Five Frugal Things -- Free Packaging Materials
- I walked over to a local business that frequently offers free packaging, and came home with two huge sacks of flexible thin styrofoam bags. I'm pretty sure these tall thin bags originally cradled guitars, but they're great for mailing out fragile eBay sales.
This made of think about how I used to joke about "I'm here to make money, not spend it!" when referring to my decades long hospital RN job. I guess that sentiment extends to selling on eBay as well.
Not that I've made any sales that need to be lovingly cradled, but if you build it they will come . . .
- The store also had a "FREE" box, which included this high quality canvas tote bag, which obviously followed me home. It was a wee bit grubby, so it's currently luxuriating in a soapy spa treatment. The sturdy handles are nice and long, which make them the ideal length to hang over the shoulder. Even though this is objectively the best handle length, it seems to be in the minority. Make it make sense!
This is a good opportunity to gather up and wash all our reusable bags and make some hard choices of who gets to stay. I'll then offer up the rest in my Buy Nothing group. - I picked up a 99¢/month black Friday subscription to the Frndly app, as it includes the Hallmark channel, as I thought it might be relaxing to watch some cheesy Christmas movies.
I haven't actually been in the mood for cheese, but my friend's wife produces the reality TV show Finding Mr. Christmas, so I thought I'd give it a watch in the name of support. (The competition awards a single leading role in a Hallmark Christmas movie.) I was pleasantly surprised to find how inclusive it was, complete with multiple LGBT contestants, as well as the host, Mean Girl's Jonathan Bennett!
People -- the very first episode made me cry! Who have I become? - I was thinking about how a Kühl sweater I have up on eBay hadn't sold or even received any watchers. This is weird as it's a desirable brand, so I checked my eBay active account and didn't find it there, so I pulled it from the closet and will re-photograph it to get it relisted.
I know I must have other stale inventory items that dropped off the site. Supposedly this doesn't happen, but every eBay seller knows that it does. Plus listing new items causes the eBay algorithm to place your other listings higher up for buyers. Again, make it make sense. - I sit here wearing thrifted sweater and jeans, slippers, underwear and bra from eBay and a pair of darned socks. I'm sitting on a Buy Nothing couch and able to see the Apple refurbished laptop screen through my Dollar Tree reading glasses.
In my paid off house.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
I match your #5. It gives me a great deal of peace. It doesn't look flashy or fancy, but it's comfortable and sustainable.
1. I'm busy knitting a Christmas scarf, with yarn from Buy Nothing. I aim to finish it and leave it at the "Take a coat" station at our central branch library which is as much of a home as many of our city's homeless have. I hope it makes someone feel cared for.
2. Sold a set of 10 pairs of my grandson's socks (all clean and in good condition) via FB marketplace. Of all the nice things I have listed, this one sold quickly. Just shows people are needing the basics right now.
3. Attended a Solstice get together at a friend's house. I love the area we live in where it is quite acceptable to put on the invitation "bring your slippers." There were crafts and potluck snacks and it was a lovely time.
4. I've made a list of projects I want to work on between Christmas and New Year. This is often a really quiet time and I want to make the most of it.
1. Husband and I met my mom and took our kids to see Santa at Evergreen's Bear Hotel. It was a free event and they enjoyed the cocoa and cookie station, along with a stuffed animal from Santa and Mrs. Claus.
2. We treated my mom to lunch at Wendy's, I know fancy, and combined their app points, coupons, and other discounts. We rarely eat out so it was a fun treat for us all. For 5 people we spent around $24 and were all stuffed.
3. We drove over to Jacksonville and found free parking, bundled up, and walked up and down the main street looking at the shop displays, decorations and lights. There was a Victorian Christmas group dressed up and passing out free hot spiced apple cider. My husband grabbed two, one for him to sip and one to help keep my hands warm until he finished the first cup.
4. Rather than use a freezing outdoor public bathroom, we went to the library while we were on our Christmas walk and used theirs. They had two service dogs in the children's section and we arrived right on time for story time! While we warmed up the kids played and grabbed some coloring sheets to take home.
5. Lunch today is leftovers of homemade pizza and mac and cheese. My children didn't finish their plates so I salvaged what I could and had a very filling lunch.
Today is my impromptu meal prepping and baking day since we are out of bread and muffins, and the freezer needs a few lazy meals for the next week or two so I can focus on Christmas baking and prep.
I love your list!
USPS is making a change in how postmark dates are applied. This is notable for mailings for which it is important to have a correctly dated postmark to meet a deadline, (such as for taxes).
Effective 12/25/25, dated postmarks will be applied when the item goes through the automatic processing system, which is not necessarily the date when the item was dropped off. I translate that as though I might mail something locally, it won't be postmarked until it reaches the regional processing facility, which is in another city; I might not be paraphrasing quite right.
The postmark is proof the item was in the post office's hands on such-and-such a date. The item might have arrived earlier than the postmark, but was not yet marked.
Workarounds are available, such as asking for manual/local cancelling at a "retail counter".
That's good information to know. This sounds like it's geared towards voter suppression.
I think you hit the nail on the head, Katy. It's getting scarier and scarier to be in this country!
And thank you, Heidi Louise, for giving us the heads up about this change. It doesn't sound like it ought to be legal, but the current powers that be don't seem to care too much about such trivial things as the Constitution and laws! (Unless the laws help their side.)
It sure does, Katy. Thanks to Heidi Louise for the information.
No kidding. @Heidi Louise - where did you see this?
The news releases I read didn't speculate about how much difference this would make, or how many items already get to the automated centers promptly, or which areas of the country have more efficient systems now.
I'm sure when it is time for taxes, or mail-in voting, that there will be a lot more press on this. In the meantime, mail early!
Denmark is privatizing all its mail delivery services, after 400 years of public service, because of "increasing digitization" of letters. I hope the U.S. does not move in that direction!
This actually happened in my area awhile ago. Our mail is picked up, shipped to Pdx, then processed in Seattle. For proof of date mailed, we have the local post mistress hand cancel. I found this all out 2 yrs ago when I mailed my property taxes on tax day, but it wasn't processed for 2 days, got a $17 fine.
1. Playing scrabble with DH in our paid off home.
2. Worked out this morning in my basement with thrifted equipment (it is safe)
3. Finished a library book "heart the lover". It was fantastic!
4. Bought 50% off baby kale due to close expiration date. Used it to make cream of kale soup. Had some with my lunch...delicious and freezes well.
5. Enjoying holiday aromas using a thrifted mini crock pot. Last week I filled it with water and added some cloves, cinnamon sticks, orange peels, lemon and clove oil etc. Smells cozy.
"Cream of kale soup?" I have some kale that needs to get used up and that sounds delicious!
Yes, delicious and super easy. The recipe is from DH's mother's good housekeeping cookbook from the 60's and is for any vegetable. In a Dutch oven/big soup pot combine any broth, some chopped onion, and the vegetable. Cook until soft. Put this mix into your food processor and get it to a consistency you like. In the same soup pot, make your rue. I have food allergies so I use solid coconut oil, corn starch and unsweetened coconut milk (no coconut flavor in this one). Mix to the consistency you like. Add the vegetable mixture and combine it well. Sometimes, I give it another go in the food processor, just depends if it looks like it needs more mixing. All portions are subjective to how much vegetable you have. I add spices to some (basil goes in cream of tomato, dill goes in cream of carrot...), others I just add salt when I eat it.
Your #5 is quite the flex!
I sit here in a curb picked office chair, wearing a free tshirt from donating blood, worn over a thrift store bra, typing on a free desktop from a neighbor who works in tech, in my paid off house. Life is grand.
A few frugal things:
Sold a DVD box set I haven't watched in years on ebay. Reused a box I already had by cutting the side and turning the box inside out then retaping it, bubble wrap was saved from a shipment I'd received, postage was printed on the back of scrap paper, and the packing tape came from the neighbors trash pile after they moved out.
Food waste prevention: I had some apples that were getting soft. I peeled, cored, and sliced them, and the slices are cooking in the crockpot to make cinnamon apples that we will eat with ice cream later. The peels and cores are simmering in a pan for cider. I even managed to use up the last of a jar of crystallized honey in the 2 recipes! My kitchen smells amazing.
I'm going to count cooking at home when all I really want is to go out and let someone else handle it. I am holding strong and reminding myself "we have food at home!"
I'm deeply impressed with how you squeezed every possible use out of those apples!
1. I decided I needed a new water bottle so I headed to our local thrift store where I found a very large metal one with a handle that I can set on my counter and sip on all day. $4.99 and many to choose from.
2. While there I bought 6 shirts - 5 for my grandson and one Christmas shirt for me - and a new necklace. $37 total as several of the shirts were 50% pink tags and including the water bottle. I felt pretty good about that.
3. One I the things I was looking for was a new to me denim jacket. I didn't find one which was good because a friend said she had one for me when I mentioned it.
4. I turned 62 at the end of the summer and that means I am now eligible for the senior rate at our rec center - $12 per year! I promptly got myself a membership and took my grandson swimming at the indoor pool. Sometimes it pays to get older.
5. Decorated with the same old Christmas decorations - I still like them! - reading my library copy of Good Taste by Carolina Scott with Jane Goodall's book on deck, had my grandson decorate some packing paper to use as gift wrap, got all the bits and bobs of granola bars, snacks, etc out of the pantry and placed on the counter for my kids to munch on while they're home and went to a Trail of Lights at our state park last night (free if you have a state park pass)
$12 per year is a screaming deal! It's very cool to get older.
Re #4...you can't stop it so you might as well take full advantage of it! I turned 55 this year and I am eligible to put an extra $1,000 in my health savings account. They call it a catch up. Either way it's tax deductible.
When we turned 62 we each applied for a permanent state park pass. They were $10 each. A friend laminated them for us.
This isn't necessarily frugal, but I made a checklist on the Make-a-List app of things I need to remember to do daily. It seems the list gets longer and longer, and my memory gets shorter, so I think this will help. It is satisfying to check things off.
I had leftovers for lunch and popcorn for dinner. And my breakfast was a simple one of toast and blueberries.
I exercised indoors -- gentle calisthenics -- and did a lot of reading. Watched some shows on streaming. Did not go outdoors today. I'm already ready for winter to be over. And there's so much left to go.
I sorted out the plastic hangers that have a notch for hanging tanks and sundresses. I don't have much need for those and I've noticed that they make funny bumps on my T-shirts when I hang them up wet. I'll donate them, and will try to thrift more that have smooth "shoulders."
Popcorn for dinner? I would be so hungry aftewards!
Popcorn for dinner is a favorite in this house! We don't have it very often any more because our kids are still pretty small, but sometimes if we're feeling fun we'll make a date of popcorn after the kids go to bed.
Re #4...you can't stop it so you might as well take full advantage of it! I turned 55 this year and I am eligible to put an extra $1,000 in my health savings account. They call it a catch up. Either way it's tax deductible.
As I've gotten older I find I have little appetite in the evening. Popcorn is just right! And lots of fiber, which treats another aging thing....
Just finished a couple year Hallmark Christmas movie viewing project of the "who knew" EIGHT Hallmark Hannukah movies. Not great masterpieces but I really enjoyed my little 2 year binge. 2 year because not all were available for free to me so I had to bide my time until they were.
Was there one Chanukah movie that was better than other others?
No, not really, all similar, but I feel there is value in seeing the whole "set". The newest was released on Dec. 14 and a couple days ago the earliest dropped from $1.99 to $0 which allowed me to watch and keep my Frugality Merit Badge. All are fun, if not always accurate.
--Worn out from working the very busy closing shift the last several nights, I skipped my 9 a.m. Sunday school class but went to the 10:30 church service. It was a hymn and carol service and the multi-page long church bulletin had the music to many of the seasonal hymns printed in it. These are mostly religious-themed songs, from all over the world and written in past centuries, that are fairly uncommon in the USA, but still very beautiful. I saved my program and got a couple more of them, and will give them to the nice Salvation Army volunteer who plays Christmas music at her red kettle post outside our store. (She doesn't ring a bell, she brings an electric piano keyboard and plays all day. I am going to miss her after Christmas is over!) Of course, the church bulletin is free, so that's as frugal as you can get. It'll serve as sheet music for her, should she want to add more songs next year.
--Our church denomination does not decorate for Christmas until the 4th Sunday of Advent (today). (In years, past, they waited until Christmas Eve.) This time, I couldn't stay and help bc I was scheduled to go to work an hour early today. Another hour's pay! The store was a mad house! So glad they close down 2 hours early on Sunday nights, and that the holiday will be here soon; don't think I could take another 2 weeks of this. BTW, some customers told me that the local Target store, less than a mile from us, had completely sold out of gift cards, except for $50 Starbucks cards.
--Investigated the holiday sale by Jitterbug phones. Supposedly, they were going to be $19/month....no, they weren't. Taxes and fees more than doubles the price. IMO, that is false advertising.
--With the exception of 2 battery-operated "candles" for an antique wall candleholder, all my holiday decorations are ones we'd already bought in years past. Some are from many decades ago and are much older than me. After putting it up, I was a bit distressed that my 55 y.o. artificial Christmas tree was leaning at an angle. But then I went to Lowe's to get some leaf bags and noticed that some of their REAL trees also leaned to one side. So I guess my circa 1970 tree looks realistic!
FFT, "No Hallmark" Edition:
(1) With all due respect to those of you who enjoy Hallmark holiday movies, I was a captive audience for so many of those while DH was in the nursing home that I vowed, "Never again." (The aides used to set the common room TV to Hallmark whenever they got the chance.) So at least I'm not paying for Hallmark--or any other cable channels or streaming services, for that matter.
(2) Today is my dear Dr. Bestest Neighbor's 89th birthday. I'm giving him what he's asked for, which is a donation to an art charity he supports. I'm also giving him a dish towel with owls (he's an owl lover) and a couple of porterhouse steaks from my 1/4 steer (he's the grillmeister in the BN household).
(3) I'm almost finished with the Martha Stewart/Edward Gorey mashup parody calendar for the BNs. After I've dropped off Dr. BN's prezzies, I'll swipe this year's calendar off the wall so I can write in all the dates (birthdays, anniversaries, etc.).
(4) I'm hosting Xmas Eve dinner for the BNs and NDN1, as I've done for the last several years. All I still need to buy are salad fixings.
(5) And I'm taking NDN1 to CF's (her other close friend's) house for a buffet on Xmas Day afternoon, as I've done now for the last three years.
What wonderful traditions you have, A. Marie!
I have not watched or read enough to analyze them closely, but I suspect that Hallmark movies almost exactly parallel the formula and timing of Harlequin romance novels. At least the modern ones imply that the females are women, (not calling the leads "men and girls"), and have some intelligence and independence.
I’m 77, didn’t think I’d fall in love again, and then you came along! What a lovely, thoughtful person you are! The gifts you have chosen were so beautifully appropriate, and, I’m sure, appreciated! The social opportunities you gifted will, I’m sure, live on as happy memories long after prettily wrapped thingamebobs are forgotten. Bless you!
1. I finally got a $50 cash rebate from RetailMeNot for a trip I booked on Expedia. Yay! Free money!
2. My husband and I went to lunch at a non-chain restaurant in a town about 30 minutes North of us. While in that town we stopped at the Kroger store, which had added an Ohio Liquor Store inside since we had last visited. I purchased 3 bottles of high end Irish Whiskey. They were 40,% off! In Ohio you can only buy liquor in a State Store and the alcohol cannot be priced below state minimum prices. Ohio set the discount on these and I am sure I was only able to get these because this store is in a small town with a high Brethren population, so no one snatched these up.
3. My husband and I are going to eat out Christmas Eve for lunch.... possibly a new tradition for us. We lost 2 family members this year so Christmas day will just be four people. So we are trying new things. I made the reservation on Open Table so I will collect points, but also after the fact I found out the restaurant is handing out surprise envelopes to all dinners that day for free stuff like a percentage off or free dessert.
4. I work today and will participate in my library's free pop-up yoga class.
5. Saturday my washer crapped out. It won't do the spin cycle. My husband said he could order the parts inexpensively on-line and fix it himself or we could go to the application parts store and pay premium prices. Like everyone here would I said I could wait, order the parts on-line!
1. The sewer company broke my water line. They tried to fix it but I have had to call a plumber who knows what he is doing. Apparently sewer people are very good at digging in dirt over their head and laying huge pipes with massive equipment but when they accidently cut a water line and blow debris into it so your water nor toilet works, they don't know what to do. Supposedly they will reimburse me because the plumbing co has told me some contractors have refused to pay them. Such joy. Here is hoping I get out of this without having to pull out my card and seeking reimbursement. So frugal because I have huge new sewer pipes I didn't have to pay for and should not have further sewage issues, and potentially not frugal because I have no frigging water at the moment! Stay tuned....lol.
2. I still managed to eat at home because they broke the water line behind my outdoor faucet, so I washed my dishes outside. No one in the neighborhood bats an eye as to my frugal endeavors because there is no HOA. I also was not about to drive 20 miles to eat out with all of this going on so........
3. I still ate my own food.
4. I walked in the neighborhood.
5. I don't know, maybe because it is going to be in the 70's most of the week, less heat and less power used?
Cindy, you have my commiserations. Our sewer pipe is out of commission so we can't use the bathroom, washer, sinks or dishwasher on the south end of the house. The other bathroom, thank goodness, is usable because it's on the other end of the house and is connected separately. I'm also thankful the weather has warmed up due to washing out stuff at the outside tap.
The last bad water line break filled our toilet tank with silt and I wound up buying a siphon at the autoparts store to drain the tank.
Oh, let's see:
1) My chicken orzo dish last night turned out really well. I added more carrots than it called for (finished the last of an elderly bag), increased the onions & broccoli. I still have additional chicken from the rotisserie chicken we bought. I defrosted my last container of chicken broth for the recipe. I still have the chicken bones from the rotisserie, so I will make more chicken broth when we get back from the holidays. The recipe was delicious & easy.
2) DH & I have been trying to figure out how we will get our hiking bags to NZ. They sell specialty travel bags to put the bags in (you don't want all of the straps & such getting caught on the belts & they are too big to put in an overhead, plus we will have non-hiking clothes as well.) I emptied out a bag that we use for ski clothes & the hiking bag fit perfectly. Zero chance we were buying the specialty bag, but DH wanted to double bag with garbage bags, which didn't sound particularly sturdy. 😉
3) DH & I continued our training by hiking at the nature preserve, which is walkable from our house. We did 11 miles, and it finally rained a bit, so we tried out some of our rain gear. I wore a pair of my BN hiking socks, which are one of my favorites.
4) I collected a few things from DS18 that he's outgrown, which I will be giving away on BN, as they are high quality jeans that he wore just a few times. They are that hard to fit teen size (30 waist, etc), so other teen moms will likely be thrilled to have them.
5) Noticed that iBotta had a $.10 any receipt offer, so uploaded our Costco receipt to that. Also, bought a rotisserie chicken at Costco (see #1), which continues to be such an incredible deal compared to the price of chicken.
1. Got tickets to a women's college basketball tournament Saturday through DH's work. Free club seats including food and beverages. Took advantage of the free lunch and got to watch basketball -a perfect Saturday! We took the train there and back and it was a great low-spend jaunt.
2. We then sat at home for the rest of the day. It was incredible.
3. Our space heater died - replaced on facebook marketplace for $15. Usual MSRP is $30 so got it 50% off and kept out of the landfill.
4. We got our outfits for NYE at a local thrift store - found an incredible dress and boots that both fit great for WAY less than any other thrift store or new. Glad to support this local spot which will certainly get more of my business the next time I need new (to me) clothes.
5. Friend asked if I was free for brunch yesterday and instead I suggested getting smoothies and going for a walk. We talk A LOT so time-limited restaurant seating never is enough! We wound up walking over 3 miles and spent much less than I would have on a sit down meal.
Under the "some nerve" category: I was given the box set of Outlander. Not my taste so sold it on eBay. Yesterday received a note from the buyer explaining that she did not like all the violence and wondering if she could return it and get her money back?!
Frugalities are easy this week. It is 39 below zero as I write this, which means that we are in the lucky position of not leaving the house unless one of us falls down and sustains a wound that cannot be patched up with duct tape. (I have a roll with reindeer on it, so the fix would be seasonal.) We have all the food we need, we just had an oil fill for the furnace, the dogs don't like going out for walks in these temperatures, and it feels and smells good to bake Christmas cookies and bread. The only thing we are wearing that was not thrifted is our underwear and my All Bird shoes, although they were purchased from eBay for a screaming deal on a brand that fits my brace so is an essential purchase for me no matter what the price.
The frugal gift I offer fellow commentators is my usual URL to the 5th graders and village people of one of our smallest and more remote villages doing the Hallelujah Chorus. It an old school project but still brings a smile. It is also a good view of a small isolated village and its one grocery store. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LyviyF-N23A&list=RDLyviyF-N23A&start_radio=1
If you hate the Chorus, then I hope this will bring a smile: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggu0ZqqBq4k&list=RDLyviyF-N23A&index=2
Happy whatever you celebrate to everyone. Thanks for helping me stay on track by listing your triumphs over mindless consumerism, and thanks for hosting Katy.
Thank you, Lindsey, for sharing this. It reminds me of my time in Tutuntiliak. What a sweet community project.
Loved this!
What great videos! Loved the kids and the excellent timing of the first one! Merry Christmas!
"In my paid off house." How great does that feel to be able to say?!
Happy Holidays to you and yours 🙂