Sunday, December 7, 2014

Frugal Accomplishments - First Week of December

Hello, Dearies!  I hope you're having a wonderful December and getting done what needs to be done!  We have been busy-ish, without it being too hectic.  Here are the frugal accomplishments for the week.  I hope they help you come up with ideas for ways to spend less, save more and make do!

We checked out books and media from the library.

I received a coupon from Coca Cola for a free 12-pack.  There was a flash sale several weeks ago, and this coupon was available for only 30 points.  I am saving it, waiting for a buy one, get one free type sale, to see if I can stretch it even further.

Kohl's sent me another $10 of a $10/more purchase card.  They must really love me.  :)

120 oatmeal-raisin (and craisin) cookies.  If you put the raisins (and craisins - yum)
in the food processor and pulse them a few times,
you get smaller bits of fruit that don't puff and scorch.  
We signed up to bring snacks to Awana.  I baked oatmeal cookies and popped popcorn.  My friend loaned me some big Tupperware containers (two gallon ones!) to transport the popcorn.  I really appreciate this - I didn't have anything large enough.  We took four gallons of home-popped popcorn and 10 dozen oatmeal cookies.  There were leftovers (whew!  I was worried it wouldn't be enough!), so back at home, we had popcorn for snack a couple of times, and I put most of the cookies into the freezer for a little closer to Christmas time.

Bath and Body Works sent me a coupon for a free full-size item.  Daughter chose a nice lotion, which we wrapped up and gave to her teacher when we saw her at the aquarium field trip.  I didn't sign up for this coupon....and I haven't shopped there in a very long time, so we're not exactly sure why they sent me this coupon...just grateful!

If you shop at Amazon, you might want to check your offers.  They sometimes have a free Prime membership (three months, I think) and are currently offering $70 in Amazon credit (an e-gift card) to some people - if you apply and qualify for their credit card.  Be sure to read all the details and see if there is something there that will help pay for Christmas or other things you might need.

We used sales and coupons to get good prices on a few pantry staples, including Progresso soups (.50 a can) , C and H cane sugar (.99 for 4lb.) , and Kraft mayo (1.49 for 30 oz.).  I also got three tubes of Colgate toothpaste (6.4 oz) for 8 cents (total) after sale price and coupons were applied.

shiny!!
We washed the car at home, so we didn't have to pay anything, plus the runoff water helped to water the grass near the henhouse.  The headlights had become cloudy.  Did you know that you can shine them up with Brasso brass polish and a soft cloth?  In my case, it was an old sock, and they shined up quite nicely.  I was really happy with the results.

Daughter and I spent a lot of our time at home, rather than doing a lot of running around and errands.  It saves fuel and makes better use of our time.

I stocked Daughter's advent calendar with small treats I saved back from Halloween.

I don't even know how to photoshop - these are the actual colors!
Daughter's virtual school had a field trip for 3rd-5th graders at the Denver Downtown Aquarium.  There were significant discounts on admission and parking, and it was scheduled for a day when Husband was off work, so we went as a family.  There was a shark class for the students, then we toured the entire aquarium.  It was a nice field trip!

These moon jellyfish are illuminated with colored lights.
Hi, my name is 'Ray'.  I could go for a snack....
'Ray's'  favorite snack.
....nom, nom, nom....

I had lasagna on the menu this past week.  I learned (after having started the meal prep) that I didn't have any lasagna noodles.  I used wide egg noodles instead, and we actually liked it better.  Lasagna noodles rarely go on sale, so we will just use the wide noodles instead from now on.

We planned and prepared several meals to use the remaining Thanksgiving turkey - barbecue chicken (turkey) pizza with bacon and onions, turkey sandwiches, turkey-potato-onion hash and a turkey-vegetable soup, which Daughter made.  We're out of Thanksgiving turkey now, and we're OK with that, hee hee.  When all was said and done, I made more stock from the bits and bones.

When I put the turkey leg bones in the crock pot, the lid wouldn't fit.
Problem solved!  (I am disproportionately happy about this discovery!)

We opened canned fruit two times this week.  I drained off the syrups and used them to help sweeten some fruit punch that I made.

I used homemade laundry soap to wash our clothes.  It's been cold this past week so I've hung the laundry on wooden racks in the basement.  This coming week looks like it will be warmer so I can hang clothes outdoors!

Well, that's what I remember.  How was your week?  What did you do to spend less, save more and make do?  I'd love to learn from you in the comments - have a great week!!

5 comments:

  1. The bowl on top of the Crock Pot is genius! I love sting rays!

    I can't even think of any savings from last week. I am sure we had some but I cannot bring any to mind. Did I say last week that Dollar Tree has button batteries in multipacks? We needed some for ornaments and boy that saved the money. We also got some freebies at Harbor Freight while Christmas shopping.

    We need to do better this week about eating at home. We did use budgeted money but it has to last all of December.

    Happy holiday preparations everyone!

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    Replies
    1. I'm sure you had some savings too! Thanks for the tip about the button batteries. I think Husband gets them somewhere online for a really good price, but I will sure mention it to him. We get some Harbor Freight freebies sometimes too - I am always thinking what a neat present could be made for a young child with a free tarp, some free flashlights, etc. :)

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  2. Earlier this month, I secured that $70 credit from Amazon for taking out a new credit card (Chase Visa). I generally try to avoid taking out new credit cards, but I've recently been looking into rewards programs and reading about how others use credit for percentages off purchases or travel credit. I know I can trust myself to pay off all bills at the end of the month. That $70 credit possibility popped up on the checkout page, but then I had to go back to look again at something relating to the Christmas presents I was buying for two granddaughters. When I got back to the payment page with the offer, the offer was only $40 with a new Amazon credit card. I just went back and forth between the pages until the $70 offer popped up again. The granddaughters' presents were free and I had credit left over. I get 3% credit I can use on Amazon any time the card is used for an Amazon purchase and between 1-2% off otherwise.

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    Replies
    1. There are a lot of offers out there, for sure. Some of them have several requirements attached in order for you to get the reward or credit, but Husband is really good about tracking those things...so that is his department! :)

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  3. Hi always love reading your blog I found some free if you do a survey magazines on hip 2 save under freebies I think they are still there make great gifts for those that do not live close to you. Also did some for service providers. Used my email so I get all the extra emails in my junk account,
    Blessings,
    Patti

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