Being Frugal

In an attempt to save money (not that I have any as I am not currently working) I have decided to start posting the things I do that are of a frugal nature. Feel free to join in.


This past week:

• ate leftovers for dinner last night
• DH also ate leftovers for dinner last night (his were different as I am on a diet) and he has enough for tonight as well.
• looked on Demand Studios for topics I can write - I haven't written anything for them for several months. It is easy money if I can find a topic.
• racking up my Swagbucks. Thanks to Gil for giving me some tips. I have $20 in Amazon.ca gift cards with another $5 pending. Hope to have a nice amount by Christmas next year for a few gifts.
• Did all my laundry Sunday - electricity rates are cheapest here on the weekends.
• Sorted through my bookshelf the other day - may try to sell the4 books I no longer want on Kijiji
• Waited until I had a full load to run the dishwasher - since there is only 3 of us and I hand wash often, I only run it about once a week.

 Not so frugal:

• Groceries this weekend cost me about $150 and they were mostly produce for me. No way to get cheap produce in the winter time. At least we have tons of other foods in the house for the boys to use up.
• Threw out leftover turkey from New Year's day that I forgot to freeze. There wasn't a lot but still.
• My office is freezing and I have been using the space heater a lot - need to wear more layers and drink more coffee/tea to stay warm or our hydro bill is gonna be nuts!

1st week of diet complete

So I have been completely sugar free for 7 full days now. I feel great! I was really surprised that I did not have a sugar-withdrawal headache the 1st couple days, especially after all the sweets I inhaled over the holidays.

I have been using a flavoured Stevia liquid in my coffee & tea. Too much and it has an after-taste but just the right amount and it tastes great. I think I am also getting a taste for less sweet coffee & tea.

I have lost weight, but will not yet disclose how much :) It is a surprise!

So far I have plenty of energy and am not finding dieting too difficult, but it is still early days. I just made kraft dinner for J and it smelled SO good, even though I really don't like KD. My sense of smell seems stronger.

I had a small beef tenderloin steak (not bacon wrapped) last night for dinner and I sliced teeny tiny pieces off it and ate it slowly and savoured it. I am definitely eating my meals much more slowly now and paying attention to taste. I have leftover tenderloin to look forward to tonight with some steamed asparagus :)

Finally got the rest of the Christmas decorations down today and put away - I did leave two artifical pointsettias on the mantal and made DH put the front door wreaths back up - I keep telling him they are winter wreaths, not just Christmas wreaths.

We got a couple inches of snow over the past week but nothing major thank God. I could do without too much snow this winter.

A day (ok a few hours) without Internet

Season 11 of the Biggest Loser starts tonight - I find it motivating to see people lose the amounts of weight they do. I have absolutely no asperations of working out 6 hours a day, so will never see those same results, but it is motivating just the same.

DH went back to work today and kid goes back to school on Thursday. It will kind of be nice to home alone again.

Kiddo and I undecorated the Christmas tree today and started on the other decorations. We should be completely undecorated by this evening.


As I write this, we are actually without Internet connection. Not sure what is wrong - DH can look into it when he gets home. It is quite odd to not have the Internet - this page was open when it went down so I still have access to it - I cannot save of course, so should probably cut & paste this into Word before I lose it all :)

Without the Internet, I need to find something to do. Not that I don’t have a million things I should be doing, such as washing the dishes or cleaning my office, but those are not things I want to be doing J

Today is the 2^nd day of my diet and so far so good. Of course this is when the batteries on my scale decide to go. I get on the scale and have one reading, then get off and back on and I go up a pound, off and back on and down 2 (should probably stop here), off and on again and up 1.5. DH is bringing home new batteries tonight so things should be fine after that.

Ok so I got bored enough to start sorting through my bookcase. I have a pile of books I will never read again to give away, a pile to loan to a friend and a pile of book I have not yet read. 

Evening: Internet was not broken, just the cord that supplied the Internet was. DH bought a new one and we are off and running again.

Got new batteries put in my scale but that doesn't seem to have fixed it. I get on 4 times and get 4 different readings. Time to go scale shopping I guess. This one is only about a year old too.

Happy 2011 Everyone!

Ah it is a fresh new year - brand spanking new! Not spoiled at all. Like a blank page just waiting to be written on. Have I ever mentioned my love of new stationary? No? well I love new journals, blank paper and brand new pens. Kinda like the first day of a new year - unblemished.

What will 2011 bring? Who knows? Of course I still have a goal of losing some weight - any amount of weight would be good. Another goal of getting back to work (since I didn't win the Lotto Max last night). I'd also like to become more active, I think I am starting to grow roots.

Since we had Christmas dinner at friends', I am cooking a turkey with all the fixins today. I will eat leftovers tomorrow (and then I am sick of turkey), and Monday I start my diet. DH & the kid can eat turkey leftovers the rest of the week.

We rang in the new year with the same friends we spent Christmas dinner with - it is nice to be able to drink and then just walk the 2 blocks home.

I hope all my friends (real & online), family and all my hundreds (ya I can dream) of blog readers have their best year yet - I hope all your dreams and goals come true for you in 2011!

Wishing you all prosperity, good health, happiness & joy for the coming year!

Making a list and checking it twice

of stuff I still have to get done before Christmas!

Ack - I don't know why it seems that every year, I leave things later and later to get done. When I was younger, I used to have all my shopping completed by the end of November or sooner. Now I have less people to buy for and it seems to take WAY longer!

Yesterday was DH's birthday. We decided to go to the Mandarin for dinner, it is a chinese buffet restuarant. Well they have holiday pricing on now, which translates to high prices all week instead of just on the weekends like they normally do. Also, my 13 yr old can no longer get the children's price, which stops at age 12 and so we paid almost $24 for him to eat fries, battered fish and chicken, a tiny bit of caesar salad and a dish of ice cream. Had I know of the holiday pricing, I would have suggested we go elsewhere. Oh well.

DH and I did manage to grout the remainder of the repaired tiles so my guests will have a completely finished floor to walk on on Boxing day for the first time in 3 years :)

I submitted the final copy for my contract work this morning, so I shouldn't have to deal with any changes there until after boxing day, so that is off my plate. Whew!

The tree is bought and in the stand but not decorated yet.

The house isn't fully decorated, stairs, upper landing and front livingroom still to be decorated (family room done).

Two more kinds (at least) of cookies to be baked.

Entire house needs cleaning - must be done by Boxing day when I have a crowd coming over.

Gifts are all finally bought but not one wrapped as yet.

We are going to friends nearby for Christmas dinner, but I will be providing the homemade sausage stuffing, so that has to be made on Friday.

We have to pick up the last of the food required for boxing day this evening. I didn't want to buy things like veggies too far in advance.

So I guess I should get off the computer and get some of this cra...ummm stuff done huh? :)

Day dreaming

I like to imagine all the nice stuff I would buy if I won the lottery. I plan the ultimate kitchen in my head, the grandest of living rooms and all the rest.

Of course, when I discuss this with DH, all he is interested in is a largest TV available. While the TV itself doesn't thrill me, the choice of TV stands does.

It has to be wood and not ultra modern. I really like this one, this one and although a little rustic, this one too.

Book Review - Christmas at Harrington's by Melody Carlson

Publisher's blurb:

Sometimes the best gift is a second chance
Christmas is approaching, and Lena Markham finds herself penniless, friendless, and nearly hopeless. She is trying to restart her life, but job opportunities are practically nonexistent. When a secondhand red coat unexpectedly lands her a job as Mrs. Santa at a department store, Lena finally thinks her luck is changing. But can she keep her past a secret?
Reading Christmas at Harrington's, a story full of redemption and true holiday spirit, will be your newest Christmas tradition.

My review:  I enjoyed reading this story - it was a quick and an easy read. It was heart warming, uplifting and just right for this time of year. It provides the message to lend a helping hand even if you are down and out - karma has a way of coming back to you. While sometimes predictable, it was still enjoyable and I would recommend it to others.

"Book has been provided courtesy of Baker Publishing Group and Graf-Martin Communications, Inc.
Available at your favourite bookseller from Revell, a division of Baker Publishing Group".