Last Week's Thrifty Moves

It has been cooooooooold and snowy here in beautiful Boise, Idaho.  Despite the fact that the heat has been going to combat some single digit temperature it was still a pretty thrifty week around our home.

I started out the week by baking four loaves of fresh bread.

Tuesday was my youngest's Christmas concert and it was delightful.  Not to mention how pretty she looked with her hair all curled and her new dress and tights.  Afterward the girl's grandparents treated us to dessert out to celebrate and we had a really nice time visiting.

Wednesday I picked the girls up from school a little bit early for their 6 month visit to the dentist.  It was supposed to be last month, but our dentist bumped it a few weeks so I could combine it my oldest's appointment to have her braces tightened and save me an extra trip.  He is pretty awesome that way.

I received a Christmas bonus at work.  Yippeee!!

I booked our summer vacation.  Already!!  And we are so excited about it.  I got a fabulous deal on the hotel using my AARP membership.  It has officially paid for itself three times over now.

Cat in a sack

I have been shopping around for a new laptop as mine is dying and has been acting up pretty much all year.  It can be a real pain in the butt to get started, freezes up and does some wacky stuff.  Now it is to the point that I fear it may not start up again one day.  Ugh.  I really don't want to spend money on one right now.  However, if it dies I'll be in a world of hurt.  I took it to work this week and had one of our techs take a look at it and we pretty much decided it’s a lost cause.  I've had it awhile and used it a lot, so it's time.

I downloaded coupons on the Fred Meyer website to my rewards card for three free items!  Have you signed up yet to do that?  Any Kroger will do, I believe.  You can download coupons including manufacturer and store brand coupons too.  Then you can print off a list so you know what coupons you have available.  Pretty slick, I think.  Anyway, the youngest and I stopped on Friday after dropping the oldest off for pep band and picked up a few things and got our freebies too!

I didn't do much in the way of grocery shopping.  We really only needed milk and produce.  Friday evening I went to Fred Meyer, but before I did I checked the website and downloaded the Friday freebie.  This time it was a package of cookies.  I picked up the milk and produce I needed as well as three free items - 2 liter bottle of 7-Up, a package of caramels and the package of cookies.  I also downloaded a coupon for 30¢ OFF on a 5lb bag of flour and $1 OFF on two packages of pasta which were on sale for 10/$10 making them only 50¢ each.

We entertained guests on Saturday and had a fabulous time!

I baked a small pan of lemon bars.  Yum!

I washed out several Ziploc bags to reuse.

Saturday morning I used fabric from my box of scraps to make a set of quilted Christmas potholders.  I added these and a hanging dish towel to the table and candle mattes I had made as well as the bag of freebie caramels to finish up the gift for my Secret Santa gift exchange.  Now I just have to get it ready for the mail.

That was pretty much the extent of our week.  How was your thrifty week?