I cannot tell you how pleased I am that Winter is in the rear view. Usually by February most Portlanders are OVER IT. Add into that going into year THREE of a global pandemic and I am beyond over it. I understand that many people have moved on and begun traveling but I am not there yet. I have not been on a plan in almost three years, haven’t gone more than 40 miles from Portland in just as long. Oof. I am tired. So the fact that Spring has sprung is such a joy. I was able to put the above trellises in the garden and to me it just signals the beginning of garden season. My very kind and handy neighbor helped me acquire the cattle panels and install the in the garden beds last week and I am LOVING it. He tells me every day that he has garden envy hehe.

Last week I began the succession planting of some plants in the garden. I planted shelling peas and this week I planted some carrots and lettuce. Tomorrow I’ll add some additional peas. My goal is to be able to have some things ready for picking/preserving continually during the summer months as opposed to everything being ready at once. That was what happened last year and it was definitely a challenge to preserve so much all at one time. This is only my second year having a garden so I am absolutely still learning, and I’m sure I will continue learning every year indefinitely. As my neighbor said we can’t wait to see green growing up the trellises! I won’t put cucumbers and beans in for another month or so, so it will be a while longer but it’s still exciting to see the slow progress!

I made all meals at home this week, resisting temptation to order take out or delivery. It was a very stressful week so I am glad I was able to fend off the call of takeout! I did have two dear friends over for dinner on Thursday and it was so nice to be able to cook a delicious, healthy meal without having to go buy anything. I made halibut that my father caught in Alaska (thanks Dad!) yellow rice, green beans, carrots, potatoes, and we have rice krispy treats for dinner. Oh and pickles as a pre dinner snack. My friend’s husband went to culinary school (a fact I conveniently forgot) and he complimented me on dinner so I am calling it a success!! I have plenty of leftovers so that has provided me with additional meals for days. Yum. I absolutely notice that I feel better when eating food that I have cooked myself. The closer to the source the better. I am so grateful to be able to have these options available to me and I hope to never take that for granted.

Have you seen gas prices lately? Good lord! Doing my best to not go out often, and if I do have to leave the house batching errands when I do. Luckily I am a homebody but I have noticed that I am definitely itching to get out a bit more lately. Trying to see family and friends in my own home is helpful, as I find if I don’t see anyone for too long I start to feel lonely. My animals are excellent company but it’s typically very one sided conversations hehe.

What about you? What frugal things have you been up to lately?

Hey friends (all three of you) how are you holding up? This whole Covid-19 situation is really starting to wear me out, how about you? I’m exhausted. I ache. I want to hug people. This sucks. That’s really all there is to say about it.

People are dying at such incredible rates, and there doesn’t seem to be any slowing it down. Luckily, my parents have gotten their first dose of the vaccine and they get their second shots today! I am so grateful that they managed to get on that list, my heart rests a little easier now.

Alright so let’s see, what frugal things have we been up to lately?

I have been really good about using up the food in the house and not going to the store. This is good for a multitude of reasons: I am saving money by eating what I already have, I am not wasting food, I am not buying random goodies that always manage to get snuck into the cart, I am not around people who could potentially have covid, I am not able to spread the often invisible illness to my community. Among others!

I used some of the MANY carrots that were languishing in the produce drawer to make carrot cake cupcakes (my favorite) because obviously we couldn’t very well let the carrots NOT be made into cake. Right? Right.

I have been outsmarted by my thermostat. I have a Nest installed that allows me to schedule the temperature to go up or down at a set time of day. It’s wonderful. Well normally I have it set at 68 during the day ant 66 at night (during the cold and wet winters here in the PNW) but the other morning I noted just how chilly it was. Turns out, my thermostat had restarted and gone into “money saving mode” or whatever it was called. The house had gone down to 62 overnight and was set to 64 during the day. Oof, let me tell you, that’s too chilly for me. And my dogs, let’s blame it partially on the dogs. So I did adjust it but not by much: 66 during the day and 62 overnight. The dogs sleep in sweaters (don’t judge me they have short hair!) the cat sleeps under the covers with me and I generally wear a sweatshirt to bed. During the day we bundle under blankets and generally I am happy with this temperature setting. For now. And hopefully this will save us some money!

I have been getting take out from a local Mexican restaurant once a week in an effort to help them keep the business afloat. There have definitely been days during the week where I am tired and just want to push the easy button and order food. But I remind myself that I am making a conscious decision with how I want to spend my money, and supporting Rocio’s is where I currently am focused in that regard. I have plenty to eat and when Saturday evening rolls around it feels like a treat to have take out.

I read my favorite blogs daily. Reading blogs about how other people maintain their frugal ways, even during all this craziness, helps keep me on track. It reminds me that I am not alone in this, and every little bit helps. Sometimes it is hard to see the positive, especially in the middle of a global pandemic, but I can do this. And so can you friends.

Sending you my love.

That gorgeous friend up there isn’t necessarily related to my frugal activities lately, but darn isn’t she a beauty!!

So now, let’s see, what frugal things have I been up to lately?

• Tonight for dinner I made a “chickn” sandwich using odds and ends I had in the fridge/freezer. I find myself often not really interested in eating, which is a bit of a problem. I definitely feel worse if I don’t eat anything. So I pulled out some “chickn” from the freezer and popped it in the oven. Toasted up a frozen hamburger bun (only one left now!) sliced up a fresh pickle and got out the last lil bit of vegan fry sauce. I sliced the “chickn” and put it on the bun with sauce and pickles and LET ME TELL YOU, yum. It was delicious, cheap (I already had the ingredients on hand), and frugal because it managed to save a couple of items that could potentially have gone to waste. win/win/win!
• I stayed with my parents this weekend. In these Covid times, no one is traveling (at least I certainly am not). Going out of town to see friends isn’t an option. Heck, having dinner with friends isn’t an option. And that has quite frankly been really bumming me out lately. So when it was forecasted to be over 100 degrees all weekend (eww, that is WAY too hot for Oregon) my mom invited the dogs and I to come stay the weekend. Let me tell you, it was fantastic for my mental health. My mom and I made popsicles, ate too much cheese, sat in 3 inches of water in the inflatable pool, read lots, and just generally enjoyed out time together. I adore my mom and we are really close so this pandemic has been particularly stressful for me. I just want to hug her all the time. So we decided me staying the weekend was a safe risk to take for our own sanity. It also gave me some time away from my roommates, and gave them the weekend with the house to themselves. Win/Win!
• I did not go grocery shopping last week. I did stop into New Seasons on Saturday to pick up some Burrata to go with my mom’s tomatoes but that was it. I ate food I already had in the house and didn’t make any little trips to pick anything up. It was great to skip a week of grocery buying!
• I am slowly and intentionally trying to stock up on things that are important in my life while not taking up too much space. I am eyeing the sales and shopping accordingly. I just have a feeling that in a month or so, once everyone is “back” to school and fall weather hits that we are in for a walloping flu/covid season. Best start preparing now!
• In preparation for moving eventually, I went through my books and culled probably 80 books! I filled up grocery bags with them and stuck them in my truck. This weekend I drove around and deposited them in little free libraries all over the city. The books brought me joy at one point but I didn’t need them anymore so I hope they will bring joy to someone else!
• I shared/swapped food with a friend. I LOVE this part of the pandemic. It has brought out the sharing/trading community and I am here for it. My friend made scones and homemade pudding (drool) and in return I shared potatoes and stock. We both feel it was a winning trade so we are both happy!

What about you? What frugal things have you accomplished lately?

Anyone else starting to get quarantine fatigue? Same. I miss my people. I miss grocery shopping. I miss silly things like going for a margarita with friends. That being said, I am completely good with staying home for as long as it takes to keep my loved ones (and all the other idiots out there) safe.

So here are some frugal things I have been up to lately!

• I’ve been making some slightly unconventional meals in order to use up the food in my fridge. Today for example, I needed to use 3 celery stalks and an avocado. So I whipped up a tuna salad with canned tuna, celery and smashed avocado. Actually this is one of my favorites so it’s really not weird to me!
• I took Holden to have a couple of lumps checked. This in itself isn’t frugal (it cost close to $400). However, knowing that they are benign instead of cancerous tumors that are growing free reign all over him is really a peace of mind that I am willing to pay for.
• While at the vet he also got his rabies vaccine required by the county. I did this on time so I will not have to pay any fees!
• Libraries here in Portland are still closed for the foreseeable future. le sigh. I read A LOT. So this has been a huge bummer. Luckily my mom is also quite the avid reader so I have still managed to maintain a supply of new to me books to read. They might be different than what I would have automatically reached for, but I am really enjoying trying something new!
• Almost every weekend my parents go to their local farmer’s market and buy a flat of strawberries. I then always end up with a pint or so. I love strawberries, but my tummy doesn’t like me to eat copious amounts of them. So I’ve made quick jam just about every week. It’s just berries, sugar and lemon juice. And we eat it on toast and it’s gone within the week or so. Saves on wasting the fruit and making sure it doesn’t go bad!

Like basically everyone on the internet, I decided to learn to make bread this weekend. A coworker offered to teach me over video chat, and it was such a cool experience!

I have literally never made bread before. And not that I need to be buying fresh bread every week, I LOVE bread. So I thought having this skill in my arsenal wouldn’t be a bad thing. We spent the better part of the day (6 hours) prepping, resting, rolling, folding, and finally baking the bread. Was it perfect? Absolutely not. Was it delicious? Oh you bet your butt.

Let’s see, what else? I have been in a grocery store twice in the past 8 weeks, and this has definitely lowered my grocery bill. I am working my way through everything on hand and finding new things to use up daily. I am not going for coffee or drinks with friends, but once a week I am ordering take out from a favorite local spot. So this line item of my budget is also considerably lower. I do get an Imperfect Foods box weekly (mostly produce) so this allows me to have fresh fruits and veggies, and requires that I actually plan accordingly to eat it all.

I will admit, that the first few weeks of home quarantine I definitely spent way more money than I needed to. I was worried about all my favorite local businesses, and my favorite animal rescues, and basically threw money at them all. I don’t regret it. I feel like I’ve contributed, and I ended up with some really cool swag. (I have enough sweatshirts for all of eternity, please don’t let me buy anymore. ever.) I bought a few gifts and pre-paid for a haircut with my friend. She needs the money now and will happily cut my hair when it’s safe to do so again.

On top of that, I’m not driving regularly, and not parking downtown. This is saving me heaps of money as it costs $18 a day downtown, and I typically put gas in my car about every 10 days. Now it’s more like every 40 days. And since I am working from home I don’t need to pay for any transportation or parking costs.

All in all, I think I am probably coming in about even, maybe saving a little money. I think the longer this continues, the more I will save, balancing out the money I spent initially. How about you? How are you handling your finances through this?

1) I’ve been eating meals on repeat so as to not waste anything. I don’t mind eating the same meal day after day. It’s actually nice not having to think about it.

2) I’ve been using up what I have, since going to the store isn’t an option. Today for lunch I had purple potatoes, broccoli and egg. Random, but it worked! And I didn’t waste those random bits of food.

3) Because I am driving so infrequently, I filled up my tank of gas this week for the first time in 5 weeks. While I typically don’t drive a ton, rarely does a tank last a month.

4) I baked blueberry muffins. My mom’s muffin recipe is amazeballs. And buying a dozen muffins anywhere would certainly cost more than the ingredients I used to make them (including frozen berries I picked last summer)

5) I traded with a friend. I offered up two quarts of chicken stock, plus a quart of chicken soup and half a dozen carrot cake cupcakes. She shared home made gnocchi and scones. It was such a lovely way to show that we care for one another, while still remaining apart. And let me tell you, that human knows what they are doing in the kitchen and I will now need to learn to make gnocchi.

What about you? What have you been up to lately?

1. Today I took my sweet pup to his follow up oncologist appointment. Though this may not seem frugal in and of itself, but by keeping up on his medication and his blood work I can plan for his medication without any unpleasant surprises. He gets his blood count checked regularly to be sure we are giving him the proper dosage of his medication, ultimately keeping our costs lower.
2. Yesterday I bought a $5 rotisserie chicken from Costco. First I stripped all the meet off the bones, then I put the bones into the crock pot with some veggies I had hanging around in the freezer. (I keep a bag for any odds and ends like tops of carrots bits of celery and onion, etc.) The stock went into a huge pot and I made chicken soup with the meat. I added some potatoes I already had on hand, as well as some extra veggies. The whole thing cost only the cost of the chicken and made probably 10 to 12 servings of soup. I will freeze most of it for evenings when I’m not feeling like cooking or am under the weather (because no one wants to cook when they’re sick!)
3. I borrowed a Harry Potter book from a friend/neighbor. I have been re-reading the books and loving every minute of it. My mom has the whole set, so I just swing by every weekend to grab the next one. This week however I was too quick and found myself finished with book 3 (Prisoner of Azkaban) without a copy of book 4 (Goblet of Fire). Desperate, I thought of all the possible ways I could get my hand on the book in the next 12 hours. Then I realized that a friend who lives less than a hundred yards away ALSO has all the books. A quick text and he said of course I could borrow his copy. No money spent, and got to have a quick visit with a friend. Win Win!
4. Speaking of Costco, I bought only exactly what I needed yesterday while I was there: one rotisserie chicken and one 40 pound bag of dog food (this will last my two dogs about a month). Costco has really reasonably priced dog food and it’s gentle on my boys’ sensitive stomachs.
5. Tomorrow will be my first day in the office in a week (bonus points: working from home means no temptation to eat out or grab coffee because I’m bored) and I have my lunch/snacks packed, iced coffee ready to go in the thermos tomorrow morning. I will be at work from 12-8pm so I have enough food to cover two meals and a few snacks in between. I will have no reason to purchase any food or drinks.

Frugality isn’t necessarily huge things. It’s little things, day after day, that help us achieve other goals in life. What frugal things have you been up to lately?