The weather was absolutely beautiful last week, and I opened the windows and doors each day to air out the house and enjoy listening to the birds sing.
I harvested lemons, spinach, parsley, Swiss chard, and tomatoes from the garden.
I made an eggless chocolate two-layer cake for my friend’s daughter’s birthday. My friend had just had her second baby a few days before her daughter’s birthday and when I asked her what she needed, she asked me to make a cake. I struggle with cake decorating, but I know like any skill, it takes practice. I saw a video the day before that had a simple decorated cake and I used that idea. I was happy with the result, as was my friend. I used some homemade strawberry jam that was loose-set for the filling between the layers, and the frosting was cream cheese frosting. I had everything to make the cake on hand except the cream cheese.
I put aside some items for a garage sale. I am hoping to have enough items for a sale in March. I know if there aren’t enough items, people won’t stop. I usually have a sale combined with my parents, but this time, my parents are planning to have their own sale on the same day. I am challenging myself to declutter more items each week.
I am still pruning my roses and am behind in this task. I cut these white roses from the garden when I pruned the roses in my white garden to enjoy inside.
I used some heart-shaped pans I inherited from my grandmother to make individual cakes for my children and husband for Valentine’s Day. I also made mini cupcakes for my parents, and melted pink melting chips to make hearts to top all of them.
What did you do to save money last week?
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In these time of ever-rising prices it is so important to save where we can!
1. Hotel where we’re staying this summer with our kids and grandkids had a room rate $30 less a night than the price when we made reservations. I cancelled the old reservation and made a new one, saving over $250. I was so pleased.
2. Visited our kids/grandkids and brought home stuff to sell for them. It keeps me in the selling habit and means I also sell my own extras.
3. Eating eggs and toast for dinner after a long travel day. Eggs were on sale. I rarely find any great prices on food, and the cost of meat is shocking. We eat little meat.
4. Breakfast was included with our hotel stay so I filled a plate, which I then brought home. I’m not able to eat most things, and this was no exception, but dh will happily eat the yogurt, fruit and pastries that I couldn’t eat. As we have already paid for this food, we made best use of it.
5. We went to the zoo with our grandkids. It was raining heavily and I didn’t have a raincoat or an umbrella. Thankfully our grandson had a coat and a cute bug umbrella and he didn’t want to carry the umbrella. So I used the bug umbrella with absolutely no shame. I have 3 free-to-me umbrellas at home and now one of them will permanently go in the car so I have one when I need one.
My youngest (who is 19 now) had an umbrella printed with donuts. She refuses to use it now, but it doesn’t bother me, lol.
I am determined to cook at home. I think my husband fixed our dishwasher. I am so grateful! It seems to be working now. I need to run a couple loads today. I am so happy to have a dishwasher. It makes it so much easier when I am cooking all our meals at home. I have been cooking some very involved meals. I need to make some simple meals as well, just to make life easier. My husband helped me make Birria tacos one day with all the fixings. We made our own Salsa from scratch roasting the Onion, garlic tomatoes and rehydrating the Ancho Peppers and Guadijillo Peppers (Spelling?) to make the Salsa and added Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce. Then slow cooked a roast that was given to us all day in the Salsa. Afterwards we made the tacos and had a Salad made from cabbage, guacamole we had on sale, onions and cilantro. My husband made a dressing with mayo, Tanjin, lime juice and a bit of Orange blossom honey and salt and pepper for his salad. We made a Thai Beef salad that we love again, just because it is good and we feel good when we eat it. It is getting easier to make, now that we know what we are doing. We are eating a lot of vegetables because we feel good when we eat them, same with lentils and beans. I have been watching a vlog and have been inspired to cook more beans and lentils in simple ways. Today I cooked green lentils and then just added curry, salt and pepper and ate them. Yum! It was so simple, yet good. Usually, I make Indian lentils, with all the veggies and various spices. It tastes wonderful, but it it very involved in terms of preparation. Today, it was nice to do something simple. Now that my dishwasher is working, tomorrow I will make moussaka. There is a lot of preparation roasting vegetables and cooking lentils and ground beef then assimilating it into a casserole dish and cooking it with bĆ©chamel sauce and cheese. But I think it will be worth it. My husband will love it. And I will have a way to use the eggplant, zucchini, potatoes, that I bought before it all is past its prime. I cooked beef bone broth previously. Used part of it in our Birria taco sauce and today. The rest of the broth to a slow cooker and added in onions to make an easy French onion soup. I did buy some granola and we ate that for some easy meals. Not even breakfast. We had avocado toast with an egg for breakfast. I want to try and make granola. I also would like to make some almond flour crackers. for my husband. I already have the flour. I hope to give it a try this week, God willing. I have to look up some recipes for both. We cooked fish we got on sale. Lots of veggies and fruit. I don’t remember all the meals we had this week. I’ve been going in my back yard to be in the sun. It has been lovely. I have also been opening our windows. The fresh air is wonderful!
Dishwasher isn’t working so we are buying a new one. I looked at reviews and we are buying one on sale. Still, it is a lot of money. But, It makes life easier and is worth it to me. Eventually, we will need a washing machine as well. Still cooking at home . But I am going to pull our the paper plates for the next few days.
What vlog were you reading?
I watch a lot of vlogs. This one is Kezia Neusch The Whole Home on Youtube. I’m impressed with her ability to feed her family of 5 on 500 Eurosa a month in the UK.
I forgot, I usually get Chicken leg quarters at 69 cents a lb. But this week I went to a different store to get them for 49 cents a lb. I believe it was an unadvertised sale. We actually went there to get something different that was on sale. Then we looked at the meat!
Tammy,
For years I have been making granola using Brandy’s recipe. It is delicious and easy! I have also made extra batches at Christmas and gifted it to my sister, who enjoyed it very much.
Alexa,
Thank-you. I will look up her recipe. What a good idea to gift it for Christmas!
I can second how good Brandy’s recipe for Granola is. Also if you like beans, try her black bean burger recipe. It is awesome good!
You are a good daughter, mom, and wife! I had a busy work week and made a mustard green with field peas soup and just added leftovers to it such as chicken, beans, carrots, tomato soup, etc during the week. I managed to walk 30 minutes a day. I drove up to see my oldest son for Valentineās Day and packed walnuts, bologna and cheese sandwich, apple, chips, and a pbj sandwich for breakfast and lunch. It was an 8 hour round trip so I was plenty tired when I got back home. I also dropped something off to my ex and for my middle son on my way home. My ex and ai typically exchange used books or food at holidays. He gave me a used book regarding vitamins which he knew I would appreciate. I bought a large container of mixed salad greens for $1 and seven large tomatoes for $1. I made tomato soup for the upcoming week and homemade blue cheese dressing with blue cheese I already had from Aldi. I bought eight apples for $2.64. Apples are expensive here. Gas was $2.44 here. I plan to take turkey and cheese with the salad fixings sandwich for breakfast with an apple, and a pbj sandwich for lunch this week.
Cindy in the South, that is a great price for apples! Ours are typically $2.99/lb and we donāt get near as many for a pound. I love that you eat other food for breakfast than breakfast food. I always feel better eating protein for breakfast, and itās often leftovers from dinner. Itās nice you and your ex do that. I have an amiable relationship with mine and it is really beneficial for the kids, even as adults.
Our weather is warming up too and we are so happy about it! Our chickens are laying about 3- 4 eggs a day now so we are really excited!
Got 6-1/2 pounds of 80/20 ground Chuck for $1.40/pound (originally marked $6.99/pound) ! Also bought 2 boneless top round beef steaks for $3.50/pound (originally marked $10.99/pound) so we will cut one in half for our 55th anniversary dinner this coming week! We will cut the smaller one in half and will each have over 8 ounce portion for about $3.73 total! That, combined with potatoes in the pantry and a salad – all fresh veg coming from FF so less than $5 for both of us and homemade rolls with homemade Texas Roadhouse copycat cinnamon honey butter with make our dinner for 2 well under $10! Money well spent after 55 years! š¤š
Two days later, I bought 5 whole chickens using Flashfood for $2.99 each. The regular price was $1.49/pound and they showed a photo of a chicken that was regularly $7.65. But I knew that, although that meant the price was 75 cents a pound or less, that the price could be even less since they had about 20 chickens on offer and meat manager just gave them all the $2.99 price. I bought 4 for friends and 1 for myself. When I got them home I discovered that each of my chickens were at least 6-1/2 pounds with 2 of them being over 7 pounds, bring cost down to under 49 cents a pound with the 7 pounders being just under 40 cents a pound! We were all pleased! The one young mom had never cooked a whole chicken so I sent her links to recipes/tutorials on ways to cook a whole chicken, how to season it like a rotisserie chicken and how to stretch a whole chicken into 5 meals. She was excited and it was fun seeing her knowledge expand so she could save money on her grocery budget while still feeding her family good food!
I bought Hot Honeyboneless chicken breast chunks from FF for $1.25/pound and pressure canned it to put 24 pints of ready-to-use marinated chicken breast on our shelves. https://pin.it/Mt6pZkxm2
I prepared and filed our youngest sonās taxes online for him and between State & Federal government, heās getting back almost $800! He was quite pleased!
I finished quilting the 5th of our clientās quilts to be shipped back to Japan- https://pin.it/2ni92VXKN, https://pin.it/5XOlsjNzu and https://pin.it/6l2MhU0mX. She already has another one she is sending me to quilt for her! Who knew my little quilting business would become āinternational ā? lol! Got a different clientās quilt on Lenni right now that I will finish today and the work just keeps coming in! Truly grateful for it especially for the freedom it gives us to bless others.
Today, Iām making mini beef pot pies to take to a lady at church with 2 daughters who is going through chemo treatments for breast cancer. What a blessing it was a year and a half ago to finally learn how to make pie crusts from scratch! The money, time and expanded blessings that has brought are staggering!! Using my home canned beef chunks and potatoes and onions from FF and mixed veg that I dehydrated.
Now that our chickens have started laying, we are thrilled to have that steady stream of fresh eggs coming in each day! By the time Spring comes, we will have more than enough to start giving to some of our friends with children at home to help offset their food budget. Grateful we always seem to have enough to share!
Gardenpat in Ohio
Gardenpat, I make pie crusts in bulk by rolling them out on wax paper, cutting them into a circle using a big salad bowl as a guide, putting wax paper on top, then freezing while stacked on a piece of cardboard. They will fit into a two or 2 and a half gallon ziploc bag. When ready to use, place frozen over the pie pan, peel off the wax paper and it will defrost and slide down into the pan. I keep a stack in my freezer and since they are flat, they don’t take up much space.
Jeannie
Ooh I love this!
I put homemade pie crusts in my freezer also. I place a piece of parchment or wax paper (or even foil in a pinch) over the circle of pie crust dough and roll up like when you get crusts in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. I bag the rolls together in whatever baggie fits (bread bags, Walmart bags, etc.). These are easy to store in the freezer and work great. I usually make up a bunch before big holidays as time savers.
Another $$ saver I read about this week is at this week’s post at http://www.OneHundredDollarsaMonth.com. She said you can buy whole milk rather than buying 2% or skim and dilute it with water to save money. Dilute whole milk with 1/3 water for 2% milk (about 2 1/2 cups water per half gallon of whole milk=2%) and 1/2 water for skim (4 cups water per half gallon of whole milk for skim). I’m going to definitely try it!
I do this too. Heard it from Martha Stewart years ago. Having my own homemade pie crusts ready to go is such a gift.
Hi Gardenpat! Would you mind sharing your pie crust recipe? So many things I want to make, but need a good pie crust! Thanks!
Laura S.- Sure! Itās a YouTube video! Hereās the link: https://youtu.be/Bfsx2tAT7Ck?si=p31RJP5omTXcd18f
Just 4 ingredients and it goes together in food processor SO fast!!
Gardenpat
Thank you!
What is your easy pastry recipe please . Ta
I bought some children’s pyjamas at 50% off.
I am trying to spend more money on higher quality clothes so they last through more children and hopefully I save money in the long run. To this end, I spent some time looking through past purchases and figured out a target price for various items to help me figure out when a sale price is worth it. I also have a list of “good brands” and “bad brands” based on my experience of what lasts.
I planted garlic. My husband sowed chilli seeds.
I needed something to keep my toddler out of the kitchen garden so I built a dead hedge. Two rows of stakes about six inches apart and fill the middle with prunings. It’s the second one I’ve made and I have one more to go. I love them! So simple to make, totally free, they look kind of neat and kind of rustic at the same time, and they give habitat to all sorts of garden creatures like beetles and frogs.
We have been eating down the meat in our freezer to prepare to give it up for Lent.
I read some books we already owned that I hadn’t read before but my husband recommended. They were good!
This week has been so much better than last. Funny how everything seems possible when you feel well. Thanks to everyone’s who made suggestions last week.
Brandy, my Valentine celebration with my husband lasted for three days! He gave me something I have wanted ever since we bought this house 20+ years ago. It came with a satellite dish on our three story roof and I wanted it gone. A long list of repairmen have declined removing it even though it was disconnected and rusted. Hubby took it down! It took him three slow days since it was rusted to the eaves and everything went wrong. I held the ladder and the phone with 911 in speed dial, just in case. Some of the best gifts are free! I gave him Ben-gay, a heating pad, and a week of new meals to try in return.
In last weekās comment I mentioned being impressed by a woman with an extremely low income lifestyle who ate cucumbers from the garden daily during the rainy season. It caused me to ponder my circumstances and question if I am being a wise steward of my resources. As a challenge, I set a goal of cooking squash every day. My pantry challenge is still in effect so it would require creativity. There is a wheelbarrow full of winter squash in the basement still waiting to be processed. I started there.
On the first day, I made pork soup with four cups of Sucrine du Berry winter squash to test its flavor. The squash absorbed the pork flavor and all but disappeared. The squash āmushā became like a thickener. It tasted good, but needed additional ingredients. Since it was prolific, easy to grow, and stored well, it will be planted again. Next, I made beef soup using the same squash but used additional vegetables and seasonings. It was better and the flavor profile was entirely different. Then I pulled breaded zucchini squash from the freezer to fry. Pumpkin muffins were made from canned sweet potatoes. It counted as squash according to my rules because the jar was older than the canned butternut squash which could have been used. Operating two pantry challenges simultaneously requires juggling. Then it was time for the weekly refrigerator-crockpot-leftover-dump to which I added more winter squash. Hubby politely protested. My carnivore wanted hamburgers. I hadnāt told him of my experiment because I didnāt want him skewing the test results (or rebelling). He got hamburgers with side of yellow squash from the freezer coated in butter; so, I made it to the end of the week.
Results: I learned more than I realized. It can be done with planning. There are other recipes I want to try now. The biggest discovery was the difference it made in our food supply. We skipped a bi-monthly grocery trip. I am doing a pantry challenge but my husband isnāt. We always buy his milk, cream, breakfast eggs, and snacking apples plus whatever else catches his eye; but, instead he was eating leftovers for breakfast and muffins for evening treat. One week was enough but I could have gone longer if better preparations had been made. Could I do the same challenge with beans, tomatoes, potatoes, or onions? Yes, these would be easy but what about okra or carrots? What if I could only get the vegetables from my garden and some of the crops failed? I am going through my seeds for this yearās garden right now, making plans and am trying to figure out what to plant. Just pondering the future and thinking.
Jeannie@GetMeToTheCountry
With the ever-rising cost of produce (and so many safety recalls lately!) I think that if we have a place to grow food, even a little, it is wise to grow it.
I was visiting a friend on Sunday. She lives in an apartment. I saw three tomato plants growing in the rock-filled planters where there is drip irrigatio and a couple of bushes, just under the stairs (so they get diffused light, which is great here in a west-facing location). I wondered about the people who planted them and was happy for them.
Brandy, high prices and low food quality (here in the US) is becoming worrisome. I saw a gardening video about a man who only had a big picture window. He built shelves in front of the window and had it full of all kinds of bean/seed sprouts. There were many different kinds of sprouts. Every morning a new batch would be started as whatever was ready was harvested for that day’s meals. He ate them in different kinds of recipes and it provided one meal every day. He was doing it for his health but it had to be a decent money saver.
Jeannie
What a wonderful Valentines Day treat (for the both of you)!
J in PA, I think I got the better gift but I also had to wait longer.
Jeannie
Jeannie, do you have red dirt? We moved from an area with black dirt (known as the best farmland in the world, DeKalb County, Illinois). Our dirt here is red and clay like and I am not sure what will grow well. If you have any suggestions, I would be thrilled to receive them. Thank you!
I used to live in Oklahoma years ago. We had red dirt. We grew about everything. Tomatoes, turnips, spinach, peppers, squash. Farmers around us grew Watermelon, okra, sunflowers and more.
Laura S, there is red clay soil about 70 miles south of me in Alabama. I have boulders, gravel, and a little bit of hard as brick clay. That about explains it. Here is a blog post explaining and showing how horrible the soil is in my neighborhood. https://getmetothecountry.blogspot.com/2018/03/flower-garden-tour-late-winter-2018.html There is about 2 – 4 inches of top soil then a layer of concrete hard clay full of rocks. There are always empty flower pots sitting around in my garden because I toss in rocks that appear after it rains then dump them into the potholes in the driveway
The answer to improving your soil is adding mountains and mountains of compost. I would give a ratio of about 1 to 10. Ten parts compost to one part clay. I am not exaggerating. Begin composting everything you can get your hands on – leaves, cardboard, grass, wood chips, food scraps, anything. When I first started gardening, I would cover the garden in leaves and grass from the lawn plus go back into the woods to scrape up top soil from under the trees. I was desperate to feed my growing family.
I went in search of manure when I discovered a horse boarding stable close by. The owner/trainer said he was looking for a place to pasture some of his breeding mares and I offered my land. He gives me trailer loads of manure during the winter, mows the field and we keep an eye on his ladies. It wasn’t until I got about 30 loads over four years that my soil became fantastic. Because the land is bad it lowered the price of our home and we were able to afford it. Our property can’t be subdivided because it won’t perk and we are too far out for sewers. This area is known for rock quarries not for farming.
Laura S, I have met people over the years who moved here from places with fertile soil. It is a shock when they try to garden. It is possible but it takes massive amounts of hard work. Don’t get discouraged. Start small and focus all your energy (compost) into one place. Make that small bed the best ever and then expand slowly. When you start looking for free stuff that rots, you will be amazed at what you will find.
Jeannie
Oh my gosh, Jeannie! Thank you so much for all of this information! I was in shock when I started digging. I just didnāt expect that here. Looks like I need to find a manure source. We have leaves and a wooded bit behind us, so I can source these. Pine needles for blueberry plants. I will be looking for rotting stuff, including our own scraps that we donāt use for broth. Thank you so much!
Laura S, be VERY careful of your manure source. Question them thoroughly. Make sure they have not ever used any form of weed killer. The animals can not have eaten anything that had been sprayed either because it will pass through them into the manure. Glyphosate does not break down for three years. The company lies. I put something store bought into a spot in my compost pile and one year later put it on one row of my garden. It destroyed that row for two years. Corn was grown there to pull the poison out. The stalks were burned and raccoons got the ears of corn. Joke was on them! However, they died of lead poisoning before the glyphosate could give them cancer.
Jeannie
We also have large granite outcroppings in the yard. The original owner (we are the third) created flower beds on them, though not all of them. My daughter dug one up and she said the soil was loose and it looks black. The immediately previous owner seems to have neglected the yard, though I believe it was due to health issues so I have no criticism there at all. It is going to take a LOT to get this garden and yard going. Just bought a dozen bare root saplings to start the orchard. We are going to buy organic soil to put in the holes to start (will cost more than the trees, Iām sure), but we need to get that going. I just pulled up your post you linked and I feel this pain! I had a large organic garden for many years in Illinois (an area known for the best soil in the world) and I needed it to feed my family as well. Not as many of us now, but stillā¦what with prices and poisons on our food, I consider it a necessity!
Jeanne, I have pumpkin like you have squash. I cooked one today and have one left to cook up. Todayās pumpkin yielded 12 cups and tomorrow I will put them up in one cup increments for cookies, smoothies, etc. I have cooked pumpkins all fall and winter from my patch and my neighborās Halloween supply!
Jean, you have such a lovely name.
I applaud you for grabbing the pumpkins! Way to go. Years ago I went to the Amish auction the last week of their season, right before they closed in the fall. The big buyers had already purchased all the pumpkins the stores needed so not many people were interested in a wagon load. I sat in the stands and watched as the prices fell steadily. One of the last loads came through and it was full of the ugliest, wonkiest winter squash you have ever seen. The Amish father must have sent the kids out to the field to load the wagon but instead they grabbed the discarded ones behind the barn. I sat on my hands as the auctioneer began chanting. NOBODY bid. He kept dropping the price until it was $.10 (TEN CENTS) for each one! I raised my hand, he immediately slammed his gavel, and yelled SOLD! I jumped up, hooted, then sat down from embarrassment. The crowd applauded.
They filled the trunk of my car, the back and front seat up to the roof and I even had them sitting in my lap as I drove. Seeing behind me was impossible. When I arrived home, I backed up to the porch (which means something was wrong) and my husband and sons came running out. I popped the trunk, rolled out of the driver’s seat as squash bounced across the ground, and faced a porch full of laughter. They quit laughing when I told them they had to unload the car then start eating them. For months I cooked winter squash, fed my guys, then froze, and canned 350 jars.
So Jean, I am a kindred sprit who is proud of your accomplishment.
Jeannie
Your photos are so pretty, and those cakes look delicious! I stopped eating anything with added sugar 6 years ago because of some health conditions I have.
To save money, I did 2 food rescues and have been eating mostly that food. Salmon, chicken breast, ham, and bacon for meat; packaged frozen potatoes; and organic and conventional produce from apples to zucchini and everything between. It sickens me to see how much perfectly good food goes to waste while people can’t afford grocery prices. This food could easily be donated to pantries. I stock several community fridges and blessings boxes in addition to what I’m able to keep.
I continue using the library regularly. I purchased some items secondhand instead of retail prices.
Just curious, how do you do food rescues?
Hi Brandy,
What a thoughtful way to help your friend ā¦ the birthday cake! I also loved your simple treats for your family. How delightful. One year I used a heart-shaped cake pan to make large chocolate chip cookies for each of my children. They loved it!
It’s so nice to see more and more comments being posted each week since you are back!
Our city has very low utility bills overall. However, during the cold last month, they had to buy more natural gas at a higher price than usual, and it really showed in our home heating bill. On the other hand, now we are having almost spring-like temperatures, which is just enough to confuse my bulb flowers before it drops again.
Didn’t find much in day-after Valentine chocolates this year; seemed most stores didn’t have as much Valentine merchandise as they used to order.
We don’t drink bottled water in general, as our tap water is healthy and we are used to the taste, (some people find it strong). I keep a case of bottled water on hand in case there is a boil order or interrupted service, which happens every few years. I suspect it is getting old, so I am using it to water my indoor plants and will buy a new case at some upcoming holiday when it is on sale to last the next few years.
Similarly, I read about chlorine in tap water being hard on plants and have started setting out a pitcher for a day ahead of time so the chlorine can evaporate out. My houseplants are all of sturdy varieties. This winter, I made it a goal to not overwater them and they are doing well on what I previously would have thought of as being neglectful.
I found an expensive package of “Jack and Jill” cheese on clearance at my grocery store, (Monterey Jack and dill; had not heard of that before). Very good. Also tried Dolly Parton’s cinnamon swirl cake mix from Duncan Hines on clearance. At first it didn’t look like much batter, but it baked up high and had an extremely generous streusel topping packet.
Heidi Louise,
Many municipalities use chloramines rather than chlorine, and chloramines will not precipitate out the same way as chlorine.
I found this out the hard way with fish.
I hope that’s useful.
Thank you, Cara! I have never tried to interpret the city water statement we get each year and will look at the next one to see if I can find that term. I’m sorry about your fish– that is not the surprise you want.
I listed a camera with a lens for $300 on Marketplace and had someone ask about selling the lens by itself. I agreed but it fell through. In the meantime, someone reached out about the camera and I dropped the price to $250 and she negotiated for $230 and I sold it. Then a week later, I relisted the lens by itself for $125 (I wanted to make $100 for it) and someone bought it for full price. So for what I had originally listed for $300, I ended up selling for $355 total!
We’re skipping the grocery store until the end of the week. I went to the garage freezer last night to see what all we had and found salmon, pork loin and some already cooked ground beef which I pulled out to thaw for meals for the rest of the week.
Also, we had been buying milk in glass but decided that it’s too expensive and to go back to plastic gallon jugs. But, in not spending any money until the end of the week, we’ve run out of milk. In returning the glass bottles we have at home, I’ll get enough cash back to go buy a gallon at the store without paying anything out of pocket.
Also, decided to go through some clothes and found 6 things to get rid of that will sell on a Facebook BST group. I listed them and 5 of the 6 sold the day it was list.
I have saved my whole life in order to achieve my dream of traveling to all seven continents. Last week, my travel guide took a panoramic photo of me wearing my “7 Continents Club” t-shirt at Kakadu National Park. Australia was my final continent. In pursuit of this dream ( especially since I retired a year and a half ago) I tried to find a balance between frugality, comfortable enjoyment and safety ( I traveled to Asia and Australia solo as a 62 year old lady.) I am thrilled and grateful for my accomplishment but I spent a chunk of of my IRA. This week I set new frugal financial goals. from my pension, I want to save 15% in an emergency fund to leave the rest of my IRA alone for my next ten years. I do not have Social Security ( California teacher.) This week toward my goals:
1. I set a meeting with my financial advisor to find a place to stash my emergency fund that yields better than my .01% checking account at Chase. the 15% will come out automatically.
2. I continue to stretch myself as a cook. This is not in any way, shape, or form easy. I am not a natural cook like so many of you here.. AI has really helped along with my instapot, airfryer and vitamix. I put my leftover pantry items into ChatGpt and tell it to make me a meal pan for the week that is 1500 calories a day with 130 grams of protein a day. Amazing what it comes up with.
3. Grocery Outlet is 2.5 miles away. The gas costs about $1.00 for a round trip but I combine with other errands. I have gone the last three days and found some incredible bargains that fit my healthy food plan for Hubby and myself. I have to balance bulk buying with convenience foods or I will just waste the food. $1.00 for 12 oz minestrone veggie mix – everything already chopped and flash frozen. So easy and delish. I bought ten .45 cent 24 ounce cream/milk/ vanilla “creamer” which I will use for baking, pancakes ect. . . . , $2.47 for Aidell’s meatballs teryaki which I will use over noodles wth a sweet and sour sauce. My favorite for today is .77 cent King Arthur Pretzel mix. We are not eating much bread these days but I am excited to try my hand at making pretzels. The list goes on. I have time now that I am retired and I enjoy the hunt and the creativity involved.
4. I picked our tangerines and oranges from our two trees.
5. I sold a book on ebay.
Mary Ann, I am so happy you got to fulfill your dream! How amazing!
I absolutely love the way you pursued your dream of traveling and are willing to balance it with increased frugality. I’ve tried to get my husband to see things my way (we scrimped and saved and I want to spend a little of it here and there for travel) while continuing to live frugally otherwise, but he does not see things my way at all. So, we mostly just continue to save and go without and don’t get any joy at all out of the years we spent saving for retirement. On the one hand, I do see his point that money will go quickly but I see my own point of view that there is and always has been an ebb and flow of money in our life and I expect it will continue to be the same.
I accidentally lost my reply so here goes again! The weather has been beautiful for two weeks, no snow and relatively beautiful so less use of natural gas for heating but now we are having snow again, high winds and plunging temperatures. I have finished rehabilitating my wardrobe from online stores, on sale. I bought items over the past two years ā no coats as my classic woollen coats were so well made out of beautiful fabric that I won’t need any coats even if I live to 100.
I bought from 3 main stores ā 1 American, 1 Canadian, 1 British. I found I could buy items from Marks & Spencers, England on shipping-free days ā for less money than from online Canadian stores. There was no shipping minium. I was appalled to see that the corduroy pants I bought from Land’s End for $20-30 are now $100 plus. (must be tariffs?) I bought from Land’s End only because I knew their sizing would fit me. One pair was way too big but I washed it in hot water and that did the trick. Now I have unsubscribed from all of their websites ā out of sight out of mind. I bought some pre-cooked yellow corn meal for $3.29 per bag. Apparently, it is really easy to make “bread” dough out of it. I am still working on decluttering my father’s papers and writing his history. I have found intriguing tidbits of information and am waiting for replies from archives here and in England. Food has become increasingly more expensive. I am glad for the abundant produce we are receiving from Mexico. I have been watching the Olympics (free entertainment), and hope to enjoy one of my stockpile of books that needs reading.
that should have read “relatively warm” not beautiful.
That cake is pretty. My niece and I helped pack over 500 backpacks for the food bank. This will last about 2 weeks. The backpacks go home with children on Fridays and they bring it back empty on Monday. It was very humbling and felt good to help out. We will do this again. My husband was cutting limbs and I sat on the porch since it was in the sixties. It was a big change from the cold from the last few weeks. We have been walking everyday and have been going to the library. I have been cooking everyday and using items from the pantry. I love emptying those jars. It feels good to use the vegetables that I canned and froze.
It was a great frugal week in Houston!
I found diapers on clearance in babyās current size.
I gave to of the boys (and myself) basic haircuts.
I traded in some Lululemon from Goodwill Outlet for a $75 Lululemon gift card, hopefully will buy a couple of girls birthday gifts for my nieces or daughtersā friends.
I bought day old Samās rotisserie chicken for future meals.
Are at home even when I really wanted to get fast food or pizza.
Helped my third grader finish her school project with items we had at home.
A few of us got free Chick-fil-A at a breakfast from all-Aās at the oldest daughterās school.
Went to a free math fair/festival at Texas A&M, where pizza and drinks were provided.
I bought gas at the cheaper gas station.
IG: Frewgalfamily.HTX
I love all of the comments. Thank each of you for sharing. Here are my small wins.
* Cooked pinto beans from my storage container that were at least two years old along with a meaty ham bone from last Easter. This was the best dish I made this week and will provide many more servings.
* I make family lunch for the 8 of us (six adults and 2 toddlers) on Sunday after church. Since I am cooking for a bunch, there are leftovers so my husband and I can eat for the next several days.
* The weather is mild for us this year. I can sit on my front porch and swing while I watch the world go by on the busy street. I find that entertaining. š
Brandy, your cake and Valentineās treats are beautiful! Would you mind sharing the cake recipe please? It is lovely to see the flowers on the trees; we have another month or so before ours bloom.
It’s here here.
Thank you!
The weeks seem to flying by and Spring will be here before we know it. After a cold January and beginning of February, we are experiencing Spring-like weather so much activity has happened outdoors. We do some landscaping work for several neighbors and one Fall job did not get done due to our schedule and the weather not cooperating. We finally got it done which was helpful to them, good exercise for us and extra money in our pockets. My boys also worked one day for another neighbor while I got some put-off tasks done on our own property. One of my absolute favorite things in the whole world is having a Winter day warm enough for the bees to come out for a cleansing flight. Nothing speaks more to Winter survival and the hope of Spring than honey bees coming out on a February day. This is my 15th year keeping bees and itās been one of most fascinating pursuits I have ever, well, pursued! š And I am in a good place where I have enough hives and equipment that I can actually make money selling the honey. Many years, my honey sales have just offset the costs of equipment with modest profits but last yearās sales were my best yet and this year should be just as profitable (fingers crossed!) So, my frugal beekeeping win each year at this time is the confirmation that they have come through the worst of winter healthy and ready to go this Spring. My gardenās productivity certainly relies, in many ways, on the number of bees I have so they feed us in that way, too.
More tangible savings this week included topping off my gas tank when in TN. We live in NC, 2 miles from the state line. I have periods of time I donāt go to TN regularly and when I do, I notice the gas prices are often less expensive. Since the play I am currently performing in is in TN, I am getting gas there often for 20-30 cents per gallon cheaper than this side of the state line. Little bits add up to a lot.
After no sales at either of my antique booths this month due to the weather, I had respectable sales over the weekend. My parents generously gave me some more items they were clearing out of their house to sell. They are on the board of a volunteer-run thrift shop and often receive items left over from estate sales. This has been a great avenue for me to find stock for my booths as this thrift shopās prices are very reasonable leaving room for me to make a profit. As prices at many thrift stores continue to rise, this has become a challenge. Estate sales are often a better source for me but there are few sales in the Winter in our area. Another reason to look forward to Spring – restocking!
Wishing everyone a lovely week and a meaningful beginning of the Lenten season (as appropriate.) š
Today marks the beginning of Lent and Ramadan. It’s also the Lunar New Year.
MMD
I am thinking of putting up a swarm box and I am in Johnson City, should I get it up asap? I am not on a mountain but I am also not in the city. I appreciate any advice!
Thanks!
Jamie, I live in Jonesborough (not in town). I would love to know how your swarm box turns out. I had not heard of this. My cousinās husband always supplied me with honey and beeswax (I paid him, though he only charged me a nominal amount) when we were in Illinois. My DILās sister has bees, though they have not had a lot of luck. They live in this area as well.
That cake sounds heavenly. I couldn’t even begin to do small florets like that – you are talented in many ways.
This past week I took a shirt with tight sleeves at the shoulders, unpicked the shoulder/sleeve seam, flipped the sleeve and reattached. (The sleeve was gathered at the cuff) for a now very comfy shirt.
Took time and found free workouts and yoga to do for my fitness.
I drew out how I want to plant vegetables this year. I hope to increase what I can grow for myself to share with family.
Hills Prescription pet food is offering $15 off at online veterinary stores (Code HILLSPD2H25) one per household. Of course our 2 adorable cats need prescription food, so I was happy to see this.
Used a free appetizer coupon for a small date with my spouse, afterwards we walked the mall to burn it off (and to stay out of the rain).
Hope everyone has a calm and productive week!
J in PA, I am impressed how you repaired the tight sleeves on a blouse to make them fit better. That was definitely a frugal accomplishment!
Jeannie
I, what I wouldnāt give to have the talent you have of remaking garments!
I had to wait on nuggets at Chik Fil A ,so they gave me a coupon for a free cookie, ice cream, or brownie.
Brought home 12 burritos and about 4 pounds of strawberries. Burritos went straight into the freezer, and we ate on the strawberries for a couple days, then froze the rest.
Received a box of Junior Mints candy from my boss.
A teacher at the school I work at has a grandmother who owns a donut shop. She brought staff a donut each. Yum.
Used a coupon for $25 off an oil change.
Earned $1.50 from Ibotta.
Minimal spending other than food. I went through the freezers and took stock of what we had and what we need to use. There is little meat-wise that we will need for quite a while. I am purchasing a white board for each of the freezers to log everything in them, and the quantity, in order to keep track of it better. I am used to being the only one cooking for years, but with my DIL now doing a lot of cooking, it is way too easy to lose track. Same with the pantry. After coming back from a trip, I was thrilled to get back to our low gas prices (usually $2.24/gal or less). When travelling, I use Upside and store up the cash to deposit in an account. I have made over $300.00 in the last two years! Earned money off of what I had to spend anyway. Have not been buying from Amazonā¦same items in cart for a few weeks now, but will have to place a small order soon. We are also switching laundry detergent from Seventh Generation. It is no longer as non-toxic and is quite expensive (though I try to buy when I get a bargain). We are going with Nellieās Laundry Soda, and their oxygen brightener. I ordered through Costco and got free shipping. The nearest Costco didnāt have it and is almost two hours away. It will be way more cost effective. My DIL and I both miss the scent from Seventh Generation so we are going to add a washcloth with a few drops of essential oil to the wash cycle. I am reviewing our streaming services and have made some changes. We are also switching from Starlink to Xfinity (as long as the installation goes well). When we moved in last year, Xfinity was not available. Keeping my fingers crossed that when they come to do the install next Monday it all goes smoothly. Then we will disconnect Starlink. Xfinity is offering 1 gigabyte for $50/month for five years, no contract! This will save us (at the current price of Starlink) $840 a year ($4200 over five years!!!)! I am glad to be getting back on track and am grateful for your encouraging words when I posted previously, Brandy. This community is so helpfulāŗļø
Thanks for the update regarding Seventh Generation laundry detergent. I didn’t know about their latest ingredients. Sure enough, I looked it up at EWG site and they gave it a “D.” Much appreciated! š
Laura, my daughter told me! I was so disappointed.š
1. Hubby called and got our car insurance bill reduced by $5 a month or $60 a year.
2. I called Verizon(internet) and got it reduced by $15 a month or $180 a year. I also got a $20 credit for when their services were down last month for our cell phone bill.
3. I got 2 packs of chicken 50% off at Aldi. I got 2 cans of pumpkin for 24Ā¢ each.
4. It was Hubby’s birthday. We both took the day off. I got him a new to us record player that he wanted from Facebook Market Place.
5. We went to the thrift store on his birthday. He got a CD and a record, $2 total.
6. We went to our favorite steakhouse. They have a great lunch special for $30 per person. It comes with a choice of appetizers and 1 of 8 entrees. It was delicious and we both brought home leftovers. We went at 2:30 so we weren’t hungry for dinner. We each just had a small snack instead. If we had gone for dinner the same meal would have been over $120.
7. We stopped at our favorite bakery and got 2 donuts and a pastry for less then 1 dessert at the restaurant.
8. My neighbor and I did 2 free craft classes at our library together. One was a candy wrapper class on Canva. They even gave us the free candy bar. I gave it to Hubby for Valentine’s day. The 2nd one was a keychain etching class with Canva. They came out really cute. Picked up and dropped off books and magazines while we were there.
9. We watched our son’s cat while he was away for work for 10 days. He supplied all the food and litter. I got free snuggles.
10. My kids came over Sunday to celebrate Hubby’s birthday. We had a great time.
Hi Brandy and everyone
The cake for your friend and your Valentine’s cakes look beautiful. I think you are skilled at cake decoration!
Your garden is looking great too, we are having such heavy rain in the UK and are behind in the garden prep we should have done by now.
We continue to put all the fruit and vegetable peelings on the compost heap.
I made stock from chicken bones and then soup with some unused veg and a tin of butter beans about to go out of date. I am cooking more meat free meals than ever before.
Different supermarkets gave me vouchers for free biscuits ( cookies), a toiletry item, free crumpets and money off bacon and butter. I have several supermarket apps on my phone and check them all for deals before I shop. I also bought a pack of beef mince reduced price.
I bought a new unused velvet zippered clutch bag in a charity shop and gave it to a friend as a birthday gift. I redeemed some loyalty points for a tube of lip balm which I put inside.
My husband asked me to buy him an A5 notebook, I chose a plain inexpensive one and was pleased when I paid that the price at the till was unexpectedly reduced.
I bought some clothes for my GD on clearance sale.
I was blessed with some mittens a friend had made for me, flowers from a daughter as a thank you for helping her and a garden centre voucher as a thank you from an organisation I helped run for a few years.
My husband and I agreed we wouldn’t give Valentine’s Day cards or presents and we didn’t go out to eat. I cooked a meal at home I knew he would enjoy.
After a very cold December and January in N.C., we are having a 5 day stretch of warmer weather. I wonāt be turning on the furnace at all, just leaving the thermostat at 60. I am going to be putting compost from my composter on a few beds that I will be sowing seeds for kale and beets in. I am walking with friends for exercise and wonderful conversations! I have had a three week side job of helping a mom who had a c-section and has a premie with a 22 month old, do housework and help with the toddler. I have enjoyed it and am working for less but glad to help them out! Today, I saw the first daffodils and
heard peepers down by the creek, it is glorious!
Blessings and enjoy the warm weather to those on the east coast!
Your beautiful photos make me yearn for spring.
Iāve been eating out of the pantry and freezer, but ran out of bread for my morning toast. Silly me, it two days before I remembered I know how to bake bread, lol. My sourdough wasnāt awake, but my yeast was still good (normally only make sourdough). Found a great recipe at KA flour for āEnglish muffin toasting breadā thatās quick, easy, and was perfect for toast. So saved gas and $ going to the store for one item.
Got a free library book. Iām reading/listening to When We Flew Away, a novel about Anne Frank before she went into hiding and enjoying it. Itās by the same author that wrote the practical magic books.
Gave myself a manicure w polish I had on hand. A couple yrs ago there was a great Black Friday sale on nail polish and I got colors for every season/holiday.
Made my bed w new to me flannel sheets I got at goodwill as our false spring has moved on to rain storms.
Hope everyone is having a good week!.
Iāve been cooking and baking a lot. Iāve made cranberry muffins, fruit oat bars (with random fruit from freezer), pumpkin muffins (frozen pumpkin from fall), and sourdough bread. Iāve either been doing aldi pickup orders or grabbing clearance and sales at Kroger. I had valentines and bubbles I bought on clearance last year, and I took some homemade treats to coop. I made homemade pizza for kids and their friends, and homemade marshmallows another day. I did get some chocolate covered strawberries for valentines and we enjoyed some wine we bought on vacation last year. We enjoyed a birthday party at a park and did go out for a late lunch that day, before everyone had a meltdown.
I was low on deodorant and cleaned out a cupboard and found some my husband didnāt like. Itās slightly manly but not overpowering. Also found some body wash in the same cupboard, as we were low.
Went through hand me downs and donāt need to buy any clothes the next size up for my daughter. I bought some clothes and puzzles at a consignment store for a friends toddlers birthday.
We had a Valentine’s Eve sleepover with our five grandchildren. We had a red dinner (spaghetti, strawberries, koolaid) then played a Valentine bingo game I made years ago (for their parents). Then we watched a movie and had some snacks. It was a fun night and their parents were so excited to have a night off for Valentine’s Day. We didn’t spend much money, but we made memories. * I have mobility issues, so I do Walmart grocery pick up every week. Since I don’t go in the store, I don’t really see all the sales anymore. So, the way I shop is a bit different. I plan all my meals and see what I have already that I can use. I make a list of what I might need for meals and for re-stocking the pantry. I put everything in my online cart that I think I need for the week. I have a budget for the week I try to stay under. If I’m over budget, I go back into the cart to see what I can remove things until I’m under again. Then, I place the order. It has worked pretty well. I put things in the cart all week as I think of them, but don’t pull the trigger til Saturday for Monday pickup. I wish I could still shop in person sometimes, but scooters are hard to get, and I’m very grateful I still can shop and cook for my husband. He really appreciates it too. * I’m going to be a grandma again! There is a baby shower coming up so I’m making some things for the shower gift from things in my stash. I always crochet a nice white blanket for each family having their first baby as an heirloom, and I’ll do that, but give it later as it’s more personal.* I guess the main thing I do to save money is stay home. I have fabric, yarn, beads, books and shows here at home. So, it’s no hardship. Gratitude helps everything be better!
We’ve also had the warming weather over the past 10 days which has been lovely. I like not having heat run but now that we’re acclimated to the 68F temps indoors it felt awfully stuffy in the house. However, I turned the AC to 75F so it wouldn’t come on as much. My husband has Hashimoto’s and gets very cold very easily. So he doesn’t complain about me turning up the AC to 75F. I, however, will whine a bit about it, lol. I don’t care to sweat! It’s already dropping a light dusting of pollen over things outdoors so no open windows, plus we had controlled burns just a field away that were very smoky; smoky enough to fill the house with a slight haze of smoke with the windows closed. It was worse for my son that lives right next to the pine orchard they were burning.
I have been very, very careful with grocery shopping and still have 1/3 of my usual monthly budget left. The dearth of sales has helped a lot but now that I’ve nearly completed two months of pantry/freezer cooking, I am getting low in several areas. I’ll need to restock pork and chicken this next month unless I see a sale this last week of February.
I’m also out or low on several non-food items: parchment, foil, toilet paper, etc. I expect next month I’ll be spending some money, but I can say honestly that I have managed to save a good bit. I paid off a credit card (started January owing on three cards) and should have a second one fully paid off here in the first part of March, leaving me just one to go. It’s taken a lot of scrimping and diligence since we have also had to pay medical bills and pick up renewed prescriptions, etc. But it feels good to see these balances coming down so much more quickly than I’d anticipated they might.
I had promised myself a lamp for my worktable in my former guest room. I found a pair for $32 on Amazon and used a gift card to reduce that price to $20. If you haven’t bought lamps on Amazon, let me tell you they are far better quality than you’d think and quite reasonable. This is the second pair I’ve gotten over last year and this and they are excellent!
My grandkids wanted to go on an outing, so I took them to Massee Lane to the Camellia gardens. Cost $8 for my senior ticket and the kids got in for free. They adore the Japanese Garden there. I get the luxury of walking through the Camellias to the Japanese Garden. The bees were out in full force, pollinating the plants which are at their peak this month.
I’ve heard that Florida lost a good bit of the strawberry crops this year due to the hard freeze that extended into Central Florida. Orange crops were not affected. I’ll be curious to see how strawberry pricing does. Typically, from late February until mid-May we’ll see prices as low as $2 per quart at the grocery but we’ll see how it goes this year.