What Frugal Thing .....- Part II

[marvholly]

English
I am air drying today and have been for the las 5 weeks. I noticed a BIG difference in my gas bill.


I did come in below budget for discretionary spending in May and for miles driven.

June is going to be more expensive as I will be driving more and I am having some home repairs done. I am also getting a mani/pedi today since it is sandal season & my last was 2/24/11 for a wedding. However, I am going to the local school where it is <1/2 the cost of anywhere near me and i will not do again for 2-3 months.

[My English Castle]

I hung two more loads of laundry today. You're right Marv--it does make a difference, but we've had such a cold wet spring, this is the first week that the time seemed right! I also listed five things on ebay today--and two have bids.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

~Bought three loaves of rye bread for less than the price of one. These were from the "day old store," but to tell the truth, with commercial bread we prefer it a little less fresh and doughy. We'll freeze the extra, but my father is coming for a 2 week visit and he's a big bread eater.

~Picked up three bags of free wood mulch from the city yard waste recycling. I keep a shovel and bags in the trunk of the car so that whenever I'm in the end of town I can stop for mulch.

[marvholly]

Have been sumwhat frugal this week.

Got a FREE mini-facial at a $$ store in a local mall. BIG sales pitch for $$$ stuff that I can buy comparable (if I was interested)name brand items at CVS & WAG for 1/3 the price.

Treated myself to a mani/pedi at a local school so paid <40% of what local shops charge. Since It was already 1 pm when I was dry I picked up a frozen meal for lunch when I got my paper at Dollar Tree. BAD. Never again but this store does have other frozen/shelf things (veggies, potatoes, pasta sauce, lemon juice, lime away) that I do/will buy.

today I am going to a FREE concert at the library. I'll also change out my books.

Monday will be $$. I am meeting a former co-worker for dinner and she chose a place that I find $$ for what you get.

This week I also have a FREE hair appointment and I have to use a Groupon I bought a while back.

[marvholly]

Summer hit us in metro Chicago w/a vengance. It went from late March to mid July temp & humidity wise literally overnight. It was 93 on Mon and supposed to be the same Tue & wed. I have my a/c on. I have a split level house so, since heat rises, this morning I went around closing my lower level vents and opening my upper level vents.

I can only wonder what my neighbors have their a/c set at. Mine is set at 75 and has NOT run in hours. Theirs has been pretty much running nonstop all morning AND they both left the house b/4 7 am for work and will not be back much b/4 6 pm.

[shanecurran]

I ate leftovers for lunch today (Chinese food).

[marvholly]

As I promised myself, Tue was a no drive, no spend day. I sort of planned the same for today BUT I need to hit a grocery store before the sales change on thur. Guess it will be a controlled driving day.

I did my laundry on Mon BEFORE the heat hit us and air dried the entire load.

EVERYTHING I had to eat on Tue came from the fridge & freezer so only needed to be heated in the microwave. NO way am I going to turn on the oven, not even the toaster oven w/temps like we are having.

[marvholly]

Thur I had a FREE hair appt and it was right next to PetsMart. I hade a 15% off everything coupon so I stocked up on cat food that I also had mfg coupons on.

Thur was Jimmy John's Customer Appreciation Day so both lunch and dinner were carry out at $1 each + tax.

I had looked up gasoline prices for the area I planned to be in before I left the house on Fri. Place near my Dad was the cheapest decent gas at $4.25 posted 2 hours earlier. I was THRILLED when I got there and it was down to $4.19. I just rechecked and the cheaper price was not posted until this morning. This was only $0.04 more than I paid in mid April. As much as we complain about gas prices that increase is not too terrible for 8 weeks + getting hit w/the ‘special summer blend’ pricing here in metro Chicago and the start of the summer driving season.

[marvholly]

FINALLY!!! A no drive, no spend day - 3rd this month; aiming for 10 for the month BUT not likely as I will be driving today & 4 days next week.

[marvholly]

Added a no drive, no spend day on 6/14 and a no spend day on 6/16.

[marvholly]

After a BIG drive (but low spend) day Fri I had a no drive, no spend day on Sat.

Today is prob going to be $$. My plan is to work out time logistics w/my brother and visit my Dad over for lunch or dinner. I will pickup his FAVORITE fast food (italian beef/sausage combo w/a side of fries). This is DEFINATLY NOT on his allowed cardiac, diabetic menu (but he loves it) so to compensate I will split it all w/him. Brother will prob bring him a corned beef.

[marvholly]

Since my last post I have had 2 no drive & 3 no spend days.

Monday I had grilled up some turkey burgers and fresh veggies. I had eaten 2 of the burgers and Thur I used another in a taco salad. I still had a BIG serving of the grilled veggies (tomato, zuchinni, red pepper, yellow pepper). Diced it all up and had it as the sauce over some pasta after I added some olive oil, basil & white wine. No waste and practically no cooking.

My Dad has become quite frail and physically debilitated over the last 11 months. He now needs Depends type garments. This week CVS has their version on sale 2 pkg for $20 giving 5EB. I put off buing them (deal is limit 2 pkg) hoping for a $5/$20 coupon from the scanner machine. Thur there was a $5/$20 in the Chicago Tribune. Total cost was $10.31 after coupon & EB. IF I get lucky and hit another coupon I will just use either my work card or Dad's card.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Well, I've mentioned this every year since joining this site but, I've done it again: Picked three gallons of wild greens (lamb's quarters) and am in the process of de-stemming, washing, and blanching them for the freezer. Free!

My Dad was visiting recently and told me he remembers seeing lots of people picking these greens along with dandelion during the Great Depression.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Refilled the empty gallon bottle of windshield washing fluid: tap water plus a drop of detergent and two capfuls of ammonia. Marked the bottle "Summer Only" as it has no antifreeze component. That is such low cost car window cleaner that I would not even waste my time calculating it.

(I have added isopropyl alcohol for autumn in case of freezing weather, but that really isn't protective enough for our winters, so I do buy the manufactured fluid in winter.)

[NJDebbie]

I make my own dinner rolls and make double batches of certain foods to be eaten another time. I also air dry clothes 90% of the time (even in the winter).