My mom found this vase for me for $3 at a garage sale. She also found a silverplated cake stand (that I plan on using for Thanksgiving) for $3 and a brand-new pair of boy’s dress shoes in the box for $3 for my youngest. I had planned on going to the community sales this year, but I was unable to go. She found a few things for me and I spent less this way.
I enjoyed an al fresco lunch outside in my garden in dappled shade. My vase is from here (affiliate link)
I harvested okra, green onions, serrano peppers, and eggplant from my garden. I heard that okra is best harvested small, and I was watching for the first blooms, but I missed them, and several of these were too woody to eat. I left even larger ones on the plant to finish producing seeds. It’s an open-pollinated variety, so I can save seeds to plant next year. I will be checking more often now and cutting them when they are no more than 4 to 5 inches long.
I cut roses from my garden to enjoy inside. My vase is from here. (affiliate link).
Our temperatures dropped below 100 F at the end of the week (38 C) and I opened the windows each morning to cool the house without having to run the air conditioner for a few hours. It’s still hot enough that the air conditioner runs at night, and my electric bill is going to be much higher this October than in years past (already the electric company has estimated that it will be at least $100 more than October of last year), as we are experiencing record heat. The continued heat has delayed my ability to plant my fall garden like I usually would, but I hope to soon.
I took the time to step outside to enjoy the beautiful sunset.
My algorithm sent me some ads for some clothes from Old Navy that I absolutely love. A couple were on sale, but the others were new fall/winter clothes, and they were full price. It’s too hot to wear them yet, and I know they have 50% off sales on a regular basis, so I refrained from buying anything at this time. I’ll wait until the sales come for everything. At the same time, with continually warming winters, I know the time to wear them will be very short here; I am beginning to wonder if I will need any winter clothes at all at this rate! Whatever I get is certain to last for years, since it will only be worn 3 months of the year.
A comedian that I follow on Instagram posted that he had a longer video of his act on YouTube, so I listened while making dinner, and enjoyed getting to hear a comedy show without the cost of attending one in person.
What did you do to save money last week?
How lovely that your mum could find things for you at the car boot sales.
I have not achieved much this week
We had flu jab and booked the RSV but the covid vaccine has not arrived yet.
I have packed the seeds I have collected from the garden. I have placed a bucket on the back step for spent tea leaves these are poured on the garden to improve the soil…The temperature is dropping but I will need to mow the lawn one last time.
Hubby needed a visit to the audiologist we got an appointment in 2 days! This is really good for the NHS The next appointment is 6 weeks away. The tests needed from cardiology were done 3 months ago and we are still waiting for the results. All we get if we phone is an answer phone but nobody rings back.
I made sauerkraut with an extra large cabbage I bought at the market and have also made Yoghurt .
Have a lovely week
Chris
Hi Brandy, may I ask the name of the comedian you enjoyed on You Tube? So much of the (so-called) comedy these days is just unpleasant to listen to.
I thought it might be easiest to send you a link. Here it is. This is his latest video.
I have some other comedians I like too; I should check YouTube to see if I can find them there too.
I have been enjoying Nate Bargatze. He has clean jokes and is really funny. There are some clips on YouTube.
Your flowers and garden are just beautiful. We are expecting frost tomorrow night so we picked the last of green beans, various peppers and green tomatoes. My step daughter was married over the weekend and we survived. I am exhausted. My husband loaded the last load of chairs to take back this morning and we have everything back to normal. We had family and friends stay and help clean up after the wedding and yesterday afternoon. It was beautiful and the weather could have not been more perfect for a fall wedding outside.
I was able to can 18 pints of salsa to restock our inventory using just ingredients from our garden or our pantry! I used empty pint jars that I had with brand new rings and lids that a friend unexpectedly gave me (10 package of 12 rings/lids) that were brand new. So not a penny OOP plus no trip to store to buy anything needed. And, my friend who gave me the jar lids/rings was pleased to get a jar of salsa! (During the year, I’ve gifted jams, etc to her!)
On Friday this week, I bought 2 five pound tubes of ground beef for $5 each ($1/pound). I have turned part of one tube into Hamburger patties that I flash froze to bring my inventory of premade frozen burgers back up
for next time we want to grill! Truly a money saver! My friends who have 6 kids were happy to reimburse me the $5 and get the other one
! She said we are really helping their food budget and I remember raising our 11 kiddos how being able to get a good deal on things we needed was beneficial to our budget! Now, at this stage in our lives, Hubs and I have more time to watch for and pick up good deals and are happy to share the bounty with family/friends who have jobs/little or big kids and hectic schedules. We can be the ones to help them the way we were helped over the years!
More quilts being dropped off to have quilting designs stitched on and somehow, I took some time to make a baby quilt for a shower in 3 weeks- https://pin.it/1GafLDH1B and then for fun, I tried a free pattern and made this wall hanging to give as a gift- https://pin.it/4zifAlAAM. Here’s another client quilt I did this week- https://pin.it/1t98KfqvU. Our website crashed for about a week but now is up and running!
We got the first $300 bonus (of the $900 we will get by December) from Chase Bank for opening a checking and a savings account with them.
I made cream cheese from scratch in the instant pot using just milk, lemon juice and a pinch of salt. It was so simple – no temperature taking. And I got a gallon of milk on Flashfood for 39 cents . It made 2 batches (8 Oz of finished cream cheese per 1/2 gallon)! Here’s the recipe: https://wondermomwannabe.com/instant-pot-cream-cheese/
Still finding lots of meals we can make using only ingredients we have at home. Tonight we’ll have oven baked beef chimichangas!
Lots to do as the weather is much cooler here (today’s high will be 56 F degrees) We still keep bedroom window open overnight, but not all the way open! lol! And we enjoy sleeping under 2 quilts! In some ways, I envy your warmer growing season, but I realize that it comes with its own set of challenges!
Gardenpat in Ohio
HandmadeinOldeTowne.com
A neighbor brought me a box of food from cleaning out the excess from a cupboard in her pantry. It was mostly cans of Campbell’s basic soups (mushroom and tomato), Classico pasta sauce, but also some jasmine rice and a package of risotto, as well as several cans of Perrier Energize. This is an expired caffeine and yerba mate energy drink that Perrier doesn’t make anymore. I mostly use the mushroom soup as pasta sauce by watering it down a bit with the pasta water, and add split red lentils and chili powder to the tomato soup to make it more filling and tasty. So, this adds some quick lunches to the pantry. I hadn’t told anyone locally about going to the foodbank, but friends and neighbors have all been making sure that any extra food they have gets moved along to someone who will make use of it. Over the years, while I am careful to not be a mooch, I do talk about not liking food waste and loving fresh produce, so several people feel comfortable bringing me food, and know that I won’t take offence. While my neighbor was here, my cat came over to see what food was in the box. She normally lurks around the corner when people come to the front door, but she thought this was too interesting to stay in hiding.
I think that I will still call for a food pantry delivery later this week, when the monthly delivery happens, but this is likely the last month that I will do so. I had originally thought I would get it in November and December as well. The other budget cutbacks I made in August are paying off, and good weather is allowing me to spread my fall purchases and repairs out between now and the end of November, so I don’t think that is necessary anymore.
My electricity bill is very low for the time of year ($112 Cad). The furnace is on some of the time, but I have taken to turning all the lights out a couple of hours before sleep-time several times a week, and taking my laptop to bed to binge-watch YouTube and Prime shows, or read a book online. I let the laptop run off the battery these nights. My bill is about $28 less than in the summer, when I had a desk-top fan running wherever I was. The cat is not a big TV watcher, but she loves to curl up between me and the laptop these evenings.
My Guaranteed Income Supplement went down by $28 a month in July of this year, because COL adjustments in 2023 brought my Canada Pension Plan up enough that I was not eligible for as big a supplement, but my Old Age Security payment and GIS are scheduled to go up again by $12 a month at the end of October in a quarterly cost of living adjustment. It’s sort of like watching a tennis match at Wimbledon, keeping track of the changes to senior income!
For anyone wondering about these different pensions, Canada Pension Plan is based on contributions while you worked, Old Age Security is based on getting old and having lived in Canada a good part of your adult life, and the Guaranteed Income Supplement is based on being old, but low income, so it tops your income to a certain level. How much depends on how low your income is. I also get a modest Alberta Seniors Supplement, which is based on provincial thinking that the GIS is not enough. When I first started getting it, I received a whopping $16 a month, but it is now a very respectable $99 a month.
I love the finds your mother gets for you at garage sales. She has such a good eye for things that fit your taste and budget. I’m sure she has a lot of fun on her searches.
She always finds things! She is great.
We have been warm, too, but a cool wave is headed our way, and it’s said we will drop to below normal, by possibly 15 or more degrees.
I’m waiting to plant my lettuce until it stays on the cooler side. I have collected the seeds from these two lettuces – one green, one red – every year for 3 or 4 years.
I bought sugar in bulk and was about to buy containers to store it in, when I remembered I had a large food-grade pail with lid. I put the sugar in huge Ziplock bags to double protect against moisture and to make cleanup of the pail easier when the sugar is gone.
A nephew wants a gas card for Christmas but he almost exclusively uses a brand of gas stations that I don’t have within 100 miles of me. To buy the physical card online meant paying shipping of almost $8 and a virtual card would have been complicated, since he is limited on his phone and apps. A relative who lives close to the nephew is buying the card and I will pay her back. She will also give him the card for me.
Although we are to reach 90 today, I turned off the air conditioning and left my upstairs windows open, with the safety latch set. The open windows upstairs will help draw warm air out of the house
I purchased three wardrobe replacement items on Thredup. I had shopper rewards and bought during a sale with free shipping.
I have worn a pair of pull-on Skechers around the house and yard for so long, they are starting to pull apart from the sole. I’ll keep wearing them until they actually do fall apart. I bought them on sale years ago.
I used the oven to bake three dishes all at once. I have a convection setting on my oven, which I use when using two racks for baking multiple dishes.
I’m looking forward to that cooler weather! I hope you get plenty of it, too, Brandy.
Happy Monday!
Frugal Victory
We are renovating a 5,000 square foot, 1917 house on the Sacramento River. The electrician remove the 60s mushroom lamp ceilings ( yes, really) and we ordered replacements in the craftmens/ American foursquare style after doing a lot of price checking and research. The 60s lamp were incredibly ugly in the space. Hubby was going to throw. From reading frugal blogs, I knew to research. One lamp was listed for $1400. They are vintage and handblown from California. Hoping you all benefit from my learning curve in selling, packing and shipping on EBAY very fragile items.
1. The large lamp I had UPS take car of completely. It cost $129 with additional insurance. The smaller lamps where going to more for the height. WHAT????
2. I watched youtubes, talked to UPS and UHAUL employee to save money. I bought the boxes, peanuts and bubble wrap from Uhaul. I bought the UPS Shipping with insurance on Pirate Ship. Such a good deal. the other three came to a total of $180. Lesson learned.
3. I was uncomfortable through the whole process and made some rookie mistakes in charging shipping. Being a perfectionist and people pleaser, bargaining and risk is never easy. Just do it, I learned. I saved some vintage artwork for history and earned a take home of $700.
4. I have two ceiling fans to now post and probably more items to come.
We were away for the long weekend and turned off the hot water heater and heat while we were gone. Every little bit counts. Mind you the temp was an unseasonably high 24 C when we got home-but I am sure the nights were chilly. My husband also fortuitously turned our water off-imagine his surprise when he turned it back on and the outside tap was running. Who knows how that happened( maybe some kids on a lark?) but luckily it did not run the whole weekend!
I was admiring a slant table that my friends husband had made for her-you lay on it head down to take the pressure off your lower back discs, neck etc. I tried it and it really took away my back pain so he made me one too-what a lovely gift.
Our daughter, who is adopted, just got her DNA results back-she is 84% British/Irish so not too much different from us-strangely enough. According to the health results there are no nasty diseases lurking in her genes-thankfully. I was amazed how many things they could predict from her DNA-her eye colour, wavy hair, prefers chocolate ice cream over vanilla-and the list goes on. It was very accurate in describing her.
On the drive home today we were lucky enough to spot 3 herds of antelope out on the prairie-and plenty of migrating snow geese. Have a great week everyone and here’s wishing all the Canadians Happy Thanksgiving today.
Hello, frugal friends from the Appalachian Mountains of Southwest Virginia! I am pleased to say we weathered the hurricane’s storms which blew our way with just a lot of debris like branches, black walnuts and leaves. Others down near the river were not so lucky. One of our sons’ clients lost their home and everything in it due to the historic flooding of the New River. The house was not right on the river but about 1/4-1/3 of a mile away. All that could be seen was about 6″ of the peak of the roof. Everyone was able to get out safely but I cannot imagine the loss. School was closed the day of the storms. Thank you for the prayers and concern. I was praying for Mountain Mama and others affected.
Speaking of school, two days before school started in August I was asked to leave the retirement world and teach third grade. The teacher shortage is a serious reality. In a moment of insanity I agreed. My state retirement is on hold until the school year is over. But I will get credit for another year towards my monthly retirement once I finish the year. I like my class but third grade is very different from kindergarten! I agreed to one year only. The money is being saved for a big trip to the UK next year.
I am still trying to keep to my frugal ways. Mr. Fix It is in charge of the housekeeping and occasional grocery shopping. He does not clean or shop like I do, but for a year, I can let a lot of things go. I do go grocery shopping on the weekends if necessary. This past weekend I got bread marked down to .39/ loaf! It’s rare to find a good deal. The local Food Lion still marks down their meat so I always check. I went to throw some things into the compost and found 6 small cucumbers. The vine is dead now due to the recent frost. I also found a few lettuce plants so I transplanted them under my little tunnel in one of the raised beds. I simply cover with a thicker row cover then a big piece of plastic from a mattress purchase a few years ago. It is much thicker than regular plastic. I also have spinach and green onions under it. Last year I was able to grow spinach the entire winter. I am hoping to repeat that this year.
Other ways we have saved include: cooking from scratch at home, canning applesauce from the apples we picked at the orchard last month, buying only what we need at the store, and enjoying free or low cost activities.
I have been put on a FODMAP diet for three weeks. Any suggestions and/or advice would be appreciated. I am finding it extremely restrictive and challenging to get enough nutrition every day. Thanks!
Your lunch spot looks lovely. I love tender okra, and generally harvested it at no more than 3″. All but two of last year’s sweet potatoes were used in a curry last week. It’s time to bring in this year’s potatoes, as they should be done curing now. All the houseplants were brought in, for the cold weather. Last year, we dug up one of the pomegranates, and brought it indoors in a pot, to see if if would bloom earlier once taken back outside, thinking it would have a head start. It didn’t. In fact, this year it didn’t bloom at all, so we’re no closer to getting ripe fruit. A few years ago, my husband placed a large rock in the backyard, to use as thermal mass, and planted one of our olives in front of it. It didn’t make it, so we’re now trying the pomegranate in that spot, and hope it thrives. Gardening is always an experiment! Two of the roses started in the spring, from cuttings I’d pruned, were still looking happy, and were planted in the rose bed. One even has a rosebud, which looks like it will soon open. A volunteer borage was transplanted. Last week’s harvest included peas, lettuce, tomatoes, eggplant, lemon verbena, green and noodle beans. I gathered zinnia seeds for saving. Making new covers for the decorative pillows on our bed has been on my to-do list for some time. I finally got around to sewing them, using a remaining quilt square, which matches the bed quilt. As there was only one, I cut it in half, and used thrifted linen fabric for the remainder.
Kind of a slow week here, just work and home for us.
Renewed a couple library books that I wasn’t going to finish in time
Earned another free soda from a gas station
Sent in for a Menards rebate for $13.10
Ive been aggravated with Walgreens pharmacy for awhile, so I finally changed to Walmart. It will go from $41 every three months to $24, saving $17.
I paid an extra $300 on my truck payment.
Put green onions in water to extend their use.
Made sure to enter receipts on different apps to earn points.
Used Mcdonald points for a free happy meal.
My “vacation” was going to Gettysburg with my son’s scout troop. I stayed with one of the moms at a hotel (her treat) and we divided all the other costs among scout families. There will be some out of pocket but my guess is <200 for the 2 of us.
My son is detailing my car for my birthday. It cost me supplies but he is putting in the time.
I actually didn't need all the trail snacks on the hiking trip (20 miles over 3 days) because I talked to my Dr about adjusting insulin. So I have that for a future time. I spend a bit more to buy a package of 1 oz bags for portion control, but that's worth it.
I dried my basil and oregano and put up for the year.
Got a new book from the library instead of buying.
Replaced my 20 year old wheelbarrow that rotted. Not cheap but used my Amazon gift cards from my blog to pay for it so no out of pocket. Plus I'll have it for fall composting.
Potted up oregano starts for a neighbor.
Made homemade chicken noodle soup. Picked up egg roll wrappers and made 2 cookie sheets of egg rolls with extra carrots and cabbage.
Have a blessed week!
Robbie
Your mom has a great eye for bargains!
I had half as many friends as expected for Thanksgiving dinner due to illness – but – those friends should be able to come for Sunday dinner this coming weekend. Turkey, ham. stuffing and mashed sweet potatoes are already in the freezer so I will only have to make some mashed potatoes and a few other servings of veg – they are bringing dessert. I have still had leftovers today and I roasted more veggies and made a huge pot of a tomato/bean soup – added more odds & ends of veg and some faro at the end to bulk it out more. I have put about 5 servings into the freezer and have a huge container that I will work my way through this week.
I added more powdered milk, evaporated and condensed milk to the pantry, plus cans of corned beef and packages of quinoa that were on sale. I added fresh baking powder to my baking supplies and I’ve made large batches of vanilla essence (one batch with vodka and one with rum) – these will be given as small Christmas gifts this year as a number of friends are bakers and real vanilla essence is really expensive right now so I’m sure it will be appreciated. Friends who did make it to Thanksgiving brought a variety of bottles of mineral and sparkling water – and all of them are in very fancy glass bottles that I will keep for future use once emptied.
I don’t plan on going to the grocery store before Saturday so that will save a few dollars. There is a lot of food in the fridge that needs to be used up! Have a good week everyone.
1. I washed bedding today and dried it on the line. I also washed winter coats as my husband rides the electric bike to work and it’s 50 degrees when he leaves.
2. I planted kale and Brazilian broccoli starts, all given to me for free. We are still eating tomatoes and apples from the garden. I tip layered some raspberry canes to increase my berry patch.
3. I baked my sale quinoa flakes https://www.azurestandard.com/?a_aid=jWb0sVFU6M in granola. I also baked bacon and gluten free muffins at the same time.
4. I’m subbing 3 days this week, which is a stretch for me, but I’m thankful for the income.
5. Using the library heavily for books to read to my grandson on Facetime. I took a bag of books to donate for the library book sale. Clutter out is always good!