Five More Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on April 27, 2025 · 61 comments
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I watched a YouTube video from Uniquely Tish about 10 Ways to Save Money on Groceries in 2025 as I’m always looking for fresh ideas. One of her tips was to “root around your freezer” and use what you already have. (My phrasing, not hers.) It’s hardly a “fresh idea” to cook with food you already own, but it got me down to the basement to browse through my freezer.
You may remember that I scored a $1 bag of clearance price zucchini in March, which I shredded and froze in these silicone ice cube trays. I decided it was time to fix myself a couple of zucchini fritters, which couldn’t have been easier as all it took was squeezed out zucchini shreds, an egg, flour, parmesan, salt, pepper; plus onion and garlic powder. The last scrapings from a carton of sour cream completed the dish. Thanks, Tish!
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I’m still sick, but gathered enough energy to tart up my recently thrifted midcentury bookshelf. It took some elbow grease, but I was able to remove the scuffs using Bar Keeper’s Friend and some wood stain wiped over the areas where the original stain had been chipped away. I’ll post a full reveal in a day or two, but suffice it say that it already looks 110% better. I’ll need to buy a new gold paint pen for the rusted brass feet, but my plan is to support a local art supply store for this purchase.
Seriously, the feet are a rusty mess!
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I watched the first two episodes of Étoile through my sister’s Prime Video account and although I loved the dancing, I’m not sure how much I actually like the show. The two main characters are written as angry and scream half their lines, which is a pet peeve of mine. I’ll give it another episode or so as the dancing is sublime, but I might drift away. Good thing I mooch my Amazon access.*
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I’m picking up the above green planter this afternoon from someone in my Buy Nothing group. I needed another flowerpot for one of my free tomato seedlings and this one should accommodate its potential growth.
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Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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*My sister uses our streaming services, so it’s reciprocal.
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1. I, like a few others from the last post, picked up my free loaf of garlic bread from Stop & Shop ($2.79). It is GIANT, so I cut it into three parts and freeze two. The third will be part of tonight’s Italiano dinner.
2. I was already at Stop & Shop to pick up 2 pieces of cheese from FlashFoods. One, a goat cheese, is highly suspect, so I’m going to attempt to get a refund as it is sketchy enough that we will not eat it.
3. Tomorrow, I’ll walk up to city hall to pay our quarterly property tax, both saving the “convenience” fee if I were to pay online and the cost of a stamp.
4. I signed up for my town’s garden-share Facebook group, hoping that someone might be willing to split their hostas and give me some? I’m also planning a trip to my parents and will see if I can do the same there.
5. I batch-ran errands yesterday, which included a mystery shop dinner with a payout of $20.00, which almost paid for a bottle of Pimm’s, which I’ll serve as part of a birthday party that I’m hosting. The entree will be Cornish pasties, made with FlashFood skirt steak, and free potatoes and onions from CSA box (partner gets for free). Dessert is Meyer lemon curd, made with Meyer lemons that a friend brought me, from her tree in CA, to my house in MA. I bought the butter and eggs on sale, but I do feel a bit like a Rockefeller, using 8 eggs in a recipe!
You squeeze a dollar until it screams and I bow down to you!
@BettafromdaVille – if you lived close to me, I’d give you plenty of free Hosta plants. And toss in another plant if you were open to it (it does need more sun than a Hosta plant). But I suspect we’ll end up splitting them and planting them elsewhere on our property.
@Selena: I’m in Somerville, MA – is that close to you?
I am 90 miles MOL NW of Chicago, not close sad to say.
Those fritters look delicious!
1. I went grocery shopping early this morning and scored three giant size boxes of Cheerios for the cost of one box at non-sale prices, thanks to a combo of a sale and a hefty discount for customer card members.
2. Had some points to spend at the drugstore and bought paper goods, a pack of ground coffee, and a pack of gum.
3. Dusted all the wood in my house, including the doors, with a basket full of disposable dusters, which I washed out and fluffed up to line dry. They can was washed and reused many times.
4. Got the remaining spray paint out of the garage and touched up the paint on my garden bench, which workmen damaged by using it as a sawhorse one day in the fall. It looks great now.
5. Talked my son out of going out for food and made him a quick meal from the pantry.
I love your whole list, but #5 is my favorite as you spent money to save money for someone else!
1. Wanted to go out for a coffee, but found a package of decaf and I’m making a fresh pot at home. Perfect!
2. Hanging up some certificates and artwork in my office using Thrifted frames or reusing frames I already had.
3. Returned the dog crate to my daughter, after I borrowed it to carry chickens from my brother’s house to my house.
4. Adding dates and events to our monthly dry erase calendar in different colors. Thrifted, of course. Keeps us on track.
5. I did not chew gum and surf my phone at the Pope’s funeral, but to be honest, I didn’t know he could chew gum or do something else at the same time.
I was under the impression that Musk’s Minions did his chewing for him,. Wondering what the performance fee was for Melania’s appearance?
@Coral Clarke – likely yet another re-do of the pre-nup. She can re-do the pre-nup all she wants but there won’t be any money once the debts are settled.
Animal crates are perfect for sharing, which we used to do with our next door neighbors until their last kitty passed away. They then gave us their carrier.
Spent 4 nights in Destin with wonderful friends. My husband and P. have been friends since they started at the same daycare together in 1970. Both of their Moms have Alzheimers amd P. Has been having a rough time, so it was good for them to be together.
1. Brought groceries and bought groceries and made all meals at condo except for 2 meals out. We all agreed the meals we made at home were better.
2. Brought all the groceries home- including the ones the friends were going to throw out!
3. Turned up AC a little before we left and turned off pond bubbler to save a little electricity while gone.
4. Accepted 2 days work this week at my part time job( where I am not an RN ) Considering applying for a short term RN assignment in fall.
5. Didn’t buy any souvenirs on our trip. Took a few pictures of the four of us and of the two lifelong friends. Perfect!
@Michele – life long friends from daycare, I love it. One of my kiddos is still good friends after 35 years (and will likely be like your better half and P. 50 years later).
What a wonderful treat to spend so much time with friends.
1. Submitted claim form for class action settlement with insurance company.
2. Planted one pot of herbs, another with two lettuce varieties, and another of pansies. That’s the extent of our annuals this year.
3. Snipped chives that are sprouting up throughout our garden. This is the gift that keeps on giving so I’ll dry whatever we’re not able to use fresh.
4. Made a Budget Bytes entree that I think I learned about from Hawaii Planner: Beef (I used plant-based) and Cauliflower Taco Skillet. Excellent. The trifecta of frugal, easy and delicious.
5. Requested and received hanging file folders from Buy Nothing.
I’ll have to try out that recipe. It looks really good.
I love that recipe! I’ll have to add it to my menu soon. 🙂
Cheap, easy and delicious is always the goal!
My chives are going crazy right now, but I let them go to seed as the flowers are so pretty.
Katy, you can eat the flowers too! Just separate out the individual florets and sprinkle them on top of a salad. Prettiness and onion taste at the same time.
1. We rent a mobile home in the country. It is in a small trailer park. In the lease, it says that if the septic has to be dug up and it is determined that the tenant caused the problem, the tenant has to pay the associated costs. Um, no. We don’t flush anything that is not to be flushed. We use Rid-X every month as a precaution. I buy the big box (5 treatments) and funnel it into 20 oz soda bottles. You have to gently tap the bottle to get as much as is humanly possible to get into each bottle. I can get 6 (20 oz) bottles out of one 5-treatment box. Yeah, it’s not quite a full treatment; however, some is better than none at all. I consider it buying 5 treatments and getting 1 free!
2. Maybe not “frugal” (unless you want to save yourself a plumbing bill). An empty soda bottle with the bottom cut off makes a great funnel. I have a 1 liter empty bottle turned funnel I keep on my kitchen sink. I also have a 59 oz Gold Peak Iced Tea bottle. The funnel sits on top of it. Any time I have “gunk” that I don’t want to go down the sink (grease, pasta water, cooking liquid with food particles, etc.), I funnel the “gunk” into the bottle and pop the lid back on. When the bottle is full, I toss it in the garbage. There are only 2 of us, so 1 iced tea bottle will last us about 2 months or a little more. No leakage into the garbage; no unwanted “gunk” down the drain – keeps the plumber away!
3. A beautiful day in Northcentral PA meant laundry on the clothesline outside instead of using electricity to run the dryer inside. Win-win!
4. “Splurging” on a bottle of flavored coffee creamer and making coffee at home instead of hitting Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, or your favorite coffee shop is still cheaper than buying coffee out.
5. We rarely go out for a meal anymore; however, when we do, we always order water. We either ask for lemon to make it palatable, or we take one of those single-serve drink mixes (that you use in a 20 oz bottle) to enjoy a nice beverage without the cost of soda, tea, juice, or coffee.
You are so smart to do everything possible to avoid problems with your septic system!
I like plain water, which is a huge money saver when we dine out.
I believe most advice today is to avoid the Rid X and let the septic do its stuff on its own.
I had a neighbor who swore you should put a raw chicken into the septic every once in a while. Apparently the rotting process attracted all the good bacteria. But I never wanted to spend the money on a chicken for that.
The weekend flew by, but I managed to be frugal and cross some things off the never-ending list. It seems if you do stuff, stuff sometimes gets done.
1. Decluttered and cleaned the basement. The flea market pile is growing! I organized all my canning supplies into one location of the basement (instead of 20). I also gave a long glance at my canned goods from the previous two gardening seasons, and I am set for this year. I am going to gift myself a canning sabbatical and grow a smaller garden this year.
2. I did do some foraging this weekend: dandelions and garlic mustard. I threw the garlic mustard into the dehydrator along with some fresh parsley and cilantro I needed to use up and I will make a “green goddess” type seasoning. The dandelions were de-petaled and put in the freezer. I make a dandelion mead with them, but we are still drinking through last year’s batch. I think my first two FTs have the theme that we are eating (and drinking) less and less these days.
3. Speaking of eating less and exercising, I am walking twice daily, once with my old dog who needs a slow walk with lots of sniffing and another one alone where I walk faster. I want to lose 25 lbs. I canceled my Y membership back in Feb when I was scared of job loss*. It’s warm now, so I’ll keep walking for now instead of renewing a gym membership.
4. I bought 4 cans of coconut milk for 50 cents each (Passover clearance). I found three receipts in a parking lot and scanned them into Fetch. I also gathered all the cans/bottle I have been saving and took them to the store for the 5c NY refund. I think I ended up with $4.25. I added the ticket with rest of the ones in my wallet. One of these days I am going to do a challenge where I buy ingredients for three meals using just my can/bottle deposit slips (YouTube style).
5. A friend at work is selling her home and in the process of decluttering and downsizing. She gave me a bag of Ball jars and lids, a camping stove and fuel, and a Crock Pot. I haven’t had a Crock Pot in years! My plan is to use it, but if I don’t, I will gift it forward.
*I am still employed. I am not sure how much longer. Rumors are notices might go out May 1 or 2. Other rumors are we will not be affected as I am not paid through appropriated funds. And still other gossip is we will be made to move anywhere from Kansas to Iowa, Indiana to New Mexico (i.e. close to farmers). Half of my team took deferred resignation offer and we are stretched really thin. My workload tripled.
I’m sorry to hear your workload tripled. Sorry too, to hear you and your remaining co-workers are under the stress of worrying about relocation and employment. Hope things get better.
Gina, I am so sorry this uncertainty still exists for you, and greatly admire you for being as pro-active as you can now.
I am so sorry about your job instability, especially since you’re now doing triple the work at the same pay. I’m impressed with all your frugal activities.
I use my crock pot less frequently now that I have an Instant Pot, but I use pull it out yesterday to heat up a container of frozen lentil soup that I found in the freezer. Perfect for a sick day.
Gina, I’m sorry that DOGE is jerking you around in so many ways. But I applaud all your frugal efforts, especially your #4. I fear I wouldn’t have the self-discipline for a challenge like the one you describe–I just cash in my bottle slips at Wegmans on groceries as I acquire them–but it sounds like a fun idea.
And lest anyone should pooh-pooh bottlepicking, I’ve been averaging $400/year this way for the past several years. At the moment, in fact, it’s doing better than my IRA. 🙁
1. Tried a new crockpot recipe that was delicious and only required me to buy stew meat – stew meat is not something I normally buy but I will get it if I find it on sale
2. My dad wants to make a family cookbook and has been bugging us for years about sending him our hand written recipes. His birthday is this coming week I finally sat down and wrote out 5 recipes of mine that he loves. Will pop it in the mail tomorrow for what is sure to be a great gift.
3. Dh needs to fly to CO to visit his mom and take care of her after she gets out of the hospital. After much searching and planning I finally found flights that included free carry on at a decent price with perfect dates and times. He will stay with her and use her car so expenses out there will be minimal
4. I went grocery shopping Saturday and remembered to use Upside as well as load Ibotta deals ahead of time. Between the 2 things I got $8 back on a $98 weekly shop
5. I organized my pantry by date putting the farthest out date in the back. I pulled what needs to be used ASAP upstairs to my small kitchen pantry and will focus on using that stuff this week. I already used a can of water chestnuts in my beef stew recipe
Your father’s family cookbook sounds like a fun and satisfying project.
I rarely use Ibotta as I rarely buy national brands, but I need to remember to at least check deal before shopping. Thanks for the reminder!
If I find receipts, I will also check on Ibotta to see if they have any offers that match things purchased on that receipt. Even if I add it after the fact, they will pay the rebate for it.
That looks so tasty!! Looking forward to the furniture reveal! I love a good before and after pictures!
1. 3 of us got haircuts from students.
2. Sold leftover fencing
3. Got some free soil and leaves
4. It rained = Free water for the garden!
5. Watched a movie from the library.
More details here: https://practicalwalk.com/2025/04/27/frugal-five-5/
I took a look at your blog post, I especially love your Friday movie night. We did the same thing when our kids were still at home, it’s such a cherished memory as I worked crazy 12-hour shifts every Friday as a L&D nurse and we also got our DVDs from the library.
1. The end of the month brings a lot of mystery shops that other people did not do correctly so they need to be redone, or no one wanted them so they raise the pay. Yesterday I did a grocery shop ($30 free food), a restaurant shop ($16.50 that fed both of us for dinner) and a gas station audit ($25). Things will slow down next week.
2. We don’t drink Mt. Dew but I had to buy some for a mystery shop; they have been occupying the bottom of the fridge door. A friend’s teen son stopped by to help put up the replacement TV for the one Clobber Paws murdered. I offered him $20 for an hour’s work but he declined saying his mother told him not to accept any money for doing a good deed, but said he noticed the Mt. Dews in the fridge and could he have one of those. Gave him all 9, so he was ecstatic. I was equally thrilled.
3. This was not a planned frugality, but I was in the grocery store and using my wheelchair. I had to ask the pharmacist tech where something was located and he said to wait, he thought he had the item behind the counter in their box for damaged items. He GAVE them to me, saying they would be thrown out anyway and no point in having me drag myself all over the store to pay full price. $53 worth of supplies! If it would not have scared him, I would have kissed him!
4. Started my planter of basil. It will live in the garage under lights for about two weeks, when it will get warm enough in the afternoons to wheel it outside for sunlight. After June 1, it can live outside. Basil is pricy, so this will save money in the future and I am using last year’s seeds so no current cost.
5. I think the husband was mortified but as we were checking out of the grocery store, the cashier dropped our dozen eggs and quite a few busted. She went to throw them out and I asked if I could have them. The replaced the eggs with a new carton but when I got home, I pulled out three good eggs from the free broken ones, got the remains of the broken ones into a bowl, rinsed out the plastic bag to get what had dripped out of the carton into the bowl with the broken remains. I made scrambled eggs for the dogs for dinner and crushed the shells to put in the garden. The bag is drying and will be reused for something else.
Yes, Katy, you do enjoy a high approval rating!!
I love your #2
I love your #2, 3, and 5. Well, all of them, really.
Your #5…I don’t know if asking for the carton of mostly broken eggs would have come to my mind but now it will should the occasion occur. Thanks Lindsey!
Your #3 made me smile. I always figure medical staff and pharmacists have seen just about everything before, (so I am not ashamed to discuss symptoms, etc.), but having a customer leap out of a wheel chair to give him a kiss would probably have been a new thing for that tech!
I would have also asked for the eggs, although I have no dogs so would have composted the broken ones.
I’m excited for your free pharmacy supplies — woo hoo!
Lindsey, I’d have gone ahead and kissed your pharmacist tech in your #3 anyway!
And your #5, of course, reminds me of my oft-told story about the “Portobello Omelet” I made after either DH or I (at this distance of time, I can’t remember which) dropped a carton of eggs on the curb on our way home from shopping in London’s Portobello Market about 40 years ago.
I consider this frugal and an excellent form of resistance due to utter stupidity (bookmarked in my Dumbass Magats folder):
https://www.huffpost.com/entry/publicsquare-trump-critics-boycott-businesses_n_680900d2e4b00850c6839b0b
I see they’ve tweaked the website but there is enough info to avoid supporting Magats.
I took a glance through that list and was happy to see that most of the businesses were small enough that they’d never cross my path.
Well that’s sad. My dog groomer is on the publicsquare list. I am not surprised. I knew their leanings. Someone else might do differently but I will still go there because 1. It is a small business 2. Owner is former military 3. Most importantly, I trust them to do no harm to our dogs and they do a great job.
@Ava, sometimes we have to hold our noses. I dislike Walmart but use it in a pinch and/or when I actually save more than a few cents (like saving dollars on an item).
https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/black-and-latine-shoppers-continue-to-boycott-target-and-it-might-be-working-heres-why/ar-AA1DLg2R?ocid=BingNewsSerp
Another good read.
I’m sadly dragging today and need to remind myself of my wins:
1. Found free adjustable height basketball hoop for grandson. It took some work to disassemble it and get it in the car. As my aunt would say, “sometimes the savings comes out of your hide”
2. Scrubbed the activity center I bought for $10 for granddaughter. It came up beautifully clean.
3. Took home some unsold items from our fundraising sale yesterday. I had 2 boxes of stuff that I was going to take to thrift store but I listed it for free on FB marketplace and put it out on my driveway and every item was taken. Saves me the time and gas of a thrift run. Much of it was pots or glassware and thrift stores seem to have too much of that type of thing so I was glad to get it to people who wanted it.
4. Ate free leftover GF pizza from fundraising sale I worked yesterday. Dh drank free leftover coffee from same sale, with free half and half from same.
5. Looked up how to remove deodorant stains from dry clean only thrifted the dress that I bought for a dollar and will sell. The researched method worked beautifully- it recommended using a a pair of nylons and gently rubbing off the stain. I do not own nylons but I used a microfiber cloth and it worked.
I love your aunt’s saying! And how true it is!
I think your aunt and I would’ve gotten along just fine!
I love that you gave away all the leftover unsold items from your fundraising sale!
You must do a better job of managing your freezer than I do. Mine is stuffed, and as soon as I get it under control, I find something great on sale, and I fill it up again. Just yesterday, I bought 4 pounds of very ripe strawberries for $2, and now some are in the freezer!
I’ve also been creating creative “fritters” from items I have around the kitchen. It’s quick and I almost feel like I’m going out to eat since the combinations are new to me.
I don’t exactly “manage” the freezer as much as I try my best to keep it in check.
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
* I caved and ordered a memory foam mattress topper from Amazon. I tried but could not get it locally. I have been putting off getting one for ages but I have an issue with my right hip that I think would be helped greatly by the memory foam topper. How is this frugal? I’m hoping I will save myself the chiro fees! Health comes first.
* I gave some surplus freebies from my son’s loot of expired produce from his work place to my friend. She recently gave me cat food that her cats used to eat but suddenly refuse. Our cat was happy to indulge!
* Recent favourite library read: Black Shield Maiden (Willow Smith)
* My sister and nieces’ birthdays are 1 week apart so I am sending them one package with gifts and cards for them both. A silver necklace for my sister (bought in a local charity shop) and a small bag for my niece.
* Paying it forward: I have given 10 evening primrose plant starts from our garden to a local group that cares for a park with a wildflower area.
Cats are such finicky creature, mine no longer will eat her canned food, yet whines for it.
Don’t beat yourself up too badly for buying from Amazon, it sounds like you’re doing your best to avoid them and that’s all any of us can do.
So annoyed. My laptop hard drive decided to conk out yesterday. This is just week’s after I had to replace the screen as a dog walked on it. Thank goodness hard drives are so cheap now. I just don’t feel like ripping the laptop open again.
A friend brought me some ramps. Yum.
I made two fairly unappealing dinners but ate the leftovers anyway.
I glued risers onto the feet of a sofa that is hard for me to get out of because it’s so low.
I didn’t insist on sitting in the front row at the funeral of someone who almost certainly couldn’t stand me.
“Week’s”? Sigh.
Right? I’m so happy the world is making fun of his blue suit.
1. For yesterday’s afternoon walk, I walked to the train station, took my free ride downtown, walked to the library, where I exchanged books, then to Target, where I bought parchment paper and nothing else. Then it was back to the station, and then home. 30 minutes accomplished and some errands done.
2. Made oatmeal cookies, adding in dried cranberries, and walnuts to make them more nutritious. I also threw in some chocolate chips, to finish up the bag. It’s fun to get that surprise sweet bite!
3. Took pictures of spring flowers on my walk and sent them to a friend who is feeling low because a friend of hers is in a health crisis.
Made cheddar-ale soup, using up the last of a can of beer. I don’t drink beer, but a picnicker left one can in the park after packing up. I examined it thoroughly. It was sealed and I couldn’t see that anything was wrong with it. I have used it in several meals now, freezing it between times, which didn’t seem to affect the taste at all. (Probably wouldn’t be good for drinking, though!)
5. The soup was pretty thick, and the leftover soup has probably become thicker in the fridge. This morning it’s going to be Welsh rarebit!
Yum, those cookies sound amazing!
1. Have Kroger fuel points expiring at the end of the month, so followed college kid to the nearest store before he headed back to campus yesterday, got all 35 gallons into our 2 cars, and saved $1.25 per gallon. (I get an extra .25 per gallon if I pay with my Kroger mastercard. Sadly that perk ends this year)
2. A partial jug of white cran strawberry juice has been languishing in the fridge because it’s very blah (not even vodka improved it). We also had several random popsicles in the back of the freezer in flavors that no one liked. Broke up popsicles and used them as ice cubes in the juice, and the combination was delicious! Juice was gone in no time.
3. Sliced up celery and carrots left over from a recipe and froze them to use in soup.
4 & 5 – all the usual stuff I guess. Line drying laundry, brewing coffee at home (bought on sale of course), eating leftovers, meal planning using what I already have, batching errands, etc.
Repurposing popsicles as ice cubes = brilliant!
1. Used my Panera sip club twice today first time coffee as I was out and about. I refrigerate the coffee so now I have coffee for two mornings. I have the super cheap sip club and will cancel it before it goes to full price.
2. Feeding scraps to chickens means no food waste and yummy eggs!
3. Got a container of marked down cream cheese with garden vegetables, a half price box of 2 pie shells (and got 400 fetch points!). I’ll make 2 quiche with our backyard eggs.
4. Noticed I got charged for 2 containers of marked down cream cheese instead of one. Got my $1.09 refunded. Every bit helps!
5. I traded 2 dozen eggs for the use of a friends small wood chipper. I’ll use it to chip my large brush and stick pile then use the mulch for my flower beds! Renting a chipper was the same cost as buying one and I only need it once maybe twice a year. So barter is the way to go!
Well that’s sad. My dog groomer is on the publicsquare list. I am not surprised. I knew their leanings. Someone else might do differently but I will still go there because 1. It is a small business 2. Owner is former military 3. Most importantly, I trust them to do no harm to our dogs and they do a great job.
Found a penny on the ground.
Reading a library book.
Foraged the freezer to cook this weeks meals.
Got a free car wash coupon from one of the very expensive monthly places for my birthday month, redeemed today so as not to lose out on a freebie.
Friend that works for a local farm brought me 4 pints blueberries and 2 quarts blackberries!