Last Week's Frugal Accomplishments

Last week was an interesting week for us.  It was brutally cold (minus 3 one morning), and there was no school for the week due to snow and the extreme cold temperatures.  But it did mean that Benny could get out to go to work, and he was able to pick up some extra hours at work.  And, since I stayed home all week, we were able to save on gas since I wasn't driving to work each day.

Here are some other ways we saved:

• Ran gas logs for extra heat to keep from running the HVAC (gas is cheaper than electric here)
• Ate entirely from the pantry and freezer including vegetarian chili, loaded baked potatoes, homemade french bread, homemade pesto pizza with veggies, corn bread, winter squash pancakes from frozen winter squash puree, beans and rice, baked oatmeal, lemon poppy seed muffins, and leftover winter white pesto lasagna (no meals out)  
• Read library books and listened to one free Audible book, Inkheart
• Prepared grocery list using Southern Savers and coupons
• Washed clothing in cold water
• Showered every other day to save hot water and keep my skin from drying out
• Used family cloth and cloth diapers
• Worked more on "pre"-potty training with little man
• Taught little man a few more signs (berry, cat, and potty) (this at least saves our sanity because it means he can tell us more of what he wants)
• Left oven door open after use to heat up the house (when little man was elsewhere occupied, of course)
• Recaulked two living room windows for better insulation
• Closed curtains to insulate windows better
• Cleaned exhaust fan filters in kitchen hood and bathroom to improve efficiency
• Changed out all incandescent bulbs to CFLs (we are working on saving for LEDs to save us more money)
• Benny redemed a coupon for a free sandwich at Chick-Fil-A before it expired and brought it home
• Used Christmas gift of windshield screen during really snowy/icy days so we didn't have to run the car as long to warm up and defrost the windshield (and minimize scraping)
• Composted anything we could (toilet paper tubes, food scraps, paper towels, tea bags, etc.)
• Researched online and found recipes for citrus vinegar cleaner, homemade body butter, and homemade liquid dish washing soap
• Hung all clothes and diapers to dry after washing
• Finalized our lease for the apt and got it signed
• Installed a draft dodger in the basement and at our door to the basement stairs

How did you live and save green last week?  I'd love to hear from you!