A Home Day -- A Cheap Day
It wasn't until the yesterday evening that I realized I hadn't ventured beyond the confines of my own property. Cheap . . . yes, but not exactly the most enticing frugal advice.
I can see the headline, "Save Money By Never Leaving Home!" Like house arrest, but in the name of frugality. Super fun!
I spent an hour or so setting the backyard to rights. I raked, rearranged furniture and set plants back onto the freshly refinished deck.
I listened to my library audiobook while puttering around the house -- laundry, watering plants, (every Sunday!) gathering garbage and recycling.
I scrolled my phone and took screenshots of books to put on hold at the library.
I grabbed the last premade pizza crust from the freezer, topping it with sauteéd peppers and onions. (Cheap ingredients for the win!) You can see that my $3 clearance shelf peppers filled an entire gallon-size freezer bag. Keep in mind that I took this photo after I pulled out a handful for yesterday's pizza.
The pizza was enough for both of us, which we enjoyed beneath the glow of the TV screen.
Both of us agree that Mackenzie Crook's The Detectorists is a start to finish masterpiece, so it was an obvious choice to start dive right into his new series. Small Prophets just started airing, but Apple TV made the first two episodes available to stream. A+, no notes.
An easy day, a satisfying day, a frugal day. I got a few things accomplished and I got to enjoy the things that give life pleasure. Now I just need to twiddle my thumbs until the next episode of Small Prophets is available on Wednesday.
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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I have a stitchery framed in my mudroom that says "don't make me go to town". Truer words ever spoken.
Sunrise yoga. Made egg bites for the week. Made mom's cookies (she has as a wicked sweet tooth, I make high protein low sugar cookies for her).
Blew leaves out of the flower beds, mowed to pick up leaves.
The giant maple leaves are starting to fall, they are head sized!
Made salad dressing, made salad in jars for 4 meals.
My Saturday was a wet mess with soccer. . .
1) We took down, washed and stored our patio set-up for the season. Is isn't going to win any design awards, but it works for us and doesn't need constant replacing.
2) On Sunday the older boy and I took advantage of the sun and raked the backyard. He questioned the need until I pointed out the nastiness of raking a WET back yard.
3) We've been re-arranging our house and changing things about to fit our changing lives. Thrift stores and re-upholstering for the win!
4) A community potluck had me reaching for my second-hand instant pot and some on-sale eggs to make a batch of deviled eggs. I spread the work out over a few days and recruit help for the peeling.
5) And, as always, packing a lunch, making my coffee, taking the bus and wearing the thrifted/ me-made wardrobe. I did put the summer stuff away and take out the winter stuff, so it's almost like having a new wardrobe! My goal is to not buy any new clothes this winter- I have too many and the growing kids will need pants soon enough!
***Extra extra extra***: CF and I have just sold NDN1's house--and to the candidate of my choice!!! We had two identical cash offers for the low "as is" asking price, and I lobbied unashamedly for the one from the buyer I know personally. He is, in fact, a brother-in-law of my eventual executor, and the first thing I did after we signed the paperwork to put the house up for sale was to email my executor and his wife and ask them to put the word out among their family and church connections. It'll be a great comfort to have members of this family next door--and also a great comfort to have the responsibility for the house taken off CF's and my hands. Three hearty huzzahs!!!
Wow! That's great news!
That is awesome! Big win all around!
What a HUGE accomplishment! So many congratulations. And you so deserve awesome neighbors to continue your tradition of having great neighbors.
That's amazing, what a huge relief!
1. Yesterday was a rare day where my partner and I both had the same day off. We were going to venture on an adventure, but decided to go to HONK! (festival of activist street bands), which is an annual [free] event in my town. Thus, no gas was used, as we walked to it.
2. My nephew came along and I made the three of us a pancake breakfast at home, using milk & eggs that were free from a mystery shop. The bacon was on deep discount a while back, as it was "flavored" with Frank's hot sauce, which turned out to be fine with pancakes and maple syrup.
3. I'm making a giant batch of chili-mac for dinner-at-work-apartment for the next two weeks (I'll freeze half and put it in the freezer for next week). It called for tomato sauce, but I had a large jar of Aldi's salsa that had been hanging out in my fridge for a suspiciously long time (but no signs of mold or off-smell) so I substituted that, and used the food that I got free from mystery shop: ground beef, cheedar cheese, beef stock, and elbow macaroni. I also added shreeded zucchini that I had in the freezer to bulk it out and add some veg. The zucchini was from our free CSA box.
4. Not-so-frugal/sort-of frugal. I was stuck in work meetings all day, so I didn't have time to hang laundry out, but I am using the free-to-us dryer that we got from Buy Nothing group after our dryer from the 1970s started causing rips and grease marks on stuff.
5. I wore hand-me-over sweater from my mom to my online meetings today, drinking coffee made at home, along with leftover pancakes for breakfast.
Some of my favorite days are spent puttering around the house, reading when the mood strikes, and eating when and what tickles my fancy. Frugal, relaxing, and restorative.
1. I walked a few to-donate books over to the nearest FLL yesterday and continued on from there with a run to enjoy the sunshine.
2. I intended to buy (on sale) bread this morning at Safeway, but the shelves were empty. I will whip up a batch of focaccia instead.
3. I was motivated to make some cookies, and used the (still good) peanut butter in the back of my pantry that has an expiration date in 2025...I googled first to determine my chances of a gnarly expired-peanut-butter gastrointestinal outcome.
4. The price of cucumbers is ridiculous, so I highjacked my child's science experiment (growing plants with different types of liquid) and used some seeds to start my own cucumbers.
5. I am eyeing the big bins of Lego that my children used to play with and am considering selling. I *think* it will not be one of those things where they suddenly are interested again once I decide to donate/sell/ditch a toy...now to figure out how much it's worth.
Today I ran errands. I started out at the library, where I returned books and checked out another. Then I went to the hardware store, where I dropped off a window screen to have the screening replaced. On to Goodwill. I did a lot of perusing. I was looking for a 10 x 12 picture frame, but the only one that was decent was too heavy for the place where it would hang, and it was wired to hang horizontally, and I want to hang it vertically. I looked at the linens, but there were no sheets or shower curtains to speak of. I ended up buying just a couple of Kitchen Aid spatulas. Then I went to Dollar Tree, where I bought gingersnaps. I tried to pay with my virtual gift card from Fetch, but once again, could not make it work. I think I hate Wallet and virtual cards! A nice woman behind me in line offered to pay, which was kind of shocking. I swear I was nicely dressed and not looking homeless, but I guess I was looking pitiful! After that I drove my car through the carwash, having noticed it was looking pretty scroungy.
FYI, I did not let the nice woman pay.
Before I headed out this morning, I baked pumpkin muffins. I only baked six, and I froze the rest of the batter. After I got home, I threw together some soup, using a can of cheap vegetable soup as a base, and adding the rest of the sauerkraut and some chickpeas. I had a taste. I think it's going to be pretty good when the flavors blend.