Frugal Friday

No post yesterday. I was too busy working around the furnace installation. Still not done completely yet, but we have heat and by the end of next week will be rid of the electric heating in the back of the house!! I am very happy.

My frugal five for this past week.

1.  Baked bread.

2.  Used my slow cooker once this week. Hopefully I will be using it more as the weeks progress.

3.  Got a new energy efficient furnace installed.

4.  Priced out flooring here in Estevan. After taking in the cost of driving the truck (gas guzzler) up to Regina, having meals out, and the cost of the gas, Harvey figures it might be more cost effective to buy everything here. The only drawback is we don't get to visit with Kris.

5.  Reading free or low cost magazines and books.

Now on to another chapter in the frugal living book.

Chapter 6 is all about car ownership.

Most of the things listed we already do, however, I guess after a few years of buying new vehicles we should look at buying a preowned vehicle. We could save lots that way, however we use our main vehicle very lightly, we are cutting down on buying gas guzzlers (well except for Harvey's truck), and the one great thing is that I have free service for two years on the new vehicle we bought. Oil changes for free is wonderful!!! Harvey pays quite a bit for his.

The author says to be efficient in how you organize your errands. This is something I already do. This has enabled me to cut down from two, sometimes three gas fill ups a month. Lately I have been down to one most months, sometimes two.

We have discovered the sweet spot when driving on the highway. You know, the place where you get the best gas mileage. If we have a wind behind us, look out the mileage is wonderful.

The vehicle tells us when the tires are low, and Harvey pulls out the air compressor. Keeping the tires at the proper inflation really helps cut down on gas usage.

I have a clean driving record (keeping my fingers crossed and knocking on wood) which cuts back a bit on my car insurance. We can't really shop around for insurance here as SGI (the government insurance) has a stranglehold on vehicle insurance. I do try to get the lowest possible price though.

So not much new in this chapter for me to try and implement at this time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.