Five Lil' Frugal Things -- Christmas Edition
1. My husband filled my stocking with heavy treats, to the point that he had to enlist a clamp from the basement to hold it on place!
Oy vey!
Here are the contents:
Everything got set aside, except of course for the milk chocolate digestive biscuits which served as a post-breakfast snack. He and I don't exchange Christmas gifts, although we do fill one another's stockings.
2. We watched a couple of Christmas movies through streaming services we already have. "Elf" through HBO, which is $2.99 per month through a Black Friday deal; and "Krampus" on Peacock, which is free with our cell phone service.
They're completely different movies, but both scratched that "Christmas movie" itch!
I went into my Frndly TV account setting and turned off "auto renew" for my 99¢/month subscription, which allowed me access to some Hallmark TV content. No need for it now that the the holidays are over. I'd added a free one week Hallmark+ trial, which would renew at $7.99. I also cancelled that auto renew.
3. My mother gifted me a $100 Goodwill gift card, which I'll work to stretch as far as humanly possible! Maybe I should use it for items to resell and see how much I can earn from an initial $100 start point? That would be fun.
4. I baked up a Christmas morning frittata to balance out the plethora of anticipated treats. It turns out I was the only person who wanted to eat sensibly, which gifted me some perfect leftovers. My husband would've loved the meal, but he worked Christmas.
Boo!
The frittat really was chock full of deliciousness, as I'd added spinach, sautéed mini peppers, artichoke hearts, cottage cheese, Tillamook colby jack cheese and bacon. More for me!
Click HERE to read my "Hakuna Frittata" blog post from 2009!
5. I didn't give a single freaking dime to Schmeff Schmezos while shopping for Christmas gifts!
How was your Christmas? Please share in the comments section below.
I'd have been happy to have leftover frittata as well. Yours sounds delicious.
1. DD and SIL came for dinner at noon. The Sparkling Blush was $1.99 from Grocery Outlet. We really liked it, it was less sweet than some. Leftovers were eaten today and will be eaten tomorrow.
2. I didn't support Schmeff Schmezos either. Most of our gifts were consumables or cash with a Pet Smart gift card thrown in (I used reward points from Discover for that).
3. DH and I do not give each other gifts. DH did a lot of cleaning on Wednesday and Thursday which feels like a gift to me.
4. I listed some items on Freecycle on the 23rd which I suspect became small gifts for others. They were things we didn't need and were still in factory wrapping.
5. We walked to the library as I had a book due. They don't charge fines but I know there is a waiting list for the book. I had two books on the Hold shelf ready for pick up and DH picked up a book and a few DVDs. It's hard to beat the library. It's easier to walk when it is cold and gray when there is a destination.
I saw my oldest son, briefly, in the northern part of the state on Christmas Eve. It was a beautiful drive up and I managed a thirty minute walk at the lovely park in my hometown! Ex said he was not going so I dropped off our middle son’s gift for ex to take to middle son, and ex’s gift on the way up to see the oldest. Oldest was disappointed not to see his dad but was very happy to see me! I will see the youngest son and his girlfriend tomorrow. He is feeling much better. I FaceTimed on Christmas with my daughter and grandkids who live across the country while sitting outside my house in a T shirt bc it was so hot. My thermostat said 80 degrees! But it is going to turn cold next week! Really, I just want to see my kids and I am happy with that. All my kids live in different places and have differing work schedules so I am just happy to be able to talk to them.
1. Went to WalMart to check for holiday candy on clearance, (only 25% off, not the 50% off for the rest of the stuff). Took the last bags of a few things and gloried in shopping in the QUIET! I didn't know they leave the sound system off from 8-10 am, for sensitive shoppers the checker told me. She found it boring; I thought it was wonderful.
Over the past decade or so, the amount of holiday clearance at local major chain stores has gone way down, because they just don't seem to order as much. That's a good move. (Some years ago, I saw a woman at WalMart loudly telling everyone that she had completed her holiday shopping on the 26th for /next/ year. She had three full carts bungy corded end-to-end. I found that perhaps practical but also un-Christmasy, especially as she would have to store the stuff somewhere and would forget what she had).
2. Found various clearance granolas at the grocery store for the husband.
3. Applied cash back bonus on credit card-- we usually don't charge much, because we usually don't shop much, but had dental appointments this month. Dentist does not have a discount for cash/check. His loss.
4. Working through an old book series again from the library.
5. Moving slowly, especially on cleaning, but making slow progress!
I went to the frittata recipe page and the recipes at the bottom had no content.
I'm curious about the black bean recipe.
Crap! Sorry about that!
Katy, I remember you saying your household is part Jewish. Do you celebrate Hanukkah, too?
We were invited to our niece and her girlfriend's house. DH's S & BIL (who are separated after 62 years of marriage - they're the parents of that niece) were there also. Although she's 57, our niece still wants time with both her parents at the same time. She doesn't want to feel like she has to choose between them. Our niece's girlfriend cooked a wonderful meal of smoked salmon, sweet potatoes, veggies and bread. DH and I took homemade vanilla ice cream and 2 homemade toppings to choose from: peanut butter fudge sauce or warm cinnamon apples. We all had a good time. (BTW, our niece isn't much younger than us. Her parents got married in 1965. My DH was only 9 months old at the time. While DH is #9 of 9 kids, this S is #2.)
Happy Friday! We had 16 stockings for Christmas morning. I pick up cute things in free boxes, my cousin finds me clearance Dollar Tree things in the store she manages. We use the clamps to hold 4 stockings each. I made everyone an ornament, they got gum, chocolate, lip balm, homemade soap and facial scrubby, family calendar and pet treats where applicable and fabric journal cover with pen holder (it holds a composition notebook).
They each added one item to my mom's stocking and mine.
I got Andes mints, lip balm, crack cream, homemade socks, saddle soap and flower seeds. My mom got all gum as she is a gumaholic.
10 of the girls decided to go after sale shopping and I spent the late morning working in the garden. Rain has come and I am snuggled into a book, quilt and tea. I win!
Did the weight of your bounty cause the run in your stocking?
I see a Katy mend coming on.
The family rule is thrifted, homemade or scrounged. One of my most treasured gifts was a child who travels quite a bit for work gave me a collection of heart shaped rocks found on hikes, walks or in the wild. He dated and labeled each one with a silver sharpie. I began my collection when I was 6 well over 50 yrs ago.
10 of the kids commissioned a beautiful walnut cutting board to fit Half of my Great Enisi's Hoosier that acts as a rolling island. they scored a free marble island top and cut it down to size for the other half of the Hoosier. Priceless!
Santa put "code names" group game in the game cabinet. I also see a rousing bracketed scrabble tournament in our future this weekend.
I think it would be fascinating to see how you could grow that $100 by buying things to resell!
Katy … you might want to consider darning your stocking 🙂
My friend came for Christmas Eve dinner and we exchanged gifts. I had found the cutest red (her color!) mugs with a cable knit design (she knits!) at Goodwill, which I bought and set aside. I then got stitch holders (local, woman-owned business), a fabric pen, and some cocoa packets (Winco), which I put in the mugs. She loved all of it. When she asked where I got the mugs, I hesitated half a second and said, “Goodwill.” I think it kind of surprised her, but they looked brand new and the price point was definitely just right.
What a lovely stocking full. Your husband did well!
1. I have spent some time today, Boxing Day, sewing a leaf applique on a free dress. It turned out quite nicely. Who needs expensive hobbies when there are free clothes to alter!
2. I've told my husband I'm taking the week off from cooking, starting today. I produced dinners for Christmas Eve (at home) and Christmas Day (after driving one and three quarter hours each way to cook dinner for my elderly parents at their house). I am done! Thankfully there are leftovers. My husband and I also each picked up the free 12 oz lasagna at Lucky supermarket which was the freebie on December 24. I can't eat them, so that's 2 nights dinner for him.
3. I've sold 2 things on FB marketplace today.
4. I bought my husband a puzzle board for Christmas and it is the best. We have a very small house and to have a puzzle on our only table used to be a serious inconvenience. Now the board goes under the couch and I wish I'd bought one for him 10 years ago!
5. I'm soaking some stained tea towels, downgrading 2 bathroom hand towels to the rag bag, and I ordered new hand towels with a gift card my husband received from a student.
1. Snagged a free play kitchen on marketplace for my toddler . The off loading of toys post Christmas has begun! It was a 250 dollar kitchen new. I gave it a good scrub with a magic eraser and recovered the “backsplash” with two sheets of dollar tree contact paper. It looked great!
2. Grabbed a few Christmas books at arcs 1/2 off Christmas sale for next year.
3. Sold multiple lots of little people on fb marketplace today that I have gathered at the bins.
4. We have been enjoying warm weather in CO which means we haven’t turned on the heat in well over a week.
5. Enjoyed Christmas morning with many of our gifts thrifted, from our BN group or handed down from friends for my toddler. Hoping to score some play food , pots pans and dishes at the goodwill outlet over the next few weeks to complete our kitchen set
Merry Christmas to all!
1) We hosted my family for Christmas Day dinner. My husband smoked a turkey, which we’d purchased for $4 before thanksgiving and had kept in the freezer. I roasted a butternut squash that had come in my produce box and cooked pierogis (purchased from Costco, not made from scratch!) I also made a spinach salad and some buttermilk rolls. I setup a mocktail bar, with cranberry and cherry juices, ginger beer, sparkling water and pomegranates arils, sugared cranberries (that my neighbor had given me), mint leaves and rosemary for garnish and frozen cranberries to act as ice cubes. I also had sugar crystals for those who wanted a sugar rim on their glass. It was cheaper than buying alcohol, better for our health and inclusive of those who don’t drink (my young kids and my sister who is 20+ years sober).
2) My mom put scratchers in my stocking. Not generally a frugal purchase except that I won about $40 across all of them. Better than the $0 I usually win when she’s given them to me in the past.
3) My neighbor asked if I’d like to look through a bag of girls clothes for my daughter. The clothes are size 10-12 and my daughter is a size 6 but I do have a bin to store next size up clothes for her so I figured I could at least look and put some in there. The greatest find was 4 plain white t-shirts. Related to your post on last minute holiday gifts and their costs, I have gotten caught in last minute tye-dye situations with my kids! The camp or after care they are at announces tye dye for the next day and to bring in a white piece of clothing and I’ve found myself scrambling, since I know my kids would be upset to not participate. So now I have 4 plain white shirts set aside should it happen again.
4) Staying at home today, enjoying our gifts and relaxing. It’s also raining so makes it extra nice to not have to go anywhere.
5) Leftovers for dinner tonight and then my aunt is hosting a belated Christmas dinner tomorrow night so no cooking for me for 2 nights!
Knit stockings are nice because they stretch to accommodate bulky items! If you hadn’t posted about it, I’d never guess that “Blake” was hidden on one of the stockings.
1. We came to an agreement not to exchange gifts with part of the family. Not only was it a frugal choice, but also less aggravating, because there have been some truly useless gifts over the years.
2. There were many thrifted items exchanged within our immediate family, and those were some of the most popular items! I keep my eyes open for potential gifts every time I visit a thrift store, garage sale or free pile.
3. I found $20 in the Fred Meyer parking lot on Christmas Eve. This will be my best found money year EVER.
4. My snobbish sister-in-law lavished praise on the blazer I wore at Christmas dinner. I didn’t tell her it was a bins find. It was a red blazer appropriate for a republican convention, so maybe that’s why she admired it?
5. I went out for a post-Christmas walk and found enough redeemable cans to fill my last bag of cans for the year. I’ll have to report my total for the year!