Today I am . . .
- Home from work.
- Scheduling a free haircut for tomorrow through our local fancy schmancy beauty school.
- Planning on taking the bus so I don’t have to pay to park in the fancy schmancy downtown neighborhood.
- Pulling out a tub of miscellaneous papers to organize and shred. (Isn’t it unbelievably satisfying to shred stuff?!)
- Staying warm under a thick fleece blanket so I can heat just myself instead of an entire 100-year-old house.
- Buying a Groupon deal which is for a $10 Starbucks ecard for only $5. (My husband buys Starbucks, so he might as well save a few bucks.) Note, this deal has already reached its limit. Sorry.
- Still really, really relieved that my husband was not injured in his car accident. But also bummed about my 1996 Subaru Outback being totaled.
- Kind of tickled that our insurance provided rental car is a Mini Cooper. Wheeeee!!!!!
- Wishing I had an extra $10,000 set aside for a new-to-me car.
- Guessing that the insurance company will be giving us a paltry amount for what was an amazing car.
- Happy that I sold a garbage picked table and chairs for $20.
- Thinking I should go outside and rake up the leaves while they’re still dry, but also wanting to stay inside where it’s warm and cozy. Ahh . . . the dilemma!
- Planning on taking my 19-year-old son out thrift shopping for some winter clothing, as he requested. You know . . . after he wakes up.
- Going to experiment with making pizza in cast iron pans for tonight’s dinner. (We have three pans and only three of us here for dinner tonight.)
- Hoping to not burn myself with scalding hot cast iron pans.
- Going to wear the same pair of jeans I’ve been wearing for too many days to admit to. No need to wash them too often and have them wear out.
Now your turn. What are you doing today?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Making my own laundry detergent for the first time from the prudent homemaker’s recipe (so glad you recommended her site as one that makes me feel less crazy in my saving strategies!). I look forward to the cost savings, fewer chemicals in the house, and not lugging home the plastic containers of detergent and then having to recycle them later. Win!
Enjoy that Mini … those look fun!
1. Resting my nearly-38-weeks-pregnant self while letting my toddler watch entirely too much Netflix and trying not to fret about my dirty house.
2. About to put a turkey shepherds pie in the oven to get us through a crazy evening of meetings and obligations. We made this meal after our Canadian Thanksgiving. 🙂
3. Menu-planning for next week, but only on a sticky note, because if Baby arrives and our meal plans change, I don’t want to cross things out in my day planner. I’m fussy that way.
Braving temperatures in the 20s plus significant wind chill to dig carrots and leeks out of half-frozen ground for tonight’s soup.
Thanking our lucky stars that we aren’t getting buried in this season’s first serious lake-effect blizzards in Northern and Western NY.
Encouraging DH to cull his portion of our ridiculously huge collection of books. (DH, in his retirement, has just taken over the housecleaning, and shelves are getting dusted that haven’t been looked at in some time. I cull my share of the collection a bit more regularly.)
Feeling your pain about what insurance will probably give you on a totaled 1996 car–but glad you’ve got the Mini Cooper to cheer you up in the meantime.
I want to hear about the pizza in cast iron pans. That sounds perfect for my family, if it works. 🙂
Today I am working from home, eating from the freezer, and staying bundled up so as not to have to heat the house all that much. Also packing for a business trip and hoping the family doesn’t decide on all takeout all the time while I am gone.
laughing at memories raised by your jeans comment. Hubby’s grandmother used to pat & compliment our jeans every time we visited, saying how nice and CLEAN they were. Wasn’t ’til I was older that I realized not everybody washed their jeans after each wear, especially not those who’d lived through the Great Depression. (These days I wear my jeans more than once too…like you said, “No need to wash them too often and have them wear out.”)
Unless they really get dirty I only wash my jeans about once a month. On gentle and hang them to dry, I’m going on 3 or 4 years in the same two pairs (one in each of the 2 sizes I fluctuate between.)
Knitting a hat from on-hand yarn to replace son’s favorite but lost one.
Popping one of the pre-planned and pre-prepared meals from the freezer into the slow cooker in my laundry since my kitchen is (still) out of commission.
Writing down my list of goals and to-dos for the week.
Deciding that I can put off a driving errand until I have to drive to work on Thursday.
Wishing you much luck in finding a ‘new’ vehicle, and very glad to hear that your hubs is safe and sound.
1/ Enjoying the free pleasure and information on this blog.
2/Finding and reading the local paper a great source of information.
3/Cooking a Apple Slice from a packet mix I purchased on liquidation for $1 not quite frugal but better than store bought…and yummy!
4/Completed a walk to ensure future good health and reducing medical costs.
5/Shopping from the church pantry.
6/Taking woodwork projects to the mens shed to source cheap sanding down of these items I am making over to bring new life and pleasure into my home.
7/Going around my home and slowly tiding and appreciating and looking after my belongings.
8/Reviewing my budget and looking to find extra dollars.
9/Valuing loved ones and letting them know this.
10/Sorting through my Christmas gifts to avoid endless purchases and not needed gifts and saving $$$$$
Very thankful your hubs wasn’t hurt in that wreck. I would feel that way if my lil’ beat-up Toyota got totaled too.
1 – Started a new audio book today and I’m learning about the life of photographer Edward Curtis while I commute.
2 – Ate leftover meatloaf and potatoes for lunch. Yum!
3-Back at work today, but not as much to do, so I can browse blogs, tips and news.
4-I have two fur coats & one fake fur I decided to try consignment at a Vintage clothing store.
5-My Winter coat is nearly 20 years old and all it needs is a good washing. thought about getting another one, but this one is so durable and warm, I’m just going to wash it and keep wearing it!
A few years ago, I saw a beautiful pink double breasted winter coat in a store. I loved it. It was $40, not too much. But thinking it over, I remembered I had a similar coat at home in a bright blue that I hadn’t worn in years! I love the color more than the pink and I have been wearing it for over 20 years. I did end up buying another coat…for $1 at a yard sale. I love that one, too!!!
I decluttered 3 kitchen drawers and a cabinet. I must say that I didn’t get rid of much, but found homes for like things. I have more space now.
I am about to start on my second “draft dodger” out of old t-shirts. It started as a project to make a snake like thingie to stop the draft under the door. As I was fitting it though, I noticed there was more draft coming from the side of the door. So, it’s an up and down snake like thingie with enough material to wrap around the doorknob and stuff a bit at the latch. It’s not pretty, but I think the name I came up with is pretty clever.
Repaired a priceless piece of art that my son made in elementary school.
Now, it’s time to cook dinner. Good luck with your pizzas!!
Today we went to the library to return our DVDs and books (before they were due!). My husband is out hunting, which considering he already has a lifetime small game and fish license and lots of .22 ammo, will only cost us the gallon of gas to get to state land and back. He usually brings home 6 pounds plus, so it’s about 55 cents per pound of meat! I’m washing our cloth diapers that are on kid number 2 in clearance detergent, and hanging them to dry on the exposed pipes in our laundry room rather than buying a drying rack. And we’re having leftover soup for dinner, hopefully with some fresh rabbit to add!
– Drove an hour to my closest consignment store (I live out in the country) to stand in line an hour to sell stuff I no longer need. But hey, I batched all my errands and packed my lunch. Plus picked up a good sized check from the last stuff I dropped off.
– Mailed a book I sold on Ebay. Stuff out/ money in.
-Found a turkey on sale for 9.99 and put it in the freezer. I am not hosting Thanksgiving this year but will be happy to fix it on a cold January or February day.
– Picked up my husband’s birthday gift – a hummingbird feeder. He says every summer that he would like a feeder for our backyard and I always forget by his birthday in December. So I wrote it down to remind myself!
– Am also sitting under a fleece blanket to warm myself and not heat the whole house. Plus my cat on my lap helps.
Yay for the mini cooper – they look like such a fun car!
Today I am:
Washing the thrift store shirts I purchased at Goodwill this morning. I’ve needed warmer shirts. It was senior day, and since I’ve stopped coloring my hair, this 54 year old get’s her discount. The first time it happened at Fred Meyer, I was a little miffed, but got over that quickly. So for $20 I bought 3 warm shirts, 1 zip-up hoody for around the house, new hair brush and a new pair of slippers for granddaughter for Chrsitmas.
Second stop on my planned trip to town, since we live 8 miles from the nearest half-way big town , was Winco. If you buy $50 groceries, turkeys are .48 cents lb. Don’t need another turkey, but hey that’s cheaper than hotdogs, and so much better with soup and all. So that $6 turkey will fed us for a week!
Looking forward to leftover chicken chili for dinner. When I make it in the slow cooker, we have enough for about 4 days.
And I’m actually looking forward to the rain, that should be here by morning. I’m tired of thawing my chickens waterer.
I LOVE that your got your Goodwill Discount!!
* enjoying the heat coming out of the dishwasher and dryer that I waited to start until it got cold in our apartment.
*wearing my socks, sweat pants, two shirts and a bathrobe so I can keep the heat low.
*happy that I told my part-time boss about my full-time job that starts next month. I’m going to try to do both for as long as I can, to save up for a house.
*glad that my husband got the Starbucks groupon, even if I missed it.
*excited to try a few new recipes (and some old standbys) for the freezer in the morning: skyline chili, a new pea soup recipe, biltong, and chocolate chip cookie dough. Half to take to an ailing friend, half to keep for ourselves.
…very pleased with the handmade soap I started yesterday using leftover coffee from Sunday. I took a class Saturday and make a ‘batch’ with lavender and decide to experiment yesterday. The class wasn’t cheap, but it is what I do, but I don’t go to movies so this is my entertainment every so often. It also will probably be several frugal Christmas presents and so the expense is not as big an issue.
As to your car, if it is at all fixable, press the insurance company for that. Or , ask them to pay for another just like it. Years ago, they wanted to ‘total’ my dad’s paid for car and write a quick check after I was hit, and he said fix it or find me another, and they said,ok, we’ll pay for the repairs. Don’t know what kind of insurance you have, but don’t let them bully you.
I make homemade soap each year with a good friend. So fun and my family loves the gifts!
My new jeans (bought in April) had a label telling me to not wash them for at least 6 months (unless they were stained) and only when dirty, not because I wore them 5 days. I sometimes live in my jeans for weeks on end… No need to let the washer run more than necessary.
1. Experimenting posting online using my phone.
2. Menu planning for Thanksgiving. The original “orphans dinner” has expanded. (One friend is bringing partner, brother, and sister!) May have to add a potluck element.
3. Brown-bagged to a conference.
4. Took public transit to the conference, meaning I could actually utilize my transit time.
I have an Orphans dinner too! I let people bring things if they want and ask each person to bring a chair or pillow. Last year I had almost 15 people and a bunch of the kids sat on big pillows around the coffee table. I always tell people I don’t care if I have to stand or serve in shifts, everyone is welcome at my table.
Note: I work for a meat products manufacture so I usually don’t pay for much that way. Last year a friend called 3 hours before dinner and I was able to pull a fully cooked pork loin out of the freezer and have it ready to go . It does make it easy for me to serve the masses. But even with the last minute adding people and the craziness of the day it was absolutely the best Thanksgiving ever! The food could have been rice and beans but the overall day and the company was awesome.
Today I am wearing warm clothes because of the low 20’s I woke up to, here in N. Fla. The warm shirt is at least 10 years old, probably older. The sweater was a “hand-me-up” from my older daughter, and the jeans a “hand-me-up” from my younger daughter (I feel lucky that they ended up wearing basically the same sizes I do, except for shoes.) My warm boots were a present from my husband, six years ago.
I am mentally planning and engineering some sewing I’ll do for a couple of gifts — oddly, I sew better when I wing it, without a pattern, making things like decorative pillow covers, bags, aprons, etc, with sale fabric and leftover scraps. I am relishing the fact that my idea to have an early Thanksgiving dinner with my side of the family worked out so well. No having to rush to an in-law’s house to eat again, no problems with shared custody arrangements for the holiday — we all met last weekend, and since everyone brought a dish, no one had to spend much money or spend hours in the kitchen.
And today I am thankful that I have a warm and loving family to share the holidays, early or not, with me!
I gave a friend a ride to the airport (frugal for her) and a good chance for us to talk this week.
I stopped at Staples to pick up the $.01 ream of paper (after rebate). I will give it to a friend as we have plenty. I didn’t buy anything else, despite the temptation.
I’m thankful that my first PT session yesterday has my rotator cuff problem feeling so much better. A good friend recommended the PT and it is worth a bit of a drive to see her.
I will shortly walk up to the store to purchase a gift card for my daughter’s best friend. She spends so much time at our house … I will not let this cold weather deter me from getting out and getting exercise.
I have no idea what we’ll have for dinner but I do know it will be based on what we have on hand, based on the Pantry principle of shopping and meal planning.
I have stretched my last haircut as much as possible, I need to call and make an appointment. I don’t color or do anything else to my hair, but since I wear it short I can’t go more than two months without a haircut. With a thin, old face my hair looks best short.
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