frugal hacks

How I got $50 worth of free food.

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Like many of you, I’m very nervous about fast-rising food prices. That’s why I was thrilled to get $50 worth of free food recently.

It was pretty simple: I cashed in some rewards program points for a $25 Kroger gift card and a $25 Safeway gift card. And I can’t truly explain just how happy that made me.

It felt a bit silly, to be honest. After all, the cupboard was by no means bare and I had money in my checking account. No one would have gone hungry had I not cashed in; as the king and queen of the stealth stock-up, DF and I are good for the basics. (So many basics.)

Fresh fruit and certain vegetables, though, and eggs, and milk for my oatmeal and to use for making yogurt? Those kinds of things need to be bought regularly. Hence the gift cards.

Flashing this scrip at the cash register felt great. Instead of spending money on the fresh stuff, I’d be sending those food dollars to the account where I keep my saved savings.

But I’m not writing about this to brag. I’m writing it to suggest that those of you with smartphones download some shopping apps and start earning. And if you’ve got a credit card that isn’t a rewards card, consider shopping for a new one.

Rewards points matter. My $50 head start at the grocery store says so.

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Anatomy of a frugal meal.

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It was close to suppertime, and no supper was in sight. We had three or four ounces of leftover pork tenderloin, bought deeply discounted and frozen until needed. I thought to slice it thinly, cook some rice and steam some peas from last year’s garden.

That would have been okay, but dull. Instead, I started pulling things out of the freezer:

A bag of chopped celery, also from last year’s garden

A bag of chopped red and yellow peppers, bought from the produce manager’s “ugly but still good” shelf

A bag of chopped onions – DF recently noticed an onion was starting to rot, so he cut and froze the still-good parts

A bit of turkey fat, from a bird we cooked a couple months ago; we save the fat from all pan juices, for cooking vegetables and making white sauce

Next, I put on a pot of rice (bought by the 50-pound bag at Costco) and melted the turkey fat, announcing that I planned to caramelize the vegetables and then add the diced tenderloin and some kind of sauce. DF diced the meat, then thinly sliced some carrots while I considered potential sauce ingredients.

What immediately jumped to mind was a bottle of General Tso’s sauce that I’d gotten free from our neighborhood’s Buy Nothing Facebook group. I poured maybe four tablespoons into a glass measuring cup, along with some rice vinegar (from an ancient bottle lurking in the lazy Susan) and a shake of powdered garlic (another Costco buy).

The slowly cooking onions, peppers, celery and carrot were making the kitchen smell divine. Maybe this olfactory distraction was what caused me to overdo the vinegar somewhat. It didn’t quite drown out the General Tso’s, but it didn’t do the sauce any favors, either. A few splashes from a jug of Langer’s pineapple-orange-guava juice (bought on sale, with a coupon) brought the vinegar into line and added a sweet hint of citrus.

Just typing this is making my mouth water. How about yours? 

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“Stealth stock-up”: A budget saver.

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Food prices rose 8.8 percent between March 2021 and March 2022 – and the latest wrinkle is a mix of labor issues and “idle trains,” according to Reuters.

One way to fight food inflation is to stock your pantry and freezer with the most affordable food you can find today, before prices go up tomorrow.

Not everyone can afford to buy a side of beef or 50 pounds of pinto beans all at once.  But a tactic I call “stealth stock-up” just might save your food budget.

It’s pretty simple: Watch the sales flyers, and when your favorite brand** of pasta or cereal or tuna goes on sale, buy two instead of one. Buy three, if you can swing it.

That’s not to say you can’t also stock up on non-sale items, especially if they’ve been hard to get due to supply-chain issues. But the idea is to stretch available dollars and stash as much food as you can. Sale prices let you do both.

Already shopping this way? That doesn’t surprise me, since frugal people tend to read this site. It just makes sense to pay less.

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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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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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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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