Last Week's Thrifty Moves

I was shocked and amazed when I woke up on Sunday morning and discovered it was 10:00!  After all the busyness of the previous week had ended my body and my mind must've really needed a rest.  This girl rarely sleeps in.  While normally I would've been a little bummed at wasting precious hours sleeping, this time I was completely fine with it.  I know I needed the extra sleep this time.

I got up feeling pretty darn good so I made my bed and started my day.  After coffee and some blog posting I did a few chores and proceeded to putter around the house.  Sleeping in had completely thrown my off my usual routine.  In fact, I didn't go grocery shopping until after supper.  My oldest went with me and we picked up only items on sale as well as four freebie items we had a coupon or digital coupons for.

Monday was my youngest's only dance team practice day so I only had to head out early and take her to school one time last week.  It was her finals week too leading up to the winter break.  Also that morning my daughter dropped her car off to have her radiator replaced.

Poor little kitty

In the midst of all of that we had to rush our kitty Stella into the vet and that afternoon she had emergency surgery to remove a cyst on her side that had abscessed.  Poor little girl, she was a pretty sick kitty.  We got to bring her home later in the morning on Tuesday.  We made her a homemade cone so she wouldn't pull the drain out of her side while she healed.  Needless to say she wasn't overly impressed by that apparatus.

We gathered up odds and ends of cookies we had around here and I took them in to work on Wednesday.  They were gone in no time.

Both my daughter and I worked long hours last week to earn as much extra money as we could.  With a car repair and a vet bill we need to recoup some of those expenses as much as we can.  She worked to full days for the temp agency and was sent home on her last day with a huge bag of boxed salads.  That was a wonderful surprise.

Our department Christmas party at work was on Friday and I was able to bring some meatballs and couple of those salads thanks to my daughter as well as some homemade dinner rolls I made the night before to contribute to our lunch.  My girls stopped by my office and joined us making it a really nice little party.  Then they were off to work some more Door Dash calls and finish up their Christmas shopping.

I passed out jars of homemade pear butter to my co-workers.  I already have a plan in my head of what I might do for them next year.  I already wrote it down in my 2020 day planner so I don't forget.

It was such a crazy busy week that by 9:30 Friday night we were all in bed and completely exhausted.  It has been a complete zoo at my work with no end in sight, I'm afraid.  We are all ready for a little bit of a break as we coast into Christmas and the New Year.  Believe me!  Fortunately I have the week between Christmas and New Years off so I can decompress and prepare for a good start to 2020.

Saturday morning I woke up feeling like I'd been hit by a train.  Time to listen to my body and give it a break.  I took the day off to rest and just putter.  I worked on my 2020 Day Planner a little bit and binge watched a boatload of Animal Cops episodes on Youtube.  Other than washing dishes I wasn't all that productive.  And that is totally okay.  Rest days are a necessity.

I did find some time during the week and altered two of my work tops by taking in the side seams and shoulders.  They were a little large on me and I had thought about donating them, but I really like both of them and decided to try altering instead.  Worked out perfectly so now I have two better fitting tops in my wardrobe.  And at no cost too!

Marinated chicken with roasted veggies

I cleaned out the crisper drawer and roasted all the leftover veggies I had in there to serve with our Sunday dinner.

The chickens got the kitchen scraps and some of the salads my daughter brought home.  It was actually too much for all of us to eat so I was glad to share with them.  They were pretty happy about it too.

I mixed up more foaming hand soap refill solution for the upstairs bathroom

I washed out three ziploc bags to reuse.  I also washed out some empty cottage cheese and sour cream containers so my daughter can used them to take food home with her after Christmas break.

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

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - vacuumed floors, scrubbed the sink.  Daily swish & swipe.

Dining Room - vacuumed floor, cleaned dining room chairs.

Kitchen -  vacuumed & spot mopped the floor, cleaned the walls, scrubbed & bleached the sink, cleaned inside the fridge.

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

Other - one load of laundry, vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entry, mopped entry ways, polished wood furniture, washed the front & back doors.  Swept front porch.

How was your thrifty week?