Thrifty Thursday-A Goal then So Long

      No, I'm not planning to stop blogging, but am planning to try and ditch adds all together. I'd like to hit $100  in earned revenue before the end of the year, then try to shut the adds off for good. With that $100, I'll get the cash out, and use to put towards an additional  family services/food shelf donation. It will be a team approach, and  a good way to say  bye to those pesky ads, especially on phones. If I can figure it out and not stay hostage to them on my blog as I've tried a couple times to rearrange so they wouldn't be so prominent but with little success. Consider AdSense my trial run at monetizing my brain dump, click away for now, and I will rid them. There that's off my head. I value you all as readers and friends and enough of you have shared your annoyance. I'm also happy to share I am off quarantine as of Tuesday. Not that it will change life too much, and with more restrictions for Minnesota as of Friday night. I did go to the grocery store myself and this weekend. I'll do my Thanksgiving shop-at least the quick look for anything still needed, but more to come on why even our small plans have changed. So what have I done this past week to maximize my  outputs in areas of being thrifty in time, resource, and money? The review is as follows. 

      Time 

• I dove into my book for Book club this week, but saving a bit for weekend reading. I'll have to remember the points for the book club meet-up on December 4th . 
• I did sketch out a sort of Blogmas plan, but will try and stay with my day to day themes. I need the Christmas spirit this year in all it's glitz and lights and sparkle and shine. 
• My daughter and I took an evening walk by the river and downtown last night. The waking path was lit and I had flashlight. The beautiful evening and god company was what we both needed. I'm not sure if the city grooms the path once it snows 

Resources

• Lunches were leftovers, fruit, and bits left from the large yogurt and cottage cheese and hummus containers. 
• I've got the bits from several days of meals for a leftover supper tonight. This will get the refrigerator cleaned out a bit more to make space for the Turkey I'll need o start thawing. My daughter was going to pick it up and keep in her freezer-a sacrifice for a vegan, and I appreciate it. 
•  I picked up some broken dry branches and larger sticks while walking the dog and set aside under the deck to keep dry. If we stay above 40 for the next couple weeks, I think we have a few more outdoor fires ahead of us. 
• Used a way past its prime banana for a quick batch of chocolate chip banana muffins on Sunday..

• A thick long striped scarf that had been stuffed in a bin, dirty and smelly,  looked like it was headed for the garbage, but I went head and threw it in the wash with both detergent and Oxyclean. It looks nice again. We all have plenty of scarves, but this one being long and wide is a really good one for our Minnesota weather and the many outside walks we will be doing to keep active. I like the fun Harry otter look of this scarf as well.  

     

Money

• I won a 6 oz. bag of gummy bears through a gas station phone app scratch game. I will fill up tomorrow, using the  gas coupon for this store, plus collect the snack for the road.
• I did some more web browsing for  gifts, this time not clearing the  cart while I debate if they are suitable. I liked Kim's idea of putting in the cart, then waiting to see if they go on clearance, or a lower price later. Patience sometimes is rewarded.
• I finally remembered and started up on the Microsoft rewards trial and search and after completing oodles of  games, I had enough added to my previous balance for another $5 Target gift card. 
• I waived the eye care plan part of benefits added this year. The family cost would have been around $240 per year, and the added benefit is one pair of lens and frames per year per household member. That might have been great as I have an expensive prescription, but  the choice of who to go through was so limited, no one near home or work, that I'd rather stick with  how I have been getting the eye exam, covered with insurance, and using an on-line eye glass place for ordering. If we had multiple eye glass or contact wearers, it might have been a great option. If something changes with DH or DD2's eyes before the next open enrollment period to add this plan, I can do so then. I believe it will be in three years.
• For relatively pennies, I was able to add another $5,000 for DH for life insurance through my work. I couldn't add more for myself as I have the max. Not to be morbid, but life insurance is on  my mind these days. 

     I didn't spend any money unnecessarily-well I  splurged on a hot chocolate for my daughter and I before our walk, but that supported a local business and time with my kids is priceless. I found an error in the checkbook, DH subtracted the same expenses twice, and skipped one 7 times higher! I was glad I found so that we didn't end up later  having an overdraft due to bad math. I would have found when we  reconcile the check book to balance, but I typically don't do that until a week into the new month. That rounds out my week in thrift.  how about all of you? My wins were small and personal, but as I broken record repeat, every little bit helps.