Frugal Accomplishments This Week

Some deals I got this week at Walmart.

Hi everyone! I hope all of my U.S. readers had a fantastic Memorial Day weekend. Many thanks to my dad and all others who have served or are serving in our military- especially to those who have given all.

We skipped the typical barbeque this year and instead shared pizza with friends. If you want ten pizzas made in record time, order them when everyone else is having brats and burgers. As I type this I can still see a few pieces of styrofoam dinnerware strewn across our lawn. Signs of a good time had by all.

1. Groceries: I spent a lot of money on groceries this week. First we went to Walmart and spent $33.18 (see haul below). 

The next day I forgot about a potluck dish and just grabbed something at Kroger for $3.00. If eating out is a problem for most people, buying potluck dishes is mine. The season is upon us. "Did you know that we go to at least one potluck every week?" I asked Hubs. He didn't believe me at first. Until I started naming off all of the potlucks. I've been experimenting with which crowd-pleasing dishes are fastest, easiest, and cheapest to take. This week I tried deviled eggs, coleslaw and potato salad. Each of them is basically eggs or some vegetable mixed with mayonnaise and spices, so they're equally affordable. The problem? Dishes!! By the time you chop everything for coleslaw, plus mix it together in a bowl, then use another serving dish, you've left a trail of dishes in your wake. Same story with deviled eggs. I think the potato salad used the least amount of dishes and was the fastest to put together. If you have any potluck winners, leave them in the comments below. I would love to hear what your favorites are.

Later in the week we stopped at the 'village' grocery store, because it was summer in Michigan (as opposed to last month, which was winter) and we "needed" watermelon. And ice cream. And brats. And overpriced hot dog buns. We snagged all of that for a mere $13.00. 

Then I let it slip that Kroger was having a sale on ice cream sandwiches: $0.99 per box. Hubs said, of course, that we must go to Kroger to get the sandwiches. When we got to Kroger, they were all out of ice cream sandwiches. So I got a rain check. But that isn't all we got. While walking through the store, we decided that we also needed more brats, buns (at least they were cheap) and Klondike bars (not the off-brand, but real, genuine Klondikes). I also got Hubs' favorite brand of barbecue sauce on sale, with a coupon: four bottles for $0.75 each. We escaped Kroger just $17.74 poorer.

Total spent on groceries this week was $63.92.

2. Cooking: I made 1/2 lb. of butter with some raw milk that a friend gave us. Also made cheese with the leftover milk. 

Homemade butter, from unadulterated real cream!!

3. ​Garden: I spent almost $10.00 at the nursery this week on 19 pepper plants and four watermelon plants. Hubs tilled up the remaining garden for me, and I planted sweet corn, beans, pumpkin, acorn squash, the nursery plants and some other plants I started indoors. I still have a few plants to find a home for, but most of my garden is complete.

4. Personal care: I bought some shampoo and conditioner for $0.53 per bottle with a coupon. Instead of buying Scott toilet paper with a coupon, I discovered Walmart's off-brand "1000 Sheets" toilet paper (which was cheaper) and bought that instead. I also gave my husband a haircut.

5. Laundry: during the summer we generate a lot more laundry. Between regular laundry and cloth diapers, it's about one load every day. So I have been air-drying a lot of laundry.

That's about all, folks!

Til next time,
​Bethany