Five Frugal Things -- Sumo Wrestlers & a Tidbit Dinner
1) I had a late afternoon snack, so I wasn't really in the mood for a full and proper dinner. Instead I assembled what I'm calling a "tidbit dinner" from what I had on hand.
This includes leftover Carr water crackers from our recent beach trip, thinly sliced Tillamook cheddar cheese, Trader Joe's hummus and tiny crisp pickles to add a bit of zing.
My sister and I ate a lot of meals like this growing up, as our father grew up in a Jewish Pittsburgh family where quality deli food was always on hand. 1960's-1970s Portland was a symphony in blandness, but he eventually figured out where to source the foods he grew up with. He'd buy salami and Jarlsberg cheese at a small deli inside the Meier & Frank department store and cut thin slices for "salami and cheese rollups" for us girls.
Sadly I had no salami.
2) What you see in the background is an Antiques Roadshow YouTube video titled "Six-Figure Dumpster Dive: ANTIQUES ROADSHOW's Top Trash to Treasure Finds" so you know I haven't gone off brand!
Sadly, this video only featured three Roadshow finds, as you know I'd watch an hour long video on this subject.
3) I went for an evening walk through the neighborhood and encountered a few free items up for offer. Like the above box of free kid stuff, which I rummaged through but left in place.
Or these two armchairs. The velvet one on the left was pretty cool, but someone had sliced lengths along the back. Again, I left them behind.
This person set out a pair of items and I was 49% on team "bring home the kid's rolling backpack," but I decided I should give a family with kids the chance to bring it home.
4) Did I bring anything home? Yes! The single sumo wrestler mug on the top left, as A) It was cute, and B) similar ones actually sell for a decent amount on eBay!
Here's one for $43.50:
I've added three or four mugs to this Little Free Mug Library in the past, so I felt no guilt bringing one home to sell.
5) I sold the B. Kliban pillowcase that bought at the Goodwill bins when it was all stained, with an completely undone hem. I removed the stains, hand stitched the hem back in place and put it back into the hands of a collector.
A reminder of how it looked:
And how she looked after her makeover:
The Oregon Food Bank will now have an additional $14.37 towards feeding people in need.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
I love a good snacky dinner. And the Kliban pillowcase turned out so nice!
I took my husband to the grocery store this morning to pick out healthy food he will eat, as it's not frugal to feed the trash can when he refuses to eat something. Did the trick of washing the berries in a bowl of water with a tablespoon of cider vinegar added to keep them from getting moldy.
The store had chicken drumsticks and pork loin on sale, so that's what we bought. I cut the pork loin in half and wrapped one half to freeze as a roast and cut the other up into bite-size pieces to make stir- fry.
Took a basket of stuff by the not-for-profit thrift store.
Just want to say thanks, Ruby, for your tip about using a regular pencil for brows. I used a Ticonderoga pencil I got free, and it is the best thing I've ever tried on my graying, thinning brows. Amazing! Thanks!
My great grandma Jones would do suppers kinda like that, so we call them Jones suppers now.
1. I got books, dvds and even a seed packet from the library.
2. I hitched a ride with my husband and shopped at Aldi, Restore and Goodwill.
3. I got some free plant cuttings.
4. I'm harvesting zucchini and yellow squash.
5. I got some thyme and rosemary cuttings from my mother in law
https://practicalwalk.com/2026/06/02/frugal-five-mostly-garden-related/
I very often have a snack for dinner, because I have little appetite in the evening. Tonight, though, my early dinner was mac and cheese from the freezer, and applesauce from a jar.
I have made it all the way home from my road trip. I have unpacked my freebies -- some teabags, plastic cutlery, water bottle, small sizes of cream cheese, ketchup, coffee creamer, a couple of coffee pods.
This morning I swung by a Goodwill and dropped off clothes that my sister didn't want, and that we decided probably wouldn't sell. Two bags of good stuff remain in the car -- I'll start bringing them up to my third-floor condo tomorrow to list a little at a time. Today is all about rest.
Very glad to find my fish and my plants all alive.
1. It is 90, muggy and I still have no air on… yet. Hopefully I can stay strong until evening. My windows are up and my fan is going.
2. I hope to do my hour walk tonight as I didn’t get to this morning bc of having to travel to court in another county. My walk is essential for my physical and mental health.
3. I ate breakfast at home, and ate a very late lunch at home. I will eat supper here also bc I have plenty of food. I can hear my dearly departed mother “we have food at home”’ in my head.
4. I carefully washed out my work dress in the bathtub and hung it up
to dry.
5. I am ignoring the news and instead I am riding through the countryside on the way to work with the windows cracked listening to the crickets and narrowly avoiding deer even at my slow speed. I also stopped and helped a turtle across the road. I am feeding feral cats, going to watch the sun set this evening hopefully, and practice gratitude for what I have. Today I have to turn off world noise and local political noise for my mental health.
I think I've sold one of those mugs before. I love it.
1. I combined errands today. I dropped off my wedding ring to be repaired. Not frugal. I wear it all the time since it's hard to get off and I bent it all out of shape. I'll have it resized also, so I can take it off when I'm working outside.
2. I dropped off my daughter's old prom dress at the local bridal shop. She wanted to donate it to their yearly Cinderella Project where they provide free prom dresses, accessories and shoes to whoever would like them.
3. I dropped off dog treat bags for recycling at the pet store.
4. I returned cans to Aldi and picked up only the items on my list.
5. I dropped off a carload of garage sale items at my mom's. I helped her list a couple things on Marketplace. She and my sister fed me tacos for dinner.
6. I cleaned and vacuumed out my car. Give it a week and the dogs will have it destroyed again.
Your #2...how sweet of your daughter to donate her prom dress to such a worthy cause. Looks like you're raising an awesome human being!
Please thank your daughter for me! I was a recipient of a prom dress program in my town for 2 years in high school. It was a huge help to me and my family, and made me feel like a princess!
A ‘Little Free Mug Library’ - that is a new one I’ve never seen but cute. When we were visiting relatives in Sweden, my husband’s cousin was telling us that he needed a new woodworking project. It is his retirement hobby. So we told him he should build A Little Free Library for the end of his driveway. We explained the concept but he told us his neighbors would think he was crazy. Go figure….
Just the usual frugal stuff - picnics, baking, etc.
We did go to a free art exhibit which featured entirely recycled art - artwork people made with found objects or worn out items. It was very impressive and gave me some good ideas. One woman had done a painstaking mosaic of tiny square bits cut from old magazines. It was a floral still life and I would just love to do something similar.
Our little protest group is getting bigger every week. Last week was around 40 people - probably because each new week brings new issues.
Yesterday we went to a used bookstore. 1st day of the month so we had more money and my husband wanted to get a couple new sudoku books - his new hobby. I found a good sounding fantasy novel and an unused adult coloring book which I gave to the Little Free Art Gallery. We saved $5 at the bookstore because of a percentage off coupon.
Congrats on the pillowcase sale. I would've grabbed the dump wrestler mug, too.
I stopped in at the GW bins and found a summer weight Ralph Lauren cotton robe. Also picked up a pair of shorts and a nautica beach towel. Just Dill With It Portland Pickles t shirt and a wool crochet throw.
Stopped at the bread store, they had gf bagels!
Found a wadded up $5 wrapped in a receipt. Added it to my garage sale fund.
I would eat a snacky dinner every night if I wasn’t responsible for feeding others here too (I’ve tried a snacky dinner for everyone and my kids always end up asking when dinner is later, even after eating the snacky dinner!)
1) Listening to an audiobook from the library, The Emperor of Gladness, I’m about halfway through and enjoying it.
2) I picked up a too good to go bag from a bakery in town. Their bread is very good, when I bought a loaf previously it was $12, the too good to go bag is $4.99 and comes with 3 loaves (and sometimes a pastry too) I did buy a gift card for each of the kids teachers as an end of year gift when I was there, so that I could also support the business as I don’t think they make much from too good to go, it’s more about reducing food waste.
3) Last week I made some tofu, cabbage, bean burritos and froze them. Today I brought one to work for lunch and topped it with avocado and mango salsa. So good, glad I still have 3 more in the freezer!
4) Both my kids classes were looking for food contributions for end of school year celebrations. I signed up for watermelon for both classes and one large watermelon was more than enough to cover two classes.
5) Contributed some money to my kids education savings accounts, I figure the more I can put in while they are young the better, as it’s more time for interest to accrue.
Source a set of Kliban pillowcases and I will buy them for sure!! Love BK Kliban!
The mug is too cool! My family has a soft spot for unique mugs. Honestly it's made packing difficult as they each have special origins.
1. Today was the final day of cleaning in our house. I tackled it while listening to an audiobook. I did forget my headphones, I was very sad about this, but I put my phone in a lidless plastic container and the sound amplified nicely!
2. I saved us $5 by bringing a very full load of laundry to the house to run while I cleaned. The hotel we're in does have onsite laundry (Yay!) but it costs $3 to wash and $2 to dry (boo!!) and they have no drying racks available. The machines only take quarters and the front desk is unable to exchange cash for quarters, go figure.
3. On my way to the house, I stopped at a used car dealership that we've bought and sold at before to get a quote on our vehicle. I was given a very warm water bottle for my time.
4. The last of the food from the fridge and freezers was given to friends on my way back to the hotel, as well as some pantry goods that were opened and unable to be donated to the food bank. We had already brought what we could use with us to the hotel and donated 6 or 8 bags of groceries to the food bank, so thankfully we're leaving with very minimal food waste.
5. I took advantage of the shitty water bottle from the dealership and remembered that I had single serve strawberry drink packets in my bag. I brought my large reusable bottle with me too, but that I kept topped up with ice water. I had two packets while out and about to curb my cravings for an over priced treat drink.
I've been trying to expand my repertoire of cheap but really good vegetarian dishes (we prefer meat, but I'm adding in more no-meat meals). This week I scored big with a dish I saw on a LifebyMikeG video (The Most Delicious $50 You Will Ever Spend.) It's vegetable flautas with chipotle black bean sauce. So good. My husband had two helpings. I highly recommend.
I spent an enjoyable afternoon watching a movie and mending a few items. Very satisfying.
I took care of a friend's greenhouse while she was away and harvested lettuce, arrugula, and Asian greens, which we enjoyed in a large salad.
This last is a frugal fail but not entirely: we have had our old RV at a consignment lot for two years trying to sell it. We have no space to store this thing at our place. We finally decided to donate it. The consignment place actually knocked off a good-sized chunk of the fee we owed them so the final payout was not as painful. The children's charity we donated to is paying my husband to transport the trailer to them -- this will cover gas and about half of what we paid the consignment people. Plus we'll have the donation receipt, though this will probably only impact our state taxes. I hope the charity gets a nice bit of money for the children's cancer camps they administer.
I found that same sumo wrestlers mug at my local Savers and kept it because I thought it was so cute! Nice to know I can hopefully sell it down the road.
https://www.wemu.org/wemu-news/2026-05-29/u-m-collects-tons-of-items-for-reuse-during-spring-student-move-out
End of the year college clean out saved from landfill.
The Kliban pillowcase is the print my sheets growing up were. I wonder if my parents still have them!
1. It was gorgeous out last night and we wanted to go sit on the patio at our favorite local bar. I hadn't eaten dinner and it occurred to me-the bar allows you to order food from other restaurants; why can't I bring it from home? So I loaded up a tupperware and enjoyed a tuna & crispy rice salad with my negroni.
2. We loved the patio but realized everyone around us was smoking, so we came home and had a second drink (courtesy of DH) on our front patio. It was lovely and cheaper than being out.
3. Our cat has the beginnings of dental and kidney disease - poor buddy! - luckily our pet insurance covers testing and a dental procedure under anesthesia. We are able to get these things in before his deductible resets so they will be at no cost to us.
4. Biking all over the neighborhood lately. No subway fare or parking costs necessary.
5. Getting sick of notetaking on my computer, so I'm using some backs of old papers to take notes during meetings. It's a nice brain break and makes sure my handwriting doesn't get too bad from disuse 🙂
I love reading about the various names for this kind of meal. Another blog I used to read referred to it as pickety bits. Someone I worked with a decade ago referred to it as snicky snacks. Recently I read of “girl dinner”… and of course there are charcuterie plates. Not telling my husband about any of these, lol (he calls it a cold plate).
1. I bought a pack of hot dogs and stuck some buns in the freezer last week and holy moly and I glad I did. For about $8 weeks were able to have a quick dinner tonight, which was supplemented with a can of baked beans and some leftover cucumber salad. Took minutes to put on the table and prevented us from getting takeouts
2. My handy husband continues his Reign of Repairs and has put up a strong and long clothesline in our backyard. He also took our son’s garbage picked bike and did a full tuneup on it. He has saved us tens of thousands of dollars and added so much value to our forever home!
3. I have spent some time doing some backend work on my business. Clients keep rolling in and revenue is solid so it’s worth the boring and annoying work to keep that happening.
4. I am going out of town for a few days to play some concerts and I have planned out some simple food to take and a coupon of books to read. I’m taking the train to save on gas and stress so I will have 5 hours each way to relax and enjoy some quiet time.
5. I’m grateful for other souls who are trying to spread positivity and stay away from the soul sucking world of capitalism and consumption.