I will start the September Frugals.....

DH's smartphone died, so he did a lot of online research and found a new Chinese one for about $250, that would normally cost close to $800 if he'd bought its name-brand counterpart. In the meantime, he borrowed a smartphone from his friend to use, who had it available to loan because the friend had just upgraded his own phone. DH liked the phone so much, he realized it would be great for me to have, since now all teachers are "expected" to use their personal smartphones for classroom use.

Anyway, he called the friend and asked if we could buy the phone off him. He agreed, and now I'm getting THAT smartphone for 300 NIS, or less than $100 USD. Score! This will come in extremely handy, as the friend already had two apps installed, that will help me when I'm stuck for vocabulary in Hebrew AND in Arabic...nowadays I need both, since I work in an Arabic-speaking school and live in a Hebrew-speaking town.

Where does the time go???!!! I find that I am having a hard time "just being still" lately and having the mental space to ponder things. Don't get me wrong, everything is going quite good but for today (a day off) I would like to re-group and get a sense of what is going on in my life. Things are looking up financially, as my plan for earning extra money is going nicely. In the last month I've made $205 selling my plasma (with no ill effects), got $325 from my housemate for rent, and sold about $195 worth of my jewelry. When I get paid on Friday I feel like I can finally start paying extra on my car loan, and I will be able to pay off my $800+ on my credit card (I finally bought a new computer, the first one in 8 years)!

Big expenditures that are coming up are mainly medical stuff - I have a high deductible (which I am close to meeting). I just cancelled an MRI for my knee after finding out that even after my insurance pays the 80%, I will still be liable for about $700 of it. Then they insisted I have an ocular x-ray before the MRI because I (stupidly) told them that in 1981 I got a metal flake in my art while grinding a bronze sculpture in art school (it got flushed out at Student Health right after it happened). They WILL NOT let me have the MRI without the ocular x-ray, even though I told them I have had two full body MRI's in the past with no ill effect. I'm sure the ocular x-rays will be another several hundred dollars. So I am opting to get some cortisone shots in the knee joints to see if that will alleviate the symptoms I've been having for the last six months - the doctor thinks I may have a torn meniscus. There are still four months left in my insurance plan year; I can always get the MRI later if it is really called for. I also have to have another mammogram in October because they've been watching some calcifications. I sure hope nothing comes of that!

Some ways I am saving money are by grocery shopping more carefully, taking advantage of all the free samples from Whole Body I get from work (I haven't bought shampoo, conditioner and face wash stuff in a long time - I just take all those little sample packets that end up in the employee lunchroom). I got some cheap clothing at Salvation Army (I took advantage of the Labor Day 50% off clothing sale). I find I need less and less clothing these days - all I do is go to work (T-shirts and jeans) or work in my art studio (even grungier T-shirts and jeans). I rarely, if ever, get dressed up for anything. If I go to an open mic I just wear my *best* T-shirt and jeans!

So I plan to keep on keeping on with this track and hopefully watch my savings account start to build back up again.

Am going to try to be better about posting this month! Over the past few days:

--mended a couple of stuffed animals for DD
--resisted the urge to buy some new home decor
--packaged up four items to return via mail
--have a fifth item ready to return to the store
--trying to be more realistic about meal planning. I can only manage simple meals or those made in the crock pot right now...so that is what we are having.
--made some more banana bread
--am trying to make do with DS's summer clothes. He is starting to outgrow them, but I am thinking it will cool off in a few weeks. So we're just putting him in the few things that do fit for now plus a couple of larger-sized onesies
--am trying to do a pantry challenge the month of September
--have been spending my time "nesting"--cleaning/organizing--rather than shopping. I always get the itch to decorate and clean for fall but will do this before I do any shopping. I am positive I do not need anymore fall decorations, but it is my favorite time of year and so hard to resist!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Jilly

So, to be able to indulge in a nice sunset and glass of wine...once in a while...can anyone share how long the boxed wine lasts?

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Jilly, our box is kept atop the refrigerator and we've gone up to three weeks (at normal room temperatures) without noticing marked changes in the taste. I suspect the shelf life would be shorter if the room temperature hits the 80s or higher.

Today is DD's birthday and I brought her a piece of cake (from the grocery store) as a little treat - we'll get together for dinner over the weekend. She works just across the street from Paper Source - a shop I have wanted to go to all summer! I ended up spending $11 on a kit to make a paper flower garland (which I have been craving!) but found a book there that had great detailed directions and stencils to make your own paper flowers. No worries - home to look on Barnes and Noble cause a sweet student and his mom gave me a gift card for B & N at year's end. The book is on it's way to me for only $5 out of my pocket. I thought about returning the kit but decided that since I have been lusting over this for several months, it was OK to treat myself.

Also getting ready for a huge garage sale at my sister's house this Friday and Saturday so spending a lot of time marking, sorting, organizing - $$ to be used for a weekend in DC in November.

Ugh! Need to jump back on the bandwagon.

Sept 04
Not much new to add today...just more of the same
--entrainment was a long walk to visit a friend and have coffee...free
not frugal but a friend of hers (she has done lots for me in the past) is having chemo and I made her a couple of turbans (really nice ones) from fabric I had on hand
--finished up a jar of instant coffee I had bought, not sure why before I opened a new pound of ground.

- We renegotiated one of the Internet cable bills today. We have more than one because of the home businesses. That will save $240 over the next year.
- went out to eat for dinner at a Mexican restaurant over the weekend with a buy one get one free meal coupon.
- for my last round of product reviews I got free rechargeable batteries, a back pack and headphones.
- the check came in the mail today for our health care reimbursement account.
- last night I stocked up on freezer food using the the coupons in the Safeway rewards program. I usually get pretty good personalized prices on items, I guess so that they make their profits on other items once you are in the store. Last night I just stuck to buying mainly the sale items on my list.
- we have been pretty good about cooking more from scratch. I've been making up separate ingredients in the morning we can mix and match later on for meals. This past week I have made up two kinds of soup in the crock pots and in the rice cooker / steamer I've been making steady batches of chicken, rice, quinoa and assorted veggies.

I'm working on reducing food waste. It goes slowly, but I'm improving.

I bought a nice jacket for Fall: loden green canvas, fully lined, with rivet buttons and plenty of pockets, excellent like-new condition--$6.40.

So nice of you to make those turbans, danna.

Not much here. Today was no spend/no drive. Requested a bag from an online consignment shop so I can send some stuff in. Some shoes I ordered for DS came. 2 pairs and only paid shipping. I got bigger sizes in white so he'd have some room to grow and they would match everything. DH and I are contemplating getting rid of the internet. It is our only luxury, but it is a stretch for us now that our utilities have risen to the tune of $60 more a month. Sigh.