If it's been a while since I've blogged, it's because I really haven't had that much to say lately. My frugal activities haven't been too impressive for June. But let's see... What have I done?
* I've started paying all of my bills online. I don't have THAT many bills, but at 41 cents a stamp and the hassle of writing a check and transcribing account numbers and addressing envelopes and having to walk to the post office near my work over lunch to purchase stamps, it is vastly worth the time and money savings to me. My bank offers a very slick one-page online bill pay option. You fill in the payee and your account information once, and from thence forward all you have to do is log in to your bank account online, plug in the dollar and cents amount of your credit card or electric bill or whatever, and hit "pay." One caveat-- it seems that they want you to allow about a week for it to go through, so don't put off paying your bills. Pay right away. I couldn't believe how quick and painless it was to pay my credit card bill this month compared to what I was doing before. I also set up my child sponsorship accounts so I can send my donations in electronically.
* I made spaghetti the other night. I haven't had it in forever. For some reason it seemed like such a hassle to make. I realized again that it's incredibly easy and tastes like real food if you use the amazing and super-cheap Wal-Mart brand spaghetti sauce. Yum. I froze the unused sauce in small containers for the next time I make spaghetti. (I used to let it grow mold in the jar... bad.) Spaghetti is cheap.
* I recently discovered idrink.com. While I have yet to make anything from the recipe list, I love the concept-- you just go down the list of ingredients, checking the ones you have on hand, and it will generate a list of drinks that you can make with what you actually have. This way you don't wind up buying three more ingredients and a blender just because you want a "cocktail" instead of straight whiskey again. ;)
* I am switching to beer in cans as opposed to beer in longnecks. Aside from the much cheaper up-front cost, the cans are theoretically redeemable for scrap, too. I pour them into amazingly cool pint glasses I got a flea market and don't have to deal with the "wait a minute, this isn't Diet Coke!" moment I always get when drinking beer from a can.
* And speaking of cans, I'm still saving them. I found two on my run last night. I'll let you know how the selling for scrap goes soon, hopefully.
* And speaking of running, it's been great. It keeps me busy and healthy. I'm a little worried about my right shin today, so I'm going to take the next couple of nights off and hopefully will not develop shin splints. But when I am running, I am not spending money! :)
Other than that, I'm making an effort to read the books I already have and borrow ones from the fiction section of my library. I did buy one used on Amazon because I couldn't find it at a library here and I figured I would rather pay the $6.00 to buy and have it shipped to me than cost my library and the lending library $30 (the average cost for an interlibrary loan transaction). Just call it giving back to my employer. Maybe that can help assuage some of my guilt for requesting freebies while at work. :)
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Update and Rebate
The rebate simply refers to the fact that my check from Rite Aid finally came in and I can officially say that I made money by shopping there last month.
I can't tell you what a year old Boca Burger tastes like yet but I can say that a good stew or even a bad boxed meal can cover up slightly dated beef. I think I am looking forward to the big year old bag of broccoli though just as a change of pace since living alone, a boxed meal can last me 3 days without much effort.
In the plant arena the corn did finally succumb to the sun and I did force one of my tomato seeds to sprout. All this requires is wetting a paper towel and putting it in a plastic bag, in the sun, with the seed on top. I was pretty happy when it grew a delicate little root, then made the mistake of checking out the plants for sale at Wal Mart. My little sprout didn't look so impressive any more. I was planning on going back at the end of the month for the (your plant isn't going to do anything this late in the season) discounts. Finally being an indoor gardener does me some good! I was hoping to find a Sweet 100 cherry tomato since it's supposed to be productive and I like cherry tomatoes. In the meantime though I went to the local nursery and fell for a Tumbling Tom Red cherry tomato that blew Wal Mart out of the water. This plant came not only with a very healthy number of blooms but a profusion of tomatoes there just waiting to ripen. I also picked up some wonderful looking/smelling purple basil and though I spent more I think I can justify it since this nursery always has quality plants and good people don't hurt(Neither did the cuddly cat!).
I think I've finally settled on EBay for selling my stuff since I prefer not having the threat of meeting my buyers and having the larger market to sell to.
Finally, my apartment is starting to look a little more like a place I want to spend time thanks to a little rearranging, some cleaning and a few old tapestries that I was afraid to hang when I first moved in. Admittedly a British flag and a blue Celtic dragon aren't the most sophisticated decorations they do make me happy which really is all one's dwelling needs to do.
I can't tell you what a year old Boca Burger tastes like yet but I can say that a good stew or even a bad boxed meal can cover up slightly dated beef. I think I am looking forward to the big year old bag of broccoli though just as a change of pace since living alone, a boxed meal can last me 3 days without much effort.
In the plant arena the corn did finally succumb to the sun and I did force one of my tomato seeds to sprout. All this requires is wetting a paper towel and putting it in a plastic bag, in the sun, with the seed on top. I was pretty happy when it grew a delicate little root, then made the mistake of checking out the plants for sale at Wal Mart. My little sprout didn't look so impressive any more. I was planning on going back at the end of the month for the (your plant isn't going to do anything this late in the season) discounts. Finally being an indoor gardener does me some good! I was hoping to find a Sweet 100 cherry tomato since it's supposed to be productive and I like cherry tomatoes. In the meantime though I went to the local nursery and fell for a Tumbling Tom Red cherry tomato that blew Wal Mart out of the water. This plant came not only with a very healthy number of blooms but a profusion of tomatoes there just waiting to ripen. I also picked up some wonderful looking/smelling purple basil and though I spent more I think I can justify it since this nursery always has quality plants and good people don't hurt(Neither did the cuddly cat!).
I think I've finally settled on EBay for selling my stuff since I prefer not having the threat of meeting my buyers and having the larger market to sell to.
Finally, my apartment is starting to look a little more like a place I want to spend time thanks to a little rearranging, some cleaning and a few old tapestries that I was afraid to hang when I first moved in. Admittedly a British flag and a blue Celtic dragon aren't the most sophisticated decorations they do make me happy which really is all one's dwelling needs to do.
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