Screen-Free Week was wholly undocumented, but that doesn’t mean that I used the non-blogging excuse to spend out. Here’s but a small number of frugal activities that filled my week:
- I took full advantage of my library by reading two Betty MacDonald books, (The Egg and I and Onions in The Stew) and listening to three audiobooks. (Carl Hiaason’s Chomp, Paula Hawkins’ The Girl on The Train and Jennifer Worth’s Call The Midwife: Memoir of Birth, Joy and Hard Times.)
- I used my Craigslist-purchased rug shampooer to scrub the upholstery of my new 2007 Toyota Prius. It had a slight under-smell of cigarettes + air freshener that intensified with hot weather. The car now now been neutralized and all it cost me was maybe 5¢ of dollar store Oxyclean plus a few cents of electricity. (By the way, using air freshener to mask cigarette smells is about as useful as using pachouli to mask body odor. In other words, the two smells combine to create an atomic super-smell that is ten times worse than before.)
- I broke a glass of milk and then the light fixture over the kitchen sink within a ten minute period. As much as this was technically a non-frugal endeavor, (nothing frugal about destroying perfectly good household goods!) it was actually no great disaster. Why? Both items were thrift store purchases, and will be easily replaced. I choose very standard and easy to replace drinking glasses, and my Goodwills seem to be a never ending source for glass light-fixture shades. I’m guessing that $5 will cover the cost of replacement, so it was a pain in the tuchus but no pain in the wallet.
- I took my younger son to Costco for both an eye exam and to choose glasses. Not only does Costco take our vision insurance, but their frames are extremely discounted. Plus, they’re running a current deal for $30-off a second pair of glasses, so we walked out without spending too much money. And as a bonus, my son and the optometrist had a nice long conversation about The Rhode Island School of Design, which is my son’s first choice for college and the doctor’s alma mater. Plus, we learned that the commencement speaker in 1973 was a mime, which is so perfectly absurd! A mime . . . as speaker! Well done, R.I.S.D.!
- Warm weather meant we were able to rev up the clothesline, we ate all dinners at home, my younger son worked all weekend, I spent an afternoon getting our back porch and yard into shape for outdoor season, I spent an hour at Ikea drinking free coffee after dropping my parents at the airport, (my favorite frugal treat!) I made cookies from scratch for my son’s co-workers, I took full advantage of grocery store sales, I packed all work and school lunches and bought nothing unnecessary.
Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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How is the reader on Call the Midwife? It’s one I want to read, but I hate when a bad reader ruins a good book.
– We spent less than $5 this weekend. Friday, my youngest son and I picked up a bag of puffs at Trader Joe’s to take with us on a picnic for dinner, the rest was stuff from home. Sunday, my husband bought me a 6 pack of Dr, pepper to fortify me for potential family drama on mothers’ day.
-We won a raffle we bought a ticket for at a festival last month. We paid $5 for our ticket, and honestly felt fine about it even if we didn’t win, because our kids got to do so much stuff that would have been free if we hadn’t bought the raffle ticket. I made banana bread to say thanks to the shop owner, and we have some new art for our living room!
-I’d been having a hard time getting through a very long book- not that it’s not good, just really long and hard to commit to when I’m so busy. requested the audiobook from the library so I can multitask and quit racking up late fees.
-My husband usually does a Mother’s Day breakfast in bed for me, scrambled eggs and toast is my jam. After he’d gone to bed the night before, I noticed we were out of bread- and oh yeah, broken toaster. We were also down to 1.25 cups of flour and not much sugar at all. Knowing he’d have to feed the boys as well, I found a muffin recipe that worked for exactly what we had on hand after about 20 minutes of searching.
– At the sprinkler park this weekend, the ice cream van was loud and obnoxious. My kids didn’t even bother asking because mom is a cheapskate, and they knew we had popsicles at home.
I can’t take credit for it, but it sure helps:
-My dad hosted mother’s day dinner and I only brought pasta salad. Ribs for the cost of pasta? Yes, please.
-husband’s side hussle jewelry work brought us some much needed cash this weekend, and he also bartered some jewelry work with a photographer, so we could give a family photo shoot to his sister and her kids as a combined mothers/father’s day gift for her.
-My mom gets bountiful baskets and shares with us the stuff she doesn’t think they’ll get to. Full grocery bag of produce for free? Also, yes please.
The reader is wonderful, I highly recommend!
Thrift shop and garage sale scores:
Like-new pasta machine for $2! Three hardcover like-new books for my granddaughter for $1 and two kids’ books (one for our school library and one for the GD) for 50 cents each. Woven cotton blanket in good shape for 25 cents for extra bed. Three skeins of multicolor yarn, which will make cute hats for charity, plus a crochet hook, for a total of $3.00. And the best, a Jansport backpack in really good condition, for FREE!
Daughter treated us to dinner for Mother’s Day.
I did some jewelry repair for some extra cash.
My granddaughter’s mom needed a potty chair for the GD, I posted a request on FB, and a friend gave me hers, after cleaning it really well.
Been able to watch the Stanley Cup playoffs online without it costing us extra!!
(1) DH and I had a Grand Day Out Saturday, hitting two local farmers’ markets and a local organic farm that was offering free tours. Treated ourselves to local asparagus and microgreens, local free-range eggs/chickens, and (at the farm) local raw milk (which can only be sold at the point of origin because of various state and federal regulations). The raw milk was astonishing (we’d never had it before and were delighted to see cream rising to the top!), and we’ll be back for more.
(2) Currently making chicken stock with the bones. The chicken wasn’t exactly cheap, but we like to buy it now and again because (in our opinions) there’s no comparison between this and grocery store chicken.
(3) Smile on DH’s face when we met the farm’s splendid team of draft horses and extended pig family: Priceless!
(4) Got all my frost-tolerant transplants (mostly home-raised) out into my garden over the weekend, and am only waiting out the final predicted cold snap to start setting out tomatoes, etc.
(5) Thanking the heavens for rain after an extended dry spell. Not having to water the transplants in = savings in both time and money.
I love watching Call the Midwife. I love most things PBS! I’ll have to get the books from the library.
This has been a very busy time at work so I haven’t had much free time so that equals frugal.
I did get free tickets to see a play.
My friend drove to the play and then insisted on paying for parking. Win -win there.
I brought both lunch and dinner to work instead of eating out.
I pulled together a bunch of books to take for resale.
I made cookies and muffins to bring to work so we could have snacks on hand for our long days.
I got my first score from a free stuff website: a cat tower. I have been wanting one for a long time, and one of our cats seem to like it. I also got some plant cuttings from my sister in law, so I get to try a little gardening for almost free.
We had a both frugal and non-frugal weekend:
1) Drove into Orlando to pick up an International Driver’s License at the AAA office. Yes, I could have ordered it via mail and saved the gas and tolls, but I used the excuse to meet up with my oldest son whom I see rarely. I bought him a new suit and tie at Kohl’s (his was 2 years-old and way too tight and Kohl’s was having a B1 Get 1 free promo on Chaps brand so I got the pants for free, used a 20% Friends & Family pass to lower my overall cost and received a $40 Kohl’s Cash certificate that I will use to get a cute dress for my daughter). He bought me lunch for Mother’s Day. Since he’s a poor college student, I chose the cheapest thing on the menu (which was 2 huge slices of cheese pizza and a Caesar salad for $6.95, a great deal, actually!) and drank water.
2) On Saturday my husband’s employer was hosting their Family Day at Universal Studios Orlando. We got 4 free multi-park tickets, a parking voucher and a free catered lunch at Margaritaville. Since Greg and I are kind of over theme parks (we used to work in one), we took 2 cars so he and I could leave after lunch and my daughter and son could stay longer. We stopped by the library on the way home and chose books for the both of us. My middle son (who works at Universal Studios) met with his siblings in the afternoon and gave them pointers on all the secret tricks in the Men in Black attraction. They had a great time and we’ll never be able to score higher than them, now! However, it did cost us double the amount of gas and tolls, one parking admission ($17) and $40 since we gave them cash for drinks and snacks and told them to keep the change.
3) I had told the kids not to stress about Mother’s Day and told my husband I didn’t want to go out at all since I counted the dinner we’d had at Ruby Tuesday last week as my Mother’s Day meal. So we stayed home and I got to play with my genealogy program all day. My husband installed the outdoor digital antenna that I got for $6.99 (after Swagbucks gift card) on Amazon so I can once again watch my favorite OTA channels (we don’t have cable). My daughter bought me donuts for breakfast from my favorite donuts place and got them on Saturday night since she knew I’d be up very early on Sunday and she wanted to sleep in. That worked out perfectly since I cherish my quiet Sunday mornings when everyone else sleeps in! My youngest son made me a card in Paint and emailed it to me, which I loved. My middle son called me and will give me my gift next time we get together. The older I get, the less hoopla I want on Mother’s Day. I’d be just as happy just to have the kids call or come by.
4) I found a nickel at Universal… well, I also saw $0.11 more cents under a seat in a theater but my husband was urging me to move on so I didn’t have time to grab those coins 🙁
5) I harvested green beans, jalapeños and tomatoes from my garden and collected lettuce and spinach seeds for next planting season. It’s already in the 90’s here so I’ll have to wait until Fall to plant more greens.
Wow, I’m exhausted after reading about your week! (Weekend?)
Did you scrub the headliner of the Prius, too? I had a similar funk in my former Subaru Outback, and it turns out the smell was lurking over my head, not in the seating upholstery.
I did not. Although the smell seems to have dissipated enough at this point.
My daughter is also interested in RISD. Did you know that their mascot is Scrotie? Cracks me up.
We have also revved up the clothesline this week. Of course, both our washing machine and microwave have weirded out on us within a day of each other. We don’t use the microwave much, but I use my washer a lot! Some quick Googling however reveal easy fixes for both. The microwave likely needs a fuse, so there will be some cost involved, but the washer just needs the drain pump cleared = free repair!
1. We celebrated our wedding anniversary a few weeks ago. We don’t do anything special, except recognize it. Less than a week later my husband brought home a centerpiece (from a dinner he went to for work) that contained beautiful roses. It would have been thrown out. I enjoyed them much more given that they were “free”.
2. We have found a great place to bike. It is paved, but mostly off road, not too far from home, relatively flat, scenic, and mostly shaded. When we biked on Saturday we spied a heron with a large fish in it’s mouth. Good, cheap entertainment/exercise, since we already owned bikes and helmets.
3. The grocery store has hummus 5/$5 this week. Of course I bought it.
4. We did eat our for lunch yesterday, using a $10 off coupon, and gift cards purchased for 20% off. Everyone else brought home leftovers. Hello, dinner tonight. I’ll make myself a salad.
5. When I was in Aldi last week eggs were $.99/dozen. A fellow shopper told me she buys 6 dozen when they are on sale. She takes them out of the shell, mixes them, then freezes them in ice cube trays. Once frozen she puts the cubes into a Ziploc bag. She said 3 cubes equals 2 eggs, and the cubes thaw quickly, when you want to use them.
I am glad the “screen free” week is over, though it was a very good experience for me.
Eggs last a long time, so I would just keep the six dozen in the fridge.
I bought 10 dozen from Save A Lot a little while back, I still have about 3 dozen left and they are fine. I’ve never thrown an egg out and I’ve never gotten sick from eating a bad egg, so I agree, they do last a long time.
‘Chomp’ is so absurd and hilarious! I love Carl Hiaason’s children’s books, but ‘Chomp’ had to be my favorite.
Carl Hiaasen is my favorite writer. I recently read “Skink: No Surrender” all the way through, enjoying it immensely, without realizing it was written for kids! (I did note, however, that there was a notable lack of hanky-panky.)
Has your son considered SCAD (Savannah College of Art and Design)
Did you like “The Girl on the Train”? I read it a month or so ago and really enjoyed it.
Scored a ton of free items from a neighbor who is moving as well as at an estate sale. I LOVE FREE STUFF!
Free stuff is da bomb!
Awesome college that popped out The Talking Heads!! What more can I say?
Really? I didn’t know that!
1. Made both pinto beans and black beans in my crockpot. When one was done I put the other in. Now have 6 containers of refried beans and 7 pkgs of black beans in the freezer.
2. Received a dozen free and fresh eggs from my neighbor. She doesn’t like to garden, and my DH doesn’t want chickens, so we have worked out trades.
3. Washed the comforter from my bed, and dried it on the line.
4. Made a batch of potato corn chowder to have for lunches this week once the crockpot was done with the beans. Cooked in the crockpot 3 times in just two days.
5. Planted 5 tomato plants. It is early for us yet (usually not before Memorial Day) but we have 4 metal and one black plastic garbage can we have collected over the years, and we put early tomato plants in them. We can then cover the plants with buckets if it is going to get too cold. This is our third year of doing this, and they do bear earlier.
1. Instead of going out for Mother’s Day, which was also our 29th wedding anniversary, I made a big pot of homemade beef-barley-mushroom-veggie soup and we stayed home.
2. The soup leftovers will provide delicious brown-bag lunches for my husband this week.
3. I mended a pair of underpants that had separated at the seams on both legs. Ten minutes of stitching and they’re good to go.
4. Groomed both our dogs myself.
5. Did not spend $6 on new stick-on numbers for our mailbox (old ones are peeling off). I will scrub the box clean and hand-paint new numbers on it.
6. Washed our winter blanket over the weekend and dried it on the back porch clothesline. It’s been plenty warm and sunny enough to dry outside, but we had to wait until the South’s 5th season, the pollen season, was over.
Years ago, I read my favorite Betty McDonald book called something like “Anybody Can Do Anything.” It’s about the various jobs she applied for and worked at. Since I have had a wide variety of jobs in my “career”, I enjoyed the book and liked her spunky attitude.
I went on a 6 day vacation last week to visit a friend in Florida. Not exactly frugal since I did have to purchase a plane ticket. But because I stayed with my friend, there was no hotel bill. Also my friend was a great (free) tour guide.
And on the plane, I read “A Bunch of Pretty Things I Did Not Buy” (got it from the library the day before I left) which reminded me that it is possible to enjoy looking at pretty things in shops without feeling the need to own the pretty things. (This kept me from buying souvenirs, etc.).
I’m reading the “Anybody Can Do Anything” book right now!
* Inexpensive mother’s day since we did not eat out. Hubby got me a cd box set (his money, so I don’t count it as personal expense) and a card. Kids made me necklaces and cards at daycare. We went to the beach. Then we invited my mom for supper and gave her a box of chocolate (3$, being on sale) and drawings from the kids.
* took my girl out for lunch today, because I had a secret mission at a restaurant that paid me 20$. So it ended up being only 8$ out of pocket, after taxes and tip, for both of us.
* Went to a Goodwill to get shorts for my youngest. Did not find any, so I’ll try another one tommorow.
* Bought used ice skates for my kid for 6$.
* Started watching The Killing on Netflix with hubby. So far so good!
Have a great frugal day!
1) I was able to pick up my free yogurt and bag of chips from a download ans picked up bananas at 39 cents/ pound and a 5# bag of potatoes for 89 cents.
2) I took an inventory of my freezer. I am good for awhile! No need to shop except a few things to make meals from what’s in there.
3) I found 4 leftover tri tip slices in the freezer, so, I heated up two and cooked the last of the orzo to make cheesy ranch orzo (enough for 2 sides). Two dinners!
4) Dinner and a movie was canceled, as my friend had a migraine. She was supposed to be providing the food (we trade off), so I got to work a little leftover magic and feed 3 people from what seemed like nothing. (3 because I had her teens over to give her a break)
5) walked the dogs up in the mountains on Mother’s Day, as this is the best gift my fur kids could ever give me… Their total excitement over being able to run free.
-For Mother’s Day, I made a turtle cheesecake from scratch, although Mom says the better present was that I also got Dad out of the house for several hours by letting him help out on my land. The last several weekends, every time Mom has tried to take a nap, Dad would come up with some super-urgent-but-only-to-him task and not leave her alone until it was done. She’s the kind of person who really needs her naps now and then, so she was glad I could keep him busy.
-I kept him busy by having him help me dig dandelions out of the hayfield on my land. This hayfield is going to be plowed up as soon as the neighbor I hired to do it gets his own fields plowed. In the mean time, I know where I can get $1/lb for dried dandelion roots, and the field is full of them, so why not?
-This isn’t something I did this week, but it’s finally starting to show. My tomato seeds are sprouting! I plant them directly in the garden and then cover with wall-o-waters to keep them warm. I know it would be better to start them indoors and then transplant, but there’s no good spot in the house for that. I prefer starting my own from seeds instead of buying seedlings because I save my own seeds.
-Speaking of saving seeds, I planted a dozen pumpkin seeds from a variety that I’m de-hybridizing. I’ve never found an heirloom that had all the traits I wanted, but there was a hybrid that did. So, I’m developing an heirloom myself using the hybrid as a starting point. I think this will be the 5th generation of it.
-Scored a new, still in the box deep fryer from Goodwill. I have a weak spot for fish sticks, but the frozen kind taste terrible anymore. I tried making my own in the oven, and I could get the flavor right but the texture was wrong. If i get a chance to have the house to myself, I’ll be trying new recipes for fried chicken, french fries, and fish sticks. Yum! Oh, and the fryer was only $7 🙂
1. I put away winter things and found around $90 in coins and bills in pockets. That reminded me that when my FIL died, before giving his clothes to Goodwill, we went through all of his pockets and found nearly $1,000!
2. Instead of having a very small rummage, I donated my stuff to the church rummage sale where the money goes to needy organizations in our city. I also got a tax deduction slip.
3. I took the challenge and cut cable to the barest minimum. The bill was close to $200; now it is less than half of that.
4. Took Mom to church which is all she wanted for Mother’s Day.
5. I am finding ticks on the dog, so I groom her daily. So far so good.
6. Eggs were 99 cents a dozen today! I bought the limit.
$1000 in pockets?! I guess your father-in-law was a real character!
-I got every possible discount on auto insurance for my newly licensed 16-yo daughter: her school transcript (good grades), she completed driver’s ed class, and she watched an online video at our insurance co.’s website and filled out a form.
-With warmer weather, I went “shopping” in my closet and broke out some cotton skirts and sandals that have been hidden away since last year.
-I made a homemade vegetable soup that everyone, including me, agreed was just boring. I’m not sure why, but it was just blah, and it didn’t get better as leftovers the way soup often does. With nothing to lose, I added quinoa and mushrooms, and it turned into a lovely stew! This made me surprisingly happy. 🙂
-I am self-employed, and I reduced my business overhead a few days ago, by canceling my stamps.com account that I rarely use ($16/mo), and canceling a land line ($38/mo) that I forwarded to my cell phone and stopped using on my website/business cards/letterhead two years ago.
-Started watching Derek on Netflix. It’s brilliant!
Oh I love Derek! How can a show make me sob and laugh at the same time?! Ricky Gervais is awesome in it. Reminds me that I got distracted, though, and never finished season 2. Thanks for mentioning it!
Ooh . . . I’ll have to ask my agent if our insurance company has an online video to watch!
1) made a card for my mom for mother’s day (also gave her a big pretty plant)
2) sunned cloth diapers
3) using up a bottle of liquid hand soap that I don’t like instead of buying soap
4) planted about half of the garden (we only grow things that pay of $ wise to grow ourselves)
5) dried half a bunch of green onions and half a bunch of fresh parsley instead of tossing
I offered to take my mom out for treats together before a talk we attended together on Mother’s Day….and she proposed a frugal date of $1 fancy coffee drinks for moms instead and a walk in the park, which led to sighting a nest of baby bald eagles!
Also money saving, and hopefully not too weird, is taking my sons’ over-serving of dinner leftovers for my next day’s lunch. I hate throwing away food, even if it’s really headed for the happy worms in the compost bin.
For Mother’s Day, my mom decided to make brunch. I baked blueberry muffins (had everything on hand) and we gave her a bouquet of flowers and a card. I told my husband and kids that all I wanted was for them to deal with dinner–prep, cooking, clean up. It didn’t have to be anything special, I just wanted an evening off. They rose to the challenge, told me to stay out of the kitchen (which was harder than I thought it would be!), but gave me extra time to sit on the front porch reading and watching hummingbirds. I’m going to ask for this same gift for every holiday! Free time is much more precious to me than stuff.
My husband received a free Redbox code, good only today. We got The Imitation Game, which I’ve wanted to see, and I managed to get everything done in order to sit down and watch it. This is amazing for me as I rarely watch TV or movies. Mostly I don’t have time, but often I prefer to read if I have free time.
I was admiring the garden of an acquaintance and she gave me starts of a plant that I love, but were in her way. I’m also finding lots of baby volunteers in my yard. They’re self-seeding perennials. I wait to see what pops up where and then transplant whatever is in the “wrong” spot.
Other than that, just the usual: reading library books, batching errands (and trying to stay in our general neighborhood), cooking/baking at home.
I smashed my phone after dropping it , but because through my plan I’d got a new one 1 1/2 years ago it was an easy swap with no extra expense. I hated the thought of up grading just for the sake of it so never got the new one out of the box. A friend took my old phone to have the screen repaired very cheaply and now it’s good for the next person in the family who needs a new phone. We had Mother’s Day in Australia and we didn’t do gifts or meals out. I got hugs and handmade cards and breakfast in bed. It was really yummy too.
We didn’t do meals out or gifts either. My kids made cards for me and since my husband worked all day that was about it. Which is fine with me as I’m not super interested in manufactured holidays anyway.
Does anyone know how much an eye exam is at Costco w/out insurance?
Yes, it’s $85. They don’t bill insurance, which is one way they keep the price down. However, they do give you the paperwork to remit on your own.
Due to all the rain our road collapsed. We live on a dead end road, so I was home for weekend after church on Saturday. I’m glad I got to the grocers before I went home that afternoon.
5 frugal things…
1) I used some frozen leftover spaghetti sauce as a start for homemade chili Saturday evening. I popped it in the crockpot and added everything. I forgot to get some kidney beans, but had a can of Stagg Chili w/beans in the pantry, so I poured that into the mix and all turned out good.
2) We both saved gas and didn’t go anywhere on Sunday, since we couldn’t get out of the neighborhood and they were fixed our road. We ate leftover chili for dinner that night.
3) No TV, internet or phone on Sunday – due to the main-line getting damaged during the floods. So, I did housework and read all day. Hubby supervised the road workers, until it rained again. We rec’d over 15″ of rain last week. It filled up our pond and no more drought!
They finally got the phone line working around 6 pm that night and I called tech support and got the cable & internet up again. I was happy – I wanted to watch AD the Bible Continues series, so it turned out to be a frugal and good Mother’s Day for me.
4) I bathed and groomed our two chihuahuas last night. It’s flea and tick season now, so that will likely be a weekly chore for awhile. Bonus – I rec’d two coupons in the mail, last week, I can use for the dog food I buy – one from Petco and one from Petsmart.
5) They quit making my favorite laundry soap in the big box – Purex powder. So I’ve decided to try my hand at making my own. It’s supposed to be pretty cheap and last a long while. We’ll see how if that’s true. They sell Zote soap at Walmart and I think I can use some Dawn & baking soda to make the liquid. I use vinegar instead of fabric softener – which works pretty well.
I’m hoping the rest of the month is as frugal as the beginning has been.
I’ve made my own laundry soap for years. It works great for me and for my daughter who makes it, but my sister said it didn’t clean that well for her, which is unusual. I use either Fels Naptha or Zote soap, borax and washing soda, and use vinegar for the softener.
I had a very frugal Mother’s Day because my darling daughters treated me to a very nice meal which they paid for. Instead of waiting in line after church for a seat in overcrowded restaurants, we went to the deli of an upscale food store and got the whole thing, and ate in comfort at the house. Since both of my daughters are mothers as well, it was important to me that no one cook and have a lot of clean up, and this seemed the easiest for all concerned, including the husbands. I also received some lovely gifts. My kids are so sweet, but spending the day with them and my grandchildren is the best gift, really.
Other than that, we’ve been eating out of the pantry and freezer and not spending money. We’re happily waiting on the eggplants, peppers and tomatoes to ripen and my husband planted squash — all grown from seeds, some self-saved and some bought. It’s so much cheaper that way. I’ve also washed and dried blankets on the line now that we have some drier air (and as said above, less pollen).
On the not frugal side, my husband gave up and turned on some AC today. At 9:30 a.m. it was already 85 degrees outside and the humidity is rising — he said if it had cooled off last night, he would have toughed it out, but our house was 80 degrees at 6 a.m. this morning, with the windows having been open all night. (He’s home while I’m at work).
Betty MacDonald is my favorite author. I’m reading her sister Mary’s book “The Doctor Wears Three Faces.” Her book isn’t as good as Betty’s are but it’s still good. I read Betty’s books over and over and over.
I’m enjoying them as well. However the racist stuff against Native Americans is hard to take.
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