Frugal Happenings Last Week

Last week was a weird mix of frugal and expensive happenings.  I spent money to save some in the long run -- kind of thing.

 1.  I did a huge Sam's Club stock up. With the holidays in site and us planning various things, having stuff on hand will save a lot of time.  I also restocked a lot of the quicker pantry items.  While some convenience foods aren't the most frugal, they are comparatively cheaper than eating out.  This was also the time for our huge stock up on paper products and things.  Knowing that I may be looking at some minor surgery in a couple of weeks made this a prudent thing to do.

 2.  We had medical appointments and tests, but because a large portion of our out of pocket expenses have been met, the timing was good.

 3.  I did all the usual household things to try to keep costs down with the laundry, etc.

 4.  We did buy a few meals out.  However, they were all planned and allotted for.  One was after medical tests where fasting was required, one was a birthday celebration for my son and daughter in law, and one was pizza for my extended family for my birthday celebration.  

 5.  I saved pickle juice to use in salad dressings.  I refilled my oil bottles from larger containers. I ground grains for our baking.  I used up the last of some lingering sprinkles (on muffins) and plan to continue to whittle down the bottles I have.  I took advantage of sales at Sam's Club and had discounts apply to what I bought and earned a $10 rewards card.  We started a new series on Netflix after opting to not go out for date night.  I used recycled paper for school work.  We played here instead of driving to the park.

  I'm sure there are other things we did, but this was the biggest part of them.