Looking for ways to save money and be frugal without feeling totally deprived? Wish you could think of more ways to save or earn money for your family?
This weekly posting of 5 Frugal Feats and Fails will give you new ideas and money saving inspiration. Be sure to read ideas from others in the comments and leave your own tips too!
To keep myself accountable, and to open up the chance for us to talk about frugal living tips, I’m going to post 5 frugal feats and fails each week.
Please feel free to leave your own ideas in the comments – the more we share with each other, the better off we’ll be! We can learn a lot from each other’s feats AND fails.
What does frugal living have to do with organizing? Pretty much everything!
Now, on to the frugal feats and fails!
Frugal Feats
- Zaycon Chicken – Last week I picked up our Zaycon chicken order and put each chicken breast butterfly into a separate freezer bag. Now it’s all tucked away in our freezer. If my calculations add up right, this should be enough to get us through until early summer. At $1.69/lb, it’s a deal, and the chicken is high-quality. I just found out they’re starting to sell chicken thighs, so I might try that next time.
- Consolidating Trips – We went to the airport to pick up my mom, and then visited my aunt and uncle in the same trip. It saved us time and gas, and it was a lot of fun!
- Potato skin crunchies – I made some spiral-cut fries this week, and used the potato skins to make “crunchies.” I just tossed them in oil and salt and pepper and cooked them in the oven while the fries were cooking. They come out super-crispy and delicious. It’s a good way to make use of a part of the potato we probably wouldn’t use (yes, I know we should use it because of the vitamins etc., but I’m being realistic).
Frugal Fails
- Restaurants – Activities and tiredness got the best of me this week. There was way too much eating out, and I had to re-read my own article about cutting back on restaurant spending.
- Online shopping – I’m surprised the bank didn’t call to see if everything was on the up-and-up. I’m going to experiment with a Berkey water filter and see if we can ditch our water jug supplier, but buying one was uber-expensive. If it works out, this will be a frugal feat. For now, I’m not sure…
Your turn! What were your frugal feats and fails this week?
Also – should I keep doing the frugal feats and fails? I promised to do them through October, but I’m not sure if you guys would like me to continue with it…
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We’ve gotten chicken fromom Zaycon for a couple years. Great tasting chicken. Great price. Plus you never have to worry about the recalls that seem to be happening more and more.
Epic fail in the meal planning dept. I had the menu but failed in the time management dept. Result hubby eating fast food on the way to work each night. Littles not eating nutritional foods and it showing in their attitude.
Ah, I hear you with the nutrition and the kiddos. The after-Halloween crash is going to be tough!
Please continue with the Frugal Feats and Fails. It lets me know I’m not alone with my experimentations.
Okay! I’m working on a new one right now.
Hi Katie! I hope you keep up the frugal feats and fails. We can all learn from both!
My fail for this week was ordering some food items from Amazon before checking out the local discount store (It’s called Ocean State Job Lot). We’re new to the area and I hadn’t been to the store before. A couple of days after I placed my Amazon order, I went to the store and found several items I could’ve gotten for less. Oh, well, live and learn.
I think you will find the Berkey filter to be a frugal feat. I’ve had one for at least five years, and I’ve only had to replace the black filters once. It really is more economical than bottled water, plus you don’t have to rely on someone else for your clean water supply. Plenty of advantages!
Marge S. recently posted…Is the GermGuardian AC5000E the Best Budget Air Purifier?
Hi Marge! Oh, I totally know what you mean about ordering on Amazon and finding it cheaper elsewhere. It’s a bummer! It’s tough to figure out where all of the best deals are when you’re new to a town. Thanks for your encouragement about the Berkey! I think I have my family on board with it, and so far we’re liking it!