Frugal Friday File 2017, weeks 42 and 43...

SOOOO happy to be home.  We just got in from being away for two weeks.  We logged over 5,000 miles during that time.  Here's a bit about the frugality of it, even though it is Saturday.  :)

Successes:
1.  The only things I forgot to pack were a shower cap and shampoo.  The first hotel (first night) had both in the room, and they both lasted me for the entire two weeks.

2.  Out of 14 nights away, we only spent 4 in hotels, and they were surprisingly less costly than I had expected.  We all (Carey and I and my sister) shared one room with 2 queen beds.  Three of the hotels offered breakfasts.  We spent one night with my friend, the other Kathleen, and she fed us breakfast as well.

3.  The other 9 nights we spent in cabins at various state parks...very private and peaceful as there weren't too many other people at this time of year.  We stayed at least 2 nights at each location.  All but one of the cabin stays had been paid in full before we ever left home.  Since all the cabins had kitchens, we mostly ate in.

4.  I had planned and packed the food to take with us.  I pre-cooked meats for soups/stews and vacuum packed them and froze, and we borrowed a Yeti cooler which kept things mostly frozen between locations (when we got to each destination we moved everything from the cooler to the fridge/freezer in the cabin...including the bags and bottles of ice which refroze and were ready for the next leg of our journey, so not much spent on ice, and I didn't worry about refreezing the meats that had already been cooked ahead of time, since they were for soups and refreezing didn't affect the taste or texture).  For the foods that didn't need refrigeration, I packed each recipe's ingredients in a separate zip lock bag (canned goods included) and placed them all in a single box 'filed' in order that they would be needed.  That saved rummaging through everything, as each time I was ready to start cooking I could just grab the next bag, and then add its items to the matching ingredients (also labeled) from the fridge/freezer.  I also packed a 'breakfasts and snacks' bag.  We didn't eat many meals out, but we splurged on a few really nice ones.

5.  Foregoing souvenirs was not much of an issue, as we were very limited on space in the car.  I did buy gifts to bring home to the family at A Christmas Story House, as everyone in the family loves that movie.  I did buy some fabric as I had planned stops at some great quilt shops, but truly, I limited myself.  And we did stop at some thrift stores and picked up a few small things which I will blog about later.


Keep Tryings:
1.  We worked on the jigsaw puzzle one night (who knew my sister wasn't a fan of jigsaw puzzles?), and the puzzle board I made did work.  However, a cooler bag leaked on it in the car and I'm waiting for it to dry out to see if all is lost.

2.  We never got around to playing cards that I bought to take along.

Frugal From the Kitchen This Week:
Saturday:  stew and cornbread at my sister's
Sunday:  *pizza and salad buffet
Monday:  No-Peek Chicken
Tuesday:  Roast and Dumplings
Wednesday:  Virginia's Taco Soup and cornbread
Thursday:  Old Fashioned Goulash
Friday:  Jambalaya
Saturday:  leftovers
Sunday:  i can't remember
Monday:  *sushi
Tuesday:  Lentil Soup and cornbread
Wednesday:  Frito Pie
Thursday:  leftovers
Friday:  *dinner out

(*not-frugal takeout or dinner out)