Five More Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on July 11, 2025 · 21 comments
-
I stopped at Fred Meyer (Kroger) to grab salmon for an extended family dinner and naturally looped past the random produce clearance shelf. (What am I, a Rockefeller?!) Sadly the price has increased from $1 to $1.50 per bag, although that’s still a decent price. Today the shelf provided a yuuuge bag of string beans, as well as four heirloom tomatoes. Oddly, the string beans provided two single brussel sprouts, which I found pretty funny.
-
I also picked up two boxes of Fred Meyer brand powdered dishwasher detergent, as I worry they’ll discontinue this bargain item. The big box is just $5.99, yet holds enough for at least six months of daily dishwasher use. Unlike dishwasher pods, the powder allows me to decide how much product to use. I decant it into a cute canister and keep a tablespoon in it, which helps to not use too much. It’s hard to get ahead financially when all your money is tied up in dishwasher detergent.
-
My step mother gave me an extra basil plant, plus some apples and lemons. Thanks, Lindy!
-
Although I spent $46.45 on salmon, it fed seven people for dinner (including seconds) and provided enough leftovers to send home with my daughter; as well as a couple bonus servings for the fridge. The sticker shock was painful in the moment, but that’s actually not too shabby when you consider how much it would cost to treat seven people to a restaurant meal. Luckily it was somewhat balanced out by the bargain green beans.
-
I continue to buy almost everything my family needs through thrift stores, eBay or marketplace, thus bypassing idiotic vindictive tarriffs.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
Like this post? Then please share it with your friends!
Like this:
Like Loading...
{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
The amount you spent on salmon was entirely reasonable. Salmon in a restaurant is at least half that price, for one portion, and that doesn’t include tax and tip. I know it was painful but also a good deal.
1. Yesterday was trash pickup day, and since we are walking early there are salvageable items. I brought home a Micro Mini Scooter that just needs a little cleaning up. The company sells them for $110. I will give it away to keep it out of the landfill. We also drove over to pick up a plastic chair and a kitchen size waste basket. The chair just needed a little cleaning. We don’t need/want it so it will be given away. The waste basket is a similar story.
2. I listed ten matching jars on Freecycle and someone is interested. I am not sure that our recycling is truly recycled and even if it is it is better for items to be reused rather than recycled.
3. I walked over to a friend’s house and we sat outside and had a nice visit.
4. I gave a neighbor a ride to the airport. It is only ten miles away so it is cheaper than parking these days.
5. We continue to discover that there just isn’t much we need these days.
1. I ordered a blood pressure monitor. It was Prime deal, alas, but it truly was cheaper than the others, and it was the recommended brand. It will arrive today, and here’s hoping I can figure out how to work it.
2. When walking home from the train station, I encountered a pair of shoes that I had seen sitting out the day before. They were by the street, not on personal property. They looked to be in good condition. I picked them up because rain was predicted. I’ll wash them and donate to Goodwill. I did notice once I got them home that there is a place where some stitches have become unraveled. Once they’re washed, I’ll see if I can fix that.
3. I had a cup of refried beans left over after several meals of quesadillas, and I didn’t want to eat them anymore, so I mixed them with half a cup of water and put them in the freezer with an attached note to add 1/4 cup salsa. Easy bean soup. I would have added the salsa but I’m out.
4. Another day, another book from the little free library! I have to say, we have a wealth of LFL’s in my area, and readers who contribute some very nice books!
5. Also from a LFL, I picked up a CD of Beatles songs — a compilation of 27 songs — still in the wrapper. I suppose people don’t play CD’s much anymore, but I do.
Some blood pressure monitors come with video instructions which can be really helpful! If you have trouble, call your doctor’s office and see if a medical assistant is able to help you learn how to use it. It’s often a free appointment and if you go into the office rather than do a video call they can test the machine against the one they have in their office. I used to work in a doctor’s office and we did those all the time
1. Took the two ceiling fans we couldn’t install back to Walmart. They were very helpful in accepting the returns. (Even though one box was opened, the parts had been taken out, and I was unable to repack it like it was before. That’s like trying to put toothpaste back in the tube!) Got my $ refunded on my debit card. (P.S. The clerk said they don’t put opened boxes back on the floor, so they may give this stuff to charity…..a thrift store, perhaps??? If you can find where Walmart gives its stuff away to, if it’s a thrift store, I imagine you’ll get some amazing bargains….)
2. Gathered up the remaining LVP flooring and stored it away. I’m sure we’ll have enough to do a small project with the leftovers, just as we did before.
3. Former roommate had left an almost-full canister of Slim Fast (powdered drink mix) here when she moved away. I found a shaker I’d gotten as a freebie at a health fair. Using it, I mixed the Slim Fast powder and milk and had a nice shake for supper, and also for today’s breakfast.
4. Visited the local arts and crafts “mall”, which, sadly, is having its going out of business sale. Was able to get some needed items for half off. I’d broken some Xmas tree ornaments last December, so I got 3 beautiful hand-painted ones for 50 cents each. Also, I have pretty much worn out the dishtowels that have crocheted tops, the ones where you can button them around a towel rack, cabinet hardware or fridge handle or something. So I got a couple of those. (Too bad for me, they are now $5, not $1.50 anymore…) This place is strictly a Mom and Pop operation. Everything is made by local arts and crafts people, and the mall owners are local folks, so it’s not benefiting big corporations.
5. Was able to write a review for a small Mom and Pop hardware store for Yelp. They’ve helped me with many projects and I said so in my 5* writeup.
If you have any sewing skills, you can re-use the crocheted tops of your dishtowels by cutting a new or newish towel in half, pleating it a bit, and either machine sewing or hand sewing to the unpicked top. if the original top was crocheted in place you can still do this by carefully cutting the towel off either leaving a strip to sew to, or pulling the towel out and then doing your sewing repair.
So often the tops are still in decent shape and reuse is all the rage, these days!
1) I got my first paycheck in over a year! That was definitely the win. That said, it was for only one week of work due to timing, and I am trying to max my 401k before the year ends, and I have a lot of extra tax withheld (to try & balance DH’s severance, which didn’t get taxed at the appropriate level). That was a tiny little check, but I also received my sign on bonus, which was much healthier. I’m giving $5k to my nephew for college and this gives me enough time to get it to him well in advance of his fall tuition payment.
2) We ate meals from the house, ate leftovers, ate things from the garden, and generally tried to make the most of what was available.
3) DS18 left for his senior trip to Hawaii, on an unpleasantly early flight. DH took him + a friend to the airport at zero darkly early, saving them the cost of other trasnportation. We also reviewed the least expensive dining options, & I helped DS18 look for “happy hours” in the area that are open to people under 21/don’t require the bar area. They are planning to cook the majority of their food, but I wanted them to know how to search for the least expensive options dining out, should they decide to go that route.
4) I drove to the office for the first time (it’s under construction, so I will only be going once/week starting next week) & picked up my badge. I timed it with a volunteer event (we packaged food for a really cool non-profit that I will have to look into supporting.) We also had a picnic (free lunch), so that was fun & I got to meet some local coworkers. All of my team is remote (mostly outside of the US), but it was nice to meet folks within my larger organization.
5) I drove my electric car to the office (about a 30 minute drive each way), saving on gas. I didn’t charge it (not enough time at the office), but will look into free charging on future days.
1. On morning walk today, I found seven cans & one glass bottle ($0.80 deposits), plus a partial bag of potatoes (guessing from a cook out, will make instant pot mashed potatoes) and two restaurant receipts for free frozen custard at local restaurant. Perfect for hot weather & company!
2. I too am still hosting family guests & making many meals at home, using grocery bargains including watermelons that were $2.39/each (I found two that weighed in at over 15.5lbs individually); corn on the cob 10 for $2; steak marked down 50%; one gallon chocolate milk $1.99; free berries from bushes in woods; free artisan bakery bread ($8 value for outstanding pumpernickel) from donating blood last month; and used $1 off/gal of gas coupon for guests’ van fill up, getting gas for $1.89/gal and saving them $18 (coupon is approx $10 redemption value).
3. As a family of four, we have always chosen to live & manage with one car. Our twelve year old car with over 189K miles is in for some major repairs, but asked for a discount from the start of diagnosis and are receiving 10% off, plus taking in our reusable mugs for free coffee/tea, plus popcorn & water for kids each trip (will be at least 3x if not 4 by the time it is all done) and using the shop’s free shuttle service & courtesy vehicle.
4. Took guests to free local entertainment including outdoor symphony concert, scenic look out points, an evening walk on the beach with the full moon rising over the horizon, plus local fireworks & parade where one kid got a free donut (other kid got one last year, either me or hubby’s turn next year!) & my dad was recognized as a veteran, entitling him to a free meal at local food vendor.
5. Our library offers numerous non—book items for check out from the “library of things” including baking pans, an ice cream maker, ukuleles, etc. Limit is two, so I checked out the yard dice set and a telescope for outdoor fun & star gazing.
Picked gallons of pie cherries and gave neighbors 4 gallons.
I curb picked an IKEA nightstand w/3 drawers to use in the shop.
Shoved inside the bottom drawer was a large laptop backpack with a huge powerbank. Nephew who is working on the farm for the summer looked longingly at it, gave it to him.
Hooked up the drip water system to my 500 gal collected winter water. Using my trash picked solar panel to run the pump. Picked up used straw from a mushroom farmer to mulch around all of the plants.
Made a cute solar powered light fixture out of an antique brass 8 candle candlabra, took a set of “free box” staked garden solar lights, popped the lights in and now have a little light in the outside sitting area.
Picked and pitted 2 gallons of sour cherries to dehydrate in the solar oven.
I’ve been writing an article about bonkers home spa features and the woo is beginning to depress me. Sound healing, yeah sure. Crystals vibrate. Wellness butlers hey why not. Home IV station. People just will blow any amount of money on this complete nonsense.
So thanks for bringing me back to the real world!
sigh
The Infrared Sauna: Like a Regular Sauna, Plus Pretentiousness
Cold Plunge Tubs: Because Suffering Builds Character
Smart Air Purifiers That Are Smarter Than Most People
Water Filtration Systems That Basically Turn Your Tap into Lourdes
Biophilic Design: A Fancy Word for “Put a Plant in It”
Dehydrating free peaches. More left for jam.
Just finished time on 7 Qt jars of potatoes in canner
2 head of cabbage prepped & in jars for next canner fill.
Peaches prepped for making peach jam later today.
No time to make cheese today. That will be tomorrow’s job — fresh goat milk from my girls. Busy time of year.
Dinner in is always a bargain over dinner out!
1. I took my refillable water bottle with me to two meetings this week inside of coffee shops. I much prefer my coffee at home in the morning and managed to escape both meetings without spending any money. Interestingly- I was the only person in attendance who didn’t make a purchase.
2. My teen and I went on a forest walk and took lots of close up photos of mushrooms and other flora just for fun and observation purposes. We then came home and used all the produce in the house to make a delicious salad for dinner.
3. I am watching a daily practice video compilation on Creativebug (for free through public library) and using paper scraps from around the house to complete the challenges. It’s a fun way to be creative without spending.
4. I checked out the local bookclub’s latest book choice from Hoopla. The local book clubs are a great way to engage in some social activity without spending.
5. I’m partnering with a new local meeting space to host a board game night. It will be a great way to use the board games we own + build some community without any cost.
Yes, I’m of the “We have dinner at home” camp.
What meetings have purchases? I’mgenuinely curious.
I think the coffee shop location of the meeting led to others purchasing coffee or other treats…
Have read you for decades now; huh, guessing over 25 years!!! Starting with buy nothing new posts on different site. I remember ‘ the Ms Jasmine wants you to go to school experience’ and ‘the Alameda newspaper’ and ‘LA Bee Keeping’ and many more writers.
THANK YOU for continuing to post and starting this site. You bring sanity and peace to changing times and always have good ideas on being careful with spending. You, and others from that time, anonymously held me together through difficult periods and are continuing to do that.
You make a huge difference in the world that you cannot see or know. THANK YOU so helping so many and keeping on writing and sharing.
Rose (different one) 🙂 What a kind comment – gracious comments on public posts always make my day bc it restores my hope in people! And I’m fairly new here~!
That’s a nice bundle of beans, Katy. I have noticed thinly slivered Brussels sprouts being used in salad mix lately.
Cleaned my house with a pile of old rags. Shampooed, conditioned, and brushed out both dogs. Will do their nails this evening. Vacuumed and washed my car out on the driveway.
Found a great summer blouse and a pair of shorts at the thrift shop and used the info on the tags to buy more of the same on eBay.
My Dad ALWAYS said, “Who do you think we are, Rockefellers?” while I was growing up. I found myself saying it to my stepdaughters years ago and they had no idea who the Rockefellers were. Nor did they care. They just wanted me to fork out for a pedicure or a segway ride or whathaveyou.
1) Went to an estate sale this morning and got there after about 100 other folks did, so just skipped out despite the very early start and hit a few garage sales instead. We’ve done estate sales for a year but I just started popping over to garage sales. DH maintains he isn’t interested, but then points out the signs. 🙂 Turns out we lucked out with quite a few things! $2 booster seat for oldest grandchild so there is one in both cars. $5 total for about 20 kids books for reading to the kids and stocking a Little Free Library and 154 (I counted) new Ticonderoga pencils in various packages for $5. I volunteer weekly at an elementary school in a very low socioeconomic area and will bring these to the teacher. I alerted her so she doesn’t buy a whole bunch of pencils before the school starts. Usually check in to see what is especially needed but this was a deal. I’m a pencil/pen and paper gal, so I appreciate a good dark pencil haha
2) Made plant-based pancakes last night and added hash browns since I have a whole bunch of small yellow potatoes. Not nutritious but certainly inexpensive dinner with leftovers for DH’s breakfast.
3) Nightlight (of the Leg Lamp from A Christmas Story) went out in the kitchen last night and so I went to replace the bulb and the new one didn’t work either. I jumped to the conclusion that the cute light finally died after 15 years of service. Darn! Well, put another light in there and that didn’t work, either; something had popped the breaker for those – not sure what as nothing was plugged in. Dug my nightlight bulb out of the trash, wiped it off and it’s all functioning.
4) Sold an item on ebay for $10 – nothing grand but income is income 🙂
5) At an estate sale yesterday, picked up canned goods still within the expy date for 25 cents/can. Perfect for the little food pantry box that’s nearby as well as a few things for us. I try to match things I put there as a meal if desired. Even peach pie filling can be a treat of a dessert I think.
My family has picked up the side hustle of cleaning the church four months out of the year. It’s $60 and it takes the 5 of us an hour, so not the most profitable, but it does our family good in lots of ways besides monetary gain.
We are having new windows and screens installed, so today I cut and rolled up one of the old screens for a science lab. I previously just had one tiny piece of screen so I demonstrated, but it’s far more fun for kids to do it themselves!
I bought extra pots when Aldi had their $4.99 pots for sale this year, because I love to propagate. My dad passed away this May and houseplants were the gift on everyone’s mind so I was prepared to repot as needed. I also received a sympathy card that just said, “Sending Hugs.” It matched my decor so much that I wanted to keep it, and it is also from someone that means a great deal to me. I thrifted the perfect frame. It had original artwork in it and a special note on the back of the frame. I was able to lay my card over the artwork for now and preserve that other special gift.
My insurance sent me an offer for a free blood pressure machine. I sent in for it. Will be fun to add to my circulatory system chapter next year.
1. Posted a free 15” TV and DVD on our Buy Nothing group, they were claimed and picked up within 2 hours. Actually, error on that. They were claimed but only the DVD was picked up. I reposted the TV and have had a lovely back and forth with the picker-upper, who is less than ¼ KM from my place. The TV was also finally picked up. YAY
2. Winter flannel bedding washed and hung on the line – a VERY breezy morning and sunshine, although we were expecting rain it wasn’t around then. Everything beautifully dry and folded and stored until Fall. With help from a friend, all my bedding was gathered and sorted (Twin, Queen) and put into sets (fitted, flat sheets, at least two pillow cases).
I have some old unmatched pillow cases and decided to use them as the ‘holding’ case for the ‘sets’. I have almost empty dressers in each of the kid’s old bedrooms, so I am using the drawers as my linen closet, along with one empty drawer in my room for my winter bedding.
Some random bits got a wash with some oxyclean to see if they would come whiter, although it had not-perfect results. They were hung up outside to take advantage of sunshine’s bleaching effect.
3. Started to pick cherries off my rather loaded tree. Trying to stay ahead of the birds, who likely will descend. They aren’t as ripe as they could get, but I cherry picked (see what I did there?) and brought in 6 cups worth. #2 son and I inhaled those, I told him not to save any for his girlfriend who apparently loves them – there will be more every day. This tree has given me some problems since I planted it; this year it is clearly apologizing, as there are large clumps of cherries ripening.
My sour cherry is also covered – they are a pain to pick as they leave the stem on the tree if you try to pull them. Also, they aren’t in clumps, so it is tedious to the extreme. However, they do make a fine pie once picked, washed, pitted, prepared and cooked. The things we do in order to be eating local!
4. I picked the meat off the chicken from Costco, and pulled some bones from the freezer. #1 son has been buying rotisserie chicken, and when I was last there I pulled the meat off the bones of one he had in the fridge (half eaten), then brought home the carcass. All of these were plunked into the instant pot. I didn’t add any seasoning/onion etc at first, although I remembered, I had some packets of carrot/onion/celery in the freezer which I added after the first pressure cooking was done, as well as a bit of vinegar that seems to pull the gelatin from the bones. Last time I made broth I cooked the bones for long enough that I was able to crush them and used as kibble topper for my aging dog, which she thought was stupendous. I have done the same this time, have a jar for topping.
Half of the broth was put back in the IP along with some barley and newly chopped carrots, celery and onion, as well as some precious chanterelles that my #2 daughter picked and prepped and froze for me. Soup is strange in July but I am not feeling well and the weather isn’t overwhelming here, as it appears to be everywhere else on this continent.
5. My thrift store best buddy dropped in with a gorgeous pottery bowl that they were going to reject due to a tiny chip. She suspected that I wouldn’t mind the chip, and she was so right. It has inspired me to research some kind of grain salad – I know, strange to use a bowl to set the menu, but I gotta search for inspiration whereever I can! I have a number of jars with random grains or grainlike things – couscous, buckwheat, farro, rice, millet, lentils – and summer salads full of veggies and grains are appealing these days!
6. The enormous pottery sauerkraut crock that I posted on Marketplace has brought a tonne of interest, however nobody has brought me a tonne of money. Yet.
My thrift store buddy has dropped off the sauerkraut crock’s twin, which gives me some options as I do have two folk seriously interested. Nobody seems to want to send an e-transfer, but cash is king. If I sell the one today (and fingers crossed, I have a time for pickup now!) then I might hold the second pot for someone who lives a long way away but is keenly interested.
However, if someone offers to bring me more cash for the second one I am going to take it, birds in hand and all that.
7. Inspired by someone on this blog, I had originally read “How not to Diet” from the library. The information was so useful and, tbh, scary, I invested in used copies of three books – How not to Die, How not to Diet, and the How not to Diet cookbook. The books arrived a couple of days ago (in almost perfect condition, don’t think the previous owner cracked the cookbook) and I have spent some time re-reading about heart health.
The recipes are accessible and doable and I can see myself actually introducing some of them into rotation. Beans and whole grains are two of the keystones of a healthy diet, and I love both. I have recently, however, not been taking the time to plan and stock my fridge with ready-to-eat healthy ingredients.
Today is a day for some cooking of grains and beans, and assembly of some from-the-pantry meals.
8. My sweet cherry tree continues to provide me with just-barely-ripe cherries, and I continue to cherry pick half an icecream buckets worth every day. Gave some to #1 son as he was going on a road trip, and #2’s girlfriend loves them so there will be a feast when she is by tomorrow. The sour cherries are glowing on the tree so I am going to prep a milk carton (cut the plastic ones a la Katie) and get out there before it gets hotter. A day for harvest and processing – like bluegate Farmgirl, the cherries will be pitted and either dried or frozen. No energy to both prep and cook them!
I was wrong about the Project Linus blankets, apparently they only take new handmade blankets, buuut the very kind woman answering my questions redirected me to a local safe house alliance that will gladly take my clean but used blankets and a few other household items that are in fine order but no longer suit our lifestyle. Small win though, it’s actually much closer to us than the Project Linus drop off would have been, saving us a lot of gas since there is too much to carry on foot.
1. Our power pole was FINALLY replaced yesterday after it was knocked down in a windstorm on June 30th. We were out of power from 8am-2:25pm so I better see a dent in my power bill. My children complained less than I had expected but by the time we got the power back on it was definitely getting warm outside. We have an extreme heat warning in my county that was supposed to start yesterday, but the breeze was so nice that it was bearable!
2. The electrician and crew asked for a breakfast recommendation and I let them in on a local gem that serves nice size portions for a very very reasonable price. They came back in an excellent mood to start working. I took advantage of the few minutes of prep time I had before they cut power to heat up some homemade banana muffins and make toast for the kids.
3. Made homemade oat and soy milk creamer today after forgetting that I was out yesterday. My coffee tastes VERY watery today but I’m not sure if that’s because of something I did wrong with the creamer or because the pot has been sitting for 4 hours and has cooled. Oh well. It’ll spare me the caffeine headache and be s question for tomorrow.
4. I called Kid to Kid consignment shop and found out they take a few more things than I was expecting! I am continuing to sneak some items past my children that I know are forgotten and have been unplayed with in months or even over a year. They’re very young so that’s a really long time compared to their lifespan thus far haha I haven’t touched any of special or sentimental things as I know those are loved even if they aren’t played with as often.
5. Dinner is a 20 minute stovetop dish and I have all the ingredients ready to go in the fridge and freezer.