Sunday, November 11, 2018

Frugal Happenings 11/11

Good morning.  Happy Veteran's Day to all of our veterans past and present.  Thank you for your service.

It is a cold November morning in my area.  We have had very windy (20 mph - 45 mph) and much chillier days this week.  Friday night got down to 18* - brrrrr.  It looks like our highs will stay around the 30's and 40's this week.

Wednesday (one of 2 days that was NOT windy) there was a house fire 2 blocks south of us.  The smoke was awful and I stood on the front porch and actually watched the flames rising to the skies.  It was very scary to see.  Everyone got out, except their doggie.  I just kept thinking what a blessing it was that we were not having a windy day.  Had the usual wind of the week been blowing, many houses would have caught fire.  As it was, it sounded as if every fire truck in the city was in our area.
I can not imagine what the people of CA are going through.  Prayers for their safety and for containment.

Got a bit nostalgic yesterday.  While going to a bazaar, I drove through the neighborhood I grew up in.  Sadly our home burned years after out of our hands.  Then at the bazaar I ran into the daughter of a lady that lived 2 doors from us back in the day.  She is older and grew up with my siblings.  We talked about the old neighborhood.  Yesterday was also 2 years since my brother passed.  Just kind of a sad, yet remembering happy times, kind of day!

I am a little stiff this morning.  This body doesn't  rebound as quickly as it used to!  Things need to be done - it just takes a little longer to  re-coop from the physical labor!

My frugal week:
  • I patched and mended 3 pairs of jeans
  • Refilled all the spice bottles from bulk jars
  • I salvaged about 8 lbs. of cheese powder this week.  We had bought 10 lbs. quite some time ago. (I use a lot - just not as quickly as I thought!).  It had solidified - so I chunked it and ran through the Ninja.  I placed in smaller bags with oxygen absorbers.  All is good and I have it tucked away in old ice cream containers.
It had been in a plastic bag in a box.  Solid cheese powder it was!!!!

Now I have 13 bags and a jar for the kitchen.  I am pleased it was savable.  I am good for cheese powder for ages!!!!!!
  • I was cleaning the corner cabinet in the dining room and found a $50 bill!  YAY - I have no idea when I tucked it away or why - but it was found just in time for Christmas shopping!
  • I did a major stock-up this week on pantry items.  Turkey .37/lb. - over 20 lbs.  Baking goods and can goods .45 ea..  Aldi and Meijer shopping.  Good for the winter!
  • Ran to a Christmas Bazaar at an area church on Saturday (my first of the season).  Only spent 50 cents in the 'Grandma's Attic' section.  I got a bread machine recipe book.
  • Stopped at Kroger which was a couple blocks from bazaar and got Saturday specials.  TP and 8 oz. cheese blocks.  I also found a .99 bag of sweet potatoes.  G likes them and I don't get often.  I got 3.5 lbs. in the bag. (5 potatoes and 1 is huge)
  • I then dropped in Sav A Lot on my drive back home.  10 lbs. of Russet potatoes for 1.89!
  • I reorganized and inventoried freezers, cleaned out the frig and made some new storage areas for overstock of pantry.
  • Made a batch of grape jelly (5 pints) from freezer grapes.  Ran water through the pulp left, and made a light grape syrup to add to sparkling water for flavor.
  • Meals at home this week.  Laundry in cold.  Tea cooled out on porch handrail.  All the normal stuff
  • Made dip
  • Got the last rain barrel totally emptied and put away for the winter
  • Took the 'kitty' heater from the greenhouse apart and thoroughly cleaned.  Heater and all water bowls all plugged in for the babies and birds and squirrels. (teens and low 20's at night)
  • Raked the back yard and got leaves out on the garden area.  Still have more to come down - but made great progress
  • When reorganizing freezers - I brought inside (from garage freezer) - 5 lbs. chicken breast, 10 lbs. ground beef, 3 OJ concentrate, 2 lbs. butter, frozen peaches and grapes.  Made room for turkey/ham deals
  • Got a big bag of items ready for donation

Meals this past week:
Fried cabbage, carrots & sausage with rice
Pork chops, asparagus and tangy mac n cheese
Breaded tenderloins and leftover mac
Chicken & cheese baked spaghetti and side salad
Homemade pizza and salad
Mini cheeseburgers and baked potato wedges
Chili/cheese dogs, chips and dip

This coming week I plan on working more on my fall cleaning.  I also plan on getting all my bread dried for Thanksgiving dressing.  I hope to color my hair (oh it needs it badly).  I plan on spending a couple dark early evenings (it's dark by 6PM) addressing Christmas cards.  I can get it over with and actually do something constructive on those boring dark evenings!!!
Oh so many things to do - it just never ends.

How was your week?  Are you gals taking advantage of any of the holiday grocery sales?  How is your Christmas gifting going?
Let us know what you are up to!

I pray you all have a safe and healthy week.  May we all be filled with gratitude for all we have and a giving heart for those who have little or nothing.
Blessings from our humble home to yours.

18 comments:

  1. So sad about your neighbor's fire and the ones in California. Prayers for all involved. My heart breaks for them. :(

    Glad you were able to save the cheese powder. How neat to find a $50 bill in the cabinet. I hope I find one of those soon. LOL

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    1. Fire is just the scariest thing ever to me.
      I would sure like to find a couple more $50's! LOL
      Have a good week.

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  2. You had a busy and great week in savings! I especially love that you found the $50.00...I'm going to clean my corner cabinet..right now. So sorry to hear about your neighbor's house fire. I'm glad everyone got out. I know they are hearbroken about their dog. So sad. Cheryl have a great week.

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    1. I hope you find money as well! I guess I have everyone thinking about looking now!
      It always makes me sad to hear about animals losing their lives. Innocent babies.

      You have a good week as well!

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  3. You had a very busy week. Great price on the turkey. Perfect timing on finding the $50. I hope you find more. Have a wonderful week. Memories are wonderful.

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    1. I got a lot of good prices last week. I was tickled. It would be nice to find more - doubt it happens! LOL
      Blessings.

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  4. I found a gift card in a coat pocket one time and checked the balance.... $100 from Walmart! What a feeling! I enjoy your frugal posts. thanks for taking the time to share them.

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    1. Got to love finding anything that is $$$ related. Usually GC's keep their value forever, unless partially used.
      Thank you. I enjoy all my friends here!!!
      Have a good one!

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  5. Oh, those fires are awful. Thousand Oaks was my 20's stomping grounds so it was a double whammy for me last week. I have so many friends with kids in the local colleges that frequented that bar. Every time the phone rang, I hoped it wasn't to tell me about someone's kid. Then the fires, which I personally know all too well from growing up there. In fact, when our SoCal home was in escrow to move here, our entire development was surrounded by a big fire. We evacuated and were sitting outside at a Starbucks with a good view of it all and talking about our equity burning down. Alas, the fire fighters did an amazing job. I don't miss fire season at all!

    My husband is off today and we were planning on hitting some stores to stock up and we got a lot of snow last night! Not sure what the plan is now.

    Great idea with the grape syrup. I'm hoping to get my Thanksgiving cards out by Thursday. Those are replacing Christmas this year.

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    1. Fire is totally devastating. That is my biggest fear.
      Hoping everyone you know is safe.

      Lots of snow@ YIKES. Be safe out there. Hope you can find some great bargains.
      Be safe and enjoy your day with hubby.

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  6. I forgot to add a big WOO HOO about found money. When I traveled a lot, I used to stash 20's all over my purse. It was always such fun to find one or two months later!

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    1. It was a big WOOHOO here too!
      I am good at tucking money away in my purse too.

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  7. Wow! Finding 50 that is a score. You sound so busy and I am sorry about your brother, It is hard to go back a remissness. Keep those kitties warm.

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    1. I was thrilled to find the money!
      We remember back on good times - and that is a blessing for all.
      Kitties seem to love their heated bed!
      Have a good one

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  8. (((((((((HUGS)))))))))) my friend. I had not realized that it had been that long since your brother passed. It seems like time flies by more quickly with every passing moment. Fires scare me too. I'm glad that the fire did not spread and my heart goes out to your neighbors who lost their home and precious dog.

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    1. It is amazing how time goes by so quickly. At times it seems like forever since I have seen him, yet the memory of that day is fresh. Life if funny.

      I am also praying for those poor souls in CA. So much destruction.
      Blessings

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  9. Glad to hear you had such a great week with all the bargains. It is bittersweet to think about loved ones who have passed. I have pretty much replaced white/yellow/red potatoes with sweet potatoes due to health issues. Not totally, I baked two big ones just the other evening while roasting the turkey. My turkey is done, deboned, frozen and stock has been and stock was made overnight with the bones for turkey soup, and for gravy. I will be going to my brother's for Thanksgiving, so no leftovers there, I have my own waiting for me in the freezer. I am not shopping for a couple of weeks, will even make my own bread. My work schedule will prevent me from getting to the bank so I will have to use my "emergency" money that I keep tucked away in the house. I doubt that I will find any anywhere else that I have "forgotten" about though. Have a great week.

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    1. Sweet potatoes are probably much healthier. Good for you on making your own 'leftovers'. I always did that too, when we visited parents homes every year. We wanted something to munch on for days!!!!!
      My favorite thing is a cold turkey sandwich with mustard and salt - the day after! LOL

      I am glad you will be with family. Emergency stashes DO come in handy once in a while. It is wonderful to be so prepared that you have no worries about grocery shopping and can survive! (you might check pockets or old handbags!!!)
      That is why we do what we do.
      Enjoy your week.

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