Non-Consumer Photo Essay
by Katy on September 7, 2025 · 43 comments
Yesterday was the first Saturday of the month, which meant there was nothing short of a level five hurricane to keep me from hitting the Franz Bakery Outlet!
Because:
Even though all their bargain bread is priced the same, I was still judicious with my purchases. because this sleeve of English muffins:
Was not as much of a bargain as its neighbor, packaged for the restaurant trade:
In all, I bought four bread items, including this 16-pack of hamburger buns! It might be time for a batch of my black bean burgers!
People complain about Goodwill pricing, which I totally understand as I’ve certainly been baffled by their $10 Target T shirts. However, you can still locate the bargains that hide between the overpriced items. Just yesterday I found these two items in their furniture section.
This antique oak dining table, priced at $24.99:
Next to an IKEA rolling cart, priced at $19.99:
I also stopped into Fred Meyer for eggs and milk, but made sure to meander through their clearance areas. I scored tomatoes and limes, (both $1.50 per package) plus a bottle of $1.05 organic barbecue sauce. I scanned my Red Cross gift card, which is now sadly depleted. Might be time to schedule another blood letting donation.
My total out of pocket cost for all this food was $4.79, the 79¢ being how much I had to pay after the gift card.
The best part of my day which was wholly undocumented was that I ran into two separate blog readers at the Franz outlet, which was great fun. I always love meeting fellow nonconsumers! Great to meet you, Linda and Katy!
Katy Wolk-Stanley
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{ 43 comments… read them below or add one }
The first weekend of Fall was college football from
AM to PM
1. We had leftovers in between games.
2. I shipped 2 online sales
3. Took dog to friends for free nail grinding
4. Gathered a box of odds and ends for my sisters upcoming garage sale
5. Today I pulled a few weeds, trimmed roses, planted some clippings from sisters house and used coffee grounds to fertilize roses.
Thanks for the reminder to use coffee grounds for fertilizer! I’m not a big coffee drinker, but my husband has a cup every morning.
1. My teen asked for me to add two things to the shopping list. Instead I shopped our home and found an alternative for both items.
2. My bestie and I share two streaming services and split the cost. We usually swap which service we pay for each year to get the best promo deal. We just did our annual switch for one of them. The cost would have been $60 to renew and it’s $30 to switch and freshly subscribe. $15 for the year is a win for me.
3. I cleaned and pulled out the 3 tiny fall decorative items, a fall flower vase, and a fall tapestry I own. I put some pothos plant cuttings in the vase (I’d love some fresh flowers but they are $$.), hung the tapestry, and traded some photo frame prints to give the house a cozy fall vibe. $0 spent.
4. I picked up a beautiful snake plant that someone dropped for me at the local place we meet for our monthly social group. It’s huge, and gorgeous!
5. I’m using some nearly expired applesauce to make some applesauce bread. This way the house will smell like fall too. It will be great with the coffee I am still drinking from my parent’s give away haul.
Hi Christina! I’m not sure what streaming services you have, but I wanted to also recommend that Hulu has a great black Friday deal. We pay $3/month with ads.
Thanks for the recommendation! Streaming deals are just about the only thing I check for on Black Friday. I’ll be on the look out again this year.
Christina– thank you for the reminder about fall items. I am going to pull out my fall placemats and tray, my only seasonal decorations for this time of year. Not counting of course, bowls of apples, and sunflowers in a vase.
Sunflowers in the vase would be my preferred choice but they are pricey here. Enjoy! I forgot to include the twinkle lights I put up.
The sunflowers were a gift from someone’s garden, but now you’ve reminded me of the tiny (non-twinkling) lights I need to hang!
By chance, I saw a link on another blog about free or lower cost dental care at dental schools, with a search-by-state function. Although it might not work for Melissa N, who has written about her tooth problem, here it is:
https://www.newmouth.com/resources/dental-schools/
(The website has search functions for dentists— I only looked at the part about schools).
Melissa N and Heidi Louise,
Melissa if you’re in the Athens GA are I would be glad to give you my dentist’s information. I’m sure he would see you asap.
I am hoping Melissa N sees the comments on the September 6 posting (there were 2 that came later than most) and today’s post —- and gives us an update on whether she has been able to find any office who can at least do sone preliminary work on her abscess.
Sugar Cat Farm -Thanks for the offer, but it is a bit of a commute from Danville, Pennsylvania. My sister-in-lawluvesin Epworth, GA (Fannin County) and my niece and her husband just bought a house outside of Atlanta. They have to get their house here sold before finalizing the move, hopefully by the end of the year.
Melissa, if you’re not showing any improvement yet please call your dentist and inform him of this. You may need a different antibiotic.
Fannin County is beautiful! Best of luck to your niece and her husband on their sale and move to Georgia. I hope it’s not too much of a culture shock for them moving from PA to GA
1. I have been on my bread making grind! I found this truly delicious and simple bread recipe that my family has been loving, and it’s an easy way to keep cost down and bellies full. Here’s the recipe for those who are interested: https://www.recipetineats.com/easy-yeast-bread-recipe-no-knead/#h-how-to-make-the-world-s-easiest-homemade-bread-artisan-style
2. My family recently switched over to a powder laundry detergent from a gigantic bottle of Costco brand. I’m not sure if it actually is cheaper, but we’ve been getting it in bulk from our local zero waste store. My partner was apprehensive at first, but it works! And I feel better about reducing the plastic waste, which I think is frugal in itself.
3. I have been meaning to get together with my friend from work for awhile now, and we were originally going to go out for drinks at a local restaurant. Since budgets are tight, she’s coming to my house instead and my live in bartender (aka my partner) will be making spicy mango margaritas for us instead.
4. I switched my cat over to a local brand of cat food. It is a little more expensive, but the pet warehouse offers a “buy 10 get one free” punch card. I’m slowly working myself away from purchasing from big corporations and making intentionally healthy choices for my family. It’s a process.
5. We did a quick clean around the house for company today, using cleaning sprays we make at home and rags that I made from old t shirts in college. When I was cleaning, I was reflecting on how long I have had my vacuum cleaners and felt an appreciation for the things that I have kept in working order. When we moved to our new apartment, I almost bought a fancy vacuum, but since I only really use it for the rugs, it wasn’t worth it.
I switched to Nellie’s Laundry Soda last year and it was such a great switch for us. I love the tin, the reduction of plastic and the $ it’s saving me! I order through Costco too.
We get the dissolvable laundry sheets from Earth Breeze. 60 normal size loads in a package that’s about the size of a 5″ × 7″ envelope. Comes in the mail. If you order a year’s worth, you get a discount. Can’t afford to do that right now. $12/month, free shipping. Packaging is recycleable. Lightweight and takes little room to store. You can skip a month if you have enough to get you to the next month. May be a little pricey, but for each package you buy, the company donates enough detergent for 10 loads of laundry to a charity. They have several charities to choose from. We chose homeless shelters.
That bread looks great. I am going to give it a try.
Had a wonderful surprise running into Katy at the Franz Outlet. My daughter and I then went on to Grocery Outlet. A great afternoon with my kid, and as a bonus, a Katy-sighting!
Sadly I have been too busy (or happily, I have been working) to respond lately, but I just did a few micro-frugals to share:
1. I saved the blank “This Page Intentionally Blank” last pages from my husband’s many Medicare/insurance mailings, and made a scratch pad of them, shredded the important pieces.
2. Made gazpacho this morning for today’s lunch out of several sad tomatoes that the snails or hornworms got to, and the parsley stems after I made a bowl of taboulleh for a potluck party we are attending later today. If you make a spicy tomato smoothie, aka gazpacho, it makes a delicious, cool, no-waste lunch.
3. My husband’s senior league softball team has been playing in the park right where I pick blackberries, so for two nights I have picked berries before and after the games (which I walked to), Blackberries in the freezer, and a BB crisp made last night. Free, free, free.
4. All of my sad apples are about to jump in the crock pot and become applesauce. All free or sad leftovers from a misbegotten bag from the store. No waste. The cores and peels will go into a future batch of apple cider vinegar.
5. I have been coaxing my mom into using her tablet as a Kindle. She keeps saying she needs to buy a Kindle, but I explained that the free app is the same as buying a Kindle (more or less). And she can also download Libby. She had no idea, and I have just saved her $$$.
Beautiful fall weather here in the mid-Sierras, Nor Cal.
LOL Julia…I thought I was the only one who does # 1
You’ve got me more aware of the clearance produce at Kroger. I recently bought a bag of limes, gave three away, kept four, and will try and squeeze some juice out of the remaining six then to the compost they go – all for $1.50.
Joanie, a few seconds in the microwave will help loosen those limes to get all the juice possible.
I went to our local bakery and got their $2 day old loaves. It’s still a good deal (not as good as yours though!) and I’m supporting a local business.
Impressive haul for less than $5!
A friend gave me a mini rose, kalanchoe and orchids that were thru blooming. Her family brings her plants or blooming flowers every week. I will re-pot and propagate for future hostess gifts.
Picked up a box of jelly jars at the community recycling center.
Harvested oregano, thyme and sage to dry in the hot water closet.
Picked a bucket of red peppers, onions, basil and oregano to chop up and freeze.
Making a big batch of fresh salsa, Insta pot pinto beans, chorizo and guacamole for tonight’s big family dinner. Sheet cake cheesecake with strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and salted caramel sauce.
Cousin dropped off a 5gallon bucket of beeswax to clean up and prepare for use.
I made your black bean burgers this week and served them with oven fried sweet potatoes. Yum! I thought of you during dinner lol
I feel that I’ll see you in the wild one of these days. I’ll probably be too shy to say something.
My husband broke his Starbucks mug. After a moment of silence, I reminded him that it wouldn’t be necessary to purchase a replacement mug since mugs often appear out of thin air. Today, I was out walking and found a nice Starbucks mug in a free pile. The mug is from their “Been there” series, and the featured city is my hometown, which is a 2,000 miles distance from here.
I’m on a mission to use up items from my freezer. One item taking up too much space was a loaf of “Seattle sourdough sandwich round sourdough bread” that I bought for $1 from the Franz wall of bargain bread. It’s not very tasty. I made bread pudding with some of it. The bread pudding wasn’t good. Frugal fail! I’ll use the rest to feed to crows… if the crows will have it.
Grand mug manifesting there, Li!
I love crows! They are my favorite bird. I feed them veg scraps, stale bread, stale cookies. Whatever is kitchen waste.
1. Went to my son’s house yesterday for free entertainment ala board games.
2. Went to the gym this morning (free to me) and found a receipt in the parking lot to scan on Fetch.
3. Bought paint and supplies after confirming with my grandson that he will paint my bathroom. No special deal at Home Depot, but I did get a free paint can opener and stirring stick! Also got the free advice of a painting pro who was shopping there.
4. Ran my car through the cheap carwash, where the vacuum is free. Afterwards I handwiped the areas the water couldn’t reach.
5. My tire pressure light came on, so I went to Midas. They checked for leaks and nails, determined that I just needed air, which they added, and there was no charge.
6. Using up my perishables — I had strawberries for breakfast, and home fries for dinner. Made a personal size pizza for lunch with some leftover pizza dough from the freezer, and green peppers and mushrooms as toppings. Used marinara instead of pizza sauce, and it was fine.
1. I made a huge pot of caldo verde with garden kale delivered by my SIL. Also made a pot of Cuban black beans, both of which I shared with SIL, and with her father who especially likes both recipes and doesn’t cook much in his apartment. There was plenty left for the freezer.
2. I hit a bag sale at a church thrift shop that’s closing for the summer. I got 6 almost-new tops for fall, 3 chair cushions (high on my want list), two matching twin quilts for my daybed with trundle, a bunch of kitchen things, including an apple corer (!), and a ruby red liqueur glass I have no earthly use for but just love. This church is in a wealthy town and their thrift merchandise is always high quality and barely used.
One possible fail was a heated neck band that charges with a USB but doesn’t seem to be working. I’m going to see if it needs a different cord or a new battery so maybe it won’t be a fail. I want to give it to my brother who has a lot of neck pain. I spent $40 for everything.
3. Free piles: This week turned up a coir rug in great condition that I can use in my mudroom, twice. (It’s twice as long as my mudroom so I’ll cut it in half.) I usually buy one every fall and wear it out by spring. I also found, six dinner plates that don’t match but will work with the ones I have. If I ever host Thanksgiving or Christmas again..
4. Picked up three books I’d reserved at the college library. Stopped by the free table in my old office when I went to check mail and got three books to read and two to sell.
5. I bit the bullet and listed my classic Jotul 118 woodstove for sale on our town list serve. This creature is a thing of beauty and in perfect condition but I no longer want to carry logs up from the basement all winter long. I know too many women my age who’ve had bad falls! It’s silly but I hate to part with it… (Now if I could only make myself consign that gold cocktail dress…)
UPDATE: I tried a different cord and the neck warmer is charging!
I wish we had a bakery outlet near us, we used to but it closed with COVID and never reopened.
1. Since school started back I have noticed that we are only spending money on Saturday and Sunday each week. Yay!
2. My basil plant which did nothing all summer has exploded in the past few weeks and today I picked enough for a double batch of pesto. I make mine without pine nuts because those are expensive.
3. It has been unseasonably cool the past month, esp at night. We have used no heat or AC in over a month. I have been tempted on the heat because it got down to 65 in the house and it wasn’t warming up during the day. But I held out.
4. Still picking tomatoes from my garden but the weather is not helping them ripen very fast.
5. I made a large batch of breakfast sausage today as well as a homemade quick bread for our breakfasts for the next few days.
Jennifer, you can pick tomatoes once they break color on the bottom and bring them in to ripen. They ripen from the temperature, and once they break color they’ve received all the sustenance they need from the vine.
My favorite store has a freezer section that stocks food they discontinued selling. I was able to get mango chunks for $1. They had 4 so I got all for smoothies.
I went nowhere today so no gas or spending. Instead I puttered all day, did laundry, went through closets to find items to donate or consign, reorganized my linen closet (found items I had forgotten), cleaned a drawer, picked tomatoes and peppers and roasted then before puréing them for a sauce for a lasagna recipe i will make later in the week. I spent some time organizing information for a meeting I have to run mid-week. Tore a few pages out of an old cookbook that was falling apart and needs to be tossed, – our favorite pages can go in my recipe binder.
1. I had a sweet and deep celebration of my 6th sober birthday with my sober Daughter Outlaw and one of my chosen daughters, who is also sober. I made a bowl that was supposed to have couscous, and oops, Frugal Fail, my couscous didn’t smell fresh (chickens will enjoy, though).
Instead I made quinoa. It was a curry bowl with chickpeas and peas and cashews that were supposed to be coated with chia seeds (and maple syrup). Welp, didn’t have any more chia seeds, either, but ground flax seeds turned out to be a delicious sub.
The entire bowl was a bit of a dance of substitutions, and the end result was very tasty – with no grocery store run required. I use the pirate’s code approach to recipes “ only guidelines”.
2. I found two tell-tale pears under one of my trees (luckily ON the picnic table under the tree, so the chickens hadn’t found them). After my guests left I forced myself outside, and strapped two Katy-buckets around my waist (with my grandmother’s silver and gold braided leather belt – too cool for school).
Picked and then transferred the pears into a (reinforced) banana box. Went looking for the orchard ladder once I had circled the tree and got the low hanging fruit (see what I did there?).
The ladder wasn’t where I had left it, however I did eventually locate it, and succeeded in getting all but maybe 4 of the pears on that tree. I don’t know how many pounds were picked, but I had to stop filling the banana box at about ¾ full (pears are HEAVY) and found another box. I also filled a liquor store box with the misshapen ones – sorting as I went along, to make my life easier later.
I now need to find some grocery paper bags; I find that is the best way to ripen pears – a couple of layers in a bag, roll the top down. Keeps the fruit flies out, and fairly easy to unroll and check every couple of days until they start to ripen, then check every day. I hope to get much of this harvest canned – a favourite around here, just need to find the energy. If nothing else I will slice and dehydrate, as those are also a beloved favourite.
3. One of my Long Time Best Buddies (LTBB) dropped in for the night – we had a lovely long walk together, she commiserated with me about the loss of my dog (who ADORED her), and we solved some of the worlds problems. Mostly, she shared with me all the many adventures she has been on this summer, and I enjoyed her stories, while feeling not a single twinge of FOMO. We walked again in the morning before she left, too!
4. LTBB is fairly hyper and is a do-er. She also is a morning person (5AM), so I gave her a chore for the morning before I got up – she washed and then halved all the remaining prune plums, and also rinsed off the dehydrator racks so I could set out the last of them. My aching hands thank her!
5. LTBB and I are now discussing a January holiday together either this coming year or next – somewhere in the Caribbean, apparently. I will follow her lead, my only request is that we not land in the USA en route (sorry folk) and that the cost be reasonable. Destination negotiable. Guess I will be saving pennies, yet again!
6. Visited a thrift store with LTBB – she got some great deals in clothing that I found for her (good prices anyway, and it all was half price). I am not great at finding clothes for myself, but she had a couple of wants and I pulled them off the hangers – she spent most of her time trying on clothes, and had them cut the price tag off a shirt she was going to wear out of the store. It was one that I just KNEW was perfect for her.
I got a couple of pretty necklaces (also half price). A Necklace can upscale just about any outfit, so I am always on the lookout for unique older pieces that are fairly light. I can’t wear earrings and my hands are so gnarly that I rarely wear rings, so necklaces to the rescue – even better when they are a bargain ($3 instead of $6, for example).
I also picked up a barely worn London Fog lined (removable liner ) knee length jacket – for $4!! Even if it isn’t right for me, it is a warm jacket for when someone comes to visit and doesn’t have the right gear (which happens frequently here on the farm). I picked up a pair of runners, too, that seem to have been made for me: barely worn, black exterior but the insides are purple – who could resist? (and at half price, total $5, it wasn’t me!)
Eco-Teri, congratulations on your sober birthday! It must be life changing. And way to go with those pears!
How wonderful for you and the people who care about you to reach your anniversary! I hope your sober journey continues to become easier.
Ecoteri — I wouldn’t land in the USA right now, either. Unfortunately, I have to live here! If I were younger I’d move.
I despair when I read about good people leaving the US now, when we need the good to stay and fight.
1. I got a small package of stew meat (1.2 lb.) that was 1/2 off. It was a little over 5 dollars. Stew used to be an economy meal but no more. The beef would have been over 10 dollars if not reduced. I added a lot of veg to stretch the meat. The crock pot tenderized the meat & it was tasty.
2. I trash picked a knife block w/ knives that I needed.
3. I found a large box of Huggies diapers size 1. I will take these to the local shelter along w/ 2 unopened cans of in date Enfamil infant formula.
4. I also curb picked a dish drainer. I will sanitize it in the dishwasher.
5. My car needs an inspection to renew the license plate. I got a coupon on Groupon for $9.80.
@texasilver, your posts are always so interesting and unexpected. Trash picked knife block with knives? Dish drainer? Diapers? I love that you have a route you follow and that it is fruitful.
As for the stew meat, you gave me a lovely reminder of one day when my father was cooking dinner (once mom started university, dad was on the hook for dinner on his half day of work). I blithely arrived with three hungry friends in tow, all of whom I had invited for dinner.
Dad just blinked, hard. Then cut up 6 more potatoes and added them to the beef stew he was making. I don’t think any of us noticed, and I only know now because he told the story ‘on me’ about a decade later. (Dad was a very kind man, so he waited until he knew I could handle feeling badly about putting that on him…)
I actually always preferred the veggies to the meat, in stew. One of the many reasons I gave up eating ‘red meat’ when I turned 18.
TY for kind words Ecoteri. Americans throw so much away when there are people in need. I take many of my “found” items to the local shelter. I find most of my treasures outside of apartment dumpsters at the 1st of the month. Tenants are moving out or moving in & they leave many useable items. I have never gotten into a dumpster. Usually, the items are on the pavement outside the dumpster. College move- out in May also yields usable items.
Our bread outlets have long gone by the wayside. Even the last time I tried a clearance grocer, nothing was a value. It was junk food and prices for regular items more than average sale prices. I’ll have to keep pursuing loss leaders and scratch baking. I need to figure out bagels.