Weekly Savings

I think my biggest weekly savings was not buying any groceries.  I even managed to put together stuff for W's lunch when I thought I was completely out of snacks.  I also made cupcakes using a box mix and leftover frosting I had put in the freezer last month.  Half of them will go to church for the birthday of a boy in my Bible class.  Six were set aside for W to take in his lunch.  The other six went into the freezer for a future lunch/snack.  Meals were all cooked from items on hand.  I got a bit creative to use up some things that we had in the pantry.  Week one of my modified pantry challenge was a success.  I will share what we ate this past week on Monday.


Not buying groceries meant I used very little gas this week.  I only took a short trip to the bank and post office.  This is about 15 minutes round trip.  I also stopped at Dollar General to get a new collar for Leo.  I found a bunch of children's tops to put in the Christmas shoeboxes.  Even though I am trying to do the boxes on a budget.  I like to put quality items.  I ended up with 17 nice tops and 2 pairs of pants for $20.


We ate radishes, garden peas, and asparagus from the garden.  Putting down some netting in the raised beds seems to be keeping the squirrels from digging.  The garden peas looked okay after getting so much water, but I fear I will lose several plants as they are turning a bit yellow.  I took advantage of free shipping to order a few more seeds from Baker Creek. 


W made some improvements to the chickens' house using items that we already had on hand.  We also have a broody hen (Bubbles) who did not have eggs of her own.  W put a dozen bantam eggs from another hen and gave them to Bubbles.  She has happily been sitting on them ever since.  She is much cheaper than using an incubator to hatch the eggs.


W also ran a new water line to my raised bed area.  He had to purchase a small amount of materials, but this project was also done mainly with items already on hand.  This makes things easier for me.  I do not have as far to drag a water hose to reach my plants. 


The weather was nice enough that we were able to open up the windows to air out the house.  A week of no heat or a/c means savings on the electric bill.  I line dried all of the laundry. 


What have you done to save money this past week?