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My husband and I recently bought a new-to-us car, which means that our 2005 minivan sits idle more than normal. Specifically throughout a four day heatwave that apparently conjured the ghosts of all stinks past. This prompted me to take an hour or so to wipe out and sweep all inside surfaces and finish it up with a mesh bag of coffee beans over a vent. I’m not sure if this’ll eradicated the stench, but the car is certainly cleaner and who doesn’t love the smell of coffee?
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You may notice that I attached the coffee bag using one of the Command Strips that I thrifted last month. (Sixteen for $3.99.) I finally found a use for one of them!
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Of course the “Check Engine Light” reared her ugly head in my clean car, so I stopped at O’Reilly’s Auto Parts to have them plug in their free sensor. While there I noticed that they have a free loaner tool program, which is good to know for the future. What was wrong with my twenty-year-old car? This and that, but nothing dire and still quite drivable.
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I donated a small bag of random items to Goodwill and got a form for my taxes, making sure to fill it in as soon as I got home. There’s a 0% chance that I’ll remember this information when I sit down to do my taxes next year, so this is a favor to future Katy.
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My sister and her family are in the middle of a long awaited trip to the United Kingdom, which I’m so happy about. (Our family lived in London for a number of years throughout our childhood.) I’m also happy to enjoy her cranberry orange marmalade on a freshly baked scone.
Five More Tiny Frugal Things
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Stumbled on this article. May be helpful those of us who need to do a serious declutter.
https://www.cpr.org/2025/08/12/how-to-declutter-your-home-to-downsize/
As a person who has been decluttering for at least 6 years, I really enjoy. Dana k. White. She has a no mess decluttering system that actually seems to work for me. I know, 6 years! But I had started before my husband and then my father died. It is getting better!
1. Used $5 reward to buy a 3 pack of socks for me.
2. Used United rewards to get “survival” groceries aka proteins to get us thru this past week
3. Sold number of items for friends and a couple of mine too
4. Inventoried everything non perishable:plenty of paper products, cleaning supplies, skin care, cosmetics, personal care and detergents.
5. Discontinued HBO and Disney plus
1. Had to drive downtown to take my CLEP test (which I passed, thus saving nearly 900 bucks on a class I won’t have to take!). Batched this driving with hitting the grocery store, where I curbed my natural inclination to celebrate with fancy snacks. Instead I stuck to my list.
2. Inspired by this blog, I snagged a discarded receipt in the parking lot and scanned it into my Fetch app when I got home.
3. DH made tuna burgers, using the aquafaba from a can of chickpeas instead of an egg for a binder. He roasted the chickpeas for me as a treat when I got home. I’m allergic to nuts, so it’s nice to have a crunchy little snack now and then! Cheaper, too.
4. Biked to the library for my library books.
5. Our cat pulled a feather out of his feather toy, but didn’t chew it up. I taped it to a wire toy that he’d gotten bored with, and suddenly what was old is new again.
You asked who doesn’t like the smell of coffee, so I’ll step forward and say that I don’t like the smell of coffee. When I first saw your photo, I thought that was a baggie of dog poop. Coffee beans are better!
1. Yesterday I drove home after spending a few days with a friend in another state. I brought home a pizza for my son and three bags from Goodwill (who gave me $5 off because it’s my birthday month). On the way I stopped at a Taco Bell, mainly for the bathroom break, but I also bought an iced coffee and cinnamon crisps. In the parking lot I found 7¢ and a receipt. I have downloaded Fetch and today I’m determined to figure out how to use it.
2. My insurance company rewarded me with $39 for my safe driving.
3. My condo was hot and stuffy when I got home so I turned on the air, but I turned it off again at bedtime, and was comfortable enough during the night. Still haven’t turned it back on, but I will when it gets uncomfortable.
4. Although it is hardly soup weather, I’ll be making soup today to use up vegetables.
5. After I made coffee this morning, I put the grounds in the fridge to use again, with a little fresh layer of grounds on top.