Five Frugal Things -- Winco's Not Always The Cheapest
- I took a family member to a lengthy medical appointment and he bought me a nice toasted bagel from Henry Higgins Boiled Bagels with cream cheese as a thank you. I probably should've photographed it for the blog, but I pretty much inhaled it.
- My husband received a check from our insurance company for the month of work he missed from being hit by a car. It needed to be deposited in person, so I walked the four mile round trip to our credit union as the sun was out and I had the afternoon free from any obligations, which is a rare combination of events for Portland in November. I also returned a couple books to the library along the way.
- I finished reading my library book and then finished up my Libby audiobook. Neither books were my favorites, but I'm happy to have completed them so I can start on something new.
- I stopped into H Mart on my way home from the credit union and picked up a packet of Japanese curry cubes, as they'd been priced too high at Winco Foods. ($4.48 vs. $3.29) I also grabbed four boxes of sale priced coconut milk for the pantry. The true savings is that I didn't browse the store and buy any one of the thousands of irresistible items.
Unrelated to nonconsumerism, but the woman ahead of me in line was wearing a pair of the Ray-Ban Meta glasses, which I find to be incredibly creepy as it meant that she was recording everything she pointed her eyes towards. I know that they're AI enabled, which gives me the ick, so I grabbed my groceries and got into a different line. - I grabbed a couple of Wint-O-Green Lifesavers from a bowl at the credit union and stuck them in my purse to enjoy later.
My bank has a coffee station with biscotti, so I hit it every time I'm there.
I would love some advice on how to get the most out of Libby. My library started offering it last year, and there's a much bigger selection of potential books than on Hoopla, but few are actually available, and we're only allowed to put 3 on hold at a time, so it takes months to actually be able to read one. I think I'm just too much of an instant gratification kind of girl - physical library books are still my preferred version whenever possible.
I have marked tons of stuff as "want to read" and then just try to check the app weekly by filtering for "available now", but there has to be a better way.
Hi Michelle - Tagging books as "want to read" is actually a great way to work around the hold limit that your library has put in place. My suggestion is to see if there are any other library systems that you might have access to. This varies a lot, but check the web site for the public library systems in the largest cities in your state. Some will allow any resident in that state to apply for a card, even if they're nowhere near a physical branch. Good luck!
I would also suggest if you have out of state relatives or friends who do not read ebooks or e-audiobooksi would ask each of them if you can use their library card on Libby. All you need is their library card # and pin. You can have up to 30 library cards in Libby. If there are upcoming releases look them up in Libby and press notify me when it comes up in Libby. Search for the book by author or title then you will get notified if your library buys the book. Also check out the blog post How to get a free or paid nonresident card on http://www.Everydayreading.com the post is outdated but it pay give you some ideas on places to get other library cards.
I didn't know you could have multiple cards. My library allows a combined 45 for audio books (holds + audio books checked out can't exceed 45), and I often feel like this is not enough. We recently moved and I will have to get my husband to obtain a card at the new address, and I can add that to my account, I guess. This is great new info!
My library allows me to put 15(?) on hold. So if often have a surprise notice that something is available.
But yes - it can be weeks and months for new popular books.
I was late to the party to figure out that my Spotify (premium) has (new titles) audio books so I have been using that to get current books sooner.
If you like Spotify but want to save some money I suggest looking at Amazon where they sell a $99 12 month gift subscription versus payoff monthly for it. You can do this 450+ gift cards or subscriptions like Audible and Kindle Unlimited. If you do not receive a confirmation within 5 minutes call Amazon customer service with your order # and they will fix the technical glitch on their end.
Checkout:
https://everyday-reading.com/libby-library-app/
https://everyday-reading.com/libby-audiobooks/
Every library makes its own rules and states have different rules also. In Colorado, as long as I have a library card at one library, I can apply for a card at other libraries in the state. Some libraries don't allow digital checkouts for people who don't live in the library district, but many do. Some require me to appear in person once a year to renew my library card and others don't. I currently have four library cards -- one for my town, one for the county seat where I do most of my shopping, one in a different county where I sometimes go for doctor's appointments, and one for the county library system where we used to live (they never revoked it.) When my MIL was alive, she allowed my husband and I to use her library card. She lived in a large city in another state, which had a wealth of books. So my suggestion is to look into acquiring a few more cards if that is possible. With Libby, when I search for a book, the ap looks at all the libraries on my list. So, I might be on the site for my local library, but Libby will tell me "you can check out this book at another library without waiting."
Michelle, you can turn on notifications in Libby and it will let you know when your book is available. If your library has Hoopla, you can read or listen to more books through it.
Been just keeping on with the frugal persistence at my house. Cooking from scratch, eating up leftovers, and maximizing freezer use. Used a 10% off coupon at the Ollie's Outlet clearance store to buy cat litter, dog treats, raisins, crackers, trail mix, and paint brushes. A 3 pack of brushes would have been $9.99, but I scrounged through the single brushes and got three very good quality ones for $8.26.
The ad across the bottom of my laptop screen now often has an "x" to close it, and it sometimes just disappears. I'm glad you have been able to manipulate the blog into shape, Katy! Lots of work there, especially to match different user devices.
1. I was much more excited about a "gift" that came in the mail yesterday than another person might be: Charity provided return address labels! I haven't had any new ones in several years and my address is long to write by hand. I won't pay for them, as I didn't ask for them. (This was a constant tension between my parents: Dad would send token donations and Mom wouldn't. It really backfired by the time he died, as he got a good eight inch or more stack of mail every day asking for money. I support the line of thought to give fewer large donations rather than many tiny ones).
2. Although we don't have a big Thanksgiving meal, I am taking advantage of grocery sales this week. They marked down candy corn and mellocreme candies after Halloween but did not clearly label the sale, so I found several bags of those for 99 cents, (instead of close to four dollars).
3. Library finally has the new Louise Penny book in. The book wholesaler Baker and Taylor is closing, leaving my library and perhaps thousands more searching for sources for printed materials. I am on the reserve list for both regular and large print copies.
4. Wearing a sweatshirt instead of turning the heat up.
5. Tiny frugalities here.
Ending up our not so frugal vacation with family in Maui.
It’s pedal to metal frugality when we return. Making list for Costco run. Thanksgiving is hosted by DIL we will bring an appetizer. Off to hubby’s nephew’s home on Friday and bringing a salad.
That amazing price must be a coastal thing for the S&B curry packets - any of those near here (Johnson County, KS) are around or a little over $5 each!
I took a very long bus ride this morning, having caught the bus going the wrong way. For my purposes, that is. But it was free, and educational, since I learned about many places that are on the route. I will definitely take it to the botanical gardens, but probably not till spring.
I found 8 receipts scattered around while on foot. All were worth 25 points, but I have now collected enough for a $5 Visa card. I will keep on collecting before cashing in, however.
Wednesday's lunch out with my friend provided enough food for dinner, too. I had my little cooler with me, and the food was nice and cold when I got home, even though it was hours later.
Goodwill shopping on that day -- I bought a pack of new socks for $9 -- six pairs, all colors and patterns that will work for me. Also bought some tissue paper, since I knew I was running low, and an ice cube tray. I don't use a lot of ice, and this tray is small, so it will fit better in my small, cramped freezer.
I found an earring that has been lost for some time -- turns out it had fallen into a crevice in my jewelry box. I'm so glad I hung onto the other one!
As someone who uses the Meta glasses, just because she's wearing them, doesn't mean she's recording. There's a light on the front of them that turns on when they're recording so other people are aware of them. They're just regular glasses/sunglasses otherwise.
People can 'hack' them so that the light doesn't turn on.
1. I got one of the 1$ Papa Murphys pizza that Katy wrote about. I was in a city for a workshop & there was a Papa Murphys 5 miles away so I stopped by.
2. The neighbor was putting out bags of clothes. I took 3 large bags to the shelter.
3. The neighbor also put out a large nightstand which I snagged. I do not have a nightstand. There was a large dog bed which I took to the Humane Society. I did keep a maroon sweatshirt as I have several pairs of maroon pants to wear it with.
4. I donated blood & earned a 25$ GC and a thermal blanket.
5. Husband picked up 2 boxes of canned goods & cereal from Nextdoor Neighbor. I will have to go thru the boxes.
6. I drove to a neighboring city to get a free haircut, wash, and style. I gave the student a 5$ tip. I gave her my contact info in case she needs a hair model in the future. My hair had not been cut in 3 months so it was needed.
7. Sent husband to Great Clips to get a 9.99$ haircut. He needed to get cleaned up for Thanksgiving.
8. Sent husband to dig up a free cactus for the flower bed. The deer eat many of the plants & bushes but will not bother a cactus. Husband got many small thorns in his legs. I had to remove them w/ tweezers.
9. Husband found many items in the Dol Gen dumpster. Packages of American cheese, tubs of margarine, lunch meat, cream cheese. All were cool to the touch but short dated. I can freeze them until they are needed.
10. Will make sides for Thanksgiving w/items I already have. I ground graham crackers in the food processor for pie crust. I did have to buy a bag of key limes. I have a pie crust in the freezer, canned pumpkin, and evaporated milk for a pumpkin pie.
I had never heard of those glasses. It sounds like something criminals would love to have around here and see if they could glean some financial info. I am constantly amazed at how creative folks who do ID theft are, and the things they think up!!!!Can these glasses, if folks get close enough when putting in PIN numbers, record and see what other customers are doing? I will have to google these glasses.
1 . I made baked chicken liver and onions in a cast iron skillet because I sometimes have difficulty eating fried foods. Plus liver and onions are cheap.
2. I made Baba ganoush. I love eggplant. I actually have a jar of tahini, but I have made it without tahini and called it good.
3. I cooked a spaghetti squash and also toasted the seeds. They were delicious. The only thing I hate about squash and pumpkins is the difficulty I have in coring them without knifing myself!
3. I washed some of my work skirts in the bathtub because I find that washers and dryers are rough on them.
4. I am really cheap when it comes to paying for heat and air. So I have made the decision to move back into my living room and shut off the bedrooms for the winter. Right now if it hitting 80 during the day so no heat and no air are on, but it is supposed to turn cold soon. I just don’t feel like heating the whole house!
5. I cannot think of a number five. Well maybe that I took my standard lunch to work all week, pbj sandwich, or a cheese sandwich.
1. Let our online newspaper subscription lapse a while ago and just renewed for another year when the paper offered a $45/year Thanksgiving special.
2. Received two pairs of hospital socks and silicone oven mitts from Buy Nothing.
3. Brought neighbor friend to her Ortho PT appointment. Helped myself to complimentary coffee which I put in my own stainless canteen.
4. Used from freezer: pureed pumpkin, plant-based chicken nuggets, sweet potato fries and pizza slices.
5. Received a $10 e-gift card for donating blood. Used it on a Chewy order.
1. Partner brought home an extra free farm veg share & mushroom share. We'll bring the extra red cabbage to in-laws who said they could use it, gave collard greens and black oyster mushrooms to a neighbor via Buy Nothing, and will switch out the green beans that we were going to make for Thanksgiving side to sauteed Swiss chard, that came in the boxes.
2. From the extra mushroom box, I'm currently drying lion's mane mushrooms to make into power to add to soup and stews.
3. I'm starting my extra job (seasonal) and it is with my partner. Partner tried to convince me that we should stop for a breakfast sandwich at our local coffee shop to celebrate (which does make a delicious sandwich) but I said no, as "I'm going to work to make money, not spend money." I also made us both salads to bring, and the coffee is ready for morning brewing. I was supposed to work Sunday, but they changed my date to Saturday, which means an extra 2 hours of work/pay.
4. All [minimal number!] Christmas gifts have been wrapped, using tissue paper and gift bags that I've re-used, along with wrapping paper I bought on sale the day after Christmas years ago. Since we are bringing some to Thanksgiving to hand over to BIL who lives in a different state, I figured just get it all done at once.
5. We somehow ended up with a sh*t-ton of prepared food in our fridge from when I thought I was being smart to meal prep, so we ate leftovers for 4 nights, until it was all eaten.
1. Finally sold a pair of boots on eBay that have been there for over a year. Printed out the label at the library for $.15 and dropped it off at the post office.
2. Found an old Pillsbury doll that I can put up on eBay. This is one I’ve had for years that actually talks. Hoping I can get something for it and it doesn’t take a year to sell it
3. Part of my retirement options at work was to have a party or given points to choose gift cards. I finally got around to choosing some of the gift cards, which included $100 to chewy and Lowe’s, $200 to a local grocery store, target, Walmart, Domino’s, 99 restaurant And something else. I can’t remember what now. I still have $200 worth of cards to choose from.
4. Work gave us all a half a day today too relax. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but I thought I’d lay down and take a quick nap. Two hours later….
5. My son was looking for some headphones so he could listen to music while he worked. And I remembered that I had a decent set of around the neck Bluetooth headphones. Charged them up and he has been using them. And no one had to buy a new pair.
I have asked my Daughter to pick up that curry paste at the really top-notch asian grocery near her house (she is in a University town and there are lots of students homesick for favourite foods). Her Japanese friend was curious about how I was planning to use it and when DD shared your recipe, the friend said it wasn't traditional but it sounded really good!
1. Wonder James and GrandBaby here on the same day meant lots of outdoor time, and boy-howdy did James and I work our bodies before GB was delivered. Emptying pots of Canna lilies to save the corms (or whatever their root bundle is called). Saved the dirt, as I have bulbs in dire need of potting up. James washed much of the dirt off the corms and they are in my grow-op room, to dry for a week or so, then I will store probably in peat moss. There are tonnes of them, and saving them this fall will be a huge $ saving next spring as I won't need to buy any new ones.
Pulled the dead leaves off my many hostas, and tucked their pots into the corners emptied by the Canna de-potting exercise, getting them into more protected corners for the winter. We actually removed ALL the pots in the driveway to the back field; somehow it had become a movable garden - I wanted that cleared away, and we got it done!!!
2. The frugal part of the day was all the physical labour I did, as I worked beside James. He is a hard and fast worker, but it was much more than even he could have done in a day without me as a helper. He does the heavy lifting, though, so even though I ached, I think he was feeling it even more at the end of the day.
The not so frugal part of the day was purchasing a battery powered leaf blower, as the repair on the gas one didn't seem to solve all the problems. I have been wanting to move to battery powered garden tools, which I started with my Mower in the spring. This leaf blower was on sale, as were the batteries, but it has a very short battery life, so James and I did a lot of swapping in and out of the charger.
Investing in machines that are not annoying to use is important, this one is a bit of a miss but we have conspired to find a good solution. Anyway, it meant that James could mix up all his chores as he waited for the charger to replenish the batteries.
3. Continuing to eat down the broccoli cheese soup and the chopped cabbage etc salad in the fridge. Such a great thing to know I have a meal ready, particularly when driving past all the fast food restaurants after dropping GB off at his parents house.
4. My thrift store buddy gifted me two tablecloths. They are well loved, so a bit worn/marked, however they are also the right size for my table (which is now almost cleared, due to the hard work I have been doing with my cleaner). I like to keep a cloth on the table as it is actually a nice table, and I am always doing things on it that might damage the teak surface. I really just need an old farmhouse table, however this is the one I have and I am more than making it work by covering it with imperfect yet perfectly functional tablecloths..
5. I had picked up a 50% discounted 'bag' of pesto, and after looking at it in the fridge for a week I finally pulled out some fusilli from the pantry and made up a huge batch of pesto pasta, with red onion that has been around for over a month, the tail end of two jars of stuffed olives, a bunch of chopped celery and two orange peppers in need of using up. Turned out I didn't have enough pesto for all that I threw in, but I DID (and still do) have pesto that I made and froze a few years ago (in 'shrinklocked' bags so no freezer burn). Added one of those bags worth and ensured a tasty dressing. I was thinking I had made enough for a few days however I inhaled a huge bowlful, and both #2 son and Roommate inhaled more, so there is only one (largish) serving left. It was so good, I have all the required ingredients since I remembered the frozen pesto, and I think I am just going to put this on repeat and make another batch to inhale. Er, enjoy
1. When looking for some canned goods to donate to the food drive (see below), I saw that a lot of stuff in the pantry was long past its expiration dates. Oops! So I got out Mom's vintage crockpot (no telling how old it is!) and started dumping random ingredients in there: some leftover black-eyed peas from the fridge; the rest of a bottle of tomato juice from the fridge; some dried Navy beans I'd soaked overnight; the dried noodles from a package of Raman noodles; some packages of frozen squash, peas, etc., and several canned goods that should've been used 2 years ago. Came up with a pretty good veggie soup -- just like I used to make when unemployed and going to the Central Florida food bank. (Ah, the memories!) I'll be eating on that for the next few days. Can't tell that the stuff was past its expiration date.
2. Our city's big food drive was today. Part of the biggest food drive in Texas, it's sponsored by our local TV station. Since food banks won't take expired food, I ran over to our store to get something to give 'em. Grabbed another dozen of the 69-cent cans of Libby's Vegetables; the last 3 gigantic "family-size" boxes of cereal in our health foods dept. ($3.05 each); and two gallon-sized Vitamin C drinks ($1.69). Took them to the food drive and then came back to start my work shift on time. Whew! (Update: during its 10 p.m. newscast, the sponsoring TV station reported almost 2 million pounds of food were donated throughout its viewing area. All in one day!)
3. Our store also had a sale on those great big jugs of Tide detergent, the kind with spigots, designed to be put on your laundry room shelf. They were $6.99 each. They were about to sell out, so I grabbed a couple. (For myself, not the food drive.) Detergent will keep forever, so I stocked up and saved. (I usually use off-brand detergents since I rarely have super dirty clothes, but it's nice to have some good stuff on hand in case something gets stained.)
4. Saved some Del Monte cans from my soup-making and will use those for pencil containers, mini-planters, or decorative storage. Del Monte quit business; labels with their logo will be collector's items.
5. Again watched tonight's episode of Ken Burns/PBS show on the Revolutionary War for free. They'll be streaming it online until early December, so if you get tired of the football games, go to PBS and watch. Highly recommended, but not for the squeamish. (After all, the subject is war.)
1. I walked to a friend's house and we sat outside and chatted. It was finally a day of reasonable weather after many days of cold, gray, and windy.
2. I walked to the grocery and picked up a few sale items and the Rewards items I redeemed a few points for. I skip the bottle of sparkling water for $.05 worth of points since the bottles are plastic.
3. I borrowed season 14 of Death in Paradise on DVD from the library.
4. A neighbor borrowed our chain saw. There's no reason for everyone to own everything. I sent along the oil to be used with it since he wasn't sure if he had some or where it might be. Better safe than sorry.
5. I stopped at Aldi and picked up produce, canned pumpkin, evaporated milk, and cheese slices.
YES -- no reason for everyone to individually own infrequently used items!
Katy, did you read that they are thinking about Declassifying nursing as a Profession? My daughter is a nurse and studies hard to be one at a good school, took her a minute to pay for it too. When my father was in the hospital he had a PN as his day nurses, not enough registered nurses available. My other daughter is a teacher, they are thinking of doing the same there also . Not sure how I feel about this.
I know I went off topic here, sorry
I saw that, so fucked up!
1. I made two dinners last night to use food that some people like and some dont like. Left overs abound and there is slightly more space in the fridge and freezer.
2. After reading your post about preparing items ahead for Thanksgiving, I ended up making the stuffing ahead of time and freezing it. I'm not looking forward to the prep on Thanksgiving but this will help alleviate that the night before and day of. Thanks for the inspiration post.
3. A co-worker bought lunch for both her and I today as a gesture since my birthday was last week. I really appreciate it.
4. Yesterday my family and I did some trimming and weeding in the backyard. It was only 20 minutes and my yard is starting to look nicer. In Florida everything grows like crazy in Summer, or rainy season as we call it. Then in Winter, or dry season, everything slows down and we catch up on yard work. Well, the time is here!
5. By spending less I am cleaning my house and yard more. It's starting to look better =)
Hooray for prepping ahead of time -- a "favor to your future self!"
Ashley, happy belated birthday!
I'd suggest HHBB add olive cream cheese to their menu (green olive to be clear). I'm into jalapeno bagels, with or without cheddar. But a bit disappointed no America cheese for their breakfast sandwiches. There used to be one local only and two local read: Chicago burb bagel places. Both are going in my area. Glad you enjoyed your thank-you bagel.