Another quiet and rewarding weekend here at Chez Low-Key. “Rewarding” refers not just to R&R-value* but also to our finances.
Among the highlights:
A little Dumpster wading. While dropping off recyclables I checked the mixed-paper bin, as usual. This turned up 70 points for the My Coke Rewards program and also two glitzy gift bags (one Christmas, one birthday).
Using the wood-fired dryer. DF did a load of laundry late on Saturday morning and I arranged it on our drying racks in front of the fireplace insert. Some of it was dry by evening; all of it was dry by Sunday morning.
Making the weirdest curry ever. DF had cooked some manager’s special mild Italian sausage (50 cents per link) for breakfast on Friday: He browned them in a small black iron skillet, added a little water and put a lid on the pan. On Saturday I sautéed onions and the two sliced-up links of leftover sausage until the onions caramelized and then added garlic, celery seed, curry powder and a big spoon of peanut butter.
Once that was all mixed I poured in the “sausage water” (we save just about everything) and a block of black-bean broth from the freezer (from beans we’d cooked for taquitos). After it boiled I added some diced potatoes (which we’d grown) and carrots (maybe a dime’s worth), and crumbled in dried kale and cabbage (also from our garden).
When the vegetables were done I dumped in some leftover lentils and a little brine from our homemade pickled cabbage. To my shock, it all tasted quite good – when DF suggested I use the sausage for curry I couldn’t quite picture how that would turn out. We ate it over quinoa that was free because I’d bought it with Amazon gift cards earned from Swagbucks.
Small and large scores
Got a bunch of free vitamins. These were a specialized (and pricey!) type for a specific health condition but cost nothing because I had enough Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks to cover the nearly $60 total. (Seriously: If you don’t join Swagbucks using my referral code – and I of course hope you will – then join it somehow.)
Cooked a comfort-food dessert. Tapioca, baby! Greatly prized by DF, it will last for days and is tons cheaper than buying prefab pudding.
Scored at the clearance table. As regular readers know, I spend most of my days working in sweatpants. The ones I’m wearing are at least 10 years old and developing small holes. On Saturday I went back to Fred Meyer and paid $5.48 for dark gray fleece sweatpants.
I say “went back” because earlier this week I’d bought the same kind for 10 percent off (thanks, once-a-month senior discount!). Rather than wait until next month and risk their being sold out, I decided to spring for another pair.
Augmented a condiment. We like to get full use of pickle brine, mustard dregs and the like. Thus when an Italian dressing bottle was more or less empty we poured in some of the mustard vinegar, gave it a good shake and dumped it back into the mustard bottle. The next time I make lentils or we have a soup that needs a bit of zing we’ll try the new flavor. (Recently we discovered another nice combo: the last of the creamy horseradish added to pickle brine.)
Used coupons. I’m making up a birthday bag for a young relative, because it’s more fun to get a bunch of small gifts than one big one. Coupons mailed by Jo-Ann Fabrics and Bed Bath & Beyond netted two nice elements for $2.50 total. Bonus: I got to chat with a Jo-Ann clerk who turned out to be a brony. (He displayed a wrist tattoo as proof of his equine devotion.)
Made yogurt. This was easy enough: Put two quarts of milk and a half-cup of starter saved from last week’s batch into an old soufflé dish atop a warming tray. It ultimately became a quart of Greek-style yogurt (and almost a quart of whey, which we use for various cooking projects) for just $1.75. Sometimes it’s half that cost, i.e., when I’m lucky enough to find close-dated milk for sale.
At home and elsewhere
Entertained ourselves (mostly) at home. On Friday night DF had Eskimo dance troupe practice, so I used the quiet time to write a little and then to work on a jigsaw puzzle (99 cents, Value Village). On Saturday evening we enjoyed the curry, the fire, reading, a little bit of writing (him) and a little bit of jigsaw puzzling (me), and “Saturday Night at the Opera” on KLEF-FM.
Not going out regularly saves us a ton of money. However, we don’t stay home all the time. In fact, on Sunday we attended the overnighters, aka “theater without a net.” Playwrights are given a cast and a word or phrase which must somehow be reflected in the finished product; this time around, the theme was sci-fi.
Whether a 10-minute or one-act play, it must be delivered by 8 a.m. the following day. Along with three or four others it will be rehearsed all day and then performed that night.
My friend Linda B. had a show in the lineup called “Science Friction,” a short piece about a woman who claims to have been abducted by aliens. For $12 I got to be a supportive friend and also help support the local arts scene. One reason I can do that even though I’m earning less is that I’m careful with the money I do bring in.
Fortunately, frugality has become so automatic that it doesn’t feel onerous. Here’s the best part: Frugality is also highly personal, i.e., you get to do what works for you. Some people find coupons not worth the effort, and some wouldn’t make their own yogurt if it meant the firing squad.
The more careful I am with my cash, the more things I get to do. Thus cutting corners right now is definitely worth my while. Besides, this way I get to learn to love sausage curry.
*Energy geeks will see what I did there.
Related reading:
- The low-maintenance preppers
- Does frugality have to hurt?
- Beware false economies
- What’s your ‘a-ha!’ moment?
Sounds like a great weekend to me! I totally agree with you that the frugal life becomes second nature after living it for awhile. It would honestly be more difficult for us to spend a bunch of money at this point that not to!
We have a $0 entertainment and restaurant budget, so we’re all about creating free hobbies that fulfill us–like hiking, yoga, baking, and reading. The frugal life is a creative life, in my opinion. So glad to read that we’re not the only ones 🙂
My frugal moments this weekend include buying the reduced price “ugly” tomatoes and cooking them down with carrots, onions and garlic into sauce for a great pasta bean dinner.
Also I went clothes shopping with my daughter to the church run consignment store in town. We purchased 3 designer items and one ugly Christmas sweater for a very low cost. 50% of the price goes to support charity. We also experienced the fun of trying on hot pink heels, faux fur coats and clothes that are not our typical style.
We had to replace our stove at a $749 price tag (cheapest price we could find for what I wanted). We then found the perfect microwave on sale for $180.00 (regularly $318.00)to go with it. I truly didn’t need the microwave but the two just seemed to go together! I also think that the close out sale just made me feel better. Frugal did kick in when we went to pay, we got my husband’s military discount on the microwave, a $40 rebate on the stove, charged it to get the cash back and then recycled the old appliances for a little cash back too! So even though I had to spend money this weekend…I looked for every $ I could to bring the cost down!
When you have to spend, do it intentionally. Well done!
Frugality was my MI(L’s middle name. She came from Poland and never wasted a thing. She even made dill pickle soup.
Directions: Take the brine left from the dill pickle jar and place it in a saucepan. When it gets hot, add your basic thickener (1 T flour, 1T butter, and 1 C milk). If you have saved a pickle, chop it up very fine and add it. Put hot sliced potatoes in the bottom of a soup bowl, pour on the pickle mixture, and enjoy.
Another thing she did was beet soup. She used canned beets, followed the recipe above, and served it with barley instead of potatoes. Yummy!
I hate to throw away any pickle brine and usually pickle some boiled eggs in it. Can’t wait to try dill pickle soup. Thanks!
Ditto. We happen to have half a large jar of brine sitting unused right now. Maybe we’ll try the soup for dinner. Thanks for the recipe, Betsey.
So refreshing to read this!!! Enjoyed every word. Thanks for mindful consumerism!
This WAS a refreshing article. I have a similar clothes drying rack that you have pictured that we use in a similar manner. It was left by one of our tenants. In this neck of the woods a load of clothes in the dryer costs about 75 cents in electric….before long we’re talking “foldin’ money”. Pretty cool making meals on the cheap… I’ll never look at pickle brine the same…I did score some “used meat” this weekend…a large pork roast for $7, a roast for $11 and 5 pounds of 96% fat free ground beef for $2 a pound. This was welcomed as meat prices have went right thru the roof in these parts…
I haven’t seen ground beef for $2 a pound in a long, long time. It starts at close to $5 a pound here even for the cheap stuff. We watch the used meat bin pretty closely ourselves, which is how I got the Italian sausage for $2.50 (five good-sized links).
I’m making the pickle soup over potatoes tonight for dinner. Here’s hoping!
Please keep us posted on the “pickle soup” outcome. I’ve always felt throwing the brine out was a waste and now it appears it won’t have to go to waste. $2.50 for sausage…great price…Got that ground beef from ALDI…getting close to expiration date. Came in 1 pound vacuum sealed packages and I bought 5. Put them in the freezer and we’re set for a while. This is the “good stuff” with only 4% fat. Quite the find…as ground beef around here is routinely $6-7 a pound with no relief in sight….
The pickle soup was quite good last night. As noted elsewhere on the page, I served it with diced hard-boiled eggs on top. Also added some celery seed to the mix.
We also pour the pickle brine into nearly empty bottles of mustard or creamy horseradish to make an interesting condiment to brighten up soups and other dishes. I like to saute a little diced ham and onion, add some cold cooked lentils and squirts of mustard vinegar, stir until hot and then poach an egg on top.
Wish I could find ground beef that cheaply…! You really scored.
I too am a big fan of air drying my laundry; I’ve got three large wooden drying racks and use them with every load of wash I do. No wood fire; I just set them up inside (I live in a condo) in the evening, and in the morning, my laundry is dry. Even heavy towels will dry in 12 hours. Not only saving big electrical bucks, but my clothes and linens last much longer. The dryer is really brutal on fabric, and positively murderous on elastic. I envy your being able to hang your sheets on a clothesline; fresh air and sunlight are the nicest laundry aids!
We’ve got three big racks and one small one, and we often dry without the fire. But they sure dry faster (even heavy towels) with the fireplaec insert pumping out BTUs.
When I was a single mom in Philly I used racks for all our laundry, which I’d washed in the kitchen sink. Couldn’t afford the laundromat. Then, and now, my clothing lasted a lot longer — as you say, the dryer does take years off your duds.
Recently DF put up a clothesline on a pulley out the back door. Love it. Right now we’re just using it to freshen bedclothes and other items, but when spring is here we’ll start drying out there.
Air drying indoors also adds much needed humidity to our dry winter air. Also helps to not use the ventilation fan after showers in winter.
Reading your piece mirrored our way of living. Only thing we don’t do is heat with wood due to breathing problems. I did splurge and buy a drying rack at IKEA that holds a whole load of laundry. It can be use as a flat drying surface for sweaters, too. I do the thickened pickled brine soup but add hardboiled whole eggs and serve with mashed potatoes (used to be a meal on Fridays when I was little)
All in all I am very happy to be part of this frugal family!
You are truly an inspiration when it comes to living a frugal and unwasteful life. I should probably learn to cook and eat more soups and stews in order to make better use of my leftovers, especially the last drops of various condiments. My only stirring tale of thrift this past weekend was visiting all the bargain bins at Ralph’s and Bed Bath and Beyond and buying up the last of the Christmas clearance sales. Foot-tall green candles for 19 cents apiece just can’t be beat.
No kidding! That was quite a deal. Here’s a tip, though: Rubber-band a book of matches to one or two of the candles. In the case of a power outage you wouldn’t want to be stumbling around looking for lights.
As for the last drops of condiments: I tried making the dill pickle soup Betsey suggested and it was really pretty good. Mashed in with the red potatoes we grew ourselves it turned into a creamy, slightly sour bowl of pure comfort. I diced a hard-boiled egg to put on top, and next time I may bring up a jar of our sweet-and-sour pickled red cabbage to use as an additional garnish.
Served with crackers it was a very frugal supper and also a light one, which was good because DF spent an hour in and out of the basement sauna. If he’d eaten a huge meal it probably wouldn’t have been very comfortable.
You are one of my inspirations. Oh how I envy you having a partner that thinks like you with saving money. My hubby of 30 years is the complete opposite (wasn’t always this way all these years). Shops at the most expensive grocery in town and generally does the exact opposite of the frugal things I do. Yes it is a major source of conflict, especially when he won’t compromise on anything. All I can do is try to keep my mouth shut. Six years ago we split our money & that has made it a little better but still is frustrating.
That must be so stressful. I’m sorry for you. My ex was pretty profligate, too.
I am so acutely aware of how lucky I am these days. When we were sitting in the living room after supper, me doing a puzzle and him playing the piano, I just felt like shouting “Hallelujah!”
I agree that it is nice when you are on the same page for spending money. I am in the 10th year of my second marriage and we have always kept our money in our own accounts. We both came with bagged from our first marriage with over spending spouses and obligations after our divorces! I never wanted him to tell me that I could not buy something for my children and he had $60K to pay his ex for the first few years. I feel that we are working together with our needs/wants and maybe someday we will mix them but for now this works for us. I really do get a smile on my face when he takes part in my recycling for cash or ask if I have a coupon for the restaurant or store we are heading too 🙂
Tell him to start entering my weekly giveaways — that way your household will have twice as many chances to win. 😉
Yay gleaned a new tidbit of info with the italian dressing! Den will like this one too.
I love feeling frugal. Our lives haven’t been as frugal as I have wanted with the car accident and the couches but I had a low cost Christmas so I guess that it all works out. I always feel guilty buying something new but we also plan to keep the furniture for a couple of decades. It feels like a frugal sin. LOL.
Pickle juice! Slice up that big red onion (they never seem to have small red onions in the store and it often gets wasted at my house), heat up the pickle juice and pour it over the onions. Keeps in the fridge for a couple of weeks, getting better with time.
I’ve noticed you have mentioned making yogurt several times over the years I have followed your blogs. Any chance you could let us know where to get a starter? I would love to try making my own.
And BTW, your blogs have often kept me on the frugal “straight-and-narrow” by giving me inspiration during times when I wanted to, well… not be frugal. Thanks!
I just buy a good-quality plain yogurt with at least three active cultures; in my case, that’s Mountain High yogurt.
Heat two quarts of milk to 185 degrees, then cool it to between 105 and 110. Once it reaches that temp give it a good stir if your thermometer is clipped onto the side of the pan, because the milk in the center might be hotter. (In other words, 107 degrees might inch back up to 115 degrees.)
Put one-half cup of that starter yogurt into a glass or ceramic container (I use an old souffle dish) and gently stir in two cups of milk, then add the rest. Cover and put in a very warm place for seven to 10 hours.
Note: I put a pot lid on top of the souffle dish, set it on a warming tray set very low and cover the whole thing with a towel. A heating pad works, too. Others have warm places naturally but it’s never super-cozy in our house, even in the summer.
And: Personally I prefer a thicker product, so I let the yogurt cool thoroughly in the fridge and then let it strain through a flour-sack-lined colander set in a large pan for many hours — all day or overnight, or until it reaches the consistency I want. If it gets too drained, just stir a little of the whey back into the product. (DF suggested once that I put it in the Whey Back Machine. Snort.)
The whey is good food so we use it to make oatmeal, bread, soup or whatever. Usually I have at least one container of it in the freezer. Oh, and feel free to make the yogurt with close-dated or “manager’s special” milk; in this manner I’ve wound up paying as little as 75 cents for a quart of Greek-style yogurt that contains no preservatives.
Good luck!
I love swagbucks. I am on it right now as I read your blog. I hope you don’t mind. I just was able to buy two new pillows I needed from walmart because of it too. My old one was giving me neck cramps. I do love frugal weekends though. I usually do things that I have put off from being busy like check my e-mail, clean under my sink, ect..
Tessa: Hope you saw the post about changes at Swagbucks:
http://donnafreedman.com/2015/01/30/big-news-swagbucks/
The fact that we’ll be able to get a $25 card for 2,200 points is a good thing. The $5 Amazon cards going from 450 to 500? Not so good except, again, we can get $25 Amazons for 2,200 if we can be patient and save up.
Thanks for reading, and for leaving a comment.