Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday I shoveled another gob of snow that had fallen the night before, cleaned up the gutters and removed snow away from the roof so water could all drain properly.  I also cleared away snow and ice from the downspout.

I spring cleaned the laundry room and downstairs bathroom.  I also got all of the laundry washed up.  I added some water to an empty bottle of laundry detergent and gave it a good shake.  I ended up with enough soap to wash a load of clothes.

The path through our yard leading to the chicken coop

I hemmed three pair of Levis for a friend who bartered with me for a stick of RAM and a year of free internet security for my laptop.  Bartering is AWESOME!  He also let me keep the denim scraps for a craft project I have in mind.  😃

I polished my black leather work shoes.

I melted some saved beef fat I had in the freezer and mixed it with scratch grains to make the chickens a suet cake.

Albertson's had pot roast on sale for $1.99 a pound.  I bought three.  I also picked up a large bag of apples for 78¢ a pound. They had cereal on sale so I stocked up on that too.  I was planning to buy cereal next month but at two large boxes for $3 I decided to get it now.  I used money I had already set aside for February to cover the cereal purchase.

Monday evening after dropping the oldest off at the youngest and I headed off to ShopKo.  With no snow to shovel and the weather holding I was finally able to get in there and see if they had their Christmas gift wrap marked down to rock bottom yet.  They did!

We picked out a four pack of gift wrap for $2.39 regularly priced at $11.99.  I also found a package of 75 sheets of white tissue paper for $1.29.

Along with the gift wrap I found a snowman scented wax warmer on clearance for $3.19 and a package of the scented wax for $1.19.  First Christmas gift bought and paid for!  I also found bags of Hershey's kisses and a bag of hugs marked down for $1.24 each.  

Stored upside down in the refrigerator they will last a long time

On the way home I popped into Fred Meyer to pick up sour cream on sale and a couple bags of all purpose flour as I was running a bit low.  I found cottage cheese on markdown for 45¢ each.  I had a $2.00 OFF next shopping trip coupon which made two of my containers of sour cream free!

When I got home I separated all of the red and silver ones from the green ones.  I'll use the green ones to make peanut butter blossom cookies.  The red and silver ones I have put away on the gift shelf in my closet and will be given to my girls for Valentine's Day!

The young one and I tested a few to make sure they were still good 😍

Monday I was feeling a bit achy, which wasn't a surprise given all of the snow shoveling we've done over the past few weeks.  But I wasn't prepared for my body to completely revolt on me.  I woke up Tuesday morning and could barely walk.  The muscles in my lower back were inflamed as was my sciatic nerve on both sides.  It was excruciating. 

Best stuff in the world - OMG!

Long story short,  I was informed I had overdone it, needed to take it easy and to remember I am not 18 anymore.  Grrrr, but I didn't argue.  So what is a girl to do when she is laid up, in pain and trying to take it easy?  She makes granny squares.

Since sitting at my sewing machine was out of the question I had my youngest bring me my bag of yarn and crochet supplies.  I sorted through what I had and sat in my recliner with my heating pad and ice packs and crocheted a stack of granny squares using up scraps of yarn leftover from various projects as well as yarn I've picked up at thrift stores during the past year.  I was thrilled to find I had a significant amount of yarn in complimenting colors.  I decided to use the yarn to make an afghan for the retirement house.

Not a bad stack so far

I did go back to work on Thursday and Friday, but that was all I did except for down time with the ol' crochet hook.  The food I had cooked ahead in case of a power outage really came in handy.

Saturday I felt a ton better so after picking up the oldest we checked out a new thrift store in our neighborhood and then stopped in at JoAnns to pick up a few skeins of yarn to complete the afghan.  The yarn was on sale for $2.79 each.  Once back home I settled in to rest and crochet.  I have about a two week recovery time and I can tell it is probably going to take that long.  Dang it!  I am not very good at this.  But on the bright side I'll probably have a finished afghan by the time all is said and done.

While I crocheted I also watched a ton of Youtube videos of this guy building a tiny house.  That was fun to watch.

How was your thrifty week?