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I did a sweep through the house and chose to pass along the Pottery Barn rug that I curb picked in June. You remember, this one:
There were still a few stains that I’d been unable to remove, (even though it photographed beautifully HERE) so I decided it was time to curb it along to someone new. I stapled a sign onto the rug that said “FREE Pottery Barn rug” and it was gone by the time I checked on it a few hours later. Nature is healing.
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My daughter’s boots had a busted zipper, so I dropped them off at a locally owned shoe repair place. It’ll cost $45, but I’d prefer to repair our belongings instead of tossing them into a landfill. The throwaway mentality we practice creates a world I don’t want to live in; and if we don’t support repair shops, they’ll continue to disappear.
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I stopped by the Portland Convention Center to pick up my FinCon Expo name tag a day early. I declined the low quality branded tote bag. Events like these invariably offer branded freebies that become garbage within a week or two. It’s okay to “just say no” to wasteful swag.
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I ran into Safeway to grab a couple thick plastic bags from their recycling bin, as they’re the perfect size and strength for our kitchen garbage can. (It’s hard to get ahead financially when all your money is tied up in bin liners!) I also took a loop past their clearance section, which rarely provides anything worth buying. I did grab four 50¢ cans of La Croix seltzer to have on hand for guests. I’m nothing if not an elite hostess. And yes, I’ll keep the price tags in place.
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I use the last 45¢ of my Red Cross Safeway gift card, which means I finally spent every single cent from my blood and platelet donations!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
Five Tiny Frugal Things
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Kudos for supporting your local shoe repair shop!
1. The used power bank that I recently bought on Ebay seems to have gotten lost in transit, it was never delivered. The seller did not send it tracked and we got a refund from Paypal. My son advised us against buying a used power bank in the meantime as the battery performance declines over time. So we ended up buying a new one unfortunately but it still beats buying new phones or having the phone batteries replaced! (The batteries on our phones don’t last that long any more, that’s why we need a power bank to keep us going on days out.)
2. I sold a crepe maker on Vinted and shipped it in a large shoe box.
3. The latest TooGoodToGo box from Aldi (4 Euro) was excellent value: 2 lean beef burgers, 2 chicken breast fillets, 1 packet of deli style crumbed ham, 16 pork sausages, steak and vegetable family pie, 1 avocado, a packet of 6 chocolate macarons, 4 quick fry BBQ beef steaks. Froze most of the meat except for the beef steaks and the sliced ham for future use.
4. I chose not to participate in a once off work event/competition that would have required the purchase of a specific item of clothing that I would have never used again.
5. I will receive a fennel plant through my local plant swap group, giving away an agapanthus plant in exchange.
Logged our exercise in to get each of us our $10 United healthcare rewards. I also filled out an online survey so another $5 I can use at Walmart to
pick up odds and ends. Our big shopping day is Friday for our Costco and grocery store run. It’s been old mother hubbards cupboard here since last Saturday.
I sold a couple of things and should get $$ this week
Hubby gets his SS check on Friday. Big error on my part time job paycheck as in less $$. Hope it gets resolved today.
Not so frugal I’m meeting a friend who is in town for a coffee today at a downtown hotel. Very few people I know come to OKCity on business
My sister and I spent a week in Oklahoma City and had a wonderful time sightseeing!
We stopped in OKC last Sunday on our drive to Wichita from Dallas. Managed to see an excellent Ansel Adams exhibit at OKCMOA!
1. Today is my grocery shopping day but I’m forgoing it, because I’m going to visit a friend Friday through Monday. I’m out of many items, but I will make do.
2. I picked up the book Make the Bread, Buy the Butter from the library. So far I haven’t really learned anything new, but there are recipes I want to try.
3. While at the library I went into a panic because I couldn’t find my Ride Free card (which I had used to get there). I decided to go to the station and ask the attendant what to do. Before I got far, I got a call from the library. Someone had turned in my card. Felt like the universe was responding to my recent attempts to return lost things to their owners!
4. My new haircut — which wasn’t cheap, but also wasn’t done at one of the tonier places — is permitting me to just wash and wear — and I don’t even need conditioner. So much easier, and more frugal in a small way.
5. Will be using up perishables before my weekend trip, so lots of potatoes and mushrooms on the menu.
Lecroix must be rebranding or something. We bought a six pack last weekend for $1.50 at Fry’s/Kroger.
Keeping it simple this week and saving money doing so. I’ve been staying at home a lot the last two weeks and it has not only helped me feel more relaxed, it’s saved me a lot of money.
1. I brought a kids frozen dinner to work today. No one has eaten this in probably six months. Today, I make the sacrifice to use it up.
2. We have eaten at home all week. Proud of myself and my son. Our fridge doesn’t look so crowded and we still have a lot of food to go. A lot of simple meals and a lot of meal prepping. It feels good to take a break from grocery shopping and eating out.
3. I have looped all errands into driving and haven’t had to fill my gas tank up in over a week. Probably will need to tonight or tomorrow.
4. Started reading a book someone recommended from the library. Thankful for our great library systems.
5. My son mowed and I did some bush trimming this week. Saving the cost of lawncare if we had hired it out.
“Nature heals!” I love it LOL.
1. I had to return a pair of shoes that didn’t fit, so I opted to turn them in at Staples, which is near my school, so I could do that errand on my bike commute. I had planned to bungee cord the box to my bike rack, but it actually fit perfectly in my backpack. I hate driving to return things, so this worked out great.
–The family has been wanting to re-watch The X Files, and at first the kids were excited to report it was on our Disney+ feed. (Eventually we will get rid of this subscription when all the kids grow out of watching Star Wars stuff.) Then the Mouse yanked the rug out from under us and said we needed a Hulu subscription to keep watching. DH decided that it would be cheaper to order the DVD set. We’ve done this with what we consider “legacy” shows that we’ll watch again and which sometimes get taken off of streaming without warning (looking at you, Stargate SG-1 and Star Trek). Apparently they’re not making US region DVDs anymore for X Files, because the only sets he could find were exorbitantly priced. He opted for the non-US region set, because he has an all-region DVD player driver on his computer, which he can hook up to the TV. It works perfectly and everyone is delighted to explore the spooky world of Mulder and Scully. We ration ourselves to two episodes a week of a show, in general, so these 11 seasons will last a while! DH crunched the numbers and it’s 75 cents an episode.
3. I have managed, through sheer willpower and fortitude, to avoid buying anything from the vending machines at school. I avail myself of the free coffee and tea bar, along with my packed breakfast.
4. Thanks to this blog I’ve been making a point of checking out the marked-down produce cart every week, and was rewarded today with four perfectly lovely apples and four nectarines, the latter of which greatly delighted one of my sons.
4.
75 cents an episode for the first watch- but if anyone watches a second run you’ll be getting an even better bargain!
My library system has Xfiles on DVD, may be an even cheaper option!!
I have mentioned that to DH, but he says he’s been burned in the past by borrowing from the library and having the DVDs being all scratched and maltreated by previous borrowers. At least this way, he says, we’ll know who scratched them! 😉
And Christina: yes, we have the DVD collection of Battlestar Galactica (the 2004 version) and have already rewatched it at least four times through, so I figure our sunk cost is all but absorbed for that one!
One silly luxury I look forward to when I shop at Winco, is the 50 cent LaCroixs they sell from the vending machine at the exit. Ice cold! I’m so sad when the machine is out of order.
I ran into the grocery store to pick up a few things to get us to the next grocery shore run and found bargains in the marked down meat section.
I had a similar zipper incident with my son last week. His Jansport backpack zipper was broken, and he let us know at about 8 pm that he needed a backpack for school the next day (teens!). Since all of our kids bike to school, he truly did need something to hold his stuff en route. Thankfully, my husband had a new-with-tags backpack that he wasn’t using (we work in the aforementioned promotional/swag industry), and our kid was able to make it work. It’s actually a nice bag that is bigger than the Jansport pack he’d been using.
But, it didn’t sit well with us to throw away a not even one-year-old backpack. I looked into JanSport’s warranty, and they have a lifetime warranty program. I submitted the warranty request and (im)patiently waited a week to hear back. The repair request was received, and yes, I spent $9 on postage to ship it to them, but we will receive this backpack back with a new zipper hopefully sometime in the next month or two. Now that our son is using the new-to-him backpack, I’m not sure if he’ll want to go back to his original bag, but at least we will have an extra and kept the backpack out of the landfill.
Somewhere in this house I have a Jansport backpack that I planned to send back to them for repair. It’s been a couple years. But it’s a nice backpack! Maybe I’ll do it today now that you’ve reminded me!
My son used the same Jansport backpack from middle school through his two years in college. It was still in good shape and always laundered well.
I am in my mid-40’s and I still use my high school Jansport backpack as my in-case of emergency car pack. I have had to send it in once for repair over the years. I absolutely love their warranty!
I’ve always loved their warranty and have used it once. But recently I submitted a request for a repair and they deemed the backpack unrepairable. No replacement offered. I repaired the backpack myself and sent them a photo of it.
So now I don’t trust their warranty. It seems they only honor it when they want to.
37 years ago I purchased 3 Jansport backpacks for my daughters and myself. 2 of the zippers broke years ago and were replaced by the company. All 3 backpacks are still in use. I really appreciate a product that lasts. It is sad Kara they are not choosing to cover the warranty at this time. Good job on your repair.
I woke up today with dizziness and nausea, so it’s a couch day for me!
1. A friend of a friend was giving away an electric bike. We were the happy recipients! It was $3000 new and has only 88 miles on ti!
2. I brought home things to sell for my son, and I listed a bunch of it yesterday.
3. I was reminded to watch for Hulu’s $3 a month black Friday promo.
4. Made a curtain rod out of electrical conduit spray painted black, with the decorative ends being old knobs that I’d taken off a free dresser, and the wall brackets made out of L brackets and one-hole straps for electrical conduit, also spray painted black. Total under $10.
5. We have the handmade (by me!) happy birthday banner up for Dh’s birthday. I made it 20 years ago entirely from scrap fabric. It still looks like new and has been hung for every family birthday for 20 years.
Hope you feel better soon!
Nice score on the e bike!
I bet the banner is a loved tradition! I adore those types of little traditions.
The curtain rod is very clever!
Frugal 5- Arts and Crafts Edition
1. I wanted some new fall decorations but didn’t want to spend any $. I had two wood rounds in my craft stash, and some beautiful posters that are about 12 years old. I only had two paint colors but I mixed each with some gesso to create different shades. I painted the wood and applied cut outs from the old posters and then covered with Modge Podge. They turned out just perfectly, and I love that they didn’t costs me anything because I made it work with the supplies I had from previous projects.
2. I also a fall pumpkin garland out of my bamboo TP rolls, twine, and watercolor paints I had on hand. Oh- and a stick from the yard for the stems.
3. I used shipping paper, and plastic trays from some mini quiche we had for the arts and crafts work surfaces and paint trays. I enjoy rescuing things that would otherwise go in the trash/recycling after one use. These items were kept for upcoming arts sessions too.
4. During a kitchen deep clean I discovered a couple spots where my cabinets were failing after almost 20 years of service. I took the time to repair them with materials we had around the house. They aren’t new, aren’t even pretty, but they are functional and that works for me!
5. It was a rainy day here yesterday. I made meals from leftovers, baked some bread from scratch, and we enjoyed the books we have pulled out for the fall season.
FTFT, Mostly Passive Frugality Edition:
(1) Was seriously tempted to go down to the Salvation Army superstore for the new Wednesday “every tag color except one 50% off” sale. I’d been looking at some Brooks athletic shoes there on Monday. But these were originally priced at $20 (so they still would have been $10 with the discount); most of them lacked insoles; and, TBH, I have enough sneakers anyway.
(2) So I stayed home–since, among other things, I had two JASNA journal papers to edit; I’m expecting a package from Jane Austen Books (including the paperback Sense and Sensibility I need to make up a Christmas set for a friend); and King James (my yard guy/snow wizard) is here to redo the paint job on my front door frame, in another of his many talents. Also, no gas expended.
(3) When King James asked to put a bottle of Gatorade Zero in the fridge, and I noticed that it was the same flavor as a box of instant Gatorade Zero packets I bought at the grocery outlet but didn’t like, I gave him the box. He’s pleased, and I got those out of the house without waste.
(4) Am making another half-gallon of sun tea, since we can’t be sure how many more warm, sunny days we’re going to get. My current preferred formula is two bags of good strong Taylor’s of Harrogate black and one bag of mint tea. I’m doing increasingly well at substituting this for Diet Pepsi.
(5) And I haven’t told outright lies about a dirty birthday card I sent several years ago to a renowned scumbag and pedophile. In fact, I never sent the card.
A frugalish win that I forgot to mention previously. My daughter loves the bamboo sleepers for my granddaughter, but they can be expensive. However, they wear well and are stretchy, so they last for a long time. An on-line, woman-owned site had some featuring her favorite show, so I bought a sleeper for the grandbaby. Then my daughter pointed out that they have adult sized joggers, so I bought her a pair. However, the joggers never showed up. I sent a follow up email to the company, and they were so quick to respond. They missed my order, and to make up for it, they gave me a $50 credit! Plus, they are sending the original joggers, just later than expected, for free. I still had to pay for shipping, but they refunded the purchase price. So I was able to order another sleeper and jogger matching set in another favorite show theme. These will be Christmas presents!
I sent off for an Autozone rebate MONTHS ago, and it honestly took about 3 months to receive the $10 card. LOL However, I’m holding on to it in case we need it or for a stocking stuffer for one of my boys.
Last night’s dinner was some clearanced brussel sprouts cooked with bacon.
My brother cooks lunch for my son and I every Friday. I’m trying to think of an inexpensive lunch I can buy this Friday as a treat for him (and us). The cheapest I can think of is 2 orders of an appetizer that my husband and I often get (one order feeds both of us). It would be about $25, but he always makes us delicious lunches, so this feels reciprocal.
Well done following up with the bamboo sleepers/joggers – sounds like the rebates and gift card probably mean you ended up paying for about two sleepers and got the joggers for free. And I bet you are telling everyone in your circle the name of the company which is priceless to them (a google review wouldn’t hurt, either, as a thank you. carefully avoiding commenting about the missed item, and waxing lyrical about the quality?)
I have a rebate Visa card that you have reminded me of, now where have I put the code?
I was just at the shoe repair shop this morning. Although my husband’s dress shoes are beyond repair, I did learn that they will be accepted at my county’s textile recycling center which opens next year. I have a big bag of other items ready to go.
1. Neighbor gave us some golden raspberries from her garden. Delicious.
2. Unexpected cool spell had us turning on the heat earlier than normal. Now it looks like we may need to turn on the AC for a few days.
3. Received from Buy Nothing: Cherry coffee (it’s different but drinkable in small doses), plastic bags for dog waste and a toiletry bag.
4. Saved money by not having to replace our bathtub drain plug. I thought it was broken but my husband figured it out. It’s ancient and not the most intuitive to use.
5. Had a small spice jar of garam masala that we weren’t using and was still potent despite its advanced age (should we all be so lucky!), so for inspiration I researched recipes using this spice.
When I’ve been gifted coffee that wasn’t my favorite I’ve found that mixing it with a preferred coffee before making really made it more drinkable. I may just do that with a not too bad bag of coffee I received recently.
@Juhli and @MB in MN, I was going to make that same coffee suggestion. The other thing I do with coffee is I use half of a hazelnut flavoured coffee bean, cut with half of a cheaper version – the hazelnut flavour comes through beautifully, and the cost per cup is reduced. In fact, I don’t like the flavour when it is brewed full strength (call me a wimp)
1. Did my usual cheaper grocery store shop while in another town for work – laundry detergent, cereal, tortilla chips, and snacks at a discount. Cereal we like was a full $4 a box lower than our local store.
2. While doing this shop I put three items back – a bag of chips I really like, a plastic bottle of seltzer, and a few cans of white beans – that I really didn’t need or had a version of at home. Use it up!
3. I sat at a colleague’s desk while in town and she had a lava lamp. I loved staring at it while thinking or as a way to look elsewhere while on phone calls. I thought to myself, maybe I should get one! Then I remembered that everything you have ever owned is still on earth and demurred.
4. Avoided fast food on the way home to eat a much nicer local dinner at home with DH. He had picked up a spicy cucumber salad which I LOVE. I am saving the dressing to put more cucumbers in since there is so much sauce left over.
5. Declining some travel plans that would have cost a lot in both money and energy. Recommitting to enjoying my home and neighborhood instead of always being on the go this fall.
A friend calls that, enjoying our mortgage. You own it, might as well love it.
Sadly, my beloved daughter slipped peacefully away, holding my hand, in the early hours of Saturday, 23rd of August, after battling cancer for almost 2 years. She held on long enough to see her youngest daughter through high school, and a memorable 18th birthday party. She desperately wanted to hold her first grandchild, but cancer robbed her of that. She had her whooping cough vaccination in palliative care, as , here in Brisbane, Australia, many new parents are making that mandatory for early cuddles., and she hoped so much to achieve that goal.PLEASE, GET ALL AVAILABLE CANCER SCREENINGS!
Her oncologist told us that, for whatever reason bowel cancer is now striking much younger people ( she was only 50), so don’t delay!
The frugal part of this post is that unattended cremation cost AUD$2350, 20% of what a friend recently paid for her mothers funeral.That grandbaby will benefit from the difference.
Coral, I am so, so sorry. Your daughter and all of you fought long, hard, and bravely. And I’m especially sorry that your daughter didn’t get to see that grandbaby.
But on the subject of frugal funeral arrangements, here’s my story: I donated DH’s body to the local medical school after his death in June 2023, primarily because it was what he would have wanted. (He signed every organ donor card he ever got in his life, but he wasn’t a good candidate for organ donation by the time he died, so I figured that anatomical donation was the next best thing.) However, it also turned out to be the most frugal option: I paid about $2500 USD to the funeral home for arranging the donation and providing transport, plus an additional $200 or so for facilitating the obituary and providing extra copies of the death certificate. The medical school returned DH’s ashes to me in August 2024 (the school covered the cost of the cremation), and his ashes now rest in peace in a place he would have loved. I hope that you can find an equally peaceful spot for your dear daughter.
I’m so sorry for your loss.
Coral, I am so sorry. You both put up a valiant fight, and what an optimistic spirit she had to think ahead and get her vaccination. (((Hugs)))
I am so sorry for your loss. You are in my thoughts. I am thankful for the milestones that she was able to witness.
Coral, I am very sorry for your loss. Thank you for your care in reminding us of the importance of cancer screenings so that others do not suffer what you, your daughter, and your family went through.
Holding you close to my heart, Carol. Thank you for sharing your daughter and yourself with us.
Patricia
Coral..My deepest sympathy on the loss of your beautiful daughter.
Heartfelt condolences on your sad loss. Wishing you strength. Your beautiful daughter will live on in your family’s memories.
Sending another virtual hug your way with all my love.
Coral, I cannot begin to imagine your pain. Prayers are being uplifted for you and your family.
“There is a sacredness in tears. They are not the mark of weakness, but of power. They speak more eloquently than ten thousand tongues. They are messengers of overwhelming grief, and unspeakable love.” — Washington Irving.
Please accept my condolences. How devastating to lose a child, a mother herself.
Deepest condolences Coral, and prayers for your grandchildren who have lost their mother. So very sad what cancer takes from us.
My gosh. I am so sorry. Peace be with you in this difficult time.
Fun Fact: When I was growing up in the 1970’s, there was a cobbler’s shop called Felix & Mike’s Shoes. They were do well known and had tons of business…and they NEVER, EVER even had a TELEPHONE!
1.Fig trees #2 and #3 are going bonkers. I picked 68 figs yesterday and 63 today. Hubby needs to pick the ones high up that I can’t reach. I made 2 fig cakes. They called for walnuts. I had an almost empty bag of pecans and an open bag of almonds. That’s what I used instead. I used aquafaba instead of eggs. Hubby took one to work and the other is for here. I have had friends stopping by when they are nearby to pick up figs. I’m not exaggerating when I tell you there are 1000 figs still on the 2 trees.
2. I made banana nut chocolate chips with bananas in my freezer. When I turn the oven on I make several things.
3.We had pasta with meat sauce for dinner. I had frozen a piece of Italian bread so I turned it into garlic bread. My husband and son had some of the fig cake for dessert. There is leftover pasta and meat sauce for lunch for tomorrow.
4. Over the weekend Hubby and I went to Habitat Restore. We have been looking for a few pieces of furniture. We found one. Our coffee table was a hand me down. I have never really liked it but it served its purpose. We found a farm style coffee table that has storage in it. It is a blue/gray and I love it. My friend works in the office and always tells me to mention her name so I did. They gave us 25% off. I did tip the guy who helped Hubby load it into our truck. My son came over and helped us get it into our house. It looks so good. We donated our coffee table.
5. I used a small rubber spatula to get the last of Hubby’s hair gel out of the container. I used a dry clean shirt bag that I tie to dump garbage’s in. I used an old single fuzzy sock as a Swiffer pad. I cut up some paper bags and use them for fried foods. I took my egg cartons to a friend of a friends farm. I take the newspaper bags from the lady I take care of as poop bags. All the tiny things add up over time. I really don’t think about it. I just do it.
Oh wow, so many figs! I have fond childhood memories of eating figs straight off the tree on holidays in Italy, they were so delicious.
1. Cleaned the clothes dryer vent, which required taking a balky screw out to remove the steel mesh basket, and then vacuumed down inside the dryer. Replaced the hard-to-turn screw with a much better one from my box of odds and ends.
2. Had a cooking morning and made baked berry oatmeal and lentil-tomato soup for myself, and pot roast with a baked potato for my husband.
3. Bathed, conditioned and brushed out both my dogs, which would have cost at least $90 to hire out.
4. DH and I put our heads together and tackled a couple of drywall issues in our bedroom rather than hiring it out.
5. Ran elastic salvaged from some pajamas through the back waistband of a pair of thrifted jeans to take up them up a bit. Is there an actual term for that small of the back gape that so many women’s jeans have? These fit wonderfully except for that.
Frugal fail: We had an exterminator out to deal with a basketball-size hornet’s nest in our front yard, and no one noticed the same tree has a second nest until our neighbors mentioned it. So that’s $250 we’ll pay again. (My husband is allergic to wasp stings, so we can’t ignore it.)
I’m not sure if you’ve looked into it, but here our city will remove nests for free. The mosquito control people do it. They don’t advertise and I’m sure many have paid for it, but it is a free service available here. The local bee society will remove a nest or swarm of been for free and the mosquito control people remove wasps and hornets.
Our city does not do that. It was interesting having the guy back out because he had never seen two nests in the same tree before, what with hornets being very territorial.
Word of warning to your future thirsty guests…Limon Cello La Croix tastes like bad lemon pie mixed with seltzer water. Not sure a bargain even at 50 cents.
It’s one of my favorites!
Noted, thanks! Blegh!
I like it, too!
Prayers and comfort to you and your family.