May Frugals

I know I'm a day early, but due to some home remodeling, we hemorrhaged money all through the month of April. Ugh! Hate months like that! I desperately need to get back on track, so I thought I would start this thread in hopes of doing better in May.

We are on a tiny, tiny budget now that I am done working. Some of the things I have been doing to get by:

--couponing (doing really well with this, even though it is time consuming)
--stockpiling when sales come around (this includes household goods, food, and gifts)
--focusing more on "free" activities like cleaning, organizing, and reading

Today I did my first grocery shop on my new grocery budget ($50 a week average for four people and two cats--this includes health/beauty/pet food, etc.). I shopped for two weeks and came in about $30 under budget. That includes the $8 hanging plant DD picked out for our porch. I will use some of that to pick up little things we frequently run out of-- milk, fruit, etc.--next week.

I also put off buying new maternity shirts. I really could use a few more short-sleeved ones now that it is hot here (87 today!), but I have less than a month until my due date and so am trying to make do with what I have.

Lastly, I have been having a blast playing outside with DD. We blow bubbles, collect branches, smell flowers, play with her ball, go for walks to the park, etc. It is all free and so much fun! I have some sidewalk chalk tucked away for her, too, that I will get out soon. I think she is old enough. :-)

Hey Kat! I was wondering where you've been; we haven't seen Stella for awhile either. I'm glad you're well and it sounds like you're doing great things with your daughter. I can appreciate your remodeling woes. We're currently having a new roof put on, and they're taking pictures of what was underneath the roofing shingles because it is apparently one of the worst-rotted messes they've ever seen - so this is definitely going to come in over budget :(
Will have to be extra-virtuous in other areas to help offset this expense, but it was clearly necessary and long overdue.

Spent the weekend in Chicago - thanks megabus for $24.50 fare for 2 RT tix from Mpls - ate at a deli and brought home 1/2 of each sandwich for the next night's dinner. We stayed at an Embassy Suites hotel which is not particularly frugal but between the managers reception/happy hour and massive breakfast buffet, an OK price plus the front desk upgraded us to the "executive floor" with a corner unit so had a wonderful view of the lake. Had a lovely AM of drinking tea and reading on the window seat overlooking the lake!

Took a personal day today at work and spent most of that time organizing a book sale for my local library - I'm so ready for summer and not working!! So many things to do that add value to my life and cost nothing or near to nothing!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by chrissieq

Spent the weekend in Chicago - thanks megabus for $24.50 fare for 2 RT tix from Mpls - ate at a deli and brought home 1/2 of each sandwich for the next night's dinner. We stayed at an Embassy Suites hotel which is not particularly frugal but between the managers reception/happy hour and massive breakfast buffet, an OK price plus the front desk upgraded us to the "executive floor" with a corner unit so had a wonderful view of the lake. Had a lovely AM of drinking tea and reading on the window seat overlooking the lake!

Took a personal day today at work and spent most of that time organizing a book sale for my local library - I'm so ready for summer and not working!! So many things to do that add value to my life and cost nothing or near to nothing!

---

Chrissy, your excursion sounds wonderful! So nice that they upgraded your room which gave you that view. Glad you have summer off, sounds like lots of fun for you! :)

I have just spent the last 45 minutes reading all the posts about the failures of this site. I came here for the financial support almost 12 years ago. I miss having more money discussions than we have now and am also concerned about not hearing more from people about those things. I haven't posted much lately-life seems to be the same old thing here and there has been so little discussion from others. This is NOT a complaint. I've decided that this place means enough to me that I'm going to start posting more, at least on the frugals topic even if I get very repetitive. After all, being diligent day after day is what is going to get me to FI3. If I bore you I'm sorry but I don't want to see this site fade away. I encourage to share more here-we've been such a family over the years.

I might repeat something I've already shared-just trying to summarize the last few weeks of frugals.

An engine light came on on our car. The first person dh took it too said we needed $500 in repairs. The second person (we rarely bother with a second opinion) reset the light and said to wait and see if it happens again before spending the money. Its been 2 weeks and the light hasn't come on again.

Same kind of situation with the house. First estimate came in at $4200. The other three estimates are between $1500 and $2000. We haven't decided exactly what we're going to do yet but we aren't spending the $4200!

My mother gave me a can of Folgers after making one pot out of it plus, a bag of flavored coffee.

I received a free roll of toilet paper in the mail.

We go to Aldi and buy produce for work all the time. Great veggies at a wonderful price. Anyways, I decided to find a couple of new items to try for myself. I bought a large chocolate bar and a box of triscuit like crackers for a total of $2.74. The chocolate is ok-still need to try the crackers. If they're good they cost less than what I can normally get them for even with a coupon.

rosarugosa--eek! I guess we never really know what we are getting into when we start a project! I hope things end up better than you are expecting.

chrissie--the Chicago trip sounds lovely! It really is a beautiful city!

So the hanger on my daughter's potted plant broke yesterday, and the plant fell flower-side down on the porch! It was quite smashed, and DD was pretty upset about it. I took the hanger from a cracked pot I had planned to throw away and was able to get the plant hanging again. We gave it a good watering, too. I guess now we will wait to see if it perks back up. Back in the day, I probably would have just bought another plant. But it was $8, so we'll see if this one makes it through okay. :-)

I also print a lot of coupons and have been trying to use scratch paper (or even the reverse side of junk mail) in my printer to save on paper costs. Of course I print in grayscale, too, when possible. :-)

One thing I have been working on a lot is getting our photos organized. I have been making digital photobooks online and backing up photos there, too. The photobooks themselves are not cheap, but I have been making them anyway and then waiting for sales and coupons. I just ordered my first book for free and only have to pay shipping and handling. It is nice to be creative, and it is a hobby that doesn't have to cost money unless I want it to.

DH and I talked about throwing DD a birthday party in August. We really don't want to get into the habit of throwing a party every year, but we think she might be feeling a little neglected after the baby is born. So we decided to have just a small family party here and do a luau theme since it goes with the way our deck is decorated. I have started pinning ideas on Pinterest and am starting to gather food ingredients now as I see them on sale (like this week, I will get 13 packs of Kool Aid for $1. DD loves Kool Aid, and it will be way cheaper to serve than punch). I will probably make her a cake, too, and buy some decorations from the dollar store.

So nice to read everyone's posts!

Kat -- great to hear from you as I was wondering where you had gotten to. :) Not that I've been all that diligent about posting myself...

bke -- I always love reading your posts so please keep posting! I am going to try to recommit to posting more regularly, too, because I like this place and I get a lot of support from all of you, especially on this thread!

I don't have much to report, but I did decide to get back to tracking all of my spending. I was always just loosely following my bank account and thinking, well, I'm maintaining a steady month to month so everything must be okay. Ummmm...then I got hit with a giant tax bill. Oops. So, it's back to tracking for me!

My big frugal win for today is that my cat did not need to have a second round of x-rays. I took him to the vet this morning and they just called to tell me that they had made a mistake and had not looked at all the films from the emergency clinic when they recommended that he have more x-rays taken. Oops. At least they were honest and we love all the vets at the clinic so, really, this was not something I was going to get overly annoyed at. Since he's already there they will give him a laser treatment and an injection for his arthritis. So at least I am getting some necessary treatments done instead of just having a wasted trip. Plus no $300 bill for x-rays!

After I get back from the vet I'm going to make some yogurt in the crockpot. This is part of our move towards cooking/baking even more of our food from scratch. We have not bought yogurt in a number of weeks and we haven't bought bread in several months. Small, but important frugal wins.

I'm also going to go to Home Depot to return a sprinkler that I bought that does not work. It was $6, which probably explains why it doesn't work. I'm going to see if I can find something of better quality at another store -- Home Depot only seemed to have cheaply made plastic sprinklers.

This is a tough month for me - dd's birthday, as well as registering for summer camps. I've got to keep my eye on the total amount I spend on these two categories.

Hi everybody!

I had a mindful frugal today. I don't know if you remember that last fall I was talking about our cars quite a bit. I was researching to see if I could fix DH's A/C by myself. Well, I decided no. But I did take it in, and with my knowledge from that research was able to have an intelligent conversation and know what the logical first steps should be in the repair. The shop charged it up and we are to bring it back to check it in a few weeks (when it's hot and has been run a bit, not 35 degrees out). So while I made the mindful choice to spend the money on it (DH would have just stuck it out, but not really, he just drives it the bare minimum and we stack all the miles on my car which has working A/C), it was with education behind it and it will make using the car so much more enjoyable. I think I am going to look into the cost of a new radio for it as well, and probably research that as a DIY job - less at stake than with A/C! It's really a solid car mechanically - 1996 Honda Accord, and only has 160K miles on it. DH is the only owner. I don't like feeling like I'm riding around in a bucket of junk just because the "optionals" like A/C and the radio don't work right. Oh, and water is leaking in around the windshield. So while we've put off those repairs and tried to be stoic about it, I'll confess . . . those things make riding in the car a lot more palatable and if they were fixed, my mind would less frequently turn to replacing that car . . . and that's where the real savings will lie.

Went to Costco on Monday evening and even controlled myself. :) DH has a potluck on Friday - taco bar - so I bought the meat there.

Remember the Petco rewards I was issued? Used all $30 on a bag of dog food yesterday.

We are comparing bids to have some work done on our exterior. It's going to be a LOT of money. I think I know which company I want to use, and it will be about a $5000 savings over the competitors, but still with very good work. We can't compromise on the quality of the job; it's already awful and water has gotten into a very lot of places where it doesn't belong. So this guy will do a better job than some Joe Schmoe off the street, but isn't as high-priced as some of the really high-end remodelers in the area.

We almost - almost - almost financed central air for the house a few weeks ago. Can you believe it?! I was just sick to my stomach thinking we were going to do it. We actually had a big fight over it, because it was a 0% offer for 18 or 24 mo., so DH was ok with it, but I just couldn't get over that it would be DEBT. We have NO consumer debt right now and that's how I prefer it. Even the two mortgages bother me. I am so glad we passed. We might have a hot summer, but we can make it a year or two in order to save up the funds. Plus, having a concrete savings goal like that forces us to channel all our "found" monies, like tax refunds, mileage checks, eBay sales, occasional workshops I put on, etc. to something very concrete and it builds up quickly with focus. Otherwise those monies just disappear into the checkbook and into the household expenses stream, never to be seen again . . . I have a real thing about separating out money. If I can't see it add up, it kind of feels like "why bother? "What difference does it make if I do or don't submit my mileage?" "Big deal if we sell that or give it away"

Hi all - May already, whew! I am so not ready. DD and I are tying to do some outside work around here every evening, and it's starting to look a little better - even though tonight all we did was pull some nasty sticky weeds from the wildflower area under the apricot tree. But I was late getting home, had errands to run- and there's a program about the Spanish Riding School on tonight, so... I've put laundry out before work the last two days, and it's dried really nicely. We've not paid for any unplanned fast food for ages, and even though I really really want ice cream tonight, there's no way in heck I'm leaving the house for it - I'll make do with my second favorite - peanut butter mixed with honey, and eaten with a spoon. :0! Kelli, I know what you mean about needing to separate the money out. I do it on paper - it's all in the same pot - but the checkbook totals don't reflect the emergency fund, my own funds, the vacation stash, etc. Thank goodness for Quicken, lol. Bke, I wasn't aware we were in failure mode - I must have missed those threads - but I really love reading your posts so more=good! Kat, less than a month, how exciting! When DD was born (30 years ago!) I borrowed all of my maternity clothes and was sooo sick of them by the end. She was born in Nov. and most of the tops were short sleeves so I managed to stretch my turtlenecks on under them for work, no way was I buying anything!

I received a packet from a sample company with all sorts of goodies including a fancy razor, dishwashing detergent, HE washing machine detergent, granola bars, make up, etc-sweet to get all of this for free!!

Also talked to both boys today about summer day camps. Normally I like them to attend a week somewhere but they both insist they don't want to. They enjoy just being at home, playing in the park, playing video games, bike rides and the frequent trips we take. So, that will save me between $400-$1000 this year!

We walked to the post office today. I mailed off a DVD I traded in at Amazon for a $7 gift card. For product reviews this past week, I got another free bird feeder and a glass teapot for flowering teas.

In the mail we got a $100 gift certificate for switching to U-verse. A couple of days ago I got a replacement check for $50 for a refund check I had forgotten to cash.

The squirrels chewed through the last vestiges of my initial set of solar string patio lights, so I was a little sad about that. I loved those lights. They stayed bright late into the early morning hours without using any electricity.

DH surprised me by stringing up a second set of solar string lights we used at Christmas and hung them around the patio from ropes instead of around the tree branches so the squirrels shouldn't be able to reach them any more. Tonight the weather was quite nice so after a trip to the dog park and a walk around the little lake nearby, we came home and had tea under the solar lights.

With some of my credit card reward points this month I ordered a set of color changing solar lights in shapes like a hummingbird and a dragonfly. They came in the mail today and DH set those up for me under the string lights. They look really cute and I love it that they do not use any electricity. I am trying to decluttter more than bring new stuff into the house these days, but I feel like solar lights are a good sustainable living purchase. We do sit out on the patio a fair bit at night so we get a lot of frugal enjoyment from the lights.

We went to Fresh and Easy after the dog park and got some good bakery bargains. We met all of the ACH and debit card transaction requirements for our high yield checking account this month so that will be a little extra in interest we weren't getting before. We have to have 10 debit card transaction so I have been using the self serve check at F+E to knock out a few debit purchases each visit.

Earlymorning- I didn't mean to sound so terrible. There have been other threads discussing these kinds of issues. My personal feeling are that I wish there were more money threads/posts. My apologies to anyone I might have offended. For the most part I was thinking that we don't hear much from some people, like Stella, anymore and I miss the inspiration of reading about more frugals from everyone. That led me to think that I need to make sure I'm doing my part and post more even if I think what I have to offer is a bit repetitive. What can I say, I like talking about controlling money.

Mighty frugal-great score on the free samples! Mind telling me what company they were from-maybe I can sign up too!

This morning I am drinking free coffee and using free laundry soap to do this week's washing. I can't remember the last time I paid for either of these items.

I have received a baseball cap, $20 in itune gift cards and a $10 Dollar General gift card in the mail recently from sweepstakes wins.

I continue to collect swag bucks, coke points, and food service rewards points.

We had a school band concert to attend last night. Dh wore the free $50 shirt that we got for him from Khol's. It was on clearance for $10 and I had the same amount in Khol's cash from purchasing much needed work shoes the week before. The shirt looked really nice and I enjoyed seeing him wear it as he very rarely buys himself something new.

I am loving reading everyone's frugals! Feeling inspired! :-)

Mighty Frugal--that sample packet sounds sweet! :-)

Let's see. I received my first check from ebates and my rewards from SwagBucks. I got about $11 cash, a $20 Walmart card, and a $40 amazon.com gift card. I started a jar for these things so that we can use the cash/gift cards for whatever Christmas gifts we have left to buy this year. I also have a $15 prepaid rebate card and $25 worth or Target cards in there. I have been giving all my change to DD for doing her chores (picking up her toys a couple of times a day and putting her clothes in the hamper). We are going to buy her a piggy bank, but for now, we are just using an old pickle jar. Works fine, and she likes the clanking noise it makes when you put change in it. :-)

The plant that fell on the ground the other day has perked up a bit. I think it might make it!

My diaper bag broke yesterday, which is annoying. It can't be sewn--the hardware went ka-put. Right now I have it tied together, but it really is looking shabby between that and all the plastic that is peeling away from the interior. My mom bought the bag for me when I was expecting DD less than two years ago. It is a Carter's brand and cost her $40, so I am surprised that it turned out to be not a quality bag. Anyway, now that I have another baby on the way, it might be time for a little bit bigger of a bag, anyway, so I have been reading reviews online and trying to find one that will meet our needs now and double as a weekend bag if we need one later. Might as well look for as much function as possible! I was surprised to find how expensive diaper bags can be--like do people in "real life" really spend $200 on a diaper bag?! Anyway, I have set a limit much lower than that and am determined to find a good quality one that both DH and I like. I'd make my own but don't really have the time or the skill!

I started washing Little Man's clothes and putting them away in his dresser yesterday. We have not had to buy too much for him, and I am pleased to say that I think we will have enough to get by for the first nine months or so!

Last night DH and I took DD outside to play with sidewalk chalk. Then he took her for a short walk. It was lovely frugal fun. The only thing is that we ordered a pizza because he worked late and DD was too fussy for me to get my planned supper made. SO...I think I will make supper today while she naps, and then we can just heat it up later. That will prevent us from eating out. I also found a recipe online I am going to try. It is for a lava crunch cake-type dessert in the crock pot. DH loves lava crunch cakes, but they are expensive! If this works, I can make a whole pan full for very little money (I almost always have the ingredients for it in my pantry). I think I will serve it with a little ice vanilla ice cream I have stashed away.

I have a doctor's appointment today, and since I have to pay the co-pay anyway, I think I will get some gas (budgeted for) so as to combine trips and maybe make tomorrow a no spend day.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by bke

Earlymorning- I didn't mean to sound so terrible. There have been other threads discussing these kinds of issues. My personal feeling are that I wish there were more money threads/posts. My apologies to anyone I might have offended. For the most part I was thinking that we don't hear much from some people, like Stella, anymore and I miss the inspiration of reading about more frugals from everyone. That led me to think that I need to make sure I'm doing my part and post more even if I think what I have to offer is a bit repetitive. What can I say, I like talking about controlling money.

Mighty frugal-great score on the free samples! Mind telling me what company they were from-maybe I can sign up too!

This morning I am drinking free coffee and using free laundry soap to do this week's washing. I can't remember the last time I paid for either of these items.

I have received a baseball cap, $20 in itune gift cards and a $10 Dollar General gift card in the mail recently from sweepstakes wins.

I continue to collect swag bucks, coke points, and food service rewards points.

We had a school band concert to attend last night. Dh wore the free $50 shirt that we got for him from Khol's. It was on clearance for $10 and I had the same amount in Khol's cash from purchasing much needed work shoes the week before. The shirt looked really nice and I enjoyed seeing him wear it as he very rarely buys himself something new.

---

Bke - I didn't think your post sounded terrible at all. I enjoy the existing threads here, but would also love to see more specific simple living how to ideas.

Your sweepstakes winnings sound great. Do you have a forum you use to find about where to enter? Have you ever tried slickdeals for ideas? I always like their what did you get in the mail today ongoing thread. I tried swagbucks but at the rate I am gaining points all I will get is two $5 gift cards this year.

I haven't posted here in a while. There haven't been many frugals, but at least there haven't been unfrugals.

- Courtesy of my mom taking DW and me out to dinner last night, I enjoyed a nice Tinga de Pollo lunch today. I will be on my own for dinner as DW received theater tickets from a friend for tonight. We have enough other leftovers in the house that I won't have to cook but I won't do takeout either.
- Yesterday was a no-drive day for me. Tuesday was errand day; one stop was the auto mechanic, who discovered the source of a noise I'd been hearing for a couple of weeks. I thought it would be a front suspension strut, but it was a drooping fender liner and it cost all of $10 to fix that problem. :cool: Another stop was Comcast, where I returned a cable modem that was costing us $7/month to rent. I think I wrote in an earlier Frugal that the purchased cable modem will pay for itself in 10 months.

Umm, wow. Can't think of anything else. Maybe once we can get outside a few more frugals will appear.

Mighty Frugal that sounds like a very nice freebie package. And it must be a relief not to have to come up with extra cash for the summer camps. I bet the boys will have a great summer.

Well, spring is really here. We have ants in the kitchen. I've got some cornmeal down but if that works it will take a while. In the meantime I just tried an ant spray I found on pinterest using dawn, peroxide & scope. I used my free bottle of Dawn from the other day & a free sample size of scope. We'll see how it goes.

I got spaghetti sauce on a shirt. I pre-treated & washed it twice but it was still there so yesterday I hung it out in the sun for a few hours. Stain gone!

ETA: Forgot to say that I used up some cubed steak from the freezer yesterday making vegetable beef soup since I didn't have any stew meat. Or any other beef for that matter. The texture was different but the soup was still good.

Steve: What a relief on the car repair. Good for you! Nice to hear from everyone. I'll try to commit to a little more in the way of contributions as well.
Debatable frugal: I've finally ordered a bread machine. Laugh if you will, but I think that I will get good value from it at this stage of my life. I eat a lot of bread, and it seems we are always running out for bread and picking up a few other things beside, which is rough on the grocery budget. It's also a time-stealer. So this should help to eliminate those $15 - $20 bread runs. We had a bread machine long ago, and it was so easy that even I could use it :) I understand that buying yeast at Costco will be my best bet. When we had the machine before, we were buying those little packets of yeast, which really diminished the cost-effectiveness of making our own. I know that the real frugal would be to bake from scratch the old-fashioned way, but I just don't have the time, natural aptitude, or desire to go to that extreme! I'll report back on whether it appears to have been a worhwhile purchase.

Rosarugosa-I don't see anything funny about buying a bread machine. If it allows you to save money, eat better quality bread and you enjoy that bread I'd say its a great idea!

There's not too much to report this morning. I did save 6 cents a gallon by waiting as long as possible to fill the tank.

We've had some flooding issues at the house and are working on some repairs. The excavater was there for most of the afternoon working on things. We weren't expecting him until Saturday so we were really pleased. This led us to spend the afternoon/evening in the sun watching him. He finished for the day at around 8 last night. We ended up having fast food for dinner.

I don't know exactly how much the repairs are going to cost yet-I suspect around $2000. Dh saved us $200 by telling the contractor that he will re-seed the yard himself. Ugh-more work.

Business is starting to pick up at the restaurant and I am SOOOO thankful. It was a very long, quiet winter around here-our worst ever.

I managed to get quite a sun burn yesterday-no sun screen because of the unplanned situation. I find that I'm really tired this morning. I'm going to get off this computer soon and take a siesta in preparation for a busy weekend.

Have a great weekend everyone!

rosarugosa--I, too, think the bread machine is a great idea! If you will use it and enjoy it, then the savings are really just a bonus! :-)

Today is a no spend/no drive day. It is cold and rainy here, so I have just been doing indoor activities with DD--coloring and playing with her baby doll. DH came home for lunch, and I thought he would appreciate a hot meal, so I made some eggs along with some toast and sausage from the freezer. Easy but filling. Dinner will be something easy, too--probably sandwiches or maybe some baked chicken if I can muster up the energy.

Not much going on today, I guess!

rosarugosa -- another vote for the fabulousness of the bread maker! We use ours all the time -- you will not regret the purchase!

bke -- good luck with reseeding your lawn -- it's one of those things you can definitely do yourself so totally worth it to save a few hundred bucks!

A sort of frugal/non-frugal day here. I was scheduled to go to a meeting early this morning so was going to meet a friend for breakfast afterwards. Then had a lunch meeting later on. All three events were in the same vicinity so it was a good way to limit my driving. Well, I bailed out of the early morning meeting because, honestly, I was too exhausted and stressed to get up that early. Fortunately, it was not something critical so my absence didn't create an issue for others. But I did want to still meet my friend for breakfast. Unfortunately, the place that we usually go doesn't really have anything gluten free. I was planning to just order hot tea and eat the snacks I had stashed in my bag, but it turns out they have macaroons now and those are gluten free. So I indulged with a macaroon for breakfast! It was only $1.50 so not too much of a splurge, but still...I did get tea, too, and I had to pay for parking. Oy. As I was leaving to go to the lunch meeting I got a text message asking if we could reschedule. Ugh. Saved me on the cost of lunch, but now I have to find another time for that meeting and drive...again. Fortunately, these are all fairly small inconveniences and expenses, so I really shouldn't complain.

In truly frugal news...I essentially depleted my stockpile of tea. I have one small bag of loose tea that I need to finish up. I opened it this morning and...wow...it is really not very good. But I will drink it. To make it more tolerable, I printed out (on the backside of a used sheet of printer paper, mind you!) a 15% off coupon for Barnes & Noble and I stopped there in my travels to buy a one of my favorite teas. (I'll alternate between so-so tea and my favorite tea to get everything used up.) Spent $8.47 and that should keep me for a few weeks, which means I can now order more of my other favorite tea online and wait for it to be shipped as opposed to paying an inflated price at Whole Foods!

Not much else to report other than my usual frugal activities. I've been diligent about using my tea pot and travel mugs for mass tea consumption. We've been pretty good about eating at home most of the time. My dearly beloved, not so much, but I can't control his choices, only my own. He's pretty good, though, overall so I can't really complain. Doing all the laundry with cold water (except for when the cat peed on a towel). Need to get better about hanging things on the line, though. I've been a slacker in this arena. We've done so well with keeping our energy use low enough to be covered by our solar panel production that it's hard to see the benefit of line drying, but I know it is there! I've been pretty diligent about re-using the backsides of printer paper when I need to print a bunch of stuff. And we've got a pretty good stockpile of "good" printer paper, too. I did get a coupon from Staples for a free ream, so if I remember, I will take advantage of that. Might as well build the stockpile if it's free!

I think that's pretty much it. As more comes up I'll report in!

Finally have some frugals to report.

--goodie bag from dentist contained sample mouthwash; sample tooth paste; 2 tooth brushes and sample floss. Also $1 Off coupons for the full size items. He also gave me a free bottle of the mouthwash for post oral surgery which usually costs $15. (Almost made oral surgery worth it--NOT!!)

--Sent DH to shop at Whole Foods to spend $50 gift card given to me for tutoring help. Got 2 roasted chickens from which we will get many meals; organic vegetable broth; fresh fruit; fresh and frozen veggies; Greek Yogurt; bread and much more. He is a great shopper and this was "free food" that will tide us over for a couple of weeks.

--Was going to buy side bag and backpack for Mom's wheelchair but thought of checking Freecycle and Craig's List. Got both from Craig's List for free. Brand new. Sadly the woman's Mom never recovered enough to use the items. She also gave me a cup holder and a small ID pocket. (Made me realize how lucky that my Mom is still with us and able to sit in her chair) Then I got a brand new, handmade bag from a local woman for my sister's walker. She makes them for the local senior home and offered me one for my Sis after seeing my post on Freecycle.

-- DH used purchases at WF and leftovers we had in freezer to make enough soup to last for weeks. (We keep a bowl for leftover liquids and a freezer bag for bits of meat, veggies and pasta and rice. This makes a wonderful Surprise Soup...which my Grandmother used to call Prison Soup. :D)

--Can't drive because of pain meds so the car stayed in the driveway.

--Feeling a lot better, but getting bored. I resisted the urge to shop on-line which is a bad habit of mine when I am housebound.:|(

I got a raise! An additional $.35 an hour. It will be on my next check.

I did my grocery shopping today and stuck pretty much to the list and came in under budget.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Azure

I got a raise! An additional $.35 an hour. It will be on my next check.

---

Congratulations!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Azure

I got a raise! An additional $.35 an hour. It will be on my next check.

I did my grocery shopping today and stuck pretty much to the list and came in under budget.

---

Congratulations Azure...:cool:

A very frugal week - I'm organizing a book sale at the library and have had either set up or the actual sale all this week so have spent nothing! I will spend $5 for the bag sale at the end of the day and pick up a few things that I will read and then donate back for the next sale. The head librarian always gives me a very nice bottle of wine with her thanks - always much better than I would normally drink - and this time it was wrapped in a string backpack from her son's college. She made fun of the wrapping but I think it is a bag that will come in handy so consider it a second gift!

We each get a small cash allowance every week and any left over cash goes into a coffee can for emergencies, little splurges, or cash to take on trips with us so the can is a wee bit fuller this week.

I have gotten two ideas - Lily, you gave me the idea to start up the leftovers bag in the freezer . . . we do this with tomato sauces, but I had never thought to do it with bits of pasta and such.

And cdttmm, you gave me the idea that we could buy some things at Barnes & Noble aside from books. DH has had some gift cards languishing for months, maybe even years . . . and I'm feeling like we should spend some of them up. So we might try to think of some other need that we could meet with them, like Mother's Day cards or maybe we'll just walk up there and see what we see. Not so frugal to buy just to buy, but we do like tea and drink quite a bit and are getting low, so maybe we'll see something we like. What's your fave called?

Here we made items for the plant/bake sale today for the community garden - egg carton firestarters. We'll see if they go. I'd rather just make a donation and probably will in addition. Our perennials just aren't poking up in order to even see where they are to split them and contribute those . . . maybe over at the rental we can find something to dig up.

Well just blew it - but not really. We went out this morning and purchased a new to us car. The old one had been clunking around for too long and was begining to make us very anxious about taking trips. But although it cost us we were able to negotiate a very good price as we went it waving CASH!!!! It was also well within our budget and we still have a very comfortable cushion. Need to spend time getting the best deal on the car insurance now but as it is due anyway I was psyched up to do it.

We arrived home from our l o n g trip about 10 days ago and today was our first stock up shop. Got there early, as usual, before the hordes of shoppers and so was able to work out best prices. Also had £5.94 in coupons to use that were off the total amount of the shop not specific items and so that was a bonus.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by fidgiegirl

And cdttmm, you gave me the idea that we could buy some things at Barnes & Noble aside from books. DH has had some gift cards languishing for months, maybe even years . . . and I'm feeling like we should spend some of them up. So we might try to think of some other need that we could meet with them, like Mother's Day cards or maybe we'll just walk up there and see what we see. Not so frugal to buy just to buy, but we do like tea and drink quite a bit and are getting low, so maybe we'll see something we like. What's your fave called?

---

fidgiegirl -- I prefer the Harney & Sons green tea with coconut and vanilla. It's very light in color and flavor so it's a nice summertime tea. They also have some coffee and tea accessories so if you need a travel mug or something those are options, too. Or you could just have a coffee and dessert date in their cafe. Our local B&N also stocks Godiva chocolate in gift boxes, so you could always use your gift cards for those, too. B&N also has nice writing journals, too. Or treat yourself to a magazine. Barnes & Noble gift cards would last all of about 5 minutes at my house! :~)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by cdttmm

fidgiegirl -- I prefer the Harney & Sons green tea with coconut and vanilla. It's very light in color and flavor so it's a nice summertime tea. They also have some coffee and tea accessories so if you need a travel mug or something those are options, too. Or you could just have a coffee and dessert date in their cafe. Our local B&N also stocks Godiva chocolate in gift boxes, so you could always use your gift cards for those, too. B&N also has nice writing journals, too. Or treat yourself to a magazine. Barnes & Noble gift cards would last all of about 5 minutes at my house! :~)

---

That tea sounds wonderful. You also have me thinking now about a teapot. We have a kettle, and I like to brew loose tea, but we have a single cup basket and sometimes I want to make tea for both DH and I at the same time. Usually I brew it in a large measuring cup and strain through the single cup basket, but had been thinking about getting a larger brewing pot. I may have just talked myself out of it, though! :)

Just went to the community garden plant sale and also assessed our own seedlings and thinned them. We will save a lot of $$ in plants this year, yippee! Now just to figure out where to put all of them. :)

I picked up two tomato plants, two jalapenos, rosemary, and two squashes plus four packets of seeds and pack of cookies for DH for $15.50. And it all goes to the garden. Whee!

We are going to put on our long underwear and go garage saling in Bryn Mawr. Curse you, 37 degrees on May 4!!!!! IT IS GARAGE SALE SEASON NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY.

We had a fun afternoon garage sale-ing and I was even able to take off my long johns in the car part way through. :)

We got:
9 pr. brand new department store underwears + 1 t-shirt for DH - $1 each. Tags still on them (anywhere from $18-$30 new) and still in the box = $10 total. The score of the day!
Router table, needs bolts (big deal) = $1
Waffle iron = $2 (I figured if it works out, great, if not we will still stick to the cast iron plan)
Frilly scarf = 33 cents
Gro light fixture (but needs new bulb) = 33 cents
Tongs for kitchen = 33 cents
4 skeins of yarn = Free
2 paperbacks for the beach or campground this summer = $1

Bought a hot chocolate for $2.50 and shared it.

Spent up $40 in B&N gift cards on Mother's Day cards and a gift for DMiL. Still need something for my mom, but was nice to be able to use those up for something we'd be buying anyway. We also got some of that tea for ourselves, cdttmm. I look forward to enjoying it.

Iforonwy: Congratulations on your new car!
Kelli: So sorry about your crappy weather; I hope spring finds you soon!
Today was the maiden voyage for the bread machine and it was a success, so will now have to incorporate breadmaking into the routine. It was quite simple though. The roofers are almost done and it's looking really good. Although it was a major expense, it feels good to take care of something so essential. DH is making tilapia with fresh mango, asparagus, and rice for dinner. Nothing like fine dining at home!

Ooh rosa, yum!

I blew all frugals with the purchase of several items on Amazon as well as a Waterhog mat from LL Bean. Oh well, I justify them by the fact that: 1) they were not impulse purchases 2) one is a reasonably priced gift and 3) in the case of the mat, it shouldn't ever have to be replaced.

Yard sales in small town, we got a $1 all cotton shirt for me and a pair of $2 shorts (guy didn't know whether to charge $1 or $2 and seemed so lost that $2 didn't seem fair. Then a $5 office chair for DH--really comfy, and he apologized for having made fun of me for wanting to stop at the sales.

Congrats on the raise AZURE!

I love the idea of using up the B&N gift cards on useful items besides books. The teas and chocolates sound so fun and indulgent!

Fidgiegirl-I always admire your garage sale finds. I can't wait until I have the time to treasure hunt like you do!

I don't have much to report myself other than having 2 no spend days-yeah!

So can anyone fill me in on what is going on with Stella these days? I remember her telling us that she had gotten sick and been hospitalized a couple of months ago. I can only recall seeing one post from her since. Is she just busy with family or is she having health problems?

Stella did mention something about trying to minimize Internet time when Lent started, and I haven't seen as much of her on FB, Pinterest or here since then . . . so I'm guessing she found some success in her endeavor. Hopefully that's all! Stella, if you are seeing this, we miss you on the frugals thread!

larknm, congrats on your garage sale finds as well!

Congrats on the raise, Azure! That is great!

I am so jealous of all of the good garage sale finds you all have been posting! I haven't made it to many garage sales of late.

Well...things have yet again taken an unfrugal turn around here. I am being watched for pre-eclampsia now; my feet and legs are so swollen that I have been advised by my doctor to stay off of them and rest for the remainder of my pregnancy (about three weeks). I am not on "bed rest," mind you--I am just supposed to rest more as I am able. This is very, very hard for me to do as I like to be productive. It is also largely unfrugal because DH doesn't cook much and our tendency has been to eat out when I don't feel well. We seriously need to stop doing that. My plan is to get things in the crock pot in the morning or at least have stuff for sandwiches around.

Today I rode along with DH to an appointment in a city about 45 minutes away. We needed to get gas, so we stopped here in town before we hit the road (since gas is cheaper here). That is where the frugals end, though! We ended up eating out (only $12 for the three of us, though, so not so bad I guess) AND took DD shopping for a new toy. She has been so, so good about shopping for the baby and seeing all these presents come for him...but we think she is still feeling a little left out, so we let her pick out something special. We don't have any boys in my family--my sisters and I are all girls, and we have all had all girls. This is the eleventh grandchild and only boy! So people are excited, and I appreciate their generosity...but I don't want to see DD get lost in it all, either. So I have been planning some special things just for her--places for us to go, things for us to do/try, etc.--and will carry through on those even if some of them do cost a little money.

So...I figured since I had already blown it for today, I would finish up my planned shopping, too. I ordered the entryway furniture I have had my eye on. I also got a new diaper bag along with a tranquil turtle for Little Man's room. While I was at it, I ordered season 1 of DH's favorite TV show (a used copy). That last one wasn't planned, but he is very much a "gifts" person and has been working so hard trying to get the nursery done. I keep trying to tell myself this is all okay since most of it was planned. I did save $200 on the furniture with a 10% off code and will get $200 back in store credit as well...and the turtle was paid for with gift cards earned from Swag Bucks...but still....there was little about today that was frugal, and I need to get back on track starting tomorrow.

Yard sales are not the norm here in the UK but car boot sales are. I hope to visit local one in the coming week if the weather stays dry.

We think we got a good deal on the car. The salesman was very tuned in to our budget and although they ususally like to make a bit for themselves on the finance deals seemed to understand the words "cash sale". He showed us one car that looked like a good buy for us but I spotted another and asked about it. He said it had only half the milage and would do it for the same price if we were interested. We left our old car there and took a test drive. When we came back he said "your poor old car!" We thought oops no deal on it but we had been up-front saying that it was unwell. But he came back with a generous figure for it and so the deal was done.

DH is in the garage at the moment re-arranging things so that it will fit in.

Our cushion still looks OK and with some effort we will be able to build it back up again.

Take care, Kat! Pre-eclampsia is scary.

Frugals:
We were given a long-term loan of a violin by one of DH's coworkers, for DD, who is now tall enough for a 4/4 size. Also found a buyer for her 1/2 size, which will more than pay for the bow, case, and shoulder rest that we need to buy.

I have worked out an MP3-based solution to DD's music-in-bedroom (well, mostly audio books). She's been using CD players which only last about a year before the laser goes out of alignment. Last year I found one at a yard sale for $1 in which the CD player actually worked for about 8 months or so, but that is not the norm - usually the CD players at yard sales are nonfunctional. With a portable speaker we already have, a Sandisk expandable MP3 player with power adapter and expansion microSD card (36 GB total - audio books take up a lot of space), at less than the cost of 2 portable CD players, we have something that should last a lot longer and result in less electronic waste.

I expect that it might be possible sometime in May to turn off the heat and begin hanging laundry outside. I'm not holding my breath though, since it was snowing furiously on Friday morning.