Frugality is part of my daily life. It’s there when I wake up in the bed we got for free, it’s there when I eat my bulk purchased oatmeal for breakfast and it’s there when I walk instead of drive my errands. Sometimes it’s newsworthy, but usually less so. Here, I’ll let you judge for yourself.
Here are five recent frugal activities:
- I am continuing to make yogurt from scratch, and am in the midst of fine tuning the recipe. I’m now using 2% milk instead of whole, and adding a half-cup of powdered milk to thicken it up. I’m also straining the yogurt it to help it discover its Greek roots. Opa!
- I baked a pie last night to use up some not-quite-crisp-enough apples that someone left at one of my mother’s guest cottages. I packed the last of the pie into the kids’ school lunches today, but scraped all the delicious dribbly juice into my oatmeal this morning. Highly recommend. (Yes, you read that right. I baked a pie last night and it’s already just a memory!)
- I’m reading Julia Park Tracey’s I’ve Got Some Lovin’ to Do: The Diaries of a Roaring Twenties Teen. I received this book to review, so it was free. But I’m loving it so much I would have happily paid for it! (BTW, all you Twitterers need to follow this flibbertigibbet of a girl @TheDorisDiaries!)
- I’ve become quite frustrated with how my living room has transformed into a dumping ground for sports uniforms, dirty pajamas and the like. But instead of fighting the trend, I’ve set up a organizational system for the room, which includes a large basket for clean uniforms, (the kids both run cross country and play soccer; and my husband is on a soccer team, so keeping clean uniforms on hand is a annoyingly daily task.) Not only are all the uniforms now easy to locate, but it’s helping to streamline our chaotic mornings. Needless to say, I usurped a basket from upstairs that I already owned instead of buying a new one. Or a used one for that matter.
- I’ve continued to line dry my laundry, cook from scratch, pack school and work lunches, avoid disposable products, batch my errands and make do with a small wardrobe.
How about you? What frugal activities have been keeping you busy lately?
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 cleaned out my kids’ closets this weekend and geared up the wardrobes for colder weather. It felt awesome to be able to give away three bags of clothes to friends for their kids to enjoy…and clear out the clutter. I’ve also been cleaning up after a nutty squirrel that ventured into our attic…thank heavens the landlords are already prepped to take care of that unwanted tenant….free for us to deal with!
Squirrels — A nuisance, but still cute.
Rats — Nasty, nasty, nasty.
Trade you. 😉
Katy
squirrels ARE bushy tailed rats. I too had them in the attic of a home I rented. they chewed wires, ran through the rafters, disturbing my sleep nasty in my opinion.
It’s a conundrum because once your guys are gone from home to college and life…it will seem so empty with no uniforms or shoes littering the living room floor. It all passes so swiftly!
I know, and I try to be in the moment enough to appreciate the here and now.
katy
Quite proud of my kids’ zero waste lunches (and my blog post on it):
http://simplyorganizedlife.blogspot.com/2012/09/zero-waste-lunch.html
Yesterday I made $11 and change from outgrown clothes and one toy my kids decided they did not need any more. I was so proud of my kids for letting go. They each got $1 from the sale of the toy (a small fortune for a young kid).
I have to say my current best frugal activity is helping my sister sell her stuff on Craig’s List in return for getting her less than a year old schmancy mattress as she is trying to sell her house and move to NYC. And I’ve been able to glean things from what she’s selling for free too! SCORE!
Great trade!
Katy
Lately I’ve been ruthlessly editing my belongings, and it feels wonderful! I’m in mid project of making a quilt. The top is pinned to the batting and backing but not ‘tacked’ yet. I was gifted with a pineapple upside down cake this morning while doing volunteer work. Life is good!!!
I’m still working on squash, tomatoes, and carrots from my grandpa, great uncle, and my garden.
I’ve been pretty consumer-y lately, I’m sad to say. I’m to the point with clutter that I can’t wait around for ideas to organize. I bought a small organizer for the back of my bathroom door for everything that has exploded on my sink. And a binder for all of my son’s school papers that need to be saved and organized. (no I don’t save everything, but there are calendars, schedules, lists, blah blah blah that I will need to reference again)
I purchased some new thermal curtains for our living room. $4.96/panel at Target. I’m not a sewer, or I would have made my own. Any ideas on what to do with an *almost* complete, but broken set of vertical blinds?
I’ve been enjoying your frugal suggestions and was wondering if you have any suggestions for Christmas gifts? I am knitting again, but my expertise is maxed out on scarves, and I’ve started baking, so I will be giving bread and cookies, but would love some suggestions for more, shall we say, substantial gifts. Thanks!
I have given vouchers for a loaf of bread once a month for an entire year (Actually, people seem to appreciate it more to get something that isn’t adding even more calories to the holiday, but spreading them over the year). I have chickens, so have done that for eggs, as well. I have made bean soup in a jar (lots of recipes on the internet) that need only water and some time in a slow cooker to be a meal for one or more folks–This is especially nice for homes where the parent(s) work and making a home cooked meal seems just too much. I have made and canned applesauce as gifts; one year I didn’t have the money for more jars so I froze it and delivered it frozen so folks could either thaw and eat then or put directly in the freezer.
I know what you mean about scarf kniitng being the limit of your expertise—me too!!
I make quiches for my friends – I let them pick the type (spinach or Lorraine last year) and deliver them frozen since they can then choose when to reheat.
Thanks Lindsey. The voucher idea is inspired! I wish we had chickens, but our yard is tiny. I do however have some crazy watermelon vines, so maybe everyone will get a watermelon for Xmas! That and basil, the only things that seem to be growing really well for me, lol.
You could transplant some basil into small pots & give those away ~ heck, I’d be tickled pink if someone gave me one, lol
I’ve made several batches of jam this summer from “seconds” organic fruit from the local Farmers’ Market – apricot/peach, raspberry/rhubarb (rhubarb free from my sister), peach/lemon, and mixed plum. These aren’t very “substantial” presents, perhaps, but my friends are always happy to get them. Next week I’ll be bottling home-brewed mead (honey wine) for more presents; a friend just brought me a lot of lovely swing-top *clean* blue glass bottles which were being discarded. (I get the honey by the gallon from a local beekeeper, thus cutting out any middle-man and shipping, and I know it’s pure honey.)
I’ve also been stopping at the local thrift store on seniors-get-half-price days, (plus a few estate sales) and have gleaned a good selection of lovely stone tea-light holders, vintage glass vases, and handsome ceramic bowls for various friends. (This morning I also found a heavy stainless steel, copper-bottom Revere Ware 1-quart pan to replace my Corning “Visions” that got broken; cost, $3)
Some of the high-end thrift-store gleanings will be donated to a fund-raiser for a local battered-women’s shelter, too.
Oh, Rowen, never underestimate the value of home made jam!
homemade jam and mead?? I wish I was your friend 😉
Since you have the basil, you could find some beautiful thrift store jars, buy some corks, and infuse olive oil with your garden grown herbs. Tie a ribbon around it and deliver your gift!
Well since my only female silkie was slaughtered the other night by some predator, I am going to be seeing if I can swap someone if they have a silkie hen for one of my ISA browns or Araucaunas.
I also do not buy expensive commercial chicken foods filled with hormones and medications.
I have been taking advantage of a lot of free homeschool resources online and cheap Netflix streaming for educational videos and movies since we do not have cable.
I have not gone anywhere in 4 days so that means no spending
Making everything from scratch
and hubby fixed the siding along the roof line of our trailer today by himself that extreme windy storms tore off during the summer months as we do not want the cold air getting in this winter! 🙂
What do you feed your chickens then. I’ve looked at natural foods, but there out of my price range
That is always my dilemma. Natural or organic foods are way more expensive.
Oops sorry, I mis-read Marie’s comment and was too hasty with the reply button. She was talking about feeding chickens, I was talking about feeding my family chicken.
I would like to buy only natural or organic chicken, but it’s way more expensive.
funny! I’m not sure where your located, but we buy our chicken (to eat) from Zaycon. You buy a 40lb case of boneless chicken breasts . I pay around $67.00. That lasts my husband and myself months.
Oh, and I don’t eat my old chickens, just can’t get over that thought
I buy just plain corn, other than that they get daily kitchen scraps, garden surplus, leafy greens and the like. I grew some sunflowers and just twist the flower head off when ripe and offer the whole head to them which they love. Next summer I will create a worm farm so they can have worms. I also plan to plant a “chicken garden ” We have them in a moveable pen that gets moved around the yard 2 x a week which makes it like contained freeranging. We do let them out occasionally to find what they want . For winter they will have a heavily mulched pen so they can still look for bugs and such that wont freeze.
Recently moving out into the country I was looking for an alternative to cable TV. My cable TV bill was around a hundred bucks a month. I got hundreds of channels but only watched a handful of them. There was no cable in my new location so I would have to depend upon satellite TV service. The lowest price I could find was about $45 bucks a month and that was not HD service. I went to Radio Shack and purchased their best amplified antenna and hooked it up to my TV. That set me back $70. I live in a fringe area and my reception was spotty. I bought another unit, found a splitter at the Goodwill for $.25 cents. I hooked them up in parallel and now get perfect reception for all the local channels in HD too. Many of the local channels have sub channels and in total I get about 22 channels. Three of these sub channels feature a lot of the oldies such as Rockford Files, Mission Impossible; Leave it to Beaver, Adam 12, Dragnet and many many more. I spent a smidgeon over $140 and will never have a cable or satellite bill again.
I love it!
Katy
I cut the cable a few years back and have never regretted it. In addition to the off the air stuff, I got a Roku player – which cost about $40 and allows you to watch all sorts of internet content on your television for free. There are all sorts of movies and shows available – and some cable TV shows are even up there for free. I also got Netflix and Roku lets me stream it directly to my TV – not free, but compared to the cost of cable it might as well be.
The other thing I did was got a new video card for my computer that has an extra HDMI output – which I ran to the television set. Both ABC and PBS have most of their shows available online for free and this allows me to enjoy them on the television. Plus there are free versions of Hulu and Boxee – which have tons of great content, and so many of my favorite TV shows offer their programs on their own web sites for free.
My boyfriend also got me a cool remote mouse thing that works sort of like a Wii controller (you point it at the TV and move it around to get the mouse function.) It’s a tad bit clunky because you don’t have a keyboard… but if you set up browser shortcuts to your favorite sites you can navigate it all pretty well from the couch.
The only thing I miss is Monday Night Football – but it’s certainly not worth the $100/month that I used to pay for cable!
Satellite t.v is one of our biggest expenses. I could easily live without it,but husband can’t So how did you do this?
You have 2 antenna’s. I really need to find a less costly way.
For phone, long distance, internet, and direct tv, I’m paying $162.00 monthly, That is soooo too much money.
And too answer the question of frugality for today!!!
Line dryed 4 loads of laundry, added to the compost pile and turned it. Dug up about 5 lbs of carrots and trying to decide if I am going to blanch and freeze them.
Oh and talked to the bank about refinacing. Sounds like we can cut our rate nearly in half!!!!!!!
I have not had cable tv since we moved to our house about 22 years ago. We have an antena in our attic. We get a lot of channels since the switch to digital. We also have an hdmi cable to our tv, so my daughters can watch all the shows they miss from ABC family, etc. I can honestly say my husband and I have not missed cable. The kids would like cable but they get free dvds from the library and can watch shows on the computer. We do not have Hulu Plus or Netflix. We have not found we needed them.
My current frugal activity is cooking up all of the garden surplus. I’ve discovered over the years that if I just freeze the extra zucchinis or whatever, they tend to just sit there in the freezer because they feel like work. But if I actually make something from them and freeze the food, then it feels like bounty waiting to be enjoyed!
So the zucchini bread bake-a-thon is in full force… next comes the squash soup spree and the marinara marathon. Can’t wait to get my kitchen back!
Lately I have:
1 Picked up a book at the library that I wanted to read and requested through the loan library…ergo, no expense
2 Bought my husband a half-price needed l/s shirt at Goodwill
3 Cleaned out our closets and dropped off at Goodwill before I shopped for the above
4 Picked lots from the garden and put in the frig and on the counter before Monday’s frost
5 Dropped off recyclabes before I Goodwill shopped….not maybe a money saver…but good for the environment…we don’t have home pick up and the nearest town that does have a Goodwill is where the recycling center is…thus just one trip
6Like you, ?perfecting my yogurt making…I will get there, I will get there! I think I can, I think I can:)
Hi! New reader here and I’ve been reading all your archives and getting a lot of inspiration. Our family has just started the process but we are cooking at home about 90% now and before it was only 50%. Our new weekend routine includes errands batched together and poking around thrift stores. Having fun on this new adventure.
I made homemade yogurt this week, too. I am now working (more days) so I am having to work on my wardrobe – but haven’t bought anything new, just reinvented some outfits. I also am eating down the freezer and searching online for recipes to avoid the grocery store. I have taken a temporary position and don’t want to blow the money on eating out or items to make my life easier or new clothes. It is tough but just takes some thought ahead of time… and isn’t that what being frugal is all about??
We like roasted or grilled chicken & we love to make soup. I only buy whole chicken & either roast them whole or cut them up and use the various parts. Once the chicken has been cooked I strip the meat from the bones & save them in the freezer until I have enough to make a nice batch of chicken stock. It makes the best soup & sauces & not one scrap of the chicken goes to waste!
I have been following your blog silently for a while this is my first comment. I love your blog! It helps me stay motivated to not buy stuff I do not need.
So, five frugal things I have been doing lately:
I started making my own yogurt. Could you post your 2% milk recipe? I am currently using whole milk.
I get all my books at the library or download free on my husband’s iPad kindle app.
Making more food from scratch.
And not leaving the house. This helps.
One more question as I am sorry this is getting long, do you think it is better to get a handmade gift for someone from a small local crafter, or try to buy used? I opted to support the local crafter this time. More expensive, yes, but I am helping someone fulfill their dream right?
Kate
I like to buy handmade local things, too. I like to support small local businesses whenever possible (the exception is gas – the 2 stations in my small rural city are always more expensive than stations just a few miles away).
My frugal activities lately have been or will be:
1. Used the library to get the book my book club is reading.
2. Received refill razor blades for free when they scanned in at the wrong price (do stores in the US do this too?).
3. Will boil the carcass of our Thanksgiving turkey (Canadian thanksgiving was this past weekend) to make awesome stock and soup (although the free range turkey was not a frugal purchase).
4. Made a batch of homemade cleaning products.
5. Will attempt to make yogurt this week for the first time – wish me luck (I would really like to say good-bye to those plastic containers!)
Oh, fun!
1. We home exchange when we travel. And we loooove to travel!
2. Staying home with my son. It saves us daycare, but I am not sure it counts as it is at the cost of my full time salary.
3. Learned how to make all our bread (thanks Frugal Girl!).
4. We run our small business out of our home. This saves us on rent and commuting AND we get to all be together.
5. Just paid 15 cents for a new stainless steel water bottle from a local thrift store.
Another suggestion. When produce and fruits come in to your grocery store just purchase a few samples. One can always test a grape or two to see if they are good, but grapefruit at $1.89 a lb is a gamble. I always just buy one or two to see if they are really good. One of the worst crap shoots have been pears and pineapples. Grocery store pears have been a hit or miss with me. You buy them green and most of the time they don’t ripen but just rot. peaches do the same thing. Maybe it’s just me but again no luck here. That is why I purchase only a small sample, and if good go back and buy. I have found however that Dole as a new pineapple that is ripe at the grocery store. Can anyone give me more advice on buying good fruit? I have had just as bad luck at farmers markets and places like the Barn in NE Portland. Even going to Hood River during harvest season isn’t worth it, as the fuel expenses way out weighs any savings. I hate to be relegated to apples, navel oranges and bananas. My fetish is Lychee fruit and I never find it anywhere. Any help from the readers is appreciated.
John, our farmer’s market booths usually set out samples of cut-up fruit with toothpicks so we can try things. Your market doesn’t do that? It might be worth asking if they’ll give you samples.
I know I’m turning into one of those crazy old ladies who feels all the fruit skeptically, but I find that smelling it is helpful — especially pears and the other one you mentioned, pineapple, and melons, too, always such a trial.
Bartlett pears turn yellow when ripe but the others just sit there being stubbornly uninformative. This website suggest gently pressing on the neck of the pear; if it yields, it’s ripe. http://www.usapears.com/Recipes%20And%20Lifestyle/Culinary%20Corner/Tips%20and%20Techniques.aspx
Good luck!
1. Wear hand-me-down (or swapped around) clothing
2. Wear my sons’ hand-me-down shoes
3. Bike and tandem bike as much as possible
4. Books, music and movies from the library
5. Buy tofu and tempeh in bulk from the manufacturer at half price
I make yogurt with 2% milk and it’s thick, not Greek yogurt thick but certainly not runny. I heat the milk to 180F, cool it to 115 or so, stir in the starter, and pour it into warm jars/containers, then put it in the cooler with some jars of very hot water. Leave for 8+ hours. I am amazed at how tasty, easy and CHEAP this is! I eat it plain and #2Child pours maple syrup or honey on it. (#1Child is yogurt-averse.)
And other frugal activities:
In the nonconsuming arena, I haven’t replaced the broken radio/stereo in my car, saving several hundred dollars. The CD player went out over a year ago, the radio several months ago. I haven’t had a haircut in almost 6 months, saving $120. I didn’t go to Party City with my kids for Halloween shopping, but (entering the consuming arena now) we did visit Goodwill and scored their costumes there for $8/each. Although I’m not much of a couponer, the Safeway/Vons Just for U program has allowed me to save money on things we regularly buy, like organic milk, produce and cat food.
Friends from out of town visited this weekend and held a party at our house; we’ve been eating the leftover fruit and veggies since. We went to dinner with them and as we were about to leave the house to meet them the local Clipper magazine came with a coupon for the restaurant we were going to, so we got a free entree.
This past week I sorted through my sons clothes and was able to pass along a bag of clothes to our neighbors with a son a little younger than our son.
I am teaching my daughter to sew and we used an old sheet and a few scraps of fabric left over from a quilting project to make a dog harness for each of our two dogs.
I am going to go grocery shopping at my local closeout grocery store. I get most of our fresh produce there and save quite a bit my latest find was pears for $.39/lb and apples for the same price, I think they were Honey Crisp ones.
I cut my family’s hair and I have even let my husband cut mine. He did a good job but I think he was more nervous than I was.
We make soy yogurt at our house (milk allergies) and use a little gelatin to thicken it up. Then we add some homemade jam and it is better than store bought. I will have to try straining it next time.
Thicken your yogurt using a packet of gelatin instead of dry milk. Works wonders. I’ve been making yogurt for over 7 years, teach dairyworking classes and that’s my trick!
Oh, and I make my own apple cider, applesauce, etc. I buy in bulk. If you buy a bin of fruit, about 2000#’s, my apples only cost 13 cents/lb. I can it all, keeps for about 2 years at the current usage rate. Once you have all the jars (freecycle, goodwill, etc), it’s just your own time and energy exerted. Got my bin yesterday, already have 13 gallons of cider and the bin is still 3/4 full! Love shopping local, from local farmers!
1. Cool weather is here. We use a pellet stove. The electricity bill doesn’t go up much, and we save a ton on heating costs compared to what our oil bill used to be.
2. I hang-dry my laundry in front of the pellet stove. Couldn’t be better.
3. I’m taking advantage of a credit card promotion right now where you get 5% back on unlimited purchases at grocery stores, drug stores, and gas stations. Show me a bank account or CD where you’ll get 5% !!
4. With the help of coupons and rebates, I have my grocery budget YTD at about $78/week for a family of 4, including 2 teenagers. No small feat for the northeast. I think I can do better. I’d like to get that down to $65 or $70/week. But for now, I am happy with what I’ve accomplished. I often have enough extra to donate to food pantries.
5. Our 20 year old iron destroyed one of my husband’s shirts this week. I had a new iron in the closet (bought at a deep discount a few years ago) and this week I will head up to Goodwill to look for shirts for him. Their return policy is 5 days, for a store credit. I’ll have him try them on over the weekend.
And #6 – my older daughter, a HS junior, is taking two AP classes for college credit. Albeit more easily transferred to a state school vs private, this is an expense of a few $100 for me now, which will equal a few $1000 later on. (Really really hoping she chooses a state school. Private school tuition will be tough for us to swing.)
Heidi,
Check out dual-enrollment for your daughter. My daughter took 3 classes at a local community college for free. All I had to pay for were the books (about $150 total). She got high school credit for them and college credits. She went into college with 3 classes already done. A huge savings! Check out this option out with your daughter’s guidance councellor at school.
Made homemade yogurt, homemade ranch dressing so much better then the store. Made rice krispy to get rid of the cereal. Declutter the kitchen will finish today and start to do the living and dining room. Not going anywhere. Made a menu and grocery list. Now looking for coupons. I also made poptart and cookies x2.
It’s been raining here for the past few days. I had a batch of laundry in the wash that did not get on the line, so I set up my drying racks in the basement and saved electricity.
I bought a 5 lb bag of sliced onions for $1 dollar. I put them on a baking sheet and froze them. Once frozen I put them in a bag and I have frozen sliced onions to cook with. Fast and convenient and less money than buying whole ones.
It has been fairly chilly here these past few days. I have not put on my heat because I do not put it on until Nov 1st. So, we have been putting on our fireplace to get the chill out. We had some wood on our property from trees that either fell down or needed to be cut down. So the wood is free.
Of course all the normal things like, packing lunches, making homemade meals, making sure I have a drink when I head out the door for my day (so I don’t stop for iced coffee).
Lots of great suggestions. I just recently started shopping at the dollar store because if I use by bank debit card I will get 15% back. So with that perk and the coupons that I have and the dollar store coupon for $5 of a $20 purchase, I think I did pretty well. I buy cleaning supplies, laudry detergent, pet food there. Also, has anyone ever tried a beauty school for haircuts, coloring, etc. I am thinking about this but don’t know anyone who has ever tried this. The one person commented that her husband cuts her hair and my husband has colored mine before but not sure I want him near my head with scissors!! I’m just curious if anyone has ever tried the beauty school route and what their experience was.
yup, used to. Now I’m just going natural. The cost is 1\3 of salons and never had any issue other than time! They are students, so it does take longer. Just take a book to read, and sometimes snacks.
I have used a vocational school in the area. They always did a good job on the hair. It does take longer because they are being instructed by the teacher and they need to get certain things approved. I have had my hair cut, highlighted and full color. When I got my hair foiled, it cost about $20. It would have cost me about $80 at a salon.
It’s so nice to not have to use any energy to heat or cool a home this time of the year. And having the widows open is divine until the pollen gets the best of you. I have learned one thing I am not frugal or penny pinching about at all. When I have a sinus infection I want Puffs with lotion….forget my washable handmade hankies or linen clothes that give me a Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer glow…I want my puffs! :’o(
On the upside I am saving lots on my food budget this week, homemade brothy soups are barely more than pennies a pot and are so comforting. :o)
1. I found some bricks from demolition happening next door to my office; they will make a good border when we expand our garden next spring.
2. I borrowed books and a cd from the library this week (I do this every week), and I walked there from my office during lunch hour, so I also got exercise.
3. My sisters and I are going to use our own vases and buy flowers wholesale for my grandmother’s funeral next week.