Last Week's Thrifty Moves

In the very early pre-dawn hours Sunday I opened all the doors and windows and set the box fan at the back door to blow in fresh cool air.  The smoke from a nearby forest fire that has been burning for nearly three weeks had given us a much appreciated reprieve.

I took advantage of the cooler temperatures that morning and made up a quadruple batch of our homemade granola.

I made a produce and milk run to Fred Meyer.  I used coupons and saved $3.oo on one of those nice big veggie trays they sell.  It was regularly $7.99 making it only $4.99 for a nice assortment of veggies for salads and snacking.  I especially enjoy the snap peas and little cherry tomatoes.

The two bottles of vegetable oil ($2.39 each) are my $5 weekly stock up item.  I need to focus more on those weekly items.  A well spent $5 really does make a difference.

I made up a new batch of my homemade Italian salad dressing mix.  Then I made a pint of creamy Italian salad dressing.  It pretty much tastes like Ranch dressing.

I had the opportunity for some overtime work once again and happily accepted.  It was a lot this time and I have to say I'm ready to be done with it.  I'm pooped.

Our next door neighbor brought us a shopping bag full of unopened packages of feminine hygiene products she no longer needs.  We were very happy to get that.

I finished up several holiday themed hanging dish towels and listed them to sell in my Etsy shop.  I hope they sell so I can put all that extra $$ toward my debt elimination goal.

I had 10 minutes to kill before leaving for work so I put together this really cute mason jar soap dispenser.  I had ordered three kits with soap pumps and these really cool vintage style lids.  Just had to cut the straw to length and screw the pieces together.  Super easy to do.

We found a pair of tennis shoes and two pair of dress shoes for my oldest on clearance for less than $60.

At the end of the week I made a cereal and lettuce run.  While I was at it I grabbed a bunch of bananas and an extra gallon of milk to carry us into this week.  I also stocked up on tissues.

I found two bags of cheese puffs on markdown for 50¢ each (at ShopKo, where we stopped for shoes) and treated my girls to their favorite candy bars that were on sale for 2 for $1.  Every once in awhile a little junk food doesn't hurt. J

Friday evening we packed a picnic, put on our suits and grabbed our towels before heading to Eagle Island State Park.  It was a perfect evening temperature wise.  

We ate our supper and swam in the lake.  Afterwards we walked the trail that circles the lake.  We used our parks pass so this fun evening cost nothing out of pocket!

Saturday we celebrated National Root Beer Float day at A&W.  They were giving away free root beer floats.  Another no-cost family outing.  Love it!

And a teaser.  What on earth could I be doing with this?

How thrifty was your week?