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Thread: July Frugals

  1. #11
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    Today should be a no drive, no spend day, which is a welcome relief after a fairly unfrugal weekend.

    I have some grading to do and then this afternoon I am going to get caught up on housework. DH and I will both be eating leftovers for dinner. I am also trying to make a list of what we'd like to give people for Christmas. I know it is crazy early, but I will be out of work for three months after the baby is born and we like to make things, so we have to plan, plan, plan!

    I am hoping that DH and I can go over our budget sometime this week. Everything keeps going up, up, up, and we need to make some changes!

  2. #12
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    We had so much fun at my cousin's birthday party last night! She is in town to attend a summer thing at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts for teens interested in art as a career. I must say she is very, very talented. My sister said that too, and my sister is a high end art dealer, so she is picky about art.

    My great aunt gave my kids $50. I think I will let them use the $50 for the snorkels they have been wanting. My grandma stuck $50 in my pocket. She usually does that when she sees me. It's very generous of her.

    My 11 year old cousin has started an egg business in his suburban backyard. He has 13 chickens. He says he gets about a dozen eggs a day. Grandma bought a dozen eggs for me to try. We had them for breakfast today. So good! He is such a cool kid. I really like him. I may have to buy some eggs from him in the future.

    My aunt and grandma sent me home with some of the molasses cookies my great aunt brought to the party (she's famous for those) and some candy. I'll probably freeze the candy. I'm thinking of using the molasses cookies for ice cream sandwiches.

    I found out last night that my cousin who is pregnant is moving home to St Paul! I am so excited! She has been living in NYC for years and I haven't seen her in quite a long time, although I keep up with her and her fabulous travels (Italy, the Bahamas, skiing in Colorado and scuba diving in Egypt so far this year) on facebook. Her baby will be about 8 months younger than Travis. That's not really related to frugality, but it's very exciting to me and related to my FFF family party last night.

    It's always a trip visiting that side of the family. It used to make me feel a little inferior. That side is comprised of people who are very wealthy and I, partly by choice, am...not. That sense of inferiority is changing as I realize that none of them are looking down on me and I actually have a lot of interests in common with them.
    My blog: www.sunnysideuplife.blogspot.com

    Guess why I smile? Because it's worth it. -Marcel the Shell with Shoes

  3. #13
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    @ stella--your family sounds wonderful!

    It is still really hot here, so today will be another no-drive, no spend. I am having about five of these a week. I used to think I'd feel cooped up and go crazy, but I really enjoy being home and prefer not to leave if I don't have to. I was going to drive across the river to check on Dad and see how he was doing in the heat, but I called him instead. We have free long distance.

    DH and I went over our budget yesterday, and I feel pretty good about what we decided.

    My MIL stopped over to give me the check for the carseat and stroller (I ordered it, she paid for it). She wrote the check over by $40 and told me to use it towards a swing or something else we'd like to have. I felt that was super generous of her. That combined with a gift card and a coupon should enable us to get a swing and bouncy seat for around $30 out of pocket, which is less than I have seen them on Craigslist (no luck with garage sales and consignment stores).

    We ate leftovers for lunch and dinner yesterday. Lunch today will be leftovers again, and I am thinking my afternoon snack will be some sliced cucumber that needs to be used up. I will probably have to cook tonight, so I think I will make some enchiladas. We do need to go grocery shopping, but I am putting it off until Friday when DH can help me. Before then, I will have to take inventory of the freezer/pantry and make a grocery list.

    I also started a new hobby: painting room signs for my nieces. I found some gesso board on clearance for $2 awhile back and have been mixing paints I already own. I am almost finished with my first one. It's my niece's name in bright colors with flowers. I think she will like it. I will keep an eye out for an inexpensive frame and save it for Christmas or her birthday. I almost forgot how much I enjoy painting!

  4. #14
    Senior Member fidgiegirl's Avatar
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    Here nothing much to report. We have been organizing so that is good, but not necessarily frugal.

    We are, however, working on eating down the pantry and freezer. Geez Louise, we have a lot of food! I will be making a bundt cake for later on for a BBQ we are going to this evening. I have all the ingredients in the pantry except maybe sour cream. We can walk to the grocery store for that but can't remember if it for sure calls for it.

    Kat, I hope you will be able to post pics of the signs. They sound super fun.

    Stella, I get a huge kick out of your nephew and his entrepreneurial bent. I love that about kids. They just go for things and don't talk themselves out of it.
    Kelli

    My gluten free blog: Twin Cities Gluten Free
    Our house remodel blog: Our Fair Abode

  5. #15
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    Fidgie, if you want to bake the cake w/o a store trip, you can often sub yogurt or applesauce for sour cream. I know that when I've baked my grandmother's sour cream bundt cake, I've actually never used sour cream in it because it's not something I keep in the house.

    The rest of our week is busy with free activities - playdates, lake beach time, childcare exchanges, and a writing workshop/reading workshop exchange that my friend and I are doing with our kids this summer. I work with her sons on reading, she works with my daughter on writing. The kids play together before and after. Win-win! In-between all that, I've got to get some weeding done in my vegetable garden.

  6. #16
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    I've recieved several freebies in the mail lately. I make sure I use these items instead of buying full size products. I enjoy the variety and the savings it gives me.

    In the last week or so I have recieved: deoderant, postage stamps, several magazines, a can of sparling juice from Ocean Spray, laudry soap, and a large sample of Tide stain release which will last for several loads. I've alos been informed that I won a free full-size bottle of laundry soap and a tube of lipstick on sweepstake sites. These have yet to be seen.

    Dh has a strong preference for Tide laundry detergent. I don't mind the product but I hate the high prices. Rite Aid has it on sale 5 bottles for $30. I checked and this is cheaper than what I paid at walmart the last time I purchased it. It came with a register reward of $10 towards my next purchase ( I will use this for sure!) and I had manufacturer's and store coupons equalling another $9 in savings.

    I also bought a jar of nutella on sale. I have a recipe for delicious hazelnut brownies that uses this. Yumm! It will be a rare treat-I haven't bought this stuff in 2-3 years.

    We bought what I hope will be the last two cans of stain for the fence using a $4 rebate that I had on hand.

  7. #17
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    Kelli, that's a good point about kids not talking themselves out of projects like that. Keegan is quite the little professional. He got blank egg cartons and stamped his company logo on them and everything. It's great.

    I decided to challenge the kids to use their $50 well so I instituted the $50 challenge. We are going to see how much fun we can have spending this $50. Today we went to IKEA because Cheyenne and Bella are helping me plan theirs and their brothers' room redos. We took along a notebook and wrote down the names and cost of things they liked and talked about colour schemes. I brought along snacks and drinks, so we didn't spend any of our $50 and we had a good time. I'm trying to steer them towards free things in this challenge so they can see how much fun they can have without spending anything. Later this week we're going to make the eggrolls I posted about a few days ago. I decided that any food they make for this challenge that are part of family meals the cost won't count towards their $50. Specialty stuff I wouldn't buy on my own comes out of their money.

    I think the room redo project will be fun. I have decided to forgo a toddler bed for the boys and just get a bunk bed. For the moment we will follow IKEAs lead and screw plywood (IKEA uses plexiglass, but that's more expensive) onto the ladder to keep them from getting to the top bunk. Travis is in a crib, so we only need one bed for a while and by the time T needs a bed James will be OK in the top bunk. This is frugal because it means buying a bed they can use for years and years and the bunk bed isn't much more expensive than a single toddler bed.

    The girls are getting loft beds. Currently Cheyenne's bedding is purple and Bella's is blue, so we will keep that. Shared stuff will be pink or pink accented. One bed will have a loveseat reading area under it and the other will have a desk, cork board and the blue and purple magnetic boards they already have. I am thinking of painting the walls turquoise and getting one of those paint samples in pink to paint big pink polka dots on the back of the closet-turned-bookshelf and closet-turned-desk. Each girl will have a floating shelf by their bed to hold books they are currently reading and a reading light. I think I may also pay my cousin, the artist, to make a picture for each of the four kids. I love real artwork. The new beds are $100 each. The desks are basically just going to be small tables. We might make them or we might buy them. Either way they won't be expensive. I don't know how much the paint and artwork will be, but not very expensive. I'm going to watch craigslist for a suitable loveseat.
    My blog: www.sunnysideuplife.blogspot.com

    Guess why I smile? Because it's worth it. -Marcel the Shell with Shoes

  8. #18
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    @bke--I am so jealous of your Tide savings! We like it, too, but it is crazy expensive.

    Yesterday I took the time to email a company about a problem I had with their product. Hopefully I hear back from them.

    We'll be eating leftovers again today. Should be another no-drive, no spend.

  9. #19
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    I am taking up writing as a hobby again. It's free and easy to do in my spare time. Because I have so much of that spare time.

    I think today is going to be a stay-at-home and clean day. I am making pancakes with strawberry sauce for dinner tonight. My neighbor gave me some of her homemade strawberry sauce and I have some buttermilk I want to use up. Plus I just love pancakes. Since the strawberry sauce was free that is a very cheap dinner.

    Breakfast was soft boiled eggs and toast and smoothies. The eggs were free. Again, a good cheap meal.

    Lunch will be fried rice for the kids and some halibut my friend brough back from Alaska for me.

    Today I am starting work on potty training James. I had started this winter, but I went on bed rest and that was the end of that. Bella was patiently explaining how to use the potty to him this morning. If this works it will save money on diapers.
    My blog: www.sunnysideuplife.blogspot.com

    Guess why I smile? Because it's worth it. -Marcel the Shell with Shoes

  10. #20
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    I finally made the eggrolls yesterday. They are so good! I froze most of them but we ate a few too and Zach took some to work today.

    I felt like superwoman yesterday. I managed to do two loads of laundry, scrub, sweep and mop the kitchen, dining room and entryway, clean the living room, make eggrolls, make breakfast lunch and dinner, do a writing exercise, breastfeed the baby and still spend a lot of time hanging out with my kids, all before Zach and my dad got home. Today's plan is a little less ambitious. I am hoping to take the kids on a walk. That's about my only real goal. Hopefully once Zach comes home we can have some pool time. All in all I have a pretty low key frugal day planned.
    My blog: www.sunnysideuplife.blogspot.com

    Guess why I smile? Because it's worth it. -Marcel the Shell with Shoes

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