Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Christmas greetings

I put all the beans and rice I had bought at the dollar store away in mason jars to store in our pantry and reorganized each shelf to rotate my stock and ensure I know what I have.  This helps me tremendously when I go to make my grocery list.

I love my vintage jars

Sunday afternoon we cleared out all of the leftovers in the fridge and enjoyed a mini buffet for lunch.

Neighbor gifts

We listened to a ton of Christmas music on YouTube for free.

Our family Christmas present this year was to renew our Netflix subscription.  I let it go about 3 years ago and I thought it would be nice to have it again.  The girls agreed.  I opted for the basic $7.99 a month plan.  Our first month is free and we can put our membership on hold or cancel it anytime we like, which is nice.

I washed out two one gallon Ziploc bags to reuse.

Christmas Eve Dinner

I also reused a large black trash bag we were given to bring something home in.  I used it to wrap a Christmas gift in for stability, because I didn't have a big enough box, and then wrapped that in gift wrap.  A little ingenuity at work. J

I told all of my friends and co-workers about the hams on sale at Albertson's for 88¢ a pound and most of them went out and bought two!  I was so glad to share that little tidbit of information and see how excited they got.

 

I wish I could have gotten a clearer picture

I swear, I take the worst pictures.  My girls are sure pretty though.

Despite the cold weather, we bundled up and took a long walk through our neighborhood on Christmas Eve night and enjoyed the full moon and our neighbors lights.  It was fun to walk through the crunchy snow and check out the pretty decorations.  We were the only ones crazy enough to venture out on such a cold night.  It was really fun.

On Christmas morning I made homemade cinnamon rolls and a sausage & swiss cheese quiche (using cheese left over from Horse Doover Nite) for our brunch.  When I made the icing for the cinnamon rolls I replaced the milk with eggnog (also a leftover).  Oh my gosh!  It was the best icing ever!

Sausage & Swiss Quiche

I saved only a few gift bags, four sheets of tissue wrap and a couple of bows this year for reuse.  The rest were trashed as they had done their duty well, for who knows how long.  I think we get a lot of mileage out of our gift wrap supplies.  I am happy to report I have plenty left for next year too.

Look at all those gifts under our tree.
We are so fortunate,

This is what Santa brought the girls.  Full stockings.

Adult coloring books and a game for their Wii
Now we officially have a bowling alley in our house and tennis courts.

I made the chickens a suet cake for their Christmas dinner.  I used beef fat saved in a container in the freezer, melted it and mixed it with a cup of scratch grains.  I had some leftover tortilla chip crumbs I added in too.  Then I put it in the freezer to harden.  They absolutely loved their special treat.

In addition to that we gave them fresh bedding in their nests, a quick clean up in the coop and a couple slices of fresh bread.  Not to mention a lot of hugs and loving.  They were pretty happy ladies.

On Christmas morning we set out a full can of wet cat food for the kitties and let them eat as much as they wanted, whenever they wanted.  We also got them a packet of catnip at the dollar store and stuffed all of their mouse toys inside to infuse.  They were in heaven!  Then they were comatose and it made for a quiet afternoon while they slept it off.

Ooooooh, catnip

Saturday I ordered some supplies from Amazon.com for a project I want to do that is just for me.  I am excited to share this with all of you in a later post.  So stay tuned…..

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

We wrapped up the week by enjoying a repeat of our Christmas eve dinner by finishing up the leftovers - clam chowder, garlic cheddar biscuits, tossed green salad with homemade dressing.  Yum!

How thrifty were you last week?  During Christmas no less?!