Author: Precious

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Every Day

My Heat Has Been Running A Lot Today. Are You Ready for The Winter?

As I sit here this morning working on blog posts, I am hearing the furnace running and wondering what those bills will cost this year. We got down to 34 yesterday outside here recently. We are seeing more and more 30’s and 40’s. at night. I am thankful that we changed the air filter to get ready.

Last week on our TV news channel, National Grid said their customers would see about a 20% drop this coming winter in their heating bills for people who heat with natural gas. Wow! That was a surprise! There are two utility companies in our western NY area. National Grid is one and NYSEG is the other.

We have NYSEG. I kept waiting to hear the same information from our company. They finally said that they expected heating costs to go down by 18%.

Yesterday, we got this surprise. The PSC( the NYS agency which regulates our utility companies) approved a rate increase for NYSEG: https://www.democratandchronicle.com/story/news/ny-news/2023/10/13/nyseg-rge-electric-gas-utility-rate-hikes-approved-what-it-means/71152431007/ .Our governor is saying that the company was asking for double this amount so she is happy with the increase. Huh?

So this rate increase takes effect in November. Interesting timing!

Plus with two wars now escalating, I believe we will see everything go up especially if the U.S. gets involved. This is the first time in all of my years that I believe that war will be coming to our country. I pray not but all the signs are there. With the middle east at war, we will most likely see oil prices escalate which will send the heating bills much higher. So I think we are in for really high bills this winter if you heat with natural gas, oil, or propane. We need to drill and open the pipelines here. But I won’t hold my breath for that to happen!

These are the things that we have done or are doing to keep our heat bill down:

  • Lowered our thermostat to 64 at night
  • Caulked windows where it needed it
  • Replaced weather stripping at the bottom of doors where needed
  • Get window kits and a door kit to help keep the cold out
  • Stocked on filters for the winter and will change them once a month
  • Reversed our ceiling fans to go clockwise for the winter
  • Put two warm blankets on every bed in the house so that 64 is comfortable at night
  • Keep warm throws or blankets where you sit during the day
  • Put cloth snakes at the bottom of outside doors
  • Stocked up on warm sweaters to wear in the house
  • We will be opening our oven after we roast anything to let the heat seep into the kitchen
  • We only open window shades and blinds on the sunny windows. We close them when the sun is off of them.
  • No air vents are blocked
  • We cleaned the air vents and cold air returns
  • We keep our gas tankless hot water heater at 120 degrees
  • Only use your oven or range top if absolutely necessary. Use other small appliances when you can
  • Insulate the hot water pipes in the basement
  • Close all heating vents in the basement
  • If you need some new insulation do it. It will save you a lot of money on your heat bill

I hope my list will give you some ideas to get ready. If I have missed something, feel free to add to it in the comments.

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Every Day

Small Grocery Haul

I only needed a couple of items this week. Fortunately, both stores were next to each other.

Do you guys have a Running’s? I don’t shop there a lot but they have a great sale once in a while. They had these Mt. Olive pickles for $ 4.49 each. I got the last 64 oz. bread and butter pickles they had. It is perfect for the holidays. I also bought the 80 oz. dill spears because Hubby and I love them with a sandwich or just for a snack. My total there was $ 8.98.

At Top’s, I purchased a head of local cabbage for $ .79 a lb. I paid $ 2.66 for it. Hubby can’t wait to make his Waldorf coleslaw. The celery was $2.29. We use it it for snacks, soup, stew, and diced in chicken or ham salad.

The can of corn was on sale with a Super Coupon for $ .49. We use these in our homemade soups such as chicken, turkey, and taco.

The white thing you see is 2 whole haddock fish. It was on sale for $ 10.99 a lb. I paid $ 13.41 for both. Haddock is Hubby’s favorite. I am a salmon girl and I am looking for a good sale.

Lastly the sweet pepper bags were on sale for B1G1F. I paid $ 6.49 for both. My total at Top’s was $ 25.34.

I was noticing in Top’s just how much the prices have gone up in a just a week. I again saw items that I usually buy that I would not buy at the prices they are asking. UGH!

Did you get any good deals this week?

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Every Day

What I Haven’t Told You Over The Past Year

So many of you have wondered why I disappear so often and don’t post for days. Well I am going to come clean today.

First getting old is a pain in the rump! If it isn’t one ache or pain, it is another. I had another birthday this week and I will soon be 80! To get there is a few years but time flies.

Last Fall, I ended up in the hospital with severe sciatica. I could not walk for 4 days. That pain comes and goes and right now it is giving me a very hard time. I found out at my Dr.’s appointment yesterday that it may have caused another issue. I need to go to physical therapy so I will be setting those appointments up today.

But that isn’t the worse part. Just a year ago I was diagnosed with a terminal lung disease in the ER of one of our hospitals. This lung disease took my mother’s life. I immediately found a great lung doctor. He looked at the cat scan and has been following me. So I have a lot of appointments there too. He does not believe that I have this disease. But now that it is a year later, he has ordered and gotten approved a specialized cat scan that should tell us for sure. I am having that done next week and following up with him a couple of weeks later. This doctor is good and in high demand so appointments are a wait.

So if any of you pray, please pray that my CT scan does not show that the area involved has spread. I am having it done on next Tuesday. Thanks for your prayers.

Meanwhile, I post when I am up to it and when I actually have anything of value to say. I have to go to pick up some prescriptions today(pain patches are a big help when going out) so I will stop at the market and let you know what I got later.

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Every Day

Frugal Things This Past Week

These are the things we did to save a little money this week:

  • Spectrum sent us a copy of a bill to show us that they credited us for the 11 days that we were without ESPN and some other channels because of the dispute. They gave us a credit of $6.00. Since they didn’t take our monthly payment out of our bank account until Sept. 17th, they wanted to let us know that the credit came off of that payment. That’s $ .54 a day. Could they spare it for leaving us without NFL football? Since our cable bill is $ 80.97 + taxes, fees, and other charges monthly, it doesn’t seem like much. However as I have said before the little amounts of money add up.
  • I mailed in $ 15.00 worth of liquor rebates. I had stocked up for the winter.
  • Big Lots sent me a $10.00 off coupon with no minimum purchase because I hadn’t shopped there in a while. I used it to buy needed dish towels to replace some old worn ones. I cut up the old ones for rags.
  • The landscapers moved two rose of sharon bushes to our new garden. We had paid for this the last time they were here. They didn’t do it then because the bushes were still blooming.
  • We ate all our meals cooked at home using the most efficient small appliances.
  • Hubby exercised by walking and taking care of our gardens.
  • I exercised on the recumbent bike and did a lot of errands just walking around some stores.
  • We got our senior flu shots. These are paid for by Medicare that we paid into for years while we both worked.
  • We got 4 free Covid tests from the government. If you haven’t signed up for the ones they just sent to USPS to deliver, you can sign up at www.covid.gov/tests .
  • I did 2 loads of laundry this week on Eco setting in cold water. I dried one load in the dryer and hung one load.
  • We turned our heat off a few days ago but then had to run the A/C for a day and a half because it was so hot. Now it is turning cold and winter will be here soon enough. We will see how long we can go without the heat this week.
  • Hubby found about a hundred wasps trying to build a nest in our patio umbrella. He killed them with some wasp spray. I hate any kind of stinging insects. Thank God he didn’t get stung.
  • We have turned off our water faucets that have the turn offs in the basement for the winter.
  • We took out another large CD this week at the bank.

That is it for last week. Did you do any frugal things that saved some money last week? Please feel free to share with all of us.

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Every Day

Walmart Grocery Delivery

I had this Walmart grocery haul delivered a couple of days ago:

  • Frozen Sliced Mushrooms $ 2.74
  • Pepper Jack Cheese Slices $ 2.22
  • Turkey Burgers, 2 lbs. $ 10.72
  • French Style Green Beans $ .64 a can
  • Pitted Olives $ 1.94 a can
  • SF Cool Whip $ 1.98
  • SF Ice Breakers $ 2.82 each
  • Equate Stomach Relief $ 4.38
  • Carb Balance Wraps $ 4.88
  • Tyson Chicken Patties $ 6.22

Total for all was $51.22 including a $6.00 tip for the delivery driver.

I love buying the frozen mushrooms. That way I can just take a handful out when I need them and not worry about the fresh ones going bad before I can use them. They taste so much better than the canned ones.

The pepper jack and the French style green beans are some of Hubby’s favorites. It is hard to get him to eat veggies so any that he will eat, I will buy.

The chicken patties are for quick lunches once in a while. I make a knock off Chic Fil A with these, some tomato and lettuce, and Chic Fil A sauce. The GV chicken dipping sauce is exactly the same as the Chic Fil A sauce and a lot cheaper. I also make them with grilled chicken breasts( which is the restaurant version) when I have them already cooked. The Chic Fil A is a long drive to get to. I loved when I was in AZ that I could go to one within a mile. I miss that. But I do save money by making our own.

The wraps and turkey burgers are always in my freezer because we love them. We use a lot of black olives in salads and Mexican dishes. The Cool whip is for SF jellos and puddings for desserts.

Hubby asked for the SF Ice Breakers. I am always stocking medicines that we might need because they have been so short in the stores. So when I can get them, I do.

Just a small haul this week but things that were on my list that were cheaper than Top’s.

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Every Day

Top’s Grocery Haul

I did a very small grocery haul at Top’s while I was out running errands on Tuesday. My main reason for going was that they had a lot of meat on sale at B1G1F. After checking the prices they were charging for the first one, they were not good deals. This store has a history of jacking the price up really high on the first one.

I purchased 4 boxes of tissues for $5.00, 2 bags of mini peppers on B1G1F for $ 4.69 for both, 1 caramel dip for $ 4.69 after a $ 1.00 coupon, 2 whipped cream cheese for $ 2.50 each, 4 mashed potatoes for $ 1.25 each, 2 Ready Rice for $ 2.50 each, 2 Tim Horton’s coffee for $ 5.99 for each, 1 Crystal Light peach iced tea for $ 3.39 and the spaghetti sauce for $ 1.49. My total after the 6% off Senior Discount and tax was $ 39.46.

With winter coming I was low on tissues. I needed the peppers to put in Bang Bang shrimp. My granddaughter may be coming to visit soon so I picked up the caramel dip to use with apples as a snack for her. Hubby uses the cream cheese to make different flavored ones to put on his bagel thins. The mashed potatoes and rice are a stockpile item for when I need a side in a hurry. With prices on coffee so high, I always pick some up when there is a good sale. What really surprised me was that the decaf was on sale too. That rarely happens.

Hubby drinks this iced tea so I always keep it in stock. It keeps him from drinking soda. The spaghetti sauce had a Super Coupon. I doctor jarred sauces when I don’t make my own. Everything I bought was on sale except for the caramel dip and the iced tea.

I have been buying the Bangi Bangi Shrimp sauce at Aldi’s. I found a recipe to make it: https://littlesunnykitchen.com/bang-bang-sauce/ . This recipe has just 5 ingredients and it looks easy and delicious. So from now on it will be homemade.

It’s been another busy week of organizing, going to 2 appointments, caulking to get ready for the winter, and cleaning the garage for the same reason. But we have been enjoying the last couple of days of sunshine although it has been in the high 80’s so we had to turn our A/C back on. But after today, it looks like we have a cold front coming in.

Tomorrow I will post my grocery delivery haul from Walmart.

Did you get any good buys this week?

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Every Day

The Little Things Count!

After my post last week on how I saved money on not having to spend money on a new makeup bag, someone told me that I probably could have purchased one at Dollar Tree for only $ 1.25. The insinuation was that it was just a small amount of money. If she had read all of my blog posts over the years, she would have understood that small amounts of money really add up. That is the point of much of what I write.

We all know that we can save lots more money on the big things. The example in the same post was the $500. we saved by purchasing and installing our induction motor on the furnace. But just how many big things in a year can you save money on? Hopefully, the big things don’t come along a lot in your life.

We prepare for the basic things every day by saving our money so that we don’t have to worry about how to pay our school and property taxes, our insurances when they come due, pay for repairs on a vehicle or buy a new or used one, pay any medical or dental bills or the insurances on them. But those are just the basic things that everyone has to pay for. But other things happen so you have to be prepared for all of it.

We save small amounts of money almost every day of the year so that we are always prepared for the big things to happen. Because they eventually will. There are so many small things that add up especially in your lifetime. I can attest to the fact that if we had not saved on the large and the small things, we would not be as comfortably retired as we are. We would not be able to help other people who need help in our community. So many people in our community need help especially the elderly. I watch for those people whenever I am in a store or pharmacy. I have paid for people’s prescriptions that they can’t afford and most recently a man who was in his 80’s grocery bill. I don’t need thanks for any of that. I am just making a point.

So how do I save on the little things every day? I take the time to think about every little thing every day. I check prices and keep a price book for groceries which is not easy in this period of inflation. I often check online to see who has the cheapest price. If I need something beyond food, I find the best price, put it in my cart and let it sit for a couple of days. Then I go back and order it if it is really needed. So many times I end up just deleting it because it really wasn’t a necessity.

I take immaculate care of our home and possessions so that things last for years. We don’t let little things go, we take care of them. Just yesterday I was caulking windows.

When I do a load of wash, I do it in the best way possible using the proper cycle, a small amount of laundry detergent, the proper water level for the clothes that are in it and most loads are done in cold water. If I use the dryer, I hang the clothes immediately when they are dry so that I don’t have to run the dryer again to get the wrinkles out. I hang many clothes to dry to save on electricity.

I use my dishwasher for everything but pots and pans which I do by hand. I don’t let the water run while I am washing them.. I put a small amount of soapy water in one sink and a small amount of clean water in the other sink. Just enough to wash them. I use white vinegar in my dishwasher dispenser instead of buying Jet Dry.

I take navy showers and save the warm up water to use for something else during the day.

I always cook using the cheapest appliance that I can energy wise. Utilities are so expensive.

When running errands which I will be doing today, I take the route that uses the least amount of gasoline. I calculate the cost online.

We don’t let the water just run while brushing our teeth. We only turn it on to rinse. You don’t even have to wet your brush before you put the toothpaste on.

We rarely waste food. I keep good control of our produce. What I can’t use when it is starting to get old, I freeze for soups or smoothies.

Every time that I get groceries, I make a list. I always check my pantries and refrigerator to see what I need. I stick to that list unless I see a sale that wasn’t advertised that is too good to pass up. I always look for reduced price meats. After I make the list, I go over it before I go to the store to make sure that there is nothing on it that I can make cheaper from scratch. Many times I cross off items before I leave the house. Then at the store, I check the rising prices on each item and if I deem the price too high now, I won’t buy it. Instead I will make a substitute or we will just go without it. The last time I went to Top’s I crossed off half of the items that were on it.

I buy most of our gasoline at the cheapest station which is usually the cash station that is always on my route. I will get gasoline at Top’s when the gas points I have make their gas cheaper than the cash station. That rarely happens. We maintain our car which is almost 11 years old and it has never had to be repaired. We put air in tires to keep them where they should be according to the manufacturer’s manual. We do oil changes on schedule along with other fluids being checked. We wash the car and clean the inside regularly.

Basically everything that I do or touch everyday, I think how can I do this better and/or cheaper.

I could go on and on but I don’t have the time today. Anyone who doesn’t know how to save on the little things, go back and read my blog from the beginning. There are so many tips in each post. I don’t monetize my blog because the whole purpose of it is to teach and help family and friends. So it does not matter to me if you go back and read it. Just a suggestion if you are struggling in this economy.

Now I am off to go to our bank to invest in a very large CD for the third time in 6 months. Without saving money on the little things every day, this would not be possible. Then off to Top’s. So look for a grocery haul from both them and Walmart this week.

Feel free to leave a comment and share.

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Every Day

Frugal Things This Week

These are the things that we have done to save some money this week.

Since so many dairy products are in very short supply or non-existent at our markets, I decided it was worth the money to buy these. We eat a lot of Mexican food so sour cream is a necessity. I also use heavy cream in my coffee. Then there is cream cheese which is used for so many things. They will also save us a bit of money over buying these foods. Prices keep going up!

The induction motor for our furnace came yesterday. It has the gasket and everything else we need to install it. We paid $ 214.+ tax and got free shipping. The heating company wanted $701. + tax. Hubby will be installing it tomorrow.

These are the leftovers from the lasagna that I made for Hubby’s birthday. We ate it the last two nights and it is now in the freezer in containers.They are Bento containers for the freezer so I can add a veggie and some garlic bread to each before I heat it all up. We will probably pull them out on our busy days over the next 6 weeks or so. I also made his carrot cake. He was delighted. Celebrating at home saved us so much money!

I had been planning on buying a new makeup bag. The one on the top is the old one that I keep in my vanity. However, it is permanently stained and the inside liner is falling apart. Since I don’t wear as much makeup as I used to, this smaller bag is perfect to contain it all. I was going to order a new one yesterday. But then I remembered that I had some bags in my makeup bin that holds extras. Those extras are contained in bags. So I pulled the bin out and found the new one. It was holding spare lipsticks. Swapping the lipsticks out to the old bag and the makeup to the new was perfect. I don’t know what makeup bags cost today but every little savings helps.

Hubby has been working in his gardens getting them ready for winter. His grass that he planted on the sides of the driveway is all coming up. He has been watering it everyday by hand since our sprinkler system has already had the lines blown out.

We need deli meat so I pulled a turkey tenderloin from the freezer to thaw. I will be roasting it for dinner tonight. Then tomorrow I will cut it up on my meat slicer to use for deli meat. I paid $ 5.99 for this tenderloin many months ago. It is 1 and 1/2 lbs. Buying that much deli meat would have cost about $14.50. Plus mine will taste so much better. We have a tomato and some already cooked bacon to use up. So BLT’s sounds good for dinners this weekend while we watch football.

I cooked a dozen eggs in the instant pot for easy breakfasts and snacks.

I did one load of sheets using the Eco cycle of my washing machine this week. I am trying to save as much energy as possible since our heat is now on. It’s getting very cold at night.

That’s about it! I hope you all have a great weekend! Feel free to share what you did to save money this week in the comments.

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Every Day

Shopping from my Pantry and Freezer

When I was rummaging around in my freezer, I found a very large package of cocktail hotdogs. I have been trying to use up what I have in the house. I made some for West for a recent Sunday brunch and he loved them. So I took this last package from the freezer to thaw last Friday. Then my son called me that evening and told me that West was sick so they would not be coming for Sunday brunch.

Knowing that I had some crescent rolls in the refrigerator, I decided to use them up. So these were dinner last night. We had a huge salad for brunch so no veggies were necessary. We had enough left over for a few lunches this week. I did refreeze about 20 of them to make for West when they come again. However, I have no more crescent rolls and I refuse to pay the price they are asking for them. So I found a copycat recipe online to make the dough and then wrap the hotdogs. It looks very easy. Here is the recipe if anyone is interested: https://bakingamoment.com/homemade-crescent-rolls/ .

After dinner, I decided to thaw a large sirloin tip roast. My plan was to make a beef stew in the crock pot today and eat on it the rest of the week. But this morning I remembered that it is Hubby’s birthday tomorrow. So that was not going to work and the roast is back in the freezer. I promised Hubby that I would make a big pan of lasagna for his birthday dinner.

The last time that I actually went to a grocery store I was shocked at so many of the prices. For example, we wanted A1 sauce and we had none. Walmart was out of stock on it and one of my other grocery stores wanted $ 9.08 for a small bottle. Needless to say it is still on the store shelf.

When I got home, I looked up a recipe for the A1 steak sauce and found a copycat recipe which is here: https://www.everydaymaven.com/paleo-steak-sauce-homemade-a1/ . I have every ingredient except the orange. But I have orange extract that I can substitute. This week I will make some and it will be much cheaper and healthier than the original.

So many people across this country have stocked up on food in case of an emergency. Well, I think these outrageous prices are the emergency. There are so many things that I can make rather than pay exorbitant prices at the grocery store. I would bet that most of us have the ingredients in our pantries to do just that. Think about using up some of your food before it goes bad. I know it is more work but I believe that in this economy, it is well worth the savings and the time.

Tonight Hubby and I will be making a Chef’s salad for dinner. We have plenty of lettuce, tomatoes, guacamole, red onion, black olives, hard boiled eggs, real bacon bits, and ham, chicken, and cheese to use up. Throw in some croutons and our choice of salad dressing and we have a yummy meal with no leftovers. So we will be ready to eat that lasagna tomorrow night!

We got our electric and gas bill today. It was $ 116.37. More on that in our frugal post the end of the week.

How are you lowering your grocery bills? Are up shopping in your own pantry and freezers?

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Every Day

Frugal Things We Did This Past Week

We had our sprinkler system lines blown out by the company we use. This saves us money by preventing frozen lines over the winter which can be very costly to repair. I am also happy that our water bills will go down because we won’t be watering the lawn now. Our last 3 month bill was about $200.

Hubby moved the sprinkler system lines under the new garden. They were in the way of two rose of sharon bushes that are going in there. Now the landscape company can dig there and we don’t have to worry about them cutting the lines. It would have cost us many dollars to have the sprinkler company do this.

The heating company we use came and informed us that the induction motor in our furnace is very noisy and is probably on it’s way out. They want $ 701.+ taxes to replace it. We don’t want it to die this winter but we also don’t want to pay that price for it. Hubby did some research and found he can purchase the motor for about $200.+ tax. My son has installed a few of them so we can get any advice on doing it from him. Plus Hubby is an engineer and he says he can install it in about 20-30 minutes.

The only money I spent on groceries was $35. on fresh produce and dairy at Walmart and the cost of the chicken that I wrote about earlier to can. I canned 24 jars of meat this week.

I repaired a curtain in one of the guest rooms. It was coming apart where it hangs on the rod. They don’t make things the way they used to.

I had Walmart deliver me 6 cases of canning jars. I will need them over the winter. I am glad that I did because I heard yesterday that they are going up in price.

I only did 2 loads of laundry this week. One of clothing and one of sheets and towels. I used the Eco wash and cold water. I used the wool balls in the dryer to cut down on the time necessary.

We ate all meals at home last week. Hubby’s birthday is this coming week. I asked him if he would like to go out to dinner. He told me he likes my food so much better than eating out. He wants ground meat and hot Italian sausage lasagna and I have all the ingredients already. I will make a roasting pan full. We will cut the leftovers into portions and freeze them. I will probably also make him a carrot cake which is his favorite.

I cooked a dozen eggs in the instant pot so that we had easy breakfasts. Using it once to eat them all week saves energy. We continue to cook bacon in the microwave container. So much less mess and the container goes right into the dishwasher for easy cleaning. But first I save that bacon grease to cook with.

We continue to caulk around our windows to get them ready for winter.

I cleaned the garbage disposal. I don’t buy any special product to do this. I put some baking soda down that side of the sink followed by a little vinegar. I just let it sit while it oozes up. Then I run the disposal with just a little water for a few seconds. It works great! I do it once a week. I hate odors.

Hubby planted grass on the sides of the driveway and he has faithfully hand watered it every day for a few minutes. He continues to maintain the gardens each week.

Spectrum is our cable company. They and Disney were in a dispute over money for the Disney owned channels. Disney pulled their channels from Spectrum for 11 days. They said they were not going to credit customer’s accounts. However, they had a change of heart and they have credited everyone who was missing those channels. I don’t know what the credit is yet because we have not seen our bill. But anything is better than nothing.

Hubby replaced the drum in our Brother printer. This is the second time that he has done it. It sure beats buying a new one.

For those of you who don’t know, Hubby had a heart attack last October. Since then he has a lost a lot of weight. Taking over weeding the gardens and maintaining the bushes and flowers has given him lots of exercise. He told me a couple of days ago that he hasn’t felt this good in years. So I will have to get him on the treadmill this winter for his exercise.

Well, that was it for last week. What did you do frugally?