What We Have Done Frugally Recently

These are the things we have done frugally the last few weeks:

– Baked 4 loaves of pumpkin bread. Froze 3. We load that oven up when we do use it.

– Made our own tartar sauce.

– Used our air fryer at least 3 times a week to save the energy of using our oven or toaster oven. The air fryer takes so much less energy as do so many other small appliances.

 – Been eating out of the pantry, freezer, and fridge for weeks now. I rarely go to the grocery store for anything but veggies, milk, and half and half.

– I have only been doing 2 loads of wash in the HE per week and then hanging them to dry.

– I found an outdated bottle of acetaminophen so I called my pharmacist. He told me since they are pills they are probably good for another year or two. Obviously, the manufacturer wants me to buy more. But I would never take an outdated pill- prescription or OTC without calling him. So always check with your pharmacist before you even attempt to use an outdated medicine.

– I asked my dentist for Poligrip samples in case they are needed. He stocked me up but told me not to use it until I am fully healed. He also told me that Polident to soak my denture is a waste of money. Cleaning it well with water is all that is necessary. I will run a test with it since I use those tablets to clean my toilets.  

– My son gifted me very expensive name brand cleaners and hand soap this weekend. They are all natural which is what I use. Five cartons of all purpose cleaner, hand soap, window cleaner and toilet bowl cleaner. I was ecstatic. He was gifted many cartons so he shared with me. I will not have to buy these things for at least a year which is a huge savings. 


– Our heat is off and we will try to keep the A/C off as much as possible. We have many ceiling fans and other portable fans we can use.

– We must be doing something right. When I read the electric meter to submit to the company, we used 200 less KWH than last month. I know part of that was the furnace clicking on and off but we have done everything possible to lower our electric bill the past 4 weeks.  Most of our cooking has been on the grill and in the air fryer. We have also been eating lots of salads. I am going to try eating one tonight to see if I can do it. I was able to eat chicken yesterday. Lights are off during daytime hours. TV is never left on for noise. Computers are off when not in use. Our gas usage was also down but that is less heat and rarely using our stove.

– I deposited two checks into our savings yesterday.

– I purchased another pair of jeans and a top on sale and defrayed the cost using $20. in Kohl’s cash.   

– The last two weeks I have not had to make a huge breakfast for my family because they have brought and paid for donuts. This weekend I will again start cooking.

– I am still enjoying flowers from both of my sons families that they gave me for Mother’s Day. They have lasted a long time. I know have 4 white roses as good as the day they were delivered in a different vase. Soon I will have blooming flowers outside that I can cut and put in a vase.

– I washed the car and cleaned the interior and windows. That saved us $30. to $40. depending on which car wash I took it to. We never pay for a car wash in the good weather.

– I am no longer using K cups for my coffee. Now if I could only talk Hubby out of his. I am using a disposable cup with ground coffee. I had a B1G1F bag of coffee that we purchased when we were in Florida in January. It has been in the freezer to keep it fresh. Right now I am using that and then will use up free Dunkin Donut coffee samples that I have. MY DIL was kind enough to let me know that $5.99 is a good price for the large cans of coffee. Since it was on sale this week, I picked one up. I don’t care what brand of coffee I use as long as it is strong. Hubby is stuck on Green Mountain Breakfast Blend Decaf.

– I have been walking every day for exercise. On the days it rains, I use the recumbent bike. 

– Hubby went to the greenhouse at Niagara Produce and purchased two hanging baskets for the front porch. They were the best nursery price in town.

– I am again stockpiling tap water in used and washed out bottles.

– Hubby has been cleaning and organizing his work benches. This way he can find his tools and doesn’t have to run out and buy a duplicate. He is doing a great job. I am very impressed.

-We did our own bug control when spring finally arrived. I don’t want ants or spiders in our home. A large container of insecticide is so much cheaper than a bug service especially since we buy it at Walmart.

– Finally they are putting the road in behind us and will start building houses again. This should break up the wind and eventually save us on heating bills. 

– I sewed two buttons back on two shirts. They came off in the washing machine. 

– I cut three pair of old jeans off to make shorts. I will not have to buy any shorts this year. I have two new ones I bought last season for going out and these for hanging around the house.

– We are going to sell our weed whacker that we replaced on Craigslist.

– I took Hubby’s bottles to Fast Cash and reaped $ 6.30.

– So far I have charged all of my large dental bills on a cash back credit card. I will continue to do that right through getting my permanent denture. This will give us a nice wad of money back. We always pay our CC bills when due. I love making money off the CC company. We never pay interest.

That is about it for now. Please feel free to share with all of us what you did to save some money lately in comments.