Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday morning I sneaked out of the house while everyone was sleeping and went to Dollar Tree.  I had a short list of things to pick up there and then I headed over to Albertsons to get some boneless skinless chicken that was on for $1.47 a pound.  I picked up ten pounds.  By the time I got home the girls were starting to rally.  I got the groceries all put away, finished up a small project and then we all got busy working on the larger one that we've got going on.  As usual, it is has been crazy busy around this place!

Monday I came home from work and didn't do a darn thing.  Tuesday I stopped by Bed Bath & Beyond armed with a $10OFF coupon to pick myself up an early birthday present.  I decided to add a new shower head, actually a dual head shower setup to our upstairs bathroom.  I'm super excited about it too.  It was on sale for $39.99 and the coupon brought it down to $29.99.  That saved me quite a bit over purchasing the same one at Home Depot.

On the way home from work Wednesday I stopped in at a nearby thrift store.  I needed a crock or something similar to hold the toilet brush in for the upstairs bathroom. I didn't find anything that fit the bill and left empty handed.  Later that evening we went to Wal-Mart for a few grocery items.  First I popped into Goodwill next door and was able to find exactly what I was looking for.  A white ceramic Farberware utensil crock and it was tagged with the color of the day so it was half off!  You will love this.  A very similar setup like what I have in my bathrooms was on sale for $19.99 in plastic at Bed Bath & Beyond.  I paid a $1 for my toilet brush at Dollar Tree (I'm hard pressed to tell the difference between it and the one at BB&B) and the pot was only $1.99 at Goodwill.  I also found a brand new Candle Lite jar candle for 99¢.

Thursday I puttered around the house doing little odds and ends of things that needed to be done.  Friday as well.

Pallet wood!

Saturday morning the girls and I got up early and took the truck over to the FREE WOOD pile near where I work to pick up some pallets for yet another project on my ever expanding "to-do" list.  When we got home we unloaded what we had and went back to get the rest of it.  Yes, there was that much!  After load two we got busy and pulled out all of the nails and staples in the wood and stacked it.  It took us about two hours to complete the job including both trips and loading up.  We figured out how much it would've cost us to purchase all of the 2"X4"s and OSB plywood we had in the stack and it came in at $138!  I don't make those kind of wages at my job so I am super grateful to have this lumber.

It was the final week of summer break, school started back up today for my youngest (sniff).  We managed to completely outfit her for back-to-school with supplies from our stash, her backpack and lunchbox from last year and with the exception of a pair of jeans I bought her a few weeks ago she is good to go with the clothes she already has.  We may get her a new pair of shoes in the next few weeks, but that is pretty much it for any back-to-school shopping.  I got off pretty easy this year.

The weather had cooled down a fair bit.  We used our A/C units very little and kept our home comfortable enough by setting a box fan at the back door to bring in the cooler outdoor air each morning and at night once the sun went down.  We prefer that anyway so it has been very nice to be able to do that this time of year.

I worked a small amount of overtime last week.

We washed out a couple Ziploc bags to reuse.

Some of the 15 Minute Chores I accomplished to keep my home in order:

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - vacuumed floor.  Daily swish & swipe.

Dining Room - vacuumed floor, dusted shelves, windowsill & chair rail.

Kitchen -  vacuumed floor, cleaned microwave and appliances.

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - vacuumed & dusted.  I super scrubbed the tiles, cleaned the floor, cleaned the mirror, washed the shower curtain & liner, washed decorative towels in the upstairs bathroom.  Daily swish & swipe.

Other - three loads of laundry, vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entry, washed the living room window inside/out, washed living room mirror.  Swept front porch.

How was your thrifty week?