Thursday, March 2, 2023

Frugal plans for March

 



We have 9 "errands/appts etc" in March. I hope to combine 4 of them to save on fuel.

On this calendar I listed what protein we will be eating. We followed it 10 days in February. I just add what ever sides needed ate from the frig first and fill in from the pantry. Goal is to only buy dairy, bell peppers, mushrooms and lettuce during this month. We are still too cold for planting. Grocery budget set at $150 which is a reduction of half.

I ordered 2 varieties of black raspberry plants. The honey raspberry is still struggling and the red raspberry just started good last year. The blackberries run us over but M said she would send the girls over to pick if they get too much for us. 

I ordered a couple varieties of peas and a variety of green beans that a friend and  I was out of using a discount code,  picked up a seed tape for carrots that was marked down to 25 ¢ from last year from another store.  Hubby picked up two varieties of early peas from the local Amish green house that had them marked down. The owner's wife charged him $1.00 for 1 lb. of seed just to clear her bin for this year's seed.  I am going to try to plant some dwarf peas in flower pots to hang instead of buying so many flowers. She told Hubby if it worked to let her see a pot... she would like to do that if it's looks good.

Hubby drinks dandelion root tea for his gout. I googled it to see how to make our own. Decades ago I used to make dandelion wine for the elderly gentleman that was a neighbor and make dandelion jelly for my kids. We do eat the greens in salad. Amish neighbor said I needed to try it with gravy over potatoes like they do. 

Propane is at 33%...so we saved $1626.93 PLUS enough to cover the expense of buying coal and what little we paid for wood as most of our wood was given to us. Our furnace guy said we could let the tank go down to 10 % before refill and the furnace would be fine. Since we are only using it a couple times a week instead of the wood/coal stove, we might save another tank full if we wait until it's that low. Summer fills are cheaper than winter fills.

Temperatures are up and down. Seems like every Wed/Thurs we hit high  50/60s and then go down to low 40s for with mornings below freezing. 

Blessed Be 

Prayers for peace