It's Getting Scary but Still Enjoying Life to the Fullest...

 

   It is getting scary out there!  Gas is now over $5 the a gallon and food prices are going through the roof and are just going to get higher.  Jeff and I are trying to do everything we can to save money, yet still enjoy life to the fullest within a strict budget.  I'm trying not to waste food and to preserve things that are coming in abundance in the garden that we cannot eat right away.  I'm looking for sales on meats to freeze.  I am spending more and more time in the garden planting and starting seeds in the greenhouse.  I think we all have to prepare for what is to come, stock up on canned goods and baking supplies as well as canning jars, and seeds before they are gone from the stores once again. Please heed the warnings and get prepared now.  Here are some of the things that Jeff and I have done this past week and weekend, as well as plans for the near future...

 ~Jeff cut my hair.  I wanted to go back to short hair once more with the hot Summer months coming up.  I get hot really easily and having shorter hair off my neck really does help keep me cooler.

~We stopped at the bread outlet down in Lewiston and got some English muffins, Hawaiian sweet bread, and some large onion hamburger buns.

~We also stopped at the Salvation Army thrift store and I found 2 movies (one was half off so it cost me .49 and the other was .99), a half off older cookbook (.49) and a pretty oil painting for $2.99.  I collect oil paintings that reflect the 4 seasons and use them to decorate my home by the seasons.  The tag on the back on the painting showed that it was bought in 1985 for $35.  I need to do more research on the artist now.

~We found a large package of sausages at the Grocery Outlet for $3.99.  I cut them up and had enough for 6 meals.  These went into the freezer.

~Treet meat, kind of like Spam, was .99 each at the Grocery Outlet, so I picked up 4 of them to add to the pantry.  Jeff loves it!

~We found 5 pound bags of potatoes at Walmart for $1.50 a bag so I picked up one.

~I did use my "personal allowance" ;) to buy two beautiful hanging baskets of flowers that were on the clearance area at Walmart for half off.  The hummingbirds come every year and enjoy the hanging baskets as much as I do.

~Jeff fixed our hot tub that had sprung a leak again.

~We stocked up on supplements from Vitacost and used a 20% off coupon and went through Swagbucks so that I can get points for my purchase.

~I've been trying to work the points programs online that I have joined.

~There is no way we could eat all the spinach that is ready in the garden so I have been dehydrating it.  I will use some as flakes to add to soups and pastas and some will be powdered to add to things to boost nutritional values.

~Some of my Bok Choi was used in a homemade Asian style soup.  The soup served me for 2 meals.  I also added some of the spinach from the garden to it also.  I like lots of greens along with green onions in my soups.

~The larger celery plants were plants in the garden.

~I had an overgrown green onion that was going to seed so I harvested it and used the green parts in several meals.

~Steven and I did some watercolor painting with paints I had gotten awhile back at the thrift store and some heavy drawing paper that I had gotten for free while "treasure hunting" after the college students left for the Summer.

~Jeff got some more raspberry starts out of our garden and potted up for Heather's mom Tammy.

~I talked to someone in the Pharmacy at Walmart to make sure that I was getting the best price on my prescriptions.  Some are cheaper going through my insurance, while others are better going through Good RX.  Always try it both ways to see how much money you can save.  In this case it saved me well over $100.

~I dug through one of the freezers and found some venison burger.  I stretched it by adding a crumbled up hot dog bun I had on hand and then seasoned it and added an egg to bind it all.  This gave me 6 burgers.  We had three of them for lunch on Sunday with all the fixings and corn on the cob while sitting out on our back porch.  Yummy!  I now have 3 burgers leftover, along with a large cob of corn.

~Jeff mowed the lawn and did some weeding.  He added the grass clipping and weeds to the compost pile.  I also added coffee grounds and banana peels to it.

~Our dryer was acting up again.  Jef immediately knew what the problem was (something broke in the squirrel cage) so he tore it apart and will be picking up a replacement part (hopefully they have it in stock) so he can fix it this week.  Meanwhile I dried all the laundry on the line between the rainstorms and even hung some over chairs on the porch to finish drying while it rained outside.

~Steven enjoyed real fruit juice popsicles that I had gotten at the Dollar Tree, along with cookies that we made here for his special treats this past week.

~We loved watching our little baby birds grow so quickly!  Saturday we came home to see that they had literally "flown the nest".  I was sad that they were gone, but so thankful for the opportunity to have watched them over the past few weeks.

   These are just a few of the things that I can remember.  I'm trying hard to squeeze every penny at this point, while still enjoying life.  I'm making it a priority to try to live in the moment and enjoy myself at the same time.  I had a hummingbird come and say hello while I was taking down the laundry off the line.  He just flew around me and then stopped right in front of me as if to say "thank you" for getting the hanging baskets of flowers for him to enjoy. 😊 While driving into town to pick up my prescriptions, I opened the sunroof of my car and cranked up the music.  It was a beautiful day and I thought to myself that I needed to enjoy this last bit of being able to drive to town by myself, rather than having Jeff to run all the errands on his way home from work, before gas prices went even higher.  I enjoyed my drive so much more and it brought back wonderful memories of my college days.  Cheesy I know, but I loved it. 😉  Steven and I have gone over to Auntie Shannon's house next door for him to play with her dogs and cats and also to see how the tadpoles in her pond are growing.  Shannon and I savored our visit while Steven wore out her dogs from them playing so hard.  Win-win for both Shannon and I.  You see, you can still live a full life while saving money.  You just have to change your mindset and live in the moment.  Life is still beautiful and full of amazing things if you just open your eyes, slow down and notice them.