~Saturday we had Isaiah spend the night with us. We picked raspberries, made pizza for dinner, watched a movie and he hot tubbed with G-pa. It was so much fun to have him here with us!
~Sunday morning, Isaiah and I picked more raspberries and Jeff made us pancakes for breakfast. Isaiah took the raspberries he picked home to share.
~Jeff and I went to Goodwill and got the following for $16.00. A bottle of Shea Moisture body wash (all organic and fair trade for) retails for $5.99, 2 J Jill shirts retails for $69 and $50 each, 2 Scentsy plug in wall units retail for $20 each, and a cookbook that retails for $9.99. Total cost retail would have been $174.98 for all that!
~We also stopped at the Dollar Tree to get a few things and got 15% off since it was their customer appreciation day.
~Jeff found a new series to watch on Netflix that we are enjoying.
~Dinner was leftovers.
~Monday we had to run and get Jeff's paycheck, deposit it, pay bills and do some shopping. We went to the Dollar Tree in that town (had been at the one in the other town we shop in also the day before) and found that they had pickle relish with 45% more in the jars than I can get at other stores. I picked up 2 jars and that should last us for the rest of the year. They also had their garden seeds for .10 each pack. I picked up some peas and radishes for our Fall garden.
~Thank you to Anne from Flathead Lake for suggesting the Elete electrolyte drops instead of drinking Gatorade. I ordered some online through Swanson Vitamins and used a 10% discount code. My son Jaysn and I are both going to use it and see if it works for us. I did buy the "refill" bottle because it came out way cheaper per use that way.
~We also picked up some cheap gin so I was able to start a large jar of raspberry gin again using fresh raspberries from our garden. That stuff is soooooo good!
~Walmart had more of their deli lunch meat marked down so I grabbed another package of turkey an threw it in the freezer one I got home. I am trying to stock up when it is on sale and take a package out a week to use. When it is hot outside like it is right now I tend to not cook as much.
~I got some raspberry juice on one of my favorite shirts and quickly washed the spot with Dawn dishwashing soap and it came right out.
~Swagbucks has been running in the background (the encraves) whenever they are available and I think about it. It's an easy way to get more points.
~The library finally got the movie "I Can Only Imagine" in for me.
~Our oldest son Jaysn came up and did some trouble shooting on my cell phone for me. It has been using all my data up even though I have not been accessing anything. He has it straightened out now and even set up my voice mail for me. He can figure just about anything out if it has to do with computers, cell phones, etc.. Thank you Jaysn!
~I made au gratin potatoes with smoked turkey that I had cubed up and froze at Christmas. The smoked turkey was a gift from one of the people my husband delivers to on his route and who he also happened to grow up with.
~Tuesday I harvested a bunch of lettuce from the garden before it went to bolt and got that washed up and put in the fridge.
~I mended my favorite pair of soft black athletic pants.
~Jeff had been requesting that I make his favorite tuna pasta salad so I did make that in the afternoon before retreating once again to my recliner.
~I had too many noodles for the salad alone so I made a quick cheese sauce and made homemade mac and cheese with the excess noodles, topped that with some Panko breadcrumbs and stuck it in the oven to be ready when Jeff got up in the afternoon.
~I watched a bunch of videos on Youtube about saving money and learned some new skills in the process. I love building up different skills and learning new ways to do things.
~I read a short story online.
~Swagbucks was run in the background once again so I could earn points there and I tried to catch as many of the special codes available also.
~Jeff picked up some bread, cheese and chicken that was on sale at the grocery store that he drives by daily. The chicken was .99 a pound for chicken thighs, $4.49 for a 2 pound block of cheese and .89 for bread. I'll be making baked chicken later in the week for dinner when Chris comes over for dinner and to do a ride along with his dad one night.
~Wednesday I borrowed 2 more movies from the library.
~I harvested a large mixing bowl full of raspberries along with some blueberries and strawberries.
~We had leftovers for dinner.
~Thursday we checked and found out my health insurance was going up to $600 a month. OUCH! We had to figure out a way to pay for the extra expense so we dropped our home phone line (we do have cell phones but our reception can be spotty) and had Jaysn come over and sinc our phones up with our internet in the house.
~We also are dropping one of Jeff's lower payout life insurance policies (he still has his high payout one).
~I took advantage of a free magazine offer that I can donate to the library.
~Our son Chris came over for dinner so I made elk meatloaf with Yoshida's sauce, rice and a salad (lettuce from our garden). We had poundcake with the choice of chocolate sauce or berry sauce (that I made from our raspberries and strawberries). I cooked extra rice for a few more meals.
~Jeff helped Chris change out a part on his car.
~I watered the gardens in the evening.
~Another gallon ziplock bag full of raspberries were frozen.
~We went over our wants vs our needs clothing wise and both of us are fine for awhile. We buy most of our things from the thrift store anyway to save money but at this point, we are okay.
~Not much going on Friday...dealing with a flare so I went nowhere.
~I did manage to pick some lettuce and peas from the garden.
Fun to read your post and know how your week went. Sounds like a good one...except for that $600 increase, yikes!
ReplyDeleteFrom my last comment - the dog slept all night SAturday night. I then fed him several small meals Sunday and he had the same reaction Sunday night. Put a call into my vet today (Monday) and she phoned in an antibiotic to the pharmacy Yes, MrDog has his own account with my pharmacist, too funny! He sees her Wednesday morning.
She calmed me down a bit when we talked today so I'm feeling better too. Hopefully this prescription will get his GI tract healthy.
Cheers, SJ
Wow $600.00 a month. So unfair, but when I think of it, We pay $210+$119+$100+$100=$540.00 all told,and one of my meds is over $4000.00 a month. You just can't be sick in this country.
ReplyDeleteThat is expensive for insurance! But, I get it. It's something that you have to have, as I do, so it is what it is:(. I'm glad you can tweak your budget to cover it.
ReplyDeleteWe just keep tweaking ours, going over and over it, hoping we aren't forgetting anything. We are planning for fall. There are going to be enough hours for my niece, that need covered, for my husband to do that for his job, at least for a while. (The hours will be there, we just need to find a way to do enough of them to survive while still covering the needs of our own family) There is no possible way for me to do all the hours that are now going to be needed since her school program is over because she is now 21. I will do a bunch, but still need to homeschool my other niece, and keep the house and cook, etc., and take care of our youngest daughter, who is still just 14. She goes to school, and still needs input. The big girls may move out together--there's been talk...we shall see. Thankfully, my husband doesn't mind pitching in on all of the house stuff--in fact, bbq's a lot now that he has time, has always done most of the laundry, etc. Both of us are working that job right now, and will basically continue to share the needed hours in the fall. It will be very tight, but if we have figured correctly, we can make it. He has some medical things that need to be taken care of and so will work part time and get those issues addressed. And, I will work part time. Between us, we should have the same kind of salary as a family with one income. He is facing some surgery at some point, according to a couple of the doctors he's seen in the past year. Hopefully, he can get that and still keep working as much as he can before and after. Once he's fixed up, he will probably look for a different job again. That's the plan that is developing anyway--still working on all the details.
As long as things quit breaking, we will be good as long as we stick to the budget we've laid out. (The van broke over the weekend. The radiator cracked. The air conditioner fan also went out. Hmmmm. Glad we cancelled our upcoming camping trip. My car is still in the shop awaiting the new-to-us engine to be installed. Now the van is there, too. Bummer for us!). Good thing I have my nephew's old Mazda to lurch around in. I am getting smoother with that clutch:)
This is a great time for us to reduce the grocery budget because the garden is growing so prolifically. I am going to try to lower it a bit from last month. If we have spare money, I'm sure I can find a place to spend it--as if....
I totally understand on the insurance. I am patiently waiting for age 65! Medicare will be such a savings for me. My insurance costs an arm and a leg.
ReplyDeleteWOW - you had a really good week. Lots of savings there.
Have a great one.
I learn so much from you...
ReplyDeleteEspecially about how to make my cooking and grocery shopping more economical.
Thanks for that!
Have a cozy afternoon!
P.S. LOVE your berries!!!
Look at all those lovely berries from your garden! I am quite envious! I am sorry to hear that your medical insurance is going up. But, so glad that you are able to tweak the budget to cover the increase. Hope you have a good week, Debbie.
ReplyDeleteYikes on the insurance increase! Glad you found a way to tweak your budget to find the extra money! Hugs. Sandy
ReplyDelete