Frugal Friday Wrap Up 4/15/16

   I am posting this a bit early because I am going to be taking care of my grandsons tomorrow at their house.  They are my best source of frugal entertainment and healing hugs ever!  I love being their Grammie!  Here are some of my other frugal doings this week:

~With our wonderful warm weather I have been hanging most of our laundry on the line to dry.
~Jeff and I stopped at the Grocery Outlet on our way home from visiting with our niece and her family and found a big jar of coconut oil for $4.
~I used some of a leftover pork roast and made chow mein with it.  It yielded enough for lunch plus a few other meals for us.

~I love statement necklaces and found 2 at the thrift store that I just could not leave behind!  They were $3.99 and $1.99 each.
~I found a Sunday paper in the recycling bin at the post office and it had 2 sets of coupons in it.
~My husband was going through boxes of things in the garage and found lots and lots of pens and pencils.  I will not have to be buying any of those soon. ;)

~Our kale plants in the garden overwintered and we are harvesting some leaves off them to use in salads and other dishes.
~We used SKYPE to visit with our son Josh who lives clear across the country from us.  It is so good to be able to see him while we chat.
~I tried out some more yoga videos that I borrowed from the library to vary my routine a bit.

~Our oldest niece (she is only 8 years younger than I am) and her family were up in our area this weekend.  We drove up to see them at the hotel they were staying at.  Since we got up there around lunch time we all decided to go to Olive Garden.  I had a gift card so even after tip, it only cost my hubby and I $9 and some change for a nice lunch.
~Pinch Me is a free sample site where you sign up for samples and offers and then review them.  Tuesday was the day that they had their free samples available.  I was able to sign up for 6 free samples plus they threw in a bonus item.  This is a great way to try new products but you have to be fast and be on the site as soon as the samples become available because they go fast!
~I worked on my points programs.

~In an effort to use up food before it goes bad I went on a hunt in the freezer, pantry and refrigerator in Tuesday.  As it was a gray and cooler day with some rain, I wanted something a bit "heartier" for dinner.  I found some frozen raviolis and cooked those up then made a casserole with them along with some Four Cheese spaghetti sauce from the pantry that I added a small can of mushrooms to. I sprinkled the top with a 3 cheese blend right near the end of the baking in the over. This was served with some reduced priced rolls and a nice salad.
~I washed the used ziplock bags inside out in the washer and then hung them up to dry.

~We watched several shows online during the week.  I am loving NOT having DISH tv and being able to watch things online when it fits into my schedule.
~Our town had it's annual Spring Clean up day this Tuesday so we put some of the extra trash or things we did not want down at the curb and took the recyclables down to our recycling center.  I noticed some people going around town last night and this morning picking through the piles and taking what they wanted.

~Jeff mowed the lawn and then put in some new solar lights to illuminate the path to our side driveway.
~This week's mail brought us a free Parents magazine.
~I had enough points at Mypoints to cash in for a $10 Olive Garden gift card.  My hubby and I enjoy going there and usually get the unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks.  With the gift card we can enjoy a nice meal for under $10 including the tip out of pocket. :)

~My parents are coming for a visit here soon and my father has poor circulation so he gets cold easily.  I found a down alternative comforter for the bed that he sleeps in here for $4.99 at the thrift store and also found a beautiful hand made afghan for $1.99 that will help brighten up the bed and provide an extra layer of warmth for him.
~This is the time of year in our part of the world where the thrift stores are drastically reducing the prices on their jackets.  I found three:  LLBean, Chicos, and JM Collections for $2.99 each. All were in new or like new condition. These will replace some jackets that no longer fit me.

~Our humongous dog Caesar needed more dog food so Jeff and I went to Walmart to get the biggest sized bag of Pedigree dog food that they carry.  I had a $25 gift card and my husband suggested we also look for the dvd "Little Fockers" while we were there.  We found it for $5.  After using our gift card, we spent $2.20 in cash to cover the additional cost of the movie.
~The dvd "Little Fockers" has a offer for up to $7.50 off a movie ticket to see one of 3 movies.  Mother's Day is one we want to see when it comes out so this was perfect for us!

~The thrift store also had a sale on dvds and bluray disks so I got 2 at $1.50 each.
~I hand washed a dress that said dry clean only and it came out great!
~More great finds from the thrift store: gift boxes for .09 each, a beautiful china serving platter for .79, a rubber gasket replacement part for my pressure cooker for ,49 and some pretty blue sandals for .99

~We did stop for dinner at our favorite local burger place the night that we were running errands.  We each ordered the special of the day which was their burger basket and we each had water to drink. My husband had not eaten since he got up from sleeping all day (his normal sleep time since he works the graveyard shift) and it gave us some nice sit down time together since it was not long after we got home when he had to start getting ready for work.
~Our DIL Heather homeschools our 2 grandsons so I picked up a fun book of preschool activities for her for .49 .
~The weather turned gray and cold with temps getting down near freezing so I brought my tray full of seeds that I started last week inside the house at night.

   I hope that you have all had a productive and frugal week yourselves. We are still getting ready for our family yard sale next weekend so I am going through closets and drawers and filling up bags with things that we no longer want.  Jeff is doing the same thing in the garage.  Be blessed all!