Quick 5 Frugal Things

Things I do to save from the top of my head-

Navy Shower.  I turn the water off when I soap up, when I brush my teeth, and when I shave.

Air Dry.  I open my dishwasher to air dry my dishes.  Anything on the top rack gets a quick shake off.

Use Less- A smidge of toothpaste, half the amount of detergent, conditioner mostly on the ends of hair, etc.

Pick Up Pennies- And anything else usable you find on the ground.  It all adds up.  I've gotten some cute jewelry and hair clips for my daughter.  Just wash and air dry.

Eat Your Pantry- It's already paid for.  Save the cost of gas, your time, and make extras for the next meal.

Frugal OOTD- And some penny pinching beauty ideas.

With the exception of my undergarments (which I bought on sale), all my clothes and even my earrings came from thrift stores or the clearance rack.  I scored some Catherine's jeans on the $1 rack on Tuesday.  They fit great! 


Energie black and white sweater hoodie 2.99
Merona ribbed black tank top 1.99
Catherine's Jeans 1.00 (normally $60)
Black beaded dangle earrings (new on card) 1.00
Socks  Free after coupon
Converse One Star Gray tennis shoes 4.99 Target clearance

Now let's talk about the beauty regimen-

My Olay face wash was bought at a salvage store for 2.99.  Olay really is the only thing that does not break me out. 

My homemade soap was from the clearance/ugly bin at a soap maker's stall at a flea market for $1.99.  Not 100% frugal but I love it and I supported a small business.

Today was not a hair washing day.  I wash my hair every other day.  I also take navy showers to save water and heating.  I would have used products that my MIL gave me when she cleared out her stockpile of free after purchase items. 

I used some expensive Coola moisturizer from Birchbox that I had previously loved.  I earned points to buy socks for men in my family but I won't buy this again.  The cucumber smell is overwhelming. 

My deodorant came from Big Lots for $1.99.  I'm trying get away from aluminum deodorants so I'm using this Arm & Hammer Essentials.  

My body lotion was scraped together from three mostly empty hotel samples.  I've been adding a tiny bit of water to the almost empty bottle and shaking it to get at all the product.  I'm using stuff up from my collection too.  The recycling bin has been getting a work out.

My Cartier perfume was a free sample.

My makeup (and brushes) came from free samples with purchase from Lancome and Clinique,  Sephora Birthday Gift, Dollar Tree, and my favorite Clinique powder was bought during a free bag with purchase sale.   I only buy from Clinique and Lancome when they are having their free makeup bag with purchase.  Since I am trying to use up my stockpile, I haven't bought any in a few months.


I love to have nice things.  I love to wear make up and jewelry.  I don't always love spending a ton of money to do so.

Cheap Thrills of the Day

•  I'm paying bills and finishing rebates so no late fees and a bit of change.  My favorite rebate deal right now is $2.00 back on  Flav-Or-Ice 100 ct. freezer pops.  The rebate is on the bottom of the carton.  Kmart has a $1 off coupon in their store coupon booklet.  This will be awesome for the 4th of July parade float give aways next week.  

• I'm hanging a load or two of laundry on my line

•  Soaking black beans for the freezer because we're running low on canned beans and our pantry is full.

• Planning a pantry meal of tacos, soon to expire canned beans, dip I made earlier in the week and organic salad mix I keep forgetting about in the fridge. 

• Making dessert from some stuff that needs to be cleared out of my pantry.   

• Gathering library material to return before my late fees grow

•  Turning down the a/c and turning on fans in the rooms we're in.  

• Planning a cheap date night with my kids to the local $1 theater to see RIO 2 while my husband has a guy's night out.  We'll make a homemade pizza together before we go.

• Not really frugal but I'm making the kids and I to do lists today to keep them from being screen zombies.   I'll take them to the park after we go to the library. 

•  Getting ready to harvest some cherry tomatoes off the clearance plant I bought from Lowes.  It needed water and tlc. 

• Making lunch at home before we go out.  We have cherries, oranges and strawberries that need to get eaten and bread going stale so we're having pb toast and fruit.

5 Things I Want And 5 Things I'm Happy About

I want

- A clothes line outside
- A compost bin
- An outdoor dining table
- An overnight date with my husband
- Less spiders in my basement


I'm Happy About

- Not having anywhere to be today
- A library book on hold for me to pick up today The Penny Pincher's Club by Sarah Strohmeyer (thank you to the Non Consumer Advocate FB group)
- The very loud sound of my bread machine making a loaf of what I hope is tasty orange spice bread
- The mini vacation we took this weekend where we got to swim in a hotel pool,  take the kids to George Washing Carver National Monument, The Precious Moments Chapel,  and for my aunt and uncle who put us up in a pop up rv and took us for a boat ride/swim on the lake
- An easy to please hubby who's happy with a $5 take out pizza or a quick spaghetti dinner

Free Movies

It was many months after registering on their website that I finally got a gofobo invite for a movie screening in my inbox. Lately I've been getting about one a week. Unfortunately, I've only been able to go to one screening since we've had conflicts or lack of a babysitter every other time.
Most of the time the screenings I've been offered are in the middle of a weekday but if you like free movies and have a loose schedule you might really like gofobo.com.
Make sure to get to your movie half an hour early. The screening of Super 8 that hubby and I went to was packed. We had to sit in the front row. Still, it was a free movie so I'm not going to cry about it.

Guess What I Did?

I went into K-Mart today with Mom and I left empty handed.

Garage Sale Day 1

I made $150 today at our garage sale. My Mom made about $68. We still have a lot of stuff left to sell on Saturday plus I'm encouraged to go through our house once more and find more stuff to put out.

The best part is knowing that a lot of that stuff is gone from my house. We sold our old bed frame and box springs which are no longer needed because we bought new bedroom furniture. I sold them cheap at $30 but am happy just knowing that I didn't have to haul them back into the garage.

Tidbits

Free Food-
Yesterday we harvested some wild spiceberries. Today I washed them and dried them out in the oven so I can grind them to make a seasoning similar to allspice.

Cheap Hand soap-

I've taken to refilling my soap pump bottles in our upstairs with bits of leftover bar soap and water. The soap bits tend to collect at the bottom and the water floats to the top. I just shake it every now and then. Whenever I have small bits of soap leftover I crumble it up and put it inside the bottle and add a little water. The soap doesn't lather much but it gets us clean and rinses off faster than gooey gel soap. And I never have to lug the giant soap refill bottle upstairs anymore.

Portrait of a Good Life

My Mom was visiting for a few days and we went to garage sales this morning. I didn't find much but I did get a few goodies.

Free Wooden Hangers
25 cent VHS kids movie
$1 one cup coffee maker that I don't have to buy those expensive mini cups for
25 cent wire basket for mail
$3 alarm clock for Big Girl
50 cent princess wall decoration for Big Girl
Not pictured is a smocked yard of material we made into a skirt for Big Girl

This giant matchbox play set was free.
Here are two of five zucchinis I've picked this week from my front yard. I sent my Mom home with three of them. (And also a loaf of banana bread we made)


My front porch area. I love my new chair. The cosmo seeds I collected from my mother-in-laws plants last year have really been a hit. Great punch of color and the bumble bees love them. See also the pile of rocks and geodes that we collected last weekend at my in-laws farm.

Here is my Mom sewing a dress for Big Girl. We found a scraps in the pile of stuff from my Grandma's collection that were already cut for a skirt. It was the perfect size for a sundress for Big Girl. Mom did most of the sewing because I am very sewing challenged. We already had the machine out for the skirt material we bought anyway (which is technically not me buying new clothes, see?)

Here's Big Girl wearing her new dress and holding up the skirt we sewed up for her. I found some butterfly appliques in my craft stash. It think this sun dress will be even cuter with a t-shirt underneath of it. My Mom left the straps long so I can adjust it as she grows.

Mystery Can Edition 3

Did I hit frugal pay dirt when I bought this unlabeled ten cent can today?

(also, a jar of what I think is traditional flavored Prego for 75 cents)

Let's find out-

Blech, tamales again. I froze these for my Father-in-law, an omnivorous man of questionable taste (head cheese or blood sausage anyone?). Ten cents of fun for me. Hours of heartburn for him. Win/Win.

Good Reads

BabyCenter shares a list of 25 things that are good about raising kids in a bad economy.

Donna Freedman reminisces about what her family's hard times have taught her. Would you be willing to work picking and cleaning carrots for 2 cents a bushel?

Trent at The Simple Dollar blogs about how to help our parents as they age. This is something I have been thinking about a lot lately as my Father has passed away and my Mom is retiring soon.

Riding slowly on the frugal wagon

I've been gingerly stepping my toes back into the frugality waters. Here's a list of my meager triumphs-

Made dinner two nights in a row- spaghetti with corn and a stroganoff with veggies and veg. chic chunks.
Made orange bread from scratch to snack on
Did not buy anything or go anywhere yesterday
Started working on coupons again but threw away grocery store circulars because I shopped on Tuesday (Aldi)
Am hand washing the silk dress I bought for my cousin's wedding on Saturday instead of taking it to the cleaner. (I bought a silk dress, barely worn life stride pumps, a pretty necklace and a blazer for under $15 total at Value Village for his wedding)
Tonight I'm making a version of Jen's Spicy Thai Noodles with tofu and lots of veggies.
Emptying our collection of sample and hotel shampoos into a big empty bottle. Yeah, not really frugal but I'm decluttering and giving the kids the mini bottles to play with in the tub. Free bubbles.

Agenda Today- Cleaning the Kitchen

The cranberry walnut bread that I made from Thanksgiving leftovers is burnt on top. We've been cutting the top off and eating the rest. It's still pretty good.
It has been a busy week full of field trips, errands, extra homework, and other things. My kitchen has suffered the brunt of it. Add that to the fact that I am not exactly organized and I have a big mess to deal with.



These tin canisters were a serendipitous find at Value Village yesterday. I can clean up my counter tops with the vintage brown and cream farm theme that I adore. The price was right too. A little soap and water and I'll be all set to put my kitchen to rights.

My current thrifting/garage sale dream find is a set of Spode pheasant dinner ware.

Frugal Foods of the Day

I:
loaded up my crock pot with sale purchased can goods, free* peppers, and a handful of tvp to make chili.
heated up my oven and made cookies, corn bread and two loaves of wheat bread for a baking day.
stretched our drinking milk by mixing up instant milk for our bread recipes.
made grilled cheese and tofurky sandwiches instead of buying taco bell.
boiled free* eggs for a protein rich snack for our sick girl

The stock pile in the basement provided canned tomatoes, frozen cheddar cheese, paper towels, and toilet paper. I don't plan on grocery shopping this week as we have enough food already.

We'd been out of paper towels upstairs for over a week and I've been making do with our cloth napkins. After I use up our supply of paper towels I don't know if I'll want to keep buying them. I didn't miss them all that much.

*The free food came from my in-laws farm.

I've been enjoying reading Hodding Carter's Frugal Guy blog this week too.

The Mystery Can Game edition 2

I do like a bargain. And for a nickel or a dime I'll take the chance on what I'm buying. Plus, it's fun to discover the mystery lurking inside the unlabeled can.

This unlabeled five cent can called to me from the clearance cart.

I needed a side dish for our spaghetti dinner. Hmm, what's in the can?
Mmm, applesauce. We had a side dish and enough for a lunch box portion for Big Girl. Five cents well spent.

WooHoo Shopping Happiness!

For someone who really dislikes malls, I really do like to shop! Ok, scratch that- I like to save.

Over a year ago my beloved Big Lots closed. Today I spied a sign in the window of their old store.

Value Village Thrift Opening Soon!

That's even better!

What is wrong with me and this Twilight Series obsession?

I have hours this afternoon to myself.

I could go see the new Harry Potter movie and spend money on myself. But, I really just feel like folding and putting away clean laundry then curling up in my bed and reading New Moon for the eighth time. New Moon is my favorite book in the series. I love the relationship between Bella and Jacob.
My cats Chloe and Fusty, a fresh load of whites, my favorite blanket, and a good book. All I need is a Diet Coke and I'm all set.

What I love about my frugal lifestyle-

1. My stockpile. Almost never needing to run to the store and pay full price for something we need is great. (especially when we're busy or sick) Today I needed dishwasher tablets, pancake syrup, and bread. A quick trip to the basement and I had all three. Now I'll just have to wait until the next coupon/sale to replenish.

2. Making my own essentials. A few years ago I would have never dreamed I would/could make my own baby wipes, dishwasher detergent, pancake syrup, laundry detergent, or bread. Now I know if I keep my pantry stocked I can whip up most of whatever we need in a pinch.

3. My veggie garden. The tomatoes are puny and sad but I have to say that this year is much better than last year. I don't weed, hoe or water like I should but whenever I do I get intense joy in seeing how a tiny seed can give us beautiful vegetables. I am mixing up my garden next year and getting some manure from family for fertilizer. But, I am slowly but surely learning how to tend a tiny garden. My cherry tomato plant is flourishing in it's pot. I may do all tomato pots next year instead of planting them in a bed.

4. The library. In the past few days our entertainment has been library dvds and books. When we took a recent road trip the kids enjoyed watching a library movie while we listened to a book on tape. The best part is that during the summer we get special prizes for reading. Well, if I'm going to read anyway why not enjoy the rewards.

5. Appreciating what I do have. I don't let myself spend a lot of money on home furnishings. But, I splurged on floor length drapes and pretty new hardware for a big bay window that previously had hideous mauve shades. Now instead of cringing I look at them and smile and I don't regret a penny that I spent on them. They look so good with the toile pillow that I picked up at the furniture thrift store for $2.

What's Delicious Around Here- Homemade Chocolate Syrup

I got the kids to finish their cereal by using up the last of our Aldi's LaMissa chocolate syrup. To get the dregs out of the bottle I poured in some milk and swished it around. They gobbled their cereal up for once without complaining. And as I turned to recycle the bottle, I realized that I could reuse it by making Amy Dacyczyn's recipe. If you don't have the Complete Tightwad Gazzette (go buy one), Our Red House has a copy of the recipe.

It was simple to make and tastes fantastic. I think the key is using good cocoa. Hershey's is my favorite. I prefer my own syrup over the taste of Hershey's bottled syrup too. Hershey's pre-made syrup is too sweet while the homemade Hershey's tastes rich and dark. I don't know how much money I'm saving but I know I'm enjoying it a lot more. This morning I turned my cup of coffee into a mocha by using that syrup and some milk. Yum!

Enjoying the Everyday

My little veggie patch might not impress anyone else but I get a sweet thrill when I see how lush and bushy my pumpkins and zucchini babies are- not to mention the 5 yellow flowers on my Lemon Boy plant that will soon be delicious homegrown (and still organic) tomatoes.

My Asian climbing beans (lab lab?) are coming along beautifully as the squirrels have decided that they are not that tasty. The marigold seeds I scattered are sprouting up everywhere and by the end of summer I will have a vibrant yard full of lush orange blooms.

And my dollar store laundry line has seen action everyday. I get a thrill out of folding slightly crunchy and wind fresh clothing.

I've been keeping on top of my library items so we always have dvds and books for our entertainment.

I'm still trying to save water in my shower by turning off the water while I soap up. It has the added benefit of making me hurry so I can get in and out of the shower in 3 minutes if I don't wash my hair and 7 if I do. The days of languishing in a hot steamy shower are over as I'd rather get on with my day.

This past week we've had a lot of homemade treats- Puddings, bread pudding, apple pie, and cake mix cookies. All of them with things that were in my pantry or freezer. I also surprised Hubby with an impromptu picnic with sandwiches, iced tea, and chips.

Our dining out expenses have been cut this week with the use of a BOGO coupon for a lunch out with hubby, a cheap Taco Bell dinner night, one .49 cent fountain soda from the gas station, and a drive thru treat of mini ice cream cones for 1.37.

I've been air drying out dishes in the dish washer to save on electricity. Last night I mixed up the last tablespoon of Aldi dishwasher powder with some borax, salt and baking soda to make my own cleaner. I'm not using vinegar as a rinse as I have multiple bottles of rinse aid that were free after coupons.

All of these things give me great joy and if they save money or resources that's great too. I like doing more with less so that we can spend on the things we really enjoy like vacations and dinners out.

Playing with my big sweet doggy- priceless.