Five Five Frugal Things
by Katy on September 5, 2017 · 58 comments
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I picked up a Chinook Book from a member of my buy nothing group. These books feature money saving coupons from local sustainable businesses and are normally $20 apiece. It’ll expire at the end of October, but there’s still plenty of time between now and then to enjoy the savings. Already I’ve redeemed a 2-for-1 coupon to a local $4 movie theater where my sons and I watched the odd but satisfying movie Brigsby Bear. $8 for the three of us to see a movie? That’s my price point!
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I’m continuing to gather practical supplies for my sons’ off campus apartments. Today I passed a free pile and was able to glean a perfectly fine kitchen garbage can and four new looking drinking glasses. (So yes, I am that embarrassing mom who pulls over to garbage pick a garbage can.) A friend of mine from high school lives in the town where my younger son attends school and has offered to help gather supplies in the name of decluttering her own house. I texted her my extensive list, which she then forwarded to her mother. No reason to buy new when so many of us are woefully overloaded with excessive household supplies.
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Fred Meyer is running a sale this week where certain items cost just 99¢ if you choose five from a certain group. I made sure to be deliberate with my shopping and was able to bring home 2 half-gallons of milk, 1 4-lb bag of sugar and 2 18-count cartons of eggs for just 99¢ apiece.
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I sold two items on eBay, (including one of my son’s textbooks from last year) I repurposed inside out cereal boxes to create eBay mailing boxes, I listed a few more items on Facebook Marketplace, I worked for a good part of yesterday stripping paint from my midcentury sideboard, I garbage picked a groovy fan for my son’s apartment, I scheduled a USPS pickup to avoid driving to the post office, I wore thrifted clothing and read library books.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.
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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{ 58 comments… read them below or add one }
I LOVE that you are helping your kid spend less money and waste less stuff to outfit the new school pad. I hope when he moves out (graduates and gets “a real job” or as my parents said, “leaves the dole”) you are able to donate or give away anything he can’t use any longer. College move-outs are incredibly wasteful, and there are always people who can use the things being thrown away. Also great tip about Fred Meyer–I need to pay more careful attention to those ads!
This week I’m handing off the last of my moving boxes to someone in my apartment who is moving out. Some of these are now on their third use–rightly so, as one, moving boxes are expensive, and two, most can be reused multiple times before they are too battered (and then they can get recycled).
I agree, my daughter is sharing an apartment with someone new this year. As they were figuring out their space the friend said she would just throw out a wire shoe holder. It didn’t fit their storage space. My daughter said, “Wait, I’ll post it to this years FB group of students.” Someone responded in less than 15 minutes in their complex to pick it up.
I think it’s a “life skill” to teach your children when they are young. Besides not buying new items, do we also let go of our items in a way that can benefit someone else?
That being said, I do rant about NOT giving junk to thrift stores for them to throw out. Okay, off my soap box
Love the idea for ebay boxes!! I will do that now too.
1.Earned enough swagbucks points to buy an Amazon gift card. I’ve also earned enough points through another survey site to get some Southwest RR points.
2. Gave my FIL a gift card for his birthday as well as a brand new sweater I purchased at a yard sale. His card was one of a stack that I was given for free. My daughter made his cake from scratch. We all shared the potluck birthday/labor day dinner leftovers.
3. Holding off doing laundry until the peak time is over to save on my electric bill.
4. Air conditioner is still broken so we are leaving the windows open at night and using a fan. Unintentional frugality.
5. Cooked up some excess potatoes that got peeled yesterday and made mashed potatoes. We will freeze them if they don’t get eaten in the next couple days.
1. Bought a gently used pair of Banana Republic jeans on Poshmark for dirt cheap. I discovered how well they fit after buying a white pair at GW.
2. Was gifted a pair of tickets to a local waterpark. Such a fun end to the summer.
3. Went with friends who then invited me over for a dinner of yummy leftovers. I made a salad to bring out of what we already had in the fridge.
4. Used an online coupon to buy a case of wine from a discount wine store in a nearby state. DH is going there for a dr appointment, so I use those trips to buy from Sam’s, that wine store, and return items to save on shipping.
5. Got some clay pots from a free table (all teachers know what this is at the beginning of the school year!), and using them to plant cuttings from our spider plant to give to friends who asked for some.
Yay for the free tables at the start of school! I scored several partial bags of dried beans, some books, some bulletin board edging, two packs of stick-on name tags, and a few other odds and ends.
I put out three stacks of teacher magazines, books, and a few other odds and ends.
It all equals out….
A lot of the same ol’, same ol’.
1. Hung laundry out. It’s a lot cooler than last week, but the laundry still dries fast.
2. Made chick peas from dry, to eat with dinner tonight, I’m making chickpea patties from The Stone Soup, with mint-yogurt sauce from the mint in the front yard.
3. I sold a item on ebay, and am making a box out of a box from Costco.
4. My daughter needed a razor, and I checked the prices in the men’s and women’s departments. The price of the men’s refill was considerably cheaper than the women’s so I went with that. I considered giving her a safety razor, but that just seemed too intimidating to start with.
5. Keeping the house closed up in the morning, and airing it in the evening to avoid turning on the AC now that the temps have fallen down here.
What a clever idea to use cereal boxes for mailing!
We’re out of town for a few days so its an easy time to slip into spending lots but I’m still trying to be careful.
1. It warmed up today but we just opened windows and turned on fans. Using ac here is not included in the cost.
2. Instead of eating out I made ramen noodles and tuna sandwiches for lunch and skillet fried potatoes, beef and green beans for supper.
3. I used condiments and spices left here by previous guests.
4. My kids seemed bored so I filled some buckets with water and gave them a bunch of kitchen gadgets to play with pretending to be cooks or scientists or wherever their imagination goes. But its free fun.
5. We played Scrabble as a family, again free fun.
1. I am cooking from the pantry and freezer as much as I can so I can make a donation to the hurricane victims (my month’s grocery allowance). I have already sent the check so it forces me to be creative.
2. Today I defrosted black beans I had made in a batch from scratch – only I found out tonight they were really red beans. I am using them in the same recipe so we are in for a surprise tonight! Might like the change better, who knows?
3. I spent the weekend learning some better sewing techniques. It kept me busy researching online and in my books, taught me a new skill, and concluded with a wearable top out of cheap fabric. I will now use my “good” fabric to make a dress from the same pattern.
4. The men of our church held a barbecue on Sunday that included everyone bringing side dishes. I took deviled eggs because I had them (see #1) but enjoyed a variety of picnic foods.
5. A friend invited us for a Labor Day cookout at her lake home. Since my husband had to work, we skipped the cookout and ate a quick meal before driving to the lake. We enjoyed an awesome early evening boat ride, complete with sunset against the Blue Ridge Mountains followed by the (almost) full moon rising, and peach cobbler from fresh peaches. It really doesn’t get much better than that! Except for the gas, it was free.
What a generous and creative way to donate to hurricane victims!
I hardly ever comment on blogs, but I just had to say how much I love your #1.
Patti, your compassion brought tears to my eyes.
1. Made another dinner out of just what we have on hand. Allowing my mind to accept the fact that most savory recipes are just ideas, not laws, has made this easier. The salmon cakes I made last night were just as tasty with the mozzarella and Italian breadcrumbs as they always have been with cheddar and Old Bay seasoned breadcrumbs. I actually laughed out loud at myself yesterday when making a meal plan and almost didn’t put vegetable soup on it because the recipe I typically make has potatoes in it and I don’t have any. Duh. It’s vegetable soup, not rocket science!
2. Chatted with a friend about how I’m using up all the pantry and freezer items and substituting for the cheddar I didn’t have and she mentioned a large bag of cheddar in her freezer that she’s just not going to use and offered it to me. She just emailed to ask if I was ok with the Use by 6/17 date on the package. I told her tonight’s meat said best if used by 10/16 but, like the cheese, had been promptly frozen, so I’ll still be happy to take the cheese.
3. Remembered to cancel the Britbox trial subscription I signed up for last week. First week was free, wasn’t too impressed so I won’t continue it.
4. My son recently took a peanut challenge after his new allergist questioned if he was really allergic to them. Yay, he’s not! He’s been making up for the 5 years without Reese’s and it’s putting quit a dent in the food budget, but it’s hard to begrudge him. Tonight I realized that I have several bags of chocolate chips and some peanut butter. Softened the chips, stirred in a spoonful of pb and handed it to him with some apple slices. He said it’s not as good as Reese’s, but it will do until I go to the grocery store on Thursday. 🙂
5. Walked on my treadmill this morning that I got free from a friend’s mil after mentioning to friend after friend that I just needed to find someone who had a treadmill in their basement that they wanted to get rid of. Like coffee mugs, no one really ever needs to buy a new one because there are already so many in the world not being used!
So happy your son aced that allergy challenge! One of my kids tested positive for a wheat and almond/coconut allergy a few years ago after a scary anaphylactic episode, but then recently had a challenge and had outgrown the allergies. He was so happy to not have to eat gluten free (and our grocery budget was happy, too!). He did go a little nuts at first with the bread, though.
You might look up recipes for “Buckeyes” (peanut butter/chocolate candies). You can also make them into Reese’s cup shapes, as well, I think. Maybe batch making some of those and freezing them would be cheaper than buying the Reeses?
How wonderful that your child outgrew their allergies! My son’s still horribly allergic to tree nuts, but he never liked them. He always loved peanut butter and chocolate and pined for it – his eyes rolled back and my normally not demonstrative kid sighed, “Oh, I’ve missed that” at the first bite of peanut butter cookie during the challenge. 🙂 The Buckeye idea is brilliant, thank you! I think I still have a recipe for them from a coworker from years ago.
My son had several oral challenges earlier this year and found he’d outgrown the allergies to sesame, coconut, beans, and corn. He’s been making up for lost time (can you imagine all the snack food w/ corn?), gained a bit of weight, and is now working to find a better balance 🙂 . Once his pollen allergies settle down for the year, I think he’s planning to have a few more oral challenges including almonds.
Yay for outgrown allergies! Even with all the gorging on Reese’s products my son hasn’t gained any weight – ah, to be 15 again. They did a fat analysis during gym today and they couldn’t even grab enough of him to measure him! 🙂
1. Accepted a lift to work from a colleague.
2. Cooked marked-down veggies for supper. Still fresh enough to enjoy.
3. Borrowed my mom’s bodum (mine is broken) to use up some coffee grounds found in the pantry. Not terribly fresh, but good enough to drink, and too good to waste.
4. Blanched and toasted a large batch of almonds (bought on special), tomorrow I will grind them into flour in my coffee grinder. Good for low-carb mug cake.
5. Eating from the pantry, swiping for fuel rewards, and didn’t build a palace with tax-payers’ money.
LOVE #5 (I get it!)
1. Made dinner tonight out of what we had on hand–mini pizzas, bean tostadas, leftover roast chicken.
2. Baked cookies out of my freezer dough stash.
3. Received our rewards checks from our grocery store–we get points for using their loyalty credit card, and four times a year we get checks that usually cover a weekly grocery bill. They were late coming, and I was worried I’d accidentally thrown them out or misplaced them, but lo! there they were. I will enjoy shopping for ‘free’ groceries this week.
4. Sorted through a bunch of clothes the older kids outgrew, and separated out stained and torn things for rags (love making rags out of unwearable/un-donatable clothing) and sorted the rest for the youngest to grow into.
5. Husband and kids found an old Disney Infinity gaming set we bought a looong time ago, then misplaced pieces in a move, and they set it up–it works perfectly, so something we bought is getting used, and is “new” entertainment for the kids as well! I like it when we can use what we have on hand.
6. Frugal fail: I have been snacking too much and eating too many sweets (those darn cookies are too good), so that is something I need to get a handle on.
I scanned my receipt to get my payout from Savingstar.com. My husband came home with a tray of sandwich toppings from a leftover company party. I pickled the jalapenos and onions, and we put the tomatoes right into our dinner. I’m dinner planning with my .79/lb chicken I bought at Aldi (Also bought 4 more). I’m hoping to get at least 3 family meals out of it. I stayed at home and saved the gas expense of running around today.
1. Completed surveys to win cash prizes and a 10 percent discount good for 3 months for old navy should I choose to get Christmas gifts there.
2. Paid bills ahead of time which gives me a reality check and makes me stay within my means.
3. Finally using a $650 refund card I have been sitting on for a yea. I kept it in case of an emergency, expires October 1st. Shopping around for a dishwasher since have not had to use it for a car repair, etc. Exciting as the old dishwasher broke three years ago.
4. Used $25 reward at Kroger to pick up items we needed. Also picked up our free candy bar and box of macaroni and cheese. Found two salads that had been price reduced for easy lunches. Finished a library book and doing Swagbucks.
5. Working two evening shifts this week at my extra part-time job at the library.
When I get cards I can use anywhere, I use them for groceries and put that money into savings. Gets around expiration dates and having to keep up with one for a year!
I do a similar thing with the points on my grocery card/credit card.
I pull the money from my grocery budget. I choose to donate but definitely it’s a sizeable amount to save. So far this year in excess of $1200.00
Don’t know if I have 5 but will try:
1. On Labor Day we stayed at home since we had been to a car show on Sunday (and got rained on, I might add.) I made potato salad, chicken fingers (homemade) and steamed green beans. It was a great meal.
2. Today I had to figure out what to make with the leftovers. That was pretty easy, since there were plenty of chicken fingers–which I just reheated, and plenty of potato salad. I sliced some tomato and some Swiss cheese (which I have lots of, having brought it back from vacation. ) It made a wonderful dinner tonight with almost no cooking on my part.
3. Trying to get busy on a long “to do” list but my energy is not abundant this week. I went to yoga, then came right home and paid some bills, and made a batch of granola for this week. I make it every week, but it’s a lot cheaper than buying it.
4. Now I need to go to the local Amish store and get more oatmeal before I need to make granola next week.
5. My grocery list is about as long as my “to do” list. I am noticing a lack of coupons that I use, plus a lack of good sales lately. This week they do have some meat on BOGO, but that means it’s probably twice the price it usually is. I need some beef for the freezer–some cheap beef. Have ground but need roasts of some kind. This is an expensive area for food–surprisingly so because it’s a big farming area. We were just in Ohio a couple weeks ago and their prices are SO much better than ours. I’m jealous.
“Five Five Frugal Things”? Wouldn’t that be a total of 25, Katy? (Well, you could probably get 25 out of everything you put down in your 5!)
(1) Made a meatloaf on Friday that fed DH and me till tonight (Tuesday). It was still as good tonight as it was on Friday.
(2) NY State deposit bottle/can total for August: $34.05. An unusually good month.
(3) Found money total for August: $6.14. This included a $5 bill. Also an unusually good month.
(4) Frugal fail for August: I slightly overbought at our Regional Market on sweet corn and a few other veg I don’t grow myself. (A case of my eyes being bigger than our stomachs.) Must be more disciplined about RM purchases.
(5) The battery in my wristwatch died, so I’m experimenting with going without the watch and using other devices for timekeeping. I realize that for you young things who are intravenously plugged into your smartphones, this is an old person’s problem–but it’s an interesting experiment for someone who’s had a watch on her wrist for 55 of the last 62 years. (My parents bought me my first Timex when I was 7. Do any other human fossils out there remember John Cameron Swayze–“All this and the Timex still works”?)
I used to work at a juvenile facility. A staff member put his Timex watch down while working at the sink in the kitchen and one of the boys grabbed it up and when the staff member asked for it back, the kid swallowed it. We had to keep him in a separate room with a toilet fixed so it would not flush and we had to check it to see if the watch came out the other end. If it didn’t in 38 hours (the doc said this is how long the average time is from mouth to rectum), he would have to be taken to the hospital and have some sort of fancy x-ray done. It appeared and was still ticking. I kid you not, the two adults in the room over 40 said at the same time, “It took a licking and kept on ticking!”
O, dear. My laughing emoji did not appear.
No, I never did THAT to my childhood Timex–but it survived just about everything else. Thanks for the laugh, Lindsey!
But who would want it back???
My sister and I were just looking at a photo from about 1970 where each child in our family was wearing a Timex watch on a black wrist strap on our left wrists. In our family it was a traditional seventh birthday present- we learned to tell time in second grade (do they do that or even say “tell time” anymore?)
We looked like a bunch of cute nerds, but that might have been the white anklets socks and black shoes. Lol. I still wear a watch at work.
What is Regional Market?
I think the black strap on the Timex was standard issue for kids in those days. Mine had one too.
And the Regional Market is our local farmers’ market (the Central NY Regional Market). DH and I rarely miss a Saturday there.
Sorry, don’t know why this printed twice.
1. Was scheduled to work just Wednesday this week and was asked to cover today, Wednesday PM and Thursday. After family in town wiped me out as far as expenses, this is all good.
2. Had a nasty smell in our fridge, I cleaned it out and found nothing weird but just washing it out seemed to clear up the problem.
3. Grandbaby moved into a new size so I went to Savers on Labor Day for 1/2 clothes. Will mail them along with the Duplos I bought for his visit here – again at a 1/2 off Savers sale.
4. Sold 3 things on etsy over the weekend and my #s are definitely climbing as I continue to list things.
5. Bid on a silent auction item at our library – the artist donated 1/2 to our friends group so I got a lovely print and the library received half of my purchase.
FFT
Took a load to SA.
Took extra broom and dustpan to church for custodian’s use.
Skipped Red Lobster when my Lunch Bunch went out because I don’t need to fill up on expensive cheese biscuits then have an entree which isn’t easy to divide for taking some home for another meal.
Keeping to doing laundry after 9:00 pm to avoid charge for electricity. Line-dry as much as feasible.
Filled up at lowest priced station in city while there.
Frugal Fail – Tried new recipe for no bake cookies so I’d have something to take to a gathering. Thy didn’t set up so I have since consumed them all from a frozen state.
I was at my sister’s for the weekend and branches on her pear tree broke. We collected as many pears as possible and her husband cut up the branches. Due to this, I now have
1. Logs for my fire pit
2. Pears in my fridge I will eat fresh and slice and freeze the rest.
3. My brother in law gifted me coffee
4. Bought mostly on sale groceries today and bought peppers and bananas from the reduced pile.
5. watching the US Open for entertainment
I managed to sell two pairs of shoes, and a pair of winter boots on Ebay. It feels good to see them go. It’s hard to be patient, but then they sold one after another just all in one week. 🙂
Packing lunches for work and school. Enjoyed a lovely dinner with fabulous family. I offered to pay our share or leave the tip and was told “no”. So generous and much appreciated by us. They sent us home with the leftovers as well.
Bought a goodwill serving plate to replace a dinged one, $4.00 from Pampered Chef! Saw other stuff I decided NOT to buy. Canned homemade apple butter, got a 2 for 1 ice cream at a drug store, served homemade applesauce with dinner 🙂 We had LOTS of apples this year!
I was so happy to have my kids and granddaughter visit for my birthday (and Labor Day lol) weekend.
1. Planned my birthday dinner to have at home and a son and DIL cooked it. The other son and DH cleaned up. Was much more pleasant that taking out 6 adults and a 9 month old and delicious too.
2. We took a long & hot walk to the nearest park for a full 3 minutes of said 9 month old being deliriously happy while swinging. Wore out son’s dog for their drive home at the same time.
3. In addition to our second bedroom we used an air bed to host everyone at no cost for lodging.
4. Frugal fail: when the family with the grand baby was too far away to come back we discovered they had left the favorite blankie behind along with some other things. Will be buying a fixed rate box at USPS in the morning to get it back to them.
1. I’m working from home two days this week.
2. I’m in the office today, eating one of my stash of marked down artichoke and quinoa cups with a can of tuna dumped on top. $3.30 lunch y’all
3. I did splurge some of my blow money on a good coffee but I brought my own reusable cup and saved 50 cents.
4. I made puttanesca sauce last night using the bits of jars of olives I seem to have accumulated in my fridge. I don’t know how I managed to accumulate so many jars of olives. It was a hit.
5. I bought some leaf tea (not frugal, not the kind I buy) and dug out some gorgeous old caddies that belonged to my grandmother or were otherwise given to me. They had been sitting in a display cabinet but are now being used for their original purpose and I didn’t buy anything to store my fancy schmancy tea. I don’t drink alcohol but I sure am a tea snob.
Even this minimalist could go mad for these soup bowls.
My neighbor’s house caught on fire last night, and was a total loss. Everyone got out of the house safely. I had to evacuate with my dog, briefly, because it looked like the trees that hang over my house were going to catch on fire. So, today, my frugal thing is that everything I own is still here. I still have a house to go home to when I get off work tonight. Yes, gas prices have risen, and yes, it is hard to find bottled water around here because everyone is buying it up because of the hurricane off the coast of Florida. I worry about the folks there, and I hope everyone on this thread who lives in Florida has evacuated or will be safe. However, today, I am grateful for what I have..even if I will be sleepy all day at work…lol.
Argh, Cindy, that’s an awful story about the fire. Glad you’re safe; sympathy and best wishes to the neighbors; and good thoughts likewise to all those in Irma’s possible path.
Gratitude. I am glad you are ok, Cindy. I also wish your neighbor well. There is much in our lives that we take for granted,.I am on the Florida coast and am waiting for my evacuation orders. When i I return, my home may not be here or may be significantly damaged. it is the aftermath that is difficult
I’m praying, and hoping for the best for you, Bee. Please keep us posted.
Oh Bee, I am so sorry! I hope you and your family are ok, and that your home is not damaged! I know about aftermath….hurricanes and tornadoes are horrible but hurricanes just wipe out an entire area. I have dealt with both….hugs and prayers
Agh, I always mean to pick up one of those coupon books. We have them here under a different name, but they actually are a lot of fun! It’s kinda like having Groupon printed out for you in a little booklet.
This week:
1. I scored several new shirts and pants at the thrift store during their huge Labor Day sale. I only spent $13 on what surely would have cost $200+ brand new at a clothing store.
2. I made biscuits from scratch for breakfast this morning instead of buying breakfast.
3. We plan to start our fall garden this weekend, so we’ll start plenty of seedlings. I’m hoping for a lotta carrots this fall!
4. I’m dehydrating whey from making yogurt last weekend. Hopefully it will turn into whey protein powder that we can use in smoothies. 🙂
5. Some of my thrift store pants are a touch too long, so I’ll trim and re-hem them for a custom fit.
1. Picked up many many sticks and limbs downed by recent storms. Bundled the small ones into batches for kindling to start fires in the fireplace.
2. Stayed home for the holiday and ate leftovers.
3. Ordered shelves (on sale) for a closet and a shed. Ordered through Swagbucks which should push me over what I need for a $50 gift card.
4. Went to Goodwill and bought nothing.
5. Wore thrifted clothing, as always. That doesn’t seem worth mentioning since that is pretty much all the clothing I have.
1. Going on a birthday vacation with my mom tomorrow! We’re using points my dad as accumulated to stay in a hotel.
2. We’re taking the train to NYC. It leaves in the morning so we’re brining our own breakfast and lunch so we don’t have to purchase over-priced train food.
3. We used a discount site recommended by a friend who lives in NYC to purchase our Broadway tickets.
4. Going to check Groupon for any activites that we want to do
5. Listed a whole bunch of stuff on our local BN group and also on the Facebook Marketplace. A few things have already been picked up from the BN group and I have 2 sales pending from the marketplace
1 Frugal Fail: between some hectic days at work, evening meetings with a potential CPA for my husnand’s new business, and trying to get packed for this trip, neither of us had the brain power to figure out dinner last night or lunch today. So we bought pizza last night. But for my lunch today, I remembered a $10 gift card I have for a local sub place so I will be using that.
1. Bought three pairs of new shoes, all were greatly reduced. The cashier asked my phone number to put in the “frequent buyer program” and I mentioned I thought I may already be there under my old phone number. Seems I was, and I had a $34 credit sitting there! So I used that to further reduce my purchase.
2. Found a spring form pan for $2 at a thrift store. My old one has rusted and now leaks, and will be recycled. Also bought at wooden “tree” for my sister to hang her fiesta mugs on. Was pretty pricey at $4 I thought, but she will paint it and it will look great.
3. My first day of retirement I rejoined the library! Brought a novel home that I had been looking for in the used book stores, and couldn’t find. Am looking forward to all the digital offerings they have.
4. Cooked up a sad looking cauliflower into a curried soup with coconut milk.
Delicious! I used seriously old turmeric, coriander and cumin, and am alive to tell about it, so I guess they are still safe.
5. A friend is hosting a Mexican student for a year, so I gave her my Mexican flags so she can decorate and welcome her student. I’m loving the decluttering I have been doing! Also giving her two really nice night stands that I don’t need.
Congratulations on your retirement! I took the plunge into early retirement nearly 4 years ago, thanks to being very frugal for many years. I had just finished paying off my mortgage and was debt-free when our hospital offered a sweet buy-out package to RNs who were making more money than they wanted to pay out anymore. I thought for about 10 seconds before I jumped all over that offer. Even sweeter, the way it was paid out allowed me to retire the day before my 54th BD, but still get paid and considered an employee until well into my 55th year, meaning I don’t have to pay a penalty for withdrawing my retirement funds from my former employer. Win-win. I’m loving retirement, and I hope you will enjoy it as much as I.
1. Took homemade jalapeno poppers out of the freezer to heat and enjoy while watching college football. Good thing I made another dip (from some gifted cucumber relish), as the poppers were way too spicy for me. The hubster loved them, though!
2. Reused an Amazon box for mailing my niece’s birthday presents to Tampa. Will hold off a few days before mailing to see what Irma does. Her birthday is late next week, so that should be ok.
3. Made homemade dog treats out of spent grain when the honey brewed beer over the long weekend. The rest of the leftover grain went in the compost bin.
4. The garden has gotten pretty scraggly in recent weeks, but managed to glean a tomato to put in my guacamole.
5. I’ve gotten in a much better habit of taking my lunch to work with me. Better for the bank account, and the waistline!
1. Yesterday I put three pounds of frozen pork, purchased on clearance, in the crock pot so that we had pulled pork for supper. We’ll eat it another night this week and I’ll freeze most of it for future meals.
2. I combined a 10% cash back rebate with a BOGO offer with a 20% off promo code at Vitamin Shoppe. I’ll probably also earn a certificate on the order. I’ll also earn some airline points.
3. A friend dropped off a bunch of yarn that she doesn’t want. I’ll pass most of it along to another friend that has a lot of connections to people that do charity knitting/crocheting.
4. I’ve been making smoothies using “random” items from the freezer and refrigerator.
I only have four more days to finish The Pillars of the Earth e-book I borrowed from the library. I’m just over half way done so it will keep me busy and out of trouble to work on that.
Trying to get back to my frugal self….
My fft (I hope I can think of five!):
1. Spent semi-frugal part of Labor Day weekend visiting friends in Northern Ohio (Lake Erie Islands). Stayed in our friend’s cottage with them (no hotel/rental costs), we spent an afternoon by the pool at their members-only club (not frugal for them, but we were their free-to-us guests), and most meals were homemade. We brought some fancy-pants cheeses and crackers as a thank you gift.
2. FINALLY checked out the Goodwill Outlet in Dayton (Ohio), the only one reasonably close to me. What a treasure trove!! Spent $13 and change, which I will hopefully recoup with items I found there for pennies on the dollar. Found two amazing framed paint-by-numbers paintings (my Kryptonite), a book about dragons for my son (AND a Dayton Dragons ball cap, lol), a fabric red/white/blue bunting for patriotic holiday decorating. What a blast!!
3. Posted two items to sell on fb Marketplace.
4. Am training myself to use at least half as much laundry detergent as I had been using. (Probably could get away with less than that.)
5. Did my usual – made my own coffee, brought my lunches to work, reading a 25 cent book purchased from our local library sale rack. It’s a biography about Diana Vreeland – not sure what I think yet.
Saying prayers for all those affected by Harvey, and those who may be in Irma’s path (including one of my sisters). Would gladly sell a gold-plated apartment in the sky to help them out.
(1) Needed some large garbage bags of a certain size to fit the outdoor garbage can. Knew I had some in my basement. Found them.
And (2) Repurposed the hats, gloves and mittens in them into another donation bag (3) This bag was one of those large , sturdy paper bags with logos all over. They work well for my donations. (4) while going down the rabbit hole of looking for the bags, I found some brown paper bags that had the businesses sticker on them but were otherwise blank. Carefully peeled stickers off and now can repurpose bags for any occasion. (5)Probably will use ribbons on the handles,I saved from the garbage at a wedding shower I hosted.
Forgot my frugal fail – saw a good condition Jansport backpack at the Goodwill Outlet. All it needed was a good scrubbing. I must’ve had a brain fart, since I put it back and moved on to the next bin. D’oh!!
1. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts was on sale here for 99 cents a pound so bought the max allowed 10 lbs. Having a Tween Boy equals needing as many food deals as possible lol.
2. Requested a book for class through inter-library loan so hopefully it can be found and I do not have to pay for it.
3. Sold a shirt I got at Goodwill on ebay. Only made a few dollars but better than sitting in my closet.
4. Have been making tea with Red Rose Tea and a mason jar full of water in my fridge each night which has stopped my starbucks trips.
5. Tween Boy has 4 cavities but I have just enough in the HSA remaining to pay for it.
6. Need to get a smog and register my car. My car is 6 years old and still 230 to register so looking for smog coupons because even a small amount saved on a smog is a win.
7. My university is giving away family packs of tickets to this week’s soccer game so taking the kiddos and hubby. Hoping to see if I can bring in my own snacks.
8. Reserved museum passes for free b/c of Smithsonian museum day. The museum may not be interesting to my 6 yr old as it focus on atomic energy but at least its an adventure.
9. Last week we went on a picnic to local mountains. I went to the store for all lunch supplies instead of the sub shop. We all ate for 10 dollars. As we were hiking we found the a huge “colony” of lady bugs, easily 1,000s so my kids were enthralled, we saw a deer, and then we stumbled upon the ranger station and they got to join in on a jr. ranger program for free with painting, a hike, lessons and they earned a Forest Service pin.
Trying to show my kids that fun doesn’t have to cost lots of money, though my youngest is on the I want to go to Disneyland kick and honestly that is SO not in my budget right now.