Saturday, November 1, 2014

Frugal Accomplishments - End of October

We made a menu and did our cooking at home (except, Costco rotisserie'd a chicken for me!).  Every few days, I would take any remaining leftover odds and ends and put them on the table at supper.  Often, there was just a single serving of something left, so one of us would have carrots, another would have green beans, a third would have waldorf salad, but that way, nothing went to waste.

Our homemade Halloween Jack-o-Lantern pizza.

I had a 'town day' this week and combined several errands to make better use of our time and gasoline.  I also learned that the place where I was getting my glasses and eye exam had a new location that was much closer to all my other errands, and I was able to switch to that location, which saved a little more time and fuel.  I used a half-off coupon at the craft store for something I will be using for some Christmas gifts, and I picked up some autumn and halloween rubber stamps for .45 each.

I've been trying to get a turkey fryer set for the past several weeks, preferably used.  This week, I got a set, used once, for $20.  They are selling rather high in our area, even used, so I am very happy with this purchase.  Husband wants to try frying a turkey this year, so now we are ready.  They can also be used to do shrimp boil, and I am thinking that if I can turn the burner low enough, I could make tamales in the big pot.  (If not, I could use the big pot on my stovetop for the tamales.)  If you have other ideas or suggestions, please leave me a comment!

I got an igloo-style dog house for Taffy this week on freecycle.  She is uncertain about the door flap, but I think we can help her get past that with some treats.

I've been giving Taffy a bath once a week, both to keep her clean and to get her used to the idea.  So far, she fits in the laundry tub in our basement, but I don't know if that will always be true.  I just use human shampoo, and it seems to be fine for her.  I trimmed her nails this week, for the second time, and it was much easier than the first time.

We got books and movies from the library.  We really, really love the library.

It was pretty weather most of the week and I was able to hang the laundry on the clothesline.  I used our homemade laundry soap too.

We are going to 'bell train' Taffy so that she can let us know when she needs to go outside, so I made these for the front and back door of our house.  I had everything on hand, so there was no cost.

Apparently, macrame' and braiding are both like riding a bike!

We made some halloween decorations for the front step from milk cartons, sharpies and glow in the dark bracelets.  They are a bit of a pinterest fail (not as bright as I expected), but we had fun.




We also used sharpies and shrinky dink plastic to make ID tags for the dog.  Fun!

I hope you had a great week, and a great October.  Don't forget to share your frugal accomplishments in the comments!

4 comments:

  1. Something seems to have happened to the end of your post as the picture is missing.

    We had a fairly frugal week. I found pork roast for 1.77 a pound on Monday. I have learned to just walk along the meat case and check prices at this particular store because they have deals like this from time to time that are not advertised. I was able to buy many grocery items for next to nothing this week. I am set for microwave popcorn for awhile.

    I cooked a pork roast on Tuesday and then froze a meal of gravy and meat for another day and saved out the same to make pork and noodles. Hubby had a BBQ pork sandwich for his Wed lunch and more leftovers on Friday from the same roast. We had planned to eat out Friday night using an Amazon Local restaurant deal that we had purchased but the place had closed down. I called Amazon Local and they refunded our money in full. I pulled a frozen container of chili from the freezer and we ate at home. This past Sunday we had free burgers at Hardee's with the check in app points. We added a lg fry to share and used a $1 off coupon plus two old people drinks meant lunch for $2.42. I cannot make good burgers at home for that amount.

    One of the biggest money saving things I have done lately is to just not grocery shop unless I really see some sales for things that we actually need or have run out of produce or milk. It is amazing how many days I can wait to go to the store when I actually take stock of what we have. I have also learned that romaine lettuce keeps really well and running out of lettuce is often the thing that will make me go shopping. I bought the 6 pack at Sam's and it kept for 3 weeks and none was wasted. If I stay out of the stores I don't buy things we do not need.

    On Tuesday while I was drying a load of towels, the dryer died. On Thursday night hubby tore it apart and with the help of the internet , figured out what was wrong. I went to the parts store and bought parts for $55 yesterday and now we are back to having a dryer. Thankfully Tuesday was a warm day and I was able to get the towels to dry on the line outside. It is just a short one line pull out so it took several batches of hanging them out to get them done. Our humidity stays so high that line drying is difficult here.

    We purchased our Chick fil A 2015 calendars this week. We got two each at $7 each for a total of four. There is a card that entitles us to free food every month and the food next year is really great. Many months are an entree and drink. For this cost up front we can enjoy many very inexpensive meals all of next year.

    We finished putting away plants and pots and outdoor items that could be harmed by the cold weather. Today our area is seeing snow WAY too early.

    I have purchased and wrapped Christmas gifts for our oldest son's family. They will be here in two weeks but not for Christmas. I will save a ton of money in shipping by being able to send them home with them in two weeks. I have plenty of paper and tags from clearance sales last year. I am making an effort to get my shopping done and wrapped early this year so that I am not overtired when the holidays get here.

    I have entered a ton of free Kellogg's Family Rewards codes this week so that I can get those high value coupons when I need them. We don't purchase a large amount of eligible products with codes so I rely on these freebies.

    I think that is it! Have a good week!



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  2. Well, I have to say, blogger error strikes again! Not Blogger, the company, but me! I got busy and didn't get the pictures up...I will, though, a little later today! :)

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    1. :) I forget to say that the TV speaker replacement fixed our TV!!! For only $18!!!

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  3. Laura, We used to give our doggies baths in the tub or shower. Every time I started to run bath water for anyone our dashhound would hide. If it was for her I would just tell her come out from under the bed it time for
    your bath.She was the best dog ever. :)
    Lana,
    Do you store the lettuce in a special way to keep it from going bad ? I do not have very good luck Thanks Patti

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