Since it’s easier for me to sit for short periods of time, I will post short blog posts each day about how we cut costs that day.
As you can see I taught myself to take pictures with my cellphone today. I never knew how to do it. So I did some research and I am learning. So I will not have to spend $250. for a new camera.
Pictured above is about 3/4’s of a butternut squash. I cooked it in the microwave which is much cheaper than baking it in the oven. There is enough here for me to enjoy it with 3 dinners. Hubby does not like it so I get it all. Actually the other 1/4 of it, I have cut into chunks to saute for dinner. While Hubby has spaghetti with Italian sausage for dinner, I will have the Italian sausage and sauce with the the squash as a side.
Hubby made another batch of homemade granola. We have tried many recipes and this one is the best by far. It gives us a little over 1/2 a container. https://cookieandkate.com/healthy-granola-recipe/
Hubby always makes it with pure maple syrup. This time he used dried blueberries and cranberries. It is so delicious. I have some once in a while on top of plain yogurt which I make in the Instant Pot. You can use raisins for a cheaper recipe. We use dried blueberries, cranberries, or cherries. It costs us less to make it than to buy a good box of granola.
I did a load of wash in cold water and hung all of my lingerie and good tops to dry. The rest was dried on the EcoDry cycle.
I ordered two different bottles of OTC drugs that we were very low on. They were cheaper at Walmart than on Amazon by a lot and they will be here tomorrow and the next day. This saves me on gasoline and time.
Since we no longer get a newspaper delivered, I printed some coupons that I wanted online. I also looked at the market flyers online and have made a very short list for Top’s and Aldi. I will be going on Tuesday since it is 6% Senior Discount Day. With prices so high, every little bit helps.
Hubby and I will be watching the Buffalo Bills on our television in a few minutes. I think you can see the game better and it sure saves on buying a ticket.
We had some croissants that I did not want to go bad, so I froze them.
I stopped myself from going to Walmart for 1/2 price Halloween candy. today. I thought about it but we have enough candy here for the grandchildren after Halloween. I know if I had gone I would have spent $40. – $50.
I think that will be it today. I am off to the game. What are you doing today to cut costs?
6 replies on “Cutting Costs Today”
Hi AD. We are taking it easy today after our neighborhood Halloween party last night. For our contribution, Hubby smoked 20 lb of pork shoulder that I got for $1.69/lb this week at Kroger. For once, the sale happened just when I needed it! We also provided the buns and a big bottle of Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. The leftovers I will freeze some and have some later in the week when our kids come for supper. We saved on our costumes for the party by using what we had, except for 1 spray bottle of temporary blue hair color I used for my “crazy cat lady” costume. I also sent over a bottle of wine we had gotten at Costco for the wine bar. You can get a 10% discount on their already low wine prices if you buy 6 bottles.
The other thing hubby did to save money was to air up all of our tires with his air compressor now that the weather is cooler. He also disconnected the outside hoses from the faucets.
Hi Chris,
That is a great deal on the pork. I love that you didn’t have to spend much money on your costumes. We are getting a Costco here in the future. I can’t wait. I loved it when we lived in AZ.
Nice job on the tires. We have done the faucets too.
You ad a great money saving weekend.
We did a lot of cooking & meal prepping this weekend. I made a double batch of bolognese sauce, a big pot of beef & barley stew, & a double batch of chicken & dumplings. And made salsa verde & pumpkin muffins. And, one of the teens made homemade bread.
We needed to use up a bunch of veggies in the fridge, and it will help us during the week, when things are really busy with school, sports & work commitments.
In a non-frugal moment, I stopped at Costco with both teens in tow, after a soccer game. Never a good idea. Everyone wanted different food items! My 15 y.o. is hard to feed (he’s not picky, but his appetite during the week is very low due to a medication he takes). He found a few things that he really wanted, so fingers crossed that keeps him fed. We also bought one splurge snack – one of my favorite dried fruit bars were on sale. They are a nice “treat” that is still reasonably healthy & reasonably priced, when on sale. Not as cheap as fruit, however!
Hi HP,
Wow! You have been busy! Isn’t it nice when the kids get old enough to help with the cooking and baking? My oldest used to do all of our baked desserts. I am sending Hubby over for that beef and barley stew. That and homemade soup he loves! He should arrive in about 9 hours so set a place for him. 🙂 Seriously, that is the way to cook especially when you work. Good job on prepping all of that food.
I am chuckling thinking of your teens at Costco. I remember bringing mine to Sam’s Club years ago. It cost a fortune. That is why I usually shopped when they were in school. To this day, I don’t bring Hubby when I go because he is just as bad. I hope your son likes the food. Nice score on the bars.
I am doing a stricter menu and not wasting any food. Food in our deep freezer will be used as I replace it. Food I froze was on sale and we won’t pay the prices that are currently at the stores. I’m buying meat on sale and replacing it in the freezer. This weekend I got 2 huge packs of chicken at aldi for 1.79/lb. Will go back for 2 or 3 more and divide into meals. I also slice the huge breasts thinner. I also picked up 2 big family packs of 80% burger at 3.99/lb. I will go back for that also later in the week. (Different store). That typically retails for 5.99/lb and I won’t pay that for burger. I divide my packs into 1.5 lb freezer bags and lay flat in the deep freezer.
I saw turkey at aldi last week. Butterball..for 1.39/lb. I picked one up. I used to get a free one at shoprite but don’t get there much and would have to spend $450 to “earn” a free $20 turkey. This way I bought it for $25 outright. They were flying out of the freezer so I’m glad I have that done and in my freezer.
Thanks for all your posts. I have read for years but not commented. I’m glad you figured out how to post pictures. The cell phones are a computer now. A handheld one. It can take the place of a video camera. A camera. An iPad. A computer. A phone. The library usually has classes to learn new things or we you tube it! Have a good week.
Hi Jessie,
That is a wonderful meat plan. Those chicken breasts are gigantic today. I too slice them in half and then sometimes quarter them. We only need about 4 oz. of meat a day. $ 1.79 a lb is such a great price for chicken breasts. Your ground meat is well priced. I usually purchase the $ 4.49 lb. sale price at Aldi’s when you buy the 3 pack. Hubby loves it. I noticed that they have it on sale again this week.
My sister picked up the Butterball turkey at Aldi’s for the same price last week. She was happy to find a big one. If you have room for another and want one, they are on sale this week for $.87 lb. at Aldi’s.
Nice call on the free turkey. $ 450. is a lot to spend for one. BJ’s near me is offering a free one but you have to spend $100. on certain products to get that price. Most of the products are not ones that I use so not worth it to me either.
Thanks for your kind words. Thanks also for your tips. I am slowly getting better with this computer stuff. You Tube is a big help on so many things.