Five Teeny Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on July 17, 2025 · 36 comments
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My neighbor returned from her family’s NYC trip, so I walked her mail and packages back to her house. She shared that her plan is to make us some kind of frozen dessert, which is A-okay in my book! I’m happy that her thank you gift is something consumable, rather than a “thing” that I would have to either A) hold onto, or B) feel guilty about giving away.
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Last night’s dinner was a big ol’ green salad that incorporated leftover garbanzo beans, the last of some mozarella pearls, a tiny avocado and a sprinkle of crunchy Dollar Tree panko crumbs. Of course I topped it with my Tea Towel Salad Dressing™ which I’ll never tire of. I love a meal that incorporates random bits and bobs from the fridge and bonus points when it’s healthy and tasty. Portland topped 100° F yesterday, which made “salad for dinner” an extra good idea.
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I’m halfway through my “Lucky Day” library copy of Abby Jimenez’s Say You’ll Remember Me, which is just as good her other books, which is saying a lot!
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My sister and nephew accidentally left behind a number of items, so I packaged everything up and sent it out in today’s mail. I used PirateShip.com instead of USPS.com, which saved $1.65.
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My sisters, nephew and I went out for breakfast the last full day they were in town. I cobbled an order together from the “Sides and Such” portion of the menu, which made my food $15.50 compared to the $21 for most entrees. I ordered a double order of $5 cheesy grits, a single $2 over-easy egg and a $3.50 biscuit. The meal was my sister’s treat, but I’ll still attempt to hack the menu.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
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I also love a consumable gift– to give and receive!
A few years ago on another frugal blog I follow, the concept of a consumable gift got some flack. People brought up concerns of food allergies, special diets, addiction (in terms of alcohol), etc. While these are all valid issues, I feel like they weren’t giving the givers enough credit. Most people know when gluten or alcohol is not appropriate gift for their recipient! (Alcohol is expensive, who just gives it to near strangers, haha). Though I appreciate sticking up for people with special diets (I am among them) I thought the micromanaging was not in the spirit of gift giving. In my opinion, a good cookie will always find a mouth, even if it’s the recipient’s spouse or children or house guests! (I also think the alternative offered by the commenters, cash, could read as awkward or cold in many gift giving situations. And it adds up!)
I agree that if I know someone, I will have at least a general idea that they do not want alcohol or that they have dietary needs, though I am not offended if they pass the gifts to someone else. I would probably never know anyway.
The frustration for us is special diets for dinner guests. That has cut down on the little in-home entertaining we used to do.
I think if you do a pot luck dinner, the people on special diets will bring something they can eat. Just a thought.
Yes; we’ve done a form of that. But if we are inviting only one couple, one being diabetic and the other vegetarian, it is sort of like asking them to make picnics for themselves and bring it while we eat something we like. We share carrot sticks and save the fancy dessert for after they’re gone. Loses the sense of making a meal for someone and using the Good Dishes.
I, too, struggle with special diets and entertaining. Hubby and I both have dietary restrictions, which I deal with every day. I have come to dread house guests who travel from afar because everyone seems to have some sort of restriction that becomes challenging to juggle. Kinda takes the fun out of a visit!
There are apps that suggest meals around restrictions, and build-your-own meals are perfect for this. A dessert spread of fruit, nuts, cheese etc. is flexible, too. I think of meeting guests’ needs as part of entertaining.
I’m celiac, so I’m very conscious of the potential burden, but the reality is there are tons of easy, naturally GF meals hiding in the average kitchen. It’s not necessary to buy or make anything special, just focus on what’s already there – because it’s just one meal, not an entire diet.
My end-of-year present for my kids’ teachers was always a bottle of champagne, with thanks for putting up with them for a whole year. If they didn’t drink I am sure they could give it to someone else.
Champagne at year end = (deferred) combat pay.
1. Berries are usually the grocery store loss leaders here now, so I buy them often, often freezing the blueberries to make a cold snack.
2. Took an afternoon class through local Arts Council’s “Art Camp.” Made me feel very accomplished, even though I am quite an amateur. Self-confidence for the win!
3. A nearby town has added something new to their festival and parade this year, which I appreciate. The last three blocks of the parade route will be a Quiet Zone, meaning the emergency vehicles and others are not be using sirens, horns, and other obnoxiousness that are customary around here. This is designed in particular for people with sensory processing issues and small children.
The irony is that the quiet area will be monitored by the regional Sea Scouts and– The Public Library Librarians! What a twist on the “shh” stereotype.
4. I spoke up about an issue at a nearby park/pool and got a very prompt and professional call back from the supervisor about how they will address it.
5. Our house is trying to kill us: Husband pointed out a small plant growing between deck and siding– poison ivy. Noticed large waspy thing flying by the door, and found they have started a nest in the outdoor light. Fortunately, I have leftover sprays from previous encounters to battle these.
I love your #3. It’s not only thoughtful but funny that they are using librarians to monitor.
#3 is brilliant and I would love to pass it on to our parade organizers! Was there any news coverage of this decision you’d be comfortable sharing?
I didn’t find a press release; this was from their facebook page:
New This Year: Parade Quiet Zone! ✨
We’re excited to make the Touch of Dutch Parade more inclusive for everyone! At the end of the parade route, we will have a designated Quiet Zone — a space with no loud music, sirens, horns, or flashing lights. This area will start at the Railroad tracks and go until the end of the parade (around Fieldhouse Ford). Thanks to the Jasper County Public Library and the Stars and Stripes Division Sea Cadets we will have people along this area to help keep things quieter.
This area is ideal for:
✅ Individuals with sensory sensitivities
✅ Families with young children
✅ Anyone who simply prefers a calmer environment
Help us spread the word and let’s make this year’s parade fun and comfortable for ALL members of our community!
1. Biked to a neighborhood garage sale and dug through the book boxes to find two classic kids’ books for 50 cents each (Secret Garden and White Fang) which I’ll enjoy reading and then put in my Little Free Library. I also found a bag of wooden popsicle craft sticks, and the seller said those were free. Previously I biked to another garage sale and got a copy of Pride and Prejudice for 50 cents, and a pink plastic organizing basket for my bathroom, from the free box.
2. Biked to the library for my library books and checked our PO box at the same time. Exercise + getting errands done without using gas or putting miles on the car makes me happy.
3. DH makes a lot of tuna burgers, for his lunches and dinner on Mondays, and he’s found a good sub for the egg the recipe called for is aquafaba from a can of garbanzo beans. He decided to roast the beans leftover from the can and they were fantastic. Cheaper than peanuts, and better for us nut-allergic folks.
4. The black “Narnia” lantern in our front yard, for whatever reason, attracts bird poop like nothing else. Though I wash it off frequently, the bird poop had bleached the black finish and it was unsightly. DH found a can of spray paint in the garage and touched it up, and his next objective is to set up a solar-powered light inside, as the circuit for the original light fixture inside is broken. (We rent, so just pulling it out/replacing it is not an option, but we can fix it!)
5. Really enjoying library books these days, especially “Vitamania” by Catherine Price. A very good explanation of how we’ve conflated ‘vitamins’ with ‘health” and how unregulated supplements are…and how we probably don’t need many of the things being hawked at us. I stopped taking the turmeric and Vitamin C supplements I thought were doing me good and actually feel better. Saves money, too.
yay! I was thinking today I need to reread “The Secret Garden” and “A Little Princess.” I do not have the Tasha Tudor illustrated volumes I grew up with, so BOO.
Favorite parts: the description of Sara’s doll, and the idea of baking potatoes in an outdoor bonfire.
After that I will read my signed first edition of The Hapless Child, of course.
The Secret Garden is one of my favorite books. I have a beautiful copy of it. A treasure!
What does your sister think of your habit of being a non-consumer? Has she joined you in being a non-consumer as well?
First, my sympathies to Katy and everyone else who’s suffering from even worse heat than we currently have here in Central NY (highs in the 90s, with humidity to match, for most of the past week).
Now, FTTFT, Heat Wave and AC Edition:
(1) I’m doing whatever I have to do in the outside world in the mornings, and spending the afternoons/evenings indoors enjoying the benefits of the central AC that DH insisted on installing over 15 years ago. Blessings on the memories of both Willis Carrier, the inventor of AC, and my DH.
(2) DH also insisted on installing solar panels on our garage roof at about the same time, which keeps me from feeling as if my last name ought to be Rockefeller when I run the AC.
(3) And I maximize the benefits of the AC by keeping a bucket under the condenser drip in the basement and using this water in the garden beds. Good upper-body workout with hauling the water up, too.
(4) I’m cutting herbs for drying in my attic, and starting to make up sets for gift giving. Re: the discussion above about consumable gifts, I have yet to find someone who objects to getting a set of dried herbs. There may be a germophobe out there who might object to the fact that my actual (clean) hands have touched the products, but I have yet to meet him/her.
(5) And I haven’t yanked funds for PBS and NPR because newspeople in both organizations didn’t sufficiently kiss my you-know-what. In fact, I’ve doubled my contributions this year to my local stations.
1. I stopped at the library to pick up Tai chi videos that my husband had requested. He would like to give Tai chi a chance and this is a way to do it on the cheap.
2. I cut up a cantaloupe. You get quite a bit of fruit for just a few dollars that way.
3. A friend came over for a visit. Just an afternoon visit.
4. Someone on Facebook requested small amounts of yarn for her hat making efforts. I offered her some and she offered me pastel yarn in return.
5. Keeping my nose clean.
1. Thanks for trying to save money at Jam.
2. Thanks again for mailing stuff.
3. Will mail your kiddo’s stuff tomorrow when it is cooler.
4. Thanks for the book recommendation!
5. My neighbors watered my plants when I was out in Oregon, so I’m baking bread today and I’ll share a loaf and some homemade marmalade as a thank you I think I will also give them a crocheted flower to round it out.
I just finished typing most of my 5FTs and my computer went on the blink, so apologies if this is a rerun. I will try and reconstruct what I listed:
1. Went to Ollie’s Outlet to use up my 10% discount coupon before it expires. Stocked up on dog bones. Snuggles is the most chewingest dog I’ve ever seen! I should’ve named him Jaws! So getting real bones for $1.99 (before discount) is a huge savings for me. These are the same kind of packaged basted bones that cost $3.99 to $7.99 elsewhere, depending on the store. I’m hoping the bones will keep Snuggy occupied so he won’t chew up something he shouldn’t.
2. Made sun tea. Using a gallon tea jug I bought at Goodwill a year or 2 ago.
3. Collected rainwater in an indoor plastic trash can and transferred it to some gallon jugs for the houseplants. Since rainwater contains a lot of nitrogen, it’s free fertilizer!
4. Set AC to 78 degrees and am supplementing it with electric fans. Saves on the electric bill, and keeps me comfortable.
5. Found an old shaker bottle and am using that to mix some of former roommate’s Slim Fast powder, which she left behind, with milk. Now that it’s hot, I’m substituting this concoction for breakfast or dinner on a lot of days. Cheap eating and it keeps me feeling full.
100 degrees? UGH.
Cannot believe it is hotter in Oregon than Texas or Florida. 96 degrees in Fort Worth, TX and 88 degrees in South Florida (Boynton Beach). Wow! I go from one hot place to the other. But not as hot as Oregon today.
I do not have five frugal things, I have one GIGANTIC frugal thing—courtesy of the two relatives who flew up here on their own dime and refused any payment to redo our study. This house was built in 1950 and also went through a flood. We had most of it rebuilt when we moved in, but the study at the back of the house was not a high priority until the electricity (already sparse of outlets) began throwing the circuit. The guys came up to do that but when they opened the plywood panels, they found little insulation and some of it was newspapers from 1950, ditto for the ceiling plus no vapor barrier, mold on the flooring, never mind the lack of correctly installed electricity in that part of the house. So, we now have all new insulation, newly painted sheetrock instead of the dark cheapo paneling, 12 recessed lights in the new ceiling, new flooring, and enough outlets to power the Pentagon. We paid only for the materials and to feed the guys, less than $10,000 for a project much larger than the bid we got from a local person for close to $45,000. Plus, both these guys are icky-picky, so we know things were done correctly (they are in construction in their real lives). Oh, and they also replaced the toilets in both our bathrooms with the new extra tall handicapped toilets, so several inches taller than the old handicapped toilets were, and installed a Ring device so I don’t have to drag myself to the front door to answer bells from window salesmen and religious proselytizers.
And, they loved salmon so ate through 3 to 4 fillets a day, for either lunch or dinner. We had built up a huge stockpile, due to generosity of fisher friends, as in over 60 fillets, so we were able to feed them from our freezer except for two days. So, also frugal.
We are so blessed in our neighbors and in most of our relatives. It is humbling and embarrassing to need help but we did remind ourselves of the times we flew out to help fathers and FILs when we were young and they had reached old age. It helped us feel less useless and more just like part of the wheel of time that goes around for everyone.
Oh, what wonderful kinfolk you have! Hugs to them!
It would be fascinating to read those 1950s newspapers that served as your insulation. You had a built-in time capsule!
Lindsey, this is awesome. I’m so happy for you.
@Lindsey – always heartening to read about well raised children, who are of course now adults. I’d pretty much bet money that they saw their parents/others helping others.
And now freezer space where the salmon resided.
What a great story, Lindsey. I’m delighted for you and the husband, as well as for your two generous (and well-fed) relatives!
My husband and I are vegan, and typically our dinners out are at friends houses (or family) who know that we eat plant-based. When invited, I always reach out and say hey, ” I’d love to bring a side or two to add to the meal if you are open to that” and have never been turned down. Granted no one’s trying to put forth some fancy meal to impress, to where my offering ruins a menu. As long as I know what the main course is, it’s easy enough for me to bring dishes that mesh well. I feel it’s enjoyed when I leave with empty dishes or the host asks if it’s ok to keep some of the leftovers for their use. Absolutely! Often I’ll bring a vegan dessert which folks would be hard-pressed to pick which is which. I just never bring something without checking first.
In the end it’s just about enjoying the time together. I remember the laughter and conversations more than the menu.
It’s a mitzvah to graciously accept help from kind people. Also, if they’d like to visit the Hamptons, let me know. No salmon here but we do have fresh tuna, bluefish, etc lobsters and so on.
What a wonderful story! And the wheel of time image struck me as particularly apt.
(Tall toilets are one of my favorite things. Makes life much more comfortable).
1. Dinner tonight is a chicken and cheese sandwich, with a side of avocado and cherries. All free from mystery shops.
2. My partner was very proud of himself in that he rescued a recyclable bottle from the trash at work to get the $0.05. As he is not naturally frugal, this was a big win, in the teeny-tiny-frugal scope.
3. We harvested the first zucchini of the season from our garden.
4. CD rates have fallen, so they are now below my car loan’s interest rate. I cashed in the CD and paid off my car.
5. Watching a new-to-me series on Hoopla, via my library, for free.
1. Curb picked 3 large pots, one a beautiful blue glazed pot and 2 terracotta strawberry pots. Alerted a friend that there was a pile of free bricks, which I knew she was looking for. We scout for each other.
2. Eating my fill of raspberries and blackberries from my garden, as well as kale, arugula, tomatoes and green beans. Froze a gallon bag of green beans and dehydrated 2 batches of kale. Froze another gallon of rhubarb.
3. Sold a set of 3 books on FB marketplace. They’d been listed for a year (I kept renewing them). I had a limited space for my sell pile and I’m ruthless about keeping it contained, but these didn’t take up much space and it’s $20 in my pocket!
4. Hemming a dress to wear to my granddaughter’s first birthday, which is an occasion in my DIL’s family of origin. And this one does seem extra celebratory since she arrived so early.
5. Attended a Master Gardener dinner. 5 of us carpooled and I brought home a dozen leftover cookies for my husband. I’m always on the lookout for leftovers!
She’s a year old already? Time really does fly. Hopefully it is a fun party for the baby.
1. My shredder was not performing well, so I thoroughly cleaned the teeth of all the compacted paper. I used a dental pick, a stylus and a big hatpin for the various jams. It was actually fun and very satisfying.
2. A can of crescent rolls, which I just bought, popped open in the refrigerator. Despite warnings not to use, I cut away the part that popped out, and sliced the remaining roll horizontally, making little pinwheels that baked up into adorable little cinnamon rolls. I ate four of them, and I’m still alive. The rest of them went into the freezer.
3. I made salsa from the recipe in The Tightwad Gazette — a can of diced tomatoes, one half of an onion (diced), one half of a small fresh jalapeno, and 1/8 teaspoon of garlic powder. Cooked over low heat for 20 minutes. I let it cool then transferred to a leftover jar that previously held salsa. The recipe (which is actually double of the above, by the way) says to preserve in a hot water bath, but I am keeping mine in the fridge, and I will use it up before it gets old enough to worry about.
4. I took some of stale slices of baguette out of the freezer, buttered and toasted them, and used them as dippers for the hummus. Better than pita bread!
5. I threw out some old shoes, too worn to donate, and consolidated my shoe collection enough to empty an over-the-door shoe bag. I’m going to give it to a friend who’s interested.
There is something satisfying about cleaning out a paper jam.
Have you oiled your shredder? When my office got a new shredder, I actually read the manual and learned about this. Although pre-made oiled papers are available, that isn’t necessary. Just soak a piece of paper to not quite dripping with any kind of oil– vegetable, sewing machine oil, etc.– and run it through the shredder, then run the reverse setting for a few seconds.
What a good idea! Thanks!