Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Mother's Day was fantastic!  I didn't do a whole heck of a lot and that was A-OK with me!  The girls gave me a gift bag full of candles, which they know I absolutely love, and we grilled steaks and made a fabulous dessert.  It was quiet and uneventful.  Exactly what we needed.  We were able to get our chores caught up and all the laundry done, including the new clothing I had purchased at Goodwill the day before.  So all in all a pretty nice Sunday.

Monday we were back at it with school and work.  But first, since I woke up at 4:00 a.m. and couldn't go back to sleep I got up, sorted through and purged a bunch of paperwork, updated my grocery spending log, then tidied up my project table and my desk.  Paper clutter drives me nuts!

I had to pick my oldest daughter up after school so we popped into Albertson's on the way home and picked up some loss leader items that were on sale.  I got four cans of tuna (49¢ each), four brownie mixes (79¢ each), six boxes of pasta (49¢ each) and six cans of veggies (39¢ each).  All good items to stock up the pantry with.  My girls have been asking for chicken nuggets so I conceded and got a three pound bag of those too.

I also picked up a package of ground beef patties on markdown for 50% OFF making them only $4 for eight quarter pound patties.

We turned in two of our instant winner tickets from playing their Monopoly game for a package of potato chips and a pound of macaroni salad from the deli.  Not a bad haul for under $21!

Wednesday we cleaned out the chicken coops and attempted to integrate the little girls with the big girls.  Matilda wasn't having it so the little girls went back into the crate in the garage and we'll try again in a couple of days.  Hopefully Matilda will become more accepting and won't need to spend timeout in chicken jail.  So far Edith seems fine with the little girls.

  

Thursday I earned a $25 gift card at work by participating in our annual health biometrics screening.  I also completed a wellness program through our insurance company and earned another $50 gift card!

Later that evening was my youngest's last orchestra concert of the school year and it was fantastic!  Another great evening of music to be enjoyed.  It always renews my spirit.  I strongly recommend attending concerts at your local high school or middle school.  They are usually free and you really get to experience some amazing talent.  Plus, the kids love the support.

Friday evening the oldest and I headed off to Fred Meyer to pick up a few items that were on sale and I also had coupons to pair with a couple of those.  The sour cream was on sale for $1.50 and I had a 50¢ OFF coupon.  We picked up mostly meat, sirloin steaks on sale for $2.68 a pound, some chicken breasts and breakfast sausage.  I grabbed a loaf of marked down bread for the freezer and several salad kits that were on markdown.  The chips were on sale for $4.99 and I had a $1 OFF coupon to bring that price down even further.  I'll be setting those aside and keeping them for school lunches in the fall.

We had a lot of good rain this past week which saturated the ground and saved me from needing to water the lawn and flowerbeds.  As a result however, the weeds have taken hold once again.

We enjoyed watching the royal wedding coverage on TV Saturday morning and celebrated the even with a big yummy breakfast.  Then it was time to get outdoors and enjoy our day.

How was your thrifty week?