July Frugals!

Hi everyone I have been on reading sometimes but, not taking the time to post
OR worse didn't have much to post.
I hope I CAN get back my motivation and get more frugal for the next 6 months.
I am saving for a couple of home improvements and I would prefer to save the money
then take it out or retirement money. So here goes for today.

1. No spend, no drive
2. Did a new spreadsheet for expenses and income (have not been doing that since the end of the year)
Did a Net Worth sheet and it is looking okay but, can see it could be better.
3. Did a crock pot full of BBQ pork (bought yesterday @ $1.44 a lb. for Pork tenderloin) cut the second half into boneless pork chops to freeze.
Had some on pasta with Asparagus bought on sale a couple of weeks ago and put in the freezer.
4. Used up 4 pickled eggs as egg salad sandwich with green onions/celery/cucumber ( good but, not the best a little vinegary)
5. Watched a movie on TV this afternoon and now I am off to read a free library book and have a glass (or 2) of
nice box wine........Happy Canada to all of us here......life is good when you enjoy the simply things I think

I'm doing the "eat a salad everyday" challenge, and I believe it is saving me money. Oil and vinegar are not expensive and I just buy whatever is cheap at the farmers market - lots of greens right now.

With the lovely weather and long daylight, I am riding my bike everywhere.

There is lots of free entertainment around town. I'm staycationing this year.

It's good for my budget that there have been few tempting movies in the theaters. I do like going to the cinema on a hot summer night.

July 2
--Spent $7.00 on Yard saling...yes It is a sport for me.
not sure if the buys are for me or gifts or to resell but, will work out to way more then $7.00 saved
--more of the BBQ pork (that was done in crock pot yesterday) for supper tonight and the rest was frozen for
future meals.
--Dd did some shopping with coupons/points and sales and my share was $10.00
--spent the afternoon planting annuals and veggies I got on sale for .25C to $1.00 at Loblaws two days ago
hopefully most of then will thrive they were originally like 3 packs for $14.99 it pays to wait to plant.
--watched another movie off TV and still reading another book from the library (Alexander Technique for Posture)
not fully understanding it yet but, it is interesting and free.

I agree Gardenarian eating a salad a day is a great way to enjoy the abundance of summer and has to be a frugal
way to eat at this time of year. It is hard to believe how many years I spent money on bought salad dressings when
it is soooo easy to make your own!

July 03
---2nd no spend, no drive day this month...yeah
--posted two items on kijiji to sell
--two large bowls of soup for supper from freezer broth and a bunch of veggies.
--spent the day doing wash/cleaning and organizing a few things.
also, reading still free from the library

Poor Danna is carrying the frugals thread all by herself this month! Good job!
I haven't been terribly frugal. I did at least wait for online discounts for some purchases I made recently. LL Bean is doing 20% off this weekend with the LL Bean Visa, so I used the opportunity to get a Waterhog doormat, which I've been considering for awhile. I also bought a nice set of towels from Garnet Hill, and I got almost 20% off. They were fairly expensive but very good quality. I do keep towels for a really long time and have now replaced my very old sets that were quite frayed and worn. I pay for this stuff out of my allowance, so at least I'm not impacting our budget. I'll donate the old towels to our local animal rescue group.
I've also been getting my reading materials from the library and enjoying walks in the woods and the Boston Public Gardens whenever I can fit them in, so those are some true frugals.

Well, we started off our holiday weekend buying dinner "on the road". Next morning we went for our favorite breakfast. Since then? I've cooked every meal. We are doing a really good job of using the food packed for the 3d weekend at the cabin.

I went to the bakery Friday before we left home and bought a long flat loaf of crusty bread. We used it for our toasted hamburger buns last night and we'll finish it up as toast for breakfast today.

Breakfast Saturday: cheese omelette and we shared my leftover half platesize pancake I brought home.

Lunches Sa/Su/Mon: Meatless Taco Salad each day-black beans for protein. (mixing our homemade salsa w/low fat sour cream for salad dressing)

Saturday: I cooked up 1# of gr turkey and 1# of gr beef. Part will go in the freezer for future meals and part will go in a pot of chili Monday.

Dinner Saturday: BBQ burgers, potato salad made with CSA new potatoes and leftover PS for today's lunch.

Breakfast Monday: eggs and toast

We have thawed chili flavored ratatouille (from last years' garden), and it will be the base for a pot of chili today. Set the pinto beans soaking last night. I'll make a pan of cornbread to go with it. We'll have a leftover meal in the freezer for our next trip up here and will prevent us from that easy "let's go out for dinner" trick.

I'm feeling good about our food consumption this holiday weekend!

Rosaugosa thanks for joining in and Guardiana a "Salad a Day" should be the norm for summer
if only my garden was doing better! Gardnr your Holiday weekend sounds lovely and frugal....
Happy Holiday weekend to all!
Frugals today
1. another no spend, no drive
2. Walked to the gym and did an Water Aerobics class...joined the 4 months ago but, have not used the nicely heated
pool so far.....not sure why I have not gone it was one of my main reasons for joining because if I went twice a week it
made the membership close to what I would pay at the city pool for Aqua fit there. I have been to doing weight training and using
the other machine but, that was not enough to warrant the monthly membership.
Starting today I am keeping track of how many visits to the gym and if it is cost effective.
3.

July 5-6th
--Sign myself up for the free "My Fitness Pal" very interesting, like that breaks everything down
as to how much you should have like protein, sodium, carbs, sugar, fat and calories of course.
I can see how there is a lot to gain from it.....not necessarily frugal but, a good way to eat healthy and be fit.
That must help ones energy level...
2. Did a little shopping today...a bag of potting soil 30% off, a rhubarb starter plant 50% off....it pays to procrastinate...lol
At the grocery store I bought 2 pkgs. of 6 pens for $.50, a eye shadow $.48, and 1 nail polish $.94 and one pkg. of cold cuts
on sale and then marked down 50%. The meat made a nice sandwich for lunch and froze most of it, it was dated today.
That was fun shopping but hardly any money..you have to love that.

Good job, all! I am rather ashamed of my lack of frugals and my lack of motivation of late... I need to figure out a way to make stress work FOR me instead of AGAINST me. It's turning into another rough summer. On the plus side - my twin cousin and I celebrated our 60th birthdays by making a 50th Star Trek anniversary pilgrimage to Riverside Iowa - just the 2 of us. We had a ball, and as vacations go, it was fairly frugal - 4 nights hotel, meals out (NO fast food!), gas, several museum admissions, and purchases ( I bought 5 t-shirts, several bags of specialty coffee, windmill-ground flour, etc), and my share was less than $425. We have an upcoming family reunion trip to Virginia planned this month, and three nights in the hotel are going to cost me just about that!! Other stuff: I've been line drying all my laundry still. I've cut WAY back on coffee drinks out. Found a nice top, a reversible padded jacket, 4 pr of work pants, and a pair of lacy cream colored flats at my favorite nursery-turned-outlet store, for a grand total of $15. Also, we have managed to more than cover booth and case rent at our two resale spots so far for the year.

Danna, I have that app! It's a really great way to track your macronutrients and calories and the database is huge.

I felt like Indian take-out yesterday and we have a great new place less than a mile away. But I also noticed I have some baby yukon golds and fresh zucchini so I made my own "Indian" food with basmati rice, lentils, potatoes, ginger, garlic, onion, curry spices (cumin, turmeric, cloves, pepper flakes etc.) as well as the potatoes and zucchini. Certainly not as good as the take-out, but pretty tasty and I have tons of left-overs.

PS: Happy birthday, early morning!