Five Frugal Things
by Katy on April 10, 2023 · 77 comments
-
We received a notice that electrical work in the area was going to result in up to five hours without electricity. I didn’t want our food to go bad, so I brought up a cooler and filled it with ice packs and any food we might need throughout the day. I also taped the refrigerator shut to ward against anyone (me) mindlessly opening the doors. We ate the frozen Safeway pizza that I picked up for free last week, plus a Trader Joe’s salad kit for dinner. It would have easy to rationalize eating out, but I prefer to save that for special occasions.
Nothing frugal about letting food go to waste.
-
I bought a Variera Ikea storage bin at Goodwill for $1.99, (normally $4.99) which served as the catalyst to reorganize our cluttered refrigerator. I’d been wanting to corral some “like items” into bins, so this was a perfect find. It’s now holding cheeses and I’ll start to keep an eye out for additional ones to continue this project. Ikea items are mass produced enough that I can’t even count how many times I’ve come across this exact item while thrifting.
I know I can pop over to Ikea and buy as many as I need, (two, I think I need two more) but overmanufacture of consumer goods is killing our planet, so I choose used over new whenever I can.
-
I sold:
• A vintage Taylor & Ng cat food bowl. I paid $4.99 and sold it for $50.
• That’s it. That’s all I sold.
-
• I iced a cake with a 25¢ can of frosting that I picked up after the 4th of July holiday.
• I’ve been scanning all my receipts into the Fetch and Ibotta apps to earn cash back.
• I finished reading the library book I started last week and even returned books on time even though my library system no longer charges late fees.
• I bought my son a $5.45 Starbucks drink for just $2 at Safeway, as I’d downloaded a Just 4U coupon on their app.
• I used a Franz Bakery Outlet punch card from a friend to buy five loaves of bread.
• My husband opened a jar of marinara sauce even through there were already two open jars in the fridge. (Grumble, grumble, sigh . . . ) I bought a half pound of ground beef and upgraded two of the jars with some extra herbs and spices and was able to serve a slightly fancier pasta meal to mostly use up any sauce before it went bad.
• My daughter brought me some crumbled but otherwise delicious cookies from her schwanky grocery store.
• I donated an enormous box of clothing and miscellaneous stuff from my adult daughter’s old bedroom. I’m working to turn her room back into usable space, which it hasn’t been since she took all her furniture to her apartment when she moved out last year. There’s no deadline for this project, so the pace is relaxed which is good as I’m looking to not spend any more money than necessary.
-
I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
Like this post? Then please share it with your friends!
Like this:
Like Loading...
{ 77 comments… read them below or add one }
We freeze leftover marina/pasta sauce all the time. Might go into chili, might get added to the next pasta dish. But it doesn’t go to waste.
I can do that, but it tends to get pushed to the back of the freezer.
We have drawers in the freezer-on-the-bottom-of-the frig and shelves in the doors of the upright freezer. My husband is king of knowing what is in the freezer (dribs, drabs, leftovers, 2-be-cooked) and ensuring no waste.
We keep a Google doc with all of the contents of our freezer. This has been a game-changer for us.
That’s impressive, I know myself well enough to know I’d never do that.
Your #1 = excellent heads-up work, Katy. And thank goodness your utility company did give you the warning.
Now, FFT, Living Off the Ground Edition:
(1) I found an almost-full bottle of McCormick “organic melange” peppercorns on a recent stroll through the ‘hood. I will be using the peppercorns and have cleaned up the jar for reuse for my homegrown herbs. (I have friends in Baltimore, McCormick’s hometown, who always like to get my herbs in McC jars.)
(2) I found 7 pristine cans of food (2 each of peas, corn, and green beans, and 1 can of Campbell’s tomato soup–all 7 low-sodium, no less!) on another stroll through the ‘hood. All cans were well within their best-by dates. Whatever I can’t use, I’ll donate.
(3) And as spring is finally springing in Central NY, I’m keeping an eye peeled in my garden beds for the emergence of edible weeds, plus whatever parsley and cilantro may have survived winter and deer.
(4) Speaking of deer, I found my first-ever shed deer antler as I was cleaning up the back 40 this weekend. This is not something I’m going to eat, of course, but I have added it to my “cabinet of natural curiosities” in my office. And it’s about time the wretched Bamboids left me a souvenir!
(5) In return for the universe’s favors this week, I will be putting a few of DH’s things from the garage that I don’t expect will sell in our upcoming garage sale on the curb.
We don’t have deer in my urban area, so I still get to think of them as adorable. I know this isn’t the case for everyone.
Adorable deer? Ugh, no. Thanks to the Bamboids, the only vegetables I’ll be growing this year (aside from bunching green onions and garlic, which the deer don’t like) will be a couple of tomato plants in pots behind my next-door neighbor’s 8-foot chain-link fence.
I’ve found that they don’t bother pumpkins or winter squash.
Sadly, Mary, your MD deer seem more civilized than our deer, which eat those plants as well.
I always have one asparagus spear the a deer tries but otherwise I don’t have any issue. in the garden. I do live in a rural area. But they do love to sleep in the Comfrey which is fine by me. I’m sure it helps heal any minor injuries they have.
Um…wait a minute Katy…what about Goldie Fawn? I actually seen her on your front porch…
…have seen…
I’ve never found an antler. How large is it? What other curiosities do you have? It is very “Jane Austen” that you collect things of scientific interest.
Bee, the antler isn’t very big; it’s only got three points. I’m guessing it was shed by one of our adolescent bucks. My other curiosities include several feathers from several bird species, as well as a beautifully cleaned (by Mother Nature) rabbit skull that DH once picked up in the back 40. And you’re right that gentlemen (and some ladies), especially the scientifically inclined, had cabinets of curiosities in Jane Austen’s day. In Emma, for example, Mr. Knightley is described as having family collections of corals and shells, as well as medals and cameos.
My neighbor uses a set of found deer antlers in her flower garden as a decoration. They really are a curiosity and I find myself gazing at them whenever I walk by her house.
Uh, people in your hood put canned goods out on the curb? Come to think of it, it’s actually a good idea.
They do when they’re moving; this is far from the first batch of cans I’ve reclaimed. And “curb-shopping” season is upon us here in general. Re: my #5, I put a wheelbarrow of DH’s (it had more things wrong with it than I wanted to deal with) on the curb this morning, and Dr. Bestest Neighbor almost instantly claimed it.
My daughter lives in the Highlands of Scotland and often finds shed antlers whilst walking her dog. She cuts them up and the dog really enjoys them as chew toys,they are sold in pet shops here but aren’t cheap.
My hubby bought home his first ever deer skull with antlers from a stomp through the woods. It still has teeth on it. Ew! He can keep it somewhere where I can’t see it. It gives me the willies!
1. Found free parking again. Free parking in a big city brings me joy 🙂
2. Looking forward to shutting the heat off in the next couple of days because we will high 60’s and above. I will not turn the heat back on until, fingers crossed, the middle of November.
3. The weather has been nice so walks are lovely right now.
4. I used shredded paper and sticks and twigs that I collect to start a fire pit the other day. Why pay $6 for kindling?
5. The absolute f***ing boring usual-coffee and water from home, loss leaders, hanging clothes to dry ect., ect., ect
Katy, that was very civilized of your electric provider. We usually find these things out when the lights go out.
1. A short time ago, I bought some sandals on clearance that had annoying fake buckles. I removed the nuckles, but each strap was left with an enlarged hole in it. Dug around in the big tin of gifted/recycled/inherited buttons and came up with four small brass buttons to cover the holes. Looks great now.
2. Altered two shirts with boat necklines that were too wide so that they now fit properly.
3. Bought a summer dress and pretty cotton cardigan at Goodwill in case there’s a wedding or funeral I have to attend. Having so far lost 47 pounds, my wardrobe is down to a capsule size. The dress needed a button sewn on, so the tin of buttons came to the rescue again.
4. Finally finished cleaning up our backyard. It took one arthritic senior citizen a number of weekends to do what I reckon a crew of three hired guys could have done in a few hours, but it cost almost nothing.
5. DH cleaned out a bed of overgrown ferns and needed to replace a few that had died over the nasty cold snap we had (it killed a lot of plantings in our yard). We found great little ferns at the hardware store for half the price that the plant nursery was charging.
I saw a friend the other day that I hadn’t seen in years. I’ve lost 100 pounds from weight loss surgery. That day I was wearing my “fat” pants. She told me I really needed to get pants that fit. Guess they looked that bad, lol.
1. In the past 2 weeks, I have gotten 2 free items from Fred Meyer. First, a 30 oz jar of mayonaise and then a package of sliced Mozzarella cheese. Both are things we would normally buy, so very welcome.
2. My employer sends prizes and rewards to employees from time to time. This month, I got a car emergency kit complete with booster cables and a flashing signal light.
3. I called for phone consultation on cost of upcoming surgery (hip replacement). Got breakdown on how much my insurance will probably pay how much I will be paying out of pocket. Even with insurance, there will be significant out of pocket costs, so best to be prepared.
4. Picked up some new COVID home test kits. They were still free with my insurance, but only until May 1.
5. My library, like Katy’s, does not charge overdue fees. Interestingly, I find I make every effort to get books back before due date anyway, i.e. more of an effort than I made when I knew there were fines. I think there is a psychological process at work which makes me think like this: “Oh, the library is so nice not to levy fines, so I need to be nice in return and get books back on time.” I wonder if the library has found more books are returned promptly when fines are suspended.
Our library has a food for fines program. Food is collected for the local food pantry in the place of money. 1 item = $1. They also collect for the Pet Rescue Pantry. They provide pet food to people who need help to feed their pets. This seems to prevent some re-homing. I love to pay my fines and do even if I don’t have to.
Food for fines — what a great idea.
My local library does food for fines. Some libraries in my county no longer charge fines for late books. Those are mostly the “bougie” towns. We still make a good amount of change from fines.
1. Picked up items that went unsold at the consignment shop. Will be posting on Craigslist before donating.
2. Received a bag of dog treats from the boarding kennel after they misplaced (and later found and sent to us) one of our dog’s toys from her stay during our move.
3. Saved $100 fee from Xfinity by installing modem myself using their guidance via telephone – a one-hour call. Frustrating process that I’m glad is over with.
4. Able to return some things we purchased for the apartment after we realized we didn’t need them after all.
5. Went to our moving company’s warehouse to pick up an item that they missed delivering to us in our move to the temporary apartment. Most of our possessions are stored there until we find a house. While there they helped me find some additional needed items within these huge crates that they use, and they didn’t charge me anything. I tipped their very helpful staff.
I can’t think of anything much that I have done that is frugal. It was a long week followed by a big weekend. Too much spending…
1. I did not cook or supply anything for Easter Dinner. This may be the first time since I was 21 years old that I didn’t work hard to make the holiday special. My BIL declared it a “no-work” holiday and catered Easter dinner for our extended family. I am so grateful. I attended Sunrise Service on a very stormy Easter Morning (30 Mph winds off the ocean and coastal flood warnings). When I came home, I didn’t have to think about a thing. I had time for a nap!!!!! It was amazing!
2. It was my DIL’s 30th birthday. I arranged a luncheon for her at her favorite restaurant on Good Friday. They allowed me to bring a cake and the decorations. I had a very festive cake made at a local bakery. Not particularly frugal, but I did drink water with my lunch. This is one habit I rarely break.
3. We need new gutters. We sought out 3 estimates. My husband chose the company with the best references and reviews. He also said he had “the best vibe from them” – professional, on-time, thorough, and friendly. Our dog also liked them which is very important. When asked, they were willing to match the lowest quote that we had gotten. So we saved $300 by simply asking. Sometimes they say no, but sometime they say yes.
4. My battle with my car insurance company continues. I was finally able to get the Claims Director to correct a $1000 math error. (3 management levels above my first adjuster to get this done. Really.) However, they have refused to do other things that they should do. I am trying to decide what to do next. I’m tired. It’s taken me 7 months just to get this far. I am especially upset about this situation, because this company preys upon the men and women in our armed forces. I can’t fix this one by myself and Florida’s Department of Insurance is overrun with complaints after Hurricane Ian. I’ll mull it over for a few more days.
5. I done all the usual things … brewed my own coffee,eaten most meals at home, and batched errands. I was able to get one of my book club’s selection from the library. I gave away several items this week on BN including some nice tools that my husband wasn’t using. I have shredded documents that I no longer needed and I used my bank’s electronic payment system to pay my bills.
Wishing everyone peace, good health and prosperity.
I would usually suggest writing to your state and federal elected officials but if memory serves as to your state, I don’t think it will help you at all. I’d still write your DOI – I would *hope* that they’d have staff to handle non-property related complaints. Again I may be too optimistic re: staffing levels and allocation of work.
I requested mediation from the state’s DFS. This is a right specifically granted in the policy agreement. The insurance company did not even bother to answer the state’s request and the Mediation Division of Florida’s Department of Financial Services does not have the ability to enforce the contract. I then requested mediation through the insurance company’s claims department citing the policy agreement and this request was denied. I have filed a complaint with the insurance examiner of the DFS and have not heard back. I am beginning to wonder if a couple of thousand dollars is worth all of this.
Property and Casualty Insurance has been in crisis for the last 18 years in Florida. I’m not sure how it will ever be resolved. The state’s DFS does give priority to those who are trying to restore their lives and homes. When you’ve lost everything you own, my problem is relatively minor.
This sounds very frustrating and exhausting. It’s difficult for me to give up on something when I know I’m in the right. I don’t like to be taken advantage of. Good for you for sticking with it.
Forgive the many typos. I’m blaming it on auto correct.
Bee, under these circumstances, no editorial jury in the world would blame you for the typos! I’m sorry the insurance situation is such a mess.
It has been a spendy week as we sort out what works in our new home and what requires fixes/changes but I am very excited that we finally live somewhere with an active Buy Nothing group! A few frugal things this past week:
1. We have been able to find ways to use almost everything we moved.
2. An inexpensive frig & freezer thermometer solved the settings problem with the frig that came with the house.
3. With our son’s help my husband was able to set up the internet and cable. He also fixed by himself the disconnected stove hood vent, a sink stopper, a too big outlet hole under the sink that was letting lots of cold air plus a too big hole in a closet ceiling around a duct and got the water heater pilot light lit. I spent time downloading appliance manuals and making sure we knew how to operate them efficiently. Probably more that I can’t think of right now.
4. We only resorted to takeout for two meals in the new house plus our son and DIL brought us dinner the first night. We prioritized unpacking the kitchen and buying groceries.
5. We are also prioritizing finding the most economical places to buy food and get gas.
Happy with our progress one week in!
1. While paying bills last month, I noticed the bill from the oil company had a notice on it reminding Veterans and seniors of their discount on oil. I immediately called their office and the person who answered assured me we did indeed qualify for the discount due to our ages. There’s not a lot of terrific things about getting older but discounts are surely one of them.
2. DH and I stopped at our town library and picked up the state park pass before we ventured out to hike a mountain within a state park. $5 saved is $5 in my pocket. We also packed a picnic lunch and found a picnic table in the sunshine at the base of the mountain. While at the library, I returned some books. Using the library seems to be a common thread among us non consumers.
3. I cooked Easter dinner expecting it to be only DH and I and I was happily surprised when three out of four grandkids came over to join us for dinner. The one who didn’t come is in college in another state. Having older grandkids who drive is a joy as they can visit when they want.
4. One granddaughter had a recent birthday, so I made an Easter/birthday cake with jellybeans and candles on it. She was delighted and it doubled as a dessert after dinner.
5. The Easter Bunny, better known as DH, got me two boxes of chocolates. He proudly told me he got them on a BOGO deal. Even the Easter Bunny is becoming frugal.
I have nothing of any significance to report.
1. I sold a purse that I had used in the 70s. It had pleasant associations attached but I was never going to use it again.
2. I took in a too big tee shirt.
3. I gathered a few donations for DIL’s yard sale next month.
4. We received Easter treats from 2 neighbors, cake from one and homemade ice cream from another. They were both delicious.
5. Reading gifted books. Making tea and coffee at home. Passing on to others magazines that were passed on to me. Passing on puzzles to the senior center after finishing them.
1. I had a bunch of dirty crusty plant pots I wanted to clean before re-using. Doing laundry, I had the bright idea of putting a few in the sudsy rinse water in the laundry sink – being careful not to block the drain of course. Soaked all the pots during several loads & didn’t have to scrub nearly as much! “Grey” water used! Plant pots ready!
2. I’m going thru my CD collection, which is pretty big, & listening to everything, donating a few that I no longer need/want.
3. Used an Amazon gift card to buy more CDs of artists I love.
4. Using our wonderful local library for books & DVDs. As we do.
5. Finally learned to like the coffee from a grind-and-brew machine at work instead of the K-cups, saving the environment the waste of those little plastic cups.
Re: your #1, Jan, I’ve washed plant pots that way too.
Your pot cleaning idea is genius!
Lindsey, thank you! 🙂
1. I fixed bra straps on two bras.
2. I saved a bright pink wood adirondack chair with a footrest from my Mom’s neighbors bulk garbage pick up which they have once a year. It will go in my daughters back yard at her new old house.
3. I took my Mom and daughter to a used book store in another town. It’s not Powell’s but still a very cool book store. My daughter found a set of Manga she’s been wanting to read and they don’t have at the library. She was thrilled and she can re-sell them when she decides she wants to get rid of them. She received a $10 gift card for her next purchase. The books were less than half the price they would have been new.
4. I hosted Easter dinner and served loss leader spiral sliced ham from Meijer. I have a lot of leftover ham which I froze in portions for future meals.
5. I’ve read a couple more library books on my kindle. The latest have been Tiny Beautiful Things & Remarkably Bright Creatures and both were excellent.
That is a Nice curbside find! I enjoyed Remarkably Bright Creatures also.
Thanks Bee. It’s always so satisfying to save something from the landfill. I was surprised I liked the book. My daughter suggested it and I thought it sounded very strange but it was actually very charming.
An adult novel with an intuitive Giant Pacific Octopus as a main character is a little different.
1. A friend bought six jars of Oui yogurt in a flavor she did not like so I was the happy recipient of her error. It is too expensive for me to buy but I love the texture of this brand.
2. I have pots of begonias under lights, in the hope that spring will come this year (snowing and zero degrees as I write this). I used a bunch of scallions and stuck the root ends in various pots so now have a crop of scallions from bottoms I used to throw away.
3. Did a pizza mystery shop. Not as good as homemade but free and tasty enough to satisfy the pizza urge.
4. Cleaned the freezer and made mac and cheese from all the little nubs of cheese I had thrown in there.
5. Found a can of condensed milk with a best by date in 2018. Made Dulce de Leche from it, figuring I had nothing to lose since I would once have thrown away something so far past the sell by date. Turned out great!
I forgot my favorite frugal thing! I have an abnormally large head. Not like the Elephant Man but large enough that I had to have a special motorcycle helmet made and I have never been able to buy a fancy spring hat (in the days when I wore those for Easter Sunday). Anyway, I inherited a fancy hat from a dear friend and would like to be able to wear it in her memory. I was complaining about my head to someone at a pot luck and a stranger standing nearby said, “I have a hat stretcher my father used. He is dead now so I have been wondering what to do with it. Do you want it?” So, I am now the owner of a hat stretcher purchased over 70 years ago (when all men wore hats) and it is currently doing its magic on my friend’s wide brimmed, flowered hat.
Dang me, Lindsey, I wish I had a friendly stranger with a hat stretcher. I too have an outsized head for a woman (DH and I used to swap hats, since we wore the same size), and I have never been able to wear most hats designed for women. My usual head adornment is a golf visor, but even for these I have to buy men’s; the typical lady’s golf visor pops right off my head. (The explanation I prefer in my case, which I’d guess also applies in yours, came from a child describing why a younger brother had such a big head: “It’s all that hard drive.”)
There’s such a thing as a hat stretcher? Dang, where has that been all my life? I am small but inherited what we called the Cherokee bump on the back of my skull from my dad, which means ladies’ hats don’t fit me.
I’ve seen shoe stretchers and while I can’t remember the exact item, it had something to do with either stretching or reshaping pants? It was a type of hangar.
You can order one on Amazon. The one I got from the potluck guy looks the same, only the wood and screws are dark from age and it has a few splinters.
Selena, I can remember my mother using something on my father’s pants to shape them or stretch them. They were made of metal and were in the shape of the pant leg. She stuffed them into the leg of the pants after washing. This was in the 1960s. I haven’t thought of them in forever!
One of my more unique former colleagues from the psychology department was talking to my toddler son and said, “You have a large head! That means you are smart. Perhaps you could grow up to be president– Oh, wait. Presidents aren’t usually more intelligent than the average person.” That was thirty years ago, so maybe the presidential intelligence pool was a little different. I just admired how she was trying so hard to be affirming of him and empirically correct as well.
I have a fat head too. My husband once tried to give away the only baseball cap that fits me. It had his company’s name/logo on it and it’s camiflauge print. I had a fit about him giving it to a buddy. It’s still mine and good for rainy days or dirty hair days.
By the way, I am here for this “fat head” thread!
My two grandsons were born with large heads and they stayed that way at least until kindergarten. Oddly enough, my two granddaughters…each a sister to the boys with large heads…were born with average sized heads, at least to my nonprofessional eyes. I used to say to my husband, “The boys were born with big pumpkin heads. They must be full of brains.” But I think all four are equally intelligent in their own way.
I would just like to hop in here and say that our heads are not “fat” or “huge” because we can’t find hats that fit. Our heads are perfectly beautiful. Traditional hat-makers only have a “small” and “medium” mold and are resistant to all efforts to get them to use a large mold for women. The result, we use negative imagery to describe ourselves. I was told this by a shopkeeper who buys from the best hat-makers. I wonder at this residual sexism that say a man can find a hat that fits but not a woman. Why do we internalize size so much? I am always fighting the feeling that I should be smaller, quieter and younger. Sheesh.
I have never been ashamed of my head size, probably because my father always said it was larger because I had more brains. And I am definitely not a person who fights feeling smaller, quieter and younger; I am loud and brash and very assertive. But things are manufactured to accommodate the middle, where most people are and I just happen to be outside of the margins for the average woman’s head. My entire body has always been—I am in my 70s now and was over six feet tall by the time I was 11, which is not that unusual now but was when I was a kid. But I came from a father who celebrated how tall (and big headed) I was, so that made all the difference.
Over six feet – I am SO JEALOUS. And while I am a decade younger than you, a six foot tall female was rare – usually found one in a small farming community. Kudos to your dad who’s motto was you deal with the hand you were dealt.
We are in a season of things breaking I guess. 2 cars need repairs at the moment.
1. Used our AAA membership for a free tow and have been car juggling the past few days. Luckily dh was off work Monday when ds’s car decided to not start after he got gas. No work missed.
2. I cooked bigger meals 3 times recently and we have been feasting on the leftovers ever since. Definitely makes my life easier!
3. No one was coming home for Easter so we didn’t bother with a fancy dinner. I “volunteered” at the local MLB game for a guaranteed $200 towards college instead.
4. Interviewed for summer school – we really need the money at this point if we don’t want to wipe out savings to cover all these breaking things.
5. Ok, not frugal but oh so worth it!!!! At 4:30 Wednesday we realized we had a free evening AND Bruce Springsteen was in town. We scored $92 tickets on Stubhub and had an amazing night on the cheap. We ate dinner before we left, but we did get a drink while we were there. Last fall when tickets went on sale they were going for hundreds, so I was very happy with our last minute deal.
I’m so jealous of the Springsteen tickets! I’ve been watching you tube videos of the concerts and figured I was saving myself over $1K in ticket prices for his show in NJ.
Brisbane Australia here( I’m guessing most of you are from the US? You have been on my mind and in my heart during this last spate of mass killings, I ache for you.)
I am working towards a potential move/ downsize towards the end of the year, have committed to a minimum of one thing out each day, haven’t missed a day in 3 months, and often find more than 1 thing on my daily prowl! My grand daughter was delighted this weekend with a set of hammered steel table ware, big bowl, 4 little bowls, big jug and ice bucket.! It was my 75th birthday yesterday ( 3/4 of a century!) I feel so fortunate to have had what must be 75 of the best years women have had since the beginning of time, and in a safe and politically stable country ( My family migrated here when zi was 10! ) I live in an inner city unit, a sub tropical climate, and a beautiful country. I’m deeply ashamed of our dreadful treatment of refugees, although our new Labour government has made some, but not enough, encouraging changes. My current frugal brag is that my energy provider tells me that my energy usage is 1/3 of that used by other single person households! I’m a committed second hand shopper, but bit the bullet last September and bought a new side by side fridge freezer ( in a scratch and dent sale, though!) as the energy efficiency of new ones is vastly better. Really enjoy everyone’s posts, like the rest of you I am a committed library user!
Thank you for thinking of us here in the US with the frequent mass shootings. It’s something most of us are collectively shocked and saddened by but we must endure due to our country’s amendment to the Constitution guaranteeing citizens the right to bear arms. I wish the Constitution could be amended to fit the 21st century but the gears turn slowly if at all in government.
Despite certain SCOTUS members thinking they “know” what the Founding Fathers (FF) were thinking, high capacity weapons were not on their radar. None of use can own a tank, flame thrower, and/or cannon.
What the Founding Fathers were thinking is that our Constitution would be interpreted based on current times (IMHO) and it should. Otherwise MRI machines should be banned as well as antibiotics, open heart surgery, and cancer treatments et al should be banned. None of these were on the FF radar.
The tide will turn but sadly not as fast as we sane one’s wish.
Enjoyed your comment Coral!
Patricia (US)
I second that. And happy birthday, Coral!
I made pinto bean pie. It was, apparently, a Depression Era standard. It was ok. Several recipes on internet.
I think I’ve mentioned that I have been to and from Singapore for our son’s wedding. Nice trip but way too expensive cause I had a business class seat. But I wasn’t doing 18 hours in premier economy!
1. Easter hubby made our free with $400 purchase turkey. Not hard to spend that much in 6 weeks.
2. Sister in law brought dessert but she bought them and they were way too expensive and too sugary. My blood sugar didn’t appreciate the cake with butter cream frosting. Next time I’ll make the low sugar desserts.
3. It’s been beautiful out and so no heat or AC on. Got our electric bill and it was $67 for the month! Following hubby and shutting off lights as well as shutting off my power strip when not in use.
4. I’m getting the Sunday paper again as I got a great deal for $51 for the year. It’s .99 a paper. There are coupons but not for anything I buy. This past week was an article about the only 2 places in NJ where you can still get a $1 slice of plain pizza. One of the two places is in the next town over. Owner says he does a bang up business when the elementary school across the street gets out. He makes his money back on the cans of soda the kids buy.
5. Waiting for my Lidle to open. Love my Aldi which I only use to get specific things, not my whole grocery order. Bread, eggs, milk, block cheddar cheese.
I love Lidl. Were supposed to get one two miles from my house but never materialized. Closest one is 60 miles away but about once a month we will take a Sunday drive to Lidl.
Fellow New Jersey resident here-which pizzarias?
Small things this week.
1. Found .75 cents in change.
2. Got a bean burrito with my Taco Bell reward points.
3. Gave my sister a king size dust ruffle. She wanted one for her Q size bed. She can take a seam down the middle to make it fit. The dust ruffle was given to me.
4. Found a box with new motion detector light in it in the garage. Hubby is installing it over the driveway. I have no idea where it came from nor could he remember. It was sealed in a box like new.
5. Going on a vacation with my gal pals. Hotels are paid for with hotel points. Gas will be split between 3 of us. Hotels have free breakfast also.
Yes, treat yourself to some clothes that fit. You’ve achieved something amazing!
This was in reply to Auntiali’s 100-lb weight loss. Not sure how it got bumped down here.
I’ve lost almost 20 lbs so I’ll take the comment too!
Fun fast about the second hand market for IKEA items here in Sweden: often the second hand stores price the IKEA stuff with a higher price then IKEA I used to work at our local IKEA and this almost drove me insane at that time. If something is discontinued at IKEA I do find it resonable if someone tries to sell an item for a higher price but it’s crazy to see $2 glass vases priced $5 at the thrift store/ second hand stores
1. We’re in Florida and our homeowner’s insurance just doubled (darn hurricanes). Hubby worked diligently getting quotes and found one slightly lower but with more coverage.
2. Had some patio chair covers get brittle and rip (sun exposure), but I salvaged the straps from them to use to bundle some of my gardening stakes. Used the ruined covers for drop cloths while repotting plants, then it went to the trash.
3. Joined a local gardening group and gave away some plants I was dividing and thinning out. She thanked me with a start of an orchid plant. I’d been wanting to try growing those but was too cheap to buy one at the nursery.
4. Used the pork broth from steaming pork steaks to later make a veggie soup. Lots of flavor but no meat.
5. Honored my spouse’s wish to not make a fuss over his 75th birthday. No cake, no gifts.
Your #5 would be hard one for me. No cake?!