Frugal Activities #32

Hubby left town on Monday ... so it's just me, the big kids and the cats. Woohoo. You would think this would be especially frugal, right? Hmmm .... let's see what some of my Frugal Activities have been:

1.  Stopped at Fresh Market on Tuesday to pick up 4 lbs ground beef and 2 lbs of b/s chicken breast @ $2.99 each ... also picked up some cabbage, and a few other veggies. Almost $40 later ...

2.  Then stopped at Target to pick up the 2 tide pods, 1 Downy ($5 off the 3 and then a $10 gift card), deodorant ($2 off) and tampons ($2.00 off) ... then remembered we were out of tissues, so swung by and picked up a twin pack for $2.99 ... then browsed the meat ... and found the girl tossing stickers on all the ground beef and chicken ... got me ** of ground beef (85/15 and 93/7) 1 pkg of b/s thighs, 4 pounds of center cut thin pork chops and 2 pkgs of sesame beef on a stick for $81.00. That was over 21 pounds of meat total, and 10 lbs was the Laura's Lean Beef ... so I'm somewhat ok with the $3.50 +/- this averages out to be.  I dug out the food saver and bags and sealed them all up and tossed in the freezer. I didn't vacuum them necessarily for the longevity, rather, to make the packages smaller. You know how target has those big boxy plastic things? Not enough room in the freezers for that. I hope I don't see any rock bottom deals on meats anytime soon!

3.  Costco ... did $200.00 cash and the rest on the debit card. Why am putting this on the Frugal side? This Ebola stuff made me re-think my trip a little and I stocked up a little bit more on the health and hygiene area.  With Hubby traveling to 3 cities in 2 weeks and one of those cities just happens to be in Texas, I'm a little freaked out, I'll be honest (AND he's sick anyways with what we hope is just a cold!).

4.  Packed lunch all 5 days for work, took my breakfast all 5 days and ate 6 of the 7 dinners at home ... the kids convinced me to do Mexican on Wednesday ... see below under the NOT so Frugal Activities.

5.  Paid all the bills for the first part of the month online.  Was looking to move a substantial amount of overage to the Capital One 360 big account BUT Costco intervened..

And, of course, full disclosure of the NOT so Frugal Activities ...

1.  Sidetracking at Target. I avoid Target at all costs because the big red cart just calls my name to be filled up. Granted, I did some decent meat bargains, but still, more $ than I had intended to spend there.

2.  SECOND (YES) trip to Target to pick up rubber gloves, face mask, peroxide and alcohol. This was before I decided that I was going to make a Costco trip afterall.  The Ebola stuff was really freaking me out (still is) and I just felt like I needed to get some basic starter stuff  'just in case' ... I also swung by the shoe aisle as I tossed quite a few pair of shoes in the donation bag ... my feet are getting fatter (whats up with THAT!?) and like clothing, I'm to the point where if it's not comfortable, it gets dumped in the bag. I'm so over all that!  Ended up picking up 2 pairs of shoes/booties/whatever for $34.99 each. Uggg. Still have receipt and tags in case I change my mind over the weekend.

3.  I had a bit of food waste this past week ... not much, but good intention veggies that went south before I was attentive enough to prepare. I need to work a little harder in this area! I did end up saving my grapes!

4.  Out for Mexican on Wednesday night. If all the kids are around when Hubby is gone, chances are we will all go grab something somewhere. Would not have been so bad except the margaritas made several rounds ... and the worse part about it? They tasted not so great. Uggg. $120 for 5 of us. I sort of try and justify the expense of eating out with the kids ... only because they are becoming young adults and I know the day is coming where they will move, get married and have their own family to be with ... I know they won't abandon me but some of our very best conversations are away from the house over dinner. Not sure why that is? Maybe because no one is getting up to get a water refill, or napkins, seconds, whatever?

5.  Costco ... I normally question whether this needs to fall in the NOT so Frugal Activities categories ... this week, due to the amount spent, so need to put it here.

I've got a group of girls coming over this evening and need to get moving on the food prep. We don't know if we will stay here all night and listen to Pandora or walk the 8 blocks and go bar hopping/listening to bands. I am seriously considering taking my 32 oz water bottle, adding a drink to THAT and carrying it with me. Only because these places are packed, it's hard to get a drink AND they cost like $10 for a call brand ... we will spend probably 50% of the time outside of the bars (car shows, people watching, etc.) ... is that CHEAP or FRUGAL? I'm on the fence as to how I feel about it, personally!

What do you say, Cheap or Frugal? I'm curious!

Looking forward to sharing over at Money Propeller and The Prudent Homemaker ... go check them both out!

Comments

  1. I love the Not so Frugal list also! We don't have a Costco close to us so it's Sam's I have to watch out for. Last time I wouldn't let hubby go ha ha.
    What a great price on hamburger too.
    Have a great day

    ReplyDelete
  2. Eeek, it sounds like Target is a danger zone! I have a homing beacon that draws me to discount stickers, too. Our freezer has (thankfully, it was getting way too empty) recently been crammed full of food that was on sale.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Non Toxic Mosquito Spray

Smelly Shoe Fix!

Rice Cooker - Hard Boiled Eggs