Tag Archives: low spend

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.

Friday things

Posted in Blood test, budgeting, budgets, California, cancer, Myeloma, Uncategorized by

Overall, it was a low-spend week. Yesterday, I went into Target( the first time in quite a while) as I was looking for extra lights. They had zip. All sold out. I did pick up a few ugly ornaments to add to the ugly ornament tree. I picked up a few kitchen items to give as a Christmas gift for my son’s friend. They like to cook so I thought a few kitchen items would be nice.

Then, before I met my friends for coffee, I went into Safeway as I needed a couple more russets for the latkes. Also, I wanted to get our garbage guy a bottle of wine to add to his gift bag. We don’t do many gifts but I feel he works all year in rain, snow, etc, and deserves a little appreciation. Other than that, Christmas is done.

Today, I’m making a big batch of pizza dough to freeze and then use one for dinner tonight. The recipe I have makes 4 balls of dough and it’s been working out well this way.

I’ll be continuing the low spend into next week too and just do the one Winco shop for the Christmas lasagna ingredients. I’ve stayed off Amazon and that’s saying something!!!

I certainly am feeling better each day but next week starts Cycle 3. The great news is though, my numbers just hit normal. 19.0 . High normal is 19.4. My ratio between kappa and lambda is still a little high but that will eventually drop. In spite of some aspects being harder than I thought it would be( or maybe I just forgot from last time), it’s worth it if Velcade/Dex is doing the work.

Today, we’re going to go out for a while and maybe get lunch out. We’ll see:)

Frugal Friday

Posted in books, California, cash envelopes, cooking, frugalism, Walking by

This has been a frugal week overall. I only went to Winco for King Arthur WW flour, a few condiments, wine, and some eggs. ( $40) appx. We’re having to supplement our eggs with organic eggs from the store. We’ve lost half of the white leghorns to water belly disease which this breed gets and there’s nothing you can do.:( I’m more than ready to be done with chickens. I dislike paying for store eggs but there are plenty of good options as long as you don’t mind the price. Trader Joes’s has good prices on eggs but Costco is probably the best for organic eggs.

I got gas in the Sante Fe and that was $41 and Barclay took both the SF and Buggie to the car wash. I have a cash envelope for car washes so he used that.

Dinners were all homemade with some leftovers like the chicken. Tonight is pizza night and I made the dough yesterday. I’ll keep it simple with cheese ,olives, peppers, and some basil I still have from the farm. I’m going out to the farm later mostly for lettuce. I still have a bag of spinach from last week so I need to use that up.

I’ve been making a few pot holders and another washcloth. It’s just something to do. I didn’t get any books from the library as I felt I needed a break from reading.

The pool was cool again this morning but ok. I started out with a lane of my own but then someone showed up later. I was back home by 8:10. I’ve been tidying around the house and moving a few things around. Nothing major just a few things changed.

I won’t swim tomorrow even Saturday has been my favorite day. The hours are different and I’m guessing it’ll be busier. I’ll walk and then go the Auburn gym Sunday.