Tag Archives: Budgets

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, Walking by

Costco was not frugal but necessary. We stocked up on oatmeal, coffee, protein bars, cheese, butter, eggs, and who knows what else. Oh, there was a cheesecake involved:) Still coming in at $400. Yikes. Overall our grocery shopping has been pretty restrained and mostly at Winco or Trader Joe’s which saves a lot of money.

We filled the truck up at Costco and that too saves quite a bit as that is the cheapest gas around.

We had a nice starry walk this morning and only one guy was there. He shows up occasionally. The one older lady who doesn’t use a flashlight( my pet peeve) showed up just as we were almost done. A nice way to start the day.

We’ve had homemade meals all week except the Costco chicken which was still eaten at home for dinner on my infusion night. There are lots of leftovers so I made up one chicken dinner for the freezer and later plan to make chicken enchiladas with the rest. I have my pressure-canned enchilada sauce I made last year so I’ll use that.

Our electricity bill came in at $188 which is the lowest it’ll go. We didn’t need coolers running or heaters so it’s the break before the winter bills start going up. We use the balanced payment plan though that PGE provides so it basically evens out your bills for the year. It works out well.

Next week I have a dentist’s for a cleaning and since we don’t have dental insurance anymore that will be OP. I think cleanings are @ $130 now.

I plan on swimming tomorrow and then at least once next week on my week off from infusion. Plus, I also have labs to do.

Last night I made a quiche with things from the fridge that needed using, mushrooms, peppers, spinach and, some cheese chunks. It came out nice. Tonight I plan on using a frozen pizza I have to get it out of the freezer as I need the room. I’ll make a spinach salad on the side.

Simple Sunday

Posted in budgets, California, camping, canning tomato salsa, home stuff, Uncategorized, Walking by

I finally got to go out and walk yesterday and this morning. I walked slowly and with my walking stick. It was ok. My knee is still a little sore and the back of my calf is a little sore too. Yesterday no one was there at all which was great. Today, no one was walking but there were people there setting up for an event.

I plan to go to the Auburn gym and just do arm weights, no treadmill. I haven’t figured out my swim schedule for the week yet. I do need to drop some books off at the library so I can pair that with the gym as the library opens at 9 a.m. MTW.

The mornings are much darker at 5:30 a.m. I think sunrise is @ 6:30 now. Evenings are getting darker earlier too. Well, it does happen every year. We have a Tahoe trip in September and I think it’s going to be a little different. I’m not sure what we’ll think about because we’ll be in the trailer earlier in the evening even if we have a campfire. Maybe it’s time to start checking out campgrounds more south like we had at Refugio. That was in November and it didn’t seem like the early sunsets or late sunrises affected us that much from what I remember.

I finished the budget for September and it looks good. We have a few added expenses like 2 new batteries for Rubi, and the shelf brackets for the kitchen shelves. Plus just everyday stuff that comes up. I won’t be able to pay the full dentist bill for Barclay’s crown but I’ll be pay a good chunk. So all in all, ok.

I don’t have any canning to do today. I think we’re going to get one or maybe two last big tomato harvests so I’ll wait and then do a large batch of plain tomato sauce. I also still want to can a few different meals in a jar but haven’t decided what yet. The Happy Homestead vlogger was pressure canning a chicken corn chowder which looked good. Of course, you wouldn’t do milk or flour but just the core ingredients and, then when you cooked it you would make a roux and then add the jar to the roux mix.

I played around making the Caco de Pepe recipe again and watched a couple of YT channels on making it. First, to get the cheese not to clump, grate it with a micro planner. Second, cook the pasta in a saucepan so the starch from the pasta is more concentrated. Third, toast the freshly ground pepper in another pan and then add some olive oil and butter. Then you add the boiling water to that and then add the pasta. I can say, this worked and it was delicious. The recipe was from Serious Eats, if you want to try it.

It’s hard to believe August is almost over and September will be here. September is both of our birthdays. It’ll be time for flu shots and the next Covid booster if it’s out by then.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, home stuff by

Overall, a good week spending-wise. I went into Costco after the gym and bought berries, avocados, bagels, and other misc stuff. I like going a little later after they open and not having an overflowing cart. It was busy but not overwhelming.

I didn’t need to get gas this week but will need to next week so that’s good. Next week I plan to only go down to the gym and the pool one time each. I want to make next week a lighter workout week.

All the monthly bills are done but I still need to get next month’s budget done. Basically, it’s the same every month but we do have to add in project money or misc spending like clothes. August’s project is B’s office windows. We bought the windows back in May, so that cost is done but we’ll need the wood to frame it out.

We haven’t had any takeout or gone out for any meals in quite a while. I guess since I put a lot of effort into grocery shopping and cooking I really don’t like to spend for food out. I think I will plan a coffee date with B though.

There wasn’t any Amazon spending or misc spending this week. Overall, a low spend week. August doesn’t have any big bills but by October annual bills will start coming in. I’m a little concerned about our house insurance and how much it might go up. We have our insurance with the Ca Fair plan attached to AAA since Allstate left California. Hopefully, it’s not a shock.

Thankful Thursday, Frugal Friday and Saturday sum-up.

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cooking, LLS, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, pets, travel by

THANKFUL THURSDAY

  1. I am thankful we had a safe drive home from Capitola and traffic was not too bad at all. We made it home in 4 hours with a stop for gas and something to eat.

2. I am grateful that B does the driving and set up and take down of Rubi.

3. I am thankful the weather was beautiful and we had some lovely days in our camp spot. With the influx of kids, bikes, and loud people, we left a day early and I’m grateful we have the sense to do that and not just say” Oh, we paid for the night, we should stay”. We do not enjoy it when kids are throwing balls in front of the trailer, riding bikes, etc, while their parents are loud with partying.

4. I am very grateful to my daughter for taking care of the house and yard. With the chickens and cats, it can be a lot.

5. I am so incredibly grateful that LLS opened funding for Myeloma and I got my application in. It’s pending, waiting for my doctor to fax his form.

FRUGAL FRIDAY

We spent very little this past week while camping. We didn’t eat out except for Gayles and that was just coffee and a danish. We ate the rest of our meals in camp. We went to the grocery store for a few things and that was it.

If you figure a week almost in Capitola, and we had just the cost of gas and some food, it’s a low budget getaway.

Overall, the budget has been good this month. But some things have caused some alarm. I’ll describe that in Saturday Sum up.

All the monthly bills are done. I’m working on keeping a zero balance in the bank account and it’s right where I want it for now.

It’s a huge savings for me to have my LLS grant since it covers all my insurance costs. I’ll be able to have a look back of 90 days so for reimbursement.

SATURDAY SUM UP

Well, that was the frugal stuff.

The night before we left my son notice some water(moisture) on part of the kitchen foundation. Of course, I freaked out and had B use the giant flashlight to look under there. There was a slow drip from the kitchen water pipe that will need to be fixed. Now part of the problem is our house foundation is not that great and as you go from the back to the kitchen area it gets very small to access. When we had this work done the person had to use a very long something to put those pipes in place. So now we’re facing a difficult challenge of getting a plumber to go under there. B is going to suit up and go in to try and clear some old pilings of dirt. But he isn’t a plumber that can weld the copper pipes. We put a call in to someone while we were in camp and we will try and set up an appt for next week to have him check it out. I tremble to think of this added expense.

The good news is the truck will go in next week to fix the AC and it’s covered by the extended warranty we bought. That expires in August so right in the nick of time.

Today, I’m going to pick up a Walmart order that has some camping stuff( toilet paper, and small propane bottles for the Weber). Plus I need to dust as the pine yellow pollen is coating everything in the house.

While we were gone a red fox chased and almost caught Ciri the cat. It was caught on Arlo and it’s scary to watch. It actually jumped the gate and chased her into the laundry rooms. We’re guessing it has a litter of kits nearby and that’s why it was so aggressive.


Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, travel, Uncategorized by

So far this budget period, I’ve spent $400 on food. I had a coffee and snack at Nugget after the gym one day but other than that no eating out.

I’ve filled up the Santa Fe 2x and will need another fill up next week. So gas is right on budget.

We did spend some money on 2 pear trees. One was from Costco and the other Home Depot. The one at Costco was $42 and the HD was $55. This is the time of year when we throw money at the yard.

Next week we have a fun excersion back down to Napa but this time B got us room using hotel points from he was still working. It’ll be different since we’re used to our Rubi but fun. We plan on driving up to Calistoga as it’s been years since we’ve seen the town. We might stop at a winery but we want to keep this trip low cost so we may just do what we did last time which was buy an assortment of Napa Valley wines from the store. It was fun to taste different wines and it was a fraction of the cost of going to the winery.

My doctor visit was uneventful so that was good , I guess. I’ll see him in June.

Tonight is pizza night.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgets, California, Political things, Uncategorized by

This week has been relatively frugal since it’s the end of the month and all the bills are done and I didn’t need anything from the store.

I have next month’s budget done and there are some extras on there like more garden soil. Since we have the truck now, we can get a yard of garden soil and it’s way cheaper than getting bags. The weather looks really nice for the next couple of weeks so I’m sure my daughter will want to start getting garden beds ready. She already has lots of tomato starts in the greenhouse.

Today, I’m going to skip the gym and go to Costco. I want to get salad stuff, lettuce, tomatoes, avocados, etc. I don’t have a big list but I’m sure it’ll add up. I might add on a few pantry items but I’ll have to see what I need. Then after Costco, we’re going to get an early lunch of some sort. Panera is always a good choice for us and I do love their broccoli cheddar soup.

I’m thrilled that trump has been indicted no matter where it ends up.Finally, something to show he’s not above the law. But regardless, I plan on doing a media break in April. Not a complete break, but very limited like reading the WP for 15 minutes in the morning and that’s it. I feel like I’m somewhat out of balance with something and feel like it might be a good place to start in limiting news, and other media things. I don’t do much with Facebook or Instagram but I still do some and I’ll cut that out too. Maybe it’s I feel out of control with what’s going on in this country, with AR, killing of children, teachers, the insane GOP esp. people like Boebart and Greene. Of course, I know I personally can’t do anything to change what’s going on but I know I am definitely affected by all this tragedy. All the Shit with trans rights, and LGBTQ stuff, book bans just sort of freaks me out. Where as a country are we headed? I know this stuff affects way more than it should so maybe stepping away from reading about will help me gain some perspective. I guess it’s worth trying.

I may also consider not blogging during that time too. April marks my 11th year blogging Tahoe Girl.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, home stuff, meal planning, travel, Uncategorized by

Going over to Napa and spending relatively freely wasn’t frugal by any means. But we ticked off the boxes of what we wanted to do and it was fun for us. Since we generally do not go out to eat or buy expensive wines( ok, expensive to us is like $15 a bottle) it was an adventure.

It’s SNOWING right now. We decided to walk anyway and it was magical. Big fluffy snowflakes, the park all white, the white crane against the snow. Magical. Of course, that means no swim or gym day. But that’s ok, it is what it is. I’ll try for tomorrow. If it’s just raining, I’ll go. Right now I-80 is closed in both directions so if it opens up the freeway will probably be busy.

That’s the grey heron. The white one flew off across the pond.

One good thing is won’t have to go for any groceries except half and half. Both our containers of cream went off before their buy date. Weird. Plus I bought them both down at our Holiday Market. I have some milk so that’ll work for now. I’ll probably plan a Winco trip or Trader Joe’s for next week after a swim morning.

I started a big batch of pizza dough and will use one ball tonight and freeze the rest. I think I need to make some sauce though.

I’ve got March’s budget done. Everything looks about the same. I might pay the property tax just to get it done since I have the money in our annual bills account.

The (hoarder ) neighbor’s house has had some activity with a junk removal truck there at least 2x’s that we saw. I really do wonder what happened. I know she was quite unwell physically but to live in that garbage that we saw all over the floors is pretty awful. Would it be an eviction if the house was condemned? It’s sad really. I think that her home health aide, that was there at least 3x a week if not every day, would have called a family member or something so she could have gotten the help she needed. Years ago when she was an oxycodone addict we tried to help and offered to clean out some things and she refused. That was over 10 years ago or so.

Well, it’s still snowing. I swished the bathroom, started the sheets in the washer, did the pizza dough and am having the Eufy (the robotic vacuum) an inexpensive version of the Roomba vacuum the floors. I saw this on the Non Consumer’s advocate’s blog. And if she bought it she must have thought it a good thing as she NEVER buys anything if she doesn’t have to. I will say it does do a darn good job. It runs about $140. I think she got a sale and bought it for $99.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, Myeloma, Pantry, Uncategorized by

It’s almost the end of January and the pantry challenge is going great. I will continue into February. I’ve come in @ $400 in groceries for the month. For the four of us, that’s really good. The pantry and the freezer are decreasing so that’s a good thing. I still have quite a bit to use up.

Last night I made Sole Milanese.(Ina Garten recipe) I made way too much but that’s what was in the freezer bag. Note to self: (portion out the fish better). Tonight is usually pizza night but no one feels like that so I think I’ll just do a simple pasta dish. Here’s the pizza from last week. I’m looking forward to using the Ooni outside when the weather changes.

I have February’s budget done and in place. I plan on looking at starting taxes this next week. It should be quite simple. I think we have all the things I need. We did get a 1099 for the California relief something. I guess that was a taxable amount. Not sure why they’d give you a refund and then expect it to be taxed. Oh well, who knows how anything in the government works.

We had our Date Thursday yesterday at Chipolte. It was ok. It seemed like an awful lot of people getting take out. I guess we don’t go out to eat very often so it’s always a surprise the amount of people doing it. But I am trying to get us to do one thing a week like this.

This was a sunset but my phone didn’t really capture the colors well. It was orangey and pink. this is looking west out our bedroom window.

Well, that’s it for today.

Wednesday’s musings

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, home stuff, Myeloma, swimming by

Well, a disappointment with my labs. Kappa went up to 30.7 mg/L so a 3-point jump. And the ratio went up to 1.96mg/L from 1.76 so also a jump. I’m disappointed but such as it is.

The pool was busy but I did get a lane right away. It’s sort of hit-and-miss most mornings. But it’s still worth the effort. I went to the gym yesterday, which was pretty empty although I saw some new faces. Probably new years resolutions kicking in.

Today I’ve been playing around with a spreadsheet I downloaded for the budget. It’s taken me 6 different tries but I think I have it down and I like it as long as it works the way it’s supposed to. I bought it off Etsy on the recommendation of Minimom on Youtube. I do most of my budgeting in a notebook but I wanted to add something new.

After the pool, I went over to Winco for a few groceries. Honestly, you cannot beat the price of things there. It’s a bit of a learning curve because of the layout but I know it well now so I can just go to the areas of food I need. Their bulk area is amazing. Lots of bins of snacks, spices, grains, everything you could want bulk, even honey.

Today I need to vacuum and dust and then fall into a heap depressed about my light chains. It’ll take me a day to regroup.

Friday things

Posted in budgets, California, cash envelopes, swimming, Uncategorized, Walking by

Another nice walk without being too cold. Sunrise is 7:20 am and was the same yesterday.

Today is just a pottering day and tidying things up. I’m not sure why things look more ‘untogether’ around Christmas. Maybe it’s the Christmas tree and the few decorations I have around although I even put a few away as I felt it was too much visually. Maybe it’s being stuck inside a lot with the rain and cold.

We’ve had fun with the ‘ugliest’ tree ornament game again. So far the pink sparkly dinosaur is winning but it’s a close runner-up with pineapple face. <>!!!!

I’m debating going to the pool tomorrow. I want to go but I’m not sure about the traffic on Christmas eve day. I guess I’ll wake up and see how I feel. I need to check the hours too as I think I saw something about that on the way out the other day but didn’t pay attention to it.

Tonight we’re ordering a pizza so I won’t have to cook. That’ll be nice.

My January budget will go from Dec.26 to January 25 approx. I do think the cash envelopes are helping with some things like Home Depot, bird/chicken food, groceries ( to some degree), and, misc. For now, I’m going to keep doing it. January will be a low spend month with no extras. I plan on holding off on Costco till we need coffee. The biggest change is going to be saving from SS the extra increase so we can use that for annual bills. Plus whatever other money we can put towards that fund from anything else.