Thrifty Thursday- On Extra Funds

   

    I've been very lazy about both uploading Fetch receipts and playing MS Rewards quizzes. That's really dumb of me because both yield free to me extra funds that will come in handy. Focus, Sam. I've ordered a few more things from Amazon. Pups outdoor lead broke. He can't really be trusted to not wander and now with his poorer eyesight, just stepping off into the road a bit could be disaster. There's some non spending going on too. Like, watching grandpup here means no extra gas back and forth to my daughter's. Using any produce she brings has definitely improved my grocery budget.

      I want to get in the earning side again. I miss seeing the points add up. It's fun money for the holidays. Now that it's October, I should be thinking of them, but my mind is not there yet. So where is it for thinking thrift?

• Repeat, using daughter's veggies. She made her first mortgage payment so we better consume the produce from her property. (359 left and counting)
• Used coupons for filling the gas tank
• I took full advantage of meals and snacks provided at the conference. This meant leftovers stretched farther for DH, and I stretched out groceries. 
• Used frozen $2 a pound cheese curds for homemade Mac and cheese. DH was thrilled. That, or tomato soup and a grilled cheese is his comfort foods. The cheese curds plain are still tasty too. 
•  Used free easy apps for donating to hurricane relief. 
• This probably just encourages us to go out to eat more, but we bought a box of diner cards. Over 100 restaurants with buy one get one, or a certain Dollar amount off the check. This was a school choir program fundraiser so how could we not buy one. There's many pizza places included and using just those once each will pay for the cards. At least these are dining cards and not fast food coupons. There's several in my daughter's community and to places near the lake. We'll pass on cards that are in locations we'd hardly go to.
• Card night at my sister's was thrifty, as we BYOB and share snacks.
•  I bought a beer cheese dip from our local grocery deli for card night. I got to say, at $6.99 it was a good value. Six of us nibbled Friday, plus DH ate during football. I've been eating with crackers as part of lunch.Yes, it would have been cheaper to make, but sometimes time and energy need conserving. 
• Temps are dropping starting today, but will go up a little by end of weekend. I'm making sure we have plenty of blankets accessible for sleeping and relaxing. I dug out my comfy slippers for the drafts under my desk. Basically, making sure we don't feel the need to start heating the house so early. Temps this morning are higher than they'll be later. 
  
  
  

    That's what passed for thrift in my house. Oh, I could add I've got a free personal trainer with grandpup. I'm keeping track of my increased exercise through walking, and decreased snacking because I'm watching less TV or streaming. Both bad habits to curb. I remember losing weight at the beginning of the pandemic. I was walking pup more out of boredom and being home more often. However, by fall, and the realization we weren't even close to seeing an end, too much bingeing, screen time and food, was bad for me, and I not only gained back the couple pounds I lost, but another 11 to boot. ( Or should I say to butt. ) This feels more positive as free weight loss support. Warning though, this is a 10-15 year exercise plan with no breaks.