I harvested eggplant, red noodle beans, and cucumbers from my garden.
The children and I attended the wedding of a close friend in another state. The wedding was near where my eldest lives, so we stayed with her and got to visit. Traveling is expensive, so making trips often is cost-prohibitive. However, since I had to replace my vehicle last year, I had something that got 3 times the gas mileage as the 15-passenger van I used to drive, cutting the gas cost by 2/3.
I wore a dress that I had previously purchased rather inexpensively at Ross. My necklace is a vintage one I purchased at a garage sale for $1.
The day of the wedding, we discovered that my son took his white dress shirt out of the packed bag and changed it for a blue one. He didn’t realize, but he accidentally took out his younger brother’s shirt as well. The only other long-sleeved shirt (it was cold that day) that was packed for him was one my daughter had grabbed that was 3 sizes too small. So, on the way to the wedding, we stopped at a children’s resale shop and I bought him a dress shirt and a sweater vest very imexpensively, plus a long-sleeved shirt to wear the next day, and a sweater just in case.
The next day, we explored an outdoor walk in the city.
The following day, we went to a local museum for free, using the free pass my daughter checked out from her local library.
We then visited two thrift stores. My daughters all found some things, I found a t-shirt for my other son for $2, and I found a few dresses, a skirt, and a cardigan for myself. I found the cardigan for $2, and shortly thereafter, found a dress that looked like it would match it for $8 (the other dresses and the skirt were all $6 each). When I went to try on the cardigan and dress together, I noticed that the brand is the same; they must have been donated together and were meant to go together! Brand-new dresses from this company are $98 to $230 each, and I bought both the dress and matching sweater for $10 total, in almost brand-new condition!
I purchased lunch meat, cheese sticks, and loaf bread for the trip, along with pretzels in bulk from Winco. These were our lunches during the day each day, including while traveling to the wedding. We brought refillable water bottles and refilled them as needed.
We were able to visit with my nephew, who is at university, on the way back home for a short while as well.
What did you do to save money this past week?
That’s been a major frugal lesson for me since we moved to the country — never underestimate the power of taking a vehicle with better mileage on long trips! Our Mazda gets something like 35-40 miles on the highway, and our van gets just 22. The difference is staggering on the gas required when we take long trips with one vs. the other!
Glad you could have a fun few days out 🙂
It’s been awhile since I’ve contributed; our life has been a bit hectic since we took our flower farm to a full-time gig that now fully supports our family. Here are some of my most recent frugal wins:
https://www.toloveandtolearn.com/2024/09/03/weekly-frugal-wins-walmart-hacks-a-new-router/
What a wonderful trip! I love that shade of blue in your dress – very dramatic! Oh dear, you must have been a bit frantic when you discovered the issues with the boys’ shirts! You and your daughters did really well at the thrift stores.
It has been a busy week at the office and at church as programs get back up and running. I was also having company over so had to get some major cleaning done – a good incentive! Instead of going out I fed us at home and everyone enjoyed themselves. Today is my birthday and I was treated to lunch last week, today, and some other friends are taking me out on Friday so it will be a long celebration! The friend who took me out today also bought me a new book – Bread Making for Dummies – I got to choose it and it is excellent – recipes, conversion rates – things to accompany various breads etc. I am really looking forward to working my way through it.
My birthday present to myself is an electric skillet – something I’ve wanted for ages (had my mom’s for years until it died). It was on offer at $25 off so snapped it up, I will get a lot of use of it this Winter.
My grocery shopping was mostly loss leaders – No Frills has Heinz baked beans on for 99 cents = they have been as high as $3.29 recently! I bought 14 cans – added to what I already had = should get me through the Winter. Sugar is $1.99 for 2 kilos – again, cheapest I’ve seen it for a while so bought two more bags – these, plus what I had on hand have all been transferred to large glass jars. I also have “raw” and turbinado sugar which will go into smaller jars once they are all washed and dried.
I made a large crustless quiche to use up some eggs and some bits and pieces of onions, mushroom and peppers – also crumbled in some pork meatballs from the freezer. Peppers are on for about the cheapest I’ll ever see so bought a couple of big bags, washed, sliced into strips and open froze them. I’ve got six ziploc bags full so I am pleased about that. Just trying to use up more produce before it goes bad! Made a chicken curry and also have some corned beef to use up so meals are pretty much sorted for this week.
Looking forward to reading about what everyone has been up to.
Happy Birthday, Margie! 🙂
Happy birthday! I find the older I get, the longer it takes to celebrate my birthday!
Happy Birthday, Margie! It sounds like you are having a wonderful time celebrating it! Many blessings sent you way🥰
Happy birthday, Margie! The birthday meals sound lovely!
Traveling when I was a child was the best! So glad your family could make memories together this way.
I ordered new mattress covers for our two beds on mega sale from JCPenney, and they came in nifty zipper carrying cases, which I will use for craft supplies. I’m not sure why linens packaging is so, what, expensive? The last two times I bought pillow cases, they were in little bags made out of matching cloth.
We know our grocery store layout so well that we can shop quickly for what we need, with a fast stop in the far back corner for clearance. The baggers seem used to us bringing our own bags, which I would do even if we didn’t get a nickel for each one. I do not like one-use plastic bags.
I got a significant unexpected check in the mail today from my health insurance provider. Seems the company didn’t meet the 80/20 rule required by the Affordable Care Act, meaning they spent more than 20% of costs on administration, so had to provide refunds. I received a similar check several months ago for the same reason; not feeling very confident with that company’s management right now!
Heidi Louise – I have bought new with tags pillowcases at thrift stores in the matching fabric bags you mention. I use them to contain gifts for my kids at Christmas time. They kind of serve as an extra stocking – you never know what’s in there! 🙂 Just thought I’d mention this use for them and sure others have even more ideas.
How fun to travel to a wedding. You look beautiful in your blue dress. And that’s wonderful you got to see your daughter and her family.
My modest list of frugal accomplishments this week:
– Juiced a bunch of lemons for a recipe, and froze the leftover peels to defrost and run in my garbage disposal when it needs a good clean.
– One morning I discovered there were bird droppings on my car. I had to park on the street because they were resealing our apartment parking lot. My intention was to take my car to the DIY carwash ($6) because we aren’t allowed to wash cars at our complex. But then it rained hard enough that it washed the droppings off. Problem solved for free.
– My dad is coming to visit. He was planning to stay in a hotel. My apartment building has an Airbnb unit two doors down from me. He was able to book that for the friends and family rate, which is significantly cheaper than a hotel.
– Used a coupon for $5 off $10 of produce at the co-op.
– Picked a large amount of kale and mustard greens at a farm. I stripped the leaves off the stems, blanched them, squeezed all the water out, and then packed them in the compartments of an ice cube tray. Once frozen, I popped them out and put them in a freezer bag to use later.
Otherwise, I did all the mundane frugal things I normally do, which are not exciting but well worth the effort.
Have a great week, everyone!
Oh you look absolutely lovely in your outfit for the wedding! The dress is beautiful, and the jewelry goes with it perfectly and together they are all so elegant! I am glad you were able to have a visit with your daughter and see your nephew as well—but I do not envy you the stress of discovering the missing dress shirts for your sons! Glad you found an inexpensive solution!
The number one thing I am thankful for this past week is I finally have a working stove/oven again! After being without one for a week and a half while we waited for the delivery to happen, I was more than ready to be able to bake again, even though I try and cut down on oven use due to the high electric usage!
Frugal things I did this week include make a batch of home made granola in that new oven—and it baked it just fine, so I figure the oven temps must be working correctly! I also picked and dried basil from my garden, and harvested a few bell peppers and green onions. It was not a good garden year for us due to the heat in our area and the lack of watering on my and my husband’s parts, but I am thankful for what we did get out of it. I found some spotted bananas at 50% off at a near by store, and bought a pile of them to keep in the freezer for banana bread and smoothies. I listened to a free book on Hoopla, thanks to our local library subscribing to the app. My husband and I hooked up our new oven ourselves, thus saving the installation fee. We also hauled our broken oven down to the road ourselves just in time for our monthly large trash pick up. That saved us being charged $50 for the delivery people to haul it away for us. I made one canner load of applesauce, cooking the apples in my two crock pots all day and then blending them with my immersion blender. I left it a little on the chunky side, as we will use the home canned applesauce as a waffle topping. I made home made oat waffles—pretty inexpensive to make, as it is literally oats, water, salt and vanilla. I hiked local trails with my daughter—good time to talk together, stress relief from the “green therapy,” and good for our health as well! I have pictures of the woods and wildflowers we found as well as other things on my blog at: https://jesuscallsmefriend.blogspot.com/2024/09/pennies-from-heaven_15.html
Looking forward to reading what everyone has been up to!
Susan M. in Chattanooga
It sounds like a lovely trip. I learned beauty berries were edible a couple of years ago, and have been munching a few during walks ever since. To me, they have a slightly sweet, floral flavor. I’d read about making jelly from them, and did that last week, which turned out a pretty color. I wanted to do something with our ripe pears, and decided to make a pear pie. Golden paste was made for the pups. Laundry was dried on the line. Thanks to reseeding, we’ve got some nice kale patches. Two more people in the neighborhood wanted pawpaws, and I froze some more. My husband harvested the sweet potatoes. As in previous years, some were munched on, but we’re happy to get what we did. While heading to the chickens one day, I noticed a Pandora Sphinx caterpillar on a grape leaf. My husband bought seedlings of cabbage, broccoli, collards and lettuce at the feed and seed store. He tilled up a spot, and planted them all, plus seeds of winter greens mix. Our green peas are doing well, and have lots of blooms on them. While cleaning up the garden for the seedlings, he found another butternut squash. When I went to gather eggs yesterday, I found a rat snake in the nest box, which required alerting my personal snake wrangler. He’s been doing it for years, so it doesn’t phase him. We then rehomed it. Our little bit of excitement for the day.
Eeeeek!
I can definitely do without that type of excitement! 🐍
Susan M. in Chattanooga
Laurie, would you share the golden paste recipe?
Thank you. Linda
Glad you and the family got to travel and see family.
I grew my largest amount of green beans. It yielded 9 pints canned. Very grateful.
I took a day trip with a friend. I packed snacks, drinks.
It was just me for 4 nights and usually I treat myself to cheap take out as a mini vacation from the kitchen. This time I pulled our freezer meals I made from leftovers and enjoyed those with minimal kitchen time.
I tailored shorts and pants for the mister as he has also lost a few pounds.
I sorted through projects I once wanted to do, had started and so forth. I completed the ones I still had interest in and recycled out the rest.
I hope everyone has a calm and productive week.
It’s been a great frugal week in Houston, TX!
I was able to batch some errands on my way to and from work when I go to campus.
I sold some items on Mercari and Facebook Marketplace: cash in, junk out!
I went to a salvage grocery store while my aunt and uncle who live nearby kindly watched the kids. I was able to shop without distractions (bliss!), and found lots of snacks, candy for Halloween, and some Tree Hut body scrubs 2/$3. My oldest daughter likes these, so I bought a few for her, volleyball “secret sister” gifts, and for my nieces’ upcoming birthdays. Limited selection of scents, but still a good price. When I got back to my aunt and uncle’s house, I found out that they ordered pizza for all of us, so I saved and froze our sandwiches for another time.
My oldest son had a football game an hour away (!!!), but I packed food. Another aunt (who lives that direction) came to the game and took some really incredible photos. She used to photograph sports for the newspaper, and is really good! I brought her a plate of homemade cookies, and it was nice to catch up before and after the game.
I’ve been buying the day old Jimmy John’s bread and day old Sam’s rotisserie chickens, both great values! Other than that I pickup loss leaders at the other stores. It means several grocery trips, but this is how I’m able to keep our grocery bill low, despite the inflation that I know everyone is experiencing.
I sent a gift with one son to a birthday party that I had in the gift closet. I keep clearance buys, new things from the thrift store, and regifted items there just for this occasion.
I cut two younger boys’ hair.
I reorganized my younger daughter’s dresser and found several items that belonged to my other children. Now her drawers close, and the other kids have their clothes back.
I’m planning a Lululemon garage sale with the pieces I pickup at Goodwill and Goodwill Outlet. A lot of the girls around here like it, so I think I can make a good profit. I have 2.5 big totes of athletic clothing already.
I’ve been slogging away at the boring, frugal things, and every little bit helps!
What a concatenation of circumstances for your son’s wedding outfit! I’m glad it could be resolved. Happy to hear about such a fun and frugal trip!
Cherie, I had to look up the definition for concatenation, even though I understood the gist of it from the context. We have two old dictionaries at home, the ones that always were on the stands in the library. I love looking up words. There is a book I recently saw at a local bookshop, “The Lost Words” (basic words like dandelion, asp, etc., mostly nature words, that are being removed from the dictionary and vocabulary of children) that really started me thinking about words and how I wanted to start using more of them. Thanks for another word!
The photos are always so beautiful . I’m a busy beaver. I spend three days with my friend and then go home for a night and day. I try to travel in the opposite direction while at home to see my dad. Then my schedule repeats. I’m trying to make the most of this bump in my road. My daughter has given up her lease and is moving at the end of the month. I am slowly packing up her items. We have a pile for her and a pile for me. Many of her items are not needed and I have an insane need to rehome them. The Keurig is going to a friends mother. I just cannot let anything go to waste. Clothing is being donated to another family. I imagine these fixations are a part of my hoarding tendencies. It’s wise to acknowledge this and deal with it accordingly. My friend won’t eat the food at rehab. I have bought food multiple times for him. I check for coupons each time and have gotten some great deals. When my friend sleeps , I check my favorite dumpster. Yes ,I know its an odd hobby, but it is so fulfilling. I got lots of nice vegetables this week. I’ve cleaned and chopped and put everything into the freezer. I made a couple trips into the local Goodwill. I bought a few items on 99 cent day. My friend is going home this week. Sugar cookie is returning from her extended summer vacation. I’m hoping for a very quiet winter.
I also picked beauty berries this past week. They are still ripening so I will pick again. I make jelly or wine with them.
I found fabric to match my kitchen chair seats. Now I can replace the ones stained beyond repair. Grandkids are a little hard on chairs. The fabric was on sale for $4.99 per yard.
I took old, yellowed tee-shirts and cut them up for cleaning rags. I especially like to use the worst ones for wiping out grease, rather than using paper towels.
I’m working more on my garden, with mulched rows and raised beds. It won’t be the work of art that Brandy’s is, but it is looking nice. I’m using some stuff I already had and the rest I am buying as cheaply as possible.
I’ve started Christmas shopping. I really like having time to stalk the sales and get best prices.
Have a good week, all.
-I pulled up all the Swiss chard. I blanched and froze 3 more vacuum seal pint packages.
-I cooked and canned a batch of salsa-7 pints plus a bit extra in the fridge for eating.
-I roasted more cherry tomatoes, this time I added some garlic. When these were brown and bubbly I blended it up and froze another container of roasted tomato sauce.
-I picked more flowers. I made a vase for the house and a vase to take to my MIL. She is in a care center and she appreciates the flowers. She used to grow lots of flowers in her yard, so this gives her a little joy and as long as I have flowers I bring her fresh ones each week when we go see her.
-I bought a Jean skirt on clearance. I have been eyeballing it all summer, it was $59.95 regular price. It was $16.95 but 75% off the clearance price, so I paid $4.25 for it. It is a size too big. I took the waistband in on the sides and it fits great and no one is the wiser. It is a prairie type skirt, so it is gathered and it doesn’t show where I altered it. Sewing skills are a great skill to have.
-I had a squat bottle that some craft vodka came in, that was used to make vanilla extract. It reminded me of a pumpkin. I coated the inside of the jar with orange acrylic paint. Once the excess drained out and it dried, I replaced the cork stopper. I then added some dried florals and a velvet ribbon that I already had. It turned out cute for no money OOP.
-I pulled out the green bean plants and got enough beans to can 3 more pints.
-At a grocery store that I don’t frequent often, they were just putting a package of bone in pork chops (2) for $1.50 and a package of riblets for$1.00 in the clearance meat area. I snapped them up. Brought them home and repackaged and into the freezer they went. There was nothing else in the clearance area. Many people are using clearance meat now. I used to find lots of it but not anymore.
-I sewed my grandson a pair of pajama pants from flannel in my stash for his birthday. It actually was flannel from a duvet cover bought at the thrift shop.
Have a great week!
Julie, you have given me a wonderful craft idea with the bottle! My hubby is making lamps out of unique bottles, but I am going to snatch the squat one😊 Thank you! I so admire your sewing skills. I can definitely do the basics and then some, but have always wanted to recreate new items from old fabrics. To this end, if I find a good piece of fabric in an item (e.g., an old wool swing coat that has beautiful wool or cashmere and the old satin lining), I cut it up and put it in my fabric stash. I have a large amount of these fabrics. After we move, I plan to start working on these projects. My daughter-in-law designs her own patterns and has taught herself to sew. It will be something else we can share doing.🥰
I only have 6-8 weeks of pregnant to go, and am in that weird stage where I want to FINISH ALL THE THINGS before the baby comes, but am also getting tireder and tireder.
The main thing I want to finish is illustrations for a picture book I am working on. I have done all the painting, I just need to do the outlining. I am ahead of my planned schedule for it, but lots of other stuff is falling by the wayside.
My sister in law had her baby, so I ordered two books to bring as a present when we visit. I bought them second hand from World of Books, and they are two that my brother and I had as children so I hope he will recognise and appreciate them! They cost £8 total including shipping.
Some other friends had a baby and we sent them a large box of chocolates. I so appreciated when people sent ME gifts after we had our first baby, as by the time he was born we already had everything we needed for him.
I ordered the Draw Write Now books from America for our homeschool. My daughter loves drawing and my son is getting frustrated at not being able to draw the things he wants to. They have a step by step “how to draw” and then some sentences to copy underneath. I hope they will find them interesting for their writing lessons, and they don’t get “used up” so I can use them for every child. My son is currently doing a handwriting workbook so I will let them have the new things when he has finished. I cut the pages of that workbook apart and put them in plastic wallets so they don’t get used up either. He does them with whiteboard pens. I almost exclusively buy homeschool things that can be used for more then one child to help keep costs down.
We have driven our new 7 seater car! Both I and my husband have had a go. It will take a bit of getting used to, but we will get used to it. Buying it was a frustrating experience but we got some unexpected extra inheritance from my grandmother’s estate so we were able to just buy the one we most wanted (used! But there were only two options in the country of the precise model we wanted) without haggling about the price too much.
The weather is beautiful and I have been enjoying just sitting in the garden.
Brandy, how nice that you were able to visit Winter. I hope she is doing well. I always admire the way you are able to write about your family without being too intrusive and sharing too much. I’m often curious about how your grown up children are doing, but it’s so nice to follow a blog that isn’t one of Those Families who paste their children’s every moment all over the internet for everyone to see forever.
Books are such wonderful and thoughtful gifts! I agree that it’s nice to think of the mom and even dad after baby arrives as they are probably exhausted most of the time. Hope you manage to get everything done before the big day.
You look lovely, Brandy! I have similar earrings I inherited from my grandmother. So pretty!
*Like others mentioned, most of the frugal activity here this week concerned preventing food waste. So, lots of chopping and freezing and sorting through things in the pantry and freezer as well as harvesting things from the garden. I planted more lettuce, kale and spinach to overwinter. I need my greens! 🙂
*With any change of season, I feel the urge to clean out so have been doing that throughout the house. My youngest son has outgrown most of his winter clothes but, thankfully, I had quite a bit stored away from his older brother and previous thrift store shopping that he has enough to wear. Shopping at home – I love it! Have the back of my vehicle full of things to donate and a small pile to sell.
*Sold eggs and have slowly built a customer base for duck eggs, as well.
*Have organized a field trip for our homeschool co-op. We receive a much reduced rate going as a group at a time of year when admission fees to this natural site are the highest (everyone wants to come to the mountains in the Fall.) It has become a fun tradition.
*We haven’t had much rain and the grass has slowed it growth, as it does this time of year anyway so the mowing jobs my youngest son and I do are spreading thin. My oldest son did his regular mowing jobs and was paid extra by one customer for doing an especially good job. 🙂
*The leaves are starting to turn and the nights are crisp. Fall is on its way and I look forward to (thrifted) sweaters and (economical) soup! 🙂
*Have a lovely week, all!
We’ve been actively looking for ways to trim budget even though, after paying bills and general living expenses, every month we have an excess which we add to our savings. This time, Hubs took his turn on two of his meds that cost a total of $2700/90 days! He found that even the generics didn’t bring the price down much and our supplement didn’t cover any of them. He was able to find one using GoodRx instead of insurance! That took one down considerably! But then, his doctor specified to insurance that the generic was what was needed and suddenly they are covering it where our OOP is going from $900/month down to $110/month! We are thrilled! That has been a big win! $790 cut out of our monthly expenses!! Now, if only our State Legislature will pass the Bill they are considering to lower property taxes for seniors on low incomes! 🤞🤞🙏🙏
Regular price at store: 8 Pancake syrup- $2.39 each= $19.12 + 2 boneless ham quarters- $23.79 (4.39/pound) Total: $42.91
With Flashfood, 8 pancake syrup – 99 cents each = $7.92 (sell by date is June 2026! ) We now have enough for a year! 2 boneless quarter hams= $4.86 (5 pounds total)
Total: $12.78. Savings = 70%!! ($30.13)
Then, this morning,I got a Flashfood promo code to use at a specific local Giant Eagle grocery for $5 off a $10 total purchase. They had their organic whole chickens (5.72 pounds, tagged price $15.78) using FF, it was $7.39 but since I also bought 2 packages of melting chocolate and 1 quart of milk which brought my total to $10.36, my after Promo code total was 5.36. I offered the chicken to my friend with 6 kiddos for $2.39 (about 47 cents/pound) and she was delighted. I gave her one of the bottles of pancake syrup but I let her pay the $2.39 for chicken because it makes her feel like she is contributing to save on her budget.
Here in central Ohio, we have about 15 Giant Eagle, Meijers and Dashmart participating.
We still consider ourselves extremely blessed by the circumstances we have- house paid off, 2 reliable older cars, no debt and a food storage that we are constantly eating from and restocking. Very grateful indeed!
How wonderful that you got to see Winter and her family.
Most of my money saving this week has to do with garden produce. Friends invited us over for a wonderful seafood dinner and sent us home with a watermelon, a bunch of cucumbers, and peppers from their garden — plus a jar each of pickles and salsa. I made hot sauce with the peppers and will make dill pickles with the cucumbers.
My garden is winding down. I picked a cabbage, green beans, lots of tomatoes and peppers, chard, and lettuce. My husband discovered some potatoes we had missed and dug those and added them to those we’ve already harvested.
I met the requirements for $175 in gift cards from my health insurance company and should receive those soon.
I’m reading through the Alifair Tucker mysteries by Donis Casey — I believe someone here mentioned them. I’m able to get them through the Libby app. I am really enjoying them!
I’ve had a sore ankle and foot for about 10 days now, which has slowed me down a lot. It’s on the mend, but I’m finding it very frustrating. I’ve been able to get meals and take care of the cat and sit down chores, but not much more. Yesterday I got the garbage wheely-bin out (a neighbor brought it back to the house), and I am more mobile, so I hope to get some cleaning done this week.
The adapter on my computer failed. In the past, it has taken me some time to order another and for it to arrive in my rural town. This time, I managed to get the wiring to work long enough to transfer money to a bank account I have that has VISA debit access, and then order the new adapter. Amazon used to not carry this adapter, or else through a third party, which took a couple of weeks to get to me. This time, they had it in their warehouse, and I was able to get one very inexpensively (less than $20, and no shipping) in a couple of days. A huge relief, since my life is very dependent on a computer now for ordering things, getting in touch with people and entertainment. Along the way, I checked with my regular bank about getting a VISA debit card for my checking account, and I just need to make a quick visit to the bank when I am able to walk over there. They used to not have this option. This will make some bill payments less complicated. I’ll also be able to order things from the computers at the library if my computer fails. (Back-ups seem more and more necessary as I go along.)
I called one of my nieces to see if she would like a few letters and photos related to her late mom, and a family ring for her daughter. She sends me photos often, and always has, but we rarely speak. She has an email list of few people connected to her mom – my sister’s best friend from high school on, people who had cottages near their cottage and were close family friends, and myself – and keeps us posted on what her family is doing. My sister died when my niece was pregnant with her twins, and they are at the end of university, so she has been keeping us up to date for a long time! We has a fun chat, and she gave me an update on her three children, who are just leaving university or in their last year. It broke the isolation of the week.
Loved hearing about your trip, Brandy. It’s a lovely time of year for a road trip.
Hi Elizabeth M.
sorry to hear about your foot and ankle. Do you know what’s caused it? I hope your back to mobile soon. ann
It’s an off-and-on problem with tendinitis. I’m quite mobile again, which is encouraging. It just can’t be rushed, though, or it goes on much longer.
How wonderful to see family and to go to a wedding. Your family will have a story to tell on their brother and the shirts. You look so elegant. We have been working on our yard and the garden. Our green beans are blooming. I am hoping to be able to preserve some since I did not get to with the first crop of green beans. I am still putting up peppers and making homemade meals. We tried to eat out Friday night, and ending up bringing it home and I fixed some homemade tartar sauce to eat with our fish and airfried some french fries. We could not eat the fries with our plates to greasy and the tartar sauce was awful. My husband said we will just fixit ourselves next time. We have some catfish in the freezer from where he went fishing this summer. I am in an organizing cleaning mood so lots of work in the house. My husband has built a table for our deck and for his daughter ‘s wedding. We are on full wedding mold getting things done. I helped my niece make applesauce.
I harvested 6 gallon size bags of “compost tomatoes”. They’re all in the freezer while I wait for cooler weather when I’ll make them into tomato soup. I also got around 10 pounds of “compost potatoes”. I didn’t plant any of them – they just grew from the compost I buried in the garden in early Spring.
I went thrifting with my daughter and bonus daughter and found a musical stacking toy for my grandson (not electronic), a fractions manipulative, sheets and a tablecloth for sewing projects, brand new t-shirt in the same color as one that just developed a hole, popcorn tin for storage in the basement (mice can’t chew their way in), a couple more play food and dishes pieces, books (including a book of poems by A.A.Milne from 1944), a little vest and a shirt I cut down for my grandson’s Hobbit costume. Most was found at “the bins” – it’s a Goodwill outlet where things are sold by the pound and books are .50 cents. This is usually what us girls do when we get together for a day out.
Made up my grandson’s Hobbit costume using some fabric I had been saving for 15 years for the cloak, some antique buttons that look like acorn caps, a broken antique leaf broach that I’d been saving and the above mentioned thrift finds. They are going to the Renn Faire in a couple weeks and hopefully he’ll cooperate and wear it 🤣
We’ve been without rain for going on 3 weeks so I’ve had to water everything – thankfully we are on a well but it’s going to hurt the electric bill due to the pump running so often 😞 hopefully it rains this next weekend.
I built on to the rabbit hutch using floor and cage wire plus wood I already had. She needed more running space.
The chickens are giving us 6-7 eggs a day – most if the hens are moulting so production has fallen off. It’s still plenty for us and our neighbor.
My husband and I played a new computer game together that was free for the weekend.
All meals were made at home except for my lunch out with the girls.
We took our grandson (18 months) out kayaking and played at the beach. He LOVES it and sits so calmly in front of my husband munching on his snack. It’s so close to the house that the gas cost is negligible and we’re building memories.
I fixed the rough spot on the washing machine agitator that had put holes in a couple shirts. A pair of tweezers got in the wash and got jammed into the plastic 🙄
My mom brought me 8 pairs of Capri pants and jeans she no longer wanted. 2 fit as is and the others I’ll alter over the winter.
I think that’s all – we’re pretty boring 🤣
Brandy, I am so pleased to see that you were able to have a visit with your extended family-without too much extra cost.
My friend brought us a lovely produce box yesterday all grown by her daughter-apples, plums, grapes, onions, cucumbers, dill, spinach, peppers, corn on the cob, pears, tomatoes, purple cabbage and a large Kuri squash-which she said needs to cure for awhile before we cook it.
I had bought a second hand shirt while away and the elastic in the short sleeves was too tight. So hubby fixed it and now it is comfortable to wear.
We continue to fill up the car at Costco which is 15 cents per litre cheaper than other places. Wishing everyone a happy and frugal week.
I, my local farm makes an incredible Kuri soup. I will snapshot the ingredients when I am back home. I am enjoying a couple of weeks in BC at my daughter’s currently.🥰
Laura, That would be lovely to try a new recipe.
Not a frugal week for us. We laid my father in law to rest. It happened rather quickly and we ended up driving 2 vehicles to get us to rural Kansas instead of renting a larger vehicle with more leg room. Stayed at my sister in law’s but drove 2 hours each way daily to the nursing home. I also never want to see a sonic again as that was our go to for lunches.
Funeral exceeded life insurance so we will be paying his sister back some for the costs. I’m hoping freelance will pick up more or my husband’s disability finally gets approved so I have the budget for that and all the increased costs of everything lately.
Had borrowed luggage from a friend because we had given our old pieces to a lady at church in need who was a smoker. I don’t need that back and likely won’t travel until next year’s conference or the next funeral.
After funeral I drove to Chicago because I was supposed to present at a conference for work. In retrospect I don’t recommend doing that! I’m still mentally and emotionally recovering. I did get 2 quiet nights in a hotel and a few decent meals. Also got to go on a boat ride and saw fireworks over the lake with a vendor. That was a nice respite but the long day drained me.
I’m trying to give myself grace right now (all of us actually) and do what we can. If that means we slip and order pizza one night I think it’s OK and we will just catch up someday.
Wishing you all a blessed week. Tell your loved ones you love them.
Robbie
Robbie: May your father-in-law’s memory be a blessing to you and your family.
(My in-laws are also resting in rural Kansas).
I usually stock up on squashes when they are on sale at No Frills. This year, however, they are 99 cents per pound unlike the 69 cents per pound of last year. A friend was going to a farmers market where one could fill a bag (bag supplied by the market) for $21.00. She offered to bring me a bag and I asked for a bag full of squashes. The bag weighed a lot and I figure I got them all for a good price.
Superstore and its affiliated store, No Frills, had ten pound bags of beets, potatoes and onions for $4.99 per bag so I got more vegetables. Now I just have to figure out where to store everything.
I donated some of the excess to our community 24/7 food cupboard.
I have been on antibiotics for a tooth infection. My plan covered the cost 100% but I’m not sure the infection has gone. I have spent a lot of money, a lot on food,, but am well-stocked for the early winter.
Earned $1.40 from Ibotta
Used a bit of Sam’s cash on my purchase in store.
Sent in for a $36 rebate at Menards
PTA provided donuts at work. My coworker didn’t want hers, so I brought it home for my husband.
Read and returned library books
Finally got my first paycheck of the school year. That was a long month,lol. I already figured I need to bump my savings up by $50 per paycheck to get me to 4 months savings, instead if 3.
I guess I won’t have to worry about missing work to get my varicose vein surgery. The surgeon is booked out until January, and he wants me to take at least 10 days off, so that means I’ll have to wait until next summer break. 😭
Hi Brandy and everyone
Thank you for posting the lovely photos of your trip to the wedding. Your heart must have sunk when you realised your son had left his dress shirt behind but you rescued the situation and how lovely to find dresses etc at the charity shop and a matching outfit!
My husband negotiated his mobile phone contract down in price for more minutes etc.
I found a nursing vest and maternity leggings in Lidl at a good price for a daughter.
I had another voucher for a free bakery item at Lidl. In the past I have used it for a small pastry but when I looked it up on the app I could use it for much bigger items like a large sourdough loaf so that’s what I bought with it.
The garden ( and my husband!) has supplied beetroot, lettuce, cucumber, tomatoes, mint, potatoes, sweetcorn and runner beans.
I helped serve teas at floral group and was given leftover chocolate cake to bring home.
I batch cooked vegetable curry and froze some.
I bought some birthday and Christmas presents at a bookshop, buy one, get one half price. I have a loyalty card for this shop and am racking up points to buy more books for Christmas. I also found a like new condition book in a charity bookshop which will be a Christmas gift.
We visited a new garden centre and my husband spent the gift card a daughter gave him for Father’s Day. He chose several well grown plants we can take cuttings from. We joined their loyalty scheme because we were impressed with their prices and quality of the plants. I bought a houseplant on the ‘ needs TLC’ shelves at more than half price and I’m sure I can bring it on.
As usual I cook and bake at home which is such a big money saver.
Stay safe everyone.
My goodness, that is a lot of cucumbers. Planning to make pickles?
Our week was mainly about family and the garden. My son, DIL and their children came on Wednesday, so the parents could go to a concert (Pentatonix). They took the baby (2 months old) with them as my DIL is nursing her. They stayed through Sunday morning, so they could go to church up here. I really enjoyed my time with my elder granddaughter (20 months old). She came with me to the garden each morning and helped me pick things. Each day she wanted a green bean, a carrot and a cherry tomato to eat while we were in the garden. Made BLT pasta, hamburger stroganoff and had a Costco chicken for dinners while they were here. Also had green beans with garlic cooked in bacon fat leftover from the BLT pasta. Had corn on the cob that we picked from the garden. Also made 4 loaves of zucchini bread and a double batch of zucchini/corn fritters.
Preserving – Made 13 pints – 2 batches – of zucchini relish. Tastes like pickle relish only uses zucchini, of which we have plenty. Made 7 pints of tomato/basil simmer sauce and canned it. Picked, blanched and cut the corn off 24 ears of corn. Froze 6 – 2-cup bags for the freezer.
Other garden – Picked 1 1/2 gallons of green beans, zucchini, cucumbers, chard, tomatoes – regular, grape and cherry, all the rest of the onions – red, yellow and white. Before our son and family left, we picked corn, peppers tomatoes, cucumbers and zucchini for them. Additionally, we gave them onions and garlic we had previously harvested. After they left, we dug a hill of potatoes needed to make a crockpot of soup the next morning.
A local store was having a 1-day sale, and I got milk for $1.98 a gallon. There was a limit of one, so I got one. They also had sausage for $2.98 a pound. I can make 2-3 pizzas with one pound of sausage and a lot of veggies, so I picked up some of that too.
I hope everyone has a really great week.
Brandy, the photos are lovely and I am so glad you and your children were able to visit Winter!
I made raspberry freezer jam, froze some raspberries, made two batches of peach salsa and froze peach chunks.
On Saturday as I helped hand out food boxes, the church had boxes of precut onions. I took 2 bags home (5# each, I think), and froze them and put them into separate containers. My car still stinks a little from their potentency! I was also able to bring home some shitake mushrooms, three bundles of collard greens, and two bunches of kale.
My neighbor dropped off a bag of clothes for me. I kept a dress, a top and a sweater and tried to share the rest with others but had no takers. Another neighbor had a beautiful red silk jacked she had make in China that she gave to me. The fit wasn’t quite right, so I gave it to the first friend who gave me the bag of clothes and she was delighted with it!
We had family over for potluck dinner on Sunday. I made the lentil daal recipe you posted, Brandy. I love it and make it a lot!
I’m reading “Lovely War” by Julie Berry.
A friend came to town and we visited for an afternoon.
We had a neighborhood street fair which we were able to walk to. We enjoyed seeing what was for sale and listening to local musicians for free.
I’m still harvesting a few tomatoes and herbs from my garden.
Have a lovely week, everyone. I really enjoy reading your comments.
Gas varies from 2.46 to $2.39 gallon at SAMS this week. Gas prices were all over the place two hours south of the university town, but most were around $2:75 a gallon, although I did see one place at $3.02 a gallon. It was the only gas station in a 30 mile radius. Eggs were $3.77 at Target for a dozen large. I did not go to Aldi this week so I don’t know their price. I didn’t see much that was frugal at Winn Dixie, nor at Target, or Home Depot. My hometown received over 9 inches of rain officially ( a friend’s rain gouge said 10 and a half) from tropical storm in just a few hours! They went from an extreme drought to a flood in a hurry!!!! A large tree fell on my oldest son’s RV ( he lives in area near my hometown) while he was in it, but fortunately only the top branches scrapped it. I am so so happy he and his RV are ok!!! So it is frugal there was not much damage to RV and even better no medical bills for son, or worse! Your photos are beautiful Brandy! I cannot believe your son is that old, if he is the baby. I remember reading you years before Ivory was born and for some reason, I always think of her as the baby even though I think you had a couple of sons after her. Time flies!
I had an overabundance of cucumbers and cauliflower, so I pickled them. I made refrigerator pickles with the cucumbers and repurposed some pickle juice from a batch we’d just finished up. The difference in the two recipes is that the fridge pickles are a little sweeter, so I added sugar to the brine, heated to dissolve and poured over the jar of cucumber and onion slices. Giardiniera is not something I typically make but I’ve wanted to try it for ages now, just didn’t want to pay for it at the store. I didn’t have every spice or ingredient called for, but I had enough of each to manage a quart jar of veg. I am sure it will be delicious, but I’ll never know if it’s like the store bought. I also made a new to me bread recipe that used oatmeal as well as flour. It is a great recipe, and I will happily add it to my bread recipe file. I’ve been decorating for fall with what I have on hand. Not one new item was bought. I decided though that I wanted decorative squash in my kitchen…so I bought butternut and acorn squash today and plan to buy a pumpkin, and other edible squash to add to the wooden dough bowl. We might as well have pretty things we can eat, too! I needed a second pair of sheets for our guest room bed. I found some on sale for $15 for the set. It’s not top quality but it’s for a guest room that is used only occasionally and mostly by grandkids so they will be fine, and I’ll have a spare which is what I needed. I opened one of my five-gallon buckets last week (with gamma lid) and a moth flew out. I immediately closed the lid, carried it outdoors. Fortunately, none of the other buckets had been affected, but I have since cleaned them all really well and will refill them with fresh bay leaves to help ward off future issues. I was able to join Sam’s Club for $15 for a basic plan for a year. We plan to go there to buy flour in bulk, hence the desire to get my buckets cleaned and safe. I am going to check prices on several other items I usually buy just to make sure I’m getting best prices on things.
Brandy, I thought red was your color, but blue is gorgeous too.
On the frugal front:
I joined my college girlfriends for a weekend of crafting at an AirBnb. I kept the trip frugal by using the Upside app in combination with lowest cost gas station and purchasing craft supplies on clearance and with 40% off coupons. We reduced food costs by each bring one meal and snack to share. On my drive home, I stopped for lunch at Chiptotle and used rewards for free entree which fed me for two meals and a snack.
While I was away, HH harvested green peppers and tomatoes.
When I returned, I bought a 5.5 pound bag of over ripe bananas for $1.19 to make dozens and dozens of muffins.
I received a gift of Maple Leaf Crème cookies from my neighbor (seasonal item at Aldi-so yummy!)
I purchased two toys for my niece’s birthday gift using my Target reward, a 20% off coupon, and free shipping which in total saved $13.
I look forward to reading everyone’s frugal feats.
Thank you Julianne!
I’m preserving food like crazy. I have celiac and eat lots of produce. I have my garden, my sister has tons of extra garden produce and other family and friends. This is a very busy time of year to try and preserve and not let food go to waste.
I wanted to share some resources for any of your Utah readers. Recently I learned about Food Rescue. It is located in Orem. The Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/p/Rescue-Food-100090222893924/. The order goes live at 4 p.m. on Mondays and pickup is Tuesday morning. The order form is at http://www.foodrescue.net. Most of their food is produce. Yesterday I got 30 organic red peppers for 30 cents each. I’m putting them in some dishes that I’m freezing and I’m going to freeze dry the rest. I thought I was getting 6 eggplant, I got 18. My daughter has a Ratatouille recipe that she likes. I’m going to try freeze drying it. I’m also going to freeze it in wide mouth pint jars. She works full time and goes to night school working on her master’s. As part of that, she has a 15 hour a week internship on top of her full time work. I meet her on Tuesdays on her lunch hour and take produce from our gardens, lunch in a thermos to try and keep her going.
There are also two other places in Utah–NPS in Salt Lake. They have some overstock, out of date, etc. Of course the more frequently you go, the better luck you have. They sell a lot of garbage food, but one time I got organic chicken for $1.50/lb plus organic turkey breast lunch meat for $1/package. I’ve found gluten-free King Arthur flour, etc. It’s hit and miss, but I’ve started going after I meet our daughter on her lunch hour.
Also, in American Fork is Sage and Plow. They have an email list. I got pecan meal that I use instead of almond flour. It’s about 74 cents a lb. These resources plus all the garden produce I have access to makes a huge difference to me. Hopefully others can find something similar in their area. (Though nothing beats Lilliana’s dumpster finds.).
Thanks for all your suggestions. This is a very difficult financial time for us, but I have a ton of skills. I cook from scratch. I preserve. I’m one of ten children that grew up on a small family farm. I don’t think my mother could of fed us without her acre garden. I’m grateful for all the skills that I learned from her. I’ve been gluten-free for 38 years plus dairy-free for that long. So my pantry is all things that I can have. I’ve learned so much from all of you.
I put a few items in the little free pantry and removed 14 yellow squash that shouldn’t be in there because they’re perishable. I brought them home to steam/saute. I got free: cage-free eggs (1.5 doz), a pack of ground beef, a pack of fresh mozarella snack cheese, 1 small yogurt, 1 small good culture cottage cheese, 1 pack of hot dogs, 1 pack of sliced mushrooms, ranch dip, 9 caracara oranges, 20 mandarin oranges, 1 lime, 4 honeycrisp apples, a pack of chives, 1 avocado, 2 acorn squash, 1 bag spinach, 1 zucchini, 2 more yellow squash, 2 packs of sliced pineapple, 1 steak taco kit, 1 pack of cheese ravioli, 5 roma tomatoes, 2 bags of trimmed green beans, 1 head of iceberg lettuce, 12 baking potatoes, 1 small container of creme brulee, 2 bunches of organic bananas, bag of shredded butter lettuce, various breads and bagels, 6 cinnamon rolls, 4 oatmeal whoopie pies, a pack of cupcakes, a pack of M&Ms cookies, some garden tomatoes, 2 butternut squash, 1 cucumber, 1 onion, 2 packs of raspberries, a fresh veggies kit, a pretzel dipping kit, and a few dry goods. I found 1 container of marked down vanilla yogurt (big tub), 1 pack of bone broth powder, 1 pack of chicken breasts, 1 pack of pork loin chunks, 2 packs of blueberries and 3 packs of romaine. I got the Kroger freebies which were salad dressing and something else I forgot.
I got my flu shot (free by my employer) and my covid-19 booster (also free from my employer). I was able to get them in 1 place a few minutes apart, and I combined errands.
So glad you got to go on a trip and visit family. That is the best! * Finished cleaning out my son’s room since he moved out. We were thinking of replacing the carpet, but decided to just clean what’s there. It is very old carpet, I think all five of my kids were in that room at one time or another, so it’s dirty. But, we are making it into a playroom for the grandkids, so decided it was best to save money and just clean it, so we don’t have to be grumpy if the grands make a mess. I’m moving some toys from our main floor to up there, and my daughters are donating a few toys and a car rug. It’ll be a fun place for the cousins to play when they are all here together. * I’ve been staying home a lot, which saves money, and I haven’t ordered anything from Amazon in over a month. I’m really proud of that. * I meal planned, ordered my groceries, picked it up and have been cooking at home all week.* I wanted to watch the show Doc Martin, but I couldn’t find it on my normal streaming services so I searched it and I can watch it for free with commercials on Roku Tv, so that was sure a thrill for me. Also, reading a library book for fun and working on Christmas gifts. * Not much else going on here. I hope everyone has a great week.