Five More Frugal Things
by Katy on July 31, 2025 · 33 comments
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My youngest’s friend just moved to Portland, so I’m helping them source a couple items they need for their new apartment. I asked for a few items just yesterday, (a cast iron skillet, baking sheet and wall shelves) through my Buy Nothing group and have already picked up a pair of cute wall shelves that should hold plants, books and maybe even a knickknack or two. I also encouraged them to join their own Buy Nothing group.
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My neighbor brought over a full gallon-size ziploc bag of freshly caught salmon as a thank you for taking care of her garden. She and her family are heading out for another vacation and I’ll happily water her plants again. She has discovered that my favors can be purchased with fresh food and I couldn’t be happier.
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I’m getting another set of houseguests in a couple of weeks, which’ll be fun. Portland is an amazing city to show off and I’m always happy to give friends a free place to stay while they save their hard earned dollars.
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I curb picked up an Ikea fabric storage cube that’ll come in handy in some way or another. I’m thinking maybe to corral miscellaneous items in the back of my car, but I’ll give it a couple days of thought to come up with the right answer. In the meantime I’ll give it a good scrub and let it dry in the sunshine.
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Katy Wolk-Stanley
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Nice shelves! Yes, nI am thankful no one has stolen my underage “employees” this week. The news is becoming like a comic book.. well,that happened a whiel back,didn’t it.Moving on:
My husband and I have been so busy and on different schedules for a while. .Yesterday we had a chance to enjoy an impromptu dinner date at a local eatery that is frugally priced, not busy, and I even had a $5 glass of happy hour wine. The conversation was so good and small moments/hours like this help make a marriage feel good! I make many “happy meals” at home,complete with nice dishes and Franke and Dean Martin on spotify.. but going out once in a while is a nice treat!
On the homefront: Eating down the freezer, salmon steaks and chicken fried rice tonight with big salad.
Busy cleaning out garage,sold off old scuba equipment and some decor items we don’t use anymore, on FB marketplace.(Sorry not sorry I do use FB.) Made someo $.
Have been shopping for a used pair of black shoes I can wear for our theater nights out in winter months (closed toe.) I had to get rid of all my old
“nice shoes” when feet problem’s started up.. wore black sneakers with dress pants last year.FINALLY found a pair of slip on black shoes that are supportive and kind to my feet and will last for years,as I will only wear them to our theater dates,concerts,plays,etc..we do a yearly subscription to several venues in town and I do like to dress up a bit for our date nights. WOO HOO. New (to me) shoes. Our Hospice thrift store often has barely used,good quality items.. it is my fave thrift store! My shoes are barely worn.
Thanks for sharing.. love your blog!!! So much!
I can sympathize with your shoe/foot problem, Madeline. I’m all out of closed-toe dress shoes myself, and ended up wearing black sneakers under my black slacks to the reception at the Morgan Library in NYC that I attended recently. But I was relieved to observe that I wasn’t the only older lady there (by a long shot) wearing sneakers!
I have to wear diabetic orthodics. I always get sneakers.
Madeline, I like your version of happy meals!
Your blog encourages me so much. In the day to day, when it feels like a slog. Seeing your little wins, generosity and humor help me! thanks. You and the frugal girl are my favs 🙂
They are my favorite blogs too!
1) Since we redid our office and added desks for the kids, we had to move out a couch that folded flat into a futon. It was never really used so it’s in good condition, except our dog we used to have would lean against the front of it so some of his “essence” was still there even though he passed two years ago. My husband steam cleaned the front and I posted it to the buy nothing app, which is not as active as the fb group but someone actually did respond and wants to come get it. Aside from just being happy to help someone and keep this item in use, it does save us money too as we likely would have had to pay to get it hauled away.
2) I had made a lasagna about a month ago but it was so big, I knew we wouldn’t get through the leftovers so I froze half of it. I’m defrosting that half for our dinner tonight, although I generally like cooking, it is nice sometimes to just get home from work and have a simple dinner ready to go.
3) I picked about 20 green beans from the garden, way more than I was expecting to get considering it’s only one plant and most of the leaves have been chewed up by some sort of insect.
4) Library books and YouTube exercise videos are pretty much my main forms of entertainment in the evenings, both free.
5) Related to above, my mom asked me what she could get me for my birthday. I asked for dumbbells in the next size up, a gift I know I’ll use and will help maintain my health.
OK, here comes a really bad joke about your #5, Lisa: I’d have asked my mother at some point for dumbbells in the next size up, but I already had three older siblings. 😛
LOVE IT!!!!!
I have 2 useless brothers.
HA, made me laugh A. Marie. I have/had two older siblings, neither of them would laugh at that joke, though….
Haha I’m the oldest of three so I guess that would only work for me if I was moving to the next size down
My mom collected bells. I said she did that because her 3 daughters are “ding-a-lings.”
My oldest sister just turned 81 in May. My middle sister (now deceased) would have been 77 this past January. They made the mistake of leaving.mom and dad alone one night…
I’m 61 (will be 62 in December)
I have a t-shirt I bought on Amazon that says “I may be old. Then, I realize my sister is OLDER.” My DH is the youngest of 9…he has 3 older sisters and 5 older brothers. A lady at church makes custom t-shirts, so I had her make one.for him that basically says the same thing, except it says SIBLINGS ARE OLDER. Then, on the back, I had her list all 9 kids, in birth order, down the center of the back. 3 of his 5 brothers have passed, so there are angel wings next to their names.
Oh, I can so relate to the older siblings thing, being the baby of 5. I swear my sister can get flour on the ceiling when she’s cooking and she’s not even cooking with flour.
Thanks y’all, I’m always learning and laughing with this group.
If you don’t get the dumbbells (or worthless siblings), Reader Namesake, you can use either a gallon jug (filled up, it weighs 8 lbs; don’t use empty milk jugs bc they’ll stink) or tin cans filled with product from your pantry. When I was in water aerobics, we’d use empty detergent jugs, or jugs that had held juice, tea or water; you can fill them up to the weight you need from the pool water, then dump it out to use the jug as a floatation device. The aerobic dance classes often used cans of beans, and at Thanksgiving, when the class term ended, we’d donate them to the holiday food drive.
I totally agree with the above comments! I look forward to each new post.
1.Beach walks in the past two days have yielded a visor and a swim cap. Both of which I will wash and donate. In the alleys I also found a like-new tennis ball which I will save for dog visits, a clean sturdy shoebox which I will use for storage (and it contains some clean tissue which will go in my gift wrap box) and a wooden broomstick.
2. I took a book on card making from a little free library. I basically took it because once I wrestled it out of the box, I couldn’t get it back in. It’s huge! But it looks interesting, and maybe I’ll make some cards as long as I can do it frugally.
3. Pantry project — last day because I grocery shop tomorrow! Breakfast was biscuits and prunes. Lunch will be a veggie burger with sides of corn and peas. Supper will be a toasted cheese pita and applesauce.
4. Did my month’s end financial summary. I spent more than I made, but that’s because of a large insurance payment. It will even out.
5. Enjoying cool and breezy weather for a change, so the air is off, the fan is off, and the windows are open!
a broomstick? wow. amazing what people discard. but it might have been a witch?
Beth W., I’ve found broomsticks retrieved from parking lots and trash piles to be real handy. Not sure one was actually a broomstick but it was a thick round pole or rod; its current use is as a clothes rod about the washer and dryer. Others have been pressed into use as handles for rakes and paint rollers and rubber dog-hair scrapers and mops and brooms — all kinds of things. I get the ones that have a thing on the end that you can screw the paint roller, or whatever, on. Sometimes just buying a mop head, etc., is cheaper than getting the whole thing, and I can mix and match that part with the broomsticks in my garage. (If you can’t screw something on it, you can still use it as a stake in your garden.)
Here are my 5 today:
1. Check the BACK of your receipts! I found an awesome deal for $5 off pet products at Pet Valu on the back of my grocery receipt. Plan to use those for cat food and litter – specialty ones we buy.
2. Hardboiled eggs for the win! I’m always happy when I take the time the night before to make some for the morning. Easy, fast and filling.
3. Really researching the flyers and finding the best deals and trying to cut down grocery and household essential costs even further.
4. Munching on a banana as a snack. Still one of the cheapest fruit finds!
5. Enjoying plenty of ‘new to me’ clothing passed along to me over the past year. These are gorgeous things, and didn’t cost me a penny. Very grateful – and I pass along anything that doesn’t fit or anything I don’t really need. :))
1) More winners on the “damaged” shelf. 2 boxes of Cut-rite waxed paper (75 ft) regularly $3.99 each marked down to $1.74 each. Hostess (8 ct) Coffee Cakes regularly $4.49 marked down to $3.37. Clio (4 ct) zero sugar mixed berry bars. They retail for $5.49 each. On.dale for $4.99 each. I had to buy 2 to use the store coupon ($1.50) and to use the Ibotta rebate ($.25 off of 2). I spent $9.98 for the 2 at the sale price, saved $1.50 with the store coupon and and another $.25 back from Ibotta. For a total savings of $2.74 for the 2 boxes. I like to keep them on hand when they are on sale. The texture is similar to the texture of cheesecake. Guilty pleasure now and then.
2) The grocery store we frequent shows the % you save with your loyalty card and coupons/discounts at the bottom of the receipt. I saved 18% today. Not too shabby in my opinion.
3) Got part of my school van schedule for this school year. I say part because I travel to 2 “out-of-district” schools. The Catholic school in town only goes up to 8th grade. The closest Catholic high school is 18 miles away in another school district. I have the Amish again this year; they are also considered “out-of-district.” The bus calendar for the district I live in isn’t finished yet. Our drivers’ meeting is 8/12, so I will get the rest of my route then. If it’s like last year, I will only have 2 students “in-district.” While the “in-district” doesn’t start until 8/21, my 2 “out-of-district” schools start 8/18. I’ll get a couple of days in before the chaos begins! Last year, my route was 142/miles round/trip. Although I get paid by the hour, the longer the trip, the more hours it takes. That makes for a pretty decent paycheck.
4) Eating Princess Diana’s version of “overnight oats.” Going to try it with red raspberries instead of blueberries, and toasted almonds instead of toasted walnuts tomorrow. Definitely putting a damper on my appetite. Lost 60 lb when I got my CGM 2 years ago. Now that I’ve kept the weight off for a year, time to work on shedding the next 60 lbs.
5) Have a few articles of clothing that are about to be donated as they are too big. Severely stained ones will be trashed. Others will be donated. This weekend’s task is to sort through them. Will keep a few of the really messy ones to wear around the house when I’m doing “dirty work.”
Goodwill takes clean large rags.
Also art classes and auto repair folks.
Thanks for the tip.
1. High of 67 today! And rain, yay! AC off, windows open. And I don’t have to water anything.
2. I took advantage of the cooler weather to use my oven. I made a double batch of squash casserole and breakfast sausage. Both for the freezer. That is 8 meals of casserole for my dh’s lunches.
3. Today is a no spend day for me.
4. I ran my dishwasher on the quick 1 hour cycle. This saves 2 hours of energy usage and seems to work the same
5. I received the renewal for our home insurance and it actually went down $300. No idea why but I will take it.
Along with all the others above, I, too, greatly appreciate Katy’s blog and all the lovely comments. It feels like a big supportive family sharing ideas as well as challenges and occasional downright fails (in a safe environment). Thanks to everyone who keeps the tone of discourse kind and caring.
1. Did a mini home workout with my kettlebells – having them in the living room means I notice them and remember to do something, and the library had a book on display that contains all kinds of getting started and staying engaged workouts for kettlebells, so I am trying to do one of the routines every day.
2. Dropped in to the scratch and dent vegetable grocer on the way home from my gym workout yesterday. I wanted to get a cucumber.
The young man who sets out the discounted veggies was just filling up a shopping cart as I walked by; he couldn’t let me access his goodies at the back of the store, but I made a point of waiting for him to come to the discount shelves. Boy howdy was it worthwhile!
Came away with 10 pounds of potatoes, 3 pounds of coloured bell peppers, 3 or 4 pounds of Hungarian yellow peppers, 2+ pounds of black plums, 3 + pounds of nectarines, 4 or 5 pounds of really firm not squishy tomatoes, 8 corn on the cob, 2 huge cantaloupe melons, 2 pounds of green grapes… and a small bag of mini cucumbers not on discount (cheaper than the full sized ones, I checked the weights on the scales). Cost me $21.05, and over filled two double sized reusable grocery bags. I had already done my workout and I groaned at the weight…
I came home and chopped up a cantaloupe, washed the grapes and put them in jars, shuffled things around in my fridges, cooked and ate a huge bowl of spinach that had been languishing in the fridge, air-fried some tofu that I had marinated before I left for town, put away the rice and beans I had cooked up, cooked the corn and sliced it off the cobs, took all the veggie cast-off chicken treats out for the chooks, fried up a small bit of leftover corn from before, and generally putzed around ensuring that food would be visible and not go to waste.
3. Pulled in the first load of laundry (sheets from guest rooms) and hung out the kitchen towels and dishrags.
4. Continue to enjoy both physical books and Libby books from my local library. I was feeling a bit guilty as I don’t always read the physical books I take out, but my librarian friend hastened to encourage me to keep on doing just that, as their funding is partially based on how many books are in circulation. Whew, guilt gone.
5. A friend has delayed our planned lunch at her house for a couple of weeks, just as well as it is unseasonably hot right now and I would just as soon stay home, water the thirsty garden again, pick some blueberries from here and blackberries from the road, and slow down a bit. I had forgotten that another friend and I are slated to attend a by donation Shakespeare play outside this evening, luckily she is communicative and also reminded me that the seats are hard so bring either a chair or a cushion.
Ecoteri, your #2 is amazing! Boy howdy indeed!
FMFT, Scotland the Brave, Pickles, Etc. Edition:
(1) One of my two Sunday morning walking buddies is a native of Glasgow (and, even after 30 years in the US, she still has a Glaswegian accent so thick it should be spread on scones). During You Know Who’s golfing trip to Scotland at the US taxpayers’ expense, I’ve been relying on her for translations of some of the Scottish slang on protest signs–and some of it is very naughty indeed. Goodness knows what my Scottish great-great-grandma who emigrated from the US to “County Michigan” (that’s how a cousin of hers addressed a letter to her, which I still have) in the 1860s would have thought, but I’m having a great time with it.
(2) I just gave each of my Sunday walking buddies a quart of refrigerator dill pickles. An Amazon package just arrived from my Glaswegian friend, with four brand-new quart canning jars with lids. She shouldn’t have, but I still deeply appreciate the kind thought.
(3) I also gave a quart of pickles each to my friends who raise my beef (see earlier comments) and my yard wizard/snowplow guy.
(4) The Bestest Neighbors and I are doing a run on Saturday morning to a local company that accepts electronic recycling dropoffs for free. I’ve already put together a modest pile and hope to add to it, once my friend Mr. Fix-It can come over and see whether he wants anything.
(5) And I haven’t just spent the last three weeks trying to deny any association with a proven pedophile I’ve known for decades. (In fact, to the best of my knowledge and belief, I don’t know any pedophiles.)
1. No coffee, no breakfast due to fasting for some medical tests.
2. Picked up some free “magazines” (ok, they are product brochures in disguise) at the testing place.
3. Since it was in a different neighborhood, I got to walk through a tourist building to a restaurant (I was about to starve by then! So I splurged…) and got a free map of Dallas-Fort Worth. Might as well get something that’s updated.
4. The eatery gave me portions more suitable for an NFL linebacker, so I asked for, and got, a to-go box. Have enough for at least another meal, if not two.
5. Did not kick millions of sick, elderly and disabled people off of Medicaid in order to build myself a grand (and totally unneeded) ballroom.
The grand ballroom is a complete waste of money! Judging by the size of his hands, he needs a much smaller ballroom than your average guy!
1. Made Martha Stewart’s one-pan pasta with the first cherry tomatoes I got this year. It’s been like pulling teeth to get anything ripened. The wild blackberries look puny, too. Added fresh basil per Martha and some fresh oregano not per Martha and it was tasty.
2. Planted more hydrangeas in the cottage garden. My August tenants were possibly going to drive out tonight, but the entire city is flooded, so good thing they didn’t.
3. I’ve been itching unbearably today despite two Zyrtec. Trying to resist the siren Benadryl call which will put me in a coma for the evening.
4. Lunch was foraged salad greens with dressing made from Daughter’s slightly too runny homemade mayo.
5. I bought a Lear jet.
@Rose
Hahaha
Did you get that Lear jet at Goodwill?
1. Cooked dried garbanzo beans received from Buy Nothing. Divvied into three mason jars, using one for hummus and freezing the other two.
2. Rescued a tube of hand lotion in a parking lot, not near other cars so I didn’t think anyone would claim it.
3. Cut up parchment paper into small squares for muffin liners.
4. At the natural foods co-op, I filled my own bulk spice jars with thyme for 54 cents, cinnamon for $1.96 (tall jar), and dill for 60 cents.
5. Received new Ziploc bags from a friend who asked me to give away some of her mom’s items in my Buy Nothing group. Her mom had put single greeting cards in individual plastic bags. I transferred the cards from all the plastic bags into one notecard box so I could keep the bags. That’s a long way of saying I came into some baggies.
Bonus: Somehow managed to continue being an upstanding citizen, so no lawyer(s) on speed dial and no one spouting utter BS on my behalf.
1. Hubby and I trimmed the dogs nails last night. She loves to get them trimmed because she get several treats.
2. I prepped 6 meals of string beans for the freezer. Each meal will feed 4 people. We are eating string beans with boiled potatoes and Italian dressing with our dinner tonight. Love my garden.
3. It is raining today and tomorrow so I delayed the drip lines for several days.
4. I cleaned up and brought the rolling cart I garbage picked to the lady I help. I used it to organize her bathroom. She loved it. I also brought her some string beans.
5. My son took 2 pots and a pan that I garbage picked. All were Circulon pots. They are much better then the ones he had. I also gave him some of the frozen foods I was given. Hubby is allergic to dairy, my youngest is GF and I am on a low sodium diet so he was the only one who could eat some of them. He also took a bag of veggies.
Mary Beth,
Your beans sound delicious!
Reminded me of this recipe for Swamp potatoes
https://www.allrecipes.com/swamp-potatoes-recipe-11781550
1) Mentioned earlier that we cashed in Hyatt points to book a mini getaway while my office was closed. We got upgraded to a winery view room, and it was gorgeous. Average room price was $1300/night, mid week! We would have never paid that, but it’s nice to see how much we “saved”.
2) Went to a really fancy restaurant we love, but booked a lunch reservation vs dinner, and enjoyed it for about 1/2 the cost.
3) Heated up fridge leftovers after we got home, which was quite a change after the nicer meals out. 😉 There weren’t quite enough for everyone, so I made a grilled cheese sandwich for myself.
4) Drove our electric car to & from Napa, and charged for free at the hotel.
5) Hotel has an expensive daily resort free, but it was waived since we were using points. And, we had a fantastic free breakfast every morning (order anything you want off of the menu). The only thing on our bill when we left was the charge for 2 pool drinks (one each) on the day we chilled by the pool for a bit.It was a lovely & relaxing break.