Five Frugal Things
by Katy on September 8, 2025 · 15 comments
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I tucked a $1-off Twinings tea coupon onto the shelf for someone else to use, as I’m a Tetley “British Blend” girl through and through. However, it was a high value coupon and I didn’t want it to go to waste.
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I stopped at the Lloyd Center Dollar Tree store to pick up a few items, (specifically moisture eliminators for my daughter’s mildewy apartment) only to find that they’d shuttered the store since my last visit. The entire building was completely empty, including shelving, which meant you could see glimpses of the amazing terrazzo tile floors from when it was Newberry’s. It always bewildered me that they spent however many thousands of dollars on low quality linoleum flooring in the name of covering something both beautiful and durable. Luckily the Dollar Tree on Powell Blvd. was still open, so I was able to pop in and pick up everything I needed.
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I stopped by my father’s house and was sent home with a pair of onions. Hey, I’m always happy to accept free food!
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My youngest is getting ready to move apartments, so I went over to keep them company and lend whatever help was needed. I came home with a pair of travel mugs, some opened food items and a few other random items. I brought over my three Ikea Frakta bags, which are infinitely helpful when moving. I also texted my friend Lise to ask if we could borrow any of her Frakta bags.
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My biggest “frugal thing” for this week is that I’ll attending the FinCon conference, which is conveniently located in not hellacious Portland, Oregon. People come from all over the world for this annual event, that this year is just a couple miles from my house. I also nabbed a $99 pass last November, which is a bargain compared to the current price of $599. Kristen from The Frugal Girl is my date for the week, so her “frugal thing” is the money she’ll save on housing.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
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{ 15 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, how I love it when frugal forces join together. Looking forward to any gems you glean from FinCon…and Kristen’s too!
Have fun at the conference!
My frugals for the last week:
I successfully commuted with my bike to my twice-weekly anatomy class! This is mainly possible because the satellite campus there is thoughtfully designed with a locker room and showers. The ride is 16 miles round trip, and not only is it excellent exercise but there’s a public library conveniently on the route, so I can stop on the way home and grab a book if I have one on hold.
On my way out of school on Thursday I found a still-sealed, unopened bottle of water, probably left over from the school’s welcome back week. Popped it into my bag.
Speaking of the welcome back weekend, on Thursday of that week as we were leaving, the school was providing personal pizzas from Pizza Hut. I asked and was invited to take three back for my kids at home, for their lunches. As a classmate said as she collected her pizza, “I need to get my book money back somehow!” This was a big treat for my kids, as we rarely eat out. They did say they prefer our homemade pizzas, though. 🙂
I checked what was opened and needed to be used up before going to Aldi this morning. Made a pot roast with veggies for my husband’s lunch and put a pan of berry baked oatmeal to cook in the oven alongside the roast. Used up an open bag of lentils and an elderly bag of frozen carrots, celery and onion to make a big pot of lentil-tomato soup for myself.
Aldi had one small whole chicken for $6.84, a bargain these days, so I bought that and will turn the bones into stock after DH finishes it. (As you may be able to tell, he and I don’t eat alike. I go for beans, greens, tofu and mushrooms, while he only likes meat and veg.)
I’m also looking forward to a report on what you learned at FinCon!
1. I sewed a pajama top from a thrifted men’s dress shirt. Total of $3 spent. Top is cute and feminine and coordinates with my home-sewn pajama shorts.
2. We are still harvesting tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, apples, figs, raspberries, kale and rhubarb. Not much shopping here! We spend an extra $20 a month on water in the summer, and grow all our fruits and veggies for those months. This is achieved by storing almost 1000 gallons of rainwater (rain barrels free through city rebate program) and also catching warm up water in shower, and dishes/handwashing water in the kitchen sink.
3. My husband house/farm sat for 2 nights and earned $200.
4. I’ve been watching free webinars offered by Fidelity, where we invest. I’ve inspired our son to watch some through Vanguard, which is where he invests. I always like to learn how to make my money work a bit harder.
5. Strategically renewing our county parks pass. It expires on the last day of the month in which it was issued in the following year. If I renew on September 30, then it only runs to the end of September next year. But if I wait a day and renew on October 1, it runs til the 31st of October next year. That’s like a free month, just for waiting one day to renew.
I have a feeling that FinCon might not be as helpful for me as it is for others as I have no interest in “brand collaborations” and other ways of monetizing my followers. I want people to hold onto their money!
And we appreciate that!
I am so grateful to you for that.
Those Twinings teabags are very pricey, even with the coupon. I had to zoom in to check I read the price correctly. I think tea might be cheaper here – higher demand perhaps.
1. We hosted a large birthday event at our house on the weekend. We catered it all ourselves, including the cake. It was a lot of work, but by doing it ourselves we saved a great deal of money. For example, the cake and 24 cupcakes would have cost about $250 to have made as we needed allergy free (gluten, dairy and nut free). I had to buy pans and a hand mixer so they were allergy free (second hand or used would be contaminated with gluten), but I have them for all allergy free baking in the future now, and the total cost of all cakes including the gear was about $80.
2. We have leftovers for days.
3. The weather is finally warming up so the seeds I planted a few weeks ago have started germinating. Growing from seed is always cheaper than buying seedlings, if you have the time and start them earlier.
4. With warmer weather comes cheaper power bills.
5. We only allow two streaming services at any one time. HBO Max came to Australia recently and we got a good deal for a year, so that is what we have for the next year. I’m watching The Righteous Gemstones while working out on my treadmill (bought second hand 15 years ago). That is a very funny show, but only in workout instalments. Those people are too terrible for binge watching!
Dh started on call this week. He was called out twice this weekend. Once until 2 am and then again following church. Sunday work is double time, so it could be worse.
Ds and I stayed after church for brunch. It was delicious and kept me from having to do dishes at home, yippee! We took some of the extra loaded French toast home for Dh.
Hung out wash, cleaned house, and went on an aldis run. Bought some extra baking supplies because i signed up to make two sheet cakes for a church fundraiser .
Packed lunch to work. Have a side gig lined up to teach food safety to high schoolers.
Cooked from scratched and watched PBS passport, cause I’m pretty high maintenance (;
Katy, I am all about hanging onto my money as long as possible…thank you for thinking of us!
1. after having been cold for days, it warmed up nicely today. laundry done, hung out to dry and we had a nice breeze.
2. Made 12 pints of ginger spiced peaches for DD2, she bought a jar at Aldis and loved them, I can make them so much cheaper. Peaches from the markdown rack.
3. had to get groceries as my fridge was empty but only bought what was on the list and it had to be on sale. I only had one thing on list that evaded me but….I will make substitutions and adapt.
4. filled the vehicle with gas for 20 cents per gallon cheaper because of rewards, remembered to use the rewards before they expired.
5. my home frozen bags of fruit are working out beautifully in my smoothies. I kind of impressed myself LOL
* didn’t show my ass in front of the World Cup attendees and the world. tRump is an arse.
1. I revisited the idea of creating a Youtube channel, and uploaded a short video which garnered one comment and 200 views. I downloaded two apps on my phone to help me create videos and manage my channel. It’s a free distraction with possibilities.
2. Lots of eating in this week. I have not grocery shopped this week, but by the end of the week will probably need more items like milk and butter. Target offered me a $5 off $30 digital for groceries, I will see if I can get a Fetch or Shopkick reward to help lower the cost and continue to buy just the minimum of what we need.
3. I am minimizing my driving substantially only filling up my gas once so far this month. I will have to fill up by the end of the week.
4. I scheduled an annual appointment which will be free with my insurance.
5. I have lost about 15 lbs and can fit into some of my smaller clothing again. I am excited to not need to buy new clothing.
1. I was walking by the park and saw two open boxes sitting on the grass near the curb. Looked more closely and saw that they were Amazon boxes — open. One box contained a large jar of chia seeds. The other a pair of shoes and a jar of protein powder. The labels were for two different people, but the same address. I decided they must be packages that had been stolen and then dumped. I picked them up and walked them to the building at that address. Luckily a resident was coming out and let me in to leave the packages in the mail room. I hope the owners found them. A free pile is one thing — stolen goods is something else.
2. I also found — in a different place — a high school student ID. I dropped it off at the school office this morning. Neither of these is really frugal stuff, but it is community spirit. I’m glad I could help out others.
3. I had breakfast at McDonald’s this morning in the midst of running errands. Let’s just say it was an urge I couldn’t suppress. I tried to make it as frugal as possible. I brought home the coffee that was too hot to drink, and stored it in fridge for tomorrow. I got the cheapest value meal sandwich and bought a second one for a dollar. It’s in the freezer now and will come in handy later.
4. I found three receipts at McDonald’s, which I scanned to Fetch.
5. I had corn chowder for lunch which I thawed from the freezer. Another serving awaits me for tomorrow. Dinner was the other half of the small pizza I made yesterday. The freezer is still pretty full, so I’ll need to keep working on it.
Unfortunately, not much frugality here today. Did a load of laundry and hung it outside. Also, found a dime.
My DH is psychiatrically disabled and I was his representative payee until this spring. He decided that he wanted to pay an agency to handle that (in the event something happened to me, he wouldn’t know what to do). There is a charge for it, but, overall, it has been a good decision and less stress on me. (Granted, I was in the hospital for 8 days July/August 2024 due to an impromptu overdose – I was stressed to the max. I didn’t want to die, just wanted to turn off the volume of the world for a while…or at least turn it DOWN. I knew it wasn’t the right thing to do as one of my cousins committed suicide in 1986. I just kept trying to keep it all together on my own. That’s a story for another day.) We do split most bills or pay out near equal amounts on other things. For example, he pays all of the rent and car insurance; I pick up most of the utilities, groceries and gas; we split the car payment. He’s been having issues with his phone. Many are “operator error.” He’s squawking about getting a new phone with a different carrier, and asked if I would help him. Was so nice to be able to put my foot down and say NO. Our current cell plan runs about $80/month for both phones. Since I pay that bill now, I did agree to pay $40/month for him if he does this, but not a penny more.
My frugality, since he has a new payee, is working toward paying down my debt, eating/cooking what we have, not eating out, etc. My daughter got me a Stanley cup last year, which I’ve been carrying with beverages from home such as ice water, coffee, or tea. He “forgets’ to fix his bottle (he has several), and buys beverages out. His money – not mine. I know he has memory issues from all the ECT treatments he had, but I’m NOT reminding him. When he wants to buy something, I have now grown a backbone and can confidently say, “Do you have the money for _____?” He usually says “no.” I say, “I guess you’ll have to save your money then.”
My goal is to be out from under my personal debt load (not counting our joint debt load, such as our car) in 3 years.
I want to continue to learn from you all and I need you to help keep me straight on the right financial path.
(Sorry this was so long, but I felt the need to explain…)
You’ve truly been through some rough times, Melissa. I wish you and your family well, and I’m glad you’ve joined us.
First and foremost, I wish my two favorite frugal K’s an enjoyable FinCon meetup!
Now, FFT, Miscellany Edition:
(1) I went out thrifting this morning. First stop was the Second Time Around pop-up Monday morning store in the old bowling alley, where I got 24 votive candles, two Ball pint jars (I pretty well ran myself out of pint jars during this year’s pickle season), and a Zyliss garlic press for a total of $5. (Now that it’s dark when I get up at my usual ungodly early hour, I like to light a votive or two while I have my coffee and wake up. Goodness knows we have enough reasons to light candles these days.)
(1a) I forgot to mention in my last comment that I found another Ball pint jar in some bushes during a recent morning walk. Somebody must have been “drinkin’…liquor from an old fruit jar” (Carl Perkins, “Blue Suede Shoes”)!
(2) My next stop was the Byrne Dairy convenience store/gas station between (1) and (3), where I aired up my tires for free.
(3) Third stop was a Thrifty Shopper store, where I treated myself to a Vera Bradley toiletries organizer for $8. This may be an improvement on the random assortment of small bags and baggies I’ve been using for this purpose–and I’ve got a major trip coming up next month.
(4) I then came home, had another serving of the excellent “clean out the fridge” minestrone I made Saturday (and have shared with NDN1 and one of my Sunday walking buddies), and worked around the house this afternoon.
(5) And I didn’t just have an embarrassing birthday card I sent to a pedophile friend subpoenaed by Congress. In fact, to the best of my knowledge and belief, I don’t have any pedophile friends.