Frugal Friday Wrap Up 3/18/16

   

   Tuesday night I feeling yucky and by Wednesday it was starting to hit me full force...I had caught the crud that was going around.  Luckily I had a bunch of free samples of Emergen-C to use but Jeff and I did make a run into town to get me another box of the stuff to get me through the rest of this cold/flu/whatever it is.  He took me out to a small local Italian restaurant to get some dinner after we picked up a few things at the store because he could see that I was not up to cooking and by the time we got home I was down for the count.  Luckily that restaurant serves wonderful homemade food for the same price as a bad for you "value meal" at a fast food place.  It would have been more frugal to eat at home, but sometimes convenience wins.

~Jeff and I have always wanted to see James Taylor in concert...it is on our "Bucket List".  I did get the more expensive tickets but I got a screaming deal on a hotel room by going through Hotwire.com.  I was able to get a really nice room at hotel that we have always wanted to stay at for 70% off the rack price.  The concert is in July and was selling out quickly even though the ticket just went on sale the day I booked them...so much so that the website kept crashing.  I finally just called and got tickets that way.  This is Jeff and my birthday gifts to each other this year. :)
~The mail brought some free Yogi tea, 3 free Twinings tea bags and 5 magazines
~The weekend was a busy one with a birthday party for Bradley on Saturday where we were treated to some delicious birthday cake and a trifle and then Sunday we were invited to lunch at Chris and Heather's along with Heather's parents and her aunt and uncle.  Great fun!
~I had bought all of Bradley's birthday presents ahead of time and on sale.

~I reused some bags from Bath and Body Works to wrap Bradley and Isaiah's gifts. Since Isaiah is only 2 years old, I got him a gift too for Bradley's birthday.
~Jeff and I had leftovers for dinner on Sunday night.
~Saturday night we watched the movie "Love the Coopers" that we borrowed from the library.  If you have not seen it yet, you really should. :) 
~Again watching shows online that we either missed or don't get on TV.
~I used a $25 Walmart gift card to get the following: a apple pie (reduced), a sweatshirt that was on clearance for my hubby, a loaf of French Bread (reduced), 2 bars of Fel's Naptha soap, 1 box of Borax, 1 box of Washing Soda (these three ingredients will be used to make more homemade laundry detergent), a bottle of Thousand Island Dressing, a foot long sandwich from the deli (reduced).  I still have some money left on the gift card to use for other things. :)  All were free to me after the gift card.

~I used the rest of the whole cooked chicken I had and made both chicken salad and a huge pot of chicken noodle soup.  I also used up some celery, onion and carrots that needed used.  I will be freezing some of the soup for future meals.
~I made more sourdough bread this week.
~Croutons were made from some of the leftover bread.
~I tried to buy some movies from the Redbox Kiosk and the machine messed up and listed them as rentals to my account, and not as being bought.  I am getting a full refund from Redbox since I now have to drive all the way back into town (60 mile round trip) to return them.  They would not allow me to just buy them over the phone and authorize payment.  I was not happy with them at all!
~We went to Goodwill on Monday.  It was Senior Citizen discount day and the pink tagged items were on sale.  We bought some new Carhart pants for my hubby, a shirt for me  ($1), a crystal wine glass, a brand new candle (that went into the gift closet), a golf club cover and 3 books.

~We have another family birthday coming up so we bought a card at the Dollar Tree for .50, and some baby wipes (I used them to clean my dog's ears) and some facial cleanser.  My hubby also picked up 3 more solar lights.  Oh I also found garden seeds at 4 for $1 so I got 8 packages.
~I borrowed some more movies and books from the library.
~I needed to cool down the huge pot of soup that I made quickly so I put it out on the back porch to chill down since the temps there were in the high 30's at the time.
~I am trying to drink more water to help flush my system and keep my body working the way it should be,
~Bath and Body Works sent me some coupons, one of which was for a free item up to $5.  I wanted the body spray which was a dollar more so they just charged me the extra dollar for it. :)  They have amazing customer service there.

~Tuesday was eat leftovers day. ;)  My husband happily had leftover Kalua Pig and rice and I had a small bowl of leftover "Last of the Garden" soup and then made a big green salad and topped that with the last of the chicken salad I made yesterday.
~My husband was asked to substitute on another bowling league Tuesday night.  The substitutes pay a small fee of $3 and the person that they are subbing for covers the rest of the league cost for bowling that night.  $3 is a cheap night of entertainment for my hubby and he gets to bowl with some old friends.  He is considering switching to this league next year instead of the Thursday night one he bowls in now since Jaysn, our oldest son, will not be bowling next year on that league.  This will be a good opportunity to see which one he likes better before he makes his decision for the next bowling season.
~The weather turned cold, wet and generally uncomfortable around here again.  It even snowed and we are down in the upper 20's at night once more.  I have been dressing in layers and putting extra blankets on the bed again.  You know it is cold when a hot flashing Grammie needs extra blankets! ;)

~My hubby gets paid this week so I am looking online at the ads to see who has the best deals on things that we need.  On my sitting "stock up list" are butter, toilet paper, bath soap bars (this is what hubby prefers to use while I continue to use body wash), olive oil, and a few more Asian seasoning sauces.
~Banana peels are great fertilizers for your rose bushes.  I know some people bury them next to their rose bushes but with the ground being a bit hard with this cold snap, I am just laying them beside it.
I have done this in the past also and my rose bushes are thriving!
~I froze 2 meals worth of Kalua Pig to have later.
~Since I am not feeling well, I pulled some homemade chili and rice out of the freezer that I had previously frozen.  I had that for dinner Thursday night topped with half a diced up avocado while Jeff was at his bowling league.

~I have been putting not only the leftover coffee into the thermal carafe after it brews but have also been using a thermal coffee mug with lid to keep my coffee hot in the morning since I drink it slowly.
We have amassed quite a collection of not only the travel mugs but also were given some nice Starbucks ones by my parents for home use.
~Thursday night found me curled up in bed watching the movie "Four Christmases" that I had bought at the thrift store awhile back.
~Jeff has been picking up things that we need at the store (like more tissues and bananas) on his way home from work in the morning.  
~Wednesday I found another whole deli chicken marked down to half price at Walmart.  I froze it for future meals.  It is cheaper than me buying an uncooked one...go figure.
~I have been working my points programs when my energy and attention allows.

   
   So here it is the end of another week and despite being ill, I did pretty well overall.  There are things that will remain on my "to do" list for another week.  If I don't have the energy to make banana bread today with the overripe bananas, they will be thrown in the freezer and pulled out to make it at a future date.  I did learn that I need to keep better track of and stock up on Emergen-C and tissues when they are on sale.  I had not checked my tissue supply since my last huge stock up and that was a mistake.  Hopefully I will be able to kick this virus over the weekend and be back to my more frugal ways by Monday at the latest.  Be blessed!