Thursday, October 14, 2021

Thrifty Thursday -Cooler Weather

       The days are finally cooler, though  yesterday despite the blustery wind, it felt quite pleasant outside even with no sun. The house was chilly when I woke up-I loved it. I slept better last night than I have in ages and I know the right temperature to blanket ratio was the positive doing. On Thursdays I recap my week of thrift-how I made the best use of my time, resources, and money to try and live a good life budgeting these things where they matter. Sometimes there are good wins and other times, utter fails, but  overall, I strive for balance. 

Time

  • Lot's of time this weekend with DH gave me a taste of what retirement life (for him first) might be like. It was nice knowing he had nothing he "had" to do on Sunday.
  • My family did a formal park clean-up on Sunday morning, followed by brunch at my sisters. It was not as messy as one might think-people might be doing their part, but we still filled a large black garbage bag. 

Resources  
  • We took the time to sort the recyclables from the garbage at the park clean up. I give my brother that credit as he was adamant! 
  • Took home my leftovers from our BBQ meal. 
  • Rescued a jacket that was misplaced with something to be thrown out It was an old Columbia jacket of my son's that might still fit. If he doesn't want, I'll donate as it is in perfect condition.
  • DH has the annual furnace tune up scheduled for this morning. This will ensure the furnace runs efficiently, and we don't waste gas keeping our house warm. 
  • We are keeping the heat off. Now starts our game (my game) of how long we can last before turning it on. I love this time with no air, nor furnace blowing. 
                                        Money 
  • Found a deal on little chocolate chip/teddy bear cookies, 10 for $10. I nabbed 10 boxes for Trick or Treaters. I usually buy a good $25-$30 worth of candy so these will do the trick, plus, no leftover candy to tempt me. If there are leftovers, I can give the unopened boxes away and keep any left from an open box for DD2 when she is home at Thanksgiving. 
  • This is a usual one, but worth saying hat  I ate lunches at home every day.. 
  • I did a $9 meal shop for my 3 at $3 challenge. I cooked meal one last night. A full recap will be done next Wednesday on how we fired and what was made. 
  • Took a chance on washing an old hand me up wool coat my daughter gave me. I washed on delicate, then dried flat. It seemed to work well and saved the $10 dry cleaning fee. It will need steaming or an iron perhaps. I am pleased because it is a pretty coat, just way to big for her, and motivation for me. 

     It was a quiet week for us after all the coming and going on the weekend. We are taking a break on any take out or meals out this week, through the weekend, and through next week. With my Meal Challenge shop, I had a separate grocery/household item shop of a few odds and ends and we will  make due for another week.  I'll do a shop before the college kid comes home.  It will be a home focused weekend, but  a few things will be tough if we don't get a problem fixed. We are having a drain problem again in the kitchen-similar to the one that cost us a couple thousand last year. DH is trying a few things, but we may need to call someone to blow out the line. It makes no sense as we do not put things down the drain other than water. I read on the Next Door app others have complained as well and perhaps it is a city water line issue.  Frustrating. That aside, life in the thrifty lane is going OK. Any wins in your life this week? 

17 comments:

  1. Very cute jacket! Glad you were able to clean it & avoid the dry cleaning fee.

    Love that you made cleaning the park a family outing. What a great way to spend time together, & helping your community!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The coat cleaned up really well-it is a nice November-early December coat before it gets really cold. We have had fun with the adopt a park-good project for a family. It was nice getting the little involved.

      Delete
  2. Our fall weather is coming this weekend. Today is the last nice day, rain moves in tomorrow, with wind and cooler temps to stay. Blah. Had lunch with my mom squad at the park yesterday, to kinda cap off “summer”. Not frugal but worth every penny. Kept groceries to $100.81, although I did pick up some baking stuff with my walking around money that I’m not counting towards groceries. I did in fact bake something this morning. My friend made them for us yesterday and I needed more lol. It’s peanut butter cookie dough on the bottom, a Reese’s cup in the middle, topped with brownie batter. So good, yet so terrible! I’m sharing with people at work so I don’t eat them all myself. Sam’s Club had gas again for 2.99 yesterday despite it being 3.19 the day before. So glad I waited. Picked up a small shift last night at work. Forgot to mention last week, but I was picked for a trial of a product, not sure if I’m allowed to mention it or not. I purchased the items and sampled them, then was reimbursed my money plus $10. Pretty sweet! I wish more opportunities came my way like that. Finally finished fafsa and a state grant application and got a letter from college about a renewable merit scholarship my daughter has been awarded:) Not a bad week, just plugging along as always! JoAnn

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We never really got the rain that was promised the other day. Mom squad time is needed and great when you can still be outside. We are having book club outside tomorrow. That dessert sounds decadent and I want some! All my daughters school scholarships' are renewable each year, but the work one she'll need to reapply for this January.

      Delete
  3. I left Istanbul in summer and got back to Fall weather. I have central heating and noticed that the management started to heat the apartments just a little. Natural gas prices have sky rocketed this year. We'll see what kind of bills we will get. I like that jacket. The color is perfect for Fall.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm sure we will see a spike as well in gas prices. I won't mind putting on another layer and I have my fuzzy slippers if it means we can keep the temperatures lower.

      Delete
  4. You remind me to get our furnace inspected, thank you
    We try not to turn it on until January.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If we make it to November, I am happy. If we keep in the 60's outside and get some sun, we might just do it, but with less sun, it could be chillier than DH feels comfortable.

      Delete
  5. I love that coat and that color will look great on you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've had it a couple years from her and was about to drop off and then realized I probably had nothing to lose to try and wash on delicate.

      Delete
  6. I am so looking forward to cooler weather. It's still a bit warm here and we have to keep the AC running. Hoping to run it less as November approaches. My husband is an HVAC tech, so he tunes up our unit once a year, typically in the cooler months.

    Pretty coat!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nice to have expertise in the family. As late as last week we had the air o. When it hit 80 on SAturday after several day sof upper 70's, the open windows did not cool th hosue down for sleeping.

      Delete
  7. Maybe if enough people call the city pointing out others are having problems, they will do a permanent fix on the city lines.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We shall see. We are having our lines blown out today.

      Delete
  8. We had them blow out our line one day in the kitchen sink. It works so well. I hope you have solved yours now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We have a person coming out this morning.

      Delete
  9. Love the colour of the coat! I treated myself with more survey money this week, getting things I otherwise couldn't have justified buying.

    ReplyDelete

Join the conversation. Your comments are welcome. Dissenting and different opinions are welcome as makes for good conversation. I moderate comments to be sure I read them all and stay ahead of the spam. Advertising products or services without permission will be deleted, as will anything that may be harmful to others-read promotion of debunked "experts" and conspiracies. If you're a blogger, feel free to include your blog URL.