Hello everyone! Just thought I'd share a bit of my week and include the thrifty things we did. I may go back to the old way of writing my thrifty week posts, but right now, I just need to keep things simple. I hope you don't mind. Lots of crazy going on all around me, but God is helping me to keep peaceful about it all. I've told my friend, Beth, that I feel like I'm on an island of calm in the midst of a sea of turmoil and craziness. I am careful how much news I take in. If I focus too much on the "out there", I will become anxious and lose my peace. I can only do what I can do and pray about the "out there".
So, here is my week. The photos are all from an unplanned mini road trip we took Friday afternoon.
Monday
I looked carefully at the things available for purchase at my local Aldi. I bought only enough produce to last a few days. Lately, fresh produce hasn't been used up as well as it should. But...now I'm home! I can get back to my thrifty ways bit by bit.
I purchased a box of strawberries for $1.99. It was a sale price. I want to be sure they're good strawberries before I buy several boxes for jam.
My daughter, Emily, and I sorted through several cabinets, drawers and shelves that I had dishes and such in. Some things I kept, some went to each of my daughters, some will be sold by my husband, and some will go to the thrift store. We decided we didn't want the extra work of a yard sale.
We also emptied a glassed cabinet in the hallway and found it perfect for our games. We hope we'll play more if they are visible.
Burritos with leftover refried beans from Sunday's supper for lunch.
I made a roast with potatoes and carrots and onions. My dad gave me the roast when I visited a few weeks ago.
Tuesday
We sorted through two big bags of acrylic yarn a friend gave to me. Thank you Jill! I'm keeping some for charity hats. Emily's keeping some for projects. The remainder is going to Emily's friend who crochets for therapy.
Tuesday evening I went knitting with friends. I'm working on a sock that will be joined by another to make a gift for a man in the family. Size 13 shoes!
Burritos or sandwiches for lunch
Emily made over the leftover potatoes, carrots, and gravy into stew and added browned ground venison for the meat.
Wednesday
I went to Walmart. Gasp! I've probably only done that a couple of times in the past year. I needed some colorful t-shirts to go with my skirts. Believe it or not, there was not one plain colored t-shirt in the store in my size! I was truly surprised and disappointed.
I put the rest of the refried beans that Emily made Sunday night into a freezer bag and froze them.
I ate a bowl of the stew for lunch then put the rest in a leftover plastic ice cream container. I'll add leftover veggies to it until I have enough to make a small pot of soup.
Emily helped me sort through the three big drawers that I keep bed linens in. They are now sorted by size. King sized sheets and pillow cases are now in the top drawer. The middle drawer has the full sized sheets and pillow cases. The bottom drawer is empty save an extra mattress pad.
My husband and I went to a church rummage sale several weeks ago and bought a big box of white dishes. Emily helped me sort out the dishes. She will have a complete set of eight to begin housekeeping with when she moves out. Amy will have 12 plates, and four sets of tea cups and saucers. I've also been giving the girls the chance to keep anything that I'm discarding if they want it.
Thursday
Amy and her Dawson rearranged our living room furniture this morning to surprise me. They removed the rug and a large ottoman. It looks much larger and more inviting.
I needed to call the State today. While waiting over two hours on hold, I just put my phone on speaker and got to work on a pile of paperwork that has piled up on my desk long enough that some of it was dusty! I had time to read manuals for my washer and dryer and check the maintenance needed for each. I also registered a couple of things with the companies online. Then it was sort sort sort and toss toss toss many papers and outdated items. I'm sorry to say that the job is not complete, but I'm over two hours closer than I was! I also began rearranging a recipe binder. That's a job I've needed to do for a long time, too.
Tonight I'm going to join a new Bible study at another church. I met a lady over the weekend who invited me to join her while I was in Branson. She lives in my hometown, so I said yes. Guess what they'll be studying! Elijah by Priscilla Shirer! I get another chance to go through the study and complete it. Thank you Jesus! Tonight is the first night. Update: I felt like I belonged from the moment I walked in the door. I'm going to keep going.
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Friday
On Friday morning, my daughter, Emily asked me to go garage saling. I set aside my plans and went with her. Who knows how long we have until she moves to Arkansas? We got breakfast at Sonic and began driving around talking. As it turned out, neither of us really wanted to stop at sales, we just wanted to talk about some of the big decisions Emily is making right now about her future. So, it was thrifty in that we didn't buy any junk we didn't need! ~smile~ Sometimes being thrifty is in what we don't do!
After we got home, my husband came home. He had decided to take the afternoon off and wanted me to go for a car ride with him. I know. It's $4.59 a gallon here in Southwest Missouri. Not thrifty, but this time it was therapy. He just needed to get away for awhile and be quiet. We drove through back roads and found ourselves in Northwest Arkansas. We drove through some neat towns. We drove and drove and drove and ended up in Oklahoma at Dripping Springs Waterfall! It was our first time, and it was beautiful! It was well worth the $10 car admission.
Saturday
So here we are at Saturday again. I've just worked in the kitchen and relaxed a bit today. Now I've got chicken leg quarters (a gift from my son) boiling for chicken and dumplings. We'll use the broth and a bit of chicken tonight, but most of the chicken will be for tomorrow's dinner.
I'd better go check on that chicken now!
I hope you've had a calm week. If the next week isn't calm, I hope you'll find a refuge of peace in Jesus. God bless you all!
Laura
Please share!
I love all the thrifty things you do, it is so important in these times.
ReplyDeleteI'll bet you do a lot too!
DeleteDearest Friend, I love these posts of yours. I feel like you and I are chatting on the phone about our day. And would you believe, I am doing many of the exact things you are? I literally just finished putting a new recipe binder together! And what you wrote about limiting news and such? I am doing the same. Thank you for your encouraging words. I hope you have a cozy, blessed Sunday!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness, wouldn't it be fun? Hope your week is both relaxing and productive!
DeleteHi Laura, I enjoyed your blogpost very much! Happy Sunday!
ReplyDeleteI'm with you on the news. The more I avoid the better I am.
ReplyDeleteTrue!
DeleteHi Laura~You always inspire me! You trip with your husband sounds very ...we definitely need peace in our lives right now. I'm with you on staying away from the "out there"..Hugs Barb
ReplyDeleteYou're absolutely right Barb. Thanks for the hugs and for "talking back" to me!
DeleteIn my latest blog post, I talked about how I have eliminated mainstream media from my life. It is so unhealthy & disturbing & certainly not conducive to the holy, simple life Jesus wants us to live. It was nice to read your post today and catch up with you. It has been a long time. May God continue to bless you and your family.
ReplyDeleteHi Cheryl,
DeleteI have been out of touch with you too long. I'll come by and read your post. I hope you are doing well. So much has changed in my life over the last few months. ~smile~ It's the nature of children growing up, I guess.
Talk to you soon!
Laura
Those pictures are pretty,
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming by and talking to me. Hugs!
Delete