I harvested peaches from my Early Elberta tree and canned 7 quarts.
I harvested grapes from my vines and canned 5 quarts of grape juice.
I picked basil, tomatoes, zucchini, Swiss chard (silverbeet) and oregano from the garden.
We enjoyed peaches and grapes from the garden and a variety of breads for breakfast all week.
I cut my daughter’s hair. It took less than 5 minutes.
My husband and I cut his hair (he cut most of it and I finished up the edges).
I did some simple trench composting with kitchen scraps. I dug a hole, filled it with a small amount of kitchen scraps, and covered it back up. Free fertilizer!
I got a free $2 Amazon MP3 credit and used it to get 2 songs.
My husband fixed the leak in the garden.
He also unclogged a sink.
My husband also changed the main filter in our a/c vents. A new vent is .98, and it saves us SO much more than that each time we change them, because the a/c unit doesn’t have to work so hard. The dust is very high here, so they have to be changed out every month, but it is one thing where buying the filters actually saves us more in power bills, so it’s a real spend money to save money example (that works!)
I cooked two large pots of beans this week (pinto and Great Northern), and froze the beans to use later. Since I bought the dried beans in bulk for about .65 a pound (454 g), it saves us a ton of money over canned beans, and is a wonderful source of inexpensive protein.
I used beans to make a simple dip; I used a ranch dip mix that I had (just an envelope in the pantry) and mixed it with 2 cups of blended white beans (instead of sour cream). It was really tasty, very filling, and a source of protein as well.
Our meat this week was from a turkey that I cooked last week.
We enjoyed several meatless meals as well. One was fried zucchini with homemade ranch dressing, along with a pasta salad to go with it. I also made rice and beans.
I received 3 dozen eggs for free from a friend who has chickens.
I bought no food this week.
The four oldest each earned a free book from the Barnes and Noble reading program.
Five of the children also earned free books as rewards for the library’s summer reading program. My oldest daughter chose a couple of Magic Tree House Study Guides as her books.
I watched 2 tv shows for free on Hulu.
I received a free copy of Martha Stewart Living magazine in the mail. I also signed up for another free subscription for one year (there is a limit of one free subscription per year) the same way I got the first one–through Recycle Bank. (They offer free ways to earn points on a regular basis that can be used to redeem towards coupons, magazine subscriptions, and gift cards).
I made chocolate frogs as a gift for my son’s upcoming birthday. I also made some London bookmarks as another gift for him.
I made a pair of pajama pants for my daughter from a vintage sheet.
I went through the clothes my mom was getting rid of, and found three items to repurpose.
What have you done this week to save money?
Hurray for no more cold cereal! They will be so much happier to not be hungry an hour after eating! I love how no longer having cold cereal means that I can actually feed my family MORE food for less money!
Thank you!I love making the simple things beautiful! It’s so much fun!
My biggest frugal item for the week is straight from the hand of God: rain! Over 5 inches this week! No a/c or watering needed! I’m in AZ (higher elevation), so this is really a big deal for us. It had been so dry and we live in a neighborhood that borders a national forest full of pine trees, so it’s a blessing in more ways than one. This gift was bigger than anything that I did.
I saved money on watering because it rained everyday this week.The biggest money saver was redecorating our middle son’s old bedroom for only $13. He got married 4 weeks ago so we cleaned all the rest of his belongings out and have them loaded into my van to deliver to him later today. We saved by not painting the walls. Hubby washed them well and they look great. Hubby also patched all the nail holes and hung an old mirror that we had in the attic. I moved items from other rooms of the house and hung some pictures that I was tired of having in my foyer. I put a nice blanket across the foot of the bed and brought some decorative pillows from the bonus room. They look completely different in a new place! I am very pleased with how it turned out for only $13!
I took a bucket that I haven’t used in a while to make a holder for my flip flops.I made a cow costume out of scraps of construction paper, an old shirt and a head band for free food at chick-fil-a. Then walked across the street for a free starbucks drink this past friday.I turned off my window air conditioner when I wasn’t home, because it doesn’t cool my entire apartment it would run and run which would/did cost more money when I used to leave it on.
Thank you for sharing the idea of simple composting. I’ve been thinking for a few days about doing that in my container garden. I have one larger box that doesn’t have anything in it right now. I’m saving it for spinach and lettuce in the fall. I had thought about putting some of our veggie scraps in there and just turning it occasionally. When I read what you had done, I researched it online and discovered I really could do that. :-)My cucumber plants are yellowing and not growing because of nitrogen deficiency. Do you have any ideas on how to handle this? I don’t want to use Miracle-Gro or a fertilizer like that unless I absolutely have to. I know they need some type of fertilizer with nitrogen, I’m just not sure what type or if there is a natural remedy to the deficiency. -Danielle B
Cottonseed Meal is a natural and oganic source of nitrogen. Our local nursery sells it in a few different size bags.I know a gardener who doesn’t plant in one row each year. She saves that row for burying kitchen scraps all year. The next year, she plants in that row, and buries kitchen scraps in a different row. So, there is more than one way to do it. Neither one of us digs 18″ down like most trench composting sites recommend. I usually sig down 6-7″, and it works just fine.
On what did you spend the $13?
-Praised the Lord for all our rain! (And I took a rest from running all my ‘scrap’ water outside :)-Harvested tomatoes, cucumbers, swiss chard, rosemary, lemon balm, and more from the garden. (We ate tomatoes almost every day!)-Taught daughter how to make detangler. …Then broke her spray bottle- here’s where that frugal multi tube pack of Super Glue, bought last week, will come in handy!-Bought $9 worth of little turkey hams and divided them up in enough portions for 7 meals.-Bought several pounds of chicken for .88 lb. (Use skins to make pupsicles for our outside dogs when the temp is way up.)-Made homemade birthday cake and homemade ice cream. Froze leftover ice cream in popsicle molds.-Renewed library books online- waiting until out next trip to town to go, to conserve gas.-Made 12 pints of watermelon jelly from half of a large watermelon.-Made more homemade cleaners with citrus scraps and vinegar.-Spent more time in the evenings encouraging the children in games, cards, and drawing- rather than using electrical things ;-)-Composted all veggie, fruit, egg shells, some paper, etc.-Mailed hand written letters as birthday gifts, loaded with encouragement. -Used the trimmings from tree branches as stakes for the tomatoes. Looks so rustic! -Took advantage of free radio programming, nightly, for our ‘entertainment’. (Unshackled Radio Drama produced by Pacific Garden Mission in Chicago) And several afternoons we listened to (free) Your Story Hour.-Won 2 free knives for watching a demo at Sam’s. Well worth that 5 minutes.-Dh bartered advice for service this week. (He gave someone free advice in a business area, and they gave him a promo type service that they normally get $1500 for!)
I can’t believe I left that out! I bought new curtains on clearance for $13, reg. $40. They have great grommets that go on the rod. I was able to reuse the rod that was there. The old ones were falling apart so I had to replace them.
I bought tomatoes from a local farmers market for 40 cents/pound and will make salsa & canned tomatoes.I accepted a gift of mason jars.I re-purposed some decorative items to spruce up an area in my kitchen—and removed clutter from that part of my kitchen. There is something pretty to look at now…and it didn’t cost one penny!I treated my 3 children to a meal out, movie & popcorn using certificates they earned from our summer reading program. Cost only $8 for my tix/meal—that means a cost of only $2/person for a lovely afternoon out!
1. I took my kids to the school twice this week for free lunches.2. I gleaned 10 1/2 cups of raspberries from a friend’s garden who was on vacation and froze them for later.3. My husband and I hung new gutters up on the front of the house instead of hiring someone to do it.4. I harvested snow peas out of the garden and used them in two meals. I also ordered seeds for a fall planting of some crops.5. I started a weekly menu plan and shopped based off of that. This will save me so much time and money!6. I purchased a gallon of oops paint ($7) to use as a primer for my boys’ room instead of paying full price for a gallon of primer.7. I purchased molding to make 2′ X 3′ picture frames for my boys’ room (will make three for $12) instead of paying big $ for large frames. 1 frame will be for sister.
Thank you! I’ll look for it when we go shopping tonight. -Danielle B
This comment has been removed by the author.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hrmmmm….This was a week we weren’t particularly frugal for some reason. Lots of “extra” expenses!What we did that was frugal:* blanched and froze beets* blanched and froze more peas* enjoyed not having to water the veggies and flowers 3 days because of rain (we gave up on the lawn a long time ago)* used 2 gifts from my “gift box” for a brithday party the children attended* bought 3 needed school supplies for each of the children on “back to school” sale at the lowest price they will be this year* Found 2 dress shirts on sale for my husband for $10.99 each (to replace one we had to throw away it was so worn and another that doesn’t fit anymore)* Finished making 3 gifts using materials I had on hand* Turned the AC up 2 degrees during the dayThat’s all I can think of right now – I guess we didn’t do as bad as I thought!Have a great week!Lea
I love reading all of the great money saving strategies everyone used this week!Limited use of car by consolidating errands.Purchased fresh vegetables from local grower for $0.25 a piece.Harvested tomatoes, Swiss chard , zucchini, mint, parsley, basil and chives from garden.Dried washed clothing outside (it’s hot here in So. Utah) do save electricity.Listed items I’m not using on eBay.Cancelled newspapers.Prepared meals from pantry, freezer, garden, and refrigerator.
Brandy, I made those same chocolate frogs for my son’s 5th birthday! They were a hit! There is a free chocolate frog box download (Harry Potter) that I printed out as well. I printed it in color on card stock and cut out the shape. Then you fold it together and it’s a box for the frog. If you are interested, I’ll find the link for you. 🙂
If the clippings went through the lawnmower, they might not be safe for the rabbits. The homeowners could have sprayed it with pesticides/lawn chemicals and it’ll be further contaminated from the mower. Also, as it sits in the bags, it will start to ferment, which could harm the bunnies.
A few frugal things:I gleaned apricots today! I was absolutely terrified to ask for them, but through a series of events, I know I was led there. It took me more than 30 minutes to work up the nerve to go to the door. I only barely mentioned the apricots and they immediately told me to please take all I wanted. I was only able to get about 9 lbs as most was already rotting on the ground, but they are huge and very ripe and I am most grateful. I am also grateful for your reference to gleaning from your site. It helped me realize that it was ok to do. We have been blessed with bounty and I was glad to not let the fruit go to waste. The only other times I have gleaned are when neighbors offered fruit, or when our bishop (soooo many years ago) offered peaches from the church orchard we had served in.2 oldest daughters went yard sale-ing on Sat and reported another apricot tree that was left to drop fruit at one of their stops. My dear husband went there and asked how much they wanted for the fruit, and they told us it would be $2 to fill a plastic grocery sack. He picked about 8 lbs.Picked some of our own apricots.Made 22 pints of apricot jam so far.Waited until the cooler/rainy day to bake, and then made rolls/bread/fruit bread/cookies.Watched a movie from the library during the week.Made yogurt.Picked spent flowers to make a tea to tea dye fabric.I do appreciate the encouragement!Penelope
Hurray for apricots! Those were obviously going to waste! I’m sure the homeowners were so glad that someone could use them!Gleaning is an eternal principle, set forth in scripture. You have to work for it–picking it yourself, whether from tree or field, which is what God expects of us. Gleaning still involves work, inlcluding the work to preserve it.
You should google “lasagna gardening”. I bought my husband a book by that title this year. It is basically layering different things to make your soil for gardening (like newspaper, brown plant material, greens, compost, etc.) doing it on top of the ground. We did it on top of our grass – and it looked like we had four graves in the backyard. LOL! We didn’t do it early – just layered and planted in the same day – but our plants are loving it!!!! We have had incredible yields so far. Right now we have about 100 tomatoes on six plants. I can only imagine if we do this over the winter and give it time to break down what it will be like next Spring.
I received a free hand and body emulsion sample in the mail.I went shopping in my closet and put together a new outfit to wear to work.We took advantage of Jimmy John’s anniversary special and bought three sandwiches for $3.00 total. We brought the sandwiches home to eat with our own pretzels and beverages instead of buying chips and beverages at the restaurant.I continued to use bottles of shampoo and conditioner that I got for free from hotels.I made a detailed list of school supplies that we have so that I don’t end up buying things that we don’t need. Jill
Brandy – I love this idea! Not only does it motivate and give ideas to others, it also shows you what you’ve done to keep YOU motivated! Yesterday, we butchered our first chicken(someone’s aggressive rooster – free!); since he was older than a year, we’re stewing him – he’ll make a fine stew bird! This morning, I nursed a baby turkey chick back to health and put it back with his mama hen. I watered the garden, picked the weeds, fed and watered the chickens and turkeys, and after a brief computer break to answer emails, I’m off again! 🙂 I wanted to ask you why you prefer to freeze your beans over pressure canning them – is there a difference in taste or is it just not wanting to go through the long canning process? I’ve stopped buying the store-bought beans, but just replaced them with home canned. I’m very intrigued with the idea of freezing them though… 🙂
My pressure guage is off and the canner leaks, so no pressure canning for me right now (unless I want bean mush!) Plus, we eat through so many beans; I don’t want to can quarts for every meal. It’s so much easier to just freeze quarts of them and pull them out for me.