My Frugal Accomplishments

I forgot about this last week, so I have two weeks to cover today!

1) We had 4 vegetarian dinners.  Meatless meals are significantly healthier and less expensive than meals with meat.

2)  I spent $2.50 on enough tomatoes from the Farmer's Market to make a roasted tomato salad, bruschetta, and a pot of sauce.  There was enough sauce that I was able to freeze the leftovers, and will have enough for dinner another night.

3) I made another batch of turkey bullion.  48 more cubes.  I think I have enough to get me through for a while now!

4) We went to an Oriole's game.  We paid $6/ticket for really nice seats!  How?  We went with the church, which got the discounts for being a non-profit and a large group.  If you want to go to a ball game, it is worth the effort of finding friends to meet the minimum number of people to qualify as a group sale.  Not only are you sitting with friends, it also means you are less likely to be sitting in the middle of a crowd of heavy drinkers.  (Unless if that is where you want to be sitting!)

5) We had the van tuned up, oil changed, tire pressure checked.  My dad always taught me that when a car is regularly maintained, it will last longer and there will be fewer maintenance issues.  Proof: The first Honda Civic I bought out of college?  I traded it in at 175,000 miles for a new Honda Civic.  I got a very nice trade in on that car because it was running so well.  Our current (2002) Honda Civic has 172,000 miles.  The car still runs as well as the day we drove it off the lot.  We want to see if we can take that car up to 200,000 miles before we trade it in. 

6) I line dried 4 loads of laundry.

7) I bought bed sheets, a pillow, towels, and a laundry basket for the child heading off to college in the fall.  I found a sale on linens and towels, and combined it with a coupon for $5 off a $30 purchase.

8) I spent $20 on produce at the Farmer's Market, met several friends while I was there, and asked my favorite farmer if she could get me a bushel of "second" tomatoes for canning.  She promised to call me and let me know when the crop came in enough for her to set them aside for me.

9) I made home-made tortillas.  Quick and easy, and cooking them doesn't heat the house up very much!

10) We cooked 5 meals outside on the grill- once again keeping the heat level in the house down.

So, what did you do this week to save money?