December Frugals

Could it be?! Could it be?! I get to start the thread for only the second time ever. :)

We are going to deal with our leftover turkey today. I had hoped for enough meat for a soup, but I think I will only be able to make stock with what's left. That's ok, it will be yummy, we can put some chicken in it later on.

I have been researching how to clean up a pair of suede slippers I have. None of the methods online seem to be very promising, though I may try vinegar. Anyone know anything about this? Trying to avoid buying a specialized cleaner as they typically are used once or twice and then sit around for years. I did check to see if my FiL already has some. Will update if I make any progress.

Also have been researching how to reupholster a chair for several weeks. My DSiL gave us a chair with great bones and crappy upholstery. To her credit she did include a slipcover, but I don't like it. My sister got me a screaming deal on fabric, only $12 for 8 yards at a thrift store, but now that I have it in hand, I think it is not quite right for upholstering - it has a bit too much stretch/give and is a bit too lightweight - I think it will be worn out in a few short years. So now I am researching how to do a tailored slipcover out of the fabric instead. I have a few books on request from the library to hopefully learn how to do it.

I realized yesterday that my mom and dad have a few dressers sitting around that would work well for the baby's clothes. Mom said it would be ok to take one. One needs painted (of course this is the one I want :) ) and one would work well as-is, but seems kind of tippy. Nobody needs to get squished. So anyway, now I just have to call my dad and see if he is ok with us painting the one. It's in great shape structurally and terrible shape cosmetically, but it's his childhood dresser, so I feel we need to be certain before proceeding.

Wow, too long of a post. In a post-y mood today, I guess. :) Hope everyone had a nice long weekend!

After some decidedly not-very-frugal days, some less-expensive activities:
- No one wanted the turkey carcass after family Thanksgiving, so I took it home and stashed it in the freezer for some future date.
- DW's sister, in town, wanted to go shopping at a particular grocery store and brought home a couple of rotisserie chickens. She pulled meat off the bones and was about to toss the container with the remains when DW and her mother noticed how much chicken was still there. They "rescued" the bones for me and I will stash them in the freezer, too. There's enough there for a couple of rounds of chicken soup.
- No-drive day today for me.
- I had some plant trimmings and branches left over from the county's collection period. The local site does not accept them. But our garbage hauler will, (if we put them in the biodegradable bags which the county won't let us use), at no charge if we keep it to two bags per pickup. I can do that. A little diligence each Tuesday for a couple of weeks and it's all done without a trip across town.
- I found some low-priced LED bulbs which could fit in the new living room lamp. Right base, dimmable, everything -- except for being short enough. They won't fit into the sockets for the shade getting in the way. >8) Back they went....

Nice weather today, so I have laundry on the line. And finally, a no-drive day. Not no-spend, as I did some online ordering and bill paying, but staying home is WONDERFUL! :)

Still working on our expensive grocery haul from last week--we spent $290 for Thanksgiving groceries for 8 people. We still have all the "Scottish breakfast" stuff because we never had a big breakfast, plus leftover turkey, lasagna, pumpkin and apple pie, and a flan my DDIL's mother made.

DH already made the turkey soup from the carcass and leftover vegetables and we sent two large jars full with my kids and we still have a huge amount. There is also a good amount of turkey on a second turkey we made. (DH likes to make one turkey to carve and one turkey for presentation, which we use for left-overs after Thanksgiving).

I didn't drive and I didn't spend today, except for picking up DH a pack of cigars. I even offered the kids gas money and they refused it.

Used the carcass and left over turkey for tonight's soup dinner - probably enough for at least 3 meals!

Walked to Walgreens for bubble mailers that I use frequently for shipping etsy sales - .39 instead of 3.29! - but you are limited to 3 each purchase. I'm thinking I'll hit every Walgreens in my travels this week to stockpile.

- a no-spend no-drive day, but that's really not something I can celebrate as frugal, because so many of my days are the same.
- working on recycling the Thanksgiving dinner leftovers, rather successfully.
- got online this morning with the intent of doing two (for ourselves) Christmas gift purchases, but saw that one item/website had it at a 60% discount tomorrow morning, and the other had free shipping for everything on Cyber Monday. So on my list to do tomorrow morning. Might as well save the money by waiting.

Well my DH has had off since this past Wednesday which has been so nice. We didn't go out to eat or really go anywhere. I had all no drive days. He had drive days and bought items we needed to finish Christmas decorating. Bought the bulk of my gifts where they had 30% off and free shipping! Had two shopping coupons I used which saved money. Overall I feel very good about the whole shopping experience that we really saved.

Fidgiegirl, when my kids were born I had an old dresser that I painted white and put cute knobs on the drawers. Kinda old info as my oldest is 35! but those are the kinds of things that enabled us to retire at 55.

Hi, everyone! I need to get back to posting. We've had several rounds of colds/flus/ear infections around here, plus DH and I are both in physical therapy. But it seems we are all feeling a little better, so I am hoping to be able to post regularly.

I REALLY need to return to the frugal mindset at things have been a little crazy money-wise. Our vacuum cleaner broke over the weekend and was going to cost a whole lot of fix, even if we did it ourselves. SO...we decided to bite the bullet and get a new one. I told DH I was sick to death of cheap vacuum cleaners...we've had like five throughout the course of our ten-year marriage. Some of them were used to begin with, but still...I am tired of constantly replacing vacuums! So I insisted on a good quality one this time. DH braved the crowds the day after Thanksgiving and got a "screaming deal" (ha--love that, fidgie!) on a Dyson. Then we used our card for an extra 5% off. Oh my word! I LOVE IT! It works so well and it small and lightweight. I think I will be vacuuming a lot more in the future. I always hated dragging my huge, heavy vacuum up the basement stairs before!

I also started Christmas shopping for DH over the weekend. I found all six seasons of a show he loves for $30. We will get many months of enjoyment out of it, and it is cheaper than cable! I think his other gift is going to be a monthly donation to the Decoder Ring Theater. They produce film noir-type radio dramas that are a lot of fun. It is free to listen. Anyway, when you donate, you help keep them afloat and get access to high-quality downloads as well.

Finally, I spent a good chunk of change on a Little People Nativity set for the kids. I'm not sorry, though, because they play with it together and DD is already talking more about Baby Jesus than Santa (which was sort of my intent all along). Our faith is important to us, and we don't want it to get lost in the holiday.

Yesterday we were coming home from visiting my dad and resisted temptation to eat out. We just came home and had leftovers. Dinner was at home as well.

Last night I resisted temptation to order some clothes from Coldwater Creek. It was a great deal--you can buy $50 vouchers for $25 on Groupon through the ebates link and earn 4.5% cash back. Then you can use the vouchers to shop online, where everything is 50% off with free shipping. You can go through ebates or shopathome on that purchase, too. They had some cute things, but I am broke! Plus, most of it is dry clean only. That doesn't work very well with kiddos! :-)

I am super jealous of all the bird carcasses you have sitting around, Steve! I don't have any in my freezer right now, but I do have a turkey I got for like 20 cents a pound. So I'll make him up some time in the future and then make stock! :-)

Oh, and fidgie, here is a slipcover tutorial I had saved. Maybe it will help you, too:

http://www.thenester.com/2010/03/how...lipcovers.html