Five Frugal Things
As always, hat-tip to my friend Katy for the post theme.
One
A while back, Mr. FG and I bought a Schlage handle for our front door, on the premise that a Schlage would last for a looong time.
Well, for some reason, the finish on our handle set began to peel something terrible. We were thinking about buying a new one and then I remembered that Schlage had a lifetime warranty.
I didn't think I still had the paperwork, but I called anyway just to see if they'd do anything, and lo and behold, they sent us a brand new lockset, in the package.
A replacement set would have cost us $150 at Home Depot, so I am really happy I decided to call.
Two
I made a butterflied, roasted chicken last week....
And I saved the backbone (which gets cut out when you butterfly a chicken), plus all the other bones to make some chicken broth for soup.
Having a little bit of raw chicken (to brown in the pan before adding water) really helps to make homemade broth more delicious.
Three
When we shopped at Toys "R" Us for our Christmas child and Toys for Tots, of course I checked out the clearance bin.
It's good I did, because I found a four pack of Razor scooter wheels for $6.
(Which appears to be a screaming deal, because a two pack sells on Amazon for $13.)
Zoe's scooter wheels (especially the back one) were in pretty bad shape, so I replaced the back one right away when we got home.
I couldn't get the front one loose, so Mr. FG and his whiskers did that one.
Or it might have been the Liquid Wrench he was smart enough to apply, and not his whiskers. You never know. 😉
No one else needs new wheels at the moment, but it's only a matter of time, so the gray pair is waiting on a shelf.
Four
My box of Schoola clothes arrived, and the girls LOVE them. I need to get them to model the clothes so I can show you what all we bought.
I think Sonia's favorite thing is this Abercrombie sweater, which is just SO her.
If you place an order with Schoola, remember to use the TRYSCHOOLA code to get 25% off.
(More about Schoola, in case you missed my earlier post.)
Five
AdoramaPix was having a 30% off sale, and since I was SO impressed with the print quality of the first book I made with them, I decided to buy another.
The only problem is that I decided to do this on the last day of the sale. But I managed to get a 30 page book done!
My scrapbook really peetered out somewhere in 2010, so I'm getting super close to being caught up on old photos. Yay!!
By the way, tomorrow I'm doing an AdoramaPix giveaway....a TEN photobook giveaway, actually. I'll also tell you all about what I think of AdoramaPix as compared to the other services I've tried.
Plus I have another multi-photobook giveaway coming up next week, so a good number of you will get to have free photo books.
Which is even more frugal than my 30%-off book.
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What frugal stuff have you been up to lately? Share five things in the comments (or four, or two, or whatever. We're pretty flexible around these here parts.)
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I did the same thing with our Schlage handles. We had a 10 year warranty on ours. They were good about replacing them, but considering how bad they looked after 9 years, I am still not sure how I feel about the company. It's nice that they replace their products, but why can't they make a more lasting finish in the first place?
That is weird to me. You'd think that they would figure out a way to make a finish that would last, simply because it would save them money in the long run (unless there are a lot of people who don't remember about the warranty?)
It really depends on the product. Take for example Craftsman tools. Sears always subcontracts these out to manufacturers and traditionally they were places like Stanley who made them. In recent years They have started outsourcing some of these to China and figure that it's worth replacing an $8 tool which cost them 50 cents five times than getting a solidly made tool for $4 which they sell for $8 (numbers are all made up.)
Other companies know that their products are going to last forever and thus the warranty is more a formality than anything else, or to catch the occasional pieces which slipped by QC.
I reuse a certain maroon colored velvety bag with grey ribbon every Christmas for a special present for someone in my family. It looks super similar to the bag on the front cover of your December 2010 photo book. 🙂
Actually, um, it IS the same bag! I thought you'd recognize it.
More times than I can tell purchasing a good product, like your Schlage door set, has paid off for us in the long run, though the price was more at the start.
I am going to have to try butterflying the next chicken I roast. That looks SO good...
One frugal thing I've done lately: signed up for ebates. After years of reading about it here I finally took the time to check it out. I should have done it a long time ago!
Oh, I'm so glad! Try TopCashBack too...they have even better cashback rates sometimes.
Will do!
Warning: Extreme country frugality ahead.
My husband shot a deer on Saturday, which is even now hanging in our barn to age before we butcher it this coming weekend. We'll get about sixty pounds of meat out of it, which, considering the price of even sub-standard red meat these days, makes it a pretty good investment in a fifty-cent rifle shell.
Venison is tasty and good for you! And hunting is good exercise.
Good for you!
Reality check time. First I have to say, I don't oppose hunting, in fact I wonder how I can get an invitation to a venison dinner at your country home. I have to point out that the deer cost much more than 55 cents. What about all the practice shots, the gas, the hunting license, etc.? I still think it was a great frugal source of meat for your family. Just don't fool yourself into thinking you got 60 pounds of venison for 55 cents.
Point taken that it is possible to be very not frugal even when it comes to something like hunting. Most hunters, as a matter of fact, spend way too much money for toys that have nothing to do with actually procuring meat.
However. If it's done right, the cost really is the cost of the bullet and yes, the cost of the license.
No practice shots (he's already an experienced hunter), no gas for this one, as he walked behind our house. True, there is a hunting license, which is for all the animals he gets in a year (squirrels, rabbits--he hunts these as well and we eat them--and all three deer). The license is $22. So, even if we only count the three deer and assume 50 lbs of usable meat from each animal, that's still 150 pounds of meat for $22.50.
Plus, as noted above, it's good exercise. 🙂 To say nothing of the mental benefits my husband gets from just getting way into the woods and sitting quietly for long periods of time.
That's a really good point. We've been stocking our freezer with fish, rabbit, and sage grouse, and my husband keeps saying, "It's free meat!" In our case, the only cost is fuel to get to the land where he hunts, which is about a gallon each time he goes. He has a lifetime fish/bird/small game license from his parents, so no cost there, and he has an extensive tackle set and stash of .22 ammo (the only ammo you can use for rabbits out here) that he acquired at garage sales through the years. It's not free meat, but I figured it ends up being about $3.28 per 6 pounds of meat, or 55 cents per pound. It all depends on what you have available!
I was saving this for Food Waste Friday, but what the heck. I had a triple save Sunday: milk about to expire the next day, two heads of broccoli past its prime, and a chopped onion covered in a dish in the refrigerator with nowhere to go. This added up to awesome broccoli cheese soup for lunch on a cold day in Texas. It made the perfect amount for my husband and me, so no wasted leftovers, either. ( as a mom who cooked for six for years and years, I'm just now learning how to scale down.)
Niiice! Great job.
I hope you don't mind an off-subject comment, but goodness: Sonia, Sonia, Sonia. She looks so angelic and beautiful. What a picture! Like her sweater, too. How can that be the same little character you used to feature, now with grown up style and hints of one of the lovely young women (and man) you will have in your house?
I know! She's still a very petite little person, but she's definitely looking more grown-up. And she's quite into putting together fashionable outfits for herself...it's pretty cute. 🙂
Very Impressive, I have to say! And it pays to complain/ask on most things, I've found. At least, it doesn't hurt! I made Thanksgiving cards,
http://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/2014/11/mealplan-monday-137-and-thanksgiving.html
have been eating "freezer lunches" I pack in small containers and freeze (this is important since I am out on ST disability for a while and home-bound)
and made some washcloths for around the house cleaning,
http://cannaryfamily.blogspot.com/2014/10/repurposing-old-towels.html
I would love to start making photo books, too...a daunting task!
My mother bought us a LODGE cast iron pot with lid. It had a bubble on the bottom and it burst (in the interior of the pot) so we couldn't cook in it anymore. This came up after baking with it within the first year. I called them too because it came with a 10 year or lifetime warranty (I forget). So they just wanted an email with a pic of the damage. That was easy and worth it because I didn't have to send it to them (it is very* heavy) aaand they send me a new one, even a bit larger!
Also, I was laughing one day watching the news (a few years back), because there was this woman who kept her car for years and years (maybe in her 80's) who kept her battery receipt that had a warranty for LIFETIME! And every time the battery died, they would send her a new one! 🙂 She saved alot!!!!
This week we sold our second car!
My frugal stuff has been more out of necessity than actual planning ahead.
1.) I repaired my parents' shower. It was leaking from the faucet and could never be fully turned off. It required a new cartridge which cost me $40. A plumber would've been at least $100.
2.) We heard a loud bang from our garage on Friday night. It turns out the garage door spring had snapped. Thank God no one was in the garage at the time! $30 for the new springs and a half hour in the cold and we were back in business.
Other than staying home and not spending gas money and doing the usual (cooking and baking at home) I'd say I'm not doing anything particularly frugal or unfrugal.
We had a leaky Price Pfister faucet due to a faulty cartridge, too. DH checked, and sure enough, it had a lifetime warranty. They replaced it without a receipt. Totally worth the effort, even when they sent the wrong one the first time. And DH used his whiskers to do the job himself.
Good job on the door springs, Battra 92! I've always heard that it's a tricky repair job, due to the tensioning.
1) We play bocce for fun, and last week, we volunteered to teach the game to residents of a brand-new apartment complex that has a bocce court, but didn't know how to play. Our organization is giving us a $50 gift card to a local restaurant for "promoting" something that was fun for us anyway, and the complex gave us a $20 gift card as a thank you.
2) I brought home the turkey carcass from our office Thanksgiving celebration, and made three quarts of the richest, most beautiful turkey bone broth ever!
3) My husband mentioned to his co-worker that we need new tires, and the co-worker took him immediately to meet his friend who manages a tire shop. Husband got four new tires at a $120 discount!
4) We posed for photos to use for holiday/address change cards, taken for free by a friend who is an avid amateur photographer. She's doing her best works so she can use the photos for her portfolio as well.
5) I've been making meals for a couple of friends who are very ill, and every time I do, I double up the recipe to stock our freezer as well, and keep us from ordering take-out on those days that find us "too tired" to cook for ourselves.
Excellent! Broth is almost magical, isn't it? Kind of like making something out of nothing.
Since I was sick I only went out once, to buy groceries. My usual goal is to look at All The Things rather than just what's on my list, so I can see if there's a sale on a stock-up item or something I have a coupon for. There were many wins this week from this strategy:
- Toilet paper: usual sale + coupon = half off. I bought two packs (no room to store more).
- Canned peaches in juice (my emergency fruit): half off, which is a far deeper sale than I've seen in years. I bought 20 cans.
- Canned soup: usual sale + coupon for some, deep sale for others. I bought 12 cans.
- Murphy's Floor Cleaner: on very, very rare sale + coupons = just over half off. I bought 17. Will buy 3 more next trip.
- Canned tomatoes: sale + coupon = 65% off. I bought 20 cans, will buy 5 more next trip.
- Shampoo: usual sale + coupon. Bought two.
- Contessa Frozen Stir-Fry (emergency dinner): sale + coupon = 33% off. Bought two.
- Generic oatmeal: not great sale but best I've seen for a year, so bought two 40 oz cannisters.
- Cold cereal: sale + coupon or generic. Bought 5 boxes.
- Noticed 8 lb bag of taters is 10% cheaper than 6 lbs loose.
All in all, the only things I paid full price for were produce and potato chips. Tells you something about the economic market for snack foods.
We needed a set of rims for our winter tires. Brand new they were over $100 each. By driving about an hour away, we were able to purchase better quality used rims for $35 each. It took some time, but the money saved was worth it.
I was looking at the calendar and realized that between holiday and work travelling there are not that many days left this year where I will be at home to make dinner. So I made a meal plan for the rest of the year. I'm sure it won't be followed exactly, but it should help avoid my usual problem of getting back home on a Sunday and having no clue what we are going to eat for the upcoming week.
1. I've had terrific luck at thrift stores recently! The pretty beaded cardigan I'm wearing at work, 2 sharp button-downs, and a dress for work. Total purchase price between $25 and $30 (plus dry cleaning).
2. I've pre-made meals to last until Thursday, so no eating out.
3. Shopping for a used car. The mpg on my 15-year-okd car is awful, and it's not worth putting any more money into repairs. YAY for Craigslist.
4. I got my $25 flu shot. Hopefully that will save me a co-pay and a prescription or two.
1) I changed out four buttons on a thrifted church outfit for my one year old son. It went from being something tacky I wouldn't use to adorable. That was $.97 well spent.
2) My husband and I are making ceveche for a date night in tonight. Even the more expensive ingredients will be cheaper than a babysitter and meal out.
3) We bought a minivan to fit kid #3 in February because the price was right, but we rarely drive it so that we can save fuel costs by driving our old sedan. It's always tempting, but we're holding out until using the van is necessary.
4) I have a goal to make all of our bread this month to save money. So far so good. Plus, my kids never liked sandwiches, and they devour them on your sandwich bread recipe. Double win.
5) I started ordering simple Christmas gifts with our fund this week. I love being stress free about holiday costs. Thank you for teaching me a few years back to save something every month for Christmas.
Doesn't that just make all the difference in the world to have money set aside? So, so helpful.
My Simplehuman kitchen trash can broke and I received a new one from the company. They have a lifetime warranty, although I thought that they made me jump through quite a few hoops. I cancelled my Vonage phone service. I pack my lunch daily for work- it's amazing to me how many people eat fast food daily. I prepare one or two extra meals when cooking and freeze. This week we have a yummy lasagna that I previously prepared. I'm mindful about food waste. Instead of spending money on entertainment last Saturday, a group of coworkers volunteered at the Ronald McDonald House on 73rd St in Manhattan-definitely time well spent.
We bought steaks in bulk (family pack at Vons) and split them up into two meals. For the first meal, we used two steaks and made yummy steak salads for our family of four. For the second meal, we made delicious steak sandwiches for everyone. Both meals cost us less than $14 dollars! And for one of the meals, we even made homemade strawberry lemonade!! 🙂 AFFJ
Can some one tell me the link with instructions for butterflying the chicken? thank you!
Did I miss the recipe on how to butterfly the chicken and roast it? If anyone can direct me ...thank you!
Coming soon, either this week or next!
Here are five fresh new frugal things:
1) I think I've found a free haircut through a local beauty school.
2) I came home early from work last night, but my family had already eaten and there were no leftovers. I foraged in the freezer and found some frozen peirogi. I cooked some eggs and toast and feasted instead of succumbing to drive through or takeout.
3) I am home alone right now, so I have the thermostat set low at 60 degrees as I'm fine either keeping busy or bundling up if I'm still. Also, an excuse to drink lots of tea!
4) I picked up some great wooden toys at the pay-by-the-pound Goodwill the other day which I'll list on Craigslist and eBay.
5) My son is being given a tour of The University of Oregon campus today. The bus there and back is only $5, and the school is treating all the students to lunch. (It's three hours each way!)
My husband has been fixing a lot of things himself, which is a mixed bag. He did great on installing a new doorbell and installing a replacement toilet seat for one that broke. That saved a handyman visit. On the other hand, he tried to patch my leaky tire and it didn't work, and then when I brought my car into the dealer they noted that the gel stuff you use to repair tire leaks actually shorts out the chip that registers the tire pressure. While on one hand this is incredibly annoying (you designed the car so that people basically *can't* repair it themselves?) it is what it is, and so that DIY fix didn't work. I should probably do a blog post about a few frugal wins and fails of late.
Oh wow, I'd never heard of that being an issue before. That is an aggravating design.
My husband's hours were cut back recently so we've had to trim our spending and are working to pay off some expenses from the summer. I REALLY want to do some indoor decorating this winter so I am reading blogs (like yours) for ideas 🙂 I found a used side table that I am going to paint white and put as a night stand in our spare room - it will be my first time re-finishing a piece of furniture. I also have some dark vents that I was going to by new but now I know I just spray paint them and they will look like new.
Yes! Spray painting vents is so ridiculously easy and it makes them look brand spankin' new. Definitely do it! (as long as the air where you live is currently warm enough for spray paint-the can will specify what temperatures are good.)