Category: Reuse

Friday’s Frugal Five

Happy belated St. Patrick’s Day to Ya!  I haven’t had a proper corned beef dinner in years.  Perhaps after the MMGC is done I’ll plan one for April.

Here is Friday’s Frugal Five:    Again, I straight up stole the frugal five from Katy at Non Consumer Advocate…

  1. Did some bartering with a friend, I love bartering, especially when both parties are excited and pleased with the outcome.  I bartered a few items around the house that were collecting dust for me, but things my friend could get great use out of….  she bartered about 30lbs of grass fed beef.  SO EXCITED!!!  As far as red meat we are predominately a venison household, but I can’t wait for some awesome burgers on the grill this summer!  Now, I need to figure out what to do with the beef heart she threw in, but don’t worry, I’ll figure out something that is magically delicious.
  2. Balanced my cash envelopes and returned one of my milk jugs which netted me $2, but I purchased $7.50 in fresh dairy, so now my balance is $4.50 which I’m not gonna lie is causing me a bit of anxiety. Next week I will have 3 milk jugs to return and that will net me $6 and will bump me back up to $10.50  Woo Hoo living high on that hog!
  3. Took and inventory of the pantry to determine what we need to focus on in the gardens this year.  Green beans for sure.  Always need tomatoes, and I think I’m gonna try putting up peas and carrots this year.  And yes, that did remind me of Forest, Forest Gump.  Like peas and carrots…..  All my seeds should arrive in the next few days and I’ve already got my soil and recycled toilet paper and paper towel rolls ready.
  4. Used up the last of the squeezed, flattened, rolled and clipped toothpaste tube last night.  I think I actually heard it moaning from all the squeezing and twisting.   I always get a warm frugal feeling when I do that, I mean why waste it?
  5. Also snagged an antique shelf unit in the barter process, which is so pretty that I hope to get it set up in the kitchen / dinning / pantry area this weekend…. I have no idea where it’s going to go yet, but I’ll love it I know that.

It occurred to me that I haven’t been including my most proud frugal activity in my weekly Friday Frugal Five.  Quitting smoking!  April 23rd is the Z Man’s 1 year smoke free anniversary and I have been smoke free since January 4th.  This is not only saving us money, but saving our life…. you know provided we don’t get hit by a bus or something. 🙂

How was your frugal week?

Till Next Time,

Lori

Turn Your Waste Into Want

I used to do a post on Wednesday’s called Wednesday Waste.  But honestly I have gotten so particular about waste, I mean to the point where the Z Man gives me the side eye and just grins, and I know he is thinking “what is she doing now”.  It got to the point where I really didn’t have much to talk about in the waste posts, or so I thought.

Kitchen waste in the past year has minimized because of our chickens.  They get all of my vegetable scraps, well the ones that don’t get tossed into the freezer for soups.

Anything that doesn’t go to the chickens or freezer and isn’t meat goes into the compost pile.

Anything that is safely burnable goes into the kindling box.

However, as with most things, there is always room for improvement.  I know I’m doing better than I was a year ago, but honestly, I’m just scratching the surface compared to some.  Take a look at the picture below.  This is taken by another Non Consumer Advocate follower.  She turns her chicken feed bags into reusable tote bags.  This is genius!  I fell in love with this idea as soon as I saw it and immediately contacted Dawn and asked if I could share it.  She takes 50lb feed bags and turns them into something reusable instead of them ending up in the landfill.  I love it!

This idea gives full credit to thinking outside the box and that there is always room for improvement.  The point of my Wednesday Waste post was to cut back on waste, which was fine, but now my perspective has been changed, thanks to Dawn.

How can I turn my waste into a want?  That needs to be asked along with how can I keep this out of the trash.  After all, they say one mans trash is another mans treasure.

Thank you Dawn for allowing me to share your picture, and giving me a new perspective on waste.

Now, I’m off to feed the chickens and make some bags.

Till Next Time,

Lori

Five Frugal Things

There is a blog I follow that I really enjoy and get a lot of great frugal ideas from.  The Non-Consumer Advocate is based on the concept of use it up, wear it out, make do or do without.  One of her frequent blog posts is five frugal things and I find I get so much motivation from reading all the comments and different frugal tips.

Keep in mind that it’s the small things we do daily that make a big difference.  It’s not just about saving big bucks on a new car or a home loan because how often do you do those things.  It’s the day-to-day opportunities and choices we make that make the real difference in being frugal.  So, while they may seem repetitive and just a small savings, those are the most important.  It also creates habit in us to keep frugality in the forefront of our minds.  I like to make a game out of it.  See how long I can hang on to that $20 or altering a meal plan to use up what I have on hand already.

Here are my five frugal things.

  1.  I brought leftovers to work for lunch.  Actually the Z Man and I do this 99.99999999% of the time.
  2.  I made / reheated last nights dinner on the wood stove, saving on electricity by not using the kitchen stove.
  3.  Made a February challenge with some friends to reduce the number of days I spend to 4 days a week.   Last week was 3 days, and so far this week there have been 0 spend days.  This challenge does not include the spending of monthly bills, medical, or work related expenses.  I’m feeling that 4 days isn’t really a challenge for me, so I think I’ll lower it to 2 or 3 days a week.  What this challenge does is helps you plan all your purchases and prevents those quick trips to the store just because.
  4.  I did my monthly meal plan for February and purchased all needed ingredients (that wouldn’t spoil) for all meals in one large grocery shopping trip.  However, even though I planned all our meals for February, I’ve decided we are going to do some major freezer and pantry meals because we have plenty on hand.
  5.  Returned my books on time to the library and checked out three more.  No late fee and free reading / listening to books on cd in the car too.

 

Now it’s your turn.  What are your five frugal things?

Till Next Time,

Lori