Friday, June 3, 2016

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!




8 comments:

  1. Wonderful posts. Love how you two work all the thrift stores and find great sales.
    From my time training a cat to walk on a leash - be careful when walking by telephone poles! My cat never got over the need to climb the pole! Aside from that, I enjoyed being able to take the cat outside with me and the dog.
    Good luck with the heat. We're heading to the 80s this weekend. I know it's not like your heat, but it will feel hot to me. Cheers, SJ in Vancouver BC

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    1. Thanks for the advice about the cat climbing the telephone pole! I just read that to my husband and he laughed...most likely because our Rufus is bound to try that! ;) I hope you are able to stay cool!

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  2. Good Evening Debbie,

    Love the quilt your mother made. Our Songbird is working on her 1st for a 4-H project - a sashed nine patch. I also love the idea of placing water buckets out while running the water sprinklers. I have quite a few containers of flowers and I will most definitely use this idea which will converse electricity that runs our water well pump.
    Thanks for sharing,
    Mrs.B

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    1. Hello Mrs. B...I would love to see Songbird's quilt when she is done. I am not a quilter but I really enjoy helping my mother pick our fabrics for her quilts. :) This is the second large quilt she has given us. She made us another gorgeous one for our wedding anniversary one year and has made us throws and wall hangings. Each of my boys has a quilt that she made for them when they were little and she also made quilts for them and their wives as anniversary gifts. I still have the baby blankets she made for my twins when they were babies and she also made quilts for each of my grandboys (her great grandboys).

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  3. Ok I'm exhausted just from reading this post. You really have been busy to get yourself ready for your budget challenge. For making some of your own cleaners, One Good Thing By Jillee has some brilliant ideas. Rhonda at Down to Earth has the best laundry liquid and Annabel at the Bluebirds are Nesting has a fabulous Miracle Cleaner and reusable Cleaner Wipes.

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  4. You sure do get some good deals at the thrift stores. None of mine have deals like that.
    I absolutely adore your quilt. What a lovely heirloom to have.
    You sure kept busy this week. Slow down you make me tired!
    have a great week.

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