Five Frugal Things | chicken, then soup

First time posting!

1. Cleaned freezer & inventoried & meal planned with items to use up including: chicken carcass + veg scrap bag to become broth, 2 forgotten chicken breasts to become soup with that broth, using garden produce in that soup, 1/2 bag of tortellini + frozen sauce to make a meal (and used leftover homemade rolls for garlic toasts!) 2. Going to my daughter's open house at school tomorrow which is also a potluck so we can eat a tasty free dinner (and using up a box of rice Krispies to make treats to bring!) 3. Plastic spray bottle I use for vinegar for cleaning broke, but the nozzle was okay and fit perfectly on a maple syrup glass bottle I've cleaned and was saving. It sounds silly but the ergonomics of the syrup bottle are phenomenal. 4. Harvested garden carrots and probably have a 2 month supply on hand 5. I have been freezing any fresh fruit we don't eat in time before it goes bad and plan on smoothie breakfasts all week next week after I grab some spinach when I do the weekly shop, which will be very light considering the freezer clean out meal plan.

Thanks everyone for sharing their great ideas, I'm now addicted to reading every comment!

Five Frugal Things… 1. Used my Royal Farms rewards and got a free ultimate car wash 2. My daughter had a brunch wedding on Sunday and instead of an expensive wedding cake she opted for individual cheesecake jars purchased through a local person who makes them at home. The caterer was nice enough to gather the empty jars and give them back to me, so I washed them and returned them to the woman who made them. She was very grateful that I thought to do that. Rather keep them out of the landfill a little longer. She gave us a really good price and they were delicious so it was a good way to say thank you. 3. Borrowed vases and silk flowers from a friend whose son got married in June and used them as centerpieces for my daughter’s wedding. Fortunately the venue didn’t need much in the way of decoration so lots of money saved. 4. Borrowed lots of library books. 5. Took my lunch to work each day and refilled my water bottle with free sparkling water each day before I left the office.

1. Remembered to cancel my free one-month trial subscription to a company that makes political yard signs and bumper stickers. (I've been campaigning like crazy.) The subscription let me order things and get free shipping, but after the first 30 days they were going to charge my credit card a monthly fee. So I ended it on Day 28. 2. Found the gift card for a fast food place that said "we want to buy you a drink" (non-alcoholic, of course). They had passed these out to the teachers last school year and it was at the bottom of my purse. Redeemed it for the free lemonade but did not buy one of their overpriced entrees. 3. Big Lots advertised some reusable K-cups for Keurig coffeemakers. Bought a package, as the lid to my old one was lost. Now I can spoon some coffee from the can and brew a cup, as opposed to having to buy the more expensive K-cups that you have to dispose of after only one use. Even better: there were 2 K-cups in the package. (Not frugal, but very useful: I finally broke down and bought a new Keurig from Target. Designed for a dorm room, it doesn't take up much space and it works lots better than the old one I got from Goodwill. The new one makes a really good cup of coffee in a jiffy, and I am greatly enjoying using it. I got tired of swallowing coffee grounds with the old one -- now I know why it was donated! Totally useless!) 4. Since the big, old Keurig wasn't working, I cut off its electrical cord for recycling, salvaged the tank to use for watering the houseplants, and put several other plastic parts into the plastic recycling bin. Threw the rest -- oh, no! -- in the garbage; that's because we couldn't figure out any other uses for the base and stuff. 5. Took 3 different last-minute substitute teacher jobs, all on the same day. (Two teachers' doctor appointments were over faster than they had planned for, then another teacher went home ill.) Luckily they were at the same school. But it meant I got paid for a whole day instead of just for an hour or two.

1 - I found yet another batch of frozen egg whites, which I used to make stuffed shells. There is still at least one more. 2 - I took lunch to work. 3 - I found an acceptable pair of baseball pants for the youngest boy in the boxes of hand-me downs. Unfortunately I couldn't find another pair of soccer socks for him. Its been a while since anybody has played soccer at this age so I suspect I cleaned them out last time I did a tag sale. He decided he'd make do with the ones he has. 4 - My washing machine broke. When I called they told me about the fee for the service guy so I reminded them that its free because its still under warranty, which I had confirmed before I called. 5 - We continue to eat cucumbers and green/wax beans from the garden. The weather is turning so likely this is the last week or so of having them available.

I made some cute coasters from scrap fabric for some girlfriends ( for Christmas!) I cooked a beef brisket in my crockpot, we had Meals from it, I shared some with my sister and then I froze the rest and the au jus for later. I felt good that I didn't waste any of it.