Five Frugal Things
by Katy on January 27, 2025 · 75 comments
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I stopped at Safeway on the way home from running errands and bought nothing more than the two tubs of Greek yogurt that were on my grocery list. I checked their app before going in the store to load an ecoupon, which saved me a whopping $1.76. I also found two dimes in the coin return.
The thing that saved me a tremendous amount of money was to not wander the store in hopes of discovering others deals. I bought these yogurts for my husband’s work lunches and nothing else. I call it “putting on my blinders” and works great when I actually remember to do it. Buy what you need and get out of the store!
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My husband worked a NBA basketball game that included free food and brought home a pair of chocolate chip cookies for his loving wife. These are overtime shifts for my husband, so the free food is an extra bonus.
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Our neighbors went out of town, so we took care of bringing in their garbage cans and keeping an eye on their property. My block of four houses all look out for one another’s homes when we’re away, which keeps us all safer and builds our relationships. We borrow last minute dinner ingredients and specialty cooking items, (muffin tins, fondue pots, etc.) and feed one another’s cats. It does save us money, but more importantly it makes for a richer deeper community.
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My son finally sold the $15 coffee table that he thrifted during my birthday day of adventures! He priced it at $115 to profit a tidy hundred dollars, which was a good deal for the buyer as it’s currently listed for over $400! It took a couple weeks to sell, but finding the right buyer was just a matter of refreshing the listing once a week and practicing the art of patience.
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I didn’t buy an election.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 75 comments… read them below or add one }
Katy, I’m not seeing a #5 in your post today. But the number of things you might have said, after this past week, is so high that I’m just making up a few in my head.
Also, congratulations to your son on the sale of the table. Nice job!
Now, FFT, Much Ado about NDN Edition:
(1) My next-door neighbor’s (NDN’s) heat went out on Wednesday of last week. But she didn’t tell either me or her other close friend (CF) about this until CF brought her home from a 6-month checkup with their mutual PCP and discovered that the temp in the house was in the low 50s and falling. (Outdoor temps that day were in the teens.) Long story short, CF called me; I called NDN’s and my mutual HVAC company; a tech from the company came over at once and finally determined that the problem was with NDN’s ancient gas meter, not the furnace itself; and I called National Grid’s gas emergency # and got the meter replaced that same day. (The magic words in all of this were “We’ve got an 86-year-old lady with no heat.”) Frugal: not having NDN’s water pipes burst in the cold, and not having NDN develop hypothermia.
(2) However, since NDN’s not telling us about this represents another step in her cognitive decline, we’ve gotten back in touch with her nephew and are trying to arrange a conference call with him for later this week. And I’ve stepped up my daily check-ins with her.
(3) Meanwhile, NDN’s and CF’s PCP (who, to his credit, actually read the letter that CF and I wrote, and that CF gave him before the appointment) is arranging for a visiting nurse to come to NDN’s house and do a much-needed evaluation of her living conditions.
(4) Between all this and the fact that we’re continuing to have an actual Central NY winter this year, I haven’t had time or opportunity to go out and spend any money on anything except bare necessities.
(5) But to close on a lighter note, my two Sunday morning walking buddies and I took a stroll yesterday on the quad of the local party-school university, since the trails at our usual nearby park were too rough. I was much amused by current undergrad fashions: Every young female we saw was either dressed like a stereotypical hooker (thigh-high skirt, spike-heeled boots) and obviously chilly, or wearing big, baggy pants that flapped in the wind. In the immortal words of Maurice Chevalier in Gigi, “Thank God I’m not young any more.” I’m old and can shop at thrift stores without having to worry about the latest trends.
The way you look out for your NDN is commendable. <3
A. Marie, I am holding onto the hope that her nephew steps up.
1. Re-dyed a cotton shirt that I dyed last year to cover a faded spot on the side after I accidentally splashed some Barkeeper’s Friend on it. It had faded a bit over time. It was originally a rust-orange. Dyeing it blue turned it a rich purple. This used up the last of the medium blue Rit dye bought during the pandemic that has refreshed so many items.
2. Checked the fridge and cupboard for items that needed to be used up and made the family a supper of bacon and cranberry-walnut granola. Unconventional, but they loved it. The bacon had reached “use it or lose it” day and we had oatmeal, honey, cake spice and dried cranberries to use up.
3. Our local grocery store puts frozen items in blue bags that are slightly heavier than the usual plastic grocery bags, so they don’t get rips in them. My son buys a lot of frozen food for himself. I pulled all the blue bags out of the “bag of bags” and folded them neatly into a shoebox for use as bathroom trash bags. Both bathrooms have blue tile, so the little bit of colorful bag showing at the top of the trash cans looks intentional.
4. Used a spare button from my stash of recycled buttons to sew on the front waistband of my pajamas. This makes it easy to tell what’s the front when dressing in dim light. I got tired of squinting to try to see the tag in the back.
5. We don’t actually have a lot of spare plastic bags (I use reusable grocery bags for almost all my shopping). This morning I pooper-scooped the back yard with an old bread bag as a glove and a reused cat litter bag as the poop container. It’s the glamorous side of frugality, for sure!
Thank you, Ruby, and I’m holding onto that hope too. But, frankly, the best CF and I are hoping for will be the nephew’s consent and cooperation in our increased efforts to take care of NDN, legally, medically, and otherwise. We don’t want to be accused down the road of doing this for personal gain. Believe me, we ain’t.
@A. Marie and CF – please, please, please document – One/both of you may have to step up and take guardianship – I don’t doubt that would get the nephew’s attention really fast. It is a good thing the PCP is aware of the situation.
A. Marie, your NDN is one lucky lady. To have you and CF checking in on her and notifying her PCP of her decline and your concern over it is more than admirable. I’m happy you and CF rescued her from the effects of no heat in the house on a bitter winter day.
I totally agree with you (and Maurice Chevalier) about your view on youth. It was a blast but I too love being able to wear thrift shop clothing and have no worries about the fact I’m not on trend. I’m wearing a thrifted fleece shirt and a sweatshirt DH found in the woods while hiking as I write this.
A. Marie: https://www.misterrogers.org/videos/wont-you-be-my-neighbor/
Better half kept an eye out on a neighbor couples house – he had dementia so they moved into town – plowed the driveway and watched a light in the living room. I don’t know the exact set up but somehow when the inside heat dropped to a certain temp, the light did its thing. Better half called the wife, she came out. Better half discovered the husband hadn’t changed the furnace filter in a long, long, long time. She’d already shown her appreciation prior to the house selling again showed her appreciation by gifting better half a gift card once the house sold. Burst pipes were the last thing she needed at the time.
They were very lucky your “better half” noticed this!
1. Friends took us out to lunch. I packed the bacon and chicken from my Cobb salad into my thrifted stainless container to give to our non-vegetarian dog.
2. Brought our own stainless bowls and spoons to the gelato shop. No waste and no cost for both us and them.
3. Watched “The Minimalists: Less is Now” on Netflix and developed a list of things to sell or donate once we get back into our house.
4. Paid cash at a restaurant that had a fee for using a credit card.
5. At a small market, I bought the lettuce marked $3.99 rather than $12.99 (pretty sure that was a pricing error). This was the first time I’ve seen a non-restaurant adding a credit card convenience fee.
Love your #1 and # 2. Inspiring! I recently read Sustainable Minimalism and Sustainable Badass (highly recommend both) and carrying my own to-go container has been added to my practices. Do you find that places like the gelato shop are welcoming of your own bowls?
Christina, great question. This local gelato shop was very welcoming. Before COVID, asking a store if they’d allow us to use our own containers wasn’t much of an issue. COVID made that a big issue but now I see a return to looser rules. Of course, asking nicely is important, as is accepting their rules without quarrel. I’m just grateful whenever we are allowed to use our own containers.
Yes, I think it’s amazing that you’re doing your part!
1. I sold a few more things on Ebay. I packaged them with recycled materials.
2. A friend loaned me a book I was unable to get on my kindle from the library.
3. I found a few things on my list of wants at estate sales. I found a second cooling rack, a vintage Rubbermaid laundry basket that I prefer because they are very sturdy, a basket to corral all my stuff next to my favorite chair and a bottle of carpet shampoo. I also found a couple things to list on Ebay which will more than pay for my purchases.
4. My mom purchased a couple OTC medicines for me with her care credit. She can never use the whole thing.
5. I used a 15% off coupon code for my dogs kibble.
1) I’m working on using up items that have been in the pantry a while, and made a batch of polenta with mushrooms. That only made a dent in gf mountain of polenta I somehow purchased, but also used some mushrooms I had dehydrated when they were at risk of going bad.
2) Part 2 of using up the pantry: curried butternut squash soup – made from a squash that’s been lingering too long, coconut milk from my cupboard & curry that I bought at a local spice shop that closed at least 2 years ago. Yes, the curry was still flavorful.
3) My son and I both like turmeric ginger shots but I’m too cheap to buy them most of the time. I had to purchase the fresh turmeric, but we have a juicer, there was ginger in the freezer and lemons & oranges from Christmas still.
4) My son was looking for something to read and browsed through my bookshelf instead of Amazon. “There are a lot of good books here!” Yes! He finally noticed.!!
5) My son is annoyed with the clutter in the laundry room and volunteered to “help”. That clutter includes my EBay death pile, so now I’m working on turning that into a little bit of $$.
I had my first turmeric ginger shot recently and while it was intense- I loved it! I don’t have a juicer, but I’m wondering if there is a way I can make my own. Thanks for the inspiration! Love that your son discovered your bookshelf!
I need to be better about “putting the blinders on” when shopping – my husband is fantastic at this!
1. I have been sick on the couch all weekend and didn’t feel much like cooking. So we used our free emergency pizza Friday night from Domino’s. My husband picked it up – there is a Domino’s less than a mile from our house – and it tasted fantastic.
2. For some reason my digital coupons didn’t work on my Kroger food shopping trip. I didn’t notice until I got in the car and was reviewing my receipt. So I marched back in and Customer Service gave me my $11.75 back that I didn’t receiver. No clue why it didn’t work but I’m now going to be hyper vigilant about checking them before I leave the store.
3. I’ve decided not to renew my yearly Brit Box subscription so I have been using all my free time catching up on shows that I might have missed. It’s been especially easy since I’ve been sick and the weather has been frigid.
4. My 3 year old grandson has decided that his new food is …chocolate chips. So when his interest in food wanes I just add a few mini chocolate chips – if it’s not too strange – to what he’s eating. (Sale purchased in December) So today I made chocolate chip banana bread with some way-beyond-saving bananas and the above mentioned chocolate chips.
5. When my mother visited in November I had purchased some flannel sheets for our guest room bed knowing that she would be freezing the whole time she was here. I forgot about them but when the temps dropped into the negative range this last week I remembered and put them on my bed. Simply wonderful.
My 3 year old grandson loves chocolate chips as well and calls them “chocolate chippies.”
I love that! How cute
Frugal Five
1) Read the book Educated for free thanks to the Libby app and my public library card. It’s a gripping read!
2) We also went to pursue the library in person and checked out several new coffee table style books on the new library shelf and placed a great deal of banned books on our request list. We will be frequenting and supporting our public library as much as possible- as always.
3) Use a Michael’s loyalty coupon to obtain a small bottle of paint at no cost to me. I’m painting a wooden trinket/tool box my son made when he was younger to store things in around the house. Most likely cords to the various electronics.
4) Repurposed an empty mustard glass jar for my propagated plant clippings and love seeing them on my kitchen counter.
5) Anxiety has me feeling the need to be on the water so we’re taking our family lifetime state park pass today to walk along the Gulf of Mexico for sunset.
You’re #2 cracked me up that you were going to pursue the library in person. I had this mental picture of you chasing the library down the road! I quickly realized that you meant to type peruse. Glad you aren’t getting a workout chasing buildings and thanks for the giggles!
Too funny! Yes, I meant to type peruse. I am hopeful I will always have a library to peruse and will never have to pursue! 😀
I really liked the book Educated also. Enjoy the sunset. That sounds wonderful.
Nice job on the table sale!!!
Went on a girls’ day at the salon for a cut, style, and color. My good friend’s (& partner in crime) DIL is a stylist. She did my hair for FREE!!! It was a thank you for the wedding present we gave her. It was totally unnecessary for her to do that, but very much appreciated. It was great to take half a day off work/farming and just hang out. I’ve been working every day either on farm or off farm for nearly 3 weeks straight. The extremely cold weather is very taxing after a while. It appears to be over, for now (yippeeee!)
Attended my Uncle’s visitation and funeral. He had been sick and suffering for quite some time. I trust he has found peace. Nice to have my hair freshly done and not have to worry about it. Both outfits worn were entirely second hand. Received a nice complement on my $8 C.K. dress and eBay suede A-line coat with fur trim. Good seeing my cousins who, for the most part, live in the city. The church ladies hosted a dinner following the service at the K of C. Those ladies can put on a spread, delicious!
Called in to work a graveyard shift Sunday. Did manage to get some sleep and make it through awake. There is a small shift differential, plus o.t. Will also pick up an extra shift tomorrow, not looking forward to it. I’ve got more than enough to keep me busy outside of work but I can use the o.t. to pay down our farm note.
Listed a vintage license plate on eBay. It was patching a feed trough left behind by the previous owner. We’ve since properly repaired the trough. There’s one more to list.
Found a source of reasonably priced hay. The cold weather required more hay to be fed than usual. The quality is better than I expected and the gentleman was delightful to work with. I hauled 3 loads last week and am hoping to buy 3 more loads this week after I get finished with the extra shift. The extra nutrients brought in from the hay will be composted and used to enhance the soil.
Boned out the remainder of a whole turkey bought on sale. Made broth and a very nice soup. Froze the larger chunks for an emergency dinner later. When buying turkey, the best value is turkeys 18-22 pounds. They yield the most meat with the least percentage of bone. If you can’t use a large turkey, have your meat department cut it into halves. Industrial turkeys are always brined so they are not dry.
Bought a pair of safety toe shoes from eBay. They were half price. We are required to wear safety toe shoes for work. I walk a lot and most of it’s concrete so I need good work shoes. The old ones will be farm shoes. As long as it’s frozen, I can farm in tennis shoes. They are lighter and cheaper than muck boots. The cows don’t care what I’m wearing! I kept the insoles out of the decommissioned farm tennis shoes and will put them in some cheap-o rubber boots to improve the fit.
Reading a book that had set on my shelf for a couple years. I’m enjoying it, glad I dug it out.
Laura: I like reading about rural activities such as yours, (not that I don’t appreciate the urban as well). A church ladies funeral meal is quite a big deal!
How old must a license plate be to be vintage?
This one was from 97.
It’s my understanding that anything prior to 2000 is vintage.
Thanks for the tip about turkey sizes and value. I also had no idea meat departments would cut a turkey in half. Both good to know.
1. I’ve been on the lookout for an electric mixer and found one for $3 at an estate sale. It’s harvest gold in color, so I guess that means it’s from the 70s. Im confident it will last longer than a new one. One reason why I buy used things is that used items are often better quality than new ones!
2. needed a green pepper for a recipe, so I set out on a walk to Trader Joe’s to buy one. I decided to check Fred Meyer first, and found six peppers for $2 in the “scratch and dent produce” section. One pepper went into the recipe. The other five are in the freezer.
3. When I put the peppers in the freezer, I noticed a glut of peppers in there, so I’ll make a pepper-heavy stir fry for dinner today.
4. I repaired a hole in my husband’s favorite sweater.
5. I didn’t make any “awkward gestures”.
I still use the hand mixer that was a wedding gift to my Father and Stepmom in 1972. Had to repair the cord once a few years ago, she still mixes like a champ! (and its still in box LOL)
Mine came with the original box!
You can never go wrong with free cookies. Add overtime pay to that and it makes it all the sweeter!
1. My town library has two techs who will attempt to fix whatever technical problem your laptop/tablet may have. My screen was stuck sideways and my many attempts to right it went by the by. I brought the laptop in and in less than 20 minutes these two gifted young folks had the screen back as it was originally. Free of charge. I had debated on taking it to the tech guy here in town where it would’ve cost to repair it.
2. Entertainment lately has been doing jigsaw puzzles with Grandson and crossword puzzles from the newspaper. Not only frugal but it’s too cold to leave the house anyway.
3. I’m in a free raffle at the library for reading books. The prizes are more books. OK by me.
4. All meals, coffee, tea etc. at home.
5. I didn’t confirm any unsavory characters for any high government positions.
* Unplugged the washing machine to clean it. Plugged it back and… nothing. Opened the back, everything seems fine. Ask hubby if the outlet is actually fine. Well…. turned out the breaker on it had went off and he didn’t notice. We were ready to go buy a new machine, so i’m VERY happy it still works!
* Brought my mom to the hospital and stayed there just under the 2 hours limit for free parking (she didn’t need me there any longer)
* Groceries this week was only 20$. I have a lot of food at home already
* There is a book I really want to read but I refuse to buy it. With the abundance of free books (little librairies) and public library, it would be silly ( for me) to buy books. I’m putting my request for it out in the universe, this book will come to me at some point.
* taking 2 extra shifts this week
That is SUCH an impressive profit on the coffee table!!
I’ve got him hooked on reselling furniture now! My house is big enough to hold onto bigger pieces while we wait for buyers, so he sells from here.
Teamwork makes the dream work. 🙂
Wow! A $100 profit?!?! Your son has definitely inherited your thrifty non-consumer genes!
1. Found another frugal type website called Hip2Save but I think it’s more about sales on new stuff than being a NON consumer. But it told me how to get a 20% discount at a big box store, and since I need some flooring, this may prove useful.
2. Reading a paperback gleaned from a giveaway pile
3. Combined a very old sweater (found in the very back of my closet) with matching pants and blouse => a “brand new” outfit to wear to work.
4. Changed out some home decorations using things I already have, putting them in different locations.
5. Paid off a credit card early. Bill is not due for 2 more weeks, but I figured I’d save 14 days’ interest.
Regarding your No. 4 – I did just that last week and I actually can’t believe what a huge difference it makes!
Lovely table! I’m not surprised it sold.
1. I bought some outdoor chairs on FB marketplace.
2. I’ve sold 3 things today on FB marketplace, one while I was out making my own FB marketplace purchase. Yay! Walked to PO to mail 2 Ebay sales. A friend gave me some horse tack to sell. I had listed it on FB marketplace but have had no interest, though it will be a slower things to sell. I’ve also sent pictures of it to a local place that sells horse tack on consignment. If she will take it, I’ll do that. I’d rather have it go quicker and make a bit less.
3. Daughter who works for a winery for the win-I bought a bottle of very nice Prosecco from her for $8 (what she paid for it at steep discount). I’m gifting it to our oldest daughter for her 30th birthday coming up (with main gift being cash). Which makes me the grand old age of 51. Our birthdays are 2 weeks apart in February.
4. I bought a nice wool rug from homedepot.com and it arrived badly damaged. I schlepped it back to the store by myself (not a small feat for a 10×14 wool rug). They re-ordered it for me and gave me a discount. That one arrived a few days ago, also damaged. This time I called the store and told them that the return is on them this time and that they needed to send someone to pick it up. They should be here in the next half hour. I did not order a third time.
5. I picked up a home energy savings kit from the library. It contains weather stripping and LED lightbulbs which are free for the homeowner to keep. It also has leak detection tablets for toilets, which is what I think I need. I love the library!
Libraries are the best in so many ways!
@Christine – that they are. And I was so proud of all us folks who stood up to the chicken excrement haters when the library closest to me dared book a speaker the haters didn’t like. All I can say is the haters won’t be treated so nice next time.
1. I made a large batch of Cowboy cookies and subbed Craisins for chopped pecans. I don’t think Craisins are a common allergen whereas tree nuts are. The cookies are for a goodie basket. I also used soy flour and water as an egg substitute. I started doing this years ago, I read it as a money saving tip, but adopted it mostly as an anti-Salmonella tactic. With the price of eggs these days I suspect it is a money saver. I sent DD home with some soy flour in a jar.
2. DH has a cold so he was not up for going out yesterday. He is working from home today so there is no expense for his commute. He has many accrued sick days but rarely uses any.
3. I peeled, chopped, and oven roasted a couple of butternut squashes that had been lingering. I will freeze some for future me.
4. It is warmer and sunny. I have the front door open for a bit of solar heating and extra light. We have a storm door and our house faces south.
5. I was near the library so I walked down the street to pick up a movie I had on Hold.
K D, if you’re concerned about allergens in the cookies, can I suggest you include an ingredients list for the recipient? Both my kids have anaphylactic allergies and nuts are only one thing on the list. While tree nuts and peanuts are probably the food allergies most people know about, there are plenty of others. Gotta say, though, Cowboy Cookies sound delicious!
I used to use soy flour and water as an egg substitute also. I was just thinking about that the other day. It was a Tightwad Gazette substitution suggestion I think?
I agree with including a list of allergens, if you’re concerned, as soy is one of the top allergens. I use flaxseed meal and water as an egg substitute for baking, and I’ve never had a problem.
Found 26 cents on the ground last week.
A friend had me over for dinner and sent me home with leftovers AND the extra (cooked) Filet Mignon!
Have a free oil change scheduled Thursday.
Brought home more brown bananas from work for my freezer stash.
I’ve not made any embarrassingly rude comments in public against Bishops who have preached to “have mercy on people in our country who are scared”.
1. I have been selling some of my mother’s gold jewelry since prices are so high. Stuff like the 14k gold stickpin and pendant of the Big Apple some NYPD lover in the 1970s sent to every cop and spouse. (Stickpins for men, pendants for women.) Nope, neither of my parents ever wore them.
2. I splurged a little on a dress from my favorite store in the entire world, Liberty of London. The gorgeous Arts and Crafts print had been $358 and was marked down to $70. Yes please! Will look fab later this week with black leggings and black Chucks for a work meeting.
3. I downgraded my fat old beagle’s food, which had been Royal Canin prescription, For Lardaas Canines, because half the time he switches food with the two puppies. SIGH. Will revisit in future.
4. Sent off another book proposal, which I’m sure my publisher will leap at, but not entirely sure the amount of work will be worth the payment. Need to think hard about it.
5. I purchased a soon to be obsolete stealth bomber as my private plane, just to rub my neighbors’ noses in it.
@Rose,
I’m trying to determine the name of the new dog food: I read it quickly and giggled at the thought of Lardass Canine dog food.
Well, Royal Canin is pandering to owners like me by calling it “Canine Satiety® Support Weight Management” instead of “Nice work, your dog’s too fat” food.
https://www.royalcanin.com/us/dogs/products/vet-products/canine-satiety-support-weight-management-3948
For right now I will discontinue the prescription Lardass Diet for something less drastic (“Healthy Weight”), as I’m sick of the old fat beagle terrorizing the puppies into getting some of their kibble. Sigh!
Love your #5. It’s going to take all the humor we can muster.
Community is what will keep us going!
1. On the food front I made tomato soup with dried-out bread and canned tomatoes.
2. My BF sold his Nintendo Switch he was hardly using anymore, before the Switch 2 comes out. 170$ for the Switch and a game
3. I cut up another quarter of goat from the freezer: gave 2 pounds of meat to my mum to make a stew and slow-cooked the rest for the dogs
4. My mum and I share a cooking magasine subscription (Delicious mag), I copy all interesting recipes then pass it on to her and she further passes it to another friend. Every issue has great recipes, it’s great value
5. I’m seriously considering joining the ecological political party in my area
1. Been staying home for the last 5 days as I have a terrible cold. Not going anywhere, not buying anything.
2. Sold a $10 item on Marketplace. Just something that has not been used for over 20 years, belonged to an ex, so it was good to get it out of here.
3. Stopped giving the older dog the expensive Royal Canin dog food after getting the okay from the vet. She’s now eating the same thing as her sister, and while it’s not cheap, it’s no where near as expensive, and there has been no difference to her health that we can see.
4. We’re going to cancel Netflix for now, as we don’t really watch much on it anyway. Have signed up for 30 days free of PBS-Masterpiece under our Prime Subscription, and will cancel before the 30 days are up. I have never done this before, hoping I can do this with other subscriptions to save.
This is the anti-frugal week for me. Essential, unfortunate, painfully expensive issues.
1. $1250 car repair of some random sensor that made all the lights turn on
2. $300 brake and rotor repair.
3. $1050 furnace repair
4. $300 spent on renting a drain snake and ultimately getting a plumber out on a Sunday.
5. $23,000 estimate to jackhammer my basement, wall and front porch to redo all the drain pipes under my house.
2025 is not turning out to be any better than 2024 and I am done but yet it is still January
Boy Howdy those are a lot of repairs piling up all at once, bet you are feeling a bit swamped. How can it still be January, huh?
Oh my!! That’s a lot for just January. I hope February is better, you’re almost there.
1. I posted 5 minutes before this new post by Katy, so not much has happened since, BUT we were going to go out to dinner for the $25 per person deal, but I convinced my partner that we had so much food at home that we should eat at home. We had a delicious meal of lamb sausage on naan, topped with tzatziki, red cabbage, red pepper & feta, with a kale and beet salad. The naan, cabbage, kale & beets were free.
2. Frugal fail. The pants that I bought from Poshmark – same size as my current pair, same brand & cut DO NOT FIT. Maybe I’ll lose weight so that I can fit into them?
3. Signed up for another mystery shop that will dovetail with another mystery shop that is 2 minutes from the first. It will cover dinner for 2 and some high-end soap.
4. Booked our car rental for vacation. We’ve arranged our trip so that we will only use the car for 5 days of our vacation when we leave Riga. We’ll drop it off again when we arrive in Vilnius. We risked it by going for the less-expensive non-refundable option.
5. My food for the week is packed and ready to travel to my work apartment tomorrow, which makes for a really frugal week of eating.
Have you been to Vilnius before? My family is from there and I have been often. If you have not, be sure to go to a restaurant and try the national dish Cepelini. Meat and potato dish, although these days they make vegetarian versions.
1. I found $2.02 in an old purse.
2. Friends are coming over for game night/dinner next weekend. I am going to make Katy’s red lentil soup, no-knead bread in a Dutch oven and dessert. Friends will bring other food to round it out. I have all the ingredients on hand.
3. Watching youtube videos on thrifting and reselling. I am fascinated and dipping my toes in.
4. I am taking on a few new clients.
5. All the usual- coffee and water from home, heating at 64 degrees, cold water laundry loads and shopping loss leaders.
Hooray for found money, even if it was yours to begin with!
I recommend this Portlander if you’re enjoying thrifting/reselling videos:
https://www.youtube.com/@leftcoastrevivals
I love her! She fnds amazing things.
Love your #3!
1. Sent tuna, bread, crackers, coffee and water with my son and husband who have out of town appointments today.
2. Ordered a used book off ebay for my kids.
3. We’re keeping our heat lower to lower our gas bill. So far it’s going okay, thanks to layering clothes and sleeping with a hot water bottle.
4. Received a free book in the mail I had signed up for.
5. Bought some clothes at Goodwill. Used a 20% off coupon on the most expensive item.
Ooh . . . a hot water bottle is such a cozy addition to bedtime.
I use a hot water bottle all winter, and I love it!
Good relationships with neighbours are worth a lot!
1. Continuing to use a stick blender that annoys me every time I use it as the blender part does not come off which makes it very hard to clean. We bought the blender used about 10 years ago and I’d say it will probably outlive me 🙂 I would love a metal one with a removable blending part but that’s a want, not a need so I will wait for the current plastic one to (finally!) die before purchasing a metal one.
2. A local petrol station chain had 10c off every litre of petrol for 1 day only so I filled up my car and also got my son to fill up his car (we’re paying for his petrol for his college commute).
3. My son’s car door did not close yesterday morning and we were able to solve the issue with a screwdriver thanks to a YouTube video instead of paying a mechanic.
4. Paying it forward: I have dropped a book and some clothes as well as two battery powered disco lights into our favourite local charity shop. I could probably have sold the disco lights for about 10 Euro on FB marketplace but I do not have the headspace to deal with the public at the moment and just wanted them gone.
5. Frugal fail – I stood on the lid of the toilet seat as I have done lots and lots of times in order to clean a shelf that is quite high up. Unfortunately, this time the lid broke. 🙁 I went to replace it at a small local hardware store and paid a whopping 28 Euro for it. One week later Lidl had toilet seats for 10 Euro each. We had installed the new seat at this stage so I could not return it. I am consoling myself with the fact that we supported a small independent local business and with the fact that I also bought a toilet seat in Lidl which is now up in the attic for the next toilet seat emergency. Needless to say I will not be standing on the toilet seat again 🙂
Hooray for YouTube!
At least you didn’t get dunked into the toilet.
I clean my blender by filling it with hot water and soap, and run it on high. Could you run your stick blender in your dishwater to make it less annoying?
Unfortunately I can’t run it in the dishwasher as it’s electrical (the blender part does not come off the motor part). It’s a handheld stick blender to puree soups etc
Dishwater. 🙂
While an additional week in warm weather is hardly a frugal choice compared to staying home, we still found some ways to reduce costs:
1. I did not buy any souvenirs in my second week away from home either. Only things any of us bought to take home were some nice shirts that DH really liked and will be going into the regular rotation.
2. We bought snacks from the supermarket and made coffee in our airbnb every morning. Cut down on unexpected expenses.
3. On our way home, we stopped in lounges on our way in and on our layover. We got to eat at each of these, avoiding costs of airport food and using DH’s credit card perks, which he’s paying for anyway.
4. Lying low before our next trip which is….Thursday. We may have overcommitted this winter. I froze my account with my gym for another week since I cannot muster the energy to get my scheduled days in between trips. This will push my billing date out a week and save me some cash.
5. Using up a caffeinated protein powder that I like, but don’t love. Still works for breakfasts until I can find one I like better.
A week in warm weather sounds like heaven right abut now! No souvenirs necessary.
Worth every penny for every bit of sunshine!
I give myself a monthly spending allowance. If I stay under, my savings grow. This month I reached the threshold yesterday, so I am spending nothing till February 1. With that in mind, I cancelled grocery shopping and made a food plan. Then I used my free transit card to go to the library, where I returned a stack of books and borrowed more.
2. While I was out I found a piece of candy, fully wrapped and very clean. So I ate it! Delicious cinnamon hard candy. I’m fine!
3. I created a doggy bag kit after reading about the idea here. Can’t believe I never thought of this.
4. Noticed that my coat collar had a whitish buildup which I determined came from sunscreen. I applied some Dawn, let it sit, and then scrubbed the collar under running water. Let it hang dry. Today it looks great. Did not launder my coat because I pay for laundry and I’m on this spending pause.
5. Reorganized my game/hobbies case, making room for my art supplies, and identifying games that have had their day and will now bring happiness to other homes via Goodwill.
5.
You’re so smart to just wash the part of your coat that needed it instead of the whole thing. I do love your spending allowance plan, you sound very disciplined.
1. Finally figured out my password to search for jobs on my computer, not just my phone. I can check for jobs more frequently this way, which gets me more jobs.
2. Paused my farm box for one week, as we had too much veg to eat. This saved us a week’s worth of cost, and the farmer can still sell our box at the farmer’s market, so they don’t lose anything.
3. Mending my husband’s jeans, again. We have embraced visible mending, and it is an ongoing art project. We’ve probably saved buying three “new” pairs of jeans for him since I started this. I’m especially happy since jeans are so much shoddier than they were 20 years or so ago.
4. Mended a set of sheets as well. I’m not sure how long they will last, as they fabric around the tear also seemed thin. But I will have time to source another flannel top sheet in the meantime, and when the rest of the sheet goes, I’m up cycle the patch into a shopping bag for my daughter.
5. I added my kids onto our auto insurance, and excluded them again when they went home after Christmas. Less than $200 for them to be covered this way, and if we had subscribed to the “student away” addendum to the policy, it would have been *much* more expensive. Definitely worth the time to call. While I was calling, the agent offered a special where we could add my daughter to our emergency roadside service for free (even though we were currently paying for her). The free roadside for her balanced an increase in our benefits — including longer distance towing. The timing worked out perfectly on this, as I can now tow her car for free to the school auto shop. The school will fix her engine for just the cost of parts, which will allow us to sell it for much more than we could get right now! The sale of her car will go toward her tuition costs.
I love visible mending!!!!
1. I finished our Sherry wine for a recipe so I wanted to get more.. There was a 75¢ offer on Ibotta so I got one.
2. Shoprite had beans on sale. I got 4 pounds of black beans and 4 pounds of pinto beans on sale for 99¢ a pound. Celery was on sale for $1 each so I got the 2 biggest I could find. Yes I weighed them.3 lbs of onions were on sale for $2. I weighed them too. Broccoli were on sale for $1 a pound. Heads of lettuce were $1 each so I got the biggest too.
3. Got a $20 membership offer from BJs and I will get $20 back after the first purchase. I looked at the price of dried beans because I am running low and Shoprite had a much better deal.
4. The daughter of the lady I help sent me home with 5 brown bananas. I made muffins and will bring some with me. I brought lunch with me.
5. Leftovers for dinner.