The Homemaker's Week of Savings: It's Not Always Easy

 

Thursday:  I had a brief idea of what I might make for breakfast in the middle of the night last night and then I went to sleep. I woke not feeling well...Sam and Katie woke not feeling well either.  Sam provided an easy quick breakfast for his kiddos with Poptarts.  I realized I had some of the same in the cabinet.  These are not full sized Poptarts but single packets that are narrower than the Poptarts that we'd buy in the market.   I was going to cut the children a chunk of cheese and give them fruit to go with it but then Caleb's Almond Yogurt that was about to expire was sitting right in front and I grabbed that.  I chopped strawberries to put on top and presented the kids with breakfast.  Easy enough.

Yesterday evening, I'd gone to the back and pulled out a variety of things for lunch and snacks today.  As it happened, we just had them here for lunch.  That was boxed mac n cheese, applesauce cups and baby carrots with Tang to drink as their juice.  I was just fresh out of juice, so I was glad I had the Tang on hand.  The kids loved it, all of them asking for more.  

John had an appointment this morning and asked if I needed anything while he was out.  I told him I did not.  He decided to stop by the local grocery and picked up a variety of unnecessary items.  He also bought some steaks that were discounted and gorgeous.  Honestly, I couldn't get a steak anywhere on July 4th for what he paid today for three huge steaks.  He was pretty pleased with his Manager's Specials and to his credit he did very well indeed where the steaks were concerned.  Still...not in my budget at the moment...I'll have to make it up in other ways.

After lunch today I made phone calls.  We'd ordered the shower kit, drain pan and drain to do the bathroom renovation.  John thought he was having them all delivered.  It turned out that the two items we might easily pick up were being delivered but the one that wouldn't fit our car was ready to be picked up.  Since we were paying for delivery, I called the store and eventually got through.  No kidding, the phone must have rung for five minutes but I persevered.  Someone had to answer at some point, right?  They did and I was able to get all three items set up to be delivered to us at the same time for the one fee.

Called both the cabinet manufacturer and the contractor in the continuing saga of tracking down my sink cabinet that was missing.  Happy to report it was delivered, but the label was missing, hence the contractor's confusion.  Now to get my renovation rescheduled...

Then made one more phone call about a past due bill with a balance of $2.  Apparently, the rates increased, and no one told me, so I wrote my check for the usual amount.  That was three months ago.  I asked if I couldn't just pay it when they came to do the service this month and then went ahead and scheduled the service, too.  

Katie cooked steaks tonight for supper.  My Cottage Pie that I'd made ahead will be supper tomorrow night.  I wanted baked potatoes.  Katie was going to make a salad and finding the spinach not quite ideal suggested she would cook the spinach as a side.  We had leftover meat which we'll make into Black and Blue Salads one night.

I picked five tiny tomatoes off the plants that were beginning to change to red.  They are on the counter to finish ripening.

Handed Katie the last change in my purse to pick up a necessary item.  We made it plain we are now tapped out and boy are we!

Friday:  Found pancakes in the freezer this week, so I put those on the table this morning along with fried Spam.  It was enough to carry us through the day until we all had late lunches.

I worked on the checkbook this morning and went over bills.  It's going to be a tight month, no matter how I look at it, between renovation items we need and unexpected bills we hadn't thought we'd have to pay.  I was very mindful of this as I planned a day out alone.  It certainly did make my plans for today change quite a bit.  

I went to pick up a prescription and while I was in the area, decided to go by Lowe's.  I had a small amount of money, a gift card and a military discount.  I picked up two bell pepper plants and two Phlox then wandered to the back of the garden center to look at the clearance stuff.  I found another type of Phlox, an Angelonia and a Speedwell plant that looked viable and were half price.  I spent a little bit more than I'd planned but not so much that I'll have serious regrets over it.  After all, two of those plants are hopefully going to produce food for the household and the flowering plants are usually perennials in my area, though they are annuals much further north.

Stopped at the local grocery on my way home to get bread.  Forget all about bread.  I had planned to walk about and get a feel for prices, stock, etc.  I wanted to get the bread, juice and a couple of items for a salad I want to make for the weekend meal.  I went by the meat counter and found 2.5-pounds of Ground Chuck for $5 and as I went further down the counter discovered the ham that Bess pointed out to me last week had been marked way down.  I forgot bread but at least I know how to make bread.

Came home and divided up the meat.  I cut the ground beef package right in half.  I cut two sections off the shank of the ham giving me two boneless cuts.  The shank portion is meaty as can be, too. 

Set the plants so that they'd catch water from the eaves.  They should be well watered now because we had a downpour.

Supper was just so-so tonight.  I should have made up the cottage pie in a different way.  I think it would have tasted better but there you are.  It was a dud of a meal.  We ate it anyway.

Saturday:  I was up all night long.  So, I got up at 5:30am and watched the night turn into day with a cup of coffee in hand...and then I dozed off and slept in my chair for about an hour.

I was up again by 8:30. More coffee.  Thank goodness it was cheaper this past month.  We polished off the bagels and croissants.

For lunch I made steak salads using the leftover steak.  I made my own blue cheese dressing which honestly is far superior to anything I can buy anyway.  I'm not saying it's cheaper.  I'm saying it's better.  

After lunch, we sat around and did nothing.  John had showered and dressed.  I suggested we take off trash and go for a ride.  We did that and stopped for ice cream which was a portion of our Saturday day out.  John paid out of his pocket.  We just didn't have money for eating out today, which was fine.  We were both loathe to go into any store where we'd spend money.  We need to purchase flooring for the bathroom and then we're done with everything but hardware and incidentals that we can't possibly anticipate.

We came home and I pulled little frozen pizzas from the freezer for our supper.  I doctored them up a wee bit with Parmesan and Pepperoni.

Sunday:  Stopped in at the local grocery on our way home from church.  I bought some ground chuck to make a quick lunch of sliders.  I should have thought ahead and set meat out to thaw.  That's on me.  

Bess had texted me what meat they'd marked down today.  She does that every day.  I'm not going to run into town every time because (a) I have a budget to stick to and (b) I only have so much room, but today's special was on Stew Beef.  That is pricey all time of the year and the price was so good, it wa pre-pandemic priced.  I picked up three packs and put in the freezer.  

I also discovered they had several packages of wings, some whole and some cut up.  Price per pound was the same on both and far lower than anything I've seen in a long while.  I got a package of those.  I told John we're spending an average of $40 every time we got through the door.  I'll have to watch that bit of spending and monitor my trips.   

But on the other hand, I'd noted that juice in the town 60 miles round trip away had a sale on juice.  It's about 70c a jug cheaper.  However, after pricing gasoline today, I also realized that the two gallons of gas over must be added to my costs.  It's not worthwhile to me to just run over and get juice.  I'd have to do a much bigger shop, one where sales and coupons makes it really worthwhile to go over.  

I think in the end, I'll be doing more local shopping and only gathering specials at the bigger stores when we're already in that area anyway, so the cost of gasoline is spread out further.  

I saved some of the tomato seeds from the tomatoes that the worms damaged.  I hate that they were ruined but since the tiny tomatoes were ripe, I thought I might at least get a wee bit of usage before they went to the compost pile.

I also saved the seeds from the cucumber I put in our salad yesterday.  This was one of Sam's cucumbers.  Sure hope those seeds will keep until next year.

And last, as I put potatoes into today's slow cooker meal, I cut away the big sprouts and have them ready to tuck into my next bin of soil.  If I get only one or two potatoes off them it's that much more than I had, right?  

Monday:  I went out to eye the plants this morning and was pleased that at least three of the tomatoes are getting quite large.  The ones I've brought indoors thus far have been about golf ball sized.  Mind you they most of them also suffered nibbles from the green worms as well and I'm sure that helped stunt their growth.   The plants are looking pretty darned bad though and I wonder if I shall lose them all at this stage, between the damage the worms did, the heat and their general ill appearance.   I do have blooms on the tomato plant I rescued from the compost and the second plant is slowly growing.  Growing tomatoes has not been the easiest thing, I can say that most assuredly.

I noted that something is eating the green stems of my onions as well.  Not sure those are going to become viable onions at all.  And the eggplant had only the one bloom.  I suspect, but don't know, that like all blooms they need to be pollinated and this one wasn't and the one about to bust out won't be either.  It's only the one plant that has any blooms at all at present.  

On the other hand, we woke to the sound of rain this morning, so no need to water a thing which is nice.  And to add to my joy the roses are looking lush and lovely.  The coral Aldi rose (no clue what name it holds) is just filled with buds about to burst open and the blooms thus far have been extra lovely.   The tiny tea roses just began to bud up and one bloom has appeared.  The rescue orange rose has buds and a bloom has opened there too.

I took a pound of ground beef this morning and made a big batch of both chili and spaghetti sauce.  One of John's requests for meals this week was Chili Mac.  Not a favorite of mine this time of year but I figured having the chili pre-made for next week would at least ensure I had a quick and easy meal.  I'll probably just make extra macaroni when I'm making Tuna Pasta salad later this week and will freeze that as well.  

Tuesday:  I couldn't find Ranch dressing packets in the kitchen and didn't want to make a third trip to the pantry closet this morning, so I just assembled what I felt was likely in Ranch dressing mix.  I know it's largely green herbs, so I added Dill, Chives, Celery Leaves, Tarragon (new to me.  I haven't added this but felt it went well), Parsley.  Then I threw in some onion and garlic powders and for good measure a little Lemon pepper.  This smelled absolutely amazing and definitely gave off the Ranch vibes very nicely.

I've focused my creativity on making up a new recipe for supper tonight.  I'm sure that someone has a recipe for this dish, but I was asked to make a certain meal and I thought out how I'd like it to taste.  We shall see if it turns out as I'd hoped.  If it's a keeper, I'll share the recipe with you all.  I liked it because it made use of something I had on hand already.

And I have to share that my lack of labeling those odds and ends of vegetables that I shove in the freezer simply because I don't want to waste, turned into a happy thing yesterday but is also a sure sign I ought to label.   I pulled out dried tomatoes, tomato paste, green bell pepper, shredded zucchini and just as I was about to shut the freezer saw a baggie with a bit of green bell pepper in it as well.  "Now why leave that little bit?" I asked myself so I grabbed it up.

Everything went right into the spaghetti pot.  It wasn't until we were eating our spaghetti meal last night that I realized it wasn't green bell pepper but finely chopped broccoli stems. It added a nice little bit of extra texture, didn't taste in the least like broccoli, boosted the minerals and vitamins a bit.  I'll call that a happy accident.  And yes, I'll save my stems in the future, but I'll be sure to mark them because I really do want to add them to my sauce again!

Quick rundown of today's meals:  Boiled eggs, peach muffins, hash browns.  The peaches I bought on Sunday at the local store are as disappointing as the last ones bought at the grocery.  The peaches feel mealy when eaten fresh.  However, just like the last peaches, they cook up nicely enough.  So into muffins this morning for one peach.  I'll probably do a Peach Quick Bread with the last two.   The potatoes were some I diced last week and put in the fridge because they were getting old.  

BBQ sandwiches, pickles, chips.  The sandwiches and chips were from the school lunch bags Sam brought over.  The pickles homemade with cucumbers from his garden.

And from yesterday, it wasn't until afternoon that Sam brought over bags but this week's offerings included: frozen burgers, bbq sandwiches, pizza pockets, Uncrustables peanut butter and Jelly sandwiches, Cheese sandwiches (frozen meant to be heated and melted), cheesesticks, dried raisins, cranberries, strawberries, fruit cups, applesauce, variety of fruit juices some shelf stable and some to go into the freezer, as well as 4 cans of V-8.  There were also bags of baked or reduced fat chips. We also got a variety of breakfast items: Pop tarts, waffles, sausage biscuits, cereal bars, individual cereal bowls.  Sam said he'd finally figured out this week that the ratio works out to about 1 bag per child for 5 days and contains roughly 2000 calories.

Most weeks these bags also contain carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, orange slices and apple slices.  Bess told me they also pass out milk but invariably it goes off right away, no doubt from traveling in an un-airconditioned bus as they make deliveries.

Katie went over to the storage unit to empty out stuff from her car, gather more stuff to bring home.  This included three or four grocery bags of non-perishable foods she'd shoved in last November and hadn't brought home.  I thanked her for bringing it in.  I looked things over and none of it is expired.  It is a mixture of staples and snack items. I put the flour in the freezer just for safety's sake.  I broke up a brick of sugar that had gotten hard, but I know from experience that it will work for cooking.  

I pondered how when I feel I must cut deeply into my grocery budget, God seems to provide extras that I'd never have bought but which round out things in a pleasant way.   Goodness knows it is all deeply appreciated, too!

Supper tonight:  Broccoli Cheese Stuffed Chicken, Mashed Potatoes, Salad.  I just posted this over on my recipe blog, www.bluehousejournalrecipes.blogspot.com    I was happy to use some of the individual broccoli packets that Sam has given me over summer from the school lunch bags.  This was really good!

Wednesday:  I put a ham in the crockpot before leaving home this morning.  It sure does smell good!  I'll drain it off here shortly and make our potatoes au gratin dish to go with it here in a moment.  I have a can of 3 Bean Salad in the fridge that I plan to have as a side.  I planned to make the ham for our supper tonight and hope to have enough leftovers for sandwiches for the kids tomorrow.

I was up earlier this morning because I wanted to get the work of writing out the bills done before breakfast. I always grossly underestimate exactly how long this task is going to take.  I think "Oh I'll be all done in a half hour."  It almost always takes upwards of two hours and at the very least it will take 1.5 hours.  

Some paperwork has been lost.  Nothing that can't be retrieved, but it costs a hefty fee to get a copy these days.  I went to check the Safety Deposit box this morning.  I had a copy but not the certified copy required.  When we came back home, Katie followed my directions in looking for it in my other paperwork.  We didn't find it but I am grateful that I keep my paperwork all in one place!  It sure does cut down on the need to look through ALL the things which is a stress reliever right there.

Katie asked if I wanted to go with her to do an errand today.  As it happened, I was running errands, too and we just combined them all to one car.  I personally sent off outgoing mail, went by the bank (and just went ahead and combined a banking errand that really ought to have been done at a different bank right there), picked up a prescription and got a few missing items for groceries.  Mostly I picked up fresh produce, a few dairy items and something for lunch, which was cheaper than doing any fast-food options.

Breakfast: frozen Sausage Biscuits from the freezer stash (school food).  We had pest control in at the same time, so this was most convenient and that extra easy option was greatly appreciated.

Lunch: Fried Chicken, baby carrots, dressing to use as dip

I have quite a lot of ham leftover, more than enough for sandwiches for lunch tomorrow.