Sunday, March 29, 2015

Frugal vs. Not Frugal

Frugal- I ate leftovers for lunch.
Not Frugal- Those leftovers came from an expensive night out at a nice Italian restaurant.

Frugal- I've been driving the same car for 8 years.
Not Frugal- I just had to spend thousands of dollars on it for repairs.  Almost as much as the car is worth.  (Not an easy decision)

Frugal- My date night out dinner with my husband was marked down shakes from the convenience store on our way to see Bo Burnham.
Not Frugal- Bo Burnham tickets in good seats.

Not Frugal- Paying a babysitter $10 an hour for our date night.
Frugal- It was less expensive and better care than the drop off daycare we used to use.

That's all I've got for now.  What's your frugal vs. not frugal?



Tuesday, March 24, 2015

Five Frugal Things

Katy of The Non-Consumer Advocate hopefully won't mind me borrowing her famous blog post title.


My husband is on a job hunt again as his last contract position was done away with.  We are doing ok and not in the woods financially.  Thank God for being debt free!  But, I'm trying to get back into a more frugal day to day state of mind.

*I'm continuing to try to use up what we have instead of buying new stuff.  I've been going through travel and sample sized bottles of lotions and potions like crazy.  I just used up the last of my pumpkin cinnamon body wash and I will not buy any more until I am completely out.  By this fall I will be ready to put that on a birthday list.

*I've been a free food magnet lately.  My local salvage store has been having a box of free dented cans.  I'm helping myself to the max of ten each time.  The last thrift store I went into was giving out free bags of huge granny smith apples.  They weren't pretty and some of them were almost black with spots but once peeled they taste fine.  I made a small batch of chunky applesauce with them tonight and it was awesome.   I'll probably chop up some more tomorrow and make muffins.

*The same store where I bagged some free apples (bah!)  had a quarter sale on VHS.  I scored three tapes for cheap entertainment on the weekend.  We've also been enjoying the library for free reading material.  My husband borrows books on IT to brush up on his marketable skills and I get free novels and movies.

*Spring is finally here.  That means yard work and getting a garden together.  This year I'm going to try to have a small patch in my backyard so I can grow radish, beans, and other things.  My daughter is asking me if she can help too!  I scored a bunch of clearance seeds at the MFA for a nickle apiece.

Now it's time for another favorite frugal activity.  The kids are put to bed.  The dishes are done and it's time to cuddle with my husband and catch up on some Netflix.   We finally finished the last season of Orange is the New Black last night.  We high-fived afterwards because we never finish any show.
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