Five More Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on May 1, 2025 · 59 comments
-
I set an alert on my iCal calendar to see if any library cultural passes were made available on May 1st at the stroke of midnight. I was able to check out two passes for both the Portland Art Museum (normally $25 apiece) and the Oregon Jewish Museum and Center for Holocaust Education. (Normally $10 apiece.) These date specific passes won’t gain me admittance until mid-July, but that’s okay. It’s a favor to my future self.
I’d hoped to score theater tickets, but those are only made available “every three months.” Maybe June 1st will be my lucky day? Either way, I’ve set an alert to check at midnight.
-
I didn’t leave the house yesterday, unless you count taking out the trash. (Still a bit sick.) However, I did a deep clean of the kitchen and caught up on laundry. There really isn’t anything much more frugal than staying in the house we’re still paying for.
-
I brought up another $1 loaf of Franz Organic 24-Grain bread from the freezer this morning. (Currently selling for $7.99 at Safeway!) Just a reminder to Portland folk that the Franz Bakery Outlets sell their day-ish old bread for a buck apiece on the first Saturday of each month!
-
I flossed and brushed my teeth using products from Dollar Tree and then washed and conditioned my hair using White Rain brand shampoo and conditioner from Dollar Tree. Nothing wrong with being unabashedly cheap. I’m even thinking I should probably stock up a bit before tariffs hit.
-
I’m loaning a library book to a family member as there’s a still a week before it’s due.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
Like this post? Then please share it with your friends!
Like this:
Like Loading...
{ 59 comments… read them below or add one }
You may remember that I got the Jewish museum passes earlier in the year, but I returned them for someone else to use as my schedule changed.
1. Leftovers for lunch, coffee at home, suntea out of the many teabags stocked up in my pantry.
2. Solar Power laundry line, chickens eating up our food scraps, including the cat food that my picky cat won’t eat.
3. Swarmed by mosquitoes and bitten, so I used the natural remedy of apple cider vinegar on a reusable cotton pad to wipe down the bites and take the sting away. After you scratch them, this is not pleasant, but if you haven’t scratched them yet this is super helpful.
4. I got decent steaks marked down 30% so we had that last night, plus the root vegetables made into hash. That turned into steak and hash for breakfast.
5. I’m focusing on giving the hens more calcium (crushed egg shells), and more protein, from our dinner scraps as well as whole sunflower seeds. They get plenty of fresh greens from our meadow/law: burdock, Clover, and native lettuce and grass. Yesterday I was rewarded with an egg! May it be the first of many.
Cats are such weirdos!
Hooray for THE EGG!
Julia, supplementing your hens diet with cat food helps with feather regrowth after moulting too.
Our hens laid their first egg December 31, 1999, I no longer feared the fallout of Y2K, we had an egg! We would not starve. One tiny pullet egg wasn’t going to feed anybody, much less my extended family but psychologically it was quite a boost.
1. I ate dinner from the freezer again. I’m trying to clear it out. Since it’s just me here, I may just shut it down completely.
2. I gave myself a home pedicure. This is a time saver also. I’ll continue to do this as long as I can reach my feet.
3. I received my payout from Ebay. It’s not much, but was just enough to pay my electric bill. Every little bit helps.
4. I walked in my favorite place with one of my favorite people yesterday. Free exercise and amateur therapy. The weather was perfect and really lifted my mood.
5. I spent the day at home getting caught up before a weekend trip. No money spent.
Hooray that whatever you sold paid for electric bill, nothing to sneeze at!
Check this out
https://www.theguardian.com/wellness/2025/apr/24/how-to-not-buy-new-things
Rose, I saw something online from the Today Show. Their consumer reporter was also reporting on being a non- consumer. Katy, I’m surprised they didn’t interview YOU! We’re suddenly in fashion again!
They did, but it’s been awhile.
https://www.today.com/video/woman-buys-nothing-new-in-five-years-44558403909
Thanks Rose. Those are sobering statistics, especially the one stating about 80% of us having some type of consumer debt. And also the one about each of us spending $18,000.00 a year on non-essentials! Wha…???
I guess it depends what is the definition of non-essentials. A lipstick? A new purse? A new phone? Dinner out? New towels? Vacation? Who knows.
I think consumer debt includes the big two: mortgage and car payments. So, 80% may be the right number.
I’d like to see that consumer debt number subtracting the mortgage. When I think of consumer debt, I am not thinking of housing.
When you owe, you owe – smart debt or otherwise.
1. Husband installed storm door I got free on Craigslist. It is sand colored & matches the brick on the house. The person we got it from thanked us for removing it as she could not put in bulk pick up trash.
2. Husband installing 2 ceiling fans. One I curb picked (new in box) and one from Next door Neighbor ad.
3. I needed some outdoor chairs. On my walk Tuesday evening I found 2 nice metal lawn chairs on a curb. One was a bit frayed at the top. I used a carpet needle and dental floss as thread to secure the canvas.
4. When setting up my water dept account I got a 100$ discount on the fees when I made my bill pay direct debit from my checking account.
5. I got my BFF a bagel for 1.00 at Panera for driving me to a destination. (The bagel discount popped up on my Sips Club account.)
Katy, I saw one of the cafe chairs you found last week was missing the back support. I wondered how you will repair it. (Always gleaning knowledge from this blog.)
I’m not sure that I will repair the back, I might just leave it the way it is.
I’m impressed with you and your husband’s projects!
Hope you’re back to feeling 100% ASAP!
1. I also didn’t leave the house yesterday – or today- which saved us significantly in some way- I’m sure!
2. I grabbed that free 8×10 photo print from CVS you shared (thanks again) and will pick it up the next time I leave the house.
3. Used all leftovers to create different meals and let nothing go to waste.
4. I’m currently reading a non-fiction book on Hoopla, listening to another non-fiction audio book on Libby and reading a novel – all thanks to our amazing public library. I’m also tracking my reading on the Beanstack app to be sure to contribute my participation in their Spring reading challenge. For participating I earned a free goody bag I picked up last week. It included a bottle of hand sanitizer, an eyeglass cleaning cloth, a bookmark, a pencil, a phone holder and a key chain that says I Love My Public Library.
5. I watched some YouTube videos for inspiration and then used materials I had around the house (a cracker box, fabric from an old shopping bag, scrap paper and glue) and made myself a summer junk journal.
Yay, I’m so happy you used the CVS coupon!!!
Hope you feel better fast, Katy. Summer colds are no fun!
1. Put 2 already-read books in the Little Free Library near school, and got me 2 new-to-me books.
2. Got a free house key thanks to an Ace Hardware coupon received in the mail.
3. Put the key on an advertising keychain I got free.
4. Cut open an “empty” tube of makeup foundation allowing me to use it a few more times. As others have noted, it is absolutely amazing how much “goody” is still in those “empty” tubes.
5. Did not buy the handcrafted jewelry I saw online at Etsy, but I sure wanted to: it was a bead bracelet that spelled out, in Morse code, an insult to the 34x Felon currently occupying the White House. There are also some T-shirts that have similar hidden messages in them, such as 86 #47. (86= Fire and 47 for him being the 47th president, God help us all.) While I am mightily tempted to buy them all, I think my $ would be better off going to the Democratic National Committee and similar non-Trumpy causes.
My ex husband is a bit of a big deal in the DNC. Believe me, they spend their time discussing how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. I am sure the other side is basically the same. I personally can’t stand it.*
*Years and years ago I and some friends were watching the movie Time Bandits. (Which I love.) Fidgit, the main Time Bandit, had his authority questioned. He said, “Do you want to be the leader of this gang?” The others said, “No!, we agreed: NO leader!” Then Fidget retorted, “Right, so shut up and do as I say.” All of my friends pissed themselves laughing. I said, “Uhh, what?’ and they said that we me in a nutshell.
Don’t forget that you van use a Starbucks stir stick as a makeup spatula, like this:
https://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/five-teeny-tiny-frugal-things-2/
Hooray for a free key, I need a coupon like that.
Katy, But I never go to Starbucks!
Rose, Thanks for the heads up about the DNC. Maybe I’ll write my check to the League of Women Voters instead.
How about the ACLU? I used to volunteer for them and my neighbor was the national president until she stepped down. Act Blue?
I used to enjoy politics a lot, but it just seems like pointless bickering a lot of the time now, to me.
1. Listed three things on Marketplace.
2. Brought my MIL to her MD appt. and we did errands and a thrift store stop. She paid for my thrift store finds ( two books) because I drove. She stayed for an early dinner with us and I sent leftovers fron last night’s dinner home with her.
3. Trying to run my dishwasher every other day to save electricity. I cook at home almost exclusively and I seem to use alot of dishes!
4. Working a shift at my sub job tomorrow and I will pack my lunch.
5. Re- reading the Mitford series by Jan Karon. Their folksy charm is soothing to me. Checking them out at the library.
Have you ever read anything by Miss Read, a British author? Simple but very soothing books. I think there were two series–it has been a long time since I read them but now might be a good time for me to dig them up again. She also wrote for Punch magazine.
I love Miss Read!
I love Miss Read, too! There is a Facebook group for those of us who love her.
I had no idea about the FB group for Miss Read! Thank you for that info. I was introduced to her by the owner of the sheep farm we lived on in Scotland. I sort of sneered, as I was young and attracted to the gritty. After a long life working with desperate people who live a gritty life, I now gravitate to the soothing. Speaking of which, those of you who like Britbox type mysteries, Ludwig is enjoyable; he is a puzzle designer/solver pulled into impersonating a police detective.
I’m crazy about David Mitchell but Peep Show was his best work. Also Mitchell & Webb.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4_6e5IaQXM
Love the Miss Read books too! It was quite an undertaking a few years ago to find them all for my mom. Ended up borrowing books from all over the US to get it done. Mom is zero technology so it had to be the actual books.
Actual cooking from scratch uses a lot of supplies.
Angela Thirkell is also very soothing. Each book is exactly the same. Somehow two young upper middle class people fall in love, children and servants are comic foils, etc etc etc. Sometimes she gets a little hilariously right wing, as in 1945 when Churchill was replaced as prime minister. But generally enjoyable, found free online or at the library.
Love Angela Thirkell AND Miss Read.
Now I’m also reading D.E. Stevenson for a similar genre.
Also “A gentleman in Moscow” is delightful to listen to
I stocked up on my favorite shampoo when I noticed that it’s made in Canada. I have very fine, very fair hair, and I can’t get away with super cheap shampoo.
I brush my teeth with little tubes of expired toothpaste I got from my dentist. Also, tiny containers of expired floss. How floss expires, I don’t know.
I’m with you on the “How would floss even expire?”
I’m fully stocked on Dollar Tree toothpaste, but always accept the dentist samples for traveling.
1. Dinner was very easy (and cheap) as I was going to a protest at our state capitol this evening. Ham from the free Easter ham I froze, 1/2 a sweet potato, leftover broccoli and a cook in the pouch rice mix I bought for 60 cents.
2. Dropped my daughter off at karate early, left my car there and walked to the Capitol for the rally/protest. Rally ended just in time for karate pick up. Had a great time meeting up with friends, meeting new people and protesting the oligarchs.
3. Caught up with a friend when she dropped some plants of fir me on her way home from work. Saved me the 20 min drive to her farm to pick them up.
4. The chickens are now laying eggs in the rabbit hutch. Yea for eggs! And laughter at the very annoyed rabbit. Silly chickens.
5. Was gifted two trash bags of purple nettle, wild mustard and chickweed for the guinea pigs and the chickens. My friends know to save their weeds for me lol.
I did not kidnap anyone.
I love that your friend is saving her weeds for your creatures!
I hope you feel 100% soon Katy.
1. I got paid for working two days at my old job. I was also sent home with a free large sandwich and soda each afternoon. I’m happy to help out this family owned small business when I can.
2. The library notified me I’m off the stand-by list and on the list to attend the floral design class. All materials are free and we go home with an arrangement.
3. A friend gave me a bottle of non-alcohol wine. This friend likes the real stuff but knows I can’t drink alcohol due to a medication I’m on. She’s a peach!
4. Finished reading The Cult of Trump by Steven Hassan PhD. A like minded friend lended it to me. It explains a lot although it still is hard to understand the blind devotion to him by SO many of our fellow Americans.
5. Katy, our patio set is a mish mash of pieces too. I never think about it when I’m out there with a library book and an iced tea in hand or chatting with friends and neighbors.
A free flower arranging class where the everything is supplied? That’s so cool! Your patio sounds perfect!
Took some of my husband’s old shoes, which were cleaned and polished, to Goodwill to donate today, and I found a perfect three-season cotton sweater on the racks for $6.24.
It was hot today and the grocery store that houses our insurance-preferred pharmacy has ultra-cheap soft drink machines outside. I tried to buy a drink after dropping off a prescription, but the machine dispensed the wrong flavor. The store gave me back my money plus 5 cents when I let them know it was stocked incorrectly.
Also went to Ollie’s Outlet (waves hi to A. Marie!) and bought greatly discounted trail mix, tea, canned tomatoes, shampoo, Reeses’s Big Cups candy clearance priced at 25 cents each, and an adorable stuffed tiger toy for Demon Puppy, who is growing up and does not rip up toys like she used to.
My husband requested that I sew him a shop apron, but my sewing stash had an old denim apron and magnetic snaps given to me long ago, so it was just a few minute’s work to put on the snaps and give him the apron.
Highly recommended frugal adult snack: the Monet crackers from Dollar Tree with Aldi’s $4.29 Winking Owl sangria. Very tasty if you like a sweet red wine.
Glad to read that I’m not the only fan of the “Monet” crackers! Hooray for a “three season” sweater, I’d never thought of it that way.
I too just went to Ollie’s (waves back at Ruby). I did get the last bag of 1 cu. ft. Hyponex bagged soil in the store (the 2 cu. ft. bags are more than I can lift), but I was disappointed not to find the advertised 4-tier mini greenhouses in yet. My current such greenhouse is probably in its last year, and I’d like to snag another one if I can–especially since I’m guessing that these, like so many other things, are made in China.
I’ve been out in the garden the last two days as much as my aging frame will permit. Everything’s now cut back that needed to be cut back except one small butterfly bush, and I’m now looking forward to direct-seeding nasturtiums and other annual herbs/flowers (the seeds for which I bought at Ollie’s a few months ago).
I’m also looking forward to the upcoming Miss Austen on PBS Masterpiece, since I’ve read the Gill Hornby book and found it well researched and well worth reading. I don’t have TV or cable, but I’m hoping to stream it on pbs.org.
And I didn’t just sign an executive order to try to cut off funding for PBS and NPR. (Blowing large raspberry in direction of orange menace.)
Here it’s $60 a year for PBS Passport, which let’s you watch everything on the site. That’s a really good spend and helps support the station and the system.
Our Ollie’s did not have the greenhouses, but I was tickled to get a big bottle of Neutrogena shampoo for $5. And I did not need the awesome Canadian cat litter, but they had an extra pallet of it in stock.
I don’t have PBS passport or regular TV but I find that you can usually stream episodes free after they are shown on TV for a short period of time. It’s how I watched Marlow Murder Club. I thought about getting Passport since it goes to support PBS (who need it now more than ever) but at the time I knew I wouldn’t be watching enough to justify it but might do it this summer instead.
Feel better soon!
1) My daughter came over today to borrow beach chairs for a beach camping trip. While she was here I asked what else was on her list. She ended up borrowing a cooler, my portable compressor and hoses (to reinflate the car tires after driving on the beach) and I gave her 3 gallons of water from my emergency stash (I try to rotate out the water every other year) I also gave her a lunch out of the freezer to take to work.
2)I altered a dress that I already owned to wear to my niece’s wedding.
3)I used some left over rice to add to some Trader Joe’s fried rice to stretch the amount so we can have it for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.
4)I transferred some tomato seedlings to larger pots that I grew from free seeds.
5)I picked up a new book from my favorite author from the library
Thanks, I feel pretty much back to normal self today. Mostly.
I transplanted a tomato seedling today as well, twinsies!
Glad to hear that each tomato seedling now has its own pot, Katy. Believe me, they’ll thank you later.
Just a few frugal things:
1. Didn’t want to cook last night, but did anyway. Made taco salad, but realized I was out of the taco seasoning I buy. Looked up a recipe for it, then winged it when I didn’t have exactly what was needed. It was edible.
2. My husband helped a young coworker do some work at his mom’s house. They offered to pay him, but he refused, saying this is just what friends do. So they gifted him with some tomato and pepper starts.
3. We threw some peach pits in a planter last year, then forgot about them. We have about six trees started, still tiny, but so cute!
1. Mowed our own yard and tidied it up. Looks much better now! Lawn clippings went into the compost. When we lived overseas, we payed someone to mow our lawn for $40, but now that we’re here we do it ourselves.
2. Planning next homeschool year and seeing what curriculum I can get cheaper on ebay. Our little local library also has donated homeschool books, I should check there.
3. Plan to combine errands by grocery shopping after dropping the kids off at book club.
4. Continuing to list items on ebay, no sales yet, but starting to get more watchers and offers.
5. Packed my husband’s lunch yesterday
3.
I donated blood yesterday and they unexpectedly gave me a free pass for Cedar Point (which I think is like Six Flags. It’s near where I live but I know I will never go there, so I gave it to a stranger I sat next to on the bus home. He seemed happy with it.
1. Went to the bus barn after my morning school run and filled the gas tank of my van. I try to get it during the coolest part of the day and I run the pump slowly so the gas doesn’t “slosh” in. It takes about 10-12 seconds for the 10th’s wheel to go around once. More gas in the tank. Do that with the car, too. The cooler the temperature and the slower you put it in the tank, the more gas you get each time you fill up. If you have a loyalty or discount card for gas, that’s a bonus…more gas, more savings!
2. I get paid every 2 weeks. Today, thanks to Easter break, my paycheck was about $150 shorter than it usually is. As school winds down, my paycheck will continue to get smaller. My Amish students are done with school May 9. My Catholic school students are done May 29, and my home district students (who I only have in the morning) are done June 6. I get paid by the hour. Once school is out, I have to file for unemployment for the summer. I will get paid every week; however, it will take me the entire month to get what I get now for 2 weeks. I will be watching for even more ways to save, so keep those ideas coming!
3. I had to empty my coin jar right after Easter to put toward getting the car fixed. My jar wasn’t full yet, but I had about $40 in there. It’s now back up to $10. Yay me!
4. Bought a bag of shredded carrots and a bag of cauliflower florets on sale. I have the remaining ingredients, so I will be making the Wisconsin Cheese Soup I mentioned in a previous post.
5. Tomorrow is my day to take my widowed (and doesn’t drive) sister for groceries and errands. Then she takes me to lunch afterward. My husband is going along this week. My sister asks me (us) where I (we) want to go for lunch. I’m going to talk to my husband and see if we can go to Olive Garden and he and I split an order of chicken parmesan. There’s plenty of food for both of us and my sister will only have to pay for 1 meal for the 2 of us.
You’re lucky you get unemployment for the summer. I don’t, because it’s a seasonal job. That’s just the way it’s set up out here.
I have driven for summer school before. Due to the current state of my mental health, I have to take care of ME. Taking care of ME means not working through the summer. I am finishing up my 6th year of driving. Last year was the first summer I didn’t drive. I don’t have a CDL and, at 61, I’m not going to get it. i will stick with my 9-passenger van. I did tell my contractor that any of the vehicles I can drive I would be more than happy to take to the garage that does his inspections through the summer. I can take a vehicle over and sit for an hour and wait, and it saves.his mechanics from doing it.
We had a major storm earlier in the week, which has impacted some of my usual thriftiness. I’ve had to actually go and find places to purchase meals since I couldn’t open my fridge or freezer and couldn’t use my stove.
#1 – Went home every day after work- skipped out on date night.
#2 – Went yard-saleing and only bought a $1 sweatshirt to give as a gift to my grandfather. Resisted the temptation to spend $200 on a kayak that sells at retail for $1200 to use. I have a kayak, I’m just too big for it right now.
#3 – Opened the windows and used fresh air to keep my house cool while the power was out, and even after the power came back on. Cheaper to use the free air than it is an air conditioner!
So I finally got to go to a scratch n dent food store. Its an hour from my house but I was visiting a friend. I wasn’t really impressed til i got to the back of the store where the really marked down stuff was. I got a bunch of boxes of healthy cereal because my son eats tons, and $1 boxes of 120ct Kleenex which is a really good deal. all the boxes were kinda crushed or damaged but I dont mind!
I have 5 Krogers within 5 miles and I really only buy marked down stuff which there is usually plenty of. I love the bagged produce for $.99!
Thank you for the Culture Pass reminder! When our libraries first started offering Culture Pass, it was primarily the major museums. I’m now seeing some performing arts venues and lots of smaller museums listed, too. Setting reminders on my calendar to log in early on the first of the month.
As an 80 yr old Bedfast lady I love this site
Pass along tips to hubby. Saw on today’s news that the one who will go unnamed is cutting funding for PBS stations. I cried. I find entertaining myself quite difficult and I love the PBS. Thrifty and educational.
Hope this is not true.
It is true. But technically he can’t cut the funding by executive order. It will wind up its way through the courts in the meantime. I encourage everyone to write their congressman/woman and ask them to continue to support (and fund) the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Squeaky wheels get the grease.
1. Setting a $100 limit on groceries this month. I did my first weekly shopping yesterday, spending $19. Tomorrow I will shop for free groceries with my UCard. After today’s wellness visit with my doctor, I should have $25 to spend altogether.
2. Used my ride-free card for the above doctor’s appointment, as well as yesterday’s trip to the library.
3. Bought aquarium filters at PetSmart, buying two boxes to get 50% off the second box.
4. Made French onion soup yesterday — the first bowl of many, since I have plenty of all the ingredients.
5. Found a nickel!