Frugal Friday Wrap Up 2/14/25

 

   I was watching a video on YouTube the other day that really made me think deeply about life and "stuff".  The YouTube channel is Pinball Preparedness, and I really like his direct no nonsense approach to life, even in some of the few instances where I did not agree with his point of view. 😉 Anyway, he was talking about how we work so hard to accumulate "stuff" over our lifetimes, and want the bigger how, the latest "thing", car, etc. and go into deep debt doing so.  We then come to our retirement age and if we still owe on the house, cars, and stuff, we may not be able to retire when we become eligible to do so.  He quoted the  average life expectancy and how in reality, we don't have a lot of years left to enjoy our retirements.  It made me so thankful that our home is paid for and that we are paying off my car.  When Jeff fully retires (or maybe sooner), we will be giving the oldest 2 grandsons his commuter car.  We will then  have my car and the truck (which we need to haul the pop up tent trailer and bring home pellets for our pellet stove, haul yard waste, etc.).  Since we live in a smaller home and have a nice garden, and live a frugal life, our bills are pretty low by comparison to many around us.  However, we can do better and that is my goal!  I want to have us in a position where Jeff can fully retire.  I really do love having him home with me!

Here are some of the frugal things we have done this week:

~I took down the last of the Poinsettia garlands and put up new decor including the bronze statue of the Hawaii Io (hawk) that my parents gave us for Christmas. I continued the bird theme by setting out a gorgeous Asian vase with white peacocks on it.  I replaced the picture in our bathroom with one that has hummingbirds on it, also in the Asian theme.  Soon I will be putting the needlepoint picture that my grandmother made for me, which features an Asian pheasant, back up in the living room.  I also put up my beautiful Asian themes watercolor painting that used to belong to my grandparents, up in the living room.  I rotate my art by the seasons and yes, I do love Hawaiian and Asian themed art.  I grew up with these and they remind me of Hawaii and the people and places I hold dearly.

~Jeff got the pantry all cleaned and organized for me.  It makes it so much easier to go in there and pull things for dinner.  For example, Wednesday night I pulled cream of mushroom soup, enchilada sauce, tortillas, and canned chicken out of there.  I added some leftover rice and sour cream, along with some seasonings, and was able to make creamy chicken enchiladas for dinner.  It was great comfort food on a bitterly cold day and was absolutely delicious!

~Jeff had his appointment with the orthopedic surgeon about his knee.  He definitely has a torn meniscus, along with bone spurs, and will need orthoscopic surgery.  His surgeon told him that he will not do unnecessary whole knee replacement, like the insurance company insisted on with his other knee.  We are now waiting for the approval from the insurance company so that he can have it done in late April/early May.  This way he will have it after our trip down to help with our youngest grandchildren and be healed up before camping season goes into full swing.

~It has been so cold here with temps dipping down into the below zero range.  I have been bundling up while at home and wearing cozy socks.  I have not gone outside much because the cold makes my muscles contract and is very painful for me (it's a fibromyalgia thing).

~My 11-year-old grandson Isaiah has a school project where he has to interview someone and he chose to interview me because he wants to know more about my childhood through today.  It has been great fun with him sending me questions via email, which I then answer.  We have kept this chain of emails going to make it easier for him to have all the info on hand in writing so that he can then type up the completed interview.    I love this boy so very much!

~Rachel and Jaysn surprised me with some lobster ravioli from Costco.  All our kids spoil us rotten. :)

~Jeff and I have been enjoying our blankets that my mother made for us.  They keep us nice and cozy warm when we are in our recliners.

~I've been reading some of the many books that I have here at home.  I take great joy in getting lost in a good book.  It is the perfect little escape as I sip on some hot tea while I read.

~Jeff and I have been missing meatloaf, so Jeff pulled some ground venison from the freezer, and I made a teriyaki meatloaf and served it with rice and corn.  We had enough left over for another serving the next day.  I did use half an onion in the meatloaf and cut up the other half of the onion and froze it.  I would usually use green onions, but I did not have any on hand.

~Jeff and I watched several movies over the weekend.  I made up a cheese and sausage platter to have for a snacky dinner one night and popped up a bunch of regular popcorn to have with another movie the next night.  We do love popcorn in this house and it really does not take much time to pop some up from scratch.

~Our Ethan Allen headboard on our bed had cracked across where it had been glued together when it was made.  I have no idea how old it is because my parents bought it used when they were first married and then gave it to us when they got a new Koa wood four poster bed.  Jeff managed to get it glued back together.  He did have to buy some longer clamps for this project, but he will use them for years to come on other projects.  He also got them at the employee discounted price.

~I went into our subscription account for Maggie's CBD tincture that helps with pain and nervousness and changed it to every other month rather than monthly.  We are finding that we are already ahead by a month.  This will save us about $30 a month.

~Snow came in Thursday night and will continue for days!  It honestly is a welcome relief after the below zero temps that froze up our hot water in our master bedroom bathroom.  I had Jeff pick up my prescriptions and a huge bag of dog food for Maggie Thursday since it is his bowling night and I really do not want to go anywhere in the snow.  I am more than happy to make it a movie marathon when he is home.  It also saves us gas money and unnecessary spending.

~I went through more of my books and made a stack of the Jason Bourne series that I have not read yet.  I really want to get to those.

~Jaysn got ahold of us and asked if we could watch Steven this coming Monday.  Jeff is working that day so I will have my bubby here to keep me company!  Yay!!!!

~I have lots of beautiful cut glass pitchers, bowls, vases, trays, etc.  I got one of the pretty little creamer pitchers and put a battery powered tea light in it.  I love the way the cut glass looks at night when the tea light is on.  I am going to try to use my pretty things on a regular basis and not just have them stored away in our buffet.

~There were only 3 items on my grocery list for this week.  Jeff picked them up for me before his bowling league on Thursday night.  All of the items were on sale at Safeway and I cashed in some of my reward points and combined that with a sale in the bakery so we could buy a small cheesecake.

   I hope you all have a wonderful Valentine's Day!  Stay warm and safe.