Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

So far 2020 is treating me pretty darn well and I hope it is the same for all of you.  My first full week of the new year was a busy one at work.  I put in more overtime than usual and I am happy for the opportunity to earn the extra income.  After a long day at work I came home and relaxed by working on a crochet project I started on Wednesday.  I haven't crocheted anything for quite some time so it has been really nice to have this to work on in the evenings.  Once I am done I will have my first handmade Christmas gift completed.  I think my intended recipient will be very pleased with it too.

 

My digital camera started to conk out on me so I had been looking at replacement options for a couple of weeks.  I decided to stick with what I had as I'm very familiar with it, it is easy to use and fairly drop resistant (up to a point) and last a long time.  Plus I have all the accessories and extra batteries.  I shopped around for the best price and settled on a seller on eBay.  I placed the order and paid for it with my PayPal credit account and will use the proceeds from my recent eBay sales to cover that expense.  I was extremely happy it worked out that way.  Pretty much like getting it for free and all because I decided to clear some crap out of my garage.  Win-win!

 

I made this delicious chicken & vegetable soup from scratch

Our monthly meal plan was a godsend for me this past week as I was able to quickly prepare meals and have plenty of leftovers for our lunches.  Not having to stress about what to cook was a huge load of my mind too.  We used up a lot of odds and ends of things we had in the pantry and refrigerator and had no food waste to speak of.

 

I came home Friday evening and decompressed from the busy work week with my crochet project, a cold beer and watched some TV while I was at it.  Perfect way to end my work week.  I am quite happy with how this little project is turning out.

 

All items were either on sale or markdown plus I had a lot of coupons

Saturday morning I took my daughter to work and decided to take advantage of the trip and do my grocery shopping and a couple other errands.  Since I was already there it made sense.  After picking up a few really good grocery buys I headed over to Dollar Tree in hopes they had restocked the laundry detergent.  They hadn't but I did find two packages of sparkly stuff to use for card making so I splurged.

 

On the way home I popped across the street and dropped off a big box of donations at the thrift store then took the scenic route so I could stop at Fred Meyer and pick up five packages of butter they had on sale for $1.77 each.  I think I have enough butter in the freezer to get us through the year now including holiday baking.  I also had a $2 OFF coupon to use on the butter making this a really great deal.

 

It felt really good to drop this box of donations off at the thrift store

THINGS I CLEANED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS: 

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - cleaned mirrors & light fixture, washed decorative towels & rug, vacuumed floors.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Kitchen & Dining Room -  cleaned microwave, vacuumed floors. 

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - vacuumed & dusted.  Scrubbed tub, sink & toilet, cleaned mirrors & light fixture, washed decorative towels & bath mat.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Other - one very large load of laundry, vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entry, tidied up garage.  Hauled a load of donations to the thrift store and filled up the recycle bin with a lot of cardboard.

 

I made my daughter this gnocchi meal all out of leftover items 

THINGS I DID TO SAVE A SMALL BUNDLE OF $$:  I gave myself a haircut.  I washed a few Ziploc bags to reuse.  I started a new crochet project using yarn from an abandoned afghan I had started a couple years ago and didn't finish.  Loaded a bunch of digital coupons to my store rewards cards.  I kept my shopping pretty minimal and was very mindful of each item I purchased and how I paid for those items.

 

THINGS I DID TO EARN EXTRA $$:  worked some overtime, sold some items on eBay and from my Etsy shop.  So very happy about those sales!  I also made some more greeting cards to sell.

 

My great grandmother's pot got quite a workout last week ❤

I think I did rather well and I am quite pleased with the progress I have made so far.  How was your first full thrifty week of 2021?