Frugal Freaks! May 6-May 12

[Judegirl]

Whoops. I'm sorry - dd's birthday party was on Sunday....still recovering!

I've really dropped the ball on things lately here, I know. Sigh.

The good news is, I've been cooking again. Really, when I'm not planning meals and cooking them, everything becomes so ridiculously expensive that I lose motivation to live smarter and I start just coming apart at the seams. And I went nuts in a couple of co-ops. And I went to Target yesterday and BOUGHT THINGS... NEW, just up and bought them, for the first time in ages. That's when I knew I'd better get myself together, lol...

Dd reacted to oats again, so that's back off the table. I spent far too much money on her birthday, what with gluten-free everything. I also bought decorations and all that jazz for the party...I haven't quite turned the corner when it comes to her birthday. I did serve chili for the adults because it's a cheap meal, though...

I've been throwing away baggies instead of washing them, throwing away food I was too lazy/uncommitted/annoyed to pack away....the whole nine yards. I've been a "freakishly frugal" for the first quarter of the year and now I'm apparently barely frugal. I think I need to read the TWG again. I meant to do that...

On the up side, I'm planning lots of free activities for dd and me, and I've been packing our lunches all the time so we don't have to spend. I'm trying to find underwear for dd so we can get out of diapers, so that will help.

I left the Target bags in the car. I'm going to look at them today and see if I can bring myself to return unnecessary stuff. A few of those things are things I've been looking for on freecycle for ages but haven't found.

And speaking of freecycle, I took a hit there, too. It was clutch in helping me focus on decluttering/frugality/simplicity for awhile, but my local group just sucks. It takes forever to post and the time it takes to communicate with people, give them directions for pickups, find what I need, etc - it was all taking a big chunk out of my life. I'm not sure whether I'm going to join a group farther away or what...

The price of gas here is out of control (3.30 a gallon!) and not driving is just not an option. Any tips to save on gas??

We'll be out today...will check back tonight!

Best,
Jude

[gargirl]

I also have been slipping... and I really need to NOT DO THAT. gah!

I am back to meal planning after skipping a couple of weeks and it really helps keep the grocery budget in line. I have my son's bday in June and I bought him a present which I did ok on. (not great but ok)

I am focusing on decluttering and getting stuff out of here because we may be moving sometime soonish and MAN, do we have a lot of stuff. I guess I will be freecycling a lot of it.

We really need to save up some money.

[velcromom]

I'm doing ok with the little things, I will need to take stock of the pantry and concentrate on cooking with what I have on hand this week, plus restocking the freezer with broth and beans in order to keep easy stuff on hand so I don't feel tempted to go buy convenience foods...

I think I have dh on board with kitchen cloth finally, at dinner the other night he voluntarily got out the cloth napkins for himself and everyone! He even offered to buy some more when we saw some I liked but I'm trying to not spend so I declined. We really have knocked down our paper product consumption, we use maybe two rolls of paper towels a week where before it was usually about six. And I don't see any reason why we would need to buy the paper napkins ever again.

We did spend money this week, but it has been planned and earmarked for over a year for a specific purpose - finally got the closet organizing stuff and installed it ourselves. It took all day and we have more to do but we saved over $500 not paying for installation. When it's finished I'll be able to put my clothing away and there will be room for the baby's things next to my bed.

My seedlings are surviving so far, I have peppers, tomatoes, basil and cucumber ready to go as soon as the garden is ready. Greens, zucchini, carrots, beans and gourds will go in directly. Wow this sounds so ambitious, if even half of it lives up to my high hopes I'll be excited, lol.

I've got my "kitchen herb garden" started with rosemary, sage, mint, thyme and dill. Not having to buy fresh herbs will save me much more than the price of the plants. We won't be getting any fruit production for a few years since our trees are young, but at least growing veggies, herbs and greens is a start. Organic produce is available right down the road, but it's so expensive it doesn't really fit well into our budget right now.

I've been really interested lately in the concept of making our half acre property less consumptive and more resourceful... we have soil and sun, we should be able to make those work for us. One thing I want to do is find a composting system that is easy for us and doesn't violate the darn CC&Rs around here... will have to check around. Dh is interested in the barrel type that you turn by hand, anyone have experience with those?

[quirkylayne]

I feel like our kitchen project will never be finished and until then I am off the wagon. Ugh. :

[Laggie]

How to save on fuel:

http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fuelec...2/article.html

The most important thing is to drive, well, gently. GD isn't just for kids Gentle acceleration and gentle braking saves a lot of gas.

I decided to sell my car and join zipcar for when I need a car (not that often). But then I spent $100 at Superstore, mostly on things like towels, pruning shears, etc - stuff. Not very frugal.

[aiccerb]

We've had a couple good weeks of staying on budget. We had a garage sale which helped pay for swimming lessons for the boys, and a round of socks and undies for the whole family

But man we are racking up the debt this week. Dh has a big job right now (for the hydro company) but we pay for all parts and materials upfront for it and lord is it costing us a fortune: One credit card is maxed out and there is a significant chunk out of our second one too. Ive done an invoice up and will mail it tomorrow, but they usually have a 4-6 week turn around so I will be scrimping for the next little while to cover everything.

Im off to go re-read the Frugal meal planning 101 thread and the link posted by laggie

[CeciMami]

Originally Posted by velcromom

I've got my "kitchen herb garden" started with rosemary, sage, mint, thyme and dill. Not having to buy fresh herbs will save me much more than the price of the plants.

You aren't kidding! Has everyone SEEN the price of fresh herbs lately? : That's ONE thing that we've had real good luck at growing is herbs...which i guess makes sense since they are weeds after all! Tasty weeds but weeds nonetheless!

Originally Posted by velcromom

I've been really interested lately in the concept of making our half acre property less consumptive and more resourceful... we have soil and sun, we should be able to make those work for us. One thing I want to do is find a composting system that is easy for us and doesn't violate the darn CC&Rs around here... will have to check around. Dh is interested in the barrel type that you turn by hand, anyone have experience with those?

Firstly I want to tell you how jealous I am of your 1/2 acre. Next I wanted to tell you that the barrel type composters have gotten very good reviews from the little research I've done. It seems like the way to go for a smaller property but I think they're kinda pricey right? If i remember right they're about $150? There is a non-barrel one for $100 that I saw that also looked very compact...I can try to find it again if you want...I think I saw it in the Garden's Alive catalog.

We were having a very frugal week until I got a flat tire (not fixable : ) and had to buy a new one to the tune of $100. : : : : Grrrrr!

So far this month my grocery numbers are very good, still higher than I'd like but we eat primarily organic so I'm trying to keep that in perspective. I bought chicken in bulk and fed the freezer with about 15 crockpot meals (4 recipes total) which will take us through the month if not into next month...)

My dilemma? My unemployment insurance runs out in July, which is fast approaching, and I'm not sure what I'll do after that for money. I'm LOVING being a SAHM and don't want to WOH but I need to contribute financially or we just won't have enough to pay the bills. I'm going to try doing GPT stuff but am still searching for other options. any ideas?

[amyamanda]

I'm on a frugal roll right now. Very excited dreaming about how my garden will reduce my food bill...probably way less than the reality will be, but it will be a savings nonetheless. I'm doing a pantry challenge and no-spend month to cull enough money for the gardening supplies I need.

I also decided we'd phase in family cloth. I never, ever, ever though I would say that. But we like recycled toilet paper and it is SO freaking expensive, and my girls have been wasting so much lately, plus they've been complaining about soreness, so it seems a good time to try it. I want to see if we can save $10/month using part-time family cloth.

Laggie, thanks for posting that article on saving gas mileage...I can't believe how conscious I've become about gas consumption, where a couple of years ago I didn't think of it at all, ever. Every time we drive anywhere I'm thinking $$$ now. Even freecycle stuff isn't really "free" if we have to drive to pick it up.

Gargirl, I've been meaning to wave hello for quite awhile. I'm assuming you know who I am (ask if you don't). It's nice to "see" a familiar face here. I had to laugh at your post about Descent awhile back...it's my boys' favorite game to play with DH.

My mom sent me some $$ for my birthday and I took my traditional "half-day in town without the kids"...usually I buy myself a few little things, but this time I felt so different about consuming. I really noticed a shift in myself. I impulse-bought a yummy-smelling bar of soap (with my birthday money, on behalf of my mother who wanted me to buy things for myself)...and then spent the afternoon thinking "why the HECK did I buy a stupid overpriced bar of soap!?!" Later I bought one pottery mug from a local artist for my pottery mug collection, as I knew my mother really wanted that money to go for a "gift" for me, but that is all. And it was timely as one of my other mugs broke later that afternoon! I think I need a new tradition next year to replace the "take myself kid-free out to lunch and buy a few things" tradition I currently have. I just don't see spending as a way to celebrate anymore.

Best of luck to everyone this week.

[KariM]

We've cut down on shopping here.

We did go to garage sales last weekend, but only brought along $20 and came home with change even *after* buying hamburgers at the boy scouts stand.

We found a great Breadman bread machine for $3. It'll be our back-up model for the time when our current one bites the dust.

We found another case of wide-mouth pint jars brand new in the box with lids and rings for $3.

We found two windowsill herb garden planter thingies for fifty cents each.

I'm just itching to get my seeds in the ground but we aren't past our last frost date yet. :

I've been looking into possibly running a stand at our local artisan/farmer's market this summer. I want to buy a wood burning stove for the winter and am determined to pay cash.

DH and I are exploring the possibility of raising rabbits, but we're still not sure if we're ready to be tied to the home that much yet.

[kijip]

Well, we bought a house this week so that was a lot of money out the door...and a big fat mortgage looming over us. And we have to buy a washer, dryer and refrigerator...which I will try and be wise shopper on but not strictly frugal since we would rather buy quality and efficiency upfront.

That has challenged me to be tighter on other spending in order to ensure that we can still save. The math clearly shows that we can pay the mortgage and maintain spending levels and say bye bye to adding to the savings account OR we can pay the mortgage, trim spending further so that we can set aside money for savings each month. So trimming away. Been really good about packing lunches, which helps a lot and also I manged to get out of the co-op today with fresh foods to add to staples we have for less than $25. Resolve to add in Trader Joe's rather than just buy whatever is at the co-op for more $$.

I fixed (myself) the tiny heel sole thing on my heels today with a tiny nail, so that is rather towards to freaky side of frugal.

[meandk0610]

i got a small drying rack from mil and started using it today for dh's undergarments. i hung hus shirts and pants on regular hangers after just a few minutes in the dryer and left them to dry in the laundry room. we're not allowed to have an outdoor line. : also have been using cut up towels in the kitchen instead of paper towels; i think it's been at leat 2 weeks since we've changed the roll.

sarah

[jackson'smama]

not much going on here, but i have decided to be more mindful of the dishwasher use (it saves us as DH washes dishes under a constant flow of HOT water - never lets the sink just fill b/c that's "just gross", anyways...) we never used the heat dry before anyway, but now - when it goes to the drying stage, i just turn it off and release the door latch (so i know it's off) - i could hear something running in there just to make the dial go, so i figure i'm saving a few cents there anyway.
i am a total NON shopper. i hate shopping with a passion. however, i'd like to find ways to be even more frugal around the house. i'd like to garden again this year but with a 2.5 year old and a baby due in june, it's not looking so good. any tips for that? - i hate to spend the money on containers (and dh doesn't have the time to make me any) - just to be able to garden off my porch. i'll at least try to muster up the energy to do some tomatoes if nothing else (my favorite!)
and just curious - for those that make their own laundry detergent, would you say it's cheaper than $3 a month to use (that's about what i pay now). i do a load practically ever day and i'm trying to determine if it would save me money to make it at home.
i'm going to try cutting off the power strip at the tv/stereo every night to see if we see an improvement in the elec bill.

[oneKnight]

Originally Posted by Judegirl

The price of gas here is out of control (3.30 a gallon!) and not driving is just not an option. Any tips to save on gas??

Drive slower. Driving 65mph instead of 70+mph saves me a lot of gas, and really that's how fast the semi trucks drive here, so it's not causing traffic problems.

[Judegirl]

Hi all! Here's how out of it I am; I got to the thread today and thought "Oh, no, I've missed another Sunday!"

Please, btw, feel free to start the thread on Sunday if you want to post and I've not done it yet. My head is somewhere else much of the time. I'm not quite sure where, lol.

Laggie, I could kiss you! I actually didn't know that stuff at all! I had a three-hour drive yesterday (round trip) that I make often. I set the car on cruise as often as I could, drove much more slowly than I ever have in my life (okay, I'm something of a speed demon)...it was slightly painful for me, but when I returned home I had more gas in the tank than I usually have when I get there! I seriously think I saved nearly half of the gas I would have used if I'd been driving my usual way! Thank you! Now to convince dh, who brakes when there's something sitting on his nose...

We're out of dd's wheat-free bread and she's just going to have to wait until I make homemade, because I'm not buying that stuff anymore!

I joined a CSA for vegetables. I'm very much hoping we can make the pickup times each week...a little nervous about it, but I'm doing it. I hope it's worth it...it comes to about $15 a week for organic veggies, but that doesn't do any good if we still buy the ones we buy. Also, I never split my grocery expenses so I have no idea what we normally spend on vegetables alone. Does anyone else
have an idea what you spend?

I went through those Target bags and was impressed. Everything I bought I'd been looking for used for at least a couple of months, or I wouldn't use secondhand (not much in that category, though, thankfully.) I had picked up a couple of impulse buys, but I put them back. I was actually proud of myself.

On Wednesday I drove an hour to a huge outlet place to find some clothes for dd (I'm very picky about he materials and haven't been able to find pants at this time of year anywhere. She also needs t-shirts.) The prices were ridiculous - $15 for toddler pants at an outlet?? I found a few good deals on t-shirts and spent $10 on a pair of shorts for her that I loved but still can't believe that I paid that much for shorts for 3-year olds. We did okay, though - turned it in to a field trip.

Dh has been away all week. I'm hoping to take stock of the fridge and freezer again this weekend.

I can never grow herbs (I'm indoors) - they need a lot of sunlight, I think...?

Best,
Jude

[shelbell]

Originally Posted by Judegirl

I can never grow herbs (I'm indoors) - they need a lot of sunlight, I think...?

Best,
Jude

Do you have a window sill that gets any sun? I saw in a book a really cheap, cute way to grow herbs. Nail holes in the bottom of old coffee cans, paint or decorate if desired, put in your soil and seeds, and you're good. If putting on a window sill, you'd need to put something under them for drainage. Mine are painted a cute blue color, and my 10 cent seeds and 1.00 potting soil are doing quite nicely just outside on my balcony. Mmm... and my basil is almost ready to use. Spaghetti this weekend!