September Frugals

[Marianne]

Paid off another bill this month!! Got some coupons in the mail because it was my birthday month - one was for a free watch battery replacement, which I needed, so that saved me approx. $8.00. Another coupon was for a buy 1, get 1 free pizza buffet, so one night last week, DH and DS used that. It's the little things in life! LOL.

Way to go!!
ps - I'm almost your neighbor - I'm by Abilene

[early morning]

Volunteered at an event over the weekend and brought home several pounds of pulled pork and sausages, plus we were well fed at the Friday night volunteer dinner. Froze some pork for later, eating the rest this week - yummy! Put off a trip to Gettysburg this fall in favor of a cheaper, closer-to-home weekend. We like history of all sorts, so we're going to drive historic RT 30 through Ohio. I've done Rt 66 from Chicago to St. Louis, Old 25-Dixie highway through Ohio on some of its many alignments, and bits of the Old National Road -Rt 40 - again through Ohio. Not expensive for day trips, and lots of local history to discover. The county is downsizing - big surprise - and I don't know how it might affect us. Boss says I'm golden, but... not in the mood to spend extra money. We aren't union but generally go by seniority. I have the most of the academic staff, but I'm really pushing to NOT base any layoffs on that alone. I am afraid that our kids will end up being short-changed if that's the criteria (not by me, but....). Why doesn't management see - and react to - poor performance?!?!?

[Jemima]

In attempting to salvage 1/4 pound of already thawed hot Italian turkey sausage, I accidentally made a very good chili. Throwing this and that into the crockpot used up canned kidney beans that have been sitting in the cupboard for a while, the last bit of a jar of oregano which was nearly impossible to get out with a measuring spoon (I just gave the bottle a good whack and dumped it in unmeasured), half an onion that was headed over the hill, leftover spinach with the vegetable broth that came from steaming it, and some corn that was close to getting freezer burn. Made at least four servings and it was nearly free. Love it.

[Stella]

It sounds like Zach's work season is coming to an end for the year a bit earlier than usual, probably ending Thursday. I'm actually OK with this. We are in pretty good shape for it and I am excited to get to spend more time with him again. Honestly, even with me practically single parenting these past couple of months while he's worked crazy hours I have been able to get a ton of stuff done, so I am excited to see what I can do with him here.

I've been thinking about it and our needs are pretty minimal right now. Our basic needs are met. I have a well stocked pantry and freezer, so much so that I didn't buy any groceries at all this week.

We also have a lot of free, fun things to do. The girls have their "Party Club" that they started, their Girl's Club at church, Faith Formation, Karate and play group at church. I've got my class at church, my women's group, the neighborhood cooking club, my craft group, my Friday Night Girl's Night with my friends, and plenty of friends coming over for coffee. Oh and a friend and I are starting a group to work through The Artist's Way together. Zach has all of his volunteer stuff, his Knight's meetings and some side work with a friend of his. None of that really costs much money. Actually, outside of karate, which my dad covers, and the $5 donation for ingredients for the cooking club, they are all free and none of them even requires much in the way of gas. All are within 2-3 miles of my house, some of them within walking distance.

Another money saver is that Zach and I have discovered a good, cheap place that is open late to go for our dates. As you know, we like to go out and just have alone time together somewhere and dad doesn't care as long as the kids are asleep. We had been going to get coffee and pie for about $15+ tip each time, which isn't super expensive, but we go out often enough that it adds up. We recently discovered that a pizza place nearby has $1 mini pizzas after 9PM with the purchase of a soft drink or coffee.

I have some projects I am really excited about getting to work on. I have 3-4 unfinished embroidery projects I need to work on and a few skirts and pants to make for the kids. I have fabric to make pajama pants for Zach too. The girls and I were also working on a project a while back to make a bunch of cloth napkins and cloth sandwich bags. I think we'll work on that too.

[bke]

I think reading for inspiration has been one of my biggest frugals this week. I have always enjoyed ERE but have recently discovered the forum. So many people who are dedicated to retiring ASAP! I also continue to enjoy MMM. Dh and I commonly spend our evenings talking about what our needs and expectaions for retirement are.

I am making a shopping list this morning and will search for any appropriate coupons to go with it to help keep costs down. We don't need much this week but are running out of some basics like bread and soy milk.

Swagcodes, sweeps, and quadreaders-you all know my routine!

[Aqua Blue]

bke, what does "ERE" and "MMM" stand for? Thanks

[bke]

Sorry. The Early Retirement Extreme Blog and MrMoneyMustache blog. Both are pretty popular these days with others on this site. Both have sucessfully retired before the age of 40.

[AnneM]

I have some projects I am really excited about getting to work on. I have 3-4 unfinished embroidery projects I need to work on and a few skirts and pants to make for the kids. I have fabric to make pajama pants for Zach too. The girls and I were also working on a project a while back to make a bunch of cloth napkins and cloth sandwich bags. I think we'll work on that too.

Stella, can you tell us more about the cloth sandwich bags? That sounds like a cool idea!

[rosarugosa]

BKE: I'm really enjoying the MMM blog as well. I think he helped us make the decision to take money from E-fund/savings and pay off our home equity loan, leaving us debt-free. We had already been considering it, and he helped nudge us along. We're glad we made the move. You might want to think about trying Pinecone Research (if you aren't already). Their surveys only take about 10 minutes and they send you a $3.00 check for each one. That's not a bad return for 10 minutes.
Stella, My DH's new work is seasonal too and has just ended a bit sooner than we expected. In the past, we both had totally stable incomes, so we've been getting into new budgetary territory this past year or so. I think we're up for the challenge - we'll see.
Went out to luch with some friends Monday at a foodcourt-type place. Lunch cost almost $8.00 for something that would have cost me $2.50 at the office cafeteria. It was well worth it to have lunch with the girls, but from a $$$ perspective, I'm glad I don't do it often - and I'm glad the cafeteria is an option for me. I do also bring lunch from home sometimes.

[Stella]

Anne, I have seen a lot of patterns for the cloth sandwich bags that use oilcloth like this one, but I just use plain old cotton since they seem to keep the sandwiches moist enough and they're as easy to wash as a cloth napkin. I didn't really use a pattern. I just make a square shaped bag with a lip on top and sew vecro to attach the lip to the bag. It's easy and it works well.

Rosa it is defintely an adjustment moving to seasonal work. We've been doing it so long I'm not too worried about it anymore, but there's always a little nervousness as you adjust from having tons of money and no time to having tons of time and no money.