View Full Version : December Frugal's...last one for 2015!!
Here we go...
Dec.01
--Glad to pay my $10.00 per month for TOPS meetings....weigh in, great meeting, good friends and weight lost
what more can you ask for from $10.00 a month. And, I eat better and cheaper since I have lost 25lbs.
10 lbs to go...lol...that means I could save even more money by eating even less and better!
--lunch was leftover soup from the freezer and supper was leftovers from the night before....no waste here is my goal!
Dec.02
--$ Sale at the No Frills Store...limit of 6 items from the flyer...stocked up on several items we use all the time and saved a lot.
--Took all the accumulated cardboard boxes out to the backyard and flatten then on the weeds will make gardening easier next year.
That's it for now 2 a day is the goal.
Like most of us here, there are so many little things we do every day that have become habits that we don't think of, try to
post them this month so we can all know what we are all doing.....it could help someone else remember an old habit!
rosarugosa
12-3-15, 6:00am
Congratulations on that 25 pounds, Danna! Food waste continues to be an area where we really need to improve.
There was a 10% off your $50 or more purchase coupon in the grocery sale stores flyer that was good only on December 1st. There are only a few items we buy at that grocery store because we can buy everything else for less at other stores. But I postponed a few purchases so that I could buy them that day, found a coupon that matched up to a decent deal on pasta, and stocked up on a few items, which allowed me to reach the $50 minimum. In fact, I came in at $51 and change -- so enough to qualify for the 10% off, but didn't over do it by buying stuff we didn't need. Now I've got what I need to make a fancy pasta dish (essentially a glorified version of macaroni and cheese with shallots, gourmet mushrooms, and smoked mozzarella). I only make this dish once or twice a year because it is definitely heart-attack inducing. But now I have an excuse to make it!
Still using up loose tea from my tea stash. Still not a fan of black tea, but I'm drinking my way through it. A local tea shop is having a special this weekend that a friend and I are going to go to so that we can stock up on our favorites -- various green teas being mine. So I'll still have a stash of black tea to contend with at some point in the future, but at least the stash will be smaller!
Decided at the last minute to do a project in my beekeeping class about pollination and planting bee-friendly plants. So we're going to make seed bombs today. Turns out I have everything I need on hand: clay kitty litter, potting soil, and seeds. I could get reimbursed for expenses if I had actually bought anything, but it's a bit of a hassle and I didn't really have time to go to the store anyway. The biggest challenge was seeds. I'm using a combination of random packages of sunflower seeds, marigold seeds, and different herbs. The seeds are all pretty old so who knows if anything will actually grow, but it will be a fun experimental project for my students, it declutters a few things from the house, and it is essentially free. Works for me!
SteveinMN
12-3-15, 10:57am
December so far is shaping up to be a far more frugal month than November.
- Tonight we'll finish the turkey soup made from the Thanksgiving carcass and veggies we already had in the house. The other meal this week is a cinnamon-orange beef stew made with beef that was discounted because it was on its last sale date.
- DW signed up for a plan at work which will pay her $25 a month to carry her cell phone with her during work hours. She's already doing that (for the new granddaughter, not necessarily for work), so it was kind of a no-brainer. She was talking about upgrading her phone before this opportunity; now we can do it without dinging the budget quite as much. I'm pretty sure that sometime this month we're going to move to Consumer Cellular for cell-phone service; doing so lets us share a plan which will knock $10 off our monthly cell-phone bills.
- I got a frequent-buyer reward from my hardware store -- $10 off if I purchase $10 or more. I had to make a run there anyway, so I'll pocket $10 of what I would have bought anyway.
- Used our pet-store reward-program money for the quarter and a coupon for dog food. The dog definitely is not frugal, but it helps to save money where we can.
Much better start than last month!
rodeosweetheart
12-3-15, 11:11am
Returned two pairs of knitting needles and a ball of hemp realizing that I already have enough needles and I can make my knitted produce shopping bag out of junk yarn I have hanging around the house. The hemp was very cool, but I can afford to be less cool.
Mailed my grandson a great corduroy shirt purchased for 2.30 at Goodwill, 3 dollars to mail--gosh mailing has doubled in price over the last year, I think.
Dropped off three large bags of stuff at the Goodwill and did not let myself enter the Goodwill.
Cashed check received for selling textbook and used it to buy pig ears and dog biscuits for the ever-chewing canines.
freshstart
12-3-15, 12:36pm
on Weds DD has 1 hr break during her 5 hr driver's ed class. So my dad and I take her to grab a bite. I went to pay and my discover was rejected twice, odd because I have a whopping $300 balance. Before I could get another card out, my dad paid and will not take the cash. So that was a $38 unintended frugal. It was parm night, various parm-ed dishes for $8.95. I got chicken parm, took one look at the huge chicken breasts and boxed them up. Boxed up half the pasta and ate the rest, including soup and salad. Got home, friends were taking down my mom's bed because a hospital bed is coming today. They each had a chicken breast and leftover bread. And I still have 1/2 the pasta. $8.95 for four "meals", not bad. Plus, DD gave her grandpa over 1/2 her calzone.
It would be nicer to have her home for a meal but the high school is sort of in an isolated area and the restaurant we go to is the only one around. We'd never make it home and back.
It is almost the end of the semester, but I'm definitely feeling a bit overwhelmed and stressed at this point, which has resulted in my buying more lunches at school instead of bringing lunch from home. Today I managed to pull something together at the last minute. I grabbed the last kefir smoothie from the fridge and quickly made a little container of trail mix. I used up the last little bit of store-bought trail mix that was mostly just sunflower seeds. Then I added the last few dark chocolate chips from the bag in the pantry. Threw in a small handful of dried sour cherries and that was that. It wasn't the greatest trail mix combo in the world, but it cleared out a few things from the pantry shelves and prevented me from buying lunch at school. I also grabbed the bag of wild rice chips that had only one handful remaining. Feels so good to clear things out of the pantry and it feels great to scrounge up a nearly free lunch. As an early dinner, I made some cheese quesadillas with some corn tortillas that were likely to start growing mold any day (so glad I got to those in time!). And I added in the last of the roasted veggies that were leftover from Thanksgiving. A nice creative meal.
The seed bomb making project was a hit. So happy I didn't rush out to buy anything for the project as some of my students weren't in class today. I had plenty of supplies for the students who were there and we ended up with about 4 dozen seed bombs. The beekeeping club is going to make more tomorrow, too. Hooray for free arts and crafts!
Aside from that there's not much to report. We've been keeping the thermostat set to 58 degrees in the house. Fortunately, it hasn't been all that cold yet, even overnight. I'm sure we'll bump the temperature up a few degrees as winter progresses, but it feels good to be able to put that off for a few more days or weeks.
frugal-one
12-3-15, 10:23pm
Couldn't believe pork roasts were $0.99 per pound. Talked to the butcher and was informed no antibiotics, hormones or added injections. He said pork has been going down in price. Bought 2 roasts ... froze one and made shredded bbq pork today with the other one. Same thing with beef roast... $2.78 per pound. Butcher said he cannot remember the last time it was so inexpensive??? Plan on cutting one up for beef barley soup... yum!
Dec 03
--no spend...no gas
--leftovers for supper and large amount on sirloin steak bought on sale not very tender
in the crockpot with BBq sauce made myself (steak bought on sale months ago) ready for the
next couple of nights.
--more cardboard boxes from the grocery store broke down and put out in the yard to kill weeds for next year.
Lunch and dinner provided at work yesterday. Not the healthiest of eating, but I tried to make good choices for the most part. Met two long-time friends in New Hampshire today for a craft fair fundraiser that was happening at the humane society where one of my friend's works. I rarely carry cash and didn't think to stop to get any before going to the craft fair. As a result, I didn't buy anything while there, but had a nice time walking around, catching up with my friends, and then petting the cats who were awaiting adoption. Afterwards, stopped to buy gas and got a hot chocolate at Dunkin' Donuts, a truly rare experience, but I had a coupon for a 99 cent medium hot chocolate and a DD card that I had loaded with $10 months ago and had never used. So I spent a whopping $1.08 for a treat.
Making homemade pizza for dinner with sauce from tomatoes we grew in the container garden this summer. Bought the mozzarella as part of my discounted grocery shopping trip earlier this week. Topping it with slices of fresh avocado that was also purchased during aforementioned grocery shopping trip. Cheap, but delicious eats!
Meezer_Mom
12-5-15, 10:28pm
Been busy here but thinking of you all. Great work! And congrats Danna!
Have continued to be good about taking my lunch to work. Being the holidays I've gotten a bit lucky with yummy leftovers from the previous night's potluck.
I exchange gifts with just a few people and my shopping is effectively done.
But I'm crazy-busy with my community things. I'm working on being mindful of "me" time. Am thinking I'll watch holiday movies tonite and give myself a cheap pedicure. :)
Dec 04 & 05
---Sale steak that was not all that tender cooked a crockpot full in homemade BBQ sauce and had two meals and pizza
for Dd and I,,,still one serving for the freezer
--Dbil sent money for Christmas so I splurged on two new small appliances I have been wanting for the kitchen both
will make eating at home nicer...not necessary but, nice. Used a deal at store that was offering $20.00 gift card if you used
their credit card and spent $100.00....so got a lot for the Christmas money.
--attended a friends Christmas evening tonight my contribution to the food was made from everything on sale. This was NOT a diet night...lol
--They did a gift exchange of a Christmas ornament worth under $10.00...I had a beautiful one, tag still on it, very original and
worth at least $10.00 bought early this year at a yard sale for $1.00...the women that received it loved it.
---driving so only drank water....very fun evening with good friends.
Leftover homemade pizza for lunch. Making a huge batch of convict's macaroni for dinner (essentially grown-up mac-and-cheese). Watching TV shows via Netflix and resisting the urge to rent movies on iTunes. Went to a new local place that sells loose leaf tea. They had mailed out 30% off coupons to everyone in the neighboring towns so figured I would use it to stock up. Spent just shy of $21 for 4 different types of green tea -- a total of 16 ounces. The prices are pretty good -- $1.79/oz for most of their green teas. Plus they gave me 2 more 20% off coupons for my next visit. Now to see if the quality is any good -- first taste test tomorrow morning!
Deposited a paycheck from substitute teaching two classes. Now just need to track down a check that has been owed to me since a speaking engagement I did back in late September. Signed my contracts for one of the classes I'm teaching during January (winter session) plus the contracts for four of the classes I'll have during the spring semester. Now just waiting on contracts for the last three classes. Got a $138 raise for each 3 credit course so I'll get ~$1000 more for doing the same work I just did during fall semester. I'll take it!!!
rosarugosa
12-6-15, 9:00pm
Congratulations on the raise, Cdttmm!
We went WAY over budget on groceries this week. Trader Joe's just had too many tempting seasonal specialties and we succumbed! We did save 15% on our cat food purchase at PetSmart. We had a particularly long wait behind an annoying customer who was trying to get some deal that was no longer in effect. When the cashier rang us up, she said she was giving us 15% off for our inconvenience. That was a pleasant surprise because we weren't grumbling or giving dirty looks or anything.
We had homemade pizza Friday night, and ate at a party Saturday night. Tonight DH made a great dinner of baked schrod, steamed carrots & steamed spinach. He cooked the fish with just some lemon juice and no butter. It was perfectly delicious, so now we know that we can save some fat calories and a tiny bit of money on this dish that is one of our favorites. I've also been snacking on clementines a lot; they are a favorite.
We went for a walk on the beach this morning, and then a sunset walk in the woods, so our entertainment was very frugal. We had beautiful weather this weekend, sunny & high fifties/low sixties. Not bad for December!
I've managed to avoid frivolous shopping (other than Trader Joe's), which is a bit more challenging in December. I'm putting a lot of catalogs in the recycling bin unread, and that definitely helps.
Dec 06
---wonderful dinner for just myself (Dd does not eat seafood) shrimp, frozen asparagus from the spring, green onions from the freezer, pasta, sauce
made by rinsing out my chunky peanut butter jar with pasta water and soya sauce, grated ginger ( from the freezer) and sweet chilli sauce
excellent supper with a nice glass of wine or 2...lol
--volunteered at the seniors home Tuck Shop only frugal because I felt good and did not spend money...then stoped by at the store and got
$35.00 worth of groceries all on sale (all stockpile items) and by spending over $30.00 got 3000 points ($3.00) and then came home and scan the receipt for
Checkout 51 (buy 2 Folgers coffee and get $3.00 back).
That is all for today....
Dec 07
--no spend, no drive
--started wrapping Christmas presents...using up paper and ribbon I have, actually they are looking very nice
a little odd in some of the combination but, nice done the less.
--bought a whole chicken for $5.85 yesterday at $1.47 a lb. first I cooked it gently with some broth, water and mix of veggies
then I took the chicken out, let it cool and removed all the meat (it was very yummy and moist) then put the bones back in the
broth to finish the soup. Stained it and added more vegetables. Using the meat to add to the soup and made sandwiches at supper.
Still lots of each left.
rosarugosa
12-8-15, 6:01am
Danna: The soup sounds great. I've asked DH if he will make a chicken soup/stew or "stoup" some day soon, maybe NY's Day because he has it off from work. When he makes something like that, we're usually able to freeze quite a bit in containers for quick weeknight meals.
Hi all!
For anyone who isn't finished with all of their holiday shopping, I saw this great article from HighYa.com with 28 tips for saving money during the holiday (http://www.highya.com/articles-guides/28-best-ways-to-save-money-during-the-holidays) The site also supplies great consumer reviews for products so if you have some things in mind that you're unsure of take a look and see if you can find any reviews on it to help make your decision. Hope everyone has a great holiday!
Only 1 week of the semester remains -- woo-hoo!!! Very pleased that I only spent about $80 in the cafeteria at school this semester -- my goal was to be under $150 and I blew that away. For next semester, I'm going to try to get it under $50. I know, I know, some of you are able to manage with $0 for buying lunch, but there are some days when I'm just not that organized!!! I have been very good about bringing tea with me every single day, so I haven't spent any money on tea at school. If I can find a good deal on bagged tea over the holidays, I'll stock up on some nice bagged tea to keep at school. I've mostly been bumming tea bags off a generous co-worker when I've needed them and don't want to continue taking advantage. Although, I do keep the supply of "good" chocolate well stocked in my desk drawer so it probably all evens out in the end.
We got our first inquiry from an Air BnB customer. Don't know if they are going to stay with us, but if so it will be a nice little holiday bonus! I taught an extra Tae Kwon Do class last night because my teacher was sick and asked who could fill in. I jumped on the chance because I was planning to go to class anyway, so might as well get paid to be there!
Randomly came across a $1 off coupon for cat treats and noticed that they were on sale in the grocery store flyer at a price of 2 for $3. Then realized that the grocery store flyer also had coupons to allow you to double any coupon up to $1 off. So paid $1 + tax for 2 (little) bags of cat treats. I normally never buy this stuff, but for $1, I figured it was worth it. My one cat is a bit of a terror -- probably because she is deaf and is easily startled -- so I'm going to see if I can feed her and one of my other cats treats in close proximity to one another in an attempt to get her to calm down and be more accepting of the presence of other cats. So far so good -- they ate treats within about 18" of one another this morning and nobody was attacked. :cool:
Dec 08 & 09
Welcome to the thread bthatch lots of great ideas and information here
--ate out with friends last night but, ordered two apps instead of a full meal and was more then full and really enjoyed.
--finishing up the pot of soup and chicken today....it went a really long way....froze several servings for later.
--volunteered for 6 hours today...they bought a light supper as we worked extra hours over supper time to move over
the new Gift Shop
--wrapped a few more Christmas gifts...have everything set up on the dining room table to I don't need to put it all away.
On an eat-up-all-the-food-in-the-house mission. It's going well, but tonight is the night to hit BJs so that I can take advantage of a load of coupons before they expire.
Just found out a reimbursement check for some work expenses will be available tomorrow, Friday. My very kind co-workers submitted the paperwork for me -- it was on my list of things to do and they beat me to it!
Getting two pots of tea out of 2 tsp of tea leaves with this new tea I just bought -- excellent quality. It's so great to be drinking green tea again!!!
Still using the Snuggle Safe heated discs that we have for the pets to justify keeping the thermostat at 58 degrees F. The cats seem happy so I don't feel compelled to keep the house any warmer. I can always just put on more clothes if I'm cold.
That's about it for the moment -- not much happening on the frugals front over here other than the usually daily stuff.
Williamsmith
12-10-15, 9:08am
I remember back in the 1970s turning down our thermostat into the low 60s, heating wih supplemental wood burning stoves installed in our fireplaces, wearing hooded sweatshirts and tossil caps, thick heavy socks, drinking lots of hot tea and cocoa, using electric blankets to get to sleep. But that was the Energy Crisis.
What at inspires you to keep your furnace turned so low and just how much money are you saving in the name of frugality? Or do you just like it that way......
Dec 08 & 09
Welcome to the thread bthatch lots of great ideas and information here
--ate out with friends last night but, ordered two apps instead of a full meal and was more then full and really enjoyed.
--finishing up the pot of soup and chicken today....it went a really long way....froze several servings for later.
--volunteered for 6 hours today...they bought a light supper as we worked extra hours over supper time to move over
the new Gift Shop
--wrapped a few more Christmas gifts...have everything set up on the dining room table to I don't need to put it all away.
Thanks Danna!
I am a firm believer of "eat up all the food in the house" , getting my family to do that is the problem.I donated a few boxes of Christmas decorations now I only have a large bin and two medium ones. YAY!!!I looked through Goodwill and couldnt believe how much Christmas stuff they have!!Tossed old papers and magazines for recycling and now time to try to pay off those smaller debts by th end of the year and get a fresh start in 2016!
rosarugosa
12-13-15, 7:21am
I have some frugals to report: Bus ride was free Friday night because pass reader was out of order. This wasn't anything clever on my part, but it did save me $3.65. I did a Pinecone Research survey yesterday and earned $3.00. DH & I took a long walk in the woods yesterday for free entertainment. We made a delicious frugal dinner at home last night. I made a salad, and DH made linguine and clam sauce. I'm always happy with oil & vinegar, but DH likes more salad dressing variety. I've found I can make some pretty easy creamy dressings with plain yogurt, olive oil, lemon juice, and some herbs & seasonings, and I think it's probably a bit healthier than the creamy dressings you can buy.
Groceries came in well within budget, and this is a non-Trader Joe's week, so we won't offset our restraint at TJ's. We will be going to Costco's today for our usual monthly run. I have the $150 gift card I got for an award at work. The trick will be to shop there as we usually do, and not be like, "hey, we have free extra money, do they have any special caviar offerings for the holidays?"
Williamsmith
12-13-15, 9:53am
Is it wrong to claim rewards points gift cards from a major credit card company I used to pay many of my bills this year. I had my credit union debit card compromised this year and an unauthorized charge of over $600 so I decided to use a major credit card for all my point of sale purchases so that if compromised it would be easier to rectify and less risky because it's not attached to a checking account. So after doing that, I just got $100 gift card. Frugal?
rodeosweetheart
12-13-15, 9:55am
Not sure if these are actually very frugal, but they are in the spirit--bought a 25 dollar Culver gift card, for which you received a free value basket, so we then had the value basket for dinner out--splitting it, since that is enough for two aging adults (darn it.)
Decided in lieu of writing a check to a charity on this paycheck for tithing I will put a dollar into every Salvation Army kettles I pass this season, so got off to a good start yesterday with 3 kettles passed. It's fun.
Contacting two Craigslist sellers about potential Ford F250's for my husband, since car he received from his brother now needs 1700 more work, and he could then get rid of the F150 from my dad (1988) and the van from his brother (2004.) Wish someone would give him a free F250.
rosarugosa
12-13-15, 4:33pm
Williamsmith: I love playing around with credit card rewards! In my opinion, it is a frugal if you aren't spending more than you would spend with cash to get the rewards, and if you are paying your balance in full every month.
Rodeosweetheart: Is Culver a restaurant? I am unfamiliar with the name. I do the same with the SA kettles, although I'm a little conflicted since I don't agree with all of their program, and they are a religious organization. However, they truly did save a dear friend of mine who might have ended up in the streets otherwise, so I'll always be grateful for that. And those people are standing out there in the cold!
We had a flurry of errands to do today and we were disciplined and focused and stayed on task and within budget for everything. I bought two large bottles of POM juice (on my list) at Costco, and it was on sale for $2.70 less than their usual $8.99 price, so that was an unexpected savings. Despite the gift card, we actually spend less than usual at Costco. I'm going to move the money budgeted but not spent at Costco for the month into extra in the savings account (in fact, I think I'll do that right away before my good intentions get derailed). I needed a new laptop mouse (old one died). I had researched online and found that Sears had what I wanted for $5.00 less than Amazon, so that was one of my errands today. I declined the product insurance I was offered on this $12.99 item - are they serious? Does anyone insure their $13.00 purchases? Geesh!
SteveinMN
12-14-15, 8:01am
I decided to use a major credit card for all my point of sale purchases so that if compromised it would be easier to rectify and less risky because it's not attached to a checking account. So after doing that, I just got $100 gift card. Frugal?
So long as you're not paying interest on the purchases, I think it's frugal. You're just being rewarded for being a frequent customer. True, if you look all the way behind the curtain, products cost more because merchants charge to cover the cost of credit card transactions. But it's rare that you get a discount for paying with cash these days anyway.
What at inspires you to keep your furnace turned so low and just how much money are you saving in the name of frugality? Or do you just like it that way......
We heat with an outdoor wood boiler, so the less wood we have to burn the better IMO. And, we just generally like to keep the indoor temps lower than most. We find it easier to adjust to the outdoor temps when we leave the house for whatever reason.
I made the big shopping trip to BJs last week. Used a load of coupons to save money on things that we would have bought anyway. Plus, managed to upgrade our membership to the rewards membership, which will give us 2% back on all of our (qualifying) BJs purchases. I figure we'll recoup the $30 plus some so it was a good deal.
There has been a lot of free food at work lately so been saving a bit on food expenses in general. Of course, it's not always the healthiest of choices...
Got a nice little surprise from my other job -- a $25 gift card to a local grocery store. It's not a store we usually shop at, but it's not out of the way to go there so will use the gift card to get stuff we would have bought anyway. Considering that I've only worked enough hours at that job to make ~$200 this year, a $25 gift card is a pretty awesome bonus!
Made a Chinese inspired soup last night from ingredients we had on hand. Plenty of leftovers for today, too. Plus got motivated and baked two loaves of homemade bread.
rodeosweetheart
12-20-15, 12:29pm
Rosarugosa, Culvers is a Wisconsin based fast food joint that sells frozen custard but also amazingly good fried cod, which is what we usually have. I got hooked on the ice cream 15 years ago when we were still living in Midwest, then went East and down south, no Culvers, so it makes me happy to have it back up here in MI, but I dont really eat the ice cream anymore.
I didn't really give much thought to the SA's guiding principles. When I was a kid living in NJ, my mom volunteered at the store because she loved getting first shot at the antiques that came in, and she became friends with some of the SA officers (or whatever you call them.) Then twice we lived down the street from their centers, so lots of people do seem to be helped by them. I really didn't think it through beyond that. As you say, they always look so cold up North here at the those kettles.
Went to look at both Ford trucks and his 1988 F150 looked better, so we had the mechanic price out what we need to do to it to fix it up. It needs less work than the van, so is getting 900 dollars worth on the 1988 truck to keep it running. STill need to buy it new tires.
Will try selling the van on Craigslist, no desire to do the work on that one; needs 1700.
rosarugosa
12-20-15, 4:41pm
Cdttmm: You are made of way tougher stuff than I am. Our heat is only programmed to go as low as 60 degrees, and that's when we're at work!
Rodeosweetheart: Fried cod sounds very good! Sounds like you are making some frugal choices with your vehicles too.
As for us:
The good: I earned $6.00 doing Pinecone Research surveys this weekend. We also spent less than budgeted on holiday-related expenditures, so we were able to send an extra check to Melrose Humane Society (that's the group that fixed us up with our two boys; it's a small organization of good people rescuing cats and fostering them in their homes until adopted).
The bad: We just barely came in at budget on groceries this week. We had a small list and a pretty generous budget, so we really should have come in well under budget. Those small "oh hell, it's the holidays and Trader Joe's has special cookies" indulgences really add up!
The ugly: Went to a Christmas crafts fair with my sister and a friend yesterday. I didn't particularly want to go to the fair, but I did want to spend time with my sister and that's what she really wanted to do, so that's what we did. Frittered away $55.00 on some nice little things, but nothing remotely necessary. I'm not actually sorry I went. We had a good time together and I used my allowance for the spending, so no real harm done. But this kind of recreational shopping trip isn't the least bit frugal, so that's the ugly part!
SteveinMN
12-20-15, 10:08pm
Those small "oh hell, it's the holidays and Trader Joe's has special cookies" indulgences really add up!
They certainly do! That's been a challenge for us this month, but we've done a good (not great) job resisting. I have been making meals the last couple of weeks from whatever's already in the house, so I haven't been buying many groceries for menus, but I'm still buying sale items (like another ALDI ham, which will last us until they put them on sale again for Easter) so the freezer and pantry aren't as empty as I might have hoped.
The keypad to our garage door opener stopped working and i was tempted to just get another keypad at Sears before the last week of Christmas shopping drove me from the stores. But I ran short of time to go there, so I went home and started taking the keypad apart and discovered it has a battery (!). I always thought it was just powered by the same electricity that makes the opener work, so the battery must be original to the opener. 13 years off one 9-volt battery! I put in one we already had in the house and it works. Live and learn... way cheaper than replacing the keypad.
DW has been getting some overtime at work as other people take off for the holidays; that helps. I bought DW's Christmas gift on Amazon; when I went to pay for it, Amazon reminded me of a credit I had dating back to the beginning of the year, so I used it up. We've made several of the gifts we're giving and saved a lot of money over buying pretty much the same thing.
We gave away both of our artificial trees this year, but DW found a small one with our Christmas stuff -- already decorated from last year. Lends new meaning to the term "plug and play". :) This year, that's about what we're up to -- just a little decorating and a few treats and gifts and we're calling it good. There should be plenty of ornaments and trimmings to give away -- maybe this year if Goodwill will still take them; in a bin for next Christmas if they won't.
Frugality really is a challenge at this time of year....
Thank goodness for students who feel compelled to bring their teachers treats! Received a holiday gift bag from a student with 6 homemade macaroons in it. YUM!!! Totally solves my Christmas cookie craving without my having to spend money.
Free lunch at work today because we're in the final stages of our search for a new Dean. The students get to have lunch with the candidates, but there is always food leftover. So I took advantage and grabbed a sandwich and some cookies. This applicant is someone I used to work for, so it was nice to also be able to wish him good luck as he continued through the very long interview process.
At work, our student senate chose to do a community service project that involves arranging for Christmas presents for a needy family. Through some of our on-campus services they were able to get anonymously matched with a student who is a single mother of three girls and who is of limited economic means. They raised over $800 and were able to buy toys, games, clothing, and other gifts for the family, including a $200 gift card to the grocery store. It was pretty impressive! They wanted to get backpacks from the campus bookstore and some other school supplies for the mother so I got to tag along and help pick out those Christmas gifts. I was so happy because that was just enough activity to curb any craving for holiday shopping that might have led me to spending money unnecessarily. Afterwards the students all sat around listening to Christmas music and wrapping the gifts while I graded exams. It was a lovely, Christmas-y activity that didn't cost me anything -- WIN!!!
Eating up leftovers for dinner tonight and tomorrow before we head off to see the relatives for 24 hours. So glad I chose not to fly to MN this year. Feeling much more relaxed as a result!
ZanaHart
12-23-15, 12:04pm
Learned that our local chain grocery store, Albertson's, has a 10% off day for seniors, the first Wednesday of every month. Put that on my calendar and started a separate grocery list on the refrigerator door.
It's called (fondly) "geezer day."
frugal-one
12-23-15, 2:25pm
Getting the house ready to possibly sell. Needed to get a new tub wraparound (not the tub but the wall space). Went to the hardware store and found one that met our needs and when we went up to the checkout it was $49 :cool:! Amazing! Then went to lunch using reward money from our credit card...
rosarugosa
12-27-15, 7:42pm
The good: DH & I did an overnight stay in Portland, ME last night to use a free night at HI that will expire if not used by February, so this was sort of our holiday gift to ourselves. So lovely king-sized room with an amazing view of the city and the harbor for free is very good indeed.
The bad: Very expensive dinner last night (but really good)! So this was a good bad!
More good: Instead of going to breakfast or brunch this AM, we went to a convenience store near the hotel and picked up bananas and muffins. I had brought clementines and made coffee in our percolator, and DH got a complimentary cocoa in the lobby. Also went shopping at Reny's, which is an amazing discount chain in Maine. I needed a new glass candy jar (cat broke the lid to our current one) and I had one on my Amazon wish list for $14.99. I got the identical jar for $2.99!
The ugly: We won't even talk about how much I spent on soaps at my favorite soap store. But at least I am clean and I smell good, so there are worse obsessions. :)
freshstart
12-27-15, 10:05pm
The good: DH & I did an overnight stay in Portland, ME last night to use a free night at HI that will expire if not used by February, so this was sort of our holiday gift to ourselves. So lovely king-sized room with an amazing view of the city and the harbor for free is very good indeed.
The bad: Very expensive dinner last night (but really good)! So this was a good bad!
More good: Instead of going to breakfast or brunch this AM, we went to a convenience store near the hotel and picked up bananas and muffins. I had brought clementines and made coffee in our percolator, and DH got a complimentary cocoa in the lobby. Also went shopping at Reny's, which is an amazing discount chain in Maine. I needed a new glass candy jar (cat broke the lid to our current one) and I had one on my Amazon wish list for $14.99. I got the identical jar for $2.99!
The ugly: We won't even talk about how much I spent on soaps at my favorite soap store. But at least I am clean and I smell good, so there are worse obsessions. :)
one of my favorite places to visit. I never heard of Remy's, I'll have to remember it for next time. Score on the jar!
Dec27th
--The good this month has been that we have done a lot of cooking at home, we have been using up the leftovers (sent Dsil home with a couple of meals Christmas day)
gifts did not break the bank, received very nice useful gifts mostly, lunches and outings did not break the bank either and were very enjoyable, out of town company tomorrow and my house is nice and clean.
All and all a nice simple Christmas with family.
---the really good was that I did not buy any and I mean any special candy/chocolates for Christmas....The bad I went to the drug store to pick up a prescription and they
had an amazing sale and I totally caved, but some is an extra gift for that out of town company and some for Dsil's birthday that lands in Feb. none of it had Xmas on it
so usable even for Valentines etc. The best item was nice glass jars with 525 grams of pralines mixed nuts for $4.96 bought 4 of those......okay, okay I said it was a bad.
--I bought a 7.5 lb Roaster Chicken (instead of turkey for Christmas day) and it was so delicious (of course that is a lot to do with Dd's cooking)
way more meat than bones compared to a little chicken. Don't often see them but, will look for them in the future.
That is all I can think of for now.....Hope you all had a Great Christmas Season!
P.S. I haven't been on the scale but, I am thinking my 25lb lost of weight may not be that good right now.....lol
rosarugosa
12-28-15, 11:09am
I never heard of Remy's, I'll have to remember it for next time.
Freshstart: It's Reny's and it's a really cool store. They have everything from clothing to hardware to housewares to groceries to Maine souvenirs, and their prices are great. I bought the candy jar, nice insulated gloves, a leather wallet (configured exactly like my very old, falling apart wallet), two kinds of band-aids, cold medicine for day and night, a 12-pack of pocket Kleenex, eye-drops, shoe polish & a hairbrush for $42.00.
Last year I got DH a pair of flannel-lined jeans and a flannel shirt there for $15.00.
freshstart
12-28-15, 12:40pm
Freshstart: It's Reny's and it's a really cool store. They have everything from clothing to hardware to housewares to groceries to Maine souvenirs, and their prices are great.
you did great! I want one of those here!
cindycindy
12-29-15, 8:14pm
Bought some holiday wrap for next year at 50 cents a roll at 50% off at Dollar Store. 75% off holiday stuff at CVS. Picked up some holiday hand lotions for next year for office exchange and some candy gift boxes for some family visits this New Years Eve weekend. Holding off for grocery shopping as a grocery store near us does a big can-can sale in January where I stock up on olive oil, cooking oil, canned beans and detergent, but did stock up on some boneless chicken at $1.79 per pound as well as some store made sausage to have on New Years' Day with DS and DDIL. Have had a very spendy month. Stayed pretty much within budget for Christmas gifts, but due to not planning, did not have a lot of home made meals during week at home.
rosarugosa
12-29-15, 8:19pm
Nice scores, Cindy! Sounds like you'll be starting out the New Year with some good homemade meals.
gettingthere
12-29-15, 10:33pm
I have a few for the month:
*My drying rack broke but I looked through my dad's old toolbox that he recently passed on to me and found a screw that was just the right size. Good as new!
*I couldn't get my seat belt to latch the other day. I took a flashlight and looked inside and realized that a tissue had somehow gotten squished down in there and torn to shreds. 30 minutes and some random thin pieces of metal from around the house and I got it out. I'm sure a mechanic would have charged me a ton.
*Went on some day trips with the family this month. Packed sandwiches, snacks and drinks so there were no food expenses.
*I've been trying to eat a few meatless dinners a week. Lentil tacos, homemade pizza and pasta/veggie combos have become family favorites and are definitely keeping grocery costs down.
*My phone's car charger also broke this month (this has been quite the month for things breaking!). I looked through my glove box and found an old charger with a USB port. I'm able to hook my new(er) phone into that but I just have to bring my wall charger back and forth from the car.
*Made cream of turkey soup tonight with leftover Thanksgiving turkey and homemade stock from the freezer and the last bit of some cream cheese in the fridge.
*I picked up a part time job every other Sunday. It's about a 45 minute drive from my house but I get paid $200 for 4 hours so it's worth it. Plus the job is right near a friend's house so my daughter goes to play with my friend's daughter while I'm working and I get in quick visits with my friend afterward.
*Made homemade granola for a few Christmas gifts this year. I've already had a call asking for more :)
*For my daughter's teacher's gift, my daughter made her a coaster during kid's craft time at our local Michael's ($2), I got a mug on clearance and a box of tea on sale/combined with a coupon. Much less expensive than previous years' teacher gifts.
*This one wasn't on purpose but we couldn't get our act together to do Christmas cards this year. I thought about doing New Year's cards but realized that by the time we pay for the cards and stamps we're spending close to $200. It's just not in the budget this year.
By the way, I LOVE Reny's. We're about 10 miles from one and we always get great bargains when we go. We did a little Christmas shopping there this year.
rosarugosa
12-30-15, 6:06am
Gettingthere: We do a few meatless meals each week too, usually eggs, homemade pizza, quesadilla's, entree salad ( sometimes we include chicken or fish on the salad, but sometimes not). Good work with the repairs instead of hiring/replacing.
You are lucky to live near a Reny's, I think. I'll admit that I cannot resist shopping when I'm in Portland, but since Reny's opened, I can scratch that shopping itch affordably and pick up some practical things we really need for reasonable money. So Reny's actually turns out to be a frugal for me. I used to always pick up mustard at Stonewall Kitchen in Portland, but last year I discovered Raye's at Reny's, which is just as delicious for less than half the price. They seem to carry a fair number of locally-made products, and I like that. I've also read that they're a good employer with lots of loyal, long-term employees, so that's the kind of company we want to keep in business!
SteveinMN
12-30-15, 9:52pm
I got my wish for New Year's; we're staying home. :cool: Usually we visit friends of ours who host family and friends -- lots of people and babies and pets coming and going. It's kind of a zoo, really, and it calls for shopping for and preparing a dish to share with the group and getting by with a lot of other carb-y processed food that we're better off not eating. The hosts like to make an afternoon and a night and a morning of it (more carb-y processed food and a long lingering goodbye). It may sound as if I don't like these people; I do, for the most part (we don't discuss politics and now I can discuss babies). But a solid 24 hours of being cooped up in their house... DW wasn't up for that much partying this year, either.
So instead we're staying home. On NYE I'm cooking a steak, sweet potatoes (as steak fries), and broccoli, all of which was on sale at the local market. On NY Day I'm cooking a soup called ozōni, traditionally served in Japan for New Year's. I had to buy a few ingredients, but I had most of them in the house already. So it will be a low-cost low-energy low-drama New Year's.
Lots of no-drive days lately. Still cooking lots of meals out of a freezer stocked with sale items. My mom is emptying her basement freezer and is giving it to us because she just doesn't get to the food in it fast enough. I think we will, so we're happy to take it and it comes at the best price (it's also new enough to not be an energy hog). And it will help with my goal of reducing our food expenses 10% next year.
Last year we started replacing the 40-plus-year-old windows in our house. The first window came with a bit of sticker shock, but we chalked that up to it being by far the biggest window in the house. But even with two estimates for the next windows to be replaced, sticker shock is setting in. The payback on these windows will be far longer than we ever anticipate being in this house. And most of the windows are still in decent shape. Taking cost out of these new windows will leave us with windows that aren't be appreciably better than the ones we have. So I think we're putting the brakes on a purchase that would have cost us around $10 grand over the next few years and just will replace the windows that fail.
On to a more frugal 2016!
Been a mostly frugal week over here. Sure, I splurged on a few items at the grocery store for my SIL and BIL's visit earlier this week, but it's all food that will get eaten so it's not a huge deal. Been doing lots of home cooking as a result. Made a huge pot of carrot-lentil soup with carrots I picked for free from the rooftop farm in NYC on Christmas Eve day. Then made a crockpot full of black beans from dry beans. Now we've got plenty of freezer meals or elements of freezer meals ready to go. I also baked mint chocolate cupcakes and realized that although they are good, I much prefer the denser nature of muffins to cupcakes. So in the future muffins will be on the agenda when the urge to bake something chocolate-y presents itself. Last but not least, I tried my hand at making sot suppe (sweet soup), a Norwegian holiday favorite AKA fruit soup. It is essentially dried fruit made into a soup-like concoction. It came out pretty good, but nobody else was all that excited about eating it, so I won't be making that on a regular basis.
We had our first snowstorm of the season and cleared the snow ourselves. Can't believe we used to pay someone to do that job. Although, the sheet of ice that covered the snow made it a real nightmare to clear so maybe it would have been worth it to pay someone else just this once!
Did splurge a bit this week and joined the YMCA so that I can swim with the Masters swim team. Fortunately, this particular Y is very close to work and practice is 6:30am-7:30am MWF and I teach at 8:00am. So there's real additional driving involved during the semester, just a need to get up earlier and be super organized. I've been to two practices already and am very happy to be back in the water so the expense will be well worth it!
Tallied our grocery/household goods expenses for 2015. Sheesh. Need to do better in 2016. But at least now I know the numbers and can make decisions and changes based on that information. We'll be eating a lot more beans and rice this next year; I'll be baking loaves of English muffin bread for toasting instead of buying pre-made bagels; and we'll be making more of an effort to grow and preserve our own food. I'd like to get the annual number down by 20%, but I'd be happy with a 15% reduction. I would have said 10%, but that just seems too easy and is a goal that allows a high degree of laziness on my part.
rodeosweetheart
12-31-15, 9:41am
Last year we started replacing the 40-plus-year-old windows in our house. The first window came with a bit of sticker shock, but we chalked that up to it being by far the biggest window in the house. But even with two estimates for the next windows to be replaced, sticker shock is setting in. The payback on these windows will be far longer than we ever anticipate being in this house. And most of the windows are still in decent shape. Taking cost out of these new windows will leave us with windows that aren't be appreciably better than the ones we have. So I think we're putting the brakes on a purchase that would have cost us around $10 grand over the next few years and just will replace the windows that fail.
On to a more frugal 2016!
This is a very wise decision. I investigated this thoroughly after buying that SC house with mid century modern metal windows. Here is a great article about the wisdom of your decision:
http://thecraftsmanblog.com/replacement-windows-the-real-story/
I thought this idea intriguing, for the Northern climates:
http://www.indowwindows.com/storm-window-inserts/?utm_source=Affiliate-AustinHomeRestorations&utm_medium=Affiliate-Link&utm_campaign=Affiliate
Williamsmith
12-31-15, 10:04am
This is a very wise decision. I investigated this thoroughly after buying that SC house with mid century modern metal windows. Here is a great article about the wisdom of your decision:
http://thecraftsmanblog.com/replacement-windows-the-real-story/
I thought this idea intriguing, for the Northern climates:
http://www.indowwindows.com/storm-window-inserts/?utm_source=Affiliate-AustinHomeRestorations&utm_medium=Affiliate-Link&utm_campaign=Affiliate
A great example of placing variable value on advice depending on the obvious bias of the source. Frugality is making people earn your money instead of just throwing it away. Nice website for an alternative to sending off perfectly good technology to the dump.
My husband made indoor storms for the living room, dining room and 2 kitchen windows. I like to have the ability to open a window or two in the winter so none in the bedroom and bath. However, they have worked very well. He made a simple pine frame of 1 x 2s and I covered them with the hair dryer plastic. We screwed them in and they make a huge difference in our comfort level. They are hardly noticeable, easy to install and easy to remove in the spring. They are in addition to the outdoor aluminum storm windows. Our hand person keeps pushing replacement, but I just can't see doing that. We did get replacement windows in the basement as those two were rotten clear through. They look fine.
gettingthere
12-31-15, 3:19pm
Gettingthere: I used to always pick up mustard at Stonewall Kitchen in Portland, but last year I discovered Raye's at Reny's, which is just as delicious for less than half the price.
I'll have to try that mustard. We live down the street from the Stonewall flagship store and I try very hard to avoid going in there because I always want to spend big. I can usually avoid the food but I do like a good spicy mustard. What I have a hard time saying no to is all the beautiful dishes and bakeware.
NYE will be mostly frugal for us too. We're going to visit my SIL in the White Mountains. It's a bit of a drive (about an hour and a half) but my MIL is bringing pizza, I'm bringing homemade Chex mix and we'll play cards and laugh a lot. I always enjoy our cards nights so I'm looking forward to it.
SteveinMN
12-31-15, 5:49pm
A great example of placing variable value on advice depending on the obvious bias of the source. Frugality is making people earn your money instead of just throwing it away. Nice website for an alternative to sending off perfectly good technology to the dump.
Agreed.
I will say, however, that Sidler (The Craftsman Blog) has his own obvious bias in that he makes replacement windows and window components. There are far better manufacturers -- and warranties -- out there than Jeld-Wen's and Pella's, but he's chosen those companies to set the bar his company clears. It's his blog, it's his choice. But it's a little like claiming that there is no fried chicken in the world better than mine because KFC and Popeye's chicken is what people buy the most. It may be great fried chicken but there's stiffer competition out there if one cares to look.
Our situation is different in that we don't have one of those charming beautiful drafty amateur-built old houses. There are dozens of our model of house in and around St. Paul, and many dozens more, by the same builder, built from similar floorplans. They're all "machines for living", as Corbusier put it, but without Corbusier's styling touch. There are no hardwood floors or built-ins or charming architectural details. I'm fine with that. But it makes the replacement of non-kiln-dried-wood mass-produced builder-grade windows a very different equation than the one Sidler presents. At least these were double-pane to start with (this is Minnesota).
So we'll stay the course. I'd already added a bunch of insulation to the attic and had a blower test energy audit (got good marks from that). We’ve wanted to put an egress window into the basement for some time, so some window money will be directed to that. I'm sure we can find places to spend that kind of money. ;)
rodeosweetheart
12-31-15, 6:06pm
We did replace all the windows in our 1830 upstate New York farmhouse. But none of them were the originals--they were horrible 1970 Pellas that had once contained gas and now leaked and contained water condensation. When we replaced them, we did realize energy savings. But they weren't the originals and had no endearing or enduring features.
We bought them one by one at the weird overstock window/door store and my husband put them all in himself, which was good because there was a lot of carpentry involved with the old jams.(sills? --basically, retrofitting the holes since nothing on an old house is standard.)
My sister-in-law in Corning DID have original window and opted to up her storm game and I think might have added some of the interior storms. Those intrigue me greatly.
I have read many articles in the past year, though, that come to the same conclusion that you did, Steve, that replacing windows is not automatically a good idea, even though all the realtors we talk to seem to think it is.
He also replaced all the windows in our South Carolina house and I think that one was a mistake, my mistake, although again, we did save on air conditioning afterwards.
Williamsmith
1-1-16, 5:01am
As far as the windows go ...... in the house I sold....a brick ranch custom built by the original owner in 1959..the Windows were the type that you wind out and condensation caused water damage on the sills and some of the hardware was inoperable. So it seemed to make sense.
I purchased vinyl replacement windows through a friend and had them delivered to the house. The brand was Certainteed . I had hired the friend to I install but he died unexpectedly so I installed them myself with the help of my father in law. Did at least a dozen Windows. In the basement, I had an Amish man install those because it meant cutting out the metal frames and dealing with the concrete block. I didn't have time for that.
I planned on living in the house for at least 20 more years, which I did so with some of the insulation issues plus the energy efficiency tax deductions, I think it was the right choice for the right time. Also, myself and my father in law for the first ten years or so of living there did all the work. That saved tons of money on labor.
On another frugal note, I went to a nearby Dairy Queen and walked out with an 8" circular ice cream cake for my sons birthday.....no charge. I had a punch card....buy four get the fifth one free. that's a savings of $23. Good way to finish the year out.
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