Bent 'n' dent haul, sans meat.
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a great week! I'm really enjoying this colder weather, as it allows me to get some inside things done.
1. Groceries: we spent WAYYYY more than the regular $20.00-$30.00 this week. I'm going to start doing my once-a-month Walmart pickup again, and set aside what money is left over for things like fresh produce, coupon items and bargain bin items. After I made such a big Walmart order, I panicked a little bit because it wouldn't leave me much leftover for upcoming Thanksgiving sales. Then I remembered... it's still technically October. Whew!
That being said, our total spending this week was $104.06. We spent $74.64 at Walmart on boring items like chicken thighs, ground beef, cabbage and rice (among other things). We also went to a bent 'n' dent store on Saturday (I LOVE those places!) and picked up some fun baking items, spices, meat and snacks for $29.42. You can see my haul picture above.
The bent 'n' dent deals were honestly not that great; most were not much better than Walmart's regular prices. Not only that, but almost 100% of what I bought was already expired. Given that, I think I probably overpaid for most of what I bought. I'm going to cross this store off of my list of places to go. Even so, it was still a fun destination.
Fun purchases: We also stopped at an Amish "general store". I bought two little bread pans for Baby, plus a cheap pair of baby mittens (something I haven't been able to find yet, for some reason). Lastly, I got a Pennsylvania Dutch dictionary for $10.00. I was THRILLED to bring that home! (For those who don't know, my in-laws used to be Amish.) We've been married for almost five years and I still don't know more than ten words. I'm super excited to start learning some new words.
2. Refund from Walmart: When I picked up our groceries from Walmart, they had made three substitutions, including organic carrots in place of regular carrots. An upgrade—hooray! I thought to myself. When I got home, I realized that they had replaced my 5 lb. bag of conventional carrots ($2.92) with a 2 lb. bag of organic carrots ($1.66). I didn't think that was a fair trade, so I called up Walmart and they gave me a refund.
3. Cooking: I had to make yellow rice mix for one of our meals. Instead of making just what I needed (one recipe's worth), I quadrupled the recipe. If you already have the spices out, why not? It will save me a few minutes of time for each meal. Slowly, I am learning how to batch-cook almost everything. Throwing together a meal is a lot easier when half of the work is already done.
4. Sewing: I made a cleaning mitt for Baby, as well as some small washcloths. I put bias tape around the edges of both washcloths and mitt, and put little loops on each of the washcloths for easy hanging. I wish I would have put a loop on the mitt, but I didn't think about it.
5. Picked up cans recycle. It wasn't exactly warm last week, but we bundled up and went for a few walks anyway. They yielded a couple dollars' worth of cans, plus some free exercise. :)
I think that's all I've got to share! What were some ways that you saved money?
-Bethany
1. Groceries: we spent WAYYYY more than the regular $20.00-$30.00 this week. I'm going to start doing my once-a-month Walmart pickup again, and set aside what money is left over for things like fresh produce, coupon items and bargain bin items. After I made such a big Walmart order, I panicked a little bit because it wouldn't leave me much leftover for upcoming Thanksgiving sales. Then I remembered... it's still technically October. Whew!
That being said, our total spending this week was $104.06. We spent $74.64 at Walmart on boring items like chicken thighs, ground beef, cabbage and rice (among other things). We also went to a bent 'n' dent store on Saturday (I LOVE those places!) and picked up some fun baking items, spices, meat and snacks for $29.42. You can see my haul picture above.
The bent 'n' dent deals were honestly not that great; most were not much better than Walmart's regular prices. Not only that, but almost 100% of what I bought was already expired. Given that, I think I probably overpaid for most of what I bought. I'm going to cross this store off of my list of places to go. Even so, it was still a fun destination.
Fun purchases: We also stopped at an Amish "general store". I bought two little bread pans for Baby, plus a cheap pair of baby mittens (something I haven't been able to find yet, for some reason). Lastly, I got a Pennsylvania Dutch dictionary for $10.00. I was THRILLED to bring that home! (For those who don't know, my in-laws used to be Amish.) We've been married for almost five years and I still don't know more than ten words. I'm super excited to start learning some new words.
2. Refund from Walmart: When I picked up our groceries from Walmart, they had made three substitutions, including organic carrots in place of regular carrots. An upgrade—hooray! I thought to myself. When I got home, I realized that they had replaced my 5 lb. bag of conventional carrots ($2.92) with a 2 lb. bag of organic carrots ($1.66). I didn't think that was a fair trade, so I called up Walmart and they gave me a refund.
3. Cooking: I had to make yellow rice mix for one of our meals. Instead of making just what I needed (one recipe's worth), I quadrupled the recipe. If you already have the spices out, why not? It will save me a few minutes of time for each meal. Slowly, I am learning how to batch-cook almost everything. Throwing together a meal is a lot easier when half of the work is already done.
4. Sewing: I made a cleaning mitt for Baby, as well as some small washcloths. I put bias tape around the edges of both washcloths and mitt, and put little loops on each of the washcloths for easy hanging. I wish I would have put a loop on the mitt, but I didn't think about it.
5. Picked up cans recycle. It wasn't exactly warm last week, but we bundled up and went for a few walks anyway. They yielded a couple dollars' worth of cans, plus some free exercise. :)
I think that's all I've got to share! What were some ways that you saved money?
-Bethany
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