​Hi everybody! Again, not too many frugal accomplishments this week (or, at least not many that I remembered to write down!) but still some worth mentioning. 

1. Groceries: I went to Kroger this week and scored some deals. See below:

2. ​Garden: I harvested raspberries, string beans and snap peas from the garden. 

3. Garage sales: I went to some city-wide garage sales and picked up a few bargains. I spent just $9.05, plus a few dollars for gas to get there (it was less than seven miles away). Based on retail and/or thrift store value of the items I found, I saved over $50.00. In fact, we had just ordered a new $25.00 bike seat on Amazon, and I found one at a garage sale for $2.00! The garage sale seat is not as nice looking, but it will do the job. I plan on returning the new seat.

2. Cooking: I made ice cream this week with some Aldi heavy cream. Usually, I make custard-style ice cream with egg yolks and milk, but the cream was expiring soon and I wanted to use it up. I used the whole pint container of heavy cream, 1 cup milk, 1 TB vanilla extract, 3/4 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt. Total cost was $2.16, and the recipe made five cups, so the price per 1/2 cup serving was just under $0.22. That's more expensive than Great Value brand ice cream ($0.17 per serving), and only slightly cheaper than Breyer's ($0.25 per serving). So, it wasn't frugal. But it used up the heavy cream, plus it was some of the best homemade ice cream I've ever had!!

3. Garden: I've been harvesting red and black raspberries for the past week or so. I also collected mullein flowers and comfrey leaves to use in herbal remedies. My husband fixed a raccoon trap, so we can try and eliminate the predators that have been eating eggs and possibly chickens during the past week or so.

4. Cans: we picked up cans to recycle during several family walks. 

5. Reorganizing: Baby was starting to get into the books on my bookshelf, so I decided to move the contents of the two bottom shelves into our storage area and use them as storage for some of her toys. Since she was born, finding space for everything (extra furniture, outgrown toys or clothes, etc.) has been a bit of a struggle. I've already sold, donated or tossed a lot of our stuff, but I will probably do the same thing again in a few weeks.

Til next time,
-Bethany

1. ​Groceries: We spent $2.46 on groceries this week; a bag of freeze-dried baby food snacks at Walmart. I know, totes not frugal. But now that Baby is eating more solid foods, I thought it would be wise to keep some non-perishable food (that's not cereal or junk) in the car. I've been working on keeping our vehicle organized, which is easy NOT to do when you're going a lot of places and bringing lots of stuff to those places.

2. Cooking: I did better making actual meals this week instead of just eating cereal and junk food. Some of the meals we had were: lamb rice curry, chicken salad, hash, bagel sandwiches, turkey sandwiches, baked potatoes, ham soup and grilled chicken thighs. I also made a batch of kombucha (yay!!). I tried making pineapple juice in the Instant Pot, but it tasted too "cooked" to drink like juice.

3. Garden: I weeded a lot this week. Baby and I picked strawberries, mulberries and black raspberries for the freezer. I also cut some lettuce for salad and harvested some mullein for herbal remedies.

4. Thrifting: We went to the 50% off sale at Volunteers of America this week. I bought a baby monitor that didn't work ($1.50), a pair of jeans for myself ($1.60), and a swing-top bottle to use for kombucha ($0.75). I also bought some things for a Montessori weaning set that I'm working on (pictured above): two shot glasses ($0.50 each), two tray baskets ($1.50 and $1.25) and a small glass pitcher ($1.00).

5. Baby items: I sewed two bibs and two placemats for Baby Girl. I'm not quite finished with the placemats. I made each set of items with scrap fabric and bias tape that I already had. I used an old dishtowel on the back of the bibs to catch water spills. These will go with the weaning set. I hope to do a post about it when I'm finished with the placemats.

6. Computer desk setup: Last fall I threw out our old, broken hand-me-down computer desk to make room for a treadmill desk, which I thought would magically melt away all of the baby weight I had gained while pregnant. It didn't quite work like I thought it would. It was easy enough to walk while watching Youtube, but I couldn't multi-task well enough to write anything while walking. I ended up doing all of my writing on the kitchen table, while the poor treadmill sat unused. So, that was a waste of $80.00. This spring, I found myself more and more using my laptop on the kitchen table or couch, which is awful for posture, not to mention it clutters everything up.

We got rid of the treadmill, which turned my treadmill desk into a standing desk. I bought an external USB keyboard and mouse for $13.00, and Hubs built a second shelf out of free scrap lumber so that my hands can be at the proper 90-degree angle. Not only that, but I was able to point a set of external speakers into the kitchen/living room, so I can work and listen to audio without dragging the laptop over to the kitchen table. I love, love, love this setup. It makes writing so easy, especially with the external keyboard and mouse. I wish I would have gotten those two items years ago.

That's all, folks! I look forward to sharing more next week.
-Bethany

​Usually I'm a pretty happy person and love my life, but I'm not sorry to be kissing June goodbye. I'm sniffling and coughing as I write this (second cold in a month) and the house is a mess. I stayed home from church on Sunday and spent most of the day binge-watching "Call the Midwife" on Netflix and eating cereal with Baby, coughing and sniffling. We haven't had a free weekend in so long, I'm beginning to forget what one looks like. I've been nagging myself to get out and check my bees; I thought for sure it had been at least a month since I was out there last. I checked my calendar, and it had only been two weeks. A looooong two weeks.

While there aren't quite enough accomplishments to make this a "Frugal Accomplishments" post, there are still a few things I wanted to share with you from last week.

Groceries: I did a full grocery haul for the first time in a few weeks, shopping at Kroger. Total spent was $26.54. The best deal I got was cheese for $2.00 per pound (2.5 lbs.). Pineapples were also $0.88 each so I got one of those, and a box of cereal for $0.99 (which wasn't a spectacular deal, but it was a decent price). Bagels were free, Little Debbies were $0.99 each. The herbal teas were $4.49 each ($0.30 per bag... ouch!) but they taste good and I feel like they really work for soothing a sore throat. If I were truly frugal I'd probably mixing my own herbal teas, but then I'd have to buy a whole bunch of new herbs. Which would probably cost more than the bagged tea. Hmmm....


New Purchases

After one failed attempt, I was able to grow a new kombucha mushroom from a bottle of store-bought kombucha. GT's is the ONLY way to go if you're trying to grow a scoby, folks! Don't waste your money on store brand sugary pink lemonade kombucha, because it won't work.

Anyway, I bought some new swing-top bottles for flavored kombucha. They weren't cheap at $3.17 per bottle, but now I won't have to worry about exploding bottles. Not only that, but these are clear bottles so they'll be easier to clean. I think this was a good purchase.

Next, I bought a little baby-sized set of silverware on Amazon, for Baby. This was recommended by a Montessori blogger I follow, to help with eating solids. At $3.20 per piece, I was a little disappointed at how wide the the spoons, forks and knives were, for being "baby" sized. They're more like regular forks and spoons that have been shortened a little. 

It's strawberry season around here! Actually, our berries are starting to wind down; something I'm thankful for, in a way. I'm starting to get a little bit exhausted. And tired of eating berries... even the biggest, reddest, juiciest and best of them.

Doing the stand as opposed to a farmers market was such a good fit for us. As you can see below, Baby had a grand time "helping" me (as in, eating berries and playing with the cats).

We also have some new baby kittens around here! They are super cute.

Doing the strawberry stand has been taking up most of my "project" time. After strawberries, making meals, doing dishes, laundry, regular social engagements and cleaning up after all of that, I'm pretty tired at the end of the day. Yesterday Hubs and I went on a walk; something we haven't done in weeks. He is also super busy this time of year. I'm looking forward to July, when things will (hopefully) slow down a bit for us. Baby Girl is not slowing down. She started clapping, waving and playing peekaboo, not to mention scooting around like mad. Not crawling, just scooting. But trust me, she gets around.

The great thing about being so busy is that you don't spend a lot of money. No time to look for deals. I did use a rain check to buy five boxes of ice cream sandwiches for $0.99 each. That's $0.08 per sandwich!! No wonder Kroger was sold out the first time.

Last of all, our internet has been crummy since I posted last. I'd hoped to get more Youtube videos up, but they didn't upload to Google drive until a day or two ago. So maybe after strawberries are done, I'll be able to update my channel. I filmed a grocery haul, garden update and cloth diapering video. So... soon, maybe soon.

Until then,
-Bethany

Hi everyone! I'm going to skip Frugal Accomplishments for the next couple weeks in order to clean up some loose ends. I'll be posting monthly updates and working on content for my Youtube channel, as well as gardening and doing house projects that I've been putting off.

Congratulations to Judy from Denver, who won the May giveaway! The next email newsletter may be a bit delayed, so you all have time to sign up for my updates if you haven't already.

I sold my first 15 quarts of strawberries today and pocketed over fifty bucks!! For the next few weeks, it's going to be 5:30 a.m. mornings and early nights for me until all of those strawberries are picked. As you can see in the picture above, I'm also starting to harvest some things from my vegetable garden. I need to cook up those radishes before they wilt!!

I've been making grocery haul videos and taking pictures of what I buy, so don't worry; those things will still show up next month on June's spending report. Until then, expect to see a few sporadic, random posts from me.

Til next time,
-Bethany

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. 

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

​Again, guys, this update came super late. I will be coming out with a May update in a week or two, so this one is going to be short and sweet.

Chickens and Ducks

Not much happened since the opossum incident. Egg production went up a little bit. We bought feed this month.


Garden

I continued to nurse seedlings. I also started preparing the garden beds for planting. My husband tilled up some areas for row gardening. The strawberries stayed dormant.

Most of April was pretty cold; hence, no garden activity.


Honeybees

I finished assembling my hive and got to pick up my bees this month! I was pretty scared to death when I installed the package in my new hive. I got stung once and panicked about what to do. Then later I worried that I had made some awful installation mistakes and my queen would not survive. (In the end, it turned out well, though.) 

I will tell more about my beekeeping adventures in the next hobby farm post, as I only did one inspection during the month of April. I did chose to buy (and use) gloves for my beekeeping, though.


Profit & Loss

Expenses:
Chicken feed- $42.00
Beekeeping gloves- $11.49
Total expenses: $53.49

Income:
Farmers Market book royalties- $6.64

Net profit: ($46.85)
Year-to-date net profit: ($663.68)

That's about it! Most of my non-profit accumulated thus far has been from my bee project: $570.62, to bee exact. LOL. 

Til next time,
-Bethany

Note: Over the next few days I'm going to post a few things that "missed" their deadline. My apologies for being so untimely!

March was pretty slow here on the hobby farm. It was so slow that I considered not even writing a report. Better late than never, I guess.

Chickens & Ducks

Right now there are 17 birds in the coop. We had a single chicken die in March. Before that happened, I suspected that something fishy was going on. I noticed that kitchen scraps- including large potato chunks- had been dragged into a building across the fence from the chicken area. While some of the chickens do sneak under the fence, I highly doubted that the chickens could or would drag food items into that area. It seemed more like something a pack rat would do. A few days later, I found one of the chickens, mauled, in front of the chicken coop. Of course this was upsetting, but it was, again, fishy. Usually when a raccoon gets a chicken it will drag it out to the boundary of the fence. Raccoons almost never leave their prey right where they killed it. Hawks strangle their prey and carry it off.... so, what was I dealing with?

Obviously, I started shutting the chickens in at night after that. Some people shut chickens in all year long, but I get lazy in the winter and just leave their little door open. That way I only have to go out there once a day. Anyway, two nights after the mysterious killing, I turned the light on in the chicken coop and caught a opossum in there- red handed!! Thankfully he didn't have a chicken, but was probably just stealing eggs. Either way, he was... exterminated.

In March, the chickens started picking up laying eggs a bit. 


Garden

Not much to report for the garden I started some seeds using a Jiffy greenhouse. I think I'll do this with almost all of my early start seeds for next year. It's so convenient and I lose fewer seedlings because I don't have to transplant so often.


Honeybees

​My bee project for March was putting together my Langstroth hive. I ordered the first deep, cover and bottom board assembled already, but assembled two honey super boxes and 20 frames myself. I also realized that I should have another deep, so I ordered an unassembled kit for that as well.


Profit & Loss

Income: $0.00

Expenses: $72.65 (extra hive deep)

Net profit: ($72.65)
Year-to-date net profit: ($616.83)

My profit and loss is turning into just a loss. I guess it really is a "hobby" farm now. I'm not selling many farmers market books, and the ones I  do sell wouldn't begin to cover chicken feed, let alone a new bee setup. During the first quarter of 2018 I spent $64.00 on chicken feed ($21.33/mo.). The rest of our net "non-profit" is from my new bee setup. They are less like value-producing livestock at this point and more like cash-sucking pets. 

For a couple years now I've been slowly transitioning the priority away from earning and more toward just saving money with our farm (and doing it for my own pleasure). I feel like if I want to be earning money, my time is better spent writing. In order to measure the true "profit" of the hobby farm, I should be calculating how many eggs and other food products I harvest, since that' now the goal instead of earning with dollars. Perhaps I will try to keep track of this in the month of May.

I'll be coming out with an April report pretty soon. Stay tuned!

-Bethany

1. Groceries: It was a no-spend week for groceries.

2. Cooking: I didn't do any notable cooking this week. For meals, we had the usual: hash, tacos, eggs, venison steaks, leftovers, more hash. I'm getting very bored with cooking; the freezer has a lot less variety now, plus the weather is warm, and I don't feel like making the soups and casseroles that were appetizing during the winter months. 

3. Gardening: I put in tomato plants, cucumber plants, and purple asparagus this week. I have never planted asparagus before, so we'll see how that goes. I also weeded and mulched my raised beds, and set up my sprinkler system. During the sunny days this week, I spent at least an hour every day weeding strawberries. With Baby, an hour's worth of weeding takes at least 90 minutes.

Raccoons killed two of our chickens this week, so I spent some time fixing up their pen, moving them around, etc., hoping to fix the problem. My brother-in-law found and eradicated a whole family of them, so if they were the problem, we will not lose any more chickens.

On Monday I had a very successful beehive inspection. I was able to find the queen, and also saw eggs and larvae- something I hadn't been able to do yet. Now that I know what I'm looking for, I hope the other inspections will be faster. 

4. Reading: I finished Meet the Frugalwoods (free with my Scribd subscription) and also renewed two library books: Montessori from the Start and The Art and Science of Grazing.

5. Writing: I worked on the manuscript for The Housewife's Guide to Frugal Produce. I still have some recipes to try and graphics to make, but otherwise, I've finished the actual writing. Next, I'll be editing the whole thing for grammar and typos.

6. Cans: I collected cans to recycle, while on walks this week.

So, that is about it for the week. No marvelous accomplishments, just slow and steady work that will hopefully pay off long-term. I spent most of my time this week either outside or reading. We also had social events and a few other surprise issues to deal with that took up some time. Summer is like that- lots of outside time, lots of people time. I've learned to expect it, but still sometimes feel cheated when I get to the end of the week and don't have much to show for it. But gardens and people (and books) are worth it!

What did you do last week?

Til next time,
-Bethany