Five Frugal Things
by Katy on March 4, 2019 · 94 comments
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I sold a snowboarding jacket that I’d picked up from the pay-by-the-pound Goodwill bins, as well as a vintage florist’s frog and a bizarre kit that converts food into a frothy substance that frankly looks like saliva. I’d received it as a gift, and it’s now on its merry way to Puerto Rico. I could easily have let it sit on a shelf or donated it to Goodwill, but instead I turned it around for $45 and some random dude across the world gets that one thing that he’s been wanting.
It may seem hypocritical for “The Non-Consumer” to sell things, but I’m pairing difficult to find items with people who would otherwise buy new.
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Things were slow at my labor and delivery unit this week, and I was ordered to stay home for eight hours of a 12 hour shift. My phone rang as I was on my way in, but I didn’t answer it as A) I was driving, and B) I pretty sure they were telling me to stay home. I’d already confirmed that I was to come in, so I continued my commute. They were indeed giving me the opportunity to stay home, but my union has specific rules for these circumstances so I’ll receive my four hours of pay. And you already know that I enjoyed a cup (or two) of their free so-so coffee. Plus, there was enough work for me helping others with their deliveries.
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My stepfather had a birthday, so we hosted the gang at my house for dinner. I made an Asian style chicken vaguely based on this recipe, as well as rice and broccoli. I baked up a gluten-free box cake that was not only dry but also flavorless, although I balanced it out with a polar vortex of icing. My gift was the meal, plus I deliberately prepared enough to send him home with enough leftovers for another full supper. Nobody needs more stuff, but we do all need delicious food!
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I picked up the first season of Star Trek: Discovery from the library. (I think it put it on hold summer of 2018, which says a little something about how much Portlanders love both Star Trek and their libraries.) I’d binged it using a free 30-day trial last year, but wanted to watch it again. My daughter hasn’t seen it yet, so we now have three weeks to blow through it together. This newest Star Trek series really does hold up to the hype! I’m hesitant to make such a bold declaration, but I think I like it even more than The Next Generation.
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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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{ 94 comments… read them below or add one }
1. Two Aldi experiences: first I returned some bad oranges. Was given the money back and a new bag. Second- I was surprised by the total of my bill so I checked the receipt before I left the store. I had been charged for 17 boxes of crackers instead of 1. They credited my account for the mistake and gave me the box of crackers.
2. I found 27 cents
3. Sold two things on E-bay and one on Craigslist.
4. A friend brought me some take out Chinese the other night when she came to visit. I sent her home with a bag of homemade cookies and an audio book that I had listened to on a recent trip. I had bought it at Ollie’s for 2.99. I got three meals out of the Chinese food.
5. Over the last two weeks I have frozen a portion of each meal I made. I now have enough food to take for meals at work for the next week or so. I’ll be working long hours and this stops me from the temptation of take out.
Frugal fail: I ran into the post office to mail my e-bay packages without putting money in the meter. Didn’t see the meter reader, who was obviously walking down the street, and ended up with a $25.00 parking ticket.
I hate the “stupid tax,” and pay it multiple times per year in various ways.
Yep, me too!
This has been an extremely unfrugal week so I really don’t have anything to post but I just came here to say that while I also liked Discovery very much, by the soul of Kahless, it’s not better than TNG!
Star Trek: The Next Generation was the best!
Big TNG fan here, too! Though I haven’t seen Discovery yet.
Signing up the kids for a summer charter school. It will provide $500 toward educational supplies for each kid. Bob Ross how-to DVDs, art supplies, science kits, and swimming lessons here we come.
Our massive batch of chili got finished up at lunch today.
Using my free and very tasty turkey broth made shortly after Thanksgiving to give flavor to a roast in the crock pot. Majorly looking forward to dinner.
Scored airplane tickets to Indiana for my brother’s wedding for less than $300 each. An expense for sure, but it’s ’bout time I got over there, plus my other brother and his family from TX will be there. Dad is splurging for a rental vehicle for us.
Made my own drill and practice pages for addition, subtraction and multiplication for my oldest two. I check off after they get it correct quickly, and they have to get them all correct like a billion times each. I didn’t have flashcards, and I was pretty sure they’d pick out and hide the hard ones. More control, more oversight…I’m that kind of homeschool mom. LOL!
Not a great week, but did have one frugal victory: needed a new winter coat. Walked into a little charity thrift shop on the spur of the moment, it was just opening for the morning and right as I walked over to the coats, they announced that all winter coats were $1! I plucked the only decent one off the rack immediately: a navy blue down-filled DKNY hooded parka, almost-to-the-knee-length, in my size. Minor issues: missing one zipper pull on a pocket (not noticeable) and the bottom of the main zipper had pulled out of the lining. After a wash and dry, I super-glued the zipper back in place (I’m no seamstress!), and it’s good as new! The only fail to this was that while making small talk with the cashier, I mentioned how my old coat was starting to get snug, and she asked if I was pregnant (I’m not). However, I’m now reaching an age where this is no longer an insult to my physique and is starting to seem like a compliment to my youthful appearance! 🙂
Love your outlook and it made me laugh out loud
I paid off my house, my car, IRS, and a loan. That is four and that is all I have and I have no money left. Lol
You go, Cindy!!!
Cindy, you rock!! Congratulations!!
WOOHOO Cindy! Way to go!
Way to go!!!! Congratulations.
Good for you, Cindy. Must feel great to be debt free.
Thanks y’all. My house cost $25,000 so I did not have a huge house expense because I live way in the boonies. LoL My car is a Yaris so it was inexpensive to begin with. I still have medical debt to deal with but I now have more cash each month to put on it. I just did not want anyone thinking I paid off a million dollar house. The most expensive house in my town was bought for $110,000..
Cindy, it’s a great accomplishment, no matter the price! Enjoy! Go team Go!
Patricia/Fl
I also want to extend my congratulations. Those are fabulous achievements!!!!
Doesn’t matter the cost of your home, you still rock!
Still, great accomplishment. Hip-hip-hooray!
Congratulations! It doesn’t matter if it was an expensive house or not. The only thing that matters is that you are mortgage free!
CONGRATS! That is nothing short of amazing! I wish I could say I’d done the same. So happy for you!! I’m even doing a little happy dance to get myself in the mood to try and match your success. You rock! Now sit back and enjoy ALL THAT YOU HAVE <3 🙂
Wow! Congratulations.
Cindy, that’s so awesome! Congratulations! Such a big accomplishment. Celebrate with a nice bottle of (clearance) wine! lol!
Adding my voice to all of the kudos Cindy. Amazing! I live in a relatively high COL area so houses for $110,000 don’t exist, let alone $25k! You are amazingly frugal, I love reading your posts especially as I am also a lawyer. You inspire me as I look forward a couple of years to retirement on a significantly reduced income.
I am trying to get ready for retirement in a few yrs also,Tracy, so I do understand. I admire all of you in high cost of living areas because it has to be difficult. Houses are much more expensive an hour away from here. My house would cost $100,000 or more in that college town.
Congratulations Cindy! You give me inspiration!
How do you find the buy by the pound stores? Sounds like I would have tons of fun in those.
Just google goodwill outlet bins
Yes. That’s how I found the one closest to my home (in Dayton, Ohio). Have had fantastic luck, and a lot of fun, digging through the bins.
FFT, Hanging in There Edition:
(1) First, a frugal victory: I finally found the winter coat of my dreams at a thrift store stop last Tuesday, on the way home from DH’s 6-month checkup with his GP (physically, at least, he’s in better shape than I am). The coat was an LL Bean “Weather Challenger 3-in-1” with detachable hood and zip-out lining (which can be worn separately as a windbreaker), in a roomy men’s L, apparently never worn but with a slightly musty smell. My guess is that someone bought it for Grandpa as a present, Grandpa shoved it to the back of his closet at his backwoods cabin, and it got found when the relatives were clearing things out. The retail price of this beauty is $229; I got it for $22.50 ($30, less the thrift chain’s Tuesday 25% senior citizen discount!). The outer coat and the liner aired out separately on two of our dining room chairs, and they didn’t need laundering. Woot woot! I’m now wearing the outer coat all over town and grinning from ear to ear as I remember how much it didn’t cost me.
(2) I just did a KonMari clean-out of the refrigerator. Gone are various over-sell-by-date/funky/actually-growing-mold items. I washed out and saved the glass containers that were worth saving, put the dubious glass into recycling, and jettisoned the plastic and all the funkies. (As noted in an earlier FFT comment, China is no longer accepting a lot of our U.S. “recyclables,” particularly plastic. As Katy would probably say, it’s better if we don’t buy the plastic in the first place–but if we already have, well, we gotta deal with it.)
(3) Now, the harder stuff: DH’s Alzheimer’s is getting worse, despite best efforts by me, his GP, his geriatrician, and the senior complex where he attends cognitive care programs. I’m trying once again to deal with this proactively by looking into locally available respite care (believe me, I need more than a few hours’ break at this point) and resigning myself to the fact that I’m probably going to have to retire altogether when I reach Medicare age in August 2020. (Gotta hang in there till then because of the health insurance on my job. God bless my employers for making the health insurance available even now that I’m working 25 hours/week.)
(4) I’m also relying as usual on the support of friends. Called a sympathetic old buddy today (while DH was in a program) to vent, and am grateful for the understanding of a local committee on which I serve. Intelligent backup = priceless.
(5) And one frugal fail: I did my best to put together a grocery order on Saturday that would qualify for the chain’s coupon for $10 off a $75 purchase–but I came in $2 short. If I’d been doing this solo, I’d have run back and gotten one more item on my “possibles” list–but I had DH with me and didn’t want to leave him standing in line and confused. Sigh.
A. Marie – your #3 – Alzheimer’s is such a mean disease. Your proactive approach is sure to serve you and your DH well. Thinking of you and your DH and sending you support from the New England hinterlands.
A. Marie, I am so very sorry to hear that your husband’s Alzheimer’s is galloping along despite everyone’s efforts. I have nothing profound or helpful to say, except that sometimes my mind flashes to what you are dealing with and I say a little prayer for you. I am not sure prayers work but there is not much else I can do. I wish it could be more.
A. Marie,
Congrats on the coat score! And I am so sorry about your hubby’s progression. I so enjoy your posts and appreciate your attitude. I hope things go as well as possible for as long as possible and that you DO get more respite care.
Tracy
I’m so sorry about your husband’s Alzheimers. I can’t imagine how hard that must be.
So sorry. Hugs.
A. Marie, i’m so sorry to hear that your husband’s disease has progressed more.
I am so sorry to hear about your husband’s Alzheimer’s. I am glad you have the support of friends. Hope the respite care helps.
Thanks to everybody for the prayers, good thoughts, and support. They mean a lot, and they help me a lot.
Sending you wishes of peace, love and strength. I’m so sorry.
Oh A.Marie, I’m sorry to hear this. I hope some of the focus of his treatment includes respite care for you. This is so needed for the caregiver. Best to you and I wish I lived close to you to lend a hand.
A. Marie, I’m sad to see this about your husband’s advancing Alzheimers. I really hope you get more (much-needed) respite – a friend recently mentioned to me that “you can’t pour from an empty cup”.
I’m part of the “respite team” for my mother in law, who has vascular dementia (result of a series of many, many mini strokes she has had over the past years – the doctors aren’t even sure how long it’s been going on). My sister in law and brother in law live with her during the week, and family + hired help cover the weekends. So thankful she and my fil were frugal, and she has resources for her care.
Reading your posts gives me strength. Many hugs to you. Great catch on the winter jacket, too – I have a similar LLBean jacket, and it’s wonderful.
The February Vacation Version
We spent 5 days visiting family in Seattle, a city dear to my heart from the years that I lived there as a young single person. The vacation itself was not all that frugal, but, like many of you, travel and experiences are part of the reason we are frugal in other ways. Dear Wife and I especially enjoyed a 6 course chef choice meal at an 18 seat restaurant sourcing local food and wine – definitely not something available at home! 🙂
1) Direct flights from regional hub city were much less expensive than our closer airport and friends in the city graciously offered to keep our car. We took them to dinner as a thank you.
2) Family in Seattle was able to use their library card to secure us free entrance to the Woodland Park Zoo! We had a great time, happily paid extra to hand feed the penguins, and left with my favorite souvenir – a pressed penny.
3) Spent much of two days at Discovery Park and Carkeek Park, both of which have access to the Pacific Ocean and interesting fauna and flora and are free. Also spent time at the Ballard Locks and got to watch a tugboat and a sailboat make their way through the locks system, again no cost to visit.
4) DS’s delighted in a walking trip to our family’s local Seattle library branch where we loaded up on books and dvds. It made me so happy that he looked forward to this as an exciting adventure on our first day of vacation.
5) We were able to borrow our family’s car as well which was very helpful and they gave us a ride to the airport at a VERY early hour. We filled the tank before we left as a thank you.
We were so grateful to our family for hosting us and left a few small gifts (in addition to taking them out for a couple of meals) that we hoped they might like. Vacation = yay!
You were in my hood, I’ve lived on Phinney Ridge for 30 years, it is a great and wonderful place with a special community. Before I moved here, the PNA lending tool library was started. Rodger Faris was the librarian and a wealth of knowledge for home repairs. We have a great community center and I LOVE our neighborhood!
Kim – Let’s hear it for Phinney Ridge!! Though I was a little sad to learn that Mae’s had closed, your lovely neighborhood seems to be thriving. Seattle is a wonderful city and I am always always glad to be there.
1. After a particularly hard rain, the ceiling in our bedroom fell in. We didn’t even know we had a leak. Insulation (the blown in kind) got all over my comforter. Thought I was going to have to throw it away but decided to use the sweater de-fuzzer thingee on it and worked perfectly. Salvaged!!! Of course replacing the roof was not frugal but we got five quotes and ended up with a very responsible contractor.
2. Sent a pillow to my stepdaughter that was gifted to me for “comfort” after my breast cancer surgery. She was diagnosed just after me and I knew it would be a comfort to her too.
3. Have trained hubby well. He saw a penny on the ground and actually picked it up!!
4. Purchased a few items (Jim Shore) at my neighbor’s estate sale for resale. Love Jim Shore but don’t need anymore.
5. Dinner tonight and for the rest of the month will be out of the freezer/pantry. Need to save money for upcoming two-week bus trip. We save for these trips so that we do not have to charge them. Misc expenses are put on credit card (where I earn points) and then paid off when we get back.
1. The quarterly gas shops have opened up again so I did eight this week, which netted me eight Diet Cokes (you get reimbursed for any product up to a dollar, since they require that you purchase something. We no longer buy pop at the grocery store, so this is my little treat) and a full tank of gas by the time I was finished adding the required few gallons at each shop. Plus, I made $13 for each shop on top of the gas and pops.
2. Husband’s hair continues to grow like he was still 21, so the curls falling over his ears and collar had to be hacked off. I would say trimmed, but I am more of a hacker but I am cheaper than a barber. It would be easy to hate him for having a luxurious head of pure white ringlets that only look better when it rains or gets humid…
3. Our Dane died. He was our younger dog, only 5, so it was totally unexpected. He nursed me through my illness, with his attention and kisses and refusal to leave my side even during the period when I was so drugged up and weak that I was sleeping 19 hours or sometimes more a day. I had just purchased a new giant mat for him and normally the store won’t accept returns but when I explained the circumstances, they made an exception, given that it was still in plastic and had all the tags. It was $110, so no small thing. I am sure the manager just wanted to get rid of me when I started weeping—not out of manipulation but because I am grief stricken at the loss.
4. Found two quarters in the grocery store parking lot and was well enough to bend down to pick them up, which is not always the case so was glad for the money and for a day of good health.
5. I was taken off one of my medications, soon after receiving a 90-day supply. That same week, my husband was put on that same medication, only at half the strength. We have the same doctor and she said while she could not suggest that my meds be used by someone else, that she could not control what patients did and if they split pills in half that was their business.
6. I had a baggie of frozen shredded carrots. There were way too many to add to the soup I was making so I looked around for other ways to use them up. A few weeks ago, our local grocery store gave patrons a free Betty Crocker brownie mix, so I threw about a cup and a half of carrots into the mix and it worked out fine—the chocolate covered the taste of carrots and the brownies came out especially moist. Sort of like dark chocolate carrot cake!
I’m so sorry about your Dane. 🙁
I’m sorry you lost your dog. That’s heartbreaking.
So sorry.
So sorry about the pup. I know you are so sad.
So sorry about your sweet pup. Our dog’s best friend is a Great Dane. Such a gentle giant. Sending you love & hugs xoxo
Lindsey, I’m so sorry about your Great Dane. They’re wonderful dogs. A neighbor had a Dane named Ruby (now, sadly, also deceased) who had a shameless crush on DH, and vice versa. Ruby did DH a lot of good while she was here.
And good thoughts to you and your DH as you cope with your assorted medical challenges–and to everyone here we go on dealing with whatever life has sent our way.
I am sorry to hear of the loss of your beloved Dane. Thinking of you.
My condolences on the loss of your dog. They really do become like family and I feel for what you are going through. Take care.
I understand as my husband who is retired military does not feel constrained to be worried about his gray hair touching his ears or even covering them. He actually looks very good with his hair longer as it is full, shiny and “fluffy” as I call it. A very nice salt and pepper mix with his beard. He said he did his short hair time in the military. He is past that. I have two boys, the younger prefers his hair longer, I consider it messy and my younger wants his cropped short. My hair reaches past my elbows and hubby cuts everyone’s hair. He said ge is hot going to fight with the boys over haircuts, that is a waste of time and only creates hard feelings. So he tells them it is their hair, if they want it cut fine, if not that is ok too. I just know that he does the haircuts, it saves me time and money, the boys are happy. Hubby trims my long locks every other month and I have not been to the salon in years. No appointments, no travel, no high cost, mindless gossip or being barraged to buy product. I and rhe boys get compliments, my best friend comes by to get her haircuts from him, so we are doing something right.
Sick this week:
1. Drinking lots of tea, I have them stored in glass jars so I can see my “tea inventory”.
2. Using another reader’s tip: pouring hot water into my honey jars to get that last bit, the honey-water sweetened my tea just right and no waste.
3. Heated some home made broth with celery, spinach, 1/2 pack of ramen, lemon juice, ginger and siracha. Not true Pho, but it sure helped me to feel better.
4. Watched Netflix all weekend. All weekend. Felt like a sloth, but knew I’d better rest so I could go to work on Monday.
5 . Didn’t grocery shop, too sick, so we ate what we have.
1. Worked dog show gigs over the weekend. Free breakfast and lunch plus I took home a couple of cans of Diet Coke.
2. Received $26 in class action lawsuit checks
3. BOGO dresses at thrift store. Found new with tag dress for me and one for daughter in law
4. Picked up 2 audio books from library for free
5. Made chicken ravioli soup from stuff in refrigerator.
Kathy, regarding your #2, I just found out about a website called TopClassActions.com that lists lots of recent class-action lawsuits and how to submit a claim. For example, Canada Dry recently settled a class-action lawsuit regarding the fact that their ginger ale doesn’t contain real ginger. I don’t buy ginger ale, but if I did, I’d be pulling out my receipts! 🙂
1. Found Hershey dark chocolate chips on sale (yellow “woo hoo” stickered at Freddy’s) for .39/package (about 85% off), bought 9 packages. The Kroger brand brownie mix is only $1.19/box (very good and fudgy) and especially divine with a package of chocolate chips mixed in before baking. Delicious dessert for $1.58 for whole family, and stocked up now to have lots more times!
2. Different day -found Starbucks Holiday Blend coffee (a lovely medium roast coffee) on sale at Freddy’s for $2.29 package, doesn’t expire until summer 2019, but because it’s marked “Holiday 2018” It was yellow stickered at 75% off. I bought all ten packages.
3. Found a cute light “kimono” open style layering top at Value Village thrift store for $6 but because it was considered a winter item (even though it looks “springy” to me) I got it for half off the $6 marked price — $3 for a little wardrobe refresh!
4. Made three meals out of one roast chicken (bought BOGO at Freddy’s, other one’s in freezer for later) — roast chicken dinner first night, tonight will be thai chicken curry over rice and yesterday made a pot of chicken and green chile soup that’s in the fridge for later in the week.
5. My youngest will be driving as of next January and plan was to get a new-to-me late model used car and pass down my 2004 Audi wagon to her (already passed down to me from my mom). My brother recently moved to Las Vegas after he retired and is selling his house here, he and his wife are going down to one car (plus a golf cart!) in LV, and he offered to sell me his immaculately maintained, low mileage (under 50K) 2011 Audi Q5 for a great price (saving me at least $8k off what I anticipated having to spend next year for a good used AWD car). I should be able to drive it for 10 years, love Audis, so am buying it now (living somewhat frugally means we have savings to pay cash now) and putting it in the garage until next January so we don’t have to insure it or put miles on it until we need it.
6. We were going to go out and see “A Star is Born” Saturday night — with 4 of us, tickets would have been $48. I realized it was available to rent online for $6 so we watched at home instead, saving $42 plus the temptation to spend extra money on treats at the theater! Since we’d already been out and about Saturday it was nice to stay in and watch.
Great finds! I would’ve bought up all of the chocolate chips also
Funny, I thrifted an embroidered kimono style top today at my favorite thrift store. It was half-price day. It cost $3. Odd……
That’s some serious synchronicity Bee!
When you store a car–there are guidelines to follow. Tires may dry rot if not driven. Gas in the tank may cause some moisture problems. It will need to be driven occasionally. Congrats on the car! Awesome!
1) Had an unexpected day off from work. Made it a “no drive” day. I walked down the block and had tea with my neighbor. Then caught up on bills and watched Roma on Netflix.
2) I’m enjoying packing my work lunches and making lattes at work.
3) Some friends and I went in together to do a charitable donation. It’s so rewarding to give to something you believe in and so great to organize it as a group!
4) Eating out of the freezer and pantry to start this month. We had a lot of company last month and spent more than we expected on groceries.
5) My daughter is coming home for spring break! Frugal activities include: well check, rx refills, lots of sleep and home cooked meals, and probably a couple of coffee runs. Can’t wait to see her!
1. I wanted a new notebook to try my hand at dot journaling. I found one with a few written on pages in the desk upstairs. Now I can keep track of my spending, appointments and journal at the same time.
2. I’ve sold a few more items on ebay and have reused packaging material to ship.
3. I’m maxing out my contribution to my HSA to take advantage of the tax break.
4. I’ve used several coupons – free dog wash, $5 off dogs elk horn, $10 off dinner and also got $10 off a bottle of face lotion making it only $1.50.
5. My daughters are off on spring break. We’ve made a trip to library for free books and a DVD Crazy Rich Asians that I’ve been wanting to see. Watched a free comedy show at the dog park pub (purchased drinks, dog ice cr)eam and made a contribution to a pet charity) but still a low cost entertainment. It’s restaurant week so we got a special price on dinner out as well as using a coupon.
6. I forgot to mention that my daughter has finally figured out her major that she’s going to declare in May. We checked out the requirements for graduation and it appears she may be able to graduate a semester early. She needs to make an appointment with her advisor but if it’s true that would be great.
Fabulous!
1. Mended a sheet that really wasn’t old enough to have a tear in it. Must be all the cats that lounge on the bed at times.
2. Received a $25 gift card from Swagbucks.
3. Used 2 coupons at CVS to get 5.00 shampoo for .89 and 3.00 detergent for 1.00.
4. Watched a movie from the library.
5. Visited daughter’s family to see their new pups. Brought home their dogs’ bed to mend. I am now an expert dog bed mender, having done it so many times for our dogs. Why do dogs enjoy destroying their comfy beds?
6. Eating out much less and eating less in general .
7. Went thrifting with daughter and found several pieces of clothing I needed. Have purged a comparable number of old items from the closet.
1. My dryer died. Thermostat and the fuse went and it was 22 years old. So I bought a new dryer. As the guys were putting it on the two wheeler to bring it out to the truck, I heard a bunch of change. I found $2.02 in change in my backyard near the bulkhead. Score! Doesn’t quite pay for the new dryer but I got it on sale and I didn’t buy the most expensive one.
2. Due to the snow storms we’ve been having here the last few weeks, I have worked at home and extra day each week. My area scored 15 inches overnight last night. Thank God for the snowblower.
3. Because I had my annual physical, I received $100 bonus from my company for staying healthy and proactively planning
4. Because I bought a new dryer, and it saves an energy costs, I am getting $100 credit on my electric bill. I love my town!
5. Since I’ve been stuck at home more often from the snow, I’ve had my fireplace going all day long on each snow day and because I’m thinking of spring, I’ve been watching hikers on the AT in their videos they’ve been posting to YouTube. I’m currently following six different people. five on the AT and one on the PCT. It’s been interesting seeing their journeys and the views that they show when they hit their summits
Your no. 5 sounds like a nice way to spend time when you’re snowed in. I’ll have to check it out.
Your #5 sounds like what’s happening at our house. DH is attempting the AT in April and is following several hikers too. He actually has learned a lot from watching them and is using several of their ideas for his hike.
I’m currently following pork chop, bear bag, Dudley do right, underdog, Artemis and second chance hiker. I’m sure I will add more as the season goes on. If DH is going to post any videos, will you let us know what his trail name is? I would love to follow him as well
I will give updates about him as he progresses on the trail. He’s a pretty private person and definitely not into videoing himself but I’ll post his adventures as he tells them to me. Thanks for your interest.
1. Sold items on ebay and craigslist.
2. Remade 2 tshirts so that they fit better. Both were mens size and I used a tshirt I liked as a pattern. Now both shirts look feminine.
3. Added a new waistband to a pair of knit pants. My first 2 attempts failed miserably, but I did a bit of research online and found out how to do it. So that salvaged the Eddie Bauer knit pants.
4. Made 2 tote bags for tmy daughter to give as gifts. Made them out of painters drop cloth (cream color), with denim (repurposed) as a lining for the inside top edge.
5. Got Zootopia from the library, which we watched as a family. So fun!
On the run but wanted to say so glad to see you post! I was worried you’d decided to stop blogging.
1. My sister volunteered to babysit her grandson while her daughter was out of town. Then she had to have some surgery with some physical limitations while recovering. I volunteered to help out, also. I found a great fare under $300 from the east coast to San Diego, had a free place to stay for the week and my niece provided all food except for an evening meal of In n Out that I bought because well, In n Out.
2. I also purchased a pint of delicious Tillamook frozen custard because well, Tillamook (that I can’t get at home) and got a treat for way less than eating dessert out.
3. Bank of America provides free museum admission every month to select museums if you have one of their credit cards. I’ve never been able to take advantage of this offer as there are no participating museums near me. So while in San Diego I was able to visit the aquarium for free and so was my sister. Finally I was able to use this offer!
4. My husband uses a credit card for his business travel that gives him one night free at a hotel per year. It was about to expire so we booked one night at the beach to use for a weekend getaway.
5. My mom is a big basketball fan and a round of the NCAA tournament is coming to my city. Tickets are going for $350 but they are also having a free fan fest/watch practice day. It’s my mom’s birthday weekend so I’m taking her there – now just hope I can survive a day of basketball ( it’s not my thing)
1) Saw a flamenco show on Saturday. When we came out of the theatre Uber prices were surging, so we walked for 1.5 miles toward our house and waited for the prices to drop.
2) Filled out a survey through work and received $100 on Tango E-cards.
3) My mom asked what I wanted for my birthday and I’m having her buy dinner during a trip I’m taking to Scotland later this month.
4) Made new leftovers from old leftovers. My tacos became taco casserole which is now taco bake (and I swear there is just as much as night #1).
5) I did my weekly 3-hour commute to my work apartment. I drive on the pike and pass several McDonald’s. I’m a sucker for their french fries, but instead, I ate cucumber slices that I brought to NY to eat with my trice baked taco casserole extravaganza.
This week is one of those weeks where I am fretting over all of the items in our house that are on “it’s last legs”. My van needs new tires and a new battery and I keep sewing anything that needs mending to keep it looking sharp. I am also worried about our first floor furnace. It is older than I am and I worry daily that it will just shut off and never turn on again (especially when it is this cold). I know there are others who are well worse off than us, but man is this stage of life hard. (OK, thanks for letting me vent a bit)
1. My son was invited to two classmate’s birthday parties. I made sure to ask the moms what they were interested in. As it turns out I had a gift card to the bookstore that the first boy likes (and it was given to us). So no money spent on that gift. For the other little boy, I made sure that my son picked out a gift that was less than $10. I am also very thankful that the first mom invited my daughter to attend as well. Both of my kids got to enjoy an afternoon at a bouncy house.
2. Being that today is Fat Tuesday, our daycare offers donuts and coffee for the parents. I gladly took the cup of coffee and wrapped a donut up for the kids afternoon treat. My coworker brought fastnachts in from a local Mennonite baker. She just asked me to take the leftovers home.
3. Saying no to a few activities and fundraisers this week. The boy scouts (older than my son) are hosting a spaghetti fundraiser and I just can’t imagine paying $14 per person for spaghetti. Politely saying no. I’m also passing up on a spirit sale for the baseball team my son is on. His shirt is provided and I can always wear navy blue to the game in support of their team. No need for branded spirit wear.
4. Mended my son’s winter hat and made some updates to a sweet little red riding hood coat for my daughter for next winter. It needed a good wash, de-fuzzing and some holes repaired as well as a new button. Good as new. I saw a seam coming apart in my coat that I need to fix. It’s never ending.
5. Thankful that my son’s cub scout’s fundraising account had enough money in it to cover his trip to Gettysburg. I can’t imagine having him miss out on that trip.
The big NYC move is looming, which is panicking me. Lots of surprise charges (car needed all sorts of work at inspection) making it hard to put money away and have it stay there.
1. Picking up additional shifts at the second job to squirrel cash away for the new apartment’s security deposit. An additional $150 per week for the next two months will be very helpful.
2. Trying a new approach to grocery shopping-instead of buying for meals, just getting thing I know I will eat to supplement what’s at home. This week was cheese for grilled cheeses, milk for cereal, and frozen veggies. It’s a busy week and avoiding eating out is essential.
3. Starting to take inventory of all the things we do not use in our current apartment. Time to sell off my little TV from my first apartment (first big purchase I ever made for myself!) as well as ski gear and other random items that we could be making money from.
4. Parents are coming into town this weekend and we will be doing the “meeting of the families” with my boyfriend’s parents as well. Instead of having breakfast out we will be hanging at his parent’s house, saving everyone some money.
5. Feeling grateful for my health insurance as bills from doctor’s appointments have begun coming in. Routine maintenance is expensive, but somehow my copay for my allerigst was only $5 and my orthopedist was $10. Such a relief when I was bracing myself for larger bills.
1. I’ve found 2 dimes and 6 pennies in my apartment hallway – someone was moving out and must have dropped change.
2. I rescheduled my blood donation from a location that I was going to have to drive out of my way to get to, to a special drive that was happening on the campus I work at.
3. I needed air in my tire and there was someone using the machine before me. It was still running when they left so I didn’t need to pay.
4. I’m continuing to bring my lunch to work, including non-disposable utensils and a cloth napkin.
5. My mini travel hair brush broke and I was tempted to purchase a new, plastic-free one that I’ve had my eye on. Instead, I’m going to try and fix it with some Gorilla Glue.
Well, my mileage to work just doubled, due to being reassigned to a Team in the city office, but that just forces me not to spend gas driving around at lunch running errands. So, I’m finding frugal where I can.
1) I now make certain I have food in the freezer at work for lunches.
2) I’m flying into Denver this week for a family funeral, so I scoured online ticket prices and found a round-trip for a decent price.
3) I’m staying with relatives in Denver, so no added cost for a hotel or restaurants.
4) I’m unsubscribing to several email ads, so I won’t be tempted to spend time and money on things I don’t need.
5) Free (good) coffee, creamer, ice and water provided by my employer. Plus, I have a nice, big plush cubicle with a window now, after being in a basement office and a tiny cubicle for years. I’m counting my blessing and enjoying sunshine, daylight and lovely view of an old church on the hill.
So glad to hear there are some window-related perks to help compensate for that commute!
1. I finally got a substitute teaching call, after a long dry spell. Hopefully I’ll start hearing more often!
2. Hens are laying, and I’m feeding them a lot of free, spoiled produce from the local food bank. Really free eggs, and preventing food waste and landfill methane.
3. Instead of making another stop for bread, we’re just limping along this week. I made enough bread last night to see us through today; I may need to make more to see us through until I go grocery shopping, but I’m still keeping it to one shop this week.
4. My wonderful husband went through the bookcases and found a bunch of things to declutter. I’ll be posting the good ones to ebay today, and the rest will be donated. He gets bonus points for wanting to declutter without me having to ask.
5. I was able to reuse a picnic basket we won earlier this year, as a wedding gift for my niece Saturday. I wore a (used) dress from my mother’s shop, so no outlay there. I’ve already washed it and we’ll put it back out on the shelf. The wedding was beautiful, and the bride and groom were so happy! He cried as she walked down the aisle. We laughed, and we cried, and we danced, and had a really, really, really good time.
1. Instead of buying flowers for the matching wrought iron hangers on my front porch, I made two hanging baskets using spider plants given to me by a friend. They have until mid May to mature in my sunny dining room then hopefully it will be warm enough to hang them up outside.
2. Using another of the spider plant babies, I made a little gift for DD using one of my mother’s old tea cups. She loved it.
3. I stayed longer than usual after church at “coffee and…” on Sunday, just to chat with friends. On my way out, the two sisters who had put on the coffee hour handed me a whole strawberry cheese coffee cake to take home, swearing they would never eat it.
4. I entered a $10 raffle which is not exactly frugal but this to support a close friend’s daughter in raising funds for her class trip to Washington D.C. This will go to her cost, directly. Well, I won and there were about $30 worth of Yankee Candle items in the bag. They are being put into my stash of gifts for birthdays and holidays I use throughout the year.
5.Having leftover stuffed peppers for supper. A whole meal contained in a pepper…easy and good!
FFT, teeny tiny victories edition:
1) Regrowing green onions and lettuce in my windowsills. Won’t ever be enough to actually feed us, but it helps me feel like I’m gardening.
2) Hubs has developed a sudden affection for arugula. I know I have some seeds in storage, and it will grow just fine on our little porch, so I haven’t bought any. Just need to dig far enough through storage to find the garden supplies box.
3) Haven’t had many necessary errands, so haven’t been driving much. This includes walking to Littlest’s afterschool sports events, about 3 miles away. We all ride back together because Hubs comes from work.
4) Perhaps not much interested in running errands, etc., because I’ve been reading the book series Lindsey recommended a couple of weeks ago. Took several days to get the first one, but after that each one has been available for electronic download just as soon as I finished the previous one. Not good for my sleep patterns, but very entertaining. And free!
5) Son undergoing a, um, character-building experience will be able to get a room in his college dorms for spring quarter, starting in about 3 weeks. He’s on the hook for rent in a ridiculously expensive apartment that he previously shared until he can move out, which in practice means we’re on the hook, so this is extremely good news.
And one non-frugal: agreed to accompany two daughters to the Humane Society to look at cats. Ours died in December and they remain bereft. I’ve been discouraging it because it looked like we might end up with middle son’s cat when he moved into the dorms, but he seems to have lost custody of it. I’m not yet sure this is a good idea . . .
1. Back to very cold weather and even though everyone complains of being cold, I am sticking to keeping our heat at 65 when we are home, 63 when we are not home or sleeping.
2. Another gymnastics meet this weekend, but it was at a good time so no hotel. I went alone with the girls only having to pay 1 admission fee. We packed a lunch, drinks and snacks – though we did have to stop for dinner on the way home, as awards got very delayed and we were 2 hours later than we should have been leaving. Oh, and the girls got a free t-shirt .
3. Ds helped at a pancake dinner tonight so ate for free. Feeding teenage boys is costly, so I was happy that someone else fed him. Means leftovers for lunch tomorrow!
4. Skipped most of my Amazon Subscribe & Save order this month to save money. I would have skipped it all – but my 20 year old ds is coming home for spring break, so I got some of his favorites that were cheaper through Amazon.
5. When it snowed all day Sunday I made a white bean soup with some leftover ham from Christmas. Paired with a loaf of homemade bread and it was delicious, filling and cheap.
6. Rugby team went to NC for a tournament this weekend. It would have cost us $400 for ds to go. We opted out of this big trip as he is new to Rugby and has yet to play a game. He doesn’t need to go on an expensive trip right at the start.
1. On the fixer-upper front, we’re continuing to work on our debt-free house, progress is slower than if we hired someone, but we wouldn’t be able to do that without going into debt, so we keep going.
2. We’re continuing with all used furniture (not counting the mattresses and box springs, although they were from a discount mattress place), our latest purchases being a mid-century end table for $25 and nice living room chair also for $25.
3. A friend who babysits, had a substitute sitter for a trip she had planned, then the sub fell through, so I agreed to do it. I wasn’t really wanting to at first, but it’ll help her out and I’m thankful for the extra money I’ll be able to make.
4. Went shopping today, bought many sale items and used 2 coupons.
5. Did laundry after 9 pm, as we have free electricity at nights with our company.
It sounds like you are doing a great job with the house. Kudos for all the hard work! So thrifty! 🙂
I read an article that made me a bit sad. It said though we may donate, a “whopping 84 percent of our clothing still ends up in landfills and incinerators, according to the EPA”. And that the “average U.S. citizen throws away between 70 and 81 pounds of clothing and other textiles annually.” So if you sell it to someone I guess that ya, it would have a better chance of being used.
We have that series and the general consensus is that it starts out great but quickly become not so good.
Another week of frugal fails but I will remain positive!
1.) I cut up an old t-shirt that I hated to wear because of its poor fit on me and I made it in to some uneven face rags. I only have a couple other wash rags, so I want to try these out.
2.)Attempting to sell clothes on Facebook Marketplace that do not give me joy , but so far have not had much luck.
3.) Decided to move off campus with some friends which will be a loottttt cheaper than living on campus again, although of course, not as convenient.
4.)Found a big paper clip on the floor of the library that I’m going to use to keep a bunch of papers together, found some folders in my room to use as well for a project.
5). I didn’t buy a Lear Jet!
hoping that by next post I will have a more frugal week!
If it makes you feel any better, from my trips to the bins I find a lot of donated clothing is no longer wearable: blown out knees, tears, stains, used underwear (shudder). Yes, I know that too much gets thrown out, but people donate a lot that is not usable.
Try Poshmark for the clothes. I’ve made $800 in 3 months selling things I no longer wear.
1. I redeemed .40 worth of gas points from my grocery store for a savings of $5.32
2. I got into a second diaper survey/study, so I received another 24 pack of diapers. When the survey is complete, I’ll receive a $30 payout.
3. My ebay sales have really picked up. I’ve sold 5 things since Saturday for a total profit of $41.29. I reused shipping materials I had on hand and printed the labels at work. I also work across the hall from the mail room at my job so not even a trip to the post office.
4. My husband took our son to a free kid’s event on Saturday at Home Depot. I had planned to get a bunch of errands done, but it ended up snowing so the roads were slippery and I didn’t feel so hot. I stayed home instead and got a bunch of cleaning/organizing done. I also listed a bunch of items on ebay and poshmark.
5. I received a call yesterday that my son’s name was pulled in the lottery for the preschool that is run out of the vocational high school that’s less than a mile from our house. The cost is only $36 per week! We’re still having him evaluated for a speech delay and possible IEP, which would qualify him for free preschool at another place (also very close to our house). Either way, he’ll be in great hands!