Thursday, July 9, 2020

Looking Ahead and Frugal Doings Now and for the Future




   Anybody following the latest updates not just in the USA and Canada, but around the world on the covid-19 situation, new plagues and flus popping up in China and other places, and civil unrest along with many natural disasters?  Who could have ever imagined that we would be facing ALL of this so far in 2020?  Is it any wonder that so many of us have been feeling the "nudgings" to get prepared all across the world?  The more I read from friends who are bloggers in this country and others, the more I realize that there are many of us who have and are taking this seriously.  The news stations, along with our world leaders and scientists, are warning us that things could become much, much worse before they get better.  I do watch news from all over the world and follow some scientists and epidemiologists on YouTube and so far, they have been spot on.  I trust their judgement over the WHO or even the United States CDC because they have been shown to be politically motivated in one way or another and I just want straight up facts.

   As many of you know, my husband Jeff is home recovering from a total knee replacement.  Since we are unable to go anywhere due to my not being able to drive out of this tiny little town with no real grocery store (we do have a convenience store that has been closed for remodeling), I have spent lots of time organizing our pantry and doing other things to try and keep us as frugal as possible.  At this point it looks like Jeff will be out from work for 6 weeks minimum.  We have our finances covered with money coming in from his employer for the month of July, and then we are in a bind.  Because of this, I am trying to put back as much money as I can to cover at least the first half of the bills in August and then praying he can go back to work.  We already have a small income, so this has proven to be a real challenge, but we are doing it.

   Most of our garden has been a bust this year except for the berry bushes and the apple tree.  Oh yes, the peas have done well also, but the squash, peppers, and most of the beans do not look good at all and I am praying the tomatoes will produce something.  We do have lots of kale and herbs though, so I am dehydrating a lot of them for future use.  Speaking of dehydrating, I am doing the same with strawberries and some sale priced bananas that Jeff did not get eaten in time before the got "too ripe" for him. The strawberries will be added to cereals and oatmeal in the Fall and Winter for me and the bananas can be eaten like chips or powdered and added to pancakes and muffins.  YUM!  The raspberries are putting on more fruit than I have ever seen them do before, much to the delight of my grandkids, daughters Rachel and Heather and my hanai sister Shannon.  Bradley and Isaiah discovered yesterday that if they crawled into the tunnel inside the raspberry patch, that there are loads of ripe berries that they can reach under the canopy of the upper bent over stalks.  I asked them if they wanted to pick more for their mom, who was mowing our lawn for us, and they said no and happily gorged themselves silly.  They are the same way when they go huckleberry picking.  Those boys love their fruit and the Grammie is not going to stop them from eating all they want. 😉 I will be picking some more for their mother though and I have asked if they would like to come over once a week to pick more on their own.  There is no way I can keep up with all the berry picking myself.  They were very happy about that plan!  Of course some of the berries will be frozen for future use, as will the blackberries which are just now blooming out.

   My plan at this point is to make applesauce, apple pie filling, etc. with the apples and even dehydrate some of them.  The berries will be used in muffins, breads, syrups and homemade fruit liquors.  I also am going to see if I can trade some of them for squash from other people in our town since my squash will most likely not produce this year.  I need to get more homemade vanilla going since some of it will be gifts this Christmas and I want a good supply on hand for us and the kids too.

   As for other frugal things being done around here I have been doing much less laundry with Jeff not working and going through two complete outfits a day.  I'm also hanging a lot of our laundry out on the line to dry.  Any fruit or veggie scraps, along with any non meat or dairy food waste, goes straight into the compost pile.  The grass from mowing the lawn is also added in.  I can already see some good broken down compost at the bottom of the pile when I turn it.  Yeah!!!!  I will be adding this to our gardens in the Spring to enrich the soil so that hopefully the gardens will again produce abundantly.  Grocery wise, I had Rachel and Jaysn pick us up some basics that we needed.  Milk, cheap bananas, celery, tomatoes, carrots, cabbage and a few other things were on the list and only came out to $15.  

   Meals are becoming "creative".  I am digging deep into my freezers and finding things that I had forgotten I had.  The other day I found a package of 3 salmon fillets and some raw unseasoned sweet potato fries.  I seasoned the salmon fillets with lemon basil from the garden, salt and pepper, along with some lemon juice and butter and them encased it in foil.  I put this on the lower rack of the oven and then seasoned the fries with chipotle salt and put those on the top rack.  They both baked in there together and came out utterly delicious and gave us multiple meals.  I have also made yaki soba going super heavy on the veggies and light on the meat.  Tonight we will be having some reduced priced chicken I bought from the Walmart deli and had stuck in the freezer along with some pasta in a pesto sauce along with some kind of veggie.  That chicken will be stretched for a few more meals also.

   I'm making another stock up list on basics that I will be shopping for when Jeff is able to go back to work.  Right now I am working with about $100 for groceries to get us through the next 5 weeks (and possibly beyond), so no stocking up at this point...but I will ASAP.  I know this is doable since we are so well stocked at this point and I have extra bags of cat and dog food, along with more kitty litter, so that does not deplete the budget.  There is another $100 in there, but that has to be used for medications and co-pays at the doctor's office.  Thank goodness for Winco and their low prices because without them, we would not be able to do as well as we are.

   As for my stock up list for when we can afford to do it again I have the following in it (that I hope will keep us going for a few months):  dog and cat food, kitty litter, more TP and paper products, laundry detergent, foil pans with lids from the Dollar Tree so I can make more make ahead meals and freeze them, more OTC meds and 3 month supplies of my prescription meds, cheese, more flour to make breads, etc. with, coffee, hot cocoa mix, and more canned meats, fruits and veggies.  There are more items, but at the moment, the heat is getting to me and I can't think straight and my neck is burning and screaming at me for overdoing it yet again today.  I'll end this post here and will be updating on further things as I do them.  Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy!

   

   



   

16 comments:

  1. Would you be willing to share where you purchase the vanilla beans for your home-made vanilla? I've been trying to find the best deal.. I started some vanilla but it is no where near strong enough so I need more vanilla beans. Thank-you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bonnie, my sister grew them in her garden in Tahiti so I am no help in locating them locally altho9ugh I have seen them in the past at Winco if you have one of those near you. From what I am seeing online, it takes up to 18 months for your vanilla to come to full strength.

      Delete
    2. Thanks Debbie! We don't have a Winco anywhere near us. I purchased on Amazon but they were pricey and I think I need a second pack... ITs been about 9 mos. and although it's changed color its no where near dark enough ( : Thanks again!

      Delete
    3. did you cut your beans open down the middle? If you don't do that, it will not get that good flavor and color.

      Delete
  2. I have noticed many of the bad news stories. It’s very concerning. We are just trying to stay as prepared and as safe as possible.
    Hope your husband recovers quickly!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Rhonda and I am glad you are trying to stay prepared.

      Delete
  3. It sounds like you are managing well, Debbie. Hope Jeff's recovery is going smoothly. Take care not to overdo things! Stay well and take care.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rhonda, I am afraid that I have been really guilty of overdoing things and then I GET CRANKY. Today has been a rough day so after doing the absolute necessities, I am now laying in bed and resting for a bit.

      Delete
  4. It's so good to hear from you. I hope Jeff is doing ok and on the road to recovery. Has he started physio?
    I hear you about tight budgets and wanting to stock up. I'm still using the grocery delivery service and that means no price matching or buying loss leaders. I have to be super careful with what I'm buying too.
    My heat loving plants are being challenged with all this rain. And something munched on my green beans, so even though I planted heavily and had great germination for those, I now have very few plants. So it goes in the garden.
    I've been using my dehydrator a lot too. Yesterday, did carrot 'coins' for the first time. Just two trays to start - slow and steady. Blanched them in the microwave for 3 minutes which was a technique I just read about - brilliant.
    Your plan for your apples reminded me of a YT series I've found called The War Time Kitchen and Garden. Warning - there are some video clips from war time that surprised me when they first came on. But the rest of the videos were amazing - I was taking notes.
    Nice job on the compost - haven't figured out how to do that here yet.
    Take good care of yourself.
    SJ in Vancouver BC

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HI my friend! I have watched the War Time Kitchen and Garden series and I loved it! :) I hear you on the garden. Great job on the carrots though. My bananas are still going in the microwave today.

      Jeff has not started physio yet. He has an appointment with his surgeon in a little over a week and I am assuming he will start after that. I caught him walking around a bit without his walker and kind of freaked out on him since he did fall back into his chair just the day before. He now knows that even with putting full weight on the leg (as they told him to do as soon as he was able), he has to have his walker right there to grab onto until the doctor clears him to move on to a cane.

      Take care and try to stay cool. I'm assuming that tomorrow may be a scorcher for you as it will be for us.

      Delete
  5. You are so good at being frugal you got this girl. IF you need anything don't hesitate to let me know.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for that wonderful encouragement and you are so sweet to offer your help. The one thing I would love to have is a healthy body so I could keep up with everything here and not have to rely on the kids but that is not to be...;). Take care!

      Delete
  6. Check out the Australian Blog The Cheapskates Club They make everything. A lot of it can be read without joining the club which is a business. You can get weekly updates of Caths Blog by email. They don't buy paper goods except toilet paper, make miracle spray for cleaning, make washing powder etc etc. Also ' moo ' lots of spices, condensed milk taco sauces etc etc. Worth a look. Happy Reading ! MargieInMiami

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for the reminder about that site. I used to read it years ago but had forgotten about it. :)

      Delete
  7. No heat today but more rain. It's supposed to start raining this afternoon and continue into tomorrow. I'm sad because I planted quite a few tomatoes this year and they aren't happy in this weather.On the other hand, the berries of all kinds are thriving.
    But I'm happy for the break in chores. I too get very cranky when overly tired. I had a few emotional melt downs earlier in the week. Followed by few days mostly in my jammies.
    Take good care of yourself.
    SJ in Vancouver BC

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. (((((((HUGS))))) I know that you and I can relate so well to each other. Yesterday was a jammie day. Today I was able to get some things done and Jeff even decided to load the dishwasher! Yay!!!

      Delete

Thank you for taking time to comment on my blog posts. I really appreciate it and being able to get to know you through your comments. I hope you have a wonderful day!