Frugal Things This Past Week

These are the frugal things we did last week to save a bit of money.

I cooked a 10 lb. ham that I purchased around Thanksgiving for $.89 a lb. We had 3 dinners from it and I used the food saver to package and freeze 12 more meals for us. There is also a package in the refrigerator for sandwiches and to fry for breakfast. That will save us on breakfast meats and cold cuts.

Hubby had worn a hole in one pair of his LL Bean jeans. We patched it for him to wear around the yard. But he needed to order more jeans. So I went through Rakuten(formerly Ebates) to Raise.com and purchased a $50. LL Bean gift card after discount and coupon code for $43.82. I will get $ .45 back from Rakuten. 

My son and grandson came to breakfast on Saturday this past weekend. My son and Hubby went outside to remove the tree and got a surprise. There is new growth on it. We are hoping that because spring was so late this year that it will grow and bloom. So they will wait another three weeks to see. If not then they will dig it out.

My lilac bushes are in full bloom. The smell is wonderful. I have been cutting some to put in a vase in the house. No purchased flowers for me once everything starts blooming.


We needed cushions for the chairs of our new patio set that we purchased on a 30% off sale. Since we had $ 250. in Lowe’s gift cards that were discounted ($50. off)on a Top’s deal last Nov.-Dec., we used some of those to purchase them yesterday.

I have been doing something new. I am curious to see how much extra income we accumulate because of coupons, random checks that come in the mail that we weren’t expecting, my senior discounts, Kohl’s cash, Raise.com discounted gift card amounts, Ibotta, Fetch, Checkout 51 amounts, Rakuten, gas savings from points, cash back from our credit cards, etc. You get the idea. I am treating all of these amounts as extra income because without doing these things we would have had to spend our income. I used to track this a few years ago but got bored with it. But I have decided to do it again. Grocery coupons don’t give me much because I don’t use many. But other retail store coupons do.  I do not include bottle returns because I put money out for the deposits to begin with. I also do not include the grocery savings that they show on my receipts which is the difference between the retail and sale price. They show it as savings. I don’t consider it savings unless I get to keep money in my pocket right away. I rarely pay full price for anything. This past week’s amount was $ 53.41.

I hand washed a shirt that is bright red because I didn’t trust that it wouldn’t turn my other laundry red. I am also hand washing underwear to make it last longer. All of my new tops are also being hand washed. I don’t want them to shrink right now. Everything is hung to dry and then I iron what needs to be. 

I only did 3 loads of wash in the washer these past couple of weeks: one was towels, one was sheets and one was clothing. I hung all to dry but the towels. We don’t like crunchy towels.

We have not turned on the A/C even on the really warm days because I am hoping for a lower utility bill. This bill will have partial heat on it too.

We have not had to turn on our sprinkler system at all because we have had enough rain to keep everything green. 


I signed up for the Hilton Honors Rewards Program.

I have been trying to use up the small bottles of body wash, shampoo, and hand lotion that I got from my two hospital stays this year. 

The landscape company wanted an additional $ 750. to put mulch down in our gardens. Hubby said it was just too expensive compared to doing it ourselves. However, he has not even ordered the mulch and our gardens badly need it. So I convinced him to contact the company and order it. He also ordered 4 more flowering bushes. He is negotiating with the company manager to bring the price down on the mulch and labor to put it in. UPDATE: Hubby got the company down to $500. for the mulch. Plus they are doing it tomorrow. Win, win!

What have you done this past week to save a buck or two?