Weekly Savings

I have not done a weekly savings post in a while.  Honestly with everything we are spending on the house, I do not feel like I am saving at all.  I know that is not true.  Otherwise we would not be as far along as we are on the new house without borrowing any money.

I finally sat down and made a menu for the remainder of this month through the first of the new year.  I do not like going to the grocery store around the holidays.  I ended up doing one big shop.  Aside from a quick stop for a few perishables, my plan is to stay out of the grocery store.

I ordered a holiday blend of essential oils from Plant Therapy.  I took advantage of a sale to get a discount.  I no longer use artificial air fresheners or candles due to my allergies.  A few drops in the diffuser makes the house smell like the holidays.  The one bottle will last much longer than a purchased plug in air freshener would.  

The weather continues to be mild here.  Other than warming up the bathroom a bit a few times (using the electric) heater, we have not used any heat or air conditioning recently.  

I weeded the red onions I planted earlier in the fall.  The chickens continue to keep the weeds out of the pepper plants, which are still bearing.  

I purchased bar stools for the new house during Kohl's Black Friday sale.  I then used the Kohl's Cash I earned to buy a welcome mat, shower curtain liner, soap dispensers, toothbrush holder, and bathroom rug for $27 (which was less than the original cost of the welcome mat).  I intentionally chose basic items I knew I would be purchasing anyway.  Everything is basic colors since I am not ready to think about decorating and design yet.  At this point it is all function!

I got a shower head for the second bathroom for free thanks to Swagbucks!  

I won an Amazon gift card in a blog giveaway.  Entering took just a few minutes of my time.  This will go toward purchasing some faucet for the new house.

I guess I have managed to save some money over the past few weeks.  Of course, I have been doing the usual - cooking at home, hanging clothes to dry, using rags for cleaning rather than paper towels, etc.