Frugal Friday Wrap Up 12/8/23

 

Saturday:

~I slept in until almost 10 a.m. after having a rough few days with very little sleep.  Jeff, on the other hand, got up very early with Midgy cat, who could not understand that it was a weekend day and that Jeff did not need to get up at 4:30 a.m..  After Jeff made some toast with my homemade sourdough bread, he headed back to our bedroom to take a much needed nap.

~I finished off the last of the homemade cheese crackers and some creamy wild rice soup (from a mix) for my brunch.

~While going through my rather large stash of Christmas cards to pick some out to add to our boxes we are sending off to the troops overseas, I found a bunch of address labels from years gone by.  Since we have not moved, they are still all good to use!  No need to get anymore.

~I had some things that I needed to get sent to Lauren and the kids, so I got those packed up and ready to be sent off this coming Monday.

~Jeff and I made a list of things that we needed to get done before the economy tanks ever further.  These included things like eye exams, stocking up on wood pellets for NEXT year's heating season, building up a good-sized emergency fund, some home and car repairs, getting some medicines from Jase Medical, and tackling some gardening jobs.  Since we have paid off our house and car, it has freed up more money to both add to our savings and to get things done that need doing.

~I popped up a large bowl of popcorn and Jeff and I enjoyed that while watching the newest Indiana Jones movie on Disney+.

Sunday:

~Jeff's cousin Alan called and we had a wonderful visit with him.

~Our Ruck for the Fallen group packed up 42 Christmas boxes to send overseas to our troops.  All the items were donated by our wonderful community and members of the Ruck team.  It touched my heart so deeply to see all the goodies and the hand made cards and letters that children in our community made to send to our men and women who are serving our country.

Monday:

~My sweet Uncle Gary and his wife April sent us a 2 pound box of Esther Price chocolates.  This is something that I look forward to every year.  He usually sends me a 1 pound box, but spoiled us rotten this year with a 2 pound box.  I will be sharing these with our family here.

~After wrapping all those gifts for our troops on Sunday, I was exhausted so I took a nap.

~Dinner was frozen pizzas that I cooked up.  While getting those out of the freezer, I also grabbed a package of Sweet Italian sausage for dinner the following night.

~I mixed up some Parmesan cheese/sourdough cracker dough and put it in the refrigerator to ferment for 2 days.

~Jeff and I watched the movie "Holiday Inn".  Jeff and I both love old musicals that we grew up watching with our parents. We have so many movies here and can always find something to watch!

~I had a pair of jeans that needed to have the waistband fixed and finally got around to doing that.

Tuesday:

~Jeff picked up my prescriptions and a few items after he got off work.

~I packaged up some acorn squash seeds that I had dug out of a squash before cooking it and then dried. These will be planted in the Spring.

~Another nap was needed today.  I decided to just go with it since we have another "peopley" event tomorrow night.  Being around a lot of people, no matter how fun the event, can really drain me.

~Dinner was sweet Italian sausages cooked on a sheet pan along with sweet potato wedges seasoned with Tajin seasoning.  This is a super easy one pan dinner and I use a piece of parchment paper on the pan to make clean up easier.  I served fruit with it on the side.  

Wednesday:

~I bought 2 calendars from our library with photographs of the beautiful area we live in.  One was sent out in Josh's Christmas box today and the other will be used by us.

~I also finally got Lauren and the kids package sent off.

~Leftovers were for my lunch.

~I picked up more priority mail boxes from the post office to have on hand here.  I need them when I mail things off to Josh.

~The last of the laundry (for now) was finished.  I know there will be more tonight, but at this moment in time I am feeling pretty darned proud of myself.

~Jeff and I stopped at the Dollar Tree while in town.  We picked up a picture frame, some scented liquid hand soaps, candy I needed to make peppermint bark, and some hair spray that I really like.

~Our highlight of the evening was going to see Bradley in his last dance recital.  His teacher, and other grandmother Tammy, has now sold the business to pursue another creative family endeavor.  It was so much fun to see how far all the kids have come in their dance abilities and to see them honor Tammy in a very special and touching way at the end of her last dance recital as their teacher.

~When we got home from the recital, I made up some chicken salad and we made sandwiches.  The indoor kitties enjoyed the broth from the can.

Thursday:

~I made a rather large pot of penne pasta with spinach (from our garden), sweet red bell peppers, alfredo sauce and some homemade seasoning salt.

Friday:

~I headed into do some stock up shopping since Jeff got paid and I needed his "muscles" to help me load up a 25 pound bag of flour.  I was shocked to see how much prices have gone up on some items even within a week's time.  I noticed a lot less sales both at Winco and Safeway than normal for this time of year and this close to Christmas.

~I stopped at a thrift store that helps local people with special needs and found a funny ornament and some craft supplies that I needed to make another ornament.  We are having a funny ornament/white elephant gift exchange on Christmas Eve and Jaysn and Rachel's home.  I was proud of myself for just picking up the things I needed and not buying anything else.

~Grocery Outlet had some fun surprises waiting for me including a large bag of macadamia nuts.  Guess what I got myself for Christmas. ;)  I also picked up some supplements, seasonings, 2 bottles of wine, and a few other gift items there.

~Dollar Tree got more of their liquid hand soaps in that I am in love with.  I was able to pick up 3 different scents and will be using some of these as gifts, as well as keeping a few more on hand for us.