Ten years of writing these monthly Frugal Hits & Misses reports?!? I can hardly believe it, but my first report was in July 2016. published in early August. I've been writing this blog since 2007 -- that seems incredible, too. Thank you, thank you for sticking with me, Gentle Readers, over the years. It's been fun having you along in my life!
It has been so hot here, pretty much all month, that it's difficult to get up enough gumption to Do Things. Nonetheless, both the Brick and I persevered. I did read more than usual, and we drank a lot of pop and iced tea. The dogs tended to follow me around, and snooze in the path of whatever fan was nearby.
At least we've had more fresh fruit and veg than usual, even if 'sale' prices were higher. (Peaches, which I thought were outrageous at $1/pound a few years ago, are now 'on sale' for $2.99.) We've got roses and other flowers growing, for the first time here. The greens are producing as well, though most are going to seed and getting pulled, so the three baby zucchini plants can do their thing. I have to water at least every other day to keep plants alive. We've gotten a little rain -- a very little rain. Grateful for what we've had, but we pray for more.
The Brick keeps saying that sooner or later, the heat will let up: "You'll remember that this winter." I want to believe him, but...
FRUGAL HITS
(as usual, some of these are from late June. The trip FH&M are from mid-month to July 1st. I know this report's early, but I have a few deadlines to finish before August rolls around.)
A $45 Land's End giftcard from the Brick. (He got it as a special bonus from Capital One. I bought a swimsuit and corduroy trousers, with only $13 and change to pay. Thank you, Honey!
Saw a remarkable movie for free on Youtube: The Proud Rebel, with Alan Ladd, his son David and Olivia deHavilland. You need to watch this post-Civil-War brooding Western.
More 'Buy 3, Get 1 Free' books -- including collectors encyclopedias for my work, and several birthday and Christmas presents. Free shipping, too. Every time USPS raises its shipping prices, I figure this deal is going to go away...but so far, they're holding on.
Multiple sheets of stamps, including 'Happy Birthday,' Navy and Colorado stamps --all before the July 12 price hike.
Thrift shop buys: a few shirts for the Brick ($4 ea), two umbrellas in flower garden colors ($4 ea), an armload of history books, including Western topics ($1-2 each) and nine or so Diane Mott Davidson paperbacks (50 cents ea), two beautiful glass pitchers ($3 ea), a castle-shaped art glass vase for a buck, a $10 coupon (for filling a punchcard), and a $5 cooler (Nazarene Thrift Shop, Monte Vista). A McCoy ceramic teapot ($2!) and several shirts ($1 each), plus a fork for a quarter (Dorcas Circle, Walsenburg -- a new place to me).
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FRUGAL HITS & MISSES FROM THE TRIP
(Gettysburg, Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, Williamsburg, VA -- and the Ark Encounter in KY)
*We shared travel with dear friends. That meant not only did we split gas costs, but we often shared hotel rooms (suites, often, with two rooms) and other costs. The Washington D.C. part of the trip was at a shared AirBnB, which was even more economical.
The kids watched the dogs while we were gone. Thank you, Dears!
*Used discounts where we could. Not only did the Love's gas discount come in handy (13 cents a gallon!), but we were able to take advantage of senior and military discounts. (The Brick spent 6 years in the Navy, and all four of us were technically 'seniors,' whatever the heck that means.) This helped us pay less for everything from event tickets to an oil change.
*Freebies from hotel breakfast/rooms: coffee packets, apples, cream cheese miniatures, shampoo and conditioner. (A lot of hotels are cancelling soap, shampoo and conditioner in favor of larger bottles mounted on the wall. Not a bad idea, that, especially when they stock higher-end products because of it.)
*Bought very few souvenirs: just a few tote bags, at both the Naval Academy and Gettysburg. Everytime I use these, I remember our trip. We gave a few to the kids, as well.
*Paid for main events --- but not side events or trips. The costs for these can really add up. (Case in point: the zipline and 3-D event at the Ark Encounter. Basic tickets were expensive enough!) The few exceptions: a bus tour at Gettysburg, plus a downloaded auto tour. Both were well worth it.
*Paid for parking. The first day in Washington, D.C., we used Ubers to get around. The rest of the time, we found parking spots. It still wasn't cheap -- but far more reasonably priced. And we walked -- a lot.
*Took advantage of free museums and monuments when we could. Unfortunately, the Museum of the Bible and the Holocaust Museum weren't free. Nor was the Ark Encounter. (All worth going to, however.)
*Restaurants: ordered the special -- or ordered an appetizer, plus an entree. (We shared entrees, too, and didn't hesitate to 'pass a bite around.' These are very good friends, after all.) Two of us usually drank water; the guys often had a beer. Hey, it's vacation!
*Food in general: They brought a bunch of snacks, which we supplemented by using up our $54 Devoted debit cards. We also got breakfast items, and generally made or got coffee at the hotel or AirB&B.
*We missed out on the America 250 festivities. On purpose. It was crazy enough in mid-June, with police, soldiers and setup going on. Loved the practice flyovers, though -- especially by the Washington Monument!
*Priorities didn't always work out. Our friends went to two baseball games. We didn't...and had a heck of a time picking them up afterwards. Some places were closed. Others were a long walk away. But mostly, we got to see what we'd planned to. (I still wish the Smithsonian's history museum and the DAR museum had worked out -- but our friend missed out on the American Indian museum. It is what it is.)
*The weather didn't always cooperate. Do you know how HOT it is in Washington, D.C. during the summer? Let's put it this way -- you don't want to.
*Tolls -- and construction traffic. Just going from Baltimore to Williamsburg took us THREE HOURS EXTRA, due to construction. Tolls weren't fun, either.
*Williamsburg... sigh. I'd gone years ago, when everything was free. (Well, except the museum -- which was closed by the time we got there. Because of traffic delays.) Now you must buy tickets, or you don't get to watch the Colonial tradesmen in their houses. (We did peek in from the door a few times.) You won't be eating at any of the historic taverns, either -- they only take reservations made quite some time ago. Most of the buildings were closed, to begin with. (Traffic delays again.) And the church candlelight concerts I remembered fondly didn't happen -- because a very expensive concert was going on, instead.
Other than a 10-minute trip to the thrift shop there, and a wonderful brunch with our niece and her family, we could have easily skipped that part of the trip. To add insult to injury, it took us another few hours of construction delays even to get out of town.
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Little Free Library: I used a decorative box to partition off smaller items in the LFL, took some books out and added more. Touched up paint spots on the outside, and scraped off loose paint on the trim.
Played/sang several weeks for church. We took weeks off in June, so it was time to do our part.
Found money: a penny and a quarter in the washing machine. I was going to whimper about that until a last-minute stop at the change machine in City Market produced: $14.68 in quarters, dimes, nickels...and three shiny pennies. Whoo hoo! It literally took me three handfuls to get everything out of the 'reject' bin.
Finished two BIG reports -- and took on several more. I'd thought July wasn't supposed to be busy! But it is helping pay for trip costs.
Sold books -- and gave away a few more.
Flowers for $1.75: I split them with Daughter #2. For the rest of the month, we relied on roses from the garden, plus some wildflowers.
Foods made (besides the usual): iced tea concentrate (8 bags in a saucepan, fill with water, then let boil down), lemonade, macaroni and cheese, shrimp salad (using some of the greens in the garden bed), baked custard, apple pie/tart, berry and lemon tarts, waffles (18 of them - took forever). Some of the waffles ended up in the freezer. I also dried greens for use in the winter.
Grocery deals: $2.07 salad kits, 25 cents each for corn on the cob, $2.72 for five pieces of chicken, $2.82 for pkgs of rolled pepperoni and cheese -- perfect for snacks (City Market). Dinty Moore beef stew ($2.48), Spaghettio's (87 cents) and Armour corned beef hash (1.80), cans of apple nectar (45 cents each) -- stock-ups for the winter, plus free shipping (Amazon). A variety of canned goods (including a $1.27 can of Dinty Moore!), plus imported cookies -- all for $1.59 or less (SLV Amish country store). I had to pay full price for grocery store milk most of the time, but at least our grocery allowance from Devoted covered it.
Certain indications suggest that we're headed toward harder times in the near future. We both prefer Dinty Moore stew and Armour (or Mary Kitchen) brand products for last-minute suppers. It only makes sense to stock up on groceries for the winter -- if the price is right -- instead of gritting my teeth and paying more months from now. Yes, these prices are higher, compared to years before. But it's not that bad, so far.
And what if I'm wrong? Then we still paid less for the food we know we like. Boo hoo. Update: within a week of delivery, the price for the same case of corned beef hash went from $21 and change to $34 and change. Guess I figured right on that one.
Fourth of July celebration for friends -- using food we already had. I did the same for our monthly church potluck. We also treated the kids to an anniversary lunch at an upscale Japanese restaurant; I had lunch with a friend at Lu's, our local diner; and we had a date night burger. Money well worth spending.
FRUGAL MISSES
For me: bloodwork, mammogram results and yet another dr's visit in the future. For the Brick: a dentist's visit (with another one looming), plus a doctor's visit. Oh joy.
$10 giftcard for doing a survey. (I bought a Chipotle e-giftcard with it, but accidentally deleted the e-mail. Had to work at getting it back.)
Haircut -- a necessary evil. I was looking pretty shaggy, after all.
Unplanned fees on one credit card-- not interest, but extra fees we didn't realize would happen. (The stinkers.) Once we did notice, we paid the card off in full to stop the fees.
Some bad discounted lettuce. Unfortunately, it got thrown away before I could return it to City Market.
Our local reservoir is draining. The local farmers need the water more than people fishing. On the plus side, I plan on scuffing around a bit, looking for treasures in the exposed dirt.
Our remote camera birdfeeder keeps turning itself off. But we don't know why...
Oil change for the Highlander - done while on our trip, waiting for the Baltimore Orioles' game to finish. It cost more than if the Brick had done it himself -- but it was DONE.
The kitchen disposal broke and needed replacing. But as the Brick pointed out, it's 20 or 25 years old. So he wasn't terribly upset. It meant going with water in the kitchen for a few days (he had to get extra parts), but now it's finished and working. Clean dishes!
Granddog Freya ate a pillowcase. Sadly, it was one that had a basket motif her mom, Daughter #2, designed, and The Mama embroidered for us. I trimmed off the embroidery, and will use it as a label on the next quilt I plan to finish for her. (Daughter, not Freya.)
The woodpile is way down...but plenty more firewood is available to split and stack. Now if it would cool off some outside...
Last month's report is here. Last year's July report is here. And just for fun, the 2024 version. Dare I hope August will be different?
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