I spoke with a friend in Switzerland for free using Facebook calling.
I video chatted with my daughter at university using the free Duo app.
I mended 6 towels, a bath mat, two pairs of pants, and an apron. I plan on eventually replacing the bath mat, but I keep mending it and it continues to last a little longer. I’ve had these particular mats for over a decade.
My dryer was running but not heating. We hung up a clothesline to get the clothes dry until we can get it fixed/replaced. We had one just in case (running a gas dryer is rather inexpensive and gives me a lot of time in my day) and clothespins. I also moved my drying rack outside to add additional space to hang items. I washed and line dried 4 loads. I think it’s totally worth using my gas dryer for about $10-$15 a month to dry 24-30 loads a week for my time, but right now, I needed clothing washed and dried.
I made two more batches of laundry soap.
I made a pear crumble using pears from our tree and homemade caramel topping.
I cut basil and Swiss chard from our garden to make a soup with white beans (cooked from dry) and a half-pound of pasta.
I cut chives from the garden to use in our omelets (made with eggs purchased for $0.99 a dozen).
I made bean burritos.
The children watched shows on YouTube. I don’t pay for any subscription services, but we have plenty to watch. Some of our favorite children’s shows are Octonauts, Rolie Polie Olie, Backyardigans, Pocoyo, Little Einsteins, and Peppa Pig.
The children played several rounds of Battleship.
The weather cooled down much earlier this year than normal. We’re normally running the sir conditioners for several more weeks. I turned off the air conditioners and opened the house up.
And that was Monday.
At Sam’s Club, I purchased several large packages of chicken thighs for $0.86 a pound, and also bought a couple of large packages of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.69 a pound. In order to make my money go as far as possible, I buy meat under $2 a pound, and try to buy more meat under $1 a pound. We eat a lot of meatless meals as well (I buy my beans dry and in bulk). I also bought large eggs for $1.10 a dozen (in the 5-dozen container).
My husband and I had a date to the movies on Tuesday to see the Downton Abbey movie. Our local theater has discounted prices on Tuesday that are lower than matinee prices, so we went that day.
The weather was cooler than normal for this time of year, and I was able to turn off the air conditioning completely for the first half of the week. I usually cannot do that until after the 15th of October. For the rest of the week, on days with highs around 88, I was able to turn off the air conditioner for several hours each day. I’m grateful that the lower temperatures have come, which will result in lower electric bills.
Since I had a clothesline hung, I was able to hang out a blanket that had some barbecue sauce stains from our picnic. I had been unable to remove the stains using several different stain removers. I sprayed them hydrogen peroxide and hung the blanket outside in the sun. It took three treatments, but the stains are now gone.
I transferred my Sam’s Club grocery shopping list to the Evernote app on my phone. This way, I can simply mark the items I need on my list when I am going to the store. It saves me a lot of time over writing a list and helps me to remember what items I might be low on that I usually purchase there. When I got to the store, I found that they had rearranged almost two-thirds of the store. I made a few changes to my list and will make a few more to change the order of the items on the list. I have my list in order of the way I walk through the store, which saves me time. Because of the changes in the store (they even changed the direction of the center aisles) and not knowing where items were, it took me two and a half hours to find what I needed. Fixing the order of my list to reflect the new store order will save me time next time.
After I did that, I wrote a Winco shopping list and a Walmart shopping list on the Evernote app, marking everything we normally purchase there. The Walmart list was very short (I don’t buy much there). The Winco list was longer, marking everything again in the way I walk through the store.
My husband and I combined our errands to save time and gas. He ran his business errands on Monday. We combined my trip to Sam’s Club on Friday with a business appointment that he had at his office, and I picked him up after shopping. That night, we went to Winco after I finished a photo shoot. My husband worked from home most of the week. With one vehicle between us, and keeping our errands grouped together (and close) we put less than 10,000 miles a year on our vehicle.
I made soup, including a white bean/Swiss chard soup with herbs from the garden, a meatless “chicken” noodle soup, and rosemary white bean soup. I made enough that we had soup and salads for lunch all week. We also had bean burritos (twice) and chicken enchiladas.
I read four e-books from the library.
What did you do to save money last week?
Disclosure: As an Amazon affiliate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through my links. This means that I earn a small percentage from any items you place in your cart and purchase within 24 hours after going to Amazon from one of my links (i.e., it doesn’t have to be an item I have linked here). If you’re going to be making a purchase from Amazon, I thank you for using my links to support this site!
“And that was Monday.” I laughed. Your schedule and got-done list is impressive! And the pear crumble with caramel topping sounds so yummy!
My frugal week:
– I made Brunch-Worthy Cinnamon Bread (http://approachingfood.com/brunch-worthy-cinnamon-bread ), using items from my pantry.
– I baked several loaves of white bread for sandwiches for the week.
– I purchased a box of fruit and vegetables for $5 from the Flash Food app. I’ve significantly cut down the amount of my grocery budget that I spend on produce by using this app.
– I mixed up a batch of Cranberry, Almond & Coconut Granola.
– I made a tahini and lemon salad dressing, using discounted lemons, and served it on a wedge salad made of discounted lettuce. So, so yummy! (Also, v. frugal!)
– I baked some stuffed peppers using seasoned rice that I had gotten for free using coupons a few months ago. I had saved the rice until peppers went on sale, then made several batches.
– I saved an elastic from a package of fancy balloons I ordered from wish.com and used it to style my daughter’s hair. It’s the same type of no-tug plastic hair elastic sold in stores.
– I made smoothies to use up produce from my freezer.
– My sister came over for dinner, and I made an inexpensive dinner of bbq pulled pork (from my freezer) over baked potatoes, with a side of pan-fried lemony green beans (http://approachingfood.com/lemony-pan-fried-green-beans/). I also served some gluten-free white bean brownies I made using beans I had previously cooked and frozen.
– I combined two promos to get a dinner subscription box for 60% off. This will cover me for meals until I go on vacation next week.
– A friend gifted me some apples, so I made applesauce for my daughter, and froze the extra applesauce.
– Using my local trading app, I traded an oregano plant for a BN 6-pack of Crate & Barrel individual salt and pepper shakers. I had harvested from the oregano plant all summer, and it will die soon because of the cold, so I would have had to get rid of it anyway. I re-potted it in an old milk carton to save the pot. I needed a salt and pepper shaker anyway, and now I have little sets of shakers that I can set out at each place setting when I have guests over. I cut and dried some oregano from the plant before I traded it, and added that to my pantry.
– I used a $20 fb credit to boost a blog post. I set the controls to stop once the credit is used up.
– I went to dinner with my husband and daughter, and used a $10 gc I earned during a promo to reduce the cost. I brought home my chicken and turned it into baby food for my daughter, and used the bones (along with some herbs from my balcony garden) to make broth with.
– I made a red wine chocolate cake to use up some red wine that was hanging about in the fridge from the last time we had guests over. It was so good! I topped it with buttercream that I had frozen that had been leftover from the last batch I had made weeks ago. I traded half the cake for about 50 sturdy plastic lootbag/craft bag types bags, and packaged it in reused take-out packaging that my mum had given me.
– If people are looking for inexpensive Christmas gifts, you might consider wish.com. I bought a hat for my daughter that said ‘I <3 Papa', for $4 plus very little in shipping. The first time you order from them, google for a discount code and you can get up to 50% off or free shipping. You can get other codes to use after that, but none are as good, so if you plan to order several things, batch them together in one order. So far everything that I have bought from the site has been good quality.
Looking forward to learning from everyone else, as always!
How do you find time to read 4 books and do all you do?! I’m in awe of you and love reading your posts each week ?
I read when I’m getting the baby to sleep, in the bathroom, when I get a few minutes here and there . . .
I will admit that was my question as well. I am both an avid and fairly fast reader, and I cannot get through four books in a week. And I am not parenting nine active children – mine are all older and are launched, or at college.
Well one of mine is at college and the other is working and doing college work from home, so I don’t see him much right now 🙂 I’m a fast reader. E-books are kind of odd, though–I have no idea how close I am to finishing a book!
A friend of mine who is very good at sewing offered to teach my daughter. She’s doing it for free, but I like to take a book for her son each week (I sell children’s books) as a thank you. She also gave my daughter some great beginning sewing books that she didn’t need anymore, as well as some practice fabric! She has been such an incredible resource of knowledge.
Brandy I am so glad you were able to turn off the air conditioners earlier than normal to save on electricity and I hope you can replace your drier with other savings in your budget 🙂 . How lovely you can pick so much from your gardens to add to meals. Being in Australia we are in drought and have had high temperatures lately of between 35 – 38 0c but we are expecting rain and cooler temperatures later in the week. With the roof insulation we installed it is much cooler in the home and we can just use a fan in the later afternoons to cool off a bit rather than air conditioning.
Our savings last week added up to $1168.99 :).
Earnings –
– DH earned $90 less fuel and sprays for gardening and spraying jobs he did.
Blessings –
– The local RSL club was giving away bottled water from a organisation that creates veterans resorts to help our drought affected people in our town. We waited until we knew that those who were low on water got theirs in sufficient quantities and bought home 2 x 20 x 600ml bottles of spring water for our stockpile saving $26 over buying them.
Listings/Finances and purchases –
– Listed 25 items on a free listing and reduced final value auction fee through eBay saving $41.25 over paying usual listing fees.
– Paid an additional payment off our mortgage.
– Deposited more into our 3 month living expenses emergency fund and we are almost half way there. We figure this will give us further peace of mind and security whilst paying off our mortgage and beyond.
– Got slivered almonds and a 420g tin of peaches in juice as free samples for being a taste tester for a large supermarket saving $6 over purchasing them.
– Found lamb mince at just over half price on clearance in Woolworths for $8.13 kg (instead of $15 kg) and purchased 2 kg saving $13.74 on usual prices.
– Our recliners finally caved in so we had been saving for new ones and found them under half the price of others elsewhere saving $1082 on usual prices.
In the gardens –
– Used rainwater from a tank we put at the back of our tank stand shed to water potted herbs and fill up water for the kangaroos and wallabies so they have something to drink saving on town water usage. We have more to use for the coming days.
– Used cleanish dish rinsing water to water decorative flowers in one garden.
– Used grey water from the grey water tank to water fruit and berry trees and some of our back lawns and star jasmine bushes.
– Used shower warm up water to fill hand washing water bottles and to clean the bathrooms and toilets with.
– We continue to feed the kangaroos and wallabies our bread ends and any apple cores we have to supplement feed them. We now have more rednecks and 1 Mum with a baby in her pouch coming regularly for the water and food we put out.
We could really use so much more rain here to green up the grass and give the kangaroos and wallabies some more grass to eat and water in the creek for them to drink.
Have a fantastic week ahead everyone :).
Sewingcreations15
A friend that I gave a baby quilt to recently at her baby shower https://pin.it/vsipharkyndi72, texted me to make sure I knew that JoAnns had a coupon on their app for 70% off their batting by the yard! This included 126” wide batting which is perfect for those bigger king quilts- 30 yards and also 2 bolts (15 yards each) of 96” wide batting. So I bought 60 yards of batting! I spent just under $300 and saved $700!! This will be great for my larger bed size quilts as well as being able to use (and bill for) any king size customer quilts! I also found afterwards that there was a 10% ibotta rebate for JoAnns so when I got home, I scanned my receipt and they credited me with almost $30!! So my price got even better!!
A friend of mine told several of us about the plight of her Amish farrier and his family. He and his wife have a 2 year old and a 2 week old baby girl decided to leave their faith and, as a result are being shunned by their community and also family. Their income from employment within the community as well as their familial support with the new family have also been withdrawn. We have all decided to do what we can to make them feel love and support. I offered to make a baby quilt for the new baby. Here is a photo of the finished quilt. https://pin.it/sghoq3vlzakpgy
I took another quilt top that I made years ago from fabric scraps. I didn’t have enough of any of the fabrics to make it big enough at the time but I found a bit of fabric to make a 5” border for it. I had just enough of the border fabric to do this and all I had left of the border fabric afterwards was a single rectangular scrap that was 3”x5”!! Definitely a “Use It Up” project! https://pin.it/m5lmufplldngwi
I “repurposed” some leftover pork chops in the fridge into Pork and Green Chili Casserole. https://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/pork-and-green-chile-casserole/
I budget $200/month for electric for our house. Before you gasp, our house is a 5300 sf old Victorian with 2 fridges, 2 freezers, and we still have 26 old single pane windows to replace with better ones but we are renovating a bit at a time as we can pay for it. Last month I got the bill down to $156 and this month it’s only $132! With it being such hot weather we have had to run our window AC units during the day and overnight most of the month too! But we only put our window AC in rooms where we frequent- family room, sewing room/office, 2 bedrooms and we only turn them on when we are in those rooms and turn them off when we are not. So apparently, that has been paying off!
I made a half gallon of yogurt in our instant pot! After it set up, I divided it to 3 containers- 1 was turned into caramel apple yogurt, the second was apple/grape yogurt and the third container was left plain to use as a sour cream replacement!
I made cranberry almond chicken salad up and used up some croissants we had to package up into Grab and Go lunch options.
I used one of the quart jars with dry Beef & Barley Stew mix in the crockpot for dinner and then leftovers. Here’s the recipe: https://pin.it/ddpjat3l7lj5xn
I made several more sets of Soup Cozie sets and hope these do well in our online shop now that cooler weather is here! https://pin.it/ui6g3djusi7uge. With the cooler weather, I’m hoping that Flannel Softies that I make will also make a seasonal comeback.
https://pin.it/khhvgwpakmesbd
As I was cleaning out our veggie garden, I noticed that I have 8 Romaine lettuce plants coming up! Apparently, our earlier Romaine lettuce reseeded itself when it bolted in the summer heat! So we will have fresh lettuce for a bit longer!
All in all, a good week.
Gardenpat
HandmadeinOldeTowne.com
Pat, you should edit your pins to have them link to your Etsy shop. A LOT of people make purchases from Pinterest!
$200 sounds good to me! Many people here have $600-$800 electric bills for a month in the summer.
GardenPat, we bought a couple of sets of your soup cozies last year and use them ALL the time. Almost daily. At our house, they are oatmeal cozies. 🙂 I hope the new set sells well for you.
Sorry–I hope the new sets sell well for you is what it should have read.
Garden Pat,
$200 isn’t bad. My house is just over 3000 sq ft and mine is $215 (I have a budget plan so I pay the same every month). We have 2 central air systems and a separate freezer. I however live in the deep south so both AC’s run from April to November.
Our monthly utility bill is set at just slightly below $500 a month, twelve months a year. It does include water and trash pickup, but that is only a tiny fraction of the total bill. In the winter, we use gas for heating, but it is under a hundred each month, and is in addition to to nearly $500 monthly utility bill. We keep ac at 79-80, and heat at 68. So expensive. Our disabled daughter just cannot go above 80 for ac or she gets physically ill.
I’m so sorry your Sam’s Club changed its layout! So frustrating! Costco does it every so often too. Our membership is currently expired-we did a “tide us over until the end of the year” shop last month and will renew in 2020. But making your list according to the store aisles is such a great time saver normally! Is your meatless chicken noodle soup just your recipe minus the chicken? Also would recommend the shows Peep and the Big Wide World and Sarah & Duck. I don’t have children, but those shows make me happy
Oh, we also watch Peep! I knew I was forgetting one!
I don’t know Sarah and Duck. I’ll look up that one!
Yes, I just make chicken noodle soup but without chicken, as I didn’t have any chicken or turkey left over!
Haven’t commented in a couple of weeks as I have been working a lot of extra hours – not a money saver but a good money earner!
I am keeping my grocery shopping to a minimum – 1 lire of milk, 1 tub of cottage cheese and a lot of veggies, both frozen and fresh! The only fruit I bought was 1 bag of frozen berries and a few bananas. I was thinking about buying more when my neighbour gifted me some grapes, green apples, a couple of kiwi and a papaya! He is quite elderly and I make cooked meals for him a couple of times per week so when he gets to the Chinese market he likes to bring me some fruit. I think I will make a bit of a tropical fruit salad to have with my cottage cheese this week.
I am determined to work my way through my freezer – I can’t buy anymore meat this month as there is simply no room! I am going to try to empty it as much as possible by the end of November so I can buy some turkey and some ham as we lead up to Christmas!
I made a big pot of soup – the first of many I hope – and then I made a big batch of sausages in onion gravy. Instead of mashed potatoes I made mashed cauliflower and parsnips with just a small sweet potato that I had left added.
I’m slowly changing over my wardrobe but it is a tricky time of year – we’ll have a couple of really chilly days that require a sweater and a jacket (and even gloves one day) and then the temperatures go back up and I’m looking for Summer things again! Canadian Thanksgiving is this coming weekend so I have Monday off and I plan to complete all the wardrobe updates by then. I have to try on a few things that I haven’t worn in about 18 months – I’m now worried that they will be too big rather than too tight but they are items that it is worth paying a dressmaker I know to alter them. No – I don’t sew – I’ve tried but it is something that I am really not good at and just don’t have the patience for. Since I don’t plan on buying anything new it is worth the investment.
Found a twenty dollar bill in the bottom of my tote bag when I decided to do a bit of a clean out the other day so that was a bonus! I now have $50 dollars in Loyalty points but I’m going to save that money plus what I have in my coin jar until the end of November when they will pay for Christmas treats and baking supplies.
Enjoyed a night at the ballpark for the final series of the season courtesy of a friend with season’s tickets to the Blue Jays. Enjoyed seeing “The Band’s Visit” as the first of our theatre subscription series begins – six shows – and these tickets have been paid for since last March. Used my membership (with guest privileges) to take a friend to the Royal Ontario Museum, picked up a couple of books at the library and watched a couple of things on Netflix as entertainment.
Hope to do a better job of commenting on everyone’s posts this week.
Brandy – meant to say that I really loved the black & white photos that you posted from your trip – they were wonderful and how nice that you were able to get a bit of a break! Well deserved!
I got six more quarts of tomatoes canned today. I’ll do one last run through the garden and pick everything that’s left (mostly just tomatoes and raspberries) before the freeze later this week. I also harvested my espalier pear trees and apple trees (10 pears this year and 3 apples- they’ve been so to produce, but I’m hoping next year we get a better harvest).
I’ve been pondering trying to mend a bath towel, so good to know you do. I also write grocery lists to follow my path through the store. It is rather unnerving when they change the layout. We’ve been cutting and stacking firewood. I got all the windows cleaned, with plans to move all the houseplants back in soon. I use a system similar to yours, with bucket, squeegee, and a little soap in water, rather than paper towels and store bought cleaner. We’re still harvesting and eating from the garden. I thrifted two cotton pillowcases for .50 ea. https://abelabodycare.blogspot.com/2019/10/early-october-frugal-accomplishments.html
I shortened a robe for my mother so it won’t be a tripping hazard.
I convinced her to part with a skirt that is too small and too short to enlarge the waist to fit by pointing out that by giving it to Goodwill, somebody will get a nice skirt to wear. Another skirt I am altering to fit her now even though I have to take out the hem and redo it to keep the skirt long enough. She finds it tiring to try on clothes just to see if they fit but her clothes rods are so crowded, it is difficult for her to decide what she can wear that fits. My goal is to get her skirt collection thinned down to 4 or 5 for winter and the same amount for summer. But she is finding that snap front house dresses are the easiest way for her to now be presentable most of the time in the summer. I have a couple of soft knit winter dresses I ordered for her a couple of years ago that were too big or too long. After I finish the skirt, they’ll be altered because they look easy to put on and comfortable. But to make even hems, she will have to stand and let me pin the hems using a ruler because of her back.
I effectively “earned” $30 in 30 minutes by going out to CVS one evening before multiple coupons expired on products we need to buy frequently. The drugstore has been sending or printing one offer after another that stacks onto other promotions. I had been buying the products at Amazon amd Walmart, but as long as the coupons keep printing or landing in my regular or electronic mailbox, I’ll save a significant amount by shopping at the drugstore instead.
My jaw dropped and I burst out laughing when I got to the “and that was Monday” in your post! I’m amazed at how much you accomplish each week and I have the feeling you accomplish A LOT more than ends up in the frugal posts. Thanks for the laughter 🙂
• Hung all loads of laundry out to dry. Technically clothes lines are not permitted in my town, but I have portable drying racks that I put up outside on the days I’m doing laundry and bring them in each night. I figure that doesn’t count as a permanent structure.
• Meals at home included: ramen with beef and veggies, chicken and rice soup, stuffed tomatoes and a roast beast from my freezer, large pot of oatmeal with flax seeds, tortellini alla panna and a huge pot of beef with barley soup
• redeemed 2,200 Swagbucks for $25 Amazon gift card
• made swag goal x 1
• I have a prescription for 90 day supply at a time and since I’ve met my annual deductible, the script is now free. Refills are available 7 days before the end of the 90 days. I refilled the script on 10/3, which will allow me to refill it at the very end of December and get another 90 days for free. In other words I’ve refilled this 5 times in 2019 and will refill 3 times in 2020.
• Listened to an audio book for free on Overdrive.
• Made Watched HGTV for free on http://www.watchhgtv.com and chose the “stream for free” option. It was an older episode, but I haven’t seen it! Worked on a volunteer activity while watching.
• Listened to a Darling Dahlia book for free on Hoopla while I picked more raspberries at the local farm. I also read a physical book from the library.
• Tried a new recipe for cranberry crumble bar cookies as I had to use up cranberries and needed to bring something to a potluck dinner
Libby, thank you for the suggestion as to how to watch some of the shows on HGTV for free. I went to the site and found some DIY shows I will enjoy. Again, thanks.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
I’m starting a new job tomorrow! It’s not technically full time, but pretty darn close to working 40 hours a week.
Super excited and super nervous and super wondering how our new family schedule will go, all bundled up at once!
Grateful to be headed back to work!! This weekend, our lawnmower died beyond repair, my car needs repairs that my husband cannot do (which is rare), my husband took the GRE, and the youngest has deposits due for all her AP exams. Phew!
Learned I have latent (as in, not contagious or symptomatic) TB during my pre-job physical. Thank goodness it is not active TB, that we caught it early and that the 9 months medication protocol is covered.
I tested positive for TB in college and did the medication and the whole spiel. I learned years and years later that is was most likely an allergic reaction to the actual test, not TB, that caused the irritation under the skin.
Make sure you don’t eat any foods high in tyramine as that can interact with your tb drugs. Also, don’t take MAO inhibitor drugs (anti histamines?) Ask your doctor about it.
People who were born in developing countries may have had a BCG immunization as infants. If so, they will ALWAYS test positive for TB and will need additional testing for an accurate diagnosis. My children were born in Colombia 41 and 43 years ago and my son had a BCG. I haven’t thought about this in years, but I used to hear about it adoptive parent circles. My son had a skin test a couple of years ago and tested positive.
Check with the guidance department at your school. Since you were out of work, your child may be able to get free or reduced fees for the AP exams. If you are on any sort of assistance or are at a Title 1 school, additional fee waivers are available.
What a great tip on getting the stain out of your quilt. I’ll have to remember that. Thanks.
My granddaughter loves the same shows your children do!
We are harvesting as fast as we can everything out of the garden. It’s been beautiful during the days but it’s pretty cool at night. Winter will be here before we know it.
Here are the ways I saved this past week
https://www.vickieskitchenandgarden.com/2019/10/my-frugal-ways-this-past-week-10619.html
Yes, store changes…. I waste so much time trying to find things….
Putting off buying a new couch could not wait any longer, our backs are hurting and not much cushioning left in couches. We negotiated a fair price and now will cut back on other things so we can pay the whole bill when it arrives. A rocking chair with ottoman that FIL moved here and we do not care for is being given to our housecleaner, as she knows someone that can use it. We needed a few things thru Amazon and found I had a bunch of Amazon cards never used…. so that was a huge relief on saving.
We are in the middle of refinancing…. lots of paperwork but if all goes thru we will be able to save thousands and pay off our house sooner.
I read a bunch of books from the library.
It is still very warm here, was 99 today…. so a/c is still on.
We made meals all week except one night, FIL bought us pizza.
I leave for my trip in a few days, across country to celebrate my moms 80th and visit my sibs. I’m looking forward to it! I’m saving by bringing all snacks I’ll only buy water at the airport.
That’s all I can think of. Have a good week all.
Mary, you might try bringing a reuseable water bottle to the airport instead of buying a water bottle. Lately I’ve seen a lot of airports that have free fountains especially for refilling water bottles with filtered water!
Thanks Margaret! I’m putting my bottle in my carry on bag now!
It’s not necessary to buy water at the airport. You can take an empty water bottle through security & fill it from the water fountains afterward. Sorry I hit the wrong reply link!
Thanks Louise!
Mary, if you have room for a refillable water bottle at the airport, there are tons of water refill stations near bathrooms. I have even crunched down an empty plastic water bottle to save room, then blew air into it after security , then went to a water fountain and refilled it.
Love your idea of making water bottle fit! I am bringing my stainless steel bottle. I do not know why I have never thought to do this before.
Mary, if you bring an empty water bottle some airports have water fountains where you can fill your own water bottle up after you pass through security.
I use Evernote for my shopping lists, too — so handy.
We were traveling around Oregon all of September. It was a fabulous trip. We saved money by packing almost all our food from home (we ate out for one lunch and 2 dinners all month) and camping at free sites over half the time. The rest of the time we tried to stay in National Forest Campgrounds, where our Golden Age Passport for the National Parks entitled us to half-price camping. We chose free or low-cost activities. For example, instead of visiting the Aquarium in Newport ($25 each) we visited the Hatfield Marine Science Center ($5 donation each). I highly recommend the Science Center – it was wonderful. Instead of paying for a whale watching tour, we stopped by the Whale Watching Center in Depoe Bay and for free a ranger helped us spot 7 gray whales – we watched the whales for an hour (and we watched the people in boats from the paid expeditions watching the same whales.) We did a lot of hiking and exploring on our own. Housesitters took care of our house for free while we were away.
After being away all last month, I had lots of catching up to do around the house. I pulled about 15 pounds of onions in the garden. I made big batches of granola, chicken broth, hot chocolate mix, and homemade laundry detergent. I canned 8 pints of salsa, using tomatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic from the garden,and froze two more jars of roasted tomatoes in olive oil.
I live in Portland and I’ve never been to the Hatfield Marine Science Center. Thanks for the tip!
The Mark Hatfield Center is one of our absolute favorites. We have visited it numerous times as a family, but have also enjoyed several homeschool days there in past years. One time, our homeschool co-op all went down there and took classes together. That’s been years, but it was memorable. They recently re-did many of the exhibits and it’s nice and freshened up now. Because it’s connected with Oregon State University, there are so many educational activities available throughout the year for regular visitors, school groups and homeschoolers. There is almost always an octopus there, but they do release them after a time, and sometimes there’s a gap between when they let one go and they get another one.
In the month of November, our Oregon Zoo membership pass has reciprocal passes to the Oregon Coast Aquarium. We can get 4 tickets using our zoo pass. We plan to go visit that aquarium in November. It’s very, very expensive, so we haven’t visited there for many years. I’m looking forward to going. When we did go, it was just opening and we had many children at home. A membership was well worth the money at that point in our lives. So, if you have a zoo pass………
Jen, I haven’t either and I’m in Washougal, WA. It’s on my frugal fun list now.
The car went twice to the next town over for replacing a part that has failed three times since July. The garage owner ordered the part directly from the car dealer instead of a parts dealer, but when they opened the box, the part was for the wrong model, so I was back again three days later. It seems to be right now, and the car is running like a dream. None of these replacements has cost me anything other than time and the gas to travel 35 miles each way to the garage.
I bought groceries for the month. I am about $2o over budget for the month, so far. That has included some items for Canadian Thanksgiving on the 14th, some stocking up at lowest prices of the year for the winter, and getting better organized for low calorie snacks, so that I can lose weight this winter. I bought a Grade A turkey at a super sale price, and some pumpkin, to make a ginger pumpkin cake, which someone mentioned in last week’s comments, for my Thanksgiving supper.
I added up my employment and self-employment income for the year, to check it against my estimate in May, and see how much more I can earn without reducing my seniors’ benefit this year. Once I knew this, I applied for a seasonal online job, and was asked to take a second-round test, which I completed today. This is interesting, upbeat work that I can do at home, so I am hoping this works out.
Hi Elizabeth–can you share ideas for online work at home jobs? I lost my job a few weeks ago.
Lisa
I’ve done transcription for about two and half years with rev.com. I don’t make full-time wages with that, but it has added several hundred dollars a month to my income, because my time is flexible. I find other online employers like to see this experience. Rev does like to hire lots of new people. A regular job definitely pays more, though.
I’m sorry about your job Lisa. You could try rev.com. I’ve done it and it’s legit. It’s transcription, and they pay weekly into your paypal account. It’s not great pay, but it can be useful! Best of luck finding a new job!
A dear reader sent me seed packets for my garden next year. I am so excited! My kids and I had so much fun growing tomatoes and green beans this year. Next year we have lots more. The weather has been unusually hot and dry here. It is finally raining and cooling down. My husband is out of town and we are using Skype every night to talk. It is more fun for the kids and me to see him instead of the normal audio from the phone. Backyardigans is my 3-year-olds favorite show.
I was distracted when I made granola. I added cinnamon so I did half cinnamon, half vanilla. I completely forgot the nuts, so I didn’t add the dry fruit. I add different dry fruit/nut combinations when I eat it. I think I like it this way so will make my distracted mistakes permanent.
Lorna I can’t imagine what it is like to feed kangaroos in your backyard! I’ve never even seen one in a zoo. As I get older I appreciate all the amazing animals God made, and I don’t mean to be corny-sounding, but now I always stop and smell my roses by my door as I go in and out. Little things are becoming more precious since I was diagnosed with breast cancer 3 years ago I’m fine now, but we never know how much time we have to enjoy life. I’m thankful for so many things, and this blog is one of them. People tease me about being so frugal, so I am glad to have my frugal friends online.
Julie,
I know what you mean about literally smelling the roses. I am enjoying little things also. I had my own scare and I think it was a wake up call for me, as I was spending too much time lamenting our money situation and not enjoying the little things like I should. Now I am back to appreciating all Gods wonderful gifts.
Tammy
Julie and Tammy I am glad both of you are doing well and I also enjoy the friends here who have these same values
It’s peaceful here, we agree on some but the kindness and support is most wonderful
Pam,
Thank-you. It is nice to have friends here who have the same values.
Tammy
So true Tammy! I have been working non-stop for most of my life. I got laid off 3 weeks ago and I am trying to just be frugal and enjoy my time off right now.
Lisa I imagine it’s pretty unsettling and scary right now after you have been working and all of a sudden you are not
I want you to know people are thinking of you and you are stronger than you know….take care of yourself and I am hoping good things come your way soon
Lisa,
I know it is not fun to be laid off. I hope that you find something wonderful to do. And enjoy your time off as well.
Tammy
Had a fun week last week finishing up celebrating my birthday! Had dinner with my parents, who treated. We had enough leftovers to have dinner again the next night. My parents gave me money for the cost of the Broadway play I had gone to the night before. Enjoyed a homemade birthday dinner at home saving the cost of going out; my mother in law brought a small cake over. Co-workers treated me to lunch the next day and another cake! My boss gave me a beautiful card and a $15 gift card for Starbucks. Used a gift card from Bath and Body Works to purchase some Christmas presents for co-workers at the B&BW outlet. I was also able to use a 20% off coupon and got a free mini lotion. I combined that trip with a trip to the Kate Spade Outlet to buy my godmother a present for Christmas. $25 OOP which regular price would have been over $100! Enjoyed a free sandwich and drink for my birthday from a large chain sub sandwich shop; you get a free sandwich and drink on your birthday if you sign up for the email club. Also picked up a free birthday treat from a large chain bakery which my husband and I enjoyed. Used several coupons for free food products at Walmart, saving almost $20. Wrote invitations for son’s upcoming birthday party using invites I had gotten on a 90% off sale at Party City. Another co-worker treated me to an afternoon drink at Starbucks. Enjoyed dinner at the church where we are taking our financial planning classes….$13 for four, including drinks & dessert. Went to visit friends in Carson City, NV for a few days. We ate breakfast at home and then packed a picnic lunch. Dinner that night was eaten in.
Happy Belated Birthday, Peggy! Sounds like it was a good birthday this year.
I was thinking I had a pretty good frugal week until I got to, “And that was Monday.” LOLOLOLOL This was my week–
* I bought rolled oats for .61 lb. in the bulk section of Winco. This is nearly a 50% saving vs. the large canisters of store brand oats when on sale. I recently bought golden raisins, dried parsley and jasmine rice in bulk and saved plenty. I like it that bulk products have minimal packaging, and I’m going to start bringing my own paper bags so I don’t bring home more plastic to recycle.
*Our trip to the Oregon coast this week got canceled because my husband’s cousin in Arizona–who was coming for the reunion–broke her foot, had surgery and is on a scooter. This saved us over $1,000, although I’d rather go to the beach! We had planned to stop in Portland on the way so I could visit my BFF. Instead, I cashed in FF miles and will fly down to see her at the end of October. The number of miles needed for tickets to the same destination vary by day of the week, time of day, etc., just like paid fares. By choosing carefully, I was able to get a RT ticket for only 10,000 miles! (Most one-ways were 20K and some were as much as 30K). Needless to say, I didn’t pay extra for a good seat, either! (I’m in the next to last row, just ahead of the emergency exit…which I’ve always thought was a good idea).
* I froze 6 bags of ham cubes and the ham bone. I cooked a 20 lb. turkey Monday and deboned it Thursday..
* The Duracell rebate was on again at Office Max/Depot last week. This time I bought AA and AAA batts for stocking stuffers. The packages of 16 are a little over $16 with 100% rebate in Rewards. This means they are free, if you don’t mind getting store credit instead of cash. I also got this deal about 2 months ago and used the rebate to buy ink. They will probably run it a few more times between now and Christmas.
* I have started buying Christmas stocking stuffers because it takes time to get good stuff cheap. In addition to the batts, I got a 6 pack of ladies’ Smart Wool socks for $20 at Costco. I picked out 2 pairs each for DD and DDIL and I’m keeping 2 pairs for myself. If you buy Smart Wools at an outdoor store, ONE pair (albeit fancier ones) will cost around $20…and they are worth it. So, at $3.33 pair, these are a steal.
* I bought 51 cans of Progresso soups for .99, which is absolute rock bottom. My receipt says I “saved” $101.80 over regular prices…but I would never pay the regular price. My husband likes soup for lunch if we don’t have good leftovers.
I forgot to mention my favorite frugal accomplishment–I snitched a seed head from an echinacia plant in a parking lot. I got about 1 teaspoon of seeds…which will grow a LOT of echinacia. (I will start a few seeds indoors next spring). This was way more fun than buying seeds…and they were free, too!
We have had snow already! Usually it holds off until later in the month, but we are now in a winter weather advisory. Our church is hosting Presbytery this week. My husband is providing 80 baking potatoes and I am making moose and regular chili for Friday lunch. I don’t mind quantity cookingand chili is easy. Friends have given us the moose burger. I also want to bake pineapple bread before Thursday. I have a 7:00 AM meeting on Saturday, I really cannot eat eggs any more so I want to be sure there is something that I can eat.
Last week my husband had to go to Anchorage for a conference. I went along as his hotel is paid, his mileage was paid, so the only real cost was 2 evening meals and a few snacks. One day I stayed at the hotel and a friend drove in for about 3 hours of visiting. That was more enjoyable than shopping! I really appreciate the short break before long winter.
We finally have all of our gardens harvested. Tomorrow we will bring potatoes with us to a meeting to share with other pastors. We plan to give away about 300 pounds to food shelves and friends. We should have plenty through May when we will plant anything that is left. Mostly we grow Yukon Gold, but also have some fingerlings. I bake them when I’m also doing meat. Just scrub them, put them on a sprayed jellyroll pan, spray them lightly and season them. They are similar to oven fries. My son especially likes them…they are a nice change!
We are on a very limited income but I will share several bags with my massage therapist who is a single mother. She’s excited to have Alaskan garden potatoes!
As always, your blog is a highlight of my week. Several of the regular bloggers feel like friends as we all struggle to live ecoomically. Lilianna, so sorry to hear about your accident! Prayers for quick healing! Lorna, your posts reassure me that we will be able to cope with retirement. Fortunately, both my husband and I will be able to preach occasionly for added income.
Stay warm and frugal!
Hi Alaska Mom! I can eat eggs sometimes, and sometimes I can’t. I am not a breakfast carb person…it tends to throw me off the rest of the day. I typically eat leftover dinner food or soup for breakfast. Cheap and energizing! I am amazed at your potato harvest as I haven’t benn able to grow them very successfully except for the first year I tried them ( which was at least seven years ago). I am glad you have fellowship through the winter months…I kind of like the hibernation.
I’m beginning to prepare the garden for summer. The lawn is taking off and requires mowing most week ends. I have planted free tulip bulbs for flowers when it gets a little warmer. I intend to grow me a rainbow by planting rocket, kale, squash, mushrooms and radish.
I’ve been saving for most of the year to buy a robotic vacuum / mop. This is an expensive purchase but I think it will give me more time to keep on top of gardening and cooking from scratch. I will buy the robotic vacuum / mop at the end of this month via swagbucks so that I can obtain some additional benefit, and I will be purchasing from ebay, because that is the cheapest robotic vacuum / mop I can find.
I made the zucchini latkes, as suggested by this group, and they were GREAT!
Happy frugalling folks.
You can also use a 20% off coupon for a Roomba at Bed Bath & Beyond. That is how I got mine and the next year, one for my parents.
Some of this week’s frugal activities
* rode my bicycle to a doctor’s appointment
* showed the kids how to use the paint-tube squeezer to get more toothpaste out of the tube, and then cut the top off as well
* Walked my son home from school twice as part of the school district’s #walktober campaign
* Used the Starbucks, ChickFilA and Menchie’s apps and redeemed rewards at all three
* Gave son a haircut using our Wahl clippers. Saved $30, not to mention hours waiting at the mall haircut place
* Line dried a load of clothes
* Added shavings from the pencil sharpener to the compost pile
* Breastfed the baby
* My mom and dad are heading out of town so they gave us some milk and cottage cheese that would have gone bad in their fridge while they were gone
* Harvested tomatoes and figs from the garden
* Pruned one apple tree and our green gage plum tree; I am cutting and bundling branches to season for firewood
* Watched a couple of older episodes of Good Eats for free through the Food Channel app on our Roku TV
I have 4 boys plus my husband. I bought Wahl clippers one year as a Father’s Day gift. It has saved us SO much money in haircuts over the last few year’s.
I was able to pick a few more green beans I found down on the bushes in some weeds in my fast-waning garden. We were hit by a light frost, so some things got scorched. I got a few zucchini and tomatoes as well. Pictures are on my blog: http://beckyathome.com.
My husband picked basil and made pesto. My recipe has no nuts in it–just basil, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper and parmesan. He froze it in ice cube trays.
We were given several gifts. Some were of time, some were needed items or money. We are extremely grateful.
Hi Becky
Do you have an actual recipe for the pesto or should I just experiment ( my children love pesto on pasta for school lunch but the school will not allow nuts)?
If you have the recipe could you please post it.
Regards
Sheena
try this one: 2 c. loosely packed basil, 1 cup parmesan, 1 cup packed fresh parsley, 3 tbsp. soft butter,2 garlic closes, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/2 cup olive oil.
I haven’t tried this one yet but have sent it to my DIL who is allergic to nuts.
Thank you
Becky, My mother used to freeze spaghetti sauce in metal ice cube trays — it’s great to just be able to takea few cubes without taking the whole amount from the freezer.
Brandy…would you consider updating your post about what you buy from where and how much you will spend for things if that has changed? I know grocery prices in our area have really gone up (Southern California)
I’m a LONG time reader but I rarely get a chance to post.
-This week I’ve really been going to thru cupboards and freezers trying to use things up. I made chicken and dumplings to use up a bag of frozen vegetables, cans of cream soup and a half used box of biscuit mix that have been languishing here for nearly a year. I also made several other “use=it-up” type meals throughout the week.
-I also made a list of meals that I can make using only items that I have on hand.
-Bought large boxes of cereal for $1.49 a box (instead of the regular price of $4.49 -we don’t eat a lot of cereal but it’s somewhat a treat for us.
-Shopped mark downs
-Found 8pz bags of Taco Bell cheese for $.99 each
-Used a coupon and sale combined to get a loaf of bread for $.45
-Used my loyalty card at the gas station to get $,10 off per gallon of gas (our gas is $4.00 a gallon right now)
-I’ve been also using up cleaners that I’ve had sitting under my kitchen sink for literally years.
-Found like new pajama pants for my son at the thrift store for $.75 a pair. (He just wears a t-shirt with the pants to sleep in)
-Went through my toddlers clothes and got rid of a huge garbage bag full. (This is frugal because now I can more easily access what she has to wear that fits and not over-buy.
I wish you all a wonderful week.
Kimberly, I have been thinking that I need to write a new post about this, too, as prices are certainly going up! I like the idea of including where I buy things! That would be a great update to it!
I love the picture of the pomegranate, Brandy! And I hope you are able to get a dryer soon!
My accomplishments from last week:
• Used free tea and toiletries, washed ziplocks and foil and used ½ dryer sheets and ran only full loads in the washer and dishwasher during off peak times.
• Ate in 7 times.
• Hung 2 of 3 loads of laundry.
• Worked 4 contract hours, plus travelled for a business convention and got a daily rate for the 4 days I was gone. Got more toiletries from the hotel. I paid for everything for my boss and I and received airline points on my credit card. Plus got a lot of freebies from the convention, mostly snack food and candy, but also pens, reusable grocery bags, a spiral notebook, a cup, a metal lunchbox, a reusable aluminum water bottle and a stress ball. Hubby saved money by just eating what was in the pantry and freezer while I was gone.
• My birthday was Saturday. For my gift my husband took me to see Downton Abbey at the theater. I was able to get 5% back from Ibotta. He also wanted to get me wireless earbuds, but wanted to talk to me about it first, as they were $144! I’m glad he did. I like the fit of apple earbuds, but opted for the kind with the wire, as they were only $9.99. I also got a cradle for my phone to use in the car (it plugs into the cd player) so I can talk hands free without a wire bothering me. It was only $13.
• My daughter asked me what I wanted for my birthday. I told her anything that would I would ordinarily have to spend money on so I can save mine. She gave me 3 bottles of spice mix, 2 packages of pretty cocktail napkins, 4 boxes of tissue that she had bought on clearance (I loved that – made me laugh!) and some hotel toiletries. She also framed pictures of my 2 grandkids as their gift for me. My son gave me 2 bottles of wine. I was so pleased with their gifts! Just the kind of stuff I wanted!
• One of our air conditioning units was acting up and Hubby couldn’t fix it, so he called in a repair man. Turns out it was just a loose wire so we were only charged the $75 service charge. Praise God!
Have a wonderful week everyone!
I religiously read every post and response and follow several readers’ blogs, but l have rarely posted in the past. I mean to remedy that by participating more often, as l so enjoy your site and this community, Brandy! It has meant a great deal to me and l have learned so much from all of you.
My frugal accomplishments this week included jumping at the chance to pick tomatoes and zucchini at a friend’s house on two separate days. She had such a bounty in her garden this year that she offered me all of the ripe cherry tomatoes, San Marzano tomatoes and grape tomatoes l could pick. I ended up with 5 pounds of cherry tomatoes, 10 pounds of San Marzano tomatoes and 2 pounds of grape tomatoes. We have been eating tomatoes like crazy and l am making a small batch of pizza sauce from the San Marzanos tomorrow to can. She also gave me 3 huge zucchini the size of baseball bats that she didn’t want. It was a challenge but l hacksawed through the tough outsides, peeled them, seeded them, and shredded all of the pulp in my Cusinart. I ended up getting 7 quart bags of shredded zucchini to put in the freezer for zucchini bread, plus l made four loaves of zucchini bread with some of the pulp l set aside. Our house is on a 90% shaded lot, so l have had little luck in growing anything other than herbs. I feel lucky when more sun-blessed friends share their bounty!
My husband had to go to Costco to pick up a prescription so l had him pick up one of their huge rotisserie chickens for $5. I picked the chicken, made stock from the carcass, and made chicken vegetable noodle soup, chicken enchiladas and chicken salad from that one chicken.
One of the things l am trying hard to master is reducing food waste. I went through the fridge and found bits and ends that needed using up. I made half a carton of leftover heavy cream into vanilla whipped cream and served it with a peach crisp l made and froze when peaches were on sale. I made bread heels into croutons, a little buttermilk into salad dressing and corn tortillas into a Mexican-style casserole. I chopped half a lurking onion and put it in the freezer for another day.
I made a double batch of refried beans (from dried beans) in the Instant Pot to freeze.
We cut open and used the last of the lotion in two tubes and it lasted a whole extra week.
I cut open my eye cream tube and got several extra days worth out of it.
I made tea from bags l picked up in hotels on our trip to Europe this summer. It was my in-laws 55th wedding anniversary so they took the family on a tour of Europe. My husband laughed at me, but l brought home every extra tea bag or coffee packet leftover from each of our hotel rooms. I came home with quite a lot. ?
I hung two loads of laundry out on the line.
Have a great week everyone.
Michelle, as you can tell from my posts, I also take the tea bags and coffee and toiletries from every hotel I stay at. My family does it for me too. It all adds up! And great score on the tomatoes!
Smart decision on the wireless Apple earbuds! Read an article today on consumer issues and companies cheating customers and the Apple earbuds were at the top of the list. Turns out they are not replacing the batteries in them, say they cannot, and so folks are having to replace them on average less than two years after purchase.
Brandy, I hope you are able to get a new dryer or get it fixed soon.
My mom has continued to come to help every day. She has been wonderful. My Uncles have been working with my dad on the house for the past 3 days and will work today as well. They have accomplished a lot and it has been nice visiting with them.
I used the internet at the library as did my husband and son this week when ours was not working. Borrowed books and movies. Read an interesting book on controlling diabetes.
I can’t drive so we have saved gas money. i may be able to drive in a week if I don’t hurt then.
My son found some asparagus in the patch and cooked it. I didn’t even know that it still grew at this time of year.
Picked peppers and tomatoes, husband and grandson did. Enjoyed garden tomatoes and grandson was happy with a pepper.
Mom cut out t-shirt material to use in place of gauze on my incision.
My mom made cloth napkins that match my kitchen.
We have a big pot of vegetable beef soup that my mom made and we all enjoyed this week as well as other meals she has made.
Enjoyed a quiche that my brother -in-law made for breakfast a couple days own a row.
Worked on stories for possible publication. I’m hopeful to help pay medical bills.
Been putting medical bills on payment plants.
Used generic ibuprofen and acetaminophen.
After another hospital visit this week visited grandchildren and son and daughter-in -law at a sonic playground and ate a cheeseburger off the everyday menu,.
Bough refill for hand soap for $1 at dollar tree. Bought bar soap there as well. Also bought $1 socks at dollar tree. They are comfy.
Kept air off as it has been cooler. May be using heat by the end of the week. We are supposed to get snow flurries.
My mom has enjoyed my china plates that I bought for a dollar at a thrift store a while back. I enjoy eating off pretty china and had found beautiful plates for a dollar a piece. They have gold trim and everything! My mom has washed my dishes this week and comments on the pretty plates every time.
Found my husbands thermos so he could take soup with him to work. I plan on him taking coffee on other days. He loves coffee.
Tammy,
Would you please share the name of the book you read about controlling diabetes? I would appreciate it. Thanks.
Marley,
I borrowed several but I read Eat and Beat Diabetes with picture Perfect Weight Loss The visual Program to Prevent and Control Diabetes By Dr Howard M Shapiro and Chef Franklin Becker. I liked seeing the differences between high calorie and low calorie choices. It was interesting.
Try Dr. Jason Fung’s – The Obesity Code and check out his videos on YouTube. A couple of friends who are diabetic have been put on his program with great results – weight loss, lower numbers and reduced medications! He is a nephrologist here in Toronto who noticed that many of his patients were the result of Type II Diabetes and determined to do something about it.
I am not diabetic but my cardiologist has me on the program to lose weight and so far – 35 pounds in 5 months – and I’m not hungry and no special things to buy or programs to join.
That’s wonderful, Margaret!
Tammy,
My parents and sister came to help me when I first was so very ill. I appreciated them very much and that it allowed my husband to keep working. Thank God for family.
Glad you are doing better!
Trish
PJGT
I’m glad you are feeling better too!
Tammy
Did a stack of mending and my husband glued two handbags that I can now use again.
Through the local Facebook group I found out a honey business were looking for gardens for bee hives so I now have a beehive in my back yard. They inspect the hives regularly and I’ll get to learn about beekeeping and get some honey. I was planning on doing a beekeeping course so this has saved me several hundred dollars.
Oh that would be wonderful!
Lynne, just a friendly heads up, that honeybees are more aggressive when in vicinity of their hives. We kept bees for a few years and found that they do not like loud continuous noises like lawn mowers and chain saws. They also got tangled in our hair, so we kept a comb nearby and combed them out before they got to our scalp. They are hard workers and are very entertaining to watch! We carelessly dripped honey on the ground, which caused ants to invade the hive. Within three days, the bees absconded, carrying about 5 pounds of honey with them! Amazing feat! Good luck on this most educational and yummy venture!
* I made a Snoopy costume for $25 instead of buying one for $60+. I found a pattern for a bear and just adapted it to a dog instead. The Snoopy head was made with felt, stuffed, and then mounted onto to the hood with a baseball call underneath to give it stability. I thought it turned out pretty good, especially if you see it from +20ft away! LOL
* I borrowed another math book from our homeschool co-op’s library when my son finished our current one
* I made sure to use up all of the turkey breast I cooked last week to prevent waste. By the way if you rub a turkey breast with butter and put some in the cavity before you cook it, it makes the juiciest meat! I finally found that out after making turkeys for 15 years….
* My daughter is playing Violet in the Charlie Brown Christmas play and the director asked if she could have bangs…my daughter said no to cutting, but we found some clip-on bangs for $5 on Amazon. Shipping was free thanks to Prime and the bangs ended up being the perfect color, so my daughter was happy.
* My daughter had been buying a soda every day while taking dual enrollment classes at our local community college (with her own money) I mentioned that if she bought a six pack at Kroger during a sale the drinks would be only 50 cents. After doing the math, she felt that would be a great deal for her, so I picked up two packs for her and now she is kicking herself for not doing this earlier:)
***Pictures are on my blog https://thethriftyeducator.com/2019/10/07/frugal-things-19/
Your Snoopy costume is adorable!! Ben has a very creative mom.
Thank you:)
Love the Snoopy costume!
Brandy, You are such an inspiration. It makes me want to try even harder to accomplish more in my life. I read your blog every week and it always amazes me how much you accomplish and how resourceful you are in every area of your life. Thanks for inspiring the rest of us to continually look for ways to make our lives less stressful and more beautiful.
I finished a manslaughter trial last week. That was my second trial in 2 1/2 weeks (the other was a murder trial) and I am exhausted. I still have to prepare of the sentencing phase. However, as exhausted as I am, I am grateful that I have a job and the ability to work. I need to remember that. The above is frugal because I didn’t have time to eat much, so I lost a little weight. I only spent on gas for work. I was able to go get my Wellness check for my insurance after work, since they come to the state agencies. This keeps my insurance from going up $25 a month for the next year. Every dollar helps! I got my oil changed on Saturday, and received a free tire rotation, because I had purchased my tires at the Toyota Dealer. Because I drive an hour one way to work each day, I put a lot of miles on my car, and I am also traveling on rough, country roads. Luckily, I have a Toyota Yaris and it is low on gas mileage. It was still 110 degree heat index on Saturday, but it is supposed to be only 89 today, which is such a relief. I hope I have turned off the air conditioner for the year. I had cooked up meals for last week, so I could just grab and reheat when I got home late. I had food at office but really didn’t have time to grab and eat much. I was so happy to see Friday roll around! I enjoyed General Conference, especially General Authority Pete Johnson, since he was the Stake President in a stake just north of mine and I have met him several times when he was an accounting professor at the University of Alabama. He is a kind, humble, man who exudes the love of Christ. I so enjoy the iPhone 6 that I purchased a month ago, and was able to enjoy his talk and to relax this weekend. I am so grateful we live in a time of technology where we can have spiritual things “moon beamed” into the comfort of our home. I enjoyed bluegrass and gospel music on public radio late Saturday night. Today I feel grateful for this frugal community that Brandy has created. While we all may have different lifestyles and circumstances, and live all over the world, we are all united in various ways to live happily and frugally. It just proves that basic frugal ideas can be implemented in a variety of circumstances and I think we all are doing the best we can. Y’all have a blessed week!
He spoke in our chapel just recently! I enjoyed hearing him speak again!
Cindy, when I read your entries it reminds me of my lawyering days. Glad I did the work because I felt that sometimes I was the only one focused on getting justice for victims, but I am glad to be retired. I managed to retire at 50 and when I read your exhausting schedule I am doubly thankful not to be doing it any more! If you like bluegrass, have you ever watched Song of the Mountains, on PBS? They have great old time music, fiddles and banjos and so on. I don’t watch it, I put it on and listen to it when I am doing other stuff, since I don’t care to just stare at people playing their instruments, but I really enjoy it.
Should have said I retired from lawyering but went on to a different career.
Hi Mable! I hope to retire in maybe 2 years, if I last that long…lol. I say this laughingly but the stress and long hours are getting to me. You would understand. I would like to go work at a job I could leave at the job, not have to prepare all night for court hearings/trials, constantly. Years of functioning on little sleep are taking their toll. It is as bad as when my four kids were infants. I need sleep, I am old…lol! Do you mind if I ask what career you have now? I am trying to get some ideas. Thanks.
Cindy in the South:
I so admire people who have made the commitment to work in areas of criminal justice. It takes a strength I do not think is appreciated!
A friend who worked in non-profits said there are excellent reasons to work there, one being fast career advancement. She was in a largish city that had major charitable organizations. It doesn’t mean you would be a fund raiser, though that could be part of it. Organizing, researching, advocating, networking– might be an option for you to help people in trouble from a different direction than you are now.
Thanks!
Cindy: I do adoption studies. I got a combined law/social work degree (four years instead of the law school three) so when I left law I sort of went sideways instead of a whole new career. When I left the prosecutor’s office, attorney friends began sending me referrals of folks who contacted them for adoptions and I started doing the home studies for those adoptions. (Until then I never realized how many people adopt!) I make a lot less then I used to but I have been married for over 30 years to an extremely frugal man who also had a hard driving but well paying career. Despite two set backs from each of us getting a catastrophic illness that wiped out savings, we dragged ourselves back up and both have to work only part time now, as long as we stay frugal. It is nice to be working at a job that does not cause nightmares or sleepless nights and everyone is happy. No one threatening to kill me, sue me, ruin me, and no flinching when the phone rings anymore! I’ve lost weight, too, since I am a stress eater.
I left a job working with juvenile sex offenders for the same reason… the stress was killing me. I now teach college algebra and applied physics and am so much happier.
That is an awesome career!
This conversation has been so interesting to follow. Thank you for providing a peak into a career I know very little about, other than what is represented on TV (which I’m sure is extremely inacurate). I’ve really enjoyed reading about all of this!
Brandy, check where the gas comes into the dryer.Sometimes this area gets “gummed” up . My son said his repairman actually taught him how to do it himself as it is a common problem of gas dryers.
When a store changes it’s layout I go to customer service and ask if they have a map of the lay out. We just went through a store that is 20 miles from us to compare it to what we have local(10 miles) and the one I go to when over in the area of our old place(50 miles but all our doctors are there). Had a better variety, cheaper prices and only 3 things I buy normally that they don’t carry. Wouldn’t be bad to just have to pick up 3 things when at the doctor every 3 months. I hate doing a hunt and find in a store. As a chef I was taught to do non perishable (canned goods, boxed goods) first, produce next, meat next then dairy and frozen last. I also carried 3 coolers at that time. I am more likely to only carry 2 now and the frozen shares with the dairy.
I read for 10- 3o mins at bedtime. I turn a timer on my phone so I don’t read all night.
Getting cooler here. Starting to have to use the drying rack inside on damp foggy days . Still pricing for a larger drying rack.
I have finished canning the apple butter I made from the peels and cores of the applesauce I canned. I got a total of 80 jelly jars when all done!! Hubby started looking for recipes to use it up besides on bread. So far he has come up with sweet rolls, sweet bread , bread pudding and cakes. I threw him for a loop when I put it under the pock chops the other night. LOL
My primary doctor called to check if I got my flu shot and to let me know that the croup along with influenza and norovirus was also going around and some suggestions of how to not get sick like we did last year. Airing the house out 30 minutes every week, keeping the humidity up in the house during the winter, not sitting close to heat sources, being outside 30 minutes daily rain or shine (snow or shine depending on the day) airing bedding, especially pillows (I fluff all in dryer first to defur them then air out) out even when not being washed etc. I shared the info with our Amish neighbors and they shared it at church. I got a plate of cookies from them for giving them a heads up as their youngest has breathing issues as it is and then another family gave Hubby corn because their child gets sick a lot and this gave them a heads up on what to be watching for so we now have 36 cups of corn in the freezer.
Rest is here
https://chefowings.blogspot.com/2019/10/frugal-steps-in-past-week.html
Juls – thank you so much for passing on these tips for how to stay well – my husband has asthma and anything which can help him stay healthy and ward off chest infections is really useful. Some of its common sense but so good to have reminders alongside new tips. He is given a free flu vaccination by the NHS every year and I pay £9 for mine as I am not in a vulnerable group – money well spent. Thank you again!
In trying to use up some apple butter I’d made last year, I learned that I really like it in oatmeal. What a great use of the peels and cores.
Juls
Your comments re pillow are spot on — I have allergies and I launder my pillows every two weeks or so. It really helps. Also, in the past,
I have washed my hair daily. Pollen, smoke and dust hitch a ride on the hair! Ann
-The past few weeks have been a blur. My husband’s pickup truck has been in our garage being worked on for over 3 weeks and for 1 of those weeks, my husband couldn’t work on it because the van was broke down as well and he had to fix it! I am so thankful for his skill, but after working 60+ hours a week there just isn’t much time left to work on things at home. He says the truck should be fixed soon. When both cars were out of commission, hubby was able to borrow a vehicle to get back and forth to work. Generous people are such a blessing. Also, not being able to go anywhere saved a bit on gas (not a lot since we don’t go away from the house very often, anyway.)
-A friend called and asked if my husband had access to a roto rooter as their basement plumbing was backing up. Hubby borrowed one from a neighbor and was able to get the plumbing fixed. The next day, these sweet people gifted him $100 for his time. We stretched that gift (after tithe) to cover several unexpected expenses.
-The same friends who had plumbing problems just had their fourth baby, a beautiful little girl. I picked up diapers, wipes, soap, and lotion at Dollar General and made a dress, bonnet, and crocheted sweater for her. I plan to take them dinner this week.
-I have been able to stick to a pretty strict combined budget for groceries and household/toiletry items of under $100 per week for the 10 of us. I know many people make do with less, but this is about $50 less per week than we usually spend. I was able to get broccoli slaw and salad mixes for free after the sale price and yellow stickers (reduced produce department stickers). Also got several pounds of tomatoes for about $2 on discount.
-I baked bread and bagels, made yogurt, made granola (I used little packets of seeds, nuts, dried fruit that came in discounted salad mixes).
-My french press broke. I’ve been using a pour over coffee maker and my mom is bringing me a percolator to use until I can find a good deal on a new french press.
-I went to one of the thrift stores that does $5 bag sales and was able to purchase 32 items for $10.60. Most of the items will be added for sale on eBay.
-My ebay sales have allowed us a few extra groceries over the weeks and I was able to use money from sales to pay for our family to go to a fall festival in the same town as the thrift store. We had a lot of fun. We go to this festival every year but with all of the vehicle repairs we have had recently, I wasn’t sure if we would be able to. I’m glad that the skirts and dresses I am able to sell for just a few dollars added up to a fun day out.
RE: the French press, if it was just the glass that shattered you can buy replacements online. But I also see French presses at thrift shops quite frequently. Used to pick them up just to stockpile the carafes as replacements. I don’t do it anymore because I finally have a model that has a certain shape of plastic shell that seems to keep the glass safe from breakage. I just have one backup now to use for tea or tisanes and/or if the main one is in the dishwasher.
Using a French press for tea is a wonderful idea! I never would have thought about that. I was considering buying a tea ball but didn’t want to spend money on a single use kitchen gadget. I received a french press as a gift but it didn’t get much use. Now it will. Thank you again
Well, my Monday started with getting the autistic teenaged DD out of bed at 6:30am to get ready for school (had to call her mulitple times to get her moving), preparing a healthy lunch for DD to take to school (requires discussions/approval from DD or she won’t eat the lunch), emailing her teacher to let her know how DD’s weekend went & current emotional status (I do this every school day), and pushing DD to get ready on time, so she wouldn’t miss the bus. I then proceeded with the days events:
Canned up the 2 pots of dry black beans & chickpeas I soaked overnight, with my pressure canner for easy meal options. Canned 16 pints of chickpeas and 15 pints of black beans. One jar of each type had a seal failure, so I put them directly into the fridge. I made black bean taco filling one night for dinner this week to use up the black beans. I will make something in the next little while, to use up the chickpeas. The rest were added to our pantry.
While monitoring the pressure canner:
-I cut up the 5 small jalapenos from my garden and put them in the dehydrator. I then used my immersion blender to grind up the dried jalapenos into a powder and put it in a jar. It didn’t make much, but we don’t need much of it to add some spice to a dish!
-Figured out what I could make for dinner, searching Pinterest for ideas (family revolts if meals are made too frequently, so constantly looking for meal ideas to add variety), and pulled what was needed to make it from the freezer.
– I mixed up and baked 2 banana bread loaves (1 with chocolate chips add and the other with dried cranberries) using up the last of the clearance bananas that I bought for $0.49. After they cooled, I wrapped them up and put them in the freezer to have on hand whenever we might need them.
-Made the stromboli, from scratch, while monitoring the second round in the pressure canner.
-Washed all the dishes from all the above by hand.
-Had to refilled the flour jar from the unopened big bag of flour stored in our basement. Took 2 people to do it, so as not to create a huge mess.
Spent the entire time, praying I wouldn’t receive yet another phone call from the school because DD was having another issue. I would have had to figure out how to stop what I was doing, and go pick her up, had they called. This past week I had 2 calls from the school, that resulted in going to the school 3 times. It’s a common occurance, which is why I don’t work full time. So, I’m right there with you on being a busy person, Brandy!
The frugal accomplishments for the rest of the week included:
*Meals made at home included: homemade stromboli (recipe link: https://happymoneysaver.com/ham-and-cheese-stromboli-recipe/. I made ours will a sub sandwich cold meat variety pack, but any kind of cold meat can be used) with Caesar salad; homemade chicken barley vegetable soup with homemade bannock; tacos with choice of beef or black bean taco filling; sheppard’s pie; cheddar sausages and broccoli topped with cheese sauce; roast beef with mashed potatoes, gravy, and green/yellow beans.
*Bagged lunches included: Pepperoni slices, leftover seasoned potatoes, yoghurt, apple slices, and a homemade chocolate banana applesauce muffin; leftover stromboli, grapes, yoghurt, and a muffin; leftover chicken barley vegetable soup (in a reusable, insulated soup thermos we’ve had for years), a leftover bannock biscuit, grapes, yoghurt, and a muffin; hummus, naan bread, grapes, yoghurt and muffin.
*At DD’s request, I sent 2 jars of homemade jam for her class to try on Friday (raspberry peach mango and strawberry pineapple). They had a really low key day with lots of treats, after a rough week. School support staff, including the EAs in their high needs classroom, are doing a “work to rule”, as their union is currently negociating their work contracts.
*When I made the chicken barley vegetable soup, I cooked up 1 chicken breast to put in it. However, I decided it would be too much chicken for the soup. So I scooped out about half and saved it for another recipe. I also cooked up more barley than needed for the soup on purpose. DD LOVES to eat cooked barley. It’s similar to rice with a slighly chewier texture. I think it is healthier as it is a whole grain, and it’s cheap! She enjoyed the leftover barley three times, including eating it for breakfast one morning.
*Boiled down the rose hips with saved apple peels added (the peels add natural pectin), then strained the juice off using my new jelly bag stand my mom gave me for Christmas last year. I put the stained juice in the fridge until I have time to make the jelly.
*Worked 7 hours on Thursday, assisting with pulling produce from the gardens, to use for displays at the Applefest Event. I brought home a cucmber that wasn’t needed. I then worked the event of Sunday for another 7 hours. I have 1 more shift this coming week to add to that paycheck. Nice to make some extra money I normally wouldn’t have this time of year!
*Gave the dog a piece of raw broccoli, because she insisted I give her some. Totally underestimated the entertainment value of this simple action! She was so happy, kept tossing it around like a toy and pranced around with it sticking out of her mouth like a cigar. The laughs were well worth the minimal cost of the broccoli piece! We also bought the dog a new toy that was on sale. It’s a glow in the dark brain! We now regularly ask the dog where her brain is, and everyone gets excited when she finds it. BEST DOG TOY EVER!!!
Looking forward to reading all the inspiring comments, as always! Hope you have a wonderful week, everyone!!!
You are so patient with your daughter and so matter of fact about the accommodations you make multiple times every day. Your grace is admirable and something I don’t think I would be able to do.
Mable, thank you for your kind comment. Just like all parents, I had hopes and dreams for my child too. But it all changed when we found out she had a disability. We didn’t have a choice but to adapt. You would be amazed at what you are willing to do for your own child, whom you love so deeply and unconditionally. It’s just part of being a parent!
I am always amazed by how much energy you have, and how you carefully think through how to keep everything going on in your life. I know you have difficult times with your daughter, but we see all your successes with her as well over time. Just stay strong.
I laughed reading about your dog and the broccoli and the dog’s new toy. We should all have such fun with vegetables!
Thank you for sharing about cheese going on sale at Thanksgiving, and the sales at No Frills and stocking up on carrots. These suggestions have definitely made a difference in my personal food supplies for this winter.
Thank you, Elizabeth M for the kind words. You do what you have to with what you are dealt, I guess. I like to share some of my life’s humour as well. If one is too preoccupied with all the negatives, life becomes pretty gloomy. As f0r sharing the sales, I’m glad they were helpful for you. I find there are very few “frugal” blogs that specifically focus on Canadian sales. With so many Canadian followers in this community, it’s a great place for us to share and help each other out.
I believe this may be my first time posting frugal accomplishments, but I have been following your blog for many years. I frequently reread your posts on money saving ideas as they help keep me motivated as well as remind me of things I could be doing. I have to agree about the frustration I feel when I go to a store and find they have rearranged everything. Often when this is done I find the choices of products is reduced. That frustrates me even more. Another post suggestion would be an update on your 40 cents a day post. With food prices on the rise, what changes, if any, have you made to stay within price point?
Here are my frugal accomplishments for the past month:
*The biggest win was our electric bill was $60 less than expected. We were able to turn off the ac for 7 days in the past month along with hanging 60% of my laundry on the line and using my oven only twice. We have geothermal heating/ac which has saved us 1000’s of dollars in the past 10 years. Our neighbors’ bills are $500-$600/month for the same size house as we have. Our highest bill in the past 10 years was $300 and that was only once. We found out our unit was defective. Once it was replaced our bills are never over $250. Our average is about $180/month. This month it was under $100! Now that the cooler weather has finally arrived our next bill should be even lower.
*We received a $220 state tax refund check due to some federal tax change to the state.
*Shopped sales
* Used coupons
*Grouped errands
*Used what I have already in the house
*Prepared meals at home, baking bread and cooking from scratch
*Husband cut his own hair and I cut my own bangs
*My granddaughter and I made a teacher gift. My 6 year old granddaughter came up with the idea and design. We used fabric from my stash and she operated the sewing machine by herself for the first time. Her teacher loved it.
*We bought a full beef cow this year which we share with our adult children. The cost comes to $2/pound.
*My husband repaired his motorcycle saving hundreds of dollars. This is his primary mode of transportation to and from work. He spends very little on gas each month.
* I am a retired kindergarten teacher and sometimes sub in the school kitchen. The pay isn’t much but I get 2 free meals (breakfast and lunch) plus on Fridays I can take any food destined for the trash home. They often have several peanut butter and jelly sandwiches they cannot keep over the weekend. I bring these home and freeze them for my adult son to take to work. I have brought home rolls, deli meat and small chef salads. Regulations limit how long they can keep the food. Having lived on Guam for 3 years at one point in my life I learned a lot of food can be eaten past the use by/sell by dates. Expired food was all we had to choose from in the commissary and grocery stores.
*Purchased apples from a local farmer for .48/pound. I bought a bushel and dehydrated half and will can the other half.
* I organized my pantry and freezer. We are eating down the freezer to make room for the beef.
*We received a credit on our propane bill. Our fireplace is the only use of propane so a tank full is all we need for the winter here in the Virginia mountains.
*Our local Food Lion grocery store has a customer promotion where I can earn $2 off specific categories of food when I spend $10/category. I always sign up each month and purchase sale items in order to earn at least 1 reward per month. I use the $2 to purchase other items for free.
Thank you for everyone’s ideas and encouragement. I look forward to reading everyone’s comments every week.
Hello, Marley!
I love the story of you and your granddaughter making the teacher gift. That story will stay with her for a long time, as well as the skills and creativity you encouraged in her.
I wanted to post again to say how grateful I am for the community you have built here, Brandy. Last night my husband and I got together with two other couples. They asked about our trip and about what we had been up to since returning home. My husband has been splitting wood and making repairs. I have been doing a lot of cooking and working in the garden. One of the women shook her head and said “You too are so “Little House on the Prairie.’ and laughed. I try to take that as a compliment, but it’s so nice to have a place to share these things where people don’t think you are odd or unusual.
It IS a compliment to be compared to frugal, resilient, hard working people! I was horrified to hear someone say to a co-worker, “You are just like one of the New Jersey Housewives!” (maybe it was L.A., I don’t know as I have just seen the ads and never the show) I thought it was an insult but the person meant it and the person receiving it took it as a compliment!!!
Last Saturday I went to a store and bought 12 heads of cauliflower for $2. I came home, cut out any bad spots and riced them all up. I put it all in freezer bags and stuck them in the freezer. I went back to the store during the week and planned to get more, but they also had boxes of 5 bags of riced cauliflower for $2. I bought 3 boxes. I figured, I was still saving money, so I bought 3 boxes instead. I was also offered a 6lb box of sliced apples that were passed their best by date. I wasnt thinking and only took one box. I stuck them all in the instant pot and made applesauce. Its all gone now. I made a pot of refried beans and we ate that as burritos for several meals. I washed and reused ziploc bags. I used my office depot rewards and bought a case of paper. I made yogurt in the instant pot twice. I cant think anything else that was out of the ordinary.
I love what you did to rice the cauliflower. Can I ask how you cook it when it comes out of the freezer?
We got an inch and a half of rain this weekend! It was glorious, no watering for two days and we are having cooler weather! I planted seeds for the third time hoping they really come up this time!
My husband and I supported and participated in a walk to raise money for the local crisis pregnancy center. I got a lovely gray T-shirt that I can wear to exercise and work, plus they had snacks.
I went yard sailing again and found some long sleeve shirts for my grandson and granddaughter who are coming from the jungle of Peru in December. They do not have any warm clothes and I am making good progress getting them outfitted. I also found a sweater and vest for another granddaughter’s bday. I went at the end of the time of the sale and was given discounts as people were loading up.
I took a friend to the foothills here in NC, we went to an apple house where apples are sorted and sold. They had a great assortment of seconds of apples for $8/25 lb. so I got two of those and then paid $14/25 lb of Arkansas Black. They will keep in the fridge till Christmas , but I doubt they will last that long. We drove by another produce store and paid $15/40 lb of sweet potatoes. They were $6 less than at the apple house and got two loaves of bread for $2. I will be sending some home with our son and his family who are coming this weekend for their triplets, third bday. They used to live in the mountains here and always brought apples when they visited. I will make a big batch of applesauce for the dinner and weekend. We will eat them up I am sure over the next month. The sweet potatoes I will divvy up with my daughter for her family and then cook up a bit for smoothies when my other daughter comes in December. I am making sweet potato soup for dinner tonight,
Brandy, I loved seeing your daily savings, quite impressive. You are so frugal with your gas trips, it makes me smile because am always planning my outings to make the most stops to save. My husband always chuckles at my list, but it does add up.
I canned 25 quarts of grape juice, with 1/3 of the grapes coming from our vines and the remaining 2/3 coming from my sister’s grape vines. I had to pick them, but was grateful they had an abundance of them. She also gave me two butternut squashes, and some apples and plums for eating.
I gave a presentation to a travel group last week. They had asked me months ago to do this. When asked, I asked if there was an honorarium and was told there wasn’t. However, I was surprised when I was finished that I was given a $150 honorarium!
I finished knitting another baby cardigan to donate.
I updated to my autumn wardrobe of 33 pieces and now need to send some some items to a thrift store.
I colored my hair.
Yesterday, some of the women I knit with donated 20 baby afghans to our local chapter of the Linus Project. I was delighted that I had made 9 of those afghans from scrap yarn.
We went to a potluck dinner on Sunday and I made chili using only half of the meat the recipe required and it was still plenty. I also made some dessert bars.
I’ve been putting my garden to bed for the winter, gathering tomatoes, herbs, beets, and a small head of cabbage.
Woo Hoo!!! another Project Linus gal. I can’t knit but I can sew quilts with scraps that I get. I’m working on a blue and white quilt now using mostly scraps that I have been given or leftovers from another project. Our Chapter was given fabric from two different women who had passed away recently, What a blessing it was to get ahold of it. I can’t wait to see what I make from them.
The day we dropped off our projects, two other women came in with their projects. Once was a quilter who used up scraps to make quilt tops then machine quilted the finished projects and another woman brought in fleece blankets that had crocheted edges. Our group learned a lot, really admired the work of others, and determined to make more blankets. The local chapter said that they donated about 2,800 blankets last year.
Yes, it is wonderful to take donated materials and create something new! I like making afghans out of donated yarn. It helps me boost my creativity to see how I can put together the yarn in unique ways to make something beautiful and to use up what I have.
Good luck with your quilts!
Kandace,
Fabric has become do expensive. Glad to hear if your good fortune.
Ttish
Lynn DinKY- I am a scrap quilter and have bought little fabric over the last several years because, as one of my friends gave me a fabric panel that says: “Home For Wayward Fabrics”! Lol! Many of my friends give me their leftover fabrics when they finish a project and this has been quite a bit! I inherited fabric from a friend’s grandma and also a dear quilting buddy. Friends of friends have heard that I make scrappy quilts and have also given me bags and boxes of fabrics! I donate many of my quilts to those in need. But you can see how the word gets out and suddenly everyone is happy to pass along their leftover fabrics to you!
One suggestion I would make. I don’t precast my fabric because with scraps rather than yardage, it could ravel and make it less useable. But when I finish any quilt, I always toss it in the washer- cold water wash and rinse with a little laundry detergent AND a Shout Color Catcher! These are amazing! Here is a photo of my most recent Color Catcher when I took the most recent 2 baby quilts (see my comments earlier on this post) out of the washer! The color catcher went into the washer as a white rectangle and this is what came out! https://pin.it/6zp4q4hyjjw5nh
If your quilt is going to be functional and washed frequently, you don’t want to have colors bleeding into it!
Btw- there are recipes for DIY Color Catchers, but they are not as reliable, imo.
There are many opportunities to bless others with your ability to sew and quilt and Project Linus is definitely one of them!
GardenPat, I’ve never used a color catcher, but after seeing yours after washing, I think I will invest in some. Besides my mother, I don’t know anyone who sews. Perhaps I need to start reaching out to friends who have friends who sew. It would certainly be much cheaper to receive fabric than to purchase it. 😉
I am amazed at the sale prices on eggs in the US-the very best I could do this week was 1.5 dozen extra large for $2.79-which is a very good price here. Also bought flour and butter for rock bottom prices here pre Thanksgiving baking-butter for $2.99 per lb and flour for $4.99 for 10 kg. Also got some free cheese using free coupons. I cooked up the last of the apples we grew to make applesauce yesterday-my husband enjoys it on his oatmeal. Received a 20% off code for our next air booking as I politely complained to the airline that they had not notified me of a flight cancellation. As well I noticed that Safeway had Air Canada gift cards on sale for 10% off until Wed so I bought some to use for our daughters flights to and from uni. Although I am retired, I continue to do casual childcare which I enjoy and it also provides some fun money!
I always find the best sale prices on large-sized eggs. The extra-large are more money, and recipes always call for large eggs, which is another reason to buy the large ones. The best price I can find is $0.99 a dozen. I’ve seen them on sale for twice that, but I won’t pay that price. I try to buy 13 dozen when they are $0.99 a dozen. I was out of eggs and was happy to find them for $1.10 a dozen in the 5-dozen package at Sam’s Club, because the other sale prices I was seeing were $1.97 a dozen.
I just got back from my local Winco and got large eggs for .78 a dozen. They had 18 count cartons for $1.15, basically the same price. I bought two dozen because that’s all I will need for a few weeks.
I believe she lives in Canada. I, too, envy your egg prices! Like milk, egg sales are government regulated so we don’t have huge sale prices that dip so low. It is regulated to ensure farmers get fair prices for the goods they produce (or at least I think that is the theory). My best price here in Ontario is usually $1.88/dozen, which Shopper’s Drug Mart often offers on the weekend only. Occasionally there is a cheaper price somewhere else, but very rarely! I try to keep around 4 dozen in my fridge, in case I have a weekend I just can’t get to Shopper’s when they are on sale. honestly, I’d rather go without, than to pay over $2 a dozen for eggs, even though that is still a cheap protein!
Eggs are one things I will pay extra for – but I’m lucky in that a local Fruit & Veg shop sells 1 dozen extra large for $4 and they are free run with deep orange yolks – just delicious.
I’ll buy the ones from Shoppers for baking but prefer the others for eating. And for the US readers – even though $4/dozen sounds like a horrendous amount – it is easy to pay that and more for half a dozen at the Organic shops up here!
Just out of curiosity , I checked to see if any of my now teenage daughter’s favorite childhood PBS shows are on You Tube. They are! Thomas and Friends, Wild Kratts and World Girl are all on there. Ironically , the only episodes I could find of The Electric Company, were the ones from my childhood in the early 1970’s not the reboot series from the mid 2000’s my daughter watched. Your kids may enjoy these shows too.
Also , on another note “And that was Monday” was hilarious! You rock.
That was a busy week, Brandy!
I can’t stand it when the stores shift things around. It adds so much time to my shopping trips.
I hope your dryer has a simply fixed problem.
The past few days I have:
Hung most of my laundry on the line. We were still quite hot (mid and upper 90’s) until this weekend, but the rain finally fell — a little — after about 4 weeks of hot, rainless weather. Many of my yard plants are suffering, and the sun is now back, although blessedly a little cooler. Hanging out my laundry has been the method of choice this month, but then, I don’t have all the laundry a large family would have.
Cooked the chicken that I got for free due to a pricing error, and made chicken and dumplings as requested for a birthday. Since I cooked the whole chicken, I only added back some of the meat to the broth, using the rest in other meals. The bones and skin are making broth in the crockpot right now.
I bought a $25 Amazon card with $22 worth of Swagbucks.
I took a survey on software we use at work and got a $5 Amazon card.
My husband will be out of rehab soon, I asked the VA for a hospital bed when he was first hospitalized four weeks ago, and to my surprise, a medical supply company called yesterday to say they would deliver one to my home today, courtesy of the VA. One of those rolling bedside tables came with it. I had no real expectation of getting the bed, but I thought it didn’t hurt to ask. It surely didn’t. I need XL twin sheets for it, but I can get those locally, since I work in a college town.
Since we never get trick or treaters out here in the country, I am not stocking up on candy or decorations.
I shopped at the Publix Greenwise grocery store, because I had a $10 off reward coming to me. When I finished shopping, I discovered they stacked a second, $5 reward on top of it. That was a nice surprise.
Have a good week, everyone.
I am exhausted just reading your list. When I was younger (I am 65 now) I was able to do so much more. Now I have to pace myself. I do still work, pretty much full time though.
My mother has been living with us for a month due to some damage in her assisted living facility. She was finally able to go back on Friday. I know she was glad because my house is just too cold for her. This was not due to air conditioning, as we don’t have it. It just turned really cold at the end of September, and we don’t turn the heat up past 70.
I brought my breakfast and lunch to work everyday.
Got 3 free pints of honey.
Had chicken quesadillas for dinner using part of a Costco chicken
Made pizza pasta one night for dinner (actually lasted 3 nights). This was just a recipe that I made up incorporating all my favorite pizza toppings and pizza sauce instead of spaghetti sauce, then baking like a baked ziti.
Had BLTs for dinner
Had popcorn for snacks a couple of times.
Made chow mein, cole slaw, chicken broth with the bones from the Costco chicken, cauliflower soup, sausage and egg breakfast biscuits.
Poured boiling water down all kitchen and bath drains to keep them clean and flowing.
Did mother’s laundry after she moved back to her apartment.
DH cleaned out four of our raised beds to make it easier next spring.
DH also prepped land for planting garlic which will go in this week.
Made a last batch of salsa with tomatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic from the garden. Did have to buy cilantro as ours froze.
Dug carrots as we needed them. A light frost actually makes them sweeter. We will however dig all of them this weekend.
Roasted all the peppers that had turned red. My DH loves roasted red peppers on the side with his Italian dishes.
Listened to books on CD during my commute. I get them from the library.
Topped off our spices for the year by buying at Winco in bulk.
Got cereal for $1.49 for the large sizes. I almost never eat cereal, but my DH likes it occasionally.
Enjoyed relaxing with DH in the back portion of our property while taking a break between tasks. We have a couple of chairs set out between the raised beds. The sky was brilliant blue and the air clean and crisp.
I am sure there was more, but that list is enough for now.
* Got my flu & shingles shot free (with insurance) on same day to save time. But got fever next day of 101. Maybe should not have taken both on same day.
* Saved 9$ off 30$ bill at Dollar General with digital coupons & in store savings. Got 10 22 oz cans of cat food, 8 bottles of 15.5 oz shampoo, 4 cans of corn, 3 very large tubes of toothpaste, 2 bars of soap, a tube of super glue, 100 count B6 vitamin. (I take toiletries as donations to my church. Deals help me get more donation items.)
* Had dinner w/husband using Gift Card from credit card points.
* Booked airline ticket for December trip with voucher I got from airline for giving up my seat during Spring Break. I have been able to book 2 trips w/ 430$ voucher I got for a ticket that I got with airline miles. I am hoping I can offer my seat again during Spring break 2020.
* will take cat for free rabies shot. In my town teachers, police, & firefighters can get a free vaccination for their dog or cat. My cat stays indoors but in case he escapes I want him vaccinated.
I have to add to your comment about having the flu and shingles vaccine at once. I had the flu, shingles and new pneumona shot all at once and I was in horrible pain for 3 days. The day after the shots, my pain level was 8 on a scale of 1 to 10. I found the least painful position was to lie flat on my back and not move…but I am a stomach sleeper. Here is what I THINK happened. I have severe arthritis all through my back. I didn’t have any pain in my arms below the injection sites, but it seemed to go up and across my shoulders and then all the way down my back. My husband had the same shots and his reaction was like yours. I would have all of these shots again (I would do ANYTHING to prevent shingles!) but not at the same time.
My mom sent over several things….6 canisters of pringles, 2 containers of lunch meat, a loaf of bread, 2 boxes of snack cakes
Found packs of lunch meat marked down to $1 a pack for the smaller size, and $1.50 for the larger size . I purchased 4 packs to freeze for cheap lunches.
Used a groupon to take my 12yo and her friend to skyzone for an hour jump.
A friend gave me a City Saver coupon book and even though she tore out what she wanted, there was still several I would use. I then passed the book onto someone else.
Uploaded some receipts for Ibotta rebates
Sold a kids outfit for $10 on marketplace
We got a pizza one night but I picked it up for the $7.99 price and used reward points to cover the breadsticks.
Hubby has been spending $5 or so for a quick breakfast in the morning, so I purchased him some microwavable breakfast sandwiches and oatmeal bowls so he can take with him . I know I could reduce the cost even more preparing them from scratch, but time is kind of in short supply right now so we’ll take these savings.
Rented a redbox movie using a discount code
Combined errands as much as possible, ate at home, and opened the doors and windows now that it has cooled down
I took my friend to the mountains for Sunday brunch to celebrate her 90th birthday. Another friend who drove traded me her gas in exchange for photos of her children and mother in law at Christmas. I wasn’t sure how I was going to pay for the brunch but received my gst rebate cheque from the government. We saw no wildlife but the larches were at their prime — the sun on the golden larches was luminescent — they glowed. Got a few lo ely photos of the larches. A week ago this past Sunday there was a major snowfall; today we are having more snow. We had the perfect day for our trip as all of the larches will be dropping their needles. I was really happy because the lodge donated a gift certificate for an overnight stay for 2 people
(including 4 meals for each) and a second gift certificate for Sunday brunch for 4 people. Both are for a silent auction for a scholarship fund.
Today I am sick with a vicious sore throat and headache. I hope it goes away fast. Am rewriting some of the book because of new information received.
What a productive week! My frugal accomplishments for the week were:
*Meals made were BT sandwiches (no L as we were out of lettuce) ? with potato wedges and peas, tacos with corn, beef smoked sausage/potatoes/onions with salad, fried eggs with sausage and biscuits, shepherds pie using leftover london broil, corn and mashed potatoes with leftover biscuits, homemade pizza using leftover bacon, leftovers.
*Traded our car in on a 2016 Honda CRV (which does not SEEM frugal) but we did pay cash and that was only possible because we ARE frugal.
*Colored my roots using 1/2 a dye kit.
*Served chips and salsa at bible study that were brought home from a baby shower I had helped with. Also made an apple cake using past their prime apples.
*Had our new youth pastor and his wife over for lunch after church. My husband grilled chicken and I had prepared green beans in one crockpot and scalloped potatoes in another. Also served leftover apple cake for dessert. Everything was made from the pantry/freezer.
I love weeks when I’m able to squeeze every penny out of my dollars. Sadly this week was definitely not one of them. Sweet sugar cookie ended up spending 5 nights in the emergency room. I can only imagine what that bill will come to. Now the great part is that we have full insurance. We also have access to incredible health care being outside of a major city. Now the diagnoses is rare but treatable. She also has a herniated disc that will require surgery. There’s never a dull moment in my life. I’m so grateful for the free ridiculously fast internet the hospital provides. In trying to distract her from the horrendous pain, she did a lot of streaming on her tablet . That certainly kept my data bill down. We had no parking fees which is rare in the city. My food bill was less than 20.00 so overall we did well. Once again I am so grateful to be able to come here and read each week. It’s very comforting and familiar to find comfort during a time where I’m pretty much alone and extremely stressed. The posts are welcomed and provide a few moments of needed distraction. In the moment, sugar cookie is comfortable and we have the pain and medical issue under control. I hope everyone is having a good week. For those of you who post links, I travel around and read them too. Thank you for being here.
Hugs to you, Lillianna! I hope Sugar Cookie recovers quickly. Thinking of you both!
Lillianna,
My prayers to you and your daughter.
Trish
Oh, Lillianna. I hope Sugar Cookie is on the mend. That’s a long time to spend in emergency! Sending warm hugs and well wishes, as you deal with yet another unexpected crisis.
Poor Sugar Cookie and poor you. I hope she has a quick recovery. I am so happy that you have good insurance.
I know my comments and experiences don’t sound very frugal compared to many of you. We are 2 professionals (who were not blessed with children) and we have scrimped and saved for years while we have worked and gone to (and paid cash for) graduate school (doctorates), all while living in a fixer-upper farmhouse that we worked on ourselves. Now that we’re both done (technically he’s finished next month, but the tuition is already paid), not paying out 25K a *semester* for school is making a huge impact on the budget! We have some student loans, but not too many. I am trying to balance the options (and luxuries) available to us in this new season with our historical frugal ways and look to this group to remind me of places I can and *should* make adjustments.
With that…
Ate home all but 2 meals last week. Brought my coffee, breakfast, and lunch to work each day. Earned points toward a free sub with one meal and my friend sent me home with leftovers from the other. Drank water in refillable mug. Attended free Zumba classes at the base. Made a batch of elderberry syrup and an essential oil blend as something is going around the school. Made batches of homemade window cleaner, floor cleaner, and multipurpose cleaner to refill containers. Bought a 50 lb. bag of oatmeal (online – free shipping, but did not do quite as well as Maxine) to restock. Skipped the grocery store again this week.
Gave myself a manicure and facial. Continued using cloth napkins and “unpaper” towels. Waited an extra week to dye my own hair (using headbands). Saved the dryer lint and candle wax to make fire starters for the fireplace. Picked up dropped branches for kindling. Fed the chickens kitchen scraps (they love apple cores). Mended 3 shirts, the hem of a dress, a pair of pajamas, a bath towel, and a dog toy. Used the empty cat food bag as a trash bag. Doctor ran some additional tests I’d been avoiding due to cost since we’ve hit out OOP max for the year. Lost 6 lbs.
Signed up for the Blue Buffalo savings program for the cat food – buy 12 bags get one free.
We made “frugal” choices for an un-frugal weekend away. We wanted to go to Orlando for a 3 day weekend to see a Jimmy Buffet concert and stay at his resort. We looked at costs and decided to do a much cheaper resort a mile away and go to the resort for drinks and listen to the concert live streamed at the resort rather than buy tickets (and pay for parking) to see him live. We will try some highly rated local restaurants rather than do fine dining, and walk about the Disney resorts to see the decorations rather than do a theme park. These choices saved us nearly $1500 on a weekend!!… The “savings” covers our costs for a 5 day trip to Puerto Rico for Valentine’s Day. We will build hotel, credit card, and airfare loyalty points on these trips to use on a big trip we are hoping to take next year utilizing free airfare and hotels. Our dining choices will earn us points with Open Table toward future restaurant bills.
Since we are going to Vegas for Christmas and Puerto Rico for Valentine’s Day we will not exchange gifts for either holiday this year.
I think your savings are great!
I hope that as you continue with your frugal ways, you can quickly pay off your student loans, finish your plans for your farmhouse, and get to see all the things the two of you want!
Jennifer: I know it has been a hard road but as a couple who were in similar circumstances, and I am here to tell you it will pay off for the rest of your lives. You will never regret the hardships, not only because they build character and a stronger marriage, but the financial and professional rewards will be worth it. We still have financial challenges, due to illnesses, but both the husband and I have had very satisfying careers and some of our best memories were made during those years of struggling. (And some of the worst. The ratty starter home we bought had rotted floors in places and once I sat on our toilet and it started to go through the floor. Since then I have always worried that our toilets in subsequent houses would crash through the floors, to the point that my husband installed an extra stud under our bathroom toilet area in this house, just so I could relax. I know it sounds like something you would get over, but that feeling of throwing yourself off the toilet because you cannot stand up fast enough when your pants are pulled down, as you hear the wood splintering beneath you never leaves you. I am glad I was in my 20s and more limber than I am now!)
That is hysterical.
When we redo the upstairs bathroom, I will make sure another we add an extra stud.
I was in the kitchen once and the ceiling collapsed on me.(AC leak) I dove under the table and was yelling for help and my husband came in and just started laughing. He said later it was either laugh or cry.
The phrase in our house is ” why is the house trying to kill us”
Marble, the toilet situation was clearly traumatizing. But honestly, I can picture an entire home repair movie built around that one scene. I hope you don’t mind the humor it causes the mind to conjure.
I remember those years! We lived in a very old Victorian house and for the first three years we were without a dryer. It took us that long to save up to have the electricity upgraded. I hope you’ll have yours fixed in no time. There are great advantages to time saving devices.
This week on the medical front, I am pleased to say that the insurance is going to pay for a very expensive immune building medication. This will give me strength to finish my treatment.
On our travels to the Huntsman Cancer Institute, we stayed in DH’s cousin’s condo at Park City. I’d never been to downtown Park City, so we went for the day. We bought nothing but lunch. We brought food for dinner and snacks.
The remainder of last week was a normal frugal week of reusing and not wasting. We are shopping from our pantry for the most part.
Blessings.
Hang in there, Trish! You can do it! Sending you much love!
Patricia/Fl
Thank you Patricia! You have been most encouraging and I do appreciate it. ❤️ When I am through this, I will know how long and lonely it can be and hope to be on the encouraging end for others!
Blessings to you and yours,
Trish
Brandy,
Sounds like you had another busy, productive week.
My biggest frugal win has been not giving in to eating out and instead using food I already have at home.
This summer while at the beach I visited a very high end boutique shop. They had scientific posters framed in aged wood for $55. I found a scientific poster of insects that I thought my 6 year grandson would enjoy having. He loves learning about all animals. I paid $5 for the poster and framed it in wood myself using aged wood I already had. It looked just as nice as the high end piece. This will be a Christmas gift for him.
I visited Hobby Lobby and found some really nice soft cotton yarn which I used to crochet 2 wash clothes. I have a nice bottle of face wash that I will put with these as a Christmas gift for a niece. Total cost was $5 plus my time to crochet which I did in the evening while watching tv.
I babysat my grandson last Friday (his school has early dismissal every Friday). We needed something to do so we went on a walk and collected fall leaves. We came home and made the leaves into place mats by ironing them between sheets of waxed paper. We are going to use the place mats on our Thanksgiving table. He really enjoyed collecting the leaves and I think he will be proud to have his work displayed on the Thanksgiving table. This was a totally free activity since I have had that roll of waxed paper for years.
I only get a handful of trick or treaters so I was able to go to the discount grocery and buy the regular size candy bars for .25 each. Earlier in the year, I was able to purchase sets of children’s water color paints for .25 at Target so I have 4 of those to give out to special trick or treaters this year.
Our adult son is going to Japan on vacation this weekend. We are taking him to the airport and picking him up which is frugal for him so he does not have to pay for parking.
Thanks to everyone for making this such a special place to visit each week.
Love the placemat idea!
I have just caught up on the last few weeks’ posts. We aren’t really off the frugal wagon since it’s just our way of life, but I haven’t been jotting down notes of our accomplishments like I usually do. I was recently diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and the changes that have started due to that have taken up a lot of my time and energy! But hopefully we’ll be back in the groove soon.
*Our diet has started changing and it has been a shock to our grocery budget. I thought we ate healthy before with whole grains, beans, lean meats, vegetables/fruits and very little processed foods. But I have been given a new diet that is very heavy on even more vegetables with strict guidelines for servings of types of vegetables that will give me the nutrients I need to help fight off the MS symptoms. While we did eat healthy before, this is a whole new level. So many leafy greens and other vegetables, both fresh and frozen, being added to our grocery list, along with the least processed meats we can find, has more than doubled our grocery spending. I’m trying to adjust, but it’s definitely a struggle at the moment. We will definitely be expanding our garden in the spring in order to grow more ourselves.
*Since the grocery budget is completely out of whack at the moment, I have been focusing on what I have a bit more control over, such as utilities and spending in other areas. I have continued shutting off lights and unplugging appliances not in use, and last month this saved almost $15 on the electric bill so I will continue doing it!
*We got a surprise refund from our old insurance company and put the bulk of that into savings.
*I’ve been self-educating on gardening in hopes of being able to produce more food in the spring. Over the winter we plan to build some cold frames out of materials we have on hand so next fall we can plant another round of cold tolerant vegetables to help through the winter.
A bit more details on my blog here: https://www.cozyhomemaking.com/frugal-fun-homemaking-for-september-29-october-5-2019/
Diet can be so hard to change so quickly. It really takes time to research, find new dishes that work for you that you actuall like, and reprogram your shopping habits. I’m sure with time, your grocery bill will come down. For now, do what you need to do to help with your immediate needs. Wishing you well as you cope with this very difficult diagnosis, Jenny.
Jenny: Sending you encouragement has you adjust to this new life path. Learning more about gardening and expending your garden will be helpful to both your body and spirit.
Much grace to you.
Patricia/FL
Jenny R.,
Sorry to hear about your MS diagnosis — the progress that’s been made in effective treatments has been stunning.
I have a couple of friends with it and they have done very well.
The dietary changes you have to make are very interesting. It sounds like it is a diet high in folate. And other vitamins. I’m not sure why the restrictions on beans, rice, and pasta. I do not eat rice at all because I’m allergic to it but also because rice paddies were sprayed with arsenic in the 1930s and it stays in the soil for generations. Good luck with switching the diet and controlling or eliminating symptoms. Ann
I’ve not logged on in a while but have had some recent savings and frugal activities as follows:
*Purchased 2 pizza crusts in the discount bin of my grocery store and used the Tightwad Pizza sauce recipe with them one evening when time was scarce. Delicious and for 1.79 for two crusts, worth the time savings for me!
*Got free Polish Kielbasa
*purchased 25 cent candy at CVS
*received a free peach and free apple
*purchased thrift store steamer basket I needed
*went out to lunch with my DH for our anniversary
*DH changed oil in van and did brake work himself
*DH fixed our washing machine; cost $42 for part vs. calling in a repairman (I’m so thankful he can do these things)
*We are looking for a used vehicle as our van is on its last breath. We’d rather buy now vs buying in a panic
*recently obtained flu shots at Publix for all family members. No oop cost as covered by our health insurance. We received $40 in gift cards! I love it! I purchased items we needed that were on sale.
*gave myself a manicure/pedicure
Jenny,
Sorry to hear of your diagnosis. I had a friend who was diagnosed with MS. You might find his story interesting https://thecompounder.com/jeff-pricketts-story/
Also, I wonder if the diet you’re on is the Plant Paradox Diet. Dr. Gundry has done lots of work on autoimmune diseases and believes it’s all about diet. He has a podcast with another doctor who got over MS with diet. You can DuckDuckGo it at this link
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dr.+Gundry+MS&t=ffab&ia=web
I hope you get over this. I have another friend who refuses to change her diet (which is really unhealthful , including lots of sugar and processed food)and I fear for her prognosis.
Best of luck!
Found a new library used book sale that is definitely going on the calendar. Its so big they “borrow” a skating rink, tape canvas drop cloths to the floor, have piles of empty cardboard boxes for your selections and even take debit/credit cards. So well organized! One of the best books found at the sale is another from the series of cook/lifestyle books commissioned by the Mennonite Committee. This book is “Living More with Less” and although written a while ago, basic, practical, prudent (!) advise makes this my favorite and most valuable book find in a long, long time.
Bought and shipped to family caring for my motherinlaw things she often doesn’t realize she “is using the last one now”. She very much likes the muscle cream patches which are much better value when you buy a box of 60 vs box of 9. Hopefully, it was save a few of those last minute rush errand runs and ease some stress.
Then a few days later, used some cash back points to order a replacement cord for a favorite vacuum cleaner that has been very good to me for 25 years and is hands down better than nearly every other vacuum I have tried. When I think of how much I resisted spending about $225.00 on it back then, it’s just another example of quality vs quantity.
Also ordered with cash back points, a replacement lamp cord for a lam pwe own of my husband’s grandmother. The lamp is one of the only things he has of Grandmother’s so this very important to him.
And then, after the grocery store again isn’t stocking a Columbian whole bean that 8 Oclock coffee offers, I found that Amazon offers it. You can buy once or if I chose to subscribe to regular shipments, a 40% off coupon would be applied to the first shipment price. So, a month’s worth of coffee beans using the coupon and then some more loyalty points, and because it’s Amazon Prime, no money of my pocket.
Finally, we have some ripe tomatoes!! Had to cover them one night to protect them for a frost warning but at least, after a very cold rainy spring and very rainy summer, garden tomatoes!!!
Husband’s son did electrical work on another room and added 4 outlets inside, two outside. The outlets are not only so much more convenient and so much safer than using extension cords. I’m not sure what it would have cost if my husband’s son wasn’t licensed and certified but my guess is we saved at least a couple of hundred dollars. And much safer too!
The electrical work also included replacing outside door motion detector light that hasn’t tripped the circuit breakers once when the other would almost every single time. Outdoor door lights make such a difference!!
Made soup from a turkey breast carcass and so far one supper and two lunches for two adults and there is one more meal of soup waiting in the fridge.
Had breakfast for supper : homemade pancakes with marked down uncured bacon
And today, my car keys were missing all morning and it really looked like a trip to have car keys remade. Keys for both cars are on that ring and one set would’ve required a trip to the dealer, I count it a big win when I found them. I found them on the vanity of the master bathroom which I guess I was hurrying coming back home.
That sounds like one very cool used book sale, Kaye! The Mennonite book sound very interesting. Glad you found it at the sale! Would love it if you’d share some of the ideas you learned from it and/or found most helpful with all of us!
I don’t know about Sam’s Club for certain, but Walmart’s app has a feature that you can enter an item’s name and it will locate it in the store. It drives me batty when the store gets rearranged and this tip has helped me preserve my sanity when shopping. It would likely help with adjusting the order of your shopping list to match the store layout as well. What an excellent week for your family!
Kaye,
I’m wondering if your vacuum is a NIlfisk. I have an old one too and it’s great! I, too was horrified at spending that money, but mine is about the same age!
It’s been a couple of weeks since I commented but the weeks seemed to get away from me. I am definitely going to be trying to be more efficient with the bit of free time I have. We have been having lovely weather here in Ontario and I’ve been working hard to get some cleaning projects done. Most of the windows are cleaned inside and out and all laundry has been hung outside to dry. I have been canning quite a bit and am now just awaiting a good price on some pears to can and make pear sauce with. My husband has been working full-time since the beginning of September which has been a blessing, although he’ll be having an unpaid week off the first week of November. My mom has been so generous in picking up groceries for us as it is often the expensive items of cheese and meat. It keeps our grocery bills down, although at the moment I am still using the gift cards I won in August. Hope everyone has a lovely, frugal week!
Hello Frugal Friends,
I hope everyone is doing well! Here are my frugal accomplishments:
– I cooked at home all week, even on church night! We had tacos, pork chops, pizza, spaghetti and chili.
– I had a craft fair last weekend. I made a little over $210 on it. This was my first craft fair so I was happy with this result.
– I have been scanning my receipts to a bunch of apps. I wrote a blog post about it at: https://lizsfrugalfamilyfun.com/2019/10/11/5-receipt-scanning-apps-you-need-on-your-phone-today/ This has given me a lot of cash back to have for other purchases.
– I pulled a bunch of items out of my garden as yesterday it snowed here in Colorado! Now I need to cook my pumpkins and squash.
– I have been studying personal finance, management, entrepreneurship and accounting this semester. It is keeping me on my toes! But I am doing well.
– I have been publishing on my other blog CrochetandCraftwithMe.com free crochet patterns. If you like to crochet, please check me out!
Have a great week!
Liz
Always so inspired by Brandy and the wonderful community of blog contributors.
This week….
-Quickly preparing for the arrival of winter weather. I brought my potted spices and ferns in and placed them in a sunny widow until next spring. (No grow lights are necessary)
-Met my medical deductible so scheduled some medical tests and appointments during this calendar year.
-Went to a rummage sale in a house from the 60’s that had never been remodeled. It was like a walk into a museum, really fun. Bought nothing, too expensive.
-Sewing some fabric baskets for my sisters for Christmas. I keep my sewing machine set up and grab a few minutes here and there to work on my projects.
-Remodeling a storage closet. Took everything out and donated or repurposed several items. I have decided to take a few collectibles to a local antique store to see if they might be interest.
-Have been reading one book online from the library and checked out the cd discs for another that will be discussed at book club nest week.
Enjoy your week…stay frugal all.
Gas is close to $6.00 a gallon here. That means everything will go up. Needless to say, we are combining every trip lately. I have been savings up for months to buy a new washer. I have had it with the High Efficiency washer I have. It takes 1 hour for a load and does not get clothes clean. I wanted an old fashioned washer with an agitator and one that used a full tub of water. I bought a Commercial Speed Queen. It sure does not disappoint, everything is so clean and I can wash a full load again. It has an 10 year warranty. The electricity here is expected to get a rate increase in January again. Discouraging, but not ready to try Solar yet. Heard to many complaints. Glad we heat with wood. Have a frugal week everyone!