Frugal each day

MONDAY

We ate from the pantry for all meals

I baked cinnamon raisin bread.

I did the laundry on cold wash, quick cycle, homemade laundry soap and hung everything either on the drying rack or shower rods.

We still are running across things that should have been pitched when we had the dumpster. We are breaking it down and keeping it under the weight limit and amount of bags we can have with the new service. Since we don't have a burn barrel, our Amish neighbor offered to let us burn the cardboard at his place.

Hubby worked last night so was home today when the Amish neighbor asked if he could get a ride to check on his brother (5 miles away , brother broke leg) Hubby made $10 for a 20 min trip.

TUESDAY

We ate from the pantry for all meals.

I baked  Pullman bread ( https://www.chicagotribune.com/dining/drink/ct-food-0227-pullman-bread-recipe-20150227-story.html )

Hubby worked all night plowing (again) so he ate his "lunch" for his breakfast as he only ate his snacks during the night. He doesn't like to eat a meal during the night since it can make his sleepy.

We reworked the budget that Hubby calls it the 2008 budget...that's when he went to 3 days a week and we had family putting the food on the table since we hadn't put a garden in . Not that bad, actually not bad at all when comparing to 2008 to 2010 just wanting a few things that are going to cost some money and not willing to pull a lot off the IRA with how the market is at the moment. Our original plan was not pull the IRA until 62, but we invested more cash in this house since we didn't get moved in 90 days as the contractor started but 180 days later of paying rent and mortgage and double utilities and had things that were missed during inspection. The only two things under budget was the gas we used driving back and forth and the food budget as I knew we would be eating out more than normal.

His first question was what else do you need for the gardens this year and how much $$ and do we have enough in the pantry (or will if the garden does decent) to go 2 yrs instead of 1.SO we are "test driving" the new budget for 2 months as we already are set to not pull the IRA until mid summer. I have already gotten or ordered stuff I will need in harvest season and have the list of what is left and price.

Hubby called around and got quotes for the gravel for the deck,driveway etc. Depending on the trailer he buys we might have enough saved between the two of us to get most of it done this summer.We already have a contract for job that we will need the trailer for in April. The Amish guy hiring Hubby said he had already talked to another guy that would rent his trailer if Hubby didn't have one by then. The guy just doesn't want the job as it's out of town and at least 12 hrs between driving and wait time.

Hubby turned off the heat lamp on water pump in pump house. It's not suppose to get that cold but if it does I can go back out to pump house and turn it back on. He is also not plugging in his truck.

Amish neighbor bakes sugar cookies and sent a dozen over, so I won't be baking cookies tomorrow like I had planned.

WEDNESDAY

I think I am trying to come down with a "bug" sneezing, sniffling and having clammy sweats. Hubby is crossing his fingers when he passes me.

I did the laundry(table linen and kitchen towels/cloths) on cold wash, quick cycle with homemade laundry and hung everything on the drying rack and "sock" drying racks.

I sent our granddaughter a birthday card. I was told that I was the ONLY grandparent that actually sent a card in the mail and the grandkids think it's great. They know they are only getting $10 but they love getting something in the mail.

I filled out and sent the rebate form for Menard's 11% back.

I filled out the form for reimbursement for our health ins from our RRA.

I paid the bills. Still waiting on the ER bill. The bill should be around $300.

I sorted out the seeds I will be winter sowing tomorrow.

I cut all 3 dogs toe nails , not an easy job on my own but saved us $30 by doing so.

I make two pots of hot tea every afternoon, I reuse the same bag from the 1st pot and just let it steep a bit longer. Hubby has even started drinking it instead of coffee (Thankful for that as the tea is a lot cheaper than the coffee).

All meals from the pantry, except for the cookies the Amish neighbor sent over, which Hubby has them almost gone already.

THURSDAY

Hubby worked over this morning so he doesn't go to work tomorrow. That saves 2 gal of gas LOL.

We did errands using the old truck (Hubby had to charge battery as it hadn't been started in 3 wks) bank, truck payment, TSC for dog food, Walmart for distilled water, Gas station for gas and kerosene and Save a lot which saved me $19.07 over what it would have cost me at Krogers.

I did 2 loads of laundry, drying rack and clothes line used

We ate left overs for a late lunch and decided we would eat eggs if we got hungry later. Probably won't since it was almost dinner time when we ate lunch.

We sat for a couple hours and talked about what we wanted to get done around the house this summer, whether he should do summer seasonal work where he is now or not. We decided not after I brought up what we NEEDED to get done and we WANTED to do. He did say he had 1 more job of hauling something for a co-worker and possible a occasional call to drive a cement mixer that is a manual as the guy does concrete and struggles to find a CDL driver that can do manual transmission. He has one job set for April as it is.

We also decided to get into a better routine during the summer so meals can be at a set time, which means LESS SNACKING.

FRIDAY

Hubby finished his 40 hr week yesterday so he was off today. Supposed to be off until Tuesday morning but if we get any of the nasty snow or freezing rain Sun as they are saying he will be working before Tues.

We ate from the pantry, nice roasted chicken for dinner that will be leftover chicken wraps tomorrow and then into the broth pot.

I labeled the empty distilled gal. water jugs for winter sowing.

We have 55 things still on the punch out list we wrote when we walked through this house the first time ...and then added to after the contractors left and we realized we should have added a few more things.

Hubby trimmed back the one apple tree. Has another one to do.

I cut back the lilac tree. Definitely a work out that I am not used to.

I mended a pair of jeans for Hubby and 2 pairs of pants for myself along with buttons on 2 of my shirts and my winter cap repaired.


SATURDAY

Laundry washed, homemade laundry soap, freezed dried on kitchen porch clothesline, drying rack held "unmentionables" LOL and "sock dryer" got socks.

Have too many eggs and know I'm getting another 2 dozen today. Just didn't get the baking done I planned.

I baked a loaf of bread.

I boiled 1 dozen eggs for Hubby's lunches ...then gave 3 of those to the dogs as Charlotte was sitting so nicely at the cabinet "begging" and could have snatched one while I was hanging clothes out as they all are tall enough to reach to the back of the counter.

I baked apple bread pudding.

I baked custard.

I did part of my Feb winter sowing.

I cleaned the frigs out.

Hubby came home from KY with a 32 ft flatbed trailer with wench.

SUNDAY

The day of REST... sometimes hard to do with all that is on the to do lists but we know we need to REST so we don't get sick and don't burn out.

We enjoyed the few moments of sunshine there was.

We are thankful for the ice pellets we got instead of freezing rain.

We had Apple bread pudding for bfast, lunch meat wraps for lunch, custard for our snack and eggs and homemade bread for our dinner.

We did ball park figures of how long it takes me to do the following  in a week:

Cooking meals and snacks for the 2 of us(prep, eat, clean up and food from scratch) 24 1/2 hrs/wk

Garden (weeding, planting, harvesting) 14 hrs/ wk

Baking (hands on only) 4 hrs/wk

Laundry (hands on only) 15 hrs/ wk

Housekeeping  15 hrs/wk

Just those items are 72 1/2 hrs a week. That's 10 hrs and about 21 minutes each day.

That's not adding in processing harvest,sewing, working on the punch out list, dog care, personal care, pantry cleaning , deep freezer defrosted and it's food organized.Going through the boxes still left, clearing the barn and what I was going to use for a garden shed until we realized it had a NASTY odor when the doors had been kept closed.SO I need to move what little garden equipment out of it to the barn, which means I need to fix an area in the barn to MOVE the stuff to.

He asked me how I did it when I was a widow with kids, I got up at 4 am and went to bed at midnight. I worked 2-3 part time jobs and I multi-tasked like crazy AND I have paid the price of doing it with my health.

SO what is the advice I would give... actually keep track of the time it takes you to do what you do at home, time you spend running errands or other people. MAKE SURE you take DOWN TIME for yourself.

Blessed Be