Frugality

I recently wrote about my trying to stay out of the supermarket for a month. I made 27 days. I had eaten the last bagel and was down to one can of cat food. There were still many lunches and dinners left, but, alas, no breakfast. As expected, my bill was high, but still below the monthly average for this year.

This led me to my most recent attempt at frugality. Through the years I've gone on these binges. When I discovered that juice drinks were subject to a sales tax, I switched to plain juice which was not. Then I realized that whole chickens were cheaper per pound than different parts, I learned to cut the chickens into legs and breasts for meals and wings and backs for soup. At one time, I even bought large pieces of bologna and cheese and sliced them myself. All of this made me feel good. I was saving money, yet still providing good meals.

When something was on sale, I would stock up There were times when we had 10 cans of coffee or many boxes of cereal or 12 cans of tuna fish in the pantry. You get the picture. Some fresh vegetables are freezable, so I would stock up on them so they would be available all year round. You get the picture.

My latest foray into frugality involves using stale bread. Today I got the bright idea to make croutons, partly because when I went to the supermarket last week I forgot them and the home made bread went stale. I cut them into cubes, diced some basil and thyme (from my garden) and garlic, added them to oil. Then I put the bread, oil and herbs into a plastic bag and mixed them well and put them in the oven to toast. They're not too bad, I should have made them smaller. Maybe next time.

Now, what is the next way to cut waste?