Frugal Happenings for the Week Beginning 1/20/19

Sunday

• We had company.  My husband and one of our nephews went to see a matinee, which is at a reduced price.  I opted to not go because I am not crazy about the noise level in movie theaters, and I am not particularly interested in Sci-Fi movies.  
• Our daughter came over and joined us all for supper.  I used a coupon and ordered pizza.  There was enough leftover to send home with her for another meal.
• I worked in my planners (life gets busy this time of year) and used mostly Dollar Tree products in the "decoration."
• My daughter and I went to Michaels and bought a few stickers.  We used a $20 off of $50 to keep our costs down.  She has recently gotten busy enough that she is planning too.  However, she hasn't had time to slowly build up a supply of stickers.  This gave us a chance to find her a good selection at a discounted price.  Plus it was a great short trip for just us girls.

Monday

• We made the trip back to my home county.  Since we were on the road we shared a meal.  
• I used up the last of a few cleaning supplies tidying our home away from home.
• I ran several loads of laundry, but was able to consolidate at least two of them.  
• We loaded the car down with food to bring with us.  It may not sound frugal, but one of the downsides to rural living is that everything is more expensive and limited.  Bringing with us cuts down the amount I spend considerably.
• We gassed up before we came on into the county.  We just buy gas locally unless we are on the road, but again it is cheaper out of the county.  (I'm sure in part to the cost of them delivering to this area.)
• The temperature was bitterly cold, and we dressed accordingly rather than crank up the heater to a higher setting.

Tuesday

• Again it was bitterly cold.  I took various canned veggies and started a pot of vegetable soup with beans for a healthy protein.  
• When the sun came out good, I opened the blinds and curtains to take advantage of the solar heat.  
• I needed to wash curtains, but waited until almost sundown since I knew I would be drying them in the dryer.  The added heat helped warm the house.
• I served leftover soup from lunch for our supper and baked a pan of gluten free biscuits to go with the soup.  Since the oven was on anyway I baked a pantry peach crisp (using canned peaches).
• We went to Dollar General to pick up a few items I needed for the kitchen here — cinnamon, mayo, baking powder, sugar, and some plastic measuring cups and spoons.

Wednesday

• The temperature went back up.  When the sun was out I opened the blinds up.
• I used leftover biscuits from supper as the start of breakfast.
• I shampooed another of the carpets....at considerable savings.  (I’m two rooms down and slowly working my way through the house.)
• I batched cooked 2 pounds of ground turkey, which allowed me to get a head start on a couple of meals and take advantage of larger packaging sizes at a better price.
• I used scrap paper for note taking.

Thursday

• A rainy, dreary day and we had to be out.  Rather than double trip distances we saved gas by me waiting in the car at my husband's office for an hour before our errand.  I took advantage of the time to catch up on some phone calls and to work on a knitting project. 
• I used the crockpot for pasta sauce and then baked a spaghetti squash as the day progressed.  The oven helped warm the house.

Friday

• No spend day.  No traveling.  No anything.  My husband did request a change in menu plan and wanted "junk" food.  I was able to pull fries and hotdogs from our food supplies -- so we had fast food at a far lower cost than eating out.
• Because I knew I would have to use the dryer, I opted to run laundry late at night when the extra heat would be appreciated.  Made for a late night because the last load didn't come out until almost midnight, but the added warmth was nice, and the heater didn't kick on and off as much.

Saturday

• Another no spend day.  Lunch let me use up a jar of home canned soup.  Supper I used up  the leftover pasta sauce to make a baked zucchini dist.