Five Frugal Things
Ready?
1. I paid a dental bill.
This is frugal because, hello, late fees are decidedly not fabulous.
Thankfully, we have a medical account among our multiple savings accounts, so that'll cover this.
2. I used up egg yolks.
I made Parmesan-Crusted chicken the other night, which calls for 3 egg whites, which meant I was left with 3 yolks.
So, I used them instead of the two eggs called for in my whole wheat roll recipe.
The results were quite delicious.
3. I stuck to my list at Target.
There's a prize for that, right?
Mr. FG needed eye drops, and I needed a few items for dinner, so I popped in. And that, dear reader, is all I bought!
(Stuff for dinner, plus eyedrops)
I didn't even buy a box of fun tea bags, which is a typical Target weakness for me.
4. I ate leftover Brussels sprouts
The salad with the warm bacon dressing? It's pretty decent leftover too. I added a little mayo, and it tasted kind of like that classic broccoli/bacon salad.
And that made me think that raisins/craisins might be a good addition. I think I'll try that today, as I didn't quite make it through the leftovers yet.
5. I fed my family at home for all three meals...
and I wore thrifty clothes (Goodwill jeans, a Lands End long-sleeved t-shirt I bought last spring at an end-of-season clearance, and a pair of Converse I bought on clearance), used the 7-Minute Workout app, made a smoothie using up random odds and ends, unbuttoned shirt collars, used a coupon for free undies, deposited checks via my phone, and drank home-brewed tea.
Bonus round, there! 😉
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How about you? List your own five frugal things in the comments if you like!
Found a pair of work jeans for my husband for $5 at the local thrift store. They just had to be hemmed. Found a few other items for various members of the family while I was there, too.
Mended a ripped out seam in another pair of pants for him.
Stocked up on butter at 2 lb. for $5 putting a bunch away in the freezer to pull out as needed.
Cooking and freezing the oodles of buttercup squash we were given this fall before it goes bad. (This is a work in progress...)
Deposited a check for $27 from Ebates from items purchased in the last three months.
I made sweet potato pudding with some sweet potatoes that weree in danger of going bad. We get sweet potatoes in our csa share, and I'm struggling to find a way my kids will eat them. The pudding won over at least one of my kids.
I had a dinner guest last night. Normally this is my excuse to run out and by all sorts of stuff at the store. I was good though. I bought some green beans and a red pepper and otherwise made use of what I had in the house.
I've started making some Christmas presents using leftover yarn and some old t-shirts.
I've been really careful about groceries this month. It's hard, because one of my daughters has food allergies, and I don't have a car so the less expensive grocery stores (like Aldis) are not regularly accessible.
Produce boxes/CSA shares can be awfully challenging! I mean, it's good for me, but some weeks I look at what's in my box and I'm like, "Nooooo!" Ha.
The addition of craisins would make it more fabulous and give it a tangy kick. I really enjoy raw, thinly shredded Brussels sprouts in an apple cider vinegary dressing with nuts and
I've been especially stellar at recently using up bits of random gift cards in addition to cooking at home, using up random bits of food, and dutifully shopping at Aldi!
I made my own cornbread yesterday for Thanksgiving stuffing to put in the freezer. Usually I buy those packets, but I already had so much cornmeal to use. Plus, making some of the dishes in advance will save me time to spend with family. I also baked and skinned the sweet potatoes to freeze. Today is all about chores and yardwork! I really get inspired by your reader's ideas, too.
1. I really didn't want leftovers on this dreary, rainy day, but I sucked it up and brought leftovers to work for lunch. I was rewarded by a co-worker bringing in a chocolate/peanut butter cheesecake with brownie crust for us all to share. Score!
2. Drinking my morning water, which I bring with me. We're on a well at home, so my water tastes good without filtering, and is all but free.
3. Sent in the rebate for my contact lenses purchase. $35, sweet!
4. Had a meeting after work last night, but planned ahead so I had very little cooking to do when I got home. No drive-through food that way.
5. Started a load of laundry before I left for work, on delay wash, to wash my cleaning cloths and mop pads. I don't use disposables for cleaning at all.
Oooh, that cheesecake sounds delightful.
1. Cleaned out and re-organized our pantry, so we can see everything and not waste food.
2. Skipped the snack I usually pick up on the way to the last day of a job I don't enjoy. I realized I was bribing myself to get there!
3. Husband returned the second cable box we never use (it use to be free through his work, but he left that job).
4. Called the city to request the smallest trash can instead of the medium one that was here when we bought the house, and that we never fill up... $8/month less for the small one!
5. Chose the cheaper, almost-as-good version of a drink we like. When times are less tight, we buy the better brand.
Nice! Where I live, our trash is paid for in our taxes, so it's not a separate bill. So, sadly, there's no monetary incentive to produce less trash. You pay the same whether you put out five cans or one.
We're on vacation this week. Our condo is free (1), minus the cleaning fee and a nice thank-you gift for our friends (we're frugal, not cheap).
Said condo has a kitchen so we've cooked a lot of our meals (2). Our entertainment (3) - renting fishing poles and buying bait, kayaking at a state park (way less $ than private) has been quite reasonably priced, especially since it's the off-season. I happened across some seriously marked-down canning jars, so everyone gets homemade preserves for Christmas. 🙂 And the minute I get home, these falling-apart sandals will be shoe-goo'ed within an inch of their lives.
Isn't it great to have a kitchen? It greatly reduces the cost of eating on vacation.
Dental care' s lowest return on investment is 8:1, and I've seen as high as $26:1. Dental problems don't get better on their own, and the restorative work and infection control for ignored oral health are $$$, besides the impact on overall health. So good for you, Frugal Girl!
Thanks for the heads up about egg yolks. I have problems with using them up.
There oughta be a prize for leaving target with only what you wanted 🙂 Go you!
1. Shopped and cooked for this week and stuck with it. Sun - Thurs. all breakfast, lunches, dinners from home, including 3 consecutive nights of turkey chili, and last nights epic potato soup. Planning to put last of crisper veggies into soup tonight with beans and eat last of salad and broccoli sides -- so no waste, hopefully.
2. Bought Brita pitcher at Ross dress for less, taking water every day to drink.
3. Resisted husband's suggestion to eat out twice last week -- boy, that's a switch for me -- but stuck with plan.
4. Also dressed from all the Ross, TJ Maxx, Goodwill stuff I have stashed away -- keep finding stuff I forgot about so it's new to me all over again 😉
5. Tracking how much we spend on food (gulp) each week, including eating out on weekends. Eye-opening! But it is helping me to stay with meal plans . . .
Hmm, let's see. It's been kind of a busy week even if I haven't done much that's super frugal.
I got a great deal on Panasonic Eneloops and submitted the MIR which Adorama has already told me they received.
While looking at an anime sale on RightStuf I googled the shows I wanted to see and low and behold they were either on Crunchyroll or Hulu.
I bought some bottle liners from Amazon cheaper than I could get them at the box stores. I hate using a disposable product but it seems to be what my daughter does well with. We're trying some other bottles as well but sadly we have to use something disposable.
Speaking of going away from disposable items, my daughter can now fit into one of the cloth diapers we got for her. So we're rotating that out to save on using up the disposables.
Do you have t recipe for the salad and warm bacon dressing posted somewhere? We love our brussel sprouts and this is a great new idea!
It's actually a new Cook's Illustrated recipe...and those are usually behind a paywall. I have a magazine subscription, so that's how I got the recipe.
Nothing too exciting, but here goes:
1. I downloaded a free app (WhatsApp) so that I can text with my husband, who has a work assignment in Australia for at least two weeks (through his birthday and Thanksgiving).
2. I mended a button on my son's khakis.
3. I used up four sorta getting old mini sweet peppers in the sweet potato black bean burrito mix I put together.
4. We had leftover freezer soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and fruit last night.
5. I brought along bottled water (with one of my Lifefactory bottles--awesome bottles!) when I ran some errands this week.
1. Stayed within my grocery budget for the week
2. Have been consistently eating the food that I purchased and things from our freezer/pantry, which has resulted in no eating out and, hopefully, no waste
3. Reused a freezer bag that was no longer airtight to store some leftover cabbage
4. Cleaned my bathroom using rags instead of buying Clorox wipes (trying to switch to non-disposable cleaning methods; going through Clorox wipe withdraws; I will persevere!)
5. Have not purchased anything this week outside of food and a shuttle ticket for my trip home next week.
1. Cancelled Netflix. 🙁 We got Amazon Prime on sale so going to use it instead.
2. Ate all our meals at home. Not sure it counts since we rarely eat out.
Great job at Target!
3. Didn't do any shopping this week. Not sure this counts either, since my husband does most of the shopping. He only buys what's on the list.
4. Went swimming at the gym. Paid for the year in January. So, yay for getting our money's worth.
5.- Ate leftovers, so no food waste. There are some canned green beans I don't want to eat I'll finnish at lunch.
Made chocolate banana muffins and banana cookies to use up ripe bananas. Yum!
My dog would love to take care of your egg yolks for you. 🙂
This was a good week, thanks to all the sales on Thanksgiving food items!
1) Played the loss leader game, and picked up $25 of sale items at our local supermarket in order to qualify for .47 cents per pound turkey. There were some great deals in that $25 - canned beans at .39 a can, boneless skinless chicken breast at $1.69 a pound, fresh cranberries at .99 cents a bag, and Rice a Roni at .69 a box. I spent a total of $33 dollars, which included a 20 pound frozen turkey.
2) Had previously been tempted to dip my toe in the water of the adult coloring book craze, but heard about a free app, ColorFy, to try first. It's completely free, and it's super fun. I have in loaded onto my Kindle HD, and it is more than enough to satisfy any urge I might have had to invest actual money in this hobby.
3) Combined a TravelZoo dining deal with a Goldstar deal to have a multi course dinner out (with wine even - the deal included one glass each 🙂 and see a Broadway show on tour at our performing arts center for about half the normal price. My husband and I had a great time!
4) Used $30 in accumulated DSW cash rewards to buy a pair of $29.99 shoes, paying the tax in cash out of my Mad Money.
5) Completed an online survey to earn three fresh bagels at our local Brueggers Bagel. I cut all three in half (they're hugh!) and popped them into the freezer. I've been pulling them out one at a time, defrosting, then topping with homemade pesto and placing under the broiler to serve alongside homemade Italian sausage, kale and white bean soup.
I'm a new reader of this fantastic blog and wanted to let you know that you can get free printables to color instead an actual coloring book. My bestie tipped me off to this, I found a ton on pinterest. Print a few sheets, grab some inexpensive pens/crayons/colored pencils and you're good to go! I ended up also purchasing the popular coloring book but I haven't used it. I think it may be a little too detailed for me at the moment.
That is so impressive. I always struggle with what to do with a leftover egg yolk. Great save.
Why do you "unbutton shirt collars"?
Ah, if you click on the link there, you'll get to this post that explains why I do: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2015/06/apparently-ive-been-ruining-shirt-collars-because-of-one-little-mistake/
(Short answer: I was ruining Mr. FG's work shirts!)
Tuesday 60 mile an hour wind gusts left 230000 homes in the Pacific Northwest without electricity. During the 25 hours I was powerless, I kept the fridge & freezer closed, used a portable gas stove, bundled up, worked on a craft project right under the skylight until dark, read by candle light and went to bed early. Less frugal neighbors went out to eat and spent the night at a hotel.
It's not been a terribly frugal week, but I've made room in the budget for the treats by doing some good things...
--Really good at menu planning this week. It's been work to adapt to a two-adult household, and he started a job only a few weeks ago... but I think we're hitting a good stride.
--The stuffed mushrooms became an excellent topping for naan pizzas the next day.
--Hubs spends so much less when he's working - he doesn't have time to stop for lunch or pick up "one more thing" at the grocery store. I get up to make him breakfast and coffee and pack his lunch every day.
--I'm starting to read through my TBR shelf at home - and before that I was reading library books. We're reading one book together, which is a frugal shared activity.
--I mended several clothes by hand (not perfection, but keeps 'em wearable) and will be going through the winter/summer transition this weekend, I hope. The weather can't make up its mind, though - 50 high one day, 70 high next.
I am ALL about imperfect but functional mending. 😉
You're my hero for only buying necessities at Target!
Ooh, thank you! That is a delightful prize. 🙂
* I really really REALLY wanted sushi for lunch, but on my way there I realized that I forgot my wallet at home. So I went home and ate cheese, corn chips, trail mix and an apple instead. Much cheaper and the craving is gone
* Bringing my daughter to the dentist today, which my husband insurances covers 90% of the cost. Thank god for insurances! Growing up my mom never had that so everything was full price. I appreciate it.
* Got a brand new computer keyboard for free from Freecycle
* Sticking to the monthly budget for groceries (500$) by buying on sale, eating in season and using less meat.
* We go out to the restaurant, as a family (4 of us), once a month. This month I was able to snag a 60$ worth for a little over 20$ at a restaurant we really like, through Groupon.
Have a great frugal day!
I love using Groupon like that...sometimes we get to have fancier date nights than would otherwise fit in our budget.
1) a merino wool sweater for me for $2.75 (Value Village half-price sale) -- and the only clothing I bought!
2) a set of 8 matching Corelle mugs for a friend, which I'll expand with bags of homegrown/homemade teas for a Christmas gift for under $4 at Vinnie's (St. Vincent de Paul thrift)
3) a nice scarf/shawl for another friend for Christmas for $8 at a consignment store
4) coupon + $20 in giftcards for a birthday dinner for my hubbie and self for a net outlay of $15
5) half-price English muffins (already on sale) and half-price cappucino yogurt at the grocers
Kirsten love your bread rolls, they look delicious:)
1. Paid a chunk off our mortgage from savings we had made..delighted with that..
2. Cooked all our meals at home and used up all leftovers for lunch..
3.stuck to my list in Aldi
4. Air dried all my laundry inside and only finished off in tumble dryer saving energy
5. Read my books borrowed from library..
Good week over all..love ur 5 frugal things post..it's great
I have a dental bill frugal thing to share as well. Our dental insurance refused to pay for the $530 panoramic X-ray that went with my son's wisdom tooth extraction. I called the office to let them know I was appealing it, then called the insurance company to learn the appeals process and wrote a kick-ass letter of appeal.
Hopefully we can get this bill paid, and even if they won't, I'll know that I did everything I could.
Good for you! You may also want to see if your state has an Insurance Commissioner, and take the issue there (or threaten to) if necessary. If it's an issue of time restriction - most companies pay for one panoramic every 3 years or so - you may be stuck. But if not, good for you for fighting for the coverage you've paid for!
And by the way, I'll be making those rolls next week!
1. Opted to just whip up a couple scrambled eggs in a taco shell for dinner the night my hubby was ill. He just are a can of chicken soup and there was no need to cook a big meal.
2. Purchased a brand new, still in the box string of white lights at the thrift store for $2.
3. Finished a Christmas present using wood that was laying next to our dumpster. Picked it up while walking the dog. Made a snowman using white paint purchased with a coupon and sewed some hats and scarves with Christmas fabric from my scraps which were purchased on sale with coupons.
4. Had a potluck at work and managed to create a large side dish using ingredients on hand and only purchased $2 worth of additional ingredients.
5. Volunteered to work a Saturday to earn extra vacation time. Using it to extend my Christmas break. This will give us 2 extra days and when traveling back home to be with family, the extra time are very appreciated.
5 Frugal Things for us... Well, it's hard. We're working on paying down our debt as quickly as we possibly can, but we have almost $200,000 to pay (crazy!) so we are trying to be SUPER frugal. Some things that we have done in the past week, maybe?
1. Made homemade noodles. Also found out how we can save hundreds a year by doing so which is crazy because who knew making noodles could save you money?
2. Made our own Christmas gifts - for friends and family to enjoy. It saved us a ton and it was fun to get crafty and see what we could come up with.
3. Worked a catering event - this takes time out of our day and is kind of a hassle, but it's something we get to do together to help earn a little extra money ($200) which helped to pay for our Christmas gifts that weren't homemade.
4. Didn't go to Subway - I want to go to subway every day. Forever. but we have eaten at home the past few days.
5. Quit drinking soda - this one starts today. It's a combination of wanting to be frugal (not paying for beverages when we can have water for free) and wanting to be healthy.
So there you have it! 5 things for us! 🙂