Doing something frugal every day..

Monday Dec 10th.
Hubby called the bank to find out about a fee charged. Found out that he was given the incorrect information so they refunded the fee and he corrected his account to not get a charge again.

He made a couple calls pricing the cost of getting his welding torch tanks filled.Found one that was 1/5th of the one he was going to use.

I hung laundry on clothesline on the kitchen porch. Yes it's freezing outside here in Ohio but the clothes froze and then when I brought them in hard as a rock, jeans were standing on their own 😀, 10 min fluff in the dryer with no heat had them soft enough to fold. Was definitely dry. All in all I only used the dryer 1 hr for 8 loads of laundry and NO HEAT on. The underclothes was hung on the drying rack.

I roasted a turkey that we bought before Thanksgiving for 37 cents/lbs.I will freeze the leftovers in meal size bags and make broth from the carcass.

I ordered our prescriptions for pick up tomorrow so we can pick them up when we are out running errands and going to 3 different doctor appts.

I made the grocery list and checked coupons for tomorrow.

I ordered the last of the garden seeds.

Tuesday Dec. 11th

3 doctors appts and errands on top of it.

Our primary has agreed to see us at the same time so we are only making one trip. He no longer does evening hours but did say if Hubby couldn't get off work and needed the last appt of the day and called that he was on his way , he would stay until we got there. He suggested we get our blood work done no earlier than a month ahead of the appt. when we were already there, just reminded us in was a fasting blood work.

Our dentist was willing to do the same as that was the other appt for hubby.

We did a run through Menards, using the last of the rebates we had to pick up some "odds and ends" like timer, pet safe salt for the porches etc. Also we bought a thermometer for the pump house so we can monitor the heat there from inside the house. We have a heater on a thermostat in there to keep the pump and water lines from freezing . This way we should pick up that it is not working faster than when we find things broke.

I went twice through Kroger's. Once for paper products for a family in need while Hubby was with dentist and then again for us, including an additional turkey for the dinner we are deep frying for this Sat. When we got the head count hit 40, we knew we needed another turkey. I picked up another one for us since they were still 37 cents/lb even though it's smaller than what we use ourselves but that was all they had. I had them check.

We decided to use the last gift card for Apple bees we had as there isn't one close to us now and we knew if we didn't eat, we wouldn't when we got home... just to tired. Out of pocket was the tip we left.

Wed. Dec 12th

I hung the bedding on the kitchen porch clothesline to dry. Left it all day until right before dinner before bringing it in. 10 min fluff took the stiffness out of it so I could put it on the bed without it "crackling" when the dogs got on the bed. 😂.

I put the turkey carcass in the pot to simmer to make broth. Put it in the frig so the fat would raise (fat went to freezer) , will can part of the broth tomorrow and the other amt is in freezer until Friday morning for injecting the turkeys we deep fry. We don't like using oil or butter as it has made the turkey taste "grease" to us when it is cold. We had soup for dinner using part of the broth.

I printed off 3 coupons I know I will be buying the items in the next 30 days.

I put all the house plants in the mudroom sink and watered them at one time.

I updated the old computer to manage the budget and track the garden/ grocery stuff.

I made two loaves of bread. I am changing what recipe I make each time until I find at least 2 or hopefully 4 different ones we LOVE.

Hubby did the following.

Went to Marysville and ordered a snow blower and a bunch of gizmos for it using a loyalty card he got when he retired. He still has some left,the guy at the store said he could use it for oil and filers etc for the motorcycle and snowblower.

He went to town and had a trailer guy look at the hitch in the bed of the truck for him to order one. The guy gave him a quote and Hubby told him of another website that he could order exactly the same thing for half the price. Guy's wife checks it out, Guy is ordering it for him and he is paying the shipping for Hubby since he will now be using that site for his own supplier.

Hubby dropped off the prescriptions we got the day before and had them to be ready before he came back home along with the 3 that was sitting there ready for us to pick up. Saw no reason to write 2 checks to the same place.

He found a place closer to do the 50 mile first check up on the tractor.

Thursday Dec 13th

Hubby called the tractor place and they told him to bring tractor any time and they would work it in. So he loaded it up and took it to them. They should be done with  it before he starts work the 24th.

We went to chiro (we took the dogs with us so they would get a ride in). Hubby won't be going for awhile since he will be working days and wouldn't make it while they were open. I scheduled for the first Thurs. in Jan but for the afternoon since I will be driving myself. We had them transfer the credit from my acct to Hubby's so we had no out of pocket AND their books are now balanced with our accts.

I cleaned the basement frig out and made a list of what I pitched... things we had not bought but was given and I definitely remember telling the person we didn't want it as it wouldn't be eaten...Hubby took it from them when I wasn't around not knowing I already said no. He put it in the basement frig when he put the meat in the freezer. He forgot to put it on the perishable list I keep on the kitchen frig for items in the basement frig so I don't lose track. For now on he will tell them to ask me. He did call them and told them he didn't appreciate how they did that when I told them no.

We did a pit stop at the grocery store for "salad" items as we were completely out, I have 10 days worth. I saved 10 % but definitely know I need to put a cold weather frame up this summer to grow salad items during the winter.

We had sandwiches for lunch and cheese, summer sausage for Hubby and pepperoni for me along with crackers for dinner.


Friday Dec 14th

Hubby went to pick up the ball and hitch he ordered and stopped by the Amish produce auction to see if they had next year's schedule for auctions.

Then he cleaned and set up the turkey deep fryers (and covered them to keep them clean) out in the barn.

He loaded the presents we were giving friends and the bags and boxes we were giving the family in need at the SCARES dinner. That's now off the list for tomorrow.

I thawed the broth I made to inject the turkeys and got that done first thing.

I set up the kitchen after dinner for the morning of making 25 lbs of mashed potatoes and craving the turkeys to go in the electric roaster.

It's going to be a busy weekend... so I won't be back on until Monday or Tuesday.

Blessed Be