Frugal challenge 9/7 - 9/13

[my4littlebuffaloes]

Well, dh took a homemade burrito for lunch today and rode his bike to work. We figured it up and for every trip and a half biking he saves 1 gallon of gas. Not much but every little bit helps and he is trying to ride twice a week.

- hung laundry
- dinner was meatloaf from the freezer along with lots of fresh veggies and fruit that needed to be used quickly
- went to a friends house for a playdate, had a blast and came home with cookies. We also were going right by the library so we dropped off and picked up items I had reserved online
- lights off as much as possible
- been getting pretty chilly at night but I dug out the kids winter pjs instead of turning on the heat, I want to wait until October
- washed a ton of ziploc bags
- kids had apples from our tree for lunch
- I have 2 big pans of cherry tomatoes that a friend gave me drying in my oven right now - I have never tried to make my own sun dried tomatoes before, but now is as good a time as any right?
- working on filing my coupons from last week, it was a great week for coupons and I ended up with inserts from 4 papers, so I had a lot to do - if I don't stay on top of it I want to give up
- went through all my stockpile of toiletries and samples and put together a big bag of stuff to mail to my brother for his birthday. I will throw in a small GC to a wings place he loves, but most of the gift is the other stuff. He is single and working on his doctorate, so broke, broke, broke!
- got great deals at CVS again, finally. I ended up with 2 things of deoderant, 2 things of Chex mix, nail polish and 6 razors for free AND I increased my ECBs from $1.49 to $7!
- wrote an article about the herbal supplement Vitex

Jennifer
blog - getting-ahead.blogspot.com

[hollyhill]

~hung two loads of laundry
~ organized homeschool room (BIG JOB)
~ put $67 in EF
~received a free coupon for wh wheat Mr Christie crackers in mail!
~received a free microwave meal for survey
~signed up and did test for a $20 mystery shop (for gas).
~leftovers for lunch and dinner
~made triple chocolate cupcakes (from scratch)for Dd's BD party tomorrow.
~flinging like mad

[MommyBliss]

~drinking water
~no a/c ran today
~purchased dd #1's tennis shoes for 50 percent off, she needs good quality, because she is a runner.
~made all meals at home(except dh did get me a chicken sandwich meal from carls jr)
~hubby went grocery shopping and scored some great deals on chicken packs.
~hubby and son off to soccer practice, taking water from home.
~made brownies, so we wouldn't go buy any candy
~talking to bff on IM

[ironmaiden]

1. Went to a Talbots/JJill outlet. Bought 5 things for $13.
Camisole for $2, 2 t -shirts, linen shirt, and a pair of shorts.
2. Did okay grocery shopping, the house is well-stocked and I know exactly what we have thanks to yesterday's inventory.
3. DH cooking London Broil marinated in teryaki sauce, leftover mashed potatoes, grilled zucchini and zucchini cake. Guess what's in our garden
4. Went to library and got the kids DVDs.
5. At library picked up an audio CD for me to listen to.

[Mom23boys]

~took lunch to work
~boys took lunch to school
~hung laundry to dry
~cut DS#1's hair
~not eating out
~paying bills online

[MommyBliss]

~Ran errands with hubby. Had to get ds some soccer shoes and a new comforter for our oldest son. We got some good prices though. So, we did everything in one shot.
~Donated a bunch of stuff to goodwill, glad to be getting stuff cleared out.
~Hubby arranged with our next door neighbor to haul our stuff to the dump for us for $25. So, woot woot!, we don't have to pay monster fees to garbage collection.
~Ate all meals at home, except for lunch at Costco. That was like $12.00 for 6 of us including drinks. You get a hotdog and soda for $1.50.
~Made some gifts for my bff for her visit this weekend out of my stockpile.
~Got dd a pair of running shoes for $11!

[ironmaiden]

Did homemade dishwashing detergent. Already had the borax in the house.

[Starlight9803]

Thursday and Friday weren't all that frugal. I spent $218 on groceries, but hope that they will last the month (except for milk, bread, and fresh veggies/fruit. I did all the normal things though - hanging clothes out, lights and electronics off as much as possible, etc

Saturday:
*a/c on 80
*laundry in 1/2 detergent, hung out to dry
*no lights/tvs on during day
*going to aunt's wedding this evening - riding with my grandmother (no gas use for me) and grandpa is watching the kids. The kids will eat dinner with grandpa and I'll eat at the reception, DH is on his own lol

[Mamaw]

Not a great week however:
*received samples dishwasher and cleaning products
* Roasted turkey breast from freezer and ate on it all weeklong ( DH is away so its really just me!)
*filled up at cheapest gas station today = 3.51 per gallon
*yard sale today = 4 pair new work gloves for 1.00/ new in wrap lion king 2 movie for 2.00 and a when I am old plaque for .50. Resisted all the other pretty stuff that I dont at all need!
*working on training dog = more movement IE walking for me as well
*found a panel of printed bibs to cut and sew that I had bought for 1.00 at a sale and tossed in the closet. Cut them out and intend to finish them as part of a baby gift that I will need
*Cut coupons
* started snowball debt plan using the calculator someone posted on the village. Made first payment 394.00 to snowball. HELP ME STAY STRONG!
*Continuing to clear out clutter and free cycle items that I do not need.
*reading books that I already own and recommitting to not buying any new ones...( I will probably pass to the great beyond before I finish what is in this house!)
*did NOT go to thrift store this week, even though I really wanted to. There is really nothing I need so why am I shopping?

[ironmaiden]

DH and son invited 2 friends to go with them to watch a flag football game (old Patriots vs. townies) to which DH won tickets to. Turns out DH didn't even pay for the raffle as showing up at another free event got you a raffle ticket.

Cooking a turkey that was at the bottom of the freezer.
Got DH motivated to close the pool. He and DD went in one last time and came out for hot chocolate. Meanwhile son is at an indoor pool party.