Five Frugal Things
Five Frugal Things seems appropriate on a Friday, no?
So, here we go...
1. I crisped lettuce.
The way lettuce crisps up after a little soak in cold water? Well, it never ceases to amaze me.
Even the wiltiest leaves manage to become perky again.
It's kind of magical, people.
2. I fixed Sonia's skirt.
Sonia's beloved black and white bubble skirt came apart at the gathered waistband.
I sewed a loose new stitch on the fallen-apart section, pulled on the string to gather it, and then sewed the newly gathered part back on to the skirt.
Good as new!
3. I ordered clothes online and promptly returned the rejects.
Joshua is a slender 6 feet tall these days, and mostly leg, so he has long outgrown the sizes that can be easily found in stores.
And you can forget about trying to shop second-hand for him.
Mercifully, American Eagle's website sells pants in sizes like 28x34, and that has been our salvation.
I basically want to give American Eagle a big kiss.
(Which you will understand if you have spent the last 16 years trying to buy clothes for very slender children.)
Anyway, when I saw that jeans were buy one, get one 50% off, I ordered him two new pairs. I also ordered a few things for Lisey, two of which fit, and two of which didn't.
And instead of putting off the return, I did it the very same day. Yay me!
(Also, I remembered to go to TopCashBack before I shopped, so I'm getting a little bit of my purchase back.)
(I'm not affiliated with American Eagle. Just super excited about jeans that fit my boy.)
4. I mended two other things.
I'd already put my sewing machine away when I took a shirt out of the laundry and realized it had an underarm hole.
So I got out my sewing machine and fixed it right away.
This is huge for me, because oh, I tend to put off mending so badly!
Then I remembered that Lisey's dress had a loose seam, so I fixed that too.
I had no coral thread, but it was a hidden seam, so I just used hot pink and called it good.
I may not churn out lovely creations with my sewing machine, but the mending I do with it has saved me SO MUCH MONEY over the years.
It's like I say...if you want to save money with your sewing skills, learn how to mend.
5. I waited for an AdoramaPix coupon.
When I saw AdoramaPix was having a photo book sale, I hunkered down and made a big ol' six-month photo book.
(Here's why I adore the photo books from AdoramaPix.)
Sadly, I misread the sale and finished one day too late.
(So brilliant.)
But I saved my book draft on Adorama and waited patiently because coupons come to those who wait.
Most of the time.
A few weeks later, I got an email saying AdoramaPix started an affiliate program, and they included a 25% off coupon code for me and my readers. Yay!!
So, I used it and ordered my book.
If you'd like to try a book for 25% off, click here to visit AdoramaPix, and then use code PKBKAFF20 during checkout. The code is only good through September 30th, so get busy making a book if you want to use it!
Small tip: Expedited shipping is crazy expensive on AdoramaPix and totally not worth it. I choose the free shipping option every time and my order arrives promptly.
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Want to take a turn? List five frugal things of your own in the comments!
I've been waiting for a good photo book coupon code! Thanks so much!
Yay! Glad the timing was good for you too.
1) I used a free coupon to get one 12 oz iced coffee from Chick-fil-A
2) I fell in love with some shoes at a nearby outlet, but they were out of my size, so I came home, did a Google search and found them lightly used on ebay in the right size for 1/3 the cost of new.
3) Went to a free classical concert at a nearby performing arts center. I just learned that the symphony that performs there does four free shows a year, otherwise about $25 a ticket.
4) Line dried a bunch of bedding instead of using my dryer.
5) Remembered to turn off our sprinklers ahead of, and after, a rainstorm came through.
Oooh, what a lovely find on the shoes!!
1. I have laundry line-drying outside
2. I made a 'No Waste Tastes Great' Food Waste Friday Spicy Butternut Squash Soup for lunch
3. I topped my food-waste-friday soup with cheese I was given
4. I'm listening to New York Jazz Lounge music on YouTube FOC through WiFi as I type
5. I do not have the heating on! Yay for a little warmer weather in the UK 🙂
1. Shopping at Aldi. It took awhile for me to really see any benefits money-wise, because I was still going to another store to "finish " my shipping, buying things that Aldi doesn't carry. I do this less often now, as Aldi continues to expand their products, and also, I apparently have learned to make my grocery list and plan my menus based on what I CAN buy there.
2. Eating breakfast at home. I work only two miles away, and to be honest, there ARE fast-food places between my house and job, not many, but there are. I always have breakfast at home, though, for a few reasons: calories, money, and time! I enjoy having breakfast and a few minutes' relaxation while I read The Fugal Girl every morning!
3. Once Upon a Child. Our sixth grand baby is on the way, and my daughters and I shop here all the time. They give you a stamp card, that, when filled, gets you 15% off your purchase that day, and I have been known to save my full card, waiting for a larger purchase. I used it Wednesday on a rolling walker that a toddler stands and pushes to walk. Not a fortune in savings, but that purchase also got me a few punches on a new card. I have bought just about every single "Grammie's house" toy there.
4. Meal planning. Reduces food waste, without a doubt. I started this when my kids were little. They all were responsible for giving me one menu idea for the week ( with guidance for the littlest ones) and then they also helped me find coupons and clip them.
5. Paying cash. I do have a couple of credit cards, but I am almost finished with Christmas shopping for the grandbabies, and not one item has been charged. I shop online for nearly 100% of their gifts ( thank you Amazon Prime!) and this keeps me out of the stores, where I might lose focus and buy other stuff! I can search online for the best deals, too,whereas I doubt seriously I'd run all over looking for a few dollars off here and there on one item, because although gas is cheaper here now, it still costs, and my time is worth something, too.
I can't say enough for shopping online, if you have a free shipping option. I mentioned "focus" and that's where I find it most valuable. I can search for that ONE ITEM that I know the kids want, instead of being distracted by a department full of similar, or not so similar, items. And starting early, I have the luxury of waiting until I find a decent deal on it. Our grandkids used to be gifted with waaayyy too many gifts from us. It was seriously ridiculous, honestly. So, this year, now that I have five, and one due in December, we have implemented a change: each child gets one "big" gift ( open to interpretation based on age) one "medium" gift, clothes, and books. This has made it so much easier, and another thing...my daughter claimed she could never figure out what Santa was going to bring her kids, because I always bought it first! So this helps there, too. Blame it on " new-Grandma" enthusiasm...lol
I used to feel like stopping at Aldi was a pain, and at first, I too didn't buy all that much there.
Now it's the opposite! I buy about 90% of my groceries at Aldi and I feel like it's a pain to stop at the huge grocery store for the other few things.
Aldi has suddenly become a lot more desirable now that they've opened up a store a few hundred yards from my work. Now it's just expected that I do the Aldi shopping right after work.
They don't have everything and my wife still coupons for a lot of other items but for the basics, they are pretty good.
Ooh, that is SO convenient! My husband used to work near a Trader Joe's, and it was super handy to send him there on his way home.
You must have a brand spankin' new one...is it a stand-alone with the high ceilings and high windows? I visited one like that in Chicago and was quite jealous.
Yup, it's brand new but it's not really anything super fancy. They actually don't have some items I used to get at Aldi (like Molasses, for example) so I'll still be going to Price Rite and such but I do live within' five miles of four or five grocery stores, and a BJs and a Walmart and Target so I have a lot of options.
Oh, that's weird. I know they vary their stock some depending on the market, though.
Now I'm trying to remember if my Aldi regularly carries molasses. I feel like it's a seasonal item here.
It's awesome that you were willing to limit your shopping for your grands! My sister has had a terrible (and fruitless) time in trying to curb the Grandparent Gift Bonanza for her kids. Since my husband and I are big readers and encourage the same, each of the 4 kids (yup, down to kindergarten) gets a Barnes & Noble gift card from us at Christmas. They get more personalized gifts on their birthdays but honestly, they love getting to shop for their own books.
Believe me, it's not easy! I want to buy them everything I see. Lol. But I'm committed to it. I feel like it's better for the kids, too. I don't want to make them ever be entitled or spoiled, or to miss what Christmas is really about.
Ooh we love Once Upon a Child too, one just opened up less than 2 miles from my house!
Kristen, I love mending and altering my clothes, but I'm flying by the seat of my pants (that was almost a pun). Do you have any ideas on how to learn to do it properly? (I will send this question to you by email, too.)
For example, just this morning, I remembered a black skirt with a loose hem. I wanted to fix it but didn't have black thread and didn't know how to make it a hidden stitch! Please and thank you
Hopefully the pants you're flying by don't have a hole. Heh.
I'm wondering if there are some good blogs out there that have mending tutorials. I know there are tons of sewing blogs in the blogosphere.
For the skirt you mentioned, I'd google "how to hand sew a hidden stitch" and you should find a tutorial. Also, if it's a black skirt and a hidden stitch, you can probably get away with using dark navy blue thread (if you have it on hand!)
Did you hand sew the hem on Lisey's dress? I guess I assumed you did it with your machine. That's what I want to learn how to do--a hidden hem with my machine.
After I wrote my comment and emailed you, I remembered your ebook! It's time I buy it!
ann a: I, too, am untutored when it comes to sewing so I feel your pain.
You probably would benefit from buying a big spool of black thread. So many things are black and those little spools are pricy. Get one of white, too. To complement that, look for a sewing kit with lots of little spools in different colors. If you have these on hand, you're more likely to do the small mending jobs that save us so much money.
For the hidden stiching... If you use just a tiny little stich (not on the folded-up part but on the pants leg part) that barely goes under a thread or two, the stich won't show. Try it for a few stitches, looking on the right side to see how it's going.
http://www.amazon.com/Singer-Essentials-Storage-System-Pieces/dp/B000BQ7HUE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1442582801&sr=8-1&keywords=singer+sewing+kit
is an excellent sewing kit to buy: it has dozens of different colors, pins, needles, scissors, and it's under $25. (I have no affiliation with Singer.)
Thank you! I have some black thread that doesn't work with my machine, and I still use it for hand sewing. I need to find a shop that fits in our routine, where I can stock up on more thread! I only currently have spools of white and teal (which I sometimes use in place of black, ha!), plus the too-thick black. It's a good point about scissors. I have a very good pair, and they are my most treasured and useful tools (along with my kitchen knives).
There is also a thing called a stapler that can be very useful in keeping up a hem! Keep the long side of the staple to the inside... hardly anyone will notice. 😉
Ingrid.. you're my kind of girl, lol!
Very clever! If it happens at work, I use tape! I'm sure you're right that no one would notice the staple. I may do that until I can learn to do hidden stitches with my machine. (Gonna go google now.)
Try Youtube for how to make a blind hem stitch. You could also google it. There are tons of sewing blogs out there; I'd be surprised if someone hasn't done a tutorial.
Well, it might be hard for me to find five but here goes:
1.) I installed new child proof safety outlets in the nursery. I didn't add any, I just replaced the old ones. Still, it cost me around $10 for all the outlets but I'm slowly converting my house over to the safer ones since the current ones are probably close to 50 years old now.
2.) I got out some old paint and saw it was still good and painted over a spot we had patched. So no cost there and I improved the house.
3.) Returned a roller I bought in error from Home Depot. I actually already had one but had forgotten. Luckily I hadn't opened it yet so I got my $5 back.
4.) We've been eating lots of leftovers as we were sent home from a few gatherings (funeral, wife's baby shower) with lots of leftovers. Some went in the freezer but we've been good at eating most of it.
5.) Something I ordered from Amazon Prime came late. I complained to Amazon and pointed out that they guaranteed that the item would be here by last Friday. They gave me a free month of Prime added to my subscription.
See, look at you! Five was no problem. 😉
Count me in as needing a mending tutorial!
1) Used urgent care instead of the ER when I injured my hand. Also, they wrote me a prescription for 20 pills of the painkiller. I don't like having that stuff in the house so I asked the pharmacy to just give me 5. It wasn't a frugal-motivated decision, but it had a nice side effect of saving $. It turned out I only took two of the pills, anyway.
2) My office hosted a big meeting and had lots of catered food left over in the office fridge. That was my lunch for two days, supplemented with side salads I brought from home.
3) I sold some of my old clothes. I've lost 13# (still going!) and some of my clothes are just inarguably, un-alterable-ly too big.
4) Shopped my basement/storage to change up a few things in the house decor.
5) My niece and I have scheduled a hike in a state park this weekend. I think it's $5 to park (I'm happy to support the park), and we'll bring our own water and snacks.
Ooh, I love doing a "remix" on my home decor, too! Sometimes just moving stuff to new and different spots does the trick.
Kudos! -- the lettuce crisper thing was new to me (embarrassing given my, ahem, maturity.)
1. Shopped my closet and drawers to find older clothes that fit now -- shirts and jeans I had forgotten about, including some never worn! They always say to purge all clothes that don't fit but losing a bit of weight has given a practically new wardrobe. Received compliments at work (rare occurrence). 0 dollars spent.
2. Intended to cook healthy Chicken Paprikash, using chicken thighs purchased on sale. Home too late and grumpy Monday -- resisted husband's suggestion to eat out (most favorite thing, sigh) and made tuna sandwiches on toasted oldish bread lurking in the fridge and big salad with veggies lurking in crisper. Mysteriously oldish mayo that never goes bad . . . hmmm
3. Arrived home late, tired, grumpy resisted husband's suggestion to eat out since we would eat out the next night with lovely grown up daughter Used up 2 different frozen meals (Trader Joes Channa Masala -- wonderful!! -- and Amy's light spaghetti and meatless meatballs) plus lurking veggie salad. and some frozen peas on rice that husband had prepped for Paprikash that wasn't. Actually delicious and vegetarian.
4. Husband returned putrid chicken for $4.37; hands me the gift certificate for same. Bwahahaha!
5. It's Friday -- treat day! Eat donuts with waffles and cake for breakfast day! But -- I remembered the mushrooms and and cheeses and oldish bread lurking in crisper. Made egg scramble with shrooms and fresh parsley and cheese. (found shredded cheese with mold but that is Food waste Friday Fodder :((( Spread toast with oldish jelly and turning butter abandoned in attempt to lose weight. Not bad.
Now off to work, feeling virtuous and thankful, FG, for always inspiring me to do better and showing how happy that actually makes me feel. Happy weekend!
Better to learn late than never, rght? Go forth and crisp up all the lettuce!
Crisp all the lettuce and liberate the bread! IIRC, the fridge is the enemy of bread. Fresh or frozen but nowhere in between is what I learned somewhere along the way.
I have learned recently that it's A-ok to refrigerate avocados once they ripen. It gives them a very welcome few extra days of life. I so wish I'd learned that little trick sooner in life...so many worthy avo's died a needless death.
Yep, storing bread in the fridge causes starch retrogradation, which dries out the bread. So, room temp or the freezer is the way to go.
I refrigerate my avocados once they get ripe too...works great!
1. I used up the last handful of plums I received from a neighbour yesterday in a delicious plum/apple cobbler. Yum!
2. After searching for nearly two weeks, we finally found the mounting hardware for our baby gates. Whew. We were close to needing to buy new sets. We seriously need to organize our garage!
3. I've been rocking the second hand clothes shopping lately, especially for my kiddos who just started back to school.
4. We're still learning to garden, but our tomatoes have produced excellently this year. I'm enjoying as many as possible before the season ends. Imported tomatoes in the winter are just not.the.same.
5. I bought two big bags of discounted bananas the other day, to bake with. I'm going to do some baking today, but most of them have been perfect to eat fresh! Score!
what is this magical lettuce recrisping you speak of? I've literally never heard of it. every week I get a head of romaine from my produce co-op, and inevitably it is all floppy by the next day, and not a great enjoyment to eat.
Just chop up your lettuce and soak it in a bowl of cold water for 30-60 minutes. It crisps up amazingly well!
Celery, too, and I throw a couple of ice cubes in with the water. It's magical! Even the limpest celery is transformed!
I've also done this with kale, beet greens, collard greens, etc prior to cutting up. Works great!!!
I have literally never heard of this before, going to put it to work this week! It seems so counterintuitive to stick soggy lettuce into a bowl of water 🙂
Interestingly enough, the lettuce becomes "bendy" not because it's soggy, but because it's too dry. There's not enough water to hold the cells walls up! So, soaking it rehydrates the cells and the lettuce becomes perky again.
1. We just found out that we need to put our mailbox back on the curb instead of using the one attached to the house, so we had to run to Ace Hardware for some quick mix concrete. I had a coupon for $5 off a purchase of $15 or more, so we bundled our errands and picked up a few pieces of pipe we need to fix our sprinkler system and a can of spray paint to paint the mailbox (it's peeling and I don't want our daughter eating the paint chips).
2. I signed our mortgage up for the interest saver program and we're throwing an extra $25/paycheck at it. Guess how long it cuts off our mortgage?? 7 years!
3. We've been eating exclusively at home due to a really really tight budget, which is saving us a lot of money and making me flex my cooking skills.
4. Small game season is open again, so Hubby has been going out hunting every weekend. His buddy lovingly donates his truck and gas (aka he wants someone to go hunting with, so he invites Hubby and won't let him pay for fuel), and we buy ammo in bulk which comes out to about 3 cents per round for the rifle and 10 cents per round for the shotgun. We figure we get our small game and upland bird for about 15 cents a pound, which is a total steal! It was a long summer without game.
5. On the previous thread, we recently bought a food saver on clearance at our local department store. It was marked down from $169.99 to $99.99, and it'll enable us to actually have the max number of game animals in our freezer without worrying about them going bad. That means less meat we have to buy in the summer!
Let's see:
1. We have eaten three meals in a row out of the freezer, saving them from a slow death from freezer burn.
2. My daughter, who's 2, got mustard on a black and white dress that she looooovvveeesss and it won't come out, so I dyed it magenta, and now you can't see the mustard stain, same great twirly dress, now pink and black instead.
3. I ordered a bunch of household stuff on Amazon instead of Buying it at Target, which probably saved me at least forty bucks in crap I didn't really
Need!!
4. I split some large Costco purchases with a neighbor, so we could both enjoy the savings without having such a large quantity that it went bad. Mostly fruit and veggies, but also cream cheese and eggs.
5. We decided this week to accept a promotion for my husband, it means moving from Nevada to Ohio in a few weeks, but our money is going to go a lot farther. Rent alone will probably decrease several hundred dollars based on what we've seen.
I hadn't heard of TopCashBack...thanks! Just joined.
Hi all, I am new to this site but love it! I thought I would jump right in so here goes:
1. Used a recycled bill envelope to write my grocery list on and then put my coupons inside.
2. Purchased a 'special' deal Yankee candle at the outlets as a small housewarming gift for son and fiancé ( $25 candle for $7 all wrapped up in a oh so cute felt Fall holder)
3. Was able to embroider design and wording on daughters coaching jacket saving her about $40
4. Daughter dating a farmer so had a burlap sack of fresh corn that we quick boiled and saved in airtight bags and put in the freezer for the winter.
5. Took the lids from 2coffee cans and some fabric and made one of those cute pop open holders for earphones
Welcome, welcome!! Glad to have you here.
Thank you I have been searching through A LOT of sites and just never found one that clicked, until now. I have enjoyed everything I have read and really like all the responses I have seen. I am a bit older with grown children but always willing to learn new things. I am an avid quilter and dabble in knitting and crochet.
Yay! Super glad you're feeling comfy here. I have a lot of readers with grown children, so hopefully you'll find some kindred spirits here.
Hi, Most of my savings were in the things i put back.
1. Bought a zip hoodie at the thrift store for my son and remembered to get one size bigger so it lasts longer.
2. Found a pair of jeans for him but remembered that i already bought a pair on sale so i put them back, usually i just get extras anyway and then regret them.
3. Found a beautiful hoop dress costume for my daughter also at the thrift store but put it back because we're at the stage of "i hate it because you like it" and i'd rather she come with me and choose.
OMG- You've inspired me! I was going to donate my sewing machine because I rarely use it. I'm not patient enough to cut fabric. But I CAN sew a straight line. I'm so keeping it just for mending. Genius idea! Thanks!
Here's my frugal five:
1. I too bought a photo book this week. I got a free 20 page book and only paid shipping ($8.95).
2. I ordered a poster size print of a firetruck for $15. I'm going to cut it in thirds and make my own triptych art for my toddler's room.
3. I sent in a rebate to get my contacts free ($120).
4. Got a free donut with my coffee purchase at DD.
5. Made a contribution to my second son's 529 plan.
I love doing this! Thanks!
Yes, keep it! Mending by hand is such a pain, you'll probably never get around to it without the machine. 😉
Great idea for the tryptich. I hope you'll blog some photos of it!
(I haven't seen molasses at our Aldi...ever, that I can think of.) (We have the new 'burb version Aldi and it's delightful)
1. I used up leftovers for lunch.
2. While I was making lunch, I made sack dinners for our 4 girls for Parents Night Out tonight.
3. We are using a gift card for our date.
4. I have weaned my husband from sending Harry & David gift baskets to his relatives (as was his bachelorhood practice), and we put together our own 'favorite things' baskets now. Today, I ordered "Makit Plate" kits for the girls to make plates out of their artwork, and that will be the main gift for our extended family (grandparents and greats, aunts/uncles). Instead of a regular kit (14.99) with only 8 sheets/plates in it, I ordered the teacher version (9.99) with 50 sheets in it. We will be working on them over the next month or so, and then send them all in at the same time to make plates as that is cheaper.
5. I threw away a $10 off $10 coupon because I know that I will spend more if I use it, and there's nothing that we need at that store.
6. Tomorrow, at a baby shower, I am giving a gift that I stockpiled earlier in the summer when I found them on super clearance. In a reused gift bag.
Oh, odd. Not even at Christmas-time? That's when I've seen it at mine.
I have several photo books waiting for me to get in gear and create them! Hopefully, the coupon code will motivate me.
Do you use the matte or glossy pictures?
I usually go for glossy rather than super matte. I'm drawing a blank on the options that AdoramaPix offers right now, though!
I feel your pain on buying jeans for your tall, slim son. Have you tried Old Navy online? I shopped American Eagle when my son was younger but have since moved on to Old Navy. They seem a bit more reasonably priced than AE and are really durable. Plus Old Navy has sweatpants, sleep pants, those new joggers and shorts in tall sizes. My boy started out in 28 X 34 too and, now age 20 and 6'6", is wearing 33" X 36"...... still hard to find in stores!!
Oh, thanks for the tip! I'll keep that in mind.
I'll chime in here too! I've had 23 years of buying clothes for tall, slender children-boys and girls! It used to infuriate me that I could buy "husky", "generous", and "whatever other adjective you want to use" but could NEVER find anything slim or skinny! I have two boys over 6' and 6'3" tall (18 and 15) who, ideally, need 30" (waist) x 36" (length) pants! Not gonna happen! But we do use AE and Old Navy and have been happy with both. I think, generally, the AE last MUCH longer ( you get what you pay for) but, so far, my boys have outgrown them before they've "outworn" them so ON has been fine!
At first I thought I couldn't have done anything frugal because we had company and went out to eat, but ...
1. Our company exchanged books with us so we all have "new" reading material
2. As part of our visit together we went to a thrift store to buy clothing for the quick-growing grandchildren. I found six items for a total of less than $14.
3. We all drank water with our meals and did not order dessert
4. Company wanted to visit a certain shop so I did some banking right next door at the same time, saving an extra trip
5. Company was looking for a particular craft item, of which I had plenty, so she just chose from my stash
You CAN have company and still be frugal! The eating out would have been even more frugal if they had wanted to eat at one of two places for which I had gift cards, but it was a special treat for them and I wanted them to choose a place they really liked. And isn't that one purpose of living frugally? to allow us to do the things we most want to do? 🙂
1. Brownbagged my lunch.
2. Instead of throwing out the partly-bad orange, I cut off the bad part (about 60%) and ate the rest.
3. Used stale Triscuits as soup croutons, rather than buying some fresh ones from the salad bar.
4. Hand mended some pants seams.
5. Delayed gratification to save money: bought several books used and in paperback.
I'm considering getting a trial subscription to Audible, in order to get a book-on-tape for a long drive. Need to figure out what I should get for my second free book.
I do that all the time with fruit...almost always the rest of the fruit is fine beyond the bad spot.
Have you tried the library for a book/CD on tape? I get mine there all the time. With our library system, you can download them directly to a mobile device. Enjoy your trip!
Re: pants for tall dudes - my brother faced this challenge when he was in high school, and had trouble finding dress pants that were very slim yet tall enough for his 6'3" self. The solution my mother found was surprising, but great: It turns out that people in police and fire jobs have sources where they buy all standard uniform clothing - online and through a catalog. Their uniform clothing has to be professional looking, durable, and fit any size - so you can get very tough wearing dress pants in navy or black for tall thin guys, at a fraction of the price you'd find at a department store. He was able to get pants and dress shirts through the site. They found out about it when they visited a local fire station and she noticed that one of the guys there was the same stature as my brother, so asked him where he got his pants! I don't remember the name of the website, but if you stop by a fire station, I'm sure they can tell you.
I love this idea -- I'm passing it on to my way to skinny, tall grown up son!
1. I got two free drinks this week from Pita Pit with my Pocket Points app.
2. We refinanced our mortgage to get a better rate. We also lowered the term to 20 years. These changes will collectively save us $100K over the life of the loan. We plan to be in our home at least another 20 years. Plus we took advantage of the free opportunity to pay half the payment earlier in the month. The extra bit of interest saved goes toward the principle, so we are actually on track to pay it off in 17 years.
3. We had a leak earlier this year that we finally got around to having repaired. It was $1100 to patch the hole in the gutter and repair the damaged plaster inside. Our insurance will pay $300, and our deductible is paid in case anything else happens this year.
4. We have run the air conditioner significantly less this week. I love this brief two weeks or so in the spring and fall when you need neither AC nor heat. Paradise!
5. We cloth diapered, cooked from scratch, I brought my lunch to school, I haven't bought a stitch of clothing or a single decorative item for the house this month, I couponed and shopped at Aldi, I limited my data use on my phone when not on a wifi network, and we used up odds and ends of foods in suppers.
Oh, Amanda, you have a baby in diapers, and I understand that you're busy, so please consider this a gentle been-there tip and not a criticism.
Re #3. In the scheme of things, this was a very small repair. Insurance companies do not like small claims. They think of them as foreshadowing of larger claims to come. If you make another claim with them this year or even in the next few years, it is likely that they will cancel you or jack up your rates considerably.
Next time you have something small-ish, if at all possible, see if you can repair it yourselves, or without involving the insurance company. Save your homeowner's claims for the big stuff, which you will hopefully never need.
I agree! Years ago I had a homeowners insurance policy with a very low deductible and had a few legitimate small losses one year. My insurance company paid the claims and then cancelled my insurance. No other regular insurance company would sell me a policy and I had to go to a high risk insurer for a fire loss only policy that was twice the price of my previous policy. After a few years, I was able to get another regular policy and I made sure it had a high deductible. The only time I'll make a claim will be if I have a real disaster. I learned my lesson.
Hi Kristen,
Thanks for the tip about the lettuce, the amount that I throw away because the have wilted!
Completely with you on the tall, slim young men. Mine is thirteen and six foot. I have had to resort to adult trousers, as small a waist as you can get with a belt. Why do they not cater for all types of sizes!
Have a good weekend
X
If you have American Eagle in the UK, definitely give them a try! I've never found tall pants so slim anywhere else before.
I so understand for the pants!! I have trouble finding pants that fit me well. The only ones that seem to fit me really well are from Reitmans. Since I try to buy my clothes used, I get very excited when I find a Reitmans pair!!
1. I hemmed up a pair of trousers that I've been wearing rolled up for ridiculously long. The first cuff looks like a drunk person sewed it! I need more practice with my machine. (The second leg looks muuuuch better.)
2. Just put a cup of black beans to soak. When I strain them, I'll use the poaching liquid from a couple of chicken breasts to add flavor to the bean cooking water.
3. I decluttered some unneeded kitchen items and put them in a box for donation.
4. I ate leftovers for breakfast. Actually, for lunch too.
5. Like Katy at Non-consumer Advocate, I didn't buy a Lear Jet. 😉
Totally get the frustration of buying for a skinny tall young man. My son wears a 30 X 34 and really could fit a 29 waist but that is impossible to find so we use a belt. I too can't find a thing on the rack for him.
I know the feeling! I'd previously only been able to find 29x34 for Joshua and so when I saw they had 28x34 now, I did a happy dance.
I feel like these comments are a glimpse into my future, re: tall slim boys. I'm filing the advice about the police/fire clothing website away for the future.
Re: slim pants. I was able to find jeans for my brother-in-law at Kohl's in the Young Men's section. He's really skinny, but not particularly tall. Just my 2 cents, for what it's worth.
Yes! Levis makes some great jeans with a narrow waist, which worked for Joshua for a while. But then when he got so tall, we were out of luck...Kohls, even online, only carries the narrow waist sizes with average lengths. So if you need super skinny and super long, then it's a no-go.
I have two hours left to finish my photo book before your coupon expires.
Can I put a title on the binding of an adorama book? Google is not answering!!!
TIA!
I know I'll just have to order this one without because you're sleeping, but next time.....
You totally can-all of my photo books have the month and year on the binding. I put the month range up at the top and then the year down at the very bottom, for easy categorizing of the books on the shelf.
2014 Year in Review Photobook done! 25% off! Ordered! Thanks! 100 pages. costs $127, total! Woot! I made the collages in Picasa. Picture pile is awesome....just move the pictures around to get the layout you want. Saved as 8 X 10 collage....all 100 "pictures" that I imported were really collages! Drop the pages in and done! Make the collages once a week (in my reality, once a month) and making a photobook couldn't be easier or faster!
-April
my blog
http://www.enfpmom.com/
bah, ha, ha, ha, ha!
*someday* I will use that domain! It looks something like my previous domain. Blush.
Thank you for blogging! Thanks for sharing your coupon codes!
Yay! I'm so glad your book is done. I know the feeling of doing it right before the deadline. Ahem.
I'm baaack! lol
Just wanted you to know that your link to Adorama on *this* post didn't work for me.
Also, it auto chose Luster? for the paper. Should I have chosen glossy? Oops! Small tears.