Friday, April 11, 2014

A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #16

C. Amy Lane Photography
It's been a very different sort of week at our house.  If you know our family in person, you may already know that we are opening a restaurant at Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, Missouri.  We've spent a lot of time preparing with a big focus on cleaning! ~smile~  So, it's not really been the easiest week to be frugal, but I'll share what I've done.

~ The photo is my daughter, Emily, with our little Tiger.  She's modeling one of her Pretty Thrifty outfits.  She loves the challenge of making pretty modest outfits for pennies on the dollar.  She blogs at Teen for the Lord.

~ My husband and I went out for a little date on Friday evening.  It was thrifty.  Instead of a full meal, we ordered chips, salsa, and queso.  On the way home, we bought ice cream at the store that was on sale to share at home with the kids.

~ On Saturday, I bought pizza for the family and our friend, Randy, who was helping us clean.  He brought his power washer and did some amazing work cleaning the metal shelves.  We carried them outside first, of course.  ~smile~  Buying pizza might not sound thrifty, but time was short and food not readily available.  I did go to Little Caesars, so the bill was less than $20.  It could have been more than twice that at some pizza places.

~ Saturday night I balanced the splurge with a very cheap meal of pinto beans and homemade cornbread.  This recipe for Cowboy Beans is very similar.  I was in a hurry and didn't use the onion- big mistake.  They were very bland.  Try the Cowboy Beans.  They're cheap and delicious!  The link takes you to the recipe and 5 Days of Frugal Eating.

~ My friend, Joyce, told me about a website called Pricematcherz.  They list some of the sale prices for food in a forty mile radius.  they also include links to the store ads. I can then go to the individual stores or print the list or ad and use it for price matching at Wal-Mart.  That should save me a few dollars.  If you live in the Midwest, you might find your local area listed.

~ I bought a box of cereal.  Cereal is not traditionally a thrifty purchase, but I knew we were leaving the house at 7:00 a.m. Tuesday morning.  I knew I wasn't going to make eggs or oatmeal. ~smile~  It's cheaper than five people eating at the drive-thru!  In my defense, I did buy it at Aldi for $1.99.

~ I fried cabbage and onions for lunch and added in a little crumbled, leftover hamburger.

~ I turned my old, too big dress into a spring and summer nightgown.

It's not much, I know, but tomorrow is another day. ~smile~  It's all the little things that add up that can make the difference between having gas and milk money and struggling for it.  Don't give up!  You can do this, too.

Blessings to you!
Laura
Happy at Home

19 comments:

  1. How wonderful that you are opening a restaurant at the Precious Moments Chapel! Hope all goes well! Love your thrifty ideas -- everybody needs a little thriftiness in their lives! We shop at Aldi too and love it, but find it lacking in most fresh produce. Great for canned goods, breakfast items and dairy though!

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  2. Good Luck my friend with your new venture. How exciting for you all.
    Here, across the pond, Aldi has a great range of products and groceries and lots of fresh produce.
    Hugs

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  3. Hi Sarah,

    I'm so pleased to meet you! We are excited about the opening. Just today, we got to sample some food items that we may be serving. There have been many years during our marriage when thriftiness simply wasn't an option. I'm taking that attitude now that we're beginning this journey as well.
    I'm so blessed. The Aldi here in Carthage has wonderful produce most of the time. It's more affordable for me, too. Sometimes I get my almond milk and greek yogurt for terrific prices.
    I'll be over to visit your blog in just a bit.

    Blessings,
    Laura

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  4. Hi Cally,
    I like buying my produce at Aldi. I didn't realize that it was global. I like seeing your name in my comment box, Cally. I do hope you're well.
    Blessings,
    Laura

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  5. Hi Laura! We adore Aldi here in Australia too. I can't believe how much I save by shopping there. It seems we share a teen who adores thrifting too. A good fossick around our favourite thrift stores is a fab way to spend our Easter vacation here. Love the blog...Mimi x

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  6. Best wishes on your new adventure! I can't wait to check out the link for the grocery prices. One of our thrifty things was to cancel the newspaper. I miss seeing the grocery ads!

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  7. Hi Wendi,
    I know what you mean about the grocery ads. Most stores now put their ads on-line. Perhaps you could check for your local stores.
    I'll be over for a visit in just a bit.
    Blessings,
    Laura

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  8. Hi Mimi,
    Yes, my girls do like thrifting. I had to look up fossick. ~smile~ What a delightful word for rummaging! You have a lovely blog.
    Blessings,
    Laura

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  9. Lovely Laura so sorry not to have commented for a while - life is pretty difficult at the moment for various reasons so I am playing catch up. I am so pleased to hear of your wonderful venture and wished I lived nearer so I could come and visit your new restaurant. Your daughter is so like you and is a just gorgeous, you must be so proud of her. I always find such interesting things on your blog Laura and love hearing your news. Good luck with everything. Sending you lots of loves and hugs
    Dorothy
    :-)xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

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  10. Sounds as if you did just fine with your choices in a busy week...and your daughter is lovely...your beautiful cat looks like one that I used to have years ago :)

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  11. Hi Deb,
    It's been so busy, it's hard to be frugal. It's probably not going to slow down anytime soon, so I'll just have to adjust. What things do you do to be frugal when you're busy?
    Blessings,
    Laura

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  12. Hey There!

    Sorry I haven't been by in a while, I have had one or going on two of those kind of weeks....

    How exciting for you and your family. I have always wanted to open up my own little cafe/bakery. One day, Lord willing.

    What kind of restaurant are you opening? I'll be praying for the blessing and the favor of the Lord through out this new season in your lives.

    You daughter is beautiful. I love that scarf she has on. How awesome that she blogs as well.

    One thing thrifty that I have done this weekend is I cooked up a whole bunch of chicken breasts in the crock pot and had it for one meal and froze the rest in separate baggies for casseroles and soup at a later date.

    Going grocery shopping tomorrow, strictly for the sale items. Pantry stock up time!

    I hope you have a wonderful week!

    Many Blessings,
    Amy

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  13. I tried to be!
    I'll be over in a few minutes to see you at Blessed Homemaking.
    Laura

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  14. Hi Amy,
    It's so good to hear from you! We've been working hard cleaning, painting, staining, scrubbing, you name it, to get ready to open next week. Tuesday we put in our food order. Wednesday we'll receive it. Exciting!

    We'll have a cafe with soups, sandwiches, a daily home cooking dish, panninis, ice cream and such at the Precious Moments Chapel Visitors' Center in Carthage, Missouri. Thank you for your prayers.

    Emily is a thrifty girl. Both she and my younger daughter, Amy, have blogs.

    I love frozen chicken breasts for easy do ahead prepping. You've made a good start on some meals. I did my grocery shopping late Sunday night, 95% sale items. We were out of two or three things that we really needed. I'm trying to spend as little as possible right now until the cash starts flowing. ~smile~

    May God bless you with a wonderful Holy Week!

    Consider yourself hugged long-distance!
    Laura

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  15. Sounds very productive! Can't wait to hear more about the restaurant! How exciting!! ;)

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  16. Thank you, Andrea. We're opening Monday. I'll have to write on the restaurant soon.
    Blessings,
    Laura

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  17. Thank you, Andrea. We're opening Monday. I'll have to write on the restaurant soon.
    Blessings,
    Laura


    P.S. I just visited your blog. How lovely that you have such a wonderful son.

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  18. Wonderfully thrifty post - you did a fantastic job - congratulations on the restaurant - I wish you all the best! I am delighted that you shared with A Return to Loveliness,
    Kathy

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