I really like doing this post weekly as it keeps me a little more accountable and does make me think twice about some things 😉
Not an overly frugal week if you ask me … but all in all, we did good. I stopped at Aldis on Wednesday as I misread the sales paper and thought they had the boneless pork butt on sale for $1.99 that day … doh, it’s this week coming up. Mental note to stop on Wednesday, yet again!
Hubby will be traveling this week coming up and into the following week so I’m hoping to have a real frugal week coming up!
Here are some of the Frugal Activities that we did this past week:
1. Ate all but ONE meal at home … nothing fancy but still satisfying.
2. Had to take my dad to the VA in Miami for his eye appointment. Basically a 3 hour road trip after the traffic jams/accidents/rain we had to deal with. I knew that he would be looking for a quick stop for food so I was proactive and filled up 2 large water bottles and cut up a few apples and tossed these in a little cooler. Thankfully. Since when did water cost $1.50 at a vending machine? Good grief. Glad I thought ahead on this.
3. Some might not think this was very frugal, but I do … bought 7 pounds of shrimp, peeled, deviened and cooked for $9.99 a pound. This was from Whole Foods and was very fresh and good (unlike a lot lately that is mushy and just yucky). 6 pounds went in freezer and 1 pound was shared Friday night.
4. Had some friends over Friday night, refused to buy anything more than the shrimp for sharing. I had cheese in fridge that I sliced up with some crackers (pantry), chips (pantry) and salsa (fridge). Had I really been thinking, I would have cut up some carrots and celery (from fridge) and made some blue cheese dressing/dip (all ingredients in fridge) but I was a little late getting home 😉
5. Increase my automatic weekly withdrawal from checking account to savings from $30 to $50. I wanted to do $60 but will need to wait a few weeks so it won’t be noticed. This is my “slush fund” with Capital One 360 … I figured come the holidays, it will come in handy!
6. I was supposed to go out with my girlfriend last Saturday but the weather was horrible and we opted to wait until Hubby is out of town and do a girls night on Saturday (coming up this week) … stashed that cash ($200) I had set aside for that night to fund my hostess duties coming up AND grocery shopping for the week. What I don’t spend will be put in my $5 Savings Do Not Spend jar.
7. Used cash all week. Did not use the debit card ONCE. With the boy paying me back every other week in cash, I am feeding my cash envelopes pretty consistently without having to withdraw money from the bank. I am trying very hard to stay on a cash only budget. Even paid the house cleaner in cash. I know she liked that! 😉
8. I’ve been updating the pantry and freezer inventory pages. I have a LOT of food and hoping to eat healthier this week and avoiding the store for all except veggies … well, I also have the Saturday night gig, but think I might have plenty to work with on hand.
And of course, the full disclosure of our NOT so Frugal Activities:
1. Pizza night at the kids request on Thursday … $35 with tip and leftovers for everyone on Friday.
2. The Whole Foods stop … I got sucked into buying some dressing which was really yummy … 3 bottles at $3.99 each. I hid them in the guest fridge because I’m going to cringe the first time I see someone (ahem, HUBBY) drowning his salad with this stuff! I plan on using it to dress the big salads we serve (spinach, shrimp and this dressing is delicious!)
3. The house cleaner. $120. The kids each owe me $30. Will put that money in the house cleaner cash envelope so I only have to fork out $60 next time.
4. Beer run at Publix. $9.99 for the 9 pack Coors Light (don’t drink it if the mountains aren’t blue) and a 6 pk of Pumpkin head for $8.99. Both were totally not necessary but wanted. Ugg. Some of this was consumed on Friday night …
I do see a trip to Costco in the next week or so … I have a list that I’ve been writing, tp, papertowel, bath soap, dish soap, sudafed, and some food stuff (ahem, veggies). I will also probably hit up Fresh Market on Tuesday to take advantage of their Tuesday sale on 85/15 ground beef ($2.99 per pound) and fresh b/s chicken breast ($2.99 per pound). So … it could be an expensive ending to September OR beginning of October … depends on how you look at it. I really need to finish the freezer inventories BEFORE I go to Fresh Market … I might have some ground beef stashed still but thought I had used the last of it recently ;-(
Looking forward to sharing with The Money Propeller and The Prudent Homemaker … go check them both out!
