Fun with Frugalness

That makes me sound so dullsville doesn't it?  Oh well - you know you love me!

Over the holiday weekend I went Sams Club shopping with my parents and grandparents.  Yes I'm that cool.  We always get the jumbo beverage for $0.87 and then troll for free samples.  Worst case scenario we hit up the $1 slice of jumbo pizza afterward.  Thankfully we were able to save a buck and fill up on samples.

There were a couple of noteworthy deals that I wanted to high light from this trip. 

First I have a story to tell you.  A story of an office thief. 

Picture it - SuperBooville - present day.  A young super hero keeps creamer in the office fridge.  She notices one week after purchasing a particularly tasty creamer that the fullness level seems to be going down at an alarming rate.  Is she drinking more delicious coffee than she realizes?

Then one morning she opens the fridge - and notices the creamer is gone.  A quick glance in the trash can shows the fate of the bottle.  Someone has emptied it.  Super Boo might not be the most sane in the world, but she certainly doesn't finish things and forget about them.

Someone else was using her creamer.

Someone else had the gall to finish her creamer.

Fast forward a few months.  Our super hero has switched to plain ole half and half.  One afternoon she goes into the break room to prepare her afternoon snack and notices a creamer, her creamer, on the counter.

Upon further inspection the creamer is warm.

Someone has used her creamer.  And not refrigerated it properly.

This time our super hero is hopping mad.  Who chronically steals someone else's creamer?  Sure there is some share-age when someone for gets theirs, but it certainly shouldn't happen on a daily basis without a prior discussion between both parties.

Who is so blase with their theft that they don't even bother to cover there tracks?

Why does any of that have to do with a trip to Sams Club? 

A fellow coworker had suffered a similar fate and suggested to our super hero that she look into the individual serving sizes.  They don't require refrigeration, and are therefore easier to hide from unnamed assailants.

(not sure why blogger isn't showing the picture rotated - i have it saved correctly before uploading).

At $0.04 a serving, I can definitely justify the expense.  I'm Our super hero is set for a while.

Moving right along to a less bitter subject - Barbecue pork.  Summer in Tennessee is hot.  Summer in the BJay household is hot.  (We keep our thermostat up to keep our electric bill down.)  I try to cook as little as possible.  One great way to do this is pork BBQ. 

I fix the meat in a crockpot, then get to freeze the leftovers.  Imagine my joy when I noticed this in the Sams Club refrigeration section.

(the coffee cup is for size reference)

I ended up dividing 14+ pounds into 6 servings.  This past week's round of BBQ had more than enough for freezer leftovers.  Which means one day later this month I'll be pulling the pork out of the freezer, heating up a can of green beans, and warming up some corn on the cob for an easy meal.

Do you have an easy ideas for summer food that won't heat up the kitchen?

or if you want to go deeper...

What petty/seemingly inconsequential type thing really makes your blood boil?