Wednesday, July 10, 2019

Frugal notes ,not in order

but as I can remember doing them.

I am doing Frugalwoods Uber month of not spending anything but what is NEEDED.

Homemade laundry soap and cold water and clothes line for the laundry.

Stayed out of grocery store. Out of celery, regular carrots (shredding baby carrots that was a freebie for salads is a pain but hey LOL) fresh mushrooms and almost milk but going to Son 2 to cat sit so will not need as much milk here. Will be taking my food to Son 2. When he gets home next month (taking a class to certify him for some work, has been trying to get in this class for 5 yrs.) he will replace what ever food I use for myself for our home.

Ac only on during night except the day it hit 101 and Wilbur puked on my bare foot. This comes from a dog that is usually laying outside on the metal roof on the basement ramp in 85 degrees and wants to drink from hot mud puddles instead of the cool water available and the house was only 90 with a great breeze. Still I shut it up and turned the fan on high in front of the vent and got him to lay down there. Put cool wet towel on his paws and tummy and he went to sleep. I called the vet to find out if I should bring him in . The other two were out playing with each other.Left AC on for the next day as it was worse humidity wise. This morning it was 58 ... Panting hard would have been a better sign he was hot as I do watch to see how hard they are panting especially Rascal as he is mostly black.

We ate from the pantry, I got a 6 tomatoes (which have no flavor) from the garden, green onions which are on the hot side, one zucchini and one yellow squash  and some leaf lettuce from the gardens. We were able to harvest 36 large (about twice the size I normally get) heads of garlic to start curing. We got 6 blackberries off our bushes (first year).

M sent over Raspberry strudel she had baked, raspberries from her bushes and we have ate peaches on a daily bases. The peaches should be eaten this week.

I ordered the filters for the new refrigerator as they were on sale and there was a coupon from Amazon, I went through Brandy's web site THE PRUDENT HOMEMAKER( I read this blog daily as someone is always commenting how they saved sharing their wisdom). Saved over 50% and more than that over what we were having to buy for the other frig.

I got the filters for the HVAC, there is one on the furnace it's self and one in the fresh air duct in the kitchen. Menard's had their 11 % rebate and that is also the lowest price I can find.

I had turned in the receipt and energy star from the new refrigerator to our electric co and got $100 taken on this month's electric bill. We have a $5 credit still, I did still pay what we have budgeted for the monthly bill as I know there are going to be higher than what the budget is with the AC running. Hoping to balance that out so I don't have to rob Peter to pay Paul. I still haven't gotten the bill for the energy audit ($50) but we got the results (another post) and bought on sale some caulking and Great stuff (Menards cheapest and 11% rebate). I made sure it was on it's own receipt as I need to turn it in to the electric company also. They will "refund" the $50 audit cost if I spent $50 for items mentioned to fix what needs insulated . I spent $82 at Menards. Figured I would get 11% rebate equal to $9 and the $50 refunded back... I am only out $23( well kind of I would have paid that $50 anyways) well below the monthly budget for home maintenance.

E paid Hubby to go back into town for gas, cream cheese and baby formula  , so Hubby finished running our errands at the same time.

I mended 3 pairs of Hubby's jeans. One of them 3 times. If he rips it back out they will go into the scrap fabric pile. He said he would pay for his jeans out of his earning as it's the "job" that's causing the tears.

We do normal routine... curtains closed to keep sun out, open when sun is other side. Windows open all night or at 6 am when AC ran at night. AC not on until 4 pm unless over 85 degrees.(which is where we decided so Wilbur doesn't get sick again) I don't use a lot of foil or plastic wrap or press and seal. I do use freezer and storage bags that get washed unless used for meat . We use empty coffee cans to scrap waste in that can't go to the compost pile, AKA grease and onions are common. I save my meat grease just like my grandparents did during their lives and especially the Great Depression. Air fryer over oven if possible, grill over stove, microwave over stove top, cold meals of fruit, cheese, crackers or bread, salad or veggie tray to keep the heat out of the house. We go to bed early (so less lights on and t.v. off) and get up early.  We don't use the heat or  dry cycle on the dishwasher and we run it at night.We have our outside water lines hooked up so the water does not run through our water softener , saving on the salt and filter and also not putting salt on the plants.We wait 2 days some times 3 before buying things.

How did you save money.