Pair of Pears

My son likes pears, so we have a couple in the fridge.  Problem is, he's visiting his grandmother and aunt.
So what to do with pears that are ripe?
Dehydrated fruit of course.  I love the dried Granny Smith Apples from Trader Joes.  But pricey.
So I made my own fruit snack.
Slice pears, place on baking sheet (I have parchment/silpat under them)

 I sprinkled them with cinnamon

Bake at 200F for a couple hours until dried (Of course you can used a food dehydrator, or dry outside)

YUMMY snack

Surprise frugality

I was visiting my nephew in VA.  Keep in mind, he is a bachelor, TA at Virginia Tech....
What do I find on his deck?  CONTAINER GARDENING.  Awesome.
What is even better than that?  The containers used.
I believe that they are pans used to hold surgical instruments.  10 come in one package, open a package, use 2, the rest get thrown out. 
Check out their use.  And there are two for each plant, allowing for drainage, the top one has holes in it.

One cake mix...

Yep store bought. When my grocery store has a sale, the cake mix is .99 cents. 
Of  course I will have a coupon for .50 cents and the store will double it.
FREE cake mix.
I invested in mini muffins tins. (Of course I had a 50% coupon)
One cake mix made enough cupcakes for THREE events.
Instead of 2 doz cupcakes.  I had 60 little ones.
I took 20 to a 4th of July get together.  5 of us, so plenty for all plus leftovers to leave behind.
20 more were taken to the fireworks celebration to pass out to the kids and grown ups.
The final ones were brought to a girls night out.

Y?

I like to be frugal.  If people ask, I will more than gladly ramble on about it.  We ALL have our own opinions and lifestyles.  I do my best not to be preachy.
I DON'T belong to the Y.  Why?  Because I feel it is expensive.  People invite us to swim at the Y.  I try not to go, Why?  Because it is expensive.  10-15 dollars to swim for a couple hours. 
We are very lucky to have in-laws with a pool.  This is soooo much better for many reasons.  It is free.  We get to see family.  Win, win.  Yet I still get that look that I should join the Y.
My husband belongs to Planet Fitness.  10 dollars a month (The Y 80 dollars a month).  We swim at the in laws,  Free.  Seeing and spending time with family.  PRICELESS

Ounce of Prevention

I love my Hubby.  He is brilliant.
He tinkers about the house, fixing things, putting in gadgets.
I never really paid much attention or thought it did that much
HOWEVER...he put this thinga- ma- bob in the drip pan under the washer, which is upstairs
BEEP BEEP BEEP, I was running around the house looking for the smoke alarm going off
it was the Thinga-ma-bob...the washer overflowed and water was in the pan.
We saved hundreds if not more in repairs because of the prevention.
Thanks Hubby.

Frugal VS Cheap

Frugal TO ME means, getting the best value for your money, or for the least amount of money.  I don't mind waiting, researching, saving up, then spending money on a good quality purchase that will last a much longer time.

Clothes go in and out of style so very fast, so I shop clearance or consignment or thrift shop.
I don't have the latest and greatest in my Kitchen or where ever...if I have something that will already do the job.  I just recently received my very first Kitchenaid mixer.  Before that I used my grandmothers 30+ yr old Oster standmixer.  It still works a little, I tried to get it fixed, but Oster stopped making the parts.

My laptop died last week.  It had a slow and painful death.  It actually died on the table (On the kitchen table)months before.  But my husband operated on it and revived it, at least for a little while.  That time allowed me to back up info, and be prepared the for inevitable.

Since we don't live outside our means, we could purchase one right away.  For others, the time it was limping along, would give people the ability to save up for a new one.

I guess my point is, live frugally, and you will have the means to buy good quality items that will last a long long time.

Watermelon Popsicles

I had 1/4 of a watermelon left over.  I looked great but wasn't that sweet.  I knew it could easily go to waste.
Summer vacation is here, so popsicles are the perfect cool you off type of snack.

 I cut up the watermelon

Put it in the food processor, with some honey

 

Process and strained

And now we have summer on a stick