- After two weeks of hosting my NYC nephew last month, I made a vow to put a good faith effort into cooking at home, and I’m proud to say that we haven’t eaten out since he left. (Okay, okay, there may have been some Mexican takeout one night when I was working, but that delicious burrito was worth it!) I love, love loved having the guy visit, but the number of restaurant meals got to be ridiculous. Well planned delicious homemade meals are far from a sacrifice.
- My older son just finished his Crossfit introductory course and is ready to start the regular Crossfit classes. My younger son had taken martial arts classes at the same center and we had a $300 credit leftover from 2011 when his schedule became too full. I feel really good that we’re finally taking care of this leftover detail, as it would have such a waste to not take advantage of the credit. And as a bonus, my son is loving Crossfit!
- I tried this black bean soup recipe from Money Saving Mom the other day and give it a hearty two thumbs up. I altered the recipe by pureeing the soup at the end, but only because my older son is very texture sensitive and would otherwise not have touched it with a ten foot pole. I cooked the beans myself using my garage sale pressure cooker, which made it a very frugal meal.
- My younger son has started babysitting, and brought home a nice chunk of change for just a few hours’ work the other day. I’ve never given my kids an allowance, and instead have made sure they know how to earn money in a work setting. They sold lemonade when they were little and got jobs when they were old enough. My older son started lifeguarding when he turned fifteen, and my younger son referees for soccer and works occasionally in a local art supply store. They’re much more deliberate with income they’ve earned themselves rather than money that gets handed over.
- My local schwanky grocery store (New Seasons Market) is having a 50%-off all jams sale, so I splurged on two jars of Bonne Maman raspberry jam. I normally balk at the $5 price tag, but $2.50 hit my buy-a-couple threshold. I love this brand of jam, and there’s always the bonus of the attractive jar when the jam is but a distant memory. Yes, I should make my own jam, but this somehow simply didn’t happen this year.
Now your turn. What frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I am always frugal at the beginning if the month; it’s as the month wears on that I throw in the towel! Anyway just this weekend:
1) used a coupon for a $4.99 haircut. A new Great Clips just opened and they send the local addresses a coupon for a cut reduced from $14.99. It was only for a cut so I did walk out with a wet head, but that’s OK. And I did give the girl a $5.00 tip. My cut was not difficult and she did cut it in 15 min.
2) actually stuck to my grocery list and didn’t overspend.
3) Finished up all the leftovers from the refrig. We usually don’t do that. Will be making Quesadillas for dinner with leftover rice and beans.
4) Cut my husband’s hair this morning too.
5) made my own iced tea. I’ve been thinking I need a jar to put outside to make sun tea until I saw someone that puts a few tea bags in a pitcher in the refrig over night. Not as strong, but since I have a ton of tea bags, this is the way to go. No new cost for me!
Good for you for tipping as if the cut was regular cost!
1. cleaned out the pantry today. sadly tossed a couple of expired things but did find a few foodstuffs that I now know to eat SOON.
2. planning a picnic to entertain out of town guests instead of eating out when we travel.
3. didn’t go anywhere today…spent no money, no gas.
4. watched DVD borrowed from library last night (can’t beat that price: $0.00)
5. “discovered” a pesto ingredient in the pantry that I didn’t remember buying, so I’ll be making sun-dried tomato pesto manana. yea! (we make ours with blanched almonds, since they are cheaper than pine nuts. still tastes great)
1. Had 2 no spend days, didn’t leave the house, no shopping, no gas.
2. Rented a movie instead of heading to a movie theater.
3. Went to a vineyard to buy some wine rather then buying it from a store. Got to try some first to make sure I liked it and there were no markup fees. Paid $15 each for 3 bottles that would have been at least $25 in a store.
4. Bought chicken at KFC and made the sides at home. Saved nearly $10 on baked beans and mashed potatoes.
5. Harvested the last from my spring garden and planted my fall garden.
I haven’t been super frugal lately but some things I’ve done this week that I consider frugal wins were: spent Labor Day at home cleaning my back porch so I could enjoy it all fall and cooking out hamburgers vs. attending a party or taking a drive to the mountains. I made a new crockpot meal called taco chicken chili using home cooked and frozen dry red beans and black beans plus canned items from the back of the pantry (combining a can of tomatoes and a can of green chilies rather than Ro-tel) and using what chicken I had rather than what the recipe called for – deboned the chicken breasts vs buying boneless skinless chicken breasts. And yesterday when I went on a field trip to an out of town cloth and quilt store (with my sewing group), I made a list of my needs and stuck to it. I am in a Ready to Wear Fast group so I am making my clothes vs purchasing any this year. I even found a pattern that uses recycled clothing only for the new project.