Sunday, December 30, 2018

Frugal Happenings 12/30

Happy Sunday.  Wow, here we are on the last weekend on the YEAR!  It seems like yesterday that we were talking about the start of 2018.  Geesh, I am just now getting used to writing 2018 and now I have to change!
I know I did not achieve all that I hoped in the year - but I do look forward to 2019 and to all the fun it may bring.

Weather has been up and down this week.  We had one day at almost 60*F and others in the 30's.  NY eve is to bring rain and storms and 50's.  I know many of you have experienced a lot of snow and really cold weather (and others have extreme heat) - but so far our winter has been uneventful.  I guess I shouldn't brag.

As fun as the holidays were, I am looking forward to being back to 'normal' - whatever that is!  No shopping, no baking, no rushing - just calm.  I got to see a lot of family I don't get to see real often, so that was just lovely.  The younger generation is always so busy and doing their own thing - us 'old' folks get last dibs!!!!

Here is a pic of myself (in red) with some of my great nieces and nephews and even a gr. gr. nephew and one 'in the oven' (girl kneeling is pregnant).  These are my brother's grandchildren.  They are such fun to be around and they make me (at 5'8") look short!!!!!

My frugal week:
  • Salvaged some nice big pieces of really heavy gift wrapping that I will use again and saved tissue paper and pretty bags as well
  • Shared lots of holiday buffet leftovers with our neighbor/friend and lots of sweets as well.  Needed all those sweets out of sight!
  • Set up a new 'snack' pantry area
  • Got all gifts and goodies put away and the main part of house straightened and cleaned
  • Took all decorations down and have house back to normal
  • Cut G's and my hair
  • Cut the fronts off all the Christmas cards.  These will be used for lists and notes - I have plenty to use as gift cards from years past. (I also kept the backs of some cards that were mainly empty of script to use for lists.)
  • Reworked and totally straightened the deep pantry that I have downstairs
  • We are getting FREE premium channels on cable through Jan.1.  DVRing lots of shows for later
  • Got a corned beef brisket out of freezer to thaw for our NY dinner
  • Did NO after Christmas sale shopping - no need for anything
  • Have my new calendar for 2019 all marked with birthdays and such and ready to put up
  • All normal things - making tea, laundry in cold, using leftovers, made up new bottle of shampoo mix, etc.
Meals this past week:
Leftover sloppy Joes and cheesy potatoes  (froze balance of sloppy Joes for later)
Baked spaghetti (used up balance of BBQ meatballs in it)
Chicken and dumplings & mashed potatoes (G's request for Christmas)
Fried chicken, leftover dumplings and salad
Dirty rice with ground sausage and side of marinated veggies
Homemade pizza
Long John Silvers - I bad!!!!  (It tasted so good)

We munched on chips/dip, beef stick, cheese and crackers for snacks (and of course sweets)
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Have you survived all the holiday festivities?  Are you done with your celebrations?  Did you get any money saving gifts to use or shop for any deals?

I look forward to learning from and sharing with everyone in the coming year.  I am glad we are in this lifestyle together.  It is so much fun getting new ideas and 'meeting' new people from all over the world.
I pray that as this new year begins, that you and your family will have health, happiness and prosperity.  May all your wishes and dreams come true.

Blessings and HAPPY NEW YEAR from our humble home to yours.

24 comments:

  1. Reading your blog has taught me a lot. I love the comments everyone leaves. Have a great New Year!

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    1. I feel the same and love reading your blog and a lot of the other ladies blogs.
      Thanks you to everyone.
      Happy New Year

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  2. I too am looking forward to normal, Cheryl. I want to not be spending any money unnecessarily. I was going to put a ham in the fridge to thaw for New Years, but I still have ham left from Christmas, so no need for that. I always learn so much here and I'm looking forward to that in 2019 too. Our favorite recipe from 2018 was your Deconstructed Egg Rolls, which became a regular rotation in our home this year.

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    1. It is amazing what all we have and can use again. Our frig and pantries can surely spare us from grocery visits!
      I got out brisket for NY from freezer (a super deal last spring) and shrimp for NY eve (a super sale). I just love having all those things here.
      Love it that you gained a recipe you use a lot!

      Love all you gals. Happy New Year.

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  3. I love this blog! I always learn so much and have come to think of you and the other ladies on your blog roll as friends. You summed up perfectly my own wishes for all of you: health, prosperity and happiness in 2019!

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    1. Carol we are so glad you are here. I just love getting to know you all. Friends for sure!!!!!
      Thanks for saying you learn here. I learn from all of you.

      The best is yet to come - 2019!!!!!!!

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  4. Hi Miss Cheryl,
    I love the idea of keeping the fronts of the cards for lists. I hadn't though of that before.
    We spent the days after Christmas preparing for my friend's wedding. We catered it. Woo! It was a lot of work, but she was so blessed.
    Look out for my new year's post coming soon to a blog near you!
    God bless you,
    Laura of Harvest Lane Cottage

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    1. Hi Laura. I love reusing whatever I can.
      How wonderful that you catered a wedding! WOW that is really something. I bet it was lovely.
      I will be looking for that blog post!

      Happy New Year. Blessings sweet lady!

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  5. I am looking forward to the new year and getting off this sugar train I have been on. It has been fun but my pants are soooooo tight.:)

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    1. Oh you and me both. I shouldn't even be eating any - but oh my!
      Here's to a healthy new year.

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    2. My friend said that holidays were the reason that stretchy pants were invented!

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  6. This year has been a rough one. I'm looking forward to a new year. We will taking on a journey to be debt free so I will be talking about ways to stretch food and such this year to help reach our financial goals.

    I never thought of saving the cards for list making. I will cut some up this week to go into my scrap paper box. Thanks for the idea!

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    1. Wendi the card fronts make great cards for lists (they make you giggle when looking at one in the grocery in June). They make great gift tags for gifts next year. They can be used as post cards and can be used in scrap booking. So many uses. I have even framed a couple beautiful ones over the years.

      Good luck with your debt free journey. Hopefully you will glean a few ideas here that can help you stretch that budget. That is so admirable and I wish you great success!!!!

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    2. I've framed a couple, too! One even became a gift for the following year. You know that Christmas Story scene with the kid's tongue stuck to the pole? I got that card in black and white from my brother. I cut off the front, put it in a red thrift store frame I had, and gave it to some friends that are Christmas Story fans the following year.

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  7. Love the picture! Glad you were able to spend time with family!
    Sounds like a frugal week.
    Hope that 2019 will be a good year for all of us! Happy New Year!

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    1. Thanks Kathy - they are a good bunch of kids. They are very good to their aunty & uncle!
      I hope we ALL have a great year as well.
      Happy New Year

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  8. What a lovely family and oh so tall!! I just thought I was tall at 5'5"! I am so glad these holidays are over and life can get back to normal! I'm looking forward to the new year! 365 new opportunities!! My goals for 2019 are to make the crafts that I bought the stuff for, get back to walking 4 miles a day, eat healthy, loose at least 12 pounds to get back to my feel good weight! My biggest goal is to get one bedroom fixed into my sewing/ craft room. Then when spring hits its GARDEN time!! We did finish the master garden course, (it almost killed us! Haha) we have several field trips and projects to look forward to!! Our church has a goal of all of us reading through the bible this coming year. We have a checklist of what to read each night. This will be fun and it will keep us in line!! Lol I wish everyone a Happy New Year and looking forward to what in store for this year!!

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    1. It sounds like you have a lot a great goals. I want to try to do better at a lot of things this year. Your best goal - reading through the Bible. That is wonderful indeed - and it helps keep us on path!
      Happy New Year to you as well.

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  9. I'm looking forward to having the bedroom completely painted. It's taking THREE coats cuz the last color was a Liberty blue that turned out much darker than I planned. By this time next week, I'm hoping that both the bex and bath will be almost freshly decorated. I still need some white black out drapes.

    Right now I'm ready for a nap!!

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    1. WOW that is a big project. It is a nice way to start the year, however. Fresh & clean!
      I need to work on the bathroom.

      Don't over work. Get a rest and bring in the new year rested!

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  10. Yes! to getting back to normal! Happy New Year!!

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    1. I know - right? Just a sigh of relief.
      Hey we made it through another year - and we get to start a new one. YAY!
      Happy New Year

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  11. Hi Cheryl, Christmas did go by so fast! I don't know about money saving things but I got a new stainless steel steamer to put in my pan to steam my veggies and a tall glass spaghetti keeper. May you have a wonderful year ahead. Nancy

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    1. Oh Nancy, those sound nice and will sure come in handy.
      Hope 2019 is the best for all of us!

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