Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

Another week sped by and we are over halfway through the month of January!  Oh my goodness!  But, so far, so good!

 

Sunday I put a pot roast on to cook in the slow cooker, complete with potatoes and carrots.  I also added some frozen broccoli spears near the end to steam on top of everything.  Delicious! And it kept us in leftovers for a few day.  I used the last of the pot roast to make Bolognese sauce and my daughter had that over pasta while I had it over cauliflower.  Very good!  No extra cooking required until the end of the week.

 

On Monday I completed my crochet project so now I have one handmade Christmas gift completed.  I started another one and completed it on Thursday for a second handmade Christmas gift complete.  I even wrapped them and put gift tags on each one.  I'll add bows when it is time to put them under the tree but until then I've got them tucked inside the gift box in the guest room closet.

 

I did a little shop on Wednesday evening since I was going there anyway to pick up my daughter from work. They had some canned soup on for 49¢ a can as well as frozen shrimp for $3.99 a pound in two pound bags.  After the holiday meals I had prepared we were in need of some shrimp, but since I don't think of it as a necessity item I waited for a good sale.  I think I found one.

 

Friday night I made a quick trip into Cash & Carry since the Bolognese sauce had diminished what was left of my cream.  I need my Keto coffee!  I am now well stocked for the remainder of this month and next.  I need my Keto coffee!  Did I mention that?

 

New clothes for work - just under $50!

Saturday morning I went through all of my clothes and decided to sell a rayon top I never wear anymore on eBay.  Everything else I wear on a regular basis, shoes included.  I needed to replace my two pair of black work slacks as they were completely worn out and that was on my list this month as well as another pair of work shoes if I could find them at a good price.  The youngest and I headed off to the mall with my $20 OFF a $50 purchase coupon for JC Penney to see what I could find.  Fortunately the pants I was hoping to buy were on sale for $24.99 a pair, regularly $48.  I picked up two pair plus a top on clearance for $4.25 to replace the one I am going to list for sale on eBay.

 

$15 Clarks!

While I shopped for pants my youngest went to Bath & Body Works with a coupon for a free wallflower refill, no purchase required.  With as much as we spent last month it didn't bother us one bit to go in and walk out without spending any money whatsoever.  Then we headed up one level to the shoe outlet store where I was hoping to find a pair of Clarks shoes for work.  I've purchased my last two pair there at a substantial discount.  I lucked out once again and found a really nice pair on clearance for $29.99!!  I was super happy about that until I went to the register and found out I got another 50% discount on top of that!  Talk about doing a happy dance!!!  Who wouldn't love a pair of Clarks for only $15?  Whoo hoooo!!!!

 

A mini produce haul, mostly markdown items

I decided to take my daughter to lunch on our way home with the extra money I had earmarked for clothing.  We went to the Chinese restaurant we haven't been to in nearly two years.  We both had the daily special and it came to only $15.  I left a $20 and we headed across the parking lot to Fred Meyer to pick up a bag of potting soil so I could repot some house plants.  Since we were there I took a quick peek at the produce section and picked up a few things.

 

THINGS I CLEANED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS: 

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

Kitchen & Dining Room - thoroughly cleaned & flushed the coffeepot & K-cup brewer, cleaned microwave.  Vacuumed & spot mopped floors. 

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - washed all of the bedding & pillows, moved bed & vacuumed underneath.  Cleaned the bathroom drawers, tidied under the sink.  Vacuumed & dusted.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Other - three loads of laundry (while the laundry was going I worked on greeting cards and craft projects-it was rough!), vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entry.  

 

THINGS I DID TO SAVE A SMALL BUNDLE OF $$:  I made foaming handsoap refill solution for the dispenser in our upstairs bathroom, I handmade two Christmas presents using items I already had on hand, I brought home half a ream of scrap paper from work to use in our printer, I helped myself to a book from the free pile at work.

 

eBay sales!

THINGS I DID TO EARN EXTRA $$:  worked some overtime, sold some more items on eBay.

 

For the first half of January I am feeling uber productive and extra thrifty.  How was your thrifty week?