Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, home stuff, swimming, Uncategorized by Chris N

Overall, except for the coast trip, it was a low-budget week. This week is an in-between; August’s bills are coming out, so it’s just basics.

After the gym, I went to Winco and spent $ 55. I bought wine as well, but that doesn’t go on my grocery bill.

The weather is turning hot again, so no eating on the patio, and dinners have been lighter. I made a brown rice salad with chickpeas, red onion, and cucumbers with some feta. I’ll have that for lunch today as well. I made some tofu in the air fryer, so I can use some of that for dinner tonight.

I’m planning on swimming today, and then I won’t go down to Roseville till next week. I need gas, so I’ll do that at Costco. I’m still waiting for my LLS to get finalized, and then I can submit my insurance premium. I’m very grateful for LLS’s support for patients.

Nothing new with books. I finished Fever Beach by Carl Hiasson. Funny and provocative to say the least. I don’t have any holds, so I need to go to the catalog and place some on hold.

18Jul2025

Five on Friday/Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, Credit cards, frugalism, husband, knee injury, Multiple myeloma, Myeloma, velcade, Walking by Chris N

Frugal-wise, I’m not in the Cotswolds like Mavis over at $100 a month. She probably should change the name of her blog. But she’s got the money, so why not enjoy it? Plus, she loves England.

Here in my neck of the woods, N. Ca, it’s been too hot to do much outside. The temps are much nicer in the coming week, but still some 90’s, and I saw it gets in the low 80’s, so that will be much nicer. I miss sitting outside in the mornings and afternoons.

Money-wise, just paying bills, and I had to pay the overpayment from SS. It’s ok, I’ll deal with it. It’s done, and I’m going forward. I just need to work the budget with the SS I’m getting. I’m still working on my credit card bill because I put the cremation on there. But I should be able to knock it down next month. I hate having a balance. But needs must.

After my Velcade shot, I stopped at Costco to pick up some lox for the bagels I bought at Noah’s. I also picked up some rose wine( my favorite) and a Gloria Ferrier champagne-type brut. I wanted Mumm rose, but they were out.

I gave my daughter $100 in cash to buy the paint for the studio. She’s really done a great job clearing it out and rearranging it to suit her. We might go get that today as long as she drives, since I’m on Dex. I don’t sleep well on Dex nights, and last night was no exception.

I also have a food bank donation to drop off and some more stuff for Goodwill.

I’ve almost finished most of my list of things to do related to B. If something comes up, it’ll be an outlier I don’t know about. I may take care of a few things today or not. It depends on my focusing on which Dex does affect. So we’ll see.

I’m still debating getting the next steroid shot for my knee. Mostly it’s ok. When I try and do a little extra walking or swimming, it acts up, but then I seem to recover the next day. The shot did help quite a bit, so there’s that.

6Jun2025

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgets, California, cancer, frugalism by Chris N

I’ve had 3 no-spend days while home this week.

I went to WinCo on Monday and spent about $30 on food. I didn’t need a lot there.

Then Wednesday after Sacramento, I went to Costco. Food was $190. My main reason for going was to get B the shoes(Sketchers) that you just slip on your feet. He’s quite unstable walking, so these have good support. He is using a cane, but still.

I’ll try and avoid grocery stores for a while:)

Today is almost a no-spend day. We are having someone come and finish the weed eating on the lower part of the property. I have a cash envelope for that, though.

I’m planning to go to the gym after he starts. The library doesn’t open till 10 on Fridays, so I don’t need to get there by 9. I need to get gas at Costco too for the coming week. I also have a Goodwill drop-off to do. It’s very convenient since it’s right across from the library/gym. They’re not very friendly, but that doesn’t really matter, I guess.

Some of the first of the month bills are out, but the bulk come out next week.

I’m thinking about a schedule for swimming and the gym. Not sure yet, plus it depends on how B is feeling. Someone needs to be here at all times with him. My daughter has a few work shifts next week, so that will change my schedule.

Yesterday I BBQed some chicken, and so we have some leftovers for lunch today.

I’ll update on Barclay soon. It’s hard to process, so I’m leaving it till I feel I can.

9May2025

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgets, California, frugalism, library by Chris N

It was mostly normal stuff: getting the bills paid, some grocery stuff, and gas at Costco. Gas was $4.55 a gallon. When I went to pick up B’s pain meds, I was in Bel Air, so I used some coupons to pick up a few things. I had a $6 rebate to use. I got split peas for soup, pickled jalapenos, olives, and some pretzels.

Costco was the normal stuff: coffee, milk for B(I don’t drink milk), apples, and I don’t remember what else. But it was around $100 plus. I bought a set of clippers for my daughter(an early birthday present), which were 25. Also, I bought wine( prosecco and champagne for Mother’s Day). That and the clippers were on top of the $100 for food.

No eating out as usual. I am planning on brunch with my daughter for her birthday, but that’s at the end of May.

I went to the gym yesterday and did upper-body weights. Then I dropped off my library books. I didn’t see anything to get:( but it’s good for me to take reading breaks). This book, though, was excellent: Happy Land. It’s the story of a black family’s ownership of land after emancipation. It was a compelling story.

4May2025

Simple Sunday

Posted in Blood test, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cooking, Flylady, home stuff, Myeloma, simplicity by Chris N

It’s warm out but cloudy right now. It’s supposed to clear up and be in the 80s, so that’s a first this year.

I might go to the Auburn gym to do weights, but I’ll decide in a few hours. It depends on what I want to get done today. I vacuumed yesterday, so it’s maybe a quick mop. Flylady is the living room zone. Usually, that means in my LR, dust the Easton Press books and the ceiling fan, and wash the mirror. So not too much overall. Most of that I do anyway on Monday mornings when I do my house reset for the week. I need to start on the sunroom windows so I may do some of them.

I have some sourdough starter ready to use, so I’ll get that together. Last night we had the Costco chicken burgers on the BBQ and they were delicious. I think I’ll put together a chili tonight since I defrosted some ground turkey. I’m still working my way through the freezer, and this was the last pack of Costco turkey. I’ll probably cook that in the Le Creuset on the stove instead of the IP. I have my pressure-canned beans to add, so I don’t need the IP to cook the beans. I’m still contemplating the electric pressure canner. Does anyone reading use the Presto one? They are not cheap, but from the comments in the Facebook group, most everyone loves the convenience. Mostly because you set it up and there’s no watching it, etc, like the All-American. Like I said, it’s expensive, so not something I’m rushing to do.

It should be a quiet week, no appts, unless B ends up needing a blood transfusion, which I certainly hope not. He gets labs tomorrow, so he’ll know by Monday afternoon. I have nothing but need to call the sleep place to arrange getting the home test, and I need to call Ortho, as they should have reviewed the MRI by now. Mostly, from Ortho, I just want to get the PT referral to start doing that.

I do plan on going down to Roseville to the gym at least once. I think I’ll try and coordinate either WinCo or Costco with that.

How does your week look?, Do you have routines you follow, like Flylady? Some people really like Clean Mama ( I think that’s her blog name), but I tried it and it seemed way too involved for me. I’m always interested in minimalism, especially in older people, and how that helps with daily stuff.

Oh!!! I forgot my labs came back just a smidge above high normal, so all good. 19.6 kappa light chains, high normal is 19.4. It does tend to fluctuate, but this is still excellent. Boy, I am always so relieved that Velcade is working because I couldn’t handle one more thing right now. 🙁

7Apr2025

Simple Sunday on Monday

Posted in California, cancer, cooking, home stuff, husband by Chris N

Yesterday was just an off day.

I went to the Auburn gym to do weights and then headed down to Costco. I had the motive to keep driving the Santa Fe to see if anything happened again. It didn’t. I plan on calling one garage today, though to see if they can run a diagnostic. I’m not sure if they will be able to do that this week, but I’ll try.

At Costco, I got coffee( the main reason), B needed Tylenol, and then I picked up eggs, bananas, and some other stuff.

It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures close to 70 degrees. Sitting in the sun, it felt much warmer. Today, it’s raining, and it’s certainly fickle weather. Spring, I guess.

We are at T-6 days and counting down to Stanford. B will find out Friday what time to be at the hospital Monday. I’m guessing very early, as this can be a long surgery. He’s had his pre-op video appointments, and they all went well. Today, he has to get labs to check his hemoglobin and, if necessary, get a transfusion. I hope not, but we’ll do what’s necessary.

I plan on being home today and doing a house reset and some baking. I have a loaf of sourdough to make. I’ll put my starter back in the fridge after this as I won’t be making bread for a while after this. I’m also going to make a new recipe of Chicken adobo.

Tomorrow, I plan on going to Mahany gym and the library. I have a couple of holds at the library. Then I plan on swimming on Wednesday.

I’m thrilled at the huge turnouts for protests against the administration. It’s exciting that so many people came out to do that. I’m an optimist, so I think it will matter in the long run. What this administration is doing is trying to rewrite history and destroy democracy. It’s scary what is going on.

Menu for the week:

Chicken adobo with basmati rice. I have some tofu for B; plus, he’s not eating very much, which is worrisome.

Beans in the crockpot. My Ranch Gordo order showed up so I may make a new bean to me. Eye of the goat. I’ll check Steve Sando’s The Bean Book for a recipe.

Pasta of some sort. I have a TJ’s pasta alfredo in the freezer, so I may pull that out.

Brinner

Pizza

TBD, and then we leave Sunday morning.

My daughter will be coming with us to help out with driving and navigating the hospital. My son is planning to stay here and take care of the cats. He still has to work most of that week but will stay here at night. The cats really like their routines so this will be somewhat upsetting to them. But it’s the best we can do right now.

21Mar2025

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, frugalism by Chris N

I spent $88 at Trader Joe’s, which included some of their wine( Charles Shaw, which is no longer 2 buck Chuck). I went in to get their brand of chili powder, but they didn’t have any, which I thought odd. So, I’ll need to go to Winco to get some next week.

I got gas at Costco and it’s down to $4.43 a gallon so that was a savings.

I was planning to go to Costco today but B has a video appt with the nutritionist so either I go alone or wait. I’ll think about it. We need a case of water and some miscellaneous things. Mostly I need help lifting the case of water. The other stuff I can handle like the TP.

Other than that I didn’t spend $ on anything else. All of the bills are done for the month so that’s good. I have written up a tentative April budget. We are in limbo on Stanford till the CT comes in although we haven’t heard from them so I’m taking that as a good sign. Or it could be that UCD hasn’t communicated with them about what’s going on. Either way, we should know more next week.

With the hotel costs plus gas and food we need to not spend any extra because that’s going to be a fairly big CC bill. I guess we’ll just have to see what happens.

Today is a cloudy day but then by Sunday we’re going to be seeing mid-70s temperatures. Spring will really pop then:)

Here’s a couple of Gus pictures!! it’s a rough life!!

He has his own Poang chair.!!!

7Mar2025

Five on Friday

Posted in Blood test, California, cancer, cooking, frugalism by Chris N

I spent $240 on food at Costco but that includes the protein drinks for B. So that was $25 on sale so closer to $200 for food. That included maple syrup(which lasts a long time), granola( because I didn’t make any), and some other pantry staples. I’d like to figure out what the breakdown is for long-term pantry stuff but not now.

I got gas at Costco this week and that was $4.65 a gallon. So saved some money there.

Today is my eye doctor’s appt for a retinal scan to see how my macular pucker is. I haven’t noticed any change, I still can’t really see out of my right eye. The left eye does all the work. 🙁

B had another blood draw and his ALP is still elevated( liver) so that’s what seems to be causing the abdomen pain. He has a message to his UCD oncologist to see what she thinks this is about. His ALT and AST are in the normal range. I think one of them is slightly out of range but those are liver markers too. This really throws a wrench into the whole process because I’m quite sure Dr. Lee won’t do the surgery if something is going on with the liver. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. Somewhat stressful.

We have PGE’s tree people showing up today. We think they’re going to take the one tree today and then the big one next week. If we paid for these trees, it’d be at least $4K for one and the other is huge so probably $5-6K

I’m just glad they’re doing it. I may go for coffee in town as I get too nervous with trees coming down. We’ll see how it goes.

I made black beans for dinner last night. We each had half a cheese tamale with them plus avocado. I only gave B a small portion because of his stomach pain. I told him also to take one of his pain pills and he did and said that actually helped.

6Mar2025

Thankful Thursday

Posted in California, Gratitude, swimming by Chris N

I’m so glad it’s Thursday and now 3 appts are done. My Wellness check went well for the most part. We talked about a number of things including my cholesterol being higher than it should be. So I decided to start a statin. Personally, I have no problem being prescribed drugs if they help and make the situation better. I mean I’m full of chemo drugs and still here to talk about it. Anyway, all good.

So grateful for that being over.

I’m grateful that our new Costco is so close and I can pop down there which I did after my appt. I went to get cottage cheese and a few other things but completely forgot cottage cheese. Oh well, there’ll be another trip I’m sure. I’m trying to eat more protein and cottage cheese is an easy way to do that.

I’m grateful for a wonderful swim yesterday. The pool was quite nice.

I’m grateful for my family who is always there to help as necessary.

28Feb2025

Frugal Friday

Posted in bread, California, cash envelopes, cooking, frugalism, Uncategorized by Chris N

Groceries at Costco were $200. I bought a few things on sale like the breaded Talipa which is a great easy dinner option. Mostly things like milk, and eggs ( no shortage at Costco). I bought the organic 2 dozen pkt for $8.69. I also bought French roast coffee, seaweed snacks my daughter likes, Triscuits, nuts, cheese, asparagus, and a few items I wanted to try. One is a garlic spread( Toom)that’s supposed to be very good.

With that and my TJ’s trip, I’m already at $400 so I’ll need to be careful for the next couple of weeks.

Next week I have a dental cleaning so that’s out of pocket. But I am going to sign up for their dental plan which is $400. That covers 2 cleanings and other stuff so it seems like a good deal.

Today is the national No Spend Day. I hope it has an impact, especially on Amazon, Walmart, etc. During the pandemic, I liked Walmart’s pickup service and used it a lot. But since then I haven’t even been back.

I got gas at Costco so that’s always a savings.

I bought a Christmas gift for my son. An Easton Press copy of ‘A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthurs’s Court. ” That was Ebay and was $28.00. I haven’t started my Christmas envelope yet, but I’ll write this down. This year is going to be even more minimal as nobody really wants anything. So I’ll do a few gifts each like the Easton Press and East Fork Pottery.

This is the Lemon Meyer rosemary Sourdough. Wow was that good.