Frugal Friday Wrap Up 4/30/16

 

Free groceries as part of our volunteer work.

   It has been a very busy week here getting ready for my parents to come visit for a long weekend and trying to reclaim the garden from the weeds.  I have been earnestly trying to stay on the frugal bandwagon and cut costs since I know our fuel bill will be higher here since my hubby had to use my car several times instead of his smaller economy car.  The light over the license plate was out on his and he got pulled over by the police for that.  He tried replacing the bulb but it turned out to be an electrical problem that was causing it.  UGH!  He went searching for a cheaper solution on Thursday night at the auto supply store.  Thursday was a "crash" day for me with my Chronic Fatigue Syndrome so not much other than some cooking got done.  My parents are coming for a long weekend and staying with us and we will have them and our kids and grandkids here, along with my cousin for some meals and family fun.  Here are my attempts at staying on the wagon this week.:


~Walgreen's had a free 8x10 photo offer so I took advantage of that and got a picture of the grandboys that I took this past week. :)
~I won 50 points one day in the Mypoints Umbrella game.  Woohoo!
~I worked my points programs.
~Pinecone Research sent me a survey to complete and I did it.  Easy $3 made there!
~Saturday was date day.  We went out to lunch (much cheaper than going out to dinner) and did some shopping at Goodwill and Ross.  I had to return something I bought at Goodwill that was not wearable and they gave me store credit for it. We came home and watched the movie "Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation" that we borrowed from the library.  It was very good by the way. ;) We then capped off the evening with a nice soak in our hot tub. :)

More free groceries

~I was thrilled to see that my basil seedlings are starting to come up in my big planter.  I love cooking with fresh basil and can't wait to use it soon!
~BBQ season is upon us and I needed a long handled silicone basting brush.  I found a brand new one at Goodwill for $1.99 and a shorter handled one for using in the kitchen for .99 .  I always try to look at thrift stores first for items like this because I frequently find them there for much cheaper than I can find them anywhere else.

Brand new silicone brushes bought at Goodwill.

~We again enjoyed SKYPEing with our son Josh.
~Sunday my hubby went through our chest freezer and reorganized it.  I pulled out meat for our menus this week.
~I went through all of my jeans, capris and shorts to see what fits and what does not.  Now that I know what I have that actually fits, it keeps me from buying more that I do not need.
~I seeded in some flat leaf parsley into one of my larger flower pots.
~Most of the laundry was again dried on the laundry line.

Basil and chicken pasta

~I borrowed a few more movies from the library including "The Good Dinosaur".
~Sorted through items in the gift closet and found a bunch of things for my mother an her friends (all quilting pattern kits).  She belongs to a quilting club and they share all their patterns and kits.  She will be here later this week and we will give them to her then.
~My sweet hubby went through the large pantry and purged and organized it.  I have enough tomato soup to get us through for a long time...just sayin. ;)

And more free groceries

~With Mother's Day coming up, we bought 3 beautiful cards at the Dollar Tree for our DIL and both our moms.  We will be seeing our moms this weekend so we will give them to them a week early.
~I cashed in my points at Pinecone Research for a $10 check.
~The mail brought 2 free magazines and my $10 Olive Garden gift card that I had cashed in for via Mypoints.
~Our weather turned cooler again early this week so I am back to enjoying a nice cup of hot tea in the afternoon.  I reused my tea bag to make a second cup of tea before disposing of it in the composing area of the garden.  As I write this I'm sipping on a cup of raspberry tea...so yummy!

Picture of my maternal grandmother in a old picture frame that I had rebuild and modify.

~We had our volunteer work this week and received lots of free groceries as part of it.
~I freshened up the decor in our home by changing out the darker lampshades to more lighter colored and "Springlike" ones and also changed up the throws and afghans in the living room. I also hung some "new" photographs up including a beautiful framed series of my grandfather as a young child, my Tutu (great grandmother) as a young mother and my beloved Grandma on her wedding day.
~I took apart another framed picture and modified the frame to hang vertically and then put my grandmother's wedding day picture in that.

Framed photograph of my Tutu (maternal great grandmother) as a child in a frame that I also had to fix and found a watercolor painting hidden in behind the picture when I took it out to clean it.

~More dried eggshells were crushed to be used in the strawberry bed.  This helps deter the slugs that are such a problem here.
~I pulled a fully cooked chicken from deli that had been marked down and that I had thrown in my freezer out to thaw on Monday.  We had chicken and mashed potatoes on Monday night for dinner.  Tuesday night I cut up some of the chicken breast and added that to some pasta and pesto sauce.  Divine! Thursday I threw the remainder of the chicken into a big pot of water and proceeded to make soup with it and used that last little bits of 2 previously opened bags of noodles in it also.

Pictures of my Tutu (as a young mother) and my maternal grandfather as a young child.

~My parents will be here today and my kids and grandkids are coming out for dinner tonight and Saturday night, when my cousin will also join us.  Thursday I made a huge pan full of baked ziti and Italian sausage which I will just warm up for dinner tonight.  I found the Italian sausage on mark down awhile ago and just froze it then.  The penne pasta was previously bought on sale and I also used coupons on all the boxes that I purchased.  The pasta sauce was free with our volunteer work and the cheese was bought on sale.  I figured that I spent about $16 to make a huge pan that will feed our entire family and still have leftovers.  I will serve some garlic bread and rolls with it and my DIL Heather is bringing a dessert.  I also have salad here if anyone wants some.
~More of our favorite TV shows were watched online.

Huge pan of homemade baked ziti and Italian sausage for a family party and a large pot of homemade chicken noodle soup.

~Walgreens had some of their daily fiber drink mix on clearance for under $4 for a large container.  I picked that up along with some mints and other candy that were also on clearance.
~Walmart is still clearancing out a bunch of their jewelry.  I found a 3 pair of earrings set for $2 and a 3 necklace set for $2.
~We decided not to do a car repair on my car that would have cost us over $1000.  It was a computer issue that is causing my remote start on my car not to work.  I only use that feature once in awhile during the winter so it is not a big deal to me if it does not work.

Jewelry found on clearance.

~Used some of my homemade citrus vinegar cleaner in the guest bathroom and it works really well!
~Substituted some of the fruit I had planned to buy for cheaper fruits that were on sale.  I also decided not to buy a few things that had gone way up in price.
~I cleaned out a plastic basket and reused it to store most of our bread products on the counter.  It keeps them in one spot and makes life much easier. ;)

   Our weekend will be a busy one with family here and lots of visiting.  I doubt I will have time to do any posts over the next few days.  I do hope that everyone who reads this will have a great weekend themselves!  Be blessed!