Three Frugal Things -- Happy 5th of July!
1) I wasn't planning on doing anything for the fourth of July, but my daughter and her girlfriend stopped by with hotdogs, sausages and buns. This prompted a makeshift barbecue that included mango slices, tater tots and deviled eggs.
The hotdogs were extra yummy with the addition of homemade sauerkraut!
2) I started reading a library copy of The Light Pirate, by Lily Brooks-Dalton. I'm only a couple chapters in, but it seems good so far.
Even if I don't finish, all I have to do for the library summer adult reading program is to read every day for 16 more days. Almost halfway done!
3) I sold a pair of cutoff jeans on eBay. I accepted a $20 offer because I'm happy to make room for thrifted items that'll sell for bigger profits.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Man I forget about deviled eggs. My toddler has an egg allergy, so we have not been eating eggs unless baked these days. How could I sneakily make and eat a batch?
1. Got a half a box of Costco granola bars from BN group.
2. Had neighbors over for DIY pizza night. They brought over a few jalepenos from their garden. Ours aren’t producing much yet, but hopefully soon!
3. Listed a handful of things on Poshmark and Mercari today.
4. Sold some random toys and such on marketplace.
5. Didn’t spend money on fireworks that is literally lighting money on fire, to set them off illegally and burn down the whole (already on fire) state of CO.
1. Likewise, a very quiet (until both the storm and fireworks) 4th. Lunch was cobbled together from scraps in the fridge, then I went to visit my mom who is still in the nursing home/rehab place where I snagged a free diet root beer. Then my sister and I headed over to BJ's, where I saved $37 on $48. Went out for Chinese (I know, random, but they were open) with dad, sister, and bil. Bil generously picked up the tab. I bought my sister a watermelon and yogurt at BJ's.
2. My partner was able to bring home a CSA berry share, as someone didn't pick theirs up. It was all local strawberries. I added free blueberries and raspberries from my parents' bushes, as it is a bumper crop this year.
3. I picked up 2 large bags of "dented" limes, juiced them, and froze in ice cube trays. They ended up costing 6 for .97. The store was charging 2 for $1 for the non-dented ones.
4. I picked up another mystery shop on my drive from my parents' home and my home, which paid for my lunch (burger & fries), made $20, and there were so many fries that I brought them home, and we had them as a side for dinner.
5. Ocean State Job Lot is also on the way home, so I stopped in and bought 9 bags of Confetti brand chips (made from veg & mushrooms). They cost $4.99 at Wegmans, but were $2.00 each, but then I got back a gift certificate for the total amount ($18.00) so would have cost $45 were, in essence, free.
I love those deals at OSJL. You did great getting the chips for free. When you see what they would have cost at Wegmans, the deal is even sweeter!
This is only thrifty in the sense it isn't frugal to have your house burn down, but since Sunday is the day my side of the street is allowed to water our yards, I practically flooded my lawn this morning and I'm doing it again tonight. Not happy about changing the water sprinklers every half hour but since we had a rainy June, I had a month off before I had to go outside and water. Highs were in the 100s the last 2 days and the Saint Augustine grass is shriveling in the heat. With the firecracking idiots popping off their illegal fireworks next door, I'm making my yard a swamp tonight because my next "legal" day to water won't be until Tuesday. They keep on with the firecrackers for several nights, not just the 4th.
Bought a big bottle of PowerAde for 69 cents at the store; we had it on sale. It says it contains more electrolytes than other drinks. No wonder we're selling it cheap: it tastes like salty Koolade. Yuck! But if it keeps me from getting heat exhaustion.....
My July 4 observance was writing a nice big check to the Democratic party. The founding fathers would be proud of me.
I was glad to see that the cutoffs sold for $20 rather than $30, because the clothes I'm selling are not going for that kinda money!
I finally finished listing all my sister's clothes. The very last item I decided to keep myself -- a shiny quilted jacket that will be nice to wear when a hoodie just won't do.
I realized this morning that I had a book due today, so I hopped on the the train to return it. I took the opportunity to stop at Target where I bought wet wipes, tuna and sweetened condensed milk. Target is not cheap, but it is convenient when I'm taking the train. At least I'm not paying for gas! And I did find two extra receipts that I scanned to Fetch.
The lovely cooler temperatures have permitted me to go easy on the air conditioning. I got my electric bill and it wasn't pretty.
I made another jar of sun tea.
I found a baseball cap on my walk back from the station. It was wet and dirty from all the rain we've had. I'm soaking it in a bucket of dishwater, and when I wash darks again I'll throw it in the washer. It may not come out perfect, but I'm hoping it will be good enough to give to Goodwill.
Thank you for all the book recommendations! Right now I'm reading City of Night Birds.
1) Dropped off leftovers from our dinner last night to the room of teens, who apparently were willing to eat cold sliders & fries + tacos this morning, and were desperate for something to eat. Happy to save them money.
2) Enjoying this time of the year, where we don't need heat or A/C at our house. The bay area tends to have pretty moderate weather, although we definitely use the A/C when it gets hot over a week+. Particularly grateful, as I know many people have a heat wave right now.
3) Gave the teens my hotel room key, which was tied to my app & has "points/rewards" that they used for free parking. Many of them are on a very tight budget, so I know they appreciated the help.
4) Picked up a very discounted marinated tri-tip at Costco, which I assume was clearanced as it didn't sell for the 4th of July. This will be at least 1, if not 2 dinners during the week. (Depends on how many folks join us at the table.)
5) Had some travel wins before we left for our trip: booked DS19 on a flight to Seattle for a family event. Used miles, and 1st class was less than regular? Anyway, he'll be flying 1st class & maybe get a free meal. He has arranged a ride to the airport with a friend who doesn't have a summer job (got one, and then it got cancelled, as they didn't have enough campers in his program) to take him to the airport for $20 vs the Uber cost of $35-40. Win on both sides. Also used United credits to partially offset move back flight for DS19. Filled out status match for a car rental company when I'm in Boulder. Why? Because last time I rented a car on a busy weekend, they gave my car away. . . I'm hoping to avoid that by leveraging my credit card status & minimizing risk. Move in weekend is a peak time to rent a car, but I don't have any work flex on days off.
Those impromptu events with family are the most fun!!!! Sounds like a perfect holiday!
If fireworks sales are a recession indicator, then I’m pretty sure the economy is doing OK. That’s all I have to say about that! (Yawn.)
Agreed. Last one popped off at 2:45 a.m. I'm hearing just a few more so far tonight and hoping that everyone else has run out of ammo.
They have been going off all week. My dog hates them. I drive past a casino on my way to work and it is always busy. Yet when I talk to people no one has money. I have been in the casino once, when it first opened. We just wanted to see it. We spent nothing.
I wanna try making saurkrrout now
Watched a youtube to figure out how to dismantle my fans. Took them apart, cleaned all the dust out, and put them back together like new.
Nothing says frugal like a 24+ hour power outage. Sure we spent some $ on generator fuel to have water and maintain the contents of our freezer and frig. But $ on fuel was a fraction of the cost to replace the contents.
But the time has come to be long term frugal (and safe). We're not getting any younger and we can no longer rely on the closest gas stations to be open. Not an issue driving for fuel this season of the year. Winter in our area is another challenge.
We're going to have more of these storms (this one caught the weather peeps off guard). So it is time to spend those dollars saved by being frugal for a whole house generator. I wanted to do this 10 years ago. We compromised at that time. This will give the future owners of our house options - whole house or partial house if power is out.
When I put my solar panels in, I had them put in battery backup ... it isn't good enough for 'whole house' but it keeps my well accessible (electricity required to pump water) and my fridge and freezers running. Also my internet because - priorities! LOL. We get a significant number of power outages here so the batteries have proven their worth for 3 hour and 2 say outages.
1. I finished the first of the two books I checked out on Libby while on the train, "Five Total Strangers" by Natalie D. Richards. It was good!
2. Last night was leftovers for dinner, we had a few items that were getting close to expiring that didn't get eaten before our Brussels trip so we worked through those last night.
3. We had a video call with my mom last night, we chatted and caught up since our call last week. The kids love it and I know my mom looks forward to it on the weekends.
4. We had a bathroom emergency while walking to meet a train, our youngest had a diaper blow out and my oldest announced that she also needed to use the bathroom. Unfortunately Europe is not known for its plethora of public restrooms. Our train was delayed for almost an hour so waiting for the bathroom on the train wasn't going to cut it. We finally found an outdoor bathroom (essentially a portapotty) and it cost 0.30 Euro to use. You better believe I crammed all three of us in there. Who am I, Rockefeller? I'm not paying for multiple bathroom uses!
5. Thankfully I had our clothes from our overnight trip in my bag and everyone involved got into something clean. Due to the not small leak from the diaper, my husband wanted to cut our losses and just toss the soiled clothes. Did he think I was in a Rockefeller portal? We rolled everything into a ball and wrapped it in two diapers to handle once we got back to the Airbnb. While not having AC here has been awful, having the washer and dryer has been amazing! Really saved us after a *shitty* day.
Love sauerkraut and hot dogs
1. Walked for exercise, free
2. Many iced coffees made at home.
3. Enjoyed free giant fireworks show from afar so not stuck in traffic when it was over.
4. Bike parade in our neighborhood and potluck in the park. Enjoyed free chicken provided by our community and all shared food.
5. Really wanted to order gourmet pizza but made gluten free pancakes for dinner last night instead. Toppings available: peanut butter, raspberry jelly, real maple syrup, powdered sugar and lemon. Everyone happy.
6. Watched Norway beat Brazil and festivities afterwards.
* Got a 50$ gift card as a random gift from an aunt. Used it to buy specialty meat sauce, that was on sale. Got 19 jars for 25$ out-of-pocket cost.
* Not feeling like working but doing in anyways counts as frugal, right?
* Stuffing my Kindle with LOTS of free books and some very cheap ones (never more than 1.99). When my free Kindle Unlimited trial ends, I will cancel and just read those books. Also reading books from public library and free piles (and yes, I have a Ereader but you don't need one to access all those free Kindle books)
* Got a 40oz stainless steel water bottle for 1$ at a garage sale. Worth 45$ new.
* using Flashfood a lot lately (discounted groceries)
* Stayed quietly at home for Canada day (July 1st)
1. Neighbors had a 4th of July party. Was supposed to be a BBQ but it was 97 degrees with a very high heat index so it was moved indoors. They had requested I make a garden salad from my garden so I didn't have to change what I was bringing. I also made 2 homemade dressings to bring. Hubby brought 2 bottles of homemade wine, 1 red and 1 white. They gifted the ladies a stars and stripes bracelet and the men a 250th hat. They are great neighbors. I was sent home with a bunch of cookies.
2. I went food shopping in the morning for some good sale prices. Corn on the cob was 12 for $2.50, a whole watermelon was $4, cherries were $2.50 a pound, ground beef was $2.99 a pound. I got the 2 biggest ones I could find. Chicken cutlets were $1.99 a pound. I found 3 arm and hammer body washes marked down because they had gotten wet and the labels were messed up. I also got a 12 pack of Irish Spring because a corner was crushed. All of it was 75% off. My son happily took the body washes. When I was leaving I saw the ice cooler full so I called my neighbors to see if they wanted me to get it. They asked for 3 bags. They gave me a $20 and told me to keep the change. They are in their late 70's and I try to help them out whenever I can.
3.My son is decluttering. He brough a bag of sweaters to see if my husband wants any. Otherwise I will donate them. He returned some jars and food containers to me.
4. I made a double batch of the dogs food. Some of the scraps were sweet potato skins and carrot ends.
5. I washed our sheets and hung them out. With this heat they were dried really quick. I texted my son to bring his over and they were done quick too.
6. It is raining now and supposed to for the next several days so I paused the drip lines in the garden. A/C is off and windows are open.
Love kraut dogs!
1. I had a slaw dog, watermelon, homemade potato salad for the 4th.
2. I had bbq baked chicken, watermelon and a tomato sandwich at various times during the 5th.
3. Today, I have had a tomato sandwich, potatoes salad and will have watermelon tonight with something out of fridge.
4. I am still reading my free little library book.
5. I worked this morning but hope to take a short nap soon.
1. I found a nickel on the ground on my way in to Market Basket. It went into the found change jar.
2. Market Basket still had 8 " apple pies on sale for $2.50 so one found its way into my carriage.
3. Not frugal but I recycled 3 plastic bags full of plastic bags. I don't understand how I end up with so many since I use my cloth bags when I shop. DH sometimes forgets to use the cloth bags...just sayin'.
4. On the way up to the grocery store I kept my speed locked in a 64 mph to conserve gas.
5. I'm going to a free talk at the library tonight about women's roles in the Civil War. What I would do without the library, I don't know.
I think that I mentioned the saga of the trigger finger either here or at the frugal girl. The poop show continues apace, lol, though it's not the least bit funny. Surgery was 4 weeks ago, was not given any time off to heal, I work in a very dirty environment so the incision got infected. Infection all cleared up but my hand is a flipping mess. Can't make a fist, can't fully straighten the fingers so on and so forth. I had a doctor's note for 8 hour days for 2 weeks, that was another poop show. Copiers at work wouldn't turn on, so I gave the original to one of the bosses who never bothered to pass it to the big boss and she's been giving me crap for two weeks (ie is the work done, do you even have a doctor's note, blah blah). However now the shoe is on the other foot (or the glove is on the other hand!!) as I now have a doctor's note for 8 hour days for FOUR TO SIX WEEKS. Made 3 copies of it and kept the original for myself. I retire in 7+months and I CANNOT WAIT!!!!
OOOO Suellen, I am so sorry to hear that your hand/finger is still a 'poop show'. that's not fun at all!!! And working where you don't get supported must be very hard on your heart, I'm glad you have an exit day however it does sound like a long haul is ahead of you.
When I broke my wrist, I was frustrated with how limited that arm/hand has become. I did, however, get very good advice from a physiotherapist and I have been disciplined about doing the &*())(*& exercises, even though they hurt and are BORING.... I hope that you get good advice about how to get mobility back with your poor scarred finger!! big hugs!