Frugal This Week

I have done a lot of prepping this week to avoid the temptation of fast fooding:

I cooked 8 lbs. of potatoes after peeling and cutting it into chunks.  I made a large batch of mashed potoates and froze.  I also cooked a large tray of Mac and Cheese that I bought from Gordon Food Service and divided into smaller freezer containers.  Will use with meat dishes for meal planning over the next cpl. weeks.  We had big servings of it Saturday for lunch.

I completed a month of meals for the $29 a week meal budgeting challenge that a hollywood star tried to do saying the average single person on food stamps/Snap/EBT would get.  It was really hard and certainly makes me count my blessings that I have more than that to work with.  I will be posting that plan here shortly to this blog.

Today I tried to download Krogers digital downloads to my account but their site has crashed due to too many people trying to do it all at the same time.  I called customer service and they are aware of the problem and said to call back to get my points added to my account.  I need to buy all 3 of my dogs Frontline Flea Meds which will be over $100 plus have to buy groceries so those points are definitely a plus.

This week I also used fuel points that I had accumulated with purchases for April saved 90 cents off per gallon at Krogers.  I have a big truck that uses a lot of gas so that was a great savings.  Took my gas price down to $1.47 per gallon.

I left a job earlier this year that was 14 miles each way which saved me using so much gas.  I now work 2 miles from home, took a tiny bit of a pay cut but with the gas saved and now only having to pay Columbus City taxes instead of both Columbus and Minerva Park (small subdivision of Columbus) taxes I actually bring home more money, have stable hours so it paid off.  I miss my co workers from there terribly but a better financial move for me.

Last summer AEP cut down a large maple tree in my back yard that was in the way of power lines and overshadowing my garden and clothesline.  They left 11 big sized logs of wood in the yard which I was not physically able to move.  I posted on Craigslist that I had free maple wood, got so many inquiries and was able to get it out in less than 12 hours.  Awesome.  So I saved money by not having to pay someone to remove it and someone got free burning wood for their fireplace.. a Win Win!

I have several towels that have seen better days.. rather than throw them away I cut them into smaller pieces and yesterday crocheted a border on one so that it doesn't fray in the washing machine.  Used one as a floor mat in the bathroom, smaller ones once I get the border on will be used for cleaning rags.  I just did 2 single rows of crochet and sewed it on to the towel.

Wednesday night I took out a lb. of chicken burger (we don't eat beef) and fried it up, added a can of sloppy joe mix and made sloppy joes which I then froze.  This will be for a meal on Saturday night when I get off work.  Dh is always tempting me to pick up fast food on my way home from work instead of eating at home.  Savings:  $14.00 versus buying meals and sides at Arby's.

I also made brownies from a box mix yesterday morning 99 cents plus 2 eggs and froze most of it for treats when we want something sweet.

Krogers has Wheat Thins on sale this week 2 for $4.  I had coupons for $1 dollar of 2.  I bought 4 at $1.50 each for snacks.  I really need to get out my frugal books and learn to make them myself.

Can't think of anything else right at the moment but wanted to share.

Anna