Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Ever have one of those off weeks?  Well last week was mine.  I just couldn’t quite get things in sync and to top it off I ended up breaking a dinner plate, my vintage coffee pot and a canning jar.  Definitely not thrifty moves!  In spite of everything I trudged on.

And then the youngest decided, in keeping with the spirit of breaking stuff, to break her foot of all things.  She simply stepped wrong and that was that.  My poor baby.  Fortunately it is a simple fracture and six weeks in a boot with crutches and she'll be good as new.

Nonetheless, I did manage some thrifty moves last week…

We went to the mall Sunday evening and picked up the girl's school clothes I had ordered online.  When we got home they gave me a little fashion show.  They had so much fun.

I made four pints of vanilla yogurt.

I filled the gas tank on my truck and saved 10¢ a gallon using my Fred Meyer rewards card.

I did a big bulk shopping haul at Cash & Carry which used up a large chunk of our budget for the month of July.  I have just enough left to keep us in produce and dairy throughout next month.  I bought some produce, soy sauce, asian seasoning sauce, sweet chili sauce, vinegar and a 10# chub of ground beef on sale for $2.59 a pound.  I forgot the olive oil.  Dang it, next time.

The three of us made four dozen meatballs and a couple of meat loaves for the freezer.  We froze the rest of the beef in smaller packages for future meals.  I won't need to buy ground beef for a long time.

The girls and I canned 11 half pints of strawberry jam with berries I bought for $1.12 a pound at Cash & Carry.  I made homemade labels on the computer for the jars.  I also made a bottle of strawberry pancake syrup.

During a trip to the dollar store we found ice cream cones, graham cracker pie crusts, cookies and ketchup so I stocked up.  I used a 50¢ OFF coupon on the two bottles of ketchup.  I love that Dollar Tree accepts coupons.

Albertsons had 4# bags of sugar on sale for $1.88 each so I bought four.  I also spotted 200 count bags of cotton balls for 25¢ each!  I bought three.

A family friend graduated college and was packing up to move home.  She sent home two bags of hand me downs for the girls.  Darling summer tops, sweaters and skirts for them to wear.  Several items they can wear right now and a few they'll need to grow into.  The girls were very happy to get them and, of course, we had another fashion show.

Another very thoughtful friend treated us to very nice dinner at a nearby restaurant.  We thoroughly enjoyed our night out.  It had been awhile since we'd been out to dinner.

I took the girls to the orthodontist.  The oldest got her spacers put in and will get her braces on in two weeks.  The youngest will get started in October.  Her case is more complex and will involve expanders and a lot of finagling.  I'm bracing myself.  Two at the same time.  Yikes!

I saved my banking until their dental appointment so I could make my deposit on the way home saving me an extra trip and some gas.

I composted coffee grounds, onion skins and egg shells.  I gave the chickens our kitchen scraps.  They especially enjoyed the trimmings from the strawberries.  I also picked dandelion greens for them.

I watched a few cooking shows on YouTube for free.  I also watched a couple episodes of 48 Hours Mysteries on YouTube that I had never seen before.  My youngest watched some videos on YouTube to learn how to make new patterns on her jewelry loom.

I used a 60%OFF coupon at JoAnn Fabrics to purchase a Wilton 9" square baking pan with a lid.  My final price was $3.49.  I used a gift card to pay for it so no money out of pocket and I've finally replaced the one I broke last winter.

I used a couple more coupons to buy Christmas stocking stuffers for my girls.  They love pens and since they were on sale I was able to get them each a set of colored gel pens for just $3.00.

I bought myself two tubes of Chapstick and used a coupon to save me 50¢.

We installed the A/C units in our upstairs bedroom windows.  It is expected to get over a hundred by the end of the week here.

I received a nice packet of coupons in the mail from Fred Meyer.  Everyone of them is for stuff I usually buy.  Love that!

How thrifty were you last week?