Tag : frugal living

Weekly Frugal Accomplishments

Sorry I didn’t get up the weekly frugal accomplishments last week. I got sick Thursday evening and didn’t recover until Wednesday of last week. The kiddos are still sick, but I think we are on the better end of this, and will soon be back to normal. So for this weeks frugal accomplishments I’m going to cover the last two weeks. Last week I didn’t have the energy to do much of anything, let alone be very frugal, but I got a few things done.

Weekly frugal accomplishments for March 23rd – April 5

Made chicken bone broth.

Earned 50 swagbucks (referral link)

Collected rain water to use on the flower beds.

Purchased some items from an online action for a much reduced price. Some items were needed, and others we intend to clean up and sell for a profit. We are hoping to make this a small side income for our family so we don’t have all our eggs in one basket. Wish us luck.

Our homeschool group was canceled the last two weeks so that saved us the gas to make the trip to town.

I had my husband shop for groceries while he was in town for work saving us gas there as well. We try not to make a trip into town for just one thing.

I have been trying to be diligent to rinse out cans and bottles to recycle. It’s often easier just to through some of them away because I didn’t get things rinsed right away and it can be a pain to soak them and then rinse them, however our town participates in recyclebank.com so we receive a point for every pound of of recycling they pick up. You can then redeem the points for discounts, magazines, and even gift cards. I’ve redeemed several magazines, and when they are available, Amazon gift cards as well! The great thing is, even if your city or recycle company doesn’t participate you can still create an account, and take little questionnaires or read through info and earn points that way. I’ve been earning and redeeming points for years, but have only been participating in their recycling program for about a year and a half when our town switched companies.

I hung out clothes 4 days over the last two weeks.

Our power went out at midnight Friday morning (April 3rd) and didn’t come back on until the evening. It went out again Saturday morning around 10am or so and didn’t come back on for several hours. We had a micro cell that came in for a few minutes and then was gone, but it did a lot of damage through out the entire county. We were fortunate to have no damage, just the inconvenience of having no power while you have sick kids who want to watch a movie, but we managed. We were able to get some ice for free to keep things cool. I put a bowl of ice in our frig and just kept the freezers closed. I threw a heavy blanket over the deep freezer just to be safe though. Our ice cubes in our frig’s freezer didn’t even start to melt. I think it helps that we keep our house cooler in the winter/spring months as well. We didn’t need to get take out. We made scrambled eggs on the grill, and I had Joel cook up some hotdogs for lunch while he was cooking the eggs since he was going into town over lunch and I wanted things to be as easy as possible while he was gone (don’t forget I had three sick, slightly cranky girls to entertain.) I did have him pick up paper plates, disposable diapers and wipes, and a few staples items, but the staple items I was planning on him picking up before we woke up to no power. We did have hot water since our water heater runs on gas, but I was still only functioning at about 75% and, of course, taking care of three sick girls, and I needed a little extra help and the disposables did the trick.

We had a busy Easter Sunday since our church was hosting the community sunrise service and breakfast. Joel was running sound/media, and I was singing on the worship team, so we had to be there extra early, like 6am. So we arranged to have the kids spend the night at Joel’s parents so we only had to be up by 5am instead of 4am if we’d had to get the kids ready as well, plus really, who want to get little kids up at 5am and deal with the consequences of that all day, maybe even week. We got our breakfast to go and headed over to Joel’s parents’ house between services to get the kids ready and then headed back. It was a blessing to not have to worry about breakfast. It was a great Easter service, and thought I was terribly tired by the time it was all done, it was worth it.

So what are your frugal accomplishments from the last week?

 

Weekly Frugal Accomplishments

Weekly Frugal Accomplishments

These are my grandmother’s daffodils.

 

I’d like to give you a look into my previous weeks frugal accomplishments. This is to serve as encouragement and inspiration for you as well as me. I plan to attempt to do this on a weekly basis. Sometimes we need to take a moment and reflect on our week in order for us to find the strength and will to stay the course. I think frugal habits are a good thing to have and practice at any stage in life, but there are many, myself included, where they are a necessity right now, and I want us all to remember that we are not alone. God is not only providing for our needs, but also the creativity to stretch what we already have to make the most of it.

I would like to encourage you to take a few minutes and share your frugal accomplishments in the comments below. We all have knowledge to share, and you may have an idea that none of us had considered, or that we can tweak to fit our situation. Let’s use this as a place of inspiration and ‘ata girls’!

So let’s begin. Here are my frugal accomplishments from last week:

I had a couple of days that I was able to hang laundry out on the line instead of using the dryer.

I’ve been turning off the furnace during the day every day for the last week save one, when it was rainy and windy. We’ve been turning it on first thing in the morning to take the chill out of the air (it’s usually down to about 64-66 degrees in the morning) but by 10am or so, I turn it off for the day, and don’t turn it back on until we go to bed, and at that point I set it at 62 just in case the wind picks up during the night and really chills the house.

I tried the “no poo” method with my hair this week. I’m going to continue this for a few weeks and see where I’m at.

We only had one small shopping trip this week.

I picked my first daffodil this week and brought it in the house to brighten things up.

I brought foam trays from veggie packaging to use as paint trays during craft time at homschool group.

I turned off LOTS of lights the girls left on.

I cooked a double batch of beans and then made a double batch of black bean soup with them so we could have it for dinner twice.

I printed off some connect the dots sheets for Emma for free and put them in page protector sheets so they can be used over and over again. I found them here.

We planted tomato and pepper seedlings a couple weeks ago and the tomato seedlings have started coming up!

I made corn beef and cabbage with potatoes and carrots to share with Joel’s parents after church on Sunday. It was my first time making it. I cooked it in the crockpot so it would be ready after church and it turned out wonderful! Everyone loved it!

I Cooked two chickens in the crockpot to use the meat for sandwiches, salads and dinners. I saved the bones and will be making broth with them probably tomorrow.

I attended our church’s Ladies Night Out pajama party Monday night. I knew that one of the gals is gluten free, one was diabetic, and two others were doing a detox, so I made a gluten free, dairy free, sugar free chocolate pudding, and yes it is quite yummy! I also brought chocolate chip oatmeal cookies to share as well. We had a fun time as always!

 

That’s all for me. What frugal accomplishments did you have last week?

Blog Posts to help you save money

help you save money

Hey all! Just wanted to take a few minutes and share with you a couple of blog posts I found this week that can help you save money. There are a lot of articles and blog posts out there that share tips to save money and lower expenses, but most of them site the same things over and over. For those of us who have been on the frugal journey for a while, it can be difficult and a bit frustrating at times trying to find new ways to trim the budget. Two blogs that I follow recently shared their list of ways they save money for their families.

The first is from Abbi at Proverbs 31 living. She shares 100 Ways You Can Save Money This Year. Abbi is always trying new things with her family. There are some things on the list that you probably have heard before or are already doing, but with 100 ideas I’m sure you’ll find several things to help you save money! I love the way they take little things and make fun experiences for their kids like using empty ketchup bottles filled with water and having water fights with them on hot days!

The second list of ideas was shared by Brandy at The Prudent Homemaker. She gives some great ideas to help you save money in her recent post Cutting Expenses When You Think You have nothing Left to Cut. Brandy has a wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to “trimming the fat” and making things stretch. Take some time and check out the rest of her site while you are their. You will be inspired and in awe!

Do you have any great ideas or tips not found on either of these lists? What was your favorite idea that you plan on implementing?

Let us know in the comments and be sure to share this with all your friends who are trying to save money!

Our First “Barn Sale”

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We packed up the girls yesterday and headed to a Barn Sale in another town 45 minutes away. It started at 7 am, but we didn’t get there until 11:30. They had already sold a lot of stuff, but we managed to pick through everything (there was still quite a bit left) and find some treasures worth our trip. Nothing was priced (which usually drives me crazy, but in this case it worked to our advantage) so we just collected everything we wanted and one of the gals there made an offer for the whole lot. We got everything for just $15! It was a huge score!

Above are the girls modeling the beginner roller blades and life jacket we got.

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Here is the load of children’s books we got. The girls were very excited about all the new books. Some of them will be for later when the girls start reading, but it’s always better to prepare ahead right?

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I found a couple of games for the girls and a couple of shelves which I’ve already been planning where they’re going to go. I also got some gardening shoes (which I am SUPER excited about), and an almost brand new package of steel wool and merchandise tags, plus some adult books for gifts and a mug.

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Lastly we got a large storage bin on wheels for Joel to use in his office, and a sleeping bag for the girls. Both were in great condition.

So ya, I think we got a GREAT deal on everything we got. Several of the items were on my list of things to look for. It’s nice to have your patience pay off!

Did any of you find some great deals this weekend? Take some time and brag below so we can ooh and aah with you!

I’m linking this to The Homestead Barn Hop and The HomeAcre Hop!

Blog Findings 2-1-12

I’ve been spending a lot of time checking out some new blogs I’ve discovered over at New Life on a Homestead’s Monday barn hop and sites I’ve found through those sites. There is so much information I’m just trying to soak it in as quickly as possible.

So I thought I’d take a minute and share with you what I’m busy reading!

Budgeting with the Bushmans


I am love, love, loving this blog. Actually I’ve read every single post already and I just found it yesterday (to be fare she just started it in Sept ’11)! They sold their large home in the city, paid off all their debt and purchased a house in a town of 100, with half the square footage for $13,000 cash! They are living frugally and are able to live off of one par time job. Ok I know its extreme for most but I do love extreme, at least reading about it anyway!

Penniless Parenting


This gal has also downsized her home recently. She shares lots of money saving tips as well as green living and gluten/dairy free recipes (for those who are looking for inspiration in those food areas).

The Zero Waste Home


These guys are trying to live with little to no waste. They don’t even own a trash can anymore. I have just read the tip of the iceberg on this one, but so far she has a lot of reader testimonials of their different paths and stages to zero waste homes.

If you have adverse thoughts or reactions to the idea of “green” think of it this way, just two generations ago the idea of “green” living wasn’t a catchy thing, it was a way of life. There was no thought of using something once and then throwing it away. Nothing was bought on a whim or without saving and researching the best deal and quality item. Really it’s about making sure that everything that comes into your house works as hard as it possibly can for you and is worth the space it will take up, the maintenance it will require to keep it working well, and the hard earned money you spent on it in the first place.

Graceful Little Honey Bee shared a video about a 16 year old boy who is building a “tiny house” so that he won’t have to worry about a mortgage after he graduates from college. I love the forethought and responsibility this young man is taking of his future!

Have you found anything interesting that you want to share with us? Obviously you can see a theme for me this week but next week it could be cooking or crafting or gardening. Anything is welcome so share away!

A Baby swing, A Tricycle and More, Oh My!

Mom and I ventured out to go garage saling last week for the first time this summer. I know, right, only the first time and it’s the middle of July. That is life, my friends. We happened to pick the week of the same awesome rummage sale we went to last year! I’m not going to give a rundown of every item and what we paid, but I will give highlights.

The swing I got for $2! My grandpa built a swing set for all the littles in the family, so Joel went looking at a hardware store for a swing like this one and it was $20 new! It looks faded pretty bad but it came from Las Vegas and got a lot of sun. The rope is still in great condition though and the lock works just fine.

The chairs I got for $.50 each and the trike mom got for $10. All the buttons still work and the girls are thrilled!

Here are some pillows that mom got for a reading corner in her class room this fall. You can see in the background a carpet remnant she picked up as well for just $3 I think.

Here are the rest of mom’s spoils. There are children’s books for the girls and books for school. She picked up the decorative boat with knick knacks, a lighthouse mirror, a floral picture, a picture frame, 2 baskets, a small frame for Emma, 2 lap trays, stickers, a bag of party beads, a couple pairs of earrings, a baby doll bed for the girls and 2 large lunch bags for her and Joel to take to work that were jsut $2 each.

Now for all my goodies.

I picked up 2 fabric remnants, a wire planter box for $1, 2 sets of vintage red ornaments for $.50 each, a cd, a turkey décor thing, a picture frame for $1, a large measure prepping container for $.50, a bath rug for $3, Arbonne RE9 body wash (barely used) $2, Arbonne Aromassentials Reactivate Spray (barely used) $2, 2 Arbonne Aromassentials Reactivate Sea Salt Scrubs (unopened) $5 each, 3 Arbonne RE9 Body Cream and Serum sets (unopened) $5 each. I also got a sweater for me for $1

For the girls I scored some books, an inflatable sled, penguin/cars/plane/boat for the girls, 5 bibs @ $.25 each, jewelry for Emma, a baby grooming set for $1, and 3 pairs of pants, 4 dresses, 4 pj’s and a sweater for Emma. And Sammie got a dress for next year too. Not in the picture is a potty seat the goes on the toilet that I snagged for $.50 (there is a Monday Mommy confession coming soon about that!)

I had another big score but they are getting a post of their own. You’ll just have to wait and see!