The Things We Have Done Today To Save Money

Happy New Year to All!

My son, when he visited, noticed that the guest bathroom toilet was slowly leaking. We rarely use that toilet so we did not know that. I am so glad that he pointed it out to us. Hubby got new flappers and fixed that one and has a spare for ours in case that starts leaking. A small leak could cost us dearly on our water bill. Make your own repairs when possible. A plumber would have cost us a fortune if we needed to call him. Hubby has made many household repairs. If he isn’t sure how to do something, he can usually find a video on You Tube showing him how. He also put new felt pads on the chair legs in the house. The ones that we had were starting to fall off. We have hardwood floors that we do not want to ruin. He picked all of these things up when we went to the mattress store. The Value Home Center is right next store.

I soaked dry Great Northern Beans in cold water overnight. They are much cheaper than buying canned ready to use beans. I rinsed them by spooning them into a strainer with a slotted spoon. I was not going to waste the water that they soaked in. It was too dirty to use for the soup liquid. So it will get used to flush a toilet. I never waste water.

The beans are now in the crockpot with the ham bone. Later when I pull the bone out, I will take all the meat off and throw it back in the pot. If I think the soup needs more meat, I will add more ham. Then I will add all of my spices. We will have delicious bean soup for dinner tonight and the next few nights. It’s cheap, nutritious, and filling.

Now that the rain has washed all of the snow and ice off of our property, Hubby was able to go outside and put our huge patio umbrella back up. It is anchored with a base that is filled with sand. Never in a million years did we think the windstorm and blizzard we had would knock it over, but it did. Nothing was damaged luckily. He also had to find the chairs that had blown off the patio into our yard and put them back at the table. They were not damaged either. I guess we were lucky. The neighbor behind us had his vinyl fence blow down for the third time since it was installed this year. He also had roof damage. Yikes.

I spent some time today going through a box of Christmas tree ornaments. I set aside some for both of my sons that we don’t use because we have a much smaller tree than we used to. One of my sons does not have many so I am sure he can use some of them. What they don’t want I will donate to Goodwill. We took our tree down and now that box has only the ornaments that we use on our tree. We also took the four wreathes and the four candles out of our windows and packed them into their boxes. When my son comes for Sunday breakfast the next time, he will put them in their spots in storage for me. They are too bulky for me to carry and Hubby isn’t able to do it.

I did one load of clothes in cold water using my homemade laundry detergent in my washing machine. I had emptied the container that I keep my laundry detergent in(gal. ice cream tub) and then forgot about it. So I made a double batch. I only use 2 Tbsp. per load and it gets our clothes so clean. The recipe I use is here: https://theprudenthomemaker.com/laundry-soap/

I hung some of the items on the shower rod on hangers and others on the rack to dry. The second load was full of towels. They got dried in the dryer with the wool balls to cut down on the time that was needed to dry them.

This morning, I spent some time putting all of our appointments in my new planner. I also filled out everything that I need to do in January so that I can stay very organized this year.

For breakfast, I planned on finishing the cantaloupe but Hubby ate it for a snack last night. So I made low carbohydrate wraps with scrambled eggs and diced ham and a little cheese on top. I served them with a dab of sour cream and some salsa. The price of eggs is ridiculous. I am seeing them from $ 7.14 a dozen for brown eggs to almost $ 9.00 a dozen for white large eggs. I have only 10 eggs left so I either need to get some soon or start using the ones I froze and hope that the price comes down before they are gone.

I filled out paperwork for my neurology appointment and put it in a folder to bring to him along with my records from my hospitalization. The doctors around here are very particular. I must have the paperwork filled out when I walk in the door. I have another doctor where I must be there 15 minutes early. If you are not, they cancel your appointment. I have never had to wait for my appointment. They are always on time and I think this is why. These are two really good specialists so I make sure to follow their rules.

I paid the credit card bill in full that I used for Christmas gifts, etc. We never pay interest on credit cards. They are paid in full every month. I also paid two doctor bills that came in the mail. We had no mail delivery from the Friday before Christmas until this past Friday because of the blizzard we had. So we got a lot of mail all at once on Friday. I was hoping to get my property tax bill but it hasn’t come yet. It is due in January and I am a little anxious about the amount since our assessment went up by $140,000.

I looked at the Top’s ad online and made my grocery list for this week. Aldi’s had nothing that I wanted. I also looked at the Price Rite ad. They have some really good deals so I am debating going there this week. I do have a doctor’s appointment nearby.

We now have both guest rooms closed up with the heat registers off and cloth snakes in front of the doors to keep the cold out of the rest of the house. We will see if that helps with the heat bill. I changed the filter in the furnace. It runs more efficiently with a clean filter.

Dinner is over. So Hubby and I will watch Sunday night football.

What did you do today to save some money?