What I've been doing again, frugally speaking...

Making dinner out of half a box of whole wheat rotini (bought at Big Lots for .40), a pack of Trader Joe's tofu (.99) marinated in veggie broth and gravy powder, and a bag of Green Giant seasoned veggies that I got free after rebate, and one tablespoon of bulk butter. Both baggies will get washed out and reused.
Total cost for dinner: 1.30





Feeding a messy boy his breakfast.






Playing outside in the sprinkler. It's been beautiful here!

Balance and Rescuing dinner from the trash can

I'm liking this new balance of less spending and trying not to spend.
So, the hiatus didn't work as well as I hoped. But, it did work in some ways.
I thought carefully about each thing I bought and I am pretty sure I spent half as much in a week as I normally do. Especially where groceries are concerned.

Well, maybe I spent less. I bought twenty passes to our town's community center so I can start working out again. In the end I think it will actually save me money because I only have so much free time in a week and it will keep me out of a store for an hour.

And I've been doing my best to use up our food before it goes bad. So, we've eaten more creatively this week than our normal standard fare. We've had 'meatloaf' and soup with tvp, bread stuffing from bread that was on the verge of spoiling, and quiche made with farm eggs and powdered milk. Yesterday my girl and I made a batch of chocolate chip cookies from a mix in our pantry. There are holes sneaking into my pantry. And both of my freezers. I am pleased.

I'm going to continue my pantry challenge next week by only buying milk, eggs, and fruit, and preschool snacks again. It should be less than $20.00 for a stock up.

My 'free' time here is rapidly going as I have to leave to pick up my boy from daycare (urg.. a necessary evil for now) in ten minutes.
Better pick up the living room.
Kids and I are going out to play today.

Blogging my shame.

My husband says I have to tell you that I've been buying stuff. I feel like I should be standing at a podium: "Hi, my name is Jenny and I'm a spendthrift. It's been two hours since I last shopped."

So, here I come clean with my spendthriftedness.

Let this be a lesson for you all if you decide to embark on a hiatus. Get yourself a plan. And then have a back up plan. Learn from my foolishness (hangs head in shame).

Yesterday I went to Wal-Mart. And I paid full price for double stuffed Oreos. I don't even really like Oreos. And I bypassed the generic ones. And I bought a door mat that I didn't need for 2.50.
What was I thinking?


Today I bought my daughter those white mary janes shoes. And since it was a BOGO half off sale I bought my son a pair too.

Then I stopped by Family Dollar and bought some wooden popsicle sticks (for making more banana pops), a set of pajamas for my son (which we didn't really need but they have a really cool bug print on them), and a big pumpkin spice candle that was marked down to a dollar.

And I ended the spree by going through the car wash (again... I love the car wash!) and going through the McDonalds drive thru for the much wanted (my daughter has been asking all week) Happy Meal sans burger patty.

You may be asking why I don't use the wash it yourself car wash.

Well, I have children with me all the time and I can't very well leave them in the car in the summer with the windows rolled up and wash the car. For a nanosecond I thought about leaving the car windows down while my son slept and saving three dollars by washing it myself (and yes, I have washed my car, rinsed and waxed in two minutes before). Then I realized (smacks head) that I'd get my upholstery all wet. And while my son and my interior could both use a bath I thought it might be a mean way to wake him up from his nap.


I think that covers all of my wallety transgressions.

On a fun note... I picked up my application for a passport today. If hubby gets the ok on his business trip to Rome next February I am going with him! Yippee.

---A Tightwad Goes to Italy--- I can't wait.

Free Cookbook

Need inspiration in the kitchen? I just signed up for a free Gooseberry Patch/Sun Maid raisin cookbook here.
You can too.

Better but not great

Ok, this hiatus is not really a hiatus for me. It's not a hiatus because I keep buying stuff.

I am more aware of my expenditures though. And how easily it is to talk myself into a drive thru lunch (I drove home instead and made lunch), Snacks at the gas station (didn't stop because I didn't need the gas today), and ice cream treats (it's so hot here, but, I came home and made lemonade instead).

But, what I did do was drive to TJMaxx and I bought 8.15 of clearance clothing for my girl. I couldn't resist a turquoise blue eyelet dress for next summer marked down to 5.00. And then there was a cute three piece summer outfit (for next year too) that came with a white flowered top, denim shorts, and a matching handbag. Yes, I could have lived without those extra clothes but, I don't regret the purchase because I got them cheaply and I know they will be worn.
While I know that I wasn't supposed to be in the store at all today I do think I am making an effort. We will have to see if my credit card statement reflects this next month.

I'm doing much better at the pantry challenge part. I've got a pan of "meat"loaf in the fridge (made from oatmeal and veggie burger crumbles). I'm planning on making mashed potatoes too with our abundance of potatoes that are starting to turn on me.
And we have two tomatoes left that need to get eaten.
For dessert we have grapes or Budget Saver banana freezer pops.

Next month I think I am going to continue the pantry challenge by only taking $20.00 to the grocery store a week. I am not satisfied with how my pantry looks.

Banana Pops and Spending Tally

This is the banana pop aftermath. (If you look closely you'll see the fancy masking tape job I did on my boy's high chair. This high chair has been through many kids. I bought it for 13.00 from a garage sale five years ago. It's had parts replaced on it many times until finally Playskool just stopped having the parts in stock. It's still serviceable for my son though. I think by the time he's done with it I may have fully gotten my 13.00 out of it.)


As you can see, they clearly enjoyed their banana pop experience. We will have to do that again. We used up leftover chocolate sauce to dip fresh strawberries in. I think it would make a quick and easy dip for fruit. And you could fold in some whipped topping for a fluffy chocolate dip.


Well, as today went for spend free day I guess I failed. I spent one dollar.
We stopped at a flea market on the way to my mom's house and I bought a new straw hat for my daughter since my son seems to have taken over her old one- as you can see here.

My husband spent $10.00 on a cd set of 1920's-30's blues music. But, I can't hold that against him since the hiatus thing was my idea in the first place.

But, that's it for the day. I haven't made much of a dent in our pantry yet though. The brownie mix I made today to take to Mom's was replaced to two mixes she picked up for me from Kroger on a loss leader sale. And yesterday I finally got the box of tvp granules I ordered from Amazon. But, lunch was free (and delicious, thanks Mom!) and we had a good visit. Daughter was the happy recipient of a pair of Fisher Price adjustable roller skates, Barbies and Rescue Heroes- all garage sale rejects from a friend of my brothers. My Mom gifted me with a pair of denim overalls for the boy.
And my sweetie dug up a few Mimosa seedlings from my Mom's yard. So, we actually came out ahead today if you don't count gas money for the 3 hour round trip drive.

All in all a good day.. spending and otherwise.

Spending Tally for the day

After the parent/teacher circus this morning (where both of my children got to frolic and I got to sign them up for free developmental screenings and sessions with an educator) we had to stop by one garage sale.

I had earmarked it earlier in the week before I decided on the spending hiatus. It was close by. So, I counted the money in my wallet- 3.21- and decided I couldn't do too much damage. As it turned out they were already pretty picked over and I, breathing a small sigh of relief, only came away with spending one quarter on two spools of satin ribbon.

Then I had to stop by Shop N Save to pick up my prescription. 12.00. But, I left the store with only my medicine.


Then we stopped at Aldi so I could pick up milk (fat free and whole) and fruit.

I spent 10.31 for two gallons of milk, a container of grapes, a bag of bananas, and a clamshell of strawberries. Oh, and a bag for .05 since I forgot to bring one in with me. I reuse the paper bags over and over again to put my paper recycling in and when they are really beat up they get recycled too so I don't consider it a wasted nickel.


But, a trying afternoon left us drained and so we went out for Chinese food for lunch. And even though we used a coupon lunch was still 18.00.

Tonight is leftover spaghetti and bread from last night with a veggie burger on the side. Dessert is chocolate dipped bananas. Thanks for the idea, Meredith!

So, not a great day but tomorrow is another chance.