Tag: frugal things we do

Wow!  The winds are howling this morning! It must be the warm front coming in.

I will continue my frugal things list:

35. Spectrum is giving a free cable box for an extra TV for one year to prior Time Warner Legacy customers. So we ordered it. We will see if it is truly free. Spectrum just went digital here and I have a feeling because of that the rates will go up.

36. We hang our laundry to dry as often as we can. I use dryer balls when we use the dryer to cut down the dry time.

37. I also wash our clothes using laundry eggs.

38. Our Dyson stick vacuum is on it’s last leg. Since it cost us $299. and it 8 years old, we are looking for a cheaper alternative. The one I have costs about $600. now. So Hubby has been researching which one to buy now.

39. We try to use our big oven as infrequently as possible. We use our toaster oven a lot. But when we do use the big oven, we use the convection which saves 1/3 of the power.

40. We make as many things from scratch as we can. When we eat meat, we stick to the 3-4 ounces per person. We do make at least one meatless meal during the week if not more.

41. I mend our clothing when it needs it as to not lose the garment. Those garments are always good to wear around the house.


42.  Hubby has a Coke or two a day. We each drink one cup of coffee in the morning. I drink water the rest of the day and Hubby does when he is not having a Coke. We drink no juice. I gave that and soda up a long time ago.

43. We reuse wrapping paper and bows or any other decorations that come on packages. I also use the Sunday comics to wrap the little one’s presents.

44. Hubby deep cleans the carpeting with our rug shampooer. We don’t pay for commercial cleaning. I have off white carpeting in the family room and it looks almost new even though it is 8 years old.

45. When the A/C is on, we cook outdoors on the grill or use our small appliances outside so as to not heat up the kitchen. Slow cookers, pressure cookers, skillets, etc. work well out there.

46. We eat a lot of fresh local produce once it is growing season here. We love summer salads as a main dish or a side in the nice weather. 

47. I bake our muffins or quick breads from scratch.

48. We conserve water as much as possible using the navy shower method, only putting as much water in a pot to boil something as necessary, never letting the water run in the sink whether we are brushing teeth or rinsing dishes. I reuse boiled water to feed our thirsty bushes and plants outside.

49. We rarely eat out but stay within our $100. per week “Other Budget” when we do. Since we like a very expensive restaurant, we save our money up until we can afford to go there. Otherwise when the no cooking bug bites me, we do cheap takeout with coupons. For example: Our Arby’s just renovated the inside of the restaurant. So they sent us a coupon for 5 roast beef at $ 1.99 each. We will use that coupon before it expires. We will buy nothing else. These sandwiches freeze really well.

50. We try to stay as healthy as we can so as to not have to pay expensive medical bills or drugs.

51. With the exception of winter, we wash and detail our own car. In the winter, we only get the SUV washed on the outside and undercarriage to get the salt off.

52. We rarely pay to go to the movies but when we do we get Senior discounts and never pay for food unless it is a special occasion like taking our grandchildren. We watch our movies when they come out on Netflix or Amazon Prime. We make our own popcorn.

53. We always take advantage of senior discounts at take out places, restaurants, our grocery store, etc. when shopping.

54. We don’t leave TV’s on for noise. Someone has to be watching it to have it on. 

55. We close our shades and blinds on the sunny side of the house during A/C season and open them on the sunny side of the house during heating season. This saves energy.

56. We always return the soda and beer cans and bottles for the $.05 NY deposits.

57. I buy rice and beans in 25 pound bulk purchases and store it in long term containers in our basement. I just fill a container to use upstairs.

58. Things like butter, whole turkeys, turkey breasts, hams, legs of lamb, corned beef, cranberries, and blueberries are purchased once a year when they are at rock bottom prices.

59. I also buy chocolate candy on after holiday sales to use in baking.    


60. I am not buying salad dressings unless they are free. We are using up our stockpile and will make our salad dressings when the stockpile stash is gone. 


61. We use about 1 purchased tall kitchen trash bag a week in the kitchen. All of our waste baskets are emptied into plastic bags that we get shopping.


62. We recycle everything that we can which saves on bags too.

63. For exercise, I have been walking a lot. Who needs to belong to an expensive gym? Not me!

64. I preview the Sunday coupons the week prior. If the coupons are good and they are for things we use, I will buy one extra paper besides our home delivered one. I do not buy an extra every week.

65. I added 4 more liters of tap water to our emergency stash.

66. We are doing a new to us jigsaw puzzle as entertainment.

67. We have a stash of paper and office supplies in our basement. I ran out of post it notes in my desk so I shopped there for more. Sure enough we had plenty.


68. We rarely use paper towels- only for draining bacon. We use microfiber towels for washing windows and cleaning.

That’s it for today. It is now snowing like a blizzard outside. UGH!  I will continue this list soon.

We had company for the Easter weekend which kept us very busy. We had an Easter Egg Hunt for my grandson. We had to do it indoors because it was very cold and the lawn is pretty muddy this time of year. He enjoyed every minute of the searching. We enjoyed watching him.

Because I have been so busy, I have not had time to post. Our next company comes on this Thursday and will leave on Saturday. It’s a busy time for us this month with two more weeks of company visiting after that.

So today’s post will give you some things to ponder on if I am not on here regularly. 

These are the many things Hubby and I do frugally:

1. Cooked most of our Easter dinner from scratch at home. It was a ham which Hubby sliced for us. I made a 9X13 pan of the best picnic potatoes that we have ever had. We had pineapple slices that baked on the ham while it warmed through. I also cooked corn and baked rolls. The only thing that was not from scratch was the Carvel Ice Cream Bunny that I purchased on sale with a $ 4.00 off Click to Card Q.

2. I cooked the bacon for the potatoes in the morning while we were making breakfast. It called for half a pound. Everything is better with bacon.  

3. Within the past couple of weeks, I roasted a small turkey which gave us seven yummy meals. 

4. I placed another order with Zaycon Fresh for 36 lbs. of premium hickory smoked bacon. With a coupon code I paid $2.99 a lb. I rarely find bacon below that price except the Smithfield we bought last week which Hubby does not like. And this is Premium bacon.  So my sister in law is splitting the order with me. She can’t pick up orders in her area during the work day so I will do the pick up and just give it to my son the following Sunday. We eat bacon a lot especially for most of the Sunday breakfasts that I cook for my family. It will cost each of us $ 53.82. My cost will come out of my $ 75.00 per week grocery budget.

5. I stayed away from the 50% off Easter candy sale yesterday. I still have plenty for baking and the little ones left from Valentine’s Day.

6. My son helped Hubby put in the new wooden post that our new mailbox goes over. So we didn’t have to hire someone. Hubby put the mailbox together and installed it yesterday. He also put the new metallic numbers on it. A $50. giftcard helped defray the cost of all. 


7. We got our refund check from our old insurance company. We had renewed with another company and consolidated both the homeowner’s and auto insurance so we got 8 months premium back. It is a large check that I will deposit this week along with some other checks so that they earn us money.

8. We invested thousands of dollars today. It is definitely a buy time.

9. I am drinking up odd K-cups that came in a variety pack that no one was crazy about. But rather than waste them, I am using them. 

10. We sent a gift to my granddaughter that she will get this week. I  saved 33% off with a sale.

11. I cut up all of my old frayed dish towels into rags and put them in the rag bag in the garage.

12. I put two books on hold at the library for me. I also marked my calendar for their big book bag sale.


13. We are now using every ounce of our toothpaste. I have a key type thing that helps us get the product all the way to the top of the tube. Then I cut the tube to get the last remnants out. There is usually about 4 brushings worth left.

14. Not only have heat bills been high this winter because of supply and demand and the cold but we got notice that our company is raising the rates. So we will be very careful with our energy usage from now on. 

15. We paid for the fertilizing of our lawn for the entire year upfront. This gave us a 5% discount.

16. Hubby didn’t seem too keen on washing the outside of our 21 windows. I do the inside.  So I got some estimates from window washer people. When Hubby saw that they wanted $300. he changed his tune. We will be washing them a room at a time.

17. We shredded all of the paper from our files from last year that we didn’t need to keep.

18. My sister and I call each other almost every week. We take turns using our free long distance.

19. I grocery shopped on Monday. The Flips and Ehrmann’s Grand dessert were free after coupons. The turkey breast was $.99 a lb. with Top’s Super Coupon. The grapes were $ 1.48 a lb. and the tortilla wraps were $ 2.49. I don’t need anything else this week.  


20. Hubby found a great price on a router that he has been researching. Meanwhile we have used our old one that has been on it’s last leg for more than a year. My  wireless computer is always going down. It’s a real pain.


21. When I go to the bank, I will go to CVS to use my ECB’s and run some other errands down that way. This saves me on gasoline.


22. I am saving my gasoline points to use when I get very low on gasoline. So far I have accumulated enough points to get off $ 1.30 per gallon. I hope to have more by the time I need the gasoline.

23. I cleaned the inside of my dishwasher using $ .05 per pack lemonade Koolaid that I purchased years ago. First I took the arm and all the other removable parts off and cleaned them.

24. Hubby cleaned and polished the top of my gas range. We only use the degreaser pictured above. It works so well with a minimum of effort. Hubby sprays it on and them lets it sit 20 minutes. Then everything wipes clean. A little bit goes a long way.

25. I am researching a birthday gift for my DIL that will keep me within budget. We spend the same amount on every adult person in our family. 

26. I ordered a year’s worth of vitamins for us from Puritan Pride. I find they have the best sale prices.

27. We ate Hamburger Helper Taco one night for dinner. It was AWFUL!  I never buy this stuff except when it is free after coupon. I won’t even be doing that again.

28. I mailed in a $ 5.00 Beer Rebate.

29. I fixed a broken zipper on my favorite fleece jacket. 

30. We loved watching “Roseanne” last week. I used to watch it way back when she was on before. Hubby and I are looking forward to the show at 8PM EST tonight. It makes me laugh!! Everyone needs to laugh in this day and age. I watch very little network TV but this a show worth watching.

31. I froze some celery and carrots that were getting old to make future soup.

32. I still take my navy showers.

33. Every penny that we spend is scrutinized and tracked. If you watch your pennies, your dollars will grow.

34. We rarely buy anything unless it is food, clothing that is a necessity, or gifts.

My fingers are getting tired, so I will continue this topic the next time I post.

Meanwhile what do you do that is frugal? Join the conversation by leaving a comment.