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Friday, February 6, 2015

Are you staying frugal?

What I've been eating lately:
Sandwich buns (top 2 pics) and La Bete Noire. The buns are a somewhat altered version of Maria's at Maria Mind Body Health. La Bete Noire is an altered version, to make it more low-carb friendly, from Epicurious. Of course I have eaten much more. But I never think to take a pic of the stuff. I recently made an AWESOME salad which I'll have to add into a post the next time I make it. Note to self: Must remember to take pics!





Frugal doings lately:
>Accepted about 3 dozen eggs from a friend whose chickens are producing more than she can use.
> Watched season 1 of Penny Dreadful at brother's house as they'd recorded it.
> Made a purchase for a couple of items we already use from Sam's Club and submitted to a points program for enough points to cash in for close to a $20 value gift card.
> Finished and mailed felt ornaments for my two brothers' families for Christmas.
 

> Froze leftover spaghetti meat sauce which is enough for probably two more meals. Also froze two meals worth of canned tomato sauce from a #10 can that I'd bought at Sam's Club months ago.
> Used a $10 off $50 coupon at Shopko when purchasing several Christmas gifts.
> Traded in credit card points for Amazon codes and was able to get A an art portfolio for just over $10 that was originally $50.
> Bought a gift card that gave a free 12pk of soda pop with purchase of it. Sadly, J could've done the same and came away with 6pks of soda but had grabbed the fuel card instead of the gift card. I'm bummed. But will contact the headquarters of the station regarding this to see if anything can be done. (contact made - they gave him the sodas)
> Stayed away from stores right after Christmas so I wouldn't be tempted to pick up any "deals". We need nothing.
> J priced a new car battery at the two local shops and asked our preferred shop to price match, they wouldn't, so went with competitor for $10 less.
> Made D a homemade chocolate birthday cake with buttercream frosting - we had all needed ingredients.
> Called and gave requested info for our health insurance provider to get a headstart on re-enrollment, hopefully. (No such luck. MN Sure appears to be a mess.)
>Made lentil soup for a supper. Was able to save a container for A to have at her college apartment and a larger container for us for another meal.
>Reused the pot and soil from a nearly dead basil plant to sow some greens for the cats.
>Dehydrated two full stalks/bundles/plants of celery that I'd bought on sale for $1 each which is about as low as it gets for us here.
>Brought home an oranges box that fits two cases of canning jars stacked inside of it. Love that it has a fitting cover. Just about have one filled up and will put in garage to store. I saw we have another at work that will likely find a home with me next week for the same purpose.
>Had two codes over the past couple of weeks for free Redbox rentals - Fury & Stonehearst Asylum.
>Designated an old plastic coffee container as an egg shell holder. When it gets near full I smash the shells down with a potato masher. I rinse the shells before putting in it to avoid any "stink". This will be great to use in my battle against slugs in the spring and summer!
>My younger brother brought over about 6 reams of colored paper. This will be fine for printing coupons, recipes, etc. There's one ream of brown that I may just cut up for scrap paper as it's somewhat dark. We use lots of scrap paper at work and have some dark, thick tipped markers that will show up okay on it.
>Scored 6 free bottles of Kraft bbq sauce - gave two to A to take back to her college apartment. They were on sale for 99cents and some had coupons stuck to their tops for $1 off. (our store adjusted down - not a "moneymaker" as some stores let people do) Awesome! Wish I'd been a little more greedy and took them all... ha ha ha....
>Found heavy whipping cream on sale for $1.25 (normally it's around $3). Bought two and made my homemade, low-carb, scoopable vanilla ice cream that's here on the blog. I did waste a little money as I then threw out the store bought sugar-free, which was getting freezer burnt since I haven't eaten it much - just doesn't taste good.
>Cut up two scrub bottoms, as well as a thermal top, that had holes in them and added them to the rag bag.
>I've started (again) doing my Leslie Sansone walking videos. Since we have a gap in our insurance it seems an especially good idea.



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