Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Camouflaged knuckleheads

Last week was crazy busy for the final week of October.  Much of what I had hoped to accomplish wasn’t.  But that is how it goes sometimes.  Nonetheless it was somewhat productive and quite enjoyable.

After making Sunday breakfast I saved some rendered bacon fat and added it to our jar in the refrigerator.

While my oldest daughter attended a workshop at the university on Tuesday night the youngest and I headed over to the library to turn in some books that were due and check out new ones.  The library is nearby so it was a great way to combine errands.  We read our books while we waited to pick her up. 

At parent teacher night at my oldest daughter's school I found out that our city bus company offers free bus passes to students who participated in extra-curricular activities.  They are good for the entire school year.  Since my daughter participates in extra extra-curricular activities she more than qualifies.  I signed her up and she had it the very next day, just in time to use it for a thing she had on Friday.  Whoo hooo!

Thursday I took the girls to dinner at a favorite restaurant near our home to celebrate their excellent report cards.  I love to do this for them.  We happened to go on a night when kids eat free so my youngest's meal was covered.  The oldest and I ate from their value menu and then we all had dessert.  With tip and everything our dinner was just a little over $18!

There was no school on Friday so my oldest went to the university for a tour as well as to participate in some classes they offered to high school students for money management and how to navigate college preparation as well as to learn what to expect out of college life.  They fed the students lunch and dinner as well as provided transportation from their school to the campus and back.  They also gave her a terrific binder to organize all of her college prep materials.  She used her new city bus pass to get herself to the school that morning.  She had a great time and learned a lot.  They held a raffle and she won a pair of tickets to a musical this week and she invited me to go with her.  We have a date!

Friday evening we unwound by pulling some old Disney DVDs from our hall closet and watching them.

On Saturday I had a very ripe apple to use up before it turned bad so the oldest and I chopped it up and made a batch of apple fritters.  We rolled the fritters in a little cinnamon and sugar.  It made for a delicious breakfast and we had plenty left over for the next day.

For Halloween we spent the evening munching on snacks and watching Buffy The Vampire Halloween episodes.  We finished up the night with Dracula Untold.  We did not get one single trick-or-treater, which is pretty typical.  I didn't even buy candy this year.  If someone had shown up I would have given them quarters.

Our chickens are slowing down to their winter schedule and only blessed us with a dozen eggs.  We are now adding two hours of daylight with a bulb in the coop to see if this helps them with production.  Twelve eggs is still better than nothing.

The youngest and I picked all the green tomatoes and a big bowl of peppers in anticipation of frost that never came.  Our garden is still going.  It rained enough this week that we didn't have to water anything except the pots on our front porch.

With the rain it got cool enough that we used our fireplace a few times during the week.

I took an online survey to add 50 bonus points to my Fred Meyer rewards card.

I sold a dozen eggs to our next door neighbor.

I gave our kitchen scraps to the chickens as well as some tomatoes from the garden.  I composted coffee grounds, tea bags, banana peels and egg shells.

I did not do any grocery shopping.

How thrifty were you last week?