Five Frugal Things
by Katy on November 4, 2024 · 48 comments
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My husband and son had a 5:30 P.M. soccer game last night, which meant we didn’t get home until after seven. (Keep in mind it was the day after daylight savings, which made it seem later.) It would’ve been easy to succumb to takeout or a warm restaurant meal, but I’d anticipated the poor timing and had a plan. The plan wasn’t elaborate, as it was simply “cook pinto beans in the Instant Pot,” which after a quick smush and a sprinkle of bulk purchased “taco seasoning” transformed into tasty refried beans. I’d already crisped up our stale tostada shells earlier in the day, so all that was needed were dribs and drabs from the fridge to turn this into a complete meal. (Dribs and drabs being shredded jalapeño jack cheese, sautéed peppers and onions, lettuce, salsa and sour cream.) I’m pretty sure we inhaled dinner while standing over the kitchen island, but that’s just a slice of real life for you.
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I assembled a small oatmeal apple crisp from bruised windfall apples. There was enough undamaged fruit on each apple to make it worth the work to carve them up. I’m including the above photo so that you can see how much I’m not exaggerating about how bruised they get from bouncing directly onto a city sidewalk. What can I say? I love free food and I don’t mind the extra effort.
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I’m at that point in the year when I fire up the furnace in the morning and then turn it off an hour or so later. I snuggle under a blanket and maybe even a heating pad if I’m sitting on the couch with my laptop, as I believe in heating myself, not an entire empty house. My husband and I use a thick down comforter plus flannel sheets, which makes it unnecessary to heat the house at night. We also own a small space heater, but haven’t needed to pull it out yet.
It was “see your breath” cold at last night’s soccer game, but I was toasty with my sweater, wool eBay Allbirds wool sneakers*, a thrifted from “the bins” Land’s End coat and my ancient fleece hat. There’s a saying that “There’s no such thing as cold weather, just the wrong clothes,” which certainly holds truth. It’s almost “wool socks every day” season, but I don’t want to jump the gun.
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• Someone put a couple of necklaces into our little free library yesterday, so I pulled them out to give to Goodwill. (It’s amazing how many non-book items people put into the library.) However, one of them was a simple silver chain, which I’ll keep after I remove the cheap charms.
• I started reading my library “Lucky Day” copy of Abby Jimenez’s Just The Summer last night and discovered that it shares characters with Yours Truly, which I read a couple weeks ago. Very enjoyable!
• I renewed all my Facebook Marketplace listings, although I doubt they’ll get much action as I think the entire nation is holding its breath.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
Hello, Katy and Everyone!
Tiny frugals here:
1. Stuck the last of the old bar of soap in the shower onto the new bar to use it up.
2. Turned shampoo bottle upside down to get all the “product” out of it, and after several more uses will rinse it out with water for the final use.
3. Enjoyed the free microwave popcorn from either the local parade or the city hall open house. Generally, I make air popped popcorn, but the price was right and it was a nice light Orville. It is packaged in town, so it didn’t even have transportation costs.
4. Library books.
5. Updated my facebook status (I’m in the U.S.) to the meme “Emotional Support Canadians are on standby. If you have not yet received your Emotional Support Canadian, one will be assigned to you shortly.”
I’ll take my emotional support Canadian now that my emotional support chocolate is a memory.
Hooray for free popcorn!
I would like to reserve an emotional support Canadian as well please! 🙂
I’m in Australia, but would like an Emotional Support Canadian , please. Your election is right up there at the top of all our news feeds, we are terrified at the possible global flow on!
Emotional Support Canadian reporting for duty.
I’m lucky enough to have a personal emotional support Canadian: my gallant neighbor down the street who’s spent most of 2024 coping with “surprise” Stage 4 ovarian cancer, and setting an example to the rest of us for how to deal with major medical adversity. She and her husband are Canadian citizens and are seriously discussing moving back there after he retires, but her medical situation may complicate that.
Reached out to my British emotional election support friend, but could definitely use a Canadian one as well! Where do I sign up?
Frugal fail Monday
My next door neighbor AKA my sister’s dog bit me yesterday in four places on my right index finger. I cleaned it up last night. However today it looked like a sausage and was also red. I left work 2 hrs early and went to urgent care. A hour later I left having received a tetanus shot and 2 Rxs. I picked up the drugs at Walmart as I had an appointment to get my RSV and Covid shots. The drugs were under $5 as they are generics. However I have no idea what the urgent care visit plus tetanus will cost.
Kathy, that sounds painful! I hope the meds kick in quickly!
Oh that’s just awful, I’m so sorry! Sending a gentle virtual hug your way.
Katy, thank you for posting every day, which is a helpful distraction. I have not posted in a long time, due to being quite busy, but am going for it today.
1. Two large rolling suitcases needed freshening up before donation. I used thinned down acrylic paint to cover over our Sharpied-on last name on one suitcase, and will paint the back of the dingy one. I find that if I water down acrylic paint, and do a couple of thin coats, it covers fabric very well, and is quite durable. I have done this with outdoor umbrellas, too.
2. I am cooking everything from scratch, reading library books, hanging laundry, combining trips, etc.
3. Finally turned on the heat today, having made it past Halloween. The weather has been an ally, as have layered sweaters, etc. Glad to have made it this far.
4. The thrift shop had a “spooktacular sale” where everything was $3, and I was able to buy tops that I needed (I have gained some weight, which I am working on losing, but I needed some things to wear right now!) I carefully sorted through my initial selections, and returned some to the rack, for others to enjoy, so that I wouldn’t go overboard.
5. I wanted a blue necklace to go with an outfit, and repurposed a solo earring by twisting the hook part. Placed on an existing chain, it looked great
I tried to negotiate with Optimum for a lower rate. My rate was set to rise by $34, and it will go up by $9 instead, which is sort of a win, but I was really hoping for a decrease. I would cancel all of the channels, but that would be an unpopular move at this house! I might try again.
I’ve seen where people paint over upholstered furniture for an almost leather-like look, but that so smart to do it for luggage as you wouldn’t have to worry about the feeling of the painted surface. Everything $3? That’s amazing!
SO smart to negotiate your Optimum, as well as creating a blue necklace!
I love your creativity making a necklace using a twisted earring. I’m thinking of some earrings I have I think might look good on a chain too. Thanks!
We had a cheap “pleather” ottoman the dogs used to get up on the sofa. When the top of it began peeling, I lightly sanded off the fake leather surface and painted the fabric underneath with acrylic paint. It worked great.
My frugal things:
Finally got digital coupons to load on my grocery store loyalty card and knocked $10 off today’s shopping. Mowed the backyard myself — my men folks are not good at yardwork and hiring someone is too expensive. Rack dried laundry over night. Had last night’s homemade leftover pizza for lunch. (Is there anything better than a delicious cold pizza?) Bought on eBay the two books needed for the banned books book club meeting later this month and hunted specifically for an online bookseller in my state.
I have heard lots of great things about Allbirds. My New Balance sneakers are about 12 years old and in need of replacement. Do the Allbirds run true to size? Found some through your link to Ebay for around $40 with added shipping but hate to order if their sizes run big/small.
I now wear exclusively Allbirds because they accommodate my leg brace. I own six pairs of them. In my experience, they run true to size. I have to use a stretcher to have the left of each pair go a bit wider for the brace, so there is some give to them. My only caution about them is that if you are attracted to the ones that look curly—like a sheep’s coat. The material for those styles is thinner and actually wore through on this pair I fell in love with. My other ones, all wool, have worn very well and have stood up to being washed multiple times.
Thank you for responding. I don’t know that much about all the styles available, except that everyone recommends the wool ones. And, since I’ll be buying from Ebay, my choices are limited. But if they last as long as my old reliable New Balance, I’ll be happy.
1. Received a leather foot stool from Buy Nothing. Gave away some stuff as well.
2. Donated blood and enjoyed the free snacks afterward.
3. Will be shopping around for insurance coverage (home, auto and umbrella) after a large homeowner’s premium increase. We’ve been with our current company for 40 years.
4. Taking advantage of my free gym membership (a perk to being 65).
5. Used Murphy Original Oil Soap Wood Cleaner on the antique armoire that our friends purchased from us, so it looked great upon delivery. Friend sent a picture of the inside outfitted with glassware, pottery, and linens. Magazine worthy!
Your #3…my neighbor owns an insurance company, and I questioned him why my premiums went up. He said it is due to the high cost of building materials. Remember during Covid when they shot up dramatically? But shopping around may be in your favor. Best of luck.
Standing by to be an emotional support Canadian!
I made myself a clear-out-the-fridge lunch as I was home from work. Two stray corn tortillas, elderly cheddar cheese, a handful of cherry tomatoes, and the last of a tub of plain yogurt mixed with strawberry jam.
I called the Globe and Mail to cancel my subscription. I called a while back and they lowered the monthly price by a few dollars, but then I saw a promotion for 49 cents per week for 6 months.
I asked a neighbour to pick me up some items from Costco. I will give her a jar of homemade apple butter as a thank-you.
I’m taking a hands-off approach to my kids eating down their Hallowe’en candy. I don’t love it, but years of therapy to discuss mom’s control issues and her tendency to to demonize certain foods will be more expensive in the long run.
We received a significant amount of free kitten food from an online promotion when we got our new kitten. I am going to sell it on FB marketplace and get a bag of the fancy allergen-reducing kitten food.
Your services may be needed Helena! Fingers crossed for a good outcome in the elections but just in case…continue standing by!
1. Made chutney with the last of the green tomatoes, homegrown, apples, homegrown chives and a few other bits. It turned out delicious!.
2. Took a load to the thrift store. My very small house has become overrun with the influx of things to sell from clearing my friend’s house and what I bring home from my son’s house. I took a hard look at what I thought would sell and donated the rest.
3. Ate yogurt with home made plum puree. I make this at the same time as I make plum jam. I cut the bulk of the fruit off the pit and use it for jam. I throw the pits with the leftover fruit. Stuck to it into a pot with some sugar and simmer it for a bit. Then I press it through a sieve. It’s delicious! And I feel satisfied using every scrap of the fruit without taking so much time to cut every scrap off.
4. I got rid of clothes that should have gone a long time ago. This is frugal because usually when I think I need more space ( like buying a new house) I really just need to get rid of more stuff.
5. I bought rocks at home Depot and purposefully chose every bag that was ripped open because they give 50% off. The bags still had the same amount of rock as the not ripped bags. Usually I can source rock for free, but I have a deadline on a small landscaping project and so I purchased frugally.
The stress shopping I have seen with people has been REAL, and I particpated. 2 of the big stress shopping:
1) Bought a new (to me) dresser from Rerun, a resale shop. It’s beautiful and made of genuine oak, with nary a scratch. It tops off the refurbishment of my bedroom and is a perfect golden color to contrast with the dark blue walls. It was $350, a fraction of what it would have cost new ($1900!)
2) I bought Christmas scented candles- just two of them, as I only light them for an hour or so after cleaning.
Otherwise:
1) Walking to keep off the stress of Election Day. 10-13k steps a day!
2) Comforting, high nutrition meals made from the last of the summer produce, like beef vegetable stew, squash bread and green tomato toast with anchovies.
3) Talking with neighbors to make sure they are okay.
4) Biking and using public transit whenever I can, and reminding myself that safe public spaces for mobility is a right we all share.
5) Reading Tenderhearted from the library- a marvelous recipe book about vegetables and a wonderful Australian family of Chinese descent.
1. My day at the elections will start early tomorrow and end late but that’s okay. I am white knuckling it at this point so I’m hoping beyond hope to have a good outcome and to feel a sense of relief after the day is over. Some of the frugal benefits of working the elections: We get paid by the hour minimum wage which is not too bad here in Massachusetts…$15/hour. We get a $10 stipend added to our pay to defray the cost of buying our lunch and dinner. At 9 AM, someone brings around free coffee, donuts and muffins for the workers. Dunkin Donuts baby! In addition, we get the satisfaction of contributing to the democratic process of a free and fair election.
2. I volunteered for coffee hour (making coffee and putting out pastry, then cleaning up after) and went home with a pumpkin bread I made for the fair the day before which didn’t sell and Swedish Almond cake a friend made which didn’t sell either that she gave to me.
3. I declined an invitation from friends to go to a concert which would have cost us over $130…not exactly my kind of concert. My speed are the free ones at the library and in the park. Nice of them to invite us but it’s not our thing.
4. My friend who I helped set up the Christmas room at the church fair gave me another tablecloth for helping her. Beautiful, Christmas green tablecloth I will use for company on Christmas Eve. Although second hand, it’s in perfect condition.
5. My friend gave me an unopened bottle of One-A-Day Womens 50+ after she bought the wrong kind. I encouraged her to return them, but she wanted me to have them. Hmm…maybe I look a little run down lately? Stress will do that! Anyway, they’re the kind I use so they won’t go to waste.
Prayers, good vibes, loving thoughts, heck anything to help us keep our democracry intact.
Frugal thing #2…coffee hour at church…sometimes my mind gets ahead of my hands when typing…
Thank you for your poll work, Christine!
You’re welcome, Heidi Louise!
I second the thanks to Christine, Lindsey’s husband, and everyone else who will be working at the polls tomorrow. Blessings on you all, and I hope you stay safe.
Thank you A. Marie. We have a police officer present at all times plus the town police department is right across the street so I’m feeling safe for the most part.
My husband also is a poll worker tomorrow. Thank goodness the police station is right next door.
Our election people were raised to $20 per hour this year, after they had trouble finding enough folks. We used to do this for free, so when we got $10 it seemed amazing. We swooned when $20 came into effect. One nice result is that we got a group of high school seniors who have turned 18 and wanted to earn some money without the commitment of an ongoing job; they also get some class credits. At our polling place, the youngest worker is 18 and the oldest 79. The 18-year-old was at the training my husband attended (required this year so that they could teach more de-escalation techniques) and he is sort of a fierce looking kid that some might avoid. He shared that he is scared of violence at the polling place, directed toward the workers. What have we become when people doing civic good are afraid?
Things have certainly come to a sad state of affairs when we have to implement safety measures and be taught de-escalation techniques just to keep election workers safe. Things were never like this until a certain reality TV figure ran for office. Hopefully things will get back to normal soon.
Thank you for working at the polls. While I hate that anyone would have to be afraid of possible violence, I do really love the age spread of folks helping out. May today be a safe & trouble free day for you, with everyone having the opportunity to cast their ballots peacefully, as intended.
Don’t know if you’re on the same polls open as my state but I’ll be there at 5:30 am. Except for election days, I’m more likely to be up at that time due to not going to bed (aka work) than willingly getting up. Hoping to be home a little after 8 pm (have to take ballots/flash drive to the county office). Myone looking-2-earn-brownie points judge may be in for a surprise come 6 pm. I run a tight ship and no one complains about having the precinct accurately shut down with 15-20 minutes after closing time. Write-ins are the wildcard. There is a list of valid write-ins – fervently hoping we have none (odds are good we won’t – if not on the list, no need to tally).
1. Snagged a mystery shop for a turkey that I get to keep, plus they pay me $10 for the shop. My goal is to have our entire Tgiving day meal be free due to mystery shops. From October shops, I have already frozen three loaves of rustic bread and two pounds of sausage for the stuffing. Also cranberries. I need mushrooms, potatoes, and salad fixings but all those items are perishable so will wait to see if I can get a shop close to Thanksgiving.
2. We have triple pane windows but even so when it gets to about 20 below and colder, you can feel the cold seeping through. Found lined curtains in an unopened plastic bag at Salvation Army and will be putting them up for the winter. This should save us some money on heating costs, but more to the point we can sit in that alcove and not start shivering within 10 minutes.
3. The husband is an election official, so I made a pan of brownies for him to bring for their snack table tomorrow instead of buying donuts. I miss doing that work with him but the dogs cannot be left home alone for that long; the one time we tried it, even staggering our lunches and dinners separately to let them out four times, it was a disaster.
4. It takes forever, since we buy as many store brand products as possible, but finally earned enough to cash in points for a $25 gift card.
5. Library for puzzles and a book.
My victory of the week: Our Dane has a weak stomach and throws up with some regularity. When the dog door is open, he races to throw up outside, but it is getting too cold to have the dog door open. He can wait to go to the bathroom but not to vomit. It took a few times, but he has learned to throw up in our spare room toilet! This is frugal in that he is not throwing up on the carpet, which will have to be replaced if he does it often enough. That has become sort of his bathroom anyway, since the sink is always kept filled with fresh water so he can drink without having to bend almost double, thus reducing wear on his still developing bones. Now it is his vomitorium, too.
3 cheers to your great dane who vomits in the toilet! That is amazing!
The adventures of Clobber Paws are always intriguing, but I’m simply gobsmacked that he now knows where to throw up. Give Auntie A. Marie’s regards to him and to Houndini.
Is your Great Dane an older dog? If so, I guess it is possible to teach an old dog new tricks. In any case, that is one smart dog! That’s an amazing trick.
No, he is 16 months old. We got him from the pound after the breeder could not take him when the original owner found him too much to cope with and feed.
P.S. My friend taught her cat to poop in their toilet.
Thank your husband, and you, for your service!
Numbers of poll workers and election officials are hard to determine– several hundred thousand for sure.
I just finished Just for the Summer this morning! There were also references to several other characters from her previous books – and now I need to go back and read Part of Your World again because I do not remember anything from that one.
1. Continuing to meal plan from what we have on hand, with minimal shopping for loss leaders and perishables
2. Made croutons out of bread heels
3. Made a “clean out the fridge” scramble for lunch that used up a small piece of grilled sausage and some sauteed peppers and onions left over from fajitas a few nights ago. Made smoothies to go with it using the last of the orange juice mixed with a little water to equal 1 cup, 2 expired yogurts, a brown banana, and some frozen fruit.
4. Had an afternoon appointment that I knew wouldn’t leave me much time to fix dinner afterward, so planned an easy meal of chili dogs, mac n cheese, and canned fruit.
5. Have a chuck roast thawing to put in the crockpot tomorrow morning, making pot roast to use up some potatoes and onions that are starting to look a little sad, and a half bag of baby carrots leftover from another recipe.
Hi Katy, Really enjoying all of your posts lately. I read your blog and one or two other blogs at work that are ‘safe’ reading at work. Thank you for providing that!!!
I’ve been so frugal this week it hurts…
1. Did a gutter cleaning job with my son that was much much more, we split $150 and I’ll be using my half for groceries.
2. Enjoying birthday month freebies. Picked up a half gallon of icecream at Winn Dixie and a free slick or cake from the Fresh Market.
3. Went to Aldi and found chicken marked half off. Wee!!!!
4. Went to Target and bought Halloween clearance cat treats for super cheap and a squish mellow for my nephew all for 70% off.
5. Redeemed $20 in Shopkick rewards and used them to offset my grocery shopping bill this month. Redeemed about $25 in Ibotta rebate money which will also help offset my grocery budget this month.
1. Drank the free coffee at work today.
2. For lunch (at work), I grabbed a free cup of cream of mushroom soup and two bite-sized Snickers.
3. I wore a pair of pants that I got free from a mystery shop at a swanky department store.
4. Did my 1oth mystery shop at a local grocery store. I got lunch meat for one sandwich, seltzer water, an avocado, a bag of sauerkraut, and a 140 load jug of laundry detergent for $.32 I’m now set with a year’s worth of toilet paper, laundry detergent, dishwasher liquid, plus several pantry items.
5. Still have not turned on the heat (only down to 48 tonight, so not too bad)
That is interesting with the necklaces in your Little Free Library. I have one at my house, too, and sometimes find odd items in there. Wouldn’t it be great if neighborhoods had some sort of space where people could leave things for others to take? I suppose logistics would make it difficult…
1. Drinking all of the weird teas I have on hand instead of buying any beloved bags of Chai. The “old” ones really aren’t that bad, after all.
2. Listening to audiobooks from the library while I walk dogs.
3. Cooked dinner at home when I really wanted to get takeout. Packed lunch, too.
4. Got a way overdue oil change for my car because, maintenance is a good thing.
5. Didn’t feel anxious about election today. Feeling positive. Glad it is finally here.
The library mostly takes care of itself, although I do edit it now and then. I threw away a book last month written by a pediatrician who I used to work with. He lost his hospital privileges due his dangerous and non-evidence based vaccine recommendations and later lost his medical license. The only place for that book was the garbage!
Drinking all the random teas is a pretty funny frugal thing, I use the random ones for iced tea in the summer.
1) Sold our extra car! It’s *almost* enough to cover the property tax payment (first installment) that we just paid, and replenish our savings account. Property taxes are insane here.
2) Salvaged a potato soup that didn’t turn out. It was my fault for adding too many other veggies. Nothing cooked properly (crockpot) & then it was too thick & not flavorful. Added the remaining cream & sour cream, then thinned out with milk. While not my best effort, it’s definitely passable at this point.
3) Signed up for a user study for something I enjoy. Will pay $25/hour for 12 hours. I’m looking for an actual job, but this will be something to do in the interim.
4) We’ve continued to pick pomegranates off of our tree, and enjoy the seeds as dessert.
5) Bought the max of five Southwest gift cards at Costco. They were on additional sale for $429 for a $500 gift card. We have one out of state college student, and will likely have two of them by next year. We also pay for a lot of travel back & forth to see my family, so this will hopefully cover a bunch of 2025 travel. Also saved another $43 via my Costco credit card.
1. I have gone on a walk the last 3 days. Trying to go everyday but some days it doesn’t happen.
2. Hubby made a huge batch of string beans and beef with white rice. We had it for dinner and there is enough for several days of lunch. I love having the night off from cooking.
3. A friend and I grabbed dinner at a local pizza place. I brought my reusable water bottle saving me lots of calories and $3 since I didn’t get a soda.
4. Fatty beef scraps and egg shells went into the freezer for the dogs future meals.
5. I uploaed last weeks receipts into Fetch, Ibotta and Receipt Hog.