Five More Frugal Things
by Katy on June 24, 2025 · 25 comments
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I was given a pair of tickets to attend a Portland Pickles minor league baseball game from someone in my Buy Nothing group, which is fantastic as my husband loves all forms of baseball! It’ll be fun to watch without the whole rigamarole of a major league stadium. I’ve already looked it up, and yes — you’re allowed to bring an empty reusable water bottle, which you refill once you’re in the ball park.
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My family gathered to celebrate my father’s 90th birthday. I was asked to bring rice, but I also brought a loaf of handmade artisan-style bread and some rosemary from the garden.
Click HERE to watch a video about my father from 13 years ago, when he was still teaching English at Portland State University.
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I received an email from the Supercuts training center asking for “hair models” this week. I haven’t had my hair cut since November and although I like the longer style, (perfect for hot weather braids) it definitely needs to be tidied up a bit. I’m not sure if I’ll be chosen, but it’s likely that I will be. Edit: I got an appointment!
I can’t remember when I last paid for a haircut, thanks to the Supercuts’ training center. The best part is that their new hires are usually experienced, which means they’re simply being trained to Supercuts’ specific methods. Unlike many of my Portland specific frugal tips, this one works for people outside my region; just do a bit of web searching, maybe make a phone call or two.
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Our baseball tickets are for an area where you bring your own seating, which is no problem as I just garbage picked and repaired my own “soccer mom” chair!
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I didn’t buy anything to support a bloated consumer society.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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1. I made yogurt in my new to me instapot. I used the free milk I got with a meijer coupon and $1 sale yogurt for a starter.
2. I picked up a few things at Aldi. This included berries which I washed and dried on baking racks so I can eat them instead of forgetting about them.
3. I helped my daughter give her giant dog a bath using a hose hooked up to my laundry room sink and run outside and free to me dog shampoo.
4. I organized the cleaning supplies under my bathroom sink with a container I bought in the Goodwill bins for that purpose.
5. I used a coupon for a free sundae at Culver’s.
While on Vacation we hit up a Goodwill in McArthur Ohio where most all of the prices were 1.19, 2.19, and 4.19. We were on vacation so we picked up a couple of 1.19 puzzles and toys to tide the kids by (adults too). Fun store!
We covered many free miles hiking in Hocking Hills.
We only ate out the last day, we were out of food and did not want to re-clean the kitchen.
We traded puzzles at work. I will miss this the most once I retire.
Rearranged my living and dining room for a free change. I like it better this way.
Not frugal-the mosquitos at home are TERRIBLE so we outed to buy a screened room so we can at least sit out. I hope between the room and a fan we can use our deck again.
Record high temps in the 90’s, possibly topping 100 today. I may be crazy, but I ate a bowl of hot oatmeal for breakfast as it was what I had on hand.
Although hot and muggy, managed to sleep one more night without AC in the bedroom. Tomorrow starts 4 days (forecasted) of thunderstorms and ground-to-cloud lightning. Hoping it breaks the humidity.
Combining trips…psychologist appointment, Dollar Tree for a birthday card and the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions. Fortunately, they are all close together.
Once I get my first unemployment check (hopefully tomorrow) I have to finish making this month’s car payment before the due date.
Scheduled an appointment for a state vehicle inspection. As long as we take the car to the dealership where we bought it, the inspection is free. Although the inspection is good until August 31, in PA you can get it inspected up to 2 months early (so I could have done it as early as June 1). I like to get it done as early as possible. If it doesn’t pass because it needs something, that gives me 2 months to scrape up the money for parts and repairs.
Looks like we had a Supercuts training center in our area that closed. Darn!
1. I did four loads of laundry yesterday, but the big news is that I did two at a time in our basement laundry (which has three sets of washers and dryers). I have always done one at a time because I was hesitant about carrying two loads down three flights of stairs. But using IKEA bags made it a cinch. Didn’t save money, but saved time and trips, for no extra outlay.
2. Ate another helping of chicken stroganoff — one more in the fridge!
3. Did my own manicure and pedicure, which does not include polish, just trimming and pushing down the cuticles.
4. The hot weather forced a lot of inside time on me, so I did a lot of reading. I have two books to return to the library, and it looks like I have two more to pick up.
5. I have stopped looking at my news feed, this improving my mental health, saving me the cost of a therapist!
Amen on taking a break from the news for a while!
1. I made chili this weekend and not only was it a hit in my household, it lasted several meals, and used several canned goods that I dont often use. Infact, I may make chilli again soon. Bonus, I got the red meat for the chili 50% off at Aldi.
2. We haven’t eaten out in a week – who are we?? Answer: Not Rockefellers
3. I bought gas at Costco saving me 10 to 20 cents a gallon on gas over regular gas stations.
4. My SO and I have started going to classes at a local church. The classes are free, educational, with good company, and as a bonus often involve dinner, dessert, snacks, and drinks. I’m glad we’ve tuned into this instead of constantly looking for expensive entertainment options or dinner out options. It’s been very posistive for us.
5. I stopped into a Summer Break Spot for kids and picked up a box with a weeks worth of breakfast, lunch, snacks, and drinks for my son. This is free in the state that we live in for children 18 and under. This is the third box I have picked up this Summer. It is really helping in the food department as my son’s legs continue to be hollow. As an add on, I car pooled with a neighbor this week and last week.
Bonus: At work a patron asked me about local food pantries and I was able to give him a handout and point out a close by food pantry that was open today that he could go to. He told me about a weekly foodbank he had started going to and that their offerings seem to have gotten slimmer. I am glad that we have food pantries in our community and that at my job I am able to give out this information for people who are interested.
Taking a day trip while visiting our oldest son in WY. “The kids” are at work, so we’re heading to a dinasour museum amd to check out a state park. We brought snacks. Will try to get a senior discount or first responder discount to get into museum.
Have been buying groceries and making meals at home.
Husband finished the front step project and will start on the front door re do as soon as my Dad gets here later today to help. Grandpa likes a project!
We love the summer collegiate league baseball games! So fun.
Deep cleaned the runner rugs, letting the sun dry and freshen.
Will wash the linen curtains from the guest room and set the ironing board outside to iron while they are still dampish.
Neighbor asked to try out his new edges on my lawns, yes please!
Invited the neighbor’s 5 little kids for lamb yoga…more giggles than balance occurred, great way to start today!
Katy, that’s a neat video about your father. Happy 90th to him!
2 frugal fails right off the bat this morning. Went to bake up the last of the muffin batter in the fridge. Neglected to double check to make sure they were done. They came out of the muffin pan in a somewhat gooey pile. Off to the garbage can. Had enough batter for 1 more batch. Checked the muffins, not done. Put them back in the oven not realizing I dropped a hot pad when I closed the oven door. Avoided a fire. One crispy hot pad in the garbage. Was afraid the muffins would taste like burned fabric. DH said they taste ok. At least they were salvageable.
We also had a gathering this weekend for my Dad’s 90th birthday. We had 30 family and friends, had sandwich, veggie and fruit trays, two boxes of wine (at my Dad’s insistence), coffee, tea, water, etc. And a cake of course. It wasn’t that frugal I guess, but also not that expensive. It cost $50 to use the community party room at his retirement complex. It was well worth it.
1. Following the party on Sunday, I hosted a cousin BBQ for 9 people. We had hot dogs, hamburgers and a couple of salads. My cousin brought Nigella’s Guiness Chocolate Cake. It was low key, fairly frugal and a very nice time.
2. I have not had a haircut since January. I had a very short cut, and am growing it out a bit, so savings lots. I will have to have it cut soon, at least to reshape it.
3. As my new raspberry plants are not producing this year, I buy them from a farm stand not far from us. They are $6 and the pints are very full. Delicious, nutritious and I get to support a local business.
4. I have garlic scapes to process and will make pesto for the first time. I bought dollar store ice cube trays to portion it in, then will freeze.
5. Frugal for them: lending our older motorhome to DD and DSIL for a weekend getaway. We won’t use it much, so they might as well.
1. I cooked sweet potatoes in the Instant Pot. It’s do easy and they’re great to have on hand.
2. I cut another $3.99 watermelon. It was large enough that I’ll share some with a neighbor. The rinds went in the compost bin. My SIL has had an amazing strawberry crop this year and she attributes it to using compost on her beds.
3. I’m listening to Sense and Sensibility, borrowed from the library.
4. I paused Hulu. We pay/watch for a month to catch up on some shows then pause it for 12 weeks.
5. Same old , same old.
An edible alternative for that watermelon rind than tossing in the compost pile. You’ll still have some to be composted, but not nearly as much. My mom made them all the time when I was a kid. Delicious!
https://nchfp.uga.edu/how/pickle/fruit-pickles/watermelon-rind-pickles/
1. Enjoying all the playing with my grandchildren. They are small so they’re happy to play at home.
2. Making the most of the breakfast included with our hotel room. Brought an ice chest in which to keep some fruit and pastries from breakfast
3. Ordered school supplies for DIL with Staples points from ink cartridge recycling.
4. Ds passed on a pair of flip flops to Dh. We love passing things back and forth
5. Browsed at the local independent bookstore. Bought a magazine as a treat and 2 small gifts that were well priced. Ordered from the library the books I saw at the store that I wanted to read.
1. Tuna sandwiches for dinner last night – no turning on the stove/oven and everything was already in the fridge and pantry.
2. Watering my plants early in the morning and keeping the AC off as much as possible.
3. Ran (ok, biked in this heat!) to get some gifts for two (count ’em: TWO) baby showers this weekend. Local store has a 10% discount for regulars then we had enough points accrued to get 30% off. Shopped locally without breaking the bank.
4. Didn’t buy fancy gift bags – went to the dollar store and got two bags for $2 instead.
5. Delaying running appliances until the heat breaks (expected tomorrow night) and showering after peak energy demand ebbs at 10 pm to avoid grid overload and demand fees.
Still not sure about my hair. I cut it ear length last year and loved it, and then my son asked me sadly if I could grow it out again, because in his whole life I had long hair. Sigh. It’s not chin length. I am tempted to say TIME MARCHES ON but I generally give in to my kids about this sorta stuff. sigh. I still remember when I was about seven and my mom got new glasses and I said I really didn’t like them (when asked) and then everyone yelled at me about it. One, she didn’t look like my mommy in new glasses. Two, why ask me if you don’t want my opinion? Third and most of all, how insecure are you that you then revert to your old glasses for the next 20 years based on a seven year old’s opinion. SIGH AGAIN.
Um, not getting haircuts is frugal.
Can’t think of anything else.
50+ years later, I stand by my answer. If you don’t want my opinion, DON’T ASK. Generally I think I am being kind by giving my honest opinion, as opposed to most people who blow off a question with the usual “it’s nice” because they can’t be bothered to give helpful feedback. I realize now that 99% of people don’t want the truth, just reassurance.
Saw this book, your baseball-loving husband might enjoy. Make Me Commissioner: I Know What’s Wrong with Baseball and How to Fix It by Jane Leavy. I haven’t read it but it sounds interesting.
1. I previously detailed (here and on FG blog) how I got some flooring from Ollie’s Outlet for 15% off. They had a private Black Friday-like sales event, and it was crowded. The line was really long; the cashier’s scanning gun was malfunctioning and the cashier, bless her heart, was about to have a meltdown. When I got the flooring loaded into my car, I noticed the 15% discount had not been taken off, so I went back inside and had that adjusted. It saved me $89.
2. I’d also bought some boxes of crackers at the Ollie’s sale. I bought one box of Ritz and 10 boxes of a delicious off-brand cracker that had rosemary spices in it. (I’ve had them before and just love them with dip!) Monday, I noticed that I’d been charged for 10 boxes of Ritz and one box of rosemary crackers. The Ritz cost $3.40 a box and the latter variety only $1.90 a box. So I got overcharged. I didn’t unload the bag, and today I took it and the cash register tape back to Ollie’s and asked for a price adjustment on that. I got $11 back on my credit card. Total for the two price adjustments = $1o0! (And I told the manager on duty that the original cashier’s scanner gun was on the blink, and it wasn’t her fault and please don’t penalize her. He said she was new, and they knew about the malfunction, and she’s not in trouble.)
3. I used my bank credit card for those Ollie’s sale items because I get 5% cash back on all purchases put on that card. (Of course, I will pay my credit card bill in full, so I won’t be hit with their interest charges.) So, in reality, the vinyl plank flooring was 20% cheaper than normal….and it’s an outlet store, so it was already cheaper to begin with.
4. Elsewhere, I bought some doggie chew sticks on clearance for 88 cents. Snuggles’ latest uh-oh is chewing the plug off the vacuum cleaner cord; thank goodness, it was NOT plugged in! The chew sticks came with those little packets that soak up the moisture and humidity, which I’m saving to use elsewhere.
5. Bought another half gallon of Blue Bell ice cream on the last day of the sale. Paid $5.99 instead of $7.49.
I bought vinyl plank flooring for the guest cottage and I think it’s great. One of the best parts, and why I like VCT tile for kitchens, is that if something happens with one plank (or tile) it’s easy peasy to replace it myself instead of there being a whole elaborate deal. So good job investing in it!
1. I brought my breakfast and lunch to the office and made sure to get gas on my way when I saw a station that was .10 cheaper.
2. I’m taking advantage of $6 Tuesday at my local movie theater so I can go see The Life of Chuck.
3. My hairdresser picked up liters of shampoo and conditioner from the hair supply store so I could pay the hairdresser price for them. This saves $75. (This will last a long time. My daughter is on the swim team and swims for 2 hours everyday. This is the only brand that keeps her long fine hair from breaking off)
4. Cashed in 50,000 Fetch points for a $50 gift card to Home Goods/TJMaxx (these come in handy when I need to buy a gift)
5. I’m finishing up an Audio book on my library’s Libby app. Now I’m trying to think of other audiobooks to add to my list if anyone has a suggestion. I’m into non fiction historical or biography’s right now.
1. I’ve ben running low on my face moisturizer. I have sensitive, verrrry breakout prone skin, so I stick with the one that I know won’t add to the breakouts. It isn’t the priciest, but it isn’t the cheapest. I’ve been holding out hope for a summer sale, and just got the email this morning! Purchased 2, as this is enough to get to me to the next sale. I feel like once you start getting wrinkles, you really should stop getting pimples.
2. Like LB, we are planning on having tuna salad sandwiches for dinner tonight. My partner made bread before the heatwave kicked in and we have all the ingredients in the pantry.
3. My friend and I have season tickets to our local theater and the final show of the season is on Thursday. For dinner, we found a place that has good happy hour specials and free parking, and welcomes guests to leave their car in the free lot when they go to the theater!
4. My entire outfit (dress, blazer, and shoes) is thrifted. I received a compliment on my dress today from my coworker and she asked where I got it. I have no idea because I thrifted it over 10 years ago.
5. Used a free online video this morning for yoga and a free app for meditation.
Katy,
Here is some important information for your baseball-loving hubby.
I am a native of Williamsport, Pennsylvania – Birthplace of Little League Baseball. Little League World Series is held here every August. In its early years, there were never night games during the series as the stadium had no lights. In more recent years, a second stadium was built and lights were added so more teams could play and play night games as well.
A PNW team from Kirkland, WA finally ended the seemingly endless line of wins of the Tiawanese team. Cody Webster, the pitcher of the 1982 team that beat Taiwan took his place in Little League history.
Did you know that ALL Little League games are FREE ADMISSION (even the World Series). To sit in the grandstand for the final game, they save a certain number of seats for the two battling teams’ entourage and the remaining seats available are free, but you have to send a letter of request to Little League Headquarters after January 1. Then, those seats are drawn via lottery. I’ve managed to get in the grandstand twice. Although my husband’s aunt retired from Little League Headquarters, even she can’t get us grandstand tickets. Bummer.
Here is a link to the LLWS schedule for 2025. Be sure not to miss it! Those kids are really good!
https://www.littleleague.org/world-series/2025/llbws/tournaments/world-series/
Yay for free baseball tickets! My nephew is playing for a draft league team this summer near us. We went to a game last weekend and will go again this coming weekend. We will be the family support since he is far from his home. He is staying with a host family though so that is good for him – we aren’t that close.
1. At last weekends game my dh participated in the trivia game and won a free ticket for a future game. So next time we go he will get in free.
2. We had more water in our basement (not frugal) but not a major flood this time. Dh had someone come out to figure out what is going on and get a quote. Dh however thinks he can do it himself for very cheap – he just has to muster up the will to redig a massive hole 5 feet deep. NOT a fun job but if he can save us thousands by doing it himself he will. Currently he is holding out for a cheap quote though lol
3. We are in the middle of a heat wave. I cooked a fast dinner on the stove that generated a bunch of leftovers and we will eat that for 3 dinners in a row to avoid using the oven and heating up the house more.
4. Dh and I have been hiking 2 days in a row this week. Free entertainment and exercise
5. I’m working summer school and while cleaning up around the house and decluttering I found 2 large things of bubbles and a huge bag of beads. I took them both into school to be used this summer. Feels good to get random stuff out of my house AND to put it to a good use.
Portland Pickles! I had no idea this team even existed, but my son and I are visiting my sister this week in Portland and she asked if we’d like to go to the game — with the additional enticer that it’s “Corgi Night”. My 14 you responded with a “heck yes!” Maybe we’ll see you there 🙂