Weekly Menu and Jobs Planning

Gracious we've had a weekend!  Lovely weekend filled with family once again.  I enjoyed every single bit of it.  Grandbabies have changed in just the two weeks since we last saw them and We've finished off today with a period of relaxing after a few very basic chores got done.  I needed it.  John needed it, too.  He's had some pretty busy days between shifts of late. I don't expect much of him tomorrow either, since he has to work Tuesday.

I've taken a long look at the meat in the freezer this weekend.  We can manage all right I think until end of April and then it's time for a trip to the Meat Market.  After church services today we stopped by the grocery to pick up a handful of grocery items.  I still stuck hard to my low spending but I did get a chicken that was carageenan free for $.99/pound.  Not a bad price for a whole chicken these days.  I intend to cut and split into parts.  Mama taught me how to cut up a whole bird years ago when she was teaching me to cook.  A cut up chicken cost more than a whole chicken back then.  Nowadays, too.  Knowing that I intend to go to the meat market towards the end of the April makes me want to trim back my budget a bit these next two pay periods.  I won't save all I need to purchase meat but I can save some of it.

My Frugal Week: March 22-28

Saturday:  We didn't do a thing all morning long, nor much of the afternoon either.  It was bagels with cream cheese for breakfast, and reheated leftovers of chili mac and cornbread with salad for our lunch.  We watched a wonderful movie with John Lithgow and Bob Hoskins, "The Man from La Mancha"...well mostly watched it.  John and I both took naps but the parts of the movie we saw were beautiful and wonderful and funny.  I'll look for that one on Dvd.

Went to church this evening.  It is so good to hear a sermon.  There's one more Saturday evening service and then we'll be back to mandatory Sunday services, which means just twice a month for us.

We stopped at Burger King on the way home.  Plain hamburgers and small shakes make a nice supper, isn't too expensive.

We did some chores when we got home this evening.  The purpose was to clear up so we could leave especially early tomorrow morning.

Coffee Chat - Marching Out

Hello dears...Do come in.  I have cookies and fresh coffee.  Sit down and let's chat awhile...

Spring seems to be slow this year.  I don't mind.  Two years ago we had about two minutes of spring and 19 months of hot dry weather in 9 months time. I get quite a thrill these days when I drive over the creek up the road or cross the river bridges and see the water has risen to flood levels,  staying within the banks which are quite steep.  It's a good sign in our parts and most welcome to see. 

I had to run into town the other afternoon and as always I combined as many errands as I could.  Coming home there were no errands so I took a little street into an old neighborhood.  There's a group of some rather old homes in that little spot and I love to look at them, one in particular that has a very 'creative' type living there.  It's a small house, looks like it might have a bedroom, living room, eat in kitchen and a bath (designated by the 'bump out' on the back, a sign there was no such luxury once upon a time).  She has decorated the porch on the front of the house in such a cozy way with tables and chairs and rockers.  There are wagon wheels and a metal star hanging on the porch walls, and flowers in season.  There's a deck around back that runs the length of the house and it's decorated in a cozy way, too.  That little house has personality and I love to just go by and gaze at it.

Weekly Menu and Job Plans

I've been on a streak of spring cleaning...and in the oddest places!  Like my photo albums online.  I took more hours than I'll admit  to delete thousands (!) of photos and organize hundreds of more.  I told John I want to buy a few flash drives or discs to save these photos to in the next couple of weeks.  I've lost more family photos on crashed computers than I care to own up to.  I am not having computer troubles, nor do I expect to, but I'd like to have my photos safe, just the same.

Well that hardly took me all last week to do, so no excuse for lack of posting other than a bit of under the weather feeling that had no root in any one ailment or another.  Spring fever maybe?  Humph, spring has not yet exactly sprung here in the deep south for all that we're seeing peach trees blooming.  The pollen season is only just getting started, there's little blooming beyond the very early blooms of spring and we're still having frosty mornings!  John said his wind shield  was covered in ice Friday morning when he was ready to head home from work.  There's TWO nights of frost predicted for our area this week.

Ten Facts About Today's Frugalites

I've so enjoyed getting to know some of the bloggers who live frugal lifestyles.  When I started my newsletter twelve years ago and later my blog (seven years ago), I wanted to  share my life knowledge of how to stretch a single income in a double income world, simply because that information was rare.  Tracey McBride, Mary Hunt, and Joni McCoy were the only ones with current information besides Amy Dacyzyn.  I felt strongly that my own personal experience could be a help to others.  As the economy went downhill these past few years, I've seen more and more bloggers who are just starting out as frugalites or who suddenly realized they too had skills the blogging world at large could use to acclimate to the new normal of high costs and lowered incomes. 

I'm a huge believer in never thinking you know it all.  I learn something new nearly every single week, sometimes every single day, about how to save money, time, energy.  I've also noted that we frugalites have some common strategies, things that we all do, in order to stretch our dollars.

 #1: We create multiple savings accounts.  Many practicing frugal lives set money aside for ordinary expenses that come along routinely but not monthly.  Things like car maintenance, annual fees such as taxes or tags, insurance renewal fees, etc.  As one blogger tagged it, "pre-funding" is one way to make a manageable task out of these routine fees while leaving the emergency fund for true emergencies, like repairs for vehicles or home that arise unexpectedly. 

My Frugal Week - March 15-22

Saturday:  Earned a $5 Swagbucks gift card.

Earned 300 points (= to $3) from Pinecone research.

We decided to have synagogue at home complete with liturgy and worship and each took time to read Book of Esther in honor of Purim tomorrow.  We will go to evening services at church today, which shaves a good 40 miles off our synagogue ride.

Maddie isn't eating as much now the weather is warmer (even slightly).  I was careful to put away her and the cat's food bowls to avoid ants getting to the foo.

Dinner today leftovers of salad, pasta, chicken.  I made Molten Lava Cakes for dessert.

Menu and Job Plans Post: Marching Right Along

I am on  a mission this week:  it's a low budget pay period, so I'm doing a semi-pantry challenge to get us over the hump.  My grocery list is short and sweet: dairy, produce, bread and Decaf coffee.  That's it.  I may have to jiggle the budget a bit for salty snacks, too, but we'll make do with less than usual in that department since I have a few things set aside for the week...I planned ahead knowing this short period was coming up. I'll make our sweet snacks.  

My second mission is to start using up all the products we have on hand that contain yeast so that we are yeast free when the Feast of Unleavened Bread comes up next month.  You'd be surprised where you'll find yeast in products.  Yeast extract is a common flavoring ingredient in many foods, like dry onion soup mix, some flavored rice packets, etc.  So I'll be digging around and trying to find it now at my leisure instead of doing that usual 'Hurry, Passover starts tomorrow!' approach I've used in the past.

I was working on menus earlier today and asked John, "Anything special you'd like to have?"  Now normally he might give me a shrug and say "Not really."  Ha.  The man had a LIST this week.  "Well I'd like to have chili mac and spaghetti and that tuna pasta salad you make.  And you know Cheeseburgers would be good and grilled cheese and pancakes..."  At that point I thanked him and told him I'd use a few of his suggestions but would plan the rest of the meals on my own.  Then I wrote out my list and out of curiosity looked back at past March menus and you know, I'm a creature of habit and in a permanent rut apparently because those menus didn't look much different than this one, lol.  Every now and then I slip a new recipe into the mix and then I jog gently along right back into my former rut.

Corned Beef, Cabbage, Red Potatoes, Irish Soda Bread
My annual nod to family heritage.


Reubens, Potato Soup
I purposely planned for sandwiches.  If it's really warm I might make potato salad as a side dish instead of soup.  I haven't looked ahead at the forecast, so have no clue what we're in for this next week.


Chili Mac, Green Salad, Cornbread, Pineapple Cake
I'll double my pasta and set aside some for the tuna salad John requested.  I'll likely double the chili and put a portion in the freezer.  I'm low on ready to heat and eat dishes.


Tuna Salad, Saltines, Fresh Fruit
The salad has a load of vegetables in it, so I'm not really concerned about adding any further vegetables.  I will serve fresh fruit as our dessert.  Last week we had a really good fruit cocktail of pineapple, strawberries and bananas.  Boy that was good!  I'll see what fruit is best buys this week.


Grilled Chicken, Grilled Vegetables, Baked Potatoes
John bought me a pan meant to use to grill vegetables last year. I'd like to give it a try this year weather permitting.  Asparagus will be in my pan for sure and anything else that looks fresh and reasonable in price.


Corned Beef Hash with Fried Egg, Toasted Soda Bread, Fresh Fruit Salad
I know John likes corned beef hash with eggs, so I thought I'd include it in menu this week.


Chicken Tacos, Mexican Corn, Green Salad
I should have some leftover chicken from our grilled chicken dinner.  I'll season it for tacos as I'm reheating.

Week of Mar 8-14

Home:  Sewing valance and shade for my bath. Nope.  I didn't have the sewing notions, had plenty of time to shop but stayed home all week long and found a pair of curtains to cover the window. 


Yard:  Pick up Maddie's 'stuff' again and put some of it away for next winter.  She doesn't need every rug and old sheet/blanket she has laying about the place.  Mind you I hung several items on the clothes line to air before putting away and we came home to find them on ground, with her pulling on one that remained.  Never does that to our laundry, just hers.  Silly red dog.  Nope on this one too.  I was too busy INdoors to do OUTdoors stuff.  And besides I need to wash it and put it away rather than just keep hoping she'll leave it alone stacked somewhere.

Booth:  Peaches to Beaches this weekend on Friday and Saturday.  Would like to ride the length of the thing but won't.  Will visit some portions of it, most likely on Friday and try to find a bit of stuff for the booth.  Lowered my original planned budget for this considerably.  I have a good bit of new stock on hand at present.We went on Friday morning, drove about 30 miles of the route, I spent about $20 and found some good stuff for the booth, ONE book for myself. 


Week of March 15-22

Home:  Sew Valances for bathroom.
Sort out kitchen appliances/pots/pans

Yard:  Seriously get Maddie's things gathered.
Spend at least 1 hour in the shed setting it in order.

Booth: Must tag new items and restock booth.
Will set aside next items to go into booth.


Extra:  We have determined what dates we might go on vacation.  Must find a place to go/stay.