Last Week's Thrifty Moves

How was your first week of 2017?  I hope it was fantastic!

It has been cooooooold here with lows hovering just above 0° until the end of the week when it dipped down below.  Brrrrrr.  We've also had a lot of snow.

Before

After

In the spirit of winter I gloved up, went out to the garage and reorganized the chest freezer.  Not sure what the heck I was thinking, although I think the freezer is much warmer than outside.  I used plastic bins I already had to keep everything sorted and organized.  The bins will also make it easier to get to items, especially at the bottom.

My original shopping list for Cash & Carry started out much differently until I saw they had a fantastic sale on meat.  Since I am on a mission this year to spend as little as possible on everything I can, these prices were just too good to pass up.

40# of boneless skinless chicken breast for $43.90 ($1.09/lb!)

10# package of lean ground beef for $17.90 ($1.79/lb)

5#  package of pork sausage for $6.98 ($1.39/lb)

5# package of Italian pork sausage for $6.98 ($1.39/lb)

5# of grated cheddar cheese for $11.58

10# bag of navel oranges for $5.98

40 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast

I am fairly certain this is enough chicken to last us the entire year.

Picked up these steaks at Alberstons half price $3.70!

On the way to Cash & Carry the youngest and I made a quick stop at the library to return books and check out some new ones.  Even though she got a Kindle for Christmas she still likes the feel of a book in her hands.  I'm kind of the same way, myself.  Books are awesome!

I spent two days laying out chicken breast on baking sheets and rotating them through the freezer.  Once frozen I put then in gallon sized Ziploc bags. 

I used up the sizeable stack of Ziploc bags I had washed to reuse packaging all of the meat I purchased.

Shredded chicken verde

I took two large chicken breasts I already had and some leftover verde sauce from the freezer and put it in the slow cooker.  Once they had cooked down I shredded them with forks and had enough to fill two large freezer containers and one small one for quick meals to enjoy later on.

To start the week off I made a large pot of Taco Soup and a pan of cornbread.  We had plenty of leftovers for another supper and a few lunches.

I made and sent out some New Years cards to a few special people.

I purged a pile of papers, junk mail and receipts.  Most of it ended up in our recycle bin.

Sunday breakfast

I took some fast food restaurant coupons to work and gave them to a co-worker.  I've noticed most of my co-workers go out to eat a lot or have something delivered for lunch pretty much on a regular basis.

Last week I decided to try something new.  I have had an Amazon Prime membership for a few years now and I love their free shipping on my orders, the numerous options for television viewing at no additional charge and loads of music to download.  However, I hadn't tried their Prime Pantry yet.  Until now.

I love free stuff!!

A couple weeks ago I made a list of toiletry and household items I was running low on and after perusing the selections on Amazon I realized I could knock quite a few of them off of my list using Prime Pantry and at a considerable savings.  Not everything they have, mind you, is the best price, but I did find several items that were and with coupons attached!  Score!  And free shipping!  And I realized I had extra rewards points to use which knocked over $32 off my total leaving me paying $14.41 for everything I ordered.  Spending less for the things we need.  Whoo hooo!

Lots of shoveling this week!

Tuesday I took all the leftover cubed chicken and steak from our New Years Day fondue dinner and tossed it together in a pan with some fresh broccoli, carrots and half an onion I sliced up for a quick supper.  It was quite nice.

We made a batch of homemade whole wheat chocolate chip cookies.  They were delicious!

Not so thrifty, but very important, I replaced the battery on our truck.  This was a planned expense.  Now I don't have to worry about getting stranded with a vehicle that won't start.  With all of our snowfall I had to drive the truck last week as it was too deep for the car.  So happy and grateful I have my truck!

I rinsed out the big refill bottle of dish soap after I emptied it into a smaller bottle and used that soapy solution to wash up three loads of dishes.

In anticipation of more bad weather and possible power outages I made some preparations.  I'll post more about all of that later this week.

How was your thrifty week?