Frugal Friday

Many people view summer as a lazy type of season, but for me it seems to always be so busy. 


 
There are vegetables to process, canning to be done, and fruit to pick.  I'm busy from morning until night canning, preserving, picking and pickling.  I'm not complaining because as a friend said to me, "Busy is good!"

And she is right.  I love being productive.  There are those times when I need to just sit and rest and maybe watch a movie, but I would hate to do that all the time.  I love the feeling at the end of the day when I fall into bed, tired from a productive day.  I love seeing my growing pantry shelves.  I enjoy sitting back and looking at a garden patch I just weeded and seeing the neatness of the rows.  Okay, that last sentence made me laugh because my garden looks anything but neat right now.



I also love how I can be the most frugal in the summer because of the abundance of fruit and vegetables.  I'm able to truly stretch that budget and see the benefits of that far into the winter months.

This week has been a very good one in the frugal department.  Here is how I saved.

$ We have a very large, out of control blackberry patch behind our house.  Of course, those huge berries are mocking me, just out of reach.  Other than a cupful to make muffins, I can't get to the rest.  So yesterday afternoon, I headed out with long pants, gardening gloves and clippers and cut a path into the middle of the berry patch.  An hour later and with arms covered with scratches I merged with a bucket full of berries and enough to make jelly.   I'm hoping that I can get a bit more before the season is over and maybe enough to make a couple of pies.



$ I planted raspberries that a friend gave me so next year I'm hoping to have some red raspberries to pick.

$ I got local peaches for $.69 per lb. and now have bags of peaches in my freezer, as well as peach jam to sell at the market.

$ There is a Mennonite fabric store and market about an hour away that a friend took me to one day.  I've been back there a couple of times because it is well worth the trip.  Their fabric is top quality and I picked up some thick paisley fabric for aprons at $3.99 a yard.  I just saw the same exact fabric online for $10 a yard so whoo hoo for me!!!!



$ I purchased a one pound bag of yeast there for $4.  A little 4 oz. jar in the grocery store is $8.

$ Emily had a doctor's appointment the other day and we stopped by a state park that has a waterfall to hike.  For $3 to park we were able to hike, see beautiful sights and enjoy the day.  Next time we will bring a lunch with us.



$ When we went to the 1,000 Islands with my inlaws, we visited a gift shop there.  Most things were over priced and touristy.  However, in a corner of the store I came upon a basket of checked, good quality napkins.  They were mismatched without a complete set.  But they were on sale for $1.5 per napkin.  My napkins are getting ratty and are very old.  I don't care if they don't all match so I bought the whole lot of 11 napkins.  The regular price was $4 per napkin so it was a great deal.

I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting something but it was a wonderful week!  Frugal is fun.