Sunday, December 27, 2015

Our Family's Latest Frugal Accomplishments

Sorry about the lack of posting this last week- on top of everything else that was going on that kept me busy, we had a stomach bug that made the week zip by in a blur, so I didn't manage to get around to posting.
And so, this week's and last week's frugal accomplishments have gotten combined... Unfortunately the list isn't so long, because with all that was going on, I wasn't able to put a heavy emphasis on frugality.

Here's what I did to save money these last two weeks:


Foraging
I foraged a whole bunch of lemons.
I foraged lots of chickweed and mallow and sow thistle and chicory.

Frugal In The Kitchen
Made From Scratch
Made homemade ketchup
Made fermented elderberry honey
Made kombucha, including some with a ginger elderberry secondary ferment, as well as a pineapple secondary ferment
Made homemade cereal
Made homemade cookies
Made homemade gluten free pizza.
Made homemade BBQ sauce
Frugal Foods
Made a dish using chickweed, purslane, and wild fennel
Used chicken wing bones and water left from steaming veggies to make a soup
Made pancakes for breakfast using up leftover buckwheat porridge.
Made rice with chickpeas and vegetables for supper for the family.
Made soup from leftover rice, an open can of tomato paste, and chicken broth from the freezer.
Made soup from chicken drippings and chicken bones.
Cooked up some chicken wings I'd bought cheaply but were too tough (learned my lesson, not buying them again) by cooking them overnight enough to soften.
Baked some salmon heads, then deboned them to use for various meals.
Cooked up some fish bone broth.
Made a dish from chickweed, sauted cheap zucchini, and the salmon I bought for super cheap.

Frugal Shopping
Bought the following insanely cheaply from a local sale: eggs, ground chicken, salmon and potatoes.
Traveled to a further cheap store to stock up on cheapo gluten free bread and cheaper produce.
Walked over to a more distant store that sold cheaper cereal.
Ordered some hair accessories for my daughters from Aliexpress.com.

Free Things
Husband got a bunch of free food from the cafeteria at home, some enough to bring home and bring as his lunch for future days.
Got a bunch of great hand me down shoes for my daughters.

Frugal Fun
Went to the zoo with the kids on the very last day before our zoo pass ran out, and did NOT renew the zoo pass. As much as it was a great thing to be able to go to the zoo, to save money we decided to not renew it at this time.

What did you do to save money these past 2 weeks? 

3 comments:

  1. Worked on our annual spending breakdown. Where did our money go? (medical stuff, taxes, and mystery money dribbles). Can we do something about it? Well, those dribbles. Must stop them.

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  2. Hello there...been silent reader for many times...can i just say that i'm really inspired by your blog? I'm living based on budged too, as an architect in a small private company my daily basis need was provided by almost basic salary (i don't wanna brag that i had low sal, but in my country that's a huge comparison between a single type of job, it can be high paid or low paid)...my daily routine was include;

    1. public transportation, there's always 2 choice for me (and my friend) to go to or back from office; small public car (for 8-10 ppls) for half a dollar per person OR if we want comfort we used grabtaxi app that gives you discount, almost the same half dollar price if you go more than 1 ppl (shared fee).

    2. about food, well...we took instant noodle and else if we want fast and really cheap meals...sometimes we add egg. If we want healthy we just buy banana...this really fillings our hunger w/o hurry. Now seeing your blog made me so guilty bcoz the unhealthy eating lifestyle of mine...hopefully i can change like the way you did. Oh in my country the food was realtively cheap (1 meal about 2$ max with drink) and you can find vegetable related food and traditional snack everywhere...well i think minus the hygiene and quality of ingredients.

    3. about living...well because me and my friends was single, in my country there's a house host (kost) so there a monthly pay room in 1 house...i spend about 130$ a month...(i got my self 1 room with AC, indoor bathroom with shower, WC, lavatory, and water heater) and there's also free use of electricity, common kitchen, common tv room, common garden, 2x1 week housekeeping, 7x1 laundry consists of max 2 cloths a day) we have helper (couple) that in charge to all rooms. Maybe it sounds cheap because it's a standart house host in my country (south east asians) BUT its still a bit expensive, i'm living on house host because my parent house was really far from my office (almost about 30 km single travel)...in my first and second year in my job i travel by bus...but i got really2 tired for the massive traffic and stuff. I guess this house host thing was the most luxury thing as a reward of my daily job.

    4. So after that primary needs...sometimes i want something special; like cloths, leisure (spa/vacation/restaurant/else), and fancy stuff (room decore and accs)...i'm relying all from online coupon, discount, free sample, you name it! I never buy high brand, i choose my indie local brand that much2 cheaper without sacrifice design...and i always buy or go or try anything that rare, not common style, had highest quality >> and also cheap. I never buy anything that higher than 30$ and thats for a monthly pleasure. I used to go quantity...example; i go restaurant/cafe coupon + cool sweater + 1 hour foot massage >> total still less than 30$. So...i put 30$ max expenses for personal pleasure per month...but everytime i try to decrease it for savings. And also as a person in 20's something i won't apply for credit card...i'm stick to my debit card (e-wallet).

    Well...i think that's my dailymoney savings journey so far...i just wanna keep it or better...upgrade it by try something like DIY, and healthy eating like you...i think being frugal and savings money is not bad at all...we have to appreciate an income/money whatever how low/less we had...thank you! -irs initsuga-

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  3. Used the mechanic at my hubby's job to change my rotors & brakes and install a new fuel filter, total cost of labor: $80. The parts only cost $95 at Advanced Auto using a 20% off coupon. Don't know how much this would have cost at most places but I know I got it cheap.

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