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My neighbor set out free green apples, so I walked around the corner and grabbed a dozen or so. She has a prolific apple tree and has a hard time keeping up with them. I’ll assemble some desserts for the freezer, which’ll come in hand come Thanksgiving. I turned right around and brought her a gargantuan bouquet of hydrangeas as a thank you.
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I baked four mini loaves of no-knead artisan bread from a single recipe, which makes them giftable. This also allowed me to bring a cute lil’ loaf (with thick Tillamook cheese slices) to my mother at her skilled nursing facility.
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I sold absolutely nothing, but I did renew my Facebook Marketplace listings a couple of times. It often takes awhile to find the right buyer and I have nothing against playing the long game.
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• I walked to The UPS Store to return an incorrect vacuum cleaner cord that my son ordered from Amazon. Happy to help him get his money back.
• A different neighbor returned some Pokémon early reader books that I lent to her son last year.
• My step mother handed down a pair of library books that she enjoyed.
• I made a paste with dish soap, baking soda and water and scrubbed out a couple stains from my favorite fall cotton sweater. Stain removal skills are basically an infinite clothing hack.
• I have a neighbor going though rough times, so I raked their yard for them. -
I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.
Five Frugal Things
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{ 76 comments… read them below or add one }
Ohh, I bet your mom appreciated the bread!
When I did my clinical rotation at the assisted living/rehab center, the food they served was utterly unappetizing…worse than what I see at the hospital. So some homemade bread would be such a lovely treat.
She did appreciate it! Plus I bring her a cup of strong hot tea every morning. Luckily the facility is just ten minutes from the house.
Katy, I hope that Su Mama is doing well in rehab and will be able to go home soon.
Katy – tea is my primary vice and it would mean A LOT to be brought a proper cup every day.
It became *very* important.
I used to order my mom restaurant takeout every week on Saturdays via Grubhub or whatever. Usually there was enough for two days of meals. She said it was the only decent food she got all week.
Her tea was never hot enough either.
1. Saved $26 by ordering our dog’s eye medications from Chewy rather than from her ophthalmologist’s office.
2. Also compared costs for her heartworm and tick protection meds and chose to continue ordering from our vet.
3. Didn’t have enough pumpkin for a quick bread so I added enough elderly bananas to make up the difference. Taste was the same.
4. Bought two lamps at a consignment store with truly ugly shades. So ugly that I removed them as soon as I got home and am using them with bare bulbs. The lamps were priced low enough that I don’t mind spending some money on replacement shades.
5. Put out our minimalist Halloween decor: a single, small pumpkin that set us back $2.50. A neighbor a couple blocks away had a company decorate her entire front yard as a haunted house, including two 20-foot-high skeletons. I’ve never understood skeletons of any size as “decor” – all I see are my dead parents, family members, friends, and my friend’s 10-year-old daughter.
Your #5…all I can think of when I see one is the poem by Robert Frost about the skeleton in the attic of the old woman and her son, The Witch of Coos. The way he described the sound of the bones brushing against each other while coming down the attic stairs is so real it wakes up a sense of horror.
Christine, I hear you. Me, I don’t need to put out any spooky Halloween decor. Real life is frightening enough.
Amen to that, A. Marie!
I agree! I don’t do Halloween – I do autumn and Thanksgiving.
I’m in the Fall and Thanksgiving decor camp. I reused my past purchases some new sale mums and 3 trash picked fake pumpkins on my front stoop. The mums will be planted in my front garden.
The Home Despot has an especially scary Halloween decor section this year. There’s a really creepy vampire that looks like it’s based on Nosferatu. Too scary for this wimp. The wicked witch of the West scared me as a kid.
Of course I had to go read the poem. My bed is one of those antiques with the tall headboard. I don’t think I will ever lay down at night now without thinking of an attic door nailed shut behind it. And I may never open my button jar again! 😉
Sorry Kathleen! Lol. It’s one of my favorites of Frost’s work and I love to read it every Halloween season.
@MB in MN – please keep in mind the service you get from your vet. I could say a few dollars (far less than $26) if I ordered the maintenance medication for one of my felines. But I’ve been with my vet clinic for a long, long time and have received nothing but excellent service and care. I know if on the outside chance my financials took a huge negative dive, they’d work with me. And that means the world to me when it comes to my felines health.
1. I did some stain removal from clothes too this weekend. I used Dawn dish soap and Hydrogen peroxide. I use an old toothbrush saved for this. Everything came out great. I hung the laundry to dry outside since it is still nice here.
2. Got my electric bill. It always shows where you are compared to other homes in the area and similar size. We used 316 KWH less energy than the efficient homes in our area. Hubby was impressed. I’m thinking about hanging it on the fridge like when the kids were in school and got a good grade.
3. My son came over yesterday to help my husband hang an antenna on our roof. We cut cable in February(after the Superbowl) and Hubby had put it in our eaves. He said we would get more channels if it was on the roof. He was right. We are getting another 24 channels for almost free. He had to get a few parts to put it outside and a grounding rod in case it gets hit by lightning. I was the ladder holder and water girl. I’m not big on heights so I wasn’t going up there.
4. The garden is still giving. Figs are still going strong. I picked 24 yesterday. I also picked lots of tomatoes, string beans, pole beans, basil and parsley. I pulled all of the cucumber plants and string bean plants. Plus a few tomato plants that were done.
5. I did a lot of cooking the last few days. I made a French onion soup in the crockpot with some onions that needed to be used. I made veggie stock with onion skins and veggie ends that were in the freezer in the other crock pot.. Some of the soup made it to the freezer and all of the stock. I made a batch of pasta fagioli soup. My daughter came over and helped me make 3 containers of apple/carrot/grape juice. She took one home with her. I made a batch of muffins with some of the leftover pulp. The rest was frozen for future baking. I made a batch of apple syrup from the cores. Hubby brought them to work for 2 of his coworkers. He also brings figs regularly. While the muffins were cooking, I put in 6 potatoes and a spaghetti squash for meals this week. I made 2 loaves of bread. 1 went into the freezer. I made hard boiled eggs. I currently have a bunch of chicken in the crockpot for easy meals this week. Planning ahead meals is going to be a must if I am working 3 -10 hour shifts.
The windows are open, the heat hasn’t been on yet, the oil tank is still ½ full from our fillup in May, the house is mostly clean, the puppies give lots of kisses and cuddles and we have yummy food waiting to be eaten. Life is good.
Marybeth, I love your #2. DH always used to love getting these notices from National Grid and decorated the stairwell from the ground floor to the basement with them. And the neighbors always jokingly complained that we were the “efficient neighbors” throwing the rest of the street off.
Oh, your #5 is so inspiring!
I have been SOOO busy with election work (yes, Canada has elections, too! Provincial in my case, Oct 19th) that I have not been cooking at ALL.
I finally had a chance to do a small thanksgiving meal and now my #2 son is telling me we have SO MUCH FOOD in the fridge – which is a treat for us both as he has been scrounging for his lunches and I have been eating far too many carbs for the last month. I love all the putting-by you are managing to do, and the baking – well done! I also envy you the figs – our trees only manage to produce the one small harvest, and that is done by early September.
Crockpots are the easiest for me when I have no time. I throw everything in and 6 hours later I have a home cooked meal. We have 4 fig trees. 2 give us figs in June and the other 2 September. This year the June ones gave us a second harvest in October. It is still warm here, haven’t had a frost yet so that might be why.
I haven’t done one of these in a while.
1. I bought a bunch of superwash wool through store pickup. I’d rather go in and pick it out myself, but I had a 25% off coupon if I did pickup, so I did. I will use it to make socks to send to my daughter’s friend.
2. Freezing food like crazy. Out farm box has overwhelmed us with veg, more than the two of us are up for eating. I will be putting a vacation hold of the box for next week, so we can eat the freezer veg and not feel like we’re behind.
3. I did unload a bunch of veg with my niece, when I brought salad over to her house. She made soup for dinner, and we got to play with the grandnibblings. They’re 21 month old twins, and a joy to us!
4. Keeping with the theme, I used blue Dawn to scrub the stains out of our lunch bag. One big ugly stain is still there, but it’s so much better. I might go back at it with peroxide. Or I might add a patch. Or I might declare it good enough.
5. Didn’t buy emergency cross-country plane tickets to go see my daughter. She broke her leg in a rugby match, and had to have surgery that night. Her friend stayed the night in the hospital with her (thus the care package for the friend). She’s been really well taken care of, at one of the best medical schools in the country, at her school, by her friends, and by her team. I am so grateful for all her care! And I’m grateful that if we had to go, our frugal habits would have allowed it. She got a rod put into the bone marrow part, she gets her stitches out this week, she doesn’t have a cast, and can already put some weight on the leg!
Best Wishes to your daughter for a speedy recovery. It sounds she is already on her way to fast healing. Nice her friend stayed with her and she has a great medical team.
Katy thought her list was boring today, but boring stuff day after day has allowed my husband and I to retire early, spend our money on things we value and spend our time with our aging parents and young married sons and daughter in laws.
Boring for the win!
1. Like Marybeth, I received a statement telling me my electric usage was lower than my efficient neighbors. I credit that mostly to my clothesline.
2. I saved 42% of my bill at CVS using the $10 off coupon on my ExtraCare Card, a $1 off anything coupon and BOGO free and BOGO 50% off sales.
3. I met friends at the library for a free concert, Counterfeit Cash. Unbelievably talented band and two of them sang. One sang Johnny Cash and one sang Hank Williams. Phenomenal.
4. I volunteered at my church’s thrift shop and shopped between customers. I bought a basket, a fall garland and a bag of miscellaneous cards, all for $4.
5. On Thursday, I have an appointment for my annual check-up and DH and I are both getting our flu and Covid vaccines while there, all free.
I love my clothesline. My son got me a new one this year for my birthday that is mold resistant.
What a great birthday present! It’s literally the gift that keeps on giving…through lower electric bills.
Took my mom to visit a dear friend who lives on her own @ 94! I offered yard clean up grunt labor and planted her tulip bulbs. She surprised me with a native Pacific White Dogwood tree as a thank you! I have been looking for one of these trees for 3 years and she found one at a native plant sale. She had me pull up all of the perennials she no longer wants, I tossed them in a box, split them and planted in 1 gallon pots when I got home. I also collected seeds from the annuals.
Roasted a big marrow beef bone to give the neighbor’s dog as a thank you.
Picked up a trailer load of sawdust to put as mulch on the blueberries, use as walkways around the raised beds…cost $10 for a 2 unit trailer.
Today we are making canned apple pie filling. I picked the melrose, braeburn and granny smith trees.
This morning we had 6 seniors join us for morning stretch/yoga.
Harvesting the winter squashes, wash them and cure them in the greenhouse for 10 days.
RE raking your neighbor’s yard during their tough times: On 9/11/2001, my neighbor mowed our lawn for us. He was a firefighter here in the Seattle area and said he just wanted to do something good on that horrible day. At the time, my daughter was 11 weeks old and extremely colicky. We were overwhelmed and my husband hadn’t mowed in a long time. We moved away 1.5 years later and I lost touch with them, but I will always remember his kindness. I’m sure your neighbor appreciated your thoughtfulness.
Our July and September were not very frugal at all – some medical issues, some fun travel and some company at the house – so I’ve tried to rein in spending in August and now October.
1. I gathered up all my grandsons outgrown clothes & shoes, tagged them and dropped them off at the local kids consignment sale. (Of course, I printed all the tags at the library)When I went shopping there over the weekend I was much more organized than in the past and made a list of what he needed. I scored a couple winter jackets, hats and mittens along with ski bibs and some shoes – just what he needed.
2. We’ve been eating at home and foregoing our usual one restaurant meal per week. When I get tired of cooking the same thing I peruse some recipes online to see what I can make with the ingredients I have.
3. My son was in a wedding out of state so we had care of our grandson all last weekend. The weather was beautiful so we visited a state park using our pass, enjoyed a free day at the art museum and also at the Colorado Railroad Museum – it was $10 extra for all 3 of us to ride a train (Free days are provided at Denver area museums by SCFD, a cultural funding organization)
4. Taking advantage of the loss leaders and buying ahead for when I have family visit in the next few weeks. My 96 year old mom is a real meat and potatoes gal so I am freezing on sale meat now for her visit in November.
5. My grandson had a field trip for his preschool to a local farm For the grand sum of $10 he and his class got to take a hayride, play on the playground and dig up vegetables that he then got to bring home. Potatoes, carrots , corn and a pumpkin have made their way to my kitchen so yay!
1. DH and I went to the local pharmacy for our senior dose flu vaccines which our medical insurance covered. I like to support the local pharmacy and I appreciate having insurance coverage for vaccines.
2. I went to Costco to order glasses. They accept our piddly (better than nothing vision insurance coverage). They had $50 off on a second pair so I ordered sunglasses as well since my distance vision is not quite up to snuff for driving and I want to preserve my vision as best I can. Costco had $5 off chicken breast packages so I bought the smallest package they had.
3. We invited neighbors over for a fire pit fire Saturday night. We burned some wood that came from trees in our yard.
4. While at Costco I noticed they had Southwest Airlines gift cards on sale ($430 for $500 value) so I bought a couple for holiday gifting. I believe they are usually $450.
5. I went to a local grocery store and bought sale and clearance items and used a $10 off a $50 purchase competitors coupon.
My husband just ordered some replacement glasses from Zenni for about $10. Frames and all! We haven’t received them yet, so I can’t say if they’ll be as good as from the optometrist, but even with shipping, I’m really excited to try them!
Haven’t read everyone’s today, totally amazed by the thought of someone decorating my house for me!!! We will be dipping pretty leaves into melted wax(candle ends) and threading them up for autumn. I have “booked” us a slot at the local pyo pumpkin patch. It’s free to go and pumkins start at £3.
Stitched up several bits of clothing that had started to get a few holes.
Our fish man delivered a big bag of free apples as well as our fish. I’d just canned all ours so decided to make fruit leather, added a few of my frozen raspberries to the pulp. First time making them, take awhile in the dehydrator, but still cheaper and healthier than some bought ones!
Still managing to get washing dry outside, long may that last!!!
Happy frugalling people!! Xx
Hi Katy, I hope your mom moving into a skilled nursing facility means there is improvement to her condition. Hoping things are going in a good direction for her. Glad you’re able to visit and see her.
I’m in Florida and this past week we had a brush with hurricane Milton. The bulk of the storm missed us where we are and hit about two hours North of us. However my neighborhood and area were stricken with multiple tornadoes that branched out of Milton’s outer-bands. It was scary….just four houses over from me was hit, a street over was hit, and more. My house however was spared. So, here goes my hurricane five.
1. I was gifted a week off of work with pay without using any paid time off. I only left the house three times by car last week, leading me to only spend $25 at two stores and not have to refill or spend money on gas.
2. I took back to walking with zeal. I have started to loop the WaWa gas station into my walk as it’s on the edge of the neighborhood. I have been filling an XL cup with their ice and water and enjoying it. My icemaker is broken and it allows me to feel like I am consuming, however they do not charge for ice or water from the soda fountains. I have reused the same two cups to not create a lot of plastic waste. It’s a fun way to participate in retail without spending anything.
3. My best friend’s 50th birthday party was cancelled this Saturday as many people were still without power including the birthday girl. We gathered a handful of friends at my house instead. I made a cake, a friend brought pulled pork and homemade buns, and my boyfriend got some pizza and wings. We played games and had a great time without going out to eat or going overboard with spending.
4. There is typically a free bulk pick up after major storms. We did major trimming to my sea grape tree and put it all on the curb to enjoy the free bulk removal.
5. The storm shutters went down for this storm and I realized how many missing and damaged wingnuts and bolts there were. My neighbor went over everything with me and helped me identify parts and fix things. The shutters are now in better repair then before.
Overall, very thankful my house was spared and our electric stayed on so I didn’t lose my cold items in the fridge. Back to work and back to reality though.
Ashley B., I’m glad you are OK and that your electricity stayed on. Lucky you! And how nice it was for you to make sure your BFF’s milestone birthday was not a total washout, no pun intended. Sounds like you all had a fun reprieve from storm cleanup that day. I’m sure she will never forget your kindness.
A bit of a mix here. Sold a couple of things on marketplace. Continuing to declutter with a view to moving next year. Several bags out to donation.
We bought a new cooker. The old one had two faulty elements now, and replacing those parts was nearly as much as a new one. We would have put up with it a lot longer, but we have an elderly friend staying in the house when we are away for over a month, and we don’t want her to have to deal with its quirks. We will give the old one away, declaring it’s issues. Hopefully it can be of some use to someone. We bought a base model replacement, on sale, as we will only be here another 6 months, so we don’t much care what it’s like. Maybe a new appliance will be a good thing for a buyer, too.
I am in a creamy soup phase. Each week I can use up any sad veg with a potato, blitz the soup and add a splash of milk and some cheese and husband will eat it. It’s a miracle!
Received some homemade bread from a friend in return for some homesteading books I was decluttering. She is recovering from a little health thing, so hopefully some reading matter will help pass the time.
A pileated woodpecker has become a regular garden visitor, which is providing some free entertainment.
Trying to fit in all our health appointments before we loose coverage at the end of the month.
Lucky you with the pileated woodpecker making regular visits! I’ve looked for one my whole adult life and finally saw one a couple of years ago on my to work. The woodpecker was digging into a stump with his beak. Since then, I’ve seen two in flight. Such gorgeous birds.
I entered into a new level of Frugal/ EBAY. I made some less than optimal choices but on the whole am very pleased.
1. We took the 70s mushroom lamps that had been installed in the 1917 River House we are renovating. UUUUUUGLY juxtaposition, let me tell you. However, in the right setting? Research proved lamps were made by LightCraft and handblown in 1969. WOW. I listed them on EBAY, Facebook, and Craig’s list for $2000. I was going to originally list for $400 for the set.
2. Took a $1275. I had UPS Pack/ Ship and Insure the large one. This cost me $122. The smaller ones would be more because they had a longer height. Nope.
3. I checked out YOUTUBE videos in packing, went to UHAUL for super sturdy boxes and supplies, used Pirate shipping for a UPS ground label and shipped the next three lamps for $189 total. Lesson learned.
4. Gave myself lots of grace for not doing it the most cost effectively and efficiently. I was actually really nervous because I am a perfectionist and struggle with a learning curve.
5. In the end I cleared $700, gained a ton of new knowledge/experience; and save some vintage art. A win/win.
Mary Ann, I am so impressed with how you are leaning into learning so many new things since your retirement. And also how you are so thoughtfully renovating your River House. Go you! You are an inspiration!
Thanks, Cee.
Love that phrase, Lean In. That is physically what I do when I am pushing myself at backpacking or skiing.
1. Organized sock drawer as I was scrambling for “socks” to wear with my work shoes. Downgraded the old ones to rags.
2. I’m vowing to find breakfast and lunch (neither are big meals for me) from what is on hand: cereal, bagels, eggs, protein shakes, yogurt from what we have on hand thru the end of the month.
3. Inventoried the non edibles: cleaning supplies, personal care, OTC and we should be able to get by until end of year.
4. Contemplating making beer bread to have with stew from freezer for tomorrow nights dinner and later this week with bell peppers from freezer
5. Chopping up squash in the refrig and freezing before it goes bad.
I’m still working 3 (4 hr shifts) and the conference center/hotel. I anticipate with my upcoming surgery and low occupancy that I won’t be working much the last 6 weeks of the year.
Katy, I hope your mother can come home soon. That is such a tough surgery, particularly on elderly folks. That was very sweet of you to help your neighbor with their yard.
We are almost through with the project to turn our derelict back porch into a sun room. We saved money on this by reusing some furniture and rugs that got cleaned and spiffed up with refinishing, repainting the light fixture instead of replacing it, sewing a curtain valance and cat bed cover from reclaimed and scrap fabric, hiring our own electrician who made us a cash deal, and doing our own landscaping to repair where construction tore up our yard. The bale of straw and bag of clover mix that DH accidentally bought too early in the year have been deployed. Whew with the sweat equity!
I also bought a case of Rotel chipolte tomatoes (so good in chili) for 99 cents a can at Ollie’s Outlet. These sell for $1.79 a can at a regular grocery. Used a $3 store coupon to buy pet food that already was on sale at 28% off. Mended a shirt that had loose buttons. Redeemed $3 in rewards cash at Walgreen’s.
Used frozen veggies I grew this summer, a box of slightly outdated mac and cheese, and some leftover cooked hamburger to make an outrageously delicious red beans-beef-veggie casserole. Also used half a bag of frozen berries that were getting a bit icy to make berry oatmeal for this week’s breakfasts.
Yey for free apples! We usually get a good enough apple crop from the old apple trees on the property that we rent. This year has been an incredibly bad year for apples though – we got exactly 3 apples 🙁 not sure what happened, maybe they are just getting too old.
* When we started out with our now gluten free diet I bought different gluten free flours to experiment with. Coconut flour was not a hit and a packet of it has been sitting in the cupboard since. I decided to put just one tablespoon of it into my homemade oat bread and you could not taste it at all. So now I will add a tablespoon every time I make bread. I make bread 3 times a week and the packet is not huge so it should be gone soon enough.
* I found two sports tops for my daughter in the local charity shop. One is Calvin Klein and the other Adidas, they were 6 Euro and 5 Euro respectively. She is very picky about clothes but actually loves these tops!
* My son brought a box of free manuka honey from work. The expiry date has passed but of course honey lasts forever! I have gifted some jars to friends.
* I ordered lovely low sugar jam from a small batch producer. A friend that also likes their jam and their hazelnut chocolate spread decided to jump on board and we are sharing the shipping costs.
* My husband loves his coffee and he uses his espresso machine all the time. We had a power cut recently and he had to buy instant coffee as all we had was the gas camping stove to heat some water. Hopefully we won’t have a power cut again any time soon so I have sealed the coffee jar with duct tape – instant coffee tends to get moist where we are (due to the high humidity) if not used up within 2 weeks or so.
Similar to what you’re doing with the Coconut flour, I did with some tea bags that were found to be undesirable for single cups of tea. Instead, I used them up by adding one of them to a pitcher of iced tea and used nine tea bags of good tea with it. The 9 to 1 ratio made the blah tea undetectable. I eventually used them all up.
Perfect! 🙂
I add a little bit of lemonade mix to each pitcher of some tea made with less than great store brand tea bags. It’s much improved that way and means I will use up this huge box of tea.
Great idea! I’ll remember that one. Plus it sounds delicious.
1. I cleaned out my refrigerator and made a batch of minestrone soup and a huge stir fry for dinner. This helped use up some aging produce and some free broccoli my daughter brought home.
2. I finally gave up on my electric can opener that was not opening my jars correctly and leaving small slivers of metal behind. I will dispose of it through a hazardous waste program in my area. I found the exact same kind of can opener at a garage sale just around the corner for $3 and it works great.
3. I used a 10% off code to order my dogs food for pick up. I grabbed it while I was out running other errands.
4. I sold three items on Ebay and listed one. I packaged with some reused packing material and box.
5. I mixed a little cement and filled in where a corner of my walkout basement foundation is crumbling from moisture.
What a kind gesture, to rake your neighbor’s yard.
In the “Can you F-ing Believe This” category, a dear friend is part of the disaster relief efforts, flown down from Alaska so you have a sense of how desperate the need is for experienced disaster relief worker. She texted that they are receiving death threats daily and there have been militia types saying they are going to “hunt” relief workers. On top of working unbelievable hours in difficult conditions, they now have to cope with these threats. What the hell has happened to us as a nation?
Five frugal things:
1. A friend does not have a car or license, so my kindhearted husband regularly drives him places. He is very poor but last month as part of his job he made a bunch of purchases that gave his personal grocery card a huge number of points for gas. He gave them to us in thanks, so today we filled our van and two 5-gallon gas cans with gas for $2.06 a gallon. The frugal part was that we made sure to fill the gas cans, in order to use up the entire 25 gallon limit.
2. I am not able to explain how our Great Dane not only chewed the back off one seat but then managed to do it to another, even though strapped into a harness to stop him from running around the back of the van. Husband scavenged another replacement seat for $50. This dog is lucky we are in our 70s because if we had owned him in our 20s we would not have had the patience (or money) to keep him.
3. Had two friends over for a meal followed by putting together a puzzle while all chatting. Served American style goulash, where all the ingredients were free courtesy of various grocery mystery shops.
4. Puzzle was free from the puzzle exchange at the library, so we will be turning it back in and getting another one.
5. Husband went to a singing competition with his quartet. The hotel was free with points. Today his roommate gave us $250 to cover his half. of the room he and husband shared. We did not ask for it, and he knew we got it free, but we welcomed the money. So we made money twice over with the points we used!
I saw that a white supremacist group was working down in Florida. And then of course we have the people who firmly believe “the government” controls the weather. The more complex life becomes, the more uneducated types become bewildered by it and blame things on a convenient scapegoat.
Re your pup, my own two puppies have been delightedly shimmying out of our fence gate. FREEEEEEEDOM! I rehung the gate and so far, haven’t had to chase the little pests in traffic the past couple of days.
Rose, Tell the conspiracy theorists that if the government really controlled the weather, wouldn’t they have had the hurricane wipe out Mir-a-lago? And, oh boy, wouldn’t one of the candidates have expounded on this at his rallies!
I couldn’t believe my eyes and ears when it became national news people(?) were hunting FEMA workers after the hurricane. It’s hard to imagine this could happen in a civilized country in this day and age but we don’t have to go too far back to remember people were hunted in Nazi Germany too. Same dog, different fur. I was happy to see one goofball was already arrested for threatening FEMA workers and carrying weapons. Hopefully more to follow.
I too am appalled at the extremist anti-government feeling. As you noted, disaster relief work is difficult enough without having to deal with threats.
Hi Katy!
Just curious about the no knead bread recipe. You said you made 4 loaves. The link to the recipe says to preheat a Dutch oven and put the batter in it as one loaf. Did you just preheat 4 loaf pans instead of a Dutch oven?
I simple divided the dough into four parts and then played them side by side in the Dutch oven. They touch each other, but pull apart in a vry satusfying manner.
1. I was as mad as a wet hen this morning bc I had to report for jury duty…yes, the county did not consider this a holiday. The last 2 times this happened, I reported in the morning, immediately told them the reasons most lawyers don’t want me on the juries (due to my former profession — I’m not a criminal!) They made me stay all day, going to this room, getting dismissed, going to that room, standing in line, getting dismissed, going to a third courtroom, etc. — and then at 5:30 or 6 dismissed me for the very reasons I’d cited first thing that morning — what a colossal waste of time! So I hate going to these judicial cattle calls. I got there a minute before reporting time and the line was down the block and circled back again. Everyone had an angry look on their face — don’t blame ’em! Found out that when they get X number of potential jurors, enough to fill the courthouse, they let the rest go home! Fire marshal won’t let ’em have X+1 people in the old building. So I was in the group that got dismissed. Hallelujah! This may or may not be frugal and it may or may not apply to all places, but my tip for today is don’t show up early for jury duty!
2. Resisted the urge to go out for breakfast or go shopping downtown after the above excursion.
3. Got a cheap haircut. Sadly, what used to be $7 haircuts are now $17 — and that’s with the senior discount, not including tax and tip. Had her cut it super short so I can delay my next haircut for several more weeks.
4. Feasted on pantry items and leftovers for dinner: spaghetti with crumbled up meatloaf and generic Ragu (which was fossilizing in the fridge) for the sauce, along with some of the homemade Italian bread gifted to me by the neighbor.
5. Saved all the parts and packaging for the CD player boombox I’d bought, thinking this will work in my car. Nope. It’s going back to Wallyworld this week.
Going to the salon can definitely be expensive, of course everything is getting to be more expensive these days. Thankfully I don’t have to deal with the hassle or expense of going to the salon. My husband lets me cut his hair for him about once a month is our routine and in return I take a seat every couple months to have him trim my long hair. He likes the way I cut his hair and beard and I am very pleased with the way he trims my hair. Never a bad haircut. We did invest in good shears, combs, capes and hairclips, as well as a good set of clippers for doing his beard and neckline, but our savings by skipping the trips to the salon and barbershop paid for them in no time. I get compliments on my hair, especially when my husband braids it for me, so I am not getting less than great results every time. My younger sister has her husband trim her hair and I have talked to other women who do the same. Frankly I am surprised that more women and men don’t as well.
It sounds like a regular week to me, and I appreciate hearing about it. It’s good to share normal.
1. I spread free compost under my fruit trees and in the raised beds. The county has several ‘hubs’ where free compost is available every day. I am thankful.
2. I’m too busy to food shop, so we will have some creative meals this week. Does the budget good too.
3. I’ve sold a lot of things on FB marketplace, from my friend’s house. I appreciate the money, but I’m taking a small break because too much of waiting for flaky people and answering ‘is it available’ is wearying.
4. Several things from my friend’s house I am keeping, such as a lovely North Face winter coat, to replace an ugly red too-big Costco coat. Yay!
5. Received a cute bowling set for my grandson from Buy Nothing. Gifted 2 low flow showerheads. Attended a zero waste fair and got a small repair done on my husbands bike. I was pleased about that.
1. My big frugal item is Thanksgiving dinner (I’m in Canada) where all the vegetable items were from our garden, from the apple/pear pie to the cranberry jelly) My husband bought the turkey on sale some time ago. Some of the items served were picked the day before so they were fresh. Hardly any leftovers so I think it was good.
2. My to mend pile needed work so I started each sewing session by fixing one item. I hemmed a pair of jeans for my husband, mended a nightdress, turned a worn out dish towel into four dish cloths and repaired a couple of hot pads with pieces of worn out dish towels.
3. Decorated the house with pumpkins, squash and ornamental corn, all from my garden.
4. Overflow seating for Thanksgiving (my big table seats 10 and we had 11) was the old table I use for a desk. The table, tablecloth were free, china I bought second hand.
5. Neighbours brought wine, rolls, bread and cake to dinner!
We didn’t need to buy anything for our Thanksgiving feast, we had everything on hand! Happy Thanksgiving.
I was able to Mystery Shop some convince stores on my way back from a pen offsite work event. I have a lot if eggs and milk now! I like the convenience store ones as they are quick and usually on my way to something else and I can get basics like bread, eggs, milk or creamer covered as part of my “shop.” I would LOVE to find some shops at grocery stores but non yet.
1. I was invited to give a talk at a conference in another state and plotted 3 grocery store mystery shops for the drive home. I think I now have a year’s worth of toilet paper and dishwasher liquid (no pods!).
2. Sent partner with a long list to shop at Ocean State’s annual sale whereby you get 40% back of total purchase in a gift certificate. This included Bob’s Red Mill ingredients, olive oil, and some things that will be given as gifts at the holidays, like chocolate and Bonne Mammam marmalade, which is my mil’s favorite.
3. At conference, I declined joining the $100 progressive dinner (plus tip!) and went out on my own I did splurge, but only cost $48. I also drank the free coffee and enjoyed the food at the reception.
4. I was totally stupid and thought I knew my way to the restaurant that I had chosen, only to find out that I had been walking in the totally wrong direction for 15 minutes, making a 20-minute walk a 50-minute walk. I called my partner to complain, and he suggested that I just take an Uber. I looked up the cost, and decided that I was not going to pay over $20 for a 10-minute car ride and just sucked it up and walked. (He does NOT have the frugal gene!)
5. So far have resisted turning on the heat (I come from the “no heat til trick or treat” culture). I’ll put on the heated mattress pad instead, and bake off my homemade mac n’ cheese (made from free ingredients from mystery shop) that should heat the apartment enough.
You sound similarly stubborn to me, I too would have sucked it up and walked.
“No heat ’til trick or treat?” That’s new to me! Do you use space heaters at all?
1) Tried to keep things as frugal as possible on a girls trip to my sister’s house. We menu planned, coordinated dinners to reuse items, and ate all meals at home, with the exception of one lunch out. For the lunch out, we shared two entrees between the three of us.
2) Ate at the lounge for free, ahead of my flight.
3) Had brunch leftovers from Sunday before my flight home yesterday.
4) Dh was able to take me to & from the airport, saving on the cost of an Uber or Lyft.
5) Priced out transportation options for our upcoming flights to Costa Rica, and booked the lowest cost option, as getting a ride to the airport at 3:30 am is…unreasonable. 😉
Yes, 3:30 is an unreasonable time in every situation. Sounds like the perfect trip with your sisters!
Hey Katy!
1. THANK YOU! for mentioning that you refreshed your marketplace stuff.
Because of you, I did the same with something that has been languishing in the back room.
I had purchased it at a really good price, and was unwilling to sell for less than I paid (I know what they are worth new). I initially received some really lowball offers (and politely declined) and then the ad just slipped over the horizon.
Yesterday evening I decided to repost, and got not only a tug on the line, I got a SALE!
– she picked it up this morning and handed me a cool $200 in crisp $50 bills. ZING! I was blessing Katy when I waved the bills around in glee (after the purchaser had left, of course. I am crass but not quite THAT Crass).
2. On a less frugal, yet still light hearted note, I looked at everything hanging in my closet, turned the hangers backwards on what I left, and bagged up what I know I don’t want to have around any more.
My friend – who works at a thrift store that donates all their profits to local charities – came to visit, and when she left we stuffed the bag in her car, along with a few other random things that I don’t need. Another couple of cubic feet gone!. Feeling like a winner.
3. I gave away pumpkins and squash at church, and had friends come by afterward to pick up more pumpkins and squash. Today another friend came to get 12 cute little gourds?Pumpkins?squash? that grew in quantities (and I have no idea what they are). perfect for the herd of young girls who will be painting faces on them for Halloween. I got such joy in growing and harvesting these beauties, and am getting more joy in sharing the bounty. I still have over 100 squash and pumpkins so am not feeling deprived…
4. #2 son picked apples from the trees in the chicken run. He didn’t even bring them into my house, he has ‘borrowed’ my apple peeler corer slicer and has been filling freezer bags. I taught him how to make apple crumble topping, and he sees the value of having almost instant dessert in the freezer and in jars in the fridge…I am pleased to have no ‘too many apples’ guilt right now. Still one more tree to pick but it isn’t quite ready.
5. same old hanging laundry when I can, homemade coffee, eating the leftovers, caring for my stuff that we all seem to be doing. Life is grand
I like to think about how everything that leaves the house is replaced with fresh air, which is actually true. The “mass” of an item doesn’t allow enough air.
I love that your volunteer pumpkins found a new home!
1. I had $20 in rewards points for a local Italian restaurant. On Saturday evening, I ordered their $19 brown box special (small cheese pizza and 2 sides – we did buffalo chicken tenders and toasted ravioli) and also a side salad. Total after the discount was $4.40. My 2 sons and I ate that night and I finished the leftovers last night. So 4 meals for $4.40. Not bad!
2. I mentioned to a friend of mine that I was in the market for a new winter coat. I have a super heavy down coat which is great for when it’s super cold, but I need something a little less intense for every day wear. She asked my size and said she has a Columbia coat in my size that is a bit too snug on her, so she’s going to pass it on to me.
3. I remembered to use two .75 coupons that printed with last weeks grocery receipt.
4. I haven’t made any ebay/FB sales this week, so I refreshed some of my listings to hopefully get some new eyes on my stuff.
5. Despite my best efforts to cobble together Halloween costumes from stuff we already have, my 2 sons wanted costumes they had seen at the store. I researched buying online, but found Walmart in-store to have the lowest prices on the costumes they wanted. I used an $11 merchandise credit towards them so my out of pocket was $39. Which I guess ends up working out, because I originally didn’t want to spend more than $20 per costume. Luckily they will get a lot mileage out of them – we’re going to 2 Halloween events in addition to trick-or-treating, and they’ve already been wearing them around the house.
Four meals for $4.40 is an amazing feat, well done!
I love that your friend is gifting you a winter coat, we all need to remember to put the word out.
Ha many of us are playing the New England game of “how long can we not turn the heat on for?”. We also play a meal game–will serve a meal and I tell my DH how much it would cost if we ate it out…he always tells me “put it on my tab”.
That said it’s a real gift to cook creatively with odd and disparate leftovers. Sort of like my own personal Chopped episode.
Katy I hope Mom improves soon and is able to go back home. I know our Y here in Maine has a cardiac rehab class and post CABG she would certainly be a candidate and likely benefit.
Went to a sale over the weekend where they had a Williams Sonoma bread machine for $2. Figured even if it did not work I could sell the paddle and the bread baker unit. It works just fine and makes a horizontal loaf. Bread prices were out of control. I also like to use my bread machine for making the dough then baking in oven such as a foccacia.
My ebay sales are slow as molasses and with 2,600 items it is depressing and scary.
Walking, eating at home, playing the heating game,and just knowing we know what to do to make do is huge.
Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends!
She’s supposedly being discharged on Sunday, but I don’t want to count my chickens.
Sorry that your eBay sales have been slow. That’s hard.
lol to put it on my tab.
Hi Katy;
Great read today and love all the comments! I learn so much from your blog. Question about the no knead bread. I have made it several times now and it is delicious. How do you store it? After day one it is not so good. I tried reheating it in the oven and it was meh.
Maura
This has never been an issue as I’ll gift a couple warm slices to a neighbor or our son will wolf it down.
** I dyed my roots @ home using 1/2 a box of dye that was purchased with coupons. It’s pretty easy to do myself since I keep close to my original color.
**The kind pharmacy tech found a coupon that brought my meds from $90 to $40 for a 90 day supply. The pharmacist said the price doubles when it goes thru insurance. UGH!
** 3 Week break from school here. I had a driveway picnic with several of the 5th grade boys on my street. I was worried they were missing meals since schools out. I was a latch key kid so I know food choices aren’t the greatest when you’re a 5th grader. I met some nice kids that now wave back when I drive down the street.
**Eating at home to make up for donation to Hurricane Helene relief. Devastating loss in many places. I can’t go and help, but I can give and pray.
**Have a wonderful week my frugal friends.
I really don’t understand how pharmaceutical price gauging isn’t a crime. That was so nice of the pharmacy tech to find you that discount.
I love your Driveway Picnic Lunch idea! at times I wish I lived in a neighbourhood, rather than on a busy through-road with mostly retired folks as my very few neighbours. My friend who walks with me when I get to her house in the morning (read— not so often these pre-election days) lives in a lovely dead-end neighbourhood and everyone knows everyone, if they have dogs and walk them. I just enjoy rubbing shoulders with her while she greets the dogs and neighbours, if we walk later in the day. There is something so satisfying when you are living in a community and find ways to connect.
Cozy fall weather is here!
1. Did my annual compostable fall decor run where I splurged on 3 mini pumpkins and 3 exceptionally warty gourds (my favorite), purchased from a spot down the street from my in-laws. Much more affordable than the gimmicky places in New York City and I got to support a small farm.
2. I’m participating in “inktober” which is an illustrators challenge to draw something based on a daily prompt. I’m having a blast doing silly (terrible) drawings and sticking them on the fridge. A little free creativity break during the day without paying for a class or new materials.
3. Fall weather means bulk cooking cozy foods. Made a delicious chicken soup with fresh herbs last night as well as some japanese curry for lunches this week. Stick-to-my-ribs food helps me avoid snacks out and spending money on treats because I’m feeling hungry.
4. I made the choice to NOT upgrade my iphone this year even though mine is starting to slow down. I looked at the financials and am very relieved with my choice. I can wait the extra few seconds for something to load instead of adding onto my bill – and hopefully it will help me become more patient too!
5. Although it has been chilly here, I am also in the camp of “no heat til trick or treat” – one year we made it to Thanksgiving, much to my husband’s dismay – so we are baking cookies from dough stashed in the freezer and otherwise enjoying the coziness of slippers and sweaters before thinking about turning the heat on.
It was the flying monkeys that scared that scared the crap out of me!
Hooray for trash picked holiday decor!