Frugal Friday - The Third Week of January 2020

Cleaning out this week I found the above box - it was from a leather purse my Mother purchased for my Aunt after a summer of working at Yellowstone National Park back in 1957!  I have no idea how the box ended up in my house (some of my Aunt's things did come to my house a couple years ago, so maybe....) but it was a fun find.  The purse cost $5.95 in 1957, which would be approximately $55 in today's money.  My Aunt was starting her first "real" job that fall after graduating Nursing School and my Mother wanted her to have a nice purse to use.  Guess what? The purse was still in the box - completely untouched!  My daughter now has a lovely purse to use!  And the box was recycled, as it was starting to disintegrate.  A completely unexpected but interesting find.

Honestly, I feel like I did not do much this week.  I got some important paperwork done and did a lot of writing.  I also had what felt like the beginnings of a head cold this week, so I slept a LOT and did not do much "extra".  I think I took a nap every single day this week save one, and slept at least 8 hours each night.  Feeling better now at the weekend and I am grateful that I had the time to take a nap each day. 

Here is what we did do that we feel is frugal this week:

* I baked four loaves of bread and pineapple tarts (a recipe our son found - super good and easy!).

* Made soup, spaghetti, pizza and stir fry at home this week.  Ate lots of leftovers!

* My husband and I inventoried and cleaned out the freezers.  I have a goal of cleaning out the deep freeze and turning it off for a time before the summer garden starts.   Discovered a few things we did not realize we still had (shredded zucchini) and that we did not have a few other things we thought we did (kohlrabi!).   We did toss a couple of unidentifiable things that were freezer burned beyond recognition; but, since they were dated back more than 5 years, I am not considering them much of a loss. Feeling pretty good about it, all things considered.

* Made up a menu using the items that are in the freezer.  Hoping to have that deep freeze turned off, defrosted and unplugged by Valentine's Day!

* Trimmed and rearranged the still living mums from a bouquet we bought 3 weeks ago.  The bouquet is much smaller now, but there are still a few lovely flowers left.  Hoping they last the week now!

* Registered for what *should be* my last semester in Graduate school (FINALLY!!!!).  While graduate school is most certainly not inexpensive, it will give me a boost in income and allow for greater upward mobility in my career.  I filled out the paperwork showing I already have medical insurance, avoiding the charges for the student insurance, which covers less than my current policy.

* The children did the shoveling this week, rather than hiring it out.

* Our daughter cleaned out her closet this week and we rearranged the closet system in there, raising shelves and the clothes bar to accommodate her adult-sized clothing better.  She then cleaned out her dresser and bookcase.  We donated four paper grocery bags of clothing and three larger toys that had been hiding in the back of her closet. 

* The children and I deep cleaned the upstairs bathroom, including washing the walls and ceiling and scrubbing and re-sealing the grout.

* I also cleaned out one plastic bin in the area I have been working on cleaning out.  I had hoped to finish the area but, with the head cold, my energy was lagging and I did not get that finished.  I did get the one bin cleaned out - and found the leather purse!

* My husband brought home two cans of pineapple and one of diced tomatoes left after a dinner at church.  They were going to thrown away (unopened!), so he rescued them!

* I spent a lot of time doing the writing I need to do - the equivalent of about 20 pages of text this week.  I am very pleased with that.

* Attended a fundraiser dinner for our children's K-8 school.  Spent a lovely evening visiting with friends and I did not have to cook that night!  Chatted with several people about where their children will be attending High School next year - we have a lot of options and it is interesting to hear people's decision making processes.

* Darned two socks for our son. Poor kid has huge feet and tends to wear through socks quickly since his feet are right at the top end of normal sock sizes.  He likes fun socks - printed socks - and finding large sized fun socks is difficult and very expensive. 

Planned For Expense: This week, we had to have the plumber out to fix a broken faucet. We have a repairs fund for things like that but, yikes, was that more expensive than we expected. Now to refill the expense fund!

I think that is it for this week! 
What did you do that was frugal?