Five Frugal Things
by Katy on June 17, 2025 · 10 comments
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Someone in my Buy Nothing group was asking for a “spool rack” yesterday and I noticed one in my mother’s basement. I brought it up and asked if I could have it to give away. She was quick to agree and it’s since been picked up! I’m so pleased to have taken an unused basement item and placed it into the hands of someone seeking that specific thing.
It’s like I’m a Buy Nothing middle (wo)man, so maybe I should take a percentage of the profit.
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My husband’s T-shirt drawer had become so overly full that it was difficult to close, which prompted him to pull everything out and make some hard choices. Mind you, many of these shirts were passively acquired as they were from charity or workplace events. Please, for the love of Amy Dacyczyn Pete — event coordinators, stop giving out shirts that no one wears beyond a single day!
I know old cotton T-shirts can be torn apart to make rags, but there are only so many rags a household can incorporate before becoming a dumping ground.
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I donated the T-shirts to Goodwill while running errands and made sure to take a receipt for next year’s taxes. I then wrote down the exact specifics of the donation while it was fresh in my mind, so I can get the full deduction. Lastly I walked around Goodwill, but found nothing worth owning or selling.
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My daughter stopped by the house and I was able to pull together a satisfying meal for her, even though we’re kind of low on fresh food at the moment. (I’ve plenty of ingredients to create full meals, but that takes time and forethought.) I made a quick batch of Deviled eggs, which got served with gluten-free peanut butter toast and raspberries for dessert. The berries were from the garden, the gf toast was from my frozen stash of $1 Franz bread and the eggs were on hand.
I need to make a Winco run, maybe I should add that to tomorrow’s to-do list.
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I stopped into H Mart for furikake and coconut milk and bought . . . furikake and coconut milk. That store has so many tempting fun treats, it’s an accomplishment to stick to a list!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
1. I made a delicious meal of crispy tofu, roasted brussel sprouts and a sesame honey glaze over rice. It was cheap and healthy and I have leftovers for three more meals.
2. I returned cans for a deposit refund. I used that, a $5 reward and a coupon for free milk and my out of pocket cost was less than $3. Most of the savings was from the deposits which I paid for except for a few found cans but still a nice savings.
3. I’m still working on emptying my chest freezer. I found some more blackberries ( I thought I had used them all). I made some refrigerator jam with them. I have one more container full. I think I’ll make some blackberry simple syrup for blackberry mojitos this summer.
4. I shared some home grown lettuce with my daughter. She’ll be making a taco salad for her work lunch.
5 I bought a whole bag of birthday cards at an estate sale. My stash was getting low. I’ve used one already.
I am 0/2 at getting events I’m helping with to forgo shirts and/or make them evergreen so people could use the same shirt each year. But I shall persist!
I agree about the shirts! I’ve worked at non-profits for 25 years and no one wants those shirts after an event. Plus most of them now are no longer 100% cotton and as such are not absorbent so they make terrible cleaning rags (IMO). I have a bag full of ready to drop off to Goodwill this week.
I need to cut back on the budget due to unexpected plumbing repairs. So entertainment is now zero (this includes restaurants), I’ve been on a no spend except for absolute necessities for a couple of years, the only other place to make a difference is groceries. I have challenged myself to eat what I have and no grocery trips for a month. Yes, I run out of things like bread and milk…and well, potato chips and chocolate. But I’ve worked around it and for now having cream cheese on sourdough Wasa cracker with tea in the morning, or an egg with leafy salad with berries. I made it through the detox of junk food so now I’m not going to put them back on my grocery list. Win-win! I now have an afternoon snack of fruit, that has been overlooked in the fridge and it’s highly satisfying! Apples and mandarin oranges. I will need to buy dog and cat food but otherwise I might be able to stretch further than a month which is exciting!
These days, I almost never accept a T shirt at an event as I wear only plain T shirts except for one from college. I also don’t accept the free water bottles since I never use them. Two swag bags are memorable: one for local media from the area film festival, which included a coupon for a free pair of Blundstone boots, and one from Gwyneth Paltrow’s store with a rather nice denim jacket. Those are worth it. The usual T shirt, tote bag, water bottle, no thanks, just more clutter.
1. I took a nap because self care is important especially after an exhausting previous week.
2. I either ate at home or took my meals to work (sandwiches) which means no eating out.
3. It is hitting 90 here with a heat index much higher. Nevertheless I loathe the local power company and I have been trying my best to use a fan and open my windows (screened because of mosquitoes). I have managed to keep the air off except for maybe 30 minutes a day.
4. My 13 year old fridge has been on its last leg for six months and I keep nursing it along because I don’t want another bill. It, like my even older stove that was given to me, has multiple things wrong with it but I have taken good care of it and it is limping along. To be real, fridge nor its tiny little freezer, has never worked that well, and would randomly freeze things in fridge even when set at the correct temp. Hopefully it will make it to October.
5. I walked in the neighborhood between all the rains.
Hubby and I no longer itemize on our taxes, so there’s no need to keep detailed records of donations, but back in the day I had an Excel spreadsheet on my computer to keep track of Goodwill donations.
The sheet had columns for items, number donated, and value (what it would sell for in a local thrift store). The last column was a total of each row, and at the bottom a grand total. I would print out a page each time I made a donation and attached the store receipt.
I periodically request those tshirts (as long as they are 100% cotton) on our Buy Nothing group — I use them to make underwear as well as work rags for my gardening business. My favorite pair of underwear was made from a Tshirt from a sponsor of a local cannabis festival. It says “go puff” on the derriere, which makes my inner child laugh hysterically every time I put them on!
1) I thawed out a jar of leftover homemade tomato-basil soup for dinner tonight. Present me thanks past me for making and freezing it!
2) I made two loaves of sandwich bread for the week. Four slices will be used tonight for grilled cheeses to accompany the soup.
3) I saved a bunch of plants from the compost pile at my nursery job — two strawberries, two raspberries, two blueberries, three roses, and a foxglove. These are very useful since the garden beds in our new place are nothing but weeds.
4) We took out our garbage and recycling last night as we do every two weeks. We share garbage service with our neighbor, and even with two households sharing a bin we don’t need weekly service.
5) We’ve simply been staying home and finding our own entertainment — we had a cookout with family on Saturday, using food we already had in the freezer. We’ve been walking our own property in the evenings with our own homemade ice coffee. There has also been quite a few evenings playing darts and enjoying a beer at home (a single beer + tip at a pub can nearly buy a sixpack at the store, these days)!
I’ve had a GI test scheduled for a few weeks now at one of our regions “branch campùs” hopitals about 40 minutes from home. Husband had a rush order MRI and we were able to get an appointment same day and nearly same time. Plus, I have a dentist appointment which is on the way home. Three major appointments in one trip! YAY ME!
Brought crocheting (dishcloths) with me to help occupy my time.
Making sweet tea today from tea bags I already have at home.
1. We went to the grocery store to drop off plastic bags for recycling and bought…nothing! We realized we had so much at home – plus a lot of plans this week – that it was time to go home and settle into recipes that used what we already have.
2. I cancelled a camping trip after other plans shortened it to one night. It simply was no longer worth the tolls, expected food bill, and campground fee for a 15 hour turnaround. I’ll stay local and enjoy my neighborhood outside instead.
Frugal fail: NYS campground cancellation fees + processing fees mean I only got about 20% of my campground fee back. Oh well, at least i paid it forward for any last minute campers looking for a space. Maybe that karma will come around for me!
3. Absolutely burning through library books. After hating the first half of The Seven Year Slip, I couldn’t put it down for the second half. Next up: Remarkably Bright Creatures, which I was so pleased to get a “skip the line” notification for on Libby!
4. Letting the rain from this week’s gloomy weather water my little container herb garden.
5. Eating a very ugly but perfectly edible banana for a mid morning snack.
I have a somewhat opposing opinion on t-shirts – I have about six of them that I’ve worn for YEARS after the event. I think the oldest is from 2009! The difference? All of them are WOMEN’s cut with either a pretty scoop neck or v-neck, they all have a run design on the front or back and not just words over the left boob, and they’re all 100% cotton rather than an awful cotton-poly mix. Love all of them. The white, boxy men’s cut Fruit of the Loom 50/50 poly cotton shirts with the corporate logo on the front or back get used for when I color my hair and then tossed aftewards.