Frugal Friday

I decided to move my Thrifty Thursday posts and make them Frugal Fridays instead.  This way I could link up with Rebecca's blog.  Take a moment and go over and visit so you can more frugal tips as well.

Frugalness is basically second nature to me now, as I've been making due on one income for years, and a small one at that.  So I had to really think about what I do to make our dollars stretch.

I've done the following things this week.

$  Made my own salad dressing.  It's quick, easy, has no chemical perservatives and much cheaper.

$ Washed out numerous baggies and freezer bags.

$ Limit the use of the dishwasher for when we have company.  In the long run, it is cheaper to wash the dishes by hand.   When I do use the dishwasher, I open the door and let them air dry instead of running through the dry cycle.

$ Only wash full loads of laundry.

$ Made homemade stromboli.  Again, I know what's in it, it's cheaper and prettier too. :-)

$ I used spices that I had stored in the freezer.  I purchased them in bulk when they were on sale and they have kept fine in the freezer.

$  Stayed home to eat instead of going out and stayed out of stores, even thrift stores. I'm not a shopper so I'm really not tempted too much this way.  My feeling is that if you aren't in the store, you aren't tempted to buy!

$  Made tea totes and mug rugs (they aren't finished in this picture) out of fabric scraps.  It's a great way to use up the scraps.  I'll be putting them in my Etsy shop, as well as some of the craft fairs I go to.  Those I don't sell, make great gifts.

$ Used up all the leftovers instead of tossing them.  I hate wasting food!

$ When using jarred sauces (which I normally don't; I make my own), I always add a bit of hot water, put the lid back on and shake it up so I can get every bit of sauce out of the jar.  I do this with molasses too.

$ I made ziti a few weeks ago and made a larger than normal batch of sauce.  I froze it and reused it for our small group which meets here every other Wednesday.

$ Got the bulk of my groceries at Aldi which is generally the cheapest store around.

$ Purchased meat in bulk packs which was cheaper and came home and separated it into individual packages.

That's about all I can think of this week, mostly because it was one of those weeks when nothing much was going on.   Again, check out Rebecca's blog for more frugal ideas.