We have been enjoying lots of time on the playground lately. On cold days we just bundle up! One of the great perks to living right next door to the church-we have a playground in our backyard!
I sewed a Crayon Roll as part of a birthday gift. I had all of the materials on hand even the crayons. (I always keep an extra pack or two on hand.) The other part of the birthday gift was a cute little nightgown I purchased on clearance dirt cheap. I re-used a gift bag and purchased an inexpensive card at the Dollar General.
I sewed a birthday gift for my sister. It turned out super cute! I can’t wait to show you all. 🙂
My son Elijah wore a Dinosaur Costume that I made for him the week before. It probably cost about the same as a cheap costume from Walmart but I like to think the quality was a little better. (It isn’t likely to rip and I’m sure he will be using it to play for at least the next year or so.)
I purchased a couple much-needed items for Elijah at Goodwill’s 1/2 price sale on Friday. Hopefully now he will be able to squeak by until Christmas with the clothes he has now. I had a great time dressing Eli up in his new clothes for church today. I also purchased two Christmas gifts, garland, and a nice Snowman bowl for our Christmas Open House.
We used a great Buy One Get Free Breakfast coupon and had brunch at Bob Evans. We all had water to drink (no stupid tax for us) and I shared my meal with Eli. We save lots of money by usually getting drinks and rarely getting Eli a kid’s meal. Restaurant portions are so large that there is always plenty for me to share with Elijah. The only exception to this is usually when we are travelling. We usually do purchase kids meals and milk for Elijah.
We went to the library and came home with a stack of books, magazines, and movies. One of the books I brought home was a book I almost purchased on Amazon. So glad I waited! It turned out to be not that great.
I read Beverly Lewis’ new book that I received in the mail free as a book reviewer. It was really good too! 😉
I went to dinner with friends and used a coupon that a friend brought along. I drank water (to save money and calories). We all had a blast and it turned out to be fairly inexpensive for eating out on a Friday night.
I cooked a pot of Black Beans (a pound of dried beans). We love black beans at our house and cooking them myself is much cheaper than buying canned black beans. I buy my black beans in a 10 pound bag at Sam’s for around 1.00 a pound. I cook them seasoned with spices and tomatoes. We eat them over Cous Cous for dinner. Then I freeze the rest in 2 cup increments in the freezer. Most of the meals that I make that call for black beans call for 1 15 oz. can of black beans which is about 2 cups. These beans are MUCH better than the canned beans you buy.
What sort of frugal activities have you been up to?
Emerson Family 
I have tried so many times to cook dry beans and I never am able to get them right. Do you have any advice? I would love to cook dry beans because they are so much cheaper (and I’m sure better!).
Hmm. How exactly are you cooking them? I always do the overnight soak with about 8 cups of water in a bowl and 1 pound of beans. Then I rinse the beans and place them in a pot. Add water (I think 8 cups?) and cook for around 2 hours on the stove. Make sure to just simmer them not boil them. (They can be cooked on the stove or in the crock-pot.) I usually cook mine until I like how they taste and start tasting after about two hours. Usually we don’t like our beans to be mushy or crack open. Here is a link to one of our favorite bean recipes. It is cooked on the stove and takes around 3 hours. https://emersonfamily.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/southwest-beans/ We usually take leftover Southwest Beans and add them to our enchiladas. They also freeze really well.
Hope this helps. Don’t give up!
I have only read one Beverly Lewis book, but I’ve read lots of Wanda Brunstetter books. Love those amish books, I do!! How do you become a book reviewer?!