Five Frugal Things -- Eating Frugal Food & Selling a Little Something
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I stopped at Dollar Tree to pick up reading glasses and dental floss, but wandered the store a bit and ended up grabbing a jar of bread & butter pickles. Each item was just $1.25, which makes it worth the extra trip. #cheapaf
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I returned a faulty router to Xfinity as I didn't want to accidentally get charged for it. Annoying errand, but it needed to be run. This is the kind of thing that can get away from you when life gets hard, so I'm patting myself on the back.
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I enjoyed a big bowl of oatmeal, (bulk puchased from Winco) and added frozen berries for extra yumminess. Indulgent, yet frugal! Sadly, I didn't get to my wild blackberry patch enough this past summer, so these were from Costco.
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I made a small sale on eBay from these cast iron figures that I thrifted over a year ago. Only $25 minus fees, but I'm not one to turn down money. I probably spent a dollar for them and they took up almost no space while I waited for a buyer. Click HERE to see the full listing.*
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I texted my friend Lise to ask if she wanted to walk to Fred Meyer (Kroger) with me, which is my sneaky way of spending time with a friend. She accompanied me although she didn't actually need anything, but it was cathartic to talk with her as we've both lost parents. We picked up clearance price mozzarella pearls and slowly made our way back home.
Archery season is still in. Although our friends who hunt and give us venison haven't brought any yet, we need to make room in the freezer for this years meat. Took 2 lb of venison burger and made a double batch of stroganoff, which I had all the ingredients on hand. Took some to DH's brother, and the rest fed us last night and will feed us at least 2 more nights.
Will be spending tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday baking cookies for the Election Day fundraiser I previously mentioned. I have 15 cake mixes to turn into cookies. Yesterday, DH went to pick up a prescription (pharmacy is in the grocery store) and wandered the store while he was waiting. He came across Duncan Hines Pineapple Cake Mix @ 4/$5. That's a steal. He bought 4 for the cookies. (I make the cookies snd placed a candied cherry in the center before baking). They were a huge hit last year, so I want to be sure to have plenty of those to donate.
1. I stopped at Giant to pick up on sale chicken breasts and a bottle of store brand Dijon mustard. I bake pans of chicken with two different marinades, including the mustard. Some will be eaten soon and the rest will be frozen. I found $.02 in the coin return at the self checkout.
2. I dug out fleece tops and flannel pajamas to help keep the thermostat set low both during the day and at night.
3. I have a load of laundry in as it should be both warm(ish) and windy today. Good conditions for hanging laundry out in our screened in breezeway.
4. A local church will have their annual fund raiser tomorrow. We will check it out for puzzles.
5. I have listened to a lot of audio books borrowed from the library. I am also reading some.
1. Got a temp job for 12 months. I’ll continue to freelance, and intend for this job to pay off as much of my mortgage as possible with the goal of being 100% debt free in the next two years. It will be a busy year but worth it.
2. Got a streaming deal for $2 a month for six months. It has all the Law & Order series, which are no longer available on TV here, believe it or not. I’ve put a note in my calendar to cancel at the end of the six months.
3. Tomorrow is the first warm day this spring and I intend to spend it planting tomatoes, all grown from seed.
4. Picking dozens of avocados from our tree plus
5. 5 fresh eggs a day from our hens
Good luck with the temp job and great goal to become debit free! I'm always jealous of folks who live where it's warm enough to grow avocados. It's one of my few produce indulgences.
Mand01, if there were any practical way to ship avocados from Australia to Canada and the northern US, you'd have a lot of eager takers in the Commentariat!
1. Latest Aldi TooGoodToGo box: 2 packets of Taco fries, 4 pack of organic tomatoes (one had to be thrown out), 6 burger buns, 2x corn on the cob (should have eaten the next day but didn’t and ended up throwing it out 3 days later, had gone off), Bacon and cabbage dinner, 4 pots of coconut and vanilla greek yogurt, 1 packet of tikka masala chicken breast pieces, 1 packet of spicy couscous.
2. Bought a handmade and signed designer pottery mug that retails new at 35 Euro for 1 Euro in a local charity shop. I was going to sell it on Vinted at first but then decided to gift it to a friend for Christmas. The risk of it breaking during delivery is too big, I don’t want to take the chance.
3. My son applied for a college maintenance grant, he will know in about 6 weeks if he is getting it.
4. I have spent more than usual on cinema tickets and Cafe meet-ups with friends this month. I did enjoy all of it throughly though and have no regrets! It balances out over the year, I don’t go to the cinema very often at all and some weeks I just meet friends for walks or at home rather than at a Cafe.
5. A friend gifted me seeds from her beautiful purple poppies.
What a great find on the pottery mug! I purchased one in July for $4 at Goodwill. I recently broke the handle, but my husband repaired it. I just love that one it's artisan made, and two clay is a more environmentally option.
Well done on repairing that mug! I really love handmade pottery and am always on the lookout for it in charity shops. 🙂
1. I picked up a rotisserie chicken at Costco which has been worth several meals. I made chicken and biscuits and mashed potatoes to bring to my MIL's house. She needs soft foods. She ate really well which is always nice to see. The leftovers will feed me for a few dinners and the leftover legs and thighs are a great lunch.
2. Went to Aldi and picked up a can of biscuits and walked out without buying anything else.
3. I've sold a few things on Ebay and listed several more. I have a small stockpile of things to sell and I'm trying to get through it all before I find anything else. The finding is the fun part but listing it is such a slog.
4. I finished another Kindle library book. I read The Three Lives of Cate Kay. I really enjoyed it.
5. I scrubbed my outdoor cushions with a solution of borax and dish detergent. I set them out in the sun to dry and they are all ready for next summer. I put most of my outdoor furniture and pots in the shed for the winter. I've hopefully mowed my lawn for the last time. Doing this all myself instead of hiring it done is always a big money savings. My kids will help put away the heavy front porch rocking chairs once I'm ready to give up on sitting out there. I'm still enjoying the sun in the afternoon.
1. I have made several phone calls to make sure that we are able to use all of our flexible spending account money. The company that administers that is light on information. I also lodged a formal complaint about the lack of information. If no one speaks up, nothing changes.
2. Paid my hairdresser in cash. She owns her own business and it makes a difference to her.
3. Sold a printers drawer within an hour or listing on FB marketplace I have one item pending pickup today.
4. Days are warm enough for me to open up the house to warm it so we haven't run heat yet. That makes .e happy, I despise forced air heat.
5. Picked up books at library, including new Brené Brown book.
I too pay my hairdresser in cash. We usually pay for restaurant meals and things bought in locally owned shops with cash as well.
@Kara - Email from my employer states $660 can be rolled over from 2025 to 2026. Deadline to file claims for 2025 is March 31, 2026 for my employer.
Thanks. Apparently every employer is different. They can opt to have a rollover or not.
Happy Halloween to all who celebrate it. Happy All Saints' Day tomorrow to all who don't. Happy Friday to all who don't celebrate either one.
1. Used a 15% off Ollie's Outlet coupon and loaded my cart with food items for the Salv. Army, and lots of those big chew bones for Snuggles. Also went to the store where I work and bought a couple dozen 69-cent cans of Libby's vegetables. Went through my cabinets and realized that most of my canned goods are expired, but grabbed the ones whose 'sell by' dates are still in the future.
2. Took the foodstuffs to Salv. Army (their food bank), and handed them the butter beans that will expire on Nov. 7. (In the U.S., food banks are not allowed by law to give out 'expired' food.) They said not to worry, there's such a problem with so many SNAP recipients and federal employees needing food that my donations will be gone by mid-day today. They also said that the second food bank in town had a 3-hour wait in line and ran out of everything yesterday. (Meanwhile, Felon 34 goes on golf trips to Mir-a-largo at the cost of a million bucks a trip, and the FBI director flew in a government plane to see his young girlfriend. While people are going hungry. Makes me furious! Why can't Trump take all the millions he's raised for his useless/unwanted/unneeded/ugly ballroom and give it to SNAP? Oh, yeah: that would require a caring heart, which he lacks.) (Bring back the White House Rose Garden! Bring back the White House East Wing! Bring back democracy!)
3. Mentioned to the Salv. Army Social Services worker that our church is doing a Trunk or Treat and she said "Wait! I have something!" She brought out a bag from the candy factory; they gave them a truckload and all of it can't be used before its exp. date. So the church has even more treats for tonight!
4. Today is the last day for "bring in dog supplies and we'll give you a free dessert" at the restaurant near me, so I have a package of puppy training pads we don't need....another 11 a.m. cobbler and coffee breakfast!
5. Dropped my purse and a lot of things spilled out, including credit cards. One is missing. OMG! I high-tailed it to the bank and cancelled my card before someone possibly could find and use it. They looked up my account, and luckily, the last time it was used was Monday at the dog spa, when Snuggles got his bath.
Five frightful frugal things! Happy Halloween to all who enjoy the spookier side of life 🙂
1. Drinking my spooky little coffee at home.
2. Put the same halloween costume on my cat that we use every year. It was a gift years ago. He makes the best little shark and only requires moderate bribing with treats.
3. DH and I are sharing/swapping costumes this year instead of having two full ones (we are Bob Ross and a Happy Tree Painting). I'll be Mr. Ross this evening but he's been using it to crack up colleagues on Teams calls all day. While I hate paying for halloween costumes, we are getting good value out of the wig and palette! When we saw it at the store I said to him psh, we could make this ourselves - to which he said, with what time? Sometimes the investment is worth it.
4. We ordered in pizza for dinner last night which is now lunch and likely dinner as well. We love ordering from our local spot and racking up rewards. While not the most frugal dinner, the leftovers are great and it's tradition for us to eat pizza for dinner on Halloween (so the bonus day is great!)
5. Halloween/fall decorations are my usual - bought little pie pumpkins and a mum from a local garden shop. I love the compostability and will try to process the pumpkins if they are still in good shape in a week or two!
I wish I could see a photo of the cat in the shark costume. Sounds amazing! I imagine the coworkers got a giggle out of "Bob Ross" at their Teams meeting, too.
1. Enjoyed fresh fruit at a volunteer orientation. Took leftover coffee home in my trusty canteen.
2. Gave away ribbons, an end table, and mechanical pencil erasers on Buy Nothing.
3. Went to the Springsteen matinee with my sister and got the senior discount. Had lunch at my house beforehand so we avoided restaurant expense.
4. Received $27.75 as part of Facebook settlement.
5. Went to brunch with a friend and we both had delicious pumpkin pancakes. Brought home leftovers from both of us. (I save all manner of food from restaurants, whereas my friend thought nothing of eating just one of her three pancakes and tossing the rest. Not on my watch!)
I do this too with most friends. Not all.... it depends on the person.
I hate food waste
1. Visiting my son, so I'm being treated constantly with food from their bountiful supply. Tomorrow I will take them all out for dinner.
2. Tonight we will be trick or treating downtown. I expect some of the candy will come my way. Afterwards I will hand out treats at the house while everyone else canvases the neighborhood.
3. Entertainment so far has been reading, watching football on TV, and just catching up. No spending! This weekend there are plans to attend a craft show.
4. I talked to my sister yesterday on her birthday. I was poised to send her money, as she has been struggling since her husband died. However, she has been managing better lately, and she told me not to send her anything. I am still ready to help, but will wait for a time when it is more urgent.
5. Packing failure -- I didn't pack aspirin or Voltaren, and the kids have neither. I will try to get to Walmart today, but transportation is out of my hands, unfortunately. Maybe a downtown store will present itself while we are trick or treating.
Prices at our Dollar Tree went up to $1.50 a few months ago. There are still some greeting cards 2/$1 and I bought a couple earlier this week.
Shouldn't they have to change their name to A Dollar and a Quarter Tree? Or A Dollar and Fifty Cents Tree? "Truth in Advertising" and all that. And it's not as if they'll ever go back to Just A Dollar Tree.
It's like how "dime stores" were never a dime in my lifetime.
Called five and dime in my era and I can't remember anything being "five" but do remember a limited amount of "dimes".
Found 6 cents at the self checkout.
Made cupcakes for a Halloween party with 99 cent clearance Halloween Funfetti cake mix I found at Aldi last week. 24 cupcakes for 99 cents!! BINGO!
Went through my pantry and found some non perishables to donate to my local little free community pantry at my library.
Made calls this morning on the 5calls app to ALL of my Senators/congressperson to express my feelings about the job they are doing -- or NOT doing, as is the case right now. All of mine are MAGA RED, but I continue to call weekly and lecture them on working TOGETHER for "ALL the people of America" , and what it means -- and that they, nor a president, should be only doing for the side they prefer. I'm so frustrated and disgusted/disheartened by what is going on -- but i refuse to sit back and do nothing.
Score!
I called my governor and asked her to release rainy day funds to cover SNAP yesterday, as well as contacting her through the state website.
https://www.oregon.gov/gov/pages/share-your-opinion.aspx?
Thank you for calling. I have let my 5Calls activities lapse, and I shouldn't have. Will resume calling and screaming to my idiot MAGAts who are in elected office -- and in lockstep with the Orange Ogre, the scariest monster in U.S. history, not only on Halloween but all year long.
Thinking of you as you deal with your dad’s death. I watched the video and he was an awesome man!!!
Thank you.
I went to Dollar Tree for the first time today. It looked like some locusts had shopped before me. There were aisles that had almost no inventory at all — lots of empty shelves. Is that normal? Is it a tariff thing? I assume 95% of Dollar Tree products are from China.
I wasn’t impressed, and found nothing to buy. Maybe I’ll try a different location in case this one was poorly managed.
It depends on the location.
Oh, good. I’d done some research and went in with a list of items I wanted to try! None of them were there. I’ll try a different location.
Dollar Tree stores may have empty shelves due to shipping problems. Often, huge shipments come in at once, and then no staff to stock shelves.
1. Finally made an inventory of the food in our chest freezer and posted it on the lid. I am trying to cut down on food waste. I found two turkeys, one bought a year ago, one a couple years ago and two whole chickens. After researching how long you can safely keep whole frozen poultry (turns out it's indefinitely, though it tastes best if used within a year), I defrosted one of the chickens that was 1 1/2 years old. It was small (only 3 lbs) so I roasted it two nights ago, cut the meat off to use in various dishes, and then cooked the carcass down last night and made chicken noodle soup. Since I have a cold, I added extra garlic.
2. My in-laws are our most frequent houseguests. My SIL donated a small bedside lamp to the guest room over a year ago, but it needed a shade. After several tries, someone in our Buy Nothing group finally saw my ISO and came through with two lampshades exactly like we needed. Unfortunately, the diameter on the part where it rests below the bulb is a bit too big. I used two thick rubber bands to rig it and "screwed" the lampshade on the rubber bands to hold it in place.
3. Brought in all my potted geraniums before the first freeze. I get to enjoy flowers all winter and don't have to buy more plants next spring. Also trying a new method to get old amaryllis bulbs to rebloom by chilling in the fridge. Will pot up in a month.
4a. As always, checking out lots of books from the library. Hard copies of cookbooks and e-books of (mainly) mysteries.
4b. I completely forgot that I requested a free copy of Timothy Snyder's new book "On Freedom" for my Little Free Library. He's the author of "On Tyranny" (a must read for surviving these times). Like a present from the universe, the book showed up a couple days ago.
5. We're getting ready to watch Young Frankenstein, a family Halloween tradition. Husband just discovered that an ancient laptop that barely works can still be used as a DVD player and hooked up to a projector he scrounged from somewhere. We project it on a wall and watch while handing out candy to trick-or-treaters.
Wow! Our tradition is to make a giant tray of baked mac & cheese and watch Young Frankenstein while handing out candy! Have been doing this for 20 plus years. Nice to know that someone else shares experience.
Cathy and Beth,
Remember it's pronounced "Franken-STEEN"! LOL!
Beth and Fru-gal Lisa, did you know Young Frankenstein was 50 years old last year? It's still one of the funniest movies I've ever seen.
Yes . Hahahaha
1. I finally sold an item on eBay that have been there for over 200 days. And I put up a few additional items to sell. I also have a 4 quart, in fantastic condition, Pyrex Amish blue bowl that I want to put on there but I’m trying to find bubble wrap so I can package it up and get a freight idea first before posting
2. One more week working from home recovering from foot surgery. I’ve been so careful, but I tripped yesterday and fell really hard on the other side. My toes were not affected though. But now my other knee is banged up and bruised and my arm is killing me. But my foot came through unscathed!
3. I found some chicken thighs in my deep freeze and roasted those the other day. Made stock with the bones. Made two types of chicken soup, including chicken and dumplings. four days of meals so far. And I have a small amount of stock left that I’m going to freeze for another day.
4. Only 29 more working days until I retire. Yay! I had a choice of having a retirement party (no thank you) or having points awarded to me that I could turn in for different gift certificates. Since I got a fire pit for my 15 year anniversary, I’m going to use some of those points for Lowes gift card so I can get some fire bricks as well as restaurant and grocery store gift cards.
5. Met with my financial planner on Monday for 2 1/2 hours. We went through all of my accounts and my pensions, and we called the Social Security office and found out that we guess-estimated less than I’m actually going to get. (That was nice to hear.) The office told me to apply next July so I can start collecting in November. If I want to get a part-time job, I can do that and earn over 2000 a month without affecting the benefits.
And I was thrilled to find out that I’m going to be a great aunt again! Number 14 is on the way.