Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

I made my credit card company pay me this week. That’s right–$35 in my pocket thanks to Citibank. The first $5 is through a price protection program that they offer. I purchased a Coleman Queen Double High air mattress a month ago, and this week I saw an advertisement for the same one, except that it is on sale for $5 cheaper. My credit card company will credit my account the difference once I submit the ad. The other $30 is for a free trial offer on a new program they have. I get $30 just for trying it out. I love it when the credit card company has to pay me!!!

What is your Frugal Confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

Not only do I love to save Paul and I money, but I love to save my friends and family money! My friends and family in PA threw me a fabulous bridal shower, and at the end of it I snagged a beautiful banner that was in our wedding colors. The purpose? I knew my other friend at work was throwing us a work shower, and wanted to offer it to her to use (thus saving on decorations). Paul’s family also threw us a beautiful couples’ shower, at the end of which I snagged these very pretty hand-made petals in the exact color of our bridesmaid gowns. These were then used at our work shower as well! His sister-in-laws also gave us an unused matching table cover, and unused napkins. It all turned out great!

What is your confession of the week? I’d love to hear it.

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers! Happy Friday.

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

Since the weather has turned absolutely beautiful down here over the last two weeks (in Houston), we have turned off our heat/cooling system and opened up the windows instead, and turned the temperature on our water heater down. We are getting a lot of bugs (mosquitoes, anyone?) in our home because I love to keep the back door open throughout the day when I am home and get in fresh air, so I have priced a screen door for just $32 at the local Habitat for Humanity Re-Store!! True, there are only maybe two months out of the year when the humidity and heat combo have not set in, and when it’s not too chilly, that we can keep the doors and windows open, but to me it’s completely worth it. Now I just need to get my measuring tape out….

What are your frugal confessions? I’d love to hear them!

Happy Friday!!! If you are new to this series, check out the intro here.

Here is my frugal confession of the week:

The first project Paul and I did to our house when we moved in was to paint the bedrooms upstairs (lots of spackling, steamed off some old border wallpaper, and removed a really ancient, inactive intercom system in each of the rooms). It took several weeks, but was absolutely worth it. Unfortunately…Paul would occasionally wear some of his nice clothes to paint in (I guess when he came home from work and needed to paint some more, he didn’t feel like changing first??).

Anyway, last weekend I resuscitated several of his clothes by googling how to remove paint from clothing, and then spending about two hours scrubbing my heart out. The products that I used to do it with were all items I had around the house (glad I finally found a use for that bottle of hairspray I bought several years ago) and included hairspray, rubbing alcohol, and nail polish remover. Fortunately, I was able to salvage two of his favorite shirts, a pair of nice jeans, and a pair of nice shorts. What I couldn’t salvage was another pair of shorts, and a pair of lounge pants that he wears around the house anyway.

What is your frugal confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!!!

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

If you are new to this series, check out the intro here.

Here’s my confession of the week:

I absolutely LOVE yoga. The problem is that yoga classes can run anywhere from $12-$20 per session.

In college I took a yoga class offered for free on campus–it was a hatha yoga. I lived in that same college town for a year after my graduation, so I signed on with the teacher and took her class paid. Then in Florida, I tried out a yoga called Bikram, which is the one where they heat the room up to 105 degrees. It was tough for me then (and I only tried it twice), but here in Houston I tried it out again last summer and fell in love!

I also love this particular yoga studio right now, called YogaOne. Their facilities are new and great–nice bamboo flooring, great locker room, and they offer all of the things you would need to get ready for a night out on the town later: shampoo, conditioner, hair spray, hair dryer, q-tips…really anything.

Anyway, periodically they have yoga teachers who are not yet certified, or who are new to their facility, and so they offer free classes with these teachers on Saturdays and Sundays at 8:00 a.m. Last Saturday, I took one of these free classes! It was absolutely delicious. I am going back this Saturday for another free class.

What is your frugal confession of the week? I’d love to hear it!

Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!

For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here is my confession of the week:

I love the Container Store because I love organization and cleanliness. Part of redoing our laundry room means that we took down the ancient shelving in the closet, spackled (a lot), and put up a new shelf system. This was so important and fun to me, and I knew just where we were going to get a closet system from: The Container Store. Their Elfa system was on sale at 30% off in January, and so the timing seemed perfect.

However, they did not have the right measurements that we were looking for (one large shelf up top, and two smaller shelves down the left side in order to keep a lot of space in the middle for things with handles like vacuum cleaners and brooms). Paul had mentioned that I should look in Lowe’s instead, and could probably get the same thing for half the price. Well…he was right!

Lowe’s sells a large piece of finished particle board (oak–the same kind at the Container Store), as well as white-powder coated tracks and everything. My total cost came to: $45.11! I priced the same materials at the Container Store, and it would have been (with the 30% discount): $132!!!! Amazing…though I have to admit I will still be shopping periodically at the Container Store when I want to spoil myself:).

What is your frugal confessions of the week? I’d love to hear them!

Check out the results of our DIY Laundry Room Renovation.

Hello Everyone! If you are new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here’s my confession of the week:

We have a cat, Lyla (and we love her!). In order to keep her happy, I buy the little cans of gourmet tuna…but I only give her a little spoonful each day at dinner with her normal dry food. And she gets soooo excited; whenever I come home, she runs up to me and gives me that look, and as soon as I mention the word “tuna”, she starts whining and running around! By giving her a little at a time, our small can of gourmet cat food lasts 3-4 days (or whenever it goes bad in the fridge).

Also, and this tidbit is from my Aunt Anita, we made her a toy from cutting out the inseam of an old pair of jeans. This toy is extremely durable, and she loves it!

I’d love to hear ways you save money on pets. Have a great weekend!

Good morning Frugal Confessions Readers!! Happy Black Friday. If you are new to this series, check out the introduction here.

Here’s my confession of the week:

I am a big proponent of reusing items that are used to carry or hold other things, such as padded envelopes and bags. After each Christmas, I save all of the gift bags that have been given to me, and put them in my box of wrapping paper stuff to use for next Christmas! If there is a tag made out to me, I snip the tag off. The bags are always so pretty, and it’s a shame to just use them once. Plus, I have such a big group of people that I buy for, that I never come close to using the bag for the same person who put my gift in it from a year or two before.  

So what are some ways in the past, or in this year, that you have found to save on the holidays?

Good morning, and Happy Friday to everyone! If you are new to this series, here is the intro post.

Here is my confession of the week:

We are a two-car household. Admittedly, one of the cars (the mustang) is a gas guzzler (I know…it was one of Paul’s bachelor buys:)). When I am home on the weekends and want to run errands, I always take the other car because the gas mileage is so much better. Paul has given me his mustang to drive to work. My work is 18 miles from where we live, and Paul’s is 10 miles from where we live…so even though it appears that he should take the gas guzzler to work instead of me to save on gas, I feel that the way I drive the car is more conducive to good gas mileage than the way that he drives it (sometimes he likes to gun the gas…). Needless to say, I have not suggested we switch!

Now it’s your turn–what are your frugal confessions of the week? I’d love to hear them!

Happy Friday! If you are new to this series, check out the intro here.

Here’s my confession of the week:

I picked up the Martha Stewart November Issue free from work (someone with a subscription brought it in to share), and was really excited about making her bird feeders as a fun and frugal alternative to buying actual bird feeders. I got 2 pounds of free suet (beef fat) from Central Market, 5 pounds of wild bird feed for $1.89 from Kroger’s, and had the rest of the materials laying around the house. Last night I “liquified” suet, which admittedly meant I chopped it up into strips and left it in a big soup pot to check in once every twenty minutes or so while I watched a movie. This went on for a few hours, until the final time when I checked in on it…the kitchen was full of smoke and it had burned!!! The stench was literally like a big, burned hamburger. YUCK! I opened up the windows, the door, turned the fan on, set the pot of burned grease  in the yard (where it still is while I write this) and sprayed air effects all over the place. I also had managed to get grease everywhere because it bubbled and boiled while cooking (I know…this is kind of disgusting).

We had leftover hamburgers allready nicely made to eat last night for dinner…but I absolutely could not stomach them after the fiasco!

Now it’s your turn, share your frugal confessions of the week! I’d love to read them.