Frugal Things We Have Done This Past Week

These are the things we have done frugally the past week:

We had our driveway sealed. It had been three years since we had had it done. The man who does it for us has been doing driveways for almost 50 years. He is $50. cheaper than anyone else and does a fantastic job. Final cost to us was $97.20. He has usually done our driveway every 2 years for us. I guess we forgot to call him last year.

Top’s has been running 4 day only sales at the end of their sales week. This past week, they had Jennie O Turkey Breasts on sale for $.88 a pound – limit 2. I got 2.  It is rare that I can get meat at under $2.00 a lb. so when I do I get a couple.  They also had a head of iceberg lettuce on sale for $.88. I got one. I love turkey and it is especially good on my diet. So those went into the freezer to cook this fall before the large turkeys go on sale at rock bottom prices.

We are debating fixing a burner on our gas stove. The igniter is not working. Hubby watched some You Tube videos on how to do it. You can’t just buy the igniter; You have to buy the entire part that the igniter is in. It costs over $60. It also means turning off the gas while he is working on it and pulling the stove out from the wall. It will be a lot of work to install the part too. Hubby asked me what I thought. I told him it is the smallest burner on the stove so I rarely use it. We have three larger burners that I use a whole lot more than that one.  I use small appliances more than I use my stove top. When we have an extended family meal, I can always use the electric fry pan in lieu of the extra burner. The stove is over 9 years old and most likely will need replacing in another 5 or so. So I won’t miss that burner. We will see what Hubby decides to do. I am leaning towards doing nothing.

Hubby was told by his specialist to keep a bowl of snack size chocolate bars in his nightstand next to his bed. Hubby sometimes has low blood sugars during the night which wake him up. He then eats one or two Almond Joy snack size bars which bring his sugar up. These bags of bars rarely go on sale and are expensive for the little bit that comes in a bag. He is down to just 4 bars left. So I decided to see if I could buy them in bulk. I found I could get 3- 20oz. bags Jumbo bags at Amazon for about $8.78 a lb. which is way cheaper than what I pay now. There was no shipping even though it wasn’t Prime so this will save me the cost of gasoline to go out and purchase them too. I have logged this price into my price book but I will always be on the lookout for a better price. I can’t find these bars on a Holiday clearance. I have looked many, many years.


Somehow a screw came out of one of our downspouts on our gutters. Hubby found a screw to replace it and fixed it.

I have a shirt that I love that is too big for me that I have kept along with a couple of others to wear around the house especially when I am doing cleaning, cooking, and baking. The one I love developed a tiny hole so I repaired it. It’s comfy and I don’t want it to fall apart anytime soon.  

We joined our neighbors for an evening in front of their fire pit. I brought cheese and crackers and they provided the drinks.  

I read two free books that I downloaded to my Kindle from Amazon. This saved me driving to the library which saved gasoline. 

We also watched two free movies on Amazon Prime this week. I loved  “The Book Club”. I hated “Clue”.  We watch our movies for free. We don’t care if they are years old. We rarely go to a movie unless we are taking a grandchild.

Since we had some rain this week, we didn’t have to use the sprinkler system to water a few days.  

We have been cutting chives from our backyard for our scrambled eggs and whenever Hubby has mashed or baked potatoes.


We got two separate bills in 2 separate envelopes for an appointment with the same doctor. Hubby wrote one check for both of us and put all of the slips and check in the same envelope and mailed it. We saved a stamp.

When I went to the bank to get our monthly cash on August 1st, I combined the trip with doctor’s appointments. I cashed a rebate check that will also be used for our monthly cash.


Hubby and I went to our annual appointments with our primary doctor. Those visits are free to us. Our doctor actually has a sign on the front table near the receptionist that states: All annual wellness checkups are no cost to you.

Hubby has been putting up wire fencing around the bottom of our shed so that the wild animals can’t live under it this winter. He finished it today.

I took a survey for a test product.

I did my own manicure and pedicure using polish I had on hand. 

When we went to the family reunion, I had to go to an emergency orthopedic appointment in Albany. I received the bill this week and I was double billed for the X-rays, and the the doctor who read the X-rays. I called them and they are  sending me a corrected bill and reversing the extra charges to health insurance companies. Always check your bills when you get them because there is a lifetime cap on your medical insurance and you don’t want to be billed incorrectly. Nor do you ever want to pay more than you have to. 

At
a neighbors garage sale, I purchased a beautiful frame for just $2.00 to use in making a gift for someone. I also purchased a spare
hand mixer because mine is on it’s last leg. I like to have backups
ready when things break. Especially backups that cost just a couple of
dollars.  

We have our A/C on right now but it is set at 75 degrees so it doesn’t run a whole lot. We think we can turn it off tonight for a few days because cooler temps are on the way.


I have only had to run the dishwasher every 3 days by packing it full when I do run it. I use my homemade dishwasher detergent and vinegar as the rinse agent.

We have been getting estimates to have some concrete in our garage repaired and then have the floor sealed with an epoxy paint. We settled on a company who has been in business for 31 years and did not require a deposit. They also had a very reasonable price and honored a $100. discount coupon that had expired.  Weather permitting, it will be done the end of October.

Lastly, we caught the mouse who we think has been living in our garage. Just in case there is more than one, we are putting new sticky traps down.  

What have you been doing frugally this past week? Please feel free to share with all of us. We learn from each other.