Frugal Activities #37

I really like doing this post each week as I think it makes me a little more accountable and does make me think twice on some things ...

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know I missed last week. I was going to put it up on Sunday but honestly, it was just an off week ... not to say this week was any better ...

It's been a somewhat Frugal week in the sense that I at least stayed far away from the stores all week until this past Friday ... but I made up for it in other ways...

1.  Called Tmobile and eliminated some of the excess charges ... the insurance plan for starters, heck, it's $7.99 a month and I STILL have to pay $150 to replace a broken phone with a refurbished crapped phone. So not worth it if you ask me! I went on to verify that they had cancelled the Princess line and said NO, that they needed to speak to the main account holder (Hubby) .. told them that if I had to wait til he's available to call back, I will just cancel the damn account period and transfer elsewhere. So, this morning (Saturday), I called them up, put Hubby on the phone. They tried to up sell him on the rest of the account. After 15 or so minutes, they told him that he had to call back on 12/7/14 as that's when the contract was up on her line. Umm, no, Tmobile no longer HAS contracts, you buy your own phone instead now ... yes, it's a 24 month payment plan, BUT Princess paid it off 6 months ago ... guess what Tmobile, after me yelling at them (through Hubby on the phone), he told them that "I guess my wife has concluded this phone call" and hung up. Yup. That's my mission now, to find another provider. 13 years I've been with Tmobile and this is what it came down to. I'd like to know for those of you in the midwest who you are using that has good service? When we go to NW Indiana, our Tmobile phones barely get reception so need to find out who is good up there.

2.  Stayed  out of the grocery stores, yet again, for 9 days! NINE DAYS! Stopped at Publix on Friday on my way home from work to get the chicken on sale ($2.25 per pound for boneless/skinless breast). Only got 2 packages, froze the 3 in one package individually. Will probably stop again on Monday or Tuesday and get more for the freezer.

3.  At Publix I also picked up some Kerrygold butter ... they have the 8 ounce packages on sale for $2.00 each. I picked up 2 unsalted and 2 tubs.  Heck, regular butter tops $4 per pound, I'd rather spend that on the real deal! Will need to pick up more and stash in the freezer!

4.  Paid all my bills that are available at this time online. Need to pull the electric bill online and see how much it is this month. Fingers crossed that we are closer to $300!

5.  Menu Planned ...but didn't necessarily stick with it ... but 12 of the 14 meals were prepared and eaten at home so thats a big plus to me.

6.  Inventoried the main guest kitchen freezer. Whoa. There is a lot of stuff in there BUT alas, no chicken breast. I'm surprised. Maybe it's in the garage or main kitchen freezer?  Did menu plan around what was discovered ;-)

7.  Scheduled the transfer of funds from the 360 Savings Account to my checking account to hit while we are out of town. When we get back home, I have to log on and pay our property taxes immediately. I might try and do that BEFORE we fly home as we lose our 4% discount if not paid by the 30th (which is on Sunday!)

8. Ordered some things from The Gap online and saved 40% off the order (Gapwow) (the discount code is good through thru November 10th!) ... and earned some GapCash to use come December. I'm getting nervous about the Polar Vortex they are saying is coming again to the Midwest!!

9.  Did NOT wash my hair for 6 days ... opted to use the dry shampoo in between the shampoo. I probably could have went another day or so but geesh, I was starting to get nervous and self conscious ;-) Of course, watch, I'll go to the gym (at last) and get all sweaty and have to wash it again now!

10.  Finally got the hand wraps to wear under my boxing gloves so maybe NOW I will venture to the gym and not waste any more money on gym memberships?

11.  Downloaded a free app on my phone for the above reference anticipated boxing activity!  Yes, it's only a man speaking, but he says, left right left, right uppercut, left kick, right high hit. Works for me! Heck of a lot better than ME saying that to myself :-)

12. Instead of buying more beer Friday (last night), I opted to just use what we had on hand and make the usual peach vodka, grapefruit and cranberry drink that I already have on hand for our Happy Hour Friday. We have beer, it's just not really what I want to drink ... neither is the vodka but I should probably lay off the booze period for a bit?

13.  Pulled out the last of the fresh (not so much anymore) mahi mahi that we had caught a few months back ... Hubby said we probably left it in the freezer too long, so just in case (and if the Boy is home) I pulled out a skirt steak too. The Boy might stay far away as he's pretty allergic to seafood (we just reaffirmed that when he accidentally took a bite of a fish taco at work, his lip swelled up like someone punched him with 20 minutes).

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

1.  House cleaners. Yes. Every 2 weeks they come to the tune of $120 each time. Not so bad if everyone puts $15 a week in the jar! Ahem. It appears a few individuals have slacked off this past week or two.

2.  Paid $200 for pressure washing the two driveways. Hubby could have borrowed a friends pressure washer and done it himself but at this point, he's working long hours and traveling and figured, just pay the dude. Fortunately, I had someone that I do work with frequently in the office that gave us a break ...

3.  Dinner out with Hubby... not a big deal, but still. $55 one week and $45 the next. The lack of grocery stopping was eaten up by that!

4. Hair cut, color and highlights. Oh. And eyebrows and lip. That was a pretty penny. AND I'm not thrilled with the base color she used :-(  I was in need of it but really, I got a son that does a damn good job cutting hair and the Princess could color my hair a solid color ... I may make this my New Years Resolution ...

5. Gym. What Gym? Yes. I pay $21 a month for a gym membership that I've not stepped in to for 3 weeks. Uggg. Maybe with the hand wraps and app I will go this weekend!?

What have YOU done Frugal this past week? Hop over to the Money Propeller and The Prudent Homemaker and see what some others are doing!

*The Prudent Homemaker recently revamped her main site and no longer uses blogger so if you have her bookmarked, you might want to update you link :)

Comments

  1. Look into Republic Wireless!! Phone companies are the worst, worldwide!! Here's a post on Republic Wireless my friend wrote: http://frugalportland.com/republic-wireless-review/

    ReplyDelete

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