Five Frugal Things
by Katy on May 1, 2023 · 59 comments
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• I bought a $3.99 pot of basil at Trader Joe’s a couple weeks ago only to bring it home and find it covered in aphids. I kept forgetting to bring it back to the store, but finally explained the issue to an employee who let me take a new one for free.
• My next door neighbor gave me a glazed outdoor flower pot, which now contains basil plants courtesy of Trader Joe’s. I love how a single pot of basil contains easily a dozen individual plants.
• I went for an evening walk with my son and brought home a shoe organizing system that someone put out on their curb. Sure, it was impressively dusty, but it cleaned up perfectly in the dishwasher. I wasn’t sure how to best utilize it, so for now it holds the shoes I currently have up for sale on eBay.
• I spent an hour or two tidying and rearranging my backyard as Portland finally received a couple sunny days in a row. I filled multiple flower pots with plants that I’d rooted or transplanted from other areas. The garden is ready for warm weather entertaining despite me spending just $3.99 on the basil.
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I watched a couple episodes of Peacock’s The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, which is less morbid than it sounds. Based on the book by the same name, it’s essentially a makeover show with an emphasis on winnowing down one’s belongings so they aren’t a burden to your grieving loved ones. It’s produced and narrated by Amy Poehler, which pretty much guarantees it to be enjoyable.
There was one quote that stuck in my head. The featured woman’s mother had assertively given her more stuff than her home could reasonably hold in the name of family legacy. It was choking her family and didn’t reflect her own personal style. Cut to the end where the house is no longer cluttered and the woman says:
“I realize that my life is the inheritance, not the stuff.”
I quickly wrote this down and started thinking about how so many of us are overburdened with family stuff. What makes a person special is not the things they bought throughout their life, but who they were as a person. I would hate to think that my kids feel the need to keep everything I ever put in my house simply because I once used it. Holding onto to random stuff doesn’t preserve the memories of a loved one. The memories are to cherish, whether or not you cling to your loved one’s belongings.
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My son continues to do his meal prep for the week in our well appointed kitchen, which invariably ends with us as taste testers. This week was pulled pork, Caprese pasta salad and breakfast burritos. No complaints here!
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This last “frugal thing” is actually from my mother, but I’m going to include it anyway. She sold her last “guest cottage” last year, which was a small and awkwardly designed house directly next door to her own home. The new owners are tearing it down to build anew, and from all accounts sound like a lovely family.
However . . . the old house had a beautifully designed garden which was sure to be trampled by the construction crew, so my mother (with full permission from the new owners) put the word out through her Buy Nothing group for free u-dig plants and boy-o-boy did people respond!
My mother says that there’s still a couple plants left, but it sounds like hundreds of plants, bushes and even some small trees found new homes; and will make her extended neighborhood that much prettier.
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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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{ 59 comments… read them below or add one }
Love the garden sharing story! Also, it was a good way to get people together by chance to talk about their gardens.
I also loved your garden story. Flowers and plants are my weakness, and the sharing of plants may be my absolute favorite frugal thing.
I also love your #4
I’ve only watched 2 episodes of the show, but I found myself annoyed that they appeared to do a minimal clean out, and then brought in a bunch of new decor?!
The show is very light on showing the process. And yes, they do seem to bring in new stuff, although it’s much less stuff?
I’m no minimalist and probably have the average amount of stuff, but I have decided not to worry the tiniest bit about decluttering in advance for my heirs. First of all, we have all boys with no sentimentality whatsoever and they won’t want a thing of ours. Secondly, each of our heirs will be getting a nice little chunk of change between the paid off house and our savings. They can damn well hire someone to empty the house and trash our worldly goods.
LOL on the chunk o’ change. And the onus is on them to think “should it stay or should it go” – there will be no do-overs for them.
Which reminds me I have a donate pile (sitting since Covid hit) PLUS other items that ended up at my house before/after Mom died. And that doesn’t include 60+ years of what is still at their house. There are a few things I want but suffice it to say, it will be a large size estate sale/auction once Dad passes.
Your mom’s garden sharing is truly impressive!
1.Saved $8 off a two-pack of arthritis gel at Walgreens by hitting a sale and using a $5 off coupon. This made it cheaper than the generic version.
2. My husband renewed his Costco membership. It pays for itself in the savings in gas and hearing aid batteries.
3. Darned a sheet using a spool of hand-me-down thread from my long ago neighbor. Also cut off and hemmed two pairs of thrifted slacks.
4. The family did not share my enthusiasm for homemade anadama bread and the heel of the loaf went hard. I cubed it up and put it out for the birds, who were appreciative.
5. Bathed and groomed our dogs myself and brushed out our long-haired cats. The dogs’ special treat for being good during all this was a plain dog biscuit spread with peanut butter. Their little faces lit up — it was so cute!
We spent 8-1/2 months cleaning out our parents house in 2021/2022. It was beyond awful. Dad passed away in 2012 but had been in a nursing home since 2006, and Mom’s hoarding tendencies went into overdrive.
I have a question that I hope someone can answer. I brought home a carpet cleaning machine that she bought more than a few years ago but had only used once. It needs cleaned because I’d like to sell it and give her the money (every little bit helps when you’re in assisted living). Can anyone provide a link to a great youtube video showing how to do it?
It would depend on the brand and model. I would goodle “How to clean such-and-such model carper cleaning machine” and see what pops up.
That’s must have been an emotionally draining 8-1/2 months, I’m so sorry.
1. Cut the cable cord…again. Our special offer ran out and no way are we paying full price. If they make us another offer we can’t refuse, we’ll re up.
2. I found a quarter. Into the found change jar it went.
3. Walking for free exercise. Someone reminded me there are free yoga classes at the library on Saturdays so that is looking like a good option too. What would I ever do without the town library? I feel I extoll its virtues often on this site but the many things it offers adds so much to my life.
4. The tie-ons all eventually broke on my chair pads so I just cut them off at their base and still use the pads on the chairs.
5. Went to an event on Independent Bookstore day and received a huge free cookie which DHand I shared.
Agree with you re:library. My boyfriend lives in a nearby city{actually, they all sort of run together but it a different city with a separate and MUCH larger library system than in my little city} and for the holidays every year he makes sure that his library card is updated. I use his card for ebooks when my library does not have them available. Since I spent half the week with him{and spend more money in his city than mine} I don’t feel bad using his card, which he doesn’t use very often. Also, the Houston Library system in Texas will allow anyone with a valid Texas driver’s license use their library for ebooks, just in case anyone lives in an area in Texas in which books are being banned.
Yay for the Houston Library system! I also love that you and your boyfriend share a library card. Sweet.
Same old same old saves money daily and helps us reach our financial savings goals!
We started a large number of vegetable and flower seedlings this spring. We hope that they continue to do well. A packet of seeds is way more economical then buying plants. Not to mention lots of fun and awe for the kids as they watch the seedlings. Biology in action. I think I have 10 different perennials started so far.
We have had no spring here in Maine but I continue to hang my laundry and run the pellet stove instead of oil. Also I wear a lightweight coat inside. Keeps me warm.
Hit a few good yard sales this weekend and upgraded my Nespresso frother with a new one…and a slug of sterling jewelry. They also had a number of nice things in the free pile….
Everyone feel better from the crud and heady injury!
I watched the first episode and thought it was a waste. There were a few funny things but they never really got into getting rid of her stuff and then all of a sudden it was redone and so pretty. Huh??
FFT, This’n’That Edition:
(1) I nipped down the hill this morning to my Salvation Army superstore for my usual Monday look-around. (Monday is when the tag color discounts change: 50% off on two tag colors and 99 cents for the third color.) Found a lovely Lands’ End fine-gauge cotton cardigan in my size and favorite color for 99 cents, with only a button missing. I checked the side seam, and of course there was an extra button there. Good thing I can sew on a button. 🙂
(2) On the National Grid bill I received late last week, our electricity usage for April came to 0.00. Thank you yet again, DH, for putting those solar panels on the new garage back in 2010.
(3) For the month of April, I had $51.95 in NY State deposit container returns (a new record), plus $1.37 in found change. Cha-ching!
(4) Except for eating out during the NYC trip in March, I have eaten out exactly once since New Year’s. Trying to keep my streak going.
(5) And I continue doing all the usual boring stuff (making coffee/tea at home, rack-drying laundry, etc.) I don’t mention it often, but believe me, it gets done.
Seriously impressed with what you made in a month on container returns!
That is an impressive amount of can deposits. Wow
Great job with the container returns! I wish we had deposits on containers in Wisconsin. Now that the snow has (pretty much) melted, the amount of cans I’m seeing along the roads is crazy! Having deposits would either net me a little extra cash – if I remember to bring a bag with me, I pick up discarded cans while walking – or make people less likely to litter our beautiful roadways. A win either way.
I love the .99 specials at Sally’s! Our Salvation Army store has the same daily sale with rotating tag colors each day. The .99 sale racks are the ones I hit up first whenever I shop there.
I hear you on not needing to pass things on—or inherit them. My sisters claim I didn’t inherit any of the “good stuff” because of my attitude—“I haven’t used this in over a month—guess it’s time to move it on.” I do not regret not getting the things. Nor do I regret my attitude.
1. My Grandma gave me some of her good things. A set of Noritake bridge plates. Weird palette-shaped plates with an indentation for the tea cups. Grandma never played bridge, nor did I ever know her to use this set. It was something a navy Uncle brought back from his time in Japan. After moving the set seven times (without ever using it) I donated it to a silent auction. I love her just as much as I did when that set was occupying my kitchen.
2. I treasure some of grandma’s things—a tin colander with one bent leg that she and I both used/use several times a week and the little tin pie pan that she used for the extra pie crust to make a small sample pie to split with her number one helper (me!). It’s perfect for desserts for the Mister and I.
3. I hadn’t the heart to tell Grandma that I didn’t want her china service for 15 when she was making a list of who got what. After Grandma died, one of my cousins started crying when she heard I got the china. I said the cousin was more settled than I and should have the china. Radical non-consumerism, if I do say so myself.
4. I haven’t turned the stove on since April 19. I’ve been cooking bean/grain mixes in the solar oven and then adding chopped veg and vinaigrette to make lunch salads. The Mister claims they are better than those from the food bar at Whole Foods. I’m not sure how he would know what things at Whole Foods taste like, but I accept compliments.
5. I was asked to bring a vat of soup to a fund-raiser at Meeting. I wanted leftovers for our week as well. So I cooked two double batches of black-eyed peas jambalaya—one in each of my two working Instant Pots. Threw in radish greens and the lambs quarter from my weeding.
6. Frugal fail/frugal win—the dog has allergies and the daily med costs $2.70 for each pill—even the one that’s three times her dose. I convinced the vet that I’m a great pill splitter, so cost dropped to $.90 per day. Still expensive.
Mary in MD, I like your #3, because I did something similar myself. My mother decided at some point that my oldest sister should have her sterling silver dinnerware (which she herself rarely used), my middle sister should have her engagement ring (since this sister was the only one with kids to pass it on to), and I should have her wedding china (also rarely used). When the time came to divvy up the stuff, middle sister expressed a wish to have the china, and I immediately boxed it up and sent it to her. As far as I know, it’s still sitting in those boxes in middle sister’s storage unit. And IMHO, I dodged a large china-shaped bullet.
I like the “china-shaped bullet”. Not sure if my cousin used the dishes (Grandma did every Sunday), but I know I’ve never had a dinner party for fifteen.
1. I had what I called a “Rotten Egg Hunt” for the grandchildren when they came up this past weekend (it’s well past Easter so I wanted a different name for the hunt). Frugal because due to this happening several weeks after Easter, I was able to buy the plastic eggs (which WILL be reused) and Easter candy at a huge discount. Plus it was a fun activity that kept them engaged for several hours on a cold, wet, and SNOWY late April weekend.
2. My favorite pair of Chaco sandals had picked up a sandal funk that a trip through the washing machine didn’t cure. Totally my fault since I knew from a previous pair that exposing them to our lake water was a recipe for disaster but I wore them into the lake anyway. More than once. I saw an ad for a sandal wash product and decided to see if it would save the sandals. It did – sandal funk is completely gone AND they look brand new. Way cheaper than a new pair of Chacos. And I have plenty of sandal wash left for several more sandal freshenings.
3. While I’m not Swedish Death Cleaning, I’m trying to declutter in preparation for moving within the next year or two. I gathered up all the little bottles of hotel shampoo and dumped them into one almost-empty, normal size shampoo bottle. Then I did the same with the conditioners and the lotions. I won’t need to buy those products for awhile.
4. I realized I was out of bread crumbs the day I was making a recipe that required bread crumbs. Rather than make a trip to town, I grabbed several markdown rolls that I’d previously frozen and made my own. I really should do this more often.
5. Aldi had a good price on mushrooms recently, and since we were on a road trip that involved passing three different Aldi stores, I bought four boxes at each one. Had a mushroom cook-a-thon after returning home, then froze them all for future uses. Mushrooms have been crazy expensive lately.
You just inspired me to dig out the tub of hotel shampoo. . . Thank you!
susanna d, would you share the sandal wash brand please? I’m a Chaco girl too!! Thank you 🙂
I used Nikwax Sandal Wash.
Thank you!
This is my most unfrugal week in ages! 1. The dishwasher that husband kept cobbling together finally gave up the ghost entirely. He even went to the appliance repair store with the piece to try and fix it once more and the owner said, “Face it, Buddy, appliances die.” The frugal part: we bought a new one but first picked it out and priced it and then went to the grocery store and bought gift cards to the big box store so we earned quite a bit of gas points. Then I did the actual ordering of it through My Points, so made a few bucks there. Still, it stings…
2. The husband attempted to bathe Pound Hound. Husband slipped and ended up on the floor of the shower and on the way down knocked the dog over. Pound Hound began howling so hard that we thought he broke something but it appears that it was fear. No more home baths because the husband was not injured but next time we may not be so lucky. Since my husband had cancer, his lower legs are dead weight and he falls with some regularity. Each time he thanks the workshop he took on how to fall when you are old, because using what he learned there he has never injured more than his pride. So, there will be future dog bath costs. The frugal part was that the workshop was only $25 and has probably paid for itself many times over.
3. Husband’s quartet went out to lunch after a performance, which is a first. At the end, the husband pulled a Ziploc out of his packet and began loading the remains of his meal in it for the dog and chickens to share. When he explained what he was doing, the other three piled their leftovers in the bag; there was so much that they had to get a to-go box. The meal cost more than he usually spends but he brought home almost as much in leftovers, so that was some frugality.
4. Found a CPAP machine in a garbage pile near our house. Took it home, cleaned it up and husband figured out it worked fine—and it was not the brand that was recalled, which is what I first thought. Donated it to an agency that gives out, for free, refurbished medical equipment. Got a tax write off and a little thrill knowing someone will get a potentially life saving device for free. The husband has assured me that if I die first, my medical equipment is going there.
5. Had to buy four new tires. Husband loves to shop so he spent a week going from place to place and got a good price. So, at least it was a bit more frugal than if I had been in charge, since I hate shopping and would have stopped at comparing two places. Husband also came home with some corms for a purple shamrock plant. He was admiring the color and said I had only a green one so the cashier offered to dig up a few corms so I could start my own purple plant. So, more frugality because I would have bought a purple one if I saw it at a local nursery.
Lindsey, re: your #2, I’m so glad that both the husband and Pound Hound survived the shower–but I agree that having someone else bathe PH may be a nod to “Discretion is the better part of valor.” (Thank you, Sir John Falstaff.)
And I salute the husband for keeping the dishwasher going as long as he did (#1), bringing home all those leftovers (#3), helping you revive the CPAP machine (#4), and going tire and shamrock shopping (#5). You don’t need me to tell you that you have a gem as rare as mine was, but I’ll tell you anyway.
Lindsey, you certainly got the good and more out of that dishwasher. And thank goodness your husband and Pound Hound were not hurt. There does come a time when we all need to recruit some helping hands. I have to get my husband, who also has neuropathy in his feet, to stop getting on the roof.
Ruby–get that man off the roof! My Grandpa died in a fall from a roof (scraping off ice). I told my husband I would only go along with a two story house if he promised never to be more than six feet off the ground on a ladder. He claims I put it in our pre-nup.
House rule here was okay till you turn 65 then we hire it out. He did make one trip up there recently but only because immediate necessity. Paying for any type of work is likely cheaper than medical costs potentially incurred.
I totally agree! We need a repair done to the siding over our garage and I have told him he’s not to do it.
My husband also has mobility issues and has fallen a few times. I would send him to that class for falling, but I’m wondering if he would remember it all on his way down.
The class makes you practice over and over and over during the session. My husband says before you leave the class, it has become almost second nature…worth trying if your husband falls a lot.
Where is this class given?
We found it through our local senior center.
Google “Fearless Falling” classes to see if there is one in your area.
I’m a little bit sad to see the dishwasher kick the bucket. I enjoyed hearing how you kept it going. Just like the cars that are held together with duck tape and wire. Always impressed when something is kept out of the landfill.
Lindsey, I love my purple shamrocks given to me by a friend. Mine live outside here in Tennessee and come up every spring. Will yours have to be in a pot inside?
Yup, in a pot that goes outdoors in the summer and indoors in the winter.
Thanks for saving the Cpap machine. I use mine every night. Before I got one I was not breathing for many time in a minute!
I have to learn how to fall the correct way.
Is there a Tractor Supply near you? Ours, here in suburbia, has dog washing stations.
No, Tractor Supply does not live here in Fairbanks. I went to one in Wash state and loved wandering around in it.
1) I used a stack of gifted cotton novelty fabric to make scrub hats for a birthday gifts.
2) My younger son is participating in an accelerated learning course over the summer at his school. Not only will this help him academically, but it will help our summer care budget.
3) The older son reports that his thrifted and gifted gear for Scout campouts is serving him well. I had mentally budgeted to upgrade some of his equipment, I’m pleased that we can postpone those expenses.
4) After discovering that my husband was stopping DAILY for fast food breakfasts, I’ve started making breakfast burritos for the freezer. Not my cup of tea, but it has to be better than a drive through.
5) And I continue to make my coffee, take the bus to work, pack my lunches and rock the thrifted wardrobe.
Oh! And I found two packs of new-in-sealed-package underwear for my younger son in a Portland free pile. I LOVE those things.
1. Friend is staying the night so my husband pulled a beef stew he’d made out of the freezer so we will have beef ragu pasta.
2. I will make a lemon drizzle cake with our own lemons.
3. Went for my morning sea swim and walk with friends. We carpool and bring hot flasks of tea. Socialising and exercise for basically free!
4. Listening to LPs a friend lent me on our 2nd hand record player. Cannot bring myself to subscribe to Spotify (and am irritated by ads on the free service)
5. Will make red lentil and pumpkin soup to last for the next few lunches. Pumpkins were cheap from the local farm stand.
PS Picked up David Sedaris’ The Santaland Diaries for $1 used and thought of you Katy while rereading it!!
I can attest to the truthfulness of that book!
I have never heard of that show! Last time I visited my parents they asked me to let them know what I wanted. Hopefully after all 4 of us do this, we will feel no guilt in getting rid of what is left. I did notice that every closet was packed full of stuff though. Ugh!
1. Found $0.35 this week (I almost never find money)
2. We met friends out for dinner but made sure to go while it was still happy hour so we got discounted food and drinks.
3. I cleaned out my dd’s closets (2 kids, 2 closets, 1 room). I took everything out and went through it all. Threw away a ton, have a huge donation box and picked out a few things to sell. I also found a nice North Face jacket that will fit me. Then I painted it all with paint leftover from a dining room project (white). I still have some sorting to do as I put things back.
4. Made homemade pumpkin scones and a double batch of breakfast sausage this weekend.
5. In March I signed up for ESPN+ so I could watch all the post season gymnastics I wanted. I canceled it before it renewed the next month. For $10 I had dozens of hours of entertainment. We don’t have cable and just use an antenna typically as we watch little TV.
1. Someone left a coupon for free bananas at the register. I got 2lbs of them for free.
2. Target and Aldi for groceries this week. I bought blueberries for $1.97 a pint. I froze them for future blueberry muffins.
3. My lovely neighbors collected sticks for my fire pit kindling.
4. I found a free cart at Aldi and passed it on to a person offering me a quarter.
5. At Target, I used cash to pay. There was change left at the self-checkout I was using. I took .37 for my payment and left the rest for someone else to use.
I love the concept of the Swedish death cleaning! When my Dad died in 2021, hubs and I had to clean out their apartment. I was pretty thankful that they had decluttered an awful lot beforehand – and that it was just an apartment to clear out and not a big house. Yet it was still emotionally awful, and we still have a big storage unit of stuff. Oh well…one day by one day…
1. Making my famous Burrito bowls for supper tonight – the rice, refried beans mix with loads of sauteed veggies and vegan cheese on top. Makes a lovely meal two days in a row – the leftovers taste great the next day.
2. Used up an old banana yesterday in a smoothie that hubs made. Mine was too big, so I froze the leftovers and will enjoy it today. (I seem to have a habit of leftovers, huh? LOL)
3. Enjoying Libby app books all the time! Told a friend about them and now she is hooked too. I love how I can get books and magazines I could never afford this way, and I don’t even have to walk out the door to get to the library anymore.
4. Found a good deal on an OTC med I take on eBay and ordered a good amount. (For chronic heartburn.)
5. Found a (fairly!) good deal on a one-night getaway to a nearby mountain town. We haven’t been anywhere in a LOOOOOONG time, so it means a lot to us. Even just for one night. 🙂
I love Libby so much!!!
1) Things are especially horrifying for gender nonconforming people in my state right now, so we extended my son’s trip so he can have a longer break from the local news in a place that’s not trying to legislate him out of existence. The cost was less than a meal out or a therapy copay.
2) Lent a neighbor some entertaining equipment, and she’ll likely bring over some tasty bits in return.
3) We’re really trying to eat down the freezer and pantry and only buy fresh produce and “new” foods we have a strong taste for. My husband requested Italian sausage and peppers, and sausage isn’t on sale – but a “best customer” coupon for a free pack came in that day’s mail. When I got to the store, there were a dozen packages of his favorite, perfectly fresh sausage for 70% off. I bought four for the freezer, along with breakfast links for .99/lb.
4) Filled out a care package for our cat-obsessed niece with some cute cat things from the gift closet, and added a $12 novelty hair dye in her favorite color that was free with a mystery shop/review.
5) Made delicious spiced jamaica from bulk hibiscus flowers through our Frontier Herbs co-op. I love the stuff, but it’s a diuretic. Every year I forget, make a big jug, think to myself “why don’t I drink this all the time?” and then remember why all day and night long.
I am sorry to read of how you have to protect your son. He is most fortunate to have you! and I suspect you will say the same of him!
Hoping that legislators and those who support them will figure out very soon what is their business and what is not.
Thank you, Heidi.
Em, your #1…those petty people make me so mad! Why on Earth when there is so much going on that needs tending to…gun violence on our streets, the war in Ukraine, climate change and pollution to name a few…would anyone be even concerned in the least bit about individuals who are trying to make a positive change for themselves? I just don’t understand. Well, I guess there will always be those that unfortunately feel they have to malign a group and right now one of those groups is the LGBTQ community. Glad you had the opportunity to extend your son’s trip.
Christine, very well said. Em, I’m sorry for the way your son and others are being treated. It’s horrifying and heartbreaking.
1) I’d gotten into a bad habit of buying Starbucks iced tea, which is crazy expensive for what it is. I found a brand of tea sachets that I can drop into my water bottle, and the cost for a container of 12 was less than 1/2 of a Starbucks iced tea. They last for 3-4 water bottle refills. I liked them so much, I went back to the store today to pick up more, as they were on sale.
2) Parked our electric car for free at work, drove electric car to a soccer game that was an hour away, and bonus – added a couple of other players, to really make it a good carpool. Saving other parents time is a huge win, costs aside.
3) Bought myself a pair of new sneakers, and they were so uncomfortable that I left work early to switch. I’ve had heels that were more comfortable! I washed them up, checked the return policy (all good), & mailed them back.
4) I made a triple batch of ground beef tacos, and froze most of it. But, we had it for a few dinners this week, including on Cinco de Mayo.
5) Ate free breakfast, lunch & snacks at work, Tuesday-Thursday.
What is the name of the ice tea sachets please.