Last Weeks Frugal Accomplishments

*52 Week Savings Plan:  Still at $20.  I am going to have to seriously recommit to this goal or I am doomed to failure.

*Christmas Jar of Change:  $4.15 was added to the previous balance of $107.47 making for a new grand total of $111.62

*Favorite Frugal Accomplishments:

-I scored, for FREE, these really cool vintage items for use in my garden.

Maceo and I helped clean out the prop 'closet' of our local community theatre.  It was a treasure trove of the rotted and moldy and the cool and funky.  It was satisfying work and I got these little bonuses as well.

-I continued to make progress on clearing out the freezer; which is good given that cow delivery should happen at the end of this week.

I did clear most of the apples out of the freezer by making a fantastic apple cake.  The recipe called for apple cider or juice which I did not have.  I substituted apple butter that I watered down a bit.

I had a bit of raw peanuts in the freezer so I gave homemade peanut butter a try.

There were lots of walnuts and pecans in that freezer of mine.  I didn't feel compelled to use up all of it but I did want to get some of it out of the freezer.  I made this granola substituting pecans for the almonds.  And, oh my goodness, it is absolutely delicious!

I assembled 10 smoothie packs.  Sure, these still get stored in the freezer but they are now in a more useable form.

-I washed my used plastic bags so that I could reuse them.

-We did a great job using leftovers this week.

-I used my $10 Kohl's coupon and $10 WalMart gift card given to me by Ebates to purchase 3 Christmas gifts.  In addition, I purchased these items on tax-free weekend.  I paid relatively little out of pocket.

-Bishop made my birthday cake and frosting from scratch utilizing ingredients that we had on hand.

-I received coupons to various restaurants for my birthday and we utilized some of this week.  Some of them were for totally free items.  Others were buy one get one free deals but these have been fun as I have taken one boy out at a time for some individual time with them.

-The boys and I went for a nice walk on my birthday - it was healthy, free, and fun entertainment.

-After our walk we went out to eat.  We used a coupon for a free appetizer and we ordered water only for our drinks.  Both really helped to keep the tab down.  However, ordering the waters instead of tea or soda was huge.  I often times forget that.

-I started a jar for dried and crumbled egg shells which I will either feed to the chicken or use in my garden.

-I finally planted some flowers that I had purchased some time ago and I place banana peels in the ground prior to planting for fertilization.

-I went to Walgreen's to see what I could find at a good price to put in the Blessing Bags that we were making.  I found some lip balm on clearance for .69, Emergen-C as a buy one get one free, and a couple of other clearance items.

The donations for our blessing bags!

-While at Walgreen's I found Mio's on sale for $3 each and a $3 register rewards coupon would print with each purchase.  I purchased 3 Mio's and received $9 in coupons.  I used those coupons to purchase a Christmas present which I ended up paying $1 for. 

*Next weeks goals:

-I will make a final push to get the freezer cleaned out as my beef order should be ready by the end of the week.  

I found some sun dried tomatoes in my freezer and want to give this recipe a go.

I will probably make some apple scones with the remaining bit of apple found in the freezer.

I still intend on making the cranberry orange vinegar.

-I still need to update my financial accountability log.

-I need to get my dried herbs in labeled jars and get more herbs drying.