April 2015 Frugals

[Gardenarian]

I'm still in a moving daze, but last month's bills were lower than usual - even though we are still paying utilities etc. for our old house (which will go on the market this week.)

Not really a frugal, but there is a massive housing shortage in the SF Bay Area, and our real estate agent expects to sell our house for well over double what we paid for it - and houses are selling in hours. We'll see!

Once it's sold I'll be looking at new investments (I'm thinking of investing in rental property.) And then I can get my finances in proper order, at last.

[larknm]

DH and I give our dogs 2/3 home-made and 1/3 kibble (because homemade is expensive because we do all organic). So we were spending $100 every couple of months for 2 30# bags of kibble (4 dogs, 3 big, one middle-sized). I heard about another brand, Diamond (hard to find around here), that's just as good and finally have gone back to the store twice to get the lowdown on the price. For 2 40# bags we'd be paying $88. Tomorrow I will go get one bag to try out on our dogs to see if they tolerate.

[lessisbest]

Groceries today: $13.63 for a total of $21.59 for April ($4.98 for meat). Stock-up price for lentils at Aldi - $.79/per pound. I use lentils for a side dish or soup/stew, and I sprout them and use them in Lentil Tacos, Sprouted Lentil-Oat Waffles, and Lentil Granola Bars.

[Tussiemussies]

Larkm, I would stick to the organic homemade with some kibble -- it is so much healthier for them than any Kibble could ever be...it is not worth cutting costs for their heal th and well-,being. I follow Dr. Karen Becker, who is an affiliate of Dr. Mercola. You can look her up on the net, and follow her on Facebook and by email. Her second best choice of food for Dogs was cooked, organic is the best too.

Just thought I'd share fyi...christine

[SteveinMN]

Mid-April and the frugals which are not automatic (no-drive days, etc.) are thin on the ground. But there have been a few:

- saved some money on our tax prep by asking the accountant what format they needed for the records we supplied for my business and the rental. Better to do that than pay for them to riffle through the shoebox...
- had friends over for dinner rather than meeting at a restaurant. I enjoyed cooking, they enjoyed eating, and it came to far less money for both couples
- found another subscription that the library carries, so I won't be renewing that one when it comes time later this year
- created a smartphone to-do list item called "Groceries needed" on which I put the odd stuff we run out of. That way when I'm at the store that's got the version of it that I want, I pull out my trusty phone and look at what I need to pick up. This way we don't end up with three cans of tomato paste or buying wide-size aluminum foil at the expensive store. I had a list like this on paper before, but it always was left someplace or something didn't end up copied to the next week's list. This is far easier and it gets done.
- did some BOGO grocery shopping locally where it made sense (i.e., a good price once two are purchased; that's not always the case with BOGO)

[bke]

While I love a good cup of joe, I admit to being a coffee whore. Serve me anything and I'll drink it. Today I finished a container of coffee that had been given to me a while ago. As I was looking around for my next free fix I decided it was time to get through all those little sample packs that I have lying around. I'm so lazy in the morning, I hate dealing with them. So I took the empty container that I had, dumped all the sample packs into it and shook it to combine. I now have an 11 ounce can of free coffee to use up. Some of you make freezer stew/soup from leftovers, I drink freezer coffee.

I am doing laundry again today with free laundry detergent.

I am going to spend some time doing on-line sweepstakes this evening to see if I can win anything.

I received a pint jar of real maple syrup from one of my customers the other day. I haven't tried it yet but I'm sure it will be a delicious score.

[cdttmm]

Don't have many frugals to post this month. I am still chipping away at the random foodstuffs. Made a lasagna-like dish using the last box of gluten free pasta (which was edible, but hardly delicious) plus a jar of pasta sauce (that turned out to be quite bland) and two pouches of frozen mixed vegetables. Mixed it all up with a healthy (or not so healthy!) helping of mozzarella cheese, which made the whole concoction edible. Two large servings down, one to go. Trying to put off grocery shopping as long as possible...

Inventoried our pet pharmacy, which saved us from having to buy two prescription pain meds when our dog went to the vet last week. Total savings was ~$32. Plus caught a double-charge on our bill for ~$97.

[danna]

Hi all
I have been here reading but not getting around to posting. Don't worry folks the gatorade was leftover brought because it was suggested to use to hydrate
while having two tests last year that caused dehydration....it is gone now.
But, I got two mice and I can tell there are still more...I am working on that.
frugal lately are---- the usual coupons, sales, etc. using up and not wasting food (except on the mice...lol)
--sold 2 more 1/2 lb bags of buttons and 2 more small casseroles on Kijiji
--making a small baby quilt as a gift for a friend's new grandson and from stuff I had in my stash
--bought a 10lb ham/bone in for Easter, had potatoes, veggies, makings of stuffing, gravy in pantry and cranberries in freezer so all very frugal
sent Dsil home with a bunch of leftovers, made a very large pot of split pea soup with the bone and still have lots of ham in the freezer
That is all for now.

[danna]

April 14
--made run to Costco and only bought what was needed now or a good price to stock up on
--a leftover piece of lasagna that had been frozen a couple of weeks back for supper with a salad
That is all for now.

[lessisbest]

Groceries this week: $30.31 ($13.11 for meat using from the $5.02 remaining from last week to make up the $10/week meat budget).
Total spent for April: $51.90

Good news for tomorrow - FREE LUNCH - at the annual Spring grilled hot dog lunch where hubby works. They fund it by recycling aluminum and we contribute our home-generated aluminum for the fund, and the remainder gets distributed to needy families throughout the year. It's all for a good cause.