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I cooked a small batch of black beans in the Instant Pot, which I then mashed up with Dollar Tree panko crumbs, spice mix and an egg. I then smooshed that onto a corn tortilla and seared it face down in an oiled cast iron skillet. The addition of ketchup, mustard and pickle gave it a smash burger/taco vibe and it was delicious, cheap, healthy and easy — my favorite combination!
Lettuce and tomato would’ve been perfect additions, but I used what I had on hand.
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I’ve been in a reading rut, so I put a ton of physical books on hold at the library so I can break through. Hopefully one of these books can lift me or at least distract me from my malaise.
Here are a few of the books I put on hold:*
• Strange Sally Diamond, by Liz Nugent
• Bunny, by Mona Awad
• The Berry Pickers, by Amanda Peters
• The Favorites by Layne Fargo -
I stopped to look over a free teak patio table that someone in my father’s neighborhood set out for free. It definitely had condition issues, but I simply don’t have the mental energy to take on project in the here and now, although I’m already starting to regret that decision. (It looks bad, but it really only needed a couple hours with an electric sander and some wood oil to bring it back to life.) We don’t have an outdoor table, so it would’ve been an excellent addition to our backyard.
Maybe I need to see if it’s still on the curb.
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I’m one week into my No Spend March economic boycott and have only shopped at Winco and HMart for necessities. I do plan on stopping by the Franz Bakery outlet tomorrow as they discount their bread to $1 per loaf on Saturdays. I’d like to have some gluten-free options in the freezer for when my daughter stops by and I used up what I had on hand the other day.
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I didn’t blow up my multi-billion dollar spaceship.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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* Please note that I never EVER post Amazon referral links!
{ 107 comments… read them below or add one }
Might be worth going back for that teak table so you can add it to your lush backyard!
I always look forward to your #5 … blowing up a spaceship indeed. Hoping EM and DT throw new tantrums and blow each other up.
Yes, I just thought it was too bad that EM wasn’t aboard the rocket ship. But maybe he’ll take a subsequent trip to Mars. The sooner the better!
I vote for sending him on a one-way trip to the planet Uranus. 😀
Me too!
Big laugh emoji! 😀
A. Marie, that seems so unfair to Uranus!!
Ok … A. Marie … I spit on that one!
I second that vote A Marie!
Go get that table, Katy! (Or let your dad rescue it and take it to his place for now.) You don’t have to fix it up today. It can be a future project. But wouldn’t it look great outdoors near your hydrangeas?
1. I went ahead and accepted 2 substitute teaching jobs yesterday and today, despite just barely getting over the flu. Picked high school classes because I didn’t need to chase any little kiddies around or go outside for recess. Since I only needed to get up and call roll and give directions, I figured mostly sitting in a chair while the students work isn’t that tiring. Helps to have a couple of days’ pay — I’ve been at home since Saturday night with this crud.
2. Checking up on my investments and savings after freaking out that Mr. Chainsaw Billionaire is targeting Social Security. Praying that he doesn’t do anything to lessen my SS check amount! (Maybe he won’t now that he’s lost a rocket.) Redoing my budgeting with two versions, one with and one without SS income.
3. Called my Congressional rep and Senators about SS. Love that 5calls.org site!
4. Used an e-cloth dustmop for my new vinyl flooring. It picked the sawdust up lots better than the Swiffer dry cloth, no doubt due to the electrostatic quality. The mop surface was super dirty when I finished. But it’s reusable and I washed it and it came out just as nice and white as when I first bought it. It’s really frugal since it’s reusable.
5. Worked some free crossword puzzles online (Boatload puzzles are my favorite! Free! No need to use paper! And they instantly show you when you have the wrong letter(s). https://www.boatloadpuzzles.com/playcrossword) While I do this a lot, I did it for entertainment Tuesday night instead of watching the Orange Madman make a fool of himself addressing Congress. (Better for my blood pressure, too. )
Lisa, you keep piquing my interest about doing some subbing. I have no teaching credential, but with my usual overconfidence think “How can it be?” The only thing holding me back is the low pay, $160 a day for noncredentialed teachers. Might give it a try one of thee days. At worst, I can write a humorous essay about it.
Rose, you Ok with the fires?
Yes. Thanks for asking, Marybeth. No worries right now.
Our town has been complaining for at least a year about the number of dead pines at the entrance at the stretch leading to our village (miles and miles of dry dead trees). The town has removed some of them but the rest is a tinder box and once that’s on fire we’re cut off. Hopefully won’t come to that.
I occasionally check out the free games on AARP. No login is required for many of them.
I used to substitute and I wouldn’t mind doing it again. I like high school kids. I would not do it for smaller ones. I do not have a teaching credential.
This would be K-8. I am fine with any age (she said naively). The high school gets get bussed to a farther away town because not enough students for a high school around here.
Hey, what the hell? I’ll sign up tomorrow and see what happens.
Cheer up Katy, I believe that people doing the right thing will overcome the others one day! Just treat the down feeling as an extra January, the weather is changing (we’re due some snow but hey all the bulbs are up!) the sun is on the sky for longer. You and others like you, we live our lives, trying hard to be good people, doing our best. Good days will come.
Frugalness, hubby had a grotty week and was going to get takeaway as no dinner options I listed seemed right. I “created” a very random un-authentic chicken parmgian, an old bag of chicken nuggets, grated cheese, home canned tomatoes, a random fridge drawer leek and onion, a bit of chorizo, served to my daughter’s joy with potato waffles!!
My darning is improving and a few small holes in some “good” jumpers have been repaired.
More veg seeds have gone in, compost bins have been emptied into veg beds.
Dropped daughter off at a free home-ed class, multi tasked by having some time out to get on offer seed compost and some new canes. These were from a small local nursery, and fill in the gaps left by my rapidly disintegrating canes, we think some are 10years plus old, so think they have paid back their original cost, hoping these ones will too!
I continue to live in hope that others will learn the difference between want and need. Xx
Hey, girl, go back and get that table. If it’s still there. It’s a winner! You could just throw a tablecloth over it until you have the energy to work on it.
I tanked this week because Mr Husband and I are both sick. We have been no-spending, but running out of food. I finally caved in and ordered groceries this morning from (sorry) Safeway because they are the only ones who deliver around here. And we’re both sick! At least I get to tip a hard worker, the driver, which feels good.
My five things are:
1. Because we’re sick, I cancelled two work-related (bookish) events, and therefore did not have to drive anywhere.
2. Because we’re sick, I’m going to cancel the trip to Arizona that we have had planned to go to Spring Training. Extremely disappointed but we get to save on food and other expenses that we would have surely spent. Airline tix will just sit in limbo for a while since they won’t reimburse us.
3. I am too sick to go thrifting. I am, however, still posting items on eBay.
4. I sold a rotating composter this morning via FB Marketplace for $60, and I think I only paid $20 for it, about 6 years ago?
5. Happily using my stash of handkerchiefs to blow my nose. They have been through the wash once already this time, so you know they are in full rotation. Ugh. Better soon, I hope.
Get well soon!
Go back!
I read The Berry Pickers last year and enjoyed it.
I’m also in a slump of sorts, and need something to jazz up my existence, and to keep me from looking at the news. I think I need to learn to knit.
Get the teak table! I always buy teak for backyard furniture as it needs no care and lasts forever. Still using the first set I bought in 1995.
Can you borrow a pressure washer? likely all it needs.
Just as an aside, friends of mine didn’t realize until I told them that the Monobloc chair is a design icon dating from the 40s. Granted it has its drawbacks, one of them being ubiquity.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monobloc_(chair)
Damn, I didn’t think about pressure washing it. It was gone by the time I was in the neighborhood again.
1. Taking more sub jobs than usual. I had to skip the food bank this week, but I’ve been doing four jobs a week for the past two weeks. This will be a nice buffer if the teachers have to go out on strike.
2. Came home and made dinner after the school board meeting, where they voted to cut all the school librarians and a third of the counselors. Because mental health, literacy and safety are not important. Did not go out for drinks.
3. Got a load of laundry done last weekend, and hung out between raindrops. We didn’t absolutely need it, but it allowed me to skip running a dryer load this week. Fortunately, we’re due for a sunny day tomorrow, so I’ll start a load of laundry tonight, and my husband will wash the rest and hang it up tomorrow.
4. Mending a dress at school. I have run out of feet needing socks, so I’m bringing mending to school. I’m not certain how the dress will end up, but it isn’t wearable much longer without mending, so I can’t really make it worse. I’m adding a huge patch on the back, and embroidering over the whole thing with branches and flowers.
5. Eating leftovers, sharing eggs now that the chickens have started laying, jumping through hoops to become a volunteer at two different organizations, babysitting for my niece, and generally trying to build community.
Your No 2 is depressing 🙁
But your No 4 is awesome, you clearly have incredible mending skills!
Katy, your black bean smash burgers sound amazing.
I spent a chunk of this morning being my husband’s designated driver for his endoscopy procedure. I passed the time listening to an audio book from the library on headphones, which I don’t prefer but is excellent for blocking out inane conversations. Tucked him in for a nap at home and went to the grocery store for a few items for him and scored marked down ground pork and chicken for making kibble topper for the dogs.
Did some hand sewing to make a pair of pajamas more comfortable (sewed down the neck facing), peeled and sliced some carrots and celery ribs as crunchy snacks, and cooked a little roast with half a baggie of last summer’s homegrown cherry tomatoes from the freezer.
Ruby, I hope all’s well with your husband (and you) after his procedure. And do you have any tips for freezing cherry tomatoes?
Thank you. The doc seems to think all is okay, though he did take some biopsies to be sure.
Freezing cherry tomatoes is so easy: rinse them off, let air dry. Slice in half from top to bottom. Place in a ziplock bag, pat out flat and freeze. They keep fine for ages. I just throw handfuls into whatever stew or roast is cooking and it gives a bright flavor.
Ruby, thanks for that tip. I had no idea you could freeze cherry tomatoes!
I don’t even slice them in half. Cherry tomatoes are a quick rinse and a Pat dry and into the Ziploc/freezer. They are fantastic for throwing into soups.
you can put the frozen ones in a pan with some garlic and olive oil and roast—makes them even sweeter, the longer you roast. Also great in the feta-tomato pasta roast all over the internet. In fact, WONDERFUL in that format.
1. Sold items online and at resale stores. Took my money and bought a NWT Chicos blouse that retailed for $119 and paid $14.50
2. Went to FREE cardio rehab and got my FREE bottle of water
3. Got my FREE hallmark card
4. Packed nuts and drink for commute to rehab
5. Donated 3 bags of clothes and toiletries to local clothes closet
1. Kohl’s was giving away kohls cash today. There is one 1/2 mile from where I’m staying at my parents so I went and got $5 Kohls cash handed to me. I bought a Burt’s Bees lip balm and paid nothing. I did not purchase anything else. I’ll go again tomorrow, it’s a 3 day event.
2. Bought flowers for my mother who had surgery. They rang up more than listed, which I queried and was given the lower listed price even though it was 7 stems and not 5.
3. Made soup.
4. Read to my grandson on messenger.
5. Put my library card on my mother’s Libby account so she had more audiobook choices. She had eye surgery.
Oooh, I will have to stop by Kohl’s. My daughter needs some bras and am trying to avoid Target. Just looked up the info – maybe I’ll get one of the $25 ones! (yeah, right)
Unfortunately, Kohl’s is on the naughty list. I’m glad you didn’t spend any money there. I paid off my account and closed it. Bought some pajama pants with the last of my Kohl’s cash. I’m going to switch to JCPenney, which is very progressive in thought.
1. I never spend money at kohls. But I will accept free kohls cash and not spend a penny over. I figure they’re not benefiting from that.
Good to know — I always forget about Penney’s, but we have one close by.
The last Penney’s in our area departed some years ago when the shopping mall nearest to me went belly-up. I still miss it.
According to goodsuniteus, Kohl’s has a 75/25 split in favor of the Dems so I’m curious if you have info sources that I’m missing.
Gah! And JCP is 65/35 for Republicans. It’s so hard to be an ethical consumer that being an anti-consumer gets easier and easier!
Similarly, Amazon is 68% Dem, 32% Rep.
Goods Unite Us is only one type of data.
I had a great start on No Buy March. Until today I had only spent $1.49 for a broccoli crown to top szechuan noodles I made from ingredients on hand. But today there was a protest* in the nearest town and I needed a sign. I spent $14 at a locally owned store** on a sheet of poster paper, markers, and a fancy candy bar to keep up my spirits before and after standing out in the cold for two hours. I needed markers because I recently decluttered. (Mistakes were made.)
*Protest was to decry lawlessness by the Trumph regime. My sign said: “Resist Tyranny”.
**Store is local, but not cheap.
The thing is, Buy Nothing doesn’t mean spend nothing, does it? Bills come due, driveway must be plowed, cat to vet, gas in car (used a Canadian company) and (sigh) premium dog food delivered…
Money spent in protest signs is money well spent. I’ve made so many I’ve run out of sticker in letters (my method of choice when making said signs.” I stocked up on more letters yesterday and I’m ready for my next round if signs! Yes markers work well but stick in letters are faster and I also make signs for my protesting friends.
@Julia, what do you mean by sticker in letters, or stick in letters?
1. I picked up two prescriptions at CVS. One is free through insurance and the other one has a $35 cap on the price, thanks to Joe Biden.
2. I used a large plastic bag I got with a shipment as a trash bag. The shipment was 2 pizzas I ordered to support our local no-kill cat shelter. They’ll be for a night when I don’t feel well or I’m very tired.
3. Still wearing longjohns and sweatshirts around the house. Today was snowing with extremely strong gusts so the house felt a little chilly. I kept the heat at 64 though.
4. DH repaired a wall that the back of a chair made marks on.
5. I didn’t play the old switcheroo game with the tariffs imposed on our friends to the north and south.
1. Did I or didn’t I break my boycott of certain stores by doing this frugal thing? I had a digital coupon for a frozen pizza from Kroger, and a mailer coupon for a free brick of cream cheese, also from Kroger. I went to the local Kroger affiliate and got my two free items. I bought nothing else. Since I didn’t spend a penny there, I’m thinking that I’m still in the clear on speaking/voting with my dollars – especially since pre-boycott I’d spend at least $50 a week at Kroger. AT LEAST.
2. Spent only $7 on other groceries this week. Between Buy Nothing and my store boycotts, we’re definitely saving money.
3. I cut my husband’s hair, which I have been doing since COVID. We’ve hit the five year mark on this, and the savings have been a whopping $1500.
4. My husband returned the favor and cut my hair. His haircutting skills have greatly improved, to the point that yesterday morning I looked in the mirror and said “My hair even looks good with bed head.” Of course, there were a few, um, interesting haircuts that I lived through, but my hair grows like invasive weeds and the mistakes grow out quickly. Because I have longer hair and absolutely hated going for haircuts, my savings aren’t as impressive, but do add up to around $500 for that same five year period.
5. Leftovers are our life! Enough said.
I think it’s a double whammy if you redeemed your coupons for free items at a store you are boycotting! Nice job.
Good for you on your Kroger freebies! I recently (this week) found out about boycotting Kroger and am on board. I’m communicating that to my family today and will totally use my free coupons that expire tomorrow.
1. I spent 42 minutes on the phone with my bank regarding a service fee. I had it successfully removed.
2. I invited my BIL over for coffee. We spent a couple hours catching up.
3. I purchased gas from a station where I will receive a 5% cash back reward from my credit card.
4. Used another dog food bag for trash.
5. I soaked cotton napkins from the Goodwill bins in Cascade & color safe bleach to remove some yellow stains.
1. Made a Costco run tonight. Several items I had on my list were discounted this month. And I found a great dog bed on sale for $23.99 (we needed to replace the ones we had) and a huge bag of dog treats for $9.99. My dog is happy
2. Did a scouting trip to a local restaurant that does catering. I am interested in using them for my ds’s rehearsal dinner. They offered a 10% discount for teachers so we saved last night and will hopefully be able to use it on the catering. We are having the dinner catered at the church rather than reserve a restaurant as it will be MUCH cheaper.
3. My dd works at a coffee shop. Dh and I met her today after school and she made us free drinks. It was nice to sit around chatting with her and catching up. And it was free.
4. Made homemade pancakes for dinner tonight. Cheap and was a way to use up the gallon of milk that no one is drinking
5. No household items broke this week
1. I did a mystery shop at a grocery store and between reimbursement and shop pay, it was $28, but I shopped the sales/loss leaders and got $46 worth of food.
2. I got free lunch every day at work this week, and dinner one night (seared duck!). And, of course, I drank the free crappy coffee.
3. It was warm enough (in the 50s) that I shut off the heat at the work apartment. I still used my heated mattress pad and that kept me warm enough. Perhaps I’ll see if I can keep it off until the fall….
4. Other than the mystery shop groceries and gas, I’ve had a complete no buy week!
5. I didn’t cut off intel to Ukraine thus not stopping a missile from Russia killing many civilians.
A WALK IN THE PARK by Kevin Fedarko…… real life. Grand Canyon. Gripping, amazing, lots of geology but entertaining way to learn. Better to get hardback from library as there are maps to referecne and those are harder in an ebook.
Rose,
That sounds like my kind of book. Thanks for the rec!
1. My best frugal thing was not really my doing. One time while volunteering at the food bank, I saw them sorting broken eggs out of cartons by just throwing the shells and innards into a garbage can. I told my supervisor that I would gladly have taken home the broken remains, sifted out the shells and fried up the eggs for my dogs. Yesterday someone knocked the corner of a pallet of donated eggs, and the supervisor brought me four leaking cartons to take home and deal with as they had no time. (What store had eggs hitting their sell-by date, in this consumer climate?) Each carton turned out to have only 3 broken eggs, always in the same corner. So, the boys got a dozen scrambled eggs doled out over two days and we got three dozen perfect eggs for us. I gave a dozen to the bachelor guy who always gives me his Costco rotisserie chickens, as a small thanks for his chicken carcass donations to me.
2. Managed to drop of donations to the Rescue Mission, Salvation Army, and the electronics repair place that fixes computers and gives them to the elderly. Got the tax receipts but more I felt like a weight had been lifted since I have had these things piling up since about July.
3. Did a gas shop and topped off the tank for free.
4. another visit to the doctor who gives out bottles of water to patients. Both husband and i got one, so rotated them into the earthquake preparedness box. Hard to believe, but water does start to evaporate from the plastic bottles if left hanging out for years, so I use these small acquisitions to refresh our supply little by little.
5. Did a survey and was paid a $30 Visa debit card for doing so.
Re: your #1, Lindsey, I imagine that Clobber Paws could have devoured the entire dozen scrambled eggs in one sitting on his own. But I’m glad that you (a) distributed them over two days and (b) made him share with Houndini. And I too am incredulous that there were eggs to donate in the first place, in this day and age.
My vet told me that eggshells are edible for dogs, and actually good for them due to the nutrients. I had one dog that wouldn’t touch them, but another who loved them. I would hardboil eggs for him and would laugh to hear him crunching away.
Eggshells are useful in some human recipes as well! For instance, clarifying soup. I know that isn’t a pressing need in 2025, but my inner 1895 London housewife would like to point that out.
Now add a few leftover vegetables and some stale bread crusts to that stock and you have croute au pot. Would you like tips on choosing your stove blacking? I CAN HELP.
My great grandmother and my old aunts (grandfather’s sisters) always put eggshells in the grounds while percolating coffee. They claimed it made the coffee taste better.
Rose! I love this!
Alexandra, I’d like to introduce you to my BFF, Mrs. Alfred Praga. Appearances is my favorite of her books and I do have a PDF of it, but for the life of me I can’t remember where it came from. I have all her other books too because I am a giant nerd.
https://openlibrary.org/search?q=mrs+alfred+praga&mode=everything
A lot of her books are online for free. Here’s Cookery and Housekeeping.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=hvd.32044087430021&seq=9
If you like, ask Katy to forward your email to me and I’m happy to send you a PDF of Appearances: How to Keep Them Up on a Limited Income. Given it was published in 1899, it is out of copyright (also I own a first edition).
Mrs. Alfred Praga’s first name is Teresa but you’re not on first name terms with her yet. Hint: do not allow your maid to have access to the whole bag of soda you purchase. If you do the vast majority of it will go down the kitchen sink. It is no use asking her to be careful. Tell her how bad soda is for the hands and coarsens and reddens them: what they won’t do for you they will do for their own vanity’s sake.
Katy, re: rocket explosion. I think you mean an “unscheduled rapid disassembly”. Well, that’s what spacex called it. I hate when that happens!
Nice try, Satan.
Now I want to photoshop Elon Must riding an atomic bomb as in the ending of Dr Strangelove (one of the best movies ever made).
Yes! I love that scene!
I noticed that phrase too and thought What the…? Just say it was a failure and it exploded instead of trying to put a fancy schmancy spin on it.
So does that mean there is a “scheduled rapid disassembly”? An “unscheduled slow assembly”? Any other combinations of those words?
DS uses the term “R.U.D.E.”, Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly Event. Made me laugh the first time I heard it (in relation to something mundane that came apart here at home.) And shucks, all of F-Elon’s doings are RUDE. Imho.
1. I kept track of things I was tempted to buy in February but didn’t. And I wasn’t all that tempted as I’ve never felt the need to not feed into the economy like I do now. Having said that, though, I was tempted to purchase $302 worth of stuff. And I didn’t. Feels like we are net positive $302 extra this month! (Although my son is home for spring break and needs a new suit for his interviews, career fairs, etc as his one from high school doesn’t fit him. And unfortunately he’s not a standard suit size so we had to buy separates. And his size is not common – had to pay more for a suit today then we originally planned making me extra glad I didn’t waste $302 in February.)
2. Continuing with my newfound love of crafting – I’ve been drawing and coloring cartoon animals and doing some zentangle doodling. I’m using a drawing pad and coloring pencils we bought my daughter in elementary school (she’s now a junior in college. )
3. Learned about zentangle doodling from a free webinar through Blue Cross Blue Shield. They have them every week and they are on various topics related to health, stress, healthy living, etc. Free for anyone to attend via zoom. I didn’t think I’d like zentangle but I surprisingly find it somewhat relaxing.
4. Went through my sweatshirts, sweaters and leggings today and listed a number of them on my local Buy Nothing group. The rest are organized nicely and it makes my organization-loving heart happy!
5. Have joined my local Indivisible chapter as well as two other local groups that are a resistance to the current administration.
Love your #5 Elizabeth!! I hope to find one near me to join!
FMFT, “Mercy, It’s the Revolution and I’m in My Bathrobe” Edition (with credit to the great Nicole Hollander for the title of one of her Sylvia cartoon collections):
Well, I confess I’m up and dressed (so not exactly in my bathrobe). But I’m participating in the revolution as well as I can from my recliner with a still-healing broken rib.
(1) I was briefly considering a run to Price Chopper this morning to use a $5 off $60 coupon that expires today. But I quickly thought better of it. Not only do I not really need most of what I had on the list, and not only am I trying to stick with no/low-spend March–but I’ve got no business trying to schlep some of the heavier items through a snowy parking lot with this rib. So I shall stay home and drink tea instead.
(2) And, oh, dear: I just looked up Price Chopper on the Goods Unite Us website (thanks to whoever recommended this), and I see that the majority of their political donations were red. Thank goodness that Wegmans’ were safely majority-blue.
(3) Having *finally* used up the last of a packet of Bounce sheets from one of DH’s old rental properties (I figured it was marginally better to use them than just to toss the packet out), I’m experimenting with using a set of wool dryer balls in one of my rare dryer loads of laundry (sheets and a cat blanket). The dryer balls were a Christmas gift, and I’m hoping they work.
(4) As many of you others are doing, I’m using 5calls.org for all I’m worth. Today, along with Fru-gal Lisa, I’ll be tackling the threats to Social Security.
(5) Finally, I’ve just joined the Cornell Lab’s “Garden for Birds” mailing list and am checking out various suggestions and resources there. I can probably get many of the recommended plants less expensively locally, but I’m interested in their suggestions for rain gardens (I have a couple of soggy spots on my property) and firefly habitat in particular.
Thanks for mentioning the Goods Unite Us website. I will be using this from now on. Just found out the Meijer political donations were mostly red. Boo.
This brings up an interesting point. The Meijer senior employees donated red, 89% to 11%.
The company did not donate either way; the website uses the company and the senior executives to determine the scores.
So when a person becomes an executive, they shouldn’t personally donate to candidates of their choice? And how many of their senior executives donated?
That is a good point. I agree they should be able to donate to whoever they want. Meijer is a family owned company. The CEO is a non-family member. I wonder how many of the senior executives are Meijer family members? Peter Meijer was a Congressman. He was republican but actually a good guy. He was not a Trumper and voted I believe to impeach him after January 6th. He lost his election.
I also started checking stuff on Goods Unite Us. The local dollar stores all are red supporters. I do buy a few items at Dollar Tree but will try to limit that to only what can’t be obtained elsewhere. Mainly that’s small cans of whole black olives, as we can’t use up a big one very fast once it’s opened.
Ruby, if you have a Greek or Mediterranean grocery store in your area now (and I recall the children of one prominent local Greek family as high school classmates 50+ years ago), try getting olives there–especially if you can get them in bulk and choose your own quantity.
I spent a little time on “Goods Unite Us”– what an interesting website!
I wish the interaction of politics and corporation money was as simple as presented in their app-search. However, it’s not.
Note to self I’ll share with the commentariat: now is a time to sustain and increase where possible all donations to food banks, shelters, any organizations that help people who are hurting. I scoured my budget this week to see where I could find a little wiggle room to help out. I didn’t come up with as much as I wanted to, but maybe a No Buy March will shake some more savings loose. As the economy worsens and safety nets sag, a lot of people are going to be hurting (not that people aren’t already hurting!)
At the same time I’m trying to cut my own expenses and put aside some kind of cushion because if Social Security is cut I will be in DEEP trouble. As Joyce Vance says every time she signs off her group emails: “We’re in this together.”
1. I went to the grocery store and only bought the basics. Potatoes were on sale, and I had store coupons for milk, eggs ($7.50 for 18), yogurt, sour cream, and half & half. Guess I really focused on the dairy section.
2. I went back to the thrift $1 clothing sale for another haul. At checkout, I took off all the hangers, and an employee counted and folded, telling the cashier I had 39 items. I was surprised I had so many. Got home to find I had 31. Annoyed at myself for not counting before I got to checkout. I need to let it go, it’s a local non-profit and I found some great items.
3. My current job is hybrid, with three days at home and two in the office. I have been offered a different position for this fall, which will be 100% remote. I am super excited to ditch my commute entirely.
4. I picked up 4 cross stitch pattern leaflets from the free box at the library sale, and found they have a surprisingly good sell through rate, so I have listed them on ebay.
5. Sorted through my cookbooks and donated 5 of them to the library sale.
That table looks like it would be worth going back for!
* Recent favourite library read: What you can see from here (Mariana Leky) – really enjoyed this book!
* I sold a chair through a local marketplace page. The seller wanted to meet in a nearby town which I never go to (it was their condition for the purchase) – thankfully my son was passing there by pure coincidence and he was able to drop off the chair for me. I gave him a share of the profit as a thank you and he was delighted with that 🙂
* My daughter needed a pair of black trousers for her work experience days. The local charity shop had a pair of GAP trousers that fit her really well – it was as if they were made specifically for her! Absolutely thrilled with this find, a steal at 5 Euro.
* Lidl now has “Waste Not’ boxes which contain fruit and vegetables that are nearing their expiry date. The boxes are 3 Euro each and best of all you can see them before buying (unlike the Too Good To Go boxes we get in Aldi, the content of those is always a surprise). I have been lucky to get some boxes with really good content over the last few weeks.
* I dropped my daughter to an event that I did not attend myself. The event was on for over two hours and I had planned to park at a nearby garden centre as there is virtually no parking at the event itself (I drove 40 minutes to get to the event so there was no way I was driving back home while she attended the event!). I was initially going to wander around the garden centre (and I just know I would have left with at least a plant or two!), however, I realised that a former colleague lives near the garden centre and messaged her to see if she would like to meet up – she was all for meeting up and invited me to her place for a coffee. We had a lovely time! I am so grateful for friends and genuine human connections.
I hope you got the teak table!
1. Took a little snow-covered path hike with partner and best dog. I was telling my guy how lucky we are that so much of NY state is wild and put into permanent trusts through the state and local municipalities. I am heartbroken over the logging EO for Fed land. It cost nothing to honor a 100 year old tree.
2. Made sloppy lentil Joe’s using SJ starter I made last fall with homegrown garden tomatoes and peppers. I need to try the smashed BB burger!
3. Been reliving the past by reading about the modern ‘zine movement. I made zines back in my 20s (1990s) and I’m planning to make one for my Middle Age years using stuff I already have.
4 I’m returning to the office (thanks Em and Dt) after years of being remote. I will be in an office on Teams with colleagues in other offices across the US. Talk about wasted funds. We are not public facing (policy work). Anyhoo, it’s fine. I’m grateful I’m still working so to ease the pain, I am meal prepping lunches and I’ll take a big thing of water and coffee made at home. I plan to keep spending zero (unless small business, ethical or immigrant owned and absolute need).
5. Super frugal: started the snow melting chore of cleaning up dog poop. Turns out there are businesses that do this chore and now I have it on my potential careers list along with substitute teaching (thanks for the latter idea).
Have a great weekend!
Forgot one! I am also using the 5 calls app and calling daily. I change up my topics. I was on the Al Green hypocrisy this past week. This week I’ll put in some calls for SS. <3
OOOO, tell me more about your SJ starter packs! I am interested in storing some things that are a bit past the ‘ingredient’ stage, from my garden this year. I have lots of tomatoes in various forms (canned, frozen whole, roasted and frozen) but sometimes want to just open a jar and dinner be almost done.
Let me find the recipe!
Gina in NY-I started my career as a federal employee, and although I left in the 90’s, I still want to stand in solidarity with federal agency folks. From my personal experience (which often involved working through lunch or after hours), I know how hard government employees work. I thought about bringing flowers or baked goods to our local social security office-they have been helpful to us as we have moved into the 65 plus era.
My six frugal things:
1. I have a favorite recipe for sweet and sour turkey meatballs which I make from time to time. You can take the basic meatball recipe and either make it sweet and sour or pasta-sauce based. I usually end up making a full batch of sweet and sour, but the leftovers sometimes languish in the fridge and don’t get eaten. I decided to make 1/2 for sweet and sour sauce and the other 1/2 for pasta sauce using the same basic meatball recipe. I varied the spices. I baked the sweet and sour version for dinner. I froze the pasta sauce meatballs so that future me can pop them into the crockpot with sauce for the afternoon for a future easy meal.
2. I found some languishing homemade pesto sauce in the freezer-used half to make pasta with pesto and shrimp (the frozen shrimp was also languishing…) I Googled “pesto chicken” and found a super easy recipe to slather on chicken cutlets which uses 1/4 cup pesto (exactly what I had left) amd 1/4 cup of mayo. Once you coat the chicken with the pesto-mayo mix, you can either bake it in the oven or fry it (without oil). Hoping that it tastes good!
3. When T@#$P announced the tariffs, I grabbed 4 avocados that were on sale for 75 cents each and will use them for “farewell avocado” week in salads and avocado toast.
4. We go out to dinner monthly with a widowed friend, since I have heard that eating alone at night is often the toughest part of the day for those who have lost a partner. We used a $15 off coupon at a local non-chain place. In addition to enjoying dinner with our friend, we took home enough leftovers to supply 2 lunches for me and 3 for my husband.
5. Another tariff-related foray had me running to the gas station to fill my tank on the day that they were announced. I have a new plug-in hybrid and use the electric drive setting most of the time. I’m still getting use to the car’s settings and did not realize how little gas I needed until the attendant came over to me and said, “M’am, you only need $1.75 worth of gas.”
6. I sent pictures of our new granddaughter to friends in Japan and to my former husband’s Canadian cousins (who still treat me like family). It’s my small way of maintaining connections to people who are dear to me and re-assuring them that we are not all turning our backs on the world.
Your #4…I have a 93-year-old widowed friend who often says the same thing to me. Eating dinner alone in an empty house is the toughest part of her day. Bless you for having dinner with her. A good spend, IMHO.
Hi Beth! Thank you so much for your kind and supportive words! It means so much to me. I can truly say, in my 18+ years in Fed and even three more years prior working for a state in a Fed program, I’ve met less than 3 people who weren’t dedicated, diligent and passionate about being a public servant. And those three did not stick around long. We often do put in our own time, but our own supplies and try our best to not waste tax money (including our own!)
I love #4, btw, I think it’s sweet.
FFT from a different perspective version. I live frugally every day so I can put my money into things that matter to me.
1) Commenting on Saturday, March 8, so HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY! So far I have celebrated by reposting (to FB) Christine Murphy’s reel from Instagram about the state of the world for women. Delivered in a cheerful voice, despite the horror. Frugal because it cost me nothing to make a statement.
2) Renewed membership to my local PBS station at the level to get PBS Passport. Always great programming, and (of course) public broadcasting is under attack from the bozos in DC.
3) Donated to Josh Weil’s and Val Galimont’s campaigns in Florida. Special elections and the hope of flipping two Congressional seats. Also donated to Susan Crawford’s campaign in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Hoping to keep the WSC out of right-wing hands.
4) Checking out books from the library (always). Just finished We Solve Murders by Richard Osman. It was a great read by the author of The Thursday Murder Club series. Trying to find inspiration to start gardening even though it’s still cold and snowy. I need to pick up The Five-Minute Gardener by Laetitia Maklouf from the library’s hold shelf.
5) Weird maybe, but… My mentally ill sister left her assisted living and, without telling anyone, flew to California. Once we had located her, we needed to figure out how to fly her back asap. There was literally ONE nonstop, no-changing-planes flight regardless of airline. An incredibly helpful, super nice Delta supervisor stayed on the phone with me working her magic until we managed to go from having to spend over $1,200 for the last-remaining seat (of course it would be first class) to finding a seat in the main cabin, and then they gave me the Medical discount rate bringing it down to about $750. Outrageously expensive, but saved almost $500.
Kindness and politeness from me and everyone from police officers to cab drivers to airline employees cost nothing dollarwise to any of us, but was priceless in such a stressful situation. Maybe it’s me, but I feel like people all over seem to be making an extra effort to be kind.
6) Keeping from getting too overwhelmed or depressed about the way the people in power are trying to destroy our country from the inside out by calling my senators and representative (scripts from 5Calls and Emily in Your Phone) and reading news updates from Alt National Parks Service and Rebecca Solnit on FB and people who post on Substack (The Contrarian, Heather Cox Richardson, Robert Reich, Paul Krugman, Ohh That’s Rich). Honest, accurate, not afraid of being fact-checked, and always with a free option (though I subscribe where I can).
Your number five is such a wonderful story. It’s always nice to remember that there are still really good people out there. The idiots in WH are the exception and not the norm.
Jill A, thanks. I think it’s really interesting how, in so many interactions I’ve had lately, people seem to be making a big attempt to be helpful and kind, despite the fact that so many of us are stressed out. I think as the hateful, cruel, power and money grab continues in Washington, and more and more everyday people are hit hard (including those who thought the president was going to improve the economy), Americans will come together as they remember what it used to be like to care for our neighbors and communities.
It would be lovely if one thing we got out of this horrible government mess is more kindness and consideration from ordinary people to ordinary people.
That said, one of the first rules of the Internet is “don’t read the comments.” I shouldn’t have read the comments about the Hamptons fires. Everyone remember that it’s funny because HAMPTONS and that also “climate change activists” started the fire and then let’s throw in a Billy Joel reference because HEEEELARIOUS.
I love your #5, thanks for sharing it.
Re your #6: Thanks for the reccie re Ohh That’s Rich. I’d add Timothy Snyder to that list of very worthy follows. You can find him on BlueSky (NOT a Meta channel!) and Substack.
Your #3!!! “Donated to Josh Weil’s and Val Galimont’s campaigns in Florida. Special elections and the hope of flipping two Congressional seats. Also donated to Susan Crawford’s campaign in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race. ”
The special election is April 1st, and if these candidates in Florida (not my district unfortunately) can win, we even up the HOUSE and get a little control back!! I have also been donating what I can – and urge others to if its in your budget, even a few dollars can help them get the word out!! No one is really talking about it because the Republicans don’t want to lose their SLIM majority — so they dont want Blue voters showing up!
If you can’t donate – please spread the word!!
Trying hard to remain positive but have to admit the latest BS from the WH is getting to me. My confidence has been shaken and I am trying to find ways to “buck up”.
1. I am allowing 0 waste. Had a pizza that was on an absolutely flavorless crust. I scraped the toppings off into a container for later use and toasted/dried the crust cut into pieces with a generous amount of seasonings….ground in the blender and they are great crumbs for coating chicken strips.
2. Used the scraped off toppings in a fridge stew/soup that was tasty!
3. using cut up banana peels in water, steep for 2 or 3 days , great potassium boost for plants.
3. using spent coffee grounds as feed for my clematis plants.
4. grinding egg shells and will soak and use on garden plants when the time comes….hurry spring!
5. making my own spice mixes, I dry and grind the ends and leaves of celery and make my own Mrs Dash type stuff, I can vary the spices as needed. Found out there is ground citrus peel in Mrs dash and am amazed at the difference it makes. I am going to try my hand at lemon pepper.
6. strained out the peels from my apple vinegar making. Tasted it to see where it was at in “the process”, it is at the very tasty wine stage and I kept myself from doing some “day drinking”
Absolutely brilliant save on the pizza crust!
Happy International Women’s Day!
1. While feeding the sheep today, I noticed some leeks in the garden. Pulled up 6 smallish ones and cleaned and chopped them, sautéed in butter to make my kitchen small grand.
I have a lot of sad potatoes from my garden, just floating around I the kitchen, so I spent time with a paring knife (yes, they are that sad) and added them, plus the sad core of celery that had been languishing in the fridge.
Dodged the rain drops (we are facing another atmospheric river but there is a pause right now) and clipped some rosemary and thyme, wrapped them in a bit of string.
Poured in two home-canned quarts of chicken broth from a couple of years ago. Burbled until the potatoes were soft, pureed (deliberately left a few lumps) with a stick blender, and ended up with three quarts of soup. I ate ½ quart, #2 son has taken the second, and the rest is cooling before going in the fridge. It is a soup kind of day, and a frugal use of what I have. I had some sour crème that needed using up so added that rather than the ‘heavy cream’ asked for by the kind-of-followed recipe I found
2. Delivered 8 of my older chickens/roosters to the local ‘raptor’ centre for them to use to feed their birds.- I did give the centre a donation for taking the chickens, however I no longer will need to feed them. The hens were either hiding their nests or past laying, and of course the roos don’t lay.
3. Frugal fail, one roo didn’t go to bed in the coop the night I collected the birds; he survived due to being AWOL, and now is back to wandering the property. I managed to get him to join the laying hens and their rooster, in their coop, and he is returning there at night. I am actually happy, and he was my favourite rooster out of the batch… Mysterious how he didn’t go to bed that one night!
4. I have negotiated a pause in my gym membership for the two weeks I will be gone on my trip to Turkey – the local gym owner is really reasonable, and this will save me half a month’s fees (or extend my month by 18 days).
5. Although the gym is surrounded by Fast Food restaurants, sandwich shops, and a couple of ethnic restaurants, I have nobly managed to not once stop at any of them, either before or after my workouts. This is huge, for me, as it means I am properly fuelling myself and ensuring that I do have ready-to-eat foods prepared and in the fridge at home. A true measure of how far I have come in my self-care journey.
Like many of us, I have grave concerns about what all this Tariff Tom-foolery is doing to the economy of Canada – now China is hitting us when we are down with more Tariffs. However, I can only pull on the strings that are MINE to pull, so I am mostly managing to be kind to my mental health and find things that I can do to make my community stronger.
Ecoteri, I love your line “I can only pull on the strings that are MINE to pull.” And I’m glad that you, I, and a lot of us others here are pulling on those strings for all we’re worth.
“Tariff TomFoolery” is the PERFECT description for what the orange menace is doing to the world!
1. Bought some items at Goodwill and an old thrift store type of place. Got some items for the ebay store I’m starting. Best score was a clock my husband found… From Back to the Future!!
2. Made homemade pizza, including potato pizza, which my daughter loves.
3. Put a soup in the slow cooker for tomorrow.
4. Reusing à junk mail envelope for storing receipts.
5. Saving the Taco Bell sauce packets from lunch for using later.
Is that the Harold Lloyd hanging from the clock clock? If so, Wow! My sister bought one for me and I had it for years in my office.
For potato pizza, are the potatoes in the crust or are they a topping? I know of eggs on pizza, (break one in the middle and bake it), but not potatoes.
Found a pair of jeans at the thrift for DS.
Made enchiladas with red sauce and tortillas from the dented veg store. Hopefully next time I’ll make red sauce from scratch.
Picked up a hub cap from the side of the road and a couple beer cans. Cans will be recycled. Hub cap listed on eBay.
Worked 2 day shift 12 days. Now I’ve got to survive 2 12 night shifts. Eating what I bring and strong coffee, ear buds, and mavis staples will get me through!
Trying to talk myself out of buying a flock of sheep. I know, kinda random. I’d like to get back into sheep and the price is right. However, I’m not sure I have the time to properly care for them right now. Really smarter to avoid bringing home chores right now….. meh!
I didn’t buy a king ranch dually or build a giant phallic rocket in the back yard.
^^#4. 2, 12 hour shifts. Worked 48 hours last week as well, slacker government leach that I am……..
Although my sheep are aging pets, I do enjoy their company. My ex started us with sheep, and when he left I gave the ewes away and kept two half sibling babies as I couldn’t deal with any more grief. That was a decade ago (!!!) and the sheep give me some fleece but I don’t yet do anything with it. Mostly, they just baaa at me and my neighbour who brings them fallen apples and grape vine cuttings.
They don’t take a tonne of time, but they do take time every day. I have decided they are part of my mental health program. A bit of a walk, and necessary time outdoors.
Sheep are great therapy!
Found 2 Pennies on the ground, into the found money jar!
Visited my Stepmom and she bought me lunch, which i got 2 meals out of!
Continue to make protein shakes with the bananas in my freezer rescued from work.
Continue to eat the free lunch/snacks at work.
Used Upside to get cash back on my gas fill up.
Did NOT offend my neighbors with harassment or tariffs, tell lies on a National TV address, waste millions in taxpayer money playing golf, or do anything to send my nation into a recession…or worse.
Hooray for rescued bananas!