Tag: cutting costs

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Cutting Costs

When we moved here almost 16 years ago, we had energy saving fabric pleated shades installed on the majority of our windows in our home. They are warranteed for life. The shades have held up well with the exception of the pulls that slip onto the bottom of the shades. They are cheap plastic and break every few years. It has been happening again recently. Hubby called the company again and asked them to send us more pulls for the shades. The company sends them everytime we call and knows what colors we need to match the shades because they keep the original order. This has been a company who has stood by their warranty. If we ever move, we would do business with them again.

I finally got out to do some errands. The first few days this week it just kept snowing and I just did not want to deal with it. Spring can’t come fast enough this year. I am so done with the snow and cold. I returned two more bags of bottles for the deposits. I received $ 3.25 which I used to defray a few things that I picked up while I was there. I purchased a package of coleslaw mix that was on sale for $ 2.50 and 5 Royal Zero Sugar Gelatin that were on sale for $1.00 each. So after the bottle deposit slip, I paid $ 4.25 OOP. Next I went to Aldi’s and purchased 3 French Baguettes for $1.85 each and a Corned Beef Point Cut on sale for $ 3.49 a lb. that cost me $12.11. My total was $ 17.66. I don’t know if I will see the corned beef any cheaper because of how high beef prices are. But if I do I will purchase 2 more. At least I have 1 for St. Patrick’s day and for some reubens. Two of the baguettes I put in the freezer for meals in the future.

Hubby used the Eco snow shovel to clear our walk and porch yesterday. This little shovel has worked well for us. The snowplow guy was here to clear the driveway at about 4:30am yesterday also.

Yesterday we had homemade muffins for breakfast and some yogurt. Dinner last night was chicken with some leftover broccoli. I am thinking I will roast a turkey this weekend so I will be thawing the $.50 a lb. one that I purchased after the holidays. Tonight we will have hamburgers and fries. I have fresh mushrooms that need to be used up so they will top my burger along with some swiss cheese. Hubby will carmelize some onions to top his.

My son, who lives in the Adirondacks, called us yesterday so we had a nice chat. His business is flourishing right now which is a great thing and we are happy for him. He got his internet company to cut his bill by just giving them a quick call. That has reminded me to do the same thing. So that is on my agenda for this week.

Today will be my laundry day this week. As usual it will be cold water wash and hang to dry.

Tomorrow, I will post about all of my bills that are increasing. UGH!

Did you do anything to save money that you could share? We can all learn from each other.

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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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Be Very Careful If You or Someone You Know is Relying on Credit

Disclaimer: You know I hate outstanding credit. I have spoken about it many times. However today I will talk about something that you should know.

The banks and credit unions have been cutting way back on lending due to the economy. Too many people are filing for bankruptcy. Too many people are only paying the minimum balances. Interest rates on credit cards have skyrocketed. The banks have been limiting the amount you can borrow on your cards and in some cases they have cut the cards off entirely. The days of no interest for so many months is just about non-existent.

I see all over You Tube and elswehere online that people are buying their food with these cards. Why are they not using the food banks if money is so tight that they can’t buy food? I am even seeing people buy food with Buy Now Pay Later or taking a Payday loan. They are the worst loans ever. It is almost umpossible to get out from under them.

Do I like the fact that these people have put themselves in this position? No, I don’t but neither do I want to see their families starve! Parents are just eating one meal a day so that they can feed their children.

Credit cards became too easy to get and so many people have a wallet full of them. I can’t tell you how many times I have been at the grocery store and had someone in line in front of me have many cards declined. They just keep trying each card until one of them works or they have to leave without their food. If they are capable of working, why aren’t they getting a second part time job? I have paid for seniors who are in their 70’s and 80’s and have had this happen. I will pay if their bill is under $50. and they are buying basic food. I will not pay for junk. I have relatives who live on Social Security and I know how hard it is to do. It is a shame that so many seniors are in this position. Why are they in this position? I guess they didn’t save any money or they were in such a low paying job that they could only pay their basic expenses or they spent their money before they got it so lived on credit their entire lives so they were never able to get ahead. But I do not want them to go hungry.

It is a shame in this country that so many people are stealing their food(one of the many reasons food costs are going up) or going hungry. But it is not going to get any better any time soon. I have told you before that during the Carter administration when we had such high inflation that it took almost 10 years for the prices to come down and the prices never came down to what they were. I had small chidren when this happened. We lived on one income. Food was expensive. I made our $80. a month budget work to pay for food, toiletries, cleaning supplies and toilet paper. I bought all scratch food with the exception of baby food. I would buy a few jars but then my FIL started filling up a closet full of baby food for us. He owned a business up the road from us and he would stop on the way home with those gifts. I never asked him to but he would even come in if I wasn’t home(he had a key) and put the food away in the closet. Then I would come home and find more baby food. This is why I pay it forward even today. I would stretch meat in everything and do some meatless meals each week. Every penny was stretched on everything. I washed diapers and hung them to dry. I only purchased disposables to use when we went out and I purchased them cheap at a warehouse club called GEX. We were frugal from day one of our marriage. I always have paid cash for food unless I order online and that bill is paid when it comes each month.

So I think most people could afford their food if they just stuck to the basics and did everything they can to make it stretch. Don’t put food on credit cards. Buy what you can afford or go to the food banks. And then stretch that food farther than you ever thought it could stretch.

Sorry I’ve rambled but people need to know that their credit cards may get cut off. Then you will have a real emergency. The banks can’t keep losing money or they will go belly up. So start putting a few dollars away for that emergency.

Do what you can to stay afloat but stop using credit. Get yourself out of debt even if you can only pay a few extra dollars above the minimum each month. Remember every dollar counts! Don’t wait until the banks force you into having no credit. You will ruin your credit rating also and that will affect buying a home or even getting a car loan.

I know I am probably talking to the choir but I do have some new people on here that may need to hear this. Also feel free to link this blogpost to someone who may need a wakeup call on this.

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A Little Of This And A Little Of That

It has been a snowy week. I hope all of you who experienced this storm are safe and warm. Snow is relatively easy to deal with but my heart goes out to the people that got freezing rain and have lost their power. I hope it gets restored quickly.

We had another leak under our sink in the kitchen. Hubby found and repaired it quickly. I am so glad that we didn’t have to wait for a plumber to come out. Hubby can repair just about everything. It cost us under $ 14.25 to fix it. A plumber would have cost over $100.

We had quick meals the last few days. I made homemade cheese and pepperoni pizza. We froze the leftovers for another day. Last night, I grabbed two partial packages of food from the freezer that I wanted to use up. They were chicken and vegetable potstickers and chicken nuggets. I boiled the potstickers on my gas stove. The nuggets got air fried in the little countertop oven. They were all done in about 8 minutes. There are some chicken nuggets leftover that I will reheat to go with eggs for brunch later today. We have been eating a lot of eggs for brunches. We love starting the day with protein. I think I will hard boil some eggs in my pressure cooker later today. They make a quick breakfast and an easy snack. Over the weekend, I made an apple crisp using canned apple pie filling and I made the topping from scratch: four, oats, sugar, and cinnamon.

I had purchased Hubby 2 long sleeved T-shirts last month from Walmart last month. He loves them for sleeping. So he asked me yesterday to buy him two more. The total for both was $19.65. I used a $10.39 debit card from the Walmart class action suit and a $10.00 Walmart giftcard earned from Micosoft to pay for it.

I will not be going anywhere today and tomorrow. It is just too cold. Hubby does have an appointment today. He offered to take me to lunch afterward. I told him I am not up to going out in this cold. I will get some things done here while he is out. Then I will make us turkey sandwiches when he gets home.

This month quickly became a very spendy month. Besides our property taxes that we paid which I talked about in another post, Hubby needed a new hearing aid which cost us $3150. that we had to pay upfront. Our health plan will reimburse us for about 1/2 of that cost.

Besides our monthly bills, we also paid for our lawn fertilization for this upcoming season. That was almost $500. and that was after a 3% discount for paying early.

The only groceries we purchased this month was the ground beef which was on sale for $3.99 a lb. and 3 dozen eggs that were $.99 each for a total of $ 29.10. So I think we did well!

I am tracking every penny of our income and expenses monthly to see where we can plug some holes. That is why I am excited about even saving that $19.65 on those shirts. Every penny counts!

We now have a very unexpected bill that came up for almost $ 3,000. We will have to take that money from our emergency fund next week to pay for something that is very necessary. Thank God we have a very well funded emergency fund. However, I will be cutting every penny to replace that money back into our emergency fund. I am very uncomfortable when I have to take money out of there.

So you will see many posts about how I will cut to get that money quickly saved up. This year has not started out well except for the pantry challenge.

Are you trying to cut costs? Tell us about it.

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Cutting Costs The Best We Can

We are doing the best we can around here to cut costs and save some money.

I had planned on getting our Birthday and Christmas cash out of the bank this week so that we would be prepared to give it to family as a gift. We have 2 birthdays coming up in November besides Christmas in December. However, I was able to take $400. less out than I had planned on. NYS sent out rebate checks and we got one. The checks are taxable so people will lose a portion of it to those. I bought the birthday cards at $ Tree instead of paying an outrageous amount for them elsewhere.

We have been eating from our stockpile. We have had cheeseburgers, chicken parmesan, steak, and chicken patty sandwiches. I had not made chicken parm in over a year and Hubby loves it. So I made enough for 2 nights.

I got a $3.00 rebate in the mail.

The cans and bottles had piled up in our garage while I was dealing with my heart issues. I finally returned them. The deposit for each is $.05 each. But our local Consumers Beverage put out a coupon to get $.06 per bottle if you spent $ 10. in their store. I was down to just 1 bottle of Michelob Ultra Beer and this is what my family drinks when they visit so I bought a 24 pack. They have the best price here. Then I submitted for a $7.00 rebate online. I also got back $ 19.98 in bottle deposits.

I took a 2 ounce bottle and made wound care spray that we needed. You just mix 1 oz. of hydrogen peroxide and 1 oz. of water. It works great.

We needed drain cleaner and I do not like the toxicity nor the price of the store bought ones. So I made a solution to unclog one of our bathroom sinks. It is 3 oz. of Dawn dishwasher soap, 1 tbsp. of salt, and 4 oz. of vinegar. Let it sit in the drain for a few hours then rinse down with hot water.

Pictured above are two cases of canned fried apples with cinnamon that I purchased at Aldi’s. They have the cheapest price in my area. They were $ 1.99 a can. I bought a case last year around Thanksgiving(don’t see them any other time of year) and I am down to one can. Hubby really loves these so he asked me to get 2 cases this year. We love them as a side when we have our ribeye pork chops. We now have enough pork chops in the freezer to eat them and the apples twice a month for the next year. The apples best buy date was April 2028.

You all know how frustrated I am with our electric and natural gas bills. Now that we have the smart meter, the company gives us information on what we are using but it is always two days old. So on the advice of a friend, I am keeping a dated spreadsheet of when I turn on an appliance, take a shower, etc. Then I can go back and see what is causing the highest spikes in our power.

In the evenings now, I am reading myself to sleep instead of watching TV. I have so many books in the house that I want to reread and then donate. It is a slow process because I am so tired at night since I usually am the one who gets up early with Eloise.

We are making no impulse purchases. They are all intentional and we research the best prices. Hubby has needed a nice desk chair for a couple of years now. The one he has, he says is not comfortable. I like his chair so I am stealing it for my desk. Finally, I found exactly everything he wanted in a chair at Walmart the other day. It has been difficult because he is fussy about what he wants. Not only is it perfect for him but it was on sale for $ 80.00 off. We paid $ 89.99+tax. Here it is: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Coolhut-Big-and-Tall-Office-Chair-500LBS-Wide-Seat-Ergonomic-Computer-Desk-Chair-High-Back-Executive-Leather-Chair/5250574665

I had cash back from a couple of food purchases so that took the price down a few dollars less. It is coming in a couple of days and he is happy.

I have been setting aside $40. a month for produce purchases.

I scanned my recent receipts into Fetch. I just ordered a $10.00 Chewy gift card which will help defray her food costs. I have finally switched her over to dry cat food. She has been eating dry kitten food so that I could use a big bag up. My friend, Chris, who is a reader told me to mix the last bit of food with the new food. I did. At first, she turned her nose up at it. But I figured if she got hungry enough she would eat it. She is and is now loving it.

How have you people been cutting your costs?

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Things We Have Done To Cut Costs The Last Half Of September

We had our winter tune up for our furnace. The company quoted us $69. when we booked the appointment. When the service man finished the tune up, he said that would be $79. Hubby mentioned that we were quoted $ 69. He kept the e-mail that quoted us the $ 69. The serviceman called the office and they said to charge us the $69. If we hadn’t saved that e-mail, we would have had to pay the $ 79. We kept that $10.00 in our wallet. The serviceman asked if he could put a Buffalo Bills sign in our yard. The company is a sponsor of the Bills. We said yes. It is a nice sign and we are happy he put it there.

I refilled the waters and snacks that I keep in the car so I am not tempted to get takeout if I get hungry when I am out running errands.

I mailed in rebates totaling $ 18.00.

I got all those free things that you saw in my post from Walmart and manufacturers at the Grand Opening.

I scanned the rest of the month’s receipts into Fetch.

Hubby’s keyboard died. He purchased one that was marked down from $99.99 to $ 22.99. I clipped an additional $5.00 coupon. So we paid $ 17.99 and shipping was free.

I signed up for ShopKick using a friend’s code so that she would get a bonus. I don’t know if I will do it or not yet. It sounds like a lot of work.

I sewed on the buttons on my winter coat so they wouldn’t come loose while it is out being dry cleaned.

I continue to can on sale chicken to put on my shelves. Soup season is coming.

We do not have our furnace on yet. It had been pretty warm here for this time of year. The warmth will last at least through Sunday.

I was worried about 2 of the heart tests that my cardiologist ordered me to have done in August. I wasn’t sure what they would cost after insurance. We were thinking it would be about $200. The bill came today and it was $48. That was a nice surprise.

I used credit card points to get $100. cash back credited to my card on next month’s bill.

That was all. What have you been doing to cut costs?

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Every Day

A Small Grocery Haul and Some Cost Cutting

I missed a great deal when I went to Top’s this week. I don’t know how I did that. Since I had to take a bag of bottles back and drop off a prescription drug at the drop box at the pharmacy to safely dispose of it, I went up early this morning. No one is ever at the bottle return room when I go at 7am.

They had a pork shoulder on sale for $ 1.49 a lb. However, if you used the Super Coupon, it was reduced to $ .99 a lb. At the sale price, it was reduced to $ 15.57 for a 10.445 lb. roast. Using the Super Coupon, I paid $10.34.

They also had corn today so I purchased 4 ears at $ .39 each. I am saving my raincheck to use when our local corn is ready. I surprised Hubby with his favorite ice cream which he eats sparingly because he is a diabetic. Perry’s had his MintTingALing on sale for $4.00. So my total for all 3 items was $ 15.90. I had saved up the receipts for our last 3 trips to the bottle return. They totaled $ 14.75 and I had them taken off my bill, so I paid $ 1.15 OOP.

I am planning on cooking the pork shoulder in the crockpot outdoors tomorrow. I will shred up the meat and add BBQ sauce. We will have BBQ sandwiches for a couple of days and the rest I will freeze in portions for future sandwiches.

Tonight, we are grilling hot dogs and we will each eat one corn on the cob for dinner. The other ears of corn will be eaten tomorrow night.

I transferred some money from our checking account to our high yield savings account. The next time I go to the bank I will open another share certificate to get much higher interest.

We always use our credit cards to get the best rewards back on different items that they give cash back for. I spent some time yesterday refreshing my memory on those.

I have been researching the best price on tissues because we are down to our last few boxes. It looks like $ Tree has the best price( $.007) per tissue when you buy the 175 count box for $ 1.25. I have not yet researched Sams Club and B. J’s.

Hubby and I have been discussing dropping collision on our car. We just renewed so we have plenty of time to think about it before it renews again next March. Right now, the SUV is only worth $7,000.

I am back to using cloth napkins as I run out of paper ones.

We are trying to only make 3-4 meals a week with enough leftovers to easily make 7 or to just make a meatless pasta salad for a couple of meals.

Every time I go into Top’s, I see a line of people getting coffee. It always amazes me that people will spend a fortune for a cup of coffee there. I just make mine at home and take it with me. All the money that is saved by doing that goes straight into investments and savings that give me passive income.

I will be cancelling my Peacock subscription next week. I got it for about $19. a year ago on a deal and did not plan on paying a fortune for it to renew. However, now my cable company has added Peacock, Disney, Max, Paramount which I already have via my Walmart + membership, VIX premium and AMC +, all for free to our plan.

We always try to repair items instead of replacing them. I have a Shark handheld vacuum that I love. It would not turn on for more than 3 minutes after charging it so we thought the battery was dead. We were about to throw it out. But I decided to take it apart to see if I could fix it. The reusable filter was really dirty. .I didn’t even know that it had a filter. Hubby used to always take care of these kinds of things but he didn’t seem to know why it wouldn’t work. I cleaned the filter and took the whole thing apart and cleaned everything really well. I left it apart to dry overnight and now it is working just like it is new. That saved me spending $ 89.99 for a new one.

I got $ 2.25 cash back on a small delivery order from Walmart. I will use it the same as cash on my next order. I like to do the cash back on items that we use because it helps pay the tip.

My dentist appointment a couple of weeks ago reminded me that we never pay for toothpaste or floss. Our hygienist gives us samples of Crest Gum toothpaste and many different kinds of floss at our appointments. Hubby has an appointment coming up so there will be more. If we run out before we go again, I look for a $1.00 off coupon for an on sale $.99 tube.

I changed the filter in our A/C today to get ready for when we need the A/C.

That’s it for today. I hope you are having a frugal money saving day.

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Every Day

A Little of This and a Little of That

I needed some food for Eloise so I planned on placing an order with Chewy. To my surprise when I went online to do that they had a deal where if you ordered $100. worth of products, you got a $30. gift card for your next order. I stocked up and the $30. gift card will get used when I need something more for her. I also used autoship so I got 10% off my order.

Hubby needed a new wallet. His was at least 15 years old and falling apart. We found him a new one that he absolutely loves for $15.99 marked down from $ 34.99. However, it is now marked down to $12.99 if anyone is in need. It is here https://www.walmart.com/ip/Aursear-Wallet-for-Men-Slim-Genuine-Leather-Mens-Wallet-RFID-Blocking-Credit-Card-Holder-with-Money-Clip/1189202732

We have been keeping all lights off in the daylight hours. I just turned the heat off because I am tired of the high utility bills. It is chilly in here but we have put sweatshirts on. We are trying to cook most of our dinners on the outside grill. Today I will use the washer to do a load of clothes in cold water with minimal detergent. They will get hung to dry. I have been washing the dishes in a dishpan in the sink to save on water. I am not using the dishwasher to see if that saves on the electric bill.

I made turkey club sandwiches for dinner last night. I cooked the entire package of bacon so that we have some to go with eggs for brunch today. We will have lasagna for dinner tonight. The small oven we will bake it in will help take the chill out of the house.

I did a bit of grocery shopping yesterday. At Aldi’s I bought 2 – l lb. packages of fresh strawberries for $ 1.69 a lb. I also purchased a package of brioche hot dog buns to go with some hot dogs that I already have in the freezer. They were $ 2.49. For the first time in a long time, I found some red stickers in the meat dept. They were breakfast sausages with $1.00 off stickers. So I got 2 packages for $ .98 each. I am always on the hunt for meat for our family Sunday breakfasts. All purchases were cheaper than Walmart, my other cheap store.

Then I went to Top’s. After I got rid of some old prescriptions that we were no longer using at the lock box in the pharmacy, I did a bit of shopping. I purchased a large onion at $.99 a lb. for a total of $ 1.28, a Free carton of Top’s ice cream with a coupon ($ 4.29) they sent me, used my raincheck to get another large package of BS chicken breasts for $ 1.99 a lb. for a total of $ 10.27( one package of the three I got this week is pictured above), 3 packages of Fresh Express Salad Kits for $ 3.00 each, 1.75 lbs. of tomatoes at $1.88 a lb. for a total of $ 3.29, 1 lb. of Ronzoni elbow macaroni for $ .99, and 9 cans of Mary Kitchen corned beef hash at $ 3.99 each minus $ .75/1 coupons that doubled to $ 1.50 each for a total of $22.41. My total for all came to $ 51.53. Then she took off my $5.00/50.00 coupon that Top’s sent me for a total of $ 46.53 and the $4.29 coupon for the ice cream for a total of $ 42.24. Hubby loves the corned beef hash so I stocked for him. The coupons were from prior cans that had them. The ones I got also had the coupons on them so I will be stocking more. I rarely buy the salad kits but these were a better price than I have seen in a long time. They will make dinners easy this week while I catch up all the work that didn’t get done while I was dealing with my sciatica.

I am off to pay some bills. Did any of you save a little bit of money this week? Please share with all of us.

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Every Day

Spending As Little As Possible

Our Top’s had BS chicken breasts on sale this week. I had just inventoried the freezer last weekend with some help. Lots of beef and pork but very little chicken which surprised me. I guess we had been eating it up faster than I thought. So my intent was to look for chicken on sale. I did not expect that to happen anytime soon. However, our ad came for this past week last Sunday. There was a super coupon to get a 5-6 lb. package for $1.99 a lb. I don’t shop on weekends so I waited until Monday and they had been wiped out of the chicken on Sunday. So I got a raincheck. They told me they might get a truck in on Tuesday. I had an appointment that took me right past Top’s that day. So I stopped in to see if they had more chicken which they did. But they only had 3 packages so I snagged one. There was a limit of one. Yesterday, Hubby had to go out yesterday so we snagged another one of two that were there. Later in June, I will use the raincheck when things are better stocked. I had not been able to get chicken breasts for this price in years.

So now we are pretty stocked for the summer. Since meat is so expensive, we are weighing out 4 ounces for each of us when we eat it. That is all the protein anyone needs for dinner. Some days we have more if we use a bit of bacon, ham, or sausage for brunch. But not every day! Tonight we will each have 4 ounces of scallops and a tossed salad.

It’s hard to believe that it is Memorial Day weekend already. It has been so cold this spring that we feel like it is still winter. We had to turn our heat back on after only a few days with it off because it is so cold at night. It is still on and it is almost June. It is supposed to warm up this week. I hope so because we are sick of the cold and rain.

We got our electric and natural gas bill this past Thursday. I was in shock when we saw how much is was. It was for 33 days and was 455 KWH and 43.3 therms. For any of you who have noticed, I have been putting the wrong amount for therms on my prior bills. I was using the daily average instead of the monthly therms. Sorry! Last year’s bill for the same time period was only 30 days and was 412 KWH and 37.1 therms. So 3 more days than last year, 43 KWH more and 6.2 more therms. Last year’s bill was $70. less than this year’s. Our latest bill was $ 225.23. I expected this bill to be bigger but not this much bigger. I told Hubby the heat is going off soon no matter how cold it is. He can put on a blanket, sweatshirt or coat. Some of this bill was with the new smart meters and some from the old. I am hoping they get the daily usage up on our account soon. The meter has been in for a while. I stopped in last week at our utility company’s customer service center because I could not get ahold of them by phone to find out when it would be up on their site. The rep told me within the next 2 weeks. I want to be able to watch the usage so that I know what is using the most energy.

Update on my denture repair: It cost $276. and lasted less than 24 hours. So Hubby dropped it off to the dentist this week so it can be repaired again. I hope to get it back midweek next week. But I am leery that it will work this time. My sister is having the same issue. She thinks that they are not making them as good as they used to. Her first denture lasted 22 years. The new one has been repaired twice and she has not had it very long. I believe she may be right. Thank God I have a spare.

With the exception that our landscape service will be coming soon with a new tree for the front yard, I don’t see any major expenses until our September school tax bill. Hubby went down to the nursery to scope out a tree. We have decided on a red maple. So Hubby trusts our landscaper to pick out the largest one he can get that is nicely shaped. Ben gets a better price than we do. My son and Hubby cut down both dead trees last Sunday leaving enough stump for Ben to be able to pull them out with his truck. We have decided not to plant one in the side yard because it a wind tunnel through there and the tree won’t survive like the last one didn’t. So we will have Ben take both stumps out, plant the new one out front, take up the stone that encircled the one on the side, and either he or we will plant grass there.

As you can see by our chicken purchases, we are spending as little as possible. I believe we have enough meat and fish now to last until at least the September Labor Day sales. However if I see chicken again at $ 1.99 a lb. I will buy more. We have enough food that I will only have to shop for fresh dairy and produce. I will be making most of our own bread. The cheap bread in our stores is awful unless I can get Italian from the bakery at a good price at Walmart. And then it doesn’t last long unless I freeze it!

We were craving a take out pizza last night but instead I made a homemade one that was just as good.

I am feeling better so I hope to blog a few more times this week. I hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend. It will be quiet here just the two of us. We will probably grill out a few times weather permitting.

How have you been saving money? Did you buy any great sales this week?

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Every Day

Happy Mother’s Day Tomorrow

I hope you all have a fantastic day! We will be enjoying the day by cooking filet mignon on the grill. That is my favorite meal!

I wish I could be on here more often but my sciatica has been horrid the past month or so. It hurts to sit and stand. Advil is not working for me. So I have been doing a lot of reading lately laying down. I am trying to work through frugality books that I have read before. A special online friend and her husband are coming to visit again this summer. I am making a pile of the books as I read them to see if there are any she would like to take home with her before I donate them to our local library.

Hopefully the pain will go away soon. I have been doing exercises to try to get that to happen. You all know how active I am, so I am hating this! I seriously thought about ending my blog. But if you will be patient, I will continue it when I can and be back to normal soon. Prayers if you are a praying person. I would really appreciate those.

But we have been as frugal as we can right now. I am working on a # of problems. It looks like Mint Mobile is not billing us correctly and QVC put someone else’s charge on our bill. So hopefully I will have that all straightened out this coming week. The one time I went out two weeks ago, I lost my credit card. No one had used it. But I cancelled it and they say it will take 2 weeks for another to arrive. Fortunately, I have another one to use. I did not realize that I had lost it until I went to pay $ 402. for my dental cleaning and X rays at the dentist. That was a week later. I gave the dentist my denture to repair. I had a tooth pop out of it a while ago. But I have a spare, so I waited for my appointment to bring it in to him. The repair will cost $276. when I go to pick it up. UGH!

The other bad thing that affected us this week is Rite Aid is going out of business. So we have been switching every prescription to a new pharmacy. Second time we have had to do this in just a few months. What a pain!

Hubby and I went to our appointment to see the town assessor two weeks ago to dispute the $33,000. raise in our assessment for our home. They had raised us tentatively from $ 470,000. to $503, 000. The assessor agreed with us and they are leaving our assessment at $470,000. We have a letter to show that. We had to sign it and get it back to them. I did that the same day it came in the mail. Of course, we made a copy of it. Also we have qualified finally for a reduction of our assessment because we are old for the school taxes. We have been paying full school taxes since we moved here. So our assessment for school taxes only will be $ 383,900. Needless to say until we get the tax bills I won’t know what we will actually save. But I am happy about all of this!

We have barely had any sales on decent meat in my grocery or warehouse stores. Especially on beef and chicken. So we are working on eating the chicken in our freezers. However last week, Niagara Produce had cowboy steaks on sale for $13.49 a lb. Not a great price but since we have been doing very little shopping, we had money saved up from our grocery budget. I bought 6 for $ 168.00. That will give us some beef to grill along with the filet mignons and strip steaks that we already had. This should give us plenty of beef for the summer. However, I am always looking for those sales.

During the Walmart + benefit week, I was able to fill up our car at $.50 off a gallon. I was also able to get a Free Express order and not pay the extra $10.00 for it. I also used the scan and go and spent $15. on stock up items to get $5.00 Cash back.

We were able to save $4,000. for the month of April. We are slowly getting to our goal. We spent landscaping money to the tune of $1700. which was an extra expense.

That is about it for now. What have you done frugally the past 2 weeks?