Five More Frugal Things
by Katy on December 7, 2024 · 52 comments
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My husband and I went to his soccer field to empty out the storage locker for the winter. The locker was right next to the bleachers, which were littered underneath with soggy garbage and whatnot. However . . . there’s also decent abandoned items, so I grabbed a few things to bring home and clean up. Here’s what came home with me:
• One knit cap.
• One pair of black fleece gloves.
• One new looking insulated water bottle.
• Four returnable cans.
I’ll clean up the hat and gloves for donation, keep the water bottle and cash in the cans for 40¢.
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I took the free apples from my neighbor and turned them into five jars of applesauce. I’d normally not bother making applesauce unless it was a larger amount, (so much cleanup!) but I wanted to make sure the fruit didn’t go to waste. I chose to refrigerate the applesauce instead of doing a water bath as we’ll eat it long before it could go bad.
I also took an uncut Halloween pumpkin from my neighbor and baked it up for puree. It’s now frozen and I’m ready for another year of yummy treats.
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My son lucked out on a free hand-me-down iPhone 11 to replace his infirmed iPhone 7 that no longer shot video or received texts in a timely manner. He did pay $60 to get it unlocked and ready to switch from AT&T to Verizon, but it was still a great bargain. His first instinct was to buy a new phone, but I convinced him to give this a try. He’s now happy to have spent $60 instead of $799!
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I used the To Good To Go app to score a box of schmancy Blue Star donuts for $6.99 instead of $21. A rare treat on a cold and rainy afternoon.
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I didn’t buy a vulgar gold plated apartment in the sky!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 52 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for all the posts. You are a lovely voice of sense in this season.
1. We cleaned out our shed since I’m feeling squeezed in our small space. Cheaper than buying a new house. I was tempted to get a new shed but we got rid of so much that there’s plenty of space in it now.
2. I premade my offering for a potluck tonight before I ran out of energy. Much cheaper than buying something premade.
3. Filled out the online form requesting Habitat for Humanity to come pick up the perfectly good stuff from our shed (much of it was given to me).
Saves my time and gas and the things I have are too big for my car.
4. Hung 2 loads of laundry on the line.
5. Being VERY stern with myself that the gifts I’m giving are ‘enough’. The trick for me, it seems, is actually mailing/giving them. Then I don’t second guess. Some people got their gift in December 1
Yay for free apples!!
1. I listed my old Christmas tree on Facebook Marketplace. It was gone in less than three hours. Crap out, money in. It was too heavy for me to handle so I guess I’m saving my back too.
2 I made chicken salad and potato soup which I took to my MIL’s house for lunch. I left a container of soup for her and I will share with my mom also.
3. My youngest daughter and I decorated the tree with our same old ornaments while watching Christmas movies. My Mom loaned me some metal reindeer she had no room for. We hung an old wreath on the door and we are all set for Christmas.
4. Dinner tonight was a mish mash of leftovers.
5. I signed up for the Black Friday Peacock streaming service offer of 19.99 for a year. We’re going to watch Twisters tonight which I never got to see in the theater.
I had a futuristic frugal epiphany . I was watching The Last of Us which I got on Max for 2.99. I am enthralled by the dystopian world caused by a fungus epidemic. ( And Pedro is super sexy) All week I have been noticing my frugal moments and comparing them to a possible future of subsistence living.
Scene: Pedro is selling drugs to a corrupt cop. Gunfire sounds in the distance. The evidence of human misery all around.He hands the cop a small baggie of pills.
Pedro speaks: I am going to need that baggie back.
OMG!!!!!! A time when people value ziplocks.
This is serendipitous for me because I have recently was back into the wall with ziplocks.
I am out.
I am never going to be a person who rewashed ziplocks.
I am out.
Maybe this once I can clean the large broccoli bag that three little bags came in.
Now I have one.
Maybe I can use a fancy cardboard box to hide the reused ziplocks I am finding.
Now I have ten.
So yeah!!!!!!! I am in a sci fi wonderland.
Also Survivalist: ( kinda)
1. Tonite is grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread and home pureed figs with ham.
2. Dehydrated persimmons for the first time and they are delish.
3. Bought a 1200 ft roll of craft paper. $25 shipped after ink cartridge rebates at Staples. I use this for everything from wrapping paper, arts and crafts, and shipping. I have a holder from my classroom. Nothing fancy here!!!!!
4. Searched for at least 30 mins in a huge stack of “crap” at Marshalls to find heavily discounted SPF 30 moisturizers I can stand. Saved at least $30.
5. In the movie, the young girl finds in a a box of tampons picked- thru dump. She cheers. I realize the savings from being post menopausal. A silver lining.
I make an ongoing effort to really notice and enjoy the luxury I ( & probably most us) enjoy and take for granted.My bed at night, clean , dry, and SAFE! My food( I EAT EVERY SINGLE DAY! ) My clean clothes( dirty or damaged? I have more! My shoes? They don’t hurt my feet, because they are MY. SIZE! I can go places without running from building to building, bush to bush! And most of all, I haven’t had to tell my children that, once again I have no food for them!
I know so many refugees and asylum seekers, and let me tell you, I know now how massively privileged I am! My frugal life is rich beyond measure!
Coral, I love this. I, too, am so freaking privileged and am grateful for it every single day.
Thank you Coral for reminding this of this. I’d like to add, my home is warm and free from drafts, we have indoor plumbing including hot water. I love to stand in the shower and appreciate what a marvelous it is.
Coral, well said. Thank you for the reminder.
Coral, I do the same. Every day starts with safe running water, which is pretty miraculous all by itself.
Yes to menopaus eand its silver linings! Not only a savings on tampons and pads but also the savings on the Ibuprofen I had to live on for the first three days. There are not too many great things about getting old but a total lack of periods is definitely one of them.
I wash Ziploc bags that have *not* held a greasy and/or non-wrapped meat. While I don’t know my mother’s “rule” for washing Ziploc bags, my father has enough for himself, me, and my sibling. I’m still using the stash I bough during Covid-19 – sure I have the discretionary dollars to buy two or was it three 100 bag boxes.
Yes to Coral on remembering to be grateful for what we ordinarily take for granted. Yes to Christine on the benefits of menopause. And yes to Mary Ann and Selena on reusing all Ziploc-type bags that haven’t previously contained meat.
Mary Ann, I’m with you about post-menopause being more frugal and carefree. In fact, if I walk by the feminine product section at Walmart or other stores, I feel like cheering when seeing all the products I no longer use. I felt I got my life back when my periods ceased! No more having to plan vacations around the calendar, or worry about getting through the day when you have bad cramps or extreme bleeding, etc. etc. etc. No wonder our grandmas called it “the curse” — they were absolutely right. Hooray for old age!
The Canadian government has removed federal taxes on feminine hygiene products,many provinces have also removed them.
The city I live in has a one year trial program of public recreational facilities, schools, libraries having feminine hygiene products available free of charge. Many malls have also instituted the availability of free products as needed.
Federal employees in Canada are also given access to free menstrual products for their hours at work.
I rage at the ignorant (mostly men) who tried to make free feminine hygiene a bad thing. I can assure you they’d about die after only one period (even using the cheapest product). I do wish their wives, daughters, and/or other pre- menopause women in their lives held a gun to their heads to go purchase needed hygiene products. Heck, some men don’t even know how long a full term pregnancy lasts.
That’s where my son’s phones have always come from too – someone else trading up. I’m glad he doesn’t think the newest gen is a need.
1. I made a batch of hot pretzels today. They were okay, but I wouldn’t make them again. Still, I love trying new recipes.
2. I had bought several volumes of The Wheel of Time series at the library sale a few weeks ago. I walked up to the sale this morning and was lucky enough to find the rest of the set.
3. My friend asked if I wanted to go to a local craft show, which had free entry. It was good walking and people watching, but nothing caught my eye. I haven’t been to a craft show in over 20 years, but it was still a lot of tables selling very similar items. Some things never change.
4. The dimming light switch in my dining room has been touchy for years, and finally gave up the ghost entirely this week. A replacement was only $8 and took less than 15 minutes to install.
5. Sold two sweaters and a sweatshirt on ebay, and some books on Marketplace.
Few tangible joys last longer than having the whole set! I’m delighted for you.
1. We had leftover broccoli from a mystery restaurant shop. Husband had a breakfast meeting and came home with hashbrowns topped with very spicy sausage gravy. Not enough of each to share and make up a meal so I threw the broccoli and some freezer sauteed mushroom into a quart of homemade chicken stock. Also tossed in a frozen tomato harvested in August. When they were soft, used an immersion blender to pulverize them all, which thickened the soup a little. Threw in the potatoes and gravy, which really thickened things up. Had some odds and ends of cheese in the freezer, so threw those in. The result is enough soup to feed the two of us for three nights! Years ago, I would have thrown all this stuff away.
2. Sold a book and will be doing a mystery USPS shop on Monday to mail it off for free, plus I earn a bit for doing the shop.
3. A. Marie, I thought of you when I took two dog food bags that used to hold fifty pounds of feed, now filled with soda pop cans. It has taken about 2 years of my own cans (I rarely drink pop now, but I used to very regularly) plus cans I brought home from meetings or friends who know me too well who had dropped off small bags of their own cans. A neighbor going to recycling this morning took the two bags there, so no gas used. We don’t get any money for returns, but it makes me feel virtuous.
4. A friend who has terminal cancer stopped by and dropped off hundreds of dollars worth of postage stamps, probably close to $800 of forever stamps. She is barely getting around and will be entering hospice so is spending her energy giving out things to friends who will use them. I offered to pay her but she said she is also giving away money so does not need mine. I have a lot of my own stamps so I told her I will take them to North Pole, the town 17 miles away, where there is a group of mostly retirees who hand answer letters to Santa that often have only The North Pole and still get to the North Pole post office. They do it for free, on their own time, so these stamps will really help the cause. I hope it made her feel better to knew the stamps will be used to bring cheer long after she is gone.
5. Decorated using already owned lights, tree, wreath, etc. We are good t putting things away in an organized fashion after the holidays so nothing was broken and only the wreath needed some fluffing up by taking off and ironing the ribbons. This wreath is totally out of character for me. I can only blame it on stopping at a Christmas popup in Seattle, on the way to catching the Alaska state ferry in Bellingham, combined with a huge load of pain killers I was taking after a surgery. The result is this a mammoth wreath of flocked fake pink boughs, fake red berries, a dozen deep pink bulbs that say things like Welcome and Merry Christmas and Hello Santa, and four giant deep pink and silver ribbon bows. It took up one of the seats in our van when we drove back from Seattle. It is so hideous that in 10 years of use, I have finally fallen in love with it. (I don’t even like pink all that much!!)
Your # 4…I really love what you are doing with the stamps your friend gave you. I can only imagine the comfort you gave her letting her know the stamps will be going to the North Pole to help make Christmas brighter for some plus saving the seniors some $$$. Wow, how sweet of them to do this!
Lindsey, I’m so sorry about your friend. It was so thoughtful of her and of you for thinking of others. What a great way to use so many stamps.
Lindsey, thanks for the kind thought on your #3, and I applaud the virtuous recycling effort. Aluminum is about the only thing that can be effectively recycled these days. And I join the others in applauding your friend’s and your own very generous #4 as well.
Love the stamp story!
Your #2…When I worked at the Post Office, the supervisor would buy the clerks pizza if they scored well on Mystery Shoppers. I was a letter carrier so I did not get to partake in the pizza parties but the clerks were sure happy about it. I’m guessing the supervisor got some kind of kudos from the higher-ups for the good score or he probably wouldn’t have shelled out money for the pizza.
Lindsey, What a great idea you had about the stamps. The thought of your friend going out to give away her things to friends is so incredibly moving. Kind of stopped me in my tracks. Reinforces my opinions on stuff and how I really want less and less and less. Thanks for sharing.
1. Enjoying my part time sub job, and yesterday attended the holiday luncheon and won a $50 bill and Domino’s gift card. We were all gifted a 50.00 gift card to the thrift store that is run by our clients.
2. Made turkey broth from leftover turkey legs then turkey soup with a boxed rice mix and a can of mixed veggies.
3. Still recording all daily expenses. Really keeps me accountable.
4. Picked up 2 books at the library yesterday.
5. Following the meal plan I made.
Katy, my husband works in tech and has always said, “Make friends with compulsive upgraders.” He did not pay more than a few cents on a dollar for any kind of doodad for years, until Covid put him on permanent work from home. The savings were tremendous.
Yesterday I scoped out the online ads for my two main grocery stores and wrote a little list. I came in only $2 over budget for the past month on grocery shopping, which is fairly amazing considering my husband has to eat gluten free. I already have the fixings for Christmas meals bought, so December may be okay budget-wise.
Yesterday I put in a full day of housework, cooked 12 days worth of homemade kibble topper for my dogs and chili for the humans, and today have been reading a thrifted book that’s next up for discussion by the book club.
It’s how we got our free TV.
My frugal five or more…
1. We stayed home today. It was too cold to go out. I cleaned out my kitchen drawers of which I have a total of 5.
2. While cleaning out the drawers I came upon the whisk that had been missing. Guessing hubby put it in there to keep it “out of the way” in the utensil basket.
3. Traded in credit card points for a $50 Dave and Buster’s card. I figure hubby and I can go after lunch on a sunny day in cold January and play games. Maybe have a drink? No food though.
4. I couldn’t find thin mints at Walgreens (it’s a family tradition) so I bought a huge bag of Peppermint Patties. Came home and saw that the bag cost $15.99!!! Um, no thanks, I’m taking it back. Hubby reminded me of Dollar Tree.
5. Have three books out of the library to read.
and one more:
hubby got ground beef on sale for $2.99/lb and we’ll have that for a couple of month to eat.
1. Went to a Friends of the Library sale and bought a $5 audiobook for our drive to Arizona in a few weeks.
2. Purchased new walking shoes at DSW and asked whether I could receive any money off. The friendly clerk helped me find a coupon for $20 off.
3. Took several pieces of pottery, a wooden tray, and a teak shower bench to a consignment store to earn some money. Time will tell.
4. At my annual skin scan, I asked my dermatologist for some sunscreen samples and received three good-sized ones along with a coupon.
5. Went to a free cookie contest event at a local mall and ate full-size samples of three of the winning cookies. Then I received a complimentary piece of See’s candy when my friend purchased some Christmas gifts. Sugar, that’s what I had for lunch. My friend is so generous she bought, among other things, chocolate Santas for the employees at the liquor and cheese shop who are so nice to her dog.
My friends and I have an annual Cookie Day where we bake and decorate cookies. I bring a double batch of sugar cookies because obsessing over tiny decorations is my jam while everyone else bakes them. Several years ago we discovered that sitting there eating nothing but cookies at noon was giving us sugar crashes, so now I also bring along a vegetarian soup or chili to start with.
1. i recently sold a stack of about 20 books to a local used bookstore and today i went in and got 2 books with part of my credit.
2. i posted some things on buy nothing today.
3. i bought my mom an xmas gift using a gift card i got from returning a gift from my aunt last year.
4. lately i’ve been cooking at home for all meals, taking walks and doing otherwise free things. except for buying groceries/copay for healtcare this week. and i generally try to go to TJ’s/grocery outlet which are the cheapest options where i live.
5. i continue to declutter and sell things on ebay/FB/CL. sold about 5 things in the past week.
1 – split more firewood. We don’t burn exclusively but on the weekends we burn more than during the week. Good exercise, keeps the wooded areas in “the hood” cleaner, and saves us money
2 – not frugal for us but found a buyer for an item a friend had for sale.
3 – related to #2, we had related items which we gave to the buyer. Buyer said items were really nice and asked if he could pay us. We’ll take bucket of downed wood from him.
4 – I ate T-day leftovers (from freezer) for dinner last night. We both had leftovers for lunch today
5 – perhaps not technically frugal but am ensuring I use up all my vacation time before end of the year.
Selena, your #5 is entirely frugal. I will be forever grateful to my former employers for allowing me to run out the clock with accumulated vacation and sick time from early July 2020 until I finally officially retired on August 1. They completely understood the situation with DH, who was still living at home at that point but was making it impossible for me to concentrate on work.
I love all the posts.
1. The local branch of our public library system had a pop up holiday gifts events yesterday. We walked (about three miles round trip) to check it out. There was nothing that tripped my trigger and the prices were eye popping. It was a free, for us, event.
2. I did a grocery store run, stopping at Giant, Lidl, Grocery Outlet, and Aldi for their sale items. All stores are within a mile or so of our home. Cold weather means I don’t worry about leaving perishables in the car for a bit.
3. I am cat sitting for a neighbor. They will watch our house when we are away.
4. I am still reading and listening to library books.
5. I ordered Target gift cards since they are 10% off this weekend. I used my Discover card to pay for them since it should give me 5% cash back. I use the gift cards for gifts throughout the year.
FTFT, Drip Drip Drip Edition:
(1) Frugal fail (but, I hope, eventual frugal win): My kitchen tap started dripping right after breakfast today, and the more I fool with it, the worse the drip gets. I’m hoping that my friend Mr. Fix-It can come to the rescue; I’ve just sent him an email. Meanwhile, I’m keeping containers under the tap to catch the drips. Damme if I’m wasting water.
(2) And I’m about to use some of the captured water to take a tub bath. My elderly knees can use a soak after the past week of relearning to walk on wintry surfaces.
(3) In other news, here’s something I keep forgetting to mention: My JASNA friend who works at a Panera in the next city over brought me a whole cooler full of day-old souffles when I met her for lunch before our November meeting. That’s a whole cooler full of souffles that would otherwise have gone to waste. I kept a few, but gave the lioness’s share to my next-door neighbor. (NDN needs to gain weight, and I don’t.)
(4) I continue to write hard-copy holiday cards, and am starting to wrap presents for out-of-town shipment, using entirely materials I already have on hand.
(5) And I’ll be attending the local peace-and-justice group’s annual holiday craft fair, in search of a few last stocking stuffers. One soap vendor always sells year-old bars of handmade soap in various herbal scents at a discount–and I’ve found that the older soaps last longer anyway!
I really appreciate Katy and this group. I rarely post but I resonated a lot with the reminder about what refugees have to endure. Also the comments about all the kind things you all do.
Like several posters, I am trying to feel content with my gift giving choices for this year. With all the war and pain in the world, I decided to give several larger donations and keep family gifts to stocking stuffers with mostly useful things. But I still struggle with feeling it’s enough;
Frugal things: 1) I walk and take public transit instead of replacing my car. Mostly works since I live in a city. 2) I walk to the grocery stores–20 and 30 minutes away -& and carry back groceries in my backpack. This keeps me honest to using what I have. I also have very limited fridge/freezer & shelf space where I live at the moment, so I can’t stock a pantry like I used to do. But my grocery $ are lower than ever, since I mostly buy what is in season/on sale 3) am using frozen chicken bones & veg scraps to make broth; 4) will wrap up re gifts for a community Yankee swap; 5) Decided to be content with my current much less than ideal living situation. Need to get through 1 year 4 months more until retirement. Sending you all appreciation and good wishes
My grandma taught me to unwrap all soaps and put them in my underwear drawer because it made the contents of the drawer smell nice and dried out soaps last longer. (This is the same grandmother who lived to 99 and 11 months, on her own, and took NO prescription meds, and started each day by washing down a few jelly donuts with full sugar Pepsi.)
Lindsey, I like your grandma’s longevity diet!
You can always freeze your applesauce, if your plans change & you need a way to store it. We use applesauce to make muffins, which are also great.
1) Planned dinner for last night, knowing we’d get home late from DS17’s soccer match. I defrosted already prepped taco meat & pulling tacos together was a quick process once we got home, helping us avoid eating out.
2) I line dry probably 80% of our clothes (indoor, on a drying rack in front of a window that gets lots of sun). We use the dryer for towels, socks & underwear.
3) I’ve been filling out surveys & cashing them out regularly. I’m looking for an actual job, but this scratches my itch of immediate progress, because for those of you job searching, you know it’s a LONG journey with minimal positive feedback. 😉
4) Used three $20 rewards at the grocery store (earned from buying Home Depot gift cards, which we keep on hand & use for home projects throughout the year) to stock up on things we need for dinners & also to buy holiday baking ingredients. I make a cardamom bread that is a family favorite.
5) Helped one of the students I’m mentoring with a scholarship application (potentially frugal for her).
Hawaii, if you are willing to do surveys for money, I’d urge you to try some mystery shopping. Honestly, the amount of money I have saved on food and gas and sending packages is amazing, and you don’t have to take every job offered. There are a lot of jobs I would not do for the small amounts they pay, but even those sometimes work out because if no one takes them the payment goes up and up and up until someone does. The number of opportunities does depend on where you live, but it might be worth checking out.
Ditto what Lindsey wrote! It has been a great side gig for me.
Do you have a company you’d recommend?
This website, last updated in July, was recommended by one of the commentators. I have not used it, just saved it.
https://financialpanther.com/the-ultimate-list-of-gig-economy-apps/#head62
(1) Attended a meeting of a charity I belong to, won a prize ( for matching Merry Christmas written with language choices). I am regifting it and it will be awesome for the receiver. Also the organizer had sharpened all their coloured pencils in lieu of using regular pencils( they needed in excess of 20 for this game)
(2) someone on my Buy Nothing Group was requesting decks of cards for gifts packages for the unhoused. Another member suggested contacting the casino as they package up there used decks and donate them.
(3) Went to a fundraiser Christmas Turkey dinner last night. A few sets of friends also decided to attend. We all visited each other and the charity had a connection with an awesome restaurant in the city that prepared the meal so it was especially delicious.
(4) Won the 50/50 , donating back to the charity and getting both the original amount I purchased covered and a tax receipt on top.
(5) Won a prize that I had put a ticket in as a lark. I gave some children at the event some of the prize and the remainder will donate to a Christmas toy drive .
That is so nice of you. My mom once did similar–she took one of those IKEA doll beds and made a mattress, quilt, sheets and shams for it, using enough ruffled lace to make the heart of a little girl sing. Then she donated it as a raffle prize. The little girl standing next to her didn’t win and burst into tears, so Mom a few days made her the exact same set in exchange for a small donation to the charity.
What a lovely memory to hold onto Rose. Thank-you for sharing it.
1. I had my son’s BF download the big Y app for coupons and explained lost leader items to the boys. I finally got my son to sign up for snap benefits to help him out. He was approved.
2. I am not buying gifts for anyone (except for my son, his BF and their best friend/roommate) and I told a friend to please not buy me anything for Christmas. (She always does) she didn’t like it, but she finally agreed that yes, she does not need to buy me anything.
3. Instead of buying the boy individual gifts, I have a box and I am giving them “apartment“ gifts. I found a bunch of games on deep clearance that I know they will love, took advantage of target Black Friday deal and got two more games at a discount. And I’ll buy them some kitchen towels (because everyone always needs kitchen towels), and I crocheted hanging towes for their apartment. (The old lady kind where the towel is at the bottom and the crocheted part at the top. ) I even found two of my mother‘s old buttons from the towes she used to make and added those to the towels. My son, especially, will love that. I’ll also to give them some money to pay half their rent. (The rent is pretty inexpensive.) it will make a big difference in their wallet.
4. My son found an old VHS at savers for eight dollars and I cleaned it up and made sure it was in working order for them. He has a lot of VHS tapes that belong to my husband and I, that they want to watch.
5. Every Friday, I send out a “Friday facts“ email to the team I work on. Because I work with a lot of very young adults, I’ve been adding in different tips: last week I mentioned how to tell if an egg is still good and the week before I explained how to regrow scallions, celery, and romaine. I’m trying to prepare them for anything that may happen next year.
I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving
Wow, @Nancy from mass, what a great FFT.
I love that you are explaining grocery shopping hints and tricks – loss leaders are so obvious to me, but they sure aren’t to the uninitiated. And helping folk sign up for things that will benefit them is sometimes the best way to show love. Not doing if for, but doing it WITH them, they complete because you show them you believe in them – I have done this with all of my adult children, helping them navigate this complex world. I need help with lots of things, and I am OLD – why would we expect our children to do new-to-them things on their own without advice?
Your Christmas gift box will be the ‘box that keeps on giving’ – I agree you always could do with more dish towels! And your #4 and 5 are both heartwarming.
Decorated the house with things we have had for years. The tree is over 15 years old. The only thing I bought for decorating is candy canes which I love. I don’t need anything for wrapping. I garbage pick wrapping paper. We reuse gift bags and gift boxes. I have dozens of cloth bags and tins that we reuse. Ribbons are grabbed at thrift stores or yard sales for pennies.
We went out to eat . That is not frugal but drinking water and bringing home enough leftovers for another meal is. We rarely eat out and Hubby really wanted to.
I cooked several pumpkins and squash that I was given. Made a batch of pumpkin muffins. Some of the pumpkin went into the dog’s food and the rest got frozen.
My daughter, neighbor and I went to a free gingerbread house class at the library. I drove. We returned items and got more. I brought home some of the leftover decorations because they were going to be tossed. I gave my friend that works at the library tootsie rolls as we were leaving to share with the other workers. I took home my piping tips to wash and reuse.
Didn’t feel like cooking today with all the decorating so we are having soup that we had.
1. Made homemade pizza tonight using dough made at home, tomato sauce made from tomatoes from the garden and pesto from basil from the garden (substituted walnuts for pine nuts, for (as Katy says) who am I, a Rockafeller?!), and mozzarella that I got from FlashFoods.
2. When I bought my car, it came with a “free” 6,000 mile check up, so I’m taking care of that tomorrow.
3. Decorated an indoor plant as our Christmas “tree.” Most of my decorations were handed down from moms on both sides dating back to our childhoods. A grapevine wreath was made from my sister, and free pinecones that we bring home from trips.
4. Partner really wanted to go to the local brewery for a sandwich special. I stayed home and made myself a grilled cheese sandwich (using free cheese from mystery shop and lovely sourdough bread free from free CSA).
5. Would love suggestions for one more homemade (food) gift to send to an aunt to go with a jar of local honey and homemade granola.
1. Decorated house minimal with decor we have
2. Started addressing holiday cards from stock on hand
3. Worked 7-11 am today and packed my granola bar, water and coffee
4. Inventoried cleaning supplies
5. Watched Hallmark movies
Are the frugal people the only ones who still do greeting cards?
I heard a radio dj, say $200 for cards and postage is insane, so they quit. My daughter says she just never gets to it.
I miss that part of Christmas so much!
We send out cards every year – picture card no less. Maybe spend half that quoted amount. We like to do it. Our list never seems to get smaller either.