Weekly Savings

My grocery spending has been a bit out of control for the past month so I put myself on a budget to get things to balance back out.  More details on that later in the week.  The good thing is that I stuck to the budget.

We closed our safe deposit box at the bank.  It was a bit silly to see the things we had been storing in there.  Nothing was irreplaceable.  We received a 98 cents refund but will save $45 a year from here on out.

We ate strawberries from my parents' garden and four blueberries from ours.  This is the first year for our blueberry plants so I was not expecting much.  I cannot begin to describe how delicious my two organic, fresh picked blueberries were.

All of our laundry was dried either outside or on drying racks inside.  I also used a sample of detergent to wash two loads.

Meals were all cooked at home, and we made an effort to eat leftovers.

I cooked dried beans in the slow cooker twice this week.  It is cheaper than buying canned beans and also healthier.  I can control the amount of salt when I cook them myself.

I did no extra shopping this week.  I did not let myself get tempted by any Amazon deals or in store sales on things I did not need.

Weekly Savings

This covers a couple of weeks since I never got around to posting at all last week.

I stuck close to my grocery budget only going over slightly this past week.  That included stocking up on sale priced butter.  It will all balance out in the end.

I have tried my best to make good use of leftovers which helps with the grocery budget.  W also requested that I try to use up the food that we have on hand before we move.  Even though we are only moving across the yard, it is a good opportunity to use what we have rather than continuing to buy more.

I made envelopes for mailing letters to friends.  I used colorful copy paper and a glue stick.  These envelopes are fun and a fraction of the cost of a similar purchased envelope.

I gave myself a manicure.

I have been enjoying the TV show "Chef's Life" via the PBS channel on Roku.  The cooking tips are very good, and it is an interesting show.

I avoided buying any of the "deals" offered online.  I enjoy looking at all of the sales.  If I do not need something though, it is not a deal.  Saying no means saying yes to a larger goal.

W fixed our sound machine which I need at night to sleep.  It kept cutting off randomly in the middle of the night at which point I would immediately wake up.  It took a few minutes of time, but it is now as god as new.

I sent cupcakes to work with Warren for him and his co-workers to enjoy.  They were made from scratch and were budget friendly since they helped use up some buttermilk.

We used a coupon at Lowe's for something we needed for the new house and saved $10.

I used more scrap yarn to crochet hair bows for the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes.

I am sure there are more items, but this covers the highlights.  What did you do to save money this past week?

Weekly Savings

I skipped grocery shopping this past week.  We had plenty of food on hand so I saved money and time by not going into town.

I cleaned out the rabbit house.  This was free exercise and gave me a good amount of fertilizer to add to the compost pile.

I talked myself out of a $5 magazine subscription.  It was not a favorite magazine, and I was happier keeping the $5 in my wallet.

I have been making my own herbal tea bags using bulk purchased herbs and disposable filter bags.  It is easy to prefill the bags with whatever herbs I want.

I got more free exercise when I picked up the fallen branches from our pecan trees.  Those went into a pile to be chipped into mulch later.

I did my best to make good use of our leftovers.  I had a couple of extra baked pork chops.  One was saved with other items for a meal for me while W was at work.  I sliced the remaining one thin to top big salads for lunch.  I also baked a lemon ricotta pound cake to use up some ricotta.

A couple of the tomato plants in the greenhouse were "bitten" by cold before W hooked up the heater.  Since only the leaves were affected and not the stems, I cut off two of the suckers and brought them in the house.  They went into a small jar of water in the kitchen window.  I am hoping that they will root and put on new growth.  If not I am only out a bit of my time.

I used the apple juice from boiling the apple peels and cores from last week to make four half-pints of apple jelly.  

I packed W's lunch as usual  This takes a few minutes of prep time but saves hundreds of dollars each year.  I also make sure to use reusable containers so we are not spending money on disposable bags.  W also takes a thermos with tea so he is not tempted to purchase sodas.