Frugal Accomplishments - First Week of January

I packed my lunch for work all week (even the day I had a meeting in town and considered going out), and Daughter packed a lunch from home for school.  We did a fair amount of scratch cooking at home this week too.  I made pancake & waffle mix and cornbread mix to make meal prep a little easier in the coming weeks.

On that meeting-in-town day, I used a bit of my lunch break to stop at the bread outlet and get a couple of loaves of bread.  The outlet is in an area we don't get to that often, but I was driving right past it, so it made sense to stop.  The prices are very good, and they have a punch card that can be surrendered for 2 free items when it gets filled.  I did complete a punch card this week, but our freezer is quite full, so we will use it the next time we go.  There have been many good grocery sales lately, and we are well stocked on most everything.  We did very little grocery shopping this week.  However...

Husband used a sale and coupons to get some Unilever products for very little out of pocket.  The items he chose were mostly clearance items, which he also had coupons for.  Most everything he purchased was health and beauty -  multiple 28oz bottles of shampoo for only 24 cents each out of pocket.  We are well stocked on shampoo, conditioner and other haircare products now.  We will likely use the shampoo not only for washing hair, but also as a body wash and hand soap.  The food pantry where we donate accepts toiletries as well, so we'll share some with them.

Daughter and I have been spending some time drawing in the evening.  We went with the theme 'folk birds' for several days in a row.  They were so pretty we decided to cut them out and tape them around our kitchen and dining area.  We looked on Pinterest for ideas and inspiration.  These birds are drawn on plain copy paper, with crayon.  We defined the lines with a sharpie.  All materials were on hand, so there was no present-moment cost to make these cheerful birds.

I cut up a ham this week and re-froze it as pieces that are the right amount for a meal with some leftovers.  Hubby fine-chopped all the extra fat, skin, etc. in the food processor.  We are putting a spoonful in each dog's dish at feeding time as a treat.  The dogs think it's the best idea ever. 

It was a cold week, and we used our wood stove to keep the house warm.  We get our firewood free for the hauling, so this makes for a big savings.

Husband did some home maintenance on one of our bathroom faucets.  We have lifetime warranty, so he called the manufacturer and they are sending a couple of replacement parts, free of charge.

I received a fairly large supply of hand-me-down papercrafting materials just before Christmas.  I spent some time this week making some cards for birthdays and other occasions.  Some will be for home use, and some will be to use at work.  I did not purchase any materials, and looked for design ideas on Pinterest.

I made the list for this year's flower and vegetable garden.  Once I have checked our seed supply, I will check the seed library at work (if I have any gaps).  I did spend $3 for flower seeds - my supply of them got wet last year (I forgot the basket was out when I watered the flower bed...oops!), so I am starting over with flower seeds, to some extent.  I chose flowers that are easy for me to grow in this climate.

We checked out books, documentaries, and the movie The Secret Life of Pets from the library.  I also brought home the coupon inserts from the library's Sunday papers.  I work at the library - we do not put out the ads and coupons, and no other staff member was interested in them.

I loaded a couple of free Chrome extensions to my computer.  One is for FitBit, so I can see if I think a FitBit is something I would actually use and benefit from.  I have a lot of friends who have them, and love them, but I am not yet sure.  The other is Momentum.  It turns the 'new tab' page into a to-do list, weather report, and has a nice image and inspirational quote.  We shall see!  I'm also testing out Honey...if I actually buy anything, it's supposed to find the best discounts and apply them to the purchase.

There were left-over bananas from a program at work.  We have a sticker system at work - if there is a green sticker, the item is available to eat or take home, and these had been sitting with a green sticker for a couple days.  I brought them home, peeled them and froze them in pieces.  I'll use them in smoothies or banana bread.

We fed our chickens all our fruit and vegetable scraps, meal scraps, and a pumpkin someone gave us after Halloween.  (We got...let's see...8 of them, so we are sharing some with the hens!)

Husband signed up for Ibotta, and he is trying it out to see if it helps us save on groceries and household items.

What did you do this week to help you save your pennies?