June frugals

[Stella]

I'm back from my trip to see my sister in California and I am having fun reading all of your frugals! Kelli, that shawl is lovely!

I am in the process of planning some frugal mini-trips for us this summer. I am sick of being stressed out and I think a couple of weekends of camping might help to clear my head. We are going for just one night over 4th of July weekend to a place that is less than an hour away from our house. I planned a pretty frugal, easy camping menu, so it won't really cost us much to go.

One thing I had noticed the last few years was that we tended to spend more than I thought was reasonable going out for ice cream. It's fun, sure, but so is eating ice cream on the deck. I bought some Costco ice cream treats that were 40 for $10. We are lucky to spend only $10 on the entire family going out for ice cream, these days it's more like $20 with all of the kids. I also got some regular ice cream and I have been making my own fudge sauce with chocolate chips and milk when I want something a little more special.

We sold a dresser that we used to use for the girls' room, but don't anymore, and our old bed frame. We got $85 for the two of them.

Our family reunion was canceled and rescheduled. This will end up being a frugal thing for us because the new location, Chippewa Falls, WI, is only about half the distance of the old one in Wausau, WI, so we will save on gas. We may or may not camp, but even if we do it will be three days less than it was going to be. I wish we had more time, actually, but maybe next year, and I might as well look on the bright side.

Zach's paycheck was less this time because he had to go in late when I was in California and we didn't want to use vacation time to cover it. I am trying to make up some of the difference in the grocery budget for the next two weeks. I managed to come up with a pretty decent menu that should cost about $80 less than my usual grocery budget.

[Rosemary]

fyi, on Costco tilapia: at our store, the frozen is from China or Vietnam and the fresh is from Honduras. From what I've read, the farmed fish in the Western hemisphere usually have better water conditions. I think the cost per pound is about the same. Trader Joe's has the best price on frozen wild Pacific cod, and it's not much more than the Costco tilapia.

[rosarugosa]

Rosemary: Our Costco has Indonesian tilapia which is supposed to be good. I had read something to the effect that Costco changed it's sourcing after hearing lots of concerns about tilapia from China. Thanks for the info on the cod from TJs. We love cod, and we love TJ's too. Will have to check it out!

[SteveinMN]

fyi, on Costco tilapia: at our store, the frozen is from China

Thanks for the info. I'll ask DW to look at the country of origin when she gets to Costco. Chinese fish is a no-no in this house. I see lots of it at ALDI at prices that are quite attractive, but I just won't do it.

[Rosemary]

I asked TJ's about country of origin on an apple-based product about 6 months ago and was informed that they had stopped sourcing any foods from China, fyi. I am guessing that some foods might contain ingredients that come from China, but the foods themselves are not manufactured there.

[early morning]

Stella, welcome back, been hoping things were going better with your sister - so sorry to hear about her illness and overall situation. Your camping trips sound like fun! I loved camping as a kid and single adult, not quite so much as an adult with family in tow . But I'm starting to get excited about my upcoming conference in DC.... it will cost a bit up front but will be reimbursed and have a small per diem also, so I am trying come out ahead! We will be on our own for dinners, but I'm hoping to find some small eateries or mini-marts. We will have to use a taxi from our hotel (in Virginia) to the conference (in Maryland) but can take a train from the hotel to the museums and the Mall in Washington. Our flight is paid for but has a bag charge so I'm trying for just a carry-on and my largish handbag. I'm only going to be there for 5 days/4 nights, so that should work. Other than that opportunity, it's been the same old stuff around here. We haven't put the air conditioners in the bedrooms yet - fans are keeping us from total melt down. My car is clunking along - we thought he was on his last legs several months ago, but he seems to have pulled through OK. The alternator went out on DH's truck, but it was still under warranty (the alternator, NOT the truck, lol) so that was a free fix. Seems like there should be more, but if so, I'm too tired to remember it!

[Blackdog Lin]

DH repaired our old watering can, that we use EXTENSIVELY - okay, it would only have been a $20.-$25. replacement purchase for the same one, but he was able to replace the broken handle for $3.50 in parts and a half-hour's work. I absolutely love this old watering can - and was entirely happy he was able to repair it thriftily.

[SteveinMN]

A few frugals:

I mentioned a week or two ago that I was reviewing some insurance policies to determine if we still needed them. Well, one of us still thinks they're needed, so we won't be saving that money right now. But that could change. And it's given me the push to shop around our car/home/umbrella/business policies. This is a little hard for me because I like the agent and company we're with; they have not given me a reason to take away the business and I value loyalty. At the same time, however, we've taken a look at every other recurring bill we pay so it seems inconsistent to ignore these.
I did a little reporting off our financial software and learned we are spending at least 15% less on groceries now than we were at this time last year. My suspicion is that it has to do mostly with being able to take the time to cook more (instead of buying food pre-made or processed for quick cooking) and with wasting less food. But I'm not so interested in confirming that answer that I want to document it.

My car has remained in the garage, so no consumption there. I only wish "no-drive" meant "no-spend"!

Stocked up on some favorite soap (Yardley, made in the U.S.) at the dollar store and picked up another couple of food items we'll use. This particular store appears to have bumped its food selection beyond pop, snacks, and heavily-processed meals. They even have a refrigerator and freezer case. It's not terribly convenient to visit that store, but if I'm in the neighborhood, I'll stop by.

As I've winnowed through hundreds of LPs and CDs, I've decided I'm no longer keeping the ones on which I want only a song or two. At 99 cents, it was cheap insurance (I don't download music if it's commercially available). But I'll take the $$ (okay, $) I get from Half-Price Books or Cheapo and buy the tunes in digital form to cover myself and save the space. I hope it's a wash.

[Rosemary]

The month's roundup of frugals:
Serious garden harvest has begun. Picked mache, strawberries, and snow peas yesterday to make a salad for lunch. Also ready for harvest whenever we need it: kale (2 kinds), kai lan, lettuce. My squash plants finally germinated after the cold, wet spring, and with the onset of warm weather this week, my tomato plants grew at least 6" on a particularly hot, humid day.

A friend gave us their CSA share this week if we could pick it up. I did, and while the produce was really good, there wasn't much of it - we have more variety and quantity in our own small home garden this week. Looked up how much these shares cost, and wow, my garden is saving us even more than I had estimated, when compared to other local, organically grown foods. My fruit plants and trees are loaded and so, barring disastrous weather, we should have a great harvest this summer of gooseberries, currants, tart cherries, native plums, raspberries, concord grapes, and apples.

DD and I have been riding bikes to one of her activities every day... saving auto miles and gas.

I am nearing completion of the first part of one of my summer landscaping projects. I had a bid on the labor alone for this project at over $1000 so am feeling good about doing it myself. I bought a few perennials at 50% off for my reward.

Dried 3 loads of laundry outside yesterday (that one's for you, Mrs. M!). It's been so rainy this season that there haven't been many ideal outdoor-drying days. It's easier to squeeze in a bike ride on a rainy day than 4-5 hours of drying time (more if it's damp, cloudy, and still).

Whittling down the extra freezer's contents. Should be able to turn it off and defrost in a week or two. Always do this for the hottest months of the year since it's in the summer. With the garden as our food storage, we don't need it and it saves significantly on the electric bill since the freezer is in the garage.

Some good yard sale finds this month. A couple of vintage kitchen items for 50 cents each (that will outlast new $12 "equivalents"), a couple of 1940s cookbooks (a particularly frugal era for cookbooks, reflecting both Depression learnings and wartime rationing), bike for DD, a cooler for camping, some jelly canning jars, a CD player for DD.

DD and I made several birthday gifts. I've got one more, a crocheted cotton summer scarf, in progress, and need to finish it in the next 3 weeks to ship!

I had an all-day class this week and a friend watched DD, saving me about $50 in babysitting fees. Today I'm swapping childcare with a friend so our girls can play together all day, here this morning and in the afternoon at her house, which will give both of us a little free time. And we have some date night exchanges on the calendar as well.

Switched our checking account to the new DiscoverBank checking, which pays 10 cents for every bill pay, paper check, and debit transaction. We were getting nothing from our old bank and I didn't have any sentimental attachment to it; it was a megabank that had acquired the local Tucson bank where we opened the account originally, and their online billpay webpage was really annoying to boot.

With DD's summer band and orchestra (through her school) lessons nearly every day, I am going to get lots of book reviews done this summer while I wait for her.

[SteveinMN]

A friend gave us their CSA share this week if we could pick it up. I did, and while the produce was really good, there wasn't much of it - we have more variety and quantity in our own small home garden this week. Looked up how much these shares cost, and wow, my garden is saving us even more than I had estimated, when compared to other local, organically grown foods.

My understanding from talking with farmers at the St. Paul Farmer's Market (where everything sold must be produced within 75 miles of the Market) is that growth in this part of Minnesota is running about a month behind normal. I would not feel very confident about judging the value of a CSA based on one box that you normally would see at the end of May.