Jan 9th another week of being frugal

But Mommy I am so sweet and innocent

He deserved to have his face ripped off.

Life with a puppy. The only good part is this is a stuffed bear that the youngest grandson was going to throw away as there is no place around here that will take used stuffed toys so he gave it the pup.Pup had it 3 months before she decided he needed to die.

Tuesday we went to town for an appointment so took stuff to Goodwill and check in the store for a pole lamp. There was no lamp but I was able to get Daughter( actually I should list daughters as 1,2,3,and 4...she would be 2) 3 dozen plastic hangers and 2 pairs of gloves for $7.

We went to Menard's to get dog food, distilled water for humidifier,a clip on light for above the stove due that light fixture dying and 3 pots for Daughter's vines she has salvaged from a dying plant.Along with what was on the list we found a pole lamp in our price range,got LED light bulbs for the pole lamp and clap lamp(I did not want to buy a new fixture since we are moving and won't have that stove  after wards and we decided only LED lights at the new home) Out of pocket ZERO as we used the rebates we had saved. We also checked out some sinks, faucets and lights that we might want for the new house.

We went to Kroger's and got milk, heavy cream, half and half, cottage cheese, chip dip, sour cream, Greek yogurt,colby cheese(sliced for daughter), Single serving package of guac(daughter's lunches), moz sticks, red and green leaf lettuce, romaine lettuce, bibb lettuce , baby spinach, carrots,celery, broccoli,Frito's, chips and a beef roast as Son #1 called and said he was coming home tomorrow to visit for the day (he didn't make it home for Christmas due to work) so I decided a pot roast with root veggies would work as I wouldn't be in the kitchen and we could do more visiting. I had a small roast that would work for 2 people but not enough for 4.... out of pocket for the groceries of $131. ZERO ... I had a gift card that I used.

FINALLY they figured out what was wrong with our health ins BILLING acct and got it fixed so we can at least get it set up on auto pay. AND they got it so we can check our health ins.

I made my Swag buck's goal 4 times this week.

I saved 3 five dollar bills and 5 one dollar bills and some change for our Christmas savings.

WEDNESDAY  We finished taking down the Christmas decorations and picking up some down limbes out in the yard. I decluttered a cabinet in the kitchen. Ate beef roast(what I had bought along with what was in the freezer) with the potatoes from root celler  I tossed in the roaster with it and salad and the last of the cookie brownies and cherry pie while visiting SON 1. Daughter got in late after taking her son home after he got off work as his car is broke down and in the repair shop.

THURSDAY. Strange to not be finance day after decades of it being finance day. So I just checked to make sure everything was as it was suppose to be.

Dropped off Fed ex stuff to local hardware store pick up. Got gas at the cheapest place according to Gasbuddy, went to the bank and then put the mail in the mail box at the end of the lane on the way back in.Basically it was a big block drive so the dogs got a ride this morning.

 I decluttered the mudroom and sorted through the fruit we store there and cleaned out the mudroom frig. Need to inventory it still but at least nothing falls out when you open the door. Hubby straightened up his tools so he isn't buying something because he couldn't find it.

Hubby and SON 1 along with a friend plan to go deep sea fishing this fall , celebrete Hubby's retirement and turning 60. Friend found a better deal for 1/3rd the original price so they are going to lock that deal down NOW.

Realtor called and let us know the outhouse will be torn down tomorrow and the septic guy who lives right aroung the corner will hopefully be able to deal with cleaning it and running the test by tomorrow evening if the weather we are getting doesn't put a stop all the whole project. Freezing rain and sleet tonight, 4-7 inches of snow over night with 30 mph winds tomorrow...

Hubby bought us sandwiches for dinner using a coupon and gift card so ZERO out of pocket.

FRIDAY
Under a winter weather advisory. Rain this morning, freezing rain/sleet to come along with 3-5 inches of snow and 30 mph winds..... Daughter 2 had to drive an hour in this crap to make appts for her sons that the ex made and then he had to go work out of state... since he is working OUTSIDE in this crap she felt he got the worse end of this deal. BUT since it was crap , she stayed in that area with friends.

SO Hubby and I ate odds and ends out of the frig for our dinner. Hubby listened to the scanner and checked on neighbors and friends by phone to make sure everyone was doing ok. We didn't lose electric but a friend did and had some issues getting his generator to run even after just checking to make sure it was good last week.

We turned the furnace up since we have 2 more tanks to use before we move. Landlord said if we didn't use it all he would buy it from us since he will still have to keep heat in the house so it isn't going to be us losing money. He also reminded us he still had our deposit and he could use it for the last month we are here if we wanted to do it that way or we could pay and then he give back the deposit when we leave.

Landlord told us to turn the water off to the barn as there is going to be no animals in it except the pig(he has a water trough that is filled by bucket, we can fill that in the house if landlord's son doesn't want to transport water from his house that's 1 1/2 miles away). That means we don't have to worry about those pipes freezing. YEAH for all of us.

I inventoried the spice and herb cabinet (took measurements of cabinet so I know what I will need to build when we move). There is over 100 of them, that's down over 20 and I am making a list of what I need to focus on using up that I used cheffing but not so much at home, I would like to get these used up first since there is over 20 of them and that's about a shelf.

 My canning ingredients (pectin, citric acid etc) is also in this cabinet so I listed it so when the season starts I will already know what I need to get.I also know what I need to plant at the new house immediately so I might start those in pots to get them going.

SATURDAY...I'm home alone with 3 dogs that think that means it's a free for all... LOL.

Daughter 2 scheduled an appt to see a apartment at noon as the roads should be better in the area she stayed over night in. The person showing it said if she had to cancel due to weather she would call her and let her know and then they set up an appt as a back up on Tuesday at 10 just in case the roads weren't clear today. Figures cross that this apt will work for her and she can get it if it does. Gets her and the boys all back together and in school district they already are in.  She is also looking at some house rentals today since she is in the area.Hauling kids to games, practices and work ...you know parent stuff. Doing what she can for the stepmom that now has 7 kids under her roof. ( Just update, Daughter 2 didn't get to see the apartment so her and the manager are trying to work out a time this week)

Hubby is at a SCARES event today all day that tests how their HAM radios work in bad weather ,I think they ordered the weather and it came in early :), and what distance the radio signal will go.

SO I decided on using the chili I canned for dinner tonight.

Our "paycheck" LOL as in our monthly stipend for retirement came in yesterday so today is finance day. Takes 4 days for it to process so I can do better about knowing when it will actually come in.

I made a menu of the whiteboard of 5 meals I am fixing this week , not in order because that depends on what is going on. I will make plan overs from the leftovers to get the other 2-3 meals.

I will list what work, eg inventory, decluttering, packing I plan to do this week as Daughter 2 says it helps that she can look at my list when she gets in at night and see if she can do anything to help.

SUNDAY

I fixed beef and noodles and mashed potatoes. Beef and broth was from the roast I made on Wed. I have a quart of some of the beef and broth for soup for Hubby and me that I put in frig,if we don't eat it today or tomorrow I will freeze it.

I repotted Daughter2 vines into bigger pots that have drainage holes in the bottom so it's healthier for the vines. I planted tomato seeds I had harvested from some field paste tomatoes (first time doing that so not sure if they will do well). I did some winter sowing using this website http://www.agardenforthehouse.com/2018/01/winter-sowing/. I planted kale, mustard, winter lettuce, mache and spinach. Kind of weird to do this for me but I didn't have to buy anything so if it works I know to plan on using it again.

I got my Swagbucks goal X 7. I usually get half the points through crave first thing in the morning while I do my devotionals and book work. I might have to get on a couple times a day to get it down but right now I want to earn as much as I can within reasonable time to get gift cards for the dogs needs.

Have a warm and safe week
Blessed Be

Jan Frugal

Tuesday I cleaned out the kitchen frig and organized it to suit the changes we decided to make in our diet. I gave our small grocery list to our Daughter to pick on her way home from work that night  as she was stopping to get herself some stuff...guess that was a REALLY frugal move because she FORGOT to get what I added to HER list. We still haven't went to the store. BUT we are now down to 1 pint of milk and 2 of us take milk in our coffee so either tomorrow or Monday I will be making the store run.

Wednesday and Thursday I inventoried the 80 % butler's pantry and all of the kitchen frig freezer. We ate from the pantry.

Friday I took down the Christmas stuff and dealt with that. Took ALL the empty canning jars and put them in the packing boxes we bought just for them. Hubby didn't realize I had that many empty. We ate leftovers

Saturday I sorted condensed some of the food stuff and washed about 2 more cases of canning jars and boxed them up. I made pasta with meat sauce and garlic cheddar biscuits. Since it was suppose to get really bad Hubby bought milk at the gas station since he was topping off the truck. Frugal because that is all we have bought , not frugal as it cost $4 for the gal. Daughter felt bad as it was on the list of the stuff she forgot.

Sunday we went to our landlord's 50th birthday party. Daughter decided to stay home, her OCD kicked in after 2 days of being at home and we came home to a clean house and laundry done but she forgot to fix supper(her night to cook so she ordered and paid for calzones from the local pizza joint. Since she had never ordered from there she didn't realize how big they were so we now have leftover calzones for another meal.

Today I had doctor appt about my shoulder/arm (the one they operated on) So Hubby drove and ran a couple errands he had while I was in the doctor...GOOD news is it is NOT the shoulder. Bad news it is my CP causing some issues with my bicep which already have tendonitis. I got a shot that should help in a couple of days when the freaking pain of having it injected into my shoulder joint wears off.
I fixed. SINCE I know how bad the pain is going to get with this shot I fixed one pot green beans potatoes and ham. White corn bread in a cast iron skillet, cherry pie and a box mix that I bought at Aldi's at Thanksgiving that was a brownie toppped by choc chip cookie dough.. between that and the leftover calzone we should be fed for a few days.

WHAT THE ???? Retirement mess up.

Hubby just laughed but I was frustrated. Company messed up and put Hubby's health ins at Cobra instead of Retiree..>GRRR. AND then messed up and booted him out of the website to get to one of his other benefits. Benefits is running around trying to get it fixed . Health ins will send us a paper bill (already let us know how much and gave us a 30 day grace period since it wasn't our screw up).

BUT REALLY???!!!!

ON TOP of at 12/31/17 my specialist and primary doctor became out of network... primary willing to work with us ...specialist wasn't allowed to so referred me to her own specialist...

THEN on the news on 1/2/18 we saw were they had made an AGREEMENT to keep  the specialist IN net work on 12/26/17... REALLY..

BUT their website is still saying their are out of net work.

Can I just go back to paying cash NOW ????

I think I need a 3 dog night to recover from this frustration .

OFFER ACCEPTED

Sellers have accepted our offer, they have already moved out of the house, still working at getting their greenhouse and garden shed removed and clearing out the woodworking area in the barn. We have preapproval of a REHAB loan (plus we have back up $$ incase something falls through)as this house belongs to AMISH...no electric, plumbing or heat since they took the wood burning stoves (our ins wouldn't cover them anyways as primary heat). A total of 5 acres which 3 acres behind the barn is in hay right now so we will be figuring out what to do about that. Amish neighbor might be willing to take care of mowing it if he can have the hay in exchange of it. The acre next to the house is in hay also but I think I am going to move the gardens to that area next year...that is a wait and see how it goes for a year or so.

I have named the sections to not confuse Hubby and me about which half we are talking about. Section closest to driveway is house 1 (used to be garage) and the other is house 2. The smaller middle section is how the garage attached to the house.

This will be our veiw from the front porch or my kitchen window since I took one look at what they called the kitchen and realized not only would my stove not fit but neither would my refrigerator.  They plowed the garden area so I might actually get to plant somethings this year.

This is actually from the driveway. Grape harbor...looks like maybe rhubarb also. Two seater outhouse( small white buildng) that is connected to septic tank . We plan to turn part of the barn into a garage since we have no plans of having livestock.The white building to the far left is the pump house where the well is.They had a Honda gas motor on it One like you would put on a snowblower.

This is the back side of the house. We will be putting  a patio door about the middle of the house which will be off the kitchen and be building a deck.

This is what their kitchen was. That's a hand pump that they pumped water out of that they had in a 5 gal bucket. That's a kersone cook stove beside the door which will be where our contractor is putting a wheelchair bathroom. This room will become the mudroom/laundry room combination. IF there is room I might put an area to prep produce, work flowers etc...

There are 3"bedrooms" upstairs , what code calls open lofts as there are no walls,doors or closets...we will add those and a storage space.

1 bedroom downstairs with a area that was pantry that we will convert to closet.

Another room that was pantry that will be the 2nd bathroom (tub/shower combo)

The old dining room will be either another downstairs bedroom (will need closet) or maybe a man's cave for Hubby.

The middle room...this is a partical picture and there is NOTHING in this area now.

This is about half of the area the window is where the patio door will be . The other side that is not showing will be the kitchen sink and the penisula. This will be a kitchen/dining room/ family room area.

Pretty much the enter downstairs is wood floors.

There is a basement under the house 2..a very good basement.

I don't know who is more excited about getting in the house after closing to get the work down and make this a home , Hubby, me or the contractor who LOVES rehabs AND reusing OLD stuff. He already told me he has 2 antique sinks being refinished and I get to look at them first to see if I want either one of them.

Right now closing is March 6th... I picked the date as it is my late younger brother's birthday and we were the closest of the siblings. BUT I do hope it's more like FEB.

Blessed Be

MY plans for 2018

We chose to save $5 bills when we get them along with the regular budgeted savings. I also save all my change except for the 3 quarters, 2 dimes, 1 nickle and 5 pennies I keep in my purse.

It is going to be a busy and full year as we are in process of buying a house, buying a truck for Hubby buying a suv or car for me. Moving Daughter when she gets her own place again (LORD PLEASE SOON, the 2 hr drive the other night due to bad weather and having to drive 30mph "annoyed" (her word) her and worried the crap out of us and her brother who lives at the other end of her route.. All we thought about was the cost of gas and wear and tear on her car  with driving 2 hrs a day to and from work along with driving her sons to practice and to their dad's where they are staying until she gets a new place AND packing and moving ourselves.AND add the bill we just got to do the updates required for the house (mortgage and ins requirements)..

I will try to meet my SWAGBUCKS goal every day. Since the dogs get me up early I use that time and the time right before bed to do that. Hard sometimes to do as I get knocked out of the surveries most the time.

I am doing Pinecone research still, not as many as I don't have cable or DVR or children under 18

We will use CASH for groceries or gift cards that are gotten on discount and I am looking at eating from the pantry and shopping Aldi's the most. I do have a $250 gift card from Krogers and $75 gift card from Walmart and over $200 rebate "check" for Menards.

We will use GASBUDDY for checking for the cheapest gas. Hubby uses Speedway fuel card for extra cents off and I have a Kroger's pts card but we won't be buying much at Krogers so that might not be an option at times.

I paid for the Grocery Budget Bootcamp (Tiffiny) ...yes believe me I thought about it for a week.Talked it over with Hubby, daughter and then son that visits regularly. Then I decided if it saved me $25 a month I would "break even" So I signed up and read the welcome and first class and realized a a problem in how I am managing the pantry. A tweak in the basic grocery list and what will be a week of reorganizing the kitchen will save us about $30 in a 10 day span because I won't be losing produce or tossing leftovers as much.Daughter brings home half her lunch almost daily and that's not getting ate either so she decided what she gets for lunch (she's a bartender on first shift and can not leave so she gets 50% off her meals) she will focus on something that can help extend the dinner we have the next night. A lesson that is for the 22nd is inventorying what you have...I started NOW as it will take me all this month to get that done with the other work I have.

I joined Home Storage Solutions 101 Declutter 365. I did this last year and it really helped...I didn't get it done due to surgery but with moving I really need to get this done BEFORE we move as we do NOT need to pack clutter and take it with us even though we have a huge barn we could use for storage. Daugher has offered to take donations to Goodwill as she has one right around from her work so we won't be making special trips to town and she can take it as I get it together instead of it sitting until we do go to town.

Menu planning will be USE UP THE LEFTOVERS FIRST plan. I thought about a pantry challenge... with acknowledgement that we still would eat out more than I like even with having the eating out calendar we have done extra due to being on the road at the wrong times. Since I know this "be gone so much" time isn't going to last more than a couple months we are trying to change times that we have to be somewhere. The hardest is when I have to take my meds that require me to eat a MEAL not a snack.

The biggest will be dealing with the house we are buying. I budgeted paying the asking price (actually I budgeted what it would cost to build the house we had decided on if we found land instead of a house) but HOPE they take less when offered due to the amount and COST of getting the house back up to code and qualifying it for a traditional mortgage and covereage under home ins.

That's going to be the priority for this year. It helps that Hubby can go down to the neighbors and pick up work here and there and another friend called tonight and asked if he would be interested in driving some for him towards the end of summer beginning of fall  short term.

Blessed Be

Happy New Year's Day

May all of you and yours find contentment in this coming year no matter what you are going through.

Funny how the outdoors looks the same as last winter. Even change can be the same because it's a LOT colder this winter than last year.

I'll be back tomorrow with my goals of this year.

May Blessing overflow your cup.

Retirement update

We have enough saved and set it up to ride out down turns in the stock market. We have it set up that payments will come in at 3 different times(we will have 3 different accounts )a month instead of just the first of the month and only once a month. I heard from a lot of retirees this is a hard adjustment. Dad has his set on 2. Mom O has hers on 3. Social Security comes in at the first of the month.

I take a sheet of notebook paper each month and deduct ALL the expenses out as I pretty much know what my utilities average and I use the HIGH side of that average. BEFORE we start even thinking of getting groceries or gas or spending money. IT took me a year (we were in a bankruptcy) to save 3 months expenses so I could put in the checking and deduct everything BEFORE we even got our first retirement check (which is Jan 10th). How I did this was add up monthly bills MINUS the things we could go without (Amazon prime, sam's club, netflex -we don't have cable, no groceries and only 2 tanks of gas, health ins costs. Times it by 3 and divided it by 52 as I knew I had a year to save it up. THAT amount was paid into ALLY bank so we wouldn't use it on a automatic withdrawl just like it was a weekly bill. I then added what ever I could save into our regular savings also and stocked piled using sales and coupons.

We still haven't settled on additional savings plan , key requirement when you retire and look at living another 30 some years as several in Hubby's family have lived over 100 and he's not 60 until next year. We have decided only 1 acct will be pulled from for now especially with buying a house and rehabbing it. We don't want to get into the mind frame of Ok we saved what we budgeted so we can spend the rest attitude at times we could save MORE.NOR do we want to run out and buy a ton of things for the new house. (FRUGALWOODS WEB SITE)

CHANGE IN HEALTH INS...OH HEAVENS help me from pulling my hair out... Hubby's company changed ins providers that take affect 1/1/2018 for employees.BUT he retired 12/1/2017 so should have been put on retirement health ins 1/1/2018....NOOOOOO some reason they put the wrong date in and it's going to be end of Jan  before that gets switched so I had to fill out paperwork FOR employee to make sure we HAD ins and then will have to do retiree paperwork. AT least they are making sure we are COVERED. Health ins money will go into a money market fund so I can keep that separate from the rest.

We are tracking each month what we spend in gas and where we are going. We know we will be going to visit parents more often and doing things with kids/grandkids. BUT we can't afford to just run all the time (the medical appts and retirement appts have worn us out this month). MOVING will be costly. We are pricing different ways to get it done.

With Daughter moving home (Pray for her as she has 2 places that should open up for her to rent in Jan) will increase the utilities but she brings enough leftovers home from her lunch at work that she covers her own dinners. She has offered to pay for the increase.

I can give myself a headache thinking the changes that will happen in the coming year.

Blessed Be

Dec 14th each frugal day until the 26th

14th I had appointment in town with ortho doctor about my surgery arm this morning so Hubby took me as I had other errands and he wanted to get gas (gas buddy and speedway card) He picked up my CVS prescription (FRUGAL FAIL forgot to show CVS card so didn't get credit towards extra bucks) while I was at the doctor's. I ran into Walmart after the appoint to get the 7 inch sq disposable plates I use to vacuum cookies and a new mouse for laptop. Mine died, Hubby gave me his so I got the new one for him.Got gas on way home as we found the other Speedway was 3¢ cheaper than to one we had planned to go to. Sat down and figured out how much taxes we would pay if we pulled money from the 401K this month on top of the earnings from work. Car is going down hill fast since the transfer case is no longer working, Used left over London broil with onions and mushrooms to make wraps for our meal. Hubby picked up the turkeys we are deep frying for SCARES on Saturday from a friend that bought them and had them thawing at his house, Hubby also brought home 2 sandwiches after he went to grandson's bowling meet. Used coupons for sandwiches so bought one and got one. He got the cheaper sandwiches instead of our favorites. Both of us are watching how much we eat not just what we eat.

15th. Had to go start paperwork for pre approval of mortgage for new home. Checked gasbuddy for cheapest gas, used speedway fuel card for discount, got breakfast sandwich for our lunch at Speedway as Hubby had a coupon for buy 1 get one free and they were $2 for the 2 of them so we got 2 sandwiches for $1 and we had our drinks. Mortgage guy said for not being out of a bankruptcy for even a year yet we have done very well at rebuilding our savings and  credit. Usually credit takes 2 yrs to rebuild after bankruptcy and if he hadn't seen the date he would have thought it was over 2 yrs (GO US) SIDE NOTE if you are or have been in a bankruptcy get a copy of your payments so if you go to get any kind of loan in the 4 yrs after you have that because they will ask for it. On the way home we stopped at a restaurant (planned) that we were told by Hubby's co workers that was reasonable... FOR LESS than the price at MC D's or WENDY'S we had a balanced meal and drink even with leaving a tip.I brought part of my sandwich and fries home.  We have 2 financial places. One with 401(k) work and one we rolled over pension to into an IRA. We contacted both of them to get that scheduled to get rolling as needed in mortgage. We snacked on what we had in frig when we got munchies.

16th Hubby fixed bfast from pantry. We have a Christmas dinner tonight with the SCARES so we will snack for lunch as we will be prepping 30 lbs of potatoes donated by our daughter, for mashed potatoes and deep frying 2 turkeys. Turkeys came from friend so our outlay is only the cost of the oil that we bought at Sam's club and we donate the used oil to a friend that heats his work shop with it and will give us "credit" for oil when we have work done by him.

17th  Started making candy and cookies for the kids from the pantry. Fixed today's and tomorrow's meals

18th Took our truck to mechanic for oil change and tires (on sale). Had MRI (paid by ins) of shoulder that had surgery during the summer

19th Had appointment with finance guy so used coupon and ate lunch at a restaurant we only are around when in that area. At leftovers for dinner.

20th Hubby was in Wapak to meet a couple friends so picked up prime rib we had ordered that was in that town also. We ate from the pantry as I was finishing cookies and candy so Hubby could make the snickerdoodles when he got in.

21st  We checked the kids schedules and routed the cookie delivery to be the shortest route. Our daughter paid for our lunch as we had to deliver the Christmas stuff to her at work.

22nd Hubby had bfast with ex co workers using a gift card he was given to pay for it. I made dinner from the pantry and freezer

23rd We were just hanging around the house when the dogs started barking and when I went to the door I found our one daughter that had been living with a friend climbing out of her car with her suitcase. One this child would not be on our door step unless it's last resort. The place she was suppose to get on Friday got backed up as the elderly lady isn't going into the nursing home until Jan now so she came home rather than stay with the friend and strain that relationship. We ate from the pantry and she talked about what she thought should be her "share of the housework, groceries and rules about coming in." I am not sure but it sure sounded a lot like the same rules we had when she was 17 and living at home LOL. She agreed she would help pay the electric bill , the only bill that will be affected by her staying here especially since we had to put an electric heater in the room she is using upstairs. She offered to take the items I am going to take to Goodwill with her and drop them off when she goes to work saving us a trip to town as the Goodwill is within a couple blocks of her job. She also started looking (again) for another place just incase the elderly lady doesn't go in to the nursing as what was planned.

24th Daughter went and got a couple of her sons and one of their girlfriends to come see us, she provided the drinks and snacks for everyone. We had the prime rib, daughter ate it as leftover when she got in and did the dishes (that was nice to wake up to a clean sink) and the 2 sons that usually come called after they got home from work. I put together a stocking for my daughter since she was going to be here separate from what we had already given her that she saved to open with her sons at their other grandparents on Christmas.

25th  We ate left over sweet rolls for bfast, snacky food that had been given to us for lunch and leftover prime rib with onions mushrooms for philly steak wraps for dinner.  Daughter came up with a menu from the pantry after I wrote out what we had going on this week so she knew where we were and could help take care of the dogs(which 2 are hers anyways). We also talked of shower schedules as she leaves for work at 9 and won't be home until after 6 and maybe later as she tries to help her ex run the boys to sports practice and games.  Hubby had to dig the cars out by hand as he didn't want to bother the landlord on Christmas as usually he has someone come take care of that.. We haven't had snow to amount to anything on Christmas day in 7 yrs. I put the prime rib bones and fatty meat to simmer for broth to finish the broth on Wed and sliced the rest for the freezer. I will give Army son some as he is bringing us some ham on Wed.

Tomorrow is the 26th  We will be at Daddy's to give him his presents (he has always celebrated Boxing Day as it was his mother's habit) We have gift cards that was given to us to take him out to lunch. Our other 3 daughters went together to give us cash to leave tip money and have gas to go. Daughter that lives with us had a friend let her know he was dropping off chili to her at work tomorrow so we will have that if we are hungry after getting back tomorrow. I also have homecanned soup if we don't want the chili.

Daughter that moved in ran vacuum and decluttered a WHOLE room AND my small desk. I really hope her OCD stays kicked in until we get 2 more rooms done LOL.

Blessed be

Merry Christmas ,Blessed Yule, Happy Holidays

May you and yours have blessing overflowing. May you find peace, happiness and be content no matter what life throws at you.

Blessed Be
Juls Owings

13 days into retirement

You can barely see Rascal (black dog)..just his eyes reflecting the flash LOL . It's a 3 dog night most nights but Rascal has always left the bed after he thinks I am asleep and Wilbur (boxer) has taken to getting up and going to curl up with Hubby on the couch. Hubby sleeps sitting up due to health issues. Charlotte (white fur) sprawls and she's only going to be 6 months on the 18th.She was suppose to be a medium size dog like her parents but the husky is coming out in her with her LONG legs . She's as long as Rascal and Wilbur and almost as tall.

Our days have been medical appointments as much as we can squeeze in this last month on the better insurance. Medical for the 5 infections I have picked up Thanks to having strep throat and not knowing it and another medical for my surgery arm that was doing good but has locked up now on Thursday. ADD dogs out (especially Charlotte as she is still potty training lol and does NOT bark will growl and yip but no bark) and dogs in.Add to that we are looking for a house...might have found one but still looking until the day it closes. Hubby has added attending a sporting event for each of the 3 grandsons that is playing. I've been able through the years to catch at least one for each but he hasn't with working. One of the positives of being retired. Plus he will be having breakfast with his 3rd shift coworkers once a month and breakfast with die cast coworkers every 4-6 wks

Pantry is over stocked... (I do have a place I can get boxes for the 1000 plus canning jars I have full ). I have canned goods where I don't normally have them so made a list and posted it on the side of the frig of what and where and the date I put it there. We have found a menu does not work for us as we end up stretching the meal for 2-3 more meals.Good to stretch the food might also be bad to stretch is as the food isn't getting used up LOL

Money is tight as we won't get regular income for a year maybe two. Add on to needing 2 vehicles and the down payment for a house.We have a budget, it's the amount Hubby would get if he collected social security at 62. Daddy was living on his investments and in 2008 lost everything except the assets so had to live on his social security. It was not a pretty picture but he did it. He still only spends $35 a week on his groceries, eating soups mostly. My niece does his grocery shopping once a week with her own shopping as she is within 5 miles of him when she is shopping. Gives her excuse to stop in and check on him also.

I am watching as we seem to nickle and dime ourselves by going to the store...so now it goes on a post it on the microwave and WHEN we go to town for another appointment we can decide to either go get it or wait until the next trip. I pitch the store ads when they come in the mail. Don't need to think wow ...that's on sale...I can shove it somewhere .

I haven't been to the store since Dec 1st. Mom O who has been retired now going on 20 yrs said this is really good. I have to make sure the milk expiration date is at least a couple weeks out to stay out of the store.

Deciding where to put the investments is hard. I read JL Collins The Simple Path to Wealth . I used to read the Morning Star online and I have watched CNN about the stocks. Stocks is risky but treasure notes. money markets and annuities are not going to make you money for the long haul. I interviewed 4 financial advisors and picked the one closest to my decisions that does sort of want to bang his head against a wall when I bring up paying cash out of investments instead of paying interest and private mortgage insurance for 10 yrs like they suggest we do.

I decided since Hubby is clueless and wants to remain  clueless (not really he just doesn't want the stress ) that we would be invested with 50/50 mix, 50 stock and 50 bonds. PLUS we were going to pull the down payment and enough money to get a new to us car (Daddy can't get in the truck) along with the taxes. I read JL Collins book The Simple path to wealth and read Frugalwoods blog about retirement. Might pay cash for the house. Then we wouldn't have to worry about a down swing (remembering 2008) and not having money to make the mortgage. We could easily live off Social Security.

Blessed Be

What We did this week that was frugal

I signed up again for Frugalwoods Uber  frugal month challenge for January

Hubby borrowed a book from EMA to study for the test to move up the ladder with his HAM radio license. The test is free for him.

I dug through some gifts/candy that I had bought before and divided it up as Christmas gifts

I opened the curtains for sunshine to help warm the house and closed them before it was dark to keep the warmth in. When the wind is over 25 mph I close the bedroom door to keep the heat in the front room. Wind sucks the heat out right through the walls it seems.

I finished either putting plastic on the windows or taping them shut to stop drafts.

I turn off lights in rooms we are not in, except Christmas lights. We only keep them lit during certain hours.

Hubby has moved his laptop to the dining room during the day so he is not turning on the lamp, he sits in the darkest part of the front room as it's on the north end of the house.

I turn the printer off after using it.

I turn my laptop off at the power strip after using it.

I turn my coffee pot off at the power strip after using it., I reheat in microwave then end up drinking it cold anyways from sitting when I side track doing something so I am getting to the point of not reheating it all the time.

I washed the laundry with full loads on short wash with homemade laundry soap and dried some on the drying rack and others in the dryer using the sensor instead of the timer. By using the sensor I have noticed I am not over drying and not having static cling issues

We ate leftovers/planovers most of the week. I "refilled" the paper towels (pup is getting better about making it outside but still has accidents on the way to the door during the night) toilet paper, dish soap, Hubby's vitamins, dog biscuits and dog dental bones from the pantry supply which my kids call Mom's grocery store.

My doctor gave me some free samples of a medication he wanted me to use but was worried about it triggering my Crohns. Didn't want me to spend the money and then not be able to take it. As long as I eat before and after taking it I do okay. So he gave me a prescription to finish out.

I turned the lotion bottle upside down into a container. I had added water to a couple times but thought there was more, sure was as I am going into week 2 of still using it.

I put an old wool blanket rolled up at the bottom of the staircase to the upstairs to keep the cold air from coming down as we don't heat the upstairs at all.

I canned beef broth.

I canned turkey with broth.

I canned turkey broth.

I canned ham broth.

I cut the pork shoulder roast into 3 meals, froze 2 and made bbq pulled pork with the third which has left enough leftovers that I am putting what is left in the freezer for another meal.

Hubby bought the 2 picture frames for Christmas gifts at Walmart using a gift card we was given last year and 100 lbs of dog food during Menard's 11% rebate sale...using rebates we had gotten back, I finished the last of the Christmas shopping except for a kitten that I was just told is my new  four legged great grandbaby , his name is Milo.

Hubby ordered the Christmas Prime rib as he was told by a friend  that goes to the same butcher shop it was down to $6.95/lb, We might have both sons at Christmas unless they work or the weather is bad.

We have combined errands with appointments. This has been a juggling act with medical appointments since I am fighting now 5 different infections (doc is to the point of calling me after hours or seeing me after hours), with different stops for meds and we are looking at houses to buy since Hubby retired and we don't need to live around here any more for his work. We also keep a list of houses we want to look at when going to see family so it's not a "special" trip to look at the property.

I used my Amazon gift card that I earned through our health ins to pay for Raw apple cider vinegar with mother as my doctor would like me to start a combination drink of it with honey and lemon juice in water. That pretty much finishes off that gift card.

Since I am having trouble sleeping due to meds I am doing Swagbucks. Keeps me from moving around and bothering Hubby while he is trying to sleep because the dogs will start playing if I move around much at all.

We had 3 different houses in the same area, the realtor really pushed to get us in all 3 the same afternoon.

We are very interested in one that we had drove by several times. We have a contractor doing a walk through on Tuesday as we want to apply for a FHA 203K rehab loan as it has no heat, no electric and no plumbing at it is an AMISH house with 5 acres.It does have a 2 seater outhouse connected to the septic tank/leach bed (reminds me of my childhood). We will see how this goes. Depending on what the cost of bringing it up to "Englisher" standard and the owners accepting it if no one else bids on it before we get this paperwork all done as we had a regular loan available but it won't cover the house at all due to no utilities. We have to meeting for the loan on the 15th in the morning  to see if its' doable we are basing what we can afford to pay on what Hubby would bring in with social security at 62. My Daddy had to start living on just SS in 2008 when he lost over 50% of his investments in the stock market . I already made it clear I didn't want to make things tight for us to meet the payments and our loan officer said he was thankful I gave him the amount I am willing to pay so he can say , hey this is going to be over that or  SCORE LOL Trying to not get my hopes up as it's a great house and wouldn't be hard to switch over to wheelchair accessible which we KNOW is in my future.

I dug out the fake tabletop Christmas tree we had bought in 2008 for the 800 sq ft rental we moved into. Hubby feels better now and so far the pup, Charlotte, isn't trying to get ahold of it and since it's table top Wilbur doesn't think of it as his bathroom LOL. Our dog Rascal is used to fake and real Christmas trees and doesn't bother them.

We are a little bit over budget with Christmas but way under budget with the cookies and candy.

I downloaded a free Kindle book

Got a free calendar from a company  through Shutterfly . I uploaded some pictures and paid the shipping, saved over $25.

Hubby is doing a TRX exercise class twice a week at the plant's wellness center. We pay $26 a YEAR to be members so the classes is free.

I got a deep tissue massage at the wellness center, two hours for $62 including tax, lowest I have found in this area is $50 for one hour.My doctor ordered this but our insurance doesn't pay for it.

Arm that had surgery in Sept is not working right, can't lift the arm above shoulder or move it in certain ways when I was already doing that, made appointment to see Doc on Thursday while still on the better ins.

Shopping list has been sitting on the front of microwave for four days. We waited until we were already going to town for an appointment.

Head guy at SCARES (ham radio group for Homeland security) asked Hubby to go to town and take unit (old ambulance) in for an oil change. We worked it out to be done when we are already in town...no wasted gas.

We used our Krogers points for fuel saving $35, filled up the truck and some gas cans for the generator, sounds like we might be needing it with the weather coming in.

Made Swagbucks goal 7 times , wasn't easy .

I mended a hat and a dog toy.

Hubby replace the board  to my root cellar shelving unit that got destroyed by a leaking water jug using scrap wood we had .

Limiting who I am sending Christmas cards to. IF I didn't get one from them last year I won't send one this year. Most are now doing FB or other social media. Just not the same for me.

Hubby was asked to do an interview with the company's "magazine" Instead of driving the hour for the interview the person called him and did it over the phone to save him time and money.Since they had taken a new picture for his retirement badge she was going to use that as the picture for the article. It's about him doing CPR on a friend/co worker at work. It was a really really bad heart attack and no one expected him to live (doing great and even back to work). ER told the man's family he made it because Hubby worked hard on him until the rest of the squad got there. Plant is updating equipment also.

Grocery store shopping 1st week of Dec

I have been slowly decorating the house .The candles on the mantle have a red bulb, in a colored picture they look like pink smears according to my son. He liked this picture best. Still haven't decided if I am doing anything with the chandelier this year.

We had some friends that wanted us to meet up with them at Hong Kong buffet. We used a coupon and it was in the budget so we went.

 Since we were going to be  in town we decided to go to the store so I checked what we needed to what is now our basic list. We didn't need much. At dinner our friends who was just at the store told us about the pork shoulder sale and the hamburger sale.

December food budget is $260 .Non food is $100...dogs stuff is on separate budget.

I spend $104.52. saved 29%. I got pork shoulder with bone for 94¢/lb (normal price $2.49/lb). I got 9.36 lbs. I got hamburger $1.99/lb(normal price $3.33). I got 6 lbs  I got mushrooms (one white and one portobella) with coupon of 50¢ on each package and I picked the marked down packages saving another 50¢ each. I got milk $1.59. I let Hubby pick out some sweet rolls and he got some canned biscuits for some meals he wants to make (I can also deep fry them into doughnuts and doughnut holes). I noticed he went with the cheaper ones instead of the name brand like he is used to.

This morning we ordered some items from King Arthur Flour after checking to make sure it was the lowest price we could find of somethings he wants to try. I used a discount coupon I had and got lower shipping also.

We now have $71.84 left in food...that is plenty for any produce or dairy we need.

Hubby ordered ink refills for his pen that was cheaper than the pens he had been using (out of non food). He has problems with his hands when holding a pen or silverware. We have been searching for silverware...think we might have found the one we both feel comfortable with.

Menu got tossed out the door with how we both have been hauling butt getting things done. We know we have another busy week with making a trip to see Daddy, massage therapy for me(it's at night for 2 hrs) and 3 appts for both of us. SO I have to sit down and figure that out. Plus I haven't  transferred things to the new calendars either. That can be today.

Blessed Be

Retired

Hubby is officially retired from the plant. He has been asked repeatedly what he is going to do now. We figured it out with in hours...not clock in at the plant....make coffee...let dogs out and in ...he might retire quickly on the dog part as he was not thrilled to be up at 2 am since he was not at work. Ended up with both of us up and wide awake.

I do have a post it note on the microwave of his honey to do list...there is 2 things on it. My honey do list is 5 pages long LOL.

We divided the home blessing. I swish and swipe the bathroom, shine mirrors and windows, dust and declutter .He vacuums and hauls out trash and Goodwill donations. We will share sweeping and mopping the kitchen, butler's pantry, mudroom and bath as long as we have a swiffer wet mop. We both do laundry and dishes. Not sure what days that all will happen on as I won't be trying to not be noisy while he is sleeping.

We have to figure out going to the end of the lane for the mail since he won't be picking up as he leaves for work. Mail box is  2/10ths (why do they not call it 1/5th?) of a mile down the lane.

I might have to start crossing days off on the calendar to remember which day it is, we've lost track a couple time when he was on shut down.

MEAL is a big issue as our eating schedules are the same... I don't eat much bfast if any, he eats a bowl of cereal or something light because he was going to bed. I eat lunch at 11:30 with meds, he doesn't want to eat lunch since he is fighting sleep, I eat a snack at 2 with med , he wants to eat lunch if he is awake. We decided to have dinner at 4:30 so we could eat at the table instead of on tv trays and catch the news. THEN he wants a snack at 11 pm because that was his break at work and was hungry at 2 another break time at work. I can guess around 4:30 this morning he will be hungry also as that is his work lunch time. PLUS we haven't stayed with our menu at all this week. We see where the issues will be on that part.

It's going to be an interesting year.
Blessed Be

December plan for groceries/non food

This is a MAYBE list since it's been awhile since I have shopped this way. As it will depend on when we go to the store. It looks to be around the 4th since I have to be in town for blood work. This might be a every other week list as we go to appts already in town. OR I might go once a month if I get the extra frig cleared enough of stuff for Christmas dealt with.

FOOD

GREEN ONIONS

ROMAINE LETTUCE

CABBAGE

CARROTS

CELERY

MUSHROOMS

MILK

GREEK YOGURT (or extra milk to make yogurt) (doctor's orders)

HEAVY CREAM

HALF AND HALF

COTTAGE CHEESE

BELL PEPPERS

Will order prime rib for Christmas eve.

NON FOOD

DOG FOOD

2 PICTURE FRAMES FOR GIFTS

SOME GIFT CARDS , there are a few people that asked for gift cards instead of a gift due to losing hours at work and being in food service.

Truck and car tags renewed.

Vet bill will be high as we have at least 1 if not 2 getting fixed (thinking of hold off on the 2nd one until Jan just to lower the bill for Dec) and Rabies shots are due for 2 and regular shots for 1. 

All of it's in budget and in the savings :)

Blessed Be

Frugal buys and menu

My daughter's 8 qrt crock pot and my 7 qrt crock pot died at the beginning of our Tday dinner last week, I've been waiting for cyber Monday to see if I could replace them within reason. I found 2-8 qrt crock pots (manual) and between my discounts and the sale I bought both for the price of 1 on sale with free shipping.That was the only shopping we have done.We actually put off going to the hardware store just to see if there was anything else that would need bought.

 This week we will have to buy 2 picture frames for the Christmas gifts, dog food,if I can find them a certain dog chew bone that the 3 of them all enjoy and some boxing tape so I can finish taping the windows. Don't you love old drafty farm houses? LOL I will buy Vit D milk as I am making coconut cream pies for Daddy and he needs the fat and Vit D. If I have coupons for fresh mushrooms and they are on sale or marked down I will get them. My Christmas shopping is done.

Our menu for the week with everything coming from the freezers or pantry except Friday lunch. That will either be Bob Evans if Daddy feels up to going out or Bologna sandwiches, fig newtons and what ever Daddy offers.

Bfast is fix it yourself, we have oatmeal, cream of wheat, grits. cold cereal, eggs and assorted breads, pancake and waffles if one of us is adventurous.

Lunch is tortilla or flatbread wraps with whatever is available to put in them.

Monday Turkey cacciatore soup (turkey carcass meat, homemade pasta sauce, canned mushrooms, onion from the garden, half a carrot and a bell pepper) with Turkey salad wrap (turkey carcass meat, 2 boiled eggs (eggs 59¢/doz)pickle relish (garden) onion (garden) the other half of carrot, celery rib, spicy brown mustard and Miracle Whip (score for half price and stocked up for the year), Tortilla wraps (Krogers Psst 99¢) pineapple (home canned).

Tuesday  Stuffed shells (pantry including cheeses, sauce homemade) Cheddar garlic biscuits (bisquick)  green beans home canned and tropical fruit.

Wednesday Big egg(frittata)  or quiche using ham (leftover) cheese(freezer) and onion (garden) Applesauce home canned and dinner rolls (leftover Tday), I have a late doctor's appt. so this will be quiche if I make it or big egg if Hubby makes it.

Thursday What we call the blue plate special  Roast beef over mashed potatoes or stuffing or bread covered with gravy and served with coleslaw (I have a cabbage and carrot in frig) and peaches(home canned)

Friday We will be at Daddy's for a big lunch to celebrate Hubby retiring, So I planned meat (have pepperoni ,Canadian bacon, ham,turkey and roast beef ) cheese (have a nice variety using sales and coupons) and crackers , carrots and celery sticks with Ranch dressing and any leftover fruit or fruit cocktail for dinner

Saturday Salmon loaf (recipe from J posted at http://www.theprudenthomemaker.com/blog/entry/frugal-accomplishments-for-the-second-week-in-october?start=20
Mashed potatoes (root cellar), peas and carrots( freezer) and pears(home canned)dinner rolls (Tday leftovers freezer)

Sunday Leftovers or bfast for dinner.  We have talked about making this our eat out after lunch and then go to the store if needed but we are waiting to see how things work as we won't need to go every week.

What we bought this week

2 turkeys at 48¢/lb to can.
cheesecloth to filter turkey broth
mice poison
30 gal trash bags. on sale with coupon
milk with expire date of Dec 2nd
ice cream on sale with coupon
50% off a caramel apple crumb pie (since we didn't have any leftover from Tday dinner Sunday and I am fighting 2 infections)
Beef tip roast...are you sitting down? Please sit down...$1.99/lb. I got  5 lbs as that was all I could afford. We decided to not freeze it but go ahead and eat it for our Tday dinner tomorrow as we both are tired of turkey and then I will slice and freeze the rest packaged as meal servings.

What we didn't buy was new Christmas lights to replace the ones that died last year on the front porch. The wind beats them a lot.We used what had been at the back door and used LED rope lighting for the back door.  We decided against  live trees for the porch and house as Wilbur uses the evergreen in the back yard as his "dump" station and I don't want him starting in the house or on the porch. LOL the pup Charlotte is almost house broke and I can see that going downhill fast if Wilbur starts.We have some small fake trees I might put one on the dining table where Charlotte won't get ahold of it and make it a chew toy like she does all the sticks in the yard.

We priced different health insurances against what we will get with retirement (at a cost to us of course). Some are definitely cheaper but don't cover pre-existing conditions not catastrophic , we both have heart issues plus I have Cerebral palsy, Crohn's, and deformed spine. I usually hit catastrophic on my health ins in March. So we will bite the bullet and pay for the insurance the company offers the retirees that will cover pre-existing and does cover catastrophic. We will look for a different dentist that charges less for cash payments along with a different eye/glasses place.

I have to change my primary and my GI .My GI referred me and I have to call them this coming week to start that process on my end. My primary is trying to see if he can be added to our ins  as a provider.I have about 30 days to get this switched.

Hubby and I sat down and refigured our budget with paying for the ins and the deductibles along with cash for the dental and eyes. We added car payments (which we haven't had in over 20 yrs) and re-investments as we don't want to run out of money. We planned for the worse and then added 4% for raising costs. It's not as bad as we thought it would be as long as we stay on budget with in reason (less would be better). Hubby is looking into starting a ledger like he did when he farmed. He can go for it LOL.

We have a few things to pick up at Walmart this week. Two picture frames for the puzzles we did for his parents and box tape as I use to tape the windows to keep the winds out during the winter.

Blessed Be

Thanksgiving dinner over

This year siblings picture of 2017. The two missing are working..Shannon 45 and Josh 35.
From right to left. Heidi 34 in Jan. Kira 33 (just turned) Katie 38 and Blane 35 (not twins, the boys are stepbrothers)

Renting a hall was great, plenty of parking, room for the grandkids to move around and get away from us adults but be in view where we could make sure they were behaving. Plenty of area to spread the food out, easy to clean up afterwards ($75 refund for cleaning it) trash was in their bin instead instead of over loading ours or Blane's. No carpet to clean due to spills. Nice 6 burner gas stove which helped when 2 ..not 1 but 2 crock pots died before anyone arrived for the dinner. Figures it was the homemade noodles and mashed potatoes.

Blane fixed 4 plates for the employees that were working that morning.

75 lbs of deep fried turkey... there was 15 lbs left over that the girls split between them after giving Blane the legs.48¢/lb
10 lb ham that only the bone and a little meat was left (Katie who brought it  took it with her)
Sweet potatoes casserole  (6 large) Blane...GONE He was told to double the amount next year.
Mac and cheese (4 lbs cheese 2 lbs mac) GONE
30 lbs mashed potatoes (potatoes came from Katie and I made them) 5 lbs donated to those working the VFW hall that evening.
8 lbs of homemade noodles (us) 2 lbs donated to those working VFW hall that evening
2 pints corn...(us) drop to 1 pint next year.
2 pints green beans(us) was forgotten to be put out until mid dinner. Drop to 1 pint next year
green bean casserole (friend) 2/3 rds gone.
baked beans with wieners (friend's specialty and it was more for me to bring home and eat)
veggie tray with dip (friend) gone
Spinach dip with bread (friend) not a lot eaten but Kira took it home as it is her favorite.
Fruit tray (Katie) gone
dried beef pickles (we bought ingredients granddaughter made) gone
deviled eggs (we bought ingredients , grandson made) gone.
rolls (us 10/$10 ) 2 dozen gone.
We found 10 inch pies on sale for $4. I bought 5 pumpkin, 2 apple, 2 cherry, 1 mixed berry , 1 strawberry rhubarb, 1 strawberry cream, 1 key lime, 1 lemon meringue. Donated 1 pumpkin to workers the rest GONE, didn't even get a slice to bring home.
3 dump cakes and 1 pan of brownies GONE (from pantry)
pop what wasn't drank the kids split between them as they know I don't drink 2 lt pop.
went through 2 gal drinking water and 2 pots of coffee. gone

We were down 5 of the kids(work, Washington DC trip) so I will note that when I finish writing up the final count in the Thanksgiving folder.

BEST yet was we only took the truck with trailer loaded one trip instead of 4 because we didn't have take tables and chairs and twice as much food.

From the pantry

This unit has taken a big hit , green chilis gone, canned beans down by a two dozen, dried beans down by four pounds, canned mushrooms down by a dozen, 1/4 of the cheese sauces gone... I've been canning soups. The mushrooms,cheese sauce and beans won't be replaced until next year but the green chilis will be this week.

I'm out of fresh carrots,fresh celery,romaine lettuce, green onions and almost out of milk...that's my Aldi's run.

I still need to go get my dried beef that I have a rain check for at Krogers. I only buy it this time of year and get enough for the year. I use it for dried beef pickles (with cream cheese) and dried beef gravy.It goes on this shelf also.

Except for the juice, everything on the top shelf will be gone this weekend as it's the items I've stock piled for Thanksgiving. The canned veggies was for emergency supplies( I don't store anything glass during tornado season in the root cellar, it's where we take cover) I always use at Thanksgiving, they will be replaced in the spring when I restock the root cellar for tornados. .About 25 lbs of potatoes to make mashed potatoes.  I will used the oldest first.

I had to refill my kitchen onion basket which took one strand of these onions

I pulled 18 rolls of toilet paper, a package of paper towels (thanks to Charlotte not being completely house broke yet) and the last box of black trash bags (had another large box but gave it to daughter to use when we moved her).

I pulled a box of dog snaps treats, a box of dog dental treats, a bottle of Dawn, a bottle of Bayer back and body  and 2 containers of coffee for us and 1 for Thanksgiving dinner.

I still haven't gotten the dried fruit /veggie cabinet sorted out or the herbs and spices cabinet sorted out yet either and they need done soon, they are full I just can't find anything LOL

Blessed Be

Frugal Frugal Frugal

The paper plate was because Hubby was having issues with his hands so he uses a paper plate for a spill guard...it's about 5 days old in this picture.The cereal is the frugal....HA HA really it is as we didn't buy it. Daughter that was moving (the kids and her are staying with friends to keep the kids in the same school district while she hunts for a new place) gave us the cereal.She didn't know why the boys weren't eating it but it had been there a week so she gave it to us...might not have been eating because it was STALE. That didn't stop Hubby ...it is now gone into his tummy.

I went to Aldi's, spent $54 and got $5 off with the grand opening coupon they gave me last week. I have 2  more coupons for the following 2 wks (1 a wk). Not sure what will be on those lists besides another ham, maybe cream cheese . The only thing we need for stocking up I have a rain check for at Krogers and Aldi's doesn't sell it. I'll see, have to spend $35 to get the $5 off but I am not going to be buying something just to get $5 off.

I roasted the two turkeys today we bought at Krogers for 57¢/lb(Walmart at 68¢ and Aldi's was         99 ¢) We had turkey wraps for dinner. I made a small batch of white bean/Poultry  chili and we try that for Monday night dinner. IF we like it I will make more and can it.  I tossed both carcasses in water today and made bone broth. Will be straining it and canning that also.
The meat will be bagged(tomorrow in 2 cups bags and frozen for meals.By putting it in the freezer already cooked the meat from 2 turkeys takes up less room than 1-15 lb turkey would.

We ate out after going to viewing and before going to Aldi's, ate the special and used a coupon we had. Provided us dinner that night, lunch for Hubby that night and dinner the next night for both of us. I added veggies and melted cheese over the french fries (neither of us prefer french fries) along with some cooked bulk sausage that I keep in the freezer) . I would definitely say we got bang for our buck.

I picked up another 10 lbs of pasta at Krogers for 49¢/box.

We are trying to set the frigs up to reflect how we will be eating from the pantry and not be wasteful as I know it's easy in the winter to get tired of heavy winter meals. We love variety so I need to keep that in mind.

I mended a shirt and pair pants.

I added water to my lotion bottle.

We ate from the pantry except for once. Our week's run Saturday to Sunday. 

Tonight a couple friends called and asked if we could go out to dinner with them because they are leaving after Thanksgiving for about a month. I told them we would love to but it's not in the budget for this month due to spending extra money paying for the gas to move our daughter and the new vet bills, there was some silence but then oh , okay, we understand. They called back and offered to pay for our dinner as an early Christmas present so I accepted.Since they are retired and on a budget they understand the "it's not in the budget".

Blessed be

Our Thanksgiving Dinner Sunday before the holiday

This is 4 of our six kids LAST year. Left to right, Heidi 32 (33 in Jan) Katie 37 Kira 32(just turned) Blane 34. Josh 34 (not twins ..stepbrothers) and Shannon 44 (late hubby's daughter) were working.

This year Blane rented a hall for us and I changed it to pot luck instead of us providing all the food.

Menu this year is :

Deep fried turkey ( 3 which is down from the 4 of last year., us ..oil paid for by friend 3) Will buy this during this week

Mashed potatoes (us) ( in pantry)

Sweet potatoes (Blane as he has bragged too much about making better sweet potatoes than Katie because he uses their grandmother's so we stuck him with it)

Mac and cheese (Blane as requested from all his nieces and nephews)

Ham and fruit tray (Katie)

Deviled eggs, dried beef pickles and rolls (Kira and kids)

Dirt pudding (Heidi as requested from a couple nephews)

Veggie tray with dip and spinach dip with Hawaiian bread (friend 1)

Baked beans (friend 2)

corn( in freezer), green beans (in pantry), turkey gravy (have broth),Italian dry dressing cheese ball and crackers (in pantry),butter (in frig), apple butter(in pantry)
and whatever desserts I decide to do from what I have in the pantry. More it's what I have time to do.
I will need whipped topping.

Kira offered to make noodles but she starts a new job on Monday so I am waiting to see if either of us has the time.

Water (brought from home as I warned the water is crappy) for drinking ,coffee and tea.
creamer and sugar.

2 liters of soda pop that I got on sale and added a coupon with. I usually don't buy pop, that's who ever is having the meal (floats between Katie and Blane) but since Blane paid for a hall to deal with the issue of parking we now have I got the pop.

I did notice when I specified you had to bring a dish...the I'm coming dropped drastically. I figured it would as when Mother had it the same thing happened.Bothered my kids but not us. Lives change. Grandkids start going out on their own and it will change again.

Blessed Be

What I have so far staying in budget and where I was a year ago

I have a habit of looking back a year or two at pictures and seeing what I was doing at this time of year. These are from last year.

Well I am not doing tomatoes.. but I do have some apples to finish up and a few tomatoes to use fresh along with red bell peppers.Butter to can.

We priced taking our daughter's dogs to a different vet but it's the same price after driving to it.The other vet was closer to her so would be easy for her to meet us there and her deal with it instead of transferring stuff to our vet. She hasn't lived long in the area she has been living in and wants a regular vet. But for now they will go to our vet and she's already called him about their past records since our vet gives us a paper at the end of each appt of what was done. I can just keep those until she takes the dogs back to her.If she ends up in an apartment we will most likely keep them. Neither are apartment dogs.

I turned a rotating fan on at the door of the root cellar so it had circulation.

The humidifier is running,kicked off during a power outage and I forget to turn it back on until I got a nose bleed.

We went back to Menards and got another 52 lbs of dog food as our dog has decided to eat it instead of his own and if the boxer eats our dog's food he will get the back door trots,which means I trot out that door with him as we don't trust him to NOT cruise right across the open fields around us. We have a person will to buy our other dog food off us as they use the same thing So that helps there.

AND as of today, I am short ONLY 3 things, (2 I have rain checks for from Krogers so if I don't find them cheaper I can at least buy them later.) on the stock up list.We removed apricots even though they are Hubby's favorite fruit we just can't handle the price I am finding. When they come in season next spring I will be buying them and canning them myself. I haven't been to Aldi's as tomorrow(Friday) we have a viewing to go to (Hubby's coworker grandpa) and decided since we drive within a mile of Aldi's we would just go then. No second trips to the same area as it's not where we go normally.

I need a few things (besides the turkeys) for our Tday dinner.Kind of holding off until the "guests" let me know what they are bringing.

Today I finished stocking the following:

Cranberry sauce whole berry

choc pie crusts

Graham cracker pie crusts

Butter (to be canned as we don't see the price coming down as it's even up in Europe and bought canning jars on clearance for the butter)

worcestershire sauce

Horseradish cream sauce

Rain checks are sauerkraut and dried beef(just in case I can't get kraut at Aldi's)

I bought 2 turkeys (was the limit) for 57¢/lb. They were around 15 lbs. I am roasting them for OUR freezer and for soup and broth. I have a BIT...just a bit of freezer space for that plus that will be a few quick meals this coming weeks as next week asI will be prepping for our Tday dinner that is Sunday. I might get another one later but for now this will be good enough. That leaves the ham for our freezer but I have until Christmas to get those 2.

Bought 5 other items for presents(a real score as they were on clearance) but decided to wait to buy picture frames until after our Tday dinner.I think I'm short one gift but I know what it is and where to get it.

I bought 12 -2 liters of soda pop for our Tday dinner that was marked down to 88¢ and I had $1.50 off if I spent $10.00, getting the price down to 75.5¢ I have plenty of cups..like a black trash sack full as everyone and their brother seems to think we need to have their extra cups.I have been told that water at the hall is bad tasting so I will use my own to make coffee and have water for those that want to drink that. Not hard to refill water jugs with my own water.

My daughter lent me her buffet coffee maker for coffee. I have creamer and sugar and coffee.I will also take some tea bags for those that prefer tea. There will be ice so they can make cold tea if they want from hot tea.

The best news was I spent far less than what we budgeted for stocking up, Thanksgiving and Christmas.Which is good as we just got the $800 bill for getting the truck fuel lines fixed.

What I plan to buy this week..new members of the family

Alpo dog food...47 lbs if possible as the price on line at Menards is less than $20.This is Wilbur (boxer AKA lay about ) and Charlotte (cane corso pit husky AKA hyper baby) my daughter's dogs that we are keeping for her while she finds a new home for herself and sons that is within her price range and not in a violent area.

Well let me try to finish  or restart this again LOL as we realized we didn't have as much dog food as our daughter thought she had gave us ...she took the boys word on the amount as they feed the dogs..most the bag was actually closer to a 1/2  bag.We went to Menards and got 2 new collars as Wilbur has lost enough weight his collar won't stay on and Charlotte didn't have one at all as her leash was a slip and adjust collar attached that was starting to get tight.  Plus we got 52 lbs Alpo for less than $20 with tax included... was a 5 lbs extra bag...GO US.

This poor baby , our Rascal has been run ragged because Wilbur  and Charlotte want to sniff him and she wants him to play with her (she's not yet 5 months) That's Wilbur's bed on the floor. We have been making a point of getting one on one time with Rascal.AND he is slowly learning how to play with the pup.

Since we have 2 more dogs (our daughter is giving us some money for food and the entire fee  we pay our landlord for having them but we are doing all the rest until she gets back into a place of her own with her boys back with her as they are split up staying with friends) We know we will have to come up with some food, treats, vet care etc. Her boys, my darling grandsons admitted they had been giving the dogs people food and her and I knowing that 3 teenage boys along with all their friends feeding these dogs people food explains the issues the dogs were having AND why her dog food was lasting so long but not her groceries. Like teenage boys don't enough on their own.

I would like to have a turkey this week for our meals and to make soup with and a ham

SO on this week's buy list.. I compared prices between Krogers and Walmart online as our Walmart does not do price match any more. Aldi's only shows what they have on sale in their ads I go to them before Krogers.

Menards 
More Alpo from Menards even if it's not the extra 5 lbs bag. As we have to have enough to go 2 months as I don't see her getting a place that fast that she can have the dogs for now.
canning jars if they still have some

Walmart
if no canning jars at Menards
2 picture frames for gifts we are doing to friends
corn pads for Hubby's toes. He doesn't have corns but his steel toes are rubbing and these work to protect without being bunched up
a present that we know we can get there cheap
and price turkeys and butter.
I might order canned apricots later as this is the only way it's looking like I will get them.

Aldi's I need to spend $35 to use my $5 coupon.
kraut in jar (needs to be cheaper than Krogers 1.99)
ham I found a couple casserole recipes on Amish365.com that also has mock lemon pie which is actually vinegar pie.HE has a lot of Amish recipes on his blog.
cream cheese (needs to be cheaper than Krogers 1.59)
saltines
check on butter (Kroger's 2.49)

Krogers
turkey at 57¢/lb(limit 2)
canning jars (digital coupon)
dried beef in jar (sale)
whole berry cranberry sauce (sale)
horseradish cream sauce
Chocolate cookie pie crust
graham cracker pie crusts (sale)
PSST tortilla wraps(usually 99¢ for a package)
Starbucks coffee(sale ...for Daddy)
Creamette pasta (49¢when I buy 10)
2 lt pop (buy 4 at 88¢ each. I will buy 12 (Tday dinner) and use digital coupon of $1.50 off $10 in pop)
 That's the list but it depends on how much I have after we take 3 dogs to the vets and pay the bills.

This would run about $400 if I get the amount to finish stocking up except for ham, turkey and prime rib ...well and the apricots that might not get bought at all . Hubby was a little surprised I had gotten us that close.

Starting of Nov. Groceries also

We went to Krogers this morning so I could use the 200 bonus points coupon that expires this weekend. With gas almost to $2.70, we can use all the extra help we can get with gas.

Old Orchard juice 2.49 - 50 ¢ coupon = $1.99

Northland juice 3.79-.80¢ sale - 1.00 coupon = $1.99

Mountain dew Kick start 1.69- .69¢- free coupon = $0 ( I don't drink this but 1 of the kids does Christmas gift)

Olay in shower body lotion (Hubby's uses) 6.59-1.60 sale- 1.00 coupon =$3.99

2 Caramel apple cookie dough 2.89-39¢= $2.50 ea ( Hubby wants to try these and then see if we can make our own)

Chloraseptic spray. $6.49- $1.00 coupon = $5.49.(Only thing that kills the pain after a tube down my throat during Crohn's attack)

2 Brown sugar $1.99-.20¢ sale = 1.79 ea

1 Havarti cheese $3.09-60¢ sale- free coupon= 0

10 Butter $ 4.89- $1.90 sale - 50¢(buy 10 get $5 off)= $2.49 each.... I got 10 and told Hubby we didn't need any more (he said if we found it for $1.99 again I was to get it and can it .Canned Butter last 3 yrs)

Uncle Ben's Flavor infusions rice $2.99 -70¢sale - free coupon= 0

2 Bigelow Lemon Ginger herbal tea $2.99- 50¢ sale =$2.49 ea (one is for Mom O for Christmas)

Aleve PM $9.49-$2. coupon =$7.49

Shelf cost $107.72.
Savings $42.64
out of pocket $65.08
Fuel points 268 ( had 200 bonus points for spending over $50)

We ate from the pantry, focusing on eating from the freezers. I now have room for one ham butt.

I put our Tday dinner on Facebook as an invite to make a head count so we don't provide more food than we need. Usually we don't care except for the amount of turkeys we deep fry but with retiring the $800 for 100 people isn't happening. I changed it to POT LUCK and watched the "not going" numbers go up. Figured it would. Kids know it's okay to bring a friend (or their kids bring a friend) they just need to bring a bigger dish of food LOL.

I canned Brandy's steak sauce http://www.theprudenthomemaker.com/steak-sauce

I made 4 times the amount of the recipe as I had cooked down tomatoes (still have about 3 lbs  turning red in the mudroom) to make tomato sauce. I got 6-12 oz jars, I canned 5 and put the last one in the frig.

I dehydrated the last of the red onions, eggs and green bell peppers. (still have red bell peppers).

The time change this weekend will change our routines making it dark by dinner time so the curtains will be closed then...depressing but at least this year we have LED lightbulbs.


Blessed Be