Frugal Accomplishments in the New Year

Lilies opening up in my Christmas bouquet

A bright, shiny new year is ahead of us.  I intend to do my best to live it well.  I'm happy to be joining in with Frugal Accomplishments today.  I made yogurt and kefir.  One of our local thrift stores had everything 50% off.  Christmas items were 75% off, which I didn't need, but I did purchase several 100% wool sweaters, all $2 or less, for my felting projects.  I also picked up several yards of natural cotton Cluny lace for 50 cents, and several yards of 1/2" elastic for 25 cents.  I'm looking forward to doing some sewing, when my new studio is set up.

I made a ricotta pie with our eggs.  The ricotta was extra left over from our baked ziti dinner.  We did not need heat for several days.  I opened the windows when warm enough, to bring fresh air into the house.  The other days, we heated with wood.  I used a 10% off code for items needed from Vitacost, and went through Swagbucks, which gave me another 15 points per dollar.  Listed several items on ebay.  Grated carrots and soft apples for the pups and put the carrot tops in the broth bag.  Collected rain water.  Dumped water bottle and glasses into the humidifier on the woodstove.

felted bear I bought from a friend at the Handmade Holiday show

I bought cabinets for the studio at a discount building supply store .  I purchased them unassembled, as they offer a 10% discount if you assemble them yourselves..  I printed and used a 5% coupon there for other materials we needed, as they would not combine the coupon with the 10% discount.  I was  behind on my laundry, as I was waiting out the rain. I did 4 loads with homemade laundry soap & soap gel, and hung them on the line. J had bought a ham at Aldi's for .59/lb. and froze it.  He cooked it, enjoyed one meal, put enough leftovers in the fridge for another meal, and froze the remainder in meal sized packages.

wild rose hips

We enjoyed a New Years Eve dinner with friends.  I prepared a salad, including our carrots.  We stopped at a little bakery that uses organic ingredients on the way home from purchasing cabinets, and bought some lovely bread there, which I brought, along with a bottle of semi-sparkling wine bought at Aldi's.  For New Years Day, I prepared collards with rice, black eyed peas,  and sweet potatoes, all but the rice grown here.  A volunteer in the garden appeared to be a winter squash and gourd cross, which produced many softball sized fruits.  I have slowly been cutting them open and giving to the chickens, for the seeds and flesh.  Also gave them what remains of grapefruit halves.

As I use a fresh Christmas tree, it goes up 1 to 2 weeks before Christmas, and I keep it up through New Years.  The first of the coming week, I will take down the tree and pack up any other decorations, which were few this year.  I made Baby Bella sandwiches, and added the bottom bits to the broth bag.  May the coming year be all that you hope for!