Month: May 2018

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Every Day

What We Have Done Frugally Recently

These are the things we have done frugally the last few weeks:

– Baked 4 loaves of pumpkin bread. Froze 3. We load that oven up when we do use it.

– Made our own tartar sauce.

– Used our air fryer at least 3 times a week to save the energy of using our oven or toaster oven. The air fryer takes so much less energy as do so many other small appliances.

 – Been eating out of the pantry, freezer, and fridge for weeks now. I rarely go to the grocery store for anything but veggies, milk, and half and half.

– I have only been doing 2 loads of wash in the HE per week and then hanging them to dry.

– I found an outdated bottle of acetaminophen so I called my pharmacist. He told me since they are pills they are probably good for another year or two. Obviously, the manufacturer wants me to buy more. But I would never take an outdated pill- prescription or OTC without calling him. So always check with your pharmacist before you even attempt to use an outdated medicine.

– I asked my dentist for Poligrip samples in case they are needed. He stocked me up but told me not to use it until I am fully healed. He also told me that Polident to soak my denture is a waste of money. Cleaning it well with water is all that is necessary. I will run a test with it since I use those tablets to clean my toilets.  

– My son gifted me very expensive name brand cleaners and hand soap this weekend. They are all natural which is what I use. Five cartons of all purpose cleaner, hand soap, window cleaner and toilet bowl cleaner. I was ecstatic. He was gifted many cartons so he shared with me. I will not have to buy these things for at least a year which is a huge savings. 


– Our heat is off and we will try to keep the A/C off as much as possible. We have many ceiling fans and other portable fans we can use.

– We must be doing something right. When I read the electric meter to submit to the company, we used 200 less KWH than last month. I know part of that was the furnace clicking on and off but we have done everything possible to lower our electric bill the past 4 weeks.  Most of our cooking has been on the grill and in the air fryer. We have also been eating lots of salads. I am going to try eating one tonight to see if I can do it. I was able to eat chicken yesterday. Lights are off during daytime hours. TV is never left on for noise. Computers are off when not in use. Our gas usage was also down but that is less heat and rarely using our stove.

– I deposited two checks into our savings yesterday.

– I purchased another pair of jeans and a top on sale and defrayed the cost using $20. in Kohl’s cash.   

– The last two weeks I have not had to make a huge breakfast for my family because they have brought and paid for donuts. This weekend I will again start cooking.

– I am still enjoying flowers from both of my sons families that they gave me for Mother’s Day. They have lasted a long time. I know have 4 white roses as good as the day they were delivered in a different vase. Soon I will have blooming flowers outside that I can cut and put in a vase.

– I washed the car and cleaned the interior and windows. That saved us $30. to $40. depending on which car wash I took it to. We never pay for a car wash in the good weather.

– I am no longer using K cups for my coffee. Now if I could only talk Hubby out of his. I am using a disposable cup with ground coffee. I had a B1G1F bag of coffee that we purchased when we were in Florida in January. It has been in the freezer to keep it fresh. Right now I am using that and then will use up free Dunkin Donut coffee samples that I have. MY DIL was kind enough to let me know that $5.99 is a good price for the large cans of coffee. Since it was on sale this week, I picked one up. I don’t care what brand of coffee I use as long as it is strong. Hubby is stuck on Green Mountain Breakfast Blend Decaf.

– I have been walking every day for exercise. On the days it rains, I use the recumbent bike. 

– Hubby went to the greenhouse at Niagara Produce and purchased two hanging baskets for the front porch. They were the best nursery price in town.

– I am again stockpiling tap water in used and washed out bottles.

– Hubby has been cleaning and organizing his work benches. This way he can find his tools and doesn’t have to run out and buy a duplicate. He is doing a great job. I am very impressed.

-We did our own bug control when spring finally arrived. I don’t want ants or spiders in our home. A large container of insecticide is so much cheaper than a bug service especially since we buy it at Walmart.

– Finally they are putting the road in behind us and will start building houses again. This should break up the wind and eventually save us on heating bills. 

– I sewed two buttons back on two shirts. They came off in the washing machine. 

– I cut three pair of old jeans off to make shorts. I will not have to buy any shorts this year. I have two new ones I bought last season for going out and these for hanging around the house.

– We are going to sell our weed whacker that we replaced on Craigslist.

– I took Hubby’s bottles to Fast Cash and reaped $ 6.30.

– So far I have charged all of my large dental bills on a cash back credit card. I will continue to do that right through getting my permanent denture. This will give us a nice wad of money back. We always pay our CC bills when due. I love making money off the CC company. We never pay interest.

That is about it for now. Please feel free to share with all of us what you did to save some money lately in comments. 

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Every Day

A Few Questions

I have run out of my favorite K cups. We have a bag of decaf coffee that was leftover from my Disney World Trip. Yesterday, I perfected making a cup of coffee with my reusable K cup. 

Since we haven’t bought regular coffee in years, I have no idea what a good price is. When we bought the coffee on our trip, I really didn’t pay much attention to the price.

Since the K cups are so expensive, I will be using the disposable cup from now on for my coffee. Hubby still has about 100 decaf K cups. But I regularly drink caffeinated. So I will be on the hunt soon for mine.

So could you smart people who know what a good price for coffee is these days, please leave a comment and give me an idea what price I should be looking for? Thanks in advance.

My project this week is to find a place to sell most of my frugality books that I have collected well over 100 books over the years. Frugality is so ingrained in me now that they are just collecting dust in a bookshelf in our basement. Slowly but surely I would like to sell them.

Any of you have a favorite place to sell them? Do you use Ebay or Amazon? I am not even sure they will sell right now. But if we have a downturn in the economy(which I am not hoping for), they will sell quickly. I loved selling my books to different used book stores when we lived in Arizona. But alas, we don’t have any good ones here.

So wanting to clear these books out and use all of that space for stockpile, do you have any suggestions? Let me know in the comments. 

My son and grandson are on their way here for breakfast. They are again bringing Tim Horton’s donuts. I can’t eat the breakfast I would make them and I am sick of eggs. So we figure, if I cut the donuts into small pieces for me, I should be able to enjoy them.

He sent me a picture of some boxes in his van. They are a surprise he has for me. I can’t wait to see the contents. If the contents hold something good I will share it tomorrow. 

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Every Day

Spending To Save Money

Some of the spending that we do is to buy things that save us money in the long run. Hubby made just such a purchase yesterday. 

As long time readers know, we have a landscape company come once a month, after the spring cleanup, right through October. They spend 3 hours here doing whatever needs to be done on our property. They plant perennials and bushes that we order through them. They do all the weeding, trimming of bushes, raking the lawn, raking leaves, splitting bulb plants, etc. One job that we added on last year was weed whacking around all of the stonework that we have around all of our garden beds. This weed whacking job only takes them 15 minutes a month. However at their hourly rate it is an expensive job that could free up time for something more important. 

The reason for this is two fold. Hubby always did his own work and has always loved working outside. But his back no longer lets him do it for any length of time. Prior to the landscape company doing this job, the neighborhood teenager offered to do the weed whacking around the stonework for $5.00 per time. Hubby said no that was too cheap and he offered him $15.00 every time he did it. It needs it every second mowing which is about once a week. Hubby also told him he could use our weed whacker and gasoline and oil. We were happy to give this teenager the job so that he could make some money. Plus this boy was planning on starting his own landscape company when he graduates and was very interested.

The teenager started out doing a good job. We would always pay him right away after he was done.  However after the first couple of times he came, he told us that he would rather use his Dad’s weed wacker because he was used to it. After a couple of months, he started do a lousy job. He would miss gardens and then one day he quit and went home without a peep to us. He had only done one side of the yard. Hubby called his house and found out that his weed whacker had broken and it needed to be repaired. It would have been nice if he had knocked on the door and told us why he left after only doing 1/2 the job. That took a month and he didn’t want to use ours in the interim. 

He started back up again and then he told us he was going away to work at a camp for a few weeks. Well okay, we would wait for him to come back. Then he returned and everything went smoothly. 

The last time he came, he told us that he and his family were going on a month long vacation in the southwest. Well when they returned, he never came again to do the job. Not a word from him. Our lesson was that he evidently did not want to work. We would never hire him again.

So we added this job on to the landscape company’s list. We are paying a lot just to get this job done and because they only come once a month, the stonework wasn’t getting trimmed as often as it should be.

So Hubby has been looking and researching weed whackers. He wanted a battery operated lighter weight one. One that he could easily use and not have it hurt his back too much.The gasoline and oil one we have is very heavy. He found this one pictured above that he had been researching at a great price in this week’s Home Depot ad. It not only included a battery operated weed whacker but a blower also for cleaning the edge of the stonework and driveway after he trims them. And it was only $149.00 for both. The cheapest price he had seen before this was $179.

So he went and purchased it and figured he would see if it was lightweight enough for him but would get the job done. After charging the battery, he went out to do the weed whacking of the gardens and trim the grass on the edges of the driveway. He also used the blower. He is very happy that both were light enough that he can do it once a week. I also think he enjoyed being able to do it. 

The $149. will pay for itself in just two trimmings by the landscape company. They will be freed up to do more tedious jobs. And Hubby is happy, so it is a win win. 

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Every Day

Trying To Make The Best Of It

It’s been a rough couple of days. After two hours in the dental chair yesterday, I came home with a numb mouth and nose after having 4 teeth extracted and the temporary partial bridge put in. As the novocaine wore off, the pain set in. I took two tylenol which did absolutely nothing. My daughter in law told me to try some ibuprofen the next time. So before I went to bed last night I did that. 

I slept like a baby. I am normally up anywhere between 3 and 6am in the morning. Today I slept until 7:45am. 

Anyhow last night, I tried to eat some Thai chicken soup. The broth was great but the rice and chicken I couldn’t chew. So broth and some yogurt for dessert was it. 

Today, I feel like someone has hit me with a sledge hammer. So I again took some ibuprofen. It hurts to take the partial out to clean it but I must and then put it back in. The dentist wants me to wear it all day round for the first 48 hours so I am doing that. After 48 hours, I can sleep without it.

The right side of my mouth is not feeling too bad. But the left feels like a sharp needle is pushing in my gum when I chew on that side. My dentist does not work Friday – Sunday. Since I have an appointment on Monday, I will have him check to see if there is a stray piece of bone in there which he told me could happen. This side was where the largest tooth was removed so that may just take more time to heal.

Hubby has been great!  He is doing everything for me. He cooks me a meal and them makes himself a  different meal. This morning he made me eggs with cheese melted on top. It was hard to chew on that left side but I managed. I have to still try to eat the proper protein and other nutrition. Tonight he is going to make me Annie’s Bunny Pasta at my request. I have a few boxes that I keep in the pantry for my grandson. I am hoping it will be soft enough.

Hubby tells me to rest and he is doing every thing that needs to be done. There is only so much resting I can do. So I will be reading some of the blogs that I frequent that I haven’t had time for lately. I will also watch some You Tube videos. 

Moral of this story: Teach your children to take really good care of their teeth from the time they get them. Take good care of your teeth. Otherwise you could end up like me. I grew up very poor so we only were taken to the dentist when we had a toothache. They handed us the toothpaste and told us to use it. There was no such thing as floss in our home. That was the beginning of my downward spiral to a terrific amount of dollars being spent at dentists over my many years. And it just never seems to end. Sure some of it could be genetic but starting off on the right foot when your kids are young gives them a much better chance. 

The other thing I plan on doing today is making a list of the things that I can do to save more money in investments. Also cutting back where I can to reach the goals we have set for the next few years.

We finally have our heat off for good. So I am hunting down the portable fans we have to put in the rooms where we have no ceiling fans. I will have Hubby put a new filter in the furnace. Our goal this year is to keep the A/C off as long as we can but when we do turn it on, we will be ready to go with that new filter. I would like a couple of months without heating and cooling bills.

We continue to eat from our stockpile and always update the inventory spreadsheet. The less money that I spend at the grocery store each week the happier I am. 

I wish you all a great day and weekend.      

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Every Day

What You Spend Is So Much More Important Than What You Save

Everybody is always talking about how much they saved when they tell you about a purchase. I’ve been guilty of this over and over again.  I show my grocery shops with coupons and Ibotta and Checkout 51 savings.  Perhaps it would be better if I just showed what I spend.

Unless you actually put an equal amount of the savings into a bank account for 1-2% interest or invest it in the stock market, you haven’t really saved anything.

If I buy a Coach or Dooney Bourke handbag at 40% off of say $325., I still spend $ 195. for it. I did that once in my life many, many years ago. Then I realized that I was paying for the name. I now never spend more than $65. for a handbag which is about what I paid for the one I am using. I got it at TJ Maxx marked down. It is wearing just as well as my Dooney Bourke one did. I still have the DB bag which I really need to let go.

Over the years, I pretty much tried to ignore all commercials. But that is hard because you are just bombarded with them. It has gotten to the point that there seems to be more commercials than there is show. So a year or so ago, I quit watching cable TV. It is so much nicer to watch You Tube or Amazon Prime shows. But even those I only watch in the evening when there is nothing else that I am doing.  You Tube is where I can learn to do some things that we would otherwise have to hire out. So that is not a waste of my time. Amazon Prime has some movies that Hubby and I can choose from for our weekly, at home, movie night. BTW, even though it is going up, we have decided that it is worth it for us. Not only for the movies but for the “free” 2 day shipping. We order enough during the year to make it worth it for us.

Now there are exceptions to everything. For example, if you find a top or pants marked way down at the end of the season and use a coupon, the $ 2.00 – $ 5.00 you spend for them is definitely worth it.  If I get an item at the supermarket that is free after coupon then that is worth it. 

But if you are spending $ 200. a week after coupons for groceries for two people, you should be cutting your spending. That is a tremendous amount to spend on food when you only have two mouths to feed. So monitor how much you are spending for any category that you spend money for. In order to do that, you have to track your income and outgo. If you have never tracked how much money you are putting in your family’s mouths each year, you may be in for a shock when you do. Include money spent on all restaurant meals and you may be horrified.   

Coupons will not up your net worth. Only saving income week after week at a steady pace will up your net worth. So many young people these days are saving to retire early. We didn’t retire as young as they did, but we did get out at 54 and 53. I think these young people have the right idea to save 65-75% or more of their income for 10 or more years to get out of the rat race and do whatever they want. I don’t know if we could have done it but if we had to do it over again, we might have tried.

If you are “saving” a lot with coupons and not paying cash or paying your credit card bill in full every month, you are throwing your “savings” out the window. I have known people who charge groceries every week who only pay minimums on their credit card bills. At 9 to 28% interest, they are not saving. They are paying a fortune in interest!  But they always tell you what a great deal they got and what their savings is. They just don’t get it. These people should be scared to death because eventually that credit shopping will leave them with nothing.


So the next time you go shopping, think about how much you will actually be spending. Sure grab your coupons but think about the bottom line. When I make a grocery list, I then go back over it a second time and cross off anything that I can substitute something else for. I also cross off anything that I can make cheaper from ingredients that I already have on hand. 


When I went clothes shopping last week, I had a budget that I set to work within. I also took a list of the clothing items that I needed and my coupons. When I was making my selections, I made sure that the tops could be worn with many different slacks or jeans. I also kept an eye on the pricing of the two pair of jeans I purchased. That is why I only spent $120.+ for all of the items. When I go back next week to spend the $20. in Kohl’s cash that I got, I will buy a needed item as close to that $20. after coupon as I can. Of course the Kohl’s cash is all about getting you back into the store to spend a lot more than the $20. But I don’t play that game! 

When you go out to dinner, have a certain amount in mind that you are going to spend before you go. Also, going out to dinner once or twice a week is a big waste of money. You can make it so much cheaper at home. Hubby and I had NY strip steaks that I purchased at $6.99 a lb. for Mother’s Day dinner. While Hubby grilled them outside, I put a few frozen French fries in the air fryer.  I also steamed some broccoli and sauteed portobello mushrooms in butter for the steak.  A dinner like this would have cost us $20. each or more before drinks and tip depending on what restaurant we went to. Our dinner cost us a little over $10.00 for both of us. It was so much better than going out on a holiday with the crowds and slow service. Our experience has been that the food isn’t as good either.

I am not saying never go out to dinner. I am saying to be mindful of what you are spending each week or month on eating out. Hubby and I like an expensive restaurant in the area. Their food and service is top notch. So we go there to eat about 4 times a year. If we feel the urge to go other times, we go to a local restaurant or one that we have a gift card for.  But most of the year, we cook at home.

So the very next time you are going to spend money on food, transportation, clothing or a myriad of other things that aren’t bills that you pay every month like your mortgage, insurance, taxes, electric and gas, etc., think about what you are spending not the savings you are getting. Doing that will free up some money that you can add to your net worth that you can use for goals that you may be working on: paying down all your debt, a down payment on a home, a new to you car, college and/or private school, a trip you have always wanted to take etc. This way of looking at money will get you thinking and you will have less stress in the long run. It actually becomes a game to see how fast you can fund your goal.

I am having a rough time this week thinking about my dental appointment tomorrow. I am very nervous about getting those 4 teeth pulled. So please cut me some slack if I am not on here every day.

Categories
Every Day

Hubby’s Cooking, etc.

Hubby made dinner last night. He made the best macaroni and cheese that I have ever eaten. Here is the recipe: 

Classic Macaroni and Cheese

It was a bit time consuming but he made it all by himself. This recipe made two of the containers that you see pictured. So we have plenty for a few nights. I wonder if we could freeze one. If not, we will just eat it each night until it is gone. Who wouldn’t love comfort food every night? 

We served it with the leftover asparagus from the night before. Yummy!

Today, I finally went clothes shopping. I spent the morning at Kohl’s. By the time I was done, I had two new pairs of jeans and 5 tops- 3 casual and 2 dressier. I have lots of dressier slacks to go with the 2 dressier tops. So now, I will have a nice outfit to go to my granddaughter’s 5th grade graduation. I spent $129. after $40.00 in coupons and got $20.00 in Kohl’s cash. After finding all of those items. I felt no need to go to JC Penney. 

When I came home I threw out 2 pair of threadbare jeans and 5 old tops. Each new one in and each old one out of the closet.  

After spending barely any money on clothing the last 3 years, I think I did pretty good only spending $129. But I will keep my eyes open over the next few months for more clothes that I like and are on sale to replace some more items.

I have been spoiled this week with gifts from my son, DIL, and granddaughter in Eastern NY. First, I got this beautiful canvas shopping bag in the mail. My granddaughter drew the design. I absolutely love it and will think of her every time I use it.

Then I got 2 dozen roses delivered from them which I am enjoying immensely. The are so beautiful and smell so good. My family is so very thoughtful and I love each and every one of them so much. I hope my DIL has a wonderful Mother’s Day on Sunday.

My son and grandson are coming to celebrate Mother’s Day tomorrow so that they can celebrate with Katie on Sunday. My son is bringing breakfast so that I don’t have to make it. It will be a nice break from making breakfast every weekend. 

I hope all of my readers that are mothers and grandmothers have a wonderful day on Sunday! Happy Mother’s Day to all of you!
 

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Every Day

A Few Days In My Life

I cooked a turkey breast from the freezer a couple of days ago. We had it with stuffing, gravy, and corn the first night. The next night we had turkey with gravy and fresh asparagus. After our second meal of
turkey, Hubby took it off the bone and we are using it for turkey
sandwiches and turkey salad for lunches.

Matter of fact, this one pound of fresh asparagus for $ 1.49 was purchased along with a $ 1.67 for 1/2 gallon of milk. That is all the shopping I have done this week. I could have gotten a 1/2 gallon of milk at Top’s for $ .88 with their coupon if I spent $20.00. Why would anyone spend $20.00 to save just $.79? Not me! 

One other night we had fish sticks and a Knorr pasta side. This one was Broccoli and Cheese. I have quite a stash in my stockpile of these because I got them free with double coupons. I would never spend money for them. They are awful unless you doctor them. So Hubby and I figured out a while ago that after they cook, you stir in a good handful of shredded 4 cheese blend while they sit the 2 minutes. Then they taste delicious!

Breakfasts have been an assortment of cereal, cantaloupe, bacon and eggs, and blueberry pancakes and chocolate chip pancakes with sausage on Sunday when my family came. 


The weather here has been beautiful the last few days so we have been taking advantage of it by sitting in the yard a lot. We watched the landscape company do the spring cleanup yesterday. Then today the sprinkler company came and opened our system for us. We have always done it ourselves to open. We normally only pay for the closing of it. However, Hubby wanted the grass around the sprinkler heads removed and all of the heads checked which is included in the opening. They replaced one  head at no extra charge to us. We also have ordered 10 more bushes from the landscape company that they will plant when they come in. So then we will be set for the season.

Hubby went out to start cleaning the outside of our windows with our pressure washer and it does not seem to be working. So he is researching for a good one at a decent price. Oh well, the windows can wait a few more days.


On Saturday and Sunday, I cleaned the garage. I could only do one side on Saturday since the snowblower on the other side wasn’t getting moved to the shed until my son came on Sunday. Then I was able to clean that side. We also sprayed for bugs around the garage and Hubby killed a few ant hills in the yards. I hate bugs! UGH! 


Tonight, Hubby was going to make homemade macaroni and cheese (which he has been craving) for dinner. However, his back started bothering him late afternoon, so I went and got subs for dinner.  I had $ 8.00 in reward money so I had them apply it to the cost. So two 12 inch subs were only a little over $ 7.00 including tax. I am hoping he will make the mac and cheese tomorrow night.


Other than that, I have been cleaning nooks and crannies and pitching things. I cleaned my master bedroom closet today and realized that so many of my spring and summer clothes are getting thread bare and need to be replaced. I hate clothes shopping. I always have even when I was a size 9. 
But I guess I am going to have to bite the bullet and just do it. So I see a future trip to Kohl’s and J. C. Penney very soon. I need to gather some coupons first. 


I keep a pretty neat and organized house but this time I am cleaning like I will be moving soon. That gets me to easily get rid of things that I am just hanging on to for no real reason. My garbage cans that we took out for the morning show that I have been really busy. I am even having the garbage man take an old garbage can. I hate clutter and that old garbage can was just cluttering up our garage.

The rest of our home will be getting the same treatment as the garage and master closet did. 

As soon as Hubby is able to clean the outsides of the windows, I will then do the insides. I am not looking forward to cleaning 21 windows but they need to be done. 


I have also challenged myself to try to replace some of the money that I will be paying for my tooth extractions and denture next week. We have the cash to pay it but I hate taking cash out of savings. So I will put it on the credit card to get the reward points which I then turn in for cash. The bill will get paid when due. With cashing in a winter’s worth of Hubby’s Coke cans, cashing in some rebates from groceries, and cashing in some reward points, I have $ 29.25 so far and I just started saving and tracking it. Hopefully, I will have over $100. when I go to the bank next week so that I can put it in our savings account. I am just curious to see how long it will take to save that $4808. I know it will take a long time. But will it be a year, two or maybe three? This is not money that we save each month at the end of the month from our retirement money. It is separate money from rebates, Ibotta, Saving Star, Checkout 51, surveys, etc. 

Speaking of credit cards, I got my statement from one of the large banks today and my bill was $ 8.95 which will get paid in full when it is due. But I was quite amused because I think it is the lowest credit card bill in years. It looks like I have not been shopping very much the last month or so. That $ 8.95 was for 2 books for the grandchildren’s room so they have something new to read to me when they go to bed here. However my next bill will be huge with the denture charges on it so I will be cashing in reward points for cash when I pay that bill.

Besides laundry, that is about all we have been doing the past few days. I hope you are all having a fun, frugal and productive week. Till later…………… 

Categories
Every Day

May 3 & 4: Table To Stockpile

May 3:
 
Breakfast – Cereal with Almond Milk, Coffee

Lunch:  Popcorn, Water

Dinner: Apple sausage sauteed with fresh apples and cranberries, FF’s cooked in the air fryer, and leftover chipotle corn

May 4: 

Breakfast – Leftover apple sausage stuff

Lunch – turkey and provolone sandwich

Dinner – Spaghetti with meatballs, small side salad

All of this was from the pantries, refrigerator and freezers. 

Yesterday and today, we turned our heat off. However we have now dropped 25 degrees in temperature outside as a cold front came in. So we may have to turn it back on. 


I also have been concentrating on using no lights until dark and getting rid of the phantom energy costs in our master bedroom by putting everything on a power strip that I can turn off every night. We have also been using the air fryer and microwave a lot to save on energy costs.


I hope all of you have a wonderful weekend.

Categories
Every Day

May 2nd: Stockpile to Table, etc.

Yesterday for breakfast we had 2 eggs over easy and an avocado. The avocado was a little overripe but delicious. And you all know that I do not waste food. 

Lunch was a big bowl of popcorn that we shared.

Dinner was fish fillets with our choice of tartar sauce or cocktail sauce and the best chipotle corn ever. It had corn, black beans, jalapenos and red peppers.  Hubby’s plate is pictured.  

All of a sudden, Hubby is really enjoying cooking in the air fryer. It sat for the longest time and he didn’t use it. Now he has me pulling things out of the freezer that have been in there forever so that he can use it. I have to admit that the food that is breaded comes out very crispy.  

We had snow over the weekend and it was 80 here yesterday. Hubby and were finally able to sit outside for a while. It was beautiful.

Besides that, Hubby had DVRed some shows that we both watch and which I hadn’t seen. So we binge watched NCIS and Bull yesterday.

The woman that we deal with at the landscape company came yesterday and we discussed getting 10 more bushes. We picked out some that are really colorful when they flower and many of them  will flower almost all summer and fall.

I cleaned for a little while yesterday and then just took the rest of the day off. I was very happy that our heat did not run all day or last night. It is raining here today so I don’t want to turn the heat off yet. If we get more than one or two days of warm temps, then it will be time to turn off the heat – hopefully until fall.

I have not been to the market all week and don’t intend on going until at least Monday and maybe not even then. We’ll see.  

I hope you all have a wonderfully productive day. I know I am and it is only 11:06AM here so lots of day left.  

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Every Day

Being Prepared

Sometimes bad news just hits you when you least expect it. This was not one of these times. I had an inkling that this was going to be an expensive dentist visit. However, I was hoping I was wrong. But a full set of X-rays that is more like a cat scan proved that I was right. As you can see by the treatment plan above, it will be expensive. 

I woke up a few days ago with an aching tooth and gum. I knew it was one of the ones supporting my bridge. For those who don’t know, a few years back I paid  thousands of dollars for this bridge. I have spent many thousands since every time something went wrong. I never ever wanted to have a partial denture. So Hubby has been more than willing to pay for all of this.

However yesterday, things changed. The root canal supporting this tooth has gone south and the tooth is cracked under the gum. Hence my bridge is moving.

So wanting to know every thing that could be done, I spent 2 hours at the dentist’s office discussing my options. Option number one: Pull 4 teeth(those that support the bridge) and replace them with 4 implants and have a new bridge made. Approximate total cost: $25,000.

Option number two: The one pictured. Have 4 teeth extracted and get a partial denture. This involves a temporary partial while my mouth and gums heal. Then a permanent partial will replace the temporary. This could take up to 4 months. Approximate total cost: $ 4808. 

As much as I have never wanted a partial denture, I told my dentist after we discussed everything that I was not willing to spend $25,000. on option one. I informed him that I am up there in age and I do not want to put thousands more into my mouth. I told him I would pay $25,000. for a car in cash but not that amount into my mouth. He still tried to convince me but I stood my ground. And as you can see, I got a quote for the partial denture work in writing. 

I allowed the dentist to take the molds yesterday so that the temporary can be made at the lab. Then I told him that I would go home and discuss everything with Hubby and give them a call with our decision so that he could send the molds out to the lab and let them know to make the temporary partial. 

I drove home and sat down with Hubby to give him the options. I told him option one first. He sat patiently and listened. Then I showed him option number two. Instead of offering his opinion, he said to me what do you want to do. I told him I am going to get the partial because I don’t want to spend another $25,000. on my teeth. I told him that we had spent enough with the bridge and fixing every thing that went wrong.  I told him that I am tired of running to the dentist all of the time and putting that money out.  I told him that I wish I had decided on the partial denture way back when. After listening, he said, “Are you sure? We have the money for the implants and bridge if you want to go that route.” I told him thank you but I just don’t feel at my age that I want to put $25,000. into my teeth. So I called the dentist and let them know to send the molds to the lab for the partial. 

I know it will take some getting used to. I know nothing about dentures or how to take care of it. I do know that the dentures of today are not like the old metal ones. Technology has done a lot for dentures. So hopefully, I will get used to it.


I tell you all of this, not to bore you, but to tell you this is my real life. The moral of this story is that you always have to be prepared for things that happen that will be costly. I have seen people in our town walking around with no teeth. I never wanted to be in that position. But I can understand how that could happen if you haven’t saved for retirement knowing that you will have no dental insurance. Although dental insurance would not pay much on this bill anyhow. So when you saving for your retirement, be sure to assess what you might need for dental as you get older.


So as much as the cost of this pains me, I know that we can pay cash for it. Do I hate putting even the $ 4808. out for this? Yes but I am happy that we planned ahead and we can do it.

If anyone has had an experience with their own dentures or a parents, I would like to ask a question. Do I need to buy something to soak the denture in? How about to clean it? I forgot to ask the dentist yesterday. I am sure that he will tell me all that when I go in two weeks for the 4 extractions and to get my temporary partial. But being that I like to be prepared, I would like to research the cost of those products and accumulate some coupons. So if anyone knows, please leave a comment.

Changing the subject, here are our meals from yesterday:

Breakfast: Hubby made omelets with diced ham, red peppers, onion, and shredded cheese.

Lunch: None because I was at the dentist. Hubby had a turkey wrap.

Dinner: 6 inch subs from Subway. I did not feel like cooking after my draining day. We had three Free coupons for 6 inch subs. I used one coupon to pay because that is all they allow at one time. I paid $5.09 including tax from our entertainment budget for the other.  The two that are left will get used for other meals.   


Today is another day! Let’s hope it is a good one for each and every one of you!