Vintage fashion, a cereal bag reuse, and more!
Time for Five Frugal Things, people.
1. I used a cereal bag to freeze turkey.
I saved the enormous plastic bag from a Costco-sized box of Cheerios because I thought it might come in handy. And it did, yesterday!
I had to cut some turkey breasts off the bone for pulled turkey sandwiches, which left me with some turkey bones, plus a neck (perfect for a future batch of broth.)
I put them in the cereal bag, closed it with a chip clip, and put it in the freezer.
I kind of hate to use brand new plastic bags for freezing meat because that's kind of a one and done use.
But a cereal bag? I don't mind parting with that once I thaw the bones and make broth.
2. I avoided an umbrella group price hike.
The longer you wait to submit your registration as a homeschool family, the more the price goes up.
So, I had my end-of-year review yesterday and sent the forms off the same day.
No sense in paying more for the same thing!
(An umbrella group is an organization for homeschoolers to report to. The umbrella group then sends records to the country homeschool office.)
3. I froze some annoying bananas.
I got a batch that did the get-spots-before-turning-yellow thing.
Which means they go from green to overripe while completely skipping that delicious just-turned-yellow stage.
Which is weird because I bought two bunches from the same store, and one ripened just fine.
Anyway, I froze them for either use in smoothies or in this strawberry banana ice cream.
4. Sonia got a pair of vintage-style shoes at Goodwill.
She's gotten very into the vintage look lately, and she was thrilled to find a pair of perfect shoes for $6 at Goodwill.
And she suggested that they would be perfect for a Five Frugal Things post. 😉
5. Vintage looks from ThredUp.
Sonia's also been faithfully searching ThredUp for items that will work for a vintage look.
(ThredUp is an online consignment store, and you can get $10 off your first order through this link.)
A result of all this vintage fashion shopping is that Sonia's always walking around the house looking very fancy while the other girls and I are hanging out in tshirts and jeans. Ha.
Alrighty, it's your turn! Share your five frugal things in the comments.
P.S. If you want some laughs, check out my post showcasing the box of failed rescue items from ThredUp.
SONIA is beautiful! I love her courage--esp. at her age--to be unique. You have certainly brought up very different yet equally wonderful children. Kudos to you, Kristen.
1. I earned some cash participating in neighborhood garage sale.
2. I shopped at local thrift store for kids T-shirt’s and shorts for the summer.
3. Caught a mistake on medical bill, got a small refund.
4. Cooked at home, packed school lunches.
5. Chose generic version of epipen, the copay was only $10.
Two epic fails first:
1. Hit a curb and blew a tire. Only upside is it was one of two we had planned to replace by the end of summer
2. Big unexpected vet bill.
Five frugal things
1. We pay for our water so I save all leftover water from water glasses and veggie and pasta cooking to water plants with.
2. Needed new string lights for the gazebo. Found them half off
3. Found a really nice Texas Ware mixing bowl at our local recycling center
4. Used grocery store gift card I forgot I had for this week’s shopping
5. Taking advantage of all the dandelion greens in the backyard to supplement the rabbits food. Free food! Also drying lots of rose, dandelion, clover and violet flowers for them to eat during the winter.
I know not everyone can do this, but I put a little aside each payday in a special account for the dogs. It is for emergencies, but also their annual checkup/heartworm/flea medicine. Quinn is now 7 so she has accumulated quite a bit in "her account". I figured out the cost of pet insurance and what it covers and decided it was more economical to save that money each month. Of course, there's the risk of a young dog having an emergency, but my dog costs have always increased dramatically as they age. 🙁
I do the same thing I found out what insurance would cost and thats what i bank each fortnight. I also increase the amount each year as insurance would go up. Pays my cats yearly fees and the rest is adding up nicely. There would have been several things my cat would not have been covered for so insurance would have been a waste of money in my case.
That is such s great idea! We have too many pets for pet insurance to be helpful. But setting money aside each pay is a great idea. Thanks.
Nothing spectacular this week but I did have a pretty good thing. The rest is simply maintenance of the usual.
1. Happened to go to the supermarket for a few things, when it was Sidewalk Sale Day. I bought large amounts of 2 types of soda, Propel, canned fruit, and - most usefully - dry dog food. I did not buy any paper towel despite it being a good price, because I know it wasn't a great price and I have a few months' worth. I also nabbed a free hot dog and chips for my roommate.
2. The dog's giardia necessitated an invalid's diet of cooked chicken and rice. Dog now realizes that there are much better options than dry dog food and is holding out for something better. Rather than just give in, I experimented with additions to his food to see if we could reach an amicable agreement. Result: I need to add a single slice of deli turkey or a small amount of chicken to his dry food.
3. I continue to pursue reparations from Renewal by Anderson.
4. Simmered the remnants of a store-roast chicken just before it went bad. This yielded a couple cups of chicken stock for me and cooked chicken for the dog.
5. No food waste this week, in sad contrast to last week.
Makin' It Real:
- I ordered delivery Chinese. Not because I failed to plan but because I wanted some good Chinese.
I can relate to the #2 item. We started with toppings on the dry food when we had to feed one dog prescription food which necessitated feeding them separately. The toppings get them settled down to eating more quickly. I usually alternate between roasted sweet potatoes and canned pumpkin with occasional green beans or broccoli.
I hope your reparations efforts pay off! Mine eventually did with Cigna. 😉 And when Mr. FG's tire rims were seriously damaged by Sears when he had tires put on, we eventually got money for the damages. It took some doing, though.
They continue to, yes. Yesterday I learned that 18 months of a long-term medical insurance bill had been mis-coded, leading to non-reimbursement. Getting that fixed may be the most financially-productive use of my time ever - approximately $1250/hr.
Know what's covered and check your EOBs, folks!
Yay! I'm sorry that happened but so glad you figured it out. Phew.
And yes, yes, yes, always read your EOBs and know what your coverage should be.
William, I loved the comment about coming to a compromise with the dog over his menus. Mark of a true animal lover. We have a cat who has become king of the household. The house has so many cat friendly structures and toys that it rather looks like he learned how to get on Amazon and order for himself.
But we're retired and already spend lots on the grandkids, he's the last one to spoil. 😀
1. I biked to run errands on Sunday and to my dentist appointment instead of driving.
2. I’ve remembered to brew coffee at night regularly in order to have homemade iced coffee in the morning!
3. Planted a veggie garden at my kids’ school! We get some of the produce in exchange for sweat equity, and the cost of seeds/plants is partially offset through the PTO and teachers (starting plants is part of the curriculum).
4. Decided NOT to hire a house cleaner and instead focus this summer on building better cleaning routines with the kids. We’ve struggled with this as two working parents with kids in activities.
5. Using baking soda and a plastic scraper, cleaned some burned-on grease off a burner on our glass top stove. Burner was hot, grease splashed on it and burned on. I though it was ruined, but after it cooled, a combination of patience, elbow grease, baking soda, and that plastic scraper cleaned it off without scratching the glass or removing the native finish!
Huge kudos to you for not hiring a cleaner; I work outside the home and have 2 kids and have had a cleaner for the last 6 years. 3 hours a week @ £13/ hour.. It’s a huge drain on our budget but oh so difficult to give up.
Sonia's shoes do look like something that say Clara Bow or Colleen Moore might have worn.
1.) Needed some ground pork for meatloaf tonight and at my local grocery store that costs $5 a lb! I'm sorry, but $5 a pound for shoulder and/or trimmings is ridiculous! So I bought some country style ribs to grind up myself instead. So around $6 for almost 4 lb versus $5 for 1 lb.
2.) Cleaning out the freezer one meal at a time. It's a long process (I know that you know it) but it's nice to be able to not have to buy food all the time.
3.) Started my garden for the year. I planted some beans so far. My cucumbers haven't done much at all so I may have to try again.
4.) I needed a pot for my pepper plant and didn't feel like buying one. So I took an old popcorn tin (I swear those things reproduce on me) punched some holes in the bottom for drainage and et voilà !
5.) We're planning a vacation for later this year (doing some driving down the eastern states) and doing some comparison shopping on hotels and finding tickets of things to do. So hopefully it will be a nice frugal (but still enjoyable) vacation.
I like Sonia's shoes and overall look. Does she have a decade she is trying to emulate or does she just like a generic vintage look? Her hair evokes the 1940s to me but the shoes and skirt look more '70s, while the blouse screams '80s. But I'm far, far from a fashionista so maybe I'm off by a decade or two. 😉 Anyway, tell her she looks great and to keep marching to the beat of a different drummer!
It's probably sort of vintage fusion at the moment, but she's busy listening to fashion podcasts and watching vintage fashion youtube videos, so I imagine her style will get distilled into a more distinct decade. I know she said one decade was her favorite but now I'm forgetting which it was! Maybe the 20s?
However they fit in the 1970s, those shoes definitely fit in the 1920s & 30's.
I totally agree about the '20s & '30s. The connection to the '70s would be The Great Gatsby movie from 1974; there was a roaring twenties resurgence around that movie.
I sell vintage clothing on Etsy and yes, she is definitely doing the 20s/30s thing. It’s helpful to browse vintage styles on Etsy from good shops so you educate yourself on the look. She is welcome to check put my shop- Practice in Time Vintage.
Lovely shoes! I still have a pair of vintage high heels I bought at her age from a consignment shop, which probably were 30 years old then. So now they are pushing 60, agh!
Our main frugal activity is that my husband got his fishing license and has been taking our kids fishing down at our beach pier. They have been catching white perch, which are really good as fillets lightly floured and fried. So, we've had dinners from both our own garden and creek!
While my husband was fishing, I went kayaking with my friend, another fun and frugal activity that I love to do in the summer. Kayaks are so low-maintenance next to a sail boat or power boat 🙂
Sonia is adorable! Gotta love a girl with style!
As usual, your post is inspiring me to do better, although I have no examples to post. (aka I’m still trying).
As I read each post I want to cheer for all of you. Good job! Way to go.
1) We desperately need new exterior doors - front door, sliding patio door, and garage entry door. We knew this would be expensive so every time one of our credit cards earned enough points for a $100 Home Depot gift card, we redeemed them and put the gift cards in our safe. The patio door and garage entry door were almost completely paid for this way. We did our research and found that it was cheaper to order our door from a local shop that usually supplies contractors and have all 3 doors installed by someone that was recommended to us (not by Home Depot).
2) I am traveling to Denver for the first time next month. I have been researching to plan our trip in a way that makes sense and not overspend. Realized that we could forgo renting a car for the first few days and just use public transportation, which will avoid having to pay to park the car downtown and save us a few days of rental. Now to find a good deal on a hotel in Boulder!
3) I was sick all weekend. On Saturday morning I sent my husband out to pick up a carryout of lemon rice soup. When I ordered it, I asked for a large container and the lady said "a quart?" Without thinking, I said sure, not really realizing how big a quart was. When he told me how much the total was and showed me the "bucket" of soup, I was thinking it was a real frugal fail. But I ended up eating it all weekend and it saved him from having to run out and get more, so this worked out okay!
4) My dad recommended getting our printer ink refilled at Sam's Club instead of buying new cartridges. I went there and their machine was down, but the price quoted will be a significant savings so I will come back when the machine is running again.
5) Still driving my 11 year old vehicle even though it means walking 2/3 of a mile into work every morning because I work for a competing car manufacturer. If I drove the same brand that I work for, it would be about a 5 minute walk instead of 20. However, I can't find a good deal so I am holding out until I do!
Whoa, so your company does't allow people to park other brands of cars at work?
Might be an issue of social pressure.
Colleen, that walk is a great way to get some exercise and fresh air.
That's how it works here in Detroit at all of the automakers. Those who drive a company branded vehicle can park close. Those who drive a competing but American vehicle park further. Those who drive a foreign vehicle park furthest. 🙂 You will get towed if you do not comply (I know this from experience!)
Dare I ask what if the American vehicle was built outside the US?
Thank for posting about your door - we need our front door replaced, and researched briefly last year but need to reengage now. Prices quoted by individual contractors were startlingly expensive, so we figured we might end up with Home Depot... maybe we'll have to look harder though. Wish we could find a good contractor! We thought about trying to install it ourselves but we're not quite that handy.
I feel the same about reusing plastic bags. I have a drawer committed to holding ones from bags of rice and bread and used ziplocs to make better use of them.
Some of my frugal things from the week:
1.I took a DVD back to the library on time. (The fines for DVDs are $1/day!)
2. We are an absurd amount of cucumbers before they went bad! (they were on sale 😉 )
3. We're using vinegar to clean mild/mildew spots in our "new" trailer instead of fancy expensive brand named sprays.
4. We ate leftovers!
5. Norah got secondhand ballet shoes.
Pretty sure this week I could list more frugal fails than frugal sucesses, but I'll shoot for coming up with a few successes:
1. Spent an entire day with the whole family at the location of my daughter's ballet dress rehearsal and recital instead of driving the 15 miles back and forth to our house repeatedly. There happened to be a lovely little cafe in the rural town that was a perfect for warming up with coffee in the midst of severe, torrential thunderstorms.
2. Got a giftcard for a birthday celebration per my plan, and the store handed me a second giftcard with $10 on it as a bonus. What a lovely surprise!
3. Bought store-brought bread, pasta, and canned soup to avoid eating out. Not as cheap as making my own bread or soup (both taste better homemade), but I don't have energy to make homemade stuff right now, and I chose not to let perfection be the enemy of good (or okay)
4. Needed new ballet slippers and tights for my daughter because she outgrew hers, and I looked to the handbook of the new studio she will attend next year to get the correct stuff rather than buying whatever looked good.
I'll take 4! I feel like I need to do a lot of work on being frugal. I used to be able to come up with things so much more quickly.
I hate putting raw meat in new bags, too, especially big ones, which are expensive per bag to use. That's great that you had the cereal bag on hand. I keep random bags as well.
I like Sonia's look. I have my mother's elopement dress from 1939, and I would love to wear it sometime (it's a nice but ordinary dress), but I'm afraid that the fabric might be too fragile.
My frugals:
1. Took the Easter sale ham bone from the freezer and made bean soup, and took the frozen remaining ham meat and served some sliced for one meal, and ground the rest to make deviled ham. That ham is completely used up.
2. I only recently realized that some plastic bags have recycling emblems on them. I've recycled them instead of adding them to my trash. Better for me - less trash bags and trash - and for the environment.
3. I buy pet food at an independent pet store. They give me every so many bags for free, plus I have been given a full-size can of grain-free dog food and a large bag of grain-free quality treats for free as a bonus so far, the treats coming to me this week with my purchase. I have checked their prices and they are comparable to most all other retailers, including Chewy.
4. Speaking of pets, I use World's Best cat litter so I can flush it. No bags of smelly, heavy litter to increase my trash. I've done this for years with no problem.
5. I contacted Swagbucks about a purchase I'd made through their site, for supplies for my office, which was not showing up in my shopping activity. They gave the Swagbucks to me, 112 "bucks." I keep my emailed receipts to be able to prove my purchases to SB.
EngineerMom, I'm having good success with the Flylady's methods. You might want to go online and take a look at her free site and see if it would work for you. I'm not a cluttered up person, but I had been taking way too long to clean with my own method of cleaning. This has helped!
Cat poop shouldn't be flushed, actually! Cat poop can have specific diseases that can kill marine life. There are actually several animals that are heading toward extinction due to this. And I'm saying this as a cat owner and cat rescuer who has taken care of many many cats. <3
Rachel, I'm on a private septic system, and my mostly indoor cat is tested for toxoplasmosis, and the other diseases and parasites - he's in very good shape. My understand was that feral cats create the biggest problem. I don't like disposing of cat waste at our landfill, as it is not well-managed and sits on ground that has a water table near the surface (most of our area has a very shallow water table so there aren't other options for sites.) I don't like putting dicey stuff in our trash. I understand your concern, though. Poor cats, they do come with some issues.
Jennifer, no worries, I recycle at a grocery store that accepts the types of bags that I'm recycling there, as well as those darn plastic tubs that are hard to recycle.
Awesome!
You may realize this but even though plastic bags are recyclable, most cities will not accept them because the bags tangle their equipment. You have to return them to a grocery store that collects them. In good news, they accept many plastic bags that don't have the recycling symbol on them. Here's some more info:
https://livegreen.recyclebank.com/column/because-you-asked/what-kind-of-plastic-bags-can-i-recycle
https://www.plasticsmakeitpossible.com/plastics-recycling/how-to-recycle/at-home/can-i-recycle-plastic-bags-in-the-recycling-bin/
Sonia’s look is fantastic! I love wearing vintage.
Love Sonia's outfit, but especially those shoes!
I'm not really good at being frugal. I try, but...
I did score a free latte when I went to the coffee shop this morning! Yay for that.
I had $20 Kohl's cash and bought my grand daughter 2 pairs of shorts and 3 shirts for my house for the summer.
I've been wanting a "bottle tree" for my yard for about a year now, but everything I've seen online has been pricey and too small. I found one on FB Market for $20 and it's taller than me!
There was one more thing, but for the life of me, I can't remember it!
To Sonia--
You are ROCKING the vintage look girl! The fact that you can do it so frugally is a BONUS!!!
1. Saved $50 on party supplies by being a Sam's Club Plus member.
2. Got a $15 gift card from Target for buying laundry detergent. And I only bought detergent; I didn't impulse buy ANYTHING at Target.
3. Shopped around and found affordable (Aldi) outdoor furniture to suit our needs.
4. My son is starting to understand the cost of things and price compare when we are shopping.
5. Planted my garden, with the help of my son.
1. Found $10 at the public market this weekend, which paid for all of the vegetable plants we bought there too
2. Still breastfeeding my 6.5 month old!
3. Made a boxed cake for my husband's birthday, rather than a pre-made one from the store/bakery
4. Used pantry items (pasta, homemade pesto, sun dried tomatoes, and artichokes) to make my lunches for the week
5. My son has 4 birthday parties this weekend (!!!!). With the use of coupons and advance planning, I only spent $22 on gifts. BTW Michael's is awesome for kid's craft kits, which are great presents for boys and girls. They often have great sales, clearance, and coupons.
I don't have 5 frugal things (though I reuse cereal bags all the time); I just want to comment on how stunning Sonia is. Very beautiful.
Let's see if I can come up with FFT:
1. Husband thought our total was too high at the store. We glanced at receipt before we left the store realizing they had charged us twice for cough medicine, so we went right over to customer service & were refunded $9.88
2. Shopped around at a few different stores & saved $50 on the same exact brand dress for oldest DD's graduation coming up
3. Both our girls were eligible to go to the free academic lunch at school for good grades, saved me packing 2 lunches this am.
4. Hubby ate free at work 2 days this week also....they had food leftover at his work from a group function
5. and the best for last......Hubby came home with 66 composite boards and a workbench for just a donation to his work......leftover from weekend work project. We got a steal of a deal, by 65-70% savings!!! We had planned to re-deck our deck this summer anyways as some boards are rotting after 14 years.
I always save cereal bags! I just open them at the seams and sometimes wipe the crumbs out. Then it is just like a sheet of waxed paper!. One of the things I use them for is wrapping sandwiches for my kids who often take subs/grinders/hoagise (depending on where you live) to school. Since they are in high school, they no longer use a lunchbox, so these come in very handy and are getting a reuse!
I don't know if you've ever followed theprudenthomemaker.com, but her oldest daughter also favors a vintage style. She is a very skilled seamstress and has some beautiful outfits featured on the blog--just thought Sonia might want to take a look.
Oooooohhh! I would love to have shoes just like Sonia's!
Actually, Robyn, that style is very popular right now and not hard to find. I have two pair, that are fairly new.
I love your first one! Thanks for that great tip!
1. Made a yummy homemade meal and orange pie for my daughter's birthday.
2. I reused gift bags I already had to put her gifts in.
3. One of her gifts I got free, a book from My Reader Reward points.
4. Went to a park for some frugal fun
5. Filled up on gas at the cheaper station.
1. Slowly getting my energy back after illness & a whole lotta to-do's & decided to order some meals from a local company for the nights I get home late so I'm eating better - not technically frugal but will enable me to have more time to do some of my to-dos that will lead to more free time to cook more - did order enough for free delivery & used a $20 discount card - it's a small company & their meals are seriously good.
2. Beautiful friends have been randomly giving me food gifts - one makes amazing Indian food & has given me two meals, others gave me fruit, bread, choccies, & another has given me some of the curry paste her chef hubby made at home - feel loved
3. Got a gas discount with my rewards card - it's not much here but still adds up over time
4. Intentionally shopping for winter clothes & shoes I need carefully weighing up price/value/need
5. Got new makeup & multi-vitamins at half-price - rapt
I am a little confused as to why there is this understanding that a plastic freezer bag that has been used to freeze meat is done for. Huh? I rinse mine out with cold water, wash them with hot, soapy water, dry them by hanging them over a wooden spoon or something (you can turn them inside out to wash & dry, too, and re-use them. Many times over. I have specific bags labelled "lean ground beef" that I keep re-using. Ditto with chicken breasts that I buy at Costco. Everyone here is well and healthy. I did grow up on "waste not, want not", yes. 😉
I guess I've been worried I won't get the plastic bag clean enough. But I guess if you are just reusing them for the same raw meat, then it's not so much of a concern.
I have always felt the same way. I wash dishes that have held raw meat, why not the plastic bags. I've never had a problem.
I have also been washing and reusing bags for freezing meat all my life, following in my own mother's footsteps. With over 40 years experience, I've never been sick from this (very, very rarely ever sick at all), and my whole family has been generally very healthy.
It is move out week at the college by us. Hubby and I have gone several nights after work to see what is left by the dumpsters. We do not go in the dumpsters as we don't want to get hurt. We do see other people going in which is fine we just chose not to. So far we have gotten 4 mini fridges, tons of girls clothes, pocketbooks and shoes, towels, wires for phones and electronics, a flat screen TV, a fan and blow dryer. I have already cleaned and listed the mini fridges. One sold the first day for $70. I have had a few low ball offers on another one. I will wait a week to see if I get higher ones. My daughter and I went through some of the clothes. She selected about 20 pieces of clothes, 3 pairs of shoes and 2 coats to keep for herself. I washed and disinfected everything for her. One of the coats is missing a button so I will be using a button from my button jar to fix it. The rest of the clothes I will wash and then sort. Some of it will go to Thred Up. The rest will got to the church. The towels were all washed and added to the rag pile. It always amazes me how much perfectly good stuff gets throw away on move out day. I understand that only so much can fit in cars or be taken on a bus or plane but it is crazy. The amount of wasted food we have seen this week is sickening.
I didn’t get to go this year but have faithfully scoured the dumpsters at our local college for years. We also get a lot of cleaning products, canned goods, and laundry detergent. Last year my son found two gaming chairs and a bunch of PVC. Once we found 11 small waste cans! We have a yard sale the following weekend and sell everything we decide not to keep.
Love her style! Takes me back to my high school days 25 plus years ago - the Catholic thrift store in our tiny town had a $1 a bag sale each month, and my friend and I were there every time stocking up on vintage clothes, shoes, jewelry and accessories.
Dee was petite and and the perfect size for the womens fashions of the 40's and 50's, along with the tiny shoes.
I was tall with big feet that were a perfect fit for the smaller sized mens shoes of a bygone era - I had some awesome stacked heel black wingtips that must have been custom made for a short man in the 40's, which were my favorite to wear with the hunter green 3 piece suit I'd pair with a lacy top and vintage rhinestones. We definitely stood out in our rural school back then!
Brandy and her college freshman daughter Winter at http://www.ThePrudentHomemaker.com are also big fans of vintage clothing styles and have shown many projects that they have sewn or remade.
Sonia is beautiful and is rocking the vintage look. It really suits her.
Sonia is such a beauty! I love the vintage look on her.
1) We used a gift card for dinner last night. It now has $6 left, which will be a nice discount off of a delicious future lunch.
2) We originally thought we would book airbnbs for part of our Pacific North West vacation, but we were able to pull together homeexchanges to make the accommodations for the whole trip free!
3) Now that I am 38 I realized that my feet were looking like they might need a pedicure. I've never had a mani or a pedi, so I researched online how to do my own. Then I assembled all the things I needed. Some came from the cupboard, but I did buy some things. I sprang for the expensive polish (with base and top coat!) but still kept the materials under the price of a pedicure at my local salon. Now I have enough supplies to keep my feet looking sandal-ready for a while.
4) I assembled leftovers for lunch. We were out of cookies (a no-go for this breastfeeding mama). Instead of going to the store, I made cookies from ingredients on hand. I had to use ghee instead of butter, but it was fine. I also used up a bunch of oats in the process. Speaking of breastfeeding, because I need the extra calories, I've been eating up the cereal left by some airbnb guests. I don't buy cereal--I don't love it and my kids love it too much--but I hate for it to go to waste. (I would feed this cereal to my kids, but it is "mom cereal" not "kid cereal," if you know what I mean.)
5) Our business is getting an award tonight, so we are going to a free dinner. We have to pay babysitters (babysitters with an "s," because our four kids ranging in age from six weeks to eight years are a handful for one person), but we do get to enjoy a very fancy free dinner.
I’m 54 and just treated myself to my first pedicure this week. It was a special treat after a really horrible week. I decided I could also replicate the same thing at home and continue to keep my feet summer ready. The part I liked the best about the pedicure was the hot water soaking and massage. I found a deluxe Dr Schols foot bath massager with heat and bubbles for $2 at our local thrift store. I have everything else so I’m set to go. I tried out the foot soaker last night and it was lovely!
Day late on my five frugal things.
1) I've been sick for 2 weeks and our eating-at-home has taken a hit several times because not only do I lack the bandwidth to actually cook, I'm also forgetting to plan ahead, so we've had quite a bit of carry out (not frugal), but we did find out that the nearby Thai restaurant offers a 10% discount if you pay in cash - which my husband was able to do when he picked up dinner last night!
2) I was able to get $15 back on Ibotta from buying 3 things we definitely needed and 2 things that we didn't necessarily need, but will get used for more at-home meals.
3) Asked for a discount on landscaping services and the company was able to do it.
4) We needed an electrician to come out and fix a couple of things for us - I asked lots of questions about what he was doing/how he was checking the different things, so hopefully that will help us to be more self sufficient with small things in the future.
5) Forgot I had a 40% off coupon at CVS that I was able to use on some much need OTC medicines.
It wasn't a frugal weekend at all (house guests, I ran a half marathon, so my desire to cook was low but my appetite was high ;-), but we had a few wins during the week:
-Drove our electric car to Santa Cruz & back, saving on gas
-Ate leftovers from delivery for 2 additional dinners + 2 lunches
-Called about a $25 incorrect charge on my credit card
-Continue my "use it up" freezer challenge. I've achieved my May goal of using up 15 items in my freezer. The freezer is starting to look bare! Love it.
-Made homemade protein balls as a post run snack, vs buying something similar that I love
Sonia looks lovely, you must be so proud. I had a pair of shoes like hers in green in college for wearing to fancy black tie events. I loved to wear vintage back then. I am more of a T-Shirt mum these days.
A couple of frugal fails for me. On Friday our babysitter cancelled so I ended up having to take our kids out for an early dinner before my sons school fundraiser ( the babysitter was supposed to collect my daughter and give her supper at home until my husband got home from work, while I took my son to the fundraiser). I also took a cab to collect her as I was exhausted from work and couldn’t face rushing across town on foot to pick her up in time. Because of the cab I ended up at school an hour early with 2 hungry kids so I took them for pizza.
On Wednesday I had to work late and bought a bunch of peonies (which were reduced) to cheer myself up; then left them on the train!
The weekend was better.
I shopped for my sons First communion outfit in the GAP 40% sale; he was very pleased with the choice.
We went to a cheap supermarket and I bulk bought lots of cheap produce; rice prawns and vegetables.
I used up an old bag of potatoes for jackets for Saturday lunch and used the spare ones to make gnocchi for supper.
I mowed the lawns and weeded the patio (just by pouring leftover boiling water on the weeds).
My husband made my sons school costume rather than buying something on amazon. They made a lots of mess with papier-mâché in the kitchen but had a lovely time together. Next time I am going to make them work outside the papier-mâché was even on the ceiling!
Ooh, I'd forgotten about the boiling water trick! I have some weeds growing in the stone around my fire pit that I was weeding yesterday and I think I will just pour boiling water over them next time.
My FFTs for this past week:
1. My daughter made my husband his birthday brownies using a box mix that was $1.00.
2. Received a notice that my former cable company owes me $8.37. I will call next week to find out when I can expect my refund check.
3. Policing electricity use by following my husband around and turning off the kitchen lights which he always forgets to do. It is going to be hot this weekend so the AC will be on and I'll need to offset the cost of that.
4. We ate at home this week except for one night when daughter and I went to our local hot dog stand. My mother worked the French fryer there when she was pregnant with me 58 years ago. Last summer was suppose to be the last summer but the owner didn't get his land sale deal together so he opened again this summer. I bought the dinner from my allowance.
5. Have to get super frugal as there have been a lot of money going out for bills. Medical bills for husband's angioplasty, car insurance bill for 3 people, property taxes which are insane for my 1954 house, and a new cap for my tooth. Two burners on the stove went out and now the agonizing decision to either replace them or get a new stove.
Please, tell us the name and location of this iconic hot dog stand! Can’t it be saved?