May Frugals

My life style has changed pretty drastically since I quit smoking two months ago (yes, it's already been two months)! Not only am I not spending around $30 a month on cigarettes anymore, I also basically quit going out at night anymore too. I am just way too tired anymore to go out like I used to, due to working all three types of shifts in any given week. I "might" go out and have one beer per week at this point, so now I am saving at least $30-40 per month on not buying booze like I used to. This is all good, as I now have a $152 car payment now...

I am also trying really hard to watch it on the grocery front, but it's been hard. My "snacks out" category has been too high for months now; it seems I have a weakness for gelato and turtle brownies at work, and Dairy Queen Blizzards whenever I drive by a DQ...grrrr. I am trying to keep in down to one treat per week. I have noticed since I've quit smoking I am craving sugar more - luckily, I run around enough at work and eat a pretty well-balanced diet so that it hasn't shown up on the scale too much yet. I really would like to cut back on this sugar addiction though but I don't want to be too fanatical about it.
And only 35 days until my summer road trip!!!!!

SQ, congrats on the smoking!! How great. Interesting domino effect on other aspects of life.

My experiment to turn applesauce into apple leather worked! I thawed the frozen applesauce, spread it out on the dehydrator trays, turned it on overnight and this morning I have 6 huge sheets of fruit leather -- YUM! I'm going to do another batch today. This is going to be such an awesome way to use up all the applesauce in our freezer!

SiouzQ, super congrats! Now, factor in the health care costs you'll avoid by not smoking, and I hope you will feel wealthy!

Minus smoking, plus delicious dried fruit goo. Yay!

Hi all,

Had a nice mother's day buffet in my hometown. We picked up Grandma's buffet for her. We resisted getting an additional gift and just let the visit and the meal be our gifts. Both are hard to shop for, we did get cards as well. We got gifts with B&N gift cards for DMiL, she really liked them (a soap and some tea) and she will let us use her MN Landscape Arboretum coupons to take her to the Arboretum next weekend. It's kind of a haul out there and she likes to go with someone, but she already has the entrance coupons from her membership. So she will like that a lot.

We stopped at Goodwill on the way home and I picked up 4 shirts which were sorely needed. Score!

DH got a brake light at AutoZone and fixed his own. I have ordered him an antenna replacement, which he insists he does not need, but it looks like crap and he can't get AM stations. This is ongoing in the quest to fix up the little things on his car as I wrote about earlier in the thread. It was only $15 online. He had it in his mind that it would be $100. He must have asked a dealer at one point.

That's about it!

When we switched to U-verse we lost the DVR clock. DH put one downstairs he had as a gift from work, but it looked kind of tacky with the corporate advertising on it. DS figured our how to reverse the clock face and use the backside facing forward. Now it just looks like a nice wood clock without any advertising.

We sold a extra piece of furniture on Craigslist for $60. This is our second Craigslist sale, and so far so good.

If was really hot last week, so we bought a wading pool to use for baths for the dog. This way we can use the grey water on the lawn and not get the bath tub so dirty.

I bought another load of half price bakery from Fresh and Easy. I bought extra to freeze, so that helped cut our grocery spending for the week. I think if I stop there once a week while I am out doing other errands and save $8 a week, over a year that is over $400. Plus this week I had an extra $5 free in rewards points. I have been trying to knock $2k off the annual grocery budget and so far this month I have been able to stick to that budget. I threw out some food that got old before we ate it, so I need to either buy less or freeze stuff more before it gets too old to freeze.

A local museum sells chicken BBQ dinners on Mother's Day as a fund raiser, so that's always what we do - half a chicken, bag of chips, applesauce, and a roll for $7 so it's a win/win - no cooking, no dishes, and supporting a local cause while celebrating Mom! Plus I had left-overs for lunch today. Hung a load of laundry out early so it was all dry when we got home from Mom's. DH and DD got me plants, so there's a bit I won't have to buy. And we've put off the grocery run for an extra week with only picking up milk and a loaf of bread! That's all I can think of at the moment...

Neat trick with the clock, try2b!

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Originally Posted by early morning

Neat trick with the clock, try2b!

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I have to give all the credit to DS. I asked if he could remove the advertising plaque but he thought that would leave marks in the wood. He came up with making the back of the clock the front all on his own.

Hmmm....I could have sworn I posted this week. My post must not have gone through.

SQ--Awesome job quitting smoking! If you have medical insurance, you might check to see if there are any discounts given to non-smokers.

Well, this weekend was decidedly unfrugal as we ate out a ton and DH had to make a zillion little trips to Home Depot for the nursery (ugh--will this project EVER be done? The baby is due in less than two weeks!) I did go shopping on Friday as planned and got a cute top for DD at Goodwill for $1. I also got her a red, white, and blue skirt (she loves flags!) and a cute sequined purse on clearance. I spent around $1 after the 20% off coupon and my $10 credit. The purse will be put away in my gift closet for a bit, but the skirt she can wear now. I actually bought the next size up, so it is a little big. But I am hoping she can wear it this summer and next. I put off going to Aldi's on Friday and instead did my big shop today. I stayed well within budget even after getting DD a special treat of chocolate ice cream (it was 90 degrees!). I passed on a lot of things that were good deals but not needs. I also saved around $25 with coupons at Walmart (though I did have to tolerate a grouchy cashier to use them!).

Other frugals:

1. Had DD color pictures for my mother and MIL in lieu of cards, which they loved. I got my MIL a sermon notes journal for less than $5, and she loved it. My mom got a basket of Olay goodies. I used coupons and did a $15 rebate, so between that and using packaging I already had, the gift cost less than $7. She loved it, too.

2. My dad's birthday is coming up. He wanted cash, so I will be sending him some. Again, I am having DD color a picture instead of sending a card. I think he will love it. He wanted us to join him and my sister's family for dinner, too, but they chose a very expensive place 40 minutes from here. Between the cost of gas and the meal, we'd probably have to shell out $100 (on top of the financial gift), and we just don't have that. Besides, I will be less than a week away from my due date, and with the complications I have had, I don't want to be that far from home. So we decided to decline the invite. I am sad to miss it, but it just isn't do-able for us right now.

3. In-laws brought over supper on Monday. BBQ and salads. I am SO appreciative!

4. In-laws were over again last night, and I made us all a nice chicken crock pot meal with a side salad. They seemed to really like it, and I felt good about not ordering food in.

5. MIL brought over some coupons and some silverware that belonged to her mother. We only have a couple of mismtached sets and always seem to run out, so I really appreciated this larger set. It isn't complete, but it has a lot of the pieces and will serve us just fine.

6. I have been watering plants with water left sitting out around the house.

7. Been doing laundry in cold water. No softener and hang drying as I am able. When I do use the dryer, I put a dry bath towel in with the load, too, to help cut drying time.

8. I sent a heavy envelope through the mail and almost put two stamps on it. But then I decided to weigh it on my kitchen scale first, and it turns out the extra stamp was not needed.

9. Returned some curtains that didn't work for a $44 back.

10. Been trying not to waste food!

11. Passed on a used book sale since we didn't really need the books. The prices were good, but the library is free. Plus, storage space is limited here.

12. Did order two very nice story book collections online for $5 each for Christmas gifts. Shipping was free.