Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Last day of September already!  How did that happen?  I don't know about you, but for me this month has zoomed by the fastest.  Sunday was a little slower paced.  I was a wee bit tired from a very busy week and an even busier Saturday so I watched TV, played with Jack and did some planning and writing.  It was a very nice day to relax and yet do enough to still feel that my day was productive.

Last year I had gone through all of my leftover Christmas cards and stickers determining I have plenty for this year to send out.  I also have enough stamps left too.  I updated my Christmas card list and printed out all of my mailing labels using a sheet of labels I already had on hand.  I also have plenty of paper to print out my annual letter on so I am all set for sending out cards this year.

Via Google Hangouts the girls and I did some holiday planning, particularly meals and goodies we want to make.  We are all going to work on a wish list of small inexpensive items we'd be happy to receive this year so we have some gift ideas to exchange with each other.

I have plenty of stuff on hand to choose from

I printed out some day planner pages I found online to start putting together my 2020 planner.  I thoroughly enjoy doing that and have a really nice start on it.  I am using items I already have on hand this year to make my planner.  It is going to be so nice.

Monday was a big day for me as I was finally able to finish up the project that has been looming over my head all month.  I started this project on Labor Day weekend and although I originally thought I'd get it all done that weekend (Ha!) my goal after that was to have it wrapped up by the end of this month.  I made it with a week to spare!  Details are coming tomorrow!

One of my co-workers has a husband who is a food broker.  He brought in three coolers filled with frozen meat for all of us to divide up and take home  I came home Tuesday evening with a grocery bag full of frozen chicken breasts, burger patties, ground turkey, sausages and some cheese.  What a wonderful blessing to have that to add to our freezer.  It topped it off perfectly!

One of the candles I made using up some leftover wax and a birthday candle

Wednesday evening I pulled the A/C units out of the upstairs bedrooms and put them away.  We won't need them again until next summer in July.  We usually install them on the weekend of the 4th of July holiday and then pull them out on Labor Day.  I left them a little bit longer this time as we had a couple more warm days after Labor Day.  It doesn't look like we'll be having any more of those this year however.

I crocheted a little bit and Stella helped me

Early Thursday morning my youngest left on a school trip to northern Idaho leaving me all alone for three days!  I had a jillion things swirling around in my head of what I could do while she was gone.  I didn't do any of them.  LOL

When I got home from work Friday afternoon I tidied up the chicken coop and then picked a nice bucket full of pears from our tree.  So nice of the squirrels to leave us some this year.  Then I spent a quiet Saturday in my pajamas relaxing and watching movies.

I worked more overtime last week and I also talked to my boss about getting a raise.  Never hurts to ask.  Sure would be nice if I got one though.  Keep your fingers crossed.

I used up a leftover pork chop and the remains of a bag of frozen peas and made my daughter a batch of pork fried rice.  She was craving some fried rice and I was happy to make some for her.  She doesn't always do Keto and I'm completely fine with it, but I have to say she is doing really well with what she is eating.

Investment cooking = I put a pork roast in my largest slow cooker and cooked it all day.  I shredded it all so I can have half the roast to make into pulled pork for sandwiches by adding some BBQ sauce and the rest will be cooked with a can of green enchilada sauce and a chopped onion to make pork verde.  I put the shredded meat into freezer bags until I'm ready to make the verde and pulled pork.  I'll be able to have several quick meals in the coming months as well as some to share with my college kid.

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

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - vacuumed floor, scrubbed toilet, cleaned mirrors.  Daily swish & swipe.

Dining Room - vacuumed floor, dusted shelving.

Kitchen -  vacuumed & spot mopped the floor, cleaned the sink, under the kitchen sink, tidied up the junk drawer.

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - vacuumed & dusted.  Cleaned mirrors.  Daily swish & swipe.

Other - one load of laundry, vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entry, mopped living room entry floor.  Swept front porch & garage.

How was your thrifty week?