Frugal Friday - Week 24 of 52 - Mid June 2018
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| Iris in my garden. |
The last few weeks haven't been particularly frugal - we have received several medical bills totaling $1600 and a plumbing issue required bringing in a plumber, which was another expense; though thankfully, a budgeted one. We already had several large bills due before the 25th of June, so I feel like all I've done lately is make payments! I spent quite a bit on groceries this last week so I need to keep it tight this week and I think we're going to manage that. I'm grateful that we have options! I am well aware that many do not.
Here are some of the things that were frugal at our house this last week:
* Made biscuits, waffles, pancakes, bread and stir fry at home this week. I also made zucchini bread using zucchini from the freezer and rhubarb crisp.
* I harvested lettuce and rhubarb from the garden. We also picked up our CSA box and received asparagus, two other types of lettuce, Swiss chard, basil, oregano, and strawberries.
* I purchased apricots on sale at $1.99/lb which is an unheard of price here (they typically run well over $5/lb)! I bought several pounds and will be halving and drying them for snacks and freezing some for baking.
* I cleaned out the guest room closet and found a package of socks and a package of undershorts that our son will use. I had been planning on buying some for him since he has grown quite a bit recently but these will fit, so that was a nice surprise! I'm not sure what we had purchased them for originally.
* We were able to bring home a loaf of bread and several potatoes that were unused after a church event.
* My husband was talking with a parishioner about making blender concoctions (typically fruits and veggies or smoothies). The parishioner then proceeded to gift him a very nice, name brand blender! It had been a gift to them and they had never used it (they own another they prefer). It was still in all the original packaging. A new blender had been on our "to purchase" list, so this was a lovely blessing! My husband offered to pay them something for it since it was such an expensive item but they declined. He has used it every day since we received it and I am sure it will get much more use.
* I did another inventory of our pantry and freezers and put together a menu for the rest of June and July so we eat up some things that have been around for far too long!
* Our children attend sleep-away camp for church and one of the options for an activity is tie-dye-ing items. There is typically a fee for this activity that pays for the item to be dyed. We discovered that if we send an item to be dyed, there is no fee! The children each found a shirt and a pillowcase to take with to tie-dye. They are looking forward to the activity and fun, free souvenir.
* We have been enjoying our "new" fire pit by having a bonfire every chance we get. We had all the materials except some sand and my husband spent several hours assembling and leveling it. It's lovely and much easier and safer to use than our old one. We have been burning the wood from the dead bushes and trees we have removed in the last few years so there is no expense for wood.
* I worked on embroidery for a gift using items I already owned.
I think that's it for this week. That is all I can think of, in any case.
What have you done this last week that was frugal?
