Weekly Savings April (So Far)

The weather has greatly improved in my part of the country.  I have spent the majority of this month working in the garden and yard.  Just getting the greenhouse emptied is an overwhelming task.  It is great to get outside and dig in the dirt though.  I have managed to save a bit of money this month.


Gardening in raised beds requires dirt.  We compost year round and are blessed with rich, black dirt.  We filled several raised beds, buckets, and containers with this free dirt.  Among the free plants I have this year are a pear tree which W is rooting, an apricot tree I grew from seed, and several vegetable plants from seed I saved last season.  I also had catnip sprout in an area I used to grow it as well as a piece of spearmint.  Both of these herbs went into containers.  I swapped a variety of pepper that I had for a variety that I needed.  I also harvested some food from my garden already.  This week I got a pineapple, lemon, and several radishes. 


My $5 yard sale Cuisanart ice cream maker works perfectly.  I am not certain that homemade ice cream is cheaper, but I know exactly what goes into the ice cream I make.  My family often gets together for homemade ice cream so this will be an easy way to make it without the mess of ice and salt. 


With the nice weather we have not needed to use the heat or A/C which will save on the electric bill next month.  We finally came in under budget this past month on the electric bill.  I set the extra money aside for the hot summer months when it will be higher.


We used a coupon at a home improvement store to purchase items that we needed for some repairs and a few lavender plants.  It came out to an overall savings of $10. 


I got 8 bars of soap for the cost of tax for the Christmas shoeboxes.  A few other people also used coupons to get the practically free soap.  This money saved means money that can go toward other items for the shoeboxes. 


Meals were eaten at home this month, and I made an effort to use up any leftovers.  I will be glad when the garden really starts producing.  This will be a huge savings for the grocery budget.  It also means that we eat more organic foods.  Nothing beats produce that is picked moments before it is eaten.


I purchased vinyl to embellish a cake cover for a wedding gift.  These are quite popular here but cost $25+.  The cake cover was bought with a coupon, and I purchased the vinyl from eBay.  I think it turned out lovely for less than have the cost of buying a premade one.


I am sure there is more, but these are the high points from April thus far.