View Full Version : January Frugals
We are home! That is probably the most frugal thing we could do. :) It was an amazing trip, but it feels awesome to be back home.
I am doing some 2012 planning today. Zach and I had an awesome discussion in the car yesterday about our short-term and long-term plans and I want to flesh them out while they are still fresh in my mind. I must say that being married to someone who is frugal and shares my goals and dreams is a huge bonus on the frugality front.
This trip really helped us to see things in a clearer light. There's really nothing like traveling for thousands of miles through prairies, mountains, shores and deserts to put things in their proper perspective. We also met a lot of people, some of them out there living their life to the fullest and others who feel trapped and unhappy. It's hard to explain, but it really helped affirm us in our choices.
Today I have to go grocery shopping. I am so excited to get back in the kitchen! I love to cook. It's going to be fun. This may be a little more expensive week because I really cleared things out before we left.
happystuff
1-1-12, 11:40am
Really want to jump back onto the frugal wagon to start this year off. Already know there are some uncertainties that may (or may not) occur and really want to establish some semblence of survival - just in case!
As always, I'm planning to start budget controls again - beginning with groceries and meals. And then move on to some decluttering. I consider that part of "frugality" in that is helps save time, space and effort in so many areas when things are decluttered.
Good luck to everyone in their frugal efforts!
rosarugosa
1-1-12, 11:50am
Welcome back, Stella! I think it's funny how it is so wonderful to go away, but then it is even more wonderful to come home again. I guess that's a fringe benefit of going away for a vacation, the renewed appreciation of all the things that make home so special.
I'm going to start keeping a spending journal (aside from my regular budget) and track expenditures on things other than food and household consumables. This will mostly be stuff I spend my allowance on: clothes, cosmetics, etc. I think it would be interesting, and should help me analyze patterns and determine if I deem the purchases to be worthwhile after the fact.
Happystuff: I think decluttering also helps with frugality by making us more aware of all that we have, often too much, and helps us to exercise restraint in making additional purchases. If I'm about to buy something that isn't strictly a necessity, I often ask myself if this is going to be a future Salvation Army donation. That often helps me put the item back on the shelf.
We also just got home -- literally off the plane just a couple of hours ago, and here I am. See how addicted to this place I am? :)
December was decidedly NOT frugal, as I did a massive stock up this trip in a number of areas. But we came less than $500 over budget for 2012, and that included a big, pricey trip to Hawaii/home in the summer and this most recent trip, and a big change in our diets (more organic, more protein-based foods, more spices and exotic ingredients) as well as significant local inflation and depreciation of the dolalr, so I think we did not do too bad.
So, hoping to start January off right. Will do a big grocery stock-up tomorrow, but will try to focus more on in-season and less expensive stuff. Planning to make lots of soups for my lunches while the weather is cold, and that is usually a pretty frugal choice.
Wishing everyone a frugal and happy 2012! I got free champagne on the plane when we crossed the international dateline. That was kind of fun.
lhamo
We talked yesterday about getting rid of our satellite TV subscription and using the TV for watching old shows and the radio for news we need. The current TV is so bad that we continually scroll thru and find nothing worth watching except old shows. Yesterday it was the Twilight Zone from the 60s.
Even if we dropped down to only local stations or got cable for local, we could save $75 a month or more. Hmmm. Need to find out when our contract expires.
Well, I have great plans for the new year and hopefully I can achieve them. Alas though, this is going to be a costly week.
new hot water tank (finally). Currently is draining, new one will be installed tomorrow. Yes no hot water today. I thought I shut the water into the tank all the way off at 3 this morning, but apparently I didn't and the tank is ice cold. I need to buy text books for 2 of my 3 classes (third doesn't start till Feb).
this month is just one of those months...
tabs for one vehicle
alignment for DH car
registration payment for ds school
many birthdays
But, in Feb. my DH's car will be PAID off! I wasn't able to do it this past summer like I wanted, but with our income tax refund I am stamping it out. YEAH! *on the topic of refunds, I know it's better to not get one but we are at 9 deductions. My DH had a few contract jobs that are billed as bonus's and more is taken out than normal on those.
I made my first full menu with the recipe site I found and it looks good. Shopping off the list was great. I normally make a list but always manage to forget a thing or two. Not with this list. All I have to buy is some chicken breasts. So hopefully time and money savings there.
Welcome back, Stella! Sounds like your trip was fantastic.
Happystuff, I also find that the new year is a fresh time to get started with things like a new focus on frugality. :)
Rosa, have you read Your Money or Your Life? What you are talking about is very much like their tracking system. Maybe you have!
Here, we are doing pretty well considering. Over Xmas break we ate two free lunches compliments of DH's students - Arby's and Panera. On the days we didn't have lunches on gift cards we brought lunch over to the house with us. One day my dad came to help and we enjoyed a lovely roast for lunch.
We also had a score on the paint front. We tested out a color that my SiL lent us to see if we liked it. We took the color down to the paint store to have it matched, but we found a mistint gallon for just $9.97. Nice paint, too, and normally priced at about $35 a gallon. Yippee!
We continue to be good about returning unused/unneeded remodeling items to the store and that has gained us a few savings. We are doing it even with small items because otherwise they will just sit around and be forgotten.
We also sold an item of built-in furniture from the house that we didn't want to reinstall and use. Someone had built a breakfast bar for the kitchen that made it feel really small. We sold that on CL for $40.
Contemplating having insulation blown into the walls. Unfortunately we didn't know about the tax credits on this until yesterday. Guess when they expired: yesterday. Bummer. We are going to proceed with some bids anyway. The tax credits weren't super hefty, anyway, and now is really the time, even if it's not a very glamorous expense. It will save us a lot of money over the many years we hope to be in this house, and make life more comfortable. The guy who did our sheetrock for a very reasonable amount is researching a bid for insulation. This makes me a little nervous though because it shows he is inexperienced at this. However, after watching some videos on YouTube about blowing in insulation, I don't believe there is really that much to know about it, anyway. So we will just see what his bid comes back at. His painting bid was higher than we thought it would be, but we suspect he bid it high because he got the feeling that we wouldn't contract him for the whole house, anyway, since we've already painted about half of it. But we will continue to slog on with painting after seeing his bid. We powered through a lot of kitchen painting yesterday and that would have cost us at least $500 to do through him.
Today DH is going to the new house, but I am staying home (well - maybe). I need a break from the work over there - we went about seven days straight, 8-12 hour days. Here I am going to make up some chili for supper and freezer, evaluate our food situation. I am still trying to operate on bare minimum of foods so we don't have a lot to move - thus I still continue to try to use up the loose ends. We still haven't succeeded in emptying the basement freezer, though! Oh well, we're here for at least another month so that is ok. Maybe I'll make a beef barley today, too, and rice for lunches as well as granola. Uffda!
We might go to the movies later. I really want to see The Muppets! :D
HAPPY NEW YEAR, ALL!!!!!!!!!
gosh, Stella, that trip seemed short! How dd the kids do in the car the whole time? That's the kind of trip families took back during my childhood--load up kids in the car and go to The Grand Canyon and Disneyland.
I didn't see the other posts until now! lhamo, fun on the champagne :)
sweetana, I am really, really, really hoping to get rid of satellite when we move, too. I think we are on month-to-month with our contract, but we will see. If we keep our current TV, our options are slightly limited with other solutions but at least we have a converter box and could get over-the-air signal. We mostly watch a local station anyway!
mara, do the birthdays require big gifts? And on the car payoff: YIPPEEEEE!! Feels so good to pay off debt!!!!! :) I don't think a tax refund is so horribly bad. I get the logic behind not wanting one, but if times are a little tight, it's kind of like a forced savings account. I've always liked that little bonus, which while I know intellectually that it is not, it still feels like it. :)
Mara--WOOHOO for paying off the car! That will feel great!
We are really needing to get back on the frugal band wagon. We hemorrhaged money in 2011--huge kitchen remodel, ant invasion (and resulting structural damage), medical bills, unpaid maternity leave, etc. Then add on the holidays...We didn't go into debt, but we didn't save much, either.
I am slowly getting back into cooking meals at home, and that helps. If I don't cook, DH doesn't feel like it when he comes home, and we order out. The baby doesn't allow me to cook much, so I have been using my crock pot more.
I just changed our Netflix subscription to one DVD at a time. I am also going to give cloth diapers another try. I was using them, and then the baby got a diaper rash. I have some good diaper rash cream and will use it religiously. Hopefully the rash won't come back. Disposables are so expensive!
Mighty Frugal
1-1-12, 2:34pm
I am hoping back on to the tracking our spending for January, then budget in February. I have an awesome excel spreadsheet from the last time I did it. It has budget column, an actual column, variance and YTD variance-so detailed (I'm pretty OCD when it comes to spreadsheets-haha)
Our discount dept. store had a 50% off coupon on FB DH and I finally bought my beloved Kitchenaid mixer-regular 300 on sale for 170 and 50% off so we bought it for $88-which is a steal!! Already made some bread-mmm
We have so much chocolate in the house that we are saving $$ from not buying it (staple in our home)
Had a quiet fun little 'party' in our basement last night-just the 4 of us so saved money there!
Don't have to pay for daycare for 3 whole weeks-woo hoo! Extra savings in the bank for us!
Will try to live on just my income this year. DH had his pay cheque deposited into a savings acct and we'll just use my chequing acct-so we will bank his entire pay
Doing a lot of fun frugal outings during our 3 weeks off-library visits, walks in our park, play date with friends, watching movies, and we'll spend some time at my parents home-they have a nice big backyard and SNOW
This is the year 100% certainty dh will lose his job (probably early summer) and 80% that I will (probably early fall) so we need to save as much as we can and learn to live with less.
THANK YOU SIMPLE LIVING without you we would have been in debt-but because of this board we are 100% debt free and a healthy savings acct and retirement acct.
One of the birthdays yes, my FIL. My sister, sil, two bil's just a card, my niece a small gc, my son not to much. We will do a family birthday party for him at the end of the month when my in' laws get back from their trip to the Dominican Republic. My husbands birthday is at the beginning of Feb. I know what he wants, it's not terrible but not super cheap either.
The car thing is huge. We bought a nicer version when we bought it with the thought that we would have it for a bit (Pontiac Torrent), put half down and I've tried to pay extra whenever I can. It will be paid off 6 months early.
Mighty Frugal, super bummer about the jobs but awesome that you are in a position to face it!
It's 2:20 pm here and I am the only one up. Well, DH was up for a few hours and then went back to bed. I am still in my pajamas. Not sure when/or if I will shower & get dressed. I think if I do get dressed the only reason I leave the house will be to walk to the store to get the shopping guide. So a no drive/no spend day to start the new year off right.
Took the boys to dinner at Olive Garden yesterday. We had $50 in GC so it cost us about $35 for all 4 of us to have a nice dinner. I had hoped to go to lunch instead of dinner but time slipped away from us. Spent our usual quiet New Years Eve at home with sparkling juice, shrimp & ice cream. Youngest son was gone to a friends part of the evening but made it home in time to toast to the new year. Introduced oldest son to Young Frankenstein & Arsenic & Old Lace.
I have yet to sit down and seriously think about goals for the year but will spend some time doing that this afternoon. It's going to be an expensive year with our youngest graduating high school in May & so both boys in college next fall. I know that I need to start bringing in an income. That is probably the biggest thing for me for the year. But I am so stuck. I've been home for 21 years. I feel like I have no skills and I have no strong desire to do anything in particular. And I'm kind of scared that I am not competent enough. Gosh I sound pathetic lol. I know I'll figure something out and be just fine.
Welcome home Stella! I enjoyed reading about your trip.
Mara, congrats on paying off the car! That's a big deal.
Mighty Frugal, I am sorry to hear about your job situations but very impressed that you have been so pro-active in preparing.
Happy 2012 Everyone!
We talked yesterday about getting rid of our satellite TV subscription and using the TV for watching old shows and the radio for news we need. The current TV is so bad that we continually scroll thru and find nothing worth watching except old shows. Yesterday it was the Twilight Zone from the 60s.
Even if we dropped down to only local stations or got cable for local, we could save $75 a month or more. Hmmm. Need to find out when our contract expires.
My local public library has tons of old tv series on DVD. And a lot of classic movies and interesting documentaires too
we watch videos and dvds only from the library. Maybe once a year we will rent one. I have not finished with their whole collection yet and they often get more.
Thanks for the welcome home everyone! It feels fantastic to be back.
Mighty Frugal, I am glad you are in such a good position to weather the rough waters you are facing. It sounds scary, but I am sure you and your DH can handle it.
I went grocery shopping and spent about $140 on food. Considering how low we were on food I am OK with that. It's a bit over budget, but I should easily be able to make up the difference over the rest of January.
Did my usual cooking marathon so we can eat this week. Made split pea and ham soup, a lemon 2 crust pie, a very nice new years lunch for the 3 of us with baked stuffed haddock, smashed potatoes and garden kale. After lunch I made the sauce for american chop suey and we'll free half for the future. My mantra is going to be "empty the freezer". Have sold some stuff on etsy and I'm going to track my profit and also my earnings from consignment shop pretty carefully. Going through the stuff that MIL brought with her and no longer needs so there are more profits to be made. We're still trying not to get in each other's face but she did have an incident when she forgot to take a very important medicine and poor DH had to call around to see what to do. But we do love having her here. She's very quiet since she lives on another floor and is a bit hard of hearing which is good for us wink wink nod nod.
This year's frugal resolution is cutting back on food waste and eating down the cupboards a bit. Right now I have lamb stew on to use up artichokes, onions and tomato sauce from the freezer, and also homemade applesauce to use up apples that had gone mealy. Next is bread pudding with some cranberry bread that had gotten stale...
Spent about $70 to totally restock the fridge. I am running low on smoked salmon, so may make an ikea run later this week, but except for that and some fruit we should be fine for groceries for the week.
One major non-frugal -- somehow lost the Xbox live gold card that DS bought with Christmas gift cards. Actually I suspect it was stolen from our luggage because I have turned everything upside down and inside out and couldn't find it, and my sister scoured her place and couldn't find it either. Thankfully found a replacement on Amazon for $20 cheaper than he had originally paid. WIsh I'd known about that option before he bought the card. Much easier and safer to have an emailed code. Lesson learned, and count it against my stupid tax allotment for 2011 (since the card disappeared then, and I don't want to start off the new year on a negative note).
lhamo
early morning
1-2-12, 2:16am
Welcome home, Stella! Ihamo, bummer about the card. Same old things, here. NYE was just hanging about the house, eating snacks left from Christmas. Found a bag of carrots on the edge of tossing out stage, and microwaved them with butter to have with dinner. Hung two loads of laundry in the house. No drive, no spend day - hope to have a few more of them this year. Finished adding all my expenses into Quicken, but haven't run any totals. That's always sooo depressing to me.
flowerseverywhere
1-2-12, 9:10am
I love reading this thread. I feel like it is having a converstation with some comfortable friends.
NY eve at a friends house. We played games and all shared food, and realized only one person had one glass of wine yet we had a ball.
Yesterday organized the fridge and started getting organized for grocery shopping. Trying to cut down on grocery bill by being much more mindful of the sales. I already cook a lot but sometimes get a little lax in the grocery store and spend more than I should.
Mighty Frugal, I am sorry to hear about the employment challenges in the coming year. It sounds as though you are making every effort to plan for them, though. You will get through it, and remember, we are all here to support you!
Same old boring stuff here. We ate at home for breakfast and lunch yesterday. DH wanted to order a pizza for dinner. But we only ordered one, used a coupon, and paid in cash. This is a big step for DH, who usually insists on ordering seperate pizzas for both of us. We will be eating leftovers for lunch.
I will need to do a little shopping this week but intend to plan meals based upon what we already have in the house. I have a lot of chicken and ground beef in the freezer, so I will be using that.
Other than that, DH and I discussed our finances and set some financial goals to work toward in 2012. Might not meet them all, but we hope to meet some.
I love reading this thread. I feel like it is having a converstation with some comfortable friends.
That's exactly how I feel too. I love chatting with all of you!
Today Zach is going to get a bunch of paperwork and phone calls done and I am going to do some basic cleaning. It's not too messy since we haven't been here to mess it up, but things got dusty. Later in the day we are going to the library for this week's homeschool reading material. I am hoping to find a book on paper airplane making because Bella is on a paper airplane making kick.
This afternoon a good friend of mine is coming over to hang out. Tomorrow our priest friend is coming from out of town so I'm thinking I'll bake something. Maybe something with lemon since I froze a bunch of lemons I had before I left. Maybe lemon meringue pie or a lemon bundt cake. We only see him twice a year so I like to do something special. We will be going to Barnes and Nobel for coffee to see one of our friends who works there and can't get the evening off. We'll spend her lunch break with her. I will try to keep my purchase to just a coffee or tea and avoid the books and toys that tempt me when I go there.
Last night I made chicken and dumplings for dinner. I saved the leftover chicken broth and I will add veggies and a new batch of dumplings for soup today's lunch. I saved the carrots I put in the stock that got mushy to use as baby food. Travis loved them. He ate three whole carrots last night.
You can freeze lemons? this is excellent news. I bought three of them for my SIL's visit but she brought her own. Yes, she likes her lemons and didn't want to be without! Anyway, I tend to limit my citrus due to being over sensitive to it so I don't have a lot of use for three lemons all at once. Is there anything special I need to know about freezing them? Just pop in a bag?
Also have a PILE of bananas. My DS was visiting and claimed a need for them but only ate two. Now I am trying to do this low carb thing and hence I have to do something with a bunch of bananas. I already have black bananas in the freezer; are there any other ideas?
One of my personal bugaboos is that I waste food. I buy too much produce and we don't eat it, and that is a consistent problem. Any help with the bananas would be greatly appreciated!
Otherwise today I am making turkey stock with the bones and my saved onion and carrot peelings. I am out of stock and don't like that feeling during "soup season."
Originally posted by Leslieann.
I am out of stock and don't like that feeling during "soup season."One really excellent way of keeping soup stock bases on hand, is freezing drippings when oven roasting beef and pork. I use a sealable Rubbermaid/Tupperware when storing, and when soup day comes about, all I have to do is dump the frozen contents into my stock pot and away I go.
Wow! So many great posts already! My personal goal is to eat and live as cheaply as possible this year without reducing my family's quality of life. It can happen-I just need to be creative and consistent.
I talked ds into staying home today. He wanted to go out simply because he is getting cabin fever. We took down the christmas tree together and I made him breakfast here at the house and now he's watching one of his new Blue ray discs that he got for christmas. I think he's been properly distracted.
I went through the cupboards and found several things I can use up making chicken and dumplings for dinner tonight. We tend to eat dinner at work-everyone eating their own thing so it is rare that we're all eating at home and the same meal. Ds and I snacked on poptarts earlier eliminating a box from the cupboard.
I'm kind of ticked at myself. I through out half a loaf of stale cranberry bread this morning without thinking of other things to do with it. I bet it would have made good french toast or something. Oh well.
Today will be another no drive/spending day. I've actually had 5 of those since christmas! Yesterday I drove down the street and bought a sunday paper for the coupons and that was all.
I started to clean out the fridge this morning. I have been thinking that there are several things that need to be used up or thrown out. We just don't use much here since the move. I pitched some almond milk that I really didn't like and a box of tofu that went bad. There was some pepperjack cheese that was a freebie. I put it in the freezer so it wouldn't go to waste and that was it! Much less to deal with than I thought.
Off to do my sweeps and freebies. I have won 3 free candy bars at the mars sweepstakes site this week. Not big wins but every bit adds up!
Grate the zest of all the lemons first and then squeeze as much juice as you can out of the lemons. Pour juice in ice cube trays, sprinkling in the zest and freeze. When frozen pop into a ziplock bag. I do this all the time with costco lemons and I'm thrilled to know I have it any time I need it. Just baked a lemon two crust pie using frozen lemon juice cubes...it was lemonicious!
Pretty good so far. Sunday my brother stopped over and then we went to Menards and I bought bird seed, which was on my list, but at least I didn't have to pay for gas. He took me to lunch for helping him with something so nothing other than bird seed. My other brother stopped over and we all agreed to no Christmas gifts next year. I am hoping to talk the only two other people I buy for into no gifts, and then I will be down to just something for my youngest niece.
Today, I met friends for coffee at McD's. So only spent $1.06. Was temped to run around and see what was left of the after Christmas sales, but came home instead and sewed from my stash, which I hope to widdle down this winter. So far, so good no wasted spending.
Yesterday we had our new hot water tank installed. Not frugal, but needed. No hot water since Saturday, so I had some catching up to do in the dish area (I had done two sink fulls with the tea kettle, but had many more to go). If a hot water tank can be pretty, our new one is ;). It will save on energy costs, so that is great.
Today I'm taking the tree down, boys go back to school. I wish I had a way to take the old hot water tank to the scrap yard, we have that and the springs from our boys crib. Some extra $ is always good. oh well...
I did save $60 on a lab manual I need for my Chemistry class that starts next week. It's the only book I could get some place other than the college book store. We have the safety goggles I need, but I'll have to pick up a combo lock.
We have one really cold room in the house, the one I'm in right now with the computer. I've been trying to keep the door closed to keep the warm air in the rest of the house. I haven't felt a draft at night while sitting on the couch so I think it's helped.
flowerseverywhere
1-3-12, 7:44am
Mrs M great making stock tip- I compost all of my peelings but I could make stock first. Also, Merski, the lemon tip is great. Occasionally I go to a warehouse store with a friend and can get a big bag of lemons, but never knew what to do with them to keep them from going bad.
Aqua Blue, I have been working on my stash as well. I get books out of the library for ideas, there are lots of books that have patterns for kitchen accessories, aprons, small quilts to us on end tables a little mats etc.
Mary Englebright has a really cute one with lots of ideas.
I had gotten some insulbrite on sale and I am going to make cast iron pan handle covers- like little potholders to slip over the handle sbecause they get really hot. I give so few gifts I am making a pile of things to sell on etsy or ebay this fall. I love to sew and have lots of projects I can finish without spending a penny.
I did some research on all the couponing buzz, but I just don't get it. Almost all of the coupons I see are for things I really don't use, besides toiletries and with two frugal adults in the house we don't use much of any product. So I guess just really watching the ads and taking advantage of sales is the bet I will be able to do. I have a list ready for later today when the streets are plowed.
Our first days of 2012 have been frugal-rific! We stayed home NY Eve and Day and yesterday went out to return a wet/dry vac that I gave my DH at his request for Christmas - it turned out to be flimsier than he anticipated and when he checked reviews on-line, found lots of dissatisfied comments. We returned it and walked out with a credit - nothing in Christmas clearance was tempting!
Today I am going to go to the grocery store with a gift card that someone at work gave me. It's to a store I rarely shop at although they do have a few items that my typical grocery doesn't stock so I think I will pick up only those items.
Didn't go to the fabric store because even if thread was 50% off, once I reviewed my thread colors, I saw there was no obvious lack of color there! Want to join others here who are sewing up their stash. My sister gave me some great vintage fabrics for Christmas that I need to spend some time with!
I went to Barnes and Nobel last night and I only bought the gift card I went there to buy.
I did almost as well at Target, but I did buy some cute erasers for school rewards, a batter bowl and a set of oven mitts, all of which are actually things I could use. Luckily, because the thing I actually went there to buy was cheaper than I thought it was, I still spent less than I was expecting to.
I found a recipe for lemon bars that I am going to make today for our friend's visit. I am greatly looking forward to that. We always have really great discussions.
Zach has decided to keep donating plasma while he finishes school. He had been doing it to save money towards the trip, but it's a pretty easy thing to do it adds up over time.
Stella, donating plasma really helped us out this past year. I give - not DH. This year I will not be able to donate for 4 months because I am having a colonoscopy next week. But afterwards, if I can fit it into my schedule I will probably try to go a few times a month.
Tyler is back to school today. We'll drive Ian back to school either tonight or tomorrow. Not sure just yet. I enjoy having them home, but it's always nice to get back to routine. The other night Ty had a couple of friends over for the night. It was kind of bittersweet knowing that these days are almost over since he graduates in May.
Today I have a bunch of calls to make. Making eye appt. for Tyler. I think that I now have enough money saved up to get his new lenses. Hard lenses are expensive!
Setting up more tutoring for him as well. We got his ACT results back and after only 5 tutoring appts in which they worked only on the math portion his score did go up by 2 pts. He still only has a 17 which is pretty low, but we are hoping that combined with his transcript and some really nice recommendation letters it will get him where he wants to go. If not he can retest again in 5 weeks. But we will continue the tutoring either way. We consider it an investment in helping him to prepare for college. Though the budget right now will only cover 2 sessions this month.
When we got our 2003 Bonneville in November (did I mention that I LOVE this car lol So much fun to drive. Especially after 15 years of driving a van) we bought a 1 year warranty for $500 which was dealers cost. The service vehicle light has been on for about 2 weeks now & we've noticed that sometimes there is a hesitation when we try to take off so I'm going to call them and see what we need to do.
Taking Ian to get his passport whenever he gets his lazy college student on break behind out of bed. Other than that I don't expect to drive anywhere or spend any other money.
Have a chicken thawing in the fridge. I think I will roast it but I'm undecided what to do next. If I just serve roast chicken the guys will pick the darn bird clean. I can still make soup after but I'd like to stretch it a bit further than that. I am thinking about BBQ chicken pizza. I was thinking chicken enchiladas w/green olives sounded really yummy. But since we don't have corn tortillas or green olives I think I will have to pass on that idea.
I love reading this thread. I feel like it is having a converstation with some comfortable friends.
I feel the same way -- this is by far my favorite thread on the forums!!!
A frugal start to the new year here. We were in NYC for NYE to join the BridgeRunners group for their late night run from Manhattan to Brooklyn and back going over the Brooklyn Bridge and then back via the Manhattan Bridge. It was loads of fun and quite frugal as the run itself was free. We did go to a restaurant afterwards but only spent about $27 for an appetizer and entree to split.
Went out to brunch with the whole family on New Year's Day, but my partner's sister and BIL paid for it. I'm sure there was some prior discussion as to who was picking up the tab, but I was not part of the discussion so who knows what else I have missed out on. Hopefully not much!!!
My new job has me working from home and that has definitely helped. I've been good about not making any extra trips out and have been combining errands. I'm hoping this continues to be the case! I do have to go out today for a haircut appointment, but I will use this as an opportunity to stop at the vet clinic to pick up some meds for one of the dogs and one of the cats and the grocery store to get a few perishables (using a gift card my mom gave us for Christmas, no less!).
I am leaving for Austin, TX for work on Thursday morning. I keep feeling an urge to go out and buy new clothes for the trip, but one look in my closet tells me that is entirely unnecessary!!! I just need to spend some time being thoughtful about what I want to take with me for the trip. It's my first time meeting everyone that I work with except my boss, so I know that is what is making me think about shopping. It's so dumb since they in no way hired me for my looks or the way I dress!!!
Frugal suprise today! My 11 and 12 year old neighbor kids stopped by to help watch the boys so we could get unpacked and clean out the car. The girl even helped with the cleaning. Every now and then they'll do that. They stayed for two hours and we got so much more done than we otherwise would have. Since these are also the kids that took care of our cat for several weeks I gave them a few dollars to get themselves a treat. They were really nice and said that they didn't need the money, they just have fun being helpful. I told them that I know that they don't expect anything and I think they are awesome and I just want to express my appreciation for their awesomeness. I really like those kids.
I have a new calendar (50% off during sales, of course). I wanted to hang it on a metal filing cabinet. The supply cabinet didn't have any magnets. Then I realized staff nametags, of which I have several (we order multiples to cover loss) have magnets on the back. I thought, well that will hold me till I scrounge something better (because eventually I will need to wear the nametags). Mentioned to my colleague who did the ordering. She had some that had been ordered as samples that she didn't need and gave them to me to keep. A small victory, but I was proud of it...
Azure, I have been thinking about you. First, I saw a free online test prep site. It is for SAT, not ACT, but maybe some of it would benefit your DS anyway, and if free, well, what the heck. Here is the link: http://www.ck12.org/flexbook/. Click on any of the SAT material under "other subjects." If you give the task to DS to determine whether this will be helpful, even the act of reviewing the materials to determine their usefulness will be an act of studying in and of itself.
Secondly, I was thinking about your earlier employment post. I know you have mentioned this in previous months. I have a suggestion which you can take or leave. In my school district, which is called an Intermediate in Minnesota and serves several school districts, we employ lots of education assistants. These are people who may have training in education but many do not. They work one-on-one with kids or in small groups and are trained on the job. The wage isn't stellar, but it is flexible. The nice part is that you could try out this kind of a job as a sub. We are always crying for subs since a lot of people don't know that Intermediate districts even exist. It might be something to try out to gain some confidence and it is flexible enough to even start trying now while your youngest is still in school. Good luck!!! You are totally employable. Don't tell yourself otherwise.
Here we made up food from the freezer tonight. I had a fleeting craving for Chinese but then your voices all spoke to me and said "no, you can cook it at home." So we had scrummy sweet potato fries and leftover frozen sloppy joes. We will no longer be buying bagged fries now that I finally figured out how to make them from an actual potato. For some of the kitchen divas on here that sounds like no big deal but it was just something I took my sweet time in figuring out. We got a nifty fry slicer at a garage sale and I figured out that only works on white potatoes. Sweet potatoes are too hard and I have to slice with a knife. I just toss in a Tupperware with olive oil and sea salt and the bake for about half an hour. Yum yum yum yum yum.
Kelli I love sweet potato fries. Yum!
I kept my Barnes and Nobel trip to under $5 today and had a fantastic, amazing talk with my friends. So worth $5.
We also went to the library today. Homeschooling would be so much more expensive if it weren't for the library. We got 15 books today and the kids have already read half of them. Bella was reading me the ingredient lists from a kid's cookbook we got for about an hour tonight. That is my kid. LOL. She wanted to see if we have all of the ingredients to make the various dishes in the book. Bella got books on cooking and horses and a bunch of children's books and Cheyenne got two easy reading chapter books, two craft books and a bunch of books on gardening for kids. They got a book on airplanes and an Olivia story bag for James, who loved them both, and the first book in the Redwall series for everyone to read together. I love the library.
early morning
1-3-12, 11:19pm
Oh, love the library! I agree, it would be hard for me -and not nearly as much fun- to be frugal without the library! DD and I spent the weekend watching Dr. Who and Lark Rise to Candleford DVDs. Ok, sure, I could have been doing something more productive - but it was holiday, lol. Other frugals - made a nice stew from the stock from a roast. Pulled out the bread machine (old, from a yard sale) to make a loaf to go with the stew, and somehow it stopped after raising, so we just turned the dough out, punched it down, let it raise again, and baked it on a cookie sheet. It was lovely. I'll try the machine again, maybe somehow it got set on manual. Regardless, I'm just happy enough to not have to knead dough! I used to love it, but now it really bothers my wrists. Anyway, DD checked the bread machine instructions to see how to restart it, and the book says that if there's a power outage or the machine stops for any reason, to dump the contents out and start over! I was shocked, lol.
fidgiegirl
1-3-12, 11:44pm
I love that it's only January 3 and we already have four pages on the frugals thread. Lots of energy going into this new year.
I have been researching some out-of-the house homeschool activities for the kids. There's an all day winter survival class next week for $10 a kid that I think the girls would have fun at. They would learn about tracking animals, building a winter shelter, snowshoeing and about how animals and humans keep warm in the winter. It's an all day event.
I am thinking of coming up with a budget for classes. Maybe $50 a month. There are a lot of $5-$10 a kid homeschool events that they might enjoy. The other ones I am considering are an indoor rock climbing class that is going on in St Paul mid-month, $10 a kid, a $5 snowshoeing class in early February and a $5 kicksledding in the full moon event in early February. I think we would get a lot of learning value from $50 a month.
I started tracking spending yet again this year. Last year I made it 1 day. So far I'm still current on my tracking. Progress.
Will have to do a lot of small frugal things to offset the plummer today! $411 to replace the faucet in the bath/shower. Yikes!
the next thing I need to do is get the power company out to cap a gas line that goes under my deck. I won't use it(I think it was for a gas grill) and there is a tree growing very close to it. I'll probably wait till spring to do that one. After that I need to have some boards replaced on my deck. So, another spendy project for sure.
Otherwise a all day at home, no spend, working on using up fabric stash and pantry stash day.
Had my first weekly grocery shopping trip for the new year last night. "Can-can" sale has started so I stocked up on several items and only went .33 over my budget of $60.00! Feels good to be back on track, as I'm sure heating oil prices will be gobbling up any excess income.
Stella, I think that you are totally correct. Some of those out-of-house activities will be the most impactful and memorable for your kids.
Concordia Language Villages, if you can swing it, is a PHENOMENAL opportunity. Some of the programs have subsidies to make them more affordable. It is pretty amazing. What ever happened with the Greek?
I can remember one of my students, an autistic boy, who came with on a field trip to Concordia Language Villages for Spanish Club. I was really unsure how much he would get out of the trip, but he came, had fun, etc. Three months later I happened to be picking up some papers off the printer and ran across student work about the trip. I was BLOWN AWAY. This kid remembered more about the day than I did! He remembered all the names of the artists mentioned. He remembered all the activities and the names of all the food we'd eaten. It was one of my most proud teaching moments, and I hadn't even taught it. ;)
Wow, total tangent there!! :)
I am going to the co-op this afternoon after work and will stock up on whole foods for the new foray into gluten free eating. Also, probably some fast snacks so I'm not tempted by other things. We'll just have to see.
flowerseverywhere
1-5-12, 9:58am
I love the library too. If I am ever near a library in our system I stop in and look at all their sewing, quilt and craft books. I usually walk out with a stack and I can return them to my home library.
Was doing grocery shopping the other day and I noticed several items that I use that had rebates for them. I almost never find products that I use that have rebates so with careful shopping saved some money. It really pays to take your time and shop with a list and take the time to look over the shelf, is there a rebate, a larger size or some type of bonus product attached.
Also tracking again, we did it for years but the last two years for some reason got out of the habit. It really is easy.
We have a very nice little library. But it is little. They have movies but not a whole lot and not free. They also have some books on cd but not a lot. Luckily I can get stuff through inter-library loan for free. I currently have 2 cookbooks that I got on loan.
I am spending some time this week taking care of odds & ends of things. Yesterday I took the care to AutoZone & had them check out why the engine light is on. Free! Turns out to be an EGR sensor thingy LOL I was worried there might be a transmission problem because I was getting some hesitation when pushing the gas pedal. Talked to BIL about it today and he recommended buying a bottle of injection cleaner & putting it in the gas tank. So we'll be trying that this weekend.
Put what little window plastic I had left over the leakiest window in the living room. Put some throw blankets over the windows in our bedroom. Looks bad but feels so much more comfortable.
Made eye appt. for Tyler. Took Ian to get his passport. Working on the budget. Set up more tutoring for Ty. Mailed letters of recommendation to Alma college for Ty.
Todays goals - figure out how to drain the water heater. Painting the cupboard & shelves for the bathroom. Near future goal is to tape up the leak in a pipe in the basement. And take Ty to get his books for this community college classes which begin on Monday.
Good news from Ian. We were worried that he would not have enough money for text books this term. But he just texted that he had more than enough. So that is a relief cause I didn't know how we were going to find extra money right now. When I talk to him tomorrow I'll be sure to ask him if he really does have what he needs because he might feel like he had to do without because he knows things are tight right now.
Cooking beans to make Boulangerie Beans, Leeks & Potatoes for dinner tonight from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.
Kelli, thank you for thinking of me. I know I am overthinking things. I think I've gotten too comfortable here at home and probably just a bit lazy. :|( If I think about applying somewhere I need to just do it! Instead of talking myself out of it. I'm real good at talking myself out of things lol
So far I'm doing well on tracking expenses and cooking at home and reminding the family to eat out of the fridge so we have less waste. Having a bowl of cuties and apples on the table is helping the teenagers not look for chips or bread type snacks first.
Had to go about 40 miles to the large town to the north of us to install a display of my husband's glass in the library. About 1500 people use the library daily and they are so nice to rotate through local artists for the display wall (locking glass wall). Business reimbursed me the gas, a friend bought me lunch. I was only out $3 on a snack on the way home. Traded books at the used book store and got $80 credit to my account but found 2 books so I'm left with $60 credit. Still have another huge rubbermade full to trade in next trip up that way.
Didn't find anything I had to have at 3 fabric stores or 3 thrift shops (progress!!!).
Tossed 2 chickens in a big crockpot when I got home so I've got plenty of shredded chicken for several meals.
Well, that didn't work out how I planned. I found the water heater manual but the instructions are a bit more detailed than I am comfortable doing. And I 'm not sure we have some of the tools needed. So I think I will enlist DH's help this weekend. I won't ask him to do it but to supervise. He has both knees replaced and has difficulty going up & down stairs and doing any kind of work on that low of a level. Next time maybe I'll be confident enough to do it myself.
early morning
1-6-12, 12:09am
Brought home some leftovers from family dinner at my mom's. It will make several meals. Also snagged some stale crackers and cereal for the chickens. squeezed some grapefruit that was getting punchy. Used up a bag of old hairy carrots in a stew. I think I found them in the nick of time, lol.
Azure, the draining shouldn't be that hard. When we drained ours this weekend, all DH had to do (after making sure everything was off) was to use a flat head screwdriver to turn the knob with the hose attached to the drain spout.
Our new tank will not need to be drained yearly. Our old one was disgusting. We did not know it was supposed to be drained and what came out of it was nasty.
I have to go buy text books today and those online codes that they sell now to make extra money. Grocery shopping, my menu worked great this past week and I can see how it's really going to streamline everything for me store wise.
I have a return to make at JC Penney and a trip to the bank. Have been keeping heat down, but our temps here in SE Michigan have made that easier.
Kelli, Concordia Language Villages have been on my list of things I want the kids to do since they were born. I have had several friends who had great experiences there. We haven't been doing Greek for a while due to craziness in the schedule, but I want to get back to it.
Today is a pretty run-of-the-mill day. Zach is running some stuff to his school this morning and I am doing schoolwork with the kids. This afternoon I am going to go out and get Cheyenne some snowpants and James some boots. Dad said he'd reimburse me for them, which is nice of him.
I am hoping to be able to do some sewing tonight or tomorrow night. The laundry from the trip has eaten my bedroom, but Zach and the girls are finally tackling that today, so I should be able to get in there soon. I need more pot holders.
I've been browsing Valentine's Day crafts on the Martha Stewart website and found a few that I think the kids and I could do without spending much, if any, money. I also found a good science project from Family Fun magazine.
Azure, the draining shouldn't be that hard. When we drained ours this weekend, all DH had to do (after making sure everything was off) was to use a flat head screwdriver to turn the knob with the hose attached to the drain spout.
Our new tank will not need to be drained yearly. Our old one was disgusting. We did not know it was supposed to be drained and what came out of it was nasty..
Well, that's what I thought LOL But just reading the directions made me nervous. I'm sure once it's been done the first time I'll be fine. But at this point I'm not sure where are all the correct turn off/on things are. lol But we'll do it this weekend. I told DH he needed to help me drain the water heater and he didn't even know what I was talking about and said his usual "I don't know how to do that." We're a sorry pair lol
Went to a funeral today for one of my aunts. There was no grave side service or dinner but most of the family went to a little coffee shop for lunch. I'd had pancakes for breakfast and was still full so I just spent $2 for a cup of tea. We all had a nice time visiting.
Now this is nothing frugal that I've done but it's definitely a money saver. Tyler was signed up for a piano class & a guitar class at the community college. A dual enrollment thing we don't pay for. But the guitar class was cancelled. So after talking to the guidance counselor he decided not to to the CC thing after all. He wants to concentrate more on his math class. And he needs to fit in a health class before he graduates. They also decided that he would be in choir. He'll get some beginning aural skills he is going to need as a music major. And the band director is totally thrilled to get a deeper voice into the choir LOL So the frugal is that we won't need to buy him books for the CC. And no driving back & forth to Lansing for class. Or paying for parking! Yeah!!
The water bill for this month went down by $10. Even with an extra person (Ian) in the house. I am guessing that it must be the new low flow shower head.
The temp today was 53 here today. Pretty warm for Michigan in January. I was able to turn the heat down to 60 for the day and actually be comfortable. Hopefully once the insulation is in I'll be able to do that more often.
Stayed home all day today, so no spend, no drive day. Washed full loads in cold and hung up to dry. Adds moisture to the air, which we sure need in this part of the country at this time of year. Finshed some squash from the freezer for supper. Worked on making some gifts from fabric in my stash. I made two totes that turned out well.
Azure, mind you my DH is not of the plumbing sort. I won't let him touch the pipes anymore after he broke one off in the wall. My Dad is gone now, so no free plumber to fix that kind of stuff. That's beyond my skills. So I just handle the clogs, toilet issues, kitchen pipes, shower head replacements, toilet fixing, replacement of garbage disposal and leaking pipes.
I ended up finding another of my text books cheaper on Amazon. It's a $40 difference. Checking on one more, I think it will save me another $100.
What an excellent frugal evening! I was feeling tired and stretched this afternoon when my friend's DD came over and invited us over for burgers and cards. We brought some chips and pop my dad brought home from a meeting and some lettuce, since she was out of that, and they provided the burgers, beans, homemade mac and cheese and hashbrowns. We had a great time. It was just what I needed.
fidgiegirl
1-7-12, 12:28am
Fun, Stella!
Azure, sounds great on the CC plan for DS, esp. if math is the ACT challenge. Glad you posted about draining the water heater. We never have. Ruh roh!! Oh well, now we will know.
My DFiL obtained 10 gallons of paint for us for a grand total of $35. Actually 5 of them were free (the colors) and then he purchased a 5 gallon bucket of ivory for the $35. I was a little miffed at first because he did all of this without asking us, and now we have 10 gallons of paint to deal with! (We only would have needed 2-3 more). But in the end we will get a lot of use out of the ivory even if we can't really make use of the colors. They are nice colors, they just don't go with the colors we've already put on the wall. Since 3 of the gallons are really close, I am going to offer them to my coworker who is going to paint her basement. DH had the good idea to mix them all together in a big bucket so they will match. So smart, that DH!
Groceries haven't been too frugal as I am launching on the gluten free journey. But I did make a Costco run today and the big scores there were Chobanis for about $1 each as well as some delish gluten free crackers. I also got pork ribs for the crockpot for the 2012 Paintstravaganza tomorrow. Hopefully we will have lots of people to help us eat them . . . and I got a gluten free BBQ sauce at Menards to go on them. Yes, at Menards.
DH decided to buy a new vintage reproduction light for the bathroom rather than an actual vintage one off eBay. Not so good environmentally, but good for the wallet, since he paid all of $7 for the light and it looks just fine.
Oh, went to the library to check out books on tiling, weatherization and gluten free eating. Also a pleasure read. I finished Jane Eyre on my work iPad this morning. That is one wacky book - hard to get through, but not uninteresting. I think the language fatigued me or something, because I would be riveted for a while and then all the sudden it was like Greek on the page and I would have to put it down. It's amazing how much pleasure reading I get done even if I just pick up a book for 30 minutes a night, so I'm going to work on that. Otherwise this house project is utterly consuming.
We are going to have the insulation blown in. It will cost a lot of money, which I am not pleased about, especially since it had occurred to us to do it right away, we could have taken advantage of tax credits. But that ship sailed. I still think it will be worth it. The plan is to be in our house for a lot of years and I think we will save back the money in that time as well as be more comfortable. I might have already written about this. Sorry if I am being boring. :)
OK! Time to walk the dog!
Kelli we've actually mixed paint from the same paint line but other colors and had great results. Ivory can mitigate lots of colors. You just need to make enough for your project because it can be hard to replicate unless you are measuring. Also let a paint sample dry on the wall before you judge it. Your FIL's thoughtfulness behind the gift offsets the colors...he gets what you're trying to do frugal wise...Bravo!
fidgiegirl
1-7-12, 10:48am
Kelli we've actually mixed paint from the same paint line but other colors and had great results. Ivory can mitigate lots of colors. You just need to make enough for your project because it can be hard to replicate unless you are measuring. Also let a paint sample dry on the wall before you judge it. Your FIL's thoughtfulness behind the gift offsets the colors...he gets what you're trying to do frugal wise...Bravo!
Very true, Merski. He was just trying to help.
Hope I didn't sound preachy. We had this yellow for the kitchen which was horrible out of the can so we added some of the living room color called coffee kiss and it became a beautiful tuscan gold. We also had to do it with an appalling shade of green (we were trying to do more vibrant colors and get out of our neutral comfort zone). This was just perfect in the long run because all the areas are open to each other.
Probably the opposite of frugal, but I scored a number of good deals at Value Village yesterday--most of them half off--including a like-new anorak for my SO for five dollars and a red quilted paisley Vera Bradley tote for slightly less. (retail $52.) And some wonderful scarves, including a long chocolate brown velvet burnout one in an intricate symmetrical floral pattern and another filmy rayon number in vaguely 20's Deco colors that's practically throw-sized. In case anyone regularly buys thrifted goods, Value Village has its very own "club card" now: http://www.supersaversclubcard.com/
Well, this is my very first post to the frugals thread.
My husband and I paid off his tractor after three long years! That will free up $500/month to either put towards the mortgage or go into savings. I cleaned out one of my chest freezers today and found several bags of vegetables from my summer CSA that I had blanched and completely forgotten about. Also am doing a pantry reorganization and finding tons of things. I think, except for milk and fruit, we could go a couple of months without going to the grocery store. Also, after much conversation, I believe I have finally gotten my husband to come around to my way of thinking and actually set up a budget and stick to it for 2012. ;)
Tracking expenses starting 1/1/2012. Have done this before and found it SOOOOooo helpful, but haven't done it in a while. Hopefully we will stay with it long enough to get some useful information. Still getting used to a situation in which I only get paid (except for a very small monthly amount) every few YEARS. At end of last year and beginning of this year, I am getting paid for the first time since I started this job in 2007, and it could be several years until the next significant payment. Am having a hard time adjusting my budgeting/saving to this arrangement. I had such a good system in place previously, based on a fixed salary (saved enough to make it through all this time not being paid!). Got some good tips in response to a previous post about this but still working out the kinks. Having the spending info will be a big help.
Haven't tried the sweet potato fries before, but they sound delicious!! Will definitely try them. What temp for baking?
fidgiegirl - I am probably high on the paranoia scale about this living in an old house with two little kids, but I recently read that, in an older house, blown-in insulation has the potential to blow a bunch of (invisible or nearly invisible) dust from lead paint, toxic previous insulation materials, etc. all around the interior of your house, basically coating everything without you realizing. You mentioned that your contractor seemed to lack experience in this area, so it might be worth checking out if potentially an issue in your situation.
Hope I didn't sound preachy.
Not at all! I reread my original post and realize that though I was thankful he had been thinking of us, I didn't say so. :)
We used some of that paint today, in fact! :D
Haven't tried the sweet potato fries before, but they sound delicious!! Will definitely try them. What temp for baking?
fidgiegirl - I am probably high on the paranoia scale about this living in an old house with two little kids, but I recently read that, in an older house, blown-in insulation has the potential to blow a bunch of (invisible or nearly invisible) dust from lead paint, toxic previous insulation materials, etc. all around the interior of your house, basically coating everything without you realizing. You mentioned that your contractor seemed to lack experience in this area, so it might be worth checking out if potentially an issue in your situation.
Mamalatte - I use 400 degrees, but was thinking I might try them at 425 or 450 next time.
As far as the insulation, I'm not too worried. Plus we have no children in the house, so it would only be us we are injuring ;). We ended up going with the insulation company instead and they are putting it in next Saturday! Eek!
Jan 07
Been here reading but not posting because of so much company over the New Year...
--frugal was mostly planned meals (mostly using things in the stockpiles) and not going out to eat
--unfrugal washing and cleaning up all the bedding after the company (a smelly dog that is in beds and on furniture)..frugal was half drying at lot of it on rack
--all new spreadsheets with new expenses and revised income...every penny tracked so far..only day 7..lol
--went for groceries and only spent $55.00 (bad or good depending on how I look at it was 10 cans of "poppy c**k (which is carmal popcorn and pecans for those who don't know the name) for $1.47 a can reg. $6.99, use by Sept/12 but, I am sure I can use it by then...hehe)
--created myself a dayplanner for free from a spare Journal
flowerseverywhere
1-7-12, 11:30pm
I have been trying in the past year to work on relationships with fellow frugals, and it is starting to pay off. Not only do I not feel like I am the crazy one, but I am getting lots of tips and help. For instance, I save all the coupons I don't use for my neighbor with four kids, as they eat way more cereal etc. then we ever would. She has reciprocated several times by helping me out in ways that were moneysaving.
Another friend approached me with an idea which I thought was great. We are going to carpool one day a week to go grocery shopping. Since I only have use of a car one weekday (we are a one car family) this will be a big help. We plan to hit about three major grocery stores and research ahead of time the sales and deals. I think that in the long run we will really urge each other on to be very mindful in shopping.
things are going in a good direction I think.
Well, this is my very first post to the frugals thread.
My husband and I paid off his tractor after three long years! That will free up $500/month to either put towards the mortgage or go into savings. I cleaned out one of my chest freezers today and found several bags of vegetables from my summer CSA that I had blanched and completely forgotten about. Also am doing a pantry reorganization and finding tons of things. I think, except for milk and fruit, we could go a couple of months without going to the grocery store. Also, after much conversation, I believe I have finally gotten my husband to come around to my way of thinking and actually set up a budget and stick to it for 2012. ;)
Wow -- huge progress, AnneM! The tractor payoff and budget agreement are both HUGE scores, and the reorg finds great bonuses. Be patient with your DH. He will probably have a few slips along the way. But this is already major progress, especially considering that the tendency without having the budget agreement would probably have been to just let that extra $500/month slip away.
Wishing you guys all the best in 2012. It was great to meet you in person the other day and hope we can meet up again next time I'm back in the Valley.
lhamo
I have been trying in the past year to work on relationships with fellow frugals, and it is starting to pay off. Not only do I not feel like I am the crazy one, but I am getting lots of tips and help. For instance, I save all the coupons I don't use for my neighbor with four kids, as they eat way more cereal etc. then we ever would. She has reciprocated several times by helping me out in ways that were moneysaving.
Another friend approached me with an idea which I thought was great. We are going to carpool one day a week to go grocery shopping. Since I only have use of a car one weekday (we are a one car family) this will be a big help. We plan to hit about three major grocery stores and research ahead of time the sales and deals. I think that in the long run we will really urge each other on to be very mindful in shopping.
things are going in a good direction I think.
Developing relationships with fellow frugals is a HUGE help. Your post reminded me of a few that I enjoy:
~meeting w/ a friend to chat. We used to go out and buy a bottle of wine and appetizers to share. Total cost w/ tip in the $30-$40 range. Now we meet in our own homes, buy the bottle of wine and appetizers at Aldi. Total cost $7-$10.
~used to meet up with a friend at Starbucks, now we got for a walk in the park.
~I have three teens whose activities sometimes take them in opposite directions at the same time. We have regular carpool buddies. If we are going to a certain activity that we know one of these folks is going to, we will call and ask if they need a ride.
~I have friend that cat sits for me and I plant sit for her.
~the cat-sitting friend doesn't like to cook, I regularly share with her a portion of something that I have made for me and the kids
I think that there are a lot of frugal folks out there, it's just that frugal activties are often quiet so it takes a little more attention to find our commrades.
I once had a nurse riding with me for the day to see if he wanted to take a position that we had open. He brought his lunch. I recognized the label on his yogurt as one from Aldi, and mentioned that I shopped there also. In between discussing the position that he was applying for, we discussed the benefits of Goodwill shopping, how being frugal leads to freedom, many of the things we discuss here. He took the job and I know many of our co-workers have no idea that he and I share a frugal streak.
Anne: Congratulations on the tractor payoff. What a nice accomplishment!
Fawn: Good point about the quiet nature of frugal activities. There's probably a lot going on that passes under our radar. Splurges are often more newsworthy.
I went to the library and picked up two DVDs yesterday. We don't watch many movies, but this is certainly frugal entertainment since the cost is free. I also donated 3 DVDs while I was there, so I worked in a little decluttering as well.
Flowerseverywhere I find that having a frugal community is a huge help too. I love living where I live because there are just so many people with a similar mindset to me. So many people in my neighborhood are living really intentional, beautiful, mindful livess.
I am going to sew today! My beautiful, sweet husband rescued our room and my craft space from the massive amounts of roadtrip laundry and I am going to spend some time this afternoon doing some projects. I am thrilled!
We are going to carpool with Dad to church today. Zach went to mass last night to do an honour guard event for KofC and he is going to stay with the little boys while I take the big girls to mass with Dad, who is serving at the Cathedral.
The house is in pretty decent shape. We spent the last week working to get it ready for Zach to go back to school and I think we accomplished that. The better shape things are in the more efficiently we can use our time and money.
Another cooking marathon this weekend. Made turkey soup from stock & meat I froze after thanksgiving. Made meatloaf and cooked 2 butternut squashes to use the heat of the oven effectively. DH is using oven before me to bake his 2 loaves of bread. Then I will make something sweet for MIL and DH. Low fat applesauce cake perhaps? He's taking some more photos for my etsy shop listings. I resolved a checking account balance problem by going through statements. Someone said that they hadn't been paid and my balance said they had, so now I have proof. Got some fabulous irish coffee glasses free yesterday at the landfill yesterday which I will list for sale. I'm interested if anyone else is selling online and how they are doing. PS DH sold a book on alibris so we're now in a friendly competition. Have a fabulous frugal day today!
For the second week in a row, DH and I have walked to church. It is just under 2 miles each way. I have really wanted to try this for awhile - and wasn't sure if he'd go for it. He agreed last Saturday night, then we woke up to crunchy ice and snow but we put on boots and set off. Today's walk was much smoother and it was his idea that we walk today. We'll see if we can keep it going - the months he ushers I may walk alone cause he leaves very early to be sure all is ready and stays late to make sure the next service is all set.
I walk to work and he rides the bus so there are many days when our car doesn't leave the garage but it would be nice to have Sunday be yet another day the Civic stays home!
Plus, chrissieq, nice exercise! I always feel better about exercise when it is to arrive at a destination, either walking or via bike. Cool!
Mighty Frugal
1-8-12, 9:02pm
Made a huge batch of my healthy choco chip cookies for my son's school snacks. Not only much healthier than a store bought snack, but it saves loads of $$ (unless dh ends up eating all of them)
Been a pretty frugal weekend. We found some awesome deals at IKEA for things we need-including a pair of goose down filled slipper booties for 1.98.
Had a few playdates and pretty much a no spend weekend.
Yesterday DH hung a bar in the basement laundry area so I can hang clothes on hangers fresh from the dryer. Less wrinkles to deal with later. Yeah!
Then today when I got home from church he already had the water heater draining. So it is done! Another thing checked off my list. However, I still do not know how to do it LOL Well, hopefully it will run more efficiently now.
OK, there was an ad in the paper today. The heading is Part Time Clerk It says " west side law firm in need of a part-time clerk. 20-25 hours per week; Must be able to stay until 5 pm. Receptionist duties, filing & mail. $10 hr. " It asks you to email a resume.
About 20 years ago I was a receptionist. And just before that I was a file clerk/typist. I was pretty good at answering the phones. I used to get compliments all the time. "you sound like you're singing when you answer the phone" "I can tell you're smiling" that sort of thing. And I kind of liked filing. It sounds like something I could actually do lol And I do clean up pretty good lol But I'm afraid there is stuff that isn't listed that I couldn't do. I don't have much in the way of computer skills really after all this time. I think I should send in a resume but of course first I have to write one lol And there is all that time when there isn't anything to put on a resume. I know it's crazy but I'm kind of freaking out about actually doing it. aackk. I think I need a kick in the pants.
July 08/12
Azure of course send it in...nothing to lose and you might gain a lot..At the very least it is an excuse for you to get the resume done, there are ways
to explain the time lapses, you might need to look that up on a resume writing site...or I am sure there are people on this site that could help. Good luck.
--big pot of turkey soup from 1/2 of carcus froze from Christmas...used up a few carrots/potatoes/spinach, very large pot with lots of leftover for tomorrow
--leftover salad for lunch with the last couple piece of goats cheese with cranberries bought for company last weekend
--needed a snow float and got it on sale, also ice melter on sale (ours from last year went hard..does anyone know if it can be softened up?)
--house is completely cleaned from the holidays and company so I can be better organized and keep using up.
--Dd picked up a couple of things at the store nice mixes of frozen vegetables on sale and then used coupons for buy get one off...got 4 bags
nice change from the usual
--been driving so little I used about $25.00 last month...yeah....
I know it's crazy but I'm kind of freaking out about actually doing it. aackk. I think I need a kick in the pants.
KICK!
What is the worst they can do to you? Tell you that they gave the job to a 20 year old, boob enhanced, youngster with computer skills that are worse than your own?
If so, I pray for her....she will have her own issues.....
Happy dance! I got two of the throw pillows I wanted to sew completely done and one 90% of the way done. It felt good to get that accomplished and I really think it's going to add a bit of happy colour to my living room, which it needs in winter. I love the colour blue Zach painted this room, but it needs just a little something extra when there's no colour outside.
Dad bought everyone Culvers after mass. I thought that was nice of him.
Tomorrow I'm going to use the rest of the chicken I roasted for lunch to make creamy chicken soup with spinach and gnocchi. I have some spinach to use up too. I might make biscuits to go with it since I have some buttermilk on hand.
Well James woke up this morning and refused to wear a diaper. He will only wear underpants and he has sat on the potty three times without me even telling him to. This could be good for the wallet. Plus, two kids in diapers is my limit, so it would be good to get on this before May.
First off, I need to check in here regularly like I used to. I stopped doing so and then slowly but surely fell off of all sorts of wagons. *hurts*
The big goal this year is to pay off the husband's student loans. We've been steadily paying it down, paying more than minimum, etc. But I want it gone by 12/31/2012. So first steps are to really tighten our belts and begin living like we did 2 years ago - minimum to no meals at restaurants, more potluck parties, doing more at home, not turning on the space heater so readily, growing a few veggies (esp. things like lettuce), canning some surplus, only thrift store purchasing - and try, try, try again if I don't find things the first time - really challenging since things are so spread out and self-mobility can be a little bit of a drag sometimes - etc.
Nordette that is a fantastic goal. I find this thread is super helpful to me in staying on track with frugality.
OK, I know I'm a little manic with my posting today, but indulge me. I finally think I've figured out my frugal(ish) living room make-over that I have been ruminating about for a few months. My inspiration is this rug (http://www.target.com/p/Xhilaration-Medallion-Rug-Aqua/-/A-13103449#?lnk=sc_qi_detaillink). I have one in my little chapel area and I am getting the bigger version for the middle of the living room. That will give you an idea of the colours I am working with.
My big restriction is a large oil painting of Paris that I inherited from my mom, who inherited it from her mom. I like it well enough to keep it and it goes with the blue in the room, but by it'self it's more subdued than I want. I think it will work in context, though.
I sewed new pillow covers for my throw pillows in some purple, pink, orange and aqua with paisleys coordinating fabrics. Over the reading couch where the throw pillows live I hung some small pink guitars the girls got in Old Town San Diego that are really pretty fabulous and pull in the pink from the rug and the pillows.
I am switching out my green armchair for my Grandpa's old orange leather armchair and ottoman, which is prettier than it sounds. I am putting up some paintings my Grandma bought on a trip to Portugal that have a lot of oranges and blues in them.
In the nooks on either side of the fireplace I have a desk and a really pretty antique clawfoot table and chairs. I recovered the chairs in a nice blue farbic with pea****s and birdcages that will work with the rest of it. I think for artwork in those spaces I am going to repaint two things I already have, a wrought iron grillwork thing I've had forever and a fancy, medallion-ish mirror I got at a thrift store for $6 a few years ago. The family photo collection I was thinking of doing in here has already started going up in the family room instead.
The total cost of the project should be under $100. Well, except for the hardwood floors we are hopefully putting in this year and the French patio doors we'll put in next year, but those are necessities and fall under the house maintenance budget category.
I am so excited about this because I've been trying to come up with a plan that worked in here for quite a while and I keep running into roadblocks. I think this will be a nice blend of the old-world stuff I have, love and want to keep and the more bright, happy, modern colours that I have really been craving to brighten up the winter days. Plus it's cheap, and you know how I love that. :)
Stella - Woo Hoo! James is getting to be such a big boy! Hope he continues with the underpants & toilet.
Ok, I did it. Made up my skimpy little resume, wrote a cover letter and sent it in. Now we'll see what happens. Beginning Thursday I will be applying for jobs on a regular basis.
I say beginning Thursday because today I am prepping for a colonoscopy tomorrow. Wednesday I will be recovering lol But I guess I am saving money on food for 2 days LOL
Today I'll hang a load of clothes to dry. No spending. Balance the checkbook.
I'm HUNGRY! and the scope isn't til 2:15 tomorrow afternoon :(
early morning
1-9-12, 8:24pm
Hey, nordette, good to see you! *ouch* on the falls. climbing back on can be a real drag. Stella, the living room plan sounds wonderful! It sounds like a large room, so your mix of old and new should work well. I must admit, though, I'm having trouble visualizing pink guitars and orange leather, lol. Post some pix when it's done? I'd love to see it! Azure - I really really hate those things, and always want a real treat when they are done. You know, like a trip to France, or something? lol. Last time I had DH buy us a pint of Graeter's Raspberry Chip ice cream. I was going to hit the used bookstore after lunch today, but my boss was AWOL so I couldn't leave early as I'd planned, saving me a couple bucks, at least. My DSIL bought DD and I lunch on Saturday, and I brought half of mine home for dinner. Almost opened a new can of faux-spam to take for my lunch today, but rummaged around and found enough lost leftovers to take instead. Took my own coffee and water to drink, as always.
Nordette: Good luck with your goal. It is so nice to vanquish a major debt!
Stella: Sounds like you are having lots of fun with your decorating project. I just love home improvements!
Azure: Have some yummy jello :) Seriously, I'm due for one soon, so I can empathize. I get extra scrutiny due to an ominous family history, but it beats the alternative. I also wish you luck with your job search. I know that opinions vary on cover letters, but I think a brief, well-crafted cover letter could make a world of difference. Maybe start by explaining that you've been a SAHM, then mention some of the more impressive skills involved that would be assets in the workplace, and finish up with a statement about how/why you are now ready to rejoin the work force. I once interviewed (and ultimately hired) someone with an atypical resume, who wouldn't have even gotten a second glance without her succinct but effective cover letter.
Hey! People remember me! Thank you :)
I was good today. Didn't spent a dime!
Ten days into the new year and I've only had one 'no-spend' day and about $85 in unexpected medical expenses. Last night was a good night though when I opened the mail. Rec'd a reimbursement check for over $700 from our insurance company. Apparently something in our studio policy was already covered in our homeowners policy and they reimbursed the overpayment out of the homeowners policy. $5.95 a month added up.
I've got the weeks menu planned and shopped from my list only last night (made sure I went alone so the boys wouldn't be adding things to the cart).
... today I am prepping for a colonoscopy tomorrow. Wednesday I will be recovering lol But I guess I am saving money on food for 2 days LOL... I'm HUNGRY! and the scope isn't til 2:15 tomorrow afternoon :(
Oh, I did this last month. Yuck. But glad it's done! Good luck. Food tasted pretty fantastic afterwards...
flowerseverywhere
1-10-12, 9:50am
six no spend days this year. It helps not to have a car most days and I don't look for things to buy on the internet.
Today I got called into work to sub, it is such a nice day I can walk in, and I don't have to be there until 10, normally I would have declined the work in the winter. It is about three miles and close to the library so I'll stop then.
six no spend days this year.
That is great! I was hoping that I'd have more no-spend days and was pretty disappointed to look back over my tracking and realize that I'd only had one no-spend day. :( Even today it's not even 8:30 a.m. and I've already spent $30 on Vistaprint (needed to order more business cards, postcards, and some calendars.....not too bad for everything I'm getting and it was a free shipping day offer too).
I hope I'm not too late to join in here. After being proud that we had only added to our savings account since summer, in the last month we've had $1100 in vet expenses and $600 for new glasses and contacts for DH. So I want to buckle down and replenish that ASAP.
Never too late daisy! That is quite a vet bill. I recently had to get new glasses too and darn it all I still can't see half the time. I should of gone with bi-focals I guess but just didn't want to pay out the extra.
We got our Lakeshore Learning catalog, which is a catalog of stuff for schools, everything from furniture to preschool toys to art stuff to elementary materials. It's really expensive, but I like looking at it to get ideas. I can almost always make or find similar things for cheaper, sometimes even free, but I wouldn't always necessarily think of those things on my own. Since James is getting ready for preschool stuff, I made a list of things I want to do with him in the next year.
Other than that it's a pretty run-of-the-mill day. We are going to go for a walk later today since it is supposed to be the last warm, snowless day for a while.
Azure - I really really hate those things, and always want a real treat when they are done. You know, like a trip to France, or something? lol. Last time I had DH buy us a pint of Graeter's Raspberry Chip ice cream.
LOL Well, I didn't earn a trip to France. :( I had to cancel & reschedule. I could only get down 2 glasses of stuff last night & 1 this morning. It took me an hour per glass. That's less than half of what I was supposed to take. I just ran out of time. I feel like such a wimp.
rosarugosa
1-10-12, 9:35pm
Azure: So that means you just drank some extra glasses of that stuff for no good reason? Oh no!
I know Rosa! I cried when I got off the phone.
Hi Everyone. Well, I've definitely gotten off to a very unfrugal start this year and I think in some ways its going to be less frugal as it goes along.
Ds wants do participate in an afterschool competion but didn't think I would let him partly because of the money. I feel like crap that he thinks I'm that cheap. I told him if we had enough money for mom to get a ring, there was enough money for him to do after school stuff. Our financial situation has changed so much in just the last 10 months since we moved here! So this is the year of balance! I've worked hard at showing my son how to control his money and now I need to show him that its ok to enjoy the benefits of having extra money.
A couple of frugals:
Thanks to Mara and the butter coupons we recieved I rediscovered my local Kroger's store where they have a huge selection of vegan specialty products. We did out weekly shopping there last night and while I spend quite a bit on these items, our overall spending on other things was about the same as usual. I bought some nice frozen veggies that I can use in single servings if no one else wants any when I do.
I cooked a bag of free whole wheat pasta and froze it in single servings. I can add whatever veggies and sauces I want and have quick easy vegan meals anytime I want them.
One of my employees, who makes more money a year than we do with her SO, has finally decided she wants to buckle down and make a financial future for herself. I think working for us and seeing how we live (and manage to pay cash for things) has had a positive influence on her. Anyways, she has requested info on the money making sites I use on the computer and I'm going to benefit in various ways by referring her to the different sites. I think it will be fun to help her learn a few tricks of the trade.
We ate dinner out last night but got lunch prices and saved gas too by picking up ds from school and going from there. Savings of about $10 or so.
bke I think your year of balance sounds like a great idea!
Today is supposed to be grocery shopping day. We'll see if that actually happens. I am dead tired today, but I may want the opportunity to get out of the house. I should probably run to the dairy today too. I have a lot of meals planned with stuff I already have, but I do need some produce and a few other items.
It's supposed to snow today and tomorrow so for a treat I am going to make snow ice cream with the kids. It's just snow mixed with sweetened condensed milk, which I have on hand. It's kind of a fun snowy day treat and it's cheap.
Also with the snow, the kids will be able to go sledding, which is always good FFF. I usually budget money for field trips each week, but I try to make as many of them freebies as possible. There is a certain crazy big, awesome sledding hill I know of in St Paul that might make a good free field trip this week. We've done a lot of science, geography and history related field trips this year. A Phys Ed field trip might be just the thing.
Bastelmutti
1-11-12, 1:45pm
I haven't been posting here regularly, but I am happy to report that assuming I do no more shopping this week - I might need 1-2 more things and have $2-3 left in my budget for that - my grocery bill for the first two weeks of the year is down 35% from my previous average. That is even lower than I was aiming for! Whoo hoo!
The general economic environment, which will undoubtedly affect my business this year, was a big kicker for me to reduce this category. I have decided to take a war-era/Depression approach and truly try to use up everything I can - odds and ends for broth, bits of cereal in muffins, etc. Also, I read about a $21 challenge, whereby you work with your pantry to have weeks where you spend only $21 for groceries. Even w/ a 4-person family and pretty small pantry (I only keep relatively small amounts on hand, like 3-4 extra jars of spaghetti sauce or boxes of pasta due to space restrictions), I think this week's spend will be $25. This method seems easier to me that cutting a certain amount each week - not sure why! Hopefully, if I keep up with sales and stock up on certain things, I will be able to do this once every 4-6 weeks.
PS Azure - that's awful! I haven't had that test yet, but live in dread of it since I can't drink bad-tasting things w/out gagging. Hope it goes well.
Have the temperature down to 60 inside. It's 48 outside today so I can keep the inside lower
I had 3 pork chops left & there are 3 of us, you'd think that would be plenty. But NO. One is good for me but Tyler & DH would not be satisfied. So I found a recipe for the crockpot using up the head of cabbage I also had in the fridge. Savory cabbage & pork soup. I'll also make a loaf of bread.
Have to run some errands today. Got to hit the credit union, walmart, cvs & meijer. Meijer is a bit out of the way but the others are all near to each other.
I'll hang another load of laundry to dry
For the next 2 months my grocery budget is going to be very tight. I'm going to have to stop being lazy & haphazard with the menu planning & shopping list. I'm not crazy over the top with the food budget any way but I do have to cut it back & stick to it more carefully. Too many expenses coming up! I try to set up sinking funds for things during the year but they always get eaten up by other stuff. One of my goals for this year is to get serious about this area of the budget.
early morning
1-11-12, 3:03pm
Oh Azure, I'm sorry you had to drink that crap for naught! The last stuff I had was beyond horrible. Frugally I just can't seem to get my act together. I'm running out of ways to save money that I have control over. Oh well, just keep on keepin' on, I guess. Today was supposed to be a road trip w/ Dsis, DD, and DH, but Dsis is sick and I'm taking her to the Dr. in a bit. She's NEVER sick enough to want to go to the Dr, so I'm worried. But I did save the road trip money. Would rather have spent it, though. We're doing better with food waste since DD re-organized the fridge. My problem with food waste is that in my mind, nothing gets actually wasted - we eat it, it adds to the compost, or it feeds some critter. I need to change my perspective on that. I also need to stop buying so many kinds of salad dressing, when we almost never eat salad!!
Azure, I've never had to drink that stuff, but my DH has - I can see why it would be hard to get down!
Okay, I have managed 2 no-spend days now. Since we have the new house, there are many things we would like for it, so not shopping is hard! :) We have a follow-up vet visit tomorrow and our driveway is being repaired on Friday, so this won't be my most frugal week. But it will be nice to actually be able to park in the garage!
My menu plan is really helping, having that detailed grocery list has really made a difference. No forgotten ingredients!
I did stop on Tuesday after volunteering at school for hot lunch and bought a sandwich and water at a local fruit market. I had to do a return at the campus book store and it took far longer than I expected. Not enough time to run home and eat. I could have eaten at school, but I opted out due to certain ingredients that were used that I don't eat. Not so frugal there. I didn't have any emergency snacks with me and hadn't eaten since 6:30 am, I wasn't going to make it till 3:30. I have replenished my snacks in the car.
Using up coffee samples, I ran out of ground and my grinder no longer works to use up the whole beans I do have. I have my menu for next week all set and the list is made. Continuing while we can to keep the heat lower.
Zach saved the day when I threw my back out yesterday. I was laying on the ground for about 20 seconds thinking, "well, now what am I going to do?" when I heard him pull into the garage. I was thinking we were going to do Chinese take-out for dinner, but he went to the butcher shop and pulled together pork chops, noodles and green beans, saving us about $25 over take-out. Dad was home so the leftover chili wasn't an option because of his stomach issues.
Today I have to put together my menu and get to the store, or at least send Zach to the store. Dad is working late tonight, so tonight's meal is leftover chili.
Unfortunately it didn't snow like they said it would, so no snow ice cream. On Monday, though, is the annual snowman contest at the park. They rented a snowcone machine and instead of having outdoor snowmen they are going to have people make mini-snowmen. They have syrups to turn it into a treat when they are done. That event is free.
fidgiegirl
1-12-12, 9:56am
my grinder no longer works to use up the whole beans I do have.
Do you have a rellie or friend with a grinder they would lend you so you can at least use up your supply? Otherwise I suppose you could gift them! Or do you plan to get a new grinder?
We bypassed a temptation to go out to eat last night. I guess gluten-free might help with that :) We also trimmed our tile bill - OMG, I almost keeled over when I heard the total - by forgoing some accent tile and :|(:|(:|( getting the store credit card :|(:|(:|(. Normally I would not be into store credit cards but the discount was significant since the bill was so much. Oh well, now I'm happy with our plan and we got to a number that was still surprising but I will be able to live with, and our shower will be timeless. We are doing a white subway tile and a small accent around a recessed soap shelf. Will be nice.
DH used up a Walmart gift card for $20 on something he needed for school and a few toiletry items for us. We only extremely rarely go to a Walmart so I told him to just spend it up and get it over with. He did a good job getting things we would need plus a little treat for himself - a fishing lure. Considering that he and DFiL bought each other NO fishing stuff for Xmas, it's forgivable, plus the gift card was a gift from a student, and I'm sure the student would prefer he buy fishing lures or something fun rather than facewash! Oh well, they'll never know! My only beef with the fishing lure was that when he came home from the excursion I was taking a nap and he told me he bought me an early Valentine's Day present. So I pried my eyes open to peek and there he was standing with the fishing lure. Oh geez.
I recieved a $5 gift card in the mail for Sears/Kmart. I earned it with points from Charter communications.
I bought $15 worth of stuff from RiteAid for $2.30 yesterday.
Kelli,
we used to have a separate grinder, but when I got this coffee maker three years ago I got rid of it since it had one on it. My in' laws have one but the coffee they drink is um yucky and I don't want to mix the beans with the the bean remanent in their grinder. It's not too many bean, maybe enough for two pots. I'll just keep holding on to them. Thank you for the suggestion though!
I would like a new coffee maker, as this one leaks and the grinder is shot. I am asking for a new one for my b'day in June. I have a french press and percolator to tied me over if my current one kicks it before then.
fidgiegirl
1-12-12, 11:43pm
Ooh Stella, feel better soon. Yuck.
Here a very minor frugal accomplishment. My husband's camper storage is now on auto pay. Mainly it's a sanity saver as I don't have to hear him and his dad debate every three months who paid it last, etc. :devil: Now my FiL will simply tack on half the monthly fee to the monthly phone bill check he already faithfully gives us, and we will be the only ones sending checks to the rental facility via free bill pay from the bank. I need to use that service more often. Maybe I can stretch our last box of checks longer, and save money on stamps. We send so few checks, but lately I've been writing a lot of them.
In non-frugals, I went out for lunch to Chipotle. I have half a box of soup left but it was at my normal work site, and I was off site. So I splurged. Dang, it adds up. A bowl with guac was $9! At least I know now that Chipotle is gluten free for the most part, so in a pinch I can find one and get something halfway decent, though historically I haven't been a huge fan.
We are fixing our main computer today, it needs a new hard drive so I will be picking one up. So $100 vs. a new computer is a decent deal.
I have class today from 9-12, then off to run some errands. Hoping to keep groceries a little lower than normal, but doubt it will happen. My two boys eat so much for being so young. Add in the sensitivities/allergies for the youngest/allergy for the oldest and I just can't serve some of the cheap snacks (even popcorn which they love, the youngest can only have very little...maybe a 1/2 c. every 2-3 days).
made sure to buy my FIL his gc at Kroger to get gas points.
Oh and I got my newest house party pack yesterday. It's for the Nice products from Walgreens. WOW, the box was packed. I'll take some for the "party" I'm having at a friends house, but the extras will stay here. They were very generous.
Originally posted by Azure.
So I found a recipe for the crockpot using up the head of cabbage I also had in the fridge. Savory cabbage & pork soup.Would you be willing to share the cabbage/pork soup recipe with me? It sounds delicious.
The kid's got a snow day from school so it will be a no drive/spend day for us.
I took some time to see what I had accomplished with the survey sites. Not much but I did have enough credits for a $19 gift card for amazon.com which will come in handy one of these days.
I second Mrs. M's request. That does sound good.
Thanks Kelli! I do feel mostly better today. Back problems are the pits.
Tracy, allergies and food sensitivities must be hard on the budget. I know a lot of people who have bad reactions to a variety of foods and it is definintely a challenge financially.
Not much interesting going on over here. I found an art project thanks to a friend's facebook post for a polyhedra paper garland that I think could be a good cheap art and math project for the kids. I love stuff like that.
I have some spinach to use up and a pie crust in the freezer, so I'm going to make a spinach quiche for dinner. Bella has been wanting to make muffins for a week now, so we'll probably have muffins to go with it. Maybe cranberry orange. I have a lot of oranges and a bag of frozen cranberries.
It is Stella, my youngest can have nothing with anything artificial in it (no dyes, preservatives, flavorings, etc..) add in an aspirin allergy/shellfish/dairy it makes it a challenge. This not only includes food but bathing items, art supplies, ie..anything that can absorb into his skin.
My oldest has a gluten sensitivity. We are working on getting him 100% gluten free with his food, and have made the switch completely with his hygiene items. Amazing where gluten will show up.
Oh wow. I can't imagine how complicated that could get. I suppose that really says a lot about our food culture and manufacturing practices, though, that it is so hard to avoid artificial ingredients.
Needed new jeans. Desperately. I went to a nearby second hand store and found a good pair for $13.
I waited to get some library books on my Kindle. But they all came at the same time so I am on a mission to get through 3 books in two weeks. It's day 7 and I am almost through book 2... I devour books, hence the need to stop buying them.
Jan 13
--using up leftovers, by making up supper for two nights from little containers stockpiled in the freezer served on rice.
--snow so only out to shovel--serveral no spend days
--trying to wear out some older clothes wearing them in the house and it dawn on me there really is no need to change to go
for a walk to the store because really it is winter and I have a big coat on.
--therefore dirtying less clothes so less wash.
--only spent $60.00 on food so far this month and no eating out.
The girls had their church Girl's Club meeting today, so that was some good FFF. It gets them out of the house and doing something, which is always good in winter.
Friday nights are the kids' movie night with Grandpa. Usually they rent something from Apple TV, but last night they watched Annie on netflix, so that was free. I am not such a big fan of musicals as the rest of my nerdball family, so I worked in my craft area and finished another throw pillow and a flag bunting. I also finished up a UFO, an embroidered tea towel with bees on it, that has been sitting around for ages. That was my FFF.
This evening I'm making a frugal meal. I'm making lhamo's baked chicken using some chicken legs I have on hand. Bella has been wanting to make cornbread all week, so we will make that and some green beans to go with it. Dessert is a variation on baked Alaska.
Last night's dinner was frugal too. Bella and James helped me cook and we made spinach quiche with some spinach we had to use up and apple cinnamon oatmeal muffins. James, who is a relatively picky eater, ate half a piece of quiche and a muffin. I think the fact that he helped make it made him more inclined to eat it. Travis, who is not picky at all, but is 9 months old, ate the other half of James' quiche and an entire muffin. I take that as a real compliment. Toddlers and babies don't eat stuff they don't like, so it must have been good.
Zach and I have a date tonight to catch up on the episodes we missed of Downton Abbey. It's cold out, so a stay-at-home date sounds nice to me. I'll probably work on some kind of craft thing while we watch. I'm thinking an embroidered pillowcase for James, who is getting a new bed soon.
I think we are thankfully staying home tonight. Well my youngest and I were, but it would save on gas if my DH did to. Dinner was to be mini pot pies, but his work schedule was chaotic today so it got bumped to tomorrow. Tonight is a hodgepodge of leftovers.
Soccer tomorrow for my oldest in the morning, otherwise a stay home day!
Went to Target today with DH and walked out with nothing! He wanted to look at watch bands for a watch that he inherited from his dad and they no longer sell them. We were looking at new CDs (Adele) but decided to use an iTunes card that we got a Christmas instead. I walked to the library to pick up my books being held including Design*Sponge at home that is so pretty to look at and gave me lots of ideas to use things we already own.
But were thrilled to get a check for $50 from the dealership where we bought our last car - my sister and her husband had been in an accident (no one hurt but their old Corolla was totalled) and they bought a Honda Fit and said they had heard good things from us re the dealership. Mostly we bought a car there because while test-driving a Civic we were t-boned by a guy running a red light. They (the salesmen and really all the sales staff) were great to us that evening and as we bought another car - it was quite an experience all around!
I started embroidering a pillowcase for James' bed last night. It's very cute. On the bottom there is a truck, a car and a race car with flames coming out of the back all in a row like they are on the road. In the sky there are two airplanes and a little spaceship with an alien in it. I think he'll love it. It freshens up a pillowcase we already had and makes it special and it gives me something to do in times when I need or want to sit.
Cheyenne gifted her sister her sparkly red dress this morning. Cheyenne bought it with her own money at a consignment store and has since outgrown it. Bella is absolutely loving the dress. She knows it was Cheyenne's favourite, so it's a fun hand-me-down for her.
My next project is an apron for James, who is extremely interested in cooking. I have a lot of aprons, but they are very, very girly. I have a half yard of a vintage-style cowboy fabric that I am thinking of using. This will also save wear and tear on James' clothes. As you can imagine, 2.5 year old boys are messy in the kitchen.
Zach cut his own hair and James' hair this weekend with his clippers. That saved us about $30.
Stella and Mara61, a special Sunday morning hug for the both of you today. Hope you're feeling better, Stella, and hope your son is on the mend, Mara61.
Prayers and well-wishes for your Dsis, Early morning.
Thanks Mrs. M! I am starting to feel a lot better.
I forgot a fun frugal. I was looking at the library website and it looks like Will Steger, the arctic explorer, is going to be giving a talk later in the month at our local library. I have to call and find out if you have to register, but I think this would be a great school event for the girls, especially after their winter survival class this week.
Thank you Mrs. M., he is doing a bit better. Still a little dizzy, but the throat and neck are better.
Our main computer is up and running and updated! I was worried we wasted money on a new hard drive. My husband also hooked up our old tv to use as a much bigger monitor (we had a warranty on our tv, the panel was starting to go so we called the warranty in (service tech approved the new tv, we though they would just repair it). Got a new tv, but the other one still works).
All three "boys" are playing with the circuit kit that my youngest got for Christmas. Having lots of fun.
Bread is baking, salad is prepped and dinner is going in soon. We did eat out on Friday for my FIL's birthday, but that is the only dining out this month. We had enough leftover for 2 more meals and my youngest and I shared at the resteraunt. Not a place we would pick, especially with my youngest but it's where my FIL wanted to go.
Jan 15
--made two stuffed rolls to put at doors that have a bit of a draft, leftover fabric and really cheap bought on sale rice=cost of about $2.00
--made two Kobo reader covers, one for myself and one for Dd, they would have cost about $25.00 to buy and these cost a few scraps of leftover fabric
and if I say so myself they are much nicer then the bought ones.
--hang one load of clothes to dry on rack
--had a older can of decaf coffee that wasn't get used so I mixed it with a can I am using now and it tasted just fine
frugal-one
1-16-12, 4:24am
Made strawberry shortcake.... had leftover shortcakes but no strawberries left so used canned peaches! YUMMMY!
rosarugosa
1-16-12, 5:41am
Danna, Good for you! I need a couple of those draft blockers, but I'm balking at the average price tag of $18.00, and I'm trying to fugure out if I could just make them myself.
Go for it rosarugosa, something like that is super easy. I have never made them, but have made the rice or bean filled wraps that you can stick in the microwave for sore muscles. Similar concept.
Not school today for the kiddos, we have two errands to run otherwise we are home today. I have some baking to do for the week and I have studying to do for my classes.
I like the draft blocker idea. Our front door could use that and I'm sure I could make one. Thanks for the idea.
I finished James' pillowcase last night and he absolutely loves it. It was fun to make too. I think I might make a tea towel with a rose on it now for my friend Rose who has been having a hard time lately. I have plenty of tea towels in my "stuff to be embroidered" drawer and plenty of patterns and floss, so it wouldn't cost anything. It feels really good to get back to crafting. There's so much of being a mom to little kids that never feels finished. It's good to have something with a defined end to it to give me that sense of accomplishment.
Today is the free snowman contest at the park. I think we will attend that. The girls' best friend wants to come too. I think they'll have a good time.
Yesterday I had a friend come over and I didn't get to making dinner until later than expected. By then I didn't have time to make what I had planned, so I made a quick dinner of lemon herb chicken, noodles and salad. It was a huge hit.
The draft stoppers weren't anything fancy; just took about 6" of very firm fabric the length of the door, they are just laying on the floor,
not attached to the door or anything like that. I did stuff them fuller then when I have made the rice bags.
Our basement is fully finished so one of these was for the door that goes into the storage space under the stairs, that is unfinished.
I can really feel the difference in that area with the stopper down...I sure it will help make the basement more comfortable.
Stella. Would you be willing to part with your lemon herb chicken recipe? If so, I'd be forever grateful.
Haven't been posting much this month. I started my new job, which has been fantastic, but exhausting. Some great frugals that come with it: a bigger paycheck than I was getting, free health insurance, and I'm working from home so no commuting costs for the most part. Can't beat that!!!
In other frugal news, went out to dinner with my beloved last night and used gift certificates to pay for it. So all it cost us was the tip we left for the server. And we still have money remaining on the gift cards for the restaurant so we'll go again at some point in the future.
Wow --
Wishing you guys all the best in 2012. It was great to meet you in person the other day and hope we can meet up again next time I'm back in the Valley.
lhamo
It was good meeting you as well. Let me know when you're in town and we'll get together.
Jan 16
--last two mornings had used up bread for toast that I had put in freezer a few weeks back
--meatloaf for supper that I had frozen awhile back...the theme here is using up things before they are in the fridge or freezer too long
--trip to store for special on way to an appt...only spent $10.00
Mrs. M it wasn't so much a recipe as something I just kind of made up as I went along, but I'd be happy to share it with you.
I sauteed the chicken in a mixture of half butter and half olive oil. Then when it was browned I deglazed the pan with some chicken stock and added some Penzey's Parisien Bonnes Herbes seasoning, which is made of chives, dill weed, French basil, French tarragon, chervil and white pepper, but you could add whatever sounds good to you. I added the juice and zest of one lemon and cooked it down just a bit. If you wanted a thicker sauce, you could probably add some corn starch, but I left it a little brothy and tossed the noodles with the sauce. That was all it took. It was quite tasty.
We took second place in the snowman contest! That was fun. We did a snow bird (bird made of snow) with a chow mein noodle nest and snowbirds (old people who move south in the winter). The old lady had blue hair made of dyed coconut and the old man was golfing. They had free snowcones and marshmallow roasting for all of the participants. It was great.
fidgiegirl
1-16-12, 11:32pm
Hi all!
We had a very busy weekend at the house. With the gluten free diet we are pretty much only doing meals at home. We tried to go out yesterday for lunch and it was a disaster. So today I made up a soup with stuff we had laying around - butternut squash in the freezer, half a box of almond milk, chicken broth, nutmeg and pepper. So yummy! Usually my experiments don't turn out so well, but this one was good :)
Happy Monday, all . . .
I forgot one that I think will make a real difference. I put together the Winter 2012 Chore Schedule and redid the Weekly Overview form and Daily Assignment form that I fill out at the beginning of the week and post on the bulletin board in the dining room.
The The Weekly Overview gives us an idea of what is on the schedule for the coming week, especially for homeschool. That keeps us focused and helps me use my resources more efficiently. If we all know what is coming down the pike in the coming week we can plan for it better. It also reduces arguing and negotiating, which kids who know their mother is prone to fits of spontenaiety are good at doing. :) No honey. We can't make a triple layer chocolate peanut butter cake today. It's not on the list, but we need to accomplish x,y and z. Put it in the suggestion box and we'll find a time for it another day. That is what I need. I'm good at getting stuff done, but it's not always the stuff I should be doing. :)
Each person's Daily Assignment sheet has their school and/or housework tasks on it. That helps them to be self-motivated and organize their time. It means I don't have to nag, which is beyond priceless. Everyone knows what the expectation is for the day, and when the expectations have been met they are free to do what they want. It's lovely. It's tangentially related to frugality too, because the more efficient and happy we are, the less we spend.
Thanks, Stella! It sounds delicious.
Bastelmutti
1-17-12, 9:28am
Stella, love those sheets you do. My kids rib me about being addicted to checklists. If I want them to do something, all I have to say is "I'll make you a checklist" - and they're off! I use the Motivated Moms calendar (not that every single thing gets done every day, but it helps) and meal planning pages (different ones).
Yesterday I took some curtains I dug out of the bathroom closet, cut them down to fit the dining room and hemmed them. I had been thinking about buying new curtains. Also made one for the kitchen window out of fabric I already had. It looks kind of dark, though, so I may dig around in my stash and try another color. The same excavation of the bathroom closet yielded a set of cloth napkins - another thing on my to-buy list. We started using them yesterday. The cost of all of those items would have probably been $50+ even at a store like Target, but instead $0 (or sunk cost, actually).
flowerseverywhere
1-17-12, 9:36am
Bastelmutti, another idea for napkins is to repurpose something you already have. I have a table cloth my neighbor had sitting in her closet, I am in the process of making her napkins out of it. She has done me a lot of favors, and when she mentioned buying cloth napkins I advised her to look around and if she could find something suitable I would make them. She looked in sale bins for a tablecloth after Christmas but ended up remembering she had an old table cloth in the closet that did not fit her current table.
Bastelmutti
1-17-12, 9:51am
Thanks, that's a good idea. Last year I sewed some small napkins out of fabric scraps (I buy remnants for projects at the local fabric store) for lunch boxes. I also have a bunch of sheets and blankets from the thrift store waiting to be made into tie quilts for the kids, but I haven't tackled that project yet. That would be my first foray into quilting.
Yesterday was a no-drive day.
I cleaned out the fridge and freezer this weekend, used up some older foods, and have a better idea of what's waiting for us in there now.
The knitting needle folder that my aunt made in the 1970s was falling apart so I dug through my fabric stash and found some suitable fabric. There was enough there for two, so I made one for a friend for her birthday next month. That was a really quick project - began about 4pm yesterday, and finished the second one by 9pm, including cooking dinner, cleaning up, reading with DD, and putting DD to bed.
You're welcome Mrs. M!
Bastelmutti I am addicted to checklists also. I am an easily distracted person and they keep me on track.
Flowerseverywhere I like the napkins-from-tablecloth idea.
Rosemary, the knitting needle folder is a good idea too. I might add that to my list of projects to make this winter. I could use one.
Today is library day. Other than that we're staying home and doing normal old school and housework stuff. Nothing too crazy. Tomorrow is the winter survival class, so I have to figure out a lunch to pack.
We had some FFF this morning with a big container of soapy water set on the table with towels underneath. We started with soap flakes and played with it at different stages. Powder, slime and soapy water. It's a preschool type activity for James, but it's fun for everyone.
I'm making a commitment to messy projects at least once a week. Finger or pudding painting, water play, a big tub of rice with pouring tools, planting stuff in dirt and stuff like that. Toddlers, and even elementary schoolers need to get messy sometimes. It's good brain development and it's not really expensive. Ironically today's messy project gave me plenty of kid-free time to clean the kitchen. :)
I'm also thinking of creating a kids' tool space in the garage. I think it could be fun to do this as cheaply as possible. We could build or trash pick a table they can work at. For this purpose roughed up is just fine. We can get tools from thrift shops and yard sales and just put the word out with friends and family if anyone is getting rid of stuff. We'll have buckets underneath with scrap wood, scrap wire, pvc pipes and other scrap stuff. It would be fun to see what we could come up with. I think it would be a hit with the bigger kids.
I'm also thinking of creating a kids' tool space in the garage. I think it could be fun to do this as cheaply as possible. We could build or trash pick a table they can work at. For this purpose roughed up is just fine. We can get tools from thrift shops and yard sales and just put the word out with friends and family if anyone is getting rid of stuff. We'll have buckets underneath with scrap wood, scrap wire, pvc pipes and other scrap stuff. It would be fun to see what we could come up with. I think it would be a hit with the bigger kids.
What a great idea! I grew up making stuff out of scraps in the garage and basement. In fact, I still to that, but now I call it assemblage or found object art...
Ooops! I was trying to copy/paste what Stella wrote but it didn't get that nice "box" around it!
Thanks Siouxz. I think the kids are really going to like it. I ran it by Zach and he was ready to get started tonight he was so excited.
We had a frugal slip-up today. Bella and I went out for dinner and got take-out for everyone else. We went to a little Chinese place near our house that's owned by a guy I've known since I was a kid. It's really good food. I've always liked the lemon sauce for their lemon chicken. It's made from scratch and it's nice and lemony. Some lemon chicken just tastes like sugar. Anyway, I always forget, and there's really no excuse after going there for 20+ years, that four adults could eat one $7 order of chicken lo-mein. I ordered $35 worth of food. That will feed all seven of us for two full meals and probably still give half of us lunch for another day. On the plus side, as far as eating out goes, $35 for 15-20 servings of food is pretty decent and it does mean that I don't have to make anything to send with the girls for their winter survival class tomorrow. They are fine with cold lo-mein. Zach is taking the beef and broccoli.
By taking Bella early and eating with her I have her monthly mom-and-kid date taken care of without spending any extra beyond what we would normally have spent. Cheyenne's mom-and-kid date is later this week at the tea shop. That runs about $6-$7.
I think tomorrow when I take the girls for their class I'll take the boys around the nature center. It will be good learning time for James too and it's free. Since I'm already using gas to get there I might as well take advantage of it.
We went to pick up our trophy for our second place win in the snowman contest on the way to the library. A friend of mine who works at the park made them by buying old trophies at a thrift shop and topping them with snowman Christmas ornaments painted silver. They are actually really cute. I mention this not because it saved me any money, but because it's frugal and creative and I love that.
fidgiegirl
1-17-12, 11:15pm
Stella, your mention of the park reminds me that I've been meaning to ask if you're still working there or planning to return?
Mighty Frugal
1-17-12, 11:26pm
I'm also thinking of creating a kids' tool space in the garage. I think it could be fun to do this as cheaply as possible. We could build or trash pick a table they can work at. For this purpose roughed up is just fine. We can get tools from thrift shops and yard sales and just put the word out with friends and family if anyone is getting rid of stuff. We'll have buckets underneath with scrap wood, scrap wire, pvc pipes and other scrap stuff. It would be fun to see what we could come up with. I think it would be a hit with the bigger kids.
What a great idea! I grew up making stuff out of scraps in the garage and basement. In fact, I still to that, but now I call it assemblage or found object art...
I love this idea and it is sooo right up my boys' alley!! They love pounding nails into scraps of wood and 'building' things.
I am going to look at doing this too. We'll wait for spring though (we don't have a garage..we don't even have a driveway) and I'll include safety goggles (because I'm a helicopter parent)
Love the pvc pipe...hmm..now what can they cut it with that will not sever a finger??
fidgiegirl
1-17-12, 11:48pm
Love, love, love, love, love the workshop idea. Think of how much we learn by doing! It's fantastic! I think all of you should make the workshops for your kids! Maybe there should be a kid workshop thread!! :) With pics!!!!! We are learning SO MUCH by working on our house. It's just tinkering on a much more expensive level :)
My parents always had junk around that we could use to build stuff - even art stuff, like one-sided castoff paper from work so it didn't matter if we blew through 500 sheets in a day. We also learned a LOT by participating in set construction hours in high school theater. That's where I learned to use power tools :) And we ruined SO MANY cans of paint there, because none of us knew to clean out the rims before closing them up. Geez . . .
I think those formative experiences are part of why I am brave enough as an adult to try things out. Well, that, and this board . . . hmmm, which brings me to a thread idea . . .
This author has written quite a bit about tinkering: http://blog.genyes.org/index.php/tag/tinkering/
Twin Citians, if you wanted some cool finds to stock the workshop (tho all the supplies for such a workshop area could easily be obtained for free . . . ): http://www.artstart.org/artscraps-reuse-store/
Ok, hopefully you can bear with my enthusiasm for this . . . :D
(P.S. If you are really hardcore about education reading, check out my new favorite blog (speedchange.blogspot.com/). You may not agree, but you will be challenged.)
early morning
1-17-12, 11:51pm
Hung a load of laundry in the house Sunday. Been feeding the cats a tad of dogfood on their breakfast crunchies - donated by Dsis' dog. Generally they get a dollop of canned cat food, but hey, free is good and they don't seem to mind the difference! Yesterday I bought a fitted chair cover for my non-reclining recliner for $1.75, in a color that goes with my living room. It will look much nicer than the bedspread I'm currently using as a cover. And it won't shed, either. :) I love thrift shops!
fidgiegirl
1-17-12, 11:53pm
Love the pvc pipe...hmm..now what can they cut it with that will not sever a finger??
Could go with cardboard tubes instead.
And, I don't think safety goggles is helicopter-y. We are using them frequently in our "real" project. It's a life skill. DH and I have a co-worker who lost an eye in an accident. Wouldn't have wanted it to be me.
We had some FFF this morning with a big container of soapy water set on the table with towels underneath. We started with soap flakes and played with it at different stages. Powder, slime and soapy water. It's a preschool type activity for James, but it's fun for everyone.
I'm making a commitment to messy projects at least once a week. Finger or pudding painting, water play, a big tub of rice with pouring tools, planting stuff in dirt and stuff like that. Toddlers, and even elementary schoolers need to get messy sometimes. It's good brain development and it's not really expensive. Ironically today's messy project gave me plenty of kid-free time to clean the kitchen. :)
I'm also thinking of creating a kids' tool space in the garage. I think it could be fun to do this as cheaply as possible. We could build or trash pick a table they can work at. For this purpose roughed up is just fine. We can get tools from thrift shops and yard sales and just put the word out with friends and family if anyone is getting rid of stuff. We'll have buckets underneath with scrap wood, scrap wire, pvc pipes and other scrap stuff. It would be fun to see what we could come up with. I think it would be a hit with the bigger kids.
We used to do a lot of that messy stuff when the kids were small. You HAVE to do the water & cornstarch thing. It's sooo awesome. 1 cup cornstarch & 1/2 cup of water. Stir. They loved it that it was so hard you couldn't poke it but if you pick it up in your hands it runs through.
Azure, we call that ooblek after the doctor seuss book, it's great for exploring scientific properties of solid/liquid.
Oooh, thanks for all of the great tips and links guys! Azure I am going to put the cornstarch experiment on my list. I had done that years ago when I worked at a preschool but I had totally forgotten about it. That is a cool experiment. Thanks!
Kelli I have been reading your links and really enjoying them. I'd love to see a thread on this. I think stuff like this is fascinating. I definitely think experiences are the best teacher anyone can have and I am really seeking to provide my kids with those experiences, from travel to tinkering. I had kind of a lightbulb moment with James a week or so ago when we were looking at a book with animals in it. He started doing impressions of the animals, like most two year olds do, but many of them were very realistic impressions and he'd do the impressions even of some kinds of animals most little kids skip, like fish. Then I realized that the difference is that he is remembering having seen and in some cases interacted with the real live animals he saw on our trip as opposed to remembering me telling him, "A sheep says Baaa" and repeating it.
Mighty I think safety goggles are a totally reasonable addition to the workspace. I hope your kids have as much fun with it as I think my kids will.
We had a not-so-frugal day. Zach apparently needs another textbook. I hate textbooks. They are so expensive. I tried to talk him into renting one, but he wasn't having it.
I also let him go to AxMan, a local surplus store, with the intent of getting some LEDs for an electrical project he wants to do with the kids. $65 later... The manager there is really cool, though and was very much into his vision for the project so she threw in a bunch of LEDs for free. She picked out some girly coloured LEDs too. She loves that the girls are into things like wiring, building, engineering and anatomy (Cheyenne was oggling the surgical tools) but not afraid to love horses and mermaids and pink and purple. I got a pulley I will use for some future experiment for $.95.
On the plus side, it's Minnesota cold out as of tonight, so I think tomorrow we'll have a stay-at-home day. I'm thinking it might be good tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwich weather. That's a nice, frugal meal.
rosarugosa
1-19-12, 5:10am
We had to unexpectedly replace our water heater a week ago. My manager had to replace hers on xmas eve and said it cost $1700, although she knew she probably had paid a premium for xmas eve. We just got the invoice from our plumber, and ours cost $1020, which is so much cheaper that we are quite relieved. If one doesn't have the DIY skills for this sort of thing, at least knowing the right people to call can definitely save some major dollars!
I also got new heels on my favorite pair of black work/dress boots for the second time. Kind of expensive at $25, but way cheaper than new boots (I think these cost about $120 - $150 five years ago). There aren't many cobblers around here anymore, so I consider myself lucky to have a good one right near my office. This also saves me from using time & energy to search for another pair of boots, and I love this pair, so repairing was definitely the best way to go.
Today will be a no-drive, no-spend day. It's -10F right now with a -30F windchill. Seems like a perfect day for hibernating!
Yesterday was also no-drive, no-spend. It was soup & craft day and we had a lovely lunch time gathering with a big pot of steaming black bean soup and assorted sides that people brought with them.
Rosemary your soup and craft day sounds nice!
Rosa that is an excellent savings! Wow!
Chickadee
1-19-12, 12:22pm
We woke up to -18 degrees this morning so today's frugal fun will be staying home and feeding wood into the stove. It helps to keep the furnace that burns fuel oil from running constantly, anyway. And since the wood is free off our property, well, every little bit helps. It really is quite cold out there, especially with a wind chill of -30 to -40. Brr....
I am scouting the freezer for meal fixings for supper. It is definitely a soup day and I need to work on cleaning it out anyway in preparation for this next gardening season. We try to use up each year what we have frozen/canned so that we can start fresh the next year. Especially the blanched and frozen items. As of right now I am leaning toward Corn Chowder from last year's garden corn. Soo good! I also have some frozen homemade dinner rolls to pull out to go along with it. Mmm.
Other than that, I will be cleaning the basement, which is an annual wintertime project. Free, and rewarding, too. I love not having to go anywhere on cold days!
Well I had forgotten until this morning that I had my women's group at church and I decided to brave the cold with the kids. I'm glad I did, it was good fun and an elderly lady who lives near me gave me her number and offered to watch the kids if I ever need it. Lovely!
I was going to make tomato soup with grilled cheese for lunch but the kids asked for tomato soup with popcorn, which is even less expensive. It was a nice lunch after driving home in the cold.
Zach had forgotten to tell me until last night that he made a doctor's appointment for me today. That's what I get for letting my aversion to the phone get in the way of scheduling my own appointments. I am kind of hoping we'll do an ultrasound at this appointment and I'll find out if I'm having a boy or a girl. I'm getting anxious to know. Anyway, my quiet day at home is rescheduled for tomorrow, but I'm OK with that.
fidgiegirl
1-19-12, 6:44pm
Kelli I have been reading your links and really enjoying them. I'd love to see a thread on this.
Yes, it would be super. It could be something like the "experiential education" thread so that both adult learners as well as parents could write about their thoughts and, well, experiences. Of course, much of the forums is already one huge "experiential education" thread :) Gardening, cooking, etc. . . :D
That would be great!
I forgot to answer your question earlier. I don't work at the park anymore. I'd like to go back someday and they'd like me to come back, but I have to get these little guys a little bigger first.
Kelli what forum do you think the experiential education thread would be best in?
Fridays are kind of evolving into a choose-your-own learning activities day. The last couple of weeks have been heavy on dance lesson podcasts and cooking.
I decided to make a bigger lunch today and just have broccoli soup and popovers for dinner. I have the broccoli soup made and frozen, so that will be easy and frugal.
For you Stella and anyone else who home schools, I came across this and thought that you might like this
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/pfw/Members/EduHomeSchoolResources.htm
fidgiegirl
1-20-12, 10:12pm
Hmmmmm, experiential ed . . . . . . . I dunno!! Then I was riding in the car and remembered that the first time I mentioned a thread it was about the workshops! Oh geez, Kelli!!!! I think that one would go well in the frugals thread, since it's potentially about putting it together cheaply, or families & relationships, since it's about children and their activities and development.
Have managed to make meals the last several days with no additional purchasing needed, and have used up some things, which is good because we're moving in a few weeks. I was working on eating it down but then I filled up the freezer!! Doh! Oh well, we can still manage to eat a lot of it before we move. Will have to take a peek at what's in there.
Have been cooking and eating meals all week instead of dining out. We are getting ready for our annual soup party in early Feb. Will be defrosting 2nd locally raised turkey for meals and those lovely bones. This year will make Kapusta again (big hit last year) and turkey soup, a vegan winter vegetable potage and possibly one more veggie but not vegan soup if we get more rsvps. It hasn't been so far the kind of winter where people are getting cabin fever as we have had very little snow but we will celebrate candlemas (ground hogs day) as mid winter comes. DH ordered our seeds for this spring's garden. Yay!
i have finally put the damper down on my spending! the last few weeks have been all home-cooked meals and frugal good times with my friends and loved ones. and lots of WORK! wear the shift has been busy, and my contract job has gotten a lot busier than it was. i've been given more responsibility and possibly will be getting a raise to my hourly rate, which is great.
they mentioned last week that they wanted me to come on as a full-time employee once we've gotten through the current deadline, and i'm mulling it over ... it is a lovely place to work. but i really want/need to pour more time and effort into my business if i'm ever going to make enough from it to live.
i guess i'll just have to see what happens. maybe i can talk them into a part-time position, or maybe i can be available on an as-needed basis as a contractor ... we shall see.
in the meantime today is going to be spent sewing, drafting patterns, tidying up around the house, and drinking lots of tea! it's sooo cold!
Madgeylou, it's great that you are wanted as a full-time employee. Says a lot about your work.
The only driving I've done for the last 3 days is to the post office & library. Normally I would have walked but it has been very cold here. It's 3 right now. I know for some of you that's a mild winter day lol but we're freezing. Wish we'd gotten our insulation in this week instead of next!
Cooked dinners at home. Ate up the the last of some apple/cranberry crisp for breafast in my plain yougur. Ate leftover baked potato soup for lunch. Last night I tried a new whole wheat pizza crust recipe. Turned out nicely. Fed a couple of Tyler's friends. I'd bought a tub of sugar cookie dough for $1.14 on clearance after Christmas so I baked cookies last night so the guys could have a treat.
One of Tyler's friends spent the night. At 1:30 a.m. I woke up thinking I smelled burning popcorn. Got up and sure enough, Tyler had tried to make popcorn and was scrubbing the pan thinking I'd be mad. I haven't bought any microwave popcorn in months and he's trying to figure out how to make popcorn on the stove. We do have an air popper. I'll have to show him how to use that. It could save me money on pans lol Though I think I'll have him make some on the stove top today to give him some pointers. I have shown him before but it's been a while since then. Of course, he COULD read the instructions on the bag of popcorn. .... Nah, that would be too ... logical. ;)
Drove down to Detroit last Sunday to visit Ian at the Detroit Auto Show. He was there with the solar car team. Going to try posting a photo for the first time. He is holding a part from the solar car and that is the solar car behind him. (if this works )
http://i995.photobucket.com/albums/af78/everyshadeofblue/th_IMG_5678.jpg (http://s995.photobucket.com/albums/af78/everyshadeofblue/?action=view¤t=IMG_5678.jpg)
We were supposed to bring him home for this weekend but he ended up getting another shift at the auto show. So we'll save some gas money and he'll probably have more fun there.
Today I will be going to Meijer to pick up a few things. I should be able to get 4 boxes of cereal for $1.15 each between sales & coupons. I've been craving Cheerios, of all things, so this works out well. Tyler eats cereal for snacks too so this is cheap.
Got $10 in free itunes for buying DH's brand of razor blades. Yeah! Received a $6.93 refund from an over payment on a Dr. visit. That'll go back into the medical envelope.
Found out yesterday that on Monday Tyler's dream college will be evaluating his application. We really liked the vibe we got when we visited the school. Classes are very small, like under 15 usually, which would be great for Tyler. He wants to run for them & it has a great music program. If you pray, I'd appreciate prayers that his application would be favorably considered. And if he's not accepted, that he would be at peace with that. Thank you!
Very cool Azure! We won't make it to the auto show this year, it would have been fun to meet up.
Mighty Frugal
1-21-12, 10:18pm
Azure-no need for burnt pots I always microwave my popcorn that I buy in a bag. Just pour out some kernels into a lunch paper brown bag-enough to coat the bottom of the bag. Fold it closed. Lay in microwave-folded side down and press the popcorn button on your microwave. Ta da-microwaved popcorn without the nasty chemicals or nasty cost OR nasty burnt pots
Hi Everyone-haven't posted much this month but I think of you all a lot...
I used food service rewards points to purchase 2 cookbooks the other day. It amounts to about $40 in books for free. They're vegan cookbooks that I have wanted for a while but didn't spend the cash on.
I recieved a $10.38 ebates check in the mail. I continue to do sweepstakes from time to time.
THis morning I had pancakes flavored with cinnamon crunch that I had leftover from some vegan muffins I made 2 weeks ago. I used up some leftover apple sauce and some ground hazelnut coffee that never seems to get drank while making a vegan, chocolate snack cake this morning.
The weather is horendous and the kids have the day off so it is a no driving/spending day for this household.
Azure, I'm praying for Tyler that he gets to go to the college he wants!
Nothing special to report here. We're having a low-key Monday. Monday is cleaning day, so we've been hard at work. Breakfast and lunch were super simple, cottage cheese and bananas for breakfast, peanut butter sandwiches and popcorn for lunch. Everyone was fine with that. We'll finish up the broccoli soup for dinner.
A friend of mine is watching the kids tomorrow while I go to my ultrasound appointment. Hopefully the baby will be in a good position and I'll know if it is a boy or a girl. I'm excited about that. Anyway, free babysitting is nice and frugal. Tomorrow's lunch will be super simple too since I'll be leaving close to lunchtime. Chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.
ACK! I have a job interview tomorrow morning at Target! Good news but :0! I just put in an online app last Wed or Thurs. I said I want to work 25 to 35 hours/wk and can work nights which would not make DH happy but would ensure that I could attend track meets, concerts, grocery shop & make appts., etc. We'll see how it goes. Wish me luck!
MF, I have heard about that method but never tried it. Maybe we'll make that experiment later this week. Thanks!
Stella, thanks! We got a real good feeling about this place when we toured it. Class size is small - avg. 12. There is an excellent running program for a small school. And music program as well. T is in touch with the music director to set up an audition and he's been scouted by the coach. But the suspense is terrible! I so want him to have his dream but trust that God knows better than I do.
Mara, it would have been fun to meet up. We've never gone to the auto show before & it was fun but we'll probably not go back unless it is to see Ian again. I'll let you know if we do go again.
Quiet weekend here. Today I haven't accomplished a lot but I'll have some clothes hanging to dry pretty soon. Heat is turned down to 62. Had leftover coleslaw with lunch. Not sure what dinner will be tonight. I'm thinking about blueberry stuffed french toast.
Hooray!!! Got the call this afternoon - Tyler has been accepted!! He'll be an Alma Scot this fall. Can't wait to see him in a kilt lol they are not making him retake the ACT. He will be arranging his audition for the music dept. in the next few days.
fidgiegirl
1-23-12, 9:01pm
Azure-no need for burnt pots I always microwave my popcorn that I buy in a bag. Just pour out some kernels into a lunch paper brown bag-enough to coat the bottom of the bag. Fold it closed. Lay in microwave-folded side down and press the popcorn button on your microwave. Ta da-microwaved popcorn without the nasty chemicals or nasty cost OR nasty burnt pots
Once upon a time I did a photo blog entry about this! It's delicious!
http://www.ecocheapotwincities.com/cheap-microwave-popcorn/
fidgiegirl
1-23-12, 9:05pm
Congrats to Tyler, and good luck to Stella on the discovery of the big mystery :)
Here we are cooking at home a lot since I went gluten free. I did up chicken breasts and homemade fries for dinner and prepared a slow cooker squash risotto to put on tomorrow. We still have a lot of squash to use up, and I don't want to move it. So in it went, and we still have more! :0!
I really want some flourless torte, though . . . one of these nights I'll persuade DH to go out and we'll get some.
Off to do some more cleaning . . . I find if I keep up with the cleaning around here I don't feel so stressed about the remodeling stuff . . . DH is over there now doing a few things (shoveling and installing some baseboard) and I stayed here to clean up (again, some more, the neverending job . . . baaaaaaaah!)
Keep it up, all! 18 pages of frugals in the new year, awesome!
Jan 23
--Had a really large bottle of shampoo that was hard to handle so I poured it into another large empty bottle that has a pump and will be shampooing
for serveral days by washing out the bottle.
--sold an old GPS on Kijiji for $25.00
--bought a few specials and spent only $20.00 total groceries so far this month $100.00
--cleaning out all of my paper so things are pared down and easy to find...for myself or anyone else that needs to look for anything.
--
It's a girl! Totally OT, although to tie it into the thread I am inheriting an insane amount of really nice, expensive baby clothes from my friend. Enough to clothe triplet girls, which I am not having. :) Charlotte Adelaide Griffith. I'm very excited.
congrats stella! what a sweet name! cheyenne and bella are gonna go nuts dressing her up. :)
and azure, congrats to your son! it's so exciting to get in where you want to go!
still holding frugally strong ... i think i have spent about $5 in the last week beyond groceries. work + wear the shift have been keeping me too busy to spend money!
Congrats, Stella! Beautiful name.
The usual frugals here, cooking at home, not spending, minimal driving. DD has a couple of days off from school soon and I was able to snag the coveted zoo pass at the library. Also swapping childcare with a friend.
Does this qualify as a frugal? ..... I got the job! Even though I had to do math in my head :0! The hours will normally be in the 6 am to 2:30 pm range which is just perfect for me. Only part time but the money will sure come in handy. Thanks everyone for the prayers & good wishes for Tyler & me both.
Tyler has now gone from HOORAY I got into Alma! to OMG WHAT have I gotten myself into. ROTFL!
Wonderful news Stella. I love the name Charlotte!
rosarugosa
1-24-12, 8:40pm
Congratulations Stella and Azure!
Azure: Perhaps you will get an employee discount that could be a frugal if you use it wisely!
Thanks everyone!
Congratulations Azure! That is fantastic!
Today wasn't the most frugal day. We ended up getting a rotisserie chicken for dinner because the chicken I took out didn't thaw in time and I was a bit overtired. I got up at 5AM today and went to the grocery store. I made my own sides though, squash and green beans, so it was only $6 or so for everyone. I'll use the carcass for stock and the leftovers for soup.
rosarugosa
1-25-12, 4:50am
Stella: I think those rotisserie chickens are pretty frugal, and you have a big crew to feed, so $6.00 sounds like a bargain to me. I got one for $4.00 on Sunday and it fed us Sun PM, then chicken salad Mon PM, and left over chicken salad for DH's lunch yesterday. DH is recovering from surgery, so Rosa the inept is in charge of food :( I think those chickens are about ther best deal you can get in terms of prepared food. My challenge right now is not to succumb to the allure of takeout, especially since my work and commute consumes almost 12 hours each day.
Nice school Azure! I love small class sizes.
Stella, that is wonderful and I to like the name. Charlotte was one of the names on our "list" if we would have adopted again. And those chickens can come in handy. If your going to buy something "out", the chicken is a good deal. Your getting more than one meal from it.
Had a panic moment yesterday that our fridge died. It's normally fairly quiet, but when I went to get something no light and I couldn't really hear much (thought I heard something, but then wondered if I was wrong). So I tried different plugs, nothing. Took the light out and checked it in a lamp, didn't work so after I did drop off I ran and got a bulb from Meijer (used an mperk so it was free!) and installed the light. YEAH!!! Just a burnt out bulb. We just replaced our hot water tank after Christmas, add in my text books, sick kid, etc...and the money set aside for "life" was starting to run low.
Stopped at Kroger for some cheese, saw a catalina in the trash for $1.50 off your next trans. Cheese for $.50!
Had to stop and pick up some scan trons for my exams. Apparently it's one thing that has not gone up in price since I last bought one (almost 20 years ago), they were 10 for $1.
Not so frugal, my son's tuition will be going up. About $300 more for next year. I'd rather pay that though than send them to the public schools in the area (I would homeschool, but my DH won't go for it). So we will just make it work.
Congrats to Stella and Azure!
I've fallen way behind here, but I'm still plugging along. We haven't had any more vet visits (yay!), but we did get the driveway patched this week, so I can park in the garage finally. Hopefully that will be our last big expense for a while and I can start putting money back into savings instead of always withdrawing.
It is dark and stormy today, so I will be staying in and starting my spring garden seedlings. It's only about 7 weeks until tomato planting time here! :)
flowerseverywhere
1-25-12, 4:17pm
I save all my coupons for my neighbor with four kids and today she took me shopping with her. As I have posted before I only have a car one day a week which does wonders for your planning and spending.
Well going with her was like going with someone who is an extreme couponer.
She was so organized I couldn't believe it. She had a binder with all the normal prices for all the local stores and more coupons and rebates all organized. The first stop were some baskets in front of the store I never noticed. The mark down things that are nearing expiration dates. She was putting boxes of cereal, granola bars and some baking mixes, after checking her book and coupons. Then in produce she weighed the bag of potatoes and got one over 6 lbs, some of them were barely 5 lbs. She continued that way through the store, but the best was the meat counter. She knew the meat man and he told her they were marking down meats they had overcut that were expiring today. We both got meat that was about 75% off. Now my crockpots are going making beef stew and chicken veggie soup in the other.
She knew everyone in every department and talked to them all, some of them pointed out specials to her.
On to store #2 where again she knew where the markdowns were and had a coupon for almost everything. She gave me some coupons as well she had so many.
Bottom line was I saved 40% by following her lead, she did much better, saving 72%. And she had some rebates to send in. All of her personal products, like toothpaste and shampoo were just about free. She got free yogurts, cheese... it was amazing. It would do me no good to get two dozen boxes of cereal unless I got them for the food pantry, we go through less than a box of cheerios a week! She also had more prepared foods than I did, but with four boys who play sports they go through a lot of higher calorie food than I would prepare. It was very enlightening. It was a lot of work for her but she is a stay at home mom and estimates that she saves at least $100 per week, and does not have to pay for babysitting like she would if she worked.
She also shows up at church each week with several bags of food for the food pantry, she is trying to set an example for her kids. She is also my garage sale buddy, she knows how to find the good sales. I don't need anything from garage sales but I was able to get some great stuff for my grandkids when they were born.
all in all a fun experience but I am not sure I could have the perseverance to do it long term. It's a lot of work but she has a great attitude.
flowerseverywhere your friend sounds like an interesting person to spend time with! I love having other frugal people around. It helps me stay on track.
Thanks for the congratulations everyone! And you are right about those rotisserie chickens. When I think about it they aren't really any more expensive than an uncooked whole chicken.
I was thinking of running a million errands today and decided not to. I think I just want to get out of the house at some point today. Instead of running errands, which will inevitably cost me more money, we are taking the boys to the indoor play place at the community center tonight while the girls are at faith formation. It's $3 a kid for kids over 2, so with just the boys it's $3. James needs an outlet for his energy and some Daddy time. I can hang with T in the toddler area.
I talked myself out of half of the things I "needed" to get today. Sigh. I sometimes compensate for lack of energy with money and with the dark of winter and the fact that I am reaching that less comfortable stage of pregnancy I think I'm getting vulnerable to that. I'm trying to remind my brain that this crazy nesting thing I've got going on isn't as necessary as it used to be. With four other kids here, the nest is pretty well feathered. I need to shift my brain out of high gear and just relax a little. I think what I need to do is
Step 1: Turn off the urgency switch. I'm stressing out over stupid stuff because I have a false sense of urgency. I have all winter to get the pantry organizing done and finish cleaning out that closet. The things I am stressing over are things it would be nice to get done, not things that need to get done.
Step 2: Refocus on gratitude and contentment.
Step 3: Recognize that if I'm getting crabby, I'm pushing too hard. Keep my balance.
I do think this is related to frugality. Most of my biggest money slip-ups are from playing catch-up when I've run myself down too far.
Step 1: Turn off the urgency switch. I'm stressing out over stupid stuff because I have a false sense of urgency. I have all winter to get the pantry organizing done and finish cleaning out that closet. The things I am stressing over are things it would be nice to get done, not things that need to get done.
Step 2: Refocus on gratitude and contentment.
Step 3: Recognize that if I'm getting crabby, I'm pushing too hard. Keep my balance.
I do think this is related to frugality. Most of my biggest money slip-ups are from playing catch-up when I've run myself down too far.
i am right there with you, stella, and this is such a wise post! thank you for articulating this so perfectly!
fidgiegirl
1-25-12, 6:25pm
Hey all, I have a frugal opportunity for Twin Citians to get free bike repair at one of my site's work experience programs. PM me if interested. It doesn't involve donating the bike; in fact, I think they DON'T want to deal with donated bikes, just want to have some for their students to work on. Let me know if you'd like info.
early morning
1-25-12, 8:36pm
Congrats, everyone! Good job on the job, Azure, and to your college bound son, too! Love the name, stella! Fidgiegirl, I sure wish I were near you, I have an old tandem that I would love to have put in working order. This has been a very expensive month so far. DS lost his financial aid for the semester - long story and his fault- so we agreed to cover that for this time only, which was quite a blow to the emergency fund. We had our three new cats neutered, two females and a male-two are barn cats but I just hate having other males hanging around, trying to give away kittens, etc. One is very very feral, so I actually agreed to laser surgery for her, so she won't be so miserable and will be less likely to get an infection. It was he!! to catch her once, and after this I probably won't be able to get near her. So this is frugal because? Maybe because it's cheaper to do three now than more later, lol? Plus I actually got a 20% quantity discount by taking them all in at once. And at 2 AM this morning, I discovered that our freezer had died. I went down to get a package of hamburger to thaw, and it was, already!! There was still ice in it, and things were cold, so I closed the door quickly and went to tell DH. The freezer is almost all meat, and expensive to refill!! DH was all panicky and ready to go buy a freezer this AM (and who knows when they could actually deliver it - we certainly have no business trying to haul a freezer down the basement steps!) but I called our friend who we buy our beef from (and who pastures sheep in our field) and he had plenty of freezer room. I took a half-day off work, bought some cheap zip-lock gallon bags, and DD and I unloaded the freezer, bagged all the packages of beef, and took four big coolers of meat up to his place. The stuff on the top shelf - the warmest- we cooked up this afternoon. Being able to borrow freezer space will give us time to shop around for a freezer- he says we're good until June, anyway. I am so glad I found the freezer when I did- that could have been a real crisis!
Oooh Kelli, I might take you up on that.
Hey Madgey! It's so easy to get to that place sometimes. I hope you are succesfull in snapping yourself out of it too.
A "brilliant, skilliant idea" as the kids would say, came to me when I was taking a quiet bath today. I think we need to do a sort of retreat week for our family next week. Zach and I talked about it and we are totally on the same page. We've been going at such a fast pace with our travels and just life in general that we all seem to be having trouble shifting gears. Next week we're going to really slow down. We're all taking a break from anything screen related, computers, netflix, ipads, ipods, etc. We're taking a break from structured lessons, although Zach will still go to school. We won't tackle any big projects. We'll do the proverbial choping of wood and carrying of water and all that. We'll nap and pray and read and write and do little things we never get to because they are, well, little things. No one gets to nag or pester or crab. I pitched the idea to the older kids and they really liked it. I think it will be good for everyone. The theme for the week is Simplicity. I'm excited to see how it goes.
Mighty Frugal
1-25-12, 11:31pm
Oooh Kelli, I might take you up on that.
Hey Madgey! It's so easy to get to that place sometimes. I hope you are succesfull in snapping yourself out of it too.
A "brilliant, skilliant idea" as the kids would say, came to me when I was taking a quiet bath today. I think we need to do a sort of retreat week for our family next week. Zach and I talked about it and we are totally on the same page. We've been going at such a fast pace with our travels and just life in general that we all seem to be having trouble shifting gears. Next week we're going to really slow down. We're all taking a break from anything screen related, computers, netflix, ipads, ipods, etc. We're taking a break from structured lessons, although Zach will still go to school. We won't tackle any big projects. We'll do the proverbial choping of wood and carrying of water and all that. We'll nap and pray and read and write and do little things we never get to because they are, well, little things. No one gets to nag or pester or crab. I pitched the idea to the older kids and they really liked it. I think it will be good for everyone. The theme for the week is Simplicity. I'm excited to see how it goes.
Can I come over and do this too?
Any time Mighty. :) I am so looking forward to next week!
Class was canceled for Zach today so he was home by 9AM. He is going to work on the electrical project with the girls today and I am going to make ooblek (cornstarch and water) with the older three.
I also intend to indulge in my favourite frugal activity and take a nap this afternoon.
Flowers, That was a cool experience with your friend and the shopping trip.
EarlyMorning, Glad you found out about the freezer before everything was lost. And brilliant idea about moving the food!
Stella, oooh, ooblek! Hope they had fun with that.
Thank you everyone for the congrats!
We had the insulation put in Thurs & Fri. I think it feels warmer in here already. Last night I didn't have to wear an insulated hoodie over my bathrobe. Part of the deal was a tune up of the furnace. Well, you know it is a brand new furnace but they came and looked at it anyway and found out it is working beautifully. Yeah! Some projects still need to be finished up. And the new windows in the basement will be done on Wed. We should be getting rebates and tax breaks from all this work.
So I was at home all day Thursday and till 3:30 on Friday. Got a lot of decluttering done. Threw away tax records from the 90's :0! When I mentioned throwing away the early 2000's my DH looked alarmed. So I'll hang onto them a bit longer. But not much lol Threw away warrantys for things we no longer own. And organized & decluttered scrapbooking stuff. Did some scrapbooking.
This morning I walked over to our local grocery and spent $23 and got a good size bag full, marked down pork roast, beef sirloin tip roast and 3 packs of ground chuck, plus onions & red onion. Saved $7 on meat which I'm pretty pleased with. I think we'll have roast beef for dinner. It's been a while since we've had that. yummy
This afternoon I'll finish the shopping. Probably also look for some new bras, if I can find a good sale. My current ones are pretty pathetic. And some red shirts for work.
I finally took the plunge and started using cloth wipes instead of toilet paper. Using paper only for #2, a roll lasted me a full week - a significant savings.
I'm giving up my parking pass at school because I moved close enough to walk. That will be $40 per month.
I found a good used bike at my favorite local bike shop. They were refurbishing it. Once the bike shop has finished fixing it up, I'll be able to use the bike for lots of short trips that for which I would normally have used my car. Lots of gas savings there over the long run, more than enough to offset the cost of the bike.
Originally posted by Reader99.
I finally took the plunge and started using cloth wipes instead of toilet paper.What helped persuade you and give you the strength to make the switch?
Jan 31
Frugal wise this has been a very good month...
-- frugal this week got ViaRail tickets for trips to visit family first week in April...unfrugal upgraded to first class (got those tickets for the same price as economy would have been) no savings but a much nicer trip that includes assigned seating/very nice breakfast and lunch each way and of course a couple of glasses of wine with lunches...
I think I deserve a little pampering...
--turkey soup from makings in the freezer and banana bread too
--dried two loads in the house this week
--had a charity pick up of stuff today and I really am getting the clutter down I am finding this frugal because I am coming across things to use instead of buy and makes me aware of all I have.
--set up new files for all paperwork and read a book about handling paper and reorganized my desk with only four ongoing piles that are in baskets
---To Pay---To Do--To Read--To File
--already did my month end balancing and set up for next month.
Yes, Danna, you do deserve some pampering. Enjoy every second!
Not much going on around here, frugal-wise. No driving today. I am spending $2.45 for food today so not a no spend day. Got 3 free lipton tea bags in the mail. Green tea with acai & blueberry. I'm trying one out right now. It's pretty good. Of course, I am just a beginning tea drinker, so what do I know ;)
Tyler got a letter from Alma on Saturday. He finally got around to opening it Monday evening. He has been given a $7000 a year scholarship! WOO HOO! He is auditioning next week and hopes to get a music scholarship.
I'm trying to convince him to take up bagpipes so he can also get the Scottish Arts scholarship LOL I can just picture my Korean guy wearing a kilt and playing a bagpipe ROTFL
Today the work on the house is being finished. New glass block windows for the basement. Hopefully next months energy bill will be more reasonable. I have the temp. set at 60 and I am not freezing. Before the insulation I would have it set at 63 and still freezing.
Making tortillas for tonights dinner. mmmmm good.
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