Frugal Friday
Jun. 21st, 2025 09:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ecosophia
Welcome back to Frugal Friday! This is a weekly forum post to encourage people to share tips on saving money, especially but not only by doing stuff yourself. A new post will be going up every Friday, and will remain active until the next one goes up. Contributions will be moderated, of course, and I have some simple rules to offer, which may change further as we proceed.Rule #1: this is a place for polite, friendly conversations about how to save money in difficult times. It's not a place to post news, views, rants, or emotional outbursts about the reasons why the times are difficult and saving money is necessary. Nor is it a place to use a money saving tip to smuggle in news, views, etc. I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.
Rule #2: this is not a place for you to sell goods or services, period. Here again, I have a delete button and I'm not afraid to use it.
Rule #3: please give your tip a heading that explains briefly what it's about. Homemade Chicken Soup, Garden Containers, Cheap Attic Insulation, and Vinegar Cleans Windows are good examples of headings. That way people can find the things that are relevant for them. If you don't put a heading on your tip it will be deleted.
Rule #4: don't post anything that would amount to advocating criminal activity. Any such suggestions will not be put through.
With that said, have at it!
apologies
Date: 2025-06-21 01:48 pm (UTC)Re: apologies
Date: 2025-06-21 02:58 pm (UTC)Milkyway
Re: apologies
Date: 2025-06-21 03:13 pm (UTC)Re: apologies
Date: 2025-06-21 04:18 pm (UTC)Re: apologies
Date: 2025-06-21 06:17 pm (UTC)Re: apologies
Date: 2025-06-21 04:12 pm (UTC)And, I hate to admit it, but there's times I don't get to check in til Saturday or Sunday anyway.
Real life has a way of getting in the way!
Fine by me
Date: 2025-06-21 02:09 pm (UTC)Anyway, does anyone know where to buy cheap bulk tea? I go through the usual suspects and I am becoming increasingly appalled by the cost. I'm not talking about snooty-poot organic free-range teas lovingly harvested by indigenous peoples. I just want a cheap Liptons/Tetley bulk variety that doesn't break the bank.
I am not a connoisseur, and while using Tetley tea bags isn't good for me in the long run, I really don't have a "long-run" available to me at this point, but maybe I do a little good by dumping the tea bags, but at this point I can't make the cost number work out in a pleasing manner.
Re: Fine by me
Date: 2025-06-21 04:19 pm (UTC)Re: Fine by me
Date: 2025-06-21 05:35 pm (UTC)https://www.webstaurantstore.com/45177/tea.html?vendor=Lipton
Re: Fine by me
Date: 2025-06-21 10:21 pm (UTC)Re: Fine by me
Date: 2025-06-21 11:30 pm (UTC)https://www.uptontea.com
Mongo or keeping your eyes peeled for useable stuff on the streets
Date: 2025-06-21 05:02 pm (UTC)I keep my eyes open because you never know when you're going to spot that Visa gift card with $$ still left on it.
That oversized, framed Ansel Adams poster.
That box of fancy stones that now line part of my garden path.
That bag of clothes, which I took home and washed. Some I still wear and the rest went to the thrift shop.
The patio table.
The patio chairs.
Glass plates from dead microwaves.
The list is endless.
This stuff, ready to use for its original purpose, is Mongo. The streets and alleys are full of it, especially the day before trash collection.
It is not the same as obtainium! That's stuff you pick up and rework into what you need. Thus, the dead trampoline legs become garden fencing.
Do you pick up stuff from the side of the road?
Great photo!
Date: 2025-06-21 05:54 pm (UTC)Happy solstice! When your post didn't show up yesterday, I guessed you were busy with solstice activities. Me too! ;-)
Scouring powder
Date: 2025-06-21 07:49 pm (UTC)It cleans very well and the best bit is that store bought scouring powder tends to set like concrete in the drains. This can lead to an expensive interlude with a plumber. The baking soda simple dissolves. I don't know how much it costs but I buy the baking soda in a 2 KG and it is not expensive.
I also have a lovely rose geranium. This is a geranium with tiny pink flowers but the leaves smell like roses. I cut a bunch of stalks off it to harvest the leaves for tea. A friend swears this tea is very good to soothe a headache. I put the stalks in a glass of water and they will root. Once they root, I pot them up and have inexpensive presents to give other gardeners who always want to give me some nice plants in return. It is good for everyone.
I also completed the Rising Dragons ritual yesterday. It is from the Druid Magic Handbook and I have been having years of use out of that book and it has helped me become much happier and healthier. Cheap at the price of a book!
Maxine
Umeboshi
Date: 2025-06-21 10:37 pm (UTC)I came across this article, in ”The Guardian” of all places, that describes how to make “Umeboshi” out of any unripe stone fruit you find in the supermarket or Garden.
https://www.theguardian.com/food/2025/jun/18/umeboshi-recipe-turn-unripe-stone-fruit-into-japanese-condiment-recipe-apricot-plum-peach-umeboshi-ferment-zero-waste-cooking
J.L.Mc12