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August frugalistas


SamanthaCarter
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53 minutes ago, prairiewindmomma said:

A few thoughts:

1. Check to see if there are any booking deals left.  Sometimes staying on site offers discounts.  It looks like they have a number of them on the Universal website right now.

2. Check various vacation rentals.  Sometimes there are good deals to be found.

3. Check the Hampton Inn that is nearby. We actually stayed there last time we went.  They offer a free shuttle to Universal. We ended up not using it, and just paying for parking because we needed the freedom to come and go as we pleased (ie--go to the grocery store).  But, by staying at the Hampton, we got a free huge breakfast each morning. The suite style rooms can hold up to six. They also come with a sink and a mini fridge (and I think a microwave too, but we don't use those.)  We packed a kitchen crate with our instant pot, and used the local grocery store to shop for ingredients. I brought a cutting board, knife, wooden spoon, and a few things.  We ate breakfast on site, packed snacks with us during the day, and ate dinner at the hotel.  We *did* eat lunch at Universal.....in both Harry Potter restaurants. This was a huge thing for us in terms of enjoyability.  There is a Papa John's pizza close to Universal as well.....if you check their deals, sometimes that can be a good cheap dinner as well. We stayed 10 days in FL last time (we also did Disney World). I think our per night rate at the Hampton worked out to be about $100/night.  

We saved the most money by 1. not flying everyone, 2. not having a vehicle rental, and 3. eating only lunch in the parks.  The Three Broomsticks has a family meal deal which also had a pretty good value. 

(Expect that someone is going to want to buy an interactive wand and budget for it....I think we spent $50ish.)

 

Thank you for the info! I checked the booking deals on the site and the prices were insane!  I will check out Hampton Inn, thank you.

We are certainly the family that does cooking at hotels and bringing snack to save on food.

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Well, I have 4 stores to shop at tomorrow but partly to save money on weekly groceries. The extra one is right off the road on my way back from the main one so it's not like it costs extra driving time or gas. Then the meat market and pet store. Hope my list keeps me in line. Also, menus planned for the week for the first time in awhile.  If I remember I'm shopping for 126 meals it makes it not seem so bad.  ?

 

 

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20 hours ago, hjffkj said:

 

Thank you for the info! I checked the booking deals on the site and the prices were insane!  I will check out Hampton Inn, thank you.

We are certainly the family that does cooking at hotels and bringing snack to save on food.

 

we haven't been to Universal since none of my kids are Harry Potter fans.  But I just read this blog post yesterday. 

https://wanderlustcrew.com/ultimate-guide-visiting-wizarding-world-harry-potter/

Edited by mommyoffive
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It's been blissfully quiet the last few days and the spending has finally slowed down as we've gotten everyone prepared for school.

Wins: Dh got 8gb of RAM from a computer they were throwing out at work

My uncle gave my parents an entertainment center, they kept the side shelves but gave the tv cabinet to me. I had been wanting a smaller one for ages and it fits perfect (and is nice solid wood in great shape to boot). I'll move my current one, that is too big for the way my living room is now configured to downstairs. I'm trying to sell my downstairs one for a few bucks but it has some blemishes and is a different style, we'll see if I get anything out of it.

Dh worked 1.5 hours extra Friday and 8 hours OT yesterday, he's now worked more than enough extra to make up for the money spent sending the kids to school.

I'm currently doing a little dogsitting job which will finish Tuesday, I think I'll be giving the girls some of the proceeds b/c they've jumped right in to help.

We are switching from one of our OTC to a scrip med b/c the OTC was not working and it is 1/3-1/4 the cost.

DD1 had an ortho appt and I put the payment on the HSA card, only $185 to go and her braces are paid off.

Fails:

I sent dh grocery shopping. I put down 5-6 lbs each of boneless skinles chicken thighs and breasts b/c Aldi's had them on sale, I explained to him explicitly I meant pounds. He came home w/ 5- 6 pkgs each and then bragged he got the biggest packages he could find, sigh!!!! So, what was supposed to be $17-$20 of meat turned into $70+. On the plus side, my freezer is entirely stuffed full, I already had a good amount, I really can't fit anymore now! I have little left in my grocery budget for the month, I'm hoping I can get by with maybe just going over by $100 at most. Now that things are settling down hopefully I can manage that. 

Another of our meds went up in cost this month about $30. If I had picked it up I would have noticed but dh didn't. It looks like they used a different manufacturer this time. I need to price that out on GoodRX next month. Dh wasn't sure how much was left on our HSA card the last he used to so paid OOP for meds, $90. I need to call next week and find out, I've got a couple of cheaper meds to fill this month, I think it is enough for that, not sure how much more.

I'm *trying* to do my VIPKID interview again this am, we'll see if I can pull it off this times. After several emails w/ tech support I have one issue sorted out but what remains to be seen is how my internet works but there is nothing left to do for that. I'll be using the desktop that just got the new ram and has an external camera, last time we went to sil's house b/c she had faster internet but I had to use the laptop and tried just using the internal camera. We'll see if I'm better off with a bit slower internet but much better tech. I would LOVE if this worked out. I mean I could be at home for when the kids have breaks, when they come home and take off to school and make more in fewer hours doing anything I could find around here but it may not be meant to work out. If it doesn't I'm torn on what to do. Dh spazzed a bit last week b/c he is so worried and I was thinking I need a full-time job sooner rather than later but he's calmed down and doesn't want me rushing into anything. I guess that leaves looking at subbing and maybe some side jobs? I don't like any of the options, I just am praying we figure out the right path.

I have stacks of homeschool stuff to sell, more than enough to recoup my school supply cost plus much more (even only selling part of my stuff as there is plenty I'm not ready to let go of yet for sentimentality and just in case). I HATE selling things. I'll just have to do a bit at a time, I'll focus on the high dollar items first (Beast Academy, AOPS, MCT, LoE Foundations, Cover Story...)

That's all I can think of for now.  I'm really hoping that we can still manage to save quite a bit this month, even with the delays b/c dh has worked extra. Fingers crossed things calm down a bit, we've had enough change for the time being and I'd really like to focus on adjusting to the kids being in school, that is quite enough of a shock for now. 

Edited by soror
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We are trying to figure out what to do about painting the exterior of our house.  We got one estimate of 11k for scraping and painting.  Another company kept not showing up when they said they would to give a quote so they are off the table.  A third painter came and took measurements last week and I need to make time to call him and see what his estimate is.  My husband started scraping and painting the worst parts on his own, but it is taking him hours and he keeps going to Home Depot and spending a couple hundred each time for supplies.  We want to at least get any bare wood covered before cold weather sets in.

I am almost done ordering school books.  I ordered a couple more Light Units for my 4th grader for math, and luckily that only came to $10.  I am thinking about purchasing a download of notebooking pages for my 7th grader for history.  Then I need to go get a few binders and folders.

Our dog is 12 and has been dealing with an infected cyst.  He was on 2 weeks of antibiotics which helped but it's still there and he won't stop messing with it.  I am worried we will need to do minor surgery and I don't even know how much that will cost.  

I am still trying to decide about art classes.  I have 4 kids and my oldest doesn't like to do any classes but I feel like maybe I should insist.  But classes are $15 each per class.  I also have the option to send them every other week.  

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Finished my Mock Class this am, now I wait 24-48 hrs to hear how I did. I think I did ok but there are always areas to improve. So, whether or not it was enough I don't know. 

Either they say great you're hired (very, very rare), I have to do another mock class, I do some kind of workshop, or they pass. I've read the current chance of being hired is just 10%.

I'm becoming well versed with the nervous pit in my stomach, I'm rather tired of it.

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8 minutes ago, ms. pacman said:

Good luck @soror!  I did not enjoy the Mock class at all.  It's a lot of work,  but now it's behind you!

THANK YOU!!!!

I just got the email, I passed first try! I'm hired!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOT!

Now onto paperwork and trying to get booked. My base pay is $16 an hour. 

I probably should go ahead and start the process to do subbing to b/c they say it can take a long while to get up bookings. I got to figure out the process here, seems I can't get a straight answer. I hate red tape.

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17 hours ago, ms. pacman said:

We are trying to figure out what to do about painting the exterior of our house.  We got one estimate of 11k for scraping and painting.  Another company kept not showing up when they said they would to give a quote so they are off the table.  A third painter came and took measurements last week and I need to make time to call him and see what his estimate is.  My husband started scraping and painting the worst parts on his own, but it is taking him hours and he keeps going to Home Depot and spending a couple hundred each time for supplies.  We want to at least get any bare wood covered before cold weather sets in.

 

 

I so dream of a day when I can just hire things done. There are some have to do things we need to finish now but then I hope we can ignore the house for the winter and some money each money in preparation for next year.

 

 

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On 8/20/2018 at 12:59 AM, frogger said:

 

I so dream of a day when I can just hire things done. There are some have to do things we need to finish now but then I hope we can ignore the house for the winter and some money each money in preparation for next year.

 

 

 

Same exact thing here!  One day....

 

@soror, congratulations!  Are you certified to teach all levels or do they still just give a couple of levels to start with? I'm so happy for you!!

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19 minutes ago, ms. pacman said:

 

Same exact thing here!  One day....

 

@soror, congratulations!  Are you certified to teach all levels or do they still just give a couple of levels to start with? I'm so happy for you!!

I'm just certified for 3,4, and 5 funny thing I made it through all the slides for the beginner portion but only 7/10 on the upper portion. I thought overall I did better on the first but I talked too fast, I tend to talk fast anyway but I was nervous so that made it even harder to go slow enough. I can open slots now but I thought that I had to do some practice classes with actual students, I'm so confused. 

 

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According to my receipt I spent $123 on groceries Saturday and saved $97 with sales and coupons. I don’t think I’ve ever done that well before on food! 

ETA: and my parents just had a steer processed, so I brought home a full cooler of free to me beef. Mostly ground beef and stew meat with a few steaks and roasts for variety. 

Still need to order books. 

Edited by SamanthaCarter
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Zucchini lasts for a week in the refrigerator.  Yellow squash will last a tiny bit less, IME.

Our neighbor dropped off zucchini and cucumbers last night. I'm going to make zucchini fritters for lunch, and some chocolate zucchini bread or muffins for snacks. (Muffins if it gets hot this afternoon, as they take a shorter time to cook.) https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/241422/easy-zucchini-fritters/ I'm using this recipe for the fritters, only with less salt. I'm going to test a couple of dipping recipes--I have some extra sour cream I need to use. 

We had our house painted this summer.  It's crazy expensive, isn't it. Between that and dental bills, that's how I ended up rejoining frugalistas!

We have a slow draining sink that isn't responding to chemical drain cleaners. I have some zip style drain snakes on order from amazon along with a few other supplies for home maintenance projects.  We're pricing paint sprayers right now....we are considering staining the fence and deck in the next month ourselves.

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I picked up a new pet sitting client today and since decided if I'm going to take new clients I'm going to up my price and just take clients who are good with that higher price. So when they go away in the beginning of Sept I'll earn $100 for less than 2 hours of work. The best thing is the client came from my aunt who us a pet sitter as well but she does in as a living. She does not administer any meds that require an injection so he refers them to me. So, I don't even need to advertise to get new clients.

Frugal wins: we've only spent $250 of our $500 grocery budget for the month and I should only need to spend another $150 for the rest of the month. We've been focusing on doing more free activities in the community which has been fun and budget friendly.

No frugal fails yet.  

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I went over budget.  Our middle kids keep having crazy growth spurts. Dd was complaining her shoes were tight. Yup....she grew 1.5 sizes in the last six weeks.  I bought her a new pair of tennis shoes last night. I suppose I will need to buy her new dress shoes also. ***sigh***  I live in a climate where she is really going to need waterproof warm boots soon....trying to hold off on that for as long as I can.  Middle son and youngest daughter are at the edge of their currently sized shoes. They will each need tennis shoes, dress shoes, and boots. I'm hoping to stretch that out for another month or so. 

 

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My refrigerator is slowly dying.  We pulled out a gallon of milk yesterday morning that was almost a week BEFORE the expiration date, and it was curdled.  I did a bunch of troubleshooting on it last night and today, and I *think* it's working again.  Mostly.

The problem is that the opening for the fridge is too small for the fridge that we have, let alone a newer one, and I was hoping to wait until we remodeled the kitchen to replace it.  We're getting ready to put a small fridge downstairs, so we'll have *something*, but it'll be small (apartment-sized or whatever they call the tiny-but-full-sized ones).  The freezer works, except for the unreliable ice maker.

I threw away all of the leftovers, everything that was iffy at the temperature it got up to in there (the shelf-stable stuff I store in there was obviously fine), and anything that was probably going to expire before we got around to using it.  Then I made "random soup" out of things I had in the freezer (chicken carcass for broth, steak bits) and veggies that were still usable (carrots, onion, sweet potatoes), a batch of cornbread, and a batch of chocolate chip cookies for lunch and dinner (soup's still in the crockpot so I don't have to try to store leftovers).

Thank goodness for those dry milk packets I bought on clearance at Target a few weeks ago.

No more stock-up shopping for me for a while.  Bare necessities only, and probably just for a few days at a time.  I do not want to lose a whole week's worth of food again if the fridge totally kicks it.

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I've been reading but not posting lately. 
Frugal wins:
-had guests for about a week.  We got an extra beach pass ($20) for our vehicles this year and took them all to a quiet little beach on sunny afternoons.  One day we went on a free factory tour and then hit up the penny candy store on the way home. 
-dh made my birthday dinner/cake.  I picked out a pair of hiking shoes for my gift when we went shopping at the outlet (40% off, they were a return).  It sounds weird, but we have a hard time finding me shoes that fit because most adult shoes start too big and children's shoes are too wide.  So when I get a pair, I hold on to them FOREVER.
-I remembered to renew our library books and movie.  Yay!
-mentioned school supply shopping to a friend.  It's a bit out of the way from here and my list was short.  She has older kids, and rummaged in her stash to come up with just what I needed.  They were leftovers from when hers were younger and she hit the deals.

Frugal fails:
-had guests for about a week.  Because it got muggy we figured out how to turn on the air conditioner and where it was located in the house.  Dh also bought new beach toys on clearance so that there was an abundance for them to play with.
-I played the Powerball for my bday.  Frugal win?  ? It was a fun way to dream for a couple days before laughing that I missed every number.  The possibilities kept us going for a while, though.
 

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Happy last day of the month!
We're grocery shopping this morning.  I planned a menu for next week using mostly the loss leaders at our two main stores, supplemented with what we have in the garden.  Dh's job renegotiated their contract with the union and next month starts a new pay schedule of every two weeks, rather than every week like it has been.  So during the transition (there's a lot more to it than just that), dh may not get paid for 3-4 weeks if it comes to it.  We're preparing just in case, doing a strict no-spend month until that first pay.  I'm glad I paid for ds's field trip ahead of time!

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Last day of August!  I rocked this month.

Budget goals: I maxed out both our RothIRA accounts this month!  I put an addition $4000 into savings this month thanks to 3 paycheck month, pet sitting, and our escrow check coming in. We came in $98 under for our grocery budget.  I will transfer that amount into our Orlando trip fund.

Fails:  Dh is continually failing when it comes to purchasing food while at work.  I don't know how to help him with this and he doesn't seem to stick to his intended plans for long.  I think he'll likely choose to stop carrying his cards with him at work. We'll see. We made a few impulse buys but nothing that I regret.

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Frugal wins: I got a Costco credit card and now get 4% back on gas, plus 2% back on Costco purchases on top of the 2% back for executive membership.

I started intermittent fasting during the work week, and was able to save a full week's budget for work food over 2 weeks, which I applied to credit card debt.

Frugal fails: I broke my glasses. DD sprained her ankle, prompting 2 doctor visits (one urgent care and one f/u at primary care doc). I bought shoes. I put some items in the shopping cart to buy once they fit in the budget, and DH bought them when he ordered his books for the semester. Hopefully he didn't overdraw his account.

 

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I did manage to catch up on posts. It is hard to stick with being frugal while also start school with everyone. College textbooks (even used off Amazon) killed my son's budget and now he owes me. Finally got a check for my husband's travel expenses for work. For some reason everyone owes me in the fall. 

 

Frugal win: At least it's harvest season. I too was given veggies. 2 grocery sacks of cucumbers so I will plan this week's menu accordingly. 

 

 

Today I'm ordering tires from Costco as ours are bald. This must be done before winter. The check engine light is on so hoping that won't cost a lot. 

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