1. I shopped clearance clothes for Sonia.
She had the good luck of growing out of her clothes at the time of year when all the winter clothes are on clearance! Such marvelous timing.
I had a 30% off coupon for Kohl’s, so I took her over there and we scoured the XS section* of the junior’s clearance racks. We came up with a dress, two jackets, and multiple shirts for $5-$10 apiece after the clearance price plus my 30% coupon.
*Moms of very narrow/slim young girls: clothes shopping gets WAY easier once they reach Juniors’ sizes. There are magical things like size 0. And XS. Perfect for the very slender among us.
(Which was never me. I don’t think I ever wore a 0! I just skipped right over that size, and I always wondered who could even wear a size that small. I’m very happy they make them, though, because as it turns out, my girls are the target audience for that size.)
2. I bought a top for $5.03.
While I shopped with Sonia, I checked the larger sizes too and I found a comfy peach funnel-neck sweatshirt for $5. The only problem is, it says, “May the Force Be With You.” on the front.
And I am totally not a Star Wars fan. Like, at all.
(For real, sometimes I get Star Wars and Star Trek mixed up.)
But it’s cute and comfy and it was $5! And Sonia said I should get it. So, I did.
Lisey says I am being a fake fan. And it’s totally true. But for $5, I guess I’m willing to be a fake fan.
3. I helped Sonia use some Bath and Body Works coupons.
Sonia is very into all things scented, so she loves this store! I’m on their mailing list, and I had some coupons that were nearing expiration. So, I took her over there and she got two free items plus two other items for $5 apiece.
Now she smells like a tropical coconut. Ha.
And sometimes our cat does too, if Sonia’s been petting her.
4. I made muffins with some overripe bananas.
Since I got sick last week, I didn’t make any smoothies, and four bananas got a little too ripe for use in anything else.
So I made a double batch of banana chocolate chip muffins and avoided composting the bananas.
5. (not frugal) I had to throw away quite a bit of food.
Normally I keep a fairly good eye on what food needs to used up, but I was pretty much parked on the couch for 4 days straight while I was sick.
My family pitched in to cover some of the cleaning and cooking that I usually do, but no one is quite as food-waste aware as I am and some food went unnoticed.
And then there’s the fact that I just wasn’t eating much at all, which meant that an awful lot of avocados went bad!
I cleaned out my fridge yesterday, salvaged what I could (I made rice pudding with leftover rice, cut up an overripe pineapple and froze it for smoothie use, etc.), and got rid of the rest.
It’s a bummer, but it is what it is. It’s not like I get the plague all the time, and what I do all the other weeks of the year matters more than what happens during a sick week.
Rachel
Saturday 24th of February 2018
Sorry to hear of sickness! Thankful spring is coming soon.
My five:
1) Today was the free day of our library book sale. I waited all week & got there early to come away with 5 CD's, 1 DVD, and several kid's books. I tried to be more choosy this time, realizing less can be more & only picking up what I think we'll love.
2) I needed some new gym pants & picked up some clearance ones.
3) Also I found a beautiful clearance rug for a section of our wood floors that needed a rug.
4) I've been searching preschool curriculum on eBay, and finally found the book I've been looking for listed an affordable price.
5) can't think of one!
Profesora H-B
Friday 23rd of February 2018
Oh man, I HATE food waste now! (You have definitely helped me to make that change in my life.)
1) I returned a library book late. Wait. This will be frugal! It cost me $0.30. HOWEVER, I have used the HECK out of the library for the last 3 years and have spent less than $2.00 in fines (including this one). I used to spend $15-ish a month on an Audible subscription, plus buying lots of books. So...my $0.30 fine is tied to hundreds and hundreds of dollars in savings on books.
2) I decided not to sign up for my local quilt shop's block of the month club this year. I enjoyed it last year, but I didn't love it enough to pay the extra 50% rise in price.
3) I bought an Amazon Warehouse Instant Pot. It works perfectly, but has a big dent in the back. It was $65 instead of $100+. WIN.
4) My laziness has resulted in us never making it to the movies anymore. So instead of spending $20 to see movies in the theater, we usually get around to seeing them on Redbox or even Netflix.
5) I repaired a pair of skinny jeans (using an old t-shirt). They had several holes worn through in the thighs, but were in otherwise good shape. I didn't have to drop $60+ on new skinny jeans (for me, a plus-size lady who wants jeans that don't get stretched out and bunch at the knees). They are getting faded, but I just so happen to have a box of black Rit dye at home. I sense a project coming on....
Deidre
Thursday 22nd of February 2018
1. - I've been working hard on meal plans & using what I have; made flatbread pizzas & ran out of sauce for the base & then remembered on this blog someone added regular tomato sauce - I don't remember who it was but thanku it worked great. 2. - I buy my bread from shops that have loyalty cards & scored 12 free wholemeal rolls for the freezer 3. - I try to eat 2 pieces of fruit a day, one is usually an apple & I just started buying whatever is cheapest in season for the other (within reason- only if I like eating it) saving heaps & will increase my variety too & part of a goal to make my meal plans more seasonal overall. This did mean I wasted some watermelon ( I bought a 1/4) but it was still very cheap per serve what I did eat & the rest I'll compost. 4. - Converted credit card rewards to supermarket vouchers & nearly finished using them up - was $100 in total which was awesome. 5. - Got my hair cut at 'Just Cuts' where they don't wash your hair, just spray with water & cut; much cheaper & you don't need an appointment you can just rock up.
Kristyna
Thursday 22nd of February 2018
Way to go for the sweet sweatshirt find! Fit and colour totally trumps the front image/saying (unless it's inappropriate... although there was this one time I got a shirt from the thrift for my hubby and didn't know what the letters on the front were an abbreviation for [I thought it was just school initials] and it ended up meaning something terrible! :-/ ) You could always try to creatively change the word "force" to "frugal" :-P
My Five Frugal things this week:
1. My zipper on a pair of jeans was broken, so I used a diaper pin to hold it together. It's a tiny zipper, so it looks closed from the front and I don't have the sewing skills or time to replace it, so this will have to do for now.
2. I roasted two buttenut squash that have been in my pantry FOREVER and were starting to get brown spots on them.
3. I watched a friend's little girl for the day and traded for haircuts for my husband later.
4. At the mall my kids were satisfied playing on the coin operated toys without any coins to operate them. Sometimes a stationary bulldozer and merry-go-round is just as fun as one that moves and spins. #momwin
5. Went to the library and borrowed a heap of books!!
Kristen
Thursday 22nd of February 2018
I totally used to do that with my kids when Joshua and Lisey were little. They didn't even know you could put coins into them!
Katy in Africa
Thursday 22nd of February 2018
1. The kids were bored today and I noticed my son was doing some crafty stuff, so I pulled out 2 cereal boxes I've been saving for crafting and they cut them into masks and such. 2. I skipped a shutterfly freebie, as I would still have to pay $6 in shipping and decided it wasn't worth it to me. 3. Doing my frugal hobby of reading frugal blogs. :) 4. Bought a used shawl/head wrap for under $1US currency. 5. Not Frugal: Like you I've been wasting more food lately. We have guests and apparently I'm way overcooking. Plus we no longer have a dog, who used to eat leftovers.
Jenelle
Friday 23rd of February 2018
I love the fact that you used to feed your dog leftovers. I let our dog eat almost every leftover (except for bread). Saves on the amount of dog food your have to buy!