Frugal Accomplishments

This past week, I've tried to be really conscious of what we're spending.  This is so that we can build up the baby fund and begin paying down the rest of the home equity line, as mentioned in this post.  To that end, I'm going to try to post a weekly update on our frugal accomplishments.  (I fully realize that the blog rhythm might change when baby #2 arrives.)  So, this past week's frugal accomplishments include:

• regular composting of kitchen scraps, including crumbs and plate scrapings and any brown, unbleached paper to reduce waste and build compost for spring gardening
• catching water from the shower warm up to use to water plants
• pouring leftover water from glasses in the dog bowl
• using the crock pot for one big batch of soup, which provided leftovers for lunch all week
• sharing leftovers with Mom twice this week, eliminating cooking time and energy
• took advantage of Harris Teeter's super doubles sale and spent $50 for $100 worth of groceries, including three packs of diapers for shower gifts and baby #2 when he's too small for cloth
• welcomed the gift of leftover fruit, including apples, bananas, and pomegranates from Mom
• used up some pasta sauce our previous tenant had left behind
• saved two cartons of unopened milk from student lunches from being thrown away
• carpooled every day to school
• combined errands for a single trip and planned the route to be most efficient
• froze cranberries before they went bad in the fridge for later use in cobbler and smoothies
• Benny installed the Ecobee thermostat in the apartment, which should save us substantially from the old model we had.
• hung all clothes to dry using drying racks and hangers and washed only full loads
• purchased little man's birthday gifts online with a promotion
• will finish making Christmas gifts this afternoon to send to family that Mom is visiting, saving on shipping and homemade goodies are always less expensive, and sometimes more thoughtful, than store bought things
• made all thank you notes to send out for Christmas gifts, saving a bundle on stationary
• decided not to purchase another pair of compression tights, since these seem to be holding up with regular washing, saving $30
• found a new recipe to try using ingredients we had on hand, saving the purchase of new ones
• made all meals at home
• plan to post at least five new items to eBay this weekend for sale
• tutored after school two days for $35
• signed up for Ebates, which should earn us some gift cards for online purchases we'd normally make

What did you do to save money or earn money this week?  I'd love to hear from you!