Five Frugal Things
1. I mended a towel.
Promptly, too, so I give myself two gold stars.
When I took my bathroom's hand towel out of the dryer this week, I noticed that the seam on the one end had come almost completely apart.
So, I got out my sewing machine and sewed it right back up.
I'm a little bit proud of myself for not putting that off. Yay, me!
2. I gave Joshua a haircut.
I haven't got much to say about that. I cut his hair. It was free. The end.
3. I stopped at Costco when I was close by.
And then I turned this into a rather frugal fail.
So, the first trip was all well and good (I stopped by while I was in the area to pick up some things we needed. And I got gas.)
But then the next morning, I started to make some rolls and realized I had no yeast.
(After desperately searching thru my chest freezer.)
I'd even been in the BAKING aisle at Costco the previous day. Ugh. I may have been a little bit crabby with myself about that.
Anyway, I made a quick run out to Costco which wasn't at all time or gas efficient.
I did make some yummy cornmeal buns with my freshly procured yeast, though, so all was not lost.
4. I started painting my patio.
I stopped into Home Depot and decisively picked a color without trying a sample.
(This is unusual for my household. Remember the time it took 8 samples to paint Sonia and Zoe's room?? Oh man, I'm glad that's over.)
The only thing is, I'm sort of wishing I tried a sample because this color is a bit pinker than what I think I want.
I mean, it looks really brown in this photo, and it looked rather brown on the color sheet at the store, but it's a bit pink on the patio.
I'll do a second coat and see how I feel after that. I mean, I already have the paint, so why not? I might as well give this color a really fair shake.
(I did successfully manage to pick a charcoal color for my front door without getting a sample, so I'm 1 for 2 with the no-sample thing.)
5. I returned my library books on time.
This is a big improvement over the time I got $18 in late fees.
Especially since I did that right after writing a post about how to accrue library late fees. Ahem.
Full disclosure: I did forget one book. But I can easily drop that by a library tomorrow, and it'll only cost me a few cents in late fees.
Way better than $18. 😉
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Your turn! Share your own five frugal things in the comments.
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P.S. I don't blog about politics, which is why I haven't said anything about the election. It's not that I'm opinionless or don't have thoughts; I just feel like this is not the space to share them. Love to you all.
1) I also mended a towel hem
2) I talked with my husband about a budget that will allow us to donate more to charity and save for bigger things, and he's on board
3) I use my library like craaaazy
4) We had an office dinner event last night, and I saved half my take-out Thai food for lunch today
5) I dropped into a fabric store after work that I saw is having a closing sale, but I limited my purchases to two specific projects that I am working on and three fat quarters that I'll use for one of several upcoming quilt projects (first niece on the way!)
Thank you for making this a politics-free zone. Love it 🙂
Agree 100%, thank you!
Absolutely, thank you!
Yes nice this is election free zone.
I agree!!! Thank you for that!
Thank you, thank you, thank you for not blogging about the election results!
I agree 100,000%!
I agree also!!!
And I didn't know I could love you even more!
Thanks for not writing about the election! There is so much vitriol on both sides. Everyone needs to take a deep breath, CALM DOWN and chill. There are already protests all over the country and they will turn violent, people are threatening murder all over social media... We aren't going to achieve the peace and unity we crave with a human candidate anyway, so it really matters little who is elected president.
1 - I got a free energy audit on my house from my electric company. So informative! Everyone should do this, even if they’re in a rental.
2 – I killed a huge bug crawling around on a table at Starbucks. The barista gave me free coffee.
3 – I checked out Hillbilly Elegy from the library.
4 – This isn’t frugal, but it is smart – I invested another $200 in my Stash investment account yesterday.
With all due respect, your first paragraph was actually quite political. Perhaps we can just stick with listing our frugal wins (and failures!) here like Kristen asked? 🙂
Frugal things 1-5: I spent a whole morning giving five haircuts. It's free (ish, if you don't count that time and the expenditure in mindless TV for the people who can't be underfoot), it's done, the outcome is (outcomes are?) fine. And I reiterate my opinion: Major props to professional stylists. I do it 'cause I gotta, not 'cause I wanna.
I am not very good with the scissors or clippers, thankfully my husband is. I tried doing the home haircuts on my boys, got flustered and he helped by finishing them. Next time my boys fired me and insisted my husband do them. He has been doing them ever since. He cuts mine and I even have my best friend coming to have him cut her hair. He really did want the extra jobs, he was fine just doing mine, and well I was tired of paying for bad haircuts for my boys, my best friend had gotten a really bad haircut and my husband just supposed to fix it, and he is good about it, he doesn't complain, he just asked me not to volunteer him for any more of my friends. But I do understand why my best friend asked him to continue to cut her hair, he does a great job, doesn't get scissor happy, and I never have to pay for a bad haircut, I just get compliments and asked who does your hair..
1) My son put together a cold frame for me so I can extend the growing season for my lettuce in the garden. Not having to buy it saves me $4 or $5 a week as we eat lots of salad.
2) Canned the last of the tomatoes from the garden as tomato sauce.
3) Cooked and froze a pumpkin.
4) Used a prime pantry credit for no-rush shipping on a Prime Pantry order. Also ordered five participating products for free shipping, which were all things I regularly purchase and were decently priced. (Didn't even know some of them qualified until after I'd already put them in my cart...) So saved $10.99 right off the bat. Used Amazon credit card points from last month to pay for the order, so there was no charge at all. Sweet.
How come I can always come up with 4 but the 5th alludes me! 🙂
Illudes, not alludes. Good grief!
Whoops. Archaic spelling. Eludes. I'm done now. 🙂
Haha! Well, we all knew what you meant. 😉
Lol! Far too few laughs recently....... thanks! Giggle!
What is a cold frame? Thanks.
It's kind of like a short, portable, mini-green house. Ours has a frame made of narrow strapping boards. The top is hinged so I can open it to get to the lettuce. The whole thing is covered in heavy clear plastic. So here in Maine, when the temps are dipping below freezing, I can pop this on top of my lettuce and it's enough protection to extend the growing season for a while. Sometimes people use old windows for the top, which would hold up to snow better for sure, but we didn't have any kicking around...
Ours kind of looks like this...but on a smaller scale.
http://img1.sunset.timeinc.net/sites/default/files/styles/500xvariable/public/image/2016/10/main/alaska-style-cold-frame.jpg?itok=2UUF5xRu
I get it. Very cool. Thanks for the information. I am going to share it with my brother who is very interested in this and has a yard to do this in. I don't. 🙁
We are eating out of the freezer this week, I bought some regular coffee instead of stocking up on more K-cups (for now), I met with the retirement lady at work and discussed ways I can save more each paycheck, and I'm having my mechanic son take our 11 ear old Baja in to his shop tomorrow for an oil change. We've been spending a lot lately, seems like...
Does your library send emails to warn you a book is due soon (or overdue)? When I get those emails it prompts me to go online and renew the books. Only if someone is waiting for the book, then it does not allow me to renew (or if I've had it for 3 cycles). This saves me a lot of late fees.
Yep, I definitely use those. But the book I mentioned in my post has holds on it, so I can't renew it.
Have you considered taking the can of paint back to the store for a little extra tint? They might be able to darken it up a bit for your second coat for no or a small additional charge.
That's an interesting idea. Could they maybe add some bluish tint to it to make it less pink?
I have done this, and they did it for nothing and without blinking.
Thank you for this - I have made mistakes on expensive paint before and was just wondering the same thing!
I did this once with paint it was more nursery yellow then the sophisticated straw color I wanted. Worked like a charm.
I took an extra gallon back to the store once and they added more drops of color to it to change the color so I could use it for a different room. I bought 2 gallons originally when I only needed one. The store was happy to do it at no charge.
Thanks for this! Our first house had a pinkish tint to it, so we called it the pink house 🙂
1. Used a $2 coupon on speciality light bulbs.
2. Bought 2 pairs of needed, but designer, jeans at Goodwill for $12.
3. Used a discounted vegetable tray for things like soup and side veggies. Saved buying a big bunch of one thing that I can't use up.
4. Stayed home and cleaned windows while raining outside. Saved gas and spending money.
5. Got my Fitbit to charge again before buying a new one. It wasn't working for 2 days and then suddenly worked!
FitBit is great about sending you a new one if your old one stops working for any reason! I just got a new one after calling customer service.
So glad the election is over. Now on to Christmas commercials, right? I would love to hear more about Costco and what you find as a "super savings" there. Our Costco is opening next week and I am anxiously awaiting it's opening.
Here are my five things: not sure if I have five things, but I'll give it a shot:
1. 2 work events provided me 2 free lunches this week. I also resisted temptation of going out to lunch yesterday with colleagues. Hubby had made some butternut squash rosoto (sp) that was delicious that I ate instead.
2. Stopped at the goodwill Monday after one of the the above work events and found two Melissa & Dough tracing mats for my toddlers to practice their letters & numbers. Though I did spend $2 on these, it will keep me from making copies (and wasting paper and toner) of tracing sheets I found online. They are really neat, pencil washes right off!
3. I am heading out of town for a conference next week and we were asked to bring a giveaway from our university. Normally, this is something that comes out of our own pockets, but my supervisor stated that I could use office money to buy it! Not only do I get to NOT use my own money for the giveaway, but I will get to keep the giveaway that I win at the conference. If I can I try to "win" a giveaway that I can use as a gift for my college aged niece or nephew. (they attend colleges that also attend these conferences)
4. Found a great deal on diapers on Amazon and if you signed up for their subscription service, you got a few more pennies off. As long as I am diligent and check my email, I can delay the automatic shipments if I do not need them. My daughter is still wearing diapers so this is a major cost for us.
5. I scored another free sandwich at chick fil a last week by completing a satisfaction survey online. We used it last night for our weekly "Chick Fil A & Church" night. I do see that the end of my toddlers 'splitting one sandwich' is coming to an end soon. My little guy gobbled up his half and begged his sister for hers.
Ooh, nice about the Costco! Here are my top ten favorite things to buy at Costco: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/2014/03/top-ten-things-buy-costco/
Thanks. I thought you had posted about that before, but couldn't remember! Mommy brain.
Ah yes, a no-politics zone. Yay!
1. I updated my checkbook and YNAB so I actually know how much money I have to spend. When things get out of date, I spend more because I don't really know, then I have to dig into my savings to cover it. Bad habit for a natural spender like me!
2. My credit union transferred my Christmas Club money into my checking account so I made up my Christmas budget so holiday spending doesn't get out of hand.
3. After a two-month cooking slump, I am finally getting back into the swing of meal-planning and cooking from scratch.
4. I decided to do some medical stuff I have been putting off for a long time including getting a sleep study, visiting a nutritionist, and seeing some specialists to address long-term issues I have been having. This has cost a lot of money over the last few months but we have been advised that our insurance copays (and premiums) will go up drastically next year and so in the long run it will save me money. Plus I get to feel better sooner which is about the best thing I can think of to spend money on. I am so glad I got my finances under control or I would still be putting this stuff off because I would have felt like I could not afford it.
5. Checked my christmas craft supplies before going shopping for things to make gifts with. I already had so much stuff I could use this year!
Let's see; this week:
1. I picked more chiles from our back yard to dry. I also picked oregano, basil, and rosemary to dry and cook with!
2. I sold my old Macbook CD drive on Craigslist for $20, which was awesome! I plan on relisting my other items to see if I can get a bite on them.
3. We've been pretty good about eating leftovers and using our freezer meals. We did eat out last night, so that was a frugal fail! Hopefully the rest of the week goes well for our food costs.
4. Mr. Picky Pincher's birthday party is this weekend. We're doing a small get-together with friends and family, so the costs shouldn't be too bad. The theme is "Tinfoil Hats" since he loves aliens/space, so we'll all be wearing tinfoil on our heads. Should be a good time! 🙂
5. Mr. Picky Pincher is almost done installing our tile backsplash. He just needs to do the grouting and he'll be done! We've saved probably several hundred dollars with him doing the backsplash, so that's a win!
I have been following your blog for a few months and the 5 Frugal Things is always one of my favorite posts. Before reading this, I would never be able to give you even one way that I've been frugal. I think I've always thought that "being frugal" should be this huge savings, etc. and you've made me realize that it doesn't. It can be the little things and they do add up over time.
This week, I've brought my lunch to work every day! I haven't eaten out in 2 weeks. This is HUGE for me!
Last night I had many errands to run and I planned out my trip so that I was driving in a circle and not back and forth out of my way wasting time and gas.
Yay! So glad you find these posts helpful.
I have an account where I send all small checks to be deposited---like a $2 rebate check, any mystery shop payments, $25 I got for submitting a photo to a magazine...I don't look at the statements and just shred them. Every November, I take out the money accumulated over the last year and use it for my Christmas gifts. Well, yesterday I went to the bank and I had $941.15 in there!!!! I had no idea I had sent in so many small checks and I never even missed them. This is far more than I will spend for Christmas, so I will put the rest in our emergency fund.
Accepted two bottles of vodka from a friend who was moving. Unopened. I will use them to make vanilla and peppermint flavorings and for my vodka pie crust recipe.
Picked up a nickel and then later a dime at the grocery store parking lot.
Used the library to get a book I had been itching to buy. And then it turned out to be totally not to my taste so it really did save me money not to have purchased it!
Work potluck leftovers that no one wanted came home with me. What the husband and I didn't eat, the dogs did.
Had a new pair of shoes that I had avoided wearing for a year because they were too tight. I forced my poor husband to wear them for a few hours to stretch them out and now they fit fine. He, however, is still hobbling around.
Lindsey - could you give me information on submitting photos to magazines? I am an amateur farm/wildlife photographer and would love to start doing this! 🙂
That last one has me laughing!
I needed that laughter, shoe stretching, who knew!!!!! Thanks.
You should contact your library and see if they'd consider eliminating fines for everyone! There have been lots of libraries doing this recently, fines are coming to be seen as a barrier to service for lower income families, who often benefit the most from what the library can offer. Just my two cents as a librarian myself! 🙂
1. My friends and I are planning a girls night out tonight. It was going to be a bit out of my budget, and we reworked it to be something more affordable, but just as much fun.
2. I am spending too much on meals and snacks out - a coffee here, a lunch there, one more coffee - and it is REALLY adding up quickly. I have identified the problem (hey, that's something!) and am going to add the exact amount I've spent during the past few weeks and start putting that amount into a specific savings account toward a specific (TBD) goal each week.
3. I have been doing the Picky Pinchers frugal cleanse (slightly amended to fit the steps I had already taken).
4. I bought my Christmas tree in advance, using a Groupon, and it will be delivered! $40 less than I spent on my tree last year, and easier!
It seems as if I have been spending a lot of $$$ the past few weeks but along the way I have to say that there was still some saving involved.
Usually for birthdays we do dinner out as a family but this year for my daughter's birthday we stayed in and ordered pizza & salads.
The temperature is cooling off and the heat had to be turned on but I am making a habit of turning down the thermostat while I am at work and opening up all the blinds during the day to get the heat from the sunlight to help heat the house.
This time of year I need to start stockpiling my pantry again....this can get expensive so I am buying what I "need" and doing more of my bulk shopping at BJ's with coupons. I never realized that you can use one of their coupons and also combine it manufacturers coupons.
The leaves are falling so each Sunday I spend a few hours outside filling up barrels of leaves to put at the curb while we still have our weekly yard waste pick-ups. I will save the leave bags purchased for when the pick-ups stop. I can go thru nearly 30 bags in a season.
I live in the state of NJ and we just got hit with a .23 tax on our fuel gas...I now make it a point to purchase my gas at Costco weekly since they have the best prices and I use a credit card that gives a rebate for gas purchases.
I echo others' sentiments, thank you for giving us a break from the politics 🙂
1. I meal planned the entire month of November and so far, we are on track!
2.) My workplace finally offered dental and short term disability insurance. Although it's money out of my paycheck, it's cheaper than spending $600 per year on dental visits.
3.) I have been watching deal sites like crazy and found an awesome Columbia hooded sweatshirt for my mom for $15 with free shipping!
4.) I tried the Kindle Unlimited trial and am loving it. While I still LOVE reading tangible books from the library, I don't get there as often as I'd like. The plight of being a working mom in the boonies 🙂
5.) A gentleman came to our home the other day seeking donations for a program that finds home for homeless veterans. Of course, we donated. In return for our $25 donation, we received a book of coupons from a local pizza place (our favorite!). It is enough coupons to get us free Friday night meals for 4 months. I'd say that was a well spend $25 🙂 (We would have done it even if we didn't get a coupon book in return).
1. I took a short lunch yesterday because I was late coming into work for a doctor's appointment. This way I don't lose as much because my vacation and sick leave are tied together and I like having vacation time!
2. We're in the midst of very a expensive, not covered by insurance, treatment plan which is not frugal 🙁 However we've purchased a plan and are also in the midst of using everything offered through the plan which I think is frugal because we're taking advantage of it! (Hence yesterday's appointment)
3. We cooked a Blue Apron meal instead of going out, and I'm happy to say haven't wasted food since starting Blue Apron.
4. We canceled cable, saving us $100/month! (Good Lord it was expensive)
5. Instead of cable we subscribed to HBO Now, to watch a specific show. We're still in the free trial month and will probably cancel it when our show is over.
Re your #3
I too purchase yeast in bulk but if I had been in your situation I would have just run to the local store for a packet to get me by. Yes it is more expensive to purchase yeast in packets but the time and gas consumed by a special trip to get yeast in bulk would have out weighed the price difference. Just call it "stupid tax"
1. Ordered a book I want to read from the library instead of buying it.
2. Ordered a DVD I want to watch from the library instead of buying it.
3. Hemmed the drooping lining on 2 skirts, so now I will actually wear them.
4. Brought lunch to work every day but one day (yesterday - my mom took me out for lunch.)
5. Drinking office-supplied coffee this week instead of going out and buying it.
1. I shopped at Aldi for most of my groceries and found coupons for the ones I needed from Publix!
2. I went to the Epcot Food and Wine festival with girlfriends and we all shared our purchases so I got to try many different things without spending $100+ to buy them for myself.
3. (This is going to sound awful!) A sweet woman in our church gifted us a large box of pampers. I don't like Pampers and they happened to be the wrong size for my son so I returned the box for two boxes of the brand I prefer in the correct size. 300 diapers instead of 180 for the same price!
4. I have used the same ibotta rebate for a nutritional drink 4 times now and got back $10 as a result!
5. I made progress on my list of handmade Christmas gifts and found great deals for some gifts I wanted to purchase!
And thank you for abstaining from commenting on politics.
My all-important question: are you a southpaw???? I like to tackle the pertinent issues of the day. 😉
Hubby was out of town last night--kids and I splurged on Qdoba but we used a coupon so that was semi-frugal, right? I shopped at Aldi, went to the library, mostly have kept the heat at 67 degrees, and I can't think of anything else, frugal-wise.
Yep, I'm a leftie! Sort of. I write with my left hand and eat with my left hand, but most other things I use my right side for. I chop with my right hand, kick with my right foot, etc.
Me too!
Same here! I eat, write, and play sports with my left hand. But anything else from using scissors, to opening twist lids my right hand is dominant!
Hmmm....This week I....
1. A while ago I found a wonderful coat on sale and now it's 50% off so I'm heading out to buy it. I also phoned ahead to make sure that it was still in stock as the store is about a twenty minute drive. Yes, I'm going to buy the coat new but I haven't bought a winter coat in almost 20 years so I figured I could splurge:)
2. Resisted the urge (again) to buy our three grand kiddies tons of Christmas presents. They already have so much "stuff" that they don't "need" much but... it is Christmas......We seemed to have gotten into the tradition of buying them each a Lego/Duplo set and a book. They are supremely happy and we have avoided buying presents that are too faddy and disposable.
3. We're continuing to eat beet greens and Brussels sprouts fresh from our garden.. Yes, it's been freezing at night but I cover those plants up with old sheets and uncover them again during the day. Fresh produce from the garden! Can't bea(ee)t it! Pun intended!
4. Sorted all our canned goods according to due dates and stacked them on appropriate shelves. Now I can really see that I don't need any pasta until at least 2019! He! He! I can also see on our 2016 shelf that I only have one can of baked beans and one bag of nachos that have to be eaten by the end of December. So, no food wastage!
5. My husband had to go out of town this week for a day trip. I sent him with a packed lunch and home-brewed coffee so he wouldn't have to stop at a fast food place. Better for our wallet and his health!
Have a great week everyone!
Thank you for no politics! I just deleted FB from my phone, it's too ridiculous.
Xoxo
I deleted Facebook as a whole. It's been over two months and it's glorious!
1. I cut both boys' hair this weekend. They both really needed a cut, so it was about time.
2. I made pasta with sausages from Aldi that had been marked down and bell peppers I got from my mom, who brought them home leftover from her office.
3. I rode my bike today because I didn't have to drop the kids at school.
4. Supper last night was chili from the freezer and grilled cheeses for the kids.
5. I started tracking my calories this week. Our youngest is pretty much weaned, which means my body will turn its focus from "pack baby with calories" to "lean, mean machine" again. Like budgeting and money, I find that tracking calories means I eat fewer of them. If I am eating less it should mean that I am buying less.
1. Hemmed some pants for my son by hand, instead of paying $11 each.
2. Bought a gift card for my son at Rite Aid, giving me the equivalent of $4 in Plenti Point rewards. Will save the gift card for Chanukah.
3. Filled my gas tank with Plenti Points I have accummulated, giving me 3/4 of a tank for $3 out of pocket.
4. Ordered a $50 gift card for my SIL, using Swagbucks.
5. Picking up my free turkey at Shoprite, along with other freebies (due to coupons). Giving the turkey to my brother, who is hosting Thanksgiving.
Forgot to do my frugal five!
1. Meal planned and shopped with a list( and stuck to it!)
2. Hung all of my laundry on racks. Now that the heat is on, it really helps to dry it.
3. Combined all of my errands.
4. Finished my Christmas shopping. Had a no spend October, so was able to use the savings towards Christmas. I usually spend way too much if I wait until December. Everything looks so tempting then. Trying to concentrate more on the enjoyment/activities of the season.
5. Roasted my Halloween pumpkins and made pumpkin butter for hostess gifts.
Have a wonderful day!
Pumpkin butter sounds interesting....! Mind sharing the recipe?
Happy to! I use Mavis's recipe found here:
http://www.onehundreddollarsamonth.com/freakin-awesome-pumpkin-butter/
Thanks! This looks really easy!.....and i just pureed some pumpkin recently. Bonus!
1. I mashed up overripe bananas and froze them in one-cup portions, to use in your chocolate chip banana muffin recipe someday, Kristen!
2. Had my 6-month dental checkup and cleaning. I know this isn’t a guarantee of no dental bills, but hopefully it helps. Made my next appointment for May.
3. Had an appointment for fasting blood work that my doctor had said I should do, in an attempt to keep myself as healthy as I can. (I feel like so many of my FFTs are health-related these days … is that a sign of getting old?!)
4. Found three pennies on the ground, all in one place.
5. Walked outside for an hour with my fast-walking friend. Free exercise and a good time.
It's funny. I was actually coming here today to see if you had a political post. Only because I respect your calm and positive approach to everything you do! But thinking about it, I 100% agree with what you did, it just can't end well either way and better to keep this space positive for everyone. 🙂
That IS funny. I mulled over a bunch of different things I could say and then just ended up vetoing them all.
And I figured it's not like there's a shortage of political opinions out there right now anyway. The world will not suffer undue harm over me not chatting about politics publicly.
Thank you. All of us have opinions on this election. We wouldn't be human if we didn't. Sadly, I've had to unsubscribe from some sites, some on one side and some on the other, because the ugliness was simply unbelievable. Thank you for choosing not to contribute to the anger, the ugliness and the hate. Thank you for keeping this space non-political so we can all feel safe here.
1. As if making Christmas gifts from free scraps of fabric and rice isn't cheap enough, I found rice on sale.
2. Made lunch from some unwanted chicken. Realizing that part of the problem was that the chicken was drumsticks, I stripped it off the bone, simmered it in its sauce (some of it had dried out, waiting to be eaten) and ate it over brown rice. Tasty, although the dried-out bits were still dried out.
3. One night I didn't have enough time to cook the fat chops, so I cut them in half - 4 thin chops instead of 2 fat ones. Made two dinners from them instead of one. Guess 2 fat chops is more than needed for dinner.
4. About to inventory my baking ingredients (choc chips, flour, sugar, etc), to see how much I need to buy during the holiday season. Baking ingredients are always at their cheapest this time of year.
5. On Sunday I will attempt to patch the holes in my "hang around the house" jeans, using fabric from even older jeans. Wish me luck, I've not done this before.
6. Discovered you can, indeed, make bread pudding from stale brownies. Use regular bread pudding liquid except very little sugar, and don't let it sit so long that the brownies become mush. The mush-based result is tasty but I'll like it even better with a bit more tooth to it.
Woohoo about the rice! You're close to being in the black for those gifts. 😉
Ok, thinking cap on...
1 I've been using my single serve French press with bulk ground coffee instead of buying kcups
2 we purchased a CSA for the fall and it has been an amazing deal so far
3 I re-evaluated our house budget and restructured some of our spending so we can resume contributing to a retirement fund I started a few years back
4 I lowered our monthly grocery budget (see above) with the intent of focusing on using what's in the pantry from the canning bonanza of September - I guess I'm doing a bit of a pantry challenge this month as well knowing there will be crazy amounts of food for the coming holidays
5 my in laws are hosting Thanksgiving this year and we are all pitching in potluck style so it's more affordable for everyone. I'm bringing a ham (not frugal perhaps), squash from our garden, pies with our blueberries and pumpkin, assorted pickles and relishes I've made, and then possibly an apple crisp with apples from the CSA.
Bonus 6 we are eating leftovers tonight 😉
I'm glad to see no politics, either. I don't think it is chickening out, I think it's the right thing to do until passions die down, at least.
1. I'm using junk mail and backs of old lists to make my new lists for errands and shopping. As the holidays approach, my junk mail increases so I find more uses for it.
2. I also shred my junk mail in the given-to-me shredder, and use it as packing for mailing gifts.
3. Used the time after having my eyes dilated at the doctor's to walk around the Goodwill next door to his office. I had to switch from stoneware dishes to melamine, due to my husband's unsteadiness, and I watch for Corelle serving bowls, etc., to use with our melamine set, since my melamine can't be microwaved. I have a nice, if old, set of dishes to use for company and special meals, so I don't much care if our everyday stuff matches. For some reason, my own local Goodwill has been pricing Corelle bowls crazy high, but I found one yesterday for 99 cents at this Goodwill.
4. I have a stock pile of Christmas cards, and I always send cards to family. My relative works for a card company and gives them to me for free, as the company just gets rid of the previous year's unsold cards. I usually start just after Thanksgiving writing a few each week, then mailing them all out a week or so before Christmas. I still pay for postage, but I can't beat the price of the cards -- $0.00.
5. This isn't my frugal thing, but I had to change the paper roll on my calculator today at work, and suddenly remembered: I once worked for a woman who never let us tear off the calculator paper. We had to use the roll up as one long, long, piece, and when it was finished, turn it over and re-roll it back on the spindle, with the unprinted side facing out. Only when we handed in a roll completely printed on both sides could we get a new roll of calculator paper. I had to bring my own pen and pencil to work, too. This was 40 years ago. I guess she was ahead of her time. Too bad she was unpleasant to work for -- I might have been more inclined to listen to her frugal tips if she had not been. Kristen, you are pleasant, and we like to listen to your ideas!
I love the five frugal things posts. It really makes be think.
1. I made a leotard for my granddaughter instead of buying her one. She is in gymnastics one evening a week.
2. I took my lunch to work 3 out of 4 days this week.
3. We have not ate out any until tonight. Busy evening for me.
4. I finished my Christmas lists with the majority of gifts things I'll be making.
5. Used $5.00 in coupons on purchases at CVS.
If commenters had refrained from saying thanks for no politics, we wouldn't have had to think about the subject at all!
Touche'
And yet, you just mentioned it AGAIN ;). Guess more than a few of us have trouble with that assignment.......
It's all good. I'm mainly interested in not having a messy, hurtful, and unhelpful discussion about the election results (this is how these things seem to be going on the internet right now!), and you guys have been totally respectful of that. So, no worries. 🙂
1. This week I have concentrated on using every bit of food possible.
2. I made food for a college party at home out of what I had to hand.
3. I have started to buy food for Christmas as it appears on special.
4. We are trying to use the air conditioners are little as possible as we have had many days of 100 this last few weeks.
5. We have had some discussions about having a simpler Christmas.
1) Our middle son and I worked out a fun plan for his birthday party. We are teaching our boys to value fun living over possessions. To this end we are inviting every single friend he has to come over and have a giant Nerf War (we 3 sons we have plenty of nerf guns, lol) and trampoline jumping with brownies and ice cream but requesting no presents. He already has more stuff than he can manage due to years of 3 birthdays every year. This is frugal for the other parents (whether they care is none of my business) and brownies and ice cream for twenty kids is pretty cheap.
2) I made the world's most random lunch boxes today. I need to go to the store but I wait until it is desperate because, overall, I spend less when I go less.
3) I wore a thrifted outfit to visit with my mom and MIL. That is every day, though. Except for jeans. I have a small waist and big arse. Finding cute thrifted jeans is nearly impossible since only a couple of brands sort out properly on my frame.
3) I made breakfast out of some bits of veggies and Aldi's eggs. 39 cents/dozen for weeks now!
4) A Target run for invitations turned into determination to print some out on my own for pennies.
Frugal Fail: Chronic lack of sleep, the drier late fall air, allergies and who knows what else has resulted in a dull headache and slight fever on and off for days on end. I caved tonight and sent the boys and husband out for pizza while I crashed on the couch with HGTV and honey tea. My sweet husband brought me a nourishing salad and I actually feel better now. So, not frugal but within our budget, which is set up to give us grace when needed.
1. Saved wasting another sheet of printer paper on your roll recipe. I have that cookbook, too, and need to start using it. Have had it forever, and this is the second time you've inspired me to look at it. Now to bake them..
2. Raked leaves today with 4-yr. old grand who THANKED me for letting him rake.
3. Took above-mentioned grand to library storytime (free), and didn't go to Chick fil-A after.
4. Boiled down a 1/2 gallon of apple cider that wasn't being consumed. This after buying some from King Arthur at Buy one/get one half off.
5. Made a small crockpot of applesauce with some questionable apples, with a few good ones thrown in, and some of that boiled cider. Delicious!
Because I've kept my weight stable all of my winter clothes. I need to buy anymore or do any alterations – and of course, that's better for my health.
Business dinners all week, so our grocery bill was minuscule. Unfortunately, the dinner at last nights event was fillet and shrimp – i'm allergic to shellfish and haven't eaten red meat for 30 years. I frugally brought a protein bar, which I ate on the way home.
Purchased a Groupon to take our niece out for a celebratory dinner. She has accepted a call to ministry, and we are so proud of her.
Thank you very much for keeping your blog political free. I love your blog.
Hi, just a note to let you know that for some reason I have not received your blog in my email. It has been a few weeks. I miss you. Kate
Oh dear, I'm sorry about that! I just went into my email settings and according to that, the emails are getting delivered to you. Usually when that happens, it's because my emails are going into your junk or spam folder (not sure what it's labeled on AOL). Could you check there and make it not as spam/junk and then see if you start getting my emails again?