Five Frugal Things You Did This Week

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MackerelCat
Posts: 7260
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 9:44 pm

Five Frugal Things You Did This Week

Post by MackerelCat »

The "five frugal things" is a huge motivator for me. So I stuck it in my duffle bag and brought it over to the new forum. :)

1 & 2. Discovered that Aldi's clone of Beggin' Strips is made in the USA, safe for our dog with allergies, and costs about half the price of the name brand. Also found an allergen-free dog food at Tractor Supply that she likes and is less expensive.
3. Am in the midst of a six-day spending fast because August has been a very expensive month.
4. Enjoyed having the windows open and the air conditioning off for three days this week.
5. Decluttered another closet and took a bag of stuff to the Salvation Army.
Mackie
Starr
Posts: 6
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 11:23 pm

Re: Five Frugal Things You Did This Week

Post by Starr »

I don't know if I did anything really frugal.

1. I did shop on Senior discount day, which is Tuesday so got my 5% discount.

2. I am cleaning and organizing the dungeon, so will ovoid buying any new supplies, I did not realize how large my paper stash has grown.

3. I did trade artwork for something I wanted rather than buy it. so I guess that is frugal

4. We are heading out for vacation, taken after Sept first, because the hotel rates go down, and I am collecting things to take rather than buy there.

5. Went to the library to learn how to download books for vacation rather than buy them.

So I guess I did some frugal things this week.

Really need to think this way more
Devoted
Posts: 15
Joined: Sat Aug 29, 2015 11:43 pm

Re: Five Frugal Things You Did This Week

Post by Devoted »

1 -- made homemade deviled ham, instead of buying the canned underwood brand. i love deviled ham, since i was a kid. but i don't buy it because it's a tiny little can and the price is so high -- at least seems so to me. so i looked up a recipe for homemade deviled ham online. i had all the ingredients on hand, and it was easy to make and really tastes good.

2 -- my computer had some serious issues earlier this summer, and after much 'to do' (ie, repair shop, diagnostics, etc) i just bought a new computer system. that's not the particularly frugal part though. i made sure to use my credit card with the cash back rewards on purchases for buying the new computer, and i earned $25.08 in cash back rewards. note that i pay the entire balance off every month, and avoid any interest charges by doing so -- thank you all for teaching me that!

3 -- i've just crossed the point that i've earned enough cash back rewards from that credit card to cover/offset last years (the first year) yearly card fee, and cover/offset next years (starting in november) card fee too.

4 -- instead of buying a shelf to hold my computer router, telephone modem, and surge protector power strips, i'm making a shelf from scrap wood/boards and using minwax pre-condition and polyshades (which i also already had on hand)to give it a finished look. now, i've never even stained anything before. my first go at it resulted in not quite as good as i can get it (i'll find a use for this not so good finished one), so i'll be having a second go at it starting on monday. this time, i'll make sure to wipe the underside edges, getting the drips off before letting them dry. i did need to buy two 'L' brackets and six screws -- for mounting the shelf on the wall, sandpaper, extra fine steel wool, and a bottle of mineral spirits. out of pocket expense for this project is $14.32, and i have some extra supplies which can be used for another project in the future.

5 -- i bought my snick sub-q fluids supplies, to last us at least through the winter. the fluids can freeze during transport in the winter months, which can make them not safe to use. i searched around online and found the best price. it still seems as though last years fluids shortage is having some effect on the availability and prices here in the US. but at least this year i was able to find them available in the US, and at a lower price than the Canadian pharmacy i needed to buy them from last year. note that it's the shipping cost (from Canada) to the US that makes buying fluids from a Canadian pharmacy more expensive for me -- but i was very grateful to be able to buy those fluids last year during the shortage.
dlrcpa
Posts: 1546
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 8:45 am

Re: Five Frugal Things You Did This Week

Post by dlrcpa »

1. made sandwich bread and squash bread (used pumpkin bread recipe)
2. knit a baby hat from "inherited" baby yarn, will sell or donate.
3. harvested and ate garden veggies. Planted small patch of mustard, spinach, lettuce in the yard.
4. inventoried meat in the freezer. We are good on chicken, beef, sausages.
5. Soaked beans and in the crock pot now for veg chili later in the week.
shopper113
Posts: 46
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:03 am

Re: Five Frugal Things You Did This Week

Post by shopper113 »

One main thing...Found, researched and ended up buying a set of used SUV tires. The old ones were dangerously bald, but we were reluctant to spend the money for tires on a vehicle we keep thinking we'll be rid of in a few more miles. Got all four, with decent amount of tread, mounted and balanced for not much more than the price of one new tire. Feel safer.

Stopped at Fresh Market on Tuesday -- every tuesday they have boneless skinless chicken breast and their ground chuck for $2.99/lb. So, I often pick up a few pounds of chicken and a little bit of beef, even if I buy nothing else while I"m in the store.


so-- 2 things.
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ErinHuffstetler
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Joined: Thu Aug 21, 2014 3:42 pm

Re: Five Frugal Things You Did This Week

Post by ErinHuffstetler »

The "five frugal things" is a huge motivator for me. So I stuck it in my duffle bag and brought it over to the new forum. :)
Glad you did :)

Here are mine for this week:

1. Took a bunch of stuff to a kids' consignment sale. Worked a shift to get the bigger pay out. Our earnings will go into an account to fund dd1's summer camp.

2. Built a new porch on the bath house at our cabin, using curb-shopped decking. We had decking screws leftover from another project, so absolutely zero cost.

3. Researched scholarships that are available for middle schoolers. Dd1 (almost 13) is motivated to start looking for college scholarships now, and you'd better believe I'm going to encourage that!

4. Had $10 in Kmart surprise points for good on a $10 shoe purchase. Found a pair of shoes for dd1 (in a grow into size). Paid $1.42 after tax, and tucked them away for Christmas.

5. Found several new uses for the big pile of jalapeno peppers my friends gave us -- more on that later this week :)
Erin Huffstetler
Editor, MyFrugalHome.com
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