Five Frugal Things -- Cheap Groceries & Dull Endeavors
1. I did my first major grocery shopping trip in weeks, but still only spent $55.46. Nothing too exciting, although I impulse purchased the $2.98 Hatch green chile and a 54¢ container of clearance "Valentine's Day" salt water taffy.
I hid the candy from myself in the basement and will pull it out when my sister and nephew visit in April. We have fond memories of getting salt water taffy from the Oregon coast as kids, so I know she'll enjoy this.
Unrelated to cost, but I just noticed that the "Barkeeper's Friend" rang up as "Friend Cleanser," which is three types of hilarious!
2. I picked my daughter up at the train station and took her to run a few errands. She mentioned that she'd misplaced her hairbrush, so we stopped at a Sally Beauty Supply that happened to be on our route. We were browsing through their different options, which all began around ten bucks. I then spied this one towards the back and you know it became our #1 choice!
Yoink!
3. I occurred to me that I hadn't received the $20 American Red Cross gift card from my last donation, so I scoured my inbox until I located the original email. I once again clicked through the steps to claim my voucher, but this time it went through. I picked Fred Meyer (Kroger) because I'm endlessly practical and boring. Maybe one day I'll choose something fun, but the other options are all corporate stores that really don't appeal to me. At least this way I can get some last minute dinner ingredients.
They'd already sent the link for a $10 gift card, so I now have $30 to spend at the grocery store. Woo hoo!
4. I'm listening to a free Libby audiobook while puttering and running errands. My favorite trope is time loop plot and this book somehow came on my radar. It's a cute YA novel and is serving as a delightful break from the horrors of the daily news cycle.
5. I stopped into the Goodwill that's a few blocks from Winco before doing my grocery shopping, although my only purchases were for others.
My friend Lise asked me to keep an eye out for this specific type of silverware organizer, which she uses when setting up food at volunteer events. This one was 99¢ and although it appears gross and rusty it was actually just gross and dirty! It cleaned up perfectly and she now has the number of these that she needs.
The French press is for my youngest who'd mentioned that they were going to buy one. I encouraged them to hold off, as they're easy enough to thrift. It was priced at $9.99, but this model seems to be priced at $39.99 were I to buy it new.
Both items were 10%-off, as it was senior discount day at Goodwill! You only need to be 55-years-old to be considered a "senior" at our Goodwills, which is lovely benefit of aging!
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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Back from a bucket list trip, so read the below with full knowledge that there were plenty of fancy bucket list (plus combined 20th anniversary/50th birthday) activities as well that were decidedly unfrugal.
1) Ate brunch at the lounge before our flight.
2) Brought home a bottle of wine we didn't drink, and then shared that with my mom, as a thank you for doing a ton of laundry (they came to see DS20 for his birthday, and because they have a goal of visiting all four grandsons in 2026) while we were gone. I knew she would appreciate this particular wine, as it was a unique chardonnay from NZ.
3) Used our Uber gift card credits (purchased to generate gift card rewards) to pay for transit home. We got a ride to the airport, but our return flight would have involved driving in rush hour traffic and some particularly nasty weather. We were happy to save my parents or dS20 getting up early.
4) Shared a couple of lunches while we were on our trip.
5) We needed to check a bag (unusual for us, but our hiking backpacks were long & not an overhead bin item), so I researched perks from my airline status + weight limitations to make sure we could check both bags for free.
On my only blood donation so far, I have had no luck at getting the promised gift card. Makes me less interested in going again!
My friend was visited today by a book club friend, who brought lunch from Panera -- for me, too! She mentioned that she paid with a gift card from giving blood -- but not through the American Red Cross. Something called Verity? She said she has also had trouble getting gift cards from ARC.
My grandson was riding his bike and was attacked by a dog running loose. He was bitten and my son took him to the ER. He was tended and will be okay, but what a scare! Luckily, my son had just gotten insurance through COBRA. His dad's family had bonded together to make the first payment while my son in unemployed. Very expensive! I hope a new job materializes sooner rather than later.
The pot pies I got yesterday at KFC made a hit with my patient. I have been frustrated because her eating habits are so bad. She eats like a toddler! But she had the pot pie yesterday, and today she ate soup and salad and a baguette. So there's hope.
She ordered the sock fitter today from Amazon after conceding that the one she thought was in her attic probably isn't there. I didn't take the bait to go look for it, but another, younger, more limber friend did and came up empty. It MAY be there, but my friend is a hoarder, so who knows where?
Anyway, though she tires easily, she is getting around much better. I will probably go home Saturday morning unless something changes.
In my experience it does take around two-three weeks for the Red Cross gift card email to hit my inbox.
For the heck of it I decided to flip the fuse in the fuse box that was labeled 'dryer' as said dryer hadn't worked for two weeks. While we do have a working commercial dryer in the clubhouse, hauling huge loads of wet clothing over there was becoming a hassle!! THE DRYER IS NOW WORKING!! Everything that I was upset about last week (other than the waking up 15 minutes before I was supposed to be at work ROFLMBO) has worked itself out and I am one happy camper!!