Five Frugal Things | black-thumb seed saving
1. I dried marigold and hyacinth seeds
When Zoe and I were hanging the Christmas lights and doing a little yard cleanup, I grabbed some marigolds and some hyacinth bean pods and spread them on a tray to dry.
I know the hyacinth seeds will work just fine next spring because I do this every year.
The marigolds? I'm not positive what will happen with those because maybe the seeds I planted last spring were hybrid seeds.
But I figure that it's extremely low risk to save and dry them; I'll plant them all next spring and just see what happens.
2. I used cream cheese containers to store the seeds
Once the seeds were totally dry, I put them into washed-out cream cheese containers.
These types of containers are terrible for food storage (you can't see what's inside, and that often leads to waste), but they work great for non-food storage.
3. I used a $5/$25 coupon at a grocery store
This is not a store I go to often, but I stuck the flyer on my shelf just in case. And yesterday when I headed out, I happened to see the coupon on the shelf. Yay!
I also used two coupons from the in-store flyer; one to get Turkey Hill ice cream for $1.99 and one to get a bag of mandarin oranges for $1.99.
And I bought a package of day-old croissants for 50% off.
4. I got some free sparkling water
When I was at the above-mentioned grocery store, I looked at the mark-down rack and grabbed a 4-pack of sparkling water for $0.79.
But after I checked out, I noticed the water had rung up at full price. The customer service desk was on my way out, so I stopped there and the person behind the counter actually gave me a full refund!
So my water was free. Which is an even better price than $0.79.
5. I used a brown sugar bag as a piping bag
I tried my hand at cinnamon swirl pancakes last night, and since I didn't have a ziplock bag on hand for piping purposes, I used the brown sugar bag that I had just emptied to make the cinnamon mixture.
It worked out just fine, and it saved me from using a brand new bag.
Those Cinnamon Pancakes look yummy. Do you have a recipe for the pancakes?
I used my regular pancake batter recipe and then used this recipe for the swirl and glaze: https://www.recipegirl.com/cinnamon-roll-pancakes/
Here's the pancake batter recipe I always use: https://www.thefrugalgirl.com/wednesday-baking-buttermilk-pancakes/
Cinnamon swirl pancakes sound amazing!
Frugal wins for the week:
1. We used our passes to Williamsburg one more time before they expired.
2. The hotel we booked upgraded us to a much nicer room.
3. I packed all our meals and snacks (including spiced hot cider in two giant thermos that stayed hot for two days and ginger cookies).
4. I used Hoopla for listening to audio books for our six hours in the car.
5. I found some Dover coloring books marked down (at the gift store) cheaper than amazon prices that will go perfectly with our history curriculum this year. I didn't buy anything else. Win win.
6. The hotel gave us a $25 credit for breakfast. So my husband took our 4 year old for a special breakfast while the older kids slept in and then we ate food I packed. It would have been $65-$75 if we had all had breakfast from their menu. Crazy. But I wasn't going to waste a $25 credit.
7. The kids wore costumes I made (vests and capes).
8. My son's zipper broke on his coat (passed down from two older brothers) the day before our trip. I couldn't find any good deals locally so I put snaps on it to make it work for the trip and I'll buy something with my Gap points next time there is a sale.
I've learned many of these tips from reading the beach trip tips on this blog.
Oh, yay! I'm so glad our vacations inspired some savings for you guys.
9. Saw fudge in a candy shop for $18.99 a pound and was tempted to buy it. But I came home and made 2.5 pounds for $6. Now I have some for me and some to share with my neighbors.
I just cleaned out the BIG freezer and the kitchen freezer and found that I don't need any frozen anything for awhile! Yay!
Making stock now from turkey bones, which I will remove meat from to make hash for supper tonight. Also making a vegan, smoked cheese ball, which might turn into spread instead, for storage space. Have cleaned out under the kitchen sink and found some things to pass on to others. Happy to have been able to do all this and more this morning.
I need to know more about these pancakes!! They look like they would be good for Christmas brunch!
Wait .... you've been holding out on us. I'm sure you can make it work with any pancake mix, but what do you put in to make your cinnamon swirl?? I'm always looking for ways to add variety to pancakes!
Oh wait, I think you linked it to an earlier commenter. I bet you get lots of requests for that--you might want to add it to your post for today!
Frugal stuff .... huh. Beyond the usual of eating what I cook and not letting leftovers go to waste, I would say ... we scouted out fun light displays last night and took a drive to enjoy them. Last week we met up with my niece and her littles to see a holiday display downtown--that kind of thing is more fun with really little kids along. Watched the local Christmas Pops via livestream (I paid for a 2020 fall season pass--which is an excellent deal plus I am helping to support the symphony) and enjoyed some Christmas fun.
Ok! I added a link.
Thanks! I made them tonight and while they were tasty, they also were a gooey mess.nI read and followed the instructions including the ones that teach you how to be more successful so I don't know where I went wrong. Not sure I'll make them again ...
1. My black boots gave up this year, cracking and splitting all over. They were old and not real leather, so I can't complain. I am shopping for more, but I can hold out until I find a really good price.
2. Everyone in my office went out to lunch together, except me. I'm having leftovers from home. I am not the least bit down about it -- it's chilly and raining outside, with a cold front blowing in. My co-workers are nice and always invite me to go out with them, even though I almost always refuse. This day, I told them they should have ordered in!
3. I really purged my Christmas décor last year and sold it at a yard sale, so it was much quicker putting stuff out this year. I recently saw a couple of things that would look cute at my house, but nope, I'm not building that stash back up. Money and space, saved.
4. I emptied another tub of fish food and put the cleaned, handled tub to work. When one has as many goldfish outside as we do, one orders fish food by the pound, which is SO much cheaper per ounce than the cannisters at the store. Feeding the fish is my small grandkids' biggest excitement when they visit us, so the fish are worth all that food. Plus, we like the fish, too.
5. I am baking a Christmas cake which calls for 1 cup of chopped nuts in the filling. I chopped them using my late mother-in-law's 1950's nut chopper, still with its original glass jar and mid-century-modern painted pattern on the metal hopper. If it still works, why get rid of it?
We have lots of goldfish, too, and buy the big container. They are hibernating for the winter so no food, but the big food comes in handy when warm enough! And, they keep multiplying
We have lots of goldfish, too, and buy the big container. They are hibernating for the winter so no food, but the big food comes in handy when warm enough! And, they keep multiplying
We are in North Florida, so although our fish eat less, they still eat during the winter, as they will remind me anytime I walk by :).
JD, I still have my Mom's 1950's era nut chopper, too, although the painted design on the hopper wore off a long time ago. Every time I use it happy memories of baking Christmas cookies with her come to mind. Thank you for mentioning your chopper and bringing back those happy memories!
You're welcome! How nice that it brings a happy memory for you! I'm glad I thought to mention it.
I'm feeling quite worn today. Our oldest daughter is home and under strict quarantine after Covid exposure. She does not leave her room except for the bathroom (used by her only). Meals are left outside her door. It is hard.
I need to figure out a last minute gift for a very dear friend.
I ordered deodorant from Target. It has a buy $30 worth of personal care products and get $10 off. Also 15% off for order online, pick up in store. I buy a natural deodorant that is regularly $6.99 each. I used this deal to pay about $4.50 each.
Keeping up with food use. Transferring the rapidly ripening persimmons to the fridge so they keep a bit longer.
Waited an extra day to wash my hair. I was too tired anyway! I've been loving the Ethique brand conditioner bars. They last SOOO long. I have used one over 6 months and it is only half gone. It cost $18, but it appears that it lasts a year. I have a chin length bob.
Best to you all.
Kara, My 20 year old daughter also was exposed to Covid and we did the same bedroom/bathroom isolation with meals left at her door during the quarantine period. Her test came back positive, however my adult son and I did not get it even though we live in the same home. I know how hard it is and exhausting as the mum! The isolation really can work at least! She recovered quickly and well, also. I hope your experience is the same!
Thank you. It is encouraging to hear your experience. It is surprisingly wearing on me, though I would do it at any time for any of my kids!
My sister told me 2 years ago that she stopped using deodorant in the winter and she did not sweat or stink. We both live in cold climates so I thought I am going to try this also. And lo and behold it worked for me.
I do use natural deodorant when it gets hot. In fact some times in the summer the natural deodorant does not work so I go back for awhile to my previous brand.
I use Schmidt's brand. It is the ONLY natural one that works for me. And we live where it is 100+ in the summer. I think that it must have to do with a person's body chemistry, because it seems a brand can work for one person and not for another.
I started using Native a few months ago. I was buying all the clinical Secret and it was not working. I have no more funk after using native. It is expensive,but I do not have to use a lot.
I tried drying out some purple green bean seeds this year for the first time. I have no idea if anything will come of them or not, but feel like you - low risk and we'll see what happens! My FFT:
1. After last month's significant overspending on groceries thanks to my panicked pre-quarantine shopping, I've been really successful at not spending much on groceries so far this month. My husband even noticed that I hadn't done much grocery shopping! (That felt so good.) Tomorrow I'll go back to normal grocery shopping, but I'm glad I made it this far into the month with not spending much.
2. My first grader wanted to make gifts for all of her classmates and give them Christmas cards, so we bought a box of cards on sale and made your cinnamon applesauce ornaments. We're going to cut up a big cardboard box to make little pouches for the ornaments so (hopefully) they don't break in the kids' backpacks. The cost was $7-8 for cards and gifts for the whole class.
3. We've had a lot of free Christmas fun. A park in town has a free drive-thru light display, we've done craft kits from the library, and borrowed Christmas movies and books.
4. I ordered some toothpaste while it was 40% off.
5. I went through the boxes of stuff my in-laws left for us that include a bunch of my husband's old toys. My little boy will be getting 2 buckets of LEGOs for Christmas that didn't cost us anything.
1. I combined my birthday 5% off via Target Circle, plus $10 off $30 purchase of beauty products, plus a 30% off bedding coupon and saved $30 on my total order from Target. This allowed us to purchase a much needed set of flannel sheets, some household items and toiletries we were needing, and several Christmas gifts.
2. Our son had to have another tooth extracted yesterday and a spacer put in. The dentist offered him laughing gas to make the procedure easier but he, all on his own, refused it. I was a bit nervous what it would be like for him but he was super brave and came through all smiles. This saved us $75 as our insurance won't cover the cost of laughing gas.
3. I made a large pot of homemade chicken noodle soup which will feed us several dinners and lunches and only costs about $0.20/serving to make. Plus homemade bone broth during cold & flu season = double win.
4. I spent this past weekend making up all of our holiday cookie recipes, fudge, buckeyes, etc. This will make lovely gifts for neighbors, teachers and family. There is something really special about the homemade treats this year not the least of which is having made it to the end of the year so that we can stand and stir the fudge - what a joy!
5. We are eating from our freezer and pantry for the most part. Our only grocery expenses have been for milk, eggs, and a few fresh fruits and veggies. I plan to continue this practice with the exception of a few items needed to make Christmas appetizers we are all set!
Stay safe everyone!
This past week has been hard, emergency fund used to repair.Glad the money was there.
Eating meat from the freezer.
All Christmas shopping is done.
Watched a movie on tv with grandkids, homemade cookies served.
Coupons ready to shop .
We are all safe and healthy,hope you are also.
Ugh! Emergency funds are there for times like that, but it is never, ever fun to spend an emergency fund.
It's been a tough week for us, so I'm not sure how frugal we actually were!
1. I've been sick so no grocery store run this week. We've been eating what is available in the pantry and freezer. Meant no leftovers for my lunch but luckily the company is providing lunch for us twice this week. 🙂
2. Cashed out credit card points to cover all of the cost of Christmas gifts
3. Made eye doctor appointment so I can get new glasses to use up remaining FSA funds
4. Got a set of golf clubs from my BFF to gift to my son in law. My friend's husband recently passed away so we have been the lucky recipients of many cool things
5. Used supplies we had on hand to make a new Christmas decoration I saw it on Pinterest (PVC pipes cut and arrange in tree shape with ornaments added inside the pipes) and wonderful hubby brought the creation to life.
Your #2 is awesome! Glad you were able to make it work!
When I save my seeds I use envelopes from junk mail. I was told it was better to put the seeds in a paper bag or envelope. First I mark on the envelope the seed type and the year. Then I put the seeds in and lick the envelope closed. I have my own homemade seed packet.
Oh, that is a good idea!
I have had seeds saved in plastic containers mold. . . even after I thought they were completely dry.
Did you see the comment above about adding a silica packet (from supplements, etc.) to the container to keep them dry?
This is such a great suggestion!
1. Sold another two items on FB, which seems to work better for me than Craigslist.
2. Dropped off more of my husband's sweaters at the Rescue Mission and made sure to get a tax receipt.
3. Made one of my husband's favorite for dinner, hamburger soup. Used the opportunity to throw in some aging spinach. The final product turned out to be pretty thick so added chicken stock and turned it from one night's dinner to two night's dinner.
4. Used the library for six books.
5. Dropped off Christmas gifts for our neighbors on both sides and across the street. This is a nice little hub of people who help each other all year long, even though we are not close like friends we do watch out for each other. For each family I made up a decorative bag with a loaf of homemade bread, a dozen eggs from our chickens, a jar of my home canned rhubarb syrup and a stick of butter, with a note that this was for a meal of French toast. Inexpensive (I even managed to find butter for $1.98 a pound), useful, won't clutter up anyone's house, and a little bit personal and unusual. It was fun to make them up.
I actually haven't been spending much but here goes:
1.) Found a good deal on some molasses. I was all out and Aldi didn't carry any this year. It's so darn expensive for some reason when if you buy it in bulk, it can be really cheap.
2.) Bought some plain T-shirts on clearance for a couple of dollars.
3.) Used some No Rush Amazon Digital credit to buy myself some reading material.
4.) Took advantage of some food sales but didn't go hog wild. We already have a full pantry, freezer and fridge so no need to buy up stuff to get wasted.
5.) Haven't bought any Christmas wrapping as we had tons from last year.
A few more suggestions on seed saving:
(1) Drop a silica gel packet (saved from shoe boxes, pill containers, etc.) into each of your containers of saved seeds. Keeping them dry is key.
(2) Then put them into the freezer, which is where I store both home-saved seeds and leftover packets of bought seeds. My all-time record for saving seeds in the freezer is 15 years for some bought lettuce seeds.
Now, another three for an FFT:
(3) DH is recovering nicely from his most recent fall on 11/20, and the in-home OT assigned to him brought over her lovely mellow yellow Lab (a retired Seeing-Eye Dog) for her session with DH today, at my request. DH and Ritz got along beautifully; our equally mellow cat, Betty, contented herself with giving Ritz the stink-eye and didn't raise an actual stink; and the OT and I both had fun as well. Making therapy enjoyable = totally frugal.
(4) We're going to be getting at least a side-swipe from Winter Storm Gail--but I went out for supplies this morning while the home care aide was with DH, and we still have about a 2-year supply of firewood in the old attached garage.
(5) And the parody Martha Stewart calendar for the Bestest Neighbors is almost done. This year's naughty theme is Martha's recent venture into marketing CBD products. I'll let you imagine the various jokes.
I'm also an OT and I loved your story. Good for her for making the session fun. 🙂
I am so glad that your DH is recovering from his fall!
How are things going with your car adventures after your crash?
I never cleaned up my marigolds in the fall and they would reseed themselves in the spring! This was in the frigid north too!
You're my kind of gardener!
My FFT are: Also used some of my Amazon No Rush Reward stash to rent 2 movies when we couldn't find anything interesting to watch 2. Sold a pair of ice skates and some Christmas decorations on FB
Marketplace 3. Selling our big house and downsizing. Our house has literally doubled in value over the last 4 years so we are taking advantage of the crazy market and moving to the unpopulated country. 4. Purging unused items (aka weird kitchen appliances) and either donating or listing. 5. Still only going to the store for fresh veggies and fruit! My 1 FF... have been spending a lot if money on wild bird seed. We love to feed the birds and there are a ton this year. Have been going through a 40lb Costco box a week! Once you start you have to see them through until Spring or feel guilty looking out the window... Lolololol
1. Going nowhere saves gas.
2. Using Dobot App To start saving for a new to us car.
3. Went very minimal on gifts for my young adult children. It’s covid. They need nothing. It’s all good!
4. Been stacking coupons a bit ( like 7-10 dollars of savings) in my Kroger pick up orders.
5. I also saved marigold seeds for the first time this year. I will see how it goes!
Stay safe!
My Kroger won't let you stack coupons. You can use either a digital coupon, or a paper coupon....but not both.
But you can stack the buy 5 get $5 off sales price type offers, and some of those specials are digital offers, with paper coupons so that can increase your savings. I did that for gold medal flour and Juicy Juice items. I saved an additional $.25 per bag of flour that was already $1.29 from $2.29 and $1 off 2 bottles of juice that was $.99 down from $1.99. The stores never let customers use 2 coupons per item in the past so this isn't a new policy. I'm just thankful that we can still use coupons and with the digital coupons I don't have to worry about bringing them or remembering to use them. Definitely helps with the old timers I suffer from sometimes.
1. Picked up a pack of pork chops and a whole spiral ham off Buy Nothing. Also picked up a huge pack of Christmas cards off Buy Nothing.
2. I won a free lb of coffee at our favorite coffee place. We already had a 4 lb order in for their $9.99 on the 9th event, so they knocked $9.99 off our order. We don't order to-go coffee from shops, so $9.99/lb for amazing coffee is very well worth it to us!
3. I listed some vintage bar stools that I bought for $25. I am hoping to get $500-$2000 for them. I sold doors to a Barbie dream house on ebay.
4. Submitted for my childcare flexible spending account
5. I emailed about a research study regarding breast milk. They will pay me $25 if I am accepted. I also submitted a survey for another study that I could win $25 for.
You do very well on your Buy Nothing group! I wish we had one around here.
That looks yummy. I'm going to try it for Christmas brunch! Here are my five frugal things for the week:
1. While organizing the holiday section of the attic I came across two large bags of decorative Christmas gift bags given to me by my MIL that I will reuse.
2. Won free earrings answering trivia questions during an online jewelry party my sister was hosting.
3. Butter was on sale again at the grocery store. I bought the limit....again.
4. Used a coupon for 20% off embroidery floss my daughter needed to finish her Christmas presents.
5. A local fabric shop was offering 30% off the balance of bolts. One was a fabric I used in a quilt I am making for one of my girls. There was enough to use for backing and two pillow shams!!
1. I used my $10 IKEA birthday freebie and got 2 pillowcases.
2. I posted a few items on Nextdoor and made $22.
3. I helped my sister post a bunch of Christmas stuff on Facebook Marketplace. She gave me lunch and sent dinner home with me.
That's it for the week except for all the usual things.
Loved your other happy post about the Cookie Monster tree:)
1. Made co-workers citrus bath bombs for Christmas gifts. Had all ingredients on hand and used tissue paper (also on hand) for wrapping. No expense there!
2. Used apple scraps, cinnamon sticks, and a few cloves to made a homemade tea when we were feeling under the weather...so comforting!
3. For Christmas entertainment I have been watching free live musical performances on Facebook (Sara Groves, King & Country, etc.). Also “Santa” came to the neighborhoods via fire truck today & that was free fun for the kids:)
4. It’s been a boring menu lately—we’ve been eating leftovers/pantry/freezer food. Thankful we have food though and looking forward to next grocery trip:)
5. Supported small businesses as often as I could when gift shopping this year—and realized that you can do that even with small budget items.
* Made soup with turkey stock and half a bag of meatballs I found in the freezer - added half a bag of carrots about to go south and a handful or two of pasta. The best soup!
* I save the liners to cereal or cracker boxes and use them for food storage, or even to line pretty containers for my Christmas snacks I give as gifts.
* I added a couple of basics in with Amazon order to get free shipping - stuff I need anyway.
* Recycled the rest of a bag of tater tots and some frozen corn, along with a bit of leftover grated cheese to make a tater tot casserole that really hit the spot this evening.
* Used our vintage tree this year to save $80 plus at the tree farm (not even including gas money and time to get there!) We will shop the sales for a nice pre-lit faux tree for next year.
* Ordered photo "cards" from Walgreens and used a 50% off coupon. Less than 8 bucks later the cards are mailed! (we have a super small list of folks we send to)
It was a tough week! But. . .
1. When our very large chest freezer died, we defrosted the smaller chest freezer (quickly!) to make more room, shuffled things around a lot, threw out some things we didn't really need to keep (bottles of ice, buckets of tallow for soap-making that were extra), and managed to get everything put away or eaten instead of running out and buying a new freezer that was inadequate in size (since the really big ones are not in stores right now). Make do, right?
2. Called repair man for said freezer problem. If he can fix it, it will be less than a new freezer.
3. I "shopped" in our basement this evening for snow clothes for the kids to enjoy our snow tomorrow. I almost missed the brand new snow boots I bought for my daughter this summer (store closing, deep discount during tax-free week), but I remembered them finally.
4. We've been creatively using leftovers.
5. I've been planning some Christmas gifts for my children using materials we have on hand.
Did lots of overtime this week to get stuff done before holidays - yay! wow its been a huge year. I splurged on takeout quite a bit or I wouldn't have eaten lol
- I've been frugal with power & both my gas & elec bills were small (although mostly due to mild weather so much less need for heating or cooling
- Bought a bottle of natural carbonated lemonade ( I never buy fizzy ordinarily) to have a go at lemonade scones. the bottle kept looking at m reproachfully & then I really fancied my once in a blue moon glass of fizzy but then the rest would go flat & be wasted, so I froze it in portions in snaplock bags standing up together in a container - what do you know ;we've had a run of hot days & I've been enjoying lemonade icypoles
that's it for me
I applaud your seed saving. 🙂
I was actually joking with my husband that this is my annual attempt to appear more normal than I am. Specifically, with gifts. I have three kids in school. All three have gift exchanges in their classrooms. I don't buy wrapping paper. Like, at all.
But! I do save various things like bows and ribbons from gifts we receive. And I save the white tissue paper that sometimes comes in things we've bought. And I save the Christmas cards we get, from which I cut out the pretty illustrations to make gift tags. And in that way, I can wrap the gifts that go to the school in a more "normal" way. My kids are used to their gifts being in reusable gift bags or brown paper from the packaging in boxes, but other kids aren't, so I make a bit more of an effort.
But I still won't buy wrapping paper. 🙂
We all have our lines in the sand. 🙂
Are you not purchasing wrapping paper b/c you want to be zero waste or is it a frugal thing? We can't recycle our wrapping paper locally. I discussed this with our recycling center folks and they said there is little pulp value in it b/c it is usually made of recycled paper. So it is just trash. I do tend to use lots of gift bags but I struggle with the waste of tissue paper sticking out the top so this year - am starting to forego the tissue paper. I know people can reuse the gift bags. Anyways - kudos to you for your creativity and reuse. We need more of that and I wish that what you do would be the normalized thing rather than the massive waste. I do enjoy finding vintage-ish wrapping paper at thrift stores.
Both. I have a problem always buying anything disposable or single-use, and wrapping paper is pretty much the epitome of that. It's wasteful both monetarily and environmentally. I'm glad to know it's at least made from recycled paper, but it still has an environmental impact to do the recycling, manufacturing, shipping, etc.
Those pancakes look yummy!
1. I agreed to participate in a longitudinal medical research project that just involves completing surveys. Received a sheet of stamps for completing first one.
2. We packed lunches to eat in the car for both legs of a recent trip to see family (after we all took part in a 14 day extra self isolating plan).
3. Followed vets instructions to prevent dog from having a bad reaction to her rabies vaccine and it worked thus avoiding expensive treatment .
4. Not frugal for us but is for others. We cleared out most of our Christmas decorations as we haven’t used them in 4 years. Gave a son the lights and donated the rest.
Those pancakes . . . !! 🙂
1. I went back to my grocery after getting home and realizing I didn't get my 3 lb. ground turkey package for $5.00 although there is was on my receipt. So I ran back and they very nicely let me pick up another package.
2. I pay the credit card in full each month, but back in October, I was a day late calling it in. They charged a fee ($40 I think) so that very day I requested that they disappear the fee, which they promised to do. Of course, this past month, not only was the fee not taken off, they were charging $14.00 interest on it! So I called and politely requested that they do something and they removed both fees. Will be checking future bills to make sure they follow through.
3. Same old same old -- 20 meals a week cooked/prepped at home plus a take out night on Friday.
4. Trying not to go crazy with Christmas shopping 🙂 A work in progress!
5. Love my library but am struggling pick up books put on hold, including one for book club. Worth it totally!
1) I having been using up fruit and other goodies that were gifts, which means some new recipes.
2) I've been making big batches of something yummy on weekends to last several meals throughout the week.
3) I'm rereading one of my favorite books, Your Money or Your Life, on my kindle.
4) I booked 2 free nights at 2 different hotels for a staycation over Christmas (sad replacement for being with my kids, but it is something...)
5) I've been making sure I get my 10K steps a day in, even if I don't feel like it some days.
1. I received a box full of food goodies as a Christmas present for work. Chocolates, Xmas pudding, shortbread and more.
2. My friend is shouting me dinner out tonight. The restaurant we are going to makes huge meals so the leftovers will be dinner tomorrow night.
3. I’ve been eating down the freezer and not buying meat for about 4 weeks. So far I’ve had pumpkin soup, tuna bake, sausages and spaghetti bol. Much more to be eaten over the next 6 weeks.
4. I picked up an extra shift at work this week.
5. Parents asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I need a new hose and sprinkler so let them know.
1. I'm now working from home so we are saving on gas, etc. (I hope this continues after the holidays). Though I know the electricity bill will be higher now that I am here and sitting still most of the days (we tend to keep our house around 62)
2. We got a good bit of snow for the first time in a few years and my kids are loving the sled riding! Which is FREE and great exercise!
3. We treated ourselves to drive through right before the storm so that we could eat something "different" before we got snowed in. I used a coupon from my birthday for a free meal. Not healthy and did cost money but it hit the spot right before the storm. Sometimes you gotta treat yourself.
4. As we were getting ready to go sled riding, I realized my son had no base layer pants to go under his snow pants. I remembered that I had some ladies LuLaRoe in my Ebay death pile, so I pulled those out and he wore them! I'll wash them and add them right back to the "to be listed" pile. Use what you have.