Five (ok, nvm, four!) Frugal Things
Ohhh, man.
I got back late Saturday night from Lake Tahoe, had one day to get my life back together, and then dove back into three back-to-back twelve-hour shifts, followed by a new grad residency program education day.
So I am a little short on interesting frugal things!
1. I brought my refillable water bottle with me
I do have two Owalla bottles now (one was a gift and the other is from the Goodwill bins!), but I still regularly use my Fincon freebie bottle.
It's a perfect size to fit in the small side pocket of my blue backpack, so I brought it along on my trip and filled it at the airport.
No need to buy a drink, no need to throw away a drink container.
Speaking of Fincon freebies...
2. I used three Fincon 2025 freebies
I am very particular about the swag I will accept from a conference; only things that are actually useful and practical.
On my trip, I wore a tall pair of free socks I won at Fincon in Portland (I rarely wear tall socks so this was the first time I broke them out!)
I also used my convenient free hand sanitizer (it clips onto my backpack) so that my hands weren't dirty when I was eating finger foods on the flight.
And I used a box of free Fincon breath mints after eating.
3. I made an easy dinner plan
I did not have time to do a whole lot of shopping and prepping, so I pressed the easy button and decided to use my homemade frozen ready-to-cook foods (stuffed shells and burgers!)
Otherwise, this would definitely be a straight shot to Takeout Land.
Did I eat stuffed shells last week? Yep. Do I care about repeating a meal so soon? Nope. When you're this pressed for time, you can't be choosy!
4. I prepped breakfasts and lunches
Since this week is the new grad residency class week, I have to be at the hospital four days in a row (three shifts, then an education day).
So, I prepped a batch of egg bites (a dozen will last me exactly four breakfasts!), plus a batch of the Aldi copycat chickpea salad. That makes a very simple work lunch with the addition of some kind of protein (rotisserie chicken, sauteed shrimp, etc.)
Alllllllrighty. That's where my frugal things run out. 😉
I'm so impressed with all your food prep! Speaking of, I had a frugal fail where I made your granola, got distracted and forgot to add honey! That's what I get for multitasking! I'll still eat it though;)
My frugal things, post trip edition:
1. I had curry one evening which Past Me had made and left in the fridge for when I got back.
2. I haven't got any takeout.
3. I didn't buy lunch when I was out the other day despite being tempted.
4. I used my gym membership and went running outside(a short run during to ice!).
5. I used the library.
Personally, who wouldn't like some stuffed shells on repeat?! Yum. Yay for Past Kristen's good freezer decisions.
- Have not eaten restaurant or takeout food for over a week (actually not atypical but the amount of times I've WANTED restaurant food is noteworthy).
- Now that I limit myself to tea almost exclusively, I never spend $4 to "treat" myself to a good coffee.
- Car wouldn't start and it was resolvable at home (no mechanic).
- Back to driving the car to work which will save on gas over the truck.
- Going to enjoy a free pancake breakfast this morning hosted by a club at my school. Taking my own PB and plain yogurt bc I need a little more oomph than just bread and syrup to get through a morning with my brain and attitude intact 😉
- Didn't sign up for Peacock to watch Olympics, but able to record some events to watch later since we have YouTube TV access.
This week:
1. Culled out my book collection at work and put it on a free table.
2. Ate at home for Valentine's Day. We did go out for breakfast the next day, which is much less expensive.
3. Used my $80 Costco gift card at Costco and it worked! This was for turning in an old laptop to Phobio. You guys, this program works, yay!
4. Brought home some salad from a staff lunch potluck, had it for dinner with some chicken on top
5. I grew a LOT of jalapenos last summer, so I used some from my freezer stash to take jalapeno poppers to the potluck.
1. In honor of Lindsey in Alaska, I used an empty dog food bag as a trash bag.
2. Found a quarter in a parking lot.
3. Saved $7.50 at Safeway by signing up to be a member.
4. Went out to lunch on Valentine's Day. Brought our own container for leftovers. Paid cash to avoid credit card fees. Took home toothpicks from sandwich to use as cake testers. We did everything but lick our plates!
5. The home watch service (woman-owned - yay!) we hired to come to our house while we're gone discovered a frozen drain between the house and the street, exacerbated by the deep cold and a large tree root. We will owe her additional money for the extra visits she made to our home to coordinate with the plumbing company as well as the sewer company. The whole thing will be close to $2,000. But, as always, it could have been way worse.
--Valentine's dinner was bacon-wrapped venison steaks (free from my brother, the mighty hunter) and sauteed kale. My husband and I also had a lovely coffee date out ($15 including tip) at our favorite local place. All weekend, we spruced up homemade coffee with homemade chocolate whipped cream--our favorite cheap indulgence. We're both counting calories, so it really did feel QUITE indulgent!
--Out of one package of bacon, we got the aforementioned bacon-wrapped steaks; bacon to top portabello mushroom "burgers"; and a batch of Zuppa Toscano. The bacon, kale, mushroom caps, and other soup ingredients were all bought on sale.
--I found a pristine old-timey clothes wringer at Goodwill for $12!!! An older woman at the register asked if I knew what it was and was surprised that 1) yes, I did and 2) yes, we will use it. Rural living came with what we jokingly call "prepper lite" mode, where we refine our emergency backup plans with what we learn from each unexpected weather twist. Last year's pseudo tornado (86 mph winds!) and resulting power outage put "laundry backup" on the list! Our emergency power bank is reserved for the fridge and freezer.
--I passed on more DIY supplies to the friend who is working on her house. This was also a good excuse to straighten up and re-inventory my unruly "random house stuff" storage. I even rediscovered a few things I thought I needed to restock for upcoming projects, so yay!
--We now have a dedicated "House Library" (we're book people, so we've many libraries) thanks to a $20 Habitat Restore side table. It's a beautifully handmade solid wood piece--I suspect an advanced shop class project, given the handwritten initials and grades on different parts. I sealed it with multiple coats of varnish, added a drawer handle from my stash, and contact paper inside its one drawer. The side table now holds all of our house specific books--gardening, wiring, general DIY, etc.--on the bottom shelf and our house toolbox* in the drawer.
*We also have garage and workshop toolboxes. It's so much easier than hauling tools between places.
--After probably a year of thinking I should just stop buying brown sugar already but being lazy about making it ahead of time and irritated when I have to mix the sugars individually when baking . . . I finally stopped buying brown sugar. I got a gallon jug of molasses awhile ago that I'll use to make it. I haven't done the math on it, but the internet assures me homemade is about half the cost of store-bought. Especially because I like dark brown sugar, and I can't find a store brand of that in the places I shop.
--Eldest requested a chocolate cheesecake for his birthday. This is probably the most expensive cake to make, what with all the dairy in it, but way, way less making it myself than buying something. Better, too. 🙂
--During Lent, I don't make cookies for my children's snacks at school. (Catholics are encouraged to make some kind of sacrifice during Lent as a way to re-focus ourselves less on the physical world and more on God. Children aren't required to fast or anything, but not having cookies at school seems like a pretty mild sacrifice. 🙂 ) I used to make savory spiced almonds a lot, and haven't in awhile, so I made some of those for them to take to school. Those used the free almonds from excess commodities and one of the egg whites left from making an insanely rich chocolate pudding on Valentine's Day that required five egg yolks.
--The other four egg whites went into meringue cookies.
--A friend's brother is running track for the first time and didn't have--and didn't know he would need--track spikes. They don't have much money, so I was delighted when I discovered that my eldest son's old track spikes fit him well and happily gave them to him. I'm always especially pleased when more than one kid can use sports shoes, because they really don't get much use during a season (especially the spikes, which are literally only on their feet for their races at meets) and they're expensive. It's gotten to the point that my youngest son's giant feet are too big for eldest's boy's shoes from when he started sports, but those shoes are big enough that my daughter's feet will never get that big, so I would have just donated those spikes anyway. Much better to give them to someone I actually know who will use them.