Frugal Friday Wrap Up 8/27-9/2 2016

 

   Hello friends!  It's been another roller coaster of a week emotion wise but I am trying my best to maintain.  When you have done all that you can do (and we have), stand, give it to God and trust that He will take care of it.  It may not be on our preferred timetable, but it is on His.  I think we did pretty well on our savings this week.  Our biggest boost to our pantry came from getting lots of free after coupon products.  I had 3 sets of the coupons for free items and I took advantage of that when we were in town 3 different times. ;)  We were also harvested lots of produce from our garden and one of our amazing neighbors blessed us with more free corn.  Oh yes, I also did some foraging.  Onto the list...




~Saturday Jeff and I headed into town to hit some yard sales, grab some lunch and do a bit of shopping.  We really scored at the yard sales.  I found a big box full of free homeschooling books which I will give to my DIL Heather to use with the boys as they get older.  At that same yard sale we found free sample sized bottles of DaVinci chocolate syrup to add to coffee or pour over ice cream.  At another yard sale we found a rechargeable lantern for $2 and at yet another one we found a full spectrum grow light for $2.  My hubby found a dimmer switch for $2 to replace the one that went bad in our bedroom.  We also hit an estate sale and it was fun!  I got a box full of various spools of thread, a beautiful quilting book, cutting mat for crafting and quilting, a child's book, a US Air Force windsock (our son Josh in in the Air Force) and my favorite find...a yearbook from my freshman year at my college.  I don't remember if I ever bought one but I do know that if I did, I have no idea where it went to. What a trip down memory lane!
~We used some of those coupons for free products at the Winco grocery store and also got in on their sale on 24 packs of bottled water for .98 each.  I got 2 of those because that was the limit at that price.  The free items I got were 2 boxes of microwave popcorn, 2 cans of Pringles, 2 boxes of flavored instant oatmeal, a bag of beef jerky, 2 -5 packs of ramen noodles, and a box of Clif bars.  We saved over $18 just on the free items!

~While at the hardware store picking up a few things my hubby needed, I stumbled upon a cart full of free plants.  I picked up a Stevia plant because I have been very curious about them.
~We stopped at Goodwill and I picked up a few things there....nothing to exciting. :)
~Saturday night Jeff and I were both exhausted so we crawled into bed and watched a movie.
~Sunday Jeff and I gave each other haircuts here at home.  We both are feeling much better without all that extra weight. ;)
~I used a second batch of coupons to get more free items at Winco.
~Chris and Heather invited us over for dinner on Sunday.  G-pa had not seen the little guys for about 2 weeks and they were missing each other really bad!  Going for more than a week seeing each other is not normal for us at all.

~Monday I ordered a 50 pound bag of unbleached flour for Heather and I to share from Winco.  She did not have enough buckets to store her part in so I made a trip to Safeway and got some free buckets from their bakery department for her. I'll wash them out in my big bathtub.
~I found lots of marked down things at Walmart and put some of them away for gifts.  I also got a rotisserie chicken for $2.98 and a large macaroni salad for $1.21 from the deli.  They were both 50% off and I needed something easy for dinner because I wore myself out again. I also picked up a birthday card and candy bar for Jeff since his birthday is this coming Saturday and we already did our combined birthday gift when we went to the James Taylor concert.  We are still having a family BBQ here to celebrate on Saturday though. :)
~I worked on my nectarine vodka.  I strained and filtered it and then made a simple syrup and added it to the vodka and juice mixture.  Now it has to sit for a month before it is ready to use.
~I borrowed another book from the library and put in requests for a few more movies

~I have been craving tuna and tomato sandwiches so I mixed up some tuna and added some slices of a tomato grown in our garden...sheer bliss!
~We lined dried as many loads of laundry as I was able to this week in between the smoke filled skies and dust in the air due to harvest.
~Our rain barrel has been used a lot due to the dry conditions we have had.
~Tuesday I did not go anywhere so no gas used in my car.
~I repacked a bunch of rolls into zip top plastic bags and threw them in the refrigerator so they would not go moldy on us before we could get them eaten.
~Wednesday I picked half a small basket of blackberries and froze most of them.

~Wednesday morning I had some free oatmeal for breakfast along with my coffee.
~I picked up round 3 if the free after coupon items.
~Thursday's harvest included more blackberries, cucumbers, tomatoes, squash and a few green beans.
~When I went to pick up the 50 pound bag of flour from Winco that I had ordered, it was $6 cheaper than I had been quoted online.  SCORE!!!!
~I started to put together my emergency kit for my car with the upcoming potential for bad weather since we will be going over the passes in a few weeks to see my parents.  I threw in a soy based candle in a jar with a lid, matches, some of the free Clif bars, a package of the free beef jerky, antibacterial wipes, wet wipes,  and antibacterial hand sanitizer.  I will be adding water and an emergency blanket, gloves and extra warm socks to it before we go.
~While out on a walk, I picked more of the plums that were growing next to the road.
~Friday morning I pulled a bunch of overripe bananas out of the freezer and made 5 loaves of banana bread.

~I watched more TV shows online.
~It rained late Thursday night and for part of the day Friday.  No need to water the gardens and my rain barrel was refilled. :)
~With the cooler weather upon us, I threw the last of the baked whole chicken into a stockpot and added onions, celery and carrots.  I picked the meat off the bones, gave the skin to the dog (who was thrilled for the treat, and added some noodles the pot.  Cooked that and seasoned it nicely.  Chicken noodle soup for dinner tonight and we will still have some leftover for a future meal or two.
~I snacked on more fresh blackberries from our garden.
~Our friend blessed us with some fresh blackberry and raspberry pie.

~When I went down to deliver the banana bread to our friend who is the truck farmer, he had me pick more corn and again, would not take any money for it.  I got about 3 1/2 dozen ears this time.  He is going to plow it all under here soon and just wanted it gone.
~Friday night I had a late dinner of stir fried squash from the garden with garlic, shrimp and a little Oyster sauce.
~Apples, oh how I love their scent.  I recently bought a small Mackintosh Apple Yankee candle  from the thrift store for .59 and have it burning right now.  I'm in heaven!  It has been burning for about 2 hours and it looks like I can get another 4-6 hours of burn time out of it.

   So yes, it has been a pretty good week for savings around here.  I'm noticing a definite nip in the air as I blog tonight and think I will need to add another blanket to the bed before I go to sleep.  Be blessed all and I am looking forward seeing how you saved this week also.

*I want to apologize for some of the pictures being sideways.  My photo program on my computer is acting up.