Frugal Friday Wrap up 2/11-2/17 2017

New Columbia brand fleece jacket that I got for half price ($7.49) at Goodwill.

   This has been another great week of thrift store finds!  January and February typically are the months where you will score great deals because people have donated lots of items at the end of December to get those tax write offs and those items are making their way to the retail areas of the thrifts stores.  It is also the time of year where stores like Target are donating items as they clear old unsold merchandise to make way to the new season's stuff.  Add to that sales in the thrift stores where they are trying to clear out all their Winter items to make room for the warmer weather items.  Our local Goodwill is still putting out Winter wear items and discounting them to half price.  Onto the savings...

Brown Sweater that was $2 since it was part of the half price sale at Goodwill.

~The thrift stores were very good to us on Saturday! 👍  We found so much good stuff it was ridiculous.  There were lots of brand new baby items so I picked up clothing, baby books, electrical outlet covers, safety latches and the cutest little Fedora hat for Steven that will match his daddy Jaysn's hat.   More finds were shirts for Jeff and I, new with tags shorts for me, a Columbia brand fleece jacket that I think is brand new and a sweater (both of those were half price because Goodwill has all their winter gear on sale) and some amazing purses!  I even scored a vintage leather Coach purse for half price when they announced a special half price 15 minute sale on all purses, bags and wallets. Someone had hidden the purse in the luggage section behind all that totes and backpacks.  I have been looking for one of these for ages and was thrilled with my find.  I also found Brighton, JCrew and another bag at my favorite thrift store that helps people with disabilities.  Some of the various items we scored were .24 each.  :)

Purses found at 2 different thrift stores.

~While at one of the thrift stores I found some of the credit card protector sleeves that keep people from being able to use a "reader" to steal your credit card information.  I bought the whole pack for .67 and then ran some up to Heather and Chris who were at the bowling alley for a birthday party.  Heather in heading to Florida along with her mom and Bradley on Tuesday so I gave her some for her and her mom.  I also gave Chris one since he and Isaiah are heading out on vacation to see my parents and brother Fritz on Tuesday.  Jeff and I now have our cards protected too.
~Jeff and I hit the Dollar Tree while we were in town and stocked up on hairspray, 3 packs of bar soap, snacks and some other things.  They had big boxes of flower seeds so I picked up some zinnias.

Some more of my great finds at the thrift stores this week.

~Sunday Jeff took the pully thingy off his old car and replaced the one on his newer car that was having issues.  He also stripped out some other good parts from his old car that he can use on his newer car.
~I made 2 loaves of bread and croutons this week.
~Jeff watched a movie on Netflix while I slept in on Sunday morning.  This has become our routine since I do not sleep well and had been up until 2 in the morning.
~Jeff made us pancakes for breakfast on Sunday morning and I noticed we were starting to run low on my homemade mix so I quickly put together another batch of it.

Books from the thrift store.

~I menu planned for the week based on what we have on hand and needs to be used up.
~We did not go out for Valentine's Day but I made a special dinner here at home.  We had some lamb chops in the freezer that we were given (they are a huge treat for us) and served it with wild rice mix, a salad of baby spring greens, orange bell peppers and homemade croutons.  We had iced brownies for dessert.
~I saved the bones from the lamb chops and made soup with them.

Homemade Scotch Broth made with the lamb chop bones.

~Monday I found water all over the laundry room floor.  Jeff took the washer out, examined it and came to the conclusion that it had just overflowed since it had a huge load of laundry in it.  He cleaned the laundry room and ran a smaller load with no problems.
~Monday brought 2 free magazines, some feminine hygiene samples and a True Lemon variety pack of samples.  I love freebies!
~The True Lemon amples came in a padded mailing envelope with a mailing label on it.  I was able to just take the mailing label off it and I will be able to reuse the envelope.👍

Free magazines and sample that came in the mail.

~I had a bunch of onions that needed to be used up ASAP so I made French Onion Soup for dinner on Monday night.
~For Valentine's Day Jeff got me a card, wrote me a cute little poem and gave me a huge Cookie Monster shortbread cookie!  He "gets" me and knew the cookie would make me laugh. 😀  I got him a card, new socks and some new fleece lined khakis.  He needed the socks and khakis but I knew he would not buy them for himself so I did and he can't complain because they were a "gift". That man will sacrifice for everyone else and not buy things that he wants or even needs most of the time.  Both the package of socks and the pants were on sale making it even better.

Homemade French Onion Soup with homemade croutons and some cheese on top.

~I found 2 shirts on clearance at Walmart that will be gifts for Bradley and Isaiah.
~Goodwill had some really nice things when I stopped by on Tuesday.  I was able to find some brand new items that will be perfect for gifts, a shirt for Jeff, a shirt for me and some books.
~I lucked out at Walmart when I stumbled on a bunch of reduced priced salads, bread and dessert.
~We had leftovers both Wednesday and Thursday since I had a big health crash.  I used some of the leftover taco seasoned elk meat on Thursday to make nachos for dinner.  Yummy!

One of the shirts I bought this week at the thrift store.

~Jeff picked up my prescription on Thursday when he went into town for his bowling league.
~Jeff found a pair of fleece lined jeans on clearance for $17 at the Walmart where he picked up my prescription.
~We used the hot tub multiple times this week to help ease sore muscles.
~Thursday night I was thirsty and wanted something kind of tart but sweet so I used one of the samples from True Lemon for their raspberry lemonade.  Let's just say I am glad I got the samples for free to try first.  It will not be going on the shopping list.
~Since I was spending lots of time on the couch for 2 days, I watched lots of YouTube videos.

Two hand thrown pottery pieces that will be Christmas gifts for someone special.

~I made a big pasta and tortellini salad with things I had on hand.
~Jeff worked on our vehicles checking air pressure in the tires and making sure all the fluids were up where they needed to be. 
~I worked on my points programs in spurts this week.  I just was not very motivated and my health crash did not help matters any.

Tortellini and veggie pasta salad.

   Despite my health crash, I did still manage to find some good savings this week.  This next week is going to be a very busy one for us so I am planning a busy day followed by a day of doing almost nothing.  I know myself well enough to know that as I age, not only do my illnesses take more out of me, but it also takes me longer to recover.  I'm continuing to try and find more ways of working smarter so that things take less time and energy.  Be blessed!