Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday was a day spent cleaning up and reorganizing our home improvement supplies and tools as well as some general housekeeping.  I took an inventory of the supplies we have left and I think I'm fairly well set to complete what is on my list for this summer.

Now that Matilda has moved back home it was a good time to give all of our pet crates a good cleaning.

I washed all of our bedding including pillows, decorative pillows, throws and mattress covers.

Not sure if you can see this as I shot it before the sun was up
Leonard loves getting the toys out of the basket each morning

I washed all of the kitty toys and put them in the new basket I had picked up at the thrift store.  They are having more fun getting their toys out of the basket and playing with them than when I just had them loose on the floor.  It is seriously fun to watch our crazy kitties play.

Monday we were back to packing school lunches because band camp started up.  My oldest was thrilled with the selection of goodies I had put in the lunch bin already.  On Tuesday I stopped in at Dollar Tree to see what they had and picked up a few things there before stopping in at Albertsons to get some pudding cups they had on sale.  The lunch bin is pretty much overflowing at this point.

Also, on Tuesday, we added a new member to our family.  Once she has settled in we'll be introducing her to you all so watch for that post coming up.  It is fair to say my youngest is ecstatic.

Not so thrifty was high school and junior high registration on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, as well as cheerleader fees due on Thursday.  I don't even want to talk about it (shaking head), LOL.

Thursday I left work an hour early to take the girls for their six month check up at the dentist, then ran a couple errands before we headed off to a parent's meeting for marching band.  The band had a pizza party while the meeting took place so that pretty much took care of dinner for the girls.

Friday, as soon as I got home from work, we were back in project mode.  After a nearly week long break I was more than ready to get back to it.  Find out more about that project tomorrow.

Saturday morning I headed out early to beat the heat.  We've been enjoying triple digit temperatures most days for the past three weeks.  I think we only had two "cooler days" in the mid 90s during that time.

I went to Fred Meyer to pick up five boxes of Capri Sun on sale for 99¢ each.  I stashed it away for the girl's school lunches for later down the road.  While I was there I saw that they had huge pork roasts on sale for 99¢ a pound.  I couldn't let that pass so I grabbed two and needless to say my $20 a week budget was blown.  However, I don't feel the slightest bit bad about it.

That is a big roast!

I also stocked up on marked down produce and when I got home one of those roasts ended up in my largest slow cooker with a jumbo can of green enchilada sauce to cook all day.  I made some rice for the girls that night as they love pork verde over rice.  There was plenty for leftovers as well as to tuck away four containers in the freezer for meals down the road.

That is a lot of pork verde - Yum!

Just before lunch I repaired my recliner.  One of the bolts holding the mechanism onto the frame had sheared off.  I got the broken bolt out and replaced it with another one and a nut that I had in my coffee can full of miscellaneous fasteners.  Love that can full of pieces and parts.  It has bailed me out on so many repairs.  We are constantly pulling things out of it and then adding stuff in, especially lately.  I also reinforced the frame with some L brackets and screws to tighten things up a bit more.

I trimmed my bangs and my youngest's too.

I composted coffee grounds, egg shells and onion skins.  We fed loads of kitchen scraps to the hens and in turn they provided us with lots of yummy and colorful eggs.

We kept cool by using our box fans in the early morning hours to bring in the cool air, then the A/C units in the afternoons and into the late evenings to maintain the cooler temperatures.  We also closed the blinds and curtains during the hottest and sunniest part of the day.  Despite the triple digit heat we managed to keep our house very comfortable.

I treated myself to some new candles at ShopKo.  They were on sale Buy 1 Get 3 Free.  I got four large jar candles for only $11.99!  I do love my candles and these were a real bargain, plus they smell really nice too.

I also grabbed more ten spiral notebooks on sale for 17¢ each, fifteen folders for 10¢ each and a couple composition books for 48¢ each.  I think I'll have plenty of spiral notebooks and folders to see my youngest through to high school graduation now.

How was your thrifty week?