Thrifty Thursday-A Few Finds and Wins

      Another week and more opportunities to make the most of finite, time, resources, and money. For me, this week off, as is next week, is focused on getting life to some sense of order. This is part of the vacation hours I was allowed to roll forward, but needed to use up by end of August. We are horribly chaotic people individually, and together, DH, DD2, and me make our lives resemble the aftermath of a train wreck. Odd, since in our work and school lives, we are so on top of everything. My son is a minimalist, mostly by default as he  relocated across country twice, with only items he needed, and has kept that intent of only having what he needs. Of course, I have bins of his stuff labeled and stored for "some day." My older daughter is a self proclaimed recovered saver/clutterer, and now truly lives by keeping things that are needed or bring joy. I guess I won't reach her level of tidiness and order, but I am both hoping to do better, and hoping our youngest turns that same corner. Here's my wrap up of where I feel we had some good finds and a few wins in the thrift and economy department. 

Time

•  Got a 80% complete, but  useable space completed for my more permanent shift to working from home. Even just with blogging this week it has felt good having a separate space, and I just didn't want to wait until we had  time and energy to paint and replace the carpet. 
• We had a nice birthday dinner out with DH and the girls and then to the movie. It was even a bargain as movie tickets are cheap on Tuesdays. 
• We had a nice Wednesday at the cabin-no one else there so we could really relax and do things on our own schedule. We'll be up over the weekend as well. 
• While I packed beverages and we had some at that lake already, DH ran to the country store about a mile from the lake for sandwiches and local cheese and meat sticks. We buy gas for the boats and lawn mower there as well as the occasional beer run. Sure, things are more expensive there, but we try and make purchases a the local store throughout the summer to support their business as it is a treasure to have so close.
• While I enjoyed the Olympics, I am happy to not have a reason to turn on the television. 

Resources  

• I made a slow cooker pepper and tomato soup from essentially misfit vegetables-and it was a success. Today is a mix of relax and productivity so it, combined with some pieces of one of the ciabtta loaves m daughter brought home last week, will be a nice lunch. 

  

  
  

  
  

• I decided I needed more light in the office and was going to add "lamp" to the list of things to buy, even if second hand. Then I remembered there was an old table lamp hanging out upstairs in  our bedroom, and decided it would work. Again, not a preferred option, but fits in with the make do for now office. 
• I was worried that after so much heat, then two hard rains, my flower pots would be dead. While they took a beating, They seemed to have managed to survive, and the  rectangular pot of flowers looks full again. 
• We weren't that hungry last night when we got home form the cabin. DD2 had chicken strips form Monday night leftover. I used those to make DH a couple wraps on tortillas, using 1/4 bag of a  bagged Asian salad mix for the sauce and greens. He said they were really good. I ate the other 1/4 (had mixed only 1/2 the bag) as my light supper-and a whole lot of tortilla chips! 

Money

•  While I originally thought I would want an iPhone for my new cell phone, I had absolute sticker shock on the price, even with 50% off. The technician showed us the T-Mobile version, made by Motarola, that was essentially free (tax and  activation fee  of $46 though) for trading in my dinosaur phone. As long as it turned on and did not have  broken screen, they accepted it. I use my personal cell for calls, text, occasional photos, and a few apps, but do not need the state of the art versions. I still got 8X the memory of my old phone. 
• At lunch at Chili's, I signed up on the spot for rewards, and got a free  soft drink. Better yet, their $8 lunch deals was so filling, I took 1/2 my quesadilla home and had lunch the next day. Always sign up for the deals. Create a spam email just for these if you want, but it is a nice perk to enhance an occasional meal out. Now we prefer local restaurants, but as we were in a  suburb for  the phone and a Kohl's, pickings were slim. 
• DH found a pair of tennis shoes he liked, already with a good sale price but we had both an extra 30% off, plus I received $5 off anything promotion for my Kohl's anniversary. I also had him get a good Lands End basic t-shirt as he has so few that aren't rags, but the 30% didn't work on that as a national brand. Yes, I do plan to make him purge a minimum of four items for both, but I'll likely tackle his purge next week or a rainy fall day.
• I used the last of the twinkle lights I purchased a few after Christmas's ago to go with my great niece graduation present. She's off to move into her dorm next weekend. 
• I made  "fancy" coffee using my Ikea milk frother.
  
  
  
• Last week I was skeptical on the quality of the $1 coffee pouch I bought at Dollar Tree. I had no coffee and didn't want to grocery shop, but was there for other things. I was surprised that the flavor was OK. While I didn't get 40 cups as I use more grounds and a bigger mug, I've likely gotten 10 days of coffee out of the bag.
  
  
  

    I keep making lists of things we need-new mattress for the bed in the office, a new vacuum cleaner, and when in Kohl's, I almost coughed up the funds to buy new flatware. Ours is very mismatched and while I do have a complete set of  inexpensive stuff we use when I care about a matching table, I don't really like it. This is in additional to the major house projects and finishing touches on the office. I'm contemplating turning Adsense back on for a bit of side funds along with getting back on track with the Microsoft points. Adsense was starting to earn me about $50 a month which sure would be nice fun money for these items that are leaning towards needs, but realy still a want. I hesitate as it seemed like I had no control over the location  and spill over annoyance. As readers I'd love your opinion. This was my week of trying to use my time, resources, and money wisely-while living a good life in the process. How about you? What finds or wins did you have?