Month: October 2020

Categories
Every Day

Frugal Things The Past Couple Of Weeks

 These are the things that we have done frugally the past few weeks:

– We have only gotten take out once which I got a dozen free shrimp with a meal and I also was able to use a $5.00 off coupon that I received for my birthday. All other meals have been cooked at home from our stockpile.

– I did some more Christmas shopping. I only have a couple of things left to purchase. I try every year to have my Christmas shopping done by the end of October.

– I received a $5.00 rebate in the mail.

– I believe I got the last 12 pack of Samuel Adams Octoberfest in town. My son drinks this. My beverage center has the best price too.

– Hubby set up his office so that Alexa could do her virtual schooling while she visited. This worked out very well. She was comfortable and had her privacy.

– She loves spaghetti and meatballs. So I made a huge crockpot full from scratch one night. Another night we had hamburgers and French fries. We kept the menu teenager friendly.  

– My son had business that was 2 hours and 30 minutes away round trip from where we lived. He was willing to drive it every day so that we could all spend time together. We were very thankful for that. The last day that they were here, we took Alexa to him there after her school day ended at 3PM. At least that saved him driving back here and then all the way across the state again. I filled up the car before our trip getting $ .60 off a gallon using Top’s gasoline points. 

– Hubby returned bottles and got $ 5.60 in deposits back. 

– We went to the dentist for our 3 month checkups and cleanings. We have paid for the insurance plan again this year so they were discounted. I also convinced my dentist that I do not need to go for cleanings every 3 months. He agreed to me coming every 6 months so that will save us a lot of money. 

– We have decided to change our cellphone plan. I have been paying my son $596. a year because I am on his plan. However we have found a plan that is satisfactory for us for $180. for a year. This will also give us a telephone number that is in our area code. My son’s is not.  

– Our monthly electric and natural gas bill came and it was $10.00 less than the same time last year. Since there has been a rate increase in that period, I think we did well keeping it under control.

– I have done minimal grocery shopping. I am still saving money to shop for Thanksgiving turkeys and other sale items.

– I mended a pair of pajamas and hemmed a pair of slacks.

– I continue to do my fall organizing and cleaning. It is getting done slowly. I should be done in a couple of weeks.

– I continue to use the HE washer and hang most everything to dry.

– I use whatever appliance is the cheapest energy wise to do our cooking. So the toaster oven, air fryer oven and pressure cooker get used a lot. I am going to hard boil a dozen eggs this morning. 

– I have been doing very well using up produce before it goes bad and using up all of our leftovers.

– Our son and granddaughter visiting was PRICELESS.

What have you been doing frugally? Please feel free to share with all of us in the comments.   

   

Categories
Every Day

My 2021 Planner

 

For those of you who have been reading my blogs over the last 13 years, you know that I like to buy a planner every year. 

For many years, I purchased the Franklin Planner especially when I worked. I really liked that one and it worked for me all the years that I used it.

Over the last few years, I have tried a new planner every year. I thought I had found the “one” that would work for me last year. It didn’t work at all. First of all I purchased an 8 x11 and it was just too big and bulky.  It had a bunch of printed “to do” things on each daily page and most of them did not help me in any way. After a while, I stopped using it so it was a huge waste of money.

I am sure that a lot of you just keep your “to do” lists on your phones. But I am old school and really like writing in a planner.

So a month ago, I set out to find what I hope will be the perfect planner for 2021. I wanted something that I could put my daily routine in and check the items off when I complete them. I think I have found it. 


This planner has a weekly calendar check list of basically my morning and nightly routines that I have been doing for years. When I first found it online, I got very excited because I knew that I would no longer have to write that routine into my planner. It also has a place on each date to plan out my menu, track any money I spend that day, and room to add more items that I want to do that day.

It has checklists that I will use to make my life easier. There is a spring cleaning one, a yard and home maintenance one for each season of the year, one to get ready to have company, Christmas ones, and a weekly home project list. It has bill payment page where you can track your monthly bills.

It also has a page for a Dream Project List. I had been working on one this year that I was very excited about but things change and my project had to change. It has a page to list your financial goals for 2021 and pages for notes about that.


Each month has a tab and in the front of the month is the entire month’s calendar to be able to see appointments, etc.  That is followed by the weekly pages with the lists and a monthly budget tracker. It also has a really cute ruler to be able to keep your place, some planner stickers, and a pocket in the back which would be a great place to stash receipts of you are the type to take your planner wherever you go.

Because this planner is a normal classic size, I can keep it in my purse when I am away from home.  

If anyone is interested in this planner, here is the link to where you can purchase it: 

2021 Planner 

I am not a making any money for writing about this planner nor is the link earning me anything. I just wanted to let you know how excited I am about finally finding one that has my daily routine in it and that I believe will work for me.

I hope you all have a terrific weekend. My son and granddaughter will be visiting for a few days and I am very excited about that. 

Categories
Every Day

Top’s Grocery Haul This Week and Other Things


I shopped at Top’s this week. I purchased white cheddar popcorn( $2.99) at Hubby’s request. I was getting low on eggs so picked up the 18 count with a Super Coupon for $1.69.

The celery was also a Super Coupon and cost $ .88. The yogurt were on sale for $1.00 each.

But the best deal that I got was 4 of the craft beer French fries. If you purchased 4, they were $ .99 each. 

My total out of pocket was  $ 9.52. 

I have been busy around here doing regular chores and finishing up organizing the kitchen which is one of the biggest rooms in the house and held so much stuff. I pared a lot of it down. If it hadn’t been used in a year, it got donated. It is so much easier to cook  and find utensils, dishes, and pots and pans now that it has been simplified. 

Now I am preparing for my son and granddaughter to visit for a few days. We are very excited that they are coming especially Hubby. He has not seen our son since last November. We have not seen our granddaughter since she was here in July. 

We have been getting ready for winter. It is upon us and it is predicted to be very snowy this year.

My son helped Hubby put all the patio furniture away about 10 days ago. I am so glad because the winds have been awful.

Our landscape crew were here for the last time this year and everything has been weeded and trimmed. The pest control people were here and the spiders seem to be non existent. Yeah, because I hate spiders. The company who blows out the lines in our sprinkler system came and did that and shut it down till Spring. The last thing that needs to be done is winter fertilizer and that will be done by the company in the next couple of weeks. 

Hubby changed the filter on the furnace yesterday. With the heat on, we do that once a month. 

How did you guys do with Amazon Prime Days? Did you think the deals were worth it? I was very good and was able to pick up a Christmas gift for my grandson. I had a $10.00 credit that helped lower the cost.

Categories
Every Day

Planning Our Thanksgiving Shopping

Have you been planning your Thanksgiving stock up shopping yet? I realize it is only mid October but I always plan ahead for the Thanksgiving sales and make a list of what I need to look for that usually go on sale.

Not only have I been thinking about what to buy but I have also been stashing my grocery money so that I have plenty when the sales start.

Last week at Aldi’s, I saw that they have their turkeys in the store already. I don’t remember what brand they were but I believe they were $ 1.29 a lb. Since I keep track of the prices that I paid last year, that is quite a hike in price. 


Last year, I paid $ .48 a lb. for store brand turkeys at Top’s(which is pictured) and Wegman’s. I also paid $ .48 a lb. for a Shady Brook turkey. Butterball turkeys which are our favorite were $ .87 a lb. at Aldi’s.

So you can see that the price has risen as much $ .42 a lb. at Aldi’s for a name brand. I expect that the prices will be much higher this year on all turkeys. But even with them rising, it will be one of the cheapest meats that you can purchase and these kinds of prices on turkey only come around once a year.

How many I will buy this year will depend on how much freezer space I have. But I know that I can use turkey instead of chicken in many recipes so that will cut the cost of my meat for the year. 


Besides turkeys, I always stock up on butter. Last year I paid $ 1.99 a lb and bought about 30 lbs. I will have to count how many I have left in the freezer and determine how many to buy this year. It will be interesting to see if the per pound price is higher.


I also need canned pumpkin since I am getting low. I paid $.89 a can for the ones I have right now.


I already stocked on the rolls of sausage when Aldi’s had them on sale a few weeks back for $ 1.49. I use them for breakfasts and for sausage stuffing to stuff the turkeys with. But they will probably go on sale in November also. 


Also on my list is cream soups, herb dressing cubes, stove top stuffing, fresh cranberries, fresh potatoes, pickles and green olives, chicken broth and stock, fresh onions, celery, and frozen pies. I stocked on a few cranberry sauces too.


I use the cream soups in recipes all year. I get enough of the herb dressing cubes to stuff how ever many turkeys I buy. I freeze them until I use them. I stock on a few stove top stuffing because they will be cheap and I can use them to stuff chicken breasts and pork chops during the year.

We only use butter in this house for recipes and for some cooking and baking. Fresh cranberries go into the freezer to make quick breads and muffins.

Fresh potatoes are usually the cheapest price per pound in November. The pickles and olives, chicken broth and stock will be at rock bottom prices. 

The celery and onions will also go on sale. I usually buy extra onions and celery and dice it up and freeze it to use for soups, fajitas, and for other recipes over the next year.

If you bake your own pies, the canned pie fillings will go on sale. But so will the frozen pies. It is a good time to stock on these items because they will be at some of their best prices of the year. I will buy a couple to stash in the freezer. If SF Cool Whip goes on sale, I will get some to put in the freezer. We use this on the pies and on SF jellos and puddings.

Other grocery items that will go on sale are all of your baking items, like sugars, flours, cocoa, chocolate chips, evaporated milk and condensed milk and eggs. I have plenty so I will not be purchasing them this year with the exception of eggs which I purchase regularly.

You will also find turkey gravy and gravy mixes on sale if you use those things.  

Also be sure to remember to shop the beginning of November for marked down Halloween chocolate candies to bake with.

Lastly, the following items are usually on sale during the month also. They are clementines, cream cheese, nuts, bacon, and beef. Whether they will be good prices is yet to be seen. But I will be keeping my eyes open for these things too. 

Is there anything that is not on my list that you buy at Thanksgiving sales because the prices are rock bottom? Please share with us in the comments!   

Categories
Every Day

This Week’s Grocery Haul, Etc.

This is my one grocery haul this week. It was done at Aldi’s. We had no pork in the house so I picked up this package of pork chops for $5.94. We needed eggs so I got 2 dozen.

We needed some fresh grated parmesan cheese.  We use it to top a lot of Italian dishes. I also picked up some more baking potatoes.

We have many boxes of spaghetti and pasta but had no penne rigate which is Hubby’s favorite. The pumpkin spice bread and muffin mixes were on sale and are a quick Sunday breakfast item when we get sick of eggs.


We were on our last container of sour cream so I got one. I always have to have avocados. They are a huge part of my Keto diet to get some good fats.

Hubby loves fried onions but he has never tried the Aldi brand. They are the cheapest so I wanted him to try them to see if he likes them. 

The rice, soap, parmesan crisps and macadamia nuts will all go into our stockpile. 


My total for this shop was $56.65. Here is the receipt if it will help you with your price book.


I am still organizing and cleaning in the kitchen. I picked the kitchen first because it is huge and is the hardest room to organize. I have the one pantry pretty much done now. I also have my coffee station done and a couple of other cupboards. I have so much more to do. It is slow going because I still have errands to run, appointments to go to, laundry, cooking, and all the other things it takes to run a home. 


My son and West came this weekend to show us his new car and to have breakfast and celebrate my “39th” birthday. After breakfast, we each had a piece of the Keto peanut butter pie that Hubby made me. I added the chocolate which isn’t Keto but what the heck, it was my birthday. 


Then for dinner, Hubby made us lamb chops and some cauliflower for me which is what I requested. All in all, I had a wonderful day.

It is time for me to go out and make sure that our landscape crew does what we want in the yard. They just arrived. It is their last visit for the year so things need to be cut back etc. 

Did you do any great grocery deal shopping this week?  

Categories
Every Day

Frugal Things The Past Week or So

 These are the frugal things that we have done around our household recently.

I have been cooking all of our meals from our stockpile. There has been no restaurant or take out food.

We got our one month gas and electric bill and it was about the same amount as this time last year which was $ 95. We did our best to keep it low since we used a lot of A/C and the dehumidifier was constantly running in the basement. I was happy with this since there had been a rate increase this year. 

We had our sprinkler system blown out by the company that installed it. This keeps the water in the system from freezing which causes costly repairs in the spring. A bit of prevention is usually cheaper in the long run. I am also happy knowing that our huge water bills for the summer will start going down. 

We now have our heat on but we have it set 2 degrees lower than last year. We also have it set to go down to 62 while we are sleeping.

Our entertainment has been Netflix which we are enjoying at the moment with a free month. Since we just got Netflix after a many year hiatus with them, are there any must see shows or movies that you have enjoyed?  We are also watching Amazon Prime shows. Of course it is football season too which is always enjoyed in our home.

Hubby got a huge crossword puzzle book for his birthday which he is enjoying immensely. He also got a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle of Niagara Falls. We are both working on that.

As you all know, I have been reorganizing our home to make things easier for both of us. I have been using as many containers as I can that we already own. I have had to buy a few but I have tried to get the best price I can on them. I finally bit the bullet and ordered a can riser shelf for my pantry. I love it because I can see what I have with a quick glance. I had two wire contraptions that let me store cans that rolled down one after the other. Since there are only two of us, I didn’t use enough product to be able to always see what I had. I grew to hate them more and more. So they are now gone and I am very happy with the new riser. 

I continue to wash clothes with cold water in our HE washer and hang most of them to dry.

Hubby saw a beautiful winter coat that he wanted me to buy for myself. I had to remind him that I found a beautiful black coat at the end of last winter that I had kept even though it didn’t fit me for a few years. I will be using it for many years since it has hardly been worn.

I continue to work out on the treadmill and recumbent bike for my exercise.

I have purchased very few groceries the past few weeks. This is so that I can save our grocery money to stock up on the Thanksgiving sales. More on that in another post. 

I have been rereading some of the books that we already own and enjoying them again. This lets me avoid going into the library.

I did not renew my ancestry.com. It is expensive and I am just not interested in working on it over the winter.

Hubby will be making me a nice birthday dinner this weekend. He is going to grill some grass fed lamb chops(which I love), make some baked potatoes with sour cream, and roast some broccoli. He is also making me a Keto peanut butter pie that we can share with my son and grandson when they come this weekend. I just love it when Hubby cooks.

When my son comes this weekend, he is going to help Hubby put all of our patio furniture into the shed for the winter. The winds are getting brutal again and I am not up to chasing chairs and furniture all over our and our neighbor’s yards. It is October and time to prepare for winter. It won’t be long before it is snowing here. We really appreciate all of the help our son gives us.

That is it for now. I have to get back to my cleaning and organizing.

What have you done frugally the past couple of weeks?

Categories
Every Day

This Week’s Grocery Haul and More

 

I only needed a few things this week. I realized that tomorrow is senior discount day at Top’s after I was on my way there. However, I needed one of the items that I picked up at Aldi’s for dinner tonight. Since I only needed 2 items at Top’s and found 2 more, I decided it was not worth the time nor few cents that I would save to make a second trip tomorrow. 

At Top’s I purchased 2 of the Bistro Favorites Ham that Hubby absolutely loves. I had 2 – $ .60/1 coupons that doubled. On my way to get the deli meat, I always check for the Crystal Light Peach. They have not had it in stock since March. Today they had a bunch so I picked up two. I recently found it at Walmart and purchased Hubby a case. I expect it to disappear quickly if we have another wave of this virus. My total at Top’s was $ 10.65. 

This is what I purchased at Aldi’s. I desperately needed the Romaine lettuce. I was out. 

My birthday is coming up so Hubby asked me what dessert I would want for that. My very favorite dessert is peanut butter pie. So he researched online and found a wonderful Keto peanut butter pie recipe that he is going to make me. The only ingredient that I needed was heavy whipping cream. The rest of the ingredients we have.

Every time I go I try to pick up the cranberry sauce, some 90 second rice, and the macadamia nuts for my stockpile. The macadamia nuts I am stockpiling in my freezer. The season is too short for them and I ran out this past year. 

The coffee was on sale and I can’t have enough coffee. My total for Aldi was $ 19.70.

So I am just spending $ 30.35 this week. I have been saving up grocery money the past few weeks for Thanksgiving sale shopping and some household items that I want. 

Hubby and I had a quiet weekend. There was lots of football on TV and our Buffalo Bills won their 4th straight game. I love this team and want them to do well. 

I spent Saturday working on another project. My largest pantry in the kitchen was a disaster. Every time I would come home from grocery shopping and I was tired, I would just throw everything in there. I would tell myself that I would sort it out later. Well, later never came.

I took 3 large bags of food out of there to go in my stockpile. I found duplicates of things I didn’t realize that I had so I kept buying them. This is what happens when things get out of control. It was so bad!

Just looking at the mess gave me major anxiety. I kept putting it off and putting it off. Saturday morning, I decided to get “a shovel” and dig it out. I took everything out and pulled those three bags of stuff to go in the big stockpile.

It is not totally completed. I had to order some things that I need to finish it up. But I will give you peeks and then when I am done, I will show you the finished product. 

This is a peek of my baking shelf and my breakfast shelf. I need more containers for some of these things. I may have some in the house or I may have to order them. I have to look in my storage. We have a lot of baking things because I am Keto and Hubby is not. 

This is the rack on my door which holds our sides that aren’t canned or frozen and some beans and other things in canning jars that we use.


These are our two dinner shelves along with some extra products to restock with and some paper towels.

I had two rolling racks for our cans. I hated them from the day we purchased them back in AZ. I only keep a few of each canned goods that we use a lot in our kitchen so things had to be stocked on those racks behind each other. I could not see what I had. So I bit the bullet and purchased a tiered can rack which is on it’s way here.

Not only am I doing our Fall cleaning but I am reorganizing everything so that we can find things easier. We are both getting older and I don’t want to have to hire help. Hubby has lots of help to do things in the yard. But I am still able to fully function around the house. As I age, I want to make sure that I can still do that. Hence lots of time spent getting things weeded out and made easier for the both of us. So this is why I have so many days lately not blogging. This all needs to be done and can not be put off. So please bear with me.

Are you getting any good deals this week? Or are you organizing or Fall cleaning too?

Categories
Every Day

I Finally Finished Cleaning and Organizing The Refrigerator


Finally I am done with the refrigerator. With our schedule last week, this week, and next week, things are getting done a little at a time. I long for the days when I could clean my two story house in one day. But I move a bit slower than I used to.

As you can tell, we have a problem. My Hubby is the condiment king. He never met a condiment that he didn’t like.


It is a work in progress. I have vowed to buy condiments in smaller containers. He has vowed to eat up what is in there before he opens another jar that isn’t mayonnaise, ketchup, or mustard. 

The beverages of iced tea, milk, and creamers are just above the mayo, etc. I also keep the heavy whipping cream and 1 crescent roll tube in there because of their size. 


And above those I keep my butter and yeast.


The other door holds our garlic, some Chinese sauces, horseradish and steak sauce. 


It also holds some dressing, lime juice and taco sauce. Because our ice maker is in this door, the shelves are very narrow so it doesn’t hold things that are not slim.



Next in the main compartment of the refrigerator, I have 2 dozen plus 2 eggs right now along with some cooked bacon in the baggie up by the eggs.

Across from it, I keep leftovers and my lettuce keeper.

Under the eggs are more condiments including my avocado mayo, BBQ sauces and honey mustard sauce.

To the left of those, is an empty shelf which is where I keep Hubby’s prescription medications. I removed them briefly to take this picture to protect his privacy.


Next shelf down are dairy products on the left including a bit of Cool Whip. Next bin holds some jams and the parmesan cheese. Next bin is all of our salad dressings.  The last one is applesauce, maple syrup,  SF syrup and some lemon juice. The bin behind the one in the front holds some coconut and almond whipped cream that we use on ice cream and in coffee. It also holds the chocolate syrup that I make ice cream sundaes with for my grandchildren.  


On the left is our fruit bin which is full of apples right now.


On the right is our vegetable bin which has celery, carrots, green peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and avocados at the moment. I clean all of my veggies when I bring them home from the store and prep for whatever I will be using them for.

Last is our pull out deli drawer. As you can see it is very full of cheese and meats.

I am hoping to pare down the number of condiments that we are using. I barely have enough room to store leftovers and forget thawing a turkey in here right now.

Besides buying a commercial refrigerator, this was the largest refrigerator that we could find that would fit our space. I thought it was huge until Hubby’s condiments started filling it up.

Do any of you struggle to keep your refrigerator organization under control? At least it is easier to clean since I started using refrigerator bins a couple of years ago. It is much easier to clean a spill in a bin instead of taking the inside of the refrigerator apart to get the sticky gunk off.

Well, I am off to do some more Fall cleaning. Let me know how you handle you refrigerator organization. It just drives me crazy.