Frugal Friday: Odds & Ends

Remember how last week I gave myself a $75 grocery budget? My shopping trip on Saturday was $63.04 and all we had to pick up between then and now was a package of grapes ($2) and a jar of peanuts ($2.48) so I spent a grand total of $67.52 on groceries. I came in $7.48 under budget. Since I did so well I am going to keep the $75 grocery budget. I may go over on weeks when I stock up on certain items but I hope to be able to spend just $300 a month on groceries, compared to the $400 that we were spending before.

Because of the fact that I watched my pennies so closely this week, I saved in other areas as well. I did not jet off to the store when I realized we needed one thing or another, I just put it on the list for when we do go shopping. Being aware of every single cent that I am spending, I was able to save $150 extra this past two week pay period. Granted, there weren't many bills to pay this pay period so that could be somewhat the reason, but I also didn't spend until it was gone, I realized what we could spend that week or two and then spent no more. Some of that extra cash will go into savings and at least $50 of it will be added to our mortgage for the principal portion of the payment. Whenever possible, we make extra payments on our mortgage so that we can get it paid off earlier than the 30 years it was intended for. By doing this, four years in we have already knocked one year extra off the loan. It's been said that making one extra payment a year on your loan you will knock 7 years off the loan. We try to make at least one extra full payment, and then add $25 here or $50 there when we get the chance, so hopefully we will own our home in 20 years or less, not 30.

I received three more free samples in the mail this week.

There is an insulated shopping bag that I have been wanting to buy because we often shop out of town and I never pick up ice cream or other frozen goods that could melt/thaw quickly because of the long ride home. This one has a zippered top so everything inside should stay cold and the bag feels like high quality so it should last for a long time. What a nice sample for free!

I also received a sample of three different face products from "Murad". I can't wait to try them and each sample size should last a few days.

Not shown in the picture (because I forgot to include it and I'm too lazy to take a new photo) are two tea bags from Celestial Seasonings of their Green Tea with White Tea. I'm sure I will love it and it is nice to try new things for free to see if you like it or not before buying a whole box of it.

What ways did you save money this week? Have you been signing up for free samples and receiving any yet?