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Frugal Weekend Plans

October 11th, 2008 at 01:56 pm

1. Doggy play date at the park (fun for the humans as well as the dogs)!

2. Free breakfast and coffee at Ikea. Available at most locations this weekend (Sat, Sun, and Mon) until 10:30am.

Text is http://info.ikea-usa.com/seizethedays/ and Link is
http://info.ikea-usa.com/seizethedays/

While there, get some doggy clean-up bags. I reuse my newspaper bags, but it's never enough. Ikea's price is 3-cents per bag ($1.49 for a roll of 50), which is the best I've found anywhere.

3. Watch a Netflix movie on-line. That's a feature they added awhile ago, and I haven't done it yet, but should in order to take full advantage of my membership since there's no extra charge.

4. Renew my library books on-line (gotta avoid those fines). Read same books.

5. Introduce DH (who has been out of town again, coming back today) to the new chart on the refrigerator for tracking Food & Drink expenses (both consumed at home & eating out) ... I added a cute (free) clip art picture to it, hoping that would be the spoonful of sugar that makes the medicine go down.

Will he get on board with the idea of squirrelling away $25 a month for 3 months from the alloted amount so that I can fulfill my wish of having a very expensive Sunday brunch ($29.95 per person plus tax & tip) at Fonda San Miguel before we leave Austin?

6. Wash my down comforter. I love having a front-loader machine. Used to take my comforter to the cleaners, but now I can do it myself. (Note to newbies to the world of frugality: A diehard frugalite would rather wash a comforter in the tub than take it to the cleaners. I'm more a "moderate frugalite".)

7. Make Soap Balls using the little slivers I save from the ends of soap bars. (I've been doing this since I married DH. I'm the type of person who will use a bar of soap to the very end, perhaps squishing the last little bit on to the new bar. But DH doesn't like that, so I go ahead and replace a bar when it gets low, but I save the slivers and make balls.) I may not have balls when it comes to investing, but I do when it comes to keeping clean!

Hope eveyone has a great weekend.

10 Responses to “Frugal Weekend Plans”

  1. sillyoleme Says:
    1223733441

    Sounds like a good (and frugal) weekend! And I hope your DH is on board with saving for the brunch, sounds like an experience you would regret missing out on.

    By the way - how do you make soap balls? BF uses bar soap and I never have (always do body wash), so I'm at a loss for what to do with the remains.

  2. scfr Says:
    1223735008

    sillyoleme: Thank you! This is how I make soap balls:

    Turn the soap bits in to even smaller pieces and put them in to a mixing bowl. Some people just break with their hands and some use a grater. I cut off shavings with a paring knife. Mix in some warm water (not too much, but enough to make the soap gooey) and let it stand for about 30 minutes to soften. Mix again, and then start forming the balls with your hands. Squeeze them well ... If they get air pockets, they'll end up falling apart when you try to use them. Set them on a piece of wax paper to dry. Let the soap cure (dry) for a good long time, like about a week. But occasionally turn the balls over so they dry on all sides, and give them a squeeze to remove air bubbles.

    If you have plastic gloves, you may want to use them, or you'll end up with serious prune hands!

  3. homebody Says:
    1223738501

    Lucky you our Ikea is 5 hours either Emeryville or Sacramento. Hey I wonder if Monkeymama knows about the free breakfast?

    My DH doesn't like me pressing the old bar onto the new bar either. What is it about men? Maybe I should try the ball idea.

    Our dog park supplies the clean up bags, but 1.49 is cheap, I will remember next time I am at Ikea. We do like to take the dogs to the beach sometimes. I usually have an few extra bags from the park in my jacket pockets since you grab them at the beginning of your walk and they are not always needed.

  4. dmontngrey Says:
    1223747582

    Ha ha ha... I have washed my comforter in the tub many times!

    For the doggy bags - check your local dollar stores!! If I am UNlucky, I find 50 packs there for $1. Most of the time I find 100 packs for $1. It's just one store near me that I know of that sells these. You never know... plus 50 for $1 is much less than you're paying. This is not a chain dollar store.

  5. scfr Says:
    1223750305

    dmontngrey: LOL - Brought back memories of my much younger and single days when I did my wash in coin-operated machines. I used to wash my undies and sometimes my clothes out in the sink or tub so I could stretch out the time between visits. Yea - I'm glad those days are gone. Having an in-unit washer (and a front-loader to boot) is a very nice luxury.

    As for the dollar store suggestion, thanks, I will keep that in mind if I ever live within walking distance of one. I've visited dollar stores a few times, but have never found anything I needed in stock. They seem to be the sort of place where you go hoping to find what you need ... I've gone away empty-handed and concluded it was not worth wasting the gas to drive there. I'll bet it just depends on what sort of stores are in your area.

  6. fern Says:
    1223759368

    I haven't been to ikea in ages but i always liked browsing the smaller stuff in the basement level...free breakfast would be a good lure. we have one that's a good hour away in new haven.

  7. scfr Says:
    1223761130

    fern - It's the SMALL 99-cent breakfast (and the 99-cent coffee), so I don't know if it would be worth an hour's drive, unless you have other things you can do at the same time.

    We are fortunate to have one very close to us, well worth the trip.

    But as you said, the "basement level" stuff is great: candles for the emergency supplies, energy-efficient light bulbs, etc.

    And if any guys care to comment, it appears we now know of 3 men who don't like using up the last little bit of soap ... Anyone care to try to explain that?

  8. dmontngrey Says:
    1223775688

    Odd, I don't get complaints about pressing the last bit of soap into the new bar. He only complains if it doesn't stick to the new bar! Otherwise, the little soap pieces just sit there. What? You thought he'd actually do something with them???

  9. homebody Says:
    1223775823

    I can, I can..... ha ha. DH and I were having a conversation and he starts talking about how he has got to get new deodorant, the gel he uses he swears plugs up his pores and makes him hurt. He went on to say he doesn't like our soap, which is large squares of Zest with sort of a dip in the middle. I got 16 bars for like $3.00 at Walmart at the entry of the store. I grabbed it.

    Anyway, I started to laugh and he's like "what??" I said that some of us were wondering why you don't like little pieces of soap?? Inquiring minds want to know.

    He thought a second and then said, "When I get in the shower I want to shower, I don't want little bits of soap that slip out of your hands". Okay fair enough. At least he came up with a reason!

    PS I told him Secret made me itch and hurt so he could use it up (he used my Secret for at least 10 years in the past).

  10. scfr Says:
    1223816212

    Thanks homebody ... I wonder if our husbands sit around wondering why we care about things like this. Smile

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