Frugal Friday's With Marsha Link Up---It's Been a Great Week

It's been a great week at our house as far as being frugal goes.

1. I've been hanging the laundry out on the line to dry all week. It feels good to be doing so again. I know with the mild winter that we had, there were lots of days I should have hung the clothes out then as well.

2. We grocery shopped at Aldi. I don't go to Aldi near often enough. A cart full of food and things was $127, but by looking at the overflowing cart, I really expected it to be over $200. It feels so nice to have this much food in the house again.

3. I did some coupon shopping at the grocery store. No, I don't save like they do on tv, but I had $25 to spend and I spent $24.85. I saved 60% with sales and coupons. Some of my better deals was: 3 packages of Reames frozen noodles for $2 after coupons, Hostess Donettes $1 after coupon, Purex detergent used a free coupon, 2 Barilla whole wheat pastas .38 after coupons, and Jello geletin 2 boxes for .36 after coupon.

4. We've really been paying attention to turn off lights in rooms we are in.

5. We planted the garden. We put in a raspberry vine, grape vine, purple onions, potatoes, peas, tomatoes, bell peppers, strawberries, and basil. There was spinach and garlic already growing from last year. Wish us the best that we get a nice harvest this year. We did buy a huge bag of Miracle Grow Moisture Plus to add around since the soil out there is horrible for growing anything but weeds and stickers. ($5 rebate on the Miracle Grow sent in too!) I also started another compost pile. It didn't work last year and I don't know why, but I'm trying it again.

6. I picked up a couple of things through freecycle--Christmas card fronts to use in making my bags and things and some fabric and lace.

I do hope you will share in comment, or by sharing a blog post in the linky, how your frugal week has gone.


On to my sharing this week from the 99 Cent Solutions book. This week it's 4 uses for vanilla.

1. Sweeten a microwave. Pour a couple of tablespoons of vanilla into a glass bowl and microwave on high for 1 minute. Let the vanilla cool and repeat. It will smell as sweet as fresh baked cookies instead of all those dinners you've cooked in there.

2. Perfume the paint. Stir 1 tablespoon of vanilla into a gallon of paint before you start work. It won't completely get rid of the fresh paint smell but will make it a whole lot more pleasurable.

3. Make a kid-friendly tick repellent. Douse a cotton ball with real vanilla extract and dab it liberally on the ankles, wrists and any uncovered skin. Reapply as needed. This will keep your little ones from getting ticks if playing in long grass.

4. Sweeten the house. Dab a cotton ball with vanilla and dab it very lightly on the outside of light bulbs (not halogen bulbs) in your lamps. When turned on the vanilla heats up and a faint but alluring scent of vanilla drifts out. This is great for those who are allergic to air freshners and sprays but still want their home to smell nice.

(I love the scent of vanilla!)