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The Kitchen Recessionista

So, here we are, in a recession. Let's eat!

Five Frugal Things.

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From tailgates to tortilla chips, it’s been a fairly frugal week! Here’s what’s been cooking (as it were).

1. We were invited to a tailgate party before the Virginia-Florida State football game!
LeeLee and I traveled down to Charlottesville, Va., to watch Florida State play the University of Virginia last Friday, and like any good football fans we were in deep need of a tailgate. Blessedly, one of my dearest friends in the world lives in Charlottesville, and she and her sweetheart invited us to a tailgate one of their friends was hosting right near Scott Stadium! While I hate going empty-handed to events like this – I am a Southerner, after all – since we had no means of food preparation, our wonderful friends brought enough to “count” for us and we all feasted and had a fine old time. Granted, some of the cherry peppers on the skewers were a bit … well, incendiary. But we were all up to the task! (Thank you again, Erin and Sean, for inviting us along!)

2. I scored a free order of tortilla chips at District Taco.
When we arrived home from Charlottesville, I had no interest in cooking. So I hit the Easy button and put in an order at our local District Taco. Lo and behold, the app informed me I had a free order of chips and salsa waiting for me! Yes, PLEASE. This little maneuver saved a good $5 on my final order and was much enjoyed in our household.

3. The Leftover Revolution continues!
Now, I’ve waxed poetic for more than a year about our Leftover Revolution, and I must tell you I’ve been especially proud of this week’s installment. From Saturday’s chik’n divan stretching out across several more meals to leftover burgers from Sunday’s cookout becoming both protein in a salad AND the foundation of another sandwich, it has been a very leftover-friendly week around Chez Recessionista! And let’s not even get into the swallow of wine we had left over from a bottle from the weekend, which I enjoyed Monday evening while LeeLee was away, just because. (Sorry, LeeLee.)

4. I’m continuing to scan my receipts into Fetch.
I know this isn’t the most lucrative of frugal things, but it doesn’t take but a second, and those points eventually add up to Starbucks gift cards for yours truly!

5. We canceled LeeLee’s Amazon Prime … which was kind of a frugal fail.
Now, this frugal thing falls into the fail, then win, then fail, then win category. Unbeknownst to me, somehow EONS ago he’d gotten signed up for Amazon Prime – even though we already had a Prime account under my name! And for literal years, since it was a monthly charge, it slipped under the radar at $14.99 a month, as I’d see the charge and just assume it was my own Prime account. Well, once I canceled my Prime and the charges kept coming, we looked under the hood and found he somehow had an account too. So we canceled it a month ago … only to find another charge arrive last night! It turns out that there’s one more little tiny Cancel button you have to press AFTER Prime makes it sound like you’ve canceled, and we’d missed it the first time. We did NOT miss it the second, and Prime refunded our last payment. Incidentally, there’s a class action lawsuit for this right now, which I will definitely be joining! I am furious. 

What frugal wins – or win/fails – did you accomplish this week? Let’s hear it in the comments!

:)

Five Frugal Things.

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Well, look at me, back from the blogging abyss! 

Longtime readers here know that I behave this way sometimes. Sometimes, when the pressures of work and life collide (and boy have they this year!), I need to take a step back, reduce obligations where I can, and … breathe.

Well, I’ve breathed, and the pressures remain, so I may as well plug back in here. I’ve missed you!

Why not get started again with Five Frugal Things? Here’s what I’ve been tackling over the past couple of weeks or so.

1. We canceled Amazon Prime!
Finally, the deed is done! We haven’t bought a single item from Prime since March – and even then our purchases had been sparse since late January (ahem) – and once we finished the series we were watching on Prime Video (“The Bob Newhart Show,” if you must know), I hit the Cancel button. Our subscription lapses this week, and I couldn’t be more pleased! I’ve saved a bunch of money not panic-buying random things from Amazon, too.

2. I bought my annual “Cheap Baseball Hooky Day” seat and got a beer for pennies on the dollar.
Like last year, I hunted down an inexpensive (but very good!) seat at Nationals Park for a 1:05 day game against the Braves and plunked down for an afternoon of playing hooky (with my boss’s knowledge, ahem) and good old-fashioned baseball. I had a coupon in my digital wallet for $15 off at concessions, so parlayed that into the majority of a beer purchase and ended up paying $7 (most of that was the tip) for a nice local DC beer! The Nationals lost, but me being a Braves fan too, I felt like a winner in any outcome.

3. We’ve been eating down the pantry – again!
After my monthly Costco runs, I often find myself supplied with staples once more, and between that and the random sale items I pick up for the fridge and freezer, I’ve usually got all the fixings I need for some fun (and occasionally quite creative) meals. I was positively elated when I realized this week that I still had a four-pack of Beyond Cajun sausage in the freezer – it elevated our usual Instant Pot red beans and rice to new heights!

4. I scored a free work lunch!
One of my colleagues was visiting from another city, and our team went out to lunch to welcome her and catch up. I wasn’t intending for the check to be picked up by somebody else, but it was, and I am so grateful! 

5. My eBay sales are slow but steady.
Over the past couple of months I’ve begun to list items on eBay again, trying to price them fairly while also working to make a little bit of a profit. While this is certainly not a fulltime job, my little odds and ends have brought in about $100 a month for the past few months, which is better than a poke in the eye!

What frugalities have you been up to in my absence? Let’s hear it in the comments!

:) 

Feel the Urge to Spend? Shop Your Local Library.

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Recently, one of my cousins posted an insightful story on Instagram, extolling the virtues of how simply the act of placing books on hold at the library quelled her urge to shop online. Dear friends, I have to admit to you that until I read that post I did not realize that I do the exact same thing. Only I didn’t recognize that was why I was doing it! So much for self-awareness, eh?

But the point remains. The next time you feel the urge to shop, hop over to your local library’s website instead and throw a few items into your Holds section. In fact, go ahead, try it now. I’ll wait.

Feel better?

Now, I’ve always been a library-holds-placer, but since I cut my online (read: Amazon) shopping way back in late January, I’ve found my holds requests blossoming even more. See that the new Rick Steves memoir is out? On the holds list it goes. Want to rewatch the Beatles Anthology DVDs? Holds list. An audiobook of “Outlive”? Hold, please.

At this very moment, I’ve got 11 items on hold. Some are hard-copy books, some audiobooks, some DVDs. Why not have a mix of media to turn to on any given day, I say! Some of these holds will take months to arrive. Some will be here next week. And when I go into the library to retrieve them, best believe I will do a lap around the puzzle exchange shelves, too – I need another puzzle like I need a hole in the head, but if I find the right one, the price is right and I shall take it home. (And I’ll return it when I’m done so the next patron can use it!)

And, yes, one can actually shop the library during one of the annual book sales — which is where the stack of books depicted at the top of this post came from. But for $9 in total, it was a steal — AND it scratched the shopping itch in a very frugal way indeed.

There are just so many ways you can shop the library. Placing online holds definitely scratches the online-shopping itch; picking up free puzzles helps with that on-scene novelty purchase feeling; and just browsing the shelves can be so soothing. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve stood in the cookbook aisle, perusing title after title, many of which I’ve never heard of before – and, yes, almost always checking one or two out to bring home.

So the next time you’re feeling a little bit spendy, let your fingers (or feet!) do the walking over at your local library. Whether browsing online or in person, it’s a guaranteed way to help calm your hankering to shop. And you’ll come away with some new knowledge, too!

:)

When It Comes to Saving, What Is Your Why?

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Montreux, Switzerland. Travel is definitely one of our major Whys!

Last year was a “pivot and recover” year for ol’ LeeLee and me. As I mentioned nearly a year ago now, LeeLee had lost one of his streams of income last spring (as a contractor, this does happen from time to time I’m sorry to say), so we pivoted, and pivoted quickly, reducing spending where we could and just generally tightening the belt overall.

This year, LeeLee and I have blessedly emerged from that time (I am inclined to add “for now,” as I know things can change on a dime!), but neither of us is all that enthusiastic about cranking our spending up at the moment given the tenuous national economic situation. So instead, we are saving – and paying down debts, some of which are car-note-related, some others of which we incurred while we were trying to right the ship last year.

But saving can get a bit dull once one is back into it full bore, day after day. Oh, sure, it’s the right thing to do, and we’ll thank ourselves in the end, but as the days wear on it’s easy to lose focus.

Enter: Our Whys.

Having a Why – or two, or three – makes it so much easier to keep on saving week after week. And when I say “Why,” I don’t mean the things we ALL save for – an emergency fund, retirement, all that good stuff. What I really mean are the things that make living fun. Do you like going to concerts? Fancy guitar equipment? Fancy car detailing? Going out to dinner? Travel? A cool pen? Splurging on your cats? These are all perfectly acceptable Whys to help keep you focused.

For LeeLee and me, one of our big Whys is travel. In fact, long ago we created a separate savings account, labeled it Vacation, and contribute to it every pay period. Watching that savings account grow keeps our eye on the prize – the more it grows, the more comfortable we are about taking a, well, vacation.

Another of our big Whys is going out to concerts and theater. While we don’t have a separate account for this the way we do for our travel fund, we use this passion as a test to pit other potential expenditures up against. Would we rather pay for this $50 out, or shall we eat at home for $15 and bank the rest to use for a show next month? Once we put things in that perspective, the answer to where our heart lies becomes quite clear.

Let’s face it: Saving can get a little bit dull, even though it’s the right thing to do. Add a bit of pizzazz to the proceedings with some Whys and you’ll stay on track!

What are your Whys? Let’s hear about it in the comments!

:)

Five Frugal Things, Belatedly.

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Chickpea noodle soup, consisting primarily of leftovers and pantry staples.

Free human and bird food, low-cost gas, and a frugal fail? It’s been a busy week, y’all. Here’s what’s been cooking.

1. We got two-for-one bags of birdseed at Ace.
Tis the season for feeding the birds (isn’t it ALWAYS that season?), and while I usually go to my favorite local wild-bird-supply shop, last weekend I was in a bind and needed some birdseed ASAP. So I popped over to my local Ace – just four blocks away – and snapped some up. But lo! The birdseed bags were two for one! My heart sang with joy and I grabbed two – which made the walk home a bit heavier than anticipated, but was definitely worth it! And the birds are happy, too.

2. I received a free meal at a volunteer appreciation dinner!
Last week was Volunteer Appreciation Week, and the animal shelter where I volunteer very graciously hosted a volunteer appreciation party for us. The fellowship was wonderful enough, but the free food and drink were the icing on the cake! Even better: There was enough on offer to make a meal out of it, and I sauntered home several hours later fat and happy. (Secondary Frugal Thing: I walked and/or scootered to and from, saving money and the environment!)

3. LeeLee got 90 cents off per gallon on gas.
I learned last week that our Safeway rewards program at our local Exxon is ending on April 30, but as it happened LeeLee’s gas tank was on E this weekend as we prepared to go somewhere in his car. So on our way out of town, we popped by the local Exxon, entered our Safeway number, and voila! We’d earned 90 cents off per gallon of gas. I’ll miss this rewards program, but this was a great way to tie up loose ends! (And we may still pop by once more by April 30, just to top off the tank for cheap.)

4. The Leftover Revolution continues.
We are continuing to enjoy the largesse of our weekly leftovers! From leftover pizza (enough to eat and enough to freeze) to leftover Chinese to lunch fixings galore, we’re certainly not starving in our quest to lower our grocery budget. Frugality has never been tastier!

5. Finally, a frugal fail: I got a parking ticket. :( 
All good things must come to an end, and Number 5 on our list is that end. As it happens, I have neglected to update my state inspection sticker on my car and it is … well, let’s say many months out of date. To be honest, I didn’t think this was something anybody really looked at, but one overeager parking enforcement officer must have had nothing better to do, because I returned to my car after my morning workout (where I’d parked on the street) to find a bright orange ticket on the windshield. The ticket is $40, and best believe I will pay it right away! (I suppose I’ll also go get my car inspected, too, even though I think it’s a racket.)

:)

Vegetarian Travel Guide: Red Bamboo, New York City.

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Red Bamboo, 140 W. 4th St., New York, NY
Hours: Noon-9 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, noon-10 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday.
Menu: https://www.redbamboo-nyc.com/_files/ugd/9fbf96_e39be5f33ec9467fbfd8b31b1d1809e3.pdf
Suitable for: Vegetarians, vegans, lovers of meat analogues (including vegan seafood!)

First, a confession right out of the gate: I have no idea how or why it took me so long to discover Red Bamboo. But now that I have, well, it’s become a favorite in no time!

I learned about Red Bamboo a month or two ago when its owner, Jade Wong, posted an Instagram reel talking about how much financial trouble the restaurant was in. Naturally, my gut reaction was one of sadness at the thought of another vegan restaurant going under after having made it through the covid pandemic, but admittedly my second reaction was: “Why have I not ever been there?”

And so on our next trip to New York City – which, as y’all know by now, is our chosen quick getaway location – I steered LeeLee and me to the Village on our first lunchtime possibility, aiming straight for Red Bamboo as soon as we got off the subway.

Reader, we were not disappointed.

Vegan seafood is my love language, so to start we ordered up some popcorn shrimp, which could easily have passed for the real thing. As a native Gulf Coast girl, I crave veggie-seafood deep in my bones, and with the exception of Gardein’s fishless filets, it’s a tough product to procure. Red Bamboo’s fried shrimp hit the spot, and then some. If I could have stuffed my pockets full of it and brought more back on the train with me, I would have. It’s that good. At once light and fluffy, sturdy and hearty, and teeming with tastes and textures straight from the sea, every little popcorn shrimp sang with flavor, and I swooned with happiness.

Popcorn shrimp demolished, it was time to move on to the main course.

I had the Soul Chicken Sandwich, a gleeful monstrosity of crispy breaded chik’n, slathered with mayo and Vidalia dressing, topped with lettuce and tomato and nestled within some ciabatta bread. You’ve got your choice of sides, too, and I chose onion rings, which was definitely the right call: Each onion ring was fried to a delicate crisp, the breading light and flavorful, the onions themselves popping with a bit of crunch. It was the perfect pairing and though I was completely full, I savored every bite of it all.

LeeLee, meanwhile, had the Creole soul chicken entree, which consisted of creole-spiced chik’n served alongside garlic mashed potatoes and gravy, broccoli and steamed carrots. Like with mine, his was seasoned perfectly, balanced beautifully and completely overwhelmingly filling. It didn’t stop him from mowing the entire dish down in no time flat (as did I!).

For dessert, we cried uncle, even though there was a gorgeous slice of Funfetti cake just waiting to be devoured. Next time!

And there will be a next time. Red Bamboo has immediately found itself on our list of NYC Greatest Hits – and will be visited accordingly. I can’t wait!

:)

Five Low-Cost, Big-Fun Springtime Activities.

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Picnicking near the cherry blossoms is one of our favorite springtime pastimes!

Ahhhh. The warmer weather is finally here in my neck of the woods, and with it comes a whole new array of frugal-activity possibilities! Here are five that I’m so excited to get back to in the weeks to come.

1. Plan a picnic!
You all know how I do love a picnic! (We even had one on a train a few weeks ago, recall!) So just as soon as the weather warmed up, I threw my thinking cap on and started plotting out various meals to accompany us to various locations. As we enjoyed a post-lunch walk on Easter, LeeLee told me he had been scouting locations as well, suggesting several hidden gems in our very own neighborhood. Pack some sandwiches from home, maybe put a salad together or throw in some chips, and you’ve got lunch or dinner sorted – al fresco!

2. Scope out your area’s outdoor movie schedule.
Living in the DC area, we are awash in outdoor movie festivals every year. I recognize that not everybody has this same situation, but it never hurts to search online for your city/town/region’s name and “outdoor movie” and see what comes up. Already I am having a look at our summertime movie schedule to see what might appeal (and you best believe I’ll be packing a picnic when we go!).

3. Get on your bike and ride.
Chances are, you have a bicycle sitting somewhere in storage – maybe your garage, maybe your basement, maybe outside – that’s just itching for a ride. Why not hop on and take a spin? The bike itself is a sunk cost, so any enjoyment you get out of it is gravy from here on out. Just be sure to splurge on a decent helmet before you go, would you please?

4. Sign up for a volunteer shift (or several).
Saving money AND giving back? What could be better? When the going gets tough economically, the tough get to volunteering. It’s a great way to keep yourself busy at a low cost and to help sooooo many others in the process. I myself am a champion cat-cuddler and occasional dog-walker at our local animal shelter, which frankly helps me as much as it helps the adoptable pets in need. What do you like to do for fun? Can you deploy your time and talent to help out a local organization? The rewards are well worth it. It costs nothing to be kind.

5. Throw a dinner party! (Or better yet: Attend a dinner party!)
I am a longtime proponent of entertaining at home. There’s just something so festive about having a few friends over to the house and whipping up something special for the crew. My personal preference is a theme: Sushi parties, or fondue, or a football-watching party, or … the sky’s the limit. Now, dinner parties are not what I would call a cheap night – if done hospitably, it does come at a cost, even when your guests bring a portion of the meal potluck-style. But it is in general less expensive than a night out, and is great fun besides. And who knows? Maybe your guests will even reciprocate and invite YOU over to one of their parties in the future!

What are some of your favorite low-cost springtime shenanigans? Let us know in the comments!

:)

Five Frugal Things.

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From a relatively frugal New York getaway to receipts, succulents and Chinese takeout galore, it’s been a money-saving week! Here’s what we’ve been up to.

1. We packed a picnic for our train trip to New York!
One of the first things you should know about me is that I do love a picnic. Whether we’re going to see an outdoor movie, lounging in the park, taking in a summertime concert, or just enjoying an al fresco meal for no reason, I will find any excuse to picnic. So naturally, when I realized our train journey to New York City for a little weekend getaway fell over the dinner hour, I whipped us up some sandwiches, threw some Pringles together, added in some little cookies LeeLee had brought home from an event the night before, and off we went! The only thing missing was a beverage, but we supplemented with a tiny bottle of wine from the Amtrak cafe car. Bliss!

2. While in New York, we visited the TKTS booth for discounted Broadway tickets.
Now, I’ll grant you that New York is not the cheapest vacation destination, but as I said in my Tuesday post this week, there are plenty of ways to save money while having a great time. The TKTS booth in Times Square (there’s another at Lincoln Center!) is a must-do if you want to get great Broadway seats at a deep discount (often upwards of 50% off). That’s just what we did on Saturday, lining up around 10:15 a.m. to await the booth opening at 11. And our patience was rewarded: We booked two third-row seats to “The Last Five Years” (starring Nick Jonas and Adrienne Warren) for half price! The show was amazing and I highly recommend it. 

3. We stretched our weekly Chinese takeout to two meals.
Lately, LeeLee and I have redoubled our efforts to lose a few pesky pounds, so we’re always looking for ways to control our portions. Turns out our Chinese takeout meals – which we had been eating in one sitting – really provide enough food for two dinners! Even with tip, the whole bill comes to about $38, so this wasn’t a terribly expensive order as it is. But divided four ways, we’re eating each meal for about $9.50, which is a steal in this economy. And if it helps us shed the weight, I’m all for that, too.

4. I’ve continued to scan grocery receipts into the Fetch app.
This is lower gain but minimal pain, so I keep scanning every receipt I can find (including a CVS receipt from an emergency hairbrush run in New York!). I’m continuing to bank points to build up our Starbucks coffers for our summertime beach vacation – it’s such a fun little treat!

5. LeeLee brought home a gifted succulent, which I then put into a free flowerpot!
The same event where LeeLee got the cookies also netted us a cute little succulent plant! I repotted it into a cute little orange-cat flowerpot I’d procured from my Buy Nothing group and plunked it onto my kitchen windowsill, where it makes me smile every day. We could all stand a smile at the moment!

What frugal wins (or foibles) have you chalked up this week? Let us know in the comments!

:)

NYC on the Cheap, Part 1.

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As is probably pretty apparent in these pages by now, when LeeLee and I have a hankering to get away from town for a long weekend, and to do it fast, we hop a train to New York City. Over the years, it’s become one of our Happy Places – a place where we can get away from it all, take in some culture, eat some great food and immerse ourselves in the pulsing rhythms of a vibrant community.

Now, nobody is here to tell you that New York is the cheapest vacation destination you could choose. But after traveling there for years and years now, I have definitely come up with quite a few hacks to lower your expenses while keeping your fun quotient sky-high. I’d love to share them with you!

So without further ado, here are five hacks to navigate New York City on the cheap.

1. Use hotel points for your lodging (don’t forget cash + points deals!).
This is by far the top money-saving recommendation I can make. LeeLee and I have a history of staying at Marriott properties (with over 30 brands to choose from, this is not a hardship!), both for work and for leisure, and as a result we have built up a tidy points savings. To further boost our account, we also use a Marriott Bonvoy credit card from Chase, which helps us accrue points faster on expenditures we’re making anyway. 

Once you have a nice sum of points to use, the key is using them wisely. Pay attention to what rooms are going for, points-wise, per night, and be sure to check a number of brands within the corporate structure. For instance, often, we’d be paying premium prices for the Algonquin (a high-end Marriott property) – but a Courtyard, Residence Inn or Moxy give us the same wonderful location for a much lower price. (Also, pro tip: Try not to book during holidays or special events, as points requirements are always much higher then.)

2. Speaking of hotels: Choose one with a free breakfast.
This is a small but mighty hack, and one LeeLee and I wholeheartedly subscribe to while in New York. When selected properly, a free hotel breakfast can carry you all the way through to lunchtime or beyond for no more cost than what you’re already paying for a room! We like Moxys, Residence Inns and Courtyards for precisely this reason (we’re Marriott people, after all), but really any hotel brand will do as long as you ensure they have a free breakfast. And while you’re there, snag some fruit – a banana, an apple, an orange, whatever – for snacking later. You’ve more than paid for it!

3. Ninety-nine-cent pizza is indeed a Thing, and I encourage you to make use of it.
Who said inflation killed everything? There are still deals to be found in New York’s pizza domain – you just have to do your homework (and not order any toppings). Even the “fancier” cheap pizzas ring in at a couple of bucks per slice – certainly less than you’d be paying at a sit-down restaurant somewhere! Order your slice (or two), fold it up lengthwise, and eat it en route to a Broadway show. LeeLee and I have done this numerous times and it always makes for a fun pre-theater dinner.

New York City Hall.

4. Prioritize free-entry landmarks!
At first blush, it looks like everything costs money in New York, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. First off: You’ve got your National Park Service-run sites, of where there are nearly a dozen in town. From Theodore Roosevelt’s Birthplace to Hamilton Grange to Grant’s Tomb to everything in between, you can do a LOT of sightseeing without paying a dime. New York City Hall, too, is free (by appointment only, but free!). Or how about touring a world-class library for free? Stately on the doorstep of Bryant Park, the New York Public Library ought to be a wonder of the world and is definitely worth a lengthy visit. And speaking of Bryant Park – get thee to the parks! Bryant is great; Central Park is of course the city’s showpiece. There are so many parks and playgrounds around town, and all of them are 100% free. Win!

Third-row, deeply discounted seats to “Six”? Yes, please!

5. Get discounted Broadway tickets in Times Square.
I almost hate to tell you about this one because the lines are long enough already, but here goes. For decades now, ever since my first trip to New York in high school, the TKTS discount ticket booth in Times Square has been a must-stop destination when I’m in town. I learned this trick from my beloved journalism adviser, and to this day I get a hearty “Well done!” each time I text her a picture of whatever discount ticket I’ve procured. With deals up to 50% off the face value of a Broadway ticket, it’s well worth the hourlong line (bring a book – you’ll be fine). Sure, you can go up to the counter and place an order for one specific show you’ve had your eye on, but you could also do what LeeLee and I like to do: Play TKTS Booth Roulette! In TKTS Booth Roulette, you go up to the counter and ask the agent, “What’s your favorite right now?” or even “What’s the best seat you can get me in a show?” … and let the muses be your guide.

All right. These are my top five suggestions to get you on your way. This will definitely be a multipart series, but in the meantime, let’s hear it: What are some of your favorite NYC-on-the-cheap recommendations? Sound off in the comments!

:)

Five Frugal Things (Belated Edition!).

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Friends, I apologize for the radio silence here recently. Some long hours at work and then some work travel have snatched a lot of my writing time away these past couple of weeks! Thanks for not giving up on me! 

And now, on with our frugal wins of the week!

1. LeeLee and I visited our local library book sale and came home with a bargain!
In case I haven’t said so before in these pages, books are one of my love languages. (The others are vegetarian food, cats, travel and the band Queen.) So naturally I had our local library’s spring book sale on the calendar and bold print, and wow, it did NOT disappoint! We came home with 11 books for a whopping $39 (my purchases are pictured above – LeeLee had already whisked his upstairs!), which will keep us busy for quite some time to come. AND we were able to give back to the library to help support their programs. A win all the way around!

2. The company I work for gave me a free ticket to the Nationals baseball game!
Several of my internationally based colleagues were visiting recently, and to help welcome them to the U.S. the company I work for invited a few of us on the team to a Washington Nationals game. Now, the good old Nats have had a rough start to the season, but who cares – a day at the ballpark is always a great time! And even better – we all scored free baseball jerseys celebrating the team’s 20th year in Washington! A free ticket, a free souvenir, and free transport with my Metro card that keeps on giving – what’s not to love?

3. We’re continuing with the Great Pantry Cleanout.
I’ve been leaving no stone unturned when it comes to using what I have on hand for our meals! As it happens, a Costco-sized jar of peanut butter can go an awfully long way in our lunchtime PBJs, and we’ve got so many canned beans and vegetables in the cabinet that dinnertime plans are a snap. In fact, I’ve already planned for a rousing rendition of Old Faithful (aka black beans and rice) to go into the Instant Pot tonight – topped with some leftover chik’n patties from the freezer, of course!

4. I’ve picked up some stocks on sale lately.
Even though I’m still on the cusp of freaking out at times, I also know a cheap stock when I see it, and I’ve been trying to view this massive market downturn as a buying opportunity. In the 2008-09 recession (which was when this blog was born!), I worked to do the same thing, and it paid off over the long haul. I just have to trust it will do so again this time around. I do love a bargain!

5. I’m saving a great deal of money simply by not using Amazon.
I’ve only ordered two or three things from Amazon since late January, which is a vast decrease from my usual purchasing capacity, and honestly? It’s really not all that difficult to either 1) find an alternative source for whatever I needed (vitamins, hair dryers, etc.) or 2) simply not order it from anybody, any time. This in tandem has saved me a lot of money so far – and is a habit I intend to keep!

What have been your top frugal successes (or fails) this week? Let’s hear it in the comments!

:)