Frugal Friday File 2018, week 43...

Successes:
1.  No takeaway meals this week.  We are going out tonight though.

2.  We cancelled our vacation plans.  Instead of one long trip, we may take a couple of different 2-day trips during Carey's three weeks off.  The main reason for this is that our plans for dog sitting fell through, and I just don't want to kennel Rudy for two whole weeks.  (The kids offered to handle things, but Jared works such odd hours, and Kasey has enough pets at her house as it is.  

Truth be told, I wasn't really excited about taking a trip this year.  (We just took a long trip last year, and the planning and logistics were a lot of work!)  The first clue should have been whenever anyone asked me where we were going on vacation this year, my answer would be something like, "Oh, I'm not really sure.  I just can't get excited about anything."  I'm much happier continuing to sock away vacation savings, and plan a special trip for next year.

3.  I just picked up 4 quilts from the long-arm quilter.  While it isn't cheap, she is very reasonable as long-arm quilters go, and she is wonderful to work with.  Now I just have to get them bound in time for Christmas gifting.

4.  I was in the city this week, so I made a trip to Costco while I was there.  I avoided impulse purchases.  (I actually looked at pre-lit Christmas trees...our current tree is losing lights by the strand every time we plug it in...but I walked away.)  No movies, no books, no calendars, no gift wrap.  I bought apples, oranges, pears (the pears are YUM!), bananas, deli turkey breast, walnuts, salsa, and dishwasher detergent.  I avoided the giant bags of lettuce, as those would go bad before we could use it up.  I wanted the pack of small individual cups of hummus (I have trouble with portion control when it comes to hummus), but I have an open container in the fridge that needs finishing before it gets replaced.

5.  Health insurance!  I've had two medical appointments this week, and a third was postponed due to an issue at the facility.  Today I spent a good hour and a half getting a pint (half a liter) of blood drawn.  I have to have this done about every six months.  It doesn't usually take quite that long, but they tried letting it drain into a bag this time, and I just don't give it up that easy.  :)

Frugal From the Kitchen This Week:
Saturday:  Frito Pie (I had mine with very little Fritos & cheese)
Sunday:  Sunday family supper at Kasey & Beau's
Monday:  leftovers
Tuesday:  Chicken Curry
Wednesday:  leftovers
Thursday:  Shrimp Scampi served in Roasted Spaghetti Squash
Friday:  *dinner out

(*not-frugal takeout or dinner out)