Five More Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on July 3, 2025 · 30 comments
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My husband bought a replacement shower head for our bathroom, as the last one was spurting water in a illogical manner. We both love the new one, but it unfortunately doesn’t work with the previous organizer caddy. I walked into Goodwill hoping to find a better solution and somehow found exactly what I needed! Priced at $2.99, minus my 10% senior discount, we now have a shower storage solution without supporting corporate America!
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The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group bypassed 100,000 members today, which is a huge milestone. I never paid a dime to promote the blog-adjacent group, which makes this an extra satisfying achievement. It’s a great resource for people looking to find like minded non-consumer folk.
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My sister is now visiting from NYC and we survived day one of her trip without hitting a restaurant. We’ll certainly eat some meals out, but we’ll try to keep it under control. Our meals today were:
• Breakfast — Spinach frittata.
• Lunch — Bean and bacon soup with tortilla chips.
• Dinner — A huge green salad with garbanzo beans, crumbled queso blanco, cucumber, avocado and pickled red onion. Of course the salad was topped with my homemade Tea Towel Salad Dressing!
• Dessert was Tillamook ice cream, which is currently on sale at Safeway for $3.99/half gallon.
All of these meal were prepared and eaten at home, despite being out and about for much of the day.
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My sister has a Britbox subscription right now, so the three of us watched a couple episodes of the TV show Death Valley before heading to bed. Highly recommend!
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I knew my sister would be hungry when she landed last night, especially as her six hour flight had been delayed for an additional three and a half hours! I went ahead and cooked her a bean and cheese quesadilla, which I brought to the airport. Cheap to make, satisfying to eat!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
I will vouch for Katy…the food was all tasty and delicious! “We have food at home” DOES need to get embroidered on a pillow here : )
Good morning. I hope you have a nice visit with your sister. It’s rough to go from a different time zone. I can never adjust. I’m always up before anyone else.
Katy must be the “hostess with the most-est” to think about bringing tasty, delicious food to the airport! Helping you avoid the mega-expensive, almost inedible slop they sell at most airports.
1. I sold a small wire shelf that I’ve had since I was a child. It’s gone back and forth between my house and my mom’s. Now someone else can get some use out of it. Crap out, money in.
2. I’m eating oatmeal for breakfast.
3. Dinner last night was a BLT made with a bacon from Costco, a tomato my mom gave me, lettuce that I grew and bread from the day old bread store.
4. I sifted some dirt out of a small area of river rock. I maybe saved a half a bag of rocks but every little bit helps.
5. I shopped around for the best price on a hotel for a short trip up north.
I’m in Dallas until Saturday am working at my clubs dig show. Nothing frugal about $30/night parking at the FREE hotel stay. We’re in walking distance of the show site
Being a tightwad and steward of my $ is sometimes emotionally difficult. Have been invited to a wedding in Detroit first cousin’s daughter. We are in Maine and for a day and a half it would cost over $2k in air, hotel, present, car rental, car boarding. I have the $ but can’t justify it. While he is my favorite cousin we won’t be doing any visiting as he and wife are the hosts. But I am sideways with this…
Will send regrets and while I know it’s the right thing to not spend $2k for a day and a half I still feel guilty. I know we all have these events that we need to navigate this one just feels hard. And we have run prices from 3 different airports so it’s not for trying.
Sympathies to you Jann. These decisions are hard.
Is Amtrak an option? It would take a day to travel, (not that airports don’t take a lot of time), but coach seats might be inexpensive.
Katy, do you have hard water? The shower head might be furred up with minerals.
Other than that, I got nothin’.
We don’t have hard water here, the last shower head was always kind of a dud.
Katy
Your “Tea Towel Salad Dressing” (where does the tea towel come in?) reminded me of my mom’s homemade salad dressing. The recipe has traveled the world with foreign friends and missionaries who visited our home through the ’60’s-’80’s (mom passed on 2010…she would be 102 today). My late sister not only put it on salad, she also put it on things like lasagna and meatloaf.
I have to explain something first for this to make sense: My daughter couldn’t say my maiden name (Phillips) when she was little. My mom’s first name was “Elma,” so she became “Grammy Elmo.”
Grammy Elmo’s Salad Dressing
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder OR approximately 1/4 teaspoon finely minced garlic
Mix all ingredients until sugar is thoroughly dissolved.
Mom grew up during the depression (born 1923). At 14, as the oldest girl, she had to quit school and take care of a household of 10 (Her dad and stepmother, an uncle, herself, and 6 of her 7 younger siblings. Her youngest sister wasn’t born until after my parents were married, and my 2 sisters were born before my aunt.) As a result, mom was frugal to the core. My dad used to say that mom was so “tight” (with money), she could rub 2 nickles together and get a quarter.
Point of clarification…my mom’s mother died when my mom was 6 (spring of 1929), hence no mention of bio-mom. Grandpa was left with 3 little girls (6, 2, newborn), so my bio-grandmother’s sister took care of the kids so Grandpa could work and provide. Mom’s Aunt and Grandpa ended up getting married and they had 5 more kids. The woman I knew as “Grandma” was actually my Great Aunt.
Can you say, “I am my own Grandpa?”
https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/cheap-eats-katys-tea-towel-salad-dressing/
It really is good.
Your story reminds me of the Deceased Wife’s Sister’s Marriage Act of 1907, in Britain. Before that, you weren’t allowed to marry your sister in law. The Pre-Raphaelite painter William Holman Hunt was one of the ones who pushed for the law to change; he married his sister in law in Switzerland in the late 19th century after his wife died. (You’ve almost certainly seen some of his paintings, especially “The Light of the World.”) https://www.stpauls.co.uk/light-of-world-by-william-holman-hunt
I will try Granny Elmo’s! No oil, huh?
As a total salad lover, I really enjoy making all kinds of homemade dressings, especially vintage ones.
@Rose – Nope. No oil. Will keep.in the fridge 4-5 days.
@Rose…and, BTW, my grandparents 2 weddings (my mom’s bio-mom and mom’s stepmom) were both “shot gun” weddings. The 3 of them are buried together with Grandpa in the middle. I actually have a picture with all 3 of them together, too.
Ha! I always refer to my parents’ wedding as the Wedding of Shame. Apparently Mom and Dad (both from NYC) drove upstate in search of someone who would marry them, given Mom was underage. They finally found someone in Watkins Glen, which is wayyyy up there.
I too had a rare thrift store moment the other day! I needed new work pants, as one of the knees of mine is starting to give out (I work at a library and spend a lot of time crawling/kneeling on the floor to shelve; I’ll mend these pants and wear them as not-work pants), so I hit up the local thrift store to find some new jeans. Pants shopping usually involves tears and swearing, but after pulling three pairs off the shelves and going into the fitting room, the first pair fit like it was tailor-made for my own body. I couldn’t believe it. (“What’s the catch?” I thought. “Are these pants cursed???”) Anyway, they came home with me for seven dollars and that’s one fewer thing to hit the landfill (two, if you count the pants I’ll be mending!).
Happy thrifting!
If the maker’s tags are still in those pants, you can do a search on eBay for them. I have found great-fitting clothes that way.
Ruby, you’re a genius! Thanks for that brilliant tip!
Thank you. A fair number of eBay sellers of clothing will include the RN# from the maker’s tag, which also includes where and sonetimes when it was made. This is how I found out that my favorite Bermuda shorts are 15 years old.
I found my favorite pair of jeans at a thrift store. They fit great and are so comfy. I just found another pair in my size at a garage sale for 50 cents. I was very happy with that find.
1) Really didn’t feel like cooking after my last call yesterday, but chatted with DS19 & made frozen samosas (second night in a row ;-)) & served that with egg sandwiches & fresh fruit. It was an eclectic & lazy collection, but he loves the samosas & it got us fed without takeout.
2) Ate a ton of strawberries that a friend dropped off + those from our garden, and froze what we couldn’t get to.
3) Baked a ton of chicken on Monday, so I’d have easy salad toppers available for lunches this week.
4) DS19 asked to go spend a week with my parents this summer, once school and work ends. I booked his flight on Alaska, using miles & paid just $25 out of pocket with fees.
5) I figured out it how to set up my 401k, and set it up to contribute the max this year!
Wow, 100000 members, that’s fantastic!
I had to give up on shower organiser caddies, the metal ones go rusty, the plastic ones break. We now keep shampoo etc on the window sill that can be reached from the shower.
* We are currently able to harvest a small bowl full of raspberries every day. The yellow ones are always first to ripen, those are almost finished now but already we are also harvesting red ones so there is no gap! Raspberries are my favourite fruit.
* We are also harvesting salad greens and blackcurrants every other day or so. The apples are starting to turn a little bit red and almost immediately the crows have started to eat them. So I had to put organza bags on some individual apples already, otherwise the crows would eat them all. I had to order more organza bags, usually I use the ones we use to protect the raspberries for the apples once the raspberries are finished but for some reason the apples are early this year and now I do not have enough organza bags.
* Paying it forward – gave a ukulele that has been gathering dust in the living room for years to a friend’s daughter. That same friend will be one of several friends feeding our cat when we are on holidays (They will take turns. I have great friends!). I have also been giving jars filled with fresh blackcurrants from our garden to various friends as we have lots and lots of them at the moment!
* Got a jar of homemade pickled kohlrabi from a friend. Delicious! Reused the pickle juice to pickle radishes that were going spare. This tinted the pickle juice red for extra special effects 🙂 Also delicious!
* I put up a few items for sale on Vinted. Fingers crossed.
Truly tiny frugal things today since I just posted the bigger ones!
1) Oatmeal for breakfast, oats, soy milk, walnuts and chia seeds were purchased in bulk at Costco (seems to be the best price around here, don’t have Aldi or winco) Peaches were the free frozen ones that had been given to me. This is my breakfast every morning, I just vary the fruit and/or nuts based on what I have available.
2) Bring my travel mug of coffee into work each in-office day, stops me from being tempted by the Peet’s next to my office.
3) Going to the library on my lunch break today to pickup my next book club read and some books in a series for my son.
4) I’ll be cooking some food tonight for our 4th of July bbq tomorrow so I didn’t want to cook dinner as well. I pulled soup out of the freezer to defrost for dinner tonight. It’s soup weather year round where I live on the coast (high today is 59 degrees with heavy cloud cover)
5) My sister recently moved back to the area. She sent me a message letting me know that she’d love to babysit for us anytime, for dinners or even overnight. She missed out on aunt time since she’s lived across the country from the time they were born until now so she wants to make up for it. Such a kind offer and a win for everyone (even though they didn’t see her much, she definitely made a strong impression as the fun aunt whenever she visited so my kids love her)
Mostly just the usual going on around here.
1. found peaches on markdown rack, 2 recipes of jam made and 2-quart bags in freezer. about 3 cups in fridge for smoothies.
2. made 2 recipes of strawberry jam…I had the mess made from the peach jam so figured why not.
3. made dishwasher tabs, they are drying for use now.
4.all meats for Saturdays BBQ bought on sale and burger patties made. frozen for use.
5. talked myself out of a trip to the GW….need nothing and we have a thrifting trip planned for later in the month. I also had peaches in the car trunk and didn’t want them to wait.
* didn’t flip flop on a several trillion dollar budget that only benefits the wealthy while saddling our kids and grands with Federal debt. What a bunch of waffling assholes.
FMTFT, Eating Weeds and Making Pickles Edition:
(1) In my garden, it’s that happy time of year when my three favorite tasty weeds are coming out: wild amaranth (aka redroot pigweed), lamb’s quarters, and purslane. All three are highly nutritious (the late Euell Gibbons had tests run on them all). I’ve just gone out and cut myself a salad spinner full of the pigweed and lamb’s quarters for a stir-fry I’m making tonight.
(2) And I’m contemplating making a gumbo over the holiday weekend, with purslane as an okra substitute. Hey, what’s more American than a good gumbo? And the 4th of July here is predicted to be one of our rare recent cool days, so I’m willing to relax my summer moratorium on soup making for this one.
(3) I went to the Thursday Farmers’ Market at the Regional Market this morning and picked up assorted local produce, including snow peas for the stir-fry.
(4) I also bought two quarts of early cucumbers, since the dill blossoming in my garden beds (I never bother planting dill; it plants itself) is my signal that it’s time to start making refrigerator dill pickles. The recipe I use is Andrea Chesman’s, which is most easily accessed here (https://ediblevermont.ediblecommunities.com/recipe/recipes-refrigerator-quick-dills-0/).
(5) And I have enough respect for both human life and the fragile ecology of the Everglades not to stick a concentration camp for undocumented persons in the middle of the Glades.
Hotter than the place where many politicians, judges, and government officials with orange hair and tiny hands (and a whole lot of other people) will be “living” in the afterlife. Despite the temperatures, I have a pint of black bean soup and a pint of my DH’s “not for the faint of heart” chili thawing for tonight’s and tomorrow night’s supper. Ate the last of the strawberry shortcake and some watermelon for brunch.
Wanted something sweet but didn’t want to bake. No-bake cookies to the rescue. I had the ingredients for those. I was a tad short on oatmeal (about 1/2 cup) but I think they will be ok. The main mistake was making a double batch. Not enough trays or space to lay them out to set. Ended up lining 2 baking sheets with parchment paper and pouring the batter in the pans like a bar cookie. Will cut them into bars once they set. If it works that way, I will make them that way in the future. Beats dropping globs of batter onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment.
Went to my BIL’s to fill our water jugs. His water is good. Ours smells and tastes like sulfur.
Taking it easy today. Reinflammed my hip last night sitting on a hard chair for too long (baking and bills on computer). Dousing it with pain relieving cream and taking tylenol today.
Katy,
All your at-home dining sounded very tasty! I’ve been trying to eat at home as much as possible, while at the same time using up my “forgotten freezer and pantry foods.”
Arranged to have the Ollie’s Outlet vinyl planks installed this coming Monday. The installer came out today. I’m spending today taking stuff out of the computer room.
The roofing guy came out. He’ll start as soon as the check for the down payments comes in. Then, as long as I still have Social Security coming in, I will be able to cover the monthly payments for the rest — and I’ll be done paying in a year. They have a 30-year warranty on the roofing materials. I laughed when he told me that: by then, I’ll be 100 years old, so I don’t think I’ll still be living in this house, LOL! (Or anywhere else, for that matter….)
I broke out in a rash, and a nurse practitioner told me that live-active cultured buttermilk has the same goodie in it as live-active cultured yogurt, but it gets absorbed by your system a lot faster. That and OTC Benedryl usually takes care of the problem. Neither Aldi nor the store where I work stocks buttermilk. Had to go to H-E-B for a LOT of store-brand buttermilk.
Meanwhile, I walked by H-E-B’s bakery and made an impulse buy. Our church is going to have a cold potluck lunch — we are not to bring anything hot or that needs heating bc the commercial stove in the church kitchen makes the building too hot. I know I’m getting a bad reputation for bringing chips and salsa, so when I saw a box of 24 red, white and blue-with-white-stars cupcakes arranged like Old Glory (that’s a name for the U.S. flag, for you folks out of the country…), I splurged on them. That’ll be enough cupcakes for the kids. But when I got to the checkout lane, put ’em on the counter, then was trying to put ’em back in the shopping cart, I spilled them and they got all messed up. Icing was on the floor, the shopping cart, my purse and my jeans. At least half were ruined. The cashier called a supervisor and they said since the lid obviously wasn’t on right, they’ll bring me another box of cupcakes.(I wasn’t complaining, I was apologizing! Thought it was my fault, not theirs…) So I paid for one box of cupcakes and they (very kindly) made up for the disaster. An employee helped me get the new box out to my car, to avert another mishap, and the box is now safely resting on top of the washing machine. Where Mr. Snuggley-Wuggley Dog can’t reach them. (The laundry room door is staying shut!)
In preparation for July 4th, I made a gluten-free apple pie from scratch and have burger patties made from a pack of discounted Aldi ground beef thawing in the fridge. Watched several YouTube videos to figure out some adjustments to our antique Norpro apple peeler. I put a new peeling blade on it last year but could not get it set just right until watching the videos.
Did some grocery shopping yesterday to combine sales and coupons on cheese, ziplock baggies, cereal, eggs and ice cream. DH got the computer screen in his car replaced free under warranty this week: it would randomly perform functions by itself when the car interior was hot, a condition called “ghost touch”! He also received two parts for woodworking equipment under warranty this week.