Five Frugal Things | a dry bun, watch repair, cheap book, and…coffee!

Chef Jacques Pepin recommends dipping (Not soaking!) stale loaves or rolls in water, then putting in the oven to freshen them up.

1. I found the jeans I like at Zappos on sale so I ordered two pairs which should take me through four years (I'm hard on clothing & shoes).

2. I've been making meals from the freezer & pantry, and only bought some produce, milk, & bread so the stock is getting used up thankfully, and will be replenished with the advent of fall and soup season.

3. My glasses are annoyingly scratched, so I took them in for a free lens replacement (love that warranty!) and they're giving me both lenses so the vision quality matches. It's almost like a brand new pair :)

4. I use a little scrub brush that holds dish soap, but the soap is concentrated, so I fill the container with mostly water, top it off with a small bit of soap and shake. A bottle of soap lasts a long time this way and dishes are still clean.

5. And the score of the week for me--I bought 5 bananas for .97, & 5 apples through self-checkout, and was charged only one penny! I checked it; tried it again with the same result; accepted the price and left with my receipt for $.98. Win!

1 - Our state is continuing free breakfasts and lunches for all kids this year. So my three oldest should be grabbing second breakfast/afternoon snack when they get to school. The busses don't get the younger ones there early enough and its not worth driving for. The middle three will get the free lunches. I can't convince the rest on that one. 2 - I do the surveys for the grocery store which usually gets me a free item every month or so. But, this month I won the $100 gift card! So, I promptly went and used if for the week's groceries. Not all of them, but a nice chunk. 3 - I needed new dish soap, which I order online. It's more expensive, but it keeps my dishwasher cleaner. We are heavy users of the dishwasher so trying to limit service calls. Anyway, this time they were offering a free storage tin and I got an email for $5 off if I paid with Paypal. 4 - It took me a long time to figure out why our wired smoke detectors were beeping. But, I used the internet to discover that they needed a new CO sensor, I found someplace to order them online, and they were super easy to install. Much cheaper DIY than hiring an electrician who would have had to make two visits to diagnose/order/install the parts. I did pay double shipping because I had to order more after improperly counting the number of units I needed, but still way ahead. Also, when I ordered more they sent extras. Not sure what I'm going to do with those since I definitely have all I need now and they'll expire the same time as the ones I just installed. 5 - I took two pairs of nice shorts to borrow a sewing machine to repair a seam that had come out. Since neither of us use the machine often, it took us a while to figure it out. I'm sure some of you would be horrified by the final product. But, the seam is fixed, can't be seen by anyone, and the shorts live to see another day.

1. DS16 biked home one day this week, less driving. 2. DS10 is home sick this week, as is DH, so less driving, ha! 3. I made homemade buns in between conf calls, which everyone loves. 4. I brought home leftover pizza from work (so much leftover food!) I cannot even eat it (gluten), but the family was appreciative. There still a ton left at the office. 5. Hm. Drawing a blank here. I started counting calories again. I hate it, but menopause is not being kind. This will probably reduce my chocolate habit.

I've been broke all week, business has been tough! But I've been using up all the random bags and pods of coffee I have at home, and taking coffee to work with me when the situation call for it. My son needed some three ring binders, and we were able to pull a handful off my office shelves - simply because I have saved binders from all the years before! He also grabbed up some folders, which he didn't know he needed until he saw them LOL. A battery literally exploded in my furnace thermostat and destroyed it, and my furnace guy came over last night and replaced the thermostat for free! I was very grateful for that! I've also been enjoying watching movie on Tubi, which is a WONDERFUL free app, with SO MANY good movies on it. I can't rave about Tubi enough! I'm just hoping today that some deposits or checks come in - I have bills to pay! I don't want to have to dip into the small amount of savings I have, IF I don't have to! And how was your week?