Five Frugal Things | some are questionable

Our artificial tree died an ignominious death a couple of years ago, and we decided to not replace it, especially after getting a cat. Nobody's really missed it. When our kids were little it was important, but less so now, I suppose.

--Library books; also the library surprised me by having a sale table today, so I got a copy of Margaret Atwood's Alias Grace, one of my favorite books, for 50 cents. I'll enjoy re-reading it and then putting it in our Little Free Library. Or keeping it.

--Still using the Fetch app; since we don't buy a lot of brand name foods, it's slow going, but with every receipt scanned (Amazon receipts count too!), I get 25 points.

--My personal pledge to not buy any more clothing for myself made in China means a lot fewer impulse buys; not that I ever did buy a lot of clothing, but now and then a new set of socks is very nice. Next up: sourcing bras and underwear not made in China. Such fun.

Your door is very pretty. 1. I stocked up on butter that's on sale at Aldi. 2. Publix has King Arthur all-purpose flour on sale buy one, get one, so I'm heading out soon to get 2. 3. In the last 2 weeks I've been busy getting in my check-ups since we met our deductible this year. I've seen my GYN, Opthalmologist, and have a Dr's appointment this week with the dermatologist. I also got my mammogram and bone density test done. This saves a lot of $$$ because we never meet our deductible. 4. I transfered Amex points to Virgin Atlantic with their current 40% bonus and booked a trip to London for a great price. 5. I bought the Target giftcards when they were 10% off and used those to buy some household items we needed using the buy $50 worth and get a $15 giftcard deal.

I'm definitely scraping the bottom of the barrel here, but let's see: 1) Used up a bunch of fridge items to make a large batch of chicken teriyaki rice. The carrots are finally gone! 2) Continued to do quick surveys here & there and earned another $30 3) Shared a discount code for ski passes with a friend. 4) The teens went to the climbing gym together after soccer practice last night, so I made them a late dinner when they got back. This is cheap for them, as it helps them avoid eating out. 5) We purchased on Christmas decorations or wrappings this year - everything is from prior years. We re-use gift bags & bows, have lots of leftover paper, & have an artificial tree that we removed all of the lights from & have our own strands on and all of our ornaments are from prior years. We do tend to buy an ornament on trips, and use those for decorations. It means our tree is a little "eclectic" and we love it.

1. Drove by a home improvement outlet I haven't been to before. Inside, I found exactly what I've been looking for (for more than a year) -- packages of knobs that I can put on my bathroom cabinet doors and drawers. The existing ones, circa mid-1960s, are old and falling off and one was lost when the room was painted. Never could find any at my usual cheap haunts, so I paid a bit more than I wanted but still less than a lot of stores. Installed them last night and it looks 100% better. 2. Saved the old knobs so I can use them for redoing/refinishing furniture. 3. Found Mom's Christmas tree skirt -- a gorgeous hooked rug with a hole in the middle. Used the old artificial tree and ornaments and lights. Didn't have to pay a cent for the tree. 4. Culled a lot of books from my collection, and will donate them. Less clutter, less dusting. (Sadly, none of the used book stores within a 100-mile radius pays you for books you bring in.) 5. Some "friends" were supposed to pick me up and take me to a Christmas party. (Post cataract surgery, it's difficult for me to drive at night.) They didn't. I called and called and they didn't pick up or respond to texts. (Too busy drinking, I suppose. So it's probably a good thing I wasn't in their car coming home.) After the party, another attendee brought me a couple of plates of food and dessert, trying to cheer me up for having missed the whole shebang. The hostess had used disposable plastic plates that looked like real nice china, and sent me the food on a couple of these plates. So I'm saving and reusing them as saucers for my house plants -- much prettier than the aluminum pie tins. And I can use the gift I had meant for the White Elephant exchange for a neighbor.

You would think that in today's world we as smart (?) people would be able to have come up with a permanent solution to a simple problem like not getting runs in stockings. Thank goodness for nail polish. ;) Congratulations on your classes! No surprise you are doing so well. Enjoy the break, you deserve it! And for the record Ice cream is good anytime if the year! Clearance ice cream especially. :)

Frugal things--- ● Saved $0.25/gallon on gas making it $2.74/gallon ● earned future additional $0.05/gallon discount for getting 20 gallons gas ● ordered 4 multipack Kleenex from Target (free shipping) & got free $15 giftcard plus used different FREE Target gift card for partial payment ● dug out (bonus) volunteer Aloe Vera plants & repotted into other pots from giant Aloe Vera plant ● giving volunteer Aloe Vera plant to neighbor for Christmas to put in her bare storefront window ● TMOBILE 10 free (photo) pictures ● bought soda pop on sale & used save $5 on $25 coupon