Last Week's Frugal Accomplishments




To me, this is what frugality is about - having the $$ to do something special. 
We attended Jamie Grace's concert last week.  Pictured are Mona Harper, me,
Jamie Grace, daughter and Morgan Harper.  The concert was fantastic!

 Love Goodwill!  A bright and happy photo frame for the group photo from last week's concert, plus a pair of rain boots for me!  No, it doesn't rain here, but since we have animals to care for and a garden to tend, these will be fantastic for mucking and watering. 

I used $23.50 in coupons this week.  Highlights included four free packs of baby wipes and two free quarts of Rice Dream Milk....the shelf stable kind.  We will keep those to use on weeks when milk isn't on sale.  I also got four blocks of Cracker Barrel cheese for .99 each with sales/coupons.  Sealed packages of cheese keep very well so these will last us quite a while.  I got two 16 oz. cokes for a penny each.  We price matched to save time and fuel, and stocked up on several items that will last us past the present week.

I made lasagna , and since we're a small family, I made little ones - one for us to eat this week and one for the future.  The spare is in the freezer.  I also made no-bake cookies and Husband made chex mix to add some variety to his lunches. Yum!

My lunches were either leftovers or items from the freezer.  We had some black bean burgers that I'd made, and it turned out that I liked them more than the rest of the family, so I've been having those some days.  Other days I had leftovers from suppers earlier in the week.  Husband takes lunch from home every work day, which saves a lot, and Daughter had leftovers some days, while other days she had a peanut butter sandwich or a grilled cheese with celery and fruit.

We returned some drywall tape we'd purchased at Home Depot that didn't need after all. 

Daughter was wanting some Star Wars light sabers that she'd seen in the toy section.  She made her own with paint and sticks.  Great job!

The Frugal Force is strong in this one.....

We had an open box of cold cereal that none of us liked.  Since it was opened, I took it out to the barn.  I give the chickens a handful with their treats, and 2 pieces to each bunny. They are also getting fruit and vegetables peels/scraps from our kitchen, which cuts down on feed use and gives them some variety.
I got a $5 credit on my King Sooper (Kroger affiliate) loyalty card for entering a recipe in the Pillsbury bake-off.  With that and some coupons I was able to get free tortilla chips, mayo, and smoked sausage.

I asked on freecycle and received a French press.  It will come in handy for making Choffy.  If you haven't entered the giveaway yet, you should!  If you win, that'd be awfully frugal, after all.  I also learned that a French press is supposed to be great for both coffee (which I had heard) and also tea, so I think we'll be doing some experimenting. 

I re-loaded the snack basket as needed.  I find that it is handy for the whole family, and it helps me use up the last little bits of various foods in the cabinet.

I won a subscription to Better Homes and Gardens magazine - thanks, Purex!  I got a single serve sample of coffee in the mail - thanks, Folgers!  A vendor gave me a free sample of Gain in-wash scent booster beads - thanks, vendor guy!

We used our wood stove for heat as needed.  To save on laundry costs I hung laundry on hangers and/or drying racks, and used homemade laundry soap. 

I downloaded a few free books to the kindle reader on my laptop.

I think the sauerkraut is ready...I'm just not sure what it's ready for, lol.  Stay tuned next week to see if it's a frugal accomplishment or if it falls below the line into 'Room for Improvement', hee hee.

Room for Improvement:

I've been drinking soda, which is not a frugal choice.  I think it's partly the caffeine and partly that, well, I like soda.  It's extra busy around here with schooling Daughter, maintaining the house (at least minimally), meals, laundry, etc...and then the duck programs and scoring essays.  I have at least been keeping my water intake up at the same time, so that's something.  Also, it doesn't come out of the grocery money - it comes from allowance. 

Green onions.  They came in this zipper close bag, and I remember thinking at the time that it was 'too sealed' and I should move them to something else so they don't get all grody.  I caught them when they were just starting to ick up, so I removed the leaves that were no good (compost bin) and washed and dried the rest really well.  I put them in a loose bag, and we'll use them up quick-like.

I went into Walmart, prepared to price match roma tomatoes at .88 a pound, but then the shelf said they were .78 a pound, so I didn't bother.  I didn't notice until I got home that they were actually 1.18 a pound, and that's what I'd been charged.  It amounted to a .16 overcharge (I only bought two), which isn't worth driving over there for.  I keep reminding myself too that the pineapple I price matched for .98 is as big as my head, so I got my money's worth there.  Still, I need to be better about watching the prices when I'm there.

How did you do this week?  Where did you save?  Where do you hope to improve?