Monthly Archives: January 2026

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, California, frugalism, Uncategorized by

I suppose it’s been a frugalish week. I paid a little more on the lingering cc’s, so that felt good. I got a notice that my WordPress account will be charged in February. I’ll see what envelope I can pull some of that from.

I went to the Holiday Market to purchase a few items I needed for the spinach soup, such as gruyere cheese to add to it. It’s a creamy soup, and the cheese is a nice touch. I spent @$50.

I actually had the cash but forgot to bring it down with me.

I submitted my LLS, so that should come through by the end of the month. I so appreciate LLS and the grants they offer blood cancer patients. I could absolutely not stay in the budget without that assistance.

I ordered my prescription refills and was so shocked that from one month ago to now, with this new plan(Health Spring, which is part of Cigna), my costs have plummeted. For instance, my levothyroxine was coming in at $20 something, and now it comes in at $1.27. WTF !! I mean, it’s great for me, but why would they be charging so much just last month, December, as to now?? Totally strange. And it wasn’t just one, it was all of them dropped.

Did anyone else have a weird price drop??

Here’s Gus chilling!

Thankful Thursday

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, California, camping, cooking, Gratitude, home stuff, travel, Uncategorized by

I’m excited, I have a bid on the rare star note. So we’ll see how it goes. This was my brother’s, so whatever I get minus eBay fees, he gets half. But a few extra dollars will be nice.

I am very grateful it’s sunny again, and no rain is forecast. We do need things to dry up. I went for a walk after I tried again to get a spot in Tahoe. Either more people are vying for spots, or the algorithm is not working for me. 😦 In all the years of booking Tahoe, I have never had such a difficult time as this.

I’m planning on checking daily for cancellations. I’m also going to make a list of what we need for a basic camping trip without Rubi. It’s a big unknown how all this will play out.

I’ve been enjoying watching a YouTuber who talks about Japanese concepts. His videos are quite beautiful. The latest one I watched was on Kakebo, or Japanese budgeting. I liked it enough that I bought a book from Amazon called Kakebo, and it has weekly sheets to fill in. Now I do a daily budget and write my daily lists in a notebook, but I always like a new twist on things to keep it interesting.

Today is a home day, and I’m doing a number of things. I made my favorite spinach soup, cooked up some burgers for lunch, and prepped some chicken for grilling either later or tomorrow. I still have a bunch of mushrooms to cut up and am thinking of a mushroom soup. I tidied the house, and all I have left is to put the Robo vacuum on.

Tuesday misc, and a menu plan

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, home improvement, Uncategorized by

Today, I have my labs, so we’ll see what they come back as. Always a bit unsettling, but we shall see. Today is not my normal lab day, so I won’t get them till Friday.

I slept better last night now that Dex is out of me. I swam yesterday, and it was very nice, but I was very exhausted from the swim. Probably because with Christmas and NY’s I haven’t been going enough. I was planning on going to the gym today, but we have an electrician coming to check on some outlets that keep popping.

Let me just say, I hate doing this stuff. This was Barclays’ area, not mine, and I absolutely hate having to deal with this stuff. But my daughter agreed that the outlet needs looking at, so I put it on Next door neighbor and got quite a few responses. So someone is coming out this morning, so that changes my plans. Plus, I barely have enough money to deal with an electrician. I’ll just have to work around something else. sigh:(

Menu wise:

We had breaded cod last night with a huge salad and some air fryer fries.

Tonight I’m planning on crunchy tacos with salad stuff on top.

Wednesday, I have some chicken defrosting, so I’m not sure what exactly. I’m trying to up my protein intake so I want to have some proteins ready for lunches etc.

Thursday, not sure. I think I’ll make some fried rice and baked tofu with some Costco dumplings.

At Costco, I had bought the giant salad mix and spinach, so I need to see if we can get through that. I’ve been adding spinach to my morning eggs, so I’m using some up.

Not sure if we’ll do a pizza this week. I’ll wait and see what we feel like.

We finally have a sunny morning. It’s bright blue skies.

Simple Sunday

Posted in books, budgets, California, cooking, home stuff, simplicity by

A very rainy morning. Like downpours and roads flooding! I managed to get to the gym, but it was tough going.

Afterwards, I went and picked up a ‘pay it forward’ free item. It was a mandoline that I’ve wanted for some time. It’s an OXO and doesn’t look used. I’ll test it out on some radishes. I do have no-cut safety gloves, so I’ll wear those.

Last night we had baked salmon, a huge salad, and some brown rice. I’m trying to up my protein intake and veggie intake, so I did pretty well. I have leftovers either for lunch or another dinner. I’ll check with my daughter what she prefers.

I didn’t sleep well again last night, probably a residual of Dex. But I don’t feel too tired,yet.

This is Miss Cherry, who always has a frown on her face.

My brother found a rare star note, $10 bill. I plan on listing it on eBay and maybe making a few hundred dollars. Of course, it depends on who’s buying right now, but I’ll list it and see how it goes. I had Chat GPT write up a listing for me to look at and use some of it. For things like that, AI is great.

I don’t have any cooking lined up for today, so I may just tidy up some and then read.

Friday Things

Posted in books, California, frugalism, Uncategorized by

I’m off to get my Velcade shot this morning. Then to the library to return books. I’m not planning on going to the gym, even though I should. Well, maybe I’ll wait till I’m there and then decide.

Updated: I dropped off books, but the library was closed, so I didn’t go in.

My shot went well. Vicki, one of the nurses, is retiring, so I said I’d miss her. She’s a great nurse.

Then I need to go to Winco for veggies and a few things. I also need to stop in Costco for coffee, so I’ll see how far I get.

Updated: Skipped Winco and just went to Costco. I wanted to get there when it’s only open to Executive members, so that worked out perfectly.

I bought a lot of veggies as one of my intentions for 2026 is to eat more veggies, fruit, and fish. I also got the coffee, some wine, eggs and bagels, and a few other things.

I’m just finishing up and putting things away in the freezer. I have the iRobot vacuum going, and that will clean the floors. I do need to mop still though.

I did manage to get rid of the desk and chair. The person came right on time, so that was nice. I have a load to go to the thrift store, but didn’t get there today. I’ll try for Sunday after the gym.

Last night I made homemade pizza. It was ok, not great. I also shredded Brussels sprouts and sauteed them with mushrooms. That was quite good.

A new year,2026!

Posted in California, Death by

I, for one, am glad to see the back of 2025. It probably was the worst year I’ve ever had. The death of a spouse is really awful, and after all the stuff Barclay went through in his first round of cancer( the MDS), it just seems so unfair. But look at all the ones who die young, like Tatiania Kennedy, only 35. Geez, now that seems unfair. Well, life is what it is, no matter how you spin it. As I’ve always said, it is what it is, what it is. 😦

It’s raining again, so I didn’t walk. I might try to put my rain jacket on in a while and go down to the park. As long as it’s not pouring, I can use an umbrella. I guess I’ll wait and see.

I plan on making a pizza tonight, as I made the dough yesterday. We had our fun sub sandwiches and watched some of the new Dr. Who. It’s only fair in MHO. It seems geared towards adolescents. But I’ll watch a few more. I do like the new doctor.

I’m thankful to wake up and feel ready for the day.

I’m thankful our house is warm and dry.

I’m thankful that my daughter has taken on all the tasks B did, and she’s doing an amazing job. ( like getting the wood splitter moved, started, and used to split some of the larger pieces of wood.)

I’m thankful my son stayed home and was not out on the roads for NYE.

I’m thankful for the time that is given to me. That’s all we can do, is decide what to do with the time that is given us. Gandolf the grey.