November Frugals!!!

[danna]

Nov 11
--made a great curry that will be good for tomorrow too, using really cheap beef I had cooked in crock pot and froze in the broth...yummy
--no drive no spend
--had two outlets in the kitchen that were not working the electrician I called couldn't come for 2 weeks, and it
so going to cost a minimum of $59.00 just to come out.
so I called the company that had done the renovation 4 years ago, they gave me the name of the company
that did the work for them. One call and he told me over the phone that one of the outlets would have a reset button.
Dud, but to my credit it was behind the mircowave so I had not moved it out to actually look at the switch and I have
never claimed to know anything about electricity....But, the called did save me money.
--made a couple of loaves of banana bread with the overripe bananas...great snacking.

[Stella]

Zach took Monday off and we did a fall cleaning weekend. It felt so good to get back on top of things, and the better organized I am the more frugal I can be.

Zach and I worked out a schedule for his side work that gives us plenty of time to get our own stuff done too. We have three friends who are doing remodel projects that they are hiring him for, which will be great financially. The schedule makes us both feel better about making sure we don't end up overwhelmed. Tonight is a work evening, so we are having one of my freezer meals. Spaghetti and meatballs.

My dad is in Italy for two weeks as of yesterday. I am trying to contain my jealousy. that means at-home date nights only for the next two weeks. I'm actually OK with that. I think we are going to have a fire in the fireplace and play cards. It should be nice and it should save us some money.

Since the kids pitched in a full effort helping with the fall cleaning we thought it would be nice to do something fun with them next weekend. My mom had gifted us a bunch of Holiday Inn points, so I wrote to her to see if we can cash them in next weekend for one of the Holiday Inns with a water park nearby. She hasn't written back yet, but I think it should work. We are going to use the kids Book-it coupons and have Pizza Hut for dinner. I think we all earned a weekend of fun.

We started our soap making for Christmas presents today. It's been a big hit with the kids. We decided that our field trip this month is going to be to a Wildlife Center we found in the Happenings Book. We have a BOGO coupon for admission. The girls are doing a project about animals and how they are adapted to survive Minnesota winters, so I think it will be relevant and fun. For preschool I am making a letter recognition hopscotch board in the family room with painters tape. James is, well, a four year old boy, with all the activity that goes along with it. I have noticed that he does better with projects that involve motion. I was thinking that Twister might work for this too. I would put letters on the circles and use that instead of colors, which he knows quite well. Anyway, lots of frugal stuff happening in the homeschool area.

[rosarugosa]

For autumn decorations this year we bought a buttercup squash and two heirloom pumpkins. Tonight DH made buttercup squash risotto, which was very yummy. So the frugal here is dual-purpose edible decorations

[Stella]

I have a frugal I am kind of excited about. My oldest DD, Cheyenne, has been really, really interested in becoming a hairdresser for a long time. She watches hair tutorials on YouTube, reads books about how to style hair, practices on her sometimes willing little sisters and on her friends. I am kind of hair challenged, but I do think it's a useful skill and I want to encourage her interests. A friend of mine, who is a hairdresser, has been suggesting that I get her a hair styling mannequin with real human hair to practice on. Tonight we were discussing this as an idea for a Christmas gift for her and my friend offered to take her under her wing and give her lessons in how to do hair. Cheyenne was beside herself with excitement. My friend just enjoys helping a creative kid to indulge her interests and learn some skills. Long-term, who knows. Some kids grow up and change their minds, some kids know what they want to do when they are little. It's hard to know which are which, but I could see hairdressing being a pretty good gig for an SLer, actually. My friend has her own business, sets her own hours, and makes a very nice hourly wage with low overhead. You could do worse. (Like being 35 and still paying off your student loans for a degree you used for 2 years. Cough. Cough. )

[Tussiemussies]

I have a frugal I am kind of excited about. My oldest DD, Cheyenne, has been really, really interested in becoming a hairdresser for a long time. She watches hair tutorials on YouTube, reads books about how to style hair, practices on her sometimes willing little sisters and on her friends. I am kind of hair challenged, but I do think it's a useful skill and I want to encourage her interests. A friend of mine, who is a hairdresser, has been suggesting that I get her a hair styling mannequin with real human hair to practice on. Tonight we were discussing this as an idea for a Christmas gift for her and my friend offered to take her under her wing and give her lessons in how to do hair. Cheyenne was beside herself with excitement. My friend just enjoys helping a creative kid to indulge her interests and learn some skills. Long-term, who knows. Some kids grow up and change their minds, some kids know what they want to do when they are little. It's hard to know which are which, but I could see hairdressing being a pretty good gig for an SLer, actually. My friend has her own business, sets her own hours, and makes a very nice hourly wage with low overhead. You could do worse. (Like being 35 and still paying off your student loans for a degree you used for 2 years. Cough. Cough. )

So great to foster her gifts and very nice of your friend to help teach her! Great parenting!

[try2bfrugal]

I have a frugal I am kind of excited about. My oldest DD, Cheyenne, has been really, really interested in becoming a hairdresser for a long time. She watches hair tutorials on YouTube, reads books about how to style hair, practices on her sometimes willing little sisters and on her friends. I am kind of hair challenged, but I do think it's a useful skill and I want to encourage her interests. A friend of mine, who is a hairdresser, has been suggesting that I get her a hair styling mannequin with real human hair to practice on. Tonight we were discussing this as an idea for a Christmas gift for her and my friend offered to take her under her wing and give her lessons in how to do hair. Cheyenne was beside herself with excitement. My friend just enjoys helping a creative kid to indulge her interests and learn some skills. Long-term, who knows. Some kids grow up and change their minds, some kids know what they want to do when they are little. It's hard to know which are which, but I could see hairdressing being a pretty good gig for an SLer, actually. My friend has her own business, sets her own hours, and makes a very nice hourly wage with low overhead. You could do worse. (Like being 35 and still paying off your student loans for a degree you used for 2 years. Cough. Cough. )

That is really cool. It is good to nurture talents like that at an early age, and hair styling can't be outsourced. Plus the potential salary for the education cost can be a really good ROI.

[reader99]

I'm looking into publishing my book in Kindle format on Amazon. I'm surprised at how possible it is to do this without financial outlay.
For instance, I didn't know that by law the copyright is mine without having to register with the copyright office. If I choose to register it (better defense in the event of a court case) I can do so online for just $35 vs. $65 to register by mail.
If I could make up my mind about a cover picture I could get a professional cover design on www.fiverr.com for just $5, vs. $100-200 for a professional IRL.
It costs nothing at all to list the book on Amazon. They take a commission on each sale, but there's no upfront fee. For electronic only I don't have to buy an ISBN at $125, Amazon supplies their own number for tracking purposes.
epublishing is really a frugal strategy.

[SiouzQ.]

I got a $25 Liz Claiborne sorely needed leather wallet for $8.47 today at JC Penney today! I received in the mail yesterday (Nov. 12) a coupon for $10 off most items in the store but noticed the coupon actually expired on Nov. 11. I called the store today to see if they would still honor it and they said yes. And I didn't even see the sale sign on the table of wallets I was looking at but apparently they were 25% off and the additional $10 off ~ hence the $8.47!

[danna]

Nov 13
--ate out of the freezer all day..yummy potato soup for lunch, leftover stew for supper
--no spend, no drive
--work hard most of the day for exercise and to organize and clean house
--entertainment good movie, good book and good chat with a friend..what more can one ask for in life
--made a list of people and things I already have for bought for Christmas--put together everything I need to make two quilts for
2 youngest great nephews....I know I can't buy them toys they already have so many.

[Tussiemussies]

I'm looking into publishing my book in Kindle format on Amazon. I'm surprised at how possible it is to do this without financial outlay.
For instance, I didn't know that by law the copyright is mine without having to register with the copyright office. If I choose to register it (better defense in the event of a court case) I can do so online for just $35 vs. $65 to register by mail.
If I could make up my mind about a cover picture I could get a professional cover design on www.fiverr.com for just $5, vs. $100-200 for a professional IRL.
It costs nothing at all to list the book on Amazon. They take a commission on each sale, but there's no upfront fee. For electronic only I don't have to buy an ISBN at $125, Amazon supplies their own number for tracking purposes.
epublishing is really a frugal strategy.

What a great situation for you! Best of luck with it!