Five Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on November 4, 2023 · 34 comments
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I finally sold my last set of University of Oregon football eye stickers. I thrifted a 13-pack of them at Goodwill a couple years ago for just $3.99. They were super easy to list, easy to store and certainly easy to mail out. Each set of 200 stickers sold for $15, which added up to $195 minus the eBay fees. Not as exciting as selling a single item for $195, but I’m happy to take it.
I also sold a pair of Sorel ankle boots on eBay for $40.
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I used a Fred Meyer coupon for a free pint of Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream and then scanned the receipt into the Ibotta app for an extra 50¢ back.
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I processed the free apples from earlier in the week to make three pies, two of which went uncooked into the freezer. I’ll bake them the day before Thanksgiving, so I consider this to be a favor to my future self. The third pie is for the here and now, as my present self also needs favors. Needless to say, the pie will be served with ice cream.
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• I baked my enormous free pumpkin, which’ll keep me in frozen purée until next year’s free pumpkins come my way.
• I made a big pot of chicken soup using just two leg quarters from the 57¢/lb chicken I bought a couple weeks ago. (Don’t worry, I froze them.) the last of some carrots, celery and an onion filled it out and just like every time I make soup, this one is best soup I’ve ever eaten!
• My son and I spent an evening playing gin rummy, and it was super fun even though he beat me soundly. I took the opportunity to point out that a simple deck of cards is the key to almost endless entertainment. I love playing cards and get really happy on those rare occasions when I can convince people to play with me. If not, I’m also satisfied to play solitaire.
• I saved the pumpkin seeds and will roast them for a frugal snack.
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I didn’t buy any tiny Lear Jets.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
1. Worked my shift today. Packed a granola bar and drink
2. Listened to one of my audio books on the drive
3. Made au gratin potatoes in the crockpot for dinner tonight. Son and daughter in law are coming over for dinner. Hubby is making pork tenderloin and they’ll bring salad and wine
4. Reading a book from my stash
5. Listing more items
I do love audiobooks!
FTFT, Weekend Fun Edition:
(1) I went this morning to the fall book sale at the FFL (the suburban library near me that always has excellent book sales). I met up there with the lovely Barbara, who’s still rocking volunteer duty at the FFL, and we caught up on all our news (both good and bad). And I came away with seven books, including a couple for holiday giving.
(2) I stopped at Wegmans and at the India Bazaar (our local Indian food store), both right on my way home, for a few things that I needed. Batching errands = always good.
(3) My JASNA friend from the next city over was here today for an English Country Dance event (ECD is the kind of dancing you see in Jane Austen films), and we had lunch at the good and reasonably priced Thai restaurant just down the hill from me. I found an excellent lunch special for under $10.
(4) This JASNA friend is also the one who works at a Panera in her city, and she brought me a staggering number of Panera day-old goods (breads and frozen souffles). I’m truly amazed at the amount of food that would otherwise go to waste. (Katy probably feels the same about the food her daughter rescues from the fancy-schmancy grocery store.) I gave the friend a large tin of my homegrown peppermint tea as a token of my appreciation.
(5) I lost no time in sharing some of the bread with the Bestest Neighbors, and I’ll do the same with the friend I’m meeting for a walk tomorrow morning. I’ll freeze the rest.
When I worked at the Ronald McDonald House we were the recipient of daily Panera day old items
It’s so enriching to have friends and “bestest” type neighbors. How was the dance?
I didn’t attend the dance, but my friend says it was a good one. (ECD does require one right foot and one left. I seem to have been born with two left.)
I love to dance, so I guess that means I got one of each.
I love pies! Quick question (I know I could google but want your specific advice) – do you cook the pastry first before freezing with apples in it? I have a family member make the pastry beforehand and we freeze it in lumps until ready to make the pie. However I always blind bake first or it can be soggy. I’d love to plan ahead for Thanksgiving pies, but don’t want soggy!
PS I’m an Aussie, but celebrate Thanksgiving from my dad’s side of the family.
I just froze the pies raw, they should be fine.
I love to play Gin Rummy. It’s amazing how many hours of fun one can have with a deck of cards — flexible and inexpensive!!!!
1. I felt that my house was looking a little shabby and needed some TLC ahead of the holidays. I have been doing some DIY. I painted the family room, rearranged the furniture, deep cleaned and decluttered a bit. Everything is so much better! I am a real believer in buying only what you love and decorating with what you have.
2. My coffee table really needs to be replaced. I’ve made some changes to the room, and it is just too big for the room now. Since I only paid $10 for it at GW many years ago when oversized coffee tables were the thing, I do not feel badly about replacing it. I curb picked a round piece of glass that is just the right size and am currently in search of an interesting base.
3. I ate my third meal from a Costco chicken tonight
4. I picked up a new book from the library.
5. I bought a pair of PJs NWT from my favorite thrift store. They are super comfy and perfect for a Florida winter.
Wishing everyone good health and prosperity.
My coffee table is enormous, but it’s a Danish modern teak piece that I thrifted for $25. I love it!
Plus, the living room is pretty big, so it’s not an issue.
Yes! I just put my overly large, junk collecting, rickety old coffee table curbside. Living room looks instantly less cluttered. Much more space and one less surface to junk up!
1. My kids and I went to an airplane museum with a free library pass. We brought reusable water bottles and lunch. When we arrived they were pulling a plane into the parking lot. There were several already out. Turns out they were having their gala that night so we got to see some extra items.
2. Hubby is away for work so he gets fed by his company. I am jealous. He is eating very well. I am eating leftovers trying to clean out the fridge.
3. I met 2 friends for dinner at Panera. I drank water with my meal in my reusable water bottle and paid with a gift card. I also had $3 off a sandwich so that is what I got.
4. I had pizza and an ice cream sundae at work for free. I took home an extra pizza. Half I will eat this week(see #2) and I froze the other half.
5. I cooked 17 small pumpkins that were leftover at work. I froze all of the pulp. I roasted all of the pumpkin seeds. I have been peeling the seeds open while I watch tv. I like the seeds in my salads. The dog loves pumpkin and is very happy. No one else wanted any of the pumpkins.
When your husband comes home, I think you both need a “date night” with a lovely dinner! If he is a grill meister, then he creates something wonderful and you contribute baked potatoes and salad/vegetables. Unless there is a restaurant that has “early bird specials.”
We actually went out to eat a few weeks ago. It was his 15 year anniversary at work and they treated us to dinner. It was delicious. I am happy to eat the bits in the fridge and freezer. I just had a BLT for breakfast. 2 pieces of bacon needed to be used up so I happily ate them.
Mmm . . . I love BLTs!
It sounds like your work has been providing some yummy food this week!
And my job never ever ever ever had “leftover” pizza. Then again, a hospital runs 24/7.
I work at a kids party/play center. On weekends it is all parties. The parents always leave the extra pizza. I always take it home. No one else ever wants it. We serve it so I know no one else touches it. At $20 a pop I am happy too.
Gotta love free food!
1) Have been digging up dahlia tubers and readying them for winter storage in our root cellar. This is our first foray into growing dahlias and they did not disappoint. The blooms were spectacular and lasted until the first hard freeze.
2) Volunteered at a local thrift shop and came home with a few inexpensive treasures. Frugal in the sense that it scratches my shopping itch and keeps me out of retail stores. I love seeing our customers get wonderful bargains.
3) Waited for an anniversary sale to purchase a couple of necessary clothing items for a family member
4) Eating leftovers and working through freezer items
5) Baked chocolate chip cookies using a rye flour recipe – they were very good and made a dent in some pantry items
I absolutely love Dahlias and wish that I could grow them where I live. The colors are amazing and make such wonderful cut flowers. Have you tried to grow the dinner plate size?
Yes – we had a couple of those. They were gorgeous but the blooms are so large they require a lot of support and staking to keep the plant upright. We had to put tomato cages around most of the dahlia plants but these dinner plate size bloom plants were a special challenge. They (all) made beautiful bouquets.
Rye flour cookies? I’m intruiged!
1. I offered my wedding china to Replacements. I’ve been putting this off for a long time, but finally filled out the form today. We’re trying to downsize in preparation for a move, and dishes we use once a year are not worth it.
2. Spent way too long inputting barcodes into declutter.com to sell them some books and dvds we’re getting rid of. I need another $.50 in order to complete the sale. I think I can find that much lying around the house.
3. Went walking for exercise this morning by the beach. Dolphins were leaping completely out of the water; I have never before seen them do this in real life. Better than going to the gym.
4. Didn’t buy anything at Goodwill this week when I stopped by. Still saving money, even if it’s second-hand.
5. Stopped by Aldi’s for raspberries, made a charcuterie board with raspberries, pistacios, cheese, baguette (Aldi’s), cashews, pickled green beans from the food bank, etc, etc. Spent less at Aldi’s than we would have if we had gone out to happy hour (out other choice) and we have leftovers. We stopped by again to get more raspberries at $1.98 to make into raspberry pancakes with orange syrup (from the freezer).
We got the outcome on my car accident. Our poor little Fiat was totaled, but we’ll get more from him than I was asking for sale. This will benefit my son, who will use the money for tuition. I am really disappointed I just replaced the windshield for sale, so that will end up in the landfill.
That must have been an amazing moment to watch the dolphins! I was in Houston a few years ago visiting family. My cousin drove us past somewhere and there dolphins being all frisky and I was beyond amazed!
1. My son and I both have wretched head colds, which have been treated with medication we already had on hand except for some cough drops.
2. While buying cough drops, noticed that the drugstore had bags of Halloween candy corn and Hershey’s kisses marked down to $1.07 and $1.08 each, respectively. At those prices, my family got a treat.
3. Cleaned out, defrosted, and inventoried our upright freezer this morning. It is much better arranged now and I won’t overbuy.
4. Ate a homemade freezer meal created from leftovers.
5. Cooked chili for my husband’s lunches .
Bonus: The humidity is extremely low so I dried a heavy flannel sheet on the back porch clothesline.
Can you please come over and organize my freezer too? I need to address this task.
I had been dreading it, but it went pretty well!
1. Made chocolate chip cookies substituting smashed up Halloween candy for the chips.
2. My mushroom CSA arrived so I made a big pot of mushroom soup and then sauteed the rest and put them in one cup containers to freeze. A friend stopped by and left with two of the containers.
3. A friend with a birthday coming up will get a bag of homemade moose jerky. Months ago we received two large moose roasts from a friend, so I made one of them into jerky, so this birthday gift cost me little but time.
4. Bathed the dog. This is a chore we detest but it saves us $70 each time. We must do something that he recognizes as preparation for bathing him because he runs and hides. Ordinarily he is the perfect dog, obedient and laid back. But the idea of a bath turns him into Frenzy Dog.
5. We have a box for paper that is used on only one side. I took the contents and cut the pages into quarters and stapled them together, making memo pads.
I love mushrooms! I’d never thought about sautéing and then freezing them. I’ll definitely do this in the future!
Katy,
I would classify some of your items as more than Tiny Frugal Things. You continue to rock the frugal lifestyle.
Here are some truly tiny frugal things:
1. I found a small package of Twizzlers a couple of days after Halloween and after eating them I lived to tell.
2. I found a plastic coat hanger at the edge of a road that has quite a bit of traffic on it. I figured it would get run over if I left it so I brought it home to add to our collection of hangers.
3. I went online and (hopefully) opted out of mail from MarketPro Homebuyers. It should help both the environment and save me a bit of time going forward.
4. We were forecast to have a frost Wednesday night so I brought in the garden hose and watering wand. I drained the hose in the shower as it was almost dark by the time I got to that task. It should help the hose last longer to be inside during the cold months. Yesterday we revisited a curbside pile in our neighborhood (it had been there at least six days). The homeowner was out and explained that an item that was a mystery to us is for coiling a hose within it. I carried it home the few blocks to our house and DH grabbed some planting boxes to use next spring.
5. I didn’t buy a jet.
I never bring in our hoses, but maybe I should start this practice. Thanks!
Hello Katy and the rest of the Non-consumer-verse,
I have three pumpkins that I want to turn into pumpkin puree, what is your process/recipe for making pumpkin puree? Have you used the big orange carving pumpkins to make it?
Yes, that’s what use, just the regular pumpkin that’s marketed for jack-o-lanterns.
Here’s a step-by-step from my Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzQHcfauFUk/?img_index=1