What did you do to save $ today?

[me&thegals]

Great deals, everyone!

I save so much $ by being Someone Willing to Accept Hand-me-downs My daughter was just gifted 2 brand-new pairs of tennies--right before school started!

Family just shared a pile of books and children's workbooks--yes!

And my mom cleaned out her closet and left a nice pile for my SIL and I to sort through. She buys really quality clothes, and stylish, so this is another great score!

Then, today, I had 3 hours of incredible weeding and mulching help.... and paid in squash, raspberries and basil!

 

[tortoise]

Went grocery shopping. We had a short list and walked through the store looking for good sales.

Milk - regularly $4 per gallon..... $2.50 per gallon.

Also I got a pork roast. For some reason, the one I picked up was $1.50 less per pound than the rest of the identical product! I have no idea how, but that was pretty awesome.

 

[Wifezilla]

Instead of buying those $50 pair of skechers I wanted, I went to goodwill. I found a new pair of dance shoes (retail $30) unworn for 99 cents, a pair of Merrell track shoes (retail $70), unworn for $9.99, and a pair of Inov-8 running shoes (retail $99), slightly worn for $4.99. Then I went to Kohl's and found a pair of white keds on clearance for $8.

So I got 4 pairs of shoes for half the price of one pair of new shoes.

 

[ChickenPotPie]

Well, we just did our budget and we're short. We cut down and out as much as possible. So I should have a lot to share in the next two weeks.

So far today.....I made 4 loaves of bread for sandwich making for the kids' lunches and morning toast. I made one batch of chocolate chip cookies (made just over 4 dozen) for lunch treats or after school treats.

I also picked 2 bushels of apples from someone's trees the other day. They advertised FREE apples on Freecycle for anyone willing to go pick them. My boys will go out today after school to pick the measly bunch of tiny apples on our own tree. Then, we're washing them, juicing them, and canning our own apple juice. I've got a ton of pear sauce and pear butter I made a few weeks ago that I have no need for the same from apples. So, juice it is.

I'm ready to strain the chicken broth I made from the backs of the 6 meat chickens we processed . I will can both plain broth and chicken soup. Going to be doing a lot of canning today!

However, before canning, I'm planting my bargain $2 full grown pepper plants (3) and already started $3 zucchini plants (6) in the open spaces in my pathetic garden that marauding goats destroyed. I'll also plant a few seeds to kick off my cool season garden.

Just before school gets out, I'm power washing the rabbit trays into my garden cart that I drilled drainage holes into the bottom of. The water flows out and leaves nothing but poop and hay bits. Free, ready to use manure to feed my garden plants!

I'm making out my menu and grocery list today, as well (busy day). I'll be using food items we already have here at home and limit store purchases to fresh veggies and milk for recipes.

If anyone is interested in seeing how I'm making $150 stretch to feed my family of 6 for the next two weeks, you can follow along via my blog: http://howtogrowboys.wordpress.com Since our normal food budget is over twice that much, it should get interesting. I'm be perusing this thread for helpful ideas.

 

[tortoise]

Instead of buying those $50 pair of skechers I wanted, I went to goodwill. I found a new pair of dance shoes (retail $30) unworn for 99 cents, a pair of Merrell track shoes (retail $70), unworn for $9.99, and a pair of Inov-8 running shoes (retail $99), slightly worn for $4.99. Then I went to Kohl's and found a pair of white keds on clearance for $8.

So I got 4 pairs of shoes for half the price of one pair of new shoes.

Nice! good job!

 

[FarmerDenise]

Wifey, great job, gotta love Goodwill. It is definitely my favorite place to shop.

ChickenPotPie, sounds like you have your work cut out for you. and a good start on it too.

 

[freemotion]

I ran into TSC to buy a $2 bucket lid on Monday. Spotted a clearance sign over....Ariats!!! I mean....

I put two pairs on layaway.... My other Ariats have lasted for years. I got a pair of brown mules that will replace the ones I've worn for at least ten years that are rather ratty...those will be for...er...Ahh, I'll pitch 'em. Not good for working or barn shoes, no real use for them, so out they go. Sniffle.

And I got a pair of ...um....leather sneakers, for lack of any other term. Sneaker bottom, leather sneaker-looking upper. I've been looking for clearance sneakers for a while, but with my big feet and being so picky about what I will wear on my feet, I've been looking for a couple of years and there are holes in my barn sneakers and the soles are peeling off! So I will rotate my "good" sneakers to barn sneakers and these new ones I will wear as street shoes.

They were $29 and $39, a great deal for shoes I know will be SOOO comfy and will last for many years.

 

[tortoise]

I haven't been sleeping well, so I made a sleep mask. I'm not sure if it will actually help, but it felt good to NOT buy one. I made it out of scraps, so it didn't cost anything at all!

And I like it a lot better than the fake-satin, poorly-fitting ones at the stores!

 

[me&thegals]

Some more swapping garden labor for vegetables. Yay!

 

[FarmerDenise]

A neighbor dropped off a big bag of nice hay for the goats and a gallon of white vinegar, I gave him a box of produce.

I made a lasagna type dish using what we had in the house. I did not have ricotta or cottage cheese, but lots of vegies, so I used the vegies to add bulk to the homemade sauce. It is super yummy!

Another neighbor gave as some strawberries and we traded him tomatoes and a few eggs. We had the strawberries plain for desert yesterday. Today I put them in some jello for desert.