Donna Freedman

The frugal sybarite.

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(As promised during this no- or low-spend February, I have run a Throwback Thursday post to encourage frugal pursuits. This week’s choice is designed to remind us to take care of ourselves – without breaking the bank. The piece originally ran on July 15, 2015.)

Some habits that I consider opulent would make other people sneer. To each her own, I suppose. Myself, I happen to think taking a long, hot bath with a good book in (dry) hand is a tremendous luxury – especially if there’s a glass of iced tea or a Diet Coke handy.

(Hint: Even if the soft drink is already cold, put it in the freezer for 15 minutes or so before you run the bath. The contrast of the hot-as-you-can-stand water and the icy beverage is delightful.)

Hanging our laundry to dry in the sun leads to another luxury: falling asleep surrounded by the fragrance of the sun and the wind. Some people would say the sun has no odor. I beg to differ.

DF and I sometimes joke about being “frugal sybarites.” The fact is, a sumptuous lifestyle doesn’t necessarily require a lot of dollar signs.

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Honey mustard cereal.

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No, not with milk and sugar. (Ew.) This is a reworking of the honey mustard pretzels that I wrote about a few years ago.

(Three years?!? Dang. How time flies.)

Recently DF made a batch of honey mustard pretzels and on a whim, tossed in some generic Rice Chex. He modified the recipe in another way, too, since we are nearly out of honey. (More on that later.)

The result was savory and sweet-spicy and pure fun – and the cereal bits were the best part. We rapidly cherry-picked all those little crunchy bits out before we started in on the pretzels.

“Next time I’m doing only cereal,” he vowed.

And he did. Reader, they are great. They’re even frugal. I predict the bowl (pictured above) will be empty by the end of the day tomorrow, even if we try to behave ourselves.

It takes a little bit of fussing to make them, but not that much. The new recipe he came up with today is even better than his first revision.

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How to avoid overdrafting.

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It can be surprisingly simple to bounce a check – and overdrafting can put a serious hurt on your finances, especially if you’re living on a tight budget. That’s because banks and credit unions can legally charge non-sufficient funds and/or overdraft fees multiple times per day. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau recently reported that bank … Read more

The frugal medicine cabinet.

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(Happy Throwback Thursday! Now that the no- or low-spend February is underway, I have decided to run a throwback frugality post every Thursday this month. This post originally ran on Oct. 4, 2021. Its topic is timely due to COVID-19, flu-rona, and the usual sniffles being passed around at this time of year.)

What makes a medicine cabinet frugal? I’ll explain some tactics a little later. Right off, though, I would like to gently nag you to do an inventory of your own. Here’s why.

You might get sick. If it’s COVID, then it could be possible to fight this at home. (You might have to if you’re living in a place where they’re rationing healthcare. They’re doing it right now in Alaska.) And if it’s not COVID, then you’ll feel a little more comfortable – or at least a little less horrible – if you have certain OTC items on hand.

You might get stuck. Again, no one can say whether another lockdown will happen. If it does, or if case numbers were scary enough in your area to make you want to stay home, then you’re at the mercy of delivery services. Sure, you could look at their ads and find out whether generic Theraflu is cheaper at CVS than at Kroger. But will you do that? Also, being unable to watch for deals and pick them off, one or two at a time, means you’ll likely pay full retail. Bonus: Not being in-store means not seeing “manager’s special” or “clearance” tags.

You might be strapped. Suppose two members of your household get whatever bug is going around. You’ll be so busy putting cold cloths on foreheads and emptying puke pails that you won’t exactly have time/inclination to rush off to Rite Aid. (Stay home anyway, ya Typhoid Mary!)

What will you need, and how should you acquire it? Let’s get started.

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The $0 home makeover.

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Ever get tired of the way your place looks? That song lyric “I sit here staring at the same old walls” comes to mind, especially during the winter – or, lately, during lockdowns and quarantine.

While we should all be grateful to have places to live, there’s nothing wrong with wanting a little variety. My daughter worked at home long before COVID made it commonplace. Stuck in the house pretty much 24/7 due to work, chronic health issues and a now-ex who complicated her life in many ways, Abby had neither the energy nor the finances to change those same old walls.

Until one day she decided to redecorate for free.

All she did was rearrange the living-room furniture and bring in a lamp from elsewhere in the house. The effect? Pretty much a brand-new room, without spending a cent.

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Need something? Buy Nothing.

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(Happy Throwback Thursday! Now that the no- or low-spend February is underway, I thought this post could help some of you avoid spending and/or declutter. It was originally published on Aug. 5, 2018. Ever since then I have been using the heck out of Buy Nothing, both to give and to receive. With luck, your local group will be a great year-round resource to you as well.)

I got a free mini-fridge yesterday. Not for me, for a friend. (Seriously!)

While clearly secondhand, with a couple of scratches and dings, it smells freshly washed on the inside and will help someone out.

Helping people out is the stated purpose of the fridge’s source: a Buy Nothing Facebook group.

Sort of an intensely local Freecycle, this page is a great way not just to keep things out of the landfill, but also to connect with your community.

I’ve gotten so much good stuff from this site, including but not limited to:

  • A waffle iron that had been used just once (and it has a beeping timer – no more scorched waffles!)
  • A never-before-played “Game of Thrones” board game, which became a Christmas gift
  • A pair of slippers for DF’s grandchild to wear when she visits (this is Alaska, and shoes go off at the door)
  • A wraparound-style fleece poncho (very soft and cozy)
  • A bright-red colander (which I use to drain my homemade yogurt)
  • Plastic storage totes
  • Lots of food: apples, powdered milk, flour, dried beans, yeast, lentils, baking powder, pasta, split peas, and canned vegetables, fruits, fish and Spam (some of which we donated to a food bank)
  • Dig-your-own horseradish roots (always looking for new garden challenges)
  • A huge roll of parchment paper (a crucial ingredient in making that ridiculously simple, ridiculously delicious rustic bread)

It also helped me find an elementary school teacher who was delighted to take some empty Altoid tins off my hands. She’s also stoked about receiving fidget spinners, slap bracelets and any other fun items I bring back from . (Teachers are always looking for things for their classrooms.) DF and I have given away a bunch of other things, too, such as books, clothing and fresh rhubarb.

My niece has been able to find new homes for some decorative items (she’s changing décor), some outgrown toys and kids’ clothing, and a big bag of shredded bedding for pet cages (her snake died). Recently she picked up a big bag of clothing for her younger son, and also a major holiday gift (again, can’t say exactly what in case the kiddo is reading). She and I both check the page regularly, to see if anyone’s giving away something useful.

Or looking for something useful – the Buy Nothing group runs both ways. If you don’t see what you need, you can ask.

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Credit card requirements easing.

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The good news: Banks have lately made it a bit easier to get a credit card.

The bad news: Banks have lately made it a bit easier to get a credit card.

According to the Federal Reserve’s new quarterly survey of bank senior loan officers, nearly 15 percent of large banks and 25 percent of other banks have eased the required minimum credit score in the fourth quarter of 2021. This trend is likely to continue in 2022.

Notice that not all banks are doing this. Notice, too, that I said it’s both good and bad news.

The relaxing of standards could help people who don’t currently qualify for credit, or who qualify only for cards with lousy interest rates and lots of fees. Getting a legitimate card and using it carefully can help them build their credit history. Without a solid credit history, you’ll pay more than you must for things like car loans, vehicles and insurance.

The idea is to get the best possible card and, more important, to have a plan to build credit, not create debt. That’s the “bad news” part: Being able finally to get a card could harm someone who doesn’t have a plan in place. A credit card is not the ticket to the good life, with zero consequences attached. It’s a tool, and like any tool it can be used for good or for ill.

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Low/no-spend February: Week 1.

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It’s been a quiet week in Lake DebtBeGone* – which also happened to be the first week of the no- or low-spend February challenge. It was fairly easy to manage because I barely went anywhere. Since I don’t shop much online, it was pretty easy to avoid spending.

Not that I avoided it entirely. Tuesday, Feb. 1 was “Senior Tuesday” at Fred Meyer, a hot date for DF and me. That’s where the “low-spend” part comes in: Pretty much everything we bought either had an extra 10 percent off because it was a store brand, or because we had a coupon, or both. We found some screamin’ deals on meat, paying $2.49 a pound for 91 percent lean ground sirloin, $2.87 for a pound of breakfast sausage (DF eats meat and eggs before heading off to ski) and $1.92 for a pound of organic ground beef (manager’s special/store coupon/Senior Day trifecta).

Those prices may not sound rock-bottom to you, but we live in the home of the Alaska Gouge and we were just delighted.

On the way to the checkout line, we saw frozen turkey breast for 99 cents a pound. Grabbed one of those, too, and today it made the most marvelous midday meal – and it was frugal to boot:

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Low- or no-spend February starts tomorrow.

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Just a heads-up: Beginning tomorrow, we start the no- or low-spend February challenge. Given the comments I received on the original post, some of you are as intrigued as I am by this chance to look closer at your spending and, if need be, to get control of it.

This time around we’re doing “low-spend” as an option. I want to encourage people to do their best not to spend – but I also want them to let it go if they do have to spend.

Your teenager has no control over whether they grow out of their shoes next month, and your car isn’t going to wait until March 1 to break down. As thoughtful as those things would be, life isn’t perfect. It doesn’t conform to our expectations. (I expect most of you know that already.)

As I noted in the original piece, it’s more of a “spend-super-intentionally” month. The object isn’t privation. It’s innovation, and it’s discovery. How can we come up with clever workarounds vs. spending on autopilot? And just how much do we spend while we think we’re being frugal?

Also as noted: We’re going for mindfulness, like masochism. You can still buy stuff. Heck, you can even buy stuff you don’t technically “need,” as long as you keep the low- or no-spend February club rules in mind: 

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