Friday's Frugal Roundup

Sometimes a notion strikes and you just run with it. Sometimes it turns out to a good frugal thing!

Today's notion was to clean and organize the cupboard that holds most of the bathroom stuff.

BEFORE
(sort of, I began and then remembered to take a photo)

One benefit of cleaning and organizing was that I found five rolls of toilet paper that I had forgotten about! FRUGAL FIND! I promptly put those in the teenagers bathroom. (Have I not said we have two teenage boy exchange students with us this year? Well, we do.)

AFTER

Second benefit was that I could adjust the shelves a bit and fit a full case of TP on the top shelf, thereby freeing the space taken up in the hallway by the box of TP.

Definitions of FRUGAL:

From The Random House Dictionary 1980: economical in use or expenditure
From Oxford American Dictionary 1980: careful and economical
From Webster's Dictionary 1828: Economical in the use or appropriation of money, goods or provisions of any kind; saving unnecessary expense, either of money or of any thing else which is to be used or consumed; sparing; not profuse, prodigal or lavish.

According to Webster I'm pretty darn frugal in my use of this cupboard. I moved a few things to a tub in another closet; and moved a few things from a cupboard inside the bathroom to this cupboard so I can see exactly how much I have all together. After all, being frugal means not buying more because you can't find what you thought you had, somewhere.

Other frugal activities this week were eating up leftovers creatively; making Valentine's Day greeting cards instead of buying them (well, actually that was last week, but I didn't report it); making Cranberry Bread for a birthday present; trimming my husband's hair; picking up some small gifts for upcoming birthdays while they were on sale (the gifts, not the birthdays).

Front of Valentine card

Inside of Valentine card

Friday's Frugal Roundup

Weather here has been much better and almost all of the snow is melted away; there's just a little bit on the north side of the house where the sun doesn't shine much.

This week's frugal roundup isn't extensive; some things are just so habitual I forget to write them down. But I did manage a few good frugal practices this week.

Purchased the DVD Jumanji with a $10 loyalty coupon at Shopko.

Made my own condensed cream of mushroom soup to use in Porcupines in Beef and Mushroom Sauce. (Next time I'll just do plain meatballs, but the sauce was very good.)

Made a large pot of Taco Soup and froze three containers for future use.

I ate supper leftovers for lunches all week. (Various meals)

Made a summer nightgown for myself from a $5 sheet purchased at a thrift store. (I'll blog about that next week.)

Purchased books at AbeBooks.com for a fraction of new.

Today I discovered some tulips growing in the yard, in a weird spot to say the least, but I can transplant them to a more suitable spot. I was hoping I'd find some remnants of a garden or bulbs or something.

What frugal, thrifty or provident things did you do this week?

Thursday's Thrift in the Kitchen

Planning Ahead

Although I don't make a month long (or even a week long) menu plan I do tend to plan ahead on a regular basis. I'll explain, and show you what I mean.

Last night we had hamburgers (from the patties I made and froze last week), and oven fries. I made lots of fries so I'd have enough leftovers to make Breakfast Salad this morning.

Planning ahead to use up leftovers is a way to save money in the kitchen.

Oven Fries
8 medium potatoes, cut into eight wedges each

Mix together in a small bowl or measuring cup:
1/4 cup oil (your choice, I use canola and/or olive)
1/2 teaspoon each of salt, pepper, onion powder, paprika
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese

Place potato wedges in a large bowl, pour oil mixture over the wedges, stir to coat all the potatoes. Place the wedges on a large baking sheet in a single layer.
Bake at 375 for 50-60 minutes (depends on the thickness of the wedges and the heat of your oven)

Breakfast Salad (basic version)
Brown a small amount of bulk sausage (I use about 1/4 to 1/3 of a pound) in a large skillet
Cut up leftover oven fries and add to the browned sausage
In a separate pan, scramble two eggs; add to the sausage and potatoes.

If you have more time adding chopped onions and various colors of bell peppers adds lovely flavor and color to the salad. This is one of those expandable recipes. For large families or other crowds, just increase the quantities of each ingredient, or add something that you like or have on hand. A salad is simply a collection of ingredients, it can be whatever you like. Experiment and have fun!

Friday's Frugal Roundup

I’ve been keeping track of my frugal accomplishments, or the things I’ve done this week (actually the past two weeks) to spend less, not spend at all, or otherwise save money. In no particular order here goes.

Gave TopDad a haircut

Fixed a pair of reading glasses (the arm had fallen off and the hinge was tricky!)

Turned down the heat

Found three future birthday presents at the thrift store (can’t show or tell because the recipients read the blog)

Ground wheat, baked five loaves of bread and made a quadruple batch of cookies.

Froze six bananas that were overripe to use in smoothies

Ate out only once! (TopDad likes to eat out more than I do)

Used up all the leftovers, didn’t waste any food

On sunny days opened all the blinds and curtains to let the sun warm the house

Turned the laundry detergent bottle upside down to drain the last of it, then rinsed it out to get the very last of it for another load; did the same with the dishwashing soap (or detergent)

Some frugal things are so habitual for me that I don’t even think about them, such as measuring dish detergent instead of simply squirting it in the sink; or squeezing the toothpaste tube for a week past when I think it is all gone, then cutting it open and using the very last dregs; drinking tap water instead of bottled; using a silicone spatula to get all the food out of a pan, bowl or container; turning off lights when I leave a room.

I like to read what other people do because there is always some new trick to learn. 

What did you do to save money this week?

I'm Busy

December is just going to have to a no blog month if I want to get Christmas under the tree.

But here are some quickies:

• Last night I roasted a bone-in chicken breast for dinner; this morning I chopped up the leftovers, added minced onion and celery, salt and pepper and mixed it all together with mayonnaise for some yummy chicken salad to go in a couple of leftover pita pockets for the boys lunches.
• Yesterday I mailed Noble's Christmas to her in three large priority flat-rate boxes because the rate on those boxes is discounted for shipping to military addresses.
• I used the drippings from the roast chicken to add to our cat's food this morning; they love treats like that and it makes their food go further when I can add leftovers to it. Plus all the fat is good for them being outdoors in the cold weather. (When we moved I insisted that the cats reside on the screened porch with a pet door to come and go as they please.)
• I spent some time over at Second Chances by Susan's blog getting great ideas for modest re-fashioning of clothes. She is so talented!
• I gathered all the Christmas wrapping papers and tags and such together in one place! I won't have to buy anymore this year. (or the next or next either!)

Today is bread baking day and boy's laundry day so I'd better get to it.