April daily frugal's

Like Madge I have been feeling like I've been neglecting my social life lately. I am thinking of putting out a call on facebook to have a "Coming Out of Hibernation" potluck at the picnic tables by the pond. It will give me a chance to make those cupcakes without having to eat them all. :) I'm hoping to start a monthly potluck picnic this summer. It would be a great way to socialize without much in the way of cost.

I think either today or tomorrow I'm going to teach Cheyenne to make omelets. I'm on an omelet kick lately and she wants to learn how to make them. She'd be heavily supervised, of course, but she's been doing well with stove safety so far. This is a long term frugal. Someday it's going to pay off to have a bunch of people in this house capable of making dinner.

We've been invited for Easter to Travis' Godfather's parents house. That is great. As much as I love cooking I don't really like holiday cooking and Little Tony (the Godfather...doesn't really call up an image of a Jesuit priest, does it?) comes from a big Italian family and his mom is a fantastic cook. Travis is being baptized at the Easter Vigil so it will double as a celebration of the baptism. Two less things I have to worry about, Easter and a Baptism party. Love it!

April 07
--DH, Dd and grandson went to a afternoon movie using a gift card and bought no food--fun and free
--I went shopping and spent a lovely 2 1/2 hours all by my self (priceless right now), bought a beautiful apple green curtain for $1.00 that I am going to make into cushion covers for my living room. The room has the need for a nice bright splash of colour.
--bought DH socks, using a gift card total purchase $.31
--grilled sandwich and coffee at Second Cup (special of the day) $5.50 including tax, very relaxing and great value for the money

Zach and I are going to start selling some of the stuff we're decluttering on craigslist. Dad has a whole storage locker he wants to get rid of filled mostly with my mom's old stuff. Mom has very good taste, so the stuff is pretty nice. We're thinking of selling it and splitting the profit with my dad. Dad really, really doesn't want to deal with the storage locker, but he wants to get rid of it. I don't want to deal with it for nothing after four years of decluttering all the stuff mom left at the house. I think it's a good solution.

I taught the girls how to make omelets and quesadillas today. They were so proud of themselves! It's going to be so nice to have kids who can cook.

The other day for a snack I made a pot of ginger pear iced tea. When the pot was empty I filled it again with hot water and left it in the fridge overnight. It made a really nice ginger pear iced tea. The box of tea was $3 and if each pot makes two pots of tea, one hot, one iced, that's 16 pots of tea. That makes each pot of tea about $.18, or about $.03 a cup. That makes for a nice, inexpensive afternoon treat. Another afternoon treat I've been enjoying is vanilla iced coffee. I just take the coffee no one drank in the morning, put it on ice and add a spoonful of my homemade vanilla sugar and some milk. Yummy! Easy! Cheap! It doesn't get much better than that.

I put out the facebook call for the Spring potluck and there has been some interest. Zach is talking about starting a walking group for the neighborhood. I think it's going to be a nice, simple, frugal summer.

I can't remember if I said this one yet, but I am all set for Easter baskets and I haven't spent a penny. My dad bought the kids some special handmade chocolate Easter eggs from a monastery he supports and when my mom was here she bought them a package of bubble gum eggs, a big bag of Easter M&Ms and a package of peeps to share. I think that's enough candy. I have saved the girls' Easter baskets and they are making an Easter basket for James from recyclables. We'll attend the free egg hunt at church and probably donate a batch of homemade cupcakes to the cause. If they aren't on the same day we'll probably attend the neighborhood egg hunt too.

I haven't spent money since Monday. Four no spend days in a row!

It's been a really frugal week. I think I spent about $10, all told.

I'm making a list of things to do when my mom visits in a few weeks. She likes shopping, but I don't, and I don't want to spend unnecessarily, so I want to have alternatives at hand that she will enjoy.

I learned today that DD needs to get glasses. Unplanned expense. We'll get one pair locally so that she has them as soon as possible, but I will order a spare pair online to have in case the others become damaged or scratched.

I've been making a list of gifts needed this year so I can plan ahead and make at least a subset of them. I'm going to start some herb seeds with DD - we'll give her teachers an herb garden in a pot at the end of the school year.

Planning ahead for next week's food - DD wanted some turkey sandwiches in her lunch. I had chicken in the freezer, so I'm poaching it and will slice it for sandwiches, and use the poaching water as a soup base. Also planning the menu, as much from the freezer and pantry as possible.

Danna,
Quiet time alone is definitely a gift, and a frugal one at that. And shopping for free (or nearly free) with gift cards is the best!
Stella,
It sounds like your kids are being given such a great roadmap for becoming thoughtful, creative people. I wonder if they will make it through their teens without succumbing to the materialistic pressures of our society - I hope so. (And I wonder if we'll all still be chatting here then?) Maybe they will help set the standards for a new and better "cool" in their peer groups. That would be wonderful.
Rosemary,
That's an interesting challenge that I can relate to. My sister and some of our friends practically live for recreational shopping. I think I've done a really good job getting away from that, and I don't miss it at all. But I do like to shop on occasion; I am definitely susceptible, especially in a cute high-end boutique environment. So coming up with frugal alternatives, in order to socialize with these people that I love without blowing away our more fragile budget (now that we're living on one income), is something I need to do.
Madgeylou,
Potluck pizza parties are definitely the way to go! We've done this a couple of times now, and it's been so successful! It helps that DH is a great cook, of course. It would be a lot less appealing if yours truly was doing the cooking :(
On the frugal front at our place: I figured that I have saved us $13.64 YTD on stamps by paying our bills online. However, the $569. vet visit today pretty much wiped out those savings, along with many more years of stamp savings.
I also spent all afternoon working in the garden. Totally frugal fun that puts me in my own personal nirvana :)

i precooked, rice, millet and vegetable soup early in the week; so dh took more things into work then what he normally does
also did three errands using the bus and walking which saved dh from having to drive me; so that saved on gas as well; our bus system has a nice thing where if you are transfering in the same direction; you can transfer twice without having to repay!

Travis is back in the hospital for jaundice. It's not a huge deal for the most part, but it's a wrench in the weekend for sure. On the plus side I got a full night's sleep, my milk supply seems to be doing quite well in spite of the challenges and Travis is going from bottle to breast without any confusion. He actually seems to like laying under the lights. He likes warmth.

In the meantime I'm trying to use this time wisely. We're trying to have a mix of fun stuff and chores today. The girls and I are going to paint a spring window display on the patio windows and build a pretend airplane out of a cardboard box. If they ever come in from outside, that is. :) I am going to make a lasagne I have in the freezer for dinner tonight. I was going to cook, but now I have a baby to visit in the hospital and that is infinitely more important to me. I am grateful to have easy options on hand.

I'm going to make a trip to Aldi today for a few groceries. I've spent $68 on food so far this month and I don't need much. I think I might make a quick batch of granola today.

I am hoping my money for the double stroller comes from my grandma this week because it's on sale at Target for $20 off.

Bella needs a new bike helmet. Her old one broke. I found one on craigslist for $2 and it comes with brand new elbow, knee and wrist pads too.

Dad is taking us out for dinner tonight! That helps!

I decided that if I was going to make the effort of going to two grocery stores I was going to make it worth my time and stock up on staples. I used to really enjoy grocery shopping, and maybe I will again, but at the moment I really just want to avoid it as much as possible. I spent $170 and got a ton of great deals. Aldi had Hebrew National kosher hot dogs for $2.50 a package. That's about half what they are at Cub. I got 6 packages, since we can freeze them and use them for grilling this spring/summer. Most of what I got was pretty basic stuff. Baking supplies, salt, cooking oil, raisins, cheese...stuff like that. Stuff I know I'll really use. I'm going to take a tip from the food processor thread and use the food processor to grate the cheese.

James really needed some mom time today so I took him to the store with me. We shared a few graham crackers and sang some songs on the way there. It totally filled the need for a mommy date.

Rosa, I hope your pet is OK! Taking an animal to a vet is kind of like taking a car in for repair to me. Same kind of "Oh no, what am I in for now" kind of anxiety. It seems like it adds up really fast.

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Stella,
It sounds like your kids are being given such a great roadmap for becoming thoughtful, creative people. I wonder if they will make it through their teens without succumbing to the materialistic pressures of our society - I hope so. (And I wonder if we'll all still be chatting here then?) Maybe they will help set the standards for a new and better "cool" in their peer groups. That would be wonderful.

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I hope so too! The suburb I live in is actually not as materialistic as some other places. It benefits greatly from being on the border of an area that caters to a lot of artists and immigrants. Creativity and resourcefulness are valued a little more here than in other places I've lived.

Woohoo! I just one a blue ray disc player on an on-line sweepstakes ARV: $181!

Today is a no driving/spending day.

I recieved my free postage stamps for the quadreaders program today.

BKE: Congratulations! Nice score!

congrats, bke! and it sounds like you are really up and at 'em, stella. i hope travis gets to come home soon!

our party friday night was a lot of fun! and i think we only spent about $100 throwing it, split between food and hooch. we were both a little lazy/tired yesterday so we ordered chinese for dinner, and we're getting dinner out of it tonight, too!

today i got up early and finished cleaning the house. now taking grandma to brunch, then i have some sewing to do. my business partner and i decided not to renew our lease at our studio space, because they are looking to charge us for more incidentals, in addition to raising our rent, so the entire increase amounts to 25% more than what we're paying now. ridiculous!

so we're going to move into my biz partner's 3rd floor of her house, which is just about as big as our studio space, and basically free -- the business will kick in a bit for utilities. as business ramps up and we need more room, we can start looking for another place. but for now, her spare bedroom is perfect -- free parking, fast internet, and close to where my fella works so we can continue sharing one car.

The wind is blowing and I have laundry on the line. Bought some good bakery bread yesterday and 2 muffins, so I was well fortified and able to resist the siren call of the coffee house on my way home from errands. DB is in town and stopped in to see Mom, saving me 30 miles of driving and several hours of my time. We are spending some money (horror!) to get some work done on the house, and due to size irregularities the bath tub walls are going to be a problem. The guy doing the work called me to say he found one color -which we really like- of the material we dubbed "too expensive" is on sale this week, and will come in about half-price, putting it just a bit more costly than the not-as-nice alternative. Yay! I am happy we are doing these things, they need it. But I'm finding it hard to part with the money in these uncertain times. On the plus side, he said one problem DH has been freaking out about is not really necessary to fix, it's more cosmetic and will not cause the house to fall in! Which is good, because replacing a bearing wall is not cheap. (and I am resisting the urge to say "told ya so, told ya so :~))

Our friend who does hospitality at church gave us leftover cookies again. I froze most of them. We'll use them this summer to make ice cream sandwiches.

I found two books that used to be my mom's when she was a preschool/Kindergarten teacher. They have all kinds of classic silly songs, clapping games (Miss Mary Mac and all that) and the chants we used to do when we did double dutch jump roping. I haven't thought about double dutch jump roping since the late 1980s. I used to be really good at that. I think it would be fun to teach the girls some of that stuff this summer. I'm going to break out my copy of The Daring Book for Girls and see if I can come up with some other fun, free ideas. I have images in my head of double dutch jump roping, homemade popsicles, bike riding until the sun goes down, lemonade by the pool, working on card tricks, water gun wars, building forts out of blankets and camping out on the deck and I am totally flashing back to about 1985.

Dad gave Zach and me each $100 to get an Easter outfit. Zach is hitting up a BOGO sale today.

Breast feeding still seems to be going well in spite of this weekend's setback with Travis in the hospital.

dh pushed me in my wheelchair around our university and town; i love seeing all the alternative clothing options; and just the general atmosphere; both had left overs; and tonight will be simplicity; i have cooked up some rice and a sweetpotato for dh to take to work; oh and we worked on our curtains when finished will block that after noon sun that raises the heat index in the condo; as always just love this thread; makes me feel good to share the frugal things; oh and went to the library for movies; music and books on tape!

well, on a lark i emailed a friend who works at one of the fanciest funkiest restaurants in pittsburgh and asked if they were looking for any part-time help. i think it would be great to work a few nights a week just to bring in a little cash while ramping up wear the shift.

as it turns out, they are looking for a hostess for weekend nights and one weekday shift, which would be about perfect for me! i've worked a few shifts with this friend before, at my brother's restaurant, and i did a good job those nights so i know she will vouch for me.

i hope it works out! i think it would be fun to work at this restaurant -- the food is crazy and amazing and it's always busy. and i will feel so much better having just a bit of cash coming in. i need to slow the bleeding on my ever-dwindling savings and this may just be the way to do it!

Been cleaning and organizing and generally trying to spruce up the house without spending a ton of money. Today it was hot--82 degrees--but managed to get by with open windows and running the ceiling fan for a bit. I ate a popsicle and took my shower a little cooler than usual, and that helped, too. :-)

Stella, I don't know how you do it all.

Made delicious food from scratch all weekend. We are starting to see the real connection between a wholesome, unprocessed plant based diet and how we feel. This seems especially true as we age. For some reason processed carbs, sugars and alcohol are like poison to me these days.

Worked on the yard and started getting the gardens ready. I found someone who has a lot of perennials that are different than mine so we are going to do some swapping. Tomatoes are started and doing well so far.

Someone in our development was moving, so I got a nice set of dinner plates, some glasses, and a really solid stainless steel wok from them for about $60 -- the wok alone would have cost more than that. The plates and glasses were unused, the wok only used a couple of times. I'm also going to pick up a large plant for the bedroom from them -- paying about what the pot would cost. I also saved a trip to/from the store, as I was planning to buy plates and a new wok anyway.

I love getting second-hand stuff -- know they are happy to sell it, and I am happy to pay lower prices and make sure stuff doesn't get tossed.

lhamo

Madgeylou-congrats on the part-time job. I hope its fun for you.

Yesterday was a gloriously warm day. 80 degrees and a breeze that reminded me of being on the beach. Bliss. I always get the urge to climb on a black roof and sun bathe naked the first truely warm day of spring. I settled for hanging out (clothed) on the picnic table and chatting with my guys while they worked on our new patio. Its gonna be great. Its in a very private corner of the yard.

I did walk to the store after work yesterday and purchase a Sunday paper. The owner is a friend of mine and he saves one for me each week. That was my only spending for the day.

Today is going to be spent by the phone waiting to hear from my mom. She is being tested for ovarian cancer-today is the third test. She is quite sure that she has it and being a retired ICU nurse, she knows more than most of us. Please, cross your fingers, say a prayer, etc. I'm really worried about this and so is she.

Praying for your mom bke!

Kat, 82 degrees! And I thought we were having springy weather!

Madgey the studio solution sounds perfect! And best of luck on the job. That sounds like a good solution. You'd be good at that, you are so outgoing and fun.

flowerseverywhere, I feel the same way about food. I'm really starting to make a concrete mental connection between what I eat and how I feel.

Lhamo, that wok sounds great! That's one tool I don't have that I keep going back and forth about getting. I love stir fry, but I have kind of a small kitchen. Maybe after my major decluttering I'll find space somewhere.

babr, your outing sounds like fun! I like just getting out of the house and seeing people and places too.

early morning, I'm glad you were able to get the nicer material. I felt the same way about parting with money during our basement remodel. It had to be done, but it made me a little nervous. Well worth it in the end, though.

So, today's frugals. Dad is on an app kick for the iPad. He's been looking up all kinds of educational apps and downloading them. This morning we virtually disected a frog. That was pretty cool. Cheyenne was a little freaked out at first, but eventually got into it. She absolutely loves anatomy but hates dead things. Bella and James were just fascinated. They guided you step by step through the disection and once the frog was opened you could touch an organ and it would pop up a screen telling you what it did. You could even rotate the organ in 3D so you could see it from all angles.

Then we looked at an app that had a 3D model of a cell, cross sectioned and rotatable. When you clicked on the different parts of the cell it showed a photograph of the part of the cell and explained what it did. That app was free. The kids thought that was pretty interesting too.

He also downloaded a free app about different great artists. It had a biography of each one and a gallery of their work. A few of the paintings are at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, so we'll see those when we take a trip there in the next few weeks. We talked about still lifes, portraits and landscapes and they quizzed themselves by paging through the galleries and picking out which type of painting each one was. This week they'll paint one of each. For our Homeschool Art Month we're trying to touch on modern, classic and ancient art as well as sculpture, photography, painting and drawing. We're also going to do a section just on sacred art which will include a trip to the Cathedral. I've decided that the kids seem do better when we focus intensively on one subject (outside of reading, writing and math, which we do daily) than when it's all split up.

He also got an app that pinpoints your location using GPS and shows you what the night sky looks like, where the constellations are, where the planets are, where SkyLab is and stuff like that, so you can recognize the stars and constellations when you stargaze at the actual sky. Very cool. We'll use that next month during Science Month.

I think I'm going to have some kitchen prep time today. I'll shred some cheese and some cabbage and make granola.

My third batch of yogurt is perfect! Sweet and tart balanced, and so good... I used organic whole milk, dark maple syrup, and more starter plain yogurt than usual, which gave it more kick. I love coming downstairs in the morning to warm, fresh yogurt. What a frugal luxury.

@ Ihamo--Score on all the great stuff!
@ bke--praying for your mom--and you!
@ stella--I love the virtual frog dissection thing! I, too, was always fascinated by anatomy and physiology but hated the thought of killing something.

This morning I did some wash in cold water with half a dryer sheet. I keep meaning to try the dry-towel-in-the-dryer-to cut-down-the-time trick, but I forgot again today. I have to run to the bank this morning, so I will send some mail while I am out (there is a mailbox right next to the bank). I am going to talk to my employer about direct deposit, though, so I can stop using gas for all these bank runs.

I think tonight I may make some tuna salad sandwiches. I still can't cook but want to make something a little different. I have everything I need, so it won't cost anything.

I thought about running to the store to stock up on store specials, but I decided to wait until the kicthen is done. It is hard to prep stuff for the freezer without a kitchen. There will be good deals later, too.

Yesterday we spent the day with good friends who most definitely have more access to spending money than we do. We had a lovely lunch...they made a terrific salad with shrimp & sausage and we brought a loaf of DH's artisan bread and a lemon sponge cake that I made (looked like something out of Martha Stewart!). These people travel whenever and wherever they want and eat out a lot and even buy delicious deli & gourmet prepared foods. They mentioned that a room at a place they go to is $150 a night and they think that's a great value and we said our good price is about $50. We came home and talked. We felt very validated and happy with our lives and lifestyle and not envious about theirs...they actually told us several times how impressed they were with our lifestyle! Someday we will travel with them and we have an honest friendship that I believe will help us to travel well together and keep within our spending limits. Guess I just really wanted to share how we've seen how the wealthier half lives but we're happy with our own life and can still be friends and enjoy each other's company.

Stella, that dissection app sounds great! I wish they would have had one of those for my college anatomy class-I hated working with cadavers!

Redfox-you're yogurt sounds so wonderful!

Kat, you reminded me of an on going frugal-I too have been doing all our laundry in cold water since the move. We have better water here and things come clean much easier.

I have to run to the bank but have no plans for any spending today. Then its dinner at home and wait for my mom to call.

I was making myself crazy surfing the web early looking at diseases and symptoms so I took a two hour nap just to chill out. Guess I needed it because I really slept quite soundly.

Ooh-the library just called with a book that is ready to pick up-free entertainment!

Stella, I am sorry to hear that Travis is back in the hospital. I remember how hard that is. Deja had pneumonia at birth & jaundice so she was in the hospital for 10 days. And I didn't have any other kids to worry about. One good thing about it was the fact that she was able to switch back and forth from breast to bottle easily. Made it easier for me to get out now & then.

DH's dress pants for work have been falling apart lately. Saturday I was able to find him 2 pairs at Goodwill. I also found a nice new leather belt for him for $6.99. It is a little bit too small but if he looses the weight he put back on over the winter it should work.

I spoke to my mom and she is ok for now. The tests don't show any unusual masses or fluid at this time. They haven't determined an exact cause for the bleeding but think that it is due to old scar tissue from the earlier hysterectomy. When she gets home she needs to follow up with a gynecologist for further tests.

Sorry I freaked-this is the fourth time in the past several years that I have gone through a life threatening situation with my parents. You'd think I would learn to relax but instead it seems worse each time.

bke, that's great news. You must be extremely relieved!

My frugal for today is starting some herb seeds with DD that we will later transplant into herb gardens for her teachers, as end-of-school-year gifts. I think I can even find pots around the house and garage to clean and reuse, so these will be entirely free gifts, since I already had the seeds.

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Originally Posted by Rosemary

My frugal for today is starting some herb seeds with DD that we will later transplant into herb gardens for her teachers, as end-of-school-year gifts. I think I can even find pots around the house and garage to clean and reuse, so these will be entirely free gifts, since I already had the seeds.

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what a great idea. I am going to mention this to my neighbor. I have some herb seeds and I can help her kids plant them for the same reason. She has four kids so all these little things I help her with she appreciates.

Got a great book out of the library that would be excellent for you homeschoolers or those who want to promote art with your kids

"Drawing with Children" by Mona Brooks. I work with special needs kids and many of them like to draw. I got them journals and we all draw and share with each other. Several very quiet kids have opened up through drawing. And I don't have any education background, just some common sense and kind interest in the kids.

Cooked a whole chicken last night - AND, cooked the "remains" with some carrots/celery/onions for chicken stock. My wife said Martha Stewart would be so proud! :-)

bke- what a relief for your family! Stella, how's Travis doing?? Semi-frugal today- took one of the barn cats to the vet- not the one we usually visit. Shots for upper respiratory infection and office visit was about a third less than our reg vet, plus we weren't hassled to get all shots, blood tests, etc like we would have been there. We'll have him neutered at a feral/stray clinic this spring (half the price of the vet). We want him to be healthy and happy but platinum care isn't possible at this time.

Good job, Greg! I always boil my chicken bones after I make chicken on the weekend for stock, and use that in other dishes during the week. One of my favorite frugal tricks.

I sold a large unopened package of Eucerin yesterday that I had lugged over from Costco -- got about $15 for it, which is probably about what I paid for it. We weren't going to use it so at least it wasn't wasted.

lhamo

DH is going in for a six month scan to see if the tumor in his neck has grown. We'll bring our own lunch and water and spring for a coffee at the hospital....

bke, so glad to hear your good news. hang in there, mom!

merksi, best of luck to you and your DH. fingers crossed that his treatment is having the desired effect.

so i went to fill out an application at the restaurant yesterday and they hired me on the spot! i start tomorrow and will be working wednesday, friday, and saturday nights. i am working though the transportation issues with my fella (since we share a car). at some point, i will probably buy a car of my own (a beater, nothing fancy), but i'm trying to delay that as long as possible. if we are each willing to ride the bus one day a week (and we are), we should be able to manage with one car at least through the summer.

looks like i will make enough from this job to just about cover my share of the monthly expenses in the household. my insurance and a few other small bills will continue to come out of my savings. this slows down my burn rate to just a few hundred bucks a month instead of a few thousand, and lets me be a little less desperate about making sales! it takes time to connect with your market, and now i can take the time to do our marketing right without getting freaked out. yay!

bke that is great!

merski, I'm keeping your DH in my prayers!

Thanks for the concern about Travis. He's home now and doing well. He's such a sweet baby!

My uncle is dying. He's not expected to make it to the weekend. If possible I want to go to the funeral, but there's no way we can afford a hotel. They live about 4 hours away, so we may try going early in the morning and coming home once the kids are asleep. I am kind of down about this today. My uncle is only about 50 years old. It's too soon.

The girls are going to help me make soup tonight. A friend of Dad's and mine is coming to watch the kiddos so Zach and I can go to a church event. We want to make her a nice dinner as a thank-you. We're making a Greek chicken, lemon and rice soup.

We made our cardboard box airplane today and last night we completed our Easter window display. The kids have been having a lot of fun with that. We'll probably do the photo shoot tomorrow.

I just ran across a recipe for a homemade version of the samoa girl scout cookies. I am attempting to fight off the urge to make them. Those are my all time favourites.

aw, i'm sorry to hear about your uncle, stella. 50 is *way* too young.

i say make the samoas if you want them! they are my favorites too. :)

Hi all!

Back from DC and catching up. It wasn't a particularly frugal trip but not extravagant, either. I am satisfied with what I spent and valued the entire experience. I had some little savings like passing on a t-shirt since I wasn't so jazzed about any of them, but I still got myself a little tote bag.

So much going on in just a few short days. Glad to hear bke's mom and baby Travis are ok, but too bad to hear about your uncle, Stella.

Here for a frugal I'd like to get into making cookies instead of buying them. The good thing is, we don't go through a lot of them, but still, we are paying like $4 a dozen for nice bakery cookies and I could make equally nice ones.

I keep being tempted to buy new running clothes, but there is really no reason. I have some shirts and some shorts. Who cares if they are just getting all stinky and sweaty? I don't have to look hot while working out. :laff:

Well in keeping with my pre-vacation goal to actually get some things done in the evening (no offense, dearies) I should get off SLN and onto some other things :) See you tomorrow!

Stella- so sorry to hear about your uncle. My thoughts and prayers are with you.

Merski-I hope the scan results in good news.

Thanks everyone for your supportive words about my mom. It really sucks watching your parents age and their health deteriorate.

Well, dh spent about $1200 yesterday and I consider that our big frugal-lol. He ordered the fencing I've been talking about here. With the help of a new friend and the guys at Lowe's dh decided what was really necessary to do the job and purchased a bit less than originally expected. He used my 10% off coupon and is getting delivery for free! We'll save an additional 5% on our credit card and of course, I will pay that off in full when it arrives.

We spent the evening working in the yard. Dh fininshed the patio-YEAH! It looks good too without any "professional" help at all. I trimmed the lilac bush and ds and I hauled a bunch of excess dirt to low level areas of the yard and smoothed it out in an attempt to fix things up a bit. My son is going through this stage where he doesn't want to do anything but sit and watch the tube which makes me nuts. We really had to push him to get him to help but I refuse to raise a kid that expects everything in life to be done for him. So, mean mother that I am I made him shovel and rake and learn how to handle a wheelborrow full of heavy dirt!

These days, I'm so thankful that my parents were equally abusive when I was a kid-can't imagine having to hire someone to do every project that comes along.

I had received 3 quotes from contractors for a job at our house. The one that I wanted to hire was the highest... so I called them, explained the situation, and they came back to reassess - and dropped their price!

Taking DD to the ophthalmologist today. In the event that she needs glasses, I've already called around to compare costs and turnaround time. (In future, we'll order online.. but it is helpful to have a frame that you know fits, for comparing dimensions, and also the turn time is about 3 weeks for glasses online - too long when she's in school every day, needing to read all kinds of things.) For the record, JC Penney Optical currently has 2 pairs/$88.