Frugal Friday – Repurposed Gifts

Earlier in the week, Jay took out the trash. 

We tend to collect it, since “taking it out” actually means loading it up into a vehicle and hauling it to the dump.  Our outside container was full, we had 2 large black bags of “clean” (aka not smelly) garbage in the mud room, and our kitchen container was filled to the brim. 

I finished the milk that morning, and placed the empty jug on the floor beside the kitchen trash.  Apparently he didn’t see it, because he emptied both cans and took them off along with the other bags and a couple of pizza boxes.

Over dinner, I commented on the milk jug which remained.  I tease him about his hoarding tendencies (shocking I know).  I asked him if he was saving it for a special reason – arts and crafts project perhaps?

Jay took my sarcasm and decided to turn it into a challenge – I would take the old milk jug and turn it into a fabulous Valentine’s Day gift for him.  Since I’m not crafty, I decided to consult the interwebs and came up with the following:

Whale pool toy

Watering pitcher

Ball toss or pencil holder

Potted plant holder
Bird Feeder
Storm Trooper Helmet

OR

A random native American girl

So, whatta ya think?  Which of these (or what combo) should I attempt?  Do you have any other creative ideas I could try?

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Financial Friday ~ August Check-in

I haven’t been budgeting as consistently as I would like.  I don’t know if its the lack of weekly check-ins, or just the nature of things.  I’ve had a couple of weeks go by without reconciling our expenditures – something I use to do every Friday like clockwork.

Without a keen eye on things combine with paying 2 mortgages for the time being, I’ve felt like our budget was out of control these past few months.  Today I sat down to review things, turns out its not as bad as I had originally feared.  HOWEVER, that’s no excuse to allow the pattern to continue!

Groceries

$150 budgeted ~ $161.21 actuals

I lead off with this one, because I’m proud of how well I actually stuck with the budget without much effort.  I’ve read reports of rising food prices, given the heat/drought this summer, so Jay and I will be discussing spending a bit more next month.  $150 is about what we need monthly to not deplete (but certainly not build up) the stockpile. 

Restaurants

$100 budgeted ~ $181.24 actuals

We never spend $100 or less on food out.  We nickel and dime it to death with trips to Taco Bell, then dinner out with friends or family pushes it over the top.  Not sure why Jay likes to set the “hopeful” bar low, when we don’t stick with it.  While I hate we almost spend double our budget, I don’t fault our careless spending with all the blame.

Brooke’s personal spending

$100 budgeted ~ $130 actuals

I went over last month, so I decided to spend less this month.  Only someone did tell my pocketbook.  *Sigh*  Dinner out with friends, an overnight girls trip, and a couple of race registrations really did me in.  Got 2 more for next month.  I need a sponsor!!!

Have you being tracking your spending?  What’s the biggest frivolous area you splurge on yourself?