Hi everyone! Frugal accomplishments are a bit late this week because of an internet issue we had, but here they are nonetheless.
1. Sold 4 dozen eggs.
2. Cut curly dock as winter feed for my goats.
3. Picked up aluminum cans to recycle when Hubs and I went for a walk.
4. Picked 7 cups raspberries from the garden, plus a quart of green beans and several heads of lettuce.
5. Made lavender soap.
6. Made a price book.
7. Downloaded the free trial version of Scrivener and spent a few hours going through the free tutorial. I plan on using this software in the future to work on more books.
8. Went bent 'n' dent shopping! My mom and I spent Thursday morning at a new (for us) discount store. It was hard to not buy everything in the store, but I had set a budget amount of $50.00, and the total came in just under that.
Some things I bought at the discount store were: ramen noodles ($0.15 each), Craisins ($1.50/ 10 oz.bag), candy bars (only a couple for $0.25 each), disposable razors ($0.79 for 5-pk.), Clif bars ($2.50 for 40 bars), tortillas ($0.50 for 20pk), spaghetti ($0.79/lb), penne pasta ($0.65/lb), wheat thins ($0.75 each), shaped snack crackers (Horizon Organic's version of Teddy Grahams at $0.75 per box), chocolate cake mix ($0.75), sugar cookie mix ($1.00), instant oatmeal ($1.25 for 10 pks), quick oats ($0.75/lb), tortilla chips ($0.75), sausage ($0.65/lb), pepperoni ($4.89 for 2 lb. bag) and sliced ham ($1.39/lb.). There were a few other items I bought that may or may not be a good deal- specifically paper towels and wax/parchment paper/ tin foil. These are items I don't buy often, so I am keeping track of price per unit (square foot) in my new price book.
Most of the food items went in my "vacation" box. These are things that we hopefully won't eat unless there is an occasion where we would be buying junk food anyway... like vacation. Other things I bought were pantry staples or steeply discounted lunch meats for flavoring pizza, soups, and casseroles.
Eating Expired Food?
One thing a reader brought up about discount stores is that the food items are often expired. Looking at all of the bags and boxes I purchased, this is generally true (probably half of my purchases were past the expiration date). However, the meat, for example, had been frozen- likely before the expiration date. Other things that had expired- cake mix, instant oatmeal, junk food- are considered non-perishables for a reason. The expiration date for these items is actually a "Best By" date, meaning that the quality declines slowly after that date, but the food is still very safe to eat (items marked, "Use By [Date]" may NOT be safe to eat). I came to the conclusion that I am okay with eating a $0.07 Clif bar that is outdated. I mean, it's an unopened CLIF BAR for crying out loud, and it was practically free. I think they are still just as yummy.
Another thing I've heard is that Dollar Tree stores will simply put new expiration dates on non-perishable foods before they are put out on the shelf. So those of you who shop at the Dollar Tree for food are probably eating outdated food and don't even know it. And if you don't know it, that begs the question... why should you care?
9. We bought a bunch of toilet paper last week, and I decided to do an experiment. When I put a new roll in the bathroom, I used a permanent marker to write the date on the inside of the toilet paper tube. When the roll was empty, I checked the date to see how long it had been. Only 5 days!!! That is crazy for a household of two people. However, the toilet paper we bought was the thick and quilted kind, which is probably why it went so fast. I am going to do the same experiment next time we buy toilet paper (a thinner, cheaper kind, hopefully). I think reusing rags for toilet paper ("family cloth") is really gross, but if you are going through a roll of TP in less than a week, I can see where the savings would definitely add up.
I also put a date on a new tube of toothpaste, and planning on doing our other personal care items (deodorant, shampoo, conditioner) as well. This will help me predict when we will need more and how much I should buy when there is a sale.
10. Used the meat slicer I bought at a garage sale last week to make pepperoni slices from the parts and pieces of pepperoni that I bought at the discount store. I've never bought pepperoni before, so it will be nice to use on pizza and in casseroles.
Goals for This Week:
1. Make yogurt.
2. Clean out storage/craft room.
3. Weed pumpkin patch.
Til next time,
-Bethany
1. Sold 4 dozen eggs.
2. Cut curly dock as winter feed for my goats.
3. Picked up aluminum cans to recycle when Hubs and I went for a walk.
4. Picked 7 cups raspberries from the garden, plus a quart of green beans and several heads of lettuce.
5. Made lavender soap.
6. Made a price book.
7. Downloaded the free trial version of Scrivener and spent a few hours going through the free tutorial. I plan on using this software in the future to work on more books.
8. Went bent 'n' dent shopping! My mom and I spent Thursday morning at a new (for us) discount store. It was hard to not buy everything in the store, but I had set a budget amount of $50.00, and the total came in just under that.
Some things I bought at the discount store were: ramen noodles ($0.15 each), Craisins ($1.50/ 10 oz.bag), candy bars (only a couple for $0.25 each), disposable razors ($0.79 for 5-pk.), Clif bars ($2.50 for 40 bars), tortillas ($0.50 for 20pk), spaghetti ($0.79/lb), penne pasta ($0.65/lb), wheat thins ($0.75 each), shaped snack crackers (Horizon Organic's version of Teddy Grahams at $0.75 per box), chocolate cake mix ($0.75), sugar cookie mix ($1.00), instant oatmeal ($1.25 for 10 pks), quick oats ($0.75/lb), tortilla chips ($0.75), sausage ($0.65/lb), pepperoni ($4.89 for 2 lb. bag) and sliced ham ($1.39/lb.). There were a few other items I bought that may or may not be a good deal- specifically paper towels and wax/parchment paper/ tin foil. These are items I don't buy often, so I am keeping track of price per unit (square foot) in my new price book.
Most of the food items went in my "vacation" box. These are things that we hopefully won't eat unless there is an occasion where we would be buying junk food anyway... like vacation. Other things I bought were pantry staples or steeply discounted lunch meats for flavoring pizza, soups, and casseroles.
Eating Expired Food?
One thing a reader brought up about discount stores is that the food items are often expired. Looking at all of the bags and boxes I purchased, this is generally true (probably half of my purchases were past the expiration date). However, the meat, for example, had been frozen- likely before the expiration date. Other things that had expired- cake mix, instant oatmeal, junk food- are considered non-perishables for a reason. The expiration date for these items is actually a "Best By" date, meaning that the quality declines slowly after that date, but the food is still very safe to eat (items marked, "Use By [Date]" may NOT be safe to eat). I came to the conclusion that I am okay with eating a $0.07 Clif bar that is outdated. I mean, it's an unopened CLIF BAR for crying out loud, and it was practically free. I think they are still just as yummy.
Another thing I've heard is that Dollar Tree stores will simply put new expiration dates on non-perishable foods before they are put out on the shelf. So those of you who shop at the Dollar Tree for food are probably eating outdated food and don't even know it. And if you don't know it, that begs the question... why should you care?
9. We bought a bunch of toilet paper last week, and I decided to do an experiment. When I put a new roll in the bathroom, I used a permanent marker to write the date on the inside of the toilet paper tube. When the roll was empty, I checked the date to see how long it had been. Only 5 days!!! That is crazy for a household of two people. However, the toilet paper we bought was the thick and quilted kind, which is probably why it went so fast. I am going to do the same experiment next time we buy toilet paper (a thinner, cheaper kind, hopefully). I think reusing rags for toilet paper ("family cloth") is really gross, but if you are going through a roll of TP in less than a week, I can see where the savings would definitely add up.
I also put a date on a new tube of toothpaste, and planning on doing our other personal care items (deodorant, shampoo, conditioner) as well. This will help me predict when we will need more and how much I should buy when there is a sale.
10. Used the meat slicer I bought at a garage sale last week to make pepperoni slices from the parts and pieces of pepperoni that I bought at the discount store. I've never bought pepperoni before, so it will be nice to use on pizza and in casseroles.
Goals for This Week:
1. Make yogurt.
2. Clean out storage/craft room.
3. Weed pumpkin patch.
Til next time,
-Bethany
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