I cut flowers from the garden for my entry table.
I sewed some new pillows for the living room. I made covers cut from an old sheet, and then cut fabric to make washable outer covers for them. For the stuffing, I washed and dried old bed pillows, and then cut them to size. (This is a sneak peek of the living room; I’ll have more pictures of the couches and chairs in an upcoming post this week, but as you can see, we just had them recovered).
I sewed three new aprons for myself. I’ll have more photos in a post this week.
I juiced more lemons from the garden and froze the juice. I also made lemonade.
I picked lettuce, radishes, and a few strawberries from the garden.
I cut thyme, Swiss chard, green onions, and garlic chives from the garden.
I signed up for a free watercolor class (it’s a how-to paint a pear) that the children enjoyed following.
I ordered a free 8 x 10 print from Walgreen’s using a coupon code.
We printed some more free piano sheet music from Musescore.
I ordered new glasses for Liberty from Zenni Optical. I went through Ebates first to receive an additional 4% cash back.
I made a pineapple upside-down cake. I decided to change it up a bit, and the next day I made a blackberry upside-down cake, using blackberries from the garden that I froze last year.
Some of the meals I made this week were ham and cheese crepes, crepes for breakfast, pancakes, pasta salad with green onions from the garden, breakfast frittata using Swiss chard and garlic chives from the garden, spaghetti, lentil soup with thyme and Swiss chard from the garden, and barley soup with Swiss chard.
My husband took Winter to the thrift store, where she found some new-to her jeans (priced at $4 a pair, instead of their normal price of $6 a pair!), and a straw hat that she is taking apart for a project. My husband found some HDMI cables (for $1 each), and a child-size camelbak water carrier for $5 that the girls can use when hiking.
I printed coupons from Coupons.com and also chose some Target cartwheel discounts to print as well before I made a trip to Target.
What did you do to save money last week?
Gathered a few more gallons of water from the melting of the light snowfall, & gathered a few more from the intermittent rain & snow during the week. Our last frost date is around Mother’s Day, so I don’t need a lot yet, but I can usually hand-water the early starters, like garlic, onions, rhubarb, peas, etc by hand until we are past the last frost date, & gathering water now makes that endeavor cost nothing.
Refilled the quart vinegar bottles from a gallon jug. I add a little vinegar to the wash loads & bathwater to soften our hard water. It is much less expensive by the gallon, but easier to use from a quart bottle, so I keep a quart in each bathroom & the kitchen & multiple quarts by the washer. When 4 bottles are empty, I refill them from one of the gallon jugs in the pantry.
Hung some of the clothes to dry, but because of the rain outside, I had to use the dryer for some of them. One of the perks of summer in Utah is drying clothes outside – almost there!
Cut down another apple box to hold jugs of water in the cubby, so I can stack them. Used the pieces of cardboard that I trimmed off to fill two more clean empty tuna cans to make buddy burners, then put lids from Diamond nut cans on top to keep the cardboard clean until I can melt the wax to finish the buddy burners. This year I am trying to be a better steward of the resources that I have. We made & used buddy burners to cook when our son was in Scouts, but it is not my favorite way to cook. I much prefer a rocket stove, or the small metal camp stoves that used twigs & such. Nevertheless, I live in earthquake country, near a few major fault lines. In an earthquake situation, with ruptured water & gas lines, it would be nice to have a few buddy burners to share with neighbors who have no way to cook.
Completed another pine cone survey.
Recycled the cans on my way into Provo, then dropped off 3 bags at DI & picked up a receipt for taxes. Used the money from my last pine cone check to buy 2 more Lodgestones at Home Depot on my way home. Most of the survey checks are $3, & 2 Lodgestones are $2.97 with tax, so I keep the money in my wallet, in an inconvenient compartment, & pick up the Lodgestones when I am already in town, on my way home, to save gas. The price online has already jumped to $1.68 each, so I expect the price to go up in the store as well, as soon as the new stock comes in, so I am trying to buy what I can now, while the price is still lower.
Worked on weeding the back perimeter & digging out any grass that has encroached. This is a daily task from the start of the growing season to the end. I try to fill at least one tree tub (#10 tub) with weeds every day Monday thru Saturday. If things are out of control, I will do more than one tub, but I can usually keep things under control with a tub a day.
Sorted the dry butternut squash seeds from last week & stored them in an empty amber Rx bottle with the label torn off. Wrote what the seeds were, & the year, on the side of the bottle with a Sharpie. The seeds from this squash were thick, fat seeds & the squash itself was delicious. It is amazing to me that Boston marrow & butternut squash can keep so well just piled in a fruit box on the dining room floor- by far the easiest way to store it. Here it is April, & we still have one of each left. Last year the winter squash lasted thru May, but we also had a larger harvest in 2014 than in 2015.
One of the neighbors gave me some crib sheets for our daughter. I sent 3 home with her, & mended one that had a tear, which I kept. I have 4 crib sheets here, 2 for the crib & 2 for the toddler bed, for when we have visitors.
Made a phone call to the company when we were double charged for something my husband ordered, & they were very pleasant & said they would refund the 2nd charge.
Sounds like you had a full week.
My frugal accomplishments for the week included:
finishing a crocheted rag rug using fabric from my stash
baking all breads and snacks at home
sorting the pantry and inventorying it
menu planning for evening meals for the month
renewing our Sam’s Club membership (We do much better at sticking to our budget when I buy in bulk.)
homemade pizza when I really wanted to just drop and do take out
Even though it wasn’t frugal, I am slowly downsizing our number of possessions. I was able to donate a huge stack of books to our local library. These were cookbooks and I feel good about them being available for others to use. I also donated some items to Goodwill.
I would love to know more about your aprons. I am down to just one and need to make myself a couple.
I was just wondering the other day how you find time to homeschool 7 kids and do so much around the house! Bravo! Do you stay home most of the week to get so much done?
I’m saving egg shells to plant flowers in soon. Still cold here but spring is around the corner…here are the rest of my frugal accomplishments http://www.vickieskitchenandgarden.com/2016/04/my-frugal-ways-this-past-week.html?m=1
If you scroll down the page, under “About” (in the black section) there is a link to my schedule. While no day is EVER perfect, that’s the plan for each day! I had more planned for this past week, but school took longer several days, so I spent more time doing that and not doing other things that I had planned during the afternoons.
And yes, I am home a lot, and not running around town every day. I can get a lot more done that way! I combine trips when I need to run errands whenever possible (and most of stores I visit are between 2-3 miles from home, which makes it easy to visit 2-3 stores in one trip). I try to do grocery shopping in the evening so that I don’t take up time during school or take time away from doing other things that I want and need to get done.
I love shopping thrift stores for “supplies”, especially fabric. Fabric stores are so expensive!
Frugal accomplishments this week: http://therenaissancehousewife.weebly.com/home/frugal-accomplishments-this-week6
I clicked on it on your About section, but I just got a message that said, “Bummer! This section has changed.” 🙁
This week, we bought the cedar ( 100% cedar, NOT cedar like or cedar toned!) for our new fence from the neighbors who have the new fence we want to copy! They sold us (9) eight foot sections (6 foot high) + 18 posts to go with them for $200! We priced it at Lowe’s and Home Depot and the same fencing would have cost $1300!
I found broccoli crown marked down at Restaurant depot! I bought 2 boxes (25 pounds each) for $6/box! Also a bag of 20 big bunches of cilantro for $7!! My plans for the day changed so I could blanch and freeze broccoli and freeze cilantro in small bags!
Got another baby quilt started and finished just using my stash of supplies! Recycled several Easter dinner leftovers into new dishes and ate them rather than letting them go bad in my fridge!
I made handkerchiefs from leftover remnants of a Goodwill flat cotton sheet that was used for the backing on a quilt I made. They are a cream color with small blue flowers. I then looked online and saw a simple design to crochet edging around the hankie! I do not crochet, but they made it look so easy! I completed 3 and have a fourth one in progress!
All n all, a very good week!
Hi Brandi and all from Australia :).
Here is mine and my husband’s frugal accomplishments for the week –
Major frugal accomplishments –
– We now have saved 10 % of the land & house price in cash of our target to purchase our new home.
– During this 2 years we have also had to purchase all the equipment for setting up gardens, trailer, rototiller, ride on lawn mower, branch mulching machine, whipper snipper & blower vac, and another freezer for garden produce storage during that time to cope with acreage living after moving from the city with cash.
– Savings now we have accomplished that will progress a lot faster towards paying for our new home with cash. Our next target is to reach 1/6 of our savings target by the Christmas this year.
Grocery shopping –
– Topped up on all purpose flour, cocoa, raw sugar & tinned fruits on items used from the pantry & combined errands.
– Saved .90 c on the usual price of the tinned two fruits we purchased & can use the plastic container for herb storage afterwards.
– Took advantage of a $5 gift card from this store sent to us via email to get $5 off the total cost.
– Rest of the monthly shopping will be tomorrow.
Autumn cleaning –
– vacuumed all cobwebs from the back veranda and outside & inside windows & eaves.
– cleaned all windows outside and inside of back veranda.
– swept and organised recycled plastic bottles, brooms etc in the kitchen around the bin and swept in the alcove.
– Sorted wood chips into a metal container around the slow combustion stove & organised saved newspapers for fire starting into a small box to neaten the fire place area in the lounge room.
Craft sewing, seed saving & garden hobby businesses –
– Made $8.95 profit from the sale of an eye mask on Etsy.
– honey cut more seed packets out of brown paper (thanks Brandi for the template) to store seeds for us and to sell others on the internet.
– Counted dried watermelon seeds from the garden & listed excess on Ebay.
– Listed more excess dried pumpkin seeds saved from the garden on Ebay.
– Crumbled more dried rosemary, thyme & sage from the garden for us and excess will be listed on Ebay tonight.
Health care frugalities –
– Found out I was eligible for free dental care through our local hospital through a church friend, previously we paid for it.
– Had a loose tooth dealt with and removed saving us the normal cost of $110.00.
– Booked myself in to have all of my teeth deep cleaned with a dental hygienist through the free clinic tomorrow.
Have a wonderful frugal week one and all :).
Thanks; I’ll update that link. The link I meant was under that, where it says “My Schedule” right under “About” in the black section. That will take you right to it!
I was away in Naples for the Easter weekend where we were treated to all the meals by my husband’s parent. That was a frugal part. The not so much part is that we ate out all the meals when we went for 2 days to Miami after that. So it evened out 😉
I enjoyed a couple of free lunches at work and cooked the rest of the meals do us. Free coffee most of the days (I purchased just one deli coffee for $1.25 and a latte today when I went out with a girlfriend. We had a great time so totally worth it.
I did some small online shopping and made sure to go through ebates as well. Every penny counts, right?
My weekly update is here:
http://www.simpleisgoodforyou.com/last-weeks-frugal-accomplishments-22/
Hi Shara!
I made myself throw out the old ones this week to encourage myself to finish these up! I’ll be taking pictures to post this week.
The biggest accomplishment I made this week was getting my son’s AAC app (assisted communication technology) for half price because of Autism Awareness Month. We’ve been wanting to get him evaluated and matched with a device since preschool and it felt good that we were able to buy him an I-Pad mini and the app with our own money (sure the I-Pad was bought at Christmastime and the app now, but at least we did it) and we’ve been making him use the device all weekend to “talk”. So far he’s doing really well transitioning to the device around here. He asked even asked me to open some cookies for him with his device this weekend. I’m now trying working on being patient as he learns the device as I desperately want to hear his “voice” speaking thoughts and ideas to me. I’ve been waiting seven years. I know I can wait longer. But for the first time in forever I have hope that maybe it can happen soon!
The rest of my list for the week can be found here…
http://makedohomemaker.blogspot.com/2016/04/frugal-friday-money-saving-weekly-recap.html
I’ve been able to keep bringing my lunch to work 4 days a week which has saved me money.
Made several loaves of bread.
Made some milk into yogurt on the expiry date.
I hosted a small family from the U.S. and they asked if I would like anything. They brought me my favorite cereal, black beans, a big stack of English books.
I cooked a simple vegetable pasta at home for our guests.
We took the subway for a morning excursion to avoid paying for parking.
We hung the laundry to dry.
I’m trying to avoid food waste by checking my refrigerator more often and using or freezing any veggies before they go bad.
My sister-in-law always passes on clothes her son has outgrown. We opened all the boxes and found the spring/summer clothes my son will wear this year. She gives us more than enough. As usual it looks like we will only be buying shoes, rain boots, and a rain coat this year. Whatever is too small I pass on to a nearby single mom.
Last week was frugal indeed made all meals at home redid my grocery list and bought some staples in bulk for a lot less was gifted a lot of material for sewing 😀 can any one tell me how to dry seed getting ready for winter founded a blow heater for less then half price have a wonderful week everyone
I spent a lot of time Saturday sewing. My sweet husband had to work. The boys had spent the night with other grandmother so I had a rare time of having the whole house alone for several hours. I admit when my husband got home at almost 1:00 I was still in my gown. He almost cried he laughed so hard. But I got a lot done. Now I need to just sit and sew the things I got cut together. I also cleaned the sewing room up. I can see the floor. (I swept) I found another box of scraps that will make some nice things too when I am done with what is already cut.
I took all my embroidery patterns and threads and put them in a separate box and moved it to the closet to make more room in my sewing area. I also used double sided tape to put my cutting mat on my freezer top. Now I do not have to move it around to open my freezer. Our big freezer is in my sewing room and I use it as a cutting table. Sometimes it is a pain in the rear to move things to get into the freezer. (we have 2 large freezers, 1 for family use the other is for my daycare)
I went to Joann’s with 2 good coupons. But I did not find anything I really needed. So I used 1 coupon to buy some hook and eyes and the other to buy more chalk for my chalk marker. Spent less than $3.00 after coupons.
At the thrift store I found a pair of Vera Wang shoes with a low (2 inch heal) I was amazed they were my size. I got them for Spring Summer. They are a cream color and were $7.99. However it was Wednesday (half price for seniors) I got them for $4.00. My sister tells me I should sell them on Ebay but I like them and will keep them.
We went to Walmart and I found several things from Easter marked down 75%. I got some candy to put in the freezer. I had a coupon to get a hair cut for $7.99. I got my hair cut for spring.
We are having nice weather here. Hung laundry. Used rain barrel water to water plants.
Made meals at home except for Saturday. The sweet lady that brings us eggs at church brought us 14 eggs. We asked her to go to dinner with us and she accepted. We took her to our favorite Mexican food place and talked till almost 10:00pm. We had coffee and desert too. We had such a good time and I hope she did too. She is such a nice person. She has had a hard week too. She and her husband raise miniature horses. Her mare gave birth to a still born colt. She was heart broken. We were glad to help her out by listening etc.
I made some bread. I made some muffins too. Froze these to use later.
I got out my sewing machine, and mended several things. The swiss chard I planted is coming up, along with onions, potatoes, and several other greens. We just saw a new predicted low of 29 for tomorrow night. I hope it won’t take out all our peaches, which looked to be abundant this year. We’ll protect as best we can with row cover and whatever we can scrounge up. I’m going to drink my cup of tea while reading what everyone has been up to. Joining in here: http://www.abelabodycare.blogspot.com/2016/04/a-birthday-and-frugal-accomplishments.html
Brandy, your new throw pillows look beautiful. LOVE the fabrics you used. The blackberry upside-down cake looks delicious as well. I’m looking forward to both upcoming posts you mentioned, too.
Well, my brother went home Monday after spending the entire Easter weekend with us. Of course we loaded him down with food from our pantry and freezer. He’s planning on coming to visit again in a couple weeks, so we will probably give him more then. Here are my frugal accomplishments for this week:
*Our meals this week started off with a leftovers night. My daughter actually suggested it and the rest of the family actually agreed without argument. I consider this a HUGE accomplishment…well, maybe even a small miracle!!! WhooHoo!!!
*Other homemade meals this week included meat balls in Diana sauce with mashed potatoes and carrots (carrot from the freezer, bought on sale in fall), chicken baked smothered in cheddar cheese soup with broccoli and rice, penne pasta with ham pieces and choice between red or white sauce, and chicken burgers with baked potatoes and homemade coleslaw.
*We decided to get Chinese take out one night for dinner (not frugal, I know). There was enough to stretch over 2 dinners this week…what a treat!
*I filled up my dehydrator with a batch of pineapple/applesauce fruit leather and sliced pineapple wedges from 3 of the 4 pineapples I bought on sale for $1.49 each the previous week. We will probably eat the 4th pineapple fresh, but I haven’t decided for sure yet. The dried pineapple is so yummy…almost like chewy candy!
*I was asked to do a presentation at my work which I will be paid for as an individual contractor. I needed to do some prep work this week at the museum (presentation is next Tuesday). I took a bagged lunch with me both days. I enjoyed some wonderful conversation with my co-workers at lunch as always.
*Great deals I found on some pantry stock up items: bought 8 packages of assorted luncheon meat for sub sandwiches for $1.99/pack (normal price for these are around $5-$6) and froze 6 for later use, bought 2 containers of flavoured cream cheese for $1.50 each (to go with the $0.25 packs of bagels I have in the freezer), Schneider’s breakfast sausages on sale for $1.98/pack (normal price just over $4/pack), fresh broccoli on sale for $0.99/bunch (reg. price close to $3/bunch), bought 2 “club packs” of Kraft dinner on sale for $5.97/12 boxes (that’s 24 boxes @ $0.50/box…yes, I know it’s not healthy but I have an Autistic kid that likes eating it for lunch on weekends) and a package of Calabrese Salami pieces for $6/1kg (we discovered some was already sliced when we opened it). We repackaged the salami into small portions of sliced meat for sandwiches and small portions of cubed meat to use mixed with pasta, then froze it for later use (it’s very spicy, which my husband loves but the rest of us find too overwhelmingly hot, so we made the portions small).
*My husband and I went “Mall Walking” twice this week, saving on gym membership fees. The weather is getting better here in Ontario, but the April showers have now arrived.
*Trimmed my bangs to extend time between hair salon visits.
Wel, my husband will back to work really soon (he was laid off for the winter), and will be working 10 hour days, plus a commute equaling 3 hours each day. We won’t be seeing him much (even on his day’s off, he will be too tired to do anything), so I’m happy to spend as much time with him as I can right now. Up side is that he is receiving a raise when he starts back. I will also be starting back at my seasonal museum job sometime near the end of the April. Our goal is to save $10,000 over the next year towards a down payment for a house, and anything over that amount will go towards a family vacation next winter (we’re thinking somewhere between mid-Jan to early April time period, but NOT during spring break – too expensive).
We’re thinking of flying to Los Angeles, California which will be our first time ever visiting the state of California. If anyone has suggestions on must see sights (I’m ok with spending money if it’s worth it and we’re open to day trips outside LA as well), frugal/money saving suggestions (e.g. best way to buy tickets), things not worth seeing/doing (and why), best /cheapest areas of LA to stay in for hotel accommodations or even comments on weather during the above mentioned time that might help us chose the best time to go (please keep in mind, we live in Ontario, Canada, so “cool weather” for locals will actually be “warm” weather for us), I’d really appreciate any help. This is may be a once in a lifetime trip to California for us, so we want the best experience possible. We’re still in the planning and research stages at this point. Universal Studios is definitely on the list but we don’t think we will do Disneyland as we’ve already been to the one in Florida and my 12 year old daughter would probably enjoy a more mature theme park instead.
Have a wonderful week everyone!
I do too, Bethany! I’m always on the lookout for fabric & ribbon at thrift stores.
Rhonda,
The Getty Villa, which we visited when my brother was married (photos are on the blog) is free; you just pay $15 for parking and need to reserve tickets online ahead of time. There is also a Getty museum, in another location (same deal with pricing). The California Science center is also free.
The weather is lovely; check out weather.com for weather during the time you plan to come.
You do such a great job on your sewing! Beautiful!
From time to time, our lives get so busy that we get into one of these “spurts” where we spend more money than we need to. We have been so busy over the past few weeks that we are finally getting out of our rut. I did some things this week that will hopefully get us back on track.
-went to the grocery and stocked up on several things. Pork shoulders were $1.27 a pound and they had small ones! We are a family of three and the large ones make us overwhelmed with pork. Some ground beef…while at $2.27 a pound is more than I usually spend, we hadn’t had it in awhile and I just bought enough to make us a burger. Plus, that’s’ the lowest price I’ve seen in forever on it.
-our Red Haven peach tree came finally and we got it planted. Cut some daisies to bring inside. Cut parsley and oregano for dishes.
-Had some frugal fun on spring break with my daughter. Read some books, played outside, etc.
-Someone gave me a starbucks gift card awhile back and I registered the card for a free drink. The offer came over the weekend and I got a large size free coffee drink.
-Finished getting my goal every day in March on Swagbucks. I am taking some time off from it. It can drive you crazy if you to it too much!
Have a great week!
Hi Laurika and glad you found a blower heater for half price for winter.
On the drying of seeds what sort of vegetable seedlings are you drying as they all have a slightly different procedure to dry them. In general we have winters here down to -7 oc and frosts, I collect all of my vegetable seeds from our produce in the garden, wash and place on either paper towel or on non stick biscuit trays and dry them on top of the fridge as the fridge gives off some heat from operation. Pumpkin seeds take around a month to dry properly before storage, but most others around 2 weeks on top of the refrigerator will do the trick and then place in preferably glass jars with lids to stop them sweating, or in plastic containers such as used peanut butter jars washed out with lids and then store the seeds in a cool dry area.
I hope this helps but can give you more specific instructions if you let me know the exact types of seeds you are wanting to save.
Your pillows look great! My Mom made me some burlap covers for my pillows that had been worn to bits and I love how they turned out. And Target has some great clearance deals right now!
Here are my frugal accomplishments for last week: http://www.mediumsizedfamily.com/5-ways-weve-saved-money-week-28/
We traveled to Houston to visit my husband’s parents this week. It is a two day drive. I used a discount code for the hotel on the way here and we packed food for the road. I made a meatloaf and scalloped potatoes and rolls to bring with us so my MIL wouldn’t have to cook one night. My husband, his BIL and the two adult grandsons have worked all week making repairs and improvements to his parents house. My MIL gifted me with a box of canning jars, some dried peas from her garden this fall, my SIL gave me some tomato cages and their neighbor gave me a pot of pansies to take home. Today we are headed to Costco to stock up on some things. We do not have a Costco near us so we take advantage of shopping there whenever we can.
Hi Rhonda and congrats on the leftover miracle and your goal of trying to save $10,000 by the end of the year for a down payment on purchasing a house. It seems we are both on the same path to save for a home :). Keep us all updated on your progress too.
In our area where we live in the country an older style established house on a small block is around $180,000 to $240,000 and here the banks demand at least a 20% deposit before you start. So that is $36,000 to $48,000 deposit alone, no wonder people are having trouble coming up with that sort of deposit I have to say.
I love the pillows! !! I may need to try that with some old bed pillows.
This week was busy with our scout projects, but we are done making 120 bedtime bags for homeless kids! Proud of my girls.
This week, we made the last 20 blankets out of donated fleece scraps. The store was also kind enough to walk us through the tax free process for nonprofit groups, saving the girls nearly $27 in tax. Let me say that is a lot of cookies. 😀
Made $10 selling leftover scrapbook supplies.
Stocked up on clearance pasta for the family.
Planted garlic that has stayed to sprout.
Husband is staying home this week during spring break to watch kids
Your sofa looks so beautiful – I remember that you had been saving up for some time to recover it – I will look forward to that post!
We spent a frugal family afternoon yesterday at the lake where there were tons of tulips blooming (our town has a big tulip festival). I also put $4,000 toward paying off some of our student loans, though that doesn’t happen all the time :).
We had a very good week on the little things. I stocked up on 50% off non chocolate Easter candy (3 lbs), tattoos (150) and spring stickers for pinatas this summer for the girls’ birthdays. $10 to fill two is not bad and eventually I will find colorful pencils and/or erasers to bulk it up. Walgreens had bird shaped tins of metallic, shimmery gumballs in the Easter clearance and picked two in their favorite colors and they will be a birthday present. I used merchandise credit at Target to buy each girl a shirt on clearance and set them aside for their birthdays for nothing out of pocket. They also had cake mixes and frosting on clearance from Easter, I happily bought .75 cent frosting and mixes. I guess spring packaging means Easter. If they are not used for other events then we have birthday party cake. I had to pick up prescriptions at CVS and they had fancy Crayola makers on Easter clearance for $1.50 so I picked up three- one for us and two for the gift closet with extracarebucks that were expiring that day so nothing out of pocket. The local expensive grocery sore had organic canned pineapple for .50 each (they are no longer carrying that brand) so I picked up 10 and Coleman camp stove propane for $3 each so I picked up two for the summer. I bought a new with tags shirt at Schoola for $3.50 when they were running a promotion with free shipping and any new item purchased got a $10 credit to spend. So for $3.50 and free shipping (twice!) I was able to get the girls one shirt and two skorts. I also went to the thrift store and managed to find my teenaged stepson a pair of swim trunks and two geeky tshirts he liked for $10. Last week I took the five year old to a trial outdoor class she really enjoyed. It turns out we can’t afford to do it but my Facebook post about the class sent 15 people to contact the teacher for more info and three enrolled so yay. We freecycled a bunch of stuff and I was able to claim a keyboard and a new to us 8×10′ rug off a mailing list I’m on. The local children’s museum had a free night with a donation to the food bank so we went there Friday night and had a great time. Plus we pretty much ate every meal at home.
On the expensive front, we had a small leak in the water main coming onto the house. Luckily it was caught before it could do much but that was only because I was home and went downstairs to do laundry – if it had been when no one was home all day… The emergency plumber was not cheap but worth every penny. On a completely unrelated note, our kitchen needs several thousand dollars in repairs- it is fine in the short term but will need dealing with in the near future so we are getting ready. Because we are careful it will be painful but we don’t have to wonder how we will pay for everything.
I’m not a fan of pineapple upside down cake but that blackberry one looks delicious.
I applied for 3 different scholarships for my graduate degree, and I hope I could get a bite on one of them.
I used a 15% off code to get a $100 Target gift card for 15% off on Ebay.
I cut my son’s hair with our Wahl clippers, and finally convinced my husband to let me cut his. It worked great, so I think we are done paying the barber for the men of the house.
Beautiful pillows and the cake looks super yummy.
we had a pretty good week here, even though we had to replace our hot water heater.
Finally ate most of the food in the freezer. I took this time to scrub it out. We will now restock it with food we intend to eat during the week to make sure we are cycling through the food stored in the deep freeze.
While in the kitchen, I made turkey soup using the carcass I brought home from Easter dinner at my Mom’s and the very last onion from our winter stores. I took a big container of soup over to my Mom’s for her and my brother to eat later in the week.
Planted the rest of the irises and some chives from my mom. I also planted some spinach seeds. The garlic I planted last fall is growing like crazy as are a couple of volunteer onions. The Man finished two raised beds and we carried them out to the garden. I will use the cardboard box from the water heater to line the bottom of at least one box to keep the weeds at bay.
We looked to see if we could use any on the lumber left in the barn by the last owners to build stairs to the loft so that next year’s bees can live up there. Hopefully, this will keep them safe from the bears. While we were up at the barn, I rescued an old filthy dirty Rubbermaid container, brought it home, scrubbed it out, and it is now our new container for recycling. I found a quarter in the mess when I clean it out. I’m adding that quarter to my Christmas fund.
Washed my laundry using homemade laundry detergent and hung it out on the line to dry. I made another batch of fabric softener.
I was so lucky to spend the weekend in the company of friends. I went into town and meet a couple of good friends for coffee. We visited the thrift store and the library. My friends picked up some free seeds left over from Seedy Saturday for their gardens. I picked up a cool children’s book and an old dictionary that I will be using for various craft projects. I used the quarter I found in the Rubbermaid bin to fund my library purchases.
We then visited a local junk shop. I resisted buying anything for myself, but my friend is starting over and she found several things for her home.
Sunday I went for a hike and excellent conversation with a couple of other friends. It was so nice to visit in the sunshine while getting some much needed exercise.
Have a great week everyone.
https://hiproofbarn.wordpress.com/2016/04/04/frugal-endeavors-21/
– Eating from the freezer and pantry so minimal grocery shopping. I found milk for $1.09 a gallon and bought 3 – it won’t go bad here with my college daughter who thinks cereal is a food group! I also had my hubby pick up some English beef roasts for $1.99 a pound which is an unheard of price for anything but ground chuck!
– My Dad gave me a whole pile of mismatched “plastic” decking planks so I have all I need to build my raspberry bed and a couple more raised beds this year.
– I used my rebate check from Menaards to pay for the screws I need to put the beds together.
– Stayed away from the stores and garage sales even though I am really itching to go thrift shopping!
– Got treated to a gourmet pizza lunch at work and was sent home with a 2 liter of pop which the kid’s inhaled!
– Made all dinners but one at home and the one we went out for we ordered off the a la carte menu and had water to drink so the cost was only 12 dollars TOTAL!
– Accepted some canned cat food from a friend – her cat wouldn’t eat it but all but one of mine will.
– Started my peas, alpine strawberries and more tomatoes and peppers in my small greenhouse I keep in a south facing window.
I think that’s it – it’s Spring break this week so I will also be working extra hours – we had 90 animals in the building last night. 15 are supposed to go home today but more will be arriving tomorrow. I don’t know if the local economy is doing that much better that people have the money to travel OR if they are just saying “screw it” and putting it on credit (I cannot imagine doing that!)
Homes in this area are in the same price range as you specified for yours. We’ve been saving for a few years now for a 20% down payment and are about 1/2 way there right now. We’ve had to use some of the money we saved to purchase a new vehicle last summer (we paid $9,000 outright for it, so no debt), plus purchased a few large appliances when my mom’s old ones broke (washing machine, dryer, fridge and snow blower) since living with her, which has set us back a bit. We know we will get there eventually, but are choosing to smell the roses along the way…thus the decision to spend money on a vacation.
I always ensure that our vacations are educational for my daughter in some way, especially on things at are not always taught in the classroom. We like to visit places at are commonly talked about, whether historical or in entertainment. I don’t want to just read about places, I want to see them for myself and have a better appreciation for them. In the past, my husband and I have been on a tour of England and Scotland, went to Rome, Italy and visited several places in the U.S. with our daughter (including New York State, Florida and Washington D.C.). We considered Ireland (where my family originates from) and the Netherlands (my husbands maternal grandmother was a war bride from Holland) for this trip, but we decided they were going to be just to expensive for our budget right now. Los Angeles, California was on our list of “places we want to visit” and decided it would probably appeal nicely to my daughter’s age and interests. If she had her way, we’d be going to Japan just so she could visit the “Pokemon Center”…she was really disappointed when we told her that we weren’t going there.
Thank you for reminding me of your barley soup recipe! Also, I know I should be focusing on the cake (trying not too – diet!) but that napkin is beautiful with the embroidery detail.
I made cookies using pantry items for a family friend.
My husband and a few of his friends make beef jerky together. We all pitch in for the process/costs. We food saved half of ours for later eating. We also used the trimmed fat (my husband does the trimming) to make beef talon to use for cooking. It is pretty easy to make in the crock pot.
Thanks to the major wind storms, I was able to collect a lot of fallen Willow branches and make 4 wreathes.
I collected buttons from shirts that were no longer useable and put them in my button jar for future use.
I cut up an embroidered top and made head bands and a small clutch. One headband for me, one for my sister in law and the clutch will accent my “party” dress that will be worn for several weddings this year. I’ve been wearing this dress for years, mixing up accessories to keep it “fresh” since it usually is seen by the same family/friends.
I saved up enough Bing Rewards point s to trade in for $15 GC from Amazon. The item I wish to purchase will be fully covered by that GC.
I did cut a few more daffodils, Forsythia branches, small dog wood branches that were budding and a single tulip for 2 small arrangements.
I hope everyone has a wonderful week!
Hi Brandy, I do hope you’ll show us before and after pics of your recovered couches and chairs! This week, I baked bread, made your rosemary potatoes from potatoes that were $10/lb, made all meals at home, made homemade ranch dressing mix, and made an un-frugal purchase–a sewing machine– that will hopefully help me be more frugal in the future!
Hi Brandy,
I love your pillows that you made.. the fabric is beautiful! You inspire me to make some this month.. thank you for your creativity .
We had our Easter dinner with family yesterday. I made a turkey that I purchased last Nov when there were sales. We also had scalloped potatoes, and I made your carrot cake for desert… it was so very good. 🙂
The turkey will last for several more dinners for my husband and myself, and I plan to make a turkey noodle soup tomorrow. I over spent for groceries last month, so I am planning a no spend month for April. We have meat in the freezer, and pantry items. I plan to use your wonderful pantry recipes to help us stretch our menus for the month. I have not tried a whole month of no grocery spending before so it will be an interesting challenge and experiment. The only area I can see that I might want to buy is fresh vegetables for salad. Our garden is not producing yet, however I have canned veggies.
My husband is getting ready to go on a Mexico Men’s Mission trip with our church in May, so we will need to buy a few things for him to bring. Friends told us to look at REI, but I am wondering if there is a more reasonably priced store with good quality items to try. He will need several things to help build while he is there ( gloves, shoes, hat with a neck protector, among other things)
We needed to purchased more soil for our container gardens in March, so I am excited to have fresh veggies this summer. It’s been very rainy and cold here in the NW and now we finally have sun 🙂 I have fresh frozen blueberries in my freezer, and plan to make your blueberry muffins for a treat this month as well. Love that you are able to have some fresh veggies from your garden.
Thank you for your weekly posts… I look forward this them each week.
Blessings.
Patty from the NW
That’s wonderful! I can only imagine the joy of communicating better with your child. May he continue to progress and that researchers develop more and more tools to help people with autism.
Have you ever looked at imslp.org? It’s a huge website full of public domain music, if you’re in search of piano music, or really any orchestral instrument.
Spent some time on Saturday weeding my garden bed and pruning fruit trees. I planted peas, beets, carrots, radishes, and a variety of greens using seeds I had. I’m late starting my tomatoes and will try to find some inexpensive seedlings rather than plant tiny seedlings that will take longer to mature.
I sold a necklace I made to a colleague for $20.
Made a gallon of chicken stock from three chicken carcasses.
Took two bags of clothing (tried to resale them at a consignment store but got no nibbles), plus some other items to the donation center.
Stored four bins of pottery for a friend for a couple of weeks. When she came to pick them up, she brought two wonderful pastries from and upscale bakery to me.
Made granola
Spent $12 on pansies–makes my front porch look so much nicer!
Cancelled an insurance policy for a piece of property we no longer own and will get a refund on some of the premium.
Should get $60 in credit card rebate for this quarter.
Finished sorting and putting papers in binders (using the KonMarie method). It’s taken six weeks of on and off work. But now I have an empty two-drawer filing cabinet which I plan to sell, empty filing bins, and lots of empty binders and file folders.
My recently-widowed neighbor is moving into a condo and had a “free garage sale” for people to come by and take what they wanted. I’m trying to reduce what I already have, but picked up a CD, a DVD and a battery-operated clock that I will use.
Forgot one thing:
I read about (can’t remember where) using equal parts blue Dawn dish soap and white vinegar to clean soap scum. Tried it and worked great on my bathroom tile!
Rereading my comment: I meant $1 for 10 LBS of potatoes, so 10 cents per pound!
In the continuing quest to eat from the pantry and freezer, we cooked a turkey, had a nice turkey dinner then froze nice portions for use in the next month or two. Also made Turkey and rice soup for lunches this week. Defrosted a ham and just finished slicing ham steaks and smaller ham bits, refreezing them all in smaller portions. Made banana and pumpkin breads for sweets during the week. Went to a thrift store and found a wonderful like new Armani suit, on sale with special discount, for $25…Alas, since I am not working I didn’t need another black suit that I won’t wear. I put it up at the counter to buy it, then realized that I didn’t need it…$25 saved! The next day, brought my husband back to look at mixers and found a good one with extra dough hooks for $20. Not a new model, nor super capable, but neither am I 🙂
Hi Rhonda and like yourself we too have had some setbacks on the way and been saving for a few years as well and coincidentally up to the 10% stage as well. Strange you mention the appliances well the same thing happened to us. When we moved our old bed frame when we moved just simply fell apart, around a week later the mower that was 8 years old decided it had enough etc. We moved on to a half an acre property and my husband was using a push mower and his back condition deteriorated & he couldn’t do such a large area anymore. It is also a colder climate here where we moved, in the home a lovely combustion stove, we didn’t own a chainsaw or a trailer to cut or cart the wood we cut either. We also decided lovely big area to garden so set up huge vegetable and herb garden beds to be more self sufficient on our food supplies, but again another setback no rainwater tanks to store water for water restrictions.
So our purchases since we moved in January 2 years ago have been a new bed frame, self propelled push mower, a ride on lawn mover, 2 chainsaws 1 small for small timber & 1 large forestry one for large logs, a 7 x 5 trailer, 2 x 1100 lt collapsible water tanks, branch mulching machine,a rototiller, a whipper snipper, a blower vac, a garden dripper watering system, numerous packets of vegetable seeds, bulk organic fertilisers, hand tools & lots of manure for growing gardens, and yes another freezer for storing our excess vegetables for the winter months. Yes and like you we have purchased it all with cash from our pensions and we have also been blessed to have picked up some well paid gardening work & vegetable sales which has paid for all of the garden watering systems, vegetables, and gardening equipment and tools apart from the ride on lawn mower and chain saw which we are still working on recouping that cost gradually.
The experts do say to reward yourselves at certain stages to keep you on track with your savings, so a holiday is just the thing and fantastic you are able to do that and hope it is fun and educational for your daughter as well.
We are in a slightly different situation to yourselves, my husband on a military compensation payout pension and myself on a carers pension. Our borrowing capabilities are somewhat limited due to income so we would not be able to borrow that much to get into a home. Instead we have chosen to save all, or in worst case scenario most and borrow a little, to buy our home with mostly cash. We are also planning to buy a small under 5 acre block of land to build on so the prices would be higher than the prices we have listed above.
The best to you and your family and we will compare notes on our progress to keep each other motivated :).
Oh your blackberry cake is YUM!!
My frugal accomplishments:
We went to CVS and got the free shampoo, conditioner and toothpaste.
I finished cleaning out my father’s house and brought home 2 boxes of cleaning supplies, garbage bags and paper products that were his that I was done with there so I brought them home for our use.
I completed a Pinecone survey.
We shopped at Aldi and spent $21 getting what we needed, including a can bean soup which we are going to try and if we like it will go back and stock up to add to our pantry/emergency/hurricane supplies.
We went to Kmart and stocked up on paper products. Used our $22 shop your way credit and only paid $2 OOP.
I brought home lots of leftovers from catered lunches at work. Enough to eat for dinner most nights and some to put in the freezer.
Have a great week everyone!
Marivene, I love your vinegar trick, waiting til four jugs are empty. (I’m the person you need to knock upside the head sometimes, to see what others see.) It’s so simple! I don’t know that i’ll use it for vinegar, I only have one bathroom, but i’m going to remember this! Thank you!
Great deal on the broccoli!! Broccoli envy, here!
How exciting for your son! I hope this opens all kinds of doors for him.
I so enjoy being at home and finding creative ways to accomplish things. I finished up March with a bang and am looking forward to seeing how well I can manage in April. http://bluehousejournal.blogspot.com/2016/04/assigning-value-to-what-i-do-lovely.html
We were able to spend an afternoon at a park with Patsy and 2 cousins, enjoying the beautiful spring weather. Patsy enjoyed photographing many wildflowers, and I got some good shots of her, too.
I was able to cook more at home this past week, as house showings slowed down. My sister and I organized, cleaned and emptied 2 freezers. I am giving those 2 away. That will save me $ on electricity. I still have plenty of freezer space.
I’ve been driving the old car my nephew repaired for us. It gets good gas milage and saves wear and tear on our better cars.
The rest of what I did is on my blog.
I read a free kindle book from Amazon that I got via BookBub. I read it on our first generation iPad that no longer works for most websites. I listened to a borrowed audiobook. I borrowed it through our local library. I purchased a favorite Easter candy at 50% off after Easter. I used some points on my credit card to purchase some socks I needed. I prepared every lunch and dinner at home this week. I collected rocks from our acreage to use in a dry creek bed.
Hi Kandace and yes I agree it works wonders. Also for your grout especially in shower areas the straight white vinegar or even better citrus vinegar gets all the mould and yucky yellow build up off as well, I use an old toothbrush. It doesn’t have to be done that often, I do it around once every 3 months and it keeps our shock, white grout, looking white.
We had no choice on grout colours being in a rental, but personally for hiding a little of the normal dirt and wear & tear I would definitely not go for white :p.
Roxie, how nice you were able to spend such an enjoyable evening with your friend.
Cindi, how nice your family was able to get together for the work weekend for your in-laws. What a blessing, for all involved.
Hi Hilogene and congrats on resisting the Armani suit imagine that would have been incredibly hard as they are lovely and picking up instead the mixer with extra hooks for such a good price.
We like you buy our meat in bulk and just package them in smaller lots, with just the 2 of us now and no kidlets at home, we find it much cheaper that way than buying the smaller portion size packs.
Most of our friends who incidentally have also had their children be old enough to be out of the home, are quite shocked that we can make a large roasted chicken last for 4 – 5 meals for the two of us. We do however buy the largest ones which weigh around 2.8kg or 6.2 lb. We are kind of wondering how much meat our friends eat ?, but however I will acknowledge they do have far higher incomes than we do as a couple.
Hi Erika and so wonderful you saved so much money on the app and more importantly that your son is showing progress using it. It would be very frustrating for him as well when he desperately needs something attended to and has limited power to get that idea across to others, and also in turn for you as a parent.
I remember when my boys went to Cub Scouts there was a couple there who I got to know rather well and their son had severe autism and was unable to communicate they didn’t want to leave him and wanted to stay for every session. Knowing and sensing they needed a break, I said I am an ex nurse and will look after him and from then on they would drop him off and leave knowing he was in good hands.
He used to sit there and rock most of the time, being a nurse I used to go out of my way to involve him as a helper in the group. He had not once said a word to his parents nor shown any reaction to things around him until that is of course I noticed when we had a musical event and someone was playing the piano and we were singing. He was rocking in time to the music and moving his hands in time as well. I thought wow how fantastic and I began clapping to the beat of the music and he was doing the same along with me, I was so incredibly excited for him. When his parents arrived I almost bowled them over with excitement to tell them, and got someone to play music on the piano and sat on the floor and started clapping to the beat, he was rocking and clapping too. Tears welled up in both her and her husband’s face as they saw it. They said this is the very first time we have ever seen him react to anything around him, thank you so much. I said if you can get him into an activity with music he will thrive, and play music to him at home too, he loves it.
This App will indeed be an opportunity for your son to interact more with such wonderful technology, just as music was the tool for this little boy to communicate for the first time too. So happy for you all :).
I’m glad I realized Facebook has not been showing me your posts.
I think I spy claw and ball feet on your dining chairs, I love them.
This week I kept the childre busy with some help from their aunt so my husband could list things on eBay. I declined caving in to my children’s pleading for toys. I made split pea soup which seemed a bit sweet but evened out after I added beef stock.
My middle child is potty trained!!!! I have to take him twice at night but that’s fine.
I shopped at Aldis.
We were pleased to get a lower electricity bill.
I’m not sure what else, it was a quiet week, though we were able to add a few hundred dollars to our moving fund,
Thank you, Hilogene, for my laugh of the day…..”Not a new model, nor super capable, but neither am I”………LOL!
Hi Marivene and yes a wonderful idea to put most bulk items in smaller bottles.
We make a bulk lot of orange juice concentrated fruit syrup to last us a year in a gallon bottle. We then put a smaller amount in a litre recycled soda bottle for everyday use and then just refill that when it is empty using a funnel. Far easier to handle weight wise and awkwardness wise than a gallon container is.
I had to do the same with some lingering — very dingy dishcloths and towels. There was no salvaging them. I kept what I could use for washing the car and things and then closed my eyes and put the rest in the garbage. Forced me to use yarn I already had in my stash to make more.
It is amazing to me how housing prices differ all over the world. Where I live, a 1,000 sq ft home is anywhere from $25,000 to $45,000. However, 60 miles up the road it is closer to $100,000. I bought my house (a 912 sq ft 1950 built white square house) for $25,000. I have put a new metal roof on it ($2,500) and have a few other repairs to make but it is structurally sound. My 20 percent down was $2,500, which is far less than what y’all are having to pay. In fact, your 20 percent down would buy my house…..lol. My yard is a nice size, but very shady, thanks to the neighbor’s trees and the backyard ends up being a swamp after a rain, which we have quite often in this hot, humid climate. Best wishes to y’all!
Thanks Lorna for the advice! I learned from past experience that white grout can be tough to keep that way. I have a dark gray grout with white tiles, but soap scum is yellowish, so it shows up. It’s just my husband and me, so it doesn’t build up that fast. I’ll try some of the citrus vinegar as well.
Nice pillows! I have used two bed pillows put together in a square(ish) shape to make a fancy, extra large “Eurosham” pillow, which I use instad of a headboard on several of my beds. When I make pillow covers, I always make them “envelope” style, and sometimes I make the front and the back from different fabrics. I had a beautiful small piece of African fabric our church missionaries sold to raise money. I used it for the front of the pillow and an inexpensive piece of cotton ticking for the back. The contrast was very pretty.
The house we live in right now with my mother is the house I grew up in. It’s a 3 bedroom bungalow, with mostly finished basement, on well and septic system but extremely close to the city boundary (not even a minute drive to cross into the city limits), with a huge yard (our front yard is about the size of a town lot and the back is even bigger). My parents bought the house back in 1976 for $46,000. It’s now worth probably in the $220,000 – $250,000 range. It would be more if we were on city water and sewage system.
Hi Cindy and being from Australia, where in the south do you come from ?.
Envious of the $25,000 – $45,000 price tag for house prices there and if we lived there we could already purchase a house with what we have saved for our starting house savings :o. They are definitely more of a realistic & affordable price range than here indeed.
But on a positive note is that we have enough saved to buy a cheaper smaller block of land already in 2 years, so like Rhonda we are smelling the roses and being grateful & thankful for the blessings we have already achieved.
Our bank is SO wanting us to get a housing loan with them, but my cheeky husband’s reply is “no we are quite enjoying your bank paying for part of our home with the interest we earn each month on our savings ” :p . We have the option of getting a loan not a worry at all, but being that we are both on a fairly good middle income wage in Australia it would be faster and SO much cheaper to save for most of it with cash. We are also starting out later in life on our house buying quest and certainly don’t want a 30 yr mortgage and still be paying it off in our 80’s.
Hi Pbkmaine and I indeed do the same and make envelope style cushions and usually have a different colour for the back as well and they look good. Partially or mostly because I am yet to experiment with the art of putting in zippers :p, and the other reason it makes it easier to wash them. Plus unfortunately, having such strong hands from doing a lot of heavy work all my life I tend to demolish zippers in my less than delicate usual state :).
I am in a very rural town in South Central Alabama, about an hour and a half south of Tuscaloosa. Tuscaloosa, being a University town, is very expensive. The same size house would cost approx $100,000 in Tuscaloosa. I bought my 912 sq ft house in 2014. This town has about a 1,000 residents. The up side is that the house was $25,000, the down side is that it will probably not go up in value. There is no industry here. I drive to work 20 miles away every day, through lovely catfish ponds, cattle farms, etc. and it takes me 20 minutes to get to work. There is not much traffic here. I would prefer to be a little closer to my children and in the country, as opposed to a town, but no place is perfect, and I am working on feeling content here.
It is amazing how much housing prices have increased over the years in the some parts of the world. I am aghast at the housing prices in some parts of California, Australia, etc., and just do not know how folks are able to afford to buy a house, or even rent one. I feel the same way about vehicles, food, etc., and my utilities increase every year.
Hi Cindy and thanks for letting me know where you are in the States.
We likewise are in a rural country area, we are renting on the outer edge of town on a 1/2 an acre and are around 3 – 5 minutes to get to the centre of town and do our shopping and things. So quite handy and cheap on the petrol front. Our little country town is fairly much devoid of industry here too, just a few country shops & 1 shopping centre. If we want something special we buy on the internet or alternatively go to Toowoomba when we have multiple specialty items we need to buy.
If you look on an Australian map on the east coast we are around 80 km south of a town called Toowoomba, and nestled just off the mountains. Beautiful breezes here and cool nights even though the days are hot here in summer.
hi lorna thank you so much for the advice im trying my hand at some gardening i buy a lot of vegetables at a farmers market and usualy tossed the seeds so i figured if i dry them i could use them any thoughts on what type of seedlings can be planted now since we are in autumn
Laurika,
I have a post on planting a fall garden (linked in my sidebar) that you can read here: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/blog/entry/lovelies-planting-a-fall-garden
Hi Laurika there is a wonderful website that I use for all of my planting guides which covers areas right around the world. If you go to http://www.gardenate.com. It also gives you hints and tips on how to care for each plant is you click on each particular variety of plants in the monthly list. You will need to use the drop down menu at the top of the page and know your climate zone as well i.e temperate, cool mountain etc.
We are in the same season here too, what I can plant is onions, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, chives, leeks, parsley, oregano, pak choy, silverbeet (Swiss chard), snow peas, turnip. I am in a temperate climate here.
Hope this helps.
Debbie – Sounds like you are on the full end of the mend – and I am glad (albeit I am sure it is bittersweet) that you have finished cleaning out your fathers house.
Each week I am amazed on what you can do with your Shop Your way rewards. I used to be able to do about half of what you can do, but lately i am lucky if I have a dollar to apply to my purchase.
I also pour vinegar is a spray bottle for windows and such. Hubby put some on a sprayer for the weeds, we only have one bathroom also.
Lorna, I laughed when I read the part of the “less than delicate ” state of your hands. My kids and grandkids won’t lend anything to me that has a zipper because I have always seemed to break them. Now I can tell them why that is.
Hello Jenifer – what I found with the shop your way is that when we go awhile without going to Kmart, we get emails with better reward offers. When we shop there frequently, it’s like you said – a few dollars earned here or there.
Hi Juls and you can indeed and it actually does come from strong hands, I also have acquired brain injury which diminishes the feeling in my hands somewhat which is part of the condition. I am simply unable to tell if I am being delicate or rough with anything until it literally breaks into pieces.
I was however always less than delicate as I used to be a second hand motor dealer and took out engines and large truck tyres of trucks as well, heavy lifting and being strong in the hands a pre -requisite of the job. I also worked in building hardware and cut timber in saw mills to supply builders with their timber needs to build homes as well as all other facets of home hardware.
Along with zippers I also and I say this with all honesty “demolish” alloy can openers. I put it in my hand, press the two handles together and simply crush it :p. It ends up in little pieces all over the counter.
My husband has a saying with me which is could you please do so and so task, followed by the word “gently”. We have it worked out however, he does the gently things, and I do the heavier things along with him. Being a larger built ex military man he does most of the heavy lifting, but now with back injuries I dual lift with him. There is always a way to get everything done preferably without breaking it if you work together as a husband and wife team :D.
Erika,
We love the app you got and there is a Facebook group for it that has lots of free programming ideas. Just in case you didn’t know that. Sandi