Friday: I took a portion of my cash stash today and headed out to the Roberta section of the Peaches to Beaches yard sale. No luck finding a single thing. Not one thing. I left and came home with my stash intact and put it right back in the place where I'd had it hidden.
Following my lack of success at the local flea market last week, John asked if I was all right. "I think I've just gotten to the point that I don't mind buying used but I don't want to get something that is just okay or make do. I think I've 'leveled up'." John understood exactly what I meant. He said, "Well then perhaps you need to be shopping in an antique store or an estate sale instead." I think he's quite right.
I made bread this morning. However, we ran out of bread last night. I picked up a loaf of sourdough at Kroger yesterday for $1 and I'm glad I had it on hand.
Frugal fail today. I cleaned out the fridge and had food that I made last week that we failed to eat leftovers of. Out to the pets, which is good that it was still edible enough for them, but doggone it. You go along for weeks without any food waste and then boom, you fill two dog bowls.
John dried sheets and towels on the line this morning, not because we had sun, but because we had a steady southern breeze. Then he had to run them through the dryer due to the pollen, but at least they only needed a quick run, not a thorough drying.
Our TV is going out. We researched online and ordered a new one. I lobbied for another Toshiba. We've had this one for years now and a TV in our home gets a workout, running countless hours every single day. I figure this one has earned its retirement! John fussed about it not being a planned expense, but I just looked at him. While I watch the occasional thing with him, it is not me who feels the need for a TV. If there is something I want to watch, I generally watch it on my computer. I knew he wasn't going to put off purchasing that TV.
I ordered two more Samplize stick-on paint samples. I ordered the color I am fairly sure just now that I want to paint the kitchen and another color I hope to paint the front and back doors. Last time I was sure of the color I wanted for the kitchen, but once the sample was hung, I realized that the color was not quite true to the paint chip and was reading far too brown. I hope this one is truer to the paint chip. I've hung it in several areas of the room and so far I've liked it on cloudy days and sunny ones alike. This stick-on sample in a larger size is a far more economical way of making sure before spending a load of money on paint. The kitchen has a lot of square footage and includes the back entry and laundry so I want to be sure I'm getting what I want and not making a mistake.
Saturday: I'm cutting back. For weeks now I've had two croissants on a Saturday morning but this week I cut back to just one. I knew we'd be home all day long and felt I could easily find a snack of breakfast wore off before we made it to lunchtime.
The children came over today to play and they did just that. They played and played and had a great time.
They also ate. The boys had two bowls of cereal each after they got here. With milk and orange juice. Millie just wanted the dry cereal and limited herself to most of a bowl. Sam shook his head as he walked out, when they'd started on their second bowls. "I swear Mama, I fed them a big breakfast before they came over here!" I nodded. I know how children are. They won't eat a bite for days and suddenly their legs go hollow and you can't fill them up.
I made pizza for lunch. After three years of making pizza, I've got this about perfected. I use my bread recipe as my base, using a little less sugar than the bread recipe calls for. I'm sorry I forgot to use the whey I had in the fridge. I spread the last of the homemade cheese over the crust before I topped it off with shredded cheese. The children were starving. Millie ate FOUR slices. The boys had three each. There was one piece left when the children were all done.
Mama used to make hotdogs stuffed with cheese and then wrapped with bacon and broiled. I haven't made them in this way in years because honestly, it makes a hot dog meal rather expensive, no matter how good they are. This week, I decided that since we now get two meals off a single package of hot dogs, I could swing the 'added' expense for our Saturday evening meal. I served these with yummy baked beans. It surely was a good supper.
Sunday: Sam brought over two bags of clothing for Caleb. He'd been through the boys' drawers. It's lovely because Caleb has just begun to move up to size 5 and the clothing is all sizes 5 and 6.
We took chicken and mac and cheese over to Katie's to share with the household for lunch. Cody's dad, Gary aka Not the Mama, made up a pan of cooked squash to go along with the meal.
John stopped for gas on the way home since the station is on our way home.
At home, we had a visitor. Back in December one of the contractors became very friendly with us. He mentioned that his washing machine had quit and John told him we'd had one in the shed for a few years that he was more than welcome to. Travis took it home and it worked like a dream. John told him we had a dryer in the shed, too and if he ever needed one we'd be happy for him to have it too. Yesterday he came by to ask if we still had the dryer. He came to pick it up this afternoon. We passed the dryer, along with a new timer and an additional thermostat that John had purchased before he ordered our new washer and dryer set. I now have lots of extra room in my shed.
I gathered leftovers from the fridge for supper tonight. We'll not have a repeat of Friday's food waste any time soon! I've noted that I have a small portion of grits and about 1 cup of rice left in the fridge yet. I'll be using those in something tomorrow.
Monday: I altered my menu today because I had planned to have a ham steak this week but when I went into the freezer I found a 3-pound portion of the butt half of a ham. I'll get mileage from that. After I served supper tonight, I put a portion of slices aside for sandwiches (I expect to put half of that in the freezer in the next day or so), a portion of cubes for casseroles or potato soup, and then a bit of meat that was mostly the smoky outer rind that will be used as seasoning in beans.
I sorted clothing for Caleb and to be sent to Josie this morning. I'll set aside the next size up for Caleb and will store it here. I have more room than Katie does at present.
Today I ordered two things from Amazon. One was a set of rectangular-shaped containers that had a sealing flip-top lid. I plan to use these in my baking storage rather than the glass gallon jars I'm currently using for the flour and sugar. The two containers should take up the same amount of space but will allow me to stack them. I've gotten so butterfingered of late that I hate the thought of dropping those glass jars and since I am frequently taking the flour and sugar out each week it seems a good idea to swap the glass jars out.
I also ordered a shredder that was on clearance for 1/2 price. We go through shredders frequently enough that I always look for a backup shredder to have in reserve. I'd much rather pay 1/2 price than full price.
John hung clothes outdoors to dry. I washed a full load of dishes and put the hood vent screen in so it could get a good wash.
Tuesday: I settled down with the checkbook this afternoon and got squared away for payday tomorrow. I admit, my tummy is getting quite a workout with tension these days since we've altered our way of paying bills. When it was all said and done, I shook my head wondering how on earth we would manage, but there was just enough money to cover our month. Whew!
John has to have a second refill on his prescriptions after his doctor's visit this week. His prescriptions were up for renewal but we couldn't get in to see the doctor before he'd run out so they ordered a ten-day supply. I'll wager that the ten-day supply cost what one month would have done. I can cover the doctor bills but the prescription costs will just have to come from the general fund. (The 10-day supply was HALF what a full 90-day supply cost).
We've had quite a first month since we switched up our banking...We had to buy brakes for my car, John wanted to get all those lighting fixtures purchased (Done and on a fair budget but still...) and the TV went out. We paid for eye exams and glasses this month as well. Just let me say that I've been watching pennies!
I went over the preview of the grocery ads for this week. There are some good buys available. I always list every single sale item I wish I could purchase, but then I go back through my list and compare prices at stores, check my supplies, delete loads of items, and finally settle in at a place where I can actually afford what's on my list.
I did get the refund that Zenni said they would issue which covered the costs of the two pairs of glasses that were wrong. That's a blessing!
My new dresses arrived this evening and both fit just fine (I'm sharing them in the Amazon link at the bottom of the page). I tried them on for John who liked them both, then I put on the two that Katie had loaned me and he liked the maxi best of those two. I ordered slip pants to go under them, capris for summer, and a pretty necklace. With the white jeans, t-shirts, and bras and the one shirt I purchased earlier this month, I can safely say I am DONE for now, though I really hope to find a black pair of pants. If I don't, with what I already have I'll manage our warmer seasons just fine without any further purchases.
I've been rather pleased with the costs. The shirt and jeans were partially paid for with a gift card. I found three pairs of slip pants and 3 pairs of capris for about $20 each. Both dresses were in the $39 range and the bras and t-shirts were on sale at Target which was also partially covered by a gift card. The remaining costs will be paid for from my allowance. That's how I've always paid for my clothing. I had told John I was going to start buying my clothing from our general account, but goodness, we've been eaten up with things this month so I'll just pay as I usually do.
John and I went out to eat today using the gift card that we were given at Christmas. It more than covered our meal today. John brought home half his burger and I brought home half of my baked potato which was HUGE. He took the leftovers this evening, diced up the potatoes and the burger meat with some onion, and browned them in the pan. Then he fried eggs and laid a piece of cheese on top of each serving of the potato mixture with an egg on top. That was really good!
Wednesday: I didn't feel like much of anything today but I pushed myself to do something anyway. One of the things I did: I mended a pair of jeans that had a stress tear starting. I used an iron-on patch.
I opened a bucket of corn meal and realized I had about 10 packets of corn muffin mix. All expire this month. Since they are in sealed plastic bags, I moved them all to the freezer to keep them a while longer.
I repurposed one of the hermetically sealed containers to hold my sweaters. I took time yesterday to wash and dry them. This container just fits under my bed so they are stored for the spring/summer. I do hope the weather behaves and stays warm now...
I made up a box of lemon poppy seed muffin mix (expires this month) and made up a batch of waffles using whey as the milk. Both are now packaged and wrapped and ready for breakfast in the future. I'll probably end up moving them all to the freezer but for right now they are in the fridge.
Made myself a salad while John mowed the grass. I used feta cheese and then I added some dill and oregano to my Italian dressing which made it taste somewhat like a Greek dressing. I also had kalamata olives on hand to put on the salad, too. John ate later. When he came indoors I made him a sandwich.
I was feeling strained over finances this morning, so I sat down and looked at the budget sheet. It was both soothing and a reminder of how tight things are.
For supper this evening, I continued with my kitchen gymnastics and prepared two entrees at once. I wanted to make a new chicken recipe (just mayo and onion soup mix spread over chicken breasts and baked) and decided in the interest of speeding things along tomorrow night when I have Caleb that I'd mix up the meatloaf I'd had on the menu for this week. I had actually thawed the meats this week, so it was do it or lose it.
Before I moved on to meatloaf though, I took a portion of the packet of onion soup mix to make up a small container of sour cream dip and then the very last of the onion soup mix went into a saucepan with a pat of butter and then I dumped in the cooked rice from last week and a splash of water for it steam with. That rice and broccoli will be for our sides tonight with the chicken.
For the meatloaf I 'stretched' the meat by using about half a pound of beef, 1/4 pound of pork sausage I was less than keen on, 1/2 a cup of cooked grits, and egg to bind it all, the last of a container of salsa, half a packet of taco seasoning mix I'd found while seeking the onion soup mix, and two tiny slices of a chipotle pepper that I diced up. I hope that spread all through the meatloaf it will be less hot. I thought I'd serve it with corn and black beans (since I have a TON of those) tomorrow night. I'm pretty sure if I put a bit of cheese on top of the meatloaf Caleb will eat it right up.
Thursday: Today I spent the last of the grocery budget. After comparing prices among the three stores I noted that Aldi had most of the same items for less. Overall I noted that most prices were lower there than they've been in perhaps a year though in a few areas, they did increase and also decreased product size (as with their Marinara sauce) so you are definitely paying more for less, making it not quite as good a buy as you might find elsewhere.
There were a few things that I could buy at a better price at Publix (Rye bread, ground beef, and a whole chicken) and Kroger (asparagus, milk, and cauliflower). I'll run by Kroger on Sunday. Today we shopped at Aldi and Publix. John kept adding to the buggy at Publix and I kept removing things and telling him, Nope we just bought that...Nope, we have some at home. I didn't quite make it out of the store with no extras but at least they were very controlled extras.
We did not stop for lunch today but part of that 'extra' at Publix was John insisting on buying a sandwich.
John went by the place where we got our eye exams and they kindly adjusted his glasses for him. I hope this does the trick for him because he's been unhappy with his glasses sliding down his nose. So much so that he'd planned to purchase a different pair!
Just as I've been doing lately, even at Aldi I stuck to the out perimeters of the store. I did restock tomatoes today. That was one thing on my list I wanted to be sure to get while I was at Aldi.
I really bought a lot of meat today. I got a beef roast and 2 point-cut corned beef, 1 family pack of chicken drumsticks. That will net us 9 meals easily and perhaps more. I divided the ground beef into 6 packets and expect to get at least three meals from the whole chicken.
The one thing we won't be purchasing that the doctor recommended for John is a product that isn't necessary...The doctor kept stressing that it wasn't necessary but would help with a keratosis situation he has ongoing. It's only $198 for 2 ml. I told John, we'll just skip that since it's not necessary.
I'm glad I made the main dish for supper last night. I'll alter my menu slightly. I thought Caleb might like to have Tater Tots with his meatloaf and I'll open a can of green beans since I know that he really likes those.
Meals: Yogurt with Banana and Maple Syrup for me, toast for John and I both.
Sandwich with chips for me, sandwich with macaroni salad for John, banana for all of us. (Caleb had already eaten but wanted chips and a banana).
Meatloaf, Tater Tots, Green Beans, Corn.
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