-
I chopped and sautéed a floppy stalk of celery, onions and the last of a bag of carrots to freeze as individual chunks. Trader Joe’s sells their uncooked “mirepoix” mix for $3.49 and I now have a dozen pre-prepped chunks ready for whatever I happen to be cooking. A favor to my future self.
-
I sold my vintage bookshelf in under 24 hours for the full asking price of $150 to someone who’s going to use it for her Nancy Drew book collection, which I absolutely love! I even had backup buyers in case she flaked out!
-
I had a half bag of edamame in the fridge, which had been there for a couple of weeks and was no longer so tempting. I went ahead and popped out the individual soybeans and added them to last night’s salad. Tasted just fine and my husband and I both survived.
-
I planted my free Buy Nothing tomato seedling in the free Buy Nothing planter, which I’d filled with free potting soil.
-
I didn’t try to defund the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
Five Tiny Frugal Things
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
Previous post: My Thrifted Midcentury Bookshelf — a Before & After
{ 26 comments… read them below or add one }
1. We desperately needed to replace the free rocker we got from our BN group. I went into lazy boy, saw the cheapest chair was 850 dollars on sale before tax, laughed and promptly left. Within 24 hours found a very nice lazy boy for 100 dollars on marketplace. I spent the day cleaning it and it and it has found a new home in our little ones nursery! It’s a little big for the space but I don’t care.
2. Our little one has an ear infection. Was able to get a new bottle of probiotics off our BN group instead of spending the 25.99 our local grocery store wanted.
3. Another BN admin and myself went and rescued a bunch of stuff from a dumpster at an apartment complex. We will go through/sort everything and distribute it to our group(s).
4. Utilized Facebook marketplace for some first birthday presents including a little tykes swing, a little playhouse, and got a first bday tee shirt at goodwill for 99 cents. After having a traumatic and early delivery of my little one, we are very focused on just being together this year. No big party needed.
5. Thrift scores yesterday included books for little ones birthday, a new ruff wear dog leash, a kyte walker sleep sack (IYKYK), and other high end baby/toddler clothes from Patagonia, Hannah Andersson, and baby gap. I probably over thrift a bit for my little one but pass things down to my nephew and other people in our BN group. I am meticulous about stain treatment so make sure items get passed along in great shape!
Let me be one of or first to say CONGRATULATIONS (I had no doubts) on selling your refurbished, fabulous find bookcase. And, that is a terrific BN planter and great price, may I add? Love the pre-prep of individual “jumps as you call them” of mirepoix… smart. Part of my weekly veggie servings is roasted root veggies, that I add to brown rice or quinoa (batch cooked in rice cooker), beans (cook up weekly batch in IP), shredded chicken (also cooked up in IP), bags of sliced peppers and zucchini and my homemade salsa verde and I never get tired of the combos. I love that I can prep all this ahead of time, take advantage of sales and I listen to my audiobooks I get through Hoopla (and Libby, thanks to you and your blog which I’ve read for years I learned about). I do enjoy your blog, the many readers (I feel like I know y’all) and your FB page. Keep up the great job of NC as a choice and way of life; not because “you have to”!
Oops, that should read “lumps of mirepoix”!
Beautiful bookshelf revamp!
1. Continued my streak of logging 6,000+ steps each day. I use my trusty pedometer that I bought years ago for $5. Every day I use it reduces its cost even further and I love that the CPU is already infinitesimal.
2. Much of the aforementioned walking was a joint effort with my dog. Dog walking in our neck of the woods can run from $25-$35 per walk! I don’t begrudge anyone spending money to properly care for the animals they’ve adopted, and I don’t begrudge anyone getting paid a fair wage for their labor, but I sure am grateful that this is an expense I can forego by doing it myself.
3. Gave myself a pedicure with the high-quality tools I purchased years ago. Then took a walk in sandals to show off my handiwork, since it’s finally warm enough to do so. Felt so good! See also #1 and #2. Some weeks I need to celebrate literally putting one foot in front of the other.
4. I’m in the mood to cook something new, so I scanned the web for new recipes using ingredients I have on hand. Later on I’ll try making a chocolate Dutch baby pancake, the thought of which makes my mouth water.
5. Happily did a professional favor for a friend and called in a professional favor from another. I love that I’ve surrounded myself with like-minded people who help each other and benefit from each other’s generosity.
Sorry, that shouldn’t have been a reply!
I’m not surprised you sold the bookcase so quickly as it came out great after you worked on it. I love how someone wanted to use it for their Nancy Drew book collection! I remember my sister’s bookcase (not an encyclopedia bookcase) full of Nancy Drew books. Childhood memories!
1. DH and I edged the perennial garden in the front of our house. He ended up using the hard clumps of grass with attached dirt to fill in some holes and divots in the lawn. No need to buy top soil or grass seed.
2. A pitcher of home made iced tea is brewing as I write this, made in the iced tea maker I picked up for a few dollars in a thrift shop.
3. I washed and hung outside three loads of laundry. It’s supposed to rain the next five days so I figured I’d take advantage of the sunshine.
4. Leftover “picnic” food for supper tonight…hotdogs, macaroni salad and Boston Baked Beans.
5. Turns out our home insurance doesn’t cover slow leaks, just regular leaks. Bad news but it’s not going to be as big (expensive) a job as we thought and my stepson is going to do the work. I’d rather pay him than a stranger.
Oohh, thanks for the visual for freezing mirepoix. Square pucks = brilliant! Never occurred to me.
1. Finished my book, A Well-Trained Wife, from the library. Enlightening and disturbing.
2. Enjoyed a movie, Conclave, from the library. Holy smokes (ha ha).
3. Made cards using some very nice free stock images and the cardstock and envelopes I received from Buy Nothing. Given my age and my inventory of supplies, I don’t think I’ll ever need to buy another card for as long as I live.
4. Cooked beans in crockpot (a first) and froze in mason jars.
5. Stretched an open jar of peanut butter by adding some not-as-good homemade peanut butter and mixing them together.
That book is amazing and horrifying. Highly recommend any podcast or tiktok video featuring the author.
W, agree. I thought I was up on things but I truly had no idea of the extent of this “religion.”
My mother and I both grew up loving Nancy Drew. (Also, a dear college friend still refers to my hair as Titian.) Sadly, my daughter was never into Nancy Drew. Luckily, she does love Jane Austen, which both my mother and I love, too. She’s into Joan Didion right now but I keep trying to get her to read Virginia Woolf. Woolf > Didion.
1 Made a giant delicious stir fry out of all elderly vegetables plus chicken.
2. Potted adorable Tristan strawberry runners given to me by my friend. The berries aren’t the hugest, but delicious and they also have very pretty pink flowers.
3. Re-covered an antique silk lampshade myself.
4. Used sourdough discard to make pancakes.
5. While I did joke on social media that I’d like to see one of the popes painted by Francis Bacon elected, I did not send the Vatican a picture of myself in papal robes.
1. I made French toast this morning to use the cracked egg I got from my hens, and some sourdough bread that was getting stale. I’ll use the rest of that loaf to make garlic bread tonight.
2. I transplanted my tomato seedlings into larger pots that I had stashed in the garage. Here’s hoping they continue to grow big enough to transplant into the garden bed. Right now I think they would just get eaten by snails.
3. Currently exploring how to make a deck shade using eye rings and a painter’s canvas tarp. Hoping to make it cute as well as functional. I have an idea, but I don’t know if it will work yet.
4. I got free tickets to the Celtic Festival this weekend, waiting till my friends band goes on to go over and listen.
5. I made a memorial for my cat by spray painting her name onto the fence over where I buried her. I have all of the letter stencils, and I made a pyramid of stones over the spot. It makes me happy (and sad) to see her name on the fence from across the yard. It cost me nothing but materials I had in the garage, And I can refresh it if it fades. I also picked some flowers from the yard and put them on top.
What a lovely memorial for your cat! That bitter sweet memory reminder, always tugging at your heart.
Oooo, congrats on the sale!
1. Used my pharmacy extra care bucks at CVS yesterday when I went to pick up my free 8×10 photo. I got a bottle of dish soap and a replacement chap stick as mine has next to nothing left). I walked out for $0.38 OOP.
2. CVS sent me another $4 off any purchase coupon -good today only- so I’m going to grab another item off my need list and schedule it for free pickup since I’m not going to be back that way today. Free is my favorite.
3. My best friend treated me to a mandala painting class today for my belated bday. On our way we stopped for a chat as we were early. I took my water bottle into DD and used a $2 for 10 donut holes coupon in my app. We shared them.
4. The mandala class included giveaways and I had the gold star on my paint bottle so I won a BEAUTIFUL mandala rock that matches my new bedroom color perfectly! (It sells for $45 + on her website!)
5. I stopped by Publix on my way home to grab a couple of needed items and got a FREE Salsa Bouquet of flowers which was a reward for my club perks anniversary. Free club and free reward. Yay!
Wonderful that the bookcase sold so quickly. Nice profit!
My frugal five:
1. Just finished cooking my meal for our monthly church potluck tomorrow. I did Mexican rice, finding a recipe online that only took a few ingredients. I have lots of rice to use up because my husband now has to count carbs for his diabetes.
2. When I went to the grocery store today, I stocked up on chickpea pasta that was B1G1Free. Also bought other items that were on sale at this expensive store. I do my grocery shopping this way and try to only pay 1/2 price for pantry items. To do this, you have to know your current prices to spot a good sale.
3. I finished a crochet purse this week. I needed a small summer purse for church (I usually carry a backpack) so decided to make one myself.
4. Found the book Demon Copperhead in a Little Free Library and nabbed it for my husband to read. The library wait list is still pretty long on this one.
5. Watched a good PBS show last night on PBS Passport. We support PBS and will stand up for them by contacting our congressmen.
I love prepped food!
1. I had a broken tooth extracted on Monday so I have been eating soft food this week such as homemade mashed potatoes, tuna fish sandwich with very soft bread, soup, mac and cheese , veg all casserole, cooked spinach, deviled eggs, and of course ice cream! I also ate oatmeal.
2. Made my menu for next week which will include spinach crustless quiche ( I loosely call it quiche because I am too cheap to add more than an egg or two,) frozen butter peas, oatmeal, pbj sandwich, tuna fish sandwiches, and probably a soup.
3. I walked in my neighborhood.
4. I have dental insurance although it is no where near as good as my health insurance. The extraction still cost me 80 bucks.
5. I watered my tomato plants, my roses, and my spinach, and mustard greens. Hopefully, my tomato plants make because “somebody” put tariffs on my fav food…
6. I sat outside in my yard in a thrifted chair I got years ago and just listened to the birds. I pay for my yard so might as well enjoy it!
FTFT, Rainy Weekend Update Edition:
(1) First, congratulations to Katy on selling the refurbished bookshelf so quickly. (And FWIW, putting a few Nancy Drews into the bookshelf on the FB Marketplace photo may have helped. I noticed those.)
(2) I’m taking advantage of the steady rain that’s lasted all day today and will probably continue through Monday to rest my aging body, which is still complaining from my last few days of vigorous gardening. Jesus H. Christ on a raft, getting old sucks.
(3) The steady rain should also give me a much better idea by the time it’s over of which of my perennials are gonna make it and which will have to be replaced. I went up to the Regional Market today for the first day of full opening for spring–and judging by the prices there, I’d like to replace as few as possible.
(4) I took a winter’s worth of accumulated egg cartons from myself and the Bestest Neighbors up to the Regional Market, and gave these to the young woman from whom I bought eggs; she was delighted. And she was one of the two vendors who had eggs for less than $6/dozen, so I was delighted too.
(5) And I haven’t tried to defund absolutely everything previously funded by the US government that makes life easier, healthier, or more pleasant for people, in order to give myself and my oligarch friends further tax cuts. Grrrr!
(6) Adding one more: RIP Ruth Buzzi. When I was 13 years old and thought that Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In was the funniest thing I’d ever seen in my life, she was a big reason why. And I was touched by a line from her high school yearbook that appeared in a YouTube tribute to her: “That which she cannot do has not yet been discovered.”
Goldie Hawn and Lily Tomlin may be the last two cast members alive. I loved that show, in part because it slightly shocked my mother. 😀
May 2/3
1. Went back to the store where I had picked up the $30 ‘free’ card, and used it on laundry stuff – detergent (sensitive skin, found one that works, highly concentrated so is supposed to be good for 210 loads but I use half the recommended quantity so it will last a good long time), more clothes pegs, and a clothes line pulley that holds the two lines together when it is heavily loaded. I had managed to lose the latter item probably during the wind-storm-that-keeps-on-giving.
The total came to over the $30, and yet I had points on my card that is tied to this store, so I walked away without spending a cent, AND there are still a few dollars in points on the card. You folk have taught me to use those points/dollars, rather than leaving them in the company’s account, so I am feeling pretty pleased with myself.
2. I paid off that card recently, and discovered that there were TWO Insurance rebates applied to the card (our province is the sole source for Car Insurance, and they gave back some of their profit!). $110 times two – meant that my purchases to get the points on my card, plus the $30 card, were almost completely paid for.
I feel super pleased about all of this and had to share!
3. The clothes line pulley was employed yesterday after I did a load of kitchen laundry.
Hung everything out on a bright and warm breezy afternoon.
Didn’t get home before the totally unexpected rain arrived.
The laundry will have another rinse, courtesy of mother nature – hoped for sun today, so far we have had sun, wind and HAIL.
Laundry still flying in the breeze. ARGH.
4. Glad to report that #2 son saved me from the dastardly Nanaimo bars brought home from a meeting. Sad to report that #2 son and also #1 son both have dreadful colds. #2 son is quite distressed, as he finally had a week without conferences so was intending to do some important experiments. Instead, I believe he has mostly slept, poor kid. (Kid! He is 26, but I guess they are always kids).
Frugal for him, I dug through my medical drawers and found both cold medication and some extra strength lozenges, so no need for a pharmacy run.
5. My sister has returned home, and after the excitement of the last couple of weeks my Mom was kind of grumpy when I called to check in, yesterday. I know that the loss of her freedom (in the form of a drivers license and car ) has been hugely disruptive, and a permanent change in how she can manage her activities.
I am working on my own mental health so I can be gracious and kind with her (ahem) ‘irritability’. I’m not getting very far with myself, however I can change ONLY myself. Maintaining the relationship is important to me, and much of that is going to be ON me. Sigh.
6. On a brighter note, I can gleefully report that after almost 6 months of regular weight training with a trainer, I have had a number of dramatically measurable improvements as well as ‘firsts’ in the gym. I am more agile, much much stronger, more flexible, and the gym owner (a woman) carefully approached me yesterday and asked, in a round-about way, if she was mis-remembering things or if I have ‘changed shape’. I am thrilled that she has noticed, and she is thrilled that the change she thought she was seeing wasn’t just her imagination.
If someone had told me it would take 3-4 months before I would ‘see’ a difference, a younger ‘me’ might have been too discouraged to start. Current ‘me’ is well aware that any change that is going to stick is likely going to take a while to achieve. And anyway, I am not doing this to get to some goal, with the idea that I can then quit. I am doing this in order to solidly lock the habit in for the rest of my life.
7. Picked up peanut butter on sale and because I was in that aisle I saw some $7.99 jam discounted to $1.25. Yes, please! Can’t make it for anything approaching that price, even if the berries were free.
8. Today was church Spring Fling. I avoid feeling guilty for not providing any physical support by showing up prepared to spend a few dollars (which makes everyone else feel their efforts were worthwhile). I did arrive, late, with 8 gallon pots containing plants I know will sell, so there is that. My best buddy came with, and it was a good day, buying plants and baking and some random thrifted things from their ‘rummage’ sale. We also visited Sally Ann as she was looking for costume pieces for a murder mystery dinner she was attending. I bought a sweet framed picture that I had texted to my daughter asking if she wanted it – it will complement another picture that she and I thrifted a year ago, and that I noticed she had put up in a prominent place at her condo.
I also stopped at a roadside stand to pick up some tomato plants, as this year I neglected to start any – due to “Life”. Once I got home I remembered to water the tiny tomato starts that my other best buddy brought over – they need transplanting NOW as there are too many in each little cell of the plant tray, so keeping them moist is manditory.
9. Best Buddy of the thrifting emptied her purchases from my car and we promptly filled it up again with castoffs destined for various charities. Of course, the castoffs first are perused at my place, as often they can be put to use by the family. She also gave me the frozen raw dogfood from her dearly departed pup, as well as some flea treatment from the vet (BONUS) and his old raincoat and vest. The raw dogfood is a huge gift and my pup won’t know what has happened to her world. Most of it is in my chest freezer, which contains some past-teri casseroles that #2 son clearly forgot about, so I am set for dinners for the next few weeks!
Wow, you are a whirlwind of frugal activity!
OMG! I can’t believe you sold that bookcase so fast! But I’m not surprised it sold. Now I know what to look for! And for it to house a Nancy Drew collection is beyond cool!
1. I made $60 selling free items on Marketplace yesterday
2. I paired a secret shop with an errand so got more than my gas paid for.
3. Made quiche for dinner: eggs from our chickens, marked down pie crust, milk and clearance cheese. Yum! And easy!
4. Marked down mushrooms got sliced and put in the dehydrator
5. Got my free vegetable plants planted before the rain!
Hooray for the free-stuff-to-$60!
1. Used my UCard to buy $25 worth of groceries. Free!
2. Walked for more than an hour today, and that was in addition to strength training at the gym. Both free, of course.
3. My frugal lunch was steamed yellow potatoes. I figure it cost about 50¢.
4. Touched up my somewhat chipped toilet seat with nail polish. I borrowed that idea from someone here! It isn’t a perfect match, but certainly better!
5. Picked up a library book on hold and spent a lovely afternoon reading.
I need to source some white nail polish, as my toilet seat has a scratch at the back that looks like . . . something else.
Good for you for both hitting the gym and the walk!
Congratulations on selling your bookcase so quickly and for the full amount.
I wish I had a dozen to sell!