Tag Archives: Costco shopping

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgets, California, home stuff, kitchen remodel by

I don’t suppose it was a very frugal week.

We had to pay DMV on the truck which was almost $500. Ouch! And it needed a smog test. cha-ching! Well, at least it’s done for the year.

Then it was our turn to buy the dry cat food for the kitties. Science Diet, so that was $60.

Costco came in right under$500. That included a case of beer for B, some wine I chose, and very expensive CoQ 10( that itself was almost $40, ) and a skin moisturizer. But most of that will be for the month. I plan to go out to the farm this afternoon so that’ll be an additional $30 for veggies for the week.

I bought garbage bags from Amazon. It seems there was something else from Amazon???

B bought the grab bar to put up in my office area on the stair wall.

I ordered the brackets(2) from Signature hardware to put up the shelf in the kitchen which will replace the ones there.

So I guess nothing was frugal this week. Some weeks are just like that.

Today I’m going to head to the Rec Center early so I hope to miss the traffic heading to Tahoe for 4th of July. It’ll still be busy on the freeway but not like it’ll be this afternoon.

I just fed my sourdough starter and will make the dough later this afternoon. I made the yogurt yesterday and today I need to drain the whey off.

Last night we had black bean bowls with my pressure canned black beans. Delicious. That was my last jar so I will add that on my to do list. I plan on doing pints though not quarts.

The lettuce is from the farm.

I’ve started reading some things on Ultra Processed Foods. There’s a new book out that Sue over at https://asmallerlifelivingsimply.blogspot.com/, was talking about. The book is brand new and I’m debating buying it. I requested it from the library(for them to order) but that can take a while. I’ll think about some more. The whole idea is we’re eating way too much processed foods. Now, we eat pretty clean but after going thru what we ate in a day there were a few surprises. For instance those tortillas in the bean bowls. Processed. I’ve made my own tortillas before but maybe I’ll look into making them and freezing them. The ones I get from Costco are in the freezer and I can grab them when I need which is what I like. Of course, regular bread, anything white flour etc. I’m always up for a new adventure.

Friday Things

Posted in budgeting, budgets, home improvement, swimming by

We’re back in the rain today and all weekend:( I know we need all we can get but geez, it gets kind of old. Anyway, I didn’t go out this morning so I could do a few house things.

I made up a batch of hummus from the garbanzos I cooked the other day. I planned the next week’s menu using the pantry challenge. Tonight I will use the one frozen pizza I have in the freezer. I’ll make a salad on the side. I tidied up my office space and did a swish and swipe in the bathroom. I planned to vacuum but all the kitties are sleeping!

I had a nice swim yesterday and the pool was not super busy. I usually swim Saturdays but with the next wave of the storm is tomorrow and it’s forecast to be heavier rain and some wind.

Our UHC medicare supplemental has a gym membership with Anytime Fitness for free so I signed up for that. B is already signed up and is going 2-3 x a week. I plan on using the gym for the treadmill and weights when I don’t want to drive down the hill. Plus it’s free!

We went to Costco on Wednesday and it was not too busy at all. We usually try and get there right at 9 but this time we were there at 10 and it was great. Plus we didn’t need a whole lot. I was primarily going to get the 4 pack of Nasocort I use to help clear my sinus cavity. This was something the doctor said to try and it does help. We bought about $100 in just groceries. I’ll add that amount to the food budget but the non food I’ll keep out of the low spend challenge. Things like AA batteries, allergy stuff are just maintenance stuff and need to be bought regardless of low spend month.

My favorite youtube, Minimom had a good budget video the other day. She had bought a download from Etsy that is compatible with Google Docs. I checked it out and I’m curious but I tend to like my budget on paper. It’s on sale today so I guess I’ll need to decide.

That’s it for now, hopefully, the rain will ease up. It’s hard not to go stir crazy.

Frugal Friday

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

We went to Costco an that was over $400. Granted, lots were items that will be used for all of July and beyond. The sale items are where the deals are and I got the giant Windex bottle, Cholula 2 pack, San Marzano tomatoes( the best for pizza sauce), and lots of other pantry staples. Some of those things will last a year( think the giant jug of Windex), and others will last 6 months (think Cholula). So, all in all, it was good. The store was busy as usual and I sort of thought with the issues with gas prices and inflation there would be fewer people but that didn’t seem to be the case. We also filled the Chevy truck up with gas at Costco as that’s the cheapest anywhere.

We’ve had all our meals at home and some tasty ones. Last night even with our heat wave, I used the Weber and cooked BBQ Chicken. It came out great. I don’t know what it is with that small gas Weber, but everything comes out excellent. Maybe it’s the control dial. Anyway, if you’re looking for a great tabletop BBQ this is the one and worth the price. One night we just had egg salad sandwiches, and another night was just some hot dogs with homemade potato salad. Simple meals when it’s this hot.

I stopped at the library yesterday to pick up a hold and picked up a few more books. It is such a nice library and the self-checkout is convenient.

Today’s another hot day and in a little while, I’ll close all the windows to keep the cool in. I’ve been turning on the coolers around noon. I usually start with just the one cooler in the entryway and then the front room one later.

Five on Friday

Posted in bread, California, cancer, cooking, Flylady by

I’m late getting this off since this morning I was trying to get my Tartine bread in the oven before we left to go to Costco. The bread was a rye mixture( so slightly darker) and the rise isn’t as high but it has great flavor especially with cream cream . I got it in for the first 20 minutes with the lid on and then took the lid off for the final 25 and left my daughter in charge of taking it out. It looked great when I got home.

Costco( the 9am, 60 and older crowd) was absolutely crazy. The line to get in was around the building. For an instant, I almost decided we should just leave but decided this is it till after January 1st and it’s only going to get worse ,so we went in. I guess the TP run is back on and most people were beelining to the back for the TP. Geez, really?? Anyway, they have rearranged the store so cold veggies are near the bakery and that’s where I started. I got everything on my list except canned beans because at that point in the store I was DONE!!! I made B get 2 cases of beer because I ain’t going back in there during Christmas. If we need cream or whatever I’ll hit our market here in town.

My Diestel turkey breast showed up yesterday and that will be nice to have instead of the whole turkey. Last year I did a Whole Foods turkey and it was delicious( according to my notes) but this year I didn’t want to do the whole thing plus I haven’t been into Whole Foods since last Christmas. I do keep a written menu of Thanksgiving each year and then add notes. It has been good to refer back to. I started doing this the one year I downloaded Flylady’s thanksgiving “to do ” list. I have to say, it has been helpful.

B had a call from the Cancer after hours clinic asking him to call( this was after 7pm). We didn’t even get the message till bedtime since neither of us keep our phones with us. We ignored it figuring it was his potassium level( which it was). His blood pressure hasn’t been stable so he went back on the HCTZ which is extremely effective but drops his potassium to low levels and they want him to get an infusion. When you’ve been down this road this many times we just had him take extra potassium pills and drink some gatorade. So after calls this morning( in the middle of Costco noless), yes, increase potassium pills, stop the HCtz again, and get another blood test. Also his immunoglobulins are down which happens about every 2 months so he will need an infusion for that. Sometimes, I feel like I’m barely hanging on here.

We got a Christmas tree permit to go up to Tahoe next week. It’s always a crap shoot of whether you will go the right area and find a nice tree but this year we will give it a go. Last year we skipped it with everything still going on. There has been some snow up there so that will be interesting. I’m planning on NOT putting up the artificial tree if we find a nice live on to put up. If not I will use the live one in my room with just some lights and put the artificial one up in the front room.

Tonight is pizza night and we are having just a frozen pizza. I was going to do Round Table but after spending a zillion dollars at Costco decide to just use what we have. Plus, the deep dish ‘MOtown’ from Costco is quite excellent.

Well, that’s a wrap, and I hear a glass of red wine calling me.

Frugal Friday

Posted in cancer, cooking, Myeloma, Uncategorized by

My doctor’s appt went well. He’s clearly aware of my increase in kappa light chains and now the m -spike. So I feel reassured that when we move forward with treatment it’ll be the right time. Again at this rate, probably by the end of the year.  I definitely will not let them get over the 1,000 mg/L mark which is where it was when the other treatment of Pomalsyt( an oral chemotherapy) wasn’t working. But for now, I have a few more months of “freedom”.

  I also had a brief dental appt to check on the cold sensitivity where she had done the crown. It seemed it was all ok and she recommended using Sensodyne toothpaste.

We’re heading to Costco so as to take advantage of the coupon sales. Dish soap, laundry soap, and a number of other things are on sale and I’d like to get them. It will probably end up another $500 shop but that will go on September’s food budget.  I’m planning on about $600-$700 including alcohol( wine for me, beer for B).  Plus it’s our birthday month so we may have a take out dinner or two.

I bought some books from Goodwill books online.

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Of course, cookbooks!! The prices were good but not exceptional. the Pioneer woman one was $15 I think. Goldy’s was $7.00. Still, with the pet book store closed( where books are $1.00 each) there’s not a supply of cookbooks coming into my house which for me is cheap entertainment.

Last night I made a breakfast bake with hashbrowns, eggs, cheese, and some sausage on the meat side. It was very good and a good way to use up the eggs were getting from the chickies.

Tonight is pizza night. I might get a take and bake from Costco.

This weekend I have more tomatoes to process and I’m going to do a large pan of baked tofu as I need to use some up. Baked tofu is good cold or in sandwiches.

The days are really getting shorter and sunset now is about 7:40 and sunrise is 6:30am.  We’re still getting out to walk at 5:30 am but I think fairly soon we will bump it out to 5:45am.  This morning was busy down there with dog(jerk) walker getting there at 5:40am. We were almost done and he came blasting by and I yelled at him saying” On your left”. He does irritate me something wicked.

Well, I’d better get some things done so we can leave to get to Costco by

 9am when they open.

Projects done!

Posted in Blood test, California, Gardening, home improvement, prepper pantry, Uncategorized by

The closet looks bright and clean. We did move our space heaters to the barn and I have one box of “I don’t know what to do with” stuff. One item is my old Waring blender that I bought new in 1985. It still works fine but most I use my Vitamix. So I’m undecided and will wait on deciding to give away or not.  We still need to hang my mirror back up and then I can take a photo if I remember.

B finished repotting the bamboo in the new barrels. This is actually a pretty big job as the roots needed to be cut with a Sawzall.  That’s how thick they were.  We are going to get a 3rd barrel as it will fill the space out nicely.

We also took everything out of the chest freezer and defrosted it. I got a good count on what’s in there so that was helpful plus it’s more organized.

The weather is quite a bit cooler and we actually sat outside last night.  Today is also really nice with a high of only 85.

Yesterday I bagged up the Central Milling flour into 3 mylar bags. I could have used the food saver bags but  I wanted to test out how the flour would be. The other bag I will use the food saver bags and then compare the two.

Tuesday we did our Costco shop. It was just under $500. Some of that was alcohol. The Costco beer which is a variety of ales and other types is a great deal at $20. and this was the first time we’ve seen it in almost a year. So we bought 2. That should last a while. I don’t drink beer but B does( although not too much right now with his issues) and my son has the occasional beer. Then we bought champagne for our anniversary. Since we’re not going anywhere, we figured we’ll do some kind of celebration dinner with champagne. This shop wasn’t really a prepper shop but more stuff for the month, salad stuff, avocados, spinach, cheese, bread.  The only things I still need are milk, bananas, vegetable shortening, and burger rolls. I’ll probably do that later in the week.  I’m hoping this shopping will get us thru most of the month.  Oh, I did get organic pasta that was on sale. So that’s for the prepper pantry.  Later this month we’ll hit Winco and get 2 more of the buckets if they have them and the gamma lids. I’m tempted to go sooner than later as I’m guessing they will get sold out.

I’m still waiting on my labs, so maybe by tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my son’s 26th birthday. Such a wonderful young man. Funny, talented, smart, and has a full-time job with California State Sierra Nevada Conservancy.  He was a fun kid and outgoing.  He was homeschooled all the way thru high school. He then went to Community college, got 2 degrees, and then graduated from CSU Sacramento. No student debt and he did most of it on his own. We are so proud of him. So, I need to find out what kind of dinner he wants and dessert. Our family ritual is the birthday boy/girl gets to pick their favorite dinner and dessert.

I’m reading the new Todd Borg” Tahoe Hit”. It just came out if you’re interested. He’s one of my favorite authors and is local to Lake Tahoe.

685789B5-5871-4B18-ADA0-0533A910EDF3.jpegHere’s my new BLACK LIVES MATTER yard sign for the driveway.

 

 

Catching up

Posted in budgeting, California, cancer, MDS, Uncategorized by

We got the tree quote and it came in at a good price. Plus we’re adding in having the very large oak that hangs over the barn trimmed. That will cost $1,000 but partly that’s because he needs to bring in his boon. I’m good with the cost and it’ll be a relief for the big tree to go. We still have the 2 other leaning Ponderosas and the one that leans toward our neighbors is a concern as the soil there is much softer as it is downhill. But I just cannot deal with that right now.  If it gets worse, then we will need to do something.

I had an exhausting trip to Costco but I got almost everything I wanted/needed. Of course, the next day I realized I hadn’t used the coupon that was tucked quite nicely in my wallet and I didn’t see when I went to pay. Oh well, next week maybe. Costco seemed to have most everything except no liquid hand soap or Clorox wipes. I have plenty of regular CLorax that I can mix with water if I need to make up a disinfectant.  The hordes were after toilet paper that apparently you have to make a beeline for the minute you enter the store and the meat counters were crammed with people trying to get stuff. I didn’t need any meat at all so I avoided it. I suppose I could have bought something as back up but I think with what I have, we’re good.

B’s biopsy came back great. No blasts, no MRD disease, no sign of MDS so that is really a gift. Hopefully, this GVHD will get resolved with the new drug. But since it is so expensive and they are( well, the hospital aid fund) paying for it, that it will do the job and then he can get off it.

I’m planning on driving down to see my doctor at the cancer center instead of doing a video chat. I just want to touch base with him and get his impression of my light chains going up so much. It’s not a good trend and I really would rather start Velcade than risk fractures or other horrible things. There’s no guarantee about anything but at least it’s the logical thing to do. I really hate the thought of dealing with dex and pretty much losing 2 days a week but at some point that will be the reality.  I can tell though, my energy shifting and I’m more tired and less energetic.

I also have my delayed dentist appt at the end of the month to replace a crown. Not looking forward to that.

Such strange weather we’re having. It’s hot then cool, then hot again. Today it’s quite cool and we even have a twinkly fire going just to warm up the house. Weird.

http://magnonsmeanderings.blogspot.com/2020/06/j-k-rowling.html 

I was reading this guys post as he’s on someone’s blog list that I read( I read lots of British blogs), but he was commenting on JK Rowlings’ comment about transwomen and I really flipped at what he was saying that he agreed with her that whatever sex you’re born that’s what you are. Really? How narrow-minded. Trans women are women and trans men are men. Period. He also said he had never read Harry Potter or seen the movies and I thought how weird he’s got this appreciation for JK R and hasn’t even read her stuff but when she goes off the rails about trans women he’s all for it. What astonished me is his comments were all agreeing. Well, I commented he needed to learn about transgender people and that it had nothing to do with ” the clothes” they wear. ( He was saying they can dress like a woman but they’re not real women). Anyway, my comment posted, and then, just like that, he took mine down and the other person who also tried to clue him in.

Go check it out.

 

Five Frugal Things Friday

Posted in Myeloma, travel, Uncategorized by

So, I had my eye doctor appt yesterday and the good news is I won’t have to have cataract surgery. The bad news is I actually need eye surgery at some point for a retina issue where the retina has sort of a wrinkle in it and that’s what not letting me see as clear thru that eye. It was caused by my extended steroid use over the period of 12 years.  Of course, I needed the Dex to work with the chemo drugs but this is a side effect. The good news is he said it’s not critical right now and we can take another scan in 4 months. Geez, I didn’t see that one coming.( Pun on words)….

let’s see, not a frugal week.  Went to Costco and that was $118 plus the special medication for Bonnie the rescue dog. It’s anti-seizure medication. So another $50.

All the first of the month bills are paid or on auto payment so that used up a paycheck.

B is having his 60,000-mile service at Hyundai so I expect that to be $$$.

Had the propane filled to the tune of $230.

Gee, this sounding like a very expense week.

Oh, and tomorrow my son and I have to fill out the housing for him at SFSU. That will be $270 to reserve the spot.  He will need to find grants or get a Student loan for the actual housing. We can help with these smaller things but that’s it.

So, I’m home today making brownies, and tonight is pizza night. I was going to order out Round Table gourmet veggie but decided I didn’t want to spend $25 on a large pizza. So, I made the dough my favorite from’Date nite in’.  I’m going to do a spinach and goat cheese one with pine nuts and the other just cheese and pepperoni.

Here’s a picture from dinner in Santa Barbara, notice me clutching my glass of wine. It was some sort of Italian chardonnay.  It was a pretty great chopped salad too.

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