Frugal February the final week!

This is the final week of Frugal February

Tuesday

We have a lovely chesterfield leather sofa which we bought about 10 years ago when there was more money coming into the house than now. It was something I wanted for years, and it made me happy. Lately however we have been concerned that it just isn't so comfortable. The cover is still fine, but we didn't quite know what was wrong -did the cushions need more stuffing or was there a problem with the springs?

Of course we wanted to repair it if we could. I don't want this lovely thing on the landfill, and I couldn't in all conscience give an uncomfortable sofa to any charity shop.

My DH sent some photos to an upholsterer who thought he needed to adjust or replace some springs and webbing, and who will add extra stuff to the cushions.  We did check to see prices for new leather sofas just in case this was not a cost effective option, but we are sure that we are making the right choice here.

Looks like buying the best quality you can afford does pay off in the end.  It will offer us another 10 years of service for the price of the repair which was $540.

Wednesday

My DH put the last coat of stain on the console table. By buying this item unfinished  we can make sure it matches our other lounge room furniture -and save into the bargain.

I found a container of soup in the freezer to take for lunch and it was yummo. Making soup for lunches saves me at least $14 a day when I am at work -given the highly inflated Perth prices for simple lunches and coffees. I have my own plunger and coffee supply at work.

I made a loaf of pumpkin bread using the left over roasted pumpkin from Monday.  My daughter loves the different varieties of bread we can make -and has a favourite thing with each of them. By making use of the small left overs we can reduce waste and make tasty food.

DH made a big slow cooker full of beef casserole and veg -which was enough for three meals. One meal was the night it was made, served with salad. A small container was kept in the fridge and I served it in ramekins with mashed potato on top. One container is in the freezer for next week.

Thursday

I had a long day at work, but DH was busy getting my lounge room set up with the newly renovated sofa and the newly stained console.

The sofa is SO FIRM now -and like new. I am really happy about this!

Friday

I wanted to set my lounge room up for Lent which starts next Wednesday. I changed some of the icons and pictures to make it appropriate.

 I found a purple candle in my stash and put it in my thrifted silver candle stick on the coffee table, but needed some purple for my angels on the mantle. DD and I enjoyed a trip to a local store where I got two nice purple candles for $5 and a bag of little purple beads for $3.

Then I made this purple runner for the console table.  I browsed several quilt books for inspiration, and checked my stash and especially my scraps.   The table topper in the picture above was made using the scraps from the runner.

Here is how it ended up:

Saturday Sunday and Monday

Saturday and Monday -we enjoyed lovely walks along our local beach, and on Monday even went swimming briefly, before the lifesavers warned us of a shark in the area, so we quickly got out of the water.

On Sunday I rejuvenated a vegetable bed with compost we made, along with some fertiliser. I treated it with wetta soil and put the mulch back ready for the next crop. I think I want the garlic to go in here.

So -the result of Frugal February? 

*saved $200 in the grocery bill
* have a lovely lounge room for $$$ less than buying things because we repaired and made our own stuff, or modified cheap purchases (the curtains, the console)  for our own use.

I have enjoyed keeping track of my efforts.

Thanks for dropping by.