First Week of December Frugalities

The first week of December came and went.  It is both disconcerting and comforting how quickly time passes. Sunday — plans to take our grandson home fell through.  Mom is on the mend, but still not quite there.  My plans required a little tweaking.  We had a brunch using items on hand.  Lunch was a mix of leftovers and fresh veggies.  In continuing with my use it up plan, I pulled a partial container of quinoa out to serve as our grain.
 

Then during the afternoon we went out to run errands.  We dropped off a printer cartridge for recycling at Staples.  I went into Dollar Tree and purchased Christmas cards for an exchange and 5 small red baskets.  These baskets were for the pantry and hold lunch box type supplies like fruit cups, pudding cups, etc.  Next on our list was the library.  I checked out 4 cookbooks, which I have already flipped through.  Sadly other than maybe 2 or 3 recipes there was very little content I am even interested in trying.  My husband checked out a book on CD for his commute time.  On our way back home, we stopped at Krispy Kreme and picked up 3 of the Santa Belly doughnuts as a treat for my grandson and daughter.

We finished off the day with Netflix, video games, and air popped popcorn, which I think is about as frugal as snacks come.  

Monday

My husband had an early morning doctor’s appointment.  I packed his lunches, etc for him to pick up on his way out of town.

I managed to get in a short morning walk — frugal when I compare poor health costs to taking the time to take care of myself.

We started our meals for the pinto bean thread....everything we used was pantry stable so that is a nice dish to add to our rotation.

We took advantage of the pretty day to play outside.

Tuesday

I registered for classes.  By maintaining good grades in my previous classes I received an award of $250 off tuition (with a few stiputlations that I would have met for my own satisfaction anyway) and an additional one time 10% off tuition.  As a result, I have opted to take 15 hours over spring semester.  Things will be super busy, but doable.  Between the two I will be getting a few semester hours free.  

I pulled through the refrigerator and made a stir fry of sorts for supper to help take care of a few lingering tidbits.  On the frugal fail front, I opened a box of baking mix that made horrible muffins.  The texture was off and they weren’t edible.  I tossed them out.

Wednesday 

I cooked a pound of pinto beans in the pressure cooker for energy savings.  I hung laundry to dry.  We continued to use up things in the refrigerator and planned our meal around that. My husband came home for the evening and we had a quiet night of movies and games.

Thursday and Friday 

These days were both rainy days.  We did head out briefly to Hobby Lobby, where I picked up 3 skeins of yarn on sale.  I’m working on a scarf.    

 Thursday night we ordered pizza.  I had enough rewards to get it for all but free.  None of us felt bad, but we were just kind of unenergetic.  Friday night’s meal was a homemade hamburger helper using pantry supplies and ground beef bought on sale.  I divided the package into two meals and stretched them with added beans.

Saturday

Plans were to take my grandson home, but weather didn’t cooperate.  I made a double batch of chocolate chip waffles for breakfast — plenty left for into the next week.  We spent the day at home, played games, and baked sugar cookies.  Perfect day for baking because the oven added heat.  I did run two loads of laundry and opted to use the dryer for added heat, too.