Category: Every Day

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Every Day

Eating From Our Stockpile

It has been so cold here that we have not gone out at all the past few days. Also Hubby has a nasty cold and his appetite just isn’t normal. I am hoping to get out today since it will be warmer. I need to pick up Hubby’s prescriptions if they are ready. Also I ordered a new watch to track my heart rate(mine died) and a large coffee grinder from Amazon in December. I have big cans of coffee beans that I need to grind. They finally arrived yesterday and I was really disappointed. The coffee grinder had a crack in the cover. The watch will not work with my cellphone. So I have to bring those 2 returns to UPS. What a pain! I will look locally for those items. Matter of fact, I am going to shop locally when we really need something. I am tired of boxing up items to return. The junk they are sending to us just doesn’t have quality anymore. The coffee grinder was inside styrofoam shaped to it. It could not have been damaged in shipment. I believe this was a return that got sent to me.

We also received our property tax bill on Saturday so I need to go to the town offices to pay it today. I will stop at Panera and pick up the dozen of bagels that are on special on Tuesdays for $ 9.99. I have a gift card to pay for them. Most will get frozen. We will keep a few out for this week.

I saw a couple of things that I could use in the grocery ads this week but I have decided they really aren’t necessary and I want to keep my NO SPEND goal this month for groceries.

I have been doing more organizing and cleaning this week. Hubby and I watched a Landman episode yesterday. We are still watching the first season. We also watched our Buffalo Bills beat the Jets on Sunday. It was kind of sad because it was the last game played in our stadium. The new one being built will be ready for next season.

Now for our meals. Hubby wanted spaghetti and meatballs a few nights ago. I used up a box of angel hair spaghetti, 3/4’s of a jar of spaghetti sauce that was in the fridge, mozzarella cheese to melt on top, and some meatballs that I purchased cheaply a few weeks ago using coupons and a B1G1F sale. The next night all Hubby wanted was some chicken ramen. I keep a case of it for my grandson when he stays here. He loves it. I was glad I had it when Hubby asked for it. I made myself a chicken sandwich.

Last night Hubby wanted some more spaghetti and meatballs so we heated up the leftovers for him. I told him I was going to grill a filet mignon for me. I am tired of eating so many carbs. I had two thawing but he had no appetite for it. So I grilled them both and ate one. The other will get used up with eggs for breakfast this week. Our breakfasts have been a combination of homemade banana bread, eggs, avocado, and fried ham so far this week.

So we are 6 days in the no spend. So far so good! For those of you doing a no spend, how are you doing?

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Every Day

Is Debt Strangling Your 2026 Plans?

It is so sad that so many people have started this New Year out with debt. I am seeing it all over social media. Some people are using cards to buy food. Many celebrated Christmas in a big way even though they couldn’t afford it. Their thought process was I work so I deserve it. I hate that line of thinking. No one deserves anything that they can’t pay cash for. All it does is get you into years of debt that you can’t get out from under.

I wonder how many people have kept track of how much interest they have paid on their debt over the years. I would bet the numbers are shocking. Can you imagine how much money you would have in investments if you didn’t use those cards? You would be so much better off.

I know it is hard right now with prices rising so rapidly but going into debt is not the answer. Living within your means is the answer!

If you are living paycheck to paycheck and don’t have enough to pay for food, don’t charge that food. There is no shame in going to a food bank for your food if you are in desperate times. But you also have to do something so that you make your situation better. If you don’t make enough money take on a second job or a side hustle like Door Dash. Use that money to get rid of your debt. Will it be easy? No but it will be worth it in the long run.

Learn to say NO! When friends want you to go out to a bar for the evening, go to a movie, go to the casino, or even out for fast food or dinner, say NO. Put that money on your debt.

Almost every item you thing you need to buy is most likely a want. Think long and hard about every purchase! Ask yourself, do I really need this? Will it make my life better or will it become just more stuff that I never use? Can I pay for this in full when my credit card comes due? If the answer is no, don’t buy it.

Go look in your closets now. How many of those clothes do you not even wear? I would bet that you could sell half of what you own and not even miss it. How many pairs of shoes are enough? And all those handbags, how often do each of them get used?

We pay cash for everything and I am in the process of getting rid of stuff I don’t use. As I am doing it, I am thinking to myself why did I buy it in the first place. Was it because I saw it on a You Tube video or it was trending? If the answer was yes, I am thinking about how stupid that was.

If you are in debt whether it be credit cards, car loans(many owe more than the car is worth), payments you are committed to because you were dumb enough to buy something on credit that gave you a year free(or whatever the deal was) and didn’t pay it off in time, or even home equity loans that you used to pay off your credit cards which is a really bad idea, make this the year you work really hard at getting rid of your debt.

But as you do that save at least $5,000. in an emergency fund. I know Dave Ramsay says you only need $1,000. but that won’t get you far today in a real emergency. Start selling all those things you bought that you really don’t need to build that emergency fund. I never had to do the Dave Ramsay plan because we didn’t do debt. But out of curiosity to see what it was all about, I read his books. Even though he is an old guy, his advice rings truer than most any advice out there. I was so impressed that I gifted his Baby Steps book and his Millionaire Baby Steps book to someone that I care about recently. When that person gets rid of the debt, then that person will need the Millionaire book to build their wealth. Yes it can be done. Dave did it and so can you!

If this advice sounds harsh, it wasn’t meant to be. It was meant to motivate you into getting rid of your debt and building a better life for yourself. It is never to late to do that no matter how old you are!

Let’s make this the year you finally do it! Then 2026 will be the best year ever!

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Every Day

A Good Start To 2026

Yesterday was a good day! I did not go to the grocery store or anywhere. However I did go on December 31st and got a very large package of the on sale NY boneless strip steaks that were on sale for $ 11.99 a lb., a 24 roll pack of toilet paper, a dozen eggs, and a couple of other needed items to get my bill up to $50. so I could use a $5./$50. coupon and get the eggs for free. Yes, I ventured out in the snow so that I could keep my goal to not go to the grocery store at all in January. While I was at Top’s, I cashed my winning lottery tickets that were in my stocking that my son gave me. I thought they were $ 45. in winnings which I was thrilled with. However, I missed the fact that one of them had a multiplier so I actually won $70. That more than paid for my groceries.

I will apologize up front for not posting pictures today. Microsoft has changed the photos to photo legacy and I can’t get it to work. As soon as I can, I will post pictures. UGH! I hate it when they change things.

On New Year’s Eve, I made homemade ham and bean soup in my crockpot. I used the ham bone which had a lot of meat on it. I added water, a lot of dry northern beans that I soaked overnight, garlic and onion powder, and ground mustard. After cooking it for about 5 hours, I took the bone out and put all the meat from it back into the pot. I also added a few more slices of ham that I diced up. Then I cooked it for another 3 hours. It was delicious. We tried to stay up to midnight to ring in the New Year but we only made it to 10pm. Champagne will have to wait until next year.

Not wanting to waste food, we had the soup again yesterday as our New Year’s day meal. It always tastes better the second day. We have enough left for a brunch meal. As a treat, we each had a scoop of ice cream for dessert.

For brunch yesterday, we had eggs over easy and some fresh avocado. We only eat 2 meals a day not because of the money but because as we age, we don’t eat as much as we used to. Everything we ate was from our stockpile.

I did some picking up of the house and some organizing. It was then time to make some homemade banana bread for breakfasts this week. I had unthawed the bananas that were in my freezer. This is the recipe:

https://www.eatingonadime.com/banana-bread-recipe/

I use monk fruit in place of sugar most of the time.

The rest of the day and evening we watched bowl games. Two were very boring and the Georgia vs. Ole Miss game last night was just crazy at the end. But it was free entertainment.

I wish you all a Happy and Blessed New Year! I hope you have a great money saving day. Use up what you already have in your home. Things are way too expensive to buy right now.

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Every Day

2026 Goals Continued

The snow and wind here has been horrendous. I keep trying to get out to the grocery store to get those strip steaks, some salad fixings, and a couple of other things that I need but the weather is not letting me. Since today is the last day of December, I have to get out today because I will not be shopping in January.

We are finishing up our last white bread, rolls, and bagels. I still have a lot of Panera gift cards so I can buy bagels without using any money for a while. I do have a loaf of rye bread in the freezer for corned beef reubens. As soon as the white bread and rolls are gone. I will make my own in 2026. I do have a bread maker but I am going to learn how to make it myself and bake it too. We also have low carb wraps in the freezer. We use them more often than bread.

I do have to pick up a 24 count package of toilet paper. We are almost out. I haven’t purchased it in years. We have a bidet in our bathroom so we don’t use a lot of toilet paper. We do not use a lot of paper towels so we are set with them.

I plan on not buying any cleaning products in 2026. We have a lot that need to be used up and after that I will make all of our cleaning products.

We have enough personal care products to last us most likely all year. I only use makeup when I go out but lately I haven’t even been doing that. Shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste and floss(mostly free from our dentist), soaps, lotion, etc. are in good supply. Our medical supplies are in good shape also.

We do not buy specialty cleaners to clean our glasses. I make that homemade. I have shared that recipe a number of times on here.

I will purchase no books. I have plenty that I am donating to the library. Any book that I need to read, I can most likely borrow from them.

No kitchen items will be purchased unless something breaks. I will actually be decluttering them soon. I did get a coffee grinder as a Christmas gift because I have a lot of coffee beans and they need to be ground as I use them.

We will buy no clothing unless it is a need not a want.

We will dine out only with the gift cards that we already own. We got a very nice one from one of my sons for Russell’s so we will save that for our anniversary celebration. We also have a few for our favorite brewery. I use Fetch to get other gift cards. I have other cards that were purchased a few years back. There will be only one exception. We will be having a celebration later in the year for Hubby’s milestone birthday. Money will be spent on that to get the entire family together. We will not buy fast food. It is way to expensive and the quality is poor. We make our own fast food and pizza at home.

It will be light out soon so I had best get ready to go out and run the errands. I need to get the bean, ham, and ham bone and a few other ingredients in the crockpot before I leave. I cooked my 11+ pound ham this past weekend and we have already eaten 5 meals from it. Last night I cut up the rest and froze it in portions for 6 more meals plus the soup will give us a few more. We will eat it a couple of nights and then freeze the rest of the soup for future meals.

I hope you all have a safe New Year’s Eve celebration. I wish you all the best for 2026.

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Every Day

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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Every Day

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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Every Day

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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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!