5 Things I Did That Were Frugal This Week

1.  We finished our kitchen floor project,which I plan to post about and came in under budget :)

2. I made a Thanksgiving banner out of supplies I already had

3.  Sold a few items and made $11

4. Used chicken stock I had in the freezer to make chicken noodle soup

5.  Planned my shopping in order of stops to save on gas

5 Things I Did That Were Frugal This Week

1.  Cooked some chicken thigh pieces in the crock pot.  After they were done I skinned, de-boned and shredded them.  Used some of the meat in soup and the rest for a pasta dish.  I got two dinners out them. 

2.  Saved the skin and bones from the chicken pieces added them back to the crock pot with water and made chicken stock.  Froze it when it was done for future use.

3. Sold several times this week and made $20.50.  Best thing is the decluttering of my house :)

4.  Made a list of all the Christmas presents I have bought so far and realized I am halfway done with my shopping.  I will be done by the end of November :)

5. I searched for a coupon online before heading the the fabric store.  Found one for 50% off.

5 Things I Did That Were Frugal This Week

1.  Caught a charge that didn't belong to us in our checking account. Went right to the bank and had it fixed.  Turns out my hubby's debit card info was some how stolen.  I was the 3rd person who had been in that day whom had false charges appear in their accounts from the same stores in the same area.  BTW: my false charge was to the tune of $221.55.

2. Found Kid #5 a pair of black and brown dress shoes for $6 total!

3. Took pictures of several items to list on the facebook garage sale sites in my area.

4.  Ate leftovers and made lunches with alot of them

5.  Re purposed a shirt of my husbands into a skirt for Kid #5

Fabric Bin Project

I have slowing been trying to implement more organization into our house.  One of the area's that was in a drastic need of an overhaul was Kid # 5's toys.  Her room is small so we only keep a few things in it and the rest are down in our family room.  A few months ago I bought two of these cubbies from Walmart.   They had them on sale at Target so I used the ad to price match.  Walmart is closer to me then Target is                  

                                                  

The next step in this organization project was to find some inexpensive boxes to fit the cubbies so that Kid #5 would have to some place to store her smaller toys.  After scouring Pinterest, I decided to make her some fabric covered boxes myself.  I first started this project when I was still working as a Nanny.  So over a few months I bought home all the empty diaper boxes and baby wipes boxes.  I also used a few printer paper boxes I had on hand.  Here is the tutorial I used to make my boxes which I originally found on Pinterest.  I used a painters drop cloth to cover my boxes.  I made a total of 9 boxes.   This is what they looked like when I was done.

I thought they were kinda plain looking but they did work and fit well into the cubbies.  Then I happen to stubble on this tutorial for making fabric bins on Pinterest and fell in love with the handles.  So I decided to add handles to my boxes.  This is what they looked like next

                                       


Next I decide they needed some numbers on them.  So I  stenciled some numbers on them.

And here they are with Kid #5s toys all organized in them.  I love how they look and to make all 9 boxes cost less then $25.  They are also sturdier then the fabric bins you buy from the store and I would have spent at least $45 buying them.

                                                                       


I really do heart Pinterest!
                                                                                                                                               

                                                                   

Stuffed Green Pepper Soup

1 lb.- Ground Beef
1 cup- diced Onion -fresh or frozen
1/2 - teaspoon Basil
1/2 - teaspoon Oregano
1- ( 14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes
2 cups- chopped Green Pepper
1 - ( 15 oz) can Tomato Sauce
3 cups- Water
1 Tablespoon - Beef Bouillon
1 cup - cooked Brown Rice

Brown beef and onion. Place in crock pot with the remaining ingredients on low 6-8 hours.  Or place in a large stockpot and simmer 1 hour.

*I usually cook mine on the stove.   I also do not cook the rice ahead of time if I am cooking on the stove.  If I do not have brown rice on hand I have use white rice also and it works fine.  We love this soup and I frequently make a double batch and freeze it for lunches.

5 Things I Did That Were Frugal This Week

1.  Used up and apple in some muffins that was getting kinda mushy, instead of throwing it in the compost bucket.

2. Sold an items making $5 to add to my ER fund.  I also have $22 pending in sales right now.  I am suppose to meet the people later this evening.

3. Made a big pot of Stuffed Green Pepper soup for dinner and used up some green pepper that were starting to go bad.

4. Made a batch of laundry soap

5. Grocery shopped with a list :)

Mid-Month Check In

I tallied the numbers for our grocery expenses so far this month and they totaled $257.55.  Not to bad but I was really hoping we could just spend that amount for the whole month, not gonna happen.  I have a small grocery list that I need to go purchase.  I think that will be it for the month though.

One thing I have learned in all of this is we are snackers.  We go though alot of snack foods and I doubt that will change.  So I really really need to plan for these also.  I will be starting that with my small grocery list for the rest of the month.  I also need to be more proactive about making some snacks for us from scratch.  I think that would really help with keeping our grocery budget low.