Frugal Things We Did This Summer

1. No spend days at the ocean - five minute drive away, packed snacks and drinks. Great free summer entertainment. A great stress reliever as well.

2. Attended a couple of free festivals. Avoided eating at them except one where all funds were going to charity and we only spent $10 there on two hot dogs, two hamburgers and two pop. 100% of the proceeds were going to the local foodbank so not only did we get an extremely inexpensive lunch but it was for a good cause.

3. I became a better cook so eating at home appealed more than eating out. Our biggest gripe about eating out is disappointment with the quality of the product and service. Hubby says we live better now than we did before and part of that has to do with better home cooked made from scratch meals. I know our $400 per month grocery budget is pretty healthy compared to most frugalistas, but by having steak and shrimp at home once in a while we prevent falling off the frugal bandwagon by eating out. We take pleasure in eating a well balanced and varied diet but in a pinch, I know I could decrease our grocery budget - for now I choose not to.

4. Read things on the internet to DO-IT-OURSELF. Hubby finally learned how to do a minor bathroom repair which saved at least $80 in labour costs. Prior to this summer he would have just hired a plumber.

5. Treated his business as frugally as our home. Hubby bought two packages of paper on sale but then a box went on sale a few days later for almost the same price as the two packages so he returned them and got the box. Every dollar counts, especially in self-employment.

6. We got to know our neighbors and shared the expense of a fence bordering our two properties. We also saved them money by lending them our power washer, which I am sure will save us money in the future when we need a favor from them.

7. When you have time you can research every single item you buy. I managed to get a car rental for half what hubby could due to a few tricks and a half an hour spent looking for coupon codes from car rental companies. This savings was $120.

8. Foraged free food - 12 cups of blackberries picked. Next year I hope to harvest even more as I was busy working this year during the prime picking time.

9. Hubby ordered contacts online for the first time saving approximately $200. All you need is your prescription from the optometrist. This is the first time we had to foot the bill as prior to this we had two benefit plans. We ordered from clearlycontacts.ca and got the SAME EXACT PRODUCT WAY CHEAPER (if you order there google for a current coupon code first for free shipping or a discount, and no, this is not a paid endorsement, just a great deal).

10. Made good use of our netflix membership (we hook up our laptop through the tv with an hdmi cable bought at Walmart) and pvr to record movies as they are the primary souces of our entertainment. I am still not sure if netflix is the way to go long term as am disapointed that they are very slow in adding new movies to their lineup. I threatened to cancel the membership but then we found a couple of series that we have been watching so for now it stays.

11. Went to several garage sales to buy used goods at a fraction of the retail cost. Buying used saves money!

12. Lightened my own hair using a drugstore kit - for the first time ever. I expect to save at least $250 per year from here on out - my favorite new way to save money.

Please share what you did to save money this summer!

Today on Elaine's blog Sunny Simple Life she shares a frugal day in her household, husband and wife air conditioning repair! I am linking up to her party today Sunny Simple Sunday.

Frugal Stress Relievers

I officially have 18 days of work left. I fired myself on Friday putting my employer on notice that June 1 is my last day of work. They were very surprised but supportive. The next four weeks will zip by and I am on a mission to purge at least one item a day by either selling it, giving it away or throwing it out. Yesterday I gave away an old street hockey net the kids quit using four years ago and today a small 13 inch colour tube tv. Tommorrow I am dropping off old glasses to the optometrist who gathers them up for distribution in third world countries.

This week is what you could call "a little stressful". Without getting into the dark details hubby and I have been coping in our own frugal ways and thought we would share some ideas:

1. Exercize: Take a walk, bike or use that old exercize equipment you own.

2. Read - I find I cannot think of anything else when reading a book so find this a stress relieving activity.

3. Hang out with your pets. They are soothing and although they do not understand the stress they tend to be empathetic (even our hamster soothes us) plus they are so darn cute. I am sure your dog would be more than happy to chase after the ball if you would just throw it or take him for a walk.

4. Do brainless work ie: hubby took to painting our wheelbarrow, I took to cleaning the hamster cage and finding items to purge in our downsize.

5. Get up at a normal time, do normal routine things. Sometimes when stressed it is easy to ditch your routine but routine can be comforting.

6. Poke yourself, remember all the good things in your life and consider: Any day above ground versus below ground is a good one - you woke up today, it has got to be a good day as that was a step in the right direction.

Any other ideas?

Frugal Things We Did This Week

Sometimes it is difficult to be frugal. Let's face it, it is much easier to eat out and buy new things rather than use what you have, fix what is broke and to make meals from scratch. Convenience costs. Frugality is sometimes work, but pays off.

Our frugal deeds this week:

-Ironed four shirts - I hate ironing and delay wearing certain items in my wardrobe due to this hate of ironing. I am now trying to only buy non-iron clothes but have made the mistake in the past. By ironing these shirts it is like wearing a new wardrobe - unseen in months (I have bought no clothes except 3 pair of socks and a bra since the new year - those were bought with a gift card won in a contest)

-gathered all the buttons in my house and put them in one jar - it does not seem like a frugal task but by doing so I found a missing button to a favorite shirt. I then sewed the button back on that shirt and now I have yet another shirt not seen in months to wear to work this week

-did not eat out at all this week except lunch with the girls from work on Friday - weekly ritual (skipped last week due to illness). This week I suggested a less expensive deli option which is half the price of the usual place - savings $7

-Made every meal from scratch this weekend (meatloaf, mashed potatoes, stirfry, oatmeal, eggs, blueberry and apple crisp) plus did not run out to the store since Friday - used what we had in the pantry, fridge and freezer

-did not get in my car and drive anywhere Sunday and Monday (Monday was a holiday here in Alberta) so counting them as no spend days including no gas

-husband fixed a light socket in the house that was not working (DIY pays)

-converted several unused items to cash by selling on Kijiji (even without moving they hadn't been used in months - should have done this a while ago)

-juggled vehicles so the gas guzzling truck was used little and my econo car was used most (we are getting rid of said gas guzzling truck within two months - downsizing from three to two vehicles) saving money on gas

-Dear husband was out getting replacement socket for said DIY fixit and saw "The Blind Side" on DVD. He wanted to buy it pretty badly so I could see it as he had seen it with the kids and knew I would love it. Keeping in mind our new "work less live more" mantra he did not buy the DVD(thank goodness). When he got home I was making dinner, watching the first five minutes of "The Blind Side" on TV. We have a TV in the kitchen - I saw it was going to be on and timed dinner so I could watch - he was so happy when he got home. We did dishes between commercials, and watched the movie for free. Frugal Fate? I think so.

Please feel free to post even the smallest thing you did this past week to save money.

Vinegar - Links of the Day

I am now a vinegar convert. In our "use it up and make due with what you have (aka we are moving soon)" mentality when we ran out of dishwasher rinse the other day I poured vinegar in the rinse dispenser on the dishwasher. I did not tell hubby until after two full sets of dishes washed. Our opinion? Works as good and possibly better than much more expensive brand name dishwasher rinses. The upside? WAY cheaper and ENVIRONMENTALLY friendly - both plusses in my books! I borrowed this idea after spotting on several blogs lately, one of which was mycoveredbridge.blogspot.com. Completely happy with the results. Which made me think - what other things could I use it for?

Then I found: 1001 uses for white distilled vinegar.


When I was a kid Mom used to put some on a paper towel and rub on mosquito bites to take the itch away. My 14 year old stepdaughter now regularly hunts for it in my cupboards in the summer after camping trips.

What do you use vinegar for? Are you a Vinegar Convert?

Thrifty Link Of The Day

From Living Rich On The Cheap

Gift Tower seen at 2011 Edmonton Festival of Trees

I found a blog with the method to make liquid soap for dispensers over at Homemade Glamour. What a great Christmas gift idea!

Check out $4 for a Year of Soap

Links of the Day

Wanted to share some blogs with great craft ideas that I have been reading lately:

1. Wine cork fridge magnets from The Inspired Collection. A crafting idea so easy even a non-crafter like me can do it. How I would make it even more frugal: you know those advertising magnets that come unrequested in your mailbox occasionally from local realtors or that pizza place you don't go to? I save those with the future intent on making a craft idea just like this one. My current problem with this craft idea? I drink cheapskate wine out of a box(pretty dang tasty I might add El Capistro).....may have to rethink that.

2. Sand Dollar Garland from one of my new favorite decorating on a dime (and sometimes roadside finds) blogs Homeroad. This past summer she created her own sand dollar garland on the cheap after seeing a similar one at Pottery Barn. Yet another Pottery Barn inspired craft was painting seashells silver. I have seen silver plated seashells in many decorating stores but always shied away due to price. Seashells and silver are two of my favorite things therefore this is also going on my future crafting list.

3. A cool Christmas Craft - the Driftwood Christmas Tree from The Space Between. Can you tell I can't wait to live by the Ocean? Free crafting supplies yeah!

4. Shout out to fellow Canadian Blogger at Scraps of Me. She is currently running a contest for scrap booking goodies. A nice family style blog about living life, crafting, and couponing Canadian Style. Check it out!

To Each His Frugal Own

I don't dumpster dive...but I have no problem with people who do. They are keeping perfectly good items from the landfills. I do buy used clothes and books but shy away from used shoes and undergarments. My house decorated with a mix of new and used. We live the way we want to and could care less if others look down on it as we are debt free and now, officially, financially independent.

Here is a collection of videos where people unashamedly embrace frugality in their own way.

On the Cheap Video - ABC News

Extreme Frugality: Meet the Carters

Avoiding Debt at All Costs - Mary Hunt

America's cheapest family