December Frugals

[SteveinMN]

New month!

Today we went to the University of Minnesota Gopher Women's hockey game. It was fun to see a good live hockey game. Tickets: $1 each (general admission). We kept concession purchases to a Diet Coke which we shared. We got there and back for $7 on the bus instead of spending $10 for event parking. And, rather than eating dinner out, we went home and made a frozen pizza. Around $15 for a fun date for the two of us.

The freezer is full, so it's time to make some room and use up the leftovers and on-sale meat and little oddities in there. That should lower the December grocery bill.

I can almost guarantee that there will be some distinctly non-frugal days this month, but we'll shoot for as many frugal days as we can.

[early morning]

Yesterday DD, Dsis and I set up at a flea market and sold a bunch of stuff. Managed to buy only useful things, almost... a fun shaped jar for our coffee - we always have several kinds of coffee to choose from - a jadeite bowl, small metal flower frogs, and the almost - a smallish, handmade silk stuffed toy donkey. He is too adorable. My inner child took over... Last night we went to a free Holiday concert by the USAF Band of Flight, along with a local college choir. They are awesome!

[Amaranth]

Here are some ongoing responses to posts from the November frugals:

Try2bfrugal, eating more food raw also helps. However some nutrients can be gotten more easily from cooked food such as lycopenes. You also might enjoy a good quality solar oven.

Anyone for Fidgiegirl: Does anyone have suggestions for homegrown herbal throat/cold remedies?

Grinders: We have been given some spice jar gifts with built in grinders. Is there a way to get the grinders off and reuse the jar and the grinder?

Older freezers and refrigerators: Some of these use a lot of energy. It’s worth costing this out to see if there are savings overall.

Stella: “I can get the grocery bill between $300-$350 a month for our family of 8 even with a fair amount of organic food.”
Wow, that’s 1.25 to 1.46 per person per day for food. You could run circles around the 1.50 a day for food challenge.

[Rosemary]

The best throat remedy I've tried is an organic honey hard candy. I purchased it but it could certainly be made from scratch. Not something I'd like to do when sick, though. I keep a bag of the candy in the bathroom closet. Never use it except for a sore throat because candy is so bad for teeth. (I consider most "cough drops" to be bad-tasting candy. Why not use something that actually tastes good?)

Frugals:
Changing violin teachers, not for cost but for other reasons, and will save about $200/year as the new teacher has a lower rate and there are no registration fees.
Will begin making some of the homemade goody - type holiday gifts this week - frugal entertainment and gifts at the same time.

[Rosemary]

Coincidentally, this link appeared in my Reader this morning for making homemade throat lozenges:
http://www.diynatural.com/home-remed...r-sore-throat/

[Kat]

Just been cooking at home. We're all sick, so lots of soup with homemade bread. I am making a cream-based cabbage soup tonight. Spent the weekend catching up on laundry. Used homemade laundry soap and hung some things to dry. Pretty boring! :-)

[Gardenarian]

Older freezers and refrigerators: Some of these use a lot of energy. It’s worth costing this out to see if there are savings overall.

It was pretty easy for me to find a recent model refrigerator on Craigslist. Make sure to ask for the serial number so you can look it up on the Energy Star database.

[bunnys]

Bought 2 new rugs for my kitchen floor today. The others were so old and ratty (10.5 years) that I was tripping over them.

$9.99 each @ Garden Ridge. Some kind of Indian weave. 100% cotton--which I wanted so I could toss in the washer. They're very pretty and bright and they were cheap so I'm happy. Didn't even look @ the rest of the store.

[awakenedsoul]

Went to the library for our Fiber Arts group yesterday. I ran all of my errands beforehand to save gas. Have been limiting my driving to one day per week. Made a batch of lemon bars from scratch and brought them to share. Used homegrown lemons and baking supplies bought in bulk. Sent some home with a young girl who is struggling, financially. Mailed a few homemade Christmas presents today. They were either knitted or crocheted. I bought the yarn with a coupon at Beverly's. Rode my bike to the post office. Bought some cube steak at Sprouts. It's delicious and inexpensive. Am still eating pineapple guavas and persimmons from my orchard. I haven't had to buy fruit in months! Priced organic produce at the Farmers Market yesterday, and it's $3.00 a pound! Am thinking of becoming a vendor...

[fidgiegirl]

Wow, all! Awakenedsoul, I am especially impressed at the driving restraint! So cool. I notice a lot more people biking in St. Paul, even still that it's winter. We've had a pretty warm November/December, but it's dark by 5:00. They are braver than I!