Frugal Things The Past Couple of Weeks

Well, I hope you are feeling Happy today! I know I am! Sorry to be absent the past couple of weeks but we had to be available for family, spent many hours a day trying to find a place that would actually have a vaccine appointment, and spent many hours with lawyers working on estate things along with the usual everyday things that we all have to spend time on.

I can happily tell you that Hubby and I have both gotten our first vaccine injections. We are looking forward to getting the second shots. I hope that if you are over 65 that you have been able to get yours too.

Now for the frugal things that we have done while I have been absent:

• I have done no grocery shopping during that time. We have been eating from our pantries, freezer, and refrigerator. I am planning a trip to the store and will post about it when it has happened.
• I have been using up all of the cooked meals that we had frozen.
• I made a run to the bank and got grocery money out for three months so that I could skip a couple of trips. The bank is a 30 minute drive in heavy traffic. The less time I can spend going there the better and it also saves on gasoline.
• Hubby took 5 bags of bottles and cans to Fast Cash and received $7.65 back in deposits.
• Hubby snow blowed our driveway after the latest storm and shoveled the driveway and porch. So many of my neighbors hire a plow driver and it is so expensive. We purchased the snow blower when we moved here and it is certainly paying for itself.
• Our natural gas and electric utility bill came and was only a couple of dollars more than last year even though we had a rate increase.
• I am noticing that grocery prices are continuing to go up due to inflation. I spent a morning at Walmart checking out all kinds of prices on things that we use all the time. I had to pick up a sweater so while I was there I updated our price book. I am seeing increases of $ .25 to over $ 1.00 per item. Meat especially seems to be rising whether it is fresh or canned. We will be making changes to what we buy as the price increases continue to head upwards. I will do a post about that in the future.
• I did buy a necessity. Hubby said the shower floor was becoming too slippery for him. So I spent $ 15.11 for a shower mat. I do not want him to fall.
• I went to the car wash and used 5 car wash coupons that I had gotten from previous washes to get a free wash. The SUV needed it badly since it was so dirty from the dirt and salt that the town puts on our roads.
• Hubby downloaded “NEXT” and we binge watched it. I was great free entertainment.
• I continue to exercise here at home on the treadmill and recumbent bike.
• We paid our usual landscaping and fertilizing services so that we could take advantage of a 5% discount.
• We did the usual of washing our laundry in cold water all except for towels and bedding. We hung most of our laundry to dry.
• I spend time every week dry canning our pasta and grains until I get it all caught up.
• I ordered vegetable seeds for the spring. They were a necessity this month because so many companies are getting orders early and I am afraid that they will sell out early.
• Hubby had a Telehealth visit with a doctor which lets him stay away from people along with saving us gasoline.
• I can’t think of anything else at the moment. Please feel free to share your frugal things with us in the comments.