Five Frugal Things -- Free Cucumbers & $863 Frugality

1) I walked some errands and came across this neighbor's garden surplus of cucumbers and helped myself to the one on the left.

This prompted last night's "sushi bowl" dinner, which utilized leftover rice, pickled ginger, spicy Korean tuna and slices of fresh cucumber. So good, I forgot to snap a photo!

2) One of my errands was to drop off my plastics recycling at New Season's Market. A lot of Portlanders pay for bespoke recycling pickup from Ridwell, which starts at $20/month, so I always get a zing of satisfaction when I figure out how to recycle something that isn't accepted by regular recycling.

Although Portland's curbside recycling did recently start offering battery pickup, they still don't accept light bulbs, which makes Ikea's recycle station continue to be helpful.

3) I hung a load of laundry on the clothesline. I normally edit these photo to brighten them up, but I thought readers might appreciate the true deep shade of my backyard. It might take a little longer for laundry to dry, but that's okay as I can't rush the process.

4) I sold the periodic table throw blanket that I thrifted a few weeks ago for the full asking price of $58. I paid $7.19, so this hits where I prefer my eBay sales to be -- at least $50 more than I paid.

Click HERE to see the listing.

This was the thrifting trip where I also also picked up a $2.70 pepper grinder, which sold quickly for $25. (Odd prices, due to it being a "senior discount" day.) It's always validating when the random items I buy actually sell!

I guess having sold my last two thrifted items is a sign from "Ms. Good Will" that it's time to hit up some thrift stores!

5) My last "frugal thing" is not frugal whatsoever. My husband was concerned that our youngest was planning a road trip in the Prius, so he scheduled an overdue "trip check" with our mechanic. There wasn't anything wrong with the car, but it needed a full tune up, plus brake adjustment and a few other services. We trust our mechanic and this is not a complaint about being overcharged.

The total was $863.18, which we coughed up as we'd offered to foot the bill. This doesn't effect our lives, but that doesn't mean it was pleasant to pay. This amount would sit differently to a young adult who's still establishing their career.

We live below our means, with zero consumer debt, a paid off house and earn a decent living. (My husband works as a city first responder.) We're able to absorb bills like this in part because we are so cheap in most areas of our lives.

• We mostly cook from scratch.
• I only get my hair cut from the free Supercuts training center. I have no "beauty routine."
• We're okay driving older cars.
• We mend and repair our belongings.
• All our furnishings and decor items are either thrifted, curb picked or from Buy Nothing.
• My hobbies, (writing, thrifting, reading, gardening) either make money or cost zero dollars.
• I don't cheer myself up with purchases.
• I garner satisfaction finding free or almost free things to do in my own city.
• We don't hire out what we can figure out how to do ourselves. For example, my husband is going to change the oil in the Prius and I'll grab a new cabin air filter and teach our kid how to change it themselves.
• I'm not a snob about used stuff or garbage picking.

There's probably a number of items I forgot to add to that list, but that's okay as there are 18 years of blog posts to read in the archives.

In summation, save money on the daily stuff so it has a chance to be available for the large expenses.

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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This blog post includes an eBay referral link.