Friday, June 3, 2016

A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #66

Welcome to another thrifty week at Harvest Lane Cottage. I am honored by your visit.  Each week I share my thrifty and frugal projects, ways of saving money, and my blessings from God. 


I am so glad you dropped in for a visit today—or tonight!

I love it when y'all leave comments, so I can meet you and see your blogs, too.

We had to use this week's grocery money for car repairs last week since we don't have an emergency fund built up yet. I cannot stress enough how much an emergency fund can take the stress (pun intended) out of emergencies.  Eventually, I would like to have a fund just for car repairs.

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Here's my thrifty week:

~ Four days with no hot water. It saved propane and water. Do you know how fast you can take a shower with icy well water? ~smile~

~ My husband and his friend fixed our water heater.

~ My grown son brought fixin's to make a nice dinner for Memorial Day. Thanks Matthew!  My dad gave us some ribs a couple months ago, and they were delicious. Thanks Dad!

~ We ate split pea soup made with a bag of split peas, an onion, and a ham bone. I cannot say we enjoyed it, but it filled our tummies. We ate it with homemade cornbread.

~ I received a check in the mail from an old insurance claim from a couple years ago. I nearly threw the papers away, but instead I stuck everything in a big envelope, put $2 worth of stamps on it and sent it to the insurance company figuring they'd throw it away. Praise God I sent it! I hope I can use the payment to buy some curriculum this year.

~ I cleaned out the refrigerator and threw away old condiments etc. It makes it easier to see what I have to work with. Lots of empty space. ~smile~ God always provides!

~ I made the gel manicure I received for my birthday last three weeks! I used rubber gloves when I did dishes. After a week, the gel came off one nail—right before I went to church! Fortunately, my daughter had the same color in regular nail polish.  For the last two weeks, I've been re-polishing my nail every day or two. That's precisely why I don't usually wear nail polish!

~ We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary by going out to a nice steak house. That doesn't sound frugal, but we originally had hoped for a cruise. So, I think it was pretty frugal. ~smile~

~ We went to a free Memorial Day event. 

~ I reviewed Phil Wickham's new album Children of God.

~ I made chicken and dumplings using leg quarters my dad brought us. He really blessed us when he visited!

~ We ate leftovers for a few meals.

~ We ate a lot of bread based meals... toast... sandwiches... etc. It's a great filler for hungry tummies.

~ My son brought some things we needed... toilet paper... ice... chocolate!



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What are you doing in your home this week?
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ஐღLauraღஐ 
...doing what I can with what I've got
where I am on a short shoestring budget!
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16 comments:

  1. Happy anniversary!!! We just celebrated our 22 married :-) No hot water would have been tough for me, I love hot showers, lol. Have a wonderful weekend!

    Blessings,
    Jill

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    Replies
    1. Hi Jill,

      Happy anniversary month to you!
      No hot water was like camping in our own home! I'm glad we have hot water again. Thanks for talking back. ~smile~ I'll be over for a visit in just a bit.

      Blessings to you!

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  2. Happy Anniversary, Laura...and chocolate...yummy. smiles

    When we first moved here to NY--I had no idea the house used natural gas to heat the water--luckily it was like 100* so we didn't suffer much. LOL

    BTW, I moved over to wordpress https://justsimplylinda.wordpress.com

    Smiles

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've thought about moving to Wordpress. Why did you make the switch? Is it the free or paid version?

      Delete
  3. Happy Anniversary! I agree a steak dinner vs a cruise is a frugal thing.

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  4. I think you did very well. That was so sweet of your son to bring you treats. I too would not do well without hot showers.

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  5. I love split pea soup with a ham bone or without!! Just sayin' and I loved this post and the ideas and encouragement to make do in order to make ends meet.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Judith,
      We weren't crazy about the recipe I used. Maybe I need different seasonings. Thanks so much for your sweet words.
      Laura

      Delete
  6. Dear Laura, your posts are always inspiring! Happy Anniversary too! As for your split pea soup, I find adding some dried Thyme helps, as does the usual salt and pepper seasoning. I guess you did that though. I think it's something you either love, or you don't! It's so lovely that your family looks out for you. What a blessing. Mimi xxx

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  7. You have a very kind family and the chicken and dumpling sound fabulous to me right now. This week I am making plans for Father's Day. I have no idea what we are gong to do but I would like to take him golfing, even though I am terrible. - Pam@ Mommacan.com

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  8. Split pea soup is a favorite in our home. Especially in the winter. It is filling and I add carrots to it to give it an extra nutritional boost. You are right in God does provide. Thanks for sharing your tips again this week at Party at My Place.

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  9. Happy Anniversary. I hope you had a wonderful time. It made me smile when you said t was frugal to go to a streak house because you planned on going on a cruise. We had an emergencies fund set aside for our car. We have been saving for two years. I am glad we did. We have had over $500 in repairs within the last two months. God is such a wonderful provider and provides for our heart beyond our pocketbooks. Thanks for sharing with us every week at #SittingAmongFriends. Have a wonderful week! I like the bird sounds ;)they are calming while I read!

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  10. You do so well at being thrifty Laura! I cleaned my fridge today as well. Had to throw a few things away. With just the two of us sometimes condiments do not get used up fast enough. My fridge looks pretty empty right now as well. Will be doing some grocery shopping tomorrow. Hope your week is filled with blessings! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
    hugs,
    Jann

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Thank you so much for "talking back" to me!

I read all comments and appreciate them.
Please make sure I have your email if you want me to respond or pray for you.

God bless you! This life only works with Jesus. The next life is a continuation of this one—make sure you spend it with Jesus. Jesus is the only way to God the Father!

Your blog friend,
Laura Lane
5 Year Cancer Survivor