Last Week's Thrifty Moves

I fixed my daughter's curtain rod with a ball point pen and a piece of packing tape.  It had bent to the point that one more bend and it would have snapped in half.  I asked what had happened but then decided I didn't really need to know.  With needle nose pliers I carefully pried up the crimped part of the rod.  Then I removed the cap from a ball point pen and slid the pen inside the rod.  It literally snapped into place.  Next I wrapped a four inch strip of clear packing tape around it essentially making a splint.  Once the rod is up the repair isn't visible, especially with the curtain on it.  Nice and secure now too.

I made salad dressing, maple pancake syrup and baked a loaf of whole wheat bread.

I went through my dwindling supply of greeting cards and pulled out three of my final four Easter cards.  I wrote a note and sent them off to family that live far away.  I also used stickers I already had on hand to decorate the envelopes.

I turned in a few of my free-no purchase necessary coupons at Harbor Freight.  This time in I did not make a purchase either but I found a few things I wouldn't mind having.

I returned a couple items to Fred Meyer that didn't work out and got my money back.

I trimmed my bangs.

We eliminated some bathroom clutter by finishing up our regular sized tube of toothpaste and then going to work on finishing up our collection of toothpaste samples.  I do not care for bubble gum flavored toothpaste.

We also finished using up every last bit of three of our small bottles of hand and body lotion.  My oldest finished up a sample bottle of shampoo and is now working on another one.

I did two loads of laundry with the last of our free detergent samples I got at the grocery store a few weeks ago.  I was able to run six loads of wash using those samples.

The Roma tomato seeds my daughter collected from a tomato she was slicing up for a salad a couple weeks ago have sprouted.  I am so excited about this. 

Most of the seeds we planted in the greenhouse seed starter have also come up.  The zucchini didn't which is surprising.  They are usually the easiest to grow.  My youngest's marigolds are now ten inches tall.  The oldest's petunias are really starting to take off.  The chives are coming up now too.

A friend of mine gave me a HUGE bottle of laundry detergent she bought at Costco because she doesn't like how it smells.  Lucky me!  I won't have to buy soap until well into 2015 I expect.  Thank you!!

My friend also gave me her coupons and ads from the Sunday paper.  I clipped several coupons.

The youngest and I went to Harbor Freight and redeemed a couple coupons while her sister was at Honor Band practice.  We put our freebies in the Christmas gift box.  I still have a ton more coupons too.

My oldest tried to toss out the mayo jar with mayo still in it.  What?!  Did I not teach you anything?  I quickly gave her a lesson in the artful use of a rubber spatula and she realized just how much mayonnaise she almost threw away.  The next day I found her using the spatula on the peanut butter jar.  She was really impressed when she scraped out enough for an entire sandwich.

I cleaned out and reorganized the refrigerator and pantry.  It may not sound like a thrifty move but it really is.  Knowing what I have on hand helps me avoid food waste and make a better grocery list.  Same goes with keeping the freezer clean and organized on a regular basis too.

We dyed and decorated Easter eggs Saturday night with items I already had on hand.  On the way home Friday night I bought two dozen eggs on sale at the corner market for 79¢ a carton.  We made the dye using vinegar and food coloring from the pantry.  We decorated the eggs with crayons and Easter stickers we already had.  It made for a lot of creative fun. 

What terrific things did you do to save money last week?