I think it’s gonna be slim pickings for my five frugal things this week. We’re nearing the end of the semester and that combined with my personal problems = a Kristen who feels nearly fried to a crisp.
Let’s see what I can come up with.
1. I filled Sonia’s advent calendar
This is an inadvertently frugal thing (and it’s only semi-frugal), but I’ll share in case it helps someone else.
Sonia doesn’t really like chocolate, and besides, she’s allergic to a lot of chocolates since they often include nuts.
This means a regular advent calendar really doesn’t work for her, so a few years ago, I bought her a wooden advent calendar tree, with 24 little drawers.
I fill it with non-chocolate things like fruit snacks, hard candies, and gum, which happen to be quite inexpensive.
This is the link to the tree that I bought; it’s almost $40, but since the nice chocolate advent calendars cost $16 apiece at Aldi, the reusable tree pays for itself in fairly short order.
Also, I’m not gonna lie: I love the aesthetics of this advent tree. It’s so simple and classic.
2. I bought some marked-down bread at Safeway
I found some nice ciabatta rolls and a ciabatta loaf on the day-old rack; yay!
I used the loaf to make garlic bread, and I think I will use the rolls to make some chicken sandwiches, using this red pepper/basil mayo.
3. I fed a full table for two nights
We had three extra people on Sunday night and two extra last night…and it was fine because I had all those free chairs from my cousin.
And I have the leaf from my abandoned-house table, so we can easily fit six people around the table.
Both nights I did not know until sort of last minute that we’d have extra friends over, so I’m giving myself a gold star for pulling together meals that fed everybody. 🙂
4. I TRIED to use Get Upside
Yesterday I was by a gas station that had a really good Get Upside offer for a gas discount. But just as I got there, the pumps all had a technical difficulty and they had to be shut down.
I’ll try again when I am nearby; luckily I was not almost out of gas, so it’s not a big deal to wait.
5. I sold a pair of slippers on eBay
I had a pair of almost-brand-new slippers that I didn’t need, so I sold them on eBay.
Less clutter, more money!
Jean
Monday 5th of December 2022
I also got peacock for 1.98. Love the escape to the chateau, did chateau etc. There are some interesting docuseries like Diana Vreeland, originally devil wears Prada and she was responsible for r h e first met gala. They have a quick lamr ny news station for weather updates and I am searching for more and more content. Prime, Acorn and Masterpuece still fans.
I replaced YouTube TV w peacock that was 65 per month. First h at savings, there is plenty of content!
Colleen
Friday 2nd of December 2022
1. Packed our road-trip snacks from cleaning out the fridge. 2. Brought food from home for some meals for vacation at in-laws (rather than shopping while out of town). 3. Frugal/not frugal - forgot my jacket & it’s in the 20s/30s/40s here so will be buying a jacket on sale at Costco or thrift store for dog walking part of vacation 4. Vacation is actually a job & Gent plans to do some DoorDash work while we are here as well. 5. Usually buy an advent calendar, ours was lost in move this year so am forgoing the tradition this year. Simplicity is the name of the game!
Nikki
Thursday 1st of December 2022
1. I made all of our meals at home. 2. I waited to order certain things until Cyber Monday, because I knew they would be on sale and I was going to buy them anyway. 3. I wanted a new quilt for my bed, but I decided to want 24 hours between seeing it and buying it. Well, the next day, it wasn't on sale so I didn't get it. 4. I fixed a pair of pants. 5. I made coffee at home. 6. We borrowed a board game from the public library.
Erica
Wednesday 30th of November 2022
I used free Christmasy address labels for the holiday cards I'm sending to mbers of my online support group. I have three unfrosted cupcakes in my freezer to use when I try a small batch of cake pops for my ten year old son. I made my son a Christmas tree advent calendar using solo cups, tissue paper and small candies/trinkets from the dollar store. I separated our leftover turkey into white and dark meat. I immediately froze the dark meat for soups later on and we ate the white meat in sandwiches for a few days right after turkey day. I am crocheting a gift for my youngest sister for Christmas.
Tanya
Wednesday 30th of November 2022
My husband and I are big on thrift store stuff. We went to a Goodwill and found for our teenage daughter gloves, a beanie hat, a Rock & Republic button up shirt, and a Coach logo crossbody, all for $20. Talk about deals at their finest!