Frugal Friday

I've decided that once a week, I'm going to highlight our frugal accomplishments for the week.  It's funny/weird - when you're empty nesters it's actually MORE of a challenge to be frugal than it was before.  It's just the two of you, and the temptation is there to go out and do the things you didn't do when the kids were home.  Cooking is a very big challenge, too.  I'm used to cooking for 5 people.  2 of those people were growing teenage boys.  Cooking now, without having leftovers that go bad before we can finish them is a challenge.  Even worse is cooking too much and finding yourself with chili every night for 2 weeks.  Gotta shift my paradigm a little bit here.

Lawn Mower- Husband ended up having to make one last pass over the yard last week because of all the rain we had at the beginning of the month.   After he finished, he hosed down the mower and let it dry in the sun for a few hours.  He then parked it in the shed, and removed the battery and spark plug and brought them down to the basement to overwinter.

Chili-  It turns out that I make a huge pot of chili.  I'm used to making it in quantities to feed 5 and have leftovers for at least one meal.  So, at least 12 servings of chili for the 2 of us. So, I thought I'd freeze it.  Reality check here:  I froze chili in one gallon freezer bags before.  That's STILL more than the 2 of us can eat in one sitting, and I don't want to throw anything out.  So, I used one quart freezer bags.  When the kids are home, I'll have to pull more than one bag to feed all of us, but in the meantime, we have a very decently portioned out meal we can thaw in the refrigerator and have ready to go by dinner time.

Caulking the Windows- Husband does this every fall.  The fact that we live in a rancher makes this easier!  He went around all of the windows and doors, and caulked each one.  This will help cut down on heat loss out and cold air seeping in during the winter.

Shopping- Our Wal-Mart moved to a new store this week.  In the days before they closed, they were clearancing out stuff that they didn't want to move over to the new store.  I picked up several fat quarters of fabric for my next quilt.  Total Cost:

Chimney Sweep- Joe, our chimney sweep, came out this week and cleaned out the fireplace and chimney for us.  We use wood to help heat our house during the winter.  Creosote builds up in the chimney when you burn wood, and that creosote can catch fire and burn your house to the ground.  It costs us less than $100 to have our chimney cleaned every year.  The knowledge that our house will not catch fire and burn to the ground because of a chimney fire?  Priceless.

E-Bates-
We are going up to visit oldest son at college in two weeks.  I made the reservation through E-Bates.  By going through E-Bates, I'll receive a small percentage of our purchase price back.  Every little bit helps!

Groceries-
I saw a woman at the grocery store this week who put me to shame.  She should be writing her own blog.  She had a huge cart full of groceries, and a $100 gift card that she had gotten for her birthday from her mother.  She had filled her cart - and I mean overloaded it- with stuff.  Canned food.  Meat.  Fresh Vegetables, frozen vegetables.  Pasta.  The list went on and on.  After they rang everything through, she handed them her coupons.  And then the gift card.  The final total she paid out of pocket for her cartload full of groceries?  $15.


Car-
We checked the air pressure in the tires of both cars.  By having the tires fully inflated, we increase our gas mileage and save a little bit on gas.  Those little bits add up over the course of the year!