Friday, April 14, 2017

A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage #98

Welcome to another thrifty week at Harvest Lane Cottage. I am glad you've found me! Each week I share my thrifty and frugal projects, ways of saving money, and my blessings from God. 

A Thrifty Week at Harvest Lane Cottage

I am so glad you dropped in for a visit today—or tonight!
Do say hello!
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Dear Reader,
  It's been a mix of thriftiness and blessings this past couple of weeks. I was didn't get this up last Friday as usual, so I decided to combine two weeks. I really appreciate the grace y'all give me to just be myself and do the best I can. 

 You know, that's really key. Doing the best we can with the resources we have. We each live a different life. No two of us will ever do things just the same. Even identical twins live different lives because of the different experiences, people, and places that are in their lives.

Don't try to be just like a blogger that you admire, or another mom that you admire, or the pastor's wife, or your best friend, or your mother, or anyone else. You are unique. Your circumstances are unique. The people in your life are unique. No one else has your husband or your children or your boss or your roommate or your _____. This is why it's so important to pray and ask Holy Spirit to guide you and teach you. He loves you enough to give you personal attention. God's not too busy for you. Jesus died for you.

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“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7-8 NIV
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"This is what the Lord says:
“Stand at the crossroads and look;
ask for the ancient paths,

ask where the good way is, and walk in it,
and you will find rest for your souls. 

Jeremiah 6:16a
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Here's my thrifty week x 2!
  • We went out for dinner to use a $25 gift card I earned from Swagbucks. The manager gave us our steak dinner for free since they made two mistakes with our order! We weren't even upset. He just blessed us! Thank you LORD! We'll have another evening out with that gift card. ~grin~ Double blessings! That's my referral link if you're interested.
  • Meanwhile, my two youngest attended our homeschool co-op's spring banquet. Amy found a new dress at a thrift store in St. Louis. Michael found a new pair of slacks at a discount store. Total clothing purchases $16. At the last minute, Amy decided to wear a different dress, but that's okay. Her new dress will work nicely for church. 
  • I bought a can of soup for dinner. I wanted to make grilled cheese with it. After pricing cheese, I decided to buy some discounted dinner rolls. As I was walking to the checkout, I decided to put them back and use the bread I had at home. So, I saved the price of the cheese and the rolls by making do with what I had.
  • I inventoried all the food in the house. We are very low on canned goods. I don't use many unless they are canned tomato products or beans. I do like to have some canned veggies on hand just in case. I have lots of chicken in the freezer, a couple pork roasts, some venison, and a box of riblets my dad gave us. I'm low on dry goods, too, but I'm trying to get by with buying as little as possible so that I'll have money for the special foods we'll eat this weekend.
  • We're going to eat the spiral sliced ham I bought on sale for half price a few weeks ago for Easter dinner. 
  • I also did some surveys that brought my total Swagbucks up over 2200. That's my goal each month. I missed it last month because of traveling. The first $25 gift card you order each month is just 2200. There are a few exceptions like Mastercard. I haven't decided yet what I want to order. I have until the end of the month to request it.
  • I hunted down some new cheap recipes so that I can stretch my food money this next week to include a few holiday foods.

Well, that's my thrifty week. 

What are you doing in your home this week?
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Trusting God is simply believing that He loves you, He’s good, He has the power to help you, He wants to help you, and He will help you.” 


~Joyce Meyer~

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ღLauraღ
...doing what I can with what I've got
where I am on a short shoestring budget!

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19 comments:

  1. Sounds like you were pretty thrifty this week. Have a blessed Easter!

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  2. Good Evening Mrs.Laura,
    I always enjoy your thrifty updates. Thanks for sharing.
    Blessings,
    Mrs.B

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    Replies
    1. It's my pleasure, Mrs. B.
      Can you tell where I ate lunch today?

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    2. I don't know, did you use your gift card? My eldest son took me out this afternoon and discovered one of his long-time friends is now managing the restaurant, our meal was complimentary ... it was a most wonderful blessing.

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  3. Very thrifty indeed....and I had to giggle, I thought I was the only one who did that (putting things back, giggling)---have a beautiful Easter my friend.

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    Replies
    1. I remember a time when I was young that I had to put things back while at the checkout stand. I hadn't added right. Humiliating and frustrating.
      Blessed Easter to you!
      Laura

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  4. Happy Easter, Laura!! God bless you. :)

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  5. God bless you and yours this Easter time.
    Laura

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  6. Excellent advice as always Laura. I am definitely going to try the Laundry Liquid. Thank you for your uplifting post. God bless you and yours this Easter.
    Effieq

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    Replies
    1. If you have very large loads or very dirty loads, double the amount you use.

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  7. Our Easter feast today was a bit different. We normally do ham, scalloped potatoes, & such. This year, I nearly forgot a coupon we had for a FREE TURKEY! We got it at Christmas, but our freezer was full so I filed it. Thankfully it was good until the end of this month so we bought a turkey for Easter. So, we had T'giving for Easter! It was pretty tasty!!

    Did you get to use that new oven?!

    Debby in KS

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    1. Dear Debby,

      I used to make turkey for Easter, but my family decided they liked ham better. What an excellent deal for you! I'm so glad you didn't lose the coupon. We had sweet potato casserole today. We usually have that on Thanksgiving. They loved it.

      I did use the new oven. I loved it!
      God is so good!

      Thanks so much for writing,
      Laura

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  8. Wonderful thrifty post! I found you through the link up at Stangers and Pilgrims, and I have been toodling around your blog, enjoying your posts and ideas. I will be back, and can't wait to try the laundry soap.

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  9. OK...that screeching bird sound effect just scared the daylights out of me when it started up! LOL! But I would love to hear how you are earning with Swagbucks. I tried it but had no luck at all. I wanted to do the surveys but every one I tried (and I tried a lot) rejected me. I thought I must be too old for my opinion to be of any value to them, but you and I are similar in age I would guess. What's your secret?!

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    1. Hi Kim,

      I'm so sorry about the bird. I've thought about changing the music, but every time I do, someone tells me they enjoy it. ~grin~ This is the first time someone's mention being scared by it. Usually it's their cat.

      I just keep trying. I get kicked out of most surveys. I am nobody's target market, and I know it. ~smile~

      I actually am trying a new company called Opinion Outpost. My friend told me she's made about $100 in the last several weeks. She's retired, and I don't have a lot of time, but I decided to try it. Their surveys pay from $.50 to $1.50. I've made $4.50 in the last couple days. That's much quicker than I can accumulate $ with Swagbucks.

      Here's my referral link if you want to try it out. You get $.50 just for filling out the info about yourself.

      http://tracking.surveycheck.com/aff_c?offer_id=1915&aff_id=2619&aff_sub=rafPage&aff_sub2=ZLP0a8y8TbimVWZVRqWnGYR18uK6yp9h

      Best wishes!
      Laura

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  10. Laura, you are so right about being ourselves! There are many people I admire and they inspire me, but I still try to be true to myself. We need to love and appreciate who we are! Always love reading about your thrifty week.
    hugs,
    Jann

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    Replies
    1. It's always a joy to hear from you Jann. I'll be over for a visit in just a bit. Your blog is so beautiful.
      Hugs,
      Laura

      Delete

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