Living Frugally and Well: Starting the Last Quarter of the Year

Saturday:  Prepared a nice breakfast for John's coming in from work this morning.  I'd made a breakfast casserole (savory) and fruit salad for our meal this morning.  I prepared the casserole ahead yesterday morning.

Disappointed it wasn't cooler outdoors.  Air conditioner started coming on before it was 10am this morning.  Despite this, it was cloudy and gray so I took advantage of how the day looked and made a big pan of chili to serve over yellow rice.



Got too much salt in the chili.  I recalled reading years ago that dropping a raw halved potato into a dish that was too salty and letting it cook would tone down the saltiness.  I  cut a big red potato into quarters and dropped into the chili.  No, it didn't impart any flavor and YES it worked!  The saltiness was considerably reduced after the potato had cooked.

I didn't have time to prep ahead for supper or even finish planning weekend meals yesterday.  I got home only minutes before Shabat.  I decided that I'd keep things as simple as I could.  I served banana bread for dessert.

Put a full quart of chili up in the fridge.  I also packaged up the remaining yellow rice and froze that.

We watched multiple college games.  Mid afternoon, after we'd both had an unplanned but apparently necessary nap, we indulged in a beer and peanuts.  Sam left the beer here after family weekend.  How nice it was to have a nice cold beer, something we normally don't keep in the house.

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich for my supper.  John ate leftovers from his work lunch which happened to be peanut butter and jelly roll ups.

Started a full load of dishes in the dishwasher.

Sunday:  Cooked eggs and toast this morning.

John washed and hung most of the load of clothes to dry.

We took two items to the post office on our way to church.  Realized I'd left a third item at home but we don't do a turn around unless the something left behind is urgently required.  This wasn't.

Went into the grocery after church.  I had a short list of sales items, mostly buy one get one free items that I wanted to add to my pantry stock.  I'm over budget for groceries this week so I purchased these items from my allowance monies. I'll keep track of what I've spent of my own funds and repay me a little later down the road.

John added a box of fried chicken to the cart.  Since I had no plan for dinner nor anything prepped that could be easily used, I said nothing but "Thank you, for thinking of that..."

We made sure to pick up his prescription while we were in the store.

Harvested the last of the tomatoes and ate them with our lunch.

At home I did some light housework which included unloading the dishes washed last night, setting up items for breakfast tomorrow morning and prepping John's work lunch.  I packed leftover chicken and macaroni salad in his lunch and set aside leftover potato salad and chicken for my lunch for tomorrow.

Set up a single brew cup of coffee for John later this afternoon.

Hand washed a sink full of dishes, which included several zippered bags.

Monday:  Sent John off to work in the usual way: breakfast, lunch, coffee.

Misu suddenly decided she needed to be treated like Maddie. Maddie gets dog biscuits on these mornings when John leaves for work.  The cat cannot chew even the small bits of the hard biscuits despite a valiant effort on her part.  I bought a packet of treats on sale for her to try a couple of months ago and she loved them.  Bag two was  little higher because it wasn't on sale.  This past Friday while in the grocery, I priced and chose a 17 ounce container of cat treats, same brand I've been purchasing.  Why?  The smaller 3.5 ounce bags cost $3.59 each...ON SALE!   The 17 ounce container was $7.99.  That works out to about 61c an ounce as opposed to $1.03 an ounce.  HUGE price difference.

Came indoors and stripped our bed.  Gathered up towels and set the load to wash.

Earned  a few Swagbucks this morning.

Cashed in Pinecone rewards for $20 PayPal funds.

At daylight, I went out and hung up the bath towels and sheets to dry.

Came back in and started a load of rugs washing.

Since it was cloudy and truly cool this morning, I went ahead and started cleaning the front porch.  I washed down the siding, scrubbed windows along the front of the house and rinsed things off.

Pulled out the tomato plants.

Moved a volunteer petunia into a pot with other petunias.

Repotted all of the newly purchased plants.

Watered plants deeply.

Came indoors and swept and mopped floors.

Hung rugs out to dry.  Started a last load of throw rugs.

Cleaned the shower with homemade shower cleaner.

Opened windows in the house.  No AC one until nearly 2pm.  It ran very seldom after that.

Noted the mum branches I'd put in a bottle of water in the window had rooted.  Time to pot those up and wait to see the new growth on them before potting up outdoors.

Ate my leftovers lunch.

Worked out fourth quarter budget sheet.  Noted that my grocery expenses averaged a good bit higher than I'd thought we were spending...I'm going to keep on stocking my pantry but watching that budget line a lot harder!

Made a couple of business calls.  I am not happy.  We have had a long term line of credit with a bank we've been with for over twenty years.  This year they said we had to renew.  No problem.  Our credit score is awesome, we don't have debt, let's renew.  They said "Oh we'll only do this for the same amount if you prove to us you have cash to back it up.  Otherwise we'll only loan you what you typically keep in our bank."  As it happens we do have liquid assets to equal the total we wanted on the line of credit but this just rankled me.  We keep about half our money in this particular bank and it is twice as much as it was when we originally opened the line of credit.  Despite our great credit, owning our home and cars outright, early repayment on previous uses of the line of credit, etc., they're refusing  to allow us to keep the same amount of money on tap.  Money that we not only didn't use in full over the years we've had the line of credit but repaid in full years before the due date...Hmmmm...Paying the lowest interest around on my savings already and now telling me basically you'll loan me what I already have at a much much higher rate compared to what you're paying me for keeping my cash there?  Nooooo.  It's time to do some bank shopping.

Clipped coupons.

Called it a day!

Tuesday:  John was meant to work late this morning.  He didn't work overtime by much but it was beneficial because he earned CEUs as well as the extra hour.  CEUs are necessary to renew his license so that he can keep a job.

I'd boiled eggs this morning to make egg salad for sandwich filling.  I had two for my breakfast with crisp toast and orange marmalade.  John called just as I was fixing my plate.  He said he didn't want boiled eggs.  I assured him I could make something else for him.  I have loads of eggs and they were very inexpensive this past week.

John and I had a lot to discuss this morning and spent quite awhile getting it all talked over.  In the meantime the electric company sent out men with a load of dirt to fill in the deep deep ruts the trucks put in the lawn near the fence line.

We agreed that we'll take the lower line of credit but start shopping for a new bank to handle our checking account.  We'll also put any further savings into our smaller account at the most local bank in the meantime.   I have plenty of time to study on this since we have another box of checks and I'd like to use them up before we switch banks...but I will happily move if we find a better deal elsewhere, regardless of checks.

Cooked a whole head of broccoli that was just beginning to turn yellow.  I'm not sure how I'll use up the other half of it but I'll figure out something, perhaps a broccoli rice casserole to go into the freezer.

Made a big pan of Macaroni and Cheese and put half that into the freezer.

Dug in the fridge to see what I had and what needed to be used up.  Zucchini bit the dust, unfortunately.  I knew I needed to use it last week and I simply didn't think to shred and put in the freezer to preserve it as I ought to have done.  That's a $2.49 loss to the budget.

Found some sliced cucumber that were in a container and were still good.  I worked them into a salad for our dinner today.

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

When I was clearing up dishes, I ran water into the pan I'd cooked macaroni in.  This became my dishpan for hand washing dishes and also the spot where I rinsed off the dishes going into the dishwasher.   I'll pour this water over those poor mums in the yard this afternoon.

Took a big bowl of scraps and such to the compost.  I tossed in the spent tomato vines since they had no disease upon them.

I will make egg salad and pimento cheese for sandwich fillings this afternoon but we'll have hot dogs for our supper tonight.

Wednesday: Ran a full load of dishes in the dishwasher last night.

John and I had a nice talk this morning in the kitchen sitting area while our toast was toasting in the oven.  The spot was sunny and warm and pleasant.  Nice on a chilly fall morning, especially with out hot coffee.

We had plans for today...I gathered trash and mail and off we went to do our stuff.

First trek was to the bank.  I'm afraid they are not on their game at present.  They did not have paperwork ready.  I protested nicely and remarked that it had been two weeks.  Not the fault of the girl handling as she was on vacation but the in between person had failed to tend to the business while she was out, even though she'd sent it to that branch to be handled.   The protest earned a 'rush' order on the paperwork and we will return on Friday to finalize it.

John drove to the salon where he gets his hair cut.  He asked me to come in with him and then took me to lunch at a restaurant in the same shopping center.   This time, lunch was on our account, not out of our pockets.  We walked to the grocery store where I got a cup of coffee from Starbucks courtesy a gift card a dear friend sent me and stood around looking at the bouquets in the flower mart before picking up the only item I went in for:  cheese.  I bought one pound of the store brand which was on sale and cost only a very little more than 8 ounces of a name brand.

We drove to our cell phone carrier store and bought new phones and a hot spot for the house internet service.  We will pay a  bit more but there are savings in this.  First we will be cancelling the Hughes Net Satellite Services.  Second I can download money saving apps onto my phone which will also generate rebates and savings that I haven't been able to take advantage of without data on my cell phone.

We were pretty giddy over this.  So far it's been simple as can be to set things up.  Let's hope it continues to be so.

Thursday:  Though it was late last night I managed to prepare John's work lunch and set up our breakfast.

It was much cooler this morning.  I was in the snuggling mode when the alarm went off.  It is nice the weather is deciding to be seasonable.

It is a Holy Day.  We are not meant to work on this day.  John's work can't be helped but I decided I'd try to keep any work I did at a minimum.  I picked up a little and made the bed and unloaded the dishwasher I never got to yesterday and did a small sink of dishes.  I'll leave it at that for the day.

Mixed up a batch of cookie dough.  I want to make autumn leaf cookies.  I didn't have colored sugar in the colors I wanted so I mixed some with food coloring.  I had no red coloring to make orange, but I did have hot pink...that actually made up into a bright and pretty orange.

No leftovers and no single entrees in the fridge or freezer.  Made myself a meal using 1/4pound hamburger meat and side vegetables.   Put leftovers all into the same pan and will make a sort of leftover soup for my supper.

Having problems texting certain numbers on my phone namely two of the three people I text most often.  I've looked online for a solution and it appears I'll have to take my phone to the store and let them deal with it...too tired to deal with new phone drama already.

Made sugar cookies and they were pretty!  I'll try to upload the photo in a little while.  I'm really too stressed and weary to think of fighting with blogger too at the moment.

Called our satellite internet service and dumped them.  They are 'hurt' per the young girl who spoke with me on the phone.  Then they promptly asked if I'd like to continue with 2.5 times as much data for half the price I'm paying now...Gee where was that offer when I asked?  I explained they were offering too little too late and it might be helpful to contact customers and offer it sooner rather than after they've had enough of the high costs.  She said she'd made notes.  I'm skeptical but didn't voice it to her.

Officially saving money NOW on those internet data costs.

Friday:  John woke me this morning when he called to say he was coming home.  At some point he realized we weren't getting texts from one another so he thought a call best. I was glad he did call.  I might have still been in bed when he got home!

John washed a small load of clothes and hung only a few pieces to dry.  The rest he pushed into the dryer so they'd be done sooner rather than later.  His hurry was related to our plans for the day.

Made a big breakfast, intention being to hold off that mid morning snacking of his but I'm thinking it's cheaper to let him snack...

Off to the bank to finally finalize the paperwork.  I was pleased to see our credit scores and our assets vs. liabilities listed in the paper work.  John laughed over the figure but he was impressed.  Sadly we've found our bank, too is less impressed with the likes of those who have no debt, vs. the ones who have loads but you know what?  Peace of mind has a far greater value to us.  We can take care of ourselves in our future and that's something!t

On our way to the bank we picked up our mail and took off the trash.  At the dumpster we found a like new Disney Princess table with two chairs and two Mickey and Minnie pink chairs.   Sometimes, I think God surely loves surprising me with such finds.  I found a table and chairs for Taylor at a small thrift store back in the summer and I've been looking for a set to have here.  I kept thinking it would be perfect for the little ones to sit at in the kitchen doorway when we have big family dinners.   And then to stumble upon this like new set today surprised me.  I've disinfected it with hot water and cleaner and let it air dry.  Now it should be good to go next time family visits.

John decided to drive over to another town.  I thought his purpose was to get mower blades but no.  He'd decided we'd pick up lunch.  Now honestly, I had a plan all worked out at home but I think this was his way of celebrating our week of working in our financial areas and it was a cheap enough celebration.  One sub sandwich to share at home, a bag of chips for the ride and two chocolate chip cookies to polish off the sandwich, lol.  Whoopee!  We live BIG when we celebrate...

Views on the drive are so beautiful just now.  October is a big month for wildflower blooms in our Georgia and everywhere we went they were showing off.  Add in sunshine and blue skies and slightly cooler temperatures and it reminded me of why we've always said it's the perfect vacation month.  Well no vacation this year for the month of October but it's gorgeous enough it feels like one even when we just take a short ride.

Home to eat our take away lunch and chatter away about our new phones and how to set this function or that and a hundred other things.  We seem to be in a very talky mood lately.

I hemmed John's pajama pants.  He had me cut them off the other night and then he washed them which caused the flannel to start to fringe on the end.  I thought I'd hem them even though he didn't think it necessary.   He was playing around the other night when Bess came in and had put one of the cut off pieces on his head.  It looked like a night cap.  Well, as fun and being practical as well, I went on and sewed up one end of those.  Now he really can wear them as a night cap if he'd like.  I know that he'd stay much warmer in the winter if his head were covered.  And maybe he'd stop pushing heavy blankets and quilts on top of me all winter long...

Mama bought a blouse the other day.  She was in love with the color and pattern the moment she saw it but it had bell sleeves.  I suggested she try on the blouse for fit and then told her I'd remove the ends and rehem the sleeves to 3/4 length.  Did that today.  I'll take to her when I visit her next week.

John went out to mow.  I cleaned house and made Challah.  I made 4 loaves from the recipe today.

Planned meal for tomorrow.  I don't have much time to do prep work but I'll do what I can.  I took meat from the freezer to thaw.

That's my week!  What did you do to save in yours?