Five Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on August 16, 2024 · 35 comments
My sister is visiting from New York for a couple of weeks, so today’s blog post is going to be very sister-centric. Both of us are rather cash poor at the moment, so we’ve assigned a theme of “Two Thin Dimes” to her trip. Because why not rebrand a limitation as a fun challenge?
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We invited our mother and step father over for dinner last night and served a “burrito buffet” of pinto beans cooked in the Instant Pot, (bulk purchased from Winco of course!) rice, plus a variety of veggies and such. Dessert was a carton of $3.99 Tillamook chocolate peanut butter ice cream, which is my favorite flavor.
Zero complaints, at least not in front of me.
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I set up my son’s old bedroom for my sister, which involved washing the bedding, dusting the room, running my beloved robot vacuum and placing a laundry basket in the room. I also brought up a small table from downstairs and placed some of my backyard hydrangeas in a vase. I was tempted to pick up a sweet treat, but my son talked me out of it.
How is this frugal? I chose “I’m having a house guest” as a creative challenge instead of an excuse to buy anything new (or even thrifted) for the room. I remembered that I had a bag of hard coffee candies, which I’d received as a gift, so I put one on her pillow case. The room looked all fresh and inviting and I didn’t need to spend even one thin dime.
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My son wanted something specific from IKEA, so we went after his work day, which happened to be on a Tuesday. Their entrees are all half-off on Tuesdays, so the two of us had dinner for just $7.98. And yes, we had the meatball platters.
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• I put a pile of CDs from the after-garage sale freebie night into our little free library. I’d run them past a consignment shop first and these were the ones they didn’t take.
• My sister and I stopped into a small church thrift shop and I didn’t buy anything, although my sister bought some crocheting supplies for her classroom.
• I donated a bag of miscellaneous things to Goodwill and made sure to get a receipt for my taxes. I wrote down everything I donated to get the full deductions.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
Yep, Tillamook chocolate peanut butter ice cream is the best!
1. I repaired an umbrella which I’ve had for about 20 years. I hope it will last another 10 or 20 years as I particularly like this umbrella and I do need it in SW WA state.
2. I have been finding more and better grocery store deals and coupons lately. The latest was a BOGO deal on frozen yogurt bars which I like. I bought 6 packages which should keep me in frozen yogurt bars for a month or more.
3. Put a number of books on reserve at the library and, of course, 8 of them became available in the same week. A real windfall, yes, but a challenge to read them all in the time allowed.
4. Still walking for exercise and grateful that the weather is cooler these days.
5. Stopped at a neighborhood garage sale on one of my walks and bought a nice stainless steel tea kettle for $2. I don’t know how much they usually cost, but I’m pretty sure it’s a lot more than $2.
The greatest weapon the average person has in her/his arsenal is consumer spending. When we stop spending on items, the price starts to drop or deals to be had. Those with disposable income can take advantage of deals. Eons ago, my better half used to supplement his work water supply with lemonade. When the frozen concentrate went on sale for $.19 a can, we loaded up. I was gifted a freezer when I move out of the house so we had one when we got married. That freezer was a game changer many times – quarter beef, microwave/oven quick meals when we were working on the house we bought. Though I admit we have not eaten any of those same quick meals since then lol. I’m not sure they even make one of them any more.
And yes library holds all available at the same time but what can you do but read what you can. May there be no holds on them behind you so you can renew if need be.
How nice that your sister is visiting. I’m sure she appreciates your hospitality.
1. A friend gave me tomatoes and peppers. Another friend invited me to join her at a house she owns to pick figs.
2. Last week I picked up a box of Mad magazines for DH. They were owned by a subscriber and I was able to save the mailing wrappers for printing.
3. CVS has been giving me $4 Extra Bucks each week. I stop by on my way by and find something that is a good deal. This week it was 6 ounce bags of shelled pistachios for $.99 out of pocket.
4. I had a small bunch of bananas that were still green 10 days after purchase. I put them in a paper bag and folded it closed. After four days in the bag they look like they are ready to eat.
5. A few weeks ago I saw a couple of fruit flies. I tried a few DIY methods but didn’t have complete success. I finally bought a very ripe banana and combined with apple cider vinegar, some dish detergent, and a cover made of lantern fly trap tape (very sticky) I think the problem is under control.
I am having terrible fruit flies. I’m going to,try your method. Thanks for sharing!
I just read somewhere that if you rinse the banana bunch off under cold running water when you first bring it home, that washes off any potential fruit fly eggs that might be on the bananas. Haven’t had a chance to try it though.
My Meijer started carrying Tillamook ice cream and it’s so good and a deal too.
1. I combined errands which included dropping an Ebay package at the post office.
2. I’m watching the new season of Alone for free on my Roku’s History app.
3. I took two walks with two different friends on a nature trail. Free exercise and a nice way to socialize.
4. I’m reading a new library book on my Kindle.
5. My Mom invited me and my daughter for dinner.
How fun to visit your sister and then have her visit you right back! Sisters are the best.
I love how nice you made the no-spend guest room experience.
For frugal things at my house, I altered a bra to fit better by lengthening the straps and adding fabric inserts at the back. The fabric came from a white sheet bought at Goodwill. I bought the correct size but the band was two inches smaller than others exactly like it.
Also mended two more chewed up dog toys. Made up a spray bottle of vinegar and Dawn dish detergent for cleaning the shower and labeled it for that use. Picked another pint of cherry tomatoes from the container garden. Bonus: cleared a slow drain with the vinegar-detergent combo and a kettle of boiling water followed by using the plunger. Boiling water made fast and easy with the destined for the dumpster electric kettle I rescued at work a few years ago.
1. Remembered to use a $3 coupon I had in my wallet. When I write out my shopping list, I put a “C” next to an item that has a coupon.
2. Favorite use-it-up concoction this week: On a plate, I put cottage cheese, avocado chunks, cherry tomatoes and cannellini beans. Lightly mixed them with aioli garlic mustard sauce, topped with a drizzle of olive oil and black pepper, and enjoyed with crackers. So simple, so good, and no waste.
3. Went to a free Dixieland band concert with my sister at a local church and enjoyed free refreshments afterward. We were invited to take extras home – and we did!
4. Walked with my husband and dog to pick up a Buy Nothing item. An hour round-trip constituted our evening walk so it was a win all around.
5. Instead of using real (and expensive) maple syrup in our morning oats, we’re using up the extra brown sugar we have on hand.
I love Tillamook Mudslide flavor. YUM. My stomach can’t handle much ice cream, but I do love a tour of the cheese factory & ice cream after. 😉
1) Visiting my sister (again) this week, and bringing her a gift for hosting us so many times this year. It’s something that I really wanted to get her anyway, and I got it for free using a reward DH had. (It’s a Breville Milk Frother – runs about $150).
2) Made dinners really stretch this week, as we had 2-6 diners at any given time, as the teens are often around & bringing friends. I always want our house to be a place that they are welcome, so I’ve just been adding things to the dinners to make them go further.
3) Made lunch for the teens yesterday (this is a rarity for me) & was able to use up freezer items I wanted to clear out.
4) Bought DS18 lunch at Subway on a gift card. They had a BOGO offer, so I also got a free foot long sandwich, which lasted for two meals.
5) I’m heading out shortly to volunteer at a soccer event. Three hours of volunteering gets me $100 of our soccer fees for DS17.
1. There is an article in the newspaper about some of my friends. This rag of a newspaper charges people to view the stories online. Instead of paying, I went to the library (near my home) to read the article for free.
2. A local store sells bottled water extra cheap, but instead of buying a case of 24, I just bought four bottles. Enough to offer the yard man and his helper; I don’t need any bottles other than that.
3. Scheduled substitute teacher gigs, which pay well. I had to substitute until 4 then go directly to my retail job and work until 8 Thursday and Friday, very tiring, but the 2 sub dates will pay my electric bill this month!
4. Happily accepted some back-to-school goodies offered to me by the PTA moms, who were packing up their welcome booth Friday afternoon when I was turning in my subbie badge, and they wanted to get rid of stuff not taken. My haul, mostly cookies, included 2 cans of soda — not my favorite flavors, but I’m keeping them at home to offer to guests.
5. Packed my lunches and drinks instead of ordering takeout or using the teacher lounge vending machines.
I have been living a fairly extravagant summer. These first months of retirement have been about multiple checks on a bucket list. Still, I want to not be wasteful and remain smart with my money during this honeymoon stage.
1. DS visited from college which means I stocked the house with food. Now that he is gone I will have to prepare the leftovers for future freezer meals. I will research today what to do with 5lbs of creamer potatoes, 20 hot dog buns, and 2 lbs of very mediocre grape tomatoes.
2. I have collected extra crystal knobs in the drawers and such from the 100 plus year old Riverhouse. We are having 4 new vanities made by a local carpenter. ( 3 bathrooms and a mudroom.) If I want to use up the crystal knobs I have to buy some more to complete sets. I found out they are upwards of $35 a piece. What ???? Since we are doing knobs and not pulls ( which require just one hole instead of two) I can be patient as I fill in the sets. I already found the six of the exact ones I wanted for $6 a piece on EBAY.
3. I dropped off a beautiful, thrifted large Tiffany lamp to be repaired. The lamp was $49. The repairs will be $250. I am happy with the choice because it supports a local artisan and preserve and beautiful vintage piece of art. This is much preferable to buying cheap lamps from China. “piece by high quality piece” is my mantra for this house. It will be a long process as the house has 5,000 square feet to consider.
4. I vacuum sealed breakfasts for my 16 day Tahoe Rim Trail hike. It took forever and I dropped lots of coffee mix on the flour. Sigh!
5. I have spent hours doing weighted training hikes in the beautiful Tahoe mountains for absolutely free.
We have been given leftover hot dog and hamburger buns from Hubby’s company picnic many times. I have made garlic bread, croutons, bread pudding and breadcrumbs with them.
Maybe dehydrate the grape tomatoes in the oven? I did that last year. Not sun-dried, but tastes the same!
If you like feta cheese, this is a to die for recipe that uses a lot of tomatoes.
https://www.sunset.com/recipe/baked-feta-and-cherry-tomatoes
Lindsey, that recipe looks amazing and I’m definitely going to be making it. After I clicked on that link, I also saw a similar recipe that used zucchini in place of the tomatoes, so that might be a way for someone to use up a lot of fast-growing zucchini.
Sometimes I don’t even do the pasta part of the recipe, instead using the deliciousness on toast or sandwiches instead of mayo. It never goes to waste. I did not see the substitution of zucchini but I will definitely look that up and try it. Thanks for the suggestion.
Not frugal. I’ve been on a feed frenzy for the past week. Take out 3 times.
I am house sitting next week so I’ll be bringing in groceries
1. I’m swamped with produce from 2 friends. Tomatoes, kale, chard, cucumbers, zucchini, butternut squash, rosemary, parsley, basil, and 50+lbs of organic gravenstein apples. I am very busy processing it all. Eating so much fresh. All I need to do is throw a bit of protein on the plate and we have a meal.
2. I am decluttering and listing for sale anything that might sell. Yesterday I sold an aloe plant that was too leggy for my liking.
3. Free breakfast and lunch 2 days at school.
4. Took cans and bottles to Target for redemption fee. Same amount and much nicer and quicker than the recycling center.
5. Signed up for the email from a locally owned grocery store, which offers a freebie each week. It’s close enough to ride my bike.
I also have houseguests. My son and DIL are visiting from WY and surprising my parents for their 60th Anniversary Party.
No special meals. I made sandwiches and put out chips and cookies for when they dropped in between visits to their friends and her family.
Ordered a cake from Sam’s for party. Pretty silver. We will meet at a beloved Italian restaurant and my sister and I will split the cost of dinner.
Being together…….priceless!
FTFT, Another Commenter with a Houseguest Edition:
JASNA BFF came up from NYC on Wednesday and leaves Monday morning. We haven’t been quite as frugal as Katy and her sister, but here are a few FTs we’ve done:
(1) We’ve eaten all but two meals at my house thus far. The first one out was lunch at the Wegmans Burger Bar (part of BFF’s absolutely required safari to our Wegmans), and the other was our Triple Birthday Celebration (TBC) with our JASNA Panera friend, which we ate at a good and very reasonably priced Thai restaurant.
(2) After the TBC lunch, the three of us came back to my house for prezzies (most of them either obtained secondhand or handmade) and dessert (a Wegmans chocolate cupcake for each of us; I supplied a candle for each from my stock).
(3) JASNA Panera brought various day-old goodies from the Panera in the next city over where she works. I returned the favor by refilling her cooler with refrigerator pickles (she’s a fan).
(4) I’ve also taken JASNA BFF to Clothes Mentor, where the cashier let us use my 15% off birthday coupon on a NWT Chicos reversible tank top for her.
(5) And we’ve also gone to our favorite local secondhand bookstore, where the cashier obligingly credited BFF’s purchases toward stamps on my rewards card. (I didn’t spend anything at either CM or the bookstore because I’ve got expensive car repairs coming up.)
We are also in a period of cash poor. Our EF is fully funded if we really need it.
1. We are still working on the cellar. We are sealing 1/4 at a time so we didn’t have to empty it all at once. It is slow going as Hubby is working during all of it. Shopping at our local Habitat store before going to HD. All shelving units are outside and getting a power wash as we speak.
2. My daughter and I gave my dog a bath. I cleaned her ears after. Her nails are one day this week. She has never been to a doggie spa. Poor girl.
3. Garden is going strong. My sister and neighbor each got a huge bag of cherry tomatoes since I may have grown to many. String beans were our vegetable for dinner last night. Salads with tomatoes and cucumbers have been almost every day this week. I need to make pickles. The dehydrator is running almost ever day too.
4. My 2 kids that live local and I went to The Vanderbilt Estate that is 1/2 hour away. We used a library pass to get in for free. We packed a picnic lunch and brought reusable water bottles.
5. Driving home we stopped at 3 libraries that were on the way. Our county library system is having a county wide treasure hunt. You have to find an artifact at each library and you get a stamp. Every 5 stamps you get a raffle for a prize. It has been fun going to libraries we have never been to.
6. Sales this week at Stop N Shop were chicken thighs and split chicken breasts for 89¢ a pound. I also found a ton of medicine on the clearance rack for 75%off. Some human and some dog. I stocked up for the winter. None of it expires until next year.
1. I wish I had known this before as my gel deodorant would have lasted a month longer than it usually does. About 4-5 weeks ago the inner cap to my gel deodorant popped off as I was trying to extrude the last of the gel. No gel came out but when the inner cap popped off I noticed at least 1/4 inch of gel in the reservoir. Consequently, I have been dipping a finger into that gel and applying it that way. Its lasted 4-5 weeks of daily use.
2. I have been making my cold brew coffee from a concentrate from TJ’s instead of buying the Starbucks cold brew from the grocery store. The concentrate is about the equivalent of three bottles of Starbucks. I have made cold brew in my French Press before, when I must.
3. Hanging tee shirts and shorts to dry on a rack in our laundry room and in our bedroom. We have far too many birds to risk hanging clothes outside.
4. One of my three rescue dogs has developed what appears to be an allergy to poultry and possibly pork and beef. DD28 (a Vet Tech) has been buying the equivalent of FreshPet or The Farmer’s Dog but its like $15 a week for a 10 pound dog. I’m going to start making her wet food with lamb from Costco. I think. She can still eat lamb and brown rice kibble to get the vitamins and minerals she needs but she does like a little “topper” on her food.
5. We purchased a “supporting membership” to an organization that oversees museums and various properties throughout Massachusetts including a spectacular beach. With the membership, parking at the beach is $10. Without it, parking is $35. It has already paid for itself and I look forward to exploring the other properties when the weather turns cold.
I live in Massachusetts too and I’m wondering what the membership you mentioned in your #5 is about and what are some of the museums it covers. Thanks.
The Trustees of Reservations
Thank you.
@Katy – you’re supporting local Tillamook is a bit cheaper than our supporting a local ice cream shop whose ice cream is sold at various stores in our area.
@Lesley – generally speaking, I get along well with my sister but there have been times… I do think there is an optimal number of years between same gender siblings and I don’t think 4 is one of the optimal numbers.
@Katy YOUR not you’re… sigh..
Selena, neither is 2.5 years! Just sayin’…
Christine, another voter here for 2.5 years not being optimal. Sister #2 saw me as a rival the minute I was brought home from the hospital and never has really changed that view.
Fantastic! Have fun with your sister! Plus the burrito buffet with ice cream as dessert sounds perfect!
It’s the frantic get ready for school weekend after being gone most of the summer and coming back to a flooded basement. So fun.
1. I did buy the ingredients instead of grow them like I normally do, but I canned relish this weekend. It felt good to be preserving food again after realizing in the great basement clean out that I had almost no canned food that I had put up myself.
2. I made a double batch of pumpkin muffins and a large batch of breakfast burritos for the freezer. Easy to grab meals on our way out the door.
3. I walked with a friend rather than get coffee together. Free and it was exercise.
4. We had dinner at my sister’s yesterday, I brought brownies and we got to visit with lots of family.
5. I’m using up remnants of 2 boxes of pasta for our dinner tonight. This should generate leftovers for dh’s lunch tomorrow as well
A cute picture of you and your sister both in sunglasses. It sounds like your guest room was nicely prepared for her.
My frugal doings:
1. I start teaching this week. I was glad to get the work since I made little $ in the summer. I have scrub uniforms so I won’t need any new clothing for work. I will take my lunch and a drink so no $ spent on that.
2. I found around 40 cans of veggies & tomato sauce, bags of beans. I will take the canned veggies that are in date, which is most of them, to the homeless shelter. They can use it in their kitchen to feed the shelter occupants. I also found some cold medicine in date. I’ll take that too. We can eat the slightly out of date canned food.
3. Found a comforter that I can wash & take to the shelter also.
4. I found a rug on the way home from church today. I washed it in the washer, air dried it. It is now under the husband’s recliner.
5. I’ll be cooking some of the out of date pinto beans I found in my crock pot this week. My husband does not like burritos so likely we will eat beans in bowl with cornbread. (I love burritos. Maybe I’ll make one for me.) I also found a 2 lb bag of great northern beans. Those will be good w/ a ham bone I have in the freezer.
The majority of the canned food was in a box outside a dumpster at an apt. complex. I guess the people were moving & didn’t want to take the food. At least they did not throw it in the trash.
Travel Five Frugal Things:
1. We chose to go to Latvia, which is far less expensive than many other places in Europe (I loved it!)
2. We took the bus $1.50 per person each way from airport to the city instead of a $33 taxi each way.
3. We stopped at Lidl for some snacks and beverages for days when we had a long drive. (Lidl cola for the win!)
4. We returned the cans from the beverages to get .10 back for each can
5. We took leftovers home and had them for breakfast on the day that we were leaving Riga to go to the countryside.
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