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I made a batch of pickled red onion, which’ll be a fun topping for various savory dishes such as tacos, salads, chili, etc. I spent 56¢ on the onion and used a cup of white vinegar, water, 1/6 cup of sugar, peppercorns, garlic powder and salt. The recipe recommended using a mandoline, but I have a recently sharpened knife and decently adequate knife skills. I followed this recipe, although they’re pretty much all the same.
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I set two wastebaskets out on the curb and one was nabbed by a passerby before I could even walk back into the house. I put unwanted items out on a nearby corner that gets significantly more action that my own front yard and I don’t think I’ve ever set something out that didn’t get taken.
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I took the 46 pounds of my late in law’s financial papers to the free shredding event that I wrote about last week. (Saved us $46!) What I didn’t write about was how among their hundreds (and hundreds) of unopened pieces of mail were two checks. One from a class action lawsuit for $200 and the other from their insurance company for $800. My husband contacted the insurance company and provided them with the proper paperwork to get it reissued. He also mailed paperwork to the class action firm, although that one’s likely to be a lost cause. My husband is the estate administrator, so he’ll split any funds with his two brothers.
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• I borrowed two books — Emily Henry’s “Book Lovers” from my mother and Molly Gloss’ “The Dazzle of Day” from my father.
• I mixed chopped chives into the last of some cream cheese. The chives have been in my freezer since last autumn when I harvested them from my garden. It’s good to preserve food, but it’s the goal to remember to actually eat it.
• I mixed up a batch of The Frugal Girl’s cilantro sauce to use up some cilantro that was on its last legs. I’m not sure what I’ll use it for, but I’ll figure something out. -
#5 is from my sister, who is a NYC high school teacher. They have a tremendous amount of cafeteria food that goes to waste, so the teachers can take home certain items. This is directly related to her sudden interest in making batches of “raisin forward” granola.
Five Frugal Things
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{ 67 comments… read them below or add one }
I want to add that I’m only snagging items that are getting thrown away…mostly this is small containers of milk and unpopular items such as raisins. And yes, there is such a thing as TOO MANY RAISINS in granola.
Those small cartons of milk would be so nice to have on hand for recipes. I drink so little milk that I always waste some.
At the school where I work the students are required to take certain items but there’s a table where they can return them so others can have them.
All of the edible food thrown in the actual garbage goes to neighborhood pigs!
Thanks for the cilantro sauce recipe link. I will give it a try. I love cilantro but it often goes bad before I can use it all.
1. I used a $15 coupon and a $10 reward at the pet store to buy dog kibble. I didn’t need it yet but the expiration date is for next year and I wanted to take advantage of the 25% off coupon.
2. I had a girls day with my mom, sister and two of my daughters. We went for lunch and shared appetizers instead of a full meal, making it much more affordable outing.
3. We all went to a weekend estate sale. It was the last day and everything was 50% off. I bought 4 Cutco knives and 4 Ekco canoe steak knives for $1. I will be selling them on Ebay.
4. I sold two things on Ebay last week which is enough to pay my electric bill.
5. I’m reading library books on my Kindle. I’m drinking tap water. I’m drying my laundry on racks except for linens. I am walking for free exercise.
Your #2 reminded me. Often, depending on the restaurant, my husband and I will either order 1 entree and split it, order appetizers only, or find another way to stretch a dollar. For example: Longhorn Steakhouse – we each order a Wild West Shrimp appetizer and water with lemon. Olive Garden – one order of Chicken Parmesan. Subway – ww each get a footlong, eat half that day and the other half the nect day. Sometimes, we just order somwthing like a salad and a baked potato.
Cutco knives -I’m jealous!!! They were left on the last day – unbelievable!!! I live about 30 miles from where they are made!! Best knives ever!!And you only paid $1 – UGH – i never find deals like that!!! Congrats on your purchase!!!
Aren’t Cutco knives an MLM?
I think they’re an MLM in the same way that Tupperware is an MLM. There are people who are ridiculously loyal to the product.
That said, I knew a few people in college who got stuck with the Cutco sales kit that they were required to purchase for the job of selling knives door-to-door, and I thought the company had sleazy practices. I won’t even pick up their stuff at a garage sale!
The quality is supposed to be horrendous, too.
We have 1 Cutco knife only because friends of ours (Jerry & Kathy) gave it to us. It’s a serrated bread knife and, compared to most of our knives that you could ride on from New Jersey to California and not knick your butt, it’s WONDERFUL! Kathy passed from cancer a few years ago, so we now affectionately refer to it as the “Jerry Knife.” Really need new knives (and need to get my husband off his butt to sharpen the ones we have that are salvageable).
Everyone I know who has Cutco products love them! I just have a ridiculous grudge. Haha.
I’ve had a Cutco chef’s knife for almost 40 years. It will outlive me.
My late Mum had Cutco kitchen shears that she received 67 years ago as wedding gift. They were used daily for everything and anything and mostly not for food prep. As far as I know my sister has them now. I do look at yard sales and rummage sales for Cutco products but no luck, so far.
Cutco knives are the greatest knives EVER! They have a lifetime warranty and offer free lifetime sharpening. If they can’t repair or sharpen, you get a new knife, no questions asked. I sent in a serrated knife we received as a wedding present 34 years ago that was dull. Couldn’t be sharpened, so a brand new one arrived in the mail! I’m totally a fan!
Yep, I had a set of Cutco knives my aunt gave us when we got married, and they would have lasted a lot longer had I gotten them sharpened life I should have, and DH did not use the serrated knife for various handyman jobs. Ahem. I also didn’t know to contact them for a new one. That’s on me. They were fantastic knives.
I love the Bonne Maman jars!
1. Dried chives and ground them to powder, yielding about half a cup. I’m self sufficient in most herbs that I use.
2. Picked up several things from 2 free piles. All to sell.
3. Attended grad party for a neighbor’s daughter. They had a taco truck catering so I had a free lunch and also brought home a plate for my husband who wasn’t able to attend. I gave a handmade gift that cost me nothing but time. I wrapped it in a free gift bag, and even the tag was repurposed. We had color invitations printed for our daughters high school graduation (8 years ago) but then had to change the date. I cut off the top of each invitation which had a nice floral design and the word ‘celebrate’. I punched a hole at one end and have used them as gift tags ever since.
4. My husband is a good pickleball player and is often asked to partner someone in a tournament. Yesterday he played with a friend and they won a gold medal. He got a free lunch there and a bottle of wine for a prize. He also came home with several free snacks. The person who asked him to play paid the entrance fee. Free food and exercise!
5. Made blackberry rhubarb jelly (both free from my garden). I’ll give a jar to a friend for her birthday tomorrow.
The jelly sounds fantastic! What a great bday gift!
Thank you! I try to give thoughtful gifts that are homemade. Many of us in our second half of life do not need more things and so consumable gifts are appealing. I’m making brownies and mailing them to my dad for Father’s Day. My mother doesn’t bake any more, so homemade treats are so appreciated.
1. Received two Stella del Oro daylilies from Buy Nothing. Also, a CD player and metal scoops.
2. Gave away two rugs and two new dish towels on Buy Nothing.
3. Did not purchase ice and water refrigerator filters from Amazon. Spent $10 more elsewhere, and I’m OK with that.
4. In the ongoing saga of removing paint from places it shouldn’t be, I tackled the paint-splotched stair handrail brackets. Got free advice from Ms. Google and learned that the brackets are solid brass. According to Bob Vila from This Old House: “Before you start cleaning brass, make sure that the item you are cleaning is, in fact, brass. … Place a small magnet on the metal. Magnets will not stick to solid brass.” I did not know this. I cleaned the brackets using ketchup and elbow grease.
5. Picked up a bag of groceries from Buy Nothing that no one else wanted. Included were two boxes of a very low-end mac ‘n’ cheese; I kept the noodles and tossed the packets. I donated the non-vegetarian items to the food shelf.
The only magnetic metals you’re gonna have in your home are iron and nickel.
Mine are very tiny
1. We are having monsoon like rains with high winds so I literally did not leave the house Sunday. I also didn’t buy anything on the internet so no money spent except for electricity and water, the water I always use the minimum amount that is required to be paid for service anyway.
2. I did not have to water my roses nor my onions and mustard greens because of the heavy rain.
3. I opened the windows between rainstorm so as not to run the air.
4. I used the water from boiled chicken to add to my tomato based noodles, onions, and spinach dish.
5. I took a nap, well when the thunder was not at window shaking levels.
I love pickled onions, and they look so nice in the jars!
1. Filled out a rebate for $1,000 off of a swimming pool heat pump. We have not had a working heater in years. It is a luxury, but I am hoping to get my 91 year old mother swimming, and, since we have solar panels, we have plenty of free electric to power the pump.
2. Tending native shrub starts I got last year from NY State nursery, rooting shrub cuttings on the windowsill in pretty glasses placed on coasters. Planting flower seeds, dill, etc, from library and also using up old seeds. I start them in soda bottles with the top inverted. There are many tutorials on this. Some cool tips are to put a rock in the bottom to keep the mop string from floating up. Also, don’t fertilize until the seeds germinate and begin growing, and then add liquid fertilizer to the bottom water. The wick can be anything from strips of old t-shirts to a string from a mop. I put many seeds in, and they germinate quickly. I use water bottles and soda bottles that scavenged over the year.
3. Sanding and repairing free pile bistro chairs to spray paint bright blue for my front yard. Replacing the slats using cedar from some fence sections someone gave me. The bottom 2’ of fence is, but the rest of the wood is beautiful. I am giving some of it to a friend who wants to restore a bench that belonged to her late father.
4. Am restoring a bench I have had for 20 + years that had gotten rickety. Took it apart, cut and replaced some dowels, and it is all reassembled, clamped and drying in the garage. The weather turned damp, so I hope the epoxy sets correctly.
5. I made really cool tags for my oyster lines by drilling holes in old plastic peanut butter lids, and finally learned how to use the Dremel I got for Christmas a few years ago, and engraved the plastic. Learning how to use this tool will help me to be able to do more repairs, etc.
Rather mundane weekend at home.
1. Washed decorative glassware
2. Put some items on eBay
3. Washed bedspread and pillow shams
4. Cooked leftover pork chops with black beans in crock pot
5. Threats of more tornadoes and thunderstorms kept me from garage sales over the weekend
It was hot this weekend, so we didn’t get out much. (PNW hot, so only like 81 F but still too hot for me!)
1) I saved some vintage-style glass vases from the trash pile at work, then filled them with weeds/wildflowers from the side of our lane. They are so pretty lined up in a row on our kitchen windowsill.
2) Our home was missing seven window screens when we moved in, and now that it’s getting warm we need them — we have indoor-only cats so screen less windows aren’t an option. After pricing aluminum frame screens and screen kits, we opted to go old school and built wood-framed screens ourselves. $20 for all materials since there is already white exterior paint on hand, vs $25-45 for just a single screen, depending on window size.
3) I woke up early to make bread and chocolate chip cookies before it got hot, then we only used the microwave and the air fryer for the rest of the day.
4) Was craving popsicles or ice cream, but none on hand. I raided the recycling container for adequate molds to wash and sanitize. I made a puree from some fruit in the fridge, poured it into the molds, then used wooden skewers cut in half for sticks. Worked well enough!
5) We decided to catch some cool ocean breezes so we visited the port for an afternoon walk. We did splurge on two iced dirty chais, but I had a punch card for a freebie so it only cost us $6 after the tip.
1. Bought a taco costume off of FB Marketplace instead of ordering from Amazon. I will wear the costume on Saturday to a protest against 47 on Saturday. I will also wear a chicken head so I will be a chicken TACO.
2. I combined the pick up of the taco costume with a convince store mystery shop. Free gallon of iced tea plus $8. So gas was more than covered.
3. Took our winter comforter to wash at the laundry mat. It is too big to fit in my washing machine. I planned this in a 95 degree day so I could bring it home wet and hand it our side to dry.
4. Got to go to the Suzanne Vega concert with friends. One friend couldn’t go so she gifted me her thicket as I am long term fostering her daughter’s bearded dragon. Personally I feel like I so much came out a head. A concert AND a bearded dragon!
5. I was wanting a small table to put beside my reading chair so I’d have room for more books and a better placement of a reading lamp. I found a floor lamp with two shelves on the curb yesterday. It works and I just cleaned it up, put a bulb in it and took a shade from an unused lamp to out in it. Very very happy. And $0 spent! I love when the Free Pile gods shine in me!
Your #1: Brilliant!
I love your #1. I’m picturing a chicken wrapped in a taco.
I am a Suzanne Vega fan. Love her music!
This will be from the last few weeks as things have been very busy around here – I got married on May 31!
6. Didn’t go out socially this weekend, which is unusual for us. Everyone in our friend group is feeling pinched financially, so we brainstormed ways to hang out for free/cheap. My partner and I made a list of all the gift cards we have so that we can reference that when we are feeling like going out for a treat.
5. Rode bikes to run our errands on Saturday – bank, market, and post office. Stopped to take a picture of a new mural that was being painted.
4. Refinanced my car loan with my credit union – lower rate and a shorter payoff period means paying much less in interest over time, saving a bit on my monthly payment (although I’ll keep paying the same amount to try and pay it off even faster), and giving my money to a CC instead of GM Financial.
3. Grocery shopped based on the sales flyer and remembered to use a $10 off card that my partner had received. Saved around $50, which was a third of the total bill!
2. All of our weekend meals came from leftovers, which we had plenty of for having so many house guests over the past 2 weeks!
1. At the end of our wedding reception, the event coordinator asked if the greenery on the tables (fake eucalyptus vines) belonged to us or if we’d borrowed them. I bought them, along with almost all the rest of our wedding decor, off Facebook marketplace. The coordinator said he likes to have decor on hand for events, and asked if I’d be willing to make a deal for the vines. We’d already paid the balance of the bill, so I asked what he had in mind. The venue is a brewery, so we negotiated beer! We walked away with at least $160 worth of locally made beer and cider in exchange for the vines, which I had paid $70 for and was going to just relist on the marketplace anyway!!
Congratulations to you and your partner! May you have many happy times together!
Sounds like you are already in agreement about frugal matters, which is a big deal for a relationship.
Thank you!! It’s a work in progress – I was raised in a frugal family and he wasn’t, so it isn’t a habit for him. But it is a goal for him, so it works out!
Congratulations on your marriage, Katie! And it sounds from your FTs as if you and your new spouse are starting off on the right frugal foot (or feet).
Thank you so much!!
Congrats on the marriage! And what a great frugal start, selling the decorations before you have been married for a day!!
Thank you, so much!! Now I just need to sell the table numbers and the votives!
Congratulations!! Great score on the beer.
Congratulations, Katie! You’re off to a great start!
In the cilantro recipe, she talks about how to make sure you rinse your cilantro so it doesn’t make the recipe gritty. I had a friend who made the most amazing fish stew. He was in the process of making it, and I was helping him with some of the chopping and prep work. He said, hand me the cilantro, and I said well let me rinse it first. He said it’s pre-cleaned. I said nothing is pre-cleaned unless it’s in a package and it says that it’s been washed. He disagreed with me. I washed it over a bowl to catch all the dirt. He couldn’t believe it. He had just been using it from the bunch. It still gives me the heebie-jeebies to think about it but it also kind of makes me laugh.
I also wanted to say I love pickled onions. Especially on chicken larb salad.
This is a great reminder to pickle the onion on my counter that is so old it can probably vote (in onion years)!
1. Another week of road trips, so minimal grocery shopping to avoid food waste. DH said he would fend for himself and usually just eats out of the pantry, so we should avoid major takeout bills.
2. I was inspired by your outdoor cushion clean up so I took to mine yesterday. It is GROSS – mildew, dirt, and general outdoor muck. It looks better but still rough. It also hit me that this cushion in particular will likely fit in my washing machine, so I’m hopeful that will restore it to something I would let a guest sit on.
3. Library books all around here – finishing up Thursday Murder Club before moving over to Seven Year Slip. Some fiction is good for the soul right now.
4. Leftovers for breakfast this morning.
5. Cracking a window on this cool day to get some fresh air before the summer heat and smog come back later this week.
I really enjoyed Thursday Murder Club. It was a very fun read.
1. Maybe not frugal, but I was finished driving school van for the year about 10 am on Thursday. I took the rest of Thursday – Sunday as a “mental health vacation.” Mostly worked on an afghan I am making to enter in 3 local fairs.
2. Filed for unemployment this morning. Actually didn’t give me a hang-up like it usually does (every year prior it has kicked me out saying my birthday isn’t my birthday?). Talked to the secretary at my bus contractor’s office as our pay stubs are written weird and I needed to confirm my hours/day and hourly rate. When I started driving in 2019, I was making $12/hour. That has significantly increased by about $4/hour. Not complaining. Had a very long route this year (141 miles/day; average is about 88 miles/day or less for most drivers). I hope I get the same LONG route next year.
3. I had initially made an afghan I had completed to enter in the 3 local fairs and made the mistake (?) of showing a picture to my psychologist. She wanted to buy it! . She paid me $100; hence I am working on a second afghan (see #1) to enter in the fair. The first one was wide enough to cover a twin size bed and about 8′ long. This one will cover a queen size bed (12′ wide). I have a long way to go, but I have quite a bit done. Like the “Little Engine that Could,” I keep saying, “I think I can…I think in can…I KNOW I can.”
4. We had an unusually mild winter, like snow plows were out less than 10 times and school was only cancelled 1 day and delayed 2 days. There are generally many more cancellations/delays during the winter months. Now, we are being hit with either drought or rain (not enough rain to balance out the drought), but the rain is frequent. Won’t be able to hang laundry out until Wednesday or Thursday. Hence, the big items such as sheets and towels are piling up. Undies, socks, and smaller items are basically what’s getting washed.
5. Goal for summer: repaint porch railing. We rent a 1969 mobile home (12′ x 60′ – think 1970’s dark paneling on the interior). Definitely seen better days, but the porch railing is the worst. Paint peeling and covered in pollen. Have an old bed sheet to use as a drop cloth and bought a paint scraper and a sanding block at Dollar Tree. Going to scrape off old paint, sand, and repaint once the weather cooperates. Also going to the local farmer’s market to stock up on produce to can for the winter. First plan is to can pickled beets. Husband likes them, I don’t. Last summer I canned 26 pints of pickled beets from a 25 lb bag of beets and it lasted him the year. He is down to his last pint. Time to restock.
Bonus: Although we’ve had a significant amount of rain, we are enjoying God’s air conditioning system and not running the electric one.
Bonus 2: If you have large family or group gatherings (my husband is the youngest of 9, so you can imagine with all the nieces, nephews, and all their kids, it’s quite the gathering). Anyway, his family has a mish-mosh of eating and serving utensils – mostly odd pieces from family members. There are more utensils than what we really need for such a large family, but we keep them anyway. One of my husband’s sister houses the box of silverware and, if anyone needs to borrow it, they can. We use the silverware at every family gathering (Christmas, Birthday, Reunion). After the meal, my sister-in-law gathers all the silverware, takes it home and runs it through her dishwasher and puts it back in the box until it’s needed again. If you have a large family, in particular, you way want to think about collecting all those oddball utensils and storing them for use at family or other large group gatherings.
Melissa, your Bonus 2 sounds brilliant!
Very impressed with your canning of beets!
Keep us posted on the porch railing, please.
I recommend periodically checking unclaimed property for your in-laws state, and seeing if anything shows up. That class auction check may be in there. We found an uncashed check in my inlaws paperwork when cleaning out their house, and it had been sent to unclaimed property and we had to submit paperwork proof to get it sent to the estate administrator.
I have a reminder in my calendar to check every 6 months to see if anything else has come up for us or the in-laws.
I checked my deceased father-in-laws name on Ohio Unclaimed Funds. ( I check all family members occasionaly). Although I did find many small refunds from his insurance company, they had to have been claimed within two years of the estate closing (I think that was the time period). We were too late to claim. I happened to check because four years after his passing we received notice from his bank of an account. Why this was not found earlier during the estate work I do not know, but it was an easy process to claim the funds, resulting in a small amount for each of his children. Father in law left a mess of paperwork. His will was with a out of business lawyer, and not updated for his current life situation. Major search to find it. My family had my mother go to an estate law company that specializes in wills and trusts for seniors. We found that the old trust was done incorrectly, and replaced it. My husband and I also completed an estate plan, wanting to save our kids from this nightmare.
That is a great suggestion to monitor unclaimed property website occasionally. I have noticed that class action checks often indicate that they won’t reissue – but checking to see if they made it to unclaimed property is brilliant,
I have found many items for there for friends/family and have helped some gather the documentation needed to claim. I have one friend who just would not bother – for herself or her family members and every time I think about it I am disappointed. (They really could use the money). You can lead a horse to water but…….. i just have to accept what is.
FFT, More Fun with Ceramics, Politics, and Neighbors Edition:
(1) I’ve helped myself to several more things (big vases, etc.) from the free pile of plants and ceramic pots that one of my neighbors put out early Sunday morning (see my comment on Katy’s preceding post). I may use some of the big vases as garden bed ornaments, and I’ll be putting a big bowl on top of a vase to make a sort of Zen birdbath. Anything I don’t end up using, I’ll donate to the local thrifts.
(2) And on my way home from errands this morning, I encountered the generous neighbor out for a stroll, and thanked her profusely. A flourish of compliments ensued on both sides.
(3) My poster for next Saturday’s “No Kings” demonstration here is starting to take shape. Onto a large flat piece of Styrofoam (lightweight and more durable than posterboard), I’m pasting a New Yorker cover from last year with a cartoon of handcuffs being slipped over DJT’s tiny wrists (don’t we wish!). Above the cartoon, I’ll write “No Felons, No Kings!” And below, “LOCK HIM UP!!”
(4) In more local political involvement, I attended a “meet and greet” session for one of our current mayoral candidates, at the home of a friend two blocks away. I was able to persuade several other folks from our street to attend; the candidate herself is one impressive lady, both personally and politically; and I was happy to donate to her campaign fund. (Also, the refreshments were awesome; our hostess and her assistant are both fabulous cooks.)
(5) And I commend Katy and Mr. NCA on both getting those papers shredded and rescuing the two checks.
BRAVO on your #3 @A Marie!! I commend you for staying involved and not giving up the good fight!
1. I sewed holes in or otherwise fixed four garments on Saturday!
2. I made a casserole for dinner last night and used up items I had on hand (frozen leftover rotisserie chicken, shredded cheese, sour cream, etc.). And my family actually liked it. And I had some for lunch just now.
3. I dropped four bags of clothes at Goodwill yesterday.
4. My oldest is on a trip so that’s one less always-hungry teen boy to feed this week.
5. I found some frozen items in the basement freezer that I didn’t know were there (husband is always sneakily moving things out of main freezer, complaining it’s too crowded) so I was able to make banana bread with frozen banana puree.
1) More in the category of frugal for others but I finally got around to cleaning up an old strider bike that my kids had long outgrown and our BOB jogging stroller (my youngest is 5 so past the stroller age). For the bike, I just wiped it down with water and a cloth. The stroller I hosed down, ran anything that could be removed through the washing machine and oiled it so it opens and closes easily. It was rusted and wouldn’t close, and these are huge strollers so they don’t fit in a car if they can’t be collapsed. I’m happy it is now in usable condition again. I will be giving both away for free, as even with my cleaning them up, I don’t think they are in good enough condition to sell and I’d rather just pass them along to someone who needs them.
2)
Oops, bumped the reply button!
2) Our cement front step was carpeted when we bought the house, not thick carpet but still very odd to me to carpet and outdoor front porch. I’ve never liked it but never got around to doing anything about it since being busy with young kids. We had our front walkway repaved though, the they had to rip up the carpet on the bottom step, this was enough to inspire me to rip all the carpet off the entire stoop. It now looks even worse for the moment with glue and paint patches on the cement, but I’m already feeling better having that dirty carpet gone, and my husband will be finishing it this weekend, cleaning off the cement and painting it.
3) The kids didn’t have school on Friday but I had to work from home. I setup a small tent and air mattress in the backyard and the novelty of that kept them entertained and outside all day for free.
4) We are going to be at my parents house on Friday. I asked if I could buy dinner for everyone to celebrate Father’s Day with my dad. This way I don’t need to make a separate trip up (they live an hour away) and his gift is the meal.
5) We plan to attend the beach cleanup for the beach near our house this weekend. My kids thinks it’s so fun picking up trash on the beach (especially “hidden” trash in the sea wall) so it’s free entertainment and helps the environment.
1. Saturday, a friend came over for dinner at home and we had a vegan one-dish that I call “Esau’s Birthright” stew because it’s basically spicy lentils.
2. We then went to the free art walk in town and had fun seeing art. (Hopefully this will remain free, but my husband really liked one of the paintings…. Well, directly supporting a local artist is a good thing to do!)
3. We cleaned our own house after some major repair work rather than getting a cleaning service in.
4. I hung my two loads of laundry up on the clothesline (I can’t convince my husband to do this, but since he’s doing his own laundry, it’s his decision).
5. I took home a big stack of half-used paper pads from work. I think they’d been in the drawer for at least 6 years. Grocery lists for decades, here we come!
Maybe husband doesn’t want his “tighty whities” out on the line for all to see?
The quality is supposed to be horrendous, too.
The question is: what does cilantro sauce NOT go on? That list would be shorter. 😉
For starters, try it in your tacos, or use it as the dressing in a taco salad. 🙂
I put it on my eggs this morning!
Why is it in this format.I have trouble reading it?
1. We had some celery, carrots and half an onion lingering in the fridge. I chopped it all up and froze it for use in future soups, stews and cottage pie.
2. Made from-scratch banana-walnut bran muffins for breakfast.
3. Used two cans of tomato products from the clearance store to make a pot of marinara sauce. Organic fire-roasted tomatoes for 62 cents a can for the win.
4. Some time back I crocheted a large, double-thick table pad to act as a giant coaster for our den chairside table. I was not happy with the dimensions and ripped out some of the yarn, which I saved. The other day inspiration struck and and I re-crocheted the old yarn onto the ends. Now it works! Took only about 20 minutes.
5. Planted the stump of a bunch of celery to see if it will take hold and regrow. Had great luck last year regrowing green onions, so we’ll see.
1. I gave two things away on my Buy Nothing group – a small bookcase and a couple bags of board books that my grandson has outgrown.
2. We bought a new tv this year which made us a two tv family – for the first time in my life. The new tv, unfortunately, doesn’t support my streaming app of Britbox Since I purchase a year at a time as my Christmas present every year, I didn’t want to waste it. So we simply switched the tv’s around into different rooms which now lets me watch it on a big screen instead of on my laptop.
3. I have been puttering quite a bit – cleaning, decluttering, organizing – and one of the things I’ve cleaned out is a dresser in our guest room that got overlooked in the move. I’ve found a few frames that I can certainly use and an American Girl doll that was my 34 year old daughters. She will be cleaned up and listed on ebay.
4. I have been-
– reading my library book – Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
– watching PBS kids with my grandson over the weekend while we had him
as his dad was running a race with friends a few hours away
– eating down the freezer and pantry. I’ve stocked with too much food right
now so it’s time to use it all up
5. Frugal Fail – we receive a gift card every year at Christmas from relatives for an online retailer. I don’t usually need anything for myself but I save ideas for our house and then purchase them. I have lost the gift card! It’s driving me crazy and I have searched everywhere including taking a few drawers apart. Womp womp
1. I have a fridge problem — a drain line that freezes and gets clogged. I can call a repairman (again) or I can try the free solution, unplugging the fridge. Of course, it’s more hassle, but I’m going to try it. But first I am going to use up more stuff, especially frozen. The drain problem is not affecting temps, but it does cause ice buildup in the freezer and puddles in the fridge. Forgive me if I’m repeating myself, because I know I told somebody!
2. I had surprise charges from Best Buy, and I thought fraud! But I investigated my account on their site and realized they were legit charges for Webroot and a service plan. So glad I didn’t jump the gun and cancel my credit card.
3. Yesterday I opened a can of diced tomatoes, but only used a few in a salad. Today I added the rest to an open jar of spaghetti sauce and cooked it all down to a thicker paste. Planning to use it in cannelloni.
4. Stayed home yesterday and today — yesterday because I wasn’t feeling great, and today because it was laundry day. So I avoided any shopping temptation.
5. Decided to make a gift of something I bought for myself, but didn’t really need. I did check with the recipient to make sure she wanted it! And she did.
Ooops, not sure how my comment ended up here!
* For the first time this coming school year secondary school books are free in Ireland! That’s a saving of around 200 Euro. I wish this scheme had been around earlier, it would have saved me so much money over the years. But I won’t complain, it’s great to have it now, especially as that also means the school itself is buying all the school books which will save me time, too.
* More free goodies (expired but still good) from my son’s job: herbal tea, vanilla pods, seeded bread.
* Picked up a plastic bottle at the beach. 15 cents richer through the deposit return scheme and one less plastic bottle floating around in the sea! In the last Too Good To Go box we got from Aldi there was an opened 8 pack of plastic bottles of flavoured water with 7 bottles still in it. These will also be returned for 15 cents per bottle.
* My son was given AirPods with the right side missing. I bought a used right AirPod as my daughter was going to use them (my son has his own). We tried everything to set up the replacement AirPod but could not get it to work. When we contacted the seller it turned out that the reason the replacement AirPod could not be paired is that the AirPods my son was given are fake thankfully the seller was very nice and offered to take his original right AirPod back but I had to pay for the return delivery. I guess we learnt our lesson though and the very helpful seller informed us on how to spot fake AirPods in the future.
* The Wahl corded hair clipper that I bought almost 2 years ago has stopped working. I had bought it from Amazon at the time. I contacted them and they offered me a return for a full refund! I could not find a pre-loved clipper so had to buy a brand new one, unfortunately. I ordered it on the Boots website with free collection from our local Boots outlet.
I put finely sliced red onion in the dill pickle vinegar left in the jar and leave in the fridge for a few days very tasty and gives you another use of the vinegar.
Thank you for the pickled onion reminder. Last night, Husband said ‘brats sound good’ so I pulled some from the freezer. This afternoon, as I was checking for a new post, my brain reminded me ‘Katy JUST posted the pickled onions’. lol Yes, I could have found it on Pinterest, but since I always check here in the afternoon, it was MUCH faster.
Our old next door neighbors were “Jerry and Kathy!”
Gerard & Kathleen (Jerry & Kathy). Lovely people…brilliant. Their son, Will, is on the Autism spectrum. Is working toward a doctoral degree in pharmacy. When with them, it was like walking around inside the entire Encyclopedia Britannica collection. If one didn’t know the answer, another did. Kind of a human Google. When their son was young, they founded a camp for kids/families affected by autism. Kathy was a nurse, and she was always the head nurse for the weeks camp was held. Jerry worked in the performing arts (theater) doing script writing, acting, directing, etc. Now, he freelances and goes to impoverished areas to help communities bring life to the history of their community and culture. He also is a consultant and often participates in theatrical “think tanks.” Their daughter (actually Kathy’s daughter – Kathy’s first husband died in a tragic accident during her pregnancy…she married Jerry when her daughter was 2 or 3) followed in Jerry’s footsteps and teaches drama at a well-known university.