What Frugal Thing .....- Part II

[marvholly]

I redeemed some survey points for a WAG gift card a couple days ago.

Since I visited my Dad on Fri it was a drive & spend (groceries, fresh produce) day. I also filled my tank at the place I passed to get to him that is 0.04-0.10 cheaper than ALL the other places I regularly pass.
Today should be neither BUT I did not finish my grocery & shopping stops Fri so I prob will be both driving & spending today.

I went meat shopping in my big basement freezer Fri morning. I have 2 new chicken recipes I want to make and planned on buying leg quarters this week. However, I found 4 pkg in the freezer. One is now defrosted. Also found 5 pkg of ground turkey. I like to keep some browned up & ready to go for a quick chili, nachos, tacos and/or taco salad. Again, defrosted one. Unlikely to bother replacing either UNLESS it is SOOO cheap I cannot resist. I will probably use some more legs for chicken soup pretty soon. also, reminded myself I have ground beef & chuck pot roast I need to plan into meals SOON.

[biff]

Sold my broken iPhone and used camera for $290.
Went to happy hour to catch up with friends and limited myself to one drink and appetizer...I've cut down on these types of outings drastically!
Also been watching a lot of netflix through the wii.

[marvholly]

Sunday was a drive day because I visited my Dad. On the way I stopped at a local independent grocer as they have baby spinach for 0.99/lb that I did NOT buy on Fri because I had plenty on hand. I am down to less than a single salad now. However, They did NOT have it. Guess I will check later in the week when I see my Dad again. I planned to stop & get the Sun paper for coupons which WILL make a spend day. I checked Dad’s paper’s coupons and decided I did NOT REALLY need one. There was NOT a single coupon in the 2 inserts that I use.

I am NOT doing my WAG purchases yet because I have not yet gotten the gift card I bought w/survey points. It s/b here this week & I can, hopefully, get most/all later in the week. Also, want to/need to check some blogs for any ‘deals’ I might have missed.

I did some cooking, watched my local football team & napped then did do my errands/visit.

I planned my stops/errands to get the lowest mileage possible for the day. One of my stops was the library because I am a BIG reader & could NEVER afford to buy the number of books I read every week. I do remember when DD1 worked at a book store. She often worked the readers desk because she was also a GREAT reader but mostly classics (she teaches high school English & lit now). She would bring home advance copies of mystery & action adventure books for me so I could 'review' as she HATED this genre. I do miss it. Guess I should look into working these local places even w/ their minimum wage pay scale.

[biff]

Used my fireplace last night and the air circulating method I read here..kept the room toasty and I haven't used central heat yet this year.

[biff]

Marvholly,

Layering clothes/wearing socks shoes at home so no heat needed yet (Today was the coldest morning yet this fall at 34 outside & 58 inside). However, I may have to break down & turn on for a short time to take a shower today.

I have a small space heater I sometimes use after a shower. I think it saves me money since I'm only heating one room

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Cut back my rosemary plant by 90% to harvest the leaves and prep the plant for moving to the south facing basement window in attempt to overwinter it. Have never been able to save a rosemary, indoors or out, but I never give up.

[biff]

Still unemployed so another no spend no gas day...
Worked on the resume for a few job leads I have, and sold my broken iPod on Ebay for $39.

[marvholly]

A portion of the chicken cooked on Sat has been repurposed into tostadas with the addition of corn tortillas, onion, green pepper & seasonings for my Tue dinner. Some of the deli ends meat (1.5 lb for $1.50) bought Sunday has been snacks but I also made a salad plate for lunch today & a sandwich on an onion roll (bought at 40% off day old rack) for another lunch.

With the nasty weather here in metro Chicago this may turn into a no drive, no spend day instead of an errands, visit Dad day. Have to see how things are by mid-morning.

[marvholly]

I did drive, do errands & visit my Dad on Tue. I realized I needed a couple things at Aldi and the food stamp cards will reload either fri (10/29) or mon (11/1). I NEVER go even near Aldi for a week after these cards are loaded. WAAY too many people, WAAAY too large orders to be scanned, packed & paid.

Right now I am cooking up some cream of broccoli soup. I recently bought some broccoli crowns on sale. There were still some lengths of stem attached & I do NOT generally eat/like them. So into a pot w/2c water, 2t chicken bullion powder, 1 cut up carrot and seasonings. I will add skim milk powder and blend or process. This is a non-fat, low cal, get another veg into me and waste nothing recipe I often make. i like it hot or cold so it is year round.

[marvholly]

NOT frugal but:

I gave in. It was SOOO damp cold here late Thur afternoon that I did turn on my heat. It got down to 33 here overnight. However, I believe this is the latest I have waited in years.

[Ima saver]

I bought a new pet bed for my older dog at half price today. My puppy had pulled the stuffing out of the past two beds. I also bought some halloween candy at half price.

[marvholly]

Already looking ahead to my Nov. spending plan. I limit myself in the money I spend on eating out & bringing in meals. I am already WAAY ahead for the Nov:

10/31 DD1 for Halloween
11/4 Investment seminar at GREAT local place w/ lunch included
11/14 Site group meet up
11/25 Thanksgiving at family
12/4 Family celebration at DD2
?/?? Coupon for FREE sandwich at KFC
?/?? Coupon (bought in Oct) from Groupon for $10 food=2 meals

I do have plans to meet up w/a group from another site at an in town, moderately priced place so I will be spending then-in CASH.

That is 7 eat outs/bring ins over 5 weeks and I rarely do more than 1/week. Will likely just hold the groupon as it does not expire until spring 2011. Need to check the expire date on KFC to see if I can hold it too.

I just finished my meal plan for the week of 10/31. I usually do this after my big shop of the week (usually Fri or Sat). I have/had everything in house except the usual perishables, some of which I still need to get but I am certainly set for a few days. I am not even doing a batch cook this week. NOTE: This plan is NOT set in cement. If I am out & run into a GREAT deal I alter, same if I get a taste going. Example: Today I am set to eat cottage cheese & a veg for lunch. However, I have a taste going for baked onion soup. So I will add & make a double batch for the fridge or freezer. Just checked; I changed up 7 of 21 planned meals. ALL were home cooked.

[marvholly]

I HATE the time change.

Sat was a no drive, no spend day.

While in the basement Sat. I tripped over a carton of pots & pans. found 1 from when we cleared my parent's condo summer 2005 that is PERFECT for the way I am cooking right now. I also dropped a BIG one in my donate box and was able to justify getting rid of one from my kitchen cabinets that I have not used in 2-3 years.

HINT
NOT all package items are created equal. Remember this after buying romaine hearts at veg market on Fri. After YEARS of shopping & weighing things at work my hands are VERY aware of and sensitive to even subtle differences in actual package weights. There was actually are 4 oz difference on a labeled 18 oz package.

While I have a LARGE stockpile of pasta one of my natl chains has house brand on sale today ONLY for $0.47. Generally I am a happy camper at anything under $1/lb. Since I DO use pasta at least 2x/week I will be stocking up even more.

Someone (on another site, I believe) stated that since she paid her bills online she was using the envelopes to send out other things. I have started using them for my store specific weekly shopping lists AND putting the coupons inside so I have everything together.

[marvholly]

I did get to the store and bought 5 pkg (1 lb) of the pasta. Also, this store has all 5# bags of apples on sale for $2.49. Had tried to buy Granny Smiths on Fri but store did not get so I have a raincheck. Asked about these and guy in produce said Granny Smiths were EXCLUDED and pointed to a sign over the apple display. It was something my 92 y/o father or 4 y/o granddaughter could print on any computer. I told him so & I wanted to see a memo or email from corp as that is NOT the way the ad read. He asked if I wanted to talk to the manager. You Betcha I replied. Five minutes later he was back, pulled down the sign and walked me over to the 5# Grannies. So now I have a BUNCH of apples and a raincheck for more.

As poster on another board has always said:
If you don't ask, the answer is ALWAYS NO!!!

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Good deal on the apples, marvholly.

~I bought several bottles of hydrogen peroxide for $0.57. We use it for stain removal. The usual best price is $1.00.

~Found lamb on sale. A benefit of the changing demographics of my area is that lamb is regularly sold now. Made Scotch broth, a favorite from childhood....That made me want to talk to my Mom, so I used my Trac phone minutes, purchased in bulk so as to get half price.

~Still have some baby onions from the summer garden. Need to peel and pickle them with cloves, as they are not getting used in general cooking.

~Our Hyundai just finishing burning up the ten gallons of gasoline bought for, but never used in our little jon boat. Would've been a terrible waste to let it sit and degrade over winter. Thanks to spouse for funneling it into a can that could spout it into our car tank.