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| Daughter thought playing indoors with Mama Hen would be a good idea. I did not agree.... (She's really cute though, isn't she?) |
My good friend often buys jeans that are my size. Actually, we're the same size, but she is considerably taller than I am. (This is true of most people.) This week she gave me a pair of jeans she'd gotten on clearance that were too short for her, but fit me perfectly. I gave her a pair I'd gotten at Goodwill that fit fine, but I was going to have to hem them. Hopefully, they will work for her and we will both have pants. She also shared a circular Knifty Knitter loom with me. I had all of them except the one for baby hats, and I wanted to make a baby hat for an upcoming baby shower.
We had some good produce prices this week, and I was able to get mangoes for 33 cents, strawberries for 1.25 (until Wednesday, then the price was higher), leaf lettuces for 88 cents and roma tomatoes for .66/lb. I found some salad dressings, mints and cookies on markdown as well. I usually make our salad dressings (and our cookies), but it's nice to have some in the pantry for busy (or poorly managed) times.
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| applesauce muffins |
Husband transferred his other prescription and got our final $25 store credit at King Sooper.
As it turns out, Taffy is a digger. One day when we'd put her in her kennel, we later spotted her romping and playing across the street. This week I took some concrete block that we had on hand (it was here when we bought the place) and buried them so that she can not dig out and escape her kennel.
This has nothing to do with frugality - it's more of a blessing - but I just wanted to share that Taffy had her first play date this week. A friend of mine has Taffy's brother, Leo, and brought him by so we could see if they would enjoy playing together. They romped and ran and cavorted the entire time, and she slept all afternoon. We will likely be getting them together now and then. It was fun for them, and fun to watch!
I received my first book for review from Book Blogger. Stay tuned!
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| my $3 shoebox full of thread - woo hoo! |
Some folks get allergies every year - most years, I get garden fever. I have an especially bad case this year, so I am doing a fair amount of planning, inventory, and digging about in sheds and barn stalls to see what I have that I can use to create a garden that is pretty, fun, and more or less animal-defensive. Because this climate is somewhat arid, there is no lush greenery for the deer, rabbits, etc., so they tend to ravage the gardens. I am looking to make that harder for them without spending a small fortune. I'll share more as I find things I can use to that end.
We pulled the car over on the way home from town to observe a great horned owl in a tree. We don't often see them in the middle of the day, so this was a special treat for us.
I hope you had a great week! Are you planning to garden this year? Share your frugal victories and garden plans in the comments, if you please.
My Dad would completely agree with your daughter on the peanut butter. He calls it sweet peanut butter and would rather be hungry than eat it. That was a great trade on the jeans. My DIL who is 2-3 sizes smaller than me did a huge closet clean out and will bring me her cast offs when they come for Easter. That will be a big help when I get down to that size.
ReplyDeleteWe are almost through with the big attic clean out. Hubby will bring down the last of the boxes on Saturday and then take the shop vac up there and do a big cleaning job on all the dust up there. Another big load went to the thrift store. Not frugal but we have been rewarding ourselves with a Chick fil A lunch out when ever we get another load together to donate. We had a coupon for a free sandwich this time so lunch was only $5.20. It feels so good to be ridding our house of all of the things that we do not need.
A local grocery store had a 3 day sale on whole pork shoulder roasts for $1.19 a pound. I bought an almost 7 pound one and between the day we cooked it and meals we prepped and froze we will get 11 meals from that one roast that cost $7.89. It was almost all meat and very little bone. A friend told me that The Fresh Market has ground chuck for $2.99 on Tuesdays. Even Sam's is up to $3.48 a pound. I will start making a stop there when we need to restock the freezer. I stocked up on Minute Maid OJ for 1.24 for a 59 ounce bottle. I peeled and cut carrots instead of buying babies. One day I had a childhood favorite food and used up a spoonful of leftover mashed potatoes. It consists of leftover potatoes, a slice of torn up bread and a couple of eggs scrambled and cooked together. It looks like a mess but I love that stuff! We used up stale bread and had French toast for breakfast when we would have preferred pancakes.
We had to have a repair on my van last week. It was only a small hose and right on top of the engine so the bill was only $20. Our mechanic does not upcharge parts, our last one doubled what he paid, and he charges the actual amount of time spent on labor. Our previous mechanic used a standard labor rate chart which meant that if the chart said 3 hours and he actually only worked one we still paid for 3 hours. If we ever have to change mechanics again we will ask these things about how we will be charged.
I have to pick the shingle color for our new roof this week. I hope I can pick the right one! We will run the bill through our credit card for the rewards and right now there is a $50 reward bonus for a $750 or more charge so yeah! we will get that too!
Hubby bleached and pressure washed the deck railings yesterday so I think we can avoid a total paint job for a bit longer. The weather here is still not such that I would start any planting outside. My over wintered plants are blooming and looking good in the garage including my azalea tree-boo-it will be done before it gets to my deck. I have not really decided how to handle spring planting since we will be out of town for 11 days at the end of May and everything could be dead when I return. I think I should just wait. Maybe when I get back all the plants will be marked down!
Have a good week everyone!
Lana, your reply makes me smile. I have a special place for blackeye peas, rice and barbecue sauce all mixed together. Add some spinach on the side and I'm in heaven! :)
ReplyDeleteMy grandpa always said that if you get your plants in a little late, they will catch up because the weather is nicer and the seeds respond better. Or...maybe the young man that did some yard work for you could water a time or two while you're out of town? :)
I am thinking like your grandpa about the plants since it is still so chilly and gray here. We will have lows in the 30's again this week. We turn off the water when we go out of town so we would not have any water available unless someone came into the house and turned everything back on.
ReplyDeleteHello! What a nice thrifty blog! We were thinking about putting in a smaller vegetable garden, but switched to a larger one because we have so many neighbors that are elderly and could use the produce. We start all our vegetables from seeds that we save, so it doesn't cost anymore, just have to dig another plot!
ReplyDeleteJane
March was no where near as good a month as February but I come here and get inspired. I am planning ahead for Easter and it's accompanying treats so April will be a better month. I have 6 grandchildren to get a little treat for. My 1 year old granddaughter's postponed birthday party is this Sunday. I got a 10$ off 10$ or more purchase coupon from Kohl's so I will use that and add a dollar or two to it and be able to get her a nice present without anyone being the wiser! Eating leftovers from a 60th birthday party I cooked for Saturday night and a family dinner yesterday. Two or three dinners and lunches saved, hurray!
ReplyDeleteHere's to a more frugal month of April!
Love and God bless,
Helen
PS When you went looking for butter in your freezer I thought "wow! I can't believe I have more butter on hand then Laura