Author: Heather Bartlett

This week was not frugal. Not at all. Our sweet little beagle, Mazy, has IVDD. IVDD is a disc disorder found it dogs, but most common is short legged dogs like beagles. This diagnosis came after many trips to the vet and a lot of sleepless nights. Anyway, her bills are stacking up, and will continue to do so, as we are not ready to give up on her. Because of this, more than ever, we need to save our pennies.

1. Freezer is nearly empty. We have nearly gone through everything in it. Creativity is key when you find a frozen bag of shredded yellow squash! Once empty, we will defrost the freezer and give it really good cleaning before filling it again.
2. We are having our fireplace repaired and a blower will be added. It will be able to heat up to 2000 square feet. It is happening a little late in year, but next winter it will come to great use. I am hoping for a smaller heating bill.
3. Our aerogardens and mushroom plants are going gangbusters! It is so nice to have fresh food, that you grew yourself, in the winter.
4. My husband has started the seed for our summer garden. I can already taste the fresh eggplant.
5. After years of buying coffee makers that break down after a year, we bought a stovetop percolator. If something breaks, replacement parts are available. The coffee isn’t bad either.

That’s it for us. Please send our little Mazy your positive energy, she could use it.

I never got around to posting a Frugal Friday roundup last week. Here it goes:

1. We are seriously going through the food stockpile. In the month of February we spent less than $300 on groceries. Will be very interesting to see how low we can go in March. We have a lot of food from the last year of “hoarding” in event of an emergency.
2. Saved $100 at the vet this week, using the $100 credit on out account for using their app.
3. Checked out the library book sale room and found 4 DVDs for $1 each. One of them was a blockbuster movie, still in the packaging.
4. Members of my family are starting to qualify for the covid vaccine. My daughter got her shot today. I am scheduled for Sunday. Is this frugal? Not really. But, life is slowly going to return to normal and I thought deserved a shout out.
5. Food waste for this week was one orange and about 1/4 cup butternut squash. I am getting so much better with using everything and not letting anything go to waste.

What did you do this week to save some money?

What a snowy and cold week it was. Nothing like crappy weather to keep you at home, refraining from spending money. This was a good week for us. I sure love to see us save the dollars.

1. For $36 and two hours, my husband fixed our dryer. The belt broke and instead of having a repairman, it was determined DIY would be okay. While the dryer was taken apart, we cleaned out all the lint. Truth be told, I am a little surprised we never had a fire. That dryer had a lot of lint.
2. I used the beeswax from our beehives to make candles. I really like making candles. In fact, I am going to be teaching a candle making class at the library I work at in April.
3. For some reason Kohl’s sent me $20 in Kohl’s cash via email along with a 30% off code. So, I used it to buy pajamas. I only paid for the tax.
4. We spent Valentine’s Day at home. Not unexpected given that restaurant dining is not advised. But, I made a wonderful, restaurant quality meal. On the menu was tenderloin, twice baked potatoes with cheese, kale salad and homemade heart shaped sugar cookies.
5. Spent lots of time putting puzzles together and watching movies from the library to keep busy. We have a puzzle swap at work now, such a fun way to get new puzzles without spending money.

What did you do this Valentine’s week to save money?

My family and I have a list of things we do in order to save money. In the last year (can you believe it has been a year?) we have gotten even better at saving and living frugally. I also think that living a frugal life leads to a more satisfying life. To slow down and appreciate what you have rather than what you don’t is satisfying. We are certainly not perfect. I have been known to go down the Amazon rabbit hole and purchase things I don’t need. But just like weight loss and exercise, you can try again. Here is just a few of the things we do:

1. My husband makes a big batch of something every couple of weeks and freezes it in individual containers for his lunch. Chili is his favorite. But he we will mix it up with options like chicken curry. We buy the meat in bulk and most of the time, he uses vegetable we have on hand. Most of the time, he freezes two weeks worth of meals in sour cream and cottage cheese containers we have saved for that purpose.
2. Don’t waste food. Turn old vegetables into broth, milk into yogurt or fruit into ice cream topping.
3. I am in two book clubs, both via zoom for now. I get all of my books from the library or audible. To be in a book club is free. Twice a month I spend time with friends, laughing and discussing books. We meet without fail, on a specific date. You don’t have to spend a lot of money in a restaurant or bar to socialize with friends.
4. Audit your insurance premiums on a regular basis. Every other year I contact our insurance agent to make sure our premiums are correct. Every single time, he has found that our cost to rebuild our home is too high for the area we live in. We have received several refund checks over $150 over the years. I also take my kids on and off our auto insurance based on if they are at school. I am not going to pay for auto insurance that is not being used.
5. Do you have cable and every streaming service out there? We cut our cable. We utilize the streaming services, a lot of them actually. But, we stay home a lot and enjoy movie night at home, with home cooked meals, in our pajamas.
6. I roll errands into one day. The environmentalist in me is more the reason for this choice. But, it saves us a lot of money. It is not uncommon for us to go several weeks without have to fill our gas tanks. I have Thursdays off of work, so on that day I do the grocery shopping and any other errands that need to be done.
7. Look into the rewards programs at local businesses. Our vet has such a program. Reward points are given with each dollar spent and when we reach a certain point, a $100 credit is placed on our account. It’s an easy way to make money off of money you already have to spend.
8. Enjoy the simple things, like doing a puzzle or playing a board game at home. I am always exchanging puzzles with people.
9. Turn your thermostat down. Ours is set at 68 during the day and 60 at night. I will admit to adjusting that the last couple weeks as the midwest is in a serious deep freeze. I do not want to wake up to frozen pipes because saving a few dollars was more important. Sometimes you have to spend a little extra to avoid spending a lot.
10. Cancel subscriptions your don’t use.
11. Plant a garden in the summer and preserve it for the winter. Take advantage of local fruits and vegetable you aren’t growing yourself when in season and preserve. We are still eating canned tomatoes, red peppers, salsa, pasta sauce, jams, pie fillings, apple sauce and countless other summer treasures. So far, I know that I did not make enough pasta sauce, canned tomatoes and jams. We have A LOT of relish though.
12. Make your own cleaning products with baking soda, vinegar, hydrogen peroxide and vodka. The internet has an endless supply of recipes to make these things at home.
13. Automate savings. We have a certain amount of money taken out of our checking account and invested into a mutual fund every two weeks. We have learned to live without that money. We also have been having money invested into 529 plans for our kids since 1999. Our oldest graduated in December. When we paid his final tuition payment in September, we just took that amount and started to apply to the account of our middle child. Once she graduates, number three will get the full amount invested every month.
14. In the summer use the sun and wind to dry your laundry. It is completely free.
15. Take up a hobby that also provides home goods. I have been making my own candles and taught myself how to make soap recently.
16. Utilize Goodwill. I will admit that I don’t do this. But my husband and daughters do and they save a lot of money on clothing. Personally, I do not have the patience to go through everything. I wish I did.

I know I have missed a lot of ideas. Please send me anything I have missed, I love hearing what other people do.