Tag: frugal things we do

These are our frugal things this past week:

– My treadmill did not survive a move from one room to another very well. I have an elevation error and another error. So rather than try to find someone to come out to fix it, I have been watching You Tube repair videos. I am learning a lot. I think we can fix the problem ourselves and I will be working on it this week.  

– I used my crock pot for most of our meals that I cooked this past week. Other meals were not cooked like salads. Anytime I can save on natural gas and electric I will.

– Finally, we were able to turn off the heat on Saturday. Sunday was humid and 86. Most of my neighbors turned on the A/C. We just kept the windows closed and it stayed quite comfortable all day. It has been cold some nights but 2 blankets on the bed keep us warm.

– I received a $3.00 rebate in the mail. I save the little checks until I get a stack of them and then make a trip to the bank to deposit them when I get our cash for the month.

– Hubby did his weed whacking himself. This is saving us extra money that we don’t have to pay the landscape people we hired. We were able to cut the amount of time that we needed them each month this year.

– I ordered  a set of headphones for Hubby that are wireless bone conduction headphones. You can use them if you have a hearing aid which Hubby does. He has always loved his music and it has been hard for him to hear it. These work beautifully and Hubby is so enjoying his music again. I purchased them for about $97. when they were a special. They are here.
This was priceless to us. 

– We cleaned the garage on Saturday. It had so much salt on the floor from the winter. Hubby was able to get it up with a scraper and then he washed the entire floor with the hose. We swept all of the water out so it dried pretty quickly. I did not see one live bug while we were doing it so having the pest control service is working for us. 

– We did not eat out this week.

– My cherry tree had beautiful blossoms this year and it looks like we will have tons of cherries again. Now we just have to get to them before the birds do. I freeze them to use for baking over the winter. 

– I hung most of the laundry this past week. I bought new underwear at a specialty shop. They told me it will last a lot longer if I hand wash it and hang it to dry. So I am taking their suggestion.

– I took the electric blanket off of our bed. So I needed to dig out the blankets that were stored for the winter. We have a California king size bed and the blankets are huge. But rather than take them to the dry cleaner, I washed them myself doing one at a time. 

– I only ran errands once. We had a return to make via UPS so I took the package there. I also picked up Hubby’s scripts at the drug store and returned a bag of bottles to Fast Cash while I was out. I am enjoying not running around more than once a week and it is saving us gasoline. 

– We have been watching the college softball playoffs for entertainment. 

That is all for this week. Please feel free to comment and tell us what you did frugally this past week so that we may all learn from you too.

Frugal Things will now be my Wednesday posts. So this is what we have done the past week to save some dollars:

– My bathroom faucet handle became loose. I didn’t know why. I let Hubby know. He checked it out and fixed it. It had become unscrewed. He screwed it back together and it works fine. I am glad we didn’t call a plumber.

– Having cleaned out the expired OTC meds from our supply, I needed to replace some things. I researched prices and shopped where the prices were the best. Some I ordered through Amazon which earned me reward points. Some I purchased at Walmart using a $10.00 Fetch Rewards gift card. It was generic at Walmart because the ingredients were exactly the same as the name brands.

– My dentist has come up with a prepaid plan which he says will save us money. They mailed all of the details to us. Doing some research looking at past prices, I am not so sure that it will. So there was only one way to really find out. I called and requested a current price list for procedures. They are mailing it to me. When I get it, I can take a better look and make a decision as to whether it will or not.

– All meals have been cooked at home. We have not been out to a restaurant since mid February.  

– Hubby sharpened the blades on our John Deere riding lawn mower. Rather than have the John Deere place do the maintenance, Hubby does what he can which saves us money. 

– Since my surgery I have been able to get off of three maintenance drugs. That is saving us $ 440. in co-pays a year. 


– Our landscaping company who takes care of our property for us wanted $750. for enough mulch to redo our gardens. That included the labor. We have decided that price is excessive since we can order a truckload of mulch for less than $200. Now that I have been cleared to lift things again, I can shovel mulch. So Hubby and I will be doing this work ourselves. 

– Today I will be baking a homemade loaf of Cranberry Orange bread to take to a party tomorrow night as a hostess gift. This bread is easy, tasty, and frugal. The hostess has a large family so it will be a nice breakfast treat.

– My son and West came for lunch rather than breakfast last weekend. Many times I have sent him out to Sandwiches and Ales to pick lunch up. However, this time I planned ahead and made our lunch. We had sandwiches, cut up strawberries, chips, cookies, and ice cream(West). I had a lettuce wrap and some strawberries. This saved us about $40.

– Hubby has been making me sugar free jello which is a treat that I can have on my diet. It gives me a little something sweet once in a while without breaking the budget. 

– I have gone down two sizes in clothes. It was time to buy a couple of items to get me through to the next two sizes down. I ended up buying some jeans and tops at J.C. Penney’s. Of course the ones I picked were 40% off. Kohl’s had nothing in my size that I liked. 

– Wow! Gas prices have really gone up. I filled up the tank while I was out using the $.10 a gallon that I had left on my Top’s card. I still paid $ 2.86 a gallon.


– Hubby is outside mowing our lawn so that we don’t have to pay someone to do it.


– Hubby and I went to the Running’s grand opening this afternoon. I had a $ 10.00 off coupon. There was nothing we really needed so I used it to purchase some Adirondack maple syrup. We are on our last bottle.


That is all for this past week. Please feel free to leave a comment and share with all of us what you have done frugally this past week.

Even though I am dealing with a health issue, those who know me know that I am still being frugal. So it is time to let you know how I have been doing this the past few weeks.

But first I thought I would share with you our beautiful blooming pear and purple plum trees. Finally we have had some warm weather and rain and things are starting to come out in their beautiful colors this time of year.

Now down to frugality:

– We have a very small Dollar Tree in our little town. I was tired of having to stop in all the time and try to get matching locker boxes for my organizing. It was almost impossible. It would be 15 miles round trip to go to the next town. So instead of wasting our gasoline, I placed an online order shipped free to my store. It took a couple of weeks to arrive but I finally have a case of new locker boxes to be able to start to organize in my basement pantry. A case was 18 white and 18 blue.   

– I deposited $14.97 in rebates to our savings account.

– We have a gas stove with a window in the door. Somehow a drip got between the two panes of glass a few years back. I looked and looked and could not figure out how to get in there to remove that drip that was driving me crazy every time I looked at the door. Finally yesterday, Hubby took the entire door apart and we cleaned that drip using my vinegar gel and some Method window cleaning spray. It took him quite a while because it was difficult to get it all apart. They don’t make things easy for you. But such a little thing made me so happy when it was done. 

– Our patio table broke over the winter. We only had three chairs left with it anyhow so it is time to replace it. We have been looking for a set that we like and have not found it yet. Since most sets that will last are between $1000. and $1500., we are taking our time. If that means that we have to wait until the end of the season when they are on clearance, so be it. We have other patio furniture that we can use in the meantime.

– I filled the SUV up again with gasoline purchased at $ .30 off a gallon. My DIL had surgery about 8 days ago for a torn ACL so we took care of West that day. So we needed to take him home and it is a 140 mile round trip. 

– We have several occasions over the next couple of months where we need hostess gifts. I saw these insulated bags on clearance so I purchased them. They are extremely nice and for just $6.04 each including shipping, they are very economical. Since New York has banned plastic bags in 2020, everyone can use these: Insulated Bags . Now to find some “laundry type” cloth bags to use for buying produce. 

– The only shopping I did this week was to stock on some NY strip steaks. Top’s had them on sale for $6.77 a lb. I had the head butcher pick me out a good loin and he cut it into 1 and 1/2 inch thick steaks for us. I ended up with 11 steaks. I food savered them before I put them in the freezer. They will be wonderful grilled outside this summer. I saved $73.43 buying them on sale plus an additional $4.13 using my senior discount of 6%. 

As I was putting the steaks into the food saver bags, Hubby said to look at one of the windows in our great room. I did just in time to catch this picture. I didn’t get as close as I would have liked but I didn’t want to scare the canaries. They had landed on our screen. 

– Last week I was offered a $10 off coupon to try Top’s grocery pickup. I needed to order at least $35.00 worth of groceries to get the pickup for free- no fees and no gratuity. So I ordered $37.44 in items that we needed and then applied the coupon which then cost me $ 27.44. The order was ready in an hour and it was easy to just pull into the designated parking spaces and have someone load it into your car. Everything that you see is on my diet with the exception of the hash browns and the Cheez-It Grooves. Hubby wanted the crackers and I cook the hash browns for Sunday breakfasts when I don’t have time to make my own. BTW, the Green Giant mashed cauliflower is to die for! 

– Hubby also did some touch up painting in our kitchen, great room, and the bottom of the basement stairs. Now the walls look good as they did 9 years ago when they were originally painted.  


– I cashed in my rebates on Fetch Rewards to get some Walmart gift cards. 

Other than those things, we are doing the usual like keeping all lights off when it is daylight, washing in cold water, hanging laundry to dry, and cooking efficiently watching portions.


What have you done to frugally lately?

We have done a few things frugally in the past few
weeks.

Our SUV just turned 6 years old. It is in excellent condition and we want to keep it that way. We have less than 30,000 miles on it. We had quite a bit of snow this winter so it went to the car wash a lot to get the grime and salt off. Salt causes rust and we do not want any of that. The car wash costs $10. for the Works. Every time we get it washed, they give us a receipt. If you save 5 receipts, you get a free wash.
Hubby used 5 of them last week to get a free wash. And I have 5 more to use next time. Once it warms up here and we turn the outside water back on, we will wash our own car. 

We have been cooking all of our meals from scratch here at home using fresh ingredients that we purchase as cheaply as possible. We have been watching our portions and making sure that we get the nutrients that we need each day. Overeating wastes money and causes us to be unhealthy.

Our weight scale was old and Hubby was sure that it was inaccurate. I researched the best ones. They ranged anywhere in price from $15.00 up to $ 190. dollars. I bought the one for $19.99 which was highly rated. It is working well for us. I didn’t need an expensive one that worked with your computer and phone.

Last year we hemmed and hawed over renewing our B.J.’s membership. I didn’t but then they caught us with a year for $25. It was a mistake. I only did two shops all year and most of that time was used checking prices. With a year’s worth of careful research, I have determined that I can get the same prices and a lot of the time cheaper prices using Amazon, Walmart, Target, and meat sales at the regular supermarkets. A lot of prices were higher also and quantities are so big that our little family of 2 has trouble using such quantities. So when our membership was up the end of March, I did not renew it and will not be renewing it.

Our faucet cartridge died in our kitchen faucet. Hubby had a terrible time getting the screw out so that he could replace the cartridge but he kept at it and after an hour and a half, he was able to take it apart. Meanwhile, I went to the hardware stores in search of a new cartridge. Home Depot was the only one that had one in stock. The price at $20. was outrageous. But I had no choice but to buy it since we would have no water for a few days while I ordered one. And I was not about to go without water in the kitchen for an hour let alone a few days. While Hubby installed it, I found the same one at Amazon for $ 13.71. I ordered one to have a spare here the next time this happens. This guarantees that we will have one cheaper or that it will never give up the ghost again. Either way that works! 

I have almost emptied our last refill for our soap dispensers. Rather than buy more refills, we will refill with shampoo. I have a ton of shampoo that I got free that will work just as well.

I have been weeding out food from our basement storage pantry that we will never eat and donating it to the food pantry. I have been organizing it as I do this.


Since our winter electric and natural gas bills have been so high this winter, we have been really careful to turn off lights, use cold water washes, and use small appliances for cooking. Our last bill was $40.  less than the one before. Because this winter was so cold and snowy, I have not been able to determine if our back storm door is helping lower the bills. But we are hoping it is. If nothing else, it will be nice to have fresh air in the morning room and kitchen once the temps go up. 


I filled up the SUV with gasoline getting $.50 off a gallon using Top’s points. 

It is amazing how when you take the car in to get something done, they try to sell you something else. Hubby took the SUV in for a recall and the dealer told him he needed new brakes. He took the car in to get the snow tires taken off and the regular ones put back on. They told him that we needed a battery. Hubby has scheduled an appointment at our trusted garage who always fixes our SUV. Our car needs to be inspected in April. We will let them tell us if we need those things. If we need a battery, Hubby will buy one and install it himself saving us the labor. If we need brakes, my son said he will install them for us or if the garage’s price isn’t too costly we may get them done there. 

I have decided not to plant any vegetables again this year. Niagara Produce has such great prices on local veggies and fruits that it isn’t worth my time and effort. Plus I have no space to grow the amounts we will be using. 


That is about all that I can thing of right now. I will have to get back to keeping a list so that I don’t forget to tell you everything.


Please leave a comment and share with all of us what you have been doing frugally lately.  

While we have been a bit house bound the past few weeks, these are the things we have done frugally:

– I have done very little grocery shopping. I did a quick trip to Aldi’s for fresh strawberries, creamer, peppers, and frozen veggies. I spent $8.85.

– I did our Federal and State income taxes and filed them. One week to the day I filed, we received our Federal refund. We got $1500. more this year (we owed a bit last year) due to President Trump’s tax cut plan. We have never gotten as large a refund. Everyone that I have talked to here is telling me that they are getting larger refunds than before. That is not what the Governor thought would happen in NY. I quickly invested that money once we received it.

– Hubby’s snow boots have pretty much worn out. He found a pair of snow sneakers on sale at L.L. Bean for $119. regularly $ 149. I thought I had gotten a coupon code a few days before but in my haste to order, I couldn’t find the e-mail. A few minutes after I ordered them, I found it. So I called L.L. Bean to give them the code which was for 25% off. They told me the code had expired at midnight the night before. I asked the representative if they would honor it. She sent me to customer service and a very nice woman there refunded the $32.31 which was 25% off plus the tax. As I have always told you, it NEVER hurts to ask. All they can say is no. But I have found that most of the time, they say yes.  

– I purchased a very pretty bracelet for my granddaughter for Valentine’s Day. I used credit card points to pay for it. I am giving my grandson an equal value amount of cash. It is very hard to pick things out for him and he enjoys shopping for himself.  

– I have cooked all of our meals from scratch and from the stockpile with the exception of one. Hubby took me out to dinner last night since the two days of ice we have had finally started to melt. I was craving prime rib and some peanut butter pie. I had my prime rib with some French Fries and gravy, tossed salad, and garlic toast which is great for dipping in the prime rib au jus. I was too stuffed from dinner to eat dessert. So I had them wrap a piece of peanut butter pie for later in the evening. 

– I have been taking this house bound time to reorganize our home with an eye towards getting rid of anything we would not want to move. I know that we will have a move sometime, either sooner or later, in our future. I actually have been the one pushing Hubby to move and he really was not keen on the idea. However, I caught him online looking at homes in the area we were thinking about moving to last week. I have been doing that for a few months now to get a feel for prices and what we would want.

– I filled up our SUV using $ .30 off per gallon in Top’s gas points. I paid $ 2.19 a gallon.


– Hubby used the DVR to save all of the Harry Potter movies that were on cable last weekend here. He wants to watch all of the movies starting with the first one. It was the cheapest way for him to watch them. This way he can watch them at his own leisure. 


– We have been doing whatever we can to keep the gas and electric bill down knowing that with the two weeks of really frigid cold we had during this billing cycle that the gas bill will be really high.


– By staying home except for 1 trip to the market, dinner out,  doctor appointments and medical tests, we have saved a bit of gasoline by not doing the usual running around.


– I downloaded some free books to read on my Kindle. It’s too cold to go to the library.


– For entertainment we have been playing cards, watching movies, doing jigsaw puzzles and I have been learning things on You Tube.


Please feel free to share with all of us what you have been doing frugally lately? Did you get any good deals? Tell us in the comments.

These are the things that we have been doing to stay frugal around here:

– I got 2 bags of this salad mix marked down to $.99 each because it was the day before expiration. We have eaten one and will finish the other for lunch tomorrow. If there are any wet pieces, they will get tossed. 

– I have only been to the grocery store twice for small orders so doing well with my grocery budget. 

– Since I was out of the house most of the day yesterday, I needed to thaw something that would be easy for dinner. So I thawed a pound of bacon which I used to make bacon macaroni goulash. It was easy and yummy and we have enough leftovers for tonight.

– I have been researching solar ovens. I would like one to use this summer to save money on utilities. We have a lot of sun here in the Buffalo area so I believe it would be cost effective. If any of you have one, please let me know what kind and if you love it.

– We are calculating how much pipe insulation we would need to insulate our hot water pipes that run through the basement. They have a long run from under our master bath to the guest wing of the house and to the kitchen. 

– I am meal planning very simple meals from our stockpile. They are easy with meat purchased at rock bottom prices. Two nights a week, we are doing meatless meals like salads and biscuits or pancakes with fruit.  

– Breakfast meals during the weekdays are cereal and fruit. We have a huge stockpile of cereal to use up before it expires. Weekend meals will be our eggs and meat or pancakes and meat.


– We did rebalance our investment portfolio.

– We are still hanging laundry or when using the dryer, we use our dryer balls which knocks a bit of time off the drying time.

– We are doing all the frugal things like taking navy showers, keeping lights off in the daytime, turning off phantom energy wasters, keeping our shades and blinds shut, cooking in small appliances, etc.

– Since I am saving on buying garbage bags, I hit the jackpot the other day. We got a delivery that had 8 of these big bags as packing material. I saved them all for garbage. I am actually amazed at how little garbage we produce in a week. Everything that can be recycled is being. Everything that can go down the garbage disposal is. Anything that we declutter is being donated to the Salvation Army.

What have you been doing frugally lately? Please feel free to share with us in the comments.  

These are the frugal things that we have been doing the past few weeks:

– The storm door for my morning room finally got installed last week. We are loving it. The draft that has been there since we moved in is now gone. The installer did a great job putting it in and caulking it with clear caulk both inside and outside sealing any tiny areas that you could see a little bit of light through. It will be interesting to see our next heat bill. It was too cold for me to go outside today to take a picture so I just did it from inside. 

– Hubby ordered our filters for our refrigerator online on sale. I think he got 60 or 65% off plus money back from Ebates. Within the next couple of days, they went on sale for 5% more. He called them and nicely asked them to credit us the additional 5%. They did. 

– We have earned enough points from our supermarket to get (5) $50. gift cards for just $40. each. I picked up one the other day and will pick up the other 4 tomorrow. We are getting Lowe’s cards because they always come in handy for house projects.

– Hubby is making me a cookbook in a three ring binder. He is using my large photo box of recipes that I have used over and over again. He is entering them one by one into a program that will print them out the size we want. The cookbook will have indexes just like many cookbooks. I am beyond thrilled with this Christmas present. It is something that I have wanted done for a long time. It will have all of my favorites and many that have been passed down through the family. Perhaps, I see a gift for my sons and their families next year.

– I ended up buying three turkeys and one ham on the Thanksgiving sales. Those will give us many cheap meals over the winter.

– We spent a total of $ 1259. for Christmas gifts for family, my hairdresser, the mailman and UPS man, and the newspaper lady. I also put $20. in the Salvation Army kettle in the supermarket. I also included $20. that I always tip my favorite carry out guy at the supermarket. I included the cost of party mix that we will make for Christmas. I am not buying any other special foods for Christmas.  I mailed 33 Christmas cards so that was $ 16.50 in postage. The cards were bought a long time ago at 90% off and I don’t remember the price so I am not including the cards. We have spent no gasoline to travel to buy Christmas gifts. Most of the of the gifts were purchased online or were cash. So I think we have done well. We certainly didn’t spend $1000. per person like the Today show supposedly said most people do.


– I have closed off the two extra bedrooms in the house to save on heat even though I was told to never do that by a heating guy. Hubby says that is hogwash. So the doors are closed to those rooms, the heat registers are closed, and the snakes are in front of the doors to seal them up better.


– We continue to use our small appliances to cook meals thereby saving energy.


– I saved $ 5.00 off our grocery bills the last two weeks using a coupon Top’s sent me. I also got free bananas and a lot of them. Some have ripened and been frozen for banana bread.

– We are keeping the energy saving shades down now that it is so cold. They let light in so we don’t need lights during the day unless it is dreary or dark out.

– We have been cooking 99% of our meals cooking at home. Hubby made us a bacon, onion, balsamic vinegar chicken dish a few days ago. It was delicious.


That’s all for now. What have you been doing frugally? Please share with us in comments.

Here are the things we have been doing to save some dollars:

– We ordered a custom(our door is an odd size which is larger than the standard) Anderson almond color storm and screen door combo and a really nice door handle. Without going into the detail with all of the problems we have had with this company and the saleman, we paid a lot less than it would have cost. On the original order we were given a 15% discount. However because of all the screw ups with pricing and other things, the manager redid the order with another new salesman, who didn’t know what he was doing. We ended up getting 15% off of the door. We also ordered the handle and delivery and installation. The manager also gave us an additional $ 45.00 off for all of our trouble. Today we received notice from the company of an additional credit of $ 20.20 in tax that we should not have been charged because the door is a home improvement. Our door has not arrived yet but will be installed the end of the month. I can’t wait. We are hoping that it will stop the draft from our original door. We have done everything we can to try to fix that draft and nothing has worked. This is the outside door in our morning room where we eat. 

– When our chickens were done roasting the other night, I baked a German Chocolate cake and a cinnamon coffee cake(pictured at the top of the post) while the oven was heated up. We were craving something sweet so the cake was wonderful. The coffee cake was eaten along with scrambled eggs for our family Sunday breakfast. They were made with all mixes from my stockpile. The Krusteaz coffee cake was free because I had a free coupon. The cake and frosting mix cost me a total of $1.25 after coupons.

– I ran a lot of errands in a circle to save on gasoline last week when I went to the dentist and finally got my 2nd permanent denture. The first one was not right. They made me another new one and made adjustments every step of the way which meant I had to go to the dentist a lot. When I got it, I was quite happy with the fit and how it feels and looks in my mouth. It’s been a long process and I am glad it is done. After the dentist, I went to the bank and deposited $20.04 in checks that had come in the mail the last couple of weeks into our high interest savings account. Of course, the day after I made that deposit, another $20.00 check arrived. I only go to the bank once a month so that check will have to wait. 

– While I was driving to the bank, I spotted a store that I had never seen before called Five Below. I stopped and went in to check it out. Everything is priced at $5.00 or under. The store is very neat and organized and extremely clean. I was very impressed and happy that I now have a new place to shop. I was able to pick up some small things for my grandchildren for Christmas that I think they will like. My total cost was $5.00 + tax.

– I also stopped at Kohl’s and purchased an on sale  long sleeved top using my 15% senior discount and a $5.00 off coupon. I have very few long sleeved tops and it is starting to get really cold here. So I am purchasing ones when I see something I really like. 

– I read my books and took them back to the library and got 4 more.

– I cleaned and defrosted my chest freezer and reorganized it so that I could fit in 3-4 turkeys. I have purchased 2 so far.

– Entertainment doesn’t have to cost large amounts of money. We enjoyed a game of Ticket To Ride after a family breakfast. Our game table gets used a lot and has ever since we purchased it in Arizona. Many board games, card games, and jigsaw puzzles have been done on this table.

– Sewed a small tear on a seam in a pair of pajamas.

– Wrapped Christmas gifts in 90% off wrap that was purchased two years ago.

– I made a quick Christmas card list and will use cards that I purchased a couple of years ago for 90% off. At that time I bought 10 boxes of them so they are going to last a few more years.

– I went to the Post Office and purchased 200 Forever stamps since the price will be going up in January. They want quite a hike of $.05 on a First Class Letter. Yikes! I think the hike is January 19, 2019.

 – Did four loads of laundry. I hung two loads and dried 2 loads in the dryer using my dryer balls. I always dry towels because we don’t like the feel of them when they are line dried.


– My son picked up lunch for us at Ales and Sandwiches just before the Buffalo Bills game yesterday. I gave him a coupon for two sandwiches to defray the cost.


What have you been doing the past couple of weeks to save a few dollars? Feel free to let us know in comments and share with everyone else. People truly do learn from your comments. I know that I have learned a lot from all of you over the years.

These are the frugal things that we have been doing:

– I mended a cable knit sweater that had developed a hole. It is over 25 years old and I love it. I purchased it two sizes too big back then so I could wear it over a top or blouse and have it be roomy and long. It has served me well. You can’t even see where I repaired it.

– Hubby took the car to the tire store to get the snow tires put on for the winter. I gave him a 50% off coupon so he only had to pay $32. 36 including tax.


– Hubby asked me to buy athletic socks for him because he was running out. I always buy them all the same sock in bulk so that when he develops a hole in one and throws it away, they still all match. I purchased him 10 pair for $18.99. 

– I received $13.91 in rebate and other checks. I will deposit them in savings the next time I go to the bank. 

– Our favorite BBQ place started frying up huge fish fries again last Friday. They do this from now until Good Friday. So we treated ourselves for dinner. We hate their sides so we just order the fish which saves us $3.00 off our order. While I am picking up the fish, Hubby does French fries to go with it in our air fryer. The fish fries were so big this time that Hubby and I could have easily split one. So next time we will only buy one.  

– Hubby made homemade Ciabatta bread and tomato soup. I made a huge beef stew. Those meals we have been eating most of the week.

– When I picked up bread flour for Hubby this week, I also picked up 3 packs of TicTacs for free after coupons. They will be a gift.

– I am keeping my eyes open for a great sale on casual shoes for me. The ones I purchased from Naturalizer were way too big so I returned them. They were my size but I think it was the design. This cost me money so I am looking for a local sale on them. 

– Hubby will be making egg, onion, ham and peppers with cheese, salsa or taco sauce in wraps for our Sunday breakfast this weekend. My grandson will not eat them. So I will make him scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast made with our Ciabatta bread. Hubby’s wraps are so good that I wanted him to make them for our son to try. 

– I made another bottle of homemade cleaner to clean our eye glasses. 

– I learned quite a while ago how to make my morning oatmeal with my Keurig which saves me time and money. So I have made up small snack size Ziplocs of oatmeal and dried fruit that I got free after coupons. I just pour it into a cup, have the Keurig run hot water into it and let it set for a minute or so.


– I had not been able to find tomato sauce at a decent price since my BJ’s quit carrying it in the #10 cans. So I had been using Hunt’s spaghetti sauce for my base which was expensive. My neighbor who knew I was looking for it went to Sam’s Club last week and picked me up 10- #10 cans for $2.98 each. I was delighted and promptly paid her. I use it as the base to make homemade spaghetti sauce. I made her some homemade banana bread for her family to thank her.  


-Hubby was very happy to get his riding lawn mower back from the shop that repaired it. It was gone more than a week and the lawn was getting very long. I am happy that including pickup and drop off the repair the bill only came to $ 97. 

– Hubby made absolutely delicious garlic bread for dinner last night. He used some of the homemade Ciabatta bread. 


– I picked up 4 more James Patterson books at our library. They will be enjoyable evening reading instead of watching You Tube. I am just finishing reading a book that I downloaded for free to my Kindle. So these books will be my next reading.

– While I was driving, the warning lights came on in our car. I researched them in our car manual. It was the tire pressure. I filled the tires up to 33 psi which is where they needed to be. The warning lights went off. 

– The last thing that needs to be done for winter here is to clean the garage. That will be done with Hubby’s help in the next few days. 

Please feel free to leave a comment and share with us what you have been doing frugally.