Before I forget, today will be my last post until Tuesday. Hubby’s sister is arriving tomorrow from Houston for a visit. So I will be busy until next Tuesday.
I have planned out our dinner menu’s for the time she is here. I will be making chicken parmesan tomorrow night with a side salad. Friday night will be hamburgers and FF’s. Saturday night we will have our friends joining us for dinner too. That will be a very enjoyable evening. Hubby is going to make his chili which will be served on rice and his coleslaw salad as a side. Dessert will be orange sherbert to cool down the heat from the chili. Sunday will be any leftovers from the other meals because you know I do not waste food. So they will get eaten or frozen. On Monday she leaves before dinner. So it will be something easy for just us. I like to get bedding washed and put back on the bed right after company leaves. All the towels and any cleaning that needs to be done will get done that evening so that I wake up to a clean house on Tuesday.
Yesterday, I shopped at Walmart after I took a return to Dollar General. For any of you that don’t know, they take returns for Fed Ex. It was a postage paid return so it didn’t cost us a dime.
At Walmart, I purchased a Butterball turkey at $.97 a lb. for a total of $14.92. If you are planning on getting one there, I would do it quickly. Our store had loads a week ago but they are dwindling fast. I also picked up some sausage for $ 6.94 for breakfasts and some chicken patties for $5.96 which Hubby and I love for quick sandwiches. Lastly, I got a 1/2 gallon of 1/2 and 1/2 for $ 4.98 and a 12 pack of Zero Sugar Fanta for $8.92. Every time I buy that it kills me because the price is so high. But Hubby always starts his day with one can. He calls it his juice. He let me know before I went that he had just opened his last can. I keep looking for a sale so I can stock at a better price. So my total was $ 42.43. I didn’t count the bottle deposits because I get my money back when I return them. Sorry, there was no picture because I quickly got all the meat in the freezer so we could run out to vote.
Talking about the voting, two things come to mind. If it didn’t go your way, don’t be upset because it didn’t go your way. Instead put your time and energy into making your individual finances better. Do all the frugal things everyday! They all add up! Secondly, be happy you don’t have any more political calls or ads to deal with!!!
I am going to put my energy into doing a load of wash today and hanging it to dry and changing our bedding. It is getting very close to the end of the year so we will be going over our finances and planning for the New Year. Then if I have any time left, I will do some more work in our basement. There are a lot of things down there that we no longer use. I will find them and decide if I should sell them or donate them.
BTW, have you noticed my new logo on the left hand side of my blog posts? My son, who is my admin, made that for me the other day. I was thrilled.
I hope you all have a great week. I will be back here next Tuesday.
You all know that I have been trying to use up some of our stockpile over the past few months. Every once in a while, I see food that we no longer buy. But we spent good money on it so I don’t throw things out. I also don’t throw out food because it has passed it’s expiration date. I do a sniff and taste test and if it is a can, I make sure it doesn’t spurt when I open it. If it spurts, then I pitch it.
I grabbed a box of Tuna Helper to make last night. However, I did not want to use tuna in it. So I used some of the rotisserie chicken pieces that I had in the freezer. When it had been almost cooked, I added a couple of handfuls of shredded cheddar cheese from the fridge that needed to be used up. We had it with a small salad. Was it a great meal? Nope! But it was edible and filled us up. The leftovers will be eaten for brunch today.
Every month or so, I cook up a bunch of rice in my rice cooker. Yesterday was that day. When it has cooled I bag it up into ziploc freezer bags and freeze it for the next time I need rice. I flatten the bag so that it does not take much room in the freezer. When I use it, it thaws quickly in a bowl of water. Then I take it from the bag, put it in a microwave safe dish and sprinkle it with a bit of water and reheat it for 60-90 seconds. It is my version of those instant 90 second rice packets that we have all spent a fortune for. Making your own instead only costs you pennies, not dollars. These two bags that I put it in will give us 2 meals for the both of us. If I know that I will need more, I just do two more bags worth. It will get used within the month so no need to waste a foodsaver bag for it. I no longer buy 90 second packets at the grocery store.
I am finding that making our own convenience foods is saving us many dollars. I would rather keep those dollars in my own pocket than pay someone to do the work for me. I am cooking more like I did in the 1960’s to save money.
Today I have some medical appointments so I will combine those with some errands that need to be done. Since I will be out at least 1/2 a day, I will cook hamburgers for dinner. I will also make some French fries in my new 9 in 1 air fryer. Yes, I will be putting the 11 in 1 oven out for bulk pick up in a week or so. It is sitting next to the garbage can waiting to go. I will load up the hamburgers with some romaine lettuce and sliced tomato. I also purchased a regular toaster. We have not had one for 19 years. Hubby wanted one that would not only do toast but Texas toast, bagels, etc. He did a bagel yesterday and he was very happy with the way it turned out.
When I get home, I will throw a load of clothes in the washing machine for a cold water wash. They will be hung to dry.
After dinner, I will call my sister. I have not talked to her for 2 weeks because she was away on vacation. I am looking forward to it.
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.
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!
On the way home from getting my stitches out on Monday, I stopped at B.J.’s. They are having a 42% off Birthday Celebration sale. I had no Bubba Burgers left so I picked up the 12 count box for $ 31.49. These are Hubby’s favorites. Since they are $ 19.99 elsewhere for a 6 count box, this was a great deal. Of course, I had to pick up a rotisserie chicken for $ 4.99. We had chicken sandwiches for lunch and then I picked all of the meat off and ended up with 2 bags worth for other meals. The carcass is in the freezer with others waiting until I have time to make broth next week.
The 43.5 ounce coffee was $ 15.89 after a $ 2.40 digital coupon. But the best deal of the day was the 80/20 ground beef. I only had about 3 – 1 lb. packages of ground beef left in my freezer. It ended up costing me about $ 2.71 a lb. for 10 lbs. after the 42% birthday discount. It cost me $ 27.09 total. I bought one but I am having second thoughts. I will pick up another 10 lb. roll next week when I have to travel down that way. There is a limit of 2. Twenty pounds should last me until summer when we see sales again. I food savered it up into 1 lb. packages. I don’t think I have seen a price this low in a couple of years.
On Tuesday, I finally had the time to roast my turkey. Hubby and I had a nice turkey dinner that night. Last night I ate some leftovers and Hubby ate a Chef’s salad using some of the turkey. After dinner I picked the carcass clean. We have enough meat left for 3 more meals and some to make soup. So the carcass will cook tonight in the crockpot to make the broth.
Earlier this week, the $ 90. deposits from the government to help with Medicare costs hit our bank account. That was sure quick. So any seniors who are expecting that money, check your account for the deposits.
When we had company staying here for Hubby’s birthday weekend, we kept our bedroom door open so that Eloise could sleep in with us and still get to her food and her litter box. I was concerned that she would keep us awake all night. Nope she didn’t but she did still get me up a little after 3. Then the next night, she didn’t get me up until 5:45am. This seems to work and I am getting more sleep than I have in over 2 years. Some nights it is longer and others shorter. She sleeps on the foot of one of our beds and seems to be content with that even though she has her own comfortable bed in our room. This is working and proved to me just how sleep deprived I was. I was always so tired. Now I have energy and can get many things done each day again.
I am so looking forward to later today. A very good friend is treating me to lunch to celebrate my birthday early. We are going to a town I loved when Hubby took me there years ago. We will also do some shopping.
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?
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.
You all know that our dentist was expensive. We have spent a fortune especially on my denture expenses. Well our dentist sold his practice to a group that is actually owned by a private equity firm. He stayed for a while and then left abruptly a couple of months ago. The group actually started setting the prices about 6 months ago. Their priority seems to be making as much money as they can. They kept my old dentist’s prices as a starting point when they took over. Since then they have raised their prices twice. Hubby had an appointment recently for a cleaning and Xrays. He did not like the new hygenist. She was slow and he did not feel she was as good as we have had. The bill was outrageous.
I have been on the hunt for a new dental practice closer to home. I found one that will work for us thanks to my neighbors recommendations. I called them and asked a ton of questions. The receptionist was very helpful. The practice has more than one dentist so if we have a problem there is always someone to fill in if our dentist is on vacation. One of my questions was about my denture which is still under warranty until the end of February. I found out that warranties are not transferable between dentists. So I have an appointment for a cleaning coming up in October which I will keep with the old practice. My next one won’t be until March. So I will transfer my records on March 1st to the new practice. Hubby has an appointment in November so he is deciding if he will transfer then or wait for me and then we will both transfer.
Anyhow, the new dental practice has their own insurance plan for people who don’t have dental insurance. The plan is $400. for the first year and renewal each year is $350. It includes:
2 Cleanings (prophylaxis) 3 Exams including 1 emergency exam 4 Bitewing X-Rays 1 Panoramic X-Ray 1 Oral Cancer Screening 2 Fluoride Treatments 15% off all additional treatment needs (Crowns, Bridges, Sealants, Fillings, Veneers, Dentures, Root Canals, Implants and more.)
We will save more than 1/2 the cost of these procedures. It sounds good. However they have other insurances that they take. So I will be researching them this Fall. We will enroll in the best one for each of us. Bottom line is that we will save a lot of money. Their prices are much cheaper to begin with than the practice we are with now.
I had to go to our bank a few days ago with some legal paperwork. I pass B.J,’s Warehouse Club on the way home. I stopped in and picked up 2 rotisserie chickens at $4.99 each. One of the ones I got was huge compared to the others. When I got home, I took all of the meat off of that one and put the carcass in a large plastic bag in the freezer. When I have more time, I will make chicken stock. The other one I put in the crockpot on warm and we had chicken sandwiches for dinner. After dinner, I did the same with that chicken as the other one. All of the meat was portioned into 2 cups in each freezer bag. One bag I kept out in the fridge and that we have been eating. We made chicken Caesar salads for dinner last night. So we will be eating a casserole, salads, or sandwiches all weekend. I have lots of work to finish up before my surgery so I will be busy.
While I was out, I went to the catering department at Wegman’s and ordered all of the food for Hubby’s party with the exception of two salads that I will make. The cake has been ordered at the bakery. All of the paper products that we will be using have been purchased. I have some other odds and ends that need to get shopped for. That will get done this coming week! I am almost done.
I have saved a ton of money by shopping our pantry for loss leader meals for most of the past few months. That money was earmarked to pay for Hubby’s party and to replace our food that we are eating up when we see a great deal. That way I didn’t have to take money out of our investments for the party.
Our first company who will be staying with us will arrive this Friday afternoon. The second wave will come in on Saturday afternoon. Everyone else is local. I can’t wait. Hubby is going to have such a great time with family and good friends. I haven’t even thought about all the other meals that I will have to make. But I can whip them up quickly from our stockpile.
Our water bill came the beginning of September. It is for a 3 month period. This bill usually runs about $300. because it is summer and we water the lawn. However, this year we have had a lot of rain. Hence we only watered about 6 times. The bill was for $124. so that saved us quite a bit of money. Aqua Systems came and blew our lines out this week so there will be no more watering this season. Our bill will go back down to the normal of about $58. each time it comes now.
We will have a electric and gas bill coming on Monday. I will let you know about that when we get it. The government let us know that because of all the oil and inflation problems, this heating season the bills are going to increase about 31%+. Hence we will try to keep the heat off this year later than when we usually turn it on.
That’s it for today! I hope you all have a great weekend.
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:
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.
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.
