Blue House Journal : Living a Full Life on a Budget
Monday: I didn't take time to write this weekend, so I'll quickly catch you up on what we did.
Saturday, I took the kids to the library. They really enjoy playing with the toys and on the computers and almost always get books. This week Josh said "No thanks" to the books, but Isaac and Millie brought some home as did I.
I don't have pictures. I never seem to think to take pictures of the groceries I buy but this weekend I was in three different grocery stores, and I thought I'd share what I bought.
Saturday: I stopped at the local grocery to pick up frozen pizzas to have with the kiddos from across the field for Saturday lunch. I probably won't do that again and I'll tell you why. Locally, a Red Baron pizza costs $7.19 each. I can get them on sale at Kroger for $3.99 and sometimes for $2.99.
I'm pretty pleased with the Pantry/Freezer challenge of 2025. I've saved money. I've been using up older food items. My pantry and freezer are holding up fairly well to a month of eating from them without purchasing to replace those items used (with the exception of produce).
We had a great week last week. Nothing spectacular mind you, pretty much just ordinary (well aside from SNOW), but it was all lovely and steady and pleasant. I'm finding more and more that the ordinary, everyday things, the gentle rhythms of daily living, are what bring me the most pleasure.
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I always get concerned at the onset of a Pantry/Freezer challenge that I won't quite manage a month...And along about week Three I think seriously I could go another month.
I'll be doing a complete inventory this week. I am NOT good at keeping up with what I use or put into my freezer. I think I am going to try to keep a sheet notebook and pen in the kitchen and write down what I put in or take out each time I go into the pantry or freezer. Then I'll enter those into my actual inventory sheets at the end of each day. We'll see how that works for me.
Sunday: The temperature has been steadily dropping since this morning. We started the day at 60. It's now 30. All I can say is 'Brrr!'
We went to second service this morning at church but I extracted an agreement that we'd not linger talking to folks but actually scurry for the door so I could spend some real time with Taylor. We arrived a good half hour before service started and so we were able to visit with and see a few people before service. I told John that was like the best of both worlds as far as I was concerned.
Hello dears. I was very opinionated last week, and you all were kind enough to not only read but comment. Thank you. Even if you disagreed you did so nicely. And each of you explained your own reasons which all had good merits. Opinions are just like everything else. Everyone has one and some are different. That's what makes the world go round, right?
This week I am not sharing opinions. I am sharing the things I haven't started or having started haven't finished. I suspect that every one of us has projects around the house that they keep meaning to do and some they keep meaning to finish. So, I thought I'd share some of my things that I am hopeful I will tackle here in 2025.
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You've been cruising the grocery store, looking for protein bargains and clearance items that you can use in your meal plans as a way to stretch the budget. What you find in the meat case is not what you'd call a sale.
Have you considered checking the deli?
Last week I decided to get everything I'd planned for meals out of the freezer on Monday to start thawing in the fridge. Naturally we didn't eat nearly as many meals at home as I thought we might. I came to the end of the week with two meals not used at all and for one of those I had meat thawed. I've planned that meal to be a crockpot meal for Saturday. I'll just chop my vegetables in the morning then leave in the fridge and start it up when we get in.
Weather truly does play a part in our lives doesn't it? It's supposed to rain all day Saturday and later in the week it's supposed to get extremely cold again. Extreme for us, mind you. We've even been promised a possible wintry mix...We shall see.
This likely will be a brief post, but I thought rather than record daily meals on the Journal post, I'd start a separate post of our meals of the week so you can compare it to what I planned for the week.
Starting back at Friday evening: I wanted something comforting and warming. It was cold and dark and dreary all day long and was pouring freezing rain when we came to the end of the day. I dithered around trying to figure out what I'd make.
January 12, Sunday: Since I've yet to fall asleep and it's only just after midnight, I want to type Saturday but technically it is Sunday. Mind you, I went to bed about an hour and a half ago, but I can't sleep. I've planned menus, I've half-written a short story, I've lived over conversations I had with the boys yesterday (technically, but still today for me) and half argued (only in my mind)with John over an incident this afternoon that I'd love to address but he extracted a promise from me last month that we'd NOT discuss the matter again until February, so...My mind has held too many conversations in the past hour for me to rest peacefully.
I'm being opinionated.
I've been thinking of dozens of things lately and one of those things is home decor. I've followed along on Instagram with many 'decorators', not pros but homeowners, who love to putter in their homes. One trend that I cannot get on board with and which I feel strongly about is the 'no curtains' look in homes.
Just this morning I sat near a window putting on my makeup and I was sincerely chilled. There was a closed blind, a pair of sheers and a full set of curtains between me and that double paned window, and I still felt the cold radiating off it as though the darn thing had been open next to me. How do people live without any curtains at all on their windows?!
Really, I could say 2.5 weeks since I began this before the New Year was well underway. I admit I got nervous this week as I noticed meat baskets getting lower. I have put back almost as much as I've taken out in various forms but it's meals not meats going back into the freezer.
I have been doing so much in the house, I almost said to myself, "I've got nothing to do this week!" Don't you believe it. There's still plenty to be done!
January 4, Saturday: Gosh but today was a lazy sort of day and a chilly one, too. I put a kettle of water on the stove to add much needed moisture and a slight additional warmth to the house. John and I both felt we were fairly frozen.
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The Long Winter by Laura Ingalls Wilder is a book just full of home economy.
The book opens with Laura and Pa working to put up hay. Pa decided to cut the Slough grass and put it up, too, even though he said it was not the best hay. Early frosts came that year and on the first day of October a killing frost hit the prairie. It finished off the garden the family had planted.
Their harvest was small. Pa dug five bushels of potatoes, then they pulled all the dead bean vines and Pa set those aside to finish drying out for more food. He figured they'd get about a bushel of dry beans from the vines. Ma and Laura gathered the tomatoes, ripe and green. There were enough ripe tomatoes to make a gallon of preserves. Then Ma made 2 quarts of green tomato pickles from the green tomatoes.
Technically I meant to begin this challenge last week, but John wanted to take me out to eat last Sunday and I had planned to get Chinese for New Year's Day. Since this week begins our first full week of January, I think it's fine to begin with our meals on Saturday.
I went to the grocery on Friday where I purchased fresh produce (broccoli, lettuce, Brussels Sprouts, onions, mandarins, apples, carrots, bell peppers, and cabbage), eggs, and half and half for my morning coffee. I also bought cheese and cream cheese. For snacks, I bought chips. John is giving up sugar in January, so I'll pull something from the freezer if I want a sweet of any sort.
The week behind was just fine. I got enough work done to feel I'd made a right good start at the New Year. I've also 'practiced' a bit at the fasting I plan to do for the 21-day fast.
I thought I'd go back to my old habit of including a quote about economy on these posts each week. I came across this quote last week on Jennifer's blog:
Jenny of Elefantz: I was surprised last year when studying about economy to learn that the original meaning of the word 'economy' has nothing to do with government spending. Big aha moment to be sure! The original word is taken from the Greek oikonomia which means 'the management of a private household'.
Dec. 28, Saturday: Last night when I shut the shades just as dark was coming in, I saw deer on the front lawn. They come most evenings to graze on the front lawn. Not at all unusual. What is unusual is that a deer has literally been wandering the yard today. Front and back and around the house, coming nearer and nearer. That's unusual behavior. Admittedly it's been nice to watch her.
Today has been easily as overcast as yesterday. None of the promised rain has come as of yet. My bones feel this weather.
I laughed when I read the Georgia farm chart for what was in season. Sweet and to the point we had:
Collards, Turnips and Green onions.
I'm pretty sure there's a bit more food available this month, just not necessarily grown in my state!
I skipped making resolutions last year and you know? I missed it! I missed having a goal in the back of my mind to work towards and I missed the sense of accomplishment that comes when you either meet or are well on your way to making a goal. I don't consider it a failure if I don't complete my goal, as long as I've made measurable steps towards it.