Thrifty Thursday: Broken Record

 

Friday:  We worked hard today.  My big push was to make bread this morning in between doing good steward work on the Keurig.  I ran vinegar through the machine.  Then I poured that hot water down the freshly treated drains.  Two for one on that deal!

I cooked a roast today and used up a jar of homemade Teriyaki marinade that had been sitting in the fridge.  Do I have plans for the roast?  No... but I figured it would be good for sandwiches this next week.  

I also boiled an egg for tuna salad today and while I was at it, I put six more on to boil with it.  That will serve as snacks and breakfasts over the weekend.  Now that eggs have fallen in price once more, they are cheap enough to let the family have them as snacks.  Will we ever see 49c a dozen eggs at Aldi again?? Inquiring mind here...

All in all, a really good productive day.

I was digging in a drawer and came across some money I'd put aside.  I thought it was for a vacation purchase we'd made and had been set aside for the credit card but I came across an entry on my check register and I'd already set that amount aside.  I don't know why I hid this money, but I'm glad I found it!

Saturday:  Oh, the dithering and dathering when I can't make up my mind!  

John off to do a service day, so I planned a day of running errands.  First task was to sit down and get the credit card payment in the envelope and get that ready to mail.  That alone should have stunted any desire to shop but it did not.  It did however restrain me when I went into the grocery.  I do NOT need groceries...but I bought bread, bananas, broccoli, cauliflower, yogurt and Pierogis.  Not such a bad lot of things to get as impulse items as far as calories go.  And we will use all of those things in the week or two ahead.

I chose a pretty bunch of flowers.  Sometimes the flowers at this particular store are a bit hit and miss.  The 3/$12 bunches were rather ragtag looking.  I opted for a larger bouquet for $16.  When I got home this bunch made two nice bouquets and they are giving that fresh autumn vibe I wanted.  The others were all vibrant green and pale pastels.

Here's where I did something silly.  The 8-ounce boxes were on sale buy one get one free.  But, despite the signage right in front of me, I saw only the usual unit price and figured the 2-pound bag was a much better buy.   If the others hadn't been on sale, they would have been, but foolishly, I ignored the sale and paid MORE.   ARGH!  I didn't even realize it until I'd been gone from the grocery for over two hours.  Frugal Fail!

I returned the sparkly jeans.  I was given a gift card because I'd used PayPal to pay for them online.  I'd planned to get them credited to my credit card.  Store policy wouldn't allow that.

I went over the clearance racks because I've learned that often as not, we can find seasonal items there.  Sure enough, I found a really pretty bittersweet color heavy knit t-shirt that will be perfect for these early autumn days, and it was just $10.  I picked up two more in more summery colors that went into my house clothes drawer.  Since I am forever staining shirts around the house, this is how I keep myself presentable, shopping the clearance racks.

I picked up a lot of things this weekend and put them back, too.  Lots.  And that's the important thing.  I put so many things back.  Why did I buy what I did?  I was assured in my own mind that there was genuine good use in those items I chose to purchase.

On the way home, I couldn't make up my mind about what I wanted to pick up for lunch.  I thought of various options and then said, "No, too expensive."  I thought of cheaper options, all of which involved going back into the grocery all over again, which meant I'd likely spend more money.  Finally, I pulled up the local Chinese restaurant menu, planned a meal and added up costs until I was convinced I had a good option that saved time and would likely cost less than a trip into the grocery.   

To be honest, I'd already priced things at Publix and was sure what I bought cost no more than frozen options with the added bonus of being hot and ready to eat.

For supper tonight, I pulled steaks from the freezer.  That sounds like an expensive meal compared to having takeout, doesn't it?  It wasn't.  These were purchased last May, were thin, not thick steaks.  I served with salad and slices of the specialty bread I'd bought in Publix earlier today.  

Sunday:  We had our day 'out' today.  After church we headed to get haircuts and then we went to our favorite restaurant where we learned an important lesson.  On Sundays, the menu is different than it is Monday through Saturday.  There is no lunch menu.  You pay 'entree' prices.  Shocker!  Well, we don't typically eat out on Sunday at this place and had no idea.  Now we do.  We kept our meal rather simple.  As usual we each brought home half our meal.  

I did suggest to John that we really ought to just buy one entree and an extra salad from now on and his reply was classic John.  "Noooo...We're not quite that old yet!"

I applied for a new credit card.  Do I need another credit card?  No...and yes.  Back about 30 years ago, I was offered a credit card after I'd done business with Fingerhut for about 2 years.  It's the only card I've had ever since that is in my name.

 Two things pushed me to try for this offer this week.  First, there was an offer for a $125 gift card if approved.  Second, about three years ago I'd attempted to purchase something on my own standing and was turned down flat.  I had good credit...but I was told I didn't have enough credit history.  Third, I've been doing business with this company now for a good five years and I figured when they made the offer, they might be serious.  I asked John what he thought, and he said, "Go for it."

So I applied and immediately received notice that they'd 'let me know.'  I figured, "Fine.  I have a credit card anyway, don't need another."  Turns out they needed some very minor, and very simple to send, documentation, more for security's sake than dis-approval.  We'll see how this goes.

Monday:  After our lunch out yesterday, John nor I wanted a big supper.  I made us toasted cheese sandwiches. I used the last of the Tutto Asiago Onion bread I'd bought.  Goodness gracious that was a delicious sandwich! John told me I was welcome to buy that bread again anytime.  I don't even know if they carry that bread all of the time, but I'll definitely look for it.

I made French Toast for breakfast this morning using the two partial loaves we've had.  One was from the freezer, the other was bread I made last week that we hadn't completely finished.  I had more than enough for our meal and some over to put into the freezer for a future couple of breakfasts for us.  Caleb must have liked it really well because one minute he had a whole piece of toast cut into sticks on his plate and when I looked back, his plate was empty.

While I was cooking the French toast, I mixed up a packet of chocolate chip cookie dough (bought on clearance at Kroger months ago) and baked those cookies.  And while those were baking, I was busy making the Oven Baked Chicken and Rice dish to go into the oven when the cookies had finished up as well as wrapping a portion of ham to bake for this week's planned supper.  I was on fire this morning, lol!   And the oven was packed with good stuff while the morning was cool enough to stand having the oven on.

I went outdoors with Caleb after breakfast once the kitchen had been cleaned up.  The ham and Chicken dish were in the oven.  I planted several plants, but I still haven't planted them all. I have three more to get into planters or larger pots.  I pulled up the last of the tomatoes that were dead. I have three that have green leaves on top and are looking hopeful, so I left them alone.  I was ready to pull out the bell peppers too when I noted they had tiny new leaves on the stems.  So, I left those alone.  I pulled up some spent marigolds and set them aside so I can harvest the seeds from them.  I scattered a few seed heads in the pots just to see if any take off and bloom prior to heavy frost.

Once back indoors, after doing a little more housework, I made a phone call that I'd kept forgetting to make over the past two weeks.  This dealt with a tax matter.  In our state, once you reach age 70 you can get a partial exemption on property taxes if you fall within a certain income level which we do.  The problem arises in that the land is in my name and the house is in John's.  When the land was deeded to me, the person creating the deed refused to put John's name on it.  This was something we really ought to have had remedied years ago but just never did.  Then when we'd paid off our house, that deed arrived and it was only in John's name although I'd signed loan paperwork, etc. as well as he.

Truly the original lending agency sold our mortgage about nine times in the ten years we were making payments.  In the end it was back with the original lending company, but I can only assume that somewhere along the way, my name was 'lost' on the paperwork.  Again, we probably should have attended to it ages ago, but it wasn't until this year when we were looking at this exemption that we realized we needed to get this all squared away.

After my phone call, I discovered that we could do all of this online for free.  Then we pay a notary to notarize paperwork (times two) and then we file at the courthouse (times two).  All in all, we can do all this for less than $60.  

I then spoke to the tax office where I found we have to file paperwork before April 1 of next year, but it won't take effect until 2025.  We don't pay high property taxes in our rural county like some folks pay but I think it's wise to reduce what you can as you can, don't you?

One last thing.  On my way home from the chiropractor today I decided to treat myself to a cold soda simply because it was hot and frankly it had been a vigorous session.  I went to Wendy's which is more or less across the street from the office.  I discovered they have a cream cold brew iced coffee.  You can get it flavored with caramel, chocolate or vanilla.  This cost $2.32 with local taxes, etc.  It is excellent coffee and really tastes good!  For my money, Starbucks has just met a rival.  That Wendy's is HALF the price of Starbucks is even better.

I was approved for the credit card!  When I told John he was genuinely happy for me.  We only use one credit card in this household for the bulk of our purchases.  But it has been John's goal for me to get another card in my own name, just to keep my credit history validated.  I don't plan to spend any more.  

But I did plan to spend that gift card I was granted!  Oh yes.  I had a whole list of things already lined up that I'd been meaning to purchase a little along.  The gift card meant I could get them now and not have to wait.  I ordered pillow covers for the living room, a new set for my bedroom since Katie now has my other set, a second mattress pad for her bed, and sheets and a pad for Taylor's fold-out bed.  Nothing frivolous just helpful household things (and pretties, i.e. the pillow covers).

Tuesday:  I opened the tin where I keep my essential oils last night because I needed some lavender to help relax.  I found money shoved in there as well!  It wasn't a lot and I'm not sure why I put it there, but I added it to the other amount. I won't need to take out an allowance this pay period, because I know I've got a little tucked away in my wallet in a hidden area as well.

I had cinnamon rolls in the freezer.  I had dried them out when baking but I remembered a Jacques Pepin treatment for dry stale bread.  He would literally dunk his in water (I opted to sprinkle liberally) then wrap and reheat so the bread steamed slightly and softened.  This worked just lovely for the cinnamon rolls.  When they'd been revived, I spread them with Maple Glaze which was pretty doggone awesome.  No heavy artificial scent!  Just pure maple syrup mixed with a bit of confectioner's sugar.

After breakfast, Caleb and I went outdoors.  What a mess the patio has been for a couple of weeks now and though John had blown off porches and patio last week after mowing, there were still dead leaves, limbs, etc. dropped by the garden plants.  It took a good solid half hour today to blow off all the mess.  I also gathered up the trash and debris.   While I was working, John drilled holes in two plastic bins I had.  One was brittle and split in several places.  He kept saying he was sorry.  I told him we'd picked them up at the dumpster and I certainly wasn't going to fret over something that had been free in the first place.  I still have one of the bins and that will work just fine.

I got too hot outdoors.  Tis the season.  I had a bit of homemade electrolyte: pinch of salt, juice of a lemon, mixed in lots of water.

I reviewed my Subscribe and Save Order and removed a few items that we don't need, checked prices to be sure I was getting the best buy and caught a near mistake in that I didn't have the blend coffee John prefers to drink. He likes a light breakfast roast.  I fixed that issue and approved my order.

It's hit again...The ever-shrinking product.  Hillshire Farm rope sausage was downgraded to 14 ounces in the past two years.  When I picked up my package today to prepare supper, I thought it felt smaller.  Sure enough, we're now at 12 ounces.  

Used up some iffy looking cabbage.  Trim enough away and you'll get to the good parts.  To piece out the smaller amount of cabbage, I added in apple wedges, onion wedges, and some of Sam's beautiful homegrown carrots.  Didn't mind the additional vegetables and fruit at all.

Wednesday:  Do you ever have a nagging feeling you've forgotten something important?  Well, I've had it for several weeks now, and I finally discovered what it was I'd forgotten.  I was supposed to have transferred some money to cover our vacation cash and I'd completely failed to do so.  

I'd also meant to be more on top of my finances but obviously I let that idea slide, hence my shock when I found my gaping error.  I had to make a hasty correction.

Today was payday and by the time I'd finished with bills, the money was gone.  Not gone, but as in, money is set aside for everything we needed and now we'll just have to pay out of pocket from allowance or go without.  I have grocery and gas money set aside, a bit of money to cover the next couple of chiropractor visits, and money for future fees coming up (taxes, tags, house insurance).  Fortunately, this month Katie will once more be paying rent/grocery money to us so that will be a help.

It is, though, a reminder that I really must look long and hard at our spending and do some trimming...and to keep a closer eye on that checking account!

Meals today: Sausage, Cheese Grits, Toast   Ham sandwiches for the two guys and a salad.  For supper we'll have Salisbury Steak, and Peas.

Thursday: Today has been quite the day.  We had Millie and not much else is done except attend to the two children and their needs.  

I dug about in the bin in the pantry and found individual cups of cereal from summer.  Those were a good start to our breakfast.  

For supper tonight, being fully DONE, I was grateful for the leftovers from this week's meals.  I added a broccoli/Cauliflower bake to go along with it.

I received my new pillow covers for my fall/winter living room look today.  They are so pretty and were very reasonable, at about $4.50 each.  Katie suggested, when I was looking at them, that it would be too much pattern with my newer chairs, but I felt instinctively they would look just fine.  I'm not mad at all about it!

I also received the shoes I ordered from eBay.  Those were a good name brand.  They look like new and fit perfectly.  And then the leggings I'd found on special through one of the deal newsletters came.   This was an Old Navy deal, and it took place about three weeks ago.   I got six pairs of leggings in three different colors for $6 each.  You might ask why I needed six.  I don't.  But it was such a fantastic deal, I decided to size up and give half of them to Katie.  They are so soft and luxurious feeling!  I will likely end putting darts in the waistband of mine since I did choose to go a size higher, but I wanted to be sure we could both wear them.   I'm quite pleased with all my purchases.  

And that's been my week.  How was yours?  Did you find money?  Save it?  Spend it on something that was a great deal?