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I started at the beginning of this year using a calendar to track frugality/activities/no spend days but since my husband retired 6 weeks ago, we have shared an activity calendar. I decided earlier today to (probably) duplicate things but I really want to go back to my personal calendar - it does help to stay on target with limiting spending/eating intentionally/giving myself credit for living simply.Quote:
Originally Posted by nswef
I had a bunch of lemons going soft, so I squeezed all the juice and froze it in a couple of ice cube trays. Now I have individual blocks of lemon juice to use as needed. I don't usually buy a lot of lemons at a time, but that time at Aldi's they are bagged up and not set out individually. Refinanced the mortgage down to a 10 year fixed at a lower rate. The payment went up a couple hundred dollars a month, but it will be paid off by the time I retire. We were able to pay off other debt with some inheritance money, so our cash flow is still better than it was.
July 29th...Hi Folks
I have had a very frugal month and started out so well at the beginning of the month with posting about it
but, then got off track.
Here are a few from the last couple of weeks.
--Have totally organized and inventoried the cupboards/pantry/fridge and freezer.(I have done this before and it did not work but,
this time I have all like things together) I know that sounds like common sense so I don't know why I didn't do it this completely before.
---eating from stockpiles and from fresh fruit and veggies before it is the "Best times for our own Ontario grown" stuff.....yummy and oh so healthy.
--cleaned my purse and my desk
--have been putting down lawn fabric and mulch this spring and finally calculated the cost of buying it by the bag and lugging it home to have a
very large bag delivered....it is much cheaper that way and I have a bag coming next week.
--Needed gym clothes and Loblaws had a sale on clothes online....already marked down and $20.00 in points off $75.00 so I managed to get
5 T-shirts, 2 pair of workout pants, 5 pair of underwear and a pair of dressy type running shoes for $85.00 with tax less $20.00...very happy with order.
---have been looking to get Cellular Blinds for the upper level of the house and last week they came on sale for Buy one get the 2nd 50% off...so I ordered and they
are ready tomorrow. They want close to $200.0 to install but, the man that has done some other work around the house will do them for $100.00.
Hopefully they will help with heating/cooling. Very little bit helps!
That is all for now...have a great weekend!
Danna: I agree that if you're using any significant quantity of mulch, bulk delivery is the way to go. I got 4 yards delivered yesterday.
I haven't been very virtuous lately. Tonight we did go to see a free production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in Lynn Woods, my favorite place no less. We made a $20 donation, but that's really inexpensive live theater. It was great!
Sometimes I think people must wonder why I am even posting in the Frugals Forum, since I seem to be one of the least frugal people in the world. However, I did an end of the month comparison with last year, and we have reduced grocery spending by 5% and dining out expenditures by 54%! Not too shabby! :cool:
We really like to eat out and I wouldn't want to eliminate it from our lives, but it is really expensive compared to eating at home, so it seemed like a good area to target for change. It also makes eating out more special if we do it less often.
Reducing 5% is great, 54% ultra great! Congratulations. do you have a plan for those savings to make it more fun to reduce it?
Frugal is relative. Simplicity does not look the same from one household to another because WE are all different. 5% reduction from one month to the next is commendable. Good for you!
Thanks! I'm trying to channel as much as I can into savings to position myself for retirement from full-time, city commute job in 4 - 5 years, and also trying to fund some needed work around the homestead (although getting a carpenter seems to be the impossible quest these days).
This is my first post here! It looks like we are posting how frugal we were in July. I took a week off as my gift to myself for my birthday and have stayed home doing all kinds of fun projects to make our lives easier.
- We bought a fish tank! I know that doesn't sound frugal but we were really smart how we bought it. We scoped the internet, checked out three different stores and wrote down all the prices of kits vs. buying each part. I came in $20 under budget and got this awesome widescreen tank. Next were the ornaments. I bought 4 shale and stone tiles and a bag of sand from the local home improvement store. I tapped the tiles and broke them into rock shapes, cleaned the sand and added a piece of real drift wood. $9 total. Now I need to scope out the Internet for possible plant sharing.
- I made frozen chicken taquitos for my husband (I don't eat meat) and the chicken was only .99 lbs at my local butcher. Try to find your local butcher they are cheaper, fresher and have better choices.
- I made frozen breaded chicken tenders for my husband. I used TJ's chicken because I didn't know about the above deal yet.
- I have a garden. It's been pasta w/ fresh tomatoes and pesto for dinner! Nothing wrong there.
- My husband is making me a personal ice cream cake using homemade ice cream and cup cake batter! He's a good baker. I'm a good cook. We work well together.
- Blackberries are ready. Jam anyone?
- I made two mini shelves from some nice wood ends and old but nice looking scrolly brackets. I put them up next to my kitchen window. I put an ailing vine plant on the top and a mini TJ's orchid on the bottom. I transplanted the orchid to an old tea strainer that the cup broke for (its still very pretty) it looks perfect!
That's all for now but I still have five more days off! Thanks for having this forum. I love to shout my frugality to the world but the world doesn't always want to hear and I know my husband is sick of it.
You're in the right place, Krislyn. We love to hear about it! :)