Last Week's Frugality

  

My wonderful Momma! Happy Mother's Day!

     Hey everyone!  Hope this post finds you healthy and happy! I hope all of the Moms out there had a great Mother's Day--I sure did! Last week was a little better than the previous week for frugality.  Just a little!  LOl!!

   We did have a great week with our DD#2 graduating from college with her BSN in Nursing.  A very expensive dinner to celebrate followed, although we did combine it with Mother's Day!  So we saved a little by combining the celebrations.

  I used my handy dandy metal stamps to make a necklace for Kait for Graduation.  Stamping was harder than I first thought, but it turned out ok I guess.  She liked it!
 And even though I spent $20 or more, I have enough supplies to make several more necklaces for gifts!
 
  I packed my lunch 4 out of 5 days.

  Our local County Market grocery had a buy 8 save $8 sale.  Included in that was Miracle Whip which I use a ton of during the summer months-Potato salad, 7 layer salad, tuna salad, and more!  The price was $3.49 and with the sale it came down to $2.49 which is a better price but I noticed $1 off coupons on some of the jars!

That made them $1.49 each!  Cha ching! Can you say deal????  I bought 5 for my pantry stash!  I picked up several other items to make my 8 deal.  Can you say very excited?

  I was able to use a baggie of the chicken I cooked and then froze 2 weeks ago.  I thawed it and then placed it in a 2 qt. casserole.  I made chicken gravy with a packet mix and added a can of cream of chicken soup. I used a pkg. of Stove Top stuffing mix mixed with 1/3 cup water and 4 T butter.  It is very dry, but then add it to the top of the chicken and gravy. I sprinkled a 1/4 cup of cheese over it and baked for 40 minutes.  This is a keeper recipe! Comfort food at it's best- that whips up in a flash!  You could make it healthier by making your own gravy and stuffing-just remember to make the stuffing very dry as it will absorb liquid from the gravy.  The best part is the crunchy  stuffing with cheese on it!  Yummy.  It was a a complete pantry meal for us using my precooked frozen chicken( that was $.49 per lb.). This is an awesome recipe to use up left over turkey and chicken-remember for Thanksgiving! We had this for an early lunch before graduation Saturday-I put it together and popped it in the oven to bake  while we were getting dressed.

  I put my tomato plants out to harden up last week.  I will be planting them soon!

  Walmart had a clearance sale on girls clothing and I was able to find several items for my granddaughter.  Her birthday is fast approaching and a few pieces are for Christmas.

  Speaking of Christmas, my Christmas Club account is up to $105!!  This makes me so happy!  I also bought the start of my antipasta tray ingredients--garlic stuffed olives!
Gosh we love them. My goal is to purchase one item every week for my Christmas stash. You can see what I  have so far for my Christmas Stash on the side margin.

That is about it for me !  So what did you save money on last week?  Please share so we can all learn from each other!

Frugal Blessings,
Lisa



 

 

Last Week's Frugality Or Not!!

    Last week was not a frugal week at all!  I took two vacation days and both were very costly!  Day one Tom and I both had Dr. appointments.  Can you say $80 in  copays? Cha ching!!   Then add the cost of several new prescriptions and we were close to $150.  After my come to Jesus appointment with my diabetes Dr., I had to purchase/invest in food that I am able to eat.   My diabetes has honestly been out of control so I have to eat right and get my numbers down. Add about $100 to the days total. OUCH!
  Day two was better but still costly.   I took my Mother to her physical therapy and then the Goodwill.  Since we were gone so long, we ate out for lunch.  I was good and just had a hamburger with only half of the bun and an iced tea. But still it was an expense.  We stopped by the grocery again for a family reunion on Saturday.  I purchased the ham and a #10 can of green beans to take.  I was also asked to make my strawberry trifle. So all in all, I spent at least $30 on food and drinks for the reunion. Cha ching again!!
  Hopefully, I can get back on the frugal bandwagon next week. But wait....Kait graduates from NKU Saturday!  That means we will be running around picking up the grandmas using extra gas, going to the pinning ceremony on Thursday and then Graduation Saturday.  Guess what we are doing for her Graduation and Mother's Day?  Going out to eat after graduation. Dinner for 12 at O'Charley's.  Major Cha ching!!!!!
  I guess it's a good thing I get 3 paychecks this month!!  Thank you Lord!

  Have you been able to save money lately?  I need your inspiration to get back on the band wagon so please share!

Blessings,
Lisa
  





















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Pinterest Inspiration

I made several purchases yesterday!  I bought copper pipe, 3 drill bits. chain, and wire.  Can you guess what I am going to try to make from Pinterest?

Crafty Blessings,
Lisa

Last Week's Frugality

   Hello All!  Hope this post finds you well!  The last few weeks have been pretty hectic around my house- Several family members have ended up in either the hospital  ED or admitted inpatient.  Crazy, crazy times but everyone is doing better!  They do say these things go in 3's you know!  They sure do at my house!!

  I have been able to add several things to my pantry in the last several weeks.  I found a red, white and blue cake mix on sale for 73 cents at Biglots.  This will be perfect for the 4^th of July!  I also found a pkg of Oreos cookies for 73 cents as well.  They are the mint ones from Christmas but my DD#2 love mint everything so I picked these up for her. 

  I did find some Easter chocolate candy a couple of weeks ago on clearance and picked up enough to use for chocolate chunk cookies at Christmas.  I put it in freezer bags and then put in the freezer.  Every little bit bought ahead helps!

   Our Meijer had canned green beans 3 for $1. I bought 12 cans to add to my pantry.  The Crystal light was $.99 each when you bought 8 so I added 8 of the lemon tea flavor to our pantry.  We enjoy this during the hot summer months.

   The Goodwill  had a ton of stuff last Saturday!  I found a food mill for only $4.  I have been pricing the nut and spring on Lehmans and they were over $8 plus shipping so this was a steal!  I picked up a scrub set for my soon to be NICU nurse DD#2 for $3.29.  Very good shape!  I found a jelly jar for 50 cents and got that.  I found a large stainless bowl for $2.  Came in handy when I was picking and processing my dandelions for jelly!   I found 3 gently used books for my niece’s Birthday.  So I really scored big time!  I just LOVE the Goodwill, don't you?

  My Granddaughter and 2 nieces were at my house Sunday and I had them pick dandelions for dandelion jelly!  They had a blast picking and my niece Cora (almost 4) wanted to help put the flowers in jars before she left.  I tried explaining I had to make the jelly first, but she wanted to help with the “Jelly Flowers” and didn’t want to go home!! Such a cutie!   I can just imagine what her daycare teachers are going to think when she tells them she picked Jelly flowers!!  Smiles!! My petals are steeping as I write this!  And to my brother who called me a “hippy” - Thank you!  I’ll take that as a compliment!  Lol!

   My Christmas Club account is up to $90!  I know this doesn’t seem like much but it will be a blessing to our family during the holidays.

    I am arranging the bouquets for a friends  daughter’s wedding.   Susan brought me a pot of lavender when she brought the flowers over to me.  Couldn’t have given me anything that I would have liked any better- Thanks Susan! 

That’s about it for me for last week!  What have you saved money on?

Blessings,

Lisa

 

April Showers.........

 

 

      April showers bring May flowers!  But what do Mayflowers bring???

                                                  Pilgrims!

Funny Blessings to you all,
Lisa

My Favorite Place in Cincinnati

As many of you may know, my favorite place in Cincinnati is the Krohn Conservatory.  It is a feast for the eyes as well as the nose!  The beauty is amazing but the smell is overwhelmingly amazing!  Take a look at some pics of my visit last week:

 

Hope you enjoyed a few pics of my happy place!

Blessings,

Lisa

And the Winner is.........

     The winner of the purple canning jars is......Teri!!  Congrats Terri!  Please email me your address on LJN41001@yahoo.com  so I can get your jars to you!

Thank you to all who enterred the drawing!  I appreciate your participation!

Many thanks,
Lisa

Last Week's Frugality

Hi!  How have you all been?  Good I hope! 

  I have a major confession to make this week..............We ate out!  I know, I know, but there is a reason........sort of!  We have a new restaurant in town that is being run by  friends of the family so we wanted to show our support to them and try out the food! Let me tell you it was amazing!  The Hidden Dragon in Alexandria KY is awesome!  I know, we still shouldn't have, but it was so stinkin' good! 

  Well, on to the savings!
   I packed my lunch all week!  Yippee!  This week I have drunk water all day, no tea or coffee.
 
   I ran out of Finish DW detergent and have made do using Kool-aid, washing soda, salt and borax. While this worked in the interim, my glasses are getting cloudy.  So I am looking for better prices on my finish!
 
  I received a check for $4.39 from a Nutella settlement.  I  had purchased 3 or 4 jars and this was my share of the settlement.  I had forgotten about submitting for this so this was a nice suprise!

 Somehow I overpaid at the Dr. office and received a refund check in the mail for $30.00!  Totally unexpected also! So we are $34.39 to the good!

  The alfalfa sprouts were harvested and another batch started.  Yummy on sandwiches and in salads!

   My Mother-in-law took me out to dinner for my birthday a few days early.  She also gave me a UK scarf--Perfect timing during March Madness--Thank you Rose!

   My electric bill for last month was huge! So I am going to be working on getting that down for next month.  I know the weather was very bad, snowy and cold so it should be better anyway with the warmer weather but I need to get it way down.  I see clothes lines in my near future! Please leave any tips in the comments section--I sure could use the help!

  We are still saving water in our shower to use to flush the toilet.  Better to use the water for flushing than it going down the drain waiting for the hot water. Several gallons a day saved at least.  I am also using bottles of water in the toilet tanks to displace and save on water. Minute savings, but savings none the less!

   I found strawberries 5 for $5 and a new breakfast sausage from John Morrell.


7 of the 10 breakfast sausages (3 went to my son)

The introductory price was 10 for $10!  I bought 5 strawberries and 10 Sausage chubs.


                            Guess what I did with the Strawberries-Made Jam of course!

Strawberry Jam Cooking

My jars sterilizing

11 jars Strwberry jam and 4 pints of Black Cherry Jelly!

    I made a batch of strawberry jam and 2 batchs of Black Cherry("poverty") Kool-Aid jelly.  We absolutely love the black cherry and it is so very cheap to make. I love that I can make it in the Spring before all of the outside chores start up. If you want to see the recipe click Here!   I am looking forward to making another "poverty" jelly soon--dandelion!

  My DS's girlfriend doesn't remember going to the Krohn Conservatory (My favorite place in the Nati) so we went Saturday!  I think she really enjoyed it and I used a coupon from the website to save $1 per person on admission. It is such a beautiful, calming place! I love it!



Krohn Conservatory

DS and GF in front of the Waterfall

 


 

I guess that is about it or me!  What did you save money on last week?  Please share your savings with us in the comments !  We can all learn from each other !

 

Frugal Blessings,
Lisa

Don't forget about the drawing for the canning jars--drawing is this week!
Go here to enter!

                                                     

Thanks to all of my old and new readers!

    

    I have to tell you all how excited I have been since I got back in the blogging groove!  I have had more comments the last several weeks than I have had in years and I love it!
It is so much fun to build relationships with my readers.   Again, thanks to all of you--old and new! 
 You make blogging so rewarding!
Blessings,
Lisa

Welcome Spring!

Spring is here!


Blessings to you all,
Lisa