This Week's Frugal Accomplishments

Monday was a day off from work for me.  I did some cooking ahead for the week, making tomato soup and a pan of brownies.  I also got out the tote with our Valentine decorations, and Daughter and I set out a few things.

I took eight bags (eight bags!) of clothing/toys/household stuff to Goodwill.  I had tried selling the items in the local buy-sell-trade groups, but nearly everything was clothing, which typically doesn't sell well on the pages here.  Our house is eight-bags-of-stuff bigger than it used to be.  Woohoo!  I was given a cold drink as a thank-you for my donation.

I went into Goodwill in search of a couple of cardigans I can wear for work.  I found a black-gray heather one, along with a rust-brown one, plus a nice gray tunic sweater, all for about $10.  The gray tunic is designed to have another shirt under it, so I can add color by wearing it with a tank top underneath, which makes it a little more versatile.  I also picked up a new sugar bowl, with roosters on it (the one we've had is chipped).

The day after my shopping trip to Goodwill, I went through my clothes and noted all the shirt colors.  Then, I went through my jewelry to see what I had that matched the clothing I wear to work.  Finally, I got out my jewelry making supplies and made some earrings to go with some outfits that didn't really have earrings that went with them.  I have my hair cut short these days, so my earrings really show.  It will be nice to have a few new ones...but I may have gone a bit overboard.  (It was too much fun!)  I have purchased most of my beads, findings, etc. at yard sales or on clearance, and some of the materials are from broken jewelry as well.  I used to work at a community college, and we were permitted to take one class per semester tuition free.  I took a jewelry and metalwork class one semester, and learned some things that are helpful to this day.  Pinterest is a great place for inspiration, too!  Daughter also designed and made this necklace, whose theme is 'nature'.

When I went to Goodwill, I stopped at King Soopers (our Kroger affiliate) to pick up the Free Friday Download items from the past two weeks - some organic tortilla chips (blue corn, my favorite!) and a can of refried beans.  Husband had loaded a $1 off coupon to the loyalty card for Goodness Knows snack bites.  They were on sale for $1, so I also got one of those for free.  They are a nice little treat for Daughter's lunch.

I tried a new recipe that is a definite keeper.  Have you ever heard of Olga's Restaurant?  I had not, but apparently, this recipe is a copycat for the flatbread that they serve.  Soft, slightly sweet pillows of deliciousness....yes, please!  I will likely make it with less honey in the future, and we will use it for gorditas, some Turkish sandwiches we like to make, and possibly even mini-pizzas.  It was really easy to make, and the only changes I made were to use butter instead of margarine, and I added 1/2 tablespoon of wheat gluten.

We have a lifetime warranty on the faucets in our home.  Husband called a while back about replacement parts, which arrived this week, so we replaced the parts and got things back in proper working order.  It is really nice to have the minor repairs taken care of.

We borrowed books and media from the library.  I listened to some free online podcasts as well.

I made some suet cakes.  I'll be posting the how-to soon.  We also tied out some millet and a sunflower head that we grew in the border of our garden last year.

Husband recently signed up for Ibotta.  He is liking it, especially all the new-comer incentives they have.  In addition to the new-user stuff, you can load offers to your account to get rebates on things you buy at the store.  For example, he loaded 50 cents off bananas, bought a pound of bananas, and then got the rebate so that they were only 6 cents.  If you have been thinking of trying Ibotta, here is his link (if you use his link, you still get all the benefits you would have gotten plus you can earn an extra $10, and he gets a bonus too - thanks!)

We are allowed to wear jeans sometimes at the library where I work.  I prefer to wear darker ones that look newer.  This pair has gotten a bit faded.  You cannot really tell from the photo, but this black and white sweater, which I've had for about 5 years now, has gotten...faded?  The black looks a little brown-ish in the sunlight.  It's not a pretty color.  I put both of them into the washer with hot water, on the small size load, with a cup of salt.  After a large load rinse, then a second rinse and time in the dryer, they look like this.

I took the 'before' photo at night and the 'after' photo with daylight...that is not helpful for seeing the actual difference, but hopefully you can tell that the jeans are more blue, and the sweater does not have that brown tinge it had before.  I'm happy with the outcome.  I don't usually use the dryer, but it does seem to help the dye 'set' into the fabric better.  For the rest of the week, we used drying racks in the basement to dry our clothing.

I mended a couple of stuffed animals.

Daughter earned enough piano practice points to get a raven mask (given to me by a co-worker after Halloween) from the awards basket.  She used some scrap fabric (with my permission) to make a no-sew 'costume' to go with the mask.  She is really happy with it, and I'm excited that she is taking more interest in artistic things, and in making things.

On that note, Daughter and I attended a free library program, "Watercolor Basics".  It was a lot of fun, and we got to practice several techniques.  We both did little mini paintings and had a really nice time.

I took lunch to work, and Daughter took lunch to school all week.

How did you do with frugal accomplishments this week?  What did you do to spend less, save more, and make do?