Sunday, July 5, 2015

Frugal Happenings 7/5

Howdy everyone.  Hope you all had a great holiday weekend.  I imagine many of you had a short work week last week as well.  That was always nice.  Now, every weekend is a 7 day weekend for me!!!!!!!

This past week seems to have gone by so quickly, but they all do any more.  I kept busy this week and got a lot of small projects done.  Also got a lot of yard work done.
How was your week?

My frugal happenings for the week were:
  • Picking lots of fresh produce from the garden.  Broccoli, zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, onions, and 5 cherry tomatoes!
  • All meals from scratch this week, and made great use of garden produce in meals
  • Bought fresh corn this week 12 ears/$2, and got more ground beef for the freezer at $2.49/lb.
  • Freezing more eggs
  • 8 out of past 9 days , didn't use AC
  • Fixed a couple old bird feeders, to get through this year with.  I may ask for new ones for Christmas
  • Got a FREE gallon of thistle seed with my punch card this week at feed store
  • Went to a dinner theater with my sis and nephew and his wife.  Wonderful food and a great play, all for FREE.  It was a new experience for me, and great to spend time with family - that was priceless.
  • Had to buy G a new cell phone, as his was about to puke.  Paid $14.99 (very basic) and the gal worked our cell bill down by $40 a month!!  She is my hero!
  • Got to line dry clothes again this week.
  • Watered when necessary with rain water.
Tell us about your week, and any special way you saved a little change for your pocket.  Love to get new ideas.
Have a great week everyone!!!!!!!

9 comments:

  1. Gosh, Can't think of that many things I did but here are a couple.
    Glued my wooden clothes dryer back together since the new one I bought is so rickety I'm returning it. I don't think it would hold wet Levis.
    I worked all last week so I guess that was frugal as it kept me from buying anything un-necessary.
    It's still in the upper 90's here so we are being vigilant in keeping the garden watered.
    I went to the library and rented DVD's as I have canceled my Netflix.
    Mended some pants and a shirt.

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  2. Me too, many small things, they will surely add up in the long term! And I think LaurieS that I remember you might be the one who said she was going to use half of everything? the half deodorant is working for me, the half shampoo (only if I dilute it), the half laundry soap absolutely works.

    I mended yet again my 'lunchbag', a fabric purse made by Dexter, bought on sale from Payless and used for years but now is my lunchbag, roomy and colorful. It is an old purse that dh fondly now calls my Frankenpurse...he even asked me if I was going to put some bolts on it for decoration! I am determined to make it last 4.5 more years until my 'retirement.' Then I'll use it if needed for any part-time work I engage in.

    This weekend I re-seated the magnetic clasp, which had pulled through the original lining, by pulling apart the two fins that secure the one side of the magnet, reinforcing the bag with some pink denim scraps, then re-attaching the clasp and sewing on another piece of denim to cover the clasp's fins. Clear as mud, right? but it works! I also restitched the vinyl handle with some zig zagging, I will cover or replace the handles with some fabric some other time. Vinyl stitches very easily on a sewing machine.

    On gardening, we had planned on mulching but the shop was closed for the weekend, even Friday, and I was down with a head cold, so dh and I tidied the dump piles of papers in the house, went through old school books to donate to a school library for a tax deduction for 2015, and I watched videos while he worked on his ham radio equipment.

    Also made a rhubarb cobbler, and managed a meal or two although the Good Man (dh) ate and I only sipped lemon and honey tea. Cinnamon toast I could handle too. Rough weekend but I'm still standing.

    Dh will pick 3 cups of raspberries today and I'll try to make some jam tonight.

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  3. Cheryl, great deal on the new phone and reduction in service pricing! That's $10 a week ... $520 a year! Wowee!!!!!

    Check Pinterest for bird feeder idea from recycled materials? Have hammer? Will build!


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  4. Nuts, wish I could go back and edit my posts but here is another good thing for me this past week...made $55 on research studies, that goes in the bank...we got the tax bill for August...$2400...O-U-C-H...but we knew it was coming...time to get my duaghter's bedroom furniture up on Craig's List! And I think I'll put the sari on there, too.

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  5. Ellen, You did lots even though you weren't feeling well. I hope you are better today. It wasn't me that was doing the halves of everything I think it might have been Jokir not sure.
    Ouch on the tax bill but that's about what it is for us too. But ours isn't due till Nov.
    Cheryl, Good going on the new phone bill. I'm waiting till Aug to change anything on ours, then DH has an upgrade on his phone. He thinks he needs a smart phone so I do need to do some research on who has the best plan.

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  6. In our area Verizon works the best so also check out the service complaints for your geographic area...even though they say the coverage is there, it might be better to see what others are actually experiencing. We often see our two doors away from us neighbor out in his driveway on his cell phone because their house connection is poor, and since coverage can be very localized, know that usually you get a 30 day I am not happy trial basis with a cell phone company.

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    Replies
    1. Hope you are feeling better Ellen.
      We didn't change carriers. Just revamped our plan, since we had the old one for so long.

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    2. thanks Cheryl, yes today is MUCH better! still have the raspy voice but am able to eat and don't have a sinus headache anymore...joints are good to go, might be able to catch up on True Detective tonight via xfinity....

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    3. Back to topic on small frugals! I have been enjoying microwave popcorn without the pre bagged price! I had some white lunch bags left over from a birthday party when the kids were little. I tape the bottom flaps shut, put in a slab of butter (1 to 2 Tbsp) and a 1/4 cup of popcorn. If you want to add a little salt that works too. I roll the bag up and put a rubber band around it for transport to work.

      Mid afternoon, I take off the rubber band, fold the top of the bag opening over an inch twice and then tape that shut. Lay the bag on a paper plate and pop in the microwave until the pops are less than 5 seconds apart.

      Use a pair of scissors to cut open the top of the bag, eat and enjoy.

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