Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Happy Halloween!

Sunday proved to be a very busy day for me.  Since we had spent all of the day before at marching band competition I had to make up for lost time.  I began by getting both bread machines busy whipping up some whole wheat bread dough so I could get four loaves of bread baked.

I pulled a ham bone out of the freezer and put it in my slow cooker with some hot water and let it cook on high all day to make soup broth.  I removed the meat from the bone for soup too.  I allowed the broth to cool overnight in the refrigerator so I could remove the fat before I placed it in containers to put away in the freezer.  Now I have plenty of delicious ham broth to make soups and beans.

I used leftover applesauce in the refrigerator to make a delicious loaf of Applesauce Bread.  We enjoyed it for breakfast and snacks throughout the week.  The jar was odd shaped and difficult to scrape out so I poured the milk used in the recipe into the jar first and shook it well to get the rest of the applesauce out of it.

I have been seriously wanting a pumpkin pie.  I could easily eat pumpkin pie year round so I decided to make my grandma's No Crust Pumpkin Pie to satisfy my little craving.  I had frozen whipped topping in the freezer and everything I needed in the pantry to make this pie.  It was a slice of heaven!  Ha, ha.

Monday evening a storm blew in and we got a good drenching.  Much needed and appreciated.

I used a 75¢ coupon to purchase two packs of gum on sale for $1.00 each making them only 62¢ each.  I added them to my stash of stocking stuffers.

Tuesday evening the youngest and I loaded all of our glass into the back of the truck and took it to the recycling bin in the Albertson's parking lot.  After dropping that off we went inside to pick up a few items on sale to add to my pantry stash for holiday baking.  I also picked up two more pounds of butter and another big jar of peanut butter on sale for $5 and two packages of sausages marked down at 50% OFF.  That concluded our October grocery shopping quite nicely.

Wednesday we headed off to the high school after dinner for a wonderful band concert my oldest was in.  The Treasure Valley Concert Band was also part of the show.  It was a fabulous evening of entertainment at no cost to us.

This pretty witch all dressed up for a school dance

I dropped off two bills saving me the cost of postage.  One was the orthodontist, because we were there for an appointment, and the other was the water bill as it was pretty much on our way home one day.

I washed and reused several Ziploc bags.

I cut the bottom off of a tube of face cream and managed to use what was left inside all week.  I used a binder clip from my desk to help hold it closed so it didn't dry out.  I still have quite a bit left for this week as well.

I love the little derby hat on the gin

I picked up my two bottles of liquor this month to re-stock the empty cabinet for the holidays.  Now I am up to four bottles - Vodka, Gin, Brandy, Spiced Rum.  Next month I will pick up two more and again in December I'd like to as well.  I am very much looking forward to having little cocktail parties.

They were having a big sale at JC Penney.  I found winter dress coats for my daughters on sale for $26.99 and $32.99.  They didn't need new coats but I felt they should have an extra one, plus when formally dressed for orchestra and band concerts or dressed up for school dances these coats will be very nice to wear.  I put them on my JC Penney card and will pay it off next month.

While at the mall I treated my oldest daughter to lunch at Sizzler for our Mommy/Daughter date before taking her to do some birthday and Christmas shopping for her sister.  We had such a nice time together.

How was your thrifty week?