Five Frugal Things
by Katy on November 25, 2024 · 39 comments
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Kristen from The Frugal Girl texted to let me know that “creator passes” for FinCon 2025 were just $99 until midnight on Friday. This is superior to the standard amount of $599, so I snapped up that ticket faster than you can say “Katy wants to hobnob with other frugality/financial writers!” Add in that next year’s conference is right here in Portland, Oregon and this was a no brainer.
I purchased a pricey ticket to attend FinCon 2020 in California, but received a refund for that ticket due to a certain worldwide pandemic.
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We set the heat for 64° F during the day and 58º F at night. We can always turn it up if we’re cold, but we’re bad about remembering to turn it down when away from the house for extended periods. My husband and I both rock sweaters this time of year, as it makes more sense to heat ourselves instead of our drafty 110-year-old house. There are plenty of warm lap blankets to cozy up with and even heating pads if we’re in the mood for extra indulgence.
Flannel sheets also play a main character role.
We’re warm, the house isn’t.
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My husband’s been working to sell some of the bulkier items from his late parents’ estate, such as their car and a large kiln. (Which both sold over the past week!) He’s putting The Big Effort into trying to sell their run down camper van, but it’s an uphill battle with flaky potential buyers. This’ll be a relief when it finally sells as it costs the estate $40/month for storage, plus it’s a heavy weight on my husband’s shoulders.
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• Kristen will stay with me during the conference, which’ll save her a ton of money.
• I did sell the pair of dining room chair for $40, which was satisfying since I paid just $3.98 for them.
• I sold a needlepointed dog Christmas stocking on eBay* for $35 and used secondhand packaging to mail it out. HERE’S the blog post from when I thrifted it for $2.99.
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I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 39 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh I can’t wait to hear about the sleepover at Katy’s house!
Ditto.
You two are my favorite frugal writers! I love that you have a long-running friendship IRL.
My frugal things are fun. I am taking a few days off of work and just reorganizing my house in an anti-container store way. Just using what I have in terms of storage to reorganize and declutter.
I’m actively listing on our neighborhood Buy Nothing group.
Making delicious gluten free pie crust for Thanksgiving instead of buying expensive gf premade pies.
Raking leaves. So. Many. Leaves. I have hired out this job in past years because I have three enormous trees on my property. But I’m just doing a few bags at a time.
Love that you are able to host Kristen for the conference.
1) Picked up a new Pokemon beanie one of my neighbors made on BN. It will be one of DS17’s Christmas gifts. He wanted some pricier items for college, so it will be nice to have something free to unwrap under the tree. Also, he’s obsessed with Pokemon.
2) Hosted DS17’s friends for a poker night. While hosting isn’t the cheapest, we love that his friends want to hang out with us. I set out chips that were purchased for a previous party, and we picked up some Costco pizza & cookies. I have leftovers, which I will conveniently bring to a soccer meeting tonight at the school, where we were asked to bring snacks for the players. We kept the cost reasonable, & were able to host 8 teenage boys, which is not a small feat.
3) Sold a pair of shoes on eBay. I’ve tried to sell these shoes for YEARS, but the sizing is unknown because they are handmade, British & there were very confusing markers on the shoes. A guy really wanted them, so he made a lowish offer, with the caveat that he would accept the sizing regardless, given I’d done everything reasonable to attempt to find out the correct sizing. I put the listing live again, added the sizing disclaimer & got them sold for $80. On the way to him in recycled packaging, & they are out of my house. Woohoo.
4) Chatted with DS18 on the phone yesterday, attempting to sort out a college registration issue. We didn’t get it sorted (fingers crossed for today), but I don’t take talking for free for granted. My phone bill was a huge part of my college expenses (the colleges/dorms ripped off the kids by charging exorbitant amount), so I’m grateful we have other options.
5) Helped a student I’m volunteering (with the college process) with her scholarship essays. She’s a top contender for a full ride scholarship, so this would be huge if she won. VERY frugal for her!
Hawaii Planner,
While hosting a house full of teen boys may not be super cheap, I think it is wonderful: you know where they are, you know they are safe, and they’re not on the streets. Plus, you get to know your son’s friends. The fact they’re enjoying themselves is icing on the cake.
Like you, I remember the big long distance bills from my college years. I never cease to marvel that long distance calling is now free! One of the biggest frugal wins in our society today!
Good luck on the essay and I hope your mentee gets her full ride scholarship to the college of her choice.
Fru-gal Lisa- I agree, I love that the teens want to be at our house, and they always say thank you, and clean up after themselves. What more could you want?
Thank you for the good thoughts for my mentee. She is an awesome kid, & so deserving!
Good for you for hosting those kids! It says a lot about the atmosphere in your home that they want to be at your house.
Aww, thank you, Lindsey! We enjoy having them & really love getting to know our son’s friends. They are all really good kids.
What a great savings on your FinCon ticket and so nice that you have a friend who looks out for you and you her.
1. I used gorilla glue to adhere the outer rubber handle back on to a hairbrush.
2. I took a nice walk with a friend, my mom, sister and DD#3 yesterday. It turned out to be a beautiful day and it was a beautiful nature preserve. Free exercise and entertainment for people and dogs.
3. I combined an errand with the walk and picked up my granddog. I keep him overnight once a week. He and my dog are best buddies. This saved my daughter gas and time in not having to deliver him and I was halfway there anyway. Bonus, my son-in-law made a delicious coffee cake which they shared with us.
4. It was later then expected when I got home last night and I didn’t have a dinner plan. I was tempted to get takeout as my daughter and I were starving. I made grilled cheese and canned tomato soup for dinner instead. It was quick and filled the hole.
5. I gave my son-in-law a grease gun that belonged to my husband and that I would never use. He’s a mechanic and will put it to good use. Crap out of the house and my children benefit.
1. I was able to combine a sale on butter + a $10 off $50, so I bought 15 pounds of butter to make it to $50, and after sale, coupon & 6% back on credit card, I paid $2.65 per pound of butter, and my freezer stash is back up.
2. I combined errands with my mom and stopped at BJ gas to fill up. Mom saved $147 on $100.62 at Kohl’s & I bought her some food that she wanted on FlashFood.
3. Chewy has 30% off cat’s favorite treats (tuna tubes) so I stocked up. I went through Swagbucks to get 2% back.
4. Mom & I split one lunch special at a pizza place, so total was $8.50
5. Mom and I figured out Christmas Eve dinner. An 80th birthday party was canceled last minute, but I had already made pulled chicken and bought large cans of B&M baked beans (.50) so our meal will be based on that same menu and cost nothing. I’ll also make a mac n’ cheese, using mystery shop cheese and milk, pasta that I bought for .62 per pound on FlashFoods, and breadcrumbs made from stale bread, free from mystery shop.
Bonus #6. Our dishwasher is leaking and not cleaning properly. As it is more than 15 years old, and with potential tariffs coming, we decided to replace it. I found one in the clearance section with a dent (which, because of our kitchen layout, will not be easily visible), saving $400.
Nice butter stock up!
Yes, great stock up.
My husband used to tease me about having almost 20lbs of butter in the freezer. Then the price went up…..
I’m working back up to 20 lbs.
Frugal Farm Life:
I enjoy reading about the free or close to free items that make Katie’s world go round. I resisted this post because there is often a fairytale perception of farming. Free food just lies around and homesteading is simple, easy and cheap. NOPE! The inputs (real estate, machinery, water. fertilizer, seed, county regulation) have all skyrocketed with inflation at a time when one of our primary crops plummeted. At one time we were paid $2.00 for walnuts. Last year it was .30)
Still it is fun to peek into “free on the farm:)
1. Houses are free. Yep, prime California real estate is free when included in farmland. No assigned value. Ironically, many of these free houses are burned down. The reason is they immediately become drug houses when rented and the laws makes it nearly impossible to evict. We have been lucky to fix up the houses for our workers as a perk for working with us. We have had the same workers and their families for generations because we can offer subsidized, beautiful little houses. Our River Renovation house was too large ( 6,000 square feet) to rent. It was either burn or renovate. Thankfully we are trying to renovate.
2. Five Acres of Pecans. We have five acres of the best tasting pecans in the universe which are not cost effective to commercially harvest. We use to have a harvest party every year when my son was here. People brought potluck dishes and picked all the pecans they would need for the holidays. This is my first year back. Now that I am retired I want to see how many I can process.
3. Friendly neighbors. Hubby would harvest a widow’s 20 acres of walnuts when he did his own. She was a good friend of his mother. She would give him gift cards to a steakhouse as a thank you. We just found them and had a filet mignon with shrimp linguine last night.
4. Honeydew melons, pumpkins, corn, tomatoes, figs, persimmons, oranges , walnuts, wheat, sorghum, lemons, pears and on and on. My job as a teacher was always critical for our small family farm in that it provided health insurance and non farm income. To save my sanity ( harvest comes with school starting and the holidays) I let the produce go. This is the first fall I get to be outside, enjoy the weather and process these micro crops. Who knows how far I will go in the coming years. We actually talked about farmer’s markets. The economics of it never allowed me before. We’ll see.
5. Appliances are key and a great investment.:
Nutrimill: for the wheat Hubby pulls for me from the coop.
Instapot: pumpkins, beans from the coop, homemade yogurt,
Vitamix: homemade smoothies for frozen fruit ( I don’t do jams)
electronic pecan cracker: I put my audiobook on and get to cracking.
Mary Ann,
My grandmother lived in the city and had three huge old pecan trees and a fourth one which was not as old or big. In the fall, and esp. on Thanksgiving, we’d go pick up many, many sacks full of pecans and dump them into huge cardboard boxes on her covered back porch. She’d spend the winter watching her soap operas (“As the World Turns,” et al) and cracking pecans by hand. We had all the pecans we could eat and then some! What we couldn’t use would go in the freezer. Grandma is gone, the old homestead is sold, and no more of her pecans. I work PT as a cashier and yesterday, customers bought (shelled) pecans at our store. The commercial pecans are $11 a bag and the Lions’ Club pecans (sold as a fundraiser) are $15 for the same-sized bag. These aren’t big bags, either, just a few ounces. I think my grandmother would be absolutely shocked at the prices of pecans: at those rates, she must’ve had a few million dollars’ worth in her yard!
Wow. Costco has them for 17>00 a pound in halves but believe me, you haven’t tasted a pecan unless it is fresh.
Mary Ann,
I also thank you for a peek into frugal farming. The freshest pecans I ever had the opportunity to eat came in the form of pecans that Texan friends of my parents had harvested back home before coming back to Ohio. They had baked a pecan pie, and ohhhh myyyy, what a revelation. So, soooo good! That was easily 30+ years ago, but what a taste memory.
I guess I’m a little baffled at how little $ you were offered last year? I realize supply/demand, etc etc., but 30 cents/pound?
Mary Ann, thanks for the peek at frugal farm life. It’s a hard way to make a living & I can only imagine how much time & effort has gone into it!
Horrified to hear you only get .30/lb for walnuts! Are direct sales possible?
Sounds like fun times for my two favorite bloggers in Portland next year!
Now, FFT, Online Silence Edition:
(1) The main reason I haven’t posted here much in the past week or so is that I’m up to here in proofreading papers for the upcoming edition of JASNA’s electronic journal (which goes live on Dec. 16, Jane Austen’s birthday). Frugally, this also means that I haven’t been doing any in-person shopping except for absolutely necessary groceries for my next-door neighbor (NDN) and me. Can’t spend frivolously when I’m slaving over a hot computer.
(2) Another reason is that, now that NDN’s dead car has finally been donated to our local PBS station, I’m working on cancelling her auto insurance policy. Unfortunately, she just made a payment on the policy (in her continuing state of mild confusion), so this may take a while to straighten out. But the cancellation will be frugal for her when it finally happens.
(3) In planning for holiday gift giving this year, I’m relying heavily on (a) charitable donations and (b) offbeat gift cards. Nobody I usually exchange gifts with needs more stuff (most of us are older than dirt and trying to downsize). And I’m quite pleased with the deals I’ve found on gift cards from, for example, Penzeys spices and our locally famous hot dog stand.
(4) My kitchen garbage disposal gave up the ghost last week. As always, however, my friend Mr. Fix-It came to my rescue: He got a pre-Black Friday deal for me on a new one, and installed it at the usual no charge. As always, heaven bless him.
(5) And my Honda Element’s troubles finally seem to be over: I drove it on Saturday to the next city over and back for a local JASNA meeting, without any idiot lights going on or other incidents. (And, believe me, I was keeping an eye out for spooked deer on the Thruway, since deer-hunting season has begun.)
The meeting, BTW, was great fun. I led a discussion on “Growing Older with Jane Austen,” and we only got halfway through my list of questions about JA’s older characters because we were having so much fun with the first few!
A. Marie, I thought of you when I read a new book: Jane Austen’s Darkness, with great pleasure. It is short–I believe originally delivered as a lecture–and concerns the social darkness behind so many characters’ choices and options,
Cynthia, I haven’t read this book, but I’d like to get hold of it. It’s true that JA was not the dear, sweet Aunt Jane that her Victorian nieces and nephews made her out to be.
I love Mary Ann’s post. I’ll add our increases in the last 2 years: market steer prices up 400%, insurance up 54%, fertilizer up 420%, fuel up 60%, fencing up 267%, new to me tractor $38k. Having to pull the cattle off the fields early because of drought. I never would have imagined all of this in my lifetime. I’ve been farming since 1978.
I am so excited that Kristen is going to be in Oregon!
I sold a commercial wood splitter $2000. That is the last piece of my brother’s estate. I feel Katy’s husband’s stress. I finally gave away his 37′ camping trailer to a family member and made them sign a paper saying “no backsies”. ha!
I picked up a room sized “washable rug” from a church member, she did not like the texture.
All of that, plus the fact many migrant workers may not be in the USA much longer, make me think that we “ain’t seen nuthin’ yet” in regards to high food prices. Which, of course, is not the fault of the family farmers and ranchers, God bless them all.
Fru-gal Lisa, Mary Ann, and Blue Gate Farmgirl, I hear you all about the agricultural issues. I too fear that we may be in for much higher food prices in the US, due to all these issues.
Fru-gal Lisa and A. Marie, I’ve been thinking the same thing. Wondering what my acquaintances who voted for our President-elect will think and say when that happens. (Yes, I will not be gracious and I will indeed say “I told you so”).
Ooh, are you in Oregon too?
Perhaps we should have a frugal meetup in September!
1. Spent the weekend playing outside with my nieces. Did not bring any new toys or really anything with us and still had so much fun. It’s a great reminder that the kids in your life just want you to spend time with them.
2. Given we hung out with two little kids, all meals were at home, saving lots that could have easily become eating out.
3. We then got to meet our friend’s 2 week old baby and brought them some snacks. We waited to eat when we got home and avoided the siren song of the drive-through.
4. My sister-in-law passed on two throw pillow covers that she missed the return timeframe on to spruce up our couch. Turns out we have very similar taste in decor and they fit our vibe well. She even said it -let her mistake work to our benefit!
5. Finally made a sale on poshmark of a pair of lovely sandals that dont fit me right. Hoping this is the beginning of a little sale streak!
I went grocery shopping this morning and managed to knock $10 off the total by using coupons, shopping sales, and scooping up a pack of yellow-stickered organic chicken for only $4.48.
After that, I mowed the back yard, ate some homemade soup from the freezer for lunch, and then headed out to Ollie’s Outlet to stock up on cat litter. Sixty pounds of cat litter there is $20.97. A 35 pound bucket of Tidy Cats unscented, which this is comparable to, is $19.99 @ the farm store in the next county. So it’s nearly half price and the bags get reused for trash. Also, free weight training session on the day I buy cat litter, putting it into the cart, into and out of the carm carrying it into the house, and pouring it up in saved lidded buckets. 😀
I took a bunch of stuff to Goodwill this morning and did not go into the store.
1. I had picked up a desk from the side of the road a couple weeks ago that needed a fresh coat of paint. I decided to list it as is, and it was picked up today for $50. I also sold a tin of Christmas ornaments for $10 on ebay, that I had bought for a quarter at a church rummage sale.
2. We have an old table saw that I haven’t used in quite some time, taking up space in the garage. Listed it on Freecycle yesterday and it was also picked up this morning. I suspect maybe it had scrap value, but I just wanted it gone with the least amount of effort on my part.
3. I developed a bad chest cold over the weekend. I’m lucky I can opt to work from home this week because I have things I need to get done, but don’t want to expose everyone. My lunch hour will be spent napping on the couch.
4. We also keep our house on the cool side. I got the electric blanket out this week and could not peel our rescue dog away from it.
5. Found a nice fleece lined Nike Pro running top for my sister at Goodwill. She’s pro second hand items, but doesn’t enjoy the hunt. I also bought an Athleta sweatshirt dress, Criquet pullover, and King Ranch button down – all to resell.
First order of business in September: get an updated picture together. Ha.
The Fincon ticket is in my Five Frugal Things post for tomorrow too!
I’m good with my 16-year-old photo, thanks! 😉
GIRL that was ten years ago, not 16!
My standard Non-Consumer photo holding a penny is old enough to drive a car!
Oh, oh, I see!
My sidebar photo is from the last few years; I know I took that selfie after I left my marriage. Had to update with some new light in my eyes. 😉
1. Received two dog coats for our pup on Buy Nothing, and the giver included a bag of dog treats. Such a nice surprise.
2. Met up with our nephew for a later dinner and I just had a small dinner salad which was plenty for me at 7:30 p.m. I had a mini meal at home around 4:30 as that’s closer to the time when I usually have dinner.
3. Repurposed a long baguette bag (brown paper with cellophane down the center) by cutting off the top half and using the bottom part of the bag to gift homemade granola to a friend. Tied it shut with a nice ribbon.
4. Bought a Singer fabric shaver at Joann with a 40% off coupon. Thanks to reader Ringo who recommended that brand in a previous post comment.
5. Used the juice strained from a can of pineapple in a smoothie.
Just caught up on a few days worth of blog posts. I have never heard of Depop before, but ended up down the rabbit hole looking around at things. Thanks for the mention. I love learning about new sites.
Things in my neck of the woods have been quiet. I have been doing great with not spending a lot on groceries this month by playing the rebate and receipt scannig games. Everything was so fruitful and then the car broke down….ughhh at least the lack of spending offset the cost of the mechanic.
In other news, I got to meet my boyfriend’s mom and stepfather and spend time with them over the last week plus. It’s been really nice. First time I’ve met someone’s parents in over 15 years. I feel very complimented by it.
We are making over 40 loaves of bread to sell as a fundraiser for the neighborhood book bag drive. This will net us about half the cost of book bags. I stayed up all night baking, and now he and his mom are at my house baking. I really appreciate them.
Hope everyone has an amazing holiday!
1. I took DD’s vehicle to the Honda dealership for an antenna replacement. It was damaged when they washed it last week. They accepted responsibility. I was there at 7:00 and the replaced it quickly. It was not a phone call I wanted to make yesterday but I put on my “big girl” pants and did it anyway.
2. I listened to the Nicholas Sparks book Counting Miracles. I was underwhelmed and happily returned the digital borrow to the library to allow another patron to borrow it.
3. I baked a couple of Honeynut squash. I did not like them any better than Butternut so they’re not worth the extra cost. I did share one with a friend (I bought a three pack) and I haven;t heard what she thought.
4. DH asked at Home Depot if he could pick up their loose straw. We needed just a little to put around our fig to winterize it. They said “yes” so we didn’t have to buy a large bale and it helped clean up their parking lot area. He also found a dime, a nickel, and a penny. This is the second year he has been able to get free straw.
5. I met up with a friend that spent time at Disney World last week. She had invited me to join her and I declined. I know I wouldn’t appreciate the experience nor the cost.
1) Some elderly milk has been transformed into tasty pancakes and blueberry muffins. DS is off from school this week so it is helpful to have extra easily consumed food on hand.
2) Received $50 credit for books sold to our used book store in town and will use that to buy Christmas gifts (and two graduation gifts) when she has her holiday sale in a couple of weeks. And I freed up the space these books were using in my house!
3) Used a $15 off $75 at the hardware store for water softener salt. I figure I am doing my weight training by loading and unloading 40lb bags of salt from my car into the house. The store had an identical coupon with an earlier expiration date and I did the same then. My goal is to not have to haul in bags of salt during the winter.
4) Had an extensive talk with DS (14) about credit cards and how they work yesterday. I talked about understanding credit and how you build it/avoid pitfalls as “financial health”.
5) We are sending a Thanksgiving card this year which we ordered with a discount. We have already gotten some nice notes back by text etc on our card. I love real mail.
Happy Thanksgiving, frugal friends. And Katy, I am grateful to you for building this community!
I miss real mail. I still send Christmas cards. Though not as many, and lucky to receive back maybe 6.