Thrifty Thursday

My pot of basil and mint...The gnome has a bluebird in his hand, something Katie knows I'm particularly fond of.  I've used basil and mint fresh for weeks now and the plants have filled out nicely from the skinny little things that came home from the grocery with me.


Saturday:  Back to synagogue.  We packed water bottles from home for our long day ahead.

Recalled that I'd brought home some handtowels to wash after Passover and quickly grabbed those to go back with us, too.

Opted out of having lunch out with the group and headed to the grocery for dog food then home.

Reheated pizza for our dinner when we got home.

Lazy afternoon and evening at home.  We had sandwiches for supper and made more of those good frozen lemonades.  Such a nice treat!  I'll definitely be buying more lemons so I can make more of these!

Sunday:  Up early, as John worked an extra shift.  Took 2 half pound packages of ground meat from freezer to thaw for dinner today and tomorrow.

Stripped the bed and washed a load of sheets/dishcloths and table linens.  I hung all on the line to dry.  Carried out our bed pillows and put them on the line to air, too.

Tossed a pillow that was so old I couldn't remember how long we'd had it...I do recall recovering it about 15 years ago and it was old then.  I decided that some things we just don't need to hang on to.

Decided today was paint day.  I took my free table (dumpster picked) out to front porch and painted with Kilz.  Had some of the Kilz left in my paint tray, so I touched up the storm door.  It looked so neat and nice.  I'll definitely go over it with another coat of white paint but just the Kilz alone made a huge difference.



Crushed the crumbs of the Doritos left in the bag (about 1/3 cup) and mixed with half pound ground beef.  I was thinking on the order of a nacho burger...Shocked to see Katie and Sam coming up driveway.  Quickly grabbed other half pound of thawed meat and patted out two more burgers.

Had a pie in the freezer which made a nice dessert for our simple meal.  Good thing.  Mama stopped by just as the coffee was prepared and we were about to have dessert. Always enough for one more!


While visiting with the kids, they headed to front porch.  I grabbed my free can of Behr paint (from an email offer last year) and put two coats on that table.  It looks really nice and is the perfect inexpensive piece to set between the two chairs.  Now there's a handy space for coffee/ Bible in the morning and handheld fans and bottles of bubbles in the evening.

Ran a full load of dishes in the dishwasher after the company all left.

Realized that I'd used no electricity all day long except to run the washer and the dishwasher through short cycles.

Folded the pieces of clothing hung on the drying rack in the breakfast area.  More air dried laundry.

Nothing at all on tv after a morning sermon or two so it stayed off all through the day until John came in at 8pm.


Monday:  Made peach pancakes for breakfast using the last of the wrinkly peaches.  They were perfectly ripe and tasty but John prefers his fruit to look pretty.  He liked the pancakes very well indeed.

Unloaded the dishwasher.  Saved the bits of water that gathered in plastic bowls, will use to water the plants on the porch.

Am out of the usual bathroom cleaner.  Have been subbing with Windex until I get to the dollar store.  Works just great on porcelain, glass and metal in the bath and the ammonia kills germs.

I baked chicken legs for dinner. I used leftover squash to make a casserole which baked in the oven with the chicken.  Sliced tomatoes made a complete meal of it.  With these hot days a little hot food goes a long way.

John went out to mow grass in the late afternoon.  I took advantage of his being out of the house to get vacuuming and other chores done that he tends to 'fuss' about my doing.  He thinks they are 'too heavy' for me, lol, but I do them all the time when he's not here!  With the newer mower it takes less time and gasoline to mow our big yard.  

When John came back indoors I made him a frozen Coke.  I seriously can't imagine how I lived without a blender all the summers past.  I use mine constantly to make a morning smoothie or a frozen drink for afternoon breaks, milkshakes for a cool dessert drink.  And lately I've used it to make oat flour and bread crumbs.

Tuesday:  Used saved water to water the front porch plants.

Fed scraps and leftovers that I'd found 'hiding' in the fridge to the dogs.

John washed and hung to dry a very large load of clothes.  I didn't realized we'd not washed clothing in 5 days!  No short wash, low water load for us this day.  However, I'm sure the savings in electricity and water overall did save us money.

Took a 1 pound piece of chuck roast and cut away all fat then cubed.  I put in the crockpot with quartered baby portabella mushrooms, an onion, some wine and a bit of onion soup mix.  Let simmer all morning long.

Instead of heating house up using stove top to make mashed potatoes, I used the microwave to cook two large potatoes and to heat buttermilk and butter after the potatoes were tender.  Then I mashed the potatoes using the buttermilk to moisten.  Took less than 7 minutes and I had one hot entree ready to serve with our 'beef tips'.

John asked me to ride into town with him.  We took along trash to drop off at dumpster and mail to drop in box at post office, picked up mail and got gasoline for truck and mower.  Took us a whole twenty minutes including the ride into town.

Last night and tonight I just plain wasn't hungry.  I'd found our lunch heavy enough to last, but I also knew I'd be hungry around 9pm.  I had just half a sandwich both nights.  That was the perfect amount of food to keep me from feeling hungry later and not sit heavily upon me all evening long.

Packed John's lunch for work as I prepared supper.

Wednesday:  Knew Mama wanted to visit a grocery today for a special item she can't get elsewhere.  I thought about our low stock of snacks (thinking salty/crispy sort here) but decided I'd just see what I can come up with that is already here at home.  John and I agreed to cut down on our chip quota and I don't want to sabotage a good effort on our part to consume fewer calories and spend a bit less in that department.

Picked up my coupons to carry with me, just in case....Brought along a bottle of water, too.

At Mama's I was the happy recipient again of her 'used' magazines.

My week to treat us to lunch.  I save my allowance to do this so it doesn't come from our general funds.

Kept my head at the grocery.  I bought just cheese, a $1 loaf of bread, a favorite brand of turkey sausage and coconut oil.  Allowed myself two splurges: a very well priced, beautiful orchid (will bloom for weeks) and a set of napkins and placemats that were on the clearance rack.  I don't mind splurging on items that will give lasting pleasure and multiple uses.


When I got in I put eggs on to boil.  I used one for tuna salad, will use two to make egg salad (a favorite of John's) and ate two for my supper with a slice of toast.  Light, nutritious and tasty.

Looked over cupboards and found a box of wheat crackers, discovered some pineapple chunks (so refreshing when served well chilled on a hot day), string cheese...Why there was no need to purchase anything 'extra' at all for snack foods.  These things will do just fine in a workday lunch or for my own snacking during the day as well.  I discovered I have all needed to make up a 'trail mix' or to toast nuts (almonds, walnuts and pecans) or to make a homemade version of  PoppyCock.

Puzzling over the grocery store total, I decided to go over my receipt.  Well!  I was mischarged for the place-mats which rang up at full price instead of the clearance price.  I'll take them back to the store for a refund when I'm over that way Friday running errands.

Packed a work lunch  for John.  This is a daily savings in our home.  Typically he saves between $7 and $10 for each workday over the cost of purchasing snacks and meals.  He likes having food handily available that he can eat as he has time.  Do you know how often these workers get called out just as food is served in the cafeteria or restaurant?

Refilled water bottles and put in fridge to chill.

Made up some instant pudding for work lunch dessert.  The box of pudding cost $.56, the milk less than that.  For under $1 I had four containers of pudding.  I reused containers from KFC that once held individual sides.  I love that they use those little containers now.  So handy to reuse.

I got pudding on my shirt while mixing and had several dots and spots on me.  I put Dawn detergent on those spots and on a spot on the shirt I'd worn out to lunch.  I put them in the clothes basket so the Dawn could soak in for a few hours prior to washing.

Fed the dogs some foodscraps to round out their dry food.  The cat got the juice from the can of tuna.

Thursday:    Went back to bed after John left this morning.  I got another hour of sleep before waking.  My joints were hurting badly.  I drank a bit of Powerade when I took my vitamins and it really relieved the pain.

My breakfast was odds and ends from the freezer that tend to drift to the back or bottom: a biscuit and a bit of sausage gravy (in one of those handy reusable KFC containers.  I heated in microwave and had a quick and easily prepared meal to offset my late start.

Dogs never showed up for breakfast.  Even though the food was on the porch less than ten minutes, Trudy's pan was covered in ants immediately it seemed.  I dumped that and put Maddie's panful away in the covered container.

Decided today had to be the day I started with this decluttering process.  So far, the kitchen is about 65% complete.  I've already loaded two bags of stuff that was just not worth hanging on to.  Reorganized the shopping bags to go out to the car,  emptied the plastics bin of odd pieces with no matching lids, cleared out under the sink (still needs to be cleaned well) and have got the appliance cupboard mostly empty.  I'll clean there and put things back, clean under the sink and I'll call it a day.

Found I had three old fashioned honest to goodness milk bottles under the sink.  I thought they'd be nice to decorate with in the living room so pulled them all three out.

Went into craft room to go over monthly goals.  After beginning work on the quarterly budget sheet (I had to stop as there are figures I need to verify before I can finish), I gathered up two bags of items to be donated from that room.

Leftover lunch for my midday dinner.

About a month ago I was trying to make some magazine holders...only to discover after I had all my contact paper cut that the magazines wouldn't fit in the holders.  So all that cut contact paper was rolled up and put away.  Today I used it to line the appliance cupboard.  It looks so nice!  I'm glad I was able to use the paper after all.

Used the last of a bag of potato chips (mostly crumbs) over the salad I had for supper.  I liked the crunchiness of that.  I got the idea from a recipe featured on a magazine website.

Used the water from cleaning the cupboards to water some of the front porch plants.

And that winds up the savings for this week!

1 comment:

Susan in SC said...

I love your table and it will be a great place for Bible study and prayer.

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