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Our Savings For Our Goal In July 2024

This month we were only able to save $ 8100. in July for our savings goal. As you know we had a small patio and wall built in our backyard to protect our grill from the winds we get here. That took a large chunk of money. Hubby is now getting estimates to have iron railings built on the stone stairs that let us enter the patio from our breakfast room. It is hard for me to maneuver those steps because of my back and sciatica without help. The railings would allow me to do that by myself. I expect that these will not be cheap but as Hubby says if it makes it easier for me, it is well worth it. All the years we saved money for retirement, we knew that as we aged we wanted to be able to pay for the things we need to keep us active in our own home. This is one of those things now.

We also did a little bit of eating out this past month which is unusual for us. It has been so hot and a couple of times I did not want to cook. We will probably do that once when our grandson comes to stay next week. To be honest I will be happy when Fall arrives. The heat and humidity has been oppressive all summer and I am looking forward to some cooler days.

Our gas and electric bill was a whopper this month too. Even though we used 141 less KWH’s and the same natural gas than the same period last year, our bill was much higher. The supply charges were ridiculous. Last year’s bill for 141 more KHW’s was $ 147.03. This current July bill was $176.60. Even though it has been hot, our average daily use per day was down 3 KWH. We were able to turn it off for 3 days also. We have had a rate increase every year for the past 3 years also. I suspect August will be higher too because the weatherman is predicting heat and humidity for weeks in August. They are also predicting here in my area, it will be much colder and much snowier this winter. I had better find a new snowplow guy since mine moved to Florida.

Were you able to save up some money in July? What are you saving for?

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Monday’s Grocery Haul

I decided to run out on Monday and do the errands since Hubby’s prescription was ready. I picked that up first and paid $.00 out of pocket for it.

My next stop was Top’s. The pasta was $.99 and the eggs were $1.39 using a coupon for each. I had been watching for a sale on the Johnsonville sausages. They went on sale this week for $4.00 each. So I used a $1.00 coupon on each that the company sent me and got them for $3.00 each. My total was $ 8.38.

I may place a Walmart order later this week. If I do, I will post it. I am running low on eggs and I need some other items since my grandson will be coming to stay for a few days. I have no idea what he eats these days for dinner so I will text him and find out what he wants. I know he loves just about any kind of fish so Hubby will probably fry up some haddock one night.

We have been trying to eat out of the pantry, refrigerator, and freezer. I have rib eye steaks thawed for dinner tonight. Hubby will grill them outside now that the wall and patio for the grill is done. I will make baked potatoes to go with it. I will bake extra ones to make potato salad from. If I am going to heat up the oven, I am going to fill it. I will also slice up the rest of the tomatoes and some of the cucumbers that Chris brought to go with the steak also.

Did you get any good grocery deals this week?

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Every Day

Chris’s Visit, Etc.

We had a great time. Chris and Hubby arrived on Wednesday of last week. After we chatted for a while and got to know each other a little, I made dinner. My Hubby grilled pork rib eye steaks which we get from Rastelli’s in NJ. We slathered those with Tuscan Herb butter. For sides I roasted baby potatoes in a skillet. They were so much better than doing them on a sheet pan in the oven. I also made fried apples and steamed broccoli. I had picked up cupcakes at our neighbors bakery the day before. It has been so hot here this summer that I do not like turning on an oven.

After chatting for hours after dinner and a good night’s rest, I made eggs, bacon, fried up the roasted potatoes leftover from dinner, and served cinnamon buns, that I got at the same bakery, for breakfast. When everyone was ready we headed to https://www.discoverlockport.com/thelocks which Chris wanted to go to. We took this funny picture up top while there. We went through the discovery center and then went outside to explore the locks. While walking back from the locks to our car, we had to go into https://www.lakeeffecticecream.com/team-3 where we had a hard time picking out which ice cream we wanted to try because there was so many different flavors which were delicious. Hubby and I will be visiting this place for a treat more often.

I served Chris and her Hubby some charcuterie food for lunch. We don’t usually eat lunch.

After just relaxing for a while, we went to Russell’s for dinner that I talked about in my first post. Everyone loved their food.

The next day, I think we were going to go to a museum in downtown Buffalo. However my back was really bothering me from our day before and I knew that parking could be an issue and there would be a lot of walking. So I told the 3 of them to go and I would stay home and rest. But they all insisted on staying home with me. I really appreciated that.

So we had leftover dinners from Russell’s for breakfast. Chris made the Cincinnati chili for lunch which we did try. Then for dinner, I made chicken in wine sauce and served some of the cucumbers and tomatoes that they had brought for dinner. Of course we had to have mudslide ice cream for dessert.

After dinner, we sat out on the patio until almost 11pm just enjoying the conversation.

Chris and her Hubby left about 10:30am on Saturday. They had about a 6 hour drive home. We really appreciate the days they drove to visit us. And I am happy that we had sunny clear days while they were here.

Chris has adopted me as her big sister and I am happy to oblige. She and her Hubby are some of the nicest people you would ever want to meet. Chris and I both agree that our spent time together went too fast. We will definitely be seeing each other again soon.

But Chris, before I forget, I need to show everyone the other gift you brought. I am sorry that I forgot. When I went into the freezer today, I saw it. Thanks so much.

Since they went home, I’ve been reading, doing laundry, and running errands. We have also been trying to use up all of those tomatoes by making turkey BLT sandwiches the past two nights for dinner. Cucumbers and the baby tomatoes have been snacks.

I will be back tomorrow with my grocery haul and some other things. On August 1st, I will let you know how much money we saved in July.

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Every Day

Chris And Her Hubby Did Not Come Empty Handed

They arrived on Wednesday late afternoon. The minute they came in the house, they started unloading the goodies they brought us. All of it from their state: 2 different wines, a jar of smoked jalapeno’s, a jar of cowboy candy, many tomatoes and cucumbers and a fresh jalapeno from their garden( some of which we ate with dinner on Friday night), and a bag of vidalia onions because I had mentioned that I couldn’t find them or they were rotten when I did.

I have been eating these by the handful for a quick snack.

This beautiful reusable bag and some buckeye candies many of which have already been eaten. Her Hubby brought some beers made at the breweries a couple of which Hubby has already enjoyed.

On Friday for lunch, Chris made us Cincinnati chili which we had never had before. She brought 2 cans to make it here and 2 cans for me to make two meals later. We loved it so much that I tried to see if I could get more online. I found these 6 cans on the Walmart online site and they arrived on Saturday. So now I have 8 and these should last 1 year. One can is big enough for the two of us.

Chris heated 2 cans of chili to make it for us and one can of kidney beans. Then she cut up some onion and put that and some finely shredded cheddar cheese on the table for toppings. She cooked up some spaghetti to put the chili on. You picked your choice of toppings. It was all so delicious.

There were some kidney beans left so I froze those to add to red beans and rice when I make it. Waste not, want not!

Thank you Chris for all of the goodies. I hope you enjoy the jars of my canned chicken and ground beef that I gave you guys.

I will be back to tell you more about their visit tomorrow. I have an appointment in 20 minutes so I need to end this now.

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Our New Best Friends Came To Visit

If you have ever read the comments on my blog, I am sure that you have benefited from Chris writing. This is a picture of from left to right: my Hubby, Chris’s Hubby, me and Chris. This was at https://www.russellssteaks.com/menu . This is our very favorite restaurant and Chris wanted to go there. We had wonderful filet mignons and sea bass dinners along with appetizers of jumbo crab cakes, French onion soup, and seafood sherry bisque. Add a couple of drinks and we were very full. Everything was delicious. We had a gift certificate that our son gave us for Christmas and a bonus $25. gift certificate that came with it that Chris and Hubby were able to use. These helped defray the cost because this is an expensive restaurant so the certificates helped.

If I look tired, I was. I was up early that morning after staying up chatting with Chris and her Hubby very late into the night. I can’t even begin to tell you what a great time we had. Chris and I hit it off from the time she stepped foot out of the car. My Hubby and Chris’s Hubby are both engineers. They were inseparable. The days of their visit went too quickly and we can’t wait to see them again.

This all came about because I told Hubby about Chris last autumn. She started reading my first blog in 2008 the year after I started writing it and has been reading ever since. I started out answering her comments and then we started e-mailing and now we are texting. I felt like I knew her and her husband even though we had never met. Hubby said why don’t you invite them to visit. She wanted to come this summer because it would be easier for them. I have never invited someone to my home that I hadn’t met. This turned out to be the best time ever and I knew it would be safe. They are just wonderful people.

I am tired so I will write more about their visit tomorrow. I read half of J.D. Vance’s book “Hillbilly Elegy” this afternoon and I am going to try to finish it tonight. It is so good and reminds me of my childhood.

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Every Day

This Is What We Have Been Doing

We ate most of our food last winter. Some is still left from then but it wasn’t much. So I have been restocking for this coming winter. I usually concentrate my canning on meats, tomatoes and fruits. Most of the rest is purchased.

One of the items that seems to be in short supply this past year is potatoes. We don’t eat many of them but we keep some in our long term storage like hash browns, canned, and some other potato dishes.

We also like to supplement our own canned tomato products with store products because we use a lot.

I have been shopping to fill in the gaps. It’s hard work. Then you have to bring it home and put the new in the back rows. First in is first out.

Hubby has had a construction crew here for 4 days building a wall to protect our grill from the wind and a patio that replaces the old small patio. Hubby picked the pattern and the colors. It looks fantastic. We have already lost one grill to the wind and the one we have now has been blown over once. This project was supposed to be done the beginning of July but the boss got sick. So it is not done yet because the very last capstone was cracked in half and had to be reordered. It should be in sometime next week.

You can easily see that the short wall is where the black capstone that was broken belongs. The patio and wall abuts our very large patio. Hubby picked the colors and stone to complement it.

As you can see they did a job on our lawn where the stones were cut and laying. However, they left us with topsoil and seed to fix it. They fixed the edges and seeded around the patio.

I also wanted to let you know that we have a lot of company coming in July and August. So bear with me and I will be here when I can. I hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as we are.

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Cost Cutting The Past Week Or Two

I have been working on our family trees the past 24 years. The past 3-4 years, I have deemed ancestry.com way too expensive to buy. However I ran across a July 4th deal that gives me newspapers, all other countries besides the U.S., etc. It was too good to pass up. It was $129.+tax for 6 months. So I have been researching an hour a day. There is a lot of new stuff out there.

We have been eating a lot of cold things for dinners. It has been just too hot to cook. Lots of sandwiches, taco bowls(just heat the meat in the microwave) with ground beef, taco seasoning, salsa, black olives, Mexican cheeses, taco sauce, and sour cream. We use Cantina tortilla chips to scoop it up. Caesar salads and macaroni salads have been on the menu too. We have lots of leftovers so we will pick from those for dinner tonight.

Have any of you guys purchased Bubba’s Angus Beef Burgers that are frozen and come in a box? I had heard many people talk about them but had never tried them. Recently I saw a video where a butcher did a taste test of many of the frozen burger brands. These burgers were his #1 pick. Because of that, I purchased one 2 lb.(1/3 lb. each burger) box to try them. Hubby absolutely loved them. We usually use organic 80/20 hamburger meat and make our own. But we do keep a box of frozen for when we are tired or just busy. Up to this point, I just purchased ones that were a Walmart brand. Not any more! These are the best burgers we have ever eaten. I can’t describe how good they were. If you haven’t tried them, try a box. I think you will be amazed. I did some research in my area and B. J.’s has the best price. They have a 12 burger pack for $25.29 and they had a 3 dollar coupon off so I got one box. If you don’t have a B.J.’s, I found the next best price at Walmart. A 6 count box was $13.97.

Hubby is mowing our lawn. It is the first day it hasn’t rained in about 4 days. We are getting ready for a wall to be installed on Monday around our grill. It is necessary to keep our grill from getting damaged. The winds blow them over. We are on our second one because the winds destroyed the last one. I was hoping that our landscaper would be here before this. But he didn’t come earlier because he caught Covid and would not come near us. I was very happy that he waited until he was over it.

I filled the car up with gasoline this week. I had Top’s points equaling $1.20 off per gallon. Our Top’s gas here is $ 3.56 a gallon so I paid $ 2.36 a gallon. Now we will make sure it lasts a while.

We had 4 tornadoes touch down 3 days ago here in Western New York. We had warnings but fortunately our county was not hit. Most importantly no one in the tornadoes paths were injured. But there is lots of damage to property and homes. Many people are still without power.

What have you been doing lately to save a little money?

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Every Day

A Little Of This And A Little Of That

I woke up the other morning craving fried chicken and corn on the cob. Momentarily, I thought about going to Popeye’s or the gas station that makes delicious fried chicken every day. But I decided to make it at home for dinner. I had chicken breasts in the freezer that only cost me $ 1.88 a lb. I grabbed 2 breasts and weighed them. They totaled 1.5 lbs. I cut them in half lengthwise. That gave me 4 pieces that cost $ 2.82 for all or $ .705 for each. I coated them with seasoned( garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and paprika)flour and egg. I fried them in about $ .30 worth of oil. When I was frying them, I couldn’t help but notice the big bubbles that were in the pan. That told me these breasts would not be greasy and they weren’t.

Then I wrapped two ears of corn in 2 wet pieces of paper towels and microwaved them for 4-5 minutes. The corn cost me $ .29 each. or $ 1.16 for 4 ears.

Each meal ended up costing us $ 2.14 each plus the minimal cost of spices and a pat of butter for the corn. That cost is for 2 people.

I know I would have spent close to $15.+ tax for Popeye’s and about $16.+tax at the gas station. So I saved quite a bit of money and I think my chicken tastes much better.

Because we cook at home most of the time, we can afford to go out to dinner on specials occasions. Hubby and I celebrated our 57th Anniversary on Monday. We had a wonderful lazy day, talked to both of our sons, and went out to dinner at the Village Eatery for Italian food last night. We had not been there since before Covid. Their food was delicious. We came home with dessert and half of each of our meals for dinner Tuesday night. I had Chicken Pietro: sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts, spinach, portobello mushrooms, and chicken sauteed in a white wine sauce on a bed of angel hair spaghetti. Hubby will finish his veal parmigiana. The waitress wrapped us two pieces of Italian bread to go with our leftovers. We had 3 drinks( $ 1.00 off each, a Happy Hour Special) between us and our total bill with a 20% tip came to $ 115.00. It was a wonderful celebration without a very high price. We like to support family owned restaurants.

I have been reorganizing our pantries. They don’t take long to be a mess when I don’t have time to put things away as I buy them. So I have been concentrating on that. Hubby asked me the other night when we cooked rib eye steaks if we had steak sauce. I looked and told him no. So I picked up 2 bottles the other day. When I was rearranging, I found 5 bottles, Now we have 7. This is why I should inventory more often. Yikes.

I hope you all had a great July 4th. We were invited to a cookout at our neighbor’s next door. It was mostly family but our neighbors on the other side of me were invited too. So we decided to go for a bit. But we ended up having a fantastic time chatting with their parents who are all about our age. So the bit turned into 3 hours. There were about 20 young children there who were enjoying the pool. Then later the oldest child who is 13 organized a bunch of games for the little kids. We enjoyed watching them because it brought back memories of our childhoods and our sons’ childhoods. There was so much food offered. Hubby and I just grabbed a cheeseburger, some macaroni salad, and a beer. Then later the hostess brought me a piece of strawberry cheesecake that a family member had made. I shared with Hubby and it was delicious. We could have pigged out on all of it but that would have only made us feel stuffed. We are finding that as we age, we eat less and two meals a day is plenty.

I did some shopping yesterday also. Walmart is having sale days and since I have Walmart+, I was able to shop a few days earlier than everyone else. I looked at what was on sale last night after we got home from dinner. I have been looking specifically for summer pajamas since mine have worn out after 24 years. I lucked out and got 3 summer lounge wear sets for $59.83. I also found 2 dressy tops for the summer for $ 24. I have what I need for years now.

I will write more in the next few days. I am tired tonight so I am going to bed early.

Have you done anything to save money this week? We did some spending also. You will see more frugal things we did when I write later.

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Our Savings for June 2024 That Went Towards Our Savings Goal

Our income monthly comes from many different sources. We have a pension, Social Security income, interest from a # of different credit union accounts, and this month we got another 2023 Federal Tax return check. The IRS had paid us most of our Federal Tax return a number of months ago. However due to a mistake with their software, we had to file an amended return and they owed us for an energy credit which they paid along with interest about a week ago. So our monthly income this month was more than it usually is. Just a few months ago we had lots of stocks and bonds which we cashed out of because I recognized that the market was being manipulated. We did our best to save every penny but besides paying for our regular bills in June, we had to pay out about $1300. for a repair to our garage door. We took that from our emergency fund but I paid it back to the emergency fund out of our June monthly income on June 30th.

So as I told you at the end of last month, we had $ 113,028.70 left to reach our goal. We were able to save $12, 239.02 in June. So we now have a balance of $100,789.68 to reach our goal.

So we are in the month of July now. I did spend $ 164. this morning for a large B.J.’s grocery order. I had to run some errands and it was on my route. I was too tired to take pictures when I got home.

I will be shopping tomorrow at Top’s to pick up some sale items. I may go to Niagara Produce also. I hope to show you those.

We will be working even harder this month to save money. I don’t expect to save anywhere near that much every month as this month. It all depends on how much the yearly bills are that we have to pay when they come due.

I know that some of you are saving for your own goals along with me. How did you guys do?

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Missing In Action

This had been a very busy week. We have had company, been tied up with appointments, worked in the gardens, canned chicken because I caught a good sale this week of $ 1.88 per pound for BS chicken breasts, had to have an expensive repair done that we were not expecting. Thanks to our emergency fund, we could pay for it with cash.

We got our monthly electric and gas bill. It was $ 132.98. Our electric was up about 80 kwh but that was because of A/C usage. I really couldn’t compare the bill to last year’s because the meter reader made a mistake last year and only charged us 7 kwh which threw our bills off for a couple of months. We are doing our best to keep the usage down. Our A/C has been off for the past couple of days because the heat wave has broken.

We cleaned our garage and Hubby power washed the floor.

I ran many errands. I took 2 – 40 pound bags of potting mix back to Home Depot. Hubby purchased too much. Yes, I can still lift 40 pound bags. I took 2 bags of bottles back to Fast Cash for the deposit money. I stopped at Aldi’s for a pound of strawberries that were on sale for $ 1.69. I picked up 3 prescriptions at Rite Aid for about $28.00. I took some donations to Goodwill and then my last stop was at Top’s for the on sale chicken.

We enjoyed having a friend here who we hadn’t seen for a long time.

I have a busy weekend coming up. But I will be back on July 1st to report how much we saved during the month of June towards our goal that we have been working on. We were not as able to save as much as we had hoped towards our goal because we had to replace the money in our emergency fund that we spent to repair our garage door. Last Saturday, I was putting some items in our car to get ready for errands this week. As I was coming back in the house, I pushed the button to close the garage door and it made a horrendous noise. The door went down but we could not get it back up. So for two days we could not get our car out of the garage. The company who came told us that the spring had snapped. The builder put in a door that only had one spring. The companies don’t even do those anymore. So we had them replace it with a dual spring unit and they replaced all the parts with stainless steel ones. This should last for years. But it was very expensive.