I will start the September Frugals.....

[Tussiemussies]

Hi Stella, hope your sister is doing okay. I think she probably really appreciated you being there. That is amazing that you were able to go with having an infant and young children to tend to.

Your groups sound like a lot of fun. Hey, are you still embroidering these days?


Had No drive, no buy day here for me. DH commutes an hour each way from and to work, although the ride home is longer since there is usually a lot of traffic in one spot. His boss who lives not too far from us, asked him if he wants to carpool and he doesn't because he feels he needs that quiet time instead of talking there and back. I am the same way so I understand, although it would save a nice amount each moth. Sometimes your sanity is much more important.

We are laying low on spending any money until my husband's royalty check comes in. We need to have a new damper replaced in the fireplace. They said the the design that most people have is from the 1900s and that the new design which goes at the top of the chimney saves much more with heat escaping. I am looking forward to some fires now, we have plenty of leftover wood.

That is all that went on today!

[early morning]

Tussie, I'm with your husband. I don't mind my hour drive; it's my planning time going in, and my decompression/review time going home. I need it! Not much going on here frugal-wise - same old, same old. We are having a yard sale this weekend, hope to get rid of lots of stuff and maybe make a little extra money. Dinner tonight was meat-free; we found a great latke recipe and that was dinner, lol. Potatoes rock!

[Tussiemussies]

Tussie, I'm with your husband. I don't mind my hour drive; it's my planning time going in, and my decompression/review time going home. I need it! Not much going on here frugal-wise - same old, same old. We are having a yard sale this weekend, hope to get rid of lots of stuff and maybe make a little extra money. Dinner tonight was meat-free; we found a great latke recipe and that was dinner, lol. Potatoes rock!

I can grasp how you feel early, I would feel the same about the commute...I need my quiet time I like how you use you going home time to review and decompress.

Good luck with your garage sale. I hope you do very well!

[Stella]

Steve, that mixer sounds like a great score!

Tussiemussies, yes, I am still embroidering. I do it more in the winter than the summer, so I have been looking at my patterns and deciding what I'm going to do next. I'm almost done with a huge table runner I have been working on forever that I got for $1 at a thrift store. A friend of mine gave me a ton of free embroidery patterns this summer, so I'll probably start with one of those.

Early morning, I have been thinking about making potato latkes for a few weeks. I love those! I need to actually get around to that one of these days.

Zach is working on the side job for our friend tonight. He might finish up this phase and get paid, which would be excellent. It's been a lot of hours, but it's a lot of money and we really need to build back our EF after having to raid it for several emergencies. The good news is that it was there, and we didn't have to go into debt for the emergencies. It makes me nervous having it so depleted, though. It's going to be great to start getting it back into shape.

We are also selling our old car this week. It's a beater, so we aren't getting a ton for it, but $900 is better than nothing. That will be split between a few medical bills, more padding for the EF and a small amount towards taking the kids to Fall Fest at our church this weekend. That's always fun. They have rides, games, face painting, fair foods, a free concert by a well-known local musician and this year they are having a pig roast. It should be a good time.

I finally found a dentist that I like that takes our insurance. This is the third dentist I have been to this year. The first took our insurance, but had a really awful attitude. The second didn't take our insurance, and I paid out of pocket for some of our dental work, but he was excellent. This third one meets both criteria. I am so pleased! I hate going to the dentist and it is really a stress reliever to not have to worry about either the dentist or the bills.

Today I am making some meatballs for freezing. If I feel up to it I might also make twice baked potatoes with bacon for freezing. My grandma makes them all the time and they are good as a hearty side dish or as a meal, if you serve it with a salad. We're on an oatmeal kick for breakfast. I've been adding eggs to it for extra protein and sometimes peanut butter. The egg makes it nice and custardy and I absolutely need protein in the mornings to feel my best. The little kids seem to last longer before getting hungry again, too, so that's a bonus.

[bke]

We were tempted to go out to dinner last night but settled for a rotisserie chicken instead. It cost us $6 instead of $30.

[Tussiemussies]

Hi again Stella. You are really ambitious to tackle a table runner. That is great that you are almost done with it! What is the theme/colors? I remember how you did pillowcases. I love embroidery!

Today was a no drive/no spend day for me. My car needs some work done to it, but I don't usually go out that much. Cleaned out the fridge the other day of bad food. We are doing better than we used to in a way. But the way we are handling produce means I would have to run to the store just about daily. When my car get fixed I might try it as it gets great miles per gallon, so it won't cost me much and I will be able to use things instead of planning a meal and then not wind up making it.

That is all for now. I'm sure there will be no spend days until my husband's royalty check comes in. I definitely need new pajamas and a new coat or two....

[Azure]

We were down to only 1 set of sheets. Last week at work we marked down some of our Simply Shabby Chic sheets down 30%. When I went home I checked on the computer and the Cartwheel app had a coupon for 15% off all SSC's. YEAH! So with the clearance price, the cartwheel coupon, my work discount & red card discount I got a real good price.

Annnnd that may be my only frugal.

I did make applesauce last night with organic apples we got at the cider mill a couple of weeks ago. Some of them were starting to get a little soft. The apple sauce was so good! I had some warm applesauce with greek yogurt & walnuts this morning. Yum.

I did not buy the really cute silver hoop earrings in just the size I've been looking for. Even though they went to 50% off last week.

[try2bfrugal]

I bought a not well advertised brand turbo convection oven from Amazon for $30 out of pocket after using credit card points. The first reviewer stated that all the various turbo ovens seemed to be 1300 watts with fans, bowls and halogen lights, so why pay more? That seemed like a good point, so I got the non-infomercial brand. So far I made a test baked potato and that worked out okay. Our range top and wall ovens use a lot of electricity, so I am trying to switch over to small appliances instead. I use the rice cooker / steamer and crock pot a lot, but I wanted something that could roast large quantities of vegetables quickly.

Today we walked the dog to the local shopping center and bought meat on special for dinner, dropped off a book to sell back to Amazon for a gift card at the post office, deposited a check at the bank and chatted with a neighbor along the way.

For product product reviews this month I ordered some free office supplies and a new baster.

To set up a reading area in the bedroom I decided instead of buying a new chair just to leave a collapsible camping chair in the closet and set it up as needed.

[flowerseverywhere]

Helped mil do some cleaning and she gave me a huge bag of yarn- really high quality stuff, and full skeins with many multiples I gave it to a neighbor who is in a church group that knits hats and mittens for military base kids and as a thank you they invited us to their church dinner. All around a fun time and in the end good for all. They do a lot for these kids as their parents are mostly in the Middle East for some tours. They had a huge backpack drive for the kids and the left at home moms and dads are so appreciative. For Christmas they are doing a pajama and book drive so I am keeping my eye out for pajamas with the sales, especially with the discounts some stores offer. I like the work they do, and I know it helps these young military families. For me part of frugality is being able to share. You can't buy the feeling of satisfaction that comes from it.

[Tussiemussies]

Helped mil do some cleaning and she gave me a huge bag of yarn- really high quality stuff, and full skeins with many multiples I gave it to a neighbor who is in a church group that knits hats and mittens for military base kids and as a thank you they invited us to their church dinner. All around a fun time and in the end good for all. They do a lot for these kids as their parents are mostly in the Middle East for some tours. They had a huge backpack drive for the kids and the left at home moms and dads are so appreciative. For Christmas they are doing a pajama and book drive so I am keeping my eye out for pajamas with the sales, especially with the discounts some stores offer. I like the work they do, and I know it helps these young military families. For me part of frugality is being able to share. You can't buy the feeling of satisfaction that comes from it.

That is such a wonderful program Flowers! Sounds like you had an all-around wonderful time...