Five Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on December 18, 2024 · 13 comments
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I drove 45 minutes in the pouring rain to pick up a pair of Facebook Marketplace gifts for my mother. (I can’t be any more specific as she reads the blog more than I do!) I then decided to hit a juicy suburban Goodwill since I was in already the area, but accidentally programmed the GPS to take me to a “Boutique Goodwill.” (Boo!) I normally avoid these stores as they’re stocked with dull designer name clothing, which is totally not my thang. However, I figured that I might as well give it a look see.
I browsed the store and ended up buying a cute pair of earrings for my daughter’s girlfriend that were priced at a reasonable $7.99. I also used their bathroom, so I’ll call it a win.
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I boxed up my sister’s Chanukah/birthday gifts by creating a Frankenbox from a package that my husband got in today’s mail. I’m really hoping that he doesn’t need to return his purchase, as he’ll be up a creek.
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I used Pirateship.com to prepay for the USPS label, which saved me a bit over two dollars. I could’ve saved a lot more had I chosen UPS, but the package would’ve taken four extra days in transit and my sister’s birthday was yesterday.
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I’m not putting up a Christmas tree this year, which is my small protest against right wing Christian nationalists forcing their religion into secular government agencies and policy. (Also, it’s an unpleasantly scratchy endeavor.) I did grow up with a Christmas tree, as did my father, although he tells a funny story of how his family spied his religious grandfather slowly walking to the house on a Saturday. (He didn’t drive on Shabbat.) My dad and uncle then hurriedly yeeted threw their fully decorated tree out the window and their Jewish grandfather was none the wiser.
Instead I stopped at a Christmas tree lot and grabbed an armful of free cut branches and arranged them in a vase for winter solstice. I’m content with my wintery blue and white decor, especially since William Shatner made the cut.
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I didn’t buy any vulgar gold plated apartments in the sky.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
1. Cooked a marked down pork roast in my crock pot with some super cheap cola. Once cooked I shredded the pork which will become pulled pork BBQ. For $6.50 our family of 3 will get 2-3 meals out of it. We will eat one meal tonight and I’ll freeze the rest.
2. Assembled a new chicken run for my girls rather than paying someone to do it.
3. Sold a $10 snowman shower curtain on FBMP that I paid less than $1 for.
4. Did not buy any new holiday decor.
5. Need to drive to pick up something for a friend. It’s closer to me than her. I found a mystery shop near the location which requires me to buy and be reimbursed for $10 of gas. So my gas will be paid for. Plus I’m doing a favor for a good friend and saving her time and gas money.
1. Sister gave me several books to read on our road trip. I’ll leave them in Little Free Libraries along the way.
2. Found a couple books for my husband at a Friends of the Library sale.
3. We’ll try to negotiate the pet fee at hotels on our way to our final destination. Our pup is a charmer, so negotiation often works like a, well, charm. In the past, we’ve had hotel clerks waive the fee without our asking.
4. Offered to bring food to a family birthday party to help whittle down our provisions before we decamp the day after Christmas. Instead of asking “What may I bring?” I gave them specific options so that I didn’t need to buy any extra ingredients.
5. Husband negotiated with our Airbnb host to add four more nights to our month-long stay at a 1/3 of the cost of a regular night. We’re leaving earlier than planned given the construction zone that is our house. In addition to needing to be out of the house every weekday, there is the privileged inconvenience of having the fridge in the garage, the microwave in the laundry room, the toaster oven in the office, and the food and other supplies in the bedroom. One positive is that we’ve been getting good exercise going up and down stairs to the various kitchen stations.
* Got 3 shirts, 3 puzzles and 2 snack bowls from the thrift store, all for 8$
* Was spying a model of floor lamp I absolutely love, at the thrift store, but the 40$ price tag felt like too much, so I left it there. Yesterday someone posted the exact same lamp on my Buy Nothing group and I was the lucky recipient!
* Got my dog spayed at a clinic 1.5 hour away from my house, for 400$. The local vet was charging me 1100$ for it.
* Entering a low-buy/conscious buys year in 2025
* I have no subscription-based services except the basic with-adds Netflix (5.99$/month Canadian). I would not consider this out of the ordinary, but then I read about people having 200$/month on average for diverse subscriptions and, wow…. No thanks
You have your share of birthdays in December, I’d say. I have a friend whose three kids were born on September 2nd, August 24th and August 25th. I can remember she would throw one big birthday party for all three when they were little. Not sure how they felt about it but they were probably just happy to get presents and eat cake & ice cream.
I love your “protest tree”! It gives a message while being beautiful at the same time. Boo to white Christian Nationalists or as I call them: the haters.
That’s a nice looking 50s fiberglass lampshade, Katy. Have you ever mentioned it on the blog?
Katy, I am a Christian and I am deeply troubled by all those right-wingers. I hope that you know that not all of us Christians are like that. Jesus Christ reserved his fiercest criticism for the religious fanatics of his day, intolerant men who made up thousands of ridiculously strict laws and tried to force them on others. (Sound familiar?) During the campaign, I wore a little button that said “Christians against Trump,” and I even wore it at work. In my cashier lane, lots and lots of people agreed with me. Only one man called me out on it. There is also a group that was formerly called “Evangelicals for Harris.” It still exists but has changed its name to “Evangelicals for America,” and will do what it can to help our country resist the horrible things Trump and his MAGA fanatics are promising to do. Anyway, I am horrified that some “Christians” are saying that God supports Trump, because IMHO there is no way on Earth that Trump could be a Christian. I wish some reporter would ask him what his “life verse” (favorite verse in the Bible that a believer follows) is, because I doubt Trump has ever so much as opened a Bible, much less read one…despite the fact he is hawking “Trump Bibles.” (Which, BTW, are printed in China, and I suppose will be affected by his upcoming tariffs. LOL!) I’ve never seen any news report or biography that said which church or synagogue or temple or mosque Trump attends, which makes me think he doesn’t and never did. My Jewish friend once told me, “There is no hate as great as ‘Christian love’,” and it grieves me to think that people may mistake the right-wing ugliness for what Jesus taught and what real Christians try to practice. If you have been adversely affected by such, I apologize. But please understand that Jesus, my Lord and Savior, was not like this at all.
My life verse is Matthew 7: 3-5.
The clearly Catholic President Biden has a friend/confidant/advisor who he calls “My Rabbi.” As in many things, he sets an example for how people of integrity behave.
My devoutly religious mother (who hated Trump et al) also went to study the Torah at a local synagogue. Sadly, not the one decorated with giant brass “Spock hands.” Heh. (Yes I know what they really are.)
Practicing Christian here. A fellow Christian friend I both agree it’s important for us “normal” ones to speak out against the haters. As Lisa says above…there is no way Trump could be considered a Christian. He’s instead the chief of vengeance.
Fru-gal Lisa. I am not a practicing Christian but your words go straight to my (humanist) heart. I hear you and feel you and I know you speak truth.
1) I also used Pirateship to mail a package for a Facebook Marketplace sale.
2) Prepped a charcuterie tray for the three teens at my house, saving them money on eating out. DS18 & his GF still went out, but skipped the appetizers. DS17 was able to make a meal out of the charcuterie & some garlic bread I threw together, in advance of leaving for the library.
3) I once again paid dS18’s tuition with my travel credit card. There is a fee, but it’s less than the value I earn through the card. I then immediately reimburse myself from our 529 plan. We are paying for 10 days in Spain next year with hotel points, and paid for a week in Costa Rica at an all inclusive this year with hotel points.
4) Helped DS18 wrap his gifts for his GF using items we already had on hand (bags, bows, paper, etc) to avoid any cost.
5) Applied for a few jobs, completed a few surveys & listed items on Buy Nothing.
I’m in So Cal working my gig. I consider this a jobcation.
No Christmas tree this year as I’m having aortic valve replacement surgery on 12/23. I do not have the energy to put it up or take it down. I did do some table top decor
Preparing for a very low spend and low key December