Nasty weather, my garden and it's affects on my budget

There is snow drifting (not a lot, just enough to see it) down from the sky and it's below freezing outside. Great during the winter, but it's April 9th 2016 and I have plants that were growing and started to bloom before this hit.

A couple weeks ago we had 5 tornadoes in 1 day. Last year we had 7 during the season. Makes the local weather people worried about what is coming...me to as Hubby is a weather spotter.

Our local weather station has forecasted that we will have a warmer than normal late spring and a strong thought of warmer summer with temps reaching 90-100s and possible drought.

 I have to change what I plant and where to deal with that possibility. That means it will be doubtful if I can get any fall crops either as they require the cool temps like spring crops to grow.

Hubby and I looked at each other and he asked what the battle plan is ....he used to farm and he knows what this type of weather can do to the budget. Due to my health issues I have to EAT my nutrition NOT swallow a pill or drink something that has been processed.The old fear of running out of food before the next season curdled in my stomach.Been here and done that. I know I can carry us at least one full year from today. Yes we would go without some veggies and fruit so I need to focus on those, but over all we would be okay. Can I take us into 2 years.... MAYBE...That is what I have to look at.

I'm not thrilled that the 200 plus spring bulb garden even though covered won't be blooming this year even though we covered them (wind blew cover off  repeatedly)...but that's part of spring flowers. Plus I didn't spend much money on them as most was what was some where else and I dug up and moved.My summer wild flowers a 35 ¢ package took the hit hard as they weren't covered. I doubt if the rose bush or the lilac tree blooms much if at all. I don't want to think of the apple trees that have budded at my favorite orchard.

My fall planted garlic, my rhubarb and my strawberries are still covered. I won't uncover until the temps stay above freezing. Still I know they won't produce as much or as well.IF I can get the covers off this week.

Horseradish was left uncovered. We had planned for this to be the final year of growing it. With Mom gone , there isn't enough of us to eat it to make it worth the garden space it takes.

With "winter" hitting again, by time it warms up it will be closer to our summer planting in May ...no spring crops means that won't be on the table or in the pantry. I can plant some green onions and lettuce and maybe some radishes in pots and put on the front porch where they will get the morning and early afternoon sun and I can move to the north side of the porch into the shade during the heat of the day.

Knowing the forecast for a drought possible...I know meat prices will rise...they need rain to grow the feed for the life stock and for the life stock. Some will sell now to try to get what they can and not take any losses.I have that part of my budget stretched.

I don't just grow what we eat fresh, I grow what we eat during the year until the next growing season and sometimes in to the following year. Example 2013 was a bumper year of everything , 2014 was good with beans but not at the norm for root veggies or tomatoes. Last year was even worse and it was everything. I also grow for my own seeds and last year I didn't get a lot of seeds.

The Amish produce auction I go to will be limited, I don't know how well they were able to protect the plants they grow and  they only sell their surplus produce AFTER they have canned or dried what they are going to eat as they live from year to year like we do.

Farmers that sell their produce or life stock for meat and orchards that I pick my apples from will be limited.

That's just the food.

That drought means we have to be more careful with how we water the gardens even though we are on a well. We are careful pretty much on how we use our water from years of being in the city ( we lived where it was expensive and I really wished I had been reading The Prudent Homemaker blog at that time). The last thing we need is to run the well dry.

With temps 90-100 °  I will have to refocus to make sure the house stays cool (electric is very expensive in this house) to limit the use of the central air which I will need if the house temp goes over 85 °. Hubby will use the window AC during the day while he sleeps (3rd shift worker) along with the ceiling fan, he only sleeps about 5 hrs a day. I don't use the central air often even though it's only for the first floor. I need to get the landlord to have it checked out before the heat hits.I will have to recheck my fans and make sure they are in good shape also.

Both of our dogs are pretty much all black fur, I'll put a baby pool (which means I have to replace the one we have had for the last 5 yrs) of water in the garage for them to lay in as that's Rascal's favorite way to cool off and when it's really hot Miss Kira will stand in it. Miss Kira takes to either laying with her face into the fan ( I keep on in the front room) or laying on the vent( when its blowing cool air, Rascal does it when it blows hot) in the front room (until we see her and then she moves like she wasn't doing anything she's been told not to do. He doesn't move until you nudge him).

Usually in the warmer months I have sheers and light weight curtains up because we usually have a nice breeze...10-15 mph. with 20 mph gusts. I use window fans in the east windows to blow in and window fans in the west winds to "blow(suck)" out to create a wind flow in the rooms we are in and that helps cool the house. I binder clip (friend gave me over 1000, when they shut down a plant and was going to throw everything in the dumpster at $500 a load. By time he was through they didn't even have a full load...negative side of that, he is now in charge of most of the closings they do) the top part of the curtains together so only the bottom half (if that much ) is open to let the air move through the house. Afternoons the south and west side curtains are closed completely until the sun isn't on that side. A couple years ago I put foil up on two of the south windows to keep the heat out.

I'll be using the grill more...to keep the heat out of the house including my canning (water bath canner works well on a gas grill).

I usually am in the gardens in late morning through the afternoons...with that kind of heat I will have to do the garden in the early mornings...big change to my summer routine.

This week I will spend looking at what to plant and what I need to prepare for the worst...and pray for the best.

Blessings be

What did I do this week?

Really I look around and wondered.Nose surgery recovery is going very slow but each day is better except when the low pressure triggers me...which is about every 3rd day right now.

I got the laundry done here at home in my wringer washer. SO we saved $80 from the laundromat.We went every 2 wks and had 14 loads. Regretfully our weather here in northwestern Ohio isn't being nice and I still can't use the clothes lines. I did dry some on the drying rack to help with running the dryer.

I ordered some fabric that was on sale at Joann's fabric. Most the time I prefer to not order online because I prefer be able to touch and see the fabric. BUT my recovery isn't up to driving 30 miles , shopping a couple hours and then driving back. SO I ordered online and found that I saved more than the shipping (or gas) would have cost me.I will be sewing skorts at least from this fabric. I still have aprons to make. I still have to primer and paint my sewing room. Everything is scattered in the other 2 rooms upstairs until I do.

I used baking soda to do some cleaning. Not sure if vinegar would trigger any issues yet and not willing to go backwards in recovery.

I pulled some of my sweet potato slips off the "mother" potato and put them in water to let the roots get bigger before planting them. The "mother" potato started growing more slips....GOOD because I had 3 "mother" sweet potatoes that didn't do anything but rot. The "mother" is from the sweet potatoes I grew last year.Type is unknown, the Amish gentleman that sold them to me didn't know, was what his grandpa (3-4 generations back) had raised.

I traded my son my small vacuum(comes apart to make a hand vacuum) that I was getting rid of for his dust mop that wasn't doing will with his grout in his kitchen. The dust mop has a washable head. He's happy also because he can use the hand held to defur his furniture from his cats.

We went out to eat with a couple that are close friends that are retired, they are frugal like us. We went to Hong Kong buffet (splurge). I had coupons for us and them to use. Even after tip it was less than a pizza from our local pizza shop. We go every 2-3 months during the cold seasons. During the summer when we are gardening it's more of eating at each other's house instead.

I reread Amy Dacyczyn's Tightwad Gazette...I have all 3 books, well really I have 3 copies of all 3 books. Thought my 3 kids could inherit them when I die and doubted if they would be in print when I did die.

We have a friend that burns old oil of any type in his shop heater. We gave him what we were holding for hazard disposal (we have to pay for it) from when we deep fried turkeys at Thanksgiving.

I have some volunteer flowers that have sprung up that I will dig and move later for either my own gardens or one of my kids. Might just put them in a pot to sit at the door on the front porch for next year.

Between sales and coupons I saved 30% at the grocery store, didn't get everything on my list even though I was under budget because of the store changing things around. Still we aren't going without anything. The money I saved is now in a savings account.

I wrapped my coins while down and took them to the bank. That money is for Christmas.

I started my Christmas shopping.... I started with the dogs since I had coupons and there was a sale on some things they love. Was lower than what I spent last year by half.

A friend that is living in Ireland right now , got me a discount on a nutrition class. It was $630 and she got it for me for $35. It's online and not as easy as I thought with the tests. Did you know that craving chocolate could be a sign of low iron? ME either.

We did realize that with me down,we don't nickle and dime the budget. AND we checked to see why that was...if I get hungry I have to eat immediately or I go down, if we are out and I say something about getting hungry Hubby immediately thinks buy food...I can't just eat anything with my Crohn's so it makes it harder. We have found since I've been pretty much in the house that I get hungry around 10 and again at 2 (tea time) and still eat dinner at 5. So for now on we know we need me to take something that I can eat (not protein bars)  if we are going to be gone during those hours. PLUS we have found that he will buy things for projects, not use all of it and forget to return it within the time of returns. He is going to bag it now and put it in his truck so he sees it and remembers to return it.

Blessed Be

Frugal April LOL

April 1st I went in for my debridgement (nice word for cleaning out my nose HA HA). WELL, that was an experience I wished I didn't have to do again but most likely when I GO BACK in 6 weeks , it will happen again, it's what the doctor warned me of. Just not as bad. I still have 2 stents (thanks for that freaking news) that I didn't know about that wasn't ready to be removed.

ON the frugal side. Between our ins and our flex spending acct, the costs are covered. Our ins will go back to paying 100% after about $500 more co pays( we already have this amt saved ) and we will only have to cover prescriptions, eye and dental but nothing MEDICAL.So we'll be checking with the doctor over any Big ticket tests etc that we can get down this year to save us money next yr.That is being frugal.

Yesterday we talked about me going back to work outside the home (Hubby's running joke is I do work outside the home because we can't fit 1400 sq ft of gardens IN the home). Bottom line with his income we would lose more than we gain especially if I work some where there is health ins because his company won't pay for me if I have the option for ins some where else.

We also figured out that I save us $200/ month on veggies and fruit with my gardening (after expenses) and I was able to cut the budget by $300 a month since I am home and can do somethings instead of paying for it to be done.   That is more than I would bring home part time. I do some surveys that I can increase some of my time for to see it that will do better.

We canceled the Directv awhile back and now are going to put that money directly into savings.

We are going to take rebates and coupon savings and put that in the savings instead of leaving it in the checking to spend on something else.

We will be eating from the pantry to clear out the freezers and clear some shelves in the pantry BEFORE the harvest starts coming in. I need to inventory everything to see what to plant and what needs built up in storage.

I will be taking the grocery money for the gardens and processing needs .I already have paid for all my seeds that I didn't save from my own plants last year. April 15th we go to Scioto Valley Amish produce auction to get spring plants for the gardens.

Our non-food budget is twice of our food budget. We are still working on cutting that down. I've cut down on printing, can scan and send some things or take picture of and send through my phone or email. That has cut that area almost down to 1/4 of what it was. But still there are areas that could do better.

One expense is going to be bug spray. Ortho Home defense is what we use here. It's the only thing that works to battle the spiders and ants we get so bad.I will use what ever is left from last yr on the outside and new on the inside.

I noticed inventory on paper goods is running low so I'll watch for coupons and sales for it.

I just got some fabric on sale online to make some skorts and shorts for myself. So sewing ...when I can wear my glasses for more than 10 min ( face still swells from surgery) I'll start my sewing and mending.

Blessed be

April Goals

I hope to be fully recovered from surgery before mid-April but did list things that I can do if I am not up and around much.

Daily: Flylady  habits: shine my sink, 15 mins decluttering, Get dressed with jewelry,and make the bed.All of these I do most days anyways.

Food:  Each of us eat 2 1/2 cups of veggies and 2 cups of fruit,eat from the pantry. I need to
inventory all 3 deep freezers, refrigerator freezer and pantries.I'll know if I need to get any staples in but at this point I don't think so.This will also let me know what we need to grow this year.

Gardens: condition straw bales(doing straw bale gardening as an experiment especially for growing potatoes)  refresh square foot gardens and till the in ground garden section. Prepare and plant pots.  Plan gardens based on what we need (which is why I need an updated inventory) for storage and what we are going to eat as fresh only. Armenian cucumbers for sure. Weed flower gardens and check on herb gardens Amish auction where we get most of our plants from is April 15th.

I will start picking up canning jar lids and supplies, for my vacuum bag sealer a little bit each time I go to the store.

Education: I have a nutrition class twice a week the month of April, taking a class of norm for me but this one has extra homework that I'm not used to so I will have to allow Homework Time also.I have down loaded a couple books on finances I want to read and a couple other "classes" that concern gardening and such.

I found a pattern for a skort which is what I prefer to wear in warm weather. I will have to get material for it this coming week. I need to catch up the mending I had planned to do while down now that I can wear my glasses so I can see what I am doing.I have an apron I prefer (based on 1940's canning apron) and will be making a pattern of it to sew more.I have worn out the aprons I have even though they aren't what I prefer.

My flowers are not coming in much yet, so I might if I find a good sale buy a couple more bouquets before May. We have a local florist that has sales pretty regular and has shown me how to make them last a couple weeks.Last batch I got from her lasted 3 wks. Not something frugal (she charges $15 and uses my vase) unless you count it's cheaper for me to be happy there is flowers on the table than depressed and back in for meds. I have S.A.D. so I save up through the "sunny" months to pay for "sunshine" items through the dreary ones.I was hoping my daffodils would be blooming before this bouquet died off.

I am still working on getting a good routine for the home blessing and garden work and food processing. I think the change is going to be me getting up earlier.

We have increased our savings and plan to pay off another bill with in the next 2 wks. Our goals of the last 5 yrs when we lost over 70% of our income for over 2 yrs(and our home) was to rebuild in 5 yrs. We had 28 debts and are down to 5. We decide to not buy a home in this area because when Hubby retires we won't need to live here and can move closer to the kids, grandkids and great grandson (due Aug). We are paying less here on the farm than if we were renting an apt.plus our landlord is okay with my gardening. He usually ends up with some of it anyways.

We have maintained the retirement even when we lost everything else. We could have borrowed against is but we wasn't willing. We can work and go without now instead of having to work in our 70s. We increase that amt every Jan.Better off than others our age but not where we want to be.

We have decided when we retire to living in about 1400 sq ft.with a 2  1/2 car garage or a 2 car garage with an 8 x 10 shed. SO we have chosen to start clearing this home(we rent 2200 sq ft, 2 1.2 car garage and about 20 x 30 storage) so a yr before we buy we are already living in that amt. We measured here and I know what rooms  have to be cleared.If I stacked what is in the storage up like I would a storage unit I could get by with a 10 x 10. This downsizing part will start be actively worked on  weekly starting the first week of April.

Have a blessed week.

Surgery update Celebrating

Why? First the surgery went very well and I didn't end up with the black eyes like I was warned I would have. Second after 2 wks I can wear my glasses. Even though my Doctor made a plastic bridge so I could, my face was too swollen for me to wear it.I can't read, drive or go outside in sunlight without glasses,I wear 4 pairs. I wasn't smiling in this picture because when I smile, my glasses slide down my nose, need to get those adjusted LOL. Recovery has been harder than I was prepared for and I still have the debridgement (final cleaning) for my nose on Friday. I was warned I would probably go backwards in recovery for 7-14 days.

On the frugal side, we didn't go anywhere except appts and one trip to the store to get more "quick" foods for Hubby to fix while I was down and to get more tissues as I had went through the first 10 boxes. For the month we remained on budget including the extra supplies needed due to the surgery and recovery.

We bought take out twice, both times fed us 4 meals for less than $5 a meal and I had actually figured on twice that amt in the food budget while I was down.

The car maintenance budget has taken a big hit, my son's car's front bearing is going out, he brought it to us for our mechanic to fix (his mechanic is having surgery) and I gave him my car and took his to our mechanic. The next day we had to call our mechanic and ask if we could drive it because our truck's fuel pump went out. So the mechanic brought us our son's car (can get back and forth to work last night but that's about it) and the fuel pump was ordered and should be in the truck today so we can once again get my son's car the to mechanic. MEANTIME my son calls and starts telling me things he found wasn't working right on MY car.Most of it Hubby can deal with if son doesn't go ahead and do on his own. I haven't been driving much since last fall and the car kind of sits. If Hubby didn't have to have a way to work I'd sell it but since his truck is a 1998 I'm not comfortable with it being the only thing here. Work is a bit too far away for him to be walking, let alone down a highway to get to work and he's the only one working 3rd in this area.

Blessed be

REALITY sigh

Feb 14th my reality became a sever nose bleeds  2-3 times a day with passing large clots...GROSS.

Got into on an emergency appt to primary doctor, who immediately scheduled me for ENT but that was 2 wk wait.SO now it's March

ENT doctor sends me to CT Scan which was a 1 wk wait.

Get CT scan and back to ENT doctor on same day and then schedule surgery...

First it was suppose to be March 24th (3 wk wait)...then the hospital blocked out that day so it got moved to the 29th ...meantime nose bleeds are starting to last about 30 min a couple times of day. ENT doctor is worrying that I am going to need to go through the ER to get surgery due to the stress it's causing with my heart failure.

THEN MIRACLE...someone canceled and I am going in the 17th...

Dealing with the bleeds and trying to get things done so I can be in recovery without a total mess on my hands or Hubby's as he get homeblessing and cheffing for 2 wks until I am recovered enough to do it. Has been hard with NO energy due to bleeding and not being able to breath right.

Main thing was the ENT doctor took one look and said we are fixing the problem right the first time (YES)...Reduction of turbinates (think filters for you nose) deviated septum straightened and rhinoplasty to fix the nose that has been broken and now turns black and blue when I wear my glasses because of how crooked it is. I wear glasses all the time now days. In fact I have 4 different pairs I have to wear depending on what I am trying to do. Sitting at the computer I can zoom if needed. He will be using a hard plastic bridge on my nose so I can wear my glasses while recovering.

MEANTIME trying to stay frugal.....Been eating at home mostly, not a lot as there is no appetite.
Did some decluttering so I won't be looking at it when I am down and can't deal with it. Helps with the depression.  Picked up some sour hard candy that is suppose to help with dry mouth and the taste of drainage. Had to buy some foods ...soft foods and medical supplies that was needed. Still we are in budget for the month since we know what we are eating while I am done.

Frugal also is the surgery was scheduled (17th) to reflect that Hubby wouldn't have to take off a whole week of work (lower paycheck as it doesn't include his shift pay or his EMT pay or his TL pay).

I already cooked a turkey and bagged the meat. Each bag will make 2 meals so it gives us 2 options of what we are eating. Tonight is ham, I will slice and dice leftovers and then but some back to grind for ham salad and scalloped potatoes and scrambled eggs. Bean soup also....I will be roasting a prime rib (in freezer, Christmas gift) for Monday(slice and dice it also) and having pork chops on Wed as that is the last night for 2 wks I can actually chew solid food and it's my favorite. Hubby might have to pick up some odds and ends and we have some friends that are willing to step in and help especially like laundry as I refuse to let him touch my wringer washer except to do maintenance.

I am going to gather a few things around that I can do that is sitting (and I don't have to wear glasses for) and I already down loaded books I want to read to my Fire Kindle. I have a list of things to do so when I whine I am bored Hubby can check it and remind me of what I wanted to get done.

I will do a good home blessing on Tuesday and Wednesday we will do the laundry and get the last of any groceries we need. Thursday morning I will do our finances (normal routine) and spend some time rubbing nuzzling my dogs as that won't happen for a bit.

I'm looking forward to getting this done as this is the 2nd time I've had surgery for my nose (31 yrs ago ) and I remember the pain of the packing, breathing through my mouth dryness and the pain of having the the packing removed...let alone my daughter that was 1 smacking me in the face pain....I am still ready to do this...hope the rest of my body agrees including my Crohns as usually stress triggers it big time and it's already complaining of the drainage with blood...

Blessed Be

Being Frugal when ill

It's very hard to do any kind of work when you spend 2-3 times a day with a sever nose bleed. Seeing ENT doctor today with hopefully a solution to the problem. Our humidity is at 45-50% so it's not dry air or blood thinners as I haven't been on them for a year.I am looking forward to answers, I am not looking forward to a very painful exam.

So in the last month what I have done to be frugal  is the following

Groceries came in $14.39 over budget.I need to focus on coupons and sales better for non food things. WHICH is pretty well stocked up except for the dogs stuff. I saved the average of 16.11% Goal is to be closer to 25% AND under budget.

We needed clothes...I've been hitting the thrift shops but not finding anything in our size or what we would wear. I'm looking at 60 and don't want to look like I am wearing something that belongs to my granddaughters.It's been almost 5 yrs since we bought new clothes beyond underclothes and socks and I wasn't looking forward to doing it. A friend clued me into retailmenot and freeshipping. Pretty much set for the next 3-5 yrs (HA HA) except for pants for Hubby (short legged) and pants/shorts/skorts for me. I got a lead on a pattern for skorts so I might end up making my own unless I take my favorite skort apart for a pattern. End savings for for clothes 76%...yes really I shopped clearances and sales, used discounts  and freeshipping. NOT only that but actually found tanks that I LOVE instead of just taking what I can find at the price I am willing to pay AND they were cheaper than what I usually spend. Kohls and Walmart online were the best I got. IT was even cheaper than the thrift store on some things.

I sorted the pantry, have one area yet to go through. Found I had things I needed to use up and some that needed to go on the list to buy when it goes on sale.

I saved a repair call , we have a frig that will freeze up a couple times a year, the repairman that is a friend said it's a character fault of the beast. Since I really like my frig and don't want to replace it , he showed me how to deal with it and save a $100 repair bill. While dealing with this I cleaned it very well and reorganized it so I had a place to put a container of fruit, a container of potatoes cooked for home fries and a half sheet with lid for when I make 1 sheet pan meals and want to prep in the morning.I put condiments together in bins also.

I decluttered 2 rooms (300 sq ft) and hauled it to the kids that wanted it. The plan is to only be using 1200 sq ft in this house by the end of summer so we can adjust to a smaller home when Hubby retires in 3 yrs.  I didn't have to pay for it to be hauled away AND I got to visit with the kids and grandkids.

We decided to try straw bale gardening this yr and give our north garden a rest. Plus with the way my health has been, it should be easier for Hubby to maintain if I go down,again, some more, what ever.
Bales were running around $4.25 so after putting it out we were looking for around 36 bales a friend offered to sell what he isn't going to use for $2 a bale.

Hope you are having a  Blessed Month

Frugal things I did this week 2.1.2016 thru2.7.2016

On the first, we went to the local store. Every few months they send out coupons that are good for certain weeks. I try to go on Monday when it starts.  While I was gathering the items with the coupons and checking sales on meat (frozen chicken breast was $2.33, cheapest I've seen in several months and we have been out for quite awhile now PLUS ground beef 80/20 was on sale for $2.88 where it's been running around $5.39)...anyways...Hubby always checks the discount carts...most time this is very good and being frugal...Monday not as much as it should have been as he picked up  11 different breads and 3 different cakes. Neither of us eat a lot of bread let cake. SINCE they were discounted they aren't going to last long and I specified we didn't have freezer room or frig room for much....SIGH. BUT I won't argue with him over such things in the store.

Still he saved me several hours of bread making and desserts and has came up with ideas and even a couple recipes to use it up. He saved $48.32 on all of it. We lost one loaf (so it's $46.33) savings. He had sat it on the dining table in the sun light and with being in plastic it produced moisture and then molded by the next afternoon.  Now he understand what I don't let much of any food sit on the dining table.I had moved it back to the kitchen twice and he moved it back.

We got gas for his truck using our fuel rewards from the store and saved 50¢ a gal.

I did our taxes online instead of going to the local office which saved us over $200. I was a bit  worried even though I used to work for H &R Block of doing it myself with all the new rules and such.

I found a cheaper place to get my printer ink (thanks to Jen),inkjetsuperstore.com and to check retailmenot.com  for the coupons first.

I made 1 lb of red beans into soup and made it last 3 meals. Soup,fried potatoes and onions and white corn bread. Beans and rice  and then beans and rice burritos for the last part. We ate odd and ends the rest of the week of things that needed used up ...like bacon (SMILE)

What did you do this past week to be frugal?

Blessed Be

February goals

To cut the non-food amt spent to 2/3 rds of what it is running now. I don't think we can get it any cheaper than that because of the softener salt and filter we have to buy being out in the boonies. Still I will try.

I am looking for a cheaper place to buy printer ink.

I will combine sales and coupons which I started this month.

We will eat from the pantry. January we ate out 4 times and I bought Chinese from the store (so I count that as eating out). We would like to bring that down to 3 ....as facing  Valentine's day  and our anniversary this month. I know we will eat at least once at the local restaurant for Lent as they have a great fish special on Fridays.

I put together a coupon book to keep better track of my coupons.I arranged it in the order of how I shop instead of alphabetical.

I downloaded a savings tracker http://thecouponproject.com/downloads/savings-tracker/

I am putting together a grocery price data workbook that will include my inventory. Goal is to buy at the cheapest and keep track of the inventory without going down and doing a count every month. Plus if possible (my friend that I call Guru) have place were it will let me know I should buy if on sale or a need now.

Hubby would like to retire in 3 yrs. So everything we do know needs to reflect that. Not only financially as in finishing off the last of the debt incurred when he went to 3 days a week for 2 yrs but in the home as of right now we rent a home of 2200 sq ft and use a 1 1/2 car garage, 2 stalls in the pig barn (no animals on the farm any more) and over half the farrowing house which would be 3 10x12 storage units. We want a  2-1/2 car garage and 1400 sq ft with a basement...lots to get rid off.

It's still too cold to plant here but I am hoping towards the end of the month I might be able to plant some lettuce and such in containers that I can cover when it's cold.

Blessed be

Frugal end of Jan

Looking back of the past month I see some improvement on being frugal.

I fixed a pair of pants.

I started 2 more sweet potatoes to make slips to plant this spring. The first two got nasty and had to be pitched. I've never had that happen before so I don't know what caused it.

I ordered the last of my seeds using coupons. I want to order candy onion sets from a local green house yet.I will most likely buy my spring plants from the Amish produce auction.

I combined sales with coupons to get a year's supply of vitamins and 6 mos supply of other vits that I have to take due to my Crohn's . Crohn's can stop you from getting nutrition from the food you eat.On top of I live in Ohio so my Vit D is low to begin with because we don't get the sunshine to keep it up.

I got my doctor to send my prescriptions to a mail order instead of the local pharmacy and saved there.

I baked bread so we didn't buy any.

I repaired my bread board that we use to cut the bread on.

I canned 7 quarts of applesauce and made 5-1/2 pints of apple butter out of the peelings and cores and then mixed the apple "juice" with the other juice we had in the frig.

We ate mostly from the pantry.

Blessed Be

End of Pantry Challenge 1.31.16

We didn't waste food and very little went to the compost also. We looked back and realized that we went from Dec 24th until today eating mostly from the pantry.

KEY WORD....MOSTLY...SIGH

Out of 5 weeks we ate out 4 times and I count the time I bought Chinese out of the freezer section as eating out since I normally make my own.

That's an average of once a week....

We ate once at Bob Evans as I had a coupon from them .Saved $9.47

We ate once at Perkins as I had a coupon from them for my bday .Saved $8.56

We bought take out at Davis meats (smoked rib lunch) that actually fed us 2 days.

We bought Al's pizza with a chef salad (and then I listened to my son lecture me about buying fast food that I can make at home) with the excuse we leaving the grocery store and very hungry and Hubby was going to already be  2 hrs late getting to bed so he could get his sleep in to go to work. That excuse didn't work with son HA HA.

I bought the Chinese at of the freezer section at store because I got sick while in the store and knew I wouldn't be cooking and I can eat Chinese when I am sick...

Two of the times we wouldn't have ate out if I hadn't had the coupons...

We were able to stock the staples back up because I wasn't buying much food beside perishables.

PLUS we were able to stock a lot of non-food up since "Food" money wasn't being used.

I also did a lot of use left overs for second and third round dishes that stretched the pantry...not that my pantry needs to stretch as I maintain a pantry to feed us at least a year if not pushing 18 months.

Blessed Be

Being frugal

We have been eating from the pantry mostly all this month.

I have changed my shopping to focus on using coupons with sales or mark downs. I have now started my routine "route" in the store at the clearance rack that is on the far side of the store.

I have a friend that is making me a grocery price sheet (he calls it a data base)that will also show me lowest paid and then will allow me to use it to make a running inventory of the pantry etc with a possible buy on sale and need to buy now spot on it for my grocery list. He is getting ready to retire in the next year and is looking at doing this kind of thing for individuals . Works for both of us.

I have dehydrated the last of the eggs except for what we will  use in the next month, if needed I will dehydrate more so we don't lose them. I used the dehydrated ones in my baking this week.

I've used mostly of what we have at home for fighting this sickies that we have been battling. I know I will have to be checking coupons and sales to replace what we have used up.

My doctor wanted me to see a specialist for nutrition other than the one that is local and Free for us, our ins would not pay it and the costs was hundreds. So the FREE nutritionist contacted the one the doctor wanted me to see and they suggested a study course. It usually runs around $500....that was on sale online for 50% off.Another nutritionist just happened to have the catalog with the code for 80% off and then I got additional 20% off the total because I ordered more than one course and it totaled over $100. I ordered courses (not covered by ins) that my two doctors have been wanting me to change my lifestyle to. Works better for me because now I don't have to drive 1 hr each way for the classes AND I have a DVD and book that I can use, not just a 4 week class of twice a week. I used the money we saved from eating from the pantry to pay for it.

I ordered the seeds I need for this year using sales and coupons. I have some of the lettuce seeds I gathered last year to replant this year.

Blessed Be

Day 25 of Pantry challenge

We have one more week from today of this challenge. I pretty much can say we will be eating out MAYBE tonight because we have a coupon for a free meal for one at the local restaurant due to my birthday last week and it expires tonight and we are next to nothing on the dog food. I think Rascal's ball is eating also since I find it in the bowl several times a day.

Other than that the menu is planned out.

Thoughts so far, I bought Chinese out of the grocery store freezer section when I first got sick (still am but getting better every day and I hope I didn't just jinx myself) I counted that the same as eating out because usually I make my own Chinese except egg rolls and pot stickers ...that's on my to learn list. We ate out after going to Sam's club to get baking supplies using a coupon for 50% off one meal , we used it at lunch and got the cheapest meals on the menu since we like everything there it wasn't a hardship at all. Last Friday we got take out after going to the store and running errands and found ourselves struggling to finish the errands...and BOTH of us was horribly sick. The local butcher shop smokes ribs on Friday for their lunch special, we got that and it fed us for 2 days, which we both spent covered up and hacking.

Lessons learned so far....when I am busy processing produce , we run for fast food, when I am sick we run for fast food, IF Hubby is sick, I make soup LOL....Taco Bells, Wendy's , Subway and pizza (with chef salad, we eat the salad BEFORE we eat the pizza)is our stand bys, sometimes it's fried chicken from a local restaurant (bets KFC ) though it doesn't beat Mel-O-Dee's in New Carlisle OH.

SO to combat that I now have sub buns and lunch meat in the freezer, taco supplies of assortment (Hubby is a crunch wrap and I am tostada,Mexican pizza, hard tacos, soft tacos, etc) Hamburger patties I formed and froze along with those buns. AND I dug out my Tightwad Gazette that has a  5 min pizza crust recipe. I can make the crusts in the morning and prebake( I prebake anyways) and just add the topping later that day.

For some reason we usually eat salad when out or ordering pizza but I struggle to put it on the table regularly. I think it's because we don't add the same ingredients to our salads. SO on that line I will be planning an area in the frig for "salad" toppings when the lettuce starts coming in a couple months from now.

What did I buy this month?

Dairy:Milk( on sale bought 2 times as much ), heavy cream( marked down), half and half (marked down), buttermilk (on sale),butter (OUCH), cottage cheese,yogurt,sour cream, some sliced cheese (that was half off for the freezer and frig).

Dry goods: tostadas(on sale),assorted sizes of tortilla wraps(coupons), Sub buns (coupon plus 50% off) hamburger buns (marked down, note this is now on my to make my own list).

Meat: bacon (coupons and marked down and on sale SCORE,) ground pork (coupon and marked down) bulk sausage( on sale and coupons).

Veggies: ice berg lettuce (cheapest), green onions, ( I use both green and white parts) celery, carrots, colored bell peppers (green one trigger my Crohn's)

Fruit: Avocados (on sale)

Stock up: 25 lbs of all purpose flour, 25 lbs of granulated sugar, 2 lbs of yeast, 13.5 lbs baking soda, 35 oz of corn starch, 60 oz of baking powder36 oz sea salt,2 gals of white vinegar, 1 gal of canola oil, 3 lts of olive oil, 5 lbs of yellow corn meal,25 lbs of parboiled rice, 8- 30.65 oz coffees (on sale and with coupon for each)4-6 lbs 9 oz (#10) cans of tomato sauce (on sale ...possible pasta sauce or pizza sauce), baker's special dry milk and easy roll dough improver.

What we saved on food , we spent of stocking up non food I now have enough laundry soap(well , the stuff to make the laundry soap) and dish soap to go a year. I have enough body soap, shampoo and conditioner, lotions, and dental items to go 6 mos.

There are things I see I need to be taking care of more (which being sick all winter and worse through this month isn't helping) and some things that just need to go away. I did quit buying Velveeta mac and cheese and Hubby has requested that it be stocked. He uses it like Hamburger helper when I am sick (NOW he tells me).

Blessed Be

sorry sick

and stuggling with it...be back as soon as I am able

Frugal things I did last week

I decluttered the master bedroom closet...you might have just went HUH? but by decluttering the closet I found extra clothes that had been bought on sale that had been forgotten about due to being in a box on the top shelf and was back on the to buy list.SO they got taken off the to buy list.

We ate from the pantry until the 7th...when I got a massive headache and thought I was coming down with the flu (that the neighbors had) in the middle of the store while shopping for non food items.  I bought Chinese out of the freezer section and we ate that and the leftover of it mixed with other leftovers until the 10th when I made potato soup.

I bought non-food items, with coupons matched to sales.Only 4 things didn't have coupons.

I got my Yukon Gold seed potatoes for the gardens ... actually I got 50 lbs of Yukon Gold potatoes for $10 at the Miami Valley Amish produce auction. It costs me $20 average for 10 seed potatoes at the nursery. I saved a lot of money by going this way and have Yukon Gold potatoes to eat at the same time.

I did the same to get my sweet potato slips (green shoot off sweet potato that you plant to grow more sweet potatoes) Slips cost $19 average(usually about 2 potatoes will make this) I got 10 lbs for $6  so we have sweet potatoes to eat also.

I got bananas (another auction item) for 35¢/ lb .Picked up 20 lbs, some to dehydrate, freeze, and eat.

I also got at the auction brown organic eggs...I've seen them for $4.36 a dozen at a couple stores locally. I bought 17 dozen at $2 a dozen. Several dozen will be dehydrated so later I can used dehydrated eggs and flour to make pasta and braided egg bread (fingers crossed I get around to the bread LOL)

We changed electric supplies and lowered the electric by almost 1 ¢ . Doesn't sound for much but that's about $12 a month.

I used Walmart's savings catcher and they found lower prices for the non food I bought so we have that small amt back.

Blessed be

Eating from the pantry Day 6

doing very well considering that yesterday I had a migraine and wasn't hardly up to eating let along cooking.

We ending up with me making grilled cheese and adding what ever we wanted from the frig to that meal and Hubby took leftovers from the last couple nights.

Tonight we are having Ruben Casserole and leftover mashed potatoes , tomorrow will be leftover casserole on bread for sandwiches with the possible apple salad.

Meantime I am checking the sales at the stores, going through the coupons to match the sales and then making my shopping list .

Blessed Be

Dehydrating Eggs for powered eggs.

Every January I have to deal with extra eggs that was bought for the cooking of Christmas and New Year's Eve. Most years I end up with bad eggs because I can't get them used up fast enough or even have to make a special trip to town because I didn't buy enough.

This year after reading "Food Storage: Preserving Meat, Dairy and Eggs" by Susan Gregersen and David Armstrong I started thinking about dehydrating my eggs and making powdered eggs.

Then I read Brandi's post over at www.theprudenthomemaker.com about her ordering powdered eggs and decide to try to make my own.

this is 4 eggs beaten and dehydrated at 135° for 8 hrs

then I ground it in my blender until it was powder

I then took 1 level tablespoon of powder and mixed it with 1 tablespoon water and stirred until the powder was dissolved and then let it rest for a minute.

I nuked it in my microwave for 30 seconds on full power.Looks just like scrambled egg.

It tasted like scrambled egg that I had cooked too long in the microwave so next time I'll try 20 seconds or 75% power.

Reality is I no longer with be tossing eggs that went bad before I can use them or making special trips to town to buy eggs for baking or scrambling.

BETTER is instead of getting this through Walmart (closest store that actually has it) for 56¢ a serving (one egg is a serving) which if you think about it is $6.72 for a dozen eggs, I am getting it for the price of the eggs and my electric which was 67¢ for the 8 hrs.

I did use my fruit leather tray for this,but have no desire to buy more so I will use either wax paper or parchment paper as long as I am careful to not fill it so full it over runs the paper.

Blessed be

January goals

can you tell today is catch up the blog day?

My goals for January

Health

To not injury myself again (pulled groin then adductor on top of already bad back) right after I fell backwards over the concrete lid of the septic tank and knocked myself out, slight concussion with mild whiplash ).

To take my Crohn's meds which means I have to eat a protein,carb to take them twice a day.

To take my vits,calcium and Vit D to stay healthy and repair my thinning bones.

To eat a rainbow of colors to keep the Crohn's from making me malnourished .

Blog

To post at least once a week.

To read 1 new blog a month.

Pantry

To eat from the pantry with minimum bought at the store for this month (and hopefully next couple months)

To finish preserving what is left of the fall produce (apples,pears, pumpkins,potatoes, (red and white), onions and butternut to say the least possible other winter squashes)

To finish bagging the frozen turkey meat that is on cookie sheets.

To finish canning the turkey broth after I remove the fat on top of it (fat goes in jar and in freezer for use later).

To learn to make powdered eggs (I found a way but haven't tried it)

Garden

To sort through and reorganize of what I am going to plant

Sewing 

To make brown paper patterns for aprons

To make brown paper patterns for my pj bottoms

Organization/Cleaning

Put away Christmas decorations in correct containers

Clean kitchen from top to bottom

Organize kitchen aid mixer attachments for easier use

Declutter four rooms

Shopping/Errands

Drop off give away items to thrift stores.

Order seeds needed for garden

Attend Amish produce auction (with friends)

Make January shopping list.

Knowledge

To learn one new thing

To read one new book

goodcheapeats pantry challenge

Jessica Fisher over at goodcheapeats.com is having her annual eating from the pantry challenge. Not only is this a good way to use up what you have but it saves you money.

Our pantry probably is closer to Brandi's over at www.theprudenthomemaker.com

I have 26 shelves in the pantry, 10 are double or triple stacked. I have a 27 cubic, a 20 cubic and a 7 cubic deep freezer along with my French door 26 cubic frig with it's freezer. I have 250 lbs of potatoes, over 300 winter squashes and close to 100 lbs of onions in cool area storages. One being my mud room that we insulated to keep warmer and now have to keep the kitchen door shut as we opened the windows to cool that room down to store produce.(I adjust the windows to keep it at the correct temp) (thankful it got cold before I had Hubby put in the AC in the window)plus I have 12 shelves in the butler's pantry with half of them double stacked and 2 shelves of dried fruit and dried veggies in the dining room china cupboard along with a 5 shelf cupboard  also in the dining room filled with spices and herbs and extra brown and xxx sugars and salts.

In total at last inventory I had over a year's worth of meals. GOOD for me, been a time that grocery money was very little for a period of 2 yrs. Thankfully the gardens did well but winter was a time of hunger.

This month we started eating from the pantry. I usually do it in late Nov or early Dec but we were actually still eating fresh produce from our gardens and the Amish produce auction we go to regularly. With warmer than usual Dec turnips, radishes and other root veggies were still coming in fresh.

It's nice to have some support from other bloggers about eating from the pantry for a period of time.

I did buy a calendar (on clearance) to keep track of a menu as I want to look back next year and see how we did....4th day in and I can tell you I haven't fixed one thing that was already on the two week menu I did. Like today was going to be cabbage rolls...but I am playing catch up with the laundry because I was down (kind of still am) with crud and a strained adductor. With a wringer washer it's more hands on than an automatic (but my electric dropped $30 a month) so I decided since I had cooked hamburger I would do pasta and cheesy bread and salad...all things we have in the pantry.
I will just write what we eat on the calendar and put a highlighted orange star on it.

Are you eating from the pantry?

Frugal things I did last week

because most of December was making theses

Twenty five of them later with my tears of frustrations on the last 3, you would think by then I would have had it down pat. All filled with packing pellets AKA snowman poop and 10 gag gifts with a small amt of cash. Then after delivery I pulled my groin muscle and that strained my adductor muscle I already have a bad back and struggle with leg pain because of it and then if that wasn't enough I caught the crud...you know the crap between the head cold and chest cold but won't go away but you are thankful you didn't get the stomach crap that was going around ..yeah that crud.

So last week I roasted 2 turkeys and froze the meat then made broth and canned it after following old timer's directions of skimming the fat off the broth and froze the fat to use later.

I sliced up what was left from the prime rib that I roasted for the holiday and now have some for a couple quick sandwiches and some for soup in the freezer.

I found mild sausage and hot sausage on sale so bought that and cooked it and strained the fat in to pint jars. Meat will be for casseroles, omelets , quiches, pizzas and calzones among other things. It went in the freezer in 1 cup servings (sandwich bags work well and then put in a freezer bag). Fat is in the frig.

I found hamburger on sale, made some in to patties so I don't have the excuse we can't have hamburgers because I forgot to thaw them, and cooked the rest with some water (trick learned when I cooked in a day care to make the meat less greasy), strained the water off and cooled it and took the fat off it for the freezer also.

Milk gravy tastes better if you use a favored fat to make it with.

I made a point of not turning the Christmas lights on during the day until Christmas eve and Christmas day.