Skip to main content

The Frugal Five: #88

 The Frugal Five: #88


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.    


This week I am exploring how to keep costs down during busy weeks.    Keeping dinner on the table instead of eating out is one of my strategies to get the job done.    Here are some of my tips and trips.   


1- Free-Bee Pick Up 

Over the last month, we have been blessed with several Free-Bees.  First, a friend gave us a dozen eggs from his chickens.  In addition, we picked up several photos with discount codes from Walgreens and CVS.   Next, we used our local grocery store coupons for several free food items such as seltzer water, ice cream, etc.   Then, we picked up toothpaste and eyeliners from CVS.     Finally, I got bar soap from Bath and Body, and a bucket from Harbor Freight.    


2- Replace the Soda

The price of soda is going through the roof and we are trying to improve our diet.     I picked up Kool-Aid packets at the grocery store for $0.50 each and you just add a little sugar and it produces an entire pitcher.   In addition, I make homemade iced tea regularly.    Finally, my son is now drinking a lot more water.   Since my husband tends to purchase a soda at work for $1.50 per can, he took the rest of the soda cans to use.    Even with the increased price, buying by the case is still cheaper than buying a can per day at $1.50.     


3- Hair Cuts 

Hair cuts cost at least $30.00 per person + Tip.    However, during COVID I learned to cut my husband’s hair and save $60.00 + Tip per month.     My son will get his hair cut once per month.  My haircuts cost significantly more, but I take advantage of buying gift cards (at a discount) and redeeming a loyalty card for $50.00 on one visit per year.   How do you save money on haircuts? 


4- Garden Harvest

The garden has started to produce enough food to supplement our grocery shopping.   I have harvested a lot of basil, jalapeno peppers, chili peppers, banana peppers, carrots, peas, radishes, zucchini, and tomatoes.  Our basil was so much that it needed to be preserved, so I dried some and froze the rest.   In addition, the jalapeno peppers will need to be canned shortly.   That is next on my list.   


 

5- Shopped the Loss Leaders

Each week the more expensive grocery stores will run sales with low prices to get shoppers into their store.   I have found that Aldi tends to have the best prices overall for non-sale items, but they do not carry all the items of the other grocery stores.     However, I will shop there first and then go to a second store for the rest of my list.      Meijer’s had a 7 for $7.00 sale this past month for two weeks.    I picked up many items for $1.00 each during this sale and then applied coupons and/or rebates to lower that price even more.  The result was 10 cans of tuna ($0.50 each), 10 tuna pouches ($0.25 each), dental floss ($0.60), pasta ($0.75) and so much more.   


What Free-bees have you been able to pick up this year?    My entire year is attached below.    


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. 
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Menu Planning #132

Our meals need to be nutritious, clean, flexible, quick and cost effective. Between our work schedules and after school activities, we need to carefully plan our meals so that we do not end up ordering out.   The news is very scary at this time because of all the news of meat plants shutting down, grocery stories limiting the amount of meat a family can purchase and all of the talk about a depression on the horizon.    We have decided to keep our grocery budget the same, but to economize any way we can.     This week we tried to pick up some shrimp that was on sale, but the store was out of shrimp and not expecting to get any more in.    We were grateful to find wild caught salmon for the same price, so we picked that up instead for our Mother’s Day Dinner.    What did we spend?  Week 1: $96.44 Kroger: $96.44 Rebates: $3.55 IBOTTA: $1.35 Kroger Cash: $0.45 Checkout 51: $1.75 ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Frugal Five: #133

  With inflation rising and salaries staying the same, our ability to make ends meet is becoming increasingly difficult. Therefore, we must be more careful with our money. The Frugal Five is a series that celebrates the daily or weekly activities that help us live a frugal life.     This year, my focus is on Simple Abundance , so finding ways to live well while staying on budget will be challenging.    Come along and enjoy my journey of elevating joy, enjoying what you have, and finding luxury in my local area.    1- Giving Back to the Community  Supporting your community can take countless shapes. Some people choose to write a check, and that generosity absolutely matters. But many outreach efforts require more than funding—they need time, hands, and hearts willing to show up. I’m grateful that I’m able to participate in several programs that make a real difference for the people around me. One of the most meaningful ways I give b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Living Large In The Cheap Seats- April 16

Living Large In the Cheap Seats is starting to look a little different given the current state of crisis the world is experiencing.   The fact that we are being asked to limit our exposure to groups of people larger than 10 people really impacts our ability to get out and enjoy various local experiences.   Therefore going out in public is of a low priority in our household for the time being. However, we are hoping to change that come late spring/early summer. Therefore, I am going to focus on incorporating a little Hagge into my life with a few Small Group (aka family based) activities, Virtual Activities and things you can do now in order to secure more fun for the warmer months.   Well- hopefully.  Add a Little Hygge into your life: So, what is Hygge?  Hygge is defined as “a quality of coziness and comfortable cheerfulness that causes a feeling of contentment or well-being.”   I believe that Hygge is living a simpler li...
Post a Comment
Read more