Five Frugal Things | I have baby basil!!!
Before we get to today's Five Frugal Things, an update: my basil seeds have started sprouting!
The other morning, I was doing dishes, and I glanced over. Was that something green I saw? I picked up the pot and SURE ENOUGH! Baby basil plants!
So, if you have some geriatric basil seeds, this is your sign to plant them. 😉
1. I froze my bananas
Before my last string of shifts, I noticed I had two bananas that were getting spotty.
To me, this is no bueno. I don't do spots.
So, I sliced and froze them, and I will use them to make some servings of chocolate banana "ice cream", which is seriously so good.
Chocolate "ice cream" = bananas, cocoa powder, vanilla, and some half and half blended up!
2. I planted some expired marigold seeds
Apparently, I have not exactly been using my seeds these last few years, because in addition to my expired basil seeds (mentioned last week), I discovered I am in possession of expired marigold seeds.
VERY expired.
So you know what I did: stuck them in some soil, and added some water plus my best wishes.
We shall see what happens!
3. I planted some green onion ends
I had sliced up some green onions, and I saved the root ends. I stuck them in one of my pots outside, where they will regrow very nicely.
I am not even half a gardener (please note my expired seed run. Ha.), but this is easy enough even for me. You should try it.
It's super convenient to be able to snip off a little bit of green onion rather than having to buy a whole bunch (some of which inevitably get slimy for me.)
4. I got some overtime last week
Last week, in addition to my three shifts, I did:
- my N95 fit testing
- my annual skills testing
- the AIDET training I mentioned on Thursday
- my residency class
- four hours of Healthstreams (we are allowed to do them at home and submit for four hours. There were a LOT of Healthstreams, which are our online educational assignments. All nurses have them, not just new grads.)
I did not have to do my Healthstreams last week (they're due at the end of May), but I purposely finished them all up so I could submit them that week. I figured I might as well do it on a week when I was already going to go over 40 hours.
5. I bought some Dollar Shave Club razors on eBay
Annoyingly, they changed their razor design in the last few years, and the new ones don't fit the handle I have.
So, I just go on eBay occasionally and buy some of the old design, and that's what I did this week!
They're cheaper than the new blades, and this way I get to keep my old handle.
This week,
- Grateful that DH could fix the washer I unintentionally almost broke, making it a near miss and frugal win. Who knew that particular blanket would get SO HEAVY (whoops). He had to adjust the belt back to the right position but it hadn't broken.
- Enjoyed a work conference on Saturday. It was at a university and our included meals were at their dining hall. Amazing! Tons of options that were tasty and nutritious.
- Taking proactive steps to find and continue the best fit for my career so I can keep going with this income and state retirement plan and hang in there hopefully at least another decade.
- Somehow not eating out more than 1/week recently despite some current food aversions and difficulties in this arena. I am a cereal person for now after mostly never eating it for years.
Curious if you get overtime pay for the Healthstreams since you completed them strategically. Smart!
My theory is that those hours should push in me into overtime, which would be fair because I did spend a LOT of hours last week doing hospital-related stuff.
At the two hospitals I've worked at, overtime that was not spent working on the floor is paid at the regular rate - I hope you get time and a half!!
Same here- If we work education hours from home it comes out of a different budget and paid as regular time
At the hospital where I work, we are strongly (STRONGLY) discouraged from accruing overtime, even 0.1 hour over. This, in spite of the fact that my department has been short staffed for at least the past year, and none of us *wants* overtime, though it does happen occasionally in our attempts to provide patient care. I do understand the need to be fiscally responsible, but c'mon.
(End rant)
Try putting a couple of sneakers in the machine w the blanket. That helps keep it from balling up and unbalancing the washer.
Great tip, thanks!
Congrats on the seeds! They're really quite forgiving so long as they've been kept in a dry and dark place. I keep mine in a mason jar in our vegetable cupboard. (Our 1890 house's bottom kitchen cupbards are ventilated/function like root cellar.)
Coincidentally, my FFT celebrate that it's finally garden planting season!!!
--I turned over all the raised vegetable beds with a pitchfork. This helped mix in either fresh compost and/or compost that I buried at the start of winter. Turning over the beds also helped me find and squish any sneaky cutworms.
--I refilled our Eco-cycle compost bin (free from a friend cleaning house) with more food scraps, coffee grounds, torn brown paper egg cartons, dirt, and inexpensive enzyme granules to speed up the process.
--I'm reusing tomato cages for the umpteenth year.
--My substantial seed stash is also on its umpteenth year. Someone *ahem* overbought when first celebrating "We finally have our OWN yard!"
--Trellises were constructed from free scrap fencing and supported with metal posts from a defunct electric livestock fence. Both supplies were given by friends.
I spent three hours planting yesterday and am comically sore this morning. Not moving is very frugal! 😛
I congratulate Kristen on her basil, and I second N's comment about seeds being easy to keep from year to year if they're stored in a dry, dark place. I find that mine do very well in a large plastic deli tub in the freezer, with lots of silica gel packets tucked in among them. As noted in an earlier comment, my all-time record is 15 years for one packet of lettuce seed.
A. Marie, your lettuce was almost old enough to drive! 😛
In the gardening book "From Seed to Skillet" (HIGHLY recommend--I've bought three copies as gifts in addition to having my own), the author discusses seed saving. He recalls finding his grandmother's tomato seeds in a mason jar, decades after her death, and they still germinated because she kept them so meticulously!
Very few frugal things going on here, except I haven't had time to recreationally shop much. The one food item DS#3 requests i bring to the hospital, oddly, is goat cheese, and it's cheapest at Trader Joe's which is on the way to the hospital. I have managed to stop in there and get goat cheese without grabbing a plethora of snacks and unneeded items. It helps that my food allergies prevent me from eating many of the snacks (soy is in everything!). Last night I grabbed two logs of goat cheese, and a bag of their gluten free oats, which are cheaper than any other gluten free oats I can find at Kroger. So I'm calling it a win for getting out of Trader Joe's only spending ten bucks.
1. My mom gave us bread, eggs, fruit, vegetables, chicken, etc. I used the mushrooms, tomatoes, pasta, and some leftover spinach to make a pasta dish for my lunch this week. I cooked the chicken to go on top. I used the apples to make 5 jars of applesauce. I used the bread and eggs to make french toast sticks for my daughter's breakfast.
2. I purchased 5 boxes of chicken nuggets on clearance for $3/each at Aldi.
3. I used leftover milk to make chocolate pudding for my kids.
4. I used leftover pepperoni and cheese and homemade pizza dough to make pepperoni bread for my kids.
5. We took the kids to a free birds of prey event that was so much fun.
nurse, farmer, photographer, music teacher, teacher, chef, blogger. you are AMAZING. my zozo has picked bmcc for college. borough of manhattan community college. yay.
Yay for basil!
Frugals:
1. When I was in England a few weeks ago someone left a big pile of free things outside their house. I picked up some cookie cutters, including one in the shape of a cat, and made some lemon cat-shaped cookies this weekend 🙂
2. I made Kristen's stuffed shells recipe for the first time, which turned out well (I used cottage cheese in place of ricotta as it was what I had on hand and added spinach), and I also made her granola.
3. I've gone over my hopeful food budget for the month...but I've also reduced buying lunch at work from around 90% to 10%.
4. There was an event at work yesterday and everyone was encouraged to take leftover food and drink. I had a sandwich and a can of something called Jolly Cola!
5. I used my gym membership.
I definitely would have taken the cat cookie cutter as well!
I also took two in the shape of a rabbit and a star! Of course, I was happiest about the cat one 🙂
Not winning frugal awards. Moving week means looking for convenience. However, small gestures here and there:
1. I accepted a baby wrap from my SIL. Might still try and find a baby Ktan secondhand. They just seem more user-friendly.
2. Bought some glass baby bottles second-hand.
3. When I don't have energy to pack a lunch, I still bring snacks--chia seed pudding, applesauce, veggies--and then I buy less at work. Did pack my lunch today, though!
4. Still not buying tea at work. Bringing powdered milk, tea, and sugar has worked well to break the habit.
5. Still using my free med school backpack. It's on its last legs, nine years later, but still usable!
FFT, "Jane Austen and Thrift" Edition (from yesterday's FFT at the NCA):
(1) I gave my "Jane Austen and Thrift" presentation to my local JASNA region on Saturday, and it seemed to be well received by a small but favorably biased crowd. (As I was unloading my materials, I had a moment of panic when I couldn't find my notes. One attendee scoffed, "You don't need no stinkin' notes.") My JASNA Panera friend video-recorded the presentation on her iPhone and has promised to put the video up on her YouTube channel in due course. I'll provide a link to this if I find I can bear looking at it.
(2) I slept badly the night before the presentation, and came as close to falling asleep at the wheel on the NY State Thruway on the way there as I've ever done. I pulled off at the next service area and splashed my face with cold water, and then had extra caffeine at lunch with JASNA Panera. Not getting into an accident on the Thruway = highly frugal.
(3) The presentation energized me enough not only to get through the drive home, but to stop at the service area with cheaper gas than any in my city at the moment ($4.08/gal.) to top off my tank.
(4) Here at home, I hired "King James" (my indispensable yard and snow guy) to haul a load of truly useless yard and garage junk to the county dump for me. A good spring cleaning. And because it was way too wet to mow any grass yet (my backyard is the Great Dismal Swamp at the moment) and he was at loose ends that day, he gave me a very good price.
(5) And since the forecast for this week is for dry weather until Saturday, I'm gonna be out there in the gardens as long as my aging chassis will permit. I'll do my best to avoid any further faceplants. 😛
Faceplants are not the kind of plant you want in a garden! (I'll see myself out).
Oh, A. Marie!!!! Please don't watch the video in case you decide we can't watch it. I want to see it! AND I want to ask if you've ever seen anything about Moliere's influence on Jane Austen's writing. We are reading Tartuffe in our little high school, and something smacked of P&P (to me). I'm interested in exploring it further. Also, my daughter thought of an idea for the essay contest, and I hope she gets it done in time (she's never written a 6-page essay before!).
I'm delighted to hear that your daughter may be entering the JASNA essay contest--not least because my JASNA BFF is the chair of the contest! I'm afraid I can't promise any extra "pull" on that account, but I can assure you that any essay that's lively, well written, and owes nothing to AI will stand a fair chance.
I think your delight cannot surpass my own. She's decided to do it all on her own. Her idea is all her own, and I think it's pretty decent. She came to me yesterday and said, "You know, I was thinking about which two characters to compare, and. . . " We had such a fun discussion about it; it's like I have my own built in book group in the comfort of my own home!
Aging chassis! That cracked me up! 🙂
I am not feeling good, for various reasons, and laying low, staying home, which is good for the budget.
I used some freebies and restaurant leftovers to make three servings of French bread pizza yesterday. I ate one and plan to eat one more and freeze the third.
I have some carrots that need to be used up, so I'm planning to cook and freeze. Also, a yogurt -based smoothie is planned for breakfast today, as the yogurt is getting elderly.
I couldn't sleep last night, so I got up and worked on my budgeting spreadsheets. All is well despite the volatility of our times.
1. Renewed subscription to the local paper. Saved $12 by renewing for two years rather than one.
2. Picked up a greeting card from the Friends of the Library's free table. It has cherry blosssoms on the front and is blank on the inside so I'll likely use it for a sympathy card.
3. Went to a funeral with a nice luncheon afterward. This was for a good friend's mom so I wasn't a funeral luncheon crasher!
4. Picked up a free loaf of bread left on a table of "past expiration date" items set up at the church where the funeral was held. It's not great quality bread (even when fresh) so I'll use it to make croutons.
5. Saved $4 on a Chewy order by signing up for autoship. I'm all for autoship now that I know they give a heads up before shipping something in case we don't need it at that particular time.
Fresh herbs are such a treat!
We are getting adjusted to being empty nesters, and so far I managed to cook reasonable portions without unintentional leftovers.
Frugals: made meals and yoghurt, vegetable stock, shortbread and butter seasoned with fresh herbs, all from our kitchen.
Laundry (considerably less than before!) on solar power.
Did not watch tv or movies, but read novels that were passed on to me by friends.
Got the heels of my choir/funeral shoes repaired.
Made an appointment to get my "errand bike" serviced. It is difficult to find a convenient day, as I bike daily.
O, and did the free NYT puzzles, I love doing them after dinner.
I want to be real. We are spending a fortune trying to finish the River House renovation. We need to move into it so we can sell our house. It feels like we are bleeding money and everything is out of my control. However, facts aren't feelings.
Wins:
1. I cancelled Best Buy coming to install security cameras for $1500 total. I had the electrician ( who I trust) hardwire and I was able to get them online yesterday -doubting myself all the way. I saved about $1000.
2. After researching companies to clean the renovation site, I just decided to do it myself. Again it is intimidating but I'll research it and just do it. How hard can it be? ( I will not do the windows in a two story house.)
3. I have ruthlessly sold and donated stuff to minimize moving costs. I want to just move. I do not want to declutter, clean, then move. Cleaning out the garage, I found an old wetsuit I don't think I will fit in again. I sold it in a day on EBAY.
4. I am packing our lunches as we work between two houses. Saves money and calories.
5. This one is tough: In 2.5 years we have gone high end to preserve a 1912 house including tiled bathrooms, preserved wood and marble floors. When we started we didn't foresee a collapse in AG over 3 years nor the incredible rise in inputs such as fertilizer and gas. It is really tempting to cheap out the end details because of being cash poor. Where to scrimp? I think it is reasonable to go basic in everything that is easily replaced: knobs, pulls, furnishings. I am looking at a couch abandoned by our nephew. They had a dog and three kids. It is a sign of Hubby's state of mind he would even consider using it. He is a neat freak. I will look at it with an open mind. More importantly, I am willing to let rooms be empty for a long period.
You might consider getting an inexpensive slipcover for the abandoned couch. This can be a pretty cool look, and it is removable and washable.
You're right. That would be the thing to do.
Found some brass knobs on Ebay.
Mary Ann,
Do you happen to have an architectural salvage place, or Habitat for Humanity Re-Store near you? Sometimes, you can find old/vintage knobs, pulls, etc. in such places. If not, I totally hear you on buying something less expensive, with an eye to (possibly) replacing them at some point with something more "authentic to the period". I second the idea of getting a slipcover for the couch.
1) I was traveling last week, so other than a bit out of pocket to cover the extra I spent on dinner with a friend in London, all of my expenses were covered.
2) I do not enjoy traveling for work, but as soon as I was home, I turned my work air miles into something we could use. I bought three tickets from San Francisco to Portland for Christmas on a code share, using exclusively miles earned from my international work travel. I then booked the fourth flight using DS20's miles for his flight. I spent $44 (taxes) vs the ~$2200 if I booked with cash.
3) Defrosted rotisserie chicken & chicken broth & turned that into a one pan chicken dish for dinner last night. Set out a plate for DS20 to eat when he got home from work.
4) The entertainment unit didn't work on my seat for the flight from SFO to Heathrow, so I emailed British Airways & received a $140 voucher. It looks like I can use it for a code share flight, which will be much easier for me to use.
5) Tucked aside the Costco rebate & will use that to buy DH's birthday gift (a fancy scotch)
6) Sold a watch on eBay!
You've inspired me! I need to go get some flowers to go in the pits on our front patio. I like petunias but sometimes wait too long and the nursery has sold out. Sadly, I don't have any seeds to plant, but good to know your old seeds sprouted!
Here are my 5 FFTs and one "senior moment" fail.
– I've been in a creative mood and ran across an old canvas with artwork on it I didn't like. I painted over it to cover the art. I will use the canvas in the future.
– when an extra person showed up for dinner when we were having tacos, I added a half can of black beans to the taco meat to make it stretch. We had more than enough for everyone.
– I used fabric leftovers from other projects to make a few cute credit card/cash holders I saw on Facebook Reels. They will make adorable Christmas gifts for women I want to give a little something to, like leaders of my Senior Center exercise classes.
– I found it! Nothing makes me crazier than thinking I have something I need and then not being able to find it. I needed interfacing for my credit card holder project. I thought I had some, but I couldn't find it. I could even picture the package! Then I took a deep dive through my fabric stash and found it. That saved me both time and money.
– Again, the on-line Kroger survey which allows you to earn points toward gas purchases did not work right. I never got the final screen that acknowledges I took the survey and gives me 60 points. So I waited a few days and took it again. This time, it worked correctly and I was credited with points.
– My senior mement fail – Oops! When I brought groceries home, I set down a gallon of milk I had bought to put something in the garage freezer. Then I forgot it. I found it about 24 hours later when I got something out of the freezer. I tried to think how it could be used (in the garden?) and Googled it. But I didn't come up with anything so, sadly, I dumped my $3.79 gallon down the drain.
Ooh, Joyce, you could have used that 'stinky' milk in baking! It makes terrific pancakes and biscuits, too. My grandma's favorite sugar cookie recipe featured milk 'turned' with vinegar or lemon juice. Spoiled would have worked, as well.
I'll be using some starting-to-green-up cheese tonight in macaroni and cheese. But a plate of deviled eggs made for Easter went into the trash -- just too gunky.
1. A bit old-school, but the monthly flyer for local businesses has coupons I will cut out to have on hand. I used a $5 off coupon at a local consignment store, and one at a donut shop for a free donut when buying half a dozen, which worked out nicely as I needed 7 donuts.
2. Dropped off several summer items at the consignment store to sell. Unfortunately, my size has crept up so some of the clothes were ones I would have liked to have still worn, but glad someone else can use them (and some had been bought secondhand in the first place).
3. Been making smoothies out of frozen banana slices following Kristen's lead! I also use up old citrus fruits that look dry on the outside but are still juicy on the inside. We use a lot of citrus peels in drinks, and they can easily dry up and get tossed otherwise.
4. I try to avoid stocking up at sales because sometimes I forget having bought the items when I finally need them. This time I couldn't find the stash of products anywhere. I even started doubting whether I had bought them. I refrained from buying new products for a while figuring they would show up, and sure enough, when I was putting away some winter clothes in my closet I found the hiding place.
5. Covered up a tender basil and tomato plant with plastic bags in my garden as there was a freeze warning last night, and took in some potted plants for the night. No damage done.
- We planted our small garden in our new raised bed. We filled the bed using the Hugelkultur method, so we needed less soil. I did comparison shopping online and found the cheapest place to purchase what we needed.
- We're reusing tomato cages that were given to us many years ago.
- DH found some leftover fencing that we can use as a trellis for the cucumbers.
- I usually purchase my favorite annual flowers for pots on the front porch. I didn't clean out the pot last year, they miraculous survived the winter, and are now blooming like crazy.
- DS asked for takeout from a local Mediterranean restaurant to celebrate his birthday. We got a family pack meal, which was cheaper than individual meals, and the leftovers fed us and the kids for two additional meals.
Beverly, I looked up Hugelkultur-- a word I've never before come across, so you've expanded my vocabulary, lol. But if you put down rotting wood and logs as a base for the garden soil and plants, how do you prevent termites from getting in there?
1.Best frugal ever! I was gifted a ticket to see Bruce Springsteen. I am so excited. I will pay for parking and some preshow appetizers as a thank you.
2.I had another Marketplace sale. More stuff out!
3. I finally took the leap and listed a few things on EBay.
4. Meal prepped to cover a busy time coming up at work.
5. I made cookies to bring in for my staff rather than buying them.
Frugal Disappointment: I found several rolls of old film at my parent’s house. I wanted to know what was on them. I thought it would be fun to make copies for Christmas gifts for my siblings. Well, $57 later all I have are over exposed pictures that you can barely make out what they are. Two of the rolls couldn’t be developed because they don’t even have the chemicals to do it so I didn’t pay for those, but there are still two rolls and a super 8 reel that I am waiting for (and still have to pay for.) Hopefully I get something from those.
Scraping the bottom of the frugal barrel here;
- With family visiting, we kept entertainments cheap and easy. Lots of walks, school play ( guest got in at senior price and students were free). Guest even came to track practice - which was a nice sacrifice with 30+mph wind gusts that afternoon. (and guest got my stubborn daughter to run a 400m!)
-Took guest to visit adult daughter to say hi and meet the new dog (2-3 ys old mixed rescue- she's a sweetheart and will be a great dog for their family). lots of love for new and old dog, cheap entertainment in watching them play.
-Hit Sam's club and saved eighty cents per gallon on the gas for the minivan.
-Bought 12 lb butter at Sam's and saved about one dollar per pound over my local stores.
-Bought the day-old rotisserie chicken at Walmart for dinner - it's three dollars cheaper than the fresh one, tastes just as good, and made a nice easy meal on a busy day. And enough chicken left over for a lunch for some hungry boys/men.
I had some kitchen frugalness but on the FFT front, my week was dominated by a delayed huge fail.
Successes: using odds and ends to make several "pots 'o food" ahead of time and freezing most of it. I made Tortilla Soup (beans, cauliflower, salsa juice, and roast garlic from the freezer); a Japanese Chicken and Mushroom dish (imaginatively substituting sliced inari pockets for tofu puffs and mirin); and, um, something else. I also froze some bananas and ate a decaying apple by cutting out the bad parts.
Huge Fail: last year I made tofu & shrimp meatballs, except I mistakenly cooked the shrimp first. Big mistake! It tasted like nothing and the texture was approaching crumbled insulation. Nonetheless I tried to eat it because it used 2 lbs of shrimp. Last week some of it when rotten in the fridge ... and a little voice inside my head celebrated. That's when I gave up.
Crumbled insulation? Rotfl! William B., you are a talented food critic!
1. I've really been trying to use up all products I currently own, plus get the most out of each package before throwing it away. Recently I rinsed out a body wash bottle and got one more washing, cut open a tube of toothpaste and so far have had 3 uses out of it with more to come, hair gel that i'm still using up.
2. I needed new boots as my other ones were leaking and getting my feet wet. I did have a good long run with those, so it probably was time. I wanted Muck boots but didn't want the high price tag, so I went on EBAY and did a search for new muck boots in my size and made a lower offer which was accepted, thus saving myself $16.30 on that purchase.
3. When scanning my receipts into my apps, I noticed an error on my Sam's club receipt and went back to the store and got $18 back in my pocket.
4. Submitted my husband's tick bite to our AFLAC policy & surprisingly, they paid out on it.
5. My car was starting to rust in the driver's side door jam & is only 3.5 years old and only has 24,000 miles on it. I contacted the dealership and because we've bought multiple vehicles from them over the years, they covered the rust repair even though we were out of warranty (3 years or 36,000 miles whichever comes first on body work).
I’ve been keeping a store bought basil alive for weeks now and that’s quite an accomplishment for my not so greens thumbs so I feel share your basil joy 😉
My FFT:
1. Mended five holes in a wool jacket that our then puppy made when we got him about 18 months ago. It’s about the normal processing time for mends here in the house, but it’s the best feeling when it’s done!
2. Washing our winter jackets and cleaning and polishing the winter boots before I put them away in the attic. It was quite the job this year, dog walking is apparently a messy business.
3. There was a sale at my favorite kitchen store. $40 off when you spend $100, valid on sale prices too. These kind of deals isn’t normal here, but on the rare occasion they appear it’s my kind of puzzle 🙂 Made four different buys to make them the closest to $100. Got some amazing gifts that’s way out of my budget at normal prices and a Hario V60 drip kettle that’s been on my wish list for years. Plus boring things we needed as a rolling pin, egg slicer and a kitchen rod with hooks over the sink.
4. Bought only milk at the grocery store to use up the last bits and pieces leftover from Easter.
5. A frugal fail: I’ve been using a super easy YT tutorial to cut my own hair for years. But as I’ve learned you can not «take a bit extra» using that technique, it’s just for trimming and getting layers in long hair. I really got a summer haircut, 17 inches off! But the real funny thing is, our national day is nearing (17th of May) so no hair dresser has available time before after, lol! So it’s a month with my very visible DIY haircut and it’s then $100 at the hairdresser.
I feel you on the haircut! I gave my bangs a trim in December, and something went horribly wrong. But I couldn't go to the hairdresser until it grew out a bit because I was so embarrassed at how poorly looked. (and my bangs have a cowlick, which made my error stand out more!) Sometimes , the money is worth it.
And 17 inches shorter?! My goodness, you must have had the long hair of my dreams. (I can never get mine much past my shoulders.)
Wow! That's impressive that the basil grew. You've inspired me to try some of my expired seeds too.
My Frugal 5s+
• Early morning walk after dropping off the kids at school. Free exercise!
• While walking, scooped out possible finds in our neighborhood for our city wide spring clean up this week. Last year, I had some awesome finds on the curbs but so far, I haven't seen anything. Still have til the end of this week so I will keep looking.
• Borrowed a Nintendo switch game called Puyo puyo & Tetris from the inter library loan program with a library in the city next to us and have been having fun playing with it with my family,
• My family and I had a picnic at the pack with groceries we brought from home and the store, cooked hotdogs on our portable propane grill, and used napkins as plates and chips as spoons since we forgot to bring those. Brought leftovers home to eat later. Afterwards, we roller bladed, and played frisbee. These are all things we already had. Kids also played at the playground.
• My oldest daughter and I helped volunteered in the nursery for Sunday school since a handful of people called out sick. An easy way to give back to the church that done a lot for us.
• My husband has been cleaning and fixing things around our home like washing our windows and replacing the screens on them. He's also washed and vacuumed out vehicles and painted a top coat on his jeep's hood since the paint was peeling.
Wow! That's impressive that the basil grew. You've inspired me to try some of my expired seeds too.
My Frugal 5s+
• Early morning walk after dropping off the kids at school. Free exercise!
• While walking, scooped out possible finds on the curbs in our neighborhood for our city wide spring clean up this week. Last year, I had some awesome finds but so far, I haven't seen anything. Still have til the end of this week so I will keep looking.
• Borrowed a Nintendo switch game called Puyo puyo & Tetris from the inter library loan program in the neighboring city and we've (My family and I) had a blast playing it together.
• My family and I had a picnic at the pack with groceries we brought from home and the store, cooked hotdogs on our portable propane grill, and used napkins as plates and chips as spoons since we forgot to bring those. Brought leftovers home to eat later. Afterwards, we roller bladed and played frisbee. These are all things we already had. Kids also played at the playground.
• My oldest daughter and I helped volunteered in the nursery for Sunday school since a handful of people called out sick. An easy way to give back to the church that's done a lot for us.
• My husband has been cleaning and fixing things around our home like washing our windows and replacing the screens on them. He's also washed and vacuumed out vehicles and painted a top coat on his jeep's hood since the paint was peeling.
Yay for geriatric seeds...I continuously pick them up for free at garage sales.
I won't eat a banana until it gets freckles. One of my sons eats only green crunchy bananas.
I transplanted the cucumber plants into gallon pots, started chives and transplanted the peppers into bigger pots.
Mowed, trimmed and blew off the walkways, patios and porches.
Catering friend offered me 40 lbs of pork sirloin @ $1/lb. I cut it up into steak, bits and ends that turned into sausage using the grinder attachment on my Kitchen Aid mixer. I pkg the steaks into 4/pkg, I got 58 pkgs of steak, 12 lbs of sausage and 6 lbs of bits.
Gave the truck a good scrubbing.
I'm glad your seeds are growing. We have some old ones, too, and your success inspires me to stop avoiding putting them in the ground just because they're old.
My frugals:
1. I mostly cooked. Except on Sunday evening when our electricity went out and wasn't expected to come on until 11 p. m. My dad offered to pay for Chinese take-out. Bonus: He let my daughter drive him since she needs to log hours for her license.
2. I made bread at home. I didn't use much yeast.
3. I made buttermilk.
4. Some folks in our house (not me) covered our asparagus bed and the bed that has lettuce, spinach, and kale growing last night. It did freeze, but our plants did not.
5. I am persisting with cleaning out my Great Clothes Heap. I thought I was done with the initial sort until we went into the shed to put things away and noticed several more totes to go through.
6. I wore thrifted clothes, made coffee and tea at home, and entertained myself by reading things I have and delighted in having a decades-old rice cooker that still works.
I've had covid for the past week, and covid puts me in bed! Most things I plow through, but something about covid just wrings me out. So, I've had a very frugal week of staying home and spending no money at all.
*I keep the cabinets stocked with some canned soup for occasions just like this. I lived on bananas, soup, and a loaf of sourdough bread I had made the day before I got sick. Wrote on my grocery list for this week to restock my canned soup (when I'm sick is about the only time I eat canned soup).
*I had a stocked medicine cabinet so no need to buy cough drops, decongestant, tylenol, etc.
*We got our state tax refund which was lovely after the crazy amount we always pay out for federal taxes.
*Paid my auto insurance for the next 6 months and got a small savings by paying it all at once.
*Ordered cat litter because it was on sale, and they delivered for free.
Very satisfying frugal mini garden! I love your idea for testing out the old seeds (I definitely have a few of those!) by just going ahead and planting 'em anyway. Helpful reminder that I should get some green onions going in my little herb garden area just like you did! Green onions are tasty in so many recipes.
The hospital that I work at strongly prefers that education hours are done at the hospital ( computer based education). Also, OT is strongly being discouraged, no way would we be able to use education hours to push us into OT.
That's so interesting, because ours specifically allots a certain amount of hours when they assign healthstreams to us. It's part of the cost they factor in when they decide whether it's worth it or not to assign a particular healthstream.
Nice win on the basil!
- We bought a 19 year old car with 40k miles to supplement our aging fleet. It runs like a top - score!
- I made a batch of vegan broccoli soup. Much tastier than it sounds.
- At the local consignment store I bought nearly new running tights (with a drawstring and zip legs) for $8.
1. I am super frugal on the meal front – all my meals are being covered by my company. I’m on a work trip Friday – Thursday. I’m staying within my spending limits and bringing snacks and water back to my room each night.
2. I looked over my toiletries before leaving and saw that I was running low on a few items so I picked up replacements to bring with instead of buying them once I got to my destination where I knew they would be more expensive.
3. I’ve been listening to a great book on Libby – Lady Tremaine.
That's all for this week!
That's so nice that the basil sprouted! They must want to celebrate Spring.
Don't forget to save some seeds from this year's Marigolds; you'll have free flowers next year that pollinators love 🙂
Your green onions remind me of the time I planted a bunch from seed in a window box by my front door- nothing like the smell of green onions when you arrive home. Haha!
My 5 frugal:
• Packed snacks and tea for a travel day. $0 spent on overpriced airport goods
• Bought some period underwear. Big upfront cost, but will save money in the long run.
• Cut the bottom of a tube of lotion to get every last drop.
• Helped hubby cut his hair. This is my least favorite frugal thing to do, but he likes his hair super short so this saves us quite a bit since we do it about weekly.
• Negotiated lower rent. There are a couple of cities I returned to and since I have a good rapport with agencies, I am often able to get a deal on rent. Plus working with the same trusted people really lowers my stress upon arrival. A regulated nervous system is cheaper in the long run.
I love that you still buy the older version of the blades on eBay. It supports the person selling them, keeps your handle still in use, and I think it's satisfying to be able to use something that would otherwise be thrown away (the seller would have thrown them away if there wasn't a market for them). Of course, I guess they do get thrown away after you use them, but at least they are "used up" first.
1. My manager asked if I could come in to work on a different day than usual but I didn’t have childcare for my newborn. When I mentioned that fact she said I could bring him since we’re in the middle of moving to a new location and our clinic will be closed to the public. So hurrah for a few extra hours of work and not having to arrange childcare!
2. I posted a few things to Buy Nothing and am hoping they will find new homes. Some may do better next fall as they are sweaters/coats for kiddos. Also in this vein, I recently reread “The Buy Nothing, Get Everything Plan” by Buy Nothing founders Liesl Clark and Rebecca Rockefeller which is inspiring and so, so uplifting. I want to support a vibrant sharing economy.
3. I brought home some cheese slices, crackers, and unwanted olive and avocado oil from work. I’m also continuing to cook from the freezer (venison) and pantry (using ancient but still good canned and diced tomatoes).
4. I used a $1 off coupon for gas from a coupon book I purchased to support a local university. So far I’ve used 2 out of 10 gas coupons plus some others.
5. I listened to continuing education content on a drive. I don’t usually prefer to listen to my CEUs but it was nice to pass the time while driving, and all of my CE hours were free through my professional organization.
1. Gave my new yard man a book on bicycling that I found at a Little Free Library, since he is an avid bicyclist.
2. Instead of buying a gallon of milk at Aldi for $2.79, I bought 2 half gallons on sale for half price, which made them a tad over 80 cents each. So I got a gallon's worth of milk for $1.61.
3. The jugs of milk about to reach their expiration date, but I sprinkled salt in each jug, and that'll keep them from spoiling before they are used up.
4. Photocopied my old homemade teaching materials for a young man going into the field for the first time. I've done this before for some local ed majors, but this fellow is in another state! So my lessons are traveling, and that is exciting.
5. Resisted the temptation to buy the gorgeous hanging baskets of flowers that are for sale at the store.
This has not felt like a frugal week, so I'll include some from previous weeks.
1. I bought a rotisserie chicken and got many meals out of it. I finally got to carcass cooked and picked off, but have not been able to find time to turn it into soup. Maybe tomorrow?
2. My favourite laundry detergent was on a crazy good sale, about half the cost at Walmart, which typically has the cheapest prices on it. I picked up 2 giant jugs. I may have enough laundry detergent for the next year!
3. I borrowed a roasting pan from my mom to prepare food for a party, rather than buying one. It's not something I use often, and I have no room to store it.
4. Threw a reward party for 16 people that included dinner. Not frugal! However, I did all the cooking myself, used some ingredients I already had on hand, and luckily ground beef for my burgers was on sale. Still cost over $40 for the meat, but it could have been even more expensive!
5. Chose a reasonably cheap entertainment party activity of a treasure hunt. One hour of active (brain and body) fun for the treasure of one package of candy from the dollar store per person. Other frugal fun included solving mystery pictures and decoding secret message riddles for prizes.
That's all I've got for now!
My green onion confusion:
I’ve looked at a whole bunch of different posts, and what it seems like is people don’t use the white part. I use the white part and the green and just cut off the little bit of roots. Can I still plant that little bit? Because if I have to cut off the whole white part to regrow it, it is not accomplishing anything for me!
I would say give the little bit of roots a try in soil. I often find my green onions growing in the plastic bag in the crisper drawer, even after I have cut off several inches of the green and white parts.
As long as you leave a tiny part of the white, it works fine.
I know your time is limited. This tip may not work with your schedule. I prefer to eat my bananas when there is still just a hint of green on them. If they go past that stage, they become smoothy ingredients but first I let the skins get very brown, then I freeze them, they are much sweeter at that stage.
I've gotta say that I was pretty excited to see you discover your inner cat person. Maybe gardener will be next!
Says Karen L, passionate gardener and cat mom