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 broad-leaved maples have been dropping leaves for a few weeks, although the trees still are mostly green – it was a dry summer. And the leaves are, as always, head-sized… Such great memories from decades ago when as a child we were asked to bring some leaves to class for Autumn Art Activities. – a bouquet of Broad-leaf Maple leaves was spectacularly huge, to a 6 year old! 2YO GS is equally fascinated.
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!
I love taking out this season’s clothing. You’re right MW, it feels like getting new clothes especially the ones I forgot I have. I took mine out a week ago. It’s (almost) fun!
***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!
Huzzah! Huzzah! Huzzah! Nice going A. Marie!
A. Marie, my beagle-mix and I are doing the Snoopy Happy Dance for you!
Congratulations! That is fabulous! So happy for you and your neighbors and NDN1 in the nursing home! She is blessed to have you as a friend/neighbor.
I’d say record time from paperwork to move into assisted living, setting NDN1 up in assisted living, spelunking, culling, shredding, hiring, to sale. All done before cold weather set in – watching over a house during the winter in your area (as well as mine) is not fun. Even if no snowplowing is required.
WHOOOOOT!!!! GREAT news, times two. Well done A. Marie and CF. Whew.
Stars aligning, a very happy conclusion! Congrats!
Congratulations. It’s nice you were able to choose your neighbors.
Thanks to everyone for the congratulations and well-wishes. But in all honesty, I must admit that the lioness’s share of the credit for this whole process (from getting NDN1 moved into assisted living until now)–and Selena’s right that all this got done in record time–should go to CF. She’s had prior experience of acting as health care proxy/DPOA for a non-relative, and she knew just what to do at every stage. For the most part, she led, and I followed. (Not that there wasn’t a lot of following involved…)
Well done to both of you! And congrats on the house sale, its so lovely to know you will have more good neighbors!! It is my humble opinion that good neighbors are priceless !
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.
re the lego –
My mid-20s ‘kids’ were appalled that I might have passed the family lego on to another family – which i hadn’t done: it was obviously something of great value to their hearts. So it currently resides in a closet.
Just saying you might want to check with the kids before moving it along. I remember my older son’s friends coming over to visi, when his (ten year younger) sibling’s were playing with lego and some other magnet based toys. Watching these mid – teen awkward boys all lying on the floor playing with toys I would have thought they had outgrown was enlightening.
You have a good point! I have to gauge interest and closet space 🙂
Just a late ditto to Ecoteri. My 3 sons (21-16) all still LOVE Lego and were glad my husband kept his ones from childhood. They don’t use them quite as much, but they’re beloved. My oldest even found the bouquet of roses Lego set and bought it in hopes that he’d one day meet Mrs Right and be able to present them to her…. he’s now married and she loved them.
The dates on sealed food containers are generally ‘Best By’ dates rather than expiration dates. That is the date when flavors may begin to alter or fade. If that makes you feel better!
My almost 21 year old engineering student was Lego and K’nex obsessed from the beginning. He still asks for elaborate Lego sets for Christmas, and will frequently be found building large creations with the K’nex when he’s home from college.
K’nex! I loved K’nex as a kid and was very sad when my parents said they’d gotten rid of our set. I actually bought a big bin for myself during the pandemic lockdown and still enjoy taking them out to build with them. Play, even as an adult, is important!
I think playing with Lego or other types would be a great stress-reducer as well as great fun with a huge number of units. Could become a sibling challenge!
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.
I actually look forward to days when I don’t have to leave my house and yard. If I don’t have to leave the house it’s called a pajama day. If I don’t have to leave the yard it’s a sweatpants day.
1. I finished another library book, a memoir by Patricia Cornwell. Pretty interesting. I have another one in transit to the library recommended by someone on this blog, A Woman in Berlin.
2. I hung another load of laundry outside again today. I’m trying to eke it out for another week or two until I use my dryer.
3. I used the 20% off coupon for a case plus ten cans of catfood. I had to get it over $40 to use the coupon thus the 10 cans.
4. Over the weekend, I burned the two candles I received as gifts. There’s still plenty of each of them left. I wait until the weekend to use them to feel like it’s a special thing. I also like the cozy feeling I get when the weather gets cold and candles are burning inside and the house smells nice. Free coziness. The Scandanavians call it Hygge.
5. I didn’t cut a dumb deal with Putin for oil which helps them buy more weapons to use against the Ukrainian people.
I love pajama days!
Went grocery shopping this morning with a coupon for 75 cents off canned cat food. Went to a different store on the same street to buy sandwich bread, which was 97 cents per loaf cheaper there.
Made chili and corn muffins for my husband and spicy black beans and yellow rice with chicken (a Dollar Tree Dinners rice cooker meal) for myself. The latter made five or six servings, so part of it will be packaged into individual servings and frozen. Made up a batch of homemade protein powder (dry milk, quick oats and peanut powder) for smoothies. I tried out a small amount of it last week and it works well with frozen fruit.
Can’t remember if you have access to an Apple TV subscription, but we finished Last Seen, and enjoyed it. The rest of the show was really well done, but we thought the ending was a bit over the top. But, interesting enough to follow along, and I thought the acting was consistently good.
I had today off (five day weekend, for the win!) for Indigenous People Day. I went to my workout class, then came home & cleaned the house. I updated our tracker with flight credits & various things, to make sure we knew how to use them up & the expiration deadlines.
I chatted a bit with DS19, and we made lunch at home. I’m on an egg sandwich kick, since I don’t have breakfast ahead of a workout. It serves as a great lunch.
I read my book outside for a bit, and cancelled the free Kindle Unlimited subscription before it renewed this weekend. I will miss it, honestly.
And, got out the marinated veggies & chicken I prepped when I made fajitas a few days ago. It’s always better IMO when the veggies are crisp, so I only baked half last time, and put the rest aside for today.
An easy going day, no out of pocket money spent, chores managed…it was lovely.
Hawaiian Planner,
Check with your public library for Libby and cloud ebook subscriptions, free with your library card. That should help you make up for the lost kindle.
My library doesn’t offer this, unfortunately.
It’s been Monday all day! Had the day off and crammed in a lot of activities/chores/errands.
I went to Spectrum to see if they could jailbreak the 2 phones I had lost and now found (over a year later for one, 8 months later for the other.) I cannot recall the passwords or PINs and they claim they cannot help me. Clerk suggested I take out the microchip thingys and sell it at a Walmart kiosk. I’m sure I will get pennies on the dollar if I do. Huge frugal fail!
Then I saw that Belks (dept store), located near Spectrum, was going out of business. (No wonder, their prices are always sky high.) I thought maybe I could find an Alfred Dunner (my favorite brand) item or 2 (for a nice investment piece of clothing). I saw some cute items 75% off. The sign on the entry door said all sales final. The thing is, I’m hard to fit and a given size could be way too tight or way too big and I need to try on the clothing. Nope. The dressing rooms are all closed, said the woman at the counter. “But the sign on the entrance door said all sales final,” I complained. There were long lines of customers wanting to pay for their clothes and no sales ladies on the sales floor to help us find the right size. I said “That sucks! You want me to buy something that might not fit and I can’t return. How f’d up is that?” And so I put the clothes on to the nearest rack (not where they belonged) and stormed out. That was sad because I’d found a gorgeous expensive-looking print blouse that actually matched the color of slacks I wore that day. (which had been purchased at the $10 bag sale at the food bank’s thrift store, so was a fraction of $10.) Oh well. I’m sure in the coming months I will find a lot of a Alfred Dunner clothes because Belks will dump some at the Goodwill or Salv. Army or another charity. Moral to the story: don’t get tempted by new stuff.
Later bought groceries at Walmart and noticed their fall fashions were not dissimilar from Belks…plus they let you in their fitting rooms. Did not get anything to wear but between seeing their stuff and seeing the fashions at Belks, I have some ideas about how to pair up what I already own to create outfits that will look brand new//trendy.
BTW, I noticed Walmart has a Walmart Plus Student offer for college and grad students. If they sign up for a special Walmart Plus, they get half off their purchases. Does that mean Walmart is charging the rest of us twice what their merch is worth?
Came home and enjoyed watching Jeopardy! now that I have learned how to get all the I need on my new tv. Then I had to mow the grass before it rained, ended up having to take a 2nd shower because I got so sweaty.
Tonight I’m watching a free showing of the Wizard of Oz that is on ME TV over the air channel. Late last night I streamed, for free, “House of Dark Shadows,” a movie based on the Gothic soap opera. If you like scary movies, this is a good one! (It it similar to the soap opera plot but there are enough differences that you don’t know what’ll happen next…) Love this free entertainment….yes, the smart tv requires internet but I already was paying for that, and this is at no extra charge.
Appreciate your frustration at going out of business dept store, but not so much that a hapless, likely lowly paid, sales person got sworn at as a result.
The newly refinished deck looks very nice in the photo.
1. Husband installed a ceiling fan on my newly screened in patio. I told him he had one week to get it done or I was paying someone to install it. Miracles of miracles, it got done.
2. I made a smoothie w/ veg that did not turn out well. I wanted to make pancakes but was out of milk. I used the thawed out smoothie instead. The pancakes tasted good & did not have the veg taste.
3. I got some take-out at Panera as I had a $5 of a $15 purchase. I got 2 diff sandwiches in the 1/2 size, a 1/2 size salad, a large drink, and 2 small sacks of potato chips for $12.50 That made 3 lunches for me. I ate one sandwich & chips that day & used the other 2 items for work lunches. The 1/2 size sandwich at Panera is very generous. Plus you get a free side w/ the sandwiches.
4. I got a 99 cent large SF French vanilla at McDonalds. My monopoly piece earned me a free apple pie or a small fry.
5. I am going to visit the neighbor’s pear tree again. I think I’ll grind up some pears in the food processor & make some low sugar pear preserves.
Loved Small Prophets, now awaiting Season 2. Homey days where you actually get things done and don’t spend any money are the best.
I try to leave myself at least 1 if not 2 “stay home” days each week. I paid for this house, and I try my best to enjoy it. I’m always amazed at how much I can accomplish in a puttering day, and still have plenty of time to goof off if I choose.
Your pizzas always look delicious!
This fall my goal is to get over my fear of yeast baking and try again. Years ago I tried bread and a few other things, and would get frustrated wasting ingredients for attempts that failed. I’m much better in the kitchen now, and its time to try again!
My daughter is taking biology at University – her first exposure to biology, due to a challenging time in school (that succeeded due to an alternative education stream, yet left her with some holes in basic knowledge).
This science course, therefore, is much more challenging than it would be if she got biology in grade 8 or 10! She is currently learning cell biology and trying to figure out cell division, and was sitting at my kitchen table whilst sharing her discoveries with me.
I cleverly thought that showing her how yeast divides might give her a better idea of what is going on. This experiment was worthwhile, as she did see the yeast dividing; and doubly worthwhile because the yeast I used is clearly well past its best-before date – we got a weak and pathetic yeast bloom that wouldn’t make a viable dough.
This is a win for me, tbh – I now know that I need to purchase more yeast before I start making bread again. An inexpensive science experiment, rather than a disappointing bread-making failure in my future.
I can remember, when I was a child, if we didn’t have school, none of us left our property for a day or two at a time regularly. We had everything we needed to be safe, well-fed, and full entertained. Why leave? It all seems so different now…
love,
Janice
I agree about the Detectorists – it is ne one of my all time favorite shows. So thanks for the new recommendation of Small Prophets. I’d not heard about it and love there’s a new one out there to enjoy.