Frugal Things Every Day

I hope everyone is expecting spring soon. It is going to be in the 50’s today and the next few days. That will be about 20 degrees warmer than it has been. I am planning on walking a short distance with Hubby today. Since he has lost so much weight, he has started to walk again. I am enjoying that. We used to walk a lot.

What have I been up to besides spring cleaning? Well, the spring cleaning is going well. It is slow but I am getting there. But besides that I have been neatening up and organizing my pantry. That has told me what I am low on and need to get. So when I find a good deal, I order what is needed.

Lately, there have been very few good deals at Walmart. I am finding that their prices are ridiculous. However, we needed tuna especially since the nice weather is coming and we will be eating a lot of salads. I am very fussy when it comes to tuna. When I was a kid, my mom sent me to school with a lot of tuna sandwiches. Hence, I wouldn’t eat tuna for years. It took Hubby a long time to convince me that tuna can be good. So this tuna is one that I will eat. It is delicious and healthy. When I saw it was just $1.58 a can, I ordered a dozen. That is a good price for here. I can get tuna a bit cheaper on sale elsewhere but I don’t like the ones that the other supermarkets carry.

We have been eating down our freezer and I am hoping to roast our last turkey that I purchased at Thanksgiving on sale sometime in the next few weeks. That will help to give me some more room. Plus I would like to defrost it again when it is not so full.

The other reasons for wanting to pretty much empty the freezer are: to use up things that are getting older so they don’t go to waste, to see what I actually need ( my inventory online has gotten out of hand while we have had so many medical issues), and to use up most of the frozen vegetables since fresh will be here in a few months. Plus meat is so expensive I want to use that valuable space for meat. Hamburger, hot dogs, chicken and steaks will be going on sale for Memorial Day. That week has some of the best sale prices that I can get on those things all year. This is the time of year that I also buy my ketchup, mustard and BBQ sauces. Even though it is only March, I am planning ahead because the end of May will be here before I know it.

What have you done to be frugal recently?

It has been a rough few weeks around here. Between our health issues, doing the taxes, and trying to get this house spring cleaned, we have been busy. Once the house is all organized and cleaned, I will be hiring a cleaning service to come every other week. I am getting older and this is one of the things we saved for in retirement. It is just too much for me in this stage of life.

But we always have time to be frugal. Here are some of the things that we have been doing. I made a nice ranch chicken dinner in our Instant Pot for Valentine’s Day. It gave us two meals and saved us from spending money going out to eat. The only time we have not cooked is on Fridays and Ash Wednesday during Lent. We have a place less than a mile from us that has the best fish fries and French fries. The fish fries are huge and give us two meals. The French fries are our Keto cheat each week. I can’t buy the fish nor the fries in the market for the price that I can buy these meals for. I really don’t know how they make a profit.

Hubby has been taking back bags of bottles to Fast Cash to redeem the deposits. They have piled up over the winter. He has a few more to do the next time he goes out and they will be all caught up. Then we can clean the garage. The deposits have paid for a car wash. We have had so much snow and ice the past month that the car needed a bath to get the salt off.

I ran a bunch of errands all at once last week in the next town. I had a doctor’s appointment so while I was down there, I went to BJ’s for some fresh veggies. I have had a hard time finding good tomatoes in my markets. They are usually over ripe and don’t last but a day or two. BJ’s had some nice ones so got a few along with some other needed fresh veggies. I also stopped at the bank to cash a check and get my grocery money for the next few months. I filled up the car using my $ .20 off a gallon Top’s points.

With all the taxes that I finally finished this week, the laundry had really piled up. So I spent a day this week doing a few loads. I washed in cold water and used the drier to make it easier on myself. Of course I used my dryer balls to cut down on the the drying time.

We have been doing very little grocery shopping. We have been so busy that we have been eating up what is in our pantry, fridge, and freezer. I did get one Walmart grocery delivery in the past few weeks but it was only a $48. one that was for fresh things that we needed. I always go through Rakuten to get any rebates that they are offering. I also used about $ 4.+ in reward money for this order.

We finally got our auto and homeowner’s policies to pay. I was happy that they both ONLY went up under $100. each. From all the articles that I have been reading, I was expecting a huge increase.

While I have been cleaning, I have been throwing things away that we no longer need. Since, I do this a few times a year, there hasn’t been much. More clothes that are worn out and don’t fit than anything. I did put out one item that wasn’t good anymore for a large item trash pick up today.

When our new garbage company took over in January, they only had one day a month that you could put out a large item. I had to contact the town because we needed to get rid of the sleep number bed when we got the new ones. It was in pieces because that is how they come apart. We taped together as many pieces as we could but we had many piles. The town rep said they might take it but then again they might only take one pile. I complained since our last garbage company would take a large item every week. The thoughts of having to drag that sleep number bed back into the garage was a real issue for us. Bottom line the company took it all. But evidently, many people in town complained. We are paying a lot more in taxes this year for garbage pickup and the amount of items they will take has decreased. Well shortly after all of the complaints, the town sent out a mailer informing everyone that the garbage company would pick up 4 large items a month but only on one particular day a month. Better but not great. However the town also let us know, that for this year the company will pick up 6 barrels or bags of garbage a week just like the old company did. However in 2024, they will no longer do that. We will have to pay for 1 barrel that the company will provide and that is the only barrel they will pick up. We all have large lawns we mow and those clippings have to be bagged. One barrel a week is not going to cut it for us and if you have a family, you are screwed. Hubby and I don’t create much garbage most of the time but with bagging grass clippings and garbage it will not work. BTW, we are not allowed to take anything to the town dump. So when I get some free time, I am complaining to the town supervisor. They have really screwed this up. I would rather pay more for decent service than less for this crappy service. When we lived in AZ, we had three barrels: blue for recyclables, one for garbage, and one for yard waste which was called a green barrel. I want to give him the idea of seeing about us getting the green barrels. That would solve the problem.

I continue to prep our fresh veggies as soon as they come into our home. They take up less space in the fridge and they get all used up because I can see what we have.

Hubby fixed a pair of shoes with shoe goo.

We have been saving printer paper that we only used one side of to print off Hubby’s crossword puzzle from the online newspaper every morning.

We are doing some things around the house to make it easier for Hubby and I. He bought a new handheld shower sprayer hose that magnetically attaches to our shower. He got it all installed and found out it leaked like a sieve. Instead of returning it, he called Moen to complain. They sent us an upgraded one that cost $100. and sent it quickly. The rep said they had none of the other one in stock which only cost us $31.00. That is great customer service and Hubby has it installed and it is working perfectly. We have a built in bench in our shower( this was a builder upgrade which I am glad we ordered). This handheld sprayer makes it so much easier to sit on the bench and wash up.

We have also ordered these: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B083HVBF27?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

Hubby and I have almost tripped a number of times on the corners of our rugs that are on some of our hardwood floors. We wanted something that would hold the corners down without ruining our floors. These fit the bill and we got enough to do all 4 corners of all of our rugs. These were very reasonably priced and are working well.

I also purchased a handheld vacuum from QVC: https://www.qvc.com/Shark-WANDVAC-Cordless-Handheld-Vacuum-with-Scrubbing-Brush.product.V46228.html?sc=PRODFEED I got it on sale for $99. plus I used Rakuten. I have been wanting one for a very long time. This one is perfect for what I need it for. We had a handheld one that I keep charged in the garage but we do the car and the garage with it plus it doesn’t have the attachments that this one does. This has been such a great help in cleaning up around here. So far I have used it to pick up crumbs off the tablecloth after we eat, and to vacuum out the lint trap on the washer, the cupboards in the kitchen, around the baseboards in the kitchen, to vacuum out kitchen drawers, etc. It also does a great job on stair carpeting. When I emptied the refrigerator recently to give it a good spring cleaning, I vacuumed up all the bits and pieces before I wiped the shelves and drawers down. It gets the crumbs off of the floor of my toaster oven. I have a drawer that pulls out and I can empty them every week and clean it but some always get underneath it. This makes it easy to get those. I am sure as I continue to clean each room, I will find more uses for it. I am actually keeping it in it’s charger on a kitchen counter so that it is always ready to use. That is how much I love it!

I got a $ 100. rebate that I used to purchase some of these things.

I am back exercising on the recumbent bike every day. I am also thinking about walking on the treadmill again too. My doctor says it will help with my arthritis.

Dinner this week has been salads, pork chops, a sheet pan meal with scallops and veggies, and tonight we will have meatballs with sauce and melted mozzarella cheese. Then tomorrow night we look forward to the fish fries. I pick them up and we have a nice quiet dinner at home.

We saw West and my son for breakfast last Sunday. We will not see them for a while because my son and his wife are leaving tomorrow for Poland to visit a friend. West’s other grandparents are taking care of West and the two dogs.

Well that is what we have been doing around here. What have you been up to?

Today is my grocery shopping day for this week. So I went first thing this morning to Aldi’s and got 6 nice avocados on sale for $ .69 each. I love when these are in season. Three when they ripen will be used for breakfasts and three be used to make guacamole which I will freeze in portions sizes.

At Top’s, I purchased coleslaw that Hubby had been begging for which cost $ 2.79. They had strawberries on a B1G1 free sale which were $5.99 for both minus a $1.00 DC = $ 4.99. They also had boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale for $ 1.99 a lb. which is the lowest price in our area. So I stocked on 15.34 lbs.( limit of 3 pkgs.) which cost $30.53. Top’s total was $ 38.51 and Aldi’s total was $ 4.14.

The chicken breasts will be cut lengthwise tomorrow. Some will be left as half breasts and others will be cut into chunks and tenderloins for fajitas and casseroles. I will use the foodsaver to put it in bags and freeze it.

In my spare time, I have been cleaning our storage bins in the basement. I started after New Year’s when I took the tree down. At that time I went through all of the ornaments that we weren’t using and boxed them up for my sons’ to go through and keep what they want. Then I started going though the other Christmas storage boxes when I was up to it. I am still working on them. I found these and about 20 other packs of guest towels and napkins all purchased at 90% off after many Christmases. I had forgotten them since we don’t do Christmas anymore. We usually go to my son’s who lives closer to us. Since we have plenty of regular napkins for an emergency, we are using these up. I don’t need to take up space to store them anymore.

I had eggs and bacon and Hubby had salami and cheese chunks for brunch this morning. Dinner tonight will be the leftovers from our turkey dinner.

I am off to do some more cleaning out of storage boxes.

Are you saving any money today?

I am up early today because I have a lot to do. It’s 4:20AM. I started thawing an 18 lb.+ turkey yesterday by soaking it in cold water in the sink. Before I went to bed last night, I put it in the refrigerator. When I got up this morning, I put it back in cold water in the sink so it can finish thawing. Then I will roast it in my convection oven for dinner. We will have mashed cauliflower and green beans with it.

Since we are not stuffing it, it will take less time to roast. The convection setting on my oven will save 25 % of the energy needed if I roasted it in the regular oven.

After dinner, I will take all of the meat off of the carcass for other meals. Some of the meat will be put into food saver bags and frozen for future meals. I will put all of the skin and bones into the crockpot to make turkey broth. That will simmer on low all night. We will eat leftovers on Monday night. Then on Tuesday, I will make a big pot of turkey soup. We will probably eat that for 3-4 nights. I paid $ .58 a lb. for this turkey before Thanksgiving. I am going o keep track of how many meals we get from it. It will be the cheapest protein we can eat.

Besides thawing the turkey yesterday, I ordered a Walmart grocery delivery. It has been cold and snowy here and I didn’t want to go out. We got a couple of bargains: a half gallon of milk- $ 1.72, 6 Great Value Naturally Hickory Smoked Bacon Thick Sliced, 24 oz. packages – $ 5.97 each or $ 3.98 a pound, a case of 12 cans of Great Value Premium Wild Caught Solid White Albacore Tuna in water, 5 oz.- $1.42 a can and a 60 count box of eggs- $ 19.98. The food total for this order was $ 81.56 including a $ 7.00 tip. Before I purchased the eggs, I contacted the store in my area that had a dozen eggs for $ 3.59 to see if they still had them and as I suspected they were all gone. You win some and you lose some. But I am glad I got them because there was a large fire at a huge commercial coup in Connecticut yesterday and I suspect that egg prices may rise because of it.

I refuse to give up bacon and eggs for the time being. They aren’t as cheap as they used to be but we only eat one egg each(about $.33 each) for brunch now and 1 strip of this thick bacon. I cook a bit more than that for Sunday breakfasts with my son and grandson because they eat more than we do plus my teenage grandson has a hollow leg. Even with the bacon it works out to cheap protein. This is the best price on thick bacon that I can find and it is delicious. It is not like Aldi’s bacon which works out to the same price but is so thin and transparent when you cook it. I find Hatfield to be just as bad. I don’t know what they are doing to Smithfield but it does not taste good to us anymore.

The tuna is cheap for Wild Caught and it is delicious. We stay stocked on that because Hubby loves it. I will be freezing some of the eggs.

I forgot to send this last night. So sorry! There will be another post later today.

We got 8 inches of snow yesterday so I did not go out today. Fortunately, our snowplow guy came last night and plowed the driveway. He is very reliable! Hubby and I are very pleased! Hubby snowblowed the sidewalk which is small and I shoveled the porch off. It is easy since I can just whisk it onto the seating area.

We finished up the portion of ham that I thawed for breakfast along with some scrambled eggs. One of the stores in my area has advertised that eggs are coming down in price to $ 3.59 a dozen. Not great but better than they have been. But I bet they will go quickly. I don’t need any right now plus I am not going out in the snow, ice, and cold to get them.

I spent my morning making a few telephone calls. One was a return that Amazon wouldn’t let me do online. So I called them and they told me not to return it. They said they can’t take this type of product back even though it was still sealed. So they said to donate it or throw it away. Since we couldn’t use it, I was happy to get an e-mail just 2 hours later from them stating that they had already processed the refund to my credit card.

I have been getting a bill every other day from a doctor’s office asking me to pay the balance which they say is a copay that I owe of $ 17.78. I don’t owe it and I let my doctor’s billing office know it. They were rude and told me they would have to investigate it. I said you will get back to me right? The rudest customer service rep. said, “No, you have to call us back. I said you guys make an error and I have to call you for the resolution. She said to me “It’s protocol.” Mind you I waited on hold when I called them for 35 minutes just to talk to them and I was not relishing having to do the same again. Two days later I get another bill telling me to pay it asap.

They rebilled an office appointment and EKG from 2019. Yup, over 3 years later! They say they didn’t charge enough for the bill so they re-billed it which they did in December 2022 and received more money from Medicare the beginning of January 2023. However, I had received no statement from Medicare or my secondary insurance on the rebilling. Bottom line is I don’t owe it because I paid the co-pay of the original bill 2 days after I received it in November of 2019 and I have a copy of the check and the next bill after I paid showing the payment. They don’t get to collect a second co-pay on the same claim. So I was curious, if my secondary insurance company had gotten the claim. I called them and they were not happy that the doctor’s office billing rep was so rude. They said they have not gotten any information on it yet from Medicare of the claim or their payment on it. So as soon as they get it, they will investigate the claim and decide whether they will pay it or not. They told me to set aside every bill from the doctor’s office because they agree I do not owe a second co-pay on a rebilled claim. They can’t charge me one and when the claim is resolved, they will let the doctor’s office know that and will send me the paperwork showing I owe nothing. I believe the billing office knows that and I’m being harassed. I am in my mid seventies and they think I will just not notice and pay it before the claim is complete! I am not that stupid. They can send me bills everyday. I will use them for scrap pads. UGH! I get so tired of incompetent billing offices. So moral of this story: Scrutinize your medical bills and know your benefits and how they work. Don’t pay what you don’t owe. I know it is a pain to get them straightened out but I am not paying them one penny that I don’t owe. To do this you need to keep good records also.

This afternoon, Hubby and I watched a favorite video that we both love. It’s called Lumnah Acres. It’s relaxing.

We finally got our last 1099 today so that I can make out our 2022 taxes. I may have to disappear for a couple of days soon to concentrate on doing them. They are very complicated this year.

Hubby found a Keto macaroni recipe that he wants to make to see if we like it. I checked the ingredients and we had them all.

Dinner tonight was lean cheeseburgers in lettuce wraps with sauteed in butter onions and dried mushrooms that I soaked and then sauteed in butter. I get my dried mushrooms at the Amish store. They have the cheapest prices on them. Snack tonight will again be strawberries with Zero sugar whipped topping.

What did you do today to save some money? We got exercise, cooked all our meals from scratch, got a refund, verified what I thought to save money on a billing, relaxed watching a free video on You tube.

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Breakfast was eggs and ham that I froze from our Christmas ham. It was a nice change from bacon.

After taking care of some bills, I ran some errands. I picked up a prescription and a Dr. Scholl’s for Hubby. Then I filled up the SUV with gasoline since we only had 68 miles of gas left. I do not like to keep the tank that low in winter. I paid $ 3.35 per gallon since I had no gas points due to not grocery shopping much this month.

My last stop was at Top’s to pick up some sale items. I purchased celery for $2.00, 2 packages of strawberries on B1G1F or $ 5.99 for both, and a top round roast on sale for $4.99 a lb. costing $ 20.36. My total for all was $ 28.35.

Hubby goes through a lot of celery for snacks. He dips it in dill dip. We both love strawberries with SF whipped topping as a dessert. The roast was a great price for my area. I will roast it for dinner one night and the rest will be sliced on the meat slicer for cold cuts. I can’t buy roast beef cold cuts here for less than $13.99 a lb. I much prefer to save money by roasting my own.

When I got home, Hubby said he felt well enough to cut my hair today. He did a really nice job. I was very pleased! He even cleaned up all the hair that was everywhere on the rug in front of the sink in the kitchen. I will be coloring my hair at home this week. I have not been coloring my hair and it has grown in about 2-3 inches and is white. I don’t like it because it washes me out. I look way too pale. Not going to the salon will save us a fortune every year. Hubby is still going to the barber every 7 weeks. The barber cuts it very short each time. The barber with tip is only $16.00.

I had to do a load of clothes this afternoon because Hubby was running out of clothes. He doesn’t have too many that fit him right now and he doesn’t want to buy much until he is down to his goal weight. So I washed them on the eco cycle in cold water and hung some of them to dry. A few were permanent press so I dried them in the dryer on a medium heat using my wool laundry balls. They only took 25 minutes to dry.

Before I made dinner, Hubby and I watched 2 of the 3 FBI’s that were on last night. We may watch the other one after dinner.

We are having taco salads using ground turkey instead of ground beef for dinner. The ground turkey is much cheaper to buy than the ground beef that I buy and tastes delicious with hot and spicy taco seasoning. We put it on romaine lettuce, chopped fresh tomatoes, sliced red onion, diced black olives, and then top the meat with Mexican shredded cheese and sour cream.

What did you do today to save money?