The Frugal Five: #71

 The Frugal Five: #71

With inflation on the rise and salaries not increasing, our ability to make ends meet keeps going down.    Therefore, we must be more careful with our money.   The Frugal Five is a series where we celebrate the daily or weekly activities that help us live a frugal life.    

1- Taking control of your Budget

Last week, we misread a coupon and decided to shop for 2 weeks to reach the dollar amount to use the coupon.    Unfortunately, we misread the coupon and spent the majority of our grocery budget last week.     Then we received a coupon for spending $225; get a $30.00 off paper coupon in the mail this week.   Our family made the decision, not to spend that much money this week because of last week’s overspending.    However, the good news is that this coupon is good until November 11th, so depending on the sales next week the coupon may get used.   

2- Reuse paper in our printer 

A lot of paper is discarded because of printing errors.   To be a good steward of this resource, I use the back of the paper to print or write grocery lists, drafts of assignments, or print swim meet heat sheets.   These items have limited time uses and do not need to have a clean presentation, so reusing paper is a great way to save a little money and the environment.   

3- Saving on Haircuts 

Last month I discovered that the hair dye they were using wasn’t permanent and over time washes out of my hair which results in a higher salon bill every 3 visits.    I decided to adjust my color profile which now uses a permanent hair dye and I will not have that increase every 3rd visit.  In addition,  last month, the receptionist informed me the prices were going up due to product cost and I prepared myself for a higher bill.  However, the price for my root touch-up didn’t go up, so I was pleasantly surprised.  Next, I was able to cash in my 20% off coupon at my hair salon this week and saved $15.00.   Finally, I used the gift card I picked up which provided me with a 20% discount, so I am at the lowest I can get for my hair appointment.   

As a bonus, it was time to cut my husband’s hair.    Since I cut his hair in our garage and we already purchased the clippers, there is no extra cost for this service.    We save about $35.00 twice a month.   

4- Winterize the Garden 

It is now time to winterize our garden beds.   This involves pulling out our plants, cutting them up adding the leaves from our trees, and covering them for the winter.   By adding compostable items to our beds at this point time time, the organic material will compost over the winter and reduce the need for use to add as much compost in the spring.       

     

5- Saving Seeds

Since we used heirloom plants this year, I was able to save the seeds for many of our plants.     I allowed the beans to dry on the plant or on the counter and harvested the seeds.     The tomatoes were a little more tricky as you need to soak them first and then dry them prior to packaging them for the winter.    Our pepper seeds, just needed to dry on the counter prior to packaging them.     We’re ready for winter planting. 

What Free-bees have you been able to pick up this year?    My September free-bee haul knocked it out of the park!    Hopefully, October will pick up soon, because it is looking a lot like my August haul.      

Here is my list: 

Do you want to see what we did last week?   

Just click on the picture for the link. 

Please leave a comment below with your ways of saving money this week.