Month: December 2025

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Every Day

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!

Categories
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?

Categories
Every Day

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?