February 2014 Frugals

[Selah]

Had a no-spend day today, and "spent" Friday contributing to others' frugality by de-cluttering books, music, some glassware, and some other bits and pieces. DH deposited the goods next to the dumpster and within 2 hours, all of it was gone.

We attended a Shabbat meal Friday night at a friend's home, and I was asked to bring a salad. I chose the recipe to correspond with the maximum amount of ingredients I already had on hand. I had to buy leeks and cilantro, but that was it. (Sauteed leeks marinated in oil, cilantro, lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper...easy, quick and GORGEOUS!)

[Gardenarian]

DD is going to a clothes swap tonight - de-cluttering and free shopping at the same time.

I've been lazy about feeding dd and have been buying prepared food (like Chinese dumplings at Trader Joe's.) Got to work on that. On the other hand, it's a lot cheaper than going out for Chinese!

[early morning]

Went to a free genealogy seminar yesterday. Ended up at an antique mall where my sole purchase was a double wire basket/carrier for the back of my bike, for $25, like new (sells for $45 plus shipping). Now if the bike only had tires that held air, lol..... Other than that, it's been the same old stuff.

[fidgiegirl]

Just got off the phone with medical insurance plan to learn the procedure for securing a breast pump, cost to be covered by the plan, once baby is here. I had found some legalese on their website that looked like it applied to me, but I didn't expect that it really would, so that was good news to learn that indeed it would be covered.

[chrissieq]

The snow came to MN a few hours later than first forecast - a great day at home posting on etsy, reading, napping, watching netflix. . . tomorrow I fully expect my driveway to be filled with snow when the plow comes by so another no-drive day! My planned errands are all within walking distance.

Only problem, no place to throw the snow! I shoveled the sidewalks but left the driveway for DH to snow blow when he got home - he'll need to clear the driveway apron tomorrow. . . hate the smell of the gas powered snow blower . . . so it's his task.

[Selah]

Speaking of aprons (chrissieq, above), I finally got around to doing a hand sewing project of creating an apron out of two absorbent dishtowels and some strange kind of nylon strapping material. It looks cool, cost about $3 in total to make, it is highly absorbent (since it is made of real dishtowels, not a cheap piece of polyester or too-thin poly-cotton blend), and saved me about $20 in buying something vaguely equivalent. I'm very proud of my home-grown apron!

[debi]

Sorry I haven't been on much. My father is in hospice at home. I have been taking FMLA to travel down there for periods of time. My sister and I share weeks going to help mom out. Dad is 86 (87 on March 4th if he holds on). He has Congestive Heart Failure and Renal Failure, so it is just a matter of time. So far, he says he is not in any pain. Please keep my father and the family in your prayers.

[Lainey]

Sorry I haven't been on much. My father is in hospice at home. I have been taking FMLA to travel down there for periods of time. My sister and I share weeks going to help mom out. Dad is 86 (87 on March 4th if he holds on). He has Congestive Heart Failure and Renal Failure, so it is just a matter of time. So far, he says he is not in any pain. Please keep my father and the family in your prayers.

debi,
thanks for mentioning this. We will be thinking of you.

[fidgiegirl]

Hang in there, debi, and hope your DF is comfortable and continues to be.

[rosarugosa]

Sorry about your dad, Debi, and glad at least that he isn't in pain.
My current frugal goal is no discretionary spending until at least 3/14. Our Feb trip to Portland was spendy, and I made a few small purchases right afterward. I haven't really done any spending for the past two weeks other than the necessities, and I don't need anything else right now, so I'm going to keep tight hold on my purse strings for the next three weeks. At that point in time I probably will want/need to do a little bit of spending, so building up my reserves in the meantime will be a good thing.
We've been holding ourselves a bit more accountable with the grocery spending lately, and that's been helpful to the overall bottom line. We said no to the fresh cod on sale for $9.99/lb and Sat night dinner was the angel hair/anchovies/olive oil dish that feeds us handsomely for about $3.00 instead. I guess you could say we're working on striking the right balance: it can't always be cod and it shouldn't have to always be anchovies, but it should be possible to find the right balance between the two. So there's Rosa's frugal balance philosophy with some actual and metaphorical seafood thrown in