Frugal Friday - Week 1 of 52, December 29, 2017-January 5, 2018

I keep looking at the photos of my flowers from last summer and reminding myself that our super cold spell WILL eventually pass - a high of +2F (-16.6C) today, and it was -9F (-22.8C) when I left the house this morning.  SO glad I own a down parka, lamb's wool hat and warm gloves and boots!  Garden planning is on the agenda in January, so I guess the photos are more than just a lovely reminder.

One week of 2018 is already done.  That is hard to believe!  I took this week "off" from work and spent the time "working from home" on both work and school items as well as doing a few things around the house and running a few errands.  I did teach Jazzercise and take the children to school but otherwise I stayed home!  I enjoyed it very much but now I'm ready to get back to work.  That will come Monday!

We're tightening our belt this year to pay off some debts - being very deliberate (my word for 2018) and intentional about what we're doing with our money.  So here's the frugal things from this week:

* Celebrated New Years Eve and New Years Day at home; though I did attend our New Year Kick-off class at Jazzercise.  Everyone else stayed home!  We play games we already own, eat chocolate "fondue" (melted chocolate with fruit and other treats to dip), drink sparkling juice, and watch the ball drop in Times Square via television.  This year John brought home a giant bag of mixed type popcorn (plain, caramel and cheddar cheese flavored) to add to the mix.  New Year's Day I make Buttermilk Coffee Cake, a fruit salad and bacon and we watch the Rose Parade on television.

* We flew home from my parent's house on Friday the 29th and packed water bottles and snacks for the plane rather than purchasing them on board (the flight is too short to provide a meal).  We bring empty water bottles through security and then fill them up.

* We ate all meals at home this week.  We made two types of soup, potato fries, muffins, pancakes, pizza, and cooked crab legs at home this week. 

* I sewed John a birthday gift for his birthday this week and the children made John gifts at school in their art class.  He did ask for a specific small food gift, so we bought that as well.

* We watched several movies on line and one from the library.

* We read books from the library and one we borrowed from a friend, that the library did not have.

* We spent just under $100 in groceries at Sam's Club, stocking up on several things we were out of including canned diced tomatoes, peanut butter, bread flour and almonds.  My goal for the rest of the winter is to spend only a small fraction of our typical grocery budget each week and eat form our over-loaded freezers and the pantry. I'm planning on keeping you posted!

* I peeled, sliced and froze 8 mangoes we purchased for 80-cents each.  We will use these in smoothies, baking and to eat as snacks over the next few months.

* I froze leftover soup for later use.

* I wrote thank you notes using cards we already owned for the many and generous Christmas gifts from our congregation: candied almonds, two loaves of zucchini bread, Danish sausage, Swedish meatballs, a gift card to Applebee's restaurant, a gift card to A&W restaurant, a gift card to the local grocery store, many cookies and several donations to charity in our honor.  We've eaten the cookies, candied almonds, the sausage and the meatballs already.  The zucchini bread went into the freezer for later.

* I worked on embroidery for three wedding gifts and The Big Gift that I have been working on for a while (that one is almost complete - and I can't wait to share!).

* I mailed two birthday cards that I already owned to family members celebrating birthdays this month.

* I inventoried the freezers and made a basic menu plan through the end of March.  I'll add a few things as we go, but the bulk of that is done. I'm hoping to clean out the freezers before summer so we can purchase a quarter of beef or pork in the fall as well as store our typical garden produce.

* I used sour milk to make waffles for the freezer. 

* We attended our son's basketball game for entertainment this week.  No cost since parking and admission were free. Unfortunately they lost, but the game was good.

* While home this week, I did the ironing (I'm actually caught up - YAY!), scrubbed the walls in our daughter's bedroom in preparation for painting once the weather warms up, and sorted through a large amount of accumulated detritus in our entry and entry closet. 

This year I'm trying very hard to not purchase anything that isn't necessary.  As such, I only went to Sam's Club with a list and my husband and stopped at the grocery store once to purchase the small food gift for my husband for his birthday (the crab legs came from Sam's and he picked them out).  I'm hoping to only go to the store once this next week - for groceries and another errand on Saturday and then stay out of them the rest of the week. 

What did you do this week that would count as frugal?