6 Green and Frugal Things for March (and a Few That Aren’t!)

 Sometimes I post a list of little frugal things we do each month on my food blog Lazy Budget Chef and thought I’d do it today on Condo Blues. Some of these things are big, most are small. You don’t have to look to closely to see that most of them are green too!




1. Turned off the heat Saturday when it reached 60 degrees ( F) outside. Husband and I did a little dance thinking we were good to go until Fall.

2. I batched my weekly errands into one big Saturday trip to save time, gas, and money: Morning ballet class, the bread store, Aldi, Meijer, Target, and the gas station. Boom. Everything done, purchased, and put away by 1:00 and we were ready to play for the day!

3. Found  green peppers, onion, and apples on the Saturday Reduced Price Shelf on a rare Meijer trip. I dehydrated the onions and peppers to keep in glass jars for crockpot recipes. We use dehydrated apples to flavor plain oatmeal for breakfast and for snacks.

Learn how I make dehydrated apple chips on my food blog Lazy Budget Chef.

4. I am obsessed with my Candlewarmer wax warmer! I am  recycling old candles into wax warmer melts like crazy.  I love how it allows me to extend the life of my favorite nontoxic candles once I burn through the wick. 

Read my tutorial How to Make Candle Wax Warmer, Melts, Tarts, and Cubes: The Complete DIY Guide on Condo Blues here.

5. I end up with a bunch of small empty food bags (dried beans, etc.) after every grocery store trip because I started storing those in glass jars in the pantry as a pest control measure.  We rinse out (if applicable for things like frozen peas, fruit, etc) and repurpose the empty bags for doggie duty and close them with the metal  ties that close our bags of fair trade coffee.

6. And speaking of recycling trash, I upcycled trash I would normally throw away to  make 8 different kinds of homemade fire starters so a lighter fluid happy friend will not burn his eyebrows off lighting his fire ring this summer. What is it with guys and lighter fluid anyway?

You can read my Eight DIY Fire Starters tutorial here. 

Three Not so Frugal Things for March

We save some to splurge later and splurge to remind us to save. That’s why I’m including a list of what we didn’t do to save money to give you a more balanced look at how we manage our trade offs. It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that we save on our needs and blow the rest on Lacey .

1. I turned the heat back on Monday when the weather dipped to 19 degrees and it snowed. I guess turning off the heat for the Spring and Summer was a little premature.

2. I am taking ballet classes for the first time in my life!  Ballet is something I always wanted to do but believed I was too old because I didn’t start when I was 5. I did other forms of dance but I have always. Always. Always. wanted to take ballet. Now I am.

3. And speaking of spending all of our money on our dog, we celebrated Lacey’s third birthday this month!  I resisted the temptation to buy out the entire store on my trip to Moochie & Co. to buy Lacey’s birthday present and treats.  We know Lacey doesn’t know the meaning of birthday but it was a fun excuse to resupply her with training treats and her favorite tiny squeaky tennis balls that Lacey likes to catch in her mouth. Forget that fetch stuff. Lacey is all about playing catch. If you don’t throw the ball properly so she can catch it, Lacey will bark at you until you do.

What do you do?

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