Frugal Friday Wrap Up 11/25-12/1 2017

 

   It is early Saturday morning, like really early (1:00a.m.) and I can't sleep so I thought I would get this post finished and posted before I head to take a shower and then to bed.  I've been listening to Christmas music and enjoying myself this evening for the most part.  Two of the cats have been a pain and both got squirted multiple times for fighting.  Most of the time they are fine but for some reason, late at night they kind of lose their kitty minds.  I managed to find all my wax melts and changed out one of my Scentsy burners for Christmas themed one.  I did have to take the bulb from the one I have been using and put it in the Christmas burner since the bulb burnt out within a few minutes of me having it on. The burner I was previously using was a gift years ago from my sweet SIL Christie and the Christmas one is a recent find from Goodwill.  Both Jeff and I are enjoying them. Most of my wax melts have been found at thrift stores or on great sales at Walmart so that is a huge savings right there. Onto the rest of the savings this week... 

~Saturday we hosted a party here at our house for friends and family.  We did it potluck style of course. ;)  It was supposed to just be snack stuff but I had a feeling that we would need more than that so in addition to the crab and cheese wontons that I made I also raided the pantry and freezer and came up with homemade sweet potato fries with chipotle and sea salt seasoning and cut up 2 packages of turkey smoked sausages and served those in BBQ sauce.  I also baked up a frozen Dutch Apple Pie and served that along with the Pumpkin Pie that Rachel's mom made for us.  I'm glad I made extras because everyone was really hungry!  We had a wonderful time getting caught up with Roni, Char and Erica.  I found out that Roni has now moved to Palm Springs, CA and will be a short 2 hour drive away from where Josh is being transferred to!  That makes us all very happy indeed!
~We had Jaysn and Rachel shop our pantry for canned goods that they needed.  Rachel took home lots of assorted cans of beans and Jaysn found a few of his favorite things to take home too.

~Sunday we ran into town to do the grocery shopping and we again hit Goodwill.  I am on the
lookout for a Santa suit for Steven.  I did not find that but did find shirts and a sleeper for the grandboys, a brand new shirt for me, a pretty jacket that was half off due to it being the colored tag of the week, a package of baby proofing cabinet latches (we needed to both baby and cat proof the kitchen cabinets), a new cookbook, and something else that Jeff wanted that has now slipped my mind.
~We found some great deals in the clearance section at Old Navy and spent under $20 for 3 shirts and some socks.

~We stopped in at Bath and Body Works so I could pick up a few things that were on sale.  I also had  coupons for a free item when I spent $10.  I saw a young woman in line and gave her one of the coupons.  She was thrilled and was able to get another body spray as a Christmas gift for her mother.  It just made me happy to be able to bless her!
~We watched several movies on Netflix including "The Adams Family" and a documentary on the new lead singer for Journey.
~Monday we stayed home and relaxed.  I got out a big 1000 piece puzzle and started to work on that.
~Jeff was craving Sloppy Joes so I made those for dinner.
~As I was cutting up the veggies for the Sloppy Joes, I froze some of the extra celery to use in soup later.

~We borrowed the new "Wonder Woman" movie from the library along with 2 other movies.
~Tuesday I made 3 loaves of banana bread with some overripe bananas.
~I marinated some elk steaks in wine and seasonings for dinner on Tuesday.  These were served with wild rice mix and carrot sticks.  My steak also had mushrooms topping it.  Jeff is not a fan of mushrooms in general.
~Wednesday I cut Jeff's hair for him.

~Jeff took me out for an early dinner and we arrived at Happy Hour.  We both ordered appetizers ($3 off each one) and I had a drink ($3).  We then had dessert.  We saved $9 on dinner by going during Happy Hour. :)  I also figured out how to make Jeff's Pulled Pork Nachos and both of our desserts so I can recreate them here at home.
~We stopped at the Dollar Tree and picked up a few needed items there.  I found some new puzzles for the little boys to work on when they are here.  One is even 3D!

~We made another stop at the thrift store and I found a onesie for Steven for .10, a brand new throw pillow with a down inner pillow for $4.98 (new store tag said it was $38.93 originally), another Hawaiian CD, a Christmas ornament, some pie servers and a heavy duty pizza cutter for Heather, .99 each, a Christmas book for the little boys, a gorgeous red pitcher, a hat and some cozy fleece lined mittens for baby Steven and some wax melts.

~We watched some HGTV House Hunters episodes on Youtube.  They had a couple who was relocating to Spokane, WA on.
~Thursday I did the chems and added water to the hot tub and then drained the garden hose again.  My hands were frozen by the time I got done but it needed it and I want to be able to use the hot tub this weekend, if not tonight.
~I baked 2 more loaves of sandwich bread.
~More TV shows were watched online.

~I contacted the Fitbit company online since my fitbit was not working correctly and a very nice representative helped me to reset it.  It is now correctly tracking my sleep once more.
~I used some of the leftover steaks to make Lo Mein for dinner.  I made a large  amount of it and thought I would have leftovers, but it was just so good that both hubby and I had seconds and finished it off.

~Friday I spent some time online viewing videos on how to make simple Christmas crafts with children.  I got some great ideas to do with the little boys.
~We had leftovers for dinner, Jeff had the rest of the Sloppy Joes and I had the leftover Elk Steak thinly sliced with mushrooms and also had some broccoli with a lemon, dill and caper sauce.  Jeff also had pie for dessert.
~I've been trying to make sure to work on my points programs each day.
~My mother celebrated her 77th birthday Friday and we sent her a lovely ecard.  Mom and I agreed long ago that ecards for birthdays are the way to go!  It is so hard for me to think of her as being 77.  She has the energy and stamina of a much younger woman and can run circles around most women in their 50s!

~I could not sleep late into the night on Friday and into the early morning hours Saturday so I put on some Christmas music and did some mending.  I figured if I was up, I might as well be productive. I can do the mending while relaxing in my recliner.
~Christmas books are some of my favorites, so I pulled out some for me and for the grandkids to enjoy. I try to add at least one new one to my personal library each year.

   I am hoping that Jeff can get the outside Christmas lights up this weekend and can help me get some of the other Christmas decorations out of the walk in closet for me.  He had that thing packed like a giant jigsaw puzzle so I just tell him what I want and he finds it for me.  I figure that is fair since I have no idea where he has put most of the stuff.   After the lights are all up outside, all we need is snow!