Sunday, January 12, 2020

My Frugal Ways this Past Week 1/12/20!

We did get some snow and sleet last night, but I think the big storm, for our part of Michigan, passed us by.  I'm glad.  We do have some icy roads this morning and they are saying to stay home if possible. The backyard has a lake now in it but we have power and that is the main thing.   I'm glad to hear from many of you that the storms passed you by too!




I found little house on the prairie  books  for $.25 each at the Salvation Army.  I hope one of the grand kids love them.   I think I might reread The Long Winter myself!  

Came back from vacation to a stack of bills all at once and got busy paying them.  Two days later I noticed we were billed on our credit card for something I just payed through the mail.  Called them up and they will send my check back to me.  I saved  $45.00.

I ran out of the dry cloths for my swiffer and decided to use an old wash cloth.  Works great and I'll probably never use the ones you buy again.  

I used some ground up oatmeal to stretch the hamburger meat and also an egg.  Not sure I needed the egg so next time I'll try it without.  No one seemed to notice the difference in the spaghetti and it seemed to double the amount of hamburger. So, today the rest of the hamburger goes in to the chili.

I poured our shelf stable milk into the gallon of milk in the fridge.  It feels good to use it up (I hope he doesn't notice that his gallon of milk is fuller than before)!   Thanks Kay for the idea (to use my shelf stable milk).

I got under the bed this morning and rotated all the canned goods by date.  I'll be using some of them up very soon.  

Goals:

Keep on with the healthier diet- I've not been perfect but overall not too bad.  I need to get back to that goal of exercising though now that everything is unpacked and put away. 

I found a great deal on chicken last week grocery shopping.  I did go over a little bit but I'm taking it out of this week's grocery shopping total.    

How did you save this past week?  


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17 comments:

Cheryl Kimbley said...

Glad you didn't get as much bad weather as predicted. Stay safe.
I use microfiber cloths for my Swiffer. They work great and of course washable.
Have a good one.

Little Penpen said...

Great deal on the Little House books. I use a washcloth a lot of times on my swifter too. But I definitely get better results with the original pad (dog hair!) I hope you have a great week!

Belinda said...

What a terrific find on the Little House Books.

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

That's a great idea Cheryl! I'll try that soon. Have a great day too!

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

I'm ready The Long Winter this morning! I do hope they love them Belinda.

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

Oh I understand about that dog hair! Sometimes I'm so amazed on what's on my floor that I can't see.

Nancy said...

That's a fabulous deal on the Little House Series. I read and re-read them many times as a child and read them aloud to children as an adult. My suggestion is to start with Little House in the Big Woods and read them in order to the kids. These books make a great read aloud for children. Once they hear you read them aloud, they will want to re-read the books by themselves when they are ready. Also another idea - the only time I use egg in a ground beef mixture is when I need it to stick together as a meatball or meatloaf, etc. I have never used egg in a meat mixture for spaghetti sauce, so I don't think it is needed. That's another cost savings! Stay warm!

Jenny said...

Our contractor quit mid-job this past Wednesday so I'm working on getting back into my frugal ways until we can start up again. Thankfully they quit between two of the bigger jobs so not a lot of chaos but by quitting with no notice they have cost us quite a bit of money. We're taking our time & being much more thorough before we hire someone to finish our second bathroom.

My list:
-Made homemade lattes all week.
-Cooked all of our meals at home except one (the day the contractor quit. It was such a stressful day that went long so husband said let's just get a burger...a very rare treat for us)
-I was given a new jacket & three new blouses from my friend who constantly gives me clothes
-My daughter-in-law gave me a bottle of Torani coffee syrup that she didn't like (It's $15 most places!Though she usually pays around $8 when she goes to Tulsa)
-Had a few free meals (leftovers
-DH has decided to drop his dr & is getting care through the clinic at work. He has juvenile diabetes but he can have all his testing done for free & test more often. He will eventually choose a new dr but for now this will save us hundreds of dollars a year.

I am considering doing the same thing.

-Still working on grandson's felt nativity. I did finish the main characters enough for him to play with it over the holiday. I just have a few piddly bits to finish up. With the halt in the remodel I think I can finish it by the end of the month....fingers crossed.

Lana said...

I'm glad to hear that you did not have a major ice storm. We get them here and it is the worst part of winter for sure.

Anonymous said...

Hi Vickie and so glad the bad weather missed you but sounds a bit iffy to go out driving on the roads there at the moment. Glad you did your shopping prior and got some great deals on chicken :) .

Our goals this week are to replace all the tap and fibre washers in the house.

Our Vicky challenge added up to $58.13 in savings last week :).

In the kitchen -
- Cooked a double batch of coconut and chocolate chip biscuits and made a lemon cheesecake saving $26.80 over purchasing them.
- Cooked all meals from scratch. Well mainly had precooked roast meats we had in the freezer with homemade pasta salad.

Purchases -
- On markdown we purchased 4 x 6 pk of hamburger buns and 1 x 6 pk of wholemeal buns saving $3.70 on usual prices.
- Bought 2 x shampoo on special saving $0.60c on usual prices.

Finances and listings -
- Listed 10 items on an eBay free listing promotion saving $16.50 on usual prices.
- Banked a fair bit more money into our 3 month living expenses emergency kitty bringing us to 19.54% of the way there after buying our 2 home air conditioners + installation.

Gardening -
- Weeded one garden bed late one evening.
- Harvested cherry tomatoes and a beetroot from the gardens.

Water preservation -
- Used all our grey water/dish rinsing water to water potted fruit and berry trees and ornamental shrubs around the home.
- Used all shower warm up water to fill up drink bottles and to clean around the home.

Have a great week :).

Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).

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

I only remember a few and your right they are not fun. Hopefully you guys can skip them this year Lana!

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

I thought that about the egg. Thanks for letting me know.yep more cost savings! I'll be having the grandchildren one night this week so I'll be sure to read to them.

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

You had a really great week frugally Jenny! Sorry to hear about the contractor..it's happened before to us. I'm always so glad when everything is all finished. Hang in there it will be done soon.

Jenny Raith said...

Vickie, the deal on the Little House books is wonderful! I read this series to our younger daughter, and I am now rereading the series myself. I'm ready to get The Long Winter from the library tomorrow :)

I think we had a successfully fun & frugal week last week:
*We stuck to our budget and made progress towards our financial goals for this year.
*Used online bill pay to pay the 2 bills I have to write checks for and mail. This saved the cost of the checks, envelopes and stamps.
*Came in under grocery budget so was able to divert that extra to other areas.
*Redeemed $2.10 in Ibotta rebates for stuff I was already buying.
*Sold 3 items and listed a book on Ebay.
*Updated some items from the attic and decorated with a pastel drawing, framed art work and a lovely display of old tea cups.
More on my blog here: https://www.cozyhomemaking.com/frugal-fun-homemaking-for-january-5-11-2019/

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

Lorna you did so well! You are so great at saving- I'm glad you ac is installed and your keeping cool. I'm always so glad to hear from you and hope that the fires are far from you. Have a great week and keep up the great savings!

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

You know it was enlightening to read The Long Winter again and realize just how little they ate that winter. They endured a lot.
You did have a successful week Jenny-great deal on sticking below budget on the grocery bill. Love that.
Have a great week.

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

Jenny, I went to your post and the comments are not working for me. I love that you shopped in your attic. Your aunt was very talented.
Don't give up on the family yet -they see you do it and they will eventually start turning off lights too.