Five Frugal Things
by Katy on July 17, 2023 · 56 comments
-
The mint I was rooting on my kitchen windowsill was taking forever to grow roots, so I asked a neighbor if I could have a bit of the mint that plagues her backyard. She dug up a plant and brought it over that evening and I quickly planted it in one of the Mexican terra cotta pots that I scored for free a few weeks ago. I’m fully aware of how invasive mint can be, which is why it’s in a pot. It’s a bit scrappy now, but I expect it to fill in. My goal, as always, is to spend no money.
I later lent her our recycling bins to block off our street for her son’s (fully permitted) birthday party, complete with rented bounce house and water slide. Almost all of us on this block do nice favors for one another, which helps us all be comfortable asking for help when needed.
-
I saw an article about how a few different Pittsburgh museums will be free during the month of August, so I went to their websites and was able to reserve four tickets to the Smithsonian Heinz History Center. My husband and I will be in Pittsburgh to visit with family next month, so this is perfect timing! These tickets are normally $18 apiece, so I’m very excited with this score, especially since they have the original Mr. Rogers set as an exhibit!
-
I’ve been slowly deep cleaning and reorganizing my kitchen and gave away a number of random things through my Buy Nothing Group.
• Two can of Sterno canned cooking fuel.
• A set of vintage milk glass spice jars along with their original shelf.
• A collection of assorted miniature kitchen items that I’d passively collected over the years.
• Three slightly chipped vintage Fiestaware bowls.
I also assembled a couple grocery bags of miscellaneous things to donate to Goodwill and let my kids paw through everything before it got donated.
-
• My mother read my Khloe Kardashian blog post and gave me a half-gallon mason jar from her basement. She also gave me a pair of hand me down outdoor cushions to replace a couple of worn out ones.
• My friend Lise and I stopped by 7-11 on free Slurpee day. Even though I’m friends with the franchise owners and they never charge my family for Slurpees.
• My mom let me put some bubble mailers in her pricey Ridwell recycling box.
• I drove through McDonald’s on free french fry day and then swung by my daughter’s apartment where the two of us shared the large order with lots of ketchup.
• I started listening to The Break, by Marian Keyes through the library’s free Libby app.
-
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...
{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
1. The weather has not been great (rainy, hot and humid) so I have been staying in more. Thank you, Wimbledon for entertainment.
2. I made dinner instead of going through the driving through.
3. Keeping my air con at 74 degrees
4. I saved a ton of money at CVS with coupons, ect
5. I made a breakfast casserole for a brunch at friends. All ingredients were already on hand.
Gorgeous terra cotta pots, Katy!
1. I gratefully received 3 pairs of slacks through my Buy Nothing group and as a bonus I really like them (and hate shopping for slacks).
2. Altered a nice top so it fits me better.
3. Am diligently tracking health goals for our insurance to get cash rewards.
4. Hubby dug out another giant overgrown and ugly iris clump as a way of reducing the cost of redoing our new house’s front yard. Six down, 6 to go. Each one fills up our green waste bin. We can’t do all the work ourselves but do what we can.
5. Made use of some starting to sprout potatoes by making a potato salad.
SUMMER FREEBIES!!! When frugality is like your religion, how exciting is it when the freebies show up in your email?? This week I received my birthday coupon for a BOGO entree at RUBIOS which is a favorite “date” day for me and the hub. We enjoyed TWO entrees for price of one and had a nice dinner date last night.
A week ago we had a BOGO breakfast at our favorite diner where we rarely go, only if we get freebies or coupons. When you don’t go out to eat often, you are AMAZED at the HUGE PORTIONS Americans eat!!! No wonder Walmart has a large XXXL section! Yikes. No body shaming.Just sayin’.. those portions!!!!!!! My digestion!!
I LOVE my cloud library.Having to WAIT for a favorite book makes it even juicier when it shows up! I always have 4-5 books in my que. I JUST received “The First Ladies.” YAY!! It took about 2 weeks to get first in line.Not bad!
I enter contests all the time. Mostly stuff posted on the fb pages of companies I already have used. I won some free brownies, free spa basket, and a Trader Joe gift certificate last month from some of the facebook pages I post on and enter contests on.
A favorite on line art teacher of mine offers expensive classes. But she also offers a free week “taster” group of classes.. 7 lessons for free! I just signed upfor these.
More summer freebies: TED TALKS on tv: My husband and I have date nights at home. One night he is in charge of having 2-3 TED talks ready for us to watch and discuss.One night it’s my turn.
CARDS: 3 of my neighbors enjoy playing cards as I do..we meet every other week, on one of our homes, pot luck lunch and cards.A delightful few hours.Luckily, we are of the same political persuasion and we solve ALL the world’s problems while we play!! Each of us follows different news sources, so we share what we’ve heard. A fun day!!
BIKE RIDES: It’s pretty HOT here in Arizona (gulp) but at 5 or 6 AM we can still mange to get in a bike ride. Then a dip in the pool. There’s no place like home!!
My bike is a Schwinn beach cruiser type, heavy, old fashioned foot brakes, I love it.Paid $99 for it,used at a college town bike shop in 1984. My husband had it “tuned up” for me this year for my birthday. I even wear a helmet now! Free fun.
There are so many ways to enjoy life for free or inexpensively.Love your blog..I always pick up some good ideas!!
What part of Arizona are you in Madeline? I’m in Tucson.
1. Used $10 United health care reward at Walmart. I got dip and crackers to take to dog club potluck plus lettuce for dinner. Brought leftover dip and crackers home. Bonus I filled out online a rebate for dip $3.98.
2. Won a $25 Amazon gift card
3. Order vitamins and health beauty aids using our $50 per person allowance thru United Healthcare.
4. Won a free car wash
5. Got a $3/hr raise at work
That is so cool about the Mr. Rogers exhibit!
My 5 frugal things:
1. Did some use-it-up cooking: Turned some excess oatmeal, part of a jar of Tennessee mountain honey, the last of a bag of long-frozen shredded coconut, and a cup of aging raisins into components of a pan of delicious granola. The raisins needed freshening up with a quick hot water soak, but plumped up nicely. Also made a pot of chili with some finely chopped sweet Italian sausage that needed to be used mixed in with the usual meat and no one noticed.
2. Made a donation to Goodwill and did not go inside to shop. Also resisted the lure of the Dollar Tree in the same shopping center.
3. Our oldest dog is almost completely blind and likes to hide under the kitchen table where she’s safe from anything suddenly approaching her. She’d worn the paint off the baseboard in her favorite spot, so my son helped me move the table, he washed the baseboard and the wall, and I repainted the baseboard with the little sample can of white paint we have used for touch-ups for 10 years.
4. Used up the last of some strawberries and some chopped canteloupe in my meals before going grocery shopping.
5. Altered the neckline of a summer dress bought a while back at Goodwill to make it more breezy to wear. It’s a very plain dress, so I added a decorative button from my button stash.
Bonus: Finally pried a tiny 401K from my last job out of the clutches of my former employer, where nothing was/is ever user friendly.
I’m sorry about your former employer, Ruby. The small NYC-based publishing company for which I telecommuted for 36 years could not have been better or more understanding, especially considering what I was dealing with near the end with DH’s dementia. And the retirement email I got from the whole staff–thoroughly laced with Jane Austen quotes and true appreciation–is a thing of beauty and a joy forever. I never wanted to retire because of the company; it was just the ever-declining quality of the manuscripts.
Your job has always sounded like the best thing ever. The people I worked for made the mistake of letting me come to the staff meeting on my last day. That was a delicious lot of fun. 😀
Ruby – I just had to do the same thing re: 401k. My lovely (NOT) former employer moved our 401k funds into a different company and failed to notify us former employees. I only found out during my quarterly update of my financial spreadsheet. I went to the website for this 401k and it said my balance was $0 and the account closed!! My former employer of course didn’t respond to my first 4-5 emails asking about it. I told on them to the US Dept. of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Admin. I finally got my funds back last week. After a few scary weeks.
I am vicariously infuriated.
If your vested 401k balance is $5K or more, your former employer *has* to allow you to keep it in your former employers plan. If less, the administrator can request you roll it over (or cash out which I don’t suggest). IF you don’t, the administrator are within their right to send you the proceeds (to you last known address), typically withholding the max amount of federal and state (if applicable) taxes.
The US DOL is the right place to go to complain. Sounds like your employer was trying to make it sound like you weren’t vested. Another FYI – any monies you rolled into a 401k from a prior employer(s) is always 100% vested, no matter what the current employer’s vesting period is.
The mint will probably do better where you have it. Mint likes partial sun 3 to 6 hours a day. I only know this because I’m growing some too and looked it up.
I love how your neighbors are there for each other. And you can’t beat free admission at museums. The art museum in a close by city has Free First Sundays each month. I love how they make art accessible to everyone.
1. I found a quarter on the floor in a store for my found change jar.
2. I bought four recently expired jars of jam for half price.
3. My library has a summer reading program. For every book read, you get one raffle ticket. The winners are drawn toward the end of the summer. The ten prizes vary from restaurant and store gift cards to gift cards to gas stations. Last year I was lucky enough to win a $50 gas gift card. I love this program not only for the chance to win a gift card but because it promotes reading for all ages as there are separate raffles for teens and one for younger kids as well.
4. My friend is still recovering from a broken vertebrae and I had planned on bringing her a pizza for dinner, but my frugal side won out and I made her a pot of spaghetti sauce and sausage with pasta which I precooked, all on hand. All she has to do is pop it in the microwave.
5. I went to a Celebration of Life event and came home with one of the beautiful centerpieces the event planners were giving away.
Frugal Wins and Fails – weekend edition:
1. Let’s start with the fail – I saw that National Ice Cream Day was on 7/16 and Cold Stone was offering $5 off a $10+ order via their app. I downloaded the app and promptly ordered my family some ice cream to pick up at their closest store (~3 miles away). When I entered the order the coupon code didn’t take and the order was already processed. So, we had some yummy, non-discounted ice cream on the year’s hottest day (yet).
2. After the ice cream treats, we packed up a picnic for the beach that’s a 25-min drive from our house. It was miserably hot and we have no AC, so heading to the coast for a 25-degree drop in temperature courtesy of nature’s air conditioning was a great (free) way to end the weekend.
3. My volunteer tomato plants and free-to-me (via our local Buy Nothing group) basil and zucchini are doing well amidst this heat. After a pretty cold June, I thought our garden was going to be a bust, but everything has perked up and shot up with 2 weeks of heat and sun.
4. Speaking of the garden, I assembled a potato salad of newly harvested potatoes and green beans from our garden paired with a homemade vinaigrette for the beach picnic. It was delicious and I have enough leftover for lunch today!
5. We returned from our 13-day, multi-location road trip on Friday and spent less than $300 on lodging, and under budget for everything else. This was due to using home exchange (with accumulated guest points) for a rental home in pricey Lake Tahoe (we did pay a cleaning fee), hotel points for a 1-night stay in pricey Bend, OR, and camping in a yurt in Tumalo, OR. All in all, it was a fun (if exhausting) two weeks!
FFT, Adventures at the Regional Market Edition:
(1) Now that the local wildlife has driven me almost out of the vegetable-growing business, I spend most of my summer Saturday mornings at our Regional Market buying local produce. Last Saturday, I picked up two more quarts of pickling cucumbers (I make my refrigerator pickles a few jars at a time so as not to overcrowd my fridge), a generous portion of snow peas, and another generous portion of green beans. All for considerably less than any supermarket would have charged.
(2) While at the RM, I stopped to watch the person who demonstrates the paired vegetable peeler and “julienner” (I’m not sure what else to call it) that I bought a few years ago. I use the peeler routinely, but the julienner had drifted to the back of the drawer it’s in and I’d forgotten about it. When the demo ended, I thanked the demonstrator, said I’d be using the julienner from now on, and gave the peeler a hearty endorsement. Discovering how to use a gizmo you’ve already got is even better than buying a new gizmo. (And I think I helped her clinch two sales on the spot, so I feel good about that.)
(3) I used the julienner to shave an elderly carrot into the stir-fry noodles I made for yesterday’s dinner. The noodles came from Ollie’s, and I added some of the RM snow peas, some shrimp bought on sale at Price Chopper, some of my own green onions and garlic (thank goodness the deer don’t eat those), and some lamb’s quarters and pigweed leaves. “Shut up and eat your weeds” season is still in full swing here.
(4) I’ll be making those pickles this afternoon, since my garden has now assumed its annual identity as the Enchanted Dill Forest. (I never have to plant dill; it reseeds itself rampantly.) Also, our Central NY air quality has taken another nosedive (there may not be much left of poor Canada after all these wildfires), and I need something to do indoors.
(5) And I’ll also start grinding herbs for winter gift-giving, since the herbs I’ve harvested and hung to dry in the attic are now nice and crunchy.
Fellow NYer here,Chenango county,so a bit South.
Our Office for the Aging gives out 25.00 in Farmers Market vouchers to be used by November
It’s a statewide program so I wonder if it’s near you also.
Thanks for the tip, Pat. I had no idea.
I have been working on outfitting my car with seat covers & rubber floor mats to protect the interior. The local car wash has assisted me. I found 2 rubber mats for the front floorboards on 2 different occasions. I found a seat cover for the rear seat in the trash there on a different day. I washed it in the washer & air dried it. Finally, I found a long black rubber mat for the rear floorboard. I washed & dried it & put it in place. The mats are all black so even though they are mismatched it works. I did have to buy the seat covers for the front seats new. They were on clearance at Walmart in a box that had been opened already. My previous car had Weather Tech custom mats. This will be a mostly free DIY job. Katy is my inspiration with her repurposed deck, flower pots, and painted rug.
I’m super impressed! Do people just wash the interiors of their cars and forget to put the mats back in afterwards? I have questions!
Evidently it is not unusual for people to forget to put their mats back. My grandson worked at a car wash for a while . He found a very nice mat that was left behind and sold it on ebay. He learned that mind set from me.
Smart guy!
1. I don’t pay for Ridwell. Those bubble wrappers can be recycled in those grocery bag bins at the supermarket – just remove the shipping label first.
2. There is nothing fugal about sending my kids to sleep away camp, but my grocery bill is markedly lower this month when there are just two mouths to feed.
3. My verocius reading habits are feed by my library and all the little libraries in my neighborhood.
4. My husband has been in and out of the hospital multiple times in the last few months, so I brought in enough donuts for both shifts as a small thank you for their excellent care. I inadvertently timed it with Krispy Kremes 86cent deal, so our gift cost a lot less than I was expecting.
5. There is also nothing frugal about needing to cancel a planned non-refundable vacation, or having us out of work for 2 months (see #4), but I feel nothing but gratitude that we are in a place where – while annoying – this does not devastating to our family finances. Gratitude is always free!
I’m so sorry that you and your husband are having health issues. Sending a virtual hug!
A few weeks ago, I mentioned that I had checked out a new book from the library on cooking with economy and grace: Tamar Adler’s The Everlasting Cookbook. Now that I’m done with it, I can highly recommend it. It is so useful, humorous, inspirational and aspirational. Here are just a few of the things that I’ve put into action recently:
1. Swished the dregs of the maple syrup bottle with water and poured over ice for a unique, refreshing drink.
2. Made coleslaw by placing the cabbage and carrots into the mayonnaise jar (that had just enough mayo left for the salad), added seasonings, and shook to coat. One less bowl to clean!
3. In an almost empty peanut jar, I added the rest of the ingredients for a peanut dressing, shook long enough to get the peanut butter off the sides of the jar, and poured over pasta with chopped red pepper and asparagus to make a crunchy noodle salad.
4. Added olive oil and vinegar to an almost empty mustard jar for a quick vinaigrette.
5. Used olive brine to thin out hummus.
6. Pickled little pieces of cauliflower in pickle brine.
7. Cooked beet greens and put them in a broth-based bean soup.
Thanks for the recommendation, MB. I already have Adler’s The Everlasting Meal and will keep an eye peeled for the cookbook. (I’m sorry to say that our city libraries are not very good and I don’t use them–but the suburban libraries around here have bad-ass book sales.)
And for what it’s worth, I’ve been making Dijon vinaigrette dressing for years every time I have an almost-empty Grey Poupon jar, according to your #4 method. So you and Adler are already preaching to the choir, as far as I’m concerned.
GENIUS on the coleslaw method!
I think I need to put that book on hold at the library!
When I get to the end of a jar of dill pickles I put thinly sliced red onions into the vinegar and put in the fridge for a few days delicious and frugal addition to sandwiches and salad.
Mmm . . . good tip!
I love the jar trick. It can work with so many things. I’m going to use it to use up the last of the honey in the jar.
Keeping it real in July! There has been some outlandish purchases to go see my son At the University of Michigan. He will be a senior and I had promised when he went that I would take the family to one football game. The price of the tickets was more than a minimum worker makes in a month. I have some mixed feelings about it. The airline tix were expensive because we have to go over labor day when I can get off work. The hotel is criminally expensive because fans for the Wolverines are rabid and jack up the prices for Sat. How can I claim to be frugal and justify the purchase these things? Ok call them rationalizations but here are my thoughts.
1. This is a one time experience with my only child who has worked like a dog since he has been in kindergarten.
2. My husband is a hardworking farmer who rarely gets away. When he can find time I usually opt for the best experience. It is a rare occasion.
3. I even went first class on the red eye because I need sleep and won’t get enough unless I sleep on the plane. I have to hop back on Tuesday and be with 100 high students. They deserve me not being too cranky.
4. Most importantly, I put everything on a hotel points credit card I pay off every month. No credit debt. I can afford this trip since my retirement fund is pulled directly out of paycheck and I have a fully funded emergency fund.
5. I save lots of ways everyday to make these special trips possible.
6. I could retire this year but have opted to go at least one more year which will add at least $750 a month to my retirement in perpetuity. To keep fresh and excited for the kids i am going to indulge in a few more experiences during our many breaks. Call it retirement-lite
I hope that you have a wonderful time visiting your son and enjoy the football game.
Mary Ann, your thoughts all make sense to me. Enjoy!
You can always rationalize experiences > stuff, and it sounds like it was greatly appreciated.
However, I am concerned about the “100 high students!”
OK Retraction: 100 “High School” students. I’d say only 10% of that are high :)))))))
Whew . . . that’s a relief! 😉
Wishing you the best of luck with your hundred high students.
Going to a University of Michigan football game is a bucket list item for me. I, too, would spend enormous amounts of money to go, so I throw no shade. I hope you have an amazing time!
First, I hope you have an amazing time. Planning for trips are some of the spice in life. And doing it with family in mind makes it better in my opinion.
Second, can I ask what hotel or credit card you use with the hotel points? I have been traveling more this year, and have considered getting a card that is more geared toward hotel stay rewards.
Ashley,
I have had tremendous success with IHG. Every now and then they have a promotion for new cards with 250,000 points. No Kidding. The annual fee is $100 but if you put more than 20,000 in a year they refund you a $100. You get one free anniversary night a year. Sporadically they have a 100% match buy point. Use this only if you are planning something special because with points you never know when they are going to change rates. I checked into every kind of payback card. My cashback would only give me about $350 a year. Delta and United gave me MAYBe one flight. I have spent well over two weeks free if the most amazing locations. For example, in Fort Bragg, Mendocino, I stayed beach view for 23000 points for five days. That didn’t even cover my first bonus point offer. Key is to put everything on the card. We have tuition, groceries, clothes, etc. . . . I just looked up one offer that gives 80,000 points and every fourth night you stay is free. The chains they deal with include Holiday Inn, Intercontinental and others. I stayed in Venice,Italy 8 nights for free.
Wow!
Do they let you repeat getting a giant points offer? Or only every few years? Or only once forever?
1. I want to know who keeps sneaking random crap into my freezer. It has to be someone else because I have no recollection of buying a gallon bag of cream cheese poppers. Since we are eating out of the freezer prior to leaving for the Last Hurrah trip, I am now eating poppers and a small salad for lunch every day this week. (Wish you were here, A. Marie, as it is mostly weeds with tomatoes and cukes.) This is day 2 and I am not loving it, but I am not going to throw them away.
2. Three weeks until we leave and although I plan to live high on the hog during the trip (meaning I will stay at Choice Hotels for points instead of Motel 6!) I have signed up for all the mystery shops I can. I have 17 this week, but batched them so I can do them in 3 days. It will bring in several hundred dollars. Husband was offered some extra court work so he is doing that for the next three weeks. Between the two of us, we are making enough to pay this year’s house taxes before we leave! This means they will not be waiting for us to pay when we get back.
3. Since November I have been trying to claw back money from the insurance company. Saturday I received a check for $350. I keep track of when I contact them. This needed six letters and 11 phone calls. Worth it.
4. Eating honeyberries from trees I planted 10 years ago that are still going strong. If I did not have them, I would be buying blueberries, so every year I thank past me for spending $20 to buy them. They have repaid themselves more than 10 times over.
5. In the grocery store parking lot I found a Barnes and Noble gift card, badly run over. It had $19 left on it so I treated myself to a brand new book that just came out by one of my favorite authors. How did paperback books get to be $16??? The last $3 paid for most of a birthday card. How did birthday cards get to be $6??? Maybe as we are driving through a town Outside that has a dollar store I will get some cards…
6. Totally inspired by a recent Katy post, I used up cereal, a jar of marshmallow fluff, the remains of a jar of Biscoff cookie spread, and some almond bits, to make faux Rice Crispy treats. They are packaged and waiting to be thrown in our cooler to eat on the ferry from Alaska to Bellingham.
7. Traded puzzles in at the library for new ones to take on the trip and put together while spending hours and hours on the ferry.
Hooray for random kitchen bits that transform into treats!
Check out your local library to see if they have a ‘friends’ or book sale area. At my area libraries they sell books for $1 each, and sometimes when we have too many donations we mark them to .50¢ each. Way more economical than buying at whole price.
I went to an estate auction in a private home where the entire backyard has been taken over by mint. There was not a blade of grass left. It was not a traditional lawn, but it smelled divine when we walked in it.
1. I made some inexpensive and non-toxic weed killer from a gallon of vinegar, carton of salt, and a quarter cup of blue Dawn liquid. This works very well,and I am not afraid to use it. It does not contain carcinogens and it’s not going to harm my beloved birds.
2. I am in the midst of a mid-year decluttering. When you are a reseller, it is easy to get bogged down in stuff. I have challenged myself to find something to give away on BN everyday for the next two weeks. I am on the third day and just listed my third item.
3. I have a chicken carcass in the Instant Pot to make broth. I am not eating much soup right now, because it is dreadfully hot. However, I’m preparing myself for fall – I have had enough of summer.
4. I went to an estate sale last week. I bought 3 things. I purchased a box full of gift bags and tissue paper for $3. It contains about 30 gift bags. I’m ready for almost any holiday or party! I also purchased a like new Le Creuset 12” shallow round oven for $45 or 20% of its cost new. Finally, I purchased another sun hat. These never really wear out, but they can get really yucky. My old one will be washed and sent to the textile recycler.
5. I have been doing all the usual things – Drinking primarily water, brewing my own coffee, reading library books, buying in bulk when it makes sense, buying veggies and eggs from a local farm project, batching my errands, wearing thrifted clothes and cooking from scratch. This week I even prepared fish that we caught ourselves. It is Red Snapper season, and we are each allowed to keep a fish a day on each day of three-day season.
Wishing everyone peace, good health, and prosperity.
That is so true about getting bogged down with stuff as a reseller. I’m actually starting to go through all my eBay “inventory” to donate back some items.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! We live 30 miles away from Pittsburgh and just snagged free tickets to the Heinz History and Andy Warhol museums. Very excited
Ooh . . . the Andy Warhol Museum didn’t have the free tickets when I checked last. Thanks!
I’m so happy that you’ll be able to take advantage of this deal as well! The Andy Warhol is normally $25/ticket, so the savings add up quickly!
1. This past week I made $555 doing Door Dash. I’m excited that this will help keep my bills and debt at bay. I have started this week off right by going out last night and starting to accumulate more extra ‘side gig’ income.
2. This weekend my son and I went bowling with friends. We all chipped in for two games and then went back to my house to play Pictionary. There is nothing more enjoyable to me than competitive board game play with friends. It was a great night, and light on the wallet.
3. We have not eaten out in almost two weeks. I have been packing my lunches and also thinning out the canned and freezer food and utilizing it all for dinners. I think we could go another week or two before I need to do major shopping again. It’s nice to take a break from the grocery stores. I will make a list and stock up again near Memorial Day, I think that will be the next big grocery store sale weekend.
4. This past weekend I went to one of the second hand clothing stores I have been selling clothes to and have credit at. I was able to purchase two like new pairs of shoes at the stores lower prices, with a 25% off the store sale that weekend, and then use my store credit. I paid just under $7 in cash for the shoes, they are both shoes that I can wear to work and dress up my outfits a little bit more. Yay!!! Getting what you need/want and paying way less for it.
5. I used Chewy.com once in the last year with an introductory coupon and free shipping on my purchase. Chewy sent me a 15% off coupon with free shipping over $50. I utilized the coupon and was able to essentially get a free case of cat food and not have to step into a big box store. I believe in using incentives for my personal gain whenever possible even if it feels gamey at times.
Hope you all have a good week!
I applaud turning your unused clothing into two new pairs of shoes for just $7 out of pocket!
I’m several posts behind here – but in my website this morning, I posted what I know about how to save some money and some time traveling to and in Canada.
In case anyone else wants to check it out: https://www.marybethdanielson.com/content/suggestions-saving-some-time-money-traveling-canada#comment-18328
Thanks.
Katy,
I love the terra cotta pots!
1. Haven’t grocery shopped for almost 3 weeks, using out of freezer and garden. I will have to go soon though. I am almost out of homemade yogurt so will need milk.
2. We harvested honey from our bees! It is so beautiful and tastes wonderful.
Honey on yogurt is divine.
3. Made dish washer tabs and laundry sauce, sharing with family.
Also made some toilet tabs, never made them before and I think I am impressed.
4. son in law fixed my small tiller, I will make him bread as a thank you.
5.laundry hung to dry, with the rain we have been blessed with I hang on hangers and hang up under the patio umbrella and then move to inside to finish…it has worked well so far.
JC
That’s a smart way to dry laundry when it rains!
It was not a very frugal week.
1. We went to New England for the weekend, for a family gathering. We flew into Providence but mostly used flight credit (from cancelled spring 2020 trips) for the flights. I kept checking rental car prices and rebooked a few times, including last week, for a better price. We stayed at the Hampton Inn since we had some Hilton Honors points that lowered the out of pocket cost. I brought my great niece’s birthday gift despite her birthday being in October. I purchased it on clearance and it came in a bag so I didn’t need to wrap it or buy a gift bag.
2. I got together with a friend at her house.
3. This noon I stopped at Lidl since we were almost out of fruit. They had very large Golden Honey Dew melons for a good price as well as strawberries, eggs, and yogurt.
4. I paid our annual property tax bill online from our checking account. Though there is a $.95 fee to do so I didn’t have to write a check and use a stamp, worry about when the payment would be delivered/processed, nor about check washing. It is cheaper to pay annually than semi-annually.
5. Giant food had quick cook grits and also crispbreads on good clearance prices. I bought a few of each.
Mmm . . . I’ve only recently realized that I like grits and have added it as an occasional breakfast with cheese and fried eggs on top.