I'm afraid this week's post is a bit short...Vacation last week and not much time at home this week. That is due to change, however. I'll be back on my savings trend.
Friday: Last day of vacation. I did nothing today except prepare a simple meal for our lunch and that was leftovers from yesterday. We spent the entire day enjoying our last day of vacation.
Boiled eggs earlier in the day and made egg salad for John's work lunches. I added the water I used to boil the egg to my saved water and poured over the rose bushes I need to plant.
Saturday: I had some leftover rolls from Thursday and Friday meals. I thawed a 1/2 pound of that good meat market ground beef and made little slider burgers from the rolls. I managed six little burgers, enough for me and enough for a work lunch for John.
Sunday: Spent the day sorting and decluttering. It started with a messy drawer where I keep my costume jewelry. I had really let it get out of hand. I removed all jewelry and then put back neatly. And yes, I do have quite a bit mostly good quality pieces bought on sale. However, costume jewelry is costume jewelry. A few pieces just looked dated, and a few pieces needed repair.
I set aside a few pieces to spray paint...I'm going to buy that beautiful metallic paint and try repainting a few pieces. I'll let you know how well that works.
One of the necklaces looked just fine except for six beads which had been painted to coordinate with the necklace. The paint had flaked and that made the necklace look rather tatty. I found that lightly rubbing the beads with the finest side of an emery board removed the last bits of paint leaving the clear beads looking like new. And the necklace, too. I was happy to add that piece back to my drawer.
I had a mess of knotted and tangled tiny gold chains and pendants. I kid you not when I say I worked away slowly at that bunch of necklaces until every one of them was free. It took several sessions of concentrated work. Once untangled, I made sure each chain was closed, then slid the necklaces onto a safety pin, running the pin through the catch. This allowed the necklaces to hang nicely, preventing further tangles.
That job spawned other jobs about the house. One of the other jobs was to sort out all the mismatched silverware. Years upon years ago I bought Community Plate Stainless. Now I have six place settings out of the twelve and extra pieces. I decided that I'll try to sell the extra pieces. I sorted out the really inexpensive pieces of flatware and set up a tumbler of 'tasters' near the stove (extra teaspoons to be used to check seasoning when I'm cooking).
I worked so long that it was nearly 2pm when I stopped for lunch. And of course, I hadn't thawed anything out. Fortunately I had a single serving entree and side dish in the freezer. I cooked in the microwave and had lunch in 2 minutes flat.
I'd meant to go to the grocery today but kept postponing. I decided I'd wait and go on Monday. Then Mama called and said she needed to stop at the grocery on Tuesday so I decided I could wait until Tuesday, too.
Made a cake this afternoon for snacking. The recipe is from one of my 1940 magazines. And quite good. Traditionally this particular cake was served unfrosted, making it just right for easy snacks.
The cat hadn't been eating the last few days. I was pretty sure I knew what was wrong with her. She is shedding like crazy and I felt a hairball was the problem. I've been brushing her daily but she still is putting off a lot of fur. I fed her half a can of tuna. She ate it right up. I think the wetness of the tuna was easier to handle than the dry food she normally eats.
Monday: Saved the coffee grounds to put around the potted hydrangea. It's not done well in the past but the leaves are getting big and glossy and the plant is definitely growing with these nutrients from the coffee grounds. I will save coffee grounds and egg shells to add to the ground around the rose bushes, too.
Set out a sirloin steak to thaw. Half was more than enough for a meal for two. Since the steak had not thawed completely I put the most frozen piece back into the freezer, well wrapped for a second meal.
I used leftover mashed potatoes to make potato pancakes to go with my dinner.
Cleaned out my closet this morning. Mama and I are going shopping tomorrow and I thought it would be better to do this today, so I'd know just what I might need for the season. A few months ago I hung my clothes by color. I could see easily exactly what colors I needed no more of...And I noted it well before closing that door.
Harvest Night in our home. We had a five week month last month and were able to set aside extra to repay our car loan.
Noted that it was a 'short' check this time. John opted to skip his allowance. I won't skip mine since I plan to take Mama out to lunch tomorrow for her birthday. We generally cut back on our activity when we have a shorter check, so we won't be eating out or taking a short road trip while John is off.
Tuesday: Off with Mama who wanted to visit clothing stores to look for summer season pieces. I had in mind what was in my closet when I walked in and was looking for specific pieces. It wasn't hard to walk out empty handed. I tend to buy myself a 'consolation' piece of costume jewelry when I can find nothing else to buy but after clearing out the jewelry drawer on Sunday helped quell that desire too.
Mama decided not to go to the grocery after all. I didn't go either. I know John and I will shop for groceries tomorrow and while there are things I thought were good buys there were no items on my list that I simply felt I had to have.
Came home with my purse lighter only by lunch money. I stopped at bank while out with Mama and picked up my grocery cash.
Brought home some fabric from Mama's I meant to use to make a dust ruffle but it wasn't a good match for my quilt. I'll use it instead to make a summer housecoat. Mama also had a couple of patterns set aside for me that she thought I might like. One will be perfect for cotton nightgowns. The other will make cute house dresses for those super hot days.
Mama also sent home a stack of magazines and coupon flyers from her daily papers.
Wednesday: Two weeks ago before we left to go on vacation I didn't buy any groceries except milk and bread and eggs. I knew this week we'd spend more but I was determined to do at least as well as last month. I raised my spending this pay period to the old rate but will lower it next pay period. We did very well today too. I got all I need for two weeks and no extra runs to the grocery store for produce, milk, or bread. I bought extras of them all so we'd skip that mid pay period shop.
I've been making turkey sausage from scratch but I have to confess...Not such a fan of the taste of ground turkey in sausage. It's great in dishes that mask the flavor more (tacos, spaghetti sauce, etc) but not so much in sausage. I opted for ground chicken today which is about the same price and leaness.
When we bought meat at the market I noted that while their prices on chicken and chicken pieces were about average their product was no better than what I buy at Aldi or Publix. Aldi had breasts on sale today, I bought them. Too good a price to pass up.
I had enough money left of the grocery cash to purchase a splurge magazine (Country French) and a deli sub and sodas for our lunch today. Not too bad. I thank the good Lord for stretching our cash so far.
Picked up the free coupons at the customer service counter at Publix. One of those coupons helped us save a bit on soda.
Used a FREE coupon from myCokerewards to get a 12pack of soda. I usually use my coke points to get magazines (like the latest subscription for All You magazine) but now and then I find I can use points to get coupons good for a box of crackers or free sodas.
Thursday: Breakfast sandwiches seemed the ticket this morning. It's a good way to stretch a little bit of sausage. I split frozen sausage links into halves (using just four links total) and added to toast with a fried egg and cheese slice. A good balance of carb/protein for my husband who was going off to golf today.
Watered front porch plants heavily. I haven't had a lot of spare water or dishwater either one this week so it seemed a good time to rotate my storage water bottles and freshen my supply.
We bought pet food at the grocery yesterday. Comparison shopping proved it was as well priced as at the dollar store. We wanted to buy a special blend to prevent hairballs for the cat.
John had a golf game this morning. I decided it was a good time to go look for sandals. I found two pair. One pair I paid just $13 for, they were on the clearance rack. I was very pleased.
I shopped carefully today. I looked over the things I normally would but didn't pick up chotsky type items. My 'splurges' today were two thick 8X11 spiral bound sketchbooks for $5.99, a sheer sweater for too cool AC or cooler evenings for $7, a two roll pack of lovely green and white contact paper ($5), a nice t to go with my brown slacks ($7).
It was late by the time I finished visiting all the stores I went into, almost 2:30p. John called and had just finished up his golf game. I called ahead to Dominos and ordered pizza for $6 for our dinner and picked up as I went through town on my way home.
Before leaving home this morning I made sure to set the AC a tad higher.
The week is done. I'm satisfied with my week of savings.
2 comments:
Thanks for the reminder about the egg shell and coffee grounds! Grandma D.
Terri
I so enjoy reading your blog..
Thanks so much.. You are very encouraging with all your accomplishments..
Liz V.
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