Thursday, October 11, 2012

Frugal Friday: How I saved money this week!

Fall is in the air which has me thinking how I can prepare our home for the winter months. I know I  have an electric blanket that needs washing but I keep putting off going to the laundry mat. I've pulled out the slippers and located the sweaters and I need to bring the kerosene in from the garage to have it handy. I keep flash lights in most rooms so the batteries need to be tested.

 This will be the first year in our new home. Since the house was built in 1917 I'm thinking it may be a bit drafty. We do not have central heat but there is a wall furnace in the living room. We were told by the grandson of the owners that it efficiently heats the entire house. I hope so. If not then I'm sure a couple of layers of clothes will do the trick. I don't mind the cold nearly as much as the heat.



I've listed a few ways I saved money this week:

1. I've been saving leftover bits of veggies for a few months. I put them in a small marked container in the freezer. This week I dumped the container into a pot of hamburger soup. I was able to avoid using a can of veggies because of this practice. These were small amounts I would have just thrown away.  I also had frozen a container of unused tomato sauce that I threw in, too.

2. Homemade ice cream can be expensive to make. An older lady once shared a trick that helps keep the cost low which is to drain the water from the ice and salt and use it in the second batch. This also helps reduce the amount of salt needed for the second batch.  My friend also used to freeze water in milk jugs and then crush the ice with a hammer. I  have never been able to get the chunks small enough that they wouldn't jam as it's turning.

3.  I use seran wrap for my waffles when I freeze them. I reused the seran wrap after the waffles are eaten for the next batch. I also saved and washed a brown sugar bag and a piece of tinfoil to reuse.

4.  I had purchased some carrots with jalapenos and onions that I thought would go well with a mexican meal. They didn't. There was too much vinegar and no one cared for them. I froze them in small amounts thinking I could use them in future soups. Well, I tried a small amount in the pot of hamburger soup and my husband did not care for it at all. I'll need to come up with another idea to prevent throwing them away. Maybe I'll try to rinse them first.

5.  My husband enjoys a cup of Earl Grey Tea in the morning when it's chilly. I've been saving the tea bags by putting them in a container I keep in the fridge. Once I've gathered quite a few I will then use 3 used bags for a new cup of tea. I let it sit just a bit longer than the first use. My husband has never complained that it's too weak.

6.  I cooked 2 chicken pieces in the crock pot to use in a few recipes this week. I saved the meat juice and put it in a jar. Once the meat juices were cooled I put the jar in the fridge to separate the fat from the broth. After I threw away the chicken fat I labeled the jar and put it in the fridge to use in a soup someday.

7.  I saved an empty peanut butter jar. I use empty jars for all types of things. One thing I use it for is to contain grease so I don't have to put it down the drain. I also use jars for compost items because the lid helps deter gnats and odor.

8.  Two clothes lines were hung in my laundry room for rainy days. I may have a chance to try them out this week.

9. I bought a few $1 Popsicle holders. We like sugar free Popsicles but the price is hefty so I'm trying to find a way to cut back on that expense. I use natural stevia in place of sugar. I did not like the way the Popsicle holders worked so I'll be on the hunt for an inexpensive set that is easy to use.

That's it for this week. How did you save money in your home?

8 comments:

  1. You might want to try using an ice cream maker that doesn't need ice or salt.

    I make my own whole-fruit popsicles all the time. It's really easy and the children love them.

    Here's what I did last week to save money: http://theprudenthomemakerblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/last-weeks-frugal-accomplishments.html

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  2. Thank you for sharing all your tips, with future lay offs looming we have become very frugal, I want to keep it up for now on....The way I saved this week was having a no spend challenge week ..Made chocolate chip banana bread from scratch....another challenge is reading instead of TV on...turning down the thermostat or completely turning off the heat....lisa

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  3. love all your tips great thinking and creativity come see what I shared this week at http://shopannies.blogspot.com I am also following you now

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  4. Great frugal ideas! i do some of these things already ~ washing and reusing zipper bags, making my own laundry soap, hanging laundry outside if at all possible, using drying racks inside when it's not possible to hang it outside. Just tonight i saw a "recipe" to make my own dishwashing liquid and i am going to try it. For many, many years i have made my own bath and facial soap and recently i went shampoo-free and i love it!

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  5. A decision I made two years ago paid off last week. Choosing "Preferred Care" for my Medicare supplement plan meant my recent hospital care cost me only $50 a day with no cost for procedures (scans, tests) done while admitted. Everything would have been more expensive as an outpatient.

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  6. This post reminds me of the little cottage we lived in in Chicago area when our boys were babies -- and no central heat. I can still feel the chill in the house but we had plenty of blankets and hot tea! My aunt, a missionary, received a container of used teabags, true story. But I always get a second cup from a bag, or use one bag for a whole pot ... just that the second cup may not have the same amt of caffeine if you're wanting that! Am enjoying your frugal posts!

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  7. Your ideas are so great! And to think I have been throwing away my Celestial Seasonings Apple Cinnamon tea bags after only one use! Well, here's what I did today, I made a lemon pie. My husband loves the Marie Callendars lemon pies. Winn Dixie would usually run them on sale for $4.99 or$5.99. But they haven't lately, and the regular price is right at $9.00. I was looking through some of my great grandmothers recipes yesterday and found a recipe that sounded very close to this pie. I had all the ingredients, so I set to work this morning and made one. The pie dough I am not real sure about, but the filling and meringue turned out beautifully. Will see how it tastes tonight for dessert. Not sure what the homemade pie cost to make, but I'm sure much less than $9.00.

    posdo- so funny about the used tea bags!

    Lisa- you are not the only one, my daughter and her husband are having a no eating out week. We do not have a t.v., so I read a lot.

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