Sunday, February 9, 2020

My Frugal Ways this Past Week 2/9/20!

The weather here in Michigan went from Spring back to Winter in just a few days.   One day we grilled out and the next we had to dig out the snow plow.  We've heard from KY and other places about the flooding and the tornadoes. The wild and extreme weather change is scary.  How was the weather in your area last week?

Here are the ways I've saved this past week:



I started winter sowing.   So far, I've planted marigolds and lettuce.  Those two have really worked out for me in the past.   I've bought my seeds at Menards and migardener.  Migardener really gives you a lot of  Marigold seeds in those .99 cent packages,  so it took a few jugs to plant them all (not an affiliate link).  Migardener also has great videos on you tube on vegetable gardening.   He is a very happy person who loves to garden.  

We got a lot of free things when we stopped at a estate sale at closing time.  They just didn't want to take a big load to the charity.  You can see our treasures here.  We also went trash picking before the snow came and found some great things.  Husband got the vacuum out of the truck last night and it works great!  


We took the modem back to the cable store and bought our own this week.  This saves us $14.00 a month.  It may take awhile to recoup the initial cost of the modem but after that we will be good. 

Switching modems was time consuming though, everyone's tablet, the computer, tv's, and the printer had to have the password switched.  I never ever want to do all that again.  Really, everything was easy but the printer.  I could not get it going.  I watched a youtube channel and it said to disconnect it.  So I did and then what he said after was completely wrong for my computer program.  I finally got the printer back online after 2 hours, a candy bar, and a bit of crying later.  This was all last night and you can see I'm not quite over it.  I hate technology really, well kind of.  



I went into the library and I found 3 books that were for sale (like I need more).  I paid around $2.00 for them.

I love to read on my Kindle but I can take a regular book anywhere and not worry about dropping it.  I dropped my Kindle last week at granddaughters ballet class and I think I'm very lucky that I have a hard case.  This week I took a regular book while I was waiting!  


I got the best deal on King Hawaiian Rolls this past week grocery shopping.  I'm so glad those things are in the freezer!  



I started my sourdough back up and made sourdough waffles Saturday morning.  Everyone loves them and I have enough made for quite a few days.  

My Goals for this week:

I'm still Spring Cleaning -last week I didn't get as much done as I hoped, there just wasn't much time between taxes being prepared and a new modem.  I hope to wash the cabinets in the kitchen and the walls in the guest room this next week.  



My goal for this month is canning.  I did mange to put some trail mix in jars last week and seal them with the Food Saver.  This week I plan to can blueberry jelly with the blueberries frozen in the freezer.  I was so lucky to find some sure jell on sale at the Dollar General on clearance.  

How did you save this past week?  

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12 comments:

Lana said...

We had a 70 degree day then the day with 7 inches of rain and a tornado that cut a ten and a half mile path across our county to 4 inches of snow yesterday. The tornado started near us and we heard the roar and our house was shaking for about a minute. We were about to run for cover when it stopped. It will be a long time before everything is cleaned up and residents back up their homes.

My husband retired from IT and he even has trouble with the printer. He couldn't print from his laptop for weeks and then it just corrected itself with no apparent explanation.

Jenny said...

We want snow so much ....at least I do. We've had a little dusting but all it's doing is making more mud. The mud is so bad we've had to block off our driveway to keep everyone from driving on it.

I saw all your great deals...I love weeks like that.

Here's my list from the last week or so:
-I snaked my bathroom sink myself! I bought one of those cheap plastic snakes & used it to clear out the drain. I decided to try before dh took off the pipes to clean it out. It was super easy but pretty messy.
-I had quite a few leftover drinks from my garden club meeting & am still enjoying them...cranberry punch, pineapple & cranberry juice. I don't ever buy juice so it's been a treat.
-I also had quite a bit of leftover food. This was free because I supplied drinks but the food was all brought by others:a little cake, sandwiches & granola bites. Yum.
-I bought one lemon & one lime to make infused water for the meeting. Instead of tossing the slices I used them to make simmering potpourri & have had them brewing in my simmering pot. It smells really good.
-I received a pair of replacement socks from Smartwool. Their socks have a great warranty. I had worn through the bottom so I sent them in & they sent me a new even better pair.
-DH fixed a leak in our dishwasher replacing a valve. It took a few tries, ordering & returning a part then getting the right one eventually but he got it done.

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Vickie, I am doing winter sowing for the first time this year. I am not sure when to put things out. So far i have put out Bloomingdale Spinach, Lacinco Kale and Cilantro this month. I am in Zone 5B and wondered if I could put out annual flower seeds yet. What zone are you in. I watched some of Juicing Gardener's winter sowing videos when she lived in Ohio as I am in SW Indiana. I have sourdough pancakes in the freezer but got tired from eating them so took a break and feed my sourdough and put it back in the refrigerator. Have you tried fermenting veggies yet? Is your trail mix recipe anywhere on your blog? We grew up in Pt. Huron, Michigan and I order from MIgardener also! His packages are plenty for my little courtyard garden! Enjoy your week. Nancy

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

I'm so glad your safe Lana and sorry to hear about the destruction in your community. So scary!
That printer went out just When I needed it..but all is well. After hearing about your husband's printer I'm convinced they might have a mind of their own.

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

Your leftovers sound delicious. Sounds like a great garden meeting. I bet your house smells so good.
We just got back from taking the kids sledding. They had a ball. I went down 3 times and decided that was enough for this old lady. What fun though! The Snow is falling heavy now.
I know what you mean about mud..my mom used to say, it's nothing but a bunch of purty old mud out there. Just gets everything dirty.

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

We are in mid Michigan..zone 6a. I Just put things out when I plant them in the jugs and I had good luck with that until last year. I believe we just had too much rain. So this year I'm planting what I had success with last year. There are a couple of winter sow Facebook groups you can join that can help.
I can sauerkraut and that's it. The trail mix I bought in a big bag at aldis and I knew I'd better seal it up quick or it would be eaten in no time.
I'm looking for more sourdough recipes I like. I'm not sure I can eat those waffles one more day of not!




KayM said...

We are having flooding in East Tennessee, but I live on a hill and the flooding hasn't been a problem for me. I do have many trees, so I am just praying that the ground won't be so saturated that one falls over onto my house. Yesterday, we had a lovely snow, but it melted before the day was over. My daughter is helping me with some spring cleaning. she using Murphy's Oil on the woodwork and cabinetry. I cleaning through my spices and herbs and throwing out the old ones that have lost their color and flavor. I hope you have a good week. BTW, concerning books, have you ever tried winning books on blogs? One of the books that I am reading I won on a blog a couple of weeks ago.

Anonymous said...

Vickie you have done so well and what good fortune all the free items from the estate sale. Glad you picked up some bargains on Hawaiian rolls and had some time to preserve some items.

My goals this week are to finish deep cleaning the kitchen and maybe if we have time start deep cleaning on the food storage room.

We have been flooding here and on Saturday had 104.4 mm of rain and it is still raining after a fine day on Sunday. Water was near the back door on ground level so DH dug a trench to the back creek of 130 metres long. I swept water off the back patio into the drainage trench and we did stop the water coming in to the home. Phew and we are still holding with more rain as the rest of the home is on stumps.

Our Vicky challenge added up to $99.10 in savings last week :).

Internet listings and finances -

- Listed 10 items on an eBay free listing promotion saving $16.50 on usual prices.
- Paid an extra part payment off our mortgage.

Hair cuts -
- DH cut my fringe saving approx $20 at having it done at the hairdresser.

In the kitchen -
- Blanched and froze 5 bunches of silverbeet giving us 6 more meal sized portions for the freezer.
- Cooked all meals and bread from scratch.

Pantry stocking -
- On half price special bought 1 x 500 ml of mouthwash and a 460 g tin of milo saving $6.50 on usual prices.

Home deep cleaning and organising -
- I deep cleaned all the tiled splash backs with methylated spirits in the kitchen and they are really shiny and clean now.
- DH deep cleaned 2 sets of metal venetian blinds in the kitchen and 2 windows in the kitchen with 50/50 mix of methylated spirits and water and they are so clean and shiny.
- I deep cleaned all the metal tap ware in the kitchen and shower downstairs.

In the gardens -
- Picked 5 bunches of silverbeet, 2kg of cucumbers and 150g of cherry tomatoes saving $52.60 over buying them in the supermarkets.

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone :) .

Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).

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

You've been busy Kay! I have tried winning books on blogs but it's been quite awhile ago. I may have to try that again, so fun!

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

Now that's extreme Lorna, you went from a drought to a flood. I'm glad you were able to save the home from flooding and were still able to get that great harvest out of the garden!
I have never used methylated spirits before but it's sounds like it does a great job. Green too so that's a added benefit.
Have a great week Lorna!

Jenny Raith said...

How fun to do some "shopping" at the estate sale. Sounds like you guys got really useful stuff. We may be hitting up some auctions this spring in hopes of finding a good, but used, trailer to haul my husband's work equipment on.

We had a lovely and frugal week here!
*I enjoyed getting to select the first round of books from other libraries in our state through our local tiny library. That will be so fun and a bit money saving since I will be able to give up the annual paid membership at the larger library.
*My husband turned a free pallet into a compost bin so I can start building compost for our raised beds.
*I’ve been doing some of the usual things like trying to stick to the budget to get money into savings, using pet food and packaging bags in place of trashbags, wasting as little as possible both in food and just in general daily living, and staying home a lot.
*More on my blog! https://www.cozyhomemaking.com/frugal-fun-homemaking-for-january-26-february-8-2020/

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

You had a great week. We recycle here and we love it too. Recycling is a money saver in a way -you get to use less trash bags. Those things are so expensive!

I just love all your money saving ways and they are great for our earth too!