Here is a list of the frugal things I have done this week:

I lined dried all my clothes. I actually did less laundry this week, so I saved on water.

I canned another 3 pints of tomato sauce from tomatoes harvested from our garden. I reused the water in the canner from the first time, since I had just used it the day before.

I read a book from the library and returned others that we had finished. I also renewed some that were about to be overdue, saving myself from racking up overdue fines.

I combined as many trips as possible when running errands. Since we live about 10-15 minutes from the main shopping area, I try and get at least 2 errands done at once to save on gas. The most I am usually able to do is 4, but any more than that becomes difficult since Peanut and Snowflake don’t do as well with extended trips.

I did not need to water the garden for on several days due to rain! It’s nice to finally get some rain around here, although for many crops it is a bit too late. My 2nd zucchini plant finally bit the dust after a particular hot afternoon last week, so I only have one producing plant now. I really thought I would have harvested more than I have from these 2 plants (as well as my 30 tomato plants), but I guess the weather just was not favorable this year.

I shopped for our upcoming vacation and bought all our food for the trip at the discount store (Aldi) and Kroger here in town. The cabin we will be staying at is a bit more remote, and the grocery store is very expensive there, so we are saving a lot of money buying our food beforehand.

There is a forum I frequent that has a topic entitled “What Frugal Thing Have You Done Today?” Rather than update on the forum, I have decided to update it here on my blog instead. I’m hoping to start posting weekly again, and this gets me started.

• Line-dried all my clothes. I do this exclusively now that it is summer. Our clothes smell so much better, last a lot longer, and I get sunshine and exercise to boot. The sun also is a great disinfectant, so I usually feel they come out cleaner this way. Yes, I line-dry all our towels, socks, underwear, you-name-it. Our dryer has been unplugged for the past several months.
• Ate lots of leftovers. We didn’t have ANY leftover waste this week, which is a huge accomplishment, since leftovers tend to pile up for us. I always hate throwing out food, since it’s basically throwing away money!
• Went on a hike as a family. We went to a nature preserve close to our house and so did not pay much for gas. This was a fun, FREE activity that we love! Dallas hiked the entire way by herself over roots, rocks and other barriers. She was so excited to lead the way, reminds me a lot of myself as a child!
• Stayed home and played outside in our backyard. Staying home is frugal since we don’t spend any money on gas or other shopping while out! Dallas played on her swing-set and Dahlia crawled around on a blanket in the grass throughout the whole week.
• Ran the dishwasher only once a day with full loads only, and let them air dry instead of running the heat-dry cycle.
• Washed all the clothes except cloth diapers in cold water.
• Used cloth diapers half the week - this saves a ton of money!
• Researched and planned for our upcoming 2 week vacation. I worked on menu plans, shopping lists and Rob helped research campgrounds to stay in. We will not have any lodging costs on this trip except campgrounds since we will be staying in a family cabin the rest of the time. Menu-planning helps ensure we only eat out on planned days.
• Did not have to water the garden on several days due to rain, hooray!
• Successfully canned 5 pints of tomato sauce from tomatoes harvested from our garden. I also froze about 10lbs to save for the next canning session.