Last Week’s Thrifty Moves

 

Monday I did some thrifty shopping.  I selected a few items from Bed Bath & Beyond to complete a Christmas I've been working on.  I had a $5 Off a $15 Purchase coupon and some money left on a gift card.  My out of pocket expense was $4.63.  I really liked that! 

 

Then I went to Fred Meyer and picked up a few items on sale with their store coupons.  I also had some manufacturer coupons to go with. 

·         Two half gallon jugs of milk and a half gallon of orange juice for $1.25 each

·         Six cans of Progresso clam chowder for 99¢ each plus I had $1.25 in coupons

·         Three pounds of ground turkey on markdown for $3.99. 

I used half of the ground turkey to make a batch of taco meat.  It was enough for two meals.  I divided the remainder in half and put it in sandwich bags for the freezer. 

I finished my Christmas cards, printed out our annual Christmas letter and tucked them inside and got them ready for the mail. 

I wrapped gifts with supplies I already had on hand.  The gift wrap I used I bought on clearance last year for 50¢ a roll.  The bows were all leftovers and ones I collected to re-use.

I was out of gift tags so I printed some off of my computer using a sheet of mailing labels.  Now I have 30 self adhesive gift tags. 

Tuesday I did some more Christmas shopping using a $10 store coupon.  I was able to get several items on sale and on clearance and ended up spending less than $25 for three nice gifts. 

I did some Christmas shopping at the grocery store.  I needed to get a few items for gifts I plan to make.  I also bought wrapped candies from the bulk bin for $1.58 a pound. 

I made broth with our half a shared turkey carcass.  Then I turned it into a spicy Asian style noodle soup to chase away the winter chill.  It was delicious. 

 

The girls and I made homemade hot cocoa mix.  We put it in some of our canning jars to give as Christmas gifts.  We also kept a jar for ourselves and tested it out just to make sure it was good enough to give away.  My oldest made Orange Spiced Tea mix to give as gifts and for ourselves to enjoy as well. 

I used more of my Walmart gift card to purchase some more hooks.  I put them up in various areas of our RV.  I put one on each closet in my room so I can hang clothing and my purse up.  Two more double hooks were added above the ones I installed last week for better coat storage and we now have an extra for guests.  Two in each girl's cabin area allows them a place to hang their bathrobes and back packs.  They really love having these extra hooks. 

 

Again I wrapped gifts with items I already had on hand.  I did need some gift boxes for clothing so I stopped at the dollar store and picked up a package of three.  I used two of them and still have one leftover.  So far I have only spent $1 on gift wrapping supplies this year.  I have no intention of buying anymore either. 

I ordered three more small Christmas gifts using my Amazon Prime membership and received free two day shipping. 

Again we watched our favorite TV shows on Hulu and Amazon. 

I finally got the opportunity Saturday night to watch a DVD my girls gave me for Mother's Day.  Crazy to have waited that long to watch it.  It was a treat to take a hot shower and put on my warm winter pajamas, then crawl into a bed with fresh clean sheets and my electric blanket to watch my favorite vampire Armand in Interview With A Vampire. 

You guys can have Brad Pitt.  I'll take Antonio.

We finished off the last pesky upside down lotion bottle.  I still don’t know how we managed to end up with four of them all at the same time.  At least that clutter is now gone from our little bathroom. 

What thrifty things did you accomplish last week?

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Manicure & Pedicure Set

 

Professional manicures and pedicures are not in my budget.  A long time ago, for about a year, I treated myself to a set of gel nails.  It was an expensive treat.  Once I decided to adopt my girls that was the first thing to go in order to save money up for the expense of adoption.  I have never had them since. 

I had never had a professional pedicure until last summer.  When I mentioned this to a friend of mine she went out and bought me a gift certificate to have one done.  It was heavenly.  She got me another one for my birthday so now I've had two of them. 

When we got ready to move I put together a simple assortment of things for manicures in a zippered cosmetic bad with the idea that I would put more effort into doing my nails.  Since then I've expanded that to include pedicures. 

This is what I have: 

·         Nail clippers

·         Emery boards

·         Cotton balls & swabs

·         Polish remover

·         Nail polish

·         Top coat

·         Foot scrub

·         Lotion

·         Combination foot brush & pumice stone 

Once a month I give myself a pedicure.  I soak my feet in warm water and use my foot scrub (birthday gift from my girls) and brush.  After drying my feet I trim my toe nails and then put on two coats of my favorite red nail polish (a Mother's Day gift from my girls) followed by a coat of clear top coat.  I allow the polish to dry between coats.  After applying the topcoat I put my feet up and relax, watch a TV show on my laptop and enjoy a beverage.  When my program ends I slather my feet with lotion and I'm finished.  I make it an event. 

Once a week I give myself a manicure.  It is a much simpler affair than a pedicure.  I remove my old polish, trim and file my nails and then wash my hands.  After I dry them I apple two coats of clear polish and allow to dry.  Next I put on some hand lotion.  That's it.  I keep my nails rather short and my manicures pretty much fuss free. 

The girls and I will often sit around the table and do each other's nails for fun.  We've even declared a Sunday afternoon as a spa day and we've all had a pedicure.  It makes for a fun event and an excellent time to bond and visit with each other while pampering ourselves. 

A manicure and/or pedicure set would also make a great gift, don’t you think?  So would a gift certificate to have one done professionally. 

Do you indulge in a pedicure from time to time?

Easy Swedish Meatballs

 

My youngest daughter requested this for her birthday dinner this year.  We made it and shared with guests that night.  She also requested a Jell-O poke cake as her birthday cake.  It was a wonderful meal to be certain. 

Swedish Meatballs 

1 1/2 lbs. lean ground beef

1/2 large onion, finely diced

1/2 cup oatmeal

1 Tbs. dried parsley

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 Tbs. soy sauce or worcestershire sauce

1 beaten egg 

In a large mixing bowl place all ingredients and work together with your hands until Thoroughly combined.  Roll into golf ball sized meatballs or any size you prefer.  Over medium heat 2 tsp. cooking oil in a large pot.  Brown the meatballs.  While they are browning prepare the sauce. 

1 family size can cream of mushroom soup

3/4 soup can milk

Salt and pepper to taste 

Rinse out your mixing bowl and combine ingredients.  Whisk until smooth.  Pour over browned meatballs.  Reduce heat to low and allow to simmer 20 to 30 minutes.  While simmering you can prepare pasta or rice. 

Just before serving stir in 1/2 cup sour cream.  Serve over cooked pasta or rice. 

Give this one a try sometime.

Four Months In

 

Tiny house living is not for the faint of heart.  It takes guts and muscles and true grit.  Having a bit of a screw loose doesn’t hurt either. 

We had a good hard freeze at 19° about mid November which resulted in the spigot, where we hook our heated line into, freezing up and developing a leak, which I discovered once it had thawed.  Not enough heat tape and insulation in that particular area.  Landlady had left town with no way to contact her so in order to continue to have water it fell on me to fix it.  That figures. 

A friend of mine came over and put an epoxy patch on it and then wrapped it with heat tape and extra insulation.  So far, so good.  It seems to be holding.  At night I turn off the water and whenever I leave, just in case it springs a leak again.  So other than the inconvenience of having to turn the water on and off we are just happy to have running water. 

I keep extra water jugs filled too so we can flush the toilet when the water is off at night and in case it should freeze up again although that doesn't seem too likely now.  My friend really knows how to insulate a pipe. 

I bought a small space heater for my bedroom since it was getting pretty chilly up front.  I'm trying to conserve propane by running electric heat.  I face the heater out to the main area and it heats up my room plus augments the main heater nicely.  They are plugged into separate circuits so we don't trip any breakers when they are both running.  I find I don't have to run the smaller one much, except when it gets down below freezing.  We are staying nice and toasty warm. 

Last week I discovered some moisture on the ceiling above my bed.  That was a huge concern, especially since we'd had no precipitation and we'd done a thorough inspection of the roof a month ago plus it had been inspected prior to my purchase.  I discovered it was actually caused by a buildup of condensation inside the cabinet along the roof at the front of the RV.  Once I wiped off all the moisture and allowed it to dry I watched it and all was fine.  Now I just leave one of the cabinet doors open and it stays dry inside.  Fortunately nothing was damaged by the moisture.  Just another one of those quirky things about air tight RVs. 

With winter coats out and extra jackets I needed a storage solution for that.  The end of the cabinet above our dinette proved to be the perfect place to install some hooks.  Now our coats have a place to hang, conveniently located next to the front door, and we are no longer having to shuffle them around.  We all decided that is the best thing we've done to this place so far. 

My youngest making rolls.

Topped with freshly whipped cream this pie was delicious!

 

We made it through Thanksgiving too.  Granted, this year we were guests somewhere else, but we made two pies and a pan of rolls to take to dinner in our tiny kitchen and oven and it was fabulous.  Christmas dinner will be prepared at home and will be our biggest meal prepared in our tiny home to date.  We have no doubts we can pull it off.  Figuring out where to put the Christmas tree is our biggest challenge right now. 

I'm sure by a lot of people's standards they probably think we are a little nuts and you know what?  I'm okay with that.  I don't regret my decision to live tiny one bit, because we are still having a lot fun!

Monthly Meal Planner - December

On Sunday I posted our monthly meal plan on the front of our refrigerator giving our family a glimpse into their culinary future.  And as always I thought I would go ahead and share it with you as a source of inspiration, if nothing else.  I enjoy checking out other’s meal plans to give me ideas too. 

For my own personal needs I’ll tweak things a bit here and there.  I may not get everything made depending on how the leftovers work out.  Here is a list of what we will be enjoying next month: 

·         Turkey & Dumplings

·         Tomato Soup & Grilled Cheese Sandwich

·         Creamy Chicken & Rice

·         Pancakes & Eggs

·         Pasta Marinara

·         Tacos

·         Pizza

·         Turkey Soup

·         Grilled Ham & Cheese Sandwiches

·         Cheese Omelet

·         Mac & Cheese

·         Bean & Cheese Burritos

·         Chinese Chicken & Rice

·         Split Pea Soup

·         Hotdogs

·         Ham Quiche

·         Pasta Alfredo

·         Chicken Fried Rice

·         Biscuits & Gravy

·         Pot Roast & Veggies

·         French Dip

·         Clam Chowder

·         Past Bolognese

·         Pork Chops & Scalloped Potatoes

·         Nachos 

I base my meal plan mainly off of what I already have on hand.  I will need to pick up a pot roast at the grocery store and fresh dairy and produce.  Most everything else I have on hand, which amazes me since we have such a tiny freezer now. 

What is on your menu this month?

Last Week’s Thrifty Moves

 

Last week I printed out a new 2014 calendar for my dayplanner.  I created it using my Publisher software on my computer and then I printed it out. 

I put the finishing touches on our annual Christmas letter that I tuck into our Christmas cards I send out every year. 

I sent out three Thanksgiving greeting cards I had purchased a few weeks ago for 50¢ each at the dollar store.  I love that the dollar store has really nice and affordable greeting cards that I can pick and choose from because I really enjoy sending them out to friends and loved ones.  At $3 to $6 each at the regular store it makes it completely unaffordable for me to purchase them. 

I used part of a gift card to purchase two coat hooks which I mounted to the side of a cabinet near the door.  Now we have a great place to hang our coats up and out of the way plus it didn't cost me anything to do it. 

I gave myself a pedicure and a manicure at home. 

I made more refill solution for our foaming soap dispenser in the bathroom. 

I filled my gas tank on my car and saved an extra 10¢ a gallon using my Fred Meyer rewards card.  I had saved up enough gas points.  Yeah! 

I used my Good Sam Club membership to refill one of our propane tanks for half price. 

We used up the contents of three of our upside down lotion bottles and then put the empty bottles in the recycle bin.  Only one more left to go.  I love that there is less clutter now with those gone and nothing was wasted. 

We gave our kitchen scraps to the neighbors chickens. 

A friend of mine gave me half the carcass from the Thanksgiving turkey she made so I could make broth.  Love her!  She also sent me home with leftovers, enough for two nights.  We were pretty happy about that because the best part of Thanksgiving is the leftovers.  And that I don't have to cook! 

While dropping off some orders at the post office I restocked my mailing supplies from the priority mail free supply kiosk.  I also bought a book of Christmas stamps while I was there. 

I did absolutely NO SHOPPING on BLACK FRIDAY! Not even online. 

On Black Friday we dug out our favorite movies from our own DVD collection and made it a chick flick afternoon - Pretty Woman, The Wedding Date and Dirty Dancing. 

We watched all of our favorite TV shows on Hulu for free once again. 

How was your thrifty week last week?