Frugal Friday - The end of 2019 and very beginning for 2020

Two Swedish Tea Rings - one uncut and one cut - for church coffee hour.

The year ended with a bang (metaphorically speaking) and a whimper.  It was both busy and lazy, which I appreciated.  My parents were able to come for the holiday (they return home tomorrow) and I am so grateful that they were healthy enough to fly to visit us.  We served for coffee hour for the Children's Program at church and attended Christmas Eve services.  We got together with some family and friends.  It was lovely!

Here are some things we did that count as frugal over the last several weeks:

* We baked three types of cookies, a tea ring, and a potato lefse.  We only had to purchase a bag of dates for this baking and used the regular grocery budget to do this.

* We also baked salmon, two types of soup, and made scalloped potatoes with ham.  For Christmas Eve dinner we made Swedish meatballs, mashed potatoes, corn, and a fruit salad.  For Christmas Day we made a brunch with an egg bake, cinnamon biscuits, and fruit and an early dinner of seafood chowder and French bread.  We had everything but the salmon and the cod for the chowder in our freezers or pantry so it was a very frugal set of holiday meals.

* We spent two days doing absolutely nothing except what we wanted - reading, watching movies, chatting, playing board games, or building puzzles.

* The children each received a puzzle for Christmas and we enjoyed assembling a new puzzle one evening.

* We celebrated New Year's Eve at home with appetizers and desserts and playing a board game.  We did watch the ball drop in Times Square on TV. 

* I worked on two baby gifts and finished one.  Good progress was made on the other, so it should be done soon.

* I also worked on an embroidery gift.

* My Mother hemmed three pairs of pants and sewed back on three buttons.  She also did all of my ironing while she was here - thanks Mom!

* My Father added picture hanging wire to the back of a mirror and hung it on the wall.

* John officiated three funerals during the holiday season and we had to immediately put the money toward replacing the tires on our van plus another unexpected repair. 

* We received the gift of several types of cookies, two gift cards and a hilarious cookie jar in a shape related to my husband's favorite movie from parishioners at our church. 

* Our children worked on the sets for a theatrical production, learning some skills that will be useful to know later in life. 


That's all I can think of  at the moment.  What have you done the end of this past year that was frugal?