Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday morning I sneaked out of the house while my girls slept in and went to Fred Meyer to do my $20 worth of grocery shopping.  Other than milk there wasn't anything on my list so I had a lot to work with this last time.  Sirloin steaks were on sale so I decided to get a package of those as they tend to be one of my keto meal staples.  Then I went through the store half a dozen times to scope out items on sale that would work with what I already have and, if possible, the coupons I had.  I did really well, if I do say so myself, walking out with three bags of groceries.

I picked up a large package with six sirloin steaks, 3 bags of markdown produce ($1 each), milk (88¢), cheese, six packages of pasta (on sale for 49¢ each plus I had a $1 OFF coupon), tea (markdown $1.89), cottage cheese (markdown 89¢ because it was dented), tortilla chips (on sale & 40¢ OFF coupon) and some bananas.  I also got a tube of toothpaste for 88¢.

Not bad for $20!

I used two coupons (75¢ OFF) to get four candy bars (one was free) and picked up two more tubes of toothpaste (88¢ each) to set aside for my girls Easter baskets.  The candy bars ended up costing me 37¢ each.  I am trying to do both of their baskets on a $10 budget so I think I am off to a really good start.

After dropping my daughter off at work I popped into Dollar Tree and spent my last $1 from my January nonfood budget on a box of dryer sheets.  Since I had opened our last box a few weeks ago it seemed like a worthy investment.

I saved the mesh bags our marked down produce came in to reuse for future produce purchases so I don't need to use the plastic ones.  I cut of the price tag portion on the bottom so it won't confuse any clerks when they ring up my new purchases.  I am actually really excited to have these bags.

This turned out to be a tasty treat

Our week was busy with errands and after school activities.  I was able to combine both so I wasn't using extra fuel and was able to use my time efficiently.  Three basketball games a three hour cheer camp and two practices kept me hopping along with a trip to the bank after work and a trip to Walgreens after work/cheer practice.  Errands were run while I was picking up or dropping off kiddos so no extra trips or wasting fuel and time.

Great prices on meat last week

At Walgreens I used one of my downloaded coupons to pick up another jug of laundry detergent for $1.49 as well as a large bottle of shampoo and conditioner for $1 each that were on sale and I had a $2 OFF digital coupon loaded to my rewards card.  I added the $3.49 I spent to my nonfood budget tracker for the month of February.

Another jug of laundry detergent for $1.49 from Walgreens
Two jars of pesto and a roll of waxed paper from the dollar store

I printed a few coupons from the Proctor & Gamble website.  I downloaded another coupon to my Walgreens rewards card and a few more digital coupons to my Fred Meyer card.  I did the Fred Meyer survey to add 50 bonus points to my rewards card to go toward lowering the price of fuel at the gas pump.  I also downloaded my Fred Meyer Friday Freebie for a free protein bar.

Last month I did my grocery shopping on Sunday mornings.  This month I plan to do it on Saturdays and see which I prefer.  I dropped my youngest off for cheer camp early in the morning and headed to Fred Meyer to pick up what I needed for the week ahead.  I also popped into Walgreens on the way home and used another coupon I had printed off the internet to pick up another jug of laundry detergent.  I think I now have enough of that stored in our garage to get us through the year.  I have to say, it feels pretty good knowing that.  Now I will focus on something else we are low on, like toilet paper or dry cat food.

We finished up our Month Of Soup by preparing a couple Progesso canned soups we had in our pantry as well as making a big pot of Chicken Gnocchi Soup from an Olive Garden copycat recipe we like.  We finished up our leftovers and the girls polished off a box of crackers we had leftover from the holidays.

I trimmed my youngest daughter's bangs.

I washed out and reused a few ziploc bags.

I picked these up at Wal-Mart, so cute!

The chickens kept us supplied with eggs last week as they are gaining momentum in the laying department.  I'm hoping to be able to sell some soon so they become more self sufficient.  We gave them our kitchen scraps and some extra bread we had.  I gave some carrot and celery trimmings to the bunny.

We composted coffee grounds, tea bags, onion skins, banana peels and egg shells.  We didn't have any trash to put in our garbage bin last week so nothing was set at the curb for pickup.  We did add some items to our big blue recycle bin as well as some glass jars to our small collection bin in the garage.  I dropped off a trunk load of donations at a nearby thrift store.

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

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - super scrubbed toilet & sink, vacuumed floors & rug.  Daily swish & swipe.  Moved washer & dryer, vacuumed, scrubbed walls & floor, washed down appliances.

Dining Room - vacuumed floor.

Kitchen -  vacuumed floor, cleaned microwave.

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - vacuumed & dusted.  My oldest cleaned the bathroom.

Other - four loads of laundry, dusted & vacuumed living room, hallway & entry.

How was your thrifty week?