Last Week's Thrifty Moves

A trip to Cash & Carry (a mini version of Costco, but with no membership fees) netted me a 25# bag of long grain rice for $10.79.  It is one of the stock up items on my list and I wanted to buy as much rice as I could for around $10.00.  I think I accomplished that fairly well.  I also picked up a 5# bag of mozzarella cheese for $13.97.  I divided it into 2 cup increments and put it into sandwich bags which held it perfectly.  I then placed all my sandwich bags inside of a recycled two gallon Ziploc bag.  Neatly stored with an extra layer of protection.  I wasn't planning to buy this until next month but it was on sale this month so I used funds from February's budget and made the purchase early.  Doing this saved me $2.00.

I started making out my grocery list for next month.

I laundered and mended our Christmas tree skirt before I put it away.  Now it is all ready for next year.

I used leftover yarn from an afghan project and made myself a pair of slippers.  I also made another Christmas gift using a skein of periwinkle yarn I got out of that big bag of stuff I bought at the thrift store two years ago and the contrasting buff color was leftover from the scarf I made last week.  My youngest will love this set. J

I washed out a two gallon Ziploc bag to reuse.  I use that size to store my loaves of homemade bread.

I printed several online coupons to use on future grocery shopping trips.  My dear  friend gave me the coupons out of her Sunday paper.  My depleted coupon organizer is now well stocked.

We made pizza for dinner this week, well actually my youngest did.  I am ever so proud of her.  I only had to help by putting it in the oven and taking it out.  She even made a salad.  While she did that I used a speckled banana and made a batch of scrumptious muffins.

We made two more batches of pizza dough which I divided and put into four sandwich bags and then the freezer.  Now I have four balls of dough ready to thaw and make a quick pizza anytime we feel the need. J

My youngest put a hole in the knee of her new jeans already.  I think this is a record for her.  I patched them so she can keep wearing them, much to her relief.  And mine.  I also found and repaired a tiny hole in one of my tops before it could get any bigger.  Now it is hardly noticeable and only if you were looking for it.

I ironed.  Yep, you heard me.  I did.  Not necessarily thrifty but, for me, a big accomplishment.

Thursday night I stopped at Albertson's and picked up six jars or peanut butter on sale for 98¢ a jar!  Peanut butter is one of our stock up items on my list and at that price I wasn't about to pass it up.  Once again I used funds from next month's grocery budget to buy four of the jars and the other two will be part of this month's budget.

The girls and I used up the last of the lotion in two bottles we've had tipped upside down for awhile now.  I'm still working on one more.  We are eager to use up what we have so we can start enjoying our new stuff we got as gifts.

Friday night I won $10 at Bunco!

On Saturday I had to return the clothes I bought my oldest last week because they were too small.  I couldn't believe it.  This time I took her with me so she could try everything on.  It worked well for her, and for me actually, because they had added some new items to the clearance racks.  She ended up with two pair of jeans and two tops and I was only about $20 more out of pocket.

While at ShopKo we checked out the Christmas clearance aisle and I was thrilled to see prices had dropped from 60% OFF to 80% OFF regular prices.  I picked up a four roll package of gift wrap for $2.48.  I also found some of those big jar candles for $2.28 each.  They were originally priced at $12.99.  I bought four - one for me and three for the gift box.  I plan to give one to a friend and use one for my office gift exchange next Christmas.  I haven't decided yet who will get the third one but I think I have a little time to figure than one out. 

Also on clearance was candy marked down to $1.07 a bag.  Thanks to facebook I got a great idea to divide it up by color and use the candies wrapped in red for Valentine's Day and the green ones for St. Patrick's Days.  The M&Ms will be fun to divvy up but I thought I'd use them for making cookies.  My girls were super excited about this idea.

We went to our favorite thrift store and my oldest found two tops and a faux leather jacket she liked.  Everyone in the store really liked her in that jacket too.  All three items cost me $11.00.  I feel much better now that she is fully outfitted in clothes that fit for non school days.  She does too, I'm sure.

Coupons from my friend.

We stopped at the dollar store on the way home to pick up erasers and mechanical pencils for the oldest to take to school.  While there I spotted a really nice sketch pad and a set of six artist pencils.  I grabbed another set of the erasers my daughter was getting too.  Now I have a neat little gift for my youngest who loves to draw.  I'm going to put it away for her birthday.

We also stopped at Albertson's and picked up six more jars of peanut butter.  I used funds from next month's grocery budget to make that purchase and can now mark that item of the stock up list.  I'm pretty sure we now have a years supply off peanut butter.

How thrifty were you last week?

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