Tag Archives: Frugal Friday

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, cooking, meal planning, pets, Uncategorized by

It’s been a frugal week for the most part. We went to Trader Joe’s and Winco for some basics that will last 2 weeks. That was last Saturday I think. With me having my chemo week, I don’t go out after Wed, so that’s Thursday and Friday and by Saturday the dex has pretty much worn off so I can do something if needed. My face is still pretty red this morning from Dex.

I did get some stuff done though, I vacuumed, feed my sourdough,mopped the floors, 1 load of laundry going. We always do one load a day even if its small. It keeps it from piling up. I moved some envelope cash around and put some in an envelope to back to the bank. That’s for Amazon stuff. I might make that a virtual envelope but the money I took out was from my personal spending as there was a plant based cook book that Sue over in Wales recommended highly. So I slpurged on that.

B is going to his gym and will pick up some things at Holiday Market. I need red onion, garlic, baking potatoes, and polenta. It’s been a challenge getting Bob’s Redmill polenta for some reason. I checked Amazon and it’s twice as expensive as the store. So Holiday looked like they had some in stock.

We filled up the Santa Fe after going to Sacramento and that was $50. Costco is still the cheapest gas around. 

I might go to the Roseville gym tomorrow but it depends on the rain. We did have a nice break yesterday but more is expected over the weekend. If I go, I’ll go slightly later so I can go into the library which opens at 10 on Sat.

I worked up a very flexible menu plan for the week:

no pizza tonight, I think will do :

baked potatoes with toppings and a big salad

turkey breast(frozen) and some mashed potatoes (also frozen) and home canned cranberry sauce.

chicken tortilla soup from the freezer

a left over night

fetticine alfredo with garlic shrimp( so my G F daughter can have shrimp )and salad.

brown rice with broccoli and some kind of crispy tofu.and maybe some panko shrimp.( that’s different from just the plain shrimp)

taco night with pressure canned pulled pork, lettuce etc.

I’ve got February’s budget done and the only thing I didn’t add was the VW’s registration and smog that just came in the mail but it’s not due till April so that’ll give me time to get and envelope stuffed. I may not end up the full amount but it’ll help. And I’ll need to add in Turbo Tax fee and if there’s taxes.

Next week looks good budget wise, hopefully no surprises.:)

Here’s the big boy, Guster

He says this is my Poang chair!!

Thankful Thursday, a day late, and Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, cash envelopes, cooking, frugalism, meal planning, Myeloma, simple foods by

I’m thankful I thought to call the ortho’s office since I hadn’t heard from them. It seemed like I wouldn’t get a call at least for a while:( So I have an appt to meet the doctor’s PA next week. I’d rather meet with the doctor but I guess it’s better than nothing.

I’m thankful I could go to the gym and even though I have the brace on I can do some upper body weights.

As always, grateful for the library where I got a bunch of old Tony Hillerman.

I’m grateful for LLS helping with insurance. I guess funding has been closed since I got my award and that’s over 6 months.

We’ve had a break from the rain and that’s always nice.

Frugal Friday Stuff:

We went to Trader Joe’s after the gym and I spent only $95 which included some wine. So that should get us through till the next budget starts.

We had another few meals from the freezer: mac and cheese, some breaded shrimp with veggies, grilled chicken/ tofu with rice. This coming week I’ll try and use at least 3 more freezer/pantry meals. I took out a frozen pizza dough to make pizza tonight. I have some extra red lentils that need using so I’ll probably do a curry with that.

Gas usage was low again as I’m not driving to the pool 2-3 times a week. I might start a cash envelope with gas money I think I’m saving for when I will be able to get back in the water. 

Today is a home day and I plan on doing more pantry consolidation. I have 3 bags ready to go to the food bank of stuff I probably won’t use so I’ll pass it on. I emptied one bin under the bed and the second one needs to be gone through. That one has foil, wrap, dried beans, and some oatmeal. I think some of the oatmeal ( Bob’s) is dated so I may need to use that in something or toss. I also have way too many boxes of pasta so I’ll throw a few of them in too.

Simplifying meals and food prep is a goal for this year. We basically eat the same thing week after week with just a few new recipes added in. But overall, that works best for us. I do love cooking so there’s that.

Frugal Friday and other random things.

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, California, cash envelopes, decluttering, Pantry, prepper pantry, Walking by

Another low-spend week. We spent $53 at Holiday Market. It’s way more expensive than TJ’s or Winco but it’s also 1 minute from our house. We used to walk down all the time but now we drive mostly because our driveway is very steep. So going down is fine but coming up is not. After I figure out what’s going on with the knee I may start going up and down to strengthen the muscles. We’ll see, I’ve been saying that for years and haven’t done it yet. ( haha).

We filled up the VW too. And we went on a coffee date.

I did order some things from Amazon. A different knee brace, some hangers to add to the ones I got my daughter for Christmas, cream for my knee, and 1 set of candles. The 4pk of candles I usually buy from Blue Corn Beeswax were out of stock. I also ordered the tuna in olive oil in a 12-pack because it’s easier than going to get them at the store. the price is almost the same as Winco, maybe 10 cents more. What I’m doing is using a virtual envelope for Amazon and giving myself $100 a month for household things. I won’t include the tuna as that’s food.

Saturday is my MRI and after that, I plan to go to Trader Joe’s and get a few things. Eggs, bread, cream, bagels, maybe some chips and a few frozen meals to add to the freezer. Last week we had the Kung Pao Chicken and it was very good.

Next week I have my labs and the appt with the PC about the next step with the knee once the MRI comes in. I guess I would hope that it’ll just be PT to help strenghten it but it’s anyone’s guess at this point. That’s it for the week. I doubt I’ll be going to the pool or the gym till I have a plan in place. Although, if the knee brace stabilizes my knee I will go do upper body weights. I’m pretty depressed about it all since I hate not being able to be active. But as always I’ll get through it.

We have a good size load in the back of the VW to drop off at Goodwill and Assistance league. B will do that today. It’s always a good feeling to great rid of stuff. I did put all the Mountain House dehydrated meals in the bag for the food bank and I’ll do that either today or next week. I still have some other food out in the ‘barn prepper pantry’ so I need to get that first. I do not plan on restocking any of that out in the barn. I’m just going to have my pantry boxes and what I have on the Ivar shelving unit. ( That’s for the pressure canned goods and jams, salsas, and tomato sauces.) I’ll always have some stock up pantry because I’ve always bought in bulk starting back in 1975 but I won’t do the same thing as when the pandemic hit. Having bulk rice and beans etc just makes sense for how I cook plus I hate thinking about what I need so I’d rather buy bulk and be done with it for months at a time.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgets, California, cooking, frugalism, minimalism, swimming by

I think we’re on track with no spend/low spend even with groceries. With me not going out 3 days a week, it cuts down on driving/gas and I don’t go to the store.

I know we bought some wine for Christmas but I think that was it. B went into Target to buy 4 different sliced cheeses as we were out and Target’s brand is quite good and the price very good. Plus I needed Weimans stainless steel wipes too. I think that added up to $42. Since those are essentials they don’t count as extra buying.

I added a few more dollars to some cash envelopes, like $20 for car maintenance, $50 for DMV registration, and some other misc. ones. So I’m quite pleased with how it’s going. It may take a while to fully load these as our income is limited so no extra is coming in.

I wrote up as I always do our Minimalist Christmas dinner and gifts. I think I did really well not overdoing anything. Each person got 4-5 gifts and nothing too expensive. B got his garden Berkies and my daughter got a nice organic cotton PJ set from Garnet Hill. I got my son a Burberry scarf from eBay. I was concerned it was a knockoff but it’s pretty nice and doesn’t have any of the telltale signs of a fake. ( I guess the red stripe is blurry on the fakes.)

Today is another home day on Dex for me. I’ve done my morning routine, swish and swipe the bathroom, LR zone with windows washed, everything tidy and I’m making an apple pie filling crumble with oats so S can have it instead ofminimal pastry. The apple pie filling is what I made at the beginning of the month with apples a friend of my son gave us from their trees.

Tomorrow I plan to swim although it will be shortened as I don’t want to be set back again with my leg. I need to get gas at Costco and then stop in TJ’s for gluten-free bread for S. I had bought her the gluten-free madeleines and she said they were very good so I’ll get them again too.

Gus sitting in the cat tower on the winter solstice.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, camping, cash envelopes, simplicity, travel by

Overall, a frugal week. No extra shopping for anything so a low spend week with just groceries I got at Trader Joe’s. I need to go down to the market on Sunday morning to get the veggies for the fondue but that’s all.

I plan on continuing no spend/low spend into January. I do need a few extra things like hand soap but that can wait. Also, I’m trying hard not to buy too much from Amazon. I certainly like the convenience but it adds up pretty quickly.

I have my budget set for January and plan on increasing some cash envelopes for a couple of savings challenges. The big one would be to replace my Louis Vuitton that got stolen. I’ve hemmed and hawed at buying one but decided after 2 years(almost, February), I still want one. So that will be the savings challenge.

Christmas is all sorted so that’s done till next year. I plan on taking down most of the tree ornaments right after Christmas. I think I have the tree ornaments pretty well dialed in as to what I want on the tree. Most of the Hallmark ones we collected for years stayed in the bin( Star Wars, Superheroes, etc), and only a few of those made it to the tree. Most were the special ones like birds and some handmade ones too. So I have one bin in the barn that is all the Hallmark ones and that’s it. What I used I have in 3 Ikea boxes that I keep in the closet on the top shelf. I like Christmas to be as simple as possible and I think I’ve done that now. 

We still have a few more camping trips to book but I have to check dates on those. We don’t go to Tahoe in July or August because it’s crowded but June is great and we have 2 times already booked. The next would be our September trip. I’d like to book some place in March but that can be iffy with the weather, especially on the coast.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cash envelopes, cooking, meal planning by

Well, we made it to December!! Hopefully, the month goes smoothly with no upsets. In the past, December has had both my back fracture T 10 in 2003 and B’s MDS diagnosis in 2019. So I often have anxiety about December probably remembering the emotions at those times.

On the frugal things.

I’m planning to do a No Spend/low spend December. I have bought enough from Amazon over the last month so I want to scale back that spending. Besides Christmas things, I bought Simple Human garbage bags, beeswax candles, and ??? I don’t include food or gas or other necessities but no extra things.

B got the oil changed in the Santa Fe, it needed some new filters so that added to the cost. I’ll up the cash envelope so it can fully cover those things.

We had the propane filled and that was $259 so really not bad at all. This is a quarterly bill and I plan to start and envelope for that. I’ve been watching some Youtubers cash envelopes and most fill the envelopes and then take to the bank. I was curious if that’s what they did because some of their envelopes were quite large. One woman had $600 in one for daycare and then moved that over when it was due. So I like that idea and it will keep me accountable. I like the cash envelope system and it’s working very well really.

I didn’t go to the grocery store this week, except I sent B to go down to the Holiday Market for sour cream and buttermilk I needed for recipe which I haven’t made yet.

Today is still a Dex/ no drive day for me so I’m going to make some cookies and plan next week’s menu. This week we had 3 freezer meals including stuffed peppers last night. So that really helps the budget. I also used the last pressure canned split pea soup and that was delicious.

Tonight we’re ordering pizza. I need to do an order from Central Milling for my 00 pizza flour. I think I missed their Cyber Monday sale but that’s ok.

Tomorrow, I’m planning on going to the pool and then to Trader Joe’s so money will be spent there. I don’t need a whole lot but TJ’s always has something interesting.

Here’s a look at our BIG BUCKIE. He’s circling our hilltop looking for girls. I hope he stays safe and out of the road. Last week on the freeway I counted 4 dead deer. On our main road, I saw 2 deer hit by cars. People drive too fast thru town here where the speed limit is posted at 25mph.

I’m pretty sure he’s limping on that leg in the back. I hope he’s safe. I would love if an antler fell off though since I collect them.

Friday Things

Posted in bread, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, frugalism by

It’s been mostly a frugal week. I didn’t do any grocery shopping but tomorrow I will stop in Trader Joe’s for some things to take with us to Napa and for home. Mostly whatever we need we’ll go buy there. The TJ’s in Napa is one of the largest we’ve been in and a flagship store. There were lots of things that we hadn’t seen in other ones.

My monthly budget is almost set. I want to factor in Christmas money and figure out gift cards. We don’t really have family to send gifts to but I give my brother cash, and my brother-in-law ( Heidi’s husband) a gift basket. Last year I did Point Reyes Cheese which is a women-owned co-op. Their cheese is amazing. Heidi always loved charcuterie boards and I figured Richard probably will too. So I’ll do that again this year. Other than that, the kids get gift cards, cash, and some small things.

For Thanksgiving, I already have a Diestal turkey I bought last year after Thanksgiving. I’m debating whether to just buy their turkey breast as it would be easier to cook. Since Thanksgiving will be on a Dex day I told everyone it’ll need to be super easy for them to cook. I’ll think about it. I’ll have simple side dishes that they can put together too. My son likes to cook so it shouldn’t be too difficult. The other option is to do Thanksgiving on Sunday and then whatever on Thanksgiving Day.

I’ve put together a new binder of rotation meals that we eat often and recipes for them. The idea came from Rhonda over at the Down to Earth blog. She talked about having 40 meals in rotation and the recipes. I liked the idea since we basically eat the same things like tofu in some form, pasta, chicken in some form, beans, rice, etc. She is now alone as Hanno died a few years back but she is an inspiration of living simply. She does have 2 adult sons who live nearby. She’s in Australia BTW.

Today is just a home day. I plan on making a no-knead sourdough boule. It needs an overnight rise so I’ll bake it tomorrow. Tonight is homemade pizza. I need to wash a few inside windows in the sunroom and just do an overall tidy-up.

Friday Things.

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It has been a super frugal week as we really haven’t spent much at Tahoe.

I needed my vitamins which, I get at Grocery Outlet. $7.99

Then we needed a few things from Safeway including some Advil which I didn’t realize we were out of in Rubi. Plus we bought a piece of Tiramisu to share after dinner one night. We forgot to bring tofu to BBQ so I bought a container.

We went to Goodwill for fun and I bought 3 books. Their books are crazy expensive $3.99. But one was a Louise Penny and the other a vintage cookbook called, of course, Alice’s Restaurant, and a first edition Help which, I like to read occasionally.

We saw a Mexican restaurant near the gym so we thought we’d try a lunch entree. it was good but the beans were cold and I told them. That added up to $15. with tip.

So really a no-spend week.

A granite boulder on a new trail we discovered.

Rubi with candle light.

The 73 YO and tomorrow the 71 YO. Good grief Charlie Brown, where have the years gone.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgets, California, camping, cancer, cooking, freezer cooking, husband, Myeloma, Pantry, swimming, Walking by

It was a frugalish week. After swimming on Tuesday I stopped at TJs for a few things like eggs, sandwich bread, odds and ends, and wine. I need to go there tomorrow and pick up some stuff to take camping. There’s not a TJs in the whole of Lake Tahoe. There is a Grocery Outlet though. I spent just over $100. Other than that no grocery shopping. I think the way to save money(and it is working) on groceries is to stay out of Safeway, or even our Holiday Market is pretty high priced. Of course, sometimes I need something and it makes sense to get it here rather than driving out to get it. So I think I’m going to plan regular TJs, Winco, and then Costco for the bigger bulk items like coffee.

Today is B’s birthday so we’ll all celebrate with some cake and take out pizza. Another turn around the sun!! Happy Birthday to the love of my life.

We had a nice walk with only a few people there. It does really bug me though when people do not use a flashlight when it’s still dark-ish out.

Then I came home and made a loaf of pumpkin bread to freeze. I had enough pureed pumpkin left to make a batch of pumpkin muffins too.

Later I’m heading into town to go to CVS to hopefully pick up my dexamethasone. There’s been some confusion about where to send it and now I’m not sure if it’ll be there. I figured I’d better go in and check rather than call. The infusion center called and I have all my October dates scheduled. He wants 4 weeks on and 1 week off. Not sure why but in the long run it probably doesn’t matter. We canceled our mid October camping trip because we were going to leave the day I have an appt with the Dr. and then infusion after. There’s no sense going if I’ll have just gotten the shot and then Dex. We had a reservation for 4 nights so 3 of those days wouldn’t really make sense as those are the days I’m not 100%. That’s ok. We’re keeping the Napa reservation in November. I’ll start my next cycle that week so it’ll just need to be later in the week as we’re booked Sun- Thurs. Although, I think we’ll probably leave Wednesday so I can get the appt on Thursday.

Our fall weather is definitely here. Very cool mornings, nice days with warmish temperatures.

Here’s how the pantry is looking. I haven’t done another pressure canned meal as I don’t have a lot of room. When we get back I’ll make something to add. just look at the color of those tomatoes!!! The applesauce is from our tree this year. I still have half a box to do. All the rest of the tomatoes even the green ones I’m putting in a box in the closet to ripen. As they ripen I’m just bagging them and putting them in the freezer to process at a later date.

Frugal Friday

Posted in budgeting, budgets, California, cooking, frugalism, Uncategorized by

It seems like it was a low-spend week. I did go to Winco and got the strawberries and some other stuff I can’t remember and that was $50??? I haven’t been to Safeway or Costco so that always makes for a lower spend week.

I received my order of peaches but not both boxes. I ordered 2 and only got one. I’ve emailed them but haven’t heard back. It would make way too expensive for peach jam. I sure hope they deal with it.

Then I checked my LLS and it seems they’ve messed that up too so I’m waiting to see the final assessment. The other day when I checked they had it all right and then yesterday I checked and it looked way different and only was paying a fraction of what I submitted so, I may have to call:(

I guess all of this would be frugal if it was working the way it’s supposed to.

Today, I’m going to pressure can Boston Baked Beans. I have done the presoak and pre-boil and now have them in the oven for 4 hours. I should get 6-7 pints of beans. I omitted the bacon so it may not have as deep a flavor. I got this bag of Great Northern white beans at Winco during the pandemic. I think I paid $2.00 for it. So 6 pints of baked beans for that price is pretty frugal.

I’m heading into the gym for a workout and then when I get home will get the pressure canner going.