Categories
Every Day

Frugal Things We Have Done Recently

We had our gas furnace tuned up and checked by our family owned company that we use. We had a coupon to pay $ 69. for it. Then I checked my utility company site and found out that we could apply for a $50. rebate. Make sure that you check your utility sites for any rebates they offer. The heating guy checked our humidifier on the furnace too and said the water wasn’t moving in it. He said he needed a certain part to fix it and that he didn’t have it on the truck. Hubby didn’t think that it needed that part so he told him he would fix that himself. Sure enough, the tube was clogged. Hubby has repaired that.

I took my granddaughter bowling. I found a $10. coupon to defray the cost.

We had pizza delivered on Monday for dinner. They were running a football deal because it was Monday night football. We took advantage of that.

We all watched the Buffalo Bills game on Monday night. It was cheap entertainment. Go Bills!

My granddaughter and I spent many hours just chatting and playing UNO. We do not have to spend a lot of money to have a good time.

Lights are off during daylight hours.

We took a trip to the Amish store where we picked up some treats, fresh jalapenos, oatmeal, rice, bacon and spices that I needed. Their prices are so much cheaper than the supermarkets.

I did a load of laundry and threw my granddaughters clothes in to make a full load. That will save her from having to wash them when she goes home. We washed in cold water and hung many things to dry.

We are caulking and foaming places that need it to make sure we don’t lose heat this winter.

I am still picking tomatoes. I have been busy with my granddaughter since last Friday, so I froze them to can when I am not so busy.

Hubby cooked a sirloin steak on the outdoor grill rather than use the broiler in the house.

We have been trying to eat up all the leftovers: donuts, banana bread, chicken strips and tater tots, broccoli and cauliflower, deli meats, salad greens, etc.

Hubby sauteed the leftover steak in butter and garlic in the electric fry pan. We ate it with scrambled eggs for breakfast.

Our A/C has been off for over a week.

The nights are getting cold here but rather than turn on the heat we have piled on the blankets. I am debating whether we will use our electric blanket this year. A few regular blankets will save us money.

My son drove Alexa to our home and he stayed a couple of days. It is a cross state trip. Rather than us drive her all the way back on Saturday, we drove 1/2 way and met her mother who took her home the rest of the way. It saved us time and gas. I already miss Alexa. We had so much fun while she was here for 8 days.

We got our September 2022 electric and natural gas bill. We used 597 kwh and 4 ccf’s of natural gas. The bill was $ 122.62. The September 2021 bill was $ 132.12 for 828 kwh and 3.1 therms. It is a good thing that we watched our usage. If we had used 828 kwh like last year, our bill would have been huge. We watched everything we did power wise and it made a big difference. We will continue to conserve as much as we can. While I was looking at the bill, I decided to see how much we spent on these utilities the past year. From Oct. 2021 through Sept. 2022, the total bill was $ 2055.58. I would love to get that figure under $2000. but with prices on the rise, I don’t think it is possible. But you know I will try my very best to keep it down.

Hubby and I used up many leftovers last night. We made Chef’s salads for dinner. We used up the rest of the lettuce, one tomato, some purple onion that was diced up a week ago, leftover black olives and deli turkey, leftover sharp cheddar cheese, and leftover cooked bacon. We even finished up a bottle of ranch dressing. It was delicious! Tonight, I am hoping to incorporate either some leftover tater tots or rice. So we will either have tater tot casserole or fried rice.

What have you been doing lately to save some money?

4 replies on “Frugal Things We Have Done Recently”

Hi Precious, the picture of your tomatoes sure looks good. Our tomatoes have pretty much flopped this year. Hubby took out the stalks for those and the cucumbers today. He still has a few pepper plants going and will get them next weekend.

I told you I would report on the water bill when I got it. It was $84.xx, but $20 of that was the trash charge. I called as soon as I was 60 a few years ago to get the senior discount on the trash our town makes available. Every little bit helps. This is a monthly bill here now. I was pretty happy with how we are doing on it. The water part is only about $5 more than we were paying when we moved from our former house 8 years ago this Dec. Our former house the trash was on the property taxes.

Hubby was working out of town this week and so I thought I would go get some carry out while he was gone one night. I went to Chipotle and ordered what I normally get there and this time it was $11.00. I was shocked. The last time I went it was $8.xx. I did not order a drink and in our state there is no sales tax for carry out, only if you eat in. So, needless to say, I won’t be doing that again anytime soon. I did have some extra grocery money that I used to pay for it, so no credit card.

We had the granddaughters last night for a sleepover. We did take them out to Wendy’s for a treat for supper after church. It was $30, so we did not get donuts this morning and instead hubby made some Mickey Mouse pancakes, which they loved. I made scrambled eggs.

Yesterday hubby went to get the bird seed for the winter season. He likes to feed the birds in the winter. He does like the Wild Birds Unlimited store b/c they have high quality no-mess seed, but he gets it at their annual sale for a better price. He saw they had peanuts and corn for a similar price as Tractor Supply, so went ahead and bought those also to save on gas and a separate trip. He also bought a bottle of the hot sauce that keeps the squirrels from eating the expensive food. The peanuts and corn are for them. The thistle he bought at Menards on the way home since it was cheaper there. I know it is a luxury to feed the birds in the winter, but he really enjoys it and I don’t fuss about it since he tries to be good about what he buys. I just try to cut back elsewhere so he can do. The little girls love watching them too. He spent $200, but said that should last all winter, except he may need to get another bag of no-mess if it is a hard winter.

Hi Chris,

I am so sorry that yours did not do well this year. Mine are almost done now. I think I will picking the last of them today.

That is nice that you get a senior discount on the trash. We have nothing like that here. Yeah on the water bill. Our trash is an expense on our property taxes here. We paid $ 332. for this calendar year.

Fast food prices are ridiculous. It is so much cheaper to eat at home. We will be doing that for the rest of the year. Pancakes always seem to be a hit with the grandchildren here too.

I love that your Hubby feeds the birds all year. We love watching them too just like your granddaughters. $ 200. is great for enjoyment of his hobby.

We are also still picking tomatoes, although we lost the majority of our garden due to a heat wave a few weeks ago.

Your chef salads sound delicious!

I’ve picked up a few things I need off of Buy Nothing, and I volunteered at a soccer tournament for a few hours on Saturday, which saves me $100 off of my kids club soccer fees. I have also been planning a trip for us all to see my husband’s family. Regardless of how we do it, it will be very expensive, but likely the last time he gets to see his mother, so it will be worth it. With that kind of trip, lots of planning is the key to saving as much as possible, with flights, hotels, points, mileage, upgrades, free room awards, etc.

Hi HP,

I am so sorry that you lost so much of your garden. Enjoy the ones that you have left.

Wow! That is a great benefit for the soccer. That trip will be worth every penny. Good luck using all of those deals to make it more affordable.

Thanks for sharing. It was good to hear from you.

Leave a Reply