- I arranged an end of year party at a nearby pizza restaurant for my son’s soccer team. My son ate a single slice of pizza and I was gifted three pounds of gourmet coffee from one of the players whose father is the V.P of a Portland coffee company. Schweet! I’ll likely transform one of the pounds into a Christmas gift.
- Portland’s weather has become very cold over the past few days, so I cut armloads of hydrangeas in the dark of night as there was a definite bite of winter in the air. (The flowers wilt and turn to slime after the first hard frost.) The flowers made it until morning, so I posted on my local Buy Nothing Group that people could come to my backyard today and cut their own bouquets.
- I’m reading a copy of the novel Free Food for Millionaires that I plucked from a nearby Little Free Library. I’m absolutely loving the book and will pass it along to my step-mother when I’m finished.
- Last night’s dinner was an amalgam of various leftovers that included a nice black bean chili and a small pan of homemade macaroni and cheese. Gotta get the fridge cleaned out before Thanksgiving!
- I participated in a consumer opinion survey and won an extra $25 for showing up more than fifteen minutes early. I was purposely prompt as I knew this was a possibility. In all, I earned an extra $125 for my sons’ college fund.
Now your turn. What frugal things have you been doing?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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{ 48 comments… read them below or add one }
Free Food for Millionaires as an Xmas gift for your Step-mother, perhaps?
Thanks for the reminder to “harvest” the rest my Hydrangeas. I like to let them dry out and keep them around in the winter!
We don’t exchange holiday gifts among the adults on this side of the family.
…Which is GENIUS. I wish I could convince our family to do this…
The flowers are pretty! Total score on the coffee too.
1. Cleaned out the fridge here too. Had a pot of potato kale soup last night for dinner with some bread. The kale was the last of a bag in the fridge. Made the soup on the woodburning stove = no electricity was used in the making of this soup. Had enough for leftovers for lunch today. 10 servings of nourishing soup for pennies.
2. Made blondies for an event tomorrow. So good and easy with ingredients that cost very little & are always in the pantry.
3. Just delivered some books from my oldest daughter’s kindle to another daughter’s kindle. Free and instantaneous reading gratification!
4. Two beautiful outdoor runs for exercise this weekend.
5. Went to grocery store this afternoon. Checked my receipt in the car and noticed that they didn’t deduct the fancy tomato sauce that was supposed to be free with the purchase of fresh tortellini. Unbuckled little one from car seat and went back into the supermarket to collect the $3.49 that they owed me. It pays to check receipts!
Recently I was over charged and refunded my money as well. Are you familiar with the rule of 5 where they give you five times the amount they over charged you? After I got my refund I thought of it, asked the manager and he said “you just have to ask for it.” Sometimes they do it sometimes they don’t. At a Rite Aid one time I asked and they wouldn’t do it.
Anyone else have experience with this?
(1) As usual, Katy’s FFTs rock, especially #1 and #5.
(2) Traveled with DH yesterday to the monthly meeting of my literary society in the next city over. We usually have lunch out with a dear friend when we do this, but this wasn’t possible yesterday–so we packed a picnic lunch and ate it in the food court of a NY State Thruway service area (weather was too cold to eat it outdoors!). Nobody in the service area had conniptions or anything.
(3) Went through my accumulated Xmas stash in the guest room closet (a year’s worth of book bargains, thrift store finds, and other treasures of the Western world) today. Am pleased to see that I will only have to acquire another small thing or two to declare my shopping DONE. Take that, Black Friday retailers!
(4) Was also pleased to see that I have enough greeting cards in stock to get the job done this year. (The folks who moved out and left the enormous piles on the curb back in January were major contributors to the card stash.)
(5) Hung laundry as usual today, and am now toasting my tootsies next to DH’s excellent fire (100% free wood; he’s an enthusiastic tightwad lumberjack) in the wood-burning insert.
I love reading the “Five Frugal Things” posts, so here is my first list:
1. Rolled the spare change in the house yesterday, and “gained” $17.
2. A friend at church kindly gave us a few pounds of raisins made from their own grapes. I will look for a way to repay their kindness in the spring with veggie seedlings for their garden.
3. I’ve been baking our treats lately instead of buying them. In the past 10 days, I’ve made oatmeal raisin cookies, chocolate chip cookies, Christmas fruitcake (we ate some already!) and blueberry pie. My wallet is heavier, and likely, so are we.
4. The fruitcake recipe takes a lot of dried fruit, which adds up. So I bought the ingredients during “buy $250, get $25 in points” at my local grocery store. Otherwise I may not have hit the $250 target during that shopping trip.
5. I cut up some raggedy night gowns to make into, well, rags.
I’ve been making/baking treats lately too instead of buying. My kids really seem to appreciate it and notice, which makes me want to do it more!
Me too! I try to bake something each week. Yesterday I made pumpkin bread with some leftover cocoa nibs thrown in. Last week, oatmeal peanut butter cookies. Wholesome and tasty.
This Lauren also had potato kale soup and pumpkin bread recently. People with great names and great minds think alike!
I have also been doing a lot of baking/experimenting. Last year we tried to go gluten free which lasted a whole week and I ended up with all these different kinds of flour, which were pretty expensive, so I am making a concerted effort to use up this flour with different recipes I have found on the web. Last night I made a banana chocolate chip loaf with almond and coconut flour which was a big hit.
Loved “Free Food for Millionaires” – found it for 50 cents at a thrift shop when we were camping a few years ago; when I finished it I took it back to the thrift shop where I then found an old wooden drying rack for $1 that was perfect for drying towels at our campsite on future camping trips. Anyway, I think it might be time for reading it again!
I loved that book as well and paid 75 cents for my copy 😉 I did not know what it was about but it sounded interesting based on the first page so I got it.
Short dash to the flea market after church. For my $2 I picked up two pieces of English pottery that I will probably gift to a friend, each were fifty cents and for the other dollar I got a nice sweater and top to go under it, a NWT jacket, a pair of men’s thermal underwear for Sweetie to wear shoveling snow and a Greg Norman polo shirt for him. Five useful pieces for a dollar works for me.
Slow cooked a ton of chicken legs to use for this week’s meals. Made homemade pizza bites. Not the same as store bought but tasty.
I have a good friend who used to play piano in cabarets in NYC but who is quite elderly now. He is gifting me a piano arrangement of a song I wrote and it is finished! We plan to perform it together next Sunday at church if we can both stay well. I am sincerely honored that he has picked me to receive a gift of his talent! Priceless!
I did not buy the waffle maker that makes waffles shaped like Death Stars….or a Lear jet.
My 5:
1- my daughter had a friend spend the night Friday. She went with us to help at the food pantry Sat. morning to make up food baskets for the holiday, so free entertainment for them, while giving to a good cause.
2- I decided to take care of my last pumpkin of the season. Roasted the seeds with sea salt, then melted chocolate chips, threw in the seeds, poured on wax paper, and made a type of bark candy with it. Someone at work had bought a bag (for $7) this week, so that’s where I got the idea. Kids loved it, and it was awesome.
3- using the pumpkin I roasted for the pumpkin rolls I will bring for thanksgiving dinner.
4-even used the pumpkin guts to make pumpkin guts bread. It makes 2 loaves, ate one and froze the other for another time.
5-made a photo album for my family, it was half off, plus I made a calendar that was free, and free shipping. I’ve had pictures online forever and keep meaning to do the albums, but since I have no ideas for my kids and husband, I think I will make a couple of more and give as gifts. I think they will really get a kick out of them.
1. I am doing Swagbucks on my daughters Kindle and computer as I type this on my computer.
2. Did 7 dog walks over the weekend – cha – ching! This morning instead of stopping for breakfast on the way to/from the first walk we came home and I made a cheese omelette with cin. rolls, grapes and hot chocolate.
3. Did not buy coffee at church today.
4. Combined going to church with doing a dog walk on the way home saving an extra trip back out.
5. Like one of Katy’s blogs/articles recommended took advantage of “free entertainment” this weekend. Went to the holiday parade today (brrrrr! 32 degrees) and came home to have leftovers for lunch of bbq pulled chicken on buns and oven potato fries with more hot chocolate.
6. Daughter wanted hot chocolate at the parade but I had honestly left my purse in the car so I wouldn’t have to carry it around, win! 😉 I brought pumpkin spice flavored coffee to the parade in a thermal mug that I had re-heated from yesterday (I keep it in a thermal pot, tastes fine!) and shared it with daughter.
7. Went to the high school holiday arts and crafts bazaar yesterday. Paid the donation for me to get in but daughter was free. We didn’t buy anything accept lunch which was yummy, home made chili for me and the money all goes to help the school.
8. Came home from the parade and washed two loads of clothes and they are now hanging in the basement and living room drying by the house registers.
9. Going to brothers for Thanksgiving – he asked me to make pumpkin pies, win is already have some cans of pumpkin. I will also make/bring pumpkin fudge which I saw a recipe for on Facebook which I already bought the ingredients for and never made.
10. Got daughter free Adidas soccer socks. Bought her new cleats for indoor and Dicks was offering $10 off internet coupon if you spent $50 – by adding the socks it put me over but basically they are free accept for $1! You can text to DICKS and then the message is WIN10.
5.
Does anyone else see the humor in Katy earning so much for CONSUMER opinion surveys while being a nonconsumer?
Especially when I give my email address as “nonconsumer at . . . “
I love irony!
Your find of “Free Food” sent me to the library website and I’ve put a copy on hold. Thanks:)
1) Friday was a good day. I attended a Women in Higher Ed Conference at a metro area University. The University I work for paid the attendance fee and it goes toward my annual training credits. We were given a beautiful business folio that contained an 8 mg thumb drive, a very cool pen and a free tablet of paper. I ate a delicious breakfast and lunch all inclusive.
2) We had Thanksgiving dinner at church on Sabbath. I provided the rolls, the church provided the turkey & dressing and several others brought sides and desserts. My daughter and grandkids were visiting, so everyone was well fed.
3) It’s wonderful to have all the holiday sales. I went shopping for groceries today and spent about $90 for a turkey and many other things that will last us through Thanksgiving and likely another month.
4) I paid 1.78 per gallon for gas, which filled my car up for $15. I LOVE the low gas prices.
5) Next week is a short two day work week, so less gas spent on driving and more small meals eaten at home.
Five Frugal Things:
1) Does organizing count? I organized the pantry Thursday yesterday evening and my closet and dresser today. Found some things that needed to be used up and some clothes that got turned into cleaning rags.
2) Continued crocheting a warm winter muffler for a friend using yarn bought with a coupon at the clearance store.
3) Used up some mushrooms that needed to be cooked and some odds and ends from the freezer to make soup.
4) Will bake a loaf of bread later today.
5) Got my husband involved in cleaning out the drawers in the coffee table and we were able to throw some clutter away and tuck a few things in the Salvation Army donation bag too.
1. We are both posting things to sell on eBay, for him, comic books, for me soccer jerseys. I love the ones I am selling but they don’t quite fit right and I truly do not wear soccer jerseys that often (I still have 2 though!). Both have good markets for resale.
2. Walked the dogs to the library so my husband could pick up comic books he had on hold. Which is a lot cheaper and less work than buying them and reselling them later. He just has to be patient. And it was sunny today!
3. Busting through my mending pile and ironing pile, which will make me feel like I have a new wardrobe when all is done.
4. Packing up sold comic books and printing postage through eBay as they give you a discount as opposed to going to the post office and paying for the same type of shipping.
5. Not giving into temptation of my favorite holiday treat, eggnog lattes. Warmed up with tea and coffee we made at home for much cheaper.
I rarely have 5 frugal things at one time, but let’s see, maybe I can come up with a few:.
1. Finally roasted my Halloween pumpkin, will make a large pot of soup with rosemary and grated Parmesan, should be fabulous. The pumpkin was only $3, a squash would be a lot more.
2. I bought a pair of Levi’s at the local consignment store for $20. Their prices actually seem quite high for most things, but I think it’s worth it for jeans.
3. Grocery shopped this afternoon, and spent enough to earn 200 points for our air miles program. Eventually we’ll have enough for a flight, or something else.
4. Also made an apple crumble from the last of the apples from our tree, they were destined for the compost if I didn’t get down to business. Enjoyed with friends last night when they came over to play dominos. That’s as exciting as our Saturday night gets!
Cheap fun.
1. Took advantage of Target’s $10 gift cert. if we bought $50 worth of food. With Husband’s debit card got an additional 5% off bill which came to around $75 . Store was packed with Thanksgiving shoppers which I came to realize did not bode well for my ability to find the bargains I desired. Should have shopped in the evening when the store had cleared out! Will gift the $10 to son who regularly shops at Target in his Xmas stocking. (I will return to my small local store.)
2. Realized that I didn’t have to attend an event on the other side of town this evening thereby saving gas and time.
3. Stayed home today and had a $0 spend Sunday after blowing the budget yesterday!
4. Bought a bunch of $1 mysteries at the used bookstore to amuse me during snow storms predicted for this week.
5. Proud to say that I have some decent gifts in my stash including Toys for Tots gifts – most of these were purchased on sale and in the off season. (need to find those Xmas cards purchased last year on sale too!)
1. Took our own mugs to church for the before-service coffee cart.
2. Made dinner in the crockpot with some freezer-burned chicken tenderloins that had gotten pushed to the way back of the freezer. Dumped them in with a jar of salsa, a can of drained black beans, a bag of frozen corn, and a can of chicken stock. Served on small flour tortillas, they were yummy, and the leftovers will be soup on work on Tu.!
3. Gave a friend a really cute fleece Xmas jacket my late mom had, which got transformed into Xmas pillow covers. So cute!!
4. A friend of my son’s gave him a coat he was going to throw away, because it was dirty. It’s a $300 Eddie Bauer down parka, and it only cost $12 to dryclean it (and I had a 20% off coupon, so it was even less). It was a big answer to prayer, since son is stone broke. Same friend gave him a mattress (no more sleeping on the floor!), an armload of old band Tshirts, and a heavyduty hoodie.
5. Went to the downtown holiday open houses Friday night, where we noshed on goodies, had free drinks (a Fat Tire for Mark, superpowered eggnog for me), and enjoyed walking around. We stopped in the store I have jewelry in on consignment and she gave me some money she owed me. Score!
6. Sold three books on Half.com and a bracelet on my Betty’s Bead Soup Etsy store.
1. I finally cooked the 22 lb. turkey that has been taking up space in my freezer since last year (when a man in the grocery store talked me into buying it because it was so cheap!). I had to take it to the church where I work to thaw it and cook it because I didn’t have room in my own refrigerator.
2. After cooking said turkey, I divided the meat into meal size portions of different types – dinner, chunks for salads, mixed meat for casseroles. I have enough for at least 17 meals if not more because some of these will be eaten twice when I make them.
3. I also found an excellent buy on eggs so guess what I am taking for Thanksgiving with both my in-laws and my own family? Deviled eggs! Now to figure out how to transport them in a cooler.
4. I found some yarn to use to knit a gift – it was sock yarn and I have had to adjust the pattern but it will work and I did not have to buy more.
5. We are finally putting our winter comforter on the bed tonight – very excited as I have been sleeping in many layers of clothing to stay warm since my husband was not as cold as me…. and no way we were going to bump up the heat.
This might help in transporting eggs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_4aIyEGtTw
* Did a mystery shoppers mission at a pet store. I needed to refill on hamster bedding (the good kind costing 20$/bag), so this was perfect. I bought for 25$ and they will pay me back 14$.
* Yesterday was our monthly restaurant outing with the kids. I had a Groupon… or so I thought! Realized just before leaving that this Groupon was not valid on Saturdays. Kids already dressed, ready to go, what do we do? We ended up going to a diner, hubby and I each getting an entree costing 10$ and the kids (3 and 5yo) splitting a 10$ entree, so it ended up very reasonable price wise. Will make sure to use the Groupon on a Friday next month!
* Bought 50$ of groceries and received 5$ rebate
* Hubby treated the kids to ice cream cones today. I passed, stayed home and took a bath instead. Then I went for a walk. Saved money and better for my health.
* Keeping an eye on my library books return dates, as I tend to bring them late and then have to pay fees.
* Decided to keep the kids activities on the cheap side this winter, 30$ for 10 weeks of danse classes for the 5yo and we will bring the 3yo to the city pool weekly to practice swimming instead of paying for classes (where they don’t do much, honestly… she’s in one right now, not impressed).
Have a great frugal day!
I have the same problem with library books. I swear two weeks feels like days sometimes.
1. Baked a cranberry cake using one of those 19 cent cake mixes I got at Kroger last week. I used cranberries I put up in the freezer last year. Was really good! My husband is still talking about it, lol.
2. I’m nursing a sore throat by sipping on warm cider, lemon, and honey. It’s so soothing.
3. Steamed cleaned all my rugs and couches in preparation for holidays. Thanks for the reminder to get the fridge cleaned out.
4. Enjoyed a beautiful toasty warm fire in the fireplace. Got to remember to pick up hotdogs buns to go with my free Hotdogs from Kroger so my family can roast there own meal tomorrow night. No, I don’t work for Kroger, lol. They have tons of good deals lately though.
5. Took a not very frugal extremely long hot shower to soothe my achy body after cleaning all day while kinda sick. I’m not sorry for that at all.
I want to play too!
1. Made large batches of Mac & Cheese and beef stew + biscuits so now lots lunches ready to go in the freezer (along with lentil soup, chili, and sweet potato soup already there).
2. Still haven’t replace the old dryer that died a few months ago. Kind of miss fluffy towels tho’
3. Patched a melty hole in a black nylon vest that I really like. Used scrap yarn to knit a scandavian style snowflake motif ( The vest looks even better now). Trying to embrace visible mending to maintain my ‘wardrobe’. Also started a second mitten from same yarn scrap basket.
4. Stayed home all weekend, no driving, no spending, cooked from the pantry. Managed a few chores, like finally painting the living room wall after having the window replaced.
5. A batch of slice and bake mincemeat cookies in the freezer from a partial jar in the fridge. Very tasty. Fresh cookies whenever the craving strikes. Muffins from a half bag of cranberries next.
Cheers,
Jake
Free coffee… Heaven!
1. Had tea at my parents last night (the kids played outside with the water table which they love and is a novelty).
2. Free lunch today at work.
3. Picked up a free pair of floaters of a buy nothing group. My mum scores a free high chair from the side of the road for her cafe too.
4. Eating out of the fridge and freezer tonight.
5. Managed to make it to shopping day without an extra shop. Opened up the doors instead of turning on the cooler. Gifted 2 cot sheets for my stepson from my mum as well as a pair of work pants. Got dinner for free on Saturday as I had to send the chicken back halfway through as it was undercooked (yuck)! Was given 5 big handfuls of free cherries off my aunties tree. Received another free nappy sample. Partner was given an extra 4.5 hours at week on a permanent basis. Redecorated my kids walls by selling old picture frames and ended up with $3 extra in our house fund!
1. My paesley seeds have sprouted in the large pot I planted them in! I had almost given up hope! I take care of them as if babies!
2. Saved the preparation tea I made for last night to use today! Was lovely!
3. Went shopping today with friend and she became worried because I wasn’t buying anything …. Before I buy anything I think “do you really need it?”
4. Did buy a nice practical top which I will get a lot of wear from …. So now I know it was me who went shopping!
5. Have a friend who takes things to charity shop for me! She offers things around among her friends before she takes them! I scored a beautiful Italian top good enough to wear socially and my shoes suited someone else! We also share books!
Love reading about all your adventures! Come from an earlier frugal era myself!
Thanks for the book recommendation. I just requested it from the library.
This is going to be a fairly non-frugal week as we have a son and DIL visiting and are making it a vacation for all of us! So some of my frugals were cutting down pricier expenses.
1. Found online coupons for the car wash. We get our cars washed twice a year and it was definitely time. Clean cars for guest transport is good.
2. Found a play to attend that offers senior discounts on tickets so mine at least was less.
3. Bought a lot of Thanksgiving day foods on sale
4. After picking our guests up at the airport we came home to homemade chicken vegetable soup and salad.
5. Piled blankets on the beds rather than turning heat up.
And continue to read books from the library, bathe the dog ourselves, wash out baggies, etc. so a mix of frugal and not this week.
1. Picked chard and basil right before first freeze of the season. Will cook chard tomorrow and also make pesto for the freezer.
2. Used leftover dab of chili to make chili soup with leftover vegetables for lunch. Was excellent. Had a salad for dinner, thus going meatless today, except for the leftover chili in soup.
3. Stayed home all day, not using gas. Wore extra sweater, not turning down heat.
4. Delayed washing clothes and taking shower one day. Who said you have to shower every day? Hair actually looked better.
5. Used a dab of vinegar in water the clean ceramic tile floors.
All simple things, but planning to consider all victories and write them down in my journal so I acknowledge them.
1, I made another batch of Whole Wheat bread (The frugal Girl recipe). It will become my new standard. Half a loaf was consumed with dinner.
2. I have been using my 19 year old Kitchen Aid mixer a lot lately. Yesterday i made peanut blossom cookies for DH to take to work. This morning I made monster cookies to take to a volunteer gig later this morning.
3. We ate all meals at home this weekend.
4. We did more de-cluttering over the weekend. Some stuff was given away on freecycle.org and other stuff will be put out for Amvets pick-up on Saturday.
5. I soaked and washed the white shower curtain and liner in bleach and detergent. They look white again and are hanging outside drying.
1. Made candied peanuts for Christmas gifts as well as drying peaches and pineapple in the dehydrator. No additives and cost per pound is less than a third of store bought.
2. Had a kale salad from the garden. I love kale, it is an extremely cold hardy vergetable that just keeps producing late in the season. A few seeds saved me hundreds in my garden this year.
3. Had my hair trimmed and roots touched up. Wanted it done before we went to see the family for Thanksgiving dinner. Used leftover henna I had frozen from the last time I had my hair colored. My guy did the trimming and did the root touch up. Net cost ZERO. My neighbor stopped over to visit as I was halfway through getting my hair trimmed before the root touch up. Her hair is quite a bit shorter than mine, just touching her shoulders versus mine the reaches to my elbows. She just had hers done and it cost her $150 plus tip. Yikes! She complimented my guy for doing a great job on the haircut and being so meticulous in getting my roots covered. $150 plus tip! Wow I cannot fathom spending that kind of money on my hair every other month and they would slap the “long hair extra” charge on top of that. I will keep my personal stylist.
4. Wore a sweater rather than turn up the thermostat. We keep it at 60 degrees in the house.
5. Cut up the pumpkins and saved the seeds. Kept a few to plant next year and the rest are getting roasted for snacks. Using the pumpkin for a cheesecake to bring to Thanksgiving dinner.
I foil highlight my own hair. The salons around here charge close to $100 including tip for cut and color. It is a long a tedious process to do it myself but it cost a mere few dollars.Then I get my husband to trim it. I bought all the supplies at a beauty supply store. I use a metal skewer to separate my hair into thin sections. I use the same pair of gloves over and over. I wrap my hair in a bag, secure it to my head, and blow hot air into the bag with the hair dryer. It looks just as good as when I pay someone else to do. However, I have made lots of mistakes to get to the point that I am actually pretty good.
You do the foil highlights yourself, that is great. I mentioned to my guy that I would like to try them after the new year. I did buy a coloring brush, he uses it to section my hair as well as apply the henna. The first time I tried the henna, I had a woman stop me in the grocery store to compliment me on the color and ask where I had it done. She was a manager at a hair salon and she was surprised when I told her I had it done at home by my guy. So I knew he does great work , but getting someone in the business to notice and compliment me on it, I think was really nice. And I was fortunate he did not screw up my hair during the learning curve doing my color. I was never fond of going to the salon, spending all that money and not always satisfied with the result. So for me, taking a seat on the stool, getting caped and having my guy do my hair at home, not only saves me hundreds each year, but I get results every time that I am pleased with.
**I’ve certainly been serving leftovers these last few days, clearing out room in my fridge. I’ve got to get my turkey in there this afternoon to start thawing.
**My picky foodwise daughters are house sitting this week, so I’ve got several meals in freezer consisting of leftovers. They normally turn their noses up at stuff like that but since they aren’t going to be home, I’m breaking them out and making some room in the freezer for all the leftovers to come between now and New Years.
**I managed to buy 4 turkeys these last few weeks. I spent around $45.00 on them. I’ll use 1 of the larger ones for Thanksgiving, the next largest one for Christmas and save the other 2 for later in the year, which will result in lots of leftover meat I can refreeze for casseroles, etc. Thanks to the Prudent Homemaker for the ‘buy extra’ tip!
1. Did not give into the ice cream craving I had on Saturday night (we didn’t have any at the house and I would have had to drive to the store and buy some)
2. Ate meals at home all weekend
3. Kept our heat off when possible
4. Washed another freezer bag for reuse
5. Cleaned my own carpets with things I had on hand, and a borrowed carpet cleaner-no money spent and the carpets look markedly better.
I got signed up for a diaper study. Earn money, plus free diapers. Win! Win!
1. I vended at a holiday bazaar on Saturday and took my oldest daughter with me. We resisted the urge to shop and buy goodies by packing our own lunches/snacks, but my DD forgot her water. When she splurged on a hot cider, the lady gave her a pumpkin roll and she was generous enough to share it with me.
2. We had a sudden infestation of fleas and rather than purchase flea dip, I found a recipe on pinterest with items I already have on hand.
3. Started fleshing the sheepskins that I was hired to tan, 4 hours of physical labor = no gym needed!
4. Received a package of free Christmas cards in the mail, I divvied them up among the kids and they can give them to their friends or use them for crafts.
5. Every year I initiate a goodie swap with facebook friends. I don’t have to bake whole batches to have a nice variety for my family.
6. I avoid the starbucks temptation by using my wide mouth quart jar for tea. I carry extra tea bags in my backpack and replenish with free hot water.
1. Visited my sister this weekend and we made the rounds of thrift stores for our fun (no purchases there) and an estate sale, at which I finally found a good fold-up sewing table and got still-in-plastic-wrap classical music CD’s for 50 cents each. I love classical music.
2. Packed my own drinks for the trip, instead of buying drinks along the way.
3. Returned some clothes she’d given me — they just don’t fit right. She can sell them at consignment (I don’t have a clothing consignment store anywhere near me) and it gets clutter out of the house. She bought them at consignment, of course.
4. Stopped on the way back from my sister’s house to buy gas. Only an hour from my house, gas was incredibly cheaper than it is in my town, so I waited until I was nearly home to fill up. I filled up and drove economically on the way home. It’s still showing nearly full.
5. Wrote to AT&T online to cancel the long distance on my home line. We just don’t need it any more, although I do need a home phone. I was paying $8.00 a month to keep long distance on the home phone! What was I thinking? Just goes to show I shouldn’t get too cocky about my frugal skills.
I love FFT. I read them all and have tried so many new things based on all the great suggestions. I am serious about paying off my post divorce debt and helping my sons be debt free through college in a few years and every bit helps.
Here are my FFT:
1. Explored along the river with my boys and enjoyed the last of the fall days here in KY without spending a dime.
2. Found a great piece of walnut driftwood and my older son happily cut it down to manageable size to carry away. We are making a driftwood cat tower as a Xmas gift for my cat loving mother.
3. I used what I had around the house to make soups for our meals this week.
4. Reading _Not Buying It_ (a recent free find). I tried reading a decade ago, but just couldn’t get into it. I chock it up to being too young or a new mom or just not ready to understand the movement. Middle-age has changed my perspective drastically.
5. I also was able to keep the furnace off until this weekend (we’ve been blessed with above average temps) and I still have it below 60 (;ayers are the trick to not freezing!) During the week it is just me at the house, so I will try to muster through another cold winter.
1. I was gifted kale and used it to make your kale pesto, which I used to make creamy pesto sauce.
2. Class is canceled tomorrow, so I canceled the babysitter, which will save us paying the babysitter.
3. My spring semester doesn’t start until Jan 20, so our daycare is letting us take an extended break and not pay for daycare while I am home with the kids.
4. We’re only in town for two days this week, so we are eating out of the pantry and freezer and skipping the grocery store.
6. A woman at our church connected us with another woman who is divesting herself of a ton of baby girl clothes. I’ll be buying a bunch at $1/piece which is what I would pay for them at Goodwill without having to make the trip.
1. Used a Barnes & Noble gift card earned from surveys to buy a planner. Paid 21cents for the difference. Used Home Depot gift cards also earned from surveys to buy a mop & extra washable head. Register gave me $1.26 in change from the gift card which will go in change jar.
2. Earned $2 from a survey that will go into high school/college fund.
3. Ate leftovers for dinner.
4. Stuck to my list at a grocery store going out of business. I’m trying to stick to my budget. It was hard as there were some great deals.
5. Line dried 2 loads of laundry.