July Frugals

[Stella]

I have developed a plan. What's new, right? I have always struggled between liking to have freezer meals on hand and going overboard and not using them. Here's my new plan. I am going to plan that Tuesdays, which are Zach's day to go to basketball, are going to be freezer meal nights. Once a week I will make a double batch of something, pasta, fried rice, etc. and freeze it. I will keep one spare freezer meal in the freezer beyond the Tuesday meal and every Tuesday I will use up the oldest of the two meals, replacing the extra one when necessary. This will give me two "outs" during the week if I need it and will automatically ensure that meals don't stay in the freezer for too long. I am using one meal tonight and I have some fried rice in the freezer.

We made another reading nook today, this time in the odd space in the kids' hallway. I took the mattress extender from the toddler bed, which we aren't using, and put a pretty quilt over it. We added some pillows with pillowcases I embroidered a while back and a wooden box turned on its side for a bookshelf. The kids stocked it with some books my dad's friend gave us, mostly Winnie-the-Pooh and Beatrix Potter. It is a huge hit. The big girls want to sew some buntings to go over it for decoration. I have plenty of scrap fabric for that.

[Tussiemussies]

Stella, just love your book reading nook. Sounds so inviting for the children...

[fidgiegirl]

Wish I had known that you were in the UP. I reside about 30 min sw of Munising. I could have told you of places to go to for free that you would have enjoyed as well. We have a number of waterfalls that are spectacular that a lot of people don't know about, and they're free. I know in Munising there are a few that do charge -- don't ever pay for that. This past weekend Marquette held their Hiawatha Concerts. In mid-August, Escanaba has the UP State Fair. All of the small town usually have fairs as well. Where I'm employed, they give free demonstrations for woody biomass. The extension offices usually have free gatherings as well. Don't know if you hit any of the lighthouses. Don't know how far you went into the UP. Kewenawee has a lot of places to see -- I've been there for a mini-vacation. Pelkie area has Mennonites and some Amish. There's also a community near Newberry -- just don't know if the fire destroyed this Amish/Mennonite community.

Thank you, debi! We would like to go back, so I'll bear it in mind for next time!

Hi all, well, everyone's been busy busy! We, on the other hand, have not. We've been luxuriating in the pine cathedrals of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Lovely, lovely! Needed some rest and are back now.

We spent about $100 on food, $36 on a permit, about $50 on gas. We already have all needed gear for the BWCA. Worth it!

We'll be workin' on some power frugals coming up here. I have an interview for a side job tomorrow morning via Skype. We'll see if they want me or if it is a good fit. Still a long shot, but heck. Would be nice to make a few bucks toward the mortgage project. Of course, I have no idea how many bucks it will even pay!

[Tussiemussies]

Thank you, debi! We would like to go back, so I'll bear it in mind for next time!

Hi all, well, everyone's been busy busy! We, on the other hand, have not. We've been luxuriating in the pine cathedrals of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Lovely, lovely! Needed some rest and are back now.

We spent about $100 on food, $36 on a permit, about $50 on gas. We already have all needed gear for the BWCA. Worth it!

We'll be workin' on some power frugals coming up here. I have an interview for a side job tomorrow morning via Skype. We'll see if they want me or if it is a good fit. Still a long shot, but heck. Would be nice to make a few bucks toward the mortgage project. Of course, I have no idea how many bucks it will even pay!

Good luck Kelli with your job interview!

[Stella]

Stella, just love your book reading nook. Sounds so inviting for the children...

Kelli I am jealous of your travels. Lovely places!

Thanks Tussiemussies! Here is a picture of it. It has gotten a lot of use from the kiddos. I'm feeling photo-y today.

We had some plants that were either done for the year or just never really got going, so we took them out and planted the bottoms of some celery as an experiment for school. Supposedly they should grow. It's just for fun, anyway.

Cheyenne made us a Caprese Salad today for lunch. We also had popcorn and tomato soup. The tomatoes for the salad were from our garden.

The heat has broken and the A/C is off. Yay! I have gotten Charlotte and Travis on more or less of a simultaneous nap schedule, which means I can actually do stuff. That is probably the biggest frugal of the year.

A friend of mine who lives in Chincoteague sent me the Misty of Chincoteague books for the girls. We've been having some good FFF reading the books and looking at photos and videos of the pony penning and the swim online. I had forgotten how well written those books are.

[bke]

Last night we ate dinner at home before doing the weekly shopping. That saved us about $22.

I finally found a place to buy decent bagels. When I lived in the city, they were a staple for me. Now they feel like a real indulgence! For $13.29 I bought a baker's dozen and 2 8 oz. containers of flavored cream cheese. I froze the bagles to keep them fresh.

I also bought a $20 toaster oven to replace the one that died over a year ago. Our microwave had also went kaput and I waited to do any repurchasing until I determined how much they were missed. I could care less about the microwave in our current living arraingement. The toaster + bagels=an upgrade on our quality of life! Oh, and I did buy the cheapest toaster oven available!

It the past 10 days or so I have won a bag of chips, a $20 amazon.com gift certificate and an Ipod shuffle doing sweepstakes.

[fidgiegirl]

bke, awesome. I entered a sweepstakes yesterday from the local independent business group and thought of you There will only be two winners but heck, it's gotta be someone, right?!

[bke]

That's my attitude Kelli! Its certainly more profitable than scratching lottery tickets! Not that I make a habit of wasting money on those!!!

[fidgiegirl]

Well, a few for today.

Passed on a new swimsuit. I thought I'd get a backup while they are on clearance, but none fit me right, and even on clearance they are still about $50. Eeeeek. I might, might, try making one. But stretchy fabrics are my nemesis. We'll see. My existing suit is doing ok and I don't swim too often.

We got a gallon of exterior brown paint for $5. We have several brown projects coming up, including our garage door, new backdoor, and quite a bit of trim, so that was a great find.

Continuing to eat at home even though we are running out of a lot of items! A grocery order will be coming tomorrow. Not super frugal, but saves me going to the store. Yuck.

[mara61]

No car = no drive Supposedly getting brakes but I'm thinking theres more to it than that since it shouldn't take 2 days for a dealership to replace the brakes.

We've ridden to the library twice, saw a puppet show there. Very fun!

Cleaned out the fridge for dinner last night, have my list ready to go.

Unfortunately we had to cancel our camping trip, DH thought it was only mid July and our trip was tonight. So we are going out to Port Huron for a bike ride, maybe a few museums and lunch.