Last Month's Frugal Efforts.

I dried sheets and comforters in the sunlight. I found a way to hang my clothes out to dry too. (toddler logistics) I'm looking forward to a lower power bill.

I used up the last of my free sample of body wash.

I have windows open all night and close them in the morning before it starts getting hot so I can avoid using the AC when possible.

I gave my brother some sweet potato chips nobody liked so they wouldn't go to waste. He also received some random foodstuffs I no longer wanted or needed.

My toddler started eating pizza (he's a very picky eater so this is huge!) so while his consumption of organic snack foods will go down, I'll have to come up with inexpensive ways to serve him healthy pizza.

I used some gift cards earned through Swagbucks to buy the toddler some books that were on sale.

I bought my sister's birthday gift for $10 using a promotional credit from Amazon. I'll pair it with some fresh ground coffee from my coffee stash.

I read some awesome free Kindle books. I used a promotional credit from Amazon to purchase the next book in a series.

I signed up for free 3 months of Audible, which means I get three free audio books.

I signed my toddler and I up for the library's summer reading program. I borrowed some books and movies there for free too.

I finally was able to drop off several boxes of donations! They provided me with a receipt so I can write it off during tax time.

I placed an order with the new website Jet.com. (I scored a free 6 month membership, and they just went Live in Beta.) The savings were pretty good. Very comparable to Amazon and Vitacost so it will be a fun challenge to see where I can get things the cheapest.

I saved a bra by pulling out the pokey under wires.

My mom came over willingly to mow our property. Our lawnmower is broken beyond repair, and the grass was at least 2 feet tall. My husband did a dump run for her (and us) in exchange.

I print coupons via Swagbucks, I download coupons to my Fred Meyer/QFC card, I collect coupons from BzzAgent and what I receive in the mail from QFC, and I look for coupons in the local grocery ads and magazines. I try to pass off the ones I don't end up using, though often my toddler usually winds up with them. I've heard about military families being able to use expired coupons so I really need to look into that.

Life insurance through work is ending. I got the ball rolling on getting some elsewhere. And still nagging my husband to do it too.

I talked myself out of some purchases.

I put out the toddler's crumbs and leftover bits on the railing for the birds, squirrels, and chipmunks.

My husband gave the unused moby wrap to his pregnant coworker.

MIL offered us some silverware that her friend didn't want. Instead of throwing out our still somewhat usable utensils My husband and I are taking them to work and donating them to the break rooms.

I gave two packages of diapers to my sister's friend because my toddler outgrew them.

I gave in to my year + long desire to get a Kindle Paperwhite, however, it was used, and it cost me $21 out of pocket (after an Ebay gift card and PayPal cash). I've been reading the Kindle app on my tablet a lot lately, and my eyes are getting strained.

And the usual...bringing coffee and food to work from home.

What have you done lately to be frugal/save money?

Things I Got for Free. Haul #2

See Haul #1 here.

What's pictured?

• Blue spatula
• Cashew milk
• Candy bar
• Deodorant samples
• Disposable razors
• Shaving gel
• Bath poof 
• Body wash
• Face wash
• Lotion
• Coffee
• Baby rash cream
• Seasoning
• Top 'ems
  

What isn't pictured?

• Chocolate truffle bar
• Sriracha ketchup
• Hot dogs
• Box of fruit bars
• Cheese slices
• Organic tortilla chips
  

Estimated value of above items: ~$38

How did I get them for free? A mixture of choosing from the list of available free samples when I placed orders on Vitacost.com, the weekly free item from Kroger stores, and being a BzzAgent.

What have you received for free lately?

Declutter Challenge Weeks 2-4

(More than) two weeks ago I started the declutter challenge. I went out of order, but each day had a different total item count. Here's what I got rid of before I stopped:

April 8th:  7 items one glove, one receipt, one coupon, one bottle of essential oil, two cans of soda, one postcard.
April 9th: 20 items two boxes of magazines, one shirt, one charm, one key chain, one hair tie, two rubber bands, two pairs of scissors, ten paperclips.
April 10th: 19 items two pins, one pen cap, one pen refill, one rubber band, one razor blade,one pencil, one hook, one card, one broken pen, three tacks, two nails, two tags, one business card, one index card.
April 11th:  17 items 5 cans of soda, four necklaces, one pair of gloves, five packages of candles, one package of knee highs, one pair of unmentionables.

I stopped because I had a health emergency situation, and after that ended I was too far behind to catch up.

Initial Thoughts:

It's almost absurd how when I'm looking through things I haven't seen in years that I feel resistance to get rid of them. Things that have not served me in any way, and I suddenly don't want to part with them!

The amount of crap that I've been holding onto --intentionally and unintentionally-- is crazy!

Total number of items gone: 111!

After Thoughts:

As fun as these number challenges are, since this isn't the first challenge I failed...I've come to the conclusion that these challenges just aren't for me, and that's okay. What's important is the desire to have and want less. At this point in my life I just need to declutter at my own pace.

Overall I have been decluttering for over a year. Sometimes it's slow going, but I always keep going. I can see vast improvements. My living room takes less than 5 minutes to pick up my toddler's toys and books at the end of the day. It takes about 10 minutes to hang/fold my husbands clothes, my clothes, and the towels. (it takes 45 minutes to put my toddler's away because he loves playing with his clean clothes)

I did enjoy keeping track of what items I purged. It's motivating, eye opening, and kind of terrifying. I plan to post occasional updates with my decluttering. I still have several trouble spots (linen closet, pantry, kitchen, laundry room, etc.)


What have you decluttered lately?

Meal Plan for May 31st - June 6th

Sunday

Breakfast: Oatmeal and coffee
Lunch: Chips and salsa, leftover yogurt parfait
Dinner: Scrambled eggs and pressure cooked yellow potatoes

Monday

Breakfast: Oatmeal and coffee
Lunch: Leftover hamburger surprise, mashed potatoes, and corn
Dinner: Salad

Tuesday

Breakfast: Parfait and coffee
Lunch: Sandwich and chips
Dinner: Burgers and salad

Wednesday

Breakfast: Parfait and coffee
Lunch: Leftover burger, chips
Dinner: Salad or ?

Thursday

Breakfast: Oatmeal or muffins and coffee
Lunch: Homemade pizza
Dinner: Roast, potatoes, and carrots

Friday

Breakfast: Oatmeal and coffee
Lunch: Waffles
Dinner: Leftover roast, potatoes, and carrots

Saturday

Breakfast: Parfait and coffee
Lunch: Leftover pizza
Dinner: Leftover waffles

What is your meal plan this week?

Last Month's Frugal Efforts.

While waiting for the price to go down on a water table for the toddler I used things already on hand for him to have "water fun" outside. He loved it!

Using up the free body wash sample I received. I also used up a free coffee sample.

I have had a wireless mouse for my laptop on my Amazon wishlist for a couple years. It just so happened to be a Deal of the Day so after using a gift certificate earned from Swagbucks I saved 72%!

On Mother's Day my mom took the toddler and I to the playground for free fun. He had a great time! He loved the slide and the play fire truck.

Instead of buying my mom a Mother's Day card I had my toddler make one.

I made waffles to use up the yogurt I got on a Manager's Special.

My husband and I enjoyed the free Lindt milk chocolate truffle bar we received from the grocery store.

There's a new movie coming out soon and instead of paying to watch it I put a request on it at the library. It will be a pleasant surprise when it's available to watch. It's not a movie I'd pay for.

My mom's Mother's Day gift was paid in full from using a gift certificate redeemed via Swagbucks.

I started planning the rest of the year's special occasion gifts and cards. I bought my sister's birthday card (20% off) using PayPal credit from Ebates. I'm going to have everyone sign this card instead of them each getting her a card.

I looked into Amazon Mom's 20% off diapers and Subscribe and Save. I can get diapers there for $0.17 each instead of the $0.24+ each via Costco. I previously though you couldn't get cheaper diapers than Costco.

I also found organic low acid coffee for $9.12lb. That's a lot cheaper than I was paying elsewhere.

Oddly enough my new smartphone from Republic Wireless is $10 a month unlimited everything, whereas my previous Verizon flip phone cost $20 a month for unlimited texting plus $0.25 a minute. Plus with the smartphone I can take great pictures of my toddler, which brings me joy, I can read even more by using the free Kindle app, I can use a free notepad app to take down things to look into later, etc.

I fell off the meal planning bandwagon a little bit, but I'm going to get back on. My husband neglected grocery shopping for a little bit so we really ate down the food we had on hand. This works out because now we can be more mindful of our food purchases.

I discovered the perks of Amazon Subscribe and Save of 15% off (with 5 subscribed items) plus coupons = major savings. I can change up the subscriptions each month, and many of the items are paid for via gift cards.

I "bought" several free Kindle books. I borrowed many ebooks from my library. My toddler has been enjoying the free kids music videos via Amazon Prime.

I made sure my husband used all possible coupons when he went grocery shopping.

I dragged out the drying rack from the closet, put it outside in the sun, and dried my huge king sized comforter. I've had a hard time getting it properly dried using the dryer, but hanging it outside worked like a charm. I hope to get back into hanging clothes to dry this summer. (toddler logistics)

I have an upcoming dental surgery, and as luck would have it I was able to get on my husband's dental insurance at his work so now I'm double insured, and I won't pay nearly as much out of pocket. Huge savings!

I have been listening to Dave Ramsey's radio show for free at work and via an app on my phone.

And I did the usual of taking my coffee, snacks, and meals to work.

Last week's frugal efforts.

I inventoried my son's clothes so I know what to buy. I was going to stock up on sizes, but I've been advised to not do that past size 2T due to a multitude of factors...so that saves me a lot of money! I'll buy as needed, and I learned that I can get new jeans for $3 on sale at Children's Place with a free shipping coupon. So when I am in need of clothes I'll check that side out.

I purchased a reusable Swiffer duster "refill" on Etsy instead of buying disposables. It was cheaper too (even with a coupon!) No more buying refills!

I bought toddler books that were on sale and sippy cup replacement parts using Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks and PerkTV so it cost nothing out of pocket. He loved his books, and I love that the replacement parts were cheaper than buying a new cup, and they will last twice as long.

I carpooled to/from work and brought my coffee/food from home.

We found that using coconut oil on little one's itchy skin soothed it so now we don't have to buy "anti itch cream" per MIL's request.

I've been enjoying free ebooks from the library.

I have been using up things in the pantry that have been living in there for awhile. This saves on the need to spend more on groceries. I made some orange crush jello that was kind of gross, but my MIL liked it so I gave her the other two boxes. We've cut down on soda to practically zero so I brought all the Hansen's brand cans to work for people to enjoy. I did keep the root beer so we can make root beer floats as special treats as the weather gets hotter.

I'm using up my various products (moisturizer, etc.) so I can use more natural and simple items as well as make my own.

I took my toddler for a walk to see the cows and goats on the mini farm down the road. He loves watching them, and sometimes they will come right up to the gate.


What were your frugal efforts last week?

Last week's frugal efforts.

I really didn't want to make my mom's birthday cake. I just really, really didn't feel like it. So I gave my brother some cash and asked him to please buy an angel food cake. He bought me a mix! I ended up making the cake at the last minute. Luckily it was easy, and everyone loved it. I'll either keep the mix for use in the summer or return it.

I've been reading free Kindle books and ebooks from my library. I signed up for BookBub so I get daily emails with free or reduced ebooks in genres of my choosing. I "buy" the books that sound appealing. I have hundreds of books waiting to be read. (and they aren't physical copies cluttering up my house!)

My toddler has great interest in coupons and magazines and other paper-like things. I handed him a stack of expired coupons, and he played/studied/stacked them for a long time. He also took great joy in playing with the box of magazines I was decluttering. I'm glad he loves to play with random things so I don't have to buy a lot of toys.

I've been using old shampoo that didn't work well with my hair as a body wash instead of just tossing it.

I've been using the heaters less. I'm tempted to put the bedroom space heater away until next Fall.

A few months ago I accidentally bought tons of organic coffee that was on sale from Costco.com, and my husband doesn't like it that much. So he came up with the idea of me taking some to work to share with everyone. (yes, I could return it, but this way I help coworkers escape the Folgers)

A couple months ago the bulb went out in our bedroom salt lamp that we used as a night light. We still haven't replaced the bulb. Before we kept this thing on 24/7 (shudder) but now it hasn't been on at all.

On our date night (first one in months!) we went to a theatre, and we saved at least $5 by accepting their free rewards card. I didn't even have to register any info. They just handed me the card. Score! With this card we can see movies for $5 every Tuesday. Not that we'll be going there every Tuesday, but it's nice to know that for future date nights we can have a cheap date.


What frugal accomplishments have you achieved this past week?