Frugal Accomplishments This Week

Christmas tree selfie!

I bought a new laptop last week, which has been AWESOME!!! I got my old laptop in 2008. Not only was it really slow, but it didn't have any audio and... people just aren't making software for Windows Vista anymore. As we were researching different options for a replacement, the old one completely crashed and I couldn't even get it to turn on. We ended up going to the computer store in town and buying a used refurbished laptop for about $350.00. I'm really happy with it so far. I was able to get my writing software (Scrivener) up and running to start working on my frugal produce book again. I started the book way back in January 2017, but put it on hold to republish Menu Planning and have a baby. But now... back in the saddle.

1. Groceries: Usually I do my grocery shopping on Wednesday or Sunday so we can save a trip to town and Hubs can help me with Baby Girl. This week Kroger had a fantastic deal on oil and flour, but it was for Saturday only. Hubs was gone that day, so I braved Kroger by myself with Baby. It was totally worth it! Not only did I come home with a year's supply of oil and parchment paper as well as 6 month's worth (or more) of flour, but I found some great deals on the bargain bin as well. You can see my haul below:

1. Cyber Monday: I bought an Instant Pot lid and extra sealing ring for 25% on Amazon. I also got some new books from No Greater Joy  for 45% off. I had been thinking about buying them earlier when everything was 40% off, but I'm glad I waited.                                                                                                 
2. Cloth diapers: we cloth diapered five days last week. I've been using my on-sale hemp inserts for overnight diapers, and they work great. I also found an easy, fast way to line dry the diapers. I use two of these things  to dry almost my whole stash. First I hang the top dryer on a hook attached to my ceiling. The second dryer is hooked onto the first dryer (one of mine has a ring underneath the center so I can do that). Each clip gets an insert- first on the top dryer, then on the bottom one. On the bottom dryer there are usually some clips left. This is where I hang the pocket diapers. I made four lines of pocket diapers by snapping the bottom of one diaper to the top of the next, like this. The whole setup takes up minimal square feet, and I love that they can hang vertically. Plus there is no messing around with clothespins or line. What remains of my stash- some homemade prefolds that I use as changing pads, homemade fleece liners and reusable wipes- can all be dried on a collapsible drying rack, which takes a whole less time to set up than my indoor line.

The drying system was a big win because it will save a lot of time. I'm doing diaper laundry about every other day (except on weekends), so it's not like regular laundry which is just once a week or so. I still want to get a few more pocket diapers to be able to do laundry every three days. Right now I have fourteen pocket diapers and two AIOs. I have some prefolds/fitted diapers as well, but Baby Girl is too big/chunky for them. :( I use about six cloth diapers a day, with a disposable or two(if we're gone, or if Hubs does the changing. Still haven't got him converted yet!). I can go a full two days with diapers and then do laundry, but I only have four diapers to use while the clean diapers dry (a full day if indoors). So I am just a few diapers and inserts short of a full stash.

Well, those are the only frugal accomplishments I wrote down this week. We got our Christmas tree last week and have slowly been decorating it. Right now there are just lights on it. Maybe someday it will have ornaments and presents. 😃 

Til next time,
​-Bethany