Home
Made some wall 'art' for our dining room. I followed this idea that I found on Pinterest. I had to purchase drywall compound as we didn't have enough and the canvas itself which I got on sale. I used a combination of paint that I already had as well as the darker green paint I picked up from someone in my local Buy Nothing group. In total I spent $20 on this project. I'm not completely happy with it, but I think it's a whole lot better than the blank expanse that was there before!
Sold a small chandelier on Kijiji for $40 that was here when we moved in. It didn't go with our stuff and we had purchased the new one in the pic above using a gift certificate we got as a housewarming gift.. Our dining room, which is the one room of our new house which is completely done, cost us a grand total of $40! The furniture was given to us by my mother-in-law when she moved and could no longer fit it, plus $20 for the wall 'art' and $20 for new curtains from a discount store. The previous owners left the curtain rod and we didn't need to repaint this room. That it cost so little makes me enjoy the space that much more in a weird way.
Bought a brand new drip coffee maker from a yard sale for $10, still unsealed. When I looked it up, this model retails for about $110 new. Score! We have used a French press for years but lately with more guests visiting and staying with us it's been a bit of a pain in the ass, as we have to make multiple pots in a row when it's more than just us to get everyone caffeinated. Also programming this one for the morning saves my husband a few precious minutes before his bike commute.
Food
Made 5 freezer meals ahead that can just be dumped in the slow cooker day of: including Chicken Curry, Honey Sesame Chicken, and Midwestern Pork Chili. I froze them in the chest freezer gifted to me by my mom when we moved as she had replaced her's with an upright and had this one sitting unplugged.
This will be very handy for evenings when L has swimming and hockey at the Rec Centre starting mid-September as those nights will be rushed. But especially these will be a lifesaver for days when my migraines are bad. I haven't made freeze and dump kind of meals before so I'll see how it works out and then decide if I'll keep it up making batches of these on occasion.
Batch cooked 2 lbs of dry black beans in the slow cooker and froze in 15oz portions to use in future cooking.
One of my husbands colleagues gave him a few pieces of hockey equipment that her children had outgrown. This gives us a head start on equipment for next year for free!
To celebrate our last day home for the summer with just the two of us, L and I went to play mini-putt together on Friday and then grabbed ice cream cones nearby. It was some good quality time.
We've also been exploring new parks all around our new city, some for kids and some for our furry 4-legged friend. The highlight for L was this big new park with a castle, although he did complain that it wasn't as fun as he'd like. This is always a particular issue with new-build parks as they are so safe that they look a lot more fun then they are. It was still good though and we'll be back as it's only a 5 min drive from our house (thankfully we have 6 parks we've discovered also within walking distance).
Other Random Money-Saving
Hung 5 loads of laundry to dry instead of using the dryer (on our new clothesline! We're pretty excited never having had one before!)
Started using YNAB again. We totally fell off the budgeting wagon leading up to our move so we haven't kept track of our spending at all since April when all the pre-moving craziness started.
Signed up for Swagbucks. My goal is to earn enough to purchase 2 Christmas gifts. I did 3 surveys this week.
Steps Back
Kinda literally this week.
While these classic black pumps only cost me $10 at Value Village, there is no way that I need these and I can't justify them in any way. Oh well. Clothing, shoes, and food out are my weaknesses. I'm getting way better but clearly not there yet.
What did you do last week?
No comments:
Post a Comment