Last Week’s Thrifty Moves

I used a half loaf of slightly stale French bread to make French toast for Sunday breakfast.  It was delicious!  Sorry chickens.

I made a bottle of homemade pancake syrup.

After all our expenses last week I still had money left over in my checking account.  I transferred the extra into savings.  I was very happy about that.

I turned in my rewards points on my credit card and ordered a gift card to a store I plan to do some Christmas shopping at next fall.  I will put it away for safekeeping.

I added water to the dish soap bottle and thoroughly rinsed it out which gave me enough for two more loads of dirty dishes.  The empty bottle went into the recycle bin.

I soaked a combination of black beans and pinto beans overnight.  Then I put them in my slow cooker and cooked them until they were very soft.  I added in the pinto beans I had put in the freezer a couple weeks ago too and then I made a batch of refried beans.  I used bacon drippings I save in a jar in the refrigerator to fry them in.

I listed several more items to sell on eBay.

I stopped at the corner grocery store on my way home to drop off mail and noticed they had a promo going for a 10 pound box of oranges just $2.50.  Needless to say, I bought a box!

Tuesday was my shopping day and day for errands last week.  I mapped out my course so I was able to make all my stops using as little gas and time as possible.  Amazingly, it took less than an hour to stop for gas, pick up grocery items at Fred Meyer, drop off mail at the post office and pick up additional grocery items at Albertson's all on the way home from work.  The great prices on the items I purchased definitely made it worth my time and I was set for the remainder of the week.

My greatest bargain was two bags of lettuce mix for salads on sale for 88¢ at Albertsons, which is the regular price at Fred Meyer, but...  I bought two of their brand because I also had a coupon for $1.50 off two.  This made my final price 13¢ each!

My youngest daughter had her first Orchestra concert Wednesday.  Fortunately my girls are close enough in size that the oldest was able to lend her her concert band outfit so we didn't have to run out and buy anything new for her to wear.  They did it all on their own too.  I was so proud!

On Thursday I replaced the battery on our truck after doing some price shopping first.  I found a great price on a five year battery with a two year full replacement warranty for less than $100.  They installed it free too.  No muss, no fuss and within fifteen minutes I was on my merry way.

I used my other gas gift card to add $25 worth of gas to the trunk.  That will last us quite awhile.  I also added $25 in gas to my car with cash.  So far this month I've only spent $25 out of pocket for gasoline.  I wish every month could be like this one. J

I filled our propane tank at an RV store near work for $1.99 a gallon.  They've been lasting about five weeks between fills.  The cashier told me that in May they lower their propane to 99¢ a gallon through the summer.  Yippee!

I ordered the oldest one a box of clarinet reeds online for less than half the price at the music store.  I prefer to shop local but at $4 a reed that is way outside my budget.  I was able to purchase her a year supply of 10 for $17.85 with free shipping.

Friday I stopped at the corner market to drop off the giveaway books at the post office.  While I was there I grabbed a gallon of whole milk for next week that was on sale.  They still had cases of oranges for $2.50 so I snapped up another of those.  I also spotted a whole boneless ham in the markdown bin for $6.21.  That came home with me as well.  I plan to cut it in half and put one half away in the freezer.  You can bet I will be tailoring the meal plan for next month around the other half of the ham. 

How was your thrifty week?