Friday, October 6, 2017

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 9/30-10/6 2017



 


   What a week.  It seemed that it just stretched on and on.  When I am having trouble with my CFS and Fibromyalgia, they tend to do that.  I made one trip to do the grocery shopping and run some other errands on Monday, but stayed home for most of the week.  I think my body is telling me that it needs to rest and that I have been trying to do way too much and take care of everyone else.  I need to take care of me for awhile now.  Onto the savings...




~Saturday we went to the wedding of one of our hanai sons and had a wonderful time!  We had dinner there and the wedding cake, which was delicious, was made by a friend that we had not seen in years.  It was so nice to get caught up with her too. 😊
~Sunday Jeff got our home and yard ready for the cold weather.  He shut down and drained the swamp cooler, got all the garden hoses drained and put away, drained and took down the rain barrel (which we did not use due to the drought here this Summer) and hauled off a bunch of the yard waste.
~I found some more interesting shows to watch on Netflix by searching "Cook".
~I took it easy on Sunday.  I was having a Fibro Flare and having said goodbye to my twins that morning as they flew to Washington DC, I was just a bit emotional too.  I spent most of the day puttering around the house in my jammies and fixed a easy dinner using a precooked chicken from the deli.
~Jeff and I planned out a menu for the week based on what we had on hand and around the weather forecast.  A whole chicken was used to eat as is the first meal, 2 different kinds of soup, chicken/baked potato and squash chowder and the classic chicken noodle soup.  I froze 3 containers of the chicken noodle soup for future meals.



~We got a refund check in the mail and are using that to cover most of the cost of a ton of wood pellets to heat our home.  Jeff gets the pellets through his work.
~Jeff and I headed up to the orchard right up over the hill from us and picked 20 pounds of apples at .50 a pound.  We got Yellow Delicious, Mcintosh and Honeycrisp.  We also ran into friends and our lawyer up there who gave us some good legal advice for free.
~I baked extra potatoes on Sunday while I was making dinner to go into some soup later in the week.
~Since we were expecting a freeze Sunday night, I picked the rest of the cherry tomatoes that were even close to being ripe.
~I purchased some Fall themed hot pads for the kitchen at the Dollar Tree.


~Monday Jeff and I headed into town to go help Rachel get a materials list together to fix their back porch and I got to play with baby Steven.  He is growing so quickly and it seems every time I see him, even if it just days apart, he is doing something new. 😊 Nothing like free cuddles, giggles and smiles to make my day!
~I found lots of marked down items plus special sale priced items at Safeway.  I saved us $29.76 today and came home with lots of cheese, bananas, pastrami from the deli, 3 packages of surumi, 3 large cans of coffee, a 12 pack of seltzer water, sour cream, and 4 packages of mushrooms.  I spent $32.99 on everything.  I'm pretty darned proud of myself!


~We bought some cat food at the pet store and they told us about a sale they will be having on the cat food we use near the end of the month.  I am setting aside some money towards that since we will be needing more anyway.  We go through about 2 large bags a month at $23.99 each.
~Tuesday I made 2 loaves of bread for sandwiches for the week for Jeff.
~Jeff picked up 4 packages of sourdough english muffins for .99 each on his way home from work.  I kept one package out and froze the other 3.


~I dehydrated 3 trays of mushrooms and a tray of Roma tomatoes.
~For brunch on Tuesday I had a small bowl of homemade chicken noodle soup (I froze the rest) along with a sourdough english muffin topped with smoked salmon cream cheese.  I had been busy doing all kinds of other things, my back was killing me and I needed something quick and easy.
~I had planned to fix a pork chop and rice casserole for dinner on Tuesday night but found that the pork chops smelled "off" after they thawed.  I simply substituted 1 large boneless skinless chicken breast cut up into bite sized pieces for the pork.
~My points programs were worked as time allowed.
~Wednesday baby Steven was here with me for the day.  We bundled up and took a walk (him in the stroller) down town to the library and stopped at our little store to pick up something that we needed.  We both enjoyed getting out and Grammie here got a lot of exercise pushing that stroller back up the steep hill. Man am I out of shape!


~I borrowed a book and a movie from the library.
~Jeff and I sent home a package of diapers and some apples that we picked at the orchard with Jaysn when he came to pick up Steven.
~Since I knew Wednesday would be a long day for me (I got up at 5:30 a.m and Steven got dropped off at 6:45 a.m.), I cooked a elk roast (free from Chris) in some beer (stuff Josh left here), along with some onion soup mix (bought in bulk so way cheaper than in packages), and threw in some baby carrots and potatoes (free) along with 3 stocks of celery that needed to be used up.  I cut up the elk roast into bite sized pieces and put it back in the broth for about 20 minutes before serving.  YUM!
~Jeff and I found a new youtube channel that we are enjoying watching.


~Thursday I had a bad "Fibro Fog" day but Shopko had a great sale on toilet paper and down alternative comforters.  I had Jeff pick up 4  12 pack double rolls of Charmin at $4.88 each and a king sized comforter for $18.88 (regular price was $99.99) on his way to bowling league since it is literally right down the street from the bowling alley.  We needed both the toilet paper and the comforter.  We have a queen sized bed but Jeff tends to roll over and take the comforter with him so with a king sized one hopefully I will still have some of it on the 3 nights of the week that we actually have to share the bed. 😜  Jeff was happy that he got to pick out the comforter that he wanted and was very good about NOT getting anything plaid. 😁
~Friday the "Fibro Fog" started to clear but then came the "I'm sore all over my body and can't life my arms up past my shoulders" pain.  Thank goodness for leftovers and for all the free magazines that came in the mail this week to keep me both fed and amused for most of the day.


~Jeff drained our hot tub and put flex seal on some of the areas that had cracks in it.  He started this on Friday afternoon and will finish it up on Saturday morning.  Hopefully we can get the hot tub back up and running that evening.
~We had high winds coming in so I took down all my windchimes so they would not get blown off the hooks.  Unfortunately, I had a beautiful windchime made with copper on my front porch that someone must have stole while we were gone on vacation. This made me both angry and sad since it was a gift from my parents and had a gorgeous hummingbird painted on it that reminded my mother and I of my grandmother.
~I posted a listing for Jeff's old car that was broken down on a few sales sites and listed it as a parts car...free you haul.  Within minutes of listing it I had 3 people who wanted it.  The first person who contacted me got it and ironically, she is the mother of the bride of the wedding we went to on Saturday.   Small world. 😀




   That's about it for this week.  We are planning on helping Jaysn and Rachel with a big project this Sunday and then I think we have no other outside commitments (other than Jeff's bowling and his work) for this coming week.  That makes me very happy because I sure have a lot to catch up on around here.  Be blessed!








25 comments:

  1. Debbie, so sorry to hear you are in pain from a flare up again. I'm sending feel better wishes your way. You did very well with your grocery budget! Well done! Your soups look delicious, too, especially that chicken noodle soup! Why aren't you closer to me so I could invite myself over for a bowl of soup? :D

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    1. Oh my friend, if we lived closer I would invite you over a lot! :)

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  2. Awesome week. Hate all your flare up's though. Your soup looks delish.

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    1. Thanks Chrissy. I do love a good soup. We try and have soup at least once a week during the cooler weather months.

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  3. Sorry to hear that you flared this week with the fibro and CFS. But I was so glad to hear you could get some rest.
    Have to say that the pictures with all the food made me quite hungry!! It all looks so good. And, yea for the free meat (way to go Chris and his hunting skills).
    And what a great shopping trip you did at Safeway. I had a good shopping trip at Safeway as well. Remembered to take in a rain check before it expired for $0.10 packs of ramen. Not really healthy but a nice quick snack or lunch.
    I shut off the water to the outside spigot and detached the hose. Will put it away this weekend. Also put 2 of my gardens to bed. Mostly, still want to plant a green manure crop but the soil is ready. Still have more to do but am taking today off. Meeting a friend for coffee at 11 today and that will be it for today.
    Your baby Steven is so cute --lucky grammie!!
    Cheers,
    SJ

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    1. Hi my friend! I'm glad you had a good shopping trip to Safeway also. I love to crumble up the ramen noodles (dry) and add them to salad...yummy! I hope you were able to get everything done in the garden that you wanted to. :)

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  4. I am so sorry that you were not feeling well, but, oh boy, you accomplished a lot! Both your food and that baby are just delicious looking! Enjoy!

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  5. Given all your commitments of late, flare up of your nasties was on the books. I am sorry that you had this pain to deal with. Little Steven is one cute little man who obviously loves his Grammie. I love how he is looking at you for the photo.
    I travelled down to my parents place(3 hour drive) and stayed for two nights. My sister and her two youngest were visiting so I got to spend part of a day and night with them. The second day Mum and I caught a train to Brisbane and went to a major Craft and Quilting Fair. Oh my goodness there are some talented people out there. I came home with a new cutting mat and some mermaid and fairy buttons I will use as embellishments on some sewing for the granddaughter. I was very proud of myself for not adding to my already substantial material stash.
    We had all the ceiling fans and yukky 70's light fitting replaced this week. It makes such a difference to have bright white fans rather than rusty old ones. Woohoo.
    Have a wonderful week.

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    1. Jane, your trip with your Mum and getting to spend time with your sisters just made me so happy for you! My mom is a quilter and bought a new quilting machine that she had me try out when I went to visit her...such fun! She also has a huge stash of material (it fills a rather large closet) and is always making quilts for family and for charities. :)

      I would love to see a picture of how your home looks now that you have replaces the ceiling fans and lights!

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  6. Hi Debbie, I hope your feeling better today. :)
    Around here, we're having lots of heat and it seems that October is the new August: people on the beach, sunny skies... I'm missing Fall!
    I love reading all the things you do and save. Unfortunately, here we don't have a lot of thrift stores. But we try to save as much as we can, because nowadays, every cent counts, right?
    If we ever get to go to the States again, I'll visit you and you'll take me to those stores!
    Your Steven is so grow up! And so cute!!! :)
    Have a relaxed and pain free week, Debbie!

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    1. Hi Paula, I would love for you to come and visit me, and yes, I would take you to all the thrift stores. :) As you are missing Fall, I am missing the beach...funny how that works. ;)

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  7. sounds like you got some great deals, and had lots of yummy food this week. glad you got a visit with the baby.
    I do the same thing with our bed. It is a queen, but we always use a king spread/comforter - it just covers more!
    I hope you feel better this coming week. Gentle hugs!

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    1. Thanks Cheryl. :) I had to laugh because even after buying that new king sized comforter, my hubby is still rolling over and stealing the covers. Poor guy has no idea he is doing it though and feels so bad when I either wake him to get some back or tell him about it later. ;)

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  8. I finally got my own blanket:) It's just small, but I also keep another bigger one on the floor next to the bed. I've done it for years, because when it's time for the "cover wars" I simply cannot compete:) Or so I thought. Until poor Rob told me he kept waking up last night frequently as I was apparently winning that war and stealing all the covers all night long!!! And, all the time, my extra blanket was out in the living room, because I've been lazing around with this cold I've caught!! Thankfully, it's all good-natured and we tease each other when we do it to each other.

    You are doing great on your October grocery budget! Keep it up:) I will get myself together and go shopping in a few days, but haven't needed anything yet in October.

    I am hoping you are feeling better each day and that the week ahead will be a good one for you.

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    1. Becky, turnabout is fair play right? ;) LOL! I suggested separate blankets and I do keep a smaller one by the bed on my side, just in a case, but hubby was not going for it. We only share a bed 2 1/1 nights a week due to his work schedule, so I guess I can live with that. ;)

      I need to come and read your blog and see what you have been up to. I have fallen behind on that yet again.

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    2. No worries:) I'm glad you have such a supportive husband to help you out through all these challenges with your fibro. My husband is the same kind--very sweet and supportive. It sure helps keep life flowing!

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  9. You really need to slow down for a while. That fibro will not remis until you do. This is the pot telling the kettle:)

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    1. :) I know right? The thing is that I feel guilty if I don't get things done. Yesterday my sweet hubby felt so bad for me after I was in tears again due to my own self induced "guilt trip". He very graciously dropped everything that he had planned for the day and cut up 5 pounds of onions for me, most of which he got going in our huge dehydrator. While he worked on that, I got busy making French Onion soup, Sloppy Joes, corn bread and 2 loaves of French Bread. He also remade the guest bed for me and helped me out with lots of laundry. All that and he still got a nap and then worked all night long. I just love him and would be lost without him.

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  10. How is the new King sized comforter working out for you? We have the same thing going on here!

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    1. Hi Sandy, it is working out pretty well for the most part, but he still steals it sometimes. ;) I pray all is going well for you and your hubby. Love you my friend!

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  11. I'm sorry you had so many fibro episodes? I'm not sure what to call them, but I sure hope you get relief from it.

    Great deals, my friend :)

    xo,
    rue

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    1. Hi Rue! I have missed you! I am hoping that the fibro flares will slow down now that Fall is here and that some tough decisions have been made. :)

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  12. You manage to get do much done even with your health struggles! Your elk roast sounded delish as did your soups too. We are preparing for winter here too. Hope this week is a quieter one for you!

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    1. Hi Marilyn, praying for you my friend. I'm sure you are getting all buttoned up for Winter. I still need to get out and work on getting the garden all taken care of and put to bed. Of course that means that my dear hubby will be doing most of the work, but I can take all the bean vines down from the trellis. I may try to get that done today before the rains come in tonight. :)

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