Frugal Friday Wrap Up 12/10-12/16 2016

 


   

   I'm late again in posting thanks to a bad cold that has once again knocked me off the tracks.  It seems I get over one thing and something else hits.....tis the season.  This past week has seemed unusually long to me for some reason.  No sure what all that is about.  Onto the saving...

~We've been enjoying watching Christmas movies on Netflix. 😊  Christmas in a wonderful time of year and I love finding new Christmas movies each year.
~Jeff and I spent the day at home on Saturday resting and watching movies for the most part and hot tubbed that evening.
~Sunday we had to run into town to pick up a few more things.  We combined our errands as to not have to make multiple trips.
~We found that Winco had Almond bark cheaper at their normal price than the sale price at other stores.  I needed more of the white chocolate kind because my hubby accidentally bought the milk chocolate kind instead of the white chocolate.
~Since I have a an abundance of milk chocolate almond bark now, I am planning on making more candy with this too.
~The thrift store had some great deals on Sunday!  I found a brand new swaddling blanket at Goodwill.  We have been looking all over for some from the newest grandbaby.  We also found a nice large fleece blanket for $3.99, an insulated Sachi brand lunch bag for $1.99 (retails for $22.98 at Amazon.com) and some other things.

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Bread

~We bought toys for the fur babies for Christmas at the Dollar Tree.
~We put a large plastic mattress cover bag on the futon in the back guest bedroom since the grandboys sleep there and there have been a few "accidents" at night that required the feather bed and futon to be cleaned well.
~Monday I tweaked a bread recipe and came up with a winner...  Whole Wheat and Oatmeal bread.  I made 2 loaves for my hubby's lunches this week.
~Monday I also baked 10 small loaves of banana bread using over-ripe bananas that I have been freezing just for this Christmas baking season.
~Jeff got the fluids on our cars filled back up and ready for all this winter weather.

Homemade soups I pulled out of the freezer.

~I was exhausted after all the baking, laundry. etc. Monday so I pulled out some frozen homemade soup from the freezer to warm up for dinner.  I got some split pea out for my hubby and some potato chesse for me.  There was some broccoli that needed to be used up so I cooked that in some chicken broth and added the potato cheese soup to that.  YUM!
~All of our Christmas gifts were sent in the priority mail boxes that you can get from the post office.  I did my research and it was much cheaper for me to ship in them than any other way.
~I found some pastas on clearance at Walmart over the weekend that are the kind that my hubby and I are suppose to be eating. ;)
~Tuesday I took the grandboys with me to MOPS so Heather could sit with her grandmother at the hospital.  They got to play with the other kids and were good helpers to Grammie. :)
~Our MOPS director gave all of the child care workers a cute decorated mason jar filled with yogurt covered pretzels as a Christmas gift.  I loved it!
~After taking the little boys out to lunch and having Heather meet us there, I went shopping at the Christian thrift store and found some things in the clearance area for the new baby for .47 each.  I also found a few things for myself there too and some wonderful books for the grandboys.
~Wednesday found me running into another town to visit someone dear to us that had to have an emergency appendectomy the previous evening.  The doctors said he could go home when he was able to eat something so I took a loaf of banana bread with me as a bribe to get him to eat.  When I arrived, he was sitting up and getting ready to be released but was very happy to see me and my banana bread! 😊 He and his family took it home to eat last night.
~While in town, I stopped that my favorite thrift store and found lots of baby clothes on the clearance rack for .10 each.  I also found another swaddling blanket and a soft and fuzzy sleep sack for baby.  There was a maternity shirt that was super cute that I picked up for Rachel and some dri fit shirts in the men's section for Jeff.  Of course the book  addiction in me is a very real thing and I found two more books for myself.

Some of the baby clothes and swaddling blankets I got off the .10 clearance rack at one of my favorite thrift stores.

~Thursday I stayed home all day.  I made myself some comfort food (artichoke ravioli with a lemon garlic butter sauce) , listened to Christmas carols and cuddled with the fur babies who have been feeling very neglected lately.  I worked on my points programs too.
~Dinner Thursday night was another sausage and russet and sweet potato cookie sheet bake.  It was quick, easy and perfect for our frigid temperatures.  It is also the kind of meal that my hubby loves!
~While we were in town, we picked up a few things that we needed at the grocery store since I do not want to have to venture out again until later next week.
~I froze 2 containers of the leftover elk roast slices in the sauce I cooked it in.  These will be great to have on hand for quick meals in the next month or so.
~Our outdoor temperatures are diving into the negatives Friday night and I was chilled to the bone after our shopping trip.  I made a nice big mug of hot cocoa to warm me from the inside out.
~Friday night for dinner, Jeff had a sandwich and chips and I had leftover ravioli and a mandarin orange.

Ten loaves of banana bread.

~My Uncle once again blessed us with a box of my favorite chocolate candies from Ohio. Our whole family is addicted to them!
~I took inventory of what we have in the refrigerator that needs to be used up this weekend and am planning our meals around that.
~I worked on more of our Christmas cards to send out.  These boxes of cards were all purchased for less than a dollar each, some even at .19 a box  at the thrift store when they had their Christmas in July half off sale.  Some of the boxes still had their original retail price sticker on them at $12.99 a box!
~More TV shows were watched online or on Netflix.
~Theraflu Severe Cold has been my friend for the past few days.  I am so glad I stocked up on it when the Dollar Tree had it in stock.


    I hope that everyone is staying warm and is enjoying this Christmas season!  Be blessed!