Bright side is the kids were able to go back to school this week and made it through the entire week without a sick day (this, to me, is a good thing after last week for sure).
We have been having really bad winds this winter. We're used to wind in this part of Alaska, but it's been exceptionally windy, it seems, and at some point we learned the hard way that we had lost our chimney cap. The wind changed direction this last wind storm and started blowing out the furnace and then I realized that the chimney cap was missing. We then found out we had an oval chimney opening, not a circular one, and that's a rare thing. So, we couldn't find a replacement cap anywhere no matter who we called.
Times like this it's good to be married to a man who has skills. My husband managed to make a new chimney cap out of about 40.00 in supplies from Home Depot, using things like heating duct and things and we now have a chimney cap. Only gave me about fifty grey hairs watching him working on the roof in high winds, but he got it all on. Once he did that and tightened a loose thermal couple we haven't had a problem since. I can't imagine how much money he saved doing all of that himself.
Anyway, despite the long week and me not feeling well (I'm praying I'm not fighting off bronchitis, but I have my doubts. I'm taking my vitamins and really working on eating nutritious food right now), I was able to save money this week too.
1. I made my daughter a nightgown. I took the nightgown she loves right now, which is an old slip and made a pattern for a new nightgown on some old pattern paper one of the thrift stores was using as packaging material a while back. I kept it to use just for this purpose (seen with the dress cut out via the new "pattern" in the pic up top there) and it worked great.
Really, I was rather pleased with the results. The nightgown didn't fit the first time very well because I didn't take into consideration that the straps on her original nightgown were stretchy so the new straps were way too short, which in turn made the arm holes too small. Once I fixed that the nightgown fits well. I'll probably make it a bit looser in the sides on future nightgowns (I'll make an adjustment on the pattern), but overall, for a first attempt I thought it turned out well. I'm now working on making it just right for my daughter's birthday (I'll hopefully have more to share on that this weekend), but so far so good :).
I also made the nightgown out of materials I already had around the house, so it was free for me to make.
2. I reattached a bunch of buttons this week, mostly to my daughter's pants. Kind of surprised me how many things in the mending pile just needed a button.
3. I've kept on top of my cleaning schedule. I'm not sure how much money keeping the house truly clean is going to cost me, honestly, as I'm doing things like running a load of laundry every day, but we'll just have to wait and see. I'm hoping it doesn't cost me too much as I like having the house clean and all of the laundry caught up all the time.
4. I used up leftovers by eating them for lunch.
5. I started work on a pattern to make a new holding bag for my plastic shopping bags. I inherited one when we moved into our last home years and years ago, but the bag is just starting to plain fall apart. I'm pretty sure I can quickly construct a new one, but I want to make sure I use material that I wouldn't want to use for something else.
6. I stuck to my grocery budget this week.
7. I fixed my daughter's teddy bear as the ear was coming loose. I sewed both ears back on well while she was at school and she was very pleased when she came home to a "not wounded anymore" bear *laugh*.
8. I stuck to my efforts to lower our utilities. I kept the lights and the electric heat off during the day while the kids were at school, unplugged TV's and turned down the forced air heat. I'm hoping I'll see a real difference in the utilities after all of this effort, but we shall see.
9. I've been drinking more water. I figure it's cheaper than drinking something like lemonade and it's better for me.
10. I did the usual things of baking bread, making sure to cook all dinners at home and using up things around here that needed to be used up (more on that over the weekend too).
How did you do this week?
I'm glad your husband could fix the chimney cap and that he stayed safe through the process.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like you were able to save a lot of money this week. I'm glad you are having such success getting ready for your daughter's birthday.
I've had children who were learning to sew make plastic bag holders. All I had them do is sew a rectangle the desired size with a casing filled with elastic on both ends and a little hanger loop on the top. Then, the plastic bags can be stuffed into the top and pulled out of the bottom. The one I have hangs on a nail inside a closet. Of course, this is the simplest kind--not fancy at all.
*Laugh* that's EXACTLY what I have! I think Lovita (the owner of our previous place) must have made the hanging bag out of material that wasn't great to begin with, probably scrap, and it's just going thread bare in places, the elastic is shot, etc. But it's such a simple design I know I can make a new one really easy, so that's what I'm planning on doing.
DeleteGood to know it's as simple as it looks.
I'm very impressed you were able to make a pattern from your daughter's slip! At least you know she likes how it fits.
ReplyDeleteAs for the bag holder, may I suggest you re-purpose a pair of jeans or an old shirt for this project? That way you are not using your stash of "new" fabric for something that doesn't really matter if it has a stain on it anyways.
I'm glad to hear you are drinking more water. I stopped drinking pop after I had gastric by-pass surgery. I was told that carbonation causes calcium to leach from your body. This is a problem as my body is no longer able to absorb calcium properly now that I had this surgery. I admit I have the occasional sip from my husbands pop when I have a slight craving, but that's it. Even when eating out, I always order ice water. To make the water more appealing, I always keep a couple reusable water battles (that we received as free promotional giveaways) filled in the fridge...it tastes way better cold in my opinion! As I empty them, I wash them, refill with water, then put them back in the fridge to get cold again. It's very convenient and frugal!
My personal problem isn't soda, but iced tea. I like Diet Coke, but iced tea with lemon will be my downfall *laugh*. I just realized that between the tea and the sugar that I was probably spending more than I wanted for my iced tea fix, so I'm trying to limit myself to a few glasses a week and sticking with water instead if I can. I'll add some lemon to the water if I feel like I'd like a glass of iced tea and that seems to be taking the edge off so far :).
DeleteI'm trying to dig up a pair of my husband's old jeans that has a leg still in tact as I'm thinking that will be really easy to use for a bag holder. Just make a casing on both ends of said leg opening, put in the elastic and then sinch it up and voila! Hangers built in and I have a bag holder.
DeleteSomething I have made out of old jeans is a holder for camping roasting sticks--the metal ones. Years ago, I took an old pair of jeans, cut off 1 leg, then sewed across the bottom, right sides together. Then I put a casing and a drawstring in the top, and we've used it for years. I suppose you'd have to measure to make sure the pair of jeans was long enough to hold the roasting sticks. We've used the holder of years. It's especially nice because the roasting sticks can be saved without getting lost and the holder is sturdy because it's made from denim. It's gives the kids a place to put away the sticks. I usually wash them if they are super sticky from marshmallows. Also, being a recycled item, I've never been worried if it got dirty.
DeleteYou could also make some pot holders from the left over jean fabric as well. Or maybe some bean bags for a bean bag toss game for the kids. I'm sure you have some creative ideas of your own to use up the rest of the material. Hope you will share when you do!
DeleteIt is so nice to have a husband who can do things. The only thing my dh doesn't like is being on the edge of a roof. He does a lot of swearing when things don't go right the first time but will figure how to do stuff. My son and him just installed a backsplash in my kitchen and I love it. Wish I could sew like you, just never really tried. Cheryl
ReplyDeleteI'm hoping to share a really simple tutorial series on how to sew on the blog here. I won't be showing people how to miter a corner or anything (which I'm still working on that ability where I can do it consistently), but will just show you how I learned to sew on a sewing machine back in Home Ec class. It was the only course I got to take on sewing as my mom was so very over protective of her sewing machine I wasn't allowed to touch it (literally), so Home Ec was the education I got. Luckily in my old home town in Maine we had a really good Home Ec teacher who taught me a lot about machine sewing on a basic level. Past that it's just a lot of practice and not being afraid to fail (which I've failed plenty believe me). So, hopefully I'll get that up here soon as I'm hoping to start teaching my daughter how to sew in the next little bit.
DeleteOh and as for swearing husbands...yeah...my husband does that too *ahem* and boy can he get ticked and end up breaking things when they don't work the way he wants them to the first few times. He'll fix what he broke, don't get me wrong, but it sometimes will add about double onto the original project *laugh*.
DeleteYou better start real slow with the sew basics, it takes me a long time to thread the machine. Cheryl
DeleteI'm laughing about the men swearing while fixing things. My dad was notorious for getting really frustrated and swearing whenever he tried to fix something. It's a joke now that Jesus came to visit our house every time my dad fixed something.
DeleteOmg! Yes, please do a sewing tutorial. My MIL got me a machine a few years ago for Christmas because my other sister in laws sew, and so does she, but if it's all threaded, I can go. It's putting thread on the bobbin and getting the thread started I can't do and heaven help me if a needle were to break. So I sigh sadly as I pass by it in the closet.
ReplyDeleteIced tea is awesome. I share your love. I also adore limeade from minuite maid.
Oh my gosh, limeade! That stuff I could drink wayyy too much of!
DeleteI used one of my husband's old button downs for a bag holder and it worked out great. I find that once I can clean an area and keep it clean I can find what I need and I don't purchase as many duplicates of things. So I guess that is a positive for all that hard work! Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteYou had a great week!!
ReplyDeleteHere's what I did this week
http://themoxleyfamily.blogspot.com/2016/02/money-saving-monday.html
Erika, Pineapple and Pineapple Juice are great for bronchial problems. I use it frequently when I have colds (which always settle in my chest).
ReplyDelete