Ever since we've had the tree up, I start my morning by taking Ivory (who wakes me early in the morning; I nurse her and then she's up after that around 4:50 am on average; sometimes earlier) into the living room, and turning on the Christmas lights. I love watching the delight on her face each morning.
Now for this week's frugal accomplishments:
I made Christmas gifts. I wrapped gifts with paper I bought on clearance several years ago, and vintage curling ribbon that my mom gave me (some was from the 70's, and some was much older than that!).
I cut the buttons off of a worn dress and added them to my button jar.
We watched a movie and a tv show for free on Hulu.
The only food I purchased this week was a can of olives, which was free after a coupon. I also used a coupon to get a free container of dental floss. Both were internet printable coupons.
I picked up my free 5 x 7 print that I ordered last week at Walgreen's.
I made homemade Rosemary Olive Oil bread.
A friend offered us her son's outgrown bicycle. It needs a little grease on the chain, some air in the the tires, and some cleaning up (it is rusty in a few spots) but I think my older son will enjoy it!
My mom's friend's daughter changed to a gluten-free diet. She offered me some things that she could no longer eat, including a couple of buckets of oats.
She also had some food-grade diatomaceous earth that she no longer wanted. I hope it will help me get rid of the bug problem in the garden! The mild winter last year meant an abundance of bugs, which ate my garden down to very little. Diatomaceous earth can also be mixed with water and sprayed on your trees when they are dormant, to kill overwintering bugs. I may try this out instead of or in addition to the organic dormant oil that I usually use in January.
I rolled up towels to put inside the house in front of my front door. It stopped the draft the blows through there in winter. I had been planing to make a door snake for several years, but I've never had the time. This solution took 30 seconds, and will be fine for the next couple of months until it's warm again.
I saved seeds from the basil in my garden.
My daughter received a free knitting lesson from my grandmother's neighbor.
What did you do to save money this week?
I was given a small pressure canner for christmas and made turkey broth which ended up having allot of meat in it so I strained the meat and veggies out and the veggies I pressure canned that and did the broth too you can read about it on my blog
ReplyDeletehttp://homemakinginthewoods.blogspot.ca/
I also saved some bows and bags from christmas gifts to use for next year
Deletealso I was given a $50 gift card to save on foods so im going to use that for the next while well we spend more money on paying off debt we had come up still need to buy are pet food though which we pay about $150 for since we have 2 dogs, 12 cats, 1 rat, 5 rabbits and 13 chickens they go through allot of food the only one that we dont spend any money on is are pet rat which we got a while ago because some one dumped him and she is a very tame sweet rat im wanting to see if mabe a kid would like her she is very sweet which I know probably sounds really wierd to others
DeleteHi ,
DeleteBless you for having so many animals. I also love animals they really help when you have a stresfull day. Pet rats are really smart we had them growing up. The chicken are great at bug controll and love to eat scraps. mavis 100 dollars a month .com
talks on her blog how she got free left over produce for her chickens. Her family also benefits from it too.
Blessings,
Patti
My only frugal endeavor was while at Target yesterday, I was able to buy a pair of pajamas on clearance for my step-niece. They were $4.98 plus tax. And they aren't the least bit Christmas-y. In fact, they are right up my step-niece's alley. :) They will be a gift for her birthday in May. :)
ReplyDeleteAfter presenting the idea several different times to my husband, he finally agreed to go meatless on at least two meals a week and to eat more soup.
ReplyDeleteI made homemade chicken broth from the remains of a slow-cooked chicken and froze 6 small jars for later use.
I did my shopping after I planned all the meals based on pantry and freezer items I already had. I had a much smaller grocery bill.
I purchased one Christmas gift for my daughter from a friend for $3. It was a brand-new puzzle solving game that is normally $40.00.
I picked up a free 5 x7 photo from Walgreen's.
I took my daughter on a lunch date to Culver's and I used a free value meal card for my food. My daughter's meal was only $4. We do not eat out that often, so this was a fun "Christmas school break" treat for both of us.
Brandy, I used a rolled up towel in front of our front door for several years, too. It is certainly easier to wash & dry than a fabric snake! My frugal list for this week:
ReplyDelete-2 weeks ago I took a survey that was supposed to give me $15 egift card to Amazon. This week I received notification, with an apology, that the ecards are late being posted, & it will be sent to me in 1-2 weeks. I will use it for either birthday presents or 2013 Christmas presents.
-Saved all bows, some tags & some paper when we unwrapped presents on Christmas morning. The tags are useful when presents from one sibling to another are mailed to Grandma’s, for Christmas delivery, since they already have the giver’s handwriting on them! Two gifts from in-laws came in large manila envelopes, which I saved to hold paper dolls, etc. for next year.
-On the 26th, I went shopping for wrapping paper on clearance with our youngest daughter. I bought a roll with holly leaves for Christmas next year, plus a roll of red with snowflakes, several rolls of plain red & several rolls of plain green to use for birthdays through the year.
-Cut a “Christmas” kleenex box, purchased on clearance last year, into gift tags after the tissues were gone. It had a cardinal design, with a “snowy” border, so I have 4 tags with cardinals, 6 with red berries on a white snowy background, & 16 smaller tags from the white snowy background. They will look nice on a solid red paper wrapping, & I have several rolls of that.
-Picked up a free calendar for 2013 at the bank, with beautiful 11 x 14” pics of the Wells Fargo wagon & team of 6 horses, 2 of which are pretty enough to frame, after we are done with the calendar.
-Darned a hole in my white sock & hemmed a white handkerchief.
-Used leftover potatoes, leftover green bean casserole, some of the leftover ham & some of the ham broth to make potato soup that was yummy. While we lived in Idaho, a friend who was the wife of our closest dairy farmer gave me a recipe for Amish potato soup that uses a ham bone, ham bits, onions & green beans. It is so delicious that we have used it ever since.
-Brought a few more boxes of powdered milk. With all the “fiscal cliff” talk of milk hitting $8/gallon without the farm subsidy, it seemed prudent to bring our stores back up, since they had depleted somewhat. We don’t drink as much milk as we used to when the children were home, but we still like hot chocolate & I use milk in cooking, too.
-Bought several snowflake decorations on clearance. When we take down the Christmas decorations every year, we put up snowflakes for January, then hearts for February. The snowflake & heart decorations were all either handmade, or purchased at deep discount over the years at the after Christmas sales (as in 10-15 cents). -Marivene
Marivene, May we have the potato soup recipe please? Holly
DeleteI would also like the potato soup recipe.
DeleteIt's pretty simple. Simmer the ham bone for 24 hours in water in the crock pot the day before you make the soup. Remove the bone to cool in the morning. Peel enough potatoes to fill your crockpot about 3/4 full & cook those in a pan on the stove top in enough ham broth to cover until they are soft. Remove half the potatoes, add a couple pats of butter & mash with a hand masher. While the potatoes are cooking, sautee a chopped onion in a titch of butter with a little olive oil. Remove the bits of ham from the bone& add to the crockpot. When the onion is soft, add to the crock pot. Add the mashed potatoes, as well as the cooked, non-mashed potatoes & the cooking liquid, back to the crockpot, along with a pint jar of undrained green beans. Add 2 cups of milk, some cream or a can of evaporated milk to the crock, & cook on low for 3-4 hours. Salt & pepper to taste at the table. The mashed potatoes & the pats of butter mashed with them will thicken the soup. The recipe is very flexible: If you like more onion, chop 2. If you like more green beans, add a quart. If you like more ham, add more. If you like to leave the peel on the potatoes, then only peel those you will mash, & cook them separately. I have used every kind of leftover potatoes imaginable to make this soup, & it is always good. - Marivene
DeleteWhat a great idea to decorate with snowflakes for January. I was just thinking how boring the house is going to look after we take the Christmas stuff down on Tuesday.
Deletewhat site do you go through for the surveys
DeleteMrs. McKay, I did not go thru a site for the survey. The survey I took was for Deseret Book, because I belong to their "Deseret Book Club". I did not know before I took the survey that there was a reward, I was just asked to participate, so I did. The reward was a pleasant surprise. - Marivene
Deleteoh ok thanks :)
DeleteWhat a precious babe! My little peanut is almost 18 months, and she loves watching the tree light up too. :o)
ReplyDeleteThis week, I made bean soup from the leftover Christmas ham bone. My in-laws gave us some leftover turkey, which I shredded and mixed with taco seasoning to make tacos. I made flour tortillas to go with them and served the tacos with leftover refried beans that I had frozen.
There's no school this week, so Jackjack is helping Daddy at work. This saves a lot on daycare costs, and teaches Jackjack the value of working.
I brought my lunch to work every day (but did splurge on an ice tea from the cafeteria).
We are staying home for New Years' Eve and having a potluck. Lots of fun with friends to ring in the new year!
I also roll up towels to put in front of the doors. My daughter received a sewing machine for Christmas so I want to learn how to make a door snake for them though.
ReplyDeleteI have been trying to keep the thermostat down even though it has been very cold for Alabama these past couple of days.
I have cooked at home when I really really wanted to eat out or grab something quick from the store. This is a discipline I am having to work on.
I worked really hard on a January meal/stock up/freezer-fill plan and will be able to shop on Monday. I'm excited and a little nervous about how it is all going to work out.
Thank you Brandi for the link-up each week. It is so encouraging to read the comments!
I LOVE the picture! She is so precious :)I did the same thing with my toddler in the mornings, too.
ReplyDeleteMy frugal accomplishments for last week:
- continued to not eat out
-took my coffee, breakfast and lunch to work with me
-completely gave up soda! YAY me! HUGE accomplishment there.
-Made 2 loaves of homemade bread instead of buying bread at the store.
-my hubby needed a cream soup for a dish he was making, so he made some homemade cream soup with ingredients we had on hand
-continued to use items out of our stockpile instead of buying more/new items, like kleenex, cold medicine, maxipads.
-I caught my daughters cold, I have been treating it as naturally as possible by drinking tea, taking honey, hot steamy showers. We had to buy medicine for our daughter because the doctor said she has a virus that is going around that quickly turns into pneumonia and she's only 2 (she's much better though)
-Due to said illnesses we didn't go anywhere this week, which saved a lot of gas.
-Kept the heat down as low as possible, between 66 and 68. We live in northern Illinois and it's been very cold here.
-Made homemade chicken stock out of chicken and veggies we had on hand. It turned out very tasty.
-A co worker left the company, and she gave me her work shirts, which I shared with others after I kept the ones I wanted.
-I won a $50 Target gift card, which we will be using to replace our old/barely working microwave!
That's about it for this week. Thank you again for your inspiration! I truly enjoy reading your blog/website, especially this post, every week :) You always give me new ideas!
Should you also use a door snake to keep the AC in during the summer at least through the night? Be interesting to see if it ends up being a money saver as well as a good idea. :)
ReplyDeleteSheila - Escanaba
I've thought about this and wondered the same thing.
DeleteHot air rises and cold air sinks, so I am sure it would help!
DeleteWhen we moved to SE Texas, into a west-facing apartment, I cut foam insulation to fit into the window arches that weren't covered by blinds, to help keep the apartment cooler. I think it did help, but our front door doesn't fit very tightly. I think towels/window snakes would help, even in the heat.
DeleteI was told that one of the reasons are house was so HOT this summer was because we didnt have any isulation in the house so I think the more you keep hot air out in the summer the cooler you house would be
DeleteWe finally got a storm door this past October, & I cannot believe the difference it has made in our front room. I used to keep a rolled up towel in front of the door, but I no longer need it, since there is no longer a draft there.- Marivene
DeleteI started making my own jewelry which u can see on my blog www.quiltingfiesta.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI am making it because I work full time and I love accessorizing but it is so expensive so I make it, sell it and gift it. I also made 3 extra meals yesterday so that frees up my time this week to work on other projects.
Ps, I have a draft stopper on my 2 main doors and they really only take minutes to make. I used leftover batting pieces in mine but if u have polyfil that would work too and your kiddos can help fill them up.
ReplyDeleteThis week we did not spend any money out of pocket for groceries. Our finances are getting tighter because of some unforseen circumstances, so I am trying really hard to eat from our food storage and be as thrifty as possible. I used a sams club gift card we got to stock up pj rice, beans, meat, etc, so that was very helpful! I have been cooking with less meat and husband hasn't seemed to notice :)
ReplyDeleteGot a gift card to kohls for Christmas. I shopped online very early one.morning and got 8 new dress shorts and a new bathroom rug for 50.00. When I got back on later in the day all of the shirts I had ordered earlier had trippled in price! Glad I ordered when I did!
Also used another visa gift card to order all of my garden seeds for next year. This saved us $40 out of pocket! Wahoo!
Hope everyone had a good week!
I received a dehydrater for Christmas...making clementines right now. I also was abelt o get a bag of cranberries for 39 cents and am making them to add to my homemade granola
ReplyDeletewrapped all gifts in paper from last year (picked up a new roll for next year on clearance)
downeloaded a few free books to my kindle
read one of the 2 library books I checked out for break
cleaned with a tupperware cloth that only needs water
my husband installed a new thermostat for our upstairs as well as a new toilet flapper
Congrats on getting a dehydrator. I used my a lot this past summer when the garden was producing faster than I could deal with.
DeleteAll the frugal posts are so inspiring!! Hmm let me see what frugal things have I done this week?
ReplyDeleteI made most of our christmas gifts, the ones for extended family included hm baked goods which were made with baking supplies that were given to us so cost me nothing out of pocket. I made pillowcases for my sons for christmas from fabric purchased in 2011. I crocheted my daughter a hoodie from yarn bought on sale and with coupons. I had purchased several gifts for our children either with coupons such as battery operated toothbrushes for their stockings or found the gifts given to them on clearance specials like the .50 dry erase/magnetic message boards that I found for them at the back to school clearance specials.
I used a free make your own cross stitch website to take a friends favorite bible verse and cross stitch it in a pretty font onto some leftover aida cloth from another project and also use some embroidery floss I had on hand, costing me nothing for that gift.
We had beef for Christmas dinner, we had enough leftovers to reheat and serve identically to the first time it was served a couple days after christmas. Now I still have leftovers, I totally overestimated when I bought but it will turn into a good thing because its so good I think I'll slow cook the meat off the bones and I'm hoping to make 2 meals out of it which will be shredded with gravy over hm biscuits for the first meal and will freeze the rest to use later either with gravy over biscuits or as a pot pie.
I plan on using leftovers from my daughters 3rd birthday party yesterday as foods for New years eve, not that we have any grand plans most of us are sick.
I've already ordered christmas gifts at a great discount for Christmas 2013, They are manger ornaments with an awesome message, I ordered 8 of them, I plan on putting 3 of them away for my children's hopechests. The other 5 will be for extended family members.
I used some leftover crafting materials to work on a birthday gift for a friend.
I haven't truly grocery shopped for December, a loaf of bread here, a dozen eggs there and so on but for the most part have been able to stay out of the stores and the crowds by using up what we have on hand in the freezers and what we have canned from the garden and from sales. To be honest it was quite rewarding to stay at home Christmas day, and when preparing our dinner that afternoon to be able to open a couple jars of green beans that I had canned from our summer garden and a quart of applesauce that I had canned from apples bought on sale from the farmers market. Very rewarding!!
Speaking of gardening, I was able to get those little garden kits on sale for 2.50 each from Lowe's Home improvement that I gave to my children for Christmas, they were super excited to open them as they have been asking for their own gardens and so this year they will get them. Each kit comes with several packets of seeds and growing mix and a dvd for a themed garden. The children received a taco garden, a salsa garden, a salad garden, a ratatouie garden, a pizza garden, and a herb garden!! I think I am as excited as they are!!!
Thats all I can think of right now, hoping to continue to find ways to be frugal to help us shave off debt in the coming year.
I love the picture of Ivory. We had our grandchildren here last week and it was so fun to watch them enjoying Christmas. My husband worked from home all last week which saved gas money. Our 17 month old granddaughter would go upstairs and climb on Poppa's lap and 'help' him work.
ReplyDeleteYou might consider installing a bug sweep at the bottom of your door to stop the drafts. Our house is 33 years old and our doors don't seal very well anymore but installing the bug sweeps so that they seal against the thresh hold really cut down on the drafts and it is year round that way.
We had between 10 and 15 for every meal for the last 8 days. I was careful to freeze the leftovers so that they would not get lost in the back of the refrigerator. I have about a dozen main dishes for 2 frozen from last week.
I used the carcass of the the turkey breast from Christmas dinner for turkey noodle soup for everyone one day for lunch.
I removed every bit of meat that I could from the two ham bones from Christmas dinner and chopped it and froze in 4 ounce packages for later meals. Also froze the ham bones for beans.
Right before Christmas, but after all the shopping was finished, I discovered I am pregnant. This one was unexpected so we are trying to come up with all kinds of ways to cut spending, save for when I will be out of work, and save for a bigger vehicle. My husband will change from our cell phone provider to another one and will save about $100. I created a meal plan for January that shouldn't require too many groceries to be purchased. I cooked a turkey for Christmas and made broth and saved the leftover meat for future meals. We cut back on soda and eliminated chips and other "snacky" food. I stayed at home most of the week so I'd save on gas. I put some time into Swagbucks and earned enough points to order 3 $5 CVS gift cards and joined another program to try to earn more Amazon gift cards. I hope to earn enough Amazon gift cards to pay for a new breast pump since mine broke. My husband has been picking up overtime at work when it is available. Hopefully, we'll start seeing our savings grow.
ReplyDelete-Amie
Soda and chips and a huge drain on the budget. Cutting those out and drinking water will help tremendously!
DeleteCongratulations on your new baby! What a great blessing of joy!
Amie, did you know you can rent pumps from medical supply places and just buy new hoses, etc? It could cost much less to have a high quality machine by renting than buying one. If you want to check around.....
DeleteAmie, some insurance companies will cover the cost or renting or purchasing a pump.
DeleteOr find someone to long-term-borrow from and purchase just the new tubing for that pump. Or, see if you qualify for WIC and they will loan you one for free.
DeleteChristie
f you have a Rite Aid near you, this week I saw they are running the promotion where you can get 50 dollars in gift cards for switching two prescriptions over.
Deletefrom Athanasia...
DeleteWhat are SWAGBUCKS?
Swagbucks.com is a site that gives you points for doing various things (like using their search engine and answering their daily poll). YOu can exchange the points for things like Amazon gift cards. YOu don't make a lot, but this last year I earned six $5 gift cards for Amazon, so had $30 more to spend for Christmas. I use search engines anyway, so going through their site is not a big deal for me.
DeleteI have swag bucks as my homepage. In 2012 I got $105 in Amazon gift cards - the points add up super fast.
DeleteThank you for the reminder of draft blockers! We recently moved from a subtropical area where the humidity keeps it warmer, even when the temps drop, and our house was fairly well sealed. Our new area has been hitting freezing and is very low humidity, and our new (to us) home has two doors that need re-sealing around the edges. I bought the strips for that but with all the unpacking, haven't figured out where we put them when we brought them home. (Oops!) I read this post and the great comments and immediately went and grabbed towels, rolled them up, and placed them at each door. Today I'll make a point to try to find those replacement seals, but this is a great start and a timely reminder. Thank you!
ReplyDeleteMerry Christmas to all!
ReplyDeleteI limited Christmas spending to available cash and remembered that the quality of Christmas bears no relationhip whatsoever to the amount spent.
Using a tip from Brandy's facebook page bought toothbrushes, floss and carmex as stocking stuffers. They were a hit! The lack of dreck in stockings went totally unnoticed.
Made several burrito meals using avocados which were given to us. Also had several meals from holiday leftovers.
Had our final Christmas get together yesterday and made breakfast casserole using stale bread from Thanksgiving, food storage onions, and chicken sausage which was marked down nearly 50%. It was very popular and we are eating leftovers for breakfast today. Perhaps the most frugal part of this gift was not dashing off to the store just to buy more food (a couple of pounds of bacon "just because") for this event.
Did some research, realized we are overpaying for cell phone service, making the dreaded trip into the cell phone store later today (I hate the high pressure sales tactics. I resist, but I still hate the tactics).
Happy New Year to all you wonderful women, especially Brandy.
E
I took all the soap slivers and tied them up in a knee high nylon, and I'm using them in the shower. I really dislike the nylon - hopefully this will motivate me to finally make a little drawstring mesh bag for the soap slivers.
ReplyDeleteMy husband's employer gave us a spiral cut ham for Christmas. I froze 4 good size packages of leftover ham, plus the bone. We also kept some ham out and used it for breakfast one morning with pancakes, as well as some ham/potato/carrot/onion cream soup. Delish!
I picked up two large jar candles and some strongly scented votives after Christmas on half price. They are scents/types that will work for us year-round and could even be used as gifts.
A friend offered me a truckload of free hay that she can't use for her horses. Depending on the condition, it will either be used for my rabbits, as bedding for my chickens or compost/mulch for my garden.
We got one of those 'bed in a bag' bedroom sets for Christmas. It's just lovely, but the curtains in our bedroom really don't go with it. I found cream colored curtains at Goodwill that will go in my living room, then the living room curtains (which do work with the new bed stuff) can be moved to our bedroom. The curtains from our bedroom will be re-done for my daughter's room, since she just has a valance, and I think she'll prefer longer curtains (she has a blind and we are in the country, but still...)
The shower curtain liner in our bathroom 'broke' at one of the little circles that it hangs from. I repaired it with clear packing tape.
We have been buying our bread from the bread outlet store, because my husband really prefers it to homemade. The price has gone up some, but I found that with this 'saver card' we bought from my nephew, I can get the bread he likes buy one, get one free, at the outlet. Meanwhile, I've been making rolls and breadsticks to go with meals (he mainly likes the sliced bread for his sandwiches).
I read books and watched a DVD from the library - all free.
We supplemented our household heat with our wood stove, and kept the thermostat at 65. My husband is from Hawaii, so that is a major thing for him. We also kept warm by wearing warmer clothing and drinking hot tea/cocoa.
I ran low on cocoa mix - instead of buying more, a friend shared a recipe with me and I made it with items I had on hand.
We have been looking carefully at the arrangement of furniture and decor in all our rooms, and we found ways to make some changes that left our rooms feeling larger and more airy. Even just moving a basket or decorative item here and there really changes things up, and it didn't cost us!
We have ended the month well stocked on most everything, with $40 remaining in our $180/month grocery budget.
Could I have your hot cocoa recipe. I am looking for a good one. I have tried making some from homemade before and my kids did not like it. Thanks.
DeleteHere you are, Kristy. I will say, this one is not quite as sweet as some that I've had...and not as sweet as the stuff from the store, but we all liked it. You could always add some granulated sugar to sweeten, if you prefer.
Delete2 c. powdered milk (I used Morning Moo)
1 c. powdered sugar
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder(sift it!) (I used 2/3 cup)
3/4 c. powdered coffee creamer
That's the whole recipe. You may want to add a bit of salt too...it brings out the sweetness (I used 1/4 tsp.)
We make our cocoa with half milk, half water, and it was plenty rich and good, though a little less sweet as I mentioned before. Hope you like it!! :)
We get our shower curtain liners from the dollar tree. I was having a hard time cleaning our more expensive shower curtain liner and the little circles kept breaking on me. I just buy them 4 or so at a time and replace as needed - in our house that's about every 9-12 months. Oddly enough--the cheap liners don't attract as much dirt and are easier to keep clean.
DeleteWe use the fabric shower curtain liners. They will cost you $10-12 initially but they wash very well and usually last about 6-8 years. The fumes that outgas from the plastic liners are very hard on the immune system.
DeleteWe use the fabric shower curtain liners as our curtains. They zip off below the rings for easy washing. It's actually time for me to wash them again; I'll try to do that this week!
Deletefrom Athanasia...
Deletere' homemade cocoa mix-- Is it possible to make one without the powdered creamer? We don't use that stuff. Would it be less thick or something if just increased the amount of powdered milk??
I also like to save and use up the soap slivers. I have put the soap slivers in an old sock or an old bath mitt and then used the old sock or old bath mitt in the shower to soap up.
DeleteJill
Athanasia, We have made a cocoa mix similar to this one without the creamer. It is not as "smooth" tasting, because the cream adds fat, but other than that, it was quite good.
DeleteWe usually just heat milk in a cup in the microwave until it is just under boiling, & drop in 2 pieces of Dove dark chocolate. Stir until melted. If making for more than one, I heat the milk on the stove, drop in the Dove chocolates & whisk after they melt. Not as sweet as usual, since the only sugar comes from the chocolates, & we make it with skim milk, too. - Marivene
from Athanasia...
DeleteOh I will try this. Someone gifted our office a bag of DOVE chocolates at Christmas. I have been putting them out in the candy dish. I will try tomorrow. Thanks Marivene!
Sorry to be so late in posting this. Here is a hot cocoa mix recipe that does not require nondairy creamer. I saw the recipe the other day and could not remember who was asking for it. Then I saw your post again and could not remember where the recipe was....oh well, here it is!
Deletehttp://angelshomestead.com/homemade-hot-chocolate/
Goodness gracious! That is early!! I was wondering whether to get up an extra hour early to complete chores as finding life with my 3 kids quite demanding! What time do you go to bed?!!
ReplyDeleteLove the photo. Its a beautiful reminder of what looks like a very special moment!
I worked out through trial and error that there is a minimum amount of sleep I need, if I don't sleep for long enough I just don't function. I think it must vary for different people, I have always rather envied people who need very little sleep. But it is worth trying to see what level works for you, don't think harshly of yourself if it is not as little as you would wish.
DeleteJenny
An extra hour is a wonderful thing. I got up at 4 for nine months when I had 4 children and then my 5th as well. My husband was leaving at 5:20 am that year and my children were up at the same time (all on their own). If I wanted to be showered, I had to be up at 4:00. I got a lot done that year and I started getting up earlier since then (but not that early).
DeleteI have been trying to get to bed by 9:30 at the latest this last month, as it is early! I am awake with her at night, too. I like about 9 hours, but it's not going to happen.
I am up about 430 each day with my 10 month old. And my 3 year old gets up at 6. Someday, we will get to leisurely lay in bed after waking up. How wonderful it will be!
DeleteDecember has been a frugal flop for a lot of reasons--none of them gift related. I keep reminding myself that months like these are why we are so careful the rest of the time.
ReplyDeleteWe received two large gift baskets of fruit and snacks for Christmas. I am trying to use everything that came in them, including about a dozen pears and at least that many apples. I made pear/apple crisp and we've been having fruit salad every morning.
I made my grocery list for the week from the sales flyer, choosing items that will compliment what's in the pantry/freezer.
Best wishes for 2013, everyone.
I make applesauce (or frui sauce, as my fammily calls it) with whatever fruits I have around---apples, plums, peaches, rhubarb. Whatever is getting soft is washed well, chopped up except for the cores (with peels left on, unless it is something like a pumpkin), cooked in the slowcooker until it is soft. Then I use an immersion blender to whirl it up and shred the peels so they are not noticeable. We eat this a lot, as I buy a lot of the really cheap bruised fruits.
DeleteThese posts are so inspiring! I look forward to reading them, so I thought I would participate this week.
ReplyDeleteGave my sister free Walgreens 5x7 pic of her and her grandchild and put in a frame I had in my gift pile I got for $1 at Kohls.
Cut Christmas spending by approximately 25%, and tried to give consumable gifts where possible. Used wrapping products I had on hand. Bags, tins, baskets, and wrapped my grandsons play kitchen with a green sheet.
Served leftovers for several meals this week.
Bought 2 lotions at Target for 24 cents for gift bags this year.
My husband commutes appox. 240 miles a week, so his gas card points add up, he was able to buy 20 gallons for $2.00.
Sent for a refund for which we thought the receipt was lost, found it on the last day, $26, my husband took it to the post office to mail.
mariellen
I like the picture in black and white. It adds to the charm. You managed to capture the wonder on her face. What a great Christmas keepsake!
ReplyDeleteI have finally had time to go back and read your previous entries. Brandi, your creativity and homemaking skills are wonderful. Thank you for taking your precious time to share these with us.
I also used leftovers from our holiday meal to make several "new" meals. I liked the idea of the potato soup also. I want to try this since I have leftover mashed potatoes from last night and a few potatoes that are starting to sprout and need to be used.
Thanks for the heads up about the cranberry coupon. I got a bag for fifty cents. I already had oranges, so I tried a recipe for whole wheat cranberry bread. Cranberry bread is a favorite, but this recipe was not a hit! I am trying to learn to make whole wheat bread because my husband is diabetic and regular bread isn't good for him. So far, I haven't had any winners. Someone posted about a whole wheat cracker recipe that you are developing Brandi. I would be interested in this also.
I went to the after Christmas sale. I bought some bags of chocolate candy(with coupons) for less than a dollar each. I froze them to use later for cookie recipes. I bought a shirt and sweatshirt for less than $3.
Our local produce store sometimes has dollar bags of produce that is still good but not perfect. I bought five bags with lettuce and tomatoes, cabbage and zucchini, okra, brussel sprouts and green beans. We enjoyed these all week.
I picked lettuce from our garden twice. I'm continuing to cover it and hoping to save it from the frost.
I was cooking zucchini and tomatoes. I was out of canned tomatoes, so I thought I would use some salsa I had canned. Not my greatest idea. We took one bite of this and could not drink enough water. Wow, it was spicy! Instead of throwing it out, I looked up a recipe for chicken tortilla soup. My husband loved it. I now have a new recipe to add to my soups.
I planted pepper seeds so I would have transplants for the spring. I also looked up the site I saw on your facebook with the calendar for planting by zip codes. I was very excited to have this since I seem to plant at the wrong times. I think this will help as I continue to learn about gardening.
As always thanks to those who post and share their ideas. It seems that I find some new idea every week.
Thought I would share a recipe I found through Crystal at Moneysavingmom.com. I love it. I hope it works for your husband:
Deletehttp://moneysavingmom.com/2008/08/homemade-bread.html
~Alissa
Christine, you may want to try EZ whole wheat bread. Crystal at everydayfoodstorage.net has some wonderful recipes using whole wheat. I have made the bread, using hard white wheat I grind, and it turns out delicious. I have also made her EZ white bread. Her website has great information about using all kinds of food storage including ways to use powdered milk, oats, making your own mixes, etc. Hope this helps. Teri
DeleteI appreciate the ideas. I will definately try these. I'm trying not to be discouraged by my "flops", because I love homemade bread.
DeleteMy most frugal accomplishments this week were with food and gifts. My son's favorite gift of all was a FREE cup I ordered (it has an advertising logo but is his favorite brand of beverage) and he also likes a wool hat I made from a sweater he felted by accident. Even though we spent $$ on gifts, they were all useful and needed - no junk this year. As for food, I also made soup from leftovers and stretched my meals in all kinds of ways. I also walked to work the one day I had to go in. I have spent a lot of time this week on the internet finding ways to reduce, reuse, and recycle to make what we have go further. My goal for 2013 is to buy only necessities (those things that I cannot think of a substitute for). An example is : I received a raincoat that is lovely but not my style (it is very long and flowing) so I am pondering how to make it into a swing type coat that I will use and enjoy. This coat was given to me by my mother and is second hand or else I would return it to the store.
ReplyDeleteHi Brandy,
ReplyDeleteLove this weekly feature:) I have taught myself to get up at 5:00 ish every day. Mon/Wed/Fri I go to a weights class and tues/thurs I swim. I have been doing this for 20 months.I go on a half price yearly membership ( my husbands work pays the other half for employees and their families).I go to weights to help lay down bone as I age, when I swim I do lots of my thinking. I'll think of you tomorrow with your young family:)(Now that I have incorporated exercise I have to work on cutting calories out. That should be a frugal on my food/health bills)
My dog gave blood, not sure how frugal that is, but I do think because of her donations my vet is a bit lenient on charging for some of our visits. I mention it because sometimes people want to "contribute" but don't have available cash to donate.
Purchased deeply discounted groceries yesterday at a drug store with "points". Have reached a level with $85.00 available to spend. (It has taken me years to accumulate these points.)
My husband had 3 passes for our local museum, planetarium and science center from his work, each was valued at $21.00. Two of my daughters and my neice used these, my third daughter was given a free pass because they allow teachers this during school breaks. Still have 3 passes from this package for the "dinosaur" exhibit. My husband, son and I will go, each of these passes is valued at $7.00 each.
Used various Christmas gift bags that were a bit worn to give donations ( food and clothing) during Nov/Dec.
Received free turkey for Christmas along with box of chocolates from husbands work.
Making mince meat tarts this afternoon from dough I have frozen and mincemeat a friend made and gifted to me for Christmas.
Met a friend this morning, instead of going out ( I had a free coupon) we went to her house instead.Nice to see her holiday decorations :)
Purchased 4 sets of damask napkins for 80% off will gift or as my family continues to grow larger ,will use myself.
Used cloth bags sewn from Christmas material to pack quite a few of our gifts in, would like to start sewing some with stash of fabric and ribbon I have.
Puchased a good size grocery bag at a charity here ( full of ornaments that you choose . They are from artisans in the 3rd world. They are paid fairly before they had this big sale). Cost $5.00
Received two boxes of chocolates and regifted them to two groups.
Looked on "craigs list" could not find as reasonable an ipod deal as refurbished on Apple site. Comes with full warranty.
Washed a wool jacket and pants marked "dry clean only". Pants I had done before, jacket was new this year ( bought with a gift card) I have worn it quite a bit and it needed a cleaning. So glad it came out clean and no worse for delicate cycle wash.Hung up, did not put in dryer.
Have a donation of a suit from my husband, some shirts and ties. We have a friend who's daughter is a funeral director. Asked if she could use our clothes. I remember from when my parents died the funeral home said they could use any "extra" clothes we brought in. The young lady was grateful as they bury many people ( various reasons) who do not have clothes to be buried in.
A friend of mine worked for a dry cleaner when she was in college and she told me that most of what comes into the cleaners goes into the washing machine. That was the end of dry cleaning for me! I just wash on delicate and hang to dry. When our daughter got married 5 years ago and got the hem of her dress very dirty at the reception and tromping around a park for pictures I did take that to the cleaners. I was told it would be $80 to clean it. The lady behind the counter leaned over and whispered to me that they would put it in a large zippered lingerie bag and wash it on delicate and then hand to dry. I took it back home and did just that with great results.
DeleteMy big bargain was on wrapping paper at the after-Christmas sales. We managed to get wrapping paper at 1/8th of its price, thanks to a fluke of a cash register. (It was only supposed to be 1/4 off, but the machine took half off again.)
ReplyDeleteI went through the Christmas stash - things I've bought and tucked away throughout the year - and discovered I'm almost done with my Christmas shopping for next year. Many of the items were free (a DVD company was giving away free DVDs for signing up for its newsletter, so I signed up everyone in the family and now have free DVDs for half the extended family); others were very, very cheap (a bookstore went out of business and I happened to be there on the final day and picked up books for the other half the extended family for about $1 a book). For my kids, I already have a number of things set aside for them for Christmas and birthday both, some homemade, some freebies. In all it's 8 gifts per child for Christmas and 3 gifts per child for birthday, at a total cost of $0.
Hmmm, is it too early to use some of that cheap wrapping paper to wrap up some cheap presents?
I am a first time poster!!! Yay for me!!!!
ReplyDeleteI cooked up the ham bone in water, onion, celery for stock and will use it to make soup for one-two meals. Plus additional meals out of the leftover ham that I froze.
To add to my parents Christmas gift of gift cards (which they love) I put in our home canned peaches and apple pie filling - all from our trees.
I didn't go out shopping at all this week except for milk.
I got a stain out my husband's work shirt and repaired the button that had fallen off.
I rolled up a towel and put it under the door of my unfinished laundry room to keep the cold air out.
I used medicine we had plus natural remedies to fight the cold I am dealing with right now.
Received a freebie in the mail.
That's all.
Amy
Since my kids were off this whole last week, I had all kinds of plans - baking, sledding at the park, projects with stuff we already have. Alas, the pneumonia that I had earlier this fall came back (maybe never left) in full force and I've spent too much time sleeping and the kids have spent too much time watching movies. At least, we were home and ate at home and were able to have a frugal week in spite of being sick. Since I already have two chronic illnesses, taking care of my health is a top priority.
ReplyDeleteHere are some things we did:
* Used wrapping that we previously had for gifts. We also started using fabric gift bags in earnest as well as making sure we reuse the paper ones. My cousin makes beautiful fabric gift bags and has been giving them to us for years now, so we've amassed quite a collection. They're lovely, easy to use and washable!
* Used the leftover ham from Christmas dinner for pizza, sandwiches, scalloped potatoes and to add to the leftover broccoli salad for additional meals.
* Used the after-hours clinic for our health provider to get treatment for my pneumonia when I couldn't get an appointment with my regular doctor for another two weeks. Regular co-pay and no additional fees! Plus, same clinic and same doctor(s) that I usually see.
* Signed up for our pharmacy store card and knocked $20 off my prescriptions.
* Stayed home except Sunday, Christmas Eve and Day worship (we walked to worship 2 of those days), and the trip to the doctor.
* Ordered a dress for work for me for under $25 using free shipping, a sale and an additional promo code from my favorite store. Dress is wool crepe so I can wear it year round.
* Made up menus for the entire month of January using what we have in our pantry, freezers and cupboards.
* Went grocery shopping for the first time in a month. Stayed well within our budget and were able to stock up on some "treats" due to pre-Christmas sales - beef stew meat, sparkling cider, the items needed to make homemade chex mix, my dad's favorite candy and a few other things that I'm blanking on right now. Were also able to pick up staples like flour, sugar, shortening, oil and pepper for a song.
Thanks for the continued inspiration everyone and thanks again Brandy for hosting this!
Happy New Year everyone,
Lea
from Athanasia...
DeleteI hope you are feeling better soon. Just a comment...I work in a small, solo doctor office with one RN, one doctor and me. We would never make a sick patient wait 2 weeks to be seen. Maybe you need a new doctor.
Thanks Athansia!
DeleteHonestly, my symptoms were so not what you'd expect for full-blown pneumonia that my doctor didn't think it was until the chest x-ray came in. I didn't have a single symptom other than a general not feeling well and being sore when I took a breath (I teach aerobics so they were thinking I'd strained something) that would indicate pneumonia but it was definitely there on the xrays! They got me scheduled right away for a follow-up later this week on Friday.
My doctor's great and I don't want to switch from her - it's just a large clinic and swamped this time of year.
Thanks again for your concern.
And happy new year!
Lea
When I buy a bag of carrots I usually use them for a meal and then I let the kids eat them, this time I cut up all the carrots and put them into freezer bags for future meals (I did the same thing with peppers). I also made stir fry using ginger, Maggi, garlic and ABC sweet soy sauce instead of using a purchased stir fry sauce from the store. It saved me a lot of money, and now I know that I can make a family favorite a lot cheaper. Plus my family liked my version better. I have a five year old daughter who is extremely picky and she came in the kitchen, asked what smelled so good and actually ate what I prepared for dinner.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter needed a new calendar with enough room to put all her things on it, we got a free calendar but it didn’t have enough space on the days so we went to the dollar store and purchased her one that is exactly what she wants for a dollar. A lot cheaper than the ones she was seeing at the other stores.
We often get hand me downs and we sort through them and donate what doesn’t work for us to a charity. Trust me we can’t keep everything we get. Before I started donating I had over 100 shirts in my sons closet one year and about 100 more in storage bins. It was way too many to have in our home. Granted that was more than we usually get we still love to donate what we don’t use to charity. We love to donate to thrift stores, because we know those clothes that go to thrift stores benefit the people working in those stores by giving them jobs and then they benefit the people shopping at those stores by giving them clothes at reduced prices. We also love shopping at thrift stores. This week I bought two shirts for myself for $1 each at a local store. I really needed the shirts so I am grateful for the find.
This last week someone donated a pair of leggings to our family, and my daughter repurposed them into hand warmers. She cut a spot for her thumb and they turned out really cute. I was so proud of her for reusing an item in a new way.
I have a daughter going off to college and she wanted her initials on her towels. I took out my sewing machine and put her initials on the towels. This was my first time, in the past I used purchased items to sew onto towels my kids took to the swimming pools. I am so grateful for the courage to try new things and same money doing it. I am going to sew initials onto the towels the kids use for swim team as they forget them at the pool too often and it makes it easy to find their towels if we distinguish them.
We bought a jewelry kit on clearance and one of my daughters learned how to make jewelry. Then she made several last minute gifts for friends and family. I think she made about 15 gifts using the $15 kit plus now she has a new skill and knows how to repair some of the things she already owned. Plus now she looks at the jewelry at the thrift stores for jewelry that can be repaired and repurposed for cheaper.
I had to admit I just told my kids that Christmas stockings were not an essential part of Christmas joy, expensive (as our family is large and everything but free adds up quickly) and we skipped Christmas stockings this year. I hope to replace them with a new tradition next year that I hope to prepare for in advance saving money. And my kids didn’t complain at all. They had a great Christmas morning and not one of them complained about not having stockings.
My oldest daughter made a lot of cups in a ceramics class. They were interesting to say the least, but we stuck them in the cupboard so now we have some more dishes to use. We have fun using them too as they are all very different. Cost $0.
Love this post!
ReplyDeleteWe saved the Christmas boxes/bags, bows, tissue paper and some really cool gifts tags (used white out on them) from Christmas. Went through the Christmas lights and with the ones that aren't working anymore we took some of the light bulbs out to save and use on the other sets.
We went to the after Christmas sale at Walmart and stocked up on some chocolate for my husband's candy dish at work for less than $1 a bag after coupons. I also picked up some Hershey kisses for my kids for Valentine's and some Lindor chocolate bears (there was nothing really Christmasy on them) which will also be for Valentine's. We also picked up a couple rolls of "Santa" paper for next year and a couple of striped wrapping paper rolls to use for birthday presents for this year. We also purchased some Christmas Ziploc baggies for under $1 a box with coupons.
I received a grow light for Christmas (really excited to use this) so I found a heating mat with a "mini greenhouse" on Amazon for about 1/2 the normal price.......I plan on growing some micro greens inside this winter. I also started some mung bean sprouts (purchased at Winco in the bulk section....way less than ordering them from a nursery) and some alfalfa sprouts. I plan on adding these to salad, sandwiches, and stir fry this week.
We went shopping at the commissary yesterday (our closest one is about 2 hours away so we make a trip about every 6-8 weeks and stock up) and they had a ton of Christmas and baking markdowns, so I had a lot of fun there. I got baking cocoa for $1 a box and Phillo cups for 25 cents a box plus, a lot of other necessities.
I used a gift card app on my phone (they gave me 2 $5 Gap gift cards for free) to get my son a much needed belt for free. I also used the Old Navy app to get $5 off a pair of jeans for my other son (they were also on sale) and a pair of owl fleece lounge pants for part of my niece's Christmas present for next year for $1.
I have a Starbucks gift card which I registered a few years ago and so I get a free birthday drink each year (they used to send a card now they just add it to your card) well, because of some error it didn't get added so I emailed them and to make up for it they added two free drinks. This will be a free date for my husband and I. :)
from Athanasia...
DeleteI love Starbucks. I just redeemed my free drink also. My middle daughter worked there all through college and they are a great employer. They work with schedules, it is a clean, safe environment to work in, and they provide insurance even for part-timers. That was so good, as being self employed we have never been able to afford insurance, so at least she was covered. Which is good as she has always been susceptible to tonsillitis. She was able to get her tonsils out Sophomore year in college.
Well, we are pantry eating this week, we are replacing our fridge and dishwasher and I want to have as empty a fridge as possible when the new one gets here. Our old ones were at best inefficient and I cannot count how much food was destroyed by that fridge this year. We are spending this year doing free or cheap things to our home, like deep cleaning and rearranging. We are taking one room a month so that by September the house should look great. Our fridge was from 1998 and our dishwasher was a hand me down we got three years ago so we feel like we squeezed all the life we could out of them. Some unkind person side swiped my car and scraped and dented it and ripped off the sideview mirror, on Christmas no less! Be that as it may, my husband found a replacement mirror for me on ebay and is installing it Tuesday. We are sprucing up the kitchen this month, and today we took all the hardware and soaked and scrubbed it so we can spray paint it. Then we are sanding and painting our very VERY dated cabinets. Next year we hope to replace our very VERY dated( fake marble formica with gold trim) counters. We are stuck in this house for at least three more years and so we are going to try and make it a bit less...mmmm. We are not very interior decorator home makery, three years is the longest we have lived anywhere. We kind of still have that camp out mentality and it is just now sinking in that we have lived here a few years and will be here a few more. GOSH AM I WRITING A BOOK OR WHAT? Annnyhow, we have never had nice new appliances before and I am SO EXCITED that we were able to save for it. We are really hopeful this is going to be an easier year for us, we had a ton of medical bills last year with the new baby.
ReplyDeletejust a sidethought for you, there is a paint made to paint formica cabinet tops, some really nice finishes, if you wanted to check those out to stretch out a bit more life to your cabinet tops. ~Cindy~
DeleteBeautiful picture! Thank you for all the great comments.
ReplyDeleteWe had Christmas Eve dinner with our daughter and family. Lots of fun! I brought home the turkey bones and made enough stock to fill 7 qts, have soup (with two leftover meals) and had enough to also cook some rice for a yummy lunch. I was also able to use leftover turkey for 2 dinner meals and sandwiches for my husband to take to work the rest of the week.
We were given a gift card for a lunch out from my husbands work. Since we live far away from the city, we went out to lunch, did some after Christmas shopping with another gift card (also using 15% coupon and 40% mark down prices)and I was able to replace 3 pair of lounge pants (my old ones I bought in 2002 and I will cut the worn knees off to make "new" shorts). Then, we braved the cold temps and walked around the zoo where they had a beautiful display of Christmas lights.
I'm soaking a big bowl of pinto beans to cook this week and make refried beans. I will freeze in serving size containers for future meals. Today, we used our last container for lunch.
I dehydrated potatoes and got 4 qts. I also dried extra celery and carrots. These will all be used in soups and stews.
I often bake extra potatoes and use them to make potato soup, sometimes adding cheese and bacon bits, if I have them. One of our dinners was a baked potato with leftover sloppy joes and grated cheese on top. And I "bake" my potatoes in my slow cooker.
Happy New Year everyone! Teri
Here are my frugal things that I can remember for the last couple weeks since I missed a week ago.
ReplyDeleteWe found some gently used printers for a very low price and gave them to our college girls for Christmas gifts.
Found a couple used items and haggled the price down to acceptable levels and used them as gifts for the teen girls.
Used coupons and other discounts for other gifts.
We do a gift exchange with my husband's siblings in rotation. My husband made a soma cube puzzle with wood we had on hand and we painted it and printed out different figures to arrange. We also added some really nice hand soap and a towel that I had received as a gift but was allergic to the scent. The gift cost was $0, and I saved a little on shipping by packaging it myself since we had to ship across the country.
Made bread.
Used dried beans.
Used cash back cards to help pay for gifts.
Gifts were wrapped with paper purchased for earlier years.
The children each drew names and made gifts for each other with what we had on hand. They were all so sweet. I helped the baby make a snow globe for a sister from baby oil and glitter on hand and a figurine I've had since I was little and was planning to discard. Another was a box turned into a little house for the baby (I guess she really is a toddler now though) paint on hand was used and then that sister drew lots of pictures to glue on the interior walls.
Accepted leftover candy from a neighbor to put on our gingerbread house.
Searched everywhere until I found an acceptable price on cardamom since it was too late to order online. My local store wanted $14 for less than 2 ounces!!!
We made homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight. And I made your clafouti recipe to go with it using cherries we had frozen from last summer.
Just so you know, that recipe saved me this summer. During the spring time we found ourselves short of $, but not able to harvest yet from the garden/orchard, this and the crepe idea gave us a lot of variety and ways to use our frozen fruits along with food storage that I had a hard time figuring out before.
That is all I can remember for now.
Penelope
Love the wonder on her face! We are early risers around here and everybody but me is usually asleep by 8pm.
ReplyDeleteI was sick on Christmas Day and my husband took over most of the cooking. He needed lots of direction and set the smoke alarms off 4 or 5 times. But it all worked out. I bought our ham back in July when it was super cheap. We had plenty of leftovers. I have about 2 cups of diced ham in the freezer, 8 cups of stock, and 16 ham/pineapple calzones.
I made a large batch of rolls to keep in the freezer. I also made two extra loaves of bread.
Today I got two free pizzas from papa johns. I use the viggle app on our family ipod to check in to tv shows. It takes me awhile to earn enough points to get a gift card but I usually get a $10 gift card to papa johns every month or so. You get rewards points every time you spend money there. We had 14 rewards points and we were able to use it to score two three topping pizzas for free.
Made a huge batch of chili so between the free pizzas and chili I will have very little to cook this week. I’m planning on using my free time to work on our taxes.
We usually budget around $250 a month for groceries but with the impending taxes increases, the impact of the drought and our health insurance premiums going up- our budget has to get tighter. We have plenty to eat so I planned on using $200 of our budget to stock up on things that we were getting low on (oil, flour, black beans, powdered milk,etc). I placed my order and was given 20% off.
My husband and I washed the dog and cleaned the carpets this weekend. I’m still using a bottle of carpet shampoo that we got two years ago.
We picked up some fleece sheets on deep discount. We already had a pair but the queen size take a full 24 hours to air dry. The fleece helps us keep our heat down at night.
We went to see family for Christmas Eve & Christmas day. Other than those two days (and Thursday) I stayed home to save money and to save on gas. My daughter and I did go out on Thursday morning so she could use her gift card she received for Christmas from my parents. She drove so no gas used in my Jeep. I did buy some wrapping paper and bows 1/2 price. They were such a pretty blue & silver I couldn't resist them :)
ReplyDeleteI did not grocery shop this past week so no money spent
We've been eating from our pantry and freezers. We used Pillsbury Grands Biscuits last night and made calzones with them. It was a nice change to our pizza routine.
I had some bananas that were turning black so I made 2 loaves of banana bread with them. I baked them after I made the calzones since the oven was on for dinner.
I made 2 pans of homemade yeast butter rolls for Christmas Eve to eat with our soup. We only ate one pan. I bagged up and froze the other pan of rolls for another 4 meals
It's been really cold and snowy here since Wednesday. It was 15 degrees when I woke up this morning. I too put a towel rolled up in front of our back door about a month ago. It really helps keep the cold air out of the kitchen. That room was added on and only has one register to heat it. We use a ceramic heater and it's been keeping it plenty warm.
While I was home this week I cleaned my desk off and decluttered it. I also made up next years budget and figured out our weekly bills. I typed it up and printed off the sheets I made along with a monthly calendar. I also track every expense and money that is spent/made so we know how much is going out and coming in every month
On the day after Christmas, my husband and I went to the mall and bought my youngest daughter some clothes. She has grown so much, she just needed some things that were big enough, long enough, etc. Otherwise being modest, we weren't picky. We found amazing bargains and got what she needed, plus some much needed underthings for the next oldest one. So, they are both set for a while, with what they got for Christmas from us and relatives. Once in a great while, we are able to find them things at garage sales or thrift stores, but they are both hard-to-fit in different ways, so most items don't work. I sew as many things as I can as well, but skirts work better for me than pants. Pants are especially hard. We found several pairs on clearance that do work for her! Amazing and a blessing.
ReplyDeleteI cooked chili and other food for a friend who just lost her mother. I had all the ingredients on hand.
I made soup from the turkey broth that was frozen from Thanksgiving.
I dehydrated a LOT of green onions I was given in my gleaner distribution. I am drying parsley now. I froze 5 heads of cauliflower and canned 22 half pints of mushrooms. We ate SO many sauted mushrooms. Yum. Yum. I use the dried onions in soups or when I make a roast beef in the crock pot. I've only canned mushrooms one other time, but I got almost 2 cases, so I gave it a try. I had a lot of scraps for the animals from the trimmings.
I used many, many canned, frozen and stockpiled items in meals this week. Since I add to the stockpile year-round, I always need to be using things up so they don't go bad.
My husband picked up butter for $1.99/box. He got 4. Other than that, I didn't shop for groceries this week.
We did some cleaning and organizing in the garage. The Christmas stuff is put away. I can now find my stockpiled food more easily. I'm sending some acorn squash and potatoes from the garage down to the animals,since they aren't good any more.
We watched some library movies.
I am reading some once-a-month cooking books. I cooked that way years ago and liked how it worked for that time of my life. I haven't for a while, so am deciding whether or not to try it again.
Becky
Let us know if you do end up cooking once-a-month. I found an old cookbook about this concept at a thrift store. Many of the recipes are dated/call for convenience food I don't buy so I don't want to try it verbatim but have been toying with planning out a month with recipes that we like.
DeleteInquiring minds want to know!
Libby
I had a wonderful week, both personally and from a prudent, thrifty standpoint. I've been off work from the 22nd through New Year's Day and I'm not going to want to go back, but I do like that paycheck... At least it will be a 3 day work week when I go back.
ReplyDeleteWe bought so much candy at the after-Christmas sales that I seriously don't think we will be buying any until Easter-seriously. The sales were good (some even great) and I've divided up two bags of M&Ms into red and green and put them aside for Valentine's and St. Patrick's Days respectively. Based on the numbers, I would say that green is a cheaper food coloring since there were a couple dozen more green in those 2 bags than red. I've done the same with peanut butter cups, saving the gold foil ones for eating in the next couple weeks.
After reading the Facebook conversation about door draft dodgers and one person's comment about hanging a heavy blanket over their door, I decided to do something similar. We have a vestibule with the front door, a window with a radiator under it, a coat closet, and an arched opening into the living room. I decided to cover the archway and bought a tension rod that I have positioned just below the ceiling. The rod cost $6.59 plus tax at Target. I have a beautiful piece of plaid decorator fabric that I bought at a thrift store some time ago for $3, planning to make curtains for the dining room. This piece is about 7 yards long so I can have the pattern will be on both sides. I haven't sewn it yet (that will be later this week) but it's hung up now and the vestibule is about 4 or 5 degrees colder than the living room. I thought it would make a difference, but not this much. Our house is over 70 years old and doesn't have much insulation in the walls (saving for that, but it will be 5 or 6 thousand dollars). The front door isn't quite even either (settling over the years), so a door sweep doesn't really work. I think this will work quite well and the tension rod means that I don't have to drill and can take it down when needed. The cats have been a little confused by it, but are now ignoring it (probably too cold for them!)
I did a lot of cleaning and organizing before my sister and nephew came for a visit. I gave her lots of dried and silk flower stuff which she plans to give a friend who will use it – I used to make arrangements but not anymore, so I'm glad to free up the space and bless someone with it. My nephew took the last of my vegetarian cookbooks, since I am no longer vegetarian (and haven't been for years). I still have 4 boxes of “stuff” to donate and will do that tomorrow.
We ate the rest of the applesauce I made in October, so I visited the fruit market and bought a bushel of mixed apples for $19.90. These are “seconds” and cost about 47 cents a pound (125 useable apples with no more than 3 apples per pound based on the size, so 41 pounds, maybe more). I also bought a bag of sweet potatoes and a bag of two bunches of celery at 50 cents each since they were on the seconds rack; I'm planning to blanch and freeze the celery to use in soup this winter and will be making sweet potato casserole as well. I stocked up on some of their extremely delicious apple fritters and rolls, which were a couple days old and 37% off the regular price but still very fresh and tasty. I am also freezing part of the quart of snow peas that I got for $2, while saving some for snacking and for Brandy's Museum Pasta Salad.
There's more, but this post is long enough! Brandy, thanks for posting this each week. It's inspiring and I love reading your post and all the comments.
I've had success by insulating the electrical outlets and switchplates. I used the flat foam trays that meat comes on and cut the trays to fit behind the switch plates. Stopped LOTS of drafts in my uninsulated walls.
DeleteLibby
Thank you for mentioning your candy sorting! Why have I never thought to do this? I also picked up 2 bags of clearance M & M's with coupon very cheaply. We really have plenty of sweets right now. I will wait until February to open and sort them, but I am using this idea!
DeleteBagged Rolos are also a good candy to sort, since the foil cover is red, green or gold: red for Valentines Day, green for St. Patricks Day, gold for Easter. - Marivene
DeleteLast week my youngest brought home a nasty cold/flu from Kindergarten and so lovingly shared it with the rest of the family. Everyone, except for my husband, has been sick and we've spent way too much money on cold remedies in one week alone! The good news is that we are all feeling much better. We stayed home all week and ate what we had on hand but I'm disappointed I couldn't take advantage of the after Christmas sales on wrapping paper, etc. But then again, maybe that's a blessing in disguise!
ReplyDeleteOther than staying home and eating from the pantry, I didn't accomplish much of anything else, except for taking down the Christmas decorations and the tree and packing everything away.
Last night my husband and I sat down and made some specific goals for January and I'm excited for the start of the new year and a clean slate! :)
Good Morning and Merry Christmas!
ReplyDeleteLast week I did no shopping, food or otherwise. My last shopping trip (food or otherwise), was on December 15th. Today will be my first trip to the stores since then, and even then I'm only going for fresh fruit and veg for the next two and a half weeks.
I made last-minute gifts from items I had around the house and handed them out on Christmas Eve (homemade bread and homemade crabapple jelly and crabapple butter).
I have kept living life as usual: making homemade bread daily, air-drying laundry, making do, mending, or going without. Due to it being Christmas last week I'm having a hard time focusing on what I did the way of frugality. My husband came down with pneumonia three days before Christmas, our tree fell over Christmas morning while we were eating breakfast, and youngest son (who is prone to accidents) stopped my heart a time or two. All in all? Great Christmas in spite of it. I made tons of gifts this year and have no buyer's-remorse or I-spent-too-much-itis, and oldest son wrote us such a wonderful heartfelt Christmas letter that I cried happy and grateful tears. I have no right to ask for any more; we are so very blessed. Thank you for helping me to remember how to *truly* gift people (and myself), Brandy. May God bless you and your family abundantly this year.
Happy New Year!
Shani
p.s. When I poked my head into my sons' room on Christmas morning, they were digging into their stockings. At 18 and 14, they still brought back memories of them doing the same at 8 and 4. Oldest looked up at me with a big grin, held up the bookmarks I made them using your printables and tassel tutorial, and said "favorite gift!" Thanks for that! :)
Our middle son got married in June so they had their first Christmas tree this year. They went and cut it themselves, put it up and decorated it then sat down on the couch to bask in it's glow....and it fell over. Our son said that he may have said a few bad words...... :)
DeleteFunny how kids turn back into kids at Christmas. Our 5 plus 4 spouses ages 19 to 33 all sat in a circle on the family room floor and played Legos for several hours one day last week! I have a precious picture of that!
made me tear up! Sweet son!
DeleteThis isn't really a frugal thing, but more an environmental thing. My friend at work and I go out to eat once a week at a natural food place that uses plastic forks and paper napkins. We've been saying for weeks we need to start bringing our own real forks and napkins but keep forgetting. So today I sewed up a few cloth napkins from fabric I had in the stash. Now we just have to remember the forks!
ReplyDeletefrom Athanasia...
DeleteYeay, It if frugal and environmentally friendly. Too much is going into landfills that doesn't need to.
In our office in our lunchroom we have real dishes, real silverware. It's all a bunch of mish-mash pieces collected over the years. There is a sink, a drying rack , towels, a quick washout and back in the cupboard. Also we make a pot of coffee every am and have a toaster and a microwave so if one is running late no need to stop and get something. Or make a make-do lunch. We keep bagels and English muffins, jam, mayonaise and mustard in the fridge. Peanut butter,, instant oatmeal, crackers in the cupboard. Never forget about the environment.
I always look forward to these posts!
ReplyDeleteI had to go into work over the holiday, and some vendors had sent food gifts. The few of us that were working split the food after we got the OK; I got a pound of sausage, some beef sticks, a pound of cheddar cheese, pickled okra, trail mix, and candy. In the week before Christmas, I also got fruit, 2 pounds of walnuts and tea. It came in a styrofoam cooler so I brought that home to store some potatoes in the garage, and I hope that works.
We went to a friend's house for games Saturday, and they sent us home with one of the pizzas we hadn't touched, and also a ham bone. We'll use that to make soup for probably 3 meals.
We had friends over for dinner before Christmas, and we used the leftover turkey and carcass to make soup for 2 meals, 2 pot pies (now in the freezer) and we have a little broth left over.
I made a small donation before Christmas, and in return got several coupons to use in the community. They included 2 tickets to a Sun. performance of the philharmonic which became a Christmas gift to my husband who loves that, a free pound of coffee beans from a local roaster (value $15), a pound of grass-fed beef from a local store (value $5.50) which became chili--half of which is now in the freezer, and a free lunch to a place near work which I'll use for a treat sometime.
I finally roasted a pumpkin that I got at the farmer's market back in October. I made a batch of muffins, half of which are in the freezer for school lunches. I saved the seeds to plant in the garden. It's my first time saving seeds so I hope it works.
I also did some batch cooking on Saturday and now also have some chili, soups and biscuits frozen. That's important to me because I'm a working mom and we're now in our busy season. We rarely eat out anyway, but quick meals mean I get a bit of a break when I have to work late.
Thanks to everyone for posting; I love reading the tips... Stacy
I didn't post last week, so this includes some from last week as well. I've had some frugal moments in the last two weeks, but also some NOT so frugal moments! My boyfriend and I went on a mini-vacay to an Inn about an hour from home. He actually proposed to me while we were there, which was a very nice surprise. But, while we were there, we ate out a lot! I suppose it was all well deserved though, since we just got engaged, and we were celebrating!
ReplyDeleteAs far as frugal things, I:
-Added water a few hand soaps that were running low after the holidays.
-Got free shampoo and conditioner with coupons
-Bought a set of flannel sheets for our bed when they were at a deep discount. I paid $17 for the set, and now we can turn the heat down lower at night. Our son's room has a fish tank in it that keeps his room warm, but our room tends to be cooler! These sheets have helped a lot.
-Received some great Christmas presents. I received sewing supplies as well as gift cards to a store where I can purchase fabric. I also got lots of new wool socks and warm pajamas, which I really needed to avoid turning the heat up. And the socks I received have an extra bonus...they have a lifetime warranty! I don't know about anyone else, but it seems like all my socks get holes in them at the exact same time, so I have to buy new ones or wear hole-y ones! So, with these socks I received, if they ever get a hole, I just need to tell the manufacturer and they will replace them for me for free. What a great gift!
-Received free samples in the mail: three tea bags, two Starbucks K-Cups, a tide pod, and some dish soap.
-I've stayed home a lot since we just got a lot of snow and the roads have not been great. My fiance has a truck with four wheel drive, so we have been using his car exclusively. But, we combined all of our errands on Saturday and got a lot done.
-Portioned the leftover turkey from Christmas (that my mother brought - so it was all free to us!) into two more meals.
-Made a "stock-up" trip to Walmart. I personally do not enjoy shopping at walmart, it is always way too busy in there. But, I have found that a lot of their prices on larger sizes are a lower price than many of the grocery stores here. Also, there is a kind of gluten free pasta that is sold there and it is my favorite!
-Saved leftover rolls and ends of gluten free bread to restock my bread crumbs. Buying gluten free bread crumbs is something I would NEVER do, they are way too expensive, much like other "ready-made" gluten free food.
That's all I can think of now. Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday, and a Happy New Year to all!
Congratulations on your engagement, Jess! Have you made any wedding plans yet?
DeleteCongratulations on your engagement! I was wondering if you'd share the brand name of the socks - I might get some for my sweet, cold-footed husband. :)
DeleteNo wedding plans yet...we are currently trying to conceive, so I'd like to do that first and then have some time to lose some weight after! :) The name of the socks are Darn Tough. They are manufactured in Vermont, but you can get them on Amazon. The price for them can be pretty steep ($15-20/pair), but when you consider they have a lifetime warranty, it's not too bad.
DeleteThis wasn't the most frugal of weeks : )
ReplyDeleteI flew to visit family and parked in the self-park lot off airport property.
Had a fire in my oven and had to replace it. Bought the new range after researching on-line options,consumer feedback, and pricing comparisons. Combined this with end-of-year rebates saving a lot of money.
Am cooking with microwave and toaster oven while we wait for new oven to be delivered. Even learned how to make oatmeal (old fashioned) using the microwave.
Watched Downton Abbey for free on PBS via computer.
Shoveled snow rather than use snow blower.
Happy New Year Brandy et al!
Libby
Aw, I have a little baby too, who nurses early in the morning and loves Christmas lights. :) We have also been drying seeds for spring. :) Happy New Year!
ReplyDeletefrom Athanasia...
ReplyDeleteSent in a rebate for $80 for the new tires for my car. Received $12 in mail for rebate on oil bought to do the oil change in my car.
Found out how to make refill soap...over the years have various pump containers for liquid soap that are holiday oriented and once the soap was gone, never wanted to throw them away, just got stored under sink. These are always the foaming soap. We always use liquid soap and just refill with the gallon jug but never knew what to do with the foaming kind. I had bought a dish soap I did not like...scented...can't use scents...and offered to a friend. She said sure, she needed to refill her foaming soap dispensers. So to make long story short, I now can refill my holiday dispensers.
A little late but better late that never right? My list of accomplishments is on my blog here: http://emersonfamily.wordpress.com/2013/01/01/frugal-things-i-did-last-week-13/
ReplyDeleteMy biggest accomplishment was probably the many sewing projects and gifts I completed as Christmas presents!
That checkbook cover is cute! - Marivene
DeleteWell we received a gift card for the grocery store in town from my parents at Christmas. It is for $75, which I am using to mainly buy meat since it is the most expensive part of our grocery budget. I am trying to get several pounds of ground beef and chicken. I am also going to buy a 5 lb bag of potatoes,a couple bottles of vegetable oil, and purchase another jar of peanut butter for the kids. I am also using it to purchase another large can of formula for the baby. This will help us alot, I am going to base all meals around these purchases, and what we currently have in the freezer/pantry.
ReplyDeleteI purchased a new coffeemaker online for $4 with free shipping, I saw the deal on moneysaving mom, I am putting it up for when our coffeemaker dies. I have really been trying to combine errands to save on gas, and also so that I can get more done at home. I am also washing everything with cold water. My husband refuses to eat meatless meals, but I cut the amount of meat in half in a couple meals this week and he didn't notice, so I will continue to do that. I made a large pot of black eyed peas with a ham bone stashed in the freezer, and froze enough for 2 more meals(as a side).
I have not commented on this posting very much because I do not keep track of frugal things I do but I really enjoy reading and thinking about being frugal. I like how one of the readers uses categories so I am going to list some things I think are frugal by categories.
ReplyDeleteFamily spending plan
Stayed in budget all of December.
Made a Xmas budget and stuck to it like glue for all Xmas gifts, activities, and food.
Groceries
Stayed in budget for each week.
Got 10 lbs. of potatoes for 49 cents.
Got baking items 70%-90% off in after Xmas sales.
Got a turkey for 79 cents/lb.
Got a ham for 79 cents/lb.
Bought items on sale in November and made Xmas dinner from stockpile.
Got candy on 75% clearance plus using coupons for very cheap for making baked goods.
Got 4 piece box of candy for 30 cents each-bought 10 for Valentine's Day and Easter.
Spiritual
Went to Xmas activities at church.
Went to Advent services.
Made a Advent calendar off the computer and used for the month of December.
Cleaning
Made vinegar home cleaning solution.
Cleaned the house for the holidays thoroughly and kept clean.
Relaxation
Went to all the "free" Xmas activities throughout December.
Organization
Made New Year's goals for 2013.
Made list for homemade gifts for daughter's birthday in January.
Filled out a reflection sheet for Xmas 2012 to have for 2013 (reminds me what I like about Xmas in 2012 and what I did not like in 2012).
Made January budget.
Xmas 2012
Made most of my gifts for 2012 (after discovering The Prudent Homemaker website).
Xmas 2013
Took large storage bags and put names on each bag and will fill with stocking stuffers throughout 2012 (i.e. freebies I might get, small toys I got on 90% clearance for babies).
Started Xmas list for 2013 and started making a list of potential homemade gifts for family.
Got yarn for 75% off at Walmart to make Xmas gift (and other)at after Xmas clearances sales.
Got yarn at Black Friday sales for very inexpensive.
Daughter's January birthday
Made a list of homemade gifts.
Got flannel at 70% off to make PJs.
Got 2 white button down blouses for $3/item and 2 twill uniform pants for $4/item for presents.
Crocheted scarves to go with school uniforms.
Crafts
Made a cover for Kindle (got from children; they got free from using Amazon gift bought with Swag bucks).
Made a crochet hook holder for crochet hooks and tapestry needles.
Made a "knock off" rose scarf like the one on The Prudent Homemaker website. I posted my scarf here http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6167461842212596908#editor/target=post;postID=5450578859638671856. I hope that is OK to post. I admired your velvet scarf so much so I tried to crochet one of my own. My daughter asked one for herself so I made her a purple one, her favorite color, for her birthday.
Thank you to all your readers for the frugal ideas and thank you for all the ideas.
Anna
Anna, the URL you posted only took me to the Blogger home page, not to your scarf. - Marivene
DeleteTry the URL. I am new at this posting stuff. My scarf is similar but not the same as the velvet rose scarf here.
Deletehttp://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6167461842212596908#editor/target=post;postID=5450578859638671856
Anna - Marivene - try this link.
Deletehttp://marilynswordsofwisdom.blogspot.com/2013/01/scarf-knockoffs.html
Valerie
Thanks, Valerie - that link worked for me, & I was able to see both of Marilyn's crocheted scarves. - Marivene
DeleteThis list covers a couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteI received a free sample of vitamins and a free sample of body wash in the mail.
Used existing wrapping paper, tissue paper, gift bags, gift boxes and mailing boxes to wrap and mail all Christmas gifts.
Gave three people gifts that free to me. Not a lot but at least it is something.
Attempted to stick to the Christmas budget that I set up in the fall.
Brought several food items with us to Wisconsin when we visited relatives. I bought some of the items on sale and used coupons. Other items were treats that were given to us and we wanted to share them.
Turned the heat down to 60 degrees for the four days that we were in Wisconsin.
My sister in law gave us several leftover food items that we brought back with us.
My dad gave us some extra candy and we really enjoyed!
Went to the grocery store at the end of December and used a coupon for $5.00 off when you spend $50.00.
Both my husband and I used gas points to fill up the week of Christmas. That saved us both about $0.30/gal.
Brandy - the picture of your daughter looking at the Christmas tree is so beautiful!
Happy 2013 everyone!
Jill