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Re: DG's frugal journal

Posted: Mon Mar 12, 2018 12:11 pm
by Dgflorida
Monday

It actually rained a little this morning and now dreary and cold. I normally put a whole series of containers out to catch the rain, but the false alerts were so many, I didn't believe it. I have a few containers out to catch drips off the roof, but not as many as usual.

It is a frugal house day. I wear hubs old socks around the house. The elastic is poor, but the bottoms are good. And the concrete floor is getting cold due to another cold front. :roll: I am tired of these cold fronts. I vented the dryer into the house and closed off the outside access. Just a little drying to fluff the clothes.

Doing dishes by hand and letting them drip dry. Going to sweep the floor with a broom shortly. Using little electricity means lower bills.

Re: DG's frugal journal

Posted: Tue Mar 13, 2018 9:26 am
by Dgflorida
Tuesday

Late today, I will put the insulation up in most of the windows. We are expecting 2 days of cold for Florida temperatures. I will also close the hurricane "blast door" over the sliding glass door. It really keeps the heat in. I sure hope that by next cold season, next winter, I will have new windows and exterior shutters in addition. Tonight, I will drop the house temperature down to 64F to reduce use. Blankets are out.

Re: DG's frugal journal

Posted: Wed Mar 14, 2018 8:23 am
by Dgflorida
Wednesday

The next 4x8 flower bed has used cardboard down as weed barrier and a covering of leaves. All free. The landscape timbers were on sale. A layer of sale soil, a layer of cheap composed manure, free mulch and it will be planting time.

Last night, I put the foil backed insulation up and then the cut up to fit cheap rug in the north bedrooms windows. Always feels warm when I do that, no drafts. Even when I get my new windows, I will do that in the winter I suspect.

The Florida code on doors requires screws holding the frame to be counter sunk a lot leaving a pretty deep "hole". After looking at plugs, I decided to make my own from a piece of doweling. With my handheld multitool, it should be easy to cut just the right length. Should cost less than one dollar. A pack of premade plugs is $3 and would have to be cut in most cases. If my putty is still good, it would be a finish to create a smooth surface.

Took apart an old pop up air freshener to see if I could repurpose its parts. Maybe. I also repurposed old yogurt containers to small starter pots in an old shaped tray.

Re: DG's frugal journal

Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2018 8:39 am
by Dgflorida
Thursday

I figured out how to create the New Orleans style ornate ironwork arches. I will use fancy iron shelf brackets. It looks like it will work and it is cheap. Since I am having the house painted this summer, it will blend into the existing ironwork columns. Looking for a matching design in the brackets.

I used the Home Depot coupon at Lowe's, got $5 off my order and got $1.36 pavers on sale for 88c(last day) and 5 small plumbago plants for the white fence.I also took the tray the pots came in. I can use it. I have at least one other pot that size. It is easier to manage the pots when they are in a tray. Last week, I got 2 for $12 on high quality garden soil and bulbs using the coupon. I have just a few bags to put into the garden now. And I just got a new coupon in the email. :D

The egg carton seeds are starting to sprout. It is hard to keep them damp. Egg cartons may be better for indoor sprouting. Educational. But the toilet paper tubes are fine for outside sprouting and they protect new sprouts from cut worms.

Another week of generally uninteresting meat offerings at the grocery stores. To the freezer for ground beef. The 5 lb roll will make a weeks worth of beef meals with chicken in between. That leaves one roll of beef and one family package of chicken to process. The old frig is starting to make me nervous. I think I do need to continue my efforts to get a small freezer. Nothing on sale right now that has a good reputation though.

Re: DG's frugal journal

Posted: Fri Mar 16, 2018 8:19 am
by Dgflorida
Friday

Ugh. 34F. I hope my outside plants did ok. Even hubs was surprised it went that low. I brought the potted plants and seedlings in on the porch. The tomato and pepper plants have flowers. They need to be planted...today.

I do need to finish raking the leaves on the south side. That is where the driveway guy is going to throw the dirt he digs out of the driveway. I forgot that that is coming and could happen at any time. Bump that up to spot 1. Going to be a busy outside day. Maybe 3 days.

The new windows will take at least 4 weeks when we sign off on them since they have to be built, or at least some are custom. So that will be in May at the earliest. The way things are stacking up. The driveway the first part of April. The windows, May and maybe painting in June/July. I consider these kind of expenditures on a house to be frugal in that they last a long time and are value added to the property.

I believe the frig and the outside part of the ac unit are getting close to the end of their life. But I will let them be a surprise at this point. I spend a lot of time researching before making a decision on big projects. And my brain is done for now.

I am kind of glad there is no more to buy with a garden coupon. I have accumulated a lot of stuff and it will take weeks to get it all down where I want it.

Hubs asked "what about the inside". I said that is a summertime thing since it will be too hot to be outside then. I have some projects in mind.

Re: DG's frugal journal

Posted: Sat Mar 17, 2018 12:04 pm
by Dgflorida
Saturday

It is nice to feel like I am making progress. Most of the time, it feels like I am running in mud. Of course, nothing has actually happened yet. But I made the first step on projects.

Before I could write the next word, the electrician called and said he had something else to do tomorrow and could he come today, like right now. So off I went to get the area ready for him. He did a great job. So now, I am ready for a new freezer with a new outlet. The price was cheap. Frugal electrician. Now to watch for a great sale on freezers.

I went to Winn-Dixie to get the $2.99 chuck roasts and hubs asked for ribeyes on sale. I got a package of those for him at $4.99. His birthday is soon. I had a chance to talk to the butcher about beef fat and chicken skins. I described the kind of beef fat I wanted for crumbling over greens. He said ask for suet off of steaks. But they don't skin the chickens there, so I need to ask around for those.

A good frugal morning. Now to the garden.