June frugals

Hey, I can't believe we don't have this yet! Did I miss something?? Are we tired of frugals? OH N0 - it can't be! :0! Well, I have the same old bunch (hanging laundry, mostly cold-water washing, commando showers, taking lunch/coffee/drinking water, shopping at Aldi, DD uses swag bucks for our cat food, etc) and one for DH,which is big! Once a month he goes to a movie or some such with his elder (and crabby) brother. DH pays for tickets and snacks as a thank-you for his brother helping out with a monthly clinic appointment. So today, DH talked crabby into a matinee of the movie they had chosen, and they split a value pack snack (drinks, popcorn, candy)! Now we don't go to many movies and we never get popcorn and a drink, but for crabby, that is mandatory - so this was a huge step. DH managed to get his brother to believe it was sort of his idea, even! Yay DH!:cool:

Not too many frugals yet this month.

We had a houseguest staying with us for the past two or three weeks and she finally was able to move into a place of her own, so we no longer have extra electricity/water/food being used. The furnace has been off for a couple of weeks now, so there is that.

I got my bicycle back from the shop today; it was a not-unreasonable amount to spend for a tuneup and a couple of new parts which should make riding far more comfortable, and I could not buy a bike of that quality now for what this cost (although the bike is almost 30 years old now). Assuming no other major repairs, this should be cheap exercise and maybe even a way to run some local errands sans car (now that I can pick and choose when to ride). I also bought a new helmet (mine was older than dirt) and found the cheapest one they had fit well and met my other specifications, so I saved at least $30 I didn't spend on the next level of helmets there.

Sunday was a no-drive day.

Beyond that ... I got nothin'.

A never-before-precedented duplicate monthly frugals thread! I thought the same thing on 6/2!

http://www.simplelivingforum.net/sho...t=june+frugals

Same-o same-o around here on the frugal front.....but it does occur to me that here it is already June and we have had the air conditioner on so far this season for.....4 hours! (Friday afternoon before the storms hit, the humidity just got unbearable. Once the storm hit we were fine.) In fact, we've only run the attic fan overnight for 2 nights. That's just pretty darn frugal for us, even though it's a function of the weather and not really anything we're doing ourselves. Still, I'll take the savings.....

I got my check from the State Controller to day for an uncashed check I reclaimed. I found it in on one of those unclaimed property online sites.

Last month I lowered the monthly grocery budget and still actually came in a bit under budget so I was happy about that. We been trying to manage leftovers better so we have less food waste.

We went out for Indian food using a half price coupon on Friday. Our last grocery trip was to buy food on special and clearance at Fresh and Easy and then use a 20% off coupon, too. Over the weekend we bought steaks on special and made them in a cast iron grill pan on the stove. I think they taste better that way than when we use the outdoor grill plus using the stove doesn't use up any charcoal. I bought another LED bulb as a part of our ongoing bulb replacement program.

Other than that just the usual frugals like hiking and the dog park for free fun, cooking from scratch when we can and line drying laundry.

We made it through our first official heat wave of the summer without turning on the AC -- woo-hoo! We did use our whole house fan at night to make sleeping more comfortable, but other than that, we just toughed it out. Now that the thunderstorms have rolled through, the weather is beautiful and we won't even be thinking of needing the AC!

I'm on week 3 of my new job and starting to get a few things dialed in. Been taking tea in two travel mugs, a water bottle, and lunch each day for the past 4 days (I only work 3 or 4 days per week). So far, so good! I picked up some extra hours last week, which was a nice plus, and will get a stipend for attending a PD session this week. So an extra $200 in income for not much extra effort -- I'll take it!

Made a bean salad and grilled asparagus for dinner last night. We'll have leftovers for lunch today. I'll make a cold pasta/veggie salad for dinner tonight and lunches tomorrow. Trying to keep the grocery bill in check and doing okay so far this week/month.

Other than that, it's the same basic stuff. Washing full loads of laundry in cold water, line drying when possible, eating leftovers and minimizing food waste, driving as little as possible (and driving the more fuel efficient car whenever possible), and simply trying not to buy anything that we don't need!

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Originally Posted by early morning

Once a month he goes to a movie or some such with his elder (and crabby) brother. DH pays for tickets and snacks as a thank-you for his brother helping out with a monthly clinic appointment. So today, DH talked crabby into a matinee of the movie they had chosen, and they split a value pack snack (drinks, popcorn, candy)! Now we don't go to many movies and we never get popcorn and a drink, but for crabby, that is mandatory - so this was a huge step. DH managed to get his brother to believe it was sort of his idea, even! Yay DH!:cool:

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lol.... love the crabby brother story--I totally relate.

Frugals: We're really trying to be create and learn how to cook EVERYTHING in our CSA box. This week it was learning collard greens and kale. I've used kale before in soups, but we experimented with cooking it up with garlic and fat. (I must admit, bacon fat worked the best--even though I don't eat bacon, I can cheat and make use of the fat, can't I?). Bought a huge bag of rice at our local Indian supermarket.

The summer heat and humidity has begun in earnest so the air-conditioner is on. I keep it around 82 and use our ceiling fans. It is a balance trying to use it as little as possible. We installed solar screens several years ago and they really do help but I also close off the blinds on windows on the side of the house getting the sun.

I combined trips to the grocery, pharmacy, library, and gas station. I will not be taking the van out again until Friday.

Good on everyone for our little frugal victories.

My little one this week: realized that the mouse pad on the desk was just.....GROSS. Truly filthy. How did I not notice it? Gave it a good wipe down - nope. Still gross. Gave up and wrote "mouse pad" on the shopping list.

Couple days later I'm thinking that well, it's just foam-y kinda stuff. Maybe I could scrub it in a sink full of suds? Maybe.....I could put it in the dishwasher? !!! Yep, folded it into the dishwasher and it came out looking great. Had to air-dry it for awhile outside, but it worked! Looks brand new. And as it's a souvenir mouse pad (commemorating a trip to the Caribbean in '06), I get to continue to enjoy looking at it, and saved a few bucks too.

It's the little things.

Blackdog Lin, I love that!! And if your mouse is a laser mouse, you don't even need a pad. But after that success, well, how could you not use it?! :)

My DH has sold two rain barrels that we weren't going to use (one we already had, and one we picked up for free at the side of the road) for a total of $115. Yeah, DH! And yeah, they are out of my yard, along with the cinder block they sat on.

I needed to register the deed to the restaurant today. It was a 30 mile trip one way so we ran several other errands in the process including getting the oil changed and stocking up ds with library books now that summer is here. We watched gas prices jump from 4.00 to $4.30 a gallon while we were out. I filled the tank at $4.03 and felt happy to do so.

I received coupons in the mail for 3 free yogurts from a sweepstake that I keep winning little prizes on.

Dh cut ds's hair last night saving around $15 dollars.

I'm going to try and do some sweeps if I get the time this afternoon.

Used my crockpot on the screened in porch so did not add heat to my house. I put all the leftover fresh veggies I had (zucchini, mushroom, onion, peppers) had and put a few sliced chicken breasts and tomato sauce on top. Delicious. I have a hard time cooking in this heat. I wrapped some potatoes in foil and they are in the crock for tonight's meal stuffed with broccoli, salsa and cheese.
Have not driven since last Friday. Lots of biking and walking.

bke, I saw that price jump here in Ohio, too! I pass several stations to/from work that are generally cheaper - the one on the way home last night was a bit higher so I held out in the hope that the one on the AM loop was still lower, and it was this morning - 3.74 instead of 3.86 so I filled up. Tonight they were both at 3.99! I only have a 10 gallon tank and try never let it get really low, so I don't save a lot even at 25 cents a gallon savings, but still! Got my oil changed and had a can of additive to put in. My oil-change guy put in a third of the can and said that should be plenty, since it treats 10 quarts and I only use 3.5! So instead of the oil treatment being $10 each time, it will only be $3.33. And it really helps with the lifter ticking. Washed up a winter chair cover and line dried it yesterday. DD had $20 Kohl's cash given to her, and she didn't see anything she wanted so she passed it on to me. I got a cute shirt for work for $4 after using the "cash"! That was fun. Then I blew half of my savings on coffee drinks for the two of us and some ice cream for DH, who is feeling poorly after installing the dishwasher. :~)

Yesterday I watched my friend's kids, so I had 8 kids here, 5 of them age 3 or younger. I had thought about this beforehand and decided to have dinner made ahead of time. I figured I might be a little tired after that. :) We had cheesy potato soup with bacon.

Zach and I went on a walk for our date last night. I got some sad news about my sister's situation (her fiancé left her) and I needed to clear my head. It was really helpful to just get some fresh air and talk to Zach about it all. I am so grateful for him. He really is my best friend. We are trying to really minimize how often we go out to eat for our weekly date nights.

I am starting a new history curriculum I really like. It is good books based, so for the sake of saving money I am starting off with just purchasing the core and highly recommended books. The suggested reading books I am having a lot of luck finding at the library. There are a couple I might end up buying eventually though, just because they are so awesome. We will see. I have an easy time talking myself into buying educational materials, especially for the big girls because they will be used by five children. On the other hand, they will most likely still be at the library when the littles are older.

I'm taking care of my niece and 2 nephews (ages 12, 11 and 9) while their parents have their first adult vacation since they got married 13 years ago! We started the 4 day visit with a trip to Aldi's for meals to be made at home - cereal and eggs for breakfasts, lots of fruit, a few treats for snacks, and dinner stuff. Spent $53 which could be the cost of one meal out for the 5 of us so I'm good with that.

We walked to the library near my house - at their request. My nephew found books he hasn't been able to get at their library and my niece got some craft books for us to make things from.

Tomorrow I don't have a car so we will hang around in the AM - maybe hit the playground near me - and then another sister will take them to the Y for family swim and have dinner with them.

No set plan for the rest of the weekend but they are very easy going and relatively easy to please!

We had a good shopping trip last night saving close to $100 between what we bought for work and for home. Deals include free shower gel and deodorant, inexpensive Gatorade ( a must for us at work!), brownie mixes and mac n cheese.

Hopefully, we won't be doing any driving this weekend. With gas prices so high, I feel wasteful going anywhere that isn't absolutely necessary.

I continue to play scrabble on facebook for free entertainment. I use free shampoo and conditioner samples in the shower saving the free large containers to fill in around the little samples. Soaps and deoderants sold at my yard sale so I'm saving them to be used only when necessary.

I keep trying products at Aldi's but just don't like them! They're cheaper but the quality just isn't right to me. I bought coffee creamer this time and well its almost oily to me. The produce is lovely but I just don't like the other stuff.

Chrissie, all of that sounds like so much fun. I just love stuff like that.

bke, I like Aldi so much. They often have better quality produce that the regular markets, and their fair trade dark roast coffee, at $4 for 12 ounces is as good as the regular markets where the good coffee is more than twice the cost. I recently found a great chair for the porch there, too. :)

Jilly, I'm going to have to keep trying products one by one and see what I discover. I never thought I was picky-I used to shop at sav a lot when it was open. Not that you're suggesting I'm particular! I'm just surprised I don't like the products more!

Thought I would add that I received coupons for 4 full-size jugs of juice and postage stamps in today's mail.

Made lunch in even though my sister was visiting. We used up some corn that needed to be used and only bought a pound of hamburger to grill up and one ear of corn for her. She was happy and so were we. :)

Taking DMiL out for a dinner tonight.

Not much else! I just wrote in the finishing thread that I've had a breakthrough in my craft room organization project due to my sister giving me some organizational items that helped shift my thinking. They are nice items and I was happy to get them. For my new approach all I will need to get is a few boards that will become shelves in the closet. This will save me from buying a freestanding shelving unit and help to be able to use the small dresser I already have, just in a different way.

Also in a decluttering mood because of this, so my eye is looking around for things to purge/sell. It's ongoing!!

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Originally Posted by bke

Jilly, I'm going to have to keep trying products one by one and see what I discover. I never thought I was picky-I used to shop at sav a lot when it was open. Not that you're suggesting I'm particular! I'm just surprised I don't like the products more!

Thought I would add that I received coupons for 4 full-size jugs of juice and postage stamps in today's mail.

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If you are particular, then I am pathologically so. And, because of that, I am not surprised that so many of the products have disappointed me.

We still have a Save a Lot, and that is my first stop for groceries. The meat section is great for turkey parts and chicken, which is usually 65-69 cents a pound for quarters, and it is the only place where I can find chicken legs. The beef products are not to my liking, and I do not eat pork (unless someone takes me out for breakfast and there is bacon to be had). Some of the produce can be decent, and they must have some weird supplier for some things, because there is often 8 pound bags of russet potatoes for 89 cents; although they are not first quality, they are fine for soups and stews and casseroles. Not so much for mashed or for baking.

I have found that I need to watch the sizes of canned goods there; the price can seem great until I see that it is not the standard 16 ounce that is in the regular markets. SAL is also one of the least expensive places for some seasonings, especially dried chilis, and Mexican specialty foods like tripe and cactus and a nice selection of other ingredients, as well as dried legumes and rice.

Lentils are cheaper at Aldi. I only risked trying the coffee because a friend told me about it a few years ago.

I have $50 each week to spend on food, cat food and litter, and any other household things, like toilet paper, stuff like that. I have to be careful about what I buy, and on good weeks I can toss a bag of chips into the cart without any stress. Being really frugal means that I get to keep things like my Trakfone and the Internet.

Took my niece and nephews to the Central Mpls library and through downtown skyways, glass elevators and escalators today - they live in a small town and haven't seen these things except in the Minneapolis. The youngest (9) was fearful about bank robbers so we left DT earlier than I had planned but were then able to use the bus transfers vs paying full price again. After family swim at the Y and dinner with my sister who lives in town, they are now snuggled into bed.

Tomorrow's plan - neighborhood park/wading pool, the Walker Art Center Sculpture Garden and the 2 story Menards!!! Free, free and free!!

Fun, chrissieq! I love those kinds of mini adventures - and the best part? Free!

Excellent job on all the frugals, everybody!

It looks like I've hit a frugal groove with my new job at the community college. I'm only allowed to work 18.5 hours most weeks and I can choose my own schedule for the most part. I've been managing to put the hours in over 3 days each week, which keeps my driving for work at a minimum. I've also been doing well with bringing my own lunch. Last week on 2 out of the 3 days there was lunch provided for different events so that was great! Not necessarily the healthiest lunches as they included chips and soda, but we never eat that stuff at home so I figure a few meals here and there with chips and soda won't kill me. At one of the lunches they had leftover food so they encouraged everyone to take stuff with them afterwards. I grabbed two bags of chips and three sodas to keep in my office at work in case I have a food emergency! :D The lunches usually consist of sandwiches and pasta salads and since I'm gluten free (and vegetarian) it means I'm usually eating the sandwich fillings only, so lots of vegetables. That makes me feel less bad about eating the potato chips! There are also usually cookies for dessert and those are off limits for me, too, so I keep a bag of little dark chocolate bars in my office to eat as my treat for the day. I've also been really disciplined about making tea at home every morning in my tea pot and bringing two big travel mugs of tea with me to work. I probably look a little strange walking across campus with my two travel mugs every morning, but who cares? My office mate buys a large Dunkin' Donuts coffee almost every day on the way to work -- at nearly $5 a time I can't imagine dropping wasting that kind of money every day/week/month/year. I asked her the other day why she didn't just make coffee at home and she admitted that they have a Keurig coffee maker at home but that she just doesn't like the taste of the coffee. Which makes no sense, because we have a Keurig in the office and she makes coffee there throughout the day. Strange!

I've been asked to do some teaching at the college during the fall semester, which is awesome. It means the fall semester will end up being closer to a full time job (or more than a full time job if they assign me to 4 classes). It will make for a crazy 15 weeks, but the extra cash will be awesome and considering that it will mean I have to drive to work 5 days per week, I might as well get in as much work as possible while I'm there! I spent enough years working 60-70 hours per week, putting in 40-50 hour weeks for 15 weeks should be a piece of cake. :D

Most of my other frugals have been little day-to-day stuff. I used up a free sample moisturizer the other day and have been experimenting with the various hair products in my bathroom cabinet to find a combo that works for my hair. I am determined to not buy any moisturizer or hair products until I have used up what I already have. I've been at this for several months already and I'm making progress on reducing the stash, but I've still got a ways to go. I've been getting a lot of cheap entertainment out of our Netflix subscription by re-watching various TV series. I did decide to spend $5.99 last night for a movie. I watched "Silver Linings Playbook" which got great reviews, but I was unimpressed. Next time I'm in the mood for a movie I will save myself the cash and watch something I haven't seen on Netflix instead of going for a newer release. We were planning to go see the new Star Trek movie in the theater, but it has gotten such mixed reviews (and generally bad reviews on all the serious sci-fi websites) that we are going to wait for it to come out on iTunes. That will save us about $15 over going to the theater.

My biggest frugal challenge as of late is figuring out how to combine more errands and reduce the use of the car. We live too far away from things for biking to be a truly realistic option at this point and the closest public transportation stop is 4 miles away, so that's not helpful either. Lately, so many of my extra driving trips have involved taking our elderly cat to the vet for regular appointments for arthritis treatments. I can't really leave him in the car because of the summer heat so I can't combine those car trips with other errands. Perhaps I just need to accept that this is, sadly, a temporary situation and that I shouldn't stress about the extra driving.

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Originally Posted by Blackdog Lin

Good on everyone for our little frugal victories.

My little one this week: realized that the mouse pad on the desk was just.....GROSS. Truly filthy. How did I not notice it? Gave it a good wipe down - nope. Still gross. Gave up and wrote "mouse pad" on the shopping list.

Couple days later I'm thinking that well, it's just foam-y kinda stuff. Maybe I could scrub it in a sink full of suds? Maybe.....I could put it in the dishwasher? !!! Yep, folded it into the dishwasher and it came out looking great. Had to air-dry it for awhile outside, but it worked! Looks brand new. And as it's a souvenir mouse pad (commemorating a trip to the Caribbean in '06), I get to continue to enjoy looking at it, and saved a few bucks too.

It's the little things.

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Yeah, I ditched mine too--and I use an old non-glossy magazine as a mousepad. Doubles as something to read if I'm waiting for a download :)

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Originally Posted by catherine

... Doubles as something to read if I'm waiting for a download :)

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:D:D:D

What a great idea catherine. Something to remember for when this pad gives up the ghost for good.....

Hi everyone! Great frugals so far this month!

I am bummed to report that I lost my online teaching job; my position is being eliminated, so the contracts I was offered for August are now void. I am still reeling a little bit as I thought I would have a job to return to after my maternity leave was up. DH and I were prepared to live on just one income for three months, but now it looks like it might be a permanent thing. I have never been let go from a job before, and it feels really crummy. I know that focusing on my family while the kiddos are so small is probably what is best. DH is actually really happy about it as he knew I was not happy working and has wanted me to quit for some time. So...I guess frugality/simple living is more important now than ever. It just feels so strange not working. I have always worked (though taking care of a household along with two kids under two IS work!).

Anyway, I have revamped out budget and made it a point to use up the food we have sitting around here. We haven't wasted much and have not eaten out. I'll keep up the couponing and the free activities--walks, playing at the park, bubbles, sidewalk chalk, etc.

For Father's Day, I took some pictures of the kids and edited them on ribbet.com. They look great and--dare I say--borderline professional! I'll print some copies on my printer and stick them in some frames sitting in our basement. Won't cost anything, and DH will love it. DD is also making him some artwork, and we'll make some sugar cookies, too. Should make for a nice day.

Kat, super bummer. :( PM me if you want me to keep my eyes open for other online gigs for you.

Oh Kat, I'm sorry to hear that. It is so much nicer to be in control of these changes. With that said, I'll mention that we had a similar non-volitional change in our lives a few years ago, and it turned out to be a bit of a gift. It was the boot in the tail that we needed in order to make some changes for the better, and indeed we did. So I will hope that this turns out to be the gateway to better things for you and your family as well. Sending hugs from New England :)

Kat, sorry to hear about your job and the timing, although it could wind up being a very nice time to be able to spend it with the baby and your other child...

:(, Kat. But it sounds like you've got it together in approaching this situation. Take advantage of the good things this brings you and your family.

I took a page from bke's playbook today and saved some leftover coffee from our event to make iced coffee. It was leftover at the end of the day when everyone was gone. I brought an empty jug specifically for this purpose, as I was in charge of the coffee and had a good guess there might be some left, and there was. I got a few, "yup, that's cheap" comments, but came here to get my strokes. :) It was good coffee and would have gone down the drain! :) I will enjoy it for several days. I might even have to freeze some in coffee cubes.

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Originally Posted by fidgiegirl

I got a few, "yup, that's cheap" comments, but came here to get my strokes. :) It was good coffee and would have gone down the drain! :) I will enjoy it for several days. I might even have to freeze some in coffee cubes.

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Kelli, do you know how much Dunn Bros. charges for a growler of iced coffee? Lots more than it cost you. Great frugal!

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Originally Posted by SteveinMN

Kelli, do you know how much Dunn Bros. charges for a growler of iced coffee? Lots more than it cost you. Great frugal!

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Wait - it gets better - it was a gallon jug!!! :laff:

Decided to buy myself a super cute daily planner that begins whenever you choose to start it - like not in January - you just write in the month, etc. Walked to the "pretty little things" store near my house, debit card in hand, looked at the super cute planner and thought how many similar things I had at home - so walked home empty handed and pretty happy too!!

I love making lists and crossing things off them but I really don't need at $15 item to do so.

I'm re-working my craft/art/time alone space and spend time both AM and PM putting 2 coats of white paint on an old doll house that I use to store craft supplies. It had one coat of primer on it when a friend gave it to me about 10 years ago.

Ate all three meals at home and had a piece of cake left from my retirement party last Wednesday - when they asked if I wanted the cake, I didn't even hesitate! After 21 years in the school district, I figure 1/2 of a 1/4 sheet cake wasn't being too greedy. The great thing is you can eat it out of the freezer with about 10 minutes of defrosting time!

chrissie - congratulations on your retirement! I hope you love it as much as I am loving mine.....

Congrats Chrissie! I missed this news some how.

Kelli- Awesome job. People are so quick to wrinkle their noses at leftover coffee but its good as long as it didn't burn before its taken off the heat. Coffee is an expensive indulgence to be poured down the drain!

Kat-hang in there. It sounds like things are pretty under control even if its not what you had planned. We're here to cheer you on and support you all the way.

I had an awesome shopping night last night. I bought $35 worth of stuff at Krogers for $2.23. Plus I left with a rain check for 99 cent coffee creamer to be used at a later time. Hopefully I will get my hands on some coupons before it expires and get some really cheap coffee creamer down the road.

I had received coupons for 4 free bottles of Langer's juice in the mail. I had to make a second stop inorder to find it but brought home four large containers of 100% juice. Ds has recently discovered the cranberry/grape juice combination. These are all cranberry/something combos that I think he will enjoy.

We are really limiting our driving. I don't think we did any from Thursday until Wednesday.

There is a couple in the area that are um, a bit slow. They basically live on social services and whatever odd jobs they can handle. The husband gets disability for mental health reasons. Anyways, we've known these people for years and have loaned them money from time to time. The wife gets a ton of coupons from somewhere and has brought me her leftovers the last two weeks which is a major score for me. My mother had told her that I donate a bunch of stuff when I have it and see a need. Well bless her heart, this woman brought me a bag with 2 deoderants, 2 shampoos, toothpaste, shower gel, and 2 bars of soap. I thought she brought it for me, thinking we were struggling to provide for ourselves and was a bit embarrassed at the misunderstanding. Nope, she knew there are people worse off than she is and wants me to give the stuff to whomever I see fit. It was kind of a humble reminder to be thankful for what we have and to be as generous as possible when I see a need.

Kelli - great on the coffee. I always save our coffee in the fridge for iced coffee or I use it in place of water in brownies, etc. I don't take home the leftovers from church because I don't like the brand they use.

Chrissie - congrats on the retirement! My parents still have left over anniversary cakes in their freezer - I love frozen cake!

I'm leaving the boy's "to-do list" on junk mail envelopes every day. I love summer.
Renewed my core of engineers pass yesterday. $30 for the year gets me into any core property in the USA. This gets me into areas that have a daily fee like some of my favorite spots to go kayaking, we also go to the local lake beach almost every evening for a quick swim.

Today's goal (if we have water when we get home) is to get the boys to wash/detail our cars. I'm not going to pay $9 a wash at the local car wash anymore.

I have a free gallon of milk to pick up at one grocery store and a $5 off coupon at another grocery store. Going to try and limit my grocery shopping to just a few items.

Random selection of frugals:

• My car didn't move Monday. Boy, did it move on Tuesday (very closely-spaced commitments several miles apart)! It would not have moved yesterday but for lunch with a friend that she thought she had re-rescheduled, which made yesterday's trip superfluous. The car is not moving today. It will move tomorrow for lunch with other friends and some errands, purposely bundled together.
• I've been responding to more surveys and the like. Most times, of course, I come up empty, but I've won two $100 Amazon gift cards and a $10 JC Penney gift card so far, so I'm not doing badly at all on effort/results.
• Lunch today was scrambled eggs made with leftover fried onions and sliced fresh mushrooms that DW said she was going to use up but has not -- and toast. Tasty!
• DW has been saying "things" about updating her iPad. It's the original model (bought when the second gen came out) and we're starting to find more things she'd like to do with it but can't. I've been keeping my eyes open for a screamin' deal on a replacement and for the best way to monetize the old one. But she's discovered her newer iPod Touch can do some of the things she wanted the iPad to do, so her wishes are being met and we've pushed back when we need to look at a trade-in/purchase.
• No heat and no A/C here even in the height of the humidity. A fan worked just fine.
• I gave up on the straw-bale gardening idea, at least for this year. We weren't going to grow very much that way (or any other way), it's easy and cheap for us to get to the big local farmer's market for the things we weren't growing, and it's not like whatever we grew was going to be particularly inexpensive (economy of scale). It was going to be a hobby; I don't need to spend money on another hobby right now.
• I've been trying to use sales to stock up on some non-perishable foods I know we will use over time. Lots of eating out of the freezer. Did you know there's a light in there?? :D

It has been too cold here for me to put any plants in the ground, followed by laziness, so when I was at the bank today I stopped at the garden place. The guy there told me to wait when I went in a month ago, that they would still have what I want, and even if it stayed chilly, the plants would be bigger.

They were a very nice size for transplanting and the bonus is that they have been completely acclimated to the outdoors in the past week and a half. Plus, they were on sale for half price. So, in the ground are Black Krim (my absolute, most favorite tomato), some kind of hybrid cherry tomato, sweet peppers, parsley, zucchini, and I bought a pumpkin plant for the graduating-from-preschool-boy's celebration tomorrow. I love these guys like crazy and I am fully in support of all of their milestones, but I cannot get my head around preschool graduations. We had one for the older guy last year, and I know that I can expect really fabulous cookies at the reception afterwards. I am such a crank today. I am sending myself to my room. Man.