This week I have a number of frugal accomplishments to share, as well as some interesting tidbits I discovered.
1. Picked broccoli, green beans, and two carrots from the garden. For some reason I did not have any carrots germinate this year... or so I thought. While I was weeding I pulled up two medium-sized ones.
2. Sold three dozen eggs.
3. Saved free mealworms. When I was cleaning out the back room, I discovered that mealworms had decided to make a meal of a hide that I started working on last fall. Of course I was absolutely disgusted, but wasn't about to throw out the hide I'd spent so much time on.
As I moved the hide out onto the porch, I remembered some Youtube videos I watched about mealworm farming. In order to give chickens extra protein, some people actually grow mealworms. Gross, I know, but here I had FREE mealworms at my disposal, and chickens that could eat them. So I swept the mealworms off of the hide and put them into this little home I made for them.
1. Picked broccoli, green beans, and two carrots from the garden. For some reason I did not have any carrots germinate this year... or so I thought. While I was weeding I pulled up two medium-sized ones.
2. Sold three dozen eggs.
3. Saved free mealworms. When I was cleaning out the back room, I discovered that mealworms had decided to make a meal of a hide that I started working on last fall. Of course I was absolutely disgusted, but wasn't about to throw out the hide I'd spent so much time on.
As I moved the hide out onto the porch, I remembered some Youtube videos I watched about mealworm farming. In order to give chickens extra protein, some people actually grow mealworms. Gross, I know, but here I had FREE mealworms at my disposal, and chickens that could eat them. So I swept the mealworms off of the hide and put them into this little home I made for them.
The farm is just a few handfuls of oatmeal for food, some carrot peelings for moisture/water, and some paper for the worms to hide under. I put it in a dark place in the back room, with holes screwed into the lid for ventilation.
4. Collected rose beetles for my chickens.
5. Froze baked beans. We had been given a 1-gallon bag of baked beans after a family event, so I served some for lunch one day, and froze the rest in 1-quart containers.
6. Line dried one load of laundry.
7. Used a BOGO (buy one get one free/% off) coupon. Later during the week we were in town, early for a church event. Nobody was there, and it was SUPER hot, so we decided to buy a smoothie at the local coffee shop. It just so happened that I had a buy-1-get-1-free coupon for medium or large drinks in my purse. It was cheaper for us to buy medium drinks with a coupon than get two small ones, so we used the coupon.
8. Cleaned out the freezer. Ever since reading the Extreme Cooling guest post last week, I've been trying to use less freezer and fridge space. We aren't planning on downsizing the fridge yet, but I've realized how much food gets wasted because it gets lost in there.
9. Got some new poultry for the hobby farm! We have had a lot of chicken deaths on the farm lately, so I got five new Barred Rock hens from my brother. He has an incubator, so in exchange for fertilized eggs, he gives me some of the chicks. I got three of the five chicks for free this time, and bought two additional chicks from him. They are not really chicks anymore... more like teenage chickens.
I asked him for Barred Rocks because they are good layers, but also have some meat on them if we decide to butcher them in a few years.
4. Collected rose beetles for my chickens.
5. Froze baked beans. We had been given a 1-gallon bag of baked beans after a family event, so I served some for lunch one day, and froze the rest in 1-quart containers.
6. Line dried one load of laundry.
7. Used a BOGO (buy one get one free/% off) coupon. Later during the week we were in town, early for a church event. Nobody was there, and it was SUPER hot, so we decided to buy a smoothie at the local coffee shop. It just so happened that I had a buy-1-get-1-free coupon for medium or large drinks in my purse. It was cheaper for us to buy medium drinks with a coupon than get two small ones, so we used the coupon.
8. Cleaned out the freezer. Ever since reading the Extreme Cooling guest post last week, I've been trying to use less freezer and fridge space. We aren't planning on downsizing the fridge yet, but I've realized how much food gets wasted because it gets lost in there.
9. Got some new poultry for the hobby farm! We have had a lot of chicken deaths on the farm lately, so I got five new Barred Rock hens from my brother. He has an incubator, so in exchange for fertilized eggs, he gives me some of the chicks. I got three of the five chicks for free this time, and bought two additional chicks from him. They are not really chicks anymore... more like teenage chickens.
I asked him for Barred Rocks because they are good layers, but also have some meat on them if we decide to butcher them in a few years.
10. Used Ibotta and Checkout 51 rebates to get a free banana and three free carrots.
11. Bought reduced "ripe" bananas for $0.42/lb. I normally don't buy fruit at all (we produce enough here on the property), but bananas and pineapple are exceptions that I buy when they go on sale. Bananas are very sweet, so I can use them to replace sugar in baking or smoothies/ice cream.
After I brought the bananas home, I thought of something. If I was paying by the pound for bananas, how much of my money was paying for the peel??
I weighed a banana with and without the peel, and discovered that 38% of the weight of the banana was peel. This meant that the actual banana fruit cost $0.68/lb. If you are someone who buys fruit based on a price list (comparing different fruits by price per pound), this is a good thing to know. Fruits like strawberries or apples are going to have a lot less waste than bananas, pomegranates or even oranges.
Update on Photo Email Lists- Free Photos Aren't Free
Last week one of my goals was to sign up for a few different email lists (Walmart photo, Shutterfly, Snapfish, etc.). I did sign up for Shutterfly emails, and to my surprise they offered me 50 free prints, a free magnet and free set of address labels! Excited, I uploaded some photos I wanted to print and designed a magnet. I thought I could use the photos to make a photo book to have at my farmers market stand. However, when I saw the shipping charges ($3.99 for the magnet and $3.99 for the photos), I realized that my free photos weren't free. No way was I paying $10.00+ to ship a bunch of stuff I didn't need.
When I bought the photo book last week, it was something that I actually wanted and was willing to pay for. Hubs really liked it! What I love about photo books is that you design them once, print them and then you are done. No more work. With my "free" photos, I would've had to print the pictures, and THEN find or buy a photo album, rearrange and label all of the photos. That's too much work for something I didn't even want until it was offered to me.
I think all frugal people should watch out for "deals" like this. I see a lot of ladies (guys too, but they buy different stuff) buying things like home decor, crafting supplies, or other non-essentials just because they are on sale. Because the items aren't needed, they sit in a closet and depreciate until someone sells them at a garage sale. Sometimes I take free stuff if I think I can find a use for it (hoarders will be hoarders!), but I try not to PAY for something I won't use and wasn't looking for in the first place. If I spent $10.00 every week on "free" offers, I'd spend $520.00 per year that could have been spent on something useful and needed.
Goals for Next Week
1. Sign up for another email list.
2. Look for tanning solution in local stores.
3. Continue cleaning out the fridge/freezer.
11. Bought reduced "ripe" bananas for $0.42/lb. I normally don't buy fruit at all (we produce enough here on the property), but bananas and pineapple are exceptions that I buy when they go on sale. Bananas are very sweet, so I can use them to replace sugar in baking or smoothies/ice cream.
After I brought the bananas home, I thought of something. If I was paying by the pound for bananas, how much of my money was paying for the peel??
I weighed a banana with and without the peel, and discovered that 38% of the weight of the banana was peel. This meant that the actual banana fruit cost $0.68/lb. If you are someone who buys fruit based on a price list (comparing different fruits by price per pound), this is a good thing to know. Fruits like strawberries or apples are going to have a lot less waste than bananas, pomegranates or even oranges.
Update on Photo Email Lists- Free Photos Aren't Free
Last week one of my goals was to sign up for a few different email lists (Walmart photo, Shutterfly, Snapfish, etc.). I did sign up for Shutterfly emails, and to my surprise they offered me 50 free prints, a free magnet and free set of address labels! Excited, I uploaded some photos I wanted to print and designed a magnet. I thought I could use the photos to make a photo book to have at my farmers market stand. However, when I saw the shipping charges ($3.99 for the magnet and $3.99 for the photos), I realized that my free photos weren't free. No way was I paying $10.00+ to ship a bunch of stuff I didn't need.
When I bought the photo book last week, it was something that I actually wanted and was willing to pay for. Hubs really liked it! What I love about photo books is that you design them once, print them and then you are done. No more work. With my "free" photos, I would've had to print the pictures, and THEN find or buy a photo album, rearrange and label all of the photos. That's too much work for something I didn't even want until it was offered to me.
I think all frugal people should watch out for "deals" like this. I see a lot of ladies (guys too, but they buy different stuff) buying things like home decor, crafting supplies, or other non-essentials just because they are on sale. Because the items aren't needed, they sit in a closet and depreciate until someone sells them at a garage sale. Sometimes I take free stuff if I think I can find a use for it (hoarders will be hoarders!), but I try not to PAY for something I won't use and wasn't looking for in the first place. If I spent $10.00 every week on "free" offers, I'd spend $520.00 per year that could have been spent on something useful and needed.
Goals for Next Week
1. Sign up for another email list.
2. Look for tanning solution in local stores.
3. Continue cleaning out the fridge/freezer.
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