Five Frugal Things
by Katy on July 14, 2025 · 15 comments
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We’ve been really good about using up random food this week.
• This morning I used up spinach and cabbage for an okonomiyaki-ish breakfast.
• Last night we ate the last clearance shelf heirloom tomatoes on tostadas.
• Yesterday we used up the last of our Tillamook cheese and half a red onion in a frittata.
• We toasted up the last two English muffins from the $1 sleeve that I picked up at the Franz bakery outlet last week.
Our household is normally just my husband and myself, but we’ve had three extra people for almost two weeks at this point. Avoiding food waste has to be planned and deliberate, especially as we’re out and about almost all day.
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I bought a bag of brand new Command strip hooks for $3.99 at the Goodwill just up from Winco. Lowe’s sells an eight-pack for $8.99, so that’s a pretty good deal. Do I currently need 16 Command hooks? No, but me and my kids are now set for the rest of our lives. Plus, my purchase didn’t trigger the manufacture of brand new plastic items. Buying used for the win!
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My sister and I did a big Winco shopping trip and I mostly stuck to my list, (eggs, cheese, onions, tostadas, yogurt, flour, butter) although I impulsively bought a bag of cherries. Zero regrets though, as they were absolute amazing and a huge hit at the house.
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I made an urgent care appointment as one of my four-day-old yellow jacket stings seemed to be getting worse, not better. Of course it then began to show improvement, so I cancelled the appointment and saved myself at least the $40 I would’ve spent as a co-pay.
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I continue to repeat outfits and just wash everything pretty frequently. Decades of working in hospital provided scrubs meant I didn’t have to own very much, which saved me thousands and thousands of dollars. I still don’t own a lot of clothing, which has yet to effect my life negatively. Almost everything you own used to be money.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
What a helpful thought: Almost everything you own used to be money. I’m going to keep that in my brain forever. Thank you!
I like it too, Mand01. I’d even expand it a little: Since all of us whose last names are not Rockefeller, Bezos, Musk, Zuckerberg, or Trump have had to earn our money, I think that “Almost everything you own used to be your money, time, and effort” may be allowable.
I enjoy thoughts of minimalism though I am not currently a minimalist and one thought very similar that I love is, “All this stuff used to be money and all that money used to be time”. That thought got me thinking how much time I worked to pay for stuff I thought I needed years ago. Ugh.
I struggle with the balance of thriftiness vs minimalism. But I have a long time to fight bc minimal I’m not yet.
Those yellow jacket stings can cause an out of control welt and mine mimicked cellulitis. Wild.
Cooking with intention can really save $ and treating one’s refrigerator like a Chopped episode is kind of fun.
Our 300 garlic plants are getting close to being harvested. They are very popular among friends and family. And they make great hostess gifts. A lot of garlic is interestingly grown in China.
Laundry hung out, coffee at home, books ready to be returned to the library.
That’s a great thought. Almost everything you own used to be money.
1. I took a trip up north with my mom. I chose a hotel that was clean but less expensive and had a free breakfast. It was a great savings.
2. We brought water bottles and a cooler with diet coke.
3. We shared meals at restaurants since neither of us can eat an entire entree.
4. We stopped at a garage sale and I bought a vintage accordion sewing box full of thread for my daughter who just started a sewing class. It was $5.
5. We visited my niece, her boyfriend and her son. They put us up in their AirBnb for a night. I thanked them by buying them breakfast.
Almost everything we own used to be money. Amazing! And we trade our short time on Earth for … money.
I’m the same with frequent washing of my very few outfits and have found that if I’m thoughtful about it, I can alternate my outfits so that people don’t see me in the same thing many times in a row. I know that what other people think shouldn’t matter, but let’s be real!
Love that saying! Another phrase that has stuck in my head for decades is a coworker saying that her grandmother said “Houses are hungry things” which has proven true in the 5 different ones we’ve owned as we moved a lot.
I read Your Money or You Life long ago and reread it at least once. The concept of how many hours you have to work to buy something plus clarity on personal values (not to mention being raised by parents for whom the Great Depression and WWII were realities) had a big impact. Fortunately those parents not only modeled thrift and making do but we’re willing to spend when they could for enriching experiences and to support true personal interests.
That’s another good one. House’s are hungry things.
That’s a great phrase, Katy.
1. Made a mocktail of leftover tonic water and olive juice. An abomination. Do not recommend.
2. Found a poop bag and a garbage bag (both empty!) on a walk.
3. Used the sun to zap out stains on a shirt and bedspread, even though the stains were already set in by the dryer. Thanks to The Frugal Girl for inspirating me to try this! It’s a miracle, really.
4. Started adding a small plate of salad greens with a bit of dressing to whatever I’m having for breakfast. Some odd combos for sure but I’m glad to get another veggie serving in my day. I’m pretty sure I have The Frugal Girl to thank for this, too!
5. Cooked up a batch of wild rice to add to scrambled eggs, pancakes and salads.
Inspirating? New word there in #3!
When I worked full time as a therapist, I could wear my work clothes more than once a week as I same different clients each day. I changed clothes as soon as I got home so I could wear my work dresses more than once a week. It was actually one of my clients who taught me that. We all learn from each other!
I’ve been wearing the same 4 outfits to work for the last 3 semesters, although I did add a pair of summer pants to the rotation. I even asked my students one semester if they had noticed, and they had not. 2 of the pairs of pants are even patched!
1. We almost folded to the temptation of take-out Chinese food last night when I recalled that we had potstickers in the freezer ($5 marked down to $1.99). I added a side of stir-fried veg – and the Napa cabbage and zucchini were in free CSA box. So, dinner for less than $3 instead of $60.
2. Likewise, on Saturday, I thought about going to open-mic night at the local brewery that my partner had organized. I would have eaten dinner. I decided to stay in and eat a frozen pizza (purchased on sale).
3. I received a survey about climate change and education. They promised me it would take about 15 minutes and I would get a gift certificate for $20. They did not lie, and it was the best-paid 20 minutes of the week!
4. I ate lunch 4 days last week for free at work (although I got food poisioning on Friday). I also drank the free, crappy coffee.
5. I did not travel to the FIFA World Cup, only to be booed by the crowd.
Nice find on the command strip hooks! I once bought a box of about 20 big bike hooks at a garage sale for fifty cents. My husband said we only needed two hooks, but buying a box for less than one hook seemed obvious to me and they have come in handy over the years.
1. I listed two wooden nightstands that I had gotten from a free sale, and they were picked up later that day for $60. I also sold a pair of moccasins and a shirt on ebay, both from yard sales.
2. Walked to an estate sale and found two Carhartt jackets and one Carhartt shirt for $4 total. This was the second day of the sale, and I was shocked they hadn’t been snatched up the first day. I also bought a nice Black N Decker level, a dog brush, and a good spray bottle. Practical stuff for cheap!
3. My neighbor put two rubber dog toys on the free table, which I took. She said her dog only like plush toys, so I gave her a handful of ours.
4. Found a receipt for Fetch on our walk this morning and two dog waste bags (obviously unused).
5. Wendy’s has a free Frosty, Frosty Swirl, or Frosty Fusion with any purchase in their app. So you can buy a cookie for $1.49 and get a $4.50 Frosty Fusion for free.
Let’s see, what did we do to save money?
1) Got in the pool with DS19, which was free entertainment. We choose not to heat our pool, so it takes quite a bit of time for the water to warm on its own. It’s finally that time of the year! We tossed the ball around & had some laughs.
2) Picked some of our green onions, and used them in the beef/broccoli dish I made on Saturday. There was one serving of leftovers, and DS19 polished that off for dinner.
3) DS19 is taking summer classes at the local community college, and… it’s A LOT cheaper than a university. He is really enjoying the class, and it’s a quick 5 weeks, which means pretty intense workload (same amount of work that’s typically covered in 10 weeks.)
4) DS19 picked up his GF & her family at the airport last night, saving them an expensive trip from SFO.
5) Picked strawberries from the garden, and had those as a snack.
Great score on the command hooks.
Those suckers are pricey and as an apartment dweller,they frown on holes in the walls.