My Favorite Place in Cincinnati

As many of you may know, my favorite place in Cincinnati is the Krohn Conservatory.  It is a feast for the eyes as well as the nose!  The beauty is amazing but the smell is overwhelmingly amazing!  Take a look at some pics of my visit last week:

 

Hope you enjoyed a few pics of my happy place!

Blessings,

Lisa

And the Winner is.........

     The winner of the purple canning jars is......Teri!!  Congrats Terri!  Please email me your address on LJN41001@yahoo.com  so I can get your jars to you!

Thank you to all who enterred the drawing!  I appreciate your participation!

Many thanks,
Lisa

Last Week's Frugality

Hi!  How have you all been?  Good I hope! 

  I have a major confession to make this week..............We ate out!  I know, I know, but there is a reason........sort of!  We have a new restaurant in town that is being run by  friends of the family so we wanted to show our support to them and try out the food! Let me tell you it was amazing!  The Hidden Dragon in Alexandria KY is awesome!  I know, we still shouldn't have, but it was so stinkin' good! 

  Well, on to the savings!
   I packed my lunch all week!  Yippee!  This week I have drunk water all day, no tea or coffee.
 
   I ran out of Finish DW detergent and have made do using Kool-aid, washing soda, salt and borax. While this worked in the interim, my glasses are getting cloudy.  So I am looking for better prices on my finish!
 
  I received a check for $4.39 from a Nutella settlement.  I  had purchased 3 or 4 jars and this was my share of the settlement.  I had forgotten about submitting for this so this was a nice suprise!

 Somehow I overpaid at the Dr. office and received a refund check in the mail for $30.00!  Totally unexpected also! So we are $34.39 to the good!

  The alfalfa sprouts were harvested and another batch started.  Yummy on sandwiches and in salads!

   My Mother-in-law took me out to dinner for my birthday a few days early.  She also gave me a UK scarf--Perfect timing during March Madness--Thank you Rose!

   My electric bill for last month was huge! So I am going to be working on getting that down for next month.  I know the weather was very bad, snowy and cold so it should be better anyway with the warmer weather but I need to get it way down.  I see clothes lines in my near future! Please leave any tips in the comments section--I sure could use the help!

  We are still saving water in our shower to use to flush the toilet.  Better to use the water for flushing than it going down the drain waiting for the hot water. Several gallons a day saved at least.  I am also using bottles of water in the toilet tanks to displace and save on water. Minute savings, but savings none the less!

   I found strawberries 5 for $5 and a new breakfast sausage from John Morrell.


7 of the 10 breakfast sausages (3 went to my son)

The introductory price was 10 for $10!  I bought 5 strawberries and 10 Sausage chubs.


                            Guess what I did with the Strawberries-Made Jam of course!

Strawberry Jam Cooking

My jars sterilizing

11 jars Strwberry jam and 4 pints of Black Cherry Jelly!

    I made a batch of strawberry jam and 2 batchs of Black Cherry("poverty") Kool-Aid jelly.  We absolutely love the black cherry and it is so very cheap to make. I love that I can make it in the Spring before all of the outside chores start up. If you want to see the recipe click Here!   I am looking forward to making another "poverty" jelly soon--dandelion!

  My DS's girlfriend doesn't remember going to the Krohn Conservatory (My favorite place in the Nati) so we went Saturday!  I think she really enjoyed it and I used a coupon from the website to save $1 per person on admission. It is such a beautiful, calming place! I love it!



Krohn Conservatory

DS and GF in front of the Waterfall

 


 

I guess that is about it or me!  What did you save money on last week?  Please share your savings with us in the comments !  We can all learn from each other !

 

Frugal Blessings,
Lisa

Don't forget about the drawing for the canning jars--drawing is this week!
Go here to enter!

                                                     

Thanks to all of my old and new readers!

    

    I have to tell you all how excited I have been since I got back in the blogging groove!  I have had more comments the last several weeks than I have had in years and I love it!
It is so much fun to build relationships with my readers.   Again, thanks to all of you--old and new! 
 You make blogging so rewarding!
Blessings,
Lisa

Welcome Spring!

Spring is here!


Blessings to you all,
Lisa

To Do List

 

  Hello Dear Friends!  I am almost embarrassed to write this post because I accomplished so little on my To Do List.  But here it is!  Full disclosure-just keeping it real!

1. Finish cleaning out the refrigerator--Not finished

2. Scrub bathroom top to bottom--not finished

3. Work on pillowcase embroidery-a work in progress

4. Write 3 blog posts-done

5. Try to get 2 items posted on Facebook yard sale site-not done

6. Hang ladder in living room-Done and it looks great!

7. Send thank you to my SIL’s Father for hauling my stove-not done

8. Clean my picture window and sills-not done
 

9. Walk every day at lunch-walked 2 days only

10. Batch cook ground beef and repackage for freezer-done

11. Store 2 more jugs of water for emergencies-not done

12. Make no bake peanut butter cookies for my DH-not done

13.Paint light fixture I found second hand and get installed in my bathroom
Not done

Alfalfa Sprouts day 4

14. No eating out--done

15. Start a batch of alfalfa sprouts--done

  
     It hasn't even been a very busy week but I still lacked the motivation to complete my list.   Since I didn't get much done, I am going to use the same list for next week and see if I can complete it.

 How do you keep yourself motivated?  Please tell me I need all of the help I can get!

Blessings,
Lisa

PS. Remember to go to this post to enter for your chance at winning Purple canning jars! Good Luck!!

Last Week's Frugality

     Hello all!  Hope you have had a great frugal week! 

  I packed my lunch all five days!  Woo hoo!  I had a free breakfast at work in celebration of the March Birthdays. I just have to continue this forever!! Lol!

   I used my gas points at Kroger to save 10 cents per gallon.  May not be much, but that dollar helps!

  My DS's girlfriend brought me 2 dozen fresh eggs from her parent's farm.  They are brown and blue eggs and they are amazing! Thank you Thank you!  I remembered to save the egg cartons and sent them back to her.

  I have been trying to use up the corn I put in the freezer so we had corn on the cob two times last week--yummy!

  I had a girl at work save coke caps for me and entered them in for double points.  I am saving them up for a gift for my DH for Christmas; Either movie tickets, or a Sports Illustrated subscription. Which ever I have enough points for.  Either will be much appreciated.

 

Seasoned Bread Crumb Ingredients

  I had several pieces of bread getting stale so instead of throwing it out, I made seasoned dried bread crumbs.


Ranch Dressing Mix and Seasoned bread crumbs

 I made a double batch of ranch dressing mix.  I really want to get away from using those chemical laden store bought dressings.  Fresh dressings are amazing, cheap, and you know what is in them!  I have an old dressing carafe I plan on using!  Too cool!

Goodwill Finds!

    I found 2 stoneware bowls at the Goodwill for 50 cents each and an iron fork for $2.  Aren't they adorable?



   I did get a batch of alfalfa sprouts started.  They are so good in salads and on sandwiches.

    We have been using the last of the  2014 years jelly and jam.  We are down to 2 half pints of the pineapple jelly and that is it!  I love the fact that I am making all of our jellies and jams but I need to get busy making more! Some cheap jelly recipes to come!

  I did go to the grocery and just bought basics.  I was able to pick up 2 pounds of banannas for 54 cents.  I only spent 19.78 at the grocery so I saved over $30 in our grocery budget.

What did you save on this week?
Please share your savings to encourage others!

Frugal blessings,
Lisa



 

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

                                                   May you have love that never ends,
                                                 lots of money, and lots of friends.
                                                 Health be yours, whatever you do,
                                                 and may God send many blessings
                                                 to you!

                                                                Lisa

Last Week's Frugality

    Last week I sold a sashay scarf and made $8.00.  I used that to buy 16 cans of tuna that was on sale at our local Meijer.  It’s a start to building my pantry stash back up!

    I packed my lunch all 5 days this week!  Go me!!  I just need to continue this every week! I used my own teabags and used hot water from the cafeteria to save $6.00 again last week.

   I only made one extra trip this week.  I had to take my Mother to the Goodwill and then the grocery. Other than that I just went back and forth to work.  I still have just under a half tank of gas.

  I have started embroidering pillowcases for my Grandaughter and my nieces.  These will be part of their birthday gifts.  I’ll share the finished products with you when they are all done.

  I finished sewing snaps on bibs for a baby shower gift.  I made 3 bibs, a taggie blanket and picked up several things from the Dollar Tree.  All in all, I think they turned out too cute! What do you think?

   My original stove died 2 months ago so we brought up the spare from the kitchen in the basement.  As I was cooking dinner Monday night, I realized the oven had stopped working.  Now, I am not heartbroken over this because the stove is a glass top stove and you know what that means.  NO canning on it.  So we planned on just  making due with the stove top and microwave for the time being.   I will be getting a bonus in April and had planned on buying a new stove then but……..When I took my Momma to the Goodwill, we walked back and in the furniture section guess what we saw?  A never been used stove!!!!  It looks to be several years old but has never been used!  The price was $150 but it was Half off Saturday and that included the stove!  I got a stove for just $75.00!!!

The Lord was looking after me for sure!  And then it gets better—My Momma bought it for me. Since she has been out of commission since Dec. 1^st, she wasn’t able to get me a Christmas present.  So I got my stove for my Christmas gift from her!  Thank you Momma!

     Last month I started a Christmas Club through our credit union.  I have $45 dollars saved for Christmas.  I’ll only accumulate about $300 by the payout date but that will be a tremendous help!

     I saved several juice bottles, cleaned them, and filled with water and a few drops of bleach for emergency use.  Every bit helps in a disaster, natural or otherwise.  The cost was next to nothing.

     Meijer had a great sale this week.  I got 5 pkgs. of strawberries for $5.00.  I found a half gallon of chocolate milk for 67 cents, a large container of cottage cheese for 90 cents, a bag of clementines for just $1.50, 2 quarts of fruit juice for just $1.80, and 2 green peppers for $1.

  Our Alexandria County Market had the ground beef on sale for $2.79 per pound and while that is a great deal, they had several packs reduced to $2.29 per pound.  I bought about 12 pounds!  It has been so expensive that I haven’t been willing to spend that much per pound for hamburger.  So I was all smiles as I left with my beef bounty, let me tell you! I’m dreaming of homemade meatloaf and a big pot of chili!

  This is what I saved money on this week!  How did you do?  We can all learn from each other so please comment and let us be inspired by your savings!

Frugal Blessings,

Lisa

Ps.  Check out my I Love Jars post to enter for a giveaway!

Next Week's To Do List

Here is what I accomplished on my to do list from last week:

1. Clean out refrigerator.—Half way done

2. Scrub bathroom top to bottom—Not done

3. Cook pork roast with carrots and potatoes in crock pot—Not done

4. Sew snaps on bibs and bring gift to work—Done!!

5. Purge stuff from Living room. --Done

6. Get rid of broken lamp--Done

7. Hang ladder on wall over TV –Not done

8. Bag up 2 bags of clothes from my closet and take to Goodwill—Not done

9. Clean kitchen window and sill--Done

10. Wash bedding--Done

11. Start embroidering pillowcases for upcoming birthdays--Started

12. Put 2 items on Facebook yard sale site-use money to build pantry—Not done—My camera is acting up—won’t charge

13. Complete 2 blog posts--Done

14. Buy garden seeds-Done

15. Get fabric for tv table skirt—Not done.

 

Well, as you see, I didn’t get too much accomplished last week.  I really wanted to get more done, but life happens.. This is still more than I would have completed without the list so I am gonna keep going with it!

Next week’s to do list:

1.     Finish cleaning out the refrigerator

2.     Scrub bathroom top to bottom

3.     Work on pillowcase embroidery

4.     Write 3 blog posts

5.     Try to get 2 items posted on Facebook yard sale site

6.     Hang ladder in living room

7.     Send thank you to my SIL’s Father for hauling my stove

8.     Clean my picture window and sills

9.     Walk every day at lunch

10.   Batch cook ground beef and repackage for freezer

11.   Store 2 more jugs of water for emergencies

12. Make no bake peanut butter cookies for my DH

13.Paint light fixture I found second hand and get installed in my bathroom

14. No eating out

15.   Start a batch of alfalfa sprouts

I have a big list of things to do in addition to the everyday normal routine!  Stop back and see what I have accomplished next week!

Busy Blessings,

Lisa

 

 

                              

I Love Jars! Do You?

  This is what came in the mail Saturday!

Aren't they just adorable!  Guess what?  I received 2 sets!!!!
 I love jars. I really, really love jars.   Also, I want to give back to my readers so I am going to give away a set of the Purple Heritage Pint Sized Canning Jars! 

   You are eligible for this drawing by following my blog and leaving a comment in the comment section below!  Remember, this is only open to followers, so if you are not a follower, please join today and comment to be entered.    If you share this on pinterest, on facebook, or on your blog, leave a comment telling me you did so for more chances at winning.  So good luck to everyone! Please make sure to check back on March 25th to see if you are a winner and give me your address!

Blessings,
Lisa

If you want to order your own set, I would appreciate you using my link on the right side of my blog!
As most of you know, If you order from a link on this blog, I will earn a nominal fee. Your support would be most appreciated!

Next Week's Goals

  Since things are getting back to our so called normal, I need to start getting more accomplished around the house.  Let me tell you it needs it!!  I feel if I post my goals, that you all will help me be more accountable and get more done. So here goes:

1.      Clean out refrigerator.

2.     Scrub bathroom top to bottom

3.     Cook pork roast with carrots and potatoes in crock pot

4.     Sew snaps on bibs and bring gift to work

5.     Purge stuff from Living room.

6.     Get rid of broken lamp

7.     Hang ladder on wall over TV

8.     Bag up 2 bags of clothes from my closet and take to Goodwill

9.     Clean kitchen window and sill

10.     Wash bedding

11.     Start embroidering pillowcases for upcoming birthdays

12.      Put 2 items on Facebook  yard sale site-use money to build pantry

13.     Complete 2 blog posts

14.      Buy garden seeds

15.       Get fabric for tv table skirt

 

Have you set your goals for this week?  If so what are they?  Remember, I love comments!

Blessings,

Lisa

Last Week's Frugality

    Last Week I packed my lunch 4 out of 5 days.  Still have to pack all week long.  I just am not planning early enough.  I hope to do better this week.  I have been taking my own tea bags and mug to work though.  A cup of hot tea costs $1.25 in the cafeteria at work so I saved over $6 by doing this!!

 

   I shopped the reduced bin at Meijer and found a pepper for 32 cents, five Roma tomatoes for 72 cents and got a bag(1 meals worth) of fresh green beans for 70 cents.  The 3lb bags of onions were just $1 so I picked up one bag of those also. We love onions in almost everything!

  We had bean soup this week using the ham bone from last week.  That made 5 meals out of one spiral ham.   I stretched that baby!!  We ate on the soup 2 meals, and I was able to freeze some for my lunches next week.

  We heat with propane and as many of you know, it is very expensive!!!!!  We had planned on using firewood and our fireplace insert, but my Mother broke her leg and is staying with us.  She has COPD and is on oxygen so we have not been able to use the fireplace this winter.  In order to save on the propane, we are using several space heaters and keeping the thermostat set on 62.  We have been using many warm blankets and wearing layers to make it work.  The electric bill has been high, but not as high as using propane only would have been. I do not advise anyone to go the route we have, as you know space heaters can be dangerous sometimes.   We turn them off and on through out the day.  Be careful.

  We only made one extra trip out this week.  I had to get my glasses ordered.  That was not a frugal trip by any means. Super expensive even with insurance helping pay for them.  How can 2 pieces of plastic cost $550?  I'll never understand and yes I am darned near blind and need bifocals also.

  By using my Kroger points, I saved 70 cents per gallon of gas!!!  I filled my tank for .......just $16!!!!  Awesome, but I understand gas prices are going up.  I knew it couldn't last!  Oh well, it was nice for a while anyway!

  That's about it for me.  What did you do to save money last week?
Frugal blessings,
Lisa

  PS   I received something wonderful in the mail Saturday! I  am going to share-HInt, Hint, Hint! You are gonna love them! Stop back soon to see what my giveaway will be!
 

The Circle of Life

     I have missed my blogging friends so much!   Life has been very difficult for my family for the last 6-8 months.  My Mother had a heart attack last August, then hurt her knee and went to PT for months.  Then on her 2nd to last PT  visit in December, she fell getting into my daughters car, broke her leg in 3 places and cracked a rib.  After being admitted to the hospital, she had another mild heart attack and was inpatient for 12 days followed by 20 days in Rehab.   In the midst of her hospital stay, my DH was in the hospital for days for Epilepsy testing. Sheww! Where did December go?   Mom has been staying with us since she was released from Rehab and it has been a pretty rough 6 weeks.

  I am just now feeling like we are living in some semblence of normal, or at least our new so called normal! So I decided to try and get back to my blogging.

 

   Kroger had small pots of tulips on sale last week.  I so NEEDED a breath of spring time!  Just a hint that Spring is just around the corner, and do you know what?  That little pot of yellow and red tulips, has helped tremendously!  I cannot look at them and not smile!  I cannot wait for the small green shoots of my perennials to start popping up through the cold earth.  Mother Nature waking up after a long Winter's rest and coming to life!  It will be so joyous to watch my favorite plants start a new life cycle this spring.  Many people don't like fall because they feel everything is dying, but I love that season as well becasue it is a part of the circle of life that promises new life in the Spring!  Everything  and everyone needs to rest  in order to bloom.  So I feel as though I have rested since August and  my blog is going to BLOOM this Spring!   I hope you all will enjoy this circle of life with me!

Dreaming of Spring Blessings,
Lisa