My Frugal List: Week of January 21, 2019

We have had a busy week. The laundry area is coming along nicely. Everything is painted and shelves went up. The dryer is hooked up and working. The washing machine is not hooked up because we are waiting for the the new hoses to arrive. I love that my vacuum fits in there now. It never has before. It always sat in the office because I didn't have any where to store it. I am love with the light. It just makes it look so much better. 

I cooked another pumpkin. I still have one more in the basement to cook still. 

I cleaned out the coat closet. We had so many gloves, scarves and hats. I donated a bag of each to my church outreach program. We also got rid a few coats, bags and board games. They were happy to have it all. 

We ate really well this week. I grilled a bunch of chicken cutlets.We ate them with baked white and sweet potatoes and broccoli. The next night I made a big salad. We had pasta with veggies, and flank steak in the crock pot 2 other nights. 

Hubby and I ended up going out twice this week. Friday the kids were both working. When I told him, he suggested we use a gift card that we were given for Christmas. I reminded him that we had plans Sunday to go out to eat. He said who cares. Dinner Friday was at a very popular Italian restaurant. We chose to eat in the pizza section since we didn't have a reservation. I ordered Chicken Francaise with a salad, Hubby got a pasta dish with sausage and broccoli rabe. We shared my salad and I ate some of his pasta. We both drank water. We still have some money left on the GC. There are no waitresses in this section so we didn't even have to leave a tip. We came home with lots of leftovers. The kids and I had my leftovers for lunch Saturday and I finished it off the next day at lunch. Hubby made some more pasta because there was barely any left but lots of garlic, broccoli rabe and sausage. He had it Saturday for lunch and shared it with our son on Sunday. 

Sunday we went to one of our favorite restaurant, Tellers. It used to be a bank and is now a restaurant. The old vault is now the wine room. It is really nice place. OD and her BF gave us a GC for Christmas. This week was restaurant week where they run a set menu. You have the choice of 3 appetizers, 3 main courses and 2 desserts. You can also add wine pairings for $15. Hubby got it with the wine, I did not since I don't drink. Sometimes the menus are not things that we like. This week we loved the menu. To start, I had lobster bisque and hubby had a wedge salad with bacon and veggies. I then had beef wellington and Hubby had salmon. I forgot to take pictures before we started eating. 

Everything was so good. For dessert, the 2 offerings had dairy and the menu says no substitutions so we planned on bringing one home. The waitress offered Hubby other choices because of his dairy allergy. They keep it in their records. I got the brownie sundae and he got passion fruit and peach sorbet. This is one of those restaurants that everything is slow and so worth it. We got to talk and laugh for 2 and a half hours. It was wonderful. We did bring home our leftovers. 

Again, sorry I couldn't help myself and I ate some before the picture. 

My son brought home lots of goodies from work. I froze some of the bread right away. I gave some bagels to my friend as we were carpooling the girls to the school for their senior trip. 

YD went on her senior trip. She worked enough volunteer hours to get half the trip paid for. That is the most you are allowed. YD borrowed all of her snow gear for skiing. The resort provides the skis. We gave her $100 as extra money and she gave me back $90. She is such a good kid. All of the kids were given a shirt for going on the trip. She won a shirt from the resort at a trivia contest. She said she had plenty to do that was included, skiing, snow tubing, ice skating, swimming, bowling, Bingo, karaoke and trivia. Certain things were extra like the game room, souvenirs and vending machines. She only bought lunch at the rest stop on the way there. We were not allowed to send any open food so that meant no packing a sandwich. I did send her with sealed snacks such as a bag of baby carrots, a small container of peanut butter, GF crackers and GF cookies. She brought an empty reusable water bottle that she was allowed to fill at the HS once her stuff was OKed. She had an amazing time and it didn't break the bank. 

I picked up my cousin's son from preschool. She had a doctor's appointment for a follow up to the surgery. She left me money to get McD's for lunch. The 3 year old loved it. Me, not so much. The fries were delicious. The rest, NOT. I remember why I never go there. It was nice that she wanted to treat and make sure that the 3 year old would eat. We played for about 2 hours before my cousin came home. I had a lot of fun but I was tired. 

My friend has a membership to Restaurant Depot. When she went she looked for GF flour for YD. They had a 25 pound bag for $30. That is very cheap compared to what I have paid for it so far. She got me a bag and told me to make sure YD likes that kind. We now have a cheaper source for it. 

I listed 20 items on Craigslist. I have had only 1 low ball offer. I will wait and see. January tends to be a slower month. I think most people have credit card shock after Christmas. 

I went to BJ's for milk, soy milk and bananas. I always check the meat department prices. They had chicken cutlets on sale for $1.69 a pound. I bought 10 pounds worth.

YD and I went to see the movie Bumblebee with free passes. We had a great time. We went another day looking for a prom dress. Didn't find anything yet. We grabbed lunch with GCs we got from Christmas. She had midterms all week. 

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The kids and I went through our car emergency bags. We added items that were missing. All of the cars are ready to go. 

I went to 2 more library classes. I borrowed more books and movies. I love the library! 

I got several freebies this week. Several of them will be put away for Easter baskets. 

I shopped sales, used coupons and did Ibotta.

I did Swagbucks all but 1 day. 

Even though it has been really cold, I kept the heat the same temp. Everyone was fine with multiple layers and extra blankets on the bed. 

I listened to Dave Ramsey's podcasts while I was cleaning. 

What did you do this week to stay frugal?