Last year about half way through the year I decided to keep a spreadsheet of how much we saved using coupons, digital or paper. I feel like it is a challenge to see what I can do. Nothing like those extreme couponers from years back however, but pleased we've saved some. Each month whatever we "saved" I deposit in our money market savings account since I figure that is saved money we wouldn't otherwise have. There is some criteria for this...I only use a coupon if it is something we would normally buy, not just using a coupon just to save money even if it is something I wouldn't use. I know some of you have blogged about the great deals at CVS and we've taken advantage of those as well as Walgreens and Kroger. I also write companies and ask for coupons and then wait on a sale to use it if I can. So...drumroll for this year so far: $618.10. 

As well as coupons, I do some of the grocery apps and then when I get enough points or whatever, I get an Amazon gift card. Sometimes when I give blood I get an Amazon gift card as well. So far this year we've gotten $180 in Amazon gift cards due to my snapping photos of my receipts as well as a couple of Red Cross gift cards. DH orders  stuff for his lasering hobby. Today he ordered some boards and with two of the gift cards put on the account, he wound up paying 56 cents. Not bad. Most of these things he lasers are for gifts. 

Some folks say they don't want companies getting their data, but I figure they probably already have it so I might as well profit from it. These are some of the apps I use and if you haven't already signed up and want to do so, once you snap a receipt, we both will get bonus points. On your smartphone, you go to the app store and download the app and fill out the code. Ibotta is the pickiest, you have to go in and choose what items you are going to buy and it takes me longer to get money from them because I don't buy a lot of the stuff, but sometimes they just give you points for any receipt. Here are the referral codes:

Ibotta referral code: wqpfuwf

Fetch referral code: QCJA5

Receipt Hog referral code: wud24099

Receipt Jar referral code: DEBBKFT4B

Are there any apps you use that I could use your referral code to give us both points?

The garden is still going strong. I have canned some tomato sauce I made from our tomatoes, onions, garlic, bell pepper, Oregano, and Basil, and I've made three types of pickles: sweet, dill, and bread and butter. We've enjoyed fresh cucumbers and tomatoes and I've gotten enough carrots for a couple of meals. Same with green beans. I planted potatoes that I allowed to sprout last spring and gotten enough for three meals. I figure that is free food. Four of my tomato plants I grew from seeds from last year's tomatoes and the two bell peppers I grew from seed from a pepper this spring I bought at the store. The garlic came from garlic I harvested last summer. The Oregano I planted two years ago and it fortunately keeps coming up. The Basil I planted from seed. I also have Rosemary I planted from seed. I attended a Master Gardener demonstration class this last spring and we were given some other herbs and a tiered pot, so that was a frugal win as well. I used some of the dill in that pot for the pickles and the other day when it was a little cooler and rainy, I made myself peppermint tea from some of the peppermint. 

One of my hobbies I started was pouring candles. I asked some of the ladies at church if they had any old candles they no longer wanted and a couple of them gave me a bunch. I bought some small glassware to put them in and purchased wicks. My purpose is to make some very reasonably priced candles to sell at the bazaar. I'm not setting up a table for myself, just donating the proceeds to the ladies' guild. Since I don't have much invested, I don't plan on putting very much on them as far as prices; one of the ladies said people come to the bazaar looking for reasonably priced items. So, here are the candles I've made thus far. Besides the glassware and wicks, I do have a little scent invested, but not ton of money. I made myself a couple of candles besides so I figure that is a frugal win. Here are a few of the candles I made for the bazaar. And you can see the sign so you now know my "real" first name as the kids in school would say when I taught. 

Beware, I'm starting this as a bit of a rant...we have noticed that some of the young people in our lives are not good about thanking us for birthday/Christmas/graduation gifts. I'm not expecting a huge thank you note, but a text or phone call or email would be appreciated. I'm not talking about a small gift like a candle; I'm talking about a large amount of money. The checks were cashed, but we did not hear from them at all. 

Fast forward to this May and June...a friend's twins graduated from college. Each graduated from a differrent school. We sent a check to each and my husband made each of them a Christmas ornament with a graduation cap, their name, and the year. We received a thank you note from each. A real snail mail one in fact. It meant a lot. The sad thing is these kids probably aren't going to get anything else from us unless they pursue another degree because we aren't really close so it wasn't like they had an excuse to write in hopes of further gifts. Another friend wrote a thank you note to us because we treated him to a meal. So, in the span of two weeks we received three thank you notes. It was wonderful!

Being the frugal (or cheap if you want) person I am, I decided to figure out a way to recycle the fronts of the cards. I bought some cards and envelopes at the dollar store and so I cut the fronts to fit on the front of the empty cards. I decorated them with a few things that I have since I make many of my own cards. I like the idea of reusing the fronts of the cards. 

It was a good exercise getting to work on these because our "craft" room (read craft, but really it's a room with lots of uses) is in the basement and it's cool there. We are under quite a heat wave here in Central Illinois.

Hope you all have a great 4th of July if you are American as we celebrate the 250th anniversary. I've had the privlege of celebrating both the 200th and now the 250th anniversary.