Five Frugal Things

by Katy on July 23, 2015 · 52 comments

Clothesline selfie

  1. I relisted three things on Craigslist, started a new listing and sold five free pile half-pint jars to my local terrarium shop for $20. I also signed up for work shifts through mid-September.
  2. I reminded myself that even though my son’s college expenses seems high, having him away from home will save us some money. No groceries for him, less electricity, no Crossfit membership and no long showers. I’m sure there are many more ways in which it was save us money to have him away from home, but for now I’m too busy fighting an emotional breakdown to think clearly. My baby . . . 
  3. I walked to the grocery store for cereal and milk. I found two pennies on the ground at the store, and then spied a dollar bill on the grass outside of another store. Not only did I save money by walking instead of driving, but I made money in the process!
  4. I hung a load of laundry on the clothesline, I prepared a dinner of white bean soup from scratch, I brought home a pretty glazed flowerpot from a free pile, my husband and I slept on a fitted sheet from someone’s garage sale leftovers, I watered plants using mystery drips that I catch in a bowl at the back of the refrigerator and I packed a lunch for tomorrow’s 12-hour shift.
  5. I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.

Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?

Katy Wolk-Stanley

“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”

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{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }

Stephanie July 23, 2015 at 10:03 pm

1. Picked apples from a neighbors tree for free and for processing into sauce and jelly.
2. Have packed lunches or eaten at home all week so far
3. Picked up 2 items for my nieces birthday from our buy nothing group
4. Parked in the cheaper garage and walked further to save money while working (rather than parking in our building)
5. Line dried all of our clothing

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Kari July 23, 2015 at 10:28 pm

1. Batched several errands this afternoon.
2. Took my 10 year old daughter to Goodwill and found two pairs of shoes and two pairs of jeans to replace outgrown school clothes. Took the opportunity to point out to her that later on in life she’s going to be going out to the mall with her friends, where her money won’t go nearly as far. She totally got it!
3. Needed a storage solution for some clutter. “Shopped” for it in our basement instead of going out and buying a new shelving system.
4. Was tempted to get a pizza for dinner. Ate leftovers instead.
5. Thought about buying my own island, but didn’t.

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A. Marie July 24, 2015 at 1:29 am

Cucumbers, snow peas, kale, peppers, and herbs from the garden (the harvest is really getting under way). Oh, yes, and the first tomato is finally ripening!

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Stacie M. July 24, 2015 at 2:28 am

I’ve got some ripening in my garden too…I have been watching those babies like a hawk cause I just can’t wait to eat em up. I’m sure you feel the same way 🙂

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marie July 26, 2015 at 5:28 am

We dug up around 35# of potatoes today, 5 zucchini’s 8 cukes, picked blueberry’s, boysenberries, the last of the spinach!

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Kathleen July 24, 2015 at 2:37 am

My kids and I have had a very frugal week. Monday we went grocery shopping and then hid inside away from the 90 degree heat, but we did not put on the AC. Tuesday we enjoyed a free craft time at our local library. Wednesday we went to a nearby park to play with friends and have a picnic, which I made. Thursday we worked in the early morning in our community garden plot and then made lunch at home for a friend. Today we are back at the library for an interactive kids’ play and then home for lunch. Overall, a great frugal summer week.

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Stacie M. July 24, 2015 at 2:37 am

I had so much fun reading about your frugal trip to see your sister, Katy! Sounds like you had a wonderful time.
Here’s mine;
1.) Made a surprise cheesecake for my husband and blueberry sauce with a can of blueberries in water I got on clearance ages ago. He was oh so very happy and it only cost me about 4$ for ingredients (when did cream cheese get so expensive, haha?)
2.) Sticking to my 30/wk grocery budget. With the garden producing, it isn’t too bad.
3.) Working on a baby gift for my husband’s coworker with yarn I already had on hand (that I think came from a 1$ yard sale bag, honestly).
4.) Sold some eggs.
5.) Line dried all laundry, read free books, homemade dinners/lunches/breakfasts, worked in garden for free exercise, and all that other awesome frugal everyday stuff.

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MamaMinou July 24, 2015 at 8:51 pm

$30 a week is an extremely impressive grocery budget!

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Nathalie July 24, 2015 at 4:34 am

1) Didn’t go anywhere
2) Didn’t spend any money
3) Participated in the Swagbucks Swagcation Team Challenge and finally reached 2.200 SB for the month so ordered a $25 Amazon GC
4) Dehydrated 5 wrinkly apples
5) Made apple peels and cores jelly… however I just realized that since I didn’t add extra pectin (I didn’t have any on hand), it didn’t really take… might try to use it as syrup on pancakes next week.

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Amanda July 24, 2015 at 4:57 am

1. Rode my bike to the dentist yesterday. Squeezed my six month visit in before my dental insurance ran out.
2. Went to Costco yesterday to pick up contacts and Office Max to recycle printer cartridges and didn’t buy a thing at either store.
3. Finally found my son a pair of walking shoes that fit. I found them at my favorite consignment store as they were marking down the summer clothes. What is better than consignment clothes? Marked down consignment clothes!
4. Today I will clean my own house saving me the $60 my cleaning lady would charge. (And she is worth every penny when I do need her!)
5. Lunch yesterday was two completely unmatched leftovers.

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K D July 24, 2015 at 4:59 am

1. Loss leader groceries (and used coupons and/or Saving Star rebates).

2. Meals at home (with packed lunches and snacks when we’re not home).

3. Books and ebooks borrowed from the library and a free Red Box DVD rental.
Also, knitting toddler sweaters for charity with yarn leftovers.

4. Found $.15 and a Chuckie Cheese token yesterday and $.11 so far today.

5. I’m still using a clothes hamper and kitchen wastebasket from Caldor (they closed in the late 1990s) as well as trash barrels that we moved 20+ years ago.

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Kristen July 24, 2015 at 5:14 am

1. Went for breakfast with my coworker. Didn’t eat my bacon as I’m on a diet lol. Wrapped it up to take home for adding to a Caesar salad.

2. Took a few extra marmalade packets to stash up at the camper.

3. Rifled through my free bags from my thrift shop that I transport for. Found a juice jug, blanket for the beach, three outfits for my best friend, a beer can chicken rack, a pair of new swim trunks for the hubby, a ship toy for my son, and a sweet hand knit baby bonnet and booties in mint condition for my overdue sister in law!!! Also the slide projector which I would like to sell on eBay.

4. Had a friend give me a huge box of sweets and treats from a family fathered by for my kids. In exchange I gave her a outfit I for for free that I was going to upcycle or sell.

5. Have an excess of soda crackers. Have been googling ways to be frugal and creative and to use them up…. Toffee crackers and chicken breaking are happening today! I’m realizing I need to stop wasting and start being creative!

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Isabelle July 24, 2015 at 5:20 am

* Found out yesterday that the interests we have to pay on the un-sold house is 230$/month and not 400$/month like we were initially told. It’s still a lot of lost money, but this extra 170$ not given in interests is more than welcomed!! We will then be able to put more on the actually loan and not just pay interests.
* I did my budget yesterday, and on the personal front I’ve just spent 28$ on makeup and 15$ for a night out in the last 2 weeks, yay! And now that makeup is on my “year-long shopping-ban”, it’s going to get even better.
* I brought empty bottles in exchange for 1.20$ credit at the grocery store, and I exchanged PC Points for 20$ of free grocery, so I’ve saved 21,20$. As usual, I scanned the reduced rack and got some stuff there. And I submitted my receipt on Zweet and got 1$ back on a salad dressing.
* I still do my on-line surveys to accumulate Air Miles and Petro Points. I know have 40$ of free gas waiting for me
* I got two bottles of soap that I thought would be free with a mail-in offer, but realized that the offer starts on July 25th. So I will bring them back, and do this next week! Worth 14$.
* My mom said she wanted to pay for my daughter school supplies this year. It’s the first year she’s going, so she needs everything new (lunch bag, bottle, back pack, etc), I believe we will save quite a lot right there (150-200$?).
* My in-laws bought us a new (good quality!!!!) mattress for the guest room as a house-warming gift. They usually pay quite a lot for their stuff, so I can just imagine……. This is awesome!!

Have a great frugal day!

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Betty Winslow July 24, 2015 at 5:38 am

1. Had two full days of tours on a teacher program set up by a local historical society, so put dinner in the crockpot each morning, to keep me from coming home and ordering a pizza (which I so would have done, because the days were exhausting).
2. Carpooled for the above with a co-worker, which saved me on gas (although I paid for museum parking the firsy day).
3. Brought my own beverages both days, to save money and calories on impulse drinks.
4. Was offered a free beer glass and Tshirt at the brewery we toured; brought them home for hubby.
5. Found 11 cents on the ground and pocketed it for the crisis pregnancy center donation bottle all my found change goes in.

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Sharon H. July 24, 2015 at 5:42 am

I’m traveling with my 15 year old son, he’s attending a technology class in the big city. It’s expensive, but I’m cutting costs by:

– staying in a funky little basement apartment via Airbnb, that has a kitchenette, so I can eat some lunches here (his are at the university campus)
– eating food I packed from home, and enjoying the teas and a mini-bottle of pinot grigot my host provided
– exploring the amazing neighborhood shops, went to a free public museum, took a long walk admiring the architecture & the gorgeous yards/gardens
– stayed with friends our first day. Brought her two daughters some books from my stash of children’s literature that brought squeals of delight.
– we’ll stay the last two nights with family (who live too far out of town for us to use as a base during my son’s class) and we’ll take them out to dinner tonight as a thank you, along with bringing a lemon meringue pie we ordered yesterday from the local pie bakery.
– supper yesterday was a burger at a colorful local diner with a talkative cook who kept us entertained, and gave us directions to get to the highlight of the day: the frozen custard stand! My son had never been to this scene of my youth. Ah, the memories!
– bought a colander for $1 that I’ve needed for years at a charity thrift shop, sent DH a photo of a gorgeous loveseat that we decided not to buy after all.

Thanks for the chance to share, Katy.

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Meredith P. July 24, 2015 at 6:31 am

1. Listed my highschool clarinet on a local FB sale site. Yeah…highschool. 15 years in a closet and moved at least twice.
2. Planned to buy a long-lasting brand backpack for my son starting kindergarten, then realized that our “bowling bag” is actually a perfectly good and properly sized backpack for him to use! Both boys easily agreed to use backpacks we already had at home!! Score!
3. Went bowling for free yesterday (summer program at the bowling alley), and didn’t buy snacks or rent shoes. The shoes we bought have now been used enough times that they’re actively saving us money. (Got them on massive clearance at Academy for around $8 per pair…and shoe rental is $4 per pair per trip!)
4. Continuing to decorate my new house from the things I already own instead of buying something that would be “just perfect” instead.
5. Beginning the plans for my younger son’s 5th birthday party (we do a bigger party on odd numbered birthdays, so he’s up this year!), and realized that I’ve already got a soccer goal, bubbles, a slip n slide, and the toys inside. Games and activities are set and free!

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K D July 24, 2015 at 8:21 am

The other potential savings with your son at college may be on taxes. If you haven’t already, look into The American Opportunity Credit and the Lifetime Learning Credit. A tax credit could be a big savings.

Sending your kid to college is a bittersweet event.

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Christa July 24, 2015 at 8:34 am

I love your blog. It is one of my must reads every morning. Your five frugal things are one of my favorite things to read. It always inspires me. Thank you sharing your ideas.

Christa

My five frugal things…

Picked 4 gallons of green beans at my dad’s house.

Hung a load of laundry on the line.

Canned six pints of dilly beans

Made an apple crisp from apples picked from my dad’s tree

Used my leftover coffee to water the plants on my porch.

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Katy July 24, 2015 at 7:22 pm

That’s very sweet, thank you!

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Joy July 27, 2015 at 8:30 am

I am canning Dilly Beans for my very first time with my BFF the end of the week! I am picking the beans in my sister’s garden. 🙂

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Bobbi July 24, 2015 at 9:15 am

1. Yesterday I paid a $5 copay for my six-month teeth cleaning appointment, thanks to my new-ish dental insurance through the Affordable Healthcare Act. Thanks Obama!
2. Found out from my dental hygienist that the recent staining on my front teeth is probably due to switching from drinking coffee out of Starbucks cups (with the lids and small holes to drink from) to mugs, which exposes the teeth to more coffee. I am proud of my frugal efforts to break my Starbucks “addiction” so at home I’m going to start using reusable travel mugs, which I already have. Hygienist removed the staining, so I feel extra smiley!
3. Filled a prescription at Costco yesterday even though I’m not a member, because they have the best price. Walking through the store to get to the pharmacy counter, I passed huge multi-packs of toothpaste, deodorant, lotion, tampons, etc. Someone could easily spend hundreds of dollars on healthcare products, but I make my own from coconut oil & baking soda, and I use a Diva cup. Frugal win!
4. Did a big grocery shop at Winco (Portland-area, employee-owned discount grocery chain) including their excellent bulk section. They also carry more organic produce than they used to, and they give a bag credit for bringing your own reusable grocery bags.
5. I batched my errands, including the above dentist and pharmacy along with post-office and swinging by my office to pick up mail because I was working from home.

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auntiali July 24, 2015 at 10:23 am

While sending your baby off to college is hard it’s great on what you save money on. With 2 kids in college we saved a lot on utilities and food.
My five frugal things:
1. Dh and I decided to pay cash for dd’s last year of college. So we won’t take out a loan and save ourselves lots of interest.
2. Will be bringing the change from the change can to the bank to turn into lovely dollars.
3. On my way to that bank I will stop at the grocery store and return a less than half gallon (grr – reduced sizes!) of ice cream. It looked tampered with on the outside.
4. Cleaning my house – saving $ on a cleaning person.
5. Will get a massage this weekend which is already pre-paid at a reduced price.

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Chris July 24, 2015 at 11:16 am

1. We met my sister and her husband at the lake last night. The men fished and my sister and I walked the lake – 2miles. There is a free concert every night and I ran into my neighborhood who was singing so got a chance to hear him for the first time.

2.Was going to buy popcorn to take home but decided not to because the lines were so long – saved $2.

3.A friend gave me beans from her garden that will go bad while she is out of town. Mine are coming sooooooo slowly.

4. Went to garage sales and bought .50 clothes for grandbaby-to-be and a baby quilt to sell on etsy.

5. Ate leftovers for lunch every day this week and am not caving in to husband’s desire for pizza tonight.

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Marilyn July 24, 2015 at 1:25 pm

1. Took my usual morning walk with neighbors. This is my exercise program so I don’t have to buy a gym membership.
2. Bought my husband a very nice polo shirt using mostly credit card rewards points. It’s a credit card I use for business travel, so my expenses are all reimbursed and I never pay interest, but it earns rewards points and coupons which can be used for various items. There will be no shipping fees on the shirt either. Anyway, once the coupons were applied, the shirt will only cost me $2.59 – a good deal and he truly needed a new shirt.
3. Unlike my husband, I have plenty of summer clothes and I’m determined not to add anything to my wardrobe until winter. So far, I’ve been successful at resisting any urge to shop for myself.
4. Ordered a new pair of glasses which will be totally covered by insurance since I was careful to stay within the amounts allowed.
5. I’m trying to avoid wasting any food. We have not been real careful about this in the past and I can tell I have to take more time with meal planning and grocery shopping to make sure nothing gets wasted. I’m working on it!

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Sandy July 24, 2015 at 1:26 pm

After an extremely not nca weekend, in the hospital, I was waiting for 2 prescriptions to be filled. I looked down and thought I saw a crumpled dollar bill on the floor. Picked it up and put it in my pocket. The prescriptions were both filled at no cost to me!!
Got home, emptied my pocket and found I had a TEN dollar bill in my pocket!
Clean bill of health, no cost meds and cash in my pocket, makes up for the weekend!

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Mrs. LC@LooseChangeLiving July 24, 2015 at 1:27 pm

1. We showered at the gym everyday saving water, electricity, and soap.
2. Ate all meals at home or what we brought along on outings.
3. No air conditioning even though it has been sticky warm.
4. Picked mounds of green beans from the garden. Ate some fresh and the rest were blanched and frozen.
5. Took advantage of double coupon day and bought whole milk for $0.59 for 2 quarts. The milk is being used for homemade yogurt.

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Ruby July 24, 2015 at 2:14 pm

1. Trimmed the dogs’ nails with the new safety clipper, which immediately saved us money. The clipper was $6 and a nail trim at the vet is $7 per dog. Instant $8 savings there.
2. Recycled a big mailing envelope and bubble wrap to mail two small gifts.
3. Did laundry and hung one load on the drying rack.
4. Was really jonesing for some pizza, but heated up some from the freezer. It was delicious!
5. Paid off our car loan today, which frees up extra money to throw at the mortgage, which is our only debt.

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Katy July 24, 2015 at 7:19 pm

Yay, congrats on paying off the car!

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Jamie July 24, 2015 at 2:44 pm

1. Even though I was miserable with the bike I had, I took it in to get a tune up when the pedals started getting rickety and I didn’t want it to become a bigger expense….it now rides like a dream and will continue to cart my butt for years!
2. I got free lunch at work twice this week and stretched it into 3 lunches!
3. Donating an entire carload of bags to the thrift store tomorrow – some of which I picked up for a friend in exchange for a thai massage.
4. My dinner tonight will be even more leftovers – I also have a jar of chili from a friend to eat tomorrow!
5. I have a chicken in the freezer that is about to come out to thaw and cook by Sunday so I can eat for all of next week…thus quelling my no-money-until-payday situation.

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Marcia July 24, 2015 at 2:51 pm

Let me see:
1. bought a dozen doughnuts on sale for $4.99 and put 8 of them in the freezer.
There are only 2 of us.
2. Used all but one of the super-saver coupons at the grocery store. Saved $31.79 0n $110.49 worth of groceries. That included 20 rolls of TP on sale and with an additional $1 off coupon.
3. Ate all meals at home so far this week. Restaurant meals come from our “entertainment” budget, not the grocery budget. We may eat out tomorrow.
4. Had 70 cents off each gallon of gas that had to be used by Saturday, and our tanks were full. My daughter’s husband had an empty tank, so he got to use them. One of them is on disability and the other on Workman’s Comp at the moment–they could use a break.
5. Frugal fail–I think. Sewed up a small rip in my favorite shirt. Accidentally stitched a bit in the seam that didn’t belong there. Carefully removed the stitching, pulled out the thread, and am left with small holes from the needle. I will re-wash it (after wearing at home) and see if the fabric recovers, but it doesn’t look good. If it doesn’t recover, it will mean that I have wrecked two of my three favorite lime green tee shirts!! It’s a color that I wear a lot but I think I will have to wait until next year to replace them as I can’t find them available this late in the season. (Land’s End)
NON-FRUGAL REALIZATION for this week: we need a new mattress, a new TV and a new couch. Planned to recover the couch but it might be cheaper to buy new. Research needed. TV has been going for a while but it’s getting worse and will probably be the first to be replaced. The mattress–already swapped ours with the guest room mattress. Didn’t remember that it was as worn as it is. Backache all week reminded me. There are two hammock shaped depressions where our bodies go. Have the money in savings, but it sure goes out a whole lot faster than it goes IN.

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Mand01 July 24, 2015 at 5:45 pm

We are trying to work out if covering our 90s pastel abomination of a couch is worth it as well. We inherited it when we bought our house, and it is a monstrosity. Unfortunately, I think it will not be worth the cost of recovering. Even if we did have it recovered, the style of it will still be outdated. It is annoying and I know an NCA fail, but jeez it is ugly and I hate to look at it. At the moment I have other priorities, so we continue to use it and will put up with it for now.

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Mel July 24, 2015 at 10:19 pm

Do you also read the Frugalwoods blog? I remember they bought a new mattress from Amazon for much less than they could find it elsewhere…

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Nancy from Mass July 24, 2015 at 3:50 pm

Lets see,
1. Hung laundry on the line today (and quickly took it off when it was done since it started raining)
2. Swept my house instead of vacuuming (and glad that all my floors are hardwood!)
3. unplugged everything my husband left plugged in – his cell charger, his work tablet charger, plus, unplugged the fans since we wont need them today (it’s in the 70’s and nooooo humidity! YAY)
4. Picked up some lost leaders then went to the service desk because a couple of things did not ring up correctly…got a couple bucks back buying real food we needed!
5. Ate what we had here for supper – toast for me (.89 a loaf at the bread outlet store), spaghettios for my son (a treat). Hubby is in NH helping his parents.
6. I didn’t buy a waterfront cabin in the mountains.

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Mand01 July 24, 2015 at 5:53 pm

1. Just got off the phone with our insurance company after we received a quote for much cheaper insurance elsewhere. They are sending us a refund for $165. Not too shabby for ten minutes work. Plus, they are increasing the value of our contents insurance.
2. The internet company just sent a tech over to fix our shocking internet. My husband had been telling me it was just because we were furthest from the exchange. Actually, we had a fault in the line. Hopefully this will no longer be a problem – with uni starting up again this week, it was going to be causing me some headaches. And it was no charge to us as the fault was on their line.
3. I am making a pile of lunches for the freezer for the work and school week.
4. My goal to avoid buying expensive coffee continues. Day two was a win. Kind of. I bought diet coke instead. Argh!! But it was cheaper…Trying to break my expensive caffeine habit is difficult. I might have to go cold turkey on coffee. That breaks my caffeine addicted little heart. I already don’t drink, smoke or gamble. Can’t I have just one thing??? First world problem.
5. I am going to cancel my subscription to The Economist. I love reading it like the nerd I am, but it is too expensive.

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MamaMinou July 24, 2015 at 8:48 pm

Hi Mand01–does your library have an electronic subscription? My husband recently let me know that we can read quite a few magazines electronically by checking them out from the library.

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Hobart Chic July 26, 2015 at 4:18 am

@Mando1, I personally believe that there’s no point saving money if life is complete misery. Sure, a challenge is good for body and soul, but a small treat, like a beautiful cup of quality coffee…well, makes life all that sweeter.

All this is a long was of getting to my suggestion, how about buying a reusable coffee mug and making a pod machine, plunger, pour over machine coffee in the morning and taking to work/school/play? Or you could buy disposable professional cups. Fallen in love with pod machine coffee, great coffee at around 50 cents a cup, including milk (AUD).

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Mand01 July 26, 2015 at 4:46 am

Hi
We have a pod machine at work, and I do use it, but it’s not the same as a good, well made flat white. I take a coffee from home too (we have an espresso machine) but I drink about five cups a day. That in itself probably isn’t healthy!

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Hobart Chic July 27, 2015 at 5:17 am

Wow!!!! That is quite the coffee habit. My heart thumping just thinking about it! Ah well, onwards and upwards, you’ll get there!

Mand01 July 26, 2015 at 4:47 am

Not of The Economist, to my knowledge, unfortunately

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Vickie July 24, 2015 at 6:41 pm

1) Ate lunch yesterday off a debit card issued for our State Tax Refund. I’m sticking to my nut and berry mix for breakfast and drinking coffee provided for free at work.
2) Bought salad greens and veggies to make a salad with leftover chicken fajita meat. I have enough veggies for at least 6 salads. Yay!
3) Picked up a book from the Library today and returned a book on CD I just finished.
4) I’m taking Monday off and don’t plan to go anywhere – saving gas at least one day next week.
5) I didn’t buy a Lear jet either.

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MamaMinou July 24, 2015 at 8:45 pm

1) I thought about “taking one for the team” and made myself a lunch sandwich out of some dried-out hot dog buns that were certainly heading for the compost! They weren’t the best, but also not terrible.
2) Thinking about how to (politely) finagle out of a visit to the fun but money-sucking county fair with some out-of town visitors who would like to go. Maybe by sending just one kid with them…
3) Also gulping as I get ready to pay for my son’s first term of college, but transferring money into his Oregon College Savings account even as I prepare to take more out. Because Oregon folks, did you know that you can claim an Oregon tax deduction of up to $4200 per year even if the funds have been in the account just a short time?

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Diana July 24, 2015 at 10:14 pm

1. Eating at home & cooking from scratch.
2. Hanging up every load of wash to dry.
3. Refilled foaming hand soap and homemade cloths/solution for swiffer mop.
4. Turned $8 worth of felt and on hand supplies into 18 different sets of toddler learning toys.
5. Working on using handkerchiefs…having trouble with the gross factor.
6. Read 2 e-library books and listened to one e-audio book from the local library, that’s what at least $45 in books saved and I didn’t have to leave my couch! yay!

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Monica July 24, 2015 at 10:15 pm

Made frozen kale “pucks” to use in my morning smoothie. Organic kale goes bad so quickly I decided to try and freeze some. I blended the kale with some water then poured the thick mix into a 24 serving mini-muffin pan. Works great! Have tons of frozen kale pucks for my yummy green morning smoothies.

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Isabelle July 25, 2015 at 4:44 pm

We also freeze kale for smoothies, but we freeze the whole leefs and then just put one in the blender +water+nuts+fruits. Works well, and less work for you!

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Charli July 25, 2015 at 4:49 am

The kids, the dog and I went on a day trip to visit friends who are camping. We had a great time and I resisted the temptation to buy both lunch and dinner by pre preparing sandwiches and snacks and driving past the take away places and home to baked beans on toast.

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Bettypants July 25, 2015 at 6:38 am

1. Sold two old wooden ladders for $20. They have been sitting in our garage for 10 years, unused.
2. Cleaned out one of my flower beds and transplanted a peony, discovered a sprig of my clematis that I thought was totally dead, and planted 5 new irises from a generous friend at work.
3. Found 2 Pokemon DS games at a yard sale. Dithered, didn’t buy, went back and nabbed one, but the other had already sold. $10 each and they go for $40 each on ebay. Damn my dithering.
4. Cleaning out the fridge and ran across some cilantro that I had forgotten about. Making a batch of salsa today.
5. A friend at work cleaning out her house offered me a box of candles. They turned out to be nicer than I thought – Yankee Candle, Partylite, and White Barn candles. Win!

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Carol Maskus July 25, 2015 at 10:11 am

1. Stayed under vacation budget to save for new laptop.

2. Focused on cheaper tastings for our Sonoma wine trip…$10 when possible.

3. Cut old t-shirt into rags.

4. Bought drawer organizers at the 99 cent store for…99 cents each.

5. Put old magazines with “free ” sign by apartment mailboxes.

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Carol July 25, 2015 at 12:52 pm

Really enjoy reading your posts, Katy, and all the comments, too.

1) Line dried all our sheets and other linens.
2) Harvested summer squash and cucumbers from our veggie garden. Beans and tomatoes are next.
3) Found a couple of cents on a walk that went right into my pocket.
4) Froze some delicious peaches for winter eating.
5) Mended a net shopping bag that I’ve had for over 30 years–good as new.
Bonus: Once again talked myself out of that dream trip to Europe for a month…

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Christine July 25, 2015 at 4:30 pm

1. Continuing our journey to cook and eat at home. No take-out.
2.Went through our art supplies and found many things that are on my daughter’s school supply list that I don’t have to buy. Helped her clean her room (really I cleaned it) and found more supplies that she needed.
3. Took her shopping and purchased the rest of her stuff at Staples because they were having a 25 cent notebook sale.
4. Bought her some clothes that were on clearance and sale for summer and school.
5. Did not buy the shoes that I wanted on clearance. I wanted to get a price check at the register, but no one came up so I just skipped it.

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Bree @ The Things We Read July 26, 2015 at 2:19 am

The first one going off to college is so hard. I swear it took me a whole semester before I got over the blues and odd depression feelings. Good luck. It does get better and easier.

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Katy July 26, 2015 at 10:43 am

Thanks. I’ve had a bit of practice when each son has gone to Japan for a month, but I know it’s not the same.

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Mariana Cisowska July 26, 2015 at 5:53 am

1. Produce for $19
I got 3 big bags of produce strawberries, blueberries, kiwis, tomatoes and what not for only $19.

2. Fresh mint
Got a bunch of free fresh mint from a friend’s garden. Made tea and froze the rest

3. Gift bag
I love all kinds of gift bags ☺. Last week it was free nail polish, lip balm, perfume samples and a barista set

4. Free facial
A friend offered me a free facial. It was her BDay gift from another friend and she was too young to make an appointment (you have to be 26 to do this one). I gracefully accepted it.

5. Did the usual
All the home cooking, lunch brown-bagging and staying away from clearance. 😉

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