Thrifty Thursday: Brainstorming, Planning, Doing

 

Friday:  We were busy today working on the house.  I forgot all about breakfast until John looked at me around 10:30 and asked if we were having any...I said I'd forgotten and told him to make something for himself, reminded him that the kitchen is open and he can do whatever he likes.  

However, since he was beyond hungry (poor old thing, helpless soul),  I quickly thawed the wings I'd taken out to cook for tomorrow's lunch.  I wrapped them in foil and put them in a 350F oven to thaw.  After twenty minutes I could separate them and cut them into drums and flats.  I used the barbecue sauce I'd made up a couple of weeks ago on the wings.  I made mac and cheese, homemade not boxed.  

In checking the fridge earlier this morning, I found I had both Mozzarella and Cheddar blocks that I wasn't even aware I had.  I thought we were out of cheese.  

I'll go to the grocery and buy milk this weekend, while it's on sale since I am nearly finished with the jug we have now, but I don't believe I will buy anything else.

We washed three loads of clothes today.  I stripped the bedding down to the mattress and swapped out mattress pads and spreads to a lighter summer spread.  John was able to wash our heavy winter quilt in the washer without any issues, but because it holds so much water, he ran it through an extra spin cycle which helped get more water out of it.  We hung two and a half loads of clothes outdoors to dry.   It was very nice outdoors today and the clothes dried quickly.  

I also stripped the slipcover off the wingback chair and had John wash it.  I hung it outdoors to dry as well. I was in spring cleaning mode.

Saturday:   Since we had pizza last night at Coffee House, we decided to skip pizza today and go to our favorite Mexican restaurant.  We always have leftovers to bring home, yet the food is inexpensive, less than a pizza costs.  

Because we ate such a large meal so late, we didn't have a big supper last night.  I made John a sandwich.  I had strawberries.

When we got home, I made up a box of Brownie mix.  I will never buy this particular brand again. The box instructions do NOT make good brownies.  I had to alter their recipe to make them turn out well.  Never mind.  To fancy up the brownies today, I added chopped walnuts (the last bit of a bag from the freezer) and some mini M&Ms I found in the snack cupboard leftover from the potty training days.  The brownies turned out quite good (altered recipe).  I've learned my lesson about buying an unfamiliar brand mix in bulk (four packages) even if it appears to be a good buy.

In the future, I'll return to my 1950's recipe for a homemade mix.

Meals: Breakfast Sandwich

Out at Mexican Restaurant

Sandwich for John, Berries for me

Sunday:  Today after church we stopped at Quik Trip to get John coffee and myself a drink.  He remembered that he had the QT app on his phone and he often gets qualifying coupons.  We saved $4 which included a free fountain drink for myself.  I'm pleased John remembered he had the app on his phone.  He suggested I get the app on my phone as well.  I saw his wisdom right away and went ahead and downloaded it.  

Our main meal today was Vegetable Beef Soup and Cornbread.  I used the bacon grease saved from breakfast to grease the cornbread pan and the recommended fat in the cornmeal mix packet.  These packets were got on sale, and are made up the same as the Jiffy cornbread mixes.  They were nearing expiration so I'd stashed them in the freezer to prolong their freshness.    The soup was from October and January and I added a portion of leftover Pizza Sauce to the mixture.  It was a perfect meal for a cool rainy day.

Meals:  Pancakes, Bacon, Eggs

Vegetable Soup, Cornbread

Senior Supper

Monday:  I've worked all day long at inventorying the bigger of the two pantry cabinets.  Goodness gracious!  I didn't expect that job to take so long.  I have quite a few canned goods that have expired.  No, they aren't going into the trash.  Instead, I am highlighting those items on my list so I can start using them in meals.  None of the cans are rusted, dented, or bulging.  They are properly stored.  I looked up online to be sure I was within safety guidelines.  I found that canned goods are good 'forever' but best by or use by dates, are often quality issues.  So yes, the quality may be less (or not, I've yet to find anything that is not as good as if the can were freshly done).  One health site reminded me there have been no metal canned food-related sicknesses reported in nearly 40 years!  That's encouragement for those of you who feel a bit 'iffy' when it comes to expired cans.

I received my Amazon Sub and Save order today.  The 24-pack of water-packed canned tuna arrived.  The dates on those cans were 12/26.  Remember I got this tuna for 56c a can.  

John opened the gas credit card bill today and was upset over the late fee.  I expected it since the bill did arrive late but I called the company.  The late fee and interest charges were reversed.  That's $34 saved.  I explained our issues with mail delivery here in the Southeast of late.  It helps tremendously that we haven't been late on paying that bill in years and it's paid in full each month. 

I got a small Amazon gift card as payment for affiliate link usage.  Thank you for going through that to make your purchases.  I received a payment for this past quarter from Google Adsense.  It's taken quite a little while to get that account built up enough to pay out.  I've set both amounts aside.  One will go towards Christmas or birthday gifts, the other towards a needed home purchase.

Since I stayed busy all day today meals were simple. 

I mixed up a box of orange jello and added in a can of drained mandarin orange slices when it was semi-set.  The jello and the oranges had both gone past their best by dates but I tasted of one of the orange segments and they were fine.

Meals:  Eggs and Toast

Leftovers.  John ate his restaurant entree leftovers.  I had the rest of the dumplings from Thursday's lunch and yogurt that needed to be used.

Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo, Tossed Salad, French Bread. 

Tuesday:  A busy day with money spent.  First I had two bills that were due the second week of May.  Given the issues with the post office, I dare not wait until we are closer to the due date to send those payments in.  So I mailed those two checks today.

Our electric bill came in at $132 for the month.  I'm not unhappy with that.  If we were made of sterner stuff I might have had a lower bill but I confess it's the cold that sends me to bump up the heat and make the house just a little warmer.  

After the chiropractor appointment this morning, I headed to the discount store.  I wanted to check the clearance-priced meats and produce.  No luck in either department, however, they had garden plants out.  I bought a six-pack of two different petunias, celosia and begonias.  I bought two half-gallon pots of coleus and then two hanging baskets, a Moss Rose (Portulaca), and the loveliest pink geranium with a deep magenta center.  I spent a pretty penny...Never mind.  I'll get loads of mileage off these plants. I've learned to expand my investment through self-sowing seeds or propagation.

Off to Publix to pick up the best of the Buy One Get One sale and pick up a prescription.  I did go over what I meant to spend.  I found a new pair of slip-on sunglasses for my new glasses which are bigger than my last glasses.  I picked up clearance-priced Tide laundry detergent.  I got Provolone and Onion Buns to go with the supper I'd planned for tonight and picked up Gramma's Fried Chicken to freeze for Taylor's weekend dinner.  I decided to skip going to Walmart and got two bags of flour. I did very well with the things I'd planned to buy.  It was those extras that I hadn't had on my list that cost me.  Thankfully I had plenty of money in my grocery allowance.

On to Kroger to pick up mostly produce and milk. I also wanted eggs, half and half, and flowers. I did add a marked-down package of Rib Eye Steaks, a 5-pound bag of Vidalia onions (first of the season), and four bags of sale-priced chips. I was closer to where I planned to be in Kroger.

I went over my budget by about $40.  I am not including sunglasses, flowers, or chicken for Sunday.  All of those things came from other budget allotments.  

I earned $2.50 on Ibotta, heaps of points on Fetch, and have $8.85 to add to my Christmas savings account via coupons I'd loaded to my store apps.

I made the supper I had planned for tonight, though I really didn't want to do any such thing.  I managed to get four sandwiches from the meat I had on hand once the peppers and onions were added in.  Two went into the freezer, two for supper.  And here is where I laugh every time I make a meal.  I took out that one small portion of sirloin steak bought months ago and sliced it thin.  I used bell peppers from the freezer, too.   But I put Provolone slices, four onion buns, and two sandwiches back in the freezer.  Sometimes all I'm really doing is swapping one thing for another. No wonder I seldom make headway in creating space!  I'm not complaining.  It's such a blessing  to put back as much, or more than, I take out.

Meals: Bagels with cream cheese and a ham slice

A piece of fried chicken for each of us.  John ate a half sandwich before I got home and I had a snack while I was out shopping.

Italian Pepper Steak Sandwiches, Chips, and Orange Jello with a dab of Cottage Cheese on top.  

Wednesday:  I did my final inventory in the kitchen this morning.  Glad to have that task done.  I did the task in bits and pieces.  I still need to see what I have in the guest room closet and laundry area.  

I took frozen cornbread from the freezer and then crumbled it onto a sheet pan when it had thawed.  I added in leftover cornbread from Sunday.  That was all put in a low oven to dry.  I'll vacuum seal it once I'm sure it's dried out. I got two pints of crumbs and pieces.  They are vacuum-sealed and in the pantry.

 Meals:  Sausage, Eggs, Pecan Sticky Buns.  I got the sticky buns from the half-priced rack at the grocery.  John's fond of them. 

Tuna salad, Chips, Blueberries

Chicken and Rice, Everything Bagel Green Beans, Sliced Ripe Tomatoes 

Thursday:  If much needs to be done,  do the little things you can.  If you can do nothing else to improve things, then clean.  That's what I did today when I looked about and felt overwhelmed by everything I saw that needed to be done.  Painting, pressure washing, planting, weeding, decluttering, mending...It all just seemed far too much.

So I did little things that cost me nothing but effort and found that the house looks improved in so many ways.  I cleaned off the shelving unit on the back porch.  The ideal home for it would be in my shed but to get it into the shed at the moment would mean a huge shifting of things.  I wasn't ready for that big a task today.  But clearing empty pots and things helped the shelving unit look much better.  I want to get a fern for the old iron washpot.  That's one of my favorite things to do each summer.  I can always use the shelving to hold some of the houseplants when they go outdoors this time of the year.

I hung the baskets of flowers on the front porch and wiped off the tables. Again, small tasks that made the porch look nicer.  

Indoors I decided to take down the shower curtains in the guest bath and wash them, cleaned along the baseboards, and folded the towels nicely.  Once the curtains were hung again the whole room looked much better.  

Small things.  All of them were just small things but they helped change the look of each space and changed my perspective, too.

I made sun tea yesterday.  I had a tall glass of iced tea on the front porch this afternoon.  Lovely, lovely.

Meals:  We skipped breakfast.

Fried Chicken Salads.  I chopped leftover chicken into pieces and made big salads.

Ham Steak, Twice Baked Potatoes, Roasted Broccoli, Pineapple.

I found my list of goals for the month, and read back through each week's work plans.  I'm so pleased with all I've accomplished this month.  Sometimes, the best motivation is to see what HAS been done rather than what still needs to be done!

How did your week go?  Did you save money, or find a new way of doing things that saves time?  Share with us in the comments!

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