Five Teeny Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on January 3, 2025 · 62 comments
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I’ve been researching inexpensive restaurants away from the schwanky lodge where my husband and I will be vacationing next week. There’s a nearby Mexican food cart that’s sure be sure to a hit, plus we’ll bring snacks and microwavable food from home. No reason to spend hundred of dollars on overpriced food in conjunction with a bargain (used credit card points) mini-vacation.
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I got a promo code for a free month of Paramount+ in my inbox and forwarded it to my sister, as we don’t need it. (Currently getting two $1.99/month until March.) I hate for things to go to waste!
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I set up the robo-vacuum in my living room, which I usually clean with a standard upright vacuum. It pushed a mysterious ten-dollar bill out from under the couch, which I claimed as a housekeeping tip. Do the work, claim the bounty! To the victor go the spoils?
Either way, it’s my ten dollars now!
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I got a $10-off-$50 Winco Foods coupon for “New Resident” in the mail, but will make sure to read the small print to not repeat my spend $125-get-a-free-turkey debacle from a few months ago.
I just looked and it’s effective until January 31st, so I have a nice wide window to use the coupon!
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I didn’t buy a vulgar gold-plated apartment in the sky.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 62 comments… read them below or add one }
As Katy said, pass it on if you won’t use it! Friend took me to lunch at a local club, I had the “ Seniors Deal” , Roast pork with all the trimmings, and a voucher for a free individual tub of ice cream, which is on my after Christmas no-no list. I gave it to a lady at the next table who was touchingly grateful for it, and said” but you don’t even KNOW me!” When I said “ That doesn’t mean I don’t wish you a nice day!” she was tearful, and said that she had just been abused in the car park for taking the last empty spot, and was feeling that life was very abrasive nowadays, so it had been meaningful for her to be treated kindly.Even tiny kindnesses can be meaningful!
Who yells at someone in a car park!
I hope that person feels ashamed, and note that the abuser probably didn’t get free ice cream.
Very kind of you!
How wonderful that your kindness could help to balance out her bad experience.
What a nice gesture. That poor woman.
Coral, I’m always glad to read your comments, and this one is especially uplifting. I wish as happy and healthy a New Year as possible to you and your daughter.
Goes to show we never know when someone needs some kindness. I love this post.
Ooh– What a great way to get a ten dollar bill!
Most of my reports are very tiny. Very tiny.
1. Last year, I looked up the dates of my favorite author’s 2025 releases on their websites so I could get on my library’s reserve lists when the library orders them. I did that again now so I can enjoy anticipating the books as well as reading them.
2. I practiced more quickly thawing frozen meat: Put it on a metal surface, like my metal sink or stove top. The cold goes into the metal in ways it doesn’t when just on the countertop.
3. A new person at SuperCuts did my last hair cut and I love it. I say that maybe once every ten years, so this is a big deal for me. It is also shorter and seems to need fewer washings and I can take longer between cuts. I hope I can find her again.
4. My regional grocery chain has a new parent company and is discontinuing their generics, presumably to replace with the new company’s brands. I am stocking up on long-dated items at 15-30% off, which, even though they are already the inexpensive brands, still helps the budget.
5. I knew from the past that my health insurance company loads up “activities” to do for its “rewards” program at the start of the year. Less than ten minutes today and I earned $75 reading about healthy things.
Smart to stock up on the on-sale generics!
The metal is a heat sink, which means it absorbs excess heat and thaws meat faster than substances that aren’t heat sinks.
I wish there was a Supercuts around here. I usually wind up paying around $100 for a cut, which I think is too much, but whatcha gonna do. The ladies at the salon are all very nice and always ask about my family, though.
Yikes! $100 for a cut!
@Lindsey – while I have no idea what Sumo’s cost in my area, saw a coupon in the paper for $1 one pound. So I did a search, $1.29 a POUND at a family owned grocery store.
I live in the Hamptons, folks. It’s a choice. One I regret often, but then again, love. I CAN’T QUIT YOU, HAMPTONS.
That said, I am super super lazy so I only get my hair cut 2-3 times a year.
Wow, and I’m unhappy with the $25 at Great clips.
Thanks for the reminder about the insurance rewards! I’m looking mine up as soon as I’m done reading these wonderful comments! Both my husband and I both earned $100 last year via gift card by completing the tasks on our insurance app.
Katy, your found money challenge is off to a great start with the mystery $10.
Our local supermarket mails me paper coupons based on my shopping habits. Last month they inexplicably were all for junk foods. This month, they are back to being good. I did a very targeted mall shopping trip today and knocked $9 off the expense. Still have a bunch of coupons for froze veggies, cheese, eggs and other wholesome stuff.
Mended a dog toy that the puppy had chewed a hole in. Deep cleaned the kitchen with a pile of rags and a bottle of store-brand cleaner. Used a marker to color in a worn spot on a slate tile in our kitchen. Polished the kitchen table with some Old English oil that’s about a decade old. A bottle of that stuff lasts forever.
I thought about this, but I’m not going to count it as it belonged to someone from my family to begin with.
As my dogs are older, I buy small stuffed toys at garage sales.
Wash them with the dog bed covers when dirty. And mend when torn. Things we do for love
1. I picked up 11 chobani yogurts, 10 granola bars and 5 cans of mandarin oranges from Buy Nothing. I gifted a laundry hamper.
2. I printed a single photo at CVS and the receipt included $4 off $4 or more. I bought 2 cans of progresso soup for a total OOP of $1. I walked to Lucky to get the free 8oz plant based butter. I am allergic to it’s ingredients but my husband is not and he won’t taste the difference from regular butter.
3. I received a bag of baby clothes from Buy Nothing. I washed them all, sorted what I could use, threw away the stained-beyond-wearing ones, and donated the rest.
4. Leftover chocolate (unopened) is good til 2026 so I’ll keep it for next Christmas. I’m allergic, so no temptation here.
5. Sold 2 things on Ebay. Working on family photos has kept me busy and not spending. Each year I do a big blitz after Christmas and I’m slowly getting caught up with scanning them all and storing to the cloud.
Wow, you’re on a roll!
Do store them to a flash drive or other media that is not the cloud. Yeah, I hate the cloud (for more than one reason). At a minimum, make sure at least two others have access in the event you can no longer access them.
It appears you are younger than I BUT Progresso soups are quite tasty, regular cans are quite high in sodium.
The photos are also on an external hard drive in our fire proof safe. My adult kids all have password to my cloud storage because our POAs are also there. Plus I want them to have access to all the photos.
Robot vacuum for the win! Mine has not found $10. It did find a dozen practice golf balls aka cat toys and one dog bone.
I did find a smart phone on our County road, it was a nice iphone. I took it to my sheriff neighbor to list as found since I’m not a social network person.
There is a new dump cat that found the barn. I turned on the heated cat condo. The heat pad is made for kitties and it turns off if they aren’t using it. He’s a bit skittish, I fed him a small bowl of kibble and filled the self watering fountain tower thingy that my 95 yo friend gave me. So fancy like.
Picked up 4 cans on my walk this morning. So begins my found money stash for ’25. My favorite niece made me a tramp art coffee can with a maple lid (from a scavenged 1950’s house cabinet remodel). It is my favorite gift.
I realize none of these things are frugal, just interesting in my quiet little country life.
That coffee can sounds amazing! You are a very nice kitty protector.
May I ask who is the manufacturer/seller of the “energy efficient” cat condo? While it bums me out that more than likely the feral I’ve been feeding/”caring for” for over 2 1/2 years has crossed the Rainbow Bridge, I’d like to be even more ready for the next feral/dump. I live in a high dump area sad to say.
I spent about $200 on a heated cat home for my ferals last year. It doesn’t use much electricity and it makes me feel so much better knowing they’re snug and comfy.
I love what you are doing for the barn kitty. I’ve never heard of the heating pad that shuts off when the cat gets up. Have to remember that if a feral shows up around here.
My robot vacuum just finds cat toys, your $10 bill is awesome!
1. Found a string of Kroger coupons in a parking lot today. Coupons expire in 2 days, but I was able to use a few of them on things that were already on my list.
2. One of the coupons was for a free case of store brand bottled water. We drink tap water, so I’ll donate it to my kid’s theater class for the concession stand at their play in 2 weeks.
3. The college kid has been carrying the same North Face backpack for the last 8 years (from 6th grade into college), and it’s finally starting to come apart. We went to 3 stores today trying to find one he liked, and then hit ebay and bought the same backpack in good condition.
4. The high school kid wants to go thrifting Sunday, so he’s working out a plan of attack on what stores he wants to hit. We’re going to pick up my mom and take her along for a cheap outing.
5. Went thru a kitchen cabinet and listed a few things in my buy nothing group, and they were picked up immediately.
There were a few cat toys as well. I love that your water bottles will help fund the theater program!
Yes– I like the theatre idea as well!
Our volunteer fire department occasionally asks for bottled water for the firefighters, especially in summer.
I feel the same way about money found in the washer or dryer. Also the couch cushions. Finders, keepers.
1. I found a shiny new penny on the floor in Walmart on New Years Day to start my 2025 found change jar.
2. Reading a library book from the Joe Pickett series.
3. DH and I went to a New Years Eve party at my friend’s indy book store. She provided sandwiches and the rest of us contributed various dishes. Sort of a pot luck afternoon New Years party. So many friends celebrating together at my favorite haunt.
4. Our veterinarian combined our cat’s annual check up and a vaccination he was due for in another month. We were charged for both but it saved us a trip back next month.
5. I will not be sentenced for anything on January 10th.
What a coincidence, as I will also not be sentenced on January 10th!
I need to take my found change jar to the coin counting machine tomorrow so I can start fresh!
I won’t be sentenced January 10th either. But J10 does tick up my faith in the judicial system (at least some states’ systems).
I have a summons due on the 10th for looking too good and feeling too right. Darn it.
Rose, you just might have to plead guilty.
heh.
This is an idiotic family joke from, like, the Reagan Administration.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxhueyC70cU
Katy, I’m eagerly awaiting the annual found-change post!
Christine, I’m envious of your #3. And, no, I don’t have a court date on the 10th either.
This is amazing! I too am not being sentenced on January 10th!
No big excitement here.
1. I stopped into Meijer to pick up a few things and to claim some reward points that would be expiring. I also used a coupon I found in the store.
2. I made dinner and took it to my MIL’s house. I used up some sprouting potatos and asparagus that needed to go.
3. I cooked extra potatoes to make potato soup this weekend.
4. I cut up a holey t-shirt to use as handkerchiefs and cleaning rags.
5. I sold another small item on Ebay.
What kind of potato soup?
Cheesy Mashed Potato Soup. It calls for leftover mashed potatoes. Here’s the recipe I use.
https://andreadekker.com/cheesy-mashed-potato-soup/
1. Came into some money. Found a quarter in a parking lot.
2. When my husband and I move everything back in after the remodel, we’re going to purge even more of our belongings. On a walk today, we discussed kitchen items we can either donate or take to a consignment shop. He wants to get rid of a Le Creuset Dutch oven that we received from a family member’s estate. What?! No.
3. Grocery prices are higher in Arizona than they are at home. Substituting items where we can.
4. Our Airbnb has Netflix so we watched a few episodes of Man on the Inside (recommended here). Very entertaining. Will watch the rest this weekend.
Just Four Frugal Things for me again.
We enjoyed Man on the Inside. It looks like there will be another season.
I’ve also been watching Man on the Inside. It’s very light which is nice.
MB in MN, your husband wanted to get rid of an inherited Le Creuset Dutch oven?? I dream of having a relative who would leave me one of those.
1. I had a friend over for an afternoon chat. We both feel there is no reason to provide food and drink at that time of day. We get together just about every week. Bonus for ensuring the house is clean going into the weekend.
2. Winter weather is expected here on Monday. My volunteer gig that day, which involves driving, is already cancelled. I will use the time to do an end of year financial report for the household.
3. I have a niece-in-law that is pregnant. Money is tight for them and she is a good bargain shopper. I went ahead and electronically sent them the money I would have sent for a shower and birth so that they can use it as opportunity arises. No need to worry about checks being stolen or delivery by the USPS.
4. I made a pot of lentil soup and added the dregs from a jar of marinara sauce and juice drained from a can of tomatoes.
5. Same old, same old…
I also used frozen spinach in the soup. I froze it months ago to avoid food waste.
FTTFT, Snowbound in Central NY Edition:
Well, folks, the lake effect storm they’ve been promising us for the last few days is finally here. At my house, the snow is currently falling at a rate I estimate as an inch an hour. But I’m dealing with it:
(1) I ran all necessary errands for myself and my next-door neighbor a couple of days ago. No point in going out in a blizzard if you can avoid it.
(2) I’m dividing my time between editing JASNA papers (I’ve just prevented one author from referring to two of JA’s male siblings as her “bothers”) and doing a Project FeederWatch count (my feeders outside the living room windows are being mobbed, as you can imagine).
(3) I made a beef bourguignon yesterday, using stew meat from my 1/4 steer, beef stock from the freezer, and red wine and tomato paste left over from Xmas Eve.
(4) And just for fun, and to use up a box of Pillsbury pie crusts I bought on impulse last month, I’m going to use one of my cast iron skillets to make a beef bourguignon pot pie this afternoon. I seem to have discarded my Pyrex pie pan a while back, but Chef Internet assures me that the cast iron should work fine.
(5) Finally, speaking of cast iron, I made a major score at a Thrifty Shopper on Tuesday on my way home from taking the Bestest Neighbors to the airport: a 12″ Lodge cast iron skillet, perfectly seasoned on the inside and with just a little rust on the bottom (which I can deal with)–for $6.50 after my senior discount!
My brothers were my bothers, too.
I have a sister who is a bother.
My #2 sister was/is a major-league bother. (She’s the one who called me variations on “fat, ugly, and hairy” from the moment I was brought home from the hospital till I was in my mid-30s.) But JA was apparently on excellent terms with almost all her brothers (she did pass some occasional snark about the eldest and his wife). and her closest relationship was with her only sister, Cassandra.
Nice score on the cast iron pan! Any thrift shop near me would have charged at least double what you got it for.
oooo on the cast iron skillet. We just cooked up a batch of refried rice in mine – I really love that extra space in the 12″ pan. I bought mine new but no regrets (was on serious sale) it gets used all the time and the seasoning is only getting better, because I take great pains to keep it so.
1. My treadmill started catching and I watched a troubleshooting video. I am super hopeful that I have fixed the problem because I am not enjoying the biting cold or snow covered sidewalks. I didn’t have the right size Allen wrench, but found a set at Harbor Freight for $5.
2. Apple TV is free this weekend for everyone. I am going to pick a series to hopefully watch on my treadmill. My health insurance has a program where you earn points for healthy activities (including walking) that translate into actual gift cards.
3. I love sourcing too much and have buried myself with “good finds” that need to be listed. To dig myself out, I have committed to listing 5 items every day and keeping track on a spreadsheet. Sold a cardigan sweater yesterday and have a set of 10 books pending pickup today.
4. Bought an unused Cuisinart pressure cooker from Goodwill for $10 several months ago and finally tried it out making black beans, and then a chicken soup. People rave about these, but I’m on the fence given the time needed to bring up pressure and release at the end.
5. The end of the big cheese block was starting to look questionable, so I shredded and froze it all, which I will use it potato soup. I hate losing cheese to mold.
1) I have read 74 books this past year! I started keeping a book diary a few years ago. 95% of the books I read are library books. Recent favourite library book: Eleanor Oliphant is completely fine (Gail Honeyman)
2) When I’m putting away the Christmas decorations tomorrow I will put the cushion covers back onto the Christmas themed cushions. I got them years ago and for Christmas time they are displayed without the cover in all their christmassy glory, for the rest of the year they are just normal cushions!
3) We were looking at old photographs and I realised that I have had my current winter jacket for 8 years! The zip broke about 1 year after I bought it and I was debating whether or not to have it replaced. As I was happy with the quality of the jacket itself I went ahead (I think it was around 25 Euro for the repair) and lo and behold, I am still wearing it!
4) The non stick bowl of our rice cooker had some scratches and as this is a known health risk I decided to replace it. Sadly I was unable to source just the bowl – plus everything non stick eventually gets scratched in my experience, no matter how careful you are. In the end I decided to look for alternatives to the non stick option and found a rice cooker with a stainless steel bowl. It is yet to be delivered but I have high hopes that it will last a very long time.
5) The latest TooGoodToGo box (4 Euro) included: a chicken sandwich, a chicken wrap, a chicken salad, a packet of fresh blackberries, a packet of wholemeal sub rolls, a 4 pack of chicken burger patties, a 2 pack courgettes, a 4 pack avocados, a small packet of baby potatoes.
GK, re your #3: Similar experience recently when I learned that I’ve had my winter jacket for 13 years. This might be its last season.
Wow, 13 years is impressive!
74 books is phenomenal! It’s nice to know you hardly spent any money doing it. Free and low cost reading for the win!
I just love reading!
1.Hubby brought home 4 mini bagels and 3 muffins from work that would have been thrown away. I passed the muffins and cinnamon raisin bagel on since we won’t eat them.
2. I drove my daughter to my niece’s baby shower. I got a case of diapers for $8 a while ago. I grabbed 2 and put them in the gift closet. We gave that with a check. She has so much expensive stuff on the registry. I refused to go above my budget so I gave a check. They asked for a kids book so my daughter got one on clearance. My daughter couldn’t eat anything except the vegetables since she is GF. I packed her food up and will eat it. She ate before we went.
3.The baby shower favor was homemade hot chocolate mix in a cute jar. They also had lots of cookies and chocolate covered pretzels. My sister in law told me to take extra since they had so many extra. I will share them with the lady I help.
4.I wore a dress and shoes that I already owned. Hubby and my daughter helped me pin it so it fit better since I am down 23 pounds. I didn’t want to buy a dress to wear one time.
5.I had nothing to take for lunch yesterday so I cooked up 2 hard boiled eggs while I was making/eating breakfast. I put carrots and celery in a bag. I grabbed a can of nuts and called it lunch.
1. Cold front coming: put covers on all the outside faucets and reused the old battered styrofoam ice chests and some trash-picked styrofoam boxes that the neighbors’ Omaha steaks came in. I cover the faucets twice: first with the covers designed for the faucets and then with the larger chests/boxes. I have to jerry-rig the latter, using bricks and flower pots and misc. to anchor them down, but this gives me an extra bit of protection against freezing pipes. Very important when you have an old pier-and-beam house foundation.
2. Went through the old coupons to cull out those that expired Dec. 31. Was pleasantly surprised to see the coupon card for 10 cents off per gallon of gasoline does not expire until March 31. I will certainly keep using it!
3. Friend had to move into a senior living facility, is bored and wants more books. Needs large print books. Besides my own collection, found three for 81 cents (75 cents plus sales tax) at a thrift store that specializes in tools. (People give them all sorts of things!) Also found some in a little free library, at our church’s book swap room and at a used book store. Used my credits at the latter so I didn’t have to pay anything but the sales tax.
4. Got some children’s books from the free bin at the used bookstore, put them in the little free library adjacent to the housing projects. The LFL was almost empty but I was able to fill it up for free.
5. Stocked up on laundry products at a store closing sale. Half price off everything.
I’ve got a few frugal things.
1. Friday was our state Farm Show. I know it’s winter. It’s always in winter. We have a huge farm show building. We raise rabbits and show them. We always show them at farm Show. We have so many friends in the rabbit world that is was a super fun day visiting and catching up.
2. Of course we had to eat some farm show food. A nice person shared their potato cakes with me, as the portions were huge. I did buy a blended beef and mushroom burger but they are amazing!
3. I did several secret shops and earned $49 dollars
4. Rehomed some Guinea pigs and the family gave me $100 for rescuing them
5. Took a walk with a friend today even though it’s below freezing. The sun is out and there is no wind. I got to catch up,with my friend that I haven’t seen in a few months. On our walk we stopped at our local assisted living facility to give a friend a late Christmas gift and had a wonderful visit. On the walk there I saw several free piles. When I got home I got my car and drove back. I got a soft blanket, a heated electric lap blanket, an HDMI cord, a nice waffle maker, a juicer, a small hand held steamer (I’ve been wanting one to sanitize our bearded dragon’s house when I do a deep clean), some extra drinking glasses for our rental property, and a large metal dog crate (which I’ll donate to our local cat rescue). Score! Some I’ll keep, some I’ll sell and some I’ll donate.