Five Frugal Things -- Bride of Frankenbox
1. I underwent a scheduled colonoscopy, which completed my 2025 bingo card of speciality appointments. (I'm looking forward to not having to don another hospital gown until Summer 2026!) This was frugal as it's better to catch health issues early in the disease process.
For those who think I'm exaggerating, my last few months included trips to:
- Dermatologist (I have a history of malignant melanoma X2!)
- Endocrinologist (My pituitary gland doesn't release thyroid stimulating hormone.)
- Mammogram (Preventative care)
- Gynecologist (Preventative care)
- Annual exam
Can I please get credit for using a Jell-O box mix instead of the plastic cups?
2. I assembled the absolute wonkiest Frankenbox to package up the stone backgammon board I sold on eBay. It took two-and-a-half episodes of Better Call Saul to complete and I almost feel sorry for the poor recipient who'll spend the better part of an hour to undo my nonsense. Seriously, I used at least half a roll of packing tape!
3. I started reading a library copy of Rental House, by Weike Wang. I'm only 46 pages in, but I'll for sure be finishing this book before it's due back at the library!
I'm also listening to an audiobook of The Rom-Commers, by Katherine Center through the free Libby app.
4. I tested out an online hack to snap a frozen pizza in half in order to portion it out. Worked perfectly and my daughter still has half a gluten-free pizza in the freezer for when she stops by the house. I'm thinking this would also work for when you want just a quarter of a pizza.
5. I'm mostly done with my Christmas shopping, everything either thrifted, eBay or consumable. That Schmeff Schmezos guy, plus his pals at Wal-Mart, Target and such will be fine without my money.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
We’re attending a holiday party with our closest friends tonight. I love gift giving but, like you, am dedicated to avoiding new consumption whenever possible. I managed to get “new” thrifted items for: a thirteen year old, two twelve year olds, a ten year old, two nine year olds, a six year old, a three year old and a two year old! I love finding ways to be generous with the children in my life while still keeping true to my morals (and my budget!)
Whoa, that's a lot of gifts to manage!
My husband enjoys cheap thin crust pizzas. I buy them and snap them in half to freeze like your suggestion. He can then get out a half and pop it in the toaster oven for his dinner when I am working evenings. Otherwise he would cook and eat the whole thing.
This is such a "duh" tip, but it had never occurred to me.
We’re attending a Seattle Pro Musica concert tonight to support our friend who sings in the choir. My frugal win is that I convinced my partner that instead of eating out before the concert (a somewhat expensive endeavor these days in Seattle), we will have drinks and dinner at our house. And we’re taking public transit to the concert to save on parking costs.
Thank you Katy for inspiring me to take stock of ways we can consume less and do better for our planet!
Thank you for the nice words! It sounds like you had a nice evening out, even if you ate at home.
Fell twice at my sister's house today. I'm stiff and sore, and my right knee hurts, but nothing broken as far as I know. I can walk, so... In the second fall, I broke the frame of my glasses near the hinge (the part of the frame that goes around the lens). I attacked it with Gorilla Glue and am letting them sit until tomorrow. While I only really need them to read, I wear them all the time. If the Gorilla glue doesn't hold, my BFF's husband is an optician. I have an identical pair of frames from my old glasses (only difference is frame color and lens prescription). I'll just get him to put the current lenses in the old frames and donate what's left to the Lion's Cub. They may be able to reuse the bows or the lenses for someone else.
I saw several people getting "gift certificates" from the Pennsylvania State Police today. Driving under the speed limit is frugal. That's one "gift certificate" I don't need or want.
Not going out and use gas if I don't have to. When I took my sister for groceries and errands today, regular gas at Sheetz was $2.78 where she lives. Where I live (about 35 miles and 2 counties away) it's $2.95. Filled the gas tank there before I left to come home. Got just short of 10 gallons for $27.75, which, for me, is cheap. While we were out, my sister took me to Red Lobster for lunch. Her stepson sent her a $50 Red Lobster gift card for Christmas. It covered both our meals and my sister took a good portion of hers home and it will make her 2 more meals. Thanks Helen (sister) and Rick (her stepson, my nephew)! My coconut shrimp meal filled me up, so I don't need dinner tonight.
Since DH is away until January 4, I am keeping the thermostat at 60, wearing layers, wearing a knit hat to bed, and using extra blankets. I had a Sunday Scool teacher in 5th grade who was a bald man and often said he wore a knit hat to bed in the winter to kerp warm in bed. It really does work. Do I like keeping the thermostat low? No. Is it cold? Yes, but not completely unbearable. Going to pay for a heating oil delivery Monday morning so it can be delivered before Christmas as we are at 1/4 tank. Even after the oil is delivered, I'm going to keep it low like this until DH is back. I'm doing my part to conserve and he worked in a factory without heat in the winter and without a/c in the summer. I get he wants to be warm, but at least we will keep it at 70 when he gets back. His brother that lives down the road from us (he's 73 and worked in an EXTREMELY HOT foundry all his life) can't get warm. Our trailers aren't insulated - we rent. Ours is out in the wide open sun whereas his is mostly shaded by trees. He's on his 3rd tank of heating oil already this season (he had to turn his on in early September; we went until about the 3rd week of October before we had to turn ours on.) We go to visit him and fall asleep because he has it so HOT! I can sacrifice comfort in the quest for frugality for 2 weeks, so I'm doing it.
That is very interesting how your family's careers effected their comfort level with heat. I'm so sorry to read that you've fallen.
1. I also have finished my medical bingo card for the year. I had a mammogram and sonogram of my breasts this morning because I have dense breasts. I had my test results a few hours later and all is good. My deductibles were all meet so it cost me nothing.
2. Chipotle was having a BOGO Holiday Sweater event today. Hubby and I went and got burritos for dinner. We used a gift card to pay for it. It was nice to not have to think about dinner.
3. Breakfast and lunch were leftovers.
4. I make food baskets for friends and family. Most people give me back the baskets every year. I do grab some at yard sales and thrift stores throughout the year if I find a special one for cheap. They are all packed and ready to go.
5. I made dog food for the week, I did laundry and Hubby installed our new dishwasher.
Fails...Our dishwasher finally died. We have been limping it along all year. The next day our microwave went. That same night I found a lump on our dog. I called the vet to bring her in. I then searched her head to paw and found another one. The 1st one was a cyst and popped when the doctor went to do an aspiration. The 2nd one is a tumor so it is good that we found it. The sample came back as precancerous. She is having surgery early January. She has a very thick coat so I would never have felt the 2nd one if I wasn't searching since it was hidden by her ear. I'm thankful that she got the 1st one so that we searched and found the 2nd one before it was cancer.
Poor pup, good thing you took her in.
I like that pizza idea! A good strategy for someone who lives alone!
I went to the library today via the train. Not only is the train ride free for me, but I get some walking done, too, as the library is about 15 minutes from the one station, and my home is 10 minutes away from the other.
I checked out five books. I'm reading two different series that got started with books from the little free libraries. One is Phillipa Gregory's series on "the Cousins' War" -- the War of the Roses -- and the other is Amy Stuart's series on PI Clare O'Dey.
On the way I returned two books to a little free library and took out another -- Alice Seybold's The Almost Moon. So I am all set for reading for a while.
I found a receipt that was quite wrinkled and dirty, but Fetch read it and gave me 25 points. I am almost to the point where I can cash in for $10, but I think I will see how much higher I can go. I live in a dense urban area, and people drop their receipts like crazy around here.
On a recent walk I picked up a bottle to put into recycling, but I noticed it was a very heavy bottle, and rather elegant in shape, so I took it home to use as a bud vase. Turns out, it is a Patron tequila bottle, and there are some for sale on Etsy, so I may end up selling it. I do want to get back into selling when I get through the Christmas season.
I love that you're even thinking about selling a discarded booze bottle on Etsy!
Recently returned to rainy SW Washington State after spending 8 days in sunny San Diego visiting my son and DIL. We had a wonderful time, but San Diego sure was expensive. Here are a few things we did to save at least a little money:
1. One night we had dinner at the Costco food court. It was pretty much junk food, but it was kind of fun as a one time thing. I’m not a Costco member, but my son is, so he ordered food for all of us.
2. We used Groupon to get discounted tickets for a whale watching boat trip around Mission Bay. Tickets were half the posted price so we ended up paying $32 each rather than $64.
3. We attended a free organ concert in Balboa Park.
4. We went to a free art museum, The Timken, also in Balboa Park.
5. Watched the Christmas lights boat parade one night, another free event.
Overall, this trip was not what could be called frugal. Still, with a little research, we were able to find free or discounted things to do which were fun for all of us.
Hey, that's some impressive frugality!
1. I used my triple A membership for my neighbor who needed a tow. She did have to pay extra as the dealership was > the 7 miles that they cover. However, I think it was still 50% less than she would have paid w/o Triple A. (I asked her to check her insurance to see if she had towing. She said "no".)
2. I got a small ham for 8 dollars at Winn Dixie. They were on sale for $1.49 lb. Usually the hams are gigantic but this time there were some small ones.
3. I have found around $2 in change this week while out walking.
4. For Christmas presents, I sent my goddaughter and niece care packages from Walgreens. Diapers for the babies, toilet paper, deodorant, etc. The children will get toys from others. I send practical items. They always seem happy w/ the items.
5. Frugal Fail: During my water leak & construction to repair it,
my fridge somehow got left ajar. All the food in fridge & freezer ruined leaving a smelly, sticky mess. I am going to add this to my personal property list of things ruined. Maybe I will get reimbursed. Frugal win: I had homeowner's insurance. The unit above did not have insurance & they caused the damage. There was 20K worth of damage. I will never again complain about having the pay my insurance premium!
Katy, I commiserate w/ you on the colonoscopy. I had mine in October. I detest all that liquid bowel prep. I was hoping I would not need another for 10 years. Alas, I had polyps and need a repeat in 3 years. A lesser evil than colon cancer. I worked 10 yrs on a post-op GI surgery floor. Colon cancer is a bad type of cancer to get and much of it is preventable. Hopefully, no bowel resection for me in the future.
The worst part is I am no fan of Jello, or juice really. Blegh!
However, I knew the anesthetist, which also happened the last time I had a colonoscopy. We L&D nurses seem to know the entire anesthesiology community!