It’s hard to believe that just two weeks ago we were running around in
summer clothes and swinging on my new swing on the front porch, it is now much
colder and tonight our temperatures are going down into the 20’s …. Brrrrrr!
I’m working
away inside and thinking about my spring garden!
My to-do
list from last time:
I’m
continuing to work on this month’s marathon /preserving session
Can pinto
beans
Can white
beans
Make a batch
of laundry
powder (The last
time I made it was in November 2013 … and it has lasted over 2 years!!!) Done ... and I didn't have to purchase any of the ingredients needed to make it as they had all been purchased at various times in the past when I found them on sale!
Thaw frozen
turkeys and can
Make and can
broth from carcasses of turkeys after canning meat
In addition:
I ordered
non GMO heirloom garden seeds using the money I’ve been earning and saving from
doing Pinecone surveys.
I used a Michael's gift card I received for Christmas along with two 50% of one
regular priced item coupons and scored some great deals. I got a cutting mat
for $9.50 ... regular $18.99 (mine was completely worn out); a pair of nice
embroidery scissors for $4.50 ... regular price $8.99 (my dear husband checked
out with this item so we could use the second 50% off coupon); a seam ripper
for $2.49 and 2 packages of washi tape on clearance for $.99 each ... regular
price $4.99 each. I’m making an
emergency sewing kit to carry in my purse and the embroidery scissors and seam
ripper will go in it. I even had a
little money left on my gift card when I left the store!
I stitched up 2 draft dodgers using a single recycled valance curtain. This will go towards my Vicky Challenge
savings.
I also cut
the same valance down and made a smaller valance for a smaller window with what
was left. This also will go towards my
Vicky Challenge savings.
Speaking
of my Vicky Challenge savings, here’s how they break down for last week:
Saved $24 using coupons when shopping at
Micheals
Saved $21 when buying seeds using money earned
by doing PineCone Surveys. (I count this
as a savings because if I were working outside my home, I would not have time
to do surveys and the cost would have had to come out of our income.)
Saved $32 by making 2 draft dodgers using a recycled
valance curtain
Saved $11 by making a smaller valance curtain
out of the rest of the original valance curtain fabric
Saved $160 using coupons on prescription
medicines
Save $40 by using coupons and taking advantage
of sales on groceries
Saved $160 by making 2 years of laundry
detergent
I saved $448 this week in The Vicky
Challenge! That’s more income than I could earn in one
week after taxes and these kinds of savings are tax free!
I needed an ice pack this week so I made one and while I was at it I also made a cover for it as well. It would have cost me $10 to buy a gel ice pack at the store similar to what I made so that raises my Vicky Challenge total to $458!!!
Last week's Vicky Challenge savings were $109, add this week's amount to that and I've saved $567 thus far this month. I'm really enjoying seeing how much I save by 'working from home.'
I
unsubscribed from several online sites that were offering to relieve me of my
money on too many occasions with their great sales!
I continue
to work on earning Swagbucks that will be
redeemed for Amazon gift cards, am doing Pinecone
surveys whenever I can and am working on earning points through Bing which
I’ll also redeem for Amazon gift cards. It all adds up over time and will
be used to help keep our pantry stocked.
I took
myself off to the library this week for book #3 in my attempt to read at least
25 books this year and checked out Down and Out in the Great Depression: Letters from the Forgotten Man. (affliate link). A
good part of it is comprised of letters written by those who lived through The
Great Depression, you can almost feel the desperation in their letters.
To see other
books I’ve read thus far in 2016 go HERE.
Here is
something I didn’t do:
I had a real
battle with myself this week over a book that was on my ‘want’ list that I found
on a really great sale. I finally walked
away without the book, but it took some serious discussion with myself before I
did.
Here’s my
pantry to-do list for the upcoming week/month:
I’m
continuing to work on this month’s marathon /preserving session:
Can pinto
beans
Can white beans
Can white beans
Thaw frozen
turkeys and can
Make and can
broth from carcasses of turkeys after canning meat
Now it’s
your turn, what have you done to build up your pantry or live frugally?
patsi
She looketh
well to the ways of her household … Proverbs 31:27
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