Frugal Friday Wrap Up 12/13/21

 

   Am I the only one who starts to really look back on the past year when Christmas is coming closer?  I am so thankful for all the blessings that we have had!  The most wonderful was being able to spend time with my parents, brother, my cousin, and our kids and grandkids again.  My cousin Jeremy moved to Oregon this Fall and we miss him dearly, but he and I still keep in touch via Facebook and frequent phone calls.  I am so thankful for the time we did have face to face to really get to know each other and for him to become fully integrated into our family.  It was a huge "gift" to all of us to build those bonds that can never be broken.  My grandma would be so happy to know that her grandchildren have built that strong bond after not having that in our childhood years due to not seeing each other.  Other than Jeremy's mother and brother, we are the only blood relatives he has left in the world.  I know that we all treasure our relationships with each other now.   

   Now onto those frugal doings for the week!...

Saturday:

~Jeff and I stayed home.  He desperately needed a calm and restful day.  

~I made French Dip sandwiches for dinner.  They were so yummy and I had au jus leftover that I will use in another meal.

~We watched several Christmas movies.  I popped up some popcorn and cut up some apples to snack on while we enjoyed our movies.

~I washed all the sheets and then Jeff remade the beds.

Sunday:

~We had a pizza that we pulled out of the freezer for lunch.

~We headed into Moscow, Idaho to pick up a Christmas gift for one of our sons.  Our family draws names and we each buy for that person.  Jeff got one of our sons and I got our Heather.  I already bought her gift, but Jeff still needed to get a gift for our son.  While at the mall, we stopped at Bath and Body Works where I used a coupon to get a free full sized body care item.  I found a new body spray fragrance that I love, so I got that to add to my collection.

~We headed up to Goodwill where I found a beautiful Christmas pillow, a pair of gnome  pajama pants and a soft shirt.  I also found a brand new sealed package of 10 masks that I will put in the car in case we forget our cloth ones.  We already had to open up one of the other packages when Jeff forgot his cloth mask.

~Our last stop was Winco where we picked up a few needed grocery items.  I also picked up a fully cooked rotisserie chicken because it was cheaper than buying a frozen one! $4.98 is a great price!

~Before heading home, we drove through the neighborhoods looking at Christmas lights and decor.  It is something Jeff and I have done since we first got together so many years ago.  It just brings me so much joy and it's free to do!

~Once we got home, I cooked up some chicken Rice a Roni, made a big Romaine and carrot salad and then cut up the chicken.  It made for a wonderful and easy dinner, and we still have lots of chicken left.

Monday:

~I made 2 loaves of homemade bread.

~The last 2 slices from last week's bread were made into breadcrumbs that went into a nice venison meat loaf for dinner.

~I baked some Russet potatoes and a huge sweet potato alongside the meatloaf.  Since I did this right after baking the bread, I put everything out on the back porch to cool off (it was 38F out there) and then reheated it for dinner.

~The pillow that I bought for $2.99 at Goodwill got a good washing and then popped in the dryer.

~The library had been holding 4 movies that I had ordered for me so I ran down and got them.

~The post office had the new phone books out for anyone that wanted one so I picked up the new one to replace the out of date one that we had here at home.

~Some nice hot tea made for a nice afternoon pick me up.

~I topped off the water in the hot tub since it was getting really low due to evaporation.

Tuesday:

~It was a very overcast day so I cuddled up and got caught up on reading, some paperwork and watched videos on YouTube that taught me new skills or inspired me.

~Dinner was leftovers since I desperately needed to clean out the fridge and make more room in there.

Wednesday:

~This may not be earth shattering or anything, but I seriously resisted going shopping today!  We have waves of snowstorms that will be starting tonight and that always makes me nervous.  Instead of heading in, I texted Jeff and asked him to pick up the two items that I really needed on his way home from work tonight.  Honestly, I really did not NEED anything other than those two items for making meals for the next two weeks.  Saved on gas and impulse buys. 😉

~I tried out a makeup tutorial that I saw on YouTube for us "older women" with hooded eye lids due to our age.  It actually worked and my eyes looked more youthful and bright!

~I went through the depths of my refrigerator and found some questionable eggs and produce.  They are now adding to the compost pile.  Oh the shame of wasted food!  At least they will add to the compost though and not go into the trash can.

~Dinner was chicken carbonara over ziti noodles!  Yum!  It's a great way to use up some of the chicken that I had bought earlier in the week along with some cheese that also needed to be used.  

~I got back to working my points programs once again.

Thursday:

~I made a pot of chicken noodle soup with the leftover chicken carcus and meat, along with some carrots, an onion, celery and noodles.  It was so good on a cold and snowy day.

~I set the pot of soup on the back porch to quickly chill down.

~Jeff took my car to work.  I am glad he did because the snow is getting deeper and he also had bowling tonight.  Taking my car will save us on a towing bill because it is less likely to get stuck or go off the road.

~I worked on Swagbucks for a bit.

~I kept looking at our Christmas tree and thinking it needed something...some bling.  I got out my bags of broken jewelry that I keep for crafting projects and added some of them to my tree.  I love the sparkle it adds and think I may continue doing this from now on.

Friday:

~I woke up feeling very nervous and on edge (this happens with Fibro sometimes) and decided that I was going to be very careful about what I watched on YouTube.  Even some of the titles can trigger a panic attack in me.  I now have beautiful Christmas music playing to help keep me calm so I do not have to resort to medications to help me (hopefully).

~Jeff was able to take his little car to work today which uses less gas than mine.

~Jeff took leftovers for lunch.  I had a bagel.

~Going through some things, I found a series of fun books that I had bought for Bradley a couple of years ago to give to him when he hit that particular reading level.  He is now there so he will get these for his birthday in March. 

~I did not burn the house down!  There was a big spider in my living room (I hate spiders and they have seemed to really want to torture me this year with their presence) and I bravely sprayed it with Raid and then ran away to make sure it did not seek revenge on me.  I keep joking with me husband that I want a blow torch to "take out" those awful arachnids!

   That is about it for this week.  The weekend ahead will be busy with the oldest two grandboys here with us on Saturday night.  I have a craft and a puzzle for us to do together and of course there will be hot tubbing with G-pa!  Grammie avoids the chaos that ensues in the hot tub with the boys. LOL!  We also have Jeff's company Christmas party on Sunday night, which I am also looking forward to.  Be blessed all and I hope in this busy week before Christmas that you all carve out some quiet time to just be able to relax and soak in the beauty and meaning of this special season.