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I helped myself to five unused produce bags from this abandoned grocery cart to bring home for my litter boxes. I don’t buy plastic bags for the sole purpose of filling them with cat excreta. There’s enough plastic in the world without manufacturing more to just hold pee and poop.
I may have also scanned the receipt into the Fetch app.
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I stopped at this grocery store specifically to scope out the clearance produce shelf and I’m glad that I did, as I was able to buy five colorful bell peppers and four eggplants for just $3. (I was low on veggies, but not in the mood for a full-on Winco shopping excursion.) I’ll make some kind of eggplant/pepper combo to serve with pasta. Ooh . . . I just remembered that I have sautéed spicy sausage in the freezer, which’ll complement this imagined dish!
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My husband starts his annual two week vacation next week, but we’re going to mostly take it easy as it’s so expensive to pay for accomodation this time of year. We’ll likely go up to Mt. Hood for a few days, as a family member owns a cabin we can use, but we’ll mostly stick close to home as we pay thousands of dollars each month for the priviledge of living in our own house.
Portlanders are incredibly lucky to live an hour or two from the Pacific Ocean, Mt. Hood, Mt. St. Helens, wine country and countless beautiful outdoor areas. I don’t really really need to “get away from it all” when “it” is already idyllic. Plus the city of Portland has become a mecca for people wanting to vacation somewhere with mild weather, hundreds of amazing restaurants and very few red baseball caps.
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I hung out with my friend Lise while she pruned her native dogwood tree and she mentioned that the small branches make excellent stakes for gardening, so we stripped off the thin bark. This is how I now have six new stakes for my pitiful tomatoes.
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I took out $60 from an ATM to have enough cash to fill up my gas tank, as you get a 45¢/gallon discount when you pay with cash. The predatory ATM charged me $3.50, but I belong to a credit union that reimburses a certain number of ATM fees each month. I really don’t understant why anyone would choose to bank with a traditional bank over a credit union.
Five Tiny Frugal Things
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I always pick up the produce bags left in carts or on the ground and use them for produce and uncooked meat (before I place it in a reusable shopping bag). I reuse them if they haven’t been used for meat.
1. I walked to Walgreen’s to pick up an Rx. I used our FSA card to pay. I found a dime on the way home.
2. I finished listening/reading What Kind of Paradise. It was an interesting and thought provoking book. I returned the digital copies to the library so someone else can enjoy them. I am now listening to Emma by Jane Austen.
3. I made a large batch of GF pancakes for dinner. Leftovers were frozen for future meals. I ate mine with jam that has been open for a while.
4. I pay for a monthly membership at a local yoga studio. Since I was going to miss a couple of my regular classes while we were away for the weekend I signed up for a couple of virtual classes and received a recording afterwards since I didn’t attend while the class was in session. It gave me a chance to try a class I have never attended and I am “getting my moneys worth” from my membership.
5. It’s time to list yet more items on Freecycle as we just don’t need that much stuff. Some of it is knick knacks DH received from friends’ travels over the years. One does not need to buy souvenirs.
Hello KD – do you happen to have a recipe for the GF pancakes? I often use buckwheat, but am always looking for new inspiration.
1. Like you, I don’t buy bags for animal excretments. We have enough just from grocery shopping. And I also use grocery plastic bags as liners for small trash cans.
2. My daughter made pizza bread from clearance pizza last night.
3. I’m saving marigold seeds from my flowers for future use
Here in Australia supermarkets either pack your groceries in your own reusable bags, or charge 25c per large , heavy duty paper sack, as they are trying to reduce plastic usage.Heaps of grumbles to begin with, now oldies , and greenies, bring their own, sadly younger people seem to be slower to bring bags,
Katy@PracticalWalk: what is pizza bread? Sounds intriguing!
That pasta dish plan sounds good!
1. Found a scrunchie on the beach, washed it and am now using it. Also picked up assorted plastic and fishing net remnants to dispose of responsibly, filled up my whole reusable bag.
2. Mended my daughter’s shorts. I don’t have a mending pile – I would find that overwhelming, I think. I mend things pretty much straight away!
3. Discovered a brilliant recipe for healthy pinacolada ice pops using frozen pineapple and coconut milk and have been whizzing up several batches this week. A work colleague was suggesting to add rum! I won’t be going down that road but I guess it could be done – for an adult only version.
4. My husband hoovered and washed my car in the driveway.
5. My son brought home some more free (expired but still good) groceries from his work place: herbal tea, pretzel bites, peanut butter.
The word “hoovered” had a pleasant memory for me. My grandma had an ancient Hoover vacuum. She would say she “hoovered” the floor.
Katy uses Palmolive soap. That is an old brand. As a child I remember my grandma preferring this soap & buying it at the store. I bathed with the soap when staying w/ her for the summer.
GK and texasilver, “hoovered” was a verb in my family, too. In fact, one of my happiest Christmas memories was the year our church’s junior choir was singing “Venite Adoremus Dominum,” and my brother sang “The angels hoovered round” instead of “The angels hovered round.” I’ve had visions of angels with Hoovers ever since.
So funny!
My mom used Palmolive. Remember Madge? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5I8u4XZo1IQ&pp=0gcJCfwAo7VqN5tD
I do! I named my first laptop, an orange iMac (2000), Madge and it’s part of my email address!!!
My Grandmother used Camay. Parents’ house always had Palmolive.
I like the goats’ milk soap from Portugal that shows up in the chain discount stores around Christmas. A bar lasts forever (triple milled so no water left), and $4 to $5 a bar. Wonder what the price with tariffs will be this year?
Madge the Manicurist – Palmolive (I use it because everything else rips my hands to shreds.)
Mr. Whipple – Charmin
Josephine the Plumber – Liquid Plummer
Mrs. Olsen – Folgers
Cora – Maxwell House (btw, Cora was portrayed by none other than Margaret Hamilton. She is best known for her portrayal of The Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz.)
Orville Redenbacher – Orville Redenbacher Popcorn
Colonel Harland Sanders – Kentucky Fried Chicken
Dave Thomas – Wendy’s
Advertising will never be as good as they used to be. Flo from Progressive and Mayhem from Allstate just don’t cut it for me.
And, don’t forget the jingles! Many of the old jingles were written by Barry Manilow.
And, New Year’s Eve just isn’t New Year’s Eve without the late Dick Clark.
I forgot Mikey – Life Cereal, the Fruit of the Loom guys – Fruit of the Loom, and Joe Montana – Gillette.
Also–my dad as a NYC cop was called for an emergency at Margaret Hamilton’s house at Tudor City. He showed up, she assumed he had no idea who she was, he said he did, of course, and her friend who was staying with her needed help. My dad recognized her and said, “Enid Markey, the first Jane!” and both the little old ladies were thrilled the handsome young officer knew who they were. <3
“You’re soaking in it!”
We also bathed in Palmolive and cleaned the bathroom with it.
We had a British room mate when I was at University who came back from Christmas at home with this joke:
“What do you call a man vacuuming in an unlit room, with a hawk on one shoulder and a kestrel on the other?”
(say with a British accent!) Hawk kestrel man hoovers in the dark.
har har har.
(“Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark” was an important rock/pop band, at the time)
Thanks for explaining that joke, I would admittedly not have gotten it! 🙂
Me neither! hahaha But once explained it was pretty funny. lol
Ecoteri,
I remember OMD!
How about rum flavoring?
Now that is an excellent idea!
I would have no problem with any of that “expired” food. Good for your son for rescuing it and you for not being afraid to consume it.
We have already told him he has to keep this job for life 🙂 (He won’t, it’s only a part time job while he’s at college.)
Nothing that he brought home has ever actually been gone off as such, we have been able to eat it all and I often give away some to friends if he brings home a whole box of something. Such a blessing!
Does herbal tea expire? It is dried leaves. No ingredients to go bad IMHO. Peanut butter can go rancid when the peanut oil is too old. I keep my jar in the fridge as it is hard to eat the whole jar by the best buy date. Sometimes I store an extra jar in the freezer. Plain pretzels are mostly wheat, salt, maybe preservative. They might get stale, but I don’t see them actually spoiling.
WOW! All of the posters have good memories of products and advertising from the past. I am impressed.
1. I used a $5 reward at Meijer to pick up a couple salad kits for a family dinner.
2. I sold two more items on Ebay and listed another.
3. I uploaded my receipts to fetch.
4. I gave my dog and my grand-dog some homemade dog ice cream for a treat last night.
5. I’m reading a new library book, The Collected Regrets Of Clover.
Katy, I joined our credit union in 1981, the year i went to work for AT&T. That might have been one of the most frugal things I’ve ever done!
Yes, 1989 for me joining the credit union
I am a member of a credit union for educators in Texas. The credit unions don’t get bought out or change their names frequently like many banks do. I trust my money with them.
1. The baby gate in front of the window my rescue pup likes to paw frantically at is working. Pup doesn’t paw frantically. Now he just does shrill yips. Funny how I can tell exactly when he sees a rabbit based on the tone of his voice.
2. I haven’t told my August tenants to cram it, although they richly deserve it. Here’s an idea: stop bugging me multiple times a day. If it keeps up I may tell them to cram it. Oh well.
3. Made dolmades with foraged grape leaves. Yum.
4. Made salad with lambs quarters that grow in my backyard. Weeding and lunch!
5. Might make apple crisp with some apples off my tree. I should see how the wild blackberries are doing and maybe add some to the crisp.
@Rose, sadly gophers took out our little apple tree this year, but last year when we had a nice little harvest I found that adding one small apple chopped to oatmeal along with scant scatter of raisins elevated the oatmeal to almost like having apple crisp every morning.
Couldn’t live without my credit union!
That’s a good idea. I wonder how it tastes sugar free? I can’t take sweet stuff in the morning.
I walked more than usual yesterday, found on the street and brought home a wooden spring clothespin, poop bag (unused ), and best of all a small plastic bin with a handle on the front for pulling it out of a cupboard. The bin has been washed and is now in use under the bathroom sink holding extra supplies.
DH and I cooked yet another dinner together. This time beef and broccoli that used up the last of a mistakenly purchased excess of broccoli. Added sliced heirloom tomatoes from the Sunday farmer’s market which were not frugal but were amazing.
Reused bread wrappers and other plastic bags to clean up some of the dirt left yet along the fence line by the gophers aerating our neighbors yard.
1) Last week I used a $5 voucher for Micheal’s to purchase, for only $2 after the voucher, the journal I like use for my annual planner (even though I won’t need it until December, I didn’t want a free $5 to go to waste). This purchase triggered something in their rewards system and today a $10 off $10 voucher was emailed to me. I’m not sure what I will get, but I have a month to decide.
2) I was working at a big box retailer yesterday (I do part-time vendor work for a local nursery), and the vendor for a rival nursery was also there clearing out their tomato plants. She offered me two five-gallon buckets of green tomatoes she gleaned from the plants before throwing them in the composter. Yes, please! We vendors trade “garbage” a lot, which is one of the perks of the job.
3) We cleaned out our bathroom and linen closet so we could figure out what all we had on hand. 17 tubes of toothpaste (received for free thanks to the monthly Fred Meyer’s coupons that always include a free tube of toothpaste coupon), 8 bars of Castile soap, 5 deodorants, two hair gel tubes, and four lotion tubes. Now we won’t waste money buying items we already had tucked away.
4) I continued to process produce — four dehydrator trays of sliced potatoes, 10 half-pints of pepper jelly, 7 pints of plums, and 7 half-pints of plum jam are ready for the pantry!
5) Made a door sweep from 1/4″ hardware cloth we had on hand. Winter is coming and mice can be a problem out in the country where we live. Our pantry is pretty impenetrable, except for a 2.5-inch space on the bottom of the door. The sweep should still allow air-flow while keeping out tiny marauders, if they manage to get in the house.
1. Made vegan ‘buttermilk’ biscuit for dinner last night with ingredients I already had on hand, including the homemade oat milk that gets turned into the ‘buttermilk’. My husband wanted gravy so he whipped some up from things in the cabinet, no packets here!
2. My husband and I are still decluttering and yesterday he hauled some things to sell at a pawn shop near where he works. They didn’t take as much as we thought they would, but we’re $45 richer and I’m sure the rest of the stuff can be sold off or donated elsewhere.
3. Making hamburger style buns today that we’ll use for pulled pork sandwiches. I plan on making a fairly large batch that I’ll freeze and pull out throughout the month according to our meal plan.
4. Ran out of coffee creamer, so we’re subbing in a splash of soy milk and homemade cocoa mix and it’s lessening the blow. I refuse to go without coffee but can’t tolerate it black.
5. Finished crocheting a small lap blanket for my youngest daughter yesterday, all with yarn I already had. So far in my goal to make as many gifts as possible for this year I’ve done well! I’ve only spent $5 out of pocket and been very good about using up the things I have already.
Shyla, what is the recipe for vegan buttermilk biscuits?
1. I turned some stale bread into breadcrumbs and stuck them in the freezer.
2. More laundry on the awkward rack outside to dry.
3. Our 40-year old dryer started leaving grease stains on our laundry before we got a free dryer via my Buy Nothing group. I’m trying to see if applying Dawn (free, from Mystery Shop) will remove the stains as well as it cleans ducks!
4. Instead of going out to dinner with friends tomorrow night, I’ve invited them over for dinner for a simple supper (all ingredients on hand already)
5. I often share with my family when I see them (they live about 2.5 hours away). We’ve accumulated several loaves of artisan bread from our free CSA box and a free bread sample from a mystery shop, as well as dishwashing liquid and all-purpose cleaning supplies. In return, my sister will give me garlic from her garden and eggs from her chickens (the best!), and my parents will give me tomatoes and rhubarb. I love the gifting economy!
If the stains from the dryer are small brownish streaks and spots, it’s actually the felt drum seal deteriorating and leaving those marks. We had to have the seal replaced on a dryer for that reason years ago.
Dawn is great for removing stains. I recently used it to remove a large stain from dark black caulking on a pair of denim shorts. It worked like magic! Hope Dawn works for you, too.
Dawn is great especially for grease. Soak it if needed. And if it’s still not out, try whatever version of Oxiclean/hydrogen peroxide you might have handy.
When Alaska had the 10 million gallon Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989, Dawn was the most effective at cleaning the oil off the wings of birds, sea otters, river seals, bald eagles and on and on. They figure perhaps we lost as many as a quarter million birds…even now Dawn contributes to ongoing clean up efforts (this many years later, they still find coves shielding oil muck). They are also the go-to detergent for other places, like the San Diego zoo.
Lindsey, considering the USS Arizona is still leaking oil 84 years after Pearl Harbor, I’m not surprised there’s oil muck hiding in secluded coves.
My cousin, Jim, served in the Coast Guard at that time. As well as cleaning up the water, he was a “duck scrubber.”
I can’t use Dawn. My hands are at their worst if I do.
Melissa N,
Same here. I guess it’s good we’re not ducks
1. My black badge holder for work is getting really worn at the corners so I used a sharpie marker to colored in those spots.
2. I brought a good lunch to the office that I’m pretty pumped about. Half a turkey sandwich and 2 different kinds of chips and dips.
3. A sales person is coming in today for a chat to catch up and said he will be treating me to coffee.
4. I’m making sure I use up all my free birthday rewards before they expire this week. (Jersey mikes sub, you pick 2 at Panera, and a movie ticket to my local theater)
5. My husband and I have been watching episodes of Stick using a free Apple TV trial. It’s funny and heartwarming.
1. Long walk this morning — I found a clean plastic bag and a lidless thermal bottle. Maybe I can find a lid later! Meanwhile, it’s quite a pretty bottle and will make a nice bud vase
2. I made stops at little free libraries and the little free pantry. I brought home a book, a can of peas and a yellow squash. So lunch will be tuna-pea salad with a side of sauteed squash and onion.
3. My only mail today was a warning from my bank that a credit card I am not using will be cancelled. That is fine.
4. Continuing cool weather is allowing me to stay comfortable with air conditioning or fans.
5. I made granola yesterday. I didn’t have either nuts or coconut, and I used honey instead of maple syrup. It turned out fine. Later today I plan to make brownies. From scratch, of course, using cocoa for the chocolate, and without nuts, but they will still be good!
I meant, of course, WITHOUT air conditioning or fans!
1. Fellow credit union evangelist here! I love getting my ATM free reimbursement every month.
2. Had a true “use it up” night last night – pulled a pork tenderloin out of the freezer and served it with a mishmash farro salad with white beans, feta, and peas. Had half an onion in the fridge with no plan that let me practice caramelizing (it went okay, but the flavor was great). Made vinaigrette with powdered dijon mustard (out of the real stuff) and a ton of herbs from my little herb garden. DH went back for thirds on all stuff we had in the pantry/freezer/long term fridge residents.
3. Also made more chia pudding for breakfasts this week. I love the recipe with a can of coconut milk, 5 TB chia seeds, then sweetener of choice + toppings. I get 4 breakfasts out of it, which is good since I usually cook Monday nights. Shelf stable and endlessly customizable – my favorite!
4. Figured out how to run the dishwasher on delay so it runs middle of the night at lower electricity levels. My battle against the energy bill continues.
5. Enjoying the cooler evenings by tacking on a little bike ride around to whatever errands/bike trip I’m taking. I love going by the water and seeing everyone out and about.
I recycled a bunch of plastic bags at my favorite local grocery store and bought a big bunch of reduced price ripe bananas to make banana walnut bran muffins. Also bought some soft tofu to add to smoothies. Picked a handful of cherry tomatoes and a sweet pepper from the container garden.
I don’t have five more frugals since I just posted yesterday, I just wanted to thank everyone for sharing ideas on how to enhance an old backpack for my kids. Luckily they haven’t brought up wanting new backpacks again, I think it was only because we were in a store with a display of new backpacks, another reason to stay out of stores!
Also, speaking of wasted plastic bags. I called for a bulky item pickup. One of their guidelines is you can put out five 32-gallon trash bags and that counts as 1 bulky item. I was calling to get the carpet we removed picked up, which is in 5 smaller pieces. I asked if I could just put the 5 pieces out and she said if they weren’t in bags, they’d be charged as 5 separate items. So I will need to put them in bags. I know why they have to do it, to ensure the item fits in a bag and people aren’t taking advantage by putting 5 items out that would be too big for bags. Still seems like a waste of 5 trash bags though.
FTFT, “There’s Nae Smoke Without Fire” Edition:
(1) I’m continuing my lessons in Scottish slang from my Glaswegian walking buddy. “There’s nae smoke without fire” = “If there are a lot of rumors/stories about something, it probably is true.” The Orange Ogre’s Epstein connections, for example.
(2) And we do certainly have smoke here in Central NY, from the Canadian wildfires NW of us. Sadly, it appears that these may be a fact of life from here on out. (Pity the poor Canadians, who already have the Orange Ogre’s tariff whims to deal with.) Staying indoors for the most part and doing my best to cope.
(3) I made another stir-fry incorporating a generous fistful of weeds (redroot pigweed and purslane), as well as Reduced for Quick Sale pork strips, snow peas from Wegmans, and all the mushrooms I could salvage from a large batch that was going off. (Note to self: Buy mushrooms in smaller quantities from now on.)
(4) I’ve been going through stuff and putting things aside for a garage sale that our local liberal Catholic church (immigrants, refugees, and LGBTQ+ welcome) is having in late August to benefit its food pantry. I had been going to add these to my eccentric neighbor’s free pile on Saturday (see my comment on yesterday’s FFT), but I think this is a better use of the stuff.
(5) And I haven’t been lobbying high and low to get a Nobel Peace Prize that I don’t deserve by several orders of magnitude.
A. Marie, how is your Betty Cat doing with her congested nose? I hope it turned out to be nothing serious.
Our Zippy Cat had a slightly dirty nose and a bad attitude the first 12 years of his life. We moved to a house without carpet and both went away. Turns out he’d been allergic to the carpet and probably had a constant sinus headache. Poor old buddy!
Post-vacation, post-houseguests edition:
1. 4 family members arrived at our house 24 hours after we arrived home from 2 weeks away-cue mad scramble to clean, shop, prep food, find sleeping places for 4 people in our very small house. Thankfully I’d left it reasonably clean, so that was a start. I did not need to buy anything other than food. And I kept that simple-chicken in solar oven, coleslaw, potato salad, sliced meats and cheeses, crackers, fruit/veggies (most homegrown). It was important to me to spend time with my family, and not in the kitchen.
2. Family are gone and we are eating glorious leftovers and decompressing, while running multiple loads of laundry and hanging all of them on the line.
3. My mother had bought me something on Amazon, which I returned and got store credit. I’m buying a few household essentials with the credit. Nice for a post-vacation budget!
4. Made a note on the calendar of store rewards that need to be used before they expire. Followed up (for the 3rd time) on a refund that I was owed.
5. Used rain water (saved from our last rain back in early May) to deep water all plants that are not on drip irrigation. We have enough rain water left for one more deep watering, and then we’re not far off fall rains. Very satisfying.
Credit unions are usually local and sometimes you need nation wide.
If you had to eat barebones what would you eat and enjoy? These are some of my favorites.
Almond butter and jelly sandwich
Turkey sandwich
Pasta, butter, and cheese
Egg sandwich
Soup
Salad
Popcorn
When we need to access our local credit union account while away from home, we find a credit union in the nationwide shared branch network at https://co-opcreditunions.org/. The “away” branch can conduct financial transactions for us using our “home” account.
Rice and beans. Nuts. Any fruit and veg including potatoes.
t– I would love to see a thread based on your “bare bones” question. (working out my answer and will post something later)
1. Best buddy passed on to me a box with random soapy things – 3 half or more full bottles of hair conditioner, one of hair shampoo, one of mouthwash. Some salt beard spray (!!) and some facial care items, plus a half full wooden floor treatment and a ¾ full carpet cleaning solution. #2 son took the hair stuff and the mouthwash, saving the salt spray for #1 son as a bit of a joke, the facial care items for my daughter, and will give my cleaning lady the floor stuff and carpet stuff (I have only one carpet and won’t be cleaning it with anything but gentle shampoo). Stuff out of her house and now mostly out of mine. She had also given me a bag of clothes and #2 son suggested they should go to the homeless shelter so he put them in the car for me.
2. My cousin and his wife have unexpectedly come to stay for a night. We went for a free hike at a lovely local park (long enough to challenge, not so long to exhaust) then came home and worked together to put an ad-hoc meal on the table – using up veggies in a greek salad and stirfry. Such fun to have capable hands helping out in the kitchen – and his wife is really on the ball with getting dishes cleaned as you go so all is nice and tidy. Cooking together is much more fun when you have only time for a short visit – many family stories were shared.
3. My cousin’s wife likes to keep her hands busy so after supper I handed them my trays of dehydrated sage and different mint, and we stripped the leaves from the stems. All of the trays were emptied and the herbs jarred up in canning and other saved jars.
4. I had washed and hung to dry the bedding for the two rooms upstairs, however hadn’t got the beds made. Busy cousin’s wife got him working with her, and they made up BOTH beds (!!) which felt so loving. I even bet in the morning that their bed will be stripped before they leave, too. You know how some people make you feel less capable when they help, and others make you feel loved all over? These folk are the love ya all over kind, I am feeling tired from lots of socializing, and very very loved.
5. My #2 son finally had his first scientific paper published (that he is the lead author on, so when it is referenced going forward, it will be HIS NAME et al, big deal in the world of papers). I am bursting with joy for him, he has worked very hard on something that is brand new in his field. I know it isn’t exactly frugal, however he is doing his masters with no additional $ inputs as he is paid a stipend, and lives in the loft over my barn/workshop so his rent is low. His car is old and although he drives a lot he still is ahead of the game compared to renting closer to school (besides, I feed him most of the time). With the papers starting to happen his scientific career is looking rosy.
6. I drove by a neighbour’s who had a cooler out with a FREE Cucumbers sign. On the way home I dropped in and picked up two lovely long beauties. Now I want to find some free zucchini since I am not growing any this year!
Congrats to your son! That is totally exciting!
What wonderful visitors you had!
And congrats to your son indeed 🙂
Yes, congrats to your son on this very career important milestone. Also for being frugal while going through grad school. Both will pay long term dividends.
1. I walked to Kroger yesterday and picked up a few receipts in the parking lot to scan into my Fetch app.
2. The resale store near me had all their clothing for $2 each. I notified my friend who has recently lost a significant amount of weight and needs new clothes, and met her there. I found 11 items to resell, and she bought a handful of dresses.
3. I bought a Shark robot vacuum at a yard sale and am pretty taken with how handy it is at cleaning under our beds. I intended to sell it, but now think I will keep it.
4. Gave my sister a pot of basil as mine is booming.
5. The Tuesday drop at Taco Bell today was a $1 gordita, and we each ordered one thru the app.
1. I took advantage of Senior Tuesday and hit up Goodwill for some back-to-school items. I needed slacks but only found a couple of darling T-shirts that had all-over floral prints instead of slogans or advertising. So they look more like blouses. Both of them go with slacks and capris I already own, and one has 3 different colors that’ll go with 3 different sets of “bottoms.” Wardrobe stretchers! And since it was 20% off the $5.99 price, I only paid $4.79 for each one. (Plus tax. ) If anyone asks, tell ’em I got ’em at the GW Boutique!
2. Got my back-to-school haircut and bought a discount card. Instead of paying $20, this haircut and the next four will be $15. That oughta last me ’til Spring Break.
3. Ran by the carwash and got another wash. I signed up for a membership and therefore I try to hit it at least once a week, if not more. This brings the price down to about $5 if I go 4x a month. It’s near 3 schools where I sub, so every time I leave campus, I’m going to hit the carwash.
4. Credit card came in and my credit limit is huge. So I have more than enough to get my luxury vinyl planks for the master bedroom, the last area of my house still with the icky carpet. Will use my 10% Ollie coupon.. Measured the area and will get the planks tonight.
5. Stopped by the county Democratic hq and bought a patriotic T-shirt to support the protests against Felon 34. Also got a Colin Allred for Senate bumper sticker. And some buttons and stickers for local causes. (Frugal fail: I took off all my campaign stickers last Xmas, not knowing he would run again. Against the other Senator.) Was also given a corrugated Stop Global Warming yard sign. They didn’t have the metal legs for the sign, but I have several leftover from past Vacation Bible Schools and campaigns. Which I reuse.
BTW, the Democratic party county chairman told me a good frugal tip I haven’t heard before. He said there is a DIYer who is redoing her house. After each campaign, she comes by and gets leftover materials. She uses the big campaign signs, the kind that are made of corrugated plastic, as attic insulation. She climbs up into her attic and nails ’em up on the underside of the roof decking, he said. They are waterproof and the corrugated ridges make built-in air pockets. Hmmm… I don’t know how good or how bad that works, but apparently, she thinks it is useful for this purpose. Even if they don’t work, perhaps some day many years from now, some future owners might be able to sell those old campaign signs to collectors and make some good money that way. Has anyone else ever heard of reusing corrugated signs for insulation??
Yes, A friend was collecting them for just that purpose
Lisa, you seem to be doing so well lately and I’m happy for you.
Your Fred Meyer is more generous than my Fred Meyer! Mine puts about half as much produce in one of those bags. They hardly seem worth $1.50 at my store. There’s a Fred Meyer on the way to my Winco that has better clearance shelves, and I stop in just to check for bargains!
Same here! The produce bags are the same as before, just more expensive.
I didn’t leave the house so no money spent! Its soooo hot here in Venice, Florida.
Made a salad and added the lightly breaded chicken chunks i got on sale dosed with Louisiana hot sauce. Buffalo chicken on salad with blue cheese dressing. I went thru my clothes, sorted the ones im keeping, to donate and those to use as rags, and hankies. My basil and sage are at their biggest so I trimmed them up and now have some lovely herbs. Unfortunately, my mint went south, but I did get a lovely cuppa before it died. I’ll start more herbs and a new garden in October. There are hot peppers coming in hard, but they’ll go to my son. Too hot for me!
Im not begging for a Nobel prize, which i dont deserve anyways. I did not move a convicted sex trafficking scumbag to a nicer prison. I also didn’t molest or know of any molesting of children by any of my friends.
Boy, it’s been a loooonnnnggg time since I’ve been on here.
1. For ca.’ stuff’, I use either brown lunch bags, or extra things. That tortilla bag with a resealable zipper? Yup. And with two cats, I scoop a lot.
2. Since I had surgery on my wrist at the end of June, I’ve hit my out-of-pocket. So this week I’m going to the dermatologist and to a new, rare migraine specialist.made an appt for a hearing test later this year (I have tinnitus, so we watch my hearing). I took a few days off this week and will ride the commuter rail into Boston and walk from South Station to my appointment. I’m going to bring my camera, water bottle, and a book and enjoy the 1 ish mile walk to my appt. A coworker may meet me for lunch at a Brazilian restaurant near the hospital. I’ve already looked at their menu and they have tacos for $4-5.
3. I have been keeping track of monies spent each day on my kitchen calendar. Every month, the food/miscellaneous/dining amounts go down. I’m back to averaging about $200/month on food (it’s just me).
4. I took advantage of $30 ticket to see some punk bands at a venue near me. I parked at my friends house and she drove me the mile down the street (and picked me up). It was a great show and worth the $30 to see 3 bands and lose my voice singing. (It’s the Offspring tour)
5. A coworker gifted me some giant zucchinis, which I finely shredded, shared some with my neighbor and son and made multiple batches of zucchini bread, most of which are in the deep freeze. I brought one into work yesterday, which didn’t last long and converted a young coworker, who had never tried zucchini bread before. He thought it was going to taste like vegetables. He loved it.
Stay safe and healthy everyone!!
My sister-in-law would shred gifted zucchini and freeze it in measured ziplocs. At Christmastime, she would make zucchini bread for her work colleagues, a rare treat at that time of year.
My living room curtains looked blah. I used a cloth shower curtain and made new ones. Then I washed and ironed the old ones and made a table runner for my dining table. Also noticed a pear and peach tree in someone’s yard, I stopped and asked if I could buy some fruit. The lady said you can have all you want. I made pear preserves and peach jam for the winter and put sliced peaches in the freezer for cobblers this winter.
I went to me neighborhood Walmart and saw receipts on the ground and unused plastic bags in the carts and picked them up, thought of you 😉
1. I hosted an event at a retirement home. Upon leaving a staff member offered my raffle tickets and candy necklaces in packaging to bring back to my work. I did and redistributed them. I love helping things go to good use and avoid the trash.
2. I did not eat out on the way to or from this event. In the past I have, and then get so upset with myself for eating out as fast food has gotten really pricey. I brought a snack with me, had a snack there, and ate when I got back to the office.
3. I borrowed can space from two neighbors to help mitigate my trash for the week as I help someone (a hoarder) I am helping clean out their house. More trash mitigation to come. This however will save them the cost of a dump run or two which is $$.
4. For the cat boxes, I typically use plastic grocery bags or reused bags from other things with a seal including ziplock bags, bags from bread, freezer food with zips and seal closures. This gives all the bags I use a second life before going to the dump.
5. I’ve come to realize we dont eat cereal that much. We have a lot that is lightly expired or near expiration. I’ve decided to have a cup every day or other day to winnow down the supply, and stop buying it unless it’s explicitly requested or used in a recipe. Realizing what you no longer eat is important in reducing food waste.
I sprinkle a bit of dry cereal on my Greek yogurt for breakfast. The crunch is nice w/ the creamy texture of the yogurt. I have also used excess cereal to make snack bars. A rice crispy knock-off with whatever cereal I have on hand.
We use a credit union also and by checking their site I found that there are certain other institutiins that will not charge fees. Winco will also give cash back without a fee, unlike Fred Meyers.
SUCH a good idea to use extra/abandoned produce bags in that way!
And does anyone know if there is the Fetch app in Canada? I know AirMiles lets you scan receipts and then get bonus miles for certain items, but I don’t think I’ve heard of anything like Fetch here.
My Frugal five today:
1. Found Goodwill goodies (posted about them too) – including a crazy deal on envelopes that are apparently very expensive! Who knew?
2. Stretching out a rotisserie chicken – I like making quinoa bowls with them, chopped up chicken and whatever veggies we have on hand. Then we each doctor them up with flavours/sauces we prefer.
3. Lots of ice water! It’s not even that hot here, but I love cold water to drink. 🙂
4. Enjoyed a great book on Libby called ‘The Berlin Apartment.’ And then I found a beautiful little tray at Goodwill labelled on the back as GDR – German Democratic Republic. So interesting!!! I didn’t buy the tray, but I was fascinated to find that right when I was reading about East and West Germany/Berlin.
5. Enjoying the relatively cool weather here and lots of rain. Very thankful not to be blanketed in wildfire smoke as we have been many years…
And one quick question:
Does anyone in Canada know if Costco still sells the large boxes of Chickapea pasta? The little boxes sold at the supermarket are $4.99, but I’d like to get this chickpea pasta at a better deal than that!
I just love that pasta, since it’s packed with protein and we can use it as an easy meal when I top it with hummus, garlic, olive oil and some hot sauce. So good!
Costco used to sell it, but I haven’t seen it lately. Anyone know? And thanks in advance for the help!
Can get it shipped to you from walmart. Free delivery to your home if you order&35.00 worth of stuff