Five Frugal Things
by Katy on August 25, 2025 · 12 comments
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I mixed up a spreadable cheese mix using cream cheese, homegrown chives, garlic powder, lemon zest, a squeeze of lemon juice and salt. Super yummy on my favorite $1.25 Dollar Tree “entertainment” crackers.
As opposed to Kroger’s version, which costs $4.29 and seem synonymous. It’s hard to get ahead financially when all your money is tied up in crackers.
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My neighbor put a covered propane BBQ out on her curb and I was tempted to just take the cover, as our one is terrible. A different neighbor decided to grab the BBQ for their backyard, but gave me the cover after I joked about how I’d almost taken it for myself.
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I took my thrifted Yakima bike rack to a local store that sells used racks, but they didn’t want it as they no longer sell this model. Fine, whatever. However, they offer to take it “to recycle.” WHAT?! It’s fully functional and still has lots of life left to it. Instead I brought it home and listed it on Facebook Marketplace.
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I came across a limited time offer for a $1.50 bahn mi sandwich at one of Portland’s large Asian grocery stores and have added it to my to-do list for the week. I’m a big fan of adding enjoyable tasks onto a to-do list and this bargain sandwich definitely counts as such!
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I didn’t ban any books, paint over rainbow crosswalks or move my country towards martial law.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for your frequent great posts and I’m sorry I haven’t had time to comment every day
I stopped in Dollar Tree last week to buy Oxydol and found that they have raised prices to $1.50. They were using stickers to cover up the $1.25 printed prices.
1. We drove past a Free pile down the street from our house and circled back. I picked up a couple of very cute small bird baths that were in need of a bath.
2. We found $.44 while walking. That will really boost my found change total for the quarter.
3. I met a friend for a walk and she gave me a couple of heirloom tomatoes from her garden.
4. I met a friend for ice cream (cheaper than lunch) and he gave be tomatoes from the garden his landlord plants and also blueberries one of his neighbors shared with him (apparently surplus from her job at a produce business). A couple days later I dropped off some Blueberry Buckle while nearby.
5. More free produce. A friend gave me some cucumbers and a neighbor some small red peppers. I shared some watermelon with the neighbor.
1. I made yogurt in my instapot using the free half gallon of milk I bought with a coupon.
2. I also made another batch of quinoa salad using mint and parsley that I grew. I ate it for dinner with some fish fillets.
3. I spent the weekend mowing, weeding and maintaining my pool.
4. My handyman cut down a dead tree before it could fall on my pool shed or fence. It was cheaper then having a tree company do it.
5. I’m reading a library book and drinking home brewed coffee on my freshly swept front porch.
1. Made a couple of eBay sales. It makes a huge difference if I list one thing per day. Also a couple of FB marketplace sales. I’ve nearly worked through the pile of stuff a friend gave me to sell (for myself) which is good because my son and daughter-in-law have a pile for me to bring home and sell (I give the money to them) next week.
2. Made soup which included homemade chicken stock, home grown kale and green beans and home grown and home made tomato sauce. It was delicious and it makes me happy to think that the nutritional value of these things is so much higher since it’s picked and cooked same day.
3. Froze a bunch of homegrown green beans. We can’t keep up. These will be used in winter soups.
4. Successfully dried a batch of homegrown grapes into raisins just by putting them on racks in the sun. So satisfying!
5. Our health insurance premiums have increased by 60% this year-and this is good insurance through the school district my husband works for.. Food prices are rising. We are most definitely not better off than this time last year.
The dollar tree near me shut down, so I satisfy myself with the big box of “entertainment crackers” that Trader Joe’s sells. They’re schmancy enough for me!
1. I went to a garage sale and bought a huge package of vacuum cleaner bags for around 25 cents per bag.
2. I’m in the process of making yogurt from clearance milk.
3. I found 26 cents.
4. I was running errands near Costco, so I bought a rotisserie chicken. That’s all I bought.
5. I’m not sending anyone to Uganda because they embarrassed me.
Love a homemade dip/spread!
1. Friend is getting married out of town later this year – I originally booked the room block to avoid a pinch later. Discussed the venue with some other guests and realized there are plenty of other hotels nearby at more reasonable rates – saved $184 by switching. Even if we take cabs around instead of walking, we’re still coming out way ahead!
2. Traveling again soon (surprise, surprise) so we are in fridge-clearing mode again. Tuna sandwiches, eggs, and whatever produce is in there is on the menu.
3. Met a friend for dinner in advance of her birthday – it was a chill Sunday, so we got paninis and drank water. Eating out is never cheap but this was as close to frugal as we could get!
4. We released our free-pile air fryer as we NEVER use it and it’s taking up a lot of precious counter space. Someone else nabbed it within 2 hours. Sometimes the frugalest thing is to let something go to someone else who will use it.
5. Same old – coffee at home, filtered water, easy breakfasts.
1. Rinsed out the nasty salt in the bottom of a jar of peanuts I finished and poured the water on a weed in the driveway. (I’m going for tiny things here!).
2. Am trying to drink less Coca-Cola, meaning to train myself to quit drinking when I am “full” even if the can isn’t empty. I pour any leftovers down the bathroom sink, as it sometimes runs sluggishly, and Coke has cleansing properties I don’t like to spend much time thinking about.
3. Very happy we have had the AC off and windows open for several days. I actively monitor our heating and cooling like Goldilocks to be just right.
4. Wrote down two television shows I am looking forward to on my to-do list for September– anticipation is part of the enjoyment!
5. From the library, read “No New Things” by Ashlee Piper, as recommended here by MB in MN and perhaps others, thank you! I really liked the marketing research she cited about consumer behavior and the changes in American shopping in the last hundred years. She lays out a thirty day plan for not-shopping, and I found some ideas in that helpful to maintain my non-shopping, non-consumer life.
Yet I also spent parts of the book with my jaw dropping at the “average” American shopping behaviors. I can’t imagine spending those amounts of money. She also stresses environmental impacts of shopping. Buying something means having it, maintaining it, and disposing of it at the end of its life, and I am very conscious of all parts of that.
Heidi Louise, I’m glad you enjoyed it as much as I did!
Heidi Louise,
Try some sparkling waters to help wean off the Cokes. This helped me greatly after my heart attacks. I was a Coke addict. I haven’t bought Cokes in a long time, but I think the sparking waters are cheaper. In the interest of frugalness I have now weaned off the sparkling waters also.
I also liked your comment about “having it, maintaining it, and disposing of it”. Stuff owns us!
First, Katy, re: your #5: I just shipped off a box of books to JASNA BFF (some of which were my birthday presents to her and some of which she bought during her visit here, mainly kids’ books for her grandchildren) via USPS Media Mail. The clerk asked me as usual, “Does this package contain anything liquid, fragile, or potentially hazardous?” I replied, “Well, some folks these days consider books as potentially hazardous.”
Now, FFT, A Lunchtime Story Edition. For something completely different, I thought I’d break the lunch I just ate into its frugal components.
(1) I began with the last of the turkey breast sandwich meat I bought for BFF while she was here (Wegmans house brand, probably the best in its class for the money; unfortunately, I’ve lost the receipt).
(2) I put this on two slices of Pepperidge Farm 15 Grain bread (the loaf was 99 cents at my local grocery outlet and still within its best-by date), which were spread with almost the last of an 8-oz jar of Grey Poupon (purchased at Ollie’s for $1.49).
(2a) After I’ve finished writing this, I will do my trick of putting olive oil, red vinegar (with my own basil in the vinegar), salt, and pepper into the Grey Poupon jar, putting the lid on, and shaking vigorously to make a Dijon vinaigrette.
(3) The first of my fall lettuce is coming in (well protected in my old Easy Washer tub by my trashpicked fire pit lid), so I garnished the sandwich with some of the fresh, tender lettuce.
(4) I accompanied the sandwich with some of my equally well protected cherry tomatoes. Little flavor bombs!
(5) And I also accompanied the sandwich with some of the Xochitl “American Style” (pale yellow, blue, and red) tortilla chips I bought at the grocery outlet (a 12-oz bag for $2.49).
The Dijon vinaigrette is SO smart!!!! I’m going to do this tonight!
1. Took advantage of some cooler days to move some plants around to fill in some bald spots in the gardens.
2. Received 80 lbs. of red potatoes from an acquaintance who is a potato farmer. Will be giving much of it to the food shelf.
3. Checked out The Polar Express book and DVD from the library. It is the theme of our great-nephew’s 5th birthday party (in September… in California!) and I wanted a memory refresher of what it’s all about. He loves to talk about it.
4. At a large picnic, I gathered the empty plastic bags from the hamburger and hot dog buns to repurpose as dog poop bags.
5. Fulfilled the wish of someone on Buy Nothing who was looking for decorative file folders. I had six left from a set I purchased a couple years ago.
1) Picked up a new book from the library, I’ve been waiting awhile for it too. Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir. It’s hooked me right away so that’s good, worth the wait!
2) I made a green curry and put it over some already cooked brown rice I had in the freezer and froze it in portions for lunches. This used a ton of veggies including some Bok Choy that came in my produce box 2 weeks ago and needed to be used. I also made a coconut rice pilaf using a lot of vegetables and my kids devoured it, always happy when I can get them to eat more veggies!
3) It’s our anniversary next week. We are using a restaurant gift card my husband got from work and are going out on a day my mom will already be here so can watch the kids, free dinner and free babysitting!
4) Used a gift card for coffee this morning
5) My kids both got red sauce all over new school clothes while eating lasagna for dinner last week (they aren’t toddlers either, not sure when they get less prone to staining clothes? Although even I still spill on myself often!) I had them take the clothes off right away, sprayed stain remover and washed them. The stains came out, phew!