Frugal Friday Wrap Up 6/3/16

 

A quilt that my mother made and gave us along with a new queen sized bed.

   I can't believe that May has passed and we are already in June.  High school graduations are this weekend in our area and we have one to attend.  Luckily I was able to find a gift in my gift closet.  The special graduate will be getting a really fun big beach towel. :)  I love being able to shop my gift closet year round for gifts.  I have already picked out a large stockpot for a wedding gift for later this Summer. :)  Onto some of the other savings this week...

~There is a sporting goods store that is going out of business and had everything at 30% off.  Jeff and I went down there and found the ammo that he uses. :)
~Jeff and I found some really great deals at the thrift stores down in the valley.  We got some shirts, books, a Keith Urban cd for .98, a cute glass elephant statue, and a few other things.
~Big Lots had my favorite brand of lipsticks clearanced for $1.50 each, marked down from $8.50 each.  I bought 5 of them in various shades.  They also had the facial cleanser wipes that I use so I stocked up on a 6 month supply since we do not get down to Big Lots very often.

~Most of the laundry was again hung out on the line to dry.
~I switched out the quilts on our bed to the one that my mother made and sent over to us...I love it!
~I finally remembered to send an overdue Christmas gift home with my father and ironically, he brought us over a early Christmas gift from he and my mother.  Yes, we are all a bit strange and love to give gifts to one another. :D

~Jeff and I went to the Goodwill on Monday and found a PUR water filter system and extra filters for it.  We already have a PUR water filter system, but this is the top of the line one that filters out more stuff.  It cost us less to by the better system and the extra filters than it would to just replace the filters on our's,  We will most likely see if one of our kids or friends wants our current water filter system that we bought last October.  He gets the Senior discount, so that also helped lower our costs there.

~Goodwill also yielded a pair of capris for me, a earth science experiment book for elementary aged kids (this will go to our Heather since she is homeschooling the grandboys), and a Bob the Builder dvd for the grandboys that we and they did not have yet.  We have also wanted to leash train our cat so he can go on walks with us since he howls when we take the dog for a walk and leave him home.  I found a complete system and training kit with the harness and leash for $4.99.  Now comes the training part. ;)

~Petco emailed me a coupon good for 1 pound of free treats from their treat bar.  Caesar is very happy to have some different treats. ;)
~I used my $25 Walmart gift card that I got via Swagbucks to help pay for Caesar's dog food and Rufus' cat litter.  I also used a $1 off coupon on the dog food.
~Jeff and I found pastrami from the deli at Walmart marked down along with some hoagie rolls.  We froze 1 package of the pastrami and will use the other package this week to make sandwiches.  We also found a dozen bakery donuts marked down to $1.99 and got those for a treat.

~We were in town way longer than we had planned on Monday and had not eaten breakfast.  It was 2:30 p.m. by the time we got home but we did not go out to eat.  We instead came home and had a sandwich.
~I marinated some venison steaks.  We BBQed those for dinner on Monday night. YUM!
~We watched the dvd Four Weddings and a Funeral that I had recently picked up at a thrift store.

~I worked my points programs.
~Tuesday found Jeff and I working out in the gardens and I knew we would be tired after that.  I threw a venison roast in the crockpot along with some Italian seasoning, red wine, sale, pepper, beef bullion and some Italian salad dressing.  I added some onions and peppers to it about half way through the cooking time.  I shredded it when it was done and served it on hamburger buns.  So good and easy!

~Jeff filled 4 big trash cans with free mulch from our town's composting site.  We used the mulch in our flower beds and gardens.  It was really important that we get things mulched since we are expecting record breaking heat that could hit 100F by this weekend and are trying to do everything we can to help our plants through the heat and conserve water.
~I recycled more of my old pots and potted up more petunias to spruce up our back breezeway. :)

~I planted a second row of beans today because I had forgotten that last year I had done the same thing and got tons of beans that way.  Since I plan of canning beans this year, I needs lots of them. ;)
~I'm now watering in the early mornings or late afternoons to make sure the water has a chance to get way down to the roots of the plants.

~While I water with the sprinklers, I set out buckets to catch some of the water and use those on plants that are not near the sprinkler.  I can't see wasting all that water.

~I bought some flavored syrups to make my own Italian Sodas here at home.  I picked them up at the URM Cash and Carry store down in the valley.  They are much cheaper there than in the grocery stores up near me.

~The laundry was hung outside to dry again.
~I harvested the first strawberries of the season from our garden!

~I borrowed several movies and a book from the library.
~More blessings from our favorite local thrift store!  Jeff found a Fisher 10 CD player/changer and a stereo receiver with remote controls for both of them for $7.99 total!  We also found seasons 1 and 2 of "How I Met Your Mother" and another dvd for $2.99 each, some cds that Jeff wanted for $1.50 each, a shirt for me, a cookbook from Hawaii that has recipes for some of my favorite dishes for .99 and some Jamberry nail kits for .49 each.

~My generic Sudafed that I take had a price drop at Walmart of $4!
~I made some scrapple this week and we had it for 2 meals along with some applesauce.
~I got some free samples in the mail.

   I'm hoping to save even more this coming week.  I'm giving myself a grocery budget challenge for the month of June and will be trying to learn how to make more of the things here at home that I normally purchase ready made.  We are looking at some additional expenses here soon that were not budgeted for and that money has to come from somewhere.  So here's to saving even more!