1. I squeezed limes and froze the juice.
My limes were getting a bit discolored and squishy, so I squeezed the juice out, froze it in ice cube trays (each is 1 tablespoon) and then put the lime juice cubes into a ziploc bag.
I figure the cubes will be really handy to use in recipes.
2. I roasted my own red peppers.
I was making basil/red pepper mayo, and I had no jarred roasted peppers in the fridge.
I did have a red pepper, though, so I roasted it, peeled it, used half in the batch of mayo, and froze the other half.
The jarred peppers go bad so quickly (and roasting them at home is so easy!), I don’t know if I’ll ever buy another jar.
3. I made pancakes with some funky yogurt.
I had a pint jar of homemade vanilla yogurt hiding in the back of the fridge, and I think maybe it froze and then thawed, because the texture was kind of weird and separated.
I did not want to eat that by the spoonful, so I made a batch of whole wheat blueberry pancakes and used the yogurt in place of buttermilk.
4. I helped the girls make fabric masks.
We do have some N95 masks, but they are the type with vents, apparently. Sigh.
We can tape the vent shut, but the girls thought it would be nice to have some fabric masks too.
(Which will come in handy if mask-wearing goes on for months and months.)
Luckily, I had some thin elastic in my sewing box (it’s hard to find anywhere right now!), and we had plenty of cotton fabric here to use for the actual mask, so these cost us nothing out of pocket.
5. I…
- scanned my few receipts with Fetch*, and one of them was worth 400 points
- continued to use almost no data with Ting wireless
- finished a fiction book and listed it on eBay
- shipped out Born a Crime, which I sold on eBay
Your turn! Share your five frugal things in the comments.
*In case you are new to it, Fetch is a free app that gives your rewards based on what groceries you buy. You can get $3 for downloading the app and scanning your first receipt. Use code QG8V2.
Sharie
Thursday 21st of May 2020
I regularly freeze lime juice from extra limes but just last year realized that I can also zest the limes first and freeze the lime zest. Now I hardly ever need to buy fresh limes because I always have lime juice and lime zest in my freezer. I do the same for lemons. I can't believe it took me 20 years of freezing juice to think about freezing the zest as well. Aside from being able to buy lemons and limes in bigger bags which is generally cheaper and when they are in season, it also makes dinner prep a lot easier when you can use juice and zest that is already juiced and zested. For most recipes, this is sufficient.
I also always microplane my extra ginger when I have extra left over from a recipe and freeze that so when I need grated ginger I can get that already prepared in my freezer. It seems like there is often a little bit of ginger left over. Now I don't need to buy fresh ginger as often unless I need fresh for the recipe.
Ruth T
Wednesday 20th of May 2020
1. I remembered to use a $20 Walmart gift card from Ibotta when I got groceries on Saturday. 2. I checked Ibotta before I went and was able to get $7.50 back from my shopping (including Pringles that I got for free). 3. My 3yo is going to need a mask for the next time he goes out (yes, I do think this is terribly sad and yes, I do think that whoever in my state decided that the mask requirement is ages 2 and up has clearly not spent any time with preschoolers in the last decade) so I looked through some boxes of clothes he has outgrown and picked out some dinosaur jammies to cut up and make into a mask. My baby turns 2 in a month and I'll need to make something for her soon. (No, I don't expect her to keep it on - can we just celebrate when preschoolers keep their clothes and shoes on??? - but I figure I should at least have one for her in case someone pushes the issue.) Hopefully this first attempt goes well or I can at least learn from it. 4. I got a crazy good price on blueberries and bought more than we can eat before they go bad, so I froze some before it got too late. 5. I didn't buy a Norwex item out of guilt or impulse. I attended a virtual party and there's one item I would really like but I'm struggling to fork over the $30 for it. So I'm taking time to think about it rather than just buying it because I feel like I should buy something.
Kaila
Sunday 24th of May 2020
I’m a Norwex consultant and, obviously, won’t receive credit for sharing this encouragement but buy the item! The quality alone makes it a frugal purchase because, ideally, you won’t have to replace it for some time plus you’re reducing chemicals in your household and the earth! (That’s my 2 cents. In case you were curious, haha).
Steph
Wednesday 20th of May 2020
1. I finally got to sign up for Misfits Market! I've been on the waiting list a few weeks. I am very excited to try this service. 2. Saved $70 at Old Navy in sales and rewards for some much needed summer clothes and have $50 in rewards for next time. 3. Got a $10 credit from Children's Place because they left the security tag on the shorts we ordered. We were able to cut it off without damage too. 4. We just had a very frugal birthday for my son and he enjoyed it just as much as any other year where we spent more. 5. Used $10 rewards coupon at L.L. Bean towards something I have been wanting.
AEW
Wednesday 20th of May 2020
1. I needed a new ring for my instapot since chipotle chicken apparently makes the ring smelly. Found someone on my neighborhood FB page giving two brand new ones away! 2. Middle kiddo wanted a new larger bed so I found a clean used set on our neighborhood FB page for $45. Did buy new bedbug proof/waterproof covers but still a lot less than new and much better quality! 3. Picked up another batch of dollar tree birthday cards, I keep a half dozen generic ones on hand for when we need them. At 2/$1 they're much more economical than standard cards and serve the same purpose! 4. Youngest kiddo wanted some new puzzles that were more challenging, turned to our neighborhood FB page again and found one for $3 and one for $5. Since new puzzles are $15+ each this is a much better cost! 5. We paid off a debt! One more down and one closer to being debt free!
Marianne
Wednesday 20th of May 2020
My kid wants plants for their house...and I have tons in my yard. Only cost is my time to dig 'em up. I'm retiring from the amount of gardening I do. Too hard on the back. I have a hosta collection that is around 100 named, my mom-in-law and I traded and traded with other so not much cost involved. Fun while it lasted.
I went thru all my old stuffed animals, all in great shape & clean. A huge chunk went to our local hospital to be used for children who are admitted. The rest are going to my grandchild.
My neighbor gave my dog a bone that she says her dog has not destroyed, I have destruct-toe-doggo. So far so good plus it is US made!
Grandpa gave us his old golf cart we will get a lot of use out of it.