My friend Katy frequently posts a list of five frugal things she’s done recently. Sometimes I borrow her idea. 😉
1. I fixed an armpit hole (or two, rather.)
You may remember this shirt from a mending/thrifting post few years back (and also from this outfit post).
It’s held up pretty well, but recently, the seams under both armpits sprouted holes.
This seems to happen every now and then to shirts, and I’m wondering if it’s because the salts from sweat wear away at the fabric.
(There’s a savory thought to start your day!)
Anyway, I stitched ’em up, and hopefully the shirt will be good to go for a while longer.
2. I made some whole wheat bread.
Not earthshaking, I know, but it’s inexpensive and awfully tasty, especially fresh out of the oven.
Whole wheat bread recipe here.
(No, I don’t weigh my bread dough when I shape my loaves. One is almost always smaller than the others! )
(Yes, I might be an imperfectionist.)
3. I used one of my bonus offers for free notecards.
Sometimes when I buy Ultimate Bundles, I am dreadful about redeeming the bonus offers. But last bundle and this bundle, I’ve turned over a new leaf!
(The bonus offers are usually worth more than the $34.95 price of the bundle to begin with, so redeeming them is very sensible.)
The bonus offer I redeemed was the $15 credit at Fawnsberg.com, which I used to buy a $16.50 set of notecards.
(The 6-card sets are sold out right now, but I emailed the company and they let me know they’ll be back in stock again in February, hopefully before the 26th, which is when the bonus offer code expires.)
My girls are the ones who send out prolific amounts of mail, so I let them choose the design, and they went with the colorful tulips over there on the right.
I also browsed through the free Craftsy classes offered (you get one free with your bundle, and they normally run anywhere from $40-$60!), but I have not been able to make up my mind.
There are 18 to choose from, and I’m trying to decide if I want to buy a digital photography one for Joshua to use, or it I want the bread making one for myself.
Or maybe Lisey, my plant-lover, would like the one about gardening in small spaces.
Gah!
4. I fixed a pair of (thrifted) snow pants.
Black overall snowpants are my favorite thing.
They match any coat, can be worn by boys or girls, and they fit for several seasons due to the strap adjustability.
I had picked a pair up from Goodwill a few years back, which had a small rip in the front. The rip meant, I got them for, um, $0.50.
Still kind of mind-boggled about that.
I bought them large for someone to grow into, so I never had fixed the rip.
But this year, someone needed to wear them, so I zig-zagged them up.
It’s not a beautiful fix, but the bib of the pants is always covered by a coat so I figured it didn’t matter.
Apparently my zig-zagging wasn’t quite enough, because one side came loose after an afternoon of snow play.
So, more zig-zagging happened, and I think the ripping will stop now.
5. I’m using up my Groupons.
Not redeeming already-purchased Groupons is just as nonsensical as not redeeming bonus offers.
So.
This week, I used my AdoramaPix Groupon to finish up Zoe’s baby book (finally!)
Mr. FG and I are going to use a local restaurant Groupon for our next date night (Woot!)
Tonight we’re using a Papa John’s Groupon to buy some pizza.
(Yup, that means there are two nights in the span of seven days that I don’t have to cook. Eeeeexcellent.)
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Your turn! Leave a comment sharing five frugal things you’ve done recently.
(All of us frugal people here are an appreciative audience, so you can share the crazy money-saving stories that your other friends would roll their eyes at. 😉 )
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P.S. Here’s the AdoramaPix Groupon I got (the $11 8×8 book). It’s small and doesn’t come with a lot of pages, so it’s perfect for a little project like Zoe’s newborn photos.
P.P.S. The Ultimate DIY Bundle is available here, if you’d like to snag the books and bonus offers for yourself. I think it’s a really great deal, especially once you add in the bonus offers. And my book is in the bundle, so you know, there’s that. 😉
This post contains affiliate links.
Aaron
Monday 26th of January 2015
1) We were invited to an anniversary party for our friends. We don't have money for gifts right now so I asked her if she needed to borrow a suitcase for her upcoming cruise and she said yes. I asked what airline they were flying and it happened to be an airline that I have two free passes to their lounge. I offered those to her too and she accepted them. I couldn't afford to give such a nice gift. I am happy I had things that she needed and that I could offer for free. 2) I made 20 jars of premixed meals for gifts and for the pantry. This is our "fast food" that is much healthier and cheaper. They are really pretty for gifts too. 3) I needed more storage for our very small bedroom. I found a cabinet in a dumpster I was driving by. I claimed it, took it apart, turned them into rolling drawers for under my bed. I had some help from my step grandpa. He has a fully functioning wood shop. Score for me! Only had to spend $20 on hardware. 4) I made wool dryer balls of purchasing fabric softner. 5) Took pictures of my kids myself instead of hiring a photographer. I used a sheet for the backdrop.
Kristen
Monday 26th of January 2015
I love under-bed storage. Our Christmas ornaments live under my bed and I really do not know where I'd put them otherwise!
Sarah
Sunday 25th of January 2015
1. Stuffed animal repair -- lots of sewing but ears are back on and no more fluff loss 2. Seam repair on youngest daughter's stretchy, purple, comfy pants 3. Toasted stale, homemade bread with olive oil and garlic 4. Combined multiple trips into town, though had one early morning hour at the local bread shop where a bran muffin was bought and consumed...really good though, not too sweet! 5. Didn't buy tickets to some place warm, sunny and mud free...looked at photos of summer instead
WilliamB
Saturday 24th of January 2015
1. Used cabbage I had (and was having trouble using up) instead of bok choi in a recipe.
2. I've wanted a dough-rising bucket (large clear container with volume markings so you know when your dough has doubled, like http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/items/dough-rising-bucket). Haven't bought it because it seems silly but my one marked glass bowl isn't large enough and I keep on misestimating. I was literally in the store to buy one when I realized I could mark the volume on one of my old flour containers instead of buying something. It might not work but at least I will have tried.
3. Experimenting with pre-baking Smitten Kitchen's Lazy Pizza dough, so as to keep a frozen pizza on hand. This is the only pizza dough recipe that has worked for me, over years of looking for one.
4. Despite several late nights at work, did not buy dinner, making something easy from the freezer instead. A frozen Contessa meal with added veg and protein is not as inexpensive as making from scratch but it's a darn sight better than take-out.
5. Checked out a book from the library, and borrowed several books on my chosen athletic endeavor from a colleague. Great way to gives books a trial run before buying.
Stephanie
Sunday 25th of January 2015
Sharing reading material is a great $-saver. My manager gets the New Yorker and I get Vanity Fair; we swap once a month.
Stephanie
Saturday 24th of January 2015
Yay for frugal!
1. I'm practicing hemming with my sewing machine on an old pillow case. It's a frugal-in-progress if I can figure this out and save my short self some cash on alterations.
2. Despite both of us having 12-hour workdays this week, we did a really good job of eating dinner at home. Big props to DH who rearranged his schedule twice so he could handle the cooking!
3. My parents sent us a Christmas gift card for much-needed new bath towels. Amen for a sale + a white sale + a store coupon. The new towels go in the linen closet, the old towels become dog towels, and the old dog towels go to the animal shelter.
4. Did NOT go outlet shopping for new work clothes I want but don't truly need. This was the hardest one on the list!
5. We had a black-tie event to attend. My gorgeous gown from the thrift store was priced at a very reasonable $18. When I got to the register I discovered it was 50% off day.
Just Plain Marie
Saturday 24th of January 2015
Five things, hm?
Twice this week, we've had beans. First, we had beans and weiners. Then we also had a cornmeal casserole - cornbread on top and mixed beans/meat in sloppy joe sauce below. It was good. And everything we ate was at home.
We heat water as we need it for washing, instead of running the hot water tank constantly. Amazing how much money that saves.
*Another* credit card got locked into the lock box. That makes two. It feels good.
Although it was a huge purchase, I just bought $350 worth of seeds and jiffy pellets that I will turn into *thousands* of dollars of vegetables in the spring.
I'm just going to have to claim "all the stuff I didn't buy" for the last one. :)