Frugal Friday Wrap Up 6/17/16

 

   What a week.  Thank goodness I have been so good about being frugal in most areas because we really blew our "eating out" budget out of the water this past week.  We ate at restaurants 4 times within the week.  OUCH!  That has got to stop.  Honestly I think we were just stressed and needed to pamper ourselves and spend time with our family (kids, grandkids and my cousin).  Trust me, this is NOT a normal thing for us to eat out that much.  On that note, Father's Day will be spent here at our house having a potluck BBQ, not going out. ;)  Onto the savings...


~A big pot of chicken noodle soup was made with the rest of the deli chicken.  Some was frozen and some was eaten for meals right away. :)
~Our rain barrel and the buckets I set out were filled to overflowing from the rains we got early in the week.
~I watched several shows online.
~Old fashioned popped on the stove popcorn seems to the the go to snack around here lately and we have had it several times this week.
~Jeff and I were craving Mexican food and I had an avocado to use up so I made soft tacos for dinner one night.  We had ice cold cantaloupe with it.  Perfection!

~We shopped our pantry and freezer for most of our meals this week and also used lettuce and radishes from the garden for salads.
~Believe it or not we actually had to use our pellet stove one again because the temperatures took a huge dip (like down into the high 30's one night).  My husband covered up the swamp cooler vents with a thick towels so all the heat would not escape.
~Our dog has been having problems with his ears so I gently cleaned them for him.
~I gave myself a manicure.  I am hoping it last more than a day with all the gardening I do.
~Our garden is starting to go into full swing here.  We harvested lettuce, radishes, strawberries, a few raspberries, and some cherries.

~Saturday Jeff took me up to Coeur D'alene, ID.  We stopped in to see a friend at her store and met her youngest son for the first time, and did some shopping.  I had a $5 Target gift card so we bought some apricots and drinks.  We also found some amazing deals at the Goodwill and another local thrift store including a brand new Under Armor shirt for Jeff for just .49.  I also found a large storage container for Rufus' food.  The container was marked down to half price.  I had been on the lookout for something to keep his food in that was sealed and dampness proof.
~We filled up with gas in Coeur D'alene.  It was .30 cheaper per gallon there than it is down our way.
~I baked more bread.
~We did not finish 4 bananas before they got the the multi brown spotted stage.  They were perfect for banana bread though so I made 3 medium loaves and took 1 of the loaves to some dear friends that just needed some comfort.
~One of the big tree branches on our cherry tree came crashing down.  We suspect our Caesar was jumping up and grabbing it with his teeth to get some cherries.  I salvaged all the ripe cherries and Jeff cut up and took the branches down to our town's composting site.
~I continue to use the water from the rain barrel, along with the water that I catch in buckets when doing the big gardens and the run off water from the swamp cooler to water the trees and the potted plants.

~In an effort to be more inspired with my cooking again, I pulled out my old tried and true favorite cookbook "Mennonite Country-Style Recipes".  This cookbook has been used so much that I have had to mend it over the years.  Every recipe I have tried from it is amazing and for awhile there I was buying copies of it to give as wedding gifts.
~I used soy flour as a substitute for eggs in some of my baking this week.
~Jeff and I are enjoying watching some shows on TV that we are getting free by using our big old fashioned TV antenna.
~It got cold again this week so I made a nice hot "meat and potatoes" dinner.  I baked 5 of the Sweet Italian Sausages that I got on sale last month along with a large sliced up sweet potato all on one tray. The oven was still hot from when I had baked the banana bread earlier so it did not take the oven as long to heat to 400F.  This made a nice meal for my hubby and I and I had enough leftover for lunch the next day.
~The temperatures took a large dip at night and I was afraid for my tomato plants.  I had an old ripped duvet cover that we had put out in the garage to use for painting projects and cut that open to make it larger and cover the tomato cages with it.  I secured the sheets to the cages with clothespins.

~The quilt was put back on the bed to help keep us warm with the cooler temps.  I did not want to run the pellet stove unless my nose froze. ;)  We had taken the quilt off the bed and were only using a sheet and the feather duvet to keep us warm at night when it got warmer outside previously.
~Tuesday was PinchMe sample day and I was able to get moisturizer, Zquill and one other sample that I have now forgotten.  Everything sample seems to be claimed within the first minute or so of the site opening.
~I worked on my points programs.
~We had a freeze warning for Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.  Jeff and I dug out all the old sheets and curtains we had put out in the garage to use for various projects and covered all the tender plants with those and with old plant pots.  The potted plants and hanging plants were moved undercover. We also used the duvet cover again over the tomato plants.  Praying this is the last freeze warning we have for the rest of the gardening season.

~Jeff and I met Heather and the grandboys at the park this afternoon.  I took some strawberries and raspberries from the garden along with some granola bars to snack on.  Everyone gobbled up the berries really quickly. :)
~Thursday we had to run into town to deposit my husband's paycheck.  We stopped at Les Scwab to have a tire mounted on a wheel so that my hubby would have a full sized spare.  The tire had only cost him $5 at the thrift store (it is a good named brand and had lots of tread on it) and the mounting onto the wheel only cost him $14.00.  I had some free coffee while we were there.
~We used coupons that I printed off via Swagbucks to use when we went grocery shopping.  I saved $18.50 in coupons alone.  The cashier was really excited and told me how her mom is a couponer and she and her sister are in college and shop their mom's stockpile. :)
~I found 20 count frozen beef hamburgers for $6.95 at Walmart and huge bags of flash frozen Whiting fish for $5.  We love to BBQ around here and also enjoy eating fish for dinner.
~I have been searching for a nice heavy duty grill pan that goes onto your BBQ grill to do your veggies on so they don't fall through the grates.  I found one at the thrift store for .99 .
~My Summer Walmart Beauty Box came in the mail and it was filled with all kind of goodies...all of which I will use.  I pay $5 per box and they come quarterly.

~While we were out running errands, we dropped of the payments for our electric bill along with a few others.
~I brought home half of my dinner from the Chinese restaurant on Thursday night to have later.
~I tend to be forgetful due to my CFS so I set a timer when I am doing the watering so that I don't neglect to change over or shut off the water.
~Leftover coffee was made into iced coffee drinks again this week. I pulled a vanilla creamer (previously bought on sale) out of the freezer to make these with. So yummy!
~I borrowed more movies from the library.


   I'm really praying for a much better coming week frugality wise.  I know that I will be spending more time inside because our outside temperatures will be climbing and I do not do well in the heat.  I'll need to get the back guest bedroom ready for the grandboys who will be coming to spend the night next Saturday and I am hoping to get my sewing machine set up in the front guest bedroom so I can start using it.  I have a pile of mending to do and I really do not want to do it all by hand. ;)  Be blessed!

*Please excuse the wonky font sizes...Blogger is being strange and doing whatever it wants today.  It will not allow me to try to fix it and make it more uniform.  Sometimes I think Blogger has little gremlins behind the scene messing with things. ;)