Five Frugal Things!

1. I am being a total PIA to my Dentist.
My husband went to the dentist last month and came home saying he gets dental cleanings every 3 months instead of every 6 months. My work/dental insurance has a program where if you are in need of them, they will cover it as 'wellness' and 'preventative care.' I've submitted the form for him to be evaluated multiple times- and I figured since his hygenist mentioned it, they must have finally put it through. Well we got the Explanation of benefits before his cleaning and they are charging us the full amount, not covered by insurance. Le Sigh. So I am being a pain in the ass to my dentist's office and they are filling out all the paperwork. Should save $177 this visit, and double that each year.

2. I have proof that I do not need to buy personal care products.
I really like personal care products like lotion and trying different facial cleansers. So to remind myself that I do not need to buy anymore until I actually need them, I took photos. Now I have definite proof- even when that friend keeps posting about how great Rodan + Fields is.

I've since used up the open Velocity cleanser but found a Mary Kay Timewise of the same size. I am using the clothes (cut up as you can get like 8 per single cloth) in the mornings and the Ava or the white Vasanti (from my Birch box!) in the shower. I love the Vasanti and might be tempted to re-buy.- it has a great exfoliator and I keep getting little milia on my face..

Also to note: I really like the Ava Kids and the CVS Cocoa butter lotions. I used up the two mini Jergens and they were fun to say "oh look I'm almost tan!" but I didn't like the chemically smell. I've used the two Jergens up, and am using the cocoa butter daily (although one of the Ava kids is not quite full).

3. I bought a Groupon for a dog allergy test.
We previously used ImmuneIQ to determine Lucy's rash was at least partially related to feeding her beef and flax seed. Now Luigi has the red paw licking fun going on AGAIN (we brought him to the vet for it this past summer when we weren't sure if it was environmental. They gave him sterroids and wipes. The sterroids helped. The wipes were only for if it was environmental from outside, but since now the outside is frozen over I think not...), we are upping our game. The test was $45 plus $7.50 in shipping, but I am getting 6% back on the $45 from using ebates (yah!). An allergy test at the vet is around $300... so we are significantly better than that. The retail price for an ImmuneIQ test is generally $87.

4. I bought a living social for a Costco membership that is free after coupons.
I am actually not sure that I will save any money at Costco, but more on that later.

5. I switched my auto and home insurance from Liberty Mutual (who i used to work for, and have been a loyal believer in) to MetLife (who my employer has a relationship with and their rate was significantly better than LM). I am actually getting more coverage for almost $1,000 less a year. Literally, my home insurance is dropping from $1200 to $600- and they increased my coverage pretty significantly.

January Goals: Revisited

I never made a post about my January Goals. Mainly because on New Years Eve I was released from a week stay in the hospital due to my Crohn's flair. Worst. Christmas. Ever. The positive sides of that experience were that it wasn't our year to spend Christmas with my sister and adorable niece, so I didn't miss out on that, my parents came to me for Christmas so I did not have to travel, and the amount of love and support from my friends and family is really amazing. It really helps you to realize who cares! 

My January Goals were: 
1. Not to be re-admitted to the hospital. 
This gets a Giant: Achieved! 

2. Survive the month on a high dose of prednisone taper without ending up in jail, divorced or unemployed. 
This gets a Giant: Achieved! 
Although, in reality, I could have done much better as I was a bit of an emotional loose cannon. Luckily for me, my boss is pregnant therefore she is also cra-cra. 

3. Sell $250 of stuff. 
I ended up selling $205 from yard sale type things. 
I also sold $40 of Dad's paper reams. 
My ebay total was $85 
Total total: $290 for me, plus $40 for dad is $330 in total effort. 

4. Adopt out 2 puppies- Apollo and Duke. 
Apollo, now Moxie, was adopted by my amazing and crazy sister. 
Duke, keeping his name, also went home to a family in the same town! 
Happy life little ones! 

5. Set up PNE Fundraiser for March. 
I set up a Paint Nite for Paws for March 13. Paint Nite has a new trick where you have to pay a deposit. If you do not sell at least 35 tickets 2 weeks before, they keep your $100 deposit. This made me nervous, but its okay because we are 1 week from when I posted the link and 37 of 40 tickets are sold! 

We'll be painting this...

February Goals

Here are my February goals: 

1. Save $400. As in deposit into my savings account. 

2. Learn to make 3 things from scratch. 

I'm aiming to do mayo, mustard and BBQ sauce. We are currently out of BBQ sauce, on the last container of mayo but have a whole mustard in the pantry. I'll be making these as we run out, as it doesn't make sense to make when we have store bought. 

3. Attend 12 Pure Barre classes

4. Sell $200 of stuff. 

5. Complete KonMari-ing my clothes, books, accessories and paper. 

6. File my damn taxes.

7. Set the dates for our Iceland trip. 

5 Steps to Zero-waste for absolute beginners

1. Use what you have. 

The best way to reduce your waste is to not buy more, and recycle the used products. There is no reason to throw out those other 2 tubes of the three pack of regular toothpastes with the intention of creating less waste by using a coconut oil based toothpaste. Remember to use logic here! 

There are a few exceptions to this- for example, if a product has negative consequences on your health such as an aluminum containing standard deodorant. For any items such as this, it is best to dispose of them. When items can be donated to a homeless shelter or other charity, I recommend going this route first. While a product may not be good for you, it could be good for someone else. 

2. Reusable Grocery bags. 

I bet you have no less than 10 in your house. I also bet they are hiding in your car, with coffee spilled on them or in the bottom of your closet holding that change of clothes you brought to a cook out last summer. Collect those babies and put the bag of bags into your car for easy access. If you are fortunate enough to be a walking commuter, fold one up in your purse and stash one in your desk at work for those times you decide to pick something up on your way home. 

Additionally, don't be afraid to bring your reusable bags to places other than the grocery store or farmer's market! Going to the mall? Bring one. 

3. Find a reusable water bottle and coffee cup you really like.

I just counteracted my first bullet didn't I? 

While I generally say do not go out and buy something new, if you do not really like your water bottle or travel mug you won't use it. I even extend this one to a mug for tea at my desk. If you really like your coffee mug/water bottle/cup you'll be more aware of it. You'll remember 'oh I have to wash that..' instead of just waking up in the morning and saying 'too much work!' and going on with your day without it. 

For a coffee mug, consider the amount of coffee you drink a morning and the size of your cup holder. I was pleasantly surprised that my husbands new (to him) truck has a cup holder my old school Nalgene can fit in- but for a water bottle, it's really not a deal breaker to have it next to you. If your coffee spills because it doesn't fit, not only are you going to be cranky because you have to clean and you have no coffee- but you'll be less likely to use it again. The trick of creating as few barriers as possible to change will help you out here! I've decided I like to drink more coffee than fits in my preferred coffee mug. I also like to drink ice coffee I make ahead of time in a pitcher and cool in the fridge. Combine these two together and I bring a cup to drink and a back up cup to refill every day. Voila! Zero starbucks cups in my trash (and we won't even mention how much more mullah in my pocket!) 

I really like my Contigo Autoseal West Loop Stainless Steel Travel mug. Although I am now even more jealous of the green one as I only have boring black... 




I am obsessed with my Nalgene Tritan OTG water bottle, and at 24 oz I easily know that if I haven't refilled twice by the end of the day I am behind on my water consumption! 

4. Eat real food, and buy in your own packaging. 

I used to be a terrible cook. I never cooked. I hated cooking. 
Recently, I've taken up cooking thanks to the joy of the crock pot! 


Real food that is not packaged will by definition have less packaging. When you do go to buy new items, you can bring your own produce bags, containers for dry goods or bring your own packaging (glass or plastic, if you have it on hand) for meat. It sounds difficult- but trust me, it isn't. 

Here I made chicken noodle soup. Not only was it healthier and more environmentally friendly than canned, but tasted better too! (Just ask my husband!)

5. Find multi-use products. 

I recently ran out of my last bit of shaving cream in the house. I even used up the travel sized containers. I had already decided that I wasn't going to buy more because shaving cream in the non-environmentally friendly packaging. No problem though, I looked about and found other items I had in excess that I could use. Fact: Body lotion, coconut oil and just plain old soap all work. 

Another example I found was cleaning products. I now use the same (refillable in bulk) cleaner that is concentrated in a spray or can be used to mop my floors. I only need to have one product instead of two in my house. 

Wheelin' and Dealin'

I've been on a decluttering kick for a while, but have kicked it into high gear with the discovery of the book "The Life changing Magic of Tidying up" you know, like the rest of the world.

I went through clothes.. well, err.. most of them..

And then Books! I brought the books I didn't want anymore to the local used book store. They gave me like $7.00 in credit, which is $7 and a half a shelf of space more than I had before!

 After books I had an 'oh crap' moment- well, a room. You see, I had a crap room- the back room/craft room/stick it in there room. I had to get in there and get working in order to get the stuff into categories to continue. It was a disaster.. Even the dogs thought so.

While I was doing this, I made a "donate/trade/sell" box of stuff that was not trash, but that I did not want any longer...
It was overflowing..
And then there was my normal hoarding behavior.
Like.. paper.. printer paper I got for free or $1.

I've been posting that shit on yard sale sites.

So far at $93 more in my pocket!

I also found a bunch of change. And then I had a bag of change from the bedroom.. and the bank of change in the laundry room.. and a bank of change in the kitchen that was full- and ceramic.. and round... and on more than one occassion I have wondered if it or my tile floor would break if I dropped it.. I therefore called in my best reinforcement: the Dad. A quick text asking if the bank converts change informed me they do, but for a fee (boo). However, his other bank does it free (yay!), so I left that out for him and voila, got a $79.56 check in return.

I also determined that the old Honda's snow tires would fit his car... and made him pick those up (I mean, he was getting 5 free snow tires). So, that was the 'service charge.' haha

On the Journey to Reducing my Waste

One of my focuses this year is on waste reduction.

I've taken several steps in the past week in order to get this moving:

1. I located and used my reusable shopping bags. Previously, I had only 3-4... now I have enough to fill an entire grocery bag. I am using these for groceries and in replace of plastic bags whenever possible. I went to the grocery store 3 times this week (once was whole foods, which I do not do all my shopping at, and the other time I forgot something) and used them all three times.

2. Used Dr Bronner Soap & Bought Biokleen All purpose Cleaner: I ran out of floor cleaner, and instead of going out and buying new floor cleaner I utilized the Dr Bronner soap we had. I decided I did like the Dr Bronner soap, however, in order to take an additional step I went to M&C where I know they will re-fill your soap in your own containers. I did not bring my own container, because I didn't really know what I was getting into. I bought a 32 oz super concentrated spray bottle of Biokleen All purpose cleaner for $6.00 (I actually got $0.10 off and used $5.90 of my store credit.. so didn't spend anything). It is a super concentrated spray and floor cleaner. I am planning on going back with my refillable container next time.

Fun fact: While I was there they recommended I cash out my handmade account, and I walked out with a $142 check!

3. Plastic Film Recycling: I set up a plastic film recycling station in my home. I am sure I am the only one who will be using this, but one person is better than none. I read about it at http://www.plasticfilmrecycling.org/ and put the puppy's dog food container, 2 clean plastic film from a multipack and sandwich baggies inside the puppy container and under the sink. My plan is to bring it with me when I go grocery shopping.

4. Dinner Prep baby steps: 
One of my other initiatives for the new year is to eat real food, not crap. A few baby steps to reducing waste were made in this en devour:
Yesterday at whole foods, I picked up a broccoli head without the plastic covering, and bought dry beans in bulk. They wouldn't let me use my tared containers, but I have their paper bags in my purse for the next time I go.

When I got home and was using only half of a family pack of chicken breasts, instead of putting into a one time use disposable bag, I put into a washable container. Then I transferred that this morning into my crock pot with the beans from yesterday for Chicken Tortilla soup. (I also made my own enchilada sauce instead of using a can- we'll see how that works out!!)


5. Attempted to use up vs. toss Cheap Razors & use alternative shaving cream method. (Note: Attempt = epic fail).

Once upon a time, when I was young and dumb I bought (or likely got free with coupon) very very cheap razors- like the cheapest possible. I've carried them from place to place and have decided enough is enough. It was either use that razor or go into the basement and see if I have any stock piled. So I decided to use it. Epic fail.

I am also out of shaving cream. I have been using lotion in the shower instead, but heard that you can use an oil based scrub. I love using my oil based sugar scrubs, so figured I'd try it out in a use it up vs just disposing manner.

Let's just say I got through one leg and needed 3 band aids after. Not only did I need 3 bandaids- I had to change the bandaids because they were bleeding through AND put gauze under the second sets.

Insert joke from husband about how I was so out of practice of shaving that I forgot hoe to do it. (stink eye to the 'Woolly Mammoth')

Five Frugal Things!

1. Little Shitters: We have 2 9 week old foster puppies visiting who are weeing, pooping, crying machines. While I don’t get the paper, my father is an avid reader so I texted him when I knew they were arriving and had him put his paper aside. He brought it yesterday and today we subbed the non-eco-friendly and more-expensive-than-free puppy pads for newspaper in their puppy pool. Here are the little poopers pre-newspaper.. 

2. Vanilla Extract: After a large baking spree after being in the hospital from Christmas to New Years, I am out of real vanilla extract. I have imitation. Blech. Yuck Fooey. I did however purchase 3 vanilla beans for $8.85 on my last visit to Seven Arrows farm. I then bought a $6 bottle of vodka (yuck fooey)… with the plan to just put the vanilla beans in the vodka… then I realized someone would probably drink it… so I filled a left over resealable beer bottle with vodka, vanilla beans and then topped it off with Bacardi. In 6 weeks I should have vanilla extract! That is 16 oz of vanilla extract for about $15. Amazon sells 16 oz for $16.18 or 2 oz for $4. I guess compared to buying 16 oz on Amazon, it isn’t much of a savings.. 

3. MissingMoney.com: I checked missingmoney.com to see if we are missing any money. We are not.. so this isn’t really frugal for ME, BUT… I found my husband’s late- grandmother THREE times. After confirming, yes, I know the family tree, I filled out the information to file the report for my father-in-law. Two listings were > $100 and one was <$100, so I hope I have found them a good chunk of change! It looks to be from a life insurance policy. A great reminder to make a list of that stuff before you plan on dying.

4. Bulk Buying: I’m on a mission to reduce my environmental impact (beep beep- Prius driver!). So I thought a good first step would be to start bulk buying things. I researched, got my containers ready and went into Whole Foods to get dried beans (also a frugal and new thing!) and some others. I was told they couldn’t tare my jars. Boo. So Instead I just filled their paper bags. At least I didn’t get the Goya plastic baggie or the baggie inside a box, but still not my whole intention. I was pretty surprised at the prices- they seemed high. Pinto Beans (dry) were $3.19/lb and Black beans were $2.99/lb. I am going to compare to the other stores out of curiosity. I didn’t remember to check if they were organic, which could make an impact, but I will have to go back and find out!

5. Cooking: I’ve been doing really well at cooking lately. I made a Chicken noodle soup, Chicken tortilla soup (with the left over chicken that didn’t look like it was getting eaten AND pinto beans- new thing), and a bean and beef chili. The chili wasn’t great. The others got five star reviews from hubby though. I’ve meal planned my next 3 meals- just have to make a quick stop at the store on the way home- and then I should have what we need for the rest of the week.