Just a Few Frugal Doings this Week 12/4/2020

    

   Nothing too exciting going on this week frugality wise.  It has been a rather difficult week.  A dear friend died, and the mother of several other friends (all brothers) also sadly passed away.😢 Another dear friend is struggling at the moment with a horrible situation beyond her control and my heart just aches for her.  I wish there was more I could do for her, but sadly, other than offering her a listening ear and lots of prayers, there is little I can do.  Throughout it all though, I am trying to keep my eyes on the upcoming birth of our 4th grandson and trying to keep the spirit of Christmas alive in my heart and in our home.  Now, onto the frugal doings.

Monday:

~I ordered a Christmas gift online on sale for Lauren and had it sent right to their home to save on time and postage.  I saved over $200 due to the great sale they were having!

~I tried out a new throw together experiment making cheeseburger meatloaf...it was a winner! 

~Two loaves of bread were made in the evening after Jeff went to work.

~I also whipped up some more homemade pancake mix and was so glad I had an extra can of baking powder in the pantry since I ran out in the first can.  Keeping a well stocked pantry is a lifesaver!

~Outdoor Christmas lights were turned  off at 10 p.m. per Jeff's request so that we do not run up the electric bill too much. ;)

Tuesday:

~I cashed in some of my Swagbucks for a $25 Walmart gift card.  We get our prescriptions and many other items through there so this will definitely be put to good use.

~We called my mom today since it was her birthday!

~I made Portuguese sausage and homemade biscuits, along with some eggs, for dinner.  I save half of the biscuits and sausage for another meal.

~Jeff got another huge 50 bag of flour divided between two large food safe buckets.  Within the last two days I have gone through 16 cups of flour between my baking and making pancake mixes.

~I worked my points programs.

~Leftovers were eaten for lunch.

Wednesday:

~I cashed in my Choice Hotel award points to make a donation to Operation Homefront.

~I found the perfect gift for Chris for Christmas on sale and got an additional discount on it by finding and applying an online code.  I checked with Heather first and she said he would love it!

~Leftovers for dinner.

~I worked my points programs.

Thursday:

~Jeff made us grilled ham and cheese sandwiches for dinner (it was a rough day for me with a dear friend dying and another dealing with a huge blow to her family).

~I ordered Jeff and I new phones online via StraightTalk since it works well in our area and our current Tracfone plans do not.  I got us each refurbished phones (savings of $60 per phone) that have the CDMA systems that are needed for out here and the lowest priced unlimited talk and text plan available since that is mainly what we use our phones for anyway.  This way we can keep in touch more easily and not have to limit our time talking to one another.  After I get the phones activated, I will do an autopay for the accounts so that it will give us an even further savings and I will not have to remember to keep refilling our service. Our service will run us about $68 a month for 2 lines...not bad!

~I again worked my points programs.

Friday:

~When Jeff got home from work early Friday morning, we showered and then headed into town, hot coffee in travel mugs, to do our grocery shopping at Winco.  We needed some bulk items and they are the cheapest there.  By going so early in the morning, there was barely anyone in the store making it safer and quicker to get in and out.  We had our list all made ahead of time and stuck to it except for a few treat items that were on sale and will make for some fun snack type dinners. Oh, we noticed that Winco's brand of coffee cans are being downsized tremendously while the price for the smaller cans is going up.  We found the last 2 cans of the bigger size that were also $1 less per can and got those.  IF they had more than the 2 that were on the shelf, we would have bought more.

~I got refills on my prescriptions and they are being sent to the house via Fed Ex.

~I am also so thankful that I had made sure to get previous refills of medications that I use on an "as needed" basis because they have been very needed lately.  One of the bad things about one of these certain medications is that it makes me really sleepy so I made sure to plan for not having a big to do list (other than making dinner) for the day.

~Dinner was turkey that had been previously frozen several months ago cut up and simmered in turkey gravy served over instant mashed potatoes, stuffing and green beans.  Yes, it was like having a more traditional type Thanksgiving meal since we had the lamb chops for Thanksgiving.  It was delicious!

   May all who are reading this be blessed!