Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday I was seriously in the mood to bake cookies but with not a lot of time to devote to it I decided it was a good time to try a new quick and easy recipe using a boxed lemon cake mix.  I whipped up some Lemon Drop Cookies and took a tin of them to my friend when I returned her carpet cleaner to her.  I thanked her profusely for lending it to me as it did a fabulous job in our downstairs bedroom.  On the way home we stopped at Wal-Mart and did some grocery shopping, then home to put away groceries, tackle my Sunday chores, my daughter tackled her home work and I made a scrumptious Sunday pork chop dinner.

Monday I popped a birthday card into the mail along with a $5 Dutch Bros gift card I'd been given so my oldest daughter would have a little something on her first birthday away from home.  Her birthday was Wednesday and she said her friends filled her dorm room with balloons.

Our Sunday dinner

Tuesday was our busiest day of the week.  Our marathon began when I dropped my daughter at school just before 6:00 am and ended with us leaving her orchestra concert and heading for home shortly after 8:00 pm.  It was a very long day for both of us.

Wednesday I worked on more cookie recipes for my latest blog series.  I took a big plate of cookies into work and got really good feedback from my co-workers.  They seem quite happy to be my taste testers.  No sacrifice is too great for my readers.

Thursday I was gifted a 20# turkey by one of my co-worker's husband who happens to be a meat broker.  He brought our entire team a turkey, which was such a wonderful surprise.  I barely had room, but I managed to fit it into our chest freezer.

Friday morning I baked a cake to make my daughter's favorite birthday cake for her as well as another batch of blog cookies.  I also removed a dead squirrel from our front porch (thank you Jack) all before 7:00 am.  My daughter needed to run an errand so after work she and I took care of that.

Saturday was my youngest daughter's birthday.  My oldest daughter came home for an overnight visit and to celebrate birthdays.  She got to sleep in her new room for the first time and loved it!

Saturday was also our best day for thrifty accomplishments.  My old laptop had a bad keyboard and I decided to order a replacement from Amazon for $13.99 earlier in the week.  It arrived on Saturday and I was able to remove the non functioning one and replace it.  Now that the laptop works again my youngest daughter will be able to use it for her school work.  We are hoping it will get her through high school so we won't have that expense to be concerned about.

As part of her birthday gift I gave my daughter a brand new complete set of upgraded violin strings.  At parent teacher conferences her teacher told us she has a very nice violin and it would sound even better if we replaced the strings.  She gave us three options for what she recommended.  I chose the ones that were priced in the middle and ordered them last month.  After she opened her presents she and I replaced the strings and then she tuned it.  We had her play a couple pieces before and then after.  Wow!  An amazing difference in the tone.  She is super happy about it and I know we saved a small fortune being able to do this ourselves over having it done at a shop.  That old violin continues to amaze us and she continues to love it.

I borrowed a DVD from a co-worker so the girls and I could have a movie night on Saturday, complete with freshly popped popcorn.  They have wanted to see Fight Club, which is a great movie I always seem to talk about (I know, you aren't supposed to talk about it) and we don't have it free with Netflix or Prime.  Renting it on Prime is affordable, but borrowing from someone it is even more so.

Additionally last week, I added a little bit of warm water to an "empty" laundry detergent bottle and gave it a good shake.  I had enough soapy solution to run a load of laundry.  I then tossed the now truly empty bottle into our recycle bin.  I pulled a new bottle of detergent from my stash in the linen closet to replace that one and we are good to go.

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

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - vacuumed floors, cleaned dryer vent.  Scrubbed bathroom sink.  Daily swish & swipe.

Dining Room - vacuumed floor, cleaned dining room chairs.

Kitchen -  super scrubbed & bleached kitchen sink, vacuumed & spot mopped the floor.

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - vacuumed & dusted.  Scrubbed sink & toilet.  Daily swish & swipe.

Other - two loads of laundry, vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entry..  Swept front porch.

How was your thrifty week?