August Frugals

[kimberlyf0]

I'll play! I love keeping track of my daily frugal activities.


This morning I received a last minute invitation to the park; I quickly put on a pot of beans for our main meal, ground flour and put on bread, and then got ready, grabbing muffins from the freezer, my knitting, and a full water bottle before I left. Yes, we ended up eating almost the exact same main meal as Sunday, but it was still food eaten at home, and I was able to correct the mistake I made Sunday in not making a double batch of beans so we would have leftovers for our Tuesday burritos.


The watermelon that I cut for our main meal was not quite sweet, so the boys ate less of it than they usually would have, and indicated that they would not want it later for a snack. I pureed the extra and made a double batch of watermelon sorbet for the freezer.


On Saturday the vet recommended an over-the-counter medication for our dog, to help with his stomach issues. On Sunday the chain drugstore ad had the exact medicine recommended on sale for free after the rewards program rebate, and they had a coupon, so they basically paid me to take it. I planned to buy the medicine in bulk at Costco, but this gives us a chance to try it without outlaying any funds. They also emailed me a coupon to get a free seltzer water, so I did that too.


There was a free movie code from Redbox so I rented a movie for DH and I to watch. I reserved it from the kiosk outside of the drugstore so that I wouldn't use any extra gasoline to get it.

[Aroha]

As far as the flannel sheets, yes, frayed edge squares would work, too. I actually have some of those, as well. But, I had to justify the $500. I spent on a gorgeous vintage Singer sewing machine! So far I've made flannel t.p. and curtains. Next will be an apron out of vintage fabric from the church thrift store.

Ok, then, the perfect project for practising sewing with. The apron does sound like it could be very cute, maybe you could post pix? I made aprons for my nieces and was pleasantly surprised how much they loved them. I'm planning to make some pot holders with the offcuts, to replace those I tossed yesterday. That will be frugal.

[fidgiegirl]

Thanks everyone!!

[cdttmm]

Welcome, kimberly, thanks for joining us and sharing your frugals!

I have a few of the usual things for the day. There were leftover rice and beans in the refrigerator so I warmed them up, covered them with cheese, and ate them for breakfast. There's enough left for a little late afternoon snack, too. Took the rest of the blackberry crumble to work and ate it for lunch today. So good!!! I picked more cherry tomatoes and more blackberries last night so I need to figure out a plan for consuming all of them! I still have some homemade bread left from the weekend and that should be part of the plan, too.

Since my dearly beloved is in Oregon, I'm driving the car that gets better gas mileage. So -- hooray! -- less money spent on fuel. On my way to work this morning, I stopped to return a glass milk bottle and got back the $2 deposit. Later I found a penny under the seat of the car and another penny on the floor at work. So I'm up $2.02 for the day -- woo-hoo!!! Tomorrow I will combine my trip to work with a trip to the bank to deposit a check and a stop at Panera Bread to claim my free (belated) b-day treat.

Washed a load of laundry yesterday and hung everything to dry. Then got our monthly electric bill and discovered that we now have a $107 credit. We usually accumulate a credit during the winter months due to our solar panels, but over the summer it gets slowly depleted as our solar panels don't generate enough energy to keep up with our needs when we are running the A/C. But the weather has been sunny and warm, but not too hot or humid this year -- which means much less A/C usage -- so our solar panels are still generating enough for us to get a small credit every month. Awesome!

[awakenedsoul]

kimberlyfO, Welcome. You sound very domestic. That was very clever to make the watermelon sorbet.
Aroha, People have been asking me to post pics for years. I am embarrassed to admit I still have no idea how to do it. I take pictures with my Jitterbug phone, but that's it. I have to call Jitterbug from another phone and learn how to upload a photo. One of these days I'll do it. (I don't have a landline anymore...I'm too frugal.)
cdttmm, Your posts always make me so HUNGRY! I just walked away from the computer to make a grilled cheese sandwich. That blackberry crumble sounds so good!!!
This was a weird day, I had some frugal setbacks. I decided to try riding my bike to the gym. It's five miles each way. After about the first four miles, the chain came off my bike. I tried to put it back on, but I couldn't. So, I walked the rest of the way. After my swim I ran into a former yoga student, and she offered to drive me to the gas station or bike shop. Instead we went to Jiffy Lube, and he put my bike chain back on for me in about on minute. He didn't charge me, which was a good thing, becaus I discovered I had somehow I have lost my wallet between Sunday afternoon and today. I rode all the way home. (My bus pass is in my wallet. So is the $100. emergency cash I just got at the credit union.) I checked my account, and no one has made any charges. I called the credit union and the bus lost and found. I've searched everywhere and I can't find it. I went to my vocal coaching session and my car conked out on the way. AAA picked me up and the car is now being fixed. One of the mechanics gave me a ride home. So, I've been trying to be frugal, but I will have a car repair bill. It's a "new" engine. The car is a 2004 Kia Rio. Chatted with my mom on the phone, on my $19.99 a month Jitterbug plan. She gave me several suggestion where my wallet might be. I still haven't found it. Made grilled cheese sandwiches on leftover homemade bread. Had some cubed watermelon for dessert. (plus a Haagen Daz ice cream bar that I bought on sale at Costco.) Worked on a skit for my nightclub act. Next I need to run my songs and choreography. Robin Williams' death inspired me to create and set goals every day. Now I'm going to keep looking for my wallet...wish me luck.

[awakenedsoul]

I just found my wallet. It was right where I'd left it. (almost.) It had fallen out of my purse while in my backpack. (must have been the bicycling.) That's the first place I looked. But, it had slipped up behind a seam back where the straps were. I felt it, but couldn't see it.

Called the mechanic and the engine is still covered. It's not that old. Things are looking up. I feel much more organized and much more frugal.

[chrissieq]

awakenedsoul - is your vintage Singer a Featherweight? Just bought one at an estate sale for $20!!! My sister who sews costumes for the Seattle Opera had told me no matter the cost, grab one when you get the chance. The one I bought has a taped together cord but sews like a dream so I will be taking it to my local sewing machine/vacuum store for a repair.

Today the wonderful women I work for gave me a Kitchen Aid Mixer that did not meet the standards for the Health Dept - I have dreamt of a stand mixer for years and today it fell into my lap - along with a George Foreman grill which I will give away - they just wanted them out of the cafe. Really, I've been doing a happy dance since 11:00AM.

[kimberlyf0]

Thanks cdttmm and awakenedsoul. Yes, I am a homemaker and I focus my frugal activities around homemaking.

chrissieq, congrats on the Kitchen Aid and on the Featherweight!

Tuesday was a low-key frugal day for me. I baked muffins and french bread, and made tortillas to go with our leftover rice and beans for our main meal. The french bread and tortillas were new recipes for me and while the bread was good, the tortillas weren't really what I would call tortillas; I should have trusted my gut that the recipe had too much fat in it. I can make great tortillas but I was searching for a recipe using freshly ground whole wheat. But we will eat them anyway.

We usually have salads and sandwiches for our dinner meal (we eat our main meal at lunch), but the french bread didn't lend itself to that, so I set out a little picnic type meal of bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, olives, fresh cantaloupe purchased on sale, little salads, and sweet potato muffins. The kids really enjoyed it.

Today I made muffins with some zucchini that I had precut a few days ago; I had planned it for a main meal side dish but we ate leftover vegetables instead. Since the zucchini didn't go with today's main meal I decided I had better get it used, hence the muffins.

The morning was cool enough that I opened the windows, turn on the A/C fan, and cooled the house down by 4°. Because I baked it warmed up again by lunch time, but every bit counts.

As usual, I hung our clothing to dry. I'm down to using the dryer for underthings and a towel load every now and then (but I hang most of the towel loads).

I had a head of cauliflower in the fridge that I bought a little over a week ago, and I was worried that it was starting to spoil, so I used it in today's main meal. I steamed and sautéed it, then added it to scrambled tofu. We had scrambled tofu, vegan chorizo sausage, and roasted potatoes; the tofu and sausage were at their sell by dates and the potatoes had been in the freezer for most of a year (they were purchased as there's nothing to eat "emergency" food but we hadn't used them). I am pushing hard this summer to use all the food in the pantry and freezer that was purchased and not eaten. DS#2 didn't want cauliflower mixed with his tofu so I set some cauliflower aside for him and he ate the leftover scrambled tofu from last Friday.

I figured out that I don't need to add soy lecithin or rice bran extract to my bread recipe if I am baking it in the bread machine; it is a help when shaping dough and it helps it keep a bit longer, but we eat each loaf within a day so that isn't a concern.

I need a gift for Saturday but realized that I don't have time to make what I was planning, so I looked in my gift box and found three dish cloths that are finished except for needing a little crocheted edging to make them pretty; I will get that done today.

[cdttmm]

Not much for frugals today. Stopped by Panera Bread and got a free pecan roll. YUM. Combined that stop with a stop at the bank to deposit a rent check. And, of course, both those stops were on my way to work. So very little extra gas used -- yay! Brought lunch to work. Made popcorn to snack on when I got home from work. Yes, I know, most of my frugals pertain to food. I'm not working tomorrow -- woot!! And it's supposed to be sunny and beautiful so I'm going to do laundry and hang it outside to dry. Love some laundry dried in the sun! Will do some gardening and some house cleaning and generally have a nice quiet day at home. I won't get many (or any!) of those once the semester starts so I am taking full advantage of them right now!!!

[awakenedsoul]

chrissieq, Yes, mine is a Featherweight. It looks like new. I love it. $20.00 is a great price! Congratulations! The Kitchen Aid mixer sounds great! You are magnetizing prosperity!
kimberlyfO, You sound like an excellent homemaker. Such attention to detail.
Today I took the bus and bike to Sprouts. I bought some organic melons on sale for 88 cents a lb. and green grapes at the same price. I try to buy fruit on special for $1.00 or less per pound. Made a fruit salad with the honeydew, cantaloup, grapes, and some bananas when I got home. I usually don't buy bananas in the summer because with our heat they turn to mush. This way, I can slice them, cover them with lemon juice, and still get the taste and the nutrients. I love bananas!
Talked with my mechanic and the bill to fix the car is going to be $1,500. He said that the radiator had been leaking, the car overheated, and there's a crack in the head gasket. I wish I could have prevented it. I've done all the servicing and even had the oil changed 1,000 miles early for a trip to the Bay Area. (just to be on the safe side.) Fortunately, I have the money in my emergency fund. Several years ago this would have bumped me into worse credit card debt.
I was inspired to cook today. I made a beef stew with grass fed beef. I also baked a macaroni and cheese with a cheese sauce that I made from scratch. Bought some blackberry sorbet on sale at Sprouts. I'm working on adding more variety to my diet. With all the bulk shopping I do, my eating habits were getting a bit monotonous.
I'm still knitting my tank and will do some singing and yoga or pilates later. Once it cools down, I'll run the dogs.