Frugal Friday: Trying To Make a Difference

          My last project, using mostly what I already had on hand...I'm pretty pleased with it.

Saturday:  I went into town this morning to pay booth rent.  I made zip again this month for the third month in a row.  I talked it over with the owner and told her I'll be giving in my notice at the end of July. 

Went by the post office to mail off Josie and Rosalyn's birthday gifts, which I combined into one box. 

I went by the grocery and picked up extra large trash bags and ice cream.  John has mentioned ice cream multiple times in the past week.  It's a small indulgence.

Stopped off at two yard sales.  I spent $.75 at one on two books and $7 at the other.  I purchased another rectangular frame to do a second set of the seed packet prints for the living room wall and a purse.  I also got a large bottle of Goo Gone for a very good price.

Came home and made garlic butter spread for toast and a salad to go with the Crock Pot Lasagna Bess made.

I've been raising the AC temperature 2 degrees more during the day.  It's been mighty warm of late and when I heard the AC kick on at 7am this morning, I knew it was imperative I follow my energy saving protocol.  I kept room darkening shades and curtains closed on the sunny side of the house and let in natural light on the shady side of the house.  We all commented this afternoon on how much cooler the living room felt when I pulled the curtains closed on the west side.  It's awfully dark and almost gloomy in the living room with the curtains pulled but cooler and I'll take gloomy with cooler temps rather than have it light and too warm.

Everyone said they were too full following our late lunch to eat supper, but I know better.  Sure enough, food was wanted but no one wanted a heavy meal.  I had vegetable beef soup in the freezer which I heated for three of us and John opted to have a bowl of cottage cheese with applesauce.

Every now and then it pays to have a financial conversation, whether they are unhappy or happy in nature.  I have two medical bills that I've been paying down steadily, but slowly over the last three months.  John has opted to take on more overtime in an effort to get these bills paid off in full.  I am determined that if he's working harder I can change a few things myself.  I indulged myself with a Birch Box subscription at the beginning of March and I've really enjoyed it but truly?  Well it's $10 a month I would rather put into something needed here at home which will free up $10 more to go towards those two bills.  It's a small amount but it's a start.


Sunday:  After we all had a fairly quiet day yesterday, John went off to work today.  I packed his lunch and made him breakfast. 

I settled in to do my Bible study then took advantage of Josh sleeping in (it was overcast so his room didn't fill with light as it normally does, so naturally mom and dad slept in as well) to work on bill box and write out checks.

Although I watered plants this morning (using stored water and replenishing), it rained this afternoon, so I can easily skip watering for two or three days.

Washed a full load of clothes.  Humidity was so bad that six hours later the clothes I'd hung outdoors were still wet.  I brought them indoors and dried them on the drying rack.

Sam meant to work outdoors but decided he'd put up our new ceiling fans instead. He was able to get two of them done.  I am so pleased, as John had planned to hire this done along with a few other electrical jobs.  This is a savings to us and one I'm very grateful he supplied. 

We ate leftovers for lunch.

Josh is just beginning to eat and can be a bit picky.  He likes 'bagels' and Bess hit upon the idea of  giving him half a sandwich thin bagel to eat.  That has worked well but this evening, the bag of frozen waffles fell on the floor.  Josh immediately wanted a 'bagel'.  Did Gramma tell him that it wasn't a bagel?  Oh no!  Gramma said, 'Sure, let me heat it up.' Josh ate a half waffle just because he decided it was a bagel.  Frugal?  Yep.  And a smart way to get a little boy to eat a bit more food than he might have.

Washed a full load of clothes.  Bess washed two full loads.  I also ran a full load of dishes.

Monday:  I made up my mind that this week I'd give the kitchen a really good cleaning.  I dusted, wiped, washed and did all but mop the floor today.  Amazing how much neater things look when all is spic and span and everything is put away.

I made an easy Tandoori chicken.  The recipe calls for the marinade to be thrown away but I never do that.  I just smudge it over the meat and let it cook as a sort of crust on the chicken.  It's really quite nice.

Made my own yellow rice using some brown rice I'd cooked in broth and turmeric that my son gave me.

The chicken breasts were so much larger than I'd thought they might be that I cut them all in half again and ended up with leftovers.  These will go into freezer for a future entrée.

No need to water any but the porch plants as we had rain steadily today.

Tuesday:  John and I went down to his work place to pick up his check.  As always: we carried off trash, picked up mail, took bills along with us to mail off and did our banking while we were out.

Though we had little extra on our check this week we still came up a little short with the bills we had to pay.  It's a 'no extras' pay period.

Bess and I headed out to grocery shop when John and I returned.

Bess bought some little seed pots to plant.  She asked if I had some cling film wrap to use.  I didn't but I'd just uncovered some produce and offered her that to reuse.

I came home and while I put away groceries, I started a one pot stove top supper meal.  It took no longer to cook than it took me to put away the foods we'd bought.

Wednesday:  I cleared out the fridge this morning.  I noted we had several leftovers that we likely were not going to eat any time soon.  So I moved lasagna and chicken curry into the freezer.

I blanched bell peppers to make stuffed peppers. 

I cooked pasta for a spaghetti dinner.  I used the same water to boil macaroni for John's work lunch tomorrow and when I drained that I used the same pan to make the cheese sauce.

I made a Poor Man's lasagna from the leftover Farfalle and Spaghetti sauce and the last of the cottage cheese.  This is something my friend Dawn often makes as a freezer entrée using spaghetti.  I will add cheese to the top of the pie when I make it.  I put the cheeses in the bag with the pie so I'll have all I need to complete it once I remove the foil when it's baking.

Made up foods to go into John's work lunch and corralled them in the fridge so they'd be easy to find in the morning.

Thursday:  I was up early with John this morning.  I packed his work lunch, made him breakfast.

After John left, I started a full load of clothes to wash.

While clothes were washing, I mopped the kitchen floor.  Then I took the same mop water and added 2 tablespoons of dishwasher detergent and used the outdoor mop to wash up the front porch.  It doesn't look as good as when freshly painted, but it does look a good bit better.  I washed off some of the house siding as well.

Trimmed the Faith Tree and pulled weeds about the base of it.  I had a huge stack of things to haul off...but I was done in.  I decided that could wait until tomorrow.

Washed a full load of dishes on short wash.

Bess washed two full loads of clothes.  We hung the comforter and my jeans to dry.

Bess made dinner in the crock pot, a new recipe of Hungarian Chicken.  The recipe called for chicken legs and thighs.  I had a dozen chicken legs in the freezer and that's what we used.    The dish was very tasty and one that will be a repeat.   Bess used leftover sour cream.

Bess froze cherries that were rapidly spoiling.  I offered to use blackberries to make breakfast muffins.

Friday:  John is working an extra half shift today.  It's a hard haul to do a 36 hour shift and I deeply appreciate his doing this extra work.

Up early this morning, as it's just Josh and I at home today.  I pulled frozen waffles from last weekend out of the fridge and cooked the last of the bacon.  Josh will eat 'bagels' and bacon for sure.

When we went outdoors, Josh ran about the yard while I moved the branches and weeds from yesterday morning.  I fed the animals while I was outdoors, too.

I heated leftovers for midday dinner. 

I made cupcakes for Josh's upcoming birthday.  I made a dozen cupcakes and had enough batter leftover to make a single layer cake as well.  I'm going to frost that for John, since his favorite cake in the world is a plain cake with chocolate butter cream frosting. 

Was able to dust the living room really well and then I was able to vacuum and clean the dining room.  I switched the lamp I disliked with the one from the laundry area which I like much better.

I ate a single serve entrée of leftovers for supper.

That ends my week of savings, trying to make a difference in our home.