May Frugals

[cdttmm]

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!

[LilyB]

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. )

--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.

[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.

[try2bfrugal]

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

Congratulations!

[Tussiemussies]

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...

[chrissieq]

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.

[fidgiegirl]

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.

[iforonwy]

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.

[cdttmm]

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!

[fidgiegirl]

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!