Tag: frugal things we do

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Every Day

A Little of This and a Little of That

These are a few of the things that we have been doing to save some money recently:

Hubby took the SUV to get the snow tires put on since we may have some snow coming the end of this week. He went to the garage that was giving 50% off for the changeover.

Hubby went and visited the dentist that he is planning on going to now that our dentist has retired from the practice he sold to. It is only 3.9 miles each way from our home. The old dentist was 10.1 miles each way. That will save us on gasoline. We will pay $ 103. less for a cleaning and exam than we paid at the old one. Hubby has made his appointment for this month. I will not be switching until my denture warranty is up which will be the end of February. Then I will go to the new practice also.

We have been eating up all the leftovers from having company: homemade chili, homemade garlic bread, waldorf coleslaw, ham and cheese sandwiches, and tonight we will make a salad with leftover meat and cheeses.

I purposely made too much rice to put the chili on so that I would have baggies of rice ready to go in the freezer. We ate one baggie when we ate the chili leftovers but we still have 4 more frozen for other meals. They heat up so nicely in the microwave. This is a huge savings of money when you make your own instead of buying those 90 second rice packets. Each of my packets cost about $ .30 vs. $ 2.48 at the market.

Our landscaper called to see if we wanted a Fall cleanup. Hubby said no and has been doing it himself a little at a time. He now has most of the weeds done and the trimming of the bushes done that needed it. That saved us anywhere from $700.- $1700. He just has some rose bushes to cut back and he will be done.

Hubby also mows our lawn himself with the riding lawnmower. This time of year our trees have been dropping leaves. Hubby mulched them most of the time but recently he bagged them with the mower. That is not easy for him but they are almost all down so he should have one more mowing and be done for the year.

Our snowplow guy finally came and put driveway marker stakes up to get ready for this snow plowing season. We were getting concerned that he forgot us and we were thinking about marking it ourselves. They are $ 5.47 each and he did 4 so that saved us some money that we were about to spend.

My son put our snowblower in the garage for us just in case for some reason the snowplow guy can’t get here. The snowplow guy does not do the sidewalk so if we get a lot of snow we can use it. We need to keep that and the porch cleared for deliveries. I checked our ice melt supply and we have enough that it should get us through the winter.

We have decided not to close off the 2 extra bedrooms this winter. After doing some research about cold air returns, we have decided that our furnace won’t work as hard by keeping them open. We had cold air returns put in these 2 rooms when the new furnace was installed last spring. So we will try it this year to see if it makes a difference in our bills. I will keep the blinds, drapes, and energy saving shades closed in those 2 rooms unless the sun is shining into them.

I have a girl’s day out coming up soon with my friend. We will be doing some shopping but I really need nothing so I doubt that I will spend much money except for lunch and perhaps a bottle of wine at the winery.

I have been researching the deals and making my list to go to Top’s this week. There are lots of loss leaders that I will be getting soon to get stocked for a year. I am waiting to go until the day I can get double gasoline points.

That is about it for now. What have you been doing to save some money?

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Every Day

Thanksgiving Sales: Cheapest Time of the Year To Stock on these Products

Turkeys are the cheapest meat right now that you can stockpile for the coming year. The only prices that I have seen in my area so far this year are Butterballs at $ .97 a lb. at Walmart, Shady Brook at $ .84 a lb. at Walmart, and Farmers Choice at Aldi’s starting on Wednesday, Nov. 4th at $ .99 a lb. I have no idea what Top’s or Wegman’s will be. B.J.’s is running a deal for a free turkey if you spend: $150 or more in one transaction between October 31 and November 9, 2026 (in club, in the BJ’s app or on BJs.com) and you get a coupon for a free fresh or frozen Butterball turkey worth up to $25.

I do not need $ 150. worth of food from B.J.’s right now so I will pass on that free turkey. Spending that amount of money just to get the free turkey if you need nothing is a waste of money. I still have 2 turkeys in my freezer from the sales last year. So I will most likely only buy 1 Butterball turkey before Thanksgiving and perhaps 1 when Walmart clearances their turkeys out like they did last year at $ .49 a lb.

Butter should go on sale at Aldi’s or elsewhere soon. I usually buy 30-40 lbs. on these sales. However, I am stocked right now so I do not need to buy any for the next year. I have been buying it when I saw a sale and at B.J.’s where I can get it at $ 2.40 a lb.

Ground sausage rolls will be on sale. I will buy a lot if the price is right because I use it in stuffing all year long and I make patties out of it for our Sunday breakfasts that I cook for my family.

Hams are a priority for us this year. I only bought one last year and that was a mistake. Hubby loves ham and the bean soup I make with the ham bone. I thought they were too expensive last year but they were even more the rest of the year. So whatever the sale is, I will pay it. They slice up so nice on our meat slicer also.

We love the mini hot dogs for dinners and appetizers and my grandson loves them for breakfast so I will get a few of these.

Chicken broth and stock will be on sale. I no longer buy them because I make my own. But if you don’t, they will be a good deal.

Cream soups should go on sale especially the cream of mushroom to make that green bean casserole. I have enough to last us a very long time.

I am in need of cream cheese. I will buy enough for about 6 months. I just keep it the refrigerator. I don’t like the way it freezes. If you are only going to use it cook a recipe, it’s fine.

Egg nog should go on sale. It was expensive last year because of the egg crisis. I am hoping it is cheaper this year. I just buy enough to get us through New Year’s day.

Turkey gravy packets should go on sale. I make my own gravy but sometimes during the year I crave French Fries and gravy. So I pick up about 12 of them.

Stuffing cubes and stove top stuffing should go on sale. The cubes don’t last long so I would watch the expiration date on those. But the stove top stuffing will last so I usually buy 12 for the year. However I have enough right now.

Baking supplies will be at the best prices of the year. I will get enough flour to last a year. White sugar is a great thing to stock for at least a year. It lasts forever as long as you keep it dry. I keep it in an air tight 5 gallon bucket. I just fill up a smaller container to keep in the kitchen. I do need some baking powder this year.

Pie crusts will be on sale. If you don’t like making your own, these freeze well. Frozen pies also go on sale. We do not buy them because we make out own. But if you have the freezer space and like them, knock yourself out.

Dinner rolls and crescent and biscuit rolls should be a good price. I would probably only buy one extra dinner rolls. The crescent rolls I use to wrap the mini hotdogs and then bake them. The biscuits we use for breakfast sandwiches. I get enough so that they don’t expire.

Canned pumpkin lasts a couple of years. I usually buy a case. But this year I have almost a case left so I will skip buying this. We use it to make pies and quick breads.

Canned fried apples will be in the stores. I always get a case of these no matter what the price. We love them as a side with many meals especially with pork.

Canned pineapple will also go on sale. I have plenty this year so I will be buying none. We use it with hams, for a side dish, and to make upside down pineapple cake. I save the juice to make muffins.

Cranberry sauce and cranberries should be very good prices. I buy about 6-8 bags of cranberries and freeze them. I use them to make homemade sauce and to bake muffins. I no longer buy the canned because even if I cook for holidays, no one eats it anymore.

Pie fillings will go on sale. I buy a few cans for crisps and other desserts during the year after my fresh apples run out.

We use condensed milk and evaporated milk. They last about 1 year or even longer if the date is right on the shelf. We use the evaporated milk in recipes and in a pinch if we run out of milk for coffee. Just add equal parts of the evaporated milk and water. It is fine for baking. The condensed gets used to make fudge. I have enough of each.

Pickles and olives will be cheaper so I buy enough for one year.

Frozen veggies have good sales. If broccoli is one of them, I buy 12 to last us 1 year.

Potatoes, sweet potatoes, and onions are good prices this time of year. If you have the space to keep them cool, dry, and in the dark, they should last until March. Take them out of those plastic bags though because they will not last in those. Put them in a box or basket where the air can flow and cover the top with a towel. Look at them every week to make sure that nothing is rotting. Just one will kill the others. Any signs of of rot, throw that one out. Basements and garages work well as long as your garage does not freeze. I have always wanted a root cellar but I have never had one.

Canned corn and green beans you can get on sale for about $ .50 a can. I have plenty for soups and meals.

Celery will be cheap. Get what you can use before it goes bad. Take it out of the plastic and wrap it in foil. It keeps a lot longer. If it goes limp, it just needs a drink. So put it in a glass of water and it will come right back.

Hubby and I love those crispy onions so I make sure to have about 6 cans of them. We put them on our hamburgers when we don’t feel like sauteing fresh onions. They will be on sale at the lowest price all year because of that green bean casserole.

Chex mixes and all kinds of nuts will go on sale because of people making party mix. I don’t need the Chex mixes because I already bought them. The sooner you get them, the better because they go out of stock here the closer to the holidays it gets. We buy our mixed nuts for the party mixes we make. We also buy all of the pecans, sliced almonds, and walnuts we need for a year and freeze them. They have oil in them and they will go rancid on the shelf.

Beverages and beer should be on sale also. We have plenty left from Hubby’s birthday party.

That is all I can think of right now. If you would like to add something to the list leave a comment.

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Every Day

Winter, Bills, and Savings

Yesterday we got our $200. check from Governor Hochul to help pay our electric bills over the winter. Yup, it says that wording on it. Every person who filed taxes got some amount of a check depending on whether you were married or not and you qualified with your income. It makes no sense to me. A single person most likely didn’t qualify because their income was too high. They still have to heat their homes just like the rest of us. We got $100. for each of us. You think it is a bribe because she is up for election and she has been the one to raise all our bills because of her green energy program? Would she do that? Perhaps it was really based on how many votes were in the household. Just saying!

I got our electric and gas bill today for the past 29 days. It was $ 168.79. We used 410 kwh’s of electric and 32 ccf’s of natural gas. Not too bad considering we had company so extra showers were being taken. Out heat has pretty much been on the entire billing month too. Last year’s bill was $164.84 for 425 kwh’s and a little less ccf’s. So this bill was only $ 3.95 more. I suppose I could pay it with the $ 200. check. But we budget for such expenses so we already have the money to pay it. Since we have another check to deposit at the bank for $21.98, I will just deposit the $200. one also into our savings accounts.

This is going to be a savings winter. We will be concentrating hard on doing that. Not only do we want to keep our electric and gas bill down but we want to save every penny we can. It is the best time of the year for us to do that because we stay inside more often. We also don’t have landscaping and fertilizer bills nor do we have sprinkler system maintenance bills or high water bills which cost quite a bit of money for the spring and summer. We have already paid our snow plow guy for the winter. With the price of gasoline, I expected that that bill would go up quite a bit. But he only raised it by $25. for the entire season. $ 525. for the winter plowing is a bargain especially here on the Buffalo area. Plus he does a great job even coming back multiple times during the day when it is snowing all day.

We have a few birthdays coming up and Christmas which will cost for gifts but that money has already been set aside.

We are pretty well stocked for meals for the winter. About the only meat I will buy for dinners are turkeys, whole chickens, and any beef that I deem a rock bottom price. BTW, I saw Butterball turkeys for $ .97 a lb. and Shadybrook turkeys for $ .84 a lb. on sale here at Walmart. So I will get a couple once I know what other store prices are. I don’t expect the beef prices to go down very often. I will also buy bacon and sausage on loss leader when I need it to cook for most of our Sunday breakfasts here with family. Kalamata’s will have to be a special treat and will not happen often. It costs us about $100. including tip for breakfast now for the 4 of us.

Not this coming weekend but the following weekend, our son will get the snow tires down from the ceiling so that Hubby can get them changed over at the garage we use. He will also help us put away the patio furniture. I am also hoping he will have time to change out all of our smoke alarm batteries too before he goes home to watch the Buffalo Bills game. He does so much for us and we are grateful.

BTW, I think I just had my last dental appointment at the expensive dentist. My denture is still under warranty until the end of February. My next appointment won’t be until April. I will start with the new dentist then. Hubby will be starting next month. However, I told them on this last appt. no X-rays or fluoride. Those things will be covered under the new plan at the new dentist. They would have cost me over $200. last week. The new dentist is close to my home so there will be a big gasoline savings too.

That’s it for today. Organizing work is calling my name. I will do that after I make eggs on toast for breakfast.

How are you going to save this winter?

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Every Day

Grocery Haul, etc.

After a dentist appointment last week, I went to BJ’s because it was right down the street. I purchased 2 more rotisserie chickens for $ 4.99 each and 4 lbs. of butter for $9.59 which worked out to about $ 2.40 a lb. That is the cheapest price I have seen in my area in a couple of years.

I also picked up a 32 oz. block of cheddar cheese for $ 7.79 which is about $ 1.95 for 8 oz. That is a rock bottom price here for good cheese. I shrink wrapped half of it and that is in my refrigerator for snacks. The other half has been shredded and put in the freezer to top casseroles or for tacos. I mix in just a tiny bit of cornstarch before I freeze it to keep the shreds from sticking together. This is healther than the cellulose they put in shredded cheese that you buy at the grocery store.

As you can see on my receipt, I also purchased 10 lbs. of 90% lean ground beef for $ 32.90. They had a limit of 2- 10 lb. packages of ground beef on this 42% off sale. I had already purchased one of the 80/20 the week before I got this. So I have reached my limit. I put the beef in the fridge before I took this picture to keep it cold until I could shrink wrap it. I made a small meatloaf with some of it on Wednesday. That lasted us two days. I now have about 26 lbs. of ground beef in my freezer and that should be enough to get us to the Memorial Day sales.

When Hubby had his birthday party, our friends gave him these balloons tied to 6 large cans of his favorite beer. That was a few days before the end of September. I took this picture 3 days ago and look how long they have lasted. I enjoyed them on my birthday 2 weeks later. It is Sunday October 18th and they are still inflated. I am wondering just how long these will last. In case you were wondering where they were purchased, it was Dollar Tree for $1.25 each. The next time I need to get birthday balloons, I will definitely purchase them there.

I did 3 large loads of laundry this week. I pre-treated any stains on our clothing with Dawn dish liquid. It takes all of the stains out and it is cheaper than buying those stain products that are made for the laundry. Those are expensive and most of them don’t work. Our electric blankets have been put on our beds for the winter. So all of the other blankets needed to be washed and stored away. All of the clothing was hung to dry but I did use my dryer with my wool balls to dry the blankets and our towels.

Winter will be here before we know it so we are getting ready. Snakes for the bottoms of doors of the rooms that we will not use over the winter have been taken from storage and put out. Coats and gloves have been brought upstairs to our coat closet. Winter clothes have been put in our closets and lighter weight clothing has been put in a closet we don’t use. Our boots are in the bench in the garage. The seat lifts up and we have lots of storage in it. We are keeping the heat lower by a few degrees than we have done before. That is because Hubby now has a lot of sweaters and sweatshirts to wear in the house. I am happy because not only should our heat usage be lowet but I won’t have to wear shorts in the house all winter while the heat is on. I was always sweating.

We will be getting our monthly electric and natural gas bill this week so I will again be reminded of how expensive these bills have gotten. UGH! I will report on it when I get it.

So I am off to get some work done in the house before the Buffalo Bills game. I hope you all have a great day!

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Every Day

A Little of This and a Little of That

Yesterday was surgery day. We had never been to this hospital before. We reserached and took the least mileage route to save on gasoline. We left at 6:30 in the morning. It made us appreciate the fact that we are retired because the rush hour traffic on the 3 highways we took was awful. I couldn’t imagine driving that every day. I was pretty numbed up until bedtime last night. So I got a lot of work for the party done when we got home. Today I am hurting but Tylenol is helping with that. I get my stiches out in a few weeks. Our annual checkups are in the same building that morning so I scheduled the surgeon’s appointment for right after those. That will save us some gasoline too.

They sent me home with one special waterproof bandage and a gauze pad to change it tomorrow morning. I was grateful for that because I need to change it daily. I ordered the same ones at Walmart this morning and they were very expensive.

I thought I would have my electricity and natural gas bill by now but for some reason they seem to be delayed. So maybe next post I will have it.

I cleaned our Keurig coffee maker and the parts that come off and all of the reuseable cups with hydrogen peroxide. The manufacturer sells special cleaner for this but it is between $15. and $16. a bottle. The hydrogen peroxide is only $1.00 a bottle and I think it does a much better job. Make sure you run clean water through a couple of times after you clean it. I always stock about 4 bottles of the hydrogen peroxide because I use it to clean so many things.

It is a bit chilly here this morning at 47 degrees. The house has gone down to 65. Instead of turning on the heat, we have the shades and blinds open on the sunny side of the house. I checked the weather the end of the week and it is supposed to go back to the 70’s. If not, we will turn the heat on so our guests don’t freeze.

We needed something easy to make last night for dinner. I had purchased Margaritaville Calypso Coconut Shrimp when they had it on sale for B1G1F. So I paid about $5.00 each. Instead of ordering out, we ate that instead.

I told you I thought there was something wrong with the brakes on the car. Hubby took it for the inspection last week. They passed inspection which really surprised me. But they gave him a paper that shows there is a recall of the braking system that just came out on Sept. 17th. Supposedly we are awaiting a letter with information on how to take it to the dealer for the recall. Hopefully they will have the website updated soon where you can put your VIN # in and check to see if your car is affected. But if we are included they will pay for the fix. Our inspection was only $21.

My annual check up for my eyes was done last week. Fortunately, my eyes are good and I still only need reading glasses that I can buy over the counter.

Hubby wants me to make lentil soup. I had no lentils so I ordered a 20 lb. bag and it fit perfectly in a 10 gallon bucket that I already owned. We will use a lot of them this winter.

Breakfast today was eggs over easy and sausage. Dinner will be hot dogs and some kind of veggie. I only have a few hot dogs left from the summer so we are going to use them up.

I have to look over my menu for the party and make a list of all the things that I still need to buy. That shopping will be done on the way home from my hairdresser later this week.

That is it for today! I hope you all are having a great day.

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Every Day

Are You Prepared To Ration?

With the food prices going up beause of diesel costs, I firmly believe you should stockpile some food asap. I think it will be a very costly Fall and Winter and that prices will explode. It is a good time to can or freeze some produce if you can find farms that are selling the last of their crops at great prices. You can get potatoes, squash, and onions cheap in the fall that should get you through most of the winter.

We have been rationing our food for a while now. Make sure you have the proper portions when you make meals. How many of you never look at how many portions are in those cans or freezer packages that you open up for meals? Do you know what a proper portion of meat is? We do. It is 6 ounces. But we usually eat about 8 ounces because we only eat 2 meals a day. We need to get our protein in. We have lots of dried beans that will give you as much protein as meat and it is the cheaper option. With homemade soup season coming, we will use lots of beans in them. Hubby has decided to eat lentils too which is something he has never eaten before. They will make a great soup along with beef stock and whatever else you want to add. There are many charts on the internet that will show you what proper portions are of different foods.

In this season of high prices, rationing will help you save money while also keeping you healthy. It will also help you waste nothing. Have you ever kept track of what food in your fridge rots and then gets put in the trash? Look every week at what needs to be used up or can be frozen so that it doesn’t end up there!

Pork is not our favorite meat. I used to be able to roast a pork loin and have it turn out really tender. The pork I have gotten over the past few years at the supermarkets has been tough and very chewy. Hubby refused to eat it. So for about 3 years, I ordered ribeye pork chops from Rastelli’s Meat Market in New Jersey. They were tender and delicious but the price finally went up to where I refused to pay what they wanted. I think I have 6 of them left in the freezer. They will get used up over a two month period.

However, I did have this pork loin in my freezer for years along with some center cut pork chops. But I just kept ignoring them. On Saturday, I decided to find a way to cook the pork loin and make it tender. I wanted to use it up and never buy one again. So I found this recipe online:

https://foodess.com/slow-cooker-pork-loin/#wprm-recipe-container-35997

It has a lot of ingredients which I don’t like but I had everything for it. I decided to try it. Yesterday morning I put it in the crockpot. Two thirds of the pork loin is pictured above. I forgot to take a picture before we ate. This recipe is excellent. It turned out melt in your mouth tender after cooking for 8 hours on low. We wanted the sauce to not only spoon over the meat on our plate but to put on some mashed potatoes also. So I doubled the chicken broth and soy sauce. When the pork was done, the sauce needed to be thickened a bit. So I used a little bit of brown gravy mix to do that. When I cut up my really large vidalia onion, I made thick slices which did not disappear after cooking so long. They were delicious and served as our vegetable in the sauce. Hubby and I loved it. It was the perfect meal after watching our Buffalo Bills win. The best part was that it is no longer being ignored in my freezer.

We have enough leftover to make 2-3 more meals. Tonight we will have this for dinner again warmed up in the sauce over rice. I will probably cook some broccoli to have with it. Perhaps the next night I will make pork tacos and the last night some pork fried rice. Add some easy meals the rest of the week like grilled cheese sandwiches, chicken patties on buns, or breakfast for dinner and we will eat well. We had leftover mashed potatoes last night and I made potato pancakes for breakfast along with some sausage. Waste not, want not!

I will keep my eye out for another pork loin on a rock bottom sale to put in the freezer and use down the road. In the meantime. we will use the same recipe to cook the center cut pork chops in about 2 months.

Over the weekend, Hubby recovered the 6 dining room chairs. It was not easy because it was so hard to get the old seat covers off. There were so many staples holding them on. But he persisted even though he worked up a good blister on one hand. They look so fantastic. So all it cost us was the price of the fabric. The lady who owns the Fabric Warehouse told me that there is a man who lives about 35-40 minutes away from us who would recover them for $25. a chair. You would have to bring the chairs to him along with the fabric though. So Hubby saved a lot of gasoline and $150. by doing them himself. I am very grateful.

I needed to do a load of laundry while we watched the football game. I do not use dryer sheets ever nor do I use fabric softener. Instead I use vinegar in place of the fabric softener. It is cheap and does a great job of softening and getting the extra soap out of our clothes. I only use 1/3- 1/2 of the soap that the manufacturer wants me to but it still leaves residue. I wash 99% of our clothes in cold water. I hang most of our clothes. But I do dry the towels and sheets in the dryer. So I use my wool balls to help them dry faster.

I had to go to an early Doctor’s appointment this morning. When I started our car this morning, the brake warning light came on. Every time I turned the car off and on while I was out the same light came on. I told Hubby when he got out of the hospital that the brakes seemed bad. He told me they were fine. He checked it out and saw the warning light too but now he is trying to tell me that it always comes on when you start the car. I told him I drive the car and he rarely drives it. I have never see that warning light before. I told him I refuse to drive the car until he gets them checked. Well he made an appointment for Thursday to have the yearly inspection and the brakes are part of that. So now I have to rearrange my plans this week and perhaps push ordering platters and rolls off until the day after my surgery. I will call Wegman’s today and see if I can order everything over the phone or not.

When I got home from the doctor’s, I changed out of my good clothes and rehung them in my closet. They were not dirty from the hour or so that I was in them. This is how I save on laundry loads which saves money over a year’s time. I do not wash clothes that are not dirty and don’t smell. I have older clothes that I wear around the house especially to clean.

I got a great deal on some pillows yesterday. They were delivered this morning. Our pillows in the house are getting old and flat so they were a necessity.

I have the dishwasher running with a full load. I use the Eco cycle. It does not heat to dry the dishes. I open the door and let the dishes air dry. I also wanted to tell you that the best dishwasher gel that I have found is Great Value. It cleans really well and leaves no film. I also use vinegar for the rinse instead of Jet Dry.

Well sorry to drone on and on. But my brain works overtime most of the time. I hadn’t planned on posting today but I had to drain my brain. So look for more as we do them to cut costs around here.

Feel free to leave a comment and share with all of us anything you are doing to cut costs in this bad economy. BTW, the stock market is in the red today. I figured this would happen today because of the pipeline porblem in Saudi Arabia.

I am off to clean two rooms now!

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Every Day

Is It Stress or Procrastination?

It has been so stressful the past 6 weeks. I keep putting off things that need to be done……like writing here. I keep telling myself that I will do it tomorrow but it doesn’t get done. Perfection is not my strong suit! It is so easy to procrastinate.

So what have I been doing? Besides taking care of Hubby, Eloise, the house, and my wound in my back, I don’t have much time for anything else. At least that is what I have been telling myself. I am tired all of the time.

But yesterday, I said to myself enough is enough. Things need to get done around here. I am planning Hubby’s birthday celebration the end of this month and so much needs to get done. Besides cleaning my home which has been neglected the past few weeks, I had ordering to do. Yes, you heard that right. My family and Hubby convinced me to order out as much as I can for his celebration. It’s still work but not as much. I am very thankful that we have saved so that we can let other people help with things when needed.

Yesterday, I went to our favorite bakery, which is owned by one of my neighbors, and ordered Hubby’s birthday cake. It will be exactly what he wanted. Next week when I have time to go to the town south of us, I will order cold cut platters. I am going to see if I can order the rolls I need from their bakery ahead also. I was planning on having hot food catered in by a restaurant but it’s Hubby’s party and this is what he wanted. I have been shopping for the other needs for the party when I see a loss leader sale. I got some soda 12 packs on a B2G2 free sale a week or so ago. Yesterday I got Ruffles potato chips on a B2G2 free sale. We have plenty of pickles, mayonaise, and mustard in our pantry. We have plenty of beer, liquor, and wine along with mixers.

I will be making a potato and macaroni salad most likely the day before. I do not like to buy them out because a lot of them come out of a can. So I will make my own. Really good friends are coming from another state to stay with us for 3 days. Perhaps she can help me make them unless I get them done before they arrive. My neighbor will be making a chaccutterie board to munch on in the afternoon since we will not be having dinner until 5-6. I am grateful for their help.

We also have family member from out of town coming to stay with us. I am so excited because I have not seen this person in 10 months. My son and his family(who live close) will be here too. So we will have a houseful of company from Saturday to Tuesday and we will enjoy every minute of it. Meals will be an issue but we can do some eating out or ordering in or eat leftovers if we have any.

Since the Buffalo Bills will be playing that afternoon at 1pm we will be starting this party early and enjoying the game too. I originally was going to have people arrive at 2pm but then I realized there was a game and most everyone here will want to see it. So the party will be in full swing by 1pm.

Besides cleaning the house, we have another project that Hubby is going to work on. I have 6 chairs at my dining room table. Two of the seat covers are stained. Both done by family but accidents happen. I have been putting off getting them recovered. So I had Hubby take one of the seat covers off the other night. I went to the Fabric Warehouse yesterday. I found the same heavy material in the same weave that we had. But it is just a little tiny bit lighter in color but will match other colors in the room. It will be perfect! I needed 2 and 1/4 yards to do them. Hubby will make a pattern and lay them out on the material before he cuts it. No room for mistakes. I paid about $ 70. for this material. But having them professionally done would have cost us a lot more. He will do a great job because he has done it before in one of our other homes.

Besides all of this I have a special birthday card to order along with paper plates, cups, candles, forks and knives. I told everyone no stuff for his birthday. We have enough stuff that we are slowly getting rid of. If someone really insists on giving a gift, Home Depot, Amazon, or Walmart gift cards are the way to go but they are not a necessity.

Hubby and I are combining our birthday gifts to each other since my birthday is two weeks after his. Sometime between his birthday and mine we will be ordering new furniture for our great room. Our leather chairs have seen better days and are worn through from constantly using them for 25 years. I hate to see them go because they are so comfortable but hopefully we can find something just as good.

I have done very little grocery shopping except for things for the party. We still are eating from our stockpile. I am neatening it up a bit because I will have someone shopping from it soon. We have been trying to eat up as much as we can from the refrigerator too so that I have room for party stuff. We did order a pizza from a restaurant that we had never gotten it from. It turned out to not be that good. We just can’t find good takeout pizza near us. So I will continue to make our pizzas. This morning I will be saute a pound of bacon to use for BLT’s for dinner tonight and to go with eggs for brunches. I will take a pork loin out of the freezer and thaw it in the fridge. That will be our meal in the crockpot for tomorrow since we have a Bills game to watch.

I brought our annual school tax payment to the school and have already gotten our paid receipt. That amount went up because we did not qualify for the enhanced rebate for seniors due to making too much money. I guess that is a good problem to have. We have only qualified for it twice in 16 years.

I have a $10. rebate that came in the mail so that will get deposited when I get to the bank soon. I also earned another $10. gift card for Walmart. I have been using those for my prescription refills.

I will be having my surgery at the hospital soon. When that is done and over with my life should be a little less stressful.

Here is hoping that I will be back to doing my frugal posts soon.

I hope you are all healthy and happy. I miss writing for you.

Categories
Every Day

Tuesday: A Little of This and a Little of That

Hubby is doing well. I went to the surgeon yesterday and he says my wound has to drain another 6 weeks. So I guess I have to order more large bandages.

So I need to post again to keep my mind off things.

Yesterday, our landscape crew came and did all of the weeding and trimming. Last Friday, my next door neighbor mowed our lawn. Hubby will find out this week what his restrictions are. We have a riding lawn mower so we are hoping he will be able to do that. If not, our snowplow guy mows. So we will contact him and find out if he can do ours for the rest of the season.

I tell you all of this because if we had not saved money over the years we would not be able to hire these people. We prepared for these things. So when you are saving for retirement, make sure you do the same. You don’t know what the future holds.

I am going to make some calls that need to be done today. Then I will spend the day in my pantry. I am writing down every meal on my shelves which will give me a plan to work from. We are still mostly eating from our pantry.

Yesterday on the way home from my doctor, I stopped at B.J,’s. I wanted organic romaine lettuce that can hopefully be trusted. Hubby was craving a chicken caesar salad. So I also picked up 2 rotisserie chickens because they are so cheap and I don’t have to buy chickens and roast them. That would cost me a lot more in price plus a higher utility bill. I stripped all the meat off and put some in the fridge and the rest into the freezer for future meals. As usual, I put all of the skin and bones in the crockpot and made chicken bone broth. It made a 1/2 gallon. I froze that until I need it.

We will have sausage and eggs for brunch today. If Hubby wants we will have another chicken caesar salad for dinner tonight. If not, we will eat some chicken slices with a vegetable.

I purchased a little over $ 75.00 in food at B.J.’s including other produce, meat, some potstickers, etc. Then I was able to use a $10. off coupon that they sent me. After that and some clipped digital coupons, I did well. My membership expires soon and I am not renewing it. Their shelves are 1/2 empty. Besides I have been tracking prices and Walmart beats their prices most of the time. Our new Costco will open soon and I will be buying a membership there. I have missed Costco since we left Arizona.

I have not really shopped Top’s in over 5 weeks now except for one small purchase that I did once. Their sale ads are disappointing so I just throw them away. Besides, I am doing 99% of our shopping in my pantry. If I get time this week, I need to go to Aldi’s for naan bread but that is our only need now. I use it to make our pizzas. Are any of you just shopping from your stockpile?

We have a couple of cookouts to go to that are coming up soon. We are going because Hubby enjoys the people. We will probably not stay long but I do need to bring a dish. Chris gave me some great ideas on what would be easy. Anyone else care to share with me what they would make and bring? I get tired of the same ideas.

Categories
Every Day

A Little of This and A Little of That: Weekend Edition

These are the ingredients for our homemade chicken soup that I made yesterday. I made a pan that was equal to about 3 quart jars. We ate 1 quart with crackers on the side last night. We will eat another quart tonight. The 3rd quart is in the freezer for another meal. I did not have any homemade chicken broth left so I pulled a carton of chicken stock from my shelves. I use about a tablespoon of the better than bouillon to flavor the stock because it is not strong enough for us. I used about 1 cup of rice, 1/2 can of corn, and just 1 and 1/2 quarts of my pressure cooked chicken and juice canned in 2023 from my stockpile. I thought I would need another jar but I didn’t. There was more than plenty in what I did use. I diced up the carrots and celery. The other 1/2 of the canned corn I froze in a baggie for the next time I make soup. I was craving chicken soup since I haven’t felt well. I don’t normally make soup in the summer but it only took aboit 30 minutes to cook. Here is our meal from last night:

I had to pick up a prescription for myself at Walmart. It was $10. for 90 pills. I used a $10. giftcard that I got from Fetch to pay for it.

I made out a $10. rebate form for liquor that we bought to stock up for company this month and next. I will mail it tomorrow.

Energy is lacking these days with this infection. It is slowly getting better but I haven’t gotten a lot done this weekend. I did clean our master bedroom and replaced an LED bulb that wasn’t bright enough for me to read in there.

Our gas tank is just about empty. I only have $ .10 off per gallon in Top’s gas points. The price there is $ 4.25 a gallon. My cash station is $ 3.99. It’s a no brainer to fill up at the cash station tomorrow morning.

Tonight I will be making out a very small Top’s list. They do have a super coupon for a large package of BS chicken breasts for $2.18 a lb. with a limit of 1.

Tomorrow, I will go to Top’s and then to Niagara Produce. I need some fresh peaches and Sure Jell to make Hubby’s peach freezer jam for the next year. He is just finishing up the last jar I made last year. Peaches and Sure Jell are very expensive this year but this low sugar jam I make he really likes. So he is definitely worth it.

What have you been doing this weekend to save a bit of money?

Categories
Every Day

One Closet Done and Other Things

Have you ever had such a mess than this? Ugh. Small appliances that don’t fit in my cupboards, paper towels that I kept forgetting to take to the basement, canning jars that I have emptied recently and just threw in there temporarily, extra pillows, extra blankets, my cooling racks for baked goods that I hadn’t been able to find and just other clutter. I also keep my winter clothes and all of the clothes that are like new that I wore when I lost 60 lbs. After gaining most of the weight back, they don’t fit. However I am trying to lose it again and I am down 25 lbs. So hopefully this year I will fit back into them. I also had two fans in this closet. We only need one for company. I can use one in the kitchen when it is extremely hot. Hubby is going to have a fan installed in the ceiling there after all our ceilings are painted.

I wanted to get this mess cleaned up and I did. I knew that my family would come one day this weekend and while West was here I wanted him to put some bags in the basement for me along with anything that is here that could be stored down there. I also had two 70 lb. boxes of litter that I was storing in this bedroom. It was just too heavy for Hubby and I to store in the basement. So he stacked them in the laundry room where I keep Eloise’s box. Be aware that when you are almost 80 you do not have the strength to do the things you did at 70. I could have lifted these just 3 years ago. I could have run six errands a day just three years ago. Now it tires me out just thinking about it.

Now it is neater. A lot of things are in the car to be donated and some items got thrown away. Just my foodsaver on the shelf because I don’t like leaving it on the kitchen counter, two large pots for cooking large quantities for canning, and a big bowl to make salads that we bring to parties and cookouts.

The clothes got all squished together to leave room for company to hang their clothes.

We have a lot of art work that was expensive that we are not using in this house. Some day I will take the time to sell it. Storing it in the basement would ruin it.

I keep some canning jars in there so that I don’t always have to run to the basement to get a case. They have been organized and ready to go soon.

Lastly my canner and a basket of extra plates are on the floor. There is enough room for company to keep a pair of shoes or slippers in there.

Today, I hope to work on the dresser and end table in this room.

My son called on Thursday night to tell us that they were coming out yesterday to visit Hubby for Father’s Day. My son had the day off and my grandson is finished with school except for two more Regents exams next week.

I cooked sausage for Hubby and West, salmon for my son and I, French toast, and eggs for us for breakfast. By the time, I did all the cooking and dishes I was exhausted. My back was not holding up well. They stayed a few hours to chat. West drove out here and back. It is amazing to me that he is old enough to drive. It is a 60 mile trip each way. He does well on the thruway. He was born a month after we moved back to NY from AZ. He is so grown up now and will be in college in 2 years. Time flies!

After they left, we watched the USA vs. Australia soccer game. I was glad that they won.

Hubby wanted chicken parmigiana for dinner. By the time I made it and some linguine, I was really beat. Fortunately, we have enough leftover for dinner tonight. Hubby still has steak leftover from dinner the other night so he will make a sandwich for brunch. I will have some eggs and steak-umms. After dinner we will have no leftovers in the fridge which is a good thing.

I have been really watching the beef prices. I believe that beef is in such a shortage that it is just going to get more and more expensive. So that is what I am concentrating on buying. I got that 8 lbs. of organic ground beef on a sale at Aldi’s last week. I have found a sale on NY strips steaks starting next week. Since we don’t have many in the freezer, I will be getting those. Since we have been eating mostly from our stockpile, I have a lot of leftover money in our 2026 budget to stock on beef when I see a good sale.

I want to wish everyone’s Hubby a Happy Father’s Day tomorrow. I hope you all have a great day!