Five Tiny Frugal Things
by Katy on May 31, 2025 · 60 comments
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My husband and spent three-and-a-half hours opening and sorting his late parents’ mail, which resulted in 46 pounds of mail to be shredded at next week’s free shredding event! I’m so flipping happy to have this task in the rear view mirror! Plus we save a cool 46 bucks by not procrastinating this odious chore!
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I stopped at Dollar Tree on my way home from an errand and picked up dental floss, Q-tips, bar soap, crackers and ginger snaps. I keep hearing rumors that their prices are going up again, so I grab a few extra essentials whenever I shop there. And yes, their crisp and spicy ginger snaps are essential.
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I made a batch of okonomiyaki to finish up my four-pound cabbage. It included shredded carrots, sliced onion, bacon crumbles, Dollar Tree panko crumbs, eggs, sesame oil, soy sauce, chicken broth and a bit of flour. Cooked pancake style in oil and then drizzled with hoisin sauce and sprinkled with furekake and sesame seeds. It sounds elaborate, but it’s basically just a savory pancake. So delicious and surprisingly frugal, as you can adjust the recipe based on what’s in the fridge.
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I used my free Domino’s coupon to get a medium-size pizza with double mushrooms for my husband and I to share. Not my favorite meal, but the price was right.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 60 comments… read them below or add one }
Good morning. Happy Saturday. Nice savings on the shredding. My county offers free shredding four times a year along with styrofoam recycling and electronics disposal.
1. I picked up a beer can that was left in front of my mailbox. Ten cents for me.
2. I’m enjoying my home brewed discount store coffee on my front porch rocker.
3. I’m doing my laundry and hanging it on racks to dry.
4. My daughter and son-in-law came over last night to move a large piece of furniture for me. I treated them to dinner at an inexpensive local Mexican restaurant. I ordered water with my meal.
5. I sold a couple items on Ebay and listed a few more.
1. The end of the school year has kids bringing home loads of papers & art projects. One sided blank worksheets go in our “scratch & doodle” pile and art projects are deconstructed to save useful bits (googly eyes, Velcro tabs, long string, pom poms, rubber bands, etc.) for future projects around home or for school.
2. Made hard boiled eggs with discounted dozen recently purchased for $3. Then used the egg water bath to soak pinto beans.
3. One kid needs physical for sports program, but was able to schedule for free at school health clinic before semester ends. Good for all sports in the ‘25-‘26 school year.
4. Kind neighbors who are holding garage sale gave us reusable bag full of free medical related items (Ensure drinks, packs of wipes, bed liners, etc.) they no longer need for aging parent who went into memory care. Will pass on to family member who is caring for spouse in hospice & can put to use.
5. Found clothes in last 24 hours on neighborhood kayaking & hiking adventures: Under Armour shorts, Nike dri-fit athletic boxers, Paw Patrol socks, one leather construction glove and two hair rubberbands. All in perfect condition, just need good wash & hang in the sun. Will add items to kids wardrobes, then pass on to another family once kids outgrow items. Hair bands for me and leather glove to use to patch area on camp chair that needs reinforcement.
FTFT, Cha-Ching! Edition:
(1) I just ran my May totals for container returns and found change. The container deposits came to $47.55 (not an all-time record, but definitely in my top 10)–and the found money, thanks to the $20 and $10 bills I found early in the month, came to a whopping $30.48. Cha-ching!
(2) I’m about to head over to the university area for various things. First, as noted yesterday, I plan to cruise a few streets in the student rental sector and keep an eye peeled for promising trash piles.
(3) I’ll also be stopping at the co-op food store to take advantage of my 10% member discount for May while I still can.
(4) And I plan to stop at the “boutique” store run by our local Thrifty Shopper chain. I’ve already pretty much decided what I’m going to wear to that opening reception at the Morgan Library for the Jane Austen exhibit, but on the off chance that I see something that might flatter a short, stout woman who’s just shy of 70, I won’t turn it down.
(5) Finally, I did not give Elon Musk that black eye. (No, seriously, it wasn’t me. I have an alibi.)
LOL!! Thanks for a big laugh on your last one! 😀
And, wow, score on your first one!
A. Marie, I am so frustrated about container returns here! The closest bottle/can return station (half an hour away but in a direction I often travel) has closed permanently! The nearest one now is 2 1/2 hours away on not so great roads. AND, I live on a road where bottles and cans are tossed like crazy–I can pick up 5-10 on a mile walk any day.
I still pick them up and take them to our town recycling, which needs the return fees for their operation, but selfishly I’d like to keep the dollars (cents?) myself.
Not much found change in the country either.
You are so wonderfully hard core with your collecting and foraging items. I love the combination of Jane Austen scholar and dumpster diver in you. We would be friends if you lived near (unless I picked up the cans and bottles you were after…)
A. Marie, Re: “friends”. Unless the fact that I taught the seminar on James Joyce’s Ulysses for 15 years at my college up to retirement conflicts with your JASNA standards! (Those two authors don’t seem to have much in common, but they both nail the minutia of daily life with devastating precision, albeit for different ends.)
I had to wait almost 20 years to inherit that course. Whoever taught it kept it until they retired, and I did too when my turn came. It wasn’t just the fact that it’s a great book and a hoot to teach, but the students who elected to take it were always the best. Not just smart but curious, and often a little odd, in the best way.
No, Cynthia, there’s no inherent conflict between liking JA and liking other authors. (The Brontes and Mark Twain do come in for a little razzmatazz from some JASNA members, but that’s because Charlotte B and Twain each dissed JA in letters.) In fact, I like Joyce up through Ulysses very much, although I do draw the line at Finnegans Wake. “The Dead” is one of the best short stories ever written, IMHO.
A. Marie, sorry, weak attempt at a joke… I don’t think you’re that narrow in your interests at all!
Finnegans Wake is a conundrum for me as well. Read a page at a time it’s fascinating, but I just can’t bring that level of attention to parsing it as a book. Believe me, I’ve tried.
John Ford’s film of The Dead is brilliant I think (though he gets one thing wrong…) The revelation to me was the smallness of things, the interiors particularly. I had a much grander idea of the house and society and I think Ford nailed it.
I agree also about the film version of “The Dead,” which I liked a lot better than most JA adaptations. (Spoken as one who has broken a few sofa springs jumping up and down and yelling, “No, no, it’s not right!”) It’s been so long since I’ve seen it that I don’t recall what detail John Huston (as per IMDb) didn’t get right, but if there was only one and I don’t remember it, I stick to giving it high marks.
Elizabeth and Darcy in that field at dawn must have been horrible for you to watch. I know I cringed!
Nice totals on your container deposits and I can’t believe you found that much money. I find money a penny at a time. I like your #5.
That dish sounds delicious!
* There was a net of lemons in a recent Lidl “Waste Not” box. We don’t really use lemons and I was struggling to come up with a use for them (I know most people would use them in drinks but we find them too acidic, it seems to affect our teeth!) – in the end I realised I could use them instead of vinegar for salad dressings etc. Three lemons down, four more to go!
* First small harvest from the garden: radishes, wild strawberries, lettuce – you just can’t beat eating fruit and veg fresh from the garden!
* I went to the library to print a page for my daughter as she forgot to print it at home and needed it for a project in town. The copy machine only took 1 Euro coins so I overpaid by 80 cents which was still a lot cheaper than driving back home to print the page. Karma works in mysterious ways though as I picked up 3 books from the little free library there (it’s basically just a table where library patrons put books that they longer want or need)! I have already started the first one (“The pursuit of happiness”, Douglas Kennedy), I’m 141 pages in and it seems quite good. Once I am done with it I will pass it on to a friend who will also pass it on to a friend and so we will keep this book out of landfill for a long time hopefully.
* Very windy here today and the laundry is drying on the line as I am typing this. I love the smell of bedlinen that has been line dried outdoors, this will be my treat for the day, fresh bedlinen that smells just wonderful! It’s the little things … 🙂
* We thought our entrance door was broken but it turned out that a piece of sponge had somehow gotten wedged underneath it, causing the issue! That turned out to be an easy fix. However, there is something wrong with the airconditioning in our Prius, it is making a strange whirring sound, unfortunately that will probably not be an easy fix 🙁
GK your stop at the Little free library inspired me to share my latest book title. It is by Poppy Alexander and called, “The Littlest Library”. It’s a fun book.
Thanks very much for the tip! I’m always on the lookout for book recommendations 🙂 I have requested the book through the library app just now!
I just borrowed it too. Thank you!
Cut up lemon skins after using them and run them down the garbage disposal. Freshens and cleans.
1. It’s been a cool, breezy day, so I opened the porch windows and rack dried two loads of laundry.
2. Made two pans of apple-oatmeal muffins because apples and oatmeal are what we have on hand right now.
3. Whisked some molasses into white sugar to make homemade brown sugar. (Molasses is now quite expensive, so this will stop being such a great money saving hack when the current supply is used up.)
4. Put a pair of insoles removed from an old pair of shoes in my ancient fisherman’s sandals that need more padding in the soles. I keep a box of recycled insoles with my shoes and shuffle them around.
5. A few days ago I sloshed some water around in an empty Dawn dishwashing liquid jug and used the resulting pale blue liquid as an all-purpose cleaner. Finished it up today mopping floors and laundering dog towels.
Bonus: Found 75 cents in the washing machine.
Ruby, saving those insoles is genius. I never thought to do that, but I will from now on.
Ruby, it probably won’t surprise you to learn that I too save used insoles in good condition for reuse. Great minds run in the same direction.
1. Frugal near miss: I saw someone on Craigslist offer free “Austin Stone” (white limestone) bricks for flowerbed borders. Two whole piles free! The catch is that the taker had to take ’em all. OK with me: I’ve been wanting some for the last several years, so I contacted them. As Don Adams playing Maxwell Smart Secret Agent 86 (on TV show “Get Smart”) would’ve said, “Missed it by that much.” Although I was the second caller, the first guy had already come over and carted them away. Dadgum it! Had I gotten them, I would have saved maybe more than $100. But at least I didn’t throw my back out loading my vehicle.
2.Free entertainment: playing Wordle. I’m now up to 92% and a 19-game winning streak.
3. Read some free books on the patio yesterday. We have abnormally cool temperatures in the 70’s and I’m taking advantage of it.
4. Used the last little bit of shampoo that had been stuck in the bottom of the big bottle. (Always buy economy sizes.) Filled it 1/8 full of water and shook it and left it overnight. The water/shampoo solution was ice cold when I used it but, hey, I got every bit of product out of the bottle.
5. Took my Snuggle-y Wuggle-y dog for a walk. Used Miss. Lucy Dog’s old leash and training collar. He did really well, didn’t pull on the leash this time, but we had to cut short our walk due to my knee acting up.
Fru-gal Lisa, I feel you on the near-miss. Gardening border stones (bricks, pavers, stones, garden rocks, etc) move FAST on my local Buy Nothing group, and on NextDoor. Someone offered some garden stones the other day, and they were gifted within 15 minutes of the post being posted!
Fru-gal Lisa,
I SO feel for you on your near miss. The good stuff goes quickly!
The frugal and the not so frugal:
1. Road tripped to see hubs 98 year old grandpa.
Packed snacks and sandwiches for the drive. Used hotel points to stop enroute as we got a late start.
Packed my kitchen aid mixer from the 1990’s. There is a place called “Mr. Mixer” several towns over, from my in-laws. They specialize in tun ups and repairs of kitchen aid mixers. Mine sounded “sick and the locking mechanism no longer worked.
My father-in-law dropped it off for me so shipping saved. (Shipping started @ $57 one way).
The tune up was $100 plus parts. I spent $247, 3 parts were needed plus a I bought an accessory to help carry the mixer, called a “love handle”. That mixer gets heavier the older I get. 😉 Father-in-law will pick it up and store it till our next visit.
The repair wasn’t cheap, but I’m happy I’m keeping something in working order since. “They don’t make them like they used to.
3. Father-in-law’s birthday celebrated early. He chose a lemon pie and a trip to the movies with hubby. They saw the latest Mission Impossible. His birthday experiences totalled $60. (Boy, am I happy I usually bake my own pies! $20 for a lemon supreme pie pained me.) However it was worth it to see him happy.
5. Post gardening self-care day. Facial, mani-pedi at home saves so much money.
Happy frugaling everyone.
5.
Glad to know about the KitchenAid “love handle.” I have the same issue…the older I get, the heavier it gets. BTW, my KitchenAid mixer was a frugal SCORE when I got it. Found it on craigslist about 9 years ago. The only thing wrong with it was the motor needed cleaning and a lube. The grease was breaking down and leaking into food if you weren’t careful. $65 for the mixer, a can of appliance grease, and a brother-in-law who likes to tinker. Better than paying upwards of $300+ for a new one and it meets my needs just fine. Not only do I use it for baking, but I found it’s a great tool (with the paddle attachment) to mix up ground meat, eggs, ketchup, diced onion, breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and shredded cheese for meatloaf. My hands don’t freeze while trying to mix it up by hand, ingredients get thoroughly combined, and I can make a double batch at once…one to eat and one for the freezer to bake and eat another time.
Melissa, and blog fam– Random question and maybe not answerable but here goes. Someone is selling a “vintage” Kitchen Aid mixer (late ’70’s) on Facebook marketplace for $100. It’s listed as in good working order but doesn’t come with a paddle attachment.
Does anyone know if a newer paddle attachment would work on an old model? I suppose I could contact the company but by the time I get a reply it would probably be gone… The paddle uses would be primary for me as I’m not much of a baker. Maybe I will bake more if I get a mixer…
Cynthia, I just checked the Kitchen Aid web site, and apparently their mixer accessories (paddle attachments, dough hooks, etc) fit all Kitchen Aid mixers, regardless of “age”. If for some reason it doesn’t fit, it says to contact them and they “will take appropriate steps” to make sure you can use the attachments. So, I’d go for it, and make sure to order the paddle attachment from Kitchen Aid (and not some generic paddle attachment).
@Liz B– thank you, and boy do I feel stupid for not thinking of the web site! I had visions of trying to contact customer service and whatever–just a mind glitch. Thank you!
We’re on a mini vacation in the wine country in California. I won a 3 nite stay and a passage for two on wine train.
Taking advantage of the free Starbucks coffee in the am. Two bottles of water daily. Wine tasting on Friday night
While we were gone I sold one item on Mercari and received via Venmo class action settlements totaling $160
Back to my last 3 cardio rehab next week and Free bottle water
1. Second load of laundry is drying on the line.
2. Doing a small painting project that gives a cheap and much needed lift to my living room and kitchen. Last week I stayed in a literal $5 million home and I came home feeling quite disgruntled with my home (which in much of the world would be considered palatial, even though it is only 1000 SQ ft and decidedly vintage. As I painted today I decided that I wasn’t painting because I was poor, I was painting to live lightly on the planet (and also because money is tight).
3. Dried a massive batch of kale and collard leaves and ground it into powder. Excellent in soups and takes less space to store (always a consideration in a small house).
4. I have a nice stack of library books and I picked up the summer reading program flyer through which I’ll receive 3 free books. I’m also doing one with my grandson and he will get 3 free books.
5. Picked up a Too Good to Go bag for dh. Cost is $7 and he got 6 bagels, 1 large loaf rye bread, 4 donuts, 4 danish and one cinnamon roll. I feel it’s good value and since I do all my own gluten free baking, sometimes I need a break on baking regular for him.
Took the kids for a walk to the library to return a state park pass. Picked up probably 8 books while we were there, my oldest loves to add books to the pile.
While we were out we dropped our water bill off at city hall rather than mail it, stamps are ridiculously overpriced in my opinion.
My husband had to go in to work today to fix something that couldn’t be done during business hours. He’ll get paid extra time and mileage which is great because it’s at an office 40 miles away.
He brought our oldest daughter along and they are taking advantage of his company’s free YMCA membership and they’re going to the pool on their way home.
I saw crumbs on the counter so I think it’s safe to assume they took a packed lunch, or at least he did and she’s going to have various snacks, so they don’t have to spend money on lunch out.
We’re on our last homemade granola bars, much to our children’s dismay, so I’ll be baking some more with odds and ends before we go grocery shopping.
My youngest is teething and didn’t eat her lunch, homemade dairy free mac and cheese, so I’ll have that myself and save the rest of the pot for later.
I didn’t host a crypto dinner.
I respectfully disagree about the price of stamps. When you can send a letter from the top of Alaska to the bottom of Florida for 73 cents, you are getting a bargain. When you use your car to drive to the post office in your town, you will use a lot more than 73 cents on gas and car wear and tear. The stamps in many countries cost a lot more, and have gone up higher than general inflation rates. Finally, what is known as the last mile, meaning the human that takes the mail from the post office to deliver it to you, cannot be modernized by the use of robots, for example. It takes humans and those wages have to stay competitive.
And the idjit republicans decided the postal service needed to pre-fund 75% of their retirement health care costs. No other public or private entity has to pre-fund at this rate. The future costs of medical care/insurance will rise even more if penny wise/pound foolish “we hope poor people just die” politicians get their way.
Selena,
The attacks on the postal service are insane and evil-minded for sure. It’s mind boggling.
And Joni Ernst just said last week, in answer to questions about cutting Medicare: “Well, evrybody dies.”
Shyla
OOPS! I didn’t mean to suggest that YOU are attacking the post office! I just realized it might read that way. I was responding to Selena’s comment, and it’s the republicans who are to blame here.
Wow, that’s a lot of mail! I am sure it does feel good to get that one checked off.
1. Cold and rainy day here in upstate NY. I decided to tackle a huge project I have been procrastinating on for some time (*cough* years). I am decluttering our furnished attic “creative” space because my thrifted art supplies are out of hand. I have now moved most of it downstairs where I will sort and be strict about keeping only two boxes of stuff. The rest will go on eBay or Buy Nothing (or recycle-I am into the paper arts).
2. Because the attic space is clearer than it’s been in years, I felt the urge to play my thrifted banjo! I am rusty but managed a little ditty. I am also listening to records that have been a pita to get to with all the craft crap. My decluttering project deserved two FTs. It’s still a work in progress, so I am sure it will star in more of my 5FT comments. 🙂
3. Took the dog for a walk in the neighboring cemetery. It’s windy and bunches of honey locust blooms were on the walkway. I made a bouquet and now they are in a mason jar and the scent is lovely. I also found a loaded lilac shrub and picked a few bunches to go in the bouquet. Freeee
4. Made a rice, veggie, impossible sausage combo thing for dinner last night to use up some stuff we didn’t eat camping last weekend. It is delicious and will feed me all weekend.
5. I am still employed. The courts are really holding the line for us exhausted fed employees. I am still paying extra on the few debts I have and, my silver lining in all of this, I am seeing the balances drop dramatically. If I stayed employed, I believe I will meet my end of the year budget goals and this will bring me to a much more comfortable place should I be unemployed.
Glad you are still employed, Gina!
And hearing that in at least some situations the courts are able to do their work and have their orders enforced is good news for us all.
Seconding what Heidi Louise has said!
I’m wondering if anyone here is noticing what I’ve been seeing in my rural (though not impoverished) area: the pickings at our few thrift stores here are getting slim and less interesting. (This is not hard to track in a place with only a few stores.) I suspect that with the difficult economy and uncertainty about jobs, tariffs, etc., that people are holding on to things longer, and maybe selling more “valuable” items on eBay, Facebook Marketplace, etc. to raise a little cash. Can’t blame them, but my thrift shopping has been dismal since about February.
I did have a bit of luck at the swap shop at our local recycling this morning. Some real Tupperware: a spaghetti holder (I really wanted one because opened packages of spaghetti want to spill out in my cupboard. Cooking for one, there is almost always an opened package lingering…) Also two carriers for layer cakes that can flip over for serving said cake. I don’t know anyone who makes layer cakes so I didn’t feel too guilty taking them to store pet food. I also discovered a hard-to-find CD that I knew my brother would want and snagged that for him. He was very pleased! I picked up a few books in the book shed, but the first three I started through didn’t suit me and will go back. I have three more to try–and, well, the price was right: FREE, and an excellent return policy.
Frugal fail: I had a stomach bug this week, and some food got tossed. I couldn’t face the fridge even long enough to stick things in the freezer. It was just odds and ends and the last dribs of some leftovers, so not a tragedy. I tell myself the food would be gone by now anyway, except instead of eating it I tossed it. It’s not like I ate anything else!
Thrifting is very dismal in my area. I have much better luck with yard/garage/tag (I’m near enough to New England that any of those can be on a sign). I did take a trip to Boston a month ago and the thrifting was really good there, so maybe it’s just in the less populated areas. It is sad, though, I feel you!
Gina in NY, I am in New England, deep in New England, and yes, it’s always spotty up here. But there is some money in the area–an exclusive college and a major medical center, and some trust fund folks bedded down in a few shady niches, so surprises would pop up. The teapot in a discontinued pattern that I bought for $6 and sold for $150 still makes my heart go pitty pat. Not much cashmere, but 100% wool from time to time, and so on… Luckily we’re entering yard/tag/rummage/garage sale season. I don’t look for things to sell anymore (it was so hit and miss) but I do count on getting most of what I need through one used channel or another. I tell myself it’s for ethical reasons but after buying used the sticker shock of retail leaves me gobsmacked.
A friend in the Midwest would always put imaginary quotation marks around Martha Stewart saying “Tag” sale. That isn’t the term I hear much. I guess it is the most elegant of the terms.
Is anything called a “White Elephant” sale any more?
No, because practically no one knows what a white elephant refers to.
I grew up with tag sale and I don’t know why some Midwesterner needs to mock it, except of course it’s Martha who is a very successful, kick butt female role model so she needs to be brought down a peg. Emphasis on female.
Rose– This was from the friend who introduced me to Martha back when Martha was new on the scene. As you did, she also often pointed out how much Martha had to overcome as a female who gave value to “feminine,” meaning “homemaking,” activities. Martha paved the way for a great many people, especially women.
I grew up with “rummage” sales. That sounds like digging through someone’s drawers and cardboard boxes full of stuff on the ground. “Tag” is much more intentional. Martha’s genius was making the ordinary intentional.
1. Started the day with green tea made with a free hotel teabag (I have a nice stash as I always grab all the ones I am offered, in my room and at breakfast.) Added some fresh mint from my garden.
2. Local library was having an event planting a pollinator friendly garden, giving a talk about it and offering refreshments. Enjoyed free cake, water and snacks while learning about how to add a bit of nature to my backyard.
3. Did a mystery shop for lunch, got a burger, fries and drink for free plus profit on top.
4. Noticed a lot of packaging in a Dollar Tree dumpster I keep an eye on and found some brand new, unused shipping envelopes, always useful
5. Turned the A/C thermostat up as the weather has got a bit cooler, haven’t heard it humming all day so saving lots of electricity today
1.Hubby replaced the regulator on the BBQ.$30 compared to a new grill.
2. I had a free library class: Paint by stickers. They gave us each a book to take home. I looked it up and it goes for $9.99. I got to chat with some friends too. The new library catalog came out for the summer classes. I am figuring out which ones I can do.
3. My friend wanted to go see The Thunderbolts. She is a big Marvel fan. I still have passes from when I worked at the theatre. We each brought candy and water in our pocketbooks. We had dinner at home before we went. Free night out with another thrifty friend…priceless.
4. I did a survey that earned me $5. I put receipts into Fetch, Ibotta and Receipt Hog. I found 11¢ at the store. Little bits add up over time.
5. I used a large bag from Amazon as a garbage bag. When it was full I sealed it shut.
6. I downloaded coupons before I went food shopping. I had a coupon for a free container of blue cheese crumbles. I got cherries for $2.49, corn for $2 for 10, I got 2 pints of heavy cream that were clearance for $1.99 and they went into the freezer.
Batched errands today:
1. Dropped off items at the amazing Ramsey County Environmental Center: compost, metal recycling, household hazardous waste, and old cell phones.
2. Cleaned up parents’ gravesite.
3. Drove through U of M campus to see if I could score any freebies from students moving out. No luck.
4. Dropped off and picked up library books.
5. Purchased gas using discount card that gives me 10 cents off per gallon. We received this card from our Subaru dealership when buying our used car a few years ago. It expires next year.
The day that card expires is going to be a sad day.
My 5
1) was visiting a friend of a friends market stall and thought I’d do good for her business by buying 2 nougat sticks. She wouldn’t let me pay and gifted me 3 x 300gm sticks . Delicious and free is extra delicious. Worth about $30 Australia.
2. Returned cans and bottles received $9 . I don’t let them pile up too much.
3 . Rather than paying $$$ for an inner city car park I parked further away and walked in to the city.
4. Eating from home 99% of the time and buying little and it’s not even shelftember yet
5. It’s getting cold here now so far have only turned the heater on a couple of times in the middle of the day for a hour when the sun is on my solar panels. I remember last year’s electricity bill so wearing more clothes and using extra rugs where I can.
“Shelftember?” I had to look that up!
Weekend snarky:
After years and years, realized I no longer panic at the sound of a police siren. Good mental health is frugal.
This town is mobbed as usual for summer even though the weather has been high of 60 and mostly gray skies. Managed not to mow down a group of young men moseying down a whole traffic lane even though severely tempted. Win/win!
Made cherry and rhubarb pies (each flavor in different pies). Pies > cake.
Re-read an old Angela Thirkell on the beach. A friend walked by and asked what I was reading. She’d never heard of Angela Thirkell. Missed BFF. Wish I’d gone to college reunion weekend, where everyone is smart and literate.
Interesting last line. Now I understand the snarky note/alert at top. Perhaps I’m a bit dim…
Literacy can cross a lot of a different genres. Propulsion theory, flight mechanics and even flow physics might be more someone’s forte than Thirkell. Perhaps they’re “different” smart.
Grace is free.
Trust me, she’s not. She’s the one who breathlessly talked to me about Watergate a year or so ago. Yeah, I know, I remember it. We’re exactly the same ago but she didn’t read the newspaper.
The point is, don’t ask me what I’m reading if you’re going to be a jerk about it with a moue of distaste. I read unusual stuff aaaand I’m not going to apologize for it. To me, reading is extremely personal. I once started a book club where everyone agreed to read The Woman in White, and then halfway through (when most of them hadn’t read it anyway) I realized I didn’t care what they thought.
Sorry, I’m a jerk. I want to sit and read and not have people bother me. Apparently that’s usually too much to ask.
1. Redeemed free oil change coupon.
2. Signed up for aisle (app) and social nature. I’ve been mainly taking advantage of free offers. I think these probably work great if you’re in a larger city geographical area with access to Whole Foods as most offers are for natural foods.
It might not be for everyone but I’ve gotten free pasta, shrimp, juice, and others. .
3. I’m putting together a baby gift basket for my niece and have found some things for 90 off at Aldi like a mama necklace and a crinkly book for .50 each.
4. Sold a few things on Mercari.
5. Found a new interview outfit at the thrift.
Free oil change! Nice. Thanks for the tip about the aisle app, I’ll have to check them out.
1. Went to a garage sale rather late in the morning. There wasn’t much there that interested me, but I bought a new watercolor set, brush included, for only $1.
2. Stopped at the free food pantry and scored a package of Moroccan flavored tofu and a box with cooked shell pasta, beans, and mashed sweet potatoes. The box clearly came from a restaurant or some kind of commercial eatery, and it was dropped off just before I got there. It was one of many, but I only took one. I had a good lunch when I got home.
3. All my getting around was on foot; did not drive. I was glad I thought to carry a tote.
4. I found another book at a little free library — this time a collection of short stories by Alice Munro. Returned three books I had read.
5. Since it’s the last day of the month I updated and totaled the spreadsheets I track my spending on. Was glad to see that all my budget goals were met.
I love that a restaurant is putting in the effort to get their unused food out to others!
1. I perused another college move out trash. I found a like new Stanley thermal mug. I have wanted one since they became popular but refused to pay 45$ for a drinking mug. I am very happy with my new mug. It is sitting in the kitchen sink being sanitized with hot soapy water.
2. Does anyone remember the powdered Internation Coffee product? I found a cannister in my pantry that was long forgotten. I dissolved it with hot water & put in a jar. I plan to use it as coffee creamer.
3. We took a friend to a food bank that he qualifies for. Then he decided he did not want much of the food he got. We took some of it. The items we do not eat I took to the local homeless shelter for their kitchen.
4. I got brushed nickel cabinet handles at the Habitat store for 1 dollar each. They were new in the package.
5. I had a Habitat coupon for 10$ off a 40$ purchase. I was able to use it when I bought the cabinet handles along w/ some other items.
Great finds!!!
Most money I ever found at 1 time was a $20 in the ladies restroom at a local amusement park. It’s a great park…free admission! You can just go to people watch or have a picnic. You can buy a handstamp to ride for the day or you can just buy ride tickets for a ride or two. It’s the Nation’s Largest Free Admission Amusement Park and has award winning food and rides. They also have a campground conveniently located on the park grounds. If I remember right, the Phoenix (a wooden roller coaster) is ranked #3 in the nation. If you’re planning a trip to Northcentral Pennsylvania, check out Knoebel’s Amusement Resort at https://knoebels.com/
It’s less than 20 minutes from my house.
I’ve twice found twenty dollar bills, once in the Albuquerque airport parking lot an once and the second time in front of the Whitney museum in NYC.