Frugal Things from Last Week



We finally had a hard frost here so we're done with the veggies from outside now.  Whew!  I was starting to think we were getting overrun by tomatoes and crook-neck squash!   I dehydrated all the crook-neck you see here and made another large batch of salsa.  I *think* we're set!
Other frugal things this last week have been:

* I enjoyed a free meal at work during a faculty meeting. YUM!  Our chef at work has us so spoiled!
* A coworker brought in doughnuts one morning to celebrate her birthday. I enjoyed one gourmet doughnut - delicious.

* Went to the apple orchard and bought two carving pumpkins and a peck of apples.  I dehydrated the apples for snacks.  We had a great time - we enjoyed their large playground, a magic show and a hayride as well as the joy of the pumpkin hunt and apple picking.  This late in the season the prices for both pumpkins and apples are far cheaper than we could get in the stores.

* I cleaned out our roll top desk - boy, was that a mess! - and found several Forever stamps and Halloween cards that I had bought last year and promptly lost in the mess.  No need to buy cards or stamps this year!  Hurray!  Several years ago we got in the habit of sending Halloween cards to family with our children's school photos in them.  It works out well!

* Our daughter attended the playoff game for her school's Ladies' Volleyball teams.  She went with a friend who is a member of the 5th/6th grade team and then slept over at her house that night (the games didn't get done until after 10pm).  She had a blast and her friend will be coming over next weekend for Trick-or-Treating and a sleepover at our house.  Free entertainment!
* We tried three new crock pot recipes this week and all three were winners with leftovers for lunches!  Love that!  The meals reheated well and I think they even tasted better the second day.

* I finally got the chest freezer cleaned out so that we can defrost it.  Will do that this week - just in time for the Thanksgiving meat sales that are starting to pop up!

* I have been working on Christmas presents - mostly sewing but a couple of crafts as well.  I'm hoping to post one gift a week starting sometime in November and heading through Christmas.  Most are made with things that we already had on hand but I did have to buy a few pieces of fabric for some of them.  They're turning out great! Which makes me happy.  I will include approximate costs when I post.

* I had my one day off during the semester  - supposedly so we can calculate midterm grades without the pressure of class too - but I did absolutely nothing related to school or work or anything requiring much thought.   I had an acupuncture appointment (I am loving what that is doing for my shingles, by the way) and read a book.  Lovely!  I think my overall mental and physical health appreciated it so much more than trying to push through.  We do get two days for Thanksgiving break here but I really wish we had a whole week off like we do in the spring.  Fall gets to be very long sometimes.

* Made a batch of waffles to put in the freezer for quick breakfasts.

* Made a buttermilk coffee cake that we used for breakfast and snacks for a couple of days.

* I used the grocery money for two weeks to stock up on a few things this past week.  I have $24 left   to purchase things this week.

In addition to our usual frugal things (taking lunches, reusing containers, little shopping, etc.) I think that's it for this week.

What did you do in the frugal realm this week?

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