Happy New Year to all of you! May you be Blessed all year long. I decided not to waste this first day of January just resting. So these are the things I have done today:
We have only had just one light on today. It is dark, dreary, and cold. When I got up this morning it was 22 degrees and as I write this it only 30. I think the cold front is here. We also got about 2 inches of snow overnight. So I kept the blinds and shades down all day to try to keep the warmth in the house.
I did some cleaning today. Last year, I purchased three inexpensive house dresses to wear in the house when I clean. They are comfortable and silky and feel so good that it helps me get the chores done. By wearing these I am not getting my good clothes dirty and they will last much longer.
This morning I washed the sheets from two guest bedrooms in cold water, a small amount of detergent that I buy cheaply at Walmart, and dried them in the dryer using the wool balls. While I was folding the laundry, I left the dryer door open to let the hot air come out into the room. Every little bit helps.
I finished getting my 2024 Planner ready for this year. Then I did my Net Worth statement today in my Money Planner. I always do it on January 1st and then compare it to the last day of the year. So next comparison will be December 31, 2024. I also made sure that my budget is all set in this planner. I put a small notebook in my purse so that I can write down each purchase in the car when I am out running errands. This way I can track every dollar when I get home and keep the budget updated. I have a lot of errands to run tomorrow.
One of my goals this year is to read one money book a month. I found the Tightwad Complete Gazette in my cabinet that I keep all of my books in. Hopefully I can read it in 31 days. If not I will finish it in February. I plan on reading books all year that I already own. I will not be buying any new ones. If I need to read something fictional, I will go to the library or online to read it.
Washing my hands today with bar soap after cleaning. We have bar soap at every sink and I use it in the shower. Hubby still has some Old Spice Liquid Bath soap that he is using up. Bar soap is so much cheaper than buying the liquid stuff which has gotten very expensive.
For breakfast this morning, I sauteed some onions and put them in our eggs. Then I added some cheese. I cooked 3 slices of bacon for each of us in my microwave using the bacon tray.
This afternoon we each had a Keto snack from our stockings that our son gave us for Christmas. We won’t run out of these Keto snacks for months.
I asked Hubby this morning if he wanted me to cook an elaborate dinner for New Year’s today. His response was “We have leftovers from a couple of meals in the refrigerator. Let’s eat them.” I had enough of two leftovers. So I let him pick what he wanted to eat. We had leftover taco meat so he made a taco bowl. I ate leftover tuna noodle casserole. We toasted to the New Year with a glass of red wine. No food goes to waste around here!
Entertainment for Hubby today was watching college football games. I watched a couple of You Tube videos in the little bit of spare time I had. Tonight we will watch the Alabama vs. Michigan college football. We will watch with no light. The TV is enough light for us.
I washed a few dishes in the sink that I don’t put in the dishwasher. I filled one sink up with a few inches of water to wash and the other sink with a little warm water to rinse. We try not to waste water around here.
Lastly, I changed the air filter in the furnace.
Did you do anything to save money today?
8 replies on “2024: Day 1: Saving Intentionally”
I made my annual New Years soup – has all the ingredients in it you are supposed to eat for the new year, but in soup form. Has all the ingredients on hand. Made enough for the weeks’ lunches also. Ended up going to work today for 1/2 day. Took my lunch and bananas from a fruit basket I received. Tooka a 40 pack of bottled water so I don’t buy it from the machine. It lasts me 2 weeks. Washed all the fruit in the basket in water and vinegar to get the wax off. Aired up my tires – better gas mileage. 1 full load of laundry. Turned the electri heat off this morning before I left. Turned the fireplace on when I got home to save electricity. Dropped off the water bill on the way home from work. I pay it annually because they charge for credit card and this is the only bill I have that is not automatic pay, so I forget about it and end up paying late fees. It is only $351.
Precious – a tip you may not know. When you start a new bar of soap, get the next bar out and lay your bar soap out in the air, unwrapped. This “cures” the soap (water evaporates and makes it harder) and makes it last longer. You probably already know that.
Hi Wendy,
Your soup sounds wonderful! Making all your lunches for the week is a nice prep,
So sorry that you had to go into work but nice that you could grab lunch so easily.
Nice savings on the water. When I worked, people were buying snacks and drinks from those machines every day. I used to think, why I they working hard and then wasting their money?
I use the vinegar and water wash also for veggies and fruits. It is really important now because they are using other coatings on them these days that you really don’t want to put in your body. Aldi’s has signs up warning you about it.
Thanks for reminding everyone about checking and putting air in your tires frequently. Hubby takes care of that here at home. We have a portable pump that we take in the car also. Keeping your tires properly inflated does save money on gasoline.
I usually drop off our water and sewer bill quarterly also at Town Hall. It saves me a stamp each time. The town hall is on my route when I do errands. I so wish we could do it by auto pay also.
I did know that but thank you for sharing that with my readers. I usually have 3-4 bars at a time unwrapped and curing.
Thanks for sharing.
Very cold mornings and I resisted turning the heat up as I have done the past 2 mornings. A few things other than no spending, stayed home and watched football as well. Chris has decided to stop the Diet Coke/lemons we also won’t be buying his SF pudding/ low carb milk/cool whip. This alone will save at least 50.00/month. Ate leftovers for lunch and simple steak and green beans for dinner. The only laundry sone was bedding again as kitty had an accident. We will need to lock her out of the bedroom as she has plenty of other beds to sleep in. We did sign up for paramount plus at 1.99/mo for 2 months and it’s in my calendar to cancel.
Thank you for this opportunity to really think about what I was able to accomplish to help the budget
Hi Patti,
Yep. I had to resist doing that the past couple of days too. Hubby is in a sweatshirt and I had on an old sweatshirt so I could clean.
That is fantastic about the Coke. I gave it up almost 4 years ago and have never looked back. His health is well worth it and that is a huge savings. ry
Your meals sound wonderful. Sorry about kitty. I hope you like Paramount Plus as much as we do.
You are welcome. Have a great day!
Hello
I cooked our traditional New Years meal and our daughter and family joined us. All the ingredients were on hand so no extra expense.
We eat our leftovers too.
Hi Rhonda,
Happy New Year to you and your family! It was nice that you had company for your meal. Better even better that you had all the ingredients. Thanks for sharing.
Hi Precious, when I read this post, I thought you were clever about the house dresses to clean in. That is a good idea. We use bar soap also. I have a copy of the complete Tightwad Gazette also, good idea to get it out and re-read. I will do that with you. I will also be interested to see what other books you read this year.
Hi Chris,
My grandmother always wore them and I always wondered why. But the more I thought about it, it was to keep her other clothes pristine. She loved to dress up and she loved hats and purses. So I decided to do what she did. I am so glad I did, They are so comfortable and make it easy to do household chores,
I have been reading about 20 pages a day for now because I am doing a lot in the house. It should pick up to more pages soon. My next book I will reread will be “America’s Cheapest Family”.