Five Frugal Things
by Katy on April 18, 2019 · 65 comments
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I quickly sold a vintage wrought iron plant stand from the Albany, Oregon Goodwill. (Whenever possible I stop at this Goodwill, as I’ve found it to be the honey hole of enjoyably priced vintage goods.) I was asking $30 but the buyer only brought twenties. However, in a manner not seen since nineteen-ought-four she asked if I’d throw in a $10 flowerpot instead of bargaining me down. I scanned my porch and quickly located a lovely glazed pot which slotted perfectly into the plant stand. Needless to say, it was garbage picked.
I also sold an antique camera and a Tommy Bahama silk shirt through eBay. Notice a pattern of what I’ll sell? Exactly. I’ll sell anythang.
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I finished reading a library copy of Susan Orlean’s The Library Book, which my neighbor had recommended. I LOVED THIS BOOK FROM THE TIPPY TOP OF ITS HEAD TO THE VERY BOTTOM OF ITS WIGGLY LITTLE TOES!
Arson. Intrigue. Kooky characters. Books! Books! Books!
All for the low price of a library card.
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I started refinishing a midcentury end table that I also scored from the Albany Goodwill. Sure it sported a number of water marks on the top surface, but since it was priced at just $7.99 I figured it would be a fun and relatively easy project. I already own the supplies, so I took yesterday’s late afternoon sunshine as an opportunity to spend an hour or so sanding it down. I’ll likely finish it up this evening and throw it up for sale on Facebook Marketplace.
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I arranged a date with my friend Lise, but instead of hitting up a coffee house we walked her dog and nipped into the high falutin’ grocery store for free coffee samples, I mailed out both eBay sales using scavenged packaging supplies and I downloaded the new Libby library app and listened to a free audiobook.
I hosted dinner for my friend Diana who was in town checking out colleges for her son, but kept the meal simple with a burrito bar featuring Instant Pot cooked beans and whatever happened to be in my fridge. We also spent a couple hours ambling through the meticulously landscaped Lewis and Clark campus, which cost nothing and triggered wonderful memories of our own college years together.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet or a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky. redacted
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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1. I’ve been working from home for the whole week. Saving on time and petrol.
2. Picked a ripe pumpkin and made soup with the whole thing. Used chicken stock and ham from the freezer.
3. Had to cancel our planned vacation due to work commitments. Flights were credited. Rest of vacation money now sits in the bank for another time and will be added to over time. Instead we are doing a few nice things over the long weekend and we will plan for a more convenient time.
4. Didn’t eat out at all this week except for a couple of coffees.
5. I toned way down on Easter gifts. Waaaaay down. Instead of buying for everyone in the family, I’ve bought something small for my nephews and a basket of mini eggs to share. Scaled back for my kids too.
1) I’ve enjoyed April birthday celebration cup-cakes for free here at work the past 2 days. After eating my frozen entrees brought from home for lunch.
2) I’ve downloaded a few phone apps for free. One is a Smart Saver grocery app that allows me to pick out the weekly deals and coupons for sale items in my area and add them to a list. The app adds up points automatically, when the items are bought and scanned at the store.
3) I’m loving the warm & cool Spring temps, which allow us to keep the AC and Heating bill down.
4) One of my co-workers picked-up a cool water bottle at the Staff Week Health Fair for me. The bottom compartment contains a small towel for use after exercising – for FREE!
5) The Church is having a candy hunt for the kids Saturday evening. Instead of hiding Easter eggs, they throw candy all around the Church lawn, after dark, and give the kids flash-lights to hunt candy in the dark. Free fun for the kids. My youngest granddaughter plans to spend the night with us and participate.
Enjoyed the Ark Encounter and lunch out. Dad treated us.
Got a free night stay in Minneapolis because of a delay on our flight.
It just so happens that we were assigned to sit by Tad from “Good Bones” on one leg of our flight. He was so sweet trying to verify for all the other passengers that Special Services did tell us we were to have a free night stay.
Flight attendants were sweet on Delta and gave us lots of extra snacks and free headsets.
1. I read both The Library Book and Becoming by reserving them from the library. Grateful yet again that my husband has no presidential ambitions.
2. I’m giving a workshop on vegan cooking next summer and have found six copies of my favorite author’s vegan cookbooks for $2 each at the library book sale. They’ll be gifts to the students who take the workshop. It is clear, however, that I shouldn’t peruse cookbooks while I’m hungry.
3. Someone asked me to bring dessert to a potluck. Bad idea—I worry too much about your cardiac health to make good desserts. However, Haagen Dazs non-dairy frozen desserts are 3/$10 this week at the Giant. Done.
4. I didn’t have the four cups of minced greens that today’s jambalaya called for, so I made up the difference by mincing the stems and throwing them in early in the simmer stage.
5. My elder spaniel is losing his edge and peeing in the house. This leads the other spaniel to pee in the house. A friend gave me four belly bands to hold doggy diapers in place. I’m using cloth, as we have many derelict washcloths. So far we have only forgotten to take the diaper off twice before taking him out to pee (in his diaper). The Mister said, “I bet we never forget again.” But then he refused my high stakes bet that we probably will forget.
1. So, I spent several days this week throwing up (no food!) and didn’t go for groceries, so hey, money saved!
2. Library books! I’ve got two more left from my stack, and they’re going to take a bit of time.
3. I won a book in an online giveaway! Free reading material is always awesome.
4. Used up some old soft apples to make an apple cake.
5. I cleaned up a stack of stuff in the kitchen and found another stack of Walmart gift cards that I thought I’d already used up (because I hadn’t seen them in a while). This will cover the bins I need to properly store some of my daughter’s toys, so I’m happy. 🙂
I don’t know that I have 5 things, but …
1. I’m finishing up a kindle book that I bought with my free Bing pts gift card for Amazon.
2. I found a neat little website called ThredUp.com that sales used clothing online. I seriously needed some clothes. The boxes will come, I’ll try them on, send back what I don’t want. Additionally I requested a shipping box from them to send them some of my old stuff for dollars, so bonus.
3. I’ve been reading academic studies for free on http://www.academia.edu on subjects that interest me.
1. Stockpiled 8 months of butter from Aldi’s butter sale.
2. Introduced good friend (who is not great with money) to Aldi’s.
3. Dear Partner found his frugal bone and decided that his birthday dinner should be dinner at home.
4. Found out that oven seems to not be working. Instead of just ordering pizza, switched up all recipes to cook on stovetop.
5. Get to work from home for next two weeks, which will save me 2 tanks of gas & $20 in tolls.
Hi, Betta ftom daVille! My local Aldi was recently remodeled, and so I re-introduced myself….I now shop there every week, and fill in the things I can’t buy there from Kroger and Target. Aldi rocks!
1. The books and DVDs we used this week all came from the library.
2. Am thanking myself for mailing in two rebate forms several months ago, netting a total of $45 in my pocket this week.
3. Received tax donation slips for books and clothing I donated to two places this week.
4. Spent only $36 on food this week, using more out of the overloaded freezer and packed cupboards and the duck eggs I am still trading homemade bread for every week. We are eating a lot of egg-based dishes and loving it.
5. I use shredded paper as bedding, or mixed with straw as bedding, for several of our animals. This cuts down on money spent on straw and gives the paper a new life since it is then composted after being pooped on by critters. A local non-profit saves its shredding for me, and last week an employee who lives near by dropped off two large boxes full. When empty, the cardboard boxes will be used as mulch under my berry bushes, so they get a second life instead of being taken to the dump.
1. Sold multiple items on eBay =$150
2. Worked my fund my fun gig
3. Using cvs, kohl’s and Office Depot rewards
to make up Easter baskets
4. Win $25 gas gift card at dog show last week
5. Ate breakfast and lunch out of pantry (protein shakes and bars)
1. I spent my evening in the town tornado shelter for the second time this week. I consider staying alive to be frugal. 2. I came home after our tornado watch was cancelled and started baking the Easter ham. I am making a simple dinner of ham, real mashed potatoes, biscuits, and that green bean casserole my kids seem to like…. whatever. I am delivering it tomorrow because I have taken a day off. I have a kid writing final papers for this semester in college and I want him to enjoy the food over the weekend. The ham was 99 cents a lb and is huge. The fatty part will go well in my greens. Yeah., I only have two because I am exhausted from mother nature’s being a psycho this week.
Excuse the grammar screw ups but tonight I really don’t care.
I’m so glad you are home and safe!
I am glad your safe. Bad weather is so stressful! I personally hate hurricane season. Glad your safe and Happy Easter.
Same here, glad you are safe! We had a tornado watch here in Ohio, too. Lots of high winds and rain, but thankfully nothing more than that.
Being safe is better than proper grammar or spelling. Glad you’re safe
Thank y’all! Bee, I totally understand about hurricane season…ugh.
Also glad you’re safe. Hope you have a speedy recovery from the after effects of all that adrenaline.
(We even had a tornado warning all the way up here in the southwest corner of NYS!)
1. Went out of town for work. I packed snacks for the plane and for my time away, as well as some breakfast food. My hotel room had a small fridge so I was able to buy a small container of milk. I ate cereal from a coffee mug with a fork for breakfast. I forgot to get a spoon but had the fork from one of my other meals. I bought 3 meals, which I decided and got 6 total meals out of them. I was able to save quite a bit of my per diem.
2. I needed to buy some clothes for this trip. I found a pair of pants and 2 shirts, all on sale. One of the shirts was only $7.00. I will get a lot of wear out the pieces, which are classic and I can mix and match with the rest of my wardrobe.
3. I need a new carry-on but instead of buying one I borrowed one from a friend
4. A friend came over for breakfast today to meet my dogs. I had everything I needed already and we had a great time catching up. She brought some new toys for the pups.
5. Frugal for work- I found some hair on the bedding and in the shower in my hotel room – I do not do hair! They sent a house keeper up immediately to take care of the problem. I came back to the hotel after work and crashed for the night. I was woken up several times between 2am and 4am by what appeared to be a frat party going on on my floor. Slamming doors, screaming in the halls. At 4am I had had enough and called the front desk. They sent security up. When I was leaving for work the next morning, I asked to speak to the manager and expressed my dissatisfaction, especially since this was a nice, expensive hotel that had been highly recommended. He ended up not charging me for my one night because of the multiple problems.
1. divided not decided
My frugal five and one failure:
1. Spent time on the phone with the billing department of our eye doctor to straighten out a bill and credit card charge. Will have to pay the bill but the credit card charge credited.
2. Called Reminisce magazine and asked how I could send back the book they sent me that I didn’t ask for or want. FYI this magazine is part of Reader’s Digest. The lovely rep took my name off the book mailing list and said I could keep the book. When I am done with it I may donate it to the library or bring it to the rehab place I was at.
3. Made 3 dental appointments for myself as I need a cleaning, a new crown and have a cavity to be filled. I find keeping my teeth checked up on helps keep down the really expensive stuff and I need it due to being a diabetic.
4. Made an appointment with my dermatologist for my yearly lookie see. Better to get spots sprayed off rather than surgically removed. Melanoma runs in my family and I’ve spent lots of time in the sun, unprotected, in my youth.
5. Watched Crazy Rich Asians on HBO for free – was given HBO for free for X amount of months due to them raising my bill by $20. It went back down $20 when I called. Watched the cut version of Bad Moms on tv for free. Crazy Rich Asians let me see what Singapore looked like. My son lives there now.
6. Fail – threw apples out. I could have made something with them…d’oh!
1.) I’ve been wearing some jeans with a hole in a bad spot. It’s fine as long as I wear a long enough shirt. I am looking on Poshmark though, because the hole continues to get bigger.
2.) I went camping this weekend and last minute, forgot I had a sleeping bag. A quick group me message later, and a friend lent me a sleeping bag and a camping pillow- she’s too kind.
3.) I’ve been using printer paper from my library to take class notes and then transferring them to my notebook. I do this to help study and get all information down, but it saves on extra notebook paper! Also, I use the white board and markers when I’m in the library instead of pens to save on ink- something I’m always running out of!
4.) I was selected- after a tough application and interview process- to be an International Ambassador at my school. This includes a study abroad stipend and a scholarship for the upcoming year as it’s similar to a job, but it’s also something I’m passionate about.
5.) I didn’t buy a Lear jet or a (redacted) lol, I would love to know that story
Katy, thank you for your sense of humor: that “redacted” really hit the spot tonight!
It’s my tiny act of defiance.
Yes, and we need all the defiance we can muster these days! Plus, you always do it with subtlety 🙂
Congratulations on your Ambassador-ship! Really exciting, and even life changing!
Do you take photos of the white boards when you are done with them? I’ve seen students do that instead of writing things down.
I once worked for a place where you wrote on the whiteboard for meetings and then pressed a button and out popped as many copies as you wanted of the stuff you had written on the board. I loved using that thing and wanted one for my house, even though I had absolutely no need for it. At the time it cost about $9,000, so was for wealthy companies only; I am sure it is cheaper now, two decades later.
1. We have been eating down the freezer to cover Easter costs. A few hodge podge meals (that my daughter and I love).
2. For dinner tonight we are having butter chicken (a free sample from the supermarket) and sausages for my son (given to us by family). My daughter and I also made bread rolls.
3. It’s school holidays here, and we have been doing free and cheap activities. Play dates, local park, Easter colouring, baking, visiting family and watching movies.
4. The weather is getting colder and my kids needed new clothes. We went to our cheapest department store and spent $40 less than I had budgeted. I buy some of my sons and most of mine from the thrift shop but my daughter is too fussy!
5. The kids got their grandparents Easter gift early and inside was a pair of winter pjs each. This saves me buying another pair for them.
1. Spent only $2 on my daughter’s prom dress. The dress was borrowed so I only had to purchase a spool of tulle ribbon to make a modesty piece for the deep v in the back and front. We also borrowed the shoes from a family member.
2. My daughter’s friend did her hair in a Grecian style they found on Pinterest and we found a makeup tutorial online because I am hopeless at cosmetics.
3. Made Americanized Indian food at home for a date night. Next time I will add more cayenne pepper and find a recipe for naan to soak up all the delicious sauce
4. Earned $30 in credit card reward points
5. Learned that we will save $200 per credit hour by having my daughter take dual enrollment classes at a local community college
Good job on the prom dress! It is disturbing how many girls have to have a new dress for every occasion, I love the ides of sharing and getting more use out of these dresses!
Feel like its been more spend than save here lately but let’s see what I’ve got…
1. Took the bus to/from work twice already this week and will again today, I have a bus pass so each time I use it I save $13.50 on downtown parking (yikes) plus save on gas, car wear and tear etc. (I know I use this one a lot but it is one of my biggest ways to save on out of pocket money so I have to keep reminding myself it’s worth it!)
2. Cooked a big pot of chili from scratch last weekend and we’ve had 3 x this week for dinner (including one night of chili mac to vary things up a bit).
3. Ordered a pair of shoes I really didn’t need for a banquet I have to attend, they were marked WAY down but they’re a higher heel than I usually wear anymore and decided I wouldn’t get enough use out of them to justify the space in my closet. So back they go.
4. Found a bowl that matches my Dansk dishes at Goodwill, this is how I source my replacement pieces! Also found a bundt cake pan (I’d been looking for awhile and wanted before Easter as I’m going to try making a lemon bundt cake for Easter Brunch), three very small modern cognac glasses that will be perfect for holding tea lights hen we eat outdoors this summer (need something with higher sides so they don’t blow out in the wind) and a picture frame. $11 total. Also donated two bags of shoes/clothes, need to donate more!
5. Hub’s nephew rows crew in Seattle and his family is going up in a couple of weeks to see a race. Hubs wanted to go and I agreed but hotel was not cheap so I suggested we leave EARLY Saturday morning instead of Friday after work to save price of Friday night hotel. Somewhat surprisingly he agreed! It will be better than battling traffic out of Portland and into Seattle on Friday and the money we save on hotel will cover our gas and food for the weekend.
Do you have Dansk Flora Bayberry Blue? I just bought a set at Goodwill.
No although I think that pattern is so pretty! Mine is the Christianshavn Blue.
Thanks for the book suggestions. I put a hold on the kindle version at my library.
I haven’t been as frugal as I would like but I’ll give it a try.
1. I came down with a cold and am using handkerchiefs and cut up t-shirts as much as I can to cut down on my tissue use.
2. My daughter and I worked on her bees. We gave them some sugar syrup to get them through ’til there is more food available. They appear to be thriving (one hive unfortunately didn’t make it throught the winter) and she should be able to split them soon into two hives again. This means we should be able to get away with just two hives again this year which is perfect and less expensive.
3. My youngest got a flat tire. Fortunately we have roadside assistance with our car insurance so they came and changed the tire for her. Unfortunately she needed four new tires so $$$$.
4. My Mom wanted to go for a ride the other day. She drove so I got to enjoy the scenery and the beautiful sunny but cold day. We both enjoyed the company and she used a gift card to purchase each of us a $1 baby cone from DQ. It was an inexpensive way to spend the day.
5. I was looking for a small purse to take on vacation. I found one at the outlet mall and my Mother gave me one of her 25% off coupons. The price I paid was $28 for a $119 purse. It will get a lot of use.
6.Also I forgot to mention that my electric bill was $10 lower this month. I’m assuming this is because I unplugged my chest freezer. It also looks like I used less propane this year which will give me a large credit to use for next year.
7. A friend loaned me a book that I’ve been wanting to read. My library didn’t have it on kindle.
Remembered one more.
8. My daughter is coming home unexpectedly just before we go on vacation together. We were going to meet her but now she wants to fly out with us. I looked into having her travel on the same flight and one way was $500. So I bought her a ticket at the connecting city and a friend will driver her. It’s another hour away. This will save $200 minus the cost of gas. I used CC reward points which is still money but at least it doesn’t hurt as much.
1) Redeemed my Kellogg’s rewards points for a Lowe’s gift card.
2) Redeemed some My Coke Rewards points for a free soda.
3) Scanning my receipts for both Fetch and Ibotta.
4) Used coupons with an Ibotta offer that ended up paying me $1 to buy two items! Every bit helps!
5) Bought my son a frame for his college diploma using an AC Moore gift card I had received for redeeming points earned by taking surveys. No money out of pocket!
1. I redeemed some pampers rewards points for a $10 Starbucks gift card.
2. In my quest to find free/super cheap things for my toddler to do, we took him to a free Easter egg hunt at a club my parents belong to. He got way too much candy and also found the golden egg (which contained $1). There was also free lunch for him. My parents volunteer at the club, so at the end of the event, they were allowed to take home extra juice boxes and cupcakes (which they gave to me).
My husband also took our son to a few free events our local library had…he got to meet Wally, the Red Sox mascot, and take a picture with him and the World Series trophy. He also got to meet Pat the Patriot, the NE Patriots mascot, and take a picture with him. They gave out autographed pictures and books to all the kids.
3. I signed up for a free zen tangle art class at my library that is taking place in a few weeks. I’m very excited for it!
4. I continue to hand make all of the cards our family gives/sends out and also reuse gift bags and tissue paper that I just keep accumulating.
5. I skipped posting on the last few 5 Frugal things posts, so I’m not sure where I left off, but I know I’ve sold a few more items on ebay and poshmark for a profit.
Bonus: I continue to use up free samples that I’ve accumulated. Have been using shampoo, conditioner and body wash samples since mid-January with plenty more to go.
1. A few years ago I introduced my grandson to the joys of “found on the ground” money, and he’s been hooked on it ever since. Recently while we were walking I noticed that unmistakable green color of paper money on the ground. My grandkids had been racing each other and he’d run right by it. I called him back and casually asked if I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. He immediately spotted it (it was a $5 dollar bill) and was over the moon happy to find it. Sure I could have pocketed it and added it to my own “found on the ground” jar but his joy at the find was worth way more than $5 to me.
2. While walking the next day (son and his family live in a city neighborhood with a great walkability score, unlike the ZERO score of my rural home) my 4 year old granddaughter stopped mid-run and bent down. Then she came running to me, shouting “look what I found!” It was a penny, which she was just as happy with as her brother was with his $5 find.
(Teaching this generation the joys of found money will hopefully offset where I failed with their father – who actually tossed a bunch of tarnished coins in the garbage. I did turn that into a teaching moment by showing the grandkids how to clean tarnished coins, then sharing the loot with them).
3. Spent some quality time on the phone getting the “promo” rate extended on two services we use, and dropping a “free” introductory product before it could become a NOT free, $5 per month charge on the cell phone bill.
4. Also cut the data plan in half after going over the usage and finding we never even used 1/4 of the data we were allowed.
5. Used a $10.99 Menards merchandise credit rebate to buy a $10.99 bag of ice melt. Since the cost become $0, there was no sales tax and it was really honestly and truly zero out of pocket.
#5 was last month but I didn’t post and I think it was brag-worthy enough to submit late.
1. Eating leftovers to clean out the fridge before the family comes over for Easter. Dinner last night was fend for yourself, and I almost have a whole shelf back. Family is mostly contributing things to share for dinner.
2. I got new swimsuits for my daughter yesterday, discounted with an additional 33% off. One will be good for next year’s swim, and two for summer. I will gladly spend $10 instead of $50 for a competition suit!
3. Did not find shoes for her for Easter. She decided to clean and polish the sandals she doesn’t love, to wear on Easter morning, and she will ask her aunt to take her shoe shopping for her birthday present. (Somehow I am missing the shoe shopping gene. I hate it, but my sister-in-law loves it, so they’ll both have fun.)
4. Attended a free college fair with my daughter. She found her dream school, with the perfect academic program…in England. I’m hoping to find something a cheaper plane flight away, but thankfully we still have time!
5. Appreciating my husband’s health care plan. While he was fixing up the porch he cut his hand, ended up with three stitches.
Not frugal: we spent a fortune on new plants and pots for the porch, but that’s where the family sits for Easter dinner. The rest of the improvements were managed with paint, a broom, and water, and it looks beautiful — so it’s worth it to me!
1-Found some great deals on food we use that matched with a soon to expire coupon. Feeding teenagers is expensive.
2-Took advantage of my birthday freebies this week for a free fancy coffee from Starbucks & tea from Panera. There are nice treats and I only sign up for ones I will use.
3-I submitted the PIN codes from cereal for a 5.00 Visa and it has arrived. Now to place it front and centre in my wallet.
4-We are finally feeling like spring so the furnace is off hopefully until fall. Ironically we spent almost two weeks in March with no furnace as our really old beast died, so not great to replace it but the saving on electricity are going to be amazing. We had been waiting for this so the money was already set aside for it.
5-Tax return and yearly bonus arrived last week and both were immediately locked into retirement savings.
1. Still following a keto diet, which is easier done at home, so not much eating out being done at the moment.
2. I have gone down a size, and am not done yet, so shopping for jeans at the charity shop got me a $7 pair of jeans, on for half price, so $3.50.
3. Supplementing my spanish class by using Duolingo for free. The ads are annoying, but I can live with them.
4. Still shopping from my closet, I’m now glad I kept so many clothes that were too small for me, as they now fit.
5. Almost a fail when we bought apple gifts cards at Costco for $80, and they didn’t make it into the cart. Discovered this when we got home, DH called, they said just bring in the receipt, when he got there, they had them. I think they must have been left at the til.
Went on a 3 day cabin stay with a friend and treated the friend because we owe her a big favor. But while we were there, we
1. Only paid for one attraction. Other activities were hiking (free), crafting (free), reading on the deck (free), watching movies we brought with us (free).
2. Ate 2 meals a day and snacked for dinner.
3. Listened to a library audio book while traveling.
4. Stopped to see a wonderful folk art museum on the way home. Also free.
5. Shopped at Aldi when we got home.
I need a haircut so I checked groupon. Found a groupon and bought it through ebates to get $1.32 cash back. I’ll also get an additional 1% cash back because I bought it with a cash back credit card.
If you don’t already, you should follow Reese Witherspoon’s book club on Instragram. Each month she has a new pick. “The Library book” was one of her previous picks.
1. Found 15 pennies and a couple of foreign coins at the grocery store yesterday in the coinstar return.
2. Got $13 worth of groceries for free through Shaws monopoly rewards plus $7 in purchase rewards. bought 3 reusable bags of groceries and only paid for milk and hot dog rolls.
3. going to trivia night with my best friend (2 wild and crazy widows!). she’s never been – i went last month and loved it.
4. since everyone enjoys apps and desserts more than the meal at Easter, we decided Easter dinner would be just that! i’m making bacon wrapped mac n cheese and an angel cake, my SIL is making cocktail meatballs and something else and my MIL is supplying veggies and dip and chips and dip. i’ll also make a cherry pie since i make amazing crusts (the crisco recipe) and have 2 cans of cherry filling on hand.
5. went to a knitting group at the library. met some nice women and drove a woman from England home so she didn’t have to walk. DS and i are going to London soon (!) and i was able to ask her a few questions. i’ll see her on monday and she told me to make a list of what else i want to know.
after crying while watching the Notre Dame burn, i went through my moms paperwork bins (that i haven’t touched since moving her in 2016), i found her paperwork from her 1980 tour where she sang Shuberts Ave Maria at the Notre Dame with the choir as well as small booklets from every country they were singing in on that tour. i also found a bunch of pictures from my parents trip the following year to Belgium and France to meet up with a wonderful family i still keep in touch with. the fire would have devastated my mother. i had such a hard time watching it.
i would have posted this sooner, but i had to make so many changes and omissions so it would be post-worthy.
Terrible tragedy but wonderful memory for you!
I love how you slipped in “reusable” in the groceries point. 😉
Reusable bags. So much more than regular grocery bags too.
1. Packed a quick sandwich as I knew I’d be away from home during lunch. I was cheaper, healthier, and faster than anything I could have bought.
2. Noticed a stack of baked goods in the clearance section at the grocery store, which I’ve never seen before. I successfully avoided the half pies, cakes, and donuts but I did purchase some focaccia bread, four sourdough rounds, and a bag of dinner rolls for a total of $4.
3. Family movie night with a new release DVD rented from the library for $1.
4. My library system was missing a few books in a series I’m reading so I was able to get them from the library in the next county over.
5. Solar panels get installed next week….. Hopefully this will be a big frugal win (someday).
1) I was having occasional brown outs through out the evening on Wednesday evening. I woke up the next morning with out wi-fi, televsion,washer, or dryer — a power surge! I was seeing dollar signs, and I really wanted to cry. However, I called our local energy service. The techs arrived within 20 minutes of my call and replaced a problematic relay. AT&T replaced a new wireless router which arrived today. Television survived because I had purchased a super-duper surge protector. I followed the directions in the owner manual and was able to reset the washer and dryer. Some how I came out of this mess without spending a penny which is a great relief. I should know by now not to anticipate the worst, but to work through thing systematically.
2) I downloaded Ibotta app and linked my grocery card. I have a little money on it already. However, I did not buy anything I didn’t need – just cereal and blueberries. It will be interesting to see how long it will take me to reach $20 so I can transfer to my PayPal account.
3) My husband is working on a project out of state in a town quite near our daughter. He has not had any luck booking convenient flights to and from the nearby airport. Thus, he has been renting a car and driving. He picked up our daughter yesterday, so she can spend Easter weekend with us. He will bring her back on Monday when he heads back that way again. It saves her a bit of gas money, wear and tear on her car, and provides my dear hubby with lots of company for this 7 hour journey.
4) My daughter and I did some thrift store shopping today. She really needed jeans which she found. I also bought a pair for $3.49 and a few items for resale. Sadly the treacherous weather that has been sweeping the southeast hit with a vengeance – hail, dangerous winds, and heavy rain- preventing a trip to the bins.
5) All the usual things- cooking from scratch even when I don’t want to, using the occasional coupon to buy necessities, reading library books, reselling on eBay, and finding new homes for things I no longer have a use for. I was please that I was able to give 5 beautiful formals to an organization that provides prom gown to young women in need.
Happy holiday weekend!
SO glad you didn’t end up having to replace all those electronics/appliances!
1. Dd and I went to an Admitted Students Day at the college she will attend, but we had never visited. I used hotel points to stay for free. We packed dinner last night and had free breakfast the hotel and free lunch at the college. Only cost was dinner on the way home. When we left the GPS said we would be home at 7 pm and I was going to push through to eat at home. But after getting stuck in traffic for 1.5 hours we had to stop to eat.
2. While I was gone those left at home scrounged for leftovers or made a simple meal of pasta. No food wasted, not a lot of money spent on meals.
3. When we stopped for dinner I filled up with gas at Costco saving $0.35 per gallon.
4. Picked up a double shift at the MLB stadium where I “volunteer” for tomorrow. Will be a long day, but I only need to make the 35 minute drive once for double the pay. Plus double the tips.
5. I have been borrowing money books from the library to stay motivated. Bad With Money was interesting and entertaining – so much so that I was able to get my 18 year old to read it too. She learned a lot and I didn’t have to force it on her.
My FFT, Sorta-Frugal edition:
1. Hubs and I decided to forgo getting his 16 year old pick up truck repaired, thus saving $5200 (US) for an engine rebuild. Our mechanic mentioned there was no guarantee that something else big wouldn’t go wrong on such an old truck. Sad to let the old beast go, but it’s time. Will save on auto insurance. Now we need to decide which way to go – donate it to a worthy cause, sell it (with full disclosure of its issues), sell it for scrap, we don’t know yet.
2) Postponed a planned vacation to Disney World, after realizing we need to save more and plan for a less-busy time (original plan was before Thanksgiving this year). Have benefitted from many free planning resources mentioned by friends and family. Will continue to accept any advice.
3) Will be stopping my Audible subscription (see #2), onceI use up all of my credits. My public library offers free apps (Hoopla, Libby, and there’s another one I can’t think of right now) for e-books and audiobooks, so I’m set.
4) Will be examining every recurring expense – insurance, cell/Internet/streaming services, etc., to see if better deals are out there for the same coverage (see #2 above, plus needs to be done even without #2).
5) Will use three vacation days to care for my mother in law this coming week. Not really frugal for me, but saves some of her $ resources while her usual caregiver (my brother in law) has a medical procedure. I lucked out in the mother in law area – she’s always been like a second mom to me.
6) Didn’t buy anything gold plated, and while I sometimes wish for a Lear jet, I didn’t buy one.
Love redacted.
1. Picked up replacement part for washing machine & Spouse did installation = no expensive service call.
2. Made a large batch of delicious healthy soup from ham bone gifted by mother-in-law. Enough meat on bone for a quiche, some sandwiches & a ham/pesto lasagna (pesto in freezer from garden.)
3. Ground up eggshells to supplement garden soil & deter slugs. Two quart canning jars of shells saved through the winter.
4. Dug out compost pile & started rebuilding the frame with 2 cool old wooden fences & wood scavenged from neighbors.
5. Hosted friends with young children last weekend for “egg roll-arama” = assembling & frying Vietnamese egg rolls with recipe from one of the first local Vietnamese restaurants, passed on by a friend. Enough for a great lunch with multiple spicy dipping sauces & packages to send home with everyone. Used up the left-over ingredients today & stashed the tasty results in the freezer. Yum!
Great idea on egg rolls – thanks for the tip. We love these but never thought of linking them to the Easter holidays.
1. Internet was out for two days, I couldn’t ship any of the ebay items, so I refunded partial shipping to one who’d paid for 2 day priority mail. Still made the sale, and kept my ratings high.
2. Sold items from my kitchen that I no longer use. Cleaned them up with Barkeepers Friend, I love that stuff.
3. Contacted our internet provider and was refunded $6 for the two day outage. While on hold to chat, I took out some q-tips and rubbing alcohol and cleaned my keyboard. (I can’t just sit there and wait, I have to be busy) It was disgusting, I need to do that more often. Feels like a new keyboard now.
4. Thinned out my spinach and put them into two more rows. Spinach freezes so yay for more crops!
5. Reorganized my home office so I could access my paper, supplies, etc better. Grouped like with like items so I now know I don’t need more paper clips, pens, or envelopes for a very long time.
Thanks for tip #3!
1. My optimistic (crazy?!?) plan to take a $100 bill and make it cover absolutely everything this week. I love a good challenge, and thankfully so does my husband!
2. Snacking on delicious – and totally frugal – buttered popcorn. One of my favourite snacks.
3. Just finished a simple and frugal lunch: egg salad on gluten free crackers, plus a healthy homemade smoothie on the side.
4. Frugal fun: we love watching an awesome British show on YouTube called Homes under the Hammer. The hosts are loveable and quirky, and I love seeing old British homes being refurbished. :))
5. And…walking to work! No transit pass required.
Thanks for the heads up on the show, I’ll look for it!
Hi Katy – no problem! It’s good, FREE fun. 🙂 You probably already know about ‘Escape to the Country’, another awesome British show. But, I like Homes under the Hammer, because it shows average homes and wee flats. Escape to the Country is a bit more aspirational – but is SO peaceful to watch! You can find new episodes of each by searching on YouTube.
PS. I’ve adored your blog for years.
1. All of us wore something thrifted this Easter. Hubby-button up shirt, daughter-dress that needed a belt, but I had one she used, we just put another hole in it as she’s a lot smaller than me, son- a button up, 2 buttons were missing, but I replaced them, and I wore a Calvin Klien dress (not thrifted, but marked down from $134 to $46.98) with a thrifted white sweater.
2. Had a picnic (with multiple of the foods being sale foods) to avoid eating out. The kids took their thrifted scooters and enjoyed the park.
3. Filled up at the cheaper gas station.
4. Started using Libby to borrow free ebooks and audiobooks.
5. Canceled Amazon Prime and lowered our phones data plans.
* We put a big chunk of money on the capital of our mortgage. Equivalent to 25% of our yearly combined salaries after taxes actually . Mortgage is now 80% paid off, wout, wout!! Another 4 years and we should be done with it.
* Renting Dvds from the library at the low cost of 0,50$. We also have Netflix, but no cable or other streaming services so it’s not so expensive
* Used reward points to get 2 free movie tickets and a popcorn
* Used reward points to get 20$ worth of gasoline
* Planning groceries and recipes accordingly to what we already have at home and what is on sale that week
1. Bought zero easter eggs.
2. Raked all the autumn leaves and spread them over garden beds as mulch.
3. Daughter visiting from University for the Easter break, but we have only been out once for lunch. We have made Moosewood’s cauliflower pasta and cauliflower soup as they are her favourite dishes (jusband and son loathe cauli and were away, camping)
4. Daughter and I are binge-watching Veronica Mars on Stan (free introductory month – as long as I remember to cancel!)
5. Making produce bags out of op shopped net curtains for my daughter to take back to Uni.
1. Easter dinner with the family meant a weekend of at-home fun. Card games, egg dyeing, and watching some TV made for a great low-spend weekend.
2. Eating leftovers for the week and continuing to eat the freezer dry. I found a shelf–so it’s working!
3. Dropping items I haven’t used in years to a family I know with 9 kids–they can always use school supplies and kitchenware. Better for them to use it up than for me to save it “just in case.” Just in case what? A class sneaks up on me and I need 6 mostly full notebooks? Pleeeeease.
4. I’ve taken the bus enough times to get a free ride on Greyhound, thanks to their road rewards. You BET I’m redeeming that next time I need to travel.
5. Potential frugal fail–I seem to have lost my retainer. Fortunately I located my last invisalign tray and can use that until I find it, so I’m hoping it turns up soon (thought I left it on my desk at work but it’s not here!). Giving it a few days before coughing up the $150 for a new one.