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Monday's Frugal Happenings

June 2nd, 2009 at 01:56 am

Monday's frugal triumphs

I hung clothes outside on the line. Who would have thought I would be excited about laundry? But every time I hang a load of clothes outside I get so excited about saving that electricity on the dryer.

I rented a movie from Redbox today using the code that was sent to my phone this morning. Free entertainment tonight! (I rented "Bride Wars"; not much of a selection when I went this afternoon.)

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Monday's frugal oops

I really need to plan menus to make fewer trips to the grocery store. Even though I only picked up what was on my list (to make dinner tonight), I still used gas to get there - not to mention all that time I spent shopping that I could have been spent gardening.

So here's my menu for the week. Since I'm going to do my "big" grocery shopping on Friday, I have to work around what I already have in the house to get through the week

Mon - elbow casserole
Tue - sweet & sour chicken in the crockpot
Wed - hotdogs (cookout!) & pasta salad
Thu - sloppy joes
Fri - baked chicken salsa

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Monday's spending

$3.48 Groceries - again


Sunday's Frugal Triumphs & Ooops

June 1st, 2009 at 01:26 am

Sunday's spending

$xx.xx Weekly tithe to the church
$28.48 Groceries (and I still cash left in the envelope for the week!)


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Sunday's frugal triumphs

I picked up an exercise ball from

Text is Freecycle and Link is http://www.freecycle.org
Freecycle today. It didn't look like much, but hubby inflated it and now it's perfect. I'll probably use it a few months and then Freecycle it back into the world. I don't stick to exercise routines for long.

I also picked up some garden pots from another freecycler.

Oh - I found a dime in the parking lot of the grocery store! I'm going to have to start of jar for "FOUND MONEY" so it doesn't get mixed with my other change. (I'm just curious to see how much money I do find.)

I was able to hang another load of laundry on the line before the rain came.

I drank two bottles of water which meant two less cans of soda today. (I keep water bottles in the fridge, but I hardly ever grab water when I want a drink.)

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Sunday's frugal oops

I am addicted to Diet Coke/Pepsi. I drink it non-stop from the time I wake up until the time I go to sleep. (It's the reason I have such bad teeth now.) I have a habit of reaching for a soda whenever I'm at the checkout. The soda coolers are there. The sodas are icy cold. And even if I'm not thirsty, I grab one. Grocery shopping, Home Depot, Wal-Mart. It doesn't matter where. I always grab a soda as I leave.

So today, I paid $1.39 for a 20-oz bottle of diet coke. And I didn't even drink half of it by the time I got home. Why do I do that? Surely I can go without a soda for the 15 minute drive home!

Saturday's Frugal Triumphs

May 31st, 2009 at 01:54 am

Saturday's Spendings

$19.95 Oil change for hubby's van
$30.00 Replenish EZ-Pass
$4.35 Potting soil

(1) Hubby can easily change the oil in my Jeep, but when it comes to his van, it's better to pay someone else to change the oil. (He's not as limber as he was 30 years ago! Smile )

(2) We depleted our balance in the EZ-Pass account when we drove to Philadelphia last weekend to visit our son. I had completely forgotten to budget this expense, but luckily there's enough money in the gas/repair account to draw from. EZ-Pass has now been added to the budget (quarterly expense).

(3) We needed more potting soil to transplant the rest of the pepper plants into the raised beds. Hubby was able to return some plumbing fixtures to Home Depot, so we used some of that refund to pay for the dirt. (And we still have $10 on a Home Depot card)

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Saturday's Frugal Triumphs

Avoided using the dryer today, and hung a load of laundry outside on the clothesline

Recycled more mini-blind slats into

Text is plant markers and Link is http://craftingagreenworld.com/2009/03/31/recycle-vinyl-blinds-into-plant-markers-another-quickie-tutorial/
plant markers for the rest of the vegetable garden

Recycled 2-liter soda bottles into
Text is upside down pepper plant containers and Link is http://www.cheapvegetablegardener.com/2009/04/make-your-own-upside-down-tomato.html
upside down pepper plant containers

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Ramblings

I'm excited that this is the first year I had my garden planted before June 1st! I have string beans, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, radishes, carrots, red potatoes, russet potatoes, habanero peppers, red bell peppers, leeks, chives, garlic, strawberries, and iceberg lettuce. I think I might splurge and get some squash and leaf lettuce with the rest of the money on the Home Depot card.

I'm also excited that I found SavingAdvice. The blogs and forums are so motivating! I may not post much, but I do read a lot.

Swagbucks

May 28th, 2009 at 09:57 pm

Today's Spending:

Dollar Store - $1.00 (mouthwash)
Market Basket - $32.58 (groceries)

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I ordered a $5 Amazon.com gift card with

Text is Swagbucks and Link is http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=305427
Swagbucks today. (I earn Swagbucks just by searching the internet!) This is my fourth gift card since March 2009. I should have it about 10 days.

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Last week, I shortened my mini blinds and kept the slats. (They were 64" long and my windows were 48"). Today I recycled the slats into plant markers for my garden following
Text is this tutorial and Link is http://craftingagreenworld.com/2009/03/31/recycle-vinyl-blinds-into-plant-markers-another-quickie-tutorial/
this tutorial. Super easy - and best of all - free!

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I also cooked up a huge pot of chicken lentil stew today. This will give us plenty of leftovers for lunches during the weeks ahead. (It freezes great.)

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