September Frugals

re: cloth sandwich bags. Modern "oilcloth" is vinyl, which is not food-safe. If you hunt around on the internet you'll find long discussions dedicated to whether various waterproof or water-resistant fabrics are actually food-safe, including PUL and nylon. I think cotton, like Stella suggested, is probably best.

My mom and I got great haircuts today from advanced students at a well-known beautician-training school - for the same cost as your average walk-in place.
DD has been thrilled this week to take leftover soup for lunch in the food jar. I am thrilled that she's been so easy to please!

Gosh it's been so long since I posted on this board! Have had frugals, but was really busy over the summer with school for me and taking care of the kids.

I am volunteering one day a month in our school lunch room. Apparently new this year is a if you volunteer, your child gets one free lunch each month. He only buys on pizza day, so only four times a month but having to pay for one less is nice. Then I was told to take home some of the excess produce on the counter. It was excess from our food bank for our church and the produce was going to go bad if someone didn't take it. I scored a bag of carrots, onions and a couple green peppers. They are all fine, but I guess wouldn't last till next weeks pickups. Last week someone gave me organic apples and tomatoes and then another person gave me plums. The apples became applesauce and the tomatoes became roasted tomato soup. My friend didn't know you could make applesauce from red delicious apples, I was a bit confused by that but yeah for me.

Found out that I should be receiving some money soon from my Uncles estate. It was unexpected when I got the note from the lawyer a few months back, but will be put to good use. I went back to school this summer and I am doing it without loans. This money (I don't know the exact amount, but probably about a grand) will help pay for my winter/spring semester.

Haven't turned the heat on, we had some iffy nights last week but the house did well in maintaining it's temp. Quoted out our new hot water tank, I finally found the plumber we used in the past (they changed company names) and he'll be doing that in a couple of weeks. I'm hoping with the new tank that our gas bill will go down a tad.

Last weekend we went to the Renissance Festival here in Michigan and were able to get in for free. Our friend received 8 free tickets from her aunt who is a vendor. We did spend a small amount on some food, but not having to buy tickets made it possible to go. It would have been $60 for the tickets without any discounts.

This is a small one, really only saving $60 but, it is a relief not to have to worry about. My husband was really busy at work in the spring and because of that we were able to pay our boys tuition in full. We also only have 6 more payments on one of our cars and it's all ours, paid off early! This year is got new brakes, a new battery and new tires. Our friend is very car savvy and changed out the brakes and battery just for the cost of parts and a bottle of something;).

Rosemary I have wondered that about oilcloth too, which was part of my decision to use cotton. The other part is that I have a lot of cotton fabric on hand and no oilcloth and I'm cheap like that. :)

mara61 welcome back! I'm happy to see you here this morning!

I have almost made it through the whole week without buying groceries. I will have to go to the dairy tomorrow for some more milk.

My kids seriously need to get out of the house today. I think we are going to have to go to a park or something like that.

I am determined to add a nice chunk of cash to savings out of the next two paychecks. Hopefully about 2/3 of the total amount. If I am able to do that we will be going into the winter with the most money in the winter fund we have ever had. I don't know why, but that makes me feel motivated to save even more. I think I might possibly be able to save another $1000 between now and our trip even with Zach laid off.

I have my class tonight and I am excited about it. This is going to be a long week for me. I thought that Zach was going to be done after today, but it looks like he may be working tomorrow. He and my dad also have an all day Knights event on Saturday. Anyway this class will give me some much needed adult time. Dad is watching the monkeys.

Rosa: Check out the forums on the Early Retirement Extreme blog. I'm impressed by the number of intelligent participants there. Many of MMM's readers found him on Jacob's site. Congrats on being debt free-it must feel amazing! I used to do Pinecone research way back when they actually gave you $5 a survey. I kind of got burnt out for some reason and stopped participating but its something to consider doing again.

Last night's shopping trip was a frugal sucess. I used several coupons and ended up spending only $32. I brought home the following for free: 2 hair conditioners, a shampoo, lg. jar of pasta sauce, and a bag of reese's minatures. It really pays for me to plan ahead and make my purchases at the larger, farther away stores. I bought Hall's cough drops across the street last week because ds needed them. I paid $1.79 for an 18 ct. bag. Last night I bought 2- 40 ct. bags with a coupon for 68 cents a bag.

So the strangest thing happened last night. We stopped for an early dinner at the mexican restaurant we frequent here in the middle of nowhere. We stepped into the place and look directly at Edward James Olmos (Almos?), the actor. It was him and the woman he was dining with, 2 men at another table, and us. I've seen famous people several times when living in NJ and Chicago but here, the only celebrities that ever come around are the kind that kill animals for a living on television. Funniest part is that aparently the younger generation doesn't have a clue as to who he is. One of the servers didn't know who he was and the waitress working for me this morning didn't know who he was either.

Tried making dutchess potatoes for the freezer with the free potatoes gotten with purchase... I used the diffuser and they retained the water. So today I made potato soup instead with the mess. Not as good as usual but ok. Got 2 pairs of Coldwater Creek jeans, a pair of Merrell shoes, and a wonderful thermal lined hooded sweatshirt for $25 (retail in excess of $300) at a nearby thrift store. Lucked out and was able to cash in on their senior discount.

Looked up Edward James Olmos and have never seen anything with him in it???

BTW I used the diffuser for canning this year. It is one of the greatest things IMO. It diffuses the heat of the large kettle and prevents it from overboiling. I also used it earlier after I made soup to keep it warm on the stove. Nothing sticks or boils over.

mara, welcome back!

bke, I know who Olmos is! Neat!

Used up a bunch of food at our house, including preparing a soup for the crock pot tomorrow with zucchini, green beans and corn that were on the verge of going bad. Also made the broth from junk I had in the freezer, you know, in the scrap bucket for broth-making. Threw in some cauliflower that had been lingering in the freezer. Threw in some brown rice. We'll see how it all comes out. Made brownies for DH's lunches from a mix we had on hand and threw in some marshmallows that were hanging around (result: meh.). Made a pot of iced tea. Made chili and cornbread for dinner!! Ran the dishwasher twice!! OMG! Really busy evening in the kitchen. But now I have freezer lunches for six days (leftover chili) plus whatever comes out of this other soup experiment. I almost went to Jimmy John's today because I ran out of freezer lunches. Instead I whipped up a sandwich and tossed it in a cooler since I wasn't going in to the office right away. I was lovingly thinking of all of you as I did it :)

We had lunch brought in for the event I was coordinating most of this week. Most people didn't eat their side salads, so I got to take them home. I have had nice salad several times this week for virtually free! And a few cups of fruit. And I also snagged the leftover pastries for the kids -- and myself (guilty confession!). Now you know why I haven't posted on the health and fitness thread this week! That and the fact that I was working 12hour days. Glad its over and looking forward to the weekend.

Oh, I get to submit my taxi receipts for reimbursement when I have these off-site work events, so that's another frugal plus.

lhamo

lhamo and fidgiegirl-great frugal food saves!

It seems to be my turn to have the cold that everyone around me has suffered from lately. Thankfully, I stocked up on cold meds during our shopping trip earlier this week instead of buying the expensive stuff locally. I hate taking the stuff but its not possible to work with a runny nose and a cough either.

Dh put $40 worth of gas in the car this morning. That should be the only spending we do today.

I rented a dvd from the library earlier this week, for some frugal entertainment this weekend. It only costs $1 vs $3.17 if I were to go to the store for a movie rental.

Here's one I feel guilty about. I love nice quality leather bags and purses. Preferably large shoulder bags. I only own one at a time but I like higher-end bags. The last two cheap purses that I owned started falling apart almost immediately where as, the last expensive one I bought, lasted several years. I spent $100 on a large shoulder bag while out shopping the other night. I have been searching for one for months that was to my liking. Its a great size, sturdy, and should last for ages but I feel really bad about spending so much money. It was originally $209 but marked $99 at TJ Maxx. I haven't convinced myself to take the tags off of it yet...

There isn't anyone available to cover for me at work this weekend so the bulk of my afternoon is going to be spent resting. I don't feel too bad but I want to make sure my health keeps improving.

Have a great weekend everyone!

bke - an Olmos sighting - that is awesome!

A few frugals here, some not-so-conventional. ;)

I've been letting our cats outside into our fenced yard when I am out there to watch them. They have taken to peeing outside. An unintended frugal as this saves on cat litter!

Did a great job of eating at home this week. Even managed to take lunch with me to work yesterday saving me between $6 and $8, which is likely what I would have spent at the sandwich shop. I need to make this a habit!!! I only go to work 2x per week, but it still adds up.

Saved 10 cents per gallon on gas with my rewards card. Managed to plan it such that the gas tank was practically bone dry, thereby netting the largest possible savings!

Got promoted to the next rank in my Tae Kwon Do class, which meant I had to dye my belt brown. Everyone has managed to screw this up and had to dye their belts a second time. I followed the directions exactly (not my strong suit!) and was successful on my first attempt. Saved myself from having to spend another $6 for dye remover and more dye. :) Decided that after two years of consistent TKD training that I would spring for a new uniform. Actually decided to buy two in order to make laundry more cost effective. I was regularly washing small loads of laundry because I needed to wash my uniform so this will minimize that, hopefully.

The garden is waning but managed to gather about a half-dozen cherry tomatoes so will eat them for lunch along with some mozzarella that I bought on sale and the last of the free bread from last weekend's honey festival.

Re: sandwich bags. I have some commercially made ones from a natural living store & they are nylon covered in cotton. You might need a serger for that combo, though.

BKE - Olmos! How cool! He's a great actor.

I am looking at a kid in braces as of Nov., so I need to see how much we can sock away until then. If I pay cash, I get 5% off. I am hoping that the price is in the neighborhood of what it was last time. If so, we already have most of the cash we need. Friends have been quoting higher prices lately, though, so I am thinking of calling for an estimate or something to prepare myself for sticker shock.

fff tonight - drove a few miles north to a small airport for a free cruise-in/classic auto show, and balloon glow. They only had 4 balloons, but they were pretty! I like looking at old cars too - and old airplanes! Dsis brought us dinner (she had coupons), and I made coffee to go. DD's Aldi trip was about half of the usual, since we've been stocking up little by little, to the point I now feel comfortable just buying what we need for the week, plus some of our beef. There's still quite a bit in the freezer, and this year's beef will be off to the butcher this weekend.

Bastelmutti, I was surprised to hear a coworker lamenting that she has to put her kid in braces for the SECOND time and the girl is only a seventh grader! When I was in high school in the 90s none of my friends EVER had them younger than that - more like 9th/10th grade. Maybe they have changed their approach since then - I regularly knew kids in braces at the elementary school I worked at, even as young as 3rd grade. I just wonder what would have changed. One thing is sure, the orthodontist will now make twice the money on my friend's kid!

I bought some clothes tonight and glad I did. I was not enjoying my clothes and they were not making me feel very good about my appearance. I will get rid of a few things. I did ok on price. Nothing spectacular, though not full price: 5 new items (mix of shirts/pants) for about $100. More than many on our dear thread might have spent, including me at certain moments of my recent history, but I am cool with having spent it. It should round out my wardrobe for the season, anyway and since clothes shopping is a stressor, I am happy not to have to think about it for a while and that it was relatively painless.

I had my girl's night out last night at my friends house. So much fun! There were four of us and we were laughing so much we were hoarse. Who needs expensive entertainment?

Last night we all went to MarketFest at church because Zach was volunteering. My friend makes fleece headbands for winter and she was selling them there. I needed to get the girlies a new hat anyway and she had a deal going. The double layer ones were $5 each and the single layer ones were $2.50. I got the girls doubles because they go outside all the time and singles for me and James. James' can be folded to be a double because his head is so small and I'm just a warm blooded person. I'm glad I can buy them something handmade and affordable.

Today is a busy day and only moderately frugal. We have to go to the dairy and then we are going to the park for an art festival they are having. All day there will be free art activities, concerts, performances and other art related fun for people of all ages. I think it's going to be amazing.

This afternoon is the annual Polka Mass at church. We are definitely going to that! After that we're having our Fall Fest. Fall Fest isn't super cheap, but it's so much fun. There's going to be a giant inflatible hamster ball for people to roll around in, lots of fair-type food, bingo, kid's games and concerts. There's usually a giant slide and bounce house and this year there are fireworks. I don't feel bad about the money. It's once a year and it's one of the main ways the church raises money for building related projects.

Tomorrow we will be going to Fall Fest at the Cathedral. That will be a little cheaper because the kid's games there are, according to my dad, free.

We're starting to organize the neighborhood pumpkin parade again. That's some good frugal fun. The neighbors bring their pumpkins and have an early evening parade with people and animals in costumes and wagons for the pumpkins. The wagons are decorated and the pumpkins are lighted. It's great.

After this weekend we are wratcheting down the spending a lot. I am going to try to keep the groceries for the week under $100 and we're going to mostly find free things to do. I feel an embroidery, knitting, crocheting and sewing kick coming on.

Yesterday was a weather-imposed frugal day as it was pouring rain here so I had no interest in leaving the house! I ended up washing all of the linens in the guest bedroom -- a task I had been putting off. It would have been more frugal to do them on a sunny day so that I could line dry everything, but the weather doesn't seem to want to cooperate. Will have to go out today as I need to go to the post office, so I will try to be thorough in my list-making and run some other errands at the same time. Also, I will try to get organized so that I can fill out and mail the 2 rebates that I have sitting here. One is for my contact lenses and the other is for the dogs' heart worm preventative. They are only worth $15 combined, but I will take it!

I have not been tracking my spending or calculating my net worth on a regular basis the way I did after first reading YMOYL. But the other day I discovered in reviewing some statements that my retirement fund is actually 25% LARGER than I thought it was. Wow!!! A nice surprise, but it makes me realize that I got lucky and I could very easily get unlucky. So I am going to try to get back to tracking my spending and calculating my net worth.

One last thing. Learned from the vet that if I have my dogs' dental cleanings done in January or February they are discounted by 15%. Of course, I have to take them in for preliminary blood work before hand, so I need to be strategic in how I approach this since I have complete blood work done on them during their annual exams, which falls in September. I hate to pay for blood work twice, but will have to this time around. They don't need dental cleanings every year -- maybe every 3 years -- so I will try to slowly shift their annual appointments 4-6 weeks later for the next few years so that their annual appts fall in January and then I can have blood work done and get a discount on the dental cleanings. Of course, I could always try brushing their teeth daily and that might prevent the dental cleanings altogether...

A good friend at work will be off at the end of the week - she is going to Las Vegas for her daughter's wedding. I wanted to a little send off for her and decided to bake a cake/cupcakes and headed to Michael's to look for wedding-type cake ideas. I wandered weddings, stickers, baking, floral and ended up buying some toile-looking cupcake papers in black and white (the wedding colors) and will make the decorations out of scrapbook paper I already have and will stamp out the words "Mother of the Bride" and add her school photo. $1.99 for the cupcake papers - already have the baking supplies. I just want her to know that we wish her well!

I have to post this because you guys will get a kick out of it. My huge frugal victory for the weekend? Deciding NOT to have DH pick up a Vitamix in HK once he discovered that they cost almost US$1000 there! Now I just need to decide if I want to "save" myself another $500 by not buying one from the US either. A penny saved is... more money in the bank.

Had a total frugal failure on another front, though. Was feeling a bit stir-crazy being home with the kids all weekend, so made a trip to the new bookstore with lots of pretty shiny imported books. Nothing cheap there. And I pretty much let the kids pick out what they wanted once I realized that my initial limit was not going to get them much. DS got three books, including a Garfield collection (his favorite comic), the pocket edition of the Dangerous Book for Boys, and a book on C++ programming. DD got a lego brickmaster set and a berenstain bears book. And I got You, on a Diet for myself (and also sort of for DS, as they are doing a unit on health at school these days and it is supposed to have a really good overview of how digestion and hormones, etc. work). Total damage? Nearly US$140. OUCH! Oh well, all good stuff that will be enjoyed for a long time. Made me doubly glad that I discovered our home county's library system in the US now has books for Kindle. I downloaded two already this weekend, and finished one (a memoir by a lady who worked in Per Se restaurant in NYC when it first opened -- pretty fun read). I am really loving my Kindle and now I will be able to read a lot more newer titles for free, so that's fun.

lhamo

My frugals are pretty simple and not too newsworthy. I have a cold but hate cough drops so I used up some hard peppermint candies that have been in the house forever. They kept my throat moist without being all stinky and medicine-y. I'm drinking sweetened tea this morning instead of my usual coffee. Both the tea and the sweetener were free samples that I discovered in the cupboard-probably from our last hotel stay.

I was really craving something indulgent to eat after work last night. Nothing sounded quite right or wasn't a vegan choice. Instead of having dinner with the guys, I took a shower and regrouped. I ended up making a nice batch of vegan waffles that were delicious and really hit the spot. Ds even ate 2 as dessert! There are enough leftover for me to make another meal of them either today or tomorrow.

Had a lovely fff afternoon yesterday. Took Ian back to Ann Arbor and stopped at the Arboretum for a kite festival. We missed the actual kite making & flying but arrived just in time to see a Japanese drumming school perform. Very cool in a grassy clearing in the woods. Also saw the U/M Chinese yoyo club perform. And we had fun watching the kids run around with and without kites. Afterward Ian treated us to lunch at his dining hall.

Fidgiegirl, re: braces -
Yes, they have changed their approach. They do an initial correction for a short time and then another set when the kid's permanent teeth come in. This will shave about 2 years off of her braces time. Total time is supposed to be less than 2 years. It still involves a retainer afterward. I know braces are a tricky issue, but I feel that with my DD, it was a necessity, not a cosmetic thing, considering how her teeth were coming in. And our ortho office provides me with a clear price breakdown upfront, which makes me more confident about what we're getting.

A few frugal moves this weekend. Our apple trees are dropping apples like crazy, so I gathered up everything on the ground and prepped them to make fruit leather. But halfway through the process I ran out of energy, so made fruit leather with what was ready to go in the dehydrator and shifted gears and made an apple crumble wit the remainder. I have a cold, so that really put a damper on the weekend. I hate taking cold medicine, so I have been drinking a lot of tea and water and just trying to power through it. Of course, when I did finally decide I wanted to take some Nyquil so that I could sleep I discovered that we didn't have any! So I improvised and took a Claritin-D and that killed the congestion enough to allow me to sleep. Think I will do the same today because I already have the Claritin-D on hand and I rarely use it because I can generally keep my allergies in check with the non-decongestant version. Since I don't really have any cold symptoms other than congestion I hate to pump myself full of a bunch of other stuff that is in the Dayquil I have on hand.

Despite having a cold, went to two Tae Kwon Do classes yesterday. They are at 2 different gyms and there is a 90 minute break in between and the classes are in the middle of the day. Instead of grabbing a slice of pizza at the pizza shop to eat between classes I went to the grocery store and bought yogurt, a banana, and an energy bar. $3.20 total and that included 2 more energy bars (they were on sale and I had a coupon!). I came home after the second class and ate the leftover homemade pizza in the fridge. Frugal success!

And, finally, my unemployment claim went through so I actually got 3 checks in the mail, which was a pleasant surprise as I thought I was going to have to meet with the mediator before anything would be approved. The money helped to beef up my checking account enough that I should be in good shape for the next 3 months and not need to touch the emergency fund or savings account.

Not so frugal for the day...took the dog to get her dental cleanings and to have a lump on her tail biopsied. The estimate was $700 with a good customer discount. Ouch. I now vow to put serious effort into brushing my dogs' teeth.

Made a great trade today. I'm tutoring a senior gentleman in how to use the new computer his kids gave him as a gift (how to get email, access the internet, etc.) in trade for a Singer Featherweight sewing machine that his wife hasn't used for decades. Great frugal day for me!!

Nella that is a good score!

Azure that kite festival sounds lovely.

I am feeling restless this afternoon and I am tempted to go to the fabric store. Instead I think when I drop the girls off at faith formation I will take my computer to the patio overlooking the lake at the park and do some writing. I need to get the creative juices flowing and I know that's why I'm tempted by the fabric store. That and my utter determination to add colour to my living room. But my birthday is a week and a half away, so I can spend birthday money on fabric if I still want to. I might just go for a walk soon too. The boys are napping, the girls are out playing with their friends, Zach is working on his own project and I appear to have some time all to myself on this lovely fall afternoon.

Hi all

Long time no visit. I don't feel like we've been so frugal, but I guess we have been doing the same stuff, so all of that is good. We have not eaten out all week. Last week we ate out like seven times! So biiiiiig improvement.

We might be getting the house we've been trying to get since April. I don't want to really get too into it, because I feel like it would be jinxing it. If we get it, we will be spending some money here coming up. We both have mixed feelings, but want to get into a different place, too. So . . . here we go. Anyway, I got some materials at Menards today. I saw they were on sale when I was researching online yesterday, so I got my butt over and got the supplies. Saved about $12 and spent about $25.

DH saved us from going out to eat tonight. We have been eating squash from the garden, too.

I put a sweater on eBay. The sell pretty well. It is a Smartwool sweater that I got carried away with on sale and it isn't truly the right size for me. Dang it. Would have been a lot better savings to never have bought it at all! :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fidgiegirl

. Would have been a lot better savings to never have bought it at all! :)

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Almost any of us could have written this! In my decluttering I often say "what was I thinking, just throwing money away." Hard to get over this hurdle, isn't it?

For the whole month of September we ate one lunch out, every other meal drink and snack at home.
As I wrote in the decluttering thread, I have been using my fabric stash and patterns I had to make items. I love quilting and have made beautiful presents for my children and grandchildren, really the only ones I buy for. And they love what I make.
Finishing up the last of the garden produce freezing soups, I have made a half dozen recipes that are really good, along with tomato sauce and lots of frozen corn and peppers, to stock my freezer. I have been paying a lot more attention to the sales at the store to fill my pantry. When I have a nice variety of food in the house we don't get tempted to go out.

Stella - I do most of my sewing (mainly bags, purses, smaller household items) with remainders. Does your fabric store have that option? Also, lately I have been picking up cheap clothes at the thrift shop - think t-shirts, sheets, fleece blankets and jackets - to use as fabric. I can usually get a t-shirt for $0.50 and some of the other stuff for $1.00, especially if I go on 1/2 off day. Last night DH wanted a tea cosy to keep the kettle warmer, so I whipped one up from an online pattern, outer and lining fabric from my remnant stash & part of a fleece jacket for the padding. It maybe cost $2.00 in all. Oh, and I avoid looking at yummy sites like Reprodepot so I don't salivate over the super-cute fabric and concentrate on my pretty cute remnants instead!

A few days ago while walking I talked to a neighbor who was feeling poorly. She said she had a sore throat and pain all the way up to her ear. I came back later and gave her a natural antibiotic that I made and a sore throat tea bag. She was really appreciative and gave me a half bushel of pears from her yard that she had sitting on her porch. So far I have canned pears and made fruit leather. I went and got two more sheets to make more leather. Strange how you do something just because and it comes back fivefold!

BTW I talked to her yesterday and she said the "antibiotic" did the trick. She now feels better and the pain to her ear is gone. If you are interested it was called 'tried and true cold kicker' recipe from the Keeper of the Home website. It has ginger, onion, rosemary, sage, horseradish, cloves, cayenne pepper put into apple cider vinegar.

I did not work this summer - and unlike previously summers did not have a big tax refund (the kids/young adults are out of college thus no tuition write-offs) - had more than enough thanks to hard-working DH. We met all bills including auto savings and retirement investments. But there were not a lot of extras - eating out, in particular. Back to the school year and work, suddenly one dinner out each week, lunch on Sat and Sun. He felt "broke"over the summer so I feel like I have to give a little now. I feel like it's up to me to plan at least one lunch during the weekend - and have to be willing to go along with the other 1 or 2 meals each week.