Five Frugal Things -- Recycling & Black Bean Burgers
1. I gathered our clear plastic recycling and walked it to a New Seasons grocery store. We're able to recycle (wishcycle?) most categories of plastic through our curbside pickup, but the "clamshell" style of plastic requires an extra step.
My plan had been to grab some individual items from their salad bar, as it was advertised as 50%-off today. (I wanted to see if they had an high value things like marinated artichoke hearts, bacon bits or roasted red peppers.) Unfortunately I learned that my store doesn't actually have a salad bar. Oh well, I helped myself to a cheese sample and took my cheap self home.
2. I nipped into the Goodwill Outlet "bins" store to scout inventory for the $100 Goodwill Gift Card Challenge and picked up a couple items for myself. This includes the above vintage brass plant mister. I love how someone put in the time to solder the side -- a beautiful effort in a wasteful world.
I also picked up this plastic storage bin, as this specific design is what we use throughout our house. They notch together and can be used in a variety of ways. They also stack perfectly. They used to sell them at Dollar Tree and are surprisingly sturdy. Whoever designed them deserves their very own, not to be shared Nobel Prize!
I splurged on a heavy bag of Restoration Hardware curtain hardware because the quality stood out. I've listed them on eBay, but am tempted to hold onto them as they match the style of my curb picked chandelier. I'd still need to get a matching rod, but that shouldn't be too hard.
The total cost for everything was $12.05.
3. I put in an order for a free-with-points double mushroom pizza on the Domino's app while still in the Goodwill parking lot, and then swung by for it on my way home. I earn these points by ordering gluten-free pizzas for my daughter. Ironically these points can't be used for a gluten-free pizza, as those crusts are baked offsite and only come in the "small" size! The free pizzas are always the medium size.
By the way, this hardly seems like a "double" number of mushrooms! Oh well, it was free!
I wanted to make sure to have leftover pizza, so I only ate a bit and quickly assembled a black bean burger using mix I already had prepped in the refrigerator. This was super tasty and cost maybe 50¢, as the buns were 5¢ apiece from the Franz bakery Outlet.
5. I'll use the leftover pizza to create "pizza croutons," which are just diced leftover pizza, which you reheat in the oven and serve over salad. I'm very excited about tonight's dinner!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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Love the plant mister!
1. My kid and I both needed to visit the dentist which is the next town over. I scheduled our appointments back to back and we stopped by a county park on the way home for a free walk.
2. My neighbor offered me a head of broccoli and a bag of carrots as she accidentally over bought for a recipe. I walked down and picked them up happily!
3. Cleaning the house and sorting not so loved items out. We are listing them for the upcoming consignment sale and on ebay.
4. Reading two books from the public library- Wintering by Katherine May and The Anthropocene Reviewed by John Green.
5. Keeping my 2026 financials in a notebook that I had on my "use-it-up" list. I needed a pocket in the notebook and glued a sturdy piece of cardstock I had inside the cover. One less thing purchased for the year.
The brass mister is identical to the one I inherited from my Great Granny.
I finally broke down and went grocery shopping at Winco. $71 later I am all stocked up. I would not, couldn't force myself to buy bread at $7.99/loaf gf. A loaf of oatmeal honey is raising on the counter now.
I sold the lawnmower that I listed a few days ago. Gone!
I sold a pair of men's LL Bean duck boots. Gone!
Went out on a community volunteer fire call this morning. Fire started with a portable heater plugged into a lightweight extension cord. If you can't plug the heater into a wall receptacle, then please don't. Home occupants both had burns to their hands and legs. Stay safe everyone!
Lindsey, sending you a (((( h u g )))).
1. We had a snow/cold day so dd and I headed to Goodwill. I grabbed the 2 bags of stuff I had to donate - menopause has not been good to my body. I need shirts in a larger size and found 3 that I loved
2. We have a storm coming - as much of the country does. We are gathering up our flashlights and figuring out our water. I don't have enough for a huge power outage but we will fill all the containers we have to help ensure that we can flush the toilets. I have several cases of bottled water set aside specifically for drinking during an outage.
3. Dh brought up more wood and chopped a bunch. Also cleaned out the chimney himself
4. I had meatballs thawed but we just didn't feel like pasta. I dug through my fridge freezer and found 2 old but edible hotdog buns and we had meatball subs for dinner
5. I listed an essential oil I had gotten for free on Ebay for $30 and it sold within 24 hours.
If it isn't too late, Jennifer, you can always fill your bathtub!
My poor granddaughter is pulling at her ear, AGAIN, which is probably indicating another ear infection. My daughter needed to pick up allergy medicine and pains meds for the baby, per her physician, so she used my phone number at CVS and bought all CVS brand items, so she got 20% off each item, saving herself $7.00. She gave me the receipts, and I got 75 cents back on Ibotta and 25 points on Fetch.
I had been craving some hot coffee, but didn’t have any creamer. When we went to visit my daughter and granddaughter, she sent me home with some delicious Butterbeer creamer - in a baby bottle as that was all she had to use! 🙂
I am still on my decluttering kick. I’m up to 409 items. Today’s contribution was 6 lids that we do not use, one glass Christmas serving tray, and one cake pan. Is it worth it to donate lids or is that just asking the thrift store to throw my junk away?
I used up two half empty jars of apple butter and two packets of instant oatmeal that we won’t eat to make pumpkin apple butter bread. It was okay, not great. But we will eat it.
Are the lids to plastic storage containers? I volunteer at my church's thrift shop and can say with almost 100% certainty the lids will be thrown away unless they are glass or the tops to Ball jars. I think your intention to keep them in circulation and out of the landfill is awesome BTW.
Also, I don't know what butterbeer creamer is but boy oh boy does that sound delicious .
They are nice(r) glass lids for pots and pans. The general consensus locally on my Facebook was that they could be used if donated, so I donated them to the Salvation Army. I hope they can be used!
And the Butterbeer creamer WAS delicious! I don't know where she got it, but it was tasty!
I got the glass lids for my trash picked pots at Value Village. Donate!
When I still worked I always used the Medela bottles that attached to my breast pump for creamer. Those yellow lids sealed up so tight they never leaked, and no one EVER touched it in the fridge.
DH comes home from Rehab on Saturday. He wasn't supposed to be discharged until Sunday; however, "Old Man Winter" is fue to have "morning sickness" on Sunday and spew 3"-6" of white, fluffy yuck. (S-N-O-W is a "4-letter word" you know. Someone needs to wash Old Man Winter's mouth out with soap for "swearing.") "French Toasters" unite! That's what our friend calls those who dash to the store to get milk, eggs, and bread before a storm...and don't forget the toilet paper!
Drove by the "Kindness Cupboard" (a.k.a "Little Free Pantry") in front of the Catholic church the other day. The food bank must handed out a LOT of black beans this month becaise the cupboard was FULL of black beans. DH uses them in chili and I make black bean soup on occasion. Have both in the freezer, so we don't need any black beans at the moment.
You all must cook a lot of foreign dishes as most of the meals you talk about I've never even heard if. (Maybe I live under a rock?)
DH and I talked today about how we can minimize food waste at home. One or 2 days of leftovers are fine, but... i'm going to start cutting recipes in half. Looking for variety, not a weeks worth of re-runs.
I will be glad when DH is home and we can actually cut down our expenses to the bare minimum. I've been meeting myself coming and going for the last few weeks with with work, visiting DH and taking care of everything else. I just want to have some down time. I just need some down time
Yea, now its time to take care of yourself
The eggs cartons could be offered on Buy Nothing. I see them in our group often and they seem to be claimed.
Good idea, I hadn't thought about that.
Our food bank gets eggs in big pallets and they reuse egg cartons to break up the pallets into dozen cartons to give away on food bank days. You might check with your local food bank to see if they do the same and pass on to them. My school van contractor's mechanic is a volunteer at the food bank. The bus/van drivers are taking their empty cartons to work and the mechanic takes them to the food bank.
Did the pre-approval appointment for city rebates for water barrels.
Mended a sweater and took in a pair of pants. Cut off one pair of pants (badly faded) to use as gardening shorts this summer.
Adjusted prices on some eBay and FB marketplace listings that I just want gone.
Drank hot lemon and honey for my sore throat. Fresh lemons and raw honey were both gifts, so this remedy was totally freeeeeeee.
Picked up a pile of library books and didn't buy anything at the thrift store. Zero money spent today.
1. I made quick stops at Giant Food, Sam's Club, and Aldi to pick up food before the big winter storm that is predicted to bring several inches of snow, maybe topped with freezing rain. I went out early to avoid crowds/waits. I found my first "found change" of 2026, $.02 at Aldi and $.01 at Giant.
2. I joined my weekly knit/crochet for charity group. They provide the yarn and it is a great group of people.
3. A friend came over for a chat. I was to go to her house but it was not a good day for that (her spouse is still recovering from surgery and not sleeping well). I quickly did a bit of housekeeping and we had a nice afternoon visit.
4. A friend and I walked the local Trolley Trail and caught up.
5. I had submitted, in early January, some 2025 OTC purchases for Flexible Spending Account reimbursement. They were approved but the money was never sent to our checking account. I called customer service and the remains of the 2025 account were applied to a 2026 purchase (we have a grace period each year). I asked if that could be changed and was told yes. I will keep an eye out for the deposit. It was only $37 but worth a phone call.
1. I sold a Hot Wheels car on Posh, which I had zero dollars in, so all profit., and used packaging I already had on hand to ship it.
2. Found 11¢ I am rich!
3. I have researched banks with better interest rates than mine, and now I need to make an appointment to move my money. I should have already done this, but I just keep putting off, like it's a big chore.
4. Normal frugal Friday for me. Packing my work lunch and beverages, taking free yoga class at the library, and no plans to shop or eat out.
5. Ordered a Thred Up clean out bag. Their regular fee is currently half off. We are forecasted a large snow storm this weekend, so it's the perfect time for decluttering.
Katy, I wish we had some way in our county of recycling plastic clamshells. Our county recycling agency won't accept them, and I'm not aware of any supermarkets in the area that do. And your mushroom-sparse pizza has given me an idea for one thing to make during the upcoming winter storm, since I have mushrooms to use up.
Meanwhile, like all the other commenters in the storm's path, I've been stocking up and making other preparations. I'm amused by Melissa N's term "French Toasters"; I didn't get bread (which I'm also planning to make over the weekend) or milk (since I have powdered milk on hand to use if necessary), but I did get eggs.
And although I don't expect that we'll lose power here in Central NY unless the nationwide grid starts going down, thanks for the reminder about water. I've been storing water in rinsed-out gallon vinegar jugs (which don't degrade as fast as store-bought water jugs/bottles) ever since the Y2K scare--do any other old-timers out there remember that?--and I can always thaw snow in 5-gallon buckets in a true emergency. But I may run a bathtub full just in case.
Thanks for the vinegar bottle tip.
We live rural, and lose power often
There are two types of egg carton people: the "please for the love of god I can't store any more cartons" and the "I am drowning in eggs, please provide a carton and receive 12 eggs free"
1. I was tempted to buy some melamine sponges (Mr. Clean magic eraser without the heart stopping upcharge) to clean some (a lot) or crayon off the wall. I decided to give it a go with some Dawn and a baby microfiber towel. It worked! There were definitely some tricky spots that took more work than others, but glad it's done.
2. I started a new book on Libby, 3/6 in the series so I'm making good time with the 14 day return period.
3. My husband picked up some milk and cold medicine on his way home last night.
4. Our receipt was eligible for a $0.20 rebate from Ibotta. Anyone else feel like the quality and quantity of rebates has gone down recently? Recession indicator maybe? I usually see Diaya dairy free cheese shreds for $1 rebate, up to 5 per receipt. Recently if I've seen it at all it's $0.50 and limit 3. Grrr.
5. Did some mental math today and it looks like we'll come under budget for groceries this month! We had some extra help with groceries this month (Christmas gift card) so that's really made a huge difference!
Re: egg cartons: I always save mine (and the Bestest Neighbors give me theirs) for the folks I buy eggs from at my Regional Market. And more than once, they've given me a discount on the eggs in return for the cartons.
Love the shabby chic plant mister! And I have saved your black bean burger recipe. As someone else commented, there are often cans of black beans in little free pantries.
Here in the frozen Midwest, I am just trying to get through this day of below zero temperatures. I am doing some baking -- pumpkin cake is in the oven now and chicken pot pies will go in later. I baked crescent rolls for breakfast.
I piled two quilts on top of my normal bedding and I was reasonably warm last night. I ran my space heater in the bedroom before turning in for the night.
If things get bad I have chargeable hand warmers! But luckily there has been no loss of power, and the water is running.
I won't be spending any money today because I won't be going out. Nor will I be shopping online, but that's a given.
I'm going to spend my time reading and perhaps will find something to watch on streaming. And I will do a gentle stretching and calisthenics routine, since neither the gym nor walking are an option today.
Preparing for Ice Storm edition: Although Lindsey, Katy, A. Marie and all others who live in cold winter country probably think I'm an amateur at this (and you're right, I am!), I'm fixing to hunker down here in Central Texas for an ice, freezing rain or sleet event.
1. I have had it with the gas "fireplace" space heater I bought from Wayfair back in '21 or '22 following the Great Texas Power Outage/Snowmaggedon/Winter Storm Uri. The flame and pilot light both have gone off without warning several times this winter, which means the natural gas was still flowing and causing a dangerous situation. I can't get the pilot to light. So, at the advice of my handyman (see below), I swapped it out for a wall-mounted natural gas space heater. The plumber installed it Thursday. The controls are up where I can reach them -- the fireplace's controls were on the bottom so I'd have to lie on the floor to try to work them, and they were so stiff, my arthritic hands couldn't punch the buttons hard enough to make them work. Anyway, I got the space heater installed in my den Thursday before the bad cold front blows in overnight Friday/Saturday. If all the electricity goes out, whether from a massive blackout or just a random downed power line, I will have heat in the den and won't have to evacuate. Not-so-frugal cost: almost $500. Still cheaper than a trip to the ER for carbon monoxide poisoning....assuming Snuggles and I survived it. Meanwhile, I have a new plumber -- he didn't charge me as much as most of 'em do, and he came over right away since the handyman called him and told him of my plight....the two are good friends.
2. Still can't find my Spectrum cell phone. Made a mad dash to the store for a Trac Fone, lest a power failure cuts off my landline phone. (Which is hooked up to Spectrum Internet and therefore needs electricity to run.) Also have all the battery-operated lanterns and lights positioned around the house just in case.
3. My ancient keyboard on this ancient computer chose to conk out, which is why I've been "radio silent" for the past day or so. Got my spare keyboard out of the storage closet; it too was inoperable. (Possibly having something to do with a heavy box being slammed on top of it by former Roommate from Hell.) Ran to Salvation Army and thrifted a new-to-me keyboard for 8 bucks. (Who cares if some of the keys are missing the painted-on letters? I touch type anyway!)
4. Handyman completed the long-planned-for, long-awaited floor installation in master bedroom; he and his son also helped me hang up thermal curtain liners and drapes so cold air won't come swooshing through these old original 1960s windows. We were able to use the luxury vinyl planks (that I'd bought at Ollie's Outlet 15% discount) without buying any new ones. Now all the flooring in the living room-dining room, hallway and 2 of 3 bedrooms match. (I've decided to keep the carpeting in the little bitty, seldom-used guestroom.)
5. Already stocked up on groceries, lest icy streets keep me at home, so no having to fight the mobs at all the supermarkets. Having enough non-perishables is an everyday thing for the Fru-gal Lisa household.
Your flooring saga is complete! WHOOT! You have been so patient with this - I was sad to read that your previous installers had to go undercover, and pleased for you that you found a GOOD new handyman with a good plumber friend, to help you get all these pieces in place. It must be a huge weight off your shoulders to have safe functional heat, and those curtains finally hung, and the floors all finally installed.
It has been a long journey to here, and you made it!
I love that "having enough non-perishables is an everyday thing for the Frugal Lisa household". This is also true here at chez Ecoteri
1. Took my toddler to the nature and & science museum with a friend who has a pass (so no entrance fee). I forgot our lunch (frugal fail), so found the biggest single slice of pizza for sale at the cafe to split along with rogue diaper bag snacks.
2. A very generous (and well off) friend offered me an expensive double stroller. My nephew is coming to visit next week , and we plan to hopefully expand our family at some point in the next year or two. I do worry about the financial implications of adding another child to our family but I think with frugality and some continued sacrifices until I return to the workforce , we will make it work.
3. Made a few sales this week on Poshmark/mercari/marketplace . Not making millions over here but a few hundred dollars a month makes a difference !
4. Picked up books from the library yesterday and let my little one get in some playtime there.
5. Hiding inside all weekend while we have bitter cold weather. Trying to balance utility costs in the process !
Well if nothing else, you'll have extra space in the unused side of the stroller. Short term it might come in handy.