Month: December 2025

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2026 Goals

A priority for this year is to get rid of all of the stuff that we don’t need in case we move. As we age, we are thinking more and more about moving closer to one of our sons. How many of you declutter your rooms and then box up that stuff in case you may need it in the future? It then sits in the basement collecting dust. No more in this house. It is all going to be rehomed.

Finally take off all of the excess weight that I have been carrying around. Keto worked for me a couple of years ago. I lost 60 lbs. But the minute you go off it, you gain it back. My doctor told me to do a more balanced approach. Hubby is joining me in this challenge. I already have a head start. Since I saw my doctor 6 weeks ago, I finally stepped on my scale 2 days ago. I was shocked to see I had lost 15 lbs. since my appointment. We have been really watching portions: 4 oz. of meat for dinner along with a few tablespoons of vegetables or a small tossed salad, and fruit or SF pudding for dessert. We eat a protein heavy brunch most days consisting of 2 eggs, an avocado, and some bacon, ham, sausage, leftover steak, or Steakums. The Christmas gift we gave each other was a whole beef tenderloin cut into file mignons. We will enjoy that more than bringing more stuff in the house. Matter of fact, we are going to grill some tonight and have baked potatoes and sour cream as a side dish. Now do we always stick to this? No there are days we want to use up foods in our stockpile so they don’t go to waste. But we are very careful to only eat one portion of those items. We had a delicious fondue meal at our son and DIL’s home yesterday. It was fun to spend the day with them and West. They fixed cheese, oil, and chocolate fondue pots. The food was 99% Keto. It was so much fun. Then we played a new game that we gave West for Christmas. It was so much fun that Hubby asked it I would order us one. I have done that. I also noticed recently that we are using our last electric toothbrush heads so I ordered those too.

January will be a month without the grocery store. We will eat what we already have stored. If that goes well, we may do the month of February also. However this Sunday or Monday, I will be purchasing some on sale NY strip steaks( best price in a couple of years). I had lottery scratch offs that my son and his wife put in my stocking. I won $45. that I need to cash in so I will do that and use it to buy those steaks.

I will start using the treadmill and recumbent bike again. I am hoping to do that at least 3-4 days a week.

We have more goals but this is enough for today. I have many things I want to get started on, so I need to eat breakfast, take my pills, and get my butt in gear.

I hope you all had a great day yesterday! Are you going to strive to get your goals done this year? Or are you going to give up after a few weeks? I plan on making them last the entire year!

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Just A Quick Deal And A Bill

I had to go to Walmart yesterday to pick up a script for Hubby. I just quickly skimmed the grocery section. I was glad I did. The Shady Brook turkeys were on rollback for $.55 a lb. I could not resist that price. They also had frozen corn and Hawaiian sweet rolls for $1.00 each. So I grabbed some. I have never had one of these rolls. Everyone keeps telling me how good they are. I will be cooking our ham for Christmas this week so we will try them with it. If you happen to be near a Walmart check out your rollback items.

I got a Merry Christmas from the natural gas and electric company:

Amount Due$305.49

Past Due$0.00

Current Charges$305.49

Due Date01/15/2026

Total Account Balance$305.49

Ugh! My bill last month was $ 230.+

This current bill was for 30 days and we used 553 KWH’s of electric and 149.5 therms of natural gas.

Last years bill(same period) was for 34 days and we used 569KWH of electric and 136.1 therms of natural gas. That bill was for 4 more days, a few more KWH and we used 13.4 less therms of gas. The total was $254.09.

Our natural gas usage was up and I knew it would be. We have had a wicked cold spell here in WNY during that period plus Hubby is always cold. So we have upped our daytime and nighttime temperature by 2 degrees each. Hubby is layered up also but he is still cold. There is really nothing I can do about the heat. I can’t have him freeze. I will just pray that we don’t have a lot of really cold spells. But at this rate of increase, I expect our winter bills will total more than we usually pay in a year’s time.

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My Newest Grocery Haul This Week

The lowest price I could find in my area for a spiral sliced ham was $1.49 a lb. at Top’s so that is where I shopped. It was $ 17.16 for 11.52 lbs. The Fresh Express salad was on sale for $ 3.00 and made a nice chicken Caesar salad meal this week. The Tillamook shredded cheeses were on sale for B1G1F so they cost me $ 4.99 for 2. The angel hair pasta was free with a Top’s coupon. The Daisy sour creams were 2/$5.00. The Nestle chocolate morsel mini chips were on sale for $3.49. The chicken breasts were on sale for $ 1.99 a lb. with a Super Coupon. They weighed 5.92 lbs. so cost $11.78. The 4 zero sugar ReddiWip were on sale for $ 3.00 each for a total cost of $ 12.00.

My total came to $ 57.42. However I had a $10.00 off meat Top’s coupon when I spent $ 50.00 that brought my total down to $ 47.42. I also had a coupon that gave me double gasoline points.

The ham is our Christmas week ham. It will get eaten for a dinner and then packaged up for future meals. I will make ham and bean soup also. The salad was for a quick meal on a busy day this week. I didn’t need the cheeses but they were a new product that I wanted to try and they freeze well. Rarely can I get a bag of cheese for about $ 2.50 each. The pasta was free and will keep well in my stockpile. The chicken was a great price and I had that $10. off fresh meat coupon. I was out of sour cream and these were on sale. The mini chocolate chips are for some baking. We go through lots of this whipped cream because we make a lot of Jello and puddings for snacks. I also put it on my coffee in the morning. It is so good!

I hope you all have a great weekend. Stay safe.

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Every Day

January 2026 Grocery Budget

We will be doing a no spend month except for basic bills that have to be paid during the month of January including our property taxes.

Our budgeted amount for each month during all of 2026 will be $ 600. per month. The $600. I have set aside for January will be rolled into a stock up later in the year.

Every morsel that we eat or drink will be from our stockpiles. Nothing will get us to purchase a thing. If this month goes well, we will probably do the same for the month of February. Then perhaps for March with the exception that we like to get corned beefs on sale that month. You know how much this girl loves her reuben sandwiches.

There will be a lot of cooking around here to use things up. I will post each day what we cook and what that used up.

I had another small haul yesterday including one spiral sliced ham. I would like to get another one but I want to see if the price goes down this week. If it doesn’t, then we will not purchase another. We have plenty of turkeys to roast over the next couple of months.

I was going to blog about that haul but we are exhausted and trying to catch up on our sleep. I had to call an ambulance early Sunday morning for Hubby. My son came from another city that is over an hour away to get me to the hospital. I can’t drive at night. He gave us quite a scare but is home and doing well now.

So I apologize for not doing this haul post. If I am well rested by tomorrow, I will show you the haul. I most likely will do one more small one next week and one just before New Year’s eve.

What are you guys paying for your hams? I am very curious.

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Every Day

A Small Grocery Haul This Week

I did a bit of shopping this week at Top’s on Monday. Since Rosina sent me 3 more $1.00 coupons(came on Friday last week) to add to the one I had, I did a deal on them buying 8 bags. They were on sale B1G1F. Total before coupons came to $24.76. The bananas weighed 3.94 lbs. and came to $2.17 before a Free Top’s coupon.

We needed more Wheat Chex for party mix and they were on sale so I got 2. They came to $7.00 for both. Hubby asked me to get bagels and one cream cheese. The cream cheese was full price which was $ 4.69. I rarely buy anything not on sale but this is a new product in our store so I decided we would try it. It is a much better price than the Philadelphia brand here. The bagels were on B1G1F and were $ 5.49 for both. Not pictured were raspberry turnovers from the bakery because Hubby already ate them this week. These are Hubby’s favorite so I got him a 4 pack. They were $ 6.49.

My total before coupons was $50.60. I tell you this because I had a Top’s coupon for $5./$50. order. I also had a free coupon for the bananas because I stayed under their 4 lb. limit. I had $ 4.00 in Rosina coupons, and a $1.00 digital coupon off of 2 boxes of Wheat Chex. So my total after all coupons came to $ 38.43.

Top’s sent me 4 weeks of coupons in the mail. Next week I have a fresh meat $10.00 coupon and a Free box of pasta coupon. I will be using the meat coupon to get a spiral sliced ham. The sale price is $ 1.49 a lb. That is the lowest I have seen in my area. They have many other items on sale including Tillamook cheeses on B1G1F, salmon filets for $8.99 a lb., $1.99 per pound BS Chicken breasts, Daisy sour cream at 2/$5, etc. I must spend $50. to be able to use all coupons and I can easily do this with all of these sales.

We had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, filet mignons, broccoli, and the leftover mashed potatoes that I had frozen from Thanksgiving, spicy jambalaya soup with crackers and butter, and chicken patties on buns for recent meals.

My son, DIL, and grandson are all coming for a visit tomorrow afternoon. We are looking forward to that. So I had better get moving and dust and vacuum the house.

I hope you had good shopping this week for food or perhaps for Christmas gifts. The only thing I have left to do is to get small treats for West’s stocking. I also am going to make some homemade cat food for Eloise. I will do a small batch for her to try. I have tried almost every kind of commercial wet cat food that there is and Eloise will not eat it. I gave Chris cases of it for her cat when she visited this summer. I am hoping that Eloise will like this food. If she does, then I will make a big batch and freeze it in portions.

Share your best deal this week with all of us and where you purchased it. Thanks!

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Saving a Few Dollars Here and There

We purchased some groceries from Walmart. I checked the Top’s ad for next week to see if anything is on sale that is at a great price. They have bags of 5 pound Pillsbury flour on sale for $ 3.99 but Walmart had it on a rollback for $3.47. I bought 2. They had Top’s chunk cheese on sale for $ 1.88 with a super coupon but Walmart was at $ 1.87. I bought 1. I needed swiss cheese for corned beef( leftover from my last one that I froze) reubens next week. The Rosina Meatballs are on sale for B1G1F and I have four $1.00 coupons so I will get them at Top’s next week. I can’t make them for this price. Top’s has eggnog on sale with a super coupon for $ 4.59 but I got it for $ 3.56 at Walmart. I bought 4 which will last us through Christmas. Always check your prices to make sure you are buying it at the cheapest store.

I got 3 of the Rosina Meatballs coupons in the mail yesterday. Just in time for this sale. I already had 1 coupon that was expiring the end of this month. I love contacting companies and asking for coupons by going to their sites online. It is so easy and many of them are very generous.

I deposited 2 checks totaling $13. at the bank. I love rebates.

I had Hubby thread a needle for me so I could do some mending and not have to replace those items. I can’t see well enough to thread the needle anymore.

I scanned a few receipts that had piled up into Fetch. I also checked my coupons that will expire the end of December to see what I might use.

We have been eating crockpot ziti the past two nights and will eat it again tonight. The rest of the leftovers will go in the freezer for a future meal. I had everything to make it here in my pantries and freezer: Italian sausage, ziti, spaghetti sauce, garlic, onions, Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, cottage cheese, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. The recipe made 8 servings.

I am gathering all of the soda cans and bottles to take to the beverage center where I have a coupon to get $.06 per bottle or can instead of $ .05 deposit I paid. We need to get some drinks for Christmas so I will spend the $10. that the coupon requires.

Hubby went to Home Depot to get something to make a repair outside the house. His bill came to $ XX.03. They rounded down to $ XX.00. It will be interesting to see what other stores do. Have you run into this situation yet? What store?

I washed two load of clothes in cold water with minimal detergent not the huge amount the big corporations tell you to use. I dried one load( it was bedding that is too big to hang) in the drier and hung the other to dry.

I am organizing personal care products a little bit better around here so I can find what I need quickly. It is just amazing how much free toothpaste we have from the dentist. Also I will never have to buy a toothbrush to clean with ever again.

With the news that came from a Campbell’s executive that “their soup is for poor people” and ” he wouldn’t feed it to his family” and other tidbits about bio-engineered chicken etc., I went down to my pantry to check the cans we have left on the shelf. People are showing cans online that show it is bio-engineered or GMO and they are throwing them out. I bought most of my cans a few years ago. Sure enough they have real ingredients in them so I did not have to throw them away. Lesson: Read the ingredients when you purchase something. Things and ingredients may change at any time as the corporations try to squeeze a few more pennies of profit.. Other Lesson: Since I purchased them, I must be poor.

Hubby taped a new show called Sheriff Country. We started watching the episodes yesterday. It is so good! That was our entertainment. Tomorrow we will watch the Buffalo Bills play Cincinnati at home. We have so many injuries it is going to be a tough game.

I need to go put my microfiber cloth on a mop head that I used to use throw away pads on. No more. The microfiber works just as well with a little but of cleaner on it and I can wash that cloth. So I am off to clean the bathroom floors.

I hope you all have a great weekend!

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Every Day

How We Will Save Money In 2026 (Part 6)

I know we all like a snack once in a while. But those bags of chips, Poppables, Cheetos, etc. cost a fortune now. $ 5.96 for quite a while for some of our favorites. They have come down to $5.00 now but I still won’t buy them for something that unhealthy. We still have a few in our pantry that we bought for company that we will use up this month. We have decided except for popcorn kernels, tortilla chips and salsa, nuts, and pretzels to make our party mix, we will not be buying them.

We have an electric popcorn popper and a microwave one. They both work really well. If you don’t have those, you can use a skillet or pan to pop yours on the stovetop. That is the way our parents and grandparents did it.

I purchased enough ingredients this year on sale to make two large canning kettles of Chex mix. Hubby made one yesterday. This will last us about 6-8 weeks. We use rice Chex, wheat Chex, Cheerio’s, pretzels, and 3 cans of mixed nuts in ours. Then he makes the sauce and bakes it stirring it at various times while it is cooking at 250 degrees. When you buy everything on sale, it costs less per serving than buying the equivalent bags of snacks.

We not only use tortilla chips with salsa but we use them to dip in our taco bowls and soups, and for other Mexican meals.

We have a variety of nuts in our freezer including pecans, walnuts, and cashews.

We also make our own dill dip and onion dip for eating celery, cucumbers, and carrots. If we are craving a chip to dip, we can make our own from sliced potatoes using our oven with the air fryer function.

I also consider ice cream, brownies, quick breads, cakes, pies, cookies, fudge, etc. to be snacks or desserts. When we are craving something sweet, we will make our own. I have some mixes on our shelves to use up first. We try to eat all of these things sparingly.

Our very favorite sweets are strawberries or SF pudding with zero whipped cream. We thaw our frozen strawberries during the winter or use the fresh in season. Pudding and fresh and canned fruit are a year round treat.

Our plan is to use up what we have and then get back to making things ourselves. It is so much cheaper to do it yourself and healthier too. I am really tired of making the big corporations rich.

Do you make your own snacks? Willing to share them with us?

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Grocery Haul and Other Things

I did a small haul at Top’s this morning. I got 11 lbs. of butter for $ 2.89 each which is the lowest price I have seen in my area. I counted the butter I already had in my freezer and refrigerator which was 21 lbs. that I have purchased over the past 6 months. Since I use about 32 lbs. a year, I am now set until next Thanksgiving. The pasta was on sale for $.88 each which also is a rock bottom price for me. So 12 boxes are now in my pantry.

Then I went to Walmart to pick up a prescription for Hubby that was $.00 copay. We went through a lot of eggs while my son and his dog were visiting. When we made scrambled eggs and bacon or sausage for us, the dog got some too. I had exactly 1 egg left in my fridge after breakfast yesterday. So I picked up this 5 dozen box for $ 9.52 which is the cheapest price right now in my area. BTW, his dog loved the chicken, sweet potato, and rice dinners that I made for him to have each night. Plus he got one to take home.

While I was out, I filled the SUV up with gasoline using $.20 off a gallon from points. So I paid $ 2.90 a gallon.

I had not seen my son in 11 months. He has taken off so much weight and looks wonderful. I really miss him now that he has gone home. We had a wonderful dinner out at The Big Ditch Brewery on Wednesday evening. Then a nice quiet turkey day on Thursday. I cooked the Butterball and it was so tender. It was accompanied by sausage stuffing, broccoli, fresh mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Dessert was apple pie with vanilla ice cream. We had three dinner meals from the leftovers. Then I made turkey soup yesterday using the broth I made from the turkey skin and bones overnight in the crockpot. We had it again tonight and will have it again tomorrow night. Any that is still left we will freeze for another meal.

Hubby and I set our food budget for 2026. We will budget $600. a month for this month and each month in 2026. Will we spend it all? Probably not while we eat what we have in the house. But it will then be there when we have to restock the meat in our freezer. We also use our grocery money when we eat out.

I will talk to you more about that tomorrow. Sorry this is so late today but we have been really, really busy.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

What are you going to budget for all food (groceries and take out or restaurants) each month next year?