Five frugal things that I have done this week

I work hard to save my family money everyday.  I shop the sales (always with a list!), price match, coupon and cook from scratch as much as possible.  We reuse and re-purpose and up-cycle as much as we can.  So, I should have more than five frugal things that I have done to save money, stretch the household budget and reserve resources everyday.  Some days I do.  Other days I do not.  But, always in the back of my mind, I’m thinking up better and more cost-effective ways to run our family and manage our budget.  So, with that in mind, here are five frugalicious things that I have done this week:

1) Hung our laundry to dry inside (I have been doing this for a couple of months now, since Mr. K.B. built a killer drying rack for me.  I have not used our dryer once and it has cut our Hydro bill by at least $30 a month – sweet!)

2) Prepared all meals at home, dinners made from scratch (lasagna, jerk chicken with rice, pork loin roast with pan gravy and veggies), lunches are leftovers and sandwiches etc, breakfasts are cereal, bananas and milk.  Snacks are fruit, veggies and yogurt.  It is amazing how much food you can buy and prepare for the cost of just ONE dinner out.

3) Took my pre-school aged girls (one is mine, the other I watch three days a week) to a free program at the local elementary school aimed at preparing them to enter Kindergarten in the fall.  It is an excellent program, I highly recommend checking to see if your local area has a similar program if you have babies heading to kindergarten soon.

4) I re-wore my yoga pants (*snort* yes, I wear yoga pants even though the very thought of actually doing yoga makes my hair hurt.  And yes, I am aware of the absurdity of wear yoga pants for everyday living, but they are comfy  and they fit.) Hell, I wear running shoes but would be hard pressed to tell you the last time that I actually ran. I’m a walking fashion contradiction (or disaster). Being at home with the kids means that unless one (or more) of them vomits on me or uses me in place of tissue (happens more often than I care to reveal), that I don’t really get my clothes dirty, so I can wear them more than once (undergarments excluded – ewwwww!).  Saves time and money because I’m not washing and hanging clothes unnecessarily.

5) Made use of some coupons for Garnier Body 7-day lotion which resulted in getting purchasing six bottles for $11.14 (including HST), instead of $20.14, the “sale” price, that is a 55% savings.  Anytime I get purchase things that our family uses, eats or needs for 50% or greater off the retail or sale price, I’m a happy mama.  (Oh, and by the way, the Garnier Body Intensive 7 days lotion line is FABULOUS.  It is my new ‘go to’ lotion for dry skin, I have tried them ALL and this is the first one that has made a difference for me.  Wal-Mart – $2.97 Rollback right now, SDM had a tear pad coupon $3 WUB2 but there are other coupons for this product out there because it is still a relatively new line.)

So, that’s a glimpse into my frugality this week. 😉