Frugal, No Waste. Sustainable Friday?

 Today I was getting ready to write this trusty Frugal Friday post that I’ve been writing more on than off since I started blogging a decade and a half or so ago, being the so-called frugal retiree and all.

And I’ll be writing this one, and another one, and another one. But it’s come to me that much of what I write about in this area about what I am thinking and what I have done has as much to do with waste, sustainability, up cycling and use of time as well as money and things. Even as on some level I concentrate on the pennies-especially as inflation heads straight towards us, even in fairly low cost Texas.

Which is my way of saying bear with me if this normally bullet point post is more rambling and longer than usual as I maybe find a different voice when it comes to this topic and post.

No waste and also money saving: This week, I removed all the damaged parts from donated shirts, sweaters and jeans and then cut them into pieces of fabric sorted by size. While I was there,   I also went through my fabric and pulled all the unmatched fat quarters and small pieces of fabric (fat quarters, five inch squares, ten inch squares, just strips and pieces that were offcuts). I want to contribute a bunch of fabric pumpkins  with cork stems and flowers and Christmas ornaments to the church bazaar, (where the money all goes to the homeless) and this way no money will be spent by me plus I may get to make an abstract art quilt or two while I’m at it.

Money saving mainly: I’m eating down my single retiree  style small freezer and pantry to make room for a big fall shop in two weeks (which will definitely include the Pumpkin Butternut Squash Pasta sauce and the Pumpkin Cheesecake popcorn at Aldi!!!!!). I did get a few things to finish meals and add to that food creativity, like sour cream (Planning to experiment with making stroganoff with beef stew meat in my freezer. A review will be coming). Other than that no new money will be spent until the11th in the food and sustenance area.

Saving precious retirement time: Not wasting time (along with knowing myself) has led me to skip those previously mentioned silver sneakers classes so far. They are not free for me, and wasting a gym membership of thirty dollars monthly for a class I’ll probably not attend often is not logical. Nor is the expectation that I will be fed, alert and responsive, decent and up to intelligent conversation at that hour of the morning. I’m doing very well at exercise and weight training at home at least for now. And as far as talking with people, it’s not the best way, I think:

Money saving and environmental: We’ve finally gotten some cooler weather at night, so I have been opening windows as soon as I get up for an hour or two (I need silence to sleep). Definitely helps with the cooling  and the bill prior to the still 90 degree days, but also increases the humidity in the house.

Eliminating Waste and Streamlining: Most of the time I’m not a fan of the spend to save philosophy except for “investment” items. But organization saves everything in my world. So my Amazon birthday list (which I will purchase for myself post the day as needed), includes some specific items like pantry storage for cans, fridge and small freezer storage and a couple coffee table type rotating spinners and a rack for stacking pans, as the filing tray wasn’t working. On the other hand, my collection of topless small boxes and tupperware has been free and has worked wonderfully for sorting all the minutiae of crafting (buttons/pins/clips/snaps/). So I figure I’m even in this area. Losing things, rebuying things that I have, and having things spoil. None of these are frugal or sustainable.

Money Saving: I actually had no part in this spend/save! I recently found out that every year or lease renewal, this community pays for carpet cleaning. I missed knowing that last year. Not really a freebie because, well, I pay rent. But a six month regular expense that will now not be out of my pocket so I'll take it!!

Freeing up Retirement time: Although I haven’t talked about it in awhile, I still am working on my once a month shopping and big errand goals in all areas of life,  so no shopping or spending will happen in the next ten days although I am working on the lists of things I need to buy and order then. This is working well for me. But admittedly I don’t shop or run errands to get out of the house or meet people (I do have other things I do for that) or for exercise.

No spend and just plain fun: Everytime I thought of it in the past year, I did an email signup with a company I liked or used every so often (using a one off hotmail address). Most of those companies asked for my month and date of birth, and so I’m expecting some small “gift for me”during this birthday month starting today.  Including a surprise gift from Ulta/Sephora/Bare minerals/Aveda, an Arby Shake, a rootbeer float from A&W, free coffee/beverage from various places, free arrangement from Edible Arrangements, free Godiva chocolate gift, free Denny’s grand slam, free La Madeline pastry, free Panera, a free five dollar gift card from Ace (Plants!!), and more. Obviously there’s no way I will use or even pick up all of these in a month. But a goodie or two a week and I’ll be happy. And let me tell you, Godiva is high on my list!