1. I dried marigold and hyacinth seeds
When Zoe and I were hanging the Christmas lights and doing a little yard cleanup, I grabbed some marigolds and some hyacinth bean pods and spread them on a tray to dry.
I know the hyacinth seeds will work just fine next spring because I do this every year.
Here’s what these seeds produce in summer!
The marigolds? I’m not positive what will happen with those because maybe the seeds I planted last spring were hybrid seeds.
But I figure that it’s extremely low risk to save and dry them; I’ll plant them all next spring and just see what happens.
2. I used cream cheese containers to store the seeds
Once the seeds were totally dry, I put them into washed-out cream cheese containers.
These types of containers are terrible for food storage (you can’t see what’s inside, and that often leads to waste), but they work great for non-food storage.
3. I used a $5/$25 coupon at a grocery store
This is not a store I go to often, but I stuck the flyer on my shelf just in case. And yesterday when I headed out, I happened to see the coupon on the shelf. Yay!
I also used two coupons from the in-store flyer; one to get Turkey Hill ice cream for $1.99 and one to get a bag of mandarin oranges for $1.99.
And I bought a package of day-old croissants for 50% off.
4. I got some free sparkling water
When I was at the above-mentioned grocery store, I looked at the mark-down rack and grabbed a 4-pack of sparkling water for $0.79.
But after I checked out, I noticed the water had rung up at full price. The customer service desk was on my way out, so I stopped there and the person behind the counter actually gave me a full refund!
So my water was free. Which is an even better price than $0.79.
5. I used a brown sugar bag as a piping bag
I tried my hand at cinnamon swirl pancakes last night, and since I didn’t have a ziplock bag on hand for piping purposes, I used the brown sugar bag that I had just emptied to make the cinnamon mixture.
It worked out just fine, and it saved me from using a brand new bag.
Jenelle
Friday 18th of December 2020
1. I'm now working from home so we are saving on gas, etc. (I hope this continues after the holidays). Though I know the electricity bill will be higher now that I am here and sitting still most of the days (we tend to keep our house around 62) 2. We got a good bit of snow for the first time in a few years and my kids are loving the sled riding! Which is FREE and great exercise! 3. We treated ourselves to drive through right before the storm so that we could eat something "different" before we got snowed in. I used a coupon from my birthday for a free meal. Not healthy and did cost money but it hit the spot right before the storm. Sometimes you gotta treat yourself. 4. As we were getting ready to go sled riding, I realized my son had no base layer pants to go under his snow pants. I remembered that I had some ladies LuLaRoe in my Ebay death pile, so I pulled those out and he wore them! I'll wash them and add them right back to the "to be listed" pile. Use what you have.
Lauren
Friday 18th of December 2020
1. I received a box full of food goodies as a Christmas present for work. Chocolates, Xmas pudding, shortbread and more. 2. My friend is shouting me dinner out tonight. The restaurant we are going to makes huge meals so the leftovers will be dinner tomorrow night. 3. I’ve been eating down the freezer and not buying meat for about 4 weeks. So far I’ve had pumpkin soup, tuna bake, sausages and spaghetti bol. Much more to be eaten over the next 6 weeks. 4. I picked up an extra shift at work this week. 5. Parents asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I need a new hose and sprinkler so let them know.
Tricia
Thursday 17th of December 2020
1) I having been using up fruit and other goodies that were gifts, which means some new recipes. 2) I've been making big batches of something yummy on weekends to last several meals throughout the week. 3) I'm rereading one of my favorite books, Your Money or Your Life, on my kindle. 4) I booked 2 free nights at 2 different hotels for a staycation over Christmas (sad replacement for being with my kids, but it is something...) 5) I've been making sure I get my 10K steps a day in, even if I don't feel like it some days.
priskill
Thursday 17th of December 2020
Those pancakes . . . !! :)
1. I went back to my grocery after getting home and realizing I didn't get my 3 lb. ground turkey package for $5.00 although there is was on my receipt. So I ran back and they very nicely let me pick up another package.
2. I pay the credit card in full each month, but back in October, I was a day late calling it in. They charged a fee ($40 I think) so that very day I requested that they disappear the fee, which they promised to do. Of course, this past month, not only was the fee not taken off, they were charging $14.00 interest on it! So I called and politely requested that they do something and they removed both fees. Will be checking future bills to make sure they follow through.
3. Same old same old -- 20 meals a week cooked/prepped at home plus a take out night on Friday.
4. Trying not to go crazy with Christmas shopping :) A work in progress!
5. Love my library but am struggling pick up books put on hold, including one for book club. Worth it totally!
Juhli
Thursday 17th of December 2020
Those pancakes look yummy! 1. I agreed to participate in a longitudinal medical research project that just involves completing surveys. Received a sheet of stamps for completing first one. 2. We packed lunches to eat in the car for both legs of a recent trip to see family (after we all took part in a 14 day extra self isolating plan). 3. Followed vets instructions to prevent dog from having a bad reaction to her rabies vaccine and it worked thus avoiding expensive treatment . 4. Not frugal for us but is for others. We cleared out most of our Christmas decorations as we haven’t used them in 4 years. Gave a son the lights and donated the rest.