frugal friday

Here's my frugalista act for the day: repurposing tights. It's that kind of weather now, and when I dug out my old black tights I noticed that two of the three pairs had runs and large holes in the toes. Pity.

New tights are not a huge expense, but it's frustrating how quickly they run and there are no stores near my home that sell this sort of clothing staple item (maybe pantyhose at the drugstore, but no thanks).

On my way out the door, I happened to notice the small pile of G2's ballet items that I had been planning to donate to his former dance school now that he isn't taking classes. And in the pile were...two pairs of Capezio tights. One was a little worn around the knees and the feet had been cut out. The other was slightly larger and almost new.

I tried and lo and behold, they worked. What is amazing is that they stretch, keep their shape (no sagging), and are very comfortable after 2-3 days of wearing straight. Keep in mind, these were purchased for a young teen boy who was less than 5 feet tall and weighed under 100 pounds. They are being worn by his mom, who is over half a foot taller and 50 pounds heavier.

On second thought, I decided to keep his ballet shoes too (they fit).

frugal february friday update

Transportation:

• rode bike to work 4/4 days! (Monday was a holiday)
• used car once on weekend to take p'tit minou deux shopping (see angst-y post below)
• Minou used the car three times Saturday to make a two mile round trip to the grocery store. Tsk, tsk, tsk. But it was a deliberate choice; we had friends coming for dinner, he was cooking, he valued his time more at that moment. He stated.
• Back bike light is out; need to find the rechargable batteries. Luckily it's light when I leave work.

Food:

• Spent more this week. Cupboards were bare. Decided against a lentil-based diet (though I like them).
• Bought fancy sandwich spreads at Trader Joe's for livening up simple fare (tapenade, roasted pepper & garlic, etc.). Bought some luxury items: veggie ham, parmesan, a bottle of wine (friends for dinner)
• Starting into the new week with a semi-full fridge, will try to just pinch-hit as needed (fruit, veggies, cheese, milk) until March rather than doing my usual weekly shopping.

Utilities

• It got cold again. I haven't turned up the heat but I am feeling it, especially up in our unheated Attic Addition at the top of the house. We have a mountain of comforters and each other to stay warm.
• Still trying to be careful with the water. No baths. Shorter showers, usually.
• Turning off the printer at night (last one up).

Frugal Fun:

• The Ladies have started laying again! We have had an egg a day since Monday. I tricked encouraged them by placing a decoy in their nest, and the days are getting longer.
• Very nice meal with some good friends. Spaghetti, homemade marinara, sauteed tofu, garlic bread, salad, red wine, and ice cream with homemade fudge sauce. 
• p'tit minou deux now wants to go out for frozen yogurt. He argued earnestly in favor (he is very earnest, that one) of supporting the local family-owned business whose yogurt he enjoys. I think we will have  homemade ice cream sundae night at home instead.
• Minou wants to watch the "new" James Bond movie at the dollar theater this evening, which is actually $2 (maybe even $2.50) per person on Friday evenings. We may rent this from Redbox for a dollar instead.

How about you? What frugal adventures did you have this week?

frugal friday update

It's the Frugal Friday update--on Saturday!

transportation:

• rode bike to work 5/5 days (new benefit: chatted with nice bike commuter coworker en route)
• filled up gas tank for 1st time this month (we are using less with my commutes out of equation)
• used the car only once last weekend, to pick up p'tit minou un from far-away friend's house

groceries:

• food spending for us four this month so far is around $250--more than I hoped, but pretty good.
• on the downside, because I have been busy with schoolwork, I haven't been planning/cooking much and meals have been rather plain. Need to work on that this week.

utilities:

• thermostats at 64 and staying that way. Ignoring complaints and bundling up. 
• taking "military showers": get in, water off, soap/shampoo up, water on, rinse, out.
• turning off lights and "vampire lights": printer, power strips, laptop.

frugal fun:

• found a gift card I received for my 40th birthday (a while ago) and went out to lunch with Minou during the work week at a fancy delicatessen, twice! (had delicious & interesting sandwiches)
•  had Friday Family Movie Night (third week in a row). Borrowed the third Matrix movie from the library. Had frugal snacks (Valentines chocolate from a neighbor, snack mix and soda courtesy of p'tit minou un's generosity, and rum and coke for Mama Minou courtesy of winning the liquor at a holiday White Elephant party).
• borrowed "The City of Ember" from the library per coworker's recommendation. Read it, loved it. Passed it to Minou who read it, loved it (he cried at the end--we are sappy that way). P'tit minou deux also read it and liked it. P'tit minou un read it years ago. Then we watched the movie.

How about you--any frugal fun this week?

budget blues

I've been using Quicken for quite a while to keep track of our monthly spending.
Ever since I took over the household accounting about two years ago, in fact.
It's a task I enjoy in a slightly hyperfocused kind of way.

I frequently tinker with the amount I set aside for various things, trying to constantly lower our monthly expenses and increase my rate of savings into various "pots"--tuition fees (9 more months!), Roth IRA retirement, 403 (b) retirement, and the wishful "home projects" (we now have plans for the attic addition, but not yet the funds).

Each month I "hide" or set aside money from various categories and release it as spent, so that when I look at what's left to spend what I see is the grocery money. I'm frustrated to see that we went $453 over budget this month, and at a loss how to explain it. I can see that we had some unusual expenses, including a building permit (the attic), home repair (paint and shelving), auto registration, and September school fees. However, each of those things was pre-budgeted for and I removed the money from the appropriate "pots" as needed (every month I set aside money for auto, pets, school fees, health insurance, etc etc, etc).

So where did I go wrong this month? I can see that we have way, way overspent on gas (sigh). We budget $55 and have already spent $112. We also had some health expenses (Minou's glasses and eye appointment), but again, I was reimbursed from a flex spending account, pre-tax, through work. I think that I probably didn't have enough pre-budgeted for some categories like school fees. We had some back-to-school shopping ($50) and some skin-care product shopping ($21), stamps ($10), movie rentals ($10). But those items don't add up to $453. What happened?!

I'm seeking some balance. I want to know how much we have and stick to a budget. I want to save, save, save to meet our many goals. But if the budget isn't realistic, it also won't work.

frugal friday:wants and needs

I am working on a cognitive retraining project.

Tuesday, lying in the dentist's chair during a cleaning, I drifted off into mentally packing my luggage for the upcoming Trip To France. I'm hoping to take just one small carry-on, since I hate dealing with luggage on trains and such. Minou and the boys are leaving one week ahead and are planning to check a bag, so they are in charge of transporting gifts. If I can pack lightly, everything should fit into one shoulder bag and I'll be able to help my mom with her luggage during the few days we travel together to Brittany.

The last two times I went to France, my wardrobe shifted from my usual home "uniform" of jeans or workout clothing. First, it's hot where my mother-in-law and sister-in-law live. Second, people are much more fashion conscious and tend to dress up more than in my small city. I kind of enjoy this, especially when on vacation. I found myself wearing skirts and dresses a lot more than I do at home (also thanks to my sister-in-law M1, who has exquisite taste and enjoyed sorting her closet and generously passing on discarded items, though what is roomy on her is form-fitting on me) . However, I find pants more comfortable for airplane trips. I don't want to take jeans--too hot and bulky. I have two pairs of black pants for work, but both are long, plus if I'm not at work, I don't want to see them (you know how it is with uniforms).

For a minute, I thought "I need to get a new pair of black capri pants". The thought instantly evoked anxiety and a chain of associated nervous thoughts. Likely they would cost under $20, but...the dog just went to the vet for an eye infection, leading to an unexpected bill. Our clothing budget is $25 a month for the four of us (technically), so if I buy pants, it empties coffers needed for my rapidly growing sons (p'tit minou un grew almost two inches in the last few months). Plus I hate, hate, hate with a passion going to the mall or big box stores, but don't have much time to do the thrift store rounds in the next week and a half. And I am really trying to only use the car when I have to, so when and where could I bike to the store...

Mental noise. I stopped myself. What is the point of all this stress? It's silly.

I do not need a new pair of black capri pants (or any other item of clothing). I have enough clothing to cover myself, even if it is not just exactly what I am wishing for. I know that more fashionable minimalists might find this unacceptable, and as things wear out I will replace them with functionable, fitting, interchangable items, but might it not be a good reality check to practice making do with what I have? Yes, I think so too.

Source: google images retrieved from target.site.com

necessary? no.

frugal friday

Why buy new?

Whether second hand stores, hand me downs, Naked Lady party clothing swaps, or free boxes found right on the curb, many treasures can be had for very little money.

If you have offspring with big feet, you may even be lucky enough to inherit their shoes.

Here are three of my favorite pairs.
The ones in the middle were worn by both p'tit minous before me.
The ones on either side were both passed down by sporty p'tit minou 1.

frugal fitness saturday

Here's to the most frugal exercise equipment ever!

frugal friday

I like to glean and gather. Neighborhood fruit trees heavy with uneaten apples and pears, young dandelion greens in the early spring for stir frys, blackberry patches on the edge of school yards for late summer jam, and returnable bottles from the curb on recycling day.

When I remember, on Wednesdays I gather up bottles in the few blocks around my house on early morning dog walks. Our neighbors across the street put out a full 2 x 3 ft. box weekly full of bottles with a deposit (I usually just switch our near empty identical box for theirs to make carrying them easier, which might be puzzling if they notice). Minou returns them, and puts the change in a small metal box on top of the fridge.

Last night he counted it and there was close to $20 from April. That's a lot of bottles at 5 cents each! Small change, yes, but found...a little like finding money on the street (oh wait, I did find money on the street). When Minou and I make our trek to Portland this weekend so that he can vote in the French presidential elections, it will provide several coffees or maybe even (how fitting) a nice dark stout stop on our planned urban hiking getaway.

frugal friday

My frugalicious act this week was...getting back on my bike.
This was made so much easier by the beautiful spring weather and the new puncture-resistant tires Minou had put on my bike last week (spendy, but we budget $30 for "bike stuff" monthly).
With gas at $4.20 a gallon, I calculate that it costs almost 10 cents a mile to drive or be driven these days. I have a 13 mile round trip commute to one of my health center sites and 15 miles to the other, adding up to a weekly total of 58 miles...or $5.80. It may not sound like much, but with $5.80 I could rent 4 Redbox movies for the family, or almost buy a bottle of wine or pound of good coffee for Minou and myself, or put a tiny drop in the bucket of our mortgage (controversial among frugal folk, I know). If you drive less, you might be able to lower your car insurance rates as well--we did this last year.
Those are just the economic benefits! There's so much more. Health benefits, environmental benefits, and it feels great to have the wind in your hair...(with helmet of course)...

*Late realization: When Minou is transporting me to work and back (so he can use our shared family car), he actually does the trip twice--so double those numbers above, $12 a week or $48 a month.

Frugal Friday

This week's frugal act was...cooking at home. This does not really represent a change for us, since meals out are a rare and special treat, but I took full advantage of my mid-week day off to prepare food for the family. This is potentially money-saving because with the backbone of meals planned for, we're less likely to make those quick trips to the store for something for dinner and end up with six other purchases.

On Tuesday I made: Vanilla Walnut muffins (with lots of fresh eggs from the Ladies) for after-school high-protein treats, a big kettle of Potato Leek & Kale soup for Minou and I--savory and delicious, and two vegetarian (using veggie ham) Quiche Lorraines, again with our own eggs. I do not have the best success with pie crust (anyone have a good whole wheat recipe?), so the quiche was received with mixed reviews by some, but appreciated by most. I also made sure we have weekly staples on hand--milk, fruit, salad, veggies. This way we can get creative with other supplies in the cupboards without being tempted to resort to more expensive veggie burgers or tofu dogs, our convenience foods.

How about your frugal acts of the week? Please share!