Thrifty Thursday: Can I?

 

Friday:  I had Millie for a little while this morning.  We had a great time.  I got out in the yard with her and planted the garlic bulbs.  They were just starting to sprout, so I'm glad those are in the ground.  It's supposed to rain this weekend, so perhaps that will help them settle in.

John asked for breakfast for supper tonight.  I've felt just bad enough that the idea of cooking didn't suit me in the least, but a breakfast meal was easy enough to handle.  Glad I made the pancakes he requested because Caleb and Katie came in.  He ate pancakes, she ate bacon and we were all quite happy with our meal.

Saturday:  We went out to lunch today at our favorite restaurant.  Since we have a gift card from John's brother and because it's our birthdays next week we splurged.  We got an appetizer with our meal and had a coupon for a free dessert.  We ate heartily and brought home enough leftovers for supper.  After we left the restaurant, John stopped and got us both a cup of coffee, something we were both ready for after that lovely meal.  

Sunday:  It's starting to look like this week is going to be about food...That was not my intention!   This morning as we were about to leave church, Katie texted that she and the children were coming over for lunch and Taylor wanted fried chicken.  Fortunately, fried chicken was on sale this week at Publix.  And since we went in for fried chicken, I did a quick run-down of the list I made on Friday evening and saved to my phone, though I had no plans to shop...

I spent $80 with sales, chicken, and flowers.  It's my first spending on groceries for February.  We can't eat flowers, so we can safely say I spent $70 on groceries which included dinner for five today.  If I can manage to come in under $400 this month, I'll be pleased.  

I cashed in another birthday coupon today, this one for a free bar cake (enough to serve six).  I put the cake into the freezer to save for another time when birthdays aren't all around us! Lest you think it was a shame not to share with the kiddos, they only wanted candy from the candy jar, a great favorite among the grandkids because I keep a variety of favorites.  I pick them up on sale.

Monday:  Today I have been busy making foodstuffs.  Again, it feels like this week is going to focus on food.  I made John and my birthday cakes.  I used a boxed mix for mine that I'd bought on sale and divided it between a single layer pan and 1 dozen cupcakes.  I doubled the batch of buttercream frosting and had just enough frosting to cover two single layer cakes and 1 dozen cupcakes with no leftovers.  I thought perhaps the little kids might prefer a cupcake over a slice of cake.  If not, I could always freeze for another day.  The kids LOVED the cupcakes and wanted to take some home, but the bigger boys wanted to try my birthday cake.  And turns out that birthday boy, John, was pretty pleased over cupcakes too, so I saved back four for him.

I have cooked sausage, grated cheeses and made pizza dough for tonight's dinner.  This 'simple' dinner has taken hours to prep and we're still not up to the making or baking of the pizza either.  I had one batch of dough in the freezer that I took out last night to thaw and so I will make two pizzas for tonight.  I'm also serving a salad.  The pizza was a huge hit tonight.  There are a few pieces of pepperoni leftover but the Italian sausage pizza was demolished.  

I had to call the bank about my debit card not working.  It wouldn't work here in town at the local grocery earlier last week.  Not unusual.  That particular bank card hates the machine at the local grocer, and no one knows why.  It's not just mine, but everyone who has that bank's card.  But it failed to work yesterday at Publix either.  I'm being issued a new card.  In the meantime...no debit card.  Although I was assured I could still use in online.  No thanks.

Tuesday:  I made hot coffee and packed up milk (for my coffee) and cupcakes as part of our semi-picnic lunch today.  Then we drove over to the mountain, stopping at McDonald's to get burgers and fries.  It was a yummy lunch!  While we both love going into the local attraction restaurant in the area, I can't deny that we paid a LOT less for today's lunch than we'd typically pay for a meal when we're visiting this locale.  After our lovely dinner out on Saturday I didn't feel the need of another big splurge meal out.

When we got home late this afternoon I had to call and cancel my insurance which is no longer valid now that I qualify for Medicare.  Then I went over checkbook and bills.  This is when I discovered that I've lost a substantial sum of money.  I have looked and looked and looked for it.  I have gone back over my steps since taking the funds from the bank and recalled the last time I remember seeing the cash.  No luck at all.  I even had John go behind me after I'd gone through everything four times myself.  No cash.  I am at a loss.  Literally.  I'm super aggravated because I typically do not lose money especially not such a sum as this.  I'd gotten the funds out of my savings account so that I could attend to a bill.  We'll still pay the bill, but I'll be far shorter of funds than I'd anticipated.  

Wednesday:  We picked up sandwiches on the way home from Warner Robins this afternoon.  We opted to do so at the grocery deli, and I didn't buy a single other food item.  I had gone in to correct insurance information on hand at the pharmacy and noted they had a Glucometer and test strips for less than I'd been buying them at Walmart.  I picked up both of those today since I have needed a new Glucometer for some time.  

I am lost this week as far as my menu goes.  We must go back to Warner Robins this evening so that John can meet with one of our pastors about the Homeless Outreach Ministry that he participates in.  Tomorrow we will be home all day long and no plans as far as I know though I may have Millie for a few hours.  I am tired and ready to be at home.

I reheated the last bit of soup I had in the fridge for my supper tonight and John ate half of one of the sandwiches we had left from our lunch.  Tomorrow, I want to make a home cooked meal, one with veggies and salad.  I'm tired of eating on the run!