Frugal Friday Wrap Up 3/17-3/23 2018

    

   I know, I am late again.   I am having trouble typing today and my hands are really hurting.  Yesterday and today have been bad flare days and today, I am really feeling it in my hands.  I've also popped a new Fibro symptom, so that takes me up to 169 out of 200.  😖  So please bear with me as I get thos post done and forgive me in advance if there are typos...the Fibro Fog is bad today also.

~Saturday we had our oldest 2 grandsons spend the night with us.  We worked on puzzles, hot tubbed, they each got to pick out a toy at Goodwill, we watched one of their favorite shows and spent lots of time cuddling.
~My father has his 80th birthday coming up and he and my mom are planning a big trip to Europe.  I was trying to come up with an idea for a gift for him.  I stumbled across a brand new in package luggage locking strap with a built in scale to weight your luggage.  It originally retailed for $30 and I got it for $5.99.  This is a useful gift for both my parents and one that will come in handy as they have fun shopping all over Europe and have to bring things home. 😉
~We stopped at 2 pet stores to pick up some things and the little boys were thrilled to see all the animals there.
~I had a coupon for a free bag of cat treats from Petco and got some.

~I also had a coupon for a free item at Bath and Body Works.  Isaiah helped me pick out a aromatherapy spray that is really calming.
~I did not sleep well Saturday night so Jeff got up early with the grandboys on Sunday morning and made them pancakes with bananas.  I was seriously impressed and the grandboys love it!
~Sunday Jeff and I did our big grocery shopping trip and were very careful to watch our budget.
~We stopped by to see my cousin Jeremy at an auction at the fairgrounds.  There was a garden cart there that Jeff wanted so we set a limit on what we would pay and Jeremy was able to get it for us for under our limit!  Yay! I need to go and pick it up and leave him a check for it now. Jeremy also surprised me by bidding on choice of sterling silver rings and had me pick out a ring.  I picked a beautiful turquoise ring.  I told him that had to be an early birthday present.  Jeremy spoils us all!

~Monday I trimmed my bangs.
~Our library had a book and and movie on hold for me.
~Jeff pruned our Summer apple tree and Caesar "helped" him with all the branches.
~I was really tired by the end of the day but still managed to make us a quick dinner of pan fried chicken and two side dishes.  Jeff had mashed potatoes and I had quinoa and kale.
~I loaned my neighbor my heat and vibrating hand held massager.  Her doctor told her that it should help break things up in her lungs (she has pneumonia).  I told her that she should come and use our hot tub too as the warmth of the water and the jets would help loosen things up also.

~I harvested some green onions from our garden to use in a salad for lunch.
~I got a letter in the mail from our old health insurance company saying that they denied the claim for my recent doctor's visit...well of course they did, we are no longer with them!  I called my doctor's office to tell them about the mix up in billing.  Our doctor's office does not do the billing themselves since they are part of a larger network but the sweet receptionist said that she had our newer insurance info on her computer and that she would call them and have them enter that right information and send the claim to the right insurance company for me.  Sometimes I seriously wonder about some of these billing departments.
~Tuesday was a beautiful sunny day and I enjoyed looking throughout my garden and see what all was coming up!

~I got a free magazine subscription from PinchMe and will be donating the magazine to the library.
~I'm trying to work my points programs as much as I can.  The goal is to go back to getting Walmart gift cards to help with expenses so that frees up more money to use for our two vacations this year.
~Wednesday was NOT a good day pain wise so I spent a lot of time getting caught up on shows online.  I was also going on about 4 hours of sleep, so that did not help.
~Despite the pain, I still managed to get 2 loads of laundry done, make 2 loaves of bread and made some homemade croutons with the leftover bread from last week.
~Jeff made me a sandwich for dinner because I was totally spent by the time that rolled around.

~I had Jeff stop and pick up some precooked BBQ ribs that we half price at the grocery store.
~Thursday Jeff and I watched "Survivor" online.  We love that show!
~I discovered that the Roku channel has some of my favorite old TV series on it!  I am excited to be able to watch "Grace Under Fire" and "I Dream of Jeanie" again.  Jeff is excited for the old westerns.
~Caesar has a problem with his ears so I cleaned them out and put some olive oil in them and massaged it in.  It made him feel better.
~I did manage to get a shower and get dressed in real clothes (not jammies) and even blow dry my hair.
~Lunch for me was some leftover quinoa and kale sauteed with some olive oil, garlic, lemon and some salad shrimp.  It was delicious!

~Jeff picked up another baby gate on sale at Shopko.  We needed one for in front of the pellet stove so that Steven could not get to it and get burned.
~Dinner was clam chowder.  I try to always keep my favorite brand of clam chowder in the house...it is comfort food.
~Friday I had more energy and decided to run into town by myself to pick up my prescription.  Probably not the best idea I found out later.  I did not realize how bad my brain fog really was.  I decided to cut my trip short and just make 3 stops.

~At Walmart I picked up a reduced priced sandwich (since I forgot to eat), some reduced price cheese, my peach flavored vitamin drinks, milk and my prescriptions.  I was able to get a 3 month supply of one of them, but my health insurance will only help pay for a 1 month supply at a time of the other. 
~My next stop was the DMV to get an application for a handicap placard for my car.  I am going to ask my doctor at my next appointment about getting one for those days when I am flaring but still need to go somewhere.  Walking on those days is difficult enough without having to walk from the far end of a parking lot.

~My final stop was at the thrift store.  I knew I needed to look for something there but could not remember what that was (see, this is why I need to always write things down).  I figured that I would remember when I got in there...nope.  I did however find 3 movies and a really comfortable long casual dress that I can wear here and will also be taking to Las Vegas when we go in October.  It will be cool enough to wear in the heat and with a light jacket, can also be worn at night for going out.  The movies were $2.99 each and the dress was $4.48  When I got home I remembered that I was supposed to be looking for 2 week pill boxes for Jeff and I.  I frequently see them there and I wanted 2 of them for our trip since the ones we use at home are for 1 week.

~Jaysn and Rachel came out to look at an apartment and to meet with the owners.  They have it on hold for them and will know on Thursday if the sale of their house is definitely going through.  They have to be out of their home by April 18th if all goes well.  The apartment is across the street and 2 houses down from us!  We watched Steven (he is now walking at 10 months old just like his older cousin Bradley did) when they went down there and then we had them all stay for dinner. 
~Dinner was precooked BBQed ribs that we got earlier in the week at half price, baked sweet potato rounds with Chipotle salt and a Romaine lettuce salad with your choice of hard boiled eggs, avocado and dressings.
~I gave Rachel a bag full of transition cups that moves from bottles to soft nipple sippy cup to regular sippy cups for Steven.  He did pretty well with the soft nipple sippy cup I have here for him that he tried for the first time today. 😊  I also sent her home with a Money magazine (free subscription).
~I watched an episode of "Frontier House" on Youtube.