Money is tight. I think everyone can agree with that statement. So, this is definitely one of those posts I'm going to try and do every week to, if for no other reason, to make myself feel good about that I'm doing things to save money. I've got so many things to pay for and our budget is down to brass tacks and there really isn't anything else to cut out, so now it's going to be a matter of thinking outside the box to save the money I need to pay off bills and save up for things we need. Wish me luck...I'm going to need it.
So, here is the list of things I've done this week. Enjoy!
1. Used points for car parts.
We got a notice in the mail that we had a bunch of points toward parts at the car dealership that we could use for up to 100.00 worth of free parts. My husband, while trying to replace the injectors in his car (already a REALLY spendy thing to replace), broke a small (but expensive, of course) part in the process (which, from what he was able to dig up online was a really common thing to happen when replacing the injectors). He used the points that were accumulated to get the part for free. He got it in and put into the car this last weekend and, finally, after being without a car for over a month, he was able to drive his car again.
2. Used gift cards to eat out.
We got some gift cards to Red Robin for Christmas. We are not eating out much, but when we do, we have been using the gift cards to save money.
My husband managed to tear two pairs of jeans. I went around the tear with thread to seal up the edges (to avoid the material just shredding and ripping out the mending I'd done) and then, after I had the edges of the material sealed up, I sewed the sides together. Works well. Does create a kind of ugly mend, but I've found it holds the best.
4. Reused an old patch to mend hole in a pair of my jeans.
This is a good frugal tip. Patches you buy at like Jo-Ann Fabrics are expensive. But, go ahead and get one for whatever hole you need to mend up. Believe me, 9 times out of 10 that patch will actually outlive the thing you are mending., so don't waste it when the item is at the end of its lifespan! I had a pair of jeans that I'd mended that finally died on me, hard, and I didn't want to waste the patch (I have a few frog patches I really like and will use on casual clothing repairs) as it was still in good shape. I carefully seam ripped off the patch and have reused it three times now and it's still going. Definitely have gotten my 3.00 out of that patch over the years.
5. Moved exercise bike upstairs to get more exercise in.
I had moved our old, very beat, exercise bike out of storage last year to try and get in more exercise, but it was sitting down in the den where I just never got chances to use it. So, I moved it into our living room to get more exercise on it. It has worked really well so far and bonus is that my son is using it too and using a bike is one of his physical therapy goals, so I'm REALLY happy I moved the bike :).
6. Ran out of sour cream. Strained some plain yogurt to use instead. No one noticed.
Place a wire mesh strainer over a bowl, line it with some paper towels and then pour in some plain yogurt. Fold the paper towels lightly over the yogurt and then place the bowl in the fridge for a few hours or ever over night and just keep checking it until it is the right consistency you want. You can make it into a kind of cheese if you let it sit long enough or you can strain it until thicker and use it as a sour cream substitute. It works well.
7. Made brown sugar instead of buying it.
This is way easier than you may think. I was nearly out of brown sugar a while ago (if you look at the pic above you'll see vegetable stock, so I know this pic was from Thanksgiving) and I looked at the price to buy some more and went, "No way" as it was up to ridiculous amounts. Instead I bought a 4 lb bag of sugar and used a bit of molasses I had around the house to make my own brown sugar.
I put about, I'd say, 3 lbs of sugar in my mixer (be sure to go lower with the amounts if you have a less powerful mixer than mine) and then just poured in a few tablespoons of molasses at a time and mixed it into the sugar until I got the color of brown sugar I wanted. It was SO much more cost effective to do it this way. I just made some more last week to see me through a bunch more baking in the future and the nice part? It comes out moist and stays that way, if I store it in airtight container, WAY longer than the stuff I buy from the store.
8. Shopped around way ahead of time for the prom for my daughter. Got everything picked out and have been picking them up slowly but surely with credit card points and gift cards. Got everything really cheap as a result, or free (in the case of her dress).
When we picked up the injectors for my husband's car, I was able to order them from Amazon on my Amazon credit card (not ideal, but I didn't have 800.00 to slap down on injectors otherwise) and so I used those credit card rewards to pick up a prom dress for her (on sale for 27.00 and it is really nice, actually...definitely happy with it), some shoes (20.00), a purse/bag (8.00 after coupon and sale) and a mask for her masquerade ball theme for the prom. I do need to shell out money for tickets, which I've slowly budgeted for and then hopefully she can go and have fun with her boyfriend without anxiety.
9. Doctored up canned soup to make things stretch further.
I've turned cream of mushroom soup into Beef Stroganoff via a recipe on the Campbell's site (not great, honestly) and have made it into mushroom sauce (just make the soup with 1/2 the milk called for on the can...works well) to have over pork chops and things.
Tomato soup I've doctored up to make into vegetable soup with frozen veggies and it has worked okay. Add in grilled cheese sandwiches and no one complained.
10. Made fish pancakes for a “fancy” breakfast item with the Christmas gift the son got for me years ago.
These were just regular sourdough pancakes and then I just made them in the fish mold my son got for me years ago for Christmas. It is the only thing he's ever picked out for me for a Christmas gift, so it was kind of special for me to use it finally to make the shaped pancakes. Alvah really got a kick out of watching me make them too :). I just put them into the freezer for now and we'll eat them on the weekends. I'm planning on making up some vanilla pudding to eat with them this weekend so we have kind of a deconstructed custard filled pancake. That's about where my skill level lies right now *laugh*.
11. Used left over beer that my husband drank a few sips of at dinner and made beer pancakes for the freezer out of it.
I made brats and some home made soft pretzels for a special dinner for my husband and he had a rare beer with dinner. He drank, maybe, 1/4 of the bottle, so I saved the left overs (he had poured the beer into a glass to drink it, so don't be grossed out *laugh*) . I added some sparkling water to the left over beer to make the proper amount I needed for the recipe (I used this recipe as it looked the easiest) and it came out pretty tasty. No beer flavor to be had that we could detect, which was good. I put these into the freezer to also eat on the weekends for my husband as he's always up before the rest of us.
12. Used leftover bread and made some French toast to put into the freezer (see pic for #11 for visuals).
Some weeks we eat through two loaves of bread in five minutes, it seems, and some weeks it just kind of sits. Last week was one of those weeks where a loaf of bread just sat. I put it into the fridge to stop it from molding and as soon as I got the chance I sliced it up and made it into French toast and put that into the freezer. I am feeling pretty good about putting up so much breakfast stuff as we were out of breakfast items in the freezer, pretty much. This helps stop my husband from picking things up for a quick breakfast multiple times a week, which definitely saves money (especially as prices continue to rise).
13. I have also been using more home milled flour and combining it with store bought to make bread. It is still a learning curve for me as I'm trying to get rise times down and things, but I've gotten a TON of wheat berries over the years from Church members who were moving and things (LDS are big on wheat berries as a main food storage staple) and am determined to start working my way through the wheat to hopefully save money compared to buying it all from the store.
14. I cut my son's and husband's hair.
During Covid and the lockdowns, I ended up having to cut my husband's hair for work, since...well...everything was closed. I got myself a pair of hair scissors off of Amazon and this guide tool (associate link there) and it has been the most invaluable thing to saving money when it comes to my husband getting his hair cut. It is easy to use and it comes with a nice handy, dandy guide to show you how to make various haircuts by showing you how short or long to cut hair in what sections. Sure, it's not a professional barber hair cut when done, I know that, but it looks nice to non-professionals. My husband has also been happy that he can get a trim whenever he needs one versus whenever he can find time to track down a barber to give him a haircut too :).
Saving money is definitely the name of the game this year, so here's hoping every little bit helps.
Hope you all are doing well and hanging in there.
Enjoy!
Hi, Erika,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing, as usual. I have also made brown sugar for a long time. I like that one can control the dark/lightness of the outcome with how much molasses is added. (You might correct the end of your paragraph that says ‘4 pound bag of FLOUR😁).
Laura at Heavenly Homemakers has some great ideas and recipes for ‘grab and go’ freezered breakfasts that may help your husband. She uses simple ingredients (including whole wheat) that most of us stock.
I smiled about you cutting your husband’s hair….same situation here. My husband was really aggravated that the barber was always closed, then went to appointment only. He asked me to do it but I was sure I would RUIN his look. I finally agreed and he was pleased with the result so…Sorry, Barber.
The fish pancakes are Adorable and how Fun that Alvah was entertained as well!
You are a blessing to so many in that you share your YEARS of ‘making do’ and it is very valuable in such a time as this. Have a great week, Conni (California)
Got it fixed. Thanks for pointing that out *laugh*.
DeleteYou have done amazing on all your savings efforts. That was awesome on getting car parts free with points. What a blessing! We also always appreciate gift cards to our favorite places to eat. It’s good that you know how to make up the brown sugar. I’m thankful we have it readily available at a decent price. Typically at Sam’s Club a 7 pound bag is $6.98. During the holidays I was able to get it at another store for two 2-pound bags for $3, making it 75 cents a pound. We buy our molasses/sorghum from a friend that grows the cane and makes his own for $13 a quart. It is excellent, so we ration it out to make it last a while, so I’m thankful I don’t have to use it up to make my brown sugar. I’m sure it’s possibly cheaper at the store for molasses, but this is our splurge once a year. I find it so interesting how food items have drastically different prices & availability throughout the U.S. All your cooking & baking inspires me to get creative in the kitchen. You’re doing great gathering all the prom goodies for your daughter. I’m sure she will appreciate all your efforts to make it a memorable evening for her. Such exciting times for teens as they grow up! Thank you for all the posts lately, I know you’re super busy……Vicky in Ky.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I really don't know how much molasses is going for at the stores right now. Probably a lot, unfortunately. I actually got a gallon of molasses off of Amazon for like 8.00 right before Covid lockdowns and have been going through that slowly but surely (I just refill my molasses jar as I need it). Once you have a container of molasses it doesn't seem like a lot of people go through it fast, so I figured using it to make brown sugar might be a good use for some of it :).
DeleteGood job on being creative and using it all up. More people need to be aware of doing such. There is just so much waste today.
ReplyDeleteLove these weekly savings. Glad it's going to be a regular feature!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed this post. You are right saying things have gotten pricey and saving money is key. I like that we are all in this together to help each other. One thing I started when COVID began is I quit buying paper towels and several other paper products. I went to Rural King (I have seen them on Amazon and in other stores)and bought 3 cotton dish towels, cut them into fourths and hemmed the edges. I use these for draining things, cleaning, etc. Any old towel or rag would work of course. I use them to strain yogurt, bacon, etc. I made cloth napkins from my fabric stash and found my grandmother's handkerchiefs to use instead of disposables. I do keep 1 roll of paper towels, a box of tissues, and a package of cheap paper napkins around for emergencies or if someone gets a cold. The roll of paper towels I bought before COVID are still sitting on the shelf. I estimate switching to cloth products has saved us over $150/year. I highly recommend giving cloth a try. It's easy on the budget. Thanks for your posts. I really enjoy them. You did well with your cost cutting.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, bills just keep rolling in. I am glad I am stocked up.
ReplyDeleteI use worn out clothes to make my patches. Amish neighbor told me that instead of buying patches.
I blended up regular sugar to make powdered sugar for my Amish neighbor. We were both out of it. I won't buy powdered sugar again. Worked just fine.
I made bread pudding with old buns that had spent too much time in the freezer.
I used my points at Amazon to pay for a year's supply of Hubby's OTC meds his Neurologist's wants him on. I got the points because putting the IRS bill on the card with make payments plan was 35% cheaper than a personal loan from the bank with interest. Lesson learned when you close down a business, check your tax preparer to make sure what your taxes will be.
I love your post of saving money. I don't feel so alone in the battle