Last Week's Thrifty Moves

I woke up to snow on the ground Sunday morning!  I swear winter is hanging on with both hands while spring teases us with a few nice days here and there.  However, the sun did come out and melted away the little skiff of snow and the day turned out to be quite pretty.  After several days of windy wet weather it was much appreciated.

While I got my Sunday chores done and then did some writing the girls cleaned up their rooms and the upstairs bathroom, then went outside and spring cleaned the chicken coop.  I know the hens were happy to have their digs freshened up inside.

Our neighbors lost their big beautiful blue spruce tree when we had a
huge storm blow through the week before.  Sad to see it go, but so fortunate
it didn't land on their house or the next door neighbor's home either.

It was another very full week.  We figured out pretty quickly we did not have time to go to ShopKo to pick up a few things we needed that were on sale before the sale ended.  We decided Sunday afternoon was our only opportunity to go.

I wanted to treat my youngest to a new pair of track shoes, which happened to be on sale for $20 less than regular price.  Bless her heart, she insisted her current shoes, although rather worn, were good enough since I had just bought her a pair of canvas tennis shoes last month.  Not only did I buy her the track shoes, but another pair on sale for $28 (great price!) to replace her current ones as they are her everyday shoes.  I actually had to sit down with her and convince her it was okay to let me buy her two pair of shoes.  She is amazing.

ShopKo was also having a fantastic sale on bed pillows.  I have really needed new pillow as mine are shot and no longer hold their shape well anymore.  I found two really nice good quality pillows and a twin pack of Serta pillows (same ones I had on my bed) for the girls.  We were all due for a pillow upgrade.

Lastly, I treated us to three new freezable water bottles to take on vacations, hiking, and other outings we have planned this summer.

$4.88 each, regular price was $15.99 each
For a water bottle?!

Monday I got my hair cut and some new highlights added.  I'm pretty much down to only going every six months now so when it finally comes time for some pampering I am more than ready for it.

Tuesday my youngest had her second orthodontist appointment.  We got home in time to grab the oldest and head down to the university for a post competition robotics workshop.  While she attended that the youngest and I headed over to the library to cool our heels and wait until the workshop was over.  I took my laptop with me and used the free WiFi to take a couple store surveys, one was for Fred Meyer and added 50 bonus points for fuel to my rewards card.

Wednesday was our craziest day.  I headed home right after work to pack us a picnic supper and then met the oldest at her high school where the youngest happened to have her track meet.  We watched her compete and ate our supper.  Then the oldest dashed off to the band room to get ready for their concert that evening.  I caught up with the youngest after the meet and she ate her supper before we headed into the auditorium for the concert.  I had to really put some thought into how to orchestrate and pull this one off, let me tell you.

The remainder of the week was much quieter.  I spent Thursday evening doing my midweek tidy up of the house and also did a load of laundry.  I usually try to do a load of wash and tidy up around the house every Wednesday, but lately with all that has been going on around here it often gets shuffled around or missed altogether.  I can tell you I do not like to miss my midweek cleaning.

Watching it snow out the window at my office

Friday we had another blizzard, couldn't believe it.  The flakes were huge, but nothing stuck and by the time I got off of work the sun was out and it had warmed up quite a bit.  On the way home I stopped at the bank to deposit a check I'd received and then headed on home.

Saturday I woke up feeling like I'd run a marathon.  All of my energy was completely sapped and I almost felt like I had a hangover.  So it was a day to take it easy and rest up.  Much as I wanted to do some other things around the house it just wasn't in the cards.  I have learned the hard way not to push myself when I feel like this.

My rest day was interrupted that afternoon however, when my attention was required for that certain project I mentioned a week or so ago.  Yes, it keeps threatening to become a reality.  I won't tell you until it actually does though.  I want it to be a surprise.

Then that evening we had a dinner to attend with my work colleagues and our families.  Our boss had set us up at Pizza Pie Cafe and even negotiated a discounted price of $7 a meal with a drink included.  It was fun and the food was pretty good too.

We managed to group a couple of errands in that evening.  ShopKo is located nearby so before the dinner we went over there to use the $20.00 rebate I was given when I bought the youngest's track shoes on Sunday.  I was able to pick her up a new pair of denim shorts and a pair of flip flops, both on sale, and used the rebate to pay for most of it.  My total out of pocket ended up being $3.

After the dinner the girls and I went to WinCo to use a $10 OFF $40 purchase coupon we had received in the mail and get our weekly groceries.  Most of it was produce.  The girls did have a few requests.  The oldest wanted some crackers, instant mashed potato sides and BBQ sauce.  The youngest wanted more bologna.

On the way home we stopped into Fred Meyer to use a $1 OFF coupon I had that was going to expire.  I picked up a package of whole wheat tortillas and only had to pay 50¢.

Our weekly grocery haul

Throughout the week I washed out a couple of ziploc bags to reuse, fed our kitchen scraps to the chickens, collected dryer lint in an empty TP tube to make another firestarter, as well as composted coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells, orange rinds and banana peels.

How was your thrifty week?