View Full Version : July Frugals
Rosemary kindly gave me some free daylillies to plant in a spot in my yard that needs fresh plants after the harsh winter we had.
I have been working towards being more efficient with the grocery budget. We eat meatless meals on Fridays, but I decided to slip in meatless meals on Mondays whenever possible too and see if anyone notices. We had asparagus risotto last night.
July 1.............Happy Canada Day!!
Good to hear from you Stella...hope you are all well?
--I returned yesterday from 4 days visiting my sisters (both not well and one seriously ill)
We had a great visit and I spent enough but it was planned and well worth the quality time spent with them.
--had lunch with an old friend who fed me, bought me coffee, served me a lovely drink and sent me off with
fresh muffins for my train trip home. Good old friends are the best!
--Too hot to go out much today so Dd went got us a lunch out (not something we do often) but, it is a
National Holiday a treat was in order.....lol...........
--my new gardens are starting to grow...yeah
--updated my spreadsheets for June and see I am doing really well with my money.
--we are going to make chicken curry for supper with chickpeas and veggies there should be lot for lunch tomorrow
That is all for now
Gardenarian
7-1-14, 3:02pm
Dh and dd are away for a couple of weeks, so I'm free to have everything as I like. I'll miss them, but...once in a while, it's nice to have the house to yourself!
I've turned the hot water heater down way low.
* I'm re-using my mug and dishes so there is little to wash.
* I made a big pot of beans, and that, along with some veggies and fruit, is going to be my food.
* I'm doing a lot of yard work and propagating some plants (wisteria, pelargoniums, echium) to fill in some blank places.
* Doing some outdoor maintenance on the house too - patching paint, caulking, cleaning up - trying to keep things spruce.
I need to live a bit Spartan for now, after splurging on our vacation, but it's fun - and so much easier when it's just me.
Thanks danna. We are doing well. We are starting to hit our stride with the new a baby and things are getting back to normal again.
Gardenarian, that sounds like a lovely break!
We are beginning our stay-cation tonight. We decided not to go anywhere for our vacation this year, and instead, we invited my FIL to visit us. We live across the street from a lake and we have a pool. There is plenty to do right here in the Twin Cities and this way I don't have to put toddlers and a Kindergartener to bed in a strange place. So. Much. Easier. :) also, we cans spend all the money we would spend on gas and hotels on fun things to do.
We have a lot of really inexpensive activities on our to-do list. We have a history center membership, so we are going to visit a few historical sites. We are going to take the canoe out on the lake, go fishing, get ice cream comes at cup n cone, visit the farmer's market, go letterboxing and drive out to the country for a picnic. It should be a fun time for very little money.
Grandpa Phil arrived yesterday and brought me 10 gallons of pecans from his trees. The kids and I spent two hours cracking them open today and we have barely made a dent in the buckets, but I have about a pint of shelled pecans. I think pecan pie may be in order for the 4th of July.
Glad things are good Stella and doing the Stay cation thing makes life with young children so much easier..........
Yummy Stella I can almost taste the Pecan Pie.....not something I make but I imagine it is a lot like my
mothers Butter Tarts with walnuts....yummmmy...it always makes me think of her she would let us eat the tarts
that broke even before supper. I now realize there always seemed to be 3 broke ones for 3 little girls.....lol
July 03
--volunteered at seniors home a couple of hours...lots of feel good at no cost....
--found some items bought on sale stashed away in the freezer for supper...good they needed to be used.
---mostly a quiet day I realized how tried I was from my trip and let myself take it easy.
Gardenarian: That sounds like a lovely plan. Enjoy the serenity!
Stella: It's nice to hear from you again. It sounds like you have a good plan in place! I would also think the travel with baby & toddlers would be pretty challenging.
Danna: That is so sweet about your Mom and the tarts; it made me smile!
Not too much to add at the moment. We need to really strive for a frugal July because we have a furnace repair and are looking at what is probably a major car repair. I just incurred some dental expense and our quarterly property taxes are due on 8/1. So the challenge will be to wring as much of this as possible from our monthly cashflow with minimal impact on savings. I doubt we can do all of it, but we'll do our best. Luckily, DH is picking up extra hours at work lately, so that is a big help.
early morning
7-5-14, 12:15am
Didn't spend anything today, stayed home and accomplished a few things we've been putting off. My cousins wanted us to go to the fireworks display with them, but that would have meant a 45 min drive each way, and I just wasn't up for it. Put two loads of wash on the line, and figured out at way to put a metal railing at the end of our porch with stuff we have on hand (scrap wood and part of an old futon frame. Sounds awful, but it should look fine!) To circulate water in our tiny pond, we were using an old pitcher pump (for looks only - we have a tiny submersible water pump - we just ran the tubing through the pitcher pump) and the seal we had in it to keep the water from running back failed. Instead of trying to fix it, we just came up with something else we already had, so no cost there. Our dishwasher broke about three weeks ago and DH doesn't think he can fix it, so that may save a little water and electric - not sure if it will be noticeable - I sure hope so! I hate washing dishes. rosarugosa, this is going to be an expensive month for us too...I feel your pain. I was just thinking we had caught up from some earlier unanticipated expenses and could get some breathing room, and now the truck needs about $1,600. of work. It's 20 years old so I can't really complain. DH would like a newer truck but I can't make the numbers work, and he doesn't get out much so the NEED isn't really there. And he doesn't want a car, only a truck will do. Plus we have some planned repairs that will come out of savings/emergency money (they are one and the same here), so I don't want to spend any more than we have too this month!! *sigh*. Two steps forward, and three back...
Our staycation is going well. Thursday we went to a 4th of July parade that goes right by our friends house. She puts on a giant picnic for everyone she knows, so it was a free dinner, too.
Friday we went for a walk around our park and Grandpa. Phil showed us what a lot of the plants that grow there are. Bella, who is my mini naturalist, was so interested and Grandpa enjoyed showing off his knowledge. We are reading The Secret Garden and Bella wants to be the girl version of Dickon, I think. :) We decided on Saturday to drive out to a nature preserve in Wisconisn so Phil could talk to the kids about the wildflowers and the birds. They were most excited about the trumpeter swans and Sandhill Cranes they saw.
We did eat lunch at a 1950s drive-in, which wasn't cheap, and I bought Bella some field guides and a small butterfly/fishing net as an early birthday present, but I was going to buy Bella a birthday present anyway. This one I can deduct from my Minnesota state taxes, because it's an educational expense. :) in the evening we had friends over to play cards. I made some cherry pecan oatmeal cookies from dried cherries and pecans that Phil had brought.
Today is a hang around the house day, except for church. Zach and Phil are fixing things. The front of the shelves on my fridge door had broken, so they fixed that. They fixed the sticky patio door and they fixed a faucet that is hard to turn off. Pretty soon they are going to fix a broken screen.
awakenedsoul
7-6-14, 5:41pm
Those cherry pecan oatmeal cookies sound delicious, Stella! I'm doing a load of laundry that I will line dry. I used homemade laundry detergent. The sun heated up the water nice and hot for me. (My gas water heater is set on low.) The gold finches have been visiting all of the sunflowers in my garden. I used to feed them, and their seed was expensive! Now I get to watch them for free. I saved a bunch of hollyhock seeds to plant for next year. This is the first year I've had success with them in my front garden. They are taller than my house, and all different colors.
Picked up my box of organic produce from the co op yesterday. Made some corn on the cob, and a nice salad. Found some great Glen Miller music at the library yesterday. I took the bus there after swimming at the gym. The bus pass is coming in handy. Worked on some choreography for my tap class in the kitchen. I love this big band music! I think the ladies at the Senior Center will, too.
Time to clean the floors and vacuum. Will use vinegar water for fabric softener in the laundry and to mop the floors...
We are on a staycation for part of this week too. We took off all week and are taking our two kids and two of their friends camping next weekend. Until than we are getting some projects done, will head to a movie, do some swimming and plan on breakfast out one day.
Yesterday I listed a bunch of big ticket items on Craigs list, made $800. today! Woo hoo, and the garage and barn are getting cleaned out.
Crap in a pan! Car needed major work JUST as my old laptop gave up the ghost. I'd been bugging DH that it needed replacing for months now, but he didn't want to know (or start searching for better deals) until it finally died. Hence, a rush trip to the computer store...NEVER a good time to make a deal. NOT a frugal month so far! :(
July 08
Awakened the Hollyhocks sound wonderful and how can one not love Sunflowers, all beautiful to look at
and providing for the birds at the same time....you have reminded me to think about these for next year.
Yes, I need to be more frugal these months to try and build up the house fund...new roof, new gardens and
hopefully some new flooring this fall.
--a lot of the same old same old around here......
--taking Dsil to a movie this afternoon (Jersey Boys) free with a coupon for two from Air Miles...I know
she will buy me a coffee and treat so good all around...lol
--still work away in the garden for exercise..free and healthy
--Watching a BBC series free from the library (1st Season Mr. Selfridge) very good! Oh, and free....
What are you all up to?
Not the most frugal month...two pets to the vet in the past week. Ugh. And today one car went to the shop for repairs. At least we were able to coordinate the car repair so that there was no need to rent a car.
On the frugal front...my dearly beloved brought home leftover brisket from the 4th of July party at his work. So those leftovers are feeding him for several meals. Used a $5 coupon when buying a bag of cat food today. Submitted a $5 rebate online for the gallon of paint we bought to paint our exterior doors. Painted the doors ourselves instead of paying a professional. Minimizing the use of the AC at home by keeping the house closed up. Otherwise it is the usual stuff -- bringing tea and lunch to work, utilizing hypermiling techniques when driving, eating home-cooked meals, and buying only what we need.
awakenedsoul
7-8-14, 12:40pm
Sorry some of you had unexpected car repairs. Those are expensive. danna, Yes, the hollyhocks and sunflowers are spectacular! I used to feed the hummingbirds, too. Now they are getting the nectar from the hollyhocks, four o'clocks, miniature petunias, and citrus blossoms. The birds act more relaxed around the flowers than the feeders. It's as if they know there is plenty of food. I think the sunflowers are helping with pollination of the vegetables, too. A neighbor came by and she said, "Your garden is so full of life!" Lots of bees, butterflies, and birds...
Today I'm going swimming at the gym on my way to teach tap at the Senior Center. This is the one day a week that I use my car. I'll stop at Costco on the way home and pick up some milk, cheese, baking soda for cleaning, and refill the water jugs. Yesterday I got to the gym after taking two buses. It took me nearly an hour. Opened my backpack and realized I had forgotten to pack my swim suit! Ugh! Came home and practiced music and did yoga instead. From now on I will keep a spare suit in my backpack.
Finally figured out how to take pictures with my Jitterbug phone. When I go visit my parents I can show my mom photos of the garden and home improvements. Time to go sit on the porch and commune with nature...
Gardenarian
7-8-14, 1:41pm
Eek! Had flames shooting out of an electrical socket and lost power in the whole house. $400 for the quick fix, but it will be an additional $2400 to put in a new conduit and make the outlet safe.
And I'd only spent $8 all week - at the farmer's market. So it goes...
Awakenedsoul - your porch sounds great. We have a stupid deck that is either too cold and windy or too broiling hot. I've been doing some informal research on this (peering around at people's houses while I walk the dogs) and practically no one uses their decks around here, and everyone has at least one. What a useless piece of architecture! I would love to have a nice big front porch, with a roof, and a swing or sofa, and a place to kick off your shoes. I've been designing one in my mind - maybe someday. :)
Eek! Had flames shooting out of an electrical socket and lost power in the whole house. $400 for the quick fix, but it will be an additional $2400 to put in a new conduit and make the outlet safe.
And I'd only spent $8 all week - at the farmer's market. So it goes...
Awakenedsoul - your porch sounds great. We have a stupid deck that is either too cold and windy or too broiling hot. I've been doing some informal research on this (peering around at people's houses while I walk the dogs) and practically no one uses their decks around here, and everyone has at least one. What a useless piece of architecture! I would love to have a nice big front porch, with a roof, and a swing or sofa, and a place to kick off your shoes. I've been designing one in my mind - maybe someday. :)
I have a wonky electrical system and rotting wraparound deck. I feel your pain.
With few exceptions, I hate decks. I'll never have another.
We have the stupid deck on the south side of the house no less. Too hot to stand on and ends up just being a huge stair to the back door. Would have been better to have had slightly larger stairs and a huge lower patio with pergola or something for shade. We did get plans for an add on screened in room but it is a lot of money for something we may or may not use.
awakenedsoul
7-8-14, 8:26pm
Gardenarian, Sorry to hear about the flames coming out of your electrical socket. I'm glad your house didn't burn down! I'll probably have to do the same here. This is old wiring. Yes, the porch is from the 1940's and it is fabulous! It's shady from the fruitless mulberry tree and poplar tree that the last owner planted. Instead of buying expensive patio furniture, I put my free couch (from a neighbor) there. I recovered the cushions with a sheet. It's a floral print, and it looks nice. The plants give me privacy, and I eat my meals out there. It's great for knitting and enjoying a cup of coffee, too. Cool and private...like The Secret Garden.
I've never had a deck. I admired them as a child. My parents have one with a hot tub, and it's nice. Expensive, though. They can afford the replacement work.
I'm a salsa lover and made several batches today from my now producing tomato and pepper plants. Making my own from my garden tastes so much better and saves me a lot of money. No more store bought salsa will be needed for several months. :)
Awakened: Now that you can take pictures with your phone, I'll bet I'm not the only one who would love to see pics of your flowers. :)
awakenedsoul
7-9-14, 12:40pm
I'm a salsa lover and made several batches today from my now producing tomato and pepper plants. Making my own from my garden tastes so much better and saves me a lot of money. No more store bought salsa will be needed for several months. :)
That's great. How do you keep it from going bad? I'd like to do the same thing, but I usually just make up a small batch, and eat it on the same day. I agree, it's much better when you make it yourself.
awakenedsoul
7-9-14, 12:43pm
Awakened: Now that you can take pictures with your phone, I'll bet I'm not the only one who would love to see pics of your flowers. :)
I called Jitterbug and they told me how to upload photos to my computer. Unfortunately, I'm not able to type in my email address on my phone. (It's just numbers, and I don't understand how to switch it to letters.) They said to call from another phone and they'll help me. Since I only have one phone, I'll have to wait until I visit my parents. (I know I'm way behind with technology...) I do have to admit, I love this little camera. It's very convenient. I may be able to upload an album with the cottage pretty soon. I'll keep you posted!
That's great. How do you keep it from going bad? I'd like to do the same thing, but I usually just make up a small batch, and eat it on the same day. I agree, it's much better when you make it yourself.
I freeze it in freezer safe plastic containers that are BPA free, then when I'm craving salsa just pull out one and thaw. Tastes just like freshly made. :)
And of course, salsa can be canned as well, but I prefer freezing since it's much easier and I use it up within a few months.
awakenedsoul
7-10-14, 11:39am
I freeze it in freezer safe plastic containers that are BPA free, then when I'm craving salsa just pull out one and thaw. Tastes just like freshly made. :)
And of course, salsa can be canned as well, but I prefer freezing since it's much easier and I use it up within a few months.
Oh, I never knew that. Thanks. Food For Less is having a sale on tuna fish. It's something like 65 cents a can, so I plan to go buy at least ten. I'll return the eight pack I bought at Costo. I'm going to hand pollinate my zucchini plants this a.m. and get the watering done. I've got Valencia oranges in season. It's nice to be eating off the land. Today I'll clean the bathroom with baking soda and vinegar w/ water. Stopped at the library yesterday and got some books. I'll read one on the bus on the way to swim...
frugal-one
7-10-14, 10:20pm
Found a vase at a garage sale and asked a friend if I could build a bouquet from her yard for this vase. It was gorgeous. Gave it to another friend for a "special birthday". The vase probably was hand blown. The bouquet and vase .... a grand total of $2 !!!
July 10-----in the last couple of days
--wrote up an inventory of the contents of big freezer...will try to mark off as things are used.
--went to a new dentist yesterday for a new patient appointment, I no longer have insurance so I
was looking for someone good who was not as expensive as the the one I have had for the last 10 years.
This office came highly recommended and I was pleased with the check up and the price.
--have spent very little on groceries so far this month and have been using up odds and ends of jars/pkgs and
bits in freezer containers.
rosarugosa
7-12-14, 5:58am
Frugal-one: That's my favorite kind of frugal score! Our local SA has vases for really cheap money.
I got 3 books from the library last week and I'm almost done with #2. They are so good and books I really wanted to read and it's almost hard to believe that it's perfectly free! I do have a pile of books to read that were loaned to me by others (my sister and my manager are my usual source of books; they both buy and share, for which I am grateful). This felt somehow different because these were on my list of books I wanted to read, and I got to just go pick them off the shelves.
frugal-one
7-12-14, 4:48pm
Frugal-one: That's my favorite kind of frugal score! Our local SA has vases for really cheap money.
I got 3 books from the library last week and I'm almost done with #2. They are so good and books I really wanted to read and it's almost hard to believe that it's perfectly free! I do have a pile of books to read that were loaned to me by others (my sister and my manager are my usual source of books; they both buy and share, for which I am grateful). This felt somehow different because these were on my list of books I wanted to read, and I got to just go pick them off the shelves.
HI I am frugal-one and I am a libraryaholic...... totally addicted to the library. They changed the way to order stuff and now I cannot tell when things will show up. Sometimes I have 20 things out from the library :0!:|( This prohibits me from getting many things done. I try to limit how many things I order BUT there is so much to learn and our library system has such a wonderful selection. I have tried putting things into lists instead of ordering but still have difficulty. So this "addiction" may be frugal in terms of money but not in time.
awakenedsoul
7-12-14, 4:53pm
When I was younger, I spent a lot of money on books. I read Your Money Or Your Life and realized I was in debt while spending $100.00 a month on books! I've used the library since then and I love it. (Especially now that you can renew your books on line. It's so convenient!) I can ride my bike to the library, too. It's only a couple of miles away, and right on the bus line. I get a lot of music there, too.
ApatheticNoMore
7-12-14, 5:45pm
I think I'd be happy budgeting $50 a month for Amazon - just put it on a gift card (ok I don't strictly buy books there as they have some other things that can't be found in the local shops, but mostly books). $100 - now that's getting excessive, even for a "if I won the lottery" scenario, especially as I don't mind used books. I ordered 4 books, and just decided to check if any of them were in the local library system. 1 of them was, so 25% (and that 1 is probably a book I'd like to underline paragraphs from and keep for years - everything else by that author is). This is why don't even bother to check the library much anymore though I should. Because my searches came up empty way more often than not, so I just gave up (even though it never hurts to check). I think the library works if you have an exceptional library system of if you have certain book habits that align with what the library has (lots of classical fiction for example or maybe best sellers) or if you just like to browse, see what's interesting, and pick up what catches your eye. I read almost entirely non-fiction and fixate on getting particular books ... and I read them slowly (not very regimented), like to come back to them if I like them ... I'd have to change my whole book-habits to make the library work for me (not focused on particular books, more efficient in getting through them, etc.). The library is one of the few entities I've ever been in debt to, and it was scary, I bet it's still not paid off, they'll collect overdue book fines from my social security checks someday probably :)
I've had a few book-related frugals this month, too. First, a friend from my Tae Kwon Do class gave me a somewhat hard-to-find Tae Kwon Do book as a gift to celebrate my promotion to black belt. A few days later, our instructor mentioned two books during a special class and my friend and I both looked them up on Amazon. He bought them, I did not. I'll just borrow them from him! :D The following day I was helping a colleague move offices and she had two books on her bookshelf that I had just seen mentioned in other places. She let me borrow them -- score! Using the library is a challenge for me because I'm always reading several books at once and I'm horrible about remembering to renew or return them. :|( I also tend to read pretty unusual stuff that is not always easy to get through the library. My book buying habits have improved significantly, though. Prior to reading YMOYL, I spent $100+ per month on books. Now I spend less than $100 per year on books!
In other frugal news...I baked two loaves of bread yesterday even though I'm trying to limit the amount of (white) flour that I eat. I've found I feel so much better when I don't eat flour, sugar, or dairy. Sadly, I love all those things so it is a challenge! But my dearly beloved will eat an entire loaf of bread himself in a single day so I really baked bread for him. And then he called and said he wouldn't be home until today. :( Not wanting this lovely bread to go uneaten...I allowed myself two slices yesterday and one slice today. That's it. Back to my regularly scheduled more healthful foods! This morning I ate my slice of homemade bread toasted with peanut butter and homemade rhubarb jam. YUM!!! I'm on a mission to use all the produce that we grow this season so the rhubarb jam is the first of the big harvests. Next up, blueberries. In preparation, I cleaned out the deep freezer and discovered that we still have frozen blueberries from the past two seasons. GAH!!!! Not a lot of them, fortunately, but they need to get eaten ASAP because this year's crop will be ready to go in about 1-2 weeks! I think I'll be making a blueberry crumble (of sorts) later today.
Did a load of laundry this morning and hung part of it to dry. The other part was towels and other assorted items that I don't have the patience to deal hanging them to dry. Yes, yes, this is very lazy of me and not so frugal. But I'm getting better at hanging more and more stuff so...baby steps!!! :D
Aside from all of that, we've had beautiful weather so the windows have been open and the AC turned off. And the sun has been shining, which means the solar panels are still producing energy and, with luck, we should continue building a credit on our electric bill (we usually start to run out of credit around August when we've been using the AC all summer long).
Yesterday was a no drive day, but today that will not be the case. I've been putting off doing the grocery shopping for about as long as I can get away with it. So I've made a list and I'll head out soon to get that errand out of the way. Then I'll spend the rest of today just doing some chores around the house: stacking firewood to dry, mowing the lawn, working with the honey bees, and preparing to net the blueberries. All in all, it should be a very productive day!
awakenedsoul
7-13-14, 10:58am
Loved your post, cdttmm! You sound very productive! I know what you mean about the freezer. I still have some frozen pumpkin chunks that I grew two seasons ago! I guess I can use them in a soup. I made a loaf of french bread yesterday. Used it for tuna fish sandwiches and bread and cheese. My dog likes the heel as a treat. I'll give some to my chicken, too.
Was able to do many of my Russian conditioning exercises last night. The routine I've been doing seems to be really helping my hip. I've been using the sauna at the gym. It's really healing. Didn't realize how much I missed a regular sauna. Now with my cheap gym membership, I can use it any time!
Read some of Suze Orman's financial workbook. I got it at the library. Ran the dogs on my bicycle. I stopped and visited with a few of the kids in the neighborhood. One little girl down the street always waits for me and wants to pet my shepherd. She's really cute.
After all this time, I finally have memorized the sharps and flats in of all the key signatures. I'm still taking my on line sight singing course. A lot of it is finally becoming automatic. I just keep plugging away. It's $14.99 a month, which is a great price. I can feel the difference at auditions.
Now I'm going to water the garden, cut back the sunflowers, and head to the gym for a swim and aqua exercises.
We had the same problem.....our deck was like the sahara desert in July......best thing we ever did was roof over part of our deck when DH refurbished it.
Just came back from a very not frugal camping trip with our kids and they each took a friend. Teenagers are so much more pleasant with a sidekick. Feeding four teenagers instead of two.....holy cow. Buckling down for remainder of month. Two birthdays this month....will be a challenge.
Not much to report except that DH and I seem to be doing a lot better at not wasting food. That may be, to be honest, because I'm not doing the shopping anymore! Our diet is a little more repetitive, as DH isn't prone to experimentation, but since he's doing the cooking, he gets to call the tune, so to speak!
Oh, I forgot to mention...I got DH's birthday present on Groupon, saving more than 50% on a buffet breakfast, massage, and day at the spa for both of us! :cool:
After my careful grocery shopping list making exercise yesterday morning, I decided not to go grocery shopping! My beloved is only home for two days and there is enough coffee to get through that time frame and everything else on the list was really just stuff that I *want* to buy not stuff that I *need* to buy. So I continued on my list-making extravaganza and made lists of all the things that we can make into meals while he is home. (I will eat the most random assortment of foods as a meal in order to avoid grocery shopping. Him, not so much. :D ) Most of the things on the list are soups (homemade, from the freezer) and homemade bread. Last night was cabbage soup with some chickpeas added for protein and bread. I didn't end of having any because we had just come back from visiting with our next door neighbors where I nibbled on chips and guacamole and cheese and crackers. I'll eat the leftover soup for lunch at some point this week. Tonight I think we'll have the last batch of corn chowder with tortilla chips. It's not exactly soup (or chowder) eating weather, but I'm bound and determined to get to the bottom of the freezer!
I did manage to use up a huge bunch of the frozen blueberries to make a blueberry crumble. Instead of using regular flour in the crumble topping, I used almond meal. For the life of me, I cannot remember why I bought almond meal, but it has been in the pantry for quite some time. Needs to be used up, so into the crumble it went. And it came out super yummy and then I ate half the pan myself in one sitting. :|(
Stacked more firewood. I think there are less than 2 cords to be stacked at this point. My goal is to finish this week, despite what will be a very busy work schedule.
rosarugosa
7-14-14, 4:09pm
We went to my MIL's house today to do her a favor, and she gave us three fresh-baked loves of fancy bread that she had just received and didn't want. Anadama, cinnamon, and multi-grain. Mmmm, bread, one of my many weaknesses :)
We both had the day off, so DH & I went to a couple of neat local attractions we had never been to before: High Rock Tower in Lynn, and Lynn Heritage State Park on the waterfront. The tower had wonderful views. The park was right on the water, and there were 9 mosaic murals that told a visual history of the city and it's culture. They were absolutely wonderful.
I've tried to figure out if this is truly frugal - but we adopted a year old dog about 5 weeks ago. He is from a Golden Retriever rescue group and we paid $350 in adoption fees but all the necessary medical stuff was covered - neutering, putting in a chip, vaccinations, first heart worm - definitely a bargain of a dog! Plus he is a great pup - very happy to be in a "forever" home.
I walk him at least 3 if not 4 times a day - good exercise for both of us; don't like leaving him home alone for very long so much less unnecessary out and about thus spending way less money; wonderful company for me as a new-ish retiree whose DH is still working.
He has a few things to learn - mostly how to tell us when he needs to go out - when you grew up for the first year outside, you never needed to tell anyone to open the door! He is also so excited to see us when left (whether for 5 minutes or 3 hours) that he jumps up on us - we start obedience next week.
Trying to eke out some more frugals this week. I started teaching in a new program for middle school students. It is only two weeks long, the pay is decent, and it's good experience. I've been bringing lunch with me to work every day this week, but I've also gotten free food every day, too! Monday was a box lunch that was an extra for another program. I only ate part of mine because I had other food, too, and afterwards there was a whole extra box lunch that got sent home with me as well. That was great because it saved me from having to make dinner that night. Yesterday, my coworker got take out food from a Thai restaurant and gave me a fresh roll that she couldn't eat (she just had a tooth extracted a few days before). And then today one of my students brought me a cinnamon roll that she made in her culinary arts class. So much free food!!!
I've been putting off grocery shopping and have managed to eat up a few miscellaneous items. I polished off the bilberry crumble that I made so I made a second one with the bag of frozen mixed berries that were in the deep freezer. I don't know why I ever bought frozen mixed berries because it's something we never eat. Used up most of the bag in the crumble and used up the remaining oatmeal, some of the almond meal, and some walnuts to make the topping. I liked the blueberry crumble better, but this one will most certainly get eaten! I have enough frozen berries to make one more crumble, so will just have to improvise a topping (or buy more oatmeal). Any ideas? I've still got almond meal plus I have wheat germ and shredded coconut. I'm thinking perhaps some combo of those three things with some chopped walnuts and/or pecans...what do you all think?!?
It's been hot and humid so the AC has been on for the past few days. Kind of a bummer, but also very typical for this time of year. I was planning to brave the weather and get some more outdoor chores done today, but I got stung several times yesterday while checking my honey bees and both my ankles are quite swollen and painful. Guess I'll just have to take it easy... I'm entertaining myself by reading, surfing the internet, and watching Netflix. Pretty frugal, I guess.
Got 10 cents off per gallon on both fill ups in the past few days. Would be nice to simply be able to drive less, but that's not necessarily in the cards for us right now. So I'll take the discounts whenever I can get them and continue to practice my hypermiling!
I've been checking out plane ticket prices to see if I can pull off a trip to MN in September to run a race. So far, no dice. Prices have been around $500 to $600. I'd be willing to spend up to $400 so I'll have to wait and see if anything cheaper turns up. I did get my name drawn in the lottery for a race here in MA in November and it's just a day trip so pretty inexpensive to do that race. The only other one on my radar is in VT, which would also just be a day trip. Entry fees are pretty high so added travel costs are usually a deal breaker, but I'd really like to try the race in MN and I might be able to sneak in a visit with the family so there's an added incentive...
Hope everybody else is having a fabulously frugal month!
rosarugosa
7-16-14, 8:02pm
Selah: Nothing better than an experience gift at a discount!
Chrissie: Not sure if it's frugal either, but how wonderful. Certainly better value for the money that something from a mall!
Cdttmm: I eat frozen berries all the time, just plain for breakfast. I defrost them the night before.
We had blueberry cornmeal pancakes for dinner with DBIL's homemade maple syrup. DH made the pancakes from scratch, and used vanilla extract I made from vodka and vanilla beans, so it was very much a homemade meal.
Blackdog Lin
7-16-14, 8:39pm
My main frugal contribution this month is utilizing our fresh garden produce, which keeps me out of the grocery store. In general, most of my spontaneous trips to the grocery involve needing produce items, and right now all my menu planning involves using up the garden produce, so unless I run out of milk I've been able to stay out of the store other than my usual once-a-week trip. And wow!, have we been eating well!
Most of my days this month have been no-spend, haven't been shopping, and nothing online has said to me "you must buy me!" No trips planned - too busy in the garden to go anywhere. Overall, I need to remember July as a very frugal month. :)
early morning
7-16-14, 9:01pm
DH has been moping around about his broken truck (drivable, if he stays close to home) and today, on his way back from therapy he stopped at a newly opened garage. The guys put the truck on the rack, agreed that all the stuff DH says it needs it really does, and agreed to do all the labor for $350 if he buys the parts! He has most of them already, because he buys parts before he admits that he will NOT be able to do the work - and many shops don't want to use parts you bring in. Woohoo - that's like a quarter of what the dealership wanted - not that he would EVER have actually taken it there for work - and about a third of what another two shops quoted. This new shop is a couple of guys who just want some extra cash to help support their hobby (which is cars, go figure :)) and a tax write off for their garage. Hope it works out well, we are in the market for a new mechanic. I've spent almost no discretionary money this month, unless I count my new daylilies, from a small grower who is getting rid of her stock. Great plants at decent prices - I spend $50 and got 4 huge clumps of lovely plants. Planted them yesterday and they already look like established plants. I count them as an early birthday present from me, to me!:|( And our washer is acting up - getting it to spin is a royal pain, but it does eventually do so. Of course now our dryer has died, but hey, I don't use it, so the only one it inconveniences is DD, and she is dealing fine with the drying rack and clothes lines. She only used it for towels and jeans, anyway. Our dishwasher has likewise given up the ghost, so she has become chief bottle washer, too. We will consider replacing it once we get the truck back and quotes for the kitchen roof and ceiling. Sheesh - so much stuff to have broken at once! On the plus side, DH figured out a way to fix the sliding screen and glass combo unit in our back screen door so that we can actually use the screen again, and it cost nothing. YAY! Still taking coffee and lunch to work, watching movies and reading books from the library, and selling antiques at a local mall to support our yard-sale habit. So far, we're in the black. Well, maybe not totally if we count the gas, but we'd go anyway, so at least this way we get all the fun, at a fraction of the cost. That's all I can think of at the moment...
awakenedsoul
7-16-14, 9:04pm
That's great, Blackdog Lin. Most of what I grow will be ripe around Nov. (Pomegranates, persimmons, guavas, and citrus.) I am getting loads of zucchini, which is nice. I would like to grow more vegetables, like you do.
rosarugosa
7-19-14, 6:23am
I went to the library yesterday at lunch time, and I passed through the Farmer's Market coming and going. I only spent $4.00 on a pot of french tarragon. The tarragon in our herb garden had died over the winter after about 25 years, and we do like tarragon, so that was a mindful purchase. Hopefully I'll get 25 years out of this plant!
I also took a pair of pants that I wasn't wearing because they were a bit tight (I had asked you all for advice) for alteration. The tailor put a small, unobtrusive gusset in the back which made them about and inch wider and perfectly comfortable! There was a time I would have just donated the pants (which were like new and probably cost about $80.) and bought another pair, so for $12.50 this was a much better way to go! I have some more pants that I'll probably bring to the tailor, so thanks for the input.
Early: My DH needed some work done to his car (Saturn Sky, his baby). Tried a new mechanic that was highly recommended and was so pleased. It seems like he got a lot done for reasonable money, and also sounds like these guys are real car lovers. DH was impressed that they knew so much about Skys since there are so few of them. Anyway, DH is very pleased, and I'm pleased that the work had less of an impact on my budget than I expected!
Lin & Awakened: That is so cool that you can grow so much of your own food! We've just been enjoying fresh herbs and our first cukes are ready to pick, so we don't grow much of our own food, unfortunately.
I love all the reports of homegrown food! We don't grow much -- mostly tomatoes, blueberries, and some herbs. We'll see if our apple trees produce anything this year. Otherwise, I'm just hoping for good honey production on the part of my bees! I'd love to have time to do more, but we've chosen a different path for the moment. Perhaps in the future we'll return to more intensive home vegetable gardening projects.
Got a new batch of worms for my worm composter the other day. They always seem to die over the winter even though the composter is supposedly set up such that they can move into the ground when it gets too cold. I'm wondering if they actually do that and then don't bother to return in the spring because they've discovered a better home somewhere! :D Anyway, we'll see what happens with this batch and maybe -- assuming I'm organized -- I'll build an indoor worm composter for the winter and move them inside. It would be like the worm version of a trip to Florida for the winter. :~)
Made one final batch of mixed berry crumble from remaining frozen mixed berries (store bought) and frozen blueberries (homegrown) yesterday before going to work. It came out better than the mixed berry only version, but not as good as the blueberry only version. I'm thinking it's simply because I'm partial to blueberries. Hmmm... Looks like I'll be having mixed berry crumble for breakfast for a few days. (Yes, you read that right. Breakfast. When else would you eat mixed berry crumble?!?)
Got a $10 off a $50 purchase at Staples coupon in the mail. I also have $33.00 in rewards money from Staples, so assuming they will let me combine the two, I'll be stocking up on toilet paper for very little money! The fact that I'm excited about stocking up on toilet paper reminds me of something funny a student said in class this week. They were tasked with writing a "bucket list" and then sharing a few select items. One of my students shared that "never running out of toilet paper" was one of the items on his bucket list. Made me chuckle (then it made me wonder why he thought to include it on his list, but I didn't think it was appropriate to ask for the back story!). Anyway, I'm a big fan of not running out of toilet paper so I guess he's on to something!
Looking like a beautiful weekend so I'm going to get off the computer and get to it so I can cross some things off my ever expanding to-do list!
July 20....cdttmm.......Mixed berry crumble is an any meal kind of thing...lol
---I have finally taken a trunk load of stuff to the hazardous waste depot (there is still more it was in every cubbyhole in the garage, Dh was a packrat)
and I put out several boxes of stuff for a Charity pickup.....gone and I will not even miss it.
--Dd and I just got an order of groceries that was on sale/price matched/coupons for $29.00 that if we had just walked in the store and bought without
thought (like we see so many doing) would have cost more like $90.00....these orders are really keeping out food budget way down.
--having my first salad for lunch from my new garden beds....yummy mixed greens and baby red kale
--watching 3rd season of Call the Midwifes free from the library.
---raining so there was no yardsaling today so no money spent on them or gas....lol...also no need to water the garden or turn on the heat, gotta love that.
July 20....cdttmm.......Mixed berry crumble is an any meal kind of thing...lol
danna -- I think you're right! So in honor of that way of thinking...this morning I ate the last banana, which was quite ripe and, therefore, less than fabulously appealing as a breakfast option. I solved that by melting a small amount of butter and a hearty amount of dark chocolate chips together in the microwave. Dark chocolate covered banana for breakfast? Yes, please! :D
Lunch will be...the rest of the mixed berry crumble. Hey, I'm eating my fruits and vegetables here, people! :~)
My dearly beloved brought me an early birthday gift yesterday. A pair of muck boots -- from the original muck boot company, not some cheap-o knock-offs. Wow-sers, those things cost ~$120 according to their website. Yikes! Of course, I'm happy to know that he got them for free (through a partnership with where he works). I pretty much wore them for the entire day yesterday. First, for about 3 hours while checking my beehives (awesome protection from bee stings to the ankles, of which I have suffered at least a half dozen in the past two weeks). And then for another 2 hours while stacking firewood. Love, love, love them! Quite possibly one of the best birthday presents ever!
I pulled four frames of honey from my bee hives yesterday. So I'll need to spend a little time extracting honey today. It won't amount to much (maybe a few pounds), but it's exciting to have a little bit to show for all the work this season. And the drama...we had a black bear pilfer our hives about 10 days ago.
In other frugal news, I went to defrost the last batch of corn chowder for dinner last night and...oops...it wasn't corn chowder! So now I've got a mystery bean and vegetable soup in the fridge to be eaten later today. We didn't have any bread to eat with it so my dearly beloved nixed it as a dinner option last night. So I'm baking bread this morning. In fact, I started early enough that it's almost done now! So last night's dinner was large tossed salads with various toppings. A good choice since the lettuce wasn't going to last much longer. I also ate the last serving of cabbage soup that was leftover from last week. The fridge is getting emptier and emptier -- just the way I like it! After the amount of stuff I had to compost while cleaning out the deep freezer over the past few days, I'm on a mission to not waste any more food!!! Lunches might be challenging for a few days this week, but I figure I will just have to get creative! I'm going to try to put off grocery shopping until at least Wednesday or Thursday.
On the other side of frugalness...I got offered two more classes to teach this fall. I said yes, knowing that they may or may not really happen. It is all dependent upon enrollment so you never know. Although the extra cash will be appreciated, the downside is that my days will be long enough that I'll have to hire a dog sitter. This will eat up some of the extra cash, but I think it will still be worthwhile because it will move me up on the pay scale and in the seniority rankings and the extra cash can all go into my retirement savings, which have been on the low side as of late.
Okay, it's Tuesday night and I've managed to put off grocery shopping up to this point pretty successfully! I finished off the rhubarb freezer jam this morning for breakfast. And the last two hard boiled eggs for lunch with a tossed salad. I should be able to scrounge together a respectable breakfast and lunch for tomorrow and I'll grocery shop on my way home from work. I could probably make it a few more days, but my dearly beloved is coming home from NYC tomorrow and it's hard to convince him that my "creative" meals are acceptable. :D
The switch for the whole house fan has died. And I'm morally opposed to using AC unless I absolutely have to...so I've gotten creative with a fan in front of the bedroom window and I'm thinking that will keep it comfortable enough that I can sleep. The house should cool off overnight so I'll seal everything up in the AM and we'll be able to go at least one more day without turning on the AC.
I finished stacking the firewood for winter. I consider this frugal because it's a good workout and it means I'm not paying someone else to stack it. I figure we already pay to have it cut, split, and delivered so the least I can do is stack it! Seven cords of firewood is a lot of wood to stack, though. Due to work, my mom coming to visit, and rainy weather, it ended up taking several weeks longer than I had originally planned to get it all stacked. I finally decided to bite the bullet and power trough the remainder over the weekend. The longer it has to dry, the more efficiently it burns, so I figure this is part of a much larger frugal action when you really think about it!
When I stopped at Staples the other day to use my coupon and my rewards dollars, I discovered that they had boxes of Nature Valley granola bars totally mis-marked. They were priced at $2.00 for a box of 18, which definitely wasn't right considering that a box of 6 was priced at $5.99!!! So I bought the 5 boxes they had on the shelf. I usually make my own, but at that price I figured I couldn't lose!
Not much else to report other than that I've been bringing tea to work in my travel mugs and bringing my lunch. I still hit the vending machine yesterday...had a chocolate craving. But I remembered to bring chocolate with me for lunch today, so no trip to the vending machine today. Now to just keep that up going forward!
How's everyone else doing?!? Hopefully July has been fabulously frugal!
awakenedsoul
7-22-14, 11:38pm
Love this thread! rosarugosa, It's really nice growing the food. I'd like to do more. I still buy a lot of produce at Costco and through the organic co op. But, in the colder season I may be able to supply most of my own fruit. I trimmed back my sunflower garden this morning. It's amazing how many birds, bees, and butterflies those plants attract! Fed my flowers in the hanging baskets and window baskets blood water from my flannel pads. I've had a lot of fruit and veggie scraps for the compost pile, with all the produce I'm eating. Finished one library book and started another. Did some hand sewing on my bath towels. I'm stitching blanket binding along the edges so they will last much longer. Made bruschetta with my homemade no knead sourdough bread. Mixed together another loaf to bake tomorrow. It's rising right now. Did Pilates in the living room. Am so happy that my hip is healing and that I can do more of what I used to, exercise-wise. The swimming, Wobenzym, and gotu kola herb have really done an amazing job of healing my hip. Time to close the chicken coop door and do my dinner dishes. Watched the second episode of Tiny House Nation on the Internet. Made me feel very grateful that my home is small, but not too small...
. Made me feel very grateful that my home is small, but not too small...
I feel the same way.
Something new being offered by the city of Phoenix: if you agree to downsize and swap out your regular trash can for a medium-sized one, they will reduce your trash bill by $3/month. A medium is actually about 2/3 size of a regular trash can, and still fits four 13-gal. kitchen-sized trash bags.
I signed up and got the medium can just in time for tomorrow's trash. This will work out great since I'm a one-person household and never came close to filling up the old can, and now I'll be saving $36/year.
My 21 yr. old Sony Trinitron tv is starting to die and my current entertainment center has a square tv opening that can only fit a smaller flatscreen tv. My mom and I visited Habitat for Humanity just for a browse and I found a console-style ent. ctr., pretty new, for only $49! It was exactly what I would be looking for when I need a new tv. Couldn't pass it up, and luckily it came apart easily; instead of the pieces being screwed together, it had clamps similar to window locks. I've seen similar ones in Home Goods costing $300 or more.
My current piece is in great shape and is quite nice, so I posted it on Freecycle and someone will be taking it on Monday. I labeled all the pieces when I took it apart to make it easy to put together. I'm so glad that it will have a new home.
awakenedsoul
7-23-14, 11:20pm
Something new being offered by the city of Phoenix: if you agree to downsize and swap out your regular trash can for a medium-sized one, they will reduce your trash bill by $3/month. A medium is actually about 2/3 size of a regular trash can, and still fits four 13-gal. kitchen-sized trash bags.
I signed up and got the medium can just in time for tomorrow's trash. This will work out great since I'm a one-person household and never came close to filling up the old can, and now I'll be saving $36/year.
I wish our trash service offered this. My parents have these little trash cans that are really cute. They live in Northern CA. I only have one bag of trash per week. Sometimes it's only half full. Most goes to compost.
I wish our trash service offered this. My parents have these little trash cans that are really cute. They live in Northern CA. I only have one bag of trash per week. Sometimes it's only half full. Most goes to compost.
Same here, but I don't understand how the City is actually saving money. They still have to send out the truck and driver every week. But in the meantime I'll enjoy my discounted bill!
July 25
---Had Ds visiting for three days (all by his self, it is a really lovely gift to have him alone for a few days, I do love Ddil and grandsons but
time alone with an adult son was lovely), Dd and Ds and I took walks, played board games and caught up on the pundits news shows,
things we love and Ddil doesn't. Had some good conversations about Dad and how much he was loved and is missed. I think it was good
for all of us. It reminded us all how much fun life can be without spending a lot of money.
Some really nice meals all cooked by Dd from our amazing stockpiles. So nice to have company and not feel like it was a burden on the food bill.
--Not much else, just the usual shopping with coupons, price matching and sales. Our local supermarket is within blocks of us so be seem to be
shopping every few days but, never getting a large order, using all of the above and fresh produce. Yesterday 2 very large stocks of broccoli $1.00 and
a small bag of snowpeas $1.00....Ontario grown....yummy
Now you can be the judges on this one for me....one litre containers of fancy Sundae Ice Cream (you know the kind with Carmel, pecans, mini rollos,
or chocolate fudge brownies/chocolate sauce on special for $2.00 regular $5.99. There was a limit of 6 but here is the advantage of going in
a couple of times while a sale is on, I ended up buying 12 (there are three of us in the house ...lol)....great buy right? How long can one make this kind of stockpile last? Is this frugal? I want to think so but I know it is NOT good for the waist line...lol.......:|(
Now you can be the judges on this one for me....one litre containers of fancy Sundae Ice Cream (you know the kind with Carmel, pecans, mini rollos,
or chocolate fudge brownies/chocolate sauce on special for $2.00 regular $5.99. There was a limit of 6 but here is the advantage of going in
a couple of times while a sale is on, I ended up buying 12 (there are three of us in the house ...lol)....great buy right? How long can one make this kind of stockpile last? Is this frugal? I want to think so but I know it is NOT good for the waist line...lol.......:|(
danna...ummmm...yes, it's definitely a frugal!!! Ice cream bought on sale -- even when consumed rapidly -- always counts as a frugal in my book!!! :D
The usual frugals over here, too. Picking and eating cherry tomatoes from the garden. We didn't plant anything except tomatoes. In retrospect, I wish we would have. But I wasn't organized and motivated enough this spring.
Baked bread yesterday morning and ate it for dinner last night along with mushroom soup from the freezer. We followed it up with ice cream cake (store bought, not homemade), which was a treat we got because my birthday was this past Wednesday. We did go out to dinner on Wednesday to celebrate. A local place where we know the two owners. It's not an inexpensive place to eat, but we go there only on very special occasions (birthdays, anniversary, and when my mom is visiting).
Had a coupon for free candy or soda at CVS (up to $2) in value. It's not like I really need to eat any more junk food, but free is free so I got myself a bag of peanut M&Ms. I figured it would prevent me from buying them from the vending machine one day. I got a $0.50 extra bucks coupon upon checkout, so I bought a bag of pretzel M&Ms and used the coupon. Grand total spent: $0.27. Equivalent vending machine price: $3.75. Win. (Well, except for the unnecessary calories!)
Finally had to breakdown and use the AC one day this week. It just got too darn hot and steamy. But it got nice again pretty quickly so we're back to open windows and using the whole house fan. Woot!
Hung some laundry to dry last night. And will do the same tomorrow, assuming the weather cooperates.
Not much else to report. Seems like all my frugals lately are the typical little things that most of us strive to do as part of our daily living. I'm not complaining. Imagine how much all those little frugals add up to in a year!!! Yikes!!!
awakenedsoul
7-25-14, 7:40pm
I like reading all the little typical things. It really makes a difference in the overall budget. I've been running the dogs along my bicycle using the Walkydog. I used to drive them to the park, but this saves gas. (The park is a few miles away, and we walk every morning.) Took the bus and bike to the gym and swam. I love my bus pass, because I can go anywhere and combine errands. If I pay cash, I have to pay to transfer. I took a different bus after swimming to the library. Picked up the book A New Kind Of Country, which I had on hold after hearing about it on this forum. It's great! Did some knitting at the bus stop and at home. I'm making another linen/cotton tank top. Made tuna sandwiches on leftover homemade bread for lunch with a chopped salad. Played ball with my dogs and enjoyed the window air conditioner and ceiling fan. Chatted with my mail lady this afternoon. Time to practice my songs and clean my bathroom. Oh, and I made some more of that no knead bread dough and put it in the oven for a slow, 18 hour rise...
I like reading all the little typical things. It really makes a difference in the overall budget.
awakenedsoul -- I will happily continue to share all my little things! I love reading your accounts of what's happening in your world. For some reason, it always sounds so glamorous!!!
Time to bake more bread. We ate the remainder of the last loaf for dinner last night with butternut squash soup from the freezer. And the last of the ice cream cake. :~) Today's mission will be to drink the rest of the milk and eat the last few corn tortillas before we leave for NYC this evening. My dearly beloved's mother is turning 70 on Monday, so the entire family is gathering to celebrate at Sunday brunch tomorrow. Should be a great time, but I can't help dreading the extra gas expense. <Sigh.> But in the grand scheme of things, this is not a big deal so I will do my best to not dwell on that point.
I went out for a trail run the other night and on the road between our house and the trailhead I discovered a pair of work gloves that someone must have dropped. I picked them up on my way home and then threw them in the washing machine with a load of laundry. Hooray, free work gloves that are good as new! :)
I can't remember if I shared this already, but I got offered the chance to teach beekeeping and Tae Kwon Do at an alternative high school this fall. The program is actually held at the community college where I already teach so there will be no extra driving expenses associated with the extra work -- yippee! The pay is the same as it is for teaching college courses. Well, it turns out that my pay rate per course goes up this fall for one of the college-credit courses that I'm teaching and the director of the HS program has agreed to pay me at the higher of the two rates as opposed to the lower. So happy I asked!
I was able to extract some honey from my beehives, but I haven't been able to filter it because all of our honey pails were filled from the NYC-based hives that my dearly beloved manages. We found another pail, but it isn't considered food-grade because it had once contained non-food items. Turns out one of the honey pails was filled with honey that needs to be fed back to bees later this fall because it was contaminated over this past winter when *ahem* a mouse pooped in it. (Oh the joys of living in the country!) Fortunately, the bees can eat the honey without harm, but we can't sell it for human consumption for obvious reasons. So we just did a honey pail transfer -- contaminated honey went into the non-food grade pail (again, no harm to the bees, but not okay for humans), and now we can filter the honey from my hives into an official honey pail (properly sanitized, of course!). Honey bees are the most amazing little creatures who are very efficient little maids. We put all of the honey extraction equipment on our deck and by the next day the honey bees have quite effectively cleaned it of honey residue. Waste not, want not! And it makes our job of scrubbing and sanitizing that much easier!
Hmmm...I feel like there are more little frugals happening, but my brain isn't recalling them at the moment. So I'll go bake some bread and tend to my blueberries and report more later!
Not a super frugal month for because I have been going a little crazy buying much-needed tools and supplies for the jewelry business, but frugal in that I have been using the extra money I have been earning aside from my Wholefoods salary to pay for these things ~ an extra $335 from rent from my housemate (went towards the purchase of a jeweler's tabletop drill press and other assorted tools and supplies), and another $300 from jewelry sales.
I have been very disciplined this month in that I paid an extra car payment this month, which brings the amount I still owe on the car to just above $4000 (I will get a big psychological boost when it dips below $4000). Also steadily paying off a medical bill to the tune of $100 per month (no interest). Started selling plasma again this week after a few month's hiatus due to chronic low protein levels; I like the extra money but am still on the fence as to the toll it may take on my body again. It's hard to tell how much doing that attributes to my tiredness, as I seem to be tired a lot anyway due to my early work schedule and strenuous work, being on my feet all day running around. I actually think the physical nature of my work has been very good for me in the long run - I'm moving all the time and burning calories. I have lost the few pounds I gained last winter so I am at my comfortable weight again, which is fifteen pounds below where I was when I worked at the guitar store a few years ago.
I haven't spent that much money on food this month, only about $135. My garden is kind of producing, not gangbusters yet but getting beans, kale, collards, snap peas, parsley and cilantro, and soon, MANY tomatoes. A lot of salsa will be made!
I have a goal to save $2000 towards next summer's road trip because by then if I play my cards right, I could take off for a three to four week PAID vacation :) I SO want to do something big like that and I am REALLY motivated to make it happen. I can be very disciplined for a goal like that!
awakenedsoul
7-26-14, 6:47pm
You both sound really inspired. So much of happiness is spending your money in alignment with your ideals. cdttmm, Thanks! Sometimes my life feels glamorous, other times it's just a lot of chores. I enjoy them, though. I love art and beauty, and need that to feel healthy and happy. Today I picked up my box of produce at the organic co op. They gave us such nice stuff! Fresh corn on the cob, figs, peaches, tomatoes, two heads of lettuce, a cantaloupe, and yellow and green zucchini. I also ordered a box of pluots. I think I'll stew them and chill them to eat in this hot weather. I may mix them with some of the peaches. I stopped by the senior center and dropped off my invoice for teaching tap. Went over to Sprouts and bought some cube steak. I was craving it. Came home and cooked it up with an ear of corn. I made country gravy, too. It was delicious on a slice of leftover homemade bread. I need to bake another loaf, but am waiting till it cools down. I may get up at 4:00 a.m. tomorrow and do it then, instead. I hate to turn on the oven and heat up the house in this weather. I stopped by Green Thumb and splurged on some annuals. I bought zinnias, phlox, asters, and dahlias. They are just gorgeous! Got $20.00 worth of flats. I'll plant them along the front of my cottage garden, for some color. Most of the perennials have finished blooming. I've got to cut down the hollyhocks and spread the seeds. It felt good to get all of my errands done in one trip. I cut up some of the fruit for a fruit salad. Now it's time to clean my bedroom. I'll reward myself with some knitting. (I'm making a cotton/linen summer tank top.) I love the yarn. Gorgeous colors...
rosarugosa
7-26-14, 8:53pm
Danna: I agree that the ice cream was a frugal. We've been eating a bit of ice cream lately too. Summer is short in the North Country and should be enjoyed to the fullest!
Awakened: The mental picture I have of you cottage is very Tasha Tudor-esque. We live in a cute cottage-type house too, and I am very fond of cottages. I still want to see pictures of your Hollyhocks. I've never grown them and I don't know why. I certainly love them, and I don't often see them around here, Maybe something to try next year?
Cdttmm: Do you use a lot of honey in baking and oatmeal and such? It must be great to have your own honey.
We have a Shakespearean, epic family drama going on in my area over the beloved and affordable grocery chain, Market Basket. I don't watch much news, but this drama has my attention because they're messing with my grocery budget! A few years ago, we switched from Stop & Shop to MB, and it's true that the switch saved us at least $20 a week (that we spend on dark chocolate and such at Trader Joe's, but that's another story . . .) It's interesting to see so many employees invested enough in restoring the former CEO that they're basically striking, although they're a non-union shop. So the shelves are empty, and we MB'ers need to shop elsewhere for the time being. We tried Hannaford's this week which wasn't too bad. We did go over budget, but that was due to the lamb chops for which I will blame Awakened for setting off a craving :)
I made Tzatziki to go with the lamb, and used cucumbers and mint from our garden. So I will claim that as a frugal!
awakenedsoul
7-26-14, 9:54pm
It's okay if you go over budget for lamb chops, because they're a very extra special treat. (Well, that's what I tell myself, anyway.) I thought you were going to get them at Costco...they have a very good price. I think I paid $18.00 for a very large package of them. Maybe I can send you some hollyhock seeds. I have lots. They grow like weeds here. If anyone else would like some seeds, please PM me.
I have photos in my cottage of English cottages. I think they are Tudor style. Mine is more basic and simple. Am finding you can do a lot with landscaping.
chrissieq
7-26-14, 10:55pm
Continuing to save money by staying home with the new dog - on the other hand spending a lot of time watching "The Wire" on amazon prime!
DS in getting married in August - family only (18 people) at the wedding in DC - ordered 3 dresses from Lands End - sold one to my sister and returned another today - $34.50 for Mother of the Groom dress and super wearable in the future. He did ask for photos of himself through the years for a slide show which his fiancee is making - will USPS 2 day shipping them out on Monday. Found the best hotel rate we have had in DC so far for the 4 days we'll be there. Air fare kind of pricey but since we usually ride Mega Bus to Chicago then Amtrak to DC (only when down and dirty cheap) don't feel bad about spending some $$ for an event like this!
rosarugosa: we do use honey in lots of things instead of sugar -- it's awesome!
I'm back from our weekend NYC trip. Holy crazy restaurant prices! We went to brunch yesterday for my MIL's 70th birthday. It was a prix fixe brunch menu, but people ordered things not included on the prix fixe menu (drinks, desserts) and by the time we were done it was $60+ per person (tax and tip included) for BRUNCH. Are you kidding me?!? And then afterwards, as we were walking back to the apartment, my dearly beloved shared with me that he didn't even enjoy the experience and that he was tense the entire time. Ugh.
Fortunately, the rest of our fun over the weekend was quite frugal. We ate homemade lentil soup (from the freezer) for dinner on Saturday night along with our homemade bread and we watched some TV shows via Netflix. I went for an 11 mile run along the river on Sunday morning before brunch. After brunch I took a nap and then we walked over to Crate and Barrel (gah!) and bought two decorative throw pillows. It's a long story as to why I consider this acceptable in the grand scheme of things...
I drove home late last night and, if my calculations are right, it looks like I managed to improve my average MPG through basic hypermiling technique by 2 MPG. Woot! :D
Since my dearly beloved won't be back for a few days, I'm going to take advantage of this time to continue eating down the pantry and fridge. So this morning I did some creative meal planning and I think I'll be able to use up the gluten-free pancake mix, eggs, dried apricots, hemp seeds, raisins, pecans, and a package of mushroom risotto. Should make for some interesting meal combos, but I'm okay with that!
rosarugosa
7-28-14, 3:06pm
SiouzQ: I think you can consider the jewelry making supplies an investment, because you've been selling a lot of your work lately, haven't you? I think your pieces are beautiful.
ChrissieQ: I'm glad your new dog turned out to be a frugal after all :)
Awakened: We were going to get the lamb at Costco, but we decided that since we didn't otherwise need to make a Costco run yet, we would probably end up spending more money by going to two stores. It takes a lot of restraint for us not to spend extra money in food stores. We have some restraint, but I don't know about a lot. I am currently in a "pull out this jungle" stage of the garden, but at some point I will want to add some new plants, so I may take you up on your seed offer in the future. That was very kind of you!
We were bad last night and succumbed to the temptation to eat out (we've been quite good in this area recently). I really wanted steamed clams and ended up getting a lobster to keep the clams company. We did have an "aha" moment when we realized that the fish market at this restaurant would probably be a good place to buy clams in the future to cook and eat at home. We haven't had a good source for steamers to buy for home.
I finally found a good bread recipe for my bread machine, so I think it will start to see some regular use. I'm pretty pleased about that. It's an Anadama bread with cornmeal and molasses and my first loaf came out very yummy!
awakenedsoul
7-28-14, 3:23pm
rosarugosa, Your post made me chuckle. I love good food, too. It's one of my favorite pleasures. It's easy to spend a fortune at Costco. The bread sounds delicious. I've been making bread regularly, too. It seems to save a lot of money. Sandwiches are cheap.
I just watched a t.v. show filmed in England on decluttering. It really motivated me to clean my cottage and get things spic and span! I don't have too much clutter, but things do get messy easily in a small space. It's shaping up and looks much better. Have been reading a book by Ed Slott called Stay Rich for Life. It's about growing and protecting your money in turbulent times. I spend several hours a week studying finances. It feels frugal, and is helping me. I got the book at the library. Did some more pruning in the garden and plan to feed the fruit trees today. Baked another loaf of bread for meals and sandwiches. Listened to Suze Orman's podcast for free while disinfecting the kitchen with white vinegar and water spray. Picked up the dog poop and realized I should probably hire someone to help me with the backyard. It's so much space for me. The weeds are winning. I want it to look as nice as the front...
I'm on a roll, so I'm going to keep cleaning. I love a clean house.
I'm with you, awakenedsoul, I love a clean house. However, I'm not a fan of actually doing the cleaning! But I was motivated this morning so I scrubbed the toilets. Hey, it's a start, right?!? :D
I made a huge batch of black beans in the crockpot over night. Now to package them up and stash them in the freezer. I made an interesting salad for dinner last night: canned artichoke hearts, chickpeas, cherry tomatoes (from the garden), frozen peas, and the last of some Italian salad dressing, mixed together then topped with croutons. Okay, not the very best combo I've ever come up with, but entirely edible and it cleared out some more space in the pantry and fridge. I've got enough leftover for lunch today. Yesterday, I made up a small jar of homemade trail mix with dark chocolate chips (of course!), roasted pumpkin seeds, pecans, and dried cranberries. Again, just trying to use up what we already have before buying anything else. There is still some left so I'll add a bit of stuff (probably some roasted almonds) and bring that to work as my snack for later today.
I'm also working on using up random toiletries. So I've been cutting open the almost empty, flattened tubes of toothpaste to get out that last little bit. I'm more than happy to do this -- waste not, want not -- but somehow I always end up getting lazy and just opening a new tube and it is several weeks (or months) before I just get out the scissors and cut open the almost empty tubes. I'm trying to view it as a decluttering move, which seems to be more motivating to me. :~)
I'm also on a mission to use up all of the random samples of moisturizer that are in my bathroom stash. And the various containers of hair styling product that have little bits left in them. I feel like I've been working on that particular project for more than a year. How in the world did I end up with so many hair products?!? I barely use the stuff so I don't know what I was thinking when I bought some of them!!!
Also realized that I could make my nice shoes last a bit longer by wearing a different pair of shoes for the remainder of the summer. I have these lovely Born slip-on style shoes that I bought at a thrift store for about $10 a few years ago. The color isn't something that goes well with a lot of things, but I'm done teaching for the summer so I can wear some pretty neutral stuff and then these shoes aren't such a bad choice. Might as well wear them since I have them!
chrissieq
7-29-14, 10:42pm
DD is moving at the end of August but is going on tour with her band (well isn't that another story) from mid-August til 8/30. We have been sorting/donating/packing once or twice a week so that it is not too overwhelming.
So far I have appropriated(!) her food processor, a very nice blender, a Soda Stream, nearly full bottles of shampoo and conditioner, layering pieces for the winter, among other things. Many, many items were sold at the July garage sale and many, many more will go to the September garage sale.
I think she understand more so that stuff is just stuff and when you move from a 2 BR apt with 2 friends to a single room in a house with 4 friends, you take what matters - some clothes, some art making stuff, and your cats.
On the other hand, mommy is willing to box up and store in her house what you may want someday. SOOOO tired of moving boxes!!!
chrissieq -- good frugal move to "appropriate" the various items from your DD that you can put to good use! Moving is a lot of work -- very kind of you to help out in such an enormous way and to be willing to store stuff for you.
My not-so-frugal moment of the day yesterday...I came home from work to find that the mirror in the guest bathroom had "spontaneously" leapt off the wall onto the tile floor where it lay shattered in a million tiny pieces. No indication as to what had happened just a giant, dangerous mess for me to clean up. Fortunately, none of the cats or dogs were injured in this freak accident. But, darn. I really liked that mirror and I'm not going to enjoy shelling out the cash to replace it. <Sigh.>
Back to the frugals -- because now I need to save up for a new mirror! :D
I baked two pans of homemade energy bars. I was able to use up the almond meal (finally!), plus some powdered honey (from an experiment of a beekeeper friend), the last of the pecans, and another batch of the homemade applesauce that has been in the freezer far too long. Should make for tasty snacks for the next few weeks. I also made a batch of chia seed pudding, which used up the remainder of the bag of chia seeds. I'm on a roll here, everyone!!!
I am truly amazed at how much food/how many meals I have been able to create out of what I keep thinking is a nearly empty pantry/fridge.
One of my textbooks that I'll be teaching from this fall was falling apart. It was a soft-cover, spiral bound book. Rather than request another from the textbook publisher, which I would have likely gotten for free as a teacher, I used a pair of tin snips to cut off the spiral binding and put the pages into an unused 3-ring binder. Good as new! Okay, not quite, as the textbook was already missing it's cover from when one of my dogs ate it last fall... :|( But at least it will get me through another semester or two of teaching.
Had to fill my gas tank yesterday and was bummed that due to a time constraint that I couldn't go to the cheaper gas station that is close to work. But I was pleased to discover that when I filled up at the more expensive station near home that my customer rewards card give me $0.10 off per gallon. So it worked out that I paid just about the same as I would have at the other station. And I managed and extra 1.5 MPG on this last tank over the previous tank. Hooray for hypermiling!!! Of course, it would be great it I could just drive less, but that doesn't appear to be a part of my reality in the near future.
Still keeping the windows open and the A/C off. Still making my pot of tea every morning and drinking it throughout the day. And I'm putting off running the washer until I have a full load of laundry -- hopefully the weather will still be nice and I can dry that load of laundry on the line, too!
My dearly beloved will be home from NYC tomorrow, so another round of bread baking is on tap for tomorrow morning. And then I'll have to either grocery shop or get really persuasive when it comes to pitching my creative meal plans to him! :~)
How's everyone else doing? Share with me -- I need some inspiration!!!
awakenedsoul
7-30-14, 12:24pm
You are on a roll, cdttmm! I combined my trips yesterday for my weekly errand run with the car. I went to the hardware store and refilled my 5 gallon jugs of water. (We can't drink our tap water here.) Picked up a package of ant baits and put one in the bathroom and one in the kitchen. I was seeing a few and wanted to take action before they got out of control. I returned a library book, bought my bus pass for August, and went to the gym. After a swim, jacuzzi, and sauna, I stopped at Costco. Picked up some pasta that was on sale, Haagen Daz ice cream bars that were on sale, garbage bags, and soy milk. The last box of garbage bags lasted me three years! Filled my gas tank at Costco, too. Their prices are good. Read the meanqueens's blog and laughed at her creative ways to save money. She's a hoot! I had a couple of orioles in my birdbath. They are so pretty. I'm going to pick some Valencia oranges off of my tree and put the halves out for them. They're kind of dry this year, but I think the birds will love them. I've been making lots of salads and using up my vegetables, which feels good. Did some weeding in the orchard last night, after the sun went down. It's much cooler and more pleasant at that hour. Little by little I'm fixing up the backyard. Time to feed the flowers in my cottage garden and do a load of laundry. The sun heats up the water, so I can keep the temp below warm. I will dry everything on the clothesline. I also have reduced my phone usage on my Jitterbug phone. I'm going to call them today and lower my plan to the $20.00 a month version. I was spending $35.00. Every little bit of savings helps!
I thought I would try to write something on this thread every few days. Hopefully it will make me more mindful.
Yesterday was a no spend day. I actually stayed home all day. Spray painted a little table for outside with paint I had left over from a previous project. I also spay painted two plastic pipes that are for the furnace and water heater. They are right outside of my back door and were an eyesore. I had bought that paint sometime ago, so no money out. At a garage sale the other day I bought a kids wooden rocker for $1. I have all rockers on my deck and my 3yo niece always wants to sit alone on one so hopefully this will be satisfactory. It was pink with someone else's name on it, so it needs to be painted. I was thinking I would need to buy paint and probably primer. But when I was getting the other paint out, I saw I had spray primer and some little sample jars of paint from Lowes. That will work just fine. Score! (although I didn't get that painted-maybe tomorrow.)
Today I met a friend for birthday lunch, her treat. Afterwards she wanted ice cream so we stopped at a yogurt shop-so $2.50 out. Since I was on a side of town I don't get to very often I stopped at two thrift stores, but didn't buy anything, which is a good thing I think.....
I have been eating from the pantry. I like many others have had some interesting meals. I am thinking I will eat down the little freezer in the garage and unplug it for a while. It seems like I end up with a lot of waste, things fall to the bottom and are forgotten.
It has only been in the 80's here, so most days I don't use AC. The ceiling fans seem to be enough. That was a nice break on the electric bill.
Nice job on combining all of your errands into one trip, awakenedsoul -- I love when I can pull stuff like that off!!!
Your porch with the rocking chairs sounds so lovely, Aqua Blue. What color are you painting the chair for your niece?
I have lots to do today and most things can be counted as frugals, I think! First, a load of laundry. I realized that I haven't done laundry in 4 days, which might be a record around here!!! The weather is lovely so I'll be hanging most of it on the line to dry. Of course, I'll have to do a second load because I discovered that there are still tiny shards of glass in the bath mats from when the mirror fell and shattered earlier this week. Fortunately, they were due for a run through the washer any way as were the ones from the master bathroom. At least this way I can dry all of them outside and not have to also run them through the dryer, which I've discovered is essentially death to the rubber backing.
I've got homemade bread going in the breadmaker. I modified the recipe a bit and used half white flour and half Einkorn flour. Einkorn is type of wheat that was one of the earliest cultivated. So in our house we often jokingly refer to it as "ancient grain." We bought a bag back when I was testing out a gluten free diet because some people believe that the gluten found in Einkorn is better tolerated. But then we never used it because I read a lot of conflicting reports and decided that testing out gluten free meant doing it 100%. The gluten free trial period is over (hence my bread baking extravaganzas!) so I figured I would use up the Einkorn flour.
Next on my list is to make a huge pot of Spanish/Mexican rice. Usually this is my dearly beloved's task, but I'm taking it over because I suspect he'll have no interest in cooking when he gets home. Besides, this way I can add all kinds of extra stuff to it that he would otherwise complain about. So into the pot will go rice (obviously), vegetable broth, a huge can of tomatoes, a can of tomato paste, dehydrated onion (I'm out of fresh, sadly), a few cans of diced peppers, a can of corn, some frozen peas, and a whole lot of spices. The darling one will complain about the corn and peas, but I've noticed that he'll generally eat anything he doesn't have to cook himself. :D This batch of rice should last a few days and we'll eat it with the black beans I made earlier in the week (which are already in small batches in the freezer awaiting consumption). I suspect we'll be topping it off with some Colby/Jack cheese. Fortunately, we have about 4 lbs of it in the refrigerator. What can I say? We like cheese. :~)
In case it's not obvious...if it's in my pantry, fridge, or freezer, it's getting eaten!!! Yesterday, I finished off a bag of blue corn and quinoa chips that were starting to go stale. And I'm down to just one cup of orange juice left to drink. So everyday something is getting polished off. And there's still so much left to eat!!!
My other frugal activities for the day will consist of doing some house cleaning, working in the yard/garden, pruning the remaining blueberry bushes, and whatever other little projects come up around the house. I'd like to claim that this will be a "no drive" day, but I've got a Tae Kwon Do class at the gym tonight.
I think that's all for the moment. Hope everyone enjoys a lovely and frugal day!!!
Finally had to break down and go to the grocery store for I feared a rebellion. :D But I kept it to the absolute essentials. Milk, cream, and some fresh corn on the cob. Last night we ate rice and beans topped with cheese. It was so delicious and I'm excited that there is enough for many more meals!!! Tried out some of the (ancient grain) homemade bread. It's definitely heartier than a typical white flour loaf, but still fairly light in texture and it tastes different than a whole wheat flour. We'll have that with soup this evening, since I'm assuming we'll be eating corn on the cob (grilled!) for lunch.
Picked a few more cherry and grape tomatoes from the garden yesterday. The other tomatoes are ripening and I'm looking forward to eating some soon. I think that will require another trip to the grocery store as we must have fresh mozzarella with our tomatoes! Of course, I do have a cheese-making kit in the pantry...I could just make homemade mozzarella...hmmm...
Spent some time yesterday decluttering a bunch of paperwork. Trying to get a system so that paperwork is more streamlined. I feel like being more organized with paperwork has its frugal benefits.
Not much else to report at the moment. But I suspect I'll be back soon with more updates. Because y'all help keep me honest when it comes my frugality (or lack thereof!). :D
cdttmm, I love how creative you are about combining what you have as you eat your way through the pantry.
I love cheese too. Did you make your mozzarella?
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