Tag Archives: Budgets

Friday Things

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, frugalism by

This has been a good week, money-wise. Nothing out of the ordinary, which is always nice.

I went to Costco after dropping B off at infusion. That ended up less than $100 for food and $40 for non food. After that was Winco and that was $15 for salad stuff and $15 non food.

I think planning my Costco and Winco trips is making a difference in our food budget. I haven’t shopped at Safeway in months. If I can avoid our Holiday Market, that’s good too. We are very fortunate to have a store in our town, but it’s quite pricey, so I only go down to it( we live on a hill) when I really need something.

Yesterday, I went to the gym and did upper-body weights. Then I dropped my books off at the library and picked up a few cookbooks on the new shelf and one book. Then there was a free gardening display outside, so I walked around and picked up some flyers on native plants. From there, I came straight home.

Today is a home day unless I go into town with my daughter. She wants to go to Home Depot for a few things, so I may tag along. Other than that, just the same ole same ole.

What do you budget for food? I guess we come most often around $600 for the 3 of us. I’d still like to get it around $500, though.

These are the Rancho Gordo beans I made. Yum!

This is an old crate I had, and since I haven’t been able to find a place for our towels, this was suggested in this book:

It’s a pretty book with some good ideas.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgets, California, frugalism, home stuff by

This week I shopped both Winco and Costco, so that added up. WinCo was @ $107, but a good portion of that was ginger ales for B to drink to get some sort of calories in. Costco ended up $200 or so, but that also included a Kirland Pinot Grigio and a lovely rose. I did do some stocking up too, with a case of Rosarita beans and tilapia for the freezer. I also bought an extra bag of coffee. My main reason for going was to get the Kirkland vitamins that were on sale. So I got those, plus B wanted the organic vitamins, and they were on sale too. Our Costco rebate was $127, so I used that plus cash.

My new budget starts Monday, so I may include the Costco bill in it. I’m still averaging around $600 for the three of us, so I guess that’s okay. I’d like to get to $500, but something always comes up.

I also got gas at Costco, and because I’m not doing a lot of driving that will last a while.

There hasn’t been any extra spending at all, so that’s a win.

Next week I have my Velcade shot, so I’ll be going down to Rocklin, and I also have a hold to pick up at the library.

Today I’m going to Auburn. My daughter is dropping off her Honda for an oil change, so we might go get lunch out at the taco place. I also want to stop in at the co-op to see if they have a Niman Ranch small ham. I saw the Kirland ones, but they were way too big, as we don’t normally eat much ham, and of course, B doesn’t eat any:) Other than that, just resting my knee and icing when I can.

Menu Monday

Posted in Blood test, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, Flylady, meal planning by

Happy St. Patricks day!!

We don’t really do the corned beef and cabbage. I like cabbage but mostly as sauerkraut or cole slaw. Tonight I’m planning baked tofu with sauerkraut and something else.

Tuesday- Probably tacos of some sort. I have some taco meat I made last week and froze so I’ll pull that out and open a jar of my home canned pintos.

Wednesday- I want to start using up the fish I have so I’ll either do salmon or cod. I have a box of Near East rice mix so I’ll make that up too.

Thursday- soup of some sort. This is questionable as I’m not sure what I have. I do have lots of ramen packs so that’s probably what I’ll do and add an egg and veggies.

Friday- I still have frozen pizza but I’m feeling like making homemade. I have an unopened bag of 00 flour so I could use that. plus I have mozzarella and some other toppings.

Saturday- I have a Trader Joe’s mac and cheese I want to use up so that may be it.

I’m home today and plan on doing a Monday tidy-up and home blessing day( which is just a few extra chores). Usually I like to go and do a quick clean of each zone and then something extra.

This week is mellow and no appts. Yay!! But I do plan on going to the gym and the pool at least once. I also want to get a few things at TJ’s like chili powder and ancho if they have it.

Our water bill comes out this week and then that’s it for March’s bills. I’m working on April’s budget this week too. I’m also hoping B gets in for that CT. He’ll probably need to go to Sacramento but that’s ok as long as it gets done. The sooner he gets it the sooner we’ll know how serious it is. 🙁

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, decluttering, freezer cooking, frugalism, simple foods, velcade by

The week was overall frugal. I didn’t need gas yet in Santa Fe. I’ll fill up at Costco next week.

I went to the gym and library before my Velcade shot. Gettting books at the library always saves me from buying some random cookbook( a weakness(. I looked at two already, and there’s nothing I’d cook from them. They’re pretty books, but not how I cook. For instance, last night, we shared a steamed artichoke, and I made an us omelet to share with sprouts, cheese, salsa, and sour cream. We eat fairly simply.

I went to Costco after swimming on Wednesday and spent $250 or so. Some of that was snack/foodstuff for my daughter to take to work. She doesn’t get a full lunch break because of her hours, so I bought some beef sticks, egg bites (Kirkland brand), and something else I can’t remember. The two kinds of beef sticks were expensive, grass feed. I’ve actually never had one, so I can’t tell you if they’re any good, but as a high-protein snack, I could see it working. Organic eggs were 7.99 for 2 dozen.

Today is a home day because of Dex, but I feel pretty good this morning. I plan on vacuuming, dusting some, and doing a bit of decluttering odds and ends. I also have a pack of Kirkland I need to use, so I’m thinking of some meatballs I can freeze. We( my daughter and I have decided to mostly cut beef out of our diets. We don’t eat it often, so it shouldn’t be hard at all. But I have this to use and one other in the freezer, and I don’t want to waste it. If we go out together, we definitely would think about an In an-Out burger, but that’s pretty rare for us to do.

The rain is supposed to come by noon today, and it looks nonstop for days. I think I’ll plan on some soup dinners with homemade sourdough.

Frugal Friday on Saturday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, swimming by

The rain is still with us and the storm gates are open. Santa Cruz really got hit hard with the wharf breaking off. I was hoping to walk this morning so as of 6am , it’s still raining so I see how it is in 30 minutes. I can walk a little later if it stops.

I have most Christmas stuff away. The little tree in the living room just has the lights on it, so I may leave that up a day or two more. Otherwise, Christmas is over.

i went down to the pool yesterday and it was AWFUL. I can count on one hand how many times it has been crazy busy and does not invite swimming. I waited 10 minutes and then did get a lane to share. But the coast guard was training, then the college kids; maybe 15 of them were taking up most lanes. I almost left but glad I did my swim. next week I won’t be able to go at all because of New Year’s, it’s closed and then on Thursday I have my Velcade shot. I wore my new Apple watch to track swimming and it was fun. I still couldn’t remember how to unlock the water though. ( a feature to release any water if any in the watch). But when I came home my daughter showed me. I didn’t see any water come out.

I’m mainly using it to track sleep and sleep disturbances which basically is sleep apnea. So based on a week’s tracking, I was elevated every night which means some sleep apnea. This is giving me a good idea of my sleep patterns which was the main reason I bought it. I’m trying a few things, like no wine after 7pm and seeing if I can lose some weight. The thing is if I’ve had sleep apnea for years with no problems, then I’m not sure what it all means. Well, my appt with the sleep doctor isn’t till April so it gives me time to work on different things.

Budget wise, I have January’s budget in place. I don’t think we have any annual bills coming up so that’s a relief. I’m trying to get ahead with the spring annual bills like property tax but there’s not a lot left over to add when it’s all said and done. Still something is better than nothing. I’ve set the food budget at $500 for the 3 of us. That’s a little tight but I am going to try and use up freezer stuff. So far for food, I’ve spent $139. I plan on hitting Costco this week so that’ll add up. I don’t need a whole lot but buying from Costco means each item is more expensive though you get more. Plus that’s what stocking up is about.

In January, I need to buy some clothing items such as socks and a few T shirts. I think I’m ok on jeans, but may need a new polar fleece jacket. The one I have is LL Bean and it’s held up for 5 + years so I may get another one. Since I wear the same things daily( levis, T shirt, a demin shirt or flannel and my LL Bean fleece. some stuff does wear out. I’ll try to budget a $100 for January and see how it goes.

Today is a home day for me and I plan on cooking some brown rice and tidying the house. If I can kick the cats out, I’ll vacuum.:) they are spoiled!!!

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, frugalism, Gardening, Lake tahoe, Pantry by

It’s been an okay week budget-wise.

I got gas at Costco since I knew we’d be driving to Sacramento and then the next day to Rocklin. Gas here in town is almost a $1 more so it does save $$.

We did go back into Costco after Sacramento and picked up avocados, butter lettuce, milk( B is drinking a lot of milk in his protein shakes), cheese, and I can’t remember what else. That came to a little over $100 which I used cash for. I also, on a separate checkout, bought 3 Christmas gifts one of which was Chocolates in a 3 pack that I can separate for gifts.

That was it in spending so I think it was a good week.

Today is one of my Dex days so I’ll do stuff around the house although I feel kind of off. I bought a wood step stool from Amazon so I can sit on it and go through my pantry boxes. I just can’t sit on the floor for any length of time. I’ll check it out today and see if it works otherwise I’ll send it back.

I started my annual rereading of LOTR. I finished The Hobbit, and am 1/3 of the way through Fellowship of the Ring. I also picked up my holds from the library so I have a nice stack of books on my bedside table.

My daughter harvested the delicata squash and oh my, there must be 20. That will make some tasty fall/winter dishes. Everything in the garden is done. The tomatoes are done. There are still some jalapeno peppers out there but not a lot. I’d say the only thing I missed were cucumbers for pickling. But that’s not something I do a lot of anyway. She’s going to put in a fall garden with radishes, lettuce, and maybe chard. Our cilantro seeds itself so that should be coming up soon too.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cash envelopes, cooking, frugalism, home stuff by

This week I did another Costco trip. This one had TP, bread for the freezer, half and half, and other staples. It came to a little over $200. I had $130 cash and then put the rest on the debit card. When I do that then I take that amount off my food $. I still need to do another cash run so I’ll figure out what I have left in the budget. I did buy B his Sierra Nevada beer even though he’s not really drinking much. But he gives me the money back for that.

I also went into Winco for salad stuff and that ended up under $30.

All the bills for September are in and accounted for. Our Allstate insurance notice came and again prices are crazy. My son’s Subaru is on our policy( he pays for this though), and it’s a 2008 and almost $700. Why?? I will pay when the actual bill comes in but I think I’m going to pay in installments. I really don’t want to add to the CC.

It’s been hot as I mentioned but it cools off at night with all the windows open.

Today is a no walk day so I’m doing some extra chores. The biggest is the outside windows. I also processed more tomatoes for the freezer and will do all of them(3 bags) later this fall.

I stuck to my menu plan this week except tonight is pizza night and I don’t think that’s what I’m doing. First, I don’t have any dough made, and second, no one feels like a pizza in this heat. I’ll figure something out.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, swimming by

I had to get gas this week so that was $53 at Costco. Not too bad. The other cars, buggie and the truck are fine so I don’t need to fill them.

I’d gone over to Wino after swimming and spent about $100. Some wine and food combined.

Yesterday after infusion, I stopped at Costco and spent more than I wanted but I’m going to move some of it over to July’s budget since things like shampoo and conditioner will last months, Qtips were on sale, and they too last about 6 months if not more, mayo was on sale and I put that in the pantry so that will last months too, flour, and a bunch of other things that will definitely be more than a months grocery shop. Maybe I’ll try and separate it out if I am sitting at my desk.

All the monthly bills are done so I have July’s budget ready. The only extra this month is the truck registration and I’ll do that next week.

Our hot weather is starting again today, so I need to close the windows and curtains. It looks to be hot till Tuesday. My son was going to come tomorrow but now with that being the hottest day he may wait till next week. We need to get the floor down so we can get the sink in so it is a bit of a hold up.

Today we’re going to try and paint some if not all of the bathroom. It just depends on how our arms hold up. Getting old, huh?? I used to paint entire rooms myself. Heck, I painted the outside of the whole house once. Not anymore. I can do a wall or two and then that’s it. I think my daughter will be my backup today. 🙂

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgets, California, cancer, frugalism, Lake tahoe, Myeloma, travel, Uncategorized, Walking by

This week was fairly low spend. We did go to Paris Bakery one morning down in Roseville. It has delicious croissants and other baked goods. Also beautiful cakes. So that ended up $30 because we had fancy coffees which we almost never do and I brought home a pastry for my daughter to enjoy.

I did fill up the Santa Fe on Monday at Costco gas. That is the lowest price anywhere.

I popped into Winco and got a few groceries and some wine. Winco’s wine prices are the best around too. I like the Bogle chardonnay and Smoking Loon unoaked chardonnay. I think my total for wine and food was $57.

I think we’ll need to go to Costco next week as it’s time for more coffee. I plan on keeping that shop low spend as I don’t need a lot and I’m still working on eating down the freezers. With my son moving out food costs should go down although he will still be coming up here 2 days a week to work remotely and go into the office. So he’ll eat here when he’s here.

I’ve worked up the budget for June although I didn’t add in travel $. We’ll be in Tahoe twice. The end of May and mid June so I need to allow for gas and some food things. We generally don’t eat out in Tahoe because of the expense and we haven’t found a super great pizza place or Mexican. We do love Sprouts for sandwiches though. It used to be one of B’s accounts up there and has been around a long time. Great organic food. The Safeway is just up the road from the campground so we usually go there.

Tonight we’re going to do take out pizza so that’s pricey but we’ll only get 1 large as my son is still moving stuff to Sacramento and is down there tonight.

In other news, Dr. Laptalo said to drop the dex completely and let’s see what happens. I totally agreed. Of course, if my numbers go up substantially because dex helps boost the chemo then I’ll just have to consider the options. So I have 2 chemos scheduled before I see him again so that should give us a more accurate picture. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

Today was a no walk day, a no gym day and, a no swim day. So I want to go over to the pet bookstore and look for a few books. They’ve moved so it’s in a less convenient location than it was before. Speaking of walking, we haven’t had for months now, other people coming early to walk and then pow, yesterday we had 3 other people and OMG, AH showed up. It has been almost a year since he was there. I just about fell over. If you’re new to this blog and wonder what AH stands for, use your imagination. One thing though, he hadn’t gotten out of his car yet and previously he’d jump out and drag the dog out. So we wondered if the dog had died or was just too old now. I guess we’ll know next time we see him. Weird though.

Frugal Friday

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, frugalism, library, LLS, swimming by

Since this was the first week of my May Budget we didn’t spend much. Costco we were able to use our rebate of $117 so that helped. The total was $345. So the breakdown was $190 for food, $109 non food, and $46 for alcohol which was B’s Sierra Pale Ale at $30 which comes out of his personal money, and $16 for 2 rose Proseccos. this was all paid with cash from my envelopes.

It was a lot of food and much of it will last more than 2 weeks.

We filled up with Costco gas which is the cheapest around. I’m trying to keep the tank at least half full.

After infusion yesterday, I added in the trip to the library to get my holds. I had 8. I was thrilled to see a brand new copy of Hannah Kristen’s The Women. I’m excited to start that. I thought of going into the gym but felt after infusion, to skip it. Just for reference, the gym is right next to the library.

We bought some tacos on the way back from Costco so we didn’t come home starving. I think that was $21. but I had 2 things, B had 2 things and a milkshake and I brought home a burrito for my daughter. Other than that no eating out. I did meet up for a coffee at our local cafe with my library buddies though.

Today is dex day so a home day for me. I don’t walk on Dex mornings as my BP is up and my breathing is affected( sort of shortness of breath). I have the sourdough boule in the oven already and plan to make a chicken salad with cranberries and pecans later.

Last night I made a brinner of scrambled eggs with Bourison, fried potatoes with mushrooms topped with cheese, buttermilk biscuits, and strawberries on the side.

It’s cloudy today and we might have a few sprinkles.

We finished Season 10 of Doc Martin( the final one). It was ok. Nothing too new but fun to see Portwenn. We’re still working on Lynley which I do like.

I did buy a new swimcap from Amazon. My old one was from when we went to Florida for UNFI’s awards and there was a saltwater pool that I swam in. So that’s 2016 I think. Actually, it may be older but I can’t place it. I won’t be back in the water till next week because tomorrow is still a no-drive day.

Budget wise all the bills are accounted for in May. Once my LLS comes in I’ll make another cc payment to get the Allstate insurance paid off. My award ends in June so I hope there is funding available. Last time it took almost 3 months.

I go for my labs on Monday so I do plan on driving down to Maheny (gym) after that. The pool is too close as it closes for laps at 9:25.