Frugal Victories

Friday:

I changed our planned main meal so that I could use the leftover plant-based Alfredo sauce I had in the refrigerator before it went bad.

The dogs have been battling a tummy bug, and the vet didn't get back to me, so I used my rice cooker to make rice porridge for their meal. I added a little pumpkin to it. Happily, the dogs seem to be back on track with their bowel habits, and they are hungry and happy, so things are looking up.

I had to buy white rice for the dogs as we don't usually keep it in the house. I went ahead and bought a 5# bag; it had the cheapest unit price and we'll probably need it again before it expires (which is years way from now). Actually, I will probably use it well before that as it is recommended that I periodically clean my grain mill by running white rice through it.

Saturday:

T ran in to grab Larabars for a snack to take with them to a trail work day; I stopped him and quickly grabbed muffins from the freezer for them to take instead.

The guys didn't know what time their work day would end, which made it hard to cook a main meal. I rummaged through the freezer and found a box of Boca Burgers, so I planned to make those as soon as they got home, along with frozen corn cooked in the microwave. We had the burgers on homemade, previously frozen buns.

The boys needed hair cuts, so we dropped them off while we ran another errand. When we picked them up T said he forgot to get the reward card stamped, so we sent him back in.

The hair place is in the same shopping center as Trader Joe's, so we quickly picked up everything we thought we might need for a month.

Sunday:

I prepared and packed our food for the race, meaning we didn't need to buy any food while we were out. We also brought an igloo of ice water to keep us hydrated and cool.

I forgot to put on rice and beans for our post-race meal, which could have been a major frugal failure. Instead, I sucked it up and made waffles despite the stifling heat in the kitchen and the fact that I was exhausted from being at a race all day.

J appears to have sprained his wrist (per the race medics). I saved my wrist brace from when I broke my wrist a few years ago, so we are using that to stabilize his wrist for a few days while it heals.

T watched a free Yahoo/Live Nation concert.

Monday:

I renewed all of our library books so we wouldn't have to go to the library until we want to, which means we can combine the trip with other errands.

Tuesday:

I started a major decluttering project in the house, beginning with my bedroom and the little bathroom. It is almost always cheaper to live in less space, so regular culling keeps us comfortable in the house we have now.

I baked bread.

Wednesday:

I taught myself how to make Kenya chapati (which isn't like Indian chapati - it's more like parathas with a flaky texture). Now we have a delicious flat bread we can turn to to make our meals more delicious and economical.

I made sun tea that ended up being rain tea, which the boys found funny.

They weather was mild today, so we didn't need to run the A/C.

Thursday:

Operation declutter and organize is going on full force! Knowing what I have and where it is goes a long way toward supporting the frugal lifestyle.

It was a warmer today, but we toughed it out without the A/C.

We had leftover beans from Monday and Thursday's main meals, so I didn't bake sandwich bread and instead I put together a taco meal for our dinner out of the beans (put together), leftover seasoned rice, avocado, cabbage, and corn tortillas.

I used a free DVD code from Redbox to rent a movie for my boys, spending 32¢ out of pocket (we chose a BluRay). Because the movie was available at the kiosk at the grocery store we took the opportunity to buy this week's loss leader produce.