Frugal Accomplishments Holiday Edition

This past week was great for us in terms of frugal accomplishments.  We did splurge on family photos with a photographer, but she gave us a discount since I've taught her children.  Our focus this past week was on saving time and money in the kitchen so that we could take advantage of some holiday gatherings with friends.

• Prepared all meals at home.  Were grateful for holiday leftovers, gifted soup from friends, and everyone being healthy enough to eat this week.  We made cranberry muffins for breakfast one morning (which were a total hit since 11 of the 12 were gone by the end of the day!) and used pantry items to fill in with the leftovers.
• Welcomed gifted food from my grandmother who was cleaning out her pantry.  We acquired some fruit syrup, canned goods, baking mixes, and dried fruit.
• Washed all clothing in cold water and hung most laundry to dry inside.  Only sheets and towels were run through the dryer.
• Continued using cloth diapers for baby, saving a bundle.
• Made candied popcorn for little man's teachers using ingredients on hand.
• Opted not to purchase new glasses for myself this year, but will wait until next year.  My prescription hasn't changed much, so it wasn't a necessity.  The 14 year old glasses will serve just fine for another year!
• Began putting holiday cards up on the mantle for some festive cheer
• Listened to Pandora for Christmas music
• Wore existing clothing to a holiday party and paired green accessories with red sweaters/shirts.  Little man wore a Santa jammie shirt as his festive item.
• Participated in two holiday parties over the weekend, so were grateful for the food there and gracious hosts.  We did take pizza toppings to share at one, using green peppers and homemade pesto we had in the freezer.
• Used Christmas books as our advent calendar this year.  I had enough collected that I could wrap them, and might need to borrow a few from the library.  Little man gets to open one a day.
• Saved my supplement check to pay for car repair/maintenance work being done today.  Using a shop that is close to my school, so I can drop it off in the morning and walk to school.
• Finally located the box of 12 month winter clothing for baby, so glad to have found winter sweaters and jackets for him.  Also grateful for a cousin sharing baby clothing with us which we'll return to her.
• Intend to help little man weed through his toys some to give to other kids in need this season.  He has many (though not as many as some), and as with most kids, seems to find the most joy in simple blocks, stones, balls, and time outside.  We will keep the treasures, but need to weed out some to begin making room for more clothing storage as the boys grow.
• Accepted a small table top tree from my grandmother to decorate upstairs for the boys.

What did you do this week to live and save green?  I'd love to hear from you!