A Day in the Life of The Frugal Girl
Carrie and Mrs. Picky Pincher told me they were both writing Day In The Life posts with an emphasis on frugality, and they invited me to join in.
So, here's how my life went on Monday of this week.
Morning
I got up, ironed some clothes, and also packed some snacks for the husband and made him a smoothie for breakfast, using my Vitamix (which is an expensive machine that ends up being frugal in the long run because it lasts for ages).
Normally I pack him a lunch, but we were low on groceries and had no leftovers...so, he bought lunch out.
That is obviously not frugal, but it happens sometimes. He eats a packed lunch 90% of the time, and I am good with that.
After he left, I threw in some laundry and got dressed (a thrifted green Gap skirt and a black Old Navy tank top) and grabbed my earrings (pearls from Amazon) and my necklace (Lisey picked this out for me as an out-of-the-blue present this past winter and I love it!)
(I apologize for the very lame selfie. SLRs are not made for selfies.)
I drank my breakfast smoothie while I added pictures to a blog post and published it (the Lunchskins post).
Then Lisey and I headed out to an appointment (in-network, so just a $13 copay). I read a library book while I waited for her.
When I got home, I switched laundry and started working on menu planning for the week.
Afternoon
For lunch, I had fresh peaches (remember my $10 bruised peach box?), a sausage that I cooked in my little cast-iron pan, and a treat in the form of a Take 5 bar, which I'd bought the night before.
Take 5 bars aren't remotely healthy, but ooh, they are good. The chocolate! The caramel! The crunchy pretzels! You should totally try one.
After lunch, I finished making my menu plan and grocery list, switched laundry again, and then headed out to do some errands.
I went to Aldi (because Aldi is my fave) and bought most of the groceries I'll need this week.
I picked up an insulated lunchbox for Lisey too, since she is going to have to start packing a lunch when her tutorial starts up.
I also stopped at the drugstore to pick up two prescriptions. The cashier there told me about discount programs for each of the prescriptions, so I used my phone to sign up for them then and there (instant $75 savings!)
I also picked up some super-cheap notebooks at the drugstore's back to school sale.
On my way home, I stopped at the organic market for some chicken.
I paid for everything with a rewards credit card, which we pay off every month.
When I got home, I unpacked groceries, photographed them for Friday's post, put them away, and started heating milk for homemade yogurt.
By that time, I had to take my older two kids to work, so off we went.
Taking them to work does use up gas, but they're earning their own money and, more importantly, learning some great life lessons.
When I got back home, I finished mixing up the yogurt to put in the cooler, cleaned up the kitchen, put the rest of the groceries away, and wrote most of this post.
Evening
I made dinner, which was Chicken Pomodoro over rice, with a blueberry/peach salad and raw cucumbers.
Yes, we ARE eating a lot of peaches right now. 😉
We cleaned up dinner, welcomed a friend to sleep over with Sonia and Zoe, and then it wasn't crazy long before one teen needed to be picked up from work.
I picked up the other teen too, tucked Sonia and Zoe into bed, chatted with the teens about their shifts, took my yogurt out of the cooler and put it into the fridge, and headed to bed.
Aaaand that was the end of my day.
sounds like you had a very busy day
Now I understand why the hospital EMS room just changed the slushy flavor from "red" to orange creamsicle. They must have read the same clinical study 😉
Ooh! They are SO on top of things.
Creamsicle heals all.
Funny, in my Frugal Day post, I made a homemade Dreamsicle smoothie!
Oh.my.goodness. I am cracking up over here.... just so you know! 😉
I lovity-love this post!
My favorite parts were how kind you were to your husband, and how both frugality and treats were woven into your day. Those are both good lessons for me ... to show kindness to my husband (and everyone else!), and to remember that things don't have to be black and white, which is how I tend to think.
Thanks for a glimpse into your day, Kristen!
Curious to know, since you've mentioned it a few times, what do you mean by Lisey doing a tutorial? I mean I know what the word means generally, but I'm not sure I know what you mean in this context?
A tutorial is a service for homeschooled students. They typically hold classes once or twice a week, and a tutor teaches a lesson and then assigns work for the week. The homeschooling parent is still ultimately in charge of the student...the tutorial just is kind of coming alongside the homeschooling parent. So, it's not exactly like taking a class from a teacher.
Lisey was feeling like she'd like to try out a classroom-ish experience, but not a full-time school day, so this is a hybrid kind of thing for her to experience before she switches to college classes next year.
Oh interesting! I've never heard of that before.
The Aldi haul reminds me of how even when you try to go bag-free, plastic bags have a way of creeping into your house.
On a side note, is that store bought bread that I see? 😛
Yup! I've found that I tend not to bake bread nearly as much in the summertime when I'm busy fitting other things into my schedule! I bake more when we're in the swing of the school year.
Ah yes! Me too on the less-bread-baking-in-summer thing...we have been buying bread for the past month.
Sounds productive! I'm always texting a friend of mine about my day and how much is packed into it...I think I will expand it to Wee in The Life since I also work Saturday through Tuesday out side of the home at my second job. (: I will have to try that creamsicle soda cure...
When you said you put on your pearl earrings, my mind immediately went to Mrs. Cleaver, who kept house in pumps with a pearl necklace. Not the same thing at all, but it gave me a laugh.
Ha, no, I'm not that dressed up at all. And I'm almost always barefoot, so, no pumps here. 😉
You know, our Ninja blender is on the fritz and we've been considering a Vitamix. They're expensive but I'm sick of buying "new" stuff that breaks so soon. P.S. Your smoothie looks delish. 🙂
I also really like that you've kept the same phone for a while. I had to purchase a new phone to switch to Google Fi, but I'm hoping to squeeze as much life out of this thing as possible. I don't like the whole "new phones every 2 years" thing that's become popular.
Get one! We love ours. 🙂
Also consider the Breville. Both Consumer Reports and Cooks Illustrated rate the Breville highly - beat by the Vitamix but it's literally 1/3 the price so it gets a best buy. CR rated the Ninja right after the Breville. I almost got a Ninja but the plastic jar felt too flimsy. So I've had the Breville for about 4 years and I'm very happy with it.
Unless you use your blender daily. In that case, a Vitamix may well be the best choice for you, despite it's ridiculous price tag.
Yeah, I use mine at least daily, so I feel like the Vitamix is worth it for me. Love it!
I loved A Day in the Life of The Frugal Girl post.
Keep them coming 🙂
Ooooh, I love your necklace. Any chance there's a photo about of you wearing it? I might put it on my Christmas wish list & would love to see it modeled. 🙂
What happened to the Kid Car? I understood your plan was get them a car so you don't have to be chauffer.
Oh, we definitely have the car, and that's what Joshua's driving to and from work. However, he doesn't have his driver's license yet...just his learner's permit. Once he has his actual license, then he can drive chaueffer himself. 😉
That reminded me to eat the last peach my husband's uncle and aunt gave to us. Ate it today for lunch with "whole grain beet chips" (a delicious on-sale whim) and laughing cow cheese. My treat is dark chocolate wafer cookies. 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Loved this post! Thanks for sharing a glimpse of your life with us.
Would you mind sharing information on the prescription discounts? My mom was recently diagnosed with both diabetes and a heart condition. Combined they require about 6 meds a month, which is a huge amount considering she wasn't on any meds prior to.
Funny, Jenn, that happened to my mom, too. She was overweight, and it provided the impetus she needed to go on WW and lose nearly 80 lbs. It helped with both conditions, and greatly improved her quality of life. She later said the one regret of her life was that she hadn't done it sooner. Don't know if this applies to your mom, but if she needs to lose a little weight, perhaps this story will provide a little encouragement.
These were some medication-specific discounts, so they'd only work if you needed the same skin prescriptions my kiddo did.
Could she ask her doctor to see if there are any programs to reduce the cost? The doctor or the pharmacist might know.
Your mom also may want to check with her health insurance. If she has medicare, most insurance companies offer special programs for people with diabetes and heart conditions. Also, in many cases if she gets her meds through the insurance company's mail order service instead of at a retail pharmacy they are covered at 100%. This also applies to people who have regular insurance they pay for individually or through their employer.
Totally randomly stealthing your blog 🙂 I totally want to do a Day in the Life of Lily too. Kids definitely make life busy it seems!!