Frugal Accomplishments


Imagination costs nothing!  Here, Daughter is pretending she has an Ipad, and playing Fruit Ninja.  Tee hee!

I received a reminder from K-Mart about some award points that I had from a purchase back at Christmas.  I used those points to buy some markdown Valentine's candy for 4 cents.  At Safeway I got four single-serving bottles of pomegranate juice free after sale and coupons.

We donated some items to Goodwill.  As a thank-you, they gave us each a treat - Daughter got a lollipop and I chose a soda.  Surprised?  I didn't think so, hee hee.

I used $14.40 in coupons this week to  help pay for groceries, and we shopped the sales, mostly price-matching at Walmart.  Some of the coupons were King Soopers only, so we went there to use those, but we were already in town for other errands, so it worked out. 

I dropped off recycling at the recycling center.  It's free to take in recycling and it's co-mingled, so I don't have to keep it sorted.  The choice to recycle reduces our trash to almost nothing.  We can pay $3 per bag to take our trash to the same location, which is much, much less than paying $25-$30 a month for trash service. 

I trimmed my bangs and Daughter's bangs.  It's been so long since we 'got haircuts' that I'm not even sure how much we save by doing it at home. 

I went to Happy Needles again this week, and enjoyed the fellowship of others who do handwork (crochet, knitting, sewing, needlework and more).  It is a free gathering at the library, and I think I'm on the way to making some lovely friends!  While I was at the library, I dropped off returns and picked up a few items that were on hold, too.

Husband cut up some wood that we got, free for the taking.  Now it's ready to heat our home on cold days.  We have gotten some of those recently, and the wood heat has been a real blessing.

I got a coupon in the mail, for a free 2 liter of Pepsi Next.  I don't even know how/why they sent it to me, but free is allowed, so OK!  I also played Subway's current online game and won a 20 oz coke - coupon will arrive in 4-6 weeks.

Somehow, I managed to pinch a nerve, or strain something, and the result is a lot of pain in my lower back and down one leg.  I looked online to find exercises and stretches to ease the pain and they seem to be helping.  A little.  Ow.

We planned the menu and ate from the pantry and freezer, allowing $20 to spend on produce, milk, household items like TP and a small amount of stocking up.  More on all that here.

Daughter is in swimming lessons at a nearby community pool.  The cost averages out to about $4 a lesson, plus we are allowed to come early and swim/play or stay late and swim/play.  I am also allowed to swim (no charge) when she is in her lesson...plus we each take a shower afterward, which saves us a little more since we are not pumping the water for the showers at home.  It's a great deal!  We will be continuing lessons for March too.

We ate leftovers for lunch and I went through the fridge really well before I went to the store this week.  The coming week's menu utilizes the produce we had on hand along with the items we picked up on sale.  We spent even less than we have been, so that's great!  When I opened some canned peaches for Husband's lunches, I used the juice from the can to help sweeten fruit punch.

We also hung our laundry to dry on drying racks, used homemade laundry soap and used natural light rather than electric lights whenever possible.  We checked out materials from the library and I downloaded some free kindle books to my computer, using the free PC program to view them (I don't have a kindle so I read them on my laptop. 

How are you saving here, there and everywhere?





Comments

Maryann said…
Hi!! Great, innovative ideas:) This week I:
- bought 3yrds of fabric on sale for $9, original price was 9.99 a yard
- cooked from pantry and only got what we really truly needed at publix with their bogo sales
- mended a shirt, shorts, and one of my son's costumes
- ordered out one meal Monday night at a BBQ, got the family feast rather than individual meals so I could make meals with leftovers, bought the feast with $5 off coupon and got 4 meals out if the leftover whole chicken
- packed a bag for goodwill , cleaned out my closet and found things I forgot I had that are now decorating the house
- took my son to a doughnut shop after school with some friends, I got him a chocolate milk to drink and they gave me the doughnuts free because of a milk special
- waited for all errands until I was on that side of town
- my dog hurt himself and I freaked out, called the vet and they told me its be at least $400 just to X-ray IF it was broken. After I calmed down and had my husband and neighbor look at it, it's sprained so we are treating at home
- mailed a care package with 99% of items free or from dollar store

Thanks!!:)
Laura said…
Sounds like you had a great week, Maryann- thanks for stopping by and posting! :)
Lisa said…
What a wonderful list! I love the idea of the swimming lessons! Have a great week! :)

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