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Black Friday

November 27th, 2016 at 02:36 am

My Black Friday was low key. I got my Christmas tree at a local farm - total cost was $44.94 - and it's beautiful! My friend M, her 8-year-old daughter J and I found the perfect one in a field, cut it down and took it to my house to set up. Unfortunately, the basic stand that I have been using for many years would not work with this tree. M has helped me to put up my tree for years and this was the first time we failed! The trunk was too short and the tree too heavy for the old stand.

She had to leave, so I drove to the local hardware store and bought a new-fangled stand for $31.79, took it home and tried to set up the tree myself. It would have worked, except that in order to center the tree in the stand, I needed to be able to lift it straight up once I got it upright in the stand, but it was too heavy. Thankfully my cat sitter happened to be home and she was able to come over and help me finish the job. The stand is so easier to use and much sturdier than the old one.

It is interesting, I will suffer with an inferior product as long as it "works". I have wanted to get a new tree stand for a while, but it was so hard to replace the old one even though I know there are many new designs that are far superior to my old metal one and worth the investment.

The tree and stand didn't even actually cost me anything and it was still hard to pay. My mom likes to give me money for my tree. This year was the first time in a long time that I didn't celebrate Thanksgiving with my mom and my brother and his family in my hometown in southern NJ or that they didn't all come north to my area to celebrate with me. My mom decided to go to Florida early, so I stayed home to enjoy a much needed five-day break. My mom mailed a check for the tree, but also added money for me to go out to dinner for Thanksgiving because she felt bad that I didn't have plans. I then decided to make plans with M and her family and our meal out only cost $5 each. So, the $125 check covered my meal, the tree and the stand with 43.27 left over. Thanks Mom!

Usually I buy local chocolate milk (I like to call it liquid crack) to heat up, local whipped cream and some snacks for our tree day, but I was on day 19 of no sugar (today is 20!) and M didn't have as much time to hang out as she usually does. So, I didn't bother getting anything and thankfully little J was fine eating slices of local Macintosh apple (free from a recent work event I hosted) with freshly ground peanut butter that I had on hand when she got hungry. Whew.

I bought an InstantPot pressure cooker from Am@zon yesterday - on sale for 68.95 from 129.99 with free shipping. I had $60 worth of languishing Am@zon gift cards from sw@gbucks, so my total cost was only 8.95. I hope I like it!

My total Friday spending was $85.68 and it was all money well spent.

Today I only spent $2.50 for garbage drop off. I hadn't disposed of trash and recycling for over a month and I was glad to get rid of the buildup. I ate the last of my Thanksgiving leftovers for lunch and made a box of Annie's mac and cheese from the cupboard with steamed broccoli and cauliflower for dinner. It has been gloomy here all week and I was in the mood for comfort food. I also enjoyed free local apple cider left over from my work event.

Time to put the lights on my tree. I usually invite my friend D over to help, but I'm in the mood to be alone this weekend. My tree is quite tall, so I am hoping that I will be able to do the lights by myself tonight.

I've been listening to Christmas music all day while tackling some decluttering. I really need to get rid of unnecessary stuff!!

Hope everyone is having an enjoyable weekend.

7 Responses to “Black Friday”

  1. NJDebbie Says:
    1480215591

    Sounds lovely to have your tree already. I decorated the living room and dining room but the tree will have to wait until the next weekend. Your Mom is so sweet and thoughtful! The weather in New Jersey on Thanksgiving Day was kinda cold and rainy. Happy Holidays to you!

  2. Carol Says:
    1480253352

    Your weekend sounds lovely. Congratulations on so many no sugar days. I hope to copy you! It was funny to read about your Instant Pot--mine ( in that same deal) was delivered 20 minutes ago!

  3. rob62521 Says:
    1480286010

    Yay on the new tree stand. You did well on your shopping. And the no sugar days...you rock!

  4. CB in the City Says:
    1480296170

    My DIL bought that InstantPot, too!

  5. starfishy Says:
    1480339190

    NJDebbie - Thanks and happy holidays to you, too! Carol and CB - funny that you and SIL also got the Instant Pot...i'll be interested to see how it works. rob62521 - thanks for the support! Smile

  6. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1480386956

    The IP is an awesome tool. I bet you'll love it in no time. Smile

  7. starfishy Says:
    1480544549

    FT - i hope so! it's supposed to arrive today, but i probably won't have a chance to test it out until late next week. Smile

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