Five Frugal Things -- Trader Joe Plums & Smithereens
1) I popped into Trader Joe's to pick up a few things for my youngest's refrigerator after their long vacation. (I knew they'd be back late and then off to work early.) What can I say? I love spoiling my kids!
I bought cereal, milk, hummus, apples, carrots, frozen taquitos, potstickers, pasta, pasta sauce and peanut butter caramel popcorn as a treat.
I was not the only person to come up with the great idea to hit Trader Joe's on Labor Day, so I ended up parking along a side street that abuts the parking lot.
Hello, is that a plum tree, dropping its bountiful fruit to the ground?
I ended up grabbing four plums off the ground, which I ate on the drive home!
I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this tree!
2) I finished reading my library copy of Kathryn Stockett's The Calamity Club in under three days, mostly on day two. This may not seem like much of an accomplishment, until you learn that it's 656 pages long! This is one of those books that makes you feel like you're inside the story.
I followed that up by putting a dozen or so books on hold through the library website. I seem to be getting a lot book recommendation reels on Instagram, which I save to look at later.
Future Katy is a very lucky woman!
3) I sold my late mother-in-law's high end wooden easel on Facebook Marketplace for $200, which'll go towards reimbursing us for the money we paid of pocket to deal with their estate. I took a couple months to sell, but it only takes a few seconds to renew the listing.
This prompted my husband to pull more stuff from the basement, this time -- unused painting canvases and handmade art paper.
We think we can easily sell the canvases, but we're going to donate the paper to our kids' old high school art department. Each sheet of that paper cost around $5 .
It's good to get everything into the hands of people who'll actually use these art supplies.
4) My sister left a few items behind from her recent trip, so I packaged everything up to mail back to her. This included three impressively heavy rocks she gathered from the Oregon coast. Note that the above photo shows her in her "happy place," as she's an earth science teacher.
I chose a USPS "Flat Rate" padded envelope which brought the shipping to $11.02, down from $15.65 had it been boxed. Mind you, these are the discounted PirateShip.com rates and it would've cost $14 to go directly through USPS. They also offer discounted UPS shipping.
I know that "Pirate Ship" makes it sound like a sketchy, but I promise that it's a perfectly acceptable way for anyone to get commercial discounted shipping rates. No subscriptions or fees. This is not a referral.
Now . . . let's see if the rocks arrive without being smashed to smithereens.
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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So sweet of you to stock the kids fridge while they're out of town. My mother in law used to do the same for us when were first married and lived in the same neighborhood. Getting in late at night and finding a gallon of milk in the fridge, a loaf of bread and a sweet treat on the counter always made things better. I miss her so much.
Will have to check out the books you put on the list, I need some new ones on my hold list. I am almost done with Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club. Not my usual fare, but hard to put down! (And now I want a brandy old fashioned)
You won the mother-in-law lottery!
Smithereens: one of my favorite bands from the 1990s. “Girl Like You.”
That's what I thought too, from the title!
I was hoping to see references to Blood & Rose's or House That We Used to Live In in the article. My daughter's first concert (as a 3 month old baby) was a free performance by The Smithereens at a town concert in the park. Now that baby's a freshman in college!
I walked with friends, ran two loads of laundry and hung them on the line, and made 2 apple rhubarb crumbles using rhubarb from our garden and apples gifted by a friend.
I had a telehealth appointment, so no gas used.
Dh charged the ebike battery at work.
I spray painted a curb picked plant pot and stand, then listed it. I hope to gather more motivation and list some dishes.
I bought some hooks that oddly had two parts to them. I thought I'd lost some of the pieces, but I found them. So now the hooks are available to be used.
Slowly changing my email over to proton mail since it is private and encrypted. It has been a good opportunity to unsubscribe from many email lists, delete accounts with stores I never use any more, and generally tidy up my digital life. It feels somehow mentally spacious. Link to proton mail if you're interested! https://pr.tn/ref/J7GM1N09
I have several plant cuttings in water hoping they will root. If the scented geraniums root I'll give those as Christmas gifts. Also started kale and swiss chard seeds.
I love proton mail, been using it for business for 7+ years.
Kara,
Thanks for sharing about private proton mail. I'll definitely check it out!
Haha! I thought you meant the band.
You need to make some plum jam. I did and it’s so good (and a nice alternative to blackberry and grape).
Ooh . . . good idea!
Shipping rocks to NYC. That is pure sisterly love. I like that she always leaves a bit of herself behind. So sweet.
On a break up college mix tape (am I aging myself???) - "Only a Memory". Just to stick the pin in a little further...in the kids room they have my grunge and alt rock CDs in a basket labeled " Oldies" haha
Painted the driveway fence and washed down two sides of the house, will paint on Thursday.
Steam cleaned the showers and laundry tub. Drained the outdoor shower for the season, pulled up the teak floor tiles, pulled and drained the hoses (black commercial hoses coiled on the west side of the shop roof, sun heats the water for the shower).
Sanded and primed the Exterior side of the kitchen dutch door.One of the wildfire refugee dogs really shredded it.
My daughter made grilled plums with marscapone, so so good!
you are doing some heavy lifting with all that cleaning and painting, Blue Gate Farmgirl! And plums with marscapone sound Devine...
I spent money today but did it as carefully as possible. Got a senior discount on a haircut. Picked up several items with digital coupons at the grocery store. Put $12 worth of gas in my car, which did not quite fill it up but I don't drive much. It'll do.
Bathed, brushed, and trimmed up both dogs' coats, and did their nails with the rechargeable nail grinder. Ate leftovers and super cheap grapes for lunch.
For exercise, I chipped off a big splash of cement a careless workman left on the old stone wall in our back yard. Smacking cement with a hammer is quite cathartic.
1. A lady on my buy nothing group is moving and offered food from her chest freezer. I took a 19 pound turkey. A lot of people responded so I didn't want to be greedy. We are going to smoke it this weekend.
2. Our neighbors were having a BBQ yesterday. Turns out it was the youngest son's 8th birthday. I grabbed a clearance item that I thought he would like from my gift closet and a card from the thrift store that I got 12 for $1. They sent over a bunch of food after so that is tonight's dinner. The husband invited us in the morning when both husband's were outside doing yard work. I am still getting over being sick so we didn't go. There were a lot of kids and I don't need to get something else.
3. I sold another item of Facebook Market place ($20). I listed 10 more items. That is my daily goal right now. Happy to be getting stuff out.
4. I got a one day job helping someone declutter. Should be fun.
5. Windows are open, AC is off. My favorite kind of weather.
So nice of you to stock your kid's fridge and donate the handmade art paper! Not to mention mailing rocks.
1. When I went to stock up on bulk nuts, I was delighted to see that everything was 25% off so I went a little nuts stocking up.
2. The cashews were too salty so I shook them in a colander and saved the salt that came off them and used it in a savory dish.
3. Husband had a rare run of five days off. He suggested going out of town; I suggested a staycation. We saved money, saw friends and family, did some fun things, and got a few more house maintenance tasks off our list.
4. Husband spent an entire day at the Minnesota State Fair and brought a metal water bottle and some of his own food to avoid long lines, extra expense and unhealthy food.
5. Have kept our AC this summer at 77 degrees (vs. last year's 75) with one exception. When our niece cleans our house, we set it at 72. Her mom and two sisters also have their own cleaning businesses and they have all said how much they appreciate when customers' homes are cool while they work (hard).
Genius idea, the de-salting of the cashews and using the salt to flavor your cooking!
OMG I love plums. I would be picking them and canning them by the canner full.
Did you know you can them whole? Just wash, stick them in the jars add a very light sugar syrup and process. You can also cut in half, take out the pit and do them that way.
I just made more bread and butter pickles and 30 quarts of grape juice.
My son in law does ebay, I just gave him the manuals from my vehicle that was totaled and told him to research and list them.....they are in a very nice leather holder and complete. At first he just looked at me but I said "Katy says they sell so try it".....he has no idea who Katy is, but I do.
JC
both How to Read a Book and This Book Made Me Think of You were recent five star reads for me!! Both excellent.
1. My dad's 85 birthday is tomorrow, with a party on Saturday. My mom is hosting 16 people, but she is mobilty-challenged, so it is up to my sister and me to provide the food (at 2:00 pm, so weirdly between meals). So.... I decided on nibbles and drinks, with 3 large platters by food regions, and based on what we both have/can inexpensively make. I'm on: bread & butter pickles (from free CSA winter box), Cheddar cheese (free from mystery shop), pickled beets (beets from CSA box that i pickled last night) and peanuts (cash back from OSJL), smoked trout in cucumber cups (free smoked trout from uncle who did food rescue), and sausage rolls (sausage from FlashFoods), Manchego cheese and jam (free from mystery shop) and socca (I had chickpea flour on hand). I also picked up 2 mystery shops that requires me to purchase fruit (up to $30 at each store), so I'm getting melon (I'll serve with prosciutto), grapes, berries, and the cucumber. I'm making Sangria using some plonk that I have in the "wine cellar" (okay, a shelf in a closet!). My sister is contributing deviled eggs (she has chickens), dilly beans (from her garden), caprese salad (tomatoes & basil from her garden) and making the cake. I think it will cost me about $10. I'd be happy to drop a lot of coin on my dad, but since he instilled a strong sense of frugality....
2. I'm carpooling with 2 different colleagues for the next two days, saving me $7 this week.
3. I handed over my colleague-friend a big bag of peaches rather than have them go old, as I already have peaches canned and frozen, and our freezer is full, but I got them for free....
4. My boss is hosting a book release party for my new book, so I will get a free dinner on Thursday.
5. No AC needed, and it appears cool enough that I only need one fan, rather than another to suck the hot air out of the work apartment, which may save me about $.15!, or in Katy's world, 1.5 cans.
What a great spread you are cobbling together for your frugal dad! Happy birthday to him.
Glad your carpooling plan is coming into play - $7 bucks is $7 bucks, adds up quickly and company for a commute can be enjoyable, in small doses
And - er - your #4? What 'new' book? What have I missed? name? curious reader wants to know.
When we have large gatherings, we have them between 2 and 3. It gives us time to get it all set up in the morning and we are not cleaning up at bedtime. Older people also have trouble driving at night so it's good to wrap it all up before dark.
1. Finally found the boxes of melantolin tabs in the store and used the $3 coupon I got from the sample I'd earlier bought. Now I have a month's supply.
2. Hauled in the new TV, got it out of the box and attached the feet all by myself. No need to bring in outside help.
3 Can't find hide nor hair of my yard man, and if I didn't cut the grass soon, you can be sure the neighbors would complain to the city. Found some listings online and got another yard maintenance company to come out, even though I didn't want to sign a contract with them.Luckily they were 2 blocks from my house when I called, finishing up another yard, and were here in a half hour's time. They gave me a senior discount, even though it's more than I usually pay, because I explained I was about to get into trouble with the city if the grass stays this long....it was almost knee-high in places. (Someone on the block, don't know who, has called in complaints about me before. They may be reacting to my anti-Trump yard signs. Or to the fact my front yard looks, um, somewhat less attractive than a picture in "Southern Living" Magazine, which features stunningly beautiful lawns and gardens --like some of the neighbors'.) Anyway, paying the yard guys is still more frugal than paying a fine. Or going to the ER for heat stroke.
4. Washed my old college T-shirt and had it ready to go.... but didn't wear it. Too embarrassed! My alma mater played the Univ. of Texas and got stampeded by those Longhorns. Will show my team spirit when my school wins big. Like they did against Baylor a while back.
5. I suppose the Republicans will think I did my patriotic duty, as I did not eat any hotdogs on Labor Day. But it was not because I was not in labor, as per J.D. Vance's idiotic misogynistic statement; OMG! Like Dolly Parton in the "9 to 5" movie, I wanted to turn that jerk of a hillbilly from a rooster into a hen! We all know Trump is a toxic narcissist suffering from dementia, but what is Vance's problem? And why do those two a**holes think they can comment about American workers -- Trump hasn't seen Labor since the day his momma had him!
4.
My sister in law collects rocks wherever she travels. She usually uses them in her landscaping. I've never had to mail her any, though!
It's been another day of isolating and letting Paxlovid fight the virus. I'm kinda celebrating because there is just one more day to do this. I've never had a medication knock me down so hard.
My doctor reminded me today to keep eating and drinking. I've had toast, canned pears, vegetable beef soup, crackers, and chocolate ice cream. A big day compared to the others.
I've finished four seasons of Shetland. There is at least one more, but I don't know if I will be able to squeeze it in. I did want to see The Other Bennett Sister, too. The free trial ends the day after tomorrow so I suppose it's possible.
A tiny bit of energy returned enough for me to load the dishwasher and make some attempt at cleaning the bathroom. This is big! My body has been exhausted from fighting the virus. I can't wait till I feel normal again.
I loved the Bennett Sister free preview, but alas, the Hoopla BBC binge pass does not include it. 🙁 Only one $ streaming service at a time for me, so I will wait…
Glad you're feeling a tiny bit better. Hope you're back to 100% soon. Take care.
I love that you can donate her art supplies to the school!!!
Your rock story reminded me of carrying 10 lbs of rocks for my sister home from our Mediterranean cruise 19 years ago
I labored over Labor Day and sold items on eBay, Facebook marketplace and Depop. My bank account is anemic as when I was sick I missed almost 20 hrs of work. Along with a $606 electric and water bill
for August and the oven heating element went out. Next up the hospital bill for my multiple ER visits and overnight stay.
I am listening to The Calamity Club.
Brave sister on that rock ledge!
1. I had a 10 hour workday on Sunday. It was a long day coupled w/ discomfort from wearing an ill fitting bra that pinched & gouged my tender flesh. Enough I said. I went to a Labor Day sale at Kohls & bought 4 new bras. Sometimes you have to spend money for new items. (The new items were marked down for Labor Day.) I will donate my ill fitting bras that are still in good condition.
2. I found some boxes of Kraft mac & cheese in the Dol Gen dumpster. They are in-date & will go to the local food bank.
3. I have a bag of clothing odds & ends that I found. These are washed & will be taken to the local psy. hospital.
4. I earned some Kohls cash w/ my recent purchase. I need some short socks. I think I'll spend the cash on these.
5. My husband & I attended an info event for a pharmaceutical product. We had a nice salmon dinner complete w/ beverage & desert. (I realize that these events are one reason drug companies charge so much for their products.)
Where’s the Smithereens reference? One of my favorite bands- saw them live in Philly just before the lead singer, Pat Dinofrio, died. Best concert, ever
I wrote the word "smithereens" as its actual definition, but will make sure to reference the band in all future blog posts. 😉
Ah, ok