After being on vacay, it felt SO good to have a really frugal, productive week. Here were some of the things I did:
1. Got my indoor laundry line set up. I used screw-in-the-wall hooks on either side of the room to create a zig-zag clothesline that I can put up or take down whenever I want to. I chose our bedroom as the location, for three reasons: a) the laundry is hidden in case people come over, b) clothes are stored in the bedroom, and c) the ceiling fan gives a little more airflow than the other rooms.
My first two loads on the new line went pretty well. I could really use some more hooks to create a longer line, because I still had to dry some T-shirts and our beach towels in the bathroom over an extra shower curtain rod that I keep over the tub for that purpose. In order to make the most of my new line, I need to be putting socks and underwear on the collapsible drying rack first. That frees up more room on the line. Overflow items go on the shower curtain rod.
I am loving my new permanent indoor clothesline. By using it, I'll be able to save a dollar every week, just like in the summer. However, the clothes do take longer to dry indoors, and sometimes thick items like jeans take two days to dry. On the second day when most of the clothes are dry, I fold them and take down the clothesline. The still-damp items can be dried the second day either on the drying rack or in the shower/tub. This gets most everything out of the way after 24 hours.
2. Sold 1 dozen eggs.
3. Shopping: We spent $8.76 this week on groceries. I found bacon on sale for $1.85/lb., got a cucumber for $0.42 with a rebate, and we also got free organic tortilla chips from a Kroger Free Friday deal several weeks ago. Other things I bought were dairy products, salt, and some 50-cent candy canes to stir in hot chocolate.
4. Cooking: I used up most of my frozen leftovers this week. Also made cheese and used the Instant Pot I got for Christmas (thanks mom!!) to make baked potatoes, carrots, and mashed potatoes. I cooked up one of the turkeys we bought in November for $0.68/lb. After eating our fill, I cut up all of the meat except the drumsticks and got 5 bags (6.71 pounds) of cooked turkey meat for the freezer. In addition, I strained about 2 cups of cooking fat from the bottom of the roaster, and used my Instant Pot again to make three quarts of bone broth, with I used with some of the frozen leftovers to make soup.
I was curious to see if our $15.00 turkey would be worth it, but I think it was. We got two fresh meals out of the meat, plus almost seven pounds of meat to freeze, plus three quarts of broth and a pint of fat.
5. Unfortunately the insert that came with my instant pot was two inches tall and doesn't leave a lot of room on top of it for food. Instead of buying a new insert online, I found a steamer basket at the VOA 50% off sale and used it (propped up with a canning ring) to cook vegetables in the instant pot. It worked great, and only cost $0.50.
6. Printed coupons off the internet. We'll see if I actually use them.
7. Used a discount McDonalds gift card to buy lunch.
8. Made a memory shadowbox for our trip to the DR. Total cost was $1.00 that I paid for the box at a garage sale.
1. Got my indoor laundry line set up. I used screw-in-the-wall hooks on either side of the room to create a zig-zag clothesline that I can put up or take down whenever I want to. I chose our bedroom as the location, for three reasons: a) the laundry is hidden in case people come over, b) clothes are stored in the bedroom, and c) the ceiling fan gives a little more airflow than the other rooms.
My first two loads on the new line went pretty well. I could really use some more hooks to create a longer line, because I still had to dry some T-shirts and our beach towels in the bathroom over an extra shower curtain rod that I keep over the tub for that purpose. In order to make the most of my new line, I need to be putting socks and underwear on the collapsible drying rack first. That frees up more room on the line. Overflow items go on the shower curtain rod.
I am loving my new permanent indoor clothesline. By using it, I'll be able to save a dollar every week, just like in the summer. However, the clothes do take longer to dry indoors, and sometimes thick items like jeans take two days to dry. On the second day when most of the clothes are dry, I fold them and take down the clothesline. The still-damp items can be dried the second day either on the drying rack or in the shower/tub. This gets most everything out of the way after 24 hours.
2. Sold 1 dozen eggs.
3. Shopping: We spent $8.76 this week on groceries. I found bacon on sale for $1.85/lb., got a cucumber for $0.42 with a rebate, and we also got free organic tortilla chips from a Kroger Free Friday deal several weeks ago. Other things I bought were dairy products, salt, and some 50-cent candy canes to stir in hot chocolate.
4. Cooking: I used up most of my frozen leftovers this week. Also made cheese and used the Instant Pot I got for Christmas (thanks mom!!) to make baked potatoes, carrots, and mashed potatoes. I cooked up one of the turkeys we bought in November for $0.68/lb. After eating our fill, I cut up all of the meat except the drumsticks and got 5 bags (6.71 pounds) of cooked turkey meat for the freezer. In addition, I strained about 2 cups of cooking fat from the bottom of the roaster, and used my Instant Pot again to make three quarts of bone broth, with I used with some of the frozen leftovers to make soup.
I was curious to see if our $15.00 turkey would be worth it, but I think it was. We got two fresh meals out of the meat, plus almost seven pounds of meat to freeze, plus three quarts of broth and a pint of fat.
5. Unfortunately the insert that came with my instant pot was two inches tall and doesn't leave a lot of room on top of it for food. Instead of buying a new insert online, I found a steamer basket at the VOA 50% off sale and used it (propped up with a canning ring) to cook vegetables in the instant pot. It worked great, and only cost $0.50.
6. Printed coupons off the internet. We'll see if I actually use them.
7. Used a discount McDonalds gift card to buy lunch.
8. Made a memory shadowbox for our trip to the DR. Total cost was $1.00 that I paid for the box at a garage sale.
9. Printed new pages for my daily planner.
10. Reupholstered another RV cushion.
11. Created an Amazon "Household". Hubs has Amazon Prime for his business, but up until last week I was still using my regular account to order small items and purchase ebooks. Amazon Prime has a lot of benefits that EVERYONE in your home can use if you create a household. By linking our two accounts, I can now borrow ebooks and get free shipping on many things I order without logging into the "business" account.
12. Made a chalkboard inventory for the freezer! This has been on my "to do" list for a long time. I used chalkboard spray paint on the side of the freezer to make the board, but then I got frustrated when my chalk inventory kept getting wiped off on accident. One of my friends got me a chalkboard marker for Christmas (thanks Ruth!), which made it so, so easy. I did not even know those things existed, and I just thought everyone at the farmers market was super talented to be able to create such beautiful chalkboards without smudging or breaking their chalk. The chalkboard markers are perfect because they don't smudge like regular chalk, but you can still wipe it off with a wet washcloth. It's perfect for my freezer inventory.
10. Reupholstered another RV cushion.
11. Created an Amazon "Household". Hubs has Amazon Prime for his business, but up until last week I was still using my regular account to order small items and purchase ebooks. Amazon Prime has a lot of benefits that EVERYONE in your home can use if you create a household. By linking our two accounts, I can now borrow ebooks and get free shipping on many things I order without logging into the "business" account.
12. Made a chalkboard inventory for the freezer! This has been on my "to do" list for a long time. I used chalkboard spray paint on the side of the freezer to make the board, but then I got frustrated when my chalk inventory kept getting wiped off on accident. One of my friends got me a chalkboard marker for Christmas (thanks Ruth!), which made it so, so easy. I did not even know those things existed, and I just thought everyone at the farmers market was super talented to be able to create such beautiful chalkboards without smudging or breaking their chalk. The chalkboard markers are perfect because they don't smudge like regular chalk, but you can still wipe it off with a wet washcloth. It's perfect for my freezer inventory.
13. Started my free trial of Audible. I also bought a free ebook version of Pride and Prejudice, and paid $2.00 to get it on Audible. I know you can get free audio books from Librivox and some other sites, but the narration is not as good and sometimes you have to download a million files in order to get a whole book. Another way to get free audiobooks is to borrow them from the library, but then you have to either play them in a CD player or download every single track to a different audio device. With Audible, everything is one swipe and tap away on my phone.
If any of you know how to get free, good-quality and easy-to-download audiobooks, please let me know. I've come to the conclusion that I will NEVER get enough reading in if I have to sit on the couch to do it. In the following week, I'll be examining a few other options to see if there is a better deal than Audible's $15.00 per month.
Til next time,
-Bethany
If any of you know how to get free, good-quality and easy-to-download audiobooks, please let me know. I've come to the conclusion that I will NEVER get enough reading in if I have to sit on the couch to do it. In the following week, I'll be examining a few other options to see if there is a better deal than Audible's $15.00 per month.
Til next time,
-Bethany
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