Frugal Friday - Last Full Week in July 2019
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| Our pumpkin plant, a few weeks ago. It is more than twice this size now! |
I have been spending a lot of time in the garden this week and have accomplished quite a bit. I still have some weeding to do to catch up from all the rain and heat we have had but, overall, things are looking good. We have been harvesting string beans and strawberries. I have one pepper almost ripe (this weekend!) and the tomatoes are so close. Our CSA share has been giving us so many good things - their garden is about two weeks ahead of ours so I am expecting ours to be fully productive my mid-August. It seems like everything is slow this year. We had a late spring here this year. A friend also gifted us cucumbers and raspberries from their huge garden as well. YUM! Our weather has been lovely this week and I have greatly enjoyed being in the garden this week.
Here are some things we did this week that we count as frugal:
* We ate all but one meal at home. We made sheet pan nachos, roasted veggies, bagel pizzas and several other things.
* I blanched and froze pea pods for later use.
* We cleaned up several branches after a large storm. They were cut and placed in our woodpile for use later in evening bonfires.
* Our son spent the night at a friend's house. He took a game we already owned and his Nerf supplies to contribute to the entertainment. He has such a good group of friends from school and they were all there that night. They had a great time and helped pick over 70 quarts of raspberries for their hosts (they sell produce at a local farm market).
* Our daughter used supplies she already had to complete two decorative paintings for her room and one for a project for her Confirmation class at church.
* I cut flowers from the garden for our kitchen table.
* We returned several books and three video games from the library and checked out several more books. My husband requested two additional books via inter-library loan as well.
* We were able to relieve a friend of several bags of "river rock" left over from a project at her house. We used them to complete out new outdoor fire pit area.
* I scrubbed our kitchen cupboards and wooden furniture with Murphy's Oil Soap. We also washed the wood floors.
* I purchased several school uniform items for our children on extreme clearance, saving over $200 from the original price. They changed the school logo and all the old logo clothing was on clearance. The children can wear these shirts for at least two more years so they were a good buy. Our children are starting at a new school this fall and need new uniforms.
* I completed the summer challenge at Jazzercise and earned a super cute, well made tote bag.
* We enjoyed a free outdoor concert that included free bratwurst or hot dogs, chips and a small root beer float. A donation was asked for a local charity. The weather was perfect and the music was wonderful.
* Our children completed the first portion of training to become counselors at the summer camp that they love. They need to do the longer, second part next summer and then they will be able to be counselors the following summer.
* We did lots of lawn and garden work ourselves rather than hiring it out.
* I did our ironing rather than hiring that out too.
* I sewed buttons back on a pair of pants and a blouse.
Planned Splurge:
* We sent my Grandmother's dining table for refinishing. I am so excited to see it when it is finished! We will sell our current table and chairs when it is finished and use Grandma's table instead.
What did you do this past week that was frugal?
