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post #81 of 96
12/16/05 at 3:45pm
I scratched some things off my grocery list when I was at the store and realized that the prices were higher than I was willing to pay. For example, last month I got celery for 67 cents. This week it was $1.59, so it got scratched and I'll do without. Same for walnuts, which were on sale last week for $1.99 and yesterday were $3.59.

Namaste!
post #82 of 96
12/20/05 at 1:36pm
Some one asked what a pantry challenge is - - -sorry, sorry, I *have* to learn how to use quotes - - I must clarify that this is NOT to be confused with a "panty challenge", which is keeping my 3.5 year old DD from getting naked at the drop of a hat in inappropriate places regardless of the temperature. Basically, a pantry challenge is where you try to eat using what is already in the freezer/cupboards, planning meals around what you have. It really does help with the grocery bill.

DH does a lot of spearfishing and our freezer happens to be stocked with striped bass and black fish, fresh as it gets. I have made some pretty wonderful chowders lately, all for the cost of a few potatos, some carrots, onions and a dash of cream! Yum! We have been quite the soup eaters lately - a cheap way to eat.

Finally, I signed up for this thing with my bank where they round up the difference on your purchases, put it in your savings account, and match it. So, if you buy gas on your debit card for $35.07, the bank puts the remaining .93 in your savings account and then matches it with .93 of the bank's money. The matching amount is capped at, I think, $250 - - but this should help us save a little in ways that might not be so painful.
post #83 of 96
12/20/05 at 4:17pm
Pennyroo....what bank do you use??? That sounds great!!1 I already do the rounding or "fuzzymath" as DH calls it....but would love to have the bank match it!!!!

That sounds AWESOME!!!!

Sus
post #84 of 96
12/20/05 at 6:05pm
Thread Starter 

went to the closing day of the flea market

Sunday and got some good deals on Wrapping paper and a treasure box for Christmas.
The paper has all kinds though I won't be needing the bridal shower paper -everyone I know is married LOL
post #85 of 96
12/20/05 at 11:10pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SRHS
Pennyroo....what bank do you use??? That sounds great!!1 I already do the rounding or "fuzzymath" as DH calls it....but would love to have the bank match it!!!!

That sounds AWESOME!!!!

Sus
I don't know about Pennyroo but I have Bank of America and they have that program right now. Usually they just take the change and deposit it in your savings but for the first three months, they are matching it...and will pay it to you at the end of the year, or something like that. I would not have known about it if it wasn't for going into the bank and having a teller suggest it to me.

I don't know if any other banks are doing it.
post #86 of 96
12/21/05 at 12:06am
Thank you RiverSky...I'll be checking into that!!! Sus
post #87 of 96
12/21/05 at 1:26pm
Yup, Bank of America. It's a new and not-well-publicized perk but I am pretty excited about it.
post #88 of 96
12/21/05 at 4:05pm
Lately we have ...

... ignored my sil's constant emails and phone calls about all the "good deals" she's finding at the stores around town as she does her Christmas shopping this week. Dh and I decided we're done, J has plenty to go under the tree, and we managed to come in below our holiday budget this year. I'm staying home, no matter how tempting the deals she finds are

- made Dh's lunches and dinners this week (he's working overtime and this time last year he was going out to eat for dinners during the OT season )

- Dh is working all the available holiday OT work is offering between now and the end of the year

- checked out Miserly Moms from the library instead of buying a copy

- started some pansy seeds for next Spring. I bought the seeds for a dime at the end of the summer. Ten cent flowers next March sounds good to me

- made soup and froze half for later

- raided my yarn stash to knit two more gifts. The pattern is from a book I already own and the yarn was already in my stash (and was yarn that I bought for dirt cheap last summer since the labels were missing) The scarves are going to be less than $1 a piece.

- updated my price book (a habit I've just recently been inspired to get back into thanks to this thread!)

- J and I made my birthday cake from scratch

- asked my sister if we could borrow some of their baby things next summer and she also volunteered some maternity and nursing tops as well
post #89 of 96
12/21/05 at 6:22pm
This might not strike some of you as particularly frugal, but I love love love to have fresh flowers in my house, and ouch, they cost so much in the off-season (I cut from my garden spring through fall), so I have forced tons of bulbs on a staggered schedule so I constantly have blooms - amaryllis, paperwhites, tulips chillin' in my fridge to take out and start blooming in March. Bulbs are only about .50 cents each and the flowers last a good month. For me, that's better than spending $$ on expensive cut flowers, it makes me inordinately happy, and my home smells nice! Peace.
post #90 of 96
12/23/05 at 2:46pm
I have been doing laundry at night to help keep the house warm. Our laundry room is right inbetween our bedroom and our dd's...and the dryer running puts out a bit of heat

I don't mind getting up to cycle the laundry since the meds I am on are giving me insomnia anyway
post #91 of 96
12/29/05 at 9:06pm
I tried a suggestion I read somewhere- the Tightwad Gazette?

To make spaghetti, bring the pot of water to a boil.
Add pasta, bring it back to a boil, cover it, and turn off the heat.
Wait about ten minutes, and drain when it's done.

It's actually easier! No stirring, no sticking, no boiling over.
I've also tinkered and discovered that it only takes about half the water I'd use otherwise, since there's no danger of burning.
It uses so much less propane- which is our last frontier when it comes to figuring out how to reduce our bills.

That's the only new thing I can think of: we're already breastfeeding, cloth diapering, cloth hanky-ing and toilet-papering (well, the TP is just me, and just for pee...) We also see how often we can use our woodstove to help with cooking.

Oh!
And my two big requests for Christmas: (my ILs ask me, and get mad when I don't have a suggestion )
A clothes drying rack and a battery charger.
I got both!
DD loves to hang laundry up by the stove, and then use the rack as a tent.
post #92 of 96
12/30/05 at 3:29am
Monday we're going to clean out the extra freezer and sell it. It isn't even 10% full, and what's in there is stuff we don't eat anyway. I know people love freezers for being frugal, but it doesn't work for us. We eat a plant-based diet, at least half of it raw fruits and veggies. We make 1-2 veggie soups a week and finish them within the week. DH isn't big on leftover beans, so I make them fresh several times a week. I'm also going to be making one small pot of either garbanzo or kidney beans for us to use in salads for the week. I bake bread fresh for the boys a couple of times a week, so no need to buy ahead when bread is on sale. No need to freeze meat of any kind.

I figure it costs at least $10 a month to run the freezer, probably more given rates in So Cal and the fact that it is nearly empty. It's a 13.7 square foot upright frost-free model.
post #93 of 96
12/30/05 at 10:22pm
Thread Starter 

drat kimbermama!

too far away!!

You are selling and I am looking to buy!

Tonight though I made my first homemade pizzas. Ds usually makes pizza but he was ill today so I gave it a whirl

They are actually edible too !
post #94 of 96
1/1/06 at 5:49pm
I completely forgot to go to the store since before Christmas so we've been doing the pantry thing. Well, not exactly. We're all just foraging on whatever there is that we feel like eating. I haven't cooked in days. I keep feeling like I need to go the store "just to fill in" you know, but I'm going to resist the urge as long as is humanly possible to see just how much food we really have in the freezer.
post #95 of 96
1/1/06 at 5:54pm
Thread Starter 

shall we take the new posts to this thread?

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=389064

this one has gotten pretty long
post #96 of 96
1/15/06 at 12:58am
Let's see..

I cooked a turkey roast one night and the next used some gravy with some mushroom sauce and added left over turkey chunks to pasta. It was good too!

Tonight I was given a large, lovely, eggplant..

Now, I like eggplant parmesian, but have never MADE it before.. it was something that I would sometimes order out though..

So, tonight I made it.. wasn't that hard, either!

Dh fried them up, and then I baked them... used up

the last of my mozzarella
noodles and tomato paste (pantry)
used up two almost too ripe mini tomatoes.
a bagged salad that was starting to get brown (picked those pieces out)
my last egg

So for using up a lot of odds and ends I had around the house, it was like a restaraunt meal!
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Mothering › Forums › Natural Family Living › The Mindful Home › Frugality & Finances › NEW what frugal things have you done this week thread (Hope no one minds a spinoff?)