A really quick Five Frugal Things
It's been a good Monday morning so far...I worked out, showered, took Sonia to her tutorial, went to Aldi and another store, and did some laundry. And it's not quite 11:00 am.
But I did not write a blog post. So, we're gonna just have a quick little Five Frugal Things today. 😉
1. I bought marked-down flowers.
Aldi had these marked down to $1.99 (originally $5.99 or $6.99, I think), so even though they were looking a little bit sad, I bought two of them.
I think with a little water and sunshine, they'll perk up just fine in the two pots by my front door.
2. I caught a wrong price.
English muffins were supposed to be Buy 1, Get 2 Free, but only one of mine rang up as free.
So, I visited the customer service desk and got my money back.
3. I bought marked-down Chex.
I think the holiday recipe on the back is the reason for the markdown, but I don't care about that. The Chex don't expire until August, which is all that matters to me.
4. I bought bacon instead of pancetta.
A pound of Aldi bacon costs several dollars less than a tiny package of pancetta elsewhere (which was $5.99. Geez.)
If Aldi ever carries it again as a special buy, it'll be affordable and I'll make this pasta recipe with pancetta. Until then, bacon it is.
I know pancetta is probably very delicious (I've never had it!), but bacon is also very delicious, so....
5. I...
...bought most of my groceries at Aldi (almost always the most affordable choice), picked up a used book for Sonia at tutorial, brewed my coffee at home, packed some snacks for Mr. FG to take to work, and did my workout at home (cheaper than a gym in the long run), and started a batch of homemade yogurt.
You had a very efficient morning! I smiled at your cereal selection--it looks like what's in my pantry!
As for 5 frugal things .... 1) I successfully used coupons and the in-house sale at my local grocery store this morning. 2) I went to Aldi's--'nuff said. 3) We had my mom over for a Mother's Day brunch yesterday instead of going out--my husband made waffles! 4) I found inexpensive, useful items for my mom's Mother's Day gifts. 5) I am doing well at my weight loss, which will not only make me healthier, but keep me from buying new clothes in a bigger size!
Ha, yep, Life cereal was $1.57 on sale, so I got that along with the Chex.
And behind that is the unsweetened shredded wheat from Aldi, which is a screaming bargain at $1.69.
Congrats on the weight loss!
Y'all know that cereal doesn't really expire, eh? It might go stale but it doesn't really go bad.
That's true...but I've definitely had some stale cereal before and it was not a pleasant experience. I'm not frugal enough to be willing to eat it!
1. I found a long-desired vintage cookbook online as a free PDF (bless the owner who scanned in every-single-page and made it free on Google Docs!
2. We stayed in on Mother's Day, aside from church. The day before my husband and I went to the grocery store and we got everything we needed for Sunday's dinner (and before the stores got nuts, like they always do near holidays).
3. My husband and kids made me a delicious dinner from said vintage cookbook, Betty Crocker's Cheeseburger Pie, we played board games, and generally stayed put.
4. We've decided to forego going to theaters for movies, and wait until they stream on Amazon--we can all watch in the comfort of our own home for a fraction of what it costs to go to a crowded theater, and our food at home is way better. We do love movies, but we can wait until the "newest" comes out. This weekend we watched Aquaman and had frozen pizzas (which were on sale) and it was a blast.
5. We were thinking of getting a rug for the downstairs rec room, to protect the cream colored wall to wall (we rent) from stains if we want to eat down there, and my husband pointed out that we had a very good rug upstairs on a wood floor in the living room--we sometimes eat there on movie night, but the wood floor is pretty stain-resistant, obviously--so he brought the rug downstairs and it looks just beautiful, actually, and saved us over 100 bucks, at least.
Ohhh, that's so great about the cookbook! What's the title?
1. I cloth diapered all week (usual) but when we ran out of nighttime disposables for the toddler, instead of buying more we just used cloth 🙂
2. DH and children bought the ingredients and made me a lovely meal at home instead of going out. It was wonderful and only around $15, compared to the price of taking 8 people out to eat.
3. DH and I had "date in" this week and just watched a movie and had ice cream after the children were in bed.
4. I bought off brand laundry detergent that was sale. No one broke out from it but I will definitely be getting a different scent next time. This "tropical breeze" smells..... like a funeral home or something, its weird and even my husband commented that his clothes smelled really weirdly awful.
5. I made my mother a loaf of banana bread for Mother's Day instead of spending money on some useless gift that would just clutter up her apartment anyway. She never gets homemade things anymore, so she was very excited!
6. One MASSIVE fail: at the beginning of the week I was digging through my deep freezer (which is located outside under our massive covered patio but is hidden from view from anyone unless they are in my back yard). I pulled out 2 very large bags of chicken legs and chicken quarters and put them on the stand beside the freeezer, so I could dig better. I forgot about them. 4 days later my daughter went out to get a package of meat out for dinner for me and there was chicken bones and pieces strewn all across my patio and blood everywhere. Some animal got into the chicken. It was atleast $40 worth of chicken. I cried at my stupidity.
Oh, that hurts! Check out my post below if you would like some commiseration. I did so badly this week that I'm posting Five* Frugal Fails.
* Not sure it'll be exactly five.
Oh my word that is so frustrating about the chicken! Not just the waste but the mess to clean up. I'm so sorry that happened!
1. I also went to Aldi and got discounted flowers today... I got the premium Mother's Day bouquet marked down from $14.99 to $3.99.
2. Prepped a bunch of salad fixings over the weekend so my lunches are quicker and easier to put together, therefore more likely to get used and not wasted.
3. We ate snacks in the car on the way from the gym to Aldi instead of stopping for fast food.
4. I had some leftover chopped pear and strawberries, which were not very appealing on their own, so I pureed them with some applesauce and it makes a delicious filling for my baby's reusable squeeze pouches.
5. I made eggs for breakfast. I found them for 62 cents for a dozen of jumbo eggs... What a cheap breakfast!!!
Oh, and I'm adding shopping at Aldi to my list, too... I had to go to Walmart for something on Friday and picked up a couple of groceries while I was there and, oh my word, they were so much more expensive!!! Aldi has skewed what I think is an appropriate price for food. 🙂
I feel the same way about Aldi- if not on sale somewhere else- I try to get it there!
1. I actually remembered to use Ibotta for a Target run and got both coupons, sale prices, and cash back for $10.00. Plus now I’m stocked up on toiletries and baby yogurt.
2. I made soup from frozen thanksgiving turkey backbone, neck, tailbone, and gizzards. It turned out delicious and super healthy full of veggies.
3. Made homemade baby food for my youngest and froze a bunch of it.
4. Made homemade mother’s day cards with supplies I had on hand.
5. Participated in a kids clothing swap at church and got a bunch of free kids clothes plus freed up some space in their closet by donating.
1) My husband had the car for a work trip this week so I walked the kids to school and nursery rather than pay for taxis.
2) I took packed lunch to work most days.
3) I baked by sons birthday cakes (he had 2 parties lucky boy!)
4) For his school friends we had a home party and we organised all the games ourselves and I mainly shopped the cupboards for things for the party bags.
5) I also shopped the cupboards for the present, card and wrapping paper for his friends birthday party.
6) We stayed home for the rest of the weekend after all the parties we were glad of some peace!
This weekend was not just Mother's Day, but also our anniversary, but we stayed in. We also had a meal cooked for us by the grown child who lives closest to us, which was nice.
1. Tomorrow I will get a dress and shirt from ThredUp, using the last of my credit earned from selling to them.
2. This weekend I received my order of an OXO kitchen scale and some door mountable spice racks from Amazon, all paid for with Swagbucks. Not a penny out of pocket, woo-hoo!
3. The VA sent us half of the money to start our bathroom ADA modifications. They will pay 2/3's of what the work is going to cost us. We aren't redoing everything, just what we really need, so we could keep the price down somewhat, as there is a cap on what the VA will pay regardless of how much work is done.
4. Not recent, but my husband once rescued a nearly dead potted plant from a trash pile and brought it back to glorious life, so those flowers ought to do just fine, Kristen. We've actually bought "dying" plants a number of times for next to nothing, then got them growing. Usually, they just need a little attention and a bigger pot.
5. I found Norman Love chocolate from Easter on a great clearance at our Whole Foods. I have been to his flagship store here in Florida and really, really like his chocolate, but it isn't cheap by any means. I bought two Easter bunnies and they have been great. Chocolate is not a need, but it sure is a want.
1. Made birthday cake for my twins party mostly from ingredients we already had in the pantry (odds and ends of baking chocolate, leftover cream and buttermilk, some red-green-white sprinkles from Christmas etc).
2. For Mother's Day, enjoyed pancakes for breakfast and homemade pizzas for dinner. Sending a homemade gift to my mother.
3. Making due with party leftovers and what's in the freezer/pantry, so no usual grocery run this weekend.
4. Our neighbors have been so generous this spring, have been enjoying leftover mulch and deer scram.
5. My son has extra rehearsals for upcoming concerts, set up carpooling with another musician, saving time and gas.
1) Lunch was a mashup of things I needed to eat up, the greens my oldest brought home from the school garden, and some of the dressing our Airbnb guests left.
2) In planning my Costco shopping list this weekend I decided to check online for some of the things we needed. Our allergy medicine was $3 off, but only until yesterday. Since the shipping was free I went ahead and got it since I won’t be able to go at least until Wednesday.
3) I’m carefully planning our vacation to save every dollar we can. I’m hoping to score a second home exchange in Portland so that all the accommodations are free. Also I’m impulsively searching flights on different sites to find the cheapest flight at the best time. (I wouldn’t take a red eye flight with four small children even if it was free. They would sleep fine but I am not a fun travel buddy for a bunch of kids when I am dead on my feet.) I’m also working on a list of snacks to take and food to buy at the grocery store when we get there. We’ll eat out when it really counts but otherwise each from the kitchen in our home exchange/Airbnb. I’m much better at planning menus when I am not under pressure and I can let inspiration hit me.
3) Mother’s Day was adorable things my kids made for me and homemade brownie bites for my mom. We had lunch at my grandma’s where all I had to bring was a homemade mac and cheese.
4) I realized that other women’s feet are prettier than mine because they got pedicures. I am lower maintenance than a dude, so this was a huge revelation for me. I read online about what actually happens during a pedicure and put all the things I would need in my amazon cart. Then I promptly saved them for later because I just don’t know if I can bring myself to spend money on things like nail polish. I’m going to keep thinking about it though. I love the save for later feature.
5) I went to update our budget this morning and realized we didn’t spend a dime over the weekend, other than the check we wrote for church, but that’s different.
6) Our oldest two are into Minecraft and desperately wanted “mods,” whatever that is. So we used it as a teaching opportunity. They each had to pay with their own money. Oh, I also dumped out the ridiculously large water jug my dad gave the boys to store their coins in. Coinstar gave me a $70 amazon gift card, and I transferred $35 into each boys savings account. My parents had a basic savings account for me as a child into which went any checks I received. (Cash I could keep and spend.) This was separate from my college savings and became my “seed” money when I got a job as a teenager. It was my first taste of the power of saving over time.
My feet have never been near a pedicure either, but because I cannot stand the idea of someone having to make a living by dealing with cleaning up gnarly feet. (There are other more intimate procedures I cannot imagine having, simply because I figure people only do those jobs because they are desperate for a job.)
I dunno...I can think of a lot of worse jobs than giving pedicures (like some of those highlighted on Mike Rowe's Dirty Jobs show!)
But then again, I'm not particularly grossed out by feet. I know some people are though, and for them, giving pedicures would be a terrible job.
I've taken four kids (ages 3, 6, 8, and 10) on a five-hour red-eye flight because it was the only one available. They actually did ok, but they're used to long hauls and sleeping on planes, and have flown 12-13 hour flights a few times now.
1. Found a pretty black tee shirt at the thrift store which I didn't buy because I already have two pretty black tee shirts.
2. Had a fancy latte from Starbucks bought with a gift card I received for my birthday. Remembered to take my reusable mug for a 10 cent discount and less trash.
3. Crossed my fingers and washed my winter jacket on the delicate cycle of my washing machine. It came out looking great!
4. Said no to the overpriced and very small bouquet of graduation flowers the university is selling. I can get a nicer bouquet at the local flower shop for a third of the price!
5. Donated a large bag of middle school books to one of the downtown churches for their book sale. The proceeds go to fund their work with the homeless.
This week it's all about the FRUGAL FAILS. Sigh.
1. About 1/4 of the chicken I cooked for the dog, went bad in the fridge within a week. That was far too quick ... maybe someone left it on the counter for a while by mistake?
2. Let mental tiredness led to lack of planning led to buying a store roast chix for a meal.
3. Got distracted and burned the stock I was making from the bones of that store roast chix.
4. The fruit smoothies I made teetered on the edge of going bad. They were fizzy and just getting tangy. I made smoothies. But the fizzy smoothies expanded more than usual in the freezer and now the pops look weird. I'm thinking about throwing them on the compost pile.
5. Neiman Marcus refused to honor and old-but-no-expiration-date free parking card (long story omitted). Mental tiredness leads me to decide to let it go rather than fighting HQ for $14.
Conclusion: mental tiredness is not frugal.
Ohhh, so much frustration! I had a day like that last week where everything seemed to go wrong. I felt like I should just go back to bed.
Great idea on the flowers, I never thought of that
1. Trying to earn more swagbucks by leaving the video clips running.
2. Made lentil stew for lunch with lentils I had in the freezer.
3. Made granola last night (baked it after 9 when our free electricity kicks in.
4. Organizing the house while my husband is gone on a trip. This can save money (and my sanity) in the long run.
5. Avoided eating out when out of town by taking sandwich makings and going to a park.
Oh, I like your marked-down flowers! Marked down is always the right price. 🙂
1. I took my mother out for Mother's Day. There was an issue with our meal, nothing major (I thought; it could have been, but I'm a pretty chill person in general), but the manager comped the whole thing, which was very cool of him. It's one of our favorite restaurants, and they'll be getting more of our business. 🙂
2. Fruit is in season! We've got pears, kiwis, peaches, and apples ready for the eating in the kitchen. 🙂
3. As always, I've been taking full advantage of my local library. Man, I love that place!
4. Speaking of the library, I picked up two piano books from their book sale for two dollars, so I was seriously happy about that.
5. Our garden has been planted and it's growing! We've got tomatoes, green onions, peas, zucchini, and...probably a bunch of other things, but my husband was in charge of planting, so it'll be a surprise to me when everything sprouts! 😀
Yes. I'm not much of a gardener, so I like to keep my plant purchases low risk. Ha.
I am not at a very frugal season of my life: two graduations and a wedding in July
1. Borrowed a card box from a friend for grad party #2. Very cute....we repainted it and will pass it along to another family after we are done with it.
2. Acquired FREE and do not need returned glassware for table decor for WEDDING...3 boxes full!
3. Husband and son cooked a nice dinner for me for Mother's Day...we did not eat out.
4. Packed lunches for the week....Done!
5. Starting to use digital coupons tied to my walgreens/ kroger / etc cards....more and more....
1. Made a chicken salad bar for Mother's Day lunch- fed 6 adults and 3 children for $20
2. Left over cherry tomatoes from the lunch will become sun dried tomatoes in my dehydrator tonight
3. Husband and I are eating left overs for lunch this week
4. I didn't have a black dress for a funeral this weekend, but my sister did, and she let me borrow it
5. Took my kids to a local farm ($2), a historical lighthouse and museum ($7), and on a 1 hour walk over the river (free!) for entertainment
1. I don't do a lot of couponing anymore, but I had a really good Kroger deal this weekend. I was able to buy 2 bags of granola, 3 large Palmolive dish soap bottles, 3 tubes of toothpaste, 2 packs of baby wipes, 1 can of green beans and a head of broccoli for less than $5.
2. Prepped all my lunches for school days this week. 4 black bean burrito bowls
3. Found a coupon for $20 off a purchase at DSW - husband bought shoes over the weekend and forgot the coupon, so I'll stop there tomorrow to see if they will do a price adjustment.
That's all I can think of for now
Husband is gone for eight days so I planned ahead and will not need to leave the house at all while he is gone (not a sacrifice as I love being alone)---I can work from home, I am eating from the fridge and freezer, I am getting exercise putting in my massive garden (future savings), and I picked up some library books while on the way to taking husband to the airport. Should be a very frugal week.
I too enjoy being alone. My DH and son were away for a week and I read books, deep cleaned the basement, worked on other projects, picked up some extra work hours, ate cheaply. I did connect with a few friends and took some long long walks as well.
My youngest is home from college, so the grocery bills are up, and I'm feeling frugal. So here's my five.
1. Cleaning out the basement and selling or donating things we do not need. Although selling on Facebook is painful - people say they are coming and don't show up. $174 so far, which makes up for some of the frustration. Also cleaning up the things we want to keep - like the little rocking chairs from when my kids were little.
2. Shopping at Aldi for 90% of what I need, heading to Meijer or Target for what I can't get at Aldi.
3. Meal planning and eating in.
4. Taking advantage of birthday month coupons from loyalty programs. We went to a matinee and got a free large popcorn and drink. We have buy one get one tickets at the another theater, so that will be another fun frugal outing.
5. Planning some home reno and cleanup that we will do ourselves instead of hiring someone to do them.
Listing this all out makes me feel good!
Hmmm, let's see if I can come up with FFT....
1) I bought three hanging flower baskets at Aldi for $4.96 apiece (marked down significantly)....they needed some TLC, but are doing well.
2) Attended a free program sponsored by our public library, and got to hear a former astronaut speak. Hubby and I are space nerds, and the speaker was so interesting. We love our library!
3) Have been making my own coffee and bringing lunch to work every day.
4) Bought hostas at a great price at a local church rummage sale - all proceeds support their community programs.
5) Used a pie crust from my freezer, rhubarb from my garden, and sale strawberries to make a strawberry rhubarb pie to share with family on Mother's Day at my mother in law's. It was a big hit.
I frequently check the markdown racks in the back of our Lowe's garden department for "rescue plants" - I call it Plant Death Row. I scored some great finds last week for $1 each (originally $3.98 to $4.98). The plants were in great shape just did not have any currently blooming flowers but plenty of buds. Some will be used in end of the year teacher gifts and the rest for my deck/yard.
I love that...Plant Death Row.
Personally, I prefer bacon to pancetta.
5 Frugal things:
1. Made a meal for friends with new baby rather than purchasing one for them even though it's a busy week (3 birthdays in 12 days plus overnight guests and a ballet recital)
2. Returned library books on time (once again...busy weeks make it so much easier to forget things like library books)
3. FAIL--babysat away from home all day on Saturday and didn't plan ahead or coordinate with my husband so when I got back at dinnertime, we had nothing ready and the kitchen had just been sprayed for bugs, so we went out.
4. Celebrated a small milestone in my husband's career with stuff I had on hand
That's it. My frugal choices are falling by the wayside in this busy month. only 9.5 days until the end of school!!
1. Made an new recipe for a gluten free almond cake to take to the family Mother’s Day dinner and chocolate chip cookies, all from ingredients we had on hand.
2. Managed to over-winter my cherry tomato plant from last summer in a pot inside. It’s back outside now and I have green tomatoes!!!
3. Swiss chard and parsley unexpectedly over-wintered too which is a fun bonus. I was expecting to have to buy starts of both.
4. I have almost all the curriculum I need for home school next year already!
5. My kids and husband picked me a beautiful bouquet of flowers from what was blooming in the yard on Sunday.
Bonus: signed up for a membership at a museum where we will be vacationing for $99. We will go a minimum of two times which almost covers the membership in admission alone, but then it makes us eligible for science museums all over the country, even those whose memberships are much more expensive for the next year! Several of them are on our list to visit or revisit as a family, so I’m really, really excited about it.
William- Sorry about your fails. Hoping for a better week for you..
Stephanie- Well, at least an animal enjoyed the chicken. So, it didn't go to waste, right?
Here's my fab frugal five:
I bought 5 plants- spearmint and thyme....For 99 cents each.on clearance. It's been raining a lot but I hope the sun can dry them at some point. They're perennials so they should come back every year.... Savings- $20
My insurance company has two of my meds on the "not approved" list. But my doc fought for them and one got approved! Saves me $225/mth! The other can be purchased for $125/mth LESS than the discount price that the supermarket wants to give me, if I buy from Walmart.... So, that's where I'll go for that one. Cool. Savings- $350/mth
DH needed a car and found a really good one at a dealership. He pays $200/mth for it. He did buy the extended warranty for $3000. which I wouldn't have done, however. But the car is 14 years old with only 85,000 miles, so maybe that was smart? Savings- $20,000 versus new car
My nephew's birthday is coming up so he got a GC from Swagbucks with a bit of cash.... Savings- $25
We didn't go out for Mother's Day. I just asked for a card, if the family felt the need to give me something.... Savings- $80
Way to go Kristen; kicking goals - I'm with Kaitlin; I prefer bacon to pancetta...
1. Yummy free lunch at free professional development session today
2. Coordinated errands to make it quicker & less petrol
3. Got a pair of really nice grey wool pants from the op-shop for $7
4. Took tea in thermos as is my custom on errands etc
5. Wonderful time with family on skype
6. Shopped at aldi
7. Watched dvd's with my sis & home cooked dinner
Frugal fail - still not doing great with cutting out takeaway but getting lots done that really needs doing
1) My husband repurposed a piece of wood from an old project to make a table top cover for our dog’s crate. We then moved the crate to the end of a couch for a make shirt end table.
2) Painted myself rather than paying someone
3) Realized we went a little overboard buying gifts for my son’s birthday and put one away for Christmas.
4) Made my son’s birthday cookie rather then buying it. I also brought in ice cream sandwiches for his class treat, much less expensive than store bought cupcakes.
5) we knew Saturday would be busy with home projects and other activities so we bought a premade fajitas kit at Costco. More expensive than making them from scratch but significantly less than take out or going out to dinner. We even had leftovers.
Those plants look like coreopsis, a perennial, so they may not bloom all summer (mine don't). But if you put them in the ground where they get some sun (doesn't have to be all day), they'll come back next year and start spreading.
1. I ate a big cold cut sandwich...home made...with instant coffee for breakfast. 2. I cut off an ugly pair of pants to make ugly garden shorts. Spent an hour out there planting lily bulbs and broke open a plastic pot of bargain day lilies from Lowe's sale last year and divided and planted. 3. Gave neighbor bag of unopened crackers, aldi hummas, cheese slices, several oranges for their road trip snacks. 4. Washing 2 huge loads in cold...instead of little dink loads all week. 5. Pushed zinnias seeds into soil everywhere I planted lilies.