Last Week's Frugal Accomplishments

We hiked to the top of  the ridge at a local park - beautiful view of Pikes Peak!

I trimmed Daughter's bangs - now all of us can see! (hee hee)

When I cleaned the bathrooms this week, I used this long plastic stick thing to clear all the drains of...really grody stuff.  It's definitely not glamorous, but I tell you, it works really well, and in the long run, saves us buying some chemical or having someone out because drains have clogged.  I never have to use it in the kitchen - probably because of all the hot water that goes down that drain (and...uh...because we don't wash our hair in there), but it does wonders for bathroom sinks and bathtub drains.  We have had this 'single use' gadget for probably 8 years.  I rinse it each time, dry it and return it to the packaging.  We got it at Home Depot or Lowes, near the drain chemicals.

I got piano lesson books for daughter at a local music store.  Because I asked, they gave me a homeschooler discount.

We used the wood stove in the living room throughout the week to keep the furnace off and keep the house warm.

I did some subbing at the library to bring in a little bit of extra money.  While I was there I exchanged the books and media we had for some new stuff.  I'm also pet-sitting for two families, so in addition to our critters, we have a dog, two cats and a horse to love on.

Husband used a $5 off a $5 or more purchase coupon from Staples to stock our supply of tape.  The total was exactly $5, so it was 100% free.

taco salad

I shopped grocery sales and deals and made a menu.  It is posted here.  There was a fair amount of scratch cooking involved, which saves a lot of money and helps us know what is actually in our food.

Laundry was washed with homemade soap and dried on wood racks.  Also, when the shampoo and conditioner bottles got to 'almost nothing' I added a little water to each of them, shook them well, and put the conditioner water in with the fabric softener.  The shampoo water went into a foaming pump dispenser for hand-washing.

I finished a little rehab project.  I got this hamper at goodwill - $8.  the top had a plastic cover with a marble pattern on it, but it had faded to a really strange green color.  I replaced it with this fabric - and I put a scrap of thin quilt batting under the fabric.  I'm really happy with the result.  The fabric, batting and staples were all on hand.  The glue gun was involved too, but I didn't have to purchase anything except the hamper, so yay.

Daughter and I used a coupon for a free combo meal to eat lunch out one day.

Daughter was given a couple of owl pellets, and dissected one this week.  She loves to dissect owl pellets!

We used a coupon at Staples to buy a 5 ream pack of copy paper.  Excluding sales tax, it will be free after rebate.

Husband transferred two prescriptions to the Kmart pharmacy.  They had to order meds for one, but I got a $25 gift card for the one they could fill.  I will get another $25 gift card for the second one when I pick it up, which we can use for household items, groceries, etc.  I will openly admit that some of that first gift card went for some Cadbury milk chocolate.  And...yum. ;)

How was your week?  What did you do to save?