It’s been an expensive (and busy) last several weeks! I needed to replace three daughters’ wardrobes and personal items almost completely after they lost them all in the boat fire that they were in. We did find some deals on some items and for now, we have held off on replacing their sleeping bags. We were blessed by a couple of people to help replace some items. A huge blessing was that an orthodontist in town offered to replace all the retainers of the girls on the boat who lost their retainers in the fire.
My washing machine broke. We tried every single repair option on YouTube that we could find, but none worked. Given the age of the machine (and how many loads I wash a week) we decided to replace it. Whenever I have had a washer or dryer go out, I save money by only replacing the broken appliance. I know many people buy a new matching set. I just try to make them the same color when possible (which is not always possible). After researching what I wanted, we compared prices online. Everything was on sale for the holiday. I bought one from Best Buy, which was $100 cheaper than the sale price at Lowe’s and Home Depot, and to my surprise, I also got a $100 Best Buy gift card with it!
I harvested cherry tomatoes, basil, and an Armenian cucumber from the garden.
I sowed seeds in the garden now for a fall harvest. I sowed seeds for zucchini, red noodle beans, Armenian cucumbers, Indian Snake cucumbers, watermelon, and pumpkins. Some of the seeds were ones I had previously collected from my garden.
I sowed seeds for zinnias and vincas.
I needed new bras. I found three bras at Walmart marked for $10 each. To my surprise, they rang up at $6 each! I also bought three bras half off (for $15 each) from Old Navy. I didn’t even know they sold bras! I got an ad for them and have been very happy with them.
I read an excellent spy/action/historical fiction book from the library using the library’s Hoopla app. It was called Under the Paper Moon.
I watched YouTube videos and listened to library e-books to study Urdu.
A friend recommended me for a one-day job at a conference where they needed someone who spoke French and Spanish. Their primary need was a French speaker. The pay was excellent, and it included an incredible lunch and dinner (steak, Thai Green shrimp curry, sea bass, salads, and pastries).
What have you been doing to save money since June? Please share in the comments!
Welcome back! Glad to hear your update.
There have been a few good grocery deals over the last few weeks: peaches and nectarines for 99 cents/lb (limit 5 lbs), organic strawberries for 2.49/lb (limit 5), and asparagus for 1.99/lb. I bought the limit of peaches and strawberries, and canned what I could not use now for future use. Safeway (Seattle area) currently has peaches and nectarines for 1.99/lb until tomorrow. This is still a decent price, so I will probably buy some before the end of the sale. I downloaded the Safeway app to get a specific deal, and then received $5 off my purchase for the first use of the app. Our local health food coop had a coupon for free blueberries one week, so I picked those up. My bank had a $5 off coupon for this coop as well. The hotel I stayed in for my niece’s wedding had a Rainier cherry tree in the parking lot, so I picked about a pound to take home. There were cherries falling on the ground and no one was interested in them.
Had leftover almond flour crumble from a dessert I made, so I repurposed this and added it to pancakes. Found eczema cream for my mom at 65% off. A local coffee shop had a 75% off coupon for an event, so I enjoyed a treat for under $2. Found 85 cents on the ground in a different parking lot. Repurposed an empty one gallon bucket that had previously held coconut oil.
Had to close a credit card because of my divorce. Opened a new one at my credit union that offered $300 cash back if you charged $3000 in the first three months. Had a lawyer bill to pay, so I have already reached this amount.
I don’t have air conditioning, so I opened up windows in the morning when it was cooler, and kept my apartment closed during the day. A family friend offered my sister a free air conditioning unit, which she was happy to get because her house it hot. I picked it up for her because the location was very close to me. The unit works great and my sister is thrilled.
Looking forward to reading everyone else’s posts!
Wow, Rainier cherries! How lucky. Those are my favorite, and they are very expensive in the stores.
It’s been a great frugal week in Houston, TX!
I’ve been trying to track down used football equipment for my son (not provided by school). A parent of an older student is selling me a helmet ($75), I found Facebook Marketplace shoulder pads ($60), garage sale cleats ($5), and we’re using my son’s Academy giftcards to buy the mouthpiece, thigh pad girdle, and a few other things. I still have to pay the sports fees ($220) to the school, but at least we’re off to a slightly cheaper start. I think if the kids went to public school, a lot of this would be provided. Oh well.
Still searching for a used band instrument.
Cleaned last year’s lunchboxes and backpacks, and assessed shoe situation. I try to buy ahead used as I can. My kids wear uniforms, which we are able to get some hand me downs for, thankfully.
I gave 3 boys and 1 girl haircuts. I tell them the difference between a good haircut and a bad haircut is a couple of weeks.
My oldest daughter did some housework and computer tasks for my widowed great aunt, who rewarded her by taking her out to eat and on a Sephora shopping spree. I’m not sure who had more fun!
We continue to eat basic meals at home and shop grocery store loss leaders. The sales have been pretty decent: 3# bags of apples for .99, $2.25/# ground beef, plus I’ve been able to buy some treat foods like ice cream, chips, goldfish crackers, etc. that I don’t usually buy.
We did a free boat tour of the Port of Houston, which was interesting and fun. I stopped by the bakery thrift and bought a couple of loaves of Dave’s Killer Bread for $2/each. I don’t usually buy this kind, but the store was on my way home from the port, and it seemed like a fair price.
The mall was giving free carousel rides, so I made sure to take the younger kids on the day they were doing it, and they each got to ride twice. We walked for exercise at the mall while we were there.
I made homemade granola and homemade yogurt.
I bought Jimmy John’s day old .50 sandwich bread.
I stretched chili by adding extra beans, pureed beans, serving it over baked potatoes once, then serving it over store brand Fritos the other time.
Our Chickfila gives a free sandwich card with 3 items donated to their annual school supply drive. I ordered 108 of the .25 Target school supplies (about $30 with tax), and was able to get 36 of the free sandwich cards. I buy 3 large fries to split, and each kid gets .5-2 sandwiches (I halve them), so this is a way to affordable take my kids to Chickfila without spending a fortune. Of course, we drink water. This will let us go to eat at Chickfila 6 times at $15/meal over the next year: $5 for 6 sandwiches and $10 for 3 large fries. Otherwise, it’s become too expensive.
I usually make my own, but Swanson low sodium chicken broth was marked down to .20/can, so I bought a few cases, plus some for a friend at Ollie’s.
It looks like some of my classes won’t make, so I’ll be teaching less at the community college and won’t need babysitting if it’s all online. Maybe I can get the house decluttered and looking cleaner with all my extra time, ha!
Hope everyone has a nice, frugal week!
The public school here has a $900 fee per student for football (not counting equipment). I just sat in the sports meeting a couple of days ago.
That seems so expensive!
I really how wonder how people afford it. We scrimp and save for these expenses, but it still takes lots of planning and sacrifice.
What’s amazing to me is how many people think that homeschooling is expensive. The local public school is very expensive–much more than homeschooling.
I know one person who is taking extra shifts at work so he can pay for all the school fees for his children–PE and several other classes have fees, besides the children he has in sports.
I just heard today that in order to volunteer in your child’s class at the local public schools, you have to get fingerprinted and have a background check and get a food handler’s card if you plan to help at parties, and you are expected to pay for it yourself. This will really discourage low income parents from being involved, which we all know that parent involvement improves a child’s education.
wow! A food handler’s permit!!!
The once-a-week soup kitchen that utilizes our church’s fellowship hall now also requires TB testing and food-handling permits for anyone helping in any capacity (the organization is 100% volunteer). I understand the reasoning, but it certainly makes volunteering more difficult.
I taught Religious Education 18 years ago and you had to be fingerprinted and have a background check done. You also had to take special classes. They paid for it all. My kids were only $15 each too. It was originally $125. I then was a Girl Scout Leader and needed it. I just had to show that I already had done it. I did have to pay for a first aid class/CPR but it was cheap. I don’t remember how much.
Schools try to charge these fees, it’s the same for band. But if the activity is a class within the school day, like band is, by law the school cannot require payment. Mention FAPE (free and appropriate public education) and that usually does the trick. It is different if it is an after school activity, those don’t fall under FAPE. But during school day classes certainly do
Interesting, my kids attend my state’s largest public school district and there are no fees for sports participation. They even arrange for free sports physicals if you don’t have a peditrician.
Oh wow. That’s definitely not covered.
My kids sports were mostly covered. My kids played tennis and already had good racquets so they used those. My daughter also ran track. They only gave school shirts as uniforms for both. You had to buy red or white shorts. They did tons of fundraisers to pay for everything. The tennis coach did offer a free summer camp at 7am M-Th for 2 hours for free. for 6 weeks during the summer.
I sold my house in CT the end of 2021. The property tax, which funds the public schools, was $4,300 on a 768 square foot house on .30 acres of land….and I hadn’t had a student in the public school for six years. My point is that the expense of public school can either be born by the parents whose children choose to participate in expensive sports or it can be born by the entire town population, even those who don’t have children in school. The sports in my local public school required students to purchase any intimate items (mouth guards, helmets, etc) but all other equipment is provided. Most teams had booster clubs that would cover the cost of items that a student wasn’t able to purchase.
On a similar note, I’m always amazed to read blogs in other areas of the country where parents are required to provide a box of kleenex and other “standard” classroom equipment each year. That doesn’t exist in the CT school system my son attended. The school district pays for all of these items.
Here, we have property taxes for the schools, the casinos are required to pay for the schools, the parents are required to bring in tissues, etc. and even Title 1 schools, where all children receive both breakfast and lunch for free because there is such a high level of poverty (the schools we are zoned for) still have weekly fundraisers at restaurants and require classroom supplies, plus tons of other fees.
So there’s quite a lot here.
That is crazy! I’m sorry! It dissuades many families.
$900 is outrageous!
I am gobsmacked. Who could afford to do that, especially if there is more than one child in the family?
I know someone with a very well-paid job who has been taking extra shifts at work in order to do this. It’s a lot.
Sign up for the chick fil a app and you will earn freebies and get a freebie for your birthday. They also have a game going on right now. I won a medium fry today.
I’ve seen bad instruments on craigslist.
oops I meant to say band instruments.
Good Morning.
This month has not been frugal, either. Mine, however, has been “wants” more than “needs”. I am so grateful that I have learned to track spending even when I am living a little more luxuriously. It takes only a few twists and turns to be in the lean months again as you have talked about. I use Ramsey’s Every Dollar on my phone. I would encourage everyone who wants peace with money to find some easy method to track. You cannot change that which you unwillingly to acknowledge.
I have had a few windfall months because my first retirement checks ( yeah!!!!) have doubled up my summer income. ( Teachers do not get paid 12 months usually.) I decided to address a painful subject : jewelry. A few months years ago I received my Diamond Grading certification from GIA. I was going to be an appraiser for my second life. Now with lab grown diamonds, the jewelry business is in chaos with high barriers to entry. I decided this summer to go through some high end gifted and inherited jewelry pieces. If it was NOT sentimental or useful, I decided to sell because diamonds are at an all time low and gold is at an all time high. . An $11,000 insurance diamond ring has been put on REALREAl for $2,000. I hope to make $900. Other pieces I sold to a reputable gold and silver dealer. I replaced fancy with everyday versions that I will wear. After all was said and done, I now own a silver set of earring, pendant, and birthstone ring, my platinum wedding band, and one gold set of necklaces with charms. I kept the pearls DH gave me on our first wedding anniversary. The upside is I am no longer paying money to insure practically worthless items.
I know these are luxury problems but I wanted to share my story. To anyone holding on to items because of “perceived” value or fear of buyer’s remorse, remember there is freedom in moving on. Do the research and make the hard decisions.
The jewelry information you provided is so interesting. I acquired a diamond ring set in platinum (long story, but no sentimental value) that was insured for $25,000 until a jeweler told me that the actual resale value was about $3500. I cancelled the insurance.
So glad to see you posting again and I hope that life calms down! Your beautiful pictures have been keeping us up to date a little in your life, and we are all grateful that the girls were okay!
We foraged mulberries while on vacation in June, froze them at the timeshare, then made jelly when we came home. Someone threw away a small freezer at my husband’s work – he told the workers that it still worked, but he needed a bigger one. My husband plugged it in at work to make sure that it did indeed work, which it did, and then brought it home after a couple days. It is nice for when he finds markdowns as he keeps an eye out for our house and our children, lowering everyone’s grocery. I bought 100 blank cards from Amazon, and we have all been making Christmas cards, using examples on Pinterest. We have spent hours doing this and are having so much fun! My husband’s aunt gave us her week at the timeshare we love; all we have to do is have the deed changed and pay for that. I have been working overtime as much as possible – it just doesn’t seem that our checks go nearly as far as they used to. I try not to stress, but it’s hard. My husband is so good at looking in the cupboard and finding things to make a meal; I have to meal plan, but he can just whip something up in 15 minutes!
Made a trip to see family. While traveling with our small dog, we found that Motel 6 doesn’t charge a pet fee. So, we minimized pet fees by staying at Motel 6 when on the road. (Near my in-laws’ assisted living, the most convenient hotel has a $50 pet fee, which is okay because we stayed several nights, so the per-night fee wasn’t terrible. And they have a good hot breakfast.)
Stopped at a Dig-and-Save thrift store, which has leftovers from a group of thrift stores in an area we were visiting. Linens are $1.50 a POUND. Got a washable wool blanket, a dehydrator, a baby quilt, 14 CDs, and 3 DVDs for $22.
My sewing machine died last winter. The interior parts were destroyed; DH determined it was not repairable. Bought a new machine, with SO MANY features. Am slowly learning how to use it.
Trying to figure out if Sam’s Club is going to be worthwhile now that they’re going to charge shipping for PLUS member orders under $50. We live 40 miles from Sam’s, so that free shipping for plus was worth it….until now.
Im sad about the shipping change also. A lot if times, I don’t want the temptation of walking through the store for toilet paper. I guess I’ll just have to switch to pick up.
How lovely to see a post from you! It’s so good to hear there have been many good things happening for you. What a lovely soul that dentist is. Last week, several bananas were getting quite ripe, so they were frozen for smoothies. Tropical Storm Debby brought us 4″ of rain, which ushered in oodles of mushrooms. Mushroom gravy and rice was made, using foraged chanterelles. Elderberries and chanterelle mushrooms foraged the rest of the week were dehydrated. A reishi mushroom was also foraged, which will be dried. I generally add several chunks of these, each time I make broth, so we get the immune support each time I cook with broth, which is often. I canned tomatoes, including cherry tomatoes, and got five quarts. One jar didn’t seal, so the contents went into the freezer for the next round of canning. Tomato skins were dried for bird suet or tomato powder.
Last week’s harvest included apples, pawpaws, cucumbers, eggplant, figs, tomatoes, beets, parsley, as well as the elderberries and chanterelles. The replanted green beans and butternut squash are coming up nicely, and the fall pea harvest is as well. At the grocery store, our dog food, and the blueberries used in my smoothies were on sale, so I stocked up on those. I’ve been shopping more at Aldi, when I can, as their organic celery is only $2.19, compared to $3.59 for the same thing at Food Lion.. Considering I use 14-15 a week for juicing, that adds up. They also have better prices on organic bananas and cilantro, which I use daily in the smoothie. There was a frugal fail last week. I was especially concerned about remembering to bring a cooler, when heading to a co-op and other errands 45 mins. away. Well, I remembered it, and my phone, water and snacks, but when I got there, realized I had left my wallet at home. The trip wasn’t an entire waste, as I was able to pick up items my husband had ordered online at Tractor Supply, on the way home, but that was awfully silly of me.
There were many tiny apples that had fallen from our trees, probably 25 or so, and I wanted to do something fairly easy with them. I researched suggestions, and decided on apple butter. I cored them, and cut out any bad spots, but left them unpeeled. After steaming, I ran them through a food mill, then they went into a slow cooker with sugar and spices, which is cooking as I’m typing.
Brandy, I have missed your posts! Thanks for posting and I am grateful that you are getting your daughters’ things replaced and other items in your home.
I am harvesting and eating tomatoes and herbs from my garden. I also joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) and get a share of produce delivered close to where I live. I get beautiful produce for about $10 a week and it lasts me throughout the week.
I also continue to help distribute free boxes of food on Saturday mornings. The pastor of the church collects it throughout the week and we help distributed 50-60 boxes. With summer in full swing, the pastor gets more food/produce than the boxes can hold, so we have a supplemental table where people can take more. I have been able to bring home extra produce and food recently: corn, peaches, asparagus, frozen turkey breasts, and peppers. We had a glut of lentils and people didn’t want any more, so I brought home 4 pounds. Another week I brought home a flat of strawberries which turned into jam, some frozen berries, and a rhubarb and strawberry cobbler. One week we had cases of butter. We handed a lot out, but still had waaay to much. The church where we volunteer has some refrigerator and freezer space, but not enough for a glut. I took 50 lbs. of butter and gave them out at church (after putting 4 pounds in the freezer for myself).
We keep the AC at 79 and open the windows at night when we can. I’m still knitting, reading library books, decluttering, and finding contentment in my life.
I hope everyone has a great week!
That’s a great price for a CSA. I know the price varies lot by region. The ones I am familiar with near me range from $25 to $60 a week (Seattle area). The $60 a week one is a small organic woman owned farm. I know the owners, and they told me their costs have gone up exponentially, and some years they barely make ends meet. It’s a great place that I was able to support in the past, but now it’s not in my budget.
Hi Brandy, Nice to see you back and congrats on your day of paid work-always nice to have. On the positive side I have been saving some $ on Flash Food for fresh fruits and veggies. As well I found out that a grocery store( Save on Foods) here had a deal called plenty for $20 and you could choose 4 packs of marked meat for $20. The retail price was about 32.75 so I was pleased to stock up my small freezer a bit. Naturally I hunted for the biggest packages.
I did go to the East coast of Canada for a week and was thrilled to see whales feeding just off the beach. I am heading to the West Coast next week on a home exchange so little cost other than the ferry ride and gas. My daughter and husband are going to Illinois to visit his relatives.
Our neighbours gave us an unexpected $100 gift card after my husband removed a bird nest from their dryer vent. He also received $200 cash for executing an elderly persons will. Neither was expected.
On another good note, I see that a longstanding debt owed to us is down to about $3.000-thank goodness.
On the not so frugal side, during a heat wave we decided to install air conditioning for the first time as our summers seem to be getting hotter. We also replaced the furnace at the same time-kerching, kerching. One good thing is I received $150 in grocery store points for putting the AC on our credit card. Of course we paid it off. We still open up the house in the morning to cool it down for free and use the AC in the afternoon if required.
Another expense has been our daughter going back to school this year so needing to help her out-I am hoping she can jump start her career next year. She also split up with her boyfriend which has been difficult. I did not start my career until her age so I am hopeful she will find a good fit-and hopefully live closer than 3,000 km away!
For fun one day we got together with our Italian friends to make homemade lasagna noodles-we then made up several containers of pasta for the freezer. It is tasty but it took quite awhile to prepare. In a couple of weeks we are having another freezer cook off and inviting my Mum-we are making meat pies.
I, do you have a recipe for meat pies? I absolutely love them (I grew up in Michigan and they are popular there) and am on the hunt for a good recipe! Thanks!
-Glad you are back. How generous of the orthodontist ! Would never thought of that as being something that needed replacing. So I guess all that they were able to salvage was whatever they had on when they evacuated ? Not really something you had on your bingo card for this summer. Glad they got away safely.
-Main thing I have done to save money is turn off central air and use window unit in part of house I spent 99% of my time in. Power bill was only $112 so I guess it’s working. I haven’t been uncomfortable and am sometimes even cold. Only have ceiling fan running in kitchen but doesn’t really matter because I don’t cook, ever. Have only turned dishwasher on twice in 5 months and that was to wash Yeti cups and ice cream bowls and silverware.
-Lots of good church and charitable organizations here having rummage sales. Got up early for me Th-F-S to be there when they opened at 7am and then slept until 11am on Sunday to catch up. Got some great bargains, tons of stuff brand new.
-I had a coupon for BOGO free sandwiches at Honey Baked Ham. They have great club sandwiches with tons of meat and cheese. Each will do me for 3 meals. I get one for me and free one for my sister who lives nearby. We take turns paying. Each time I buy one I get another coupon code for next time. Good for about two weeks. Think we are on our fifth round of free sandwiches. Once a week was getting repetitive so we are now spacing out until end of two week period. Winds up being 6 meals for $11.
-Can’t wait to read what everyone had been up to in frugality.
They survived in just their swimsuits. No one had shoes. Everyone’s car keys, wallets, etc. burned. Everything. Someone from here had to collect a second set of keys from everyone and drive them the 4 hours there so that people could drive home.
That sounds terrible. I am so glad they survived. How terrifying!
I can only imagine how terrifying the whole experience must have been. I hope your girls have recovered emotionally and physically. How wonderfully generous people can be.
Forgot my exciting news. I am an official annuitant of big oil company. As of July 1 my retirement kicked in. The day my first check hit my bank account I took my sister out for a nice meal. We meant to celebrate with drinks but never order drinks so we forgot. Now we are back to taking turns paying. Next up figuring out Medicare.
Take your time of reading through it. Stay away from Medicare advantage. Over half the Medicare advantage reps have quit selling due to issues of coverage not being what they said it would be in our area (Ohio).
Make sure you get a medigap policy. Well worth the price. I belong to AARP so went through them. Did price others but they wanted double due to Hubby’s heart attack and my Crohn’s.
Neighbors recommended an independent insurance agent they used when they were going on Medicare. I did as much research on Medicare as I could but found the agent very helpful. And meeting with him had no out of pocket expense for me. For my county of residence, he recommended a traditional Medicare Supplement and not an Advantage plan. Make sure you meet all the deadlines.
Juls Owings- when Hubs retired 5 years ago here in Ohio, that’s the reason we went to a friend-recommended independent insurance agent who works with retirement/Medicare supplement options. He steered us away from Medicare Advantage for that very reason!
Gardenpat in Ohio
Actually, we have Medicare Advantage, husband for 17 years, me for ten. We love it. Have never had any unpleasant surprises.
Each state has a SHIP program run usually by the department of insurance or the department of health and welfare. Some states call it SHIP, SHIIP, or SHIBA. They offer unbiased Medicare information free to beneficiaries in their state. They will give you ALL the information on Original Medicare/Medigaps and Medicare Advantage plans. What works for one person may not work for another depending on price, benefits, provider networks, prescriptions, etc.
https://www.shiphelp.org/about-medicare/regional-ship-location
Brandy, I want to thank you for the advise to add purchased compost with manure to our garden. For the first time we have a great crop! We are enjoying fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and green beans.
Having two teen boys and a preteen boy with a girl on the tail end I have needed to find filling meals that cost less. We have been eating some new fun meals. I started cooking the taco lentils that I got the recipe here. It makes a great lunch added to rice or making a burrito. We have been blessed with FlashFoods app having lots of corn on the cobb, bell peppers, lemons, onions, and tomatoes. So we have been eating lots of those items. I made Brandy’s lemonade recipe. The family also asked me to add smoke sausage and potato soup to our regular meal plan. https://www.howsweeteats.com/2024/02/smoked-sausage-potato-soup/ We are dairy free so I left out the flour and heavy cream and cooked it in the crockpot on high for 4 hours.
End of June I took a business trip with my husband to Northwestern Iowa. It was my first time and I fell in love. It was so pretty…. all the corn fields with blue sky….. you could see across the horizon forever. Nothing like Kentucky where the view is blocked with hills and small mountains.
This summer I told the kids to play one board game a day and spend 1 hour outside. These two things have made the summer go so well! The board games are getting used. Sometimes the kids are outside one hour and sometimes for 3 or 4 hours. I am adding this to next years summer ideas.
Renee, this soup looks amazing and I have sausage to use up in the freezer! Thank you for sharing🥰
Laura you are welcome!
I made this soup today and it was very tasty-I modified it slightly using ingredients I had at hand. I also added lentils.
Renee, I live in northwestern Iowa, and am so glad you enjoyed your visit to our beautiful farming region. I grew up in Colorado, and I am blessed to call both places home–they each have their own unique beauty and characteristics, as is true, I think of all places. Love your idea about the outside time and the games!
It sounds like a pretty intense time you’ve had! Hope that soon it will all be just a memory!
We thought that with the economy as challenging as it’s been, that we would see a decrease in our business income, since, imo, having a quilt sent to a longarmer would be considered an expendable budget cost. Instead, our business has more than doubled this year and here are the quilts we were hired to quilt for pay: https://pin.it/74FIWegWm , https://pin.it/bzKhcuyhV, https://pin.it/4dQKTFNAs, https://pin.it/6vORzneUl, https://pin.it/2FYlbu8xV, https://pin.it/2TUqtA2Yu, https://pin.it/KnC05bBBC, https://pin.it/3GEDpgoBh, https://pin.it/1NilX6a2w, https://pin.it/4YqXTOOjD, https://pin.it/3V5IUg7oE, https://pin.it/2VxymGuM6, https://pin.it/1smQ2Bx4h, https://pin.it/3n69Ex2jD, https://pin.it/NR6a989cO, https://pin.it/791LyUhvR, https://pin.it/4nS5kG3gV, https://pin.it/7c2A1VTAV, https://pin.it/2045pky7n, https://pin.it/4wqST3A6g and https://pin.it/6zTcukpIB (a scrap user quilt I made for my new great grandson!)
I’ve been able to save money on groceries by using Flashfood. Lots of meats and produce! Just froze 24 cartons (6 oz each) of raspberries for 99 cents each at Meijers! Same with pints of strawberries and blueberries! I’ve been blessed to be able to share a lot of what I’ve bought on sale or been given with others that I know to help ease their budgets as well.
Hubs was asked by his urologist’s PA if he might like to switch from the $1000/month Rx that our insurance doesn’t cover to a similar, but more generic option. He told him to switch, using samples he gave him, for 1 month, taking his BP every day to watch for that side effect. After 3 weeks, his BP has remained normal and so we will be making a permanent switch! So it’s like a $1000/month raise! 😳😳😍😍
We have been decluttering like crazy and are enjoying the way this makes it easier to maintain our house!
Life keeps moving along here and we try to counteract the cacophony of anger in the world by taking time to be pleasant, patient and kind with everyone we are in contact with! Sometimes that’s easy, sometimes more challenging. But every time we do, we feel more peace and are reminded of how many really nice people there are around us that we may not have met yet!
Hope the days get more peaceful for you, Brandy, and also for your readers!
Gardenpat in Ohio
Hi, Gardenpat! Since my husband passed away nearly a year ago, our house is starting to feel big and empty. So, I plan to downsize to a smaller house on a much smaller lot. It will certainly save my aching back, and will free up more time to find new productive activities. He had a lot of hobbies and interests, and so do I. But all that “stuff” won’t fit into a smaller house! He was always tidy (everything in its place), so not so much decluttering as purging. I get really sentimental about his things and the memories that go with them. But I don’t need a ton of tools and history books! So, I often take a picture and store it to my iCloud, then bid the sentimental item goodbye. I have the picture to use for reminiscence. It’s working out pretty well for me. Also, a plus-side is that it’s been roughly 110 degrees for the past two months (Arizona, you know), and this keeps me busy inside. Haha!
Good luck with the rest of your decluttering. I’m sure you will have a ton of ah-ha! moments, and many stories to share with your family.
GardenPat, I love seeing the pictures of all the quilts you finish. And thank you for talking about Flashfoods. You kept talking about it so about 5 months ago I went to the next town over and tried it out. We get so much veggies and fruit for so much less it is worth the time and gas. Also a great way for the kids to try a new random fruit that gets put in the bag.
Hi Pat,
Gosh I love seeing you your work! Thank you for sharing.
I love seeing your quilts. That llama one is just the cutest thing ever!
You and your family seem to be handling the obstacles like champions. What a wonderful orthodontist gift.
Been working hard with yard work – Gardner’s World has really has kept me inspired and I would love to entertain friends or myself more in the back yard. I was able to get some red canna bulbs, painted ferns, a low growing shrub and prim roses simply putting the word out that I am trying to renovate the yard on a deep discounted budget. I grew and thoroughly enjoyed my first strawberry (plants bought at a deep discount). I bought the cheapest netting and enjoyed a cups worth of wild strawberries.
I did do a price break down of canning vegetables vs store bought cans – and home canning is still the winner at 14 cents a can (cheaper than sale prices).
I gave up social media – except for workout and garden inspiration on Instagram – per my phone – this has given me back 3 hours each week to get other things done – like gardening, mending or enjoying hikes.
Hope every has a calm and productive week!
Hi Brandy,
Welcome back!
It’s hard for me to summarize savings. I find that I trip over my shoelaces even when double tied so I bought a pair of shoes with velcro fastenings. they were $50 reduced from $250. they are a bit large so I’m studying on how to shrink them. I got free shipping on them. I have not been going out
much but I had to renew my id card. Usually it is $49.00 but if I paid by debit instead of credit card I got a discount then the fellow at the counter
gave me another discount so it was about $37.00. In the same shopping centre, I did a curbside pick up of a box of meatballs that was reduced by 50% and had another curbside pickup, thus saving on cab fares as all my trips were close to each other. For the most part I am isolating at home because there is a summer covid surge but I had to have a valid id card to get medical services.
I bought several things as Buy One Get One Free items, including a pound of strawberries. It was far from a frugal month as I hosted my nephew and his family for a picnic. “I” helped pick up items such as the firewood for the barbecue which I greatly appreciated. I rented a covered shelter as the forecast was for rain. Fortunately, it did not rain that week. I spent far too much for food (even on sale) but what I didn’t use I can use myself.
My nephew and family just arrived in Jasper on their way to Edmonton when they had to evacuate to the west from Jasper because of the horrible fire. So they had to go from Jasper west to Kamloops then east to Calgary then north to Edmonton where they visited with relatives then back south to Calgary where we had our picnic. My nephew also ran in a triathlon so he looked very weary by the time he got here.
I have finished proofreading the Index for our park society’s historical monograph. It is tedious but necessary work. It is a very small printing with most of the copies being donated to libraries and archives. I would like to go out to see a rare Whooping Crane that apparently half of our city has seen but I cannot afford it. It is just west of our city. I took a very nice hawk photo and some beautiful butterfly photos in my yard.
I sometimes post photos on inaturalist.ca, a citizen science site. I was pleasantly surprised when an Italian ornithologist emailed me and asked if he could use my Snowy Owl photo in a book he is doing on owls of the world. I am donating a one time use licence for the photo to him. Last year a researcher from Georgia asked if he could publish a photo I had done of an unusual group of hoverflies… It is nice to get a few photos published even for no money.
I am trying to get my trees watered in for the winter. Our city will again have stringent outside watering restrictions starting August 26 for necessary repairs. It is getting tiresome and worrisome as this is the month when one really needs to water trees and fruit trees in.
Fortunately, my part of the city was spared the hail from the disastrous storm of a week ago.
I got biopsy results back. nothing major wrong but I need to make up my mind about treatment. Because of public health care, the cost was nothing but I spent a lot on cabs getting to and from the doctors’ offices.
I enjoyed watching some of the Olympics for free. I’ve restarted teaching myself Italian on DuoLingo. It is not great on my computer as it works better on ipads but I’m not getting an iPad just for that!
Ellie’s Friend, I bought elastic no-tie shoelaces which I love. I put my shoes on and off throughout the day many times. I bit difficult to thread to install them, but once that is done you never have to tie shoes again.
Heidi Louise,
Grafting is done in the spring before trees leaf out.
Ann in CO.
Thanks for the great suggestion.
Such sad news about Jasper – I remember a trip there many years ago and how lovely it was. I hope that people get to return home soon.
And yes, another water shortage for your area – what a mess but it has certainly brought home the need to not only stock up but to be more aware of our usage. I hope that your trees survive.
Hi Ann!
That is pretty neat that your picture is going to be in a book of owls of the world! Congratulations!
Hi Tammy, thanks!
Gas in University town was $2.81 gallon at SAMS, but gas was $3.22 gallon in small towns in the southern part of the state. I took my lunch and breakfast to work as usual. Boiled eggs and grapes for breakfast, turkey and cheese, or roast beef, or ham and cheese sandwiches for lunch with peanut butter and banana sandwiches occasionally .
I walked in my neighborhood. I cut my hair. I hand washed my jeans and my work skirts and hung them outside to dry.
It’s $4.09 here . . .
It was $3.89 at Buckees in North alabamaa
oh, I just posted $3 89 then realized it was $2.89 and I need caffeine
$4.79 at the cheap station here.
It sounds like you have been very busy, Brandy! I’m glad you were able to find the time to post – I’ve missed the community here. How generous of the orthodontist to replace the retainers of all who lost theirs in the house boat fire! I am sure everyone is grateful for his help. Is your homeowners insurance able to help with replacement costs for the other items? I know some policies cover items lost due to incidents at other locations, not just home.
My yard makeover is basically done for the year – I have two things that I will need to get next year but that’s okay. I am now planning for the back yard/garden for next year as well and we are keeping our eye out for a pergola on sale this fall. We can always build one, but it might be less expensive to buy one, depending on sale prices this fall.
We have an abundance of cucumbers this year and I decided to try my hand at making pickle relish, as we have pickles left from last year to eat this year. It turned out well and I will make more in the next few weeks. We’ve also been eating sliced cucumbers as snacks and with lunches, given cucumbers to neighbors, and used them in salads.
An abundance of rain means we have a jungle-like tomato patch and HUGE tomatoes. They’re just starting to ripen and I am anticipating making sauce for the next year, which I will freeze.
Our children worked as camp counselors this summer at our church camp and each received a camp sweatshirt, two camp t-shirts, and a pain, colored metal water bottle as part of their pay. Our daughter also worked a separate event and was able to bring home two desktop computers (yes, really) – they were going in the trash since they are a few years old and it was easier and cheaper to buy new than upgrade software and some hardware; all the workers were able to bring up to two full computers (CPU, monitor, and keyboard/mouse) home if they wanted to. She was the only one that took them up on the offer. They were also paid and given room and board for their jobs. Actual take-home pay wasn’t terrific, but skill sets are relevant to their University courses and it was overall a good experience and their take home pay was adequate.
While doing back-to-school shopping, we found a suit for our son for $120 total – trousers and jacket. He has filled out since he graduated from high school, so his graduation suit doesn’t fit anymore, and he needed a black suit for concert performances. We were also able to get him a black dress shirt and tie for an additional $18 total. He is very pleased and is all set for concert wear this year (and hopefully a few years into the future).
We sold a seldom used refrigerator and a couple of pieces of furniture that no longer served their purposes for us. We set the money aside in our emergency fund. The refrigerator was from our kitchen before the remodel we did in 2021. We thought to keep it for extra summer produce, entertaining, etc. and keep it in the utility room with chest freezer. It became a place where things went to be forgotten, so it was time to sell. My husband did enjoy putting beverages in there to enjoy while watching TV (which is in the neighboring room), we added the mini-fridge that he used to have in his office at work (and never used) for just beverages in place of the larger fridge.
Have a lovely week,
Lea
Re: Regarding men’s suits: My brother-in-law was a business executive, and he said (such as for people starting out) that a mid-priced or even inexpensive suit would look better if the wearer had expensive ties and socks (!). Socks are noticed more than people realize. Sorry I forgot what he said about shirts.
Of course, this takes as a given that everything is clean and pressed and shoes are shined.
Thanks Heidi Louise!
I hope the children are recovering from the trauma of the boat fire – and their parents as well!
To Leigh Ann, the sports teams at our public school are provided with only some of what they need and the cheerleaders get nothing at all from the school, although the school is quick to demand 3 different cheer uniforms, a rain suit, a monogrammed duffel bag, a “union suit” to wear under the uniforms in cold weather, a particular set of shorts and tee for cheer practice, special shoes, special socks, and special hair bow. The cheerleaders had to conduct fundraisers to buy their own protective floor mats for practicing cheers because the school refused to provide them. Cheerleading was “not a sport,” so didn’t qualify for any school funding. My daughter was a cheerleader, as you could probably tell, and the fact that she had friends a little older than her who had cheered and were willing to donate to her anything that could be reused saved us an amazing amount of money.
I just ordered and picked up cuts from a half of a sheep for the freezer. The price for ground meat isn’t that great, but the price for the fancier cuts was much, much better than stores, once you average out the per pound price for the whole bundle.
I installed a 2-tiered pullout drawer in a kitchen cabinet myself, instead of paying for help. It was not quite the fit it was supposed to be, so installation was not easy, but I got it done.
I don’t remember the price now, but I bought 3 pounds of butter on sale.
Eight months ago I ordered 2 herbal shampoo bars from Chagrin Valley soaps. I finished a nearly used up shampoo before starting a bar, so I’ve probably been using bar shampoo for 7 months now. I am not quite done with the first bar after 7 months, washing my hair every other day. The bars run about $9 each, but they certainly last a long time, and I do like them. They have a simple, short list of ingredients and smell wonderful.
Hurricane Debby dumped so much rain on us that it pretty well ruined my garden, sadly. It’s about time to tear it out anyway and start a fall garden. I’ve saved seed and saved some bought seed in the refrigerator, which I will use to re-plant.
I continue to use leftover dogs’ water to water my potted plants. I also save warm-up water to flush toilets.
I use the pressure cooker, crock pot and stovetop almost exclusively in this high heat and humidity we’ve had for much of the summer. On occasion, I’ll use the toaster oven, which I can set outside to use.
I was given a large stack of fat quarters of fabric, so I am looking up ways to use it.
Have a good week everyone!
Welcome back! I was so excited to see this post today. I’ve missed you all, but totally understand busy summers. * I had some elastic separate on a few pair of undies so I mended those. After washing a bathroom rug I noticed some binding coming loose. I repaired that with some thick thread and it looks good as new.*I bought some yarn at Hobby Lobby on sale for an upcoming Christmas gift. I’ve been steadily working on Christmas gifts and just have a few more to finish. * A friend of mine makes intricate, gorgeous greeting cards. I save all of them she sends me (a few a year). Then, I cut the front off and tape it to some cardstock I had to reuse them. She knows this and loves that her beautiful cards get a new life. I used one of her card fronts for a bridal shower I was invited to. *Per usual, I meal planned, did grocery pick up, cooked from home mostly and froze leftovers. * I did my annual physical check up and my semi-annual dentist visit which are 100% covered by insurance as preventative care. My husband says missing those appointments is a waste of money. *There was fraud on our HSA card…it was drained of $1100. Sigh. We were able to work with the company to report that and finally, after jumping through some hoops, got it straightened out. Thankfully, that money is back in our HSA account.* We enjoyed watching the Olympics on tv for entertainment, as well as reading, puzzles, games and my knitting and crocheting. We love being home. *Even though much the country has had terrible heat, fire, floods or storms, we in Minnesota have been blessed with a very mild temperatured summer. We have had the A/C off many days. We are thankful and don’t take that for granted. *I hope everyone is having a great summer!
In total, I’ve made $240 Marketplace from selling items around the house the last couple months.
Earned $9 from aluminum cans and I really need to take the next batch in.
Earned $12.45 from Amazon Shopper Panel Rewards for June, and $12.15 for July. I don’t like how they redid it, so not sure if I’ll be making as much.
The guys have been working constantly. We did the math and figured it’s cheaper for them to come home at night, so that’s what they have been doing, taking my truck as much as I could spare. Hopefully, the long drive job is almost done.
I finished Iron Flower, Shadow Wand, Too Pretty To Live , and Ready Player 2 on Audible.
I froze nectarines we weren’t going to get to in time to use in smoothies.
I noticed our Verizon bill was high. After looking at the details, they were still charging us for a line we canceled when we got new phones. They credited us what we paid.
Earned $6 or so on Ibotta
The boy wanted food cooked at home for birthday, so we made a weekend of his favorite things.
Got free tea on Mcalister’s tea day
Made broth from all my carcasses. I ended up with 15 cups broth, and 2 quarts shred chicken. I was looking in the freezer yesterday and found more carcasses. They’ll have to wait.
Borrowed and read about a dozen books from the library.
I noticed my takeout condiments container was full. I had 18 syrup containers from McDonald’s. I poured them into the 1/4 bottle of Mrs Butterworths and they filled it up.
My husband brought home a leg of lamb from a person he did work for.
We didn’t have to pay for the teens cap and gown for summer graduation, and we are supposed to get free photos. We did go out to eat, and I had purchased her a few gifts(a free after rebate Lego flower set, a perfume sampler from Macy’s, and a couple senior 2024 items that I found in May)
Used rewards on apps to get stuff cheaper
I did have to throw out all of our instant oatmeal packets…the teen went to cook one one night and it had maggots in it 🤢
And I talked with an academic advisor for the university I thought about getting my Bachelors with. It’s pricey, like $2,500 for just two classes a semester AND the degree I wanted wasn’t 100% available online. She did encourage me to apply for financial aid because she even though I had used it all available to get an associates, I should have plenty for a Bachelors. I decided to go for the online degree of professional writing(even though I wanted Creative🤷♀️). It’s still an English degree. Now, to wait on financial aid(I’m not starting until January)
Now it’s back to work time for me, so at least I’ll have a paycheck again🤑
Best wishes for your degree work, April!
You probably know this: Do google searches for words like “name of your town, college scholarships”, or county, or state. Look at women’s organizations in your area, or organizations you or your husband belong to. Our community theatre has a small scholarship, as does the two-county development foundation.
I am glad to see you back. I will admit, I missed this forum. Hope it goes smoothly from here on out for your daughters.
I too, have had an eventful 6 weeks. The biggest, is that my new granddaughter was born on the 4th of July. We kept my 1 1/2 year old granddaughter while my son was with his wife in the hospital. She ended up having to have a C-Section. They live about 100 miles away, and I have been going down every week for 3 days to help. I just do dishes, cook, do laundry, change diapers, take the older one for a walk each day. Really, whatever they want me to do. I am exhausted I admit it. I am 70, and keeping up with kids, well, let’s just say I now understand why we have children when we are young.
Our garden is coming along nicely. We are harvesting cucumbers, zucchini, cherry tomatoes, chard, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, a few green beans, a few peppers, and beets. I need to thin the carrots so they will grow bigger. My snow pes and lettuce are done, but I planted more for a fall harvest. I have also harvested and dried some of the basil and thyme, with more to go.
Most meals were made and eaten at home. I made bread several times, made pizza, blueberry muffins and bread, cheese and bacon scones, broccoli soup, stir-fry, BBQ, fajitas, sausage and cheese English muffins, and many other things to use up the veggies from the garden.
A friend gave my DH 4 boxes of apples. One of Granny Smith and 3 of Honeycrisp. I am making applesauce. I use the Honeycrisp and don’t add sugar for my granddaughter. She loves it.
I hope everyone has a good week.
My granddaughter was born the middle.of July and they also have a toddler. The baby was 7 weeks early so that has been difficult, especially following a month in hospital on bed rest for the mama, and a c section. I, too, am going down (200 miles) one week a month to do exactly the same as you are! My son (the dad of this family) is also starting grad school in a week. Busy times!
I’m right there with you Nancy in E WA and Kara. I’m not close enough to my son and his family to go every week, but we go every month for several days to help with our cute little 18 mo old granddaughter.
I do the same-take prepared food to eat while there, some that I’ve frozen for them to eat later, homemade and purchased favorite snacks, and any other incidentals that I think could be helpful. I also cook, clean, and we keep the baby occupied so they can get some things done more easily, and just have a bit of a break. My son is taking on a side gig in addition to his job and my DIL is very busy with her job as well. Unfortunately our little granddaughter has some medical issues that affect her sleep-and everyone else’s! They are exhausted.
So they get a bit of extra sleep while we’re there and we get time with the little one-which we love! I’m a couple of years younger than you, Nancy. For 45 years I worked with children, frequently on the floor. I’ve been retired almost 2 years and find that the getting up and down has become more difficult! After our visits, my husband and I need a day or two to recover 🫤 as we too are exhausted, but it’s well worth it! 🥰 I’m glad we can help.
I hear the same comments from friends and family who have been called on more and more for grandparent duty – they want to help but do find it exhausting. If its any comfort, one of my sisters, who had her children in her early 20’s then fostered two children in her early 40’s and even found it exhausting at that age!
We have been involved since day 1 now 12 years with granddaughter
First almost every day now 3 days each week and I am both exhausted and cherishing every minute I get with this little girl
We only live approximately 10 miles apart so its easy
We help with anything we can like gardens, painting etc besides play all kinds of games both indoor and outdoor, climb trees, swing or run thru sprinklers. Our time will dwindle and we know it so we make the most of it
What a blessing that you ladies are able to help with grandchildren!
It’s especially wonderful when grandparents and relatives are willing to do the dirty work: cleaning house, changing diapers, and the not glamorous tasks.
When my mom was alive, for my first few kids, she would come to work around the house as well as babysit (I had to go back to work when first baby was 3 weeks old). It was a stark contrast to my MIL, who just wanted to criticize us while holding the baby. Ouch!
So kind of you!
Nancy, congratulations on your new granddaughter💖 Our youngest son and his wife had their first child June 14; a girl. The next son up and his wife had a baby girl June 25 (she had a C-section as well). We just got back last weekend from a month traveling to see them and help. I had our 8 month old grandson yesterday and I am pooped. He is 27 lbs! Big boy and heavy for me. He also needs a lot of entertaining, but I wouldn’t give up my time with him. I, like you, need time to recover after spending day(s) with the grandchildren. It’s so much fun, but I’m no spring chicken. Sounds like a lot of us are in the same boat.😉
It’s so good to see you posting again. I’m so sorry for all you have been through. I hope much easier times are ahead.
We had an expensive week — my brother and his wife were in Denver for a couple of nights, so we drove over there and stayed overnight at their hotel to visit with them. It was not a cheap trip but it was less expensive than going to see them in Texas. My brother’s health has not been good and I didn’t want to miss an opportunity to see him.
My garden is producing. I have been making pickles form my cucumbers — I got 6 pints of pickles before the plant (I only have one) stopped producing. I have been harvesting green beans and every few days I can 2-3 jars. I will probably buy a box of green beans locally and can them as well. Canned green beans are our favorite vegetable. My broccoli is trying to bolt in the heat, but I was able to make a salad with one head of it and will find ways to use the other heads as they mature. We’ve been enjoying hot peppers, zucchini, and roma tomatoes from the garden and I harvested a bumper crop of garlic. The lettuce I planted is ready to harvest this week. My husband has been splitting the firewood we got for free from a neighbor.
Does anyone have places you can order used college textbooks? I know they have been shared on here in the past but I can’t remember what they are now!
We had good luck renting textbooks for my daughter from Amazon.
My oldest does the same!
Someone said ThriftBooks.com has text books.
https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/loans/student-loans/buy-sell-rent-textbooks-online-cheap
This is a good resource with a list of choices. Also check out renting textbooks.
For classic works, such as might be needed for English or general ed classes, you might find free online versions. It never hurts to look: For instance, the Seamus Heaney “Beowulf” is available in .pdf and on YouTube.
Make sure, though, that you get good translations if the work wasn’t originally published in modern English, especially if it is supposed to be a comedy or satire. And some teachers want students to have the notes/glossaries/reading aids that come in higher priced books.
For textbooks:
1. Check and see if they’re on course reserve at the school library. This means the library has copies you can you for a few hours at a time (free).
2. See if you can get them from another library system through interlibrary loan.
3. See if an older edition is acceptable; these are often < $10.
4. Check with your instructor to see if their department has any extra copies. I know the textbook representatives usually give us extras.
5. Renting or online versions may be cheaper.
6. Check with the instructor to see if they really use that book in the class.
Good luck! I work at a community college, and I know textbooks can be expensive.
So very glad no one was harmed in the fire, but so very scary.
I’m still recovering from my surgery in May. Recovery was much slower than the doctor said, and I dealt with post surgical infection. I’m drowning in medical debt worse than before, but somehow with God’s grace we will get through, right?
Contacted hospital about $180 incorrect bill. Sometime had clicked don’t file insurance during a doctors visit. Getting that resolved.
Oh, reminder that if you think you’re going to be close on the deductible to contact your doctor regarding any tests or procedures. My oldest just got a referral and they can’t see her until Dec. 27.
I published my caregivers journal on Amazon. Also am picking up some freelance writing to help meet bills. We are still waiting to see on my husband’s disability claim.
He had a good health day and the weather cooperated so we picked raspberries at a local orchard. Made my grandma’s raspberry dessert with some of them. We might not save any berries to freeze and just enjoy fresh to munch on.
Picked up yarn for the prayer shawl ministry and started working on a blanket.
I am starting to feel strong enough that I can probably start helping at the food pantry again.
My garden has done terrible as I’ve been able to do much yard work (stupid organ removal). But my apple tree has gone gangbusters. I’m inviting a neighbor over to take her grandkids to pick the low hanging fruit for fun.
I turn 50 in a few months. Decided for my “celebration” I would try or learn something new each month for a year. This could be an adventure.
Wishing you all a great week!
Robbie
My kids have a ton of medical bills (see story above) and I have a couple of resources that might be helpful to you.
https://www.patientadvocate.org/
I haven’t used them but it was a resource recommended to me
https://www.npr.org/2023/03/24/1165953653/medical-bills-debt-negotiation-forgiveness
This is a really helpful article
Also, our kids got assigned a social worker and she has been so helpful in helping navigate the finances. Is there a way you could ask at the hospital where you were if you could speak to a social worker?
Lovely to read your post and enjoy your beautiful rose photos. You have been missed. I’m glad your girls are ok, quite a frightening ordeal for them.
We are in the process of setting down a budget, now we know how much money we will be getting, my husband took early retirement. We will have to be more mindful of outgoings but we’ve never been extravagant,
The past week I’ve repaired jeans, trousers, pyjamas and a fleece. Have harvested peas, herbs and the last of the currents and gooseberries. Will be sewing seeds for autumn harvests tomorrow. I’ve also bought Christmas presents, toiletry gift sets have been up to 65% off so it made sense to buy now.
We have had a couple of food bonanzas! I got many many many boxes of cartons of dairy-free double cream for free, and turned them all into about 50l of ice cream. My son has just gone dairy free too (sad, but it is helping his tummy troubles and eczema) and we are having some very hot weather. I used it as an opportunity to clear out my pantry, so we have some rather unusual flavours – tinned prune ice cream, anyone? Now we just have to eat it all up!
I also got a large amount of red peppers, courgette and blueberries from our community larder which is closing for the summer. I could have had more, but the freezer is too full of ice cream 🙂 We are eating some fresh. Then I sliced and froze the peppers, sliced and roasted and froze the courgette, and just popped the blueberries straight in the freezer.
We bought a new-to-us bed (with mattress) and sofa bed on eBay. I got a discount on each of around £100 just by making a “best offer” rather than accepting the “buy it now” price. Now we can accommodate a lot of overnight guests at once. I made sure to get a bed with drawers underneath, to save floor space and to save money by not needing to buy an extra piece of furniture to store linens. I always do this when we buy furniture – try to get a version with extra storage.
My next big spend is that we need to buy some new bedding. I am keeping an eye out on eBay, and expect to be able to buy some used and to have to buy some new.
I have been so busy this summer, I really haven’t been online much. I thought I was missing all the fun! So sorry to hear about the boat fire but very grateful no one was hurt and things could be replaced, as annoying and stressful as that can be.
The primary thing that kept me busy was my appearance in a community theatre production of The Sound of Music. It was the experience of a lifetime and I miss it and the people so much already. We really became one big family – both cast and crew – and are staying in touch via text and FB and I have seen a few of them in recent weeks. Our show set a record attendance level for the theatre with some people coming more than once to see it, from what we heard. That was a huge compliment! Community theatre is a win/win for all involved – quality entertainment at reasonable prices and great experience for those on or behind stage. My youngest son, the artist, worked on the set design and got a credit and head shot in the program, too. He was very excited. He has since auditioned and been offered 2 parts in an all-youth production of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with another community theatre. Rehearsals start this week and he is looking forward to it. For a dyslexic child, doing 4 cold readings in front of a room full of 50+ people, could be very daunting but he did it and did wonderfully. This will be a great boost to his self-confidence and no cost involved. He participated in a children’s theatre camp with a professional theatre group this summer where they wrote, designed sets and costumes and performed a play in one week. It was very reasonably priced and he gained a lot of good experience which helped with this audition.
We have continued to sell eggs and honey from our hives which helps offset our costs well. Also have sold about $300 worth of items on FB marketplace and in our neighbor’s antique shop booth.
We are eating out of the gardens as much as possible and really working on our pantry stash. We received a basement full of long-term storage food back in May from a neighbor who was moving and that has been a blessing. It’s also been fun trying to figure out how to pair things together – almost like a food puzzle. 🙂 I have found some new to me sources for good recipes online such as Shred Happens (FB) and Downshiftology (blog.)
We have completed some house and property projects primarily using items we have but have had to purchase some things always using my husband’s gift cards he receives from work and credit card points. We finished the stairs up to my boys’ rooms and my husband has made some potting benches and storage tables for our porch. He also is in the process of making a jig to make picture frames. This will help us with my ongoing project of framing antique family photos and a possible source of revenue, too.
I have thrifted quite a few useful things this summer while my son is at art class. There are 2 great thrift stores right around the corner and I keep myself happily occupied. Some of those items have already been resold and some were things I had been looking for for quite some time and are useful to us. Regular thrift shopping is a huge money saver for us particularly since I know what I am looking for and can breeze through a store very quickly and know if there is something I can use or not. Saves time, too.
My oldest son’s mowing business has been flourishing this summer and he has saved a lot of money. My youngest son has been mowing 2 properties and selling his art every other Saturday at our local farmer’s market. They have a Youth Maker’s Market where kids 5-18 can sell their art or crafts. He has done extremely well often selling out of his bookmarks and notecards. He was encouraged to start an Instagram account to share his art and figured out how to do that himself @cool_dude_does_cool_art if anyone is interested. 🙂 I also started an account to share stories about all the antiques in my home (because it really is the stories we love about old things, I think) and with thoughts of selling some antiques through that platform at some point in the future. (@mrsharrisstayshome) I know of antique dealers who sell exclusively through IG now and have no retail shop. You never know till you try, right? 🙂
Still reading the Inspector Gamache series when I have a free moment or two. I think I’m on book 11? I will be sad when it ends! Also reading an interesting, if sad, book based on a true story of illegal adoptions in the 1930s-1950s called “Before We Were Yours.” Life was certainly hard for so many families in poverty in the years after the Depression, the War years, etc. but it is difficult to reconcile what some thought a good decision (taking children from poverty to privilege) with the methods used to make those decisions. Definitely makes you think, which is one of my hallmarks of a good book.
Looking forward to hearing from you all!
I read “Before We Were Yours,” and completely agree with you. I just picked up the book “Hill Women,” and expect it to be similar, but I’m very excited to read it, nonetheless. Congrats on your theatre participation!
Thank you, D! 🙂
Congratulations on the Theatre programs for you and your son! And the art! How wonderful!
Thank you, Tammy! It is wonderful to share a love of creativity with him. 🙂
Mountain Mama Dawn, I read that book a while back. It was tough to read. Heartbreaking in so many ways. I was wondering about where you live, statewise. We will be moving to northeast Tennessee by the end of the year for my husband’s job. I am beyond thrilled to get out of Illinois. My DIL’s sister (who I am close with) lives in that area as well. Looking for like-minded community. I know someone on here also lives in the area… southwest Virginia, which is where my father’s family is from. She has been recovering from surgery…Mable? Anyhow, my dad’s family was a prominent family in that area and Abner’s Mountain is named after them. They have been there since before we were a country. Anyway, looking to connect, if you are so inclined. I am mb10bear on Instagram. I don’t post anything, just a way to connect?
Laura S – We are in NW NC just a few miles from TN. Hope you love living in Appalachia and will reach out on IG when I have a moment. 🙂
Glad you are back and things are improving. I know it was months before things settled down after our houses fire decades ago, and Daughter 4’s house fire at the beginning of the year.You think you have everything replaced then find something you forgot about…sigh.
Been a rough summer… Hubby got a bipap (cpap doesn’t work for him) and it made things worse, his specialist changed some things and hopefully it works. If not, the doctor said he would be getting inspire… with approval before surgery (Medicare does pay for it, our medigap pays some also).
My blood pressure has bounced from too high to way to low even with meds to try to keep it stable. Doc told me to take more breaks… I told him I do not take breaks as I end in ER for breaks but I would gently apply brakes… He got a laugh until I reminded him we homestead and I am canning. Then he sighed as his wife and him was up until 2 AM canning the night before.
Garden has struggled… between moles and 5 inches plus rain in May, cold snap (actually turned furnace back on) then 100 plus heat index and no rain… then we got 4 inches of rain that flooded the entire basement, had it above my ankles. Reports said it came down at 6 1/2 inches per hour. Our main drain tile couldn’t handle it coming off barn, pump house and house. SO we will be replacing that tile this summer with a larger tile. We lost about $1000 worth of stuff but didn’t claim it on insurance that had just went up anyways. Amish had a “creek” running through their barn and work shop flooded… both on top of hill.Most had water in their basements, guy down the road had it in his house even on a knoll as he is one story.
I’m redoing the finances tomorrow as I am canning pasta sauce today.
Brandy I hope you are getting credit for what I ordered from Amazon.
Be safe
Prayers for peace
Blessed Be
It flooded on the top of the hill!!! Wow!
I think my apple and cherry trees might make it although the cherry tree did lose at least 2 grafts. I’m glad I didn’t pull them out when I thought they were dead from the deer trimming both of them.
Instead of a greenhouse trip this year, we kicked the guys out at my Mom’s and had a plant swap. Many, many of my moms plants and bushes have come from friends and family that have passed so it is nice to have pieces of them. Most of the plants have made it but I’m going to have to try again with the Seven Sisters rose that is around 100 years old. I think it didn’t like the shock of transplant combined with 90°F heat so I’m going to wait til fall to dig another piece.
The garden is producing chard, green beans, tomatoes, zucchini and the corn is just about ripe. The hens are giving us around 8 eggs a day so we have plenty for both us and our neighbor.
I’ve picked up another free trampoline for reuse as a grape arbor (circle frame), weed barrier (jump mat), wood log holder (legs), and netting for over my chicken run.
I picked up a corded Bissel stick vac for free that has made keeping up with the tracked in sand so much faster than the broom and dustpan.
2 weeks ago I discovered our big freezer was running but not putting out any cold air. Thankfully all the meat was in the lowest shelves and was still frozen but I lost all my veggies on the top 2 shelves (the chickens appreciated them though). I managed to cram everything still frozen into the smaller frig freezer and left it unplugged. The inside of the walls and door must have filled with enough ice over time to stop up the cold air. Thankfully after a couple of days of defrosting and lots of towels to mop up the water, it started back up and is running good again. I’m going to hit the farmers market to rebuild my frozen veggie supply.
We sold our pontoon with all of the furniture that needed to be reupholstered and both non-working motors and the half completed Bimini tops. My husband decided on a fishing kayak instead (bought on sale) and for now I’m borrowing my daughters kayak to go with him. We used some of the money to also stock the freezer and pantry to full in all the items that had dwindled due to the prices going up (like meats). We are set now for at least 6 months again.
I mended multiple items.
I’ve started cutting down the tall grasses and drying for our rescue bunny to eat in the winter. I also rebuilt a hutch I picked up for free so she can be outside in the warm weather months.
I can’t think of anything else right now and I need to get the house ready for my grandson. I hope things settle down for you soon!
How lovely to see a new post up! Reading the comments is sort of like going through a box of old buttons, peaceful and exciting at the same time. (I will work on my imagery).
I haven’t read the comments yet, but wanted to put this question out for the gardeners in the group. I have one warped but tough apple tree I would like to keep. It needs a pollinator. I had a stick of a tree from Tractor Supply to use for that. Deer or something ate the little one, so the old tree hasn’t bloomed for two years.
Does anyone know when I need to get a new tree in place to pollinate the tree next spring? Must they come into season and leaf and bloom at the same time, meaning I would have to get something at a huge price this fall? Or can I pick up something cheap such as at WalMart right away when they first are available next spring and the old tree hasn’t leafed out yet? Thank you for any thoughts on this!
Apple tree pollination is very specific. It’s the trickiest one to figure out. Look for which apples pollinate the variety that you have, and yes, they do need to bloom at the same time. A Google search is the easiest way though.
Brandy we have a 50 yr. old apple tree in our back yard that has the best tasting apples .We don’t have another apple tree to pollinate or any in our neighbours yards either but we do have 3 choke cherry trees that bloom at the same time as the apple tree so I figure that must be what polinates it because the bees are in them like crazy.
Your apple tree is self-fertile then. Cherries don’t pollinate apples. There are self-fertile apples, sterile apples (that have to be pollinated by other types), apples that can be pollinated by other apples but not their parent apples, etc.
We found that the best way to provide cross-pollination for an old apple tree was to graft different varieties onto the old tree. A knowledgeable arborist who does grafting should be able to obtain scion wood for grafting and could match up different varieties as to blooming time.
If y0u are going to plant a tree, I think it’s possible to plant a tree in late fall
pr early spring if you live in a moderate climate without severe winters. For those who live in colder northern climates spring is the time.
Failing all of the above, you could find a tree in your neighborhood and ask its owner if you can take some of its pollen then transfer the pollen to your blooms.
Raintree nursery had a phenomenal cross pollination list for apple trees in their catalog. I haven’t looked at their catalog for a couple of years, but you could try their website. You could also request a catalog. I really like them. They cater to home gardeners so they have lots of unique varieties that work for home gardeners. Good luck.
Thank you all for the apple tree pollinator comments. I will consider how much money and time I want to invest in the old tree. I hadn’t thought about trying to graft on a different kind of apple.
I have to re-think my gardening overall for next year, as something (woodchuck? squirrels out of control?) is eating my flowers this season like never before. Ah, nature.
I feel like I’ve been taking on water and am sinking, lol. Bills continue to increase. The tax ‘prediction’ for the year came in and was quite a bit higher than in years past. Then two other bills increased. Summer mowing costs us about $150 a month with our yard and our son’s and blades and such that we need (my husband does resharpen, but sandy soil eats the blades up). Our most recent order of blades, which we can’t seem to find locally due to a shortage, was stolen and only the empty package delivered to us. So we have no blades and are out the money as the cost is too little to insure through the post office.
Like all others I’m finding good sales are few and far between. However, I was blessed with a gift of a pantry restock. I came in under budget given me to spend but am very, very grateful for the goods we received. I have been shopping discount racks for fresh produce and meat clearance bins for weeks. After coming up empty for over five weeks, I finally just took a walk down a lower priced store’s meat aisle and chose several meats that were well under $5 a pound (harder than I’d anticipated!). However, I did manage to put a nice stock of meat into the freezer.
I’ve been decluttering my kitchen, removing things I put back in when we renovated in December and have not touched since. Why keep it? Some will be good replacement items, but they can go to my shed. Others are unnecessary and will be donated. I was able to repurpose a few things: a lovely pasta bowl that was never used now holds fruit on the counter, a dishpan went into the freezer to corral vegetables that were loose. The kitchen is looking much neater and I’m almost ready to move on to the next space/room to make decisions about more items.
I’m also setting a few things aside for possible sell on eBay or Marketplace.
We’ve been plagued by fifth week pay periods. We are on social security and three or four times a year there are five weeks between pay periods. Last year, when I had extra cash (waiting on the renovation to be done) it wasn’t an issue. This year it’s hit hard. This past month I had to pay several bills twice, once for last month and once for this month because due dates were ahead of our pay day. Our balance dwindled down despite trying to use sinking funds to boost things up. I am planning ahead for our next fifth week pay day (which will fall in October) and have set aside extra funds, but it’s meant tweaking variable things really hard to come up with that extra. I’m also trying to catch up the tax sinking fund since that increased. I’m trying not to even THINK about the house insurance and how much it might rise when it comes due in November. I am so, so very grateful for the years of frugal experience I’ve had because I know how to compensate but in today’s financial atmosphere I can say quite honestly that I am doing more than I did 40 years ago in order to make ends meet and I feel like I spend all my days jumping through hoops trying to find the place I might trim a bit more in order to meet the next increase.
I had four apples and about 10 plums in the fridge that were looking less than desirable. The four apples made a pint jar of apple butter. The 10 plums made a bit over 1.5 pints of plum ‘jam’. It’s a small thing but it’s added to my pantry and not gone straight out to the compost.
I also dumped several nearly empty condiments into a ketchup bottle that was getting low and made ‘barbecue sauce’. I may have to add a bit of vinegar to it, but I’ve been doing this for years and it’s a great way to clear out salad dressings, mustards, nearly done barbecue sauce, ketchup, jams etc. You’d be surprised how good barbecue sauce is with cranberry sauce or apple jelly or apple butter or even blueberry preserves, or orange marmalade is.
Brandy, I would do the same buying washer/dryer. Buy the one that is needed and just keep using the other. I try to only have white appliances, which goes well with my white kitchen cabinets anyway. Whites may vary but it’s never glaringly mis-matched. BTW, your self-portrait on Instagram was truly lovely!
I agree with you on cutting like never before, and still prices are rising out of control. Everyone I talk to is doing more and more to cut their expenses. I visited with friends today who weren’t running their air conditioner to keep costs down. It was very, very hot.
Terri it was very comforting to read your comments
Sometimes you wonder am I the only one doing some of these things?
Inflation is down but the big companies are squeezing consumers for gas and groceries and God knows what else the CEOS will think of next
I love your ideas on how to strategize and cope
Nice work
Hi Terri! Sometimes you can contact the company you owe the bill to and ask them to change the due date for the future. Hope this might help you. Everybody I know is using up every bit and squeaking every nickel.
Brandy, I have missed you, but I have been following you on Instagram. I hope your daughters and others are recovering from the fire. It has been a busy time this summer for us. Our garden has done very well and we have canned tomatoes, and peach jam. Froze corn, peppers, squash,green beans, and zucchini. I have attended several classes at the county extension office and have been reading lots of library books. I helped with VBS at church and I am on the planning committee for outreach and fellowship. Our grandson had a birthday and fish fry that we helped with. My flowers have been extra pretty and we are blessed with all kinds of wild life running thru our yard (turkeys, deers, and a bobcat). We are feeding 10 hummingbirds and one will land on your shoulder. My husband’s grill blew up so he got a new one for his birthday. I have switched primary care doctors to a closer one and all the walking and watching what we are eating my A1C is way down and she has took me off of 3 of medications. I got wasp stung twice and had to go to the walk in clinic. My step daughter is getting married in October and we have been in wedding planning mode. I was honored to be asked to go to her wedding dress fitting and she bought me bonus mom pajamas to wear on her wedding day when we are getting ready. I have been blessed with daily devotions and bible reading.
I want to get this hummingbird ring to see if I can use it with all the hummingbirds here.
Glad to hear everyone escaped the boat fire!
Hard to summarize all of the frugality since June but I will do my best. We are, like everyone else, feeling the bite of inflation and doing our best to try and make smart choices. Since the kids started school August 1st here I began looking for the bargains in June to allow myself plenty of time to find needed items on sale. First order of business was to give my son’s dresser and closet a thorough going over and making him try on every piece of clothing he owns. At 8 years old you can imagine that his was not a super pleasant afternoon. We pushed on through and sold a heap to a local consignment store giving about $75 to the fall/winter clothing budget, a load to Goodwill, and the rest of the items to a boy that we know who is a size or two behind our son.
I have lost 66 pounds and have had to replace my entire wardrobe. Although this has been an extra expense I am in no way sorry to be forced to buy smaller clothing but am trying to find good deals when buying things. I have found pieces on sale at Walmart, hello jeans for $10/each, Old Navy using their Old Navy cash to get several items for myself and my son saving over $350 with combined sales, clearance and cash, Amazon Prime day yielded some good items for me, and I also found a lot of good sales at Belk saving 50% or more on all that I bought – in total more than $450 saved off of regular prices.
We prayerfully decided to drop membership in Cub Scouts and move our son to the Trail Life group instead. This group better aligns with our family’s beliefs. This move also will save us about $250 as dues are significantly less expensive and the activities are more frequent than what we encountered in Cub Scouts.
We grouped our family members cell phones together saving about $80/month.
I changed our car insurance from State Farm to Progressive. We had been paying $385 a month for a Toyota Camry and Honda Pilot with clean records – this move saves us $130 a month! I cannot believe what insurance rates are these days – especially given that we are in our 40’s!
I changed my membership at Burn Bootcamp to a membership for both my husband and for $56/month. I was paying $135 at Burn. Again not sorry for paying that as it has helped me so much to lose weight and become healthy but now I am ready to move onto something a little less intensive & less expensive. Plus we can work out together and encourage one another. I call that a frugal win.
I have been hyper focused on stocking my freezer with healthy food and saving money at the same time. To that end I have shopped grocery sales scoring packages of two pork tenderloins from Kroger for $2.50/package – I bought 12 packs, BOGO BLSL chicken breast, pork sirloin roasts, whole chickens for $1.49 & $1.69/lb, and lean ground turkey BOGO. I have noticed that frozen veggies are becoming insanely priced in regular grocery stores so I have been purchasing these in bulk at Sam’s & Costco – sometimes Walmart if reasonable. Salads and beans are on our table regularly as our regular and sweet potatoes to round out nutrition needs and fill bellies.
We have been blessed to receive lots of eggs from our neighbor with a host of chickens over the course of the summer and my oh my are they delicious. There is nothing like fresh organic eggs. I have been cooking with my crockpot quite a bit as it is a time saver and does not heat the house while we are in the midst of temps in the high 90’s. I don’t know about all of you but I am ready for fall!!!
I was not able to grow a Spring/Summer garden but I will definitely be planting for the Fall. I will plant a lot of traditional fall garden items, greens, cabbage, broccoli, kale, squash and the like but I will also be planting some tomatoes, peppers and peas as we typically have warm days until November and we may see a small harvest. Anything at this point is a blessing.
I hope everyone is well and weathering the storms of life in the best way that they can. Blessings to all.
It pays to let a company know when you are not satisfied with their product. I complained to Cracker Barrel that their extra old cheese tasted mild and they sent me a replacement coupon. I also let Sabra hummus know that I thought their roasted red pepper hummus had less red pepper in it. They sent me a $10 off coupon. Free groceries are always good.
How wonderful to find a new post Brandy and then to catch up with everyone in the comments – you were missed. So sorry that it has been so stressful – and so expensive – but so lucky that everyone was ok physically.
Bills are all up to date and I have even managed to save a bit of money in my sinking funds account. I did purchase an air fryer on Prime day and so far, so good. I didn’t want anything too expensive or too big so I am pleased with the Star Frit model. I am still experimenting with various recipes and will continue to try new things a bit at a time. My next major purchase will be a counter height upright freezer – just big enough for more fruit & veg, baking needs and some HM prepared meals – that will be ordered at the end of this month.
I have continued to work my way through the meat in the freezer and items in the pantry and have managed to make some headway. I do want to purchase some more dried goods but I’d like to do more long term storing so I have ordered some Mason jars with lids and some oxygen absorbers, just to start a bit at a time. I have an empty shelf in my pantry so those items can use that space as I go through things.
I did buy a few basics for myself – socks & undies, a nightgown & slippers and a couple of new tops as I hadn’t really bought anything for a couple of years. I am holding off on other purchases as I try to lose enough weight to get back into some clothes that I already own – it is a slow process!
Visited family this weekend – out of town but at minimum cost as my brother picked me up at the end of the line of the commuter train and I was able to stay with him and my SIL We celebrated my stepmom’s 90th birthday and there was a good turnout so it was lovely to see everyone. I took them out to lunch at a favourite restaurant as a thank you and left money for treats for all the little great nieces and nephews as I rarely see them but still came home with money (I took cash and had budgeted ahead of time for all costs). We also watched a lot of the Olympics and enjoyed that.
We had a huge rainstorm here a couple of weeks ago and the flooding knocked out power all over the city – I was in the office that morning and it took me over 2.5hrs to get home. Then I had to climb 4 flights of stairs as the power was out in my building – BUT – I had food that I could eat without cooking and plenty of water – plus I had flashlights, battery powered lamps, a battery powered fan (which was very handy as it was over 90F that day) and I had my hand cranked radio for news and for entertainment – so – it is very good to be prepared.
I was so happy to see a cheery email announcing a new blog post! I hope life is calming down a little and your daughters are doing well. A really stressful time for you all.
We have had a language student staying for a month from Abu Dhabi. We taught him English 5 hours a day as he had exams on his return which determined if he could go to university there (they teach in English ). I was nervous as I’ve not done this before but it was an entirely positive experience-the student was such a lovely young man and we got on really well. I really enjoyed the teaching and learned lots about his culture and way of life. He would take videos of the rain as it is so rare there! We now have a young Russian student arriving for two weeks on his way to boarding school in the UK. We have also applied to host language students who will study in a language school, so we will just provide meals. It’s been really fun and we have spare rooms so it seems sensible to use the space. I also lost my job recently so it’s been so good to make some income.
Otherwise we have done some selling on Facebook and sold an air con unit and tumble dryer. We have stocked up on tins and toiletries with some spare cash. The weather is so warm here at the moment so we have turned our AGA cooker off (it is otherwise permanently on) and are using the slow cooker and microwave for meals-usually based around salad so it’s been okay so far. The turning off of the Aga saves at least £100 a month.
We did some home maintenance-free and makes you feel fantastic after it’s done! So we have tidied, painted two rooms, completely sorted through the garage and decluttered.
I am so grateful for this community and I’m wishing you all a beautiful week!
Oh how lovely to have students come stay like that and to make some money from it as well! I would love that.
Heidi Louise,
Grafting is done in the spring before trees leaf out.
I have participated somewhat in Every Bit Counts Challenge for August. Made jam with peaches and also with blackberries from our back yard. Pickled jalapenos from the garden twice. I had never tried making that and I really like them that way. Froze green beans, blackberries and peaches. I am keeping up with the zucchini and yellow squash this year. I planted the zucchini in a large pot that I put in the flower bed. It is doing well and not taking over the bed like it did in the garden box. Made zucchini bread and lots of roasted zucchini and yellow squash. My fitted sheet tore at the bottom. I sewed the tear back together and added a rectangle of fabric from a pillowcase that I shortened to cover the tear and hopefully keep it usable for a bit longer.
Thanks to all who post to this site. It is encouraging to me. Wishing you great savings and enjoyment.
Brandy,
I’m so happy to see a post from you and to read what you have been up to! I’m sorry to hear about the fire. But what blessings! That is really nice that you were able to work at a conference. The meal sounds wonderful!
We have been eating at home, for the most part. IF we eat out, it has to be something we love or a grocery store picnic. We went to trader joe’s one day and bought things to have a picnic to celebrate our anniversary. I’ve enjoyed watching OFF the Kirb ministries on Youtube. I also watch Mexican Cooking on a Budget. I used the internet to look up recipes and read the news. We have enjoyed just going to a lake or a nearby river just to relax a few times. My husband is working on a song we wrote together. It is cheap entertainment. Although, we hope to work in a professional studio with someone to finalize it. It is a fun process. We just need more spare time together to work on it. But I’m thanking God for the work hours because the winter will come soon. Then the work hours will most likely be sparse, but we will have spare time together. We will save for the winter while we can. We are carefully using leftovers. We use cloth napkins, towels, and handkerchiefs. I’ve been reading my Bible a lot lately. I want to spend more time in the word. I keep thinking about playing instruments, but have made very little time for it. I hope to spend more time with music. It is cheap, but fun and rewarding entertainment. I bought some sheet music and books at a library book sale. I was studying Spanish on a library site. I’d like to spend more time doing that as well. I love the library and the internet for information and learning.
Glad to see the post! It´s become a dear hobby of mine to read the weekly post and comments. May I make a suggestion that you still post on a weekly basis even if you have not much to write about or if you really have no time? You can just write smth like “Been super busy/ill/travelling etc but love to read your accomplishments!” and use a random, even old, photo? That way readers can still read regularly each other´s comments. The less/randomply you post, the less there will be people who comment/read regularly and the less there is a reason for people to come as there generally is less content. I´ve seen that happen with quite a few blogs. Don´t want to see it happen here!
I used my tomatoes, paprika, beans, onions, garlic, carrot and canned the mix. That´s pretty much all to share 🙂
With best!
I tried to do that, but I was so swamped that I couldn’t. I did manage to post some on Instagram, so do be sure to follow me there!
1. Getting ready to plant my fall garden
2. Still harvesting: Corn, tomatoes, green beans, and jalapenos
3. Started shopping for Christmas on sale items only. My budget is tight but making it work.
4. Eating from home every day.
5. Stuck to my $100 food budget for the month.
6. Hubby took a survey and received a $50 gift card.
7. Paid a lot towards debt.
8. Mended 3 clothing items
9. Re-sewed a dress into a skirt. The dress fit funny but I loved the pattern.
10. Touched up trim paint throughout the house with white paint we already had.
What?! A boat fire? Could you tell us more? I’m so glad they’re safe!
The lithium ion batteries exploded and the boat burned up completely within minutes. One girl was thrown from the boat from the first explosion and had to be flown by helicopter to the hospital. She is doing okay; she hit her head in the explosion. My youngest daughter and all the young girls had to jump off the back of the boat and swim to shore. Everyone survived in just their swimsuits (no shoes, wallets, car keys, nothing; it all burned).
Oh my goodness! I’m so glad the injured passenger is healing and that your children are okay. What a scary experience, I hope they’re able to process it and cope well – and you too, I know that as a mom, seeing your kids go through trauma is very difficult! I wonder if the boat owner is pursuing the battery maker or anything about faulty products?
Wow, I am so sorry to hear this. How very traumatizing for everyone. Very grateful that your daughter wasn’t hurt and praying for the dear girl who is now in the hospital.
Thanks. I had 3 daughters on the boat.
Boy Brandy I let your statement wash over my mind
3 daughters on the boat, how utter terrifying. Nothing matters except our children’s safety
Thank God that he had their guardian angels watching over them ! I hope the one girl whose head was hurt will heal quickly with no long term side effects.You and your husband must have been so relieved to hear that they were o.k.Replacing everything will take some time but you’ve had years of frugal training to deal with all of life’s unexpected challenges.Did the owners of the boat have insurance to help with some of that?As for frugal things this week for me our garden has been terrible this year .Only the beets,potatoes,rhubarb and apples are growing.So I will can and freeze what i have available and watch for sales at the stores.I find that the farmer markets and hutterites are very expensive.No raspberry or strawberry jam this year but I can make apple butter,apple jelly,apple sauce and rhubarb jelly and jam and sauce.I also learned how to make home made refried beans in the slow cooker,so easy and a real money saver! A can of refried beans here in Canada is $2.99 while I can buy a bag of dried beans and make 7 cans worth for $3.49 and we love refried bean and cheese quesadillas.
The girl is doing well.
There was insurance, but it won’t cover everything. We received a small amount today that will replace their sleeping bags and a little more, but not most things.
For me it has been canning, dehydrating, freezing, and gardening! It is harvest time!
-I dehydrated parsley, rosemary, sage, mint, basil, camomile, and lemon balm.
-I picked the last of the kohlrabi, lettuce, and radishes.
-I picked kale, blanched, and froze 5 pints in freezer bags.
-I am blanching and freezing Swiss chard and snow peas as well.
-We had 4 cabbages, the first one I used the outer leaves and 2# of ground beef and made 14 cabbage rolls for the freezer. The inner half was made into coleslaw. We ate the second in coleslaw. And the third and fourth are in the crock fermenting into sauerkraut.
-I also thawed another 2# ground beef and made 2 meatloafs. I partially cooked these, flash froze, and vacuum sealed them for easy meals.
-With the help of hubby we canned 7 pints of pheasant. He chunked up the breast meat and I filled jars and got the canner going.
-Kombucha and sweet tea were made for cool summer drinks.
-Strained off my chive flower vinegar. I have 2 quarts. I made some chive vinaigrette for our home grown lettuce salad. Yum!
-I started some vanilla extract with vanilla beans I already had. I bought the vodka at Costco, the Kirkland brand, it is gluten free and it was a great price for a large bottle. It will be ready for Christmas baking and gifts.
-I canned 5 quarts and 2 pints of blueberries in light syrup. This is from the frozen blueberries bought bulk last season. I just bought 20# of Michigan blueberries, they have been washed, flash frozen, and put in ice cream buckets. I have 5 buckets frozen. I also made blueberry basil vinegar.
-I canned 12 half pints of pickle relish and I have 2 quarts of fermented dill pickles working. We are eating a lot of cucumbers fresh and sharing with friends.
-I canned 8 pints of peach jam and 5 quarts of peaches in light syrup from a lug of peaches bought at $1.49/#. I froze the pits and skins to make peach syrup later when my harvest slows down.
-I picked 2 quarts of sour cherries from my second tree and froze these for jam later on.
-The onions have been pulled and they are curing.
-I finished a cross stitch piece I will make into a table runner for a Christmas gift. I started a cross stitch and beaded ornament for a Christmas gift.
-I am trying to teach myself to crochet. I have my mom’s hooks and I bought a book. It is slow but it is coming.
-I bought 10 half pint and 2 wide mouth pint canning jars for $4 at a thrift store.
Whew! Think that’s it. Brandy so glad everything is OK. I miss your weekly postings and the replies of what everyone else is doing. Sometimes life just gets in the way, doesn’t it? Have a great week!
Julie, I have been making vanilla like this for a couple of years. I’m glad you mentioned it because I forgot I have had a bottle steeping for at least six months. I need to get it out and strain and bottle it. Nothing better than that smell,and it tastes amazing!
We had a very busy summer as well! After getting our roof replaced with insurance, it was time to paint the house! The trim desperately needed it but we had a much lighter shingle put on the house so we needed to change the siding color for the house as well. My husband put in a ton of effort researching and preparing. We did it all ourselves – just me and my husband! The children wanted to help for about 30 seconds before going back to play – well! Even with the high cost of exterior paint and a new spray gun, we saved thousands over having a contractor do it for us.
I have canned more beans and pickles than I ever have before! I still have whole peeled tomatoes to do – need to figure out a source on those because our garden suffered during the heat wave we had in July and August.
We did do several fun things that were not free (the Ohio State Fair and a water park) but I packed a picnic lunch for us for both events. It is much easier to say ‘yes’ to a funnel cake or ice cream when you haven’t just spent $50 on subpar burgers or undercooked fries!
Brandy you have found some awesome deals I too did not know that Old Navy now sells bra’s I always thought it odd that they didn’t carry bra’s and underwear for women. I also have always just replaced whatever was broken with washer/dryer no one ever see’s mine but me you got a great deal on that with lower price and getting a free gift card too. And what a blessing on getting the one day job for speech interpretation. My frugals are nothing to exciting grew a garden though it’s been so hot and dry here in central Ohio it didn’t grow that well but counting my blessings for what I did get tonights dinner with a big salad with chicken strips I got on sale a month or so back ( it was originally thick slices of chicken breast marked down, I sliced them thin, breaded, baked them and put in the deep freezer which I pulled out yesterday and had the same dinner 2 x. I used cherry tomatoes from my garden ( they were mislabeled apparently from the garden store they were supposed to be Heirloom tomatoes). I am still utilizing my library. I rarely go out to eat anymore but my sister and I have started a weekly tradition of meeting together at her house, watching a movie usually free and her husband makes us lunch so no money is spent unless the movie we want to watch is a pay for streaming usually $5 or less.
I’m glad everyone was able to make it out safely, but sorry that they lost so much.
We’ve had a lot of company this summer, which is always fun but a lot. Trying to balance cooking at home and going out. Enjoying plenty of beach time. I’ve got a summer cold so I’ve been resorting to take out this week, but I’ll get back to cooking soon enough.
Our garden isn’t great this year. We’ve gotten tomatoes, kale and raspberries but only 1 zucchini. I’ve replanted beans and cucumbers multiple times, the bunnies keep eating them. I’m trying to return to more vegetarian bean based meals for health reasons. Trying to eat up stuff from the freezer, like the gallons of pumpkin purée I still have from last fall. I was given several dozen ears of corn, which I froze. I keep making kale salad instead of buying salad mix at the grocery store, even though I’m getting sick of it. Got a few peppers and basil from my in-laws.
We went to garage sales last weekend to find stuff for my new office. Got the kids a few clothing items they needed, a nice glass jar, mirrors, decor, a new knife set, outdoor lights and some new running gear for me. Helped a friend cleanup a house they just bought, and I came home with some new baskets and blankets. I also hit up the salvage store for building materials. I bought some homeschool curriculum on eBay. I sold some stuff on eBay.
How we saved money:
Husband fixed the washing machine (door switch broke and agitator broke)
I gleaned over 50# of fresh produce
I gleaned 6 bouquets of flowers from a free pile to decorate the house for a few days
Used the library
Husband brought home some garden tomatoes from a coworker who took a bunch to work
Thrifted back to school clothes (only bought new shoes; those were on sale and bought during tax-free holiday)
Daughter and husband biked on errands instead of being driven
I have had a brief but intense bout of sickness – I think some additive in some store boughten lemonade I drank. (I am pregnant and craving fizzy drinks, but also have IBS and can be sensitive to all sorts of things. I already know I can’t eat dairy or onions or garlic.) I have been grateful that my children have been happy to play together while I have spent a day or two mostly napping. They are all going through a colouring craze at the moment and we have lots of half-used colouring books left over from last Christmas that they have been busily working their way through.
Before I got ill, we finished the model railway we have been working on. Cardboard we already had, papier mache landscaping (with flour, salt and water glue), paper clay for ballast, painted with poster paint and leftover house paint, and the Brio track we already had just popped on top. It looks great! And had zero out of pocket cost! It can slide under my son’s bed for storage. We are hoping to take it to a local model railway exhibition next summer, as I got talking to one of the organisers about it at this summer’s exhibition and he was really excited. I haven’t told my son in case he is disappointed but I am super duper excited!
We have had lots of opportunities to make things out of materials we have on hand rather than buy things. For example, my daughter wanted some sparkly hair bow clips, so I took some plain clips, ribbon and rhinestones and we made some together.
I have ordered some new-to-us homeschool books. I am pleased that they are non consumable so we can use them for all the children. I always try to prioritise this when looking at homeschool supplies. I am happy to pay the upfront cost now to know that it will be divided between four children (so far!) in the end.
We bought a seven seater car in anticipation of the new fourth baby! There was not a lot of choice used in the model we wanted but we found one that is very new, even if a little more expensive, and they will deliver it to us. Now to figure out how to drive the thing… 🙂
A friend offered us her spare baby sling and I have gratefully accepted.
My parents have offered to pay for some gardening work as my birthday present. We are having the long bed near the house ripped out and planted with bulbs and low growing perennials… and a dwarf pear tree to go with the dwarf plum! This one will be all flowers as we want fruiting things in general to go together in a different bed that can all be netted. But I am planning carefully to have cut flowers year-round (I am on the church flower rota), to not have any ongoing cost after this first extravaganza, and to not have a lot of ongoing maintenance. I am very excited!