View Full Version : Belated March Frugals
March 4 and no Frugals thread?
Recent stuff for us:
- During the Olympics we broke down and ordered an HD converter cable box for the TV. The default Comcast signal is just a waste of an HD TV. We checked it out once before and it looked like it was just another couple of bucks a month for the converter box. But noooo ... it's the box; it's another $10 a month to deliver the HD signal to that box, and it's their $15 setup kit (a panoply of plastic and paper around 58 cents worth of cables). Once we added it all up, we decided that, when weather permits, we're going back to an antenna on the roof. We'll still have Comcast for Internet (at least for now), and with our Limited service, we won't save that much per month, but it will be the picture we're paying for and we're not rewarding as much greedy behavior. In the put and take of it all, though, we ended up with enough credits to skip this month's Comcast payment.
- Bought our usual frozen pizza at the supermarket on a 2-for-1. But it rang up as two pizzas. I went to the courtesy desk before I left the store and got the credit back. $8.99 back in my pocket.
- I needed to buy some filters for my camera lenses. Rather than buy brand-new ones, I found used ones in excellent condition at a camera store. I saved maybe one-third of the price of equivalent new ones and they're identical. I also bought a step-up ring so I can use one filter on multiple lenses, sparing the expense of buying $$$ filters for each lens diameter.
Anyone else?
onlinemoniker
3-4-14, 12:19pm
Making bread right now. Making Tortilla soup later.
Is this a "no spend" thread? If so, I'm not spending today. In fact, I spent on the 1st but haven't spent since.
Steve: I'm with you on your frustration on the cable. I cancelled cable (and got rid of my TV's) over three years ago. I pay $50 per month for wireless internet and though I've been considering adding something like Netflix streaming, I haven't done it yet. (I'm not even really using the library for movies and TV shows and such so it's stupid to add a pay service when I don't even use what I can get for free.) So holding off in that area.
Luckily I quit TV before paying for HD got to be an issue. Man, that would make me so angry to be sucked into that what I MUST also have re: TV! I fully support your decision (once executed) to get rid of the cable. Such a RIP OFF! And yes, greedy. But they will charge what the market will bear...
March 4...I am here too but, late, onlinemoniker this thread started as 3 frugals a day a long time ago and is
more just what we have managed to do frugal wise each day. Welcome, I am sorry to say I love my TV but, also
get a lot of free movies and box sets from the library.
--so far this month I have set up my all my spreadsheets that always makes me feel like I have things under control.
--trip to the grocery store today was a whole $12.50, some still very good but marked down veggies, a cont. of chicken broth
that I price matched and had a $1.00 coupon for, 6 large cans of soup, 4 900grams pkgs. of pasta, & a pkg of 4 red peppers.
Everything bought on sale.
--Home made pancakes and peameal bacon (from freezer) for our Pancake Tuesday supper.
--scan receipts for credits on things bought last week $3.00 to scansave.
--gave away 2 boxes of books and miscellaneous to charity, decluttering seems to end up being frugal for me.
that is all for now.
Found a great pair of fleece sweatpants by the side of the dumpster--good quality and in great shape--at least, after I washed and dried them. Now I can stop borrowing DH's and wear my own!
Bought the Nook version of a book instead of the hard copy: $7.99 for an instant download, instead of $15 plus $18 shipping for the hard copy.
Arranged a barter agreement with a friend: I provide dog-walking services for her two dogs, and she provides me with home-made jewelry, artistic gifts, or second-hand clothes that she personally selects and buys (she is an extremely talented personal shopper with far better taste in clothes than I do). I get to exercise and hang out with dogs (which I love), and she gets to create and to shop for clothes--which she loves. Win-win!
I love your barter deal Selah, and your freebie finds never fail to impress!
Blackdog Lin
3-5-14, 10:21pm
I found out this week that I can now barter for my haircuts, as my hairdresser loved and will trade for a baked-goods item DH and I make informally. We are now up to bartering for haircuts, oil changes, and fresh-caught-then-frozen local crappie fish (since we're not fishermen, really appreciating this one. Love fried fish Fridays.....)
Yeah, barter rocks.
early morning
3-6-14, 12:05am
Coffee pot died. Here, that's a MAJOR calamity! DD poked around in the box room and found the one she had at her place before she moved back home. Yay- no need to buy a new pot! Still watching movies and TV series from the library for free, love the library! Stopped at local coffee shop for a treat, and it was happy hour - half price coffee drinks! Since there were three of us, that actually saved quite a bit! Got our taxes done and e-filed for free, thanks to AARP. Tomorrow I'll drop our weekly trash off at my mothers, since we don't have trash pickup and I don't want to make a dump run until we clean out the shed and/or barn. We don't generate much trash and neither does she, but she has to have one of those big cans that can be picked up by the truck instead of a human...
Mar 07
--still being careful with what we buy in groceries, getting very good at only buying on sale, price matched and/or with coupons
also, look for fish and meat marked down by manager extra 30% because they are date due in the next few days, have had a
lot of luck stocking up on meat this way.
--bought large package of lean ground beef at Costco and made up into 10 meat patties and many meat balls and 3 pkgs for 3 separate meals.
I have found that if I have some variety this kind of meals quick to prepare I lose any desire to eat out. Homemade is better.
--no spend today and no drive, walking to my volunteer position once a week good exercise and no gas.
In Israel, people don't mop their floors with a mop. Instead, they use a long-handled, wide squeegee and put a damp, soapy towel down on the floor, then use the squeegee to push it around. Saves hauling around a bucket, I guess...you can always just rinse out and re-soap the towel in the sink. Most people buy these towels in the store, use them once or twice, then throw them out. I figured out that they could easily be laundered...who cares if they're stained? Other people use them to wash their front stairs or their portion of the sidewalk, and just leave them there for the garbage man to pick up. I've picked up a few, laundered them, and they work fine. I'll never have to buy those towels again!
Another AMAZING find--I found this carpet last week. Unbelievable someone could just neatly wrap it up and put it next to the dumpster. I'm so glad I found it!
http://www.simplelivingforum.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=1379&d=1394300087
The link didn't work for me Selah, and now I'm all curious and the suspense is killing me!
onlinemoniker
3-8-14, 8:44am
Yesterday I did my errands bc I didn't want to go out this weekend (or any weekend, for that matter.) Library: 2 movies rather than paying for them in any other place, also checked out the book club book, rather than purchasing it. Grocery store: bought 10 of my favorite soy yogurt for $10. Not the greatest deal but it saved me $2. Other than that I stayed to the list!
OMG early morning I'm going to be 50 at the end of this month. Can I now do my taxes for free this year because they're going to send me my card? Or do I have to actually join AARP? How do I do this? Might as well take advantage of it this year if I can.
Rosarugosa, just go back to my previous post...this time I got the image posted! At last! :)
early morning
3-8-14, 4:50pm
onlinemoniker - you don't have to join AARP. You don't have to be 50 (DD is 30 and they've done hers for several years!). Try this link http://www.aarp.org/applications/VMISLocator/searchTaxAideLocations.action to see where the closest site is for you. The one where we go is drop-in only, others take appointments - the tax prep is all volunteer. The one we've gone to for the past few years is wonderful; most of the workers are retired or semi-retired CPAs and are highly trained. Of course our taxes aren't real involved, and they don't do business taxes, or at least not here, but it's been a great money, time, and stress saver for us!
Today it didn't rain OR snow, so I washed blankets and quilts and put them on the line. They are almost totally dry, and will finish nicely in the house overnight. I found a package of mystery ground meat in the freezer and browned it for spaghetti. Turned out to be venison, yum!! Going through our fabric and paint stashes to find something we already have to redo a nice sewing bench for resale. No point in spending for stuff we have at home. So far, it's been a frugal day! :)
March 08
---Hair dye marked down from $14.00 to $3.00 on clearance bought 3 and had a $1.00 coupon for one
---relaxed day reading, watching movies and playing video games with grandson all free.
Thanks, Selah, I can see your picture now, nice score! Is that your lovely home?
I have no right to even show my face on the Frugals thread. I was supposed to be on a spending fast until 3/14. However, a couple of the significant expenditures I was going to make on/after 3/14 went on sale in the meantime. The sheets I had been stalking went on sale for 40% off, and I needed a new spring/summer suit for work and I found one that I liked and that fit me well (always a challenge) for 1/3 off at Talbot's. I've also been in the market for some new jeans - my most comfortable ones are getting really worn, and I got a nice pair on sale at Talbot's for $21.00. So I guess I could look at it as frugal that I got all of these carefully-considered purchases on sale and none of them were impulse purchases, but I'm looking at it like I spent a bunch of money!
We have been doing a bit better on groceries. My company incents us to have biometric screening done and complete online self-assessments ($500 for the two of us). We both had some areas for improvement and therefore have the opportunity to work with a telephonic health coach, and I believe we'll get another $200 in credits for working with the coach. So we're trying to take full advantage, and the goal I set with my coach is 2 - 3 exemplary dinners per week. The frugal here is that exemplary tends to be less meat and cheese based, and having the goal makes me a bit more mindful about meal planning and the grocery list. So I think this will be an all-around win.
Rosarugosa, now we've flipped--I'm feeling bad about how much money DH and I have spent on groceries this past week, and a few impulse purchases today that definitely came into the "wants" category, not the "needs!" Yes, the picture shows our living room. I love our landlord's taste in furniture--the stuff is far more stylish than I have ever been able to afford, so it's great the apartment came furnished!
How cool it is that you can make money just for receiving health coaching! :)
chrissieq
3-15-14, 10:28pm
Served a meal at church tonight for high school students who completed a 30 hour fast to raise funds for hunger relief. The organizer had way over estimated how many to prepare for - the other 2 volunteers and I ended up taking home penne, sauce, bread and salad. Reheated it for dinner with DH - yuck! the sauce (canned) was terrible!! But I made great garlic toast from the bread and the salad (with some additions) was filling. I'm happy to work for food but this was a bit nasty. I guess if you'd gone without food for 30 hours it would be fine!
rosarugosa
3-16-14, 11:08am
Wow, judging from the lack of activity on this thread lately, I'm not the only one who hasn't been very frugal! I do think I'm going to call last night's theater tickets a frugal. It's a local theater group and they do a great job and the prices are so reasonable. Last night's show (Avenue Q) was $30. per ticket which included a $5. per ticket contribution to the Friends of Lynn Woods, a cause I am more than happy to support. On the other end of the spectrum is the $350 we spent on two tickets for Book of Mormon in Boston next month. Yikes! That would pay for more than 6 shows with the local theater group. BoM is supposed to be really good, but I can't imagine it will be 6 times as good as Avenue Q was.
I do think a lot of my recent non-frugality was in anticipation of annual bonus pay-out from work. Now that the bonus has been received and planned expenditures made (with a couple of modest splurges thrown in), I'm planning to sweep the lion's share into savings and hopefully get back on track.
We bought two bags of frozen hake at Costco on special for $6.00 per bag (2.5 lbs). We've never had hake before, but if we like it, that's a great value. Even if we're not crazy about it, we can use it for chowder or fish cakes, and it will still be a good value.
I cancelled the Amex card I had gotten for the sign-on rewards. It would be up for renewal in May, and I wanted to cancel before the $175 annual fee was charged. The woman at Amex did tell me they have a no-fee cash-back card that pays 3% of groceries, 2% on gas, and 1% on everything else, so that's something I might explore in the future. That's a really good rewards program, since most of our expenditures are on gas and groceries.
early morning
3-16-14, 11:53am
Yesterday the weather was nice here, so I was able to dry two loads of laundry on the line. And warmer weather means less propane used, thank goodness! DD has a dog-sitting/house watching gig so that's a win for her. We're trying to pull things together for the antique booth we're opening in a local mall so we've had a few more expenditures than usual plus too busy to post much, lol - but we're trying to be as frugal as we can. We wanted burlap to cover a strip of the back booth wall, which is pegboard, found some on sale at JoAnn's online with $1. shipping, which is better than going to to local store and they not having it in stock, and buying other things we can do without! JoAnn's is not a safe store for us, lol. We have some things we need to paint before selling. DD wants to use chalk paint, but it is SO expensive, so we've located a few inexpensive alternatives online. She also likes the look of the dark soft wax over it, we're still looking for something else - less expensive !- to use for that, since what's available locally looks good but has poor reviews overall. Trying to make money with this venture, not spend more of it, lol.
Selah, that rug is lovely!
We have had some good Frugals this month. My friend who is a photographer has been wanting to get into newborn photography, but she needs some photos for her portfolio. She took newborn photos of Veronica for free. I get a digital copy for free to use however I want printing them, posting them on Facebook, etc. and she gets to use them in her marketing. I had never had newborn photos done before and they were so beautiful!
Along the same lines, I have a friend who is studying to be a doula. She needs a certain number of births under her belt to be certified, so she offered to be a doula for my birth for free. I had a 48 hour labour, so that was a ton of volunteer labour. It was so sweet of her.
I have had several meals brought to me while I have been recovering. About every other day for three weeks now people have been bringing us food. I had also gone on a big freezer cooking and pantry stocking kick before the birth, so we will have minimal grocery needs for the next few weeks.
Breast feeding has been going well, so that saves us some money. Also, Travis and Charlotte are both showing interest in potty training, which would save us another big chunk.
Zach and my dad and I had a meeting about what house projects we want to tackle this year. We are going to go halves on some new patio doors. The old sliding patio doors are 50 years old and leak a lot of air. They are in the same room as the thermostat, so I think replacing them will save us money in the long run, and it just needs to be done.
Welcome back Stella glad to hear all is well with you.
--Chickens were $1.00 a lb this week so I bought the limit of 3 and roasted two yesterday had supper and
then made a large pot of broth. Soup for supper tonight and enough for lunch tomorrow and put 2 containers of broth in the freezer
with a nice amount of chicken and 1 large package of of pieces for 2 more meals.
--still shopping at several stores that are close by Price matching/buying sales/using coupons then getting points on some sites for certain
purchases. All in all our groceries bills have been really low so far this year and we are still stockpiling.
--made a couple of carrot/nut loaves for a friend who has been ill, had everything in the house
--have got how to get a loaf of bread I like out of my breadmachine. Just use the dough setting then put it in the oven. I have a gas oven and
the warmth of the oven is nice at this time of year. No bread bought for the last month.
--have not had a meal out in ages and that certainly saves money
That is all I can think of for now.
We're having thawed-out and reheated home cooking (soup) I'd made over a month ago, for dinner tonight. Not "free," exactly, because we'd paid for the ingredients last month, but still...it's like getting a "free" dinner this week!
Major frugal decision: DH and I decided that only I would travel to America during the Passover break! He'd wanted to come along and also include stops in Vegas and Florida. When he realized how much that would cost, he just started saying "well, we can't go because it's so epxensive, so let's spend the money instead on a holiday to London." I replied, "look, I have not seen my aging mother in close to three years. You saw your mother and sons last summer AND you've been to America on two other occasions for business. If you insist on coming to America with me, then we will not go on any holiday to London. We will just stay here until we have enough money saved for you to do the trip you want to do. I don't care about Vegas or Florida...I MISS MY MOTHER! So think about what you want to do, but the one thing we're NOT doing is blowing money now on a trip to London and then, again, this summer, not having enough money for me to go see my family."
DH came home a few hours later and said, "you're right! You go just to Washington (Bellingham, Seattle, and Vashon Island) to see your family for a short visit. I'll stay home and work and take care of the pets. We'll save money and then we can both have a fun, short vacation this summer." GOALLLLL!!!!! :)
Another friend brought us a meal this morning to eat for dinner. Ale braised corned beef and vegetables with Irish soda bread and whole wheat blueberry muffins. Yum! I made cream scones for breakfast and we are having leftover minestrone another friend had brought for lunch. Overall, it's a very frugal day for meals.
I had ordered some silk scarves from dharma trading company for a project we are doing in school. We are studying the Phoenicians right now, who were known for their tyrian purple dye. The actual dye is made from snails from Lebanon and is not feasible for an elementary school project, but we are going to do our best to approximate it with good old Rit dye. Since I never like to do projects like that with only one use, I am dying the other scarves other colours and all of them will find a permanent home in the dress up box. You can never have too many silk scarves in a dress up box. I might make most of them in liturgical colours so we can use them for our prayer table too. Tyrian purple is the original royal purple, so it would be a good one for Advent/Lent.
fidgiegirl
3-17-14, 5:31pm
Yeah, Selah!!!
We had a leftover day for lunch today. It was good to get things used up.
We also got our homemade laundry soap put away in the laundry room today. It had been sitting there for a few days since I made it. I finally, after over two years of making the stuff, had to replenish my supply of $10 ingredients.
My big frugal last week was my hair care, though only after a sort of ridiculous outlay of money up front will I realize the savings later! I went and got dread locks put in professionally!
About three years ago if anyone remembers, I chopped off all my long curly hair and within two weeks of dealing with short hair care and HATING all the fuss, I started growing it long again, only to find that that at my age, my hair will no longer grow out thick and nice like it used to. I also stopped coloring it a year ago so I've been dealing with that. My savings grace is that I have to wear a hat everyday at work so the brunt of the greying out process has been pretty much hidden from the public.
But as the winter wore on, my hair was getting more and more limp and mousy and just not attractive at all. It was making me feel unattractive and as if I was fading away as I aged. I met an new friend a little while ago who has an amazing head full of dread locks and didn't think much of it for myself until a few weeks ago when I was having a particularly bad hair day and was about to get it all chopped off just to be rid of it, knowing I'd probably regret it in the end. But then I found out where one actually goes to get dreads done from this new friend and went for a consultation ~ since I have very fine, dry curly hair the stylist said would be a great candidate for dreadlocks! I went and got it done last Wednesday; it took three hours and cost $175. I may need to go back in a few weeks to get some minor touch-ups but after that, you just let 'em grow!
I love them! I wake up and do not have to do ANYTHING to my hair, other than palm-rolling the twists as they lock up! I look funky and artistic (which I am) so it really matches what I feel inside. I work at Whole Foods so this kind of hairstyle fits right in (it's not as if if I have to go to a conservative office environment).
By the summertime my hair should be well locked in and looking pretty crazy/cool!
PS: And for those of you who are wondering, yes, you can still wash your hair!
SiouxQ, good for you! I got my 50-something hair (also fine and curly) put in dreads 2.5 years ago. I Love love love them and they're fantastically easy to take care of. And you're right -- my hair care budget is down to a little bit for decorative beads, plus Dr. Bronner's for washing.
Sistas in Dreads! Thanks, Mary B! I may message you with questions as I go along, but I think so far, so good!
I got a refund from Groupon today. I had ordered a Groupon for a cleaning service a while back as a birthday present. I was hoping they could come once before I had the baby and twice after, but they haven't shown up any of the times we have had them scheduled. In the meantime, I got a friend of mine who does housecleaning to come and clean for me before and after the baby. She had a huge van repair to pay off, so it benefitted both of us. I got to come home from the hospital to a sparkly clean house and not freak out about it in the post partum days and she isn't panicking about her van repair.
I was going to try again one more time with the Groupon just to use it up, but when they didn't show again today, Zach called Groupon. The refund is in credit with groupon, but at this point, it's better than nothing. I used some of the refund to buy horseback riding lessons for the big girls, which we were planning to do anyway. I still have some credit left. Since it was my birthday money (my birthday was almost 6 months ago), I am seriously considering medieval combat sword fighting lessons for two as a date idea for Zach and me. :) The money is sunk at this point anyway and that sounds kind of awesome. Or I might have our ducts cleaned. Sigh. I suppose that would be more practical.
rosarugosa
3-19-14, 7:03pm
Yay for dreads and sword fights! Who said frugality has to be boring? :)
Feel free to message! I have really enjoyed having my dreads. I even enjoyed it when I walked into Home Depot one day and a man working there said, "Gee, that's interesting... I've never seen grey dreads before!"
They really don't take a lot of care, but do keep rolling. I've also come to accept little wispy bits of curls which do escape from time to time.
Sistas in Dreads! Thanks, Mary B! I may message you with questions as I go along, but I think so far, so good!
I went with the sword fighting. When is that going to present itself to me essentially free of charge ever again? :)
early morning
3-20-14, 6:46am
*snicker* Here I am, feeling all jazzed because I can hang laundry outside and I have a coupon for a free Chick-filet, and then our Stella turns a housecleaning credit into sword-fighting lessons! ;) That is AWESOME, Stella!! Have fun!
DW purchased a drying rack for clothing a few months ago.Purchase price $18. We have concluded after the past two electric bills that it saved us $40 a month to dry our clothes by the woodstove this winter for our family of four.We line dry outside in the warmer months.
We do love our woodstove, my parents heating bill was over $500 last month. Wow! I shudder to think I would have to squeeze $500 out of our tight budget for heat.
Good for you, cx3! DH and I also could notice the difference in our electricity bill when I started line-drying our laundry.
I'll volunteer for food! Last Saturday, a friend and I prepared and served a meal to 30 high-schoolers who had fasted for 30 hours to raise money for hunger relief. We did NOT plan or shop - yuck!! I have never bought canned spaghetti sauce and now I know why - so gross!! Though I did bring home 2 bags of salad and a loaf of italian bread.
Today I prepared food for a program at my church where people with memory loss come to a day program. Expenses are reimbursed and leftovers were there to pick up after I got off work. We just ate turkey sandwiches, cole slaw, grapes and carrots.
On Saturday, I will coordinate a funeral for church and the family hired a caterer so all I have to do is set up, clean up, and make coffee - oh and be there from 9:30 - 2:30 - but the food will be great - DH is coming towards the end to help with clean up so he will get lunch too.
Not that I seem to be spending less on food!;)
Thanks early morning! I will!
That's a great savings cx3!
I had a real craving for a treat tonight and Zach has been talking about going out for pie for a few days. I resisted, though, and baked some lactation cookies. The ingredients that help with nursing, oats, flax and brewers yeast, are safe for everyone to eat, so it's a better, less expensive splurge than pie. It even gives baby Veronica a treat. :)
This afternoon a friend of mine and her teenage daughter came over to see if we wanted to go for a walk. I have felt pretty trapped this winter with the awful cold. It was one of those simple pleasures, getting out in the sunshine on a reasonably warm afternoon, that is appreciated so much more because it has been so rare. Isabella told me as we walked, "I think I can feel my happy coming back." :) Me too!
rosarugosa
3-23-14, 7:33am
DH made linguine with clam sauce last night using canned clams that were on sale. Turned out delicious, so this is another good seafood type option for really cheap money, probably less than $3.00 to feed us both.
Tried Costco's Kirkland brand Sonoma Chardonnay, and it was great stuff for $6.99 a bottle. Of course, if this discovery leads to me drinking more wine, that won't really be a frugal . . .
Just submitted for $200. in Home Depot gift cards from a Citi Bank card we had opened late last year for the sign-on award points. I figured that with spring coming, HD cards are almost as good as cash; it seems like we frequently need something from HD.
PS: Mary and SiouzQ: I would love to see pictures. I definitely will keep coloring my hair while I'm working, but this sounds like something worth exploring post-corporate life!
Mmmm. Linguine with clam sauce sounds yummy.
Noodles and Company is having a deal through March 25th that if you bring in three cans of food for a food shelf you can get a free meal, including meat. We cleaned out some pantry odds and ends and bought a few extra cans of food and the whole family ate for free fr dinner last night. It was a nice treat.
Today is Veronica's baptism. I don't have my act together for this at all, but I stopped at Costco and used my yearly money back gift certificate to get some party supplies, like cake and sandwich stuff. It cost me $25 over the gift certificate, and it's all stuff we would eat for lunches, so it won't go to waste.
Haven't contributed to the frugals thread this month, but it doesn't mean I haven't been trying to be frugal! This weekend was pretty productive and frugal. I made a big batch of chick peas in the crock pot so that I can eat them in salads throughout the week. I also hard boiled some eggs for the same purpose. Cheap, vegetarian protein! Today I experimented with a homemade energy bar recipe. It's mostly rolled oats, applesauce, and some chocolate chips, along with some vegetable oil and water. They came out pretty good -- not overly sweet. We have a lot of homemade applesauce in the freezer from three seasons ago so this is a good way to use it up. I didn't put the info into an online nutrition calculator yet, but I suspect these will be high in carbs, but fairly low in protein and fat. Which means I'll probably have to play with the recipe a bit to get a better ratio. I'm thinking peanut butter or protein powder might have the desired effect.
Last night we made nachos and watched a zombie movie via Netflix. It was a nice way to spend a Saturday night after my dearly beloved had been gone all week. I think tonight will be another relaxing night in!
Eagerly awaiting spring and all the frugalness that comes with it...no more heating expense, line drying clothes outdoors, and gardening!
fidgiegirl
3-23-14, 2:31pm
cdttmm, I haven't been posting much, either! Not to worry, we're still doing what we can, I'm sure . . .
Stella, happy baptism day!
We have had two baby showers this week and a third on this coming Friday. I am awash in a strange mix of gratitude and overwhelm. We got so much beautiful stuff!! But I know in my heart we don't need it all, either. I don't know if it would even be possible for the baby to wear all the clothes before outgrowing them. So we're now trying to work out what to bring back and when so that we can either get bigger sizes or pool the money toward a bigger item, like the next car seat we'll need, the jogging stroller I want, the camera we'd like to get, etc. But unlike when we got married and we were pretty ruthless about what we returned, because we knew our lifestyle and what we would and would not use, we have never been parents, and so hate to return something and then regret it later. To help with this feeling of doubt, I need to remind myself of two things: 1) We were given a lot of stuff from other people, and can just as easily pass along items to others later as well. Even if baby #2 ends up in the cards, we can even reacquire things if we make a mistake! 2) We make our own money and so if we make the wrong decision in returning something, that's ok. Our baby will not be naked and will not starve as a result.
Example of this: I was fixating on nail clippers the other day, working myself into a panic because "what if no one buys us any nail clippers and we can never clip the baby's nails?!?!" I quickly reminded myself that we both have good jobs and a pack of nail clippers is about $5 - or less. Well, guess how many baby nail clippers are sitting in my house right now? Six . . . :)
I've been trying to slowly freeze some food for use in a few weeks. I had grand visions of a freezer cooking day but that ain't gonna happen. So I'm trying to just double-batch stuff when I have the energy and did have DH do a mega Costco shop when he was off for spring break and repackaged some of that meat into patties, meatballs, etc. for the freezer. Simple stuff, but we have it ready to go. Today will be a big pot of white chicken sweet potato chili - after a nap. :)
The other baby-related frugal I'm puzzling out is rearranging furniture in our house. We have all the right pieces but in the wrong places right now. So once the plan is set, then we'll shift some things. I might ask my sister and brother-in-law to help us move it around. The hope is to avoid taking on additional baby-specific furniture like a changing table.
Hmm, this post ended up being more about decluttering issues than frugality, but sometimes they are hard to disentangle.
Happy money mindfulness, all . . .
Am making my own hummus...kind of a no-brainer if one is living in the Middle East, but it was tricky, fiddly and messy to do when I just had a blender. Now that I have my food processor, I'll never buy store-bought again!
Went to the new IKEA (!) that just opened in our region today, and found a long-handled shoehorn I've been looking for, for ages. 5 shekels...or about $1.50 USD, and with snazzy Scandinavian designs on it, too! Now I'm stylin', LOL! Bought some other stuff that we'd been needing for a long time, and found some other small things that just made life that little bit easier and less cluttered, not more.
rosarugosa
3-23-14, 7:56pm
Smoked herring in my new favorite thing. Cheap and yummy, great on crackers or in a salad. We want to try it in sandwiches with lettuce and tomato next, probably way better than tuna. :)
March 23
--Had several meals in the last week with lentils, rice, beans, a very little pork, chicken broth all made large quantities
that lasted many meals.
--Took Dsil out for the afternoon to a Women's Lifestyle Show got the tickets two for one and on sale.
Only bought one item a Bean Sprouter I think I could have used things I have but I am always nervous about bacteria and mold.
It was on sale for $20.00 with Tax and lots of beans with it.
--Spent a whole $13.00 on groceries last week for two large bags...that included things bought on sale with coupons and serveral
free items with coupons.
Took a cheap daytrip with my DS3 yesterday. We drove 3hrs to the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Field in Dayton,OH. Awesome! We were there for 5 hrs. The admission for this museum is FREE. One tank of gas $38 and dinner at Chipolte for the two of us $18.
Kelli, I'd love to bring you a meal after you have the baby. I have a lot of paying-it-forward to do here after all of the meals I've been getting. :) Your anxieties are totally normal and your reminders to yourself are great. I'm so excited for you!
The baptism party was a huge success. $25 out of pocket and we fed 18 people lunch and cake. We had a fabulous time.
My big non-frugal lately is that I have had a cleaning lady coming in every couple of weeks. She is a friend of mine and we are working on getting my spring cleaning done a bit at a time. It hasn't been cheap, but it has given me amazing peace of mind. I am trying to get the main cleaning done today because I really want to save her help for the deeper cleaning and organizational tasks. I want to at least get the most value out of the money I am spending.
Travis' birthday is coming up in a week. Instead of giving each kid a birthday party, we have decided to do one a season and do something just with our family on actual birthdays. This year the spring birthday party is going to be a 1950s theme with soda fountain treats and dancing. All of the kids really like to dance and like 1950s music. Soda fountain treats shouldn't be too expensive and dancing will be fun and free.
fidgiegirl
3-24-14, 12:21pm
Stella, that is sweet! I would love that. :) The 50s party sounds really fun, too. Circle skirts are easy to make . . .
cx3, that sounds like a super day out. I love local adventures like that - well, somewhat local, anyway!
Gardenarian
3-24-14, 2:46pm
When my dd was born, dh took over the grocery shopping and it just became a habit. Now we have decided to go back to doing it together, and in this case two heads are definitely better than one! I think this will save us quite a bit over time.
fidgiegirl
3-24-14, 3:49pm
Great, Gardenarian!
I am home sick today (you may have noticed I'm posting a lot, LOL) and scored a big ol' load of wood chips. I had to run to the store to get an item and just as I was leaving, noticed that the neighbor was having a tree trimmed or removed, so I asked the guys if we could have the chips. I think they were a little perplexed as they said they weren't very "nice" chips, but I said I didn't care, and now we have a whole big pile! They will be awesome for cutting down on mud and adding some organic material to our compacted back yard. We don't need beautiful wood chips! I estimate we saved about $300 over what we would have spent to have this many chips delivered. I bought them some brownies for $5 when I ran out to Whole Foods and luckily made it back in time for them to get them. :)
rosarugosa
3-24-14, 7:45pm
That's a great score Kelli. I've spent a lot of money on bark mulch over the years!
early morning
3-26-14, 11:20pm
You all are doing great - I'd love free wood chips! Used lots of them at our old place but haven't had any for years... But I have a couple frugals that aren't just the same old stuff! Found some more aged venison in the freezer and have been using it up in burgers, burritos and lasagna - good stuff! And when it was so cold earlier in the winter, the underground pipe for the cellar drain froze, as usual - but for some reason the pit filled up enough for the pump to kick on and it overheated and stopped working. After things thawed, it still didn't work, it just sat there and hummed. Thought we'd have to replace it but DH had a good day, and got it working again, pushing that purchase into the future. (We have floor pumps if needed, lol) Then he's been wanting some sort of device to have upstairs on his bad days to check tv listings, etc. He knows that DD uses our wifi with her old, non-activated phone to do swag bucks so he wanted a phone for internet use. (Our phones are pre-paid and we don't have data) Not really a great idea as he can't use the phone he has (big fingers/tiny keys) but whatever. So I asked a co-worker, who is a serial upgrader, if she had anything for sale and she GAVE me a Gateway netbook. Charged it up, works great. DD downloaded free virus protection and he should be good to go...woohoo!!
Great score on the wood chips!
Zach is contemplating changing jobs. He has one offer and two people who have invited him to submit his resume. We are really praying about what is the right option for him. Staying at his current job is an option too. We are kind of leaning towards one that would consider letting him do four, ten hour shifts and have an extra day off every week. It would save us money on gas, both because we would be driving to work one less day and because that company's jobs are usually closer to our house. Then he would have a free day each week that he could use either to work on his side jobs, or for family stuff like doctors appointments, field trips or home projects. His side work has become a major thing for us, and he eventually wants to work for himself, so we want to keep building that. I am really excited about this. The pay is the same, but shaving nearly a weeks worth of gas expense off our budget every month (possibly more because of the distance) would be very helpful, and the extra day off would be fantastic.
Cheyenne started guitar lessons last night. We can claim the cost of her music lessons and instrument on our state taxes, so that will help cover the cost somewhat, and she is cleaning Grandpa's room for $5 a week to earn money towards her lessons. I think that she will have more invested in it if she earns some of the money herself. Isabella has decided to do fencing as her spring activity. She will also be earning $5 a week towards her lessons. We have decided that we will take activities quarter by quarter. They will commit to three months at a time and after that, it's up to them if they want to continue or try something else. Bella can use the facility's fencing equipment for the first three months, and three months takes us to her birthday, so if she wants to continue and get her own equipment it could be a birthday gift.
March 29
Stella the new job for Zach sounds like a great deal for your family....
---I have been eating 4 meals these past weeks with little or no meat...the food sure does last longer and I am feeling good and lighter...hehe
--with sales/coupons/price matches/internet matches.... Dd and I paid $75.00 this week for about $150.00 worth of groceries. What we won't use
we will give to the Food Bank.
--Using lots of our Ontario veggies that have been on sale really cheap, obviously been in storage since the Fall. e.g. sweet potatoes 5lb for $2.49 and large green cabbage 2/$3.00.
--now that it is a little and I mean only a little warmer (still way below norm for this time of year) I am managing to keep the heat down.
We will need to get use to being very cold our Provincial Government has approved rate hikes of up to 40% for Enbridge and Union Gas. They are
claiming because of the extra cold weather they have used their reserves and have had to pay more. It actually sounds like as of April 1 they are going
to be able to go back and charge more on bills we have already paid. Crazy!!! So we need to find more money to keep living.
--I have a very reliable person to clean my windows (too high for us to do) so I am going to ask him if he does caulking, It has not been done since we bought
5 years ago and must need it. That should help with air and heating.
awakenedsoul
3-30-14, 11:07am
This thread is really inspiring. I had my taxes done last month through VITA/Aarp, too. It's so nice. That used to be one of my bigger expenses. I picked up my box of organic produce from our local co op yesterday. It costs $22.00 and will last me for two weeks. I also got a large bag of organic oranges from them for 60 cents a pound. Made a roasted whole chicken and used up the home made bbq sauce I had made. The leftover chicken went into enchiladas. The sauce was on sale, and I sauteed red peppers and turnips in olive oil to stretch the chicken. Got six enchiladas out of that. Made a nice stock with the carcass. Used some of the broth to make a batch of Mexican rice. Used the rest of it to make vegetable soup. I froze the bones in the freezer to reuse next time I want to make soup. Rode my bike with the dogs to the school nearby and let them run off leash. Worked on some music for auditions. Did yoga/pilates before bed. Worked on a pair of socks I'm giving to my pet sitter who wouldn't accept money. (but who will take a pair of hand knit socks...)
I am using up the frozen bones of a chicken I used to make chicken salad for our baptism party. I am making chicken spaetzle soup. To go with it I am making one loaf of parmesan herb bread and one loaf of cheddar herb bread. This is my first major cooking day since I had the baby. It feels good to be getting back into it.
Friday night my aunt and cousin are coming into town and having dinner with us. I want to make something special, and Fridays are meatless for us. I decided I am going to make honey mustard salmon, salad, roasted carrot soup and homemade bread. The salmon is a little pricier, but the sides are all very economical, and it's all easy to prepare. I have an over abundance of carrots, so I can use those up in the soup.
Today for lunch we are using up a chicken casserole that I fries before I had the baby. I took out a loaf of almond poppyseed bread I froze to have for breakfast tomorrow.
Last day of March so I thought I would check in here with some frugals. I've been quite for for the past week and a half or so about bringing food with me to work. I usually bring three travel mugs filled with green tea, a bottle of water, and stuff to eat. I've been making homemade energy bars, sort of Clif Bar like. They have been really good!!! I've also been focusing on bringing a lot of green salads topped with either chickpeas or hard boiled eggs. Yay for cheap protein sources!!! I've been making the chickpeas in the crockpot. Super easy. I made a batch of yogurt over the weekend. It turned out on the runny side...not sure why...but it's still edible so that's good.
Went to BJs yesterday because I had a $5 off $75 coupon to use and we were out of many of our usual BJs items. Stocked up on cheese, tortilla chips, and toilet paper. Took advantage of the cheaper prices for a few produce items: avocados, sweet peppers, bananas. Then at the check out I got a coupon for $5 off $50. Wow, 10% off, can't turn that down! So I'll take a trip back next week and stock up on some more cheese. It's the one thing I know is always cheaper to buy there. I should really make a price book...
Eagerly awaiting more spring weather so that we can finally stop heating the house. And so that we can garden and enjoy the great outdoors!!!
fidgiegirl
3-31-14, 7:11pm
A friend added me to a great neighborhood swap group on FB and we bought a tray with a spring-loaded divider that holds breastmilk bags upright. Cost $2. I am more excited about the selling possibilities. Also lots of great kids stuff. I think a lot of the members are SAHM, you gotta act fast to get the good stuff! A nice alternative to Craigslist because the geography variable is removed.
Have a lot of energy tonight, so going to organize some baby stuff. My sister and brother-in-law came and helped us move around some furniture so now we can really settle things in where they are meant to end up (at least to start with as we figure this business out). It will also help us see what we need to return from showers.
I used gift cards, a discount coupon and some price cuts to order a camera package, ear thermometer and some swaddling blankets from Target. Ok, so we could have passed on the swaddling blankets. But dang they are cute. Now hopefully the baby likes to be swaddled. :) This week sometime we are going to go to REI and use a combination of a discount coupon, dividend (from putting a bunch of house projects on our credit card last summer), and gift cash to get a jogging stroller. It will be cheaper than buying a used one because of the discounts - they hold their value really well for used resale. Hopefully we will like it.
cdttmm: do you have any recipes for the homemade "Cliff" Bars? I love those things, but even with my discount at work they are .79 ea. I know I can make them for cheaper!
fidgiegirl
3-31-14, 9:18pm
I did a non-spend tonight. I was going to go get drawer dividers and shelf liner from Ikea for setting up the baby's dresser. I just wiped out the drawers and stacked things up. It will be fine without the accessories.
Last day of March and actually nice enough to really enjoy a walk in the sunshine!!!!
--Yesterday used up a pkg. of gravy mix with a few pork chop and made a large batch of root veggies....potatoes/onion/celery/carrot and
today chopped up leftover chops (small amount) added gravy to veggies and topped with a couple of fried eggs for supper tonight...yummy
--End of month without topping up the gas in the car will need to tomorrow but that means I skipped a month will need to keep stretching it out.
--grapefruit bought on sale and wasn't eating so I juiced them, and froze as ice cubes they made an amazing drink with white wine...
--finally able to not run the heat with the higher temps....yeah
Kelli, I love those swaddling blankets. Most of my kids have loved being swaddled and those make it easy to wrap them up nice and tight. I think it's a good purchase.
Today is Travis' third birthday, so it's not the most frugal of days, but we have kept it reasonable. We took everyone out for a birthday breakfast, including our friend Rose, who is like an aunt to the kids. We used a coupon for 20% off, so at least it wasn't full price. Our gift to him was a set of those gear toys. Dad got him a set of tinker toys and my mom got him a truck and a baseball hat. He is in little boy heaven.
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