Four Frugal Things, Plus a Shitload of Frustrating Expenses!
by Katy on July 19, 2022 · 98 comments
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I still haven’t been thrifting lately as my foot becomes intensely painful if I walk any more than necessary, so my eBay sales are essentially just stale inventory. However . . . that’s still a couple items per week.
• A stuffed anime rabbit that I bought for $2.99 and sold for $50.
• A Calphalon skillet that I bought for $4.99 and sold locally for $30.
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I paid my next door neighbor the semi-annual cost of $103 for our shared garbage service. (Although we’re billed monthly, we both agree that it’s easier to for me to pay in December and July.) This plan was my idea at least 14 years ago and we both currently save $206 per year.
In all the years that I’ve been scouring the internet for unique money saving hacks, I’ve never seen anyone else suggest this as a cost cutting measure.
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My neighbor across the street gifted us a loaf of warm sourdough bread and I sent her home with two bowls of freshly made potato cheddar soup, my daughter works for a high end grocery store and brought home a dozen eggs, three packets of $11 bacon and a box of macarons that she’d gotten for free, I listened to an audiobook of Bloomsbury Girls using the free Libby app, my friend asked if I wanted to tag along to Trader Joe’s with her and I bought just two bunches of 19¢ bananas and a 12-pack of toilet paper, (I consider this to be a yuuuge frugal win as Trader Joe’s is 90% impulse items) I used the Too Good To Go app to buy a bag of end-of-day pastries from a nearby coffee shop for just $2.99 and I followed a surprisingly delicious stir-fry veggie pasta recipe from Ardent Michelle that used up items in my fridge that were on the verge of being wasted. So long carrots, spinach, garlic scapes and bulk sausage.
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I wish I could live a life of nothing but 19¢ bananas, but there’s no escaping the inevitability of unexpected financial hits. Please enjoy mine:
• My elderly 2010 Macbook finally got to where it couldn’t handle updates and was glitching left, right and center. I replaced it with a certified refurbished MacBook Air for $850. Oof.
• I took my Prius to Costco for a free tire rotation, and ended up having to purchase a new tire for $86. (It did have some warranty left, which is how I paid this lesser amount.) Then I had to drive to an entirely different Costco south of Portland for the specific tire. It ate up half my day plus $86 of our precious credit union account. Crud.
• My husband took our minivan to Les Schwab (a local tire chain) to get the tires rotated on the minivan and we ended up having to buy two new tires! Bye-bye, $300! Damnit.
• I finally found an arborist to prune our enormous backyard tree. The last guy had scheduled us for “the first week of March” and then ghosted us. At this point I’ve gotten four different bids, which have ranged from $1300 to $3500. This tree probably would have fared better from our freak April snow storm had it just been pruned, and this pisses me off. This guy is $1400, which we can technically afford, but still . . .
• This one isn’t my frugal fail, but I’m putting it here anyway. My son signed up to get a “free” Hello Fresh box and somehow received (and got charged for) six boxes. He realized his error and talked to customer service, but they refused to help him even though he’d only received two kits at that point. He ended up making all the meals at our house, (as he shares a small kitchen with three roommates) and we used it as an opportunity for him to learn certain cooking techniques. He also learned a lesson about “free” meal kits.
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I didn’t buy a Lear Jet, as aviation fuel no longer fits in our budget.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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1. My daughter and I drove to our library. On the way I dropped off our absentee ballot requests at the township office which is on the way. I also washed my car at the cheap car wash which was just down the street. My daughter borrowed a few books since she likes the real thing. I borrowed Season 1 of Yellowstone. I’ve watched it already and it was really good. I’ll borrow the next season when I return it and on the way I’ll drop off our completed ballots.
2. I made some delicious pesto from my basil plants and some frozen walnuts and romano cheese that someone left in my refrigerator. I turned this into a delicious pasta dish with cherry tomatoes that were ready to go bad. We all loved it and I’ll be making this again in the future as this was an easy and inexpensive meal.
3. I made a huge pot of minestrone soup that I was able to share with my Mom, a friend and I will bring some to my mother-in-law when I visit her this week. I paired this with easy BLT’s for another easy dinner at home.
4. My daughters and I turned down an invitation to go to an escape room. Instead the same friends came over for an evening float in the pool and some delicious mojitos made with my backyard mint. My friend provided the club soda since I was mostly out and she left me with the remnants of the opened bottle for future mojitos.
5. I refilled some disposable ant baits with some gel bait that I purchased at an estate sale. I combined errands which included dropping my daughter at a friends house where she will go geocaching. I stopped at thrift stores along the way and purchased enough items to sell on Ebay to more than cover the cost of gas.
Frugal Fail : I failed to anticipate that I would need a lawn spreader so instead of finding a used one I purchased one new. I will share it and the expense with my Mom since she also needed one and since it’s not an item we will need to use often. I know this is going to haunt me every time I see one at an estate sale or garage sale.
Sorry to hear about your foot. Do you have plantar fascitis? I must have missed the post about your foot. I’m checking out Ardent Michelle for some meal hacks. Thanks for the tip! Glad you are posting more often.
Thanks, I just learned that it’s not plantar fasciitis, which explains why the physical therapy made it worse.
A sudden thought about your foot problem – you used to be a nurse I believe, when you would have been on your feet for hours at a time. Now you are retired I don’t expect that happens to such an extent. Do you think that change of use might have contributed to your problem?
For the foot, a stress fracture, maybe? A few weeks (3-6) in a boot could really help. I found a boot a few years ago in my buy nothing group…..just a suggestion.
Thank you so much for the suggestion. I just had an MRI and it turns out I have a fibrotic lesion imbedded in the plantar fascia, which is intensely painful. Hopefully I can avoid surgery and have an appointment scheduled to meet with the doctor and explore options.
Oh, gosh, Katy! I hope the doctor can come up with a treatment that has you more comfortable very soon.
Ouch. That sounds awful. I hope you feel better soon.
Yikes! I never heard of such a thing. Wishing you the best, especially with the pain.
Ouch! No wonder you’re in such pain! Here’s hoping it’s soon improved. Hopefully, it’s a bit of a relief to know what the issue is.
1. Surviving the heat wave. Our a/c is doing the best it can however the house needs insulation and a whole house fan. Current temp is 81 degrees
2. Regifted new item to a friend for her birthday
3. Sold 3 items on Mercari
4. Hubby is getting PT which copay is $35/visit
5. Cooking meals at home..boring but necessary
Katy, I am so sorry about your painful foot and the run of cursed household luck.
1. Trimmed my hair to stretch out the time between haircuts.
2. Stopped by Ollie’s Outlet after work one day and bought a package of bran muffin mix for 79 cents, which I doctored up with chopped apples and apple pie spice to make a pan of delicious snacks. Adding the apple and a large egg stretched the mix to make a dozen muffins instead of six. Also bought two boxes of my husband’s crackers for half price.
3. Did the usual thing and turned two Soresto flea collars into three collars for my dogs. The excess cut from two collars is easy to hole punch and sew together with stout waxed twine to make a slightly looser fitting collar for our oldest dog. She prefers something that slips over her head rather than someone fussing with a buckle. This saves us $47.
4. I took a bunch of stuff left behind at work by a conference group to Goodwill last week. Goodwill got pots and pans, plates, new pillow cases, and 36 unopened bottles of hand soap. I kept some opened toilet paper, kitchen cleaner and hand soap instead of throwing it away.
5. Grocery shopped at Aldi on Saturday and noticed whole duck in the freezer section. The exact same duck would cost us twice the price. ($11 at Aldi, $22 at Food Lion last year.) My family loves duck at Christmas, so we pounced on that and now have a holiday duck residing at the bottom of our freezer.
I forgot to mention that TUBI has free streaming of the mountain climbing documentaries that some of us were interested in last FFT post. I watched Meru. I think they have Dirtbag too. I’m going to watch that next.
Trying to be as frugal as we can while playing the not so fun game of “the price on this went up $2 ($3, $4…) since the last time I bought it.” Spending a little more time while at the grocery stores looking for deals on staples- Sprouts had a sale on milk gallons $1.99, Kroger had the BIG bottle of Tresemme for $2.
Not buying stuff this year, but I did find a 100% linen duvet cover for $5.99, brand website lists it at $300. Ours is nearly two decades old and falling apart. Otherwise, not buying stuff.
I hope your foot heals soon.
I too am a participant in the it went up again game
Good job on the duvet cover
Thanks, it seems to be getting worse and worse.
1. Recently a good friend’s widower asked me to replace the binding on the bed quilt his wife had made. It was square, but they always kept the same edge at the head of the bed. I rebound the one edge that was worn out. It seemed churlish to suggest that he just rotate the quilt ninety or 180 degrees, but that’s what we do. I never considered this as frugal, but my square bed quilts have their binding wear out quite evenly.
2. Our sheets wear out over the Mister’s shoulders (pulling up the covers with his ragged, chewed nails). I’ve decided to duplicate the top’s decorative hem at the bottom of the sheet and rotate it with each bed change. I bet Katy has never seen this tip on the internet.
3. Wheelbarrow roulette—the game we lost. Our “New” freecycle wheelbarrow had a solid tire and one broken handle. The Mister tried to move that good tire to our old WB with the flat tire. The “new” tire was too big. We now have two semi-functional WBs rather than one. Only one trip to the hardware store which is within walking distance.
4. On Sunday I developed an overwhelming passion for double wedding ring quilts. I need to make one . . .Noooowww. I walked to the library as the internet said the book I wanted was in. It wasn’t. I put it on hold. I’m still holding.
5. I have priced all the super-duper double wedding ring templates. Pricey buggers—and none of the sales sites tell me how big the ring will be. I’ll ask around the guild to see if I can borrow a set or sets. Or I could buy a PDF pattern and make my own templates—almost as cheap as borrowing.
6. Our last restaurant meal was 2/28/2020.
Yes, your #2 is new to me!
I have tried to split garbage with a neighbor but the city has a rule that every address must have garbage service. It annoys me. We have the smallest can and still don’t fill it even 1/2 full.
1. A friend offered to pick me up to carpool to an event a half hour away. Yes please! I will gift her some homemade zucchini cake (Magnolia Table recipe that is always loved-even by zucchini non-enthusiasts). We have a lot of zucchini.
2. My home made compost is almost done. It is made from our own kitchen scraps, shredded newspaper (from Buy Nothing) and free veggie scraps from local supermarkets. All turned in a Buy Nothing compost barrel. I love 100% free.
3. Our attic fan was squealing terribly. It is near the end of it’s life, but some oil has quieted it for now. Apparently an attic fan will reduce indoor temperature by up to 10 degrees.
4. Gifted a friend a perennial onion start. She gave us several pounds of blackberries. We live on one income (teacher) in an affluent area. But I still try to give to others (even though my gifts are ‘less’ than theirs they always seem to be appreciated).
5. I have a shady spot in my garden which is my ‘nursery’ spot. I currently have 3 volunteer blackberry starts in pots-awaiting planting in the fall, and another perennial onion start-awaiting the next time I need a gift for a gardener. This spot is just outside my back door, right by the hose. This means I always see these “babies” and water them. I have grown SO much in this spot. It’s under a low bit of roof, and only has stones, so on first glance it’s a useless spot. But my goodness, it’s actually one of my highest-use places.
Regarding your #4: I’m sure your gifts are appreciated. I think most of us don’t keep score on gifts given and received. I’m always just happy to get any gift…especially food.
Me too!
I thought I had put all my frugal actions down at Frugal Girl, but right after that I had two more things happen so I will put them here because I am bound to forget them.
First, someone in our FB local free group sent out a note that her grandmother had died and that she “was big and liked seersucker dresses,” and she didn’t want to throw them away. I love seersucker, I am big, and I have no problem wearing the deceased’s clothing. The husband stopped by and came home with 6 dresses, three with tags still on them. They could use taking in but I don’t care if they float on me. I am thrilled. I looked up the names on the tags and they each cost over $60! I feel like I discovered gold.
Second, I do occasional short projects for the court system and I snagged another one that will give me $500 for about two long days of work. I have to travel to one of the villages again but they are very understanding that sometimes I have to use a wheelchair so the project won’t get done until I feel good enough to just use a cane. I recently returned from travel in a small plane and a lot of walking on gravel in a small village and sleeping on a pad in the health clinic because there is no hotel or B&B in that place, and I am paying for it now and am having to use my wheelchair. I would not want to be employed full time, but I like small side hustles because I am a hermit and they force me to go out and give me some pin money for treats. And I love going out to the villages where I used to live and work, to see old friends and look out on the Bering Sea.
I am always happy to click on your site and see a new episode of Katy’s life.
Your life and work always sound so interesting. I hope you are soon to the point where you can use a cane instead of a wheelchair.
Great score on those seersucker dresses too!
1) Our vegetable garden is doing well, and we are enjoying fresh produce. Using the produce is a priority since we put so much work into it at Spring. Not that it’s a burden to use beautiful fresh veggies.
2) I carpool with a friend to the closest grocery outlet. The 15 minute drive gives us a chance to catch up and the prices are great. Not as great as they used to be but far better than other options. My employer wants us to be in the office more often, but at least that is located close to a bread outlet, where I get things that we don’t already make at home.
3) My approach to reducing the trash expense was to cancel pickup entirely and go to the landfill instead. We go there anyway to drop off recycling, and try to recycle as much as possible which further reduces the trash expense. They have a convenience center that means we don’t have to get in line and drive over the scale. Even with the gas expense, I save about $350/year.
4) I bought gift cards during a Kroger 4x gas promo – cards for normal expenses like Netflix and gasoline. I also found discounted organic beef for $3/lb, a good deal these days. With the promo, I got enough points to get $0.90/gallon discount on the next tank of gas.
5) I travel for work and use Costco to book car rentals, which are consistently less than other rentals so my employer benefits. Since I have an executive membership, I get 2% back. This year, that helped my rebate check increase to more than the Costco annual membership fee
I’ve been tempted to take my own trash and recycling to the landfill myself. I would save the same amount.
I’ve been thinking about it too since the trash pickup company I use has gone up through the years. It now costs me $540 a year. I need to check out the transfer station costs here in town.
We use a family owned local trash service (including recycles) which costs $20 per month – yes you read that right. Pick-up is in the wee hours of the morning like 3 am. I pay a year in advance (they don’t send paper bills but will send an email reminder if you so choose).
Had our septic pumped in the spring – pumper raised his rate $5 (now costs $180 per pump) and he said people were complaining.
Both services charge frugal rates IMHO.
We live rural, and even with trash pick up twice a month, it’s more than we need. $50 monthly, and having to drag the half full can down a 300 ft driveway. Nope, we go to the transfer station now twice a year, at $20 a trip.
I too am rural. I believe our trash service has a limited pick-up area so thankfully we’re in their service area. At our other house, our service was included in property taxes and based on what we paid prior (we annexed), the rate was reasonable. Not so sure these days – awful easy to hide true cost when bundled in a taxing body’s rate.
We canceled our trash pick up decades ago. Between composting (including old natural fiber textiles) and free recycling, we wind up paying for just about 6 large bags per year, at $3/ (no animal products in our waste stream means the bag can hang out in the can in the detached garage without creating odors or other issues.)
DH often has to go anyway to dispose of debris from customers’ jobs, and the transfer station is only about 12 minutes from our house. For us it’s a natural.
Katy – I hope you don’t have Tarsel Tunnel syndrome – I know all about foot pain that is debilitating. If it is TTS, don’t wait for treatment. Hope you have a good doctor.
I am voluntarily leaving my job in 10 days – pre retirement as it were – so really doing my best to not spend. We are also relocating back to home country so doing my best to use up everything in the pantry and do without so I won’t have to hunt around to give away what cannot be moved.
I am frugally emptying the freezer of a lot of UFOs (unidentified frozen objects) and mopped up some potatoes bread from left over frozen potato postage. Not bad at all esp if toasted.
Happy for all your tips and experiences bc my I are frugality will need a boost soon as I leave my steady income — and it is with it for my health and being able to spend time with my husband and family vs working like the dickens all the time.
Potato sausage! It’s so rare for someone to mention it anywhere. I grew up on it and still love it. The only place I can find it now is one smallish butcher shop about 35 minutes away. When I am in the area I always stop in.
I have never heard of potato sausage and, now that I have looked it up, I must find some! Thank you for introducing me to a new-to-me food.
My father used to make potato sausage, the Lithuanian version. I have not thought about it in years and now I have to find a place that will ship it to Alaska!
I love” Unidentified Frozen Objects”–stealing!
Sorry for the typos or for not being good at taming the auto-correct demons
– whipped up the bread
– Inate frugality
1. Mended another t shirt.
2. Received gift cards from our insurance company for getting a physical and also for seeing a specialist.
3. Finally had 3 nice sales in a row on Etsy. $50 profit.
4. Saved .15 cents a gallon on gas. That was the first time I bought gas since the price increases and the cost to fill up was heart rending.
5. Had friends visit for homemade dessert and a movie. This is a regular event, alternating houses.
Katy, I took a few minutes to catch up on your other July posts. We have a 2007 hybrid Toyota Camry, recently put on semi-permanent loan to our daughter since she works across town and getting there on public transportation isn’t realistic.
1. My son and I desperately needed hair trims. I asked a friend, who has all the hair cutting supplies, and she agreed. I told her I could pay her or trade her something. She decided I make good desserts so I’ll be baking her a cake this week (all supplies on hand).
2a. The veg garden is coming along great, though only herbs are currently ready to harvest. We’ve hit the watering sweet spot where it’s enough to maintain the garden and yard, but still falls within guidelines for watering during the drought. 2b. Our xeriscaped front yard is very popular with bees, butterflies, birds (including lots of hummers), so it provides me with hours of enjoyment.
3. My husband and I received a bookstore gift card for our anniversary. Since I’m the bookworm, he let me use it to get books in my favorite series (that I constantly re-read).
4. Reading lots of library books, especially e-books on my kindle. Free and it doesn’t require going anywhere.
5. Needed a frame for a piece of art my friend gave me. Found one only minutes after posting the request in our Buy Nothing Group. Now I see the art every day in my kitchen, which I’m “updating” by rotating art and using different tea towels from my stash.
Not a great deal of frugality happening here atm, but I’ll see what I can come up with.
1. Still borrowing books from the library and reading on the Libby app, listening to podcasts and free audiobooks for cheap entertainment. Our rule is one streaming service at a time for our family – if we want a new one, we have to get rid of the other. That keeps cost of streaming subscriptions down. I do pay for NYT online at a low rate for news, games, and NYT Cooking because their recipes are excellent and come without all the guff that most cooking sites slam you with.
2. Negotiated a rate increase and contract extension with my biggest client.
3. Still eating vego and low cholesterol. Our grocery bill has come down considerably – at least $30-$50 a week. That shows how much junk we were buying! Minimal complaining from the last remaining child at home, thank goodness. If it continues to go down, I will reduce the food budget permanently.
4. Needed a new watch band for my FitBit, which snapped. Went to buy one in store and it was $50! Unacceptable. Found one online for $14. If it keeps the FitBit going for another 12 months I will be happy.
5. Recently tried some great Japanese green tea, that both my husband and I really enjoyed. Found some on one site for $100 a kilo. Er…we liked it, but not that much. Searched for a Japanese brand, not a fancy schmancy hipster tea company brand, and found the same thing for $14 a kilo (a kilogram is about 2 pounds). We got half a kilo with free shipping for $7 – instead of the insane price of $50 plus shipping the other mob wanted. Happy to drink my way through a pound of green tea for $7 – that’s a lot of tea. We do drink a lot of tea, so that will keep us entertained and low key caffeinated for a while.
I hope your foot gets better soon, Katy. Long-lasting injuries are disheartening, especially when you get medical care and follow through with suggested treatment plans and they don’t help and you have to start the whole process over again.
Lots of expenses here as well. My 2015 Lenovo Yoga Book was regularly flashing the deadly/scary Windows 32 black screen. I reset my computer and reinstalled the original Windows program that came with this computer, but to no avail. This computer has a gorgeous screen and it will be gifted to my daughter who is really into iPhone photography. I will instruct her to back-up all her photos for the inevitable day it croaks. I used part of my overtime pay to purchase a new laptop that hopefully will last me 10 years. The aforementionned Yoga Book was a 3 in 1 computer with a touch screen and that feature died pretty quickly after the warranty expired, so the new laptop is very basic, but with a great screen.
My husband is still locked out from his employment, but the company has made a new offer and employees will be voting on this next Sunday. I hope the conflict resolves itself, because my husband’s new job as a maintenance plumber is too demanding physically. He comes home exhausted and in pain (shoulders, neck, lower back), depending upon the work he performed that day. He wanted to try this job and he has gained a lot of insight on his physical capabilites by going forward with it. This is not the life I want for him for the next four years and we he will be giving his notice shortly. Either he returns to his former job once the lock-out resolves or he will retire and work part-time at one of our local grocery stores. Lots of adjustments will be made to our plans and lifestyle if he retires, but his health and happiness come first.
I am still working my butt off, 9 hour work days and working several hours every week-end due to a short-staff situation in our team. I feel energetic, but I don’t feel like inviting family and friends over, which was something I had looked forward to all winter. I just don’t have the emotional and mental band-width to deal with the cleaning, shopping, cookking involved and that really sucks. The exra money is really appreciated due to my husband’s work situaiton, but I am never going to do this again, if my privilege allows it. I am reading Jeffrey Pfeffer’s ”Dying for a Paycheck” and the book is really resonating with me.
We continue to peruse sales and take advantage of them, as well as points offers from our loyalty cards. I have also put another $20 000 of our firm’s business expenses on my personal credit card, which reprsents about $ 500 in cash-back rewards.
Enjoying walks during the week-end, reading library books on my e-reader, perusing social media for entertainment. Reading the news is really getting me down: women’s rights being violated, war, the climate crisis, Joe Manchin, uh!
I am 110% crossing my fingers for your husband!
Thank you, Katy! Hope treatment works to get rid of your plantar fibroma.
So sorry about your foot!
There is no option anywhere I have ever lived to share trash with a neighbor. It’s included in the water bill, billed by the city, even though it is a different company. They say that they don’t really have a way to know who paid and who didn’t, so people could cheat. We have absolutely gigantic 90 gallon containers that we could fill up every week if we wanted to. I don’t put my trash out more than once a month, and even then it’s not full.
We also were issued a giant trash cart like that and never get even close to filling it up due to ardent recycling.
Hope your foot starts to feel better! Chronic pain like that is miserable.
1) Had a few great wins on Buy Nothing. Both found when I was posting things to give away myself. My 16 y.o. needed new shorts, and the ones in my shopping cart happened to be posted on BN the same day – slightly different color, same brand, same size, x4. What a gift! Additionally, I’ve been looking for free options for organizing my 15 y.o.’s clothes. He has a dresser, but we bought it when he was born, and it doesn’t serve his purposes at 15. I’d even posted an ISO on BN, and came up empty. Then I noticed a neighbor giving away furniture, and was able to pick up a few pieces that really extend what we have. Woohoo!
2) Continuing to use garden items. Last night we had meatballs in a fresh tomato sauce. I could have topped with basil, but I forgot. We also had cabbage in our salad, lemon juice as dressing, and lettuce. We have a seemingly endless supply of tomatoes, that we’ve used in caprese salad + Greek salad, plus eating on everything.
3) I’ve gotten back into listing a few things here & there on eBay, and have had good success. It’s a drip of sales, but better than nothing. I sold an expensive jacket yesterday, so that was a win.
4) Planned for airport parking for an upcoming trip (to Portland & then Bend, to see family). If you pre-book parking, it’s significantly cheaper than Uber – it’s now about 1/2 the cost in our area.
5) Picked up three freebies at the grocery store – an avocado, dozen eggs, and my favorite protein bar. Two of the items required a $10 spend, so we aggregated our list & hitting $10 in this economy is not much of a problem. We also planned the purchase for double points day, plus used a grocery store gift card (used by purchasing travel gift cards for an upcoming trip) to cover the out of pocket spending.
6) bonus. I had COVID over the last week (definitely not a “bonus), but used the time to finish most of an online 8 week leadership class. The class was quite expensive, and I get reimbursed 2/3 of the cost by my employer. I was extra motivated to complete it!
1. What’s going on with you foot?
2. Garbage where I live is paid through property taxes and you cant avoid the expense if you own property. So, I cant cut the cost here.
3.I got back into Ibotta and couponing and have been doing really well with getting free or cheap toiletries, as well as some food. I used to do extreme couponing, the scene has changed quite a bit as there’s hardly any paper coupons anymore and it’s mostly digital coupons now. But, I’m figuring it out. Many couponers have also transitioned from having blogs to having Youtube channels, which I am enjoying as well for visibility of product and verbal explanation combined.
4.I have seen many ‘free’ meal kit coupons left in my office and tried to sign up for one once, upon seeing the capture of your credit card number to obtain said ‘free’ meal kit I knew it was an indicator that there’s a snag in the ‘free’ part of the offer.
5. I too have fallen to unexpected expenses recently. Dental bills for my son, medication for my cat, fixing the car – this is so exhausting that I bought a second car while the first was being fixed, I’m taking a break for mental clarity to reflect on whether this is worth it or not. I also had the drip edge on the roof repaired. Had new windows put on the house. New couch.
I want to get new carpet, a home security system, and keep fixing the car. But I’ve had so many months of popcorn/popup expenses and over the top car expenses I feel a bit tapped out at this point. So I’m just putting off any more fixes to the older car, and avoiding the new carpet until I feel like my money is replenished a bit.
So, not saving money and deciding to perhaps space out my expenses to stop and reflect on things is where I’m at this week.
I also miss paper coupons. But if you have a Safeway or Albertsons near, they have great weekly deals thru their app.
I haven’t paid full price for cheese or milk in forever
Publix and Winn-Dixie both have apps and “Club” cards. I expect Kroger’s would also.
Kroger has a card and app. Neither of us have the app but were trying to take advantage of thier app only deal on cherries. The cashier gave us the deal anyway since we mentioned it.
Hiya Katy,
I love your blog and have followed you for years. Writing is clearly important to you. So — in case this is useful (and if not, just ignore) — re garbage service / costs:
bi-annual = every two years
semi-annual = every ‘half’ year = every six months = twice a year
Thanks, I’ll make the change.
No, biannual is twice a year and biennial is every two years!
First, Katy, I’m sorry about your painful foot and about the series of unexpected expenses.
Along with Ruby and Lindsey, I did an FFT yesterday at The Frugal Girl, but here are a few more (plus some of my own present and future financial hits):
(1) I did a good job this week of scraping lunches/dinners for one off the bottom of the refrigerator and pantry. Highlights included an excellent poultry noodle soup with the pan juices from recent turkey and Cornish hen dinners (both with Reduced for Quick Sale poultry), and a cheese pizza with some elderly cheeses I needed to use up plus homemade “sun-dried” (actually oven-dried and stored in oil) tomatoes, Kalamata olives, and garden arugula as toppings.
(2) I’m making use of the current heat wave in the Northeast by spending as much time in my cool basement as possible (much laundry and some reorganization are getting done).
(3) I’m also making about my fifth batch of sun tea this summer. I discovered by accident that some teabags of green tea with lemon and ginger (not previously used for much) make extremely refreshing sun tea.
(4) Now, the unpleasant part: the extraordinary expenses, present and future. Present: (a) I’ve just completed the first of a series of dental repairs (extraction of a dodgy tooth, gum grafting, and implant plus crown over the implant to replace the extracted tooth) that are going to be not only unpleasant but expensive–total closer to $8K than $7K when all’s said and done. My only consolation is that my former dental insurance at work wouldn’t have covered any of this either. (b) I also finally had to get our garage door repaired (couldn’t kick this can down the road any longer). Considering how long the guy was here, I was mildly surprised that it was *only* $255.
(5) Definite or probable future expenses: (a) Our 1920s front door needs repainting and restoration. (b) I need to call a mason for an estimate on brick repointing and front step repair. (c) DH’s 2015 MacBook Air (which I took over after he became unable to use it) is holding up OK, but my 2009 desktop Mac is living on borrowed time, to put it mildly. I don’t need as fancy a desktop as I did when I was telecommuting, but I do like a desktop for doing longer pieces of writing (such as my JASNA presentations) and other tasks. (And these are only the upcoming things I know about, of course. As Katy’s list illustrates, X the Unknown is always out there.)
I use two bags of black tea plus one bag of peppermint tea for a batch of sun tea.
My dental insurance paid only for the extraction when I had an implant done, but every little bit helps.
By sheer luck of when it started, my implant procedure was spread out over three years, with the extraction at the end of one year, all the various healing, bone graft, sinus lift, pin placement and other things I would not wish on my worst enemy in the middle year, and then the shiny new fake tooth permanently mounted in January of the third year. So 14 months in total, which gave us time to pay for it in chunks, but everybody looks at me funny when I say it took three years.
Hi A. Marie! Regarding the need to replace your desktop computer in the near future: it may be cheaper to buy a refurbished monitor and keyboard that you can just plug your laptop into so that you have a desktop-like setup without the expense of a second computer.
And use a ventilated laptop stand. Heat kills laptops.
Thanks, Katie and Ruby, for the suggestions. I will also consult with DH’s friend who occasionally helps with home repairs, and is also a tech wizard, before I make any rash decisions.
Best wishes as you work through all these items!
After pricing new ones, we took our probably vintage to the house 1950’s front door off and repainted it. It weighed a TON. To cover over the chipping on the lower front, we put a brass kickplate on it. Covers nicely, looks nice, and will stretch the door another decade or more.
Our basement screen door was falling apart. It’s a very odd size. Estimates for a custom screen door were around $600. The Mister painted the door and screwed sheets of plexiglass to both sides of it. Odd-looking and maybe/maybe not secure–but a potential burglar would be able to suss out the make do randomness in the house without coming inside.
We’ve got a basement window unit that is falling apart. It is small, about 18 by 24, so how much can it cost? $236.00 plus tax! The guy who did our estimate said he just stapled plastic over his and did not replace it. I advised him we would use plexiglass as it is much classier.
Yep, make friends wherever I go.
Using my used coffee grounds as fertilizer. I’m a gardening minimalist when it comes to financial investments. I basically buy cheap seeds and get free compost from the county and hope for the best.
Got a free protein bar with my Ibotta. I got a convert too somehow so that was an extra $10 bonus. Probably from the group I started on Nextdoor called “Grocery Steals and Deals.”
Watching library movies and YouTubeing it up and not going down the route of cable TV! My daughter’s are really taking off with their piano lessons. Lots of cool music for them from the library too.
Switched cell service providers. Saving $25 a month and suddenly my phone started working better too. I thought I was going to have to replace it. Phew!
Convinced my husband to cool it on the local ice cream shop. He was spending $30-45 a month there treating us. I buy waffle cones and ice cream at Aldi for less than $4 and it gives us 2 rounds! Tasty too!
Sorry to hear about your foot, Katy. Chronic pain is stressful.
1. It is really hot here and I am keeping my ac at 74 degrees and shades and curtains down. We are staying as cool as possible.
2. Slowly working through my covid book purchases. I will pass them on to others, donate to the library and put in a lttle neighborhhod library box as I finish them.
3. I drove friends to the beach, one paid for parking and the others brought the picnic. We had a great time and lovely to share the financial load.
4. At the end of the day, I using the water from my dog’s wading pool to water plants. I kind of love getting 2 uses out of it.
5. Friends invited me over for dinner Sunday night. I brought a pie that I made with all ingredients on hand (some ingredients purchased on sale) and a $2.50 container of vanilla ice cream. Pie makes people happy!
#4 *I am using……
I dump the dogs water dish daily into the flower beds
Hubby filled up his huge kiddie pool with water and there it sits. He hasn’t used it and it’s starting to turn green? No chemicals in it so I can use the water to water the $13.99 baskets of flowers he got. God knows how many gallons are in that thing. It’s a blow up pool.
Katy, I hope you get some relief and healing for that foot. It’s tough when pain is in a lower extremity as it sets in every time one stands. Best wishes.
1. Does anyone else get a small sense of dread when a friend or relative begins to work selling things for a (legal)pyramid scheme type company? You know they’re going to hit up their closest associations. I feel obligated to buy at least one thing from him/her which is always vastly overpriced. I know I can “just say no” but I needed a little rant. Done.
2. I cut out a coupon for a free small ice cream cone at a local convenience store. DH and I went last night to get one each and they sure didn’t look like small ice creams. We bought his cone for $2. Worth it with this crazy heat.
3. I repainted two lighting fixtures in my kitchen instead of buying new ones to match the newly painted walls.
4. I picked up 5 library books I had on hold at the library when I returned 3.
5. I decided against going to a free indoor concert when they decided at the last minute to have it inside instead of at a local park. It’s very hot and humid so I understand their reasoning as the indoor venue has AC. I had Covid 3 1/2 weeks ago and have been hearing with the newer variants it is easy to get reinfected due to no immunity from the infection unlike Delta and the original Omicron. I’ve taken to wearing my mask in stores again too. Stay healthy as possible friends!
1. My husband loves to build jigsaw puzzles. He had amassed some over the years at thrift stores but was almost out. We went to the best thrift store I know and he bought nine puzzles (all 1000 pieces) for $39. Not cheap but cheap entertainment when you consider the number of hours it takes to build one. I will be on the lookout for other options. I think they have a bunch at the senior center center near our home and you are allowed to take them as you wish, it would just be borrowing for us, and I may ask on Freecycle.
2. A neighbor gave me coupons from the local grocery store that she will not use. I may use one or two of them.
3. We will travel to New England in a few weeks to visit family. No one is able to host us overnight so we will stay at an “Inn” in the next town versus a hotel in town. The savings should be hundreds of dollars. My SIL has offered to give us a jar of honey from their bees.
4. We brought home plants that a neighbor culled. We also moved some plants in the yard to a space that saw azaleas decimated last year by Brood-X cicadas. We split hostas and moved lilacs starts. The azaleas were purchased and planted just before the cicada invasion, a financial ouch.
5. Our county will pick up bulk waste tomorrow. We will put out our defunct dehumidifier which will save us a trip to the dump. I suspect my husband will check out other discards this evening, we already saw a few this morning.
That is a great price on the puzzles! Plus, I bet you can resell the ones he has completed to make up the cost.
The racks in the Bosch dishwasher that came with our house we’re rusting out. After a bit of searching I found replacement ones online for less than $200 for both. Both were back ordered but the upper one arrived, Hubby installed with help from YouTube and it is lovely. The bottom one will arrive eventually. We also changed the charcoal filter in the m8 rows e and gave that hidden space a good cleaning. Trying to keep all appliances working.
New pup found the final of the previous dog’s squeaky toys I had held back and was joyously delighted. Free entertainment for him and us.
A friend invited a few of us to go out on their boat in Ventura Harbor. It was a beautiful late morning. We then had an inexpensive lunch out and went to the Chanel Islands National Park visitor center.
Otherwise the usual money and environmental conscious actions.
Oh, and I finally came to grips with how to increase our emergency prep. Decided to focus on power outages (all electric home) as they can happen for numerous reasons. I have my list of items to purchase and was pleasantly surprised at how much we already had.
Sorry about your foot! That sounds awful and I hate mis-diagnosises.
1. I hit upon some clearance meat at the grocery store last weekend and it was a day that was unseasonably cool so I made a double batch of meatloaf (froze 1) and a double batch of homemade breakfast sausage out of ground turkey.
2. We redid our budget for the next school year as our expenses have changed. Now I know that I have a certain amount we can spend each week on eating out – something that is now much cheaper since it is almost always just the 2 of us. So we hit up happy hour at our favorite mexican restuarant followed by a walk along the river. Redoing the budget = cheap date night with no guilt.
3. Dh is picking up lacrosse games left and right at a time when there are usually none (he is a referee). Yay, for extra income! I am working summer school so again – yay for extra income! #3kidsincollege
4. Ds who had been at a military college his freshman year has decided that he will not be returning. Goodbye flying back and forth. Goodbye $12K a year in tuition and fees (down from $72k that is full price but still!). He will now be living at home and attending community college. He will get the degree he wants for less than just next year’s tuition would have been at his old college.
5. I am actually getting ripe tomatoes and full size cucumbers from my garden!!! Yay! Also enough basil to make pesto (no pine nuts).
*Unfrugal but we tried to make it a little better – we took 2 of the kids to see the new Top Gun movie at the theater. So, so good! I haven’t been to the movies in years! We went to the matinee, and did not buy any snacks or drinks. And it passed a very long rainy day here.
Katy: Hope your foot is feeling better!
1. Yard hungries overlooked a huge zuchinni – was beginning to believe that we wouldn’t even get a few of these regular producers! Sauteed part of it for dinner. Paired it with sale ham from the freezer, cobb- corn and hash browns.
2. Just returned from an out of state trip which was fun but frustrating. Opera cancelled because of a cast outbreak of covid-19. We were notified just as we were about to start getting ready for the performance. Of course, we had already paid for the tickets, two nights at a hotel, food, boarding for our dog etc. On the other hand, we explored some interesting small towns in the area and enjoyed a picnic lunch put together from local sources. We cam home early, thus saving a small amount on dog boarding fees, and dining out food costs.
3. Free rain is falling from the sky today -much needed to help ward off a dreaded drought.
4. Donated $100 to our favorite Attorney General candidate. In MN, you are allowed to donate up to $100 per couple and get it refunded from the state.
5. Read AARP and Consumers Union magazines on “fighting inflation.” Not a lot of new information but I applaud their efforts to alert the public about the possibilities.
As a fellow Minnesotan, I didn’t know about #4!
MB: It was suspended a while ago due to GOP opposition, but they changed their position and haven’t opposed it in recent years. It does not apply to local non-partisan offices but all state legislative candidates as well as those running for state-wide offices are eligible. You send a check and they will send back a form to fill out for your refund.
MB: – just one more note that Federal office candidates are also not eligible for the refund – it is a State of MN program.
Hope this works for you!
At least you & your family are safer now & driving on better tire(s).
1. I have been tied up in a manslaughter trial and not had time to get my air conditioner fixed. I cannot, in my current heat induced brain fog, remember if I mentioned lightning fried it. I am lucky my house didn’t catch on fire. So, I am making do with a fan in the hot, very humid, over 100’degrees heat index lower south. I say all this to describe how miserable it is. God bless my ancestors because at least I have a fan and wet washcloths I freeze and use to sleep with. My electric bill, for both houses combined, was up last month so let’s see if having just a fan during the week helps with electric bill. 2. I am not cooking much, see no. 1. Watermelon for dessert and tomato sandwiches seem to be my dinner of choice lately. 3. I picked free figs in the weekend from my mother’s tree. It was a tiny pick because it was so hot outside. 4. I walked in the very early morning hours on the weekend before the fig picking, and was drenched in sweat. Did I mention it is hot and humid? 5. Nap on weekend because well, it is too hot to do anything else. Did I mention I am hot and cranky? Yes, that is the theme here.
I often wonder how we survived without AC. I think we were acclimated to the heat and humidity. Stay cool!
Bee, I am such a Whitney baby about this heat but with a heat index hovering around 110 degrees I actually cannot think. I am staying over at work, which is supposed to be part time, because of the air conditioner there…. Lol. So they are definitely getting full time work in part time pay during this heat wave!
Whining baby……sigh
110 is too hot for most humans to think clearly! Thanks for correcting “Whitney baby” – I thought it was some bit of southern slang I’d never heard of.
Vickey (whose brain melts early and avoids the rush.)
Oh my but that brings up memories of growing up in Illinois with no AC ever. Waking up drenched in sweat with the bedroom windows wide open but not a hint of a breeze. I don’t miss it.
I grew up in the deep South in a house with no A/C and no fans. I used to wring my pajamas out in cold water and sleep in damp clothes.
That does not sound like a fond memory.
Not a speck of breeze. The air is so humid you can almost drink it. I definitely relate!
“Air you can swim through”, one friend calls it.
1. Got word today that I’ve received a scholarship towards grad school this fall. It won’t cover the full amount, but it will certainly help! I am so relieved and excited.
2. We’ve been eating out of the pantry/freezer and while these are hardly the most fun meals, they’re enough to keep us going and not have to order takeout.
3. We drove to a weekend at a friend’s house, eschewing flights given the recent chaos. It turned out to be a wonderful time to listen to audiobooks from the library and chat!
4. Avoided buying new clothes for big recent events and hoping to keep this trend going.
5. Went for my annual eye exam and opted for a full year’s supply of contacts. This was cheaper than 6 months at a time per pair and I got a free pair of sunglasses. Minor victory!
Congratulations on your scholarship!
Congrats on the scholarship!
Hahaha on #5- didn’t buy a Lear Jet! My seven year old son is fixated on the idea we buy a private jet because we could seek an electric engine (not entirely sure the technology is there yet, but know it’s heading…) instead of flying commercial/ using jet fuel/ bad for the environment. I can’t help him understand that the cost of the jet itself is so very far out of our reach…
1. Having a ‘grocery shopping free’ week – there’s sufficient in my fridge, freezer and larder to feed one person healthy food for at least a week.
2. Running my a/c unit only in the evening to cool my bedroom in this PNW heatwave.
3. Fixed my unreliable garage door by following YouTube videos, thereby saving a hefty call out and repair charge.
4. Discovered that my elderly d/washer works for now if I force drain it before every wash cycle – another YouTube video fix.
5. Scoured the internet for the best price on a particular yarn for a winter project. I had to wait a few weeks for it to be delivered but saved 50%. I’ll have many hours of enjoyment knitting a beautiful, hard wearing, one of a kind garment that will be worn for years.
1. Blessing my solar panels and heat pump, we are having a bit of a heat event (hot for me as I am a wet West Coaster and anything over 24 degrees C is hot). The solar panels just had their first birthday, and I am now guilt free with the AC – as I now get money back from Hydro, rather than having to pay.
2. Have discovered that if I put the running spray hose into the raised bed that I am watering and take a moment or three to dig potatoes, cut lettuce, trim garlic scapes, pick broccoli… well, I get those things done and the watering too. I had been too tired after watering to get the harvesting done. Dinner was home grown broccoli, home grown chicken, home grown lettuce salad, delicious new potatoes. felt good to have revisited my garden and cooking to ensure I eat well as well as keep the plants watered.
3. #2 Son, who has been moping around jobless for about a year (after graduating University during COVID, with a degree in bio-Chemistry, and no replies to his applications) has become very excited about a couple of training programs for work in medical labs. There is a huge shortage of workers, and the $14,000 ten month program that he was considering suddenly is being offered at just $5,000. He likely will get in, even though his manner of applying was not perfectly done (he wasn’t aware that he could begin the process before he had all the transcripts and such, so was later getting the application in than optimal. )
4. I need a new recliner chair. My last one, purchased at a thrift store, wasn’t really well suited. My girlfriend and I were at a church sale and she forcefully insisted that I get a recliner that they had. it is much nicer! the old one is out on the road with a free sign, but likely will go to the dump.
5. Not frugal and yet worth it. After getting a new to me stove on our local Buy Nothing group, I came to the realization that this is THE appliance that I should be purchasing new. I cook a LOT. So my son just got a new induction stove, we discussed it and I ended up ordering the same stove from his ‘guy’. It won’t arrive for another couple of weeks, giving me time (I hope!) to repair the huge hole in the wall that I discovered when we did the last stove exchange. oops. Good thing I think I can figure out how to put in a drywall patch. once I find some drywall!
6. I am much more aware of what perishable foods I have in the fridge and am ensuring that we are eating them up before I bring in more. It is still a slow process, however learning to reduce the quantity of food I am making (takes time to learn how to cut back from cooking for 5!) and ensuring that I package the leftovers in glass containers (and for #2 son, in a meal sized portion with variety in the container, so he takes some of everything, he is lazy otherwise and won’t open 4 jars to get the food, will just take one jar. I now put some of everything into a container, voila, meal in a jar.)
Re: Sheetrock/drywall..lots of home improvement stores sell small pieces of the same. Patching is easy, you might need small lengths of lath to go in behind. The patch, but Google it. Nice thing with where this problem area is, no one sees it!
Best of luck to your son getting into the training program. A huge savings for him.
I wondered if your son was going to his training to become a Clinical Laboratory Scientist (called a Medical Technologist in some labs). My sister does this job & yes there is a shortage. I am happy your son has found an avenue to use to use his science degree. Earning a degree in Biochemistry is not easy, lots of science & math.
Hi Katy- Sorry about your foot pain. That really sucks. I like that you and your neighbor share a trash pick-up expense. Here in my area of NJ there is no ala carte feature for trash. However, my next door neighbor and I each have a 1/2 acre plot and for many years we have been sharing a lawn mower. We just purchased an electric mower and we will never buy a gas mower again. My husband grew up in a neighborhood with a community snow-blower that one neighbor liked to operate. Sharing (in our case) makes good neighbors.
Sorry for the obvious pun, but . . . sharing is caring!