Five Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on April 8, 2025 · 65 comments
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I was able to use my $1 gluten-free bread to make a big plate of French toast for my daughter. Yummy, yummy, frugal, yummy!
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There’s an artist that my father likes, so I found a book about him through the library’s website. I checked the book out today and brought it over to him. Frugal “gift.”
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I’ve been on a T.C.B. (“taking care of business”) kick lately and am working my way down the list of annoying but Important-with-a-capital-I tasks. Friday was taking the minivan through DEQ for testing and registration and today was taking that same car to the autobody shop for a damage estimate.
A month ago I backed into a tree branch that was leaning too low into the street, but I was able to contact the owner and they should pay for the damage. This task has been weighing on me, as it was easy to procrastinate. The estimate has now been sent and I should be able to get my crunched “tailgate spoiler” replaced before it becomes something I meant to deal with.
Takin’ care of bidness!
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The library had a bowl of hard candies out, so I grabbed a lemon variety after a brief conversation with librarian about which one was best. It became my after-dinner treat and it only slightly tasted like lemon Pledge.
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I may have lost $115,000 from my retirement account, (I wish I was kidding) but at least I got a free piece of candy.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 65 comments… read them below or add one }
All last night:
1) I pulled my son’s homemade pj’s out of the garbage can and fixed the split seam. They went back to the wash pile and should live to see another day. Or five, since he lives in them.
2) I’m busy altering a uniform shirt. They didn’t have women’s shirts (?!?), so I’m trying to get an oversized men’s shirt into something reasonable looking.
3) I finished making a baby gift with stash fabric and a thrifted pattern.
4) After rummaging in my pile of mis-matched sheets, I realized that I can very easily make myself a summer sleep sack for future camp outs. It should keep the mosquitos off and will cost nothing. I might even add a drawstring at the top to cinch it in to help deal with said mosquito issue.
5) Still taking my lunch, riding the bus, making my own coffee and rocking that thrifted and me-made wardrobe.
being willing to mend clothing and all things fabric is such a money saver. Especially when it’s things that never leave the house and don’t have to look perfect.
Katy, I have more than one of those annoying lists. Sadly, they comprise almost 70 tasks: 15 for regular life stuff, 11 for sewing/mending and a whopping 40 for our house. I wish I was kidding! Granted, they’re not all high priority tasks, and some are tiny, but sometimes I could cry just thinking about the enormity of it all.
1. Scheduled our pre-paid annual furnace tune-up that was part of our purchase last year. I like knowing our mechanicals are humming along.
2. We’re finally getting to the end of our remodeling project. Anytime the painter is done staining or painting something I ask to use the leftover product for doing touch-ups or small projects of my own. One time I painted the brick on an entire fireplace using what was left in his paint tray!
3. Now that we have a pantry (made possibly by using the space formerly occupied by our furnace chimney), we went to the discount store to stock up. But honestly, since Aldi’s prices are so low (sometimes concerningly low – as in someone’s not getting paid enough for their labor), there’s not as much of a need to go to the discount store anymore, especially since it’s further away.
4. Took the suggestion of someone on The Frugal Girl and added protein powder to our oatmeal.
5. Finding no- or low-cost activities to do with my sister to boost her well-being (and mine). She is 70 and cries every day over her financial situation and the state of our nation and the world, thanks to the malevolent actions of our so-called leaders.
Sadly, #3 could (in part) be because Aldi (along with a myriad of other large corporations) was linked to purchasing goods produced by US prisoners. The AP published a piece about it in January 2024 (a search using ‘Aldi’ and ‘prison labor’ should immediately populate the article).
The article link is this:
https://apnews.com/article/prison-to-plate-inmate-labor-investigation-c6f0eb4747963283316e494eadf08c4e
Foul business.
RC and Edie: Wow, I had no idea. Appreciate the link to this disturbing story.
I’m sure my list would top 70 tasks, if I broke it down. Home ownership really comes with its downsides!
So smart to make sure you keep the leftover paint and stain.
Katy, I feel slightly better knowing that your list is just as full.
I’m so sorry your sister is so upset and has lost a lot of her retirement $. This has been terrible for so many if us and especially our seniors who were counting on their savings. Thank you for trying to cheer her up. We are going to need to step up and help folks as things keep getting worse.
1. We have our garden planted and covered the plants last night with old flower pots, small buckets and styrofoam cups saved for this purpose.
2. For my birthday I have asked for canning jars, garden supplies, and cookbooks.
3. Learning to cook better and using what I have instead buying just for a recipe.
4. Mixing and matching my clothes different for a new look without having to buy new clothes.
5. Reading library books and using all the different services the library offers.
Yes, cooking from a stnadrd set of ingredients will almost always be both cheaper and simpler than buying for specific recipes that leave you with random ingredients that go to waste.
Your #3 will be a money saver! I like the “More with Less” cookbook, it’s been a great resource for me to use up random ingredients, and find good substitutions. “Put Em Up” was a good one for small batch preserving and canning.
I love cooking! I also love More With Less and have been cooking from it for many years. My new discovery is Tamar Adler’s The Everlasting Meal Cookbook. It takes a leftover and suggests its next life and is inspiring. Yesterday I took some Massaman Curry that was already three meals old and turned it into a Tom Ka soup.
Thanks to all here for inspiration and support!
Thanks for the cookbook ideas. I will check them out.
1. I also am taking care of a lot of maintenance tasks. It is frugal and it soothes my soul these days.
2. I had a craft zoom with my mother. She has a lot of serious health issues and it’s easy to get lost in the management of those. I’m trying to schedule fun things with her. It was a good time and we will do that regularly. I use supplies that I already have.
3. I got out the door early to go to the local French bakery for their $2 day old sliced bread. Not as cheap as yours, Katy, but made by hand right there on the premises. And $2 isn’t bad at all. I dropped 10 ink cartridges at Staples for $25 store credit, and shoveled 6 bags of compost at the free city compost hub. All in all, a pretty good morning!
4. I continue to read to my grandson on Messenger. Yesterday he called and said his mom was getting his lunch but “we can read a book while we wait”. He is not yet 4. I read for an hour while he ate his lunch, he reads to me also.
5. We are in the blissful season of not needing the heat. We have no A/C, though many in our area do. So our energy bills go way down in the summer. After living in a place where the summer temps are high of 110 and overnight LOW of 80, this place we live now, where it will get to the mid to high 90’s, feels cool to us. Also, when one has lived in a really hot place, there are a lot of lifestyle adjustments one has to make. And those serve very well to make the high 90’s feel not too bad.
Kara, good list. I especially love #2 and #4, so sweet.
Yes, maintenance tasks gives me a sense of control over my life. I love your turn of phrase of “blissful season,” well said!
Unfortunately, am looking at a hip replacement surgery at end of April..but sooo relieved I will get out of pain and back to hiking and kayaking soon.I have been very active up till 1 year ago when this pain began.Ugh.
FRUGAL PLANS:
Have called to be SURE every Doctor and surgeon who touch me are on my Medicare Advantage Plan.
Using my Over the Counter allowance to get FREE Teds hose, aspirin,tylenol, bed pads, ice packs, and more delivered right to my door.
Joined the local gym with my free health club membership
(Using my Medicare Advantage Medicare benefits to the MAX!)
Reviewed our HSA and methods to cover small copays we will have.
BORROWED a walker, a bedside commode, and a shower chair and an elevated toilet seat from next door neighbor who had same suregry 2 years ago.GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD!!! Make sure to make friends with your neighbors!
Stocked freezer with a week of meals that my son and husband can pull together to feed all of us while I go through recovery.
Mailed in all receipts and medical records to our travel insurance and got a $1900 refund on a trip we had to cancel!! FULL REFUND.God Bless ALLIANZ travel insurance company.I had kept good records. They made it easy to file a claim online.
Cancelled another airbnb rental we had for netx month..I had ON PURPOSE rented one with full refund up to last minute causenext this surgery was a possibility. Got full refund.
Downloaded free books to my cloud library and kindle.
Stockpiling TV series to watch while recovering .
Planning a FAST AND FULL recovery so we can get back to normal around here!!!
May your recovery be swift, sure and with a minimum of pain!
Madeline, kudos on all of your preparation! Wishing you a fast and full recovery.
Yes, making friends with your neighbors is important for all the reasons! I am seriously impressed with how thorough you are with confirming detail.
Wow, those are some organizational skills you have! Hope your recovery is swift.
Madeline, I join everyone else in best wishes for a speedy recovery and in awe of how well you’ve organized everything. And I am my street’s resource for post-surgical equipment (most of it was inherited from my late parents-in-law after my FIL had two knee replacements), so I agree that being able to loan this stuff out or borrow it is important.
I have taken care of many patients post op hip replacement. They tend to do well & get out of bed the 1st day post-surgery. Of course, anyone can have a complication, but I did not see much of that. On the other hand, knee replacements are hellish. My husband had both of his knees done, 1 week apart, and that was a painful ordeal. Best wishes toward a speedy recovery with minimal pain!
Katy, I just refuse to look at my IRA. I don’t need it now, and I refuse to worry about until I do. I know there will be losses.
Have one of those Honey Do lists! I have been ticking down!
1) Am using the time I am at this contract to finish up a certification that I have been meaning to finish for the past year.
2) Did a deep spring clean of the backyard garden. A small, spindly dead tree which I have been trying to get out for years has finally acquiecsed, and I was to able to get it out of the ground. I cleared out loads of English Ivy ( a little is good, a lot is smothering) dug up dandelions, did other weeding and sowed more seeds. This was a lot harder than previous years, because my new heat pump is massive and is almost the same width of my side return, blocking the easy access I used to have with the garden gate.
3) Juiced the dandelion greens with apple and lemon- an almost free spring tonic. (the cold press juicer was from a thrift store several years back- $15! Anytime I see juicers now for hundreds of dollars I think how they will wind up in thrift stores a year from now.)
4) I bought baby peach trees to replace the sad dead one- and these will be planted properly.
5) Have all the paperwork ready to do my taxes!
You are on a roll, well done!
Edie, I’m not going to look at my investment accounts till I get the monthly print statements in the mail. But I’m going to make sure I’m sitting down before I open these. 🙁
Ha!
Sitting down, with a reviving tea- or smelling salts!
Madeline, I had both hips replaced last year (not both at once, 10 months apart). And in the middle of the year, my husband had hip replacement surgery as well (just one hip replacement for him). What a year! I was so happy about how easily and quickly we both recovered. This particular surgery is amazing nowadays. I’m so glad your insurance will cover most of the costs. My insurance also covered most of the bills. It’s such a relief not to have to worry too much about medical bills and just focus on recovery after surgery.
Wow, you must be happy to have all those surgeries behind you!
Lemon is my favorite hard candy, right next to orange. Yum!
Today I happened to have both husband and son home for lunch and cooked us a meal of fried fish with baked potatoes, corn on the cob, and a bowl of cinnamon baked apples for dessert. It was about $9 to feed all of us. A family meal together was priceless.
Got my exercise today cleaning my house and washing more windows inside and out with the mighty jug of Dollar Tree window cleaner. All this nearly free home maintenance makes up for me accidentally buying a $14 bottle of nail polish yesterday — I misread the tag and thought it was $4.
Okay, that sounds like an amazing meal, well done! Yikes on the nail polish though!
1. I combined errands today to drop off my Ebay packages and mail my taxes at the post office and then get gas.
2. I used $10 in Meijer rewards to get $1 off per gallon of gas. I took a gas can along to fill also. I bought 19 gallons so my rewards went much further.
3. Also scheduled my air conditioning yearly maintenance. Thanks for the reminder MB in MN.
4. I sold another Tamagotchi for my daughter on Ebay. I also sold an item for myself.
5. Frugal for my daughter and son-in-law- I gave them two full propane tanks for their grill since my grill went kaput.
I’m taking care of biz before I leave on my job cation
Yesterday I thrifted two brand mane tops and a pair of pants $13
Today I’m doing last minute laundry and pacing. I’ll be enjoying So Cal weather
I’ve got a book to read for the flights.
In the words of Madea “I’m not a fixed income, I’m on a broke, I’m broke.”
I use a lot of cough drops due to a medication and the husband likes Jolly Ranchers. If we go through them too slowly, though, the candy begins to melt into the wrapper, and it becomes a mess to eat them. A few years ago, I read that putting the bulk of the bag in the freezer until you want more will stop that from happening, and it works a charm. Just in case your other readers like hard candy or want to keep Halloween hard candy from year to year…
1. A friend who is older and alone is having heart surgery. The husband is flying down to Anchorage with her and when she comes home, she will stay with us. I realized our supposed guest room has slowly become our throw-it-in-there-and-close-the-door room. Over the past week we have slowly cleared it out and took stuff to the dump, clothes to the Rescue Mission, and books to the second hand shop that uses its profits for the Literacy Council. Brought home three tax receipts.
2. Turns out we didn’t even have sheets for the bed in the junk room so stopped by the Salvation Army and bought a set for $5.
3. Found seven (!) generic vases. Took them to a small flower shop and gave them to the owner for reuse. She gave me a dozen daffodils, which I did not expect. I love daffodils and there is no season for them here, so usually mine come from Safeway.
4. Made three quilled birthday cards, rather than buying them for $12 each. The quilling supplies are literally decades old so am happy to be finally putting them to use.
5. Husband wanted something sweet and I am off sweets for Lent, so we don’t have much in the house. I made him a mug chocolate cake from supplies I already had, which satisfied him and had no leftovers to tempt me.
Lindsey, good for you on your #1 (although, knowing you and the husband even if it’s only online, I’m not surprised at your and his kindness). And I too have a guest room that’s an informal dump. I have to clear it out and dump all the stuff somewhere else every time JASNA BFF or Grad School BFF comes for a visit.
My son LOVES jolly ranchers – thank you so much for the tip!
Lea
Please be careful with hard candy and dry mouth caused by medications! As a retired Dental Hygienist,if you have your own teeth this will cause serious and costly tooth decay( not frugal at all). You’re basically coating your teeth in sugar with no saliva to help rise it off.
1. I figured out how to stream audio books, borrowed from the library, to my hearing aids, using Bluetooth. I did not realize I could download Cloud Library books to my phone. I had used my tablet in the past.
2. I used points earned from using my Discover credit card to get a Pet Smart gift card for our SIL’s birthday. It hopefully will be used to help take care of the critters he already has rather than encouraging more hobby acquisition.
3. I met up with friends last night. There was no need to go out for coffee or drinks. We met just to talk and support each other.
4. I took DD’s vehicle in for an oil change on a day she was working from home. I’m hoping her Honda lasts for several more years as she doesn’t have money for a replacement at this time. I did a mom thing and filled the gas tank. Gas was less than $3/gallon at Safeway.
5. Dinner will be chicken soup since we had a rotisserie chicken the other day and I boiled the carcass yesterday.
1. Retrieved a jalapeno/cheese bagel from the freezer (where it had been placed when they were at risk of going stale), and toasted it. Then mashed an avocado before it got too overripe, and topped the bagel with it. Favorite lunch.
2. Reading, reading, reading. Doing a challenge this year, and all the reading prompts are being filled with either to-be-read books already on my e-reader, or ones I get free from library, borrowing, etc.
3. Spending time with XL cotton shirts from Goodwill and a seam ripper. The plan is to cut the shirt parts into pieces for quilt square assembly. Tedious work, but good to do in front of tv or listening to podcast or audio book.
My granddaughter has an aversion to Goodwill (her first ever visit was to ‘the bins,’ and the required gloves and chaos freaked her out. I have told her that I will be gifting her GOOD Goodwill finds for holidays/birthdays now…hence the recycled fabric found there. To prove to her that beauty can be found in unexpected places.
4. Made my hands off protest signs from some spare foam core found in my craft room. Still have some left for the next march if I feel the need to send a new message.
5. Planning a new use for guest room using only what we have. I will dissasemble the bed and lean it against the wall for now. It’s easy enough to reassemble it if it is needed.
Also, I HATE what this administration is doing to our markets as well as global markets. It is inexcusable. But please remember that your investment are for long term planning, and you haven’t lost ANYTHING unless you panic and sell while values are down. Values will rise again eventually. Using words like ‘I’ve lost this-and-such amount’ only reinforces our own fears and causes panic to others.
Now if you are like me and already in retirement, it can be really devestating if emergencies come up, but I am determined to live within our Social Security benefit amount (as long as we have them), and not to sell any investments while the market is down.
Keep calm and frugal on!
I’ve done the same thing in my second guest room, the frame is folded up and the mattress is leaning against the frame against the wall (frame leaning there keeps the mattress off the wall and avoids any potential damp situations). I use this room as my sewing/creating/repurposing work space and it is just lovely. And it can be changed to have a proper bed with proper frame in 10 minutes or less. I like to make the most of the small square footage in our home.
About that $115k. It’s only a loss if you sell, and we know you’re not going to do that, riiight?
right.
Rule #1: In times of economic trouble, DO NOT CHECK RETIREMENT BALANCES! If my 401K is now a 301K, I prefer not to know about it! NO PEEKING!
My special frugal move of the day is being carless while my car is in the shop. It’s amazing how little I buy when I have to carry what I purchase home from the store! At Trader Joe’s today, I bought eggs, bananas, garlic and a tomato. No impulse buys!
Alas, I like to be informed, even when it’s painful.
Makes you wonder how in 2025 1 person can control a global market without any oversight. Effectively those in retirement will learn to live on even less. But we are in the right place to learn to live with less lol. 🙂
I’m already living on less, so there’s no need to dwell on account balances.
1. I had three porch pickups from Marketplace today, for a total of $38.
2. Today was a work from home day – no commute. On my lunch hour, I did some raking it the yard and then walked up to the library and picked up a few books.
3. We made deep dish pizzas for dinner, using dough and sauce I made myself.
4. I have two vintage leather Coach purses that I have been meaning to list on ebay. I realized I had some leather conditioner and it made a big difference on the one bag.
5. I tried to buy a Jadeite bowl and an LL Bean windbreaker on Marketplace. Both people viewed the messages, no response. Ugh, why don’t people just delete their stuff if it’s sold?
1. I got seeds from the library and planted them using a cupcake container and an egg container. No fancy grow lights or warming mats – just survival of the fittest for them! The arugula and sprouts have started to grow! It feels so good to see those little green leaves shooting up! This is my first time growing from seed. Anyone have experience and know what to do once a bunch of them start sprouting? Do I cut down all but the ones with the most leaves or let them all grow?
2. Signed up for a crafting night at the library in the next week or two. It’s creating a spring landscape painting with wet felt! Sounds fun and like nothing I’ve ever done. I love the activities my library offers and will be sad if they aren’t able to continue to due to the cuts in the funds to libraries.
3. My daughter was home for spring break and bought some groceries she didn’t use up before she left. So I combined them for a use it up meal. Cooked the spaghetti squash, baked the spicy truffle pasta sauce and the truffle goat cheese in the oven, mixed that all up and mixed it with the spaghetti squash. There was a lot leftover so tonight I combined it with some frozen Mediterranean chicken skewers leftover from Costco a while ago and a can of white beans.
4. My husband unexpectedly got a class action settlement from Accufit for $119 and I got one for $28.
5. I’ve been reading like crazy. I got myself involved in too many book clubs . All the books I’ve been getting from the library! I love my library!
Oh, I do that. It’s like I’m “cheating” on one book club with another book club. I don’t want to get found out! (It’s a bonus when the books overlap!)
Hooray for unexpected money and Random free food!
I can’t even look at our 401k.
1. I got free river rock from a next-town neighbor today, free.
2. I used bricks I got from neighbors and moved some other bricks from my yard-pile to line my front walk and to make a platform for my trash cans that I use for birdseed and garden supplies. No more mud!
3. This coming weekend is Lemon Tree day for me — a friend is sick of her Meyer lemon tree and I get to dig it up and bring it home, for free.
4. Continuing to eat out of the freezer. I popped into Grocery Outlet to look for plants and seeds, but did not buy any. I grabbed a few items that struck my fancy: cookies, almonds, and some rosemary-currant crackers. I need to do a bigger shopping but I am waiting as long as I can to do it.
5. Ran an errand for my husband to the drug store and was able to buy posterboard marked down to 50c. My drug purchase got me a 10% off coupon for the day, so I bought poster-making supplies and a T-shirt for Mr Husband for his softball team (has town name on it). I got 10% off and also had a $10 off reward, so I spent just $7.50.
I’m not really a “head in the sand” kind of person when it comes to finances, so I torture myself.
Neither is my husband. He keeps me updated. I worry about his stress level but he has been able to move our investments around so our loss at this point is minimal compared to what others are seeing.
Sorry to hear about the retirement money.
1. I posted 3 more items on ebay, so now I have 4 listed d, plus multiple drafts.
2. We accepted an offer to be taken out for pizza (the roast in the crock pot can wait until tomorrow).
3. My husband grabbed the free dog food and coupon book for having gotten a dog from the shelter. He used a coupon on a dog collar.
4. Saving grocery bags for cleaning up after our new dog
5. Using free duolingo app
I bought a membership at our new Costco. I have already got my $ back on the membership on the gas price alone, 2.66 per gallon so far.
I will return a $9.00 tub of potato salad at said store because it is horrible! Hubs wanted to try it as I no longer cook.
The latest round of storms took a tree down in our yard. It will save me from hiring someone to drop it. It can stay where it is.
I need to make a new cover for a dog bed. I already have the fabric I just need to make it.
Hubs gets a new phone from his workplace, He will get a new one prior to retiring later this year.
Costco is great about returns. Which is one of the reasons I don’t mind trying new things there. If we don’t like it they will take it back.
1) Used the last of a package of naan to make a grilled cheese sandwich for DS18, blitzed some sourdough bread for chicken parmesan. Used cheddar cheese (no mozz on hand) to top the parmesan. It was still delicious.
2) Ate leftovers for dinner last night (Korean beef & rice).
3) Filled out more academic surveys on Prolific, and cashed out another $15.
4) Listed an item on eBay
5) Made a note of a couple of subscriptions we can cancel.
In my thinking, paper loss. None of my investments are trading at less that what I paid plus “commission”. Hang tough, they want we average people out of the market.
As a retiree who depends very much on Social Security, I’m terrified.
1. Instead of ordering a bed skirt that wraps around the bed, I cut an old under-the-mattress bed skirt into three pieces that can be shoved under the mattress without moving it.
2. I blanched and froze celery that was getting limp to use in soup later on
3. I repurposed a leave-in conditioner I don’t like to serve as a shaving lubricant.
4. I went to the urgent care to get a spot checked. Not frugal, but having had skin cancer I’m cautious, and am committed to being proactive. Spot did not alarm the doctor. I am going to watch it.
5. Made Welsh rarebit, using up bits of cheese and bacon.
I use up leftover celery by sautéing it with chopped carrots and onions and then freezing it in clumps to use in future recipes. I just bought celery yesterday as it was on sale for #1.28 for this very purpose.
1. Stopped into my local grocery store for only the loss leaders, and as always did a lap to check the mark down sections. Picked up several family sized packs of 93% lean hamburger marked half off, and stocked up on coffee that was on sale buy 2 get 2 free ($5 a can after sale).
(husband joked that I was diversifying our portfolio by investing in cattle and coffee futures)
2. Portioned out the hamburger for the freezer, and ended up with 15 pounds for about $2.50 a pound. To save on freezer bags I save cereal bags and cut them up to separate the portions. I can get 4 pounds in a gallon ziplock that way, and the cereal bags keeps them from sticking together so its easy to remove one pound at a time.
3. Made fried rice for dinner to use up some produce and 2 leftover grilled pork loin chops that no one wanted to reheat.
4. I added my college kid to my Amex account last year for emergency expenses, and sometimes he gets better cash reward offers than I do. He had one on his card for 10% credit up to $20 when you used the card to pay your insurance, so I used his card instead of mine to pay the renewal on one of our rental properties, and got the full $20.
5. I have several gift cards to local (non chain) restaurants that I ended up with from a silent auction last year. Husband and I have been trying to go out for lunch dates the past few months to use them up in case any of the restaurants go out of business.
I love your husband’s joke!
Non frugal but I can relate. I lost $30,000 of my retirement savings these week.
Ugh, so sorry!