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Frugal Accomplishments This Week

2/27/2019

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I don't have a whole lot of frugal accomplishments this week. I spent a lot of my free time reading, plus we were gone or busy almost every evening, as well as all of Sunday and Monday. But here is my small offering for the week:

1. Groceries: we didn't buy any groceries.

2. Cooking: I cooked a turkey this week and made broth with the bones. I also baked bread. 

3. Free stuff: Over the weekend we helped my sister remodel her fixer upper home several hours away. We were able to help her get a lot done, but she also gave me some free stuff! I got an assortment of half-used shampoo and conditioners, plus some clothing. 

4. Hobby farm: Hubs helped me (or rather, I helped him) make some structures for my vegetable garden this year. We made two diagonal trellises, a vertical trellis and a tepee trellis to fit over my 4'x4' raised beds. I am going to use the diagonal trellises for cucumbers and small zucchini/melons, and hopefully they will serve a dual purpose as shade for lettuce. The vertical trellis will be for tomatoes, and the tepee trellis is going to be for my purple Chinese long beans. Hubs also put a little shelf in our chicken coop, which has been very helpful. Nearly all of these things were made with scrap lumber; we used one 2x4 for the tomato trellis.

In addition to that, the chickens are beginning to lay more eggs at this point. Last week I used the excess eggs to make boiled eggs, egg salad, crepes and fried egg sandwiches, in addition to eating them for breakfast.

I was very happy to get the garden structures built before "busy season" hits in March. Not only were most of the structures free, but they'll help me grow more produce, do less weeding and they will beautify the garden. I'm so thankful to have a handy husband! 

I won't be posting hobby farm updates this year. Instead, I think I will just do small blurbs in the weekly post. My goal this year is to produce as much food as possible for the $500.00 or so that I'll earn from selling strawberries in the spring. That amount is plenty to support our chickens and garden, but I'll be looking for more things to grow or raise myself, inexpensively.

5. Youtube: If you haven't watched it already, I made a video for Youtube last week: 
I think that's about all for now!
Until next time,
​-Bethany
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Frugal Accomplishments Last WEek

2/17/2019

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Good morning everyone! We're back from our little road trip. Two weeks ago we went down to Florida to see my family, and then down to Barbados for a few days (just Hubs and I) to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary. It went so fast! I had a lot of fun. Ever the homebody, though, I was still happy to return. I don't have time to write about the entire trip, but I've put a slideshow below for your viewing pleasure:
Alright, now for frugal accomplishments!

1. Groceries: we spent $77.03 at Kroger, and $90.00 (to the penny!) at Walmart. In total, we spent $167.03 on much-needed groceries, plus a few extras. My monthly budget is $130.00, so I'll only spend $93.00 in March. That's fine by me, as I'd rather spend spring months working in the garden than making a weekly shopping trip.

I spent about an hour sifting through digital and non-digital Kroger coupons. I was going in the store for pork loins ($1.50/lb.) and 80/20 ground beef ($2.00/lb.), so I decided to go "all in" and see what coupon deals I could find. I still can't decide whether the few dollars saved with coupons is worth the time. When all is said and done, was the $16.00 spent on produce (to use my "$4.00 off $20.00 spent in the produce department") a better deal than what I could have gotten at Walmart for $16.00, without all of the time spent couponing? None of the deals were extraordinary, but I was able to get some things for at or below Walmart prices. I think I will always use coupons to some extent, it's just a matter of deciding how far down the rabbit hole I want to go at any given time. 

When we were at the checkout counter, I got a kids' fruit card for our toddler. Kroger has a "free fruit of the month" deal where kids can get one piece of free fruit every month.
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Yay for grocery shopping!
At Walmart I just stocked up on staples like rice, beans, and frozen vegetables. 

2. Cooking: I canned six pints of ground beef and two pints of pork loin. We were completely out of canned meat, and it is so convenient to have when you need a quick meal (not to mention that it frees up freezer space!). I also made three batches of meatloaf and three pounds of cooked ground beef for the freezer, cut the discount pork loins into steaks and roasts for the freezer. 

3. Thrifting: When we were in Florida, I went to a little thrift store with my mom and sister. I got a dress that was essentially free (it was one of those fill-a-bag deals), some pretty cloth napkins, a book for me and two board books for Princess. The books were $0.50 each, but they literally provided hours of entertainment for her on our 16 hour ride home (split between two days). 

4. Amazon Prime: I started using Amazon "slow shipping" promotions to buy kids songs for Princess.  Those of us who have Amazon Prime can opt to get a small purchase credit (usually $0.99) by forgoing 2-day shipping. The credits last for a long time, so next I'm going to save up and hopefully buy a whole music album for her. In the past I collected credits but didn't need anything, and thus they went to waste.

5. Valentine's Day: In the past, we've always gone out for dinner on Valentine's Day. This year we had a nice dinner at home, and we ate brunch out the day after Valentine's Day. That way I could pick out chocolates at half price! For dinner at home, I made something outside of our usual menu (pork) and used nice tableware candles and a centerpiece to make it more romantic. Then we put on some Nat King Cole and dressed up, just for fun! Neither of us realized how much we'd enjoy "eating out" at home. We didn't have to drive to a restaurant and slush around in melting snow with dress shoes on. I didn't worry about our toddler throwing a fit, or have to yell over other peoples' conversations. Dressing up was a lot more fun for me, because I didn't have to fuss over what shoes matched my dress (I spent the night barefoot) or worry that someone might notice my greasy hair. Our whole dinner, wine and appetizers and dessert included, cost less than $5.00. I really enjoyed the evening. In the future I'm going to make more of an effort to do "at home" dates.
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6. Personal care: I got free toothpaste at Kroger with a digital store coupon. I used an additional manufacturer coupon (clipped from the newspaper) and had the $1.00 overage applied to my grocery bill.

7. Books: I ordered a book from the library about the Great Depression. It's called We Had Everything But Money, and was recommended by a fellow author and homemaker who I follow on Youtube. The book is a compilation of short personal stories and photos from readers of Reminisce magazine. I also finished reading a biography of Bethan Lloyd-Jones. 

I think that's about it! I hope you all had a wonderful week!
-Bethany
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    Bethany

    Housewife, happy wife, and mama to one. :)

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    The Housewife's Guide to Frugal Food
    How to Eat for $10.00
    ​per Week

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    The Housewife's Guide to Menu Planning
    A Weekly Menu to Save
    Time & Money
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    The Housewife's Guide to
    Frugal Fruits and Vegetables

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