Five Frugal Things — Sister Edition
by Katy on December 4, 2024 · 21 comments
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My sister just finished a weeklong visit from New York and gifted me a pair of hand-knit sock as an early birthday present. I have a couple other pairs from her, but the colors on these ones are extra perfect for me.
Here’s a photo of my father and I wearing pairs of her socks:
Frugal Tip: Get yourself a sister who knits.
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I keep my house on the cooler side, which not everyone is used to. (My sister, I’m talking about my sister.) I’m happy to keep the house at a comfortable temperature during the day when we’re home, but I need the house to be cold at night, otherwise I roast. The duvet in my son’s old bedroom isn’t particularly thick, so I began looking for a new/used duvet insert to make sure she’d be comfortable. Then I remembered that we had a couple extra fleece blankets that used to belong to the kids, so I folded them at the foot of the bed. Were they pretty and did they match the bedding? Nope and nope! But did they keep my sister all toasty warm in the night? Yep!
“Make it do” for the win!
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I made a batch of inexpensive white bean rosemary soup with sausage in the crockpot to ensure a proper meal for the last day of my sister’s visit. I’d already chopped and frozen the leftover chicken-basil sausage from last week’s pre-Thanksgiving “bangers and mash” night, (The perfect day-before-Thanksgiving meal as I’ve already made the mashed potatoes!) I also threw together a loaf of no-knead artisan bread to round out the meal.
I thought I’d made enough for leftovers but we were apparently extra hungry, plus my son packed a container for his work lunch. No leftovers = zero food waste!
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• The soup was extra easy to make due to having pre-chopped and frozen a ton of onions.
• My sisters and I ordered a “men’s large” Uniqlo puffer jacket for our father off eBay, which turned out to be a oddly small “women’s large” size. (Was it maybe a child’s size large?!) I immediately initiated a return and put it out in the next day’s mail. It’s easy to let this stuff go, but it only took a few minutes to manage the return and arrange for our mail carrier to pick up the package.
• I drove my sister to the airport at 4:30 this morning. She’s lucky to not have to brave NYC public transportation to get her her flight on time!
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I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
Those are very pretty socks.
Indeed they are!
1. This past week I made a left over pot pie with home made crust utilizing left overs from Thanksgiving. I also made home made turkey noodle soup with home made noodles. They’re in the freezer for when we feel like turkey again.
2. I am having a cookie party and made chocolate chip cookie dough, and oatmeal raisin cookie dough. I had to buy oatmeal but wanted to make oatmeal raisin specifically because I have a huge amount of raisins. I have events with food every week this month. I love it and at the same time also want a break from it.
3. A neighbor gave away my size shoes and clothes and I accepted. I was pleasantly surprised with several free pairs of shoes and lots of shirts. I had three other ladies go through the items and help thin them, then sent some to a relative as a gift, then brought the rest to a resale store and made $21. Still more left. It was an incredibly nice and large freebie gift. I still have not bought new clothes in the last two years that I have lost over 100 lbs. I have bought some second hand items but only a few. It’s hard but doable to just about eliminate your clothing budget.
4. A co-worker is moving and bringing items he doesn’t want in to the office. I was gifted a box of commercial toilet paper rolls, and an older but working tv and remote. I’m very excited as I was running low on TP, and the tv in my room died a few months ago and I miss having it on sometimes. Yay!! Patience and things come to you!
5. I have been trying to do as many rebates for free items and rebate apps for free gift cards as possible. It’s fun but weird. I plan on using a lot of freebie items for my cookie party as appetizers this weekend. Like free humus, cheap crackers, free summer sausage with free crackers, and probably will have to buy cheese. It’s a fun way to do it. Probably not the most pragmatic. But I really need to do something to make a financial offset and not be driving in my car running it into the ground like I did with food delivery app I did. Infact, I almost think I would warn against people doing any independent contracting that over utilizes their vehicles now with some retrospect.
1. Had some very good luck with Buy Nothing the last few days. Requested and received dog nail clippers (after giving ours away several years ago in a fit of minimalism as our dog at the time wouldn’t let us clip her nails), a can of black spray paint for a small project, and a hair trimmer after ours broke. And not just any hair trimmer – it was a fully loaded Wahl Elite Pro set used only a couple times.
2. Reading the “More-with-Less” cookbook by Doris Janzen Longacre from the library. I think A. Marie put it on my radar. Fun read!
3. Received 30% off on a haircut with a special offer.
4. Used a Target Circle reward to get 15% off an online item that we shipped to a great nephew in California for his birthday.
5. At our favorite local restaurant, we bought a $100 gift card and received a $20 gift card as a bonus.
Yep, MB in MN, that was me. I have both the cookbook and DJL’s follow-up book, Living More with Less–which her husband and others had to complete for her, due to her tragically early death from cancer at age 39.
None of my sisters knit but my daughter and aunt do. 2 of my best friends crochet. I have been very lucky and received many beautiful homemade gifts from all of them.
1.My friend sent me home with food. I passed on most of it since I am trying to lose weight and I don’t need desserts sitting around calling my name. I brought a wrap with me for lunch today. I have a garlic knot chicken with fresh mozzarella for lunch tomorrow.
2.My friend gave me 3 pumpkins that her husband had grown. I’m going to cook them for her and make her something in the future with it. I am going to save the seeds for her. I told her I will plant some for her in her yard next year. Her husband was the gardener of the family.
3.The lady I help offered me her pumpkins. I took 3 large ones. I told her I will take the rest tomorrow.
4.I went to ShopRite. I got blackberries for $1.99.They are my son’s favorite so they are for him. I got 4 bags of onions for $1.99 each. I will make more onion soup. I got a bag of scallops and a bag of shrimp on sale that we will use on Christmas Eve. I had $20 off my next shopping order coupon because I bought $100 in GC last week. I also had $1.50 off my next order.
5.We started decorating the house for Christmas. We aren’t buying any decorations except candy canes which I love. Our tree is over 15 years old. It was bought after Christmas for 75% off. Hubby has fixed the lights many times. Some of our decorations are from family members that have passed on. Some are from thrift stores. Some were crafts that we have made and some were gifts. The house always looks beautiful, inside and out.
1. Signed up for my company’ s 401k up to the max amount they match. Had to wait for my one year hiring anniversary. Yeah to free money!
2. Picked up 2 free guinea pig cages to give my piggies more room.
3. Dropped off the first batch of salvaged pumpkins at my friends farm only to come home and find more on my porch! Fortunately I’m driving near her house tomorrow so I’ve already put them in my car.
4. Froze the rest of the sweet potatoes as we are sweet potatoed out. Future me will be happy to have xtra side dishes stashed away.
5. Used my”economy” button on my car when ever in on the highway.
Hurrah for free money!
1. My daughter and I went to a free band concert at the one of the local colleges. We went early to avoid crowded parking lot and also to get seats at the top of the theater. All seats are good seats, but the top row means no climbing up or down, that’s definitely worth going early. It was a great show and a very appreciative audience.
2. I have been working on getting out the Christmas decorations ever since the day after Thanksgiving. I am giving thanks today that I went through the last storage bin. I am not using everything in the bins, but there are favorite things that I always enjoy putting out and sure enough a lot of them were in the last bin. Maybe when I put them away I will list things on the outside of the bin to help me next year.
3. I have finally finished off the turkey from Thanksgiving. Some of it went home with family members, but there was still plenty for me including the carcass. I made turkey vegetable soup a few days ago, some for me and some to share. Other turkey related dishes I have made with leftovers: Turkey Pot Pie, Turkey Tikka Masala, turkey sandwiches, and stuffing with turkey and leftover gravy (one of our favorites). When they are served with a large green salad they make for a filling meal.
4. I saw a recipe using a tube of crescent roll dough to use up leftover cranberry sauce. I knew it would be a perfect way to make a breakfast or teatime treat using only things I already had on hand. There was a partial container of blueberry cream cheese spread that I spread over the readymade dough, then topped with our orange and mixed berry cranberry sauce and rolled up to bake. It is a real winner. I still have some cranberry sauce left and I think I will serve it tonight in place of chutney with my Turkey Tikka Masala.
5. Closet and drawer cleaning and a trip to the Goodwill.
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The socks are beautiful. Your sister is an accomplished knitter.
1. DD had a major plumbing issue at her house and had to call a plumber at night. $$$$. I baked them a batch of muffins, using very ripe bananas, and dropped them off.
2. I had a recipe for cauliflower soup I wrote down years ago. I had a cauliflower so I made the soup and a pan of corn bread for dinner. I don’t think the recipe is a keeper but now I know. It is adequate and we will eat it.
3. Yesterday I found a quarter walking to the library from where I parked for a volunteer gig. I found $.03 later that day. I found $1.11 walking on Thanksgiving and $.20 walking on Sunday.
4. Bundling up and walking even though I am not enjoying the weather.
5. I met up with a friend for a walk Monday afternoon.
1. My HP printer has not been working with the smartink replacement cartridges Customer service has been great. They have sent me 3 sets of four cartridges. The 3rd set finally worked. I returned the others to Staples for $5 a piece. I had to download an app to do it.
2. I made an Anderson Soup. All spices ect included for us non cooks. Excellent. I did add leftover rice and some ground beef. I bought it at Black Friday last year for 20% off.it will make 10 meals and took no time in my instapot.
3. I am taking Mom to a small procedure. I packed lunch.
4. I worked on Spanish and Chess while there.
5. I also went to a consignment shop and bought super cool Madewell jeans and A Tulip Co shirt for 20 total.
1. I combined errands and picked up some free boxes and packing material from a friend on my way to Costco.
2. I bought gas at Costco which was 44 cents cheaper than the gas stations I passed along the way.
3. I had Costco’s $1.50 hot dog and soda for lunch.
4. My mom gave me some of her ground ring bologna with pickle relish which fed two of my daughters and myself for dinner.
5. My youngest and I are starting a new puzzle which my mom loaned us. I’m reading a library book on my kindle. I took a nice walk with a friend this morning ahead of the expected snow storm. I’m dressed warmly and sitting under a blanket in my cold house.
LOL going to make the crusty bread but for liquid it says 1 1/2 warm water. May I safely assume that is 1 1/2 cups?
FFT, All Around the Boulevard Edition:
We have a winter storm warning here in Central NY (nothing like what Western and Northern NY got over Thanksgiving weekend, but enough that I’m taking it seriously) from now through Friday morning, so I got out while the getting was good this morning to run some closely batched errands. Herewith:
(1) My first stop was Ollie’s, where I am now a three-star general in Ollie’s Army (everybody stand up and salute!) and used the resulting 30% off one item coupon on a new set of sheets. The set I’ve been using, laundering, and putting back on the bed for almost 10 years now is seriously worn out. And I also picked up two packs of Dr. Scholl’s socks for my next-door neighbor (NDN), plus various other stocking stuffers.
(2) Next stop (in the same shopping plaza) was Petco, where I picked up the usual cans of the house brand senior cat food for Betty. The cashier asked me, “Do you need anything else for your kitty? Toys? Treats?” I replied, “No, thanks. She’s overweight as it is, and her favorite toys are anything I happen to drop on the floor.”
(3) I then went around to Price Chopper (also on the Boulevard, our local commercial strip that used to be part of the Erie Canal), where I got eight of NDN’s beloved Lean Cuisines on special.
(4) Also at Price Chopper, I found two turkey backs muy cheap. I’ve just roasted these and will make a turkey stock with them tomorrow, as soon as I’ve picked all the usable meat off the bones.
(5) And I finished off the Boulevard run with a stop at the Salvation Army superstore, where I found a DVD of the George C. Scott version of A Christmas Carol in mint condition, a wine glass with the inscription “Old People Matter,” and a Lands’ End fleece vest (with one small cosmetic flaw, but I don’t care about that) for 99 cents. Total was $3.71.
I found 56 cents in the washer after laundering my husband’s clothes.
Made a pot of chicken-potato-veggie soup using the last remaining roasted chicken thigh. Leftover magic turned one piece of chicken into 6 cups of soup.
We are having our driveway repaired this week, which means I’ve stayed home and passed the time doing intensive house cleaning, including washing windows and waxing the kitchen floor.
Took advantage of this afternoon’s bright sunshine to dry a easily cleaned rug in the backyard.
Ruby, I always used to have to empty out DH’s pockets–not only coins, but assorted small hardware (nails, nuts, bolts, etc.), keys, and his various Swiss Army knives–before I ran any laundry. Otherwise, our washing machine would have sounded like John Jacob Jingleheimer Schmidt.
My daughter is a prize winning knitter, but she does things like make museum quality Shetland lace shawls from wool and silk she spins herself. Like this:
https://www.shetlandmuseumandarchives.org.uk/categories/lace-project/
No socks for me!
1. Took the beagle puppy to be neutered at a local clinic that charged me $300. Our usual vet quoted $1500-1700. Sigh.
2. Bartering website design and building for cleaning. I’d rather fuss with HTML than clean our bathrooms.
3. Christmas decoration is seriously scaled back because of two puppies in the house.
4. Made decorations the puppies can’t get to out of local grapevines, evergreens and holly.
5. Enjoying the coziness of my house with a crackling fire, hot and cold running dogs, while the savage wind whips off the Atlantic.
That is so interesting! (The lace and spinning). You and your family are so talented.
Thanks so much! But really my kids are amazing. I’m just a hack writer! Considering my exceedingly working class background*, that I can pay bills as a (hack) writer is completely amazing.
*My father was born on Welfare Island, NYC. Really! ha! “That April, the New York City Board of Aldermen renamed Blackwell’s Island to Welfare Island. The aldermen hoped the new name would improve the island’s reputation”
Snort. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Island
1. Someone on Marketplace listed a set of four gilded Amethyst agate coasters from Anthropologie for $5. I picked them with the intention to resell, but they are awfully pretty and I might just keep them.
2. My office hosted a happy hour at 4:00 today. I had a little snack plate of crackers/cheese/salami and then took off early.
3. Stopped at Goodwill on my way home, hoping to find an ugly Christmas sweater for my son. My store still has reasonable price with all shirts/tops/sweaters at $5.99. But they have the Christmas sweaters marked $9.99 – $24.99, which seems high to me. I just found one Athleta top.
4. McDonalds had a double cheeseburger for $0.50 in the app, so I ordered just that and ran in and grabbed it.
5. The dog finally ripped the tail off his favorite toy and fished out the innards. I stitched it back up, and he crowded me the entire time.
That soup sounds tasty!
1. Shopped at the discount grocery store.
2. My husband is installing our new windows himself. They’re so much less drafty than the old ones!
3. Snapped pictures of receipts for fetch rewards.
4. Getting a free cat. He even comes with toys and a litter box.
5. My son and husband finished painting a used dresser. It looks great and is bigger, so it’ll fit his clothes better than his old one.