June frugals

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It was kind of a humble reminder to be thankful for what we have and to be as generous as possible when I see a need.

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bke, thanks for that. I try to remember that when I find myself complaining about my lot in life...my disappointments and losses are quite trivial, compared to those of many others.

Everyone is doing so well with their frugals - and I have to admit I'm a little envious of those who are able to cut back on car use- that's one of our major expenses. DH doesn't drive much, nor does DD - it's always me, lol. But we made the choice to live "here" and work "there" and it was the right one for us, so we just have to live with the additional issues it raises. At least I have 200K miles on a car that cost 10K new and still gets 35 mpg, which has helped tremendously!

Today I have laundry on the line, and I'm "rescuing" some lilies from spots that have become too shady and overgrown for them to bloom nicely - or in some cases, at all! I love lilies and it's rather silly to buy more, until I put these out where they can thrive. I'm not sure how many are hidden around in the overgrowth. I'll let you all know how many we find! DD and I are also cutting back some of the oriental honeysuckle (planted by birds, it spreads terribly!) which is threatening to overtake the house and yard. I'm not sure about the frugal aspect, but we won't be paying any yard-guys, lol.

Early morning, Not only are you not using any yard people, you are having time with your daughter, getting exercise and making your home " here" more pleasant so when you come from "there" you can enjoy it.

Drying laundry outside on the rare days without rain.
DD and I made several birthday gifts today from materials we already had.
Eating at home, limiting driving, not buying stuff we don't need.
Switching our online banking to Discover Bank's new checking account which pays 10 cents per debit, online bill pay, or written check transaction.
Working on eating down the freezer so I can do the annual summer defrost.
Sometime in the next week we'll be eating a lot of greens from the garden. Picked our first strawberries today.

Got DD a new-to-her bike in great condition in the next size up for $20 at a yard sale. I think the net we've spent on her biking supplies since she was a toddler is about $30 (counting this one). We've had a bike trailer, a tagalong, a tiny bike with training wheels, a small bike, and then she's just outgrown the next size... but her legs aren't quite long enough for an adult bike yet. So this will be the last one before a bike that should last indefinitely. We bought all those bikes used and resold them or given them away.

There's been nothing frugal about the past couple of weeks at our house. It seems like we've been in a spending trend, cat euthanasia, cat adoption, basement flood requiring replacement of water heater burner assembly. New cat is going to need a vet visit because it seems like he still has ear mites (stray rescue kitty) :(
In addition, I was on vacation this past week and we spent a lot of money eating out, which was really just recreational spending. It rained almost every day, so we couldn't doing the gardening and nature walks that we wanted, so we did this as a lame and expensive substitute activity. I'm a little disappointed with us concerning this little spending spree and I'm determined to go into extreme frugal ninja mode to offset it!

Yeah, we've been rockin' the false-frugals here lately. Well, not really false, but not really frugal either. At the moment, I'm in a hotel lobby. DW is at a work-related conference for which she got last-minute approval to go. I suppose the truly frugal thing would have been for me to not go, but it's nice to get out of the house and I may take some pictures to make it worthwhile (skies are really leaden here so good outside pics will be hard to come by). At least the hotel room is 2-for-1 with breakfast included. I can entertain myself fairly cheaply and DW won't be spending much money at the conference.

I was smart enough to freeze the stuff I'd bought for meals this week; I didn't want to come home to four-day-old fish and leftovers which would be fine eaten yesterday or today but not Wednesday. I suppose that's frugal.

Other than that, we're just looking at expenses again. I had stated earlier that I thought our food budget could use a little more discipline. And we're looking at cancelling the disability insurance I've carried on my own for years. It's there to protect income, but if I'm not making any income, what is it protecting? OTOH what I do around the house would be worth something if DW had to hire someone to do it, so there is some cost avoidance involved. It would cost more to hire help than the monthly premium on the DBL insurance. I'm going to reread my policy and talk with our financial advisor about this.

Carry on with the frugals, folks!

Thanks, everyone, for the kind words and encouragement. The job loss came as a shock, but honestly, it has turned out to be a real blessing. We are all so much happier when I am not working. I guess the thing that was hard for me was not having any control over the situation. But that is life, I guess! :-)

Same boring stuff around here. We've not eaten out, which is really good for us since DH likes to eat out so much. We've been planning our grocery trips using sales and coupons. DH comes with me now to help with the kids, and while we have managed to stay under budget, I think we *will* need to work on only buying what is on the list! ;-) I printed some more coupons this morning and will work on cleaning/organizing this afternoon while the kiddos nap. I needed to write a couple of thank you notes but ran out of cards, so instead I just printed some nice stationary on my computer. It looks pretty and was free and got the job done.

Kat: I don't know how I missed it, but I didn't realize that your newest family member had already arrived. Congratulations!

I am pretty pleased with my frugal self these last 10 days or so. DH is on his annual fishing trip and I am making a concerted effort to use up food, as you may have seen in the Use-It-Up thread. So far I have only picked up some eggs, almond milk, peaches and bananas at the store. All the rest of my food has been made from the freezer and cupboards. How blessed we are to have all those options.

I made some shelves for my craft room closet and am very happy with them. All they are is boards nailed to the wall with a shelf sitting across the top of them - it's a super shallow closet so this construction will work just fine. I used plywood that we had in the garage and picked up another board for free one night on a walk. I painted them with paint we had from another project and they look great. They are all installed now and loaded up with fabric. I am thinking of how I would like to use some of that fabric for placemats, which we need but are not cheap.

Lastly, I am presenting two sessions this week for a professional development event for educators, and will earn $700 doing that.

I sold a chair for $60 on CL and have another item up, though my hopes aren't high for it. I also returned a shirt to REI that I liked, but as soon as I put it on again (DH bought it for me in wintertime, so I only just tried it on quickly then) I knew I wouldn't actually wear it, so sadly I returned it, and got about $15 back for that.

Keep on keepin' on, everyone!

I ran into a well-to-do chiropractor who worked on dogs we had when we moved to NM in 2001. She was very expensive then, but worked on 3 dogs (I had a much better income then). She used some loud,snapping thing that freaked our dogs out, so we stopped. Now she's got 12 years more experience and I've heard has gotten much gentler and no more snapping thing. At the farmer's market, where my bird was singing along with a saxophonist, the chiropractor saw us and remembered me. I told her that recently I'd taken one of my dogs to the country vet who'd said the dog's back was a mess and needed chiropractic. I told her we couldn't afford it and she got the picture. I told this story to the chiropractor who then said she would see the dog for cheap. I said we don't even do cheap these days. She said we could give $2 to our favorite charity, and I said we don't spend anything. She said well, the dog needs help, she'll do it for free. When I called to make the appointment, I asked if it would be too pushy to see if she would work on my dog's littermate too. She said yes. We have an appointment for Saturday, no cost and not putting new costs in our budget. And because I know she's wealthy, I feel not taking advantage of her.

DH and I put our Hulu Plus subscription on hold for the summer since the shows we like won't be back until the fall. This will save us $8 a month. DH thought his work hat (a baseball cap) was ruined and wanted to buy a new one. I asked him if we could try washing his old one first to see if we could get it clean. I washed it twice, and it looks great! Good as new! That should save us $20 or so.

I biked today! It felt great! I biked 11.43 miles according to Map My Ride, and spent only $2.50 on a special donut. :) This next thing isn't really a frugal, but I have been working on some of the exercises in the Right Brain Business Plan book and discovered that movement is really important to me. This from the girl who was the quintessential phy ed class hater all through my youth. I was surprised to discover this about myself. When I think about it, when I am hiking, biking, running, anything, I really feel alive. So I'm trying to do it more often, and having moderate success.

I also got a bunch more yarn from the coordinator of Team Yarn. I made a shawl that was a hit with some scratchy yarn combined with Fun Fur, which some of the other gals don't like because they say it's hard to work with, but it's easy when put with another yarn. Anyway, I'm making another one with the rest of the Fun Fur that was donated to us. I am glad I mentioned it to her and she offered up the rest because I had used all that I'd already taken and was going to buy the rest of what I needed at JoAnn.

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Kelli, That is a beautiful shawl. The Fun Fur really makes it special.

Thanks, LilyB! It is so soft.

I love those colors, Kelli!
Haven't spent any money this week other than the anticipated vet visit, which was less than expected. Think we need some work done to both cars though :(

Kelli, Just love the shawl you made! The colors and textures are so pretty!

We've been staying close to home most of the time and its making a real difference in the amount of gas that we use. I went exactly 2 weeks between fill ups and then only needed a half a tank. During the school year, we buy gas twice a week.

Yesterday we did our weekly shopping and had Chinese for dinner. My parents wanted to join us and I talked them into going early like we usually do, saving about $10.

We had promised ds that we would do or buy something special for him after paying off the restaurant-his choice. He didn't come up with anything that he wanted, believe it or not, so I suggested that we get him a new game for his Nintendo ds. I bought him two games with the machine a year and a half ago and that is it until now. I was planning on buying a brand new game or two but we found a used game store. We managed to get him 3 games for $54. The new games are $30-40 each.

We went to the library yesterday and got several books for free entertainment.

Today will be a no driving/spending day.

Kelli, What a lovely shawl. I have never learned to knit and a friend offered to teach me - my first reaction was to start buying yarn at garage sales/wherever but am trying very hard not to do so. I don't want to get too far ahead of myself.

I did a market research study yesterday (earning $100 for 1.5 hours!) and took the bus since DH had the car. I had to wait 25 minutes for a bus home and almost went to Starbucks to buy an iced tea while I waited but decided to instead stand in the shade and read my book while waiting. The $ went in the bank today - I like that they give you a $100 bill rather than smaller ones - it would be too easy to spend otherwise!

Making treats put of the garden... Hazelnut sorrel pesto, which I have put on pasta, fried eggs, and roasted veggies. Cobb salad with strawberries, peas, parsley, nasturtiums, pansies, & chard. Beautiful cut flowers in our house -- peonies, roses, lilies, campanula. Sitting under the fig tree on our patio, having a cold beer after work, surrounded by the beauty we've worked so hard to create over the years is just such a joy.

I saved a little money by having DH pick up some things at Wally World when he was in America last week, which he carried back with him. His trip also allowed me to order some used books from Amazon.com that I need for work, thereby saving loads of cash--both on the books and on the shipping. DH wasn't happy being a "mule," but at least we saved some money!

I also invested a little money on the staples needed to make sushi at home: rolling mat, nori, pickled ginger, wasabi, roasted black sesame seeds, sesame oil, etc. Although my rolls are more like vaguely cylindrical wads at this stage of my learning curve, at least they somewhat taste like sushi from the restaurant, which is saving us loads of money and giving me lots of happiness and, hopefully, better health.

By the way, Kelli, that shawl is GORGEOUS! Wow! :)

Love the shawl, fidgie! Such pretty colors, and it looks soft and cozy, too! :-)

Nothing too exciting here. Been eating at home and trying to be mindful about waste. I cleaned the fridge today, and while a few things did get away from us, I tossed much less than I have in the past, so that is good!

DD keeps running of with the baby's pacifiers (she uses them to "feed" her baby dolls), so DH suggested we buy a few more. We decided to wait a week or so to see if DS would even continue to like pacifiers. He has started refusing them, so we won't be buying more. That will save us around $6-$8 or so.

A couple of people sent us some financial gifts for the baby, and we put them straight into his college fund.

DH's family and mine have been asking about getting copies of the baby's newborn photos. Well, we really can't afford to get everyone professional prints (they are crazy expensive!), so I have been printing off some of the Father's Day photos I took of the baby at home. They turned out nice, and this will be much, much cheaper.

Redfox: Sounds like paradise!

Pretty frugal weekend here. We ate at home for most of it, though we did eat out once (hit the dollar menu and the total came out of our budgeted fun money). DH's sister was in town, so we visited with her on Saturday. She brought a lot of things for the kids--some clothing in larger sizes for DS and a few clothing items and toys for DD. Some of it was new, and some of it was stuff her kids had outgrown. We were thrilled with it all. The generosity of people just amazes me. We ate dinner while we were there and just had a really nice time watching our children play together.

Yesterday we cleaned and organized a bit and ate leftovers for lunch. Supper was a frozen pizza I bought on sale with a coupon and some ice cream bars I got for less than a dollar with coupon (plus, there was a redbox code inside the box for a free rental!). We had a movie night and watched a movie we already had.

DH and I also hit the grocery store. We have been price matching at Walmart and using some high value coupons. This has allowed us to do well with our tiny grocery budget (though I am still not fond of Walmart in general).

I went to a new thrift store looking specifically for a pair of khaki chinos, either LL Bean or J. Crew; just a classic basic style. Found J. Crews in my size and perfect fit (even around my waist!) for $7.99!!!! Unbelievable.

Lately I've been finding exactly what I want at thrift stores and I now have a list describing just what I'm looking for.

I found the agitator in my washer was broken, the part that twists and pulls the clothes down was stripped. I was able to go online, order the part and replace it myself, for cheaper than it would have cost to have someone just look at it.

Score, ponymom and creaker!

Our dog had what looked like a bleeding hemorrhoid. I looked up natural cures on the Internet and found bulky foods and vitamin K cream for treatments. I didn't have any vitamin K cream so I made him soup with lots of leafy green veggies with vitamin K. The bleeding stopped within an hour. I gave him the soup a couple more times and he has been on the mend since then. I think the soup saved us a $300 vet bill, plus I am sure our dog feels a lot better.

For product reviews this month I ordered a free Ipod clock radio / docking station and a book on edible lawns.

I got another Visa gift card for $100 for signing up for U-verse. The state sent me my check for $70 that I found on their abandoned property database. I had a royalty check that was made out to our old company name reissued to our new company, for another $60. I found out from the title company that I had an unexpected $60 check coming from our last refinance, that we never received in the mail. That check was reissued this month, so I had some nice surplus in the budget between the different extra checks.

We used a buy one get one free coupon to have brunch at a buffet on Sunday.

My son cleared out all his teen and children books and sold them at the used book shop for $34.

We refinanced our house again with a no point, no fee loan. We signed the papers last week a day before the lock ran out. Otherwise our rate would have gone up another .7% for the same loan since rates went up during the lock period. We got $250 back for at closing for signing up for auto pay.

We live near the factory that makes our bar soap, so I went and bought a case again at the wholesale price.

I've been using the store coupons I get in email for Safeway and Fresh and Easy to save money on groceries. I use the self serve checkout at F&E to get all the monthly debits done in a day or two on a bunch of low priced items to meet the monthly debit requirements for our high yield checking account. Otherwise I like to to use the 2% cash back credit card for the rest of the groceries.

The dryer quit getting warm, and since it is a stack unit, and inseparable from the washer, I called in a repair person. He was great! Even though it was a $200 repair -- broken heating element -- it was far cheaper than a new set. And since it is raining, raining, raining in Seattle, a load is taking over 24 hours to dry on a rack inside... My entire house was draped with damp laundry!

Recent frugals:
- My car has been parked in the garage since Saturday.
- One dinner this week is a fish dish for which I bought tilapia rather than cod. It's less expensive and just as tasty.
- I visited a dollar store (a real dollar store, not the kind that prices everything in whole-dollar amounts) and found a few food items we eat that are a true deal at $1 (and a few that aren't a deal at $1; I didn't buy those) and some soap we really like that's a bargain at $1 a bar.
- Continuing to use up what's in the freezer and the pantry. I have started refilling as I see bargains on stuff we will use. Often I can substitute something for whatever is requested in the recipe.

Steve: We buy frozen tilapia regularly at Costco and it's become a freezer staple for us. The quality is great and the price is good. The frozen tilapia from our grocer isn't as good.

rosa, thanks. DW occasionally tags along with DD (who has the Costco membership; go figure); I'll ask her to remember to buy tilapia next time she goes.

I'm back from my trip to see my sister in California and I am having fun reading all of your frugals! Kelli, that shawl is lovely!

I am in the process of planning some frugal mini-trips for us this summer. I am sick of being stressed out and I think a couple of weekends of camping might help to clear my head. We are going for just one night over 4th of July weekend to a place that is less than an hour away from our house. I planned a pretty frugal, easy camping menu, so it won't really cost us much to go.

One thing I had noticed the last few years was that we tended to spend more than I thought was reasonable going out for ice cream. It's fun, sure, but so is eating ice cream on the deck. I bought some Costco ice cream treats that were 40 for $10. We are lucky to spend only $10 on the entire family going out for ice cream, these days it's more like $20 with all of the kids. I also got some regular ice cream and I have been making my own fudge sauce with chocolate chips and milk when I want something a little more special.

We sold a dresser that we used to use for the girls' room, but don't anymore, and our old bed frame. We got $85 for the two of them.

Our family reunion was canceled and rescheduled. This will end up being a frugal thing for us because the new location, Chippewa Falls, WI, is only about half the distance of the old one in Wausau, WI, so we will save on gas. We may or may not camp, but even if we do it will be three days less than it was going to be. I wish we had more time, actually, but maybe next year, and I might as well look on the bright side. :)

Zach's paycheck was less this time because he had to go in late when I was in California and we didn't want to use vacation time to cover it. I am trying to make up some of the difference in the grocery budget for the next two weeks. I managed to come up with a pretty decent menu that should cost about $80 less than my usual grocery budget.

fyi, on Costco tilapia: at our store, the frozen is from China or Vietnam and the fresh is from Honduras. From what I've read, the farmed fish in the Western hemisphere usually have better water conditions. I think the cost per pound is about the same. Trader Joe's has the best price on frozen wild Pacific cod, and it's not much more than the Costco tilapia.

Rosemary: Our Costco has Indonesian tilapia which is supposed to be good. I had read something to the effect that Costco changed it's sourcing after hearing lots of concerns about tilapia from China. Thanks for the info on the cod from TJs. We love cod, and we love TJ's too. Will have to check it out!

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Originally Posted by Rosemary

fyi, on Costco tilapia: at our store, the frozen is from China

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Thanks for the info. I'll ask DW to look at the country of origin when she gets to Costco. Chinese fish is a no-no in this house. I see lots of it at ALDI at prices that are quite attractive, but I just won't do it.

I asked TJ's about country of origin on an apple-based product about 6 months ago and was informed that they had stopped sourcing any foods from China, fyi. I am guessing that some foods might contain ingredients that come from China, but the foods themselves are not manufactured there.

Stella, welcome back, been hoping things were going better with your sister - so sorry to hear about her illness and overall situation. Your camping trips sound like fun! I loved camping as a kid and single adult, not quite so much as an adult with family in tow :~). But I'm starting to get excited about my upcoming conference in DC.... it will cost a bit up front but will be reimbursed and have a small per diem also, so I am trying come out ahead! We will be on our own for dinners, but I'm hoping to find some small eateries or mini-marts. We will have to use a taxi from our hotel (in Virginia) to the conference (in Maryland) but can take a train from the hotel to the museums and the Mall in Washington. Our flight is paid for but has a bag charge so I'm trying for just a carry-on and my largish handbag. I'm only going to be there for 5 days/4 nights, so that should work. Other than that opportunity, it's been the same old stuff around here. We haven't put the air conditioners in the bedrooms yet - fans are keeping us from total melt down. My car is clunking along - we thought he was on his last legs several months ago, but he seems to have pulled through OK. The alternator went out on DH's truck, but it was still under warranty (the alternator, NOT the truck, lol) so that was a free fix. Seems like there should be more, but if so, I'm too tired to remember it!

DH repaired our old watering can, that we use EXTENSIVELY - okay, it would only have been a $20.-$25. replacement purchase for the same one, but he was able to replace the broken handle for $3.50 in parts and a half-hour's work. I absolutely love this old watering can - and was entirely happy he was able to repair it thriftily.

A few frugals:

I mentioned a week or two ago that I was reviewing some insurance policies to determine if we still needed them. Well, one of us still thinks they're needed, so we won't be saving that money right now. But that could change. And it's given me the push to shop around our car/home/umbrella/business policies. This is a little hard for me because I like the agent and company we're with; they have not given me a reason to take away the business and I value loyalty. At the same time, however, we've taken a look at every other recurring bill we pay so it seems inconsistent to ignore these.
I did a little reporting off our financial software and learned we are spending at least 15% less on groceries now than we were at this time last year. :cool:My suspicion is that it has to do mostly with being able to take the time to cook more (instead of buying food pre-made or processed for quick cooking) and with wasting less food. But I'm not so interested in confirming that answer that I want to document it. :)

My car has remained in the garage, so no consumption there. I only wish "no-drive" meant "no-spend"!

Stocked up on some favorite soap (Yardley, made in the U.S.) at the dollar store and picked up another couple of food items we'll use. This particular store appears to have bumped its food selection beyond pop, snacks, and heavily-processed meals. They even have a refrigerator and freezer case. It's not terribly convenient to visit that store, but if I'm in the neighborhood, I'll stop by.

As I've winnowed through hundreds of LPs and CDs, I've decided I'm no longer keeping the ones on which I want only a song or two. At 99 cents, it was cheap insurance (I don't download music if it's commercially available). But I'll take the $$ (okay, $) I get from Half-Price Books or Cheapo and buy the tunes in digital form to cover myself and save the space. I hope it's a wash.

The month's roundup of frugals:
Serious garden harvest has begun. Picked mache, strawberries, and snow peas yesterday to make a salad for lunch. Also ready for harvest whenever we need it: kale (2 kinds), kai lan, lettuce. My squash plants finally germinated after the cold, wet spring, and with the onset of warm weather this week, my tomato plants grew at least 6" on a particularly hot, humid day.

A friend gave us their CSA share this week if we could pick it up. I did, and while the produce was really good, there wasn't much of it - we have more variety and quantity in our own small home garden this week. Looked up how much these shares cost, and wow, my garden is saving us even more than I had estimated, when compared to other local, organically grown foods. My fruit plants and trees are loaded and so, barring disastrous weather, we should have a great harvest this summer of gooseberries, currants, tart cherries, native plums, raspberries, concord grapes, and apples.

DD and I have been riding bikes to one of her activities every day... saving auto miles and gas.

I am nearing completion of the first part of one of my summer landscaping projects. I had a bid on the labor alone for this project at over $1000 so am feeling good about doing it myself. I bought a few perennials at 50% off for my reward.

Dried 3 loads of laundry outside yesterday (that one's for you, Mrs. M!). It's been so rainy this season that there haven't been many ideal outdoor-drying days. It's easier to squeeze in a bike ride on a rainy day than 4-5 hours of drying time (more if it's damp, cloudy, and still).

Whittling down the extra freezer's contents. Should be able to turn it off and defrost in a week or two. Always do this for the hottest months of the year since it's in the summer. With the garden as our food storage, we don't need it and it saves significantly on the electric bill since the freezer is in the garage.

Some good yard sale finds this month. A couple of vintage kitchen items for 50 cents each (that will outlast new $12 "equivalents"), a couple of 1940s cookbooks (a particularly frugal era for cookbooks, reflecting both Depression learnings and wartime rationing), bike for DD, a cooler for camping, some jelly canning jars, a CD player for DD.

DD and I made several birthday gifts. I've got one more, a crocheted cotton summer scarf, in progress, and need to finish it in the next 3 weeks to ship!

I had an all-day class this week and a friend watched DD, saving me about $50 in babysitting fees. Today I'm swapping childcare with a friend so our girls can play together all day, here this morning and in the afternoon at her house, which will give both of us a little free time. And we have some date night exchanges on the calendar as well.

Switched our checking account to the new DiscoverBank checking, which pays 10 cents for every bill pay, paper check, and debit transaction. We were getting nothing from our old bank and I didn't have any sentimental attachment to it; it was a megabank that had acquired the local Tucson bank where we opened the account originally, and their online billpay webpage was really annoying to boot.

With DD's summer band and orchestra (through her school) lessons nearly every day, I am going to get lots of book reviews done this summer while I wait for her.

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Originally Posted by Rosemary

A friend gave us their CSA share this week if we could pick it up. I did, and while the produce was really good, there wasn't much of it - we have more variety and quantity in our own small home garden this week. Looked up how much these shares cost, and wow, my garden is saving us even more than I had estimated, when compared to other local, organically grown foods.

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My understanding from talking with farmers at the St. Paul Farmer's Market (where everything sold must be produced within 75 miles of the Market) is that growth in this part of Minnesota is running about a month behind normal. I would not feel very confident about judging the value of a CSA based on one box that you normally would see at the end of May.