~Chris came over with a trailer that he borrowed from his police chief to haul my car over to the mechanic in the next town over.
~I have been trying to build up our at home library with books that will help us be even more independent food wise and live a more frugal life than we already do. I picked up a book on foraging and a book on retirement for .99 each at Goodwill.
~I found a beautiful gray throw blanket at Goodwill for $3.99. Jeff found a cover for his windshield to keep snow and ice off it and a Seattle Seahawks shirt. He used a 20% off coupon on the most expensive item.
~I made several batches of sourdough and cheese crackers and also a batch of Everything Bagel crackers. They have become a favorite here.
~More sandwich bread was baked.
~We stocked up on more bottled water. We had a situation in our town recently where our water was injected with way too much chlorine. It smelled like a swimming pool whenever you ran any water. I am so glad that we have a Berkey and lots of bottled water on hand.
~Jeff and I finally got my hair cut. I feel so much better now.
~We had a nice facetime visit with Josh. He is up for a great promotion and from what he is hearing, he will be getting it. Lauren is also applying for another job and we are praying that she gets it.
~Heather's parent gave us a beautiful gift of a honu (turtle) with a meaningful design on its back wood carving that her father Bruce made. He is an amazing artist and is finally selling his carvings. I will treasure this gift and it will go down through our family as an heirloom for generations to come.
~We had Steven spend the night with us this past weekend while his parents had a date night and went to see the musical "Stomp". We had so much fun with him!
~We are eating out of the pantry, fridge and freezer for the most part. Jeff has been helping me more with making meals since he is semi-retired. He made us pancakes for breakfast on Monday.
~I was feeling rather stressed out on Tuesday while my car was in the shop. Jeff and I headed into town to pick up a few things (we took his little car to save gas). I found 2 beautiful coffee mugs, a gorgeous little vase ( I had been wanting one that size to put roses from my garden in), a Wizard of Oz book that had the complete first 5 books in it (gift for a grandson whose birthday is coming up), a beautiful Thomas Kincaid print with an inspirational bible verse that is a much needed reminder that God is always with us (beautifully matted and framed) and 2 shirts (on clearance for .75 each).
~We stopped at Grocery Outlet after the thrift store and found a 20oz. package of refrigerated chicken and herb tortellini on clearance for .77 (that became dinner once we got home with a homemade garlic butter, parsley and spinach, dehydrated from our garden last Summer) sauce. That made for 2 complete meals for both of us. We also found a party sized package of mozzarella sticks for $3.99. I could not even make them from scratch for that price! Gala apples were $3.99 for a 5 pound bag, so we got some of those too. They had our new favorite coffee there for $5.99 a large can so we bought 2 of them. We picked up a few more items to round out our pantry and I feel like we are set for awhile now.
*******************************************************We picked up my car from the our mechanic and he did a great job replacing the CV joint and fixed another issue he came across. Unfortunately, upon driving my car home, the transmission decided to act up big time> UGH! Jeff thought it was just the CV joint causing the issues but now we know it was a multitude of problems.
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~I made a menu up based on what needed to be used up ASAP so that we do not waste anything.
~I had to cancel our planned visit to my parents and brother due to the car problems. It broke my heart to have to do so, but we are still planning ongoing to see them when we loop up to them in late April after going to see Josh, Lauren and the littlest grandkids.
~I had avocados to use up so I made a big batch of guacamole with them. I had that with tortilla chips for dinner on the night that Jeff had his bowling league.
~My husband blessed me by mixing up some chicken salad and made us chicken salad sandwiches for dinner on Wednesday night while I took a shower. It was so nice to come out to dinner that was made.
~Walmart is being hit with a class action lawsuit over prepackaged organic fruit and prepackaged meats saying they weighed more than they did. I just filed with the settlement claim for a check for $15 because of all the meat I had bought there from 2018 to 2023.
As you can see, we have had quite the emotional ride. Prayers would be much appreciated for our relative and our finances also. Jeff and I continue to try to keep the budget low for things we can control, and we do take advantage of good sales and things when we find them. I still am in shock at the price we found the tortellini for. I just wish there had been more than one package so I could have thrown a few in the freezer for future meals. Since Jeff is at his bowling league tonight, I think I will look and see what kind of flower seeds I have here on hand. Then I can dream of where I shall plant all those flower seeds once it is time to do so. I am so looking forward to Spring!
I understand completely.
ReplyDeleteI turned 65 last October.
To celebrate we drove to a near by city
to go antique shopping and do lunch.
When we arrived my car died.
I had just gotten it out of the mechanic.
I just spent three thousand four hundred dollars for repairs.
I spent my birthday sitting in 98 degree sweltering car waiting for AAA to send a tow truck. After almost 8 hours they finally sent a tow truck.
In November I got my finger bitten but my puppy and had to go get stitches.
Four days later I took a fall and injured my knee and ankle back to the ER.
In December I was admitted to the the hospital for a kidney stone.
I live in a small country town so I had to be transported by rescue to a big city hospital.
I ended up paying two ER bills plus rescue and a hospital stay.
In January my father in law ended up in the hospital and my husband had to go help him. He got discharged and I got admitted for another kidney stone.
Again I was transported to a city hospital
had to pay two ER bills and another hospital stay.
In February my husband's truck blew the transmission. It's an older truck so no repairing it. My mother in law also ended up in the hospital as well.
Then I had to have emergency oral surgery costing 4500 Dollars.
So I am currently sitting here with a mouth full of stitches, trying to figure out what the hell is going on !!!
Currently I am hiding in my closet
As tomorrow is March 1st and I have no idea what will happen next.
My faith sustains me daily.
Sorry to hear about the car troubles. Hope you are able to get it repaired, soon, and hope Jeff's social security claim is processed, soon, too.
ReplyDeleteContinued prayers for you and your family.
ReplyDeleteTake a moment to sit back and count blessings - that helps some.
Just so you are aware, you must apply for Social Security benefits at least 6 months before you plan on retiring or "collecting". It is not an instant process. And as my son says, who works for the government, they are soooooooooooooooo slow. Take care of yourselves. Stay well.
ReplyDeleteBun
Great as always to read your posts. Will definitely continue to pray for your relative and for your finances.
ReplyDeleteI can so relate about car repairs. My truck is a 2005 and had a lot of work done right before I moved. Some due to me not seeing a speed bump that I went flying over and caused some problems, but thankfully no injuries.
And waiting on SocSecurity -- o my! That brings back memories when I was waiting for my Disability to be approved and paid. Let's just say at the point in my life, the dog was better fed than me. hahaha.
I too am eating down my freezer/pantry stocks. I've got a big dental bill coming up next month and also a planned trip to AZ, yippee.
Take good care. SJ now in California