Five Frugal Things -- Hand Cream & a "Fpoon"
1. As always, I cut open my lotion bottle when it got the point where I couldn't squeeze out any more product. There's easily a week's more goo inside, which'll ward off my ever present alligator skin.
2. I sold the Lululemon sweatshirt that I listed just yesterday on eBay. $30 minus eBay fees transforms into $23.92 for The Oregon Food Bank.
If only everything sold this quickly!
3. My husband and I are heading up to Seattle for a few days, so we're working on eating down the refrigerator. Yesterday was a big salad featuring a multitude of random vegetables and tonight will be a repeat. Salad greens don't exactly improve over time.
4. As with all travel, I'll pack everything in the suitcase that I garbage picked from a Goodwill dumpster back in 2018. (Click HERE to read that blog post.) Yes, I scrubbed it down within an inch of its life!
We're staying at a swanky hotel we've visited in the past, but it's mostly paid for with credit card points and includes a decent continental breakfast.
Speaking of which, have you watched the Key & Peele "Continental Breakfast" sketch? It's something I've seen at least a dozen times and will continue to enjoy into my sunset years. All my husband and I have to do to make each other laugh is say "It's a fpoon!"
5. I sent my youngest home with the last of some leftover spaghetti. I could've slotted it into the freezer, but I'd rather it just got eaten sooner rather than later.
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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1. I taught at a master gardener event and was the only one interested in bringing home two full boxes of leftover cookies and two containers of leftover coffee. Also a full quart of milk and a bunch of brown sugar packets.My husband is thrilled.
2. Rode my bike to said event and put all my goodies in the baskets to return home.
Two full boxes of leftover cookies?!
The Costco cookies!
That is a fabulous score.
I was treated to breakfast this morning by my ex-husband. We went to a downscale diner which has pretty good food. No frills. I like it that the diner is friendly to the homeless; it is safe space for them.
I brought home half of a veggie omelet, which I will pair with a biscuit for a breakfast sandwich tomorrow. Also hash browns which will be the base of a veggie fry-up.
Okay, I grabbed the little pack of grape jelly, too.
I walked to the restaurant, so got all my walking in early. I found a small tube of acrylic paint. Forest green. Haven't checked yet to see if it's dried up, though.
Not overly frugal. We’re having both sons and the only daughter in law over for dinner. Haven’t seen them in a couple of weeks. Sold a few items last week. I leave on Wednesday for Oregon and back home on Friday. Just taking carry on to save $$
I like the orange suitcase. It is not likely to get lost in a sea of black luggage. Most of my luggage was found or given to me 2nd hand. Does anyone remember the vintage Samsonite hard shell luggage of the 70's? I got a blue set for HS graduation complete with train case for toiletries. Durable, heavy, and w/o wheels. My then BIL had a mustard-colored set.
1. Last summer I got a quantity of loose tea from Nextdoor Neighbor. Alas, I did not have a tea strainer (that I could find at home). I did have a reusable pod that did not fit my Keurig. I filled the pod w/ loose tea & put it in a jar of boiled water. It worked perfectly. Nice cup of Earl Grey from Ceylon to enjoy. I have a lot more of the loose tea to use.
2. I'm not that great of a cook but can make some things. I got out the ancient, heavy Cuisine Art food processor that I bought a garage sale for $3.00. I processed some potatoes and an onion to make hash browns. Since I had the heavy monster out, I then shredded carrots for future cooking needs.
3. Donated some cat tunnels (that my cats were trying to destroy) to the local animal shelter.
4. Donated some items I found but did not need to the local thrift store that supports the food bank in my town.
5. Found a dime in the parking lot. I usually find dimes more than other coins. I am steadily filling my rolled coin tubes. I will have $30.00 in change once they are finished off. I will donate the $ to the local food bank, my church, or the animal shelter. Change challenge for a charitable cause.
Texasilver, I remember because I received that same set for high school graduation in 1977! Suitcase, train case and garment bag. I now use a small red rolling suitcase that I got from Goodwill for $7.
I have a train case from a yard sale, (though it has the same smell that my Mom's did long ago, kind of a perfume), that I use for storing all the medical paperwork we get in a year that we probably will never have a need for but I can't quite throw away until the next year. It is on the bookshelf, looks nice, a sort of tan and brown.
I also have our piano music in a picnic basket, (though I don't pick it up by the handles because of weight), and our winter scarves in another one, also from yard sales. I just like the shapes and hope they were used for fun times.
Ah yes, I too graduated in 1977 and received a white luggage set. Carrie those suckers without wheels on a train trip cross country in 1978!
I have the same blue Samsonite set! I use the medium sized suitcase for off season storage and the train case I use to take tools for quilting classes. I lent the large one to a friend 40 yrs ago and never saw it again.
I graduated in 1978 and received the same set of luggage for a graduation gift!
I also received a set of Samsonite luggage for my graduation as did my sister.
I love your change challenge and the recipients you chose!
1. Found a baggie on our walk and used it to pick up our pup's poop.
2. Enjoyed reading a Little Free Library book - All the Broken Places by John Boyne.
3. Finished a library book - Raising Hare by Chloe Dalton. Delightful!
4. Enjoyed two Reader's Digest magazines from a free table.
5. Found some magazines and two more books at a Little Free Library. Such a great resource.
Our book club is reading Raising Hare in April. I hadn't heard anything about it either way so I'm happy to hear you enjoyed it.
I also thoroughly enjoyed Raising Hare!
I always cut the bottom off my toothpaste and have 2 or 3 more days of brushing for free.
1. I used a grocery coupon for $16 off a purchase of $160. It wasn't hard to reach that amount.
2. I had $20 in drugstore credit. I used it toward $70 worth of vitamins and OTC meds. My insurance debit card covered the rest.
3. I hung laundry outside.
4. From a free pile, I picked up some small plates for craft purposes and also a bottle of my favorite spray cleaner.
5. I went to the Salon Academy for a cheap haircut. This time it was half price day. $9 haircut and $10 tip. The haircuts are never the same way twice but the young people have to practice on someone and they certainly do better than I would do on myself.
1. Rescued a banana that our toddler ate 1/3 of a bite out of and left on a table. I'm adding it to our freezer container of misfit bananas. Once the container is full I microwave them in a bowl for a minute or two and then pulse them down into a puree to use in banana muffins.
2. We took the kids to an Easter egg hunt at a historic house. There's a larger hunt next weekend but we have a conflicting birthday party. Both kids got a number of compliments on their thrifted dresses, both were bought with consignment credit so they were actually free to us!
3. Today is clean out the fridge day! Lunch and dinner will be leftovers and bits from the freezer if needed.
4. We reviewed our budget and found that there was a lower tier plan for one of our subscriptions that we can use. Every so often it pays to see if there are better options! This is going to save us $5-$15 a month for something we already use.
5. Wrote a grocery list after shopping our freezer and pantry. I plan on stocking up on some dry goods but I have a tendency to stock up on the wrong things if I rely on my memory alone.
Hi from Seattle! If you need any trip tips, don’t hesitate to ask!
1. I took a trip up to see my oldest. I packed apples and two pin sandwiches. It is a long trip up there and back but he needed me and mom came.It was a beautiful drive through the forest though.
2. At least I found gas at $3.29 a gallon. It is $3.79 in the town where I work, at the moment. It will probably change on Monday! Who knows…..
3. I came home and ate leftovers.
4. I walked an hour after I came home. It was getting dark and was a struggle but I managed to complete it.
5. I used up three potatoes that were about to go bad, before my trip.
Pbj sandwiches.
I was wondering - pinwheel sandwiches? so fancy. or pin sandwiches, so sharp...
1. My sister and I went to my local Salvation Army Thrift store, and were pretty shocked at the high prices. A pottery mug for $10?? Green glass bowl, nothing special, for $16?? I found a pottery vase type thing, which was very pretty, and small, and was marked at $25!! I did some research, google imaged the signature, which was hard to read, and saw that this potter was quite well known. My sister gave me her 20% off coupon, so I decided to buy it anyway, as I really liked it, for $20. The cashier was visibly shocked when he saw the price, gave us back the coupon to use another day, and charged me $11.99 less my 10% "wisdom discount". (I so love this instead of "senior"). I was very happy, and will probably keep it rather than resell it.
2. We shopped another thrift that has 50% off everything one day per month. I got three pairs of jeans for me, a hawaiian shirt to resell, and 3 shirts for my plus sized friend who has trouble finding clothes to wear. I spent $27.
3. My sister stayed with us for one night, so we could go thrifting etc. We had one lunch out, which we paid for with funds she got selling an old bedframe of mine. We had tea/coffee, breakfast and dinner at home. We went for a nice walk in the sunshine.
4. We also visited a fabric store that is moving locations, and selling everything really cheap before they move. We both bought fabric for projects at a big discount.
5. FRUGAL FAIL: My 90 year old Dad has two old wool rugs, that were probably pretty expensive when he bought them, probably around 40 years ago. He has had some "accidents" on them, and I had to get them professionally cleaned. Because they were contaminated, it cost $1100 to clean them. I had to decide whether it was worth it. I had told my Dad we couldn't put them down again, as they could become dirty again, and we couldn't keep paying to get them cleaned. But if we were to throw them out (before cleaning, obviously) the dumping fee would probably be quite a bit. So I decided to clean then sell them. We will not recoup the total cost of cleaning, buy will likely get something towards it, and they will stay out of the landfill. So I guess that's good. I have them on Marketplace, and so far there have been lots of lookers, but no takers.
1. I spent seven hours today doing our taxes. Not fun but much better than paying someone a ridiculous amount for the task.
2. Thanks to some great advice from our financial advisors, we are actually getting a decent return. It will help offset a big expense we had recently.
3. I made sure to fill up my gas tank before my fuel point discount from Feb. expired.
4. I also reviewed my digital coupons and used one for a free item right before it expired. Shopped on Friday to get triple fuel points.
5. Visited my sister for a week and our entertainment consisted of a family bday party, a couple of Goodwill trips, a homemade lunch and hilarious puzzle-assembly with our other two sisters, scrabble games and a cheap Bunco afternoon ($5). We had an absolutely marvelous time!
This morning the neighbors hosted an Easter block party. I had a free breakfast and was given a big carton of Starbucks coffee to take home. It should last me for a week.
1.went to the goodwill bins yesterday. I spent 77 dollars which included many things to resell, two small bags of little girl clothes and socks for two friends, clothes for my toddler, three cloth baskets to organize toys , a lunch box and a sling backpack. It also included a very well loved (or possibly hated) American girl doll, who I brought home and gave a makeover. She found a new home within our buy nothing group. It felt good to rescue her, the child in me couldn’t leave the poor thing behind.
2. Husband and I split one of the discount steaks for dinner last night, it was delicious. Was proud of him for suggesting we split one! We are very much trying to lower our grocery bill.
3. Gave away a pork chop in our BN group. I just could not bring myself to cook it? I have been wanting to try some less expensive cuts of meat but accepted that this was a mistake and passed it on, we just don’t really like pork.
4. Hoping to get some listings up today. I have not listed or sold much since my surgery last month. This income isn’t necessary , but gives me a bit of a dopamine boost as a sahm, and with the rising costs of everrrrrything, it is nice to have cash to throw towards miscellaneous things , savings, etc.
5. Got an email from the state of CO that our 529 match was deposited! Until the age of 5, CO will match 500 dollars annually.
6. Was notified I was off the waitlist for a toddler & me group next month! This is a fee based class, however it’s very inexpensive and both my toddler and I get a lot out of it. I didn’t sign him up last month because of my surgery, and it was full when I went to sign up for April. He’s been asking about it, so I am happy a spot opened up. I set a strict budget per month for fee based activities, which is low given that he’s not even 2 yet, but think he gets a lot out of this class!
1. Meal prepped with pantry and freezer items. I'm close to my grocery budget this pay cycle and have over a week to go, so I abandoned my grocery list and shopped the shelves. Made a delicious hamburger situation with some cooked dry beans, freezer onions, and the last of the 2025 garden squash. I got four meals out of it.
2. Needed dessert to go with the fake Chipotle. Opened a can of pears and split it between two containers. There was a half can of juice left, so I mixed it 1:1 with water, put in a tot of vodka, and a dash of cinnamon. It was a delicious post-cooking cocktail!
3. Also baked a bag of cookie mix I got free with reward apps. Tossed in some ground flax seed as the last package of the same cookies made very gooey batter. Now I have sweet snacks for the whole week.
4. Finally figured out what to do with the Frosted Mini Wheat crumbs in the bottom of the cereal bag! I used the crumbs toward the flour count in my favorite bread recipe. Now it's a sweet wheat bread that is perfect for making French toast.
5. Celebrated my cats' birthdays yesterday by saying, "You're two today! I love you!" instead of an Instagram photo extravaganza, a Pinterest-worthy party, or even a single item from Chewy.com's pet birthday specials.
Got a flat tire on Friday. Changed it for the spare myself and will drive on the donut to the local tire place where it should still be under warranty. Walked to do errands today, hitting two different stores to use my reward points. Hung laundry on the line.
BelleStar, your frugal cooking, baking and bartending is amazing! Also love your sane approach to your cats' birthdays.
All kinds of new words! Hork and fpoon! Wonder what the next word of the day will be?
1. Had a garage sale and sold about half the items.
2. Combined errands
3. Working in the garden
4. Got bricks from fb marketplace
5. Using free firewood
Longer version and pictures here:https://practicalwalk.com/2026/03/29/frugal-five-garage-sale/
Needed a nightstand (actually need 2) and found a solid cherry one on craigslist advertised for $15. Yep. It has some marks on it from years of use, but I'm more about function than aesthetics. Overall, it doesn't look super bad. Have to give it a good wash with Murphy's Oil Soap as the people we got it from are smokers. Our clothes and bodies reeked of cigarette smoke. The minute we got home with it, coats and clothes went in the washer. We each showered and put on clean clothes.
My sister wanted me to look for a spring jacket for her. After we dropped her off yesterday, we stopped at the local Goodwill. Found a zip-up jacket that looks like a hoodie and a cardigan had a baby. Very good condition. Found a second coat in her size that is more like a windbreaker - also has a hood. While she's not into hoodies at 81 years of age, she was happy with both. Total cost for the two was $13.98. She gave me $20 since we drove back across town to take them to her. Also got her a tall kitchen size garbage bag of spring/summer clothes for free at the one local mission in our area. She dresses somewhat "matronly" like our mom did. Since we have very different tastes in clothes, I have to ask myself, "Would mom have worn this?" If the answer is "yes," it goes in the bag.
Speaking of my sister, since she doesn't drive, she gave us the number from her store loyalty card to use the gas points. Gas around here has been averaging $3.79 ($5.99 for diesel). Gas was down yesterday to $3.59, so we stopped. She had 50 cents off on her card, so we only paid $3.09!
Foud a nickle in the washer.
I went on a trip with a couple of friends, and kept it very frugal.
1) Used a free night award at a hotel on the first night.
2) Used hotel comps to purchase: lunch & dinner on Wednesday, and covered most of brunch on Thursday.
3) Stayed at my friend's condo in Utah for free.
4) Bought groceries, so we could pack meals for hiking.
5) Used a Chase Southwest credit to book my travel.
All told, I spent $378.01 on a Wednesday-Sunday trip, which was less than half of my budget. I did buy a hat in Zion, which covered our parking (if you spend enough at the shop, you got free parking), and then found my own hat under some other stuff. It was a combo win/fail, I suppose.