Thrifty Thursday: Creative Savings

 

Thursday:  John had a chiropractor appointment this morning.  I decided to go along.  We took off trash on our way.  

Cheapest play date ever: 1 bottle of juice and one hour of full-on activity for the Little One at a fast-food restaurant's outdoor playground.  He had a ball. There were children his age there playing, and they all played together.  Three fire trucks went by at two different times, with lights and sirens. He was fascinated by this.  I was grateful for an hour of activity that I hope will wear him down enough for a proper nap.

Visited the discount grocery today.  I stuck to the outside edges of the store, didn't go down any of the interior aisles.  What I wanted was in stock.  I was pleased to find all I went in for which was mostly meats.  

I felt my best buy today was 10 pounds of Gala apples for less than $10.  Why so many?  For one thing, Caleb and John both love apples.  And for another I want to make up a couple of apple pies and put in the freezer.  

I now feel I have enough meat on hand for about eight weeks or so.  The only other meat I want this month is to pick up corned beef while it is lower in price and put three or four in the freezer.  That means that next month I can concentrate solely on pantry stock-up.  I have enough budget left to keep us in fresh produce, milk and eggs.  Again, no spending on anything but whole foods and ingredients.  I can make the snacks.  Those are not my concern.

Meals:  Don't remember

Corned Dogs, Fruit

Shepherd's Pie, Fruit Salad, Biscuits

Friday:  Yesterday at the discount grocery I picked up two rolls of turkey breakfast sausage.  At about $2.75 it's not the most inexpensive sausage.  If I'm lucky I can find Kroger's pork sausage 2/$5.  We've only recently added some pork meats back into our eating pattern.  However, even pork sausage is sometimes hard to find in our regular shopping places and sometimes what we do find is ridiculously priced ($6 or more per pound).  

Between an egg sensitivity (I can eat a few each week but having an egg daily doesn't work for me at all), the high fat content of cheese, a lactose free child in the household barring me from keeping the more affordable dairy based yogurt on hand, and the high costs of traditional breakfast proteins overall, I'm having a hard time keeping the protein/fat/carb ratio I require to keep my blood sugar balanced.   If it were up to John, we'd eat eggs every single morning regardless of cost and as far as Caleb is concerned, he'd settle for a purely carb breakfast.  Never mind that in observing behaviors I've noted that when he eats too much fruit and bread, he tends to be far more erratic and temperamental than when he's had some protein along with his breakfast.  So, it's important to me that I find budget friendly sources of protein for us that works well for all. 

Thursday morning, before I found the turkey sausage at the discount grocery at lunchtime, I took two packages of ground venison from the freezer to thaw, planning to make my own sausage.  Silly as it sounds, I keep forgetting that I can do this.

This morning, I mixed up a batch of venison sausage and then had the brilliant (I hadn't a lot of sleep last night and coffee didn't provide the usual necessary jolt, so it was brilliant in my mental state), to test a tiny portion of the meat before packing to freeze.  I finally have a good balance of heavy seasoning that makes the meat taste like sausage!  Yay!  And yes, I know how I did it though I eyeballed the whole thing.  I used about 3 tablespoons of brown sugar (not packed), about the same of a seafood seasoning (like Old Bay), some additional paprika, salt and pepper and sage.  If I'd thought of it, I might have added some allspice and if it were for us alone, I'd have added pepper flakes.  Caleb is not fond of spicy foods.   I had probably 1/3 cup seasoning overall for the two pounds of meat.  I'll try to mix some of this up and keep on hand for future sausage making attempts.   

The same seasoning will work just as well in any ground meat: chicken, turkey, pork, even ground beef.  So, I'll watch for sales and just plan to make my own in the future.

Meals:  Sausage Biscuits

Bologna Sandwiches, Snack Mix

Roast Chicken, Baked Potatoes, Salad, Ice Cream.  The potatoes baked and baked and baked and never got really soft.  They were done, but very firm.  Whatever sort of potato they were, they weren't the Russets I'm accustomed to baking.  They were much smaller than the ones we've gotten in the past although they had the peel and shape of a Russet.

Saturday:  We took time out of our routines today to drive to the little town northwest of us in the rolling foothills...It's only 30 miles from home but it's a direction we go in only occasionally. No extra cost in terms of gasoline from the area we typically do our errands and shopping, but it always feels like we've had a mini vacation just because it's a direction we seldom go.

We had lunch out at a moderately priced fast casual restaurant.  As usual, our meal may look expensive at first glance...then you realize we get TWO meals off our entrees because we just can't eat all the food on our plate.  Not such a bad deal really.  Still more expensive than home cooking, but affordable as restaurant meals go.

John ordered a side salad that arrived as we were finishing our meals and asking for to go boxes.  I asked the waitress to remove it from our ticket.  Not a huge savings but a savings.

Our final savings today came in when I asked to go into the nearby Cato.  I'm in the mood for spring...and my wardrobe is not pleasing me when it comes to spring colors and lighter weight tops to wear.  How is this a savings today?  I didn't buy a darned thing!  I was going to grab up four items and bring them home but I made myself take the six extra minutes to go into the dressing room and try them on.  

Aside from the horrors of dressing room mirrors which seem to magnify and amplify every bulge, lump, curve and drooping of the 60 something body, the mirror also points up the inability of some of the clothing to hide said bulge, lump, curve and drooping.  I was shocked.  I was horrified.  I put everything back on a hanger and got dressed all over again and then looked critically in the mirror and I swear I saw NONE of those things once I'd dressed in my own things once more.  I'd wanted to fall in love with something new and fresh today, but maybe new isn't all it's cracked up to be!  What I've got at home right now will work just fine.

Just to prove to myself that it will, I came home and set up the outfits I'd kept promising myself I'd put together.  Six outfits later...  I'm not as happy as I might have been with something new, but I at least know I DO have something to wear, and I did try to put things together in a new way.

Meals:  Bagels, Croissants.   John had cream cheese, Caleb the dairy free cream cheese (no protein in that at all) and yogurt.  I had some Smoked Turkey on my Croissant.  

Everyone ate out at various places.  

John had a sandwich, I opted for half of the leftover Shepherd's Pie.  The children wanted cereal and I'm not sure what their Mama ate.

Sunday:  I have a lovely green and brown beaded necklace that I've attempted to wear over the past three years and each time I take it off and leave home wearing something else.  The issue with it is that pretty as it is, it's a little dressier than my outfits.  It doesn't really 'go' with my polished casual style.  This morning I looked at that pretty necklace and seriously debated just dropping it in the donation bag in my trunk, but as I was looking at it, I realized that while the clasp makes it a double strand, once undone, the necklace could also be worn as a long casual necklace because it's only the clasp that makes it a double strand.  Well, that was a game changer!  I am debating removing the clasp and safety chain entirely.  I can, if a dressy form is ever needed, simply double it myself without the clasp.

Last night I found a couple of really good deals on Walmart and Amazon via Hip2Save and MoneySavingMom websites.  I ordered a pair of Memory Foam Pillows from Walmart for about the same price I paid for the two pillows last weekend that we purchased from At Home.  I wanted that free shipping and was about $12 away from it.  Spend $12 or spend $12 on shipping?  It seemed to me I might as well look around and I decided to look around for cloth napkins.  We use cloth napkins every single day and lately we're washing them about every other day.  Caleb has certain ones he likes to pass out.  I found a set of 12 napkins on sale for $12.  I was pretty pleased with that purchase.  I can see and touch that $12 in the form of napkins.  Not so much with shipping, you know.

On Amazon, I noted that my favorite protein snack bar, the children's favorite fruit snacks and a generic form of Claritin were super well priced if I did a subscribe and save option and downloaded the Amazon coupon.  Done deal.  All three came in under $20.  Since we're smack in allergy season and this allergy product seems to work best for John, it's also timely.

I like the subscribe and save feature on many websites these days, but I wanted to remind you all that it's still best to check around.  Amazon sends out a notice each month reminding me to review my upcoming S&S items.  I can opt to skip and get it when the next cycle comes around.  What I generally do is check my personal inventory of supplies, then if I do need any item, I do a quick online check to see if it's on sale cheaper elsewhere. If not, then I let the order stand.  

And if you're not sure where you might have subscribed, I find it best to keep a listing.  Amazon keeps it all in one spot on their website for you but I have a few other vendors I also use to get things as a subscription.  I make sure to keep those listed in my notebook and note when the next subscription is due to be sent out so there are no surprises.

Honestly, I never thought I'd choose shopping online over a store experience but more and more I'm seeing the real value of it in many cases.  For one thing, there's a lot of impulse opportunities for me in walking through Walmart to retrieve an item such as those pillows.  We're not even talking about John's impulses when he's along and these days he's always along.  I know for a fact, I'd have spent far more than the $12 I spent on those napkins because in my brain, there's still a 'set point' amount to spend when I walk into a traditional store.  

For another reason, there's the ability to let an item 'rest' in the cart while I debate if the purchase is truly necessary or will be deeply appreciated.  Yes, you can impulse buy online and it's generally my rule to wait 24 hours before completing an order.  I happened to know I wanted two more pillows and had been watching for a good price on napkins that I liked.  However, the moment those two items were in the cart, I went ahead and placed my order without looking any further.

There's the time and energy savings factor, too.  By energy, I'm not just referring to the gasoline.  Nope, I'm talking about my energy.  It takes a lot of energy to do shopping with a 3-year-old even when he's being very good.

And my last reason is that I am seldom tempted to buy something that is completely new to me and our family tastes.  If I order online, it's almost always an item we are already using routinely and I'm purchasing because it's best priced at a website vs. store, especially if I can get free shipping.  

Meals:  PB Toast with Bananas.  Not sure what the kids ate...but the jar of cereal if pretty much empty.

Gramma's Fried Chicken, 3 Bean Salad, Mac n Cheese from a box.

Pepperoni Pizza, salad, variety of fruits if any want it.

Monday:  How do I save money on the days when I'm not planning to spend any money?  Well, not spending is the number one thing.  The number two thing is to use what I have wisely.  And number three is to use my head to think how I can streamline the savings process and make the most of what we have.

Number one: No shopping done today.

Number two: Pulled the roasted chicken from the fridge and shredded the meat. I made a homemade BBQ sauce to go over the shredded meat.  Then I took just four buns from the freezer to thaw.  We'll only need one sandwich each.  I've made my own coleslaw dressing.  I decided to add Brunswick Stew to the menu because we had it in the freezer and if I don't plan to use it, it won't be wasted but it will just sit there beyond its prime time for usage.

I added the chicken frame and skin to the freezer, so I can make broth in the near future.

Number three:  Every week I start a fresh grocery list of sales.  I have one sales paper that comes into my inbox on Monday and two others I can access on Tuesday ahead of the sales week beginning on Wednesday.  I have two more that come in on Wednesday and two on Sunday.  I can compare prices across several stores in my nearby area.

I got a notice this morning that I have a coupon good on so many dollars off a minimum amount purchase. I made note of that fact at the top of my sheet.  This action made me stop and think how I could make even better use of my shopping list to make it work harder for me.

I wrote down at the very top of the list the items I know I'm out of and want to add into my fridge/pantry/freezer.   Now I can compare that list to items listed on sale or make better judgement calls in spending because I know I must get those items that we're completely out of right away (like lettuce).  

I also realized that I could make note of which items are FREE from Ibotta or that have a high point value on Fetch if they are typically things we buy and/or are already on sale (double savings).

I can also write down exactly how much of my grocery budget I have left for the week/month to help me stay on track with my budget.  

I think I'm going to get much better mileage from my shopping list each week now.

Meals:  Eggs, Bacon, Toast.  Caleb ate peanut butter and jelly off the toast, two slices of bacon, a mandarin and half a bagel with peanut butter.  He said he wanted eggs but left them untouched.  John polished those off.  No egg goes to waste just yet!  Prices are better but not so much so that we will throw any out.

Turkey sandwiches for us.  Yogurt, strawberries and a slice of leftover pizza for Caleb.  He ate every bite.

BBQ Sandwiches, Coleslaw, Brunswick Stew. 

Tuesday:  I made my own eggrolls.  I could have added chicken to these, but I prefer to make them vegetable.

Cost to make eggrolls:  $2.59 pkt of wonton wrappers

                                                        $3 for 1.5 bags of coleslaw mix on sale

                                                        Free: a bit of red cabbage, grated carrot, chopped green onion

                                                         1/2 onion chopped 50c

I added in garlic and ginger root from the freezer which I bought months ago in bulk.  

For that outlay I got about 16 eggrolls.  I don't know if I accidentally doubled a couple of wonton wrappers or if I was shorted in my package.  The package stated that I should have 20 wonton wrappers.  However, for the grand total of $6.09 I have 16 eggrolls.  These average about $1 each in the frozen foods section of the groceries.  I'm not upset about it.  It took a little time to be sure, but less than it would have taken to drive to the groceries and buy them.

I extended roast beef with chopped mushrooms.  I prefer baby bella mushrooms myself but I only had white ones this week so that will work as well.  

I made a tuna casserole and tossed half a packet of chopped mushrooms into that as well.

Meals:  Sausage Gravy over leftover biscuits

Leftovers from our lunch out on Saturday.  Caleb had leftover Shepherd's Pie and Grapes.

Tuna Casserole, Green Beans, Tomatoes

Wednesday:  Last night's tuna casserole was tasty as far as John and I were concerned.  I don't think anyone else much cared for it.  Never mind.  I'd made a half recipe but still managed to put half that pan in the freezer for a future meal.

I did contemplate the fact that the same essential recipe would work well with chicken and broccoli in it as well.  I'll try to keep that in mind.

I made Carrot Cake muffins.  I used half an apple in the batter.  I didn't get to frost them as I'd thought I might, but they are good anyway.  And it makes me happy to know that some fruit and veg are getting into bellies via those muffins.

I put together two apple pies for the freezer this morning from one bag of apples.  I made crusts and streusel topping.  I've got cores and peels on the stove now simmering on the stove.  I hope to make a small batch of apple jelly with that liquid.   I still have a 5-pound bag of apples to use but not today.  I learned yesterday that overworking and making myself overly tired is not good for the morale of this household!

Sat down to work on checkbook.  Next pay period will be 5 weeks from now so it's a stretch it out month ahead of us.

And that was my savings week...How did you do with yours? 

Meals:  Carrot Cake Muffins, Fruit, cheese for John and I.

Hot Dogs, Mandarins, Chips

Steak, Mushrooms and Onions, Pub Fries, Steamed Broccoli

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