Last Week's Thrifty Moves

I started out on Sunday completely exhausted.  Too much activity the week before wore me out so rather than push myself to the point of making myself sick I gave in (not something I do well) and took some time for myself.  I stayed in my pajamas, read a book and even took a nap in the afternoon.  It was exactly what I needed to rejuvenate me for another full week ahead.

Monday I took the youngest to Honor Orchestra, the oldest to a meeting at the university and then stopped at the library to return books and check out new ones.  Then the grocery store on the way home for bread and milk.  I ended up eating a tuna sandwich for supper in the truck on the way to the meeting.

Tuesday it was back to the university for my oldest to attend her engineering workshop.  The youngest and I hung out at the Student Union Building and waited for her.  We watched a couple shows on my laptop for free.

A friend of mine was kind enough to give me a really nice 9" X 13" Pyrex baking dish.  She is thinning down her kitchen and decided to pass it along.  I was thrilled because after our big purge I was actually thinking I really missed our extra pan and wished I still had it.  Sometimes I could really use two.

I shopped for bread, milk, lettuce and a half gallon of ice cream (oldest's birthday) this week.  We are still enjoying tomatoes from the garden as the green ones we picked have been ripening.

I washed out a two gallon Ziploc bag to reuse and a cute jar that had hot fudge sauce in it.

After refilling the hand soap dispenser at the kitchen sink with the dollar store dish soap I like to use I rinsed out the empty bottle and used that to wash a few dishes.

I mended my youngest's bathrobe.

We fed the chickens lots of really good kitchen scraps and some stale hamburger buns.  In return they gave us two eggs every day.  I also composted coffee grounds, tea bags and egg shells.

I sold two dozen eggs.  We almost have enough saved for a new bag of scratch grains.

I trimmed my bangs.

We took our glass in for recycling.

I stopped at the dollar store to get some items we were low on.

My youngest ordered a slice of this - Reese's Cheesecake

On a not so thrifty note I took my girls to Cheesecake Factory for lunch to celebrate their birthdays.  I was sooooo expensive.  We don't do it very often, but still….  Yikes!

How thrifty were you last week?

I Cleared The Paper Clutter

Papers drive me crazy!  Especially when they are in stacks all over the house.  Between work, two girls bring stuff home from school and the colossal amount of junk mail we get in the mail this time of year it was rapidly taking over the house.

Normally, I manage to take care of paper as it comes into the house.  However, lately our schedule has been so hectic I've neglected to keep up on it and it was really piling up.  On Sunday I'd had enough.

I walked through the entire house and collected every bit of paper that strewn throughout the house.  Unbelievable, to me, it was everywhere!  On top of the dryer, my desk, the bread machine, next my recliner, you name it I found it.

I piled it all on top of the dining room table then began the laborious task of ruthless sorting.  I had three piles when I was done - File Or Deal With - Trash - Shred. 

Trash was easy.  File and Deal With took a little longer but I got through it in a decent amount of time.  I celebrated by taking Shred and a match out to the fire pot and making it into ash for the compost bin.  It was the best hour I spent that day.

Now all the paperwork that needed to be filled out, signed and submitted is finished.  There are no more piles around the house, and our shreddables have been disposed of so they don't end up in the wrong hands and the clutter is gone so things look much neater.  All I have to do is stay on top of it so I don’t end up with another mess to deal with.

New Internet Service

Six months ago our internet carrier, Clearwire, notified us that they had been bought out by Sprint and gave me a number to call to continue our service with them.  I contacted Sprint only to find out they do not plan to provide the same service, however they were happy to sell me a cell phone plan and then I could add data - blah, blah, blah.  Grrrrrrrrrrrr.

We use a lot of data, especially since we don't have any TV services, so it was important to me to find an unlimited data plan to accommodate our family's needs.  I spent a lot of time researching options only to find that those options are relatively few in our area.  We rode out the end of our time with Clearwire and switched back to Century Link last week.

It worked out well for us in that we are actually going to save a few dollars on our monthly fees even though I decided to lease the router this time.  Usually I prefer to purchase outright, but because technology changes so rapidly devices are quick to become obsolete.  I currently own a router that is of no use to us because of this.  After doing the math it ended up costing about the same and if it breaks or needs to be upgraded I'm covered.  With a purchase I'd have to pay for an replacement or upgrade.

So we are up and running once again on the worldwide web, saving a couple of dollars each month in the process.  We continue to watch TV and movies online and are still contemplating a Netflix subscription.  We also continue with our pay as we go cell phone plan.

Have any of you shopped around for internet service lately?

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Another crazy busy week at our house.  I am now one of those moms that spends her time shuttling her children to their various activities and waiting for them to get done.  To make wise use of my time I took my laptop with me and a book so I could read, write, pay bills, organize, plan, shop, etc.

I am trying to conserve fuel as much as possible now that we are going places more often by combining those trips with errands.  On the way home one evening I stopped at Albertson's to pick up a few stock up items.  I bought three 12 packs of toilet paper for $10, four 16 oz. jars of peanut butter for $1.29 each, 20 containers of yogurt for 25¢ each and two bags of baking chips for $1.99 each to add to my holiday baking stash.  I also found some spicy sausage in the markdown bin for $1.  My youngest loves that stuff.

On the way home Friday I stopped at Fred Meyer for some fresh lettuce and a bottle of wine for dinner on Saturday as we had guests.  I made chicken enchiladas and a Jello Poke Cake from stuff I already had on hand.

I fed the chickens some stale hotdog buns and our kitchen scraps.  Right now they are molting and laying only one or two eggs a day.

We picked more tomatoes from the garden and a pepper.  I composted coffee grounds, tea bags, egg shells and banana peels.

I ordered more gifts from Amazon for my daughter's upcoming birthdays. 

How thrifty was your week?

What A Week Of Meal Prep Looks Like For Our Thrifty Family

I thought I'd start doing some regular posts, not every week but often, on how I prepare meals for my family and stretch not only our food dollars but our food as well to maximize our budget.  With a little creativity I am always amazed at how much I can do with our meals and keep it tasty as well as interesting.

I like to start out the week by preparing a really nice meal for the family and I will usually include a dessert.

Sunday Dinner

Italian Sausages w/Peppers, Onions & Tomatoes

Pasta

Garden Salad

Chocolate Ice Cream

I bought the sausages on sale for $2.99, the pepper was 99¢ and the canned tomatoes were on sale for 48¢.  I already had the onion (15¢) and it was big so I only used half of it.  The pasta was on sale and also I used a coupon which made it only 70¢.  Total spent = $4.61.

I used half a large bag of lettuce mix ($1.69), a half can of olives (50¢) and tomatoes from our garden to make the salad.  Total spent = $1.35.

The ice cream was leftover but originally only $1.79.

After we ate I chopped up the two leftover sausages from our Sunday dinner.  I took the leftover veggies and chopped sausage, added a can of pasta sauce I bought on sale (68¢) and mixed it all together.  I did this when I cleaned up that evening after dinner.

Monday - Chicken Quesadillas & Garden Salad

I made our Monday night chicken quesadillas using up some cooked chicken I had left over in the refrigerator.  I absolutely hate when meat gets wasted so I was happy to see it get used up.  Cheese ($1) from the freezer stash and 8 tortillas from a 10 ct. package bought on sale ($1.10).  We finished the leftover salad from the night before.  Total spent = $2.20.

            Tuesday - Pasta & Meat Sauce, Spinach Salad

On Tuesday all I had to do when I got home from work was reheat the sauce (.68) and boil up some new pasta (70¢).  I used 1/3 of a bag of spinach I had bought on sale for $1.38, two mushrooms (35¢), the other half a can of olives (99¢) and some leftover dried cranberries (25¢).  Total spent = $2.93.

            Wednesday - Chinese Chicken & Cabbage

This is pretty much a one pot meal and super easy to toss together.    I begin by preparing 1 1/2 cups of rice (37¢) and defrosting two chicken breast halves (1 lb.) I bought on sale ($1.66).

I used the other half of the onion (15¢)  from Sunday and some condiments I already had on hand along with a bag of coleslaw mix ($1.29).  Total spent = $3.47.

            Thursday - Egg Scramble, Toasted Bagels & Fruit

 I like to toss in a really frugal meal about once a week or so to make things stretch a bit more.  Plus we happen to really love eggs or some kind of breakfast for supper.  Since our chickens are completely self-sufficient right now our eggs are pretty much free.  

 I prepared two eggs for each of us with some bell pepper from our garden and a thick slice of onion I chopped and sautéed with some of our rendered bacon fat.  

I prepared two eggs for each of us with some bell pepper from our garden and a thick slice of onion I chopped and sautéed with some of our rendered bacon fat.  I topped the eggs with a small handful of cheddar cheese (25¢)  I toasted three large bagel halves (25¢) to go with the eggs and also served 2/3 of a jumbo can of peaches (75¢) I had bought on sale.  Total spent = $1.25.

Friday - Leftover Chinese Chicken & Cabbage

We reheated our leftovers for a quick supper.  We also had some leftover pasta to finish up as well as some salad.  A mini buffet.  Total spent = $0.00.

Saturday - Minestrone Soup, Bread Sticks, Garden Salad

I made the soup using leftover veggies and kidney beans (25¢) I pulled from the freezer a can of tomato sauce (50¢) and diced tomatoes (48¢) I purchased on sale, a small package of pasta (33¢) and spices from the cabinet.  I used my pizza dough recipe to make homemade breadsticks to go with (50¢) and a salad using up the last of the spinach (46¢), tomatoes from our garden, and two mushrooms (35¢).  Total spent = $2.37.

This is just one week of meals, dinners only, and admittedly these are pretty inexpensive.  Some of our meals cost more and some cost less, but it all evens out over the course of the month and we manage to enjoy some delicious and healthy meals while staying within budget.  I did not include the cost of condiments, spices or beverages as it would've been tedious and overwhelming to try and track every penny on those items.  Other than milk we usually just drink water with dinner.

It is also important to note that we had plenty of leftovers to make several lunches throughout the week.  The soup was served again on Monday with a fresh salad and leftover breadsticks and there was also enough for one lunch.

Meal planning around what is already on hand in the pantry and freezer as well as managing leftovers so we don't waste food helps us immensely to reduce our overall expense.  I try to buy almost all of our groceries on sale or from the markdown bins and use coupons whenever possible to save that much more.

Veteran's Day

Remembering those who served.

God Bless America

A New Pillow For Our Living Room

The two pillow forms I made

You may remember during the summer I had taken a defective bed pillow and remade it into two pillow forms.  I used one of the forms to make a new throw pillow for my bed using items I already had on hand.  It made for a fantastic no-cost project.

This is the pillow I made with one of the forms

I had a specific idea in my head of what kind of pillow I wanted for the leopard print chair in our living room and I knew, especially since I wasn't seeing what I wanted at the stores, that I could quite easily make it once I found the perfect piece of fabric.

While out shopping for fabric to make a Christmas gift a couple of months ago I happened across that perfect piece of fabric.  Royal purple pinched taffeta.  I was thrilled.  But not by the price - 13.99 a yard!  As it turned out I also had a 50% OFF coupon a friend had given me so that made it much more reasonable, plus I didn't need a full yard.  I bought 2/3 of a yard, used my coupon and then paid for it with a gift card I had.  Another no-cost (to me) pillow project coming up!

I simply laid the remaining pillow form I had made on the fabric, cut it out an inch larger than the form and stitched around it with matching purple thread I just happened to have in my massive thread stash leaving an opening wide enough to stick the end of the form in once I folded it in half.

After clipping the corners I turned it right side out.  I did not iron it as I didn’t want the taffeta to get that shiny look it gets when you iron it.  Once I had worked the pillow form inside I moved it around and fluffed it into place.  Then I just pinned the opening closed and whip stitched it with tiny little stitches.

Took less than 15 minutes, start to finish, and I couldn't be happier with it.  It looks great in my sassy little chair.

The bonus is I only used half of the fabric and it was exactly enough to make a second pillow!

I was planning to make a pillow for a friend of ours for Christmas and her favorite color just happens to be purple.  So I grabbed one of the brand new travel size pillows I bought for us for camping, it was still in the package, and used that for the form.  Worked out perfectly and I got another gift crossed off my list.  Once I replace the pillow this gift will come in at a whopping $3.50!

Such a pretty pillow

So there you have it.  A brand new throw pillow for our living room and a bonus pillow as a Christmas gift.  I love making pillows.  Simple, inexpensive and you can really get creative.  They are so much fun! 

You may also enjoy this post about some Upcycled Throw Pillows I made.