View Full Version : February 2016 Frugals
New month, new thread! We got to 16 pages last month -- let's see if we can top that. Post away, my frugal friends!!! :D
rodeosweetheart
2-1-16, 6:08pm
We decided not to go out tonight to save gas and stay warm. DH is making split pea soup with a great recipe we found last week, and we are making due with what ingredients we have, adding some leftover chicken instead of chicken stock, and turkey bacon, carrots, onion, and celery. DH has become dangerously allergic to mammalian protein, so we've switched over the turkey bacon for everything and now like it better than the original. It's also cheap--one brand or other is usually on sale for 2 packs for 4 dollars. I will make spaghetti carbonara with it this week.
Feb 01
---went shopping for some workout clothes been wearing what I had to the gym but, frugal is I decided to
keep wearing what I have until Costco has them on sale....no spend on that
---had four errands today so plan the trip and went in a circle.
--had leftover pork sirloin roast (bought for $1.44 a lb) that I had cooked in the slow cooker with honey garlic sauce 2 days ago cooked up
with some roasted veggies I had in the freezer. Delish supper.....
Recent frugals:
- attended a free screening of a biographical video of a racial-/economic-justice crusader; thought-provoking video and discussion afterward. Even the parking was free.
- needed a quick dinner because of the screening so rather than bring in dinner, I defrosted some sliced ham and some jollof-style rice I'd frozen a while ago; quick, easy, money already spent.
- our favorite frozen pizza was on a buy-two-get-three-free sale at a local supermarket. $18 bought five pizzas which retail around $7-8 and which we usually buy for $5 or $6. Still cheaper than take-out/delivery -- and not as much of a carb and fat load as takeout.
- filled up the car with diesel at $1.89 a gallon. Can't remember it that cheap in years, especially in winter. 40 mpg, too, which is not bad for winter driving. One semi-frugal coming up is having to repair a broken engine mount. Probably a couple hundred dollars but it keeps this 13-year-old car soldiering on.
Called around and saved $70 on same tires, which ended up being 8 miles closer to home so a bit of time and gas saved.
Rec'd $723.00 check in the mail for some tools we sold.
Ordered less expensive phone case through Amazon instead of what Verizon tried to up-sell me. Saving $12.
Arranged with my business partners to hold our weekly meetings at time and location that allows me to combine trips thereby saving on gas and time.
Brought breakfast, lunch, and multiple travel mugs of green tea to work both yesterday and today. Will endeavor to do the same the remaining 3 days of the week.
Got a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt free from a friend who had received them as samples for his company. Not exactly my style, but free is good! I'll wear them around the house and to the gym as they are perfect for that use.
Borrowed a textbook for a student so that he wouldn't have to buy one. A frugal move even though it didn't save me money directly. I figured the good will is worth something, though!
Proposed to a student the possibility of completing an Independent Study for which I would be the faculty advisor. If she follows through, I'll earn a whopping $249 (so lame!), but it will be a good resume builder (not that I really need it, but I'll take it just in case!), and it won't be much extra work as she is sitting in on a non-credit course with me otherwise.
Downloaded the first chapter of two books a colleague wrote during a promo she was offering on her website. Got those chapters for free, which will likely be enough to satiate my curiosity and prevent me from buying the complete books. I have so much reading to do already that I really don't need to be buying any more books (or checking them out from the library!).
Got a promo code to save 25 cents per gallon on gas on my next fill up. The station is near BJs so will try to arrange to need a fill-up when I do my next shopping trip there so that I can take advantage of the discount on gas.
Salvaged a sweet pepper on the verge of becoming compost and incorporated it into our dinner. Have one more that I need to do the same thing with very soon!
Lots of small things, but they are adding up!
Used up leftover steamed cauliflower for lunch the other day as sort of a salad with leftover yogurt dressing, so a double saving of "at risk" leftovers. It was good too! Just redeemed points from doing daily Bing searches for a $5.00 Amazon credit. DH & I each earn about $5.00 per month doing this. It isn't much, but it's nice having a credit balance with Amazon if I need something.
early morning
2-3-16, 2:45pm
Cleaned out two bottles of hand lotion that were too low to pump, filling a half-pint jar. Made chocolate mousse from some milk that was too far past its prime to drink. Cut up some ends and pieces of cheese and put them into small containers to add to packed lunches, and put a whole jar of roasted peppers in the chili even though it calls for 2/3 of that amount, saving the remainder from dying in the back of the fridge. Tasted great! Paid some hospital bills while waiting for DH to come back from his outpatient surgery, saving the stamp and earning points from my rewards card. WHY does a single hospital visit produce at least seven different bills, SIX of which are paid directly to the hospital? Couldn't they put them all on one statement, even if they are for different docs, etc, if they are doing all the billing??? Oh well. I'll probably get more yet, and a passel from today's visit. We SHOULD have met our out of pocket for DH for this fiscal year, but apparently my spreadsheet and the insurance company's do not match. I have a call in!
rodeosweetheart
2-3-16, 4:08pm
Boiled bags of old chicken and turkey bones DH had collected in freezer to make soup stock; made croutons out of cold bread in freezer; thawing squash from the garden to make a pie; ordered cat litter from Amazon as it looks cheaper and gets sent free to the house.
Started list of staples that I do not want to be without, like said cat litter, so that I can try to buy these items only when on sale, like we do with our coffee.
I keep a bag of crumbs and a bag of vegetable trimmings in the freezer. Bone bag is a good idea! Thanks rodeosweetheart!!!
Here, am continuing with spring cleaning. Down at laundromat again doing courtesy washes for some donations, as well as my afgans. Drying two loads together saves $1.17.
Am participating in the 5-things-a-day purge challenge this month. Reserved cotton balls from expired supplement bottle. I use cotton balls daily. Only saves about 3 cents but it's an easy frugal... *shrug*
Having coffee at Starbucks while here at the laundry. Manager treated me to a cookie. She's so nice.
Early: I hope your DH is OK.
I threw my hands up at frugality today. I did my taxes and we owe the IRS $1100. I had tweaked my withholding downward after someone fraudulently filed under my SSN a couple of years ago, but it looks like I tweaked a bit too much. At least I put extra in savings and 401k when I did this, but it still hurts to write a check to the IRS!
Bad MD visit for DH today and he will need another surgical biopsy in the hospital (third one in less than a year). He is a good guy and I feel so bad he has to go through all this medical crap. So we said the hell with everything and went out for a luxurious lunch. That was lovely actually and no regrets, but certainly not frugal. Not a great day overall.
rosarugosa... (((HUGS))) and prayers up.
rosarugosa, sending you and your DH positive vibes and healing thoughts!!! Think of it this way, you're frugal in lots of ways and on lots of days precisely so that you can be unfrugal in the moments which call for it!
Brought breakfast, lunch, and tea to work yesterday. Found a dime on the locker room floor and a penny on the classroom floor. I'm getting rich over here, folks!!!
Took the students in my personal finance class to meet the woman who coordinates what is called our "Thrive Center" -- a program that is funded in part by the local United Way. The center provides free money skills classes, financial coaching, and hosts VITA tax preparation volunteers during the first part of the year. Some of my students seemed entirely disinterested, but some seemed genuinely excited that they have access to these resources. I really like this group of students and I hope the entire semester is productive for them. We also stopped by the Career Center on campus and met one of the career counselors. Again, more free services -- hope these students take full advantage of this stuff!!! After class one of my students stuck around for about 30 minutes asking me questions about the used car she just bought and whether I thought it was the right move. She told me that she doesn't really have anyone else to talk to about this stuff so I was pleased that she came to me -- I hope she learned something useful from our conversation!
Packing lunch and tea again today. And probably a few snacks since Thursday is one of my long days at school.
Set up the mortgage payments for our rental house to be paid weekly instead of bi-weekly or monthly. It'll save a little bit of interest along the way. I know a lot of people say not to try to pay the mortgage off faster when the interest rates are so low, but I still can't help myself. I want the thing gone!!!
Planning my racing calendar for the year and trying to set it up so that at least one of my three races will not require hotel expenses (the in-laws have a house nearby one of the race locations). Still a little shocked at how much I spent last year on the travel and hotels for racing. Yikes!
Keep posted those frugals, my friends! Y'all keep me going!
I took the last of the old sheets to the donation point for an animal rescue. It's in a pet store. First time I went they offered me some high-end treat samples for my cat. She likes them! Priced them and they're out of my budget right now so when I dropped off the sheets I asked if they still had cat treat samples. They did. Asking was worth it. I came home with 1/2 a mini-tote's full.
I got a hot tea at the Starbucks near the pet store then headed towards the gym. Popped into the Starbucks near the gym for a hot water refill. Not really a frugal but good to know that's do-able without a fuss.
A couple months back I mentioned changing my 7-Eleven chicken wing habit. Seems I only bought wings once in January. Most excellent.
rodeosweetheart
2-4-16, 4:28pm
At Target found our coffee that we like in a mega size and did a calculation and found the way we usually it was 32 cents a lb and this way was 27 cents a pound, so bought 20 dollars worth of coffee. This was because we ran out this morning and what a horrible way to start the day.
Checked prices at Target in general and they were a lot better than our regular store, for several things, like dog chews. Cat litter matched price I paid on Amazon this week.
Our dogs are incredibly ridiculously picky with chews so now we marinade the chews with chicken stock and bake them, and suddenly they are crazy about the chews.
Gave away the 33 dollar bag of dog food that our terrier was allergic to to an acquaintance--it was good food, salmon and pea, she just is allergic to everything.
Rodeo, that's a terrier for you.
I hardly ever post on this thread, but today I efiled my taxes for free, met friends at Arbys for 50c coffee and took a form to my Dr to request a variance(change of tier) on an expensive med I take. I hope I get it.
Feb02,03,04
Rosarugosa....hoping for the best for your husband..waiting for results is always difficult.
Early I hope your husband is good?
rodeosweetheart.....I agree I am not sure how broke I would have to be to not have my coffee but, it is even better when
you get it at a good price.
---went back to the store that had the pork sirloin roasts on at $1.44 a lb and bought 3 more (had cook some of the first I had
bought to make sure I liked them. I have butchered them up into chops, 3-4 lb roasts, and pieces for tacos and stir fry's.
Lots of good meat will last a long time for a total $51.00. Turned the one 4 lb roast into a Porketta yesterday which we had
with rice and vegetable. Some of it went on homemade pizza tonight (caramelized onions from the freezer, mushrooms, cheese and the pork)
It was delish. And, there is plenty left for tomorrow I am thinking it will make a great spaghetti sauce....yumm
Williamsmith
2-5-16, 4:18am
At Target found our coffee that we like in a mega size and did a calculation and found the way we usually it was 32 cents a lb and this way was 27 cents a pound, so bought 20 dollars worth of coffee. This was because we ran out this morning and what a horrible way to start the day.
Checked prices at Target in general and they were a lot better than our regular store, for several things, like dog chews. Cat litter matched price I paid on Amazon this week.
Our dogs are incredibly ridiculously picky with chews so now we marinade the chews with chicken stock and bake them, and suddenly they are crazy about the chews.
Gave away the 33 dollar bag of dog food that our terrier was allergic to to an acquaintance--it was good food, salmon and pea, she just is allergic to everything.
Are you talking about, Taste of the Wild dog food? My golden retriever was allergic to anything and she did very good on this. It didn't break the bank.
rodeosweetheart
2-5-16, 9:49am
Are you talking about, Taste of the Wild dog food? My golden retriever was allergic to anything and she did very good on this. It didn't break the bank.
Naw, it was from Sams Club:
http://www.samsclub.com/sams/sr-exceed-grain-free-30-lb-salmon-pea/prod10970707.ip
It had wonderful reviews.
We have her now on Fromms duck and sweetpotato.
They eat better than we do.
early morning
2-5-16, 8:21pm
rosa and danna - Dh is on a upswing, thankfully - thanks for asking. Rosa I hope everything turns out ok with your DH! Danna, pork is my all time hands-down favorite meat. Well, other than cured ham, that is - so I'm quite envious of your sale and stash, lol! I've been feeling a cold coming on, so I ordered a bunch of my favorite peppermint tea from Amazon, and it was $2. cheaper than last time for a hundred tea bags. We generally use loose tea, but at work and when I feel crappy, dropping a teabag into a cup of hot water is such a luxury! I need a grocery trip, but decided we can eek things out for a few more days and eat from the pantry. Going to curl up with my blanket, a cup of tea, and a free library movie!
Am en route to see HAIL CAESAR. I love movies, so I see at least one a month in the theater. No coupon this time BUT... I did bring a package of nuts and a can of iced tea from 7-Eleven. $3 total.
Have a bit of a wait so I popped in to Wag's to get in on that deal for 16 ct Tide pods for $1.99. ($4.99-$3 c/o). Also requested raincheck on another item. Can't forget about those.
Feb 05
--ended up having taco with the leftover pork and added lentils...very good
--went to the gym the frugal is that I am using the new membership up to 5 times a week so getting lots of exercise and a
walk every day....if I am healthy and fitter I do more. Also, making not buy any clothes because I want to be smaller by the
time we need summer clothes.
That is all for now...no drive and no spend day.
Thanks for the good wishes, folks. I'm done with the self-pity trip!
One thing I can say is that we often learn good things when eating out and we recreate them, or something similar at home. So tonight, dinner will be here at "The Cottage," and I'm going to do my own take on the wonderful citrus salad I had at lunch Weds. I even have blood oranges! We can add delectable seafood from our freezer stash.
Last night was a delicious homemade pizza by DH, with spinach and tomatoes, a truly frugal and wonderful meal.
Had to buy some pet supplies and found the best prices on Amazon so used $50 in gift cards plus free shipping with our Prime membership when making the purchase.
Trimmed all three dogs' toenails this morning myself versus paying a vet tech or pet groomer to do it. Our nail trimmer has paid for itself years ago at this point. I also tried brushing the teeth of two of the dogs. Not entirely successful, but perhaps I'll get better with practice. Hoping to minimize the cost of doggy dental care this year.
Earlier this week a piece of my swim cap tore off during swim practice. Instead of buying a new one, I went home and searched the random-sports-equipment-and-accessories cabinet and found a spare one. It's a latex cap and I prefer the silicone caps, but I'll wait to buy a silicone one until I have a reason to buy other swim equipment and can combine the trip to the sporting goods store or an online order.
Was planning to make quesadillas for lunch and discovered all of the corn tortillas had grown mold in the refrigerator. Not frugal. <Sigh.> Ate graham crackers in milk for lunch instead. (Anybody else eat graham crackers in milk? I suspect my mom learned this cheap meal from her depression-era grandmother, but I don't know of anyone else who eats it!)
Pulled a batch of homemade energy bars out of the fridge. They are looking like they might have a bit of freezer burn, but I'll see if I can salvage them. Also pulled out a container of homemade applesauce to thaw. Need to make more muffins this weekend with the ever-ripening bananas on my kitchen counter.
Need to use up the last sweet bell pepper that is in the fridge. I'm thinking black bean nachos with bell pepper and avocado for dinner.
Not much else to report in the way of frugals around here. We got several inches of snow yesterday so today is a whole lot of snow removal. Of course, we do it ourselves so that's frugal. Otherwise I think it's gonna be a pretty quiet weekend at home.
We did indeed have a very nice dinner at home last night. DH was impressed by my blood orange salad, so I'm learning that he enjoys salads if I'm more creative with them. We've been really rocking the cauliflower too, it is currently cheap and abundant.
A friend who volunteers at a food pantry picked up a big load of bread and bagels from Panera's Friday, but then the pantry was closed due to snow storm. We ended up with 3 huge loaves of bread, which we broke down into halves and froze.
Due to low oil prices and warm weather, the bill from our oil company said to only pay half the usual monthly charge both this month and next (we're on a level monthly payment billing plan with them).
Cdttmm: I never heard of the graham crackers in milk, sounds like something my DH would like.
rosarugosa: I always figured that graham crackers in milk was what poor kids got instead of Golden Grahams cereal. Probably because my family didn't have much money when I was growing up and my mom refused to buy the "good" (aka sugar) cereal like Golden Grahams. (And on the rare occasions when she did buy sugar cereal, we were only allowed to eat it if we mixed it half-and-half in a bowl with Cheerios!) So imagine my surprise when I decided to Google "graham crackers in milk" yesterday and discovered that it's actually a "thing" that other people eat! HA! Of course, it seems that people either love it or hate it, so have your DH try it and let me know what he thinks!
Baked two loaves of English muffin toasting bread using the recipe from the King Arthur flour website. Turned out pretty good. I had a few slices with peanut butter for breakfast this morning.
That's pretty much the extent of the frugals from yesterday. But I'm glad there's something because I got up this morning and learned that my grandmother passed away on Thursday. So I guess I'll be buying a plane ticket this week so that I can attend the service in Minnesota. May her soul RIP and may the 3+ decades of family drama now come to an end.
rodeosweetheart
2-7-16, 9:38am
cdttmm, I am sorry for your loss.
I am printing off the King Arthur bread recipe you mentioned and will try it this week. It looks very good!
Thank you, rodeosweetheart.
I've learned that my grandmother was cremated and the proposed plan is to have a small family memorial service this summer so no need to buy a plane ticket this week. I'll call that a frugal win despite the unfortunate circumstances.
Baked a dozen banana chocolate chocolate chip muffins yesterday from a different recipe than I usually use. They turned out okay, but not great. I actually think some combination of the two recipes will give me the best results so that's what I'll try next weekend.
Was organized enough that I brought breakfast, lunch, and tea with me to school this morning. They decided to close the campus at Noon due to the impending snow storm, so one of my classes was cancelled. We'll see if they open late tomorrow, which would please me greatly as I'd likely miss my first 2 classes and not have to go to campus until 12:30pm. Of course, then I just have to figure out how to make up all that missed work with my students...
Got the estimate for my cat to have two teeth extracted: $650. Yikes. Since one of the dogs also needs a tooth extracted, I'm thinking I'll ask if there's a multi-pet discount. Never know and it could mean easy savings!
Feb 08
cdttmm.....very sorry for your loss...it sounds like a memorial service in the summer will be a much better time.
Also, about the graham crackers in milk I had never heard of that one but, when we were kids and Dad got paid once
a month money was always tight but especially on 31 day months. We would get warmed milk (at that time milk was cheap and plentiful where we lived) with brown sugar on
broken up pieces of toasted bread (aka stale bread she had saved in the freezer) we loved, loved, loved it but Mom would say it was a special treat
only for the longer months. We were much older before we understood. An amazing women who could make hardship feel like a treat.
My frugals the last couple of days were mostly just a lot of the same stuff.
I have been cleaning and decluttering and that means finding things that I don't need to buy and using up bits of things and food.
I too am just going through things and using up what I have or passing it on. Where I need to be right now.
I picked up the .99 document frames and inserted the thank you certificates to the food donors from the homeless census volunteers. I bought the stack of 12. I should've looked at each so I didn't notice the 2 with broken glass til I started inserting 1-x-1. Returned them and got the money back. The budget for the census for food and drink was $25. 80 volunteers. But for the community partners donating we wouldn't have been able to provide water. $12+ for some meaningful thank you's and much deserved.
I was delivering one when I remembered my community group's steering committee was meeting at that restaurant tonight, so I popped in and gave my report on the census. While there, I ordered soup and tea. When giving me my change, the server had rounded up to the nearest dollar. Um, that's pretty presumptuous. So, when calculating tip I deducted the coinage amount I should've received.
Didn't get to the gym today but I walked a lot delivering the certificates. Delivering 3 more tomorrow and the last one next month at our general meeting because the rep will be there.
And so it goes...
Feb 09
--bought 4 whole chickens at $1.77 a lb will roast them 2 at a time...getting lots of fresh roasted chicken and lots
of leftovers and soup bones.
--cooked a whole crock pot of chicken legs and thigh from the freezer bought a couple or month back with a homemade BBQ
delicious and lots of leftovers for another meal
--bought a box of wine on sale cheapest way to have my treat and last awhile (should last longer....lol)
--bought a bag of organic baby romaine reg. $3.49 on $3.00 off because the date was due tomorrow had a big salad with cheese/onion/pumpkin seeds for lunch
and that will be lunch tomorrow too. And, a bag of coleslaw mix reg. $1.99 with $1.00 off and I will make that into a stir fry with a bit of my pork tomorrow night.
Meezer_Mom
2-10-16, 2:37am
Delivered the last 3 thank you certificates this afternoon. Along the way I stopped at a local diner for a small coffee and decided to also get a blueberry scone. Server surprised me saying the scone was on her. *shrug* Thanks!
The last cert was at my friend's pizza place. Saved that last so we could catch up. He offered me a ride back to the neighborhood as soon as he finished in his office so I popped into the restaurant for a slice and soda while I waited. Prepared to pay and his servers said it was on the house since I was a friend. Another unexpected surprise.
Am wrapping up at the gym. Plan to pick up the Purex pods that are on sale at Rite Aid ($.99 after c/o), before heading back to the house.
Today was the day of free food! There was a lunch time meeting at school so I got pizza for lunch. When I walked by the Starbucks cafe as they were closing, I got a free (huge) blueberry turnover. I'm saving that for tomorrow, though. Okay, okay, none of these are the healthiest of meal options, but I ate veggie burgers and a peanut butter sandwich as my other meals so I figure I'm not doing too badly. Plus I had an extremely intense swim workout this morning. So much so that an 8pm bedtime is looking pretty good right about now.
In other frugal news, I have a new and improved method for (hot) green tea transportation. As some of you might recall, I have several travel mugs that I typically fill from the pot of green tea that I make in the morning. I then bring the travel mugs with me and have tea for the day. Well, I realized that I was still making more tea at school every day. Another 1-2 travel mugs worth. This is not the end of the world except that the bagged tea I would have to resort to in these instances is just not as good as the lovely loose leaf stuff I drink at home. I thought about investing in a huge thermos and using that to expand my tea transport capabilities, but I hate to spend money on something that might not really do the job very well (and I have no patience for shopping when I have to research products). Then by random chance I discovered a French press style travel mug contraption -- new in the box -- in a cabinet in the kitchen. This was obviously one of those well-intended Christmas gifts from who-knows-when. I realized that it was also marketing as useful for brewing loose leaf tea directly in a travel mug. Now that's just a bit silly because you'd over-steep the leaves and it would be a bit of a disaster, but I realized I could just ditch the press part of the contraption and use the travel mug part. Lo and behold, it's even bigger than any of my other travel mugs -- score! And, after a few uses, I've discovered that it keeps tea warm for a good long time, too. Even when it sits in your car in New England winter weather while you're at swim practice in the morning! Woo-hoo!!!
So I've been feeling pretty badass about my new travel mug system, but still not entirely satisfied. (Hedonic treadmill, anyone?) I then remembered that I'd received a thermos as a thank you gift from volunteering with my college's alumni association a few years ago. Yep, in the cupboard, brand new, instructions still inside. So I washed it out and gave it a test drive today. Large size -- largest of all my various options at the moment -- and keeps tea warm for a fair amount of time. Which means I can now make not 1, but 2 pots of tea in the morning (one batch of tea leaves -- because waste not, want not, people!) and I have a way to transport all of this delicious, hot tea to school -- amazing!!!
Last one for the day -- despite not wanting to make an extra stop on the way home, I forced myself to go to the pet store and buy cat litter so that I could use the $10 off rewards I had, which were expiring today. Hooray for slightly-less-expensive cat litter and combining trips to minimize driving!
Meezer_Mom
2-11-16, 12:41am
WTG, cdttmm!
Here, it was a mix. I won a free burger from Jack in the Box from their Million Burger Giveaway. Downside, neither beef nor cheese help my gallstone. Mr. G was ticked. So, I was low-key rest of the day while it settled down.
Not all the freebies are bad for me though. Am trying and reviewing a non-cheese mac & cheese dinner. Picked it up at Sprouts. Stay tuned. Also stopped at Target and picked up two free non-fat yogurts, and caught some Progresso soups on sale + cartwheel discount. Did well, actually. My out of pocket for my usual buys was under $15 for the week. I do need apples still.
SteveinMN
2-11-16, 11:22am
We finally had a few frugals this week. Our neighbor took us out to an expensive steak restaurant as a thank you for watching his house while he was on an extended trip. There was enough steak and vegetables to take home for both DW and me and I'm only mildly kicking myself for not putting some of the relish tray and bread in the container, too, before the waitress took them from the table.
Today will be a Trader Joe's run; it's a bit early for weekly grocery shopping, but it likely will be a less expensive shop than going to the co-op, especially since I'm less likely to stock up there (don't know or like the brands as well). I have a couple of errands to run with that trip, so that will be the first drive day since ... Monday?
Tomorrow may be a drive day, too, as a local tire chain is offering gift credit cards when you buy certain tires or wheels. DW's car could use some new summer shoes, so I've been researching which tires are the best buy and, if they're part of this promotion, I'll haul her spare set of tires down there and transact some business.
The rest of the weekend promises to be less frugal -- DD's best friend is getting married and we're attending a ceremony we can walk to and a reception that is in Frostbite Falls. :confused: Lots of grandbaby care in between, too, as we watch during the groom's dinner, etc. No set Valentine's plans, either, though that might work out frugally because we're just tired after so much social activity!
rosarugosa
2-11-16, 8:28pm
Steve: Yikes, Frostbite Falls sounds scary!
I have just one frugal to report. DH made a nice soup from rotisserie chicken leftovers and cauliflower leftovers. Nice hot dinner on a cold night!
chrissieq
2-11-16, 11:31pm
My husband and I were planning the next few days and he has a doctor's appt tomorrow with the intent to drive (our only car) then come home and wait for a bus making his schedule at work pretty tight - I offered him the use of the car for the day - win/win in that he won't be late for meetings/will get home early/I have no plans that aren't in the house.
Heading to DC to take care of cutest grandson ever - not exaggerating!! - Monday PM through Thursday PM - will lose 3 days of work/we will need 2 days of dog day care so he is not alone for too many hours/cost of upgraded air far (I must have leg room for $10 per flight) - but for those precious moments of taking care of him will offset any expenses.
Isn't this why we watch budget so that we can do what really matters?!?!?!
Steve: Yikes, Frostbite Falls sounds scary!
Oh, it's not so bad...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRbrNQI0Z3s
I did end up at the tire store and had no problem buying the tires now. We decided to wait until April when the winter tires get swapped back for summer tires. They're low-rolling-resistance (LRR) tires, too, so we shouldn't have to pay a fuel-mileage penalty by installing them. They'll pay their price difference back in a couple of years. The purchase is on a credit card in case the store somehow manages to close between now and then.
And we did end up with Valentine's Day plans. A friend of mine and his GF have invited us for dinner. We'll bring a bottle of wine. One more meal I won't have to cook this weekend! :)
Jimmy Johns expanded their delivery area and stopped by the church with free sandwiches and menus to drum up business. Perfect timing because I was out of snacks in my snack drawer.
rosarugosa
2-13-16, 7:38am
Hey Steve, that sure brought back fond memories!
Some of you might remember that last fall I set a limit on the amount of money I was going to spend on food from the cafeteria at work. The limit was $150 for the semester. Well, I'm pleased to report that we're 3 weeks into the spring semester and I just hit $100 in spending for the school year! Woo-hoo!!! If I can keep up this very slow spending rate, it looks like I'll spend $150 for the entire school year -- not per semester. I've managed to get so much more disciplined about bringing lunch to school and then actually eating it and not succumbing to the delicious smell of pizza.
When looking over our bank statement last night, I realized that our Comcast (internet) bill went up $3.00 per month starting in 2016. Asked my dearly beloved about it because he handles that stuff in our house and pointed out that a new Comcast customer would pay half of what we're now paying. So he is going to call and negotiate a better rate. Comcast doesn't have much competition here so we'll see what we can get in terms of a better price. No one in this household is willing to go without internet. :~)
No Valentine's Day spending here. We decided a long time ago to skip all that nonsense. We'll probably just make a nice dinner at home and rent a movie to watch.
Landed a little side hustle yesterday. There were flyers in our faculty mailboxes at school from Pearson, which is the company that administers the state teacher's exam for Massachusetts. They were looking for people who would be qualified to grade the written portion of the exam for business teachers. I almost recycled the flyer, but then realized that the first date they needed people was actually during our spring break -- about a month away. So I went back to my office and applied online -- took about 10 minutes. Within a few hours a got a response asking if I was available to score exams in March! :cool: Their office is only about 15 minutes from me and I'll probably make a few hundred bucks for sitting around reading essays all day (plus they provide lunch -- ha!). They only have 4 scoring days per year so this is not going to make me rich anytime soon, but it's totally the kind of stuff that I love doing, so I figure, why not?
Meezer_Mom
2-13-16, 4:23pm
Very inspiring, cdttmm!
My side hustle has been taking community council meeting minutes. Right now, there's only one. It's a few hundred a year. I'm thinking through some others.
Last night I stopped by the store after the gym and picked up a couple freebies: loaf of artisan bread and a gift-quality chocolate bar. Also had a Redbox code for a free rental. Rented Mr. Turner, story of a controversial 19th century artist's last 25 years of life. It had won some awards and I like bios but am finding myself more interested in how people lived in that era than his story.
Few extra frugals for today.
Made more muffins. They seem to be a great, portable breakfast plus they are easy to make on the weekend and keep well. I had 3 ripe bananas hanging around that needed to be used up so I made a double batch of muffins (2 dozen). Continued with my method of using homemade applesauce in place of vegetable oil. Slightly healthier and uses up the applesauce that's been in the freezer for far too long. And it doesn't seem to negatively impact the texture or flavor. I've tried two different recipes over the past two weeks and both were good, but not great. So this time I tried using a combination of the two recipes. Only thing I was missing was walnuts, but one recipe considers them optional so I figured I could try them without. If the rest of the recipe seems to work out, then next weekend I'll try it again adding walnuts to the mix. They just came out of the oven so I haven't even tried them yet, but the batter tasted good and they smell good so I'm guessing they'll be edible (at a minimum!). Only weird thing...some of them came out oddly misshapen. Not sure what's up with that, but if it doesn't affect how they taste then I'm not going to worry about it.
Had a ball of fresh mozzarella that was starting to grow a little mold so we figured we should use it up ASAP. Decided to bake up some frozen pizzas that we had on hand for emergency meals and added the mozzarella (after cutting off the moldy parts!) to the top. It made mediocre frozen pizza into a pretty decent meal.
Have figured out that I can make not just one, and not just two, but three decent pots of tea when using loose leaf tea in my Bodum tea pot. So I've been taking advantage of that whenever I can. Most days I drink at least two pots of tea, but on the weekends when I'm home I can easily drink a third pot. So good to know that I can get a third pot out of the previously steeped tea leaves. Woot!
Oh, and my dearly beloved has not been feeling well so we've been passing the time binge watching the current season of Downton Abbey. :D
rodeosweetheart
2-13-16, 9:24pm
We did a big grocery shop and forgot to redeem the coupons for free items if we bought over x amount total purchase. So my husband waited in line at service desk, explained the problem, showed them coupons and receipts, and they rerang it for him, and he was able to get a free loaf of bread, a free head of lettuce, and a free bag of chips. It was nice of the lady to do that for him, and we weren't going to do it at first, but I am glad he was patient and said, well, let's try it.
Last week I bought a glucose meter and have been tracking every day and have been thrilled that it was very low normal. Then, this morning, had a higher reading and freaked out, but remembered I had taken a benadryl and gone back to bed. I read on the net that benadryl can raise bp, so I as able to isolate the probable cause and have more data for when I actually go to the doctor.
I realize the high blood sugar readings I was getting two years ago were because of medication I was on. Now that I am not on them very often, readings are back in the normal range.
I think it's frugal to keep track of what you can yourself, so you can work on problems preventatively.
Meezer_Mom
2-13-16, 10:45pm
Very well said, rodeossweetheart. And glad you're feeling better.
I'm still out and about. I scored two coupons to get 2 packs of American Spirits for $2 + tax. I'm down to about 1/2 pack a day, so this is slightly over a week's worth for under $5. Not eactly healthy but it is a tapering in process.
Stopped at Chipotle for a free "raincheck" burrito from Monday when they closed all stores. Received the text back and figured it was like Subway's when you link on site then redeem so I left the URL alone. Welp... went to check out and executed through the URL only to discover they will forward me a redemption code in a few days. So, I paid the lady. Now I wait.
I've had a fabulously frugal week. Yesterday I got a bag of cat food and used a $5 earned reward.
I am a quilter. Flannel at my local quilt shop is nearly $12/yard. I ordered a bolt online for $4.44/yard. It arrived and I now have 20y on hand for this years' girl quilt production!
AND, the thrift store had some quality fabric that I nabbed: 10.5y for $10.74. That $ is less than the cost of 1y regular price!
I just reconciled our finances for December and January. My goal this year is to replenish the emergency fund spent on my new car in December. I got a raise last month for the first time since 2009. That cash goes to savings-never bring it home. And December was a 3paycheck month so all of that income went into savings already!
AND, we've gone Weight Watchers so eating out has dropped dramatically because I cannot yet be trusted to make smart choices all the time. We spent 1/4th of our 2015 monthly average eating out in January!!!! Savings? $413. Yes, we ate out a LOT in 2015 and that's easy when you're debt free and have maxed out retirement fund caps. What will we do with that saved cash this year? Save it! We want very little and we need nothing.
This girl is a HAPPY camper this weekend.:cool:
rosarugosa
2-14-16, 12:10pm
Good work on the frugals, everyone.
Meezer Mom: Good luck with your tapering off. May you soon reach a point where the price per pack becomes irrelevant to you!
I've got a few frugals to report:
We have a good but old set of flannel sheets from LL Bean and the top edge was becoming frayed and worn. So I just reversed the sheet putting the worn top edge at the foot of the bed. All better! Probably a no-brainer, but it still took me a few weeks to come up with it.
Came in way under budget on groceries this week.
We wanted to have a nice but frugal dinner last night in honor of Valentine's Day. I had a craving for steak, which doesn't happen often. DH got a nice London Broil on sale at the grocery store for a cost of $4.19. We had it with baked sweet potatoes and spinach, with a cool chocolate thing ("Sweetheart Bark") from Trader Joe's for dessert. It was a great and inexpensive meal. London Broil fascinates me. It's like alchemy or something, that just cutting it the right way makes it something delicious and if you cut it the wrong way it is like eating shoes.
Lastly is a potential frugal. My fellow supervisors & I collaborated at work to put together a business case for increasing our ability to work from home to 4 days instead of the current two. We really have the technology in place at this point to allow us to work just as effectively from a remote location. This would save me about $10. per month in commuting expenses, although I'm more excited about the possibility of saving 5 hours per month in commuting time. Fingers crossed that it gets approved. My company is really supportive of flexible workplace initiatives right now as a tool for attracting & retaining talent, so I am cautiously optimistic.
early morning
2-14-16, 4:00pm
Still focusing on not wasting food. But the milk went bad again - I guess I need to just not buy it unless DH is on a binge. (He'll go through several gallons a week, and then just stop drinking it for months on end.) I put it on my cereal sometimes, and cook with it, but otherwise don't touch it. I always have tinned milk, cream, and half & half on hand, so I'm just going to do without and see what happens. DD is an almond milk fan, so we generally have that around too. Honestly, the past several gallons have fed the outside cats and been turned into puddings. Made another batch of pudding this morning, and if I don't do one more, there'll be 3-4 cups of milk, slightly spoiled, for the outside critters. DD and I both have been feeling like crap and haven't felt like cooking after work. We managed to piece together stuff to eat from the fridge and pantry, but Friday on the way home we stopped at Sam's and got a rotisserie chicken - and some of their mini croissants -for dinner. Used the chicken for sandwiches yesterday, too, and cooked off the bones (which went to the outside beasties via the back field). Found some good noodles in the freezer, so we'll have chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes for dinner. And pudding, lol.
Rosa, fingers crossed for the working from home thing - hope it works out! I so enjoy visiting this thread and seeing what everyone else is doing to save money for whatever reason! We're a pretty creative bunch here, I think!
Meezer_Mom
2-14-16, 5:22pm
early_morning, have you thought about buying a small box of powdered milk?
I recently scored a free 1/2 gallon of milk. Was totally shocked at how expensive it was. I don't drink it so I gave it to a senior friend who adores it.
UPDATE: A few hooks on a couple of my otherwise decent bras were semi-pulled out by the dryer. (THIS friends is how I learned my lesson to use lingerie bags.) I bought a package of sewing hook and eyes at the dollar store and am happy to report that I succeeded in pulling out the offending hooks and sewed in their replacements on one bra. I'm encouraged. I have a little pile of mending projects. Getting to it.
someone left a big bag of fruit and veggies in our back porch today. I guess it is someone leaving town who knows we will use it. And it had a $$$$ cauliflower too. Lucky day.
rosarugosa
2-14-16, 6:16pm
Thanks, Early! I don't like milk, but DH likes it and always runs out mid-week. I've suggested buying 2 half gallons or a gallon, but since he does the grocery shopping and is the milk drinker and chooses not to heed my advice, oh well, I don't care if we're out of milk. However, I do like plain yogurt, especially goat's milk, and he's had that with his cereal and likes it pretty well. So that works, but an abundance of homemade pudding would be lovely :)
Kally: You are in Canada right? I don't know why cauliflower is so expensive there. It has been cheap and abundant here, running 2.00 - 2.50 per head on sale every week lately.
BY the way, it was in the minus zero range this morning and we were without power for awhile, which was scary. Maybe par for the course in Frostbite Falls, but unusually cold for our neck of the woods!
well cauliflower has since become a sale item to get people in the store, but 3 weeks ago it was $6 or 7
freshstart
2-14-16, 9:03pm
since I'm not driving, I called Progressive and said I drive less than 20 miles a week, can I get a discount? I got a $13 discount and was pleased, until I happened to ask, "monthly?" and she said no, I will save $13 a year! Can they spare it?
early morning
2-15-16, 2:03pm
Meezer_Mom, I used to always have powered milk on hand, but found we like the tinned evaporated better. And the milk is now gone, with another batch of pudding in the fridge, butterscotch this time. I'm off work for the holiday, and it's no drive day for #3 in a row for me, but I let DD take my car yesterday and today, so no real savings for me, only for her, lol. I parked up by the house when we got home Friday, and it seemed silly to shuffle cars in the lane when she could just take mine and not worry about it. The past two days have been no spend days, too. Jury is still out on today - I'm close to deciding on which cheap vac to buy with my Amazon points.
rosarugosa
2-15-16, 7:42pm
Freshstart: That is certainly a lame excuse for a discount!
Early: I have a cheap canister vac, Zing, by Bissell. I've had it for about 5 years now and it's perfectly satisfactory; I would recommend. The bags are tiny, but I was able to order them in reasonable quantities online, so not too much expense with that. We have all hard floors and no carpets.
Mom took us out yesterday to celebrate my sister's birthday, and DH & I ate the leftovers for supper tonight.
freshstart
2-15-16, 9:30pm
I have a the Pet Hair Shark vacuum, bagless. It looks small but it is surprisingly good with dog hair and regular cleaning. It was around $100
freshstart
2-16-16, 11:06am
I made the cellular switch to Cricket. We did a family plan, the first few months have a bunch of discounts and credits but in the end the bill for each person's share will be a flat $30. Unlimited talk/text, 2.5gb data each. They had $1 smartphones for my parents. When my father stopped Verizon, he found out he had paid $300 for 2 crappy flip phones over time when he was told they were "free", he looked like he was going to burst a blood vessel.
My mother is furious she has a smartphone, I had to lie and say they don't make flip phones and she doesn't even know how to use that so what's the big deal? It was a very big deal, there were tears and she is not speaking to my poor father. So far I only taught her how to make and receive calls, so we are already ahead of what she could do with her flip phone, which may as well have been a pet rock for as much as she used it. She can use a iPad mini so she should be able to learn to voicemail and text. If we get to there, that's enough for her.
I'm saving $35 a month and AT&T owns Cricket so they use their towers so I should be set.
I'm trying to think of other bills I can negotiate down. I did cable last year, I don't know if they would let me change the 2 yr agreement.
Meezer_Mom
2-16-16, 12:48pm
I love Cricket. It's been two years since I bought my mid-priced Galaxy Express and joined plan at $40 (-$5 if auto-pay set up, which it is). No dropped calls. Monthly data slows after used. It's perfect for me.
rodeosweetheart
2-16-16, 1:02pm
I love Cricket. It's been two years since I bought my mid-priced Galaxy Express and joined plan at $40 (-$5 if auto-pay set up, which it is). No dropped calls. Monthly data slows after used. It's perfect for me.
Another Cricket fan here; I bought a Blu phone and use a sim card.
Frugal of yesterday--our mower/snow plow is not working, and husband did not think we had extended warranty on it. I thought we did; we called Lowes and it turns out we did and the pick up and delivery fee would have been 180 dollars without it.
Thinking about it, that seems REALLY high, Lowes.
On the other hand, hopefully the repair will be under warranty.
Crazy weather here -- bitterly cold for several days and now today in the 40s and raining. Got to love New England!!! During the cold snap we were burning a lot of wood keeping the house at a very modest 58-60*F. Glad that we seem to be back to the milder days winter days. Was tempted a few times to really crank up the heat, but instead just warmed up a Snuggle Safe heating disc (meant for the pets) and put it on my lap while I worked on the computer. Kept me toasty warm and didn't cost more than a few cents to run the microwave.
The snow/ice/sleet combination that we had overnight resulted in the college where I teach being closed until 10am. So my 8am class was cancelled. Unfortunately, I didn't know that until after I'd left the house to go to the gym to swim. And it makes no sense to go back home between because the gym is very close to school. So I just had an extra long swim, a leisurely (hot!) shower and then went to school a bit early. Which gave me time to use the office microwave to warm up my homemade muffins that I had brought with me. Brought breakfast and lunch plus green tea with me so no stop at the cafeteria today.
Stopped at the bank on the way home to drop off some paperwork for our new business account. Happy to be able to combine the trip and not have to do any extra driving.
Not much else for frugals around here. Pretty much the same basic stuff. Maybe something wild and crazy will happen tomorrow! :~)
Free lunch at school yesterday -- PIZZA!!! :cool:
And today I got a free book at school. I teach a class on "Personal Finance" to students an alternative HS program that we host on our campus and I teach a college-level class on "Money Management" for the business department. As a result, I get emails from publishers all the time asking if I want to use their latest-and-greatest textbook for these courses. If the book looks like it might be worthwhile, I ask them to send me a copy to review, which they are happy to do. So today I got a book in the mail called "The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn't Have to be Complicated." Now I have some reading to do. :D
Was planning to go to BJs yesterday to buy a few things because I had a few coupons that were about to expire. But I realized that there was nothing we needed and that I would probably save more money by just not going and forfeiting the coupons. So I stayed home and went to bed early.
Really wanted to buy something at school to eat for lunch today, but stayed strong and ate the banana and drank the protein shake I had brought with me instead.
Nothing else exciting to report. Anybody else have frugals to share?
rodeosweetheart
2-18-16, 8:18pm
I save seeds in mason jars and sometimes they need more air flow than they get with the metal lids, so for 73 cents at Michael's I bought a sheet of plastic mesh needlepoint canvas, and I will cut lids out of that to stick under the screw jar rings.
So I can get my Cinderella pumpkin seeds from all over the counter and put them into a nice blue mason jar.
Bought 8 paper white bulbs for 8 dollars, put them in a silver bowl with rocks, and they are growing and will bloom in a couple of weeks. I reuse the bowl and the rocks each year.
Tonight I helped my friend. She was teaching a vegan class and showing people how to make a kick ass Buddha Bowl. I helped her set up and clean up and got the class for free and the best, biggest Buddha bowl I have ever eaten.
I am still full more than 3 hours later.
freshstart
2-19-16, 8:16am
what is a Buddha Bowl?
SteveinMN
2-19-16, 11:00am
Slow week here with both DW and me catching colds. Recent frugals:
- DW wanted some Zicam to ward off the bugs; she was all set to buy it but I directed her to some in our medicine cabinet, so we saved that money.
- Relatives asked us to pick up some items at Trader Joe's; the check they sent more than covered what I bought and any fuel I could possibly have used in getting there, so it will offset some of my purchases there.
- DW, DD, and DGD were invited to visit a friend out of town; friend is willing to cover the cost of a couple of tickets on Spirit. DW, though, is concerned that Spirit's you-pay-for-everything model will end up costing a lot to move baby things (seat, pack 'n' play, etc.) and isn't keen on taking the baby on anything but a nonstop flight. But nonstop flights on other airlines from here are much more expensive. And there will be some costs to being there anyway. So I guess it's frugal if they go and even more frugal if they don't.
- Another friend of ours is hiring a company we used for some remodeling; they told him we'd be getting something for the referral; don't know what it is yet. I hope it's not just a coupon off the next remodeling job... :~)
- Got a deal on a looooong cable for our iThings. Bought one and will just hold on to it. DW goes through cables, for some reasons, and cables this long either are really expensive or would cost a lot to ship mail-order. So, given history, banking a cable isn't much of an investment in money or space.
freshstart - a Buddha bowl is a big bowl dinner. Usually a grain on the bottom, lots of veggies and some kind of (usually) vegan protein.
Ours had in it: Steeped brown rice, roasted brussel sprouts and beets, oven baked basted tofu cubes, stir fried peppers and onions, steeped broccoli, raw spriralized carrots and sprouts. It was all topped off with a kick-ass spicy peanut sauce.
http://init4thelongrun.com/2014/09/23/make-buddha-bowl/
freshstart
2-19-16, 5:43pm
sounds delish!
Feb 20
Buddha bowl sounds like my kind of food...yummy
Been here reading but not much going on except the usual.
---Went through all the misc. spices, herbs, oxo cubes etc and put together in jars and labelled everything,
obviously have too much of some things and missing others. Buying because I don't know what I have...NOT a good thing.
Waste of food and money.
---Reorganized the freezer a bit for the same reason as above.....still need to use up more
--watching and reading from the library for free.
rosarugosa
2-21-16, 6:42am
Danna: We did a major purge of our herbs and spices last fall and it was great, it freed up so much room, and we made a thoughtful assessment of what we actually use & need. Now we can much more easily find what we do have.
We came in within budget this week on groceries which is good, because we often have a rebound effect after doing good one week. So two weeks in row, with a Costco's and Trader Joe's trip included, is actually an accomplishment.
DH made a delicious pizza Friday night, and last night we had a salad and a spaghetti squash.
Meezer_Mom
2-21-16, 8:42pm
I haven't exact gone off the tracks but the past week brought starting a new contract job and adjusting to a new schedule. No complaints but I have barely kept my journal entries up-to-date.
Our 7-11s have a frequent shopper program called Belly. You just need to swipe your card every time you're in the store. The card is good across all Belly members, not just 7-11. Worth it. Today I used some of my points for a free Big Gulp tea and then took it to our local Chinese take-out.
Stopped at Wag's and used my raincheck for Cottonnelle wipes AND coupons from manufacturer because I called when its sample site hiccuped. Timing was wonderful. Reg. $3.79/ea and I got 3 containers for $3.51 total.
Gym-time!
Feb 21
--leftover pork roast that I had frozen...made into a curry with peas and rice
--using my new gym membership at least 3x's a week and walking to it.
early morning
2-26-16, 6:49pm
Yesterday and today were professional development days with free breakfast and lunch. AND I got to bring home half a tray of bagels today! Made a batch of pudding with outdated almond milk. I thought it was less than stellar, but DD and DH love it, so it was worth the effort. The hospital refunded 1k we paid for DH's surgery in December. We paid it up front as our portion, and got a discount for doing that. I don't have the EOB from the insurance, so I'm not sure why it was returned, but hey, it's all good! Anyway, it's like found money, so if the EOB confirms it should not have been paid, I'm going to dump it in either the emergency fund or on the mortgage, not sure which.
We have eaten out once in 3 weeks. that's about $400 saved over last year's average.:0!:cool:
We put $300 in the drawer each month for "pocket money". There is still $140 in the drawer and $50 in my wallet.
I have cooked out of the fridge and freezer all week without a grocery store visit. I need to go today as we have no fresh veggies and I will have remaining fruit consumed by noon tomorrow (hub went to the cabin to ski all weekend on fresh powder).
I will be cooking tomorrow:
Pan of baked pasta w/quinoa pasta
Bars-recipe from diabetic living website http://www.diabeticlivingonline.com/recipe/bars/pick-me-up-bars
Hash Brown patties-recipe from diabetic living website http://www.diabeticlivingonline.com/recipe/vegetables/hash-brown-potato-cakes
and I'm thinking I'll buy 2 organic chickens at my Costco run and smoke those tomorrow for some fabulous chicken in the freezer.
Not much in the way of frugals happening over here. In fact, I actually caved and bought pizza at school not once, but twice this week! Ugh. But I stayed strong yesterday and came home and made lunch after teaching instead of buying something. Last night I remembered to start the black beans soaking and this morning I put them in the crockpot to cook. So now I have five meals worth of black beans in the freezer ready to go. Feeling motivated, I also made a double-batch of banana chocolate chocolate chip muffins. After the initial taste test, I am tempted to declare these to be the best batch yet. :D Later, I am going to make a batch of chocolate chip oatmeal breakfast biscuits. That way I can mix up my breakfast choices over the next week.
I have a 20% off coupon for loose tea from a local tea shop that expires on Monday. I bought some there for the first time back in December with a coupon they had mailed out. The quality is very good and I've enjoyed the tea so I figure I will restock while the coupon is still valid. Hopefully they'll have another coupon to give away at checkout which will allow me to stock up again in a few months.
We are getting low on a few groceries so if I can get organized I will make a trip to BJs to stock-up on a few things. I haven't been there in about a month and once a month seems about the right amount of time in my book to do those types of shopping trips.
I think that's all I have to report at the moment. Seems like February has been a pretty quiet month for everybody. We're only on page 8 in this thread. In January we made it to 16 pages. Wonder what the difference is for people...
frugal-one
2-27-16, 4:11pm
I just checked our year end credit card listing. This really was an eye-opener! It was shocking to see how little we spend in a year (including vacations). We put everything on this credit card because of the cash back feature .... with the exception of one grocery store that does not accept credit cards. I think it is time to start spending some of the hard earned money that we have saved! I just got back from the grocery store and spent a bit more for organic. Figure that food is medicine and good for me. So, thinking it is time to be less frugal in important things such as food! Will still shop garage sales/thrift stores and look for bargains but have decided it is time to start spending. This may be hard for me to do. Being frugal and thrifty is ingrained. As stated, will start with food.
Stayed home all day except for going to pick up my Bountiful Basket, which lived up to its name, lol. I always love getting it, it is like getting a great Christmas present.
rosarugosa
2-27-16, 8:46pm
Cdttmm: I think everyone has that New Year's fervor in January, with an overabundance of good intentions, and in February folks have settled back down to normal. :)
We came in well within budget on groceries for the third week in a row, which is surely a record for us. I scored at the library today with 3 books I really want to read, and the little consignment store up the street was having a 1/2 off sale, so I got two pairs of jeans for an out of pocket cost of $10 (I also used a $20 credit I had from some items I had consigned). One pair is really cool from Betsey Johnson with embroidered roses on them, and the other is a nice pair of comfortable Levi's.
Cdttmm: I think everyone has that New Year's fervor in January, with an overabundance of good intentions, and in February folks have settled back down to normal. :)
I agree, rosarugosa. I'm just hoping to prod people into keeping up the New Year's fervor just a little bit longer! :~)
In addition to my baking extravaganza today, I made a frittata for dinner, which allowed me to use up an onion and some spinach that were nearing the end of their useful life. The chocolate chip oatmeal breakfast biscuits came out okay -- a little dry and crumbly -- but tasty nonetheless.
Hoping to have time to bake 1 or 2 loaves of English muffin bread tomorrow. Getting this stuff out of the way on the weekends sure does make life during the week much less hectic!!!
Meezer_Mom
2-28-16, 12:23am
For my part, I've taken on a new consulting gig: opening a new office for a prestigious old East Coast firm. Crazy-busy.
That said, I'm trying to keep my expenses on an even keel rather than let them fluctuate based on new income. Hasn't been easy as I am still adjusting to a new schedule and commute, and both affect my ability to shop, cook, etc. I have gotten to yoga, though, so I'm optimistic.
I had lunch out twice this past week - and tried not to choke at the register. Both were a result of having lunch with HQ reps. Twice I ate my sale-priced Lean Cuisine and Progresso soup. One day I scored a full chopped salad and added remainder roasted chicken meat from a sandwich platter.
I am doing a lot of shopping for the office. Doing so frugally has been like a well-conditioned muscle. Not my money but I'm not going crazy either. Think HQ likes that.
Have started reading THE MONEY CODE. Have been using the long public transit commute time to think through some of my answers. The first chapters go into family history of relationship with money. I went back 3 generations. My parents were both Depression Era kids who grew up with nothing. Dad considered NOT having oatmeal in his home a sign of success. (And, of course, I loved it and ate it on the sly.) My grandparents had grown up in better times but were young parents during the Depression. I'm still searching family lore to understand the great-grands' relationship with money. But, one result to-date is that I found myself understanding their respective attitudes and forgiving them for past hurts.
So, that's been my week. Need to check in more. I miss you all.
(((HUGS)))
I think it is time to start spending some of the hard earned money that we have saved! I just got back from the grocery store and spent a bit more for organic. Figure that food is medicine and good for me. So, thinking it is time to be less frugal in important things such as food! Will still shop garage sales/thrift stores and look for bargains but have decided it is time to start spending. This may be hard for me to do. Being frugal and thrifty is ingrained. As stated, will start with food.
I'm with you Frugal-one. I did our grocery shopping yesterday for the next 2w. Nearly $200. Started with $40 for organic chicken breasts at $5.99/lb. (Regular was $2.09-funny to pay so much less for all that antibioitic and hormone:0!)
Thank goodness my CSA starts up in 75 days!!! I'm itching to plant my garden to get my "free" organics...but that harvest doesn't start until late August. (I plant what I want to store for off-season eating and we eat the CSA fresh).
Cheers to spending hard-earned cash on food medicine:cool:
early morning
2-28-16, 11:40am
Meezer_Mom, your current gig sounds interesting! Jobs do make being frugal more challenging. cdttmm, those choc/choc chip banana muffins sound wonderful - care to share the recipe? I have bananas stuffed in odd nooks and crannies in the freezer begging to be baked! Today is the family brunch at my mom's care center. Every resident gets four free tickets, so DH and I are going this month. They have a nice kitchen and a trained chef; the food there is quite good, actually! I bought gas last night at the cheapest station - over my 30 mile drive, prices fluctuated by 38 cents a gallon! Yesterday we packed up a bunch of my mom's glassware to see if we can sell it - we've rented a showcase in a high-volume mall along a major east/west interstate, so we'll see. I'm guardedly hopeful. If it does not move, we'll just have an auction and color it done. I was able to hang a load of laundry out this morning. Small things, but good ones!
Didn't have a chance to go to BJs yesterday so went first thing this morning. It's never crowded there on Sunday mornings so it's a good time to go shopping and have the trip be efficient. I had a $2 off coupon for coffee that was the brand we buy, but when I got to the store and looked more closely it appeared to be only for ground coffee and we buy whole beans. So I put the coffee we usually buy in the shopping cart and the coupon in my pocket. When I got to the self-checkout, I scanned everything including all the other coupons I had. Then I decided to try scanning the coffee coupon just for kicks and it worked! Who knew? Now I wonder how many other times I've had coupons that would have worked even though they seem to be for a slightly different product... I also realized, while standing in the produce aisle, that they sell a package of four sweet bell peppers for $5.49 if you want one orange, one yellow, and two red peppers. But if you are willing to buy the package of four sweet bell peppers that are all red peppers then you pay $4.99. Thanks, I'll save myself the 50 cents and eat only red bell peppers!
Tonight we're having homemade pizza for dinner. Should be enough for leftovers for lunch tomorrow, too.
we are eating out less and less. Because I am vegan and dh is veg, there are very few places where we can get a good meal at a good price. So food just keeps getting better and better at this house and we spend less and less.
Last night was a lovely mushroom risotto, today is baked falafel and tomorrow will be sweet potato chickpea burgers. Yum.
And we are getting healthier by the day.
Meezer_Mom
2-29-16, 12:06pm
I did well yesterday. I picked up two coupon supplements left on the sidewalk and bought a paper, scoring a whole lot of coupons I could actually use.
Went to Rite Aid after the gym and picked up 2 new mascaras (that I wanted) and 2 rolls of paper towels, and 2 shampoos and 2 boxes of feminine pads for the women's homeless shelter. After coupons but before taxes, just over $20 and got $7 back in instant rewards. I've chosen the women's shelter as my primary cause this year. Hygiene items are expensive even for the working woman, and almost impossible to afford if you're homeless. So I've decided to work the deals where I can. I think I have enough coupons do one more group of the pads this week.
After shopping, I went over to Chipotle and redeemed a "raincheck" for a free burrito from the day they were closed at lunch for a staff meeting.
Speaking of rainchecks, also intended to pick up some laundry pods at Rite Aid. I had the raincheck with me but inadvertently left the coupon in my other tote, so I asked the clerk to cancel that purchase. Final bill seemed a little high so I checked the receipt before leaving the register to make sure I hadn't overlooked a calculation on the Rewards. I hadn't; the full price for the laundry pods hadn't come off. So, it was immediately reversed and my cash returned. $8+ with tax. Not blaming the clerk; we all know touchpads sometimes ignore our requests. He genuinely felt bad. Sad that people expect to be abused when mistakes happen. I left satisfied and with his dignity intact.
freshstart
2-29-16, 12:23pm
I used to give health and beauty items to the women's shelter in the city I worked in. Since I stopped working, I have not donated because I haven't checked where the drop off spot is for the domestic violence shelter in my city. you gave me a good reminder to remember to get this info, thanks
Very long day at work yesterday, but I managed to bring enough tea and snacks to see me through. I didn't feel even the slightest temptation to go the cafeteria. Had a slice of homemade pizza when I got home and then another after getting back from Tae Kwon Do. Now I'm off to get me some frugals today so that I can add to the new March frugals thread! :~)
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