Low- or no-spend February 2023, Weeks 2 and 3. (I’m back.)

Running a little late, obviously. I was already a bit tardy with the low- or no-spend February challenge update when a stomach bug made me almost completely work-avoidant. Many quarts of hydration and loads of hours of sleep later, I am much healthier. But catching up on belated assignments meant missing a week.

While mildly ill, I was reminded yet again that sickness means either spending way too much (medical co-pays, prescriptions, special foods) or feeling too crummy to spend much at all.

This time around it was the latter, fortunately. I was also reminded that I live in a low-maintenance prepper paradise where just about anything I needed was already in hand (and likely bought on sale or at Costco). Powerade? We got it. Canned chicken soup? Ditto. Generic ibuprofen PM, so I could sleep for 12 hours at a stretch? You bet.

That sleep was some of the coziest ever, thanks to the brand-new-to-us down comforter  whose frugal purchase was detailed in the first roundup. Reading some of the comments on that piece, I was impressed by a couple of readers’ stirring tales of thrift.

Jody combined a clearance sale price with a coupon and paid $47 for her comforter (normally more than $200). Thanks to good care, “it still keeps us warm in the winter.” And a reader named Susan D. put us all to shame with her queen-sized comforter’s provenance: just $2 at a garage sale. Combined with blankets, it keeps her “snug as a bug” despite dropping the thermostat as low as 50 degrees overnight.

Frugal Lisa shared that she uses layered comforters to stay warm in the winter. She’s learned that electric blankets give out after a couple of years, to say nothing of the tripping hazard* that their cords present. “Turns out, two or three comforters + body heat = a lot warmer bed than the electric blanket used to provide. And if our Texas electric grid goes down again, the comforters will still work.”

I love a good bed linens success story.

More low- or no-spend tactics

Eating mostly (or only) from pantry/freezer/fridge doesn’t just shore up the food budget. It also means getting top value for the food you already had: By making a point to use it sooner rather than later, you make sure that it doesn’t go bad or get freezer burn.

Ecoteri tends to get bored with leftovers after a couple of days and wants to make new dishes. Not during a low- or no-spend February, though: “Applying a bit of mental discipline is doing wonders to my ability to eat something until it is gone.”

(Pro tip: Before you serve a dish for the first time, put one or two portions of it in the freezer – if it lends itself to freezing, that is. Wouldn’t do this to a souffle or anything like that. Now you have less food to finish up over the next couple of days – and a bag lunch ready to go, or something to heat up on a night you don’t feel like cooking.)

A reader named Arlene prepared for low- or no-spend February by stashing a grocery gift card. Not that she’s using it very much; instead, she’s been combining “freezer finds” with pantry odds and ends. Bonus: “Not going out keeps me from spending money and getting projects done that have been stacking up.” Well played!

But it’s OK to treat yourself

And when you guys did shop? You did it strategically.

Kate hung on to a supermarket gift card she got for Christmas; paired with a $5-off supermarket coupon, it delivered about $70 worth of supplies for zero bucks. “So off to a good start,” she writes. Best deal during that shopping trip: a quart of liquid hand soap from the closeout section for just 40 cents. Noice!

Kim Dublin stuck only to shopping for perishables, and lucked into eggs at $1.99 per dozen. She also kept an eye on her favorite online shopping site and jumped at the chance to buy sweaters for 50 percent off. That may sound like a want, but it was definitely a need: “I’ve lost significant weight over the last year, and it seems I’m always cold now.”

Never pass up a chance to feel cozy, guys – or to take care of yourself in other ways. Auntiali reported several good shopping actions during this low- or no-spend February, then mentioned a “bad” one (her word, not mine): “Got myself some Godiva chocolate for Valentine’s Day.”

If you’re listening, Auntiali: I’m awfully glad you got that chocolate. After all, you mentioned having had laser surgery for glaucoma and a couple more medical appointments in the near future. Cosseting yourself with a little chocolate might be just what the doctor** ordered.

I, too, bought a bit of chocolate recently. But since illness kept me out of the stores until after the holiday, I snooped around what was left of the Valentine’s clearance items. There followed a bit of strategic shopping of my own: a 6.3-ounce box of Nestle’s Crunch minis for $1.25, combined with a Coupons.com*** rebate of 75 cents cash.

In other words, 50 cents or about $1.27 per pound. Bonus: The individually wrapped nature of these candies makes portion control simpler. I can have one*** at a time instead of needing to break apart a bigger bar.

To recap: Sorry I went AWOL, and I sure would like to hear more reader adventures. Do tell!

*For years I served on the newspaper’s Health & Safety Committee. Does it show?

**My friend Linda B’s doctor did order this: She’s supposed to eat an ounce of dark chocolate per day. How can I get myself a prescription like that one???

***As I keep reminding everyone, rewards programs rock.

****With occasional gusts to two. Or three.

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18 thoughts on “Low- or no-spend February 2023, Weeks 2 and 3. (I’m back.)”

  1. Hey, love that pro tip about freezing at the BEGINNING when I make a large quantity of foods. I have been horrid about actually using foods in the freezer, however my current Teeth-Gritting-Freezer-Digging practice means that slowly I am making space where I can stash a couple of eat-later meals.
    I got two more (out of three) Hydro Peak Saver $3 successes by a) remembering it was a peak saver event by using my calendar’s alerts and b) turning of EVERYTHNG including the furnace and c) leaving the house for some of the 3 hours. The third day I was busy roasting and stove-topping many pans of aging vegetables, and took one for the team by not turning the oven and stovetops off.
    As for those Veggies? They were yams that I grew!!!!, cauliflower that was steeply discounted yet languishing in the downstairs fridge (and freezing down there, oops), sad soft beets, plus some sad close-to-freezer burned green and yellow beans that perked right up when pan fried in a teeny bit of oil and a liberal dosing of dollar store lemon pepper, as well as a couple of cups of aging frozen corn that were pan fried. I put each veggie into its own clear glass container in the fridge so we could SEE what we had and #2 son and I ate two meals each with a hefty variety of veg along with chicken meat picked from the second (on sale) bird cooked in my instant pot.
    I took the bones and bits of liquid each time I cooked a bird, added water, onion and celery and a bit of a carrot as well as a splash of vinegar (gets the good out of the bones, apparently) and pressure cooked for a couple of hours in the same instant pot pan (no dishes, twice the meals!). Those broths were strained, the dog gets the carrots and the broth was put in the fridge. I have been drinking some of it straight, and used two quarts over the last couple of days to make a series of soups from the remainder of the roasted and toasted veggies and chicken. I had flavoured the cauliflower with a bit of chili and hot pepper flakes, but most else was simply roasted in a teeny bit of oil, yet that stretched chicken refrigerator cleanout soup has been delish!
    I continue to leap up and turn down my furnace or turn it off until I realize it is REALLY cold in the house, I don’t mind a cold house when I am sleeping or busy, so my electrical bill will be even further in the black going forward. Go solar and frugality!
    I am certainly not meeting any kind of no or even low-spend February goals and I am still pleased with what I am succeeding in doing. Even a few baby steps can make a significant difference in reminding me that I don’t have to be perfect to make things better.

    Reply
    • That all sounds pretty darned tasty. Using stuff up from fridge or freezer is a big boost to the budget, since those are ingredients/meals you don’t have to pay for now — and the money you spent then doesn’t go to waste.

      Baby steps are fine. Even if that’s all we can EVER manage, at least we’re in motion rather than staying put.

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  2. Glad you are feeling better Donna! You are right that it sure helps to be stocked up on food, drinks, and meds when you are not feeling well. Since the shortages during the early stages of Covid, I have been very mindful about keeping extras tucked away.

    I had a medical test that just wiped me out last week, and I was SO glad that I had food in the freezer ready for that little emergency. I first thought that I might stop for fast food, not like me at all, but I was not even up to doing that. Planning ahead can be a real blessing!

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  3. The most I have spent on was a book in the series from an author I love. The rest was budgeted money that I set aside on purpose for “fun” so that I won’t go past a certain amount. With that being said I’ve only spent 3 times total so far in the whole month. For me that’s a win!

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  4. Glad you’re feeling better, Donna. And I too keep a stockpile of powdered Gatorade, canned soup, and various OTC drugs on hand.

    I’ve done pretty well on low-spend February thus far, with the exception of a small splurge on hot dogs and buns at Price Chopper (I had a craving) and another one on salmon from our good fishmonger at the Regional Market. (I mean, I’m sure he’s a good person, but he also mongs good fish.)

    However, I’ve got the garage door repair people coming over in half an hour, so that’s going to put a dent in the budget. I got as far as I could with RTFM, and I even CAFN (called a friendly neighbor), but sometimes you just gotta call in the pros.

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  5. Glad you are on the med Donna!
    So far so good down here! I have been getting very creative with the freezer stash!!
    My neighbor was going away for a month, she texted if I wanted her eggs ( I watch her condo and gather her mail while she is away) —
    I could not respond YESSSS fast enough!! She had only eaten 1, so I got 11 organic free range eggs for free!!

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  6. Stomach bugs are no joke! Glad you’re feeling better.
    My biggest savings has been in groceries. I shopped once at the end of January (my big once-a-month shopping trip) and besides picking up milk, half & half for our coffee, bread (twice) otherwise I’ve made it and some fresh fruit that’s been it. We are down to the nitty gritty in our freezer but will stretch it until I shop big again at the end of the month. A great savings was the vegetable, black bean and pasta soup I made last week. My grandson and I slow cooked the black beans and he helped me divide them up into portion sizes to freeze. I also had him come over for a baking afternoon during which we baked a Swedish Almond Cake and a Cardamom Cake (cardamom given out free at my library from the Spice of the Month Club) for him to take home. During this fun time, I gently inserted tips on baking and let him know how by cooking and baking at home he can save thousands of dollars over his lifetime. Hope it sticks!

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  7. One big frugal fail. I had someone come in to clean my livingroom furniture and of course it was stated at a low price. The guy wanted to upsell me so I got hubby involved which didn’t work. I ended up paying $845 for my 3 pieces of furniture to be cleaned, deoderized and Scotchguarded. Moan!!! He also steam cleaned our hardwood floors and put some kind of other layer on them to leave them semi-shiney. Just so ticked at being upsold and having hubby in on it. Just unbelievable!

    Second is we got hubby his suit for our son’s wedding. We paid $485 for the suit, shirt, tie and garment bag. At least my dress was $56 and shoes were $30. I still have to get undergarments.

    In somewhat savings news I had a $94 credit on one of my credit cards so I’m using that for when I pick up food at Aldi. I got hubby Aldi brand diet iced tea and he wasn’t a fan. I told him to squeeze some lemon juice in it. We’ll see. I got some good deals at Walgreens on things we use.

    The rest of the month will be spendy with my dental appointment, stress test and dermatologist visit. Maybe low spend April? March will be spendy with the wedding.

    Reply
    • In case you were not aware – if you are not happy with anything at Aldi (don’t like the taste, it goes bad, etc — they don’t ask for a reason) you can return with receipt for a full refund AND a replacement as part of their “double money back guarantee”. Its a pretty good policy – and I have used it, with no issues.

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  8. I’m doing something for Lent that I did last year. You know how you’re supposed to give up something during Lent? I gave up shopping for clothes during that time. (The only exception is if something isn’t repairable that gets wrecked during that time period.) I saved money by doing without, so I’m doing it again this year.

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  9. So far pretty good. We are keeping the grocery spending at a minimum and eating out of freezer and pantry. I threw my bathroom rug in washer and it tore. I started to trash it because it wasn’t expensive anyway but I decided to try and mend it. I’m not a seamstress by any stretch but it came out just fine.
    We did go to Dunkin on Valentines for a coffee and doughnut but we used a gift card our children gave us for Christmas.
    Before Covid we were planning a special Cruise . We obviously did not get to go but we are hoping to go in Fall this year. We already have the money set aside but are hoping by being frugal we will not even have to use all of what we have saved. So hoping for a lot of “low spend months”

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  10. I hope you are fully recovered from your stomach bug. Those are just the worst and can really wear a body down.

    I’ve kept my grocery shopping costs quite low for the month, I’m happy to say. I still have quite a bit of meat in my freezer, and the pantry is still fairly well stocked, so I think I’ll try shop my kitchen for another month.

    I’m on the lookout for a couple of nice tops to wear this summer, mostly for my grandson’s high school graduation and related activities. I have been watching that online shopping site and found one nice top for 66% off, and even with shipping it’s an acceptable price. I’m still so happy with the on-sale cardigan I bought earlier this month. I’ve worn it so much already that it has already been worth every penny!

    Kim in KY

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  11. Our down comforter has been keeping us snuggly-warm all winter. And it gets cold here at night in Colorado, even on sunny days. (Which we get a lot.)

    Husband found it at one of those Goodwill outlets where everything is thrown into bins or on tables, and you paw through it. So much a pound — I believe we paid $1.97.
    Husband got curious and did some research on the brand — $900 retail.

    Reply

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