Four Frugal Things -- Expensive Coffee & Cheap Avocado Toast
1) I walked my buy-one-get-one coffee coupon to New Seasons Market only to find that someone had set two unused coupons on the shelf for others to use.
I love this anonymous pay it forward move, which fits perfectly with Portland's sharing culture. What don't I love? That a single pound of coffee is almost twenty bucks, which diluted the power of this coupon to simply bring the beans down to a normal price.
There are many reasons that I prefer tea over coffee, price being one of them. I especially like that my box of 80 Tetley tea bags set me back just $3.11 at Winco.
2) I sold my old swimsuit on eBay for $25. I listed it in January after thrifting one I liked better for just $6.99.
It's now swimming off to Minnesota instead of languishing in the back of a drawer.
3) Today is the frist Saturday of the month, which means my Franz Bakery outlet store marks some of their bread down to $1/loaf. (I put this in my calendar!) It's been a few months since I last went, so I headed over.
My plan had been to just get hamburger buns and maybe a sleeve or two of English muffins.
That plan went out the window when I spied so many varieties from their gluten-free line!
I normally spend around ten dollars for a four-pack of gluten-free hamburger buns for when we host our daughter. Instead I spent that amount on all of this!
Good thing we have a chest freezer in the basement!
4) I was craving avocado toast and realized that the Herdez brand mild guacamole I picked up at Winco could be used. I added cottage cheese and sprinkled the top with bulk purchased everything but the bagel seasoning.
Delicious and especially frugal as the bread was also from Franz on a $1 bread day.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
1. Bought at Aldi bagels and their specialty onion garlic sourdough bread. I then went to the Cost plus store and bought a can of mackerel for $2.25 and made mackerel salad instead of tuna salad. Should last me several days for my protein.
2. I forgot I also bought 99 cent eggs at the cost plus store.
3. I walked an hour from 5 to 6 this morning, even earlier than usual bc of how HOT it is here. I used a flashlight and street lights for the first twenty minutes.
4. I turned on the air at 2:30 pm central time bc the windows and fan were not cutting it. No telling how much our power bills here will be with our $$$$ electric company. My last bill was $82 and I used the air maybe five times for about three hours a piece. I remember a decade ago I could keep the bill under $50 a month by being very conservative with the air. Those days are over… sigh.
5. I am about to clean my house because it is too hot to do anything else!
Wow, Aldi has onion garlic sourdough bread? I love their sourdough, but haven't seen that variety. I'll have to look for it.
This was my first time seeing it but I am not sure if I had missed it before. It is delicious!
Great deal on all that bread! Especially the usually expensive gluten-free. I wish we had a Franz outlet near us or any kind of bread outlet for that matter. When I was a kid and when my kids were kids we had a Nissens bakery outlet. Nissens is a New England bakery. But it went under after many years in business so now I make my own no-knead bread or look for sales and store brand bread.
Me, too, on the tea. My husband always makes me a cup of coffee first thing in the morning. After that I have a cup of tea sometime in the day. Just this morning I got a bag of organic medium roast coffee from Trader Joe’s for 13 oz for $8.99.
For Vancouver BC - I say visit Granville Island and Stanley Park. I also liked the Gaslight District where we visited some interesting First Nation art galleries. Haven’t been in a while but often in the past as my daughter went to school there. Victoria, though, is my favorite city. Every year, for years, we would go for a three day getaway.
Yep, today was meet the kids @ the bread outlet. Mom (me), bought for all the kids who showed up.
7-11 for small free slushies. We mixed Coke with cherry. Ohmyyum.
Saturday market for a light early lunch of Sopa de Res Panamanian. bought a Hermiston watermelon.
Came home, individually wrapped the hamburger buns, bagels and brioche buns. Threw them in the chest freezer.
One of my kid's toaster oven died, I found a Breville Smart oven for $20, the people only used it a couple of times, so I gave him my toaster convection oven and kept the upgrade. I also bought a 16 qt. All Clad stainless steel stock pot with inserts, a 12" SS pan, a 10" SS pan and spoon set all for $30. A total steal. I bought a Betsy Johnson bag with several charms for one daughter's upcoming birthday, $10. I saw it listed for $95.
1. Received two dozen eggs from my husband's colleague. Used them in an egg bake and as hard-boiled eggs.
2. Husband cleaned our siding, fascia and gutters. I was close to hiring someone because of the danger involved but he strongly vetoed that. Before he started the job, I told him I loved him and that he had been a good husband. He survived!
3. Recent storms have brought down many dead limbs for free, luckily with no damage. We were hoping to have a tree company take care of the dead limbs on several trees earlier this year, but we weren't willing to part with thousands of dollars.
4. Friend brought over a dozen magazines. When I'm done with them, I'll bring them to the free table at the library.
5. To save money and have less packaging, I bought a large block of sharp cheddar cheese and shredded it myself rather than buy the pre-shredded bags. I portioned the cheese out into roughly one-cup servings and froze most of it.
Your #2...you and I are of the same mind MB! I also beg my husband to stay on the ground ( no tall ladders please) but he insists on washing the house after we paid a company several hundred dollars to do it. Our house is two stories but he gets most of it except for the last three or four feet of each peak. Good enough, I say!
My better half knows his limits so these days we hire window washing, power washing of what can't be done from the ground etc.
We also hired tree trimming with us doing the clean-up (we have equipment and can burn). Likely saved us at least $2K plus we got a face cord of firewood from the "small" branches. Likely two face cords once split from the branches branches that were big enough to be trees proper.
Not sure what your hubby uses, but we use 30 seconds Outdoor cleaner and with good water pressure, we can clean out entire two story house with just our hose. It does a great job, no climbing necessary.
There is one spot on the house and one on the detached garage that require a ladder to get water up there. We hire out these two "spots". Brick is easy to clean but these two spots are vinyl. We have lots of trees and both are prime mildew spots.
The local grocery store had a digital $1 coupon for store brand cereal, bringing the price of a large box down to $1.99. I bought bran flakes and used an online recipe to make apple-walnut-raisin bran muffins. Walnuts, applesauce and raisins from Ollie's Outlet, along with almond milk from Dollar Tree helped make it a very frugal recipe.
DH moved the portable air conditioner in his woodworking shop to help it cool better, but then the exhaust hose would no longer reach the window vent. We crafted an extension out of an empty two-liter bottle.
Between sales and digital coupons, I knocked $14 off the grocery total, which was mainly for store-brand staples like bread, milk, cereal, and an OTC medication.
Picked three beautiful peppers from the container garden. It's a hotbut rainy day, so there's laundry drying on hangers hung up around the house.
I love that Tetley tea! I've been drinking more of it since coffee prices are so stupid.
Went to the Farmers Days Friday party in my aunt's little town. (My town is having them next week) Frugal fail: fair food, but it was delicious! Frugal win, of sorts: my aunt, 2 cousins, 8 of their kids & I took over 2 tables in the bingo tent for a couple of hours. For 50¢ a card, it was pretty cheap entertainment & we had a couple of wins that offset what we spent. The staff we tickled by our littles and gave them free candy for being well behaved.
Bonus frugal win: I didn't have the energy to head to the next big town to get groceries, so I stopped at the corner store/gas station for bread. Got a quality loaf for $1.49, which was fresher & cheaper than the $2.59 I paid last time I was at Hy-Vee!
1. I visited my daughter and stayed in a currently unoccupied apartment in the four plex they own. I slept on an air mattress I borrowed from a friend. They have an apartment in the basement that they built and live rent free but it is only one bedroom.
2. We attended a free movie screening at the theater. We saw Gail Daughtry and the celebrity sex pass. It was pretty funny. We did buy a soda and popcorn to share and snuck in some snacks from Trader Joe's.
3. I sold an item on Marketplace. Crap out, money in.
4. I signed up for a free year of Apple TV offered by my credit card company. I can add all of my kids to my account also which will save them money too.
I wish I liked tea better than coffee, but I like coffee. I haven't been able to convince myself to give it up. Just invested in a new package, but at least it was from Aldi.
1. I rearranged my storage closet again, this time to free up some cardboard boxes that I can use for shipping eBay sales.
2. Today there was plenty of romaine left from my salad kit, but not much dressing, no cheese, and no croutons. I extended the dressing by adding Parmesan and mayo, and I toasted croutons on the stovetop made from a piece of frozen baguette. There is still more romaine, so tomorrow I'm going to try out BLT pizza on naan, if I can figure out the tomatoes. I think I have a can of diced in my pantry.
3. I scrubbed the outside of one of my frying pans with Barkeeper's Friend, making an improvement, but there's still some work to do.
4. I've used fans all day and haven't turned on the AC.
5. I placed two books on hold on the library's website.
6. On eBay, I listed a studio pottery mug for sale and dropped prices on four items.
Speaking of Barkeeper's Friend - do you find the powder preferable to the shake well and squeeze bottle?
I have only ever used the powder, so I can't say.
I prefer the powder - it seems to work better, and you can scrub with it dry for more friction. It's also cheaper and comes in a recyclable container. The container itself is tiresome, but it can be decanted, and they were giving away free silicone lids recently (unfortunately this is over, but watch the thrifts or buy on eBay etc.).
1. Eating green beans and cucumbers from the garden. Eagerly awaiting ripe tomatoes.
2. Added a book to the nearest Little Free Library
3. Repotting plants & sticking cuttings into any handy container. Our librarian friend got permission to bring in the baby plants for patrons to take. He said they had a display of free plants once before and they went fast.
4. Picked up a speciality Monopoly game from a pile of trash. I thought I might list it for sale. Though it was in good condition and complete, past sales indicate it wouldn't be worth the trouble. I will donate it. At least I saved it from being ruined in the rain
Between cold brew and being disgusted with Petco/Petsmart (and of course the job lol) I got some caffeinated squirrel energy combined with more than a fair bit of disgusted energy....
Started a huge load of laundry, half of which is now in the dryer.
Took two empty distilled water gallon jugs to the clubhouse for recycling.
Found the stupid paperwork for my very not frugal citation for operating a motor vehicle while using a mobile device (if I complete the paperwork and submit the ginormous fine will be waived...first offense $264.00, I guess Bend (Oregon) PD just doesn't play!!). My printer doesn't work so will hit the library tomorrow to do the "avoiding distracted driving" course.
Cleaning house.
Hit Safeway for ice cream and chocolate. Ended up with a lot more than that ROFLMBO!!
Found the Subway in Bend that is open 24 hours and the very nice sandwich artist gave me 4 cookies but only charged me for two.
Found some unopened CPAP things that need to go back to Norco so will do that on Monday or Tuesday.
Will be scanning receipts for Fetch Rewards, Pogo, Receipt Pal, Receipt Hog, and Coin Out. Scanned items for NCP as I unloaded the bags of groceries.
Am off work until 10 pm tomorrow so will probably continue the caffeinated squirrel bit for a while. In addition these 8 hour days leave me with way more energy than the 10 or 12 hour days, side benefit is irritating my supervisors LOL.
Not trying to sound rude or snarky because I’m sure you’re a very nice person. But I have to say I’m glad the Bend PD is giving citations for distracted driving. Seven years ago I was politely sitting at a red light when a guy in his truck, on his cell phone plowed into me. He did admit guilt to the police. It hurt me and totaled my car. My husband, veteran of 33 years of firefighting/aid calls, remembers a call where a young woman on her cell phone hit a car with a family in it. She wasn’t killed but the entire family was. So you should feel grateful that you are getting this opportunity for education and awareness:)
My State Trooper DIL told me the police are ALWAYS on the look-out for drivers using their phones while operating a vehicle. After receiving two tickets in one year about 40 years ago and never wanting to pay another one, I heeded her words. I just want to put out the word to save my frugal friends on this blog from having to pay a fine or feeling terrible for having caused an accident.
I did learn my lesson just wishing it wasn't such an expensive learning experience.
Tickets in my state are only $40, but as far as I know, the police have never written one.
Took forever but it was all common sense and I passed!! Will take the proof to the cop shop tomorrow. Also it was my first time at our new library and I am in LOVE. Gorgeous building and lots of on-site parking. Very close to where I live as well.
You know you’re a blog nerd when … you are excited to see pics of the Franz outlet. (Wouldn’t mind spying Winco pics someday, too)!
My frugal game is nowhere near as strong as everyone here, but I love the suggestions and inspo. My most proactively frugal activities are selling items I no longer use on eBay and FBMP, and checking thrift or consignment stores before buying clothes retail. Overall, though, Katy and regular contributors’ recommendations remind me to stop and think of alternatives (or if I can make do) before I spend. For me it’s an illuminating exercise in what I value. I have found myself air drying clothes on a hot day & renewing my library pass (I hadn’t stopped in since my kids were little). Next up: figuring out how to reserve and check out ebooks. I also bought a new cap for a water bottle whose cap broke (instead of getting a new water bottle). These are not impressive feats but better than the approaches I used to take without thinking.
Smore, you're so right about stopping to think of alternatives. I was on autopilot for years. I am inspired here every day. This online community is especially meaningful as I don't have frugal allies in real life other than my husband.
Smore, we're glad you're here regardless of where you are at in the "frugal game." We're all here for the inspo and community... and like you said, thinking about what each of us values.
Re: checking out ebooks, many of us love and use the Libby app which is available on your phone/computer/tablet. You log in to your library with your card number and search for books, then just click and magically the book is yours! I prefer to read on the Libby app (as opposed to reading it on a Kindle which requires a few extra steps), but it really is easy. And when the book is due it magically goes back to the library, no late fees. 🙂
1. Went treasure hunting with the 17 year old yesterday. Didn't find much, but did pick up a nice sweater and good bath towels at an estate sale for $1 each. I've been upgrading our threadbare towels a few at a time as I find good ones secondhand.
2. Sold an item on ebay for my mom, printed the postage on the back of scrap paper, reused a bubble wrap mailing envelope as packing material, and reused a small shipping box.
3. Since I needed to drop the ebay item at the post office, I went ahead and ran all my errands that were on that side of town to save a second trip later this week.
4. Stopped at a gaming store near the post office and sold a D&D mat I picked up new in the package at a thrift last week.
5. Stopped for gas on the way home, and by lucky coincidence it was free slurpee day! When my kids were younger it was always in my calendar, but haven't went in a few years and totally forgot. Was a nice treat.
Michelle,
One good source for towels that I use is to get beach towels when they are on clearance. Which occurs just about this time of year; stores are trying to get rid of summer vacation stuff in order to make room for Back to School merch. I've had good luck going to Walmart and getting beach towels cheap. You can find some gorgeous graphic patterns that will jazz up your bathroom really nice. What I like about beach towels is that they are long enough to wrap around my not-so-skinny body. They are more like bath sheets than regular sized bath towels. They are not too thick so they will line dry in a fairly short amount of time. When they are on clearance, they are nice and cheap.
I've also found them at Goodwill; I don't know if college kids donate them at the end of spring semester or if the stores donate them, but I've gotten a few there. Not as many as I can find at Walmart after July 4, though.
If you need wash cloths, go to the areas of Walmart or Target where they are selling dorm furnishings, and usually you can find a stack of "wash rags," as my Mom called them, bound together and sold fairly cheap.
One year, I made the mistake of buying towels at Ollie's Outlet. Never again! The Ollie's towels started fraying after only a few months. They did not last long at all; I'm now using them for dog bedding. Meanwhile, my Wally world (Walmart) beach towels are as good as the day I bought them, and most are several years old.
I also like to get linens at estate sales, but you can't always depend that you can find some when you them.
We buy beach towels as bath sheets, too, for all the reasons you mention. The ones from Costco held up very well, and we have a couple of thirty year old Land's End towels still hanging on, but a couple of years ago I bought four from LE on very deep sale that were a *huge* disappointment, especially given their previous quality.
This pay period I worked 8 extra hours (worked 7/3, which was a paid holiday for us) and 4 hours OT.
Have been making sweet tea to cut back on my pop consumption. I know water would be better, but a) I don’t like it, and b) it gives me heartburn. I know that sounds crazy but it does. I try to drink at least a cup or two a day, but I can’t get more than that down.
My coworker invited me to a grocery bingo. The money goes toward community charitable deeds. Each prize is generally a small meal (I.e. 2 pork chops, green beans, mashed potatoes). For $20 each, my husband and I played. It was a small group who played, so we were lucky and won a few games plus a couple door prizes and a special game. We probably won almost double of what we paid to play and had a ton of fun! My kids all want to play next time!
While I was watching my GD today, we took a nice walk to a little free library to drop off some books that were given to me in a LFL. I picked her up a vintage Mother Goose. My school teacher friend told me that it is very important to read rhyming things to bakes, so I’ve been looking for those.
I'm intrigued by grocery bingo! Sounds like two of my favorites!
1. Stayed up late last night and finished reading the Virginia Roberts Giuffe memoir, "Nobody's Girl," about her being abused by Jeffrey Epstein, Ex-Prince Andrew and others. I've never read such a gut wrenching book! Returned it to the public library today, well within the 7 day deadline, so more people can read it. It is upsetting to o read but something we all need to educate ourselves about, as she noted sex trafficking is a widespread problem.
2. Last week my pal and I installed some insulation on the back of the garage door. I'd ordered it from Temu but didn't have quite enough material. Yesterday I found a torn foil windshield cover in the parking lot and took that home. Also got another equally messed up one from last year and used these to fill in the places not already insulated. I just tucked them into the framework, did not even need the adhesive, and it all works great. The garage faces west and there is no shade in the afternoons. I can already tell the difference in temperature now that I have the insulation.
3. Had to buy a new hairbrush thanks to Snuggles using one of mine as a chewbone. Bought one made from 50% recycled plastic.
4. Frugal fail: missed out on a special sale on cases of Dr Pepper where it would've been 32 cents a can. Sold out by the time I got there.
5. A 2 year old boy was sitting in the shopping cart while his parents came through my line. He began crying and having a tantrum. His parents were embarrassed but # said "Don't worry, he'll either grow out of it - or become president some day." The dad laughed and said "Oh no, we don't need any more presidents acting like the one we have in there now!"
Uh today is the second Saturday of the month unless the 4th being a holiday didn't count (if the store was closed on the 4th, kudos to them().
Yes, you're right! I should have mentioned that they pushed the $1 sale back a week due to 4th of July!
1. I got a package of day old hamburger buns at the senior center. I also got 2 8oz cartons of 1% milk.
2. I attended 3 free yoga classes this past week. My poor muscles in my legs took a beating. I did my usual walking in the evening to try to sort them out. This coming week is more free yoga. I had a yoga mat that I got free at an event many years ago.
3. Cleaned out my linen closet & have items to donate to the Habitat store.
4. I made chx taco soup from some odds & ends in the freezer. It's not soup weather but I will eat some of it & freeze the rest.
5. I got a BJ's membership for $ 8.50 using a Groupon. BJ's has come to Texas. I can use the card in FL & TX. I don't know how I will like the store. I figured this is a cheap way to try them out. I mainly got the card for the cheaper price of gas. However the store in TX has a snack bar like Costco. I'll likely spend some $ there too.
In NJ I buy gas at BJs without a membership. Please check to see what the rules are in FL & TX in case you don't want to renew your membership. Sometimes BJs does have promotions for additional money off gas with certain purchases but overall their prices are 25 cents - 45 cents cheaper per gallon.
Grateful for a cooler day! I needed to wash a load of towels; and, I use the dryer with towels. My frugal hack, though, is to put them in the dryer and leave the door open during the day. At night, I shut the door and run the load. Surprisingly, the towels will dry somewhat just sitting there. The dryer seldom runs that long and it’s at night when I know it won’t contribute as much heat to the house.
I usually put stuff in the dryer for 10 min to de-wrinkle them, then hang them up to dry the rest of the way. I have some dryer racks (all secondhand and cheap, bought at garage sales, moving sales and good old Goodwill) set up in the garage and this time of year, towels and clothing dry really fast!
Love these frugal wins! I'm terrible at remembering special sale dates, so I use Taskai on my Android to capture these kinds of deals as soon as I hear about them so I never miss a bargain.
Don't know how frugal today will be but I'm off to 1) buy lamps. I have 3 overhead fixtures that went pffffftt on Saturday,and yes I tried changing bulbs, flipping breaker switches but alas there was no joy in Mudville lol. 2) Norco keeps sending me stuff that doesn't work with my specific CPAP machine so I'm going to return the stuff at their local warehouse 3) Relative to that damned traffic violation aka citation I'm going to our new fancy library and using their computers to take the "avoiding distracted driving course" so I can get that fine waived.
Used my points at Dutch Brothers for a free large cold brew so I have energy to do all of the above
As a gluten free person I would have cried of happiness at that score. We are just starting to get Franz in my state via Costco.
Got gas at 7-11 on Saturday the 11th when it was 50 cents off per gallon (via the app)
While there, I got a free Slurpee, since it was free Slurpee day!
Donated some puzzles that were in the closet to my library. Clutter OUT.
Had a Poshmark sale, mailed it in recycled packaging.
We had a birthday party for our sister that was catered by a local BBQ, when cleaning up, everyone was told to take home what they could - so I have enough for quite a few meals this week!
PSA: For those that have Chick Fil A......Tomorrow July 14th is "Cow Appreciation Day" , wear a cow related item/dress like a cow and get a FREE entree!