Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

This past week got completely away from me, no doubt about that.  Once again work kept me hopping with all of the COVID patients added to my roster plus the need to wrap up everything for month end.  Before I knew it, it was Friday and boy oh boy was I ever ready for the weekend.  Not much happened last week so this post is going to be a shorty.

 

Oh my gosh this kid is tall, LOL

Friday was the homecoming dance and my daughter went to her first school dance.  She borrowed a dress from her sister and we picked up a pair of sparkly shoes at the thrift store for $5.99.  We tried curling her hair, twice in fact, but her hair was defiant.  Nonetheless, she was very pretty and her date heartily concurred.  She said he was a perfect gentleman too.  Even got the car door for her, which really impressed her.

 

We decorated for Halloween

THINGS WE ATE LAST WEEK:  Leftovers from the week before (we had a bunch), chicken w/rice & gravy, turkey sandwiches, eggs & sausages, salads.

 

THINGS I CLEANED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS: 

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - Vacuumed & mopped floors, washed rug.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Kitchen & Dining Room - Cleaned microwave, vacuumed & spot mopped floors.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - Vacuumed & dusted.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Other - Two loads of laundry.  Vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & both entryways.  Swept front porch.

 

THINGS I DID TO SAVE A SMALL BUNDLE OF $$:  I didn't do any grocery shopping and returned an item to the store I didn't need for a refund.  I worked from home all week so I only drove once saving a lot of fuel. 

THINGS I DID TO EARN EXTRA $$:  I worked a boatload of overtime.  Probably too much overtime.

 

How was your thrifty week?

 

A Thrifty September Recap

 

TO BEGIN WITH:  I began the month of September with $42 in my checking account, $28 and some coins in my wallet, a full tank of gas in the car (I barely drove it in August) and three quarters of a tank of fuel in the truck.  A good way to get the month started off, I certainly have no complaints.

 

My first paycheck was a good one because we had an extra two days of pay on this one, just how the work days fell.  I made good use of the extra pay by slugging it away into savings.  I paid our monthly bills that were due and made the October mortgage payment an entire month ahead of schedule.  I set aside our grocery budget money and we only purchased the items we felt we absolutely needed keeping our spending fairly low.  Mid month I was able to put pretty much all of my paycheck into savings and for the first time this year I was able to exceed my monthly savings goal.

 

NEXT STEPS:  As we are heading toward the end of the year my goal is to stuff as much cash into savings as I possibly can in hopes of making up some of the ground I lost while on medical leave and then working part time.  I will also need some of that savings to cover my trip to Minnesota next month.

 

WAYS I SAVED $$:  We were super careful with our power use, we made sure to have virtually no food waste, and we only spent money on items we needed, particularly to finish stocking up for winter.

 

WAYS I EARNED EXTRA $$:  Sales this month in my Etsy store were phenomenal thanks to many of my lovely and wonderful readers.  I took ALL of the proceeds from those sales and tucked them into savings.  I think I now have enough to cover my transportation costs because of those sales.  That is amazing!!

 

LOOKING BACK:  Wow!  What a great month we had.  Expenses were relatively low and our income was higher than it has been since last spring.  I feel so much better and much more confident having had such a great month financially.

 

LOOKING AHEAD:  I have A LOT of things coming up in the not too distant future to plan and get ready for and Lord willing I think I am well on my way.  It is super exciting when you stay the course and work hard to see your hopes and dreams unfolding.  I can hardly wait to share more about what all of those are, but first I need to get through this year and all that might entail.  It has been a bumpy one so far with quite a few challenges, but I am not defeated.  Not at all!

 

September $100 Grocery Budget 2021

 

To me the month of September flew right on by.  August had allowed me to do some really good stocking up so in September we really didn't much at all.  I had a few items on my list to stock up on for winter and I was able to add those items to our freezer and pantry at really good prices so that made me quite happy.  Even though I began the month with a slight deficit I was able to come in just under budget (with $1.64 to spare) and still managed to get everything we needed and wanted for the month.  My $25 nonfood budget came in far under budget as well.  I added four boxes of facial tissues on sale for $1 each and a 22# bag of kitty food for $15.49.

 

I was super careful with my spending this month to make each and every penny count and I think I did that rather well.  Our shelves are full, our chest freezer too and we've had plenty of delicious and healthy meals this past month.  Going into October I'll be able to relax a bit and not feel the pressure to get ready for winter and the upcoming holidays.  I think we've pretty much got that all handled.

 

How are you doing with your grocery shopping lately.  Are the rising prices and shortages giving you any grief?  Is there anything you wanted in particular and haven't been able to get?

 

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

Sunday morning I was up super early, long before sunrise and just as a heavy downpour graced us with some much needed rain.  With a hot cup of coffee I set to work and divided up the packages of smoked sausages I had found on closeout a couple days before into meal sized portions  I labeled them and placed the packages into a gallon size Ziploc bag before tucking them into the freezer.  I spent a good portion of the rest of the day in my craft room creating more greeting cards for my Etsy shop.  I'm a slow crafter, but I do so enjoy myself and that's all that really matters in the long run.

 

Monday morning I managed to get my fall décor out and set out around our house.  I love adding those warm fall touches to our home.  After clocking out from work the young one and I made homemade pizza.  We haven't done that in ages and it was delicious.  I worked the week from home remotely and that has been going well.  I do miss going into the office each day, however.

 

Friday my daughter drove her car and we went to the bank and stopped by Fred Meyer to pick up cheese that was on sale for $1.29 per package.  Saturday morning we went to Albertson's and I started our October grocery shopping a bit early since the ad was a good one and it had items on my October list I was hoping to get for the upcoming holidays and our prepper pantry.

 

We spent most of Saturday working on small projects around the house in order to get ready for winter.  That chill is in the air these days, especially in the mornings and once the sun goes down so we know it won't be long until it is here.

 

THINGS WE ATE LAST WEEK:  Leftovers from the week before, homemade pizza, spaghetti & meat sauce, tacos.

 

THINGS I CLEANED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS: 

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - Dusted & vacuumed floors, wiped down appliances.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Kitchen & Dining Room - Vacuumed & spot mopped floors, cleaned windows, sill and tracks.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - Cleaned mirror, scrubbed sink & tub, vacuumed & dusted, mopped bathroom floor, washed rug.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Other - Two loads of laundry.  Vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entryways.  Cleaned mirror & hearth.  Cleaned window, sill & track.  Cleaned and tidied garage, swept floor, swept front porch.

 

THINGS I DID TO SAVE A SMALL BUNDLE OF $$:  I washed out two gallon sized Ziploc bag and re-used one to store packages of breakfast sausages for the freezer.  Shopping around for insurance quotes netted us better coverage with a top rated company for the same amounts we paid last year and no increase once my youngest gets her license.  Because of the better coverage I was also able to drop another insurance I was paying for to cover our waterlines.  Our previous insurance only covered the sewer line and the new policy covers both.  I didn't drive this week.

 

I love these little ghosties so much I could leave them out all year long

THINGS I DID TO EARN EXTRA $$:  I sold more items and worked on making some new inventory for my Etsy store.

 

How was your thrifty week?

 

 

$6 Dollar Tree Prep!

 

I decided I wanted to add more of these dried hash browns to my prepper pantry if I got the opportunity to do so at a good price.  I've shopped around, including online, and found that Dollar Tree has had the best price.  They also seem to have them in stock fairly regularly so when I spotted them I grabbed six more to add to the four I already had.  It says there are five servings per box which isn't too shabby.  I'm very glad to have these.  What have you stocked up on lately?

 

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

I spent most of Sunday crafting and then organized and tidied up said craft room so it is all ready for more creativity.  I got all of the trash cans throughout the house emptied and ran a load of laundry too before I did my quick 15 minute chores for the day.  I also cut up some bell peppers I had picked up from the Fred Meyer reduced produce bin and put them in my dehydrator.  With my home all in order and a nice batch of peppers drying for the prepper pantry I was ready to begin my work week ahead.  And then, I got a call from the HR department at 10:00 in the evening.

 

Leftover wax became a new candle

Apparently I was likely exposed to a co-worker (or two or three, but it had been a couple weeks since I'd been around any of them) that has tested positive for COVID.  I've been trying for several weeks now to get on the work from home program, but for whatever reason, until now, it hasn't been possible even though the HR department strongly recommended it due to my underlying health issues.  It's neither here nor there.  Fortunately, I am symptom free at the moment and praying I stay that way.  Monday was a gorgeous day so I opened up the windows and our back door and let the fresh air in.  It was also a great day to tackle a couple hot spots in our home where some clutter had accumulated.  It now feels so good to have those areas cleared out and that square footage reclaimed as open space.  Love it!  I also did some future planning and really appreciated my unexpected time off of work while my boss figured out a work from home solution.

 

Lunchtime!

Tuesday was my first full day of working from home and it wasn't too bad.  I don't think I'd want to do it long term but for now it is working out pretty well.  I ran my daughter to work when I was done and when I picked her up later that evening I also took in the glass recycling to the bin in their parking lot.  This included six empty glass candle jars I had decluttered the day before.  I used up the leftover wax in those jars Monday morning to make a new candle.  It felt really good to have that project little project complete and all of the glass out of the garage and off to be reused.

 

By the time Friday (still symptom free) rolled around I was ready to venture out for a short jaunt and take care of a couple errands.  I clocked out and headed off to get the emission test done on my car, then over to Fred Meyer to pick up items on sale as well as redeem some coupons they had sent me in the mail including one for a free package of Ball Park hotdogs which my daughter loves.

 

This time the bargain on meat was up to five packages of breakfast links so I bought five for $1.99 each and then I spotted smoked sausages on closeout for $1.99 each so I picked up two of those.  I'm sensing a bit of a weenie theme here.  They also had an abundance of milk they were clearing out with a week left on the date so I added a gallon for only 99¢ to my cart.  Produce on sale was strawberries for $1.50 a package and grapes for 99¢ a pound.  I grabbed a couple onions and two bananas and that was good enough for produce this time around.

 

When I got home I wiped everything off with hot soapy water, washed the grapes and strawberries in vinegar water and then got them into clean containers and into the crisper drawer of our refrigerator.  Next the breakfast links went into a gallon size Ziploc bag and into the freezer.

 

I had a carefully crafted winter stock up list so we headed out early Saturday morning with masks and hand sanitizer to gather up the items we needed before enjoying my delayed birthday celebration.  Wal-Mart and the feed store were our destination since they are located close together.  We also stopped in at the Grocery Outlet to see if they had a good deal on breakfast cereal, which has been my daughter's snack of choice lately.  While we didn't find cereal we did manage to pick up black olives, some condiments and lunch meat.

 

We stopped at DSW and I got a new pair of trail shoes using my birthday coupon (my birthday present to myself).  After that we enjoyed lunch out at Red Robin (I had a free birthday burger) and then because it was Smithsonian Day and we had FREE tickets we went to our newly renovated history museum.  I absolutely love that place and have visited it many, many times, but not since the renovation was completed.  I was very excited to go there and finally see it.  In all of our travels throughout the day we were able to maintain our distance, had access to sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer, kept our masks on and washed our hands often.  None of the places we went were crowded either, surprisingly.  We were very conscientious about not exposing ourselves to other people and not exposing other people to us.  So far, so good.

 

Black bean soup - some for now and some for the freezer

THINGS WE ATE LAST WEEK:  Leftovers from the week before, chicken fajitas, grilled hotdogs, black bean soup, egg salad.

 

THINGS I CLEANED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS: 

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - Cleaned mirrors, scrubbed sink, vacuumed & mopped floors, washed rug.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Kitchen & Dining Room - Scrubbed & disinfected sink, cleaned microwave, wiped down appliances, vacuumed & mopped floors.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - Cleaned mirror, scrubbed sink & tub, vacuumed & dusted, mopped bathroom floor, washed rug.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Other - two large loads of laundry.  Vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & mopped both entryways.

 

THINGS I DID TO SAVE A SMALL BUNDLE OF $$:  I made some foaming hand soap solution to refill our dispensers.  I watched all of the Star Trek Next Generations motion pictures on Youtube for FREE.  I worked from home most of the week so no commuting on those days which saved fuel.  I washed out a couple gallon sized Ziploc bags to reuse.  I trimmed my bangs.  We removed the A/C units the week prior and stored them away for the season.  Opening the doors and windows is more than adequate now to cool a room or freshen the air.  We have been very careful with our power use lately in hopes of a nice low electric bill this month.

 

THINGS I DID TO EARN EXTRA $$:  I sold more items from my Etsy store and worked on some new inventory which should be ready to go shortly.

 

Unwinding on a Friday night with two of my favorite things

How was your thrifty week?  Anyone else getting winter ready?

 

A Little $8 Soup Prep

 

This past Saturday the youngest and I went to the grocery store to pick up soup for the prepper pantry.  We both have store rewards apps, mine is the regular customer app and hers the employee app.  We both were able to pick up six cans of Progresso canned soup for 88¢ per can to add to the prepper pantry.  I gave her the cash to get six and I had still had $2.77 left on a gift card to use toward my purchase.  It was a small prep but we now have twelve cans of soup for twelve meals squirreled away for future use and the total amount spent came in at $7.79.  That makes us both very happy.