Last of Oct/First of Nov

Frugal happenings for last week include: 1.  Sunday trip to the library. 2.  Monday was a day at home and a no spend day. 3.  Tuesday —

• I picked up candy for trick or treaters.  While I was at Sam’s Club I found a huge beef roast and two packages of boneless pork chops that looked great. They were on mark down so I picked them up.  I also picked up the eggs, cheese, sandwich meat, and some bread (for my daughter’s lunches) that we needed for the week.
• I pulled together a pot of taco soup from on hand ingredients to be my contribution to our annual chili dinner.

4.  Wednesday 

• I paid bills online to save on postage.
• I wrote out a menu and corresponding shopping list for our upcoming visits.  I was able to divide it into a couple of stores based on the sales flyers that came out in the mail.

5.  Thursday 

• I ordered my husband three shirts from Lands End.  With a combined coupon and a discount for ordering three, I managed to get not only free shipping, but the third shirt for free.
• I used a gift card balane to order a book from Amazon.
• I placed a Walmart order and received free shipping.  I ordered a replacement cookie jar (on sale), a shower liner, a large decorative candle lantern (which was far less expensive than Hobby Lobby’s version), and 4 large coffee mugs that were reduced by $26.00.  My entire order was less than the cost of the candle/lantern I looked at at Hobby Lobby, and I did not have to go across town so I saved on time and gas.

6.  Friday

• I changed the menu slightly to use up some things we had in the refrigerator and made a large lasagna with plans for leftovers for lunches for the first half of next week.
• We hung laundry to dry.

7.  Saturday

• We mixed some leftovers in with a jar of my home canned soup to make a hearty stew.
• We spent the day painting.

8.  Sunday

• On our ride back (two hours) we stopped and picked up coffees.  We opted for 99 cents cups that were on special.  We also got rewards points for these that we will use in the future.
• We talked about grabbing breakfast on the road, but opted to wait until we were home and make waffles.
• We picked up books from the local library.
• We had a quiet night at home — watching online movies and eating popcorn.

On the not frugal at first glance side —

1.  We ordered a small pressure washer.  We are required by HOA ( and want to even if we weren’t required) to keep our house pressure washed.  We have been either renting, borrowing, or even paying someone to do the pressure washing of the house.  That did not include the drive maintenance.  With the costs continuing to rise, we decided to invest in our own.  The plan is to be here at least 6 more years.  Knowing that, we have opted to invest in a modest sized and modest priced pressure washer and do the work ourselves.  One year’s costs will pay for it and the other 5 will just be icing on the cake.

2.  I paid $30 for a beef roast that was on sale.  Yes, I know.  However, I am comparing this to the cost of taking 8 or 9 people out to eat.  This still is the more frugal option.  The plan is to make “oriental” beef and serve it with broccoli and rice.