Five Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on April 30, 2025 · 12 comments
1) I grabbed these three outdoor chairs from a neighbor’s curb. Sure the seats will need replacing, but that’s well within my skill set. I think I’ll actually keep them afterwards as I’ve been wanting to have a small table and chairs for the backyard patio. Now to source a free small outdoor table!
2) I snagged a small bag of Nate’s Oatmeal Cookies from the Too Good to Go app for $5.99. (The retail value was $18.) I didn’t eat any as they were for my daughter, but they smelled really good.
3) I’ll be using this CVS ecoupon for a free 8″ X 10″ print, thanks to Clark Howard.
4) I offered up a hodge-podge of small jars through my Buy Nothing group after a recent cupboard reorganization. I’ve used them for plant propagation in the past, but have more than enough without them. I may end up putting them out in the recycling as only one jar has been claimed so far, but I’d rather they be used than recycled.
5) I enjoyed a frugal dinner of baked potatoes last night. I mixed some of my kale pesto with sour cream, which was A) delicious and B) perfection. I’ll definitely be making that again! No photo as I am A) Still sick with depleted batteries and B) kind of a mess right now.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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1) Used up some vegetables by making a parsnip and squash soup and a red lentil and sweet potato dal. There was discussion about cooking Indian food, I’ve made two recipes from The Vegan Instant Pot Cookbook and they were both so delicious, the above mentioned red lentil dal and a cauliflower and tofu tikka masala. I’m going to make some of the other recipes in the book, but so far those two recipes alone would lead me to recommend the book!
2) We received a box of hand me downs for my daughter which are greatly appreciated. This also inspired me to go through my son’s clothes and offer them to my friend with a 4 year old son, she was so happy to receive them.
3) My son asked if he could go bowling with a few friends to celebrate his birthday, so much cheaper and easier to coordinate than a big birthday party.
4) My uncle brought his dog to Easter brunch and my son really bonded with the dog. I told my uncle we’d dogsit anytime which he was happy to take us up on as he’s had to travel more for work lately and we live near the airport so drop-off and pickup wouldn’t be too difficult. We do miss having a dog but aren’t ready to own one right now, plus borrowing a dog is cheaper than owning one and it saves my uncle money too.
5) Created my monthly meal plan for May. This allows me to plan out groceries for the month and it’s nice to not have to think about meals for the month after the initial planning day is done!
I would love to create and stick to a monthly meal plan but it just doesn’t work with our crazy schedule.
1. Compared prices on coffee and bought a large can at about 37c an ounce, compared to more than a dollar on most major brands (I bought store brand)
2. Hung out laundry, drank coffee at home, leftovers for lunch, etc.
3. Picked up several sale/markdown items at Safeway. The 4/$20 deal is pretty good; $5 per package of meat, and I buy the heaviest ones I can find. $137 in groceries for the week.
4. Sent out two thrifted birthday cards today.
5. Continuing to file, sort, shred my office files. I have enough file folders and labels to refile everything. The shreddies go in the compost or green bin. Waste paper gets recycled. So many envelopes! I wish they would stop sending them. Even when I am on the paperless plan, I still get a ton of window envelopes. (I could reuse a few but not all of them.)
6. One more: My husband needed tighty whities for under his softball uniform. His last pair was too small, so I bought him some from Land’s End (they are still cool and also made in America, but not cheap). The good news? His former tighty whities are perfect for sleeping in for ME. Don’t be shy, girls. Hubby’s underwear is super comfy and no lace or itchy bands.
LOVE those darling chairs! Ditto, the cute jars — they definitely should be used again and not melted down, IMO.
1. Feasted on an Italian lunch, all free, in the teacher’s lounge. Last night was the performing dance’n’drill team’s banquet and there were huge pans of Alfredo, spaghetti, salad and gigantic rolls left over. (Skinny little pompom girls don’t eat all that much; neither do their moms!) So my humble sandwich (that I’d packed for today) will be saved for tomorrow.
2. Was given more than I could eat so I scooped up the leftover pasta and bread into my empty commuter cup and will have it for dinner. (Oh, and did I mention it was from the best Mom and Pop Italian place in town? The one that charges an arm and a leg for its food?)
3. When I went in to substitute teach this morning — I had two gigs, one for before lunch and one for the afternoon — I found the morning teacher had suddenly “changed her mind” and didn’t need me after all. (Never mind the fact that such a last-minute change is not allowed.) So I went to the principal’s office and (politely) stated my case. Result: I was allowed to stay and sub elsewhere in the school, thus saving my being able to earn my $50 paycheck for half-a-day’s work. (I get a second $50 for this afternoon’s assignment.)
4. Filled out the form to adopt a puppy-dog at no charge from the shelter; they do this on the first Saturday of each month.
5. Did not watch TV shows/newscasts featuring the Orange Ogre brag about his wonderful first 100 days, and how ruining/tearing down all we Americans hold sacred in our 249 y.o. democracy is the most fabulous thing the USA has ever been through…. thus saving myself a migraine from the stress of it all. (But I’m still depressed.)
1 Dumb Dumb:
Broke one of my Johnson Bros ‘Devon Cottage’ Salad plates while making lunch! Will be doing a Kintsugi type repair on it- and look up replacements on Ebay. UGH. These are discontinued, and Johnson Bros are no longer in business in England. ARRRRRGGGGHHHH
2 delicious dinners:
With salad greens & herbs from the garden, grilled chicken from clearance Target chicken packet and avocado packets on clearance from Freddy’s!
2 Garden Chairs:
For free- the plastic Adirondack type chairs. Was on the free pile in front of a house that went for sale (and is now pending already!) Scrubbed off and perfect for friends to hang out!
Edie, I’m sorry about your #1. But you might try Replacements Ltd. if the repair isn’t satisfactory and you can’t find what you’re looking for on eBay.
Those chairs are a great find!
1. I just walked around my neighborhood to check the free piles, since it’s the end of the month and people are moving. I found a microwave (passed), a toaster oven (passed) part of a kitchen wall cabinet (passed), lots of books (passed), and a watering can (kept).
2. On my walk, I found 7 redeemable cans. My bottle drop account is at the point where I can use it to buy durable goods. As a frugal person, I get way more excited about account balances than I do about possessions. (Unless the possessions come from a free pile!)
3. I’m making custard from expired milk. It’s in the oven now. The milk was 66% off because it was within a few days of its sell by date, and we didn’t quite get through it. The custard is cooking in thrifted ramekins. Having custard in the fridge keeps me from being tempted to buy ice cream, which has gotten smaller and more expensive.
4. I found a nice storage cabinet at an estate sale. It’s solid and made of real wood. A similarly functioning IKEA cabinet costs around $230, and isn’t as sturdy. I paid $16.
5. I’m not a monster, unlike Trump and his buddies.
Katy, I hope you feel better soon.
1. I cooked a pound of chick peas in the Instant Pot. I will try to roast some of them.
2. I am cooking a pot of millet and quinoa. I have not tried the combination before but I am sure it will be edible.
3. I am listening to digital audio books borrowed from the library.
4. I finished reading Everything is Tuberculosis which I borrowed from the library. It is an important read.
5. DH and I took a day trip to DC. We took the commuter train and walked once we got there. We saw a lot of sights but did not spend any money while there.
1. Cleaned and organized my pantry and pulled the soon to expire items to the front.
2. Used the rest of my leftover turkey taco meat to make myself a tostada for lunch and pair it with the rest of the guacamole that had gone brown but still tasty.
3. I’ve been storing my store bought berries in mason jars in the fridge and they are staying fresh much longer.
4. I started listening to Cold crematorium reporting from the land of Auschwitz by Jozsef Debreczeni on my Libby app.
5. I opened the windows upstairs to cool it off from the heat of the sun shining in.
First, Katy, I wish I didn’t live across the continent from you. I’d take some of those funky jars and bottles in a heartbeat. I’m always looking for giveaway flower vases, as well as bottles for homemade basil vinegar.
Now, FTFT, End-of-Month Edition:
(1) I just ran my April totals for NY State container deposits and found change. I got $29.30 in bottles/cans and $3.04 in change. Things are looking up. In fact, my container returns may be doing better than my IRA right now. 🙁
(2) Now that my new Mac Mini is up and running in my office, I plan to bring my old iMac desktop (which is such an Antiques Roadshow model it has a CD/DVD slot) down to the living room and use it as my CD/DVD player. My old CD player is on the fritz, and I just took my little old TV with a built-in DVD player (which is even older than the iMac) to electronics recycling. Being old-school, I still play my CDs and DVDs.
(3) I found a full 8-oz. bottle of hand sanitizer on the curb. I’ve used hand sanitizer since well before the pandemic, and I’m always glad to have more.
(4) I’ve made an appointment with the guy at my local branch bank to discuss the CD that’s maturing shortly. If he can’t offer me a better rate than the one I’m currently getting, I may take this money plus the money that’s currently in my “emergency fund” savings account (and earning even less) and put it into an online savings account such as CIT Bank’s. This will be a big leap for me, since I’m a sock-under-the-mattress type by nature, but I think it needs to be done. Suggestions are welcome.
(5) And I’ve just finished reading the article by Antonia Hitchens in the current New Yorker about the amount of boot-licking (fill in your favorite alternative phrase here) that the Orange Menace requires of everyone around him. I think I’ve reached a new high on my disgust meter.
Hope you’re feeling better soon.
FFT- all about food
1. I diced celery and carrots sticks that were looking a little rough and froze them in 1/2 cup portions for future recipes or soups.
2. I started a bean soup with ham bone aand some onions and celery I had frozen. Added some frozen chicken broth from the freezer.
3. I diced up some potatoes , tossed in oil, and sprinkled with ranch seasoning. Will roast later.
4. Got the limit of .67 avocados at Sav a lot. Tried to get them in various ripeness levels.
5. Updated my price book with a few prices after a Sam’s trip today.
1. It’s the start of “wedding season.” I think of the thousands of couples who spend $10,000 and up on elaborate weddings only to end up divorced 5 years later. My husband and I got married on a Friday night at a cost of about $2,000 – in 1994.
I did my own invitations.My dress was $75. My attendant’s dresses were off the rack at JCPenney…$65 each. It wasa double-breasted blazer and knee length pleated skirt (something they could wear again). I told them I didn’t care what shoes they wore as long as they were a “bone” color. Asked the guys to wear gray suits (they all had one). Not all the same shade of gray, but we didn’t care. This was a “low budget” affair. We did have peach colored neckties made for them. $80 for 6 ties. Our reception was in the church social hall. Cake, ice cream, nuts, mints, punch, and coffee/tea. No band or dancing…we socialized with our guests. (I forgot to mention my husband is the youngest of 9 and I am the youngest of 3. Our guests consisted of his siblings and their spouses, nieces/nephews and their spouses and their kids. Then, because my family is so small, we invited my aunts and uncles – 8 couples in all).
Now comes the fun part:
Wedding cake made by one of his sisters – wedding gift
Photos by one of his brothers – wedding gift (along with a photo album)
Video by another one of his brothers – wedding gift
Dried flower arrangements by a friend – wedding gift
Wedding night at a bed & breakfast (owned by one of my co-workers and his wife) – wedding gift. Our wedding was great and less than $2,000…and we’ll be married 31 years this October. A wedding doesn’t have to cost a lot to be special.
2. It’s also “picnic season.” I know people who plan picnics that spend HOURS preparing food to take on a family picnic. My mom didn’t do that, and neither do I. Just pull out all the leftovers and odds & ends in your fridge that can be eaten cold: fried chicken, meatloaf, pizza, fresh fruit, raw veggies, those last few spoonfuls of potato or macaroni salad, the few cookies left in the bottom of the cookie jar…you get the idea. Not everyone has to eat the same thing. Great way to get rid of the leftovers and save money. It’s also great as you can do it on the spur of the moment.
3. I’m switching out all my cleaning products for 1. Simple Green. It comes in a gallon concentrate bottle. You mix it with water per the directions, and it cleans practically everything. I still have window cleaner and furniture polish, but a lot of cabinet space is freeing up as I make the switch.
4. About 5 years ago, I got a KitchenAid mixer…for $65 on Facebook Marketplace. Nothing wrong with it, the seller was just upgrading to a newer model. The only issue was that the grease for the motor was breaking down and leaking. A $10 canister of appliance grease and a brother-in-law who repaired bank vaults for a living fixed that. He took everything apart, cleaned it up, regreased it and it works great!
5. 2 summers ago, I scored a brand new, still in the box, T-Fal pressure canner for $50. The lady who had it was a younger lady (late 20’s – early 30’s). She bought it because she was determined to learn how to can. So determined, it sat in her closet for a year. I haven’t done a ton of canning, but I have canned pickled beets, several kinds of jam, potatoes, chicken, spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, etc. While you may have a freezer (I have a small chest freezer), if your power goes for any length of time, your frozen items will thaw. Possibly even spoil. $ down the drain. Canning is a lot of work, that’s true. If canned and stored properly, home canned foods can last a very long time. A good resource for safe home food preservation can be found at https://nchfp.uga.edu/
Contrary to popular belief, you can’t just can anything you want any way you want. Botulism has no smell or taste. You need to use safe, tested recipes and follow each step carefully. There are some things that can’t be canned at home, such as pasta. Equipment in commercial canneries can reach significantly higher temperatures than you can at home. Those higher temperatures are why companies like Chef-boy-ar-dee are able to can pasta and you can’t. Rigorous (and expensive) testing is done by places like the nchfp and your state extension service. I live in PA, and my state extension service is at Penn State University. If you don’t already can, consider it. It can save you money!