Five Frugal Things
by Katy on April 17, 2023 · 81 comments
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I upcycled a cute vintage fishing rod rack to hang aprons in the kitchen. We’ve always draped aprons over the pantry door, which meant the door never closed properly. Not really an issue, but it’s nice to finally have a designated spot for them. Mind you, these aprons are in frequent rotation as I cook from scratch, which can be a messy endeavor.
I initially photographed the $3.99 “Rod Rack” for my Instagram account, as I thought the vintage graphics were adorable. Later I regretted leaving it behind when a few of my followers suggested that it could be upcycled. I made a beeline back to Goodwill the next morning and found it hadn’t been sold.
I did remove a wooden piece and wipe a bit of extra stain over the bottom, but that took all of five minutes. I already had a couple brass hooks from a long ago free pile, which meant there was no further expense.
I’m really happy with how it turned out!
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My husband and I splurged on a single night at Kalama Harbor Lodge, which is located along the Columbia river. Although it’s only an hour from Portland, it still felt like we were escaping the gloom that weighs on us Pacific Northwesterners this time of year. The rain, she never ends.
Check in time was 3 P.M., but we left a couple hours early so we could poke through Vancouver, Washington thrift shops along the way. I didn’t find anything worth picking up, but my husband nabbed a Carhartt flannel jacket, which quickly became one of his favorite belongings! We also stopped into Albertson’s for snacky lunch items as I still had some money left on a $150 gift card I earned from participating in a focus group.
Our “splurge” included both dinner and breakfast at the lodge, plus we paid a bit extra for a balcony facing the river. Sure it was just as dark and rainy as home, but our room included a view of sea lions, rabbits and hummingbirds.
It really was the perfect mini-break as the travel to and from was next to nothing, yet still gave us a break from our routine.
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I curb picked a $550 Kitchenaid mixer, which included a bag of accessory pieces! It may need a tune up, but my husband replaced a gear and re-lubed one we resold a few years ago, so I’m confident that we can get this one to perfect working order. I already own a smaller Kitchenaid mixer, so I’ll be selling this one.
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• I cooked black beans in the instant pot for taquitos, which is the cheapest and yummiest meal. I added a couple shakes of taco seasoning, which I buy in bulk at Winco.
• My husband and I did our taxes and will be getting both state and federal refunds. Apparently we’re at “medium risk” of being audited as my business (the blog) lost money in 2022. (Remember how there were no advertisements for most of last year?) I have to pay for blog hosting, domain registration and replaced my outdated 2008 laptop last summer. I could easily monitize the blog through sponsored posts and Amazon referral links, but doing so would be antithetical to my non-consumer message.
• I got tickets for Darcelle XV’s, celebration of life. (I was willing to buy tickets, but they turned out to be free.) For those not in the know, 92-year-old Darcelle was a beloved drag queen and nightclub owner. My mother was close with Darcelle and even worked there as a cocktail waitress when I was in high school. You can read my mother’s reprinted 1975 article titled “That’s No Lady, That’s Darcelle” as well as her most recent essay titled “Darcelle and Me.”
And yes, the baby in that photo is my sweet daughter.
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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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{ 81 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, that vintage rack… and that KitchenAid mixer… swoon!
1. Splurged on a new toaster oven that was on sale. We needed a toaster anyway, plus the ability to bake things in a smaller oven helps lower energy costs. Already completely in love and wish I had met this appliance sooner!
2. Received a free 8-oz. block of cheese from the grocery store clerk, who couldn’t ring it up because the UPC code was in a hard-to-scan place.
3. My vehicle registration tabs never arrived. I had the option of having them re-issued by mail (which meant my car would have expired tabs for a while) or going to the office in-person and paying $11 (no way). I took the outlaw route and printed my original order confirmation in case I got pulled over for expired tabs. It was kind of exciting to be on the other side of the law for a few days!
4. Endless free exercise picking up trash while out on walks. There’s a lot of garbage hiding under melted snow!
5. Rescued a filthy knit hat, washed it, and donated it to Goodwill.
I kind of love how you reframed printing your order for tabs as “exciting!” Very much seeing the glass as half full.
wow! who leaves a KitchenAid on the curb? I’m speechless. Great find but I’m really struggling to understand the situation in which someone (definitely not me!) would leave a hundred-dollar machine out on the curb. Moments like these, I definitely feel out of step (happily so!) with the consumerism that abounds. I hope you can repair it and keep it going for the next happy user of a KitchenAid.
I’m just happy that they left it on the curb rather than putting it in their garbage can!
After 25 years of really hard and daily use, my first Kitchenaid developed a loose wire. Husband and later college age son (who took it for a while) would take off the cover to fix the wire, but it always came loose again. Son said he finally recycled it after it started sparking, so there’s always that possibility!
Your daughter wins the award for the BEST baby photo ever!
My husband has a BFA in photography as his bachelor’s degree, so my kids have excellent baby photos!
I agree! Wonderful photo.
I am a bit puzzled by the situation as well, but I would have done what Katy did (hah, katydid) and bring it home to fix up as well. Kitchen aid appliances have a high resale value and can be repaired somewhat easily for continued use.
This was meant to be a reply to Carla’s earlier comment.
So glad you had a getaway and amazing scores on the cute rod rack and curb-picked mixer. I spied your striped apron and realized mine, now 36 years old and faded in spots, is the same model. It wears like iron.
Aside from planting a container garden in reused pots, I have kept on with the frugal usual: baking bread, making our meals, mending and altering clothes (a stack of shirts awaits on the sewing machine), and keeping costs down.
Yes, I’ve had that apron for about 20 years, and I got it from a moving sale! It’s nowhere close to showing any wear yet.
I tend to forget to wear an apron (often a big mistake, big, huge).
Mainly writing to say — in light of all the controversy in the south over drag shows these days, LOVE that you posted that pic. Vive la difference! <3 #Resist
Such a fuss over nothing when there are real issues to address.
Katy, I couldn’t agree more.
Neither could I despite the fact that RuPaul has better legs than I (had, have, or will ever have).
Katy, yours are all awesome this week, but here’s a special shout-out to your #3 and #5.
Now, FFT, Spring Heat Wave and Gardening Edition:
(1) The last 4 days here in Central NY were so hot (we set new record high temps for 3 of those days) that I didn’t feel like cooking. But now that we’re back to typical April temps, I’ll be making a shrimp curry tonight with some Antiques Roadshow veg (cauliflower and spinach) in my fridge.
(2) During the times I could stand to be out gardening, I did considerable cleanup and put some old tarps and flattened cardboard boxes over areas that were so weed-infested they just needed to be taken out of cultivation for a year. (The old tarps were from DH’s stash, and the boxes all came either out of my attic or off the curb.)
(3) More of my perennial culinary herbs seem to have survived an atypically warm winter (with a lot of freeze/thaw/freeze/thaw cycles, which are usually unkind to the herbs) than I was expecting. Money saved at the Regional Market and other sources in not having to buy replacement herbs.
(4) And I plan to rely heavily on self-seeding annual and perennial flowers (sunflowers, Gem marigolds, blanket flowers, agastache, yarrow, etc.), as I’ve done increasingly in recent years.
(5) Alas, I have officially thrown in the towel this year on growing vegetables (except for the usual two potted tomatoes behind my next-door neighbor’s 8-foot chain-link fence), since I have **HAD IT** with fighting the deer wars. More money spent at the Regional Market later on buying veg, but money perhaps saved on blood pressure medication, and time saved (I hope) for more birdwatching and general summer fun.
(2) During the
P.S. to preceding: Christine’s post reminds me that I certainly didn’t have the heat on during our heat wave, and I absolutely refused to put on the AC. Strategic window-opening on the shady sides of the house, plus strategic use of fans, kept me cool enough.
Also, I should mention my own apron hooks, which are behind the downstairs bathroom door, along with a reproduction City of Westminster (London) public toilet sign: “Please Adjust Your Dress Before Leaving.” Back in the day, this was polite British code for “Geez, gents, zip your flies!”
Could it also be that women were leaving the backs of their dresses accidentally tucked into their underwear?
Possibly, but I doubt it. “Dress” in older British idiom meant one’s general outfit and decorum, not a lady’s dress (which would probably have been a “gown” or a “frock”). Anyway, I’m going on what the Anglo-American friend who gave us the sign–long gone, but much missed–told us.
The Darcelle show sounds like it will be a lot of fun. The fishing rack is a great find. I have a trio of aprons I rotate and have them hanging on the back of a door too…not the best place. I wear one whenever I fry with grease or am boiling something like spaghetti sauce that has a tendency to jump out.
1. I had a three friends over yesterday. I made a crockpot of hotdogs and Boston Baked Beans, potato salad and a cucumber salad using the spice free from the Spice of the Month Club at the town library. The spice is Za’taar, something new to me. Delicious! Also a pan of Brownies. Easy stuff and cheap. They stayed for four hours during which we had lots of laughs and nonstop talking. I don’t think a four hour get together would’ve happened in a restaurant.
2. I lost some weight this past year and going through my stash of warm weather clothes noticed I have almost no shorts or capris that will fit me this summer. I’m not complaining! A trip to the Salvation Army store will remedy it.
3. Volunteered at my church to put on coffee hour and came home with some chocolate chip cookies.
4. To whoever on this blog mentioned the book Nella Last’s War…thank you! I’m reading it now after getting it through the interlibrary loan system. Did you know there is also a sequel: Nella Last’s Peace. The former such an incredibly detailed but lively diary of life in England during WWII. The citizens had to really stretch out everything due to shortages and rationing, this amid the worries and fears of sons in battle and frequent bombings of their village and also towns and cities of friends and relatives. I’m learning a lot about the times back then in a place unfamiliar to me and reading how Nella can really make a shilling go a long way.
5. No heat on for at least the last week here in Massachusetts and hoping this will continue until next autumn.
This popped out twice as I was correcting a typo on the original. Too late for me to correct it, I guess.
Thank you for mentioning Nella Last’s books! I had to look them up, and there is a third one, her observations on the 1950’s, and a television movie, “Housewife, 49”. As I get older, I am more and more conscious of how moving beyond a disaster, such as war, takes years, that recovery isn’t instant just because the shooting stopped.
Thanks so much for letting me know about the third book and TV movie. I will look into both and will order the third book at the library. Again, thanks.
Katy, I can see your mother was remarkably broad minded in a very narrow minded era! Now, of course, the stigma felt by transvestites is also dissolving, and we are, I hope, moving towards a time when being your authentic self is a basic entitlement. In my mid seventies, it never occurred to me to think my nose belonged in anyone else’s business, the only people I scorn are the unkind! Even them, I wonder what pain has caused their anger, although that doesn’t make it acceptable!
Might have been me, I loved Nella, loathed her husband, and wasn’t at all surprised when her older son, Cliff, eventually, having moved abroad, acknowledged his true self, hidden from all, but , particularly, his father. I loved the immediacy of these books, Nella was a lovely woman, and a born writer, so lovely to see her belated recognition. Can I also recommend Gerald Durrell’s “ My Family and Other Animals”? I first read it in Ireland, so pre 1958, and have read it, and smiled , most years since! A memoir of an endearing and eccentric British family who moved to post war Corfu, it’s a gloriously good humoured tale of a way of life long gone.
My father read all the Gerald Durrell books aloud to my sister and I when we were kids.
Thanks for the recommendation regarding Durrell. Reading is my ticket to visit faraway and far back in time places!
The Durell’s of Cofur was a great PBS series that ran for about 4 (?) years. I know the library in the next town over has the DVDs.
The Darcelle show sounds like it will be a lot of fun. The fishing rack is a great find. I have a trio of aprons I rotate and have them hanging on the back of a door too…not the best place. I wear one whenever I fry with grease or am boiling something like spaghetti sauce that has a tendency to jump out.
1. I had three friends over yesterday. I made a crockpot of hotdogs and Boston Baked beans, potato salad and a cucumber salad using the spice free from the Spice of the Month Club at the town library. The spice is Za’taar, something new to me. Delicious! Also a pan of Brownies. Easy stuff and cheap. They stayed for four hours during which we had lots of laughs and nonstop talking. I don’t think a four hour get together would’ve happened in a restaurant.
2. I lost some weight this past year and going through my stash of warm weather clothes noticed I have almost no shorts or capris that will fit me this summer. I’m not complaining! A trip to the Salvation Army store will remedy it.
3. Volunteered at my church to put on coffee hour and came home with some chocolate chip cookies.
4. To whoever on this blog mentioned the book Nella Last’s War…thank you! I’m reading it now after getting it through the interlibrary loan system. Did you know there is also a sequel: Nella Last’s Peace. The former such an incredibly detailed but lively diary of life in England during WWII. The citizens had to really stretch out everything due to shortages and rationing, this amid the worries and fears of sons in battle and frequent bombings of their village and also towns and cities of friends and relatives. I’m learning a lot about the times back then in a place unfamiliar to me and reading how Nella can really make a shilling go a long way.
5. No heat on for at least the last week here in Massachusetts and hoping this will continue until next autumn.
Katy, feel free to delete this one. I would but I don’t know how. Thank you.
I wonder if the black mixer was replaced with something different (“better”) or another color. How crazy some people are. I agree it is good it was left out for the taking.
1. I love the apron hooks on the newly acquired fishing rod rack. DH loves hooks and we have some just inside the basement stairwell, by the kitchen. Hanging on a couple of them are our aprons. They were all acquired many years (probably actually decades) from sending in UPCs from Ragu sauce and Hanover beans. They work well, launder easily, and are all we need.
2. Another shout out to DH. He completed three online surveys to earn $160 in gift cards. Of course the gift cards will be used for necessary items.
3. Safeway has a promotion that you earn a coupon for $10 off on a future purchase when you spend $50 or more on certain gift cards. I did the offer twice, purchasing $100 total in Lowe’s gift cards. I used the coupons to buy sale priced non-diary yogurt and some other sale items to donate to the food bank.
I also bought sale priced groceries at a local store that accepts competitor’s coupons, including one for $10 off a $50 purchase. Some weeks we get the coupon with the local shopper in the mail. This week I received one and used it.
4. CVS sent me $3 in Extra Bucks so I stopped while driving by one and bought clearance priced Easter candy for $.27 out of pocket.
5. A friend has been going to Goodwill on Wednesdays, which is senior discount day. I will give that a try next week.
Great savings strategies you’ve been using! Thanks for the inspiration. I have a $3 off a $10 purchase at Rite Aid which I need to use by April 29th. Your post was a good reminder.
1. Bought a veggie dog at IKEA for my husband, instead of going out to a restaurant. It was in the middle of our day, and it gave us the stamina to only come out of IKEA with the recycling bins we went in for. We did not buy an un-necessary rug, towels, plants or other storage containers.
2. Gave the kids things we’ve thrifted as Easter gifts: Darth Vader dorm-room popcorn popper, class-color soft fuzzy blanket, and plastic eggs filled with Grocery Outlet candy. The plastic eggs are from elementary school at the latest. My kids should both be in college next year.
3. At my husband’s prompting, I checked the “to bring” list for my daughter’s college. I knew, as everyone knows, that you have to have twin XL sheets for the dorm, and I was about to buy some clearance XL flannel sheets for her. But moments before clicking “buy,” I checked the list and the beds are standard twin length! We will send one of the two sets of flannels she currently uses. (Only sending one set, as it will mean less to store.)
4. Cooking at home, and teaching the kids to cook at home. My son forgot to soak and cook beans for dinner, and he managed to forage up dinner without having to buy us takeout. Frugal for him now, frugal for him in the future, but guiding the process is stressful for me now.
5. Making dinner for my niece and her husband about once a week, and she pays us back by letting us play with the babies. 😉 Going to play with someone else’s newborns is fun and cheap! (And we get to go home and sleep through the night.)
Wow, what a great Frugal Five! The Kitchen Aid Mixer is a curb picking dream…
Your night away sounds lovely…
And your upcycle is wonderful…
My Frugal Five aren’t terribly exciting, but here we go!
* My husband and I continue to be a one-car family. In August, we gave our son, a graduate student, our second car. Although today, I started to have second thoughts. I brought my husband to the airport for his weekly commute, but it took 2 1/2 hours to make the 35 minute drive home. There seemed to be accidents everywhere. However I looked at the cost of new cars when I got home and decided to wait it out. I just can’t believe new cars are $60-$80,000 and used car prices are also high. Inventories are starting to increase, so I hope prices will soon go down
* While sitting in this horrendous traffic, I listened to a book,The Measure, on my library’s Hoopla App. Yippee for the library!!! Boo for traffic!
* I gave away a few nice items on Buy Nothing this week. I really love the concept of BN. However, sometimes our moderators can be a little zealous.
* On Saturday, I went to our little town’s free, semi-annual vintage market. I used to sell at these. They are a lot of fun, but sooooo much work. I spoke with the vendors – many I know – trying to figure out what’s trending. I was given a beautiful piece of American Brilliant Cut Crystal. ABC is not at all fashionable, but I love it! Always have.
* One of my friends buys many of her plants from a dealer who keeps a permanent booth at a flea market in a near-by city. I went with her on her last run and discovered that the cost savings over the local nursery and big box stores was amazing. We are getting ready to do a small landscape project in the backyard and I wanted to plant a weeping bottle brush tree to attract hummingbirds. I ordered one from him for $35. They were $99 at the local nursery. I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Of course, I’m doing all the usual things. Drinking primarily filtered water, brewing my own coffee, cooking at home and from scratch, deep cleaning the house, and decluttering.
Wishing everyone peace, good health and prosperity!
#5 clarification: I ordered the bottle brush tree from the flea market vendor. He is the him from whom I ordered.
I’ve never heard of a bottle brush tree and wonder how they would fare in Massachusetts. I will Google it to see what they have to say. Certainly sounds like an interesting looking plant! One can never have too many hummingbirds about.
They have a red flower that is about 5-6” long that looks just like a bottle brush. Beautiful when blooming. However, their hardiness zone are 9-11. Of you potted them you could overwinter them in the house.
Thank you Bee.
I never knew bottle bush trees attracted hummingbirds. I have been told they do live in SWFL where I am, but I never see them. I’ll have to add this to my consideration list for future trees to plant.
Do Poinciana Trees, jacarandas and Mimosas grow in your area? They all attract hummingbirds and are beautiful. I wish Royal Poinciana Trees grew here. Our occasional hard freeze prevent them from thriving.
Hi Bee, Yes, I’m Fort Myers area those all grow here. I keep planting fruit producing trees, but I should consider ones for pollinators. I also want to plant blueberry bushes for me, and tea bushes for the bees. Thank you for your info!
1. I cut the husband’s hair.
2. He cut my hair.
3. Since Christmas, I have received nine lovely fancy cards for various occasions. These puppies sell for 5 to 10 dollars each so I am loathe to just discard them. I finally figured out how to take off the front parts and reattach them to new backings on eight of them (I killed one trying to figure out how to do that), so I now have a stash of really fancy cards to send out. It took me all of an hour, once I figured it out, and I did it while watching an episode of a program my husband loves and I don’t but I watch it to keep him company.
4. Accepted two dozen bags of popcorn leftover from a kid’s birthday party. The chickens are in heaven at this addition to their treats and I am endlessly amused by how they run out of their coop, squawking when they hear me yell, “Time for snacks, girls!” I am easily amused.
5. Husband wanted a fancy breakfast so rather than going out, I made eggs Benedict. I can’t imagine what it would have cost us in a restaurant. The last time I made it was the year we got married, so it has been 40 years since we ate this artery hardening treat!
6. Yet again the husband fixed the dish washer. It is always the same issue and he cannot get a replacement part so now the routine is that he reattaches the part just before every time we turn on the machine. It only takes about two minutes so for now it is worth doing. I am now keeping track of how many times we are doing this and it is up to seven now…
Re: your #4. Taught the foster dogs, aka “The Outlaws” because they came shelter-named Bonnie and Clyde, to run into the kitchen and clean up whatever has spilled on the floor when I call “Housekeeping!” Also endlessly amusing. And a money saver because no paper towels or laundering of cloths needed.
Okay, that is hilarious!
1. We were off our feed for about 11 days right after a big grocery haul. Produce is going south in the fridge. I want to bring a dish to a friend whose husband just went into hospice but realize I haven’t ingredients for anything “Special”. Rather than shop I’m just making a double batch of my many bean dal soup–because those collards need eating.
2. My quilting guild had a yard sale over the weekend. We spent weeks sorting and pricing donations. I avoid buying fabric retail’ since like cars fabric loses at least half its value when you drive out off the lot. At the sale fabric was $8/pound or about $2/yard. I had a list of my needs and bought $76 worth of fabric. I’m delighted with my purchases.
3. The guild chair announced that there would be a special treat for volunteers at the end of the sale. I anticipated “a dollar a bag” and prepared to resist. In fact—the leftovers were offered for free. Irresistable, but I only got a few pieces.
4. A friend asked me to make a quilt as a wedding present for friends of hers. She’s paying for materials and giving me Time Bank hours for my time. I offered her three simple patterns and she helped pick the colors. It’s fun to have something to work on for a couple hours every day.
5. An acquaintance asked if I disliked some features of my 2005 Prius. I said , “Yes, but it cost only $3500 eight years ago, so living with less than perfection is not a problem.”
1. I cleaned my carpets with the rug shampooer that I purchased with a friend a few years ago. We share it since it’s not an item we both need to use often.
2. I purchased some new Tom’s sneakers with a very generous coupon and a reward making them less than half the price. My old ones are worn out and I couldn’t find the sneaker style I prefer at the thrift store.
3. I made dog biscuits again. I make them every couple weeks now since the cost of biscuits have gone up.
4. We enjoyed the warm weather we had last week. I didn’t turn on my air conditioning. I did use my fan at night although just opening the windows would have been fine too. It is now snowing.
5. I’m currently reading books that a friend loaned me. I just finished Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty and really liked it. It was very clever. Now I am reading Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver.
Dog treats have gotten quite pricey. What recipe do you use? Both of you books were great reads.
Bee, I use the molasses and peanut butter recipe on food.com
https://www.food.com/recipe/molasses-peanut-rewards-dog-treats-397369
Thank you!!!! I will make these and dole them out carefully. Rescue Pup had gained 3 pounds since her last visit to the vet. The vet said not so many treats. He wants her to stay under 90 pounds. Rescue Pup isn’t too happy with me!
Katy, I have HUGE admiration for your mom!!! The essays are beautiful and she is a beautiful person. I would love a job like that, dressing up and becoming someone else for a few hours….just awesome!
My frugal five:
1. Still using bits and pieces from the Easter meal, froze several containers of chicken and ham to pull out and use. Tonight’s offering is King ranch casserole.
2. making yogurt to use in my smoothies, heating the milk on the woodstove .
3. had to buy 2 large scoops of mulch, but used a 2 1/2 gallon bucket to spread it around at my leisure and didn’t pay someone to do the work.
4.figured out that I had pieces of wood from the woodpile to place the large pots on in the flower garden. No need to buy pavers.
5. Buying chicken feed from a local feed mill, I can pick what I want in it and it is cheaper, plus they will refill the bags.
1. New employer has a wellness program. If you participate, you can earn gift cards. I put filling in the questions and participations in my calendar for friday afternoon. So far I have earned a $25 gift card and a $100 gift card! YES!
2. DH and I have been taking weekend day trips to state parks and free art galleries. We are always packing a picnic and getting really good at it. We even used a tiny camp stove to heat up queso for our chips.
3. DH took car in for a recall and the dealer had lots of suggested fixes on things like rear window wiper and filters. All can be done by us for ENORMOUS savings. Sheesh! Their prices are outrageous.
4. Did a freezer inventory and some meal planning to make sure we aren’t wasting food. I was disappointed a serving of beef veg soup got missed in the back of fridge and had to be thrown out. We are upping our vigilance.
5. I accepted a new job at the end of last year and considerable pay hike. I”m thrilled but we are not changing our lifestyle, except to increase savings. Including saving for a fun vacation! We know that jobs can disappear too so keeping our frugal ways going full steam ahead.
Your #1…nice perk in your new employment!
Thanks! It really is.
Katy, I can see your mother was remarkably broad minded in a very narrow minded era! Now, of course, the stigma felt by transvestites is also dissolving, and we are, I hope, moving towards a time when being your authentic self is a basic entitlement. In my mid seventies, it never occurred to me to think my nose belonged in anyone else’s business, the only people I scorn are the unkind! Even them, I wonder what pain has caused their anger, although that doesn’t make it acceptable!
I’m with you on so many levels. I also believe in the old bumper sticker: mean people suck. Katy’s mom sounds as if she is so ahead of her time. My favorite people are the non-judgmental kind and she sounds as if she leads the pack!
My mom’s was way ahead of her time. I remember learning in 1982 or so that drag queens are referred to as “she” in drag and “he” when male presenting. It was no big deal.
My five:
#1: I made a fantastic lasagna with discount polenta roll ready to go bad. I put discount ricotta, cheese and Marinara I already had. It was a huge success. DH loved it even though it was meatless.
#2 I donated nearly all my spices to my schools home ec department. They were going bad and I just don’t cook like that. The polenta in the aove meal already had herbs in it as well as the sauce. I am more of an assembler than a cook. I have accepted it, minimized my kitchen footprint, and am more eager to eat at home using the fabulous conveniences of my Vitamix, air fryer and instapot.
#3I cleaned my garage. I mean really purged. I am turning 60 soon and just want to live with less. I put my grandfather’s 1920s settee out on the street for free and it was scooped up immediately. Now hopefully lively teens are bouncing around on it. A new life instead of being under a blanket in my garage for 20 years. Square meters of Xmas decorations and lawn tools went to Goodwill. I packed up my favorite English curriculum and gave it to a mid career teacher. I won’t teach English again. All in all, I have only enough to fill half of a single car garage and we have a three car garage. Ah! space.
#4 Continuing my minimalist, I sold my last Poshmark item. Made another purge of the wardrobe to sneak closer to capsule size. Donated the items to our farm managers family. I know they will be well used. I also donated a bag of high end water flasks for men who work for us.
#5 Splurged on my favorite jams. It has 60% more fruit and 30% less sugar and is delicious. There are certainly cheaper brands but these were on sale from $6 to $3.00 a jar. I bought 18. they make me happy in a small way which then makes me willing to compromise in other areas.
Wow, what a satisfying purge. Well done!
Re: #2 – I LOVED “I am more of an assembler than a cook.” Me too!
#5 – “Splurged on my favorite jams” – I thought you were talking about music! Hee hee.
Your apron rack came out super cute and perfect for your kitchen, Katy! And what a deal on the mixer! I hope you can get it working!
1) My hubby again wins the prize for frugal savings at our house. The biggest one was again resuscitating our son’s computer. This computer was bought used 7 years ago and he updated parts at that time and another time since then. Our son, now 18, was removing unused software to save space on hard drive and one program (a kid timer program we used for a few years) must have had something to prevent removal. The computer stopped working and the software couldn’t be put back to fix it. We no longer have the Windows back up disks. He made it an Ubuntu Linux computer, put in a new hard drive and will be able to transfer data from the old computer. Linux is a free operating system that uses less processor and memory than Windows. It’s useful in keeping outdated computers useful. There are lots of programs available free to use with it. Our son plans to attend college in the fall and has been advised to wait until he knows what the computer requirements are before he buys a laptop. The revived computer will do fine until then. When my husband took the old hard drive out, he found out it was 15 years old!
2) Hubby also replaced the rope on the cat tree–for the 3rd time! It’s a very sturdy 2 story cat tree (at least 2 of the 3 poles are real wood) and was over $100 originally. Replacement rope is about $5. The rope he bought this time was a little narrower than the previous batch, so even though it was the same length, it ran out a bit short, so we filled in with the least worn pieces from last time.
3) Son wanted to rewatch a series he’s seen before and we are again checking it out from the library. They only have about 1/2 of the DVD’s, but it’s enough.
4) By watching for sales I bought ham for $1.49 per pound (we’ve had some sliced with potatoes and in sandwiches, a lot of it will get used diced, and the bone will be great cooked with beans) and Boursin brand Gournay cheese close to date for 80% off. The ham was part of the regular sales of the week, but one of our local stores offers one or 2 fantastic deals at a time, frequently close to date items, and I check for them.
5) I bought a giant bag of flour at the beginning of the pandemic and it’s still sitting unopened. I didn’t have frozen pizza, premade crust, or crust mix for our weekly pizza night, but I do have plenty of flour and had some Greek yogurt, so I tried 2 ingredient dough which only requires Greek yogurt and self-rising flour (I converted all purpose to self-rising by adding salt and baking powder). It has a bit of a sourdough taste, but was well liked as pizza crust. The same dough can also be used for soft pretzels, cinnamon rolls, rolls, naan, and more. I’ll be experimenting with this more!
I love our Ubuntu computer! My son installed in on the computer my niece went to college with, and it’s my primary computer. The hardware is probably 10 years old, the software is probably 5 years old, and that’s definitely better than getting a new one!
Only warning is, we occasionally encounter educational software that doesn’t interact with Linux.
His high school provides a laptop on loan to use with their software and my computer is Windows, so if he needs to use something Windows specific, he can borrow mine We just want to postpone the purchase of a new computer until he knows what he needs. Hubby’s been using Linux for over 10 years and likes it a lot.
The Kitchenaid mixer actually worked perfectly! Confused why someone would put it on the curb, but happy to bring it home!
I guess I could add I sort of fixed our vacuum cleaner. I’d been thinking it wasn’t doing a fantastic job and our carpets were looking greyer. My son has been doing the vacuuming and didn’t realize there’s a filter under the canister than needs to be cleaned. Cheap fix! Much improved!
Cleaning the filter on a vacuum cleaning is very satisfying.
1. Found a sealed gallon of bleach on the neighbor’s curb.
2. Found a Ninja blender with accessories in good condition. Will likely keep as a backup for when our ancient Oster blender dies.
3. Bought chocolate Easter candy at Walgreens for 70% off. Gave one bag to the campus police dept. & will give one bag to my sister next month w/ her birthday gift.
4. Got my hair cut at the local beauty school for 10$. It had been 3 months since the last cut so it was time.
5. Wore hand me down jeans that were previously too tight. I’m glad I kept my smaller sized shorts & jeans as I can fit into them again. 3 prs of shorts were brand new so no need to buy more.
Oh the Kitchen-Aid Mixer! Such an awesome find.
1. Stopped at the local grocer that has been under constant construction for a year now. I had refused to go in for a long time because of the disaster zone and never being able to find anything. But I needed something quick and grapes were also on sale. In wandering the store to find what I needed (soup in 4 separate locations?!?) I hit upon lots of clearance items. 6 packs of kraft mac n cheese for $1, instant potato pouches for $0.25. Massive loaf of french bread for $0.99 that I made pizzas with one night and breadcrumbs out of some last night. I still have some left too.
2.Ds changed his own oil.
3. We finally figured out why insurance was charging us over $400 for 3 office visits last fall after we met our deductible in March last year. About 12 man hours devoted to this by us and many emails and phone calls but it should be straightened out today now that we know what was wrong.
4. We had a glorious week of perfect weather which resulted in no heat or AC for the week.
5. Met a friend for a walk for my social time.
6. Had a meeting that went until 6 pm Sunday. Oh how I wanted to go out to eat or order pizza! But I cooked up angel hair pasta with alfredo sauce and sun dried tomatoes in less than 10 minutes. It was delicious and we had leftovers for lunch the next day.
Your #3 is so frustrating and I applaud that you followed through till the bitter end. Color me impressed!
1. Ordered new computer but have decided to return it and rehab old one.
2. Found$12.95 bouquet of flowers for $2.00 – threw out the wilted blossoms and now have beautiful flowers.
3. Today was 10%discount day at grocers, plus scored buy one/get one free on head lettuce and small packages of cold cuts. Free is better than 10% off.
4. Made minestrone type soup from leftovers from previous meals.
5. Cleaned out desk and found several unused notebooks. I had just decided to purchase a few more . I like to buy these just before school starts and was berating myself for not buying an adequate supply last fall.
Katy – great free and budget finds as usual!
And it turns out that the Kitchenaid mixer works perfectly!
Kitchen Aid mixers are the bomb! How great to rescue one.
1. I used shredded paper for a fire pit starter.
2. I made brunch here for visiting family. Lots of good food and laughs for not a lot of $$.
3. I found street parking in the city for $4.25 compared to a parking garage for $30+.
4. I saved $2.99 by getting something delivered tomorrow as opposed to today.
5. The usual water and coffee from home, leftovers, shutting light, not driving a couple of days a week ect.
That parking bargain was a real win!
Hi there!
I used to follow your blog so much, and then I feel out of the habit… hopefully I can pick it up again! Thanks for being here.
1) I found a discounted day-old sourdough bread at a local specialty store while I was there buying something for an upcoming party. It is delicious, whole wheat and seedy, and I’ll be enjoying a slice at a time from the freezer for breakfasts
2) I did not buy new candles for the upcoming party, since I remembered I already have some in the house.
3) In order to take part in a virtual movie-watch party, I borrowed the film from my local library
4) Noted the price on a bag on dog food at one store, went to another store, found it was !much! more expensive there, returned to the first store to make the purchase (now to see if the dog will actually eat it…)
5) I did not pay anyone to do my taxes
Any chance we can get the toquito recipe? I’ve never ha or made those, and am intrigued!
Katy can end her posts with: “Didn’t launch a SpaceX rocket & then have it explode minutes later.”
“Didn’t launch a SpaceX rocket & then have it explode minutes later THEN taking a tax deduction for it”.
What fascinating people your parents introduced you to! Darcelle and her partner and friends, and Gerald Durrell and his family and friends. I just started reading Durrell’s “My Family and Other Animals” and was hooked in the first paragraph with his description of seagulls “whining peevishly.” And later, calling marigolds “shaggy suns.” Such vivid word choices.
(I have not watched the PBS “Durrells of Corfu” and would not before I read his books).
Wonderful books and a wonderful PBS series. Gerald Durrell was also a noted zoologist and conservationist. Besides the Corfu series, he wrote several notable books on the subject of zoology which are funny and insightful with a touch of adventure.
1.This month has had a few unexpected expenses, large expenses… to combat this I have decided to start driving for Door Dash….I never thought I would need to supplement my income again, but I am glad that I am identifying the issue before I let it get any further out of control.
2. To save money I continue to pack my lunches and we eat at home. We have not eaten out in over a week which is very good or us. I’ve also come to realize that some of our frozen food is no longer good….lessons to learn in over shopping.
3. I continue to loose weight at a slow pace and recently fit into jeans I have owned but never worn. It’s very exciting for me. I continue saying I need to have my own try on party and part way with a lot of clothing.
4. By asking for a lower price at a few different establishments I saved 20-75% on goods and services. What does that mean? That the price was flexible in the first place.
5. I went through and cancelled a few subscriptions that I had let get past the trial date. Not the best practice, but I am glad I took the time instead of letting it run away.
6. I signed up for a free biometric screening next week through work, where I will receive a $50 amazon card for participating. I scanned enough receipts to get a free $25 gift card to a restaurant through Fetch.
So much going on. Hope you all have a great week!
1. I was making mulberry cobbler and realized I was out of milk. No problem. Ice cream made it kinda chewy but it worked….. lol. 2. At weekend place the grass was very high and scraggly in spots and my son’s mower is being repaired by him using utube. Anyways, I used hedge clippers to chop off the tops to prevent a citation letter by university town, where weekend place is located. Son’s mouth dropped open. I don’t know why, he is a chip off the ole block…. Lol. 3. I harvested dandelion greens from yard there, sautéed them in olive oil and sea salt and baked them crispy. I have a lot of dandelions at my work house but the weekend place has even more. 4. I walked at local parks and in the neighborhood.
as able because my back is still giving me fits. More like short strolls than walks but oh well….. 5. I am on a beans and rice , greens, tuna fish menu this week. Not fancy but it feeds me. I just don’t care this week.