Friday Frugal Wrap Up 2/5/16

My "assistant" helping me with my big pantry organization project.


You will have to excuse the layout of this post.  Blogger is doing strange things tonight and not allowing me to do the kind of layout that I would like to.  :P  I'm also sorry that I am getting this posted so late.  It has been one of those days when my motivation to do much of anything was severely lacking.

My big project this week, and one that will save me the most money is trying to get my pantry organized.  My plan is to move all the crockpots, waffle iron, blender, etc. off the bottom shelf.  That will leave more room for me to group things in a more logical way and keep track of what we have better.  The appliances will be finding a new home in our converted hallway coat closet.  The shelves in there will be adjusted to house all the appliances along with the kitchen linens.  I am hoping that this will make life easier for all of us.

Here are some other things I did this week to save us money in the long run:

~made my hubby's favorite tuna pasta salad and bulked it up with some chopped celery

~I also made my favorite Italian veggie and pasta salad with some small cheese raviolis that needed to be used up

~we had the grandkids here with us over the weekend and we took them to McDonald's for breakfast and ordered off the value menu

~the grandkids enjoyed playing for about an hour at the McDonald's Playland

~we had a family dinner with Chris, Heather and the grandboys here on Saturday night serving pizza and pie (that I had gotten marked down and then froze them) followed by hot tubbing
~my hubby, our grandboys and I all cuddled up in our bed to watch a movie
~cut up a bunch of junk paper to make lists on
~the grandkids used scratch paper to draw on

~found multiples of things in the pantry and got them organized in bins so that I do not overbuy products

~received free samples of dog food, cat food, sleep meds and a coupon for a deep discount on wine in the mail

~signed up for a free magazine for my DIL Heather

~got 2 more free magazines in the mail this week

~made 2 loaves of sourdough bread

~used one of my crockpots to make venison burger stew since I had carrots and potatoes that needed to be used up, this was over rice

~borrowed another book and some movies from the library
~bought the grandboys 2 winter coats, a pair of pants and some shoes (they looked like they had been worn only a few times) at the thrift store and luckily for us they were marked at half off
~also found a pair of pants and a blu ray/dvd combo movie for my hubby at the thrift store and another blu ray movie at the Dollar Tree

~was able to find and buy Cinderella and Inside Out from Redbox for $5 each
~working on my point and surveys programs 
~cashed out for a $25 Walmart Gift card via Swagbucks
~found a code online for free shipping on my supplements order from Puritan's Pride and also went through Swagbucks so that I will get 6 points per dollar spent
~bought some books that I have been wanting, the hardback books were $1.99 each and the paperbacks were .50 each

~used SKYPE to talk to our son Josh in Maryland
~received some free kids toothbrushes and toothpaste in the mail
~the thermostat went out in my car so my hubby bought the parts and a repair manual and will be fixing it himself this weekend
~bought some car touch up paint to paint over where our car got hit by another car and scratched up
 ~got caught up on some of my favorite TV shows that we don't get with our DISH package by watching them online
~our youngest grandson had an accident and wet the bed so I washed the featherbed in the big deep bathtub and then my hubby set it up over some portable sawhorses to dry in the house

I'm still doing all the normal everyday stuff like keeping the heat turned down at night and using extra blankets on the bed.  I did manage to get the dog out for a walk this week so that was free exercise for both of us and it was much needed.  I know it looks like I spent a lot this week, but in the long run, these things save us and our kids money.  Be blessed!