough to motivate my frugal heart. 😉

2. I used a Panera gift card for a cheap dinner

On Friday, I did something similar to the recent Firehouse subs night; I had a gift card that covered almost the whole meal, so I only paid $5 out of pocket.

My sandwich came with a very thick piece of bread on top, so I saved part of that and stuck it in the fridge overnight (it had mayo on it!)

And then I toasted it in a pan to eat with my breakfast eggs.

3. I offloaded my red onions

This isn’t frugal for me, but it was for someone else.

Hungry Harvest sent me EIGHTEEN red onions. Eighteen!! Geez.

So, I listed them on my Buy Nothing group because there’s no way Zoe and I will get through eighteen red onions, and I don’t really like red onions that much anyway.

(Normally, I customize my Hungry Harvest to avoid this type of problem. But I was at work and missed the customization window!)

Incidentally: food almost always goes quickly on my Buy Nothing group, so if you need to offload some, list it! It probably won’t go to waste.

4. I made a use-it-up pasta salad for lunch

I combined:

the last of the protein pasta
the last few cucumbers
a small container of salad dressing from a Panera salad (they always send too much dressing!)
the last piece of Colby-Jack cheese
a Hungry Harvest avocado
some of the parsley left from when I made falafel

And I also added some pepperoni and tomatoes that I bought that day.

It is so satisfying to clean out the fridge this way!

5. I…

made some chocolate pudding to use up the last of the milk

sautéed some wrinkly apples to eat on oatmeal

made a batch of roasted carrots and beets, because it would be easy for me to ignore the Hungry Harvest beets until it’s too late!

I basically did them like these roasted carrots, figuring it would work out fine. And it did.

Your turn! What frugal things have you been up to lately?

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Hanna K Australia

Wednesday 29th of October 2025

My frugal things this week are mainly food related: 1. I used the fronds and stems of my fennel to make a green sauce that I use on pasta and sandwiches 2. I used the sad cabbage and carrots in the crisper to make a batch of kimchi 3. I strained a batch of runny greek yoghurt through muslin and saved the whey to use in smoothies, pancakes and porridge. And two finance; 1. I contacted my insurance providers (health, pet and TPD/life) to update my bills to annual which gives me a discount and cuts down on processing fees. 2. I went through and cancelled my paid subscriptions. I’ll be going back to listening to free podcasts, watching free to air tv and taking walks for entertainment (when I’m not with the baby in the garden).

Larisa

Tuesday 28th of October 2025

I'm one batch of tzatziki away from eating everything in my produce drawer! (I had a cucumber I just couldn't bring myself to put in the vegetable soup.)

Dreama Billips

All those onions would have had me making French onion soup!

Kara

I'm feeling decidedly off, but that may be the 2nd shingles vaccine I got yesterday, which is my first frugal thing... 1. I had to go to primary care doctor for something else, so I asked if they could do the shingles vax while I was there and they could! Our insurance covers vaccines fully. No, nothing is free, somewhere along the line it has to be paid for. 2. I queried a bill from our health insurance and got it removed. 3. We switched our water bill to come from our bank account since the city is beginning to charge for credit card payments. 4. I rode my e-bike to the post office. E-bike gets charged at my husband's work. 5. Texted my nephew to encourage him to open a Roth IRA. Not frugal for me, but super frugal for him. He told me it was one of his goals this year. How I wish we'd known to open one for our kids as soon as they started earning money around age 12. So if you have any kids in your life, look into a Roth IRA!

Elaine T

Chiquita’s little paw resting on your arm as you are typing is very cute !

My five frugal things

1. I used my YMCA membership that I often forget about to go for a little indoor swim 2. For someone else- I gave away an overnight bag to someone I. My local buy nothing group that wanted it for her daughter 3. I went on two short hikes 4. I packed 90% of my work lunch yesterday 5. I used a price match with my contact lens delivery service to get a significant discount. I also opted for the basic “included” pair of glasses that came with my insurance plan instead of buying anything fancier.