Frugal Challenge 10/30-11/05/2005.......Change your clocks to be on time.

**beckanoah** · 10-30-2005, 10:29 AM

Frugal today,

Staying home and cleaning
Eating meat from the freezer, bought in bulk, on sale.
Watching Broncos

**beckanoah** · 10-30-2005, 10:47 AM

Forgot to say, we eat only one main meal on Sundays, and have popcorn for supper on Sunday nights. Cheaper than fixing a whole dinner.

Also, going to do some work from home. Have to up the hours, to make up for not babysitting any more.

We changed all the clocks yesterday
Set our programmable thermostat back on heat
Turned down the others a couple degrees too.

I need a kick to get more frugal.

**Mom23boys** · 10-30-2005, 11:10 AM

~made an awesome trade online
~making biscuits from scratch
~eating all meals at home
~a/c off, windows open
~getting rebates ready to mail (end of month)

~last night - We all went to a Halloween party with a haunted hayride...it was all free...even the food!!

**baxjul** · 10-30-2005, 03:12 PM

~a/c off, windows open
~laundry in cold
~going to try to light more candles and night lights instead of turning lights on early due to time change
~making chili in crockpot

**Mamaw** · 10-30-2005, 07:59 PM

Laundry in cold with HM soap
Roast in crock pot for dinner. Will use leftovers for lunch
Stayed home and cleaned house today
Made 2 trades and got them all ready to mail
Used Vinegar to clean coffee pot and made home made window
wash spray

**kmsinsa** · 10-30-2005, 09:55 PM

~No AC/Windows Open
~Laundry in Cold/Only 2 evenings
~All meals at home (w/both dh and I working this one is the big challenge)
~Waiting another week (or more) to go grocery shopping.

**daddys3chicks** · 10-31-2005, 06:28 AM

~heat low
~ library rented movies
~ free dinner at church
~ try to eat out of the pantry for 1 more week
~ no fast food

**PrairieRose** · 10-31-2005, 03:12 PM

~Staying home
~Eating oatmeal for dinner (will help our cholesterol and pocket books

)
~Heat turned down low
~Doing laundry in HM detergent
~Watching local stations for entertainment
~Bought Halloween candy at Wmart to save a few cents
~Will turn off the lights when candy runs out

**homesteadmamma** · 10-31-2005, 04:29 PM

Posting for a couple days:

~no heat on
~saved $9.44 when I picked up our prescriptions at Shopper's Drug Mart using my refund from Optimum points
~used $2.04 in coupons at Sobey's
~resisted buying wallpaper even though it was 50% off. Paying off the van is more important
~making soup using a soup bone from a deer roast I cooked last night. (Deer meat free)
~dh worked today
~purchased gas for van while in the city. It's 2¢ a litre cheaper
~worked at a gardening job on the weekend - extra cash to put towards our van
~while eating supper, we turn off all the lights and use candles and oil lamps.
~tv, lights, computer and radio off when not in use

**SHOPGIRL** · 10-31-2005, 10:27 PM

Sunday and Monday

~Celebrated my grandmother's 87th birthday, took her an expensive sheet set that I got for $8 on clearance last year. Also gave her two One Touch Glucose monitors; got both for free, they were on sale and I had coupons...I just had to pay the sales tax.

~Took salad, and brought home enough leftovers for dinner tonight.

~Organizing papers...the better organized I can be, the more money I'll save.

~Collected coupon inserts from newspapers at work.

~Returned two eye shadows to Walgreens, didn't like them on. My dh told me that I looked like I was 14; not a good sign! I think my eyes were shimmering. So, I'm $6.41 ahead.

~Picked up a prescription. The costs of a month supply is $2400, and I paid $20, that was my co-pay. At times like these, it's when I'm thankful of all my schooling and that I have a job with great benefits. I'm still paying on my student loans. So, I guess I saved, $2380. It is highly doubtful I'd be able to afford this medication w/o my prescription coverage.

~Ate all meals at home today.

~Carved a big pumpkin for the front porch for Halloween. I just finished baking the pumpkin seeds...they were yummy! My front of the house is decorated with pumpkins, gourds, and mums given to me from my sister. I helped them sell a bunch of their produce at work.

~Only went through one bag of candy. I just had 18 kids. So, I have about 20 bags of candy bars left. Good thing, I bought the candy for between $1 and $1.38 per bag.

~Completed rebates for Rite-Aid and Walgreens today. Copied receipts for a couple items that I can get reimbursed from through my flexible spending account.

~Sold a few investments, taking the money and paying off credit cards. It is such a nice feeling!

~Went to T.J.I.Fridays a few weeks ago, and on the bill was a number to call to take a survey. Once I finishd the survey, I got a code so next time I go out to eat there, I can get a free appetizer.

~Took an online survey for Walgreens...it sure would be nice to win $3,000.

~I've got a phone survey to take for Home Depot...now just need to find the receipt.

~Got my new buy smart card in the mail. It's not exactly what was sold to me over the phone, but I have one month for free. I can buy gift cards at 20% less their face value, so I may do that for a couple Christmas gifts. I don't think it would be beneficial to keep for the year. The cost is $9.95 a month and the maximum gift cards I can order is 100.

~Packing lunch for dh.

~Sold an item on ebay today.

**beckanoah** · 11-01-2005, 09:47 AM

Wow, this post sure isn't very popular this week...

Frugal 10/31
DD's Halloween party at school, free food for dd and self.
Trick-or-treated at Wal*Mart last night, and picked up a couple groceries.
Decided to have dinner at Taco*Bell. Spent 30 minutes in the drivethru...frugal mistake for multiple reasons, although it did taste good.

11/01
Showing house (again)
Cleaning
Going to work from home
Staying home from PTConferences, as dd is still SICK

**Michele Annette** · 11-01-2005, 01:28 PM

11/1:

* All foods and beverages brought from home
* Making lists of groceries and special items for the week of Thanksgiving.
* On my lunch hour today I got to spend the whole hour in the Village!

* Need some things at the grocery store, but decided against a full shopping trip as per normal to save extra $$ for Thanksgiving week. So on my list for today is:

10 lbs of potatoes
5 lbs of frozen dough
1 gallon of milk
1 box of washing soda (for stockpile)
2 lbs of lean ground turkey
1 1/2 dozen eggs
1 loaf of bread
lettuce
carrots
celery
1 large box instant mashed potaoes (for stockpile)
2 cans of corn (for stockpile)
2 cans of creamed corn (for stockpile)

My Costco list for this week (one trip every two months or so):

Dove bath soap
kitty litter
frozen chicken breasts
1 large package of pork chops
dish detergent
butter
mozzerella cheese

**sanderson76** · 11-01-2005, 01:40 PM

Eating at home
Not running heat or air
Bringing Lunch to work
Got DH to agree to a weekly allowance for himself

**Mamaw** · 11-01-2005, 07:19 PM

11/1/05
Staying at home tonight
No laundry being done today. Trying to not wash daily from habit!
Drinking more water today and less coffee
Dinner, leftover roast in a sandwich for me, leftover potatoe and meat for DH
DH put plastic on some of the windows! YES FINALLY!!!
Used last of the chile for lunch
Wearing 2 pair of socks as my feet are chilly, instead of turning up temp
Threw out all the catalogs that are coming in daily. no temptation!

**Mom23boys** · 11-01-2005, 08:20 PM

~Mailed off Walgreens rebate for the month of Oct.
~Made a few trades for coupons/forms I need
~used cell phone to call my sister, who is long distance, on her cell phone, but it is free because we are in-network

~Took lunch to work
~DH took lunch to work
~Made my own lasagna for dinner instead of buying pre-packaged
~Drinking water which is free
~Working on grocery list for this coming weekends bi-weekly shopping trip