What Frugal Thing .....- Part II

[marvholly]

Its too cold here to get anything from the garden/wild. I have my heat se at 60 and it has clicked on automatically EVERY morning inc today this month.

However, I suspect all too soon I will be complaining about having to have the a/c on.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Yes, it was down into the 30s here overnight. Someone said I had given them homegrown cucumbers last April! It's been so rainy, I have not yet even prepared the soil to plant cucumber seeds this year.

My happy frugality yesterday was a small pot of homemade cream of celery soup (milky white sauce plus sautéed celery).Very inexpensive. Took barely any longer than canned soup, and without all the salt it tastes so delicate.

[marvholly]

Joan
I often make cream of soups from the asparagus stalks or broccoli stems, broth, seasonings and instant milk powder. Had the kids give me an imersion blender for Christmas. I am close to dumping (read donate) my real blender.

I have already had 2 no drive, no spend days this month, 1 controlled drive day and another no spend day on a drive day.

[marvholly]

Thur was a controlled drive, no spend day. I went to a local event-drove <5 mi.

Today is a no drive no spend day. I hung out all of my laundry load to dry.

Sat is a MAJOR drive, see my Dad, do shopping and have linner w/DDs & grands-prob 40-45 mi.

[marvholly]

Sun was a no drive, no spend day.
today will be a controlled drive day (<5 mi rt) as I need to stop at CVS, Walgreens & a local store not on my Tue route to get the stuff on their ad (Tue is the last day).

[mom-from-missouri]

Fri, we went to CVS. My bill came to $60. Then, I handed over the coupons and got it down to $30 before taxes. Then, they gave me $23.50 worth of bonus bucks, and a coupon that expires today for 30% off all CVS brand products. This week, CVS products are B1G1 50% off (limit 6), so I will go in and stock up and not pay anything. They also have some items that I will get for free this week using last weeks bonus bucks that will earn me MORE bonus bucks.

Daughter got a prescription that I will fill at Target, as I have a coupon for a $10 gift card for taking in a new Rx. I also have $5 left on a GC from Christmas, so I plan on getting some snack items for the vehicle as we leave for a long awaited vacation this weekend.

Lastly, I won an ebay auction this morning--got 2 cpr manikis used 3 times, in great condition for less than the company catalog for one--and shipping is very very cheap.

Great way to start the week!

[marvholly]

mom
If you want/need/will use the Target gc - Great; BUT at least around here CVS will accept & give you a CVS gc for the same $10.

[marvholly]

When I visited my Dad on Tue the rehab place was doing their special monthly lunch instead of the regular menu. It was a late Cinco De Mayo. He loved the chicken but hated the beef so I asked if he could get more chicken. They brought a plate w/6 pieces. He ate 3. Since they have to trash all leftover plated food I took the remaining 3 pluse all the peppers & onions home, added more peppers, chili powder, cumin and cilantro; topped w/non-fat yougurt and had a plate of fajitas for dinner.

[marvholly]

Sat ended up being a no drive, no spend day. It was too cold, rainy and windy to go out.
Have 7 no drives so far this month and 9 no apend.

It is still cold rainy & windy but I do need to go out today to get a paper and finish the shopping errands I ran out of time & energy for on Fri. It will be more than a controlled drive day but less miles than a full shopping round day.

[marvholly]

I have had 2 added no drive, no spend days since my last post.

I kept my driving down to 125 mi in the first half of the month so I have only spent $30 on gas.

[marvholly]

Fri has been my main shopping/errand day for several months as I pass a BUNCH of stores on my trip to visit my Dad. I spent $8.22 yesterday and only need another $3.08 to cover all my meals (entree, salads, veggies, fruits) for the week with the $4 leftover chicken I have from cooking on Thur.

I will be driving a bit more than usual this weekend because there are so many FREE things to do in my area:
Sat: Village Festival, Wine tasting
Sun: Village Festival Day 2, FREE concert at the library (I'll get books too)

My driving will increase starting 5/28. My Dad is being released from rehab & I will have to go every day to make sure the ordered services ARE happening. We have had NUMEROUS issues in the past. I will drop to 3x/week when all is settled & running smoothly.

[PatientSaver]

Today I made my own breakfast cereal. Super easy, no cook recipe.

4 cups of old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup walnuts
you can add wheat germ if you want.

Toss together and bake at 325 for 20 minutes. Take it out and add chopped dried fruit like apricots or apples, raisins, dried cranberry, whatever you like. Flaked coconut is also good.

Store it in the fridge. Save billions on boxed cereal!

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

~~Have I already mentioned how much prices have come down on plain yogurt? I used to pay around $3.89 for a quart. Lately it has been $1.89. For that price, I'm buying it more often; making it at home less.

~~I bought a new Target linen-cotton curtain at Goodwill for $4.99. In Target it is $24.99.

~~I needed a tension rod for it and remembered that Big Lots has quite inexpensive ones, $5 compared to $13 at Target.

~~ Big Lots had JC Penny's curtains for $1.25 to $3.00. That included some sheers that my friend was grieving were no longer available at JC Penney. She's had a house fire, and wants to duplicate the living room window treatments that were lost. I think she's going to be tickled to pay $1.25 for them.

[marvholly]

Thur 5/26 was a no drive, no spend day. Not my original intent but weather here was.......scuzzy pond water.

[My English Castle]

Free Air Drying

I love hanging laundry out, and I beat the rain today and got two loads on the line. I love it!