Five Frugal Things
by Katy on January 23, 2018 · 165 comments
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I spent yesterday thrifting and then gorging on delicious leftovers with my friend Sarah. (Really, is there any better combination?!) The meal was at her home, and consisted of reheated dahl soup from the new Smitten Kitchen cookbook, as well as warm little rounds of naan. I picked up a few bargains at the Goodwill Outlet, (we hit both locations) and then came home embarrassingly exhausted. What did I buy? A like-new wool throw blanket, (I’d sent my favorite lap blanket to school with my son) a creepy little Danish wooden figurine, a vintage cookbook, a sterling silver spoon, and handful of miscellaneous Brio trains, a vintage wooden document tray, (to help contain the chaos of mail and paperwork) a Silpat baking mat, and a cool wooden toy spaceship to sell.
But my #1 favorite find of the day was a Case Logic brand binder with over 100 CDs and liner notes in it. Metallica? Check. Guns-N-Roses? Check. Plus every other classic metal band that my son enjoys torturing me with. The cost of the case alone would have been less than what I paid for this entire music collection! Needless to say, my son is psyched!
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I arranged to get together with a friend later in the week for a chat and a cuppa coffee. Both of us have two kids in college right now, so she didn’t blink when I suggested we schlep over to Ikea for their free caffeine instead of hitting up our normal coffee shop. Can’t be too self conscious about pride and appearances when choosing to set extreme financial goals.
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I gathered a paper bag full of ribbons for someone in my Buy Nothing Group who apparently has an “ongoing project” that requires them. I was surprised by how many I was able to locate, especially since not one of them was something that I’d bought or deliberately brought into my home. My gift wrapping supplies (100% reusable gift bags) now fit much more tidily in their container, and I’ve put something back into use that was just cluttering up my home. Living a frugal life is also about providing frugal opportunities for others.
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I sold a Dansk lid on eBay, I bought five bags of grocery staples at the Grocery Outlet for just $47, I invited a family member over for dinner as they were alone for the week, I reused my neighbor’s shipping supplies which she’d have otherwise trashed, I arranged a couple paid articles, I’ll be attending a paid four-hour meeting at work, I’m using a silicone menstrual cup that I bought in 2008, (which has saved me countless dollars) and I somehow didn’t leave the house today, which ends up being frugal as hell.
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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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{ 165 comments… read them below or add one }
1. Other than planned trips: Pilates, Bible study, pharmacy I’ve not left the house.
2. Returned clothing and boots I purchased with gift cards from Macy’s
3. Sold a couple of things via FB and eBay
4. Eating out of the pantry, freezer and refrigerator as hubby is gone.
5. Skipped getting hair professionally colored I’m going a la natural
I’m going to have to ask about the menstrual cup. I bought a diva cup a month ago and it is NOT working for me AT ALL, and I feel like I wasted $30. I feel ripped off. Any tips on how to make it work (not feel like it’s slipping out all the time and feeling genuinely uncomfortable)?
Hey Sarah,
Finding the right one it a journey, some people hit a home run on the first try others need to try a few before success is achieved. This article is very in depth and helped me find the right one 🙂
https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-menstrual-cup/
Yes.. I have given these graphic instructions before and it is worth it to do it again. Men or people who don’t care please skip over this. Basically, fold the cup in half then push it in. There are other folding methods on the package insert that may work better for you so read it carefully. After it passes through to the point where it is closer to your cervix it will spring open and suction onto the end of the cervix where it will collect menstrual fluid. It won’t slip out because it will form a suction that holds it on when correctly placed. It’s kinda like a tampon in that if you don’t get it in far enough it will be uncomfortable and also won’t work. If it doesn’t open up and get at the cervix it will leak. When correctly placed you can wear it up to 12 hours, depending on how heavy the flow is, with no leaks. It is worth the time to to figure this out, IMO. There is a learning curve to figuring out placement but after you get it, you’ve got it!
I have, especially early on, gotten TOO MUCH suction. That was uncomfortable as well!
If I make sure it is far enough in, it is comfortable enough that I forget that I am wearing it. But I’ve had it since about 2006 (after my second child was born), so it’s pretty routine after a while!
Thanks for all this. The issue for me seems to be the not-far-enough-in bit as it feels constantly like it’s slipping and reeaaalllly uncomfortable.
It might be worth asking your gynecologist to check the chart and see if your uterus is anteverted or retroverted. In my practice I found that women with retroverted uteri found the cups uncomfortable. In that case, it’s possible to use a diaphragm for the same purpose without the discomfort. However, the diaphragm only holds for six to eight hours. Good luck!
typo–check YOUR chart, i.e. you don’t need an exam, they already have that info recorded.
I’ll ask – thanks! I really don’t even know what this means, so I wouldn’t have thought to ask – but now I will!!
I found that it took 3 or 4 months for my body to get the hang of it. It was odd, I didn’t change my methods or anything-I just kept using it and then one month, it clicked…no more leaking, no feeling uncomfortable, easy in/out. Now I love it! So maybe give it time? Obviously not if it’s painful, though…others have commented some great advice on that!
I’m hoping so! I’d read a bunch of stuff on the internet and one thing said to flip it inside out, so that it’s effectively shorter. That’s helped a bit, but still by the end of the week (second month) I was OVER it. But def the second month was easier than the first, so I’m hoping there’ll be a “click” for me! It was $30 so I’m not keen on having wasted that money!
Read the reviews on Amazon. There are dozens and dozens of tips from users.
Interesting place for tips! I’ve already googled and found loads of tips, like the flip inside-out thing that helped some, but not enough. It’s just going to frustrate me if I’ve wasted this $30!
I found that it sometimes didn’t want to spring open, which made it feel like it was slipping. If I give it a turn after putting it in I find that it helps create a seal and I’m good for the day. Hope this helps, I really love mine!
I can’t tell you how much I *love* the frankness, compassion, and generosity of this community. I come here for that almost as much as I do the frugal living tips.
I’ve given myself permission not to use it on the first day of my period. Now we have a much better relationship.
🙂
1. Ate gourmet meals at home all week.Cooked! Used freezer items up! Pasta Marinara with Giada’s recipe for gravy and homemade basil, Stir Fry veggies over brown rice, Pad Thai, Baked Potatoes with Mexican Corn salsa and a large salad,Potato pierogies with saurkraut. Chili Mole with cornbread. Yum.
2. Signed up for free Audible trial, but cancelled after 2 weeks. Not able to concentrate on books being read to me..
3. Used up old cough syrup from last year for this year’s cold.
4. Used “points” from credit card (paid off monthly) to pay for ticket for my husband to attend reunion with his 3 brothers to celebrate the oldest’s birthday.
5. Use cotton handerkerchiefs, never Kleenex!! Also do not use paper towels, we have washable,bleachable white washcloths under sink to grab for spills and cleaning.
Re: Madeline’s #2: I have the same problem with audio books–which is likely to become a real problem in later years, since my eyes are likely to give out before my ears do. I may have to start training myself.
And re: the #5: We don’t even use bleachables for most of our rags and some of our hankies. DH’s old plaid flannel shirts and my old flannel nightgowns work beautifully for rags.
Now if only I could teach my frugal darling to not use his old flannel shirts for rags at the same time he’s wearing them…. 😉
I used to have the same problem with audio books but then I turned up the speed and while it sounds insane, it does keep my attention. It’s worth trying. Many narrators read so slowing that the attention does wander.
I have listened to both fiction and non fiction and it’s NEVER at normal speed. I look forward to hearing if that helps!
1. Picked an enormous amount of tomatoes, zucchini and eggplant. My husband made a delicious zucchini and eggplant curry for dinner, and a chicken curry using sale priced chicken.
2. I have stuck to my resolution not to buy any clothes or shoes this year. Almost one month through! I’m Mand and I’m addicted to thrifted designer labels.
3. Speaking of, a colleague noticed a dress I was wearing today and wanted to know the label. It cost me less than $3. When she saw the label she gasped and said she could never afford to dress the way I do. Haha. I never reveal my sneaky secrets.
4. I did my budget today and Operation Bathroom Update 2019 is on track if I keep going. I was slightly depressed when I saw we were not going to have much fun over the next two weeks but then I reminded myself that I want that new bathroom very much and got over myself.
5. I am going to rigorously plan meals from my freezer and garden to help with point 4.
I am Bee and I am also addicted to thrifted designer clothing. I left a pair of Hudson jeans at the Goodwill this week.
I wish I could *FIND* designer clothing at thrift shops….my local thrift stores don’t have much of that, and even less so in the plus sizes I wear. Yes, I dig, I search, I paw through racks….nope. Sigh.
I have gotten really lucky at a community outreach store that relies on donations. I’m plus sized and have gotten several high end pairs of jeans for $6-$10. Have also gotton good quality tops for a $4-$5 as well. Its 35 miles away but I go there for work once in a while, so I stop every chance I get.
1. Went for a walk with a friend for free exercise. Afterwards we went for coffee. My friend had a BOGO coupon. I’ll buy next time.
2. Went to a movie with my mother. I signed up for AMC’s Stubs membership and paid only $5 each for both our tickets. We skipped the snacks and got our parking validated.
3. It was my daughters b-day yesterday. Instead of buying her stuff she doesn’t need I sent some gift cards in a nice dollar tree card.
4. I thawed out a bone from a spiral sliced ham. I’ll make split pea soup today. I’ll use some of the chicken broth that I made from chicken carcasses and veggie scraps on Saturday.
5. I’ll stay home today and clean my house, make my soup and work on some projects. It will be a no spend day.
5.
Your day (#5) sounds lovely. I also have a frozen ham bone that is asking to be added to split pea soup and my house could benefit from some attention. Thanks for the suggestions put in such a way that makes work sounds like pleasure.
Trying to naturally maintain our health when the stomach bug is going around and I have been having kidney pain off and on for a couple of weeks.
1) I hear grape juice helps you avoid the stomach bug and I found Welch’s 100% grape juice for $2 each at CVS. I had a $2 ECB expiring so I got 2 jugs for $2.
2) I needed 100% cranberry juice and have been searching all over for something without sugar. I found a high end store that sold the juice for $8.99 each! Finally found jars at CVS for $5.99 each. I had a 25% off coupon – so I got 2 jars for $8.98 total.
3) Made a DR appointment for next week to try to figure out what is going on – which will hopefully save money in the long term. The cranberry juice is keeping things under control, but not truly solving the problem so time to see a DR.
4) I have actually been writing down every single thing we spend – day 24 is today! I am also tracking our food spending at the same time. This definitely make you more aware!
5) Having simple meals like oatmeal for breakfast and baked potatoes and corn muffins for dinner. Everyone is having leftovers for lunch today.
If you have a Trader Joe’s nearby, they have 100% pure cranberry juice for $4.99 a bottle. I hope that you feel better soon.
Thanks! We have one about 30 minutes away but I am rarely out that way. If I am though, I will be sure to stop by and get some. I do not want to pay $6-8 per small bottle!
I’m with you on #4. I’ve been tracking every penny spent since this month began. It’s been amazing to see how much we’ve actually been spending on various things. Unfortunately, it tends to be more – sometimes a lot more – than what we thought we were spending. Being more aware of what we’re spending should definitely help curb the unnecessary spending.
Yes! Tracking definitely opens our eyes to areas we are over spending in.
Have you tried making your own cranberry juice? I buy bags and bags and freeze. When I want some I boil the bejebbers out of a bag of cranberries, strain and dilute with water or seltzer to the degree desired. Sometimes I use an immersion blender to pulverize the berries after boiling so I end up with a thick juice that still has the fiber in it. Cheaper than commercial…
No, I had no idea you could do that! And honestly I have never drank cranberry juice prior to December when I started having kidney trouble. So this is new to me. I will look into it – but it might not happen this year. I never see cranberries in the store anymore. Seems to just be a November thing around here.
You can stock up on cranberries when you find them and just chuck the bags in the freezer. Also, you can buy cranberry in capsule form–gets the active ingredient concentrated. Works for me.
A less expensive way to acidify your urine, and fight that UTI feeling, is vitamin C tabs.
Regarding pure cranberry juice, for those who drink it daily, it is best sucked to the back of the mouth via a straw because it is extremely acidic and can wreak havoc on teeth (cavities). Just as acidic as vinegar. A daily wash over the teeth is high risk. But if you use the straw to avoid the teeth, you are much better off.
I’ve had mostly frugal fails the past week, a number of them animal- related, strangely enough. For example:
1. I badly strained my lower back lugging a 40 lb bag of frugal “super premium” lamb and vegetable dog food home from Costco. Fortunately, the dogs seem to be willingly eating it. Costco dog food, which I’ve heard good things about, will save me almost 75% on food costs.
2. My giant poodle Otto fished out of my purse one of my good North Face gloves and ate it. My vet-approved protocol in this type of situation is to monitor his behavior closely. True to form, he regurgitated the glove 2 days later. I attempted to salvage my glove by sanitizing it twice in the washing machine. A faint dog vomit odor persisted, so both gloves were discarded.
3. One of my daughter’s friends has a somewhat aggressive dog that leaped at my daughter and made a huge tear in her only winter coat. Not being even a passable seamstress, I took the coat to the tailor. I think the repaired coat will look decent enough for her to continue wearing. Leaving the store, I tripped on the curb, yet again hurting my lower back.
I’ll be enjoying and deriving inspiration from the blog and comments this week, and hopefully getting back on track.
My cousins standard poodle loved to eat socks. Unfortunately, this resulted in an expensive surgery to remove it. Is this a poodle thing?
I’ve heard from others that this is common. Otto really enjoys a delicious hair scrunchie or used athletic sock, so we have to be vigilant. Our other standard, however, has enough sense to stick to eating only actual food.
It’s a dog thing. Our vet has a chart on the door of the items most often removed from a dog’s stomach. Socks, sticks, pantyhose, etc. Ours are suckers for snotty tissues. We’re transitioning to small flannel rags which I thought might be less attractive–but I noticed one embedded in a stool I picked up last week. Having dogs has tightened up my cleaning habits.
Funny, as an adult, I have had two dogs and neither was a chewer, but I think one of these dogs was human trapped in a dog’s body. He ate strange things asparagus, strawberries, cantaloupe – never clothes.
Not just poodles…my Danes and wolfhounds have uniformly loved to eat underwear, especially bras. Ever tried to pull a bra out that you see partially hanging out the end opposite the mouth??
We once had a dog that would chew the crotch out of any underwear that didn’t make it all the way in the laundry hamper. Like, surgically remove that section with its teeth. Really skeeved me out, but Lindsey, your bra tale definitely wins the grossness prize. Eww!
We had a Golden Retriever who would chew on used tissues and used paper towels. One time, he got ahold of my dental night guard (custom made by my dentist, and expensive). Fortunately, I got it away from him before he destroyed it.
Our current puppy chews on pretty much ANYTHING he can get his teeth on….it seemed a little better after I started giving him a doggy multivitamin every day, after someone suggested that on here (I’m sorry, I forget who). Lately, we’ve discovered he’s been chewing on the wooden knobs and drawer fronts on my bedroom armoire (not antique, but still).
Lindsey’s bra story still gets the big eeeeewwwww.
All of these stories plus Jennifer’s horrible misfortune are absolutely confirming my longheld decision never to own a dog.
3. My neighbor’s aggressive dog got loose last night, tore up several things in the yard, tore up my chicken coop, and killed all but one of my chicken’s and she is injured badly so she may not make it either. This same dog ate 5 of my kittens a few months ago. This time, we are sueing for $3,500 worth of damage. I was nice last time, now I’m pissed. Just be super careful around that dog.
That is so terrible. You are taking totally appropriate action. Would it be helpful to file a police report too?
We did file a police report, sorry I failed to mention that.
Jennifer, I am so sorry to hear this. You were more than kind last time. It is time to take action. This dog is not being properly cared for and is dangerous. I would suggest filing a police report as Avl suggest. Your neighbor’s homeowners insurance– if animal liability isn’t excluded– should pay for the damages. You may also want to check with your carrier. Again I’m so sorry. 🙁
Thanks, Bee.. yes we filed a police report. The police went to the neighbors house and the only person there was a teenage boy and I don’t know what happened after that. As I said once before, I don’t think the dog gets fed enough and so he breaks lose then runs to the closest place to find food. Charges have been filed this time. I can’t risk my children’s life for the sake of others feelings. I am contacting my homeowners insurance today. Again, thanks..
Wish we had a Costco here, if only for pet food. The good stuff is so expensive!
Btw, my 120 pound dog (an Akbash, if you’ve ever heard of that) once ate a pair of my prescription glasses. They didn’t seem to give him any “trouble” but that was an expensive snack. Apparently, we have little sweat glands on the bridge of our noses that make eyeglasses smell just lovely to dogs.
Little known fact: Costco staff will help with heavy purchases. Just ask at the Member Service Desk. Really!
Additionally, many Costco products are available online and I believe their shipping is free. The flip side is higher item prices than in the warehouse. Depending on drive time, gas, and the need for delivery to your door, this may result in an overall savings though.
Although I’d prefer to support more local business, I ordered dog food from Walmart because it was delivered to the front door.
I had a German Short Haired Pointer who would chew and eat anything and everything. You name it…shoes, clothes, furniture legs, baseboard…even a small can of pepper spray that he actually took out of my purse when it was on the counter – THAT was something he never did again…until a friend suggested I buy him a Kong and put peanut butter up inside it. It worked like a charm!
On a related note to #2, my sister just related that she was at someone’s house, playing bunco, and they had to take and hide her shoes because their pet pig wouldn’t leave her alone! The pig kept licking her shoes and feet until they took the shoes away!
1. Signed up a friend, my son and self for a *free* terrarium making class at our local library this weekend. I am looking forward to getting out of the house.
2. Using the coffee grounds in the French press more than once. It weakens the coffee a bit on the second (or third) pour through, but I need to drink less coffee anyway.
3. Inventoried the freezer to see what all is stashed in there and I see I can make weeks of meals. I found things like vegetable pot stickers and spring rolls, pumpkin for curry, black beans for soup or whatever, chocolate!, seitan meats (meat alternatives). These items along with a full pantry of grains and beans and spices, I am set for awhile and will not be in the grocery store until some of this stuff is gone. I have set a $25 week budget for fresh vegetables/fruits and coconut or almond milk, but I may not need to use it this next week, so it will roll over or be put on a bill (looking at you heating bill).
4. I went to Kroger with a friend (didn’t buy anything, just tagged along) and tried a yogurt sample. The said yogurt was on sale for $1 each and the kind lady gave me two coupons for $1 off, so two free gourmet yogurts!
5. Mentioned this on the last 5FTs, but I continue to watch entertaining YouTube videos and now know what to do with the 5 bags of apples I have on hand. I also hope to use up some cake flour bought during the holidays on some Starbucks copycat scones. I may even make a fresh pot of coffee to go with it (my frugal splurge!)
Love your #5. I adore scones, but have not had much luck making them. I probably need to practice more. Practice makes perfect, right? And I’m willing to be my own guinea pig.
Ha! I have only made them once and they weren’t special enough for me to remember much about them. Check out YouTube! There are a couple on there that make it look so easy! (I think I shall be a guinea pig for myself as well! 🙂 )
My son would be thrilled with your thrifted CD collection. Although he listened to Death Metal as a teen, he is mellowing out now that he is 27. I was listening to Neil Young last night while cooking dinner. My dear son said that he really enjoyed his music. Maybe he will trade that electric bass guitar for an acoustic version.
Over the last few days, my FFT have been less than exciting, but here they are just the same:
1) I could not bear to cook much on Sunday. I had had a house guest for a week and had cooked 2-3 meals a day. So I bought a grocery store rotisserie chicken. DH made a pot of rice and a salad. There were leftovers which my son had for dinner Monday evening, and the remainder became the base for Chicken fried rice last night. The carcass then went into the freezer. I will make broth at a later date. I think that we made the most of that chicken and pot of rice.
2) I have been eating leftovers and using up bits and bobs. I had a 1/2 cup of pumpkin in the refrigerator and put it in our morning oatmeal along with 1/2 an apple, walnuts, and pie spices. Yummy and nutritious. I ate a large leftover sweet potato with a salad for yesterday’s lunch and have a single serving of chicken chili for today’s. I made 2 pans of enchiladas- one for this evening, one was frozen for later. The mystery sauce in the freezer was just plain tomato and was thus made into enchilada sauce.
3) I continue to sell both thrifted and decluttered items on eBay. I created a spreadsheet of my sales and listings. I keep track of how long things are listed, how much they cost, eBay fees, what they sold for, and my profit margin. It is helping me to indentify trends and to fine tune a few things. My husband says I have a spreadsheet for everything. There is some truth in that.
4) I thrifted yesterday. I bought several things for resale. A stop at the high-end thrift shop yielded a big treasure — a throw pillow which said, “I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.” This was a song by Doris Day that my mother used to sing to my sisters, my father, her grandchildren and me. I had to have it even with a hefty thrifting price tag of $12. The problem is everyone in the family wants one, but there is just the one. I will have to figure it out.
5) Speaking of spreadsheets — I updated mine, paid bills using my bank’s online service, reviewed my spending this month, balanced my accounts and spent some time putting tax stuff together. This is not my favorite way to spend an afternoon, but it is sadly necessary.
Enjoy the rest of your week! The days are getting longer and spring is around the corner.
I love these posts about the mystery frozen items. They always make me laugh: the intrepid freezer-opener, the mysterious bag of food, the surprise outcome!
And your husband’s comment that you’ve got a spreadsheet for everything reminded me of my nephew (17) telling his mother (my sister) that “you’ve got a cream for everything, Mum”, just moments after she told her husband where to find the mouth ulcer cream, her other son, where to find the antiseptic cream and me where to find the eczema cream.
Bee – your #4 made me smile as my mom (Susie) sang this to us when we were little and no doubt heard it from her mom, my Nana. I sang it to DS last week. 🙂
Do a Google search for “bushel and a peck throw pillow”. Quite a few came up.
After looking at the search results, and ruminating on it for awhile, I think a drop cloth and a Sharpie could make enough pillow covers for the whole family. Christmas 2018 shopping done…Boom. 🙂
Thanks, Kathleen. I think the heavier fabric in the drop cloth would be great for a throw pillow. I was actually think that they would make great Christmas presents. Only 340 days ’til Christmas! 🙂
Bee, I love your #4. My mother used to sing that same song to me when I was little. And when it came to “a hug around the neck”, she’d give me a hug. Thanks for awakening a great memory.
🙂 Happy Memories
A friend of ours got our family started on singing it while my son was still in arms. We’d also give him a peck on the check at “peck”. :sniffle:
1. I refilled the spice jars at my Mom’s beach house (she had tossed the many years’ old spices and washed out the jars) using spices purchased in the bulk section — SO MUCH CHEAPER than buying new bottles of spices, none of the refills was over $1 and most were under .50!
2. I continue to make DD’s lunch (sometimes she makes it) now that school lunches are up to $5.
3. I am trying to make each tank of gas last two weeks and so far I’m on track — 8 days in and less than half tank used.
4. Haven’t bought breakfast, lunch or coffee so far this week.
5. Upped my automatic savings deduction which comes out of my account on payday by 50% which will definitely require continued frugality to make the budget work.
This reminds me I need to do a purge of old herbs and spices and get new ones from my store’s bulk section. Nothing tastes good with expired seasoning.
Mostly related to a last-minute trip to Big Expensive City (BEC) for the funeral of my friend’s father.
1) Drove with mutual friends (their car) instead of alone or more expensive transportation.
2) Stayed at my friend’s apt rather than a hotel, as he was staying with his family.
3) Packed ~some~ snacks and drinks for the trip.
4) Mutual friends and I split a large salad and pizza for dinner.
5) Funeral rites included shoveling dirt. I will try to clean my suit with a clothing brush; maybe I can skip the dry cleaners.
Funeral Frugal Fails:
– Didn’t pack enough drinks, didn’t want to drink water. Bought several sodas.
– Shared meal in BEC is still expensive.
– Bought foods from famous store in BEC. The foods are very tasty and not nearly as good as the ones from my home, but still unnecessary.
“[…] not nearly as good as the one from my home […]” should be
“[…] much better than the ones from my home […]”
1. I bought a pair of Born B.O.C. (the cheaper line) clogs at the Salvation Army for $7. They are navy and I waffled on if I *needed* a pair of navy shoes, but I have already worn them several times to work and am pleased I bought them.
2. Someone listed Diary of a Wimpy Kid hardcover books for $1 each, and I snapped up all four to resell. I have found books sell pretty well here right before Christmas, and Wimpy Kid are some of the most requested.
3. Found a set of individual butter bells at the resale store, for $2, which sold on ebay for a good profit. My coworker brought me a huge bag of packing peanuts and some bubble wrap, and two friends are saving their shipping bags for me. The only thing I buy for my ebay supplies is packing tape.
4. Qdoba had an email snafu and sent out free entree coupons as an apology. Redeemed mine for free nachos yesterday.
5. Cleaned out and organized our snack cupboard. Stocked up on crackers, peanuts, almonds, pretzels, and granola bars at Aldi yesterday for my son’s lunches. We’ve been doing much better on reducing/eliminating our food waste.
Great score on the Wimpy Kid books! I have a stack of them that my kids have outgrown. Ran out of time to list them before Christmas, but the going rate seemed to be $5/book.
Bettypants, the way I pay for my shipping tape is with Staples Rewards. You get $2 credit for each ink or toner cartridge as long as you buy $30 in ink every 6 months. DH brings home empty toner cartridges and sometimes people on Freecycle list empty cartridges for anyone who can recycle them. I also try to wait until they have a special and then stock up of course!
Thanks, Cathy! I always keep an eye out for those at yard sales too.
Thanks for the tip on tape, Kim. I don’t think it would work for me as I don’t buy any printer ink. I don’t have a printer at home. I just print my labels at the office – I think of it as my work perk (and I don’t sell large quantities). But maybe it will be good for someone else here. I buy my tape in a big pack at Sam’s Club or Costco.
1. I have started a diet that seems to already be working. Basically, I stop eating at 4:00 pm everyday. I eat what I want to through out the day, sensibly, then fast for 16 hours. It’s supposed to allow your body to metabolize more while you sleep. I have lost 7 1/2 pounds and it hasn’t quite been a week yet. I think a lot of this was water weight because I was bloated at the beginning of the week. I actually don’t really feel hungry but I eat a lot right before 4:00 to keep me feeling full till bedtime then I will sip some warm turmeric/lemon tea later on. I have made a commitment to have better health this year and healthy is frugal. As is kicking my caffeine habit!
2. I made a nice casserole with reduced ground beef last night but no one ate it so I will serve it tonight. We had a tragic event that caused my whole family to lose their appetite. I have already mentioned above that our neighbors aggressive dog killed all our chickens and did damage to yard. After having to collect dead chickens and chicken parts from all over the yard, no one could eat. This time, we are suing for damages.
3. I am wearing my new jeans that I got at the thrift store on MLK day for 50% off. I love them and they feel so nice. I also picked up a pair for my daughter taking a chance that they might not fit. She tried them on and they fit perfectly! I only paid $4 for them. I was curious about the cost because I could tell they were a nice, new looking, trendy pair with extra detailing. They are $89 Vigoss jeans!
4. I ate some of the casserole that no one ate from last night for breakfast. I am used to working various different shifts as a nurse so breakfast food at a certain time means nothing to me.
5. I have to admit that depression seems to be creeping back in with the January doldrums and others things. I’m taking my kids to the local park today to try to spend a little time outdoors and blow off steam. I will take some water from home and a bag of free white cheddar popcorn from my Kroger Free Friday download last week for the kids to snack on.
Jennifer the chicken incident sounds horribly traumatic, I am glad you are seeking to hold the dog’s owner responsible. I think it is understandable that you are feeling down, good for you for planning an outing with your kids. Self care is so important.
Thank you, Tracy!
A former neighbor kept chickens that he did not bother to coop. He also failed to maintain the fence. Occasionally, one would go over or under the fence. Our otherwise sweet little dogs would catch them, drag them into the house through the dog door, and dismember the poor chickens all over our den. It was horrible to come down the stairs in the morning to the scene of the crime. He was a firefighter, so all complaints fell on deaf ears. We finally moved. When we sold the house (with full disclosure, as he also kept bees, more than the legal limit, naturally), we chose to accept the offer of a Police Officer. In that town, Police trumps Fire. Sad, and it sucks that it came to that. I know ours was kind of the opposite of your problem, but please be vigilant with your city officials. And, I’m sorry for your loss.
My husband spoke with a judge who recommended we sue the owner of the dogs, which will cost us only $35. These neighbors rent and he suggested that renters will often just leave the property to avoid the hefty fine. My gosh, that had to be awful to walk into that brutal scene! This dog is super strong because our coop well built. I’m sure the dog was cut up just trying to get in.
In my county, the owner would also be cited for “dog at large” which carries a five hundred dollar fine. Or the dog could be surrendered, evaluated, and rehome if appropriate.
This dog was kept on a 5 day hold when he killed my kittens a few months ago. I need to educate myself in the laws in my county. A change has to be made for us to feel safe at home.
Jennifer, I’m so sorry this happened to you…how awful. Glad you are suing the dog owner. It sounds like the dog is not being properly cared for, on top of the other issues.
Curious where you live in MD. I moved from Solomons, MD to Myrtle Beach, SC four years ago.
I also do your #1. The intermittent fasting has been a life changer. After years of being chubby, I got down to where I need to be and have maintained now for awhile with little effort.
Jennifer – If your neighbor with the vicious dog is a renter maybe try complaining to the property owner. I had a similar problem a few years ago and the guy and his mean dogs ended up moving. Later I found out that the dogs had been in trouble all over our rural neighborhood and the sheriff finally just started advising people to shoot the dogs if they were on their property. Personally I never blamed the dogs for the damage they did, they were just following their instincts. I blamed the irresponsible owner who moved to the country and thought it was ok to just let his dogs run wild. Sadly that happens a lot.
I went to the tax assessor and got the name and address of the property owner because they are renters. However, I have been unable to locate a phone number for the property owner. Seems silly, but I may have to send a snail mail detailed letter to let them know what has happened since I can’t call. I am going to send still shots from the video we have of the dog in my yard. He has a 20 foot long log chain attached to his neck that he drags around with him. Today, I am also checking into charging them with animal cruelty. I appreciate everyone’s insight because it has helped me think of more ways to fix this.
Oh my goodness, I have been so overcome by the dog incident that I haven’t had a chance to enjoy the fact that I really am losing weight! The best thing is I don’t feel deprived. If I cook something for my family that I can’t eat because it is after 4:00 then I simply wrap some of it up and eat it for breakfast the next morning. I also splurge sometimes during the day. It amazes me that just changing the time I am eating has done this. I have lost 10 pounds!
1. Have eaten at home so far this week, and have stretched our grocery budget a little too.
2. Invited family over for spaghetti instead of eating out. Hubby suggested a local burger joint when I told him we were having people over, but I’m standing my ground. We have everything we need for spaghetti…
3. Drinking free coffee and water at the office (3rd day this week so far). Also eating leftovers for lunches.
4. Haven’t shopped for anything other than groceries/household necessities this month so far.
5. Planning ahead for the ladies conference through my church this weekend. We’re doing a hotel night with a special speaker, and I budgeted to afford attending. I’m also planning on bringing food for Friday night dinner, lunch on Saturday, and snacks throughout the event.
My frugal five:
1. Still using gas from a fill up on Jan 2nd, and I paid for that with a returned Christmas gift from walmart. Trying real hard to bundle all my errand and only going if absolutely necessary.
2. Light came on in the car dash. Looked up the symbol and said low radiator fluid. I topped it off myself. In the past I would have taken it straight to the garage.
3. Made scalloped potatoes for dinner and discovered that browned in a fry pan the next morning are fantastic. I’ll be making extra from now on.
4. Harvested green onions from my scrape garden. I am doing leeks, celery, romaine lettuce, and green onions.
Still using fridge and pantry first. I had more milk that I could not drink so made S O S on toast made from stale bread. I brought back food memories. I forgot how much I enjoyed this meal growing up
Everyone stay safe out there.
Love S.O.S. and so did my boys growing up. Would have it more if it wasn’t so fattening.
Good on ya for the car code fix!
What’s a scrape garden? Is it planting the root end of purchased veggies and letting them regrow?
Oops! Now I see the answer below.
4. What’s a scrape garden and how does one grow one? Google wasn’t much help.
I’m sorry should say scrap garden. It when you take the root end of veggies and regrow more veggies
1. still eating from the fridge/freezer/cupboards. i opened my fridge yesterday and thought that if anyone opened it, they would think we were starving!
2. found a small package of hamburg in the freezer, defrosted it and used 1/3 last night to make taco meat for the boy. (he is not a fan of leftovers at all). there’s enough for 2 more meals – yes, he can eat tacos every day….and steak.
3. since we are eating down our inventory, i have only spent $157 on food this month! most of that is bread from the outlet (.89/loaf) and dairy with some frozen stuff. I have enough dairy now to last the rest of the month. the only thing i may buy is if i see a loss leader sale on my favorite coffee….i only have 1 bag left of my local coffee before i run out.
4. I did a yankee ingenuity thing the other day and was extremely proud of myself, but now i can’t remember what it was….i know I fixed something instead of paying someone…it’ll come to me. maybe i need to walk out of the website and back in – like walking back downstairs after walking upstairs and forgetting why you were up there….
5. joined a walk to run group with a local, small chain, sports store. had everything i needed for clothing! (was trying to find a sports bra but when you are large up top like i am, even sports bras 2 full sizes larger than me don’t fit. But i do have 2 racer back compression style tanks that will do the job.) my knees are a little upset with me, but they’ll soften up and like me again eventually. i hope.
You are brave to start running in the depths of winter. It is so good for you!, When I first started running and doing weights again about 8 years ago, I had to use the handicapped restroom. My thighs and knees were so sore that I couldn’t get up and down on my own. I needed the grab bars. Thank goodness this is no longer a problem.
I went out tonight for about 20 mins or so. 30 seconds walking then running. It is colder today than it was on Monday so I didn’t stay out long. Hoping I can keep this up until spring then I can switch off between hiking and running….if my legs let me!! 😛
Is there a Boston Marathon in your future?
Heck, NO! (That actually made me laugh. If you could see how i run, oh boy.) I have actually always wanted to run but never kept up with it. I’m hoping this ‘bug’ lasts through the year. We’ll see…
I’m sorry should say scrap garden. It when you take the root end of veggies and regrow more veggies
I have always envied those people in movies, TV, and books who open the refrigerator to find only a jar of mustard and a half eaten dried out deli sandwich. How do people survive with such a blatant disreguard for food? They seem to have no natural instinct to load the coffers to the brim with every culinary possibility. Since I cancelled my Sam’s Club membership I have noticed my fridge actually has a few empty spaces on the shelves. I’m not going to the store any more often. No one is starving. My waistband seems a little looser. hmmm, secret of the universe? Well maybe a small one.
I recently read how the younger generations may be the downfall of big box stores. Minimalism. Just having what you need. It is a frugal and foreign thought for many. When I’m able to accomplish it in any area of my life I find I like it.
Glad to hear that you’ve canceled a Sam’s membership, Tia. Our membership is so close to the end of its year that we’re not actually bothering to go to our local Sam’s store before it closes on 1/26 and cancel it, but we’re certainly not going to renew it. And I’ve already noticed that we’re actually spending less money because I’m not tempted by the “we might use that” impulse buys. Is anyone else out there telling the Walton family where to shove it? Feedback is encouraged.
I refuse to buy anything at walmart. Their politics are despicable, everything made in places other than in the U.S, they have put countless small business owners out of business, and they don’t pay for health insurance for most of their employees (they pay them just under the minimum for full time hours). Big corporations who have tons of $$ and don’t do the right thing are absolutely not on my shop list. I always keep in mind that my purchase is political. Sorry for the rant!
I spent Monday with my sister as she had a doctor’s appointment.
1. We met at a Chick-fil-a for lunch. I had a calendar card for free chicken nuggets and we both got free senior drinks. She bought a sandwich and I bought a large fries for us to split with a gift card.
2. We then headed for my favorite thrift shop. She found much more than I did but for 9.90 I got a Restoration Hardware throw, a Wilton Armetale cheese dish, about a yard and a half of lovely wool fabric, about 60 nice Christmas Hallmark cards, a quart canning jar, a hardback book and a Crate and Barrel kitchen towel.
3. We went to a local department store for her to return two gifts. While I was waiting on her, I went to the make up department and used my store credit from a returned gift to buy much needed foundation. It didn’t cover the whole cost but helped quite a bit. The foundation will last a couple of years.
4. We stopped at a Goodwill and I didn’t buy the 29.99 44 piece set of Pottery Barn dishes they had. Although I really, really liked them. I did pick up a vintage dog wallet valet for a daughter’s friend. She says they sell for twenty dollars at our local flea market.
5. And, lastly, ran into Aldis to pick up their .97 gallon of milk and .99 sour cream. The clerk said “Well, that was easy.” Easy is just the way I like my shopping!
Like many posters, I am trying to have a good frugal January while taking the challenge to cut back on expenses.
1. Received a beautiful pie from the man who contracts to do snow shoveling and snow blowing for us and our neighbors. Hid wife works in a bakery/restaurant known for their cream pies. yum!
2. Received an offer for three free bagels. Signed up and got the coupon – made a note that it is good only on February 1.
3. Packed lunches and made two dinners by shopping from pantry and freezer this morning.
4. Trying to increase our contributions to retirement funds for sons by careful budgeting. Defined benefit pensions are not going to be plentiful for the next generation!
5. Installing some new windows – a cost savings in the long run.
Another typo! Should have said HIS wife in #1
Hid wife…. I pictured a woman working feverishly in the back of a kitchen to churn out those pies who was known in the town for never coming out of the kitchen. Maybe I should find a new book to read since my imagination is running wild!
1. Found enough left over valentine’s in our card box for both kids to use for this year’s Valentine’s Day parties. They are still young enough that they don’t care what’s on them.
2. I’m inspired to start selling on ebay. My secretary has been saving any padded envelopes that are in decent shape. I have huge blank labels that I found in a free pile after a yard sale to cover up any original labels/markings. That should keep me for a few sales. Wish me luck.
3. Ran to the grocery store on my lunch break to see if anything new was added to the clearance rack. I found $0.49 boxes of off brand fruit loops and some fruit. Our grocery store always has fruit on the clearance rack. I spent just under $4 for three boxes of cereal, 2 pears and a carton of strawberries.
4. Will be returning some un-needed pinewood derby parts after work. Should get about $10 back.
5. Frugal fail: really wanted ice cream, so I went out at lunch =(
1) Reading this blog so much has motivated me to try to make some eBay money like the rest of you! So I made my first couple purchases with the intention of flipping for profit. A super-clearance pair of New Balance shoes (which are my size, but I don’t necessarily NEED new running shoes right now, so I’m good either way) and 3 Wet Brushes that were $3 each. Lots of views but no bids so far, so hopefully this pans out for me!
2) Made a whole chicken on Sunday and have been eating it all week long – chicken fried rice, with beans, fettuccine alfredo, and will finish the last of it tonight in quesadillas
3) I am taking a trip in June and am doing online surveys like crazy in the meantime because I can redeem points for a free hotel room. All I need is one night, so I’m really hoping I can get enough points by then!
4) I go to class about an hour away straight from work every Tuesday. Usually I pick up something quick (usually with a coupon) on my way to class but this week I noticed that there is a microwave in the student lounge! Now I can pack leftovers and skip the drive-thru.
5) I am a Yelp Elite member, which means that I am very active at doing reviews on Yelp and therefore get invited to special Yelp events. On Monday, my sister and I went to a free event that was at a local brewery. They gave us plenty of beer samples as well as meat, cheese, and crackers. Free dinner and a lot of fun learning about the beer brewing process!
I’m going to try my hardest to come up with FFT….
1. Cut the cord & cut the cable last Friday. Will save almost $600/9 months.
2. Oldest daughter has a winter dance coming up this weekend. Took her shopping for hours & bought a dress that she only half liked because she couldn’t find one she truly liked. Enlisted opinions of stores from friends & one friend said to come over to her house to try on dresses her 2 girls wore & we found one to borrow instead, so will be returning the one we bought. So, no out of pocket expense thanks to friend.
3. Cancelled a hair appointment for the upcoming dance as cousin offered to do it. She doesn’t have girls & likes to do girl things.
4. Ordered 2 new bras for myself from SOMA. I love their bras & shopped their 50% off sale plus used 20% off code on my whole order.
5. Our used dryer died 2 days ago. DH went and bought a new one since he couldn’t fix the old one. He got $200 off the one he purchased (some kind of sale). This is our first “new” dryer!
I spent Monday with my sister as she had a doctor’s appointment.
1. We met at a Chick-fil-a for lunch. I had a calendar card for free chicken nuggets and we both got free senior drinks. She bought a sandwich and I bought a large fries for us to split with a gift card.
2. We then headed for my favorite thrift shop. She found much more than I did but for 9.90 I got a Restoration Hardware throw, a Wilton Armetale cheese dish, about a yard and a half of lovely wool fabric, about 60 nice Christmas Hallmark cards, a quart canning jar, a hardback book and a Crate and Barrel kitchen towel.
3. We went to a local department store for her to return two gifts. While I was waiting on her, I went to the make up department and used my store credit from a returned gift to buy much needed foundation. It didn’t cover the whole cost but helped quite a bit. The foundation will last a couple of years.
4. We stopped at a Goodwill and I didn’t buy the 29.99 44 piece set of Pottery Barn dishes they had. Although I really, really liked them. I did pick up a vintage dog wallet valet for a daughter’s friend. She says they sell for twenty dollars at our local flea market.
5. And, lastly, ran into Aldis to pick up their .97 gallon of milk and .99 sour cream. The clerk said “Well, that was easy.” Easy is just the way I like my shopping!
5.
1. Snacked on a free mango from my tree.
2. Reused cooking and rinse water to water plants. And I reused laundry water to rinse off the dusty car.
3. I cut open an almost empty tube of toothpaste, now to see how many uses I can get out of it.
4. I was doing some organizing today and added a clean small glass mayo jar to my clean plastic ice cream container for make up. I’ve been keeping my make up in that container for a long time, but adding the jar gave me a specific place to put eyeliner, lip gloss and mascara, those long skinny things that just fell down before. No need to buy containers when I have plenty already!
5. I parted my hair on the opposite side as normal. How is this frugal? My hair is kinda thin and last night I read a post with multiple ideas for thin hair and I was reminded how simply changing your part can help make your hair look fuller as the hair isn’t used to laying that way, so it doesn’t lay as flat. There are many products out there, but there’s also some simple things we can do for free for our thin hair!
PS – I saw you over at Frugal Girl today! 🙂 It’s cool when 2 of my favorite blogs collide.
I enjoyed The Frugal Girl’s article today. It was insightful and worth a read.
I saw Katy over there too!!
A while back we purchased (for a dollar) one of those toothpaste tube squeezy things. (Super nice name, I know!) and it has probably extended the life of our toothpaste by 10+ days. Hubby wasn’t sure of it at first, but he has become quite frugal over our 9 years of marriage.
Hi Katy,
The goodwill outlet normally prices CDs individually, similar to books. Often they ask if you have any CDs or books.
You got away with something (though I’m sure it was unintentional)…
i have a feeling they left it complete because it was just CD’s with liner notes (i have 4 of those from my husband) and no jewel cases. much harder (and a pain in the butt) to remove every CD and liner note then bag each one to sell individually.
I think it was a great find and her son will get hours of enjoyment from it.
I’m not sure what i’m going to do with DH CD’s. my son only wants a few, i’ll keep a few that have been autographed (Marillion and Matthew Sweet, just to name a few) and i may see if my nephews would like some of the others. If i had to remove all 400 and individually bag them, it would take all day.
1 – I’m on a mission to use up all the less-than-fresh foodstuffs in my pantry, fridge, and freezer. Consumed this week: some fruit cocktail and canned peas and carrots left behind by my MIL’s tenants, the last of a batch of mediocre homemade pineapple popsicles left over from the summer, buttermilk with a sell-by date of November 2017 (it tasted fine), and some cornmeal
“best before May 05 2015” (!).
2 – Our washing machine was spinning out of balance on every load, no matter how many pieces of clothing were in it. DH disassembled the washer and I researched the problem online — turns out the shock absorbers in the struts were worn out. The local shop where we bought the washer got us in touch with a replacement parts supplier; a week later, DH had new struts in hand and fixed the machine himself.
3 – I let a magazine subscription lapse after I found out our local library carries the same title.
4 – I dropped off a load of books at the Little Free Library in town. I’ll leave another stack on the book and magazine exchange shelf at the wellness center tomorrow morning.
5 – Thanks to The Frugal Girl’s recent tip that imitation vanilla extract tastes the same in baked goods as pure vanilla extract, I opted for a bottle of the former on today’s Sam’s Club trip. I paid $0.16/ounce instead of $2.62/ounce (!!!) for pure extract.
I haven’t read The Frugal Girl’s post (yet) about using imitation vanilla extract in baked goods, but I believe I’ve read somewhere that Cook’s Illustrated did their usual very thorough taste tests using “real” vanilla extract vs imitation, and found there really was minimal detectable difference. It was suggested to save the real stuff for things like vanilla frosting.
Just FYI, it takes just a couple of minutes to drop some vanilla beans into a bottle of cheap vodka. Stick it in the back of a cupboard for several months (a year is even better!) and you have pure vanilla extract for very little money that will last for years.
Today the drip line is getting installed on my few plants in the front yard. This is going to save me one watering, because they’ll get it right at the roots, and I won’t lose plant from forgetting to water.
Kids and I had hot buttered noodles with veggies for lunch. Those egg noodles are pretty filling and sustaining.
Reheating some leftover pizza from this weekend that I pulled from the freezer for dinner.
Signed up for a free trial of Netflix. Just going to enjoy the trial. I will cancel before the end of the trial.
Listed a couple things on varagesale, a pair of overalls my son outgrew and a Sunday school book my mother-in-law brought during her downsizing, that I’m not intending to use.
Random frugal thing this week: my favorite drawer organizers are cut down plastic milk gallon jugs. They are already squarish, and you can cut them down to whaterever the height of your drawers are.
Oh , this is great. This makes me think of so many other things I could use those jugs for.
I cut a wide hole out of the top including where the cap would go and leave the handle. I then poke 4 holes in the bottom with a sharp pointy knife. I use it as a clothes pin holder. You can leave it outside and the rain will flow out of the bottom of it. I’m pretty sure I got this idea from The Tightwad Gazette years ago.
Wow the wheels are spinning. I’m going thru the recycle bin now to organize my drawers. I was using cardboard boxes but these will be much better
My junk drawer is organized with the plastic divider sections from a fancy cookie selection we got as a gift. Two years later still works great!
Haven’t posted in a while ~ the flu really put me down.
1. Thank goodness I had several meals in the freezer and several easy to make meals from the pantry which avoided takeout for DH and GS while I was down and out.
2. Had a 20% off coupon and $15 Kohls Cash so I got DH 4 pairs of sox of a brand he really likes for FREE! Even he was impressed.
3. Received summary of my CVS 2017 savings ~ $838 saved in 2017 by using manufacturers’ coupons, CVS coupons, and ECBs. Top 1% of savers.
4. Went to the movies on Tuesday using AMC Stubs program. We had enough points to buy two tickets and a large popcorn and drink for less than $12. Movie popcorn is one of my downfalls. Saw The Post ~ good movie.
5. Bought a large pork loin roast on sale with bonus PlentiPoints. Cooked in the crockpot and then split in half ~ we had pulled pork for sandwiches and over baked potatoes for dinner and leftovers for lunch X2. The other half went in the freezer for a pork and mashed potatoes dinner another day.
Teddie, I love CVS! They’re always sending me coupons. Yesterday I got one for 32% off, which I’ll use tomorrow. Once I got one for 27% off–I don’t know how they calculate these random amounts, but I’m not complaining. I use the coupons for things I already plan on purchasing (some of which are CVS brands that I prefer over name brands or other generics).
1. Found that women’s day magazine automatically charged my 14.99 for this year. Cancelled it, as $5 is my limit for magazines, and I hadn’t read the last 2 magazines anyway.
2. fred meyer for the .99 1\2 gal milk. Splurged and got one chocolate!
3. Fred Meyer also had boneless roasts 50% off. After thinking maybe they’d just raised the prices, was pleasantly happy that wasn’t the case. $2.99 lb, which for this time of year was good. Bought 3 roasts for the freezer.
4. Had a 40% off coupon for Wilco farm store. Was hoping to find a new flannel shirt, but no luck. Instead got 4 pairs of boy’s boot socks. I have small feet! For $7.58. Carhart brand. I now have new socks for the next couple of winters. And the women’s were twice the price.
5. Ate out of the freezer last night. There were 4 fishsticks, one frozen salmon steak, 8 potstickers, and half a bag of kinda good steak fries. Not the best of meals, but no waste, and made room. We throw no food away. What we don’t consume, the dogs, or chickens will eat. No garbage service for us.We do a dump run twice a year.
My hubby gets frustrated when I feed the dog our leftovers that no one wants. Though that doggie might be getting chunky, at least I’m not throwing that food out!
1 – Sold my first item on Facebook Marketplace! It was previously on Craigslist & people tried to get it for next to nothing, relisted on FBMP & got what I asked. Listing another item tomorrow.
2- Listening to library books on CD while driving around for my job – I’m liking it better than the radio. Enjoying Sue Grafton’s Kinsey Millhone novels
3- Treated SIL & her husband to dinner at a local restaurant using a gift card I won through a local TV station contest.
4- Doing a fairly good job meal planning & eating from the pantry/freezer – made a tortilla-less chicken enchilada casserole that was popular with 3 generations!
5- Last January I hung all our clothes with the hanger ‘backwards’. If we wore it, we rehung it the correct way. Anything still backwards this January was bagged for donation.
#5-what a great idea!
I do this too and its wonderful. I’m trying to come up with a similar way to sort through my scarves.
FFT, water heater disaster edition. Two nights ago I heard water running. Checked the toilet that is the usual culprit but it was fine, so I put a pillow over my head and went to sleep. This was not a wise choice. By last night when I took the dog out the basement door for his dinner, the entire downstairs was damp and humid.The ancient water heater had cracked near the bottom, and it was leaking steadily into the room where we are storing boxes and furniture ready for our move. There’s no getting around that it was a costly and frustrating fix, but I managed to eke a few frugals out of it:
1) When we bought this house 13 years ago, my dad snooped around at the plumbing and electricity and so forth and showed up a few days later with a brand new water heater. “You’re going to need this pretty soon,” he said. No cost to us then or now, and a warm fuzzy memory of my dad. (All of you astute frugal folks will realize immediately that it would have been even more frugal to have swapped them out before the disaster. Ah, well.)
2) Hubs, bless him, had the foresight to put everything in the now-flooded room up on 2x4s, just in case. So aside from the feet of a few pieces of furniture and one box of saved Christmas wrapping paper, nothing got wet but the floor and baseboards. The wrapping paper wasn’t a huge sacrifice. Mopped the floor up all day long – definitely more water down there than 50 gallons, which means the dang thing lost its entire contents more than once – and am using fans and space heaters to really dry it. A hit to the utility bills, but much cheaper than one of those restoration cleaning places, which I thought longingly about when I first saw the mess.
3) Our plumber knows us well (we go cheer him on in local theater productions), so he fit me in even though he was really busy today. Talked me through turning off the water to the house and the power to the water heater, and got here as quickly as he could – in under four hours.
4) The room that got wet has been where teenagers hang out and watch movies for the entire 13 years we’ve lived here. There were soda spills and stains from snacks and cat barf on that floor that I thought would outlive the house itself. But being submerged for several hours in steaming hot water did wonders for the stains. Fingers crossed the tile itself isn’t too badly waterspotted – it’s a huuuuuge room and would be a bummer to have to re-floor just to sell the place.
5) A few non-disaster-related FFTs: worked from home yesterday and today (today wasn’t planned), saving on gas; took my lunch on Monday and ate leftovers for all meals at home; needed a quick refresher on something for a work project and found a documentary on Netflix that did the trick; started feeding the ancient cat dry food again (son who’s studying to be a vet thinks his teeth are too bad for the crunchy stuff, but my wallet thinks differently and the cat is ecstatic to have something to gnaw on whenever he feels like it); and making steady progress on the potential new job in spite of being exhausted and having to pretend on a phone call to being someplace other than a half-flooded house.
Hang in there, everybody – January is almost over!
Having recently sold my house, I found out that almost every lender will require the seller to replace the hot water heater unless it is basically brand new. Also, your home owners insurance should pay for water damage that occurred……while this may not be ideal, new flooring and paint might help sell the house faster.
1.Yesterday dawned cold and icy. Decided to stay in. Uh-oh…very low on groceries. Scratch pancakes for breakfast. Ramen noodles for lunch. Wanted a sweet to go with Three O’clock Coffee (I’m Swedish)…brownies with chopped walnuts from scratch. Supper was a small amount of hamburger with half a bag of pasta, half a jar of leftover Ragu, 1/4 onion from frig and a can of stewed tomatoes. American Chop Suey and enough leftover for lunch today. Surprising what can be pulled together out of what looks like very little.
2.I did get around to shopping today and walked out of the grocery store with $52 worth of food purchased with coupons and sales for $25.
3.Enjoyed homemade Italian grinders for supper with hubby.
4.Brought four items to the consignment store in town today. Will mend and iron two more items and will stop in with them sometime this week. Shirts seem to sell faster when ironed.
5.Stopped in at the library, which is being housed in the town hall temporarily, to get some copies made but it had already closed for the day. Took a chance and stopped in the tax collector’s office to see if they could do them for me…the very sweet woman working behind the counter was happy to make them for me, free of charge.
Love your # 1 re three O’clock coffee — my Mom and I visited Stockholm this past September and really took to the “fika” tradition!
Thanks Tracy! I’m glad you enjoyed “fika”. And in Stockholm…what a place to discover it! It really is a nice break in the middle of the afternoon.
1. Shopped the final clearance racks at Marshalls and purchased items to sell at Platos-making $20.
2. Bought $15 worth of yogurt at Target and after coupons and the $5 gift card I got for the purchase I only spent $8.
3. Finding pennies only this week, but I’m up to almost $2 for January so far.
4. Eating from refrigerator, freezer and pantry, only buying food that is a really great deal (see #2). My husband thinks we are running out of food, but we still eat well.
5. Haven’t bought any clothing other than from thrift stores where I have been able to find things I NEEDED.
That silpat mat is an excellent find! I only recently started cooking with silpat and it’s a total game changer. I use much less parchment paper, so I love that it helps reduce waste. 🙂
This week:
1. I’m meal-planning right now to create dishes based on our pantry. Hopefully this will lower our shamefully high grocery bill. *gulp*
2. I have surgery scheduled for March and I’ve been harassing doctors to get CPT codes. We’re trying to save cash to pay for the surgery so there will be zero surprises. I’m also making a list of items I’ll need to locate ahead of time for maximum comfort, like an airplane neck pillow (I’m having neck surgery). Planning ahead increases the chance that I can find these items used for less moolah. I’m also hoarding coupons for OTC pain meds.
3. I really wanted chocolate last night but only had cocoa powder. Instead of going out for sweets, I baked brownies here at home.
4. I’ve been using my Amazon Prime membership to download oodles of borrowed eBooks on my Kindle app. As a bonus, I’m reading about business and frugality. Useful indeed!
5. I made my own dryer balls instead of buying them. Time will tell if they help reduce our energy bill.
When you’re having your surgery, watch out for extras. I was shocked to find on my bill that the cheapo booties were $18. There’s also a charge for the wash basin with soap and the mini-toothbrush. The last time I was in I refused almost everything. DH jokes that he was afraid I was going to haggle over the oxygen.
1. Watching the Australian Open for entertainment.
2. Brought leftovers home from dinner at my parents last night.
3. My mother saved some take out containers for me. I never understand why people buy the plastic ones. I use them when I bake for people or when friends come for dinner and they take home leftovers. I read an article that talked about reusing being more important than recycling. Doubling down on that as plastic waste is showing up EVERYWHERE in the environment.
4. Hang drying shirts.
5. I am invited to friends for dinner Saturday night. I am going to make a white bean dip with ingredients I have on hand and some beer that is in my fridge.
I reuse plastic containers and I wash & dry plastic ziploc bags. My family and friends laugh at me. I’ve started using ceramic containers with lids, so I’m trying to cut down on plastic use, too. My brother is like me and there’s one container we’ve passed between us for years, when giving each other leftovers from family dinners.
I wash and reuse Ziploc bags too. I hang them to dry like laundry over my sink where they can drip dry. I started buying small casserole dishes with covers at yard sales and thrift shops years ago. They are perfect for leftovers and reducing the use of plastic: containers and plastic wrap to cover glass dishes. I even send them home with guests. I usually get them back!
1) I picked up two more books and another audiobook at the Library, while dropping off the one I finished. Tony Robbin’s book “Unshakeable” is great. I listened to a few of the audio discs twice.
2) I’ve eaten breakfast and lunch here at work every day this week – which is an accomplishment, because I usually eat at least one lunch out, so that’s improvement for me.
3) I’d slipped and bought some soda to drink a few times in the past month, but I’m back on track making sure I have water to drink when I’m driving, so I don’t give in to temptation.
4) I offered to help my daughter finish moving this weekend, so she doesn’t feel the need to rent a u-haul to get everything that’s left at the house she’s moving out of. I can use the exercise and she can save her money.
5) The brown leather ankle boots, I bought at GW a few weeks back for less that $5, are so comfortable and look good with my work slacks. I’m ecstatic I finally found a pair of Winter shoes in great shape that didn’t cost me a fortune.
#5 Sounds great. Winter shoes are so hard to find that don’t cost an arm and a leg and ugly to boot (no pun intended).
1. Sold 2 items this week have been on Craigslist for over a month. Junk out and money in!
2. Continuing to menu plan and eat from the freezer/pantry. Nobody is going hungry, and both are still full.
3. Looking forward to our free date night Saturday. Our Boy Scout Council puts on a “Popcorn Appreciation Dinner” for the “popcorn kernels” each year, and our Cub Scout Pack sold enough again this year that I got a plus one invite. Usually a really good meal, and grandma offered to babysit. We don’t get out much, so this is a treat!
4. Spend the morning making homemade valentines with my daughter out items we had on hand. She loves sending mail to out of state relatives.
5. Hit an estate sale last week to kill time before an appointment, and bought a bag of postage stamps for $1. There were old stamps in there, but also 18 $.41 stamps, so I hit the post office yesterday and picked up enough 4 and 5 cent stamps to equal the new 50 cent stamp price. Will use those to mail the homemade cards in red envelopes leftover from Christmas cards that I screwed up.
Re: #5, I do the same thing with old stamps. We recently cleaned out my mother-in-law’s house and found tons of old stamps (I think some were in the 30 cent range–how long ago was that, lol). I’ll just combine enough of them to get the correct postage (even if it’s a few cents over).
FFT
1 dinner last night was a can of $1 black beans mixed into a microwaveable bag of brown rice and couscous, from my neighbor’s pantry clean out. The rice mix was a “ best by “July of 2016,
2 cut my own hair
3 will cut DH’s hair later today.
4 my son provided 3+ dozen quail eggs that we have had for breakfast this week.
5 making shopping bags from free feedsacks, also supplied by son.
I am woefully late in doing a KUDOS to Katy for a suggestion she posted months ago.
She mentioned not wasting money on expensive shaving crème and/or soap. Her suggestion was just using frugal (e.g., Dollar Tree) hair conditioner for shaving.
I have been following her suggestion ever since and have saved $$$ as I avoid purchasing more expensive shaving crème. Although I retired last fall, I still shave my face daily, so the savings has been substantial.
Thanks to Katy (from a fellow SE Portlander)
It’s been awhile since I posted FTs, mostly because I don’t have anything others haven’t already posted. But I can add:
1) Thanks to Bee and her ”question everything” posts a few months back (I used to do that regularly but had let it lapse) I changed auto ins. companies and saved about $400 dollars per year.
2) I’m about to switch cell providers, too, and will save about $30/mo.
3) Errands took much longer than expected one day and I ran out of packed-along snacks and meals. I got a light plate at a by-the-pound buffet (and free water), but one of the foods was undercooked and inedible. They refunded the entire (modest) cost of my plate. I love Wegmans! And, it pays to ask. 😀
4) We had a rash of frozen plumbing issues during the last 2 cold waves, but DH soldered the tear in our tankless water heater, put a higher wattage light bulb in the crawl space, and saved us $300 in heater element replacement or professional repair. Bonus points: it’s illegal to sell incandescent bulbs now in
our state, so he got one out of a dusty grocery bagful in his mother’s basement.
5) I had a catastrophic tech failure, and DS (I had the frugal foresight to give birth to a Tech God) spent hours on text and calls guiding me thru getting back up and running in 24 hrs. He never charges me, but I paid him anyway. It’s a deductible business expense, and he saves me a small fortune and many hours’ anxiety. And I actually enjoyed being untethered from the laptop for several hours. It was in some ways quite liberating!
6) We used up the last of the homegrown parsnips in a winter stew, along with the last of winter-harvested collards. Still eating apples, onions, garlic from fall harvest purchases.
7) There’s a pressure-cooker full of bulk-purchased red beans cooking in residual heat (turned off after 10 minutes on high, then swaddled in several layers of clean toweling). We’ll have some in wraps tonight, use the rest for stews and paella for the next 2-3 days’ entrees. Yay for plannedovers!
Yippee! I am glad that you saved money on your auto insurance. $400 is a good bit of money. BTW, you are fortunate to have a tech guru for a son. Way to go! 🙂
😀 Thanks, you! {{{}}}
1. Returned a bar ofsoap someone bought me for Xmas from TJ Maxx that I din’t like and got credit for it. Bought s snack and a gift bag for my granddaughter’s birthday coming up.
2. Haven’t been making dinner, since still recovering from stroke, but last night sliced open a going stale loaf of french bread, layered it with ham and cheese, painted it with the garlic butter sauce that came with our last pizza, wrapped in foil, baked at 350 for 30 min. Sliced, served with marinara and ranch sauce. It was good! The ret will be my lunch today!
3. Needed to buy some vitamins and supplements, took advantage of a CVS online deal, so got 10 bottles for $59.30! and free shipping, so not needing to go to the store!!
4. Started rereading a favorite series, which i don’t have the #1 of, so downloaded it from the library!
5. need to mail some packages, so using leftover boxes from Xmas deliveries!
1. Work provided some free soda and salad dressing, leftover from an event last week. It perked up yesterday’s lackluster salad lunch that I brought.
2. I know home warranties have a so-so reputation, but we lucked into a good company when we bought our house six years ago. It paid for itself again this week, when all we had to do to get our fridge from “dead as a hammer” to working great again was a $60 co-pay. Had we not had the warranty, repairs would have been about as expensive as replacing the fridge.
3. The Mister and I both needed some work clothes, specifically trousers and jeans. He’s not usually frugal savvy, but he shopped around and did well. I bought end of season clearance with a promo code and free shipping.
4. Snagged a couple of free e-books to read with the Kindle app.
5. Tried our overweight female kitty out on Chewy’s own brand of grain-free cat food, and she likes it. There was a 50% discount on the first bag.
I have been down for the count for most of the week with either a nasty, nasty cold or the flu. I did get a flu shot and was sick over Christmas. Being down meant I stayed home, only going out to take dd to the movies and to job interviews. Managed to only get pizza for dinner one night – I thought of other stuff in the freezer for daughter and hubby to make. Looking forward to feeling better next week.
My dad used to sing “A Bushel and a Peck” to us kids and I sang it to my kids.
Came home from a trip a little under the weather, but was able to make a soup of chicken broth, turkey, and vegetables, all from the freezer.
We continue to use up freezer and pantry food. We spent about $50 for salad fixings and a few staples, but most of the meats and sides for this week we already had.
I received a letter from a friend, and they had enclosed a check in an unused envelope. I used the unused envelope for a greeting card I needed to mail.
I passed on some babiesrus coupons to my daughter for a purchase she wants to make.
No gold, silver, bronze, or platinum anything for me.
1. Sold more on the local FB page… like someone else said, junk out and cash $ in hand. Among the items sold: 5 pr of children’s ice skates for $5/pr. They’ve been cluttering the basement since my youngest was 3—she’s now 26. I bought them used so their father could take them skating. I don’t remember them ever going. Couldn’t bring myself to give them to the lady in that condition, so I spent about 90 min. cleaning them all. Felt good about giving them to her–and–had $25 clutched in my little hand.
2. even more exciting—sold my first item on eBay. How exciting to open my e-mail and find the notice. Small panic that I might have forgotten where the item was…. looked in the place that I hoped I left it—and there it was, in a box and everything. Mailed it out that morning. Only ~~$6—but that’s better than having it be useless junque cluttering up the place even worse.
3. got more canning jars, this time for 17.5 cents each; I’ll sell jars once canning season starts for $5/dozen.
4. went to the grocery store this week and bought milk, distilled water for the CPap machine and lettuce. All else is being used from the freezer and the pantry. Feel-good meal of the week: pork chops from our hogs, home canned potatoes, home canned green beans, and home canned applesauce.
5. made daughter #2 a pillowcase for her body pillow. The last one began to disintegrate after 5 years. Repurposed an old sheet—I’ve been using up the misc. ones left after 1/2 the set wore through of many of the sets from when the kids lived here and all had twin beds. I’ve made pillowcases, filter bags for some of my canning recipes, worked in w/ other fabrics for quilts, lined tote bags, and made storage bags for their winter bedding and repaired misc. stuff. I’m mailing the pillowcase (not very frugal, but I’m splurging) with a token Valentine—a small thing but it gives me joy to send a small treat to my girls who live so very far from me. She’s on the west coast of the state—about 90 min away; the others are either 4 states away, or worse an entire continent away.
List more and you will sell more! I’ve found that people buy just about everything you post. Sometimes it takes a while. Good luck 🙂
1. Started a new job where there is plenty of drama, so they gave me a paid day off tomorrow! Yay!
2. Brought my lunch every day and brought a GIANT brie that I got at Grocery Outlet as a gift for the lady I work with. She was so happy!
3. No time to eat lunch so I left half an hour early every day. Yay!
4. New job is 5 minutes from home on surface streets, so there’s very little gas usage and wear on my car. Yay!
5. Did not buy a kayak (but I want to!)
Have a happy week NCA peeps 🙂
Teresa…No. 1 is very intriguing! Can you give us a hint without infringing on privacy?
At this job (and I really can’t say where it is because of privacy issues) they are very open-minded but there have been problems with an individual who has escalating issues. I’m going to keep the job for now because everything about it is what I wanted except the pay (… and that career wise it’s sort of going backward for me but I’m 61 so maybe that doesn’t matter anymore?) … (and of course, the drama has been stressful.) We’ll see how it goes. It is weird. The paid day off was meant to keep us safe but tomorrow we go in… I don’t even know what to say… that’s how strange it is. I figure I can go to Harbor Freight and get some pepper spray later today…
My gosh, Teresa, that would be majorly stressful! (I was just imagining a dreadful deadline, which many of us have known without time off.) Be careful and good luck!!!