Living Frugally and Well: End of Summer Savings

Saturday:  Turned up the AC as soon as I got up this morning.  I've been lowering the temperature at night in an effort to get a little better sleep but remembering to turn it back up to 78F has taken a lot of effort.  I wish it were an automatic thought, but at least this morning it was!

Put the pot roast on to cook in the slow cooker.  I had all the vegetables prepared ahead and in a plastic bag in the refrigerator just waiting to go into the crockpot.

I didn't have wine.  Tracey McBride recommended in Frugal Luxuries to use grape juice and add a teaspoon or so of vinegar to the juice and once cooked it would taste much as wine tastes.  I had only cranberry juice to use and felt it needed even less vinegar since it was particularly tart.  It sure did make a rich broth!



Made a gravy with cornstarch.  I had more gravy than we needed for the meal.  After dinner, I chopped up the meat and potatoes and carrots and mixed with some of the gravy and set in the fridge to make a sort of hash for our dinner in the early part of the week.  I still had gravy leftover, so I put in a jar in the freezer to use in soups.

Made a simple Blueberry crumble for dessert today.  It was delicious.  I had a pint of fresh berries in the fridge I hadn't even thought to touch all week long and this seemed a great way to insure we ate them.

Yesterday when I made Challah breads for Shabbat, I patted roughly 1/3 the dough into the pizza pan an partially baked it.  I made a pizza for our supper tonight using some of the vegetables I'd sliced to go into the pot roast we had for dinner.  I used a homemade marinara type sauce instead of tomato sauce and really liked it a good deal.

Sunday:  I used some potatoes  I'd cooked earlier in the week to make hash browns for our breakfast.

Gathered trash to go out with us on our way to church.

John had a short list for the DIY store.  I added my short grocery list to his list and we headed to the store to shop after church.  We stuck hard to our lists with only one or two added items.  I insisted we buy John a replacement pair of ear defenders for when he's riding the mower.  The truth is he's been turning the television up louder and louder.  True some of it is the variation in channels but some is just that he can't hear as well.  I'll do what I can to protect his ears...But I don't think he'll use the ear defenders when he's playing guitar...

Glance at the garden center.  There were a few mums in stock but nothing like the masses (and therefore nice low prices) they shall have in a week or two.  I can wait.

At the grocery, I stocked up on mayonnaise and the decaf coffee brand I like best, both of which were buy one get one free.  I can buy the same brand of mayonnaise at Aldi but I can't buy it for that good a price!  I checked the expiration date on the mayonnaise and determined I'd best not buy more than six jars.

We picked up John's prescription while we were in the grocery.  I knew it was due to be picked up but happily they sent a reminder text while we were at the DIY store.

John bought deli sandwiches.  Even though we bought six inch sandwiches each, we only ate one of the sandwiches.  We'll have the other for supper Monday or Tuesday evening.

John filled up my car while we were near the station at the interstate.  The cost per gallon there is roughly 20c a gallon less than filling up the car in our hometown.

I cooked a steak and made a salad for our supper.  I put water in the skillet and deglazed the pan.  When the liquid cooled, I poured into one of those 3 ounce cups to freeze as a popsicle for Maddie.

Washed a full load of dishes.  In today's load I added in the grates from the stove burners, the coffee pot and the sink strainers.

Monday:  John made the bed yesterday morning before I could strip it so today I have stripped our sheets off the bed and washed sheets and towels to make a full load.  Hung all on the line to dry.  It was cooler and a nice breeze blowing.  They were dry by noon.

John promised me a trip 'west' after we picked up his paycheck this afternoon.  I got busy and did all my housework.  I like to know I've left my home nice and neat before I go out to have fun.  Makes coming back home so nice!

Reheated that roast and gravy and vegetables, but used the oven.  It didn't thicken up as it would on stove top so I called it 'stew' and served with the last of the loaf of Challah bread and a peach salad. Made a very nice dinner.  I put leftovers of stew, which was not enough for a full serving, in the container in the freezer that will be soup.

We bagged up the trash...Yes, again!  I'd cleaned up the guestroom and I put some magazines and boxes I'd been saving into the trash so it filled it up all over again.

Took bills and deposit slip and John's workplace keys with us.  We mailed bills and made deposit while we were in his workplace town.

We meandered over hill and dale and back country roads to the mountain.  It was so much cooler there!  I carried along bottles of water for us both.

We stopped for supper at McDonalds.  Not something we'd typically do, but we had milkshakes.  Yummy!

Came home and made coffee for us.

Tuesday:  I made yogurt this morning and a banana bread.  The milk was nearing expiration, the bananas were nicely ripened.  I gained 3 pints of plain yogurt and the loaf of banana nut bread went into the freezer for a future treat.

Fixed dinner.  I put leftovers in the fridge and added green beans to the soup container in the freezer.

Used leftover mashed potatoes to make potato pancakes.

I'd saved some pineapple juice earlier this week and had a mustard bottle in the fridge to which I'd added water.  I poured in the pineapple juice, added some ketchup and this combination with the watery mustard made a quite good Barbecue sauce for today's chicken.  I have plenty of this homemade sauce left to use later.   I'm thinking I might cook some chicken in the crockpot and shred it and then toss with barbecue sauce.  Then I can freeze that meat and save for a future meal or three.

John mowed grass.

I cleaned indoors and then went to work on the pantry, adding in my new shelves.  It's not giving me as much room as I'd hoped but it does help organize.

John came in and suggested we buy groceries today.  Had I known that was in the air, I'd not have worked half so hard as I did!

Totted up the checkbook before we left home.  I didn't do it last night because it was late when we came in.  I forget it this morning in the rush of getting housework tended to.  Best to do it BEFORE I spend, I think.

John wanted to get his haircut while we were out.  He's in 'work week' mode, thinking he must get everything done in a day or less.  Mind you, this is not a bad thing.  In the past, my dear husband could put off doing just about anything and had it down to an art form.  I kind of admire the more driven man who says, "Let's get it done."  Perhaps because it's my own mindset?  I had my Kroger FREE items list.  I knew I could also purchase a half pound of Boar's Head all Beef Bologna there, which I'd promised him I'd buy this grocery trip.

I hate that my Kroger does not put those Free Friday items where you can find them.  You must look high and low and in various spots.  I found the Annie's Mac and Cheese in the organic/natural foods section but suspicioned they might also have meant a box that might be with regular pastas.  Turned out it was all the same and I got my pasta.  Not a bad thing to have walked over to the regular pasta aisle however.  I found an item I've found very elusive: whole wheat elbow macaroni.  It was on 'sale' but not much of one.  However, I'll not quibble over price.  I just plain like a nice homemade macaroni and cheese or goulash casserole made with elbow macaroni and not penne or rotini.  So I bought all they had on the shelf, 3 boxes.

We packed the bologna in the cold bag we carried into the Aldi store with us.  John asked if we could do that.  I pointed out they've yet to check my bags but I had the receipt in my purse and the Kroger price label was bound to be a broad clue as to where we'd bought it.  The meat stayed nice and cool, as it needed to.

We are taking steaks with us to cookout later in the week and we looked them over well.  I know Kate prefers Rib Eye.  We like sirloin.  John suggested we buy both.

I bought a big chuck roast, almost 3.5 pounds.  I cut into three portions and put into the freezer.

I overspent this week and why?  Well the steaks were one reason and that big roast came in at nearly $18. But also because I am in stocking up mode.  Having been  in the pantry today, I was well aware that I'd let things get quite low.  Just last night on our way home, one of the things John had said was that he'd very much like for me to have about a year's worth of food on hand.  Well, I'm not there!  I'd say we possibly could get by for three months on what I have at present, and I'm not entirely sure of that. So today I bought a case of peaches and half a case of green beans and half a case of corn.  I'm going to have to put in another shelving unit in order to properly expand that pantry as John has requested but in the meantime, I will concentrate on buying canned vegetables and fruits and using what shelving I have.  Remember that on Sunday I bought 6 jars of mayonnaise and 4 bags of coffee.

I also bought 12 pounds of sugar.  I've heard that sugar prices were expected to rise.  I haven't seen it in a news source yet, just online chatter but I only had a 4 pound bag on hand.  Now I have a little more.  I'm going to need to expand that store as well if I'm to have a year's worth on hand and I might as well buy it while it's still fairly low.

I have a LONG way to go to bring us up to a 1 year level in foodstuffs and that should include some meats I would think, though I'm not fond of most canned meats except Tuna.  Still, I am going to try to do as John has asked.  There's no warnings or anything like that which concern me.  It's just something he's mentioned repeatedly and I can see the wisdom of it myself.

We came home about 6pm this evening...Another late afternoon outing for us!...and after I put groceries away, we raided the fridge.  The second Deli sandwich John bought on Sunday, chips, grapes, and the last of the blueberry crisp made a decent supper and an easy one for me to put on the table.

Wednesday:  Having taken note of a suggestion to have a cooler room to promote sleep, I turned the AC to 74F last night.  The temperature outdoors dropped still further shortly after and no air came on all night long.  It's by no means cold outdoors but it is noticeably cooler and that is a help.

John went out early this morning to trim about the house, a task he didn't do yesterday.  He also cut back some trees and little privet bushes that were coming up.  He kindly did me the favor of taking a mattox to a pesky woody sort of weed that had grown up in the forsythia.

He accidentally cut a branch from the forsythia.  I tamped it in the ground. hoping it shall root...

We had a simple breakfast of doughnuts and coffee this morning.  Not something we typically do but we found a packet of doughnuts at Aldi that are quite good, smallish and inexpensive.

I made meatloaf for our dinner, adding in the leftover cornbread stuffing from lunch yesterday.  John says I must make mention that he helped get dinner today and he did help me.  I had already begun to mix the meatloaf when I realized I had need of a third hand which he happily provided to add in some seasonings for me, lol.

When I was putting foods away after dinner today, I dumped the last bits of the mashed potatoes into that soup container.

I added warm water to the pan I'd baked the meatloaf in and scraped it well.  This was poured into those small paper cups and made two more pupsicles for Maddie's afternoon treat.

I made a larger than usual meatloaf as I like meatloaf sandwiches and it's less expensive than many meats I might buy to cook for sandwich meat.

For supper this evening, we are still clearing up leftovers.  So far nothing has gone to waste this week!

John washed a full load of clothes and hung most to dry.

I poured water from the dishpan over a plant on the porch.

Washed a full dishwasher load of dishes.

Internet so intermittent this morning with the weather that I gave up trying to write and instead played games.  I won a couple of hours free play time.  It was a pleasant way to spend a rainy afternoon.  John was listening to a sports talk program and all my housework was done.

Thursday:  Do you think Pinterest is a waste of time, a place to generate envy?  Think of it as any tool.  When used rightly it can be an inspiration and a source of information.  OR you can indeed make yourself sick by looking at things that do create envy and dissatisfaction.  I like it as a tool.  I've gathered untold amounts of inspiration from things I've viewed on Pinterest and gained some good ideas.  Last night's biggest inspiration was the idea of creating 'mini' freezer meals.  These are meals just big enough for one or two instead of great huge batches of food.  Now there's an idea an empty nesting couple can use!  I'm going to make up some mini lasagnas and mini casseroles and pot pies just as soon as I can get some smaller foil serving pans.

We've done much of nothing these past two days.  The house is neat and clean and even some deeper cleaning jobs got done earlier in the week.   We've read, watched movies, and mostly relaxed.  Today's meals have been super easy thus far: leftover frozen waffles were reheated for breakfast and we broke out that good beef bologna and made sandwiches and nachos for lunch today.  No clue what supper shall be.

A good case of 'I want' vs. 'I don't wanna...' saved a tiny bit of money today.  I wanted take out.  I didn't wanna get out of the house.  When you live 30 miles away from Chinese and Mexican (my two most wanted items) then you do without, lol.

Turned AC up when we got up.  It didn't come back on for a long time this morning.  My electric bill should decrease this next month!

John is often difficult to buy gifts for.  I've hit upon the idea of looking for audio books and books by his favorite preachers.  He enjoys the audio books on the way to work and back home and sometimes brings them along on long road trips.  He's quite content with these but because he reads his books repeatedly, sometimes four or five times before he sets them aside, I hesitate to buy him just loads of books.  Today he mentioned an item he'd like to have, a sort of backless stool that will allow him to swivel and turn when he's playing guitar.  It wasn't costly and I ordered it right away.  I told him we'd call it an early Christmas present.  Happily the item had free shipping and I earned Swagbucks for the purchase.

Friday:  Turned up AC when I got up...Yes, I am trying hard to make this a habit.  When AC runs an average nine months of the year, I really need to be atop this, especially if I'm going to try and sleep better at night with a slightly cooler house.  And even that is subject to whether or not it actually helps me sleep.  If not, then why bother turning it down?

We planned to pick up dinner while we were out today.  No point in having a big huge breakfast this morning.  I set out cereal and toast.

I'm out of Maddie's food.  I fed her cat food.  I will pick up her food when we go out today.

Gathered trash, outgoing mail and my shopping list to go out with us this afternoon.

What did you do to save this week?

Living Well:

I've had a nice rest for the last few weeks.  I truly didn't do much, though I did finish off a couple of the projects begun in July.  I meant to finish those off...

Now that it's September, I am looking ahead.  On the Jewish calendar, this month is a fresh start to the year.  I think that is very appropriate and it's something I need just now.  Stepping out of the hazy dreamy state I found myself in most of August and into the excitement of a fresh time, celebrating the Harvest of the year past and looking ahead with hopeful heart as the harvest is set aside to give us security in the coming months .  Isn't it lovely that here, in the midst of the ending days of a year, we have time to begin anew?

We went to the mountain this past week.  The valley was not yet as highly colored as the photo I've shared above, but everywhere we looked trees were tinged with color, promising that autumn was near whether or not the weather chooses to cooperate.

This was the first time in years we didn't pray and sob our way through prayers.  We talked of heavenly things and we prayed silent prayers but the desperation of our prayers in previous years was no longer valid.  I can't speak for John, but my prayers were full of gratitude that we'd come to this place in our lives where we'd come to trust deeper, to acknowledge that we were still in that valley of Baca (not here and not yet there) but content to trust the need of the journey to carry us along.  Aware that joy is not what I once thought it, a time of laughter and gaiety but instead is a quiet contentment and the ability to walk in faith even through the dark days of not understanding just why things must be as they are.

I left the mountain in peace.  That's a worthy harvest, too, isn't it?