Tag Archives: expenses

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, cash envelopes, Credit cards, frugalism, husband, reading by

It’s been a frugal week for the most part. All the birthday gifts, cake, and food were budgeted in my envelopes, so that was good. I did go to Costco for the burgers, rolls, etc but that too I had in my Costco envelope as well.

We are stretched really thin with money this month due to a few extra things. I’ve done really well with my envelope cash system but bigger bills are still catching up with us and we still have a cc balance from two car registrations, and some other bills from June. I hate having to carry a balance so I’m putting anything extra towards that and thus a very stretched thin budget. We’ll get there but not as soon as I’d like.

We had a nice date lunch of pizza(cash from my dining-out envelope) and it’s always nice to get out of one’s box. This month is our 54th wedding anniversary and although we usually don’t do gifts or anything extravagant we will do a lunch out. At this point we’re planning a drive up to Tahoe to see the lake and get coffee at our favorite Tahoe House. With everything still up in the air with B it’s hard to feel very cheerful. He is and always will be the great love of my life.

I didn’t feel great this morning so decided not to go to either the pool or the gym. I’m not sure if it’s stress or just feeling low energy. So I made a loaf of bread and did a few random chores.

B did get an appointment( we just found out) for next Friday for a second biopsy. It’ll be done at UCD hospital again so I can wait in the cafeteria. That will be a Dex day but I can wait and take Dex when I get home so it should be fine. He also sent a very detailed message to the doctor about some of the PET scan results and about the CUP diagnosis( that we are theorizing will be the case.) That’s called cancer undiagnosed primary. We’ll see what her response is.

My daughter and I went to the Pet bookstore yesterday and I hit the jackpot with Craig Johnson books. There were 5 on the shelf. For some reason, even on eBay these go for a minimum of $5 a piece. And most are more. I also picked up 2 more in the Baldacci series I’m reading. It’s the Atlee Pine series. She’s a great character. I also picked up Cooking for Two from the Cooks Test Kitchen. I saw a recipe for manicotti which used lasagna noodles rolled up so I may make that tonight instead of pizza.

The weather is cooling off and that’s a relief but there are lots of fires going on. One over where blogger I read lives. Hope you’re safe Donna and Dale!

Well, that’s it from this blogger. Anyone on a limited budget and how do you plan things, like big expenses. Do you ever carry a CC balance even if you don’t want to because you have to.? I’m hoping by this time next year we will have our envelopes fully funded for the big expenses but it does take time. I’m also concerned about our house insurance going up because of the California Fair Plan. A lot of people have been posting on Next door neighbor about some serious increases.

Friday Things

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, cooking, meal planning, swimming by

It’s been a tough week after the car break in. We still don’t have the window fixed and it won’t be till next Thursday. I plan on driving my daughter’s Honda Fit tomorrow to the pool. I finished all the paperwork for the claim but I’m certainly not holding my breath.

I made the pizza dough for tonight and also have my sourdough starter getting ready for another loaf of jalapeno cheddar bread. I’ll mix up the dough later and then refrigerate overnight and bake tomorrow morning.

So far the grocery challenge has been pretty easy. I went to Winco Tuesday and spent a little more than I wanted at $61. Then Barclay spent another $15 at Safeway for bread flour and cream and something else I can’t remember now. So I don’t need anything today or tomorrow so I’ll end the week at almost $80. I’ve got most of the menu for next week done. Monday we plan on going to Costco because we will need coffee. I’m still not sure how I will separate Costco in the weekly budget since some things will last more than a week. Maybe I’ll try and divide it up but that seems like more trouble or effort than it’s worth. So, I’ll need to think about that.

I was working on a spreadsheet form from a Youtuber. But, even though I enjoyed figuring it out for budget stuff in the end it was just too complicated. I do a daily budget sheet in my notebook, so I know exactly what’s going out and coming in. I might play with it some more but I doubt I’ll use it.

In March we will have some bigger expenses. Barclay is having some dental work and that’s going to cost @ 900. Then we have property taxes due and Federal taxes too. We will owe IRS a small amount this year. I’m okay with that as we did use some retirement savings(withdrawal) to do the half payment for the RV. So that will all add up and it will be a pricey month.

If you have Disney Plus, the Mandalorian show is quite good and we’re enjoying it. Oh, and the Amazon Prime new Reacher was EXCELLENT. The actor is perfect for how you visualize Jack Reacher.

Well, I’m off to town to drop a load at Goodwill so I better get a move on.