The Menu

Without further ado, here is the menu for this week:

Sunday - stuffed potatoes (broccoli, cheese and misc)

Monday - Chinese chicken, fried rice, egg rolls

Tuesday - Breakfast 

Wednesday - Tacos!

Thursday - Chef Salad

Friday - TBD (chicken soup, pizza, etc.)

Frugal Friday

I did my weekly grocery shopping today.  Friday shopping, just before noon, is the best.  The shelves are stocked and the store is quiet. 

I made a list and printed coupons just before I went making sure to focus on what we were eating and how I could incorporate meat we already had into the plan.  I stuck pretty close to the list and I used almost $10 in coupons.  The BEST deal I came away with was four cans of College Inn chicken broth - reduced sodium - for only .20 per can.  These were on sale (they made be eliminating this product from the shelves) for 2/$1.19.  I used a coupon that was $1 off two broths.  Wowza!  I really would have preferred beef broth but they did not have that.

I was very deligent  about sticking to my list and actually walked away from some things that weren't on the list.  I did purchase a bottle of wine to enhance our Friday dinner at home.  At $13 for the wine, dinner at home will be much more frugal than dinner out.

All totalled, I spent $80.  I did not buy my deli meat (and bread for lunch sandwiches).  I will go back Sunday for that.  (No point in buying today when we wont use until next week - deli meat's clock starts ticking as soon as you get home.). I may also get a rotisserie chicken or fried chicken strips for Sunday dinner.

Thursday, Thursday, Thursday

I stayed home all day (except for a quick trip to deliver some mended items and a quick stop at the Walmart Neighborhood Market).  I spend exactly $6 on two jalapeño peppers, a can of tomato sauce and some ground cloves.

I ate breakfast in (as did DH), lunch (leftovers), and dinner.  I had planned to cook some sausage tortellini for dinner but DH reported that he had that for lunch and requested a pot of chili.  Luckily, I had everything I needed except for a large can of tomato sauce.  I decided to get the two jalapeño peppers and cloves while I was at the store.  We have been out of cloves for a while and Walmart had the best price I could find.  Tomorrow is grocery day.

Progress on eating from the pantry - I noticed today that I have some empty space in the freezer.  What?  Really!  Next week, I am striving to use only frozen meat for dinners.  Specifically, I am planning on a Chinese chicken dish for Monday and tacos for Wednesday.  I've got both of these meals covered.  I MAY get a rotisserie chicken for Sunday night dinner, breakfast (potato pancakes, bacon, eggs) on Tuesday night, salad on Thursday and call it a week.  After grocery shopping, I will post a menu.  In the meantime, we will have the tortellini tomorrow, leftover chili on Saturday.

Next week, before our weekly garbage pick up, I will make a quick purge of very old items in the freezer.  I know there are some things (now that I can get to them), can go.  I am completely out of tomato paste and baking soda. I usually go to Aldi's for these items but I will forego this time to limit spending.

On unrelated non-food news, I finally finished mending the jeans I had been given and they have been returned.  I am back of quilting on my star quilt.  I have an embroidery project, a scrappy quilt, and a picnic quilt waiting in the wings.  

Tuesday and Wednesday

Tuesday, I knew I needed to get out of the house even if it were for just a little while.  I went to Joann's about 10ish.  I had a few things I wanted to get.

I bought two parachute clips to repair a knife bag.  Who knows how much this bag cost but obviously the clips were the weak link.  For less than $4, I was able to replace both clips.  I used some black upholstery thread (i used the end of the roll so I need to replace that n still time I go to the store) to stitch the clips in place and honor it is like new.

I picked up a few pieces of felt.  I'm using these to make some creative "patches" in the little boys jeans.  I make a creative patch for the front - appliquéd on by hand - and reinforce the back with fusable interfacing.  The leftover woven I interfacing I got for the t-shirt quilts seems to work best.

I also want to make a banner that can be used for Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's day.  Reversible would be best.  I will start cutting out hearts and shamrocks.  There is some webbing at Joann's that will work for the actual "flags."  Next trip.

My star surround quilt is being problematic because the backing material is just a little short in some areas.  I'm thinking about an inch but I will know better once all the quilting is done and I can trim it up.  The original pattern calls for binding the quilt in the solid dark blue (thinish binding).  On the front side, that will look sharp but that leaves me with gaps on the back.  I thought about just making the binding wider on the back and I think that would work but I'm concerned about having enough material to make that work as the binding strips would need to be at least two inches wider.  The solution I have come up with is to stay with the thin dark blue binding but put a second binding (maybe it's called a flange) on the back that is about an inch wide.  I found some of the red material with the large white dots at Joann's.  They only have a little over a yard but I think that will be enough.  At 2 1/2 inches wide, I should be able to get enough length to make this work.  I think this will really make this quilt special since the back is already in a red and white print, add the red flange and then the skinny blue border.  Neat.  Now, I just need to finish quilting and get it finished.

My final thing for the day was a book I purchased.  This sells for nearly $30 on line plus postage.  I had heard that you could use your 50% coupons at Joann's but they never had it.  Today, they did.  I headed straight for the checkout expecting to pay about $15.  Unfortunately, the book wa already discounted 30% so I could not use my coupon.  I did however, get a $30 book for $20 with no shipping.

Wednesday:  Today I mended another pair of kids jeans.  This time I used a Batman theme and next I will have a Captain America theme.

Otherwise, today was mainly about regular chores and dinner.

 I did pick up a small container of joint compound fro Home Depot.  I had a piece of wallboard paper (seam tape) that was coming off my wall.  When I tugged it it to peel it off, a big chunk of plaster came with it.  I cleaned it up a big and added a small amount of compound and a skinny piece of joint tape to bridge the gap between the two pieces of wallboard.  I think the previous problem was that the tape was not buried under the compound.  It dried a couple of hours and then I applied a second coat of compound that almost fills the gap.  I will let this dry and then add a thin coat over the top tomorrow afternoon or Friday.  I am prepping to repainted this room in the next couple of weeks.

Other than saving money on the book and making repairs myself, no real savings or bargains for this post.  Tomorrow, I am going to try to repair a pair of shoes.

Sunday and Monday

DH and I ventured over to Sprouts Sunday.  I really like the quality and price of their produce.  My only issue with them is that they are a little far for a weekly trip, especially once I go back to work.  We purchased a small piece of wild salmon and a single chicken breast which we had for dinner along with a small salad and some rice pilaf I had on hand.  Otherwise, we stayed in and worked on some in-depth cleaning.

Monday, I stayed in all day except for a quick trip to Goodwill.  I finished up deep vacuuming in the master bedroom and upstairs hallway.  I hauled off a bag of items to Goodwill.  Most of the day I was working on getting and keeping things in order: washer, dry, dishwasher.  I also started cooking dinner extra early which led to a pot of beef stew that was very tender.

Tomorrow, I need to get out.  Not entirely sure what the game plan is.  I have a couple of pairs of pants to mend/patch, an embroidery project I need to start working on, and a quilt I am hand quilting.  I also have a pair of shoes and a bag to repair.  

2015 Quilts in Review

I made (finished) five quilts in 2015.  Arguably, two may just be considered blankets but for the purpose of this blog, they are quilts.  As 2015 started, I was still working on my blue and white Dresden plate quilt.  It had been put away for the holidays and I started working on a hexi quilt in the grandmother's garden pattern.  

The first quilt finished was a small crib sized quilt for Maddox.  I found a quilt on the web that I really liked with appliquéd airplanes and clouds.  Unfortunately, the pattern was unavailable so I just started recreating it on my own.  I finished this in May and then added his name to it shortly before he was born.  Hand and machine appliquéd.  Machine quilted.  Crib size.

My next finish was the Dresden plate quilt in August.  It took almost two years from start to finish on this one.  It was the largest quilt I had ever done and the most complicated by far.  I created some of my own templates for quilting.  Machine pieced, hand quilted.  Queen size.

Next to finish was my Grandmothers Garden quilt in October.  This quilt was mostly made from scraps and incorporated fabrics from past quilts, my daughters childhood clothing, old curtains, and a few new fat quarters.  I used some muslin I had on hand for the wire background and the backing.  This is the first quilt I placed a small binding and rounded corners.  Piecing, appliqué, quilting and binding by hand. A few seams to piece the background fabric by machine.  

Finally, I made to twin sized t-shirt quilts for Grace and Annabel for Christmas.  This was a completely new kind of project for me.  Cotton fabric for sashing was washed and ironed prior to sewing.  Backing was gray fleece to match the sashing.  No batting. Piecing and quilting by machine.  Vining by machine and hand.

Make that a Frugal Saturday

Well, today was certainly better than yesterday.  Today we ate breakfast, lunch and dinner in.  I tried to duplicate DH's favorite breakfast out.  He orders a tomato basil scramble.  I made it using some fresh mozzarella, fresh basil and some mini grape tomatoes.  He said it was very close to what he orders.(A win for me!).  We did not go out for breakfast because it snowed last night and again this morning.

For lunch, I reheated half of a French dip sandwich left over from dinner last night and some of the jambalaya we ate Thursday night.  Finally, for dinner, we had a homemade pizza.  

We stayed in most of the day but we did go out about 3pm when the sun was out and the temperature was a degree or two above freezing.  DH was in need of a winter coat that was suitable to wear to jobsites.  The one he had was very heavy and bulky.  We stopped at REI first to see what they had.  The best option was a polished cotton jacket with no insulation that he could wear over a sweatshirt or fleece vest.  The price tag was $160.  Surprisingly, they did not have any sales except for a single clearance rack of odds and ends.

Next, we went to Dicks.  We searched the outerwear section and found very little that would accommodate his needs.  As we were leaving the store, we found one rack of jackets for men.  There were two styles.  He tried on one of them and liked the fit.  It has some insulation but it is not heavy or puffy.  It also has some water resistance and an attached hood.  Best of all, the lining to this jacket is a quilted polyester which allows a variety of shirts to be worn underneath.  He can wear most of his sweatshirts and vests and can even wear a sweater and a vest under it.  Best of all, this jacket is normally priced at $159, marked down to $99 and 25% off making it just at $75.  This saved us $85 over the jacket at REI.

Otherwise we spent no money other than a Redbox rental.  Yea for us!

Frugal Friday

I love that title and I wish I could tell you that today was frugal but it was not.  I purchased groceries today and spent my entire budget.  To be fair, they are expecting a snow/ice event tonight and into tomorrow so I wanted to make sure we were stocked up.  

Then, if that wasn't enough, I went to BJs.  DD and I had been hoping that they would discount our membership but that never happened so the membership was the full amount.  It is a little wasteful to have memberships at both Sam's and BJs but I much prefer BJs, especially for meats.

I purchased both some beef for stew and some beef for stir fry - Monday and Wednesday dinners.  I will trim these tomorrow, season th stir fry and put them in the freezer for next week.  I had expected to make a pizza for dinner tonight but the weather was still ok at dinner time so we went over to O'Charleys for dinner (we anticipate staying in for breakfast tomorrow).  

Saturday - lunch will be ham sandwiches and leftover jambalaya

                 Dinner will be a homemade pepperoni pizza with green peppers, olives and onions

Sunday -   Lunch will be leftovers or a sandwich, maybe grilled cheese and tomato soup

                 Dinner will be something from the freezer or something from Sprouts if we get there

Monday -  Beef Stew (beef, potatoes, carrots with gravy), green beans, rice

Tuesday -  leftovers or Sausage tortellini

Wednesday - Pepper Steak (with green pepper and tomatoes) over rice and Japanese salad

Thursday - Chef Salad or leftovers

Friday - tbd

The week rolled up into one post...sort of

Tuesday:  I stayed around the house today.  I ordered a pair of prescription sunglasses from Zenni Optical.  I found a 10% off coupon code first and was able to order a nice pair or sunglasses for $62 shipped.  This is substantially less than a pair would have cost from LensCrafters or even from BJs.

I made a salad for dinner with fresh blueberry muffins.

Wednesday: I was supposed to meet a friend for lunch but she was unable to meet.  I was already dressed so I headed over to Joann's.  I was looking for a book that I want and I had heard that you can use their 50% off coupons on books.  They didn't have it so I wandered the store and left without buying a single thing.  I did stop and have lunch on the way home.  $8. For dinner, I used some baking potatoes I bought at Sprout and served a potato bar.  Chili was from the freezer.

Thursday:  I did have lunch with my friend today and she treated.  My biggest frugal accomplishment was getting a drug that I take changed.  The old drug was a $50 a month copay.  The new drug has a co pay less than $3 a month.  For dinner, I combined a boxed jambalaya mix along with some fresh green peppers and a package of beef sausage.  I served a salad which was leftover lettuce from last night and a fresh tomato.

A not Frugal Monday

My plan was to cook some Italian sausage I found in the freezer but when I pulled it out, I found that the sausage was frozen in December 2013.  Since little kids were involved, I decided against it.  (I will cook this for us at a later time.  They were vacuum packed and appear to be in excellent condition.)

I picked up a free prescription from my drug store today and checked to see what my co pay would be on one of my drugs.  As I suspected, it is on the highest tier and therefore the copay is $50 for a one month supply.  I declined the refill and called my physician.  I have inquired about a substitute drug that would be less expensive.  (I will call that saving money.)

I ate breakfast and lunch in.

A very frugal Sunday

I started the day off by using what I had for breakfast:  grits, poached eggs, toast.  We had a birthday party today so lunch was actually our birthday party treats.

Unfortunately, in the rush to get ready for the party, I neglected to pull meat for dinner out of the freezer.  We decided that we would go by the grocery store on the way home.  As we travelled, we discussed dinner and came to the conclusion that the leftover soup along with a grilled cheese sandwich would work for both of us.  Instead of spending money on meat, we made do with what we already had and THAT is very frugal.

Saturday

I made a big pot of vegetable soup for dinner - no meat, just veggies.  Everything except half an onion and three small potatoes came from the pantry/canned goods.  I usually like fresh celery and carrots but this time I didn't have celery and I used canned carrots.  It was just as good.

I need to run back to Publix tomorrow to get my laundry detergent.  It's buy one, get one free and I have coupons.  I will also need to get some lunch/deli meat.

Here's my tentative menu for the week:

Saturday - Vegetable Soup with bread

Sunday -  chicken from the freezer (flavor to be determined)

Monday - spaghetti with sausage, garlic bread

Tuesday - leftover soup

Wednesday - stuffed potato bar (broccoli, chili, bacon, cheese)

Thursday - Chef salad or leftovers

Friday - Chinese style chicken

Frugal Friday

I am going to keep this pretty short and sweet, not much to report and I am quite tired.

I checked out a book from the library today instead of buying it or ordering it for my kindle.  I did not get out to buy groceries today, it was very raining and cold.  Perhaps I can get this done tomorrow.  I have my list started and coupons printed.  I just need to meal plan and fill in the blanks.

Today not not a super productive day but I did start working on a project that I've been putting off for a while.  I need to clean out my closet and organize it.  I took the first step today by moving some old sewing stuff out.  I went through it and sorted things into their separate bins: thread, trim, buttons, etc. I have a whole box of cross stitch stuff that needs further attention.  I'm taking this task one step at a time.  Tomorrow, I will quickly look at what's on the floor.. Can I throw it way or do I need to keep it.

I have a collection of pillows that I need to cull and purge after that.

I forgot...

I forgot to post last night.  

I think I have thrown the grocery budget right out of the window.  No, seriously, I was getting a little stir crazy yesterday afternoon and decided to make a run over to Sprouts.  They have only been open about a week and I was interested to see the store and their deals.

I was impressed by some of their prices and quality.  They have a big selection of natural and homeopathic items including one item I searched all over town for a while back.

I was most interested in their fresh produce and meats.  They had THE prettiest yams I've seen.  I did not buy any since I already have some but I did buy some other produce.  For $23, I got six green peppers, one red pepper, a bunch of fresh radishes, five or six Roma tomatoes, four nice backing potatoes, four avacados, a head of cauliflower and a pound of chicken sausage. (The cauliflower at Publix was $4.99 last time I checked.  This head will need to be trimmed a little but it was only $1.99!)

Of course, since it was Thursday, that put me way over budget but the beautiful produce made it worth it.  Maybe it's not so much when I spend but keeping track of what I spend overall, maybe a monthly cap?  I guess as long as it's a good deal AND it gets eaten, we'll just go with it.  I plan to use the chicken sausage along with a package of pork sausage I found in the freezer to make a meal.  I will also take some of those green peppers and stuff them with some Spanish rice and add some smoked beef sausage for another meal.  The peppers would also be good in some Spicy Chicken Vegetable soup!

OK, so how did I save money today?  I ate both breakfast and lunch at home and put a chef salad together for dinner with items we had on hand.  I was able to use most of the deli meat I bought this week.  I also stopped at Michaels to pick up two cake tips and three skeins of embroidery thread.  $3.03 was all I spent resisting all urge to buy and spend more.

Wonderful Wednesday

Not much to report for today.  I had to run to Walmart today.  We were out of cheese!  What I thought was cheddar was actually jalapeño pepper cheese and would have been too spicy for the kids.  I picked up four packages because Walmart is the only store that carries this Cabot 50% less fat cheddar cheese.  We really like it.

I also picked up a half dozen eggs and a box of rice a roni.  Of course, this runs me totally over budget. About $14 more.  Walmart also had some spiral sliced hams (Sam's Choice) marked down to .68 a pound.  It was really tempting but I was able to walk away.  If I get back over there this weekend and they still have them, I may pick up one.  They are dated for February 1st so it would be a single meal plus stuff in the freezer.  

I found more spicy sausage in the freezer today when I was pulling out some ground beef.  I need to make a run to Whole Foods this weekend and pick up a couple of their Italian chicken sausage to go with.  That will either be dinner for Sunday or Monday.  

I'm about ready for a big pot of soup - maybe vegetable soup with alphabet noodles.  That's great for cold weather and it's very pantry friendly when you use canned vegetables along with some fresh.

As for my frugal accomplishment today, I used beef from the freezer for our tacos and made a cake entirely from what I had on hand.  White cake with lemon pie filling as the "frosting" - one of my favorites.  

Nana's Day Out

I met several ladies I know from my most recent job today for breakfast.  All are retired as opposed to my self imposed unemployment.  It was a good opportunity to catch up and do a little networking.  At least one of these ladies will be looking for some kind of employment this year.

Fortunately, breakfast is a lot cheaper than going out for lunch or dinner and when you're not working, that is a big advantage.  I spent just under $10 for q big stack of pancakes, bacon and an orange juice.  It was yummy.

On the way home, I thought about going by Aldi's to pick up a few things that I buy there.  I ha even taken the turn to head in that direction but I changed my mind and headed home instead.  During the afternoon, I went to my neighborhood library and renewed my expired library card.  Did you know they now loan DVDs?  I will have to check to see what I might want to see.  I took a quick look at the needlework so section.  I was hoping that they had a copy of that quilting book I am wanting but sadly, everything they have is old and dated.  There are a few newer books that I will be looking into over the next few weeks.  I love my kindle but I think I've loaded every free book I'm interested in.  The library may allow me to enjoy some newer books without any added expense.   I'm currently reading "Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates."  I bought this for DH for Christmas.

I also stopped by Publix.  I wanted to get a Powerball ticket and a MegaMillions ticket.  (It never hurts!)

While I was there, I got a package of paper cups (we were out) and a can of Pringles (for DH lunch).  Officially $6 over budget for the week.

A quiet day at home

I didn't leave the house today unless you count walking to the mailbox and garbage can!

My frugal adventures today included eating leftover chili for lunch and then putting the rest in the freezer.  For dinner to it we ate some beef chunks that I had in the freezer prepared as stick-less kabobs (beef cooked in a wok instead of the grill with peppers and onions).  Everything came from the pantry or freezer.  Tomorrow, we will eat our turkey breast left over from last night.

I haven't done any quilting today but I did manage to get more of the trim in the living room painted.  I fixed my DD's dress by sewing the pleats back in place at the neckline.  She brought me two pairs of jeans her middle child is wearing that both had worn areas and hole in the knees.  I sewed patches on the outside in the shape of funny characters and placed some woven fusable interfacing on the inside for strength.  I'm not sure how these will hold up in the wash (the designs are hand stitched in felt) but they're cute and can always be redone.

Most importantly, I resisted the temptation to go to the fabric store.  There's a quilting book I want and I had read that someone found it at Joann's and used a 50% off coupon.  My first instinct was to whisk over there but I decided that I really don't have time to work on it right now and I would just check the next time I am in the store.  (Not spending money is the same as making money!)

I have a wedding gift I need to work on but for now, I'm off to get some quilting done.

Sunday Funnies

My frugalness was shinning today.  

First, we ate both breakfast AND lunch in.  For lunch, we had a bowl of chili left over from Friday night.  (I will likely have it again for lunch tomorrow before it goes in the freezer.)  Dinner was a strictly freezer/pantry event.  I pulled that turkey breast tenderloin from the freezer and paired it with a couple of sweet potatoes and some stuffing mix.  I had half a bag of brussel sprouts that I sauted with some garlic.  Yummy dinner.  We have enough left over to have for dinner Tuesday night.

Our only expenditure was for a couple of coffees at Starbucks.  We needed to return a movie we had rented and decided to venture out for a cup of joe.  Small cost, big boost for an otherwise dreary day in the house.

I've worked on laundry today including spot cleaning and soaking some troublesome items.  The dishwasher has been run twice and will likely be reloaded (and maybe run) again.  Seriously, how do two people have so many dishes?  I know part of the issue today is that dinner dishes from Saturday along with some miscellaneous things still needed to be washed.

I'm off to write a list for tomorrow.  

Decisions, decisions...

I have decided that I need to up my grocery budget.  I picked up my deli meat today and that added $20 to what I've spent or a total of $95.  I'm going to try to make this hold.

Definitely on my medium term plans is to order a case of chicken and a case of ground beef from Zaycon.  I think I will plan to order these next week.  I have some of both in the freezer but with prices at the grocery store so high, I think it's a reasonable step.  By the time they get here, late February and some time in March, I should have eaten through at least half of what I have.

Our goal is to limit our dining out to one time per week, usually on Saturday mornings.  Today (Saturday), we also ate lunch out.  A bit of a splurge but it was a terribly dreary day and we did not leave the house except for eating and stopping by the grocery store.  Meaning:  we didn't spend money at a store for non-food items.

Trying to think about how I saved money today, I'm a little stumped.  I guess all I can think of is using sub buns we had on hand for our dinner and a bag of chips I bought at Christmas for our snack.  

Easy come, easy go....

That was an old David Cassidy song and also what happened to my grocery budget today.  I did manage to wait until the 8th to shop again but I blew it all in one trip.  The worst part is that I still will need to go back to get deli meat tomorrow.  

I don't think the $75 per week grocery budget is going to work.  I purchased primarily things today that we needed to fill out meals for the week.  For meat, I only bought a package of bacon (on sale).  All other meat products from the week are coming from the freezer.  I didn't have to buy milk or butter because I just bought those the other day.  I bought no cleaning or health an beauty supplies.  The only items I stocked up on were eight cans of kidney beans.  They were .60 each instead of the usual 89 cents.  I was able to use several coupons because I printed coupons, researched the sale papers and competitors sales before I made a list.  Really, I didn't buy much of anything that was frivolous so I think I am going to increase the budget to $90 for now.  I have to remember that I have extra people twice a week that I feed AND most of my breakfast and lunches are coming from this grocery budget.

We are also targeting two lunches for DH a week and preparing breakfast at least two days a week.  

So, here's an extended menu plan covering this weekend and next week:

Friday - pot of homemade chili with tortilla chips (it was a big pot)

Saturday - sub sandwiches with German potato salad OR leftover chili

Sunday - turkey breast (from the freezer) with stuffing and sweet potatoes *

Monday - kabobs (from the freezer), rice  

Tuesday - chili or stuffed potatoes (or maybe stuffed potatoes with chili!)

Wednesday - TACOs

Thursday - any leftovers or chef salad

Friday - tbd or leftovers or Chinese chicken with egg rolls

* could be held for a later time if necessary

So, how did I save money today?  I consolidated three partially used bottles of shampoo into one bottle.  It will save space AND provide shampoo for weeks.  We ate at home tonight and didn't go anywhere.  I received a credit for the needlework kit I returned.  I kept the heat a little lower today.  I used coupons and shopped the sales, buying only what we needed.

Oops!

I completely forgot to post yesterday and by the time I remembered, it was too late.  A few quick things from yesterday.  I returned a small Christmas gift I got and pocketed the cash.  I actually received four of the same thing!

I used a little of that cash plus $2 in a bottle return to buy a small package of sub buns and a package of mozzarella cheese.  Using the leftover sausage and sauce from Wednesday's dinner and these two new items, I made some hot sausage subs with a melted cheese topping and a small side salad.  DH said he approved and suggested we have it more often.

I have decided that my grocery budget should be starting on Friday instead of Saturday.  At least while I am off, it is more likely that I would start buying groceries for the week beginning on Friday instead of waiting for Saturday when the stores would more likely be crowded.  Today is the 8th so technically, that budget did last a week.  For this coming week, I will be studying the grocery sales and using those items with what I have to minimize my spending and maximize my savings.

I've spent it all!

I started the year with a $75 a week grocery budget.  I don't get more money until Saturday and I spent the last of it today.  What will I do?  What will I do?

I had planned to cook some turkey breast tenderloins for dinner tonight.  I was sure there were three packages in the freezer but I could only find one this morning and that was NOT going to be enough.  (7 for dinner tonight.). I decided to run to Walmart and pick two up.  I had a pair of toddler jeans that needed to be returned and we could use another tub of butter.

Well, as my luck would have it, they didn't have any.  (Truth be told, there was one on the shelf marked down because it was near its sell by date.). I had to think quick and come up with a new plan.  I bought two packages of Italian sausages, a loaf of Italian bread and a cheap block of cream cheese - along with a few pantry type items (milk, butter, lettuce, cucumbers, cinnamon).  Walmart is cheaper for some basic items when they are not on sale at Publix.

To make dinner a little more frugal, I combined three half boxes of pasta (fettuccini, linguini and spaghetti) instead of opening two more boxes.  This also helps my kitchen cabinet look a little more organized.

I decided that my OxiClean purchase last weekend probably shouldn't be counted towards the grocery budget, so deducting that from the total, I'm right at $75 for the week.  To save money, I ate leftovers at home for lunch and had a banana for breakfast. 

I think I can make it to Saturday.  We can have leftovers tomorrow or a salad and then a pot of chili for Friday night.  I have deli meat for lunches still and found several cans of Progesso soup when I was organizing the big pantry this afternoon.  

By the way, I pocketed the cash for those jeans I returned - my spending money for next week, if i need it.  I want to buy a some red, white and blue patterned fabric for the back of the quilt I am working on instead of using plain white.  I used coupons at Joann's and Hancocks today saving about 50%.

Tuesday's Very, Very Small Savings

I ordered a needlework kit for Christmas.  When I opened it up, it was flawed so I contacted the company for a replacement.  Unfortunately, they did not have another one so they had the manufacturer send the replacement directly.  Again, it had the same flaw so I contacted the seller to request a refund.  Of course, I had to foot the bill for return shipment - not a cheap task.  

Now, here's the interesting part.  Apparently, the "flaw" in question was identified as soon as they were manufactured.  Other sellers identify it as a second and sell it for half of what I paid.  I'm not sure if the seller knew but the manufacturer should have identified this as a know issue upfront.  I'm just a little ticked off since - even if I get a full refund - I'm out $15.  I will chalk this up to a lesson learned.

While I was out shopping this, I had planned to pick up a sandwich but decided that I would save even a few bucks by eating something at home.  I will be looking for ways to make this up.

On a positive note, we eat leftover beef roast (from yesterday) over egg noodles with pan roasted Brussels sprouts for dinner.  I had purchased the Brussels sprouts at least a week and a half ago and never had a chance to cook them.  I figured that they would no longer be good, but they were in excellent condition.  I cooked half the bag with some garlic and red peppers.  Tasty!  I guess that does 'save' a little money.

Green Beans and a Seat Belt

Monday's frugal move was finding a couple of bags of Green beans in the fridge.  The best by date was 12/30 so we were just q few days out.  I decided to check them out before they went in the microwave.  They were still quite crisp so I rinsed them off and snapped into a smaller size.  Instead of cooking in the microwave, I cooked these on the stovetop, old school style.

This one move allowed me to use these already purchased beans that would spoil soon instead of opening cans.  I estimate about a $5 savings.  

In another cost savings move, I was able to unstick the seatbelt connection in my car.  The rear seatbelt would not lock in causing us not to be able to sit a booster seat in that position.  The mechanics of the fastener were working correctly but the plastic housing had bent causing the release button to be partially depressed.  I was able to use a pair of pliers to bend the plastic gently back in place.  DH estimates that we probably saved at least $200 by fixing it ourselves.

Sunday Funnies

My frugal efforts started early this morning.  We ate breakfast in - meaning I cooked.  I fried a few pieces of bacon and two eggs (over easy) from the fridge and some potato pancakes I had in the freezer along with some home canned chunky applesauce.  Although the potato pancakes were a littl tough (probably because I thawed in the microwave just a little too long) it was tasty.

I stopped by Sam's to see what they might have meat wise.  I picked up a lean beef roast for Monday's dinner, a 10 pound bag of potatoes and a box of kitchen trash bags.  The price at Sam's or BJ's is definitely cheaper than the grocery store.  Tonight we are going to eat up some of our leftover black eyed peas and cornbread along with a package of smoked sausage I had in the fridge.  

I think I can come up with a menu for the week with what I have but I may need to pick up a couple of things tomorrow.  Here's what I have right now:

Sunday - Leftover black eyed peas, smoked sausage

Monday - beef roast in the crockpot with mashed potatoes

Tuesday -  leftover or pot of chili

Wednesday -  turkey breast tenderloins with stiffing or mashed potatoes, 

Thursday - leftovers, chili or salad

Friday - tbd. Maybe Chinese chicken

I also cut DH's hair at the end of the day saving at least $15.  He had tried to get it cut at Great Clups on Saturday but the wait was too long.

Free Dinner?

My frugal accomplishment for today was turning some leftover taco meat (from Thursday night) into dinner tonight.  I heated everything up again, added some Spanish rice from a package, and called it dinner.  We still had some cheese dip leftover.  I'll have to come up with a plan for this.

Tomorrow we may be eating leftovers again - black eyed peas, corn muffins.  I would just need to come up with a "meat" to go along with it.  I am working on a menu plan for the week so I will update with that plan tomorrow.

The Daily Frugal

One of my goals for 2016 is to find one way each day to either save money, make money or repurpose something we already have.  We traditionally have leftover ham, black eyed peas and cornbread on New Years Day.  Today, I did something just a little different.  I cut all the spiral slices off of my ham early in the day and out it in the crockpot with as much water as it would reasonably hold.  It simmer most of the day and I used some of the ham broth in my beans this evening.  I was also able to put two containers of approximately four cups each into the freezer.  I placed another eight cups of water into the crock pot and turned it on to simmer overnight.  This "extra" benefit will allow me to season beans and maybe make a pot of soup over the next few months.  Perhaps a ham chowder?

We also had most of the cornbread leftover.  Whatever doesn't get eaten with our leftover beans will be put to use in a stuffing or dressing.  I have several turkey breast tenderloins in the freezer.

Finally, the leftover peppers (red and green) can be used as seasoning in vegetables, for salads, pizza or chili over the next few days.

On its own, it's not a big impact but one thing every day will be helpful.