My Frugal List: Week of June 3, 2018
We ended last week on a bad note. Our septic tank had some issues. We had to readjust the budget for the month by almost $1000. We do have the money in our emergency fund but I would prefer not to use it. We did get some water in the basement because of it so I decided to bleach the area. That turned into me going through the whole side of the cellar. I pulled apart the food storage, which took most of the week. It needed to be cleaned anyway. I like to go through everything in it twice a year. It helps prevent food waste.
We added some shelves that we were given by a neighbor. There is now more room which is good as I am trying to build it up to 6 months worth.
Hubby had 4 wisdom teeth pulled so we have been taking good care of him. Some items were bought special for him. We are waiting to see how much we will owe. We do have good coverage so it shouldn't be much. The office had a basket of free samples so I took some. They also gave me a pen.
YD finished classes this week. She has a week and a half of finals to get through. Then it will be summer. I cannot wait. We do have some colleges to look at this summer which should be fun.
Lip went home to his mom. He is such a good boy. I'm sure it won't be long before YD steals him again. He loves hanging out on the hammock with me. He is a very silly dog.
YD, her friend and I went to the Vanderbilt mansion, museum and planetarium.The passes were free thanks to our local library. We brought a picnic lunch with us and ate on the great lawn. You get one planetarium show with it so we went to see "The Stars". Always nice to throw some education into a day trip. We had the perfect weather, 75 degrees.
The grounds are amazing. There are gardens and pools everywhere. There are multiple buildings to explore. It was a wonderful day.
We did our usual cooking and bringing lunch to work and school. I cannot image how much we have saved over the years by doing this.
My son mowed and edged the yard. Who needs a gardener when you have a 19 year old son who lives at home.
I did laundry on the short cycle and hung everything outside.
Hubby and I went on a lunch date to Panera. We used bonus gift cards and our son's discount so it was free!
My daughter needed to bring something to one of her classes on the last day so she made cupcakes.
Hubby was offered 2 tickets to a Billy Joel concert this summer. I am so excited!
I got 100 free listings on eBay so I have been listing so much stuff. In the last 2 days I have listed 40 items. Several already have bids.
My son keeps bringing home treats from work.
Did our usual stuff: washed baggies, paid bills online, avoided food waste, shopped sales and used Ibotta.
What did you do this week to save money? Did you have a good week or a not so good week?
Ah, life! Things happen that we don't plan. Luckily you had it covered!
ReplyDeleteThank goodness for the emergency fund.
DeleteBilly Joel Tickets, WOW!
ReplyDeleteI am very excited!
DeleteI am so sorry about the back up into our basement. but dang, Billy Joel tickets for free Yippee!!!! He is on my "Bucket List" of musical artists to see. :) That Vanderbilt mansion looks like a lovely place to visit and planetariums are fun. That reminds me, I need to check into the one at Washington State University and try to take my oldest 2 grandsons there this Summer. :)
ReplyDeleteMy kids still enjoy planetarium and so do I. Free makes it even better. Being from Long Island I think it's about time to see Billy Joel perform. I have seen his house a few times.
DeleteHi Mcoia and you have had a wonderful week and I hope your DH's pain levels from having his wisdom teeth removed has subsided somewhat. I also a few years ago had to have all mine removed but fared very well compared to most pain wise and was at work the next day.
ReplyDeleteBit of a hard week for us here as we both have had the flu and been battling by doing short stints on tasks as we have the energy to do so, but we made it :) and are both feeling better. We have been thinking this week a lot on finances and working out the best way our money can work for us to our advantage.
Finances -
- Banked some more money for the month into our emergency kitty.
- Decided since we have built up our food storage levels and only go grocery shopping once every 2 - 3 months to each fortnight bank our grocery money into a high interest bank account to earn interest until we need to use it. Got to love bank interest on grocery money :D .
- We also went and saw our ward clerk and since I am a dependent spouse as I am a carer (not earning enough income to pay tax) to DH who is on a military compensation pension (still classed as working in the defense force) for him to pay my tithe and offerings to reduce both his income and the amount of tax he pays each year. This should save us from our estimates around $300 odd a year in tax we have to pay where that money can go into paying for needed items, bills or house deposit savings in our household.
Purchases -
- Purchased a 4lt dutch oven on special from Aldi for $23 saving $181.11 over buying an equivalent brand in our small country kitchenware store. We will use this on top of our slow combustion fireplace during winter to cook roasts and heat up bulk meals we have prepared in the freezer rather than using the electric stove to save on electricity costs.
Groceries -
- Used our other $350 for $300 grocery e voucher and with 50% off specials saved in total $70.60 off our grocery costs. We used this partly for our 2 monthly groceries and the other part for stocking generic brand staples to increase our food storage.
In the gardens -
- Picked 100 g of cherry tomatoes which we used for meals and 100 g of strawberries we froze for smoothies, ice cream toppers and jam from the gardens.
In the kitchen -
- Blanched and froze 51 bags or 6 months food for the 2 of us of sweet potatoes picked from our vegetable gardens. Still have more to go which will supply us with a years worth of sweet potatoes.
- Made a cheesecake lasting 3 nights dessert for the 2 of us from cream cheese purchased on special and free lemons from a friend we traded vegetables from our gardens with saving $8.38 over buying it in the local supermarket.
- Made a big 3 kg batch of sweet potato and pumpkin soup to last us 2 nights meals from sweet potatoes picked from our gardens and potatoes purchased on special saving us $28 over purchasing it premade in the shops.
Usual frugal things we did -
- Used vegetable washing, cooling, boiling and dish rinsing water to water vegetable seeds in the gardens (we are drought declared here), watered the lawns with saved grey water from our showers and washing machine rather than using town water, used our slow combustion stove to boil water for our cuppas and to reheat meals on rather than turn on the kettle and stove to save electricity, only turned on our electric hot water system when the water needed heating and washed out clip seal freezer bags for re-use.
Hope everyone has a great week ahead.
Sewingcreations15.
Hubby did real well with the pain. He only used the pain meds the day of the removal. He has been doing fine on Advil otherwise. I'm sorry that you and your husband have been sick. It stinks that both of you got it at the same time. It seems you still were able to get a lot done. I hope you are felling better this week and have a great week.
Deletewhat a mess with septic. I have been going through my basement storage as well. it is always nice to get it straightened.
ReplyDeletegreat on a free lunch and WOOHOO on the tickets. That will be a fun date!