Thriving In My Thrifty Week–Nov. 25, 2018

IMG_9773

I was given a beautiful bouquet on Thanksgiving.  They made such a nice addition to the holiday atmosphere.  They were special to me because they were a very thoughtful gift from Allison.  She is the love of my autistic son, Anthony’s life.  Rob was able to pick them both up on Thursday so they could join us.  Although they live in different homes, they are very committed to each other and are very sweet.

IMG_9613.JPG

This is a picture from a few weeks ago–they are such a cute couple!

IMG_9757

Jake was happy to show Anthony and Allison how to play Wii, after the meal.  (As if they didn’t know how, but they were good sports!)

IMG_1351

My oldest daughter, Abbie, was stressed after a long work week, so baked and baked and baked until midnight.  Boy did we eat good.  When you added all these tasty desserts to the lemon meringue pie my nephew made, the apple one I made, and the cookies Patsy made…..boy, oh, boy!  And, the best part (or the worst), was it was all gluten free.  Some was dairy free as well, for those who needed it.  I ate WAY too much, but Rob, the determined did not.  We got all the extra food out of here–sent home with our guests, except the part of the feast we felt was best to keep.

IMG_9765

Of course, we had coffee, made by queen of coffee herself:). It is so good.  There’s nothing quite like it.  Needless to say, the other coffee remained neglected on Thursday.

IMG_9768

When I went to Fred Meyers on Saturday, I was surprised with several freebies.  I knew the gum was the Friday freebie, but was not expecting condiment cups, a can opener, and a little candle.  I was doing a little grocery shopping, because that’s all I seem to do lately:), and got the bulk curry powder and cloves I was after from there, along with several items such as 99c pasta sauce (5), 99c gluten-free crackers (3), and $1.99/lb butter (5).  I was not able to get bulk poultry seasoning there.  They were out.  I guess the “secret” of buying bulk spices to save lots of money has gotten out.  Ibotta has been doing a rebate at Safeway only (it’s not offered at other stores I shop at) of red lentil pasta.  The first time I bought it, it cost $2.79.  I got a $3 rebate.  I also got a coupon for $1.50 off 2 boxes and the rebate popped back up.  I went back Saturday and got 2 boxes.  They were a little more expensive–a little more than $3/box.  The cashier ran my $1.50 coupon twice, and took off $3.  I pointed it out to her, not wanting to cheat anyone, and she said she was leaving it, and have a nice day.  So, I ended up paying around $4, and will get $3 back for one box, making the average of the 2 boxes around 50c/box.  Today, the rebate popped up again, expiring in 12 hours.  I’ve sent Rob for one last box.  This is simply a new product that they clearly want people to try, and I’m delighted!  I’m sending some to Lovana in her next care package, since she eats vegetarian and it’s high protein, and am eating a box soon, since it’s gluten-free. With these high-value rebates and many other lower-value ones on things I needed to buy,  plus some bonuses I qualified for, I’ve been able to get my Ibotta account built back up again, which is awesome since I cleaned it out for some of the great holiday sales.  My comedy still continues–I went to the store at least 7 times over the past few days–no matter what I buy, I seem to out of something daily–odd things like Dijon mustard, cornstarch, cloves, curry powder, along with normal things like milk and eggs–we are just cracking up every time I announce that I’m now out of ____!  I guess I’d better start serving 99c pasta sauce on free red lentil pasta:)

IMG_9753

I’ve been able to do a little sewing lately.  This skirt was one I’ve had in progress for a while, but finally finished in time for Patsy to wear for Thanksgiving.  I got the top for only $10 at Fred Meyers and was super happy at how nicely it went with the skirt.  You cannot see in this picture, but there are pink buttons all down the front of the skirt.  I have so many buttons from a large boxful  Rob bought years ago at a yard sale. It was great to use some up and it kept the cost down.

I was able to get in on some great sales at JoAnn’s on Saturday.  I used up the last of 2 gift cards I still had from either my birthday or Christmas, and added some cash to get things like interfacing and some fabric for a few projects with the large discounts that were being offered this weekend.  It was fun.  I haven’t allowed myself inside of JoAnn’s much lately.  I was amazed at the carts piled to the top with fabric, AFTER the cloth was cut–not bolts before it was cut.  There are some ladies out there who are going to do some major sewing or crafting!  I’m sure they must be making blankets or other items for charity.  Or perhaps making something to sell.  Those are the only explanations I can think of for any one person buying that much fabric!!!  In fact, since I was not quite the early bird I planned on being, much of the calico was already in carts, or behind the cutting counter. But, I still found 2 pieces I liked at 70% off.  It was crowded, but people were patient and nice, and I had a good experience.

We had a wonderful holiday week with no school, lots of kids, a huge feast, and time with family and friends, but this week is back to normal.  The routine started again today.  That always feels good, too.  How was your week?

 

14 thoughts on “Thriving In My Thrifty Week–Nov. 25, 2018”

  1. The flowers are beautiful. Good for Rob for being strong. The holidays are a very hard time to lose weight. It seems like you had a very busy but productive week.

  2. Patsy looks so lovely in her Thanksgiving skirt. What a great deal on the lentil pasta. That does look & sound like a serious amount of dessert! Good for you for sending the leftovers home with others.

    1. Thank you! We sent the dessert home in self-defense, but it was so nice to have so many choices to choose from on the one day Rob was indulging. Because he’s calorie counting, he can have dessert, but just a small amount, so he stayed within his limit and still got to have some.

  3. We were at our youngest son’s for Thanksgiving and we had the crazy runs to the grocery store too. Right in the middle of cooking meals someone was always on the way to or back from the store. It was nice to just go and be cooked for this year even though the 3 hour trip turned into 5 hours on Wednesday. At one point we were sitting on the interstate with the engine turned off and the windows down and chatting with the guy in the car next to us who had an adorable puppy who wanted so badly to get out. That was before we even got out of our own county!

    Publix has had that iBotta offer on the pasta too so I have been picking it up to donate because there are gluten free people in need of it I am sure. Their price is 2.99 so it is still free. I cashed out $62 from iBotta to for the holiday stock up sales.

    You are so fortunate to have family near by and be able to see them all for holidays. We are all so spread out. Mom had a stroke on Tuesday but we are 500 miles away and traveling there would take 2-3 days for my husband to be able to do it. We did Skype with family and just watched our 16 month old grandson play in the back yard for awhile which was a fun peek into his day. Our daughter’s family in Germany had 30 for Thanksgiving which Germans are really fascinated with and an invitation like that one is highly coveted.

    Patsy’s skirt is adorable and your son and his girlfriend look so happy. I love it that you could eat any and all of the desserts. I know that our daughter usually has only one choice and she would love that.

    I hope you have a little down time to recover this week! Have a good one!

    1. It sounds like your daughter is getting into German life with gusto! I’m glad she was able to have a good Thanksgiving.

      I’m sorry about your Mom. Hopefully, she will recover fast from this. I do feel fortunate that many of our family members are so close by. I don’t take it for granted, because there are others who are not so close, and we see them so seldom.

      I did absolutely nothing on Friday, but sit like a slug on the couch. I’m feeling quite perky this morning. Good thing—there is lots to do!

  4. Sounds like you had a wonderful holiday with lots of family! Bravo to Rob! I could not have done that! And Patsy looks so beautiful! Wonderful skirt!

  5. I’m so glad you and your family and friends were able to get together and have such a good time. Your dessert table looks wonderful and I am so glad you were able to eat all of it and Rob got to enjoy some, too. Patsy’s skirt looks lovely and the top you found goes really well with it. She is growing up to be quite a lovely young lady. 🙂

    I’m glad you were able to get some good bargains at Joanne’s. I looked at their sales ad (daughter gets emails from them), but decided I didn’t need to add to the stash! My goal is to finish up what I have before I go to buy anymore, unless I really need something for a project.

    I hope you have a wonderful week ahead of you and you have a little time to recover from Thanksgiving before having to get ready for Christmas! Have a blessed week.

    1. I have not gone to JoAnn’s for a long, long time, for the same reason and because I rarely get to sew anymore. However, I had those gift cards, it was a good sale, and I was in the mood to sew. So, I went and had a good time. I’ve already got one project 1/2 done, but guess what? I ran out of thread that color:). I didn’t buy any thread that day, knowing I have a small bin full. But, as is happening at my house, this color of blue is now gone. (I went shopping more times in the last 2 weeks than I usually go in a month). I have used scraps of several almost-finished spools of colors that are close to what I want. I will need to buy a spool tomorrow. The close, but not exactly matching thread won’t matter on things like sleeve bastings, seam finishing, etc.

  6. “In the mood to sew…”. Women say that all the time about sewing. Why do we need to be in the mood to do it? I can clean house, plant flowers, paint a room, go to the store, but must always be in the right mood to sew. If you aren’t in the right mood, everything will go wrong and you end up ripping out all of your work. Wonder why?
    Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry

    1. Boy, I had to really want to do it with that little dress! I just couldn’t get the supplies gathered, and was glad I persevered. I don’t like ripping out, either, but usually have to. :(.

Leave a Reply to Rob and Becky Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *