Frugal Things I Did Last Week

A bouquet of flowers picked from our garden. 

 Life has been CRAZY around here lately!  (Crazy in a good way.)  I have finished 3 weeks of school and my sister recently got engaged.  I have my first Anatomy test this Thursday!  We are trying to keep up with our usual frugal ways despite the decreased free time around here.  :)  (I'd love any of your suggestions by the way.)  Here are a few of the things that we did last week to save money: 

The happy hubby took Eli to the zoo.  We purchase a zoo pass each year so there was no out of pocket cost for the trip except for gas.  I packed lunch for them and they spent $0 at the zoo cafe.  I'm so proud of them!

We have enjoyed a number of zinnia and dahlia bouquets this month.  I have zinnias growing in our landscaping and also in our garden.  These zinnias and dahlias were grown from seed from Renee's Garden.  I absolutely love them!  I think I actually took this picture a few days after they were cut.  Next year I plan on doubling the amount of flowers we grew this year!  It is amazing how much a small bouquet of flowers can brighten up a room.  I keep them on the kitchen table, kitchen windowsill, bathroom, by my bedside table, and sometimes on our piano.  I always think of taking them as a gift to someone but that rarely ever happens.

Elijah attended FlowerBuds at our local extension office.  It has been a lot of fun and I am sad to see it coming to an end.  They talked about apples this week and made personal apple pies which was lots of fun.  I really enjoyed walking around the garden which is in full bloom.  They have the neatest flowers at our extension office.  One flower I hope to add to our garden next year is Tithonia or a Mexican Sunflower.

Taste of Home Biscuits

I scored major points with the happy hubby last week by baking these Rustic Herb Biscuits.  They were really good and look so cute in the new Lodge pan I used.  I purchased the pan at the Lodge Factory outlet while we were on vacation.  The shape of these biscuits reminds me of the ones they sell at Sonny's BBQ (my favorite restaurant).  

We visited the library where I picked up two books that had been ordered through interlibrary loan.

We love swings!

We have spent a lot of time outside enjoying the playground.  Eva and Eli love to swing together!

We picked peppers, okra, cucumbers, and squash from our garden last week.

I purchased lots of clothes for the Eli at a yard sale: 8 pairs of pants, 9 shirts, and 3 pairs of shorts. I purchased clothing in his current size (5) and a couple of items that I will save for next year that are a size 6.  It is hard to find nice, used clothes for him because little boys are hard on their clothes!   Finding nice used shoes is almost impossible.  I need to see what else needs to be purchased for winter but I am hoping we can get by for the most part.  (Our budget is tight right now since I am taking classes (and paying cash for them) and we had a large car repair.)

Eli is wearing an orange shirt and black shorts.  The happy hubby is in teal.  

We attended the Alexandria Fair which wasn't exactly frugal but I wanted to share the above picture.  I think the fair is ridiculously expensive ($9/person) but we attend each year to watch my brother and sister show their horses on Monday.  This year Eli participated in the chicken rodeo, greased pig contest, and kiddie tractor pull.

I cut the happy hubby's hair and trimmed his beard.  We are still using the same set of clippers that I purchased over 6 years ago.  This saves us at least $20 per month.  

I received a free copy of the new ESV Women's Devotional Bible in the mail.  I love it!  I will post a review of it soon.

What frugal things did you do last week?