by Texas Homesteader ~ 

Saving money is something we all share in common. And truth be told it’s often pretty easy to do if you keep your eyes open for simple opportunities. Come see the 5 Frugal Things we did this week to save money. 

Cheap Date: New Release Movie

RancherMan & I went to see the new Mission Impossible movie. (It was great!)

But we were able to save some money by going earlier in the day and paying cheaper matinée prices for the movie. (PLUS senior discount – woohoo!) 

Not only did we save money but there were no crowds. Even though it was a brand new movie there were only about a dozen other patrons in the theater with us!

Date Night – Split The Meal

In conjunction with our inexpensive matinee date we enjoyed a meal out. One of our favorite restaurants is called Rodeo Goat. (weird name, delicious food!) But you know restaurant portions are often oversized!

On Wednesdays they offer our favorite loaded fries for half price. So we treated ourselves to an order of loaded fries and split a burger between the two of us. It was plenty of food to fill us both up. 

I always bring my own ice water in my tumbler to enjoy and RancherMan enjoyed a favorite brew.

So it was an inexpensive date-night meal that we both thoroughly enjoyed. 

Easy Repair For My Garden Pruners & Carpet Cleaner

Somehow I lost the spring for my garden pruners. They’re not new but they’re the heaviest and best quality pruners I own. 

They don’t indicate a manufacturer name on them but I didn’t want to throw them away and buy new pruners. Y’all know how I hate to throw away one whatsit to replace with the same whatsit, right?

A quick search and RancherMan found the correct spring to replace the lost spring for my pruners. And the cost? $1.25 – including shipping!

New pruners would have cost $15 and up.

He also replaced the motor in my portable carpet spot cleaner for $15. The new motor was in installed in minutes. 

So neither of those items had to be thrown away and have replacements purchased. Repairing them was quick, easy and inexpensive.

Being willing to repair our things instead of automatically throwing them away & replacing them is one of the most beneficial & frugal things we do here at the Homestead.

New Hiking Boots For $10 Less

We’ll be going on vacation soon and that vacation will include several hiking trails. I was able to borrow my sister’s hiking boots but RancherMan needed new ones for himself.

He found the boots he wanted at Bass Pro Shops. They showed to have his size in stock PLUS they were on sale for $25.99! 

 

We were going to be in the area for our movie date anyway so we swung in and found the boots, but the clerk said they didn’t show to be on sale.

So RancherMan pulled the website up on his phone and showed the current sales price to the clerk in the shoe department, who agreed to give him the discount.

For a couple of minutes time we saved $10 and RancherMan has new high-quality hiking boots!

Fresh Organic Garden Produce

I’d be remiss if I didn’t tout the inexpensive healthy meals we’re enjoying these days in part thanks to the abundant harvest from my garden. 

It amazes me how much healthy food can be harvested from even a small garden.

If you don’t have room for a large garden, plant your faves in large containers. You’ll be rewarded with healthy fresh food for a fraction of the cost of purchasing in the store.

And let’s be honest, there’s no comparison to the flavor of a ripe tomato plucked from the vine. 

Battling Spider Mites In The Garden

This spring was cool with plenty of moisture. I harvested heavily from my garden every day.

But then my garden was hit by spider mites.  

I won’t spray poison in my garden for two main reasons:

Even though I wash my produce, I don’t want my food to have ever come into contact with poison of any kind.

Poisons are most often are non-discriminate. Using them will harm the beneficial insects along with the pests.  

Some .edu sites state that neem oil is safe around bees while other sites question honeybee safety. 

So I’m currently trying to spray the plants with a jet stream of water from the hose when I water the garden to dislodge the spider mites.

But I daresay using that method the spider mites will win in time. If so I’ll clean up the garden and allow it to rest until potential fall planting. We’ll see.

Have y’all ever won the spider mite battle without resorting to poison? I’d love to hear your solutions!

What Are Your Frugal 5 This Week?

So there’s my 5 frugal things to save money this week. We also ate healthy homemade meals cooked from scratch for all but our date meal, enjoyed passive-solar lighting in our home and I’ve been preserving produce from our garden for all we didn’t enjoy ourselves or share with family & friends. Nothing wasted!

What are your Frugal 5 this week?

~TxH~

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