Five More Frugal Things
by Katy on July 19, 2025 · 6 comments
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I recieved an email from the American Red Cross, thanking me for donating blood. Enjoyably the “thank you” was my choice of a $20 gift card. I picked Safeway and will use it to pick up whatever loss leader I’d be buying anyway. For those keeping track, I’ve now received a pair of Goodr brand sunglasses and and a $20 gift card for my single donation.

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I grabbed my blackberry picking supplies and drove to my secret spot. Those supplies being a cut-open milk jug, two 9″ X 13″ lidded pans, a wet rag in a ziploc bag to clean my hands and my sunscreened self.

I spent a hour and twenty minutes picking blackberries and gleaned enough to make it worth the scratches and sun exposure. Most of the berries were still unripe, so I’ll definitely try and get back next week. Maybe even the week after that. Hey, it’s free food!

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I also baked bread and made double batches of sweet chili sauce and pickled red onions for the fridge. Having flavorful toppings definitely helps to perk up otherwise dull meals.

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I then made a fresh jar of sauerkraut, as we used up the dregs from my last batch when my sister was in town. (Bangers and mash, bay-bee!) I picked up a $1.99 Trader Joe’s head of cabbage as their heavy single price produce is usally a better bargain than standard pay-by-the-pound pricing.
I picked up this fermantation kit last year and it’s my third time using it. I bought it “used” off Amazon and the only thing wrong with it was that the cardboard packaging was a bit messed up.

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My supper was a simple rice and beans bowl in the backyard, topped with queso fresco, onion, cilantro, salsas, tomato, lettuce and tortilla chip shrapnel. Cheap, healthy and delicious!

Katy Wolk-Stanley
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
1) The little cleaning brush that came with DH’s electric razor looks like it’s been through the war. Found a little toothbrush I got during my hospital stay last year and told him to try it. It worked! No need to buy a special brush.
2) DH bought 2 apple dumplings yesterday at the one Amish market we stopped at yesterday. We had those for breakfast this morning. $5 for the 2, so $2.50/person. Much cheaper than going out to a restaurant for breakfast.
3) Snapped all yesterday’s receipts (only 3) for all my cash back/gift card apps.
4) Started playing games on the KashKicks app in December. Cashed out $26 in May. Have accumulated another $46 since then. Only playing a little before bed, while I’m riding in a car, using the bathroom, etc (idle time). Waiting to cash out again when I need it. We need about $1,200 worth of work done to our car in the next 6 months. Waiting until I go back to work in about 6 weeks and have a couple of paychecks in my account to get the work done. Will cash out the game money when we go to have the work done on the car to help relieve some of the financial pressure.
5) About 1,000 miles until our next oil change is due. We take our car (only have 1) to a different garage than we take it for repairs because the other garage has a punch card deal. Get 5 oil changes, 6th one free. Considering our car takes only full synthetic oil and costs roughly $90/oil change, I am elated that we filled our punch card with the last oil change we had, so the next one is FREE! I’ve been on unemployment since school ended in June, so this will be a huge help to our wallet.
Oooh, I am jealous of your $20 gift card! My hospital only gave me an $8 cafeteria certificate.
I’ll have to check into donating blood. I have an unexciting blood type, though.
My worry with picking roadside berries is that they’ve been sprayed with poison and are covered with car exhaust toxins. I have a secret patch far away from a road, but I’m still not confident that they haven’t been sprayed. Instead of blackberries, I processed a batch of excess plums from a neighbor’s tree.
My spot isn’t on a road, it’s at the back of a parking lot away from where any cars ever park. And I’m a boring blood type as well.
I’m an exciting blood type (O negative) but they didn’t check it before I gave and it wasn’t commented on. I still got a $25 gift card though, which was nice. Have to wait till August to do it again.
The blackberries look delish, and is it a Fiesta bowl I spotted in your food photo? Thanks to all who give blood; no matter your type (boring or otherwise), you are saving lives. You are greatly appreciated! Reminder: you can donate once every 56 days. And for you ladies who suffer water weight right before that time of month, I found that a blood donation eases such discomfort.
1. At long last, my mission of saving a very comfy but ugly-looking executive desk chair from the landfill is complete! Katy, you’ll be proud of me: I’d rescued said chair from my across-the-street neighbor’s curbside trash. Planned to take it to a consignment furniture service when deer season started because they like chairs on casters; I was told the deer hunters like to buy them for their deer blinds. (Even if I only made $5 off it, that still would’ve been 100% profit.) Well, the consignment placed closed, so the chair has been gathering dust in my garage. Yesterday, a soon-to-be rookie teacher got on Nextdoor asking for classroom furniture. He will be teaching at a Title I school and doesn’t care what something looks like, even if some of the fake leather cushion covering is peeling off. He just now drove away with his “loot.” The chair will get a new life in his classroom, and all is well.
2. I’m decluttering, so I also gave him my teacher’s podium (made by my former neighbor out of a wooden fence post and some discarded wood shelves), a plastic drawer set, and bunches of supplies and teacher books. Threw in a “Deport Elon” magnet for good measure, as he’s a fellow Democrat. Glad they’re going to a good cause! Also glad I freed up some space around the house! (Bonus: when I looked in a storage bin, I found some missing family photos.)
3. I started playing Wordle again for free entertainment. (I didn’t hear anything more about the labor dispute, or whatever it was, so I assume it’s over by now.) Of 912 games overall, I have a 92% success rate. Can’t seem to get to 93, no matter how many I solve.
4. Resisted the temptation to buy a food chopper on Aldi’s aisle of shame. I will wait and see if the price comes down and if I still want it in a few weeks.
5. Signed the online petition to CBS telling them they’re the Cowardly Broadcast System for axing Colbert.