Is it the end of 2020 yet?
Even December's been on the weird side. Like many of you, we didn't do a lot of celebrating -- and what we did wasn't our usual. No Seven Fish Dishes, either. (Part of it was the Brick fighting off a messy cold -- and me flirting with it. But at least our Covid tests came up negative.)
We didn't do that much Christmas shopping. I was surprised, however, at how many items I'd accumulated throughout the year on sale or elsewhere -- as referenced by the volume of presents we ended up wrapping. Thankfully, we were largely able to finish that onerous chore a month ago. ('No staying up to wrap on Christmas Eve!' the Brick chortled.)
We were lucky to be able to spend some hours of the Christmas holiday with our children. I was very grateful for that. New Year's Eve and Jan. 1 will be much quieter -- but that's normal. There's going to be a bonus flipside for this simpler holiday season -- not much to get stale, or clean up and put away!
FRUGAL HITS
(some of these are from late November)
*Clementines! Both the Brick and yours truly have loved eating all the sweet little oranges we can stuff in. Ironically, the mandarins in Mexico weren't that good. But I found a sale at King Soopers when we returned home, and bought 9 pounds for less than a buck each. Ooh, they've been good.
*Found an American taco place that produces tacos that taste like they were made in Mexico! And the 'chicken carbon' version is only a buck...not much more than the 75-cent tacos we were loving in Puerto Vallarta. If you like closer-to-true Mexican food, sprint to Del Taco. (They also have a 79-cent taco that's similar to Taco Bell's...and sales on Taco Tuesday and Thursday.)
They've got a great special on giftcards running through Dec. 31, as well:
(yes, I took advantage of it)
*Outback Steakhouse had a one-day sale: for every $50 in giftcards, you got $20 back, instead of $10. (Did I take advantage of this one, too? You betcha.)
*Free rides to/from DIA -- thanks to our friend Tommy. (We reciprocate when he and his wife head somewhere.)
*Helped out our 'landlord' some. (Though not as much as previous months -- it's been pretty quiet, and we've been gone a lot.)
*FINALLY got two cashback credits on credit cards we've been waiting ages for. By just asking, I also got a late payment fee and subsequent interest refunded. (That's what we get for going to Mexico, and staying away from finances while we were there. Things mess up that way.)
*Found 26 cents at the airport -- including a quarter in the X-ray machine! I walked away from another penny at the Phoenix airport, because we were late, and I confess it -- I was tired. (The Brick finds it hilarious that this would bother me.) However, getting out of the Uber car at PV, we lost a coin: either one or five pesos: 5 or 25 cents down the tube. (I know. This is silly, too.)
Puerto Vallarta savings from our recent trip: -----------------------
*Southwest plane tickets let us take two suitcases each -- free. Love this airline; when you confirm your ticket early, you get on earlier -- which in three of the four planes, meant we could grab first-row seats. More legroom!
*We stayed at two places -- the Casa Pavlova (5 nights) and the Costa Sur resort (3 nights) --averaging our costs out to less than $50/nightly.
*We rented a car, instead of taking public transportation, for most of our trip. It cost more than taking the bus or Uber, but we had a free place to park and could go anywhere and anytime we wanted. That was a big savings -- not having to 'arrange' things.
*Bought much of our food at the grocery store -- plus souvenirs. You can purchase many of the same things as the shops downtown -- but La Comer had better selection and prices.
*We ate cheaper meals in our room, interspersed with more expensive ones eating out.
*Even the restaurant meals ranged from less to more expensive. (However, we didn't stint on tipping -- these people are looking at slim pickings, thanks to far fewer tourists.) It was SUCH a burden, having to subsist on margaritas, seafood practically straight off the boat, and fresh-made salsa! (limp hand to forehead)
*Souvenirs were limited to grocery store buys, cheaper items (like 'Virgin of Guadalupe' keychains for $2), 'liquidacion' items -- or even a plate from a restaurant we went to. (See below for more on this.)
*We brought our own equipment for snorkeling. The afternoon we spent doing this was one of the best days on the trip.
*We interspersed free fun with paid ones. Strolling the malecon (a sort-of sidewalk along the ocean) and visiting the cathedral mixed with a trip to the botanic gardens.
*Our price at the Costa Sur resort was much less than usual, thanks to being willing to sit through a timeshare presentation. (We also got a free breakfast, two free drinks and a 10% discount on food at the restaurant.)
*Cake slices -- on sale! Our room was above a European-style cake bakery. The morning before we left, they had a half-price sale on slices. We bought four -- and took two with when we left. (Our landlord had also given us two free slices earlier in the week, for putting up with a defective safe.) Yes, we were bad kitties. And they were delicious.
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*Two free appraisal reports done - in return for kindnesses done for us.
*$25 Amazon giftcard, earned with points from Swagbucks. This is a great way to make your regular shopping and searches pay off -- for no extra cost. Go here to sign up, and you'll give me a small commission for doing so, as well.
*More $2 videos from the library's used book sale room -- plus a set of Gunsmoke videos bought via Ebay and Amazon, mostly featuring our favorite guy: Festus Haggen. (We got hooked on this quirky Western tv series while staying at The Mama's.)
*Applied for help with the world cruise refund. We were supposed to get one month's cost back, but CMV went bankrupt, instead. The Americans banded together on this one...though the lawyer says not to expect much. (We're also requesting it via the credit card companies. Always put your payments, if possible, on credit cards-- so you get not only cash back...or you should... plus a sort of 'insurance' on future items you have to pay for now.)
*Beans! I gave dozens of pounds to our church's Senior Luncheons program -- which shut down in 2020, due to Covid-19. Suzie's used some, and promised me a pound or two back regularly. Wonderful. (One of my quirks, whenever uncertain or hard times seem to be coming, is to buy beans. And I think they're coming. Both the beans AND the hard times, that is.)
*Sold some books! The December special we ran for Brickworks garnered quite a few customers. (BTW, if you visited the Brickworks website and it was 'shut down,' no worries -- my IT guy had to fix a few glitches.)
*Got some great-priced plane tickets for an upcoming trip in the spring: $49 each way to Florida on Southwest, with two free suitcases. Nice to think about, now snow's coming.
*Some half-priced bargains after Christmas -- next year's Christmas cards, plus a box of chocolate-covered cherries and a 'yard' (18 bars) of Snickers. Nothing amazing...I'm trying hard not to stock up, like I used to, thanks to limited space.
FRUGAL MISSES
*Truck repairs while in Michigan -- $1000 down the drain.
*Rented a car for most of our trip in Puerto Vallarta. (More $$ -- but it was worth it.)
*Paid for the care of Charley and Ruby, our furry dears, while in PV.
*A new laptop for the Brick, plus a new mattress for the trailer. Hopefully the latter will give us better sleep. There's a bonus here, though -- the Brick saved money on each by careful shopping and looking for bargains.
*Paid insurance for the trailer and truck for six months in one swoop -- we saved on fees, true, but OUCH.
Last month's Hits & Misses are here.
December's statement from last year is here.
The last month ends, of a strange year. What's next? The only thing I know for sure: we'll be ok, whatever happens. God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good.
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