Month: September 2020

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Every Day

This Week’s Grocery Haul Plus

I just came home from getting a haircut so I decided to do this week’s grocery haul. I have been trying to efficiently do what needs to be done because we have been very busy and will be very busy for the next two weeks.


My shopping this week was at Aldi’s for some things I will need in the next few months.

The almonds were needed for a recipe this week. I found something new which is this 90 second cauliflower rice. That will be handy in the next week or so. I got some more 90 second rice for Hubby too. The mushrooms are to replace the ones I used. I use them in my omelets once in a while. Hubby likes the dried cranberries in his chicken salads.

I desperately needed dairy. Hence the creamer, 2 dozen eggs that were already in the fridge when I took the picture, sour cream and vanilla yogurt.

The applesauce, parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, and cornstarch are staples in my kitchen pantry. The picnic pack of condiments were marked down so those were a good purchase.


The baking powder, baking soda, vanilla extract, and cornstarch were needed staples especially for baking for the holidays. The cookies were a treat for Hubby. The cranberry sauce is to go with a small turkey that I will be cooking soon. I opened a new plastic wrap up yesterday so this is to replace it. Lastly the macadamia nuts are for my treat.


This is my receipt. I spent $ 57.70.


Hubby’s birthday was this past weekend so we celebrated with my son and West with a nice breakfast  along with a birthday cake that I made. I planned a nice dinner of filet mignon and baked potatoes for his dinner. We were going to have broccoli with it but Hubby said don’t bother because it was already enough food. So we counted the chives as our vegetable spice. He loved it and so did I. We grilled 4 filet mignons and made 4 potatoes in the air fryer so we had the same dinner last night. Bonus!



Also, look what I recently found. They only had one but you can bet, I grabbed them. My stores have not had them in two months or more. 

I will try my best to push out a couple of more posts this week but don’t panic if you don’t see any. We are well. This is always an extremely busy time of year for us plus we are trying to fit in some extra appointments that we hadn’t planned on. 

I hope you all have a great day and a good week.

Did you get any or are planning on purchasing any good deals this week? If so, please share with all of us.  

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Every Day

Frugal Things This Past Week

 These are the things we have done frugally the past week:

All meals were made at home. No takeout or restaurant food was consumed. We enjoyed Cobb salad, lamb chops, Chef’s salad, turkey club BLT’s, tacos and soup.

We only spent $ 62.92 on food at the grocery store.

We washed the John Deere lawnmower to get most of the grass and dirt off from the spring and summer.

I received $ 11.00 in rebates in the mail.

I took cans and bottles back to Fast Cash and got $3.20 in deposits.

We had to turn on the heat because the temperature has dropped into the 40’s at night here. But we have it set low enough that it barely runs during the daytime.

I cut chives from our garden to put in a couple of omelets and on potatoes.

We watched the Bills game and a couple of Prime movies for entertainment. 

I washed some windows on the inside. With winter coming it is senseless to wash them outside in the Fall.

I purchased a couple of gifts that were on sale for Christmas.

We have decided our protection is important so we will not give candy out on Halloween. This breaks our hearts because we have done trick or treating for the kids the entire time we have been married. But since we are in the high risk group, we have decided it is not worth the risk. That said, I purchased two big bags of organic animal crackers that I will take to my two neighbors for their little ones to share. 

I am reorganizing my refrigerator so that it will be easier to not waste food. I am spring cleaning it while I am doing it. This is a slow process because I pulled my back out a couple of days ago. I have been spending most of my time on the heating pad. When I just can’t lay down any more(which is very hard for me), I do a shelf or door bin. I will show it all to you when I am finished. 

Hubby washed all the dirt and grime off the front door to get that done for the winter. So many things need to be done and they are getting done but slowly. We need to speed it up because the month of October is predicted to be way colder this year than normal. 

I decided we will no longer eat microwave popcorn that you buy in the grocery store. Not only is it expensive compared to popping your own but the list of ingredients is not very healthy. So I have set up a popcorn area of my pantry with kernels, paper bags to use in the microwave, coconut oil, and an assortment of shake on flavorings. The flavorings probably aren’t healthy but are a lot better than the list of ingredients on what we have been using.

Well it is time to go and marinate a whole bunch of chicken breasts in some Italian dressing. Hubby will grill some for our dinner tonight and some that I can cut up and put in the freezer for some future quick meals. 

What have you done frugally this past week? Are you doing trick or treating this year at your home?

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Every Day

Grocery Haul for this Week


The grocery ads were pretty sad this week as far as sale items go. So I made a trip to Aldi’s for some needed and not so needed things.

We needed some fresh mushrooms, yogurt, and the peppers for some meals this week. Whatever peppers we don’t use, I will slice and freeze for stir fries and pizza. It has been a long time since I had purchased spinach. I love it in my omelets and along with romaine in salads. I was almost out of the cream cheeses and use them in snacks on my diet. Hubby loves strawberry cream cheese on the bagels that I picked up for him. We always need creamer. The Skinny Pop is my guilty pleasure. The oats, applesauce and hand soap are stockpile items. The soap was so cheap. 

The triple candle was an impulse item. It is sugar cookie. I gave up burning candles when my grandchildren were born and went to the battery operated candles. But when I saw this and the price, I wanted it. My grandchildren are old enough now not to go near it. Hubby and I burned it almost all day yesterday. The entire house smelled wonderful.


Hubby loves rice. Since I rarely eat rice, I picked up these easy microwaveable rices. He is happy with them and it saves me time when I am pressed for it. That does not say that I won’t make rice. These are just handy once in a while.

The bread was needed for turkey BLT’s last night. I froze the rest of it. The Hawaiian rolls are needed for sliders this week. I am even going to have one. The rolls are small. The mashed potatoes are easy and a stockpile item. The macadamia’s are for my stockpile of them. It is a low carb nut that I can have once in a while. 


Here is my receipt for $ 56.96. The candle gets included in my grocery budget because it is a small household item that I purchased at a grocery store. Small little household items like this usually are included in my grocery budget. I will be picking up 2 Scotties tissues at Dollar Tree today. There was a coupon in the inserts for them yesterday. I have to go pick up a prescription at the drug store too.

Hubby and I took the weekend off and except for my grocery shopping we were just lazy. We watched the Bills game which we won. So that is two in a row. We spent some time in the yard just enjoying the cool weather. However, we did have to turn the heat on in the house. We have had cold nights and Hubby can’t take the cold. The house had gotten down to 64. We enjoyed grilled lamb chops and BLT’s for dinners.

I hope you all had a great weekend.  

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Every Day

A Little of This and A Little of That

 Yesterday was such a tiring day! I have to keep reminding myself that I am “not as young as I used to be”. I have a birthday coming up soon and I will be “very old”.  Time flies when you are having a great time!

My day started at 6AM yesterday. I was out the door at 9:10AM and didn’t get home until about 2:30PM. I had to drive to another town and get routine medical tests done at two different medical places. Then I had to go to another place for blood work.

By the time I got done with all of that, I still had to go to the bank for the next few months grocery money, spending money, and to cash some checks. I had plans to do some shopping while I was down there but it was too crowded, traffic was crazy, and I was beat. 

However, on the way home, I did stop at my produce store and got some much needed romaine lettuce and a couple of tomatoes. The romaine was local and had just been brought to the store. The head was huge but wet and dirty.

So as tired as I was when I got home, I washed every bit of it, put it all through the salad spinner and laid it on clean kitchen towels to dry. I had 4 huge towels worth. After a few hours, I turned the leaves all over to let the other side dry.

Now it resides in our lettuce keeper, so that I can make some delicious salads.

The very large head of romaine was only $1.49 lb. Since my son and his family have only one car at the moment, he has not been out here since he picked up West. He usually brings us tomatoes. So I was out and in need. These beautiful ones pictured at the top were only also only $ 1.49 a lb.

Then I had to read our meters and submit the readings to the power company so that they don’t send us an estimated bill which I hate. It looks like we should have a rather low bill this month. That would be nice for a change.

Then it was time to make dinner. I had thawed some turkey cutlets because this is what I made:

https://kalynskitchen.com/turkey-cutlets-with-dijon-sauce/

I made enough for two nights so that I won’t have to do anything but heat it up tonight.

It tasted so good but I was so tired. Hubby did the dishes and I went to bed and slept until 6AM this morning.

I have to learn to pace myself a little bit. But that is very hard for me. I am a multi tasker and I love to just keep doing and moving. Many people over the years have told me that I outpace most of the younger people that they know. So for me to have to slow down just annoys me to no end. It’s not going to happen!

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Every Day

How Much Is My Grocery Budget?

 


Curious minds want to know! How much is your grocery budget? What does that have to cover?

I have gotten a few people over the past few months asking me these questions. So it is time to explain how we do it in our household. Our food budget is the  3rd largest line in our overall budget with school and property taxes being the largest and medical being the 2nd largest.

Hubby and I agreed upon a grocery budget of $500. per month effective January of 2020. There is just the two of us. Once in while we have company for dinner but that has only been family this year. Our son and grandson eat Sunday morning breakfast with us many times during the year. Our family in Albany visits a few times during the year. We also get take out and go out to dinner in a normal year a few times. It has not been very often this year and has been infrequent takeout.

So at the end of December when our entire budget was set in motion for 2020, $6,000., which is the yearly amount, was put into our grocery account. Then when Covid19 happened and prices started to rise, we put an additional $1200.(1/2 of our stimulus deposit amount) into that account. So essentially, I had $7200. for groceries for all of 2020.   

That $ 7200. has to cover all food including eating out and any takeout. The other items that it has to cover is household items like cleaners and soaps, personal care items like shampoo, deodorants, shaving cream, razors, toothpaste, floss and mouthwash, etc. It also needs to cover any medical items like bandaids, neosporin, and OTC medicines. Prescriptions drugs is a different budget. 

The large stockups I do are included. For example, my stockpiling for winter has to be within this budget and any stocking that I do at Thanksgiving and Christmas sales also has to be within this budget. 

So far it is working this year. But I have to admit, prices have risen and if I didn’t have full freezers and pantries to begin the year with, I think we might have had to raise the budget.

If you have noticed, I have not spent a lot on groceries the past few months. That is because I am keeping money in the account to be able to buy the rock bottom priced items that we see at Thanksgiving sales.

But since Hubby and I are starting to make our 2021 overall budget, I am really thinking that we need to raise the grocery budget. By how much, I have not determined yet. I did some research online and have seen figures of $ 593. per month up to $700. for the two of us. 

At this point, I don’t know what we will be comfortable with. That is still a work in progress. It will also depend on how much meat prices rise by the end of the year and how much the food shortages in China and Australia affect our prices here. 

I hope I have answered your questions. Now, since curious minds want to know, how much is your food budget this year? Are you going to raise it for 2021? How many people are you feeding and do you include household, personal care, and OTC medical items?

Please leave a comment and share the answers with us. I am curious and I am sure other people are too.

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Every Day

Frugal Things The Past 10 Days or So

These are the things we have done frugally in our home recently.

We received another $ 13.00 in two rebates. They are always worth the few minutes it takes to fill them out and send them in.

My Amazon order came and it was leaking. I had ordered 4 bottles of 32 ounce hand sanitizer. One bottle had the cap off when it arrived. What a mess it was in the box. Half of one bottle had leaked all over the other three and the box. I cleaned it up and contacted Amazon. I got the best customer service ever from them. They told me to either keep, throw out, or donate the order. They credited me for the entire order. So I now have free sanitizer. I believe that Amazon is very leary of the new Walmart Plus so they have really upped their game on their customer service. You can see how much is gone in the bottle on the right.

That roast beef that you saw me cook yesterday has a story behind it. It was dated in 2018. Somehow it got away from me in the dungeon of my chest freezer. Except for turkeys, I rarely keep meat that long. I was wondering if I should toss it or cook it. So I gave it the test. I thawed it, checked to see if it looked okay, and smelled it. It passed those tests, so I cooked it. Then I quickly tasted a small piece when Hubby cut it. It was as good as if it was a new piece of meat. It was delicious and we have another two meals we can get out of it. I am so glad that I didn’t toss it which was my original thought. Waste not want not is my motto.

I washed 3 loads of clothing and towels. I washed the towels in my HE washer using warm water and dried them them using my wool balls which allows me use less time in the dryer. I washed the clothing loads in cold water and hung them to dry.


I redeemed a free to me $10.00 giftcard at Walmart.

My free Better Homes and Gardens magazine came in the mail. I am glad it was free because I skimmed it for about 4 minutes and there was nothing I was interested in.

The pest control company came and got us all set for the winter months. I hate bugs of any kind and the spiders are trying to come inside now that it is cold. 

I washed the car in the driveway. Soon I will be going to the car wash so I want to do as many as I can in the driveway before it gets too cold. I actually have enough reward tickets from getting the car washed last winter, that my first one will be free when I go.


We have been watching You Tube and movies on Amazon Prime for entertainment along with watching football.


I have been cooking all of our meals at home using the best energy saving appliance for the job. 

Lastly, but not money saving, I had to take a picture of the aster bush that I did prior in a post. It is in full bloom now and so beautiful!

What have you been doing frugally?

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Every Day

Busy Monday

 I spent part of the morning cooking in the kitchen. I pressure cooked 14 eggs for breakfasts, snacks and salads this week. I cooked a pound and a half of bacon. I ate 2 eggs for breakfast with 2 strips of bacon.

Then I decided to try a recipe that I have seen everyone rave about on You Tube. It was a slow cooked roast beef recipe in a You Tuber’s cookbook. Everyone kept telling me that it is the best roast ever. I had the cookbook but never looked at that particular recipe. So I dug out the book and read it. It was no different than the same recipe that I have cooked in my slow cooker for years.

Her’s called for onions instead of onion soup mix. But then I read the cooking directions and a big NO resounded in my head. It called for roasting it in the oven for 10-12 hours at 250 degrees depending on how big your roast is. Why would I turn on my big oven instead of using the crockpot? I am sure that I am saving energy using the crockpot on low for 8 hours over using the oven for a greater amount of time.  


So in the crockpot went my onion soup mix, cream soup, and the roast beef. I just put Hubby’s potatoes in a few minutes ago. I will check it all at the 7 hour mark and if it is done to our satisfaction we will eat. I am cooking spinach for our vegetable tonight. 

After I cleaned up all of the pots, pans and dishes, I gathered my grocery lists and coupons and off I went to Walmart and Aldi’s.


At Aldi’s, I picked up 2 packages of bacon for $2.99 each. That is $ 1.01 less per package than the bacon I purchased at Top’s yesterday but it isn’t as good. But I decided at that price we would try a couple again. We use so much bacon for breakfast during the week and for our Sunday breakfasts when my son and grandson visit. So it will add to my stockpile of it.

We were out of sea scallops and they were $9.99 so I got one. I was so happy to see macadamia nuts in the store again. I got my 2 bags of pork rinds which is a snack for me. The Hass avocados were $.69 each. I have been out for a while so was happy to see this sale.

Hubby has been asking me to pick up or make an apple pie. Well, if I make the pie or buy one, we will eat it all and I really don’t want the temptation. So when I saw this German apple strudel, I grabbed it. There are two in the package and I can cook them separately on two different days for him. That should satisfy him.  The broccoli and cheese were needed for recipes the next couple of weeks. 


Here is my receipt. I spent $ 39.77.


At Walmart, I picked up the last of the OTC medicines that we may need over the winter. Walmart had the best prices locally and were lower than Amazon’s prices.

I had a $5.00 off coupon on any Hormel product that was expiring soon so the ham will be a good addition to our stockpile. The crescent rolls are needed for a recipe. The snacks are always needed and hopefully now we have enough until the holiday shopping. I had a Free coupon for the big bag of Cheetos.


Here is my receipt. I spent $ 14.09 after the coupons and a $10.00 gift card rebate.  

I have to be completely honest. I am tired of grocery shopping. I am hoping to not go out the door again to do it unless it is for dairy or produce. I will just be scouring the ads for those things next week and any meat sale that I think is rock bottom. Otherwise, I need some time home to finish the fall cleaning and work on my blog posts.

Are you getting any good deals this week?

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Every Day

Sunday Means Football in our Home

 I did not sleep well last night. So after I finally fell asleep, I woke up a little after 1PM. The Buffalo Bills game had already started. YIKES!


After watching the first half, I decided to get my weekly shopping done for Top’s. I figured that most people would be home watching the game. I guessed right. There was hardly any traffic and only about 10 shoppers in the market. So I was in and home in no time to finish watching the game.


I only had a few things to pick up this week at Top’s. The bacon was on sale B2G3free. It worked out to $ 4.00 a lb. We go through a lot of bacon pretty quickly for breakfast so it seems like I am always buying it on sale.  

The cold cuts were on sale for 3/$10. but I only purchased 2 because I had 2 Free coupons. But it looks like the coupons came off at the original price of $4.99 each.

The Chobani was $1.00 each. Since I am adding more dairy back into my diet, I picked up 5. I like to eat one with a little of the above granola once in a while for breakfast. It is delicious! 

I needed more cheddar and mozzarella cheese and these were on sale for $ 2.50 each.

This is my receipt for everything. I spent a total of 
$38.15. 

Tonight was our third night of eating the chicken tortilla soup. Hubby made some garlic bread out of leftover rolls.

After dinner, I put the leftover soup in a Ziploc using my handy stand and it is now in the freezer. There is enough left for another dinner for the two of us if I make small side salads to go with it.  

So did you do anything special today? Did you watch any football? BTW, our Bills won. They looked pretty good today.                                                                                                                                                                           

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Every Day

It’s Soup Weather

 I woke up this morning to the house being 66. It’s 55 outside as I write this. It is a bit chilly but I am not ready to turn on the heat yet. I am hoping to get a couple of more weeks without it. But we will see. Hubby gets cold very quickly. I went to bed early last night and I saw Hubby’s hot cocoa cup near the sink this morning so he must have been cold. He hasn’t has a cup of that since last spring. Fortunately, I have a good supply of cocoa.

Yesterday, I made a huge pot of chicken tortilla soup. It is one of our favorites. I don’t have a recipe I use. It is one of those a little of this and a little of that soups that I make. 

I used some of the chicken bone broth that I made the day before. Yes, that’s right only one container of bone broth hit the freezer. Hubby asked for some kind of soup when he saw that I was making the broth.  

I added a couple of chicken bouillon to the broth to bolster the flavor. The broth had some meat in it from the bones but I also added one chicken breast that was already cooked and in my freezer.

Next I added a can of corn, a can of rotel with green chiles, and a can of black beans.  We had just a tiny bit of rice left from dinner the other night so I threw that in too. Then I used a packet of Ortega hot and spicy taco seasoning.  I simmered all for about an hour so that the flavors could meld.


I served it with a choice of sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese, and tortilla strips. I skipped the cheese but had a couple of strips and some sour cream.

It was so delicious and I am sure we will be eating off of this pot of soup all weekend. When we get sick of it, I will freeze the rest for another meal.

Are you ready for soup weather? What is your favorite soup to make? Do you have a recipe? Please share with all of us since the season is upon us.

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Every Day

We Must Never Forget

Image may contain: text that says 'NEVER FORGET 9/11/01' 

We must never forget what happened on 9/11/2001. I am sure it is as vivid in your memories as it is in mine.

On this day, we should remember all of the people who lost their lives and all of the families who were affected. May God Bless all of them.