Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday morning we enjoyed breakfast at our neighborhood Dennys.  We love to go there and they have a great value menu perfect for families on a budget.  I had a $5 OFF coupon so our bill only came to $15.00 plus tax and a tip.

I spent the afternoon doing a little sewing.  I had a scrap of sweet blue calico that a friend gave me.  I've had it forever.  It was leftover from a quilt she had made.  I used it to make a hot pad.  I made a pretty lace trimmed table cloth too that I shared with you last week.

I took one of the vintage patterns I had bought from a seller on eBay and cut out a nightgown.  As I was cutting the fabric out I couldn't help but think, Wow, this pattern is 65 years old!  I'm pretty excited to see how it turns out.

After all the grocery shopping we did the week prior we ate strictly from what we had on hand.  I did not do any grocery shopping last week, which also made it a super low spend week.  I needed that!

Unexpectedly my daughter needed to bring drinks to a band party.  That is why I try to keep a couple extra 2 liter bottles of soda (bought on sale of course) in the pantry.  You just never know.

My daughter broke the thumb rest on her clarinet right in the middle of marching band practice and boy was she upset.  We called the music store and they told us they had one so the next day we headed clear across town and battled construction traffic to get it.  Turns out they happened to have one in their used parts pile but the man who does the repairs was out sick.  I told them that was fine and that I could put it on so they let us have it for free.  Score!

Early Saturday morning the wind shifted and gave us a welcome reprieve from the thick smoke we've been dealing with from a nearby forest fire.  I took advantage of it and opened all the windows and set the box fan at the back door to blow in lots of cool fresh air.

While the house was cool I took advantage of that and made a triple batch of almond granola.  It filled up two half gallon Mason jars.

I used up leftover chicken and vegetables in the refrigerator (from Sunday dinner) to make a soup.  I also put the chicken bones and some veggies together to make broth in the slow cooker. 

I worked four hours of overtime.  Fortunately I was able to do it all from home. 

I made homemade salad dressing.  Twice.

I ordered a free sample pack of feminine hygiene items from Kotex.

One of the salads I made to take to work

We shared our kitchen scraps and some extra spinach leaves with the hens.  We also gave them some stale bagels.  They were in heaven!

Another salad I made to take to work for lunch

I did an online survey for Fred Meyer and earned 50 bonus points towards a discount on fuel.

I rinsed out a laundry detergent bottle and had enough soap for a load of laundry and a little bit to add to another one.

I mended the seam on my daughter's blouse where it had come apart.

I pulled out our good old can of metallic silver spray paint once again and sprayed one of my daughter's favorite necklaces.  It was a cheap one and once the finish wore off the metal turned copper colored.  Once it dried I gave it a coat of urethane to help make it last.  She was thrilled.  I also did the same thing to touch up the back of a pendant she has that was doing the same thing.

Hanging out with Miss Edith

Enjoying a snack

How was your thrifty week?