I made pickles this week using the Armenian cucumbers from my garden. No, they’re not a “pickling” type of cucumber, but I used them anyway. They’re rather long; some were 18-22″! The seed cavity is large. I scooped out the seeds and gave them to a friend of mine who has chickens, along with some arugula from our garden that had self-seeded, but was way too hot to eat, having grown during the summer.
I made a pillow and pillow cover for my living room. The pillow was made from unbleached muslin that I got for free from my grandmother’s stash. The stuffing was part of an old bed pillow. The pillow cover was made from drop cloth, and I hand-embroidered a red “S” on it (I printed out the “S” first at 200% in Edwardian Script and traced it.)
I planted seeds in my garden for fall. These are seeds that I already had.
I made homemade salad dressing.
I made homemade hair detangler with half of a packet of a free conditioner sample.
I used a $10 off $10 Kohl’s card that came in the mail to purchase a shirt for my oldest daughter in a larger size (they were out of her current size) for $1.08. I’ll put it aside for when she is older.
My family dressed up for Talk Like a Pirate Day and went to Kripsy Kreme’s, where we each received a dozen donuts for free for dressing up. All of these dress-up clothes were given to us (some were garage sale purchases from my mother, and some were from my brother). On our way home, we ran errands (that were directly on our path home), saving gas and time. The strangest part of all of this was walking into other stores while dressed like pirates.
One of those errands was to get a new float for the toilet. My husband fixed the toilet, stopping the water leak into the bowl.
I took 2 free days of Photoshop classes online at CreativeLIVE. I learned how to do a few things that I’ve always wondered how to do, and I learned about some tools that I hadn’t really used before.
I watched free shows on Hulu.
I harvested Swiss chard and cucumbers from the garden. (The variety I grow is Fordhook; it grows very large leaves).
I renewed library books online, and requested several books online as well.
We have a winner for the sun oven giveaway! The winner is Kristie Mc Nealy! Congratulations, Kristie! Please email your address to Heather heather (at) teamshelfreliance (dot) com so that she can send you your prize!
What have you done to save money this week?
I am so inspired by everyone’s efforts to save money. Thank you eveyone who shares.This week two of my boys needed new shoes so we bought them two pairs each at the thrift store for $1 a pair. My daughter wanted makeup so I took her to the dollar store and she bought eyeshadow and eye liner. We spent far less than at other stores and she is very happy with the makeup. Plus, now she knows she can buy makeup at the dollar store. One of my daughters had two friend birthdays this week so we made them each a necklace with wood beads we already had. Cost $0It is so very important to me to teach my children how to save money.
Aw, look at that adorable baby pirate! What a fun day for your family.I sewed on a button. Now I have to figure out how to replace a hook on my bra. It’s my favorite, most comfortable one, and today it has a hook missing.
If you don’t mind having small pieces, put them in an old pillow case and run over them a couple times with the car. Then pick shells out.
We had a good week! We had a couple spending weeks lately, but we are back on track now.-It has been in the 60s to low 70s here during the day and down into the 40s at night so we have officially retired our air conditioner. This is a great time of year when we don’t need the air conditioner, but we don’t need to turn the heat on yet!-We did our final harvest of tomatoes, and we have lots to eat. We love salads, so we’ve been having them a lot with dinner. We have not had a frost yet, so I can’t harvest my potatoes yet. I’m hoping I’ll be able to soon!-I got a free card from Cardstore.com to give to my boyfriend for our anniversary this year.-Used homemade laundry detergent for all things washed.-I planned two weeks worth of yummy gluten free meals. We managed to get the groceries for these meals for a very low amount, after sales and coupons.-I bought all produce for under $1 a pound (apples, onions and potatoes!) and got our meat for under $2 a pound (roaster chickens on sale for .99/lb, yummy!).-I ate leftovers for dinner while my boyfriend was working. I have a goal to make a little more for dinners so I can have leftovers later in the week. My boyfriend is a bartender, so I eat by myself three nights a week.Hopefully I will have even more to share next week!
I made my Grandaughter some baby beaded hairpins. I don’t know what the regular price was but they were on clearance for .25. I also make my ownlaundry soap. I wish i knew how to do that years ago. No more plastic bottle waste.
Look for “hook and eye” fasteners at a fabric store (or possibly Wal-mart).
Fabric stores sell replacement hooks for either one hook or the whole end of the band. They’re only a couple of dollars – cheaper than a new bra definitely!Lea
Jenn,My family’s favorite way as per Brandy’s recipe: http://theprudenthomemaker.com/index.php/rosemary-pork-roastWe don’t eat a lot of pork, but- it was cheap! :)Ideas for leftovers; -Homemade Pork and Beans (working on that recipe today)-Hash http://momsfrugal.blogspot.com/2012/08/simple-hash.html-use it in BBQ for sandwiches (or just an ice cream scoop on the plate if I don’t have bread made)-fried rice-tacos or quesadillas -stir fry-sliced and pan-fried to reheat (like a pork chop, sorta, but it doesn’t go as far this way) -frittata -in soups and chowders-fried as a topping for salads or beans when they are the main dishes and there is no other meat-in main dish macaroni with peas (one pot meal?)-in gravy over biscuits (odd, but good)My fave cut of cheap pork is the Boston Butt Roasts. They are packed with flavor and you can just toss them in the oven with little care- but oh so tasty!
Brandy, has your family ever considered a move to New Hampshire? We have no income tax, nor do we have sales tax. Like your husband, I’m in the real estate field, and I assure you, it does help. Property taxes can be much higher, though. Just an idea.
Victoria,We also have no state income tax in Nevada. We don’t have sales tax on food, and we actually purchase very little. Our property taxes are capped here at 3%.New Hampshire is a bit too cold for my husband!We feel like Western Washington is as close as we can get to being in a place like England without leaving the U.S.
Here are a few things off the top of my head.- Hung four loads of laundry on the clothes line- Enjoyed two dozen eggs that was given to us- Ate tomatoes from our garden- Went to the library and checked out books. While at the library I picked up a dozen free magazines from the magazine swap box. I will take them back up there when I am done with them.- Went to a thrift store and found a book for myself, a new math workbook for my younger daughter and a book on the US states to use for homeschooling. Each book was 50 cents.- While at the thrift store I found a new still sealed puzzle for $2. It is very cute and will be a Christmas gift for my oldest daughter.- Used a free sample of contact solution all week (and still have 1/2 the bottle left)- Turn the a/c off and have started opening the windows.I’m sure there is more but. that is all I can think of right now.
If you planted potatoes in rows or hills, they can be harvested before a frost. Dig a few at a time and use them up before digging more.
I love the picture!!! This week I started working more hours at my church – a quick decision made when the job was offered to me. It is temporary (a grant) but we need the $$ for my son’s college expenses. It does cut into my hours at home, though, so I am going to have to be extra careful not to make it “cost” to work!! Therefore, I cooked in the crock pot, only ate out of the freezer and pantry, attended a women’s dinner/annual meeting but did not eat the dinner so did not have to pay to attend, planned a detailed errand route to save gas, time, and $$ – all my purchases were very good deals on items we stockpile such as toilet paper, shampoo, toothpaste, etc. This past weekend I attended a district retreat and did not pay again – stayed at a friend’s home, took my food and drink and only had to pay the $3 registration fee. I was not planning to spend anything there except I found some great deals on items to use for Christmas gifts so I bought those (at the gift shop at the retreat). I am going to buy when I see things to save time, money and $$ on holiday expenses since I will not have the time to make as much as I would like nor the time/gas/energy to shop around. I also listed some items on eBay and cleaned out more for a yard sale.
Just curious why England holds a special place in your heart?
Awesome picture of the pirates!I got a free sample of diapers in the mail. I will give them to a co-worker who just had a baby or donate them to our local food shelf.I got a free paring knife during a giveaway at the grocery store. I bought several items during the daily rock bottom sale at the grocery store. I’m starting to set aside items for gifts for the holidays and holiday baking.Like others mentioned, we are not running the A/C and have only had to turn on the heat twice at night. Have a good week Brandy!Jill
*Canned 16 half pints of carrot cake jam with the abundance of carrots from my produce coop. These will be given as holiday gifts.*Roasted and froze yellow peppers that were extras from produce coop*Baked all our bread last week (3 loaves)*Found jeans for my 9yo son at Goodwill*Refashioned a too-large shirt for my son*My neighbors had a large tree cut down, I got several wheel barrows full of wood chips for free to use on my garden paths*Helped my daughter knit a baby present for her teacher*Used my family zoo membership to take extended family to the zoo — saving over $80. The membership has paid for itself many times over.
Last week, after buying a double Bob stroller on Craigslist for $80, i went through our house and garage and found 17 things that were just clutter to us, so i put them on Craigslist to sell. So far, 10 things have sold, and I have made $175!Christie
Thank you. I guess my comment made me seem like a ninny. It’s just that it looks a bit complicated. The remaining hooks come out from underneath a fold in the cloth. I think maybe the whole end band solution is it. I didn’t know about those.
Thanks, Shannon.We always bring snacks with us but it’s always homemade. My hubby tends to forget snacks so I was looking for some ideas that I could put in that would be okay to keep in the car that won’t melt or freeze.
Wow! I just stumbled across your blog and I’m going to bookmark it. I’m interested in sensible frugality. By the way, that’s a great looking band of pirates.
I’m glad you’re here! My blog is a faily new addition; make sure to check out my website for much more! http://www.theprudenthomemaker.com
Love, love, love those pirates! Such an adorable picture. This week, I gleaned a large bag of pears from a friend’s tree, made a batch of granola bars, and sent some outgrown winter clothes to ThredUp (an online kids’ clothing consigner). Hopefully they’ll pay well and that money will go toward Christmas.
I listed my accomplishments here on my blog: http://emersonfamily.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/frugal-things-i-did-last-week-6/ Thank you thank you for doing this every week. I can’t tell you how it encourages and challenges me!
It sounds like you are doing a great job! We also eat out once a week but I can’t get the hubby to budge one bit on it. I would love to eat out just once a month! 🙂
If you join Bob Evans’ email list they often have buy one get one free coupons.