Garlic, kale & white bean soup.
1. Line dried one load of laundry. I am doing almost all of my line-drying indoors now. I normally do two loads per week, and one load (shirts, socks & underwear, etc.) can be dried indoors. The jeans and sweatshirts take to long to air dry, so I will air dry them for one day, then put them in the dryer for a half cycle (or a full cycle on low/air dry).
2. Sold 1 dozen eggs.
3. Made pumpkin pie in Vitamix blender. It was very easy, and the pie turned out wonderful! The pumpkin was from cleaning out the freezer, and I had an old can of sweetened condensed milk in the pantry to use up. Other ingredients were just eggs, spices, and the pie crust. It was a pretty frugal dessert, with the exception of the crust, which cost $1.10 to make from scratch with lard. I was able to freeze half of the crust, though, to use for another pie.
While I was reading the instructions, I learned that you can substitute a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk with a 12 oz. can of evaporated milk ($0.45 at the bent 'n' dent) +3/4 cup sugar ($0.14). $0.59 is pretty cheap for sweetened condensed milk!
4. Cut tree hay (raspberry canes) to dry for goats.
5. My sister-in-law and I helped a neighbor clean and cut up carrots to freeze (these were from her garden). It was quite the process! The carrots were dug up first and put on a plastic tarp in the garage. Then the very large chunks of dirt were rubbed off by hand. Next the carrots went in a sink of water to further loosen dirt. The last step was to put the carrots through a rinse cycle in the washer. We were able to put two five-gallon buckets in the washer at a time. After they went through the washer, we cut the carrots using a French-fry-type cutter, blanched, and then put them in freezer bags. I had never processed carrots like that before, so it was quite the education for me. Plus I got to bring some carrots home!
6. Went for two bike rides this week. For those of you who don't know, this is part of my "free gym membership". I also like picking up recycle-able cans and bottles during my rides for a little extra cash. Biking is a lot more fun if I have an incentive like the cans.
7. Made a trip to the bent 'n' dent store. I spent a total of $43.78. That's over half of our November grocery budget! Here is a breakdown of what I got:
52% Pantry/baking ($22.70): 1 boxed dinner ($1.50), curry powder (1.75 oz. for $1.25), vanilla beans ($1.25 for 2), cloves (1.62 oz. for $1.25), 3 boxes of jello mix ($0.35 ea.), cooking spray ($1.50), creamed corn (two 14.75 oz. cans @ $0.45 ea.), cream of mushroom soup (two 10.7 oz. cans @ $0.65 ea.), evaporated milk (two 12 oz. cans @ $0.45 ea.), 14 oz. cranberry sauce ($0.75), tomato paste ($0.20 for small can), herbal teas (three 20 ct. boxes @ $1.25/box), no-sugar fruit pectin (4.7 oz. @ $0.50), cake mix ($0.75), cookie mix ($0.75), cheesecake mix ($1.75), pie crust mix ($0.75), pecan chips (six 1/2 c. bags @ $0.35 ea.), chex mix seasoning & chili seasoning ($0.25 ea.)
29% Junk food ($12.58): 1 bag Reese's (1.50), 5 energy bars ($1.00), 3 boxes cold cereal ($1.57, $1.57 and $1.79), fruit roll ups (box of six- $1.15), fruit snacks (box of 10- $1.15), chips (2 bags @ $0.75 ea.), Pringles ($0.75), ramen noodles (4 packs @ $0.15 ea.)
9% Bread ($4.00): four packages tortillas ($1.00 ea.)
3% Prize box ($1.40): Candy (3 @ $0.30 ea., 1 @ $0.50)
7% Other ($3.10): Citronella candle ($0.50), cough syrup (4 oz. $1.75), paper plates (60 ct. $0.85)
My best bargains during this trip were vanilla beans (normally $8.00-$10.00 for 2) at $1.25, and flour tortillas (normally $2.48 per package) at $1.00 each. The tortillas were only 40% off, but they are something I do buy on a regular basis, so I saved about $6.00 on those alone.
I have never made pie crust with a mix before, but the $0.75 box will make four crusts for $0.19 per crust. If you remember, my homemade recipe cost $0.55 per crust. We will see which one tastes better.
8. Made garlic/kale soup. This was my new recipe of the week, adapted from Don't Waste the Crumbs. I used 1 cup of home-canned navy beans, 1 pint of chicken broth, 1 bay leaf, 1 cup of chopped kale from the garden, 1 TB olive oil, 2 TB butter, four garlic cloves, 1 tsp. dried oregano, and two small tomatoes. Because the kale, broth, garlic and tomatoes were free from the garden, it was pretty frugal at $0.40 for the entire recipe. We did use some homemade cheese with the soup flavor. The first bowl was really good, but the second bowl was harder for me to get down. It tasted too beany for some reason. I think this would be a good soup to repeat, but maybe with a medley of different beans/grains or some meat to add variety and calories. Hubs and I had leftover pumpkin pie to go with the soup, but if not for the pie we probably would have still been hungry.
9. Printed new planner pages. My DIY planner helps me keep track of things and plan my day.
10. Downloaded the Stitcher app to my phone. I have been trying to streamline my internet activities so they take less time. Several weeks ago I started using an RSS feed to read blogs. Another activity that was distracting and taking up time was finding podcasts to play from my computer while I did housework. Now I can just take the phone wherever I am working, and the podcasts keep on playing. I don't have to stop my work and run to the computer to find another one. I've realized that often times I get sidetracked "finding podcasts" and end up doing something completely unrelated on the internet. This sucks up a lot of valuable time, so I'm happy to have started using a phone app for my podcasts.
11. Used a TSC 10% off coupon for goat mineral and a chain for Hubs' chain saw.
12. Kroger had a sale this week. Not only were many items on sale, but if you bought in quantities of 10 for those items, you could get an additional $0.50 off per item. I was able to buy butter for $2.00/lb. (I bought 10 pounds... should last a while!), and sour cream and cottage cheese for $0.70/lb. Seventy cents for a pound of cheese is the cheapest I have found EVER. If I could use the cottage cheese to replace our use of regular $2.00/lb.+ cheese, that would be cool.
Usually we are Walmart shoppers, but Hubs has found a way to use his credit card rewards for any purchases- not just gift cards that the credit company offers. This means that I'll be able to do my shopping at other places besides Walmart. In addition, our local Walmart has stopped price matching. Bummer! Just a few months ago I wrote about why we love Walmart so much, and now I find myself excited to be shopping elsewhere. Never say never!
My problem with shopping sales is that I spend more money on things I wouldn't normally buy. For example, I spent $5.60 on cottage cheese when I normally spend $0.00 on cottage cheese. Plus, the cottage cheese expires a month from now! That means we will be eating not one, but TWO containers per week for the next month. It's only $1.40 more per week, but imagine if I would have shopped ALL of the sales at Kroger. It would be so easy to spend more than $20.00 per week in the name of sales.
Between the bent 'n' dent and Kroger shopping sprees this week, I'm left with $6.22 for the rest of November. It will be interesting to see if I can come in under budget or not! I still have a lot of food in the pantry that needs to be eaten, so it's possible.
2. Sold 1 dozen eggs.
3. Made pumpkin pie in Vitamix blender. It was very easy, and the pie turned out wonderful! The pumpkin was from cleaning out the freezer, and I had an old can of sweetened condensed milk in the pantry to use up. Other ingredients were just eggs, spices, and the pie crust. It was a pretty frugal dessert, with the exception of the crust, which cost $1.10 to make from scratch with lard. I was able to freeze half of the crust, though, to use for another pie.
While I was reading the instructions, I learned that you can substitute a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk with a 12 oz. can of evaporated milk ($0.45 at the bent 'n' dent) +3/4 cup sugar ($0.14). $0.59 is pretty cheap for sweetened condensed milk!
4. Cut tree hay (raspberry canes) to dry for goats.
5. My sister-in-law and I helped a neighbor clean and cut up carrots to freeze (these were from her garden). It was quite the process! The carrots were dug up first and put on a plastic tarp in the garage. Then the very large chunks of dirt were rubbed off by hand. Next the carrots went in a sink of water to further loosen dirt. The last step was to put the carrots through a rinse cycle in the washer. We were able to put two five-gallon buckets in the washer at a time. After they went through the washer, we cut the carrots using a French-fry-type cutter, blanched, and then put them in freezer bags. I had never processed carrots like that before, so it was quite the education for me. Plus I got to bring some carrots home!
6. Went for two bike rides this week. For those of you who don't know, this is part of my "free gym membership". I also like picking up recycle-able cans and bottles during my rides for a little extra cash. Biking is a lot more fun if I have an incentive like the cans.
7. Made a trip to the bent 'n' dent store. I spent a total of $43.78. That's over half of our November grocery budget! Here is a breakdown of what I got:
52% Pantry/baking ($22.70): 1 boxed dinner ($1.50), curry powder (1.75 oz. for $1.25), vanilla beans ($1.25 for 2), cloves (1.62 oz. for $1.25), 3 boxes of jello mix ($0.35 ea.), cooking spray ($1.50), creamed corn (two 14.75 oz. cans @ $0.45 ea.), cream of mushroom soup (two 10.7 oz. cans @ $0.65 ea.), evaporated milk (two 12 oz. cans @ $0.45 ea.), 14 oz. cranberry sauce ($0.75), tomato paste ($0.20 for small can), herbal teas (three 20 ct. boxes @ $1.25/box), no-sugar fruit pectin (4.7 oz. @ $0.50), cake mix ($0.75), cookie mix ($0.75), cheesecake mix ($1.75), pie crust mix ($0.75), pecan chips (six 1/2 c. bags @ $0.35 ea.), chex mix seasoning & chili seasoning ($0.25 ea.)
29% Junk food ($12.58): 1 bag Reese's (1.50), 5 energy bars ($1.00), 3 boxes cold cereal ($1.57, $1.57 and $1.79), fruit roll ups (box of six- $1.15), fruit snacks (box of 10- $1.15), chips (2 bags @ $0.75 ea.), Pringles ($0.75), ramen noodles (4 packs @ $0.15 ea.)
9% Bread ($4.00): four packages tortillas ($1.00 ea.)
3% Prize box ($1.40): Candy (3 @ $0.30 ea., 1 @ $0.50)
7% Other ($3.10): Citronella candle ($0.50), cough syrup (4 oz. $1.75), paper plates (60 ct. $0.85)
My best bargains during this trip were vanilla beans (normally $8.00-$10.00 for 2) at $1.25, and flour tortillas (normally $2.48 per package) at $1.00 each. The tortillas were only 40% off, but they are something I do buy on a regular basis, so I saved about $6.00 on those alone.
I have never made pie crust with a mix before, but the $0.75 box will make four crusts for $0.19 per crust. If you remember, my homemade recipe cost $0.55 per crust. We will see which one tastes better.
8. Made garlic/kale soup. This was my new recipe of the week, adapted from Don't Waste the Crumbs. I used 1 cup of home-canned navy beans, 1 pint of chicken broth, 1 bay leaf, 1 cup of chopped kale from the garden, 1 TB olive oil, 2 TB butter, four garlic cloves, 1 tsp. dried oregano, and two small tomatoes. Because the kale, broth, garlic and tomatoes were free from the garden, it was pretty frugal at $0.40 for the entire recipe. We did use some homemade cheese with the soup flavor. The first bowl was really good, but the second bowl was harder for me to get down. It tasted too beany for some reason. I think this would be a good soup to repeat, but maybe with a medley of different beans/grains or some meat to add variety and calories. Hubs and I had leftover pumpkin pie to go with the soup, but if not for the pie we probably would have still been hungry.
9. Printed new planner pages. My DIY planner helps me keep track of things and plan my day.
10. Downloaded the Stitcher app to my phone. I have been trying to streamline my internet activities so they take less time. Several weeks ago I started using an RSS feed to read blogs. Another activity that was distracting and taking up time was finding podcasts to play from my computer while I did housework. Now I can just take the phone wherever I am working, and the podcasts keep on playing. I don't have to stop my work and run to the computer to find another one. I've realized that often times I get sidetracked "finding podcasts" and end up doing something completely unrelated on the internet. This sucks up a lot of valuable time, so I'm happy to have started using a phone app for my podcasts.
11. Used a TSC 10% off coupon for goat mineral and a chain for Hubs' chain saw.
12. Kroger had a sale this week. Not only were many items on sale, but if you bought in quantities of 10 for those items, you could get an additional $0.50 off per item. I was able to buy butter for $2.00/lb. (I bought 10 pounds... should last a while!), and sour cream and cottage cheese for $0.70/lb. Seventy cents for a pound of cheese is the cheapest I have found EVER. If I could use the cottage cheese to replace our use of regular $2.00/lb.+ cheese, that would be cool.
Usually we are Walmart shoppers, but Hubs has found a way to use his credit card rewards for any purchases- not just gift cards that the credit company offers. This means that I'll be able to do my shopping at other places besides Walmart. In addition, our local Walmart has stopped price matching. Bummer! Just a few months ago I wrote about why we love Walmart so much, and now I find myself excited to be shopping elsewhere. Never say never!
My problem with shopping sales is that I spend more money on things I wouldn't normally buy. For example, I spent $5.60 on cottage cheese when I normally spend $0.00 on cottage cheese. Plus, the cottage cheese expires a month from now! That means we will be eating not one, but TWO containers per week for the next month. It's only $1.40 more per week, but imagine if I would have shopped ALL of the sales at Kroger. It would be so easy to spend more than $20.00 per week in the name of sales.
Between the bent 'n' dent and Kroger shopping sprees this week, I'm left with $6.22 for the rest of November. It will be interesting to see if I can come in under budget or not! I still have a lot of food in the pantry that needs to be eaten, so it's possible.
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