Frugal Activities #7
It's time for another weekly roundup of the Frugal Activities!
After last weeks major mess with the eating out and such (and I realize, a lot of it came from my attitude and general just not feeling well), I was bound and determined to do better this week ...
I'm aiming to start my income tax return this weekend coming up ... whether this proves to be frugal or not is yet to be seen. I made way more money this year and had I been paying attention, I would have upped my withholding ... hopefully with Hubby being out of work for half the year, we will break even but a quick tally of the W2s has me worried that we may have made too much ... not to mention the monthly draw from the investment account is an unknown tax factor ... we've never done that before so I don't know what kind of tax is going to hit us there ... fingers crossed I'm procrastinating for no reason!
Here's some of the Frugal Activities we did:
1. Went on the boat Saturday and spent all day at Boca Lake ... I made sandwiches using lunch meat and egg salad I already had on hand (used the hamburger buns I picked up for 25 cents at ALDI) ... Hubby wanted to take the blender (NOT the Vitamix!!) so I made a batch of the fresh fruit margaritas (I had the oranges, lemons, limes, tequila, etc. on hand already) and put container in the cooler. Also took along some strawberries and blueberries that were in the fridge for snacking. Emptied out both ice makers (bar and guest kitchen) for the cooler. This day alone makes me feel redeemed from last week! Unfortunately, the blender doesn't do all that well if you are used to a Vitamix!
2. Made waffles for the family Sunday, from scratch ... Also pulled out some sausage and bacon from freezer to add protein and meat (last thing I wanted to hear from Hubby was "where's the breakfast meat?")
3. Intended to make pizza from scratch Sunday night ... after last weeks episode with the pizza craving and disappointing quick fix, I really wanted to try this recipe. Was feeling kind of yucky so we ended up eating leftovers ... put the pizza fixins away and will try again this upcoming weekend.
4. Made breakfast all 5 days of the work week. Packed my lunch all 5 days also. Almost caved in for McD drive through one morning, only because I was sick ... said no, don't do it, and kept driving by.
5. Did my own nails, again.
6. Held off going to Costco ... I do have a specific list and I'm worried that I'm going to miss some of the good deals on rice, raisins, frozen berries, etc. BUT it's ok ...
7. Hubby went to ALDIS and was so proud of himself for only spending $20 ... I'm proud of him too as he bypassed the junk food aisle!
8. I, myself, stayed out of the grocery store all week ... ran out of kcup coffee and had to grind coffee beans and use the reusable kcup filters ... Hubby not at all happy about this but you know what, that's on my list for Costco. He's fighting the Costco trip and I'm resisting the trip too ... so I suppose this could be a good thing. I need him to go WITH me to Costco, not the Boy. Not Princess. Hubby. But then again, he gets sidetracked by all the manly man things that are a 'great deal' :-) ... Costco does that to everyone.
And then of course, some of our NOT so Frugal Activities:
1. Went out to eat with Hubby and the Boy to Sweet Tomatoes ... I was still dealing with the sinus issue and just wanted soup, soup, soup. $30 plus tip for busboy and I was one happy camper (we had coupons).
Being sick this past week paid off in the fact that I came home every night and parked my butt on the couch with a box of tissues and my Kindle. We stuck with the menu plan about 70% ... one night I skipped dinner all together, another night, Hubby made hot dogs with fries (both from freezer) for all the kids that were over. We made do, that's all that matters!
After last weeks major mess with the eating out and such (and I realize, a lot of it came from my attitude and general just not feeling well), I was bound and determined to do better this week ...
I'm aiming to start my income tax return this weekend coming up ... whether this proves to be frugal or not is yet to be seen. I made way more money this year and had I been paying attention, I would have upped my withholding ... hopefully with Hubby being out of work for half the year, we will break even but a quick tally of the W2s has me worried that we may have made too much ... not to mention the monthly draw from the investment account is an unknown tax factor ... we've never done that before so I don't know what kind of tax is going to hit us there ... fingers crossed I'm procrastinating for no reason!
Here's some of the Frugal Activities we did:
1. Went on the boat Saturday and spent all day at Boca Lake ... I made sandwiches using lunch meat and egg salad I already had on hand (used the hamburger buns I picked up for 25 cents at ALDI) ... Hubby wanted to take the blender (NOT the Vitamix!!) so I made a batch of the fresh fruit margaritas (I had the oranges, lemons, limes, tequila, etc. on hand already) and put container in the cooler. Also took along some strawberries and blueberries that were in the fridge for snacking. Emptied out both ice makers (bar and guest kitchen) for the cooler. This day alone makes me feel redeemed from last week! Unfortunately, the blender doesn't do all that well if you are used to a Vitamix!
2. Made waffles for the family Sunday, from scratch ... Also pulled out some sausage and bacon from freezer to add protein and meat (last thing I wanted to hear from Hubby was "where's the breakfast meat?")
3. Intended to make pizza from scratch Sunday night ... after last weeks episode with the pizza craving and disappointing quick fix, I really wanted to try this recipe. Was feeling kind of yucky so we ended up eating leftovers ... put the pizza fixins away and will try again this upcoming weekend.
4. Made breakfast all 5 days of the work week. Packed my lunch all 5 days also. Almost caved in for McD drive through one morning, only because I was sick ... said no, don't do it, and kept driving by.
5. Did my own nails, again.
6. Held off going to Costco ... I do have a specific list and I'm worried that I'm going to miss some of the good deals on rice, raisins, frozen berries, etc. BUT it's ok ...
7. Hubby went to ALDIS and was so proud of himself for only spending $20 ... I'm proud of him too as he bypassed the junk food aisle!
8. I, myself, stayed out of the grocery store all week ... ran out of kcup coffee and had to grind coffee beans and use the reusable kcup filters ... Hubby not at all happy about this but you know what, that's on my list for Costco. He's fighting the Costco trip and I'm resisting the trip too ... so I suppose this could be a good thing. I need him to go WITH me to Costco, not the Boy. Not Princess. Hubby. But then again, he gets sidetracked by all the manly man things that are a 'great deal' :-) ... Costco does that to everyone.
And then of course, some of our NOT so Frugal Activities:
1. Went out to eat with Hubby and the Boy to Sweet Tomatoes ... I was still dealing with the sinus issue and just wanted soup, soup, soup. $30 plus tip for busboy and I was one happy camper (we had coupons).
Being sick this past week paid off in the fact that I came home every night and parked my butt on the couch with a box of tissues and my Kindle. We stuck with the menu plan about 70% ... one night I skipped dinner all together, another night, Hubby made hot dogs with fries (both from freezer) for all the kids that were over. We made do, that's all that matters!
Hope you are feeling much better! I have a harder time being frugal when I'm sick (especially with regards to fixing dinner). I'm super impressed that you stayed out of the store all week and that your husband only spent $20 in Aldis. That junk food aisle is a hard one to bypass.
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