Last Week's Frugality

  Hello Dear Readers! 
     Hope this writing finds you well. So Let's get right into it!
I packed my lunch 3out of 4 days last week.  I missed a day and a half of work due to a raging cold that I still have despite a trip to urgent care and 3 prescriptions later.

  We saved $.80 per gallon on gas using our Kroger points.  That was almost a $8.00 savings!
   I used coupons to get my clothes detergent $1 cheaper per bottle--$4.00 savings!
  I found spaghetti sauce for just $.82 per can and added 6 to my pantry. Combined with my $.49 per lb. spaghetti, this will be a super cheap meal!  This will be my go to price for spaghetti sauce from now on!  I found the Del Monte sauce at Wal-Mart.
   My DH was out of coffee so when Meijer had it on sale buy one get one for a dollar, we stocked up on 4 canisters!  Saved over $10!
   I found several green and yellow peppers in the reduced bin at Meijer. Saved about $2 on the 5 peppers!  The peppers will make an awesome Unstuffed Pepper Casserole!(recipe coming soon!) My family LOVES it!
  I purchased two more cans of the chicken breast from Big Lots to add to my pantry stash. I am getting close to having about 3 months worth of food and household supplies.  I am about half way to my goal of 6 months worth of pantry stash!  Go Me!!
 Now I just need to figure out where to put it!
  We switched from fi-optics to spectrum cable for our phone cable, and internet needs in order to save $40 per month. Well, the internet connection has not been very reliable( I am being very nice about this) so my DH(who just has to have cable) called and has gotten our bill adjusted because of the crappy internet service .  Have saved $13 so far!
   Well, that's about all from my house-What have you been saving on this week?
Frugal Blessings,
Lisa


 




  




 
 

Happy Valentine's Day!!

                                    Happy Valentine's Day to all of my readers!

Last Week's Frugality

  Last week wasn't as frugal as I would have liked!  We had an 80th birthday party for my Mother so it was a little expensive.  Lots of leftovers-which we are eating on this week!  Cannot let them go to waste!
  I packed my lunch all five days last week.  It is too convenient to charge lunch on my name badge for payroll deduction.  It makes the fact that I packed all the better! 

  I used digital coupons at Kroger and saved almost $50 on my last order!  They really add up and lots are for things I have purchased in the past--some are tailored to each customer! 

  I mended a night gown that was ripped. This is my favorite nighty that I have had for years and years!  I'll wear it until it wears out!

  I shop at Big Lots and have found that their off brand of canned chicken breast meat is just $1.74 per can as opposed to Swanson's that is $2.75.  I added 2 cans to my pantry. This makes 10 cans total in my stash--remember my goal of 6 months of food stocked. 

  My cousin gave us a mess of turnips!  Not my favorite but free is great--thanks Charles!

  I bought 2 more whole boneless hams for 99 cents per lb.  I cut them in 4 equal pieces and froze them. A quarter ham will feed our family of four very well for less than $3 for the meat for a meal.  You can slice and fry or bake it-yummy!

That's about it for my family last week.  How have you and yours saved money? I would love to hear about your saving ways!

Frugal Blessings,
Lisa
  

Quote of the Week

--Ingrid Bergman

Pantry Stash Additions

               

Part of my Pantry Stash 

  This week I shopped the loss leaders at Kroger and used the digital coupons as well. I  was able to add the following to my Pantry Stash:  6lb. of angel hair pasta, and 6lb. of macaroni (49 cents a box), 5 boxes of stuffing mix (49 cents per box), 5 jars of gravy (88 cents per jar), and 1 jar of Kroger peanut butter for FREE!   To My first aid stash I added a box of band aids.  Remember your household items (cleaners, Soap, shampoo, TP, etc.) and first aid items are part of your pantry stash as well as food Items.  

  I feel like I added quite a bit to my pantry this week! One step closer to meeting my goal of a 6 months supply of food and household items!  What have you done to increase your stash?

Prepared Blessings,

Lisa   

Where I have been and new Goals!

Winter Sky

  Wow,  it has been quite a while since I posted last!  I guess the big news is that my  stage 4 colon cancer reared its ugly head again.  It was found on a scan I had in mid October of last year and boy was I gobsmacked by the news!  I knew the cancer would probably come back, but really didn't expect it to come back within the first year and a half.  Sooooooo......I had to have surgery to resect the tumor in my abdominal wall and then when they got in there they found two or three more spots on my small intestine and omentum(fatty covering of the colon). So the tumor was removed, small intestine was resected two times, and the omentum was removed during a 6+ hour surgery. It was rough recovering from the lengthy surgery but I finally made it!  Lol!! 

  I was  able to go back to work in mid January and am feeling good now!
So look for more posts from yours truly in the future! I am getting back in the groove!!
  I have new goals I am working on--the cancer caught us in a rough spot financially and I am determined to improve our circumstances so when/if the cancer comes back, we won't have so many financial worries.  I will be as prepared as I possibly can be both mentally and financially! I AM DETERMINED!!!


 My goals are:
                        1. To have a 6 month supply of food and household needs in my Pantry  stash by December 2019


                        2. To save $2000 by the end of 2019


                        3. To help others in need next Christmas( As we were helped last
       Christmas-God really showed his handiwork through others!)


                        4. To go on a date night with my DH once a month

                        5. To take better care of myself both mentally and physically


  I hope you will follow my progress on the above goals and help hold me accountable for meeting all of them! 


Blessings,
Lisa
 

Quote of the Week

Last Week's Frugality

  Finally, Fall weather has arrived here in the Ohio river valley! So,we were able to turn the Air conditioners off for the season.  They have been in use pretty much in the early part of our extremely warm Autumn!  I'll be glad to get them out of the windows and put away for the winter and Spring. Hopefully it doesn't get too cold too fast so we can save some on the utility budget!

   I cleaned out the freezers and much to my dismay, I had more than I would have liked, to throw away.  I hate waste but things get shuffled to the bottom of the freezer and are not seen again until you clean it out.  One of the hazards of having a chest type freezer. Pitching old food really hurts!

  I shopped the loss leaders at our local Meijer.  Bought 2 half  pork loins and had them sliced.  Separated them into meal sized portions and put them in the freezer.  For less than $11 I have meat for 7 meals for our family of four. Not too shabby!

  Bought more apples to make apple butter again.  We love it on hot biscuits! What am I talking about, we love it on anything and everything! Yummy goodness!

  I have been talking to my DH bout using less.  Less shampoo, less dish soap, and less laundry soap.  To him more is better but I explained how little is actually needed and he seems to be using less which means more money saved.  Now, I just need to keep talking to him about getting rid of cable but that is another story! 

  I have been picking up candy making and baking supplies when I catch them on sale and have quite a bit put up for Thanksgiving and Christmas.  I usually go ape making cookies but this year I think I am going to concentrate on candies more than cookies.

Our local grocery closed down last month and I was able to get quite a bit of my candy making supplies on sale.  I love making crock pot candy and lots of fudge for Christmas. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

  Well, that is about all of the frugality at my house.  What have you saved money on lately?

Frugal Blessings,

Lisa

 
  
 
 
 




 

Last Week's Frugality

    Last week was still a very, very tight week financially!  I was only able to get the basics--eggs, bread and milk using coupons and several transactions. Still very thankful for my stocked pantry and freezers!
 
  As I started back to work last week, I made sure I packed my lunch each day and refilled my water bottles at work.  I figure at $3.50 per meal, times 5 days that this was at least a $17 savings!

  Still eating on the tomatoes and cukes my cousin gave us--Thanks Charles!!

  Since our grocery budget was minute, I made cookies for Tom to take to the hospital for snacks.  He was in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit and they are allowed snacks.
 
  Bought gas at Kroger and used my fuel points to save $.50 per gallon.  Thank goodness our prescriptions count towards the fuel points!

  We did spend $6 for entertainment this week!  It was more than worth it to see our granddaughter play volleyball!  Gotta have some fun Jordyn time!!

  We have been using our homemade clothes detergent for every load. At a cost of less than $.05 per load, we are saving a bunch on clothes detergent!

  Finally, in order to bring our electricity costs down, we have been turning off the AC when the weather had been cooler and at night.  We have also been more conscious of the lights being left on and making an effort to turn them off more.  I hope to get a clothes line set up next week to reduce dryer costs.


What have you been doing to save money?


Blessings,
Lisa

 




 

Last Week's Frugality

  Last week was a very frugal week for our family.  I had been on medical leave for the last 10 weeks and let me tell you 60% of your pay is not enough to live on!  So our measly food budget total was $52.00.  I spent an hour going over and over the grocery ad trying to come as close to $50 as possible.  I shopped the buy 5 get $5 off sale and saved over $15 dollars.  We are doing without some stuff but we'll survive! Still have 2 freezers full and a stuffed pantry!

  
  My cousin Charles brought us a bucket full of cukes and tomatoes! Boy, have we enjoyed those and they couldn't have come at a better time!




  I blanched and froze a mess of green beans we were given last week.  Think these will be good for Thanksgiving so I'll be saving them!



  We bought gas at Kroger and saved $.40 per gallon. Not a great savings but it beats nothing! 
   We made a pot of northern beans and ate on them 3 days last week.  My Mother can make a meal out of them and an onion!




  I went to the Goodwill but didn't find anything--savings of ????  I am trying not to spend over $5 each trip so I saved $5.00.




  We stayed home all week except to go to Goodwill and grocery (one trip).




  For entertainment we swam a few days and watched TV.




Well, that is about it for our family.  What have you been saving money on ?




Blessings,
Lisa