I’m going to try something new on the blog. On Fridays I’m going to share a frugal thing or two I did during the week. Then in the comments I want you to share a frugal thing or two you did during the week. If you are a blogger feel free to link to your frugal thing post in the comments and we’ll come check it out.
- $5 iphone app instead of a $50 macbook app. If you are meal plan subscriber, you already know I lost my hard drive last week. When we were reloading all my programs, I discovered that Windows purposefully uses disappearing ink on their activation codes. They ask you to stick the activation sticker to the back of your lap top where the heat from the machine fades the code over time. If you have a problem and need to restore the program, you have to pay $150 for a new code. If you wrote it down in another spot, no problem, but if you trusted them….you are up a creek. We trusted them. They are not my friend right now.
I decided to rid my life of the Windows operating system. The only trouble is I use Microsoft Publisher to stay organized with my meal plans and my blog. I can find a new program going forward, but for now my entire brain is in .pub files that won’t open. I searched the app store (surely other people have this problem) and found an app for $50 that will open the files. It got TERRIBLE reviews. Sigh.
So I tried searching the app store on my phone. There was a $5 app for iphone that did the same thing. I bought the app, emailed the files to my phone, converted the files to pdf and emailed them back to my laptop. $45 saved. I printed everything and will be using the old fashioned paper method for awhile. Life is good.
I already had the binder and dividers in my school supplies box. They are plain, but the price is right and they work :).
2. I went to Price Chopper and took advantage of their sale. Life is so busy for us that I had settled into just shopping at Aldi with a Costco run once a month. The ad this week was so good that I couldn’t resist adding one more store. My goal at a conventional store is for the amount saved to be bigger than the amount spent. I used no coupons, just advertised sale prices:
I don’t normally buy instant oatmeal because it has sugar, but the kids can fix it themselves. At $.79 a box it’s only $.08 a serving. #raretreat
Eggs have been super high lately–at $3 a dozen or higher. These were on sale for $1.50 a dozen, limit 2.
Frozen veggies were on sale for $.79 a lb. I bought 9 in our favorites for winter soups.
Shredded Cheese was $1 for 8 oz. Limit 4. This price was less than Costco.
Cuties were 3 lb for $3. The kids like to pack them in lunches. The roasts were $3.99 a lb (cheap for beef in our area.)
If I hadn’t waited until the last day of the sale I would have gone back a few times to get more of the limit stuff. It’s just as well.
Proof that I saved more than I spent:
3. I made Greek Yogurt in my slow cooker. I’ve been running out of grocery money earlier each month, so decided to try a few more make at home things that I used to do before I worked so many jobs. Here are the instructions, and here’s my periscope on how I finish it to make it super smooth and creamy just like store bought.
Here you can see the yellowish whey separated on the top. I strain it off to get 1/2 gallon of whey (which I use like buttermilk in recipes) and 1/2 a gallon of Greek yogurt. It cost $2.35 for 8 cups of yogurt or $.29 a cup (plus free “buttermilk”). Fage plain Greek yogurt from Costco is $6 for 6 cups or $1 a cup. This is a 71% savings. Who doesn’t like a sale?
4. Tuesday our piano teacher asked if Heidi would babysit his kids for the evening. He brought over a big pot of chili and I made veggies and garlic bread. I bought an extra loaf of bread thinking we would eat more than we did. So Thursday I made it into French bread pizza with leftover spaghetti sauce, some of that cheap cheese (#2) and Aldi pepperoni.
This cost roughly $3 for 8 servings or $.37 a serving.
It’s your turn! Inspire us with one of your frugal activities this week.
1) Last Friday (so barely counts as “this week”, but since you’re starting now I’m gonna slide it in), I went to Deal Mart, which is a store around here that sells past-dated food really cheap. I went because a friend had told me they had cheap, plain Greek whole-milk yogurt. I usually make my own yogurt, but I don’t often take the time to strain it to make it as thick as Greek. And the price it was couldn’t be beat anyway. But THEN – when I got there, they were emptying the fridge of all of it and were about to TOSS IT as they had received a new delivery of refrigerated products! Just by striking up a conversation with the employee, he checked with the manager and she let me take as much of the otherwise-to-be-trashed product as I wanted. I called friends who I thought might be interested and ended up going home with over (30) 24-oz containers of yogurt, and about 8 of Lifeway Kefir. I gave lots to friends/family, but we’ve been subbing yogurt for sour cream, making smoothies, making oatmeal-yogurt pancakes (lots to freeze), experimenting with a new homemade granola recipe, and overall eating LOTS of yogurt! I also froze a few tubs. The only “downside” is that I now know we like dairy kefir. It’s good for us, so I won’t complain, but when it’s not given to you free, it can be expensive! So now I’ll be keeping my eyes peeled for sales on that, when I’d never bought it before.
2) I got a bill earlier this week for some standard, first-trimester lab tests that my midwife ordered back in August. To make it worse, they were those ones to check for STDs that I could’ve told you I didn’t have without the expensive tests, but that are required anyway – and now I’m presumably stuck paying for them. The bill was for $160, and said that insurance had rejected the claim. Clearly, that didn’t make me happy. Before paying it, I checked my insurance online and there wasn’t even an EOB for the claim, which seemed odd (usually there’s at least one that says it was rejected and why). So I did a little digging and realized that the insurance number the lab corp had on file was missing a digit! I called, gave them the correct information, and they will re-file. I don’t know for sure if insurance will cover it, or if the (lower) contracted rate will go toward my deductible, but either way I know I saved a bunch of $$ – and won some time to pay, if I do end up having to pay part of it.
Awesome Justine! Those are 2 great money savers and just took a few minutes. Inspiring! (And I was so happy to get your comment. I was afraid no one was going to play.)
PLEASE tell me what that $5 app is. I’m going to transition in the next year but don’t know what to do with all my Microsoft files. Help!
It’s called Publisher to PDF. There’s Mac software for excel, powerpoint, and word but mac doesn’t support publisher at all. It has taken some adjustment to get used to the mac versions of the microsoft programs. I was running windows on my mac with parallels before, but parallels would make my computer lock up. The mac itself never locks up, only if I’m trying to run windows. My windows computer locked up all the time too, which is just one of the many reasons why I switched. I’m so happy to be free from windows!
Loved your post! Made me re-check our local grocery store ad. There are a couple deals to be had. They have 16 oz. frozen vegetable bags for $.66. I usually just go to Walmart. Will be making that extra stop as well. 🙂 This week the kids and I raked our yard. We have several large pine trees that are dropping their needles. We raked the needles into piles and then used them to put in our front beds. Free material and we didn’t have to pay a lawn guy to spread pine straw! Just took some time. The day was beautiful and we all got exercise. 🙂
That’s a REALLY good price on frozen veggies, yay! I bet the pine needles look really great in your front beds. That’s inspiring.
I went out halloween day and bought up a bunch of pumpkins for a $1 each, any size shape or color, as well as the squash. Plus got a box of apples for free because its the end of the season. So we are making pumpkin and apple everything! Love cheap healthy food!
That’s a great idea. Most people think of after Halloween candy instead of squash. It keeps for months and makes pretty Thanksgiving decorations while you are getting around to cooking it.
We are taking many road trips lately, as my dad was in icu in a town 7 hours away, then lost his battle. I bought a lunchable for each kid for each trip. It’s not the cheapest but it is less than half the cost of fast food, will not disappear before we leave town, and they feel like it’s a big treat. With all that is going on and the state of my stress levels, it’s a win for me. For me i will pack a wrap and a piece of fruit. And we won’t be tempted to stop in a convenience store.
Elizabeth, I’m so sorry to hear about your dad. Hugs. In times of stress something has to give for sure. You did the best for your family and saved some money in the process. Great job.
Last week my town had their bi-annual ‘Treasure Hunt’. For a frugal gal such as myself, its the best time of year (aside from Christmas, of course!), my husband, kids and I drove around town and picked up a few goodies. The best find was a Jolly Jumper someone had left on the curb, along with other toys. My husband looked it over and noticed it was missing the bottom half of the leg. He was going to put it back because according to him ‘its broken’. I immediately told him not to and to throw it in the back of the truck anyways because we can order the part through the manufacturer. He did, and the next day I sent in the request which only cost me $25 (shipping cost more than the actual part). This was still a great find because on the Jolly Jumper website, the entire stand was priced at $89!
This was a huge blessing because I originally had one but sold it because we thought we were done having children, that was until we had our fourth baby.
These have a good retail value. I plan on selling it once my son grows out of it.
I posted this on my blog, but since my blog is pretty new, its a bit on the ‘blah’ stages. I’m still working on it 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Sandra, That’s so true about being able to get replacement parts from the manufacturer. My mom found a 1 year old Kenmore sewing machine at a garage sale for $1. They were selling it so cheap because it was missing the bobbin cover and they considered it trash. Mom wrote the company and got a replacement part for $5. She had a perfect $200 sewing machine for $6. Since then we’ve used it to teach lots of kids to sew.
I love to shop the ads and freeze things for future use. This week we had Easy Slow Cooker Chicken and Dumplings. With frozen BLSL chick breasts, frozen mixed veg in the freezer, bought on sale and crescent dough bought with q’s. Also, a local store had double rolls of 12 TP for 4.99. The best price is usually 5.99. I bought 12 packages. Oh, and I bought 10lbs. of onions for 2.99 at the farm market. I cut them all in half, vacuum sealed them and froze them in packages. I can use them for soups and stews throughout winter. We have decided to smoke a turkey for Thanksgiving. Thank goodness I made 3 quarts of turkey stock with last years carcass! Otherwise I would have had to buy gravy this year.
Awesome, Denise! What great ideas for the rest of us.