Friday, July 28, 2017

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 7/22-7/28 2017





   It has been another pretty frugal week and I have been planning ahead for the Fall already.  I'm trying to restock our HBA products that are starting to run low while the prices are down on those items.  I only ventured out of town twice this week.  Once was to go shopping and out to lunch and the other to go to our Isaiah's birthday party.  I had hoped to get more done around the house, but again, my health did not cooperate so well.  I am beginning to think that the heat really makes things worse for me.  Anyway, onto the savings!  *Be forewarned...picture intensive post.





~Saturday Jaysn and Rachel came over with baby Steven to pick raspberries.  They were so sweet and brought out lunch for us too.  Jeff helped Jaysn change the lights on his car and Rachel even did some weeding for us.  Steven is now smiling and cooing so of course he melted my Grammie heart yet again and had Jeff making funny faces at him to get him to smile.  I also spent lots of time cuddling him which made me so happy!
~Jeff decided that he was too tired to go to his class reunion so I made a huge bowl of popcorn and we watched a movie on Netflix.
~Sunday Jeff went golfing using a gift certificate that Jaysn and Rachel had gotten him last year.  He so needed to relieve some stress and when he called me when he was done I could hear the excitement and happiness in his voice. :)



~One of our local grocery stores had the bar soap that Jeff likes at half off.  He bought 9 3 packs for under $8.  He would have bought more, but that was all they had.  He will check back in at the store again in a few days to see if they have restocked it before the sale is over.  If not, we will get a raincheck for another 10 packs of it.  This should last us until around Christmas!
~While Jeff was gone I got our sheets washed and hung out on the line to dry and cleaned out a cabinet in the kitchen.  I am rearranging a few things to make all my baking things closer to my mixer.  This will streamline things and it made more room in another cupboard so that things are not stacked up so high.  I filled up 2 garbage bags with things to toss out and am filling a box with other things to donate.
~I trimmed my bangs.
~I've been harvesting blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, green onions, peas and tomatoes from the garden.



~Sunday Jeff and I happened upon a clearance sale at Winco on their food storage Hot Cocoa in the big cans.  We bought 2 of them.  I would have bought more if I had more cash on me at the time.  I was keeping my shopping there all in cash that day and had other items that we needed in the cart already.
~At Goodwill I found some beautiful silver and abalone shell earring in a jewelry gift box for $2.99.  Those are going into my gift closet for my Heather.  She has a birthday coming up in September.
~We also found gift bags for .29 each, a brand new beautiful caftan for $5.99 (I looked it up and it is in the current Winlar catalog for $35.00), 3 shirts for me, some nice athletic type pants for Jeff, a much needed magnifying glass (this has been on my needs list for 2 years), a garden hose for $5.99 (another item on our needs list) and some cute pig shaped note paper.







~Monday I froze 3 quarts of raspberries and dehydrated some dill from our garden.
~Our post office is finally reopened again and we had a big stack of mail waiting including 3 free magazines.
~Monday night I made us a nice dinner of broiled lamb chops, rice pilaf, green beans and broccoli.  We figured that a meal like that in a restaurant would run us about $40 not including tip or drinks.  The lamb chops were given to us so my cost was about $2 to make it.  Savings of $38 right there!



~On the first of August, our health insurance provider changes.  Some of the changes are great but our premium is going up as well as our co-pays on office visits as well and pharmacy costs.  I have a prescription that I use on an as needed basis and am ok on it right now but I am going to go ahead and get it refilled now so that it saves me money down the line.
~Wednesday I made a raspberry jello salad with raspberries from our garden to take to Isaiah's birthday party out at Grandma Tammy's house.
~I'm watering the gardens early in the mornings now and have found that has really cut down on the slug damage to my plants.
~I printed off a coupon for a B1G1F 6 inch sandwich at Subway.  We will use it when we go to Spokane for our short 2 night getaway.



~I was craving Antipasti so I made a 3 cheese tortellini salad with peppers, fresh basil, tomatoes and peas from the garden along with broccoli and carrots from the refrigerator and just mixed it all together with some Italian salad dressing, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
~I borrowed another dvd from the library.
~We have our car and home insurance bundled and have been with the same company for years now.  The last bill they sent us was lower than it has been previously so hubby looked at it more closely and we got 2 discounts.  One was  for being a long time customer and another for being safe drivers. :)
~Rachel had a job interview Thursday so baby Steven came to spend the afternoon with me.  So many hugs, kisses, smiles and cuddles were shared.



~Thursday we celebrate Isaiah's 4th birthday with a party at his Grandma Tammy's house.  We had a BBQ and potluck complete with water fights and obstacle  courses and Heather made him the most amazing cake!  So much fun!
~We came home to yet another branch down out of our big cherry tree (will this ever end) and invited our friends to come pick the very ripe but still yummy ones off it.
~We got some free groceries while doing our volunteer work.
~Dinner Friday night was baked chicken thighs (we got them free) with baked sweet potato wedges all done on the same foil lined baking sheet, leftover green beans for Jeff and coleslaw with some raspberries mixed in for me.  Throwing the raspberries in the coleslaw was one of those last minute "well that sounds like it might be good" ideas and it really was!




   Tomorrow is our town wide yard sales.  I will most likely go and see what all is out there but don't plan on buying much unless I see something that would make for a great gift or is something that we need.  I will be keeping my eyes out for kids costumes for my oldest two grandsons who are obsessed with being superheros at the moment.  It is really more about visiting with everyone for me.  I love the social aspect of it all. :)  Here's to hoping to run into old friends while yard sale shopping tomorrow.







18 comments:

  1. The baby is just adorable. Got to love them babies.
    I love that top you bought - that is really cute.
    Sounds like you got some really good deals.
    Glad you had such a lovely week, getting to enjoy so much family!
    Blessings my friend.

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    1. Thanks Cheryl! I'm getting that little guy at 6 tomorrow morning again and I can't wait. :)

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  2. Happy belated birthday to your grandson!

    The baby is cute! Love his wide smile.

    Sounds like you had a good week, Debbie. Hope you are feeling better after your earlier flare up. Take care.

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    1. Thank you Bless! I am feeling better. I just got back from a quick trip away with my hubby. :)

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  3. Can never have too many pictures, imo. So happy that you were able to enjoy the birthday party and babysit baby Steven.

    I know, for sure, that the heat makes me feel worse. It just drains me.

    Love this post and look forward to it every week!
    Cheers, SJ

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    1. HI SJ, the heat is draining me too! BTW, we met lots of Canadians from Alberta these past few days. Apparently Spokane is a popular vacation destination point. It was so nice to get to know them and hear about their views on things like healthcare in your country. :)

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  4. Baby Steven is getting big! Glad you get to see him often. Thanks for the idea about the raspberries in the coleslaw. We had a bumper crop this year, I even canned many quarts of juice. Hope you have fun at the city-wide garage sale. JUst went to one this weekend and had a blast and only spent $10! Entertainment doesn't get any cheaper than that! Wish I could send you some of our cool weather, it's been like a preview of Autumn here, this week. And I'm loving it!

    Hugs
    Jane

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    1. Jane, I would love to know what you bought at the yard sales! I found some great items like books, a huge picture frame for $2 (size I needed to frame a picture of my grandmother on her wedding day), some smaller frames, jewelry (I love jewelry) and brand new kitchen towels. Score!!! We are having a heatwave here right now. I was so thankful for the hotel pool for the past few days. Jeff and I just got home this afternoon from a quick trip away and I really wish I were in that pool now. ;)

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  5. That baby just gets cuter and cuter!!! I'm so glad you get to spend so much time with him--what a blessing!

    It looks like you are getting lots of produce from your garden. I am, too, but desperately need to get some weeding done, as well, and also some more planting if I want things like lettuce to keep coming along. The heat wave is going to finish off the lettuce, I think. It's hard to get enthusiastic about weeding when it's so hot. (It's going to be 108 by Wednesday, and was still over 80 last night when I went and picked up my daughter at 10 pm)

    We are heading off on Thursday for a Mexico mission trip, leaving our 21 year old home to care for things. I'm just hoping she remembers to pick off the cucumbers, etc. so we can harvest more once we return. We are showing her how to turn on the sprinkler system--I think she's going to need it!

    Have a great week! I always enjoy reading your blog.
    My week is here: https://beckyathome.wordpress.com/2017/07/30/saving-money-and-weekly-update-july-30-2017/

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    1. HI Becky and I hear you on the weeding! My lettuce is done...the heat got it. I do hope you have a wonderful time on your mission trip to Mexico! I'll stop by and read your blog in a bit. We just got back from a short trip this afternoon and I am busy trying to get the house back in order and the watering done tonight since my youngest grandson will be here a 6 a.m. tomorrow to spend some time with me while his mommy is at work. :)

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  6. Your daughter-in-law did a fantastic job on the cake. I loved seeing your adorable new grandson.

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  7. Hope you're doing ok with the heat. Are you getting the smoke from the forest fires? It just dropped into the Vancouver area today -ick.
    I walked the dog early this morning and went did the minimum at my gardens this morning. Got 10 heads of garlic--yipee. Did some weeding - watered like crazy and called it good. Skipped grocery shopping even though it's the monthly 10%off day at Safeway. I really don't need anything and the sales weren't great.
    Just so you know - I'm away Friday to the following Thursday and probably won't be on the computer. Cheers, SJ

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    1. Hi SJ, the smoke is just starting to make it's way down. I could smell some in Spokane this morning. Please be careful with that smoke. Yay on the garlic, that is great. I hope you have a great time wherever you are going. Be blessed my friend!

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  8. Your Grandson is very cute, Debbie. You are so lucky to have your family close by, one set of my boy's Grandparents live far away and we only see them once or twice a year. When we do see them it is so special:) Meg

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    1. Thanks Meg. I wish your boy's grandparents lived closer to you. I'm sure that they would love to see the kids more too. :)

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