Four Frugal Things (plus a fail)
1. I bought a loaf of day-old bread
When I am at Safeway, I always take a quick peek at their markdown section. Most of the time, it's nothing I want, but this time I picked up a loaf of crusty cheese bread.
I brought it home, sliced it in half, and froze the two halves (since half a loaf is really all Zoe and I need at a time.)
2. I worked the CVS discounts
I got two bottles of Maui Moisture shampoo, plus six bars of Dove soap for $9, plus I got a $4 ExtraBucks reward after my purchase.
On Amazon, the Dove soap alone would have been about $9, so I feel pretty good about this little purchase.
3. I got a schoolbook from the library
This class requires Stephen Covey's 7 Habits of Highly Successful People, so I checked my library. Sadly, they do not have a physical copy, but they do have an ebook.
So, I checked that out, even though I don't love ebooks. I will make it work for these eight weeks.
I also thought about asking for a copy on my Buy Nothing group, and maybe I still will. I bet someone has a copy of this lying around; it's a pretty old book at this point!
4. I avoided the cafeteria
I actually ran out of leftovers for my third shift out of the shifts I just finished. I considered going to the cafeteria, but then I realized I had the stuff to pack a lunch meat sandwich.
Sooo, that's what I did. Score one for me, zero for the cafeteria. 😉
5. The fail
I know you are most interested in this one, because I also would be if I were the reader. Ha.
So, you've probably seen my little puffer coat Snoopy pin from my hospital badge:
Once I put my peep bunny badge clip on, though, I realized puffer coat Snoopy is not quite right for the season.
I hopped onto Pintrill, because they have great Snoopy pins, and found a happy Snoopy pin.
But then I was like, oooh, what if I checked eBay? I did, and I found what looked like the same one, except much cheaper. "Buy it now!" I said.
In my haste, however, I neglected to notice something. Please see:
WHOOPS. This new guy is really too big for my badge.
So then I ended up going back to Pintrill to buy the original small one. On the upside, it was marked down by the time I got there, but still, this was not overall a money-saving success.
But it is also not a terrible loss because we know I will happily put the larger Snoopy pin on my backpack. 😉
Your turn! What frugal things have you been up to?
(and feel free to share a fail if you'd like!)
I saw some Snoopy socks yesterday but resisted buying them (for now ;).
Frugals:
1. I flew back home for Easter and didn't buy any food in the airport.
2. I did a pub quiz with a friend last night. The price for joining for £4 for both of us in cash; I only had £3.30 and my friend didn't have any coins, but they said it was enough to join.
3. I've saved money on groceries while being home.
4. I used some cash I already had to pay for things.
5. I went for a walk in some nature nearby and walked there and back from the house.
*was £4 for both of us
--After a too-long hiatus from regular running, I'm starting again slowly with a couch to 5K program. The set intervals of running and walking make me less worried that I'll hurt myself as I get going again. The one I did a few years ago is now behind a paywall, boo, so I found a different one online that's free. I don't like it quite as much as the other one, but it's serving its purpose.
--To time my intervals, I use an old digital watch one of my children no longer wears. I hate carrying a phone when I run, so the watch works better for me. (It also helps the time go faster for me when I'm doing the math as I go to figure out where I need to start walking or start running for the next interval.)
--One of my children is unfortunately prone to digestive upsets that require a period of a liquid diet. At such times, I make a lot of lemonade with the Great Value bottled lemon juice, as well as jello with basically lemonade and beef gelatin that I buy in bulk. And I always have chicken stock in the freezer to pull out, too. As always, this is frugal because I don't have to buy anything special, but also practical, because I CAN'T just go to the store to buy special things. I am often saved from the cost of convenience just because I don't have the option.
--I needed to go to the pharmacy and was trying to figure out something else in the vicinity so I'm not driving 180 miles just for that. Then I realized my middle son has a track meet in a town on the way to the pharmacy town and just about 25 miles apart. So I can go to the pharmacy, then back to the track meet I would have gone to anyway. Still some extra mileage, but at least not a single-purpose trip.
--I'm going to Walmart on Thursday to buy Easter flowers for the church altar (and to stock up on groceries, because I haven't been to the store in a couple of weeks). I just buy random bouquets in the colors I want, plus a few Easter lilies, and make my own arrangements using vases at church and the one bigger box for the central arrangement that I saved from the one time I had a florist make an arrangement for me. The liner for that bigger box started leaking, but I discovered the plastic box from some salad greens fits almost perfectly in the box, so that's the new liner. I hate that foam florist's stuff that gets soaked with water for the stems to go into, and I don't have that anymore, anyway, so I just use criss-crossed branches to hold the stems in place. I might try soaked sheep's wool this year, actually. We have a lot of that on hand after shearing, and that might work well. I like to experiment with stuff like that. Cheap thrills. 🙂
One of the most interesting FFT I've read! Hope the sheep's wool works out as a great option.
I'll report back next week. 🙂
I need to remember to get back on the computer to check your blog later this week; I love your flowers (loved the Walmart church arrangement last year and I have a special fondness for your found wildflower bouquets at home).
Thank you! Last year I relied heavily on the blooming lilacs to make the Easter altar arrangements. I don't think I'll have any outside options this year, more's the pity. I also won't have any wildflowers if it doesn't rain soon. Come on, rain!
Oh my heavens, where do you live that it's such a long drive to a pharmacy you can use? Do you have an option to use a mail order pharmacy?
I live in a remote county in New Mexico, equidistant between three towns with pharmacies, all 90 miles away. I have considered doing something like a mail-order pharmacy, but I prefer to use the independently owned pharmacy in the one town. Also, it's only once a month, so I always combine it with other errands, like to the grocery store or feed store.
You can also use chicken wire to hold the stems in place (below the top edge of the vase).
Nice to hear that someone is making flower arrangements for church. I'm sure yours was second to none, Kristin. Our church requires us to just pay money for the floral arrangements, done by a "professional" florist shop, and we have zero input as to how they turn out. I paid an arm and a leg for the flowers to commemorate my mother's 100th birthday and they looked absolutely terrible! Half the blooms were wilted by the time Sunday rolled around. They flowers were on the altar and the whole congregation saw them, and it was printed in the bulletin that those flowers were from our family; it was so embarrassing for everyone to see the sad/bad blooms! Yet by then, I could not get a refund and it was too late to correct the problem. Wish I could have fixed my own flower arrangements or bought some from H-E-B.
You drive 380 miles to get to a grocery store? Did I read that right?!
I drive 180 miles. It's 90 miles one way.
My five:
1. I went hiking with friends for a free activity
2. I bought a hip bag from a fair vendor who gave me a participant discount. I plan to use it to hold supplies when I do balloon animal gigs
3. I returned a few things to Dollar Tree that I ended up not needing for a project
4. The festival I'm working threw us a participant party. I didn't win an award but I got a free dinner that I didn't have to cook after a show day
5. I found 6 cents in a parking lot. I'm rich!
--I was fortunate enough to find not one, but two pairs of shoes in my fat-footed wide size at the local thrift shop! They were $4 each, and both appeared brand new. I now have a pair of Danskos for when my current exercise shoes wear out (they're getting close) and a pair of tie-dyed converse for the rest of the time.
--Our local grocery store--so local it's actually owned by the village--currently has Easter eggs with prizes hidden throughout. I won a free loaf of bread on my last trip and chose a big loaf of rye from the bakery.
--Speaking of local, I'm grateful my husband ended his commute/started working in town when he did. His car is still on the same tank of gas from last month, and my car (who's better mileage now makes it the default distance driver) has only needed filled once.
--While running errands in the nearest city, I noticed what looked like money in the street. Since it wasn't very busy, I circled the block, parked in a nearby lot, and retrieved a $5 bill for my efforts. I later spent it on a pint of heavy whipping cream from my shopping list.
--We hosted friends for dinner and needed to purchase only shrimp for gumbo, as we had everything else on hand thanks to the pantry and last year's garden. I also made a rye chocolate cake from pantry ingredients.
Healthy-ish gumbo recipe (I seasoned ground turkey in place of sausage to skip as much salt as possible for my husband.)
https://www.jessicagavin.com/chicken-andouille-sausage-gumbo/#wprm-recipe-container-36345
Rye chocolate cake (Made minus the coffee cake topping, because crikey, is that a LOT of sugar!)
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/rye-chocolate-coffee-cake-recipe
My son coaches tennis at a youth foundation. Someone donated a very nice pair of gently used Nikes. Since he is the only one with a size 12 foot, he got them! He was so happy - pretty good for a college student on a tight budget. Congrats on your shoe wear find.
1. I used two gift cards and a discount card at a local bookstore to get six novels for my mom to read while she is recovering from a recent illness. (I will read them after her, so it's a double win.)
2. I bought a bridal shower gift for a good price at Aldi that matched the (more expensive) items on her registry.
3. I fed my family Sunday dinner for almost nothing using rewards points for chicken from a local restaurant and veggies from the freezer that we had put up over the summer.
4. I combined errands rather than making extra trips and got my son to pick up something for my business that was in the next town (30 miles away) where he goes to college rather than going myself.
5. I downloaded free books on my Kindle app; these are posted each Sunday in a Facebook reading group I am in, and I try to go through and pick out a few so that I always have a book available.
I returned 3 pairs of worn Darn Tough socks to redeem their lifetime warranty/guarantee and was able to order 3 new pairs. All I spent was $12.00 in shipping. So 3 new pairs of quality made socks for $12.00!! A brand new pair is these socks is about $25.00.
Went to the local library book sale on their $5.00/bag day. Filled a bag with many great reads for my grandson, daughter and myself. I will use the books for my grandson as gifts throughout the year!
Great job on pulling together the sandwich meal even after running out of planned leftovers!
- Just returned home from visiting family out of state. Was fed well and at no cost by different people in the generations ahead of me, including some good restaurant meals. Free lodging, too.
- Rode with my mom which let us split gas and tolls for some half-price traveling in her gas-efficient car.
- Stopped by an international grocery on my way home and got a couple items that I love for a great price. Ex Thai Basil a nice-sized bag for $1.39! Feels like a great price and even if not, it's not very accessible to me otherwise.
- My MIL I guess thought DH would starve when I was gone for the weekend, so she brought all kinds of meals when she visited the other day haha. (He is competent at cooking and eating but still we appreciate).
- Can't stop putting Chipotle meals on this list bc last week one bowl fed me for THREE lunches. At that price point ($9.50 for chicken entree) it feels golden. Plus I LOVE THEM so delicious.
Read over my list again and I guess I love food hahaha.
It was fun thinking of my five frugal things:
1. I helped a friend at her house and she gave me half of her Spanish rice and some fresh mushrooms. I had some frozen chicken thighs and made Spanish chicken with rice, sauteed mushrooms side and frozen cauliflower that helps keep my frozen vegetables current. My son had dinner with me and loved it.
2. I propagated a couple of trays of coreopsis from spring trimming of existing plants. Maybe too many!
3. I had dug up a lot of my perennials, mostly salvia and pentas because this winter was going to be extremely cold. I'm 70 years old and I decided to leave them in the pots and just dig holes to place them strategically amongst my perennial giant leopards and ferns. That way I can take them back out at the end of the season when it gets too cold. It seemed to work and they look really nice, the pots don't show. We'll see how that goes.
4. In my zealous spring haze, I had purchased a tiller from Amazon to prepare my backyard for sodding. Backstory, I have pecans and one oak tree that have shaded my tiny backyards to the point where all the grass died. I was going to try a shade resistant type. After I saw all of the spring greenery popping up in the space, I've decided to again experiment and see what happens this season. My theory is green is good. If I can mow it and keep it looking full and verdant, I'd like it better then grass anyway. We'll see. Long story short, we boxed up the tiller for return with free shipping.
5. I have an attic bedroom that has two ventilating skylights into windows at either side. I love opening them up at night before it gets too hot in Florida, it's like camping out. Out. In the morning the birds' songs wake me up gently. Keeps me from having to use my second zone air conditioner. Not sure how much money it saves but it sure is nice.
On another note, I sure do enjoy reading this blog and everybody's responses.
I watched https://www.youtube.com/@WondersUSA. It is full of "make do" tricks and techniques of people who survived on almost nothing. It gave me a great sense of the abundance. I was inspired to pull out the sewing machine ( a life saver for people in the 20s.)
I sewed all day and made three full window dressings out of just three panels. I used one huge Ikea black out panel ( a cool moss green) and cut it into two panels. It was $14.00. The quality is dubious but as advertised it blacks the room at night. It does look stylish. I had to change to an embroidery needle and adjust tension because the outside is some kind of polyurethane. How exciting I have enough experience to know these things. My brain works exactly opposite of methodical so I am pretty proud of myself. The other panels were gorgeous, brand new, lined rough silk Pottery Barn panels. I got them on Poshmark for $30. So grateful for those amazing deals when they come along.
I baked muffins and pretzels. learned how to use corn tortillas to thicken soup.
I rationed my trips to make my gas tank last until today. While at home I worked hours a day getting my yard hopefully read for a house sale.
Ooh! Are those Nerds Gummy Clusters I see in your lunch??? FUN!
My FFT:
1. Last week was spring break and we had some free fun - swimming, bounce houses, and playdates.
2. We also went away for a few days. We packed lunch for on the drive there, packed our two dinners there, and our two breakfasts.
3. We bought our standard souvenir - a magnet - and no others.
4. I bought three jackets for $20 off a FB group for my county. My oldest daughter doesn't grow very fast and my youngest daughter does, so they're pretty much the same clothing size even with a 4.5 year age gap. This is putting me in the spot where clothes aren't being handed down as regularly as they once were! So I figured $20 for 3 jackets from a family that buys really nice stuff was a good deal.
5. On my list of places that give me birthday freebies, I also wrote down the expiration dates for each one. A number of them are valid until the middle of April, so I am able to spread them out a little.
YES. I'm not much for most candies (I prefer chocolate!), but there is just something about those gummy clusters.
Wow! Great deal the jackets
1. Went to the local library book sale and purchased a book for our son for his birthday. I looked at a couple of book series for ~$5 but checked Amazon and realized they were available on Kindle unlimited, so I didn't purchase them.
2. Grandson spent the day with us on Sunday, and I didn't think we had any fruit for his lunch but I found an orange in the frig that was still good.
3. Finally got the last things out of our storage unit so no more monthly payments. When I first got the storage unit, it was $25/month but the price kept increasing until it hit almost $100/month. It was worth it in the beginning when we were moving but very glad to be done with it.
4. Bought 12-pound bag of bread flour at Costco and used some of it to bake 4 loaves of bread this weekend. One sandwich loaf went to MIL and the other was for grandson. One sourdough loaf was for us and the other went to my daughter.
5. Bought a stand-up weeding tool for $25 to try to get rid of all the dandelions that invaded my flowerbed. It worked really well so I should be able to clean out the bed myself without having to pay someone to do it. Bonus is that it's kind of fun to use and satisfying to get the tap root out of the ground.
Bonus - Asked on our community Facebook page for recommendations for tree service needed to remove 6 large pine trees (two are over 60' tall) that were damaged in the tornado last year. Found a company that is licensed and insured that provided a free estimate to remove the trees of $2400 with a 10% discount if paying with cash. We have money saved in our home maintenance account that will cover the cost, and we will definitely pay cash to get the discount.
Haha, I once bought a lamp online that I thought was a table lamp,-- turned out it was a little ornamental lamp. I kept it, though. Gotta read those specs!
I made a purchase from the clearance shelf, too. Apple cinnamon breakfast cookies, half price. They are already pretty crumbly, so they went into the freezer (after I ate one of course!)
I ran out of the Lactaid packets that I carry in my purse so I went to Walgreens. They had a generic Lactaid deal -- buy one, get one half off. I tried to use my Advantage debit card to pay for it, but it was no dice.
I hand washed the scarf I found on a walk and it came out beautifully. It's not my style, so it's in the Goodwill bag.
I regularly find receipts on my walks and I scan them to Fetch. I have just surpassed 20,000 points. Some of those points are my purchases, of course, but many are not. I will not cash in until I've earned a $25 Visa card.
lol, that makes me think of when I bought a set of stainless steel cups and they turned out to be the size of shot glasses.
I do the same!!
1.I’m back to work!! I work in an industry that has periods of unemployment. Most of the time I can plan for it but things are getting more difficult and uncertain. I’m buckling down even more than ever lately.
2.used some CVS bucks and coupons to get some nice body wash for my Mom.
3.My Mom gets honey and a tea bag on her dinner tray. Some days she uses them and some not. While I was there, I kept them both on the days she didn’t use them. They would end up in the garbage. Now I have a little stash for company if I need it.
4.Posted a few more things on Marketplace and gave something away something on my buy nothing group.
5.Grouping grocery shopping and errands and staying home more to cut down on gas usage.
Yay for paychecks! I'm so happy for you.
Thank you Kristen.
I frequently get clearance bread too!
1. Had a garage sale, clutter out, cash in!
2. Combined errands
3. Lots of garden work
4. Purchased bricks off fb marketplace
5. Using free firewood in our fire
Longer version and pictures here: https://practicalwalk.com/2026/03/29/frugal-five-garage-sale/
1. I dehydrated some over-ripe grapes to make raisins.
2. My mom gave us lots of food like fruits, mushrooms, breads, eggs, etc. We used the king oyster mushrooms she gave us to make a delicious pasta dish for dinner. We used the crescent rolls to make garlic rolls to go with the pasta.
3. I put the ends of some celery in water and they have grown stalks and leaves. I will plant them in my garden soon. I also sowed carrot and snap pea seeds this weekend.
4. My husband and I had a date night. We went looking for bald eagles near the lake, ate a delicious dinner at home using steaks we got at Aldi for 50% off, biked to the library, and had a fire in our backyard. It was lots of fun.
5. I submitted the copay cost of $7 for an antibiotic to my FSA.
Corrine, you have a very generous mother! I'd take the mushrooms in particular in a New York minute.
She is! She volunteers at a food cupboard and can take home whatever good is not used. So, we are often the receivers of this food. The mushrooms were Wegmans organic king oyster mushrooms, which are $6 a container. We got 4 containers!
I went on a hiking trip with friends, and this is all pretty related to trying to keep that trip frugal.
1) DH dropped me off & picked me up at the airport.
2) Used loyalty rewards for a free night in Las Vegas (before the hiking). Treated a friend to the hotel+ a free lunch, dinner & most of the cost of a brunch (paid cash for the rest).
3) Stayed with friend at her condo near our hiking location.
4) Third friend & I paid for groceries & meals for condo owning friend, as a thank you for sharing her space for us, and because utility bills & such that I'm sure increase while we are there.
5) Bought groceries & used those to pack lunches for the hiking trip, plus our travel day back to the airport.
All told, spent less than half of my $800 budget for the trip. Used a Chase Southwest credit for the flight.
I say your "didn't go to the cafeteria" cancels out your small E-bay fail. And if you can still use the larger Snoopy pin, is it really a fail?
My 5 fts:
– When it got windy, my Springy yard flag almost blew off its metal stake even though it has a curve on the end. I caught it right before it flew away to parts unknown. So I cut a small circle from a plastic nut can lid, sliced an “x” through it and made a “stopper” for the arm that now holds a flag on the stake. Problem solved.
– I bought a few pkgs. of lemon Italian biscotti cookies at HomeGoods. They were reduced from $6 to $2 a bag and are still well within their expiration date. One will be a nice treat with a cup of tea for a friend and I'm keeping the other one for us.
– I froze leftover soup to give to my sister. She has told me she'll take any of our leftovers. We had the soup for 2 meals and still had plenty left.
– I re-took a Kroger survey when my points didn't show up on my account. (These points are used for gas). Their app appeared to be misbehaving and I never got the end-of-survey notice that said points would be awarded. I had no success using the chat feature to fix this. So I waited a few days and did the survey again and this time it took and immediately gave me points.
– I used an “earn 4x fuel points Friday-Sunday” coupon at Kroger to get a few things including the shampoo I use for which I had a $4 off coupon. Combined with doing a few surveys in March, we earned enough fuel points to get 40 cents off a gallon of gas for my husband's truck’s next fill up. Every little bit helps.
Doing a lot of yard work and using up what I have in the shed for weed&feed/grass seed/fertilizer.
I did buy a metal duct piece for $8 to put on the post of my bird feeder, but this will eventually save me a lot of money because the squirrels were cleaning out my bird food daily and going through a LOT of it.
Cashed in almost $100 of microsoft cashback for an amazon card. I bought my mom a mother's day gift and a birthday gift with it (for May and June).
Using up some milk that goes bad in another day or two today making some butter chicken.
I had bought a dress at a thrift store months ago for Easter so no Easter shopping. I have a ham in the freezer that I bought on markdown after Christmas for the meal.
I think I have enough to participate...
1. Hubby and I have been eating down our freezers and pantry because we have so much and we can also save on our grocery bill & apply savings towards debt. We didn't eat out this whole year until 3/22/26. I am super proud of that.
2. I received 2 brand new tabletop ice makers and will gift them to my girls who have been wanting them.
3. I just sold my kayak and oar for asking price in less than a few hours. I hadn't used it in over 4 years.
4. saved over $46 at the grocery store by shopping only sales and using a few coupons.
5. used $20.35 in app rewards towards needed amazon purchases.
You should be proud of your not-eating-out streak. We did this when we were saving for a house and discovered we usually prefer eating at home anyway.
That is an amazing streak of not eating out!! Well done!
*I did a bunch of mending -- I patched a quilt, hemmed a shirt and fixed a hole in a pair of pants.
*I had my friend over on her birthday. I made gluten-free cupcakes and a stir-fry with rice noodles, and sent her home with all the leftovers so she doesn't have to cook today. I put her gift in a recycled gift bag (the gift was purchased new).
*I make soup every Thursday because I have choir practice that afternoon and get home right at dinner time. This week's soup is beef-vegetable, made with a bunch of leftovers. I already have various jars in the refrigerator thawing for Thursday's creation.
*The windshield in our camper van developed a big crack. We discovered our insurance has a zero deductible glass replacement provision, so we took advantage of that to get a new windshield.
*My frugal fail is that my doctor prescribed a new medication that cost $57. Instead of waiting at the pharmacy, I texted my husband and asked him to pick it up on his way home from getting the van windshield replaced. After I got home I thought to look on GoodRx and saw I could get the Rx for about $12. I texted him the GoodRx coupon -- but I was five minutes too late. He had just left the pharmacy. At least I will know if I need to have this refilled.
I turned a frugal fail, not eating some potatoes before they sprouted, into a win. I planted the sprouted potatoes instead of my usual of buying seed potatoes.
I am going to attempt to make some replacement garden beds out of cedar fence pickets I have on hand (and don’t need). Several of my cedar garden beds have significant rotting. Replacing that many cedar 2x8s would cost a fortune now, and my source of discount quality metal garden beds has dried up. I much prefer the look of my old beds, and having all my beds match, but I’m going to accept the imperfection.
I’m working on saving my old garden trellising. It’s made of galvanized piping with rebar supports in the ground. After many years of use, the two parts have rusted together so I can’t detach the rebar for adjustments. I’m using some WD-40 (in the garage, not garden) I have on hand to loosen the parts and plan to take apart salvageable parts to remake what I can.
JenRR, I've got some potatoes sprouting in the basement, and I too plan to cut these up and plant them instead of buying seed potatoes this year.
You may have mixed results - all too often store bought produce is sprayed and doesn't always yield/yield decent results when planted. But any harvest is a plus. We couldn't find our preferred seed potato this year so we'll be planting another variety. I will be working on the better half to have a neighbor till up another area on our property for planting (preferably more potatoes).
1. Shopped yesterday for the ingredients to Marry Me Chickpeas. Fresh basil was nowhere to be found in the three stores I checked. Sun-dried tomatoes were also scarce and the only one was almost $7/jar, so I substituted some canned diced tomatoes and cilantro. Still a good recipe!
2. Husband bought a used truck that came with two free oil changes and two free tire rotations. We are very happy about this!
3. Received a free car wash at the dealership as part of the oil change and tire work on my car. Learned that it would cost several hundred dollars for new batteries for our tire pressure management system, so we decided not to replace them and instead will rely on the dashboard read-out.
4. Gussied up some leftover vegetable black bean soup with frozen spinach and penne noodles.
5. Went to an event and received leftover soup and a loaf of bread. Made croutons and French toast. For the croutons, I used basil olive oil that a friend gave me for Christmas.
1. Decided to let the city's street sweeper take care of the huge amount of live oak leaves and pollen tassels that landed in the street and gutter in front of my house. They require you to use 30 gallon paper bags to contain whatever yard waste that you can't fit in your two city-issued 86 gallon yard waste trash cans (mine are already full) and then they limit the number of bags you can put at the curb. It is forecast to rain which means the paper bags will get soggy and likely split. They don't pick up plastic bags that are not in your one trash can allowed for regular garbage, and I need my trash can for trash. They only pick up trash in their city issued trash cans and not in anything else, just their cans and the special paper bags. I'm tired of buying those paper bags so I'm going to make the city take care of what is in the street. Their employees told me the city is responsible for anything in the street so I will not bother with it anymore.
2. After attending last weekend's block party, I was given a big carton of leftover Starbucks coffee to take home. I've been drinking that every morning instead of brewing my own coffee. This is the one time you will catch me drinking Starbucks, only when it's free; I don't pay that much for coffee!
3. Frugal fail: that Clapper gizmo I bought barely works. I clap and slap and even hit a book with a hammer trying to get it to "clap on" and "clap off" my bedroom lamp. (Remember those commercials?)Maybe once out of every dozen or so claps could I get it to work. So I disconnected it. Sadly I threw away the package so I can't return it.
4. Was asked for some of my history teacher paraphernalia for a soon-to-be beginning teacher and found even more books to donate to various charities' thrift stores. As well as many items for the new teacher.
5. Planted mint and rosemary in flower pots and hanging baskets in an effort to discourage squirrels from coming around. Snuggles is also chasing the squirrels out of the backyard. Good dog!
Fru-gal Lisa, your #1 about the city being responsible for what's in the street reminds me of this story from many years ago. One fall morning, DH and I found a partially eaten deer carcass (I'd seen a coyote in the vicinity shortly before) in NDN2's front yard. NDN2, after she finished hitting E above high C (she's a retired vocal music teacher for the city schools), gave us carte blanche to deal with it. DH called the city DPW, and they said, "We only haul away dead deer if they're in a street." DH replied, "It'll be in the street by the time you get here." The DPW said, "We'll come get it."
The DPW helps those who help themselves.
You always make me laugh!
Then my work is done!
Update: Found some history-related books at the thrift store that gives books away free. Even better! Also, I will read some of them be passing them along.
Not a frugal fail, rather an unexpected dip into fun money, maybe?
Let see...
1) I figured out that I actually could get the book I wanted to read from the library and did so. My city library only had it on Hoopla which apparently isn't compatible w/ my paperwhite. I hoped on ebay to see if I could get a cheap set of the books and then thought to check the state library. They had it on Libby so I was able to get it on my kindle. Hopefully, they have the rest too.
2) I got my volunteering discount at a few vendors at the farmer's market
3) Made pretzel bites (or flats as they happened to come out as) and cheese dip to bring to a friend's house. Used ingredients already had at home.
4) Took advantage of an overstock sale for sausages at a local farm.
Frugal fail: Missed the free movie at the Brattle last night. We decided it was to close of a time crunch and stayed in for the night. Perhaps, next month.
1. I needed to attend a funeral out of town with my parents. We used points for all three of our tickets and an award certificate for the hotel stay. It was going to expire within three weeks.
2. We had another award certificate that's going to expire in May. We don't have any travel plans so my husband suggested we stay at a fancy nearby hotel for a staycation. But it's kind of silly because the hotel ends up charging a $70(!) resort fee plus ~$30 per night for parking and then if we eat out, we're out a significant amount of money for a 'free' stay. My girlfriends have been wanting to go somewhere together in April so we ended up putting the cert towards that stay instead. Still staying somewhere nice but now we're splitting the costs and that award brings down the overall cost significantly.
3. I had a tiring week last week so when I got home, I didn't feel much like cooking but I made dinner anyway. One night I just made frozen pasta from trader joe's and a side of air fried broccolini and some fruit but $10 for all of us was way more frugal than $10 for each of us for take out (and faster)!
4. I cooked a bunch of garbanzo beans several weeks ago and portioned out a few jars' worth and froze them. I pulled one out and made some hummus with it. It was so much better than store-bought and cost less than $1 to make.
5. Daughter met a friend at an outdoor mall. I had hours to kill but didn't buy anything except for a few essentials from Target. I used a gift card to offset the cost.
I'll start with the fail: I gave in to Life is Good's 25% discount offer and ordered a t shirt that I really don't need.It's a lovely color and it says "Read More Books."
I ordered two more books from Interlibrary Loan, which is FREE.
I fixed my mom's broken glasses with Super Glue, which was great since she paid $195 for new lenses in the fall.
I spent time shopping around for the best price on contact lenses, and after my vision insurance reimburses me, I will have paid $5.98 for 9 months worth of contacts.
This is nothing I did, but I continue to enjoy my New Yorker subscription a dear friend gave me, which she got for free when she renewed her subscription.
FFT, March into April Edition:
(1) Things are looking up on both the deposit container return and found change fronts: I found $20.20 in containers and a whopping $4.83 in change during March. (Among other things, I found a dollar bill in the street, I got lucky on Aldi carts several times, and the secrets of many snowdrifts were revealed.)
(2) I enjoyed a good container pick this morning in a warm spring shower, which helped to loosen some personal knots I'm tied up in right now.
(3) I had excellent garden cleanup help yesterday from two high-school-age nephews of my eventual executor and his wife (their college-age sons weren't available this week, but the nephews were). Like all the junior members of this extended family I've met, these were intelligent and personable kids--and, like their cousins, they did exactly what I asked them to do and did it well. In fact, the two of them finished in 1.5 hours what would probably have taken creaky old me a week. I paid them for 2 hours each and was well satisfied.
(4) I'm shopping more at Aldi now, since there's an Aldi on my direct route to and from NDN1's assisted living facility. I snagged two packages of boneless/skinless chicken thighs and one of chicken drums for 50% off there on Sunday.
(5) And the friends who raise the beef I buy each year (1/4 steer, which I share with others at my cost) have just sent an update that they plan to stay in the beef biz through at least 2028. Huzzah! Goodness only knows what supermarket beef will cost by 2028, and even though my friends will inevitably have to raise their costs, I'll still come out way ahead on both cost and quality.
I definitely visit the day old bakery cart at the store - most often on the their $6 sushi day!
As for the book, definitely ask your Buy Nothing group. I also recommend Paperback Swap dot com. I've had a membership for years, and it's been very valuable.
Received 3 small pizza's for $3.99 from a local pizza place off the "Too Good to Go" app. The Hawaiian (not a fan) went to a friend, and the other 2 were cut and put in freezer for future me!
Topped off my tank when I saw gas at $3.86 at Walmart Neighborhood Market (neighboring stations were at $3.99)
Found a quarter, added to my found money jar.
Needed a denim skirt...I knew my patience would pay off...the thrift delivered a denim skirt in my size, with pockets, correct length - some are SO short, ...and only $3.49!! BINGO!
Continuing my "frugal autopilot" maneuvers - eating from freezer/pantry, taking coffee/lunch to work, taking my water bottle and a snack on errands, etc.
You Snoopy pins are so cute!
My Frugal 5s+
- Went for a walk around the parks and the kids played at the playgrounds yesterday. Free exercise and entertainment is always good.
- Kids used dress up clothes we already had for 'Dress Up As Your Favorite Book Character' day at school.
- With much encouraging and reminding, our kids finished their reading bingo sheets for school and have received some good prizes like free pizza buffet and zoo admission, which we may end up using for their future birthday experiences.
- Did some major spring cleaning and small touchups around the house instead of hiring someone to do it. Still preparing for a possible move and sell of our home.
- Will have Easter lunch with a wonderful friend this Sunday. She kindly invited me and my family over to her house. God bless her. We will bring dessert and a salad with us to share.
we went to a train show in edison nj. my model train loving son bought some nice cars for not a lot of $. my daughter bought a doll for $20 that is worth 139 dollars on the internet. we used points for homewood suites and we are now gold members again. sometimes we are silver, sometimes gold. have no idea how that works. we went by njt train. cooked dinner in our room instead of going to restaurant. there was a target a block away. this was our 4th year at the model train show. so much fun. we usually go jus t one day. this time we went back. they let u get in the second day for free if u show them the picture of the stamp on your hand.
off topic. there is now a lidl in nyc. can anyone tell me if it worth going to? many thanks.
The Somerset County 4-H in NJ has a model train club. Even if you don’t live in Nj, you might be interested in the annual 4- H fair, where they have quite a display every year. It’s in August in Branchburg. There are cows, alpacas, poultry, and double-Dutch jump roping as well. Admission is free, and the only vendors are food vendors and information booths, such as government agencies.
Two books were recommended to me, and I found them both at the library - score!
On a walk I found a pretty if bedraggled wool cap. After a wash, it looks awesome.
E-books may grow on you. There are free sources (libraries, Project Gutenberg, for example) and when you're reading one it's always with you. I read in long post office lines, when grabbing a bite to eat alone, waiting for a meeting to start, and more. I can even "read" during long car rides by listening to audio books or audio narration (see below). And now, Apple Devices have a setting called "Vehicle Motion Cues" which are dots on the screen that move with the car and prevent you from getting carsick from reading in a moving vehicle. It works!
If you open your library book in the Kindle app (even if you borrow it on Libby) you can highlight passages and write notes, and you will still have a list of highlighted text and notes even when you have to return the library book. And e-books are great for multi-tasking. Libraries have audio books, and for Apple mobile devices, at least, you can go into accessibility settings and set up the device to read aloud to you while you are cooking, cleaning, walking, knitting, etc. On Apple devices, if you set up to use "Siri voices" the narration is pretty close to natural speaking and you can set the speed. It doesn't sound too robotic at all.
That's been a great frugal win for me--I don't buy physical books anymore (except things too old to be digitized), and sometimes audio books or narration is the only way I'm going to have time to "read" these days.
Jan, thanks for the info. You taught me a lot that I did not know.
In my one person household, where I basically have no appetite and now eat only two meals a day (and not much at them), avoiding food waste and maximizing food dollars is tough.
I maintain a pantry and I monitor Amazon Fresh in particular as, depending on what you use, you can get some serious savings.
I have a few Progresso soups that I love and I've been able to get them for $$1.50 to $2.00 a piece. Now, that may seem high to you, but they are on sale for as much as $5 at places around here. Regular prices are often $4 to $6. So it is a savings.
(I do make homemade soup, using the carcasses of rotisserie chicken (on sale for $8.99 in the major East Coast city I live in and regularly $10.99 and up) and veggie bits and pieces and lentils or beans. It makes so much and freezer is already full.)
There are other savings on fresh, refrigerated and canned items, too numerous to list here, but I regularly save $25 to $40.
Amazon had a big sale this week that included a lot of household basics (toilet paper, paper towels, dish liquid and the like), so stocked up on some with some serious savings. (I also opt for Amazon Subscribe and Save price if it is an item I use regularly. You save 5 to 15% over one time price. Ships once a month. Again, you have to monitor the prices as they sometimes change and are higher and not as much off. Sometimes the S&S price is higher than the same price posted on the item's page which is crazy and it's a losing battle with amazon to fix that. Infuriating.)
I called up a national newspaper that I get the daily print edition; got a 50% reduction in price for monthly fee. Did the same with another, with a change in product (online versus print delivery) and still saved 45% on monthly fee.
I pay annually for some streaming options as it is cheaper. However, there are one or two that I don't use all that much. I let them expire and wait a few months to see if I can get a promo offer, which they often do to get you back.
I paid $99 for a three year subscription to over two hundred magazines, including the dozens I regularly read. HUGE savings as I could now drop the print subscriptions. We're talking hundreds of dollars saving here.
I save even more money with my Apple + news subscription.
I monitor my Staples account to see when they are giving out bonus points for purchases. When I bought a new printer last year, I got 50% of the overall cost (already greatly reduced) and ended up covering more than my annual expenses for ink/toner and various things like notebooks, tape, etc. (I use those cheap, now $.50 notebooks all the time. They used to be 25cents.) I only buy in August when they are on sale for back to school.
I take advantage of promotions for software that I use (security, etc) and renew annually (I still refuse however to pay an annual fee for Quicken when I use to buy the software once and it lasted for years.) because every bit of savings counts.
I use Rakuten and Retail Me Not for quarterly savings that really add up. I also track various companies lawsuits and have gotten back several hundred dollars in some years. (It's amazing how many lawsuits are out there. Some give you next to nothing, like $30 master card...but hey, every bit counts.)
Our few supermarkets have super high prices, even on sale, and no discounts for day old products to that is a bummer.
Trader Joe's remains a good way to maximize food dollars. (Although you must resist the lure of its many snacks!) depending on what you eat. Perhaps a better deal for single households than families.
CVS.com extra care program is guaranteed savings each month when you carefully shop. I saved almost $40 (deducted from total costs) and ended up spending about $20 for over $60 worth of personal care items + earned extra bucks, too. Win Win Win
I mention these as ongoing ways to save as opposed to right now, because they are ongoing savings.
We had some great thrift shops locally but they closed (rent too expensive).The few that remain are anything but a bargain. I am so envious when I read of how little you all pay for what is sometimes almost new or never worn items.
Plus, there is so much less inventory as so many people now sell their stuff online or the folks at these stores buy for themselves to resell.
Even Facebook marketplace is expensive and there is not a lot of free stuff out there either as everyone is trying to make $ by selling stuff online or in person if local.
1. We are heading out of town tomorrow so all menu planning revolved around using up anything in the fridge.
2. We will be staying in an Airbnb which means I have to pack shampoo and conditioner (I usually just use the hotel’s) but I’ve done such a good job of using up what I have that I didn’t have any travel size of anything. I did find a four pack of empty travel size containers for less than the cost of one travel size shampoo so I will happily fill those up with what is in my shower.
3. I was able to cancel today’s doggy daycare since my son was home to watch the puppy while I went to a funeral.
4. I took advantage of a beautiful day and paid my son to wash my car. He is always looking for a little pocket money and he’s cheaper than the car wash. (I don’t pay him for doing things around the house because he lives here too, but I do pay him if I would have paid someone else to do the work)
5. I looked through my TBR pile and my puzzle books for in flight entertainment. I never trust that the in-flight movies will be any good.
Save those travel size containers and refill them every time you pack for a trip. I also snag samples of sanitizer, shampoo, conditioner and etc. from health fairs at the mall or from motel rooms and save the containers for refilling. I have tiny funnels to use just for this purpose.
The 7 habits book is a good read, I have a copy lying around here somewhere, I had to read it for a class at work one year. It's not wasted time, in my opinion.
I’m like you- a sandwich is typically one of the last things I enjoy for lunch, but it sure does work in a pinch!
Lately I’ve really been enjoying tuna on the Aldi thin sliced graintastic bread.
1. We managed to eat some potatoes that had languished on the counter for far too long, in addition to some frozen venison from 2024. (Food waste fail: some pinto beans didn’t get used in time and really stunk up the fridge before I realized what had happened.)
2. I boiled the baby washcloths I use as rags for wiping off my kiddos after meals. It took several hours and multiple changes of water but they are much improved. They have been in use for 4+ years now and are really hammered, but they still do the job.
3. I washed some really grubby inside windows (thanks to my 4 and 2 year olds) including sweeping away lots of spiderwebs and wiping the moldy/dusty sills below. I have someone coming this week to wash the exterior windows which I consider a really good use of $125 at this season of my life! I feel better when I have clean windows.
4. I used the last of some dehydrated tomatoes from DH’s aunt in a pot of chili, which also used some of the freebie canned tomatoes and tomato sauce that I was given with BB dates in 2024. We don’t have too much chili weather left here so I wanted to get them out of the cupboards.
5. Usual things: coffee at home, laundry on cold and dried on racks indoors, wearing thrifted clothing, etc.
Nothing really for me to report as I was in Mexico except, I suppose, I didn't buy anything to bring back with me. I've been to Mexico many times and have brought back beautiful artisan pieces before and don't feel tempted to buy anything. If a piece of unique, handcrafted jewellery had caught my eye I might have purchased it. I did have to spend $15 at the airport for one bottle of water. Insanity. But, one has no choice.
Every time I see Maui Moisture and Snoppy related products I think of you.
Late to the party but I need to share an absolute COLOSSAL frugal failure. So I may have mentioned that I adopted a new cat the end of November (NO, he is NOT the frugal fail!!)
Mr Mittens is a scratcher. He has a scratching post which he uses but he much prefers my sofa(s) ....and I prefer them not to look like they've gone through a war. I looked locally for stuff to cover the arms of the sofas as I'd ordered some off of Facebook that never showed up (and the shop closed down). No luck locally, so tried Shmeff Schmezos (as Katy at the NCA refers to Amazon). I found some and that's where the frugal fails starts: I bought two 2 packs ($24.00 each), self adhesive HA and trimmable.
First off it took one full pack to partially cover ONE arm of the dining room sofa (of course there wasn't coverage for the area he loves to scratch)> Self adhesive my rear end and the twisty push pins they sent along--half of them failed and untwisted when pushing in. Next idea double sided tape...worked better at sticking to my pants than to the sofa or the covers.
Next idea: staple gun which might have worked had I not cheaped out and bought the $23.00 manual version. It took two hands to staple the material to the sofa, ok fine. EXCEPT for the fact that the using the staple gun pinched nerves/muscles in my neck and right shoulder. Urgent care, follow up with my PCP, multiple packs of heat packs to cover my shoulder, a hot water bottle, a muscle relaxer, AND now I'm looking at physical therapy as the injury will probably not heal on its own. I'm avoiding figuring out how much this debacle cost me in total.
PS Anybody interested in buying a CHEAP staple gun? ROFLMBO!!