Frugal Accomplishments, 4th Week of March
5. Saved $0.75 on groceries this week with Ibotta and Checkout 31. I used one $0.25 rebate for milk (only a slight discount), but paired two $0.25 carrot rebates to save $0.50 on an $0.84 bag of carrots. I thought this was a pretty good deal.
Of course ideally I would have grown my own carrots and had them for free. However, I haven't reached that point in my gardening yet. My long-term gardening plan is to grow the most expensive veggies first, and then work my way down from there. This year's garden will hopefully include onions, carrots and potatoes, though probably not a whole year's supply. Eventually I would love to grow 100% of my veggies year round, but I'm not opposed to eating cheap or on-sale store bought vegetables until that time comes.
6. Bought a 20 lb. bag of white rice at Walmart. The cost for this rice was $0.45/lb., or $0.30/lb. cheaper than what I was buying it at the bulk food store for. Our main sources of carbohydrates are potatoes and rice (we don't do a lot of bread), it's nice to think that this $9.00 bag will last us probably a year.
You health-conscious people are probably wondering why we don't eat brown rice. I have bought brown rice in the past, also thinking it would be better for us. However, after reading Ramiel Nagel's excellent book, Cure Tooth Decay, I know now that white rice is actually better for your teeth because it doesn't contain (or at least doesn't have as many) mineral-sucking phytates. Currently dental health is more of a priority for us than weight (I understand brown rice is better for weight loss), so for now we'll keep eating white rice.
7. Hubs used a hot water bottle to ease the pain from an ear infection.
8. We went for a couple walks last week and collected several grocery bags of recyclable cans and bottles.
9. A good chunk of time last week was spent working on promotional material for my new book. I took a couple videos to put up on Youtube and did some brainstorming on articles I could write.
10. Made cinnamon rolls for Easter brunch. Though time-consuming, cinnamon rolls are a big bang for your buck because they use minimal eggs and butter, and don't include fancy spices or ingredients (no chocolate chips or peanut butter, for example). But they are oh-so-yummy. :)
1. Transplant some of my seedlings into bigger containers (Pumpkin-on-a-Stick, chili peppers, broccoli).
2. Work on promotional videos for book.
3. Finish filling garden beds with compost to prepare for spring planting.