Five Frugal Things
by Katy on February 10, 2025 · 80 comments
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My son and I watched the movie A Real Pain through my friend’s Hulu account. (Thanks, Lisa!) Written, directed and starring Jesse Eisenberg, the movie is about a pair of cousins whose recently deceased grandmother was a holocaust survivor. The two of them travel to Poland for a guided tour to see where she grew up, as well as the concentration camp where she’d been held. Also starring Kieran Culkin, this film had nuanced characters and was beautifully filmed, thought provoking and even funny at times.
Although my Jewish family left Europe long before World War II, (I had a great-great grandfather who fought in the Civil War.) I did have extended relatives who didn’t make it out.
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I curb picked a pair of structured basket cubes that I’ll clean up and use for storage. These Branäs baskets sell for $24.99 apiece at IKEA, so it was well worth turning the car around. The baskets do have some superficial mildew and condition issues, but I can give them a soapy vinegar scrub and bring them back to life.
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I mailed one of my father’s framed needlepoint mazes to my cousin in Pittsburgh and used PirateShip.com to prepay for the postage. I spent $16.24 for UPS shipping as opposed to the $25.98 had I gone directly though the UPS.com website! (I’ll save you the math, that’s a $9.74 savings!) I don’t have a photo of the specific piece, but here’s one that hangs in my home:
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• I took my daughter to Winco and although I didn’t have more than a couple things on my shopping list, I did stock up/take advantage of a few sale items including mini peppers, avocados, onions, cucumbers and bananas.
• I got another Fred Meyer coupon in the mail for a free pint of Häagen Dazs ice cream.
• I had a carton of blueberries that got unpleasantly soft, so I made a tiny batch of refrigerator jam adding a squirt of lemon juice and a handful of sugar.
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I didn’t spend 290 million dollars to buy myself into an unelected federal government position.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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1. Saved condiment packets from Mcds.
2. Went on a walk, free exercise.
3. Had a family get together. Made it cheap by just gathering at a church building gym and making it a potluck.
4.Enjoyung free fun as a family, card games, video games and just talking and laughing
1) Maxed out my Hoopla borrows for the month. I will frequent and support public libraries in every way possible. Picked up my hoard of banned books as well! I want them showing relevance in the borrowed lists at my library.
2) I pulled all art out the back of my closet and hung it all over the walls in my home. I feel like I have a new space! I have been working on a minimal lifestyle for a while, but plan to appreciate the things I love too much to part with.
3) Finished the last of the *not so tasty* flavored coffee I was gifted for Christmas. I am so happy to be back to the dark roast I love in the mornings.
4) I pulled all produce from the local farm out and prepared for meals around it. I had a delicious salad for lunch and made a casserole for dinner. Scraps when into the veggie bag in the freezer for future veg stock. No waste.
5) Sorted and prioritized my self -care items to finish off what I have before expiration. Prepared with mini spatulas to clear products from those bottles before cleaning and reusing/recycling. I plan to make a trip to the sustainable store once I need products so not to consume more plastic packaged items.
Got brain chip implant so I can receive ai downloads and live my best life.thank you technocrat mothership.
1. Continued reading Hillary Clinton’s book with my Libby app. I just finished the “beware of fascists” section.
2. My in-laws took us out to dinner. I took the leftover bread home for future bread pudding.
3. I thrifted a heated cat bed for my arthritic cat. I’m trying to convince her to sleep in it!
4. I found a pint of raspberries and a pint of blackberries bundled together in the “scratch and dent” produce area. The pair was priced at $1! I ate them with ice cream. Yes, it’s silly to buy blackberries when I live in Oregon, but I would have paid $1 for just the raspberries.
5. I interacted socially with a known Trump supporter and managed not to say anything out loud. My interior monologue was screaming, “YOU SELFISH FOOL!!!!”
Li, Please let us know if you are able to convince your cat to try the heated bed. My old arthritic cat also refuses. I put treats in the bed and he reaches in carefully to pick them out.
My senior cat will lay anywhere there is flannel fabric.
I have several flannel pillowcases placed around the
House. Perhaps a piece of cozy flannel on the cat bed?
So far, she’s giving it a wide berth. Haha. I have a few tricks up my sleeve. I will put the bed on my lap and see how it goes I’m happy I thrifted it because they aren’t cheap! It would be frustrating if I spent the big bucks on something she won’t use.
Try putting a soft t shirt that you have been wearing into the cat bed. Maybe kitty will use it if it smells like you.
Does the cat like to lay on newspapers or inside paper bags? If s/he likes catnip, perhaps sprinkle some on the bed? Can you put the bed in a spot where the cat *definitely* likes to hang out?
Persuaded my son to go through the disaster that is his linen closet and donate some items to a friend’s fund-raising yard sale.
Tidied up the pantry and pulled a few items to donate to the church food pantry in our neighborhood. The church sets out bins in a neighborhood park on Saturdays, so donating is easy.
The dogs and I are still eating our use-it-up freezer meals and frozen kibble topper. Made the family a snack of homemade popcorn. Cut up a few worn-out t-shirts to use as rags.
Those baskets are a good find!
1. I sold a book on ebay for $20, that I had bought at a library sale for a quarter.
2. Someone had given my dad a box of Stroopwaffles that he was not impressed by, so the rest of the box came home with me.
3. We replaced our microwave and put the broken one by the curb. Someone picked it up before trash day. Anything I put out there gets taken. Not everything has scrap value, so I don’t totally understand it, but appreciate it.
4. I had gifted knit dishcloths to a friend last year and she mentioned how much she liked them, so I knit several more for her from a stash of cotton yarn that someone had given me.
5. I split some spider plants that had outgrown their pots, gave away two good sized ones to friends, and have a bunch of rooted babies to get potted. Those guys are prolific.
Katy, In the book of Revelation in the New Testament, a verse says that the blood of the martyrs is underneath God’s throne. I’m sure your extended family members, along with all those who didn’t make it out of the Holocaust, are there with God, in the place where there is no suffering and no sorrow. May they never be forgotten!
My frugal 5:
1. Ordered my vinyl flooring, at long last. It was on sale at Lowe’s (a store brand, I think) and I ordered just in time before the price went back up. The installation cost includes removing and hauling off the old carpet. So I think that is a good frugal thing. However, 2 days later, Ollie’s Outlet advertised it was blowing out its Armstrong brand vinyl flooring, and the advertised price was a dollar (per sq. ft.) less than what I’m paying. So my #1 may be a frugal fail, although Ollie’s does not offer installation/removal and I’d have to pay someone else extra for that. Hmmm — I’m guessing it all evens up in the end.
2. Paid with a credit card that gives me a discount on home improvement stuff.
3. Friend at church wants to give me the dog she’s been fostering, free. All the animal shelters around here, and most folks on craigslist, charge “rehoming fees” — usually $100+. I will go meet the dog this afternoon and see if he likes me (and vice versa), and if I don’t have to pay rehoming fees, that’s doggone frugal.
4. Did not watch the Super Bowl, but worked the closing shift. Came home and did a lot of housework.
5. Did not take up/erase a positive and worthwhile end zone message in an effort not to offend the most offensive person on the planet.
The “rehoming fees” are there because supposedly, someone who pays for a dog will value it more. I’ve always thought it sounded stupid. Then again, it helps defray shelter/charity costs. I gave a donation of a couple hundred to the rescue who took in our rescue pup last year, even though she didn’t ask for anything.
I have heard that dogfighters take advantage of people who re-home dogs for free. That’s one of the reasons rescue groups charge so much.
I also make a practice of flagging free dogs on Craigslist for this reason.
The rescue we got three of our dogs from was a rescue that specialized in dachshund and dachshund mixes. They charged an adoption fee of $200 per dog, and every dog was spayed, fully immunized, free of heartworm and fleas, and came with several months of flea and heartworm preventative and a little bag of kibble. That was really quite a money-saver. All their dogs were beautifully socialized as well.
The rescue my Dora Kitty came from did pretty much the same thing for $100. Demon Puppy came from a shelter, which charged more for small breeds, so she was $295 for her and all her medical treatment.
I’d say you can’t get cheaper than our Trash Kitty, but then again he needed all his kitten shots and neutering, so there we are. Really, Rescue Pup was the cheapest. His neutering was done for free before we picked him up via U of Tenn vet students. His shots were $79, which would probably be $400 here. Whatever, they’re all worth it. Love my pups (today is the littlest, Jasper’s, first birthday!) and Trash Kitty.
Bringing in a family member from a rescue/shelter is pretty much cheaper than taking in one that was dumped. Besides shots, spay/neuter, county fee, and chip, add in treating ear mites, kittens/termination, worms, respiratory infection, and horrendous matted fur (shaved when getting spayed). Then any other health issues that require maintenance Rx (that has increased $60 per 90 day supply in the last 2 1/2 years). But I don’t mind – we have two very good cats. Who got along with a couple of days of the newbie being in the house.
Ruby, we also have a Dora Ktty. She is ENORMOUS.
So is my Dora! The vet thinks she’s part Maine Coon, so she’s 15 pounds of scrumptious fluffy sweetness.
My Dora is 21 poun̈ds of fat. And also very sweet.
Hey, try taking that price to Lowe’s and see if they’ll match the price for you? Or at least figure out which would be the best. It’s worth asking for the discount.
1. To sweeten our oatmeal, we’re using brown sugar on hand rather than pricier real maple syrup.
2. Brought more items to the consignment store rather than donate them via Buy Nothing or a thrift store like we usually do.
3. Decided to switch up our furniture among rooms rather than purchase anything more for our house.
4. Used up bottled horseradish in a veggie dip.
5. Taking shorter, cooler showers to save on water and electricity. I do a lot of thinking in the shower and lose track of the time.
We frequently ate hot cereal for breakfast when I was a kid. My sister and brother liked maple syrup on their farina or oatmeal, while I always preferred brown sugar. The sugar melts and then you sometimes get little lumps of brown sugar as a bonus. Today still, I prefer plain white granulated sugar on French toast because of the contrast between the gritty sugar and the soft toast.
Today I eat oatmeal like the Scots do, with just salt and milk.
1. Bought toothbrush heads for my son’s electric toothbrush on clearance. (Toothbrush heads are like printer ink cartridges– the prices just keep going up until it might be easier to just buy new equipment. Hate that).
2. Had a $5 off any Hallmark coupon print out at Walgreens, for no apparent reason. Spent it on two birthday cards. I have a stash of yard sale/thrift store cards as well, but it was nice to go through the rack and find specific ones for two friends.
3. Re-reading an early Martha Grimes/Inspector Richard Jury from the library. I like her earliest books. It is also kind of fun to have stories that do not rely on cell phones or computer searches for clues.
4. Just put on a sweatshirt instead of adjusting the heat up.
5. Time to do taxes. Good week to all!
I have to agree with your number 3 – I have read 2 series from the pre-internet era that I loved – the main characters are Brady Coyne and Doc Adams. I’m currently reading all of Robert B. Parker’s older Spenser books – also so good!
@Katie – do add Philip R Craig to your list. He and Tapply co-wrote three books with their protagonists working together. I do need to read more Tapply, I loved the Doc Adams series but sad to say another of my favorite authors to suffer then die from Alzheimer’s.
Those baskets are a great find!!
1. Sold a rug on FB marketplace. Have 2 more sales lined up for today (hopefully they show up!). This will put $100 into the pocket of my grad school son-with a wife and 2 kids. They are living as tight as tight can be. I sell their outgrown kids things for them.
2. Gave a little shine to a coffee table/chest that I got for free and intended to sell, but I may keep… Will decide today.
3. Ordering free birthday pizookie from BJ’s today. I can’t eat it but my husband can.
4. Received 20 meyer lemons and 5 oranges from Buy Nothing.
5. Sat with a friend whose sister just died. We didn’t talk of anything of consequence, just a meandering gentle chat. We both did some hand sewing as we talked, which I think is such a calming activity. She hand hemmed some jeans and I darned 2 wool socks.
Thank you for the comments on the Holocaust so many people want to act like it never happened and it did and we so badly need to support Israel. I do believe what the Bible says about what they’ve gone through. It’s just been horrible. They are God‘s chosen people and as far as your flooring goes, you came out better not paying somebody separately to install and tear up because I used to own a flooring company and generally, if you don’t have it done by the flooring company, the other guys will come out and they’ll have all kinds of extra things they’ll charge you. Oh oops, you didn’t know about this and there’s really nothing you can say when that’s what you’ve got for somebody to install it so I think that was a frugal Win
PirateShip is awesome. A few months ago I helped my son’s girlfriend when she wanted to ship a big box of clothes and it was going to cost about $70 according to UPS or USPS. Not on my watch. The only trick was getting the package weighed(we’re not in the same town), but then I remembered that she’s in grad school for chemistry – and they have scales in science buildings. She weighed it at school, I bought and emailed her the shipping label, and she saved about $50.
1. Finally switched to wool dryer balls. I’d bought them awhile ago at grocery outlet but then was given a large unopened package of dryer sheets so finished those before switching. The dryer balls work great and as an added bonus they look cute too which my kids enjoy (they look like ladybugs)
2. I canceled my Target Redcard. Their recent DEI decision was the final impetus, although I’d been wanting to for awhile anyways as I feel Target encouraged overconsumption, at least for me. I want to focus more on consuming less anyways, and if there is something I really do need, I don’t mind paying a bit more and avoiding Target(I already don’t shop at Walmart or Amazon, so the options are narrowing but I’m up for the challenge).
3. Organized the clothes I have for the kids in the next size up in clear plastic storage bins that I already had. This way I can see what I already have for them and avoid overbuying clothes.
4. Cooked some butternut squash curry and added a whole bunch of kale and some beet greens to make sure those got used before going bad. Some servings are in the fridge for my lunches this week and some are in the freezer for later.
5. My son had a very full piggy bank and wanted to trade in the coins for cash. He’d seen a coin star machine at the grocery store and wanted to use it. I told him the machine would take some of the money though, whereas if we rolled the coins, our credit union wouldn’t charge anything to exchange for cash. He’s only 6 so didn’t quite seem to get it. So we counted up the coins, and multiplied the total by 12% and I told him that’s how much coin star would take from his money, and how much he would have left. It then clicked for him and he no longer wanted to use the coin star machine. As an added bonus, counting and rolling the coins was good math practice and we were able to go to our credit union Saturday morning to trade them in so he has his cash now.
Reader Lisa, love your second item. For me, if I rule out shopping at big box stores, I’m actually able to see a lot of local alternatives and, when needed, online stores from smaller (usually more ethical) shops. Honestly, I like shopping this way much better than supporting a handful of huge conglomerates.
As a retired widow, I try to buy where things are cheaper. I noticed that several people have said they don’t shop at Walmart or Amazon and I was wondering why as well I have never shopped at target so but just curious what the problem is with Walmart and Amazon please advise the reason I really like this blog is because I get a lot of ideas which I have been doing buying in thrift stores and secondhand and all of these things for many years way before it became popular with the younger people. I’m in my 70s, so I’ve been doing it since I was 18 and regardless of my financial situation just wondered if the ones that mentioned they don’t shop at Walmart or Amazon or the big conglomerates could update me with some current information from the young folks. Thank you.
FFT, Keepin’ On Keepin’ On Edition:
(1) I have been sending the 5calls.org link to everyone I know, and have been making some calls on it myself. Non illegitimi carborundum, as I said in my most recent comment.
(2) I have finished filling out the online form that my law office requires, prior to the consultation for end-of-life paperwork that CF and I are taking NDN to on Thursday. The firm wanted a ballpark idea of her financial assets, so CF and I had to do considerable spelunking through NDN’s massive piles of paperwork all through the house. Thank goodness she’s still a sweetie and fully trusts us both; I can’t imagine the hell this would be if we were working with someone with paranoid tendencies.
(3) I made a squash soup yesterday, using a 2-year-old Ziploc bag of frozen trashpicked pumpkin (not just ordinary pumpkin, but one of those fancy green Australian types–hello, Coral!), plus a box of chicken broth and a can of coconut milk that were a bit past their best-by dates. So far, none of us who have enjoyed it have died. Long may we wave.
(4) When I laundered sheets yesterday, I used up the very last Bounce sheet out of an old, old box DH salvaged from a rental property years ago. I don’t run the dryer for anything except sheets, and I plan to use the dryer balls a friend gave me for Xmas from here on. But I figured that using up the Bounce was preferable to just throwing it out.
(5) And instead of watching the Super Bowl and its ads last night, I enjoyed a Cornell Lab of Ornithology “Superb Owl Awards” video. I’d rather have Superb Owls than the Super Bowl any day–and I must say that the video was a hoot. I’ll see myself out now. 😀
For all those no longer using their driers. How do you keep your towels from being hard and scratchy? My drier broken and I haven’t fixed it because not using it is better but the towels! Once a month I go to the laundromat with my washed towels. Suggestions?
It takes flapping them hard when wet and again about halfway through the drying process to soften them up. Or drying them in a gusty breeze will help. They still won’t be as soft as when they are dried in a dryer, but a lot less like sandpaper.
The preternaturally itchy among us LIKE scratchy towels! I know, I am weird.
Then I must be weird too Rose! I love the texture of line dried towels. It feels a nice exfoliation. Plus I think they’re more absorbant when dried on the clothesline. But to each their own. My DD likes her towels soft and fluffy like you do Marydru.
Marydru, I’m with the others who prefer hard and scratchy for towels. I too enjoy the exfoliation effect. Besides which, I find that rack-dried towels are a whole bunch more absorbent than dryer-dried towels. But you do you.
I love scratchy towels but DH does not. I made some towels for drying my hair out of cotton flannel and sometimes just dry my whole self with them because they’ve gotten a bit nubbly with age.
Marydru, I have found that my towels are soft and not scratchy if I make sure ALL the soap/detergent is rinsed out. These newfangled washers are using less water (good to conserve water) but do not always get all the soap out. My MIL used to compound this by using liquid fabric softener – and her towels were very soft, fluffy, and absolutely, totally non-absorbent.
To test the soap removal, put a load of (clean and dry) towels in the washer without anything but water, and take a look when it’s been agitating for a few minutes. If you see suds, there’s still soap in the towels. Adding plain white vinegar to the rinse helps, too.
Good luck!
Well done on sharing the 5calls.org info A Marie! Keep up the good fight, RISE OF THE RESISTANCE!
Wondering when they burn down the Reichstag.
@Rose – they are already turning on themselves. What is the most pathetic and anti-American is the fact you can’t field a pair of cajones when you take what passes for the “r” part in the house and senate members.
Upside Pope Francis, only pope I’ve had any use for, is doing his job. May he ex-communicate Vance et al. I’d bet SCOTUS declares the pope fallible lol.
Brisbane, Sustralia, I appreciated the shout out, my daughter and I have very recently survived a nasty car crash( unbeknownst to us, her cancer has lept to her brain) and I scared the family witless by flatlining twice, under their noses, , just as the medics wheeled us into triage. CPR has left me bruised , dented and broken, daughter also very injured, but we survived!
The shout out felt like a Get Well card!
Coral, I’m glad you enjoyed the shout-out to you and Australia. And I send my best wishes to you and your daughter.
Also, this particular pumpkin was one of the tastiest I’ve ever had. I think it was either a Jarrahdale or a Queensland Blue, judging by the photos in the Seed Savers Exchange catalog.
Coral, sending healing thoughts to you and your daughter across the oceans. Hugs.
Coral, wow, sending many healing thoughts to you and your daughter.
1. I volunteered at my church’s thrift shop last Saturday. I bought a set of stainless-steel measuring cups since the set I have are missing handles and the 1 cup part of the set has been missing for years. $4 for a little more convenience. I really love to work there. It’s very satisfying as a NC to see things that might have gone into the landfill get another life, for very little money, I might add. Our church is in a low to middle income area, so we know the items we sell are items the customers may not be able to otherwise afford.
2. Food for the Superbowl was leftover American Chop Suey for dinner, one of DH’s favorites. For a snack I made popcorn in a pan on the stove with a little oil in it. He was happy his team won.
3. I sat with my friend who had a stroke last year that devastated her eyesight and depth perception. Her balance too. Her and her husband are retired and his side gig is plowing during snowstorms, but he can’t leave her alone. So her and I sat and chatted over tea and she told me some funny and sometimes sad stories from her career as a nurse practitioner. Not frugal for me but I think for them it was.
4. I finished another library book, First in the Family by Jessica Hoppe, which I will return tomorrow night at the free Valentines Day program being held at the library. Chocolate included! Poor DH had some day surgery on his nose and is bandaged to the hilt. He doesn’t want to leave the house with his new look so until the bandages are off in a week, here he’ll stay. So I’ll go alone or one of my friends can be my “date’ for the evening.
5. I did not pardon a dangerous insurrectionist who was also wanted by the law for being a child predator. Arrest completed…back you go to where you belonged in the first place!
1. Took a friend skiing with me yesterday – we went to a mountain on my ski pass and she was able to get a good discount.
2. We brought our lunches and some sweet treats to enjoy, avoiding $14 chicken tenders (which I, admittedly, give in to frequently).
3. Got home and watched the super bowl on the free CBS app. I had made a big buffalo chicken dip but the friends I was planning to watch with have a sick kid, so I opted to stay home. I’ll freeze most of it in smaller portions and get excited every time I remember I have buffalo chicken dip in the freezer!
4. Using up all the produce as quickly as I can to avoid wasting any. Had a borderline banana for breakfast – but I refused to let it go into the black hole of frozen bananas for banana bread that I never end up making!
5. Same old, same old – coffee at home, drinking water, no expensive cafe runs.
You might need a new banana bread recipe if those bananas aren’t getting used, lol. This one is my fave! Gluten free, sugar free, oil free. Sounds terrible right? But I swear it’s good.
https://www.fitmittenkitchen.com/paleo-banana-muffins/
The seemingly endless stretch of single digit/subzero days this winter has resulted in a higher than normal utility bill. Since the cold weather is showing no sign of leaving any time soon, I’m trying to find frugal ways to work with it.
1. Any leftover food now gets an hour or two of “outdoor recess time” on the deck before it goes into the refrigerator. Since the food is ice cold when it goes in, the fridge doesn’t have to work as hard to deal with it.
2. We defrosted the downstairs freezer last month, and have kept it unplugged. Some of what was in it fit into the garage freezer. And the large items that didn’t – ham, turkey, etc. – were put into our largest cooler, which has been living in the screen room for the past month. Everything in it is staying frozen solid, and a look at the extended forecast shows that we should be able to use the screen room “freezer” for a good while yet.
3. I have temporarily turned our guest bathroom into a walk-in dryer. We have very few overnight guests in winter (go figure, right) so that bathroom is not in use. I set up a couple of drying racks, and between those, the shower curtain rod and the towel bars, there’s room for everything. Except for king size sheets; I’m not ready for that level of fun just yet. It gets incredibly warm in that room when the heat is on (small bathroom, large heat vent, located right over the furnace area) so most items are dry in an hour or two.
Well, that’s three frugal things anyway.
1. It’s been a long time since I found money but found a dime today.
2. Went to Trader Joe’s this morning to get eggs and was happy they had some for $4.99 limited to 1 carton per customer. I also bought some ground flaxseed as an egg substitute for baking and a healthy addition to cereal. Got 99 cent Valentine cards for my young granddaughters. I will deliver the cards when I babysit on Friday.
3. We are making sure to open the appropriate blinds on sunny days to get a bit of solar heating. Our house needs an insulation upgrade which we are doing this year but every little bit of free heat helps.
4. Used a coupon at CVS to cut the cost of a small bag of sugar over 50%.
5. I did not hack into the database containing financial and identity info for all US residents and many companies/organizations.
Love the basket cubes!
1. Made up some rice to go with leftover NO Peek Beef Tips. Dished it into pyrex. I think leftover presentation is key to getting things eaten!
2. Set my timer all day long……to not let dryer go too long, a few minutes early for baking and stove use, etc.
3. Getting my tax papers together. Hope we won’t owe as we are on our new lower retirement income. Silver linings!
4. Making nachos tonight with all the assorted leftovers in fridge.
Guess I only have 4!
Agree on your number 1! I used to just put leftovers in the fridge in the dish they were cooked in and they wouldn’t get eaten. Then I started portioning them into individual servings in containers and suddenly they’d get eaten very quickly (and brought to work to be eaten there) It’s more work up front but definitely worth it.
A frugal investment I made was to purchase several sets of Anchor Hocking variable sized glass bowls with plastic lids. I use them all the time, now, when I put food-to-be-eaten-later into the fridge. A huge bowl of salad will sit there. 4 single servings disappear. I love the glass, too – if we can see it we eat it. Glass canning jars are another presentation that draws the eaters in – I always wanted to make those stacked salads in a jar, but haven’t quite got organized…
I love me a lidded glass jar for this very reason!
1. I did a mystery shop (those who do them know which one!) for a burger delivery. I didn’t particularly want the food, but I don’t have to leave the house, and I’ll make $6 on top of the food. I’ll save the fries which will be the starch for dinner tomorrow night and save the bottle of Coke for when I am desperate for one.
2. A scheduler also reached out to see if I would do another mystery shop and this one has a payout of $30. It is on my way home from work and the paperwork is minimal, making it worth my time.
3. One of my BFF is coming to stay with me in March for our joint birthdays. We both work in the field of food/hospitality, and we have often dropped coin eating at great restaurants. However, we are both trying to save money and so we have a very reasonable plan, which includes 2 dinner parties at my house and the menus center on protein being free from mystery shop, along with dessert, and some produce from the free CSA that partner gets from work. Our big dinner out is being covered by my partner, who was gifted with a generous gift certificate for one of the restaurants on our list. So that will be his gift to me (us) that won’t cost him anything and we will get our fancy dinner out without costing us anything.
4. We stayed in for the SB and made potato skins (free potatoes and cheese) and shrimp po’boys, using shrimp that I had gotten free from my local Buy Nothing (it was leftover from a seafood expo in town, and frozen, so trustworthy).
5. I didn’t cancel USAid, leaving tons of food on docks and being kept from [literally] starving people.
Thanks for the movie recommendation. Our Hulu account came out of pause mode last week. I already set it to go back into pause mode ASAP (30 days).
1. I broke the extension wand on our Riccar canister vacuum. The shop where we bought it many years ago said they can no longer get parts and they didn’t have it in stock. I found what I needed used on eBay. For about $40 the vacuum is working again and won’t be headed to the landfill. I didn’t have to think about a replacement which saved time and money. The wand was sent with just a bit of cardboard wrapped around it and sealed with a lot of packing tape. It made me think of something that Katy might do.
2. I received an email from Ryobi telling me our three year old cordless mower has a safety issue. They will replace it but when I called this morning they were not taking calls today. I have an alarm set to call again tomorrow.
3. I was able to borrow Ted Lasso from the library. The DVD set includes the first three seasons. We are enjoying the show.
4. So many books, so little time. I currently have three that are good: The Night She Disappeared by Lisa Jewell, The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis, and The Heart of Winter by Jonathan Evison. All the books were borrowed in various forms from the library.
5. A friend invited me to her house for lunch tomorrow, weather permitting.
1. We do not have dental insurance so I book appointments at the Dental Hygenist school that our daughter-in-laws sister graduated from. It’s $40 for a cleaning and x rays. It takes awhile – 3 to 4 hours – because each hygienist is tested and graded on patients. But you can’t beat the price and the students get necessary practice.
2. We used the gift card that our daughter got us for a chain restaurant and I enjoyed every minute of it. And took home leftovers for more meals.Tip: go out for dinner when the Super Bowl is on TV. Last weekend was an hour and a half wait so we were unsuccessful in dining out. Last night we breezed right in.
3. Our daughter lives in Brooklyn and is in a dance group that performs in parades (Pride, Coney Island Mermaid Parade) and we’ve never been to see her perform. So I’m looking at flights way in advance to hopefully get a good price and plan on spending an extra week with her. I’m so excited!
4. I –
– rotated out my grandsons toys at our house. Change of scenery for the winter.
– have been walking every day that I can for my physical and mental health
– gave our upstairs/guest bath a thorough cleaning and washed the shower curtain.
– used our state park pass to go see the migrating bald eagles at our closest state park. No luck but our grandson did enjoy the nature center. Then we saw one at our grocery store flying over the parking lot. Ha Ha
5. Colorado has a plethora of rec centers with indoor pools so we’ve started visiting as many as we can. Usually there is a lot of natural light and some sort of kid play structure. Last week it cost us $10 for 3 of us to go swimming for a couple hours.
Found 3 pennies at 3 different places.
Reading book from Little Free Library.
Went home from friends house after Super Bowl armed with many snack tray leftovers and a pizza! Leftover “snacky” foods (cheese, crackers, raw veggies) have been made into my office lunches this week , and pizza was wrapped (Individual slices in 2 Ziplocs) and frozen for future eatings!
Recycled a brown banana into banana pancakes.
Have not tried to take over anyone else’s land for real estate purposes, or any other reason!
1. Received a $10 off of a $50 grocery store purchase from a store we do not go to. Dog food counted, so we bought 100 pounds of that.
2. Accepted a pumpkin from someone who had purchased it “by accident.” Not sure how that happens, but okay. Cooked it while baking bread and am using it to supplement dog food.
3. Did four different grocery mystery shops this morning, netting $120 in free food. The shops came up and I was going to be waiting for the husband at two different doc appointments so I used the time to do the shops. As a bonus, all of them were pick up orders, so no risking my neck on icy parking lots.
4. Mended a dog collar. Our dogs have somehow figured out they can chew off each other’s collars, so I mend them weekly. My sewing friend is making us collars that have little chains in them, to deter biting through.
5. A moose jumped over our fence, bending the top of it down. The Dane discovered this and used the opportunity to make a break for it and go for a run on the frozen river behind our house. The neighbor saw him, coaxed him home and had her 17 year old slog through the snow in the backyard and fix our fence. It only took about 15 minutes and he didn’t expect to be paid, but I gave him $20. This is frugal because leaving it the way it was would invite more moose into the yard and if he sees them the Dane throws himself against the picture window to get at the moose. One of these days he is going to crack the window…
Your dogs are evil geniuses. Mine are evil, but not geniuses. Well, neither am I for leaving a carton of bread crumbs at the back of the counter, which was surfed into FUN RUG SNACKTIME when I was out this afternoon.
Frugals
1. Bought Hubby $5 dark chocolates at dollar tree for Valentine’s Day this Friday.
2. Went to senior center today for $3 lunch of chicken wrap, soup, Mac salad, ranch beans and lemon bar for desert (brought home most of it for dinner).
3. Visited senior center gift shop and bought a 25 cent Valentine for hubby also.
Got to cut corners where we can now that our idiot in chief is doing everything he can to spur inflation with his “tariffs”.
And being a good person doesn’t cost anything.
1. I had the crud last week, so I stayed home. Ate lots of canned chicken soup (Progresso) that I previously bought on sale. I know canned soup has terrible levels of sodium but it was better than no chicken soup.
2. Made a batch of chicken soup from a rotisserie chicken carcass, and the bag of frozen, leftover veggies. Ate some and froze some.
3. Shopped my gift closet for Valentine presents.
4. Picked up an empty box, from a stocker, at Wally world, to ship presents in.
5. Defrosted ground meat and made meatballs for “super” snacks.
1. Had an impromptu Super Bowl party, so I quickly made brownies from a box in the pantry, a baked potato bar from ingredients in the fridge, a broccoli,-cranberry salad from frozen broccoli and pantry ingredients, and we also had hotdogs and buns in the fridge. Not bad for two hours’ notice.
2. So excited that I finally got the secondhand freezer I’ve been waiting for. My son-in-law picked it up and delivered it on Sunday. I’m so excited so that I can finally fill it with home produce or good sales. I earned the 200 bucks by selling things on eBay.
3. Finally gave my daughter her Christmas presents, which were all Thrifted. She absolutely loved the cake pan, the new with tags pajamas, the vintage chiffon scarf, and a beautiful sculpture made out of wood.
4. We thought we needed new gutters, but we hired a handyman and he says they were installed incorrectly and he can fix it with judicious use of silicone. Apparently the idiots screwed through the gutters instead of using the hangers so water just leaks out those holes. Idiotic.
5. I have also been using resist.bot every day to send messages to my elected reps. I always choose email as the free option. My donations are capped at three dollars a month. I gave a lot of money during election season and can’t spare it right now.
6. I did not give free rein to a bunch of socially inept computer nerds who want to rule the world by stealing all of our private information.
Thank your lucky stars you don’t have mandatory training classes re: least privilege access. I sorely wanted to point out my employer gave $$ to what passes for the “r” party these days. J-6, which they said was so, so bad is just so 2021. Times a ticking before I retire. I have stock (purchased before I started working there). I’ll make sure to let the board know I’m attending the annual shareholder meeting on money they paid me.
1. The deep freezer which was 60 yrs old went put. It was full of food. Husband got a large chest freezer at Lowes for 400$. He got 100$ off for opening a Lowes credit card. I think he plans to pay the freezer off when the bill comes.
2. I found a small vacuum (an electric broom) and it works. It will be good for small jobs.
3. I plan to get only a rabies shot for my 2 house cats. They never go outside & I think I can safely skip the other vaccinations. If they get sick the vet won’t see them if their rabies shot is not current.
4. I found some knitted scarves & toboggan caps. I plan to wash them & donate to the homeless shelter.
5. I’m having an annual physical this week. My insurance company will give me a small financial reward on a GC for having this done.
I finally scraped off my car and headed to town – after a week of choosing to be snowed in (and throughly enjoying the pretend-enforced quiet time) I had a list of chores as well as my hospice volunteer commitment, plus got back to the gym with my trainer and !!! FINALLY saw my grandbaby – they were away all of January and I was sick when they got back, then wasn’t leaving the house.
1. Went to the scratch and dent produce store and I hit their discount shelves at a better time than I have been managing. Two bags of carrot bunches for $0.99 each, two bags of coloured peppers (7-8 peppers per bag) for $1.99, a cauliflower for $1.49, a bag stuffed full of broccoli for $0.99, a bag of 8 or so roma tomatoes for $1.49. A bag of lovely cylindrical beets discounted to $0.99, a cabbage at $0.88/lb, and oranges for $0.99/lb. I picked up a few other things like Celery and a local butter lettuce at ‘full price’ (half of the regular grocery) and filled a large box (bigger than an orange box) for under $32.00. The box was actually so heavy I grunted when I heaved it into the car.
2. When I bought animal feed, I saw that my favourite neoprene Muck boots were on sale for 20% off. I quickly found a pair that will replace mine (which are so worn water comes up through the sole). Expensive purchase – yet justifiable – I have worn out two pairs – to busted and leaking – in the 12 years we have lived on the farm. I was delighted to find these on discount, as I have been shoving my feet into the boots I am borrowing from my daughter. These new ones have lost of wiggle room for speedy entrance and egress.
3. After my busy and energetic day, on the way home I really wanted to pick up Micky D’s, but drove to my local grocery and bought frozen fish burgers, and our favourite buns – at FULL PRICE! (Gasp). My son and I will get two meals each (of two burgers each meal) for about half what I would pay for two Fast food meals. I always cook up all the burgers, as #2 son will take them for lunch or have them for dinner tomorrow – the buns get eaten fresh this way, and dinners are a bit easier.
4. #2 son had beaten me home, and I discovered he had eaten the last container of grated carrot, darn it all. Good thing I got more carrots! I am trying to use more winter veg, and had found “THE BEST CARROT SALAD EVER” online. I have tweaked the recipe and process, but I concur- https://thehealthyfoodie.com/carrot-salad/ is pretty delish.
I usually just make a quick (olive) oil and fruit- (apple cider or other) vinegar, maple syrup, salt and pepper dressing, but I make enough to half fill a pint jar so I have more for later.
And the topping is, of course, ‘use what you have’. I’ve found it best to just measure 1/2+ cup of each thing – raisens, cranberries, chopped pecans (I don’t use walnuts so double the pecan measure), pumpkin seeds and unsweetened coconut (flakes are best but whatever you have). Dump them all into a quart jar, and presto – all you have to do is shred carrots and you have a delicious salad. We use this same dressing and topping combination on shredded cabbage/carrot/celery for another great healthy salad.
5. Picked up pre-ordered books at the library, as well as some off their display shelves, and asked the librarian to put a hold on an Octavia Butler book “Parable of the sower” . Not sure if I have the stomach for it today, but since there are 57 people ahead of me I will hold out hope that things might have settled down. The Library has a big display of banned books, with notices describing why the bans have been attempted and synopsis of the books. Although it is clear many of the books have already been borrowed, there are still a few in the display available for checkout. Go library.
The library is setting up their seed library (more like a come-get-some-free-seeds library) which will open next month, and in that same library stack they have a whole set of shelves with Jigsaw puzzles available to take and return. This is a new thing, fun to see.
6. While driving around, I listened to the radio and got to hear Pumpkin-head slap tariffs on Steel and Aluminium imports, and muse about Canada becoming the 51st state. (!!! WTF???)
Canadians are coming together against this outrage in a way that they haven’t come together on a single issue in my lifetime. I am attempting to avoid losing my temper. Gotta say it is getting harder every day, as I watch our economy begin to stutter and insults fly. The despair is real, folks!.
That carrot salad sounds delicious. I usually make an Indian version with curry and black mustard seeds. Mmmm. Should make that soon.
It’s a celebratory grunt of discounted produce!
I feel bad for American manufacturers who don’t support T-word, yet are suffering from his actions. However, I’m extremely happy that level headed Canadians are concentrating their collective power to stand up against our bully.
When I look at the state that sends us most of the fruit and veggies, I know their politics aren’t those of Mr. Tariff-head. So I am kinder to myself about picking up citrus – particularly since our local stores are swimming in it due to previous purchasing contracts, so prices are reduced.
Some of the provinces who are changing the US alcohol that they are importing are being specific about the states they are targeting. Bourbon country, we’re looking at you! But I think there will be a very marked change in how many Canadians buy – most stores have big Canadian Flags on anything that is grown or manufactured locally, and choices are being made. some stores are having ‘blow outs’ of US products prior to the Tariffs being applied. It is a mess.
1. Little one and I hit the thrift stores again this week. Scored some brand new pajamas from Hanna Andersson, a baby Patagonia fleece , and a few other staples for the next size, as well as a few new board books and a sweater for a family friends granddaughter who I thrift for. They are low income and I live in an affluent area with lots of kids and thrift stores. I will send sweater back with my mom when she visits in a few weeks.
2. Grabbed strawberries on sale at Sprouts this week. I will be making chocolate covered strawberries for my husband and a few girlfriends for Valentine’s Day which make the treat much cheaper.
3. Sold two items on Poshmark and scheduled usps pickup for my porch.
4. Since quitting my job last month I have shaved hundreds off of our grocery bill by shopping around more and capitalizing on loss leaders with free pickup.
5. Rescued a very sad play kitchen from our BN group that I cannot wait to makeover for little one’s first birthday in May!
6. Bonus – took little one to cabellas yesterday for some free entertainment. He was not a fan lol, so we will wait a bit before trying that again.
That’s very nice of you to thrift for your friend’s granddaughter.
It seems as though the some of the comments are veiled insults politisizing what might otherwise be a great column on saving money, which is what our sitting president is trying to do by committing the auditing of the nation’s books. If anyone has seen the movie “Dave” they would see that’s what needs to happen. I didn’t buy the election is a snide slur, in my opinion, of course.
It’s not veiled.
I LOVE the movie “Dave”! I even own a CD of the soundtrack.
So I suggest two flaws in your comparison. First, the movie’s money-saving was targeted to save a specific program/a children’s center, not universal and un-substantiated claims of fraud everywhere in government. But as you said, the process did work.
Second, the concerned department heads were invited to sit down and discuss where they might make cuts, and were rewarded by the approval of the group. They were not disrespectfully cut off without warning from their departments or told by people whose expertise is unclear that their work in the past is useless and wasteful.
Huh, @B.B, it seems you might not have picked up on what most of us explicitly understand: that this particular blog is frugal AND POLITICAL.
And the politics discussed are closely tied to the impacts on frugality.
Sorry you are unhappy about this.
I, for one, am thrilled that the politics discussed here are fully out in the open (save for funny nicknames) – and the discussions are opposed to much of what is happening in US federal politics.
As a Canadian threatened with US tariffs of 25% on just about ANYTHING we send to the US, you can be damned sure that money issues are political. I am frightened for my children.
@B.B – auditing? I suspect you have zero knowledge of what an audit is, much less a forensic audit. Tis nothing but a naked, blatant ploy to cut money used to help people in order to cut taxes for those who can and SHOULD pay them.
So do touch bases later this year as if like most magats I know, you’re financial position won’t be any better. As to me, Biden 2024 scored me a 5% raise and a 33% bonus of my six figure salary.
And Katy is right – not veiled. Out in the open and to quote the movie, you’re not handling the truth.
@B.B – and do tell me how on board you are with a) non-citizens and b) not-vetted/background checked people having access to YOUR personal data. I’d bet a diet coke you are not in favor of a national ID – primary use for voting – because you “don’t trust the government”. Yet you are falling all over yourself with apartheid boy and his minions having access – in one case UPDATE access – to federal computer systems.