1. I mended our bench cover (again)
I’ve mended this at least 2-3 times before (see this post) but after I washed it this latest time, I noticed several new mending needs.
This fabric is sort of a loose weave, which makes it prone to coming apart at the seams. I fixed a few of those spots, reinforced a couple of the ties, and zig-zagged some fraying fabric around the zipper.
I like our chairs and table:
but I gotta say, Crate and Barrel did a pretty mediocre job with these cushion covers, especially the bench cover.
Color me unimpressed.
2. I used up the WHOLE bag of cranberries
My cranberry bread recipe doesn’t call for quite a whole bag, so in the past, I’ve put the extra berries back in the fridge and then forgotten about them until they are dried up or moldy.
So this time, I cooked up the last cup or so of berries with water and sugar to make a cranberry sauce to go on my oat meal.
That worked out just fine, but I think next time I just might try putting the whole bag of cranberries into the bread and see what happens.
3. I’ve been eating leftover ham with scrambled eggs
I divided and froze a lot of the ham from Thanksgiving, but I did leave some in the fridge.
The last two mornings, I’ve been chopping that up and eating it in scrambled eggs for breakfast. And since I have some extra jalapeños around, I’ve been adding those in too.
Chopped jalapeños make so many dishes more interesting!
4. I rescued one more bag of sticky marshmallows
Zoe found another bag of marshmallows that had gotten terribly sticky since I bought them.
A reader suggested storing them in the freezer to prevent this, so I’ll give that a try in the future. But with this bag, which was already too far gone, I made another pan of Rice Krispy treats.
My girls had no complaints about this. 😉
5. I…
- made chicken broth with bones from the freezer
- edited my Hungry Harvest delivery to avoid getting items I won’t use
- chopped, sautéed, and froze my extra celery
- cooked meatballs in oil I’d frozen from frying chicken
Mar
Saturday 5th of December 2020
Mine is non frugal in a frugal long term kind of way. Kitchen light died and rather than search for parts & the plastic on it was cracked I opted to buy an expensive Kichler it met my requirements that you could simply change the bulbs once one was out! All of the newer, brighter & larger kitchen lights are now the built in led, once it dies you replace that whole fixture. I do not understand why that is all you can find. The kitchen has 1 small window, is on the west side so the kitchen light is on almost 100% of the time we are home. So few 4 bulb fixtures that are not chandelier style. Score that I found it for $60 off at Lowes.
Another non frugal but will be frugal in the long run, power company said they would not cut the large limb hanging on our power line. They will fix if it breaks the line down. Makes perfect sense. We are getting prices on having a company just drop the limb. Nothing else. We can clean it up. Will be less of a hassle in the long run.
Living the covid lifestyle we ordered spare bulbs for some of our Christmas string lights, we will go thru one by one and fix them. Our older non led lights are workhorses, old and keep working with a couple lights out. The new Xmas led we got from Home Depot absolute garbage, we have had them up 2 weeks and already have sections out.
The comment on Becca having her pants hold her closet up is too funny ha ha ha ha ha.
Kristen
Saturday 5th of December 2020
I love long-term frugal wins! I will happily pay more in the moment if it will save me money in the long run.
Tricia
Thursday 3rd of December 2020
1) I contacted my bank about a $7 maintenance fee, and got it reversed. Perks of small town banking. 2) I found some really good grocery deals at a small hole-in-the-wall place. 3) I was able to sign up for dental cleanings for my husband and I over Christmas break. The dentist was closed for a long time due to Covid and I missed our last appt, so we are long overdue and I was thankful to to get in. 4) It has been cooler, which means I am taking longer walks, which = more exercise, which = (hopefully) better health. 5) I am filling up our Christmas break calendar with (mostly) free activities. It is the first year that we will not be with our kids, and that is going to be harder than I thought it would be. I am trying to fill the days without breaking the bank.
Hawaii Planner
Thursday 3rd of December 2020
We have almost the exact same table from Pottery Barn, but chairs all around. The cushions are also not great. Sidenote for me, cream cushions in a dining room with young kids was a terrible decision. ;-)
Frugal wins for the week: 1) Decorated our house with the same tree, ornaments, and mantle lights/candles as we have for years. We like the memories & traditions, but also don't want to spend a lot 2) Found useful gifts for the kids, plus a few fun things. Stayed within budget. 3) All meals made at home 4) Earned grocery store rewards by buying gift cards we needed at the store. 5) Continue to list & sell things on eBay. It's not making me rich, but it gets things out of the house
Kristen
Thursday 3rd of December 2020
So true about the cream cushions! We bought this set when our kids were all past the young kid stage, mercifully. When the kids were small, we had a cheap set with nothing fabric on it at all. Little kids are just so messy with the food!
Becca
Wednesday 2nd of December 2020
Made berry muffins with frozen wild black raspberries we picked in the backyard this summer.
Made a homemade birthday card instead of buying one.
Hubby won a free fish fry from a local radio station.
Made turkey stock with the thanksgiving turkey bones & onion scraps.
Made and froze a bunch of parsley pesto with the rest of the parsley in my garden.
Becca
Wednesday 2nd of December 2020
1. When hiding Christmas presents on the top of my temporary closet (that is now going on year ten...partially out of frugality and partially out of laziness) the whole shebang started to collapse from the weight of a zillion maternity jeans that I have saved "just in case." Rather than buy a new closet, I took all the jeans down off the top and rearranged them in a column in the middle of the closet instead. That column of pants might actually be load bearing at this point! I do need a new closet, but at least I can put it off just a bit longer. 2. Froze leftover turkey gravy in 1/3 sized portions on a cookie sheet to add to future meals for a flavor boost. It totally looks like I froze six little piles of dog poop, but they will taste good in soup, plus you have to get your laughs somewhere these days. 3. Made granola from scratch using your recipe! Thanks!!! 4. Decorated the house using only decorations we had squirreled away and even used our yucky fake tree instead of buying a live one. The farm we usually go to didn't have trees this year, so I sucked it up and added extra lights and ornaments to the falsie and managed to make it look passably like a tree instead of a glorified scrub brush. 5. Convinced my husband that leftover roasted radishes would taste good mixed with cheese tortellini for dinner. Turns out the combo actually was delicious and we ate less tortellini, so the bag will stretch longer.
Happy frugal holidays everyone!
Becca
Wednesday 2nd of December 2020
Darn...frugal fail: burnt the bottom of the granola while I typed up my FFT list...will I feed it to my children anyway? Yeah, so instead of my closet holding up my pants, my pants are currently holding up my closet...so of course I will feed my children slightly burnt granola! I shall call it "pan-seared granola" and they will think it's gourmet. Ha! Creative frugality for the win!