Frugal Challenge 5/27 - 6/2

[smk0817]

I hope you guys don't mind that I started this. I would love to do the daily "no spend' challenges but that is not realistic for me. This way, I can still see that I am making some progress!

5/27:
-no laundry day
-no lights on until 7:30-8:00
-no spend day (I finally have one)
-took the kids to the pool for 3 hours for entertainment
-took snacks/drinks to the pool to keep from buying any there
-all meals at home
-keeping my DS's best friend while his parents are out of town for a few days...received a GC to Starbucks
-received 2 free packs of English muffins from my neighbor
-used sample to wash hair
-used melted ice out of my cooler to water my plants...we seriously need some rain here in NC
-blinds down to keep out heat
-read and watched the race for my entertainment

Stephanie

[warramra]

5/27
~ No spend/no drive day for me
~ DH did play golf, but he waited until 4:30 to go (1/2 cost) and used his blow money
~ hung clothes to dry
~ made some more batches of hm baby food to store in freezer for quick meals for ds
~ Re-using water from wading pool to water veg garden, I agree with Stephanie, NC really needs some rain as our clay soil is cracking and becoming brick-like
~ DH bought me a 32-gal trash can ($10) to use as an inexpensive/temp compost bin (the dogs & toddler kept trying to get into the one that we had built)
~ lights off
~ no ac

[YankeeMom]

5/27
-bought flowers for the cemetary at the dollar store
-did not stop at McDs for lunch, came home instead
-bought a bowling ball, golf club covers, and a board game from 1964 (eBay!!) for $2.75 total
-no laundry day
-lights out, fans on, blinds closed
-heat off
-dinner on the grill
-only full dishwasher load run
-knitted, watched the race, planted flowers for entertainment

[Little Birdie]

Opps. I had posted my yesterday list on the prior weeks thread.

- asked MIL if she wanted Daughter overnight, then suggested she take her to see Shrek 3. (Daughter wants to see it and we don't have the money this month. I don't want this financial crisis to have too much impact on Daughter.)
- drove fuel efficient car to dance recital
- didn't buy Daughter flowers for recital

In addition I also
- mulched garden with free newspapers from parents
- planted garden with free plants from couple who starts seeds for our circle of friends (I never got them any seeds, but I asked for the plants leftover from everyone else's gardens.)
- skinned and deboned chicken that I got on sale, and put the bones in the freezer to make broth next week

I have a few things planned for today, but I'll post later after I see how things go.

[baxjul]

We didn't get dd flowers for her recital either. I am going to get her some at Walmart the day of, and give them to her that night!

~no spend day!
~leftovers for dinner tonight
~laundry in cold
~using cooler water to water flowers (no rain in FL either)!
~no a/c or lights on
~no tv on
~reading for entertainment

[GMA21]

*no lights on here until almost 9pm
*no fan on today since it's cooled down a few degrees
*no dishes to wash today
*load of towels haning outside to dry

[Mom23boys]

~No money being spent today
~A/C on 78
~Decluttering (have 3 garabge bags full of items to take to Goodwill)
~Filed some important papers before I lost them and then had to spend valuable time searching for them. It would cost time and money to have them replaced.
~Handwashing dishes
~Hanging laundry to dry
~DH grilling chicken outdoors on grill
~Making tea instead of buying cokes

[dwallyfam]

Today I

1. Cleaned house
2. Laundry hanging out
3. I did have the lights on for a little bit while I did my home manicure
4. home manicure
5. Went to Sally's and got home manicure stuff. Spent less than I would for 1 and got enought items for 5
6. dinner at home and cooking enought for the next couple of nights.

[YankeeMom]

5/28
~no spend day
~stayed home, saved on gas
~washed 4 loads of laundry in cold
~hung out 4 loads of laundry to dry
~lights out, blinds open
~no heat, no fans needed either
~breakfast, lunch, dinner from the pantry/freezer
~knitting, gardening, playing outside for entertainment

[Mamaw]

for recitals....check aldis for flowers. They have had roses as well as lovely bunches of different flowers for 2.99 and 3.99 in my area. Wrap in tissue paper, add some ribbon or curling ribbon and there you go! Have fun at the recitals all!

[Mamaw]

5/27/07
~Dinner at MIL house - I brought buffalo steaks and hamburger from freezer, she supplied the rest
~got 2 free purses from MIL
~No spend day
~played with DGD all day long! tons of fun with no cash outlay

5/28/07
~staying home so no gas used today
~no spending day here
~burgers, macaroni salad, beans, mac and cheese, hot dogs and watermelon from fridge, freezer and pantry...nice to have a little bit stockpiled!
~did not buy soda for home...drinking ice tea, water, coffee and lemonaid
~washing in cold
~played with DGD until afternoon when they left for the travel back to their house. Had tons of fun playing in water, running in the yard, climbing on yard sale sliding board and merry go round and playing with yard sale and goodwill toys...They think it is great to come to MeMaws house! LOL

[warramra]

5/28
~ No ac
~ lights off
~ cooked dinner on the grill, going to try to do this all week so it will keep the house cooler
~ got a free, older picnic table from neighbors. Now we have two for the kids to have their friends over
~ did go grocery shopping, but stuck to list for this week
~ researching some more recipes on the web for summer menus

[claimsgirl66]

Did spend $$ and picked up some hanging flowers( 1/2 off at Walmart) today & some for my garden...used $13 of my bonus money to treat myself. But I did get only what I needed in the garden dept, and then left immediately..a record for me...but as for the rest of the day:

*hung laundry out to dry on rack
*got wrought iron climbing vine holder for the front of the house for 99 cents at Goodwill store! I priced them at $10 at local garden supply store! Need it to rein in a trailing vine plant
*have some rice/beans in individual containers ready to take for lunch at work
*did not turn lights on, using candles now for light
*cleaned garage and posted some items on freecycle ( figure will help someone else with their frugal goals!)
*went thru frig/cupboards & came up with menu ideas to get me thru til next payday

[Mom23boys]

~Tossed some leftover veggies into a freezer bag for soup
~Ate leftovers for lunch
~Caught up my daily expense reports for our family....wow! There are some things that need to change for sure!!

[Telephus44]

I'm going to try and remember to post this week! Here's a recap of the long weekend (includes Sat., but I didn't want to drag up the old thread)

*Took DS to the park for FREE and played on the swingset
*Used B1G1F coupons in CVS to pick up drinks for the weekend
*My mother babysat for us to we could go to a friend's party
*Used a Dryell kit on some drycleaning - the kit was a free sample
*Washed a load of laundry and used 1/2 the drying time - other half was for the Dryell kit and didn't want to waste the dryer time, LOL.
*Used samples of laundry det. and fabric softener for the laundry, and about 1/2 the recommended amount
*Made sandwiches out of a leftover ground turkey/tomato casserole for dinner tonight
*Watched my cousin's little league game for more free entertainment
*Bought a new swimsuit online, but used a coupon code and comparison shopped sites
*Stopped at a yard sale, but didn't buy anything
*Made note of a yard sale next weekend that is advertising all kids stuff
*We did eat out twice this weekend - the first time we split a soup instead of each getting our own.
*Using the A/C in bedroom but it's set to 80, and carefully monitoring the one in the room where DS sleeps