Five Frugal Things -- Free Chipotle & Popeye's Chicken
1) I curb picked a stack of these organizer grid square thingies a few years ago and it's amazing how often they've come in handy. There aren't enough of the corner-connector-pieces to match the number of grids, but they assemble just fine with zip ties.
I also appreciate how they pretty much take up zero space until they're needed. Like sleeper agent organizer supplies!
My husband recently bought a bag of microfiber cloths to wash the car, so I pulled out five squares and created a bin to contain them. Voilà, it's like boring Legos for grown ups!
They now live in my slightly less messy garage and are now at the ready for his next car washing session.
2) I was craving a little snacky snack after dinner, so I whipped up a batch of popcorn using my thrifted air popper. The popcorn itself is from Winco's bulk bins, so I'd estimate that I spent maybe 35¢ to scratch this itch. That's including the butter and salt.
3) My Red Cross "thank you for donating platelets" $15 gift card voucher finally showed up in my inbox. There were hundreds of corporate businesses to choose from and I ended up picking Chipotle, as I can stretch it out to almost three meals by choosing their $5.49 kids' meals.
There's a Chipotle not far from my house, so it wouldn't even involve driving too far. That looks like plenty of food, especially as it also includes a drink.
4) I took my mother out to run errands yesterday, which included buying her a coke. This required driving through Popeye's Chicken. (You may notice that we also got biscuits, because . . . yum!) A Popeye's receipt is an infinite food hack, as the back contains a link to fill out a survey, which subsequently earns you a free two-piece chicken and biscuit meal with the purchase of a large drink. Of course getting that free meal will generate another receipt.
You know I filled out that survey!
This took me back to 1988, when my husband and I were broke college students living in London and The Sainbury's near our flat in Chiswick sold Ocean Spray cranberry juice; whose label contained . . . a coupon for a free bottle of juice! We paid for a single bottle of juice, which unlocked endless free juice until we returned to the states.
Was it the healthiest thing to drink such a tremendous amount of juice? Unlikely, but need I to remind you that we were broke? Ahh . . . those were the days!
5) My friend Lise took my ripped fitted sheet and cut it into rectangles for a sun printing class she was teaching. She shared that she even saved the elastic for a future project!
Remember how bad my sheet was?
Get yourself a friend like Lise!
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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Took the paperwork for my "avoiding distracted driving" course to the municipal court today. They processed it immediately while I waited and the fine was waived (I can think of a lot of things to do with the $264.00 that I didn't have to pay, and the course only cost $30.00).
Just took my blood sugar for the first time in a long time, it was 85 which is on target for right before lunch.
I am glad your fine was waived. I recall you live in Bend. Lucky ~ I think that Bend is a beautiful place. My husband and I will be spending two days there in September on the way to his brother’s resort in Burns. The place I like to stay in Bend is that hotel right on the river.
Katy, please please! please! do a follow-up on the results of the sun printing..... this sounds right up my alley!
I can picture those squares put together as a couch throw. Or a shower curtain.
My blackberries are slowly ripening, I want some pulpy jelly/jam from them this year....thinking on hot biscuits.
JC
Fabulous post, as always. I love those sleeping-agent bins. I'd be tempted to turn it on its side so your husband can just grab a cloth without having to pull out the entire bin!
Bet your popcorn was amazing ... nothing beats butter and salt!
Firstly, Katy, we need photos of the end result of that very cool writing project! NEATO!
Your infinite juice hack reminds me of a time my local grocery store was selling some close-to-expiry granola bars (they were even the organic-mostly-good for you kind!) for $1.
Each box had a coupon on the back for $1 off.
I wasn't as organized as I would be today (kids still at home, so ... life!) but I did make a bit of an effort to cut coupons off and get more boxes for 'free' - maybe for a total of $10 saved (but considering the bars usually sold for $3.50 or more, the savings were considerable.
Never ending Popeyes. Yes!
Cancel vacation because husband was sick. I got sick this week and we would’ve been on vacation. Save thousands of dollars.
Picked up free postcards at library with camping theme for there summer reading program. Sent them to my two grandkids in Maryland.
My New Jersey granddaughter and I read Harry Potter and the sorcerer Stone at the same time sending text back-and-forth and pictures of where we were in the book. she increased her reading speed from five pages a day to 30 pages a day. So much fun.
Made a huge enchilada casserole with homemade enchilada sauce. It fed us for 2 meals.
Bought the largest head of cabbage I could find at Trader Joe’s thinking of you, Kathy while I did it. Used half the cabbage to make deconstructed, cabbage rolls, and chopped up the other half to use for sautéed cabbage, coleslaw, and Thai peanut slaw.
Didn’t have rosemary to cut and bring inside, but had lots of mint. Large bunch in my bathroom smelling very good.
FFT, Herbs and Hacks Edition:
(1) I continue both to harvest herbs from my gardens and to process dried herbs from the attic. The basket I bought last Saturday for $1 and have made the designated "herb carrier" is getting a workout. And while I envy Katy her flourishing rosemary shrub (rosemary does not overwinter well here in Central NY), it's fortunately one of the few herbs that does well in pots long-term. I've got three that are very happy in my dining room bay window.
(2) And I continue to make sun tea. As noted earlier, I prefer a mug of cold sun tea to coffee on hot mornings, and this is saving me $$ on coffee (the price of which seems to have just passed Mars).
(3) It's day 11 without rain here, so I've been saving water from my AC condenser (which drains into my basement sink) and lugging it up to my watering cans. Good exercise for me, and maybe a few cents off my water bill. (Rain is predicted for tomorrow, and if it doesn't arrive, I will be one PO'd elderly lady gardener.)
(4) I'm off to the Regional Market tomorrow morning to buy more cucumbers for refrigerator pickles--concentrating this time on smaller pickles for pint jars. My aging "customer base" is calling for more pints than quarts this year.
(5) And I topped off the gas tank this morning before the price goes up for the weekend and before prices go up generally, thanks to You Know Who's continuing inability to realize he started a war he can't finish.
A. Marie, I would send rain your way if I could. I stopped counting when we had 21 straight days of it last month and we've had only a couple of dry days this month. We have to pick the wild mushrooms off the back lawn to keep the dogs from accidentally poisoning themselves. (Dog logic: Is round and colorful, must be toy! Chomp!)
Aaaand now I have cravings for some popcorn! Thankfully we have some kernels in the cabinet. Maybe I can convince my husband tomorrow to pop some on the stove.
1. We took a trip to Zoo Antwerpen today! We brought our own snacks and a sandwich lunch. Our toddler had free entry so we only paid for ourselves and our oldest. We did get a treat on our way out, two push pops for the kids and we shared an ice pop.
2. We made our coffee and finished it right before we went to the zoo so we wouldn't be tempted to get adventure coffee on our walk to the zoo.
3. We had a craving for fries on our way back to the Airbnb (when in Belgium one must fries!). We held strong and remembered that we have fries and chicken nuggets in the freezer! My husband and kids shared what was in the freezer and I had some leftover chicken and mashed potatoes.
4. The only souvenirs we acquired today were the photos we took and a small free map of the zoo. The last thing we need in our luggage (or for our wallets) is more stuff!
5. We spent 3 hours in the zoo so the rest of the afternoon we rested and watched our movies and read. I accidentally checked out an 18 hour audiobook from Libby that I misread as 8 hours and am finally almost done.
I gave my husband a clipper haircut today, which saved him $18. He gets a free eyebrow and beard trim from me as well. Clipper cuts are pretty easy as I can use my left hand, which is far less affected by arthritis.
The nearby thrift shop that aids homeless women sells bundles of heavy duty hangers for a dollar. I bought a bundle of five today, along with two 100 percent cotton winter shirts (one still had the retail tag on it) and a yard of new flannel fabric. Also donated $1 to the cause, for a total bill of $11.
The library had the next book club selection as an audio book.
I love popcorn. I have it often, and always with butter and salt. Otherwise it's just styrofoam, isn't it?
1. I got tired of being housebound so I walked to the train station and took a train to the library. It was extremely humid, and I was dripping wet until I got home and dried out in front of the fan. But the smokiness was much better. At the library I picked up a hold and a Most Wanted, and I returned a book as well.
2. On the way to the station, I stopped at a little free library where I dropped off books and took one. The owner was pulling out of her driveway and called out "Thank you!" Made my day!
3. I found an abandoned apple and protein bar in the tunnel to the parking garage. Both in fine shape. Somebody's forgotten lunch? It became mine.
4. My insurance company called me back to let me know that my dentist is no longer in my network, so if I want my preventative care and X-rays covered, I will have to find a new dentist. I am sorry to lose the one I've had for more than 10 years, but I will start looking for a replacement.
5. I found two receipts and an empty Amazon bag to recycle as an eBay package.
1. I have attended 5 free yoga classes this week. I am taking Friday off to let my geriatric muscles rest. I did take my usual 3-4 mile walk to work out the kinks.
2. I plan to use my new BJ's membership card tomorrow to fill up my car.
3. I treated myself to a McDonalds filet-of-fish sandwich. On my app there was an offer for a fish sandwich & a large drink for $3.79 which seemed reasonable to me. I got a refill on my tea to take home. McDonalds has good iced tea. It is brewed & fresh.
4. I am making a cake to take to church. I got some Fun-Fetti cake mixes marked down after Christmas. I used my flour sifter & removed the red & green candy bits. I am saving the candy bits in case I need them for a Christmas cake decoration. I am going to use 2 of the mixes & make a pound cake in a tube pan. 2 mixes will make a cake that fills the pan nicely.
5. I found a case of bottled water w/ a few bottles missing. I will take these to the concession area for the local 12 step group. They can sell them for $1 dollar each to make some money for their expenses.
I've never thought of using a flour sifter to remove sprinkles, that's so clever!
I miss Sainsbury's! American grocery stores are SO big and there are too many choices-the size of the Sainsbury's where I shopped was just right.
Frugals-got our community pool to myself for an hour one night this week. So far this month, I have marked 10 days where I spent no money at all-this is kind of a big deal for me. Got the large Starbucks lite latte and caramel macchiato drinks in the refrigerated section-one of those is the price of one drink at Starbucks, and I can get four out of one bottle by adding a little milk and ice. Still just doing that weekly, which is saving me the money for the drink AND the tip.
Congratulations on 10 days!
Popeye's has the best chicken sandwich, hands down. Fries are okay but I go for the sandwich, not the fries. A no gimmick chicken sandwich - mayo and pickles - done well. Doesn't bother me to pick it up at the counter and they are open on Sundays.
Growing up, popcorn with butter and salt (except for a dark, dark period where it was only air popped popcorn with no butter and salt [darn late 70s health ideas]) was a nightly snack in our household. I still LOVE it, but stovetop... given its low, low price, I'm really surprised more people don't make/eat it.
Anyway, a day in the life of a frugal long-distance commuter:
1. Drank the free, rather sucky coffee at work.
2. Ate lunch for free at work: today it was a green salad with diced apples (yes, I checked about the lettuce), roasted pork with braised red cabbage, roasted beets, mashed potatoes, and a mustard-jus sauce.
3. I picked up a mystery shop for dinner, netting me both free food and $12 for doing the report.
4. Continued to listed to a free audiobook via Hoopla.
5. I wore the exact same Friday outfit as I have worn for the last 3 months - all items are more than a year old.
1. Chopped and froze celery from before my illness. Made cucumber salad with 3 of the 7 cucumbers from our garden. Offered neighbors a cucumber each.
2. Picked up an umbrella stroller for our granddaughter, from Buy Nothing.
3. Received $42 credit from ThriftBooks for the books I sent in.
4. Harvested a whole lot of kale from my garden. Also eating pluots from the garden.
5. Bought eggs on sale at Safeway, 18 for $2.99. Not bad for California.
1. My dog walk road is a dead-end, with very few homes on it and a lot of (encroaching) blackberries. This year it looks to be a bumper crop – they are JUST starting (one black at the very end, the rest still green or red) and I carefully test them before picking, because the perfect blackberry on a quiet morning can't be beat for flavour.
In a few days I'll strap on my Nana's glamourous tricolour braided disco belt with my Katy(tm) milk carton buckets to collect a few berries for freezing. Jam or jelly sounds great, and blackberries are astonishing in a smoothie.
2. Got my GS after daycare and he slept for ages; for once I didn't try to be efficient and 'do something' – I sat and read my libby book. Once he woke, he sat with me and we read a lot of the books I've collected for him – most were gifted so free for me! He has his favourites, and is open to me offering something new, thank heavens... ( can only stand so many readings of 'are you my chick?' without needing a break).
Two that we read involved singing (the wheels on the bus for FAR TOO MANY PAGES, and Imagine) which challenged my non-tuneful voice. Luckily John Lennon does a reasonable version of the latter , and it can be found on Spotify, so all I needed to do was turn pages at the appropriate time, LOL.
3. Speaking of Spotify, although I have concerns (as we do) about the ethics of the company, it is one that all of us use for music and podcasts. #1 son had been paying for the 'family' license and telling us it was his Christmas gift to me and his two siblings.
When he got laid off I offered to take on that financial responsibility. He's happy to let me do so, of course – the one disadvantage for me is that I can't access the audiobooks because #1 Son is the primary account holder. None of us want to deal with the hassle of switching the accounts so I am primary, so I'm just letting it go – and anyway, audio books are available on Libby and I only listen to one a year, tbh
4. Another GS day had me dragging him through the discount section of a local garden centre. He was actually in the cart, and although he was soooo ready for his nap, he cheerfully attempted to tell me his take on everything that we were seeing.
I was on a mission to find somethings to put around the elderberry tree we planted where our old black dog is buried – On his last day with me, Wonder James helped me tidy up around it with some concrete pavers making a low ring around the tree. We added some better soil, and a protective bit of fencing on the dirt to keep out the chickens – and now I want some colour and ground-cover.
There were several nice things on decent markdown, and several nice customers who joined us in the search for deals/ideas (and admired GS, who charmed them all). This is one of the things I am trying to do with him: the normalisation of poking around a garden centre with Gran. I intended to have him help plant with me; his 3 hour nap kyboshed that particular brilliant idea. There is always tomorrow, but it will likely just be me (and a box of kleenex) doing the planting.
5. I thought my Daughter Outlaw would stay for dinner when she picked up GS, so I put effort into scrubbing some of the potatoes harvested a few days ago, picking a bit more chard and a head of broccoli, and getting some chicken legs into the Instant pot with a garden onion, some celery, and some BBQ spices I'd brought back from Türkiye last year. I had everything almost ready and she had already eaten – no never-mind, this is why I have glass containers to store things in the fridge. Meals for the next couple of days will be easy, extra tasty, and fairly local (save for those Türkiye spices!).
Lise sounds like an incredibly cool person!
Thought of you yesterday when I purchased new in box a set of split king sheets with a top sheet man are for a tempurpedic type bed $5. They are just twin XL fitted bottoms with a Cali king top sheet. I will rip and hem to make 2 top sheets.
I picked up another enamel/blue trim basin and over 400 surgical masks for free. I wear them when working on my smaller tractor. I picked up a puffer coat in a free box, it had a longer tail that had been ripped by an aggressive dog. I cut it off, repaired it, washed it and it is drying on the line for the giving coat tree at the community charter school. I did not buy the $2500 Louis Vuitton handbag. I did pick up the Boggs bottle holder and letter charms that were in the free box.
1) Had a family bday gathering to attend this morning. Bday girl got an antique from DP's house that she loves and will use. Reused a shipping box and bow with vintage thrifted wrap older than her.
2) A family member who loves to shop brought DP and I two bags of hand-me-downs. DP and I ended up with over a dozen brand new or once-worn items!
3) Found a linen skirt to deconstruct for the fabric for $3. It's a couple of yards of 100% linen and a lining of 100% cotton in pure white. No way I could get natural fibers for pennies a yard, even before my beloved Joann's passing.
4) Used Katy's posted recipe to make cornmeal pancakes. Was skeptical of the boiling water process but they were delicious! I fried sliced nectarine with a tiny bit of brown sugar on the griddle. That made a fabulous topping and saved the last nectarine from a squishy demise in the back of the fridge.
5) Getting ready for another foray into eBay and FBMP. I'm $99 from the next ten thousand owed on my mortgage. I'd like to earn that by the end of the month to see that big number be an ever so slightly less number.