Five Frugal Things -- Kitchen Phones & Toilet Shampoo
1) I rearranged a couple items around the house for a fresh look, specifically this vintage wall phone, which traveled from the living room to the kitchen. Was I influenced by my current rewatch of Mad Men?
Absolutely I was!
The color might be different, but it's otherwise the same phone.
I can't believe it took 25+ years to realize that it's a kitchen phone! I'm certain that I bought it that long ago, as I remember picking it up from the Value Village thrift store for 99¢ when the kids were in preschool. They used to have one color tag discounted to 99¢ on Tuesdays, which was how broke Katy bought almost all of her kids' shoes, coats, winter gear and such.
Broke Katy had a lot of tricks up her sleeve.
2) My husband and I drove over to Ikea to spend the last of my Fetch gift card. I wanted to see if we could stretch the balance by choosing kids' meals, which is why there are two meatball plates, as well as pasta and macaroni and cheese.
Plus, of course, my $1.40 veggie dog!
The pasta plate was a miscommunication, as my husband thought I wanted it, when I'd actually said the exact opposite.
My husband's travel mug is the one that I picked up from a recent garage sale "after party" free pile. Filled with free Ikea coffee!
These were the kid meal options on the day we went.
By the way, I'm not a "Subaru Ambassador," but I did buy that Hydroflask tumbler from the Goodwill bins and think it's funny enough to not change.
Perhaps I'll get the star treatment should I ever go to a Subaru dealership?
3) I used the bathroom before heading out and was impressed that Ikea offers free period products for their customers. I don't need them anymore, but am happy to see that more businesses are now offering these essential supplies.
They're just as necessary as toilet paper.
4) We had the kids and their partners over for dinner last night and served tomato-feta pasta, focaccia and blackberry crisp.
The blackberries were foraged, the half-gallon of vanilla ice cream was on sale for $2.99 and the focaccia was homemade.
I didn't take any photos, so you'll have to trust that the blackberry crisp was similar to the one I made a few days ago.
5) I scrubbed my toilet with a squirt of shampoo, which is what I always use. Mind you, I wash my hair with $1.25 White Rain shampoo, (Dollar Tree, bay-bee!) so it's not like I'm wasting a precious resource. It works great and is something that already lives in the bathroom.
Portland doesn't have hard water, so I'm not dealing with mineral deposits.
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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Madmen is my favorite series. I've watched it completely 3 times. The last time was at the beginning of the Covid pandemic so it was a welcome reprieve.
1. I made a big batch of scrambled eggs, peppers and Vidalia onions using some more of the eggs my boss gave me. I still have a lot more to go. We had breakfast for lunch.
2. DH and I were just saying most of our activities and errands take place here in our somewhat small town. Tonight I am going to Book Club at the indy bookstore and he is going to his $10 a month gym. Both in town. We use our one vehicle to get to both places...he'll pick me up at the bookstore when he leaves the gym.
3. I figured out how to turn off the dry cycle on my dishwasher to hopefully help reduce the electric bill.
4. Our lawn looks better than it has in ages due to all the rain we've had this summer. Free water.
5. I love those old wall phones. My dad, one of the most frugal of the frugal, had his ancient heavy plastic one probably up to the late 1990s. He was of the ilk "If it ain't broke you don't fix it or replace it." He also shared a line with the neighbor next door who knew how to wire just about anything. They each had a buzzer in their kitchen to let each other know if the call was for them. And you wonder where I get my frugality!
Posting about your last TWO posts: I AM A SUCKER FOR A LIBRARY DATE!! Jealous! I need one,now.Nothing like an icy cold library on a hot 115 degree Phoenix day!
LOVE your lunch splurge..sounds like a frugal vacay to me!! AND it included WATER, my #1 vacay requirement!!
Those kid meals look definitely large enough to satisfy my appetite.
Your berry crisps and desert posts are tickling my sugar cravings!! I also have some $2.99 ice ream in freezer and some on sale caramel topping!! YUM summer treats!
I remember our phone like that. Ahh, the good old days. At the library where I work we have an old rotary phone in the children's toy box. No idea who put it in or why, but the kids love it. Not a day goes by that a kid doesn't drag it out and they all know just what to do with it, even though it is way before their time. I posted yesterday so I don't have much new to say as far as the frugal five goes. I continue to hold myself to my word of the year, which is less. I am holding strong and still not buying any fabric softener, even though I miss the scent. I recently finished using up my hair styling products, and did replace those. I thought this would be a struggle, but so far I am enjoying have gel and mousse free hair.
Should say didn't replace the hair styling items.
Ok I don’t get it? Why use shampoo in the toilet? Wouldn’t you want to use a stronger cleaner to disinfect?
It's just for the area inside the bowl and any product with a surfactant cleans the surface.
I love the vintage vibes of your house!
I used up 2 monster cucumbers in salad and pickles.
I returned the borrowed chainsaw when it's owner was in town saving me 40 minutes driving. We gave them a bottle of wine (free to us) as a thank you.
Listed 5 cucumbers on buy nothing.
Sold a pair of hiking poles which I'd listed yesterday.
Sold an item on line $16. Yippee
Made the trek to Costco to pick up things our son needed. He reimburses us.
Have $85 in Trashie rewards that I’m
saving for my house sitting trip to So Cal in September as I’ll have to buy food for my 13 day stay.
Oh yes, we had several iterations of that same kitchen phone when I was growing up. Brings back memories! Is yours operational?
I threw out the storm-compromised food today. It was a heavy bag. But it feels good to be starting fresh in the refrigerator. I cleaned the shelves in celebration. Of course, most of the condiments stayed right where they were.
I had an eBay package to mail this morning, so I made a run to the post office and also past the book return drop box. Then I went to Walgreens for generic Claritin. I bought two bottles, getting the second one half-price. Plus, my Medicare Advantage plan kicked in $6. While I was there I also bought a box of staples and a couple of protein bars that were on clearance.
I logged into Duolingo for the 150th day in a row today. I'm sure not fluent in French yet, but I could probably manage an order in a cafe or boulangerie. If I had to. And it's fun.
After I came home I saw that I sold a golf hat on eBay, so I'll be going back to the post office tomorrow. I just finished turning a Sysco box inside out to mail it in.
I checked out the little free pantry, and the refrigerator was full of lettuce. Yikes! I'm sure not interested in that right now! I did pick up a box of mac and cheese and a box of plastic food storage bags. And I found another book at a little free library.
Yes, it's functional, although we no longer pay to have a landline.
Absolutely love that phone! Brings back fond memories of the phone in our kitchen with the only technical challenge being how far I could stretch the cord to gain some privacy.
Another huge tree fell in our neighborhood on a sunny, no-wind day. These falling trees are fraying my every last nerve. This one sounded like it landed on a neighbor's house. I hobbled over at the same time two other neighbors ran out of their houses to help. Luckily the tree landed near their shed and just missed the house. The next day I called our arborist and he came out to check on a few concerning trees around our property to see if they're showing signs of being hollowed out. There are two on another neighbor's property close to our house that are either dead or almost dead and should be removed. We'll talk to them about it. In Minnesota, if a neighboring tree causes damage to our property, and we informed the owners in advance that there was an issue and they didn't address it, they are responsible for paying for our damages. No fun for anyone.
I love your stool cover. I had that phone growing up. The cord was so long and would always get twisted.
1. I was gifted a Costco size box of Brillo and Uno show them no Mercy from my buy nothing group. It was 2 blocks out of my way on the way home from work.
2. Hubby, our friend and I participated with a bunch of Hubby's coworkers in a 5K Workplace Challenge at Jones Beach last night. Hubby's work had a tent set up with lots of food, drinks and snacks. We ate dinner there. Hubby's company paid the entry fees for everyone.
3. There were lots of freebies being given out. We each got a bucket hat and were allowed to pick the picture we wanted on it. We were each given a reusable bag with a t-shirt. We were each given 3 cans of Throne sport coffee in different flavors. They are going to our son. We each got a liquid death water and a sparkling water. We will keep them for ourselves. Everything else we passed on since we won't use it.
4. We stayed to help clean up with my husband's boss. He sent us home with a bunch of the drinks and snacks that were left. People didn't show up because it was going to rain. It started to drizzle during the last mile. We brought our rain coats. As we were driving home it started to pour.
5. Our son came home and gave us gifts for watching his cat while he was away. We tell him not to but he still does. He got me chocolate walnut fudge and my husband 3 different cans of hard cider. The fudge is delicious.
6. I am picking every day in the garden. Today was about a dozen strawberries, a quart of string beans, another zucchini, Swiss chard, cherry tomatoes, 6 cucumbers and the first Japanese eggplant. It has been raining some the last 3 days so I haven't had to water the garden.