Thirfty Thursday-Even When I Ain't

     We got another weekend of  savings in the heat department with unusually warm temperatures. The furnace has kicked on late, and hasn't run much at all, but it's changing today I hear. That's a good thing but with all these unusual weather patterns, I can't help the need to acknowledge that it may be due to man made issues speeding up the change and not in a good way. On Thursdays I try and recap things like this-where I've perhaps saved some money, spent my time wisely, or did things to preserve resources. Often times these crossover, and admittedly, sometimes they are at odds. Regardless, here's the ways I tried to make the most of my time, resources, and money the past week.  

 

Time

• DH, DD1, and I had a good wander in Sam's Club, getting a feel for the type of things they carry and the prices. Here's a money saver-we did not walk out with the 75 inch TV DH was eyeing up for $999. 
• No need to write more about my time with sisters and cousins, but it was a really fun day. I'm glad my sister and cousin came up with the plan to get all the ladies together as without being intentional about planning, time just slips by without seeing people. With extended family, too often we go years without connecting, and then see each other sadly is at funerals. 
• Daylight is precious this time of year, so with technically having vacation days, I tried to get outside things done when I could. I still had a cluster of hostas and got them in the ground to hopefully grow and expand to cover a space in front of the garage. Now leave them alone squirrels! 
• DH and I treated ourselves to a rare Monday night dinner out. He had a few vacation days to use up as well, so after getting things done, we didn't want to mess up the kitchen. 
• I scheduled two meetups with friends for the month of November. Things can change so may be classified as tentative, but in the same spirit as above, I feel like I needed to get something on the calendar or pretty soon several more months will go by!

Resources  

• I do this at least 1-2 times per week, sometimes more, but had more garbage pick up when walking pup and then separated recyclables
• My daughter wanted to make herself a protein shake with bananas Sunday night but mentioned she only had frozen one. I had over ripe, but not yet frozen so it was perfect to send them home with her. She then froze my remaining couple of  bananas. I never judge right any more how many  bananas DH will eat, and apparently, they have not been his go to fruit last week. 
• The soup made Sunday used up the last of a trio of zucchini bought over two weeks earlier. 
• DH got to the lake to put another canvas tightly around the boat-using one already available with extra elastic ropes. The day turned into a bit if a cluster f&$#+, but I'll elaborate tomorrow.

                                        Money

• DH spent Sunday morning working on  retirement account stuff, shifting a few funds to higher yield, but  moderately safe investments. I still am as numb as people come with this stuff, so happy to let him handle. We were pleased to see the accounts are doing as well, if not better than our retirement plans need them to earn.
• I bundled an old coupon code with a free delivery version of Swiss Colony to get my son a meat and cheese box, along with a free box of chocolates and 24 petit fours like last year. It will come in time for Thanksgiving. This is not sponsored, (but Swiss Colony if you are reading, I'd be happy to be hooked up with some products) but I do prefer Swiss Colony over the other boxes I've used for gifts. You may have luck getting the free 20 count chocolates and 24 petit four with any order by using the following item number added to your order: AX1346 which is a better deal than the catalog freebie of 16 assorted chocolates. 
• DH used a $10 of $50 coupon and got the weekly groceries. Well, he got most of the groceries, and likely spent too much on many items that cancelled out the $10, but he tried. 
• I went back to the store and was able to get two, 2 1/2 pound bags of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $3.48, making the price just $1.40 a pound. I might try and get the deal a second time before end of day Saturday-if I can maneuver room in my freezer. If I do, I'll cook the next two bags up ahead of time, then wrap, ready for meals. Since I found room for the other two bags uncooked, these will take less space if I cook before freezing and I'll use some between today and Sunday for meals. 

     Financially, not much "savings" at all and I was fairly loose with my credit card last Saturday.  But in time well spent, I was thrifty with a capital T. We never know how much time we have to spend laughing and with whom we get to laugh with. Nurture your time with others. Say yes to the coffee meet-up, the book club, the walk on a cold day even if you need to wrap that extra scarf around your neck. Pause when raking the yard and and chat across the yard with a neighbor or better yet  grab a beer or two and sit by a cozy warm fire with them. Schedule the Zoom call with people across the country or across the world. There's times to save money, times to do our part for the environment, but every week is time to spend with  others and also caring for ourselves. How was your week-defined by your own definition of thrift?