Frugal Friday

I haven't done a Frugal Friday in quite a while and thought I was due for one.  I'm going to need to tighten up my belt since Dan's tutoring is coming to an end for the summer.  Summer is always such a difficult time for us because of that, and also it seems there is always something due then.  This fall we will have two children in college.  Emily heads off to a state university and Stephen, due to an issue with his credits, has one more semester to go. 

So, I need to pull out my creativity and step up my game.  My refrigerator is bare-ish and while I'm going to get some groceries tomorrow, I've been able to pull together some good meals given what was in there as well from my canning and freezer stash.

I also find cooking almost everything from scratch saves a lot of money.  I can pull together breads, cookies, cakes, pies, and almost everything for just a couple of dollars compared with buying store bought.  This way I'm also not getting all the preservatives. 

Maybe I'm strange but I view this as a challenge and a good challenge is something I thrive on so bring it on! 

Some ways I've saved this week:

$ Made all my breads and desserts from scratch.





$ Got my hair cut and colored for free because I barter with my hairdresser.  I hemmed her daughter's prom dress and will also be fixing something on a quilt for her.

$ I'm continuing to make cookies each month for last year's Father's Day gift to our dads.  It was a cookie-of-the-month club and it really has been a fun gift.  It didn't cost me much and yet they look forward to receiving their cookies each month.

$ Mother's Day gifts have been made and are in the mail.

$ At my recent retreat, I wanted to give the team members a gift so I gave them jars of jam that I had put up last summer.

$ We also give out door prizes at the retreat and one thing I did to save a bit of money was to purchase fabric that went with our theme and then made pocket tissue holders.  The cost - $.50 each holder.  Then I was able to pair that with a couple of other things for the door prize bags.

$ I'm enjoying the simple things in life which really is what helps to be frugal.  I don't find it necessary to constantly shop and enjoy things found right outside my back door.

$ The past couple of weeks, I've used the following from last summer's canning: apple sauce, whole tomatoes, apples, grape juice, eggplant, beets, tomato sauce, and blueberries. 

I'm enjoying have all three of my children under my roof for a time.  Stephen will be heading off to a camp to work for the summer at the end of this month. Then in the fall, he and Emily will be gone and that will be a big adjustment for both me and Dan. 

So that's my frugal offerings for the week.  How are you doing in this area?