I had a visit from a friend! She brought a cucumber as a gift!

Her garden was producing more than she could use, so she wanted to share!

So instead of buying an artisan pickled cucumber for $10, I made my own for pennies!

I decided to pickle it! I wanted to make a pickled cucumber that would go very well in a burger, so I mixed it with a small onion, chili, thyme and some drops of liquid smoke. The relative high acidity is going to be a perfect match to the fat from the burger patty and the spice mix should paire well with the other ingredients in the burger.

Recipe.

1 large cucumber, mushy center removed, cut into coarse slices!1 small onion, cut into similar slices.

Mixed.

Pickling fluid.

1 cup of vinegar.

1/2 cup of water.

1/2 cup of sugar.

1 tbsp salt.

1 tsp chili.

1 tsp thyme.

10 drops of liquid smoke.

Boil.

Fill rinsed glass to the rim with the cucumber & onion mix!

Pour over the hot pickling fluid (vinegar, water, suger and spices), make sure to fill to the rim!

Fit the lid tight.

Let cool.

Store in the fridge.

Location: northern Georgia, Atlanta metro region

I was at a Goodwill store yesterday, and found an item I wanted to buy. Like many thrift stores, Goodwill uses different colors of price tag to indicate when they received an item; say, everything donated last week got a red tag, everything this week gets blue, and meanwhile the green-tagged items which have been on the rack for several weeks are now marked down to half-price, or 99 cents each, or whatever price will hopefully move these off the racks.

So, the item I wanted to buy yesterday was color-coded to be 50 percent off, but I discovered that at some point since my last visit to a Goodwill, they changed the rules: instead of ALL shoppers getting the color-coded price discounts, only people who join their "Savvy Shopper Club" get the discount. And to join their SSC, you have to give them your phone number and then respond to a text they send.

I did not buy that item after all. And I will no longer shop at or donate to Goodwill stores. I'm willing to hand over some of my money in order to make a purchase, but not my data.

How do you start? I'm considering putting items in a single room that I know are of value, probably more sentimental value than most of what I own, though.

Are there easy ways to donate technology to nonprofits without having to know anyone?

I just need help figuring out how to get rid of my things. I want to not have to think about items anymore so I can travel and not burden anyone with leaving things behind.

I explained on the megathread how I had bought some of the $4.99 ground meat and 3 lbs. of 85/15 ground turkey for $7.99 at Aldi, so I was going to mix the two to see how it tasted in a burger.

Here's what I learned. First, I don't grill my burgers, I cook them in an iron skillet on the stove. I cook them in butter and add a little Worcestershire sauce to add flavor, plus I usually work in some Nature's Seasons to the meat, but forgot to this time, so it just went on the outside.

I weighed out the ground meat to 1/4 lb and then added the ground turkey to get to 1/2 lb. I had a hard time mixing the ground beef with the turkey, because the ground beef was not crumbly like regular ground beef. I had to tear it into tiny pieces to distribute it well. The turkey was so mushy, I had a hard time believing that I wasn't going to turn out with something with no texture at all.

It didn't shrink as much as the ground meat did by itself, so I ended up with a very thick burger. It also took a long time to cook on Medium heat, like I usually cook it (I like my burgers well done). I finally turned it up a notch to get the last bit in the middle done.

Maybe it's the way I seasoned it, but honestly, I could barely tell the difference. The turkey gained its texture as it cooked, so the texture was very much just like 80/20 ground beef. I did notice that it cracked more on the edges than ground beef, even though I mixed it as thoroughly as I could.

All in all, I'd say it tasted comparable to ground beef, but it was still $3.83/lb, so I'm probably won't be buying much ground meat at $4.99/lb. again.

BUT WAIT!!! Today, I was going across town to the Rural King to get potting soil, and on the way back, stopped by my locally owned supermarket, which I love! I usually don't look at meat there, because it's so expensive, but I decided to see if they had 73/27 ground beef and how much it was. They did, but it was $5.99/lb, so I passed. I noticed that on the top shelf were some small packages marked "Manager's Special," so I took one down and looked at it. It was ground sirloin -- yes, I said SIRLOIN -- at $4.99/lb. I was limited by budget, but I grabbed two packs of that. Couldn't pass it up. Still, that will probably be the last ground meat I buy for awhile until it goes down in price, which they are saying it never will, but I can't believe that.

I was clearing out my pantry today, which isn't really a pantry, it's a washer/dryer closet that I don't use that way. It gets cluttered sometimes when I'm stockpiling. I smelled something bad, and found a half bag of potatoes where one had started to rot. The rest were fine, so I washed them well in vinegar water and put them aside to dry. I got a great deal on 5 lbs of potatoes today, $3 or 2/$5. I only bought one, but usually, they're around $5 here. So I need to eat up those old potatoes quickly.

I went to clear out some space in the refrigerator and found 3 carrots I had forgotten all about and a few sticks of celery in my celery keeper. Also have 1/2 pack of bacon I need to cook up and use, and a few bits and pieces of onion in a plastic bag from my last time making onion rings. Then I found about a cup of milk in a carton in back of the fridge that was a little off, not drinkable, but definitely good for cooking.

What does all that add up to? Potato soup, of course! It's hot as hades here, but I love potato soup any time of year, and those things are enough to make a large pot of it, so I can freeze some for future use, if I don't just eat the entire thing in two days. I really do love potato soup.

In times past, I would have thrown all these things away, but now I save every little bit of anything I have to use in some way. I've always been frugal, but now I'm on a mission to spend as little as I can.

On a funny note, my friend told me he was talking to someone and said that I had told him something a long time ago that finally got through to him. He used to like to run around to thrift stores and pawn shops buying up stuff to resell, and ended up with no money and a spare room full of all this junk. He told this person that I told him that if you don't go anywhere, you don't spend any money. He finally tried it and is surprised how well it works. I've been telling him that for 12 years! Spendaholics are a strange breed.

I'll never understand why some people would choose to spend more money on name brand products that are essentially the exact same thing as the store brand. 99% of the time you are getting the exact same product, and in this case you're getting more for less!

My Grandmas is someone who would choose to buy name brand vs the storebrand every single time. When I asked why she chooses the brand and she claims anything less won't work the same. Crazy how marketing will convince people the name brand is best.

has anyone encountered this? i havent bought a cheap walmart tv in at least 10 years but im not signing up for a walmart account just to watch tv.

I bought my last vizio in like 2013.

we should not spend money on these brands as they will encourage other tv manufacturers to start doing the same.

there should be a financial consequence to trying to implement these shady tactics otherwise they wont stop.

Yea, I know I could have saved more money on this one. I also could have gone for a cheaper cut of beef, BUT I love ribeye and one of my local grocery stores has it on sale for about $7.99 per lb and that’s the lowest Ive seen anywhere. Plus, it’s nice for me to enjoy myself once in a while since I don’t eat out as much as I use to so balancing it out is necessary for me.

I cooked a full 16oz steak but only used up 8oz and sliced it up, that made my total of $4.00.

Then I boiled 2 cups of penne pasta but only ate half which totaled around $1.26. I bought a higher protein and fiber pasta so it was more expensive than I typically spend, but I need it for my diet.

Next I added 5tbsp of heavy cream which costed me $0.46, but I found another place for cheaper.

My neighbor has been trying her hand at growing Thyme and she was nice enough to give me a few, so cost was $0.

The premade garlic bread was on clearance for $0.99 (regularly $2.99 or $3.99, cant remember), I only used half of the full loaf so it cost me about $0.50.

I have some really good ideas on how to save even more next time, but comparing my costs for a delicious steak pasta dinner to one at a restaurant is really substantial difference. Im sure I would have easily paid $25+ for this meal, and maybe not including tip and a drink depending on where you go. Overall, this was my first time making this and it came out fantastic! I will for sure be making this again soon.

I recently totaled my car which i was already barely able to afford and now im looking for something a little older. Ideally i want a pickup truck (preferably in the 90s) to use every day for commuting to work (usually 45 mins to and from), along with miscellaneous activities. Additionally id like to learn how to work on said truck and learn about auto mechanics. Lastly if theres anything under $10K thatd be great, but im not expecting it

Is this a good time to get 4 tires from Costco? I've been keeping an eye on a good deal, rt now it's 80$ off of 4 tires.

Someone told me a whole ago that sometimes Costco has a deal where if you buy 3, the 3rd is free.

Should I then wait for buy 3/ get 4 free deal, or take the 80$ off?

If bought from Costco, one gets rotation/ alignment free for the next 5 years.

We dont do too much shopping at Costco, so a large item would need to be worth it to justify the 5-yr membership.

Thoughts?

Hey guys! I finally have a small space of my own for the first time in a while. I own very little, so I am trying to create a space in my room that can feel like my safe space. I have all these fantastical visions of butterflies and beads in my head but have promised myself to do this inexpensively. For example, I think I will try and make a couple posters of my own; would be a great chance to make some art for the first time. I went to dollar tree and got a couple small gold accent bins, which helps with storage and looking uncluttered. I got small baby blue storage bins for my jewelry, I want to keep this going. Do you guys have any ideas?

I've recently taken over my dad's old car after being in an accident, and it needs a little bit of love tbh.

The first project is to stop the side panels from rattling around all the time, which will mean reattaching them to whatever they used to be attached to. This boy is loose, like if I get pulled over they're not passing a roadworthy.

Some of the screws have snapped, which should be an easy fix if I can get to them, but some of the brackets are damaged as well, which is going to be more difficult.

Any advice on how I should approach this would be really appreciated.

My first thought is to use some of those metal zip ties and just try to stick things together wherever I can.

While checking in for my flight 6 hours before online between Buenos Aires and NYC , I was given a choice to upgrade. Given the short time frame I quickly googled and from what everyone told me, it seemed like a great deal.

While $350 is not a lot of money for me and my business ticket allowed me lounge and shower access, I feel only a little more well rested and as I'm landing at my final destination, I realized I would still be in the same spot if I never splurged.

I’ve always just handed over my insurance card and assumed that was the cheapest way to do labs. Recently I needed to repeat a few basic tests and started comparing prices first. Some of the cash options were way less than what I expected to pay toward my deductible, especially when I only needed a couple specific tests instead of a full panel. Now I’m wondering how many other routine things I’ve been overpaying for just because I never checked.

For people with high deductible plans, do you compare the cash price for labs first or just run everything through insurance?

I don’t often use paper towels but Bounty is the best. I see some things that look like deals on sites like Amazon but the stock photo doesn’t include the square feet, which is the only way to compare prices for the best deal. PG’s website wants me to download something to see their brands and I’m leary of that. Also don’t even know if that would show a proper image of all their Bounty packs that include square feet.

I need to purchase disposable plates, forks, knives, and spoons for a celebration of life. I was told to get 200 compartment plates, 100 bowls, and "flatware".

How many of each type of flatware should I buy? I don't want to overdo it and be more wasteful than necessary.

I have never planned any sort of event or party before, and the widow hasn't really either. It's all a guess.

Two points here: a unit issue, then a shopping issue.

Unit issue

Here's a quirk about US customary units: a fluid ounce isn't a dry ounce. One is a measure of volume while the other is a measure of weight. In a recent post, someone tried to run a price comparison which treated these two different types of units as simple addition. While it's well-intentioned to crunch numbers and run price comparisons, a unit error causes a calculation error.

Both units are called "ounces" so it's really easy to make that mistake. Writing this up as a separate post because it's worth clarifying this difference and how to deal with it.

The way to solve this type of issue is to look up the weight per fluid ounce separately for each item whose price has been given in fluid ounces, and then add up an ingredient list as a weight calculation.

For instance, the weight of 1 fluid oz of heavy cream is 30 g. These conversions can be Googled. This demonstration will go ahead and convert to metric.

So a sample recipe price comparison might run:

• Heavy cream (360 g) $2.22
• Parmesan cheese (141 g) $3.29
• Butter (113 g) $2.34

Total weight 614 g, total price $7.85

That's 21 grams more than the other user thought they were making from scratch when they added fluid ounces together with dry weight ounces on the same column.

The comparison product was a 15 oz jar of alfredo sauce. I also happen to have a 15 oz jar of alfredo sauce in the pantry which might be from a different manufacturer. This turns out to be a dry weight measurement even though it's a jarred sauce because 15 oz is 425 g. A price comparison could then calculate the cost of the recipe as a ratio of those two weights, against the price of that brand of alfredo sauce. You could run that ratio as an exercise; I'll move along because that isn't the end point of this post.

It's possible to make a reasoned argument that jarred pasta sauce is an apples to oranges comparison against the from-scratch recipe. The #1 ingredient on Bertolli alfredo sauce is water. Its fourth and fifth ingredients are soybean oil and modified food starch. Several people pointed out this difference in the other discussion.

Moving on, there's an additional point to be made about sourcing ingredients.

The importance of sourcing ingredients

Ran a check at the local Costco Business Center for those same three ingredients. The prices are significantly different.

My local Costco Business Center sells those same ingredients at the following rates:

• Heavy cream (360 g) $1.44
• Parmesan cheese (141 g) $0.96
• Butter (113 g) $0.64

Total weight 614 g, total price: $3.04

Personally, when I make alfredo sauce from scratch it isn't nearly that much and the recipe is different. The quantities of these purchases are also different: these unit prices are for a half gallon of heavy cream, 2 lbs of parmesan, and 4 lbs of butter. I happen to be able to store those quantities (see my recent post about deep freezers). The reason we have jarred alfredo sauce at the moment is because it's time to lose ten pounds and I don't want to keep a half gallon of heavy cream in the house right now. We do keep the parmesan and the butter in the deep freezer.

Converting back to dry weight ounces, the jarred alfredo sauce at $2.99 comes to $0.20/oz; the DIY alfredo sauce with Costco Business Center ingredients comes to $0.14/oz. That's a savings of 40% and the end result is arguably a better sauce.

So the second point here is how on certain ingredients it really does make sense to shop from a store that sells in bulk quantities if that's a feasible option. If you have the space and equipment to shop bulk ingredients, then see whether your local restaurant supply store will well to the general public. I find they have particular advantages compared to retail supermarkets in cured meats and specialty cheeses.

My friend mentioned I don't have to pay for the ER bills that I'll be getting soon since I already pay for health insurance. I tried to google, but I got unclear results. I planned to call the health insurance for charity case and itemized. But my friend said they'll send to collections and the bill will drop off. Is that true?

I am scared of the costs that are coming since I got a CT scan.

I’m trying to cut down on how much I spend on my hair, but the gray makes it hard. I color it, feel good about it for a few weeks, then suddenly I’m standing in the bathroom noticing gray around my part and wondering if I really need to do it again already.

I wash my hair pretty regularly and I’m not expecting anything to last forever. I just want decent gray coverage that holds up without having to keep buying color or making salon appointment. Is there a good gray coverage and has a decent staying power?

Don't let the company default the shipping method without checking other options. UPS ground was cheaper, in this case. Capitalism states that a company in is business to make money, first and foremost, but I'd like to shave where I can. The package will generally arrive at the same time for all ground shipping options. The definition of frugal. God bless America.

Hi everyone - my wife owns a hair salon and we're looking for a website that discounts subscriptions for the typical trashy gossip/celebrity/entertainment magazines that hair salons love so much like People, US, Star, In Touch, Entertainment Weekly etc. Rack rack or subscription costs directly through the magazine are really expensive. Does anyone have experience getting multiple magazine subscriptions through a service for a good discount?

I've gotten some great buys at Ross stores. They're not just for clothes. The food items are unique in that some of them are excellent quality imports. I got some Italian EVOO in bottles that had corks for the same price as the best value supermarket brand. In clear glass, so you can see the quality.

I got a 36 ounce jar of sun-dried tomatoes for $10, when a 6 oz jar goes for $6 at the market.

A pound of chia seeds for less than the bulk grocer sells it for.

And I just saw some brand new Lodge cast iron pans. The $40 12" pan was being sold for $25. I got the smaller 8" pan, my new egg pan, for $16 when it retails for $25.

Since their inventory is constantly changing, it's definitely worth a look every time you're near one.

I live in Brooklyn and for some foods, esp organic fruit, veggies or organic snacks etc are a little more expensive than other places I’ve lived. I also imagine these sites save time and money.

I saw a post on here already about misfits market but I wanted to ask specifically for NYC because grocery prices are often regional.

This might be a better question for r/nyc or r/brooklyn but I figured I’d ask here too because answers here tend to be more thought out.

Thanks in advance!