Five Frugal Things

1. I darned a sock for my step father. I think of sock darning as a winter activity, as I rarely wear socks in the summer. Plus, you know . . . it’s a wooly warm activity. I love darning socks, as it’s so satisfying to keep something in circulation that most people would thoughtlessly throw away.

2. My niece was able to get a chic $95 NYC haircut for just $10 by agreeing to be a model for the salon’s social media. She was excited to tell me, as she knows that “Aunt Katy” loves creative frugality!

3. I stopped by my mother’s house and she gave me the latest copy of Architectural Digest that arrived in her mailbox. Neither she nor her husband know why they have a subscription, although they’re sure they don’t pay for it. Either way, they gave it to me to flip through and then put in our little free library. I used to love magazines and always had multiple subscriptions, but rarely read them these days. I know I can access magazines through the Libby app, but there’s just something about physically leafing through a paper magazine. Thanks, mom!

4. My husband volunteers his time teaching CPR to community members, sometimes even having people to the house who are up against a deadline to recertify. Today was one of those days, and because my husband does these classes for free, people often go out of their way to thank him. This is how we’ll be receiving some free Winterhawk hockey tickets!

5. I made fajitas for dinner using Fred Meyer’s clearance shelf peppers from last month, an aging onion and a brick of tofu. I marinated the tofu in chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, lime juice, canola oil and spices, (onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, paprika and salt.) I then cooked the tofu chunks in the air fryer.

   They were so delicious, like good enough to serve to guests delicious!

   The best part is that this was what I call a “dirt and buttons” meal, (don’t ask, I don’t remember why) made using the random ingredients from my echo chamber fridge. Cheap and yummy!

Katy Wolk-Stanley