Frugal steps in past week.

We are still trying to work on getting routines beyond getting up at 4-5 am and going to bed at 8 pm.

Meals

Breaded chicken tenders and steak fries. Pickles and pickled beets (Thursday)

Spaghetti with meat balls and green beans (Friday)

Leftover Spaghetti with meat balls with mushrooms, bell pepper and onion added and applesauce (Saturday)

Spicy (not hot) cinnamon pork chops served in bed of apple butter with Brussels Sprouts roasted with apple and served with a basmatic vinegar, honey and dried cranberries dressing. (Sunday)

Cube steak with gravy,mashed potatoes and breaded mushrooms (last in freezer, good thing as we really don't like the breading on them) (Monday_

Pork cubes with pineapple and bell pepper served over rice and pot stickers (Tuesday)

Six meals cooked and out of pantry. That's a big deal as we have "snacked" our way through most of the summer. ROUTINE NEEDED !!!!

Hubby called our internet home phone provider and saved us $23.45 and kept the same services.

Last night Hubby asked why the house was up to 75 and then dropped 20 min later to 72... my answer... you propped the door open for the dogs so you wouldn't have to get up and let them in . He got up and shut the door.

Canning has been helping keep the house warm. I now have another 30 pints of applesauce and another batch of apple butter to make.

Winter bedding being washed and dried on clothes line off and on this coming week.

Hubby used leftover weed barrier from gardens to put under the stone under the steps to the deck. He has enough to put under the ramp when he starts working on it. We will have to widen the driveway as when he turns in with the trailer he ends up in the grass. That's next year's to do.

The oil lamp is lit every morning and every evening.

The furnace is turned on at 8 pm to 72 and then turned off at 6 am. The house drops to 62 but warms back up with the sun shining. Dark days it stays on the cool side.We still have not had to have the 1st propane fill of the heating season. Last year we were about half way through the tank.

We figure I have 10 days to finish fall cleaning and caulking. Our frost is usually around the 15th, last year it was a freeze.

I found another pair of tennis shoes in the winter shoe Rubbermaid. Since it still had tags on it I thought one of the granddaughters passed them to me. Not a style I have seen them wear but I don't care about the style of my tennis shoe that I wear around the house. But daughter 4 thinks it came from her younger son's grandma in his dad side as she wears the same size as me and she had gave Daughter 4 several pair of crocs and she thought a pair of tennis shoes. Daughter 4 kept the crocs as that size is too big for me in those shoes. I wear a 4 in children's crocs, and they were 6's in the crocs.

Our HVAC guy came down to do a repair on insulation on a heater vent that his guys forgot to tape closed. While here he installed the whole house surge protector. BECAUSE he was coming down for a repair he did not charge us the $53 trip fee and took 10 % off of the installation fee since we gave him the information and where we bought it from as he has had 2 more customers ask for it.

I canned 36 jelly jars of apple butter, froze 9 cups of corn and shelled 1 pint of popcorn.

I told Hubby that the next 10 days is getting stuff done off the energy audit and fall cleaning. That he is on his own for bfast and lunch but I would try to have dinner on the table at 5. IF he isn't going to be home at that time he needs to let me know so I can eat and just make him a plate. Instead of me waiting until he gets home to fix something.

I did more laundry and line dried. Told Hubby we are about to the time of using the drying rack over night.I hope to find another drying rack within my price point soon.

I started the fall cleaning in the front room as I am also caulking baseboard and windows there also. I got half of the room done, was feeling a bit bad about not finishing until Hubby reminded me that most rooms at 12 ft by 12 ft and our front room is 24 ft by 24 ft. So it's the size of 2 rooms. I also replaced the window insulation seal that had went bad on 2 of the windows. Figure that the other 2 will need theirs replaced.

There has been 2 fires, 1 a sawmill and another a calf barn in the past week. Last month a barn burnt down and a couple months before that a house did while the family was at Church. Amish community have already rebuilt the house and the barn. Yesterday Hubby said he stopped by the calf barn to see if they needed help and they were sending people down to the sawmill which was just 1/2 mile down the road because they had plenty of help. Today Hubby is hauling lumber in to the sawmill. No one has been hurt but the lectures of fire safety is going strong.