I will start the September Frugals.....

[danna]

September 2

---spreadsheets all up to date and ready to go for Sept.
---Holiday here today so easy to not spend money
--supper will be leftover homefries from yesterday, zucchini and tomatoes and fried eggs.
--eggs need used bought 4 doz. last month when on sale
--tomatoes bought last week Roma for $6.97 for 25 lbs. ate some fresh and have
frozen the rest for winter
--eating oatmeal last two mornings with a fresh peach....they are Ontario grown for 10 for $2.77
so I am going to freeze some of those in individual servings for later in the winter.

That is all for now....hope everyone has a good month
I have been being super frugal has I am paying down line of credit and need a few big things done around the house soon.

[Simpler at Fifty]

We are putting food up this weekend. Made pickled beets, pickled sweet cherry peppers and DH is vacuum sealing corn. I cut corn off 20 ears this morning. I am going to roast red peppers this afternoon and can those too. DH made marinara sauce last week and I canned 6 pints. He wants to can tomatoes too. We need to buy those from the farmer's market next week. Ours have a disease and we cannot get rid of it. Canning is not always frugal. In the middle of the winter it is nice to open a jar of tomatoes and use our garlic and onions to make lasagna or some other dish. It is a reminder of how hard we worked in the garden all summer.

I start a new job tomorrow. Same company but will be working at home (WAH) full time. I had been WAH 3 days a week. The additional 2 days will save approx. $525 in gas and 3000 miles a year on my car. Auto ins went down because I am not driving to work each day. I won't need new work pants unless I lose a lot of weight. Will be traveling to another state a few times a year for corporate meetings.

[early morning]

OMgosh, I will never remember to find this thread on this forum..... but I will try, lol. Managed to get two loads of laundry dry on the line yesterday. Our sump pump float rod rusted through so the washer couldn't pump out all the way, but DH and I managed to come up with a solution. He had more threaded rods and several floats, but the rod guide clip that attaches to the pump pipe was also cracked (I'd clamped it to the pipe with a zip-tie several years ago) and it broke completely during the repair. We managed to affix it with a piece of plastic coffee-can lid and more zip-ties. It seems to be working fine now! My washer is also having difficulty with the spin cycle, so I often have to unload half of it and spin each half separately. But it beats buying a new machine. Once upon a time, DH would have fixed it, but now he can't and it makes him quite depressed, so I just don't tell him about it, and make do. Cheaper than a new machine, or a repair man, and more angst for DH! Stabilized the binding on several cool throw rugs I bought for re-sale. When we get a nice drying day I'll wash and repair them and hopefully clear a few bucks.

[Stella]

I forgot it was September! Thanks for starting this!

[razz]

I want to save some extra vacation money that grows from my very frugal choices.
Yesterday, I made multipurpose tomato sauce from my garden tomatoes and my herbs and garlic and froze in portions for many dishes later.
Washed in cold water (I soak undies, socks and handkerchiefs in a bucket of hot water with a 1/2 cup of washing soda), vinegar for softening and dried all my laundry on the outside line.
I half-filled a measuring cup with water, added less than tbsp of bleach and using a soft toothbrush gently brushed some stains away on my white tops before washing them.
A friend told me to take apart a head of romaine or other lettuce, wash thoroughly, wrap in a tea towel and store in a plastic bag in the fridge using as needed - it works very well.
Lunch was 3 cups romaine with homemade dressing, a large tomato and a small pita with 2 tbsp. of peanut butter with an apple and tea.
Needed a few groceries but will wait and get them up tomorrow when I pick up some friends to take to a movie.
Supper will be chili using the fresh sauce and some leftover kidney beans and homegrown grapes.

I must remember this thread to keep myself motivated.

[redfox]

On vaycay in the mountains this week. We rented a small cabin (& decent wifi!) with a kitchen & brought all our own food. We'll have a dinner out to celebrate our anniversary on Wednesday. This is a super on-the-cheap week! And very needed...

[danna]

It looks like I started this in the wrong forum! Does anyone know if there is a way to move to the usual one?

[rosarugosa]

I got a good offer from one of my credit cards - a credit of up to $12. on my account for purchases at GNC. I buy alcohol-free witch hazel there, which goes for about $10 a bottle. They were running a BOGO deal, so I spent $16 with tax, and I'll get a statement credit for $12. of that. I also just applied for a new card which will give me $200 in gift cards (lots of options from merchants where we shop) if we spend $1500 within three months. This will work out fine with just our usual grocery and gas expenditures.
I'm also implementing an idea I heard from someone on the forums here. I really want to cut back on our food waste, so I'm posting a list on the fridge of leftovers and perishables that need to be consumed. I think this will help keep us from forgetting about what we have.

[Stella]

Danna, I asked on the mod board about how to move it. I should be able to do it once someone explains it to me, or the other mods will see my message and move it.

[iris lilies]

Ok here is the ONE thing I'm working on: reducing my alcohol bill.

I am allowing myself 2 bottles of wine per week. That's 10 glasses. That's 3 glasses over the medical recommended limit for my gender. hmmm, a risk I am willing to take.

I'm not yet working on dollar cost, but am starting with bottles. Even though I've (sadly) backed away from my old standby Waterstone Cab @$27/bottle, I will be ok using another favorite at $17 mixed in with $11 - $13 bottles.