Three Frugal Things -- A Frugal Spa Treatment
1) I crisped up the last of some frozen corn tortillas in my cast iron skillet and used them to scoop up scrambled eggs (with spinach) and waffle iron tater tots. This meal was inspired by The Frugal Girl's Freezer Challenge.
Initially thought I was "taking one for the team" with these broken tortillas, but they were actually enjoyably crispy.
2) I finished refurbishing my thrifted Land's End tote. I removed the monogram a few days ago, so it was time to restitch the strap in the above photo.
It's not perfect, but it's good enough.
I also gave the tote a scrubby spa treatment and it's currently drying on the front porch. (Spa treatments for thrifted items instead of myself is how you know I'm a true frugalista!) I'm not sure how much of the monogram shadow I was able to remove but it'll still be better than if I'd done nothing.
Liquid And Calloused?
3) I sold the wool blend Portland Gear baseball cap that I thrifted when my sister was in town. You might be tempted to think, "What's the big deal? A whopping $15 sale!"
But keep in mind that the entirety of my Goodwill bins haul that day added up to $9.10:
Which included this outdoor cushion:
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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Have you tried steaming the monogrammed area? Was that part of the spa treatment?
I’ve been engaged in nothing glamorous today. Just a lot of farm stuff since, alas, this is not a hobby farm.
Your breakfast reminds me a bit of Bradley on a Budget, but better. He wouldn’t eat spinach though.
1. The weather here in Greater Boston chilled rather dramatically so my A/C has been off for 5 days already. The challenge is “No heat until Trick or Treat”. Hardier souls aim for “No heat until Pilgrims eat”.
2. I have a surplus of protein drinks from when both DS32 and I had bone grafts prior to a dental implant. I don’t like the taste of them - the artificial sweeteners are overpowering so I dilute them with iced coffee and make that my at home lunch. My son takes one in his lunch too.
3. Eating our way through our pantry, fridge and freezer prior to vacation.
4. Returning DD30 cans and bottles because she can’t be bothered. In Massachusetts it’s still only 5 cents each and the bill for a deposit on water bottles is unlikely to get passed. DH applies the proceeds of the returnables to our gasoline budget.
5. Tinted my eyebrows today using a kit. They look very dark compared to my white hair but they will lighten up in a few days. I cannot stand having gray and white eyebrows.
In our household (also greater Boston!), we live by "no heat 'til trick or treat!"
I do the same in Michigan!
Freezer challenge: chicken carcass, instapot, oldish corn tortillas, green chiles from the freezer, Monterey jack = white chick enchiladas. Roasted corn, Pico De Gallo.
Took remainder of garden celery, smallish onions, carrots, chopped for freezer mirepoix.
Made a 5 gallon crock of sauerkraut, using my great grandpas pounder. I use the cuisinart for shredding the cabbage. This used up the rain split summer cabbages.
A $15 sale sounds good to me!
This morning I made tiny cinnamon rolls from leftover pie crust. My mother used to do this as a treat for me after she made a pie. Just cut into strips, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, roll up and bake. A bit of nostalgia. I had stewed apples, too, to make it more of a rounded-out breakfast.
My lunch was a slice of quiche Lorraine and green beans. Dinner -- which is always light -- just a half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, with prunes on the side for fiber.
I finished The Calamity Club, so I will run it back to the library tomorrow. It's a Most Wanted book, so it must be returned promptly.
The weather has turned quite brisk, which is good for my electric bill. Cool enough to wear a sweatshirt to bed. I'm not complaining!
Beth, my mom did the same with leftover pie crust except for the rolling up part. Thank you for bringing back a wonderful memory from my childhood!
Ours were never rolled up - just the strip but then again there were two of us. Regardless, it was always quite the treat. I did the same for my kiddos.
We called the pie crust rolls "brinker bronkers" in my family, which may have just been something my dad said. He was a silly goose and I miss him every day.
1. Continued my free TV streaming on the new TV by watching another few episodes of Dark Shadows (1966 version) and -- in honor of A. Marie-- the tail end of BBC's Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy. (Sadly, I didn't turn the TV on in time to see the whole thing....but I'm sure it'll be shown again....) Also got to watch a lot of news programs, including CNN and BBC and Scripps, until I got tired of watching a certain ugly-looking orange demon make a fool of himself at the United Nations.
2. Got a credit card bill in the mail and discovered some charges I did not recognize, and did not make. Tracked them down and got them removed. Methinks my former Roommate from Hell was up to no good (as usual) and enrolled me in some retail membership clubs. For full details, see my post on Frugal Girl today.
3. Monica came over and helped me re-pot my ailing ivy, using pots and potting soil I already had. So nice to have a friend who has a green thumb!
4. I got to see Monica's new apartment. It is a brand new duplex unit in a senior citizen "village," aka a senior living community. I'd given her some curtains that were sent to me in error because they were not the color/pattern I'd ordered, but Temu said to keep them anyway and they sent me the right design. In her living room, those curtains look fantastic! Monica has fixed up her little place to be a very cozy cottage, and it is much safer than where she lived before. I'm so happy for her!
5. Frugal fail: it is hard for me to grip things bc of arthritis in my hands. The city water dept. called me and said my account was showing excessive usage. Turned out to be an outdoor water faucet that I hadn't turned off all the way, and was dripping a bit. Happy that I didn't have to call in a plumber, but I'm afraid next month's bill will look like Trump's national debt.
One big frugal that I forgot yesterday: We got a bill to the tune of nearly $800 for an ambulance trip that DS#3 had had between two hospitals. Instead of just assuming we had to pay it, DH did a little digging and after spending about twenty minutes on the insurance website chatting with a representative, he learned that the ambulance company has a contract with our insurance company and after the insurance company paid what was agreed on, the ambulance people turned around and tried to charge US that amount. Insurance company agreed we did not have to pay it and so we saved $800 in twenty minutes. Always question your insurance bill!
I confess that I'm feeling rather smug right now because my freezers are not out of control. We eat down our garage chest freezer in June, empty it completely and turn it off for the summer. This also necessitates eating down the kitchen freezer because anything I want to save from garage freezer has to go in kitchen freezer. We just turned our chest freezer back on so it is recently filled with day old bread ($2 a loaf) and alllllll of the pints of homemade tomato sauce that I made this summer. It feels so expansive to have 2 freezers again.
I relented and used the car today to pick up an unopened jar of PB from BN, and do an errand on the same street. I went to a Master Gardener meeting and got a ride with a friend who likes to drive and clearly doesn't mind that gas is now over $6 a gallon.
I sold 2 items on Vinted. I listed 2 more. I gave away 2 items on BN. Walked with friends and was given a winter squash and some fabric. Fabric is already sorted into donate/gift to DIL/sell.
Enjoy your smugness, you worked hard for it and deserve all the lovely feelings.
In Texas we are dreaming of the cooler weather that some of the readers comment on. We are also dreaming of rain.
1. I too foraged in the freezer. I found some Hillshire Farms brats & some baked beans. That made a tasty dinner.
2. I went to the bread thrift store a few weeks ago as husband said we needed bread. Hmmm. The freezer had bread in it. Oh well. I put the newly purchased bread in with the other items.
3. I went for a mammogram which was paid for by insurance. I'll get $15 added to my insurance reward card for getting this done. I helped myself to the coffee machine at the hospital. Many flavors & types of coffee offered. I made a French Vanilla latte.
4. I made a grilled ham & cheese sandwich which I had planned to take to work for lunch. I never got around to eating it, so hubby ate it for dinner w/ 2 slices of leftover pizza. Not a healthy dinner but he did not complain.
5. I found a good-sized amount of Takis chips and Bimbo snack items on my evening walk. These items are usually favored by Hispanics. They were a few days out of date & were in a cardboard box in a convenience store dumpster. I don't know if the homeless shelter will take them, but I will try to donate them. If the shelter does not want them then I will keep them in my car & pass out to those that are panhandling on street corners. My husband has a friend that also likes the spicy Takis chips. He can have some.
1. I used cranberries and pecans a neighbor gave me to make mini loaves of Cranberry Nut bread. The orange juice was surplus from a volunteer gig.
2. It rained all day so I walked with a large umbrella DH rescued before it was thrown in the trash at work.
3. I wore an old pair of waterproof shoes while running errands and while walking.
4. I activated a cash back deal at the grocery store through my credit card account. I should eventually earn 8% cash back. I bought a few boxes of sparking water since the store brand was buy one, get one free. I also bought marked down organic rice and some other reasonably priced items.
Cranberry pecan bread sounds really good!
Katy, are you keeping the LAC tote or selling?
Linguini and Cannolis?
Yes to both. I'll be selling the tote and I want both the linguini and the the cannoli!
Not much frugal about buying a house, but a few small wins:
-We closed on our house Monday! We enjoyed a bottle of gifted champagne then came back to our apartment and made dinner instead of going out.
-Had work events/receptions all day yesterday and managed to snag free coffee and dinner.
-Did not cave to taking a cab home and instead stuck to taking the train.
-We got all our fall vaccines last week when we could lie low before the craziness.
-Realized my back cannot handle wearing flats or heels for full days but needed a pair of sneakers that felt more appropriate (mine are white and...kind of gross). Found a pair for $30 in a local shop instead of ordering online or caving to a more expensive brand. Very pleased with myself!
Congrats on your new house! I don’t know how you are paying but sounds like you closed before the new mortgage rates kicked in! You will have so much fun decorating and all.
You and Kristen have inspired me to take a good look at our freezer food.
Tonight I served a dinner almost totally out of the freezer, including hamburger (4 beef, 2 veggie patties) plus 2 hamburger buns plus 3 whole wheat English muffins. I also found some frozen blackberries from an earlier summer foraging and had those with my yogurt at breakfast. I'm traveling for a couple of days, so I'll take a hiatus, but I look forward to continuing to eat down the freezer when I return. Thanks for the inspiration!
Kristen is so disciplined, she's an excellent role model!
I think the monogram was for “lake” in French. The previous owner probably put everything they needed for the “lac” in this bag.
That's an excellent guess!