Five Frugal Things -- What to do With Excess Pens
1) I accompanied my friend Lise to Trader Joe's, even though the only thing I could think to buy was pesto. I noticed that they'd set out a fresh batch of mini-tote bags, which reminded me of the blog post I published back in June.
I quote myself from that blog post:
"Life is expensive these days and buying the occasional inexpensive practical item as a dopamine boost is A-Ok sometimes. I'm fully aware that some shoppers buy them to resell, but it's likely those people are simply trying to pay their bills. Doing the time consuming work to piece together an income.
The people to be mad at are those who hoard wealth while others suffer. Punch up, not down."
Punch up, not down.
2) I've had no success selling my late mother-in-law's art canvases, so I'm donating them to the high school's art department. She taught art classes at both the high school and college level, so it's a fitting destination.
Every one of these high end canvases cost hundreds of dollars new, so my husband hoped to recoup some of that cost, but potential buyers wanted extreme bargains. (I mean, I get it . . . ) It'll be healing to get them out of the house and into the hands of budding young artists.
3) I noticed that we'd somehow accumulated an excess of ball point pens, so I dumped them onto the coffee table to sort. A couple dried out ones went straight into the trash, while others survived The Great Pen Culling of 2026.
I then gifted a handful of perfectly functional, but no-need-em pens to a local store in the name of getting them back into circulation. I can't imagine a situation that would call for twenty ball point pens all at once. I think the dozen or so that I kept should suffice.
4) I went on the library website at precisely midnight in search of free cultural passes. Sadly there was nothing new for me. My dream is to score theater tickets, but somehow the "Every 2 months" is never the current month.
Maybe not this month, but you know I'll be checking back come midnight on October 31st! I'm no quitter.
5) In those pen crocks were two pairs of cat claw clippers, so I offered one up in my Buy Nothing group. We no longer have a cat, but I'll hold onto the second pair in case my grandcats are visiting and extra scratchy.
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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It's a lovely donation, given your MIL was an art teacher. Very fitting.
1) Drove my electric car on my errands today.
2) Deposited cash leftover from our trip into my account, and then made a few shifts to ensure our money is in the highest interest rate account. This is for money needed in the next 12-18 months, and much of it is in a CD, but some is also in a HYSA. This should earn an extra $30/month extra.
3) Went to CVS for vitamins, and used a combination of store sales (BOGO) + coupons, rewards, etc. to get four of the largest size containers for $23.75, which is a very low per unit price.
4) Ate what was on hand for lunch. I've had to buy lunch at work the last three days (technically could have brought, but was hosting a work event & the logistics would have been challenging). I made use of: two plums, leftover chicken & a piece of cheese. Delicious & easy.
I'm bummed for your cultural desert. Here's hoping you are building cultural karma points and will get something on the 31st.
While my 3 and 5 yr old neighbors were here for sunrise yoga, afterwards went to the garden and picked the baby boo pumpkins. Their little brother sat in the wagon as we piled the pumpkins around him. their mom took pics. They loved the counting game/chore, my back loved them helping me!
I culled my pens not too long ago. Still have way more than a dozen, though!
I got my free flu shot this morning. Free protection, I'm on it! Plus I got the senior dose, which is extra protection. I will pass on what the pharmacist told me -- if you relax your arm there is less chance of soreness later. So far, so good.
Afterwards I went to Aldi for groceries. I spent $21. I wanted to use my gift card from Fetch, but $21 was a bit too much, so it was declined. I am having trouble keeping track of what's left on the virtual cards in Wallet. I wish they would award us with physical cards.
I did find four receipts, though. Aldi seems to be a treasure trove of abandoned receipts.
A few bargains -- I bought Honeycrisp apples for $1.99 as opposed to $3.79 for Pink Ladies, which are my favorite, but hey, Honeycrisp are fine. I bought two pounds of carrots for less than the little bag of "baby" carrots -- which are not really babies, anyway, but shaved-down regular carrots. So why not do the peeling myself?
I carried my library books to return right past the bin at the community center, distracted by a soccer ball in the drive. I got out and tossed the ball into the field, but somehow that wiped out my mission to return the books. Was quite shocked to find them still in my bag once home! I'll try again Saturday -- tomorrow I'm doing laundry, so not likely to run errands.
Oh I almost forgot! I also went to PetSmart for a new heater for my aquarium. I saved $5 by responding to an offer to buy online and pick up in person.
I have one of those Dundee Marmalade jars (little crocks) that belonged to my great grandmother. I remember her keeping it on the stove with teaspoons in it. I was going on age 9 when she died but I imagine she kept teaspoons handy for stirring the coffee she and our family frequently drank. I now keep my kids' baby spoons in it.
1. I went to my Kiva group today at the town library. We meet weekly at my friend's indy book store but the store is closed for vacation so we reserved a conference room at the library. The group leader brought us Dunkin Donuts coffee and muffins.
2. After the group was done for the day and before I left, I borrowed two books, one for me, one for DH.
3. I met my SIL (from my former marriage but I didn't divorce her) at McDonald's where she bought me lunch. I bought McFlurries for us for dessert.
4. She also gave me a container of frozen spaghetti sauce with meat balls. Kindness is her middle name.
5. I'm still getting about a cup of raspberries every day from the bushes in my yard. Free fruit is very tasty!
Speaking of punching… I stopped by the bins for a quick look on my way into Portland for a work meeting. Two guys got into a fist fight on the opposite side of the bin I was searching through! Next, I got to see people get kicked out of the bins! The security guy says it happens around once per month, but this is the first time I’ve seen it.
On the way from the bins to my meeting, I saw a woman standing at the side of a busy Portland street with her middle finger aloft.
I sense that people are not OK.
I didn’t find much at the bins. It was the location where the Wilt Chamberlain jacket was found, and now everyone goes to that location because they think it’s better. Annoying. It used to be the low key bins with the sane people. I did find two boring items off my thrifting list (a specific cookbook plus a big serving fork). I find that I stay focused and don’t buy random cool stuff I don’t need if I have a list. That’s my frugal thrifting tip!
On the topic of ball point pens, I’ll say that I lose every pen that comes to me, so I never need to cull!
1. I sold two items on Marketplace. They were both my items and not purchased for resale. So it really was crap out, money in.
2. I sold another item on Ebay and listed several more.
3. My brother-in-law stopped over for coffee. He provided the pastries. We got caught up.
4. I've stayed home all day. No money spent.
5. I filled my hair conditioner with water to get every last bit out. I'm currently using that last bottle of miscellaneous conditioner left over from when my daughters lived here. Waste not, want not.
** Frugal Fail - I let a Kindle credit expire because I didn't know it would expire. I need to start keeping better track.
Spurred on by your post, Katy, I checked my own library Discover and Go passes but didn't see anything that interested me.
Inspired by comment from Beth W., I emailed PCP to check what vaccinations I still need.
Dropped my aunt at the airport after 5 day visit. Due to my having a cold, I did not have to provide a single meal for her so that was considerable savings. My dad covered her food instead and she brought us the leftovers before she left. On the way home from airport I dropped donations and bought myself a slice of GF pizza. A rare treat and a cheap way of improving my mental health.
Set out 4 cocktail glasses that someone is supposed to buy this afternoon.
Picked up 4 Advantage flea treatment for cats from Buy Nothing. At current prices this saved us $28. Dh rode his bike to pick them up, so no gas used.
I'm very happy to report that we only used 3/4 of a tank of gas in our car last month. Dh did some extensive calculations to find the optimal speed for fuel efficiency for his motorcycle. By decreasing his speed by 8 mph, he gets an extra 30 miles out of a tank of gas. Tank holds just over 3 gallons, so that's comparatively a lot of extra miles. He's a math teacher...
That’s sounds like a good story problem for his students!