Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday morning I felt like it was time to get my crap together after the crazy busy month we had just had.  And since November was upon us in just a couple of days it seemed like a perfect time to get started.

First things first, I got up and made a fresh pot of coffee and proceeded to write five articles to post on the blog.  And boy did that feel great!  Then I cleaned up and reorganized the craft table I'd set up in the living room, took out a bag of trash, fixed whatever was stuck and rattling around in the vacuum cleaner and thoroughly vacuumed the entire downstairs.

The girls fixed Sunday brunch, biscuits and gravy, and did the dishes.  After we ate I went into the bathroom and trimmed my bangs.  They seriously needed it and once I was done I could see!  I really do not like to have hair hanging down in my eyes.

I started putting items into my Amazon shopping cart for upcoming birthday gifts and Christmas presents.

Monday evening my oldest had a robotics meeting.  We always launch right out of marching band and into robots.  While we waited for her I took the opportunity for a "date" night with my youngest.  We went to Del Taco, she likes there plain little tacos, and spent a whopping $5!  Cheap date!

Portobello ravioli - Yum!

Tuesday was Halloween and I'd had a gift card for quite some time for Olive Garden.  Since we don't usually have Trick-or-Treaters in our neighborhood I thought it would be a great time to celebrate the occasion and use that gift card.  We got there early and were able to take advantage of their $8.99 specials they have going between 3:00 and 5:00 plus we ordered an appetizer.  We had so much food we brought home enough for another entire meal.  After adding on the tip plus using the gift card our final total was just over $16.  I have to say I truly enjoy a great meal out so much more when it doesn't cost me a small fortune.

We came home and watched Sleepy Hollow with Johnny Depp on Netflix afterward.  We finished up with our tradition of watching the Thriller video before heading off to bed.  It made for a perfect evening.

Wednesday and Thursday afternoon was busy with teacher conferences at each girl's school as well as my youngest's orthodontist appointment.  We got the news that she'll have to have one more tooth removed, poor thing.  I feel so bad about that, but there just isn't enough room in her mouth for it to move into place.  They put in some more hardware too.  She has so much stuff in her mouth right now it is crazy, but she continues to take it all in stride.

In between appointments I raked up a boatload of leaves.  We set out two more bins full at the curb for collection as well as topping off the backyard compost bin we built this summer.  We still have a long way to go yet before all the leaves will be off the trees and taken care of.

Friday my youngest had a bowling party to attend and my oldest babysat for one of our neighbors.  I dropped off my youngest and used the time I needed to wait until I picked her up to do some birthday and Christmas shopping.  Lately I have collected a big stack of coupons for various stores that have come in the mail.  I used a $10 OFF $10 Purchase coupon I got in the mail at JC Penney to pick up a birthday gift for my youngest.  I only had to pay $5 out of pocket.  I also used another coupon at Bath & Body Works and picked up two bottles of foaming hand soap for $3 each and a FREE bottle of hand lotion.

Saturday my youngest marched in the Veteran's Day parade with her fellow cheerleaders.  I dropped her off at school and then headed home to work on some sewing projects I had started.  I managed to get them completed before I had to go back and pick her up.  A couple hours later I had to drop my oldest off at a friend's birthday party.  Walmart was across the street from where I dropped her off so I popped in to pick up a package of gift boxes.  I got 10 of them for $3.47 which I thought was a great price.

I spent the remainder of the evening working on some new sewing projects, since I was on a roll and was able to get two completed and two more started.  I'll have to wait until after Christmas to share with you what I made, unfortunately.  But I am very, very happy with my progress.

I did not grocery shop this week.  I made meals using what we already had on hand.

We fed the chickens some of our kitchen scraps.  Along with all of those leaves I added banana peels, coffee grounds, egg shells, onion skins, celery trimmings and tea bags to our compost bin.

How was your thrifty week?