I cut herbs from my garden for part of display for a presentation that my sister-in-law was doing.
I picked pears from the garden.
I cut flowers from the garden.
We enjoyed about 10 minutes of rain on Thursday. I put out buckets to catch the rain from the roof, and was able to turn the drip irrigation off for a few cycles. We saw two rainbows.
I collected white larkspur seeds and white stock seeds from the garden. I planted some of the stock seeds in the white garden to grow again. I also transplanted some stock plants that had self-seeded in the white garden to other places in the white garden.
Winter went to camp for four days, having earned her own way through babysitting. (All of the girls are encouraged to earn the money themselves to attend camp.)
I sliced and dehydrated the last of the tiny peaches from my father-in-law and some pears from my tree.
I recently mentioned on Facebook that I was looking to watch the French film “Le Petit Nicholas”. I knew a version with English subtitles existed so that my children could watch it, and I was looking for an inexpensive way to watch it. Of all the ways I considered, oddly enough, I hadn’t though to look at the library. Our library has a very tiny aisle of foreign language materials, of which 1/3 appears to be films. I checked the library’s website and I was able to find the film! I was also able to get several French workbooks for myself (unfortunately, they have no reading material in French). They don’t have the second film (nor do any libraries in our district), but we enjoyed the first one.
I mended some holes in a dress.
I received a free magaine in the mail, as part of a free subscritpion that I have, thanks to Recycle Bank.
Saturday evening we had a fun time enjoying a church activity as a family, where we had a dinner and went swimming at someone’s house.
What did you do to save money last week?
This week we concentrated on not wasting any food! We basically committed to eating what we had in the fridge, freezer and pantry. In the past, we usually ended up throwing away food that spoiled. We picked several tomatoes, lemon cucumbers and zucchini from the garden. We were also able to use the last of the eggs my cousin gave us. Lastly, we were given four vintage oak dining chairs for free from a neighbor who was getting rid of them!
I gleaned over one hundred ears of corn, that will pressure can this week.
Our friends were on vacation this week and said we could go pick out of their garden. We got a bunch of tomatoes, 3 zucchini, and two spaghetti squash.
I was also given bag of yellow squash from one friend and a bag of tomatoes from another.
Well, due to winter FAST approaching here (saw Canadian geese flying south the other day…ugh) and a late outbreak of cabbage loopers and yard worms, I ended up doing some major harvesting in my tiny garden this week. I cut all of the big offshoots off of my kale and processed them for the freezer, dug my one potato plant and other things.
i was able to glean some raspberries from my mother-in-law this week. My mother-in-law let my sister-in-laws and nieces and nephews at the plants before me, but the plant was still producing so much that I found a lot of squished berries on the ground (it made me sad). I picked EVERY berry I could find and have an invite to go back in a week or two to pick more. I will definitely take her up on it. I could definitely use the berries for jam.
My other frugal accomplishments this week can be found here…
http://makedohomemaker.blogspot.com/2015/08/frugal-friday-money-saving-weekly-recap_14.html
Love the pears. We used to have a pear tree, they can really produce. I made a lot of pear cake! So glad you daughter had a great time at camp. It’s great she earned her own way!
We are done with picking beans and onto cabbage and tomatoes. It’s been a good year.
Here are the rest of my frugal accomplishments this past week
http://vickieskitchenandgarden.blogspot.com/2015/08/my-frugal-ways-this-past-week-81615.html
I used food in my pantry. My daughter wanted to go out for food. We did get a slushy to split(Went to local shop that I went to at her age). Purchased sale items at store and used coupons plus sales on tp and trash bags. Picking crabapples tonight. There is a tree across from where I work. Never noticed before. I’ve watched for a week and no-one takes them. They just let them drop and sit there. It’s in a public owned business area. Borrowed movies and books from library(I recommend Mandy and the Secret Tunnel.). Redid my whole budget. Listening to a set of Dave Ramsey FPU CD’s I’ve had. (I’ve listened before, but wanted to refresh my memory.) I listen in the car. When I’m finished going to let a friend borrow. I got cucumbers, zucchini, and peppers from my grandma’s garden. Used crescent rolls on sale w cheese and tomato sauce,I had from previous sales, and purple bell peppers(grandma
This week, DH had some heart surgery on Wed with the pre-op testing on Tues and release from hospital from Thurs. that meant a lot of my time has been with him and the hospital.
But, in between, I’ve managed to can 8 more jars of salsa, 6 of hot pepper jam, 2 quarts of tomatoes so that my garden bounty didn’t go bad! We used some of the sweet and sour sauce I canned last season to make a quick and easy sweet and sour pork dinner (using pork that I had previously cut into chunks, precooked and frozen). Took apple crisp over to a family using my home canned apple pie filling and for the crisp top, since I only had quick rolled oats upstairs instead of regular ones, I substituted 6 grain rolled cereal for the plain rolled oats. Made a very tasty topping. (I will go down to the basement and refill my upstairs canister with regular rolled oats today though!)
My prepackaging snacks as well as leftovers into individual serving containers has been such a blessing! So much easier in the mornings for us to “grab and go” the components for our lunches so quickly! That has saved us a ton over buying lunches out because we didn’t have time to prepare them in the morning.
A dear quilting buddy of mine passed away from cancer about 7 months ago. She lived about 2 hours away but she and another friend would come up to my house for quilting “retreats” for a few days a couple times a year as well as getting together several times a year. I have been blessed over the years with fabric “leftovers” from friends who know that I make quilts to give- to friends, hospitals, charitable organizations, etc. My fabric stash has always been available for others, who don’t have, to come and choose from mine and take it home as their own. Over the years, after her diagnosis, my friend would always tell me that she wanted me to “inherit” her quilting fabric/supplies. At her funeral, her son and husband said they would appreciate my help sorting through her sewing room. I told them I would do whatever they would ask to help them. I didn’t feel like it was appropriate to mention my friend’s “bequest”. Our friendship was worth much more than any fabric. Imagine my surprise this week, 7 months later, when her husband told me that he and her sister and niece had gone through everything and had it boxed up in their foyer for me to take the following day if possible! So the day after my DH was released from the hospital I got up early and drove the 2+ hours and we packed it all into my minivan (I had taken all the seats out) every inch of space- floor to ceiling was packed tightly. There were quilt tops that she had finished but not quilted and bound that I will finish and give to her family members that she had planned them for. I will share some of this bounty and donate more quilts in her memory. As I sort through the boxes, it is bittersweet. I am grateful she entrusted me with this, but oh, how I miss her!!!
Dear husband is on the mend. He will recuperate from home this upcoming week. I have been incredibly blessed this week and am truly grateful!
Went to the gym everyday not only for exercise but also to enjoy the air conditioning and shower facilities.
Froze onions and tomatoes from the garden.
Had “girls night” at our house. I provided homemade wine. There was enough leftover food brought by others to feed us for a couple days.
Enjoyed a cookout with friends in exchange for teaching them about wine making.
Helped a good friend update her resume and cover letter. Not really anything “frugal” on my part but it made me feel good to help!
hi i know your area is big but thought you would like to know we have a new sis missionary in our ward sister windser i probably spelled wrong but it makes iowa not seem so far from your area she is a sweet sister…
still doing apples here i did dry some more zucchini
it takes me an hour and a half to load both dehydrators with a total of 23 trays between the both of them i can do a half a bushel a day it is wearing me out but i continue on it will be nice to have my kitchen back from apples here is our favorite use for these dried apples apple crisp
this i use with my dried apples but still could be used with fresh ones just omit water.
in a 9×13 sprayed pan place 2 c. dried apples
and 1 c. boiling water
set aside while mixing topping
1/3 c. flour
2/3 c. br sugar
3/4 tsp. cinn
3/4 c. oatmeal
1/3 c melted butter
mix all together and spread over apples and water
bake 350 degrees thirty to forty min
then we use other ways mostly oatmeal and granola
What a bittersweet story indeed! May you continue to find comfort in your friend’s memory by blessing others through her handiwork and yours.
I didn’t do much this week with my kids going back to school, but I went to the Dollar Store Market after church today and was so excited to find chicken for $.95 a pound I bought all they had. Turned our air conditioning off in the mornings and evening since has been so nice.
I get lots of free magazines thanks to Recyclebank 😉 Magazine buying was a fetish of mine so it’s so nice to be able to get them all for free!!
I worked 7 days (well nights really) in a row from Sat the 8th through Fri the 14th. so I was basically too busy to do anything that caused me to spend money.
Organized things in our garage…I just don’t have time for a yardsale so lots of things are getting thrown away.
Watched shows on Hulu
Downloaded a few free books to my iPad through my Kindle app
Took advantage of free giveaways in our community (we skipped the school supply one because we can afford to buy school supplies for our son and there are so many in my community in more need of them than us). Did get some free produce though–carrots, zucchini, corn
Ate the free food at work–since I work in a prison, I cannot bring in my own food. We all have to eat in the chow hall. It’s not that great but it’s free…Salad bar, grilled cheese sandwiches are usually what I get
Not much in the way of frugality–especially when you get a $150 speeding ticket–lesson learned 😉
Brandy, your photo of the rainbow is stunning! I also loved reading that Winter earned her camp money through babysitting. With so many younger siblings, I’m sure she is a very good babysitter!
My daughter attended a sleep-away camp for the first time this week. We were all very anxious about how she would do, as she has Asperger’s (Autism Spectrum) and can have behaviour problems. The camp was for children with ADHD, Autism and other similar difficulties and therefore have 1 camp councilor for every 2 children. We were very pleased to find out that she was very well behaved at camp and she really thoroughly enjoyed herself. So now I have to find more funding to send her again next year, hopefully for 2 weeks this time (the cost was just under $3,000 for just the one week).
My frugal accomplishments this week are:
*I forgot last week to tell you about the lovely purse that I made myself to take on our trip to Vegas. I wove a “rag rug” at work on the 2 harness floor loom in the weaver’s shop, using fabric strips from an old costume dress and a bed sheet. I then took the rag rug home, used fabric from an old shirt to sew a lining on the inside of the purse, and repurposed a canvas belt I bought from a thrift store as the strap. Turned out really nice and it worked perfectly for carrying all my things (water bottle, camera, medicine, etc.) as we walked around the various attractions!
*Blanched about 2 dozen ears of corn (using the blancher pot I bought for $2 at auction) then cut the nibblets off using a new kitchen tool my mom gave me last Christmas and froze them on cookie sheets before packaging up in bags for use in winter. Also blanched another batch of beans at the same time and froze them for winter as well. Some of the beans were bought at a roadside farm stand and some were gleaned from the gardens at work.
*Gleaned more pole beans from work. I will blanch and freeze them sometime this week.
*Collected dried pea pods and spinach seed from my garden to use next year. I also gleaned some bachelor button seed pods from the gardens at my work.
*Collected 4 vine ripened tomatoes from the plants I started from seed indoors this year. This is the first time I have ever had tomatoes actually ripen on the vine. Usually we have to pick them green and ripen them in a window because the weather was turning too cold. I’m finally getting a better handle on gardening, after several years of trying!
*Went to 2 more free concerts in the park. One was Sass Jordan, which was really lively and fun. The second was an A Cappella group called Home Free. Apparently they won an NBC TV reality show called Sing Off, in case someone watched it. These guys were just spectacular, not to mention funny! I thought I would share one of their original songs they performed (which is featured on YouTube) called “Champagne Taste (on a Beer Budget)”…completely appropriate for a frugal blog I think:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDDi3dFq1Rs
Just a note, they do not use any instruments or pre-recorded background music. The drum beats you hear are being made by the man wearing the red cowboy shirt in the video. His beat box abilities are just mind blowing! If you’d like to hear more, they have lots of videos to listen to on YouTube. Totally worth cruising through some of their stuff!
*Received 7 free juice boxes that were being handed out to the crowd while waiting for the free Home Free concert to start. I drank one and saved the rest to use in my daughter’s school lunches. Gotta love free stuff at free events!
*Was given a lovely bouquet of flowers as a thank you for all my volunteer hours on the Jacquard Loom. It was our official opening of the working loom this Saturday during the Festival of Textiles event. I was scheduled off as I needed to pick up my daughter from her first week ever at sleep-away camp, so I missed the official ceremony. However, we did stop in on our way home. My mother, daughter and I were able to attend the event without paying, as I am staff.
Can’t wait to read everyone accomplishments. Have a wonderful week everyone!
Froze some of the tomatoes we had. I blanched them to take the skin off then cut in two. Flash froze and put into bags. Later these will be fine in cooked food. We make Swiss steak with frozen tomatoes.
It has been super hot here and not a drop of rain in almost 2 months. I have hand watered when we are allowed. I have made some self watering devices from gallon jugs and smaller bottles for smaller plants. It has hit 110 here with a heat factor of 118. Standing at the clothes line is difficult.
Got some news from my doctor I was not ready to hear. I need to have knee replacement surgery as soon as possible. I explained that right now was just not good because of medical bills we already have for my husband. So he gave me another steroid shot, a new skin deadening cream, and changed my pain medication for a while. This is not the perfect answer, but maybe I can get by for a year or so.
We also had a death in our family last week. Not unexpected, but still very hard. The wife of my dear cousin. (my cousin is closer to me than my own brothers, we grew up next door to each other and we lived together through college) His wife was only 60 and she battled cancer for 2 years and stopped taking the medications just over 6 months ago because the treatment was so hard on her. There are 2 grand daughters now who lost a grandmother and my cousin is heart broken. He is also disabled with Lupus disease. We had to go to Houston for the service. I was surprised that gas prices there are a lot cheaper than here. I paid $2.30 a gallon here and in Houston it was $2.12 at the Sam’s club. (that is where we get almost all of our gas when we can)
Rain and a rainbow! How lovely! I got my first book through an interlibrary loan instead of buying it. It’s a gardening book- The Resilient Gardener. I’ve picked up a few good tips already. I have to ask… did you or your SIL do something with the herbs after the presentation? I expect that answer will be a yes :o) Joining in here: http://abelabodycare.blogspot.com/2015/08/a-new-steamer-and-frugal-accomplishments.html
We went on our annual vacation two weeks ago and my mom brought a bunch of fruit. When we came home, she let me keep the leftover fruit. It wasn’t going to last long, so I dehydrated it. I now have a cup of dried apple slices, 1/2 cup dried pineapple, and almost 1/2 cup of raisins.
Yesterday I cooked a 10lb bag of chicken quarters I bought on sale last month for $4.90. Today I am deboning the chicken, dividing it into bags, and making chicken stock. Tonight I’ll make another batch of stock in the crock pot.
While cleaning out the fridge on Thursday, I found two peaches and two plums that need to get eaten. Tomorrow I will make them into jam.
I’m sorry to hear of the loss of your friend but loved reading about your plans for her quilting stash, particularly your plans to finish the quilts for her family. May the work bring you many happy memories, comfort, and peace.
Brandy, I’m glad for you that you had some rain. And two rainbows?!? How marvelous!
Here’s my list:
-I cut flowers from the front flower beds to enjoy inside the house.
-We harvested more tomatoes from our vegetable beds and enjoyed more BLTs made with bacon from the freezer.
-I was allowed to pick more tomatoes from the volunteer plant at church. We enjoyed them for lunch that day.
-I replaced the zipper in my son’s favorite hoodie, which not only saved one of his favorite articles of clothing but was also less expensive than purchasing a new hoodie.
-I purchased items to give as Christmas gifts while I had a discount coupon. I purchased other gifts on clearance. All of the gifts are inventoried and tucked away so I don’t forget or lose them before Christmas.
-I cooked a couple of special request recipes for my son before he returned to university.
-I cooked some pork (found on clearance) and chicken in the crock pot, then portioned and packaged the cooked meat for the freezer. This will make meal preparation easier on busy evenings.
-I packed food for my husband and daughter to take when they worked a fundraiser for her cross country team so they wouldn’t need to purchase overpriced meals and snacks at the venue where they were working all day.
-I tried a new recipe for no bake granola bars. The recipe is made with shelf stable ingredients but is not terribly frugal due to the amount of honey needed. These will still be a good pre-race breakfast for my daughter before her cross country meets. I packaged several bars for the freezer so we can pull them out when needed.
-I made homemade sports drink to help my daughter rehydrate after cross country practice and meets. My family didn’t like the original recipe very well but I was able to tweak it to suit their tastes. This will be a much more affordable way to help my daughter replenish her system after 5 – 7 mile runs.
I wrote about my week and posted the sports drink recipe and a link to the granola bar recipe at AChatOverCoffee.com.
Ouai! You’ve found the film! I hope you have enjoyed it also 🙂
This week I tried to not waste any food and I found a couple of deals at the supermarket. Not doing much as I am dividing myself between my house and my MIL’s.
My great I grandmother died in the early 1940’s, about 15 years before I was born. Her finished quilts were all sold at an auction after her daughter died in the late 1960’s because none of her grandchildren wanted them. But her unfinished quilt made of white and navy old clothing was not sold. I finished it as a young adult and used it as my bedspread for about a decade, until it simply could not be mended again. I am so glad you are finishing your friend’s quilts.
Brandy, have you looked on amazon.com for free French books readable on Kindle?
I haven’t. I have a number of books I bought in France, but I was hoping for a few particular ones to be at the library. Amazon has the actual books for sale, but I was hoping to get them from the library to read. It may be time I learn to use Inter-Library Loan!
Have you asked your reference librarian if they might be able to get you the film by inter-library loan? It takes a bit longer, but many libraries are able to get you items outside their collection this way.
I’m glad you were able to find the movie you were looking for!
I did a mystery shopping assignment after work at a grocery store and 2 on Saturday. I picked up things for the pantry and a few “luxuries” we don’t normally buy.
I took advantage of a special offer on one of my credit cards to do a balance transfer to reduce finance charges and put us closer to being debt free.
I completed a Pinecone survey.
I cashed in for a $25 Amazon gift card on swagbucks.
I stopped at Publix on my way home from work to get an Inkos tea free with a coupon I had. They didn’t have the tea, but while I was there I checked out their clearance table and got a box of falafel mix and 2 large cans of matzo meal for $1.75 each (Falafel was $3.89 regular price and the matzo meal $4.99 regular price). I also got a cucumber for 75 cents, a package of pita bread for $1.39 and a container of greek yogurt for $1 so I could make the falafel. When I checked out, the matzo meal and falafel rang up regular price, so I got 1 matzo meal and the falafel mix free! I made the falafel when I got home and served it with watermelon from the CSA and got 2 dinners and a lunch from it for a total of $3.14 (plus the watermelon that was included in the produce box).
I stopped at a different Publix and got the free Inkos tea on Saturday when I was doing errands.
I placed an order online using the $25 Lane Bryant coupon they sent me. I was able to get 6 pairs of socks for $1.89 OOP with free pick up in the store. Our store doesn’t carry socks and I really needed socks.
I worked in the garden. Turned the compost and added more to it. I picked a couple of cherry tomatoes and 2 large tomatoes. I gifted vincas that had reseeded to 2 co-workers. I reused plastic packs I had saved from when I bought veggie starts and got four 6-packs to give to them. I replanted a tall succulent that broke off from one plant into a pot my daughter gifted to me when she moved. It had an outer pot and an inner clay insert. They both looked nice separately, so I’ll use them as 2 separate pots. I deadheaded some of my flowers. I separated strawberry plants and filled in the new plants where some had died. I picked a butternut squash to gift to a co-worker. I moved some volunteers around. I staked up my tomatoes. I pruned my raspberry bush. I cleaned up the beds. I trimmed the old canes of my blackberries. I started training the new canes to grow along a chain link fence. I cut down the banana plant that had fruited and set aside to add to my next batch of compost. I dug a banana pup to bring in to a co-worker. I put the finishing touches on the drainage trench my son had dug – just making it look nicer and more like a “landscape feature” Boy I’m tired!
I paid $1.99 to “buy” an episode of a Travel Channel show on You Tube (cheaper than upgrading our cable!).
Have a great frugal and productive week everyone!
All my tomatoes are FINALLY ready plus my sister gave me tomatoes as well, so earlier in the week I canned 8 pints of salsa, and then yesterday I canned 18 half pints of pizza sauce, 4 pints of tomatoes and then a new recipe of 10 half pints of orange juice jelly (tastes like marmalade without the bits of peel). My kids and I were treated to a Chinese food lunch on Friday by my mom and then we went to a local nature preserve and saw all kinds of nice plants and spent a bit of time in the butterfly house-it was cool (and free). We ate all meals at home otherwise. I continued to crochet a small afghan for a friend for Christmas using yarn that someone gave to me. I plant to use as many homemade gifts for Christmas this year as I can. I have two bills to pay off by February and then we REALLY need our kitchen redone and I want to do it a little bit at a time and mostly on our own so we don’t really go into debt doing it.
Funny how you are excited about rain while we are so tired of it! I know that you don’t get a lot in your area, though.
This week I borrowed a goat rather than buying one to keep my lonely goat company (our other goats are away at the breeders). I also was able to use many of last years school supplies for the kids rather than buying new. I found new shoes at a discount store for a few of my kids (had hoped to find some at Goodwill or Once Upon a Child, but no luck).
This week has been a good one. I picked cherry and roma tomatoes from the garden and froze them. My mom bought a box of nectarines for $10 and gave me half. We ate a few out of hand but I sliced and froze most of them. My kids and I spent a morning picking wild blackberries. I froze them and have almost a gallon bag full. I think we’ll go again. We had a couple of days of rain so we turned the sprinkler system off.
You could look to see what is available at UNLV. Community members are allowed to use their library.
Hey Jenn,
I’m curious about your jam. How do you make it with so little fruit? We always have a piece or two of something forgotten in the refrigerator. I’d love to make small batches here and there.
Thanks!
Was down in bed sick for half of the week, so not a super-productive week here.
Harvested green beans, Early Girl tomatoes, yellow pear tomatoes, grapes, peaches, elderberries, plums & pears. Bottled peaches & green beans.
Froze elderberries to dehydrate later.
Dried dill weed & dried mint leaves.
Chose a fence installer & signed a contract.
Finally found local comb honey at the farmer’s market. I have been looking for 2 years now. He did not have a lot, but I was able to get what we needed.
Filled an empty #10 can with well dried, kindling sized, emergency stove/camp wood & tucked a new pieces of torn newspaper in the top. This will make a good resource for Scouts, camping, or disaster prep. I have been cutting prunings & fence clearing pieces into lengths for a year now. My oldest grandson brought over 2 bags of cans for recycling for his younger siblings when he had a medical appointment over here, & the bags contained two #10 cans. I had the plastic lids, so for $0 out-of-pocket cost, the boys now have a #10 can full of scout wood for their emergency camp stove fires. These are really nice to have when it rains for the entire campout.
Hello from Australia one and all.
What a busy week for us here this week as we got in our tax refund. So with over 20 months of building up our 3 month food supplies bit by bit in accordance with our small pensioner income, we finally finished it and even better most things were on half price special too, even better.
– Ordered all the parts for the drip irrigation system for our garden, previously we were hand watering.
– Picked vegetables out of our gardens for tea a few nights.
– Restocked our freezer with frozen chickens that were on half price special.
– Picked some lettuce, silver beet and spinach we had excess of to give to a friends family who have lovingly given us some black plastic and leant us his truck for picking up gardening soils and things in the past with no charge. They have 6 children so helps them too to feed them.
– My husband dug some more garden beds to prepare for our spring vegetable plots.
– And the most frugal organised thing is both my husband and I managed to fit 3 months worth of groceries in a teensy workers cottage kitchen, with much shuffling, efficient stacking and the aid of 2 x 2 door pantries we had purchased previously, and of course the aid of plastic storage containers stacked on top of them with pantry items in them. Not enough space then go up and look what spaces you can find.
Hi Gardenpat and what a blessing you have to have such a close relationship with your friend, memories no doubt you will be blessed with for the rest of your life. Positively close friendships that last so many years are like rare gems and are to be treasured.
How lovely of you to finish off the quilts she was unable to and give them to her family, they will be family heirlooms that they will never forget either. It is however bittersweet that she is no longer with you, but as you have said her legacy of her fabrics will also help charities and others.
Good to hear that your husband is on the mend too.
Our library system has a feature called Library-2-Go. On it, we can use our library card to borrow books for free onto our kindles. I also noticed that there were other options, and I wonder if they would download onto a computer, if that’s what was available. I’m sure it would be called something different in each area, but it might be worth some research in your area. The nicest part is that they automatically “return” the book, so there are never any late fines!
I dehydrated some tomatoes last week. I sold a couple of baskets on facebook. I picked up a couple of cantaloupes for $.50 each, I think that it the lowest that I have ever seen cantaloupes. I made some homemade uncrustables, they are great as a snack on the go. I also had a neighbor give me some basil, I am hoping to make some pesto and freeze it this week.
Hi Jenn – Food In Jars (the book and website) has a lot of recipes for making small batches. There is a mixed stone fruit recipe I’ve used from the Food In Jars website that comes out great every time. There are also great ideas for making jam in steps, like one day cleaning the strawberries and mixing with sugar in the fridge overnight then making the jam the next day which really helps when I’m short on time.
*I mended 2 pairs of shorts and a pair of jeans for myself. The jeans are good enough to wear to work at the kennel or out camping at least. The shorts were cut offs that just needed the edges zig zagged so they won’t fray too much – those are only good enough for at home but then I am not wearing my “good” ones when working outside or painting.
*Pulled the pea plants to finish drying. I plan to save the seeds. This was the first type of pea that has grown well for me and produced a good amount of pods. I just need to make sure it has a trellis when I replant. They were sold as bush peas but are not.
*purchased 12 (18 oz) jars of p-nut butter on sale for .99 cents. That completes our yearly need of p-nut butter 🙂
*Traded one of our older hens for a quart of honey and sold a second for cash.
*Hubby traded his drone copter for a small generator for “the bus” and his Go Pro camera that was no longer being used, for a flight simulator system he has wanted for years. He came out ahead as far as what the trades are worth.
* Mended our bottom sheet instead of buying a new one. We splurged & paid $100 for this sheet set (King size) and the bottom sheet did not last a year…..And no, the store won’t refund – I tried. That’s the last time I pay that kind of money for sheets! I’ll stick with thrift store ones from now on!
*Purchased pens and pencils on sale for 99 cents and used a coupon for $1 off 2 – we were out of pens again – if someone figures out the pen “troll’s” hideout please let me know. He has to have hundreds of them by now!
*Stocked up on boneless, skinless chicken (the only kind my hubby likes 🙁 ) at $1.88 a pound. We actually saved over $100 this past week stocking the pantry back up with sale items – pasta, sauce, canned chicken/tuna, condiments, oatmeal, oil, butter, some “junk” pizza’s, flour, sugar, choco chips, potatoes…..
* Froze more of our extra eggs from our chicken and duck hens. Also found a duck hen sitting on a nest AGAIN – They are more than likely not fertile since the boys aren’t quite mature yet so I will pull the eggs, cook them up and feed them back to them shells and all – they love the treat and it cuts down on what they will eat for that day.
*My tomatoes are finally turning color! So I will be freezing them whole as they ripen and then I’ll process them all at once when it is cooler.
*Found the exact type of comforter I have been looking for for $5 at a garage sale. It also came with the pillow shams which I took apart and joined into one. This will be the dog’s bed in “the bus” (it’s an RV) – I stuff one of their old comforters inside it and it keeps it from spreading out all over and creating a tripping hazard – it also matches the color scheme so looks much nicer. Since we converted a shuttle bus into our RV alot of curious people want to take a look inside so we try and keep it from looking too messy/unorganized. The comforter will go on the couch as the blanket for the pull out bed.
I need to start writing down what I do thru out the week. Then I would have a written record of what has worked and what hasn’t – and validate what I do.
What a beautiful tribute to finish her quilts intended for family and seeing that they get them! Moist eyes over here. I’m sorry for the ache of the hole she has left behind. I hope you have many fond memories as you use her gifts to you.
I love your money saving posts1
This week I bought McCall’s patterns for .99 cents each at Joann’s and bought batting for 40% off; which I used to make 2 pillow covers for my couch with scrap fabric I already had. Here’s the link to the free pillow quilt cover tutorial-
http://heyletsmakestuff.com/2013/12/30/easy-big-stripes-quilt-go-tutorial/
It was a lot of fun. I also found a large ziploc bag of silverplate flatware (about 60 pieces) from the 1930’s for $10 which I have been polishing and we are now using for our everyday use.
I bought six jars of peanut butter at 99¢ for my pantry.
I made homemade granola bars for my dd to take to school for snacks.
I cooked from scratch most days and used up items from my pantry.
Belinda
http://savingmoneyinmytennesseemountainhome.blogspot.com/
Hello everyone! Your flower/plant arrangements always look so pretty! Last week:
-My daughter won a free pizza certificate from a local pizza restaurant from the summer reading program. That was dinner one night.
-I did not order out any other day, i took all my meals to work with me in reusable containers in my lunch bag.
-Harvested more zucchini. I shredded zucchini and sliced yellow squash for a total of 18 quart bags. I put these in the freezer.
– My daughter and I went to the farmer’s market Saturday morning. This was a mostly zero waste trip ( several vendors kept trying to give me plastic bags lol) but I did purchase a small bag of homemade cookies for us to enjoy. Tasted just like we make! I spent around $15 for veggies. As a treat I did purchase a pound of local/grass fed/antibiotic, etc free ground beef for my husband. Let’s just say that was more than all the veggies I purchased!
-line dried all our laundry
– put veggie/fruit scraps in the compost
-took a bag of plastic bags to be recycled when I had to pick up a couple items I could not get at the farmer’s market. This store has a large box in the entry way to put in plastic bags for recycling. I put in any clean plastic bags into one big bag.
-I cut dill heads from the garden from volunteer plants. They are drying in my kitchen.
-watched several free shows on youtube and amazon. I started watching another show on Netflix.
– My husband was treated to a round of golf this weekend. He just had to drive. He drove the Prius which saved LOTS of gas as the course was 45 minutes away.
-put money into savings and I now have enough to pay my property taxes early! That’s the last payment for this year, woohoo!
-I ‘decluttered’ my email account and facebook page (not frugal but relaxing to me). I unsubscribed or “unliked” pages and blogs, etc that I am no longer interested in.
-I continue to wash and reuse glass jars and ziptop baggies.
-I discovered our local Staples will recycle batteries and give me a credit on my rewards card. That will be done this week.
Have a great week everyone!
That is wonderful Gardenpat. I felt so pleased for you reading this! I hope your husband has a speedy recovery.
Hello Lorna, I am an Australian reader also! xx
I also had a good week. I am sewing and mainly making kitchen towels at the moment. I use pretty floral sheets, doona coversm curtain etc and make them double thickness. Then I do a ric rak braid trim or a crochet edging. They look lovely and work well. Next I want to do napkins.
I added to my pantry and supplies.
Also we are getting the garden ready as we are about to go into spring.
Have a great week everyone.xxx http://thebluebirdsarenesting.blogspot.com.au/
This has been a week of back to school shopping so this month will probably end up with a little more money spent than other months. Both my kids really grew and needed new clothes, shoes, new soccer cleats for my son, sneakers for gym, etc. Even their jackets are too small now!
But I did keep track of what we did to save money this week. Here’s the list:
– at my son’s foot golf event there was an extra hot dog left over so I had that for lunch (I was planning on buying lunch somewhere because I ran out of time to pack something before we left and his event included lunch for him)
– found something my nephew would love for his birthday marked down to $14.98 from $50! And we will be seeing them this week so I won’t need to spend money on mailing the gift
– I had to buy my son some new socks and I found a pack of seven on clearance for $3.48! I happily put down the pack I was holding that was $8.49!
– used a code to get 99 free prints from shutterfly (just had to pay $6 for shipping). There’s a number of pictures I’ve been wanting to print lately so this was a great way to do it!
– filled out info to get a free subscription to Shape magazine
– filled out form to get three free skin care samples and some free Kotex liners
– used mperks coupons for free bottle of Advil and free Evol frozen meal (both worth $4 each)
– went to a free outdoor concert ( and we no longer need a babysitter so lots of savings there!) and bought no snacks or drinks even though I really wanted a sangria!
– as a treat while my son was at a play date I took my daughter to lunch but told her we could only go somewhere with a coupon so she chose a sushi place that I had a 20% off coupon for
– made a double batch of banana chocolate chip muffins to use up my ripened bananas and made chicken salad with leftover chicken that my daughter and I had for lunch
– my go to watch is the Timex Ironman. I sleep in it and have used it for laps while running. My old one is falling apart and I have been procrastinating getting a new one (they’re usually around $30-35). While I was at Target the other day I found a Champion brand one that had all the same features as the Ironman one on clearance for $13! It’s on my wrist now!
– found out that on the Wilco website you can download their new album for free for a limited time so I did that
– received a free copy of Oxygen magazine in the mail
– my friend invited us over for a pool party. Kids had a great time and she provided drinks and snacks
– other friend invited us to her lake house. I made some creamsicle cookies from a pillsbury mix I found on clearance for 35 cents (and everyone loved them!). Also brought unopened chips and salsa I already had. Kids got to go tubing off the boat. We got to relax in the lake. They provided dinner and my son got to stay over (we were there for his friend’s birthday).
– I sold a number of things on eBay. One of the lots of 19 pieces of my daughters clothes sold for $75! In the last 6 weeks I’ve made close to $300 from selling things we had sitting around the house (jewelery I no longer wanted, kids shoes and clothes they’ve outgrown, books they don’t read anymore). Makes me feel a better to at least get a small return on my initial investment of buying them in the first place! Then what’s nice is I can turn around and use the money I made to buy items that my kids need now. Paypal is accepted at a lot of places. I just bought my son’s new soccer cleats using money from my paypal balance.
I used to have a garden every summer but we moved a year and a half ago to a new state and our HOA doesn’t allow us to have a garden that has fences, etc and we’d need to do that to keep away the insane amount of deer we have. I thought about having some pots on the deck for tomatoes, etc but we don’t get enough sun on the deck for them to do well. Plus, I’m the only one in my family who eats tomatoes!
Love reading all the comments!
I understand the excitement about the rain. NYC is so dry and unbearable right now. Rain would be a blessing and a relief.
Your pears are gorgeous. Growing up we had a couple of pear trees and my mom would make compote out of them the entire summer. It was so so good.
I am staying as frugal as I can, although I slip here and there (especially as coffee out goes). I am making up in other areas though.
My weekly updates is here:
http://www.brooklynbasedgirlfriend.com/last-weeks-frugal-accomplishments-10/
The backyard looks great, ooooo I cannot wait to move so my children have more room for toys like that. Whereever did you find the merry go round thing? Did you build it?
I stocked up on vitamins at 25% off. We went to my sisters so the children could play in the pool in her developement. We are going back this Friday. It’s a far drive but worth it for the children to go swimming( and for me to have the extra hands, I like one adult per child at the pool). Our daughter saved us some money this week, we had a date night planned but she is teething again and too miserable for me to leave her.
I made quick pickles from our cucumbers. I read free books. We celebrated because our electric bill came and July is always the highest month of the year. We were very pleased to see it was one hundred dollars lower than last July! It is very nice to have proof that our new windows and hvac are helping lower our bills. We have 3000 left to pay on the HVAC. ughghghhh. Wellll we are at least officially able to lower our budgeted utility amount by 50 dollars. I am hoping we will have one under a hundred in September.
In distressing news, our neighbor that has been trying to sell their home for almost a year has lowered the price again. I am very concerned about what this will mean for comparables when we go to list in the new year. I know our home is nicer but they are only four doors down. I am going to have to take a harder look at our budget and spend less.
I made cupcakes to bring to my sisters, I think they maybe cost me four dollars to make, compared to buying cupcakes at our bakery for sixteen.
What a fine way to honor your friend. I am sure it will be comfort to her family too when they receive the finished quilt that she had started. It sounds like you had a wonderful friendship.
I’m getting ready to move and was able to get free boxes from the grocery store and my work. This weekend I mowed the lawn and packed. We went through all of my son’s pants and shorts and thankfully he has enough clothes that I wont need to buy new clothes for the new school year. It’s always a great reminder to look at what you have instead of going out and spending…for some families shopping for back to school seem like a compulsory obsession. My son will look nice but the outfits dont have to be brand new. We’re not showy people like that and since starting to shop Goodwill almost exclusively for my son’s clothes I never pay full price for kids clothes anymore, sometimes at the end of a season at Target when they’re the same or cheaper than Goodwill (our Goodwill seems to have high prices). Anyway….we’re pretty boring over here, just getting ready for the next smart move to property ladder.
Last week was quiet. I have posted my savings and plans here: http://ahomeinthecountry.blogspot.com/2015/08/weekly-savings-and-plans.html
This made me think of my gramma’s passing. She too was always starting projects and not completing them. When she passed, my mother and sister found so many gifts intended for others that needed very little work to complete. The two of them completed the projects and gifted them to each grandchild and great grand child the following Christmas. It was like having a little piece of her.
I think it’s wonderful that you’re practicing French again. I took it in high school and barely remember how to order off a menu! Same goes for years of Hebrew school study—use it or lose it is accurate when it comes to languages.
I continue to stay frugal by cherry picking the best deals and using coupons/rebates when possible. Last week I tried to stock up on school supplies. Most of the items I wanted were gone, but I did find $0.04 packs of mechanical pencils and $0.49 pencil sharpeners. Other great deals were generic heartburn medicine marked down to $1.99, diapers marked down to $2.99, butter for $1.99 and some $0.24 candy. All of my deals with pics can be found here: http://thejewishlady.com/super-savings-saturday-81515/
Reading your weekly updates Brandy, and also reading comments is truly a highlight of my Mondays! I am still unemployed, so working hard on job search. I had a great phone interview for a job I’d really love last week, and now have a face-to-face scheduled for next week. Prayers appreciated.
Here are my accomplishments, getting ever more creative due to the mother of invention!
[list]
[*] Made gluten free flour blend (a medical necessity in my house) from free recipes on glutenfreeonashoestring.com
[*] Made homemade protein bars, using nuts I had on hand
[*] Made homemade dog food from leftover soup chicken and frozen mixed vegetables
[*] Baked GF cheddar biscuits
[*] Picked tomatoes from the garden. I have so little sun now that I get enough to eat fresh, but not can. Made a tomato sweet onion salad
[*] Figured out a method for saving files to the computer instead of printing them to read (I use Evernote)
[*] Made a cauliflower soup from scratch and had that for a few days
[*] Shopped for some food items at Walmart thanks to your insights – went for powdered milk, but was also able to get the fresh garlic I needed
[*] Got my fancy embroidery sewing machine together so I can sell it – will try a Facebook group first, but if no luck, will use eBay as much as I don’t want to pay the commission
[*] Ate more meat free meals last week
[/list]
Lots of goals for this week. Have a great one y’all.
Maggie
My garden is producing nicely and I was able to harvest a lot this past week!
*Made a large batch of Pesto Sauce from the abundance of basil, some I will use this week and the rest I will freeze. I like using Pesto in a grilled sandwich also. I spread the Pesto on both slices of bread and use mozzarella cheese and fresh garden tomatoes. It is delicious!
*I was able to pick 2 nice size eggplants. I cut them thinly lengthwise and breaded and fried them, I used them instead of a lasagna noodles to make a small lasagna with ricotta cheese and mozzarella cheese that was on sale this past week.
*Zucchinni was used several times this week…I cut them in half and then in quarters, coated them in a little oil with seasoned salt and grilled them as a side dish. I also sauteed several with stewed tomatoes and onions. I like to put this over pasta. This batch will go into the freezer for later use.
*Instead of buying microwave popcorn (I can buy a store brand and get 3 bags to a box for $1) I bought a bag of kernels and have been popping and bagging some up for snacks.
*We had guests at work so they had bagels and cold cuts leftover that we were able to enjoy. I only ate 1/2 a bagel one day and saved the other half for the following day (2 breakfasts) and we enjoyed sandwiches for lunch (I brought my lunch that I brought in home and had that for dinner).
*One of the girls I work with has been “cleaning out” at home. She found 3 bottles of shampoo that she never used for color treated hair so she gifted them to me. I am set for a few months now.
*Costco had gas last week for $2.07 a gallon. I made a point to stop there on my way home and fill up my tank. It saved me about 12 cents a gallon.
These frugal accomplishments allowed me a little extra money to put towards paying down some bills and for that I am very Thankful!
Home Free’s rendition of Angels We Have Heard on High is gorgeous. They have several other You Tube versions of Christmas songs that are worth looking up, but Angels is the most uplifting. Really worth the effort to look them up.
Last week: Used member card discount of half-price movies on Tuesdays for the family to see the “Shaun the Sheep” movie. Came home and made scrambled eggs and toast for my dinner since DH had negated all my frugal ways by taking himself and 9-year-old out to dinner before movie. Taught daughter how to make scrambled eggs.
“Encouraged” homemade meals, such as egg salad for lunches. (When we signed up for our CSA share back in early spring, we included the egg share from the same farm. This has been good for our egg supply.) Had protein and fruit breakfasts for myself by using applesauce packets from the pantry and pieces from a block of cheese that’s been in the fridge for a while. Also had a dinner made of turkey sloppy joes from turkey ground and frozen after a turkey was cooked a few months ago. Blanched and froze more sweet corn from the CSA. Used the zucchini we received to make two loaves of zucchini bread; one is breakfasts this week (with peanut butter), and the other is in the freezer.
Went to a work event one evening which included a free dinner. Could have included free prizes, too, but I didn’t win any. Saw another free movie in the park (The Lego Movie) and received 2 free water bottles from the parks and rec department.
I had received a gift card to a coffee shop for Christmas. They are running a promotion in August where if you “check in” to your rewards account on Monday, you get a drink deal that Thursday. I went on Monday and used my gift card to get a free drink and treat — and was pleasantly surprised to find out there was more left on there than I thought there was — and then went back on Thursday to get the cheap drink, again with the gift card, so this has cost me nothing out of pocket. I have enough for another visit on the current gift card, and then I have another gift card to the coffee shop that I received via work this summer.
Sold a shelving unit with a toddler character to a kids’ consignment store and combined the payment plus gift card (on a coupon deal they were running) to offset the cost of soccer cleats for the upcoming season, plus a belt, for 9-year-old. Ended up paying $3 total for the shoes and the belt.
Good luck on your interview!
We had a good week – our green beans and peach tree are coming in and keeping me busy! The details are all here:
http://quietcountrylife.blogspot.com/2015/08/mid-april-frugality-gardening-and-fun.html
I had one of the last quilts my grandma had ever made. Her request when she gave you a quilt was that you use it to keep you warm. I did and then nearly 35 years later after moving many times and taking the ragged quilt with me, I cut the squares (She referred to it as the Ohio Rose Pattern) into sections and offered them to my sisters. I kept 2- one for each of my kids – the rest went to family. I hope to have them framed as part of this year’s Christmas gift. My son just bought a home and I think he will hang it. My daughter may ask me to hold on to it for awhile as she settles into life. My mom (thus her mom) were very special to them and I want them to have that piece of my family’s past.
You are doing a lovely thing for a family that will be comforted by this gift.
We went to see a free musical in the park with friends, and brought a pot luck picnic feast!
I accepted lots of work during the hottest part of the day, so that I could enjoy the air-conditioned office building.
Our work toward zero waste is about to literally pay off: we can downgrade to the smallest trash can for city pickup and save about $8/month.
I learned to make a new Chinese-style meal at home, so we’ll be less tempted to get take-out.
And the college where I work part-time has designated parking spots reserved for eco-friendly cars. Our sub-compact car qualifies for a free “green sticker,” so hopefully I’ll spend less time and gas looking for parking!
Doesn’t seems like I had a lot of frugalness last week:
* eating lots of tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden
* thankful my son can use his entire soccer uniform from last year (including cleats!)
* sold a sweater on eBay
* hosted friends for dinner served bbq burgers 🙂
This made me tear up. Nothing like having a true friendship! I adore that you plan on finishing her quilts for her family and plan on honoring her by donating others.
Roxie, I just went thru knee replacements. As you delay, the joint will continue to grind down, destroying more tissues & limiting the options available for your surgeon. I had my knees done one at a time, & just from the 6 month delay in between, the second knee took longer to heal because I had run it further into the ground. Please don’t delay longer than you must, as it will effect your eventual outcomes.
Hi Annabel and I have seen some entries you have had for the blog previously.
Nice to meet you here. We are a forcibly retired couple who live in the country and grow our own vegetables and generally live as frugally as possible to save for our first home. Nothing better than picking fresh vegetables every night for tea, if you are able to grow them in the space you have at home.
I am so sorry to hear about the loss of your dear friend. I am glad that your husband is on the mend. Prayers sent to you and yours!
Continued to eat primarily from our pantry and freezer. Found pork chops on sale for $1.45/lb, though and did pick some of those up (sold in a value pack so plenty for my husband and I this fall).
Reading and re-reading my cookbooks for inspiration. I don’t buy cookbooks frequently anymore but I do borrow them from the library all the time. I recently added two (used) cookbooks to my collection after using the renewing them several times and making several recipes. One cookbook focuses on preparing foods ahead of time (not freezer meals, but thoughtfully preparing meals and dishes in steps around your schedule) and the other is a vegetarian cookbook by an author I really like and whose recipes have always been successful for me. Both will bring some variety to our meals.
After the success I had last week in making my own hamburger buns, I used the same recipe to make hot dog buns. I also made a mostly whole wheat sandwich bread that is actually really good for sandwiches (sometimes I’ve made pan breads that claim to be good for sandwiches and while tasty they tend to be soft or to fall apart when spreading filling on the bread–this recipe is sturdy but not dry, tasty without being overwhelmingly sweet and I think will be my new go to). One loaf is in the freezer for next week and we have been enjoying the first one in lunches this week.
I always plate our meals and portion food out according to servings in recipe. This helps me know if I’m having seconds and/or overeating, and, if we do eat a larger amount than the recipe says it should serve, I can make a note of that for the future. I found that when I would have each of us serve ourselves, we would be too generous. And while my husband sometimes fusses that I haven’t given him enough food — he tends to get seconds less frequently than his grumbles would indicate. 🙂 He also isn’t complaining about gaining weight, either.
Similar to above, packed up my husbands lunches and leftovers as soon as we finished eating each night. I’m trying to break things up into portion sized packages where possible for the reasons above. This is not always the most economical use of fridge space or storage containers, though.
Not frugal now, but hopefully frugal in the future. My husband is going to start working from home next month. This requires that we have a landline. Yesterday I took the time to get that set up and after questioning the sales rep was able to get the package that is actually below basic — we don’t need call waiting or ID (and in fact this will interfere with his job), but they like to tell you that this is their minimum package. This will save about $5/month. We hope that despite the added cost of the landline, the savings in gas and other associated costs will result in a net savings.
You should check out Canadian websites if you want reading material, work sheets and videos in French. Kids CBC has short shows in both French and English.
Last week wasn’t even close to as frugal as I planned. I know where I went wrong (emotions/stress). I do this once or twice a year. I am trying to think of a slogan for a sampler to stitch so I can look at it for a daily reminder. 🙂
I did can 5 pints of tomatoes and 4 pints of Rotel style tomatoes.
I cut herbs and brought them to use as an arrangement for the kitchen island and to use while cooking. Low and behold, on the parsley 6 monarch butterfly caterpillars emerged. I took the parsley outside – well sheltered so they (caterpillars) could continue to grow.
I hope everyone has a great week!
Dried three trays of pears (the pears my neighbor gave me) which ended up being three cups of fruit. Also made two trays of pear fruit leather from the same pears.
Picked the pears from my own espalier tree. They are ripening and we likely eat them fresh.
Picked half of the peaches from my peach tree and made a huge peach cobbler to take to a neighborhood pot luck. Also froze four quarts of peach pie filling. The rest of the peaches will probably be dried.
Picked, blanched and froze six quarts of broccoli from the garden.
Saved scraps from pears and peaches and made 5 1/2 pints of pear syrup and two pints of peach syrup. (I found the recipe in the comments on Brandy’s site about a month ago).
Went to three outdoor concerts for free.
Son-in-law took us to dinner as a thanks for letting him stay with us for a few weeks.
Brought home leftover bananas from work and froze them for smoothies.
I really like to add a couple tablespoons of melted butter to the corn before I freeze it. It makes it taste like fresh buttery corn on the cob. It’s like it insulates the kernels and keeps in the freshness.
~chopped and froze two bananas for smoothies that were past the point of eating fresh.
~treated a skin rash my dog gets with home remedies instead of going to get. He wasn’t in bad shape but left untreated he would have required a vet visit. Happy to report he is doing fine and the rash is gone.
~made a package of cinnamon rolls in the crockpot to avoid using the oven. Triple win, less heating of the house=less air conditioning running, crockpot is less expensive to run than oven, and the rolls were gotten free at the grocery store.
~made good use of leftovers for lunches and dinners. Still trying to get into the swing of things after going back to work. We have been eating out more maybe 1 to 2 times a week. Not a lot but it’s expensive and it is not always the most nutritious food.
~signed up for recycle bank thanks to all the readers comments and already ordered my first subscription. I used it to order my step father two years of his favorite magazine. They will start arriving just before his birthday. A gift for free that he loves!!
~Paid off a huge bill. Not exactly frugal because we took a good chunk out of our savings but we are at a place in the savings account where we could do that and still be comfortable. Now to focus on student loans and the truck.
~speaking of student loans I just started to qualify to choose where your extra payment money goes. I always pay extra but now I can choose for that to go towards the highest interest rate loan.
~had to do a training out of town for work. It was held in the library of the school. During a break I was chatting with the librarian and she told me about bookbub? It is where you can get digital books for free or very cheap from what I understand. It is on my radar to look into.
~nothin else comes to mind ther than I just realized I didn’t buy any clothing in the last month. I don’t buy a lot an when I do it’s thrift store finds but any money saved is good.
We are preparing to move in a week, so I am trying really hard to not buy things unless it is an immediate need. We are eating mostly from the pantry and freezer, still have to buy a few things fresh. The big thing I am doing to save money is reusing boxes that where given to us, finding a bunch of stuff I forgot we had and organizing it so that it will be findable and usable after the move, things like shampoo/conditioner, soap, razors, etc. Borrowing some coolers from church and friends to move the stuff in my two chest freezers and refrigerator. Only going to the storage unit with a full car. Planning to use the storage units truck to move out of the unit in one trip(we get 4 free hrs).
Not savings related, but praying that, the purchase of our new house goes smoothly.
Also praying we can move out quickly and get a refund on our lease back.:)
That sounds really good, Elizabeth. I might just try that next time. Thanks for the suggestion!
Jenifer, I read your post about the monarch caterpillars and was perplexed. As children, my mother often found monarch caterpillars, which she called “the magic worms”, each summer. We would put them in jars and pick fresh milkweed to feed the caterpillars until they went into their chrysalis. Then we would check each day until finally the chrysalis would change collar. We would intently watch as a beautiful monarch butterfly would slowly emerge and unfold it’s precious wings. It was so wonderful to watch them flap their new wings then finally take their first flight.
What perplexed me was that I have never seen monarch caterpillars on any other plant but milkweed. So I checked the internet and lone behold I found my answers. The caterpillars you found will likely turn into the Eastern Swallowtail Butterfly. They look very similar as caterpillars but eat different plants and look very different when they emerge as butterflies. Thank you so much for your comment. It brought back very fond memories and I learned something new as well!
I was able to freeze another batch of green + yellow beans. It ended up being more than I thought–about 8 quarts. I froze my pathetic crop of broccoli–5 quarts from several bushes–I usually get much more, but a combination of the hot weather and the fact that I didn’t take care of them as I should caused them to yield poorly. The good news is that they usually make side shoots and cooler weather is bound to come after this latest hot spell that has arrived.
The snow peas, however, which are supposed to not yield in hot weather gave me so many that I froze 4 bags of those and we’ve been eating them every few days! Go figure! And, they are covered with blooms again! It was almost to 100 today, though, so their days must be numbered. We got enough strawberries for my daughter to make a batch of jam and there are more in the fridge right now to freeze or eat in the next few days.
I made several jars of zucchini relish (from the Ball Blue Book). I don’t have ripe bell peppers, yet, so those were purchased from a roadside fruit stand. I am getting so much zucchini we are eating it frequently, giving it away, and feeding the rest to the chickens. The newest laying hens just started to lay this week, so I’ll be having a lot of eggs in trade for my zucchini–a nice trade. A new batch of baby chicks to grow for butchering is due tomorrow morning. My husband decided to do 30 this time. The baby turkeys are doing well. 18 out of the 20 survived and they are thriving. The 5 big turkeys are getting close to being ready for the freezer–a few more weeks.
I’ve been making jalapeno dill pickles every few days. I plan to give those, plus the relish out at Christmas. I have dill, cucumbers and jalapenos in the garden. I have been buying garlic for the pickles and to cut up into our green/yellow beans or snow peas when I saute them in butter many, many evenings.
With the girls very involved in the county fair this week, today I stayed home and my husband took them. I was able to do the relish, clean a bunch, and make a mega batch of spaghetti sauce. Over the next few days, I plan make some lasagna for myself and a friend, hopefully with zucchini noodles. If I don’t get home from fair in time tomorrow, I guess I’ll just boil some noodles….. We will pack food for lunch.
Hi Marivene! Sorry to hear you have been ill. Hope you’re doing better now. Question please, is there a specific use for your honey comb ie: salves, candles etc, or do you just like the honey that comes with it better? You always make the most interesting items from what I don’t even think about! Thank you.
Rhonda, thank you. My mom always pointed them out as monarch caterpillars, never thought to question her 🙂
There is milkweed all around my garden (neighbors). I looked up the Eastern Swallowtail, and I have a bunch of them fluttering along with Argus (I think), and monarch butterflies throughout the yard.
Thank you for teaching me something new today!
I had to laugh at the “pen troll.” At my house they hide pens on top of he refrigerator. I keep my grocery list on front of the fridge. I lay a pen on top to grab when I need to add something to my list. One time I climbed up in a chair & cleaned off the top of my refrigerator and found 22 pens and pencils! Lol, I probably shouldn’t admit that…it had been a while since I had cleaned it off.
I plan to use the beeswax from the comb in a salve that contains yarrow, olive oil & beeswax. Honey sold in intact comb is also less likely to have been adulterated with other substances, like sugar or corn syrup.
Hello everyone, I have been a reader for a year, but it’s my first time writing. I know there are some Australian readers. Can anyone tell me what it would cost to mail around a five lb package to Australia from the U.S. My frugal accomplishments are : reused some school supplies I already had at home , found some free school uniform shorts in the used closet at my children’s school, my husband changed the oil in my car. I always coupon at publix and CVS. I also do pinecone surveys. Ironically, I was unaware of how to coupon and these money saving measures when we had less income. I started all of this about three years ago. We have always been a frugal family.
Hi Brandy! You mention reading material in French – I really enjoyed a series written by Nicole de Buron (the first book is called “c’est qui, ce garcon?”), and thought you might as well. It’s a “day in the life” kind of book, the main character being a middle-class parisian stay-at-home hom (“vous”), who lives with her husband (“l’homme de votre vie”, “l’homme”, or “cet home”, depending on what he’s done), her eldest daughter (“fille ainée”) and her youngest daughter (“petite chérie”). Perhaps your library can get them for you!
Read about you wondering what to do with your rhubarb. We also get rhubarb from relatives, and we like it made into a rhubarb coffee cake. It’s a good breakfast and/or treat item.
A little late, but better than never, right?!?!
Last week:
-Went grocery shopping at Costco BY MYSELF. This is definitely a frugal accomplishment for me! 😀
-Crocheted a floral lace cami to go over a t-shirt. This is my Mom’s birthday present. It came out really cute so I’m making myself one too.
-Had my oldest son run some errands for me on his way to work or class so I could stay home and have a couple “no spend” days.
-We ate mostly cold meals last week…which is a nice way to keep cool as it was extremely hot here last week.
-Shared an ice cream with a friend of mine last Mommy’s Night Out. I go out every Friday night for some “me” time, but this week I invited a dear friend to join me and we split the ice cream instead of getting one each. 🙂
-Went through my laundry room storage and found a couple boxes of Finish Tabs that I bought a looonnngg time ago from Costco. I have no use for them since my dish washer broke [i]months[/i] ago, so I returned them. It turns out that I had bout them almost a year ago on a BOGO sake but they gave me full cash back anyway. GO ME! :p
-I used the refund money from the Tabs and any extra money from being under budget and put it toward our next debt. We were hoping to pay that off this paycheck but a couple sales did not get processed in time for my hubby to get paid this time around. It’s okay, though, just have to put it off for two weeks. I can see the end in sight for that particular debt and I’m thrilled!
Have a nice week everyone! (What’s left of it anyway.) :p
Hi Margaret and I am Australian but can give you some advice only on the way Australian post offices work. Here we can go to the post offices web site and it has a postage cost calculator where you can put in where the parcel is being posted from and to and the weight of it and it calculates the postage cost for you.
You may be able to do that on the United States postage website, just check, or ring your local post office and they should be able to tell you on the phone if you give them the weight and dimensions of the package you are sending.
I make, design, sew and sell home decorator products here in Australia and send overseas quite often and do custom orders for people right around the world. So only know this as I regularly use the post office website as a reference for postage costs for my customers.
I hope this helps.
Brandi
You might try Half Price Bookstore.com to see if they have that second movie you want to see. I don’t know if they have them in your area but you can order online. Not free but still a good source.
I found both vegetable and flower seeds today for 90% off! Most of them I’ll save for next spring, but there are several I’m going to try in a fall garden. My question is, must I do anything special to store them so they will be good next spring?
Some people put their seeds in the freezer to keep them longer. I always just keep mine in a cool dry place.
Thanks, Marivene; I, too, need knee replacements, but not quite yet. When I know the time has come I won’t procrastinate.
Glad you posted about the clearance meat. I forgot I bought some yesterday and they need to put in the deep freezer due to the exp. date and not having time this week to cook it. Busty stocking my freezer now that fall is fast approaching with clearance meats when I can find them. It will all add up in savings this winter, less trips to the store and a well stocked freezer (2 of them).
Anna
This week: I saved $29 with coupons and discount sale items at the store. I filled up my new car with gas cost $17 something with the fuel perks I got from Krogers and my new car being a Hybrid. The fuel perks were 50 cents off. Today I have packed on sale grapes into snack packs to take to work with me all week to avoid eating candy in the store (free) which is nice but not so healthy. I also packed snack packs of pretzels, made a sandwich for lunch and one for work since I’ll be there till 9pm tonight. PB&J sandwiches. I bought clearance chicken yesterday and just put it in the deep freezer. I bought 2 lbs. of chicken livers yesterday for later meals, took them out of their round container put in freezer bags so easier to thaw when I’m ready to use them, also takes up less space in the deep freezer. During slow time at work I’ll start working on a new freezer list so I know what is in the freezers. It won’t be long before it’s soup season for us.. we don’t eat soups as much in the summer. I got a free bag of peas at Krogers yesterday and put them in the freezer for my soups. So slowly but steadily stocking up for winter season which is approaching so fast this year seems like.