I enjoyed last week’s edition of Five Frugal Things so much, I decided to give it another try! This has been a pleasingly frugal few days for me, so I figured I’d strike while the iron was hot.
And so, for a second week in a row, I present … Five Frugal Things.
1. I used a $5-off Ace coupon (on things I actually needed).
Every month, we get these coupons in the mail from our local Ace Hardware, and every month I dutifully pin them to our kitchen tackboard in the hopes that I’ll remember to use them when we visit Ace. To be honest, it’s rare that I remember – and when I do remember, I often don’t make the minimum $30 purchase to be eligible. But on Monday, when the bathtub drain elected to clog (see Item Two for how that turned out!), I marched straight down to our local Ace and purchased some Drano, a new HVAC filter for spring, and a small bag of potting mix for some plants LeeLee and I had brought home over the weekend. I confidently pulled my coupon out from my wallet, handed it to the cashier, and voila! Five dollars off. I love it.
2. I fixed a clog in our bathtub drain (for now, at least).
The reason I had to storm off to the Ace first thing before work on Monday was due to the aforementioned clog in the tub. It started out Sunday night, actually, when I ran the bathroom sink and heard a sad little “glug glug glug” coming from the tub drain behind me. As the sink drain connects to the tub a little further down the line, I knew I was in for PlungeFest ’24 when morning came, and that’s just how I launched the day. Sadly, my wielding of the plunger brought no joy, so I went to Ace for some Drano to see if that would do the trick. (I know, I know, Drano and its ilk aren’t items one ought to use often on pipes, and I promise I don’t, but I was grasping at options here.) Sadly, the Drano also brought no joy. So at lunchtime, I decided I’d had enough, and after flushing the tub and drain a few more times, I donned my rubber gloves and safety glasses and went to town again with the plunger, plunging like I’d never plunged before. Then – success! The clog cleared and the tub drains freely again. Victory – for today, at least!
3. Our “leftovers for dinner” trend has persisted.
I made some tater-tot casserole with a side salad on Sunday night, and it turned out to be a bumper crop. We’ve been munching on it all week (save for Monday, when we did go out on a date), and finally finished it as of Wednesday evening. I’m especially proud that we’ve gotten lots more use out of our salad fixings, as well; often I store leftover black olives and such in the fridge and completely forget about them until well past their expiration date, but this week we’ve made our way through it all, leaving no trace!
4. I made a Fancy Salad for lunch out of odds and ends in the fridge and freezer.
Speaking of leftovers: Part of the way I used those salad fixings from Item Three was with what I like to call a Fancy Salad (pictured above). LeeLee was away for lunch earlier this week, and I took the opportunity to whip up a special lunch salad, which felt positively decadent in the middle of a workday! The best thing about it was how I already had everything on hand, from the Gardein “beef” I warmed up in a pan to the spinach and carrots from my smoothie stash, to some leftover mozzarella and salad toppers I dug out of the fridge and cabinet, respectively. A win!
5. I filed an amendment to our income taxes.
This isn’t necessarily frugal on its face, but it was definitely necessary and would’ve just gotten more expensive the longer I waited. Literally one day after I filed this year’s taxes, one last form I’d been waiting on came floating into my inbox with mere hours to spare till the clock struck April 16. I fired my trusty TurboTax back up and filed an amendment right away to avoid any late fees or other surprises from our friends at the IRS. This is one of those things that would have been easy to postpone and procrastinate on, but I’m so relieved I’ve gotten it done already! I hope the IRS feels the same way. ;)
What are your frugal wins (or losses – I won’t judge!) for the week? Sound off in the comments!
:)