Frugal Activities #23
I really enjoy doing this post weekly as it keeps me accountable and makes me think twice about some things :-)
Hubby got back in on Thursday ... thankfully! I've been on quite a spending spree while he was gone ... can't wait to hear what he has to say about the new rice cooker, hand held clothing steamer, swifter vacuum and bissel steam mop, fan, etc. O M G. Oh. And then there's the food that is over flowing. He's not said anything just yet, but I think that's because he really hasn't been home long enough to 'notice' the stuff just crammed into every opening there is.
Yes. I apparently DO have a spending problem if it looks like a great "deal". Although, I will say, the rice cooker has been over the top used ... I've made brown rice (excellent!), "boiled" eggs (way better than the oven cooking) and ate 1/2 pound of steamed broccoli, which for me, that's a miracle as I don't eat "shrubs". Yup, I'm enjoying that $30 piece of equipment tremendously. The rest of the stuff ... ehhh. Not quite getting the satisfaction I need but it will have to do and I will use the heck out of all of the stuff, just because I spent my hard earned money on it and its going to be used til it dies a slow painful death!
Ok. Enough. Here's some of the Frugal Activities we did this past week:
1. Boiled half dozen eggs in the rice cooker using the steam option. Is this frugal? I say YES in that it didn't not heat up my whole kitchen and create a steam bath! Not to mention, the eggs were perfect! Later in the week, boiled up a whole dozen the same way and have been enjoying them!
2. Made a double batch of the homemade Olive Garden dressing. This has encouraged me to eat more salads (before the baby greens go bad), which is healthier for me (and I want to stay healthy now!)
3. Stayed far away from any and all grocery stores up until Friday night on my way home from work.
4. Inventoried the garage freezer. Did toss out a package of salami and ham ... it had been in there for 2 years and lately, I've been buying much better quality of deli meat so I was pretty sure we wouldn't eat it. Yes, I did post on Instagram that I am becoming a deli meat snob ...
5. Did a pedicure on myself. Not the best but sufficient.
6. Downloaded a book from the library to my Kindle and have been reading it every night ... this is the same book that my boss gave me to read ... wasn't getting in to reading the book and gave it back to him ... and thought about looking at the e-library section, sure enough, they had it and I am now FLYING through it on the Kindle. Anyone else have that issue with reading on a device and then going back to a real book? It's just hard, the lighting, the saving your place, etc. I don't know what it is!
7. Even though I did not really menu plan this past week, I used what we had on hand ... which is a lot. The variety of food available is sort of embarrassing, to be honest. Of course, we are out of loaf bread and applesauce (the Boy eats both) so I told him to swing by Aldis on his way to work one day. Doh. He hasn't and we STILL don't have either in house.
8. Prepared all 7 breakfast and lunches at home, using what we have ... also did ALL 7 dinners the same way. I'm quite proud of myself ;-)
9. Made a batch of mayo.
10. Drove Zippy Car (Hubby's company car) all week ... for the past 2 weeks worth of driving, only 1/2 tank was used ... this thing gets close to 40 miles per gallon in the CITY ... as opposed to the Tahoe which gets about 10, maybe 11 if I'm lucky ...
And of course, full disclosure and some of our not so Frugal Activities ...
1. Gave in and bought more beer that we all like, instead of drinking thecrap craft beer. This was primarily Hubby's doing as he's a beer snob, only in the sense that he won't drink anything but the can with the blue mountains on it ... 15 pk of the bullet cans were on sale for $14.99 ...
2. Went and had my hair colored. I wish the Boy would at least CUT my hair since he does all his friends and girlfriend ... and it would be even better IF he would color my hair too. He is self taught and actually has friends who pay him to cut their hair. One of them creative genes that he has ;-) I would gladly give him the $$$ that I paid a professional stylist to do this.
3. When I finally DID go to the grocery store, it was Whole Foods and well, we all know the nickname ... $120 spent for fresh produce (peppers, onions, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, jalapeno peppers - I need to plant a new pepper plant - lunchmeat (snob), sliced cheese, cans of various flavors green tea, flat iron steak that went straight to the freezer and more bacon that was BOGO but still, $5.99 for the 2 packets at 8 oz each.
What kind of Frugal Activities did YOU do this week?
Looking forward to sharing with Money Propeller and The Prudent Homemaker ... go check out both!
Hubby got back in on Thursday ... thankfully! I've been on quite a spending spree while he was gone ... can't wait to hear what he has to say about the new rice cooker, hand held clothing steamer, swifter vacuum and bissel steam mop, fan, etc. O M G. Oh. And then there's the food that is over flowing. He's not said anything just yet, but I think that's because he really hasn't been home long enough to 'notice' the stuff just crammed into every opening there is.
Yes. I apparently DO have a spending problem if it looks like a great "deal". Although, I will say, the rice cooker has been over the top used ... I've made brown rice (excellent!), "boiled" eggs (way better than the oven cooking) and ate 1/2 pound of steamed broccoli, which for me, that's a miracle as I don't eat "shrubs". Yup, I'm enjoying that $30 piece of equipment tremendously. The rest of the stuff ... ehhh. Not quite getting the satisfaction I need but it will have to do and I will use the heck out of all of the stuff, just because I spent my hard earned money on it and its going to be used til it dies a slow painful death!
Ok. Enough. Here's some of the Frugal Activities we did this past week:
1. Boiled half dozen eggs in the rice cooker using the steam option. Is this frugal? I say YES in that it didn't not heat up my whole kitchen and create a steam bath! Not to mention, the eggs were perfect! Later in the week, boiled up a whole dozen the same way and have been enjoying them!
2. Made a double batch of the homemade Olive Garden dressing. This has encouraged me to eat more salads (before the baby greens go bad), which is healthier for me (and I want to stay healthy now!)
3. Stayed far away from any and all grocery stores up until Friday night on my way home from work.
4. Inventoried the garage freezer. Did toss out a package of salami and ham ... it had been in there for 2 years and lately, I've been buying much better quality of deli meat so I was pretty sure we wouldn't eat it. Yes, I did post on Instagram that I am becoming a deli meat snob ...
5. Did a pedicure on myself. Not the best but sufficient.
6. Downloaded a book from the library to my Kindle and have been reading it every night ... this is the same book that my boss gave me to read ... wasn't getting in to reading the book and gave it back to him ... and thought about looking at the e-library section, sure enough, they had it and I am now FLYING through it on the Kindle. Anyone else have that issue with reading on a device and then going back to a real book? It's just hard, the lighting, the saving your place, etc. I don't know what it is!
7. Even though I did not really menu plan this past week, I used what we had on hand ... which is a lot. The variety of food available is sort of embarrassing, to be honest. Of course, we are out of loaf bread and applesauce (the Boy eats both) so I told him to swing by Aldis on his way to work one day. Doh. He hasn't and we STILL don't have either in house.
8. Prepared all 7 breakfast and lunches at home, using what we have ... also did ALL 7 dinners the same way. I'm quite proud of myself ;-)
9. Made a batch of mayo.
10. Drove Zippy Car (Hubby's company car) all week ... for the past 2 weeks worth of driving, only 1/2 tank was used ... this thing gets close to 40 miles per gallon in the CITY ... as opposed to the Tahoe which gets about 10, maybe 11 if I'm lucky ...
And of course, full disclosure and some of our not so Frugal Activities ...
1. Gave in and bought more beer that we all like, instead of drinking the
2. Went and had my hair colored. I wish the Boy would at least CUT my hair since he does all his friends and girlfriend ... and it would be even better IF he would color my hair too. He is self taught and actually has friends who pay him to cut their hair. One of them creative genes that he has ;-) I would gladly give him the $$$ that I paid a professional stylist to do this.
3. When I finally DID go to the grocery store, it was Whole Foods and well, we all know the nickname ... $120 spent for fresh produce (peppers, onions, blueberries, strawberries, oranges, jalapeno peppers - I need to plant a new pepper plant - lunchmeat (snob), sliced cheese, cans of various flavors green tea, flat iron steak that went straight to the freezer and more bacon that was BOGO but still, $5.99 for the 2 packets at 8 oz each.
What kind of Frugal Activities did YOU do this week?
Looking forward to sharing with Money Propeller and The Prudent Homemaker ... go check out both!
Hello! I found myself on your blog from your link on the Prudent Homemaker. I have to say I really enjoy reading your FA's! Although I love the PH and her frugal ideas your lifestyle seems much more closely aligned with mine. Seeing how you're saving (and spending!) money helps inspire me!
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Christine in Philadelphia
Christine, I know, I love her site too but my lifestyle is totally different ... still, it's inspiring to read what others do and get ideas for simple things in life ;-) Spending money IS an issue for most people, no matter HOW frugal they live ... I hope that by sharing what I spend it on helps others to not beat themselves up too much, you know? Make sure you stop by this weekend to see what the not so frugal activity is/was ... full disclosure ;-) Thanks for stopping by!
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