Fly your Frugal Freak Flag

**Monroe on a Budget** · 12-26-2008, 05:11 PM

//What frugal thing did you do today in your effort to make the most with what you have? Did anything surprise your relatives or friends that might be not so frugal themselves? Any frugal victory you want to share?//

I come from family that understands frugal lifestyles, so saving the bows, reusing boxes, buying Christmas candy on sale, etc. is nothing new at all.

But my mom will be quite proud to know that I am scheming various ways to make the Kroger gift card she gave me stretch as far as possible. I have the P&G ecoupon account updated and all my newspaper coupons sorted.

**michaelnolan** · 12-28-2008, 12:27 PM

I got a $30 spiral sliced ham for free from my local supermarket, bought my turkey for $.79/lb and turned it into enough food to make 36 portions before making turkey and rice soup and turkey salad.

I used MyPoints rewards to give magazine subscriptions as gifts.

**Kaos Kitty** · 12-28-2008, 02:25 PM

We had Christmas dinner at the in-laws and I asked to take home the turkey bones they were going to throw out (to make soup with). MIL seemed surprised but helped me wrap them up!

**shoiji** · 12-28-2008, 03:20 PM

Today I made a double batch of Indian flat bread. The place smells great. Also bought some nice x-mas stickers on sale. Thought I could make nice gift tags with them instead of using just a folded piece of wrapping paper.

**joyofsix** · 12-28-2008, 04:40 PM

I just made homemade chocolate syrup so my kids can have homemade milkshakes for supper as a treat. I figure that's at least a $7 savings instead of buying them at McD's.

**MommyBliss** · 12-28-2008, 06:10 PM

I save the paper bags to reuse. I watched how much I spent this year and we spent all cash, no credit cards. Yay!

**Debbie-cat** · 12-28-2008, 09:30 PM

I saved all Christmas bags, boxes and some bows (that weren't flatten from the cats). Next year I am going to be inventive with brown paper bags, tons of stickers I have on hand and stamp pads. I refuse to buy any Christmas paper or tags next year. Homemade all the way!

**bumplett** · 12-28-2008, 10:04 PM

Love this thread!!

I used only newspaper comics for wrapping paper.

Today was my little j's birthday party.... my bil laughed at me when I dug into the trash for the candles that someone tossed!

**lilk** · 12-29-2008, 03:01 PM

I didn't wrap gift for dh's side of the family, I just handed them the gifts. I wasn't trying to be frugal, I was just to sick to wrap them. I just wanted to stay in bed. Everyone enjoyed them all the same.

**RaineyDaye** · 12-29-2008, 03:24 PM

Our family reuses gift bags and we make a game out of trying to remember who originally bought the bag. Its fun to see how long they will last. This year I made all the gift tags out of scraps of wrapping paper or Christmas cards. I hope I actually make some cloth gift bags for next Christmas.
The best frugal accomplishment for me was unplanned. The day after Christmas, I started making a little house out of cardboard for my granddaughter. She and I painted it with poster paints. When we couldn't find a usable brush, we used cotton balls and dabbed the paint on. I found some plastic from toy packaging and used it to make "glass" for the windows. My granddaughter is seven and was amazed that I could make a house, but my brother built me a fabulous three story dollhouse out of cardboard boxes when I was her age. I felt good about showing her some old fashioned ways to have fun without spending much money. But now my grandson wants me to make something for him...