Five Frugal Things
by Katy on September 26, 2022 · 69 comments
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My husband replaced the motor on our clothes dryer this summer, so we were super bummed when the drum suddenly stopped spinning. Luckily my husband was able to identify that the culprit was a simple broken belt. $8.91 for the belt and fifteen minutes of labor and we’re once again in possession of a functioning appliance.
Whenever this kind of thing happens, I think about all the people who replace appliances without even attempting a repair. It’s not as simple as “If I can do this, anyone can,” (which grossly oversimplifies people’s lives) but I shudder to think of all the appliances in the landfill that could’ve been fixed instead of trashed.
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My older sister gave me a pair of hand-me-down Birkenstock clogs a few years ago, as they were too big for her. (It pays to be the big footed sister!) Unfortunately, the suede tops have a hard time staying adhering to the sides of the cork footbed. Luckily, it’s just a matter of gluing the sides back together, which I’ve now done twice. Just squiggle on the super glue, clamp them tightly and they’re basically as good as new.
This $155 “Boston” style shoe is apparently on trend for Fall 2022, which I find to be pretty hilarious as they’re the primary shoe of choice for my decidedly unfashionable 87-year-old father. Perhaps he’s on the cusp of being an international style influencer. Tony Wolk — retired professor and fashion icon.
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My husband is doing his level best to build a nine-foot square platform deck out of the leftover component pieces from our disassembled backyard tree house. He did buy new screws, bolts and a few other miscellaneous pieces, but we should be able to complete the project for under $200. Considering that the supposed average price of building a deck is $30 per square foot, we’ll be saving over $2000!
I already have a small outdoor table and chairs, so I should be able to set it up nicely without having to shell out any money.
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I scored a $1 bag of random produce from Fred Meyer that included two zucchini, one orange, two jalapeño peppers, one lemon and two red peppers, I worked on my laptop at Ikea and took advantage of their free coffee, I got a free case of chocolate covered marshmallow snacks from my favorite grocery liquidator and then donated all but two of the packets to my neighborhood’s free pantry, I grabbed an extra pound of $2 organic salad greens (reimbursed) and a 79¢ container of blueberries (a gift) for my friend Lise, I listened to The Christmas Bookshop, by Jenny Colgan through the free Libby app and then read a library copy of French Braid by Anne Tyler, I planted some propagated rootings and then started new ones, (wandering Jew, ficus and another plant whose name alludes me) and I was inspired by how nice my father’s house looks after having been power washed, so I took a bucket of soapy water and washed the siding from my front porch, which brightened it up considerably.
I got the police to take a bike that a neighbor found abandoned on their property. They’d stuck a “FREE” sign on it, but I knew that it must be a stolen bike. This way there’s a chance that the original owner can get their bike back.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 69 comments… read them below or add one }
I think I can come up with 5….
1. Our dryer quit working and Hubby took it apart and ordered a part for $11 and put it back together and it’s working again. He also found $1.33 in change inside after taking it apart. Put that in the change jar.
2. Hubby had bought a gun raffle ticket for $50 which is quite pricey, but they also had more expensive guns, etc on the ticket. He ended up winning a $600 crossbow. I’m glad he more than recouped his $.
3. My daughter’s boyfriend brought us some tomatoes from his co-worker which I washed and froze for future meals.
4. I cashed in on $10 rewards from fetch that I redeemed to use on an Amazon purchase.
5. I went to a garage sale with my daughter this past weekend and it was $5/bag. We got a ton of children’s books for her future classroom (she’s a senior in college going for teaching), some craft items she can use, and I got 2 packs of envelopes, a package of note cards, a pair of denim sneakers, a pair of black sneakers (both pair of shoes were washed and look like brand new) and a bingo game. We scored.
Love that your Dad is a soon to be fashion icon!
That was pretty funny, wasn’t it? It made me chuckle too! 🙂
It was so refreshing that the link to the book you read was not an Amazon link. I try my best not to buy from Amazon.
I never link to Amazon. Period.
I love it that your dad is wearing the hot shoes of the season. 😀 I was looking at my husband’s suede house shoes last night and realized I’ve mended them twice in recent months. Home shoe repair for the win!
My FFT:
1. Found a total of $3.14 on the ground in recent weeks:
2. Used that found money to cover most of the cost of a bowl and plate (for feeding the cats) and a music CD at Goodwill.
3. Made my work lunches for the week — black bean-chicken chili with sweet potato and spinach — from pantry and freezer goods. Used up some tomatoes and a cuke bought last week, along with some iceberg lettuce, to make a salad for our supper. Iceberg gets sneered at, but it’s only $1.99 for a whole head and I picked one that was lightweight and dark green, which means not so many tasteless white knots of leaves.
4. Got my hair cut really short so as to stretch out a $24 haircut for about four months. I trim it around the edges to keep it looking decent while it’s growing.
5. Combined a sale with a store coupon to knock $3 off the price of a pound of pork sausage.
I’ve been on an iceberg lettuce kick lately, I love the crunch! I hate food snobbery, just let people eat the food they enjoy!
Always glad to see a new post from you.
1. Cut the husband’s hair, which seems to grow at a freakish rate.
2. I have a box of cards that were sent to me but have fronts that can be easily removed so that they can be recycled. I needed a few cards this week so I took a few hours and took off the fronts and reapplied them to card stock that I bought years ago. Now I have 23 new cards waiting to be used and a chore out of the way.
3. Repaired a pair of the husband’s shorts. He sews but he does not like to patch things so I take on that chore.
4. One of my Allbirds got a hole when I caught the top on my garden fence. Not only are these expensive shoes, they are very comfortable and they fit over my leg brace, so I was not willing to give them up. I darned the hole and then put Gorilla glue over the spot. It is not perfect looking but I don’t care.
5. I made cheeseburger soup and we had enough left for one more bowl. The next night I did not feel like cooking so I added some milk and one more potato to the leftovers and ended up with enough soup for both of us for supper. It did not taste any different.
6. Accepted a bag of quail eggs from the neighbor and used them to make egg drop soup.
Lindsey, one of these days we are going to have to see before-and-after-haircut pictures of your husband. And I’m sorry that the quail eggs wouldn’t stand up to shipping; I’d love to try some.
A. Marie: I have cut my husband’s hair for the last 39 years of our 40 years together. It started because we were poorish and then it just continued. Unless we are on a trip, or while he had chemo baldness, or when he used to go see his dad and visit the barber who’d cut his hair shince he was 3, I became his barber. I have kept a lock of his hair from every single hair cut, dated and put in a small baggie. He never knew this until a few years ago when he opened a drawer in the back of the closet; I wish I had a picture of his expression after pulling out baggie after baggie of curly hair in the different colors he went through from dark brown in his youth to white in his old age. I started because I thought no one could stand to live with me long term and I might want something to remember him by. Now it is just my weird little thing I do. And he really cannot say anything because I once found a knit cap I made in his sock drawer and he confessed that he put it there when I nearly died because he it had some strands of my hair in it and smelled like me.
Lindsey…I’ve been cutting my husband’s hair for many years now too, and it’s actually very nice time we spend together. Your story of saving locks of your husband’s hair is just the sweetest!
Dang it, Lindsey, now you’re making me wish I’d learned to cut DH’s hair. He still has a full head of it and it isn’t altogether grey yet, although it’s straight and fine (unlike your husband’s). One of the few ways I still think I can give him some pleasure is running my fingers through his hair.
A. Marie: Once he got over the shock, my husband said the drawer looks like a serial killer trophy collection. What a nice way to give your husband pleasure, running your fingers through his hair!
Oh, Lindsey, your hair and cap story is one worth writing as a short story. It will stay with me for a long time, thank you so much for sharing. lovely!
I love how you made new cards!
Me too! How come I’ve never thought of doing that? That is brilliant.
Oh, and I cut my husband’s hair too, what little there is of it. hahahah I can only do one ‘custom cut’ and that is a #2 guard using the clippers, and then I trim up around the edges. We used to pay for haircuts, but haven’t for years since a girl at the barbers’ told my husband: “Oh, you have the easiest haircut EVER!” That made me think it was time to learn to use a pair of clippers. Little did she know that she lost their business a customer forever that day…
1. Completed another Noom survey for a $25 Amazon gift card
2. Flew American Airlines over the weekend and was comped a glass of wine each way.
3. Completed another survey for $10 Amazon gift card
4. Averaged 5,000 steps/day on the FitBit provided by my health insurance carrier
5. Ate the FREE boring lunch from work ever day
Free food is certainly hard to turn down.
1. Threw together a banana bread with three overripe bananas using an old church cookbook that once belonged to my grandmother. Underneath the recipe, in her beautiful penmanship, my grandmother wrote: “I use this recipe.”
2. I cut DH’s hair with my trusty Wahl buzzer.
3. I had family over yesterday for another Football Sunday. On the menu this week was a crockpot full of hotdogs and Boston Baked Beans. Dessert was Apple Crisp with store brand whipped topping. A hearty Fall meal and having it in the crockpot meant I could sit and talk with company to my heart’s content.
4. I attended a free lecture on decorating with flowers at the National Cathedral in Washington D.C. at my town’s library. This very interesting talk was given by a member of the cathedral’s guild. The slide presentation by itself made it worth attending.
5. I received a check for $18 from my health insurance company. Apparently, I had overpaid them for an appointment without realizing it.
When I use a recipe from a cookbook, I note the date and whether we liked it in the cookbook. Also who the dinner guests were and any other large current events. The top two are falling apart, but I can never replace them.
That is so sweet Mary! I’m so happy I have that old cookbook with my grandmother’s writing in it. I also have a few other recipes she wrote out for me on random pieces of paper. Someday your family and friends will be equally thrilled.
Just reread my reply to you Mary and that last sentence sounds a little morbid! Sorry about that. I should probably have written “our” families and friends…Geez…
Loving all these posts! I agree, so many reparable and useful things are wasted, left to disintegrate and pollute. What a blessing, to have a handy spouse able to repair and build things.
I spent the weekend food shopping, cooking and spending time with our daughter and grandchildren. I always borrow books from the library when they visit and read them a book about poop that they really enjoyed, at 7 and 4. I even learned some interesting facts about bird poop.
We bought a grinder attachment that fits on an appliance and my husband grinds chicken thighs for our chicken burger dinners. I buy the chicken at Costco and it is saving us so much money. Plus my husband enjoys performing this task.
We will be away on vacation next week, so we will be working on emptying the fridge and not wasting produce.
And he is lucky to have me as well.
Exactly! I confess to being irritated when men are applauded for doing their share!
Mother Nature switched seasons right on cue and fall has arrived. Pulled out some homemade veggie stock from the back of the freezer to make my first pot O soup of the season. I have always said that soup is the cornerstone of my frugal lifestyle.
I agree on soup, but sadly Portland is holding onto summer as today hit 86 degree F today.
Love the shoe fix! Also – happy new year! My dd went to her first Rosh Hashanah celebrations this week at her boyfriend’s parents house. She is loving learning about all the Jewish holidays.
1 – My ds (19) was complaining about not knowing what he could eat in the house. I made him go through and help me organize the freezer and told him all the things he could eat. I also pulled out several things I forgot I had.
-We had delicious bison steaks for dinner Saturday.
-I pulled chicken thighs I didn’t know I had and made broth in the crockpot. Pulled the meat off for my ds to use in stir fry. Got 10 cups of broth.
-found old ground turkey and made a batch of breakfast sausage
-I have 2 pork roasts thawing and ds is in charge of pulled pork sandwiches for dinner tomorrow night
2 – Stopped at an orchard and got a huge bag of honeycrisp 2nds to eat and a large bag of cheaper apples for cobbler and to dehydrate. Also got 2 pie pumpkins and pureed them. Double batch of muffins, 4 ice cube trays of puree to use in smoothies and pancakes
3 – Met friends at a free Octoberfest for entertainment. 1 beer each and several hours of fun.
4 – Paid some bills online, got gas at Costco, dh cut his own hair,
5 – dh trash picked the bed of a wheelbarrow. He added some eyebolts and rope and him and ds havea workout sled to drag around the very large rock he found at the creek. Insert eyeroll by me but it is frugal.
Thank you for the new year’s wish!
Happy new year, Katy. I love your blog. I am currently reading ‘Living a Jewish Life’ by Anita Diamant, who is the author of The Red Tent and Good Harbor, among many other books I’ve liked. I am learning things from this interesting book of hers, even though I’ve been Jewish all my life!
I loved The Red Tent .
It’s been a very busy few days recently and my frugal wins all revolved around celebrations!
1 our 24th wedding anniversary was celebrated at a local French chain restaurant and this cost us nothing as my parents kindly gifted us £50 for our anniversary and we chose a prix fixe meal which included a glass of wine.
2 my birthday 2 days later was celebrated with a fish & chip takeout and a bottle of Prosecco as I didn’t want another meal out. We discovered out local chippy had a loyalty program that I’d signed up for in covid and I was able to cash in points meaning the meal for 3 of us only cost £2.83!!! Bargain.
3 My eldest son’s 21st birthday was yesterday and he flew home from Uni in Scotland for the weekend to celebrate with us. I baked his cake (I always do) and we purchased his flight tickets months ago meaning they cost less than £50. A return train ticket would cost £150 plus even with his student discount.
4 We went out for a family lunch to celebrate his 21st and my DH and I had planned this expense months ago so our budget wasn’t dinged and we felt free to choose what we wanted from the menu rather than look for the cheapest option. It was a marvellous meal and we all had lots of fun
5 final small win was me eating my son’s leftover gluten free bread this morning as toast for my breakfast. Eat all the food I said to myself as I munched the rather cardboard like slices!! I did generously spread the Nutella to assist with the taste. However 4 hours later and I’m not hungry so my mo waste approach has worked.
Happy New Year Katy!!
I believe that with Nutella, you can save money by skipping the bread and eating it on cardboard! That stuff can make anything taste good!! We lived in Scotland for a time, which is when I was introduced to Nutella. At that time, it was not sold in the U.S. so when we came back home for visits I would bring jars of it. We were married in Castle Douglas and we had a potluck for the small wedding feast. My friends knew my tastes so Nutella featured large.
We were in Castle Douglas on Saturday still a lovely town and a great shopping place but hopeless for vegan diners.
I pulled 3 metal chairs that rock out of the dumpster,,,they only need new cushions which is not a big deal…!!
Isn’t it amazing what people throw out!
1. We had dinner at my mother’s house. She had regretted freezing a large portion of ground beef so she made a huge batch of sloppy joes of which we are still enjoying the leftovers. I made a carrot cake as part of my contribution. We all love this cake and it’s easy and cheap to make. I keep the cream cheese and pecans in the freezer so I can make this last minute without having to pick up ingredients.
2. I received a check from my insurance company. Now that’s a new one.
3. I’m still working on my Ebay listing block. I listed several items yesterday. I’ll continue to work at this and try to stay away from the thrift stores and estate sales until I have a handle on my large death pile.
4. I’m reading another library book on my kindle. This one is Violeta by Isabel Allende. So far so good.
5. My daughter and I are planning another trip to the library. I’ll return the DVD I borrowed and get a new one. We’ll also stop by the township office and turn in our absentee ballot applications saving a couple stamps.
Yikes! Rip out that ficus right away! Yes, they are very pretty and bright and green … but….they will soon grow into a tree that takes over and the roots are harder than concrete, They lift sidewalks several feet high.
I know this. I live in LA and see it all around me.
Thank you for that information. This one will only be a house plant.
Love these frequent posts! Keeps me on my game.
My family is finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel after many weeks sorting and donating my husband’s aunt’s stuff from her filled-to-the-gills home. So much stuff it takes your breath away. Even the people at the thrift store gasp when they see us drive up in vehicles loaded like the Clampetts from The Beverly Hillbillies. (And this is AFTER a dozen family members have taken what they wanted and two pick-ups from The Salvation Army.) Now that the clear-out is almost complete, I can focus on my own frugal efforts.
1. Needed a belt so I took one from my husband’s side of the closet. He doesn’t use it (the belt that is; he uses the closet). Now we each have one belt to our names.
2. Did a marathon session in the kitchen all Sunday afternoon to use up fresh produce and items from the pantry and freezer in anticipation of our upcoming move.
3. Made a 9×13 pan of the following odds and ends: salsa verde, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, chopped walnuts, pinto beans, shredded jackfruit, onion, squash, brown rice, torn up corn tortillas, shredded cheese, and spices. This mishmash was fantastic! The corn tortillas were inedible on their own, so hiding them in this dish was the only way to use them up.
4. Niece called me from Costco to say that she found my favorite Thai Kitchen coconut milk at a good price for a 6-pack. We’ll use that quickly in stir fries and decadent chia pudding.
5. Friend gave me a half-dozen paperbacks that I will either donate to the library’s book sale or a Little Free Library when I’m done reading them.
MB, I have to admit that your “loaded like the Clampetts” description gave me my best laugh of the week thus far. And I too have swapped belts with my DH.
5 frugal9.27.22
1. The new foster is wearing his late brother’s tag. The only info that matters is our phone number, and that hasn’t changed.
2. I got a dog bowl on Buy Nothing that sits in a silicone mat. So when the pup spreads out his food it’s still contained.
3. Said pup performed a small incision squeakerectomy on his stuffy. He continues to pull stuffing out of the small hole. I pick up the polyfill and stuff it back into the toy. I will not sew the hole closed.
4. I turned the part of the thrift store bedspread that I didn’t need to cover the sofa into two dog beds—one on each floor. They are held together with safety pins. If sewn in place they would be too thick to dry in a day.
5. I continue to sew from my stash. I figured out a way to cut a quilt block I like from a jelly roll(set of 2.5 inch strips). I inherited several jelly rolls when a friend died.
I love “squeakerectomy”.
1. I I had a $25 gift certificate that I used to buy 2 books, one was used.
2. Scraped hair product out of the tube. When I cut it open, I was surprised at how much was left in there.
3. I did a 5k walk/run for Suicide Prevention. I raised $600.00. Kind of pleased with that. Plus it was lovely weather that morning and I walked with a friend. Nice to do good for the world and catch up at the same time.
4. I watched Roger Federer play his last match for good at the Laver Cup on tv. He is an amazing athelete and wish more young players had the court manners he does.
5. The usual-coffee from home, freezer, leftovers, using less laundry detergent and not noticing a difference and shorter showers.
Happy Fall everyone!
I don’t have anything big.
1. Found a quarter, a penny, and 24 cents in 3 separate incidents within 2 weeks. That is remarkable for my area.
2. Found a pair of the terribly thick itchy wool socks my husband likes for 1.99 at a thrift store. If I had to wear those, all skin would be sanded off my feet but he loves them.
3. Dropped off recycling at the bins at the local high school and found that someone had used the area for trash dumping. After muttering against the people who put artificial flowers in the glass bin, dry wall in the plastics bin and left a broken down couch surrounded by piles of stuff, I picked up items to send to my church’s yard sale. I brought home a decorative lantern and a bag of women’s tops. Anything unsold at the end of the day will go to some charity so maybe the clothes will actually benefit someone. What is wrong with people????? I am sure our tax dollars paid for someone to clean up that mess.
That’s all I have this time .
Ordered my Bible study book through EBay instead of Amazon. Saved $3 and didn’t have to figure out $42 of other products to get free Amazon shipping.
Cutting tomatoes out of the food budget since the garden is finally giving back!
Prowling around for a job that will allow me to see my son onto the bus in the morning and be home in time to help with homework. Interview tomorrow at Tractor Supply. I chose to apply there because I think I’d really enjoy their customer base. However I can almost bet my availability will not work for them.
Signed up to work the polls. Will put $220 in my pocket and allow me to serve my community.
Making my kids some trail mix everyday for their lunches instead of dessert and using up some expired grapes before they really get too old! Lol! I might make a couple loaves of cinnamon raisin bread too. We love that in the Fall!
Good luck with your interview. Employers seem to be pretty desperate for workers these days so maybe they will accommodate your availability instead of the other way around. Hope so. Best of luck.
Bethany M: Is this the TSC in the town just south of Fair Oaks, which you mentioned visiting in the previous post? I think we are close to neighbors!
No we live a little ways out from Fair Oaks.
I think Tractor Supply is a good company to work for! I remember how they safe guarded their employees during the worst of Covid. Hope it works out for you. What about working as a teacher’s aide?
Classroom aid is an idea in my back pocket, but I wanted to explore some better paying options first. I would love the work though!
I’m hoping today will mark the end of a very rough week! The money is flowing out quickly as emergency after a emergency seem to find us. I was involved in a car accident last Tuesday. Fortunately no one was hurt; but it is a mess!!!!. My son also needed some emergency help with travel — another huge mess. Of course, there are/were also emergency preparations for Hurricane Ian. All this has come on top of my sons wedding in less than a month. As you can imagine, my bank account is suffering. However, I keep moving along. I’m very thankful that people can be kind and helpful. There are angels everywhere. I have had a few frugal wins — relatively small wins — But wins nonetheless.
1) I ordered a dress for an event that has now been postponed because of the hurricane. I had it sent to me using priority shipping which the company charged a great deal for. However, the company didn’t prioritize it. It shipped five days after it was supposed to. I asked for and received my money back for shipping.
2) I listed and sold some items on eBay. All items fishing related.
3) I was able to borrow my book club selection from the library. We are reading “Lessons in Chemistry: a novel.”
4) I have done all the usual things. I have eaten every meal at home with the exception of dinner on our wedding anniversary, brewed my own coffee, and drank primarily filtered water.
5) I haven’t spent any money on entertainment. Trying to survive the chaos that seems to be swirling around me is taking up all my time.
I hope that I’ll have a more inspiring FFT next week!
Wishing everyone peace and health.
Bee, so sorry you’ve had a rough week and that no one was hurt in the car accident. I’m glad you posted as I’ve been thinking about you with Hurricane Ian. Be safe!
I started reading “Lessons in Chemistry,” but stopped as it was setting up for a violent rape scene.
I’m so sorry to hear that you were in a car accident. I’m glad everyone was okay, although there’s still trauma even when the injuries aren’t physical.
Thank you for your kind thoughts, MB. I think that we will be ok where I live. Things will be very wet – excessive rain, high tides and storm surge. My thoughts will be with those on the west coast of Florida where things may be catastrophic.
Katy, thank you for preparing me for Lesson in Chemistry. My book club will not like that at all. It was selected because the synopsis made it sound lighthearted and fun. I also appreciate the understanding about the car accident. The accident has left me feeling off-center. Of course, dealing with insurance adjusters and supply chain shortages do not help either!!! However, this too shall pass.
Bee, you are in my thoughts re: both the car accident and Ian. My middle sister and her husband, who live on the east side of Apalachicola Bay, evacuated earlier this week to the condo they maintain in our original TN hometown. And I’m a bit anxious about my undergraduate alma mater in Sarasota, which is too close for comfort to the direct path.
Bee: starting clean up from hurricane Ian today here in South Florida. Nothing compared to our brethren in the west Coast.
I hope the “the chaos the swirls around you” soon abates, and you regain your center. Sending you love.
Be safe,
Patricia
Thank you!!! I am ready for things to calm down a bit, but sometimes life does not cooperate.
I’m so glad you are well. The hurricane is bringing winds, rain and storm surge to Northeast Florida. The path will result in about 36 hours of mess! It’s late in the morning on Thursday and the storm is now heading up the Atlantic Coast. We are about 1/2 way through. My heart goes out to all that are affected.
Thinking of you Bee and wishing the very best.
Bee, I hope the rest of your week was better and you’ve fared well during the hurricane. Wow, the photos of damage are scary..
1. I bought a $5 box of produce using the Flash Food app. It contained an assortment of fruits and vegetables and it was well worth it. I was able to walk to the store to pick it up. I brought my backpack and asked them to reuse the box.
2. I finished listening to Lightning Strike, borrowed from the library. I am on the waiting list for the next book in the series. My daughter asked me to borrow books for her from the library. I picked them up when I was nearby.
3. A friend fed me lunch when I stopped by to visit. I will reciprocate in some way.
4. The A/C is off and although it is a bit cool in the house I added a blanket layer to our bed and we are layering up in the house.
5. Dinner will be chicken tortilla soup to use up shredded chicken from the freezer. I will also make banana blueberry muffins today to use up frozen fruit given to me by a friend.
Concerned about Fla. hurricane – usually spend some vacation time in Sarasota and love their beautiful beaches.
1. Husband came home from hospital today (open heart surgery) He was looking forward to a full night’s sleep in his own bed. Expensive week but did manage to get our parking tickets stamped for a discount and were given two free passes.
2. Discharge nurse told us to take home kleenex boxes because they would be discarded. He also got a free tote. Compared to the $$ all this cost, negligible savings, but these days even small wins are appreciated.
3. When cleaning up DH’s den, found two overlooked gift cards from Culvers. They were worth $11.67.
4. Reading cookbooks from my collection is free. Looking for interesting and not too expensive recipes. Currently paging through a breakfast and brunch book originally published in England.
5. I mostly borrow books from the library for my book club. Occasionally Half Priced books has a good bargain, but usually I read (sometimes skim) and move on. Free is such a good price for a quick read.
Wishing your husband a speedy recovery.
Wow, that $1 bag of produce is pretty inspiring if you ask me! I wish I could find a similar bargain around here…
Here are 5 more of mine:
1. Watching YouTube videos for entertainment. I really REALLY love one called ‘Holly – The Cafe Boat’ which features a lovely young couple living on a narrowboat in England with their little baby, William. I recommend this for happy-watching to all of my friends! They run a little cafe right from their boat, just coffees and delicious homemade cakes. I like supporting their YouTube efforts, because they seem like such incredible people. And calming, man, I always chill out when I watch their videos.
2. Planning to have leftovers for supper – yesterday I made something I call ‘Mexican Bowls.’ Basically just cooked brown rice as a base, then topped with heated refried beans (which I add garlic and chili powder and hot sauce to), guac, salsa, fried peppers and onions and vegan ‘cheeze.’ (I love real cheese but it hates me! Boohoo!). So yummy and filling and I always make enough to have leftovers the next day. Which means today’s supper is already made. Yes!!
3. And for lunch? I think I’ll have a delicious and frugal fried egg sandwich. Nothing fancy, but boy do I love those once in a while. Maybe a few carrots on the side for some needed vegetables.
4. Also enjoying music on YouTube. I’ve always been a big Depeche Mode fan, and I keep going back to their live studio version of ‘Broken.’ Man, is it moody and awesome. Dave Gahan’s voice!!!! (And Martin’s too. Together they are something pretty special.)
5. A cheap chocolate treat: nothing super fancy, again (I am never fancy! hahaha), but every week hubs and I have ‘treat day’ and we each have a big chocolate bar that we love. He likes dark chocolate, and I love milk. We usually share a bit of each, though, to change it up. Not always, however! 😉
Hugs to all of you. Your posts, Katy, and all of the awesome replies are so good. I always feel inspired to try harder to be more careful with our money.
What you describe as “Mexican Bowls” sells at a local restaurant here as a “Bryan’s Bowl” for $13.50 plus tip.
https://porquenotacos.square.site/menu
Its yummy, but can be recreated for about 75¢ at home.
THANK YOU, for the YouTube recommendation! I too watch LOADS of YouTube and I immediately subscribed to Holly, after watching 2 episodes! I love it! Do you ever watch Dr. Todd Grande?!? He is so fun to watch, and has a BONE DRY sense of humor! I highly recommend him on YouTube!
Yes!!! Homemade ‘Bryan’s Bowls’ for the win! Lol They were super tasty too. Next time I think I’d add some crushed tortilla chips on top for crunch. Or even sliced almonds, since we always seem to have those around for baking.
Speaking of tipping, has it become as outrageous in the US as here in Canada? Almost anywhere you go now (even a fast food place) seems to ask for a tip when you’re paying. Insane!
1. My new hobby is sashiko — a fancy name for mending my husband’s jeans. :p
I’ve patched two pairs of jeans three times each. I am hoping they will look good enough to wear to school until our weight loss makes them too big.
2. Worked at the local foodbank, and brought home two bowls of giant apples, a bowl of brussel sprouts, a bowl of damaged onions, and a bunch of scraps for the chickens. I found out that our efforts to bring home chicken scraps save the food bank $80 a week! A win for both of us! I spent a lot of the afternoon chopping up onions for the freezer. Saturday will be spent making applesauce out of the bruised apples.
3. Cut my husband’s hair.
4. The groomer hasn’t called back in over a week, numerous tries. We decided to stop trying, and rather than find another groomer, I will be grooming my 15 pound poodle mix on my next day off (wish me luck!).
5. Not frugal for me, but I helped my neighbor by posting medical supplies (catheter supplies, etc) to freecycle. I may help her declutter her house in preparation for a move, which I would love. I just started doing that before Covid hit, and I’d love to do organizing and decluttering part-time.