How are you starting out your month by stretching that dollar?

Are you saving like a lion or like a lamb?

 Well today, is going to be filled with yard work, mostly prepping the veggie gardens.  I also have laundry, vaccume, dishes and working from home on the to do list for today.  Yesterday we spent six hours outside doing yard work in  the front of the house, now it's time for the back.  I even got a sunburn yesterday!  I was ecstatic!

Grrrr AmyC and your sunburn! (kidding )

I'm jealous. I drove home from work last night in a blinding snow storm...had to creep 20 mph or less . I'm not sure I remember what the sun looks and feels like after this winter!

Stretching...well, today we need to do grocery shopping, and tomorrow we are taking a trip one hour south (still no sun there, though) to see a movie and eat dinner out. We are both crazy excited since I've been saving money each week to pay for tomorrow (it's to celebrate my husband's birthday) . So this weekend isn't going to be about saving exactly, more about some of the benefits of frugality and saving - having a celebration without dipping into the budget, or worse. peace, pam

AmyC

Please send some of that sun to north central WV. We are in need of some of it today, March came in like a Lion today, and it has snowed and is so blustery today. LOL

I am also coming into March like a Lion. I canned some Vinegared Onions this morning early before DH got home from work. They are red onions canned in Vinegar with a little bit of crushed garlic in them A local restaurant uses them in their salads and they are delicious, my sister's birthday is the 22nd and I want to give her a jar of them for she likes them as well as I do. I had to buy the red onions but the rest of the stuff I had on hand, so it wasn't a big expense to get the stuff for them. Had to do the weekly grocery shopping yesterday, and saw them at Sam's so I bought the five pound bad of them for less than $5.00. I will use them thru the year, in my stir fried veggies, in my salads and take them camping with us, to share with friends.

I also bought two 1 gallon cans of Tomato Puree, to make my spaghetti sauce out of. We don't like the store bought kind and making it makes me feel good. I will get about seven quarts of sauce from the two gallons of puree. They cost less than $3.00 a can, so it is less than a dollar a quart. I will add to the puree, but stuff that we have on hand too, so it won't be costing me as much as store bought sauce does and it is so much better to us. I can control how much of the ingredients go in, thus the amount of calories I will consume from the sauce. I will can it in pints tho, as we don't use that much at one time, there is only two of us, and we don't over eat so we don't need a quart at a time.

Paid the State their owed money today, too. Now they won't go under. LOL

Hoping to stay home all weekend, DH had to work last night and goes back out tomorrow afternoon,so we don't have anywhere we need to go. So we will be saving money from not eating out, not driving the vehicles, and eating at home. It is too cold for me to have to go out today anyway.

Have a great weekend all.

March is coming in like a lamb overall... it's cool and will be cloudy today (cool is below freezing now). 

I am taking today as a mini-spring cleaning day. Lots of laundry. Decided to be as frugal as possible on that note; washing in cold and hanging. Will have to fluff some lint off (in the dryer) some dark sweats tomorrow. Will be using all my clotheslines space and 2 broken (missing bars) dryer racks. Will be doing dishes and vacuuming later tonight.

Still not feeling 100% yet so taking things in small strides.Eating only food in house. Will have to throw some food since I found that I can't eat it anymore (permanently). Will be a simple food day.

Cleaning and doing laundry today- at least 5 loads.  Washing bedding, three little girls so far have had the flu.  

School project day also.  

Going to Walmart to try our new state health insurance with a prescription- fingers crossed.  Other items on list- tights for girls who have worn holes in their knees, needed for uniform. A new calculator, the 20 year old one gave up, vacumn cleaner bags, and napkins.

So starting out pretty well-

I clipped all my coupons and saved a lot on items we use regularly.

My utilitiy bill is $20 lower.  I switched to speed wash for the dishwasher (basic wash takes forever) and laundry on express (10-15 min faster). Made a huge difference I guess

I haven't gone to Walmart in about 6 weeks ( I spend too much $ and time) and reduced my grocery bill about $100

March will be the last month I pay gas and electricity in my old house.  It has been leased to own!!!

Planted broccoli seed and and Italian basil seed.  Scallions and romain lettuce seeds sprouted in the last two days, woo hoo!

Makin' a birthday card for my mom today.

DH spent $13 for a part, but fixed our pickup truck today, so that saved $$$.

Washed some ziplock bags for reuse.

No sunburn here unfortunately.  : (  But the sun did come out for awhile and it's warmer today, so that's good.  Still a lot of snow tho.

My new semester started this week for Nursing School.  I was trying desperately to avoid buying the book for my Human Development class, so I did some research and discovered that there is a copy on reserve at the school library.  I went to the first day of class on Friday and determined that we won't need the book that often, so I can get away with the copy at the library.  I found them new for $130 and used for $85 plus shipping, so that saves some serious $$!  I also experimented with taking the bus home from the hosptial where I have my new clinical rotation.  It is in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh which is where several hosptials and universities are located, so parking is at a premium.  There is very little free parking and the free parking is far away, so I would have to walk around in this icky weather with my white nursing pants = disaster!!  My husband dropped me off in the morning and I took the bus home.  Our student IDs work as a free bus pass, so there is no cost there. 

In addition to that, I got out of class early on Friday, so I was able to cook/prepare a few things to eat for the weekend including chili, tuna salad, pasta with two kinds of sauce (sausage for hubby, veggie for me.)  I spent the afternoon at the library and lunch/dinner were not a problem.  My goal for March is to try to be prepared with meals in advance.  That seems to be the thing to go out the window when I get hungry and tired and I'm running out of time, I don't want to resort to going out to eat. 

I'm planning to look at the new Walgreen's rebates for March either tonight or tomorow and match the deals with my coupons.  There is a Walgreen's across from my school, so I go there when we have a break and that cuts down on an extra trip in the car. 

Alison in Pittsburgh

Sunny with clouds here.  not enough for a sunburn :)   quiet weekend. Cleaning the house getting ready for new homestay student tonight. laundry,vacuuming/bathroom/mopping all the fun stuff.  We are all fighting off bugs that are trying their hardest to take over. lots of vit c and garlic/parsley pills.  Had a friend over for a playdate. 

Went shopping for fruit and veggies at the langley farm market close by (cheap) and went to the butchers to pick up the 1.68lb ground chicken to try plus some end packs of the deli smoked bacon (so good), passed by a thrift store with 50% off all clothing so had to stop. Got a nice denim skirt for myself for $1.75 plus a video for the kids and some crochet magazines (.25 each)

leftover japanese food for the kids and leftover perogies w/spaghetti sauce (turned out good,different very filling..would use bite size perogies next time) for us. hotdogs and leftover perogies etc for dinner too. Can make something for the student when comes if he is hungry.

Tomorrow, Have to go to the police office to get criminal record check done for work. finish organizing the kids books (in a big mess in the playroom at the moment from me), show the student how to get to use transit and go to the inlaws for dinner.