Frugal Doings for the First Part of April 2015

Did you get your tax return done and submitted yet?  Today is the deadline or you will have to file an extension.  We already got ours done and got back a small refund which was used to pay for repairs on my car.  The little car must have been jealous of the attention that my car was getting at the hands of our wonderful mechanic because last night it decided to "act up" too.  Good thing we are in frugal mode here right?

Here is a list of some of the things we have done this month to either save or even make money:

~checked our warranty on my car and it paid for about half the repairs needed on my car

~Jeff was able to do the repair to his little car himself

~getting free products in exchange for doing reviews on them

~doing my various points programs and getting gift cards, free magazine subscriptions, etc. as rewards

~took back a phone I bought on sale at Shopko when I found the identical phone at Walmart for half the price

~watching some shows that I like online

~making my own bread, rolls, pizza dough, etc.

~transplanted 4 blueberry bushes that were not doing well in their location...now they are thriving in their new "home"

~buying and planting more fruit bearing plants in our yard

~using the trimmed apple branches to make bean tepees 

~borrowing books and movies from the library

~piggy back baking and baking potatoes in the oven whenever I am baking something else

~cooking up double batches of things to either have leftovers, freeze and eat later or to make into something else later in the week

~using coupons to reduce the cost of our purchases

~buying the loss leaders at the grocery stores and making our menus around that

~signing up for free samples

~placed an order at Vitacost.com and went through Mypoints.com to get points there, also got a free sample with my order and hit the B1G1Free sale for some of the things we needed

~got some great deals at the thrift store lately like watercolor paints, a kite (our oldest grandson loved it), some clothing, a basket for using to haul produce from the garden

~my parents blessed us with homemade jam and syrup, an antique chair that was my great grandmother's, Kona coffee and they brought dinner and also took us out for lunch

~bought some geraniums at a wonderfully low price and will be trying to propagate them from cutting so I have even more plants

~using the earth layering method on my blackberry bush to get more plants

~using my laundry line to dry a good portion of our laundry

~found an awesome deal on a set of brand new Queen sized 100% cotton sheet set at Walmart that was only $5 after their half off clearance deal

~Chris was able to get us a new automatic garage door opener for free

~Chris is also giving us a nice garden glider swing

~every time I go to the grocery store, I buy a can of coffee since the store brand is at a crazy low price, I hope to have a stockpile of 10 within the next few months before the prices go up

~taking advantage of the nicer weather and getting out on more walks with the dog

~using leftover coffee to make iced coffee drinks at home