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 an 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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