View Full Version : April 2015 Frugals
Time to get the new monthly thread started. Who's got frugals?!?!?
April 01
---made Jello from gelatin and a bottle of orange Gaterade the had been in the pantry for ages...it was good
---cleaned by fridge and rearranged things and to the question last month I have a hard time keeping it organized
but my biggest frugal for last month was putting a lid from a plastic storage container on the the very middle shelf and
that is were I having been putting the little containers of leftovers and low and behold I can see them and they are getting eaten.
--$30.00 on groceries yesterday but it was a lot because it was all on sale, with coupons and/or markdown.
---went to the library and got out a bunch of books and DVD's so lots to do.
Unfrugal wasted peanut butter on a trap for a pesky mouse (hope that is all it is) who managed to eat the peanut without getting caught.
Frugal is to totally declutter and clean out the garage this spring because that is where they are coming in....urrrrrrrrrgh!!
April is a no-shopping month, other than groceries, so that always keeps spending down. Spent $7.96 on groceries yesterday. Didn't purchase any meat.
There were two bananas left after I made g-f banana bread yesterday with the marked-down bananas I bought when I got groceries. With the warmer temperatures I knew they wouldn’t last long, so we split one for breakfast in a fruit combo (1 banana, sliced, 1 grapefruit, segments, with a few goji berries tossed in for some color) and I made G-F cookies with chopped dates and pecans with the last banana this morning. The recipe makes approximately 12 small cookies and I bake them in my convection/microwave oven or solar oven. I can stack 2-pizza pans in this oven so I can bake as much as I would in my regular oven, but using less energy since the oven is much smaller and has a convection feature.
SUPER-SIMPLE BANANA COOKIES
(yield: 12 small - 2” cookies)
1 banana (I only purchase and use small bananas. If you purchase large bananas, you may need to double the recipe but still only use one banana.)
1 c. quick oats
¼ to ½ c. dried fruit (or mix of nuts/dried fruit/cacao nibs/nuts only/dried coconut…) Get creative with what you have.
2 T. coconut oil (or vegetable oil)
½ t. vanilla
pinch of salt (optional)
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a medium-size bowl break banana into 5-6 small chunks. With a hand-held electric mixer, blend the banana until it’s smooth. Add the oil, vanilla and salt and mix again. With a spatula, mix in oats and any fruit/nuts you are adding. Blend well. Using a #50 portion scoop (or about 1 T.), make 12 balls of cookie dough. Place on a 12-inch pizza pan (or baking sheet) covered with parchment paper. Press the dough balls until the cookies are about ¼-inch thick (note: use your spatula, or cover your hand with a fold-top sandwich bag to press the dough balls). The cookies don’t spread so you can place them fairly close together. Bake in 350° oven until lightly brown - 23-minutes for soft cookies, 24-minutes for between soft and crunchy, and 25-minutes for crunchy cookies. Cool completely on a wire rack. Note: be sure to make small cookies. Large cookies don’t hold together well since there is no sugar or flour in the recipe. You can easily double or triple this recipe.
Frugal tip #1: I wipe the used parchment paper off, fold it to fit a small plastic bag, and store it in the freezer (so the oils on it don’t go rancid) and reuse it many times for baking cookies.
Frugal tip #2: Do the washing-up in the mixing bowl by using 2-4 cups of water heated in an electric kettle (saves energy).
Tussiemussies
4-2-15, 10:53pm
Hi Danna, we had a problem with mice the fall before last. We had to replace the rubber strip on the bottom of each garage door. They were letting mice in. They have to be so close to the ground so that you cannot see a light on the . Outside of them...good luck! Chris
Thanks Chris that is something I was thinking about because you can see light at the bottom of the door.
Today..I volunteered and brought water and a snack with me.
-------had leftovers for supper
-------balanced up all my spread sheets for the end of the month and now were I stand with money...
That is all for now........
Bought a chive plant for $2 instead of spending $2 on dried chives. Now we can have fresh chives whenever we want them, indefinitely...that is, unless the cats eat them down to the nub!
We are house hunting (!) and dropped the top of our price range DOWN by $50K. Lo and behold, we found a great house up in Blaine, WA, viewed it last night, and are making an offer on it tonight. Fingers crossed we get it. We are financing it through a government home loan program via the USDA's department of Rural Development that covers the entire loan...no need for a down payment. Whoo hoo!
Tussiemussies
4-3-15, 3:36pm
Hi Danna, was reading one of your posts and saw that you used Gateraid (sp) for making homemade jello. Sports drinks like these are very toxic. Please look up Dr. Mercola on the internet and do a search on his site to get the facts. Don't mean to be a nudge but thought you might like to know! Chris
They changed the type of paper towels and dispensers used in bathrooms where hubby works and he brought home bundles of obsolete towels since they were going to throw them away. We avoid using paper towels (we have a roll in a really cute holder, we just don't use it, we are cloth rag kinda' folks), so we'll be able to use these small paper towels for icky things.
I was inspired by Danna's frugal use of a sports drink for a gelatin dessert, but I'm with Tussiemussies about it being "toxic". We consume a LOT of gelatin (the dry unflavored type), but I'm more inclined to mix it with real fruit juice, and for each cup of liquid, I'll add 1 cup of plain yogurt (homemade, or plain kefir curd - also homemade). You can also make a small box of flavored gelatin by adding the 1-cup of hot water and dissolving it, then add 1-cup of plain yogurt. I also use unflavored gelatin to make "Herbal Tea Gummies", "Pumpkin Pie Gummies", "Creamy Pumpkin Mousse", and a snack favorite - "Coconut-Pineapple Gummies". There is even a "fudge" like recipe I make at Christmas. Unflavored gelatin powder is a real frugal pantry item that is much overlooked these days.
[QUOTE=Selah;201484]Bought a chive plant for $2 instead of spending $2 on dried chives. Now we can have fresh chives whenever we want them, indefinitely...that is, unless the cats eat them down to the nub!
QUOTE]
Be sure to save the seeds so you can plant more chives - you can find plenty of information and YouTube videos if you need a "how-to". I pot chives from the garden before the first killing frost and grow them in a sunny south window all winter. They get a little spindly by this time of the year from being grown indoors, but I have my starter plants already planted from seed I saved from last year.
Thanks for the tips, lessisbest! The cats are doing a job on them, but there's still some left that can be salvaged.
Gardenarian
4-4-15, 7:19pm
I'm still in a moving daze, but last month's bills were lower than usual - even though we are still paying utilities etc. for our old house (which will go on the market this week.)
Not really a frugal, but there is a massive housing shortage in the SF Bay Area, and our real estate agent expects to sell our house for well over double what we paid for it - and houses are selling in hours. We'll see!
Once it's sold I'll be looking at new investments (I'm thinking of investing in rental property.) And then I can get my finances in proper order, at last.
DH and I give our dogs 2/3 home-made and 1/3 kibble (because homemade is expensive because we do all organic). So we were spending $100 every couple of months for 2 30# bags of kibble (4 dogs, 3 big, one middle-sized). I heard about another brand, Diamond (hard to find around here), that's just as good and finally have gone back to the store twice to get the lowdown on the price. For 2 40# bags we'd be paying $88. Tomorrow I will go get one bag to try out on our dogs to see if they tolerate.
lessisbest
4-8-15, 11:43am
Groceries today: $13.63 for a total of $21.59 for April ($4.98 for meat). Stock-up price for lentils at Aldi - $.79/per pound. I use lentils for a side dish or soup/stew, and I sprout them and use them in Lentil Tacos, Sprouted Lentil-Oat Waffles, and Lentil Granola Bars.
Tussiemussies
4-9-15, 12:43am
Larkm, I would stick to the organic homemade with some kibble -- it is so much healthier for them than any Kibble could ever be...it is not worth cutting costs for their heal th and well-,being. I follow Dr. Karen Becker, who is an affiliate of Dr. Mercola. You can look her up on the net, and follow her on Facebook and by email. Her second best choice of food for Dogs was cooked, organic is the best too.
Just thought I'd share fyi...christine
Mid-April and the frugals which are not automatic (no-drive days, etc.) are thin on the ground. But there have been a few:
- saved some money on our tax prep by asking the accountant what format they needed for the records we supplied for my business and the rental. Better to do that than pay for them to riffle through the shoebox...
- had friends over for dinner rather than meeting at a restaurant. I enjoyed cooking, they enjoyed eating, and it came to far less money for both couples
- found another subscription that the library carries, so I won't be renewing that one when it comes time later this year
- created a smartphone to-do list item called "Groceries needed" on which I put the odd stuff we run out of. That way when I'm at the store that's got the version of it that I want, I pull out my trusty phone and look at what I need to pick up. This way we don't end up with three cans of tomato paste or buying wide-size aluminum foil at the expensive store. I had a list like this on paper before, but it always was left someplace or something didn't end up copied to the next week's list. This is far easier and it gets done.
- did some BOGO grocery shopping locally where it made sense (i.e., a good price once two are purchased; that's not always the case with BOGO)
While I love a good cup of joe, I admit to being a coffee whore. Serve me anything and I'll drink it.:+1: Today I finished a container of coffee that had been given to me a while ago. As I was looking around for my next free fix I decided it was time to get through all those little sample packs that I have lying around. I'm so lazy in the morning, I hate dealing with them. So I took the empty container that I had, dumped all the sample packs into it and shook it to combine. I now have an 11 ounce can of free coffee to use up. Some of you make freezer stew/soup from leftovers, I drink freezer coffee.
I am doing laundry again today with free laundry detergent.
I am going to spend some time doing on-line sweepstakes this evening to see if I can win anything.
I received a pint jar of real maple syrup from one of my customers the other day. I haven't tried it yet but I'm sure it will be a delicious score.
Don't have many frugals to post this month. I am still chipping away at the random foodstuffs. Made a lasagna-like dish using the last box of gluten free pasta (which was edible, but hardly delicious) plus a jar of pasta sauce (that turned out to be quite bland) and two pouches of frozen mixed vegetables. Mixed it all up with a healthy (or not so healthy!) helping of mozzarella cheese, which made the whole concoction edible. Two large servings down, one to go. Trying to put off grocery shopping as long as possible...
Inventoried our pet pharmacy, which saved us from having to buy two prescription pain meds when our dog went to the vet last week. Total savings was ~$32. Plus caught a double-charge on our bill for ~$97.
Hi all
I have been here reading but not getting around to posting. Don't worry folks the gatorade was leftover brought because it was suggested to use to hydrate
while having two tests last year that caused dehydration....it is gone now.
But, I got two mice and I can tell there are still more...I am working on that.
frugal lately are---- the usual coupons, sales, etc. using up and not wasting food (except on the mice...lol)
--sold 2 more 1/2 lb bags of buttons and 2 more small casseroles on Kijiji
--making a small baby quilt as a gift for a friend's new grandson and from stuff I had in my stash
--bought a 10lb ham/bone in for Easter, had potatoes, veggies, makings of stuffing, gravy in pantry and cranberries in freezer so all very frugal
sent Dsil home with a bunch of leftovers, made a very large pot of split pea soup with the bone and still have lots of ham in the freezer
That is all for now.
April 14
--made run to Costco and only bought what was needed now or a good price to stock up on
--a leftover piece of lasagna that had been frozen a couple of weeks back for supper with a salad
That is all for now.
lessisbest
4-15-15, 11:35am
Groceries this week: $30.31 ($13.11 for meat using from the $5.02 remaining from last week to make up the $10/week meat budget).
Total spent for April: $51.90
Good news for tomorrow - FREE LUNCH - at the annual Spring grilled hot dog lunch where hubby works. They fund it by recycling aluminum and we contribute our home-generated aluminum for the fund, and the remainder gets distributed to needy families throughout the year. It's all for a good cause. :)
rosarugosa
4-17-15, 4:54am
Lessisbest: I continue to be amazed by your grocery shopping frugality!
I had new soles put on a favorite pair of boots that are quite a few years old, but I couldn't part with them. It only cost $30. and they are like brand new! So it was cheap, saved me the time & energy of shopping for replacement boots, kept a pair of boots out of the landfill and gave business to a cobbler :)
I also got a fairly decent annual merit increase at work, and I'm going to bump up my 401k contribution by the amount of the increase.
Tomorrow there is an Earth Day/Clean up the Woods event at Lynn Woods, so going with DH and a friend. There will also be free pizza, live music, and probably T-shirts (there were t-shirts last year), so good, free fun. I'm mostly excited about the cleaning trash from the woods part though; that is my idea of a good time, and it's supposed to be a nice day!
Refilled my dogs prescription using the online vet pharmacy and got it filled for 4 months as opposed to 2, which saves me a few bucks on shipping.
Used up some black beans from the freezer (I bought dried beans, then cooked them in the crockpot and froze them) to make nachos for dinner last night. Perhaps not the healthiest of dinners, but it was relatively quick and it had been a long day for both of us.
Checked my bee hives. The three remaining colonies are going strong and I should be able to split each of them at least once. This will help me to get started on my queen-rearing project with a smaller outlay of cash. Our new packages of bees arrived from Georgia last night so the next few days will be very beekeeping focused!
Combined trips yesterday to minimize driving.
Not much else in the way of frugals as of late, at least not in the expense-cutting way. But I am teaching 2, maybe 3 summer classes, and have already been offered 8 for the fall semester. So the increased income side of things is going well!
File this under resourceful rather than frugal, but in the month of April so far I have earned $898.50 (!) extra above and beyond my Wholefoods salary, which was pretty good this month, when I add in my gain-sharing portion and the fact I worked on Easter Sunday and got holiday pay! That extra money came from my house mate's rent (who hasn't been around for the last two weeks) and my jewelry business :)
My road trip will be well-financed, and I have actually planned ahead and reserved camping in a few places so as to avoid the stress trying to find a campsite after all that driving. So that means at least five nights are already paid for.
To treat myself just a little, I have purchased new hiking shoes (the first in about 12 years), a new hiking day pack with a hydration bladder and a new very nice straw hiking hat (purchased at REI with a gift card I won at work)! I have a little money left on the gift card so I will treat myself to my second pair of Smart Wool hiking socks (how I ever went this long without trying these socks is beyond me, but I guess it was the sticker shock for one pair of socks that always put me off before).
All this purchasing was decided last year when I was hiking around in Utah during the height of a blistering summer not really prepared well enough for the conditions. The only thing left for me to get is a new bathing suit (my first in about 15 years) and I should be set to be on the road for almost a month! I am SO EXCITED and I CAN HARDLY WAIT! Seven more weeks!!!!!!!!
Apr. 15
--Large bag of onions I bought a couple of weeks ago supper cheap...some grated and put into small bags in freezer and the rest caramelized and
bagged for the freezer for onion soup, quiche or were ever they will add lots of flavour.
--leftovers for supper
--sorted and put away summer and winter clothes....now I now that I need very little of anything.
--still cleaning out the garage but, it is looking really good and after the garage sale in a couple of weeks it will be great.
I finally summoned up the nerve to propose to DH that I start using small flannel cloths instead of toilet paper for "number ones." To my utter shock, he was very enthusiastic about it, as I am the chief consumer of toilet paper in our household of two. I cut up a fitted sheet that my mother had given us when we moved, as I knew we would never use it--it was too hot for DH's taste, and it had just been taking up space in our linen closet all winter. So far, so good, and the consumption of toilet paper has decreased dramatically!
lessisbest
4-21-15, 8:55am
I finally summoned up the nerve to propose to DH that I start using small flannel cloths instead of toilet paper for "number ones." To my utter shock, he was very enthusiastic about it, as I am the chief consumer of toilet paper in our household of two. I cut up a fitted sheet that my mother had given us when we moved, as I knew we would never use it--it was too hot for DH's taste, and it had just been taking up space in our linen closet all winter. So far, so good, and the consumption of toilet paper has decreased dramatically!
You can also include a squeeze bottle bidet as an additional cleansing action and eliminate even more TP. You can find YouTube instructions for portable bidets or squeeze bottle bidet. Amazon sells different models as well.
Selah, I've been using pea green washcloths for a good while for urine and our toilet paper consumption is greatly reduced. I prefer the cloth but haven't graduated to the portable bidet.
SteveinMN
4-22-15, 10:16am
Frugal birthday for DW. She's pretty well got enough "stuff". So I scrubbed up the bathroom to a high shine, lit her favorite candles, and gave her a gift bag (recycled) containing a bag of her favorite salty snack, a cold bottle of her favorite pop, and a couple of books I thought she'd like from nearby Little Libraries. She loved it! She spent a few hours soaking with no worries about me (I was at a board meeting) or the dog. She still misses the hot tub she had at her old house. A standard tub is not a great substitute, but the entire ensemble worked great.
Other frugals:
- Started the dog on flea-and-tick medicine and the dog threw an allergic reaction to the primary active ingredient. A bath, some petting, and a few Benadryl later, she was fine. But when I called the manufacturer, they apologized and then gave me the steps we needed to get a refund on the product we had left. Didn't expect that. Since it was almost $50, the refund is quite welcome -- though some of it will have to go to another flea-tick preventer.
- Musgovian chicken soup on the stove right now. I didn't need to cook any more this week, but I had leftover stock from preparing another meal so I decided to use up bits and bobs and the chicken trimmings in the freezer. I can always freeze this soup if we don't go through it fast enough. I can use that take-and-bake loaf of French bread I found in the freezer, too.
lessisbest
4-22-15, 2:40pm
Grocery day -
Spent - $21.40 ($8.49 of it for meat)
Total spent in April - $74.30 (out of a $125.00 food budget)
Took the weekly survey on-line and received 50 more gas points.
-Followed hubby to work so we could get gas (at the same place I purchase groceries) and we saved 40-cents per gallon and filled both cars from one pump. Since it was Administrative Professionals Day (formerly known as secretaries day), he purchased a gift card for his "secretary" and got 4X the fuel points, used a coupon I had for a free greeting card, and put them in a pretty basket with 3 Mylar balloons attached to it from the Dollar Tree, along with big bag of her favorite candy - M&M Peanut - purchased with a coupon.
-Made a double batch of Super Simple Banana Cookies (using 2 ripe bananas).
-Put together all the saved chicken fat and chicken skin and made schmaltz (rendered chicken fat) and got it in the freezer.
Steve - cleaning will win hearts. Good job. :)
The women I work for have recently offered me dinner (lunch leftovers) on the days I put my dog in day care - because I put him there to be available for their longer work days Today was not a doggie day care day but they packed up what will be at least 5 meals of split pea and ham soup ( yum)! The chef said "not enough to use for another meal here but too much to throw out". I did agree to come in 2 hours earlier tomorrow (for $$ of course) and stop to buy Starbucks for the chef (reimbursed of course) on my way in and the dog will have a longer day (which costs me nothing more than usual) and I will bring lunch leftovers/dinner home tomorrow. I love my job!!!
We held a small celebration at work yesterday for our administrative professionals. There was a fruit platter so I got to enjoy some free fruit. I opted for the grapes and pineapple since those are two things I very rarely buy.
Discovered a tick crawling up my arm the other night. It had clearly been brought into the house by one of our dogs. Turns out we're out of Frontline (the expensive flea/tick prevention that we use on our dogs). The next day I got coupons for Frontline in the mail. Off to the vet tomorrow to make my now less expensive purchase. I'm generally against putting poisons on my animals, but I've had Lyme disease and my dogs have had two different tick-borne diseases. So flea/tick prevention it is!
Managed to eat up another pound of pasta in the great eat-all-the-pasta-in-my-pantry crusade of 2015. Of course this meant I also ate a lot of cheese in the past few days. :|( Four more pounds of pasta to go.
rosarugosa
4-26-15, 8:57am
It hasn't been too frugal around here lately, we've eaten out a few times and went to the theater last night. Got to get back on track!
I did get free public transportation Fri because it was "Customer Appreciation Day" to make up for how bad service was during the winter. So that kept $5.25 in my pocket. We also took advantage of the free parking for employees at the office garage last night, which saved us about $20.
I did up my 401K contribution as planned, so I feel good about that.
whisperingpines
4-27-15, 9:42am
Lessisbest,
Do you have a recipe you can share for the Gummies?? Please!
They changed the type of paper towels and dispensers used in bathrooms where hubby works and he brought home bundles of obsolete towels since they were going to throw them away. We avoid using paper towels (we have a roll in a really cute holder, we just don't use it, we are cloth rag kinda' folks), so we'll be able to use these small paper towels for icky things.
I was inspired by Danna's frugal use of a sports drink for a gelatin dessert, but I'm with Tussiemussies about it being "toxic". We consume a LOT of gelatin (the dry unflavored type), but I'm more inclined to mix it with real fruit juice, and for each cup of liquid, I'll add 1 cup of plain yogurt (homemade, or plain kefir curd - also homemade). You can also make a small box of flavored gelatin by adding the 1-cup of hot water and dissolving it, then add 1-cup of plain yogurt. I also use unflavored gelatin to make "Herbal Tea Gummies", "Pumpkin Pie Gummies", "Creamy Pumpkin Mousse", and a snack favorite - "Coconut-Pineapple Gummies". There is even a "fudge" like recipe I make at Christmas. Unflavored gelatin powder is a real frugal pantry item that is much overlooked these days.
lessisbest
4-27-15, 12:30pm
Here you go whisperingpines. You'll find lots more on-line.
Homemade Gummy Candy
http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/yummy-gummy-candy-sugar-free-and-how-ew-turned-to-yum/
Pumpkin Pie Gummies
http://fastpaleo.com/recipe/pumpkin-pie-gummies/
Creamsicle Gummy Fruit Snacks
http://thecoconutmama.com/2013/02/creamsicle-gummy-fruit-snacks/
Coconut-Pineapple Gummies (This is a favorite recipe and I make it when we have orange/pineapple juice on hand.)
http://www.healthhomeandhappiness.com/coconut-pineapple-gummies-all-natural-homemade.html
frugal-one
4-27-15, 4:48pm
Thanks lessisbest! I learn SO much from you. I appreciate your sharing of recipes and sites!!
My frugal day was.... went to the thrift store that had 40% off all short sleeve tops and 25% all else since it was senior day. I got 7 tops and a pair of Lands End capris.... total $30.62!! I am thrilled. The only tops I had were t-shirts and now I have a few "nice' tops to wear too. Score!
whisperingpines
4-28-15, 5:59am
Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Here you go whisperingpines. You'll find lots more on-line.
Homemade Gummy Candy
http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/yummy-gummy-candy-sugar-free-and-how-ew-turned-to-yum/
Pumpkin Pie Gummies
http://fastpaleo.com/recipe/pumpkin-pie-gummies/
Creamsicle Gummy Fruit Snacks
http://thecoconutmama.com/2013/02/creamsicle-gummy-fruit-snacks/
Coconut-Pineapple Gummies (This is a favorite recipe and I make it when we have orange/pineapple juice on hand.)
http://www.healthhomeandhappiness.com/coconut-pineapple-gummies-all-natural-homemade.html
lessisbest
4-29-15, 4:49pm
Not much to report for the last grocery shopping day of April. Bargains for things I use have been lacking the whole month......:(
Spent today: $19.11 (of which $8.85 was meat)
Total spent for April: $62.10 (out of a $125/month budget)
Surplus for the year: +$116.97
The good news - the garden is producing kale, several kinds of lettuce, spinach, and herbs, so I don't have to purchase those. I planted the root end of celery, root end of a head of napa cabbage, and leaf lettuce and they are all growing and I'll be able to harvest those in the near future (it's like you buy one and get one "free"). Don't forget, you can also grow the root end of green onions (scallions).
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