Living on Less to Save Some Dollars

Are you sick and tired of all of these price increases on everything? I know that I certainly am. It is time to really start ramping up our frugality even more than we do now.

Finally, we were able to turn the heat off. We have gone from winter to summer this weekend. Right now(5AM) it is 77 in my home. It is comfortable. That is because we kept the windows closed and the shades and blinds drawn on the windows where the sun was coming in yesterday. It was 89 and humid and the overnight temperature is only going down to 67. Today the high is supposed to be around 84 but much more humid However, we have not turned on the A/C. I would like to see how many days we can go without it. We used our ceiling fans to stay comfortable while we watched our hockey game last night and the ceiling fan is on overnight in our bedroom. We will use them in any room we spend time in today.

The results of me tracking when we turn things on that use electricity is showing me that the worst offender is the dryer. I used it the other day to dry some sheets and towels and that is what is spiking my kwh’s. It is incredible how much it uses. Fortunately, I hang a lot to dry. I wish I had a place to hang these big things but I don’t.

Did you hit your Memorial Day Sales this week? I went on Sunday and bought 6 lbs. of ground beef for $ 4.29 a lb. which I will be taking back today because the meat is bad, 3 lbs. of Sahlen’s hot dogs for $10.99 only to find out that Niagara Produce has them on sale for $9.99. I will be going there and stocking on a few more packages to get us through the summer. I also purchased a 6 lb. package of boneless skinless chicken breasts for $1.99 a lb., a 30 oz. jar of Hellmann’s mayonnaise using a digital coupon for $ 3.79, and 3 32. oz. bottles of Heinz Ketchup for $3.99 each.

I have been taking inventory of the food in our home and I will be trying to fill in the necessary gaps this week. We have used quite a bit of our pantry foods since January. But we still have a lot to go through. We are carefully rotating the items we are using by date- the oldest gets eaten first.

So sometime this week, I will fill in those gaps. I have a trip planned to BJ’s in another town to get produce, 2 of their roasted chickens at $ 4.99 each, and stock on a cheese spread they have that Hubby loves to put on wheat thins or triscuits. One of the roasting chickens will be kept on warm in the crockpot for dinner that night. The other will go in the fridge. I will cut up all of the meat except for our dinner that night into portions for future meals and freeze them. The bones and skin will be put into the crockpot to simmer in water in the garage all night. Then I will have my bone broth for soup. On the way down I will quickly stop at N.P. to see what their produce looks like and how much it costs there on the fresh things that we need. I will buy 2 more dozen extra large eggs for $.99 each. I will also pick up the Sahlen’s hot dogs. I will then compare their produce prices with B.J.’s and buy whatever looks healthy and costs less at each of those stores. I can quickly run back in again on my way home to N.P. if need be.

I will also stop into Wegman’s and Trader Joe’s to look at their meat and produce and gather some prices for my price book.

Last stop will be to get gas to fill up the car. My cash station is $ 4.39 a gallon. BJ’s is $ 4.37. However, Top’s is $4.49 a gallon. I will have to check and see how many gas points I have. It is rare for these three stations to be this close together on price.

After those trips, I will not be buying much. I am getting really tired of making the billionaire corporations richer and richer and then listening to them whine about how people aren’t spending much these days and when they do they are buying store brands. Here is my tip for the big guys. Lower your prices and perhaps more people will come in and shop! I know all the reasons everyone is giving for all of the price increases but I still think they are somewhat gouging us also because they can use those excuses. BTW, Walmart announced that they are removing all of the self checkouts because of all of the theft in their stores. They say it is millions of dollars a month. They also said they are laying off 1000 executive people because not as many people are shopping or buying as much as they used to.

Since it is so hot here, I will be bringing my Yeti cooler with me. I don’t want anything I buy to go bad. My travel mug will be filled with ice and water to keep me cool and hydrated. I also always keep protein bars in the car in case I get hungry while I am out.

We will be eating what we have in our home. Prices are getting so high on food that I won’t pay for most things. If I do any shopping it will only be for a great meat deal (on any beef) or something that is a necessity like produce. If produce prices skyrocket this summer, we will go without except for an occasional tomato to make BLT’s with. Many times the frozen fruits and vegetables cost less than the fresh. I will be comparing prices. I am hoping that when our local crops come in season that there are some better prices than what we are seeing now on shipped in items.

We are also rationing our food by eating the proper portions.

We are trying to get our electricity bill down. We will keep the A/C off as much as we can. We will cook outside on the grill when we can. Crockpots and other small appliances can be used outside or in the garage. That will keep the heat out of the house. I have also stopped using the blow dryer to dry my hair. That also spikes the kwh’s. The same goes for the curling iron. I just brush it and let it dry by itself. We will have our new bill on May 21st. I will let you know about it soon.

Our cellphone company is offering internet now. Hubby is researching it. So far it looks like it would save us $49. a month unless our cable company ups our bill when we cancel it. We will still keep the home phone and cable TV. To me that is a bundle but they may up the price.

I am off to cook 3 lbs. of bacon. I will undercook it so that I can freeze it in portions and then reheat it in the microwave. Some will be kept in the fridge to reheat with our eggs this week.