Tag: cost cutting

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Every Day

Thanksgiving Sales and My Turkeys I Purchased Last Year

Last year I purchased 5 turkeys during the Thanksgiving sales. I purchased 2 Butterballs at $ .99 a lb., a Honeysuckle White at $ .48 a lb., and 1 Shady Brook at $84. a lb. and 1 at $ .55 a lb. I cooked 1 for Thanksgiving and 1 in January. I went down to the freezer a couple of days ago and pulled out the Honeysuckle White to thaw. I will cook that tomorrow. It is 13 lbs. They were all cheap prices. The $ .55 a lb. Shady Brook was a markdown at Walmart 2 days before Christmas. If I had had the freezer space, I would have purchased more. But alas, I didn’t. Another turkey will get cooked for Thanksgiving. That leaves one to cook sometime in January- March.

I purchased so many because I was sure the prices would go up for this Thanksgiving season and I know you can freeze them for 2 years. It looks like I may be right on the prices. Chris told me that her Kroger has them on sale for $ 1.24 a lb. That is not too bad of an increase. However our Top’s is advertising them on sale this week(says many brands) for $ 1.99 a lb. That is a huge increase! I am hoping that they will do a deal before Thanksgiving where if you spend $ 25. or $ 35. you get a turkey cheap. But I am not counting on it. It will be interesting to see what Wegman’s. Walmart, B.J.’s, and Aldi have them priced at over the next weeks. I think this is very early for Kroger and Top’s to advertise a sale on turkeys. It’s 4 weeks before Halloween. UGH!

However, I can tell you that I will not pay $ 1.99 a lb. for a turkey. Yes, I know it is cheaper than most meats. But I can buy 3 lb. rotisserie chickens at B.J.’s for $ 4.99 that are already cooked. I can also buy uncooked whole chickens for $ 1.64 a lb. So if the turkeys are high priced this year, I will purchase those two chicken items during the year. They will both give me gallons of broth too. I will also be watching Walmart for turkey markdowns just before Christmas.

So was buying 5 last year too many? I think not!

I will be cooking the turkey that I am thawing for a couple of dinners, to cut up the meat on my food slicer and freeze for sandwiches, and to make turkey soup some of which I will freeze in single portions.

Are you seeing turkey prices already where you live? What are they charging?

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Every Day

Saving a Few Dollars Here and There

Princess Eloise was telling me that she would rather I played with her than write this post. She got her way and then I got mine.

I needed to buy new reading glasses that were the next strength. After a bit of research I found what I needed at Walmart online. I purchased 4 pairs that were $16.99. I had $10.75 in Walmart cash from prior delivery orders. I used that to pay which ended up costing me $7.60 out of pocket including taxes. I considered this a great deal at $1.90 per pair. They are much nicer than what the dollar stores carry.

Hubby broke his glasses when he fell. They were usable but scratched. I took him yesterday for a prescheduled opthamologist appointment. There is an optometrist in the same building. So we headed there with his prescription after the first appointment. Hubby picked out frames and the optometrist measured and ordered his glasses. They will be ready around July 13th. We do not have insurance for glasses. So the optometrist gave him a discount of 20% which saved us $150. We will pay $600. when they are ready.

We have a bunch of paper plates that I stockpiled in case of a power outage. I opened one package when this heat hit so that we don’t need to run the dishwasher and heat up the house with the A/C on. It may not save much electricity but every little bit helps the bill.

As I write this, the A/C is constantly running. UGH! We have had highs of 91 the past two days. We have heat warnings in effect through 8PM on Friday. Our heat index values have been 105- 109 each afternoon. It is so humid and ugly outside. I keep pushing off going out uneccessarily. But I will have to go to the markets today or tomorrow. I need to get a watermelon and many other fresh fruits to make a fruit bowl that I am taking to a July 4th party.

I entered the past 10 days of receipts into Fetch. I had enough points in that account to order a $10.00 Walmart gift card to use for future groceries.

I had enough points in my XBOX account to order a $10.00 Amazon gift card.

Top’s offered me a $5.00/$50.00 grocery coupon for updating my profile on their site. I did and that coupon has been clipped to my card to help defray the cost of the groceries I need there this week.

Since it has been so hot, I am trying to come up with cool recipes we can eat. We ate all of the macaroni and chicken salad over the past couple of days for brunch and dinners. I think tonight may be shrimp cocktails or Caesar salad wraps with shrimp. Another night may be egg salad from eggs that I cooked in the Instant Pot. They only take 4 minutes. If I am really lazy, we can always have PB&J sandwiches to get our protein. We already have all the ingredients for all of these.

What have you been doing to save some $$$$ ?

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Every Day

Grocery Haul

I do not like shopping on Sunday. However, I have learned my lesson when it comes to Top’s. After having to get rainchecks for the best deals on Mondays, I started going on Sundays. I quickly found out that when the meat department opens at 8AM that they never have the beef deals ready. So yesterday I went at 10AM. The NY strip steaks were fully stocked. I was able to pick and choose 4 large packages with 4 steaks in each. They had the best price that I have seen in months. They were $11.88 a lb. so I paid $ 125.57 for all of them. These steaks are always tender and delicious. When I got home I used my foodsaver to package them up. We now have 16 meals of strip steaks in the freezer. I may roast a turkey this week. If I do, I will free up some space in the freezer. Then I might get some more steaks. We love grilling them outside in the summer and fall.

The rest of the items pictured were purchased at Walmart because they had much cheaper prices than Top’s. I bought 2 frozen mixed berries for $3.52 a bag. I eat these with zero sugar whipped cream when I need a sweet snack. I just put a serving in a bowl and defrost it in the microwave for a few seconds. It always satisfies my cravings for snacks but it is much healthier than candy or chips. I also purchased one bag of dates for $ 4.97, 1/2 gallon of milk for $ 1.96 and the cottage cheese was $ 2.87. I love cottage cheese with diced fresh tomatoes for brunch. My total for all was $16.84.

Hubby has been using up my half and half that I use in my coffee on his cereal. So I purchased the milk for him. The half and half is $ 4.98 so paying $ 1.96 for the milk was a no brainer. I do have shelf stable milk in the pantry but it is all within date so we will keep that for emergencies.

I do track prices so that I can do a couple of stores and know that I am always getting the best price. Top’s and Walmart are only a block apart so a round trip is only 7 miles. I am not so good at tracking Aldi’s because they have to have a very good deal to get me in the store. I did go last week when I got the 8 lbs. of organic ground beef but I was too tired to look at other items that day. I need to go again and do that. I wonder if I can find the prices online or are those prices just if you have delivery or pickup. Does anyone know?

We had a good day yesterday. My sons both called Hubby to wish him a Happy Father’s Day and they had long chats. My son who lives closer spent part of Friday here. My other son was planning on making the 4 and 1/2 hour trip but his dog is sick so he couldn’t. I don’t know when we will see him again. I am seriously considering flying there. It is too long a car trip for us. We have no direct flight from here to there. However, Hubby could take me to an airport that is about an hour and 15 minutes away that does have a direct flight. Hubby no longer flies either. It is just too hard for him. But I can go alone. The only other way is to hitch a ride with my other son when they go to New Hampshire to visit his in-laws. My son could pick me up along the route they take.

My grandson is coming this Friday to stay with us for the weekend. I am hoping since he loves organizing that he will help me take some inventory in the pantry. We will enjoy having him here(spoiling him) and he is always a big help to us.

Hubby and I watched a lot of soccer this weekend. We are enjoying those games.

Tonight my sister and I will have our usual Monday chat. Her granddaughter got married this weekend. So I am looking forward to hearing all about it.

I have two medical appointments this week so I don’t know when I will post again.

I hope you all have a great week!

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Every Day

Things We Will No Longer Purchase

With prices constantly rising for food, personal care, and household goods, these are the things that we will no longer be purchasing.

Chicken legs: The one meal serving that we have left, I am throwing out. I know most people can get them for $.99 a lb. and under. However, there is barely any meat on them and the last package I bought the skin would not crisp up even in the air fryer. It makes me wonder what they are washing them with or injecting into them. So for our safety, I am tossing them.

Bread: I have a bread maker. I will use up the bread that I bought this week for French toast for family and that is it. Bread has gotten really expensive and the quality has gone down. Have you noticed that both hamburger and hot dog rolls and sesame rolls fall apart when you eat them with your meat? I have also noticed that any kind of bread except fresh from the bakery lasts for weeks. No mold! Why is that? I have found recipes for making hamburg and hot dog rolls so I will make my own.

Personal Care Products: Conditioner, toothpaste and floss( I get plenty of samples from the dentist.), nail polish, and body wash. My hair gets oily when I use conditioner. I use bar soap in the shower and bathtub. It is cheaper and lasts a lot longer. I find Ivory soap and Dove soap to be the best.

Magazines and Books: I can read current magazines at the library. I can borrow books and read them online through my library.

Fast Food: We go out to local restaurants with friends once a month. We can get a meal for just a little bit more than we would pay for fast food and the quality is much better. The fast food restaurants are not going to survive between their high prices, poor quality food, and expecting a tip now. When we are not out with friends we cook at home except for our anniversary and birthdays. The only exception is getting take out Chinese once in a while from our local restaurant.

Energy Drinks: They have gotten so expensive and I have decided they are not that healthy for us.

Some Laundry Products: I haven’t bought dryer sheets in years. We rarely use our dryer. I only buy laundry detergent and Oxyclean. I put a tablespoon of the Oxyclean in each load along with my liquid detergent. Any stains easily come out.

Candles: I always bought scented but I can’t tolerate the smells anymore. We also don’t want Eloise around them.

Movie Tickets: The last time I bought tickets was when Alexa was little and wanted to see a Disney movie. She is 19 now so that was many years ago. There are so many streaming services now that I get free through Spectrum that we don’t need to go out ever for a movie.

Wrapping Paper: I have a huge roll of brown paper that I use that for wrapping gifts.

Cleaning supplies: I still have some left but when they run out I will make my own.

We have quit buying seasoning packets and gravies. We make our own taco and fajita seasonings. Just search online and you can find recipes for almost any that you would buy.

We used to use a lot of paper towels. I replaced them with microfiber cloths. I use about 1-2 rolls a year just to drain bacon.

We have a bidet so we only use about a roll and a half of toilet paper a month. I was thinking about getting a bidet for the guest bathroom but we don’t have enough company during the year to make it worth the price.

That’s enough for today. I have a lot of work to do around here that got neglected while my back was hurting.

What are you no longer buying?

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Every Day

A Little of This and a Little of That

I did just a bit of shopping this week for things that we really needed. I went to Dollar Tree and got 6 shelf stable whole milk and 2 shelf stable chocolate milk for $ 1.25 each. I know this milk has chemicals to preserve it but I don’t feel the pasteurization of regular milk is that great for it either. It tastes just like fresh when chilled. It also keeps a long, long time.

Next I went to Top’s and got tomatoes on the vine for $1.88 lb. One we have already cut into for hamburgers we had one night this week. But there are 4 whole ones left. I spent $ 2.97 for them. FYI: Tomatoes are going to be in short supply this season. 80-90% come from California and they have drought and a lack of water. The ones you are able to get will be very expensive. I have plenty of canned tomatoes of all kinds purchased when they were cheaper. If you don’t and use them, you should stock them now before the prices go higher than they are. If you can grow tomatoes, do it. If I see them at a good price at a farmer’s market or at Niagara Produce, I will buy just to eat fresh for BLT’s. Otherwise, we will go without fresh.

I had to go to Walmart to pick up 2 prescriptions for me. While I was there I browsed the grocery and household sections. I was absolutely shocked at how understocked they were. Their pasta section has shrunk down to one very tiny section. It should be gone by now. Their produce sections looked awful. Half of the shelves in some aisles were empty and fronted. Their candy aisle that usually is one full set of shelves on one side of the aisle had hardly anything. Their vegetable, fruit and canned meat and fish aisles weren’t much better. I have never seen it this bad. Either it is because the Strait of Hormuz is closed, people are worried about shortages, or worried that prices will skyrocket this month and are stocking up. The only things I purchased were in the household goods aisle. I got 2 boxes of 80 kitchen garbage bags for $11.22 each and 2 boxes of 30 gallon 40 ct. black garbage bags for $ 8.97 each. I hated to spend the money but this is one household good I can’t go without and I was down to my last box of each. Our garbage service will not empty your barrel unless everything is bagged. I may pick up a few more this month.

My last stop was Niagara Produce to pick up 2 dozen xtra large eggs for $.99 each. They have already been put in my 5 dozen box in the order that they expire. They also had the 3 count bag of romaine lettuce for $ 3.99.

I did stop at Top’s to get a lb. of Jimmy Dean bacon for $ 4.99 but they had none. So I got a raincheck.

I had a dental appointment earlier in the week and that is when I got all of the groceries. Six months ago when I got a cleaning, it cost me $ 276. This week it was up to $ 293. We have no dental insurance. At least the hygienist gave me a great goodie bag. It had 4 tubes of toothpaste, a toothbrush which I use for household cleaning( we have electric toothbrushes), 2 floss, etc. It has all been added to my stockpile.

While I write this, my dishwasher is running on the quick cycle and it is really full. I will open it to let the dishes air dry. We have been using really cheap paper plates when we can so we don’t have to run it as often. It should make a difference in our bill at least a little bit.

This week I only ran one load of wash and hung most of it to dry.

Our sprinkler system company came to open it up for the season and make sure everything was in good working order and all of the sprinkler heads were adjusted to hit the areas they should. We have no idea what the bill will be because they mail it. It will be interesting to see how much it has gone up.

Today is the deadline that NYS says the counties and towns must post the proposed assessments online that our next school and property taxes are based on. I have been very worried about that because each year they have been majorly raising it. Since we have lost our senior deduction for the school taxes in September, I did not want to see the assessment raised too. I was so happy to see that my assessment was not raised from what it was last year. That gives us a needed break at least for a year.

Besides hamburgers this week, we have had cheeseburger skillet dish with sausage that I had cooked up and put in the freezer, Chinese food, and ham sandwiches. Our breakfasts have been eggs and sausage, cereal with fruit, and English muffins with homemade peach jam.

Now that it is May 1st and I have all of my figures for April, we had extra income in the amount of $ 2644. 25. April was a good month.

How have you guys saved a few bucks this week?

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Every Day

A Large Grocery Haul At Top’s

There were finally some good deals at Top’s yesterday. But it was a struggle to do all I had to do there. They open at 6:00am. However, the bottle return room does not open until 7:00am. So I went up when it got light here because I don’t drive in the dark. That was about 7:10am. The bottle return room has 3 machines. One needed to be emptied so it was not working. Another took glass only and I had no glass. The last one which was working but it was being used. I waited. Finally, I went into the store to go to customer service to get my $ 1.49 overcharge back from the reduced price produce that I purchased last week. Guess what? They weren’t open yet. They don’t open until 8:00am. So I went and did my shopping and then went there last. NY Strip steaks were on sale so I went to get them. They only had 1 package of 4 in the case. So I spied both the store manager and butcher shop manager having a chit chat in the aisle behind me. I went over and asked if someone could get me another package. More waiting while they cut them up! UGH! My day was not starting well. Top’s needs to get it’s act together. Either you are open or you are not open. Three different times is ridiculous and a waste of my energy. When you have to plan these things out, it is ludicrous! I like to go early so that I have less contact with sick people.

Flour was on sale for $ 2.29 for a 5 lb. bag. Since we are making our own bread products, I have been stocking up when I see a great deal! The 2 lbs. of carrots was $2.49 and I used a digital coupon for $.50 making them $1.99. I got a 3 lb. bag of seedless mandarins $ 4.99 minus a $ 2.00 digital coupon = $ 2.99.

Large eggs were on sale for $. 99. I paid that price for 2 of them. However, I had a blockbuster coupon for 1 dozen eggs from a new game that Top’s has. It has replaced the Monopoly game that they used to have. So I paid $ .49 for the third dozen.

I found this package of reduced price Italian sausage for $ 2.54 instead of $3.91. It expires today but I quickly froze it yesterday.

Sour cream was on sale for 2/$5.00. We were low so I purchased 2. The butter was on sale for the lowest price that I have seen here in almost 3 years. I got 8 lbs. for $ 2.50 each. They also gave me a coupon for $ .50 off one so I got all 8 for $ 19.50. They have been added to my stash in the freezer. I got another package of reduced for quick sale Italian sausage for $ 2.45. The 2 lb. container of fresh strawberries was $ 6.99 minus $ 1.00 digital coupon = $ 5.99. They have been cleaned and cut up for dessert and snacks this week.

The NY strip steaks were on sale for $ 11.99 a lb. so I paid $73.14 for them. I ended up with 8 steaks which I have repackaged into food saver bags. We grill 2 when we want them and it gives us a dinner and a brunch. We will be using leftover macaroni bacon goulash for dinner again tonight. But we will grill 2 steaks tomorrow night so that we can see if they are tender or not. You never know! If they are tender, I will be going back to buy a few more packages. I have a lot of money in my grocery budget leftover from the lst couple of months because I have been trying to eat from our pantry as much as possible and buying mostly loss leaders that we needed. That way we can afford beef when it is on loss leader. My total for everything today was $ 117.15 after they deducted my $ 2.35 bottle return slip.

I have shopped loss leaders for almost 59 years. I am really concentrating hard on them now. Prices are just too darn high to buy anything at full price. We eat what we have stocked at the best prices. We live in NY and food prices are high because we live in the Buffalo area. Buffalo is the second largest city in NY after NYC. Food is not cheap here. But you plan and work with what you know to be a good deal for you.

Perhaps you can guess what my topic will be tomorrow after this post today. See you then.

Did you get any great deals this week?

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Every Day

I Have A New Schedule And Some Cost Cutting

As I age I do not have the energy I used to have when I was young. Lately it is getting harder and harder to get things done. So starting today, I have put myself on a new schedule. I will spend one hour a day cleaning or organizing and one hour a day cutting costs. This does not include doing dishes or laundry. If I have more stamina on a particular day, I will up that to two hours. When I have appointments or errands to run, I will limit that to two and a half hours one day a week. Meals will only take 30 minutes per day hands on time. Laundry will be done once a week.

Hubby got up with Eloise at 2:30am this morning and I was able to sleep until 6:30am which gave me 8 hours. What a difference when I can get good sleep.

After making my coffee, I immediately started making my homemade fajita mix. I used my last two packets when I made a double meal of fajitas on Saturday night. I have made homemade before and will make it permanently from now on. It is so much cheaper than buying the packets. I had all the spices I needed to do it. Most of my spices I buy at Aldi’s, Walmart, or B/J.s. They have the cheapest prices for me. I used this recipe: https://therecipecritic.com/fajita-seasoning/ . I made 6 times this recipe. I skipped the sugar in my seasoning. I filled my spice jar and put the rest in storage for the next time it needs to be filled. When I use it, if it is too thin, I will use a little arrowroot powder to thicken it.

I made my brunch and dinner plans for today. I took two containers of homemade turkey soup out of the freezer to thaw for brunch. Dinner will be an egg roll each and 1/2 of this Tai Pei Spicy General Tso’s chicken for each of us. If I decide that it is not enough food for us, I will make some scrambled eggs too. I am trying to use up any meals in the freezer whether they be homemade or store bought convenience foods.

This morning as I checked my e-mails, I got reminded by my electric and gas company that they will read our meters on 2/18/2026. Oh I can’t wait to see how much they charge me for the data centers this month to help the billionaires. BTW, I found out that 25% of the delivery charges on my bill in NYS goes to the state to help pay for HEAP and EAP for low income people. They should actually show what it pays for instead of trying to bury it in the delivery charges. You should all find out if your state does this too.

I have all of our blankets and sheets in the washer and dryer right now. I did not have enough energy to do them yesterday. Hubby is going to flip and turn our mattresses in a bit and then the beds will get made when all of the bedding is dry.

Only winter clothes that fit me are in my closet now after putting the spring and outgrown clothes in a separate closet. Medical supplies that I keep in shoe boxes on the shelves have been sorted and put in by date to use the oldest first.

I dropped my hairbrush today on the tile floor in our master bath and it broke in two. A replacement like it is hard to find. So Hubby has super glued the handle. We will let it set overnight and then see how long it lasts.

The beds are now all put together. I will start dinner around 4-4:30pm. My sister will be calling me tonight. So that’s it for today.

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Every Day

Frugal Things The Past Few Days

Let me start off by telling you that we had extra income in the month of January of $1160. I was thrilled because I was going to put it towards the $3000. that we thought we were going to have to spend from our emergency fund. However, it turned out that what broke was under warranty so I got it replaced for free because of that. I just had a nominal charge of $99. I was very relieved! That additional income has now been put into investments.

I have been trying to catch up laundry lately. My back has been giving me issues so I had three loads that needed to be done. Because I am organizing and cleaning the house, there has been extra things to wash like blankets, a shower curtain(guest bathroom), and various throw rugs besides the weekly sheets and our clothing. I washed it all on the Eco wash using cold water. But I used our dryer for most of it because it is too hard to hang to dry. I did use the Eco cycle with my wool balls. Only the clothing got hung to dry.

Two rebates totaling $20. were mailed. I have also been scanning receipts into Fetch. I bought some household cleaners online from Walmart that gave me $6.00 in cash back.

Hubby paid the company who does our lawn fertilizing for this coming season early. He did that because they gave us 3% off the total cost.

Our alarm monitoring company also offered us 3% off if we paid the bill 1 year in advance so Hubby paid that also.

Hubby and West drink Zero Sugar Fanta Orange soda. I have now gotten ten 12 packs for about $4.16 each on a B2G3 sale. That should last them quite a while.

I got another dozen of Xtra large eggs at Niagara Produce for $.99 yesterday on the way home from an appointment. This is the last week of the sale. I just wanted to make sure that my 5 dozen container of eggs was full. They also have had butter on sale for $ 2.99. I had bought all of our butter for the year at Thanksgiving time for $ 3.49 each. But I am replacing what I am using up at this new low price. So each time I go there I will pick up one pound.

I have our two extra bedrooms heat registers closed and the doors shut. There is a cloth snake in front of each door. There are also two other snakes in front of our two basement doors. A large rolled up towel is in front of our main door into the house. We have only been using the garage door to leave the house. With this cold weather and the wind chills at -30 here last Saturday, we have not been going out except when we have appointments and can run errands at the same time.

We have been making meals at home. Brunch has been salmon, bacon, ham, or sausage with scrambled eggs. Dinner has been egg rolls, chicken pattie sandwiches, hamburgers, Chef’s salads, rib eye pork chops, and soup. When I am busy organizing and cleaning, I do easy meals. The homemade soup is in portions in the freezer so it is easy to just thaw and microwave. However this week or next(when it warms up outside), we will be going out to the brewery for a meal. We have not been there since my son was visiting at Thanksgiving and we love their food and beer.

We filled up our car with gasoline using Top’s points that gave us $.30 off per gallon. The car was almost empty and I don’t like it when that happens in the winter.

I did our Federal and State taxes early this year and received a nice refund from the Feds because of the extra $12,000. deduction for seniors. That gave us back about $1,000. more than we would have gotten.

What frugal things have you been doing? Please share with all of us.

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Every Day

Cutting Costs

My son and grandson came for breakfast this morning. I momentarily thought about taking all of us out for breakfast at Kalamata’s but I decided I did not want to spend $80.-$90. with tip. So I cooked eggs, pancakes, French toast, and sausage from our stockpile this morning. I can get a lot of sale items for the cost of that meal out.

When Hubby fixed our sink, I did not have the strength to help him tighten one part. It is no longer leaking but we needed the piece tightened. My son helped his Dad do it today.

Also I have not been able to download pictures so that I can put them on the blog. He tried to fix it today and we thought it was. But I went on to test it after he went home and it is not fixed. From researching I believe that I need to uninstall one drive and then reinstall it. I will work on that tomorrow.

I took my 3 minute Navy shower this morning. The water was cold coming out of the ground and it took forever to warm up.

After I got dressed, I grabbed the laundry basket and put a load in the washer. I am washing with cold water and minimal detergent. I hung it to dry after my son and West left.

We played a dice game after breakfast.

Dinner tonight was turkey club sandwiches. Hubby loves them and I had all the fixings. I cooked the bacon up early this afternoon.

Early this morning I vacuumed the house all except the great room carpeting. Hubby did that last night for me. When I was done, my back was hurting so I took some Advil and rested it for a bit while the pills starting working.

Tonight, I will check the ad for Top’s that starts tommorow. Anything on sale that I might buy, I will check the price against Walmart’s. I looked at the Aldi’s ad and there was nothing that interested me. I am hoping that Top’s has Zero Sugar Fanta on sale. I like to stay stocked on it for West and Hubby. They both love it. I refuse to pay $ 8.64 for a 12 pack at Walmart. I won’t shop Top’s until Tuesday because that is Senior 6% off discount day.

My plan for groceries is to buy the great sales and ignore everything else. So very little money will leave our pockets in February. I will continue to eat as much as possible in our stockpile. I always check my freezer, pantry, and fridge to see what meals I can make with what I have in stock.

This will be a non consuming year as much as possible. We will use up what we have that we already spent money on.

So what did you do to save money today?

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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!