Four Frugal Things (and one very not frugal thing)
1. I shopped clearance clothes for Sonia.
She had the good luck of growing out of her clothes at the time of year when all the winter clothes are on clearance! Such marvelous timing.
I had a 30% off coupon for Kohl's, so I took her over there and we scoured the XS section* of the junior's clearance racks. We came up with a dress, two jackets, and multiple shirts for $5-$10 apiece after the clearance price plus my 30% coupon.
*Moms of very narrow/slim young girls: clothes shopping gets WAY easier once they reach Juniors' sizes. There are magical things like size 0. And XS. Perfect for the very slender among us.
(Which was never me. I don't think I ever wore a 0! I just skipped right over that size, and I always wondered who could even wear a size that small. I'm very happy they make them, though, because as it turns out, my girls are the target audience for that size.)
2. I bought a top for $5.03.
While I shopped with Sonia, I checked the larger sizes too and I found a comfy peach funnel-neck sweatshirt for $5. The only problem is, it says, "May the Force Be With You." on the front.
And I am totally not a Star Wars fan. Like, at all.
(For real, sometimes I get Star Wars and Star Trek mixed up.)
But it's cute and comfy and it was $5! And Sonia said I should get it. So, I did.
Lisey says I am being a fake fan. And it's totally true. But for $5, I guess I'm willing to be a fake fan.
3. I helped Sonia use some Bath and Body Works coupons.
Sonia is very into all things scented, so she loves this store! I'm on their mailing list, and I had some coupons that were nearing expiration. So, I took her over there and she got two free items plus two other items for $5 apiece.
Now she smells like a tropical coconut. Ha.
And sometimes our cat does too, if Sonia's been petting her.
4. I made muffins with some overripe bananas.
Since I got sick last week, I didn't make any smoothies, and four bananas got a little too ripe for use in anything else.
So I made a double batch of banana chocolate chip muffins and avoided composting the bananas.
5. (not frugal) I had to throw away quite a bit of food.
Normally I keep a fairly good eye on what food needs to used up, but I was pretty much parked on the couch for 4 days straight while I was sick.
My family pitched in to cover some of the cleaning and cooking that I usually do, but no one is quite as food-waste aware as I am and some food went unnoticed.
And then there's the fact that I just wasn't eating much at all, which meant that an awful lot of avocados went bad!
I cleaned out my fridge yesterday, salvaged what I could (I made rice pudding with leftover rice, cut up an overripe pineapple and froze it for smoothie use, etc.), and got rid of the rest.
It's a bummer, but it is what it is. It's not like I get the plague all the time, and what I do all the other weeks of the year matters more than what happens during a sick week.
A $5 sweatshirt is worth it!
Not the most frugal week here with my birthday.. but...
Husband cooked on Sunday instead of going out or take out.. ( pre birthday treating for me)
Monday my mom took the kids and we went out for my actual birthday..Went to a local casino-NOT FRUGAL MINDED.. But hit a small jackpot.. so I saved the initial investment amount and left us with the profit.. played a little bit longer and left since its not fun to just lose.. So we left in the positive.. Which paid for our entire lunch at Cheesecake factory and half of our shopping splurge at Trader Joes(there are none closer than an hour to us.. so when we go we stock up on staples we enjoy)
Tuesday and Wednesday were dinners at home using up leftovers..
I baked a huge batch of mini banana bread loaves b/c we had frozen bananas and a surplus of eggs now that all our new girls are laying...
I used a bunch of birthday emailed coupons...
Got a discount on Gas at Sheetz- saved .08 per gallon last night
Got a free app at a restaurant last weekend
got a huge container of fro-yo for only .44 after my $5.00 off coupon( brought it home)
used my freebies at a pizza chain to send supper to a family who had a child pass away ( order online, delivered locally to them!)
used my Bath adn body works coupons also!
Hello fellow followers of Frugal Girl. Really snowy day tonight in Vancouver BC and in fact over much of B.C. One major highway to ski country "Sea to Sky" highway was closed for a while....
Yes, for sure, great time to purchase a new winter jacket what with sales. I may only purchase a 'shell' and combine with two serviceable fall jackets to see me through the rest of Winter...
One other tip of sorts, I was measured for shirts @ The Hudson's Bay dept store recently...a good investments & I took my time buying one for sale shirt & having the confidence to leave behind one fashionable but very loud seeming dress shirt for a more conservative colour. I took my time and sales-person went about serving other customer's!
Using left -over pears and apples sliced and then fried somewhat to add to peanut butter and home baked bread. Seems to work!
All this as I plan how to put together some $7,000 Cdn for dental implant surgery! Canada has reasonably okay health-care system. Our Emergency Hospital Wards simply 'do not' turn away emergency patients. Dental Care is still very much a private affair between dentist and patient. As i receive Canada Pension and supplement available to many over the age of 65, "taking care of the pennies and hopping the dollars' take care of themselves is important.
Sadness strikes me over the recent school shooting in Florida...
Richard Zorniak Oh, how I miss living in Burnaby and shopping at The Bay and Eaton's! I truly miss the health care and gun control. I learned some of the most frugal things as a young wife and mother in the lower mainland, thanks to my Richmond and Langley friends.
I love Kristen's recipes for chicken, main dishes, breads and muffins. I just wish we could have the box of produce delivered like she does. Thank goodness I do have an Aldi within 15 miles of me!
Be well fellow FG friend!
Gloria who lives in Arkansas, now
Maybe it is that time of year, because I ended throwing away food that would never happen... and I wasn't sick, just ultra busy the past week or so. However that being said, I did compost majority of the food being thrown. (So did that count as 1 frugal thing? ) I shopped at goodwill for clothes... after donating, so was able to use the coupon they give out when shopping. Helped 2 other moms be frugal by giving their kids rides home from school when I had to pick up my son for an ortho appt. Have brought my lunch for work consistently for the last week and haven't visited the vending machine in quite awhile... still don't how I had to throw food though with bringing lunches! Been hanging our laundry all winter here in MN albeit in our basement... so those are my 5 frugal things unless I messed up counting which happens some times in the am! Have a great Thursday!
1. Decided I wanted shorter hair so I cut it myself
2. Because my hair is now shorter I use way less products in its. (not the reason I cut it but a nice side benefit).
3. Turned in the UPCs from our dog food bags for our buy 12 get one free bag
4. Went to see Black Panther in the afternoon to take advantage of lower priced matinee tickets.
5. Used free ticket earned on movie rewards card for the movie.
Good on you, Julia
Being nearly 70 years' of age I figure i can leave full head of hair on my head gray with a touch-up now and then & have the barber cut those bangs once in a while.
1. I transferred a prescription to Kroger as they sent a 50.00 coupon in the mail! That's a whole lot of groceries for us!
2. I picked up several of my free coffees from Panera over the last two weeks. Such a nice treat! Also, used my Cow Calendar at Chick-fil-a for a soup lunch one day when I had to be out.
3. I have two pieces of furniture to be painted. I did one on Tuesday when it was 74! I already have paint from other projects that I'm using and I combined two half cans to get a lovely navy for the second piece.
4. Our eldest was visiting her German father-in-law over Christmas so we finally managed to get together for Christmas after a production of Guess Who is Coming for Dinner. They were doing it at the professional theater she works so she was able to get us in for free.
5. We're really, really enjoying the Olympics as our youngest is there. It's so much fun watching events while looking for her smiling face!
And, Kristen, I love the sweatshirt!!!
Lots of great frugal wins here. The $5 sweatshirt looks really cute. I would buy it as well. I didn't even know the line was from Star War!
I'm glad you are feeling better now. Give yourself a break. Life happens! 🙂
1. Didn't go on vacation over the long weekend like we had planned (because of sickness, but it turned out to be frugal)
2. Listed some things on ebay and they sold pretty well.
3. Scavenged the freezer and pantry for meals to cut down on grocery costs this week. Then I spent some of that money to get butter and cream and chocolate to bake more stuff that I probably don't need, but it's been below freezing for a few days, and baking keeps our old, thinly insulated house warmer. A couple events are happening this weekend where food is involved, so I should have something tasty to bring.
4. Made several things out of a huge batch of challah dough
5. Found a specialist for our son that is near a whole bunch of extended family, so when we travel to doctor we won't be on our own for everything. Purpose wasn't frugality as much as it was finding a doctor that knows about a particular rare condition, and the highlight of staying with family certainly is not frugality (we're going to have crazy amounts of fun), but it does turn out to be the more frugal option.
1. For the first time, I thrifted at a Goodwill Outlet. OMG was it fun!!! I took the morning off from work and (AKA play hookey) and went to the one that is almost an hour away. I was able to score about 17lbs of clothing and bric a brac for just under $24. I did not care what season the items were, I just bought it. I can't remember all that I purchased (because I still need to bring it inside and wash it all up) but I do know that I found a really nice work blazer, one of those fancy silver thermos cups (brand new) and some PJ's for my daughter. (there is so much more I can't remember. I had so much fun, I think I might have a fake dr. appt every month so I can go! HA!
2. I'm going to try my hand at selling on ebay with two of the items I purchased at the goodwill outlet. I'll let you know how that goes.
3. The crud has officially hit our house and has kept us at home from some activities, which is a bummer, but it does save gas (so I guess that's frugal?)
4. Before church last evening, we went out to eat at a local diner (not so frugal) but a local radio station was there with their "wheel of winnings" and my daughter won us a gift card for our next visit! I see that many others have gift cards (probably given as gifts) and that is something we just don't get often, so to win one for that diner was extra nice (and very helpful financially).
5. My boss and I are both trying to eat low carb. She attempted to make bread out of coconut flour and hated it. So she gave me the entire container! Free flour is always good.
A goodwill outlet sounds like so much fun! I'm jealous of people who have them.
Feel free to come visit anytime and I will take another day off!
Wouldn't that be fun??
I'm not sure I've been all that frugal this week, but I did pare down the grocery list so I could justify take-out tonight as it is my 11th day of work and I feel TIRED. So I will probably buy Chinese on the way home. I've been taking my lunches to work all week, staying out of Target and Dollar Tree. And I plan on visiting my mother tomorrow and taking her a homemade pie in lieu of a store bought birthday cake. (:
My goodness, I bet you ARE tired. Do you get to have a day off soon?
You are so slender, I would have guessed that you were once a size 0. 🙂 Anyway, I wonder if there are others out there like me who would appreciate a post on how sizing changes for girls once they are beyond the "girl" sizes. My daughter is a medium build, not super slender like your girls, but I'm not always sure what sizes to seek out now that she is a girl's size 16 (seems to fit in size small in juniors?).
I think that you did very well with frugality even though you are sick. Ain't none of us perfect. And I like the sweatshirt, even if it does make you a fake fan. Ha.
I feel like the stage in between kids and juniors is tough! Zoe's there right now...not quite big enough for juniors, but just too skinny for girls' larger sizes. Hopefully she'll hit a growth spurt soon and make it into juniors.
I'd just have your girl try on both the girls' larges and the juniors smalls and go with whatever fits the best! Sometimes the girls' section has some much cuter clothes than the juniors and I wish my girls could fit those sizes longer. They love the tops with cute animals on them and such...which are hard to find in the juniors department!
I agree with Kristen; we always end up having to try things on because as we all know, even the "same size" differs among brands! But, as a rough guide, our kids consignment store told me that they correlate sizes something like:
Girls 12 = Juniors size 1/XS
Girls 14 = Junior 3/S
Girls 16=Junior 5/M.
(All this reminds me of another frugal tip - since kids shoes are usually less expensive, check the kids section to see if you can find the same style in a size that fits - again, the sizes (crazily) don't match up with adult shoe sizes, and I can't remember the exact correlation, but we were shopping with someone who bought two pairs of kids size school shoes for the cost of one pair of adult - same brand, same style, teenage (maybe size 6/7 in adult shoes). Larger shoe stores (we were in Rack Room Shoes) can have a kids section which goes up to amazingly high sizes (I think theirs ended up being a kids size 4/5).
Yes! I know some adults who have really small feet, and they're able to buy their shoes in the kids' section. So much cheaper!
Depending on brand, I can wear size 00, 1, or girls 16 interchangeably. I feel the girls are cut in a more square shape and tend to be a bit shorter (I'm 5'2"), the Juniors almost too tight/low rise, and the 00 size fit perfectly (super hard to find though). I'm also in my mid 30s so I try to err on the side of mom appropriate so I don't look like I'm trying too hard to dress like a teenager. 🙂 So depending on body type I'd check out a 00 or 1 or 3.
Let's see . . .
1. I went in to target to pick up a prescription at the pharmacy and did NOT do any extraneous "looking around." Practically unheard of for me and saved me $$$ since I almost always find something I "need."
2. I had half a carton of black beans left over from a Hello Fresh recipe and used them with a can of chicken broth and some aromatics to whip up a small batch of black bean soup that I had for lunch Monday and Tuesday. This was an extra satisfying win since I am used to using recipes but I made this up out of my head and it turned out pretty good!
3. I stuck to my grocery budget last week (came in a whole $1 under) which is unusual for me and took great powers of restraint. Haha.
4. I have been reading The Kitchen Counter Cooking School (from the Library of course!) and found the chapters on leftovers and soup very encouraging. I have been cooking all of my adult life but still learned a few things from this book and am inspired to make better use of the food I buy. Does future frugality count for 5 frugal things? 🙂
5. Even though I don't need dish soap now because I am working through a Costco -sized bottle of it, I found my preferred brand (Palmolive) on clearance for less $1.27 a bottle so I stocked up a bit.
As long as you aren't hoarding, soap is one of those items that lasts forever so there's no real harm in stocking up. Before my kid was born my wife stockpiled laundry detergent. Two years later we're just about running out of it.
My place is tiny so there is no room to hoard! My sister once bought an industrial size roll of plastic wrap. It took her 5 years to use up!
Ha, my mother in law has one of those! I think she's had it for nearly all of the 20 years I've been a part of the family.
I confess to having 30 packages of Colgate toothpaste I bought on sale for $1.00 a tube. The larger, 6.4 oz size, too. I figure that will hold us for a good three years! ☺
I think future frugality counts:)
Excellent! Keep an eye on 'best before date' just in case.
1. The only groceries I've bought all week were graham crackers and a couple loaves of bread. I'm doing a freezer/cupboard challenge and have had delicious meals from scratch all week!
2. Repaired a couple pairs of my husband's work slacks.
3. My husband has been walking the half mile to work (bonus points for him; I'm adding it to our family frugality tally).
4. Bought a dress and shirt for my daughter and top for me online all for $4 by waiting to shop until a free shipping day and combining clearance, coupon codes, and a $10 gift card I was given.
5. We refrained from eating out at an expensive frozen yogurt shop and instead bought $1 plain "sundaes" for our two boys and took them home to add yummy toppings from my baking goods.
BONUS: Got $1.10 off per gallon of gas using a rewards card and waited until both mine and husbands car were on empty to fill up! $35 for a sedan and mini van!
The diabetes dietitian at St. Paul's Hospital here in Vancouver BC, advised me to try ice cream on graham type crackers. I use Cheerios brand with fibre. Good enough combo.
Oh, we also "cut the fluff" around the house in preparation for a move and took several garbage sacks to Goodwill and made $110 selling some things on a local app.
1. Ate from the freezer/fridge/pantry. I am really trying to stay out of the grocery stores except when I need produce/dairy. We have so much food stored at home that I need to go through it and use it before I bring more stuff in.
2. Cooked the half pack of sausage my husband/FIL had left after they went to the farm to shoot. A pack of deer sausage feeds 4 people generously, so when we open one, we have to eat it for two meals (or more, depending on meat ratios). We had sausage and potato hash.
3. Gave up flavored drinks--cheaper and better for my weight.
4. Did not buy Target light-up shoes for my son--found some he liked better online. I hate buying light up shoes because they are expensive and wear out fast, but I also know that I really wanted them when I was a kid and in the scheme of things, they aren't that expensive (and we go through maybe 2 pairs per size if we have a slow growth period). They wear thifted everything else, so new flashy shoes it is.
5. Brought leftovers for lunch every day this week. Cleaning out the fridge and "free."
It feels so wonderful to hear that someone else in the world doesn't like Star Wars. I went from not being a fan to actively hating it due to the overexposure of it all. It's all just noise to me (but then people would probably tell me my movie collection is full of nonsense as well.)
1.) Our local cable company (Spectrum) is finally turning off the old analog signals which means that the old deal I was on (internet + basic TV) is going away. Now that this is ended they will actually sell me an internet only plan, which is what I have been asking for for years.
2.) Whole chickens were 69 cents a lb at a local grocery store for us! So I ended up getting two of them. One we cooked on Monday and made into meals for the next three days!
3.) Used my insurance company's price finding tool to find out the cheapest place to get my wife's new prescription. We're on an HSA and have to buy things out of pocket until we meet our deductible. Oddly enough it was at the very pharmacy we always go to that's closest to our house. It was still about $70 for a 90 day supply but that was $15 less than Walmart or mail order.
4.) Stocked up on my Dollar General items (mostly cereal) the other day when I was by it and didn't make a special trip.
5.) Did my taxes myself and saved a bit of money over using a tax accountant. We were able to take advantage of some deductions for things like daycare and the EITC so we ended up getting a little bit of a refund. Next year should be simpler but I'm still not quite sure what I should be withholding.
I have to admit I'm a little annoyed at the DINK college acquaintances on my social media complaining about how much they owe in taxes when they seem to be going out partying every weekend and have no real responsibilities in life. I know it's not a good place to be in life (judging others) but for a lot of reasons I need to get away from social media and find another way to pretend to have a social life.
The problem is just that I cannot get into anything sci-fi. It is so not my thing!
I made three small flower arrangements from one bunch of Aldi flowers ($3.99), so I could have flowers at the kitchen window, kitchen table, and dining room table. Thank you Aldi!
Ok, the sweatshirt was a nice tease, but I'm waiting for the next Stitch Fix modeling session. 🙂
Coming next week!
I'm trying to shop my freezer and pantry, to get through the enormous amount of stuff. On the frugal side, I did save a lot on groceries this week (to be fair, part of that is that my mom went to Costco and gifted me two giant bags of frozen fruit). I made a beef and green been stir fry with brown rice, which will be my main meal for a couple of days. On the not-frugal side, I bought more veggies than I needed and now have a giant bunch of bok choy that I really, really hope will last about five more days til I can get to it. Since I had to throw out a bunch of kale and a bag of green beans last week, I'm trying not to overbuy, but I'm still getting used to shopping for one.
I would add some bok choy into your stirfry, I wonder if it would work to quick blanch some for say 30secs then cold rinse, drain & freeze to add to soups/stirfrys later?
or maybe add the soft leaves to the stirfry & just cut off & quick blanch the firmer stalks; just an idea
After cooking for my large family for soooo many years, I am finding cooking for one so difficult and have to be super cognizant of waste!!
1. I purchased a $5 jacket for 11 year old grandson. He keeps "losing" his at school. I think they're in his locker, but they were beginning to show signs of becoming too little.
2. On Wednesdays I eat lunch with my older daughter because she works in my work vicinity on those days. We went to Bob Evans and I had a gift card which I had received for Christmas.
3. I found some shirts and a couple pair of jeans for the 3 year old on a clearance rack.
4. I used a coupon from Speedway to get a free Coke.
5. I hadn't ate supper out in about two weeks until last night when I bought a pizza.
Okay, nothing to share, but . . . I'm glad that I'm not the only one who mixes up Star Trek and Star Wars. . .
Oh, a fellow non-Trekkie/non-Star-Wars person!
I'm scooting over to make room for you on the bench.
Cut my son's hair. He is in his 30s but still loves those free haircuts! Made sweet tea to drink instead of sodas. Organizing my sewing so I know what I have. It's no good to have anything if you don't know where it is. Ordered a baby gift from Children's Place clearance and had it shipped directly to them to save postage. Already working on my Operation Christmas Child boxes so I can take advantage of sales.
1) Over Christmas I bought myself a $25 gift card to Noodles & Co. because it came with a coupon for a free bowl. I waited to use the GC until there was a deal. This week I got a deal for BOGO which was perfect for Tuesday because I go straight from work to class. I got a noodle bowl for lunch and a salad for dinner for $9 on the GC. On the receipt they print a survey and if you go online and complete it (which I did) you get a free appetizer! The one I always get is the 10 BBQ Korean Meatballs which I put over rice and veggies to make a nice dinner for me and my husband.
2) I have what I call my "vacation purse". It's gone on every vacation/long weekend with me since 2012. It's small, bright orange, and matches nothing therefore it matches everything! The clasp broke so I went to Joann Fabrics and they couldn't offer any advice. Finally I just went home and superglued the piece like CRAZY and it held up through my whole trip (and hopefully many more).
3) Yesterday at Target I bought 5 Bertolli pasta sauces that were on clearance for $1.26 each and then used an ibotta rebate for $1 off each of them.
4) Went to the dermatologist today (not frugal) for an itchy rash that is all over my lower legs. I was frustrated when she told me that her only suggestion was Cerave, an over the counter lotion. As soon as I got back to work, I googled "Cerave coupon" and was able to find $2 off online and found a store where it was on sale. I doubt it will work, but I will give it a shot.
5) Turned a Northern California work trip into a mini vacay for myself. Did it as frugally as possible. Some highlights include staying in a hostel instead of a hotel, bringing my own water bottle on the flight and everywhere else to avoid paying for drinks, walking over 25,000 steps to avoid paying for Ubers, using my AAA membership to get a discount at a restaurant, and eating breakfast at the hostel. SanFran is not a frugal city, but I did my best! 🙂
I love, love, love your thoughts on your purse and matching. So great!
Wow! I am impressed by how you worked the Noodle & Co. deals. Well done!
1. Trimmed my hair myself. Watched a couple Youtubes on how to cut layered hair. Took me 5 minutes tops. Used $16 hair scissors from Drug Store. Saved me 2 hours and about $65.
2. Instead of buying Valentines for students, decorated big white envelopes with their names in fancy writing and everyone went around and wrote a positive comment about that person. They then used the envelopes to cart al their Valentines home. Much more personal.
3. Putting all my "extra" money in an account (for ex: bottle depot $, bday $, found $, refunds like Ebates, Zweet, etc) since September. So far I have $3,300. I'm going to throw it against my mortgage in June. Hopefully by then it will be at $6,000. Strategy? No matter how much I have to add to account, whether it's $1 or $600, I deposit in bank every Thursday,
4. Spending money to save money. I recently got a car wash and paid $17. It's that time of year when cars are very grubby and covered with road salt. Once my car was clean again, I had a new appreciation for her and wasn't looking around at newer cars feeling envious or like I needed to upgrade.
5. Getting enough sleep, staying active and eating right so I don't have to miss work therefore missing out on $.
I know what you mean, when I wash my car I always stand back & think how nice it looks. I was tempted to upgrade not long ago but sometimes I think how far technology has come & to have a vehicle that has heating/cooling, comfortable seats, a radio, gets me around I feel so blessed.
Jenni, I do the same thing with all my "extra" money, but I do it online by transferring that amount from checking to savings. It's amazing how it adds up.
I don't think I was a size 0 any but one point in my teens! I'm thin but I'm also short, not at all graceful and thin like your girls! Lucky genes! Clothes shopping is always a disappointment because it fits but I'm too short and the piece is too long. No dresses or pants ever fit me right!
That must be frustrating! I frequently have problems with shirts because I have a long torso, but short arms in proportion to my torso.
So, a tall size is way too long in the arms, but a regular size is often too short in the torso.
If only we all had tailors custom-making our clothes. 😉
Hey there...I feel your pain...im a litte shortie to...5.1....a far a pants, shorts, skirts ect go try old Navy for casual...bannana republic for work.. (I know I know can be scary expensive but they do have sales and the things I have I've had for years...they are well made just stick to classic styles...which incidentally flatters the vertically challanged 🙂 also...on line ann taylor has nice selection of petite things...the good will can be your best freind also(its amazing what one can find)...just go fairly regularly.. and tailors are your second bestie
Good luck I know it's a challange at times!!!
I recognize someone above, because they posted one of their things on another forum. I think we both use our real first names here, so my lips are sealed, but I'm challenging myself to report five different frugal things that I haven't reported elsewhere.
1. Cut DH's hair, per usual. What's different is that he wants it a little longer around the ears because, on December 23rd, he
2. Used up the entire balance on our FSA (the one you must spend completely down each year or lose) buying
3. Hearing aids at Costco. Screaming value for the money, and he loves them! Duck to water!
4. He bought some of the fancy upgrades and a supply of batteries in order to use up every penny of the card balance. Only spent $20 out of pocket for state of the art "ears". (Bluetooth necklace thingy - all the cool old-ish guys are wearing them now - watch for the black cord inside their shirt collars.)
5. Then he came home and price checked batteries. He ordered an appropriate supply on line at a great price, with free shipping, of course.
Love that man!
Well, large kudos to your husband!
Found a easy recipe for blueberry scones which easily adapt to any kind of fruit. Scones are a weakness for my family so this was very frugal. My Jewel has chicken roasters for $.77 lb,I plan on Getting 4 (the limit).I can easily get 3 or 4 meals out of 1 for $10.00 or less. Love the sweatshirt deal
I am a cake decorator. A customer asked me if I could do a Star Wars Theme cake? I told her that would be no problem we even offer a toy Enterprise that I could incorporate in the design. That's when I learned Star Wars & Star Trek were NOT the same.
1. My daughter wore her Christmas dress to our town’s father daughter dance rather than buying a new dress.
2. I cut both of my girls hair
3. We’ve used our annual zoo membership twice over the past week and packed a lunch both times.
4. The kids are on winter break. We went to the free movie and popcorn event at the library vs going to the real theater.
5. Reinstituted a weekly leftover/clean out the fridge night to keep us within budget and avoid food waste.
1. Doing my laundry in homemade soap again. I wish homemade laundry soap worked for everyone!
2. I found some more needed clothes for my next mission trip at Goodwill. We leave the decent ones with the mission people so I need to get more to take.
3. Made more hummingbird food since they are back. It can be bought as a mix but it's just sugar really, to mix with water. I mix my own.
4. Had to attend a funeral that would make me miss lunch at home but I packed a lunch.
5. Let a whole pineapple go bad while we had busy stuff going on. Ouch.
Where are you going on your mission trip? I'm a missionary in a developing country and I'm always frustrated for the people here because the liklihood of finding a good pair of shoes at a local store or even at the second-hand stores is nearly impossible. I bought my 2-year-old a new pair of flip flops and they broke after only 8 days of minimal wear and cost about 3 US dollars.
I go in June. The couple we work with gladly accepts what clothing we leave behind, which they clean and re-home, and that includes shoes, but she didn't seem to have a complaint about the shoes they buy there where they live (in Central America). Last year we also brought a bunch of lightly used soccer shoes with us and that was a hit.
I love Kohl's clearance racks, especially when I have the $10 coupon the send in the mail. I haven't paid cash for clothes in years but I'm very well put together most of the time.
My big frugals finds this week: free grassfed beef bones from a local processor; free "scratch and dent" mangoes that I turned into refrigerator jam; 15 cent super healthy crackers from a discount grocery store that I used to make crispy pizzas from green onion slices I had frozen from last year's garden, free tomatoes from a local thrift store, chopped homegrown greens, and free cheese from a store coupon. I dug up over 10 lbs of sunchokes and forgotten potatoes and made two gallons of beef stew for free. There's more, but I've typed enough!
Wow, you got a lot of free food. Yay for you!
Hi Kristen,
There must be a glut of over ripe bananas round the world at the mo cause I also made 2 x banana breads this week as well as freezing another 3 bananas for future use. I also-
Packed my lunch for work every day
Used the last of the worm castings to improve the soil in my veggie pod
Picked more Red Papaya from my tree, I raised this tree from saved seed, it is my pride and joy
Kept to the two light rule at night to save electricity
Used up all leftovers in a timely manner, I put all leftovers front and centre in the fridge to prevent waste
Was gifted some beautiful Panama gold passion fruit, we grow the same variety but ours isn’t cropping yet
Saved the warm up water from the showers to water our big potted figs
Did a stocktake of the fridge, freezer and pantry before I wrote out the menu and shopping list
And that’s all I can think of at the moment.
Have a lovely day.
Fi
Yum to the red papaya! I'm not sure why, but we mostly have the orange kind here in the PNG highlands.
1. The kids were bored today and I noticed my son was doing some crafty stuff, so I pulled out 2 cereal boxes I've been saving for crafting and they cut them into masks and such.
2. I skipped a shutterfly freebie, as I would still have to pay $6 in shipping and decided it wasn't worth it to me.
3. Doing my frugal hobby of reading frugal blogs. 🙂
4. Bought a used shawl/head wrap for under $1US currency.
5. Not Frugal: Like you I've been wasting more food lately. We have guests and apparently I'm way overcooking. Plus we no longer have a dog, who used to eat leftovers.
I love the fact that you used to feed your dog leftovers. I let our dog eat almost every leftover (except for bread). Saves on the amount of dog food your have to buy!
Way to go for the sweet sweatshirt find! Fit and colour totally trumps the front image/saying (unless it's inappropriate... although there was this one time I got a shirt from the thrift for my hubby and didn't know what the letters on the front were an abbreviation for [I thought it was just school initials] and it ended up meaning something terrible! :-/ ) You could always try to creatively change the word "force" to "frugal" 😛
My Five Frugal things this week:
1. My zipper on a pair of jeans was broken, so I used a diaper pin to hold it together. It's a tiny zipper, so it looks closed from the front and I don't have the sewing skills or time to replace it, so this will have to do for now.
2. I roasted two buttenut squash that have been in my pantry FOREVER and were starting to get brown spots on them.
3. I watched a friend's little girl for the day and traded for haircuts for my husband later.
4. At the mall my kids were satisfied playing on the coin operated toys without any coins to operate them. Sometimes a stationary bulldozer and merry-go-round is just as fun as one that moves and spins. #momwin
5. Went to the library and borrowed a heap of books!!
I totally used to do that with my kids when Joshua and Lisey were little. They didn't even know you could put coins into them!
1. - I've been working hard on meal plans & using what I have; made flatbread pizzas & ran out of sauce for the base & then remembered on this blog someone added regular tomato sauce - I don't remember who it was but thanku it worked great.
2. - I buy my bread from shops that have loyalty cards & scored 12 free wholemeal rolls for the freezer
3. - I try to eat 2 pieces of fruit a day, one is usually an apple & I just started buying whatever is cheapest in season for the other (within reason- only if I like eating it) saving heaps & will increase my variety too & part of a goal to make my meal plans more seasonal overall. This did mean I wasted some watermelon ( I bought a 1/4) but it was still very cheap per serve what I did eat & the rest I'll compost.
4. - Converted credit card rewards to supermarket vouchers & nearly finished using them up - was $100 in total which was awesome.
5. - Got my hair cut at 'Just Cuts' where they don't wash your hair, just spray with water & cut; much cheaper & you don't need an appointment you can just rock up.
Oh man, I HATE food waste now! (You have definitely helped me to make that change in my life.)
1) I returned a library book late. Wait. This will be frugal! It cost me $0.30. HOWEVER, I have used the HECK out of the library for the last 3 years and have spent less than $2.00 in fines (including this one). I used to spend $15-ish a month on an Audible subscription, plus buying lots of books. So...my $0.30 fine is tied to hundreds and hundreds of dollars in savings on books.
2) I decided not to sign up for my local quilt shop's block of the month club this year. I enjoyed it last year, but I didn't love it enough to pay the extra 50% rise in price.
3) I bought an Amazon Warehouse Instant Pot. It works perfectly, but has a big dent in the back. It was $65 instead of $100+. WIN.
4) My laziness has resulted in us never making it to the movies anymore. So instead of spending $20 to see movies in the theater, we usually get around to seeing them on Redbox or even Netflix.
5) I repaired a pair of skinny jeans (using an old t-shirt). They had several holes worn through in the thighs, but were in otherwise good shape. I didn't have to drop $60+ on new skinny jeans (for me, a plus-size lady who wants jeans that don't get stretched out and bunch at the knees). They are getting faded, but I just so happen to have a box of black Rit dye at home. I sense a project coming on....
Sorry to hear of sickness! Thankful spring is coming soon.
My five:
1) Today was the free day of our library book sale. I waited all week & got there early to come away with 5 CD's, 1 DVD, and several kid's books. I tried to be more choosy this time, realizing less can be more & only picking up what I think we'll love.
2) I needed some new gym pants & picked up some clearance ones.
3) Also I found a beautiful clearance rug for a section of our wood floors that needed a rug.
4) I've been searching preschool curriculum on eBay, and finally found the book I've been looking for listed an affordable price.
5) can't think of one!