1. I got a clearance dress at Target
I was helping Zoe with some necessary clothes shopping at Target, and then we poked through the clearance shelves. I found a little dark green shirt for Zoe for $3.50 (sweet!), and I also found a marked-down black dress for myself for $19.
Is this frugal? Mmmm, I dunno. I didn’t really NEED a dress.
But $19 is a very decent price for a dress, and I’ve decided I’m going to spend my summer just wearing this thing on the regular.
Ahem. IT HAS POCKETS.
I’m not waiting for a special event; I will wear my dress to buy groceries at Aldi.
I will wear it to Home Depot.
I will wear it to the vet.
I’m just gonna be slightly fancy for no reason whatsoever. 😉
Did I mention it has pockets???
Do we think I can wear it 19 times before summer is over? That will bring my cost-per-wear down to $1.
2. I got some free earrings
This is turning into a fashion-centric post!
I had been keeping an eye out for some dangly gold earrings; I’d considered spending some of my birthday money on a pair.
But then someone on my Buy Nothing group was offering a bag of earrings, and I noticed there were several gold pairs in there.
It’s surprisingly hard to take pictures of earrings when you are wearing them.
So, I picked them up and now I have two pairs of gold earrings to add to my jewelry box.
3. I revived some limp celery
It’s entirely my fault that this celery had gone limp; it came naked in my Hungry Harvest box, and I lazily threw it in my fridge with no wrapping, even though I know you are supposed to wrap celery in aluminum foil to keep it fresh.
(knowledge doesn’t always translate to action, ok??)
I sliced off the bottom of the bunch and plunked it into a glass of water.
And a few hours later, it was standing tall again.
4. I got a doormat at Aldi
I had a mat inside my front door, but my goodness, that thing was way too small to catch all the dirt/leaves that got tracked in.
I know good and well that Chiquita will likely scratch up whatever mat I put at the front door, so I did not want to spend a lot!
So when I saw a larger mat at Aldi for $14.99, I picked one up.
Is it slightly too big? Yes. Do I care? No.
This will do a much better job of keeping mess from being tracked into my house.
5. I…
- listed my Algebra 2 books on eBay
- got a marked-down box of cereal at Safeway
- used a rain check to get two boxes of sparkling water for $0.99 each
- used my dip-dyed stationery for two notes (I’m out now so I should make another batch!)
Cindy Brick
Wednesday 19th of July 2023
Thanks for the celery tip! I had no idea... The Prudent Homemaker plants the bottom of the celery head, then harvests leaves all summer. I was thinking of trying this.
Okay, and I'll brag about our recent supper at Olive Garden. We met family there, and were seated by a huge and very noisy soccer team. I think our waiter realized how much we had to shout to be heard, and he kindly offered to pack up some breadsticks and a bowl of soup 'to go.' (I order a cheaper entree, take a few bites -- then pack it up and make most of my meal on OG's wonderful soup and breadsticks.) So what did we bring home? Leftover noodles (a snack for Ruby the dog), spaghetti x 2 (heated up for one meal), and toscana soup, stretched into two bowls by adding some chopped potato. Plus the breadsticks. So.... two extra meals plus the restaurant meal! (You can do something similar at Red Robin -- eat a few bites of your burger, fill up on their unlimited fries, then serve the rest of the burger with a salad or soup for another meal.)
Wear the dress wherever you like. It looks great on you. I'm waiting for Saturday, when our local thrift shop is having a half-price-on-everything sale, plus serving hot dogs and chips for lunch!
Suzanne
Wednesday 19th of July 2023
You look like a million bucks in that dress!! I love wearing dresses in the summer, so much cooler.
Lori
Wednesday 19th of July 2023
I have a couple of similar dresses from Old Navy (sans pockets, alas), and I wear them all the time. I often wear a t-shirt or tank top over them if I want to be more casual.
Nikki
Tuesday 18th of July 2023
1. I made our meals at home, using up ingredients that we had. I used some slightly wilted vegetables in soup. (It’s actually been cool here.) 2. I mended my daughter's quilt. 3. I made quilted coasters with scrap fabric and leftover quilt padding. 4. I ordered some $12 per pair Old Navy jeans for my kids to wear this fall/winter and some clearance items for Christmas. 5. We got books, movies, and board games from our local library. Also took the youngest to Story Time; had to wait years to do this because the next youngest is terrified of puppets.
Ellie in AR
Wednesday 19th of July 2023
Hello Frugal Friends, Wrapping celery in aluminum foil extends it's freshness. (My celery has stayed fresh 2 months.) I read this tip on several blogs and tested it out. Did you know you can cut the base of the celery, put it in a small dish of water and it will grow? The same is true of green onions (scallions). I change the water weekly to avoid rot. Just keep the jtti gs in a sunny spot. You can even transplant then to a garden bed. This past week was a mix of frugal/spending. I drove 700 miles to visit my college best friend. She has been feeling poorly due to severe RA as well as the illnesses of her aging parents. The RA is so painful that she did not go on vacation with her hubby and active teen boys as she did not think she could keep up with them. We had our own scrapbooking weekend at her house. Savings on a hotel room. We ate all meals at home. It was great fun to chat and work on our photos. We each finished 20 pages! We used supplies we already had as well as her 1st generation Cricket machine. Yay! I'm no longer just a collector of stickers, paper and ephemera. I packed lunch, beverages and snacks to eat driving to her house and home. My one fail was buying a cup of ice and a bag of cinnamon roasted nuts at Buccee's on the way to her house. Gas was $2.78 a gallon, so that was a savings. No Buccee's stop on the way home. Once home, savings included: * cooking main dishes from the pantry *38 cents a box cereal from the clearance section* and watching my use of electricity* Another attempt at saving is disputing a toll violation letter from the State of Delaware. They were doing construction and didn't get a reading from our vehicle's "transponder (?)". $50 punishment fees for a $4 toll. I hope I win this case. It is annoying that they give you 7 days to respond. I paid $8 to mail my proof via return receipt. Ugh! Wishing everyone a wonderful frugal week.
Auntiali
Tuesday 18th of July 2023
Thanks for the craft idea! I was looking for something to do with my great niece while we are on vacation. I bet I can get bins at the dollar and a quarter store (Dollar Tree).
Dress is beautiful and I've always envied girls with smaller breasts. I can't pull that look off at all...even when I was in my teens and twenties.
Frugal wins:
1. We keep eating out of the freezer which is good as the new fridge has a horrific high pitched squeal. It either will get fixed or returned. 2. Hubby and I are sharing one car now that he's retired . It's working out so far. 3. Switched to Mint Mobile and are saving over $1,000 a month. 4. Monday I will get a free upper lip wax as I'll be a guinea pig for a new wax person at the place I go to - European Wax. I get my eyebrows and my chin done and not down there - blush! 5. Shopped at Aldi tonight to show hubby that yes, I can get a dozen eggs for $1. It was actually .96!
The fridge debacle almost sent me over the edge and the new one today was my prescription wasn't covered cause my "insurance changed". Got a Cobra thingie for dh in the mail and solved that puzzle. He's suppose to get company health insurance until he reaches 65 because he made the 1980's cut as he worked there then. I'm feaking out that we may not be covered. Other hint was that no money was taken out of his check for insurance this past paycheck. Lord help me!