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I’ve gone for a couple of cold weather walks over the past few days and been pleasantly surprised both times to discover cozy chenille gloves in my coat pockets. Gloves that I’d found from under the soccer bleachers where my husband and son play. Super soft and warm, with the extra satisfaction that I rescued them from the waste stream and the price was free-ninety-nine!
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I returned books to my sad temporary library that’s open while my branch is being expanded over the next year or so. All this branch/not a branch offers is holds pick ups, book returns and “lucky day” books. I browsed the lucky day books and found a hard copy of Margo’s Got Money Troubles, which I hadn’t been able to finish in time as a Libby audiobook. Now to figure out my place in the book.
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I had my mother and step father over for dinner and kept the meal simple, serving pasta, salad and a $1 loaf of garlic bread from the Franz Bakery Outlet. Plus tap water, as I’m fancy that way.
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My friend Lise gave me a terry cloth robe no one in her family wasn’t using, as she knew I was keeping an eye out for an extra robe for house guests.
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I didn’t buy an election.
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1. Made a chicken pot pie from two cups of diced rotisserie chicken. This was good for six meals with a salad. Even with a homemade cream sauce and a couple of cups of diced vegetables, it is still a cheap and easy meal that never fails to satisfy on a chilly winter night.
2. I have always been a card saver. I decided this year to sort through my saved valentine cards and cut them up to make my own new cards for family and friends. It was fun, easy, and inexpensive as I already had a stash of blank cards and envelopes bought for just a couple of dollars (leftovers from someone’s wedding).
3. I was given a small pot of basil as a hostess gift. I took cuttings from it and made more basil starts for spring when I can plant them outdoors.
4. Following the principle that “a stitch in time saves nine”, I got busy and mended a favorite sweater. I had a button come off a pajama top, found it and sewed it back on then went ahead and added additional reinforcement to the other buttons.
5. No shopping for entertainment, only needs.
I love free gloves, though I normally only find one!! Do have a couple of “odd”pairs, they live in the car for emergencies!
Weeded and pruned my herb bed, neat and tidy ready to grow.
A bargain chicken has done a total of 9 people dinners and 4 dog scraps.
Having a sort out, a few things that are to go to the food bank (a change of recipe and dietary issues) rather than waste them. More things to the charity shop. I have tried selling things, but we are out in the sticks and people aren’t so willing to travel. Can get some to meet up at a local supermarket car park, but it so doesn’t seem to work for me!!
Haven’t been past our gate for 4days, darned a few items of clothing, and sewed u some annoyingly loose button holes,no money for online purchases, so penny pinchers heaven!!
Every year I find a pair of underpants abandoned on the sidewalk, but I am still waiting for this year’s contribution to my garbage (I won’t recycle underwear). Instead, I found a tiny foot’s snow boot. It was 27 below the morning I found it while taking out the garbage, so all I can figure is that some parent was carrying a baby and didn’t realize the kid’s boot came off. I put the boot upside down on a stick I pushed into the snow so it would be more visible.
1. Made borscht with a cabbage, a stray can of beets, and some sort-of-freezer burned kielbasa. Turned out better than I thought it would and fed us for three days.
2. Donated two bags of gently worn men’s clothing to the rescue mission. Got a tax receipt.
3. Gave a cranky printer to someone on the local free group. A kid was eager to get it, for tinkering with electronics I think. Garbage out of the house pleases me.
4. A friend had a birthday so I gave her a certificate for a loaf of challah every Friday for a month. I make it every week, she loves it, and it is a gift that costs me little and does not clutter her house.
5. Sold another book.
Thanks for reminding me that a friend gave me his Ukrainian grandmother’s borscht recipe. Which is one of those grandma like “Take some short ribs…” no amounts given things, but wanna try it soon because we love soup. And I’m experienced enough to wing it.
I used to make challah every week too; exMIL loved it when I gave her a loaf. When Son drives up to visit her in a couple weeks, I’ll send her a loaf. Thanks for reminding me of that too!
What a fantastic idea for a present! I love consumables, how thoughtful. I will use this idea too as my fiancé just made his 1st batch of wheat dinner rolls this week! Cannot wait to experiment more! Still have to try Katie’s bread recipe 😉
Yesterday I took some odds and ends of frozen veggies, spinach, some mushrooms, a little pasta, white beans and a small can of salmon and made myself a skillet meal. The current thinking on a healthy diet is to eat beans, greens, mushrooms and fish often. Also made a pan of mixed berry baked oatmeal for breakfasts and cooked up a carton of chicken livers, rice and some slightly freezer-burned ground beef as kibble topper for the dogs. The oatmeal used up two eggs that were getting elderly. They’ve been so expensive that I was reluctant to use them for the longest time.
Offered my husband a free home haircut, which he has yet to take me up on. I’m using some conditioner my son brought home from the free table at work. One of the odd things about being on the downslope of middle 60s is I have dry hair for the first time ever. It looks a lot better with conditioner.
Getting frugal-er by the day, no thanks to Mr Tariff Pumpkinhead.
1. Eating from the freezer means we’re having the other half of a Costco ham from December tonight, and some homemade mac & cheese using free (food bank) macaroni and leftover cheeses. I was at the doggie thrift store last week and they had freebies leftover from the food bank, which offers groceries near that store. I took home a bag of raisins and two bags of macaroni. They assured me that no one wanted them.
2. My husband loves his breakfast burritos but they are about $1 each, so I made a frittata out of half a breakfast sausage chub, a box of froz spinach, six eggs, and some cheese. I still think I saved money this way. No plastic, either.
3. We wanted pizza Friday but I forgot to make the dough. So I scratched that itch yesterday: homemade dough, plus freezer turkey pepperoni, some kalamata olives and cheese from the fridge, and a few ladles of pasta sauce. It was probably the best pizza I’ve ever made. So good!
4. Like Katy, we don’t make much garbage. I increased our recycling by a second (free) can, and got the smallest garbage possible. We cut out trash bill in half to $32 a month.
5. I am working on sprouting more plants for this spring. Thanks for the tip about basil, @Sandra. I am trying to sprout candytuft, Cape mallow, and any succulents I can. Also hoping to find someone with Euryopps so I can start some of those as well.
“Mr. Tariff Pumpkinhead!” Good name!
The total lack of knowledge is mind boggling. Name calling…childish at best. Tariffs haven’t even hit. Prices are up from the last administration, not this administration. Educate yourselves.
I have a pair of chenille gloves too. Not free but purchased at the dollar store back when things there cost a dollar. They are remarkably toasty for only spending $1.
1. An employee from our town library called to inform me I won the January reading raffle which is a pack of more books all by the same author although right now I can’t think of her name! I read four books in the month of January, so I received four raffle tickets.
2. I cut DH’s hair.
3. I worked another shift at the deli due to someone calling in sick. That’s two this week. The extra $ is welcome.
4. An employee from the consignment store called to let me know I have a check waiting there from sold items.
5. I didn’t fire any prosecutors or investigators who were looking into my misdeeds from January 6, 2021. Oh, wait a minute…I didn’t have any misdeeds from that day or any day worthy of investigating.
Well, I wouldn’t say I’ve never committed any misdeeds. But at least none of them (a) occurred on that date, (b) involved overthrowing the government, or (c) were otherwise legally actionable.
Haven’t been to a store so haven’t spent LOL.
1. using up the contents of the freezers. Fruits are being used in my daily smoothies, Sometimes its a weird combo but so far everything tastes great.
2.used up the last of the yogurt in the smoothies so substituted half cup of cottage cheese this morning and it is really good.
3. had a very small amount of milk go sour…used in biscuits.
4. had some grapes starting to wrinkle, I help them out but making them into raisins…dehydrating them around the woodstove.
5. have been making sourdough raisin bread with previously dehydrated homemade raisins.
6. trying to protect my mental health (over the orange one) by watching “fluff” movies. Airplane….OMG That is a funny movie.
If you like that style of movie: “Naked Gun 4 1/4: Law of Toughness”, starring Liam Neeson as Frank Drebin, is coming out in August. I haven’t found a movie that interests me in years, but I plan to go see that one.
JC,
My son, hubby and I recently watched Airplane!. You’re right, its soooo funny. I hadn’t seen it in many years, I forgot how funny it is.
Katy I love the blog, been reading for years! Thank you so much for making frugal living “normal.” I have in the past felt guilty for my frugal actions but that is slowly changing.
1. Thank you for introducing me to selling on FB marketplace. No selling fees/returns like on Ebay/Etsy. Made $95 last month on FB marketplace, $115 Etsy, $65 Ebay.
2. I rode my bike in the rain because I don’t have a car. The rain was light and wow do I feel alive when out and about biking in the weather. Another benefit of biking is being easily able to check out the “free boxes” I ride by.
3. I “take one for the team” by eating the leftover beans and rice from Food Not Bombs that no one else will take. (I’m also a FNB volunteer)
4. Listening to free music on internetarchive.org versus paying a music streaming service.
5. Going to a free concert at a bar later today even though I’m not drinking. I will tip the band and bartender a couple bucks though for the entertainment.
This morning, I wore my picked-up-from-the-side-of-the-road Adidas knit earband (I laundered it initially, of course!) and felt similarly pleased at the $0 price tag. 😉
Isn’t Margo’s Got Money Problems a hoot ?! I’ll never look at a Dyson stick vacuum the same way again, hahahahaha!!
People have been asking me more about growing a food garden this year. I give advice if they are in the same gardening zone as I am, otherwise I direct them to their county master gardener website. I will be growing more food than I usually do.
1. Filled up with gas before leaving cheaper part of the state
2. Sold a few things while I was gone which my husband either mailed or put on the porch
3. Received a free family size box of cornflakes and a jar of peanut butter
4. Mended a toy for my granddaughter
5. Received a $5 Kohls coupon. Will be looking how to use that.
1. Found 55 cents on our walk today! Lots more than usual! Not just free exercise,but money making exercise!
2. Gonna have “heat it and eat it” leftovers tonight for an easy meal and to get good eaten up.
3. Recieved my $5 giftcard from fetch rewards.
4. Had a no make-up day. Makes my make-up last a little longer and good for my skin to have a break.
5. Tried a much cheaper eye-liner brand, works well, so now I’ll just plan to stick to this brand.
55 cents is good! I usually only find pennies, nickels or once in a while a dime.
1. The most frugal thing we could do after our disastrous week of repairs was to get a 2nd opinion on our pipe issues. The problem is the same however the approach to fixing it is different. And it doesn’t require tearing up my front porch AND it will cost $6500 rather than $23,000
2. I am sick so have laid low all weekend drinking hot tea
3. I keep an “emergency pizza” on hand (not free like Dominos) but a fast meal when I have no time or something goes wrong. I had just replenished it and my dh cooked it up tonight for dinner since I am sick. Much cheaper than take out
4. Bathed the dog at home for free
5. Cashed in my Swagbucks for a $25 gift card.
Hope you feel much better soon, Jennifer!
Good luck on finding the gloves! For those who will find one at a time, wash them and leave them in your car for when you need to fill up. That way you can use that glove instead of bare hands or your regular gloves
1. A friend wanted to check out a consignment shop that I go to south of Boston (about 30 miles from home) so I drove, she found a few cheap items and I bought a roll of upholstery fabric for $6. I will soon need to replace my rocking chair cushions And I have enough in this roll. It’s very nice.
2. Since I drove, she treated me to lunch. I chose one of the least expensive things on the menu, a bowl of chili with tortilla chips. I only ate half so I have the rest today for my lunch. It was very filling.
3. I finished one of the pieces I was knitting, it’s a wraparound scarf/sweater from lion brand. It’s warm. It may be too warm. If I find I’m not going to use it as often as I thought, I will frog it and reuse the yarn for something else. It’s beautiful, but …
4. Other than going out yesterday with my friend, and picking up some bob’s Redmill ground flax to use for egg replacer, a quart of maple syrup, and Bob’s Redmill corn meal, I should be all set for driving and spending money on food for a few days.
5. I’m thinking of becoming a notary for my state (I’m already ordained) it’s a $60 cost, but it may come in handy.
And finally, I did not barge my way into the treasury department and take it over gaining access to everyone’s Social Security numbers, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.
Katy, those gloves are going to serve you well if the groundhog is right and we suffer through 6 more weeks of winter. Shame on you, Punxsutawney Phil!
Here are my frugal five:
1. Obtained $50 worth of free items, courtesy of my new Medicare Advantage card issued by the new MA provider. Went to Walmart and shopped in its pharmacy section with my card. I got everything from cold pills to toothbrushes, didn’t spend a penny of my own money bc the card covered the cost, and I’m done until next fiscal quarter.
2. Used Gas Buddy to find the lowest cost of gasoline in town. I was given a card for Circle K that will subtract 10 cents per gallon of gasoline you buy there. GB said their stations were selling gas for $2.42 at the pump, which meant that I’d get it for $2.32. But when I arrived, the price was increased to $2.79. I went to 2 different Circle K’s, same thing, so I didn’t buy gas with them. Then I went to a Walmart/Murphys Gas station across town, which still had their gas at $2.43, the lowest I could find. So my gas tank is full and so is my wallet. Sort of.
3. Found a Longmire paperback book at a Little Free Library, took it and replaced it with a Lisa Scottoline mystery I’d gleaned from a free pile outside a used bookstore, and have already read. The latter book was marked so that I won’t be able to trade it for bookstore credit. But someone else can still read and enjoy it!
4. Bought some novels for 50 cents each on clearance at the store where I work. Once I read them, I will remove the price tag and trade ’em in at the used book store…for more than 50 cents worth of credit.
5. I did not start a trade war with three other nations.
1. I bought four down pillows last year on super clearance. I kept two, and sold the other two (new in the package) for slightly more than I had paid total for all four of them. I also sold a vase I picked up from a free sale, a set of bowls from a yard sale, and a huge votive holder that I had fallen out of love with. Odd how I had interest on a bunch of different items all at once.
2. My friend at work used my Fetch referral link which gave me 3,500 points. I am close to another $10 gift card.
3. Our over the range microwave bit the dust and I don’t like to buy used appliances that require installation. I bought one on sale from Lowe’s this week before tariffs took effect, and my son helped me install it this weekend.
4. Someone set out a handful of free items at work, and I took the two brand new rolls of Christmas wrapping paper.
5. As usual, picked up my holds at the library. Katy, I feel for you with your limited library availability. That’s tough! The library is one resource that I would really struggle without.
I guess this site has gone political now, makes me sad. It was my favorite thing to read. Now o feel left out. Nice while it lasted
It’s been political all along.
@Justine—frugality, like food or housing or education or health—is inherently a political thing. Everything that everyone here writes about is literally affected by the political system.
I’m grateful we can acknowledge the truth of what’s affecting our financial lives.
I come for the frugal tips, stay for the political inspiration!
I’m grateful for a frugality blog that has no Christian or conservative or trad wife subtext!
Frugal fail: I drove pretty far to an estate sale, thinking I’d buy a bunch of the kitchen stuff for my kid who is moving to his first apartment soon. It was a company that usually has great prices. This time, the prices were too high. Darn it. I’ll try again later. Most of my kitchen items came from estate sales.
Frugal win: Taco night with day old deli chicken, clearance tomatoes and clearance lettuce. The chicken bones are in the crockpot, and we will have soup later in the week.
Frugal draw: I am feeling uneasy about the future, especially with the tariffs. I feel like I should stockpile something, but I don’t know what? I feel like I’m caught in the headlights, unable to make a move.
I agree with your #5. I did buy some canned goods in the banged and dent section, another big ass container of coffee from Costco and more powered creamer (just in case). I’m. Looking over my stockpile to see what makes sense for us as a family to buy but I also don’t want to drive myself more crazy overthinking it.
I did a “big shop” today, and took the time to see where some of my usual purchases are produced. I came away with extra coffee (Mexico), extra pet food (Mexico), and extra face wash (Canada). I also bought a lot of beans for no good reason. And flour. In times of trouble, I buy beans and flour. Haha. I feel satisfied that I’ve done something!
1. DH has been sick and yesterday was diagnosed with bronchitis. I stopped at the store to buy a cough suppressant and found $.14 in the CoinStar. It did not offset the cost of the cough suppressant that was recommended by urgent care.
2. This time of year I am wearing a pair of mittens that I bought for my mom decades ago.
3. I borrowed the Cabrini movie from the library. It felt timely.
4. DD and SIL expressed an interest in doing a bit of food stockpiling. On my walk yesterday a neighbor had a storage cube at the curb with a Free sign on it. I texted a picture to DD but she said they don’t have room for it. I left it at the curb for someone else.
5. Same old, same old.
I agree with Justine. This is one of my favorite blogs. I am also sorry that there are political comments. I just pass right over the political comments and go straight to the frugal tips. I have been able to train myself to bypass political comments from both sides!
I did not go anywhere on my 4 days off . Used 0 gas and just put gas in car with .21¢ off /gal. Only took$9.00 to fill up cause I didn’t use any.
1. Grocery shopped yesterday, using UHC card to get $15 off. Earned the $15 by exercising at least 30 minutes 10 times in January, and watching a video.
2. Out of town doctor’s appointment today — I took the train, using my ride-free card (benefit for seniors below a certain income level).
3. Though I planned to Uber from the train station to the doctor’s office, I walked instead. It was about 50 minutes each way.
4. Packed a lunch which I ate in the station. Would have been tempted otherwise by Panera, Chipotle, Epic Burger, and cute coffeeshops.
5. I did not send an email to government employees telling them not to recognize Black History Month.
I am new but have been reading the tips and doing some of them. I’m in TN and prices have come down at my local Sam’s club. I did buy a few things because I have new food restrictions. 18 CT eggs $5.92, Yoplait yogurt 24 box $7.67, and chicken legs $.98 a pound. The big family pack was $3.57. I live alone and these things will last for awhile. The meat wasn’t on my list but I was low on protein items. A lot of the suggestions are what my mom did when I was growing up. Thank you for the suggestions on the free boxes. My apt complex doesn’t allow any but I did suggest they consider having one. I enjoy the tips and chuckles. Thank you everyone.