Category: Frugal Living

Happy New Year!  I have a feeling that 2020 is going to be my best year yet.  This will be the year that my youngest graduates from high school and oldest graduates from college.  We are starting the year with a new puppy, which has been so much fun.  We have wonderful friends and family who we see on a regular basis.  We both have jobs we love and aside from the typical conditions associated with getting older, we are healthy.  Life is good.

Even though the last few weeks are generally very expensive, we still found some ways to save money.

1. I had all of my Christmas shopping and wrapping done before Thanksgiving.  This was intentional.  I do not enjoy last minute Christmas shopping and the crowds associated with it.  I enjoyed the month of December without the pressure of preparing for the holidays.
2. We spent New Years in, separately, which was kind of sad.  I was with my parents for several days and spent New Years with them and some of their friends.  Eric enjoyed the silence that comes with having the house to himself.  My understanding was that he watched a movie and enjoyed pizza.  Neither of us made it to midnight.
3. We have enough food in this house to feed an army.  January is going to be devoted to shopping the freezer and pantry.  I will need to purchase fresh produce, but it will be easy to spend very little at the grocery store this month.
4. I have started the long process of decluttering this house.  We have so much stuff.  Too much stuff.  My goal is 10 items a day, out of the house.  I appreciated that so many of our gifts this year were either consumables or items we can actually use.  We received a very large bottle of local maple syrup and lemon olive oil, among so many other things.
5. I found some very old gift cards.  Make sure to look up the balance because some do not expire.  I found an old theatre gift card from 2014 that still had $10 on it.  I used it while visiting my parents.  Proof that the small things add up.

I plan on sitting down in the next few days and really figuring out our 2020 budget.  Fall 2020 will be an expensive one for us, all 3 of our kids will be in college.  We are going to need to do even more belt tightening this year.  As always, I look at it as an adventure and not something to stress over.  What are some of things you plan on doing to save in 2020?

One of my gifts this year.  My daughter had a portrait made of Luna in the  attire that proves her royalty in this house.

We had some wins in the area of frugality this week.  With it being less than one week until Christmas, I am very proud of myself with the amount of money we have been able to save.  This year, I had all of my Christmas shopping and most of my wrapping done before Thanksgiving.  That was very intentional, as I wanted to actually enjoy the season this year instead of being stressed.  Here is my list:

1. Sadie needed her second round of vaccines.  We had a $100 credit at the vet, I applied that to her first visit.  Total cost was $3.50.
2. I added Sadie onto our pet insurance plan.  We learned several years ago with our first golden, Stella, that the unimaginable can happen.  Having health insurance on our dogs eases our minds a bit.
3. My husband has started the process of moving our phone plans to Mint mobile.  He is doing one line at a time because each line has to be paid a year in advance.  When the process is complete we will be saving about $1,200 per year.
4. We have been entertaining friends in our home more.  It’s been nice to sit around our dining room table after a good meal and friends to laugh with.  I plan on doing this even more in 2020.
5. We are keeping newly purchased Christmas decorations to a minimum this year.  My daughter made an adorable gingerbread house and I bought just a couple ornaments to represent things that are important to me in 2019 and going into 2020.

I try to purchase the annual Human Rights Campaign ornament every year.  Here is 2019.

These little houses always turn out so cute

It was a great week for saving money.  Below is a list of things we did this week to maintain our frugal lifestyle.

1.  Our youngest is a high school senior, which of course means senior pictures.  My husband has a nice camera and takes really nice pictures.  Since she honestly didn’t care who took her pictures, he did it.  Looks just as good as a professional photographer, in my opinion.
2. I went to church.  Let me explain.  I go to a Unitarian church, our sermons aren’t typical sermons that you would hear in a traditional Christian church.  Instead, I refer to our sermons as being like TED Talks.  This week’s sermon was on being a people of belonging(s).  While I already try very hard not to put too much attachment into most of my belongings, it was good to hear it again.  There was emphasis on the idea of reduce, reuse, recycle.  I need to remind myself when I am a consumer to ask myself what is the environmental impact of my purchase?  Who is making the product?  Where is it being manufactured?  These questions along with the reduce, reuse, recycle mantra had me invigorated to be a better consumer.
3. I made homemade shower bombs for cold and flu season.  I wish I could take credit for the recipe, but I can’t.  I found it on the Doterra facebook page.  But it was really easy to make.  It calls for 25 drops breath essential oil, 1 cup baking soda, 1/4 cup water.  Mix until sandy, put into ice cube trays to dry overnight.  
4. I made homemade sour cream.  Again this is another super easy thing to make and it saves a plastic container from being purchased.  1 cup heavy whipping cream, 3 tbsp vinegar.  Pour into a mason jar, shake and leave on the countertop for 24 hours to thicken.  Put in refrigerator, it lasts about 2 weeks.
5. I went to our local apple orchard to buy apples and pears directly from the source.  I actually drive by the orchard on my way to the grocery store that I go to.  They have the best honeycrisp apples out there.   I also get an apple cider donut to reward myself for absolutely no reason.

What did you do to save money this week?

Frugal Friday is back.  My life seems to be returning to some kind of normal.  My job requires I work every third weekend.  Sadly, I have not been able to work my weekend since August 4th.  But, it looks like I will be returning to my normal rotation tomorrow.  I have been home for nearly 3 weeks now without needing to leave for family reasons.  The relief that healing seems to have started is overwhelming.

This week was a return to saving some cash around here.  Here is our Frugal Friday roundup.

1.  Tonight Eric and I are going out for a much needed date night.  I finally cashed in my OpenTable rewards and received a $20 voucher.  Side note though, it took me 12 years to earn enough points for $20, so it felt like a never ending effort.
2. We have set our thermostat at 60 degrees from 10pm to 5am.  I know, it seems cold and it is.  But, we are going to give it a try and see if we can handle that over the winter.
3. My daughter bought a new phone last week, the same one we bought our son for his upcoming birthday.  It isn’t an Iphone (gasp) and cost $140.  I am not tech savvy, but my understanding is that the phone is just fine, even without the Apple logo.
4. I bought a countertop convection oven/toaster oven.  The initial investment might not be considered frugal, but after reading about ways we can save energy, this recommendation came up frequently.  I no longer need to make bake huge meals for a family of 5, as so often it is just 2 of us.  This oven takes less time for preheating, cooking and takes less energy.  Honestly, I love it.
5. I got my flu shot, the rest of the family will be getting one as well.  Flu shots are usually free and in my opinion worth it.  I didn’t get the shot for myself, but for my loved ones who are not in a position to catch the flu and fight it without complications.

What have you done this week to save some cash?

A perfect vegetable pot pie in my new countertop oven.

School is back in session in a few short weeks.  My college age kids tuition bills arrived and I paid the school fees for my high school senior.  Those fees do not include the high cost of her being in show choir.  September is going to require a little belt tightening to make up for the expensive August we are experiencing.  Here is the rundown on what we did to save money this week.

1.  We went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire on Saturday.  I had a $5 off per person coupon.  I honestly never go to events like this without a coupon.
2. I bought a beautiful print at the faire that needed a frame.  Kohl’s strikes again and I found the perfect frame for pennies on the dollar.
3. We had almost 0 food waste this week. That always means leftovers, but the savings is worth it.
4. I made zucchini bread and froze it for quick and easy breakfasts. The zucchini, eggs and honey came from my backyard.
5. We buy our toilet paper in bulk from Amazon once every 6 months.  It comes individually packaged in paper, not plastic.  By doing this we save in packaging and since it auto ships every 6 months we get a discount.

My Ren Faire find

Have you noticed that the sun is rising a little bit later every morning?  Today my husband’s 5:00am alarm woke me and I was shocked to see it was dark.  Fall, while still several weeks away, is knocking on the door.  I see that with the much smaller bounty compared to years past.  Even though we are not getting as much, we are getting enough.  In fact my acorn and butternut squash are producing so much more than I ever hoped for.

Here is a list of things we did this week to save some money.

1.  We bought 25 pounds of peaches and 10 pounds of blueberries which I have frozen for future consumption.  I will be going to Door County in 2 weeks and plan on purchasing cherries and hopefully already frozen strawberries as well.
2. We have been taking advantage of farmer’s markets more and more, rather than going to the grocery store.  Doing this helps eliminate needless packaging and helps local farmers grow their business.
3. My husband’s birthday was last week.  Instead of going out for dinner, I made him an Indian feast at home.  Complete with delicious samosas.
4. Continuing with the birthday theme, instead of buying an object for my husband’s birthday, I bought an experience.  We are going to a beer themed 5 course dinner at a local restaurant in September.
5. I started Christmas shopping already, finding gifts that I know people will like, discounted.  I hope to be done by November with the gifts already wrapped.  I am not a person who appreciates the mall and a day of power shopping.  Instead I prefer to take my time over several months.

With school starting in a few short weeks, I am prepared for our spending to drastically increase as we pay tuition, school fees and back to school clothes.  What did you do this week to save money?

What did you do this week to stick to money saving and frugality?  We had a couple major wins this week that only further my belief that sticking to a budget and saving money is the way to go.

1.  For my son’s 21st birthday, we bought him a computer.  A few months ago, that computer started to have problems.  He sent the computer back to the company, because it was under warranty for repairs.  They don’t have the necessary part, so he is getting a better model than the original computer.  Don’t forget about your warranties.  I know that I do and probably throw money away without meaning to.
2. I bought 2 heavy duty fans to help get us through the summer.  I am determined not to rely solely on central air to keep cool this summer.  I don’t have a problem using it. However, there are times when it is so hot that the responsible thing to do is to set the thermostat higher so that there isn’t such a strain on the power company.
3. Our power was out for almost 24 hours.  Does that count?  24 hours without using electricity has to add up to something, right?
4. After the power outage, it was so tempting to go out for dinner.  But, we popped a couple frozen pizzas in the oven and added a salad.  We stayed in to watch a movie and considered ourselves lucky to have first world problems like lost power.  It makes you reflect on your overwhelming privilege when you lose amenities that you are used to.
5. Our electric bill arrived and it went down significantly from the bill we received in May.  A full month of no heating or cooling made a huge difference.

What did you do this week to save money?

A much needed cocktail during a 24 hour period without power

Here is the roundup of things we did this week to save money.

1.  When Luna was a puppy, she destroyed our couch.  I mean, seriously ripped it apart.  The result has been driving me crazy for months.  Instead of buying a brand new couch for her to destroy again, I ordered a slip cover from Amazon to hide the damage.  It looks fine and will do until we have the courage to buy a new couch.
2. This week I was thinking that I need to order a 2020 calendar as I continue to make appointments into the next year.  Coincidentally, Amazon mailed multiple appointment books to my employer and told us to keep them.  So, I got a really nice and really free appointment book for 2020.  It’s definitely not in the league of the Lisa Condren appointment books that I like, but it serves it’s purpose just fine.
3. I bought my mom her birthday gift online, utilizing a one day only 25% off special.  Just in case you are reading this mom, you will love it!
4. I bought a new rug at Kohl’s (of course everything at Kohl’s is always on sale, but 50% off isn’t bad).  I got $20 in Kohl’s cash which I plan on using for new throw pillows, to replace the pillows the dog destroyed.  Also, the rug needed to be replaced, because the dog destroyed the old one.  See a pattern here?
5. I got the oil changed on my car and used a $25 of coupon.

What have you done this week to save money?

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