Daily Lil' Frugalities Sure Do Add Up!
I try my best to pay attention to the frugal moments in my life so I can create content for the blog, but oftentimes my daily frugalities aren't unique enough to create "wow" moments. Yesterday is a perfect example of this, as it was technically frugal from start to finish, but also . . . nothing was too exciting.
- I darned half a sock for my mother while watching thrifting YouTube videos.
- I ran over to Dollar Tree to pick up three two-packs of bar soap for $1.25 apiece. We use these in the shower. I tore off the the cardboard packaging top for the backup one we keep in the bathroom. This dries it out, which supposedly makes it last longer.
- I also bought two boxes of $1.25 Dollar Tree "Entertainer" crackers.
- I found a penny on the ground outside the store.
- I stopped at the Goodwill near Winco Foods and walked out with two bags of mixed plastic animals for $4.99 and $6.99 apiece. I'll sort through them to sell on eBay. I paid for these myself so they won't be part of the $100 Goodwill Gift Card Challenge.
- I also thrifted a $1.99 cute box of menorah candles. A favor to my future self.
- I did my grocery shopping at Winco to buy staples such as milk, tortillas, eggs, string cheese, veggies, ginger root, yogurt and rice. My total was $36.19.
- I nabbed two 5¢ packages of Chex mix seasoning from the clearance shelf. I thought it might be yummy sprinkled over popcorn. I'll let you know.
- I used my own bags, which saved me 10¢, essentially paying for the Chex seasoning packets.
- I tried out an Instagram recipe for homemade chana masala and planned it early enough to cook the bulk purchased garbanzo beans in my Instant Pot. The recipe turned out super bland, so I added a lot of extra things to bring up the flavor profile. (Thai curry paste, paprika, lemon juice, oyster sauce, soy sauce, chili flakes, MSG and white pepper.) In the end it turned out amazing. Top notch!
The chana masala cost maybe $4 to make, including the rice, crushed tomatoes and coconut milk. There's enough for leftovers, so it'll cost less than $1 per serving.
- I darned the second part of the sock in the evening while watching Breaking Bad with my husband.
Nothing here was AMAZING!! WOW!! enough to knock anyone's socks off, but it definitely added up.
Today I'll put together the plastic animal eBay listings and take care of a few things around the house. I might even hit the Goodwill bins for more challenge inventory. The best part is that I won't need to expend an ounce of energy planning dinner, as we can simply heat up yesterday's leftovers! Thank you, yesterday Katy!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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You must be reading my mind, because I was just looking at Chana masala recipes! I add chickpeas (aka Chana) to a lot of my recipes, to stretch the protein, and I thought to myself that maybe I should try to cook chana masala.
Like you, I have no exciting frugal moves to report.
I’m curious to see whether the plastic animals make you rich! 😉
Leftovers are the best!
FIL was super frugal in the everyday stuff and my young self kind of scoffed at it. But by 52, I see that it really does make a big difference over time.
I'm staying with my son, Dil and grandchildren. I've helped with gardening and fruit tree pruning. I bought In n Out one night (much more frugal than any other take out) and provided countless hours of childcare. I brought my own food (super restricted diet) which takes no time to prep and is very simple. But it fills me up and keeps me going. Frozen homemade soup for 2 dinners, cheese on toast for one dinner. Lunches are always half an apple, cheese and plantain chips. Breakfasts are all yogurt with homemade quinoa granola and homemade persimmon muffins (free persimmons). No money spent this week except the In n Out
1. I made too many egg noodles the other day so I turned the rest into tuna noodle casserole using items I had on hand.
2. I gave myself a pedicure and waxed my own eyebrows.
3. The weather has been awful so I've stayed home. No spending, or falling on ice or sliding my car into a ditch etc.
4. I cleared the snow out of my driveway again.
5. I found a handful of half full travel toothpastes leftover from vacations. I've put them in my bathroom drawer to use up.
Lindsay if you're reading this, I am thinking of you and hoping for a miracle.
Leftovers are the best. My cousin gave me 3 packages of mystery meat. I treat it like a chopped cooking show episode. Turned out to be sirloin steak bits, I browned them, simmered in a oyster mushroom onion sauce and finished it off with the last of the heavy whipping cream. Served with oven roasted sweet potatoes and a kale salad with hot bacon vinaigrette. My kale in the garden is still growing strong with our 27f nights.
Working on the flower beds while we have good weather.
I have been eating out of canned foods and the freezer. We have had some interesting meals. I am planning my garden thru gardening books and youtube videos. I am trying to expand into more variety of vegetables. I go to the library for books and conversation. My husband and I have been walking every day for fresh air and exercise.
This is a good reminder to think of the ways I don't spend money...rather than the ways I do. Like making my tea at home, exercising at home or on my bicycle, rather than joining a gym.
--We save our fuel points to use for the truck, since it has the largest tank and we use it for long-distance trips. On our most recent trip, once we got back into the land of Kroger fuel stations, DH was able to get gas for 17 cents a gallon. He said it was like we'd time traveled back to the 1950s!
--I found three potatoes in the pantry when we got home, which were languishing and threatening to sprout. Baked them and popped them in the fridge; they'll get eaten soon.
--Made homemade tomato soup for dinner tonight, and found two half-used boxes of chicken broth in the fridge (why, I have no idea, but I wasn't here for nine days!). Used those instead of water in the soup.
--The one pasta I care to eat (Jovial) happened to be majorly on sale at Kroger, part of the buy 5 get a dollar off--as well as already being discounted---so I stocked up on three boxes, which will see me through at least six or more pasta nights. With all the other coupons I had and the discounts I took advantage of, I saved $52 on that particular trip, which made me happy.
Drat, I forgot one. While on vacation, I had to bring my computer to keep up with my online classes. The best place to set up the computer was at the kitchen table, so instead of sitting in my "cushy" office chair as usual, I was using a straight chair. I realized after a week of that, the shoulder pain I was constantly battling was absolutely gone. DH suggested it was the different mattress, and that maybe we needed a new mattress. I decided to test the theory out and got the one spare straight kitchen chair we have, and used that for a couple of days at my computer at home, and lo, the shoulder pain is GONE. My theory is the office chair has a curved-in cushioned back, also it sits lower than the kitchen chair, so it was straining something. Anyway, a cheap fix using something I already had, and no need to buy a new mattress!
West Virginia, at least my part, is in a very cold snap, made colder when we woke up the furnace not working. My hubby worked on it, had it working for a little bit, but then it died again. He works with a guy who knew a furnace guy (he kind of knew the second guy, too, and is friendly with him, but didn’t have his contact info) who came right over to help. Furnace guy was here for at least 5, probably closer to six hours. My hubby helped, ran back and forth to the store, and they have it working. When hubby asked how much we owed him , FG said $50! There was no way we were just paying him that - he dropped everything and spent his whole day helping us. We paid him more but it was still much less than it would have been if we called out another place.
Sometimes being nice people and helping when we can returns to us, and that can be the best frugal tip!
Hello, West VA! (many fond memories) Yay for you and Hubby! The extent of my mechanical know-how is using my Sonicare toothbrush.
Love that you kept plugging away at the fix, using the resources you had. The chain of helpers would not have been there if you two were not also helper people. Love FG. Wish he had a brother in Arizona. Also that you showed him your appreciation and his value.
This is the reason I so love NCA and FG. For this kind of community. ❤️
Enjoying a boring day of frugalities here as well!
1. My husband combined an errand at the post office with his commute today since we have only one vehicle. He returned a very creepy holiday gnome, so we'll get about $19 back after they subtract the return shipping costs.
2. Split up one package of ramen noodles for my kiddos to share for lunch. They also had a snack while they waited so one package filled them up.
3. My Libby account is already paying off! I have several books queued and am halfway through the first one.
4. Laundry is pretty well caught up today thanks to yesterday's laundry-palooza, but I have a pair of pjs soaking in my kitchen sink with Dawn on some spaghetti sauce stains. My youngest has entered her artistic era, unfortunately it coincided with dinner time. My homemade laundry detergent is usually really good at getting small stains out so I'm hoping the dish soap will tackle the rest of it.
5. My jeans are a little too snug and I don't feel like replacing perfectly good jeans so I'm watching what I eat a bit more closely until they're comfortable again.
Lots of little things here as well.
I just boiled the carcass of the rotisserie chicken I picked up at Sam's Club on Saturday. I picked all the meat off the bones and put the "broth" in a jar to store it until I make chicken noodle soup on Thursday.
I walked to the grocery store to pick up my freebies (in exchange for $.05 in reward points I received a grapefruit. It was the same cost for a can of no salt added sliced beets). I also picked up some hot dog buns for a neighbor.
I worked on organizing knit and crochet patterns that were in a few locations. Some I no longer wanted so saved them to print on the back of. They are now all in a binder that someone in the family was getting rid of. I used dividers that also were passed along to me.
I read, digitally, the Baltimore Sun, The Baltimore Banner, and the Washington Post through my library account.
1. Hubby was able to work from home yesterday and today to keep an eye on our dog. She is finished with her medicine from the surgery and goes to get her stitches out Saturday. My daughter is going to drop over tomorrow to check on her since we will both be at work all day.
2. Hubby and I had leftovers for lunch and I pulled out pizza from the freezer for dinner.
3. My son dropped off his cat for the rest of the week. He is traveling for work. We all watch each others animals. All of the animals get along and it saves us so much money by not having to board them. Plus free kitty snuggles.
4. I got 2 checks in the mail for doing surveys. I'm not going to get rich but its enough to get a pizza.
5. Keeping the heat to 65 degrees even though it is in the teens outside now. I keep blankets on the couches and beds for when they are needed. I am happy to throw on a sweeter and hubby always wears layers.
I am in the midst of a semi frugal trip this week. I drove north and car camped one night. Then had a hotel with free hotel points the second night. I have spent nothing on overnight stays and only spent $30 on food in four days. I packed a lot of food and drinks and showed great self restraint at rest stops. I'm afraid the trip back home I will have to shell out on a hotel with cash to avoid freezing in the car. But we'll see. Temperatures in most of the country are really cold right now. Freezing isn't worth it to save on a hotel. But I'm proud for showing restraint and attempting to be frugal. Because of the amount of things I had to transport it would make flying with baggage and then getting a rental car much more expensive. Yet driving has been tiring... I'm excited to go home to my exceptionally boring frugal routine. Traveling has shown me gas prices are overall down and food prices are insanely high right now. Doing my best to just get home.
Leftovers are the perfect “fast food”! I am so glad my family has always eaten them without complaint.
I see bags of plastic animals at Goodwill but never thought to sell them. In fact, maybe I have some in my basement storage! I kept the grandchild toys just in case they missed them, even as they got too old for them. Time to find that box!
My ordinary frugal things:
I have designated a shelf in my fridge to things that need to be used up. Mind you, other things are there, too. But now I know where to look to start planning my next meal. Of course, the produce bin at the bottom is always a "to be used up" location.
I drink coffee every morning. Sometimes hot -- when it is freshly brewed. Sometimes cold, when there is a jar of leftover coffee in the fridge. In that case, I add creamer which makes it into kind of a frappacino. I brew my coffee in a Bunn coffeemaker, and every other time I reuse grounds from the previous brew with one scoop of fresh grounds. I can't taste the difference.
I am a senior, so I make use of the perks for seniors. I have Silver Sneakers for free gym membership, I have a ride-free card for public transit, and I make full use of my Medicare Advantage plan, which provides dental, vision, and OTC items (at certain limits).
I grocery shop at Aldi, mainly, buy bulk items at Sam's (mostly non-perishables), get specialty items at Jewel or Food4Less. I also frequent the little free pantry in my neighborhood, which is open to everyone. I find that it is a good source of canned goods, and on certain days there is a dropoff of Pepperidge Farm day-old products. Also a good place to get garden produce, but not at this time of the year of course. I'm beginning to pick up more groceries at Dollar Tree, too.
I shop at Goodwill for clothes, though I am pretty set right now. I'm also beginning to look for items with resale potential after a long period of ignoring eBay. This blog has inspired me to try again.
Slow and steady wins the frugal race!
1. Since I am theming 2026 as my year of less I am looking to reduce things I don't need or cause me stress. It's a tiny thing but my husband suggested we give up fabric softener. Sure, I already use wool dryer balls. Less plastic for the environment, less expensive, and gentler on the washer and septic system. I do miss the smell, but fragrance doesn't necessarily equal clean.
2. I have made it to day 21 of my no buy challenge. It has gotten easier as I go along .
3. I am working on a presentation for a club I belong to. I have been able to source everything from my library. I requested the library purchase a book on my topic, which they gladly did because it's a local historical figure, and they had zero books on this person. I got one book on Libby, and I have one coming on inner library loan.
4. I pack my lunch for work everyday and have tea bags from home in my locker. I work at a small library and we get a lunch break, but we are on call during that time so we don't clock out, but we can't leave either. I like this better than working a longer day where I clock out for lunch.
5. Still emptying my freezer and pantry to keep the grocery bill low. This week I pulled a roast from the freezer, and used butternut squash stored from the garden to make soup. This will get us through most of week.
I am going to copy the shelf idea for my husband. He has a mental block when he opens the fridge. It's like he can't see stuff. This sounds funny, but it's true.
I add a bin to my " use it up " shelf to put small bits and bobs for cooking so they don't get lost in the shuffle. Sometimes I add the leftover containers too. Helps me focus.
I think your darning is well worthy of a WOW or two. It's not an easy thing to do, no matter what anybody says to the contrary...
warmest regards from Chicago,
Janice
Similarly nothing wild but small changes that I am working on making habits!
1. On a road trip at the moment and went to the hotel shop to browse. Found a gorgeous mid layer ski jacket that fit well and fills a gap in my current wardrobe. Took a picture of the tag and found online for 40% off. Going to keep an eye on resale as I am not trying to buy it new and possibly get a better deal. I do not need this right away (better for March and April) so I will take my time.
2. Been filching teabags at every breakfast buffet. Love having a selection in my bag for these incredibly frigid new england winter days!
3. Have maintained a cooler and some nonperishables. Have been eating lunch and snacks out of our supply.
4. Also been eating the free breakfasts and filling up on fruit. Today's selection included delicious smoked salmon, which I availed myself of. What a great treat!
5. Using free EV charging to not only charge the car but maintain an above-freezing temperature to keep all our belonging from exploding (including the case of beer we inherited from a friend gathering which we most certainly should have declined!)
For the amusement of NCA commenters who may not (yet) read The Frugal Girl (and you should), here's my FFT from yesterday at TFG.
FFT, A Day with the Sunday Morning Walking Buddies Edition:
As I have noted in a few previous comments, I have a regular Sunday morning walking date with two friends from the cognitive care groups DH used to attend: the former director of those groups, and the widow of one of DH's "classmates." They're aware of many of my frugal ways, and are certainly not reckless spendthrifts themselves, but I'm still showing them a few things. 🙂
(1) The former director (I'll call her FD) arrived for our walk wearing the Eastern Mountain Sports parka I found her at the Salvation Army a few months ago. (Her rescue hound, who accompanies us on our walks, chewed up her previous winter coat after he found treats in the pockets that FD had forgotten to take out. So I found her a replacement.)
(2) This past Sunday's walk occurred on the main quad of the local party-school university, since the trail at the park where we usually walk was too rough. I began the walk by finding two beer cans. FD said, "There's a recycling can over there." I said, "Are you kidding? I want the deposits!" I collected two more cans in the course of the walk, to my companions' amusement.
(3) My companions were further amused when I found two Zeiss lens wipes (my favorite brand) in their intact packets and pocketed those.
(4) Our walk took us near one sorority that was evidently having a midwinter rush. We indulged in one of age's absolutely free privileges: criticizing the current fashions among the younger set. The young'uns were all dressed in either mini-skirts that must have given some of them chapped thighs in Central NY winter temps, or those awful baggy pants that probably collect snow.
(5) We wound up the walk with a delicious brunch at my other buddy's (OB's) house. I gave FD and OB the Christmas herbs and spices that they'd requested on the check-off cards I gave them, and I had a big bag of mandarins from Aldi to share.
I have recently bothered to check out when peak electric rates are in effect. Trying my best to avoid the higher priced times and rates. Dh has been caulking and improving our weather stripping.
Stopped in the thrift looking for a men's coat for a gentleman we go to church with. The men's coat selection was pitiful but I managed to score nwt yoga pants for myself and a nwt sweater for my mother's birthday gift. As well as a unopened box of staples for .50. I will keep working on getting him a coat.
Bought toliet paper on sale, yippee :p
Finally got back on the treadmill. Wearing my new yoga pants.
Have a donation for the little free library.
Cooking from our freezer, the cheapo grocery store, and aldis.
Sold an item on ebay. Listed another item. Trying to declutter, slowly.
Sending much love out to Lindsey.