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Every Day

Inexpensive Turkey Soup and Other Topics

Turkey is one of the least expensive meats you can buy especially around Thanksgiving. I have one extra turkey in the freezer and I am keeping my eye on prices to see if any grocery clearances them. If I go by a grocery store, I stop and run in to see what they are doing with them. I suspect that Aldi will discount them but probably not until after Christmas.

That said, I paid $.99 a lb. for our Butterball 22 lb. turkey this year. It is our favorite brand and the breasts were huge. I have never gotten so much white meat off of a turkey. We got eight individual dinners and seven individual lunches out of the turkey and other leftovers. I also made eight quarts of turkey broth. I made a huge stockpot of turkey soup with some of it(pictured). The rest is in the freezer to use throughout the year. The soup has already fed Hubby and I two dinners and will probably feed us two more. We are definitely getting our money’s worth. Are any of you making soup?

I wanted to let you know that I finished my physical therapy today and I will be doing therapy at home using exercises they trained me to do. I have some of my answers but not all. I had 3 more tests yesterday and today. I am feeling much better but not 100% yet. 

We have started to think about income and expenses for 2018. We are setting the budget for the items that are not set in stone. You know the ones that fluctuate from month to month like groceries, entertainment, restaurant food, etc.

Our budget for food has changed because of the food that we are eating. We are on the Keto diet which consists of meat, chicken, fish, and lots of dark green veggies like kale, swiss chard, spinach, broccoli, etc. We try to buy organic produce when it is important. We are finishing the meat in the freezer and only buying grass fed when we make a purchase. We buy organic eggs from chickens that have been grass fed. We are using butter, olive oil, coconut oil and avocado oil to cook with and for salad dressings. We eat cheese and other fats like bacon. This isn’t everything that we consume but most of it. We started this diet about 7 weeks ago and I have lost 15 lbs. and Hubby has lost 10. We never snack between meals. Of course we cheated a bit over Thanksgiving because we hosted company. When the soup is gone, we will be eating all Keto again. It is an easy diet and we are never hungry because of the fats. 

So when we get done setting the budget I will let you know the budget amounts for food, personal care, HBA etc. which will all be included in the total amount. Then I will let you know what the other categories are for things not set in stone every month.

I realize that you are probably all busy shopping and getting ready for Christmas. But this month you should be setting your budget for 2018. The other thing that is important is to estimate your taxes for 2017 and decide if you should do some tax harvesting of stocks to lower your taxes for the year.
We are working on both. 

Talk with you again soon.

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Every Day

I Hope You All Had a Happy Thanksgiving and The Future of This Blog

I hope all of you had a nice day yesterday and that you are enjoying family and friends. We had a wonderful one celebrated here with family. We are still enjoying their company.

So while my son is doing his college homework and my granddaughter is busy writing stories, I thought I would update you on what is going on here and the future of this blog. 

I have been dealing with a medical issue that is taking up a lot of my time between tests, appointments and lots of research. For example this week coming I am tied up 2 days with three tests and other days in physical therapy. I am not enjoying any of it but it is all necessary. I hope to have answers soon and then know what I am dealing with. It has been a long process.

With that said, now the issue of this blog. Since I started this one my health made it almost impossible to think about anything but it. So I couldn’t put the kind of time in that I wanted to. As one long time reader said to me “I liked your other blogs better!” She was very blunt but so right!  My heart just was not in it.

So I will be keeping this blog but it will be about all frugal things and more like my old blogs. I plan on starting off 2018 with my plans for the New Year which I will publish sometime in December. My plans and budget will be about those things that are not monthly bills set in stone but those that I can work on and reduce. It will be a journey of saving and reducing spending. We have lofty goals for next year which will require reducing what goes out of our bank accounts. Of course 2018 will start off with my Disney trip which is in no way frugal. However airline tickets, my hopper pass, and scooter have long ago been paid for. The only expense will be food, drink and any gifts that I may buy. However, I have been saving all year to have money towards those items and have accumulated $1000. So none of my Disney expenses will come out of our 2018 income. 

So I am looking forward to getting back to blogging soon. And I hope you all will come along for the ride.  

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Every Day

Missing in Action Again

I have had a number of inquiries about why I haven’t been posting. I just wanted to let you all know that I am dealing with a medical issue that needs my full attention right now. I promise to be back posting when I can.