Frugal month kick-off (crazy long post)

Hello everyone,  In my mind, I intended to start  frugal posts on July 1st.  But I've been busy doing things around home and just didn't find the time.  So......here is my first  frugal July post and it will probably ramble on and on

Our ultra-frugal mode actually started about June 25th or so.
My husband had been out of town and was coming home.  I did not prepare regular meals while he was gone but I was more than ready to have real, regular food by then.
Our fridge was kind of empty as far as fresh things go but I found a head of iceberg lettuce,  some tomatoes and onions in the pantry.
With that, I made a taco toppings plate,  a tossed salad and a sandwich topping plate.
We like to add cheddar cheese as a garnish to lots of food.  I used to hand grate cheddar or buy it already grated.   Now,  our favorite cheese is Tillamook extra sharp cheddar in sandwich slices.  I use that cheese now instead of grated cheese.  It chops up nicely and has so much flavor.  For us,  this is thrifty as the Tillamook cheese is a good price at the military commissary.

From the freezer,  I got out a package of Smokies hot dogs and sliced ham and refilled our 3 tier Tupperware deli keeper.  

once the ham thawed,  it shut all the way.  Sandwiches are easy to make when the meat and cheese are stored together and there is box of prepared sandwich toppings.  

We were low of fresh fruit that day too.  There were 4 jumbo oranges so I peeled them and put them in a bowl for meals or snacking.  They were delicious! 

Sometimes the fridge is really empty but sometimes there are enough ingredients to still make a number of good meals even though it looks empty.  

Now on to some frugal decorating...

I wanted to spruce up our garage door.  So I looked on Pinterest for wreath ideas.  

I used just supplies on hand for this tied wreath.  

The fabric strips are cut to 14.5 inches by 2 inches and just tied on the Styrofoam wreath form.  

And this is the garage door- all clean and decorated.  No one really will see this unless they enter our home through the garage but my husband and I like it.  It is sort of a Welcome home to us when we come home.  

no idea why the next several lines appear to be links and are underlined.  

The home sweet home sticker is from Dollar Tree.  It was so easy to put on and looks good. 

My husband thought I had hand painted it.  

The front door needed a paint touch up.  I found the can of paint the builders used 17 years ago when they first painted this door.  After a good shake,  that paint was truly as good as new.  So it was easy to give the door a fresh coat of burgundy paint.  

I tried a Dollar Tree sticker here too but can you see the problem?  They apparently look best on a light covered surface.  

It did peel right off without tearing or removing any paint.  

I then put it on the inside of that door.  It sticks and looks fine but I'm not sure I'll leave it there.
it seems a little odd to say "welcome"  as people would be exiting.

I don't plant to buy many groceries as our freezer and pantry are both pretty stocked.
But we really enjoy salads and summer fruit so I will buy those.
This is what we bought at Sprouts middle of last week- all of that fruit has been so sweet and delicious.
The meats were on sale.  I think the bacon was $1.99 and the baby back ribs were $2.49 a pound or about $6-7 a side.  My husband has smoked 2 of them and they fed us 3 meals and we shared several helpings with my parents.

Today,  I cooked up a big batch of pasta sauce.  We like homemade sauce better than storebought because mine is not as sweet as most jarred sauces.

I don't have a specific  recipe to share but here's how I do it.

In the bottom of each crock pot,  I put diced onion in about 2 teaspoons of oil and let them cook on high about an hour. 

Then I carefully added the tomato sauce in increments as I didn't want to shock the hot crockpots with room temperature ingredients.  Once the tomato sauce was in,  I added garlic salt, black pepper, oregano, basil, Italian seasoning herbs and a little sugar- all to taste.  Maybe a tablespoon of all the herbs in the small crockpot,  double that in the big pot.  I also divided 24 ounces of tomato paste between the 2 pots.  Let it all simmer for a few hours.  

I pack it in meal size containers and freeze.  

I'm not sure homemade sauce is cheaper than jarred sauce.  It might be but it is frugal to have easy meals on hand that can be cooked quickly when meal time sneaks up on you.  

I've made this sauce, taco meat and chili in big batches for years and it has been so handy so many times for quick meals.  

Now on to doing fun things......
all towns are different but most of them have at least a few free or low cost fun things to do.  My town has a great library,  2 free splash pads  and 2 huge Transformer statues.

This is Bumblebee,  made from all kinds of vehicle parts.  He doesn't really do anything except look awesome.  Its really fun to pose for pictures under his legs.  

His buddy Optimus Prime lives on the other side of town and we will visit him this summer too.  

How to make a little money.....
I've dabbled in a several online rewards programs over the years.
The 2 I've done the longest are MyPoints.com and Swagbucks.com   I looked over my accounts and saw I had quite a few points and cashed them both in,  I had enough to get 3 $25 gift certificates to CVS.
I also do Walmart Savings catcher when I think about it.  I had enough there to cash in $12.

I also like Ibotta
You don't have to do anything for Ibotta except shop.  They have rewards for some "any" purchases like bananas or bread.
The bigger payouts are for name brand items- everything from foods and beverages, to health and beauty things and even some restaurants and online stores.

If you have a smart phone or tablet that has a camera,  Ibotta is easy.  Just scan through the list of refunds and check what you bought.  Then take a photo of your receipt and sometimes of the items UPC.  When you've earned $20,  you can cash out for Paypal or Walmart or Amazon, etc.
I had enough to cash out last week for $26.25 Paypal.
If you haven't joined Ibotta,  I'd love for you to use my referral code if you do sign up.
HVSUFA
I think you get $10 just for being a new sign up.

You wont get rich doing online reward programs but it is nice to earn a bit every now and then

and if you're still reading this far along,  thank you
I plan on doing more frugal posts as July goes on.  

More on the bedroom update- carpet tiles, compressed mattress and adjustable bed frames

This bedroom redo was kind of like the book "When You Give A Mouse A Cookie".
There were several steps before we ever got to the redo.
First, we didn't want to get rid of our current bed as my husband built it and the mattresses are just a year or so old.
So, we had to empty out the guest room.  The bed from that room went to this grandson who had just outgrown his crib- meaning he was escaping the crib and we all feared he could get hurt during his escapes.

Then I cleaned the carpet in that empty guest room and touched up the wall paint. 

Our old bed was moved in there as well as 2 little shelves that were previously in the craft room.  They work just right as bedside tables.

This guest room is set up and needs a bit of decorating but that can wait.  

Then we emptied out our master bedroom- the old carpet was removed and everything was taken out.  

Then we decided to go with the carpet tiles while we waited for the beds to come from Amazon. More on them below.

I'm not giving links in this post as I am not an affiliate of any of the companies.
We chose Dynasty compressed mattresses.  We bought 2 Twin XL.

Each came rolled up tight in box, about the size of a 4 year old grandson. 

The mattress is rolled tight and wrapped tightly in plastic.

Just carefully cut away the plastic and unroll and watch the mattress just puff right up.

It was really quick and fun to watch the mattresses puff up.  

They are firm like we like and very comfortable.  They didn't smell weird and have very good warranties. 

W bought 2 Twin XL Sealy adjustable bed bases.  They are black platforms with remote controls to adjust the head or the feet.  They frames come assembled, except the legs need screwed on and the mechanical parts needs attached.  It was not difficult to set up.  The frames are heavy but not nearly as heavy and hard to move as we expected from the reviews on the Amazon site.



The linens  used are 2 Twin XL fitted sheets and a king size top sheet.  I wasn't sure how the top sheet was going to work as we sleep with the beds at different adjustments but it works fine.  The sheets come in sets from multiple Amazon sellers.  Making the bed is little tricky when putting on the fitted sheets.  Where the 2 mattresses set together is the tricky part.  The foot of the bed is easy and the top is much easier if we raise one side all the way up and put on the fitted sheets when those 2 corners are not together.


We bought the Simply Seamless
Tranquility Mountain Mist carpet tiles from Home Depot.
They are not hard to handle.  The tiles have a peel and stick backing and ours stuck just fine to our concrete slab floor.  They were easy to cut with a big exacto knife and metal ruler for the straight edge.
Since there is no pad, the floor doesn't feel as cushy as traditionally installed carpet but it is plenty comfy enough for us.
Look at the above photos closely.  In some parts, it really looks like wall to wall carpet.  But in other spots, it's very evident it is tiles.  Even still, we like the floor and are glad we did it.
My advice if your considering this is to look on the Home Depot site and read the reviews for these carpet tiles.  There are some very detailed reviews with photos there.
This brand of tiles are also available from other online sellers.  I suggest shopping around to get the best price.  When we bought ours at Home Depot, they were about $58 a box.
I have vacuumed the carpet tiles multiple times with our Dyson and they are staying stuck.

I'll try to answer any other questions on this.  

Starting in July, tomorrow, I've got several frugal posts planned.  

New patio and bedroom makeover

We have wanted a bigger patio ever since we moved to to this home 15 years ago.
And now we finally have one 😄

It extends from our backdoor, under the pergola, all the way to the tornado shelter, my husband's shop and a good bit under the basketball goal.  

It's big enough for the picnic tables and chairs, and still plenty of room for the grandchildren to ride trikes or play.  

It needs prettied up still. The tables will get refinished and I want to add some planters with color.  My husband also needs to move back his grill and smoker.  We will add extras as we can but for now,  we are just thrilled to have the concrete patio.  

We like to do things ourselves but concrete on this scale is out of our ability range.  We hired a local man and he was so honest, skilled and hard working.  

In our bedroom, we wanted an adjustable bed.  My husband has bad knees and sleeps best when his knees are elevated.  I sleep best when my head is elevated a lot.  

So, we shopped on Amazon and picked out the motorized adjustable beds frames and compressed mattresses.  We learned through the reviews, that the bed frames are heavy.  So we thought we should replace the 17 year old white carpet before we put the heavy beds in.  We shopped at Lowes for some but there was a waiting list for installation.  So we decided to do the carpet ourselves with carpet tiles from Home Depot.

Before we pulled out the carpet, we moved out everything in this room.  While it was out, the walls were cleaned and paint touched up and the window blinds and window were cleaned.  

Doing all that made it feel like a brand new room.  

I ordered a king size bedspread but it was way too small as this bed is rather tall.  After shopping for 2 days for a big enough bedspread, I decided to order 2 king size fleece blankets and sew up one that would be big enough and still machine washable.  

My husband built the ladder to display quilts. 

I sewed the curtains and changed around the things on the walls.

We bought this vintage Ethan Allen vanity at our favorite thrift store a few months ago.  I didn't have it set up until we redid the whole room.
The lid lifts open with a mirror inside and cubbies for cosmetics and such.  I am really enjoying this vanity.

Actually, we are enjoying all of these improvements and are so thankful we could make them.

If anyone has questions about the bed or carpet brands,  I'll answer.

So after these two big expenses, can anyone guess what the theme at home will be for a good while?
Yep,  we are back in frugal mode and I plan to have quite a few frugal posts through July.  

Homemade - child craft and a meal

Hello everyone 🌞 It's summer and we're doing summer things. 

My grandchildren love to do crafts and when I saw this easy craft on Pinterest, I was pretty sure it would be a good one. 

The craft uses those glass pebbles sold in about every craft and floral department, clear glue and a base like a plastic lid from a yogurt carton. And something for a hanger like a piece of cording.  I first used a bent paper clip and was not crazy about it.  Cording works better.  

I made this one as a sample and test when no children were here. 

The grands made all the rest.  

Just squirt out a layer of the clear glue on the plastic lid and then put in a hanger and the glass pebbles in any design you like. 

The older grandchildren planned out their designs before using glue. The younger ones just had fun putting the pebbles into the glue with no plan.  

we used Elmers clear glue- bought at Walmart in the school supply section.  

The only drawback to this craft is the glue takes a long time for the glue to dry- close to a week.  

The children had to leave these here until they were dry and I kept them where I could check them often.  I put the glue on thick enough so I was confident the suncatchers would hold together and maybe our glue is thicker than needed to be.  

Once the glue is dry,  the sun catcher will just peel right out of the plastic lid.  

The lids can be reused for a second batch,  which is what we did.  

The ones hanging in the window were made a week ago.

The ones still drying on lids were made yesterday.  

here is a peek out one of our back windows.  Can any one guess what is going on in our backyard with a cement truck and a very hardworking contractor?  We just had a much bigger patio poured and I am so pleased and excited about it.  More on that later......

One of our favorite meals is grilled burgers and I decided at the last minute to cook them.  

I looked online and tried a yeast bun recipe that is ready in about 30 minutes.  They did mix up fast and easy.  And they were great in a pinch but I do prefer my old recipe over this one.  

The burger toppings were all grown in our backyard except for the pickles.

I cooked some fried potatoes and onions- both the potatoes and onions are also from our backyard garden.  

I call them "fried" as I cook them in a nonstick skillet with just about a teaspoon of oil.  But they are oil heavy like most deep fried potatoes  

my husband grilled the burgers in the backyard and they were so good!
this is his plate.

I hope all my readers in the northern hemisphere are having a nice summer too.

New wreath and this week's to do list

Now that my craft room is organized,  I knew what I had and decided to make a wreath for our front door.  People have been making these fluffy wreaths for years.  You just need a wreath form  and fabric squares.

Actually, you will need lots and lots fabric squares.
More than in this photo, I had to cut more.  Mine are 4 inch squares.  They do not have to be perfect and if some are really crooked or too small, they will still work.

I used an old foam wreath. 

You also need a "poker" I used a plastic paint brush end but knitting needles or a screwdriver would work too. 

Put the fabric square around the poker and dip into a little glue,  then poke the fabric in the form, about a 1/4 inch deep.
The glue is optional.  But I live in windy Oklahoma, so I wanted to add a little support.

Then just fill in the wreath, front and sides with  fabric squares.  

 Close up and I did put fabric on the back of mine as our front door has a window.  I didn't want to look at the bare back of the styrofoam wreath.

And here is my new to do list for this week and my press on nail manicure.  Impress is my favorite brand. 

Have a good week everyone ❤️