LIFE

Bargain Advocate doesn’t let frugal failure discourage

Abbey Roy

This past week I had my biggest frugal #fail in a long time.

It wasn’t necessarily that this particular #fail cost a lot of money, because in terms of cash value, I probably only lost a couple bucks — maximum.

But it completely nullified several hours’ worth of “work” (in quotations for a reason) and was so laughable — after the first five minutes, of course — that I knew I’d have to share it with you.

As you may recall, I was particularly proud of myself last week for having purchased and used a whole chicken. We ate the chicken, used the leftovers in another recipe and, as promised, I saved the bones to turn into homemade chicken stock.

I dutifully found a simple chicken stock recipe, tossed the carcass, veggies and seasoning into a large pot and let it simmer for a number of hours, filling my house with a delightful aroma that almost made me long for Thanksgiving.

When it had simmered long enough, I set out a large bowl for the stock and placed a strainer in the sink to catch the bones and veggies.

Then I carefully poured my entire four hours’ worth of “work” (you know, stirring and all) into the strainer...and down the drain.

I stared at it, blinked a few times, and for a brief second contemplated if there were a way I could get it back. But as I possessed neither the power nor desire to shrink myself to the size of a marble and explore the plumbing beneath our house, I quickly abandoned that notion and walked, stricken, into the living room to announce my error to my family.

None of them seemed as profoundly disappointed as I was; and so I was forced to throw the worthless chicken bones, celery, carrots, garlic and herbs into the trash, having accomplished nothing.

In the days that followed, I intentionally sought opportunities for frugal #wins to make up for my senselessness — and to be honest, they did make me feel a little better.

For starters, I used a mixture of coconut oil and a few drops of lavender and peppermint essential oils to soothe a sunburn Mr. Roy had acquired during a family trip to the waterpark. He reported good results, and I was proud of myself for having come through with a (free) treatment despite the absence of aloe vera in our home.

Second frugal #win: Eating from the garden. Thanks to a good crop of lettuce, tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, hot peppers and a number of herbs growing in our backyard, we’ve been able to cut back on produce purchases and plan meals and side dishes around what we’re able to pick.

Thus, we’ve enjoyed a couple zucchini dishes and loaves of zucchini bread as well as regular side dishes of sliced tomatoes, which Little and Littlest Roy would eat whole if they were able. Our homemade pizza is garnished with fresh basil (even if the girls pick it off) and eventually there will be fresh tomato salsa — always a hit in our family.

Speaking of veggies, I sneakily scored another frugal #win this week by pureeing broccoli and cauliflower and mixing them into a baked pasta dish. Discerning palates — especially ones that aren’t crazy about broccoli, like that of the single male member of our family — were able to detect the veggies in the dish, but less discerning palates gobbled it up like it was restaurant mac ‘n cheese.

Not only did the veggies stretch the pasta, they also replaced meat in the dish and upped the nutrition factor, another bonus.

My final frugal #win was a patio furniture rehab that cost less than $10 but made our decade-old, hand-me-down patio set look like a million bucks. Or close to it.

With a wire brush, sandpaper, electric sander and quite a bit of elbow grease, I scraped the rust off the cast iron base and smoothed it down, then glossed over it with a couple coats of Rustoleum Stops Rust spray paint in a color that matched the original.

The chairs and table, made (I suspect) of aluminum, were even simpler to paint because there was no rust — just scratches, dirt and discoloration.

Though the umbrella and chairs are still slightly faded, the set looks much better — and our budget thinks so, too, given that a new patio set can cost upwards of $200, and that’s on the low end.

Thus, though I still inwardly sigh in dismay every time I think about how I literally poured my cents (sense?) down the drain with that chicken stock, I feel I at least somewhat made up for my frugal #fail with a number of #wins to add to the tally.

Also, I feel I’ve done my duty to my faithful readers by issuing them a very personal reminder to always place a bowl under the strainer when they’re making chicken stock.

So don’t say I didn’t warn you.

If you have a frugal #win or #fail to share, insight about a frugal living topic or an idea for a future column, please email me at amroy@nncogannett.com. I’d love to hear from you!

Happy saving,

Abbey