Sunday, November 3, 2019

My Frugal Ways this Past Week 11/3/19!

Don't forget to change your time this morning (if you do that).  So I was up at 4 instead of 5 a.m. this morning.  This will take awhile to get used too!  

We had a very cold rain that turned to snow that made a miserable Halloween night for our area.   We usually don't have too many but this year I think we might have had total of 6 come to our door to trick or treat.  Halloween now is more than one night, there are many trunk or treats or Halloween fun nights at the schools, so I think most of the kids were alright.  How's was the weather at your house?

Here are the ways I've saved this week:





I saved the zinnia flower seeds for next years vegetable garden.  I basically just take the flower heads off and put them in a paper bag.  I store the paper bag in the garage in a basket and then forget about them again till Spring.  I hope to plant more rows of flowers next year, the bees really love them.  

We sold an item this week.  Sometimes it takes more than Facebook or Craigslist to get something sold. We ended up taking a musical instrument to a music store where they appraised it and bought it.  The price was perfect. We have also taken used tires to a Used tire store.  

I don't know how it happens but we seem to break a lot of drinking glasses around here.  I went to our storage and was able to find 8 more.  I was almost able to buy some more at an estate sale yesterday but I was a minute too late, the lady ahead of me bought them (I hope she didn't hear my deep inner sigh).  I'll be looking for more to put back in the storage.  

We survived all week on meals that I had frozen. Today we are having turkey and dumplings.  It felt good to take a relaxing break from doing a lot of cooking and get some other things done.   

We cleaned out his side of the closet and got rid of many of his tshirts.    


Last night I baked a cake with the granddaughter.  She insisted on strawberry cake (think goodness I had a strawberry cake mix and can of frosting). We had such a good time!  

My goals for this Week:

Clean out my side of the closet.  

Finish putting up lawn furniture on patio before it comes a big snow (I hope we get this done today).

Switch the better mattress out of the guest room and put it in our bedroom.


How did you save money this past week?

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19 comments:

Little Penpen said...

Well, I haven't even thought about harvesting my zinnia seeds. Thanks for the reminder, I shall do that today. The strawberry cake looks delicious; I wish I had a slice to go with my coffee this morning.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Some people say their zinnias come back up the next summer. We plant them in different spots every year so they don't get a chance.
I resisted the cake this morning. I was told by little granddaughter that cake was not for breakfast ...I need to eat more healthy she said! I'll have some later ha ha. Have a great day!

Jenny said...


What fun to bake with your granddaughter! The cake looks delicious.

I didn't keep a list this week but here is what I remember.

I dug up my elephant ears & one caladium tuber before frost. I usually just buy in the spring but I thought I'd see if I could store & replant them this time.

I made homemade lattes at home every day except one. I usually do this but we now have Starbucks in our town. I love their egg bites & pumpkin lattes so I bought them on my errand day. I need to remind myself how much I save if I make it at home.

I took a free paper crafting class at my library & made two paper wreaths. I love paper crafting. I look forward to the next class in December.

We gave our grandson a recycled gift for his 2nd birthday. A vintage Little Tykes elevator & a bucket of little cars. Both belonged to our son, his dad & we just wrapped them for his birthday. They were a huge hit. I plan to do this with toys we've saved until he gets old enough to realize it.

One goof that I'm living with. I bought a gallon of paint to refresh my kitchen cabinets & bought flat paint instead of semigloss. Oh well....I hope it wears well. The gloss is supposed to make it easier to wipe down & keep clean so I'm super frustrated with myself for my mistake. I didn't realize until I had painted a few cabinets. Now I need to use up the paint & I don't know where to use it!

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Aww I love that you are giving your grandson his Dad's toys. What a great idea! So smart.
The paint should last awhile if you keep it inside out of the cold. I've saved paint till the next spring and something always needs to be painted around here!
I'm going to look up my libraries classes now..it's been awhile since I've done that. I'm kind of jealous of your paper class!
Have a great day Jenny!

Lana said...

I like your way of saving the zinnia seeds. We are heading home from ten days at the lake today. Thrift stores here are better than at home. We found a Food Saver vacuum sealer new in the box for $2, a brand new Clemson football jersey for $10 for one grandson for Christmas, ten hinge mounted door stops at .50 each, a huge hot pad/mat for 25 cents, many packages of Rick rack and seam binding for .12 a pack and a flashlight that mounts on a router for Hubby for $2. I had recently gotten a Food Saver new from Amazon for $72 that would not seal and had returned it so I saved $70!

Lana said...

And I forgot a biggie. I earned $49.78 back from Ibotta in October! Biggest payout ever!

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

That is a big one! Great deal Lana!

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

There is a class soon to make an outdoor cat shelter. We have a couple of strays I signed up for that. Got to keep them warm.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

That would be nice to have a thrift store like that here. What great prices. I love that you saved $70.00 on your food saver. I love those yhings. They are so handy. Have a good day Lana!

tealady said...

I wouldn't really say that I was frugal for my household but I stopped at a Goodwill today and I admit I'm a little purse crazy. I went to look and I found 4 purses with the tags on that happened to be the half off ticket the purses retailed $322. and I paid just over $25. I was happy and my husband rolled his eyes and paid for them. Happy girl here.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

What a great deal! Now you can be stylish with out breaking the bank! Have a great day!

Anonymous said...

Vickie our weather here is lovely and warm and we just had some rain yesterday afternoon and today as well. We could all do with more being in drought though.

Goals this week are to finish bringing up the firewood that DH cut on the back property boundary and collect more firewood from a friends property that a workman cut but left there. She said we could have it so we shall go Thursday and load up the trailer. We need also to blanch and freeze some of our silverbeet in the gardens as it is growing like wildfire.

Our savings added up to $73.40 last week :).

Money earned -
- Earned $12 from the sale of a homemade journal cover on eBay.

Purchases -
- Purchased 2 e-gift cards from RACQ for groceries saving $9.60.
- Did a little shopping for half price specials at Woolworths saving $43.40 on usual prices.
- Used one gift card and with specials and a $15 off promotional code saved $17 on usual prices.
- From IGA picked up 5 x 6pk of a combo of wholemeal and grain bread rolls and really nice large kiwi fruit saving $3.40 on usual prices.

Pantry stocking -
- Stocked up on 10 large packets of pasta and sauces on half price special , 4 x 10 lts of water, and 5 x 6pk of bread rolls.

In the kitchen -
- Cooked all meals and bread from scratch.

Water savings -
- Used grey water pumped from the grey water tank to water most of the front lawn and fruit and berry trees.
- Used cleanish dish rinsing/vegetable steaming water to water potted herb and fruit trees.
- Used saved shower warm up water to fill hand washing bottles and clean the bathrooms and toilets with.

Hope everyone has had a wonderful week of savings and building up their homes as well :).

Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Your savings went a long ways Lorna. I'm glad to hear your getting some much needed rain! Praying that you will get more in the coming days.
We used to have a Woolworth here when I was younger. It seemed more like a 5 and dime though. I remember it so well because of it's cafe to eat at. So fun. Glad you can get great deals there! Have a great day!

Jenny said...

What fun! Our library also does a monthly cookbook club that I would love to join but can't fit it in my schedule.

Once a month you cook whatever you want from any source you want....you just have to be able to share the recipe with the group. They meet, eat & trade recipes. The library provides the rood, tables, water, cups & utensils plus they also have at least one dish they bring....in case the group is small.

It's only once a month but it's on a Friday & I have my grandson at 5 AM to midmorning that day. I'm usually too tired to cook something. I may try something simple someday though. It looks like so much fun.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Oh that's sounds like fun Jenny! I hope that one day you feel like going. I know that grandkids can wear you (and me) out though. Have a great day.

Jenny said...

Your zinnia bed is gorgeous! We break a lot of drinking glasses as we have concrete floors. I've stopped buying them and decided when we need extras we will use mason jars :)
*We went through household and pantry items to take stuff to our older daughter who just moved into her first apartment. It was a blessing to find stuff on hand that she can use right away and won’t have to purchase.
*We have been conserving gas and not really driving too much. This is a double blessing because the less I go to town and to stores, generally the less I spend.
*We’ve had a few small savings like a few dollars through Ibotta and Rakuten for items that were planned purchases. We also sold an item on ebay that was free to us so that went into savings.
*I have been much better at using up every last piece of food and whittling our grocery bill down to what I suspect is the lowest it will go with my new nutritious eating plan for the MS diagnosis. I am really loving the bone broth I’ve been making from the chicken bones and leftover bits of organic vegetables. It’s really good!
*We got the space heater for the large living area out of storage, and my husband used the Shop Vac to make sure it was clear of dust. We’re trying to only use it first thing in the morning to take the chill out of the living area while the fire in the wood stove gets hot enough to start heating the house.
*I started using the free version of the Every Dollar app by Dave Ramsey. We’ve had a written budget for a long time, but I have a hard time keeping up with the tracking of spending to see how close we come to the plan each month. I started this last month and it’s definitely helping me track the spending in the different categories so we can make better budgeting decisions.
I have a bit more on my blog! https://www.cozyhomemaking.com/frugal-fun-homemaking-for-end-of-october-2019/

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Jenny, I'm so sorry to hear of your MS diagnosis. I need to make some bone broth I've heard of such good things about it and it sounds like it's helping you!
You had a great savings week!

Jenny said...

Thank you for your kind words, Vickie! The bone broth is totally different with using the better quality meat we've been buying. I was told to try to go as organic as possible to get away from chemicals, hormones, antibiotics and grains, and the taste really is much better. Since it's so expensive, I've tried to not waste one bit, including the bones and vegetable bits like where I cut off the roots of the onions, etc. I throw it in a reused bread bag in the freezer all together (bones/veggies) and cook it when I need broth. I hope to make it in larger quantities soon and start canning it to have shelf stable on hand.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Sounds like a good plan Jenny and I hope to make some soon! I've been watching youtube videos this morning. I like you idea of canning it. Have a great day!