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Thread: January 2015 frugals

  1. #81
    Senior Member cdttmm's Avatar
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    Relaxing day at home for the most part. Had to go to the gym this afternoon as my Tae Kwon Do school was having a rank test and one of my students was testing. So I took advantage of the fact that I was already at the gym and got in a workout and a shower! Made a huge batch of hard boiled eggs this morning. Will make some of them into egg salad tomorrow so that we can have egg salad sandwiches on homemade bread. Making nachos for dinner tonight, per my dearly beloved's request. Using black beans that I made in the crock pot and froze and canned green chiles that I bought on sale several weeks ago. Drinking a pot of black tea throughout the day, the tea was from my stash (that never seems to diminish all that much...). It's been cold and rainy here today, with freezing rain for a good portion of the day. It's made being outside not very pleasant so I'm happy to be able to spend the evening at home enjoying dinner and some entertainment via Netflix.

    Got our first rent check from our new tenants. Hooray! Here's hoping they'd like to rent from us for a very long time!!!
    The brain is wider than the sky. -- Emily Dickinson

  2. #82
    Senior Member Selah's Avatar
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    Oof, not too much to report, but I always enjoy reading everyone's posts as they trigger small things I may have forgotten I've done. Now that we're back to America, I've been quite diligent about searching for coupons for the handful of name-brand items we like to use, and routinely save $3 to $6 on every grocery bill. I scored a nice deal on generic Nexium by getting a 42-day supply for less than $10, even though it didn't ring up that way at Walgreens. Since I had the mailer that listed the price and the amount in the box, the clerk kindly rang it up himself for $9.99 instead of the $22 that came up automatically on the register.

    I am not eating meat at lunch anymore, which saves us money on lunchmeat. Also, I've given up coffee and drink tea instead, which has cut our coffee bill in half and accordingly reduced our milk consumption (I was a "cafe au lait" type from the get-go!).

    I've also nearly completely cut out processed sugar (read: my three-a-day habit of mini Reese's peanut butter cups, YUM, is now a thing of the past), so we're saving a few bucks every couple of weeks that way. Nothing exciting, just chipping away here and there, and trying to be healthier, thinner, and richer!

  3. #83
    Senior Member rosarugosa's Avatar
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    No restraint whatsoever was exercised at the Winter Farmers' Market, but we had fun and got some great things to eat. We like supporting local vendors. Good thing it's only once a month!
    I squeezed a bunch of old, squishy looking oranges and was pleasantly surprised at the wonderful juice I got from them. Food waste avoided and I really enjoyed the juice.
    I had been seriously eyeing some balsam-filled draft blockers for our front and back doors, but instead I rolled and tied up a couple of throws into cylinders, and those are serving the purpose quite well with no money spent. The colors match the rooms they are in, so they look pretty decent.
    My employer is offering a $100 gift card incentive for completing an 8-week fitness challenge, so I registered for that.

  4. #84
    Senior Member Blackdog Lin's Avatar
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    I have postponed tomorrow's planned meal for a day since I realized we have just too much in the way of GOOD leftovers in the fridge. A large sausage patty, 1/2 of (an expensive) steak, a container with over a cup of taco meat-n-beans along with the lettuce and cheese to go with it, 1 1/2 Indian fry breads, a small bowl of rice-n-peas, and another small bowl of green beans. While much of it COULD be frozen, then I'd just have to think and fret about later how to get it used up - so am gonna have smorgasborg tomorrow. It feels thrifty and easy.

    Any my glasses strap broke yesterday (I guess I have a weird nose, glasses won't stay up) and I decided I would have to go out of town and try to find a replacement. Instead I found an old one that was way too long and never did work, I brainstormed about it, and ended up cutting a big chunk out of it and hand-sewing (very ugly-ly, but it's holding) the ends back together. It worked! It's not as nice or comfortable as the ones I usually use, but it will get me by nicely until I can order a new one.

  5. #85
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    I read my way through the month and so appreciated all of the tips, links, and support I found in the January Frugals thread. As some of you do, I also heat only rooms I'm in, in spite of a whole-house gas heating system, but last month was cold and I got carried away with heat, so I'm bundling up better this month and keeping the heaters off more. I always keep my heater off at night (and have been reading that one sleeps better in a cool room), but I have an electric mattress pad I turn on an hour before bed and turn off when I turn out the lights to sleep. I don't believe this is a huge energy drain and I adore getting into a toasty bed, which stays warm because of my wool and down blankets and my 2 cats who like to cuddle with me.

    Like many of you, I'm working on using what's in my pantry, fridge, and freezer. I was planning to make a big pot of soup with my marginal veggies, but got busy with other stuff (like earning $$ :-) ). My biggest savings this month has been buying very few packaged foods--focusing on the basics like beans, legumes, rice, whole veggies and fruit. Eating vegetarian (closer to vegan, actually) is my ongoing biggest act of frugality. Healthy & yummy, too.

  6. #86
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    Frugals lately

    1 Used up points accumulated at groceries for a total of $80.00 in food of course I still used coupons /price matched and bought on sale.

    2. Part of that order was a 23 lb leg of pork….the nice butcher cut it into 4 pieces and then I deboned them frying the bones and freezing 3 to use later and using the one to make a large pot of split pea soup. It was very good and made many servings.
    Was able to get 6 roasts and 2 pkgs of pieces to freeze and use later.

    3. Cut open the bottom of a makeup foundation and was able to use for a whole week.

    4. Watching Season 1 of “Twin Peaks” from the library….I had forgot how crazy and ahead of it’s time it was.

    5. Have eaten 2 veggie meals this past week and had every little waste used any leftover for lunches

    There have been more but that is all I can think of for now.

  7. #87
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Finally getting in some frugals:

    - "Musgovian" chicken soup, the contents of which were described in the leftovers thread in Food;
    - got a crate for the new dog off craigslist. The crate is less than a month old -- the dog they bought it for already grew out of it, but it will be fine for ours;
    - We're getting a "lifetime license" for the dog. It's the cost of three years of regular licenses, but a 10-year-old inside dog ought to be able to go at least three years. If nothing else, we don't have to take the time to renew every year.
    - I've been moving my "junk mail" email address to a new provider, which has triggered some "welcome" emails and discounts.

    Kinda nice to be at least a little on track.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  8. #88
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    We are on the mend from the flu! Everyone is still sniffling and coughing, but we feel much much better; thank you to those of you who offered us well wishes!

    We've started Operation Clean, Organize, and Declutter at our house, which has resulted in finding two missing leg warmers (for cycling). As these were from two different pairs and of different sizes this resulted in not needing to replace two pairs of leg warmers. We also found two pairs of pants that we had purchased for my oldest to grow into, but now that DH has lost weight we think they will work for him instead. DS#1 also found two pairs of missing shorts and declared that he no longer needed us to buy him new shorts (or new-to-him, as they would have been).

    My new Kindle arrived (not frugal, but we had an older Kindle 2 die on us); while it doesn't fit exactly into the case from my previous Kindle Paperwhite (which was passed to the child whose Kindle 2 died, and he ponied up $13 to buy a new case because he didn't want pink), it fits well enough to protect it if I am taking it somewhere.

    We've been working our way through leftovers despite how we may feel about the original meal. Even the picky eater is doing his best.

  9. #89
    Senior Member Blackdog Lin's Avatar
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    3. cut open the bottom of a makeup foundation and was able to use for a whole week.
    A great reminder danna. I had forgotten about doing this a few weeks ago: I could not squeeze a single drop more out of my tube of BB Cream (I use daily as makeup), but by cutting it open I had a full 2 weeks more of product in there. Did the same with my hair-styling product and found another 3 applications to use.

  10. #90
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    I've really have enjoyed reading this month's thread. Lots of great posts here. One nice thing for us that happened was that my husband entered a contest with our grocery chain and won I think in mid-Dec. $250.00 worth of gift cards! That was nice to have around holiday time! Haven't been driving anywhere. Got a nice gift card from Eddie Bauer from my Mom at Christmas and am saving it for spring/summer clothes I may need, I will wait for a sale though. Been very good at eating what is here in the house and not ordering out or going out to eat like we used to! Thinking about summer gardening!!#

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