Frugal Friday: How I saved money this week! Oct.26

The first half of the week was very productful! I finished the sewing side job for a friend. We will trade my sewing in exchange for a hair cut and a hair weave.  I had some larger chunks of time during the beginning of the week which allowed me to finish a few projects I've listed below.

 Then.. life happened... and I fell down my back stairs which slowed life down to a snails pace due to some swollen toes! Interesting how you can have a long 'to do list' and be cruisin' right along and all of a sudden.... the brakes hit! Even though I wasn't able to stand long on my feet I still was able to work on some research projects (sitting down) to save money.Today I hope to do some de-cluttering of paperwork.



1. I turned off my computer printer. I figured there is no use keeping it on when I'm not using it daily. I also started unplugging my laptop when not in use.

2. I used one of those 'chunks of time' to mend an old quilt that was falling apart. I hope to get a few more years out of it.

3. I stretched my scrambled eggs by adding water.

4. I'm on a mission to reduce my water bill. I had started saving the water that normally would run down the drain while waiting for hot water and put it on my flowers that are in pots outside. The plants are not needing as much water now that winter is here so I decided to try something new. I heated up a cup of water in the microwave and used that to wash my face. It's working great. So, this week I came up with another idea. I decided to run the water slowly while it's heating up to wash my dishes? I normally turn the faucet on full blast. It heats up just as fast when I ran it slow and I wasted less water. I'm still throwing the rinse water on plants outside.

5.  I'm a member of a local Yahoo group called Freecyle. These groups are all over the world. It's a group where you can post items you want to give away and you can also post items you need. I've been blessed by many wonderful items off this list over the past few years. This week I picked up a nearly new plastic outdoor chair and 2 boxes of free food.

6. I started popping popcorn on  the stove instead of buying microwave popcorn. I've been hearing horrible things about the oil in the microwave bags so this will be a cheaper alternative and also a healthier one.

7. I called my gas and electric company to find out how to use their website more efficiently. It's really a wonderful tool to track where my money is going. I also asked the lady if there were any programs that would help reduce my bill. I found out that I can get a reduction on my bill because I use a life saving device called a CPAP machine. Our electric company also offers a discount to low income people of about 20%. 

8. I started a Price Book last week. This week, while I was recuperating, I went through this months grocery receipts and wrote down the date, item, price and store it was purchased in a small notebook with dividers. Prices continue to rise so quickly that I often have a difficult time remembering what I last paid for items I don't buy regularly.

9.  You may scratch your head when I list the next thing I did this week to save money. I Iistened to a teaching CD. Not on just any topic but on contentment. One of the many points made was that if we don't learn to be content with what we have today or where we are today (or our life ) then we will never be happy or content when we finally get 'it' (fill in whatever you think you need to make you happy). The scripture text was Phil. 4:10-13. The apostle Paul LEARNED contentment ...whether in jail.. in shipwrecks...in affliction... he learned to be content whether he had much or little.  Listening to this CD and reminding myself what God's Word says was one of the best things I did this week in regards to how I view money.

What did you do to save money this week? I love to learn from other women!

Frugal Friday: How I Saved Money this Week

It's been a full week of many extra duties that have squeezed out the attempt to try new frugal ideas. One of those extra duties is a sewing job. I'm hoping that some day I can work exclusively from home again like I have for most of my years as a homemaker.

So, my Frugal Friday list is less full this week. I'm still doing the 'main things' that help me save money:

• Hanging my clothes on the line to dry.
• Only washing clothes when I have a full load.
• Keeping the lights off as much as possible during the day.
• Washing and drying dishes by hand. 
• Using up left overs to stretch my food budget. 
• Saving as much water in the house as possible to throw on the plants in the yard.
• Composting any leftovers.  

These are a few new things I did to save money this week:

1. I have a 'mending' drawer which was very full so I spent an afternoon mending pants and shirts that otherwise would have been given to Salvation Army. This will also save money in the future by extending my wardrobe. I also have some socks with holes that I plan on mending soon.
2.  I wrote in previous posts how I would save the water that runs from the faucet in the mornings while I'm waiting for the hot water. I would throw the cold water (that normally went down the drain) on plants outside. This week I heated a cup of water in the microwave and used the warm water to clean my face instead of letting the water run. I normally run a 1/2 bucket of cold water before the hot comes so I saved quite a bit of water doing this.  I'm still saving the 'extra' water in the kitchen though when waiting for hot water to wash my dishes. 
3. I kept my grocery receipts from this past month so that I could keep track of what I was/had spent. 
4. I started a Price Book. It's not finished but it's started. :-)
5. I made up a monthly menu and a grocery list from that menu. I was just making 2 week menus but seem to run short on vegetables by the end of the month. I'm hoping that better planning will eliminate that problem. 
6. I made a new stain remover which I will share on a later post if it works. The last two I made are working but I need something a little stronger for those determined stains. 

So.. that's it for this week. What did you do to save money this week? 

Big houses, careers and possessions

Is that how we envisage our lives as disciples of Jesus? As medical missionaries bringing with us the only possible cure to a disease that afflicts and will eventually kill everyone on the planet?

For what is a missionary? Someone who is ‘sent’ to a particular place with a view to bringing the gospel there. There is always a huge commitment involved—not just in training and preparation, but in getting to know the culture, spending time there, building relationships, being involved in the community, having people into your home, and then using every opportunity, formal or informal, planned or spontaneous, alone or in partnership with others, to share the gospel of forgiveness in Christ.

It’s long-term, it’s intentional, it’s an all-of-life activity, and it is costly. When you’re a missionary, you don’t have time or resources to plough into big houses and careers and possessions. You’re on a mission after all, and every dollar you get is given to you to support you in this mission.

  by Tony Payne (What is the mission of the Christian)

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?

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How I saved money this week

I've been wanting to keep track of how I've been saving money each week. I'm discovering that small little practices add up to big savings. So, here is how I saved money this week in my household:

1. I have an olive tree that is full of olives in my front yard. I've wanted to learn how to cure olives for years so I finally gathered the courage to tackle it with the help of a dear friend's advice. I spent 2 days picking olives. It's very time consuming because you have to pick one olive at a time (and they're small). I finally got the tree pruner and cut the top branches that were bursting with large olives. That way I could sit and just pick the olives off the branch instead of standing on a ladder while I pick. Once they were picked it was a long process of lye, soaking and a lot of rinsing. I now have 5 gallons of olives soaking in a salt brine. We hope to share with a few neighbors and some of our family.

2. I hung out my laundry on the line. Winter is just around the corner so I'll be hanging some lines in my garage... hopefully next week. I plan to hang my laundry as much as possible through the winter to keep my electric bill low.

 3. I cut back the watering time for the lawns. The grass was pretty much dead when we moved into our home. So, we focused on saturating it with water to bring it back to life. As a result my water bill went up to $127. Ouch! This month I'm setting my timer and only allowing the water to run 10-15 minutes in each spot. So far the lawn looks just fine.

4. I planted lettuce seeds and green onions in a container by the back door.

 5. I made 2 batches of laundry detergent. I've been making my own laundry detergent for years (off and on). It's one of my biggest money savers.

 6. I saved 2 celery stalk ends to regrow. I laced them in small little dish by my kitchen window in some water and they are already sprouting. I'm not sure how tall they will grow. I saw this idea on Pinterest.

7. I realized I was wasting a lot of water in the mornings when I first turned on the hot water faucet. The water would run and run until it finally turned hot. I now keep a bucket outside my back door and bring it in next to the sink. I let the water run into a container and then fill my bucket. I end up with a half a bucket of water from the kitchen sink and the bathroom sink which I then toss onto the new seeds I planted outside my backdoor.

8. I bought whole milk and added water to stretch it. :-)

9. I used cabbage leaves for my breakfast burritos instead of low carb tortillas (which are so expensive).

10. I used a Kohl's $10 coupon and purchased a gift for Christmas.

 I had several new money saving ideas I wanted to tackle this week but I ran out of time. The kids are coming for lunch on Sunday and so I've spent my extra time this week preparing.

Well, that's all I'll write about for now. I'd love to hear how you saved money in your home this week.