Frugal Friday Wrap Up 3/3/23

    

Saturday:

~Jeff fixed our sliding glass door handle.  It had come loose.  He had to replace the long screws.  Well, the screws he had on hand were too long, so he cut them down to fit perfectly!  Saved buying a whole new handle set or new screws.

~Jeff ended up not feeling well in the afternoon, so he headed to bed and slept through the night.  I scrapped our original plans for dinner and had leftover lasagna and some homemade bread instead.

~We facetimed with Josh and family.  Our Tate is a bundle of energy and due to the bad weather, was not able to go outside to burn it off.  Poor kiddo just kept putting on his shoes and his parents kept trying to distract him.  Our princess Peyton had a wonderful time watching her G-pa make faces at her and we got the biggest smile from her.  Oh how I miss those grandbabies.

Sunday:

~We woke up to living in a snow globe!  It was so pretty and we needed the moisture that it brought.

~Jeff and I spent some time folding a mountain of laundry.  It reminded me of how abundantly blessed we are.

~I got started to have a panic attack and usually I would ask Jeff to take me somewhere to just get out of the house and stop the panic attack in its tracks.  Instead, I talked myself down and made a plan on how to handle my anxiety.  Saved money on gas and the shopping that we would have done if we had headed into town.  As for the panic attacks, they are happening more frequently again.  I know what is causing them though, so that is helping me to cope with them better.

~Due to my increasing panic attacks, Jeff and I had a long talk about how to reduce my anxiety levels and came up with a plan to hopefully help me without resorting to increased medication.  Some of the circumstances causing me stress are not ones that I have any control over (health issues with lots of my loved ones, some with not much time left here on earth), but I can limit my exposure to other things that are prevalent in the news that are also stressing me out.  This week will all be about watching things that are fun distractions for Jeff and I for the most part on TV and social media.  I am also planning to read more and spend more time in my bible and in prayer.

~Dinner was leftover Kalua Pig, some pok choi that I grew last Summer and froze, all served over a bed of rice.  It was a wonderful "comfort" meal.

~I made out a menu plan for the week based on what we need to use up first and what we have on hand here.

~Jeff helped me with the pantry organization and cleaning out some items.  I also spent some time refilling the sugar and salt containers and the oatmeal container that I keep in the kitchen for easy use.

Monday:

~Early start to the morning for both Jeff and I.  He woke up around 4 a.m. and could not get back to sleep.  I heard him off and on out in the living room as he got himself breakfast and later, ready for the day.  I dozed off and on during that time and then got woken up again around 7 a.m. by our neighbors running their trucks for half an hour.  I tried to just go with the flow at that point.  I got up, had coffee and spent some time reading my bible and in prayer.  It felt good to spend that extended time with God this morning.

~I was getting a bit antsy so I headed into town to do some shopping.  I found some brand new socks for a certain grandson, new in package underwear for me, and 2 shirts for me at Goodwill.  One of the shirts was half off and I got 20% off on everything else since it was also senior discount day.

~I ran into Heather's mom and grandma at Goodwill and we shared a quick hug.  I love those ladies so very much!

~A stop at Walmart was also made to get bananas for Jeff.  While there I also found 1 pound packages of ground beef for $2.83 each.  I bought all 3 they had.  I found Tajin for $1 each, Kerr canning jar lids (on clearance) and more canned lunchmeat.

~Once I got home, I made a zucchini squash casserole with some that needed to be used ASAP.  

~My neck, hip and back were hurting like crazy so I sat down to rest for a bit.  I decided to reward myself with a nice blackberry infused vodka and tonic.  The infused vodka is some that I made with some of our blackberries.  Oh is was so good!

~Some ground sausage was gotten out of the freezer and put in the refrigerator to thaw.  I will make some scrapple with it later in the week.

~We were about 4 months ahead on our cat food supply for our indoor kitties, so I cancelled our bimonthly delivery from Petco for this month.  That money will be used for another bill instead.

~Leftover lasagna was for dinner for Jeff and squash casserole for me.

Tuesday:

~I finished the squash casserole for both lunch and dinner.  It really is one of my favorite comfort foods.

~Dinner was bratwurst and homemade sweet potato fries all cooked in the air fryer.  I also served crisp apple slices on the side.

~No going anywhere for the day, so no money spent on my part.

Wednesday:

~Jeff took the rest of the leftover lasagna for lunch.

~I uploaded digital coupons onto my Safeway card.

~A trip down to the library was made to pick up a book I had on hold there.  She also had another movie I ordered in waiting for me and was able to let me keep the 2 other movies that I had not had a chance to watch yet.

~I made scrapple for dinner.  We had about 1/3 of it and the rest will be for another meal or meals.  Jeff fried up 3 eggs to go with his portion.  I sliced up a tomato and added some crunchy baby carrots to go with mine.  We both also had some canned pears.  It made for a very filling meal.

~I went through my spices above the stove to take a mental inventory of what I had there and also refilled the finely ground pepper shaker with more pepper from my big jar.

Thursday:

~I watched some videos on YouTube about dehydrating different veggies and also about pressure canning.

~Breakfast was the last of the sale priced cinnamon raisin bagels with some peanut butter .

~Jeff took a sandwich and a leftover bratwurst with him for his lunch and dinner since he has bowling league on Thursday nights. I had a bratwurst with sauerkraut.

~I had leftovers for dinner.

~Jeff picked up cat food, bananas, and 2 bars of Zote soap at Walmart.

Friday:

~I helped one of Jeff's coworkers find some tulip bulbs online that she has been hunting for.

~It was my shopping day and I was on the hunt for bargains on meat.  I set myself a budget and prayed that I would be able to find some good deals.

~My first stop was at the Grocery Outlet.  I really scored here!  I found the large sized packages of the little smokies sausages for .99 a package!  I got 4 of them and told some nice ladies shopping near me about the deal too.  I bought 4 packages and they got the other 4.  In this day and age, we all need to be looking out for one another.  I also found some breakfast sausages, 4 packages of the refrigerator cinnamon rolls, a huge box of Corn Pops cereal for $1.99 and a few other small items.

~Next stop was Safeway where I picked up 2 large sirloin tip roasts that were on sale for $3.99 a pound (there was a limit of 2), 2 2 pound blocks of Cheddar cheese for $5 each, a pork loin roast for $3.99 (it was in the marked down meat section), 2 large spinach and mushroom pizzas for $3.99, Power Ade for .89 each and a large package of toilet paper for $5.

~Grocery Outlet was my final shopping stop.  Here I bought a 6 pack of the 2 gallon sized ziplock bags, snack sized ziplock bags, 2 large packages of pasta, fabric band aids, greeting cards, pop tarts for Jeff in his favorite flavors (this will be part of his anniversary gift), steak sauce and something else I can't seem to remember at the moment.

~I swung by the Department of Motor Vehicles for pick up a form for my doctor to fill out so I can renew my handicapped parking placard.  

~I made an appointment for later this month with my doctor to get my bloodwork done and to check in on how I am doing on my medications.

~Dinner was the pork loin baked alongside some season potato chunks, green beans and Hawaiian Sweet rolls.  We ended up with leftovers of the roast, potatoes, and rolls.  I also baked up a dessert caramel and apple pizza.  We had leftovers of this also.

~Jeff picked up my sleeping medications on his way home.

~We watched the 2nd part of Survivor from Wednesday night, La Brea, and Ghosts.