I started my new part-time job. I’ll be working from home for a bit, which saves on gas.
I listened to five free webinars that I felt were helpful for my new job. I didn’t buy any of the paid courses ($500 to $1000 each), but I did learn several things that I can use for work. The algorithm started sending me all kinds of ads for different related learning courses and products; I downloaded two free reports to learn more as well.
I harvested a couple of Indian Snake cucumbers from my garden.
I took cuttings from a monstera plant and put them in water to root.
I got seeds for passionfruit plants for free from another gardener. I picked them up on my way home from work to save gas and time. I have one passionfruit plant (the same type) but I wanted to start another one. I got to taste a ripe passionfruit from this gardener, and it was great to find out what this variety tastes like. I grew a different variety before, and it flowered for me every year, but never fruited. I am happy to know this one actually reliably fruits here. They are very invasive, sending out underground runners, so I am going to grow them in pots over a trellis.
I gave both my boys haircuts and my husband cut my hair.
I studied Urdu by reviewing the class I took a year and a half ago, and listening to free videos on YouTube.
What did you do to save money this past week?
It wasn’t a very frugal couple of weeks for us. I had to renew the registration on my vehicle($100, but good for two years), the radiator in Hubby’s truck needed replaced($800 after part, labor, and an oil change while they had it), and our Anatolian needed a mass removed off his leg($1000, plus spent another $100 for a thick dog bed for him to lay on, and a protective sleeve for his leg) Poor guy is having a rough time this go round. He had a sarcoma removed 5 years ago on that same leg, but this one was right at his knee and he’s 10 years old now.
Used my $7 ham from after Christmas markdown. We ate on it two days, then rest made ham and beans.
Entered receipts on rewards apps
Read and returned library books as soon as possible
All the trash from cleaning up in the basement I am trying get rid of it in my bins as I have room each week to save on a trip to the landfill (and the extra cost)
Did a bed swap of sorts. Since the teen moved out and didn’t need her bed, she said her friends sister needed a new one. They gave me her metal bunkbed frame to go scrap and get the money. I added it to our pile.
Earned $5.25 Amazon Shopper Panel reward
Earned $59 gift card from Brightspeed. Since that bill is on auto draft, I just used it towards the utility bill.
Found my missing glass storage canisters in the basement. Washed them up and used them for our bulk popcorn.
Listed some more items on Marketplace, made $25
Just absolutely flabbergasted at how inexpensive your car registration is there! It is hundreds of dollars per car each year here; on new cars, it can easily be $450 to $800 a year. Even older cars are several hundred dollars each year.
I’m not sure how it is in Nevada, but here in Missouri we have to pay personal property tax on just about everything, lol. Our vehicles, boats, trailers, and don’t get me started on business equipment. Between that and real estate tax on the house every year, it can add on a lot. Many here want to do away with property taxes, but they don’t realize those cheap car registrations would shoot way up. Id rather have the property tax than have to drop several hundred per thing we need tagged.
Our property taxes are capped at 3% here, and we have no state income tax. So there’s that.
Free in Ontario, Canada.
Dh has spent a good bit of time this summer working on our finances and investments. We finally found an advisor that we like. We’ve been a ‘set it and forget it’ style of investor up until now. But we’re coming up to dh retiring and there are more factors to take into account, so we are happy to have advice.
This will save us money going forward.
I rode my electric bike to pick up a buy nothing item, go to Grocery Outlet and drop off a donation at the Pregnancy Care center.
Fed our adult daughter dinner when she came to pick up her Costco purchases. Homemade chicken broth, leftover chicken, rice noodles and kale from the garden. A simple and frugal meal but enjoyable to have the company.
Sold a few items on Vinted. Not loving the platform, but things seem to sell quicker than on ebay. Customer service seems non-existent on Vinted.
Sorted the 50 lbs of gifted apples. The ones that will store are in the fridge. The ones that need used soon are on the counter for applesauce. Trying not to waste any of the abundance.
Found the lowest price on quilt batting and purchased a bolt of it. DIL would like some and I bought enough to share with her. Ds is starting his 3rd year of grad school, they have 2 kids and no income. We’ll be glad when he finishes his program!
Thanks for your review of Vinted. I have a friend selling on there and I wondered about it.
I still buy mostly on eBay, but over the last five years all my friends who would buy on eBay have swapped to Vinted, especially for clothes.
Good to know! My friend sells on both. My daughters buy from D-Pop and have sold there as well.
I have restarted a practice I do intermittently: an “unshopping” list. It’s very simple: I write down anything I want to buy and wait. Then I get to see if it was just a whim or not.
I have been finding it hard to figure out what fresh vegetables to buy while our garden is producing. I don’t want to end up with stuff going bad before we eat it, but I don’t want to run out either. We don’t grow enough to want to process it for storage – just to eat as it comes. But it’s all a big juggling act at the moment, looking at the garden and trying to figure out what will be ready in the next two weeks before going to the shops.
Dear Brandy
You look really lovely, like a doll!
I have been a long-time reader. I remember how you described yourself home-schooling and your detailed chores lists for your kids. You mentioned that if you were out running errands, your husband made sure the kids were doing their chores. I was wondering, how are these things organized in your household these days, when you and your husband are away a lot?
We still have four at home and still homeschool. We also still have chores before and after each meal. I just redid the chore charts, as it’s a new month AND we have one less child in the house now. I’m home for breakfast and dinnertime chores. My eldest daughter at home can make sure the lunch chores are done (and if they aren’t, because, let’s be realistic with children), I’ll have them do them when I am home in the afternoon.
My two in high school are now doing an online homeschool program, an option that wasn’t available here until recently. My two in elementary school can do their work with me in the mornings, or me and their father in the afternoons (or both times), or with their sisters.
I only was gone for a few hours one day last week, and now I’m working from home online. My husband has yet to get any scheduled hours; he is looking for and applying for jobs. If they do schedule him, it’s early work; he would be off at 10 a.m. He’s also looking for a night job. My new boss has made my job very flexible, so that I can still be home to homeschool and take care of things at home. He literally designed the job for me. It’s part-time work.
Hi Brandy, we have a friend who also had to close his business. He made a complete career pivot and accepted a job in a commercial bread bakery working nights. He can still have dinner at home with the family before his night shift begins and is home way before breakfast. It’s fun and interesting and there may possibly be an employee benefit benefit of free bread. Don’t know if there is a bakery near you or if that is something Steve might like, but I wanted to just mention it. Plus employees coming home smelling really good 😊
Thank you. He is applying all over.
I love your outfit! Congratulations on the job! We have been cooking at home until yesterday. And although the food was good, it was more expensive than I liked. So, back to cooking at home. Lately, I have been counting my blessings. Just having a roof over our head is a blessing. I know that are so many things that we need to work on, but I feel happy to have a home. Sometimes I get tired of dishes piling up. Then I remind myself that at least we have food to cook and dishes to wash. There was a time when I didn’t have enough food to cook. I’m glad to have food now. I enjoy watching vlogs on you tube. My husband and I had a library date and read magazines together. That was very enjoyable….and free! I am happy to have a dishwasher. I have to keep it running since we cook almost every meal at home. I am going to look for more free things to do so we can apply our money else where. Although there is much to do at home, it is nice to take a break sometimes.
I love the idea of a library date!
How exciting about your new job! And the savings when you are able to work from home part of that time!!
Last week I got a phenomenal deal on center cut pork chops on Flashfood. I happened to notice, in mid-afternoon, at a store I rarely frequent because their prices tend to be high, a photo of pork chops. There were 5 packs and it shiwed 6 chops in a pack with regular price between $1.92 and $2.06 but reduced to 96 cents to $1.03 total per package. I thought that what I would get would be much smaller and dismal but for under $5, I bought all 5 packs . This is what I got: https://pin.it/wKb6doXXn , https://pin.it/5zANnBIH7 , https://pin.it/tS8gNhL5c , https://pin.it/4qllIgwJg , https://pin.it/7G8yxjqfP ! I kept one package and used them in a dinner I took for a convalescing mom and her family and two friends each got 2 packs each for their families. 25 cents a pound!!! Unbelievable blessing!!!
I also found 16 Oz cartons of strawberries on Flashfood for 60 cents. They had 20 available and so I bought them all. My daughter wanted 6 and my best friend was happy to get the remaining 14!
The worst of our scorching heat moderated this past week and we’ve also had some regenerating rains that were perfect for our gardens! It looks like we may have a really good harvest after all! This is the first year that my peach trees are heavy laden with fruit. They are now a beautiful red but still hard so I am trying hard to patiently wait a couple more weeks!
We put one of our wooden food storage shelves back into place against the wall and had our hired teenagers organize and reload the shelves while I wrote an inventory list to manage it better in the future! I am so excited to have this and it’s been worth the wait! https://pin.it/2wmwIALQE Chicken is top shelf, then beef, then pork , chili, tomatoes and salsa. Then #10 cans of refried beans and other dry beans on bottom shelf . Best of all, we’ve checked he seals on all jars and counted and written down exact inventory numbers of everything!!! That way we know what we have plenty of and what we need to make more!
I found a great YouTube tutorial and made Greek yogurt using 3 quarts of milk from a gallon I got on Flashfood for $1.15. So 86 cents worth of milk filled this 48 oz carton of yogurt! https://pin.it/k5IAEXKgn .That same carton of yogurt at Sam’s Club costs $5.87! So no more buying yogurt for us!
I took some marked down stew beef and stew pork chunks out of freezer and pressure canned them into 11 pints of beef and 2 of pork! https://pin.it/5Ja7bdD96
So, all in all, a couple weeks to be really grateful for!! I pray that you and your readers will be able to find employment and opportunities to ease the trials and challenges that you are all facing in an effort to become/stay as self reliant as possible!
Gardenpat in Ohio
I’m sorry. I may have repeated my comment from last week because I hadn’t seen it post as it got towards the end of the week. Didn’t mean to duplicate.
This week we picked 94 pounds of peaches from one of our peach trees and my hands are sore from the peeling , cutting and canning them into quarts.
I picked up 7 whole chickens on Flashfood for friends that were $2.59 each and between 5 and 7 pounds each. They were excited!
I successfully made Greek yogurt and whole wheat bread and have decided to incorporate this into my weekly routine!
On a non-frugal note, we had to replace our hot water heater which we hadn’t expected and still plan to have two of our 3 circuit board panels upgraded which will be a huge expense. But it will be more of those “one and done” upgrade/maintenance things that will make our house safer and we won’t have to do again!
Grateful we can juggle things to make this happen! This is where having a full pantry/freezer/garden is a real life saver!
Weather is cooling, we’re trying to get ready for fall/winter!
We are grateful every day for the opportunities/blessings that are put in our path!
gym
I cooked up a batch of dry beans and seasoned them with diced onion, celery, and carrot. I also diced up a small potato to add another vegetable and more nutrition. It is delicious by itself, good over a little rice, and even good cold in a sandwich. It is good cheap protein and will make several meals.
I’ve been staying home working on projects and gardening. I try to save my errands to batch together to save time and money. It doesn’t always work as this week I have three appointments, but I will be able to go to the library and the nearby grocery store after one appointment and stop to have the battery replaced in my car’s key fob at another. The key fob battery is free if I take it into the dealership for the replacement. For the third appointment I will stop by my gym for a workout since I have to drive by it on my way home.
I’m so glad your job is going well, Brandy!
We continue to save so much by not having AC! Yes, it gets warm, but certainly not intolerable and with a house built to catch breezes, ceiling fans, a whole-house fan, lots of tree shade, a white roof, and solar panels, we are fine. We also believe that for us, it’s better to acclimate with the seasons and not be shocked going from hot to cold continually.
We collect rainwater and use it for washing and watering plants, and luckily it’s finally raining so we don’t need to water by hand. And the rain makes it cooler all around for the plants and for us.
We get produce from our volunteer work and freeze what we can’t use immediately. We’re vegetarians, so the only meat we buy is for the cats and we find Aldi has reasonable prices.
I’m, mending a very old, very soft linen sheet that has so many thin spots, we should probably make it into rags, but it’s just so comfortable…
Happy week to all.
That’s nice that you can go without ac. One of my units broke last week and I had to have it repaired. It was 115° out. AC is a must here. The breeze feels like you’re standing in front of an open oven door set to 400° with the blow dryer drying you on the hottest heat.
We’re lucky that it doesn’t get so hot here. I was in Tulsa years ago and that “but it’s a dry heat,” is a canard! It felt like a BLAST FURNACE, especially after being in 60 degree AC! I don’t know how you all do it. At least you don’t get hurricanes!
We stay inside in summer like people in cold climates stay inside during winter.
And we drink something all day long. I drink SO much water every day.
We have been up to 116 here and we know the heat will continue until early October. Our air conditioner died a couple of days ago. This why we have been pretty careful with our funds all our married life. Okay, we said, we can afford a repair.
Repairman came today and said he could patch it but there were no guarantees about how much longer it would last. We’re not dumb. We knew he preferred we buy a new one. What we are is 77 and 84 and husband is very sensitive to heat. We opted for a lower priced new one. It is $13,000 and sometimes you have to just hope we are being treated honestly. We have no way of knowing.
By the way, you look adorable in your red and white work outfit.
Thank you.
I’ve seen new units priced between $10K and $22K here for the same size–and my house has 2 units. I know someone with the same floorplan who replaced both of hers the same year for $20K EACH.
So when I was quoted $10K three years ago to replace one of mine (with a more efficient unit) I was happy it wasn’t more. The other one (which we had replaced 10 years earlier) broke the next day. Thankfully, that one was able to be repaired, but it was still expensive.
That same one needed a repair (different part) two weeks ago.
It’s part of the cost of living in a hot area.
If I lived somewhere cold, I know it would be the expense of keeping warm.
We house has three heat pumps because of our layout. We got 17 and 18 years out of 2 of them and so far-the third one is hanging in there after 20 years, and a repair. The HVAC people have marveled that they have lasted that long with our close proximity to water. We’re saving up for the third unit for when it gives up the ghost!
Keeping warm is cheaper (if its gas or wood heat) than keeping cool!
I think a lot of people have electric heat and some also have oil. The bills people have shared for those over the years were quite high.
But gas and wood are definitely cheaper! We have gas.
Good morning!
That outfit is adorable! Best of luck in the new job!
We’ve had a good news/bad news week. Good news is my youngest has gotten an interview for the electrical program next month. The applicants outnumber the slots 5:1. I’m guessing because of all the impacts of AI and the economy. Bad news is my oldest had a panic attack in her very last final for their associate’s and did not end up passing. The class can only be repeated in the summer. Such a disappointment for her! We went out for coffee and talked through ideas, including mapping out any other classes that can be done at the community college and transfer in for the bachelor’s, identifying what kinds of part-time jobs to look for right now, and making a list of calls to make (like the school internship office, etc.) Our best is all we can hope for!
My youngest is rebuilding our raised beds right now. Not inexpensive, but our current ones are 15 years old and rotting at ground level, so it’s needed. I’d gotten a payment for a freelance project, which paid for materials. We are building higher than the original and will fill it up this fall with leaves, compost, etc. to build it up over winter.
I also paid down some credit card bills that had accumulated.
I tried a new refrigerator pickle recipe and made sourdough bread as a thank you to a friend who lent me their clear plastic bag for using at the movie filming. I will be roasting tomatoes to cook down and then freeze for later this winter.
Wishing you all a great week!
Robbie
Robbie, she may be able to retake her finals since this was due to a medical issue. Everyone understands about anxiety, and mental health needs. Perhaps if you reach out to those in charge she could be allowed to sit for a retake.
What a lovely outfit Brandy – I have a very similar purse/handbag in beige that inheirited from an aunt. That is also wonderful news that you can even work from home part of the time. I do 25 hours per week but only go into the office for 3 mornings and it makes a real difference not having to commute every day.
I had a couple of social engagements last week – and of course these days always come up during financially tough months! But – I kept everything as low cost as possible and just enjoyed myself. I then spent our long weekend trying to make up for the cost of eating out. I did a very careful grocery shop and then planned for this week with baking a tray of chicken thighs, baking a quiche and make a pot of soup. I then took out some rhubarb from the freezer, cooked it up and then refroze it in serving sizes – takes up much less room in my small freezer compartment. I purchased some Niagara peaches on sale and froze a batch for the months ahead – and I plan on picking up another batch this afternoon before the price goes back up. They are delicious!
I brought some dishes and storage jars into the office this morning to give to my office mate – I have too many at home already and need the space more than the extras – they will be well used.
Trying to backfill my pantry whenever I see items at a good price – this past week I bought canned baked beans, cheese and hummus on sale. The beans went into the pantry. I also started rotating my water supply – I try to do this every six months. Whenever I use up some bottled water I refill it with tap water and put it aside for cleaning/hygeine use and then buy some more bottled water. Even the tap water containers get refilled every six months so I have begun that process – wish I could send you the excess water Brandy. We have had a lot more rain than usual in Toronto this Summer so everything is lovely and green. More rain is expected for Thursday and Friday. There have been some big storms but most of the damage has been to areas surrounding the city so we have been lucky.
I have made arrangements to make a trade with a friend – she will get my electric pie maker (don’t ask me why I bought this) and I will get her bread maker! We just have to arrange a time to meet up and do the swap! I am planning on doing much more from scratch cooking once the weather cools down and bread and yogurt are top of the list – I even have an electric yogurt make so no excuses! Oh – I did make some refrigerator pickles this weekend as well!
I hope everyone has a good week and that some extras make it your way this week Brandy.
Thank you. The purse was a $20 one from Ross I bought a year or two ago.
You look adorable/professional in your work outfit. So nice to see someone dressed up and wearing something other than jeans and a T-shirt to work, for a change! (Guess I’m showing my age …)
Last week we insulated the west window. It’s made a tremendous difference in keeping the bedroom cooler. But it messed up the over-the-air broadcast TV reception. (I refuse to pay for entertainment including cable, satellite, streaming, etc.)This week I sprang for a stronger indoor TV antenna and put it up near the UN-insulated north window. Ah, much better! It’s from Walmart so it didn’t cost very much. Not paying for TV viewing saves a ton of money!!!
I also rearranged my bedroom furniture and it is looking much better. I huffed and I puffed and moved/scooted/dragged the bed, dresser, and other stuff around myself (instead of paying someone else to do it).
Ordered a Bible study book secondhand from Thriftbooks –instead of paying the outrageously high price it was advertised for on tv.
Brewed my own coffee and tea and composted the grounds.
Cleaned out some kitchen cabinets and gathered unneeded items to give away, instead of letting them take up too much space.
Continued to purchase fest fruit and veg on Flash Food. My local store has very large sub sandwiches made on a whole French loaf which are very good. At 13.99 it is 5-6 servings so pretty good value I think.
We decided to head out on 4 night road trip through the mountains tomorrow-by choosing our stops judiciously and using airline pts I spent very little on hotels.
We will also stay two nights with our friends daughter-she has recently built a tiny house so we look forward to seeing that. She also has an extensive fruit and veg garden so hoping to bring a basket home with us.
We had friends stay overnight last night and they kindly took us out for Indian food-which was very nice of them. Across from the restaurant I spotted gas at $1.57.9 which is the best I have seen lately-so we topped up the tank for our trip tomorrow. Wishing everyone a wonderful week!!
Hello gorgeous! To be smart and dashing – leads to the only acceptable envy 🙂
This past week has been a great week of personal growth. I almost feel like I graduated – ha!
Extra cash flows are down to a trickle, so it was a good time clean what has been neglected and get some extra walks in.
I collected warm up water and the cats day old water to use for plantings.
I said yes to a sturdy well built piece of furniture that needs refinished – it has been in my husbands family for years. I know exactly where it will go once I put the elbow grease in.
Hope everyone has a wonderful and productive week!
Hi Brandy and everyone
You look so polished and elegant in your outfit. Hope the job continues to go well.
I would love to be able to grow passion fruit, they’re one of my favourites.
I was happy at the end of July that I had kept my spending down and could put a bit extra into savings. Staying home more because of the heat helped.
We planted out Snapdragon, zinnia, leek and lettuce seedlings.
We picked green bell peppers, cucumbers, courgettes, potatoes, French beans and plums.
I blanched and froze beans in two portion packs, stoned and froze plums in the right portions to make crumbles and made a plum upside down cake.
Hope you all have a good week.
You look beautiful. Red is a good color for you. I am so glad you get to work some from home. I have been working from home for about 3 years and I love it. Working with a great team makes all the difference. We have been cooking all meals at home. We continue to take our early morning walks and utilize the library. My garden is done for now. We will plant some fall things.
Thank you!
Used loyalty card points to pay $35 of mobile phone bill.
Was gifted with another box of frozen cod (18 servings). My friend’s son gets them as a thank you from trucking clients who order the fish in from home in Newfoundland. They eat lots and share lots.
Got a good stock of cat food and cat litter, and a few groceries.
Brandy,
You look so pretty and happy in the picture. I love the outfit!
I have been reading every week, but not commenting much. I continue to be my husband’s caregiver and am always home so it seems like nothing much changes on the frugal front. I suppose that we have had an unexpected cut to the grocery bill as my husband now has a feeding tube. Six huge boxes arrived this week filled with the formula that he will be fed. Even though he is still able to eat by mouth, it is getting more challenging to figure out what he can comfortably eat. The formula is covered by Medicare. I have been working my way through the pantry, fridge and freezer brainstorming meals I can make that he is still able to eat. I so want him to be able to enjoy the taste of delicious food while he still can. I am also realizing that as I use things up, I will be grocery shopping differently for just myself.
My grandson was visiting last week and showed an interest in learning to cook. He (with my supervision) made scrambled eggs with cheese melted on top, individual pizzas on naan bread for lunch & chicken/zucchini meatballs in the air fryer along with corn on the cob for dinner. My husband was able to eat the breakfast and lunch entrees and my grandson enjoyed serving him in this way. We talked about the importance of knowing how to cook for yourself. I hope that he will continue to find it fun.
People are always telling me how necessary and important it is to take care of myself as a caregiver. One way I am trying to do this is with small ways to practice self care in my daily routines. For instance I have a lavender scented candle in the bathroom and a bar of lavender soap in the shower. I make myself light the candle every time I take a shower (no matter how tired I am) to give the experience a somewhat spa feel. Similarly, I make sitting on the patio with a glass of herbal iced tea each evening a non-negotiable. I watch the hummingbirds visit the feeder and enjoy the sights and sounds of nature. After dinner my husband and I watch tv together. Currently we are watching Grantchester. Just my little ways of trying to make the best of the days we have left with each other. I know that may sound morbid, but the reality of his disease is that there is no cure and since his diagnosis things seem to be progressing rather quickly.
Kim, I think what you’re doing for yourself sounds wonderful.
And I’m glad you are able to make the most of your time left with your husband.
Although my situation is not as complex as yours, I too am a caregiver of someone with dietary restrictions that will likely worsen. I can very much relate to well meaning folks asking, “What are you doing for yourself, when do you have time for yourself?” I wholeheartedly agree with you about making the most of every day left, to live now so I don’t regret wasted time later. Please know you are in my thoughts and there are others that do understand at least to some extent the journey.
Thank you Kaye. I sometimes hesitate to share, but perhaps others (like you) who are going through something similar can relate. I know when I used to read about people in the caregiving role, I would wonder what that must be like. Well, now I know. As far as taking care of ourselves, it often feels like one more thing to try to figure out in an already exhausting day. But, I am trying. :). You are in my thoughts now too and I wish you the very best in your journey.
Thank you for your beautiful example. I’ll be praying for sweet days together for you both.
Thank you so much, Sarah.
Kim, how nice that your grandson could cook and serve some meals to your husband. That sounds like a sweet experience and memory.
It sounds like you have created some simple ways to have a few special moments for you, and some ways to spend meaningful time with your husband. I hope you have some additional support for you both.
Are you in the Winston area, or somewhere else in NC? Wherever you are, know that I’m thinking of you on this long and difficult journey.
I went away for a long girls weekend. My friends husband died of a heart attack last year at 56 and her sister passed away at 58 of cancer earlier this year. He father in law passed away in May and she had to sell his house, clean it out and everything else that goes with it. Her mom has dementia and she is the primary caretaker. She really needed to get away. I rented us a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom unit with 4 of her friends. It was cheaper then getting 3 separate rooms. We did a meal plan. I brought bagels(TooGoodToGo), butter and cream cheese from Aldi. 1 did a huge charcuterie board, 1 did cold cuts and rolls, 1 did drinks, 1 did smores. We all brought snacks. I had researched the menus for the restaurants near by. The 1st night we did all you could eat wings. They even sent us home with leftovers which became lunch. The second night we did 1/2 apps. You did need to buy 1 alcoholic drink to get them. Several of the ladies drink so it wasn’t a problem. A friend that couldn’t come gave me money to spoil our friend so I treated her to a massage. We went swimming, hiked, paddle boats, played games, hung out by the fire pit, and saw a show at a local theatre. We all had a great time. There was a Keurig in the room with lots of pods. House keeping kept giving them to us so I passed them on to my son, no one else wanted them. I came home with 4 boxes of tissues, 8 bars of soaps and lots of facial wipes. One friend brough muffins and didn’t want to take them home so I gave them to my son too. I drove 3 of us. My one friend gave me gas money.
I have made a friend on my buy nothing group. She gets bags from Whole Foods from Too Good To Go. She hates blue cheese and seems to get a lot of it in her bags. She messaged me if I wanted more. I swung buy on my way to work. I asked if she wanted zucchini, cucumbers or red cherry tomatoes. She took some tomatoes. When I got there she also gave me a coleslaw, a bag of Bucees beaver nuggets. Hubby and my son like them. She also gave me a bunch of her golden cherry tomatoes. I gave one of the blocks of blue cheese to my friend.
The garden is in full swing. We are picking vegetables everyday. Whatever we can’t eat, I have been giving away. I haven’t had time to can anything yet.
We are cat sitting for our son while he is away for work. It doesn’t cost us anything since he brings everything.
You look gorgeous in that photo! How lovely that your boss has tailor made a job for you and that home-schooling is still possible.
My $3 quilted jacket from Land’s End arrived today and is lovely. Originally $125, it was on the “Clearance Counter” at Land’s End. What happens is that every Saturday and Sunday, Land’s End puts items on the “counter” then as the week progresses the discounts go up until Friday when it is 75% off. I sometimes check late Thursday night to see what’s available. Sizes are limited but occasionally there’s the right size in a desired item. The jacket I bought was listed at $9.95 but when I went to check out it was further reduced at $3.00. Shipping was about $10. Because of CUSMA, (Canada US Mexico Free Trade Agreement — still in effect for the moment) there was no duty or tariff on it. I don”t buy many clothes but like to get items at end of seasons sales for wearing the following year.
Frozen ground beef burgers have almost doubled in price but Safeway had a box on sale for $10.99 (on sale from $20.99 plus an additional 15% off the $10.99 for the first Tuesday of the month sale. It also had Swanson’s chicken pot pies (individual size) so I bought 2 for the Hatch (our community 24/7 food cupboard). my friend who picked the groceries up donated blueberries to the Hatch. And we donated mini cucumbers. She then went over to clean the fridge. Almost immediately two fellows arrived — one was almost tearful when he picked up the blueberries, cucumbers and frozen pot pie. It is a struggle for me to make ends meet but I feel fortunate in many ways and always try to donate food. It really comes home when people are so stressed and yet so grateful.
As usual, I am not going anywhere for a holiday this year but am treating myself to a trip to our local farmers market. Like Margaret from Toronto, I plan on freezing fresh peaches. This is a yearly tradition for me. I’m hoping to get BC peaches as I haven’t yet seen any from Niagara in Ont.
I am very grateful that the heat wave here has broken. It was so cool this morning that my furnace came on.
The smoke from Washington State and BC that greatly affected us in Southern Alberta has ended and the skies are blue and clear. I’m sure we’ll get more smoke so are enjoying it while we can.
Compared to the thousands of people who have been evacuated both in Spokane and B.C. and Northern Canada, we are counting our blessings.
My house insurance came up for renewal. For several years, we’ve had increase after increase. This year I expressed my dissatisfaction to the agent over the phone and he immediately searched for a loyalty discount and reduced it by $500.
I had to buy custom made orthotics so my health insurance has covered the $450 charge for that, too.
I need a custom made brace for my knee and the provincial government has started covering that too. It can cost around $1500 Cdn.
I have started prehab exercises in case I have knee surgery. I want my muscles in as good a shape as I can get them in. I was given detailed instructions on what to do.
I have seen very few birds which is a concern. I have had no hummingbirds.
I do however have lots of brilliantly coloured dragonflies and they are eating the mosquitoes.
There is no fruit on the trees in the yard this year — no apples, no pears, no cherries, no plums. in part it is because there was so much fruit last year as a response by the trees to stress of high temperatures. . My tomatoes have never looked sadder. I will be spending a lot of money watering trees from now till mid-September.
I am getting the recipe for making yogourt from my East Indian friend’s wife. As someone else noted, yogourt is becoming very expensive. I hope to start making mine.
Thank you!
I just saved a new way (to me) to make yogurt that I hope to try.
I’m also enjoying learning to make yogurt. I was given an Instapot and so have been trying warming the milk in the oven at 180 for about a half hour, letting it cook, then stirring in the active yogurt, and using the Instapot yogurt function. One thing I learned from the Tightwad Gazette book, one can freeze ice cubes of the store yogurt without losing its effectiveness. I plan to buy a quart, freeze it into cubes, and then use two or three in a batch to lessen how much store yogurt I need to buy. Good luck with your own experiments too!
Brandy – you do look so chic! Wishing you happiness in this job and praying for your husband to find just the thing for his job too.
Sarah, once you make a batch of yogurt, just set some of it aside to start your next batch. It works well.😊
For those who buy gas in Indiana, including people driving through, the governor’s tax exemptions which started in April will run out of time this week. Starting Friday, gas will be 60+ cents a week more than it has been.
Just curious, you mentioned going down to one car and still having 4 kids at home. Are you able to fit all of you into your one vehicle? I have 3 kids in car seats (I know yours are older), and I can’t fit them all in our sedan. We have a 7-passenger van that we use for all of us. Just wondering how you handle that. I have been wondering if we will need to get a second van eventually.
Yes. My vehicle seats 7.
And it’s SO nice no longer driving a 15-passenger van! Better gas mileage, better ac, easier turning . . .
we had one vehicle for 17 years. When my 7th was born, we needed something larger that seated more. We sold our SUV and bought the 15-passeger van, taking out a row so we could fit groceries in the back.
It was a huge savings then and it’s a huge savings now–about $1200 a month in savings!
You look lovely Brandy and so glad that you’re getting some part time work.Hopefully something will turn up for your hubby soon,I’m sure that there are a lot of us praying for him ! I received 7 bags of foccacia mix for free.We like loaves better for toast and sandwiches so I added some whole wheat flour to the flour mix (quinoa,barley and wheat flour)to make 6 loaves of bread and they turned out very good.We’re also praying for rain for the fires in B.C. andWashington.The smoke here in Alberta has been horrible also.
Thank you so much. Your comment about so many praying for my husband was really touching.
I meant to write “letting milk cool” after the time in the oven. It seems to be just right if I start it with dinner prep, let it cool while we eat, then add cultures and check it in the morning. I strain it too.
My DH spent Sunday and (then both us) Monday fixing a gate at my mom’s house. She lives alone and was very worried when she couldn’t lock her gate. Initially we thought the entire fence was rotted, but thankfully it was only the fence post. We were able to fix it for about $55 and still have some leftover screws for another project. I feel blessed that my husband is so handy and also willing to do things for my mom. We ate all our meals at home, except for lunch yesterday as a thank you for fixing the gate. We’ve gotten really good at stretching leftovers into multiple days by adding in extra veg and fruit. Yesterday I made a Chinese style pork dish that stretched four ounces of pork with grated zucchini and green beans from
The garden. It was very yummy. I’ve been keeping grocery shopping to a minimum. We’ve found Kroger milk lasts a long time, so I buy three 1/2 gallons when they are on sale and store them. I’m increasing my fiber with shredded wheat cereal, so using a little more milk. I’ve been happy with how full it keeps me! I do think it helps cut fien on snacking.
I enjoy reading the posts here. It helps me keep my perspective. I’m sorry for those suffering as well.
Hope everyone has a lovely rest of the week.
Hello, frugal friends! I missed commenting last week but am slowly catching up on all your wonderful and helpful comments. I, too, am praying for a resolution to all of the employment issues so many are facing. My husband’s job has been tenuous for quite some time. He went from being part of a team of 5 people to working completely alone for the last two years. He has watched person after person leave or be laid off including, most recently, his “big boss” – one of the people who started the company years ago. It’s a completely different landscape than when he started there 14 years ago. About the only benefit he sees now is that he works from home which has been a blessing for many reasons. So, I read with interest the ideas all of you are sharing. Thank you and keep them coming!
One of the things that has kept me busy and proved to be very valuable was an extremely generous gift from a beekeeper friend of mine. He has had periodic problems with bears getting into his hives over the years but has always been able to get things going again. This time, he opened up his suit to take photos of the damaged hive and forgot to zip it back up. As he was putting the damaged hive back together, he was stung over 200 times requiring a visit to the hospital and a decision that his days of beekeeping are over. He offered me his last remaining hive and all of his equipment. This is a man who once had 25+ hives and represents a gift worth thousands and thousands of dollars. I am humbled by his gift and saddened how it happened but he is very much at peace with it. He refused any offer of payment we made. This will save us so much money in the years to come as I expand my bee yard and/or just replace equipment as needed. It also included a commercial grade extractor with a motor (I have previously only used a borrowed hand crank model.) I have 13 hives which really is a business and way beyond a hobby model so now I have the extractor to match the level of our beekeeping. Otherwise, I saved money on chicken feed by cashing in points from receipt scanning for a Chewy gift card. Better rate of return than finding change on the ground, anyway. 😁 Another savings involved food – again! We received more leftover food from the restaurant where a quartet from the show I am currently in sings as one of our PR events. The restaurant had a water pipe burst right before the dinner seating and had to close. They sent us away with ALL the food they had prepared for the evening. We had the entire car filled with food that we took back to the show to share with the cast and crew and everyone took boxes home. We ate on that food for 3 days. I also took some to a fellow cast mate who broke her ankle and is out the rest of the season. Other than that, we’re doing the usual things – batching errands, cooking at home, keeping spending to essential needs, line drying clothes, eating from the garden and pantry, etc. Have a lovely week, everyone!
You look lovely in your outfit, so thankful this job has come just in the Nick of time for you!
Life is busy with my daughter and 3 grandkids here for the month. We have done inexpensive outings and lots of free ones this week! We have done omelets, roasted chicken , beans and rice, and leftovers for dinners. We are eating out of the garden as well, green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes and peppers, plus unripe pears( care of the squirrels), lemon verbena, lemon balm, basil ,oregano and pineapple sage. The verbena and pineapple sage I made into teas. The unripe pears were made into pear sauce and the skin and cores were made into pear scrap vinegar. I have two gallons going so far. I use it interchangeably with apple scrap vinegar. We have zinnias and black eyed Susan’s on the counter and kitchen table ( I love fresh cut flowers)! I am drying stevia, lemon verbena, basil and calendula( for salves). Today I picked dried plantain seeds to add to recipes( that is a new find for me).
I have planted sweet potatoes and potatoes for the fall. Hopefully tomorrow I can purchase some radish and lettuce seeds to plant this week. My zucchini second planting is going well and I can see some baby zucchini on the vines!
Praying for your husband to find a good job!
I really appreciate all the comments here. Thank you for posting.
Not the most frugal couple of weeks but joyful. We know that we are very blessed to have enough saved to go on a holiday this year. We stayed within the UK, sharing the cost of a cottage with a friend. The weather was very hot so we didn’t feel like cooking or eating much. We bought cheeses, bread and fruit, plus a few treats from the neighbouring farm shop, and ate simple meals in the cottage. We walked, spent time at the beach, and used memberships we already had for nature reserves. We did pay to visit one tourist attraction https://www.holkham.co.uk/ but it was well worth it – a full day seeing the historic house and huge walled gardens.
Then we had to travel again for a wedding and pay for a hotel overnight. Plans changed and we had to travel on the actual day of the wedding instead of the day before. The outfit I planned would have been very uncomfortable on the longer journey, but I ‘shopped’ my existing clothes and gave my one formal full length dress a new look with jacket and shoes I already had. I was pleased to make use of items I have kept for years because they are high quality but I don’t have the chance to wear often.
We picked tomatoes, lettuce and courgettes from the garden.
We are working on how to organise our house better – we need to make space to accommodate more people. We had the news that family members are hoping to move back to the UK after some years overseas. Various complications including selling their current property mean that if it goes ahead they will need to stay with us for a few months. We are thrilled that they might be back. But we are trying to plan and save now as we are mindful that having a full house again will mean an increase in water, electricity and food costs.