In January, we've just finished a long holiday period. During the holiday rush, I've spent weeks looking at my home and I have seen all the things I haven't done. Once the New Year is upon us, I'm all ready to get my home in order for another year. I want to clear out the excess, organize the rest and clean. Sales occur which push me to restock the most immediate needs of our household. This is helped by the fact that we have several pay periods with holiday pay. That is just the time to work on these tasks as I have funding to cover the needs of the home and to do a rapid replenishing of our subaccounts.
That's January for me. While others of my acquaintance end their holiday season with vows of extra thriftiness and pantry challenges, I start it with a long list of needs and outages, household organizational needs, etc. I end the month with a desire to get back into the thriftier ways.
February is my month to go over the daily workings of my household and examine what I spend and why I spend it. Have I gotten lazy? Did I find that, after all, the savings vs. the time required didn't balance out? Are there new ways to save, or old ones that I want to try because of an increase in skill? I am prone to go over my books and notes from years past to see if what I do is currently producing a noticeable savings or if I have something written in my inspiration files I haven't yet tried that I'd like to attempt now.
February is also my time to experiment. This is something I enjoy very much. I enjoy challenging myself.
So what challenges do I want to do this February?
I will be working on a pantry/freezer challenge this month but not due to a spending freeze. I've noted that I have several items on hand that need to be used up due to expiration dates, or because they are odd ingredients that I thought might be useful that simply aren't something we typically eat. This month is about clearing out those items to make way for more good basics. I mentioned to other homemakers in my life that I have been earnestly trying to build a pantry for 41 years...but that is not really truth. I only began trying to build a substantial six months pantry since I've been a full time homemaker, about 21 years. I am still trying to get it just right for us. I often buy things that others tell me are good pantry staples, and perhaps they are for their family but for mine, not so much. Occasionally I buy an item simply because I've read of it in a book. Yes, I truly do have literary pantry items. All good and well but a waste of money if it's something that is completely out of my realm of experience and some of these things are...like Ghee or Lingonberry jam. I bought chia seeds because they are supposed to be a good source of fiber and protein, but I broke down here in January and admitted that they simply don't suit me. Time to make good on my investments in these foods and use it or pass it along to someone who does and then move on.
I want to experiment with a wider variety of meatless meal recipes. I've been watching vlogs and pinning vegan/vegetarian type recipes for weeks now. I typically think of beans as the go to meatless meal and they are a good source of many vitamins, nutrients and enzymes required by the body but there are also some really good recipes out there that combine vegetables to create a protein that are not solely bean based. My purpose is two fold. Number one, there is a savings in not eating a meat meal. Second, I'll have a broader base of tried and true recipes to choose from when/if John decides to do another Daniel fast and to lend variety to our weekly meatless meal plan.
I want to start a new sub account. I thought about it Saturday morning when our heat pump was running. The propane heater is a great help but it does not have a thermostat. Once on, it stays on and that often means the house gets way too warm. We turn it off and then the electric heat comes on when the temperature drops once more. I want a thermostatically controlled propane heater. They run about $700. It will ultimately help us save on our winter electric bills. Finding the funding will be the trickier part. Remember that money I started setting aside last month, the odd $1 and $5 bills? It might well be the way I go about this. Adding in little extra bits here and there until I reach my goal or when I have a coupon or savings that is unexpected, will eventually get me there. February usually sees the end of any extra holiday pay. Overtime is always a possibility but I never count it as a probability. Our regular funds are all accounted for so finding the extra savings will be key in meeting this goal.
I like to play about with our food budget in February. How can I manage on this budget or that one? Remember when I challenged myself to try various extreme low budget points for a month a couple of years ago? That was an enlightening challenge. I'd like to do something similar in this month but I've only just been to the store and I know that we have an ample supply of foodstuffs on hand. Having an ample supply does not necessarily mean we have to eat lavish meals, however. Incorporating some new meatless meals into our rotation will help. Learning to make smaller meals overall would be an even bigger help. Having had my family live with us for six months last year I have increased my cooking portions. It's time to challenge myself to get back to cooking for two. That means learning how to reduce a recipe so that it is more suitable for a small household.
Remember my shoebox meal challenge? I want to set up a few quick and easy meals in groupings once more so that I can always pull a meal from the shelf when I'm in a time crunch or have been ill. And that's another challenge: building a small sick pantry. I have the tissues, but soups, gelatins, crackers, clear sodas, certain medications would be nice to have on hand. Most of those things can be rotated and kept current. Truth, medications can expire before needed, but I've always said it's never a waste in my opinion to have those expire unused. Its just an opportunity to thank God for a season of great health! And if we do need them and haven't got to run out when we're ill, it's an equally good blessing.
February is also a time to finish those things I started and haven't finished up. I have two quilts in progress. One is the first one I began with. All the material is there to finish it except the batting. I'd like to go on and complete the top at this time. I also began making yo-yos for a quilt and I've let that sit for years. I really like that piece of work and I'd like to continue and get it finished. I want to use it in the guest room. Then there's the chifforobe to finish painting (inside...hopefully by the time the last hour of January comes along the outside will be complete).
The shed still needs to be fully organized. I want to get some shelves up and purchase a few more bins but I can't do either of those things until I get into the mess I have to see what it is I need in order to better organize it.
And last, February is a month to begin work on the landscaping about the house. It's not planting season, but in our area I could gather materials for the next bit of landscape work, fill in some of the great gaping holes Maddie dug in the existing flower beds, turn up a bit of ground for planting a small cutting garden, emptying and cleaning pots, etc. There's lots of preparatory work to be done and when there's a couple of dry days I could get outdoors most afternoons and do something. Doing Something is often the biggest thing of all. It's easy enough to sit and plan and dream of how things might look or be but it's most important to take action or else, it's like those unfinished quilts...not useful nor beautiful and still just a dream.
So those are my February plans. To assess my current savings methods and look to see if I can add to my skills and ways. To find delicious but meatless recipes that we really enjoy. To find a way to save for that propane heater.
What are your plans for February?
8 comments:
Check this out regarding "expiry dates on medicines".... https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/07/18/537257884/that-drug-expiration-date-may-be-more-myth-than-fact
I found it interesting. I have no plans for February except to stay warm.. They say we are coming into some severe cold weather. BRRRR
And I thought I had too much to do. You put me to shame.
It is usually just my husband and I for supper as well. A system that works for me is to always send supper leftovers for my husband's lunch the next day. I pack it right when I'm cleaning up the supper dishes, then put his lunch bag in the fridge ready for the morning. Any other leftovers are portioned into containers to eat later in the week. Usually these leftovers will cover another supper or lunch. Also, about once a week I chop up a salad - lots of veggies with some spinach and put in a huge tupperware bowl for me to take from to eat every day for lunch. I just put some in a bowl, add beans, cottage cheese, seeds, nuts, chicken pieces, etc, and I have an instant lunch. I don't eat supper food for lunch, only salad. It is a good way to eat more veggies.
Two things: Have you tried pasta made from chick peas? Half the carbs and a lot of protein. They are more toothsome than wheat pasta but we made the conversion to chick pea pasta pretty easily.
Second, have you looked up the British World War II cook books? Our library had some and then I got one for about a dollar at a used bookstore. LOTS of meat free recipes, since they were suffering under severe food rationing. But, as doctors later pointed out, people were healthier back then due to more walking and vegetable based diets. You might find the recipes and the illustrations very interesting, with your love of old magazines.
Years ago we were in England and went to the War Museum. We chanced upon a cooking demonstration by a very, very elderly lady. During WWII, her job was to go to the fancy stores, like Harrods, and hold cooking classes for rich women who had lost their cooks and domestic servants to munitions jobs that paid much higher and you didn't have to live in like domestics did in the Downton Abbey days. She said that very few women even knew how to boil an egg, let alone make a meal, let alone make it with out meat or sugar or butter. She has since died but I think of her frequently.
I remember when you started the yo-yos. I saw a yo-yo quilt on IG today and it was just gorgeous.
I need to make a list of all of the little projects to be done around here and prioritize so they can get done. Then I need to suck it up and do them even if the kids are here every day.
Lingon? Love lingon with korv! (I am laughing to myself at your puzzled look) i think we all have those impulse items around. My son in law has become a vegan and when I was there I tried some of the things he cooked for himself and they were quite good. Gramma D
I think I saw some pasta items made from different things at Aldi this week...thanks Mabel I will be looking for the chick pea ones! I am working on many areas of our yards and veggie garden areas redone some and readying some for planting a bit later in the season. I don't want to be cut short on time as I sometimes am when actual planting time rolls around. I am not sure of other projects at this moment...I feel half asleep..but you sure have me thinking.. Sarah
Weezie, I thought that was an awesome article! I do believe it's not FDA but the manufacturer's that keep those expiration dates where they do. That was a lot of good information and makes me feel a little less vigilante about some of the medicines I've wanted to toss. I do recall at some point a nurse friend who was going on a mission trip collecting expired prescription drugs because they could use them in other much poorer countries.
Out My Window, mostly I just try and fill my time. John's convinced he can't afford to have me work and I have to keep up the appearance somehow, lol.
Lisa, I used to send leftovers to work with John but he rebelled. He really does need snatch and go sorts of things on his work days.
Mabel I have seen that chickpea pasta and I've literally stood in the aisle and said "Ewww…" and I don't know why since chickpeas really don't have much of a taste at all. I like the texture of the wheat pasta which is a little more toothsome than white pasta so I might well like the chickpea. I shall buy some next time I am in a store that has it and we'll give it a try.
One of the things I love about my vintage magazines is that many from the 1940's carry war ration recipes. Not as stringent as what the British experienced but they are economical and sometimes unusual. I did find a British vlogger who cooked and lost weight using the war ration recipes. I'll check for books.
Tammy, I am ashamed anyone can remember when I started yo yos. I sometimes read through pasts blog posts because it is in part a journal of my life and I am ashamed when I read about doing a project and five years later I mention that I plan to finish it, lol.
Dorie, The book I read the woman mentioned several times that her mother served Lingonberries over mashed potatoes. The author was from Lapland or Finland I think. Korv sounds interesting and gives me a further idea of how we might use the jar from my pantry shelf.
Sara, that is my thinking, too. I never have the ground ready when planting season arrives. Even a pot filled with dirt is better than having nothing at all ready, isn't it?
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