Five More Frugal Things
by Katy on May 8, 2025 · 37 comments
-
My husband and I spent more time than expected to work on reinstalling a pot rack that fell off our daughter’s kitchen wall. I was starving by the end, which activated my cranky mode. I even started researching places to grab a bite, which turned out to be more mentally draining than simply making dinner. Instead I had my husband drop me at home to start the meal while he ran to Home Depot to grab extra supplies.
Luckily I still had a Costco rotisserie chicken and most of a bag of potatoes, which made for an easy and satisfying dinner of chicken, mashed potatoes and peas. I even had a jar of turkey gravy from the Winco clearance section. Perfect comfort meal for a uncomforted Katy.
-
I gave a WWII historical fiction book a second chance after initially putting it down due to a glaring historical inaccuracy. The main character is described in the beginning as such:
“Juliet had found solace in books. Her friends had been Anne of Green Gables and Alice in Wonderland, her adventures in Narnia and The Secret garden.”
Umm . . . The Narnia books are set during WWII, so Juliet certainly wouldn’t have read them as a child. (The Pevensie siblings are sent out of London due to The Blitz!) The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe was published in 1950, decidedly post-war. However, a good friend highly recommended the book, so I’m giving it a go.
-
I sat down with my ballot and the voter’s pamphlet and made my choices for the May 20th State election. Oregon has been 100% vote by mail since 1998 and I believe that it every citizen’s responsibility to vote in each and every election, even the less dramatic ones. I know we’re nowhere near the deadline to turn in our ballots, but I’d rather get it done now and not worry that I could possibly forget this important task.
I’ll drop my ballot at the county library this afternoon.
-
• I continue to give driving lessons to my daughter and she even drove with an extra passenger yesterday, which was a milestone.
• My husband and I continue to watch a couple episodes of ER most nights through my parents’ HBO account.
• I continue to wear my thrifted wardrobe without issue.
• I continue to cook in my off-trend Formica counter kitchen.
• I continue to clean my carpets using the vacuum cleaner I bought in 2001.
• I continue to drive our twenty-year-old minivan, even though it’s thoroughly scratched up.
• I continue to be content with our lesser belongings.
-
I haven’t scheduled any $45 million ego driven military parades. As A) I have no military history, and B) I’m not a North Korean dictator.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
Like this post? Then please share it with your friends!
Like this:
Like Loading...
{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks for always inspiring Katy! It’s always the small, everyday things that keep us frugal since there are few opportunities to save huge amounts.
BTW All the reports I’ve seen have said the vanity parade could cost as much as–are you sitting down?–$92 million. It’s mind boggling how many programs, departments, and jobs could be paid for if we eliminated this blatant example of waste, fraud, and abuse.
And if one protests the parade, would that be twisted into being against the military? I support the military. I am moved by military parades and formations, flags and bands, and all that sort of stuff. I see no reason to spend millions on one giant event.
I read the silver spoon Kennedy is getting rid of food programs for children and seniors that are in place and working. He wants to instead give them a box of food. The picture showed a box with a gallon of milk and other stuff. How many kids are allergic to milk and seniors lactose intolerant. And they probably have to go somewhere inconvenient to pick it up and carry the big box home somehow without a car or even public transportation. Hopefully they are just looking for a sound bite and are too incompetent to implement the program.
Well, as the mom of a kid who’s anaphylactic to dairy, I’ve always been concerned that if there was an emergency much of the food offered to people is dairy, wheat, and nuts, none of which are safe here. I haven’t seen that news story, but it could just as easily be real as clickbait. This is so exhausting.
Don’t get me started on the 34 time felon’s waste, fraud and abuse, not to mention his massive ego. He just got rid of firefighting training and ordered 20% of the military top brass to be “made redundant.” This is in addition to pretty much ruining health care, Social Security, Medicaid and the world economy — but he thinks weekly jaunts to Florida and unnecessary parades are OK expenses. What is wrong with that man??????
The question is what is wrong with our country that voters chose this man TWO qualifed women candidates.
I hope I do not offend anyone. That is not my intention. This is a point that I feel must be made all day, every day until it gets through to people and they wise up and do their duty as citizens.. I also do not understand those 77 million that voted for him. What enrages me are the 89 million who CHOSE NOT TO VOTE. They are the reason we are in this mess. You didn’t like either one then pick the lesser of 2 evils. All of us who are senior citizens have had to do that probably at least once. But you do it. It is your duty and responsibility.
Anachronisms drive me crazy. I threw the first Downton Abbey DVD across the room when a 1912 character said, “Darling, I’m pregnant.” SHE WOULD NOT HAVE USED THAT WORD. I decided the whole series was garbage. Bridgerton, Gilded Age, these are made by people who don’t care if period characters sound like they’re in 2020.
1) The last military parade we had in this country was after WWII. That so called fiscally conservative Republicans are not standing up to this, but are okay with cuts to veteran aid says so much about the dire state of this country.
2) Oh f*****, we have an American pope! Say hello to Leo XIV, everybody!
3) Anyways, used a Panda coupon for lunch yesterday. Left overs for 2 dinners now! That’s $3/serving!
4) Am still walking for exercise- am back up 12k steps! I hope to keep this going!
5) I cancelled a rogue streaming service that I have not watched in a YEAR. WHAT.
Viva, Leo XIV! (is that the right word?)
And embarrassing arrogance points to U.S. networks, for not having simultaneous translators standing by, ready to translate Italian, Spanish, and Latin out loud and into streaming text. Come on– that shouldn’t have been a surprise. Google translate could have done it.
NPR had Sylvia P… to translate! ( can’t spell her surname without some fuss). Italian, Latin, and probably his Spanish comments. NPR is worth every dollar I donate.
Sylvia Poggioli actually retired from NPR a couple of years ago, but she lives in Rome and there could be none better to cover that event.
Deus benedicat sanctum patrem Leo!
But seriously, my college Opera Italian and grade school Latin was getting some SERIOUS workout, and sometimes it’s good to hear things in the original language to force your brain to work.
What I would have appreciated was ASL .
1. My homeowners insurance went up by $600 this year. I messaged my agent and she was able to bring it back down to last year’s total.
2. I stacked two coupons and a reward at the pet store, combined with sales I saved $36.
3. I clipped my dogs nails myself.
4. I did my own yard work.
5. I have someone picking up a dorm refrigerator I sold on FBMP.
1. At the end of my food bank shift, they had bagged salads left that would be spoiled before the next distribution. (They also have an outdoor closet that people can drive up to and take food out of, 24 hours a day, but it is still below freezing at night so can’t put things like salads out there.) I came home with two salads, as well as a quart of milk that is good until tomorrow so will make good yogurt.
2. The snow melted of our front lawn this week and there were three stuffed animals out there. I put them at the edge of the yard so the person who lost them might pick them up again, but after a week they were still there. I brought them in, washed them, mended one of them, and they are now dog toys.
3. Went to an estate sale and came home with four cartons of Amazon toilet paper, each with four packs of six count rolls, for $25 total. I looked them up, and each box cost $28.40. EACH!
4. Trimmed the husband’s hair, which seems to be thinning from his chemo. I feel like such a shallow bitch for grieving the loss of his thick silver curls, but there you are.
5. We have some elderly DVDs of sentimental favorites but a number of them are starting to skip from the wear. Took them to the library to use their machine that cleans DVDs and seems to rub out some of the scratches. I did not even know there was such a thing until their media librarian offered it to me.
I feel you for that. Chemo involves all kinds of grieving and hair is not insignificant. Make sure he has a warm hat to wear at night. If he needs it.
My daughter( ex dental nurse, practice manager) , is losing her teeth, as well as her hair( bowel and brain cancer)and her face is so puffy now, steroids are causing sleeplessness, and they have just discovered gallstones.we discovered the cancer had spread to her brain when she totalled her car earlier this year, so she now has an armful of metal screws and plates to add to her list.( I flat lined twice, and am putting off dealing with a massive breast haematoma, I just don’t have the bandwidth for more doctors right now!)cancer is the pits! Our one amazing stroke of good fortune is that healthcare here in Australia is free , and , most scripts are $7.70 for a two month supply, I’m sending out love to all cancer battlers, and their families
I remember a book I read 30 years ago, in which the hero and heroine watched the sun setting over the Maine coast. I can’t even imagine how far I threw that book – it may not have landed yet!
Is editing really that difficult? Don’t you start with things like grammar, punctuation, and obvious factual assertions?
hugs,
Janice
Boo on that!
I read one that included a river in central Illinois flowing west into central Iowa. Uh, no– The Mississippi would kind of get in the way and divert that water south.
I read the first few pages of a novel in which a male character described his manly bits as looking like a “turkey’s waddle.” I seriously doubt any man thinks of himself that way, plus it should have been “wattle.” Book became airborne and bounced off the fireplace.
No. Nobody edits any more.
Signed, worked as a copy editor for Penguin for a long time. It’s actuallly not easy but I enjoy correcting people so there we are.
I always pick up on sunsets and sunrises and plant life when watching Murder She Wrote which was filmed in coastal California. There’s one episode where Jessica gets on a boat and you can see a palm trees reflection in the window of the boat cabin. Or other times when there are bougainvillea a very warm weather flowers thorn bush which I don’t believe grows in Maine. Also, if the sun is rising or setting for more technical viewers they had to offset the rise not being over the water and the set not being over the land.
*I never knew what a turkeys wattle was, not do I think it would be a what man would call his parts either.
Editing books is what I do for a living. I look up everything to double check it’s historically accurate and physically possible.
I love your “I continue” statements, especially “I continue to cook in my off-trend Formica counter kitchen”. This attitude helps us keep our money instead of buying things to show others we are wealthy. I’ll continue your “I continue” theme 🙂
1. I continue to drive my 13-year-old Honda Pilot with peeling paint (a manufacturer’s defect they are not fixing). Repainting a car costs $$$.
2. I continue to buy most of my clothes used via eBay. Typically, I can find what I want/need at less than 1/3 of the retail price, and many times my purchased items are new with tags.
3. Speaking of clothes, I was convinced last week that all of my jeans were “too heavy” for the rapidly warming weather. I found a $98 pair of NYDJ jeans online, but I was not going to pay that much. Looked on eBay and couldn’t find what I was looking for. I ended up cleaning out my closet and putting away my winter sweaters and swapping in some summer clothes I’d put up last year. Low and behold, I found my pair of lightweight NYDJ “summer” jeans that I was sure I had thrown out. They were very worn on the inner thighs and developing holes in places where they are not welcome. I found some stretch denim in my fabric bin and mended them to reinforce the thighs. Very satisfying!
4. I continue to clean my home and use child labor (my 3 teenage sons) to do household chores. Is it as well done as a professional cleaner? No. But, good enough.
5. I continue to read library books via Libby on my refurbished e-reader, and actual books from the actual library.
I see Goldie Fawn! What a great decoration she makes for your porch!
1. After talking with a friend earlier today I discovered she was also going to the free library concert tonight so we made plans to meet.
2. Our dishwasher had a slow leak underneath and spreading under the linoleum unbeknownst to us. It was a great relief to hear I will not have to replace the section of cabinets and counter tops that housed the dishwasher. I have no desire to replace my Formica counter tops which are still in excellent shape at 23 years old.
3. Hung a load of towels out on the line today.
4. My own mom passed away in 2016 but a close friend of hers has stepped in and has become my second mom. For Mothers Day I will be making her some kind of baked goods and picking her some of the white lilacs in my yard. At 93, she loves company so spending time with her will most likely be the thing she loves most.
5. I was scratching my head trying to figure out where my Capri pants went to when I figured out they are still in the “ironing pile” from last summer! I only iron a few times a year. It was a relief to know I didn’t give them away by mistake in a donation bag.
Christine, re: your #5, I gave up ironing (and donated the iron and the ironing board) years ago. If people can’t handle it that my clothes have a few wrinkles after I’ve hung them up on my drying racks, “f**k ’em all but six and leave those for pallbearers,” as a memorable electrician with whom DH used to work once said.
lol that made me laugh
I’ve also reached the point where I find researching where to get food more draining than just cooking something. My kids also seem to like just eating at home, I think it’s only my husband who is disappointed when he suggests takeout on a busy day and I tell him I already have something quick to prepare at home. He can (and does) get his own takeout at times though so he’s not too deprived.
1) It’s teacher appreciation week with a different theme each day. One day we were supposed to buy the teacher something from their Amazon wishlist (which were items for the classroom, not the teacher personally) I haven’t been shopping on Amazon but made an exception for this, I forgot I still had my credit card points tied to my Amazon account though so I was able to get the items for the teacher for free. I’m now unlinking the credit card points from Amazon though, I can get them as cash back on the card instead.
2) I had some chopped beet greens that were starting to look a bit wilted so I threw them in the freezer, I can add them to soup or curry later.
3) My daughter has a favorite pair of Wonder Woman pajamas that she first received (in a bag of hand me downs) when she was 2(they have a little cape Velcroed to the back which I think is what has sold her on them) . I keep buying used pairs in the next size up on eBay and my luck continues, I was able to get yet another size up (I think this is her 4th pair at this point) in time for her birthday in a few weeks. They don’t seem to sell them new anymore but plenty of people are still selling them on eBay.
4) I went to Costco to get organic berries and left with only organic berries. It helps that I walked there and didn’t even grab a cart, so I couldn’t make any large impulse purchases.
5) I was able to get my book club book and the first three books in a series my son wanted to read at the library, plus the usual large bag of picture books that I read to both kids. I’ve always been a heavy library user but it’s definitely saved me so much more since having kids, I read them at least 3 books a night every night, if I had to buy that many books…
I made a trip to the thrift store where I bagged a pair of comfortable shoes, a new with a tag pair of pants, a potted ivy and package of hallmark graduation card=$17.75
Then I grocery shopped I only have to prepare 5 dinners as Saturday we’re attending great nephew’s graduation dinner and Sunday kids taking us to dinner.
I’m gathering a box of art supplies from my sister to give to a friend and another box to a children’s summer art program
Re: anachronisms: You can probably all imagine the fun I’m having with Miss Austen on PBS Masterpiece. Thank goodness for pbs.org streaming, which is enabling me to pause every 5 minutes or so to take notes for my local JASNA region’s upcoming discussion of the series. (For starters, all the characters in the present-tense scenes look about 20 years younger than they actually were at the time the Rev. Fulwar Craven Fowle died. Unrelatedly, I’m still wrapping my mind around the pronunciation of “Fulwar” as “Fuller.”)
And this PSA: Please, please give generously to your local PBS and NPR stations. It’s more important than ever now.
I second your championing PBS and NPR!
1. I picked up a bunch of strawberry plants from my buy nothing group.
2. I had leftover pancakes for breakfast. I brought leftover homemade chicken noodle soup for lunch.
3. I hung laundry outside.
4. I have the windows open which means the heat/AC aren’t on. It’s my favorite when that happens.
5. My sister is getting her dog tomorrow. I am giving her a dress that doesn’t fit me to pass onto a different sister. I am giving her my mom’s mother’s day gift.
1. I made borcht soup… sort of. I had the beets, carrots, potatoes, onions, tomatoes but no cabbage. I used mustard greens instead. Not having all the ingredients of a dish has never stopped me… lol. Plus it used up vegetables that needed to be eaten.
2. I intend to walk in my neighborhood today.
3. I intend to water my roses. and the mustard greens I planted between them in my front yard. No HOA and I am not going to waste space that can be used to grow my beloved greens! Besides, the green looks pretty between the pink roses!!!
4. I am going to make a tomato and cheese sandwich for dinner using what I have in my kitchen.
5. I may eat the leftover cheesecake in my freezer!
Yeah I left off the “s”……..
1. I’m absolutely delighted at a liberal American Pope. I believe this was a deliberate choice in opposition to Trump’s attempted world domination. It’s hard to beat 2 billion Catholics. This was frugal fun as I watched this unfold this morning for free online.
2. Tuna sandwiches with pickles and chips for lunch, all from the pantry, as I still haven’t been paid this month and we’re coasting on fumes.
3. I’m thrilled that my A1c came down to 5.6 so I’m no longer prediabetic. I attribute that to lots of free walking. No meds needed!
4. I continue to charge my all electric vehicle, send only Thrifted greeting cards in the mail, and move plants around in my yard as they bloom and fade, to keep it looking nice.
5. Six out of nine members of SCOTUS are Catholic and this gives me so much frugal (free) joy. Honestly, I think this could be a game changer.
1. Sold a tiered tray I was no longer using for $5.
2. Picked up 3 new cookbooks, a book I was on a waiting list for, and the movie Oppenheimer all at my local library. I also added the Mi Cocina cookbook to my waitlist.
3. My poor daughter broke her toe. I messaged her swim coach and she will prorate the cost of the summer season depending on how much she has to miss.
4. I’m craving cookies so I am making a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough. I will bake a few and then scoop the rest into balls to put in the freezer for easy cookies anytime.
5. I’m making turkey tacos for dinner and I will cook up some rice and beans to pair with this.
Bonus: After planting as many marigolds as I could using seeds I collected last year, I passed the rest on to my brother in law to plant next to his tomatoes. I read this is good for them. In return he will pass on extra tomatoes when he harvests them. I don’t grow my own because I am the only one in my house that likes them.
Dh planted mustard greens, beets, sunflowers, and zinnias in the garden. He used seeds we had on hand. I think we’ll add a few more tomatoes as well.
I inpulsed a new pillow case from dollar general. One of ours ripped, and I’m not sure where my iron on patches are, meh. The torn pillow case will be repurposed in some way.
I found a plastic lid of sorts that I will.use to keep birds from drowning in my water troughs. I’ve found that a bucket lid or something akin to it floating on the water is an easy way to allow the birds to escape if the accidently fall in.
I made a stock up run to Aldis. Stuck to necessities and came in $1 under budget.
Our s elementary school doesn’t have a school supplies list. Instead, you send $25/kid to the PTA and they buy everything in bulk. Every kid gets identical school supplies and nobody is left out. Parents provide back packs and lunch boxes only. I love it! One less thing to worry about. When we get the farm paid for, I’d like to sponsor a couple extra kids.