Five Frugal Things | $30 for a truck of mulch
1. I got a $30 truckload of mulch compliments of my dad
We do not have a truck, but my dad does. And he was kind enough to bring over a whole truck load from the local sawmill.
The entire truckload cost only $30, which is such a bargain compared to the mulch that comes in bags.
Plus, the mulch in bags is sort of annoying because you have to empty the bags one by one.
And of course, a truckload of mulch produces no plastic waste.
So, yay for a dad with a truck!
My dad and Mr. FG and I all worked together to get it spread around and now our beds look so, so much better.
2. My dad brought over a board for our deck
Another one of our deck boards started to rot out, and at first, he thought we might just be able to flip it over.
But once we removed the rotten material, the board turned out to be awfully thin in that spot.
So, he picked up a new board for us (again, a handy dad with a truck is a fabulous thing) and even nailed it in, with a better type of nail than we had before.
And once the pressure-treated wood dries out, I will just give it a coat of deck paint so it matches the rest of the deck.
Since a hot and dry time of year is coming up, the board should be ready to paint in fairly short order.
(Most of you probably know this, but: you can't paint or seal pressure-treated wood at first because it is super wet straight from the factory. It has to air-dry for a while first.)
3. I CVS-ed some contact lens products
I ran out of saline, so I checked to see if it was on sale at CVS.
It was buy one, get one 50% off (for double-packs of saline) but then I saw that my app had a coupon for $4.50 off a $20 eye care purchase.
So, I picked up a box of on-sale Clear Care too.
I had another $5 coupon in my app, so my total was $19.43.
But then I got $8 more in Extra Care bucks in my receipt, so it's really more like my total was $12.
And $12 is a really good deal for four bottles of saline solution and two bottles of Clear Care!
4. I redeemed my TopCashBack earnings with a bonus
I had $66 payable, and I chose the Amazon redemption option, which added another couple dollars to my amount.
Every little bit helps.
Which is really my philosophy when it comes to cashback sites anyway; it's tiny amounts that you get back when you shop, but it's better than nothing!
You can open up a TopCashback account here; it's free and there's often a signup bonus.
5. I planted some marigold seeds I saved from last year
I have so many seeds saved; I need to plant some more of them.
Marigolds are such an easy flower to grow, even from seed.
Which is why they are on my list of plants for frugal black-thumbs.
Our neighbor dropped off three mean roosters for us last week to get rid of them, which became three meals with the actual meat and about three gallons of stock. Eating clean chicken is nice, but having clean chicken stock is the real benefit of a home-raised chicken, in my opinion.
Finally getting some food out of the garden. The spring things were almost all from saved seeds, so it's nice to get food from free seeds.
Middle son outgrew his shoes, so I rummaged around in the saved shoes container and found a pair of his older brother's outgrown shoes for him that he actually loves rather than just tolerates.
Ditto youngest son and his shoes.
Our priest asked my daughter to crown the statue of Mary last Sunday, and I was able to put her in a very cute and spring-y floral dress, thanks to the clothes a friend gave me that her daughter outgrew. That same haul of clothes provided a fancy dress for my daughter to wear for her brother's First Communion, and yet another fancy dress that's dark blue and will be appropriate for my brother-in-law's memorial service next month. Hooray for free fancy dresses!
Hand-me-downs are seriously the best. They are not as good after the kids hit about size 12, sadly — a little hit and miss, but still welcome.
That is definitely true. I still get some hand-me-downs for the youngest son--who is 6--but nothing for the older two. And the oldest one rarely grows out of anything before it's destroyed, so there isn't much to save for the middle son.
Except church clothes. Boys, girls, young or old, there are always lots of options for hand-me-down dress clothes.
My new tenants (chefs at local Italian restaurant) are using my VegTrug by my guest cottage, as it's too heavy to move. I thought about where I could plant my tomatoes and herbs, and then had a brain wave. Got some vintage wooden milk/whiskey crates off FreeCycle and will line them with burlap sacks someone used as packing material in an eBay purchase of mine. I'll add some soil and prop them on an annoying bench I have. We'll see how this works! If it doesn't, I'll be out the price of a few seeds and a couple bags of potting soil.
Asked around my friends for a watering can purse they'd like to donate for a worthy teen. One knows she has one but is not sure where--it was a gift. She's going to look for it.
Making shortbread at home using a recipe I was given in Scotland ten years ago, since my daughter is currently obsessed with it and it's a lot cheaper than a small box of Walker's at our supermarket for $5.
I think that's it!
And since you have decided not to sell for now, you have the freedom to plant some things! Do let us know how it works.
I'd love to see a picture of your set-up; you could share one on the FG facebook group. 🙂
And oh, I just put two and two together about the purse. That is so sweet of you!
Smitten Kitchen has a shortbread recipe up: https://smittenkitchen.com/2021/04/classic-shortbread/
I think she has super recipes and have been meaning to try it. Thanks you for the reminder!
What a wonderful deal on the mulch! It is definitely beneficial to have a family member with a truck,
My FFT for the most part are fairly ordinary -
* I have been cooking from scratch, brewing my own coffee, and drinking primarily water.
* Today, I’m wearing my favorite Talbots dress that I purchased from Good will for $6 and matching navy estate sale sandals that I purchased for $2. I always get compliments on this outfit.
* I finished our taxes this week. It was brutal. I transferred money from savings into an IRA to reduce our tax liability.
* Yesterday, I took advantage of several BOGO grocery deals and used $6 in digital coupons to stock up on coffee and dog treats. I then scanned my receipts to ibotta and Fetch.
* It was beautiful on Sunday. We celebrated Mother’s Day outdoors and on the water with a homemade brunch complete with champagne. It was much less expensive than a restaurant brunch. I was happy to find out that Rescue Pup is not afraid of the dock. My last dog was terrified. I guess he was afraid that he would fall through.
* I’m enjoying two magazines given to me by a friend which I will pass on when I’m done. I am reading a new library Three Hours in Paris. I’m watching Keeping Faith on Acorn.
Wishing you peace and good health.
Keeping Faith is an awesome show! We sadly just watched the series finale.
We were in Ketchikan, Alaska, once with one of our Irish wolfhounds. One business is built on a dock, which the dog did not notice until we got to the other side and then had to walk back---which is when he realized he could see between the slats, down to the water. He sat down and refused to move, and lifting a 160 pound dog was obviously out of the question. I tried treats, I tried ordering him sternly, I tried begging him...nothing worked. We sat on that dock for several hours, until the sun set and he really could no longer see between the slats. The store owner could not lock the gate so he had to stay behind (he had tried strong arming my boy, who reared up to his full 6'3" height and barked in his face, putting an end to that). It was a nightmare that I remember every time I see a dock!
There isn’t much you can do in that situation except for wait it out. Aren’t dogs wonderful and curious creatures? When I was a child, I too remember being afraid that I would fall through the cracks of the pier.
1. While we are fully vaccinated we have been slow to make big changes. We are still eating at home, with occasional takeout. I'm still meeting friends for walks and sitting and talking afterwards.
2. I did yard work yesterday to take advantage of wet-ish ground. There is no end in sight to the vines and weeds that come in from all sides of the yard.
3. My SIL gave me pots with salad greens so I don't need to buy salad right now and I don't have plastic containers to put in recycling (from what I understand very little plastic is actually recycled these days).
4. Rather than drive to the library to pick up one book on hold I'll let it go to the next person on the list. I have plenty of ebooks and I'm trying to save gas while the pipeline ransomware issue is still occurring.
5. I'm wearing clothes from years past. It's easy if not the height of fashion. I honestly have no idea what is fashionable at the moment and I don't care.
I was having a conversation with my grandmother this past weekend. We're all vaccinated and we were talking about how there's much less restrictions on us but how we've all reached a point where there's so little we want to do since so many of the things we enjoyed are gone.
I do want more people at my house and getting invited to other people's houses would be nice too.
1. We ate majority of our meals at home this week. While this isn't particularly noteworthy for us, I'm in a month-long intensive training program (50-60 hours/week) and I've still managed to avoid carry-out. I call this a win.
2. My husband and I finished installing our own flower/fruit gardens (with truckloads of dirt/mulch).
3. For Mother's Day, we went to my Aunt's house for dinner. Our contribution to the meal was desert. I spent about $10 to make a strawberry triffle and it feed more than 15 people. I knew strawberries would be on sale, so this was an easy, inexpensive meal out for us.
Five Frugal things for the week:
1.) Installed a new lock on my garage door. This wasn’t a task I would recommend for everyone because drilling through a solid wood door is a real pain in the butt, even with a nice corded drill. I also let my daughter "help" a bit (mostly holding stuff and putting screws in when power tool are not being used) which helps her not be so afraid of fixing things like I was as a kid (and like most of my family still are.)
2.) We swapped Ting Plans and now have unlimited talk and text and 5GB of shared data for $25/mo. We are still in WiFi 99% of the time so I don't think this will get used all that much if at all. Still, nice to have in an emergency. Before this we were paying around $35 or so.
3.) My wife used some fabric scraps she had to make a romper for our daughter. Of course due to the high cost of fabric, sewing your own clothes is hardly frugal (mending sure is!) but using up scraps and buying other people's scraps can make the hobby less expensive for her.
4.) Planted some of our garden from seeds. We still need to get some seed potatoes, though.
5.) Had to buy a bunch of items from Amazon so I broke up the orders, used "slow shipping" and got enough digital credit to get some manga to read.
Bonus: Worked some overtime.
Fill a bag day (where you can buy as much as you can stuff in a bag for a pre-determined price) at thrifts and rummage sales is a great way to score material.
1. Had to do a complete reset of my computer which wiped out my Microsoft Office software suite. I was able to retrieve my original software access for $14.95 to download the software again, which was a big savings.
2. Have been planting out tomatoes, green beans, kale, cucumbers, marigolds and more all grown from seed.
3. Used some gift certificates for purchasing flowers from two different nursery centers.
4. Got my husband to pick up free mulch from our county trash and recycling center. County residents can pick up 3 - 30 gallon containers of free mulch each day. You just supply your own containers or bags and fill them yourself.
5. Re-planted my brother-in-laws' hanging porch basket with plants I got with my gift certificates. He is not a gardener, but he was really happy with the gift and vowed to take good care of it.
1 - I made a few batches of turkey broth using some very tired parsley, celery, and onions plus some mis-shapen carrots & turkey bones from the freezer.
2 - I finally got around to turning in the cans that had been accumulating during the pandemic. Unfortunately the first two times the machines filled up just after I hit $3. So, today I only took one bag, which is just over $3, but the machine would have taken more. Oh well. I've gotten about $10 back so far.
3 - I am happy that Misfits Market has changed their model to one where you make all the choices to hit a minimum order. Now I only order what I will truly use. I will miss being pushed outside of my comfort zone occasionally, but not the times when I was picking from a list of items I'd struggle to use.
4 - I confirmed both track jerseys still fit after 18 months, so another thing I don't have to buy this spring.
5 - I planted most of the garden. It's a mix of seeds and seedlings, but I've learned that starting seedlings inside is not for me and buying them is still often less than grocery shopping.
-Nora
Hi Nora,
You've got me intrigued by Misfits Market and it delivers to my area!! Do you have a referral link before I sign up? 🙂
Yes, Thanks! Here it is for anyone who needs: COOKWME-NN1BFV.
I forget the ones that Kristen posts about right now, but they don't deliver to my area.
-Nora
I am a frugal green thumb and for some reason, My saved marigold seeds did not flourish this year. However, I am happy that yours did.
I also LOVE the red bean hyacinth ( your idea)...I keep planting them and the squirrels keep digging them up and taking them. This is a new problem. I have ( so far) planted 14 seeds to no avail. I save the red bean pods....so eventually I hope they will sprout. Any suggestions for the squirrels??
My herbs are good: Thyme, parsley, taragon , sage and chives came up from last year. I will just purchase some basil, rosemary and mint ( invasive : keep in a pot) and be set!
Hooray!
Have a great day....
My FFT:
1. We helped my in-laws lay flooring in their family room (took us 3 evenings after work) so they fed us dinner all 3 days for helping. I didn't have to cook for 3 days!
2. Our lab takes allergy medicine daily. I called vet to refill our order and they have a drop box for after-hours pickups. Vet's wife forgot to put our order in the box, so I had to make a second trip out to pick it up, so they gave me an extra 21 days of free medicine for the inconvenience plus we have spent a small fortune there in the past few months, so this was a welcome surprise!
3. My daughter and her boyfriend borrow my car alot to get back and forth to work, so they've been putting gas in my tank as a thank you 🙂
4. Used coupons at Walmart the other day, saving $8 on things I was going to buy anyway, plus I shopped their clearance items, saving another $8.15.
5. Sold a few things online on FB marketplace making $308 in the past week!
6. I had to get some routine maintenance on my car today for warranty purposes so I clipped a coupon for 10% off that they sent me & they applied towards my total.
It's been a non-frugal week at our house. Everything on the first floor of the house, except the bedrooms, was packed into a Pod last week so the flooring could be replaced after the water leak. I didn't anticipate them packing up my stove so I've been struggling to make dinners at home!
- Instead of going out or picking up takeout for Mother's day, my husband made a breakfast casserole and my daughter baked it at her house
- Did a load of laundry at daughter's house when we were there celebrating Mother's Day. Easier and cheaper than having to find a laundromat (do those even still exist?)
- Returned a pair of shoes that didn't fit
- Bought $0.99 graduation cards. It blows my mind that a simple card can cost over $5!
- Bringing lunch to work every day even though I have to "piece" meals together since there aren't leftovers this week
I read that marigolds are a good companion plant for tomatoes, so I'm planning to plant some this year. If it goes well, I'll have to remember your seed-saving! My FFT:
1. I took advantage of the energy from finally getting a good night of sleep (thank you, middle child) to really attack house cleaning this morning. Bedrooms, floors, curtains, walls... Did you know that preschoolers can find washing walls fun? Anyways, the cleaner house is making me very happy and it cost me nothing.
2. I have a pretty new pair of slippers that sprouted a hole along the seam. I sewed it back together. I also mended a little bag for my daughter.
3. I was happy to have a regifting of sorts for Mother's Day. A few years ago my husband made me a serving table for our back deck for Mother's Day. I broke the glass top with a hot pizza stone a year or so ago and we glued it back together. Then this winter my kids broke it again by climbing on it while everything was covered. When my husband asked if I was ok with my Mother's Day present being a new top for the table I said, "Yes!" We would have fixed it anyway eventually, but I'm fine with it falling in the gift category and happy it's done.
4. I joined a babysitting co-op! A bunch of moms from church are starting one and we had the kickoff meeting last week. Free babysitting plus a chance to get to know other families - I'm excited!
5. I've gotten my family members to think of borrowing books through interlibrary loan when they want something! My daughter had the Scholastic Book Fair last week and she said that she didn't want to spend her money on anything (she's saving for a particular toy right now) - that we could just order whatever books she wanted to read. I was proud of her frugal/saving mindset, but we gave her $20 to buy something for herself and her 2 siblings. The book that she got for her sister is really neat and has a little projector on it and everything - and it was marked down to $2! Yay, Jenna!! And while my husband doesn't visit the library himself, he asked me to order a couple of books for him through interlibrary loan. Both things made me smile.
I plant marigolds in the corner of my garden every year near my tomatoes and peppers. I also plant them in a flower bed about 50 ft away from my garden. I find that they help with pollination and keeping bugs to a minimum. Hope the same holds true for you too
1. I found Nestle semi-sweet chocolate chips on clearance for .60 per 12 ounce bag. I bought 6 to freeze for holiday baking.
2. I redeemed fuel points to get .20 off per gallon.
3. My most recent receipt from the library shows that I have saved $933.45 so far this year.
4. When I was cleaning out my car trunk, I found a bag of outlets, switchplates, etc from Lowe's that I purchased for my mom's house more than 2 years ago. There was no receipt, but I was able to get $47.06 in store credit.
5. I used a $10 DSW perk reward to buy a 6 pack of socks. My out of pocket cost was $1.09.
1. I picked up 2 bottles of dishwasher detergent off Buy Nothing
2. Aldi's had hams for 50% off, so we grabbed one
3. All my seedlings cost $35 this year, which includes 5 basil plants, 20 tomato plants, more green beans and snap peas than I can count, sage, thyme, oregano, garlic, onions, 1 strawberry plant, and broccoli
4. I took my daughter to her 2.5 year old check up, which is free with our health insurance. Preventive health care also saves money long term.
5. I signed up for another research study, which will earn me $50
FFT, An Ex-Volunteer Stater's Upstate NY Volunteer Garden:
My goals for gardening this year are (a) to emphasize herbs and deer-resistant flowers rather than vegetables (which I'm sick and tired of planting for the local Bamboids), and (b) to do this as inexpensively as possible. The (b) involves using a lot of plants that now "volunteer" in my garden (a word that, as an ex-Tennessean, I appreciate). Here's a list of my volunteers:
(1) Dill. Once this starts self-seeding, it never stops. And since I've become known among my friends as the Refrigerator Pickle Lady, and since I have one friend whose husband would eat dried dill on his breakfast yogurt if he were allowed, I let it go wild.
(2) Echinacea (aka purple coneflower). Another self-seeder.
(3) Gem marigolds (Tagetes tenuifolia, not the better-known French marigolds). I planted these many years ago and have never needed to do so again.
(4) Sunflowers. The birds scatter these all through my garden beds from my bird feeders, and I let the ones that sprout in good places come on up.
(5) Catnip. I have more of this than I know what to do with. I dry enough for my own cat and the cats of friends--but that still leaves more than enough for the neighborhood moggies to have a high old time.
We mix catnip with other teas, like brown/black tea and sweet mint. Usually 3 parts mint: 1 part catnip. I now grow many varieties of mint, so we blend our own. Started an herb box last year and we've saved a bunch of money on tea!
OK, I just wrote a long FFT about my garden, and I just lost the whole thing because I clicked a second time when it didn't go up the first time and the site said I'd posted a duplicate. I've had a long day with DH already, and I'm beyond frustrated. Can you help, Kristen?
I have no idea why, but the comment system put you in moderation! I just approved your comment; it is there in its entirety.
I'm so sorry this happened, and I hope it won't in the future. Comment management systems sometimes have a mind of their own.
Thank you, Kristen!
Not frugal -- people here are panic buying gas for their cars for no good reason, and I had a time finding gas yesterday on my way home. I paid 11 cents per gallon more than usual, because I bought at a tiny local nut and candy stand that also sells gas. I have a long commute to work and a doctor's appointment in the town where I work today, so I really needed to gas up my car.
I ordered more cat food and dog treats through Swagbucks, and earned 4 "bucks" back on each dollar spent.
I stopped by my husband's rehab after work again yesterday and had to stay later than usual to help him with his meal. I got home after 8, but I still cooked a simple meal, instead of stopping to buy something. It was so tempting to stop and get something, though!
I washed the insides of some of my windows with a microfiber window cloth and water, as always, instead of using paper towels and cleaner. The cloth was in a box of several nice cleaning cloths I was given as a gift by someone who knows me well :). On dirty outside panes, I use a few drops of dish detergent in a bucket of warm water to clean them, then polish with a dry microfiber window cloth.
I took scissors to the rehab on Sunday and carefully trimmed the ends of my husband's hair. It makes his hair look and feel better and saves me from paying the rehab to have someone cut it. I'll give him a real cut with our clippers as soon as he gets home. I'm grateful he still has all of his hair at age 68, so I sure don't mind cutting it for him.
The usual - packing my lunch, eating leftovers, using the clothesline, combining errands and wearing used.
Noticed the gas thing too. I went to Murphy and they were out of the mid grade and high grade, but the low grade was only $2.67, so at least they didn't raise the price. I have a feeling we will be out here in North Central Florida soon. The lines were like when we get a hurricane warning.
I use water, a dash of dish detergent and ammonia to clean my windows using micro cloths. My grandmother’s recipe and she was always known for her sparkling windows. It works great for vehicle windows too.
5FT
1. Using up shampoo and soap from past travel stays at hotels before COVID
2. Won my appeal to my insurance for them denying a claim that had always been discounted/bartered down in the past
3. Eating all meals at home
4. Mending an old PJ shirt that had sprung holes in it
5. Filling up at Costco for gas when I was near by since it was cheaper than everywhere else and I was already driving by
1. Brought two dozen jelly jars to the "jam lady" at the farmers' market. She gives 25 cents for each jar that I turn around and use to buy more jam from her.
2. Made graduation cards using cardstock and envelopes on hand.
3. Received a Dairy Queen gift card from an organization where I volunteer. The card still had a $5 balance after our purchase so I handed it to the next person in line to enjoy using the rest of it.
4. Discovered an excellent use for dill pickle brine: https://foodschmooze.org/recipe/cooking-with-scraps-dill-pickle-brine-potato-salad/ So good!
5. Hellman's mayo was on sale so I stocked up. Used it in the potato salad above and for making our own Thousand Island dressing (just mayo, ketchup and pickle relish).
1) We've been working in our garden, and a few things are ready to harvest. We've been using spinach, radishes, & radish greens in our meals. It always feels good to cut something & then have it for dinner.
2) I earned a $.25 iBotta reward, which was not a lot of money, but for taking a picture of a receipt, it was a pretty easy win.
3) Listed & sold things on eBay. I made about $60, so all in all, I'm happy with our slow & steady progress.
4) We're listing our vacation home for sale today. It's bittersweet, but COVID has completely changed the local market, compelling us to sell. We'll continue to rent in the area for summer trips.
5) Sold a couple of boxes of movies via Decluttr. You don't make much money, but I'm just happy the items don't get tossed.
1. In-laws are getting ready to downsize, and so I went home with several bottles of liquor. I will become an expert in all desserts that use coffee liqueur this summer.
2. Same in-laws purchased 5 lbs of dark roast coffee that they do not like. Happily took it home and will drink it, even if not our favorite.
3. Hit the jackpot on marked down meat last week: ground turkey for $1.33 lb, and turkey sausage for 99. lb. All went into the freezer.
4. Went to a dinner on a farm rather than a restaurant for Mother's Day weekend. Much less expensive and it was super fun.
5. Lent work apartment to friends for the weekend. They gifted me 2 bottles of nice wine and 4 bars of artisan chocolate.
Tiramisu! mmmmmm
Free by the side of the road:
2 mason jars for canning later this year.
4 undecorated pine wreaths that I'll later decorate and gift.
Beautifully decorated spring and fall wreaths.
Anchor Hocking leftover dish.
Glass mixing bowl with spout.
1) We are have to "clear" our taxes with the Hong Kong IRD before moving home, and we found out we only owe half of what I thought we would, so that is awesome!
2) I earned a couple of free drinks with Starbucks...nice.
3) I sold a printer that I thought I'd be leaving on the free table.
4) We've been having "salad bars" potluck lunches once a week at work, which is a nice.
Good tax news is such a happy thing!
1. Helped a work colleague this week clean up and organize his office suite. He hasn't had office help since November and it really showed. I used scrounged supplies and cleaning products. Today I hope the new in the box window blind salvaged from the trash room will fit his window. Found two pennies on the floor as compensation! 😀
2. Like so many in the South, I have gassed up my car. A half-tank in my Honda Fit on Sunday cost $15: it used to cost $11. That half tank will last me two weeks. I used a Walmart gift card at a Walmart station to save 3 cents per gallon.
3. Bought an ebook I'd had my eye on for a long time when it went on sale for $1.99 at Barnes & Noble and discovered I'd forgotten my account had a $5 gift certificate earned through Fetch rewards, so the book was free. I have not bought books in very long time.
4. Did not go out to eat on Mother's Day. I made a spaghetti dinner for us, using one of packages of genuine made in Italy pasta snagged on clearance for 99 cents a pound. The marinara sauce used up the last of eight pounds of onions we received from a federal farm food box giveaway months ago. I had sauteed them in olive oil and froze them in a thin layer in a big ziplock bag, breaking off chunks to use as needed.
5. Work colleague gifted me with a huge bag of individual bags of pretzels nearing their expiration date. We are set for snacks for quite a while.
Frugal laundry edition this week 🙂
1. Big frugal "win" when we canceled the new washer/dryer order I had placed and bought a new-to-us washer in excellent condition for only $200 off FB Marketplace. Our old dryer is still working, so it will do for now until we have renovated the laundry room. Eventually we want a stackable dryer to save space to install a utility sink.
2. Called up the customer service for the dump, and arranged for them to pick up our old broken washer off the curb for recycling. I had been prepared to pay to have it transported/recycled, and was happily surprised that there was no cost for us.
3. Our neighbor with a flatbed helped to pick up the new washer, and another neighbor lent us a dolly and lines to secure it. Yay for neighborly help!
4. Did laundry twice at neighbors/friends instead of hauling everything to a laundromat. REALLY appreciating my own laundry room now.
5. Frugalish Mother's Day with dinner at home and a long hike in the woods. I did get some nice outdoor chairs as a gift, a happy timing more than a usual Mother's Day gift.
That IS a huge savings with the washer and dryer. Good job!
It is so wonderful to have laundry services at your own house; after living my first 2.5 years of married life (9 months of those with a baby) without a washer and dryer, I don't know that I will ever take it for granted again.
Wow, I can't imagine! I remember being shocked at how much laundry my first baby generated. As a family, we have lived in apartments with a shared laundry room in a basement, but but even that feels much easier than not having laundry in your building.
Our house needs both a kitchen and laundry room renovation. What does it say of me when I have the new laundry room completely pictured in my head but no kitchen design 🙂
But yes, so happy to save over $2500! And the new laundry machine is still beautiful.
Your first two are nailing the reason I want our next vehicle to be a pick-up! We'll only have kiddos at home for about another 8 years (won't need another vehicle for at least a few more years yet), but I would really like to be that person who can go get some mulch for a neighbor, haul furniture to/from a first apartment, etc.
1. Collaborated with our neighbors across the street to get compost and topsoil delivered (one delivery fee instead of 2, and then we tip the driver a decent amount to dump in our 2 driveways).
2. New windows. While not a short-term "frugal" thing, this has already made a noticeable difference in our house's temperature stability. Without the super-leaky old windows with rotting trim (more than half our windows had broken seals), our home stays cooler in the heat of the afternoon, and has been warmer when the temp has dropped at night. We thought we were going to need to buy a bigger (more expensive to install, more expensive to run) AC, since last summer our current AC couldn't keep up (house would never drop below 78 if it was over 85 outside). I'm hopeful we've fixed one of the major underlying energy leaks!
3. Leftovers! I managed to plan well this week, and we haven't eaten out at all for dinner or lunches. This isn't always a "sure thing" the weeks I work onsite instead of from home, so it's definitely a win!
4. I fixed the bin my kids use for storing sidewalk chalk. I thought it was broken, but the hinge had just popped loose. Snapped back in place, no need to buy a new bin!
5. My son (age 12) completed a Young Eagle's flight a few weeks back, which only cost us about $40 to take the pilot and his wife out to breakfast, and received a coupon for a beginner ground school on the way towards his goal of becoming a pilot. The course costs exactly the value of the coupon, $200, so it was basically free, minus the cost of breakfast!
Worked a golf outing and took home 2 extra box lunches nobody needed
Turned soft/browning apples and pears into fruit sauce for a side for a dinner
Weekend wasn't frugal as we went away for our anniversary, but friends treated us to drinks and we bought dining package w our hotel room, so slightly better deal
I've now listed 6 larger items on marketplace this week and so far have sold 2. I'm pretty happy with the turnover and no middleman involved
Cleaned out my purse and car and found a bunch of random change. Everything helps, right?
1. My kids planted some flower seeds a friend gave me.
2. For lunch I made Stir-fry with meat I was given and leftover cooked rice.
3. My daughter and friend made these cookies, that use oil instead of butter, much cheaper. https://www.thefrugalsouth.com/no-butter-snickerdoodle-cookies-recipe/
4. I'm using the old toothpaste tube my husband gave up on.
1. Found 4 clearance bread/bagels items to use some now + freeze the rest.
2. De-cluttered upstairs, and found several books to re-sell.
3. Cancelled 2 subscription orders of things we had plenty of.
4. Making all my coffee at home.
5. Saving all good cardboard boxes/bubble packaging for donation boxes/moving boxes when we'll need them.
Mostly food related savings --
1. Ate in all week except for Friday treat night and that was cheap fast food takeout. Also ate up lots of freezer stuff -- chicken thighs for soup, discounted frozen "Grillers" ground soy meat for tacos (then eked out a second night of taco leftovers adding in potatoes and refried beans), frozen ground turkey, and lots of salad fixings and mixes in the crisper.
2. Checking the grocery every other day or so instead of a single big weekly shopping -- cheaper or more expensive? I do need to figure it out. Since I am back to breezing thru the store more frequently, I have been able to find lots of things we love marked down before someone else nabs them -- salad mixes, marked down bags of perfectly good produce, marked down meat with a near sell by date that we toss in the freezer, etc. I guess as long as I remain disciplined and remember It's Not A Bargain If I Don't Need It, we should be fine.
3. Last food related entry, promise. Saved more money than I spent at VONS, using coupons, special sale items, discounted meat to freeze, and my J4U points ($7.00 off my meat purchase) plus other discounts (including some I hadn't anticipated -- they just showed up on my receipt ;). Was able to get a pound of fancy-shmancy grass-fed ground beef for 1/3 of the orig. cost by combining my J4U discount and other discounts with 30% off the sale price since the sell-by date was close.
4. Okay, I lied. Used multiple discounts to get a jar of good salsa for 49 cents. Exciting!
5. And the usual -- wearing all my old stuff, eating in, reading library books or ones we already own, etc.
I understand your dilemma on #2, priskill!
I have time to shop every few days, and I do find more things on clearance than I ever would if I only did periodic big trips. I also get a little thrill from finding markdowns-- cheap entertainment.
But only for stuff we need. Or will need very soon. Or use before it goes bad.
Right??! I so missed bargain hunting during COVID -- and it IS cheap entertainment. So true!