Five Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on March 26, 2025 · 58 comments
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I planted some propagated spider plant starts in a curb picked flowerpot for my daughter’s apartment. This is the third time I’ve replanted this exact pot, but I know she’ll eventually figure out how to keep her plants alive. This is how unconditional love works.
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I took my daughter out to practice driving and we ended up at the Sellwood goats, where my daughter spent a good half hour communing with them. There was also a goat-happy toddler who pointed out at least a hundred times that there was a “mommy goat.”
My daughter and I will now add “mommy goat” to the things we say to each other.
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The two of us were unsurprisingly in need of a hand wash station, so we popped over to New Seasons Market to use their facilities. I remembered that I had a soon to expire coupon for a free case of seltzer. Perfect for Portland’s record high temperatures.
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I finished reading my library copy of The Seven Year Slip, which was a delight from start to finish. I have more holds to pick up at the library, which I’ll do before today’s forecasted hail and tornados!
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I didn’t create a treasonous group text.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 58 comments… read them below or add one }
1. I did not participate in a treasonous text chain, either, but I am still concerned about Hillary’s emails. I mean…
2. I got a gallon of sap from my black walnut before it started to bud out, so I just stopped this morning, labeled the jug and put it into the freezer until I have time to boil it. I will probably do that outside so it doesn’t steam up the house (apparently it makes everything sticky). I tasted the sap and it seemed flavorless but we’ll see. Thanks for everyone who had tips about this process.
3. I made a creature habitat branch teepee in the back corner of the yard, using fallen branches, leftover concrete piers, and rocks from my own yard. I tied it together with twine (previously used) and planted scarlet runner beans and morning glory seeds around it to get some twining vines going. It will be a place for spiders, lizards, pollinators, birds, and whoever else wants to perch, feed, hide, or live there.
4. My 3yo gardening jeans ripped so I need to figure out how to patch them — flamboyantly or sedately. They fit me so well that I need them to last a while longer. They were an expensive boutique brand so I might try eBay to see if there’s another pair in my size out there.
5. Eating our way through the freezer and pantry, and I am going to stop at the store for milk and…I honestly don’t know what else we might need. It’s a weird sensation to have what we need and not buying more. Let us become familiar with this pleasant state.
#1 is a joke, obvly.
If any readers of this blog did not *get* your #1 my suggestion is to move onto another blog (sorry Katy but I suspect you’re not).
But what about Benghazi??? I’m still waiting for answers…..
Julia, if you’re at all interested in visible mending, I highly recommend Mending Matters by Katrina Rodabaugh. I found it at my library. She also has an instagram account I follow.
1. Used up the last $5 OTC rewards from United Healthcare on wrapping tape for hubbys hand
2. Used an Arby’s coupon to get a shake for 1.99 and gyro for 3.99. Not totally frugal
3. Worked my last shift of my very very part time job yesterday. Loved the people and job just time for me to take care of me
4. Went to cardio rehab FREE and got a FREE bottle of water
5. Postponed another day of grocery shopping by using chicken and veggies from freezer and rice from pantry to make teriyaki rice bowls for dinner. I hate grocery shopping
Grocery shopping is the worst.
Funny, I love it!
1. Friend cancelled dinner plans last night. Not too disappointed, as I instead ate dinner at home and watched TV. We’ll meet up next week instead.
2. Added red cabbage and farro to my lunch salads to increase bulk and interesting textures. I also have been topping them with the spicy pepitas I bought as a snack but hated – they are much more pleasant in a salad. Use it up!
3. Looks like the heat is off for the season! Sure I’m writing this with a blanket on my lap but I’m hoping for a nice long temperate spring. This is such a huge expense for us that I have become borderline obsessive.
4. Handed my tax docs over to our CPA friend. I have felt guilty that I have such a straightforward tax return but pay someone to prepare it, until someone mentioned how much TurboTax is these days and turns out I’ve achieved cost parity! Plus, CPA friend is very good at identifying opportunities for savings and is always available to answer questions, which TurboTax has never been able to do well 🙂
5. I only text my friends cat memes via Signal, not any war plans.
@LB plus CPA will answer questions AND you know who your CPA actually is.
And he’s nice about it!!
I love goats. Sounds like a fun time. Is this a free roadside attraction?
1. I received a free cash wash code by signing up for texts. It was a $16 wash. The timing was perfect since I was just going to take my car in for the undercarriage wash to get all the salt off. I normally use the cheap DIY wash any other time.
2. I scrubbed the grout and re-caulked my bathtub. It looks so much better.
3. I used up some veggies in my fridge and freezer and past best buy date tofu for a stir fry dinner last night. I added some cooked carrots I had made as an attempt at dog treats (they weren’t having it). I combined two partial stir fry sauces and it was good. Lots of food waste avoided. There are enough leftovers for one or two more meals.
4. I had lunch with a friend and brought half of my meal home for my daughter.
5. My daughter and I have been enjoying homemade tea lattes.
#1 – That would be Car Wash Code. No I am not laundering money but if I were I wouldn’t brag about it on the internet.
But if you did, please share it on Signal, because it’s encrypted! lol
Now that is funny!!!
@Jill A – my area has WAY too many new car washes going up not to mention buying out other locally owned. Proud the one we like best is thumbing his nose (no telling what his heirs will do however). And yes I do think the new ones are a money laundering business. Along with a couple of high end shops – while there are well paid professionals in my area (willing to part with their money), not enough of them to support the high end businesses.
We have a lot of new ones too. Now I’m going to wonder if they are money laundering…I’m feeling some Breaking Bad vibes.
You know what businesses I’m always suspicious of for money laundering? Mattress stores! Who is buying all these mattresses to keep these in business? I’m totally serious! I’ll see it on a Dateline some day and be all vindicated! 🙂
I totally agree! You would think people were replacing their mattresses every few months.
One of my friends is convinced that they become brothels after dark. No basis for this idea but who knows, she might be right.
1. Made an offhand remark to my August renter about selling this place, which they jumped at like a trout to a fly. Whut? Am I really gonna do this? Then made an appointment to view a one-level house that costs half as much as my house. I don’t know where this is going.
2. Second night of soul food! Yummy.
3. Making stir fry rice from leftover chicken. I never, ever get tired of this.
4. Mailed my previous books to Rock Star Whose House I Wanna Write About.
5. Scheduled more writing jobs.
6. Accidentally included details about our war with Eastasia in Whatsapp.
Cool about the potential move – timing is everything, eh?
I sold a house to a couple who were renting it – we talked about it for several years, and my timing sucked as I COULD have gotten a lot more 5 months later, but they are SOOOO happy to be there with their kids in a great neighbourhood, so I just decide to feel good about helping them get into a home.
I used the proceeds to pay off my own mortgage, and put solar panels in my field, and take the gas furnace and gas water heater out and put in an electric heat pump and electric water heater. No more so-called ‘natural’ gas, and the solar more than covers my electric bill, and I lived on the remainder for a full year, so I came out way ahead with no mortgage, no electric bills, and a much better heating system.
IF this happens, I probably need to quit working for a while to keep my income under 63K for this year–which means I won’t be hit with a 400K cap gains tax. Yeesh. Seems complicated but I guess we’ll see what happens.
@Rose, yes, the reason I lived off the proceeds was to avoid paying more tax than necessary, so I took no ‘income’ from my company (which is closed, but not quite yet empty of funds, so my income is a balancing act if I expect to receive money from anywhere else… ). I sold in February and had held off on taking anything from the Company in January for just this reason.
And @texasilver, you are so right, trying to game any market is something I don’t have the training nor interest in doing. There were many benefits of that sale, not least is no more unexpected costs (at least at THAT house, LOL)
We can’t predict the future when we make financial decisions. You helped your renter get into a house & you used the proceeds to improve your home & pay off your mortgage. Well done I say!
^^^^ what they said.
Hm. Maybe I should put in solar? I keep hesitating because I keep thinking the technology’s gonna improve soon and it doesn’t, ha. New York has some pretty good incentives and tax breaks blah blah y blah.
I also did not drink and text national security information. Team decent sense here!
The frugal stuff:
1. Diverted a supposedly empty tube of expensive foot cream from the trash, cut it open and showed DH it is still one- third full. He is using it up.
2. Made up a jar of Catalina salad dressing from pantry ingredients. It is less sweet than store-bought, which was what I was aiming for.
3. Made a meatloaf for lunch using the last of the marked-down ground beef from Aldi.
4. Inventoried the freezer and wrote a list of what’s in there for meal planning purposes.
5. Ordered some books and a pair of shoes from eBay sellers.
Bonus: Used some of my husband’s collection of nice pottery pots for my huge spider plant and a lovely coral bells plant. They look very pretty flanking the entrance to our refurbished front porch.
1. Went to Goodwill on Tuesday. I was going to use my 20% off coupon but the clerk said don’t bother, it’s Senior Tuesday and you get a 20% discount anyway (just for being old, I suppose). Found two items that Target had been overcharging for last December; a nice woven (wastepaper) basket for the living room, and some plastic Easter eggs for the church’s annual Easter egg hunt on Resurrection Sunday. Everything for under $10.
2. Filled up my “dance card” — ie, schedule of substitute teaching days. Most of March and April are booked, and I even have a couple of days for May already.
3. The animal rescue people are patching the backyard wooden fence for me and my (soon-to-be adopted) pup. They found some new picket boards and this will be included in the rehoming fee, which is only $54 and includes neutering, shots, keeping/raising the doggie for 11 months and training him. (Most shelters and people “giving” away pets on Craigslist charge $100 to $200 or more.) Anyway, they are giving me 40 new boards for the rotten ones in the fence (actually, it’s the neighbor’s fence but she said we can repair it). They’re doing the labor for free! Truly, I can’t believe my good luck on this!!!! (I gave them some hardware from the junk drawer and some dog food coupons I’ve collected to help their cause…) Well, there was one snag (see #5).
4. Reusing the LED lights I had on a ceiling fan fixture that doesn’t work anymore, and putting them into table lamps. Bright lighting that only costs pennies to burn! Switching out the old inefficient bulbs (by putting them into the ceiling fixture) since the fixture won’t turn on. So it’ll look OK. Not buying new bulbs saves me some $$ until I can get the ceiling fan lights fixed or replaced.
5. Frugal fail: I canceled today’s substitute teaching gig in order to be home for the folks in #3, who were supposed to be here at 10 this morning. They didn’t get here until 3 p.m. — which means I could’ve worked at the school (and earned some pay) instead of sitting around waiting for them. Oh well. I can’t be too fussy as they’re not charging me any extra $$ for this.
That is wonderful about the fence for your pup.
I think I’ve said this before but there is a belief around some dog rescues that charging a fee makes people value their pets more. Sounds like baloney to me but shrug.
I was astonished last year how cheap it was to adopt my hound mix (who I fell in love with via FB) from Tennessee. Son did buy him an orange football jersey.
@Rose – third world state is all I can say. Won’t even take a year from now but we’ll be chatting about third world states I suspect – likely not a lot of sympathy or empathy from either of us.
As a resident of what you just called a third world state and a five-time adoptor of rescued pets, I can attest that the adoption fee depends on how well run and funded the rescue organization is. Those that receive strong community, corporate and civic support are usually able to charge less to make sure their animals quickly find good homes.
I don’t understand what you mean by third world state in this context.
1. Brought how an unlabelled tomato start from the community garden. We raise over 3000 tomato plants to sell at our annual fundraiser, so they have to be accurately labeled. This one was not, and it doesn’t matter in my own home garden at all.
2. Picked up my library books.
3. Prepped our house for kids and grandkids to come stay. Through careful watching for free items over the last 2 years I only needed to buy a kid toilet seat for this visit. Grocery shopped and planned all the meals for the visit. Cheaper, and also easier to eat at home with a toddler and an infant involved.
4. Sold the curb picked mirror and also 2 items for our kids. Picked up a desk chair on BN that is hopefully a good fit for our son. If not, I’ll donate it and we’ll look on FB marketplace for a “bought” one while he’s here this weekend.
5. Accepted 2 under bed storage box from a friend. I’ll check if our visiting kids need/want one or both. Otherwise will attempt to sell. If not, will donate. I do not need and I’m pretty good at only keeping what I need.
Kara, super impressed with your 3000 tomato plants you all grow & sell at your fundraiser. That is awesome work!
1) Yesterday was my husbands birthday. He didn’t really want anything so I focused on gifts of service. I washed and put away all his laundry (we normally each do our own laundry) and brought the trash cans to the curb which is another one of his weekly tasks. I also picked up a berry pie (he hates cake but loves pie) and fresh bagels. Not much money spent but he really appreciated it all.
2) I’ve had good success with using eBay to get my sons birthday gifts, I was worried I may cave and need to use Amazon or something but so far I’ve been able to find everything elsewhere.
3) I signed up to bring a meal to a friend’s family tomorrow. She is in the hospital unexpectedly so the meal is for her husband and kids, to help ease the burden a bit while he is managing everything. I realized I’ll be in the office all day tomorrow though and not able to cook and get it delivered at a reasonable time. I was going to do takeout for them but instead picked up some prepared food at Costco on my lunch break today. More than if I cooked for them myself but less than takeout so I’m still counting it.
4) Continuing to exercise for free with walks and runs near my house and office and YouTube videos for strength training.
5) Trying to wean myself off sparkling water, it was getting out of hand with multiple cans a day (not so much worried for health but for the cost) I’m down to one a day and have the cheapest ones I can find (Kirkland brand, a 36 pack)
As a person who works in Cybersecurity….the start to this week is horrifying.
Frugal things:
1) Am eating my way through my pantry, freezer- and garden! My collards are putting out flower stalks, so I am preparing them like broccoli raab. I have a bag of delicious prunes to work through and two jars of low sugar jam! So many delicious things in the freezer and no need to shop!
2) I made a gluten free banana bread recipe – delicious, but the texture is more like a sturdy baked custard than cake. Still, it’s delicious with a dollop of yogurt and a cup of strong tea!
3) Recovered from pneumonia, thank goodness and slowly exercising to get strength back. Just walking with good sport shoes- no gym necessary.
4) Was let go from a contract I started in October- but pure luck got me into a new contract the very next day. This will be a great to freshen up some skills AND complete a certification I have been meaning to take.
5) Am starting to realize that if I am feeling antsy or thinking I need to go shopping I am really putting of a project I need to do or a chore. I started just doing what I need to do- and my desire for any shopping, even window shopping, is quenched.
6) Bonus: I made a delicious dinner and packed it to enjoy the cherry blossoms on the water front.
If the “agile” methodology could *finally* be killed this go round, there would not be near as many security issues. Pushing code every two weeks, come hell or high water, is just nucking futz.
*stressed laughter* Oh god. OH GOD.
Re your #5 – a very effective if rarely used technique I have – WHEN I REMEMBER dagnabit, is to ask myself “What is bugging me the most?”. Often a small and easy chore/project/activity, and when I ask the question I find doing the thing is easier. I hadn’t put it together with that antsy wanna-shop feeling, but I think you nailed it. THAT is what is going on. I am going to practice noticing more what is really going on in my squirrel brain, rather than trying to sooth myself with unnecessary shopping (or anything else, fwiw).
Yes! It’s the awareness bit I think- we have been so conditioned to calm our squirrel brains with more stimuli- and while window shopping is fun, it still instills desire for SOMETHING. Whereas that something is the project at home- the garden, the decluttering, the knitting or sewing, drawing, etc.
#5 – I am so guilty of this. I’m also trying to work on projects that I’ve been putting off. In the end, I feel so much better.
In all fairness, you wouldn’t have saved any money by not sending a treasonous text. Sending a treasonous text is free! Unless you got prosecuted and have to pay for a lawyer. And you know as well as I that these clowns aren’t going to get prosecuted. Sons of bitches.
Susan, I’m not sure why your post gave me a chuckle (thanks?). Maybe it’s because my head is ready to explode and I’m getting a little giddy.
Thank you! Mischief managed!
1. Took the dog for a walk and spotted a tall dresser on the curb that was high quality, but had a very scratched top. Walked home and drove back to pick it up. Not sure if I will sell it as is or refinish it and sell it at a higher price.
2. We had a vendor bring in Panera for everyone today. I ate mine and took one of the leftover sandwiches home for my son. I also took home three individual butter pats because all the baguettes were eaten, and I figured they would just get thrown away at the office.
3. After we ate, I went for a walk with a coworker.
4. My deeply discounted flea & tick meds arrived, so I immediately cancelled my autoship that was set up to get the lower price.
5. Walked up to the library and picked up my holds. Gosh, I get a ton of value from that place!
1. Attended a lobbying event at our state capital. In addition to getting to meet with some of our elected officials I had a good time talking to other constituents. We also had a really good lunch from Panera. I ate half and saved the other half home for dinner. I gratefully accepted an extra lunch to take home for my DH for dinner.
2. Arranged a sale of an item I got from a free pile. They are really pretty hanging macrame plant holders. I’ll meet the buyer 1/2 a block from my house tomorrow.
3. Waited until the dishwasher was full to run it.
4. Dehydrated orange peels. My Guinea pigs love them and they provide fiber and vitamin C.
5. Drove my car less than 2 miles today since I live very close to out state capitol.
Did NOT group chat any top secret information.
My 8th grader has more sense about cyber security than the President’s Cabinet. Though encouraging for DS’s future, this is not reassuring for our collective present.
1) I inadvertently cleaned the fridge today as I needed to make room to thaw an aging frozen turkey. Quite a few things well past their prime were composted. Shelves were washed and reorganized. Plenty of room available to thaw bargain turkey for cooking on Sunday.
2) Dinner tonight was supposed to be cabbage roll casserole, but the hamburger intended had gone South. I was preparing to drop back and punt on dinner when Dear Wife suggested some previously cooked, frozen ground lamb be used instead. Everyone thought it was tasty and worth making again.
3) Rolled over a CD into one with 10x greater interest. It is now earning 4% for the next six months.
4) Walking for exercise as cross-country ski season is over I think? It snowed an inch here this afternoon so it is too early to say for sure.
5) Shopped my own cabinets this week and discovered that I had an extra bottle of face lotion and extra dishwasher tabs already. Score!
1. My parents got me an Emily Lex watercolor book of animals. Each page has a drawn animal to paint. There’s room above and below the animal for at least two other animals. So I’ve drawn in extra animals just following the pattern she gave and now I have 3 times as many animals to paint!
2. Have three book clubs and was able to get all three books from the library (The Wager, Say Nothing and The Frozen River).
3. There’s a potential big life change that may or may not happen and it’s been throwing me for a loop emotionally. Someone mentioned that the AI app Claude was pretty decent as a “therapist”. I tried it last night and I have to say that it actually was helpful and reminded me of some things that I had forgotten and were important in my situation.
4. Colored my own hair today. My hair grows quickly and I’m not ready to embrace grey yet so instead of paying crazy amounts to get it colored professionally, I just use a box color. I used about 1/2 of it to do my roots only so one box for about $8 gets me two times covering my roots.
5. Still haven’t purchased any clothes, makeup, toiletries, decor, shoes, etc since January 20th and still have no desire to.
Spider plants are difficult to grow. Each incident of neglectful watering shows up on the leaves, causing feelings of failure, frustration, dislike and disappointment. Consider putting a succulent in that pot instead. Christmas cactus, or echevarias grow well in Oregon and can recover if stressed by not enough water. Also they are easy to propagate.
There seems to be an endless supply of trauma and/or drama for us all these days.
1. Visited the Aldi near my house to see if they had some $20 raised garden bed kits in stock. They did, but after looking at it for a long moment, I decided not to buy any. I did buy three heads of cabbage at 10 CENTS a pound. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Most of it will become sauerkraut soon but my German immigrant hubby also requested something called Krautwickle (which I will veganize haha!)
2. Still going strong on bringing my coffee and lunch to work. Today it was a salad. Tomorrow, it’ll be left over curry.
3. Decorated for spring using all items I already own. It is a bird themed display using vintage bird planters I’ve collected for decades, vintage birding books, found feathers and dried flowers, and some antique bird postcards and trading cards. I am happy with it.
4 Working on decluttering and spring cleaning. I am breaking it down into 1-2 hour sessions per day. I am seeing a big difference.
5. Started reading my vintage copy of Bambi. Back in the sunny, innocent days of Jan 1, I set a NY goal to read three classics I already own but have never read. I chose the original Bambi by Felix Salten, Irving Washington and H.P. Lovecraft.
Stay safe Katy and fellow Northwesterners! I don’t think I’ve ever heard of a tornado in your area. Yikes! Be careful.
1. I took a look at the animal in the foreground of your photograph and thought it was a Belted Galway cow until I realized it was one of the goats. Going to visit animals is frugal and calming. We have a llama and alpaca farm a couple of miles from my house we like to visit. They also have little goats and a donkey. Various fowl too, including emus. Free “aaahhh” moments.
2. Granddaughter20 and I met up at church for a free Lenten soup supper with drinks and desserts included.
3. I worked a 5 hour shift today at the deli. One of the workers has college classes on Wednesday and when it’s busy I go in to cover for her.
4. Borrowed two more library books: The Everlasting Meal which I saw here and another one (can’t think of the title bit the book is downstairs, I’m upstairs and tired) but it’s about the importance of booster shots.
5. I did not add a journalist from The Atlantic to an online unsecured group chat that put American service members at risk had it been someone not as honest and conscientious as Jeff Goldberg.
The Everlasting Meal is an incredible book. I’m saving up to buy the everlasting meal cookbook. The author is Tamara Adler, for anyone who is interested.
I concur, her approach to what to do when you walk in the door with a big load of vegetables has changed the way my fridge functions. Far fewer ingredients needing effort, far more ‘ready to heat and eat’ cooked or prepped veggies. Pre-cooked broccoli is a favourite – cook it a bit less long than usual, and you can reheat in 20 seconds in boiling water, or eat it cold which is particularly delicious with a teeny drizzle of toasted sesame oil and some sesame seeds.
Just leaving a quick note to indicate that I’m still alive (and as appalled by this week’s news as others are). I’ve been busy with NDN, NDN2, and getting ready to report for county jury duty Thursday morning. The fun just never stops around here.
Good to hear from you A. Marie! Equally appalled NCer over here in Massachusetts. I’m feeling pain for our not too far away neighbors to the North, our Canadian friends. So reprehensible what orange guy is doing to our friends and allies.
I have been busy preparing for my daughter’s baby shower – she wanted book themed, so I’ve made 60 paper roses, 60 bookmarks, 75 cupcake toppers, 2 silk flower containers out of old books, planned shower prizes (most with regifted items or inexpensive items grouped together to make nice prizes).
My husband works for the waste department, and he brought home a large collection of Boyd’s Bears that a friend is adding to an auction he is doing. Easier than ebaying, and any profit is free money.
Hubby found a nice ham on sale for 99 cents a pound. We had a ham dinner, then sliced the rest – put two packages in the fridge for immediate use and froze the rest.
Brought home 6 chairs from the side of the road that I hoped would work for our dining room. They will not, but my niece will take them for her shop that sells refurbished furniture.
Been reading what I own or library books and trying to withstand the urge to buy any (it’s so hard!)
What a great baby shower theme!
I love your shares, but especially the “I didn’t” jibes.
Oh, let’s see. What have I been up to?
1) I’ve been working hard at not buying tempting lunches out. I’ve made some pretty eclectic meals. Yesterday was a grilled cheese sandwich on the last of the hamburger buns, edamame (freezer) & an apple. Similar lunches have abounded this week, as I’m in “use it up” mode.
2) Was able to the first of the volunteer lettuce to use in DH’s salad yesterday.
3) DS18 had another impromptu friend gathering, and he made a huge bowl of popcorn to divide up & share amongst his friends. Aside from the butter, a practically free option.
4) I’ve been working on prepping for a class that I’m teaching. I get paid for prep work, although I won’t get paid until Juneish. Once I’ve built out the content & templates, I’m guessing this will go a lot faster next time, increasing my actual hourly rate in the future.
5) Booked some travel with points, to avoid out of pocket expenses.