So, here's what we did in our home to try to save money these last two weeks:
Free Things
Got a brand new hand me down dress for Anneliese (my neighbor was gifted it- something from the thrift store with the tags still on- but it was the wrong side for her kid but perfect for Anneliese).
Got a Phil and Ted's stroller from people spring cleaning.
Got a metal bowl from the dumpster.
Got some Asterix and Tintin comic books from the dumpster.
Got some asparagus, broccoli, and hyssop from my mom's garden.
Frugal Shopping
Bought a brand new second hand dress for Rose (my friend bought it for her kid but it was way too small for her, perfect for Rose, so she sold it to me for half off its already cheap price).
Ordered shoes for my girls and sandals for my boys from NextDirect.com.
Bought some super discounted groceries in bulk.
Bought cheese on sale from the local grocery store- specialty cheeses for less than I usually pay per pound for non specialty cheeses.
Frugal In The Kitchen
Cooked up supper with a zucchini that Rose took bites out of.
Got some tomato sauce from my friend in which she had boiled meatballs and no longer needed, and used that to make a lentil based sauce for rice.
Chopped up and froze a bunch of veggies so they wouldn't spoil.
Had some sweet potatoes and carrots that froze, and since that makes them soggy and without the most enjoyable texture, in my opinion, I made them into a blended soup so the texture wasn't a problem at all.
Took some leftover kohlrabi and carrot salad, and mixed it with soft tomatoes, to make a sauce for fish.
Used leftover quinoa to make tuna patties.
Made From Scratch
Ground quinoa flour.
Made homemade vegan grain free almond meal crackers.
Made homemade gluten free brownies.
Made vegan grain free banana bread.
Made homemade vegan flax seed mayo.
Used leftover flax gel to make egg free coconut macaroons.
Made refined sugar free egg free grain free brownies.
Made homemade gravlax.
Made homemade egg free kofta kebabs.
Made homemade french fries.
Foraging
Ike and Lee foraged redbud blossoms and ate them.
Mike foraged olive leaves and made them into tea.
Frugal Fun
Had a picnic BBQ in the woods near our house, with foraged wood.
What did you do to save money these past two weeks? Any particular frugal move of which you're especially proud?
Last week, we got together with friends for Easter dinner. They gave us the ham bone from the ham that they cooked for this pot-luck meal, which I am now cooking in the crock pot with water for broth. And our home school co-op helps us out tremendously...one of the families gave me lots of hand-me-downs for my two boys. They love wearing "new" clothes. :)
ReplyDeleteI have an olive tree. I wondered if you could share more info on using olive leaves for tea. What is it used for? Is it a certain kind of olive tree?
ReplyDeleteThanks so much!
Won some yarn that will be turned into a winter shawl
ReplyDeleteGot a freebie of coffee in the mail
Signed up for three new free magazine subscriptions
Traded eggs for squash
Used coupons to get two bottles of shampoo for .50 cents each
And made bread, burger buns and cookies from scratch too
ReplyDeleteI think our most frugal was my son and I went to the public library twice. Each time, my book-loving boy curled up in a chair and chain read for a couple hours, plus we checked out books to take home and a couple movies. All the free books we want and we only have to store them for a week!
ReplyDeleteI also made bean soup with veggies that I'd frozen previously because they were starting to go soft and leftover ham.
My best grocery bargain was my son's favorite kind of apple for about 1/3 the price of another store's sale price. (I shop multiple stores to get the best deals at each and plan stops around when I will be passing close to each so it takes as little extra gas as possible.)
My best thrift store bargain was leaving empty handed when they didn't have anything on the list instead of leaving with "ooo, that's pretty, maybe I could use that" impulse items.