Four Frugal Things and One Frugal Fail
1) I used the Too Good to Go app to reserve a $6.99 bag of Blue Star donuts. There were four donuts in the bag, but since they normally cost five dollars apiece that’s what’s currently considered “a bargain” these days.
Proof:
My husband and I enjoyed one apiece during our afternoon tea and will eat the last two tonight. I might try the viral hack where people take a donut and crystallize the sugar in a hot skillet, as the last two are plain glazed donuts.
2) I pulled an unripe pear from a Little Free library and added it to an apple crisp I baked for last night’s Family Dinner. I covered the crisp with the leftover frozen topping from yesterday’s blog post.
My freezer is starting to show a bit of elbow room!
3) I did grab a four-pack of apples from Fred Meyer’s clearance shelf as I wasn’t sure I had enough for the crisp. (I ended up using just one of them.) I grabbed a couple bags to compare weight, which earned me an extra half-pound of fruit.
$1.50 for two pounds of apples is a decent price.
4) I ended and then clicked “Sell Similar Item” on my stale eBay inventory, with the hopes of getting them in front of fresh eyes. This is a trick that more successful sellers employ, so I thought I’d give it a try.
Can’t hurt, right?
FRUGAL FAIL
5) I cooked another frozen leftover rotisserie chicken, but ended up throwing it away as the smell can only be described as “off.”
Oh well . . . it still counts as “clearing the freezer.”
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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Baked an oatmeal cake for a potluck. The coconut and raisins were from the cheapo store. Easy pantry friendly recipe. Fun, cheap night with friends.
Wanted to harvest chickens but I am unable to locate my scalding pot….grrrr! (It’s for removing the feathers, kinda important.) Froze big blocks of ice to cool the birds on harvest day. Needed to run over to my folks for an unrelated task, so I borrowed their cast iron kettle and burner.
Found $40 in our machine shed while digging out the chicken plucker. I’m thinking it was stuck in the plucker by the neighbors we let borrow it. Totally unnecessary but appreciated!
Made an ebay sale. Packed it in repurposed materials.
Sold a grass-fed beef. Will deliver it Friday, cash flow is a good thing!
Keeping it real……boring.
4FT and One Frugal Fail, Cornbread and Bird-Watching Edition:
(1) First, the frugal fail: I experimented with a different cornbread recipe from my usual one (the new one was out of a Lodge cast iron cookbook and involved mayonnaise), and it disintegrated as I was coaxing it out of the pan. I ate as many of the major crumbles as I could for two breakfasts, but I ended up composting the rest. (Couldn’t even face trying to make a casserole with it.) This is the last time I try innovating with cornbread; I’m sticking to the tried and true recipe (with NO @#$%!! SUGAR!) from now on.
(2) However, I have put up my five bird feeders, and Betty cat and I are both enjoying the show. Betty iz abot to rite a leter 2 her Cuz Maggie (JASNA BFF’s cat) in Cheezburger-speke abot watchin Central NY birbs. Maggie’s Momcat sez dat a mornin dov kepes landin on her 12th-flor windowsil in NYC & drivin Maggie crazi.
(3) Maggie iz also sleepin on D wrappin papr from a big prezzi her Momcat got 4 her birfday. Her Momcat wil uz dis papr to pak Betty’s & mi Xmas box so dat Maggie can send Betty a smellogram. (Human note: Our previous cats, my Lady Mary and BFF’s Gracie, used to exchange smellograms in this way. Fun for all.)
(4) OK, back to human talk. The junk cleanout crew at NDN1’s house has almost finished its work, and CF and I hope to be able to put it on the market “as is” (frankly, there’s no other way to do it) within the next few weeks. This would be a huge load off both CF’s and my shoulders.
(5) And I knew nothing about the rape allegations at the Cornell University frat house before the story broke this past week. But loud cheers for the brave reporter and editor at the Cornell Daily Sun who kept pursuing the story, and for all those who are now seeking accountability. I’m particularly distressed that this happened at a university supporting so many good things, such as the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Yes, I’m glad someone or some people will be held accountable. Enough of this boys will be boys BS. Entitlement has its limits fellas!
I agree. That old “destroy a young man’s future” shite. What about a young woman’s future?
I would take a room full of drag queens over a room full of frat boys any day.
My husband and I have Cornell’s bird app on our phones. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve used it when hiking in the woods. It’s sad when things like this happen at a university.
Mayo has my interest. If you are so inclined, post the recipe or link (I can interpret Cheezeburger-speke if necessary.
I kept hearing the term, “The Cornell 7†and thought I must have a hole in my knowledge. I figured it was a historical thing, like “the Birmingham 6†or “the Little Rock 9â€. I was surprised to discover that this is a current event! Why is this still happening?
for those like me who aren’t in the loop, someone has created a website to document not only the 7 who DID the act, but many of those who are accountable by not acting or by condoning through accepting. https://cornellseven.com/
Thank you Ecoteri. No one should witness a violent crime and not say a word. I would add these so-called men to the Disgusting 7.
Don’t forget the men that let them get away with it because they wrote a report. The police that did nothing about it. So many people have let Jane Doe down.
1. Received a free car wash courtesy of Mother Nature.
2. Made an easy and economical Asian slaw using red cabbage, green cabbage, green onions, cilantro, carrots and dressing ingredients that we had on hand.
3. Fulfilled a request on Buy Nothing for mason jars/lids/rings. Since I no longer use jars for canning, I had way more than I needed for storing pantry items, cut-up veggies, to-go smoothies, and leftovers. Â
4. Received from Buy Nothing a stainless crock for cooking utensils and an elevated dog bed for our pup’s viewing pleasure out on the deck. I’ll bring the current wood crock to the consignment store.
5. Finished the library book Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Holy moly, many thanks to the person who recommended it whether it was here or elsewhere. That last chapter will stay with me for a long time.
1) With a frugal win & a fail.. I get four free hours of car charging at work, but didn’t really do the math of how long my day would be yesterday. I got the first four hours free, but left my car on charge until it was fully charged. Turned out that cost $14. It’s not an insanely high price, but I could have only half charged it, and then come in today & charged for free for another 4 hours. So, from that regard, it was a fail. I usually pay more attention, but it’s been a bit of a week.
2) I used a points generating credit card for a dinner with my team last night. I will get reimbursed from work. I also brought home leftovers for DS20.
3) I put together a menu plan, because it’s been very haphazard around here.
4) Verified a stray charge after our vacation. Turns out that it was parking that just had an unexpected name, but I did spend the time to double check it was accurate.
5) Paid DS19’s rent with my credit card & then submitted reimbursement from our 529.
I suspect your 4 hours of time is worth more than $14. No one can make more time. Don’t know yourself out.
That’s frustrating that your chicken was “offâ€.
It’s interesting that you freeze the leftover chicken in the original bag. My rotisserie chicken workflow is to take the chicken out of the bag and put it in a different container. As the chicken gets eaten, we put the bones in the bag. When we get tired of eating chicken, I take the remaining meat off the remaining bones and freeze it. This is good for soup, burrito bar, chicken quesadillas, pulled chicken sandwiches, etc. I just get what I need out of the freezer. The remaining bones, and the contents of the bag, get thrown into a crockpot and rendered into stock, which gets frozen.
Every scrap of my chicken gets used!
Sadly, the last time I went to Costco, they were out of chickens, and since it was an hour before closing, they weren’t making more. The chicken guys told me that they don’t usually run out so early, but the rotisserie chickens have gotten very popular! A sign of the times!
It was an unhappy moment for sure. I didn’t have the mental energy to do any last minute pivoting.
It must be annoying that it was taking up freezer space all that time!
It’s a rainy day, so I’m getting a free car wash as well as MB. It’s also keeping me inside. I had thought I would grocery shop, but I’m putting that off for at least one more day.
Freezer food today: I had a couple of sausage biscuits for breakfast, and a salmon patty sandwich for lunch. I made my own aioli for the latter.
Finished reading a Most Wanted book this morning, and I’m ready to start on another. They must be returned by the 3rd.
Remembered to start my dishwasher after 9 pm last night for maximum savings.
Invited my designer friend over to help redesign a derby dress for my aunt to wear this weekend. I unstitched, she created a pattern and we put out a request for chiffon. This takes me back to high school when we would make the trek up to Portland, try on clothes and sketch, measure and make patterns when we got home. So fun!
Picked pears, apples and grapes to juice and can.
Mixing up pimento cheese cracker dough, kind of like a shortbread cookie, when cool, the thumb print will get a plop of pepper jelly.
Why would a frozen Costco chicken go off? what am I missing? Thanks for explaining. Only thing I can think is it was held too long before your froze it but that seems very odd to me, not like you. Of course when it smells bad it IS off so I am glad you tossed it!
1. I filled my gas tank at Meijer where I get Mperks rewards points and I used my credit card that gives me 3 x the points for gas purchases.
2. I sold several items on Ebay and packaged them up using mostly recycled boxes and packing materials. I’ve been consistently listing.
3. I used the McDonald’s app to get free french fries. Diet fail.
4. I found a couple small bags of very old grass seed in a garage cupboard. I spread it on the bare areas in my yard. It probably won’t grow but it’s worth a try.
5. Frugal fail and non-consumer fail – I stopped at Home Goods to pick up a couple fragrance diffusers and found some beautiful cereals bowls in my favorite color green. I couldn’t leave them behind.
1. I took 6 items of clothing to the consignment store.
2. I bought some elasticized cord for 1.67 to restring a bracelet. My friend knows someone I can pay to do it but I figured I can maybe do it for less than what I would pay him. This is a bracelet with ceramic tiles displaying banned books. Since next week is Banned Books Week I wanted to wear it along with a pin saying “I read banned books” to celebrate.
3. DH and I finished the pot of chicken vegetable tortellini soup today. We got six very filling meals out of it.
4. I got my hair cut today for 18.00 and a 5.00 tip. I’m not sure what I’m going to do when she retires in a few years. There is no one cheaper around here. I don’t want to drive far. I cut my own hair in the past when we hit on some very tough times so I guess I’ll do that or grow it and keep it in a clip.
5. I walked the papers I share with my neighbor up to her house instead of driving.
Oh fried donuts are delicious! Put a little bit of real butter in a skillet and fry it just for a few seconds on each side. Delicious!!
Also, to “crystallize the sugar†sounds better than “fry in butterâ€â€¦
Butter makes everything better!
Another example of a parallel universe. I too found pears. After you mentioned gleaning apples I went to the neighbors’ house to ask for permission to pick the pears. I got a bag full.
I stewed a rotisserie chx carcass. Mine smelled tasty. Tomorrow I will defat the broth & decide what to make.
The comments below have been collecting for a few days so forgive my disjointed efforts. the best I can do today! And stale-ish donuts halved and fried in butter are very delicious.
1. I finally dealt with my first tree’s precious pears – I only got a couple of dozen off that tree, and they were ripening faster than I could eat them. I took half an hour and sliced them up and put them in the dehydrator. I love dried pears, however so do my adult kids, so there might be some small packages in their Christmas presents.
2. While I was at it, I started to chip away at the first batch of apples – I have given dozens to my kids and Mom, however I have more that are, er, imperfect. Some are good enough that I have them dehydrating (peeler, slicer, corer is a godsend at this time of year). Some will become applesauce.
3. There was a huge pile of literal bear shit on the road when I walked the dog – eek! This is the first time I have seen evidence of a bear nearby. I told the neighbour who lives right there, and she is now worried about her beehives. This also explains why the neighbour’s dog was going ballistic latelast night. I need to pick up some windfall apples from tree #2 – I doubt a bear would come futher on to my property, and I do have a gate, but the smell of apples might encourage him/her to climb over which would probably cause some damage. Frugal to collect the problematic fruit and avoid tempting the wild animals!
4. I’m also drowning in yet more apples and tomatoes. Luckily they will last another day (and the tomatoes are just getting more beautifully ripe)
5. Ive identified many jars of far-too-old canning experiments; if we haven’t eaten them and they were canned far too long ago, I’m opening a few jars every day and feeding the chickens. If I keep it as a small and steady job I don’t feel overwhelmed. I’m refilling the jars with what we do use – apple sauce and various tomato products.
6. I’ve landed on a miserable cold (thanks GS2) again. During my canning jar explorations I located a few turkey or chicken meat plus broth jars. They are a godsend right now because I simply do not want to eat. I’ve been cooking up a batch of random noodles, draining them, throwing in the broth/meat and bringing to a boil, then serving myself a huge bowl of faux pho – with random sauces and much slurping.
7. I’ve a pear tree that still needs picking, #2 son helped with the best eating apple tree and it isn’t finished, there are still two other apple trees that need attention(one of which still could do with a week or so before picking, thank heavens). The quice is picked, for once before it is split and yuckky. They will ripen and perfume the air for a few weeks.
All of your fruit trees sound lovely. I’ve never had dried pears before. They sound yummy.
I miss donuts.. unfortunately they contain dairy and I cannot.
Not a fail, you didn’t get sick by eating off chicken!
1. I started Time Hop Coffee Shop by Phaedra Patrick. I only made it through the first chapter (about 10 pages) before one of my kids needed me, but I’m determined to read more today!
2. I started crocheting a Christmas gift for a family member and am excited about making some good progress so far! It’s probably the easiest section so I’ll enjoy the thrill while it lasts.
3. I finished 16 dairy free recipe cards on Canva yesterday and a card with some recommendations. My new dental hygienist told me that one of her kids has a dairy intolerance so I offered to give her some recipes. I think I’ll keep adding my other recipes to the cards for my own use.
4. Both kiddos woke up sick today so I’m sure I’m next. I’m taking care of as much laundry and household tasks today as I can before I get sick so I can focus on resting.
5. Our windows have been open almost all day this week. The weather is warming up today so I’ll probably be able to just keep them open for the morning but I’ll take cool breezes and lack of AC where I can!
My frugal wins are tied to the big workshop project, where my husband is gutting his workshop and building it out custom.
1. He found a ton of reusable shopping bags, which I washed and are hanging in the basement to dry. We now have enough that we can keep a stash in each car.
2. My husband hired one of my singing students – a young man who is underemployed – to help him do a lot of the work. This is a win-win as my husband won’t have to tax his body as much, and this young guy will be making $20 an hour in cash!
3. LOTS of stuff will be given to the ReStore, which helps the community!
4. I found three amazing tops – a 100% cotton Banana Republic Sweater, a “fancy” sweatshirt and a beautiful blouse for a total of $15. I paid in all the quarters and change my son had collected over the summer (which I bought from him)
5. The fridge/pantry/freezer challenge lingers on and we have enough canned tomatoes, beans, cookies, etc to last for MONTHS. I am trying to shop more mindfully so we only get what we actually eat. It’s already saving us a fortune!
1. I made a large pot of sauce with my homegrown tomatoes, basil and parsley. I fried up 2 eggplants. I used a pack of fresh pasta that was on sale for $1. It was delicious and lots of leftovers.
2. I have collected tomato, pepper and cucumber seeds the last few days for next year.
3. I went to the dentist and came home with a goodie bag, I use the small samples when we travel. Everything was all good.
4. The library had a free ghost craft. It was a fun hour. I made an appointment with the librarian who is in charge of the embroidery machine. I want to get stuff made for Christmas. Come November there will be no appointments so I want to get it started.
5. I sold the game Catan that I bought for $2 from the thrift store for $20. I went through the game counting pieces at the thrift store to make sure everything was there. A young lady from the college near by bought it. I had her count everything to make sure it was all there. I like for them to do it in front of me so they can’t text me later saying it is missing pieces. I had that happen once.
6. Hubby and I are helping with a fundraiser his job is doing for the local children’s hospital. We spent last night ripping tickets into groups of 5 for easy selling while we watched finance videos on YouTube.