A Year of Savings: 2013

August 15:  It was chilly this morning, just in the mid 60's.  The AC didn't come on all morning long and long pants and a heavier shirt were necessary.  My 'summer' menu was very unappealing!  I decided those meatballs I made up a few weeks ago and the spaghetti sauce I froze would be a nice hearty dinner.  It was sure tasty and warming.

Shopped at home for coffee, bread, coffeecake.

Washed a full load of clothes.



August 16:  I made Challah and a pan of brownies before John came in.  I make my Brownies from scratch.  I'm here to tell you there isn't any savings in making brownies my way, a box would indeed be cheaper if bought on sale, but mine taste a whole lot better!

Two loaves of Challah (one batch of dough) saved $3.59.

Cooked an extra chicken breast with our lunch. I plan to extend the leftovers to another full meal for the two of us.  I'll make burritos from the leftover yellow rice, vegetables and add some beans and corn.  I'll use the chicken breast for John's work sandwiches.  I always try to give him a meat sandwich after a vegetable dinner, so he can keep his energy going at night when he's working.

Boiled a half dozen eggs for egg salad.

Chopped vegetables for veggie beef soup while I made dinner.  I'll make cornbread to go with it tomorrow.

Used up two zucchini I'd almost left a little too long in the fridge.  Savings $1.

Vacuumed this afternoon, then cleaned the vacuum.  Yes, I cleaned the vacuum.  I washed out a filter, cleaned the bowl, shook out a paper filter.  Our vacuum is 8 years old now.  We've replaced the filters twice, replaced the hose and clean it regularly.  We paid just $45 for it and it's given great service to us.

August 17:  Had an appointment in town.  I decided to go by the peach shed and checked out the flea market too while I was out.  I had a $12 budget for both stops.  Came home with savings $.50.

Contemplated stopping at the grocery store to pick up this week's specials.  I decided to wait until Harvest morning (last day of sale) when I have a fresh batch of grocery money.  I didn't need any of those items this week.

Made cornbread when I got home.  I made my own from scratch.  I saved $1 (cost of a box of mix).  I can buy 5 pounds of cornmeal mix for under $2.

AC barely ran all day.  I think it only came on about every two or three hours and then cycled right back off again.

August 18:  I've been weighing pros and cons of a new venture.  Now I'm turning it over to prayer.  I'd rather pray about it first than worry about making the right choice later.  There's a savings in that!

Washed a full load of laundry.

Washed a full load of dishes.

Cleaned the oscillating fans.  Proper maintenance of all equipment is important if you want long life from it.  These fans have been in our home for about 6 years now.  I clean them twice a year (they run for about 8 months of the year). I don't think we paid more than $20 for any of the three.  That's a pretty good life from something so inexpensive.

Used a spray pretreatment on an old stained apron.  It worked wonders.

Made a smoothie here at home for $.50.  Savings $3.

August 19:  Washed and hung to dry two lightweight quilts.  That's a small beginning to Fall cleaning.

Made blueberry muffins from scratch to go with our breakfast.  They are soooo much better than a boxed mix and even with fresh berries, cost far less than a box, too.  Under $1 to make from scratch.   I can't even call the difference as savings because this is one item I never buy!

Cooked all the squash at once with onions.  We had a serving each for dinner and the rest went into the freezer for a future casserole or side dish.  Savings $1.

I had just 3 breast pieces left in the bag, so I cooked them all at once.  I set one aside for sandwiches later in the week or perhaps a pizza (BBQ Chicken pizza perhaps). 

August 20:  Harvest Day in our home.  I 'rounded up' a dollar amount to the next $5 amount to pay a little extra on our car. Another payment that paid a good bit extra towards that self-loan and saving us a bit more in interest.

Used the fund we've set up for gifting the grandchildren to pay for our oldest grandson's birthday gift.  No need to pay out of pocket since the money was already there.

Checked figures before leaving for bank to be sure what we had would cover our needs for the coming two weeks.  We had enough and a little extra.  I have no qualms about cutting allowances and grocery funds if need be to manage.

Double checked sales sheets alongside grocery list and then eliminated those items that I felt we could manage without after all.

John brought home a batch of coupons his partner had given him last night.  So glad that she shared!  There was a $5 ECB attached. (savings for me!)

At CVS today I bought 7 bags of candy.  Yes, I did and no it's not for Halloween.  It should last us several months (well except for the peanut M&M's, lol).  I had coupons, combined sales and ECBs.  I paid $2 for that candy.  With the average price of a bag of chocolate candy these days running about $5, this is a big savings of $33.

Earned ECBs on candy and other items in my buggy: savings $5 to use on future purchases.

August 21:  No leaving the house today to do anything.  I 'shopped at home' and got bread, oatmeal, coffee and evaporated milk from the pantry/freezer.

I went through this week's sales ads to be sure I don't miss a good sale on needed items for the pantry.

Made a new Leftover Makeover for dinner today.

Spent the afternoon hours looking up some needed information for my 'new venture'.  I promise I'll be sharing all about it very shortly.  But what I really wanted to note is how convenient the internet makes me things.  I'd say dollar for dollar it's one of the better 'buys' we make each month.

Supper tonight, leftovers from the freezer.  Since I've started dating foods as I put in freezer I can tell at a glance when something needs to be used.

Washed a full load of dishes.

Washed a full load of laundry.  John commented to me the other day, as we watched a liquid laundry detergent commercial that the guy was pouring in a big capful of the detergent.   I know why he pointed this out.  I mark our cap with red nail polish at each load fill level, so he knows just how much to use, since he does the majority of laundry.  It's cut way down on how much detergent we use.  And we might note that this detergent, an Ultra brand, was advertised as 'just one cap' to clean your clothes.

John hung laundry to dry.

Made my own Cherry Limeade here at home.  I used grenadine syrup (no cherries in the house), a slice of lime and a 12 ounce diet Sprite.  I paid a whole $1.35 for my 12 pack of soda (about $.11 each can).  The grenadine syrup I bought last summer for frozen pink lemonade. With a slice of lime, I may have a whole $.15 in my Cherry Limeade.  Savings $1.34

Total:  $50.33