2017-12-27 A Few Frugal Things- Christmas Thrift Finds

I’m finally on winter break! Yay! It was a tough semester but I am trying to enjoy every day off that I get. This is the first year I get to decorate a fireplace (in our rental house) while we continue to farm hunt. Almost everything pictured was bought at the thrift shop/yard sales, on clearance or a gift.

A few frugal things

– We got all of the holiday grocery shopping out of the way at ALDI. All but a few small items that I had to get from Publix because ALDI did not carry them.

– Clearing out the garage and house by donating extra yard sale stuff, mailing my sister and nephew a box for Christmas, giving my friend some stuff that she had left at the house and donating a large baby toy from my nephew’s last visit that he had outgrown.

– I got to go to Universal Studios Theme park with my friend for her company Christmas party. They gave us unlimited food and drinks and desserts. Harry Potter World was AMAZING and free!!!

– I thought I was done with my Christmas shopping but I realized I needed one more small thing but couldn’t bring myself to go to the store this close to Christmas. I ended up making and printing an invitation to see Star Wars together that I will add to that person’s gift bag.

– We have been eating at home since we ate out too much during the last week of school

– Went to Walgreens to pick up a prescription that just so happened to be on a day when they were offering 20% off most of the store. My mom got some vitamins she needed B1G1 free and a few other things we needed all for 20% off and then I had some store points I don’t understand/didn’t know about and we saved over 50%.

– I wrapped the gifts for our family Christmas lunch in gift bags saved from last year and 2 red pails that my dad was getting rid of. I did buy 2 large rolls of wrapping paper from the thrift shop for .25 cents each that I will use to wrap the gifts for Christmas morning. One of the two rolls was labeled recyclable.

– B made a HUGE pot of chili before Christmas that we ate for a week!

– I am giving plenty of gifts that I bought at the thrift shop this year. It’s good for the environment and my loved ones care more about getting something they want than if that something is brand new.

– I forgot to give the little candle gifts I had purchased to my coworkers for Christmas and debated saving them for next year but we are hoping to buy a house before then and so I’m giving them to everyone else. More gifts now, less moving stuff around later.

– Amazon was having a crazy deal on Sonic toothbrushes which are usually crazy expensive and I was able to get two of them for $12 each!

– We made a huge ham dinner for Christmas day and then ate leftovers for days. Now that we are sick of ham I am going to make a huge pot of homemade Split Pea soup and then will use the other ham leftovers

Not so Frugal

– Christmas in general. However, I was mostly frugal. No debt for this Christmas or ever. I got plenty of gifts from the thrift shop, Dollar Tree stocking stuffers and most new items are from Amazon Prime which often beats the price of big box stores and includes shipping.

– We ate too much take out just getting though the last week of the semester. I didn’t make it to the grocery store the week before. I will try to plan better next semester.

Extra Income

– I earned $25 PayPal Cash for some online work

– Redeemed $50 Credit Card rewards, I’m going to try to use it towards something useful

Harmful Chemical Free Living

– I am still looking for a new floor steam and swifter at the thrift shop. No luck yet but I know I will find them soon.

I got this tree from a local thrift shop for $7 but we didn’t end up using it because of the kittens

I found these two Christmas hand towel sets for a few dollars each at the thrift store

The tree we did end up using is two triangle panels, it’s meant to hold Christmas cards but at least the kittens couldn’t eat it

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