Tag: a little of this and a little of that

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Every Day

Our New Grocery Plan

So sorry this is so late today. I fell asleep for hours today after going shopping at Aldi’s. Eloise is still getting me up between 2am & 3am. After a while I have to catch up because I am so exhausted.

I went to Aldi’s today to get 2(limit) of their ribeye roasts at $8.99 a lb. I purchased them for $123.17. I also bought some naan( $3.55) to make 2 pizzas. One roast will be used for Easter in case I can’t find a leg of lamb. They had spiral sliced hams on sale for $1.49 a lb. I am going to wait until after Easter to see if they get marked down at Aldi’s or Walmart. We still have ham slices in the freezer from Christmas.

If you have noticed we are eating down our pantries and now buying only loss leaders. Yes, we have processed food to go through but I refuse to throw it out and waste the money I paid for it. We have eaten processed foods our entire life and it hasn’t killed us yet. But after all of the information that has come out about the chemicals in most of the food supply in our country, we will be buying very little of it anymore.

So we are basically buying from the perimeter of the stores which house produce, fish, meat, and dairy, etc. Now that Top’s is marking a lot of these things down that are soon to expire, I am finding some great deals.

We will can most of our vegetables and fruits in season this spring, summer, and fall. Otherwise, I will buy frozen that has only one ingredient.

We will buy baking supplies because we bake desserts, muffins, and breads regularly. I buy them in bulk. We also make pancakes and waffle with them. We only buy 100% Pure Maple Syrup to put on them which is in season in NY right now. We have a diabetic in the family but I have deemed that the SF crap is far worse than the maple syrup because of all the petroleum products in it.

We also buy flour, sugar, rice, dry beans, pasta, oatmeal, etc. in bulk when the price is right. We have an Amish store near us. I can make my own pasta because I have a machine. When my pasta is gone, I will make it again.

That’s our plan, buy ingredients and cook from scratch. Prepare some of the foods to put in our freezer to make easy meals. I freeze onions, potatoes, and carrots immediately so they don’t go bad. We also freeze berries when they are in season. With prices as high as they are, I refuse to waste food.

Tomorrow, I will make some banana bread for a new neighbor using up 3 bananas that are in our freezer. We have bananas that are getting really ripe so Hubby will make a banana salad to go with dinner tomorrow night.

Making it simple will be a theme also. Hubby is doing some of the cooking because after almost 59 years, it is his turn.

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Every Day

A Little of This and a Little of That

I will be eating the last reuben sandwich for brunch today. They have been so delicious. We did take a break for Friday and got two fish fries at Chiavetta’s for dinner. They now give a 3% discount for cash but you have to ask for it.

I think I will make bacon macaroni goulash for dinner tonight. We will eat the leftovers tomorrow night. We have not made this in a very long time. So when I get done here, I will grab a lb. of bacon and a baguette to make garlic bread from the basement freezer and a box of macaroni from that pantry. We have fresh onions and some Rao’s spaghetti sauce in my kitchen pantry. I will prep the bacon and cut up the onions so I can cook faster at dinner time. I will dice up a half pound of the bacon. That will be enough for two meals. The other half pound will get eaten with eggs for brunches this week.

I was surprised when I got my February-March gas and electric bill yesterday. It was for 29 days and was billed on March 19th. I was expecting a $400. bill. However it was $ 300.58. We used 503 kwhs of electric and 5 therms of natural gas. Last year’s bill for the same period was $270.84 for 490 kwhs and 4 therms of gas. So this bill was $ 29.74 higher. Not as much of an increase year over year as my prior bills. But still too darn high. Hopefully we will eventually get some nice weather again. It has been cold and dreary.

Well the light that came on in the car may have been a warning that our battery was low. Hubby went to go to his haircut appointment one morning this week and the car was dead in our garage. He tried to jump it and it wouldn’t work. So he called AAA to get it towed. Hillman’s which is our repair shop sent their truck out to us after they got notified by AAA. The tow is 100% covered by AAA with the plan we have. The guy tried to jump it and he got nothing either. So he towed it. We told them to let us know what was wrong and to put a new battery in also because this one was old. We knew we would probably not hear from them until the next day because most of their guys were training on a new machine the day it was towed. Turned out that the battery was dead, no juice at all. Hubby was picked up by their courtesy ride van midday the day after and was home in just a few minutes. The cost of the labor and the battery was $224. Hubby has always put new batteries in all of our cars himself which saves the labor charges. But this time was the first we had a computer on a car so we really didn’t know what was going on with that light. We do now for next time. However that said, this is only the second battery in 13 years and we have never had a repair except for recalls. We just make sure the maintence is always done on it. We only have 54,000. miles on the car so it is good for a very long time. I am just glad that I didn’t get stuck out on a road somewhere. I was going to run 10 errands that day but only did 6 or 7 when my brain said go home. The rest can be done later. Someone was definitely watching over me.

When we got the car back, I made a quick trip to Top’s for a couple of things and picked up Hubby’s script that was ready at Walmart. At Top’s I found an organic coleslaw mix that was $4.99 reduced since it was expiring that day for $2.50. When I got home, I looked at my receipt and they charged me $3.99 instead of $2.50. So tomorrow when I shop for the week, I will get my $1.49 overcharge back. I just need to take the label to customer service. Hubby will make up his waldorf coleslaw salad with it today. I also so got a bunch of bananas for $.44 a lb. totaling $ 1.04. So once I get my money back I will have spent $ 3.54.

All the laundry got caught up yesterday and the sheets were all washed and the beds made up with new ones. I hung most of the laundry but did use the dryer for some especially the sheets.

So my plan today besides making dinner is to spruce up my basement pantry and make sure everything is in the front of the shelves that needs to get used first. Then I may watch the Buffalo Sabres Ice Hockey game and some March Madness games with Hubby.

What have you been doing to keep costs down?

Categories
Every Day

A Little Of This And A Little of That

It has been a very busy week. I got pretty much all of my organizing done this past week. I just need to tidy up the basement pantry a bit. So much clutter went out of this house. It will be so much easier to keep things neat and tidy.

The weather had gotten a bit warmer but now overnight we have about 4 inches of snow and it is still snowing. Hopefully it will melt soon. I am so over snow. My plans today were to go to Aldi’s and Top’s but because of the snow, I will not be going. I will wait until the roads are clear, possibly tommorow or Thursday.

There has been no shopping since mid week last week. When I went out with the car, a red light momentarily went on and off that I had never seen before. Hubby checked the car when I got home and the manual said the parking brake was engaged. He saw the same light go on and off when he started the car. We had never seen this light in 16 years. So Hubby took it to our favorite auto repair people yesterday. They took the parking brake on and off a few times and said there was nothing wrong and didn’t charge us. So we will trust them. Why we have never seen that light in 16 years is now a mystery.

While I was out last week, I took the car into the car wash and had the works done which included the undercarriage wash. I needed to get the road salt off everything. It was so dirty and I was not expecting more snow so that is one of the reasons, I will not go out in the car until it is gone again. Yesterday when it was 67 outside, I spent some time cleaning up the inside of the car. I now have 4 carwash slips that they give you when you buy a wash. When you get 5, then you get a free wash.

I cooked a turkey last week. We got 3 meals out of it and then had 2 nights of homemade turkey soup. I also have 6 containers of soup portions that I put in the freezer for future meals.

I plan today to cook a corned beef in the crockpot since it is St. Patrick’s Day. We will have it with boiled cabbage tonight. Then we will eat reubens the rest of the week until it is gone. When I was out this past week, I planned on getting another corned beef to keep in the freezer for future reubens but alas Aldi’s had sold out of the cheaper ones. The prices elsewhere were ridiculous so I did not get one. However if I see any clearanced after today, I will get one or two more. Now I will be on the hunt for a good deal on a leg of lamb for Easter.

We did use up all of the rest of the Applebee’s Giftcards last week for appetizers. Those gave us a few meals. Now I need to work on the Panera ones. Amazon had a deal last week for a Subway $50. giftcard for $ 42.50. So I ordered one. We do get subs there once in a while using coupons so it was a no brainer when I can save another $ 7.50.

Yesterday’s mail brought another class action suit check against Rite Aid. It was for $39.73 so that was a nice surprise. I need to go to another town and deposit a bunch of checks at the bank and stop at B.J.’s for a few things so perhaps next week I will do that.

I am expecting my electric and gas bill in a couple of days. With the warmer weather, I was thinking that it might be cheaper than last month. But then oil went up way over $100. a barrel because of the war so I think it will be more expensive. Oil affects those prices. So I will not be surprised if it is over $400. for a month. I will let you know when I get it.

That is it for now. How are you saving a few dollars these days?

Categories
Every Day

A Little of This and a Little of That

We have a set of green pans. I have had them for a few years. All of a sudden, everything is sticking in them. Hubby asked me to buy new ones. I researched and found that they have gotten really expensive. I don’t need an entire set. Just the three frypans. I have a set of capahlon and a set of stainless steel that we are not using. Hubby agreed with me that the new pans are very expensive. So I am going to dig out my stainless steel pans. I also have a Lodge iron fry pan that we can use.

Dinner on Thursday night was Chef salads using up romaine lettuce, tomatoes, black olives, and various meats and cheeses in the fridge. I made the other half of the baguette from Aldi’s to make more garlic bread to eat with it.

Friday and Saturday night’s dinner was Texas chili(only meat- no beans). We eat it on rice. Hubby makes his Dad’s recipe all the time. It is so good.

Brunches have been scrambled eggs with carmelized onions, sausage, and some sourdough toast.

My son sent me a message late Friday night that West is still sick so he can’t come to visit. But my son came out Saturday morning to visit us for a while. I made us a breakfast of scrambled eggs, breakfast sausage, and protein yogurt. He stayed for about 5 hours which was really nice so that we could chat and catch up.

I was considering throwing out a bath mat that we have in our guest bathtub. It is one that has the round indentations in it and they get very dirty. I have taken the time for years to clean them by hand which is a lengthy process. As I was looking at it, I thought there is no reason that I can’t try to wash it with some laundry detergent and oxi clean in the washing machine. So after my son left, I did just that and used the delicate cycle. It came out sparkling clean and dried on the shower rod. I don’t know why I never thought of that before. But it saved me from all that work by hand or buying a new one.

Today is Sunday. I made these homemade banana butter pecan muffins for breakfasts this week. We enjoyed one while watching the USA( we won) vs. Canada men’s ice hockey game for the gold metal this morning. My kitchen smells so good.

Hubby is making breaded pork ribeye chops for dinner. I will throw some crinkle cuts fries in the air fryer oven. We will also have broccoli.

I am tired. Hubby got up with Eloise about 3:20am. But I was never able to get back to sleep so I got up at 5am. It will be early to bed tonight because I have errands to run in the morning. I hope you all have a good evening!

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Every Day

Grocery Haul and Other Things

I ran quite a few errands yesterday. Besides going to a dental appointment, I went to Aldi’s and Runnings. Runnings had 100 count extra large kitchen garbage bags on sale for $ 9.99 each and a gallon jug of glass cleaner for $5.99. I got 2 boxes of bags and 1 jug of cleaner since it was the best prices that I have seen in a long time. I will need the glass cleaner to wash my windows in a few weeks when spring gets here. They are so dirty.

I rarely go to Aldi’s but I decided to go and see what all the hype is about them being cheaper than anyone else. I only purchased the items that were cheaper than anywhere else in my area. I was out of yogurt so got a whole milk greek one for $3.49. I eat this for brunch once in a while with bluberries or tomatoes added to it. Also, many people are saying this sauce is delicious and had clean ingredients like Raos. So I purchased two to try at $ 3.59 each.

Hubby has been wanting antipasto for dinner. So I got two different salamis- one at $4.39 and one at $8.49. I also purchased 2 packages of prosciutto at $3.59 each. He added ham, olives, and cheese that we already we had in the fridge and some Italian dressing.

Since we are fasting overnight, I have been using heavy whipping cream in my coffee. That was $ 4.99. Hubby also wanted to try their English muffins which were $ 1.59. He tried them with my homemade peach preserves and said they were better than Thomases. I also bought penne rigate($.98), zero carb wraps($2.69), organic chicken breasts($7.82), Irish butter($3.99), and 2 packages of Truffle English cheddar($4.49 each). I tried some of this cheese for a snack and it was delicious.

Lastly, I picked up white bread($1.39) to make French toast for West when he visits, some soudough bread for sandwiches($3.29), a French baguette($1.85) to make garlic bread for dinner tonight( I freeze all bread so that it doesn’t go bad), cranberry white cheddar cheese($2.79), and aged white cheddar cheese($2.49). I eat cheese for snacks so we like to have an assortment in our home. Then my son told us about this dark chocolate. So I picked up two bars at $3.29 each. We will eat one square a week so they will last a while. My total for Aldi’s was $ 77.16.

I went to Top’s and returned the rest of the bottles and got the cash. I got $20.05 back(from yesterday and the other day) and used it to defray the cost of my Aldi groceries.

I made chicken parmesan for dinner last night. I liked the chicken. Hubby did not. I really liked the sauce and he did not. He said it was too acid. About the only thing he seemed to love was the garlic bread. So I will be buying Raos instead of this sauce and will not buy the organic chicken there again. He started to lose his taste buds a few years back so a lot of things he will not eat that he used to love. We had one serving of leftovers from dinner, so I froze it for a brunch in the future for me. Most of the time, I make easy dinners(meat and veggie or salad) because he seems to like that.

I needed to go to B.J.’s yesterday after the dentist but we were expecting freezing rain and the temps down in that town were dropping rapidly so I came home. Later I did shopping in my own town because we had no freezing rain here.

With all of the errands, I was exhausted when I got home so I took a 2 hour nap. For entertainment, Hubby and I watched the USA ice hockey team win their game at the Olympics.

I did do some organizing in the pantry and refrigerator yesterday too. I also entered the prices from Aldi into my price book.

I think we will make Chef’s salads tonight to use up some veggies and some of the meats I bought.

Do any of you shop at Aldi’s regularly and what do you just love from there?

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Every Day

Saving Money Wherever We Can

The soda cans have been piling up in our garage all winter. I was tempted to put them in the recyclable can this week. It has been so cold that neither of us has been wanting to return them for the deposits. But I decided I was not going to throw that money down the drain. So I took 7 bags to Top’s when I went there and got a slip to redeem for $9.70. I was going to cash it in when I purchased the groceries. But I got chatting with the cashier and forgot. So the next time I go shopping which won’t be soon, I will return the rest of the bottles and use both deposit slips for groceries.

The Top’s and the Aldi’s ads for next week came with my mail yesterday. I quickly determined that they were unremarkable for sales. So there will be no shopping next week.

I picked up 2 prescriptions for a total of $ 4.47 at Walmart. While I was there I perused the store for markdowns. The only thing I got that was worth spending my money on was a package of 8 small sub rolls marked down to $1.28. They were expiring that day so I froze them in packs of 2 for future meals. We can use them to make brunch or dinner with our “deli meat” that we slice on our meat slicer.

Hubby did not feel well the night we were going to dinner at the Big Ditch Brewery so we went Wednesday night instead. There was no cost cutting there but it was our Valentine’s gift to each other. We even brought home a slice of turtle pie and a slice of strawberry cheesecake to share that they made special for Valentine’s dinners this week. We spent $100. including a $21. tip but it was worth every penny because we had a great leisurely dinner, a couple of beers, and good conversation.

My son and West will not be coming out today because West is ill and my son would never bring him near us for fear we would catch it. So instead of the large breakfast I usually cook when they come we are eating granola cereal to use up an open bag. Perhaps we will have some apple pieces with it. This will be a cheap brunch that is from our stockpile. Lately we have been eating scrambled eggs and a canned ham from our stockpile that needed to be used up because it was expiring. I just fry up slices of the ham. It reminds me of when we were first married and broke and ate a lot of canned ham because it was cheap. It is a good stockpile item because it lasts for a very long time.

When I was cleaning and organizing our vanity cupboards and drawers in the master bath, I found 4 bottles of foundation with just a bit in each so they will get used up this week and next. I only put on makeup when I am going out.

I also have a huge bag of books to donate to our library so that will get done this coming week also.

I have been so tired lately that Hubby did a load of wash. He asked me to tell him what settings I use. So he has learned that I mostly use cold water, minimal detergent, and the Eco setting. He did use the Eco setting to dry it also. He even folded it and put it away. I was able to take a nap while he was doing it. I was very grateful. Today if I feel up to it, I will change our sheets on our beds and wash all of the bedding.

Dinner one night was NY strip steaks, baked potatoes, and salad. Another night we had homemade pizza slices that I froze last time I made it. Last night I made fajitas with chicken, multi colored peppers, onions, seasoning, and low carb wraps. We have plenty for another dinner tonight.

All receipts have been scanned into Fetch including our restaurant meal.

How have you been pinching pennies the last few days? Please share.

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Every Day

A Little Of This And A Little Of That

This a small haul that I purchased at Top’s yesterday. I have been waiting for a sale on the Softsoap. I buy my liquid soap in bulk refill containers. But the Softsoap containers that I pour it into stop working after a while. Mine are at that point so I purchased these to replace them on sale at 8/$10. yesterday. I have 4 sinks in my home so the other 4 will go into my stockpile for the next time I need them. The mayonaise was $ 3.79 after using a $2.00 Top’s super coupon. Mayonaise is so expensive that I only buy it with a coupon. I also purchased B2G3F 12 packs of Zero Sugar Fanta Orange. I like to have this stocked but I left the 5 of them in the garage so they will get super cold out there. They cost $20.98 for all 5 which was $4.196 a 12 pack. At Walmart I would have paid $ 8.92 a 12 pack. So my bill before tax and bottle deposits was $34.77. They took 6% off for the Senior Discount which was $2.09. The total was then $ 32.68. Tax was $2.48(8%) on the soda and soap and the total bottle deposit was $ 3.00 ($.05 each) which I will get back when I return the cans. Food is not taxed in NY. So my actual total was $ 38.16. I am tracking all of the taxes I pay in NY this year along with every other penny. I am actually considering stopping at Top’s again tomorrow to get more soda because I have a doctor’s appointment one block from there. I don’t believe I will ever see soda this cheap again.

Today will be a laundry and reorganizing the kitchen day. Two loads will go in the washing machine using cold water and minimal soap( about 2 Tbsps.) for each load. One load will be put in the dryer with my wool balls and one load will be hung to dry. I just don’t have the space to hang 2 loads.

Brunch will be Chef’s salad and dinner will be take out Chinese. I was too tired last night to go get the take out so we had chicken and mac and cheese instead.

I wish it would warm up. We have so much salt and dirty snow on the garage floor that has fallen in chunks off the car. But it is too cold to work out there to remove it. I will squeege it out if it gets a little warmer. I also need to get the car washed but our roads are so slushy and dirty right now it would be senseless.

I am off to start my work for the day. I need to take some breaks in between so I am starting an important post about credit which I will write when I take the breaks. It will get posted sometime tommorow.

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Every Day

A Busy Day Yesterday

I had an appointment at 11:00am. On the way, I stopped at the P.O. to mail something that I had to send certified. After the appointment, I went to Trader Joe’s. We have had one in the area about 45 minutes from me. It was not worth it to me to drive that far to go there. Now we have a new one which is only 20 minutes away and was about half a mile down the road from my appointment. I used to shop at Trader Joe’s when we lived in AZ. I missed it. The store was packed but I was able to get a few things that I needed or wanted.

They had beautiful mini peppers($3.49) which were a need. We ate all of our peppers last month in stir fry. Hubby loves cinnamon raisin bread ($4.99) and I love their ciabata rolls( $1.99) because they are so soft.

I had not seen wild caught salmon this cheap and I had none left. This piece which will make me about 3 meals was $9.37. The BabyBels were $3.69 and are a great snack for me.

Lastly, Hubby loves chocolate chunk cookies so I got a bag of the chunks($3.99) to make them homemade for him. I also got him some dark chocolate covered raisins($6.99) and some dark chocolate mint creams($4.49) which are Valentine’s gifts. I had to hide the raisins quickly before I took my picture. If Hubby saw them, he would be into them. My total for all was $ 40.00. I was taxed at 8.75% on the dark chocolates because the tax in this town is high. This is what happens when we barely shopped last month. You want some goodies!

On the way home, I stopped at Niagara Produce and got 3 more dozen eggs because they were on sale again for $.99 a dozen. We eat a lot of eggs here. I used up 13 eggs on Sunday for my family.

I had planned on going to Walmart and Aldi’s but I was beat so I came home. Hubby had told me that if I was hungry when I was out to just stop and get some food. When I got home at 1:30pm, I realized that I had not eaten all day. So I made a turkey sandwich and that was a lot cheaper than eating out.

After lunch, I gathered all of my receipts to log them into our expenses in our budget and to scan them into Fetch. Then I just watched a few You Tube videos while I rested my back. My arthritis in my back is not good in this cold weather.

For dinner, Hubby wanted Chinese food from our favorite take out place. When I went to place the order, I realized they are not open on Monday. So we had soup instead. Tonight we will get Chinese food.

Monday nights I chat with my sister who lives almost on the PA border. She and my nephew were in a bad car accident on Saturday because my nephew lost control hitting some ice on a bridge. Fortunately, neither one of them was hurt. There was no other car involved. But their car is totaled. So they will be car shopping today. New cars are so expensive but they don’t trust used cars. I had every intention of posting this last night but I was just too tired at 8pm when I got off the phone and went directly to bed.

After much research, I finally figured out how to fix the photos this morning. So as you can see they are back. Thanks for your patience. It was so frustrating for me.

I will be going out today to Top’s( senior discount 6% off day). I only need a few things. The Fanta is on a great sale so I will be stocking on that. I also need to get a few things at Walmart that are cheaper than Top’s. I will be skipping Aldi’s because all I was going to do was get some dark chocolate and I got it at Trader Joe’s.

Brunch today will be eggs and cinnamon toast.

Have you gotten any great sale items this week?

Categories
Every Day

A Little Of This And A Little Of That

It has been brutally cold and snowy here. Hubby and I went out to pick up his prescriptions yesterday. The wind chill was -23. The temperature was 7.

We had wanted to go on Monday but it snowed. So Tuesday it was. The chill made me realize why I like grocery delivery.

I went with him because I decided to get something at Top’s. So I only made it 20 days without buying anything. However, I was not going to pass up 80/20 ground beef on sale for $3.99 a lb. with a super coupon. It was a large 6.55 lb. package and I paid $26.13. I have not seen that price in a long time. Hubby has been wanting to make chili and we did not have enough ground beef so he will this weekend.

I came home and used the food saver to portion it into a little over a pound packages. Two of those will make a big pot of chili and the rest will each make two meals for us. I had also wanted to go to Niagara Produce for a great sale there but it was just too darn cold and we just wanted to get home to the warmth in our home.

However it will be warmer today, so I will go for dozens of extra large eggs that are on sale for $.99 a dozen. We haven’t had that price in years.

Saturday, I made the little hotdogs wrapped in crescent dough. They made an easy dinner while we watched football. We did not win so our season is over. I am more upset over the owner firing our coach than losing the game. I don’t think there is another coach out there as good as him.

Sunday I made turkey soup. We ate it for two days and then I froze 3/4’s of a gallon in 2 portion containers. When I thawed this turkey to cook it, I thought I only had 3 left in the freezer. However, I updated my inventory of my chest freezer last weekend and realized I have 4 left. So they will all get roasted before winter or spring is over and portioned to use in place of chicken.

Yesterday, I made Philly steak sandwiches on Italian bread. I made caramelized onions to go on top and then melted provolone cheese on all. They were so good. Hubby says he wants these again. I hadn’t made them in years.

Tonight we are going to have homemade pizza loaded with mushrooms for me and pepperoni for Hubby. The leftovers will get frozen and used for a future meal.

All of our brunches have been eggs, avocado, and sausages.

Lastly, West turned 16 this week. He had not been born when we moved from Arizona to here. Those years have gone fast. I believe he got his driver’s permit yesterday. In NYS, you can’t schedule an appointment for your driver’s test until 6 months after you get your permit. So he should be driving this summer.

After I make breakfast and throw a load of wash in, I will head to NP. Have you gotten any good deals this week? Please share with us.

Categories
Every Day

Grocery Haul and Other Things

I did a small haul at Top’s this morning. I got 11 lbs. of butter for $ 2.89 each which is the lowest price I have seen in my area. I counted the butter I already had in my freezer and refrigerator which was 21 lbs. that I have purchased over the past 6 months. Since I use about 32 lbs. a year, I am now set until next Thanksgiving. The pasta was on sale for $.88 each which also is a rock bottom price for me. So 12 boxes are now in my pantry.

Then I went to Walmart to pick up a prescription for Hubby that was $.00 copay. We went through a lot of eggs while my son and his dog were visiting. When we made scrambled eggs and bacon or sausage for us, the dog got some too. I had exactly 1 egg left in my fridge after breakfast yesterday. So I picked up this 5 dozen box for $ 9.52 which is the cheapest price right now in my area. BTW, his dog loved the chicken, sweet potato, and rice dinners that I made for him to have each night. Plus he got one to take home.

While I was out, I filled the SUV up with gasoline using $.20 off a gallon from points. So I paid $ 2.90 a gallon.

I had not seen my son in 11 months. He has taken off so much weight and looks wonderful. I really miss him now that he has gone home. We had a wonderful dinner out at The Big Ditch Brewery on Wednesday evening. Then a nice quiet turkey day on Thursday. I cooked the Butterball and it was so tender. It was accompanied by sausage stuffing, broccoli, fresh mashed potatoes, gravy, and cranberry sauce. Dessert was apple pie with vanilla ice cream. We had three dinner meals from the leftovers. Then I made turkey soup yesterday using the broth I made from the turkey skin and bones overnight in the crockpot. We had it again tonight and will have it again tomorrow night. Any that is still left we will freeze for another meal.

Hubby and I set our food budget for 2026. We will budget $600. a month for this month and each month in 2026. Will we spend it all? Probably not while we eat what we have in the house. But it will then be there when we have to restock the meat in our freezer. We also use our grocery money when we eat out.

I will talk to you more about that tomorrow. Sorry this is so late today but we have been really, really busy.

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving.

What are you going to budget for all food (groceries and take out or restaurants) each month next year?