Thrifty Thursday

 Friday: I had big plans for this day...and my plans were shortened considerably by Mama's announcement that she was coming to stay for three or four hours!  Nothing like an unexpected visitation to make you hurry up and finish up the business of homemaking!  I had meant to cook ahead for the weekend.  I did manage to put together a casserole of Spaghetti Diable which calls for cooked chicken.  I split the called for amounts between two dishes and froze half.  I had a  meal that Mama and I could share (and enough leftovers for John to take to lunch the next day) and a casserole for later when John and I need an easy meal.

While the morning went rather fast I did begin rather early.  I started immediately with a pan of biscuits for breakfast meals and put flour, salt, sugar and oil in another bowl to begin pizza dough a bit later.  I measured out the last of the yeast (just enough left in my jar) and added warm water and sugar to the cup later in the morning.  I pinched off a bit of the dough and made bread sticks to go with  mine and Mama's lunch.  They didn't really have time to rise for the second time but they were delicious.

Most of my spare time Friday (what there was left of it after cooking and cleaning and napping, lol) was spent on the internet looking for census and marriage records for family research.  I do enjoy that a great deal and it rarely seems tedious to me.

We didn't buy enough bread for Shabat and I didn't think to make a small loaf while I was baking in the morning hours.  I decided a bagel would do just as well.  

I put a roast beef in the crock pot to cook. A portion of it will be used to make pizza for tomorrow's dinner.  The rest will be sliced for sandwiches.  I had some for my supper tonight.

John's lunch entree today was leftover sliders made on Thursday.

Saturday:  What an easy day!  I took pizza dough from the fridge to warm and rise slightly.  I had the vegetables that I'd prepped yesterday morning on my kitchen day in the fridge, and all the topping ingredients bagged up together.  I just stretched the pizza dough to fit the pan, assembled the pizza with the ready prepared ingredients and baked.  

The rest of my day I spent watching my Netflix film, researching family on the internet and planning out the work week ahead.  

I took time to enter Coke reward points into my account.

Sunday:  Work day for John and I.  Mine went relatively easily.  The house held up very well over Shabat.  I worked on cleaning out my closet bedroom closet.  I moved a short bookcase into the closet that there was no room for elsewhere in the house.  I put my shoes on that and tossed shoe boxes into the trash.  The closet looks so neat and nice!  

Went out to feed the pets.  One of the pots of petunias had finally died out. I removed the dried stems  I spent some time snipping seed pods and scattering them over the pot.  Fingers crossed that I'll get a 'third' life off those old plants through the seeds.  

Cut back the mums which have had buds or blooms all Spring and now into Summer.  I want them to be lush and pretty come Fall.

Since Katie was here and she'd not yet had her homemade birthday meal, I decided that would be the ideal menu for today.  Ranch chicken, ranch mashed potatoes and Oriental green beans. I had all the ingredients on hand and it was certainly not a hard meal to make.  I made molten lava cakes for dessert.  I couldn't find my copy of the recipe and didn't want to stop working in the kitchen to look it up online.  So I pulled another recipe.  John said he liked that one better.  Katie agreed.  Guess that recipe is the keeper recipe then.

Washed a full load of dishes.  The dishwasher works best if the water is HOT when it begins to run.  I find it best to NOT waste water so I use the water running to rinse dishes, fill the dishpan, etc. until it's good and hot.  Then I start the dishwasher.

Used water I'd boiled eggs in and then steeped my used tea bags in to boost the poor geranium which had taken a beating during that heat spell we had. Granny told me that her grandmother always used tea water to keep her geraniums healthy.  (*note: worked like a charm.  I have two new blooms and new leaf sets coming out on the plant this Thursday).

I 'shopped at home' this afternoon when I noted several items were low or nearly out.  So nice to do that!  I just went right to the back pantry and freezer and got out milk/bread and peanut butter and mayonnaise.

Worked on the checkbook and bill box this afternoon, preparing for Harvest Night tomorrow.  

With no TV in the house we've been making good use of the antique replica radio that John bought at the pawn shop earlier this year.  We'd been wanting one of those for the longest time but we seldom bothered to turn it on.  It seemed such a waste until this weekend.  We recalled that twenty years ago we almost always listened to the radio and seldom watched TV.  We talked over whether we want to keep our satellite service or let it go.

Monday:  Washed a load of sheets and towels and hung on the line.  I almost didn't...There were some odd bugs just sticking to everything outdoors but it was hot and a steady breeze was blowing.  It seemed more than reasonable to hang the clothes out and brush off any bugs before bringing them in.  They were dry in about the same time they would have been in the dryer and the sunlight and air cost me nothing at all.

When the repairman came to fix the satellite (it was actually a cable and port on the TV that got hit by lightning) I asked about various options.  We can 'buy out' our contract, buy an antenna and suspend service for up to six months, or ride out the contract time.  In the end the buy out will cost more than we could save in a year, so I suspect we'll just hold off for now, but I see an antenna in our future.

The day passed quickly as the afternoon was filled with company, children and phone calls. I didn't even have time to stop and eat a meal after breakfast.

Pared and sliced and put up in the freezer the last of the peaches I bought last Wednesday.

Tuesday:  Washed another load of sheets and towels and hung to dry.  Then I made the guest room and bath up fresh all over again for possible weekend guests.

Took off trash when I went out to run errands.

Planned errands carefully. I like to make a full circle whenever I can, instead of backtracking.  I managed to make that full circle today.

Decided against going into the dollar store today.  That's a savings of about $40.

Decided against takeout for dinner, too.  John had refused a Tuna Salad plate I'd made and I thought it would be the perfect meal for myself.  It was hot and humid outdoors.  A plate of cold tuna salad and a frozen lemonade sounded perfect to me.

Went into drugstore to pick prescriptions.  I had a short list of wants/needs but none of the items were in stock.  I was disappointed that my refills weren't ready, but instead of wandering the store and 'just looking' I sat down in the pharmacy area and waited.  That strategy probably saved me about $20.

Made up some meatballs from ground turkey and a bit of spinach we hadn't eaten.  I steamed the spinach in the microwave then squeezed it dry.  I chopped and mixed with the turkey, homemade bread crumbs and seasonings.  It took just minutes to bake in the oven.  I was doing more 'cooking ahead' for Wednesday dinner after grocery shopping.

Wednesday:  Checked the sales for new week at the grocery before we left home.  I noted a few items that were not grocery but good buys, namely pens that we prefer to use.  

 

Planned out our route before hand so that I could pick up ice cream that was on sale.  That was to be our last stop for the day.

We took ice with us from home so the cold bags were cold when we started putting groceries into the car.

First stop of the morning was a toy store.  We have a birthday boy coming up to visit this weekend.  Happily we have our little fund of money set aside for birthdays for the grandchildren.

John made especially sure to pack the cold stuff well.  He had a secret plan: taking me out to lunch at a new to us place.

 We checked our groceries before going into the last store to make sure they were staying good and cold.  They were just fine.  John decided to buy a second bag of ice rather than split one between the two cold bags.  His decision got our ice cream home in solid state.

Thursday:  Got news last night that we were definitely having company this weekend.  John and I went to work right away yesterday evening but today was about planning: meals, sleeping arrangements, chores and tasks that needed to be done prior to Friday afternoon.  

Decluttering these past seven days has netted us 6 trash bags of stuff to go to dump,  two big bags of donations and a couple of items to give away.  There's more to do and I'm amazed, I truly am.  We are continually going through our things in an effort to keep only what we are using or love.

We worked hard all morning long.  I mopped, and dumped the mop water over the plants on the porch.

John had been wanting a pressure washer.  We haven't gotten one yet, but he did find a special pressure washer wand that hooks to the water hose.  He cleaned the deck floor and and the mower today using it.  He was pleased that a $10 purchase worked relatively well.

We washed a load of clothes and hung to dry indoors.  John was mowing grass and I don't hang out laundry when he's mowing.

Today's dinner was easily prepared: Meatball heroes and chips.  I'm glad it was so easy too because I was TIRED by dinner time.

Washed a full load of dishes in the dishwasher.

We loaded up the truck with trash bags, the backyard can that had finally gotten full of dry trash items, etc and hauled all that stuff off.  It felt so good to see it leave the house!  I felt like we could breathe better and the house seemed to look neater and nicer even though all the stuff we accumulated was behind closed doors.

Moved some pieces about in the house today.  It's wonderful how just moving one item from one room to another or even from one location in a room to another suddenly makes the room look neater and nicer.  It's a whole new look without spending a dime.

Planned menus and made a small shopping list.  There were a few items we didn't buy earlier this week because we weren't sure we'd be having company.  I won't go into town until tomorrow.

It's been a week since we filled my car and there's plenty of gas to last until next pay period I think.

And that's my week of savings!  How did you do?