May Frugals

[Mighty Frugal]

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!

[try2bfrugal]

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.

[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.

[Kat]

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.

[try2bfrugal]

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.

[SteveinMN]

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. 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.

[Azure]

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.

[rosarugosa]

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.

[bke]

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!

[Kat]

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!