Frugal Friday Wrap Up 7/25/25

 

~Jeff made a second compost bin with some of the pallets that we have here.  He also dug out the top layer of the other bin, put that on the bottom of the new bin, and now we can reach and use all the rich compost that is at the bottom of the old bin.  Oh how I love that man of mine and how handy he is!

~We harvested 6 gallon sized bags full of lettuce from the garden before it went bitter and to bolt.  I gave some of it away.

~Our tomato plants are blessings us each day with ripe and juicy little bursts of sunshine.  There is nothing like a warm from the sun tomato fresh out of the garden to eat.

~The raspberries continue to produce for us.  I have frozen a lot, given some away, snacked on them fresh like crazy, made 4 quarts of raspberry vodka and have more to go out and pick tonight.

~The blueberries have produced more this year than ever before.  I am enjoying them too.  Dinner Wednesday night was smoked breakfast sausages and pancakes, plan for Jeff and blueberry for me, with homemade syrup.

~We picked up fruit and a bottle of wine from the Farmer's Market on Saturday.  We also went to a few yard sales where I bought Bath and Body Works body sprays, a really cool puzzle/model (will be a gift), and 3 seasons of Last Man Standing on DVD.  Steven was given a toy glider that has its own motor.  He was thrilled! 

~Jeff and I hit a sale at Bath and Body works.  It was their semiannual sale.  I also had a coupon for a free product since it is my birthday month.  I walked out with a body spray and 2 yummy smelling liquid soaps for the kitchen and bathroom.  We bought these days before the yard sales where I found the other body sprays.  I am now set for years!

~I made homemade Fettuccini Alfredo since I had everything I needed on hand, and it is a favorite with Jeff and I.  It made 2 meals for each of us.  

~Green salads have been on the menu also.  Jeff and I each enjoy making them the way we want.  

~Jeff grilled up some sausages on the outdoor grill and I made homemade Sweet Potato Fries in the Air Fryer.  They were so good.  Jeff cooked up extra sausages and they have been a blessing with my fibro flares.

~Jeff worked on the pop up tent trailer.  Some of the hydraulic lifts were not working right so he built braces for the roof.

~One especially hot night, when I really did not want to cook, I quickly threw together cheese quesadillas and served them with salsa.  They were really good and so easy and quick to make.

~Steven helped me measure all the drawers and cabinets in the trailer so that I could find containers that were mouse proof that would fit in each of them.  I want to be able to store things in the trailer so that we are ready to go at a moment's notice. 

~We spent Friday afternoon at our town's swimming pool.  It is only $2 for a day pass per person.  The water felt amazing and I got to visit with some of my old students who now have families of their own.

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 5/29/24

 

                                 When the kitty steals your new bed...

    Jeff is recovering from orthoscopic knee surgery and has to be off his leg for at least 3 weeks.  The first week was pretty rough, but we are now in the second week and the doctor prescribed some meds to help him relax so he can heal faster.  He is trying to help me with the household tasks and amazes me with what he can do without putting pressure on that leg.  That being said, I am still having to do the majority of the things he usually does around here.  With my own problem knees, back, hip and fibromyalgia, this has not been easy and I am exhausted but it has to be done.  Luckily our kids and neighbors are helping out with mowing the lawn, and doing other household tasks that I cannot do.  Prayers for my sweet hubby are appreciated and welcomed.

   This is a conglomeration of my frugal doings over the past month or so.  My memory is not the best, but I will try to list all I remember.  

~I'm back to making bread again.  I had taken a break for about 3 weeks, and both Jeff and I missed my homemade bread.

~Jeff got my back screened in porch furniture all take out of the shed and back where it belongs.  This was before his surgery.   I love sitting out here while I type up my blogs along with eating meals and having coffee (or cocktails depending on the time and the day).

~Jeff and I went to an estate sale and I found lots of nice quality named branded clothing in both my size and his, some were even new with tags.  I got us all stocked up for the colder weather months again.  I also bought a gorgeous crystal bud vase and a book.

~Yard sale finds included 2 sterling silver rings for $3 each and some more books.

~Thrift store finds were a caftan, some small shaker style jars to store seasonings in for the camper, and women's bible study book for me and a nice sweatshirt for Chris.  We also found some shorts and shoes for Jeff at a second store.

~I went to JoAnn Fabric on one of their last days and bought interior paint for the pop-up tent trailer at 80% off and also got bra extenders for under $1 per package.

~I put together my own hanging baskets of flowers for a fraction of the price of premade ones.

~We were able to use the ramp that goes over the back steps onto the porch that we use for pellets for Jeff to be able to use his walker to get into the house after his surgery.  I am so glad he built that thing and that we have wonderful friends and neighbors who got it set up for us before we got home.

~I found Hershey's chocolate candy for .79 cents a bar on clearance.  I bought 20 of them to use for making smores when we go camping (okay, there is one less chocolate bar now since Jeff and I split on a particularly frustrating day).

~We have a local to our town Farmers Market.  I went down to it for the first time this season on Sunday.  I bought some rhubarb blueberry jam and some homemade goat's milk soap for my hubby that a dear friend makes.  They were also giving out some food leftover from our town's commodities distribution.  I got a 4 bags of powdered milk, 2 bags of lentils, 2 bags of split peas, a bag of pears and a bag of apples for free.  This will really help with the food budget.

~The garden has been planted out with 5 tomato plants, radishes, spinach, lettuce, 2 1/2 beds of potatoes, 1 raised bed of beans, and I have cucumbers and zucchini started in the greenhouse.  Once the spinach and radishes are done, I will plant the cucumbers there and trellis them.  The zucchini will be planted out in another spot in the garden.

~Our new Home Depot opened and I was able to find 2 medium sized planters with pink Dalias in them for $8.00 each. They are now on either side of my bench in the front of the house walkway.

~I'm cherry picking the deals again at the grocery store and found pork loins for $3.00 each after my discount and the half off sticker.  This made 3 servings. I also found thinly sliced round steak that I turned into some delicious stroganoff with the addition of a package of sliced mushrooms.  This made 5 servings when served over baked potatoes.  I also got 2 more cans of baking chocolate so I can make homemade hot cocoa mix for Jeff to have in his coffee.  It is much cheaper for me to make it that buy the premade stuff.

~Our neighbors had bought a big watermelon and had too much for just the two of them so they gave us part of it.

~Our son Jaysn, along with our Rachel and grandson Steven came over and got the swamp cooler up and running for us.  This was really sweet of them since Jeff is in the second week of his recovery from knee surgery and still cannot put any weight on it or bend it.  We had pizza for dinner, along with some watermelon and had a wonderful visit with the 3 of them.

~I got the lighter weight quilts out that my mother made for the bed and the smaller ones for the living room to cuddle up under when the nights are cooler.  The heavier feather duvet got folded up and the duvet cover got washed and put away for the season.

~While making the guest bed (which is where I sleep), I put 4 hand embroidered pillowcases on my pillows.  These are ones that I found at previous yard and estate sales and compliment my mother's quilt that I put on the bed.

   Next week will be a rough one for our family with Jeff's siblings, his aunt, one of his cousins, and our kids and grandkids having a graveside service for both Jeff's parents.  Following that, we will be scattering his Aunt Helen's ashes up on the mountain where her parents' ashes are.  Given the family dynamics, well, we will see if everyone can just focus on paying our respects to our beloved family members who have passed.  We are looking forward to seeing Jeff's aunt and cousin and visiting with them, along with getting to spend a bit of time with our Josh who is coming up for the service.  As you all know if you have been reading this blog for awhile, family is our personal treasure here on earth.

   

   

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 2/21/25

    

Hello all, I hope you have had a good week.  It has been a productive one around here with little projects getting done.  Jeff is also finally processing his father's passing away (he died at the start of January).  I knew it would take him time to really come to terms with it.  My husband tends to hold things in and put them away in "little boxes" in his mind.  I understand this all too well, as I also do the same thing.  I am glad that he is able to talk about some good memories and some things that he cherishes that his father gave him when he was still allowed to have a relationship with him.  We talked about how we are breaking that generational curse with our own children and grandchildren.  And now, onto the savings this week.

~Saturday Jeff and I took a quick trip into town to both get me out of the house for a bit and to pick up a few things.  We found some great deals at the grocery store and ran into one of our neighbors there. 😄

~The snow came in over the weekend and Jeff got the driveway and walkways shoveled out.  He also got the lower driveway of our shared driveway with the neighbors done and shoveled out a walkway for the to their back door.  The have a baby and Jeff is always trying to find ways to make their lives easier and safer.  How I love that man of mine!

~For Valentine's Day (one day late), I cooked up some lamb chops, red skinned mashed potatoes from scratch (using up the rest of my half and half that needed to be used) and green beans.  I made a double batch of both the lamb chops and potatoes so that we could have them again on Monday.  The lamb chops were bought on sale a few months ago and frozen until they were pulled out again for a treat like this.

~We watched several movies over the weekend in the comfort of our home and recliners.

~Jeff and I cut each other's hair.  It feels so good to have my hair short once again.

~More bread was made.  Jeff loves my homemade bread.

~I took the bones from the lamb chops, added some celery, onion and parsley, along with some seasonings, put them in the slow cooker, and set it on low for 24 hours.  It made a very rich broth.

~We do not take Maggie to the groomers to have her claws clipped.  We did them ourselves on Thursday.

~Jeff reglued the joints on my larger antique rocker that has been in my family for generations.  It is an old Windsor style and I absolutely treasure it.  I put a pillow on the seat of it to help protect it and a sheepskin on the back to keep the drafts off your back in the cold weather months.  I brought it out here for extra seating for humans, but the cats have taken it over.  At least it is being enjoyed on a regular basis, right? 😉

~I used my Trac Phone rewards to cash in for a $25 Applebee's digital gift card.  I also was able to get 2 free digital magazine subscriptions, including Magnolia magazine.

~Jeff and I talked to Bradley and Isaiah about G-pa (Jeff) teaching them some basic car repairs on our little car that the boys will be getting within the next year.  Chris is too busy to do his own car stuff and takes their cars to a mechanic, so the boys have not been taught these skills.  We will pay for all the parts and things, and they will help with the labor.  Jeff will also be teaching them how to drive a stick shift (which is what this car is).  Both boys were very excited and both want G-pa's car.  They do have another car from Aunt Helen, but it is not "cool" like G-pa's car.  LOL!  It looks like they are going to have to take turns.  

~We have so many CDs.  I am trying to play them and see which ones I want to keep, and which I want to try and sell.  We are trying to do the same with some of our DVDs and Blu-ray movies.

~I received 2 refund checks in the mail from our doctor's office.  They had charged me for 2 office visits, both which should have been free.  These happened months ago and to be honest I had forgotten about them.  The checks added up to about $60, so that was a nice surprise!

   I'd better go and get the dog's tennis ball back from Patchy cat.  She and Midgey like to steal Maggie's toys and play with them, much to Maggie's dismay.  I have put extra balls out, but Maggie has a favorite ball and the cats seem to love that one too.  Go figure!  Have a great weekend and stay safe and warm.

   

   

Sometimes We All Need A Little Help

      Yes, that is my middle grandson Steven above.  He apparently needed his kitty to help him play one of his games on his tablet.  I looked over to see him like this and quickly snapped a picture before he noticed. 😉 I think it perfectly sums up what I have been thinking about lately and that is that we all need a little help in many areas of our lives.

   Jeff and I have been trying to get ourselves set up the best we can to weather the hard economic times that we find ourselves in.  As you know, our family works together to try to find the best deals, share our garden produce and share what is gotten while hunting and fishing.  Jeff and I are now trying to extend that to also shopping locally here in town at our Farmer's Market.

   Above is a dinner I cooked last week.  It is elk backstrap steaks with rice pilaf.  We also had apple slices with it.  The elk backstrap steaks were from our kids Chris and Heather and we are so very grateful for them.  The steaks were absolutely delicious!  I had found the rice pilaf mix on sale and had stocked up on it.  The apples were sale priced items too.  

   Yesterday we went to Jeff's company picnic down on the river in Lewiston, Idaho.  It was a really fun time and the food was amazing.  We had never been to Hell's Gate Park before, so we checked out the camping area and the visitors center.  On our way out of town, Rachel called and said they were going to Costco and did we want then to pick up some razor blade refills for Jeff.  I told her we were in Lewiston also, so we met them there at Costco.  It turns out that they were also at the park at the opposite end of the day use area with their church group. 😀

Anyway, we got the razors and had a good look around the clothing area.  I had Jeff try on some of their Sketcher shoes that were on sale, but they did not fit his foot correctly.  Bummer.  Anyway, thanks to Jaysn and Rachel, we now have over a years' worth of razor blades for Jeff for half the price if we had bought them anywhere else.  

   Backtracking even further, Saturday was our family birthday party for Isaiah.  He requested that I make his favorite homemade macaroni and cheese, which I happily obliged.  The minute we arrived at his house, he came running out, checked under the lid of the crockpot to see the said macaroni and cheese and then picked up the crockpot and carried it inside.  Heather made some homemade pizzas to go with it and the most delicious "Death by Chocolate" dessert because, according to Isaiah "G-pa likes it too"...  Why yes he does and he was thrilled to have it.  Chris and Heather had a surprise early birthday present in store for Jeff also.  Chris was feeling bad that his father had to wash all our dishes by hand since our dishwasher broke.  Some friends of his were remodeling their kitchen and were selling their older but still in good working condition, dishwasher.  He bought it for his daddy. Jeff was so very moved by this generous gift!

    Continuing the theme of moving backwards, we come to the next money saving, while helping out our community and family moments.  Friday we went down to our local in town Farmer's market.  It is very small with just a few vendors.  We bought pickling cucumbers from one vendor and 2 small baskets of the sweetest apricots.  We also bought dinner from the "Tipsy Heifer" (yes, that is the name of their company) who was selling tacos.  I have no idea what they marinate their chicken in, but my oh my was it good!  Jeff and I rarely eat out anymore, but had heard so many good things about the tacos and at 2/$5, we thought it was a pretty good deal.  Plus we were supporting a local business (who's owner is also one of the EMTs that responded when we had to call the ambulance for Jeff about 2 months ago) and some local farmers.  No gas was spent going out of town either so it was a win/win all around.

   

   Other money saving things we have done recently were participate in our town wide yard sale where we made $121.00 and donated all the leftovers items (with the exception of three things) to a Christian thrift store that helps people who are recovering from drug and alcohol addictions.  Isaiah sold huckle berries that he had picked and gave me the extra bag that did not sell.  He is so sweet!  Heather made huckleberry cinnamon rolls and they sold out quickly!  She made $61 on those alone.  

   Jeff made a deal with his boss at work to buy out some of the excess stock of nails, screws, bolts, etc. that they had sitting around from when they bought the business from the previous owner.  All of this was on a large pallet and shrink wrapped.  It is a huge amount of inventory and Jeff was able to get it all for $50.  The boss also asked him if he wanted one of the old wooden and metal spin around and sectioned off holders for storage of those items...my hubby said yes!  I don't know what the price on that will be, if any, but Jeff got a place all cleared out in the garage next to his workbench for it. (turns out it was $100 and it was so worth it)  Our kids and neighbors will not need to go shopping for some of these items now since we will have them on hand and happily share them.  Jeff is also planning on starting a side business once he retires of fixing furniture and then selling it.

   

      Our garden continues to bless us.  Above is the last of the raspberries.  I had them on cereal along with some very juicy and sweet blueberries.  It made for a lovely breakfast.  Steven and I dug out the last of the potatoes and he helped me harvest tomatoes and squash.  I made my favorite squash casserole and cut up some of the sweet Sungold cherry tomatoes to put on quesadillas.  Yum!  They added the burst of freshness that just took those quesadillas up over the top!  The beans are putting on their blossoms in the front garden bed and the tomatoes are growing like weeds.  I have had to trim branches on the plants so they can have their energy go toward making fruit and need to finish staking up the Black Crim tomatoes.

   I stocked up on a 50 pound bag of flour and a 20 pound bag of rice.  Prices continue to go up, so I am hedging my bets a bit and trying to buy at the lower prices.  More canned pineapple was added to my pantry since Jaysn took some home with him the other day.  Yes, I let my kids shop my pantry...that is what is  there for, our family to use.  As prices continue to rise, I take advantage of sales when I see them and I am also forgoing certain items because the prices have gone too high for my liking. I know that many of my friends and family are doing the same.

   I had better end this here.  Between this energetic boy and a very busy weekend, I have very little voice left and am dead tired.  My heart is full though and I am so very grateful for all God has blessed us with, including an answer to prayer concerning my oldest son Josh and a change to where he will now be deploying to.  I need to now go and finish the laundry, make some bread and get a elk roast going in the crockpot for dinner.  The rest of my list can wait until tomorrow.  A much needed nap sounds so much better than completing my list. 😌

   Be blessed my friends who are reading this post.  I pray that you all are safe, keeping cool, or warm (depending on where in this big world of ours that you are reading this from), and that you are stocking your pantries with food, medical needs and whatever else you may need.  Don't forget to stock up on clothing needs too!  Now is the time in my part of the world to do so. 

   

   
 

Frugal Friday Wrap Up

   

   Jeff and I were supposed to have our doctor's appointments this Wednesday, but got a call early that morning saying they had to be rescheduled unless we wanted to see the PA.  Knowing which PA it was, I declined and said we would like to reschedule.  So hopefully next Monday afternoon we will actually get to see our doctor.  Mine had already been rescheduled once before so praying that third time is a charm.

   Again I have not been good at keeping track of things, so I am going from memory here...

~Jeff and I went to the thrift store in Pullman and found 2 more seasons of Downton Abbey on DVD.  We also found another movie that I love.  In the housewares section I found a double sided melons baller, a beautiful china plate with chickadees on it (I found it selling for $49.?? on Replacements.com), and another old fashioned potato masher.  The craft area had some acrylic paint that I needed for a project and we got those for .50 a bottle.

~We went to three yard sales where I found a chickadee glass hanging picture (this matched the chickadees on my plate) $1, a garden kneeling pad (free), 2 Bath and Body Works brand new sprays in a peach scent and Dalia scent for $3 each,  more paints for $1 for the set, and 2 cute wooden puzzles for our sweet Peyton for $1 each.

~I stocked up on cheap vodka and gin at the Grocery Outlet to make my fruit infused liquors.  They had the cheapest prices on it.  I ended up making a quart jar of raspberry gin and a quart jar of raspberry vodka with some freshly picked raspberries from our garden.

~Grocery Outlet also had the best prices I have seen on different large heads of lettuce.  I picked up some green curly leaf lettuce and a large head of Romaine.  They had their bags of peppers with 6 good sized peppers for $2.98, so I got one of those and a few other items.

~We grilled some marinated boneless, skinless chicken thighs after Jeff got the big barbeque grill out and set up in it's spot for the grilling season.  We also grilled some marinated potato slices.  YUM.  We had 2 of the grilled thighs, the potatoes, baby carrots and a nice big salad for dinner.  I save one of the thighs for another meal.

~It was Heather's father Bruce's surprise birthday party over the weekend.  It was so much fun!  They had a taco and baked potato bar so we had dinner there.  They also had a huge amount of taco meat left over, so they sent us home with a big bag of it.  We made taco salads with some of it.

~The Fourth of July is also our neighbor's birthday so they invited us over to celebrate with them.  I made a big pasta salad to share.  I had everything on hand to make it.  Their grill was not working, so I offered to grill the steaks and burgers here.  We had a wonderful meal and then watched all the fireworks from their porch.  They have a great view of them all, whereas we do not.  It was a fun evening but boy were our freaked out cats happy to see us when we came home.  Poor babies were terrified of the fireworks and Patchy cat slept between Jeff and I that night making sure she was touching both of us.  I think Midgy stayed hiding under the bed.

~Chris, Heather and the boys came over on Wednesday afternoon to pick raspberries and cherries.  Soon enough, Chris and the boys were spitting cherry pits at each other.  I told them to all knock it off, but the shenanigans continued and both Heather and I gave up trying to get them to stop.  Yep, there were some stained shirts after that.  They did manage to pick a lot of cherries and raspberries and the boys are going to try to sell some of them to help finance buying a gun that they want. It is not a cheap gun, so they are going to share it.  Heather and Chris will pay for half of it and they boys will pay for the other half.  Since they do hunt (and are pretty good at it), they do need another gun since they are currently sharing another one.

~Two more loaves of fresh bread were made.

~Jeff and I finally got my hair cut.  It was driving me batty!

~I planted a replacement tomato plant (from my greenhouse) out into the garden where another one had failed.  I also used a strong dried out blackberry cane to act as a barrier to keep the hose from running over the tomato plants that are planted by the trellis when I am out there watering.

~More hummingbird food was made.  I am loving watching the hummingbirds.

~Speaking of birds, I have a robin building a nest in one of my hanging baskets.  I had to carefully water around the nest and was afraid the bird would not come back.  She did thankfully. I think she is getting ready to lay her eggs there soon.  It may be the same one that built a nest next to the garage door last year because it never attacked us as we came and went right past it and is not trying to come after us at this point with the new nest either.  Watering may become a problem though because I don't want to upset her when she is sitting on eggs or after the babies are born.

~Dinner Wednesday night was soft tacos for Jeff and grilled chicken Caesar wraps for me.  Yes, that is the leftover grilled chicken thigh from earlier in the week and leftover taco meat that Heather's mom sent home with us.

~I froze the rest of the taco meat.

~Jeff took another big bag of cherries from our tree into work with him for one of his co-workers that loves cherries.

~I snacked on fresh raspberries, strawberries and cherries from the garden while I checked on how things were going out there.

~

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 3/10/23

   

   Here it is at the end of another week.  This one seemed to fly by.  It was our 38th wedding anniversary on Thursday so Jeff I reminisced about all the blessings we have had together and about the close knit family that we have created.  Little did we know when we stood up at the alter so many years ago giggling what was in store for us.  😊

   Now onto the not so nice stuff.  Today a second bank failed...Silicon Valley Bank shut down by regulators in collapse (nypost.com)  Wells Fargo also had what they said was a "computer glitch" that had many people waking up to find that all or most the money in their account was gone.  The failure of the SVB means that all funds are frozen for the time being.  There are both FDIC insured funds (up to $250,000) and ones that are not.  Businesses that have their money in this bank have found that their employees that were due to be paid today out of some of those funds now cannot be paid.  People are panicking. If they do not have cash on hand, a well stocked pantry, an emergency fund (that was not in that bank also), etc., then they are in a heap of trouble.  I don't for one minute believe that the funds will be released on Monday.  Bank runs have already started and many people, who were warned ahead of time, pulled money out of this particular bank and out of others.  Luckily Jeff and I have been preparing for this kind of a situation by paying down our debts as fast as we can, stocking our pantries, keeping cash on hand, and getting supplies that we need for the gardening season.  Bank runs, inflation, lay offs and such will just continue.  Then there are all the natural disasters from the huge amounts of snow and communities being cut off, tornados, and flooding all within the past few weeks and into today.  We need to be as prepared as we possibly can be.  Now onto the frugal doings...

Weekend:

~I cut up the roasts that I bought the day before.  Out of the two roasts, I got the following: 3 packages of stir fry meat, 4 packages stew meat, 1 package of 3 small steaks, and 3 packages of 2 each large sirloin tip steaks.

~I took one of the packages of the stew meat and got a nice stew going in the crockpot. for dinner. I served it Hawaiian Sweet rolls and some homemade applesauce that I pulled out of the freezer.  We had the leftover caramel apple pizza for dessert.

~I cooked up the last of the scrapple and 3 eggs (for Jeff) and we had that for lunch.

~I took a nap on Saturday after lunch.

~Jeff and I finally got my haircut.  I feel like a new woman again. 😉

~Jeff took me out on a date Sunday for our anniversary.  We went to the Mad Greek restaurant.  It is one of our favorite places to go.  I brought home some of my meal and had it for dinner later in the evening. Some people might recognize the name of the restaurant from the news as it is the place that 2 of the girls that were University of Idaho students and were murdered worked and where the "alleged" murderer was known to have gone to.  It was eerie to see the candles outside that were burnt at night as a vigil to all the innocent lives that were taken.

~After leaving the Mad Greek, we went to Goodwill and set a limit of $20 to spend there.  Our Goodwill now gets donations from Target.  I was able to find a nice bathmat for our master bathroom (the old one is falling apart) for $5.99, an 11 pack of underwear for $5.97, a bra (which was the color tag of the week, so half price) for $1.99, and some liquid hand soap (also half priced) for .99.  In addition, we were able to use a 20% off coupon on one item.  We spent just over $15 with tax.  Not bad and all the items were brand new.

~We picked up the rest of our grocery needs from Winco.  It was a very small shopping trip because not much was needed.  We should be fine for the next 2 weeks other than having to pick up more milk and some bananas next week.

~Our entertainment for Sunday evening was watching "Wakanda Forever" while munching on some popcorn here at home.

Monday:

~We had leftovers for dinner.  

~I had a long chat with one of Uncle Bob's sons and he showed me around the house and what they had done to it so far.  I helped him come up with a realistic price to sell the house for since the price that they thought they would start at, knowing that they would have to come down from, would make it so people would not look at the house to begin with.  I have been following the housing market in our area for awhile, so I know what is selling and for what price.

~I've been reading some books that I borrowed from the library.

Tuesday:

~Jeff had the day off so he worked on making a screened window for the greenhouse on the opposite side of the other one.  This window will be high up so that the hot air can escape when the temps are really high. It got so hot in there last Summer that it ended up melting some of the plastic trays that I start plants in. YIKES!

~I pulled a nice big boneless skinless chicken breast out of the freezer to thaw for dinner.  I also got some pulled pork out to use for dinner Wednesday.

~A HUGE red bell pepper was cut up and most of it was frozen. 

~I made fettuccini alfredo for dinner and added the thinly sliced chicken breast, along with some of the diced up red pepper to it.  It was amazing!

~Jeff and I watched "The Ark" together.

Wednesday:

~I had the leftover fettuccini alfredo for lunch.

~Uncle Bob's son Alan came over and gave me a birdbath that belonged to his parents.  I had expressed interest in buying it, but he just gave it to me.  He also gave me a bunch of cement pavers that were much appreciated since we were going to have to buy some to finish a project we have here.

~I watched several shows on Youtube and Paramount during the day.

~Jeff and I watched "Survivor".  I am so thankful to our kids for sharing their subscriptions with us so we can watch it.

~Dinner was pulled pork that I had pulled out of the freezer combined with some BBQ sauce served on the last of the hamburger buns, baby carrots and some canned fruit.

~I baked 2 loaves of sandwich bread.

~It was Bradley's 11th birthday!  How can he be this old already?  I started my blog right before he was born.  He is such a special, kindhearted, smart, handsome and yes, sarcastic young man.  I would not want him any other way!

Thursday:

~It was Jeff and my 38th wedding anniversary and he left little love notes for me around the house to find when I woke up.  He has been doing this for a few years now for special occasions and it is something that I look forward to and get such a kick out of!

~I made some krab salad for dinner.  I really enjoy this salad and it is so costly to buy it premade and only takes me about 10 minutes to make it here at home myself.

~Jeff finished off the last of the pork loin roast when he got home from bowling.

Friday:

~Jeff went into work early, is working through lunch and working half an hour later to make up some hours he is missing since he works a shorter shift this Saturday.

~I spent the morning following the news of the banks closing and the effect that is having on the stock market and other banks in general.  Ten more are at risk of closing also.

~After the news of what is going on with the banks, I quickly took inventory of our medicines, personal care products, etc.  I know we are good on food, but those other items are ones that I know could use some topping off.

~Jeff is picking up 2 pizzas from Safeway for $2.99 each for us to have for dinner tonight.  Easy peesy!

   My dear friends, buckle up...we are in for one heck of a bumpy ride.  Since our family is getting together tomorrow to celebrate Bradley's birthday, I am going to talk to the family about what our plans will be to help one another out and who has what resources.  I really do want to make a master list to help us all out so that we can share and no one goes out to buy something that someone else already has equipment wise. I already have raspberry and blackberry starts promised to Heather and to her mom Tammy.  I'm going to see if I can get some strawberry plants from a friend since some of mine need replacing.  I'll work out a trade of some sort with them also.  

Be blessed all!

  

Snow, Some Shopping and Preparing for Shortages

 

   As I sit here typing out this post we have round 2 of our Spring snow storms.  This round is much lighter than Sunday's, which dumped about 4 inches of snow and weighed down my daffodils to the ground.  I had told Jeff that we would be getting more snow as he worked in the yard on Saturday leveling out an area to build a small greenhouse for me.  I really want to be able to start as many seeds as I can to save money on starts and also provide more food from our garden.  Saturday was a blustery but sunny day and I found every excuse I could to be outside as much as possible. 😉 Sunday found us in the house watching movies, me giving Jeff a much needed haircut, him cleaning out the back bedroom so I could once again sleep in there on nights that he, or I, was restless or having a rough time sleeping.  I was so tired that day that I slept through his cleaning.  I curled up on our bed in our room and apparently was out for the count.

   Since we did not want to have to go anywhere over the weekend, we did our shopping on Friday night.  I had gotten a  phone call earlier in the day from Walmart saying that they wanted to know if I wanted to participate in a auto refill programs where they would consolidate my pick up days on my meds instead of me having to make multiple trips.  Looking at when my refills were due, I could just have to make 2 trips this month.  Sounded good to me!  After I hung up with them I got to thinking that this program may also be so they knew how much medications they were going to need in advance for their regular customers.  I know that there are shortages on some medications and there have been times when they have had to order in more of one of my medications because they did not have enough of it on hand.  I asked my neighbor, who works at a hospital about this and she confirmed that it was most likely what was going on.  So off we went to Walmart once Jeff got home.

   On the way into Walmart, I floated an idea to Jeff about getting an electric long reaching tree trimmer.  They had them on sale at Harbor Freight and it would make Jeff's life so much easier and I would not have to worry about him as much.  He quickly agreed!  I told him that would be our "gift" to each other for past birthdays and our anniversary, along with Mother's Day for me.  This will cut down on the time he has to put into pruning all our fruit trees each year and our kids can also borrow it to do theirs as well.

   Along with Walmart and Harbor Freight, we also stopped at Safeway and Grocery Outlet.  I had uploaded digital coupons onto my Safeway card for milk, pizzas, and a case of water.  I found some marked down pork in the reduced section and grabbed that quickly and added it to my cart.  My biggest score though was found in the bakery.  There was a worker in there and I asked if they had any food grade buckets that I could have.  He said they had a lot of them and asked how many I wanted.  I told him I would take them all!  He filled a large shopping cart up with them and the lids and sent me on my merry way with all those lovely FREE food grade buckets!  I had already filled up the last 6 I had picked up from there previously and needed more.  These will be used for more long term food storage, homemade laundry detergent, some for gardening and some to share with my girls.  SCORE!!!!  I only found a few items at Grocery Outlet, mostly snacks for Jeff, but overall, I did not spend much at any of the grocery stores since I am pretty well stocked on most items and am trying to be really careful with money right now since we ended up owing on both Federal and Idaho taxes, so I had to get those sent off earlier in the day.

   Our weekend meals were simple and frugal to boot.  I had thawed out some homemade Zuppa Toscana for dinner on Friday and got that heated up while Jeff took a shower after we got back from our shopping trip.  Saturday I cooked up a Bacon and Ranch Suddenly Salad kit and added cheddar cheese, some leftover bacon, half of a bag of coleslaw mix and a diced up Roma tomato.  I served it with some Little Smokies sausages, and a cut up apple for Jeff and some grapes for me.  Jeff made up some brownies later that evening and they were so good!  You can never go wrong with chocolate brownies, am I right?  Sunday night we just threw a pizza in the oven and had that for dinner.  Easy Peasy and yummy!

   Today I am playing "catch up" and trying my best to make the most of what we have here.  Earlier I got 2 loaves of bread mixed up and kneaded and then set them on top of the pellet stove to rise, which they did beautifully!  While those were baking, I cut up the last of the bread from the previous week and got those ready to pop in the oven.  I love making homemade croutons.  They are great on salads, as toppers for soups, and just to snack on.  Two loads of laundry are now finished and ready to be folded.  I put away a bunch of cases of water and consolidated them into one spot.  My next project of the day is going to be organizing my sewing supplies and trying to get most if that in one spot also.  At this point in my life, I really crave organization so that I know what I have and can find it easily.  This saves me so much time and money, so that I don't buy things that I already have on hand and don't need more of.  For example, I have enough white thread to last me for years!  No need to buy any more of that.  I am however in need of replacement needles for my sewing machine because I don't have any on hand if I break the one that is on my machine now.

   I suppose I should get off the computer and get working on that last project.  I'm still trying to decide what to do for dinner.  I may just go with cheese tortellini and pesto sauce, along with some fresh fruit.  That does sound good.  Okay, that will be the plan.  Be blessed!

   

   

Free Bakery Buckets, Five Dollar a Bag Thrift Haul and Looking Forward

 

   Oh my goodness, we had a busy weekend and I am worn out at this point.  I had planned on heading down to the library, but have a case of vertigo, so no walking down or driving for me today.  Instead I am trying to get some things done around here between dizzy spells (it is just all a part of my Fibromyalgia, so nothing to worry about).  I have all the bathroom rugs in the washing machine and will be hanging those out to dry once they are done washing.  It is a gorgeous and warm sunny day in the 40's, so I am taking advantage of that before we drop below freezing again and get more snow.

*While I was writing this post they got done so I took them out to hang.  OMGosh, bad vertigo attack so I finished up and came inside to sit for a bit.

   I am hoping that everyone of my sweet friends that reads my blog is stocking up as best they can with the turmoil in the world.  I thought it was bad during covid restrictions, but the situation in Ukraine and now possibly with China going into Taiwan here soon is horribly scary.  I think it behooves us all to really follow what all is going on and look at sources that are not from the mainstream media to get a more accurate picture.  Gas prices are rising like crazy and so are food prices.  News just came out that oil rose to $130 a barrel, which is going to affect prices on things even more than they already are.  I am trying my best to get even more stocked up and stored properly.  Saturday I really lucked out with finding free food grade buckets for free from Safeway and the lady there told me to stop in every time I am in town to see if they have more.  She also let me know that there is another woman doing the same thing I am.  I will decant that huge 50 lb bag of flour that I have in my pantry into these and seal them up good.  We go through a lot of flour here with all my baking and I plan on doing even more as prices go up.  My next flour related project is learning how to make tortillas.  I have a tortilla press here that Rachel gave me and am anxious to try it out. 

   Jeff and I stopped by a thrift store in a small town near us and they were having a $5 a bag sale.  I was able to find a popcorn air popper machine (air popped popcorn is better for us and does not use oil, which saves money since cooking oil prices are going up), 2 pairs of Sketchers shoes (one looked brand new and the other had very little wear), which are some of the only kinds of shoes that work for my feet, a Coach purse dust bag and books.  One of the books was a science experiment manual for children, so I gave that one to Heather for the boys already.  The other books were some for fun, some children's books for the grandboys to read as they get older and some gardening books.  It is so important to have books to look information up and some of the older gardening books have amazing information in them that has been forgotten over the years.  I threw the shoes into to washer to get them good and clean and set them out in the sun to dry.  I now have them put away to get out as my other Sketchers shoes wear out...this is where the "looking ahead" comes into play.

   As of Friday evening, gas prices in our little town (which typically raises its prices a day or so after other places do), was $4.11 a gallon.  Jeff filled our two 5 gallon gas cans with gas before it goes even higher.  I noticed that the GasBuddy site cannot even keep up with all the multiple rises in prices that happened within a 48 hour period. 😬 I have no idea what the gas prices are as of today, Monday the 7th of March and to be honest, I am a bit scared to find out when Jeff gets home because I know he will be looking at the prices today while he is in town for work, and that is in Idaho where gas prices are lower.  Because of this, I am parking my car for the most part and told Jeff that we should only run it about twice a month to save on gas and just use his car for errand when we are not picking up grandkids or doing a big shopping trip.  I feel really bad for Jaysn and Rachel since even after getting her car back from the repair place, is still having problems with it.  Jaysn is driving our truck to and from work and that thing guzzles gas!  Jeff is going to talk to his friend at work that also works on cars on the side and see if he might know what is going on with their car.  I hope he can solve the problem and do it frugally too!

   I had some clothing that I was going to donate to a thrift store, but am now thinking I may keep some of the t-shirts to repurpose for making soft pillowcases, rice bags to heat up and put on aching muscles (some of the ones I have really need to be recovered or have a separate washable cover to go over them now) since Jeff uses these almost daily, and for other projects.  The stained t-shirts are already used for rags, both here in the house and in the garage shop that Jeff has set up.  The ones I use in the house are cut up into both small and larger rags, and if it is a really yucky mess I am cleaning up, like cat throw up, I can just toss them away.

   The inventorying continues as I go through things in my cabinets and get them organized.  It has been really helpful to get these things done as I can see where the "gaps" are in my supplies.  I keep a running list of things that I need to get to fill in those gaps and I am also examining each thing if I am thinking of donating it and seeing it is has another use.  I did this with some stuffing bags that I found in my stash.  I was going to donate them until I realized that they were muslin bags that I could use for other things, so I kept them.  It's always good to try to think of other uses for things before tossing or donating.  I'm saving all my coffee cans to grow things in and am starting to stockpile all my used cottage cheese and large yogurt containers once more to send berries home this growing season with the kids and grandkids.

      I urge you to look ahead to see what might be in short supply soon.  Grains, cooking oils, gardening supplies and car parts, along with oils and filters for them will be harder to find.  Stock up on these now if at all possible, but please do not go into debt to do so.  Interest rates will be rising, which means for most people, the interest rate on your credit cards will be going up also.  I took some money out of our savings to have here on hand and may take out even more, just in case.  The way I see it is IF you can afford to stock up on things now, like those mentioned above, along with canned goods, the worst thing that will happen if the world somehow rights itself again quickly, is that you will have bought things you need and will use at lower prices.  If not, you will be way ahead of the "game" and not have to be so stressed about not being able to find or afford what you need.  Oh, and please buy some Crisco or the generic version of it...it will come in handy as an oil source to cook with and is pretty much shelf stable for a long time, and can also be used as an emergency candle.

   Finally, learn all the skills that you need to save even more money now, before you need them.  I'm watching videos on gardening methods that I did not know about, how to make more things from scratch, edible plants in my area, and some sewing tutorials.  I learn better by seeing things done, than just by reading, so even though I do stock up on books, I also try to learn as much as I can via YouTube.  Be blessed my friends!

   

                                                                                

        

   

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 11/20/2020

    What a week it has been!  I was right about more restrictions coming in for Washington state.  Most went into effect on Monday and will go for a month. 

COVID-19 Guidance In order to slow the spread of rapidly increasing COVID cases in our state and ensure that hospital and medical systems are not overwhelmed, we are taking the very difficult but necessary steps to protect public health. We recognize this will cause financial hardship for many businesses and the governor and staff are exploring ways to mitigate the impacts. • From midnight on Monday, November 16 through Monday, December 14, all counties in Washington rollback to the restrictions outlined below. Restriction modifications for all counties effective midnight on Monday, November 16, unless otherwise noted. If the activity is not listed, it should follow its current guidance. All K12/higher education, health care, and childcare are exempt from the new restrictions and will follow current guidance. These restrictions do not apply to courts and judicial branch-related proceedings. 1. Indoor Social Gatherings with people from outside your household are prohibited unless they (a) quarantine for fourteen days (14) prior to the social gathering; or (b) quarantine for seven (7) days prior to the social gathering and receive a negative COVID19 test result no more than 48-hours prior to the gathering. A household is defined as individuals residing in the same domicile. 2. Outdoor Social Gatherings shall be limited to five (5) people from outside your household. 3. Restaurants and Bars are closed for indoor dine-in service. Outdoor dining and to-go service are permitted, provided that all outdoor dining must comply with the requirements of the Outdoor Dining Guidance. Table size for outdoor dining is limited to a maximum of five (5) people. These modified restaurant and bar restrictions go into effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, November 18, 2020. 4. Fitness Facilities and Gyms are closed for indoor operations. Outdoor fitness classes are permitted but are subject to and limited by the outdoor social gathering restriction listed above. 5. Bowling Centers are closed for indoor service. 6. Miscellaneous Venues: All retail activities and business meetings are prohibited. Only professional training and testing that cannot be performed remotely, as well as all court and judicial branch-related proceedings, are allowed. Occupancy in each meeting room is limited to 25 percent of indoor occupancy limits or 100 people, whichever is fewer. ▪ Miscellaneous venues include: convention/conference centers, designated meeting spaces in a hotel, events centers, fairgrounds, sporting arenas, nonprofit establishment, or a substantially similar venue. 7. Movie Theaters are closed for indoor service. Drive-in movie theaters are permitted and must continue to follow current drive-in movie theater guidance.

https://www.governor.wa.gov/sites/default/files/proclamations/COVID%2019%20November%20Statewide%20Restrictions.pdf 

   Jeff and I knew these would be coming so we tried to get as prepared as we could over the weekend and finished up the rest of the stuff during the week.  Here is a peek into what we did and how we saved as much as we could doing so...

Saturday:

~Cookies were made...yum!

~We bought a generator and a rolling stand for it so that we could run the generator to keep our pellet stove going if the electricity went out.  It is powerful enough to also run the refrigerator and a lamp while the stove is going.

~While at Walmart, I picked up the last Christmas gift I needed for Steven (jammies on sale) and we also found another pair of fleece lined jeans for Jeff.  He wears those to work during the colder Winter months and now he has two new pairs to replace the ones that have totally worn and ripped out from previous years.

~Jeff and I needed some comfort food so I baked some turkey bacon in the oven and made a large batch of pancakes.  I had my pancakes topped with strawberries from our garden that I had sliced and frozen this Summer.

~We got a bit more shopping done at the Grocery Outlet.

Sunday:

~I cut Jeff's hair.

~We had leftovers for dinner.

Monday:

~We returned all the library materials that we had borrowed to the library to avoid late fees.

~We had chicken along with twice baked load potatoes (using some of the leftover turkey bacon in them) for dinner. I baked extra potatoes for later in the week also.

~I called our internet provider to protest our bill.  They overcharged us so they are giving us credit on our next bill.

~I also was double charged on our cell phone plan...I got that taken care of too.

~I froze some overripe bananas to make bread or muffins with later.

Tuesday:

~Rough day here so we had a choice of leftover breakfast for dinner or chicken and potatoes.

Wednesday:

~Another rough day for me so Jeff threw a pizza into the oven for dinner for us.

~Jeff's prescription refill was free.  Yay!

Thursday:

~Jeff went down and got us commodities.  There was so much there...potatoes, onions, sugar snap peas, breads, sweet potatoes, grapefruits, carrots, canned goods, lots of frozen meat, squash, grains, cheeses, etc. 

~I divided up a large bag of cheese and froze half of it and the rest is in the refrigerator for Jeff to make nachos with.

~While Jeff was getting the commodities, I made 2 loaves of bread, a tuna noodle casserole (for Jeff, I can't stand the stuff but Jeff loves it) and used the rest of the chicken left on the bones to make a large pot of homemade chicken noodle soup using bits a bobs of leftover dried pasta that I had collected over the past few months when I made other things.

Friday:

~Jeff bought the last ton of wood pellets that we needed for our stove and brought them home from work in the morning.  I'm really glad we got them when we did because we got further confirmation that there definitely is a shortage and if you need them, get them now!

~Jeff and I made another trip to pick up a few more items from the stores since we are going to be home for a month, other than going to the grocery store if needed, for a month.  If the covid cases continue to go up within the next few weeks, they may lock us down even further...I wanted to be prepared.  I stocked up on seltzer water (it was on sale and it really does help with my Fibromyalgia), got a free cookie mix from Safeway, creamers for Jeff while they are sale, more chips, instant coffee (for those days when I don't feel like brewing a pot and want some fast), a spiral cut ham while it was on sale at Grocery Outlet, salad, some specialty cheeses that we deeply discounted, milk, more bananas, hand sanitizer and a bunch of other things I can't remember right now.  I wanted the ham for Christmas and it is big enough for the whole family IF we are able to get together by then.  

~Jeff picked up more work gloves at Harbor Freight along with some oil for the generator to have on hand here.

~By the time we got home, I was wrecked and had to sit in my chair since I was having trouble walking (I had even used my cane in town...I had not had to do that for months).  Jeff got the groceries put away and then heated up chicken noodle soup for me and tuna casserole for himself.

      I am glad that Jeff and I got the last of the shopping done and got the pellets bought.  He will have to get them unloaded this weekend.  At least we do not have to worry about keeping warm during the heating season. That is something to be very thankful for!  We also have lots of food on hand, along with toilet paper and tissues (I forgot, we bought more of those today also, praise God for the Dollar Tree that still had some on hand and did not jack their prices up).  And yes, I have been having trouble with my Fibromyalgia acting up, along with a few other conditions that I deal with.  It is what it is and the weather changes and stress seem to have conspired against me at the moment.  On a more positive note though, Jeff and I are using the hot tub a lot lately and that seems to be helping us both.

Frugal Friday Wrap Up 10/30/2020

    

   It has been awhile since I did a Frugal Friday Wrap Up post.  As is my new normal, I forgot to write down things daily, so we are going from a very befuddled memory here...bare with me please. 😉  In no particular order, here is what I can remember:

~Chris gave us a bag full of venison burger.  This is a huge blessing to us!

~We got a check from the consignment store for things that we sold and for some of Jeremy's stuff that sold.  We split the money with him.  It is a huge help for us both right now.  Jeff dropped it off with Jeremey on Monday.

~I cut up 6 peppers and froze most of them.

~I made a stuffed pepper and pasta casserole that fed us for 6 meals.  Three dinners and 3 lunches.  I only used half a box of noodles, but with the tomatoes, corn, venison burger, etc. it mad a lot!

~I grabbed a pork roast out of the freezer and made Kalua Pig in the crockpot with that.  We have had it with rice for two meals and still have more of it.  I'm sure it will get finished this weekend.

Patches guarding the container full of coffee beans.

~Tea has been my "go to" drink late at night (decaf of course).  I am still using my tea bags twice.

~I'm turning down the heat here at night since it is just me until Jeff gets home in the morning.  I like a cooler room to sleep in anyway.

~I am also turning off all the lights after Jeff heads out to work at night except those on the Fall themed tree. ;)  It is so calming.

~Jeff repaired a pair of his work pants that he ripped.

~We borrowed a movie from the library on Monday.  The plan is to watch it this weekend.  This will be the last time we borrow movies from there for the foreseeable future so that we don't have to risk running into someone with Covid-19 since it is increasing in our little town.

~We keep adding to the compost pile and hope to have some good compost there by the Spring to add to our gardens.

~Jeff went to our commodities distribution and got quite a bit of food.  This time he had to wait for 2 hours because more and more people are coming and they are only letting two people in at a time.  Since they were getting ready for a big Thanksgiving turkey basket giveaway in early November, they were trying to clean the freezers out to make room for all the turkeys.  They literally filled up a box with all kinds of frozen meats and gave it to Jeff since it was getting later in the day and they needed stuff gone!  We will share with our kids!

~Jeff has been working extra hours and doing the job of him and his other driver he works with, who is out on paternity leave.  He is being well compensated for that.

~Jeff ordered another ton of wood pellets and he will pick those up next week.  Depending on how much we have left after paying bills with his next paycheck, we may order another ton also.  We are expecting more snow by this coming Friday and into the next week with temperatures dropping again.

~I have been transferring food things that are coming into the house in flimsy plastic bags and storing them in sturdy airtight containers instead.  I have whole coffee beans and some quick rolled outs in Tupperware containers now.  The rice is all being put in food safe buckets.  I do need to get several other food safe buckets to put bulk beans and such in them for safe storage also.  I will have to see if Safeway has any the next time I go in.  The bakery there has given them to me for free in the past.

~While going through one of my china cabinets, I found a bunch of matches in there.  I'm sure at some point I just threw them up there to keep them away from my grandboys.  Anyway, it is nice to know that I have a good stash of them.

~Kitty litter, cat food and more toilet paper were ordered through Walmart and should be delivered by Tuesday to our post office.  

~Jeff and I got my hair cut and I feel so much better.

~ We've been entertaining the cats with Kitty TV.  It keeps them from sprinting up and down the halls when Jeff is trying to sleep.

~This may sound strange, but I like to celebrate the different seasons by switching out my coffee mugs and some of my dishes.  I have been enjoying using some of my heavier hand thrown mugs lately.  Each one is unique and I love that!  Most were thrift stores finds or yard sale finds over the years.

~We had a Zoom meeting baby shower last Saturday for Lauren and our newest grandson Tate (who is due in December).  We all sent our gifts down to her to open.  We played games too and I won a Starbucks gift card!  My mother made Tate the cutest Moose baby quilt. 

~Jeff got a sinus infection and had to go and see the doctor.  When he went to the pharmacy to pick up his prescription it was free!

    Not much more going on here at the moment.  The plan for this weekend is to take Saturday to rest since Jeff is exhausted from fighting the sinus infection and working long hours.  Yesterday it was a 13 hours shift...not good.  Praying that tonight is a lot shorter.  Sunday we may run in and pick up a few things we need at the grocery store like fresh milk and celery.  I have a $5 off $5 coupon loaded onto my Safeway card so we should be able to get stuff for free that way.  Here's hoping!