Cheap Things That Make You Happy

[Freedomin5]

Homemade soft pretzels. The key is to brush melted butter on it as soon as it comes out of the oven.

[okisok]

Taking my dog for a long walk when it finally cools off in the evening. When I look down and she's trotting along with her big pittie smile and she looks up at me with a face full of love and happiness--right in the feels.

We stop to put items we find in the street in the appropriate receptacle;  cans in recycling bins, soggy newspapers in trash cans, a penny in my pocket :) We even found a nice throwing stick in the gutter to take home. We checked out the little library and made it home before full dark.

Speaking of ice cream, I've been having an Aldi knockoff Klondike bar with my dinner. So nice and cool when it's so hot out.

[goat_music_generator]

Taking my dog for a long walk when it finally cools off in the evening.

Summer evening walks are the best. Especially with fireflies out.

We went out for one a couple days ago and, on our way home, saw a huge tree with fireflies lighting it up with sparkles way up into the darkness.

[kina]

Taking my dog for a long walk when it finally cools off in the evening.

Summer evening walks are the best. Especially with fireflies out.

We went out for one a couple days ago and, on our way home, saw a huge tree with fireflies lighting it up with sparkles way up into the darkness.

Firefly gazing is magical.

[Just Joe]

I agree. We live out in the country so the dog goes tromping around in the yard (field) out front while I sit and watch the fireflies for a while. Also, the airplanes 30K+ feet up while I wonder where they are coming from or going to.
 

[Luke Warm]

'course, so is beer and ice cream: if you use stout and a really good vanilla it makes a great shake.

Really???

I'd have never considered this combination, but can kinda mentally picture it.

my stomach is bubbling just thinking about it.

[sonofsven]

Washing windows is a cheap thing that makes me happy, especially when the sun moves far enough north in the summer to shine through some of them, highlighting how dirty they can get.

[Freedomin5]

Received a $60 gift card to one of our favorite restaurants.

[mspym]

Good takeaway coffee drink with a friend while walking her dog through a waterfront park.

[jeninco]

Got up on the early side and went for a walk with a friend and her dog at 7 am, before it got crazy hot here. We usually go at 11:30, but this was so very much nicer!

[Metalcat]

Sitting, drinking tea, watching whales

[Rosy]

A long phone call with an old friend - left me with a smile on my face. We cheerfully blasted various US/Euro/China politics, the 1%, international banking groups and their shenanigans. Very satisfying!:)
Then I put together my new coffee maker (not so cheap but I paid for it with gift cards I'd earned or received).
Next I made myself an excellent lunch from leftovers. Isn't it wonderful when you can combine a bunch of itty-bitty parts into a tasty treat?
Followed by a great cup of coffee and a slice of apple pie. Two of my favorite things in life:).

[Dreamer40]

My workout membership.  I started working out with this company for free in 2015 (there were occasionally ads on the videos) and it was something I actually stuck with.  They started a premium membership so they are making a lot of subscription only workouts.  Although I could have stayed with the free version and had plenty of workouts to keep me busy (over 600), I decided I liked some of the premium features and I wanted to support the couple that was making a go of their small business.  So I subscribed about two years ago. 

Over the last year, I've paid less than $0.22 per workout.

Fitnessblender? I adore them. About to renew my yearly Plus subscription because I love the new stuff.

[Dreamer40]

Homemade pita breads. Just 250 grams of flour, some yeast, salt, and oil. Faster to make than a loaf of bread (only needs one rise) and sooo delicious. Makes store-bought pita taste like cardboard.

[Josiecat23503]

Homemade pita breads. Just 250 grams of flour, some yeast, salt, and oil. Faster to make than a loaf of bread (only needs one rise) and sooo delicious. Makes store-bought pita taste like cardboard.

@Dreamer40 , could we get that recipe? Sounds fantastic with homemade hummus!

[FrugalShrew]

Reading a good book from the library or a used book sale.

[Dreamer40]

Homemade pita breads. Just 250 grams of flour, some yeast, salt, and oil. Faster to make than a loaf of bread (only needs one rise) and sooo delicious. Makes store-bought pita taste like cardboard.

@Dreamer40 , could we get that recipe? Sounds fantastic with homemade hummus!

You bet! This is almost identical to the version I have in a book.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pitta_bread_97296/amp

I don’t use seeds in mine. The dough rises for about an hour (longer on cold days). And I bake them on parchment-paper-lined trays instead floured-trays. The recipe is easy to double and I bake 2 trays at a time to speed it up.

[middo]

Homemade pita breads. Just 250 grams of flour, some yeast, salt, and oil. Faster to make than a loaf of bread (only needs one rise) and sooo delicious. Makes store-bought pita taste like cardboard.

@Dreamer40 , could we get that recipe? Sounds fantastic with homemade hummus!

You bet! This is almost identical to the version I have in a book.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/pitta_bread_97296/amp

I don’t use seeds in mine. The dough rises for about an hour (longer on cold days). And I bake them on parchment-paper-lined trays instead floured-trays. The recipe is easy to double and I bake 2 trays at a time to speed it up.

I love home made flat breads too.  Ours is for two, to use as a "wrap" around refried roast meat (with loads of garlic), lettuce, cheese, tomato, capsicum and greek yoghurt.

150 grams plain flour
105 grams warm water
8 grams olive oil
5 grams yeast
3 grams salt

Mix it all together, and let it rise in it's bowl until it about doubles.  In summer, about an hour.  In winter, 2 hours.

Then turn it out onto a floured table, cut in half and make 2 balls.  Roll it out into a large flat circle (don't work it too much and use plenty of flour to stop it sticking).  When about 25 cm's diameter, place it onto a very hot flat plat (we use the BBQ) and let heat until bubbles form.  Sometimes I get a full puffed up bread, sometimes just bubbles.  Trun and leave for around a minute.  Pull off the heat and use immediately.

Sometimes I add a bit of paprika.

[Josiecat23503]

@middo, thanks for the additional recipe!  It looks like I need to get a food scale... I'm a typical American who usually uses imperial volume measures, but the more baking I do the more it seems measuring by weight is the way to go!

[SotI]

Sitting in the garden on a quiet summer Sunday afternoon, listening to the regular hydroponics water cascade (for salads and veggies). Flowers are abundant, too, so I don't really need vacations ☺

[moneytaichi]

DIY to for patio around the house. It's so satisfying to lift and lay bricks, and see the beautiful/functional outcome right in front of you.

[Dreamer40]

@middo, thanks for the additional recipe!  It looks like I need to get a food scale... I'm a typical American who usually uses imperial volume measures, but the more baking I do the more it seems measuring by weight is the way to go!

Besides accuracy, weight is also a lot easier! Put your bowl on the scale and start dumping ingredients in. No need to fuss with cups and spoons (or have a bunch of little things to wash after). I’ve been using the same $10 food scale for years and it works fine. Doesn’t need to be fancy.

[Just Joe]

Taking care of our things and lengthening their usefulness. Like this so much knowing I don't need to replace something when I can repair or just take care of it in the first place.

[lifeisshort123]

Walking and swimming.  They are the best.  Being in nature/outside.

[Freedomin5]

Homemade sushi. Spent $14 and fed five kids and two adults.

[srrb]

Random shoot-the-sh*t calls with my grown children.

[FIRE Artist]

My Sunday morning ritual of sitting in my living room soaking up the sun through the bay window, with a pot of tea and a logic puzzle. 

[LD_TAndK]

On a cold day, if I've done something outside and wrapped up early enough to have a late morning, screaming hot cup of coffee. I mean like so hot you can hardly take it out of the microwave.

[jeninco]

My Sunday morning ritual of sitting in my living room soaking up the sun through the bay window, with a pot of tea and a logic puzzle.

It is not going to be "cheap", but we're talking with an architect about re-jiggering the inside of the house so that we can spend the next few decades doing this (but not in the living room, because that's on the west side of the house -- great for sitting in the afternoon sun, etc. etc.)

Mine is taking advantage of the cold weather to bake cookies and various types of fruitcakes, and then sharing them with friends and neighbors!

[Freedomin5]

Made several gingerbread house kits to give to friends.

[Serendip]

Bright sunshine on white snow..everything looks so perfectly gorgeous.

[srrb]

A big pot of soup/stew on the stove and homemade bread. Watching the winter sunset out of the sunroom. Happy Solstice!

[Gerard]

Being warm and inside with no outdoor obligations during this decade's fourth Storm Of The Century.

[Metalcat]

Being warm and inside with no outdoor obligations during this decade's fourth Storm Of The Century.

Same. I'm isolating before major surgery in a few weeks, so no Christmas obligations for me.  I'm very much enjoying that I don't have anywhere to be and already have weeks worth of food in my house.

DH on the other hand? He went out for a run last night because he does that every time he gets an extreme weather warning on his phone. I think he's in a dick measuring contest with God or something.

[CatamaranSailor]

My wife has perfected the art of making green chili. She made a batch using the last of the Hatch chili's and it's been heavenly.

[Serendip]

Stretching (in the morning, in front of the fireplace)

[Frugal Lizard]

A really good cup of tea in a quiet house.

[Metalcat]

Orthopedic supports when you've had orthopedic surgery.

One of my very favourite possessions in the whole wide world right now is a $17 leg lifting strap. I've had it by my side, under a pillow in my hospital bed because I don't want anyone to accidentally move it somewhere.

There are just all these little useful aides that so dramatically increase my quality of life right now.

[GreenEggs]

Fortune cookies. 


There's no logical reason to care what's printed on the little slip of paper, but I still enjoy seeing what they say.  The last one I opened was in English on one side and in French on the other.  The lucky number was only on the English side, so I guess I'm lucky to speack English.  ;~) 

[okisok]

Home baked bread

[Metalcat]

Fortune cookies. 


There's no logical reason to care what's printed on the little slip of paper, but I still enjoy seeing what they say.  The last one I opened was in English on one side and in French on the other.  The lucky number was only on the English side, so I guess I'm lucky to speack English.  ;~)

Same. Love them.

[Just Joe]

Finding that lost thing. Looked high and low for a tool yesterday. Haven't needed it for several years since before we moved last time.

After checking every possible place, I thought of one more place to look and there it was... Then I remembered my friend putting it there (inside a cabinet) so it wouldn't get lost.

Was prepared to buy it again, won't need to now.

[GuitarStv]

After 24 hours of stomach pain and vomiting from a bout of food poisoning, it's feeling really spectacular to just not be in pain and nauseous.

[Serendip]

Orthopedic supports when you've had orthopedic surgery.

One of my very favourite possessions in the whole wide world right now is a $17 leg lifting strap. I've had it by my side, under a pillow in my hospital bed because I don't want anyone to accidentally move it somewhere.

There are just all these little useful aides that so dramatically increase my quality of life right now.

My father is waiting for a shoulder surgery and constructed a pulley system in order to gain/increase his range of motion in the injured arm. It's true--amazing what some straps, rope, pulleys can do for quality of life.

[RWTL]

Home baked bread

Agree.  Especially when it is a bit warm still.

I made a loaf one time and left it on the kitchen counter to cool before I went to bed.  When I woke up in the morning I went downstairs and there were just crumbs left.  My teenage daughter came home and ate the whole loaf. 

[CatamaranSailor]

Modern dentistry. Maybe not so cheap as say watching whales and drinking tea (which sounds wonderful, BTW) but thank God for endodontists and anesthetic. $375.00 (after insurance) and I'm now the proud own of a root canaled tooth and no more pain.

[StarBright]

Random, unloved condiments from the food pantry are making me happy today!

People often donate interesting condiments to the food pantry that we can't give away. They usually sit on a shelf for 6+ months and then we cycle them through. Once they go in the trash, I have been known to ask if I can have them.

Now some of my fellow volunteers ask me before throwing them in the trash and I scored three jars of momofuku chili crunch (with an expiration date of december 2023) last weekend!

I ate a delicious bowl of noodles, spiraled butternut squash and cooked spinach with a chilicrunch/soy/honey/chicken broth  for lunch and it made me really happy!

[Catbert]

Random, unloved condiments from the food pantry are making me happy today!

People often donate interesting condiments to the food pantry that we can't give away. They usually sit on a shelf for 6+ months and then we cycle them through. Once they go in the trash, I have been known to ask if I can have them.

Now some of my fellow volunteers ask me before throwing them in the trash and I scored three jars of momofuku chili crunch (with an expiration date of december 2023) last weekend!

I ate a delicious bowl of noodles, spiraled butternut squash and cooked spinach with a chilicrunch/soy/honey/chicken broth  for lunch and it made me really happy!

When you say, "can't give away" is that because customers don't select the condiments or because of some food pantry rule?   

[StarBright]

Random, unloved condiments from the food pantry are making me happy today!

People often donate interesting condiments to the food pantry that we can't give away. They usually sit on a shelf for 6+ months and then we cycle them through. Once they go in the trash, I have been known to ask if I can have them.

Now some of my fellow volunteers ask me before throwing them in the trash and I scored three jars of momofuku chili crunch (with an expiration date of december 2023) last weekend!

I ate a delicious bowl of noodles, spiraled butternut squash and cooked spinach with a chilicrunch/soy/honey/chicken broth  for lunch and it made me really happy!

When you say, "can't give away" is that because customers don't select the condiments or because of some food pantry rule?   

I didn't realize how funny that must sound for a food pantry :) Badly used phrase on my part. The customer's don't choose them.

While the pantry generally has limits on how many of an item each individual can take (2 condiments per visit, etc), with items that sit too long we eventually move them to a shelf that says "help yourself! Take as many as you like!" And them some of the more esoteric items still there until we eventually throw them out.

I've gotten bags of dried figs and prunes, different hot sauces, mustards, ghee, and loose leaf teas from the toss shelf. I like keeping it from going into the landfill.

[GreenEggs]

Turning up the thermostat on our waterheater just a few degrees higher.