Frugal Accomplishments This Week

We had a good, frugal week in our household. Rose is still fully cloth diapered and exclusively nursed, and we're still working on potty training with Anneliese so not using so many diapers for her. I was trying to make a big emphasis on serving more legumes this week so as to bring down our overall grocery costs. I ended up going away for the weekend, to spend it with my family, after my grandma passed away on Thursday, so that ended up in my not needing to cook for the weekend (other than gluten free desserts), which definitely saved money.

Sunday:
I made pancakes for breakfast.
I brought along food to eat while out instead of buying.
I made a legume based supper, with zucchinis that were on their last legs.
I foraged wild onion.
We collected cans for cash.
I set up black beans to soak and chickpeas to sprout.
I made a homemade calendar.
Mike bought an exercise resistance band from the sports store, for very cheap, which will allow him to have the same type of workout he was having with a fitness instructor, at home, for free.

Monday-
I made pancakes.
I went to the grocery store and stuck mostly to the list, didn't buy too many extras, and specifically didn't buy things like hearts of palm I saw on sale, because they are expensive even on sale, and aren't necessary. I price compared the apple cider vinegar and olive oils I saw, and bought what I thought was more expensive at first because, upon computing, I saw it was cheaper. Found a brand of cheap brown rice pasta, which was only marginally more expensive than the gluten free corn pasta I buy, but healthier, so decided to try it out. I rely on tuna fish as a quick protein for myself when I make eggs for the family and I didn't prepare anything for myself instead, but tuna isn't so cheap. I saw sardines on sale, for much cheaper than tuna, but then I did a price comparison per gram of actual fish because the cans of sardines are cheaper... and they still work out cheaper, and are more nutritious than tuna. So I bought 15 cans! That should last a while. Bought a few bags of a certain snack- my daughter wanted a bag and it worked out that there were 3 being sold for a sale price- soon we'll be hosting a communal party that I need such snacks for, so I decided to buy all the ones on sale.
I redeemed bottles and cans for cash to use to pay for part of my groceries. Bought beans and popcorn on sale to make cheap meals and snacks in the future. Put back the basmati rice I put into my cart, because I really didn't need it.
I dumpster dove a gigantic plastic container that I'll be using to store things.
I picked up a bottle for recycling.
I cooked up 3 lbs of sprouted chickpeas, froze most in can size portions for future quick meals.
I fixed my son's sandals.
Served legume based meals.

Tuesday-
Kids separated out the unpopped kernels from the popcorn I made for me to re-pop into more popcorn. (They asked to do it, and then asked me to re-pop it.)
I Cooked 2 lbs black beans, froze them in 2 cup packages to use at a later date.
I gave the boys free drawing lessons via video tutorials on youtube.
I collected cans/bottles to redeem for cash.
I was going to visit my grandma in hospital, and instead of taking bus, I timed my trip so I got a ride with my mom who was going there anyhow.
My mom needed to stop in the grocery store on the way home, so I asked her to go in for me while I waited in the car so I wouldn't be tempted to buy extras. She picked up 3 whole chickens for me on sale.
I butchered and divided 8 lbs of chickens into portions for our family that would be enough for 7-8 meals.
I served legume based meals made with past prime zucchinis that needed to be used up ASAP.

Wednesday-
Figured out more cheap legume based meals using only the minimal produce I had at home.
I Picked 34.5 lbs of fruit from trees around the neighborhood. Started preserving some.
I went to a sale to get some things. Loaded up on a bunch of produce I thought was really cheap, cheaper than I could get at the farmer's market, and when I went to pay and discovered that it was 3 times the price I thought it was (but still cheap, yet more expensive than the farmer's market), I put all the stuff back and decided not to get it.

Thursday-
I made homemade popcorn.
Got free potatoes and a zucchini that someone was getting rid of.
Went shopping at the farmer's market, got a lot of cheapo past prime produce, as well as a bunch of free stuff.

Friday-
Made cookies out of cooked chickpeas I had lying around.
I attempted to make homemade gluten free, dairy free, egg free cinnamon buns... which ended up tasting good, even if the end results weren't so aesthetically pleasing.
I made 3 types of homemade plum jam with plums I picked, using pectin to make jam from the juice, and making both refined sugar free and regular sugar pectin free jam.
I made plum juice to serve as a drink.

What did you do to save money this week?