September $100 Grocery Budget 2021

 

To me the month of September flew right on by.  August had allowed me to do some really good stocking up so in September we really didn't much at all.  I had a few items on my list to stock up on for winter and I was able to add those items to our freezer and pantry at really good prices so that made me quite happy.  Even though I began the month with a slight deficit I was able to come in just under budget (with $1.64 to spare) and still managed to get everything we needed and wanted for the month.  My $25 nonfood budget came in far under budget as well.  I added four boxes of facial tissues on sale for $1 each and a 22# bag of kitty food for $15.49.

 

I was super careful with my spending this month to make each and every penny count and I think I did that rather well.  Our shelves are full, our chest freezer too and we've had plenty of delicious and healthy meals this past month.  Going into October I'll be able to relax a bit and not feel the pressure to get ready for winter and the upcoming holidays.  I think we've pretty much got that all handled.

 

How are you doing with your grocery shopping lately.  Are the rising prices and shortages giving you any grief?  Is there anything you wanted in particular and haven't been able to get?

 

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

Sunday morning I was up super early, long before sunrise and just as a heavy downpour graced us with some much needed rain.  With a hot cup of coffee I set to work and divided up the packages of smoked sausages I had found on closeout a couple days before into meal sized portions  I labeled them and placed the packages into a gallon size Ziploc bag before tucking them into the freezer.  I spent a good portion of the rest of the day in my craft room creating more greeting cards for my Etsy shop.  I'm a slow crafter, but I do so enjoy myself and that's all that really matters in the long run.

 

Monday morning I managed to get my fall décor out and set out around our house.  I love adding those warm fall touches to our home.  After clocking out from work the young one and I made homemade pizza.  We haven't done that in ages and it was delicious.  I worked the week from home remotely and that has been going well.  I do miss going into the office each day, however.

 

Friday my daughter drove her car and we went to the bank and stopped by Fred Meyer to pick up cheese that was on sale for $1.29 per package.  Saturday morning we went to Albertson's and I started our October grocery shopping a bit early since the ad was a good one and it had items on my October list I was hoping to get for the upcoming holidays and our prepper pantry.

 

We spent most of Saturday working on small projects around the house in order to get ready for winter.  That chill is in the air these days, especially in the mornings and once the sun goes down so we know it won't be long until it is here.

 

THINGS WE ATE LAST WEEK:  Leftovers from the week before, homemade pizza, spaghetti & meat sauce, tacos.

 

THINGS I CLEANED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS: 

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - Dusted & vacuumed floors, wiped down appliances.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Kitchen & Dining Room - Vacuumed & spot mopped floors, cleaned windows, sill and tracks.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - Cleaned mirror, scrubbed sink & tub, vacuumed & dusted, mopped bathroom floor, washed rug.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Other - Two loads of laundry.  Vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & entryways.  Cleaned mirror & hearth.  Cleaned window, sill & track.  Cleaned and tidied garage, swept floor, swept front porch.

 

THINGS I DID TO SAVE A SMALL BUNDLE OF $$:  I washed out two gallon sized Ziploc bag and re-used one to store packages of breakfast sausages for the freezer.  Shopping around for insurance quotes netted us better coverage with a top rated company for the same amounts we paid last year and no increase once my youngest gets her license.  Because of the better coverage I was also able to drop another insurance I was paying for to cover our waterlines.  Our previous insurance only covered the sewer line and the new policy covers both.  I didn't drive this week.

 

I love these little ghosties so much I could leave them out all year long

THINGS I DID TO EARN EXTRA $$:  I sold more items and worked on making some new inventory for my Etsy store.

 

How was your thrifty week?

 

 

$6 Dollar Tree Prep!

 

I decided I wanted to add more of these dried hash browns to my prepper pantry if I got the opportunity to do so at a good price.  I've shopped around, including online, and found that Dollar Tree has had the best price.  They also seem to have them in stock fairly regularly so when I spotted them I grabbed six more to add to the four I already had.  It says there are five servings per box which isn't too shabby.  I'm very glad to have these.  What have you stocked up on lately?

 

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

I spent most of Sunday crafting and then organized and tidied up said craft room so it is all ready for more creativity.  I got all of the trash cans throughout the house emptied and ran a load of laundry too before I did my quick 15 minute chores for the day.  I also cut up some bell peppers I had picked up from the Fred Meyer reduced produce bin and put them in my dehydrator.  With my home all in order and a nice batch of peppers drying for the prepper pantry I was ready to begin my work week ahead.  And then, I got a call from the HR department at 10:00 in the evening.

 

Leftover wax became a new candle

Apparently I was likely exposed to a co-worker (or two or three, but it had been a couple weeks since I'd been around any of them) that has tested positive for COVID.  I've been trying for several weeks now to get on the work from home program, but for whatever reason, until now, it hasn't been possible even though the HR department strongly recommended it due to my underlying health issues.  It's neither here nor there.  Fortunately, I am symptom free at the moment and praying I stay that way.  Monday was a gorgeous day so I opened up the windows and our back door and let the fresh air in.  It was also a great day to tackle a couple hot spots in our home where some clutter had accumulated.  It now feels so good to have those areas cleared out and that square footage reclaimed as open space.  Love it!  I also did some future planning and really appreciated my unexpected time off of work while my boss figured out a work from home solution.

 

Lunchtime!

Tuesday was my first full day of working from home and it wasn't too bad.  I don't think I'd want to do it long term but for now it is working out pretty well.  I ran my daughter to work when I was done and when I picked her up later that evening I also took in the glass recycling to the bin in their parking lot.  This included six empty glass candle jars I had decluttered the day before.  I used up the leftover wax in those jars Monday morning to make a new candle.  It felt really good to have that project little project complete and all of the glass out of the garage and off to be reused.

 

By the time Friday (still symptom free) rolled around I was ready to venture out for a short jaunt and take care of a couple errands.  I clocked out and headed off to get the emission test done on my car, then over to Fred Meyer to pick up items on sale as well as redeem some coupons they had sent me in the mail including one for a free package of Ball Park hotdogs which my daughter loves.

 

This time the bargain on meat was up to five packages of breakfast links so I bought five for $1.99 each and then I spotted smoked sausages on closeout for $1.99 each so I picked up two of those.  I'm sensing a bit of a weenie theme here.  They also had an abundance of milk they were clearing out with a week left on the date so I added a gallon for only 99¢ to my cart.  Produce on sale was strawberries for $1.50 a package and grapes for 99¢ a pound.  I grabbed a couple onions and two bananas and that was good enough for produce this time around.

 

When I got home I wiped everything off with hot soapy water, washed the grapes and strawberries in vinegar water and then got them into clean containers and into the crisper drawer of our refrigerator.  Next the breakfast links went into a gallon size Ziploc bag and into the freezer.

 

I had a carefully crafted winter stock up list so we headed out early Saturday morning with masks and hand sanitizer to gather up the items we needed before enjoying my delayed birthday celebration.  Wal-Mart and the feed store were our destination since they are located close together.  We also stopped in at the Grocery Outlet to see if they had a good deal on breakfast cereal, which has been my daughter's snack of choice lately.  While we didn't find cereal we did manage to pick up black olives, some condiments and lunch meat.

 

We stopped at DSW and I got a new pair of trail shoes using my birthday coupon (my birthday present to myself).  After that we enjoyed lunch out at Red Robin (I had a free birthday burger) and then because it was Smithsonian Day and we had FREE tickets we went to our newly renovated history museum.  I absolutely love that place and have visited it many, many times, but not since the renovation was completed.  I was very excited to go there and finally see it.  In all of our travels throughout the day we were able to maintain our distance, had access to sanitizing wipes and hand sanitizer, kept our masks on and washed our hands often.  None of the places we went were crowded either, surprisingly.  We were very conscientious about not exposing ourselves to other people and not exposing other people to us.  So far, so good.

 

Black bean soup - some for now and some for the freezer

THINGS WE ATE LAST WEEK:  Leftovers from the week before, chicken fajitas, grilled hotdogs, black bean soup, egg salad.

 

THINGS I CLEANED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS: 

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - Cleaned mirrors, scrubbed sink, vacuumed & mopped floors, washed rug.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Kitchen & Dining Room - Scrubbed & disinfected sink, cleaned microwave, wiped down appliances, vacuumed & mopped floors.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - Cleaned mirror, scrubbed sink & tub, vacuumed & dusted, mopped bathroom floor, washed rug.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Other - two large loads of laundry.  Vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & mopped both entryways.

 

THINGS I DID TO SAVE A SMALL BUNDLE OF $$:  I made some foaming hand soap solution to refill our dispensers.  I watched all of the Star Trek Next Generations motion pictures on Youtube for FREE.  I worked from home most of the week so no commuting on those days which saved fuel.  I washed out a couple gallon sized Ziploc bags to reuse.  I trimmed my bangs.  We removed the A/C units the week prior and stored them away for the season.  Opening the doors and windows is more than adequate now to cool a room or freshen the air.  We have been very careful with our power use lately in hopes of a nice low electric bill this month.

 

THINGS I DID TO EARN EXTRA $$:  I sold more items from my Etsy store and worked on some new inventory which should be ready to go shortly.

 

Unwinding on a Friday night with two of my favorite things

How was your thrifty week?  Anyone else getting winter ready?

 

A Little $8 Soup Prep

 

This past Saturday the youngest and I went to the grocery store to pick up soup for the prepper pantry.  We both have store rewards apps, mine is the regular customer app and hers the employee app.  We both were able to pick up six cans of Progresso canned soup for 88¢ per can to add to the prepper pantry.  I gave her the cash to get six and I had still had $2.77 left on a gift card to use toward my purchase.  It was a small prep but we now have twelve cans of soup for twelve meals squirreled away for future use and the total amount spent came in at $7.79.  That makes us both very happy.

 

 

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

Yesterday afternoon I realized I had not written a single word all last week, which is very much unlike me.  I'm going to take a little bit of a blogging break over the next few weeks.  I'm exhausted and work is kicking my butt!  We've had a surge of COVID patients and my patient roster has exploded.  Right now I've got nearly 1600 patients to coordinate where I normally have just under 1500.  It's been crazy!

 

So please bear with me.  I'll post when I can and when I have something interesting to share, but for now I need to focus on work, home and family, not necessarily in that order, but you get it.  In the meantime, please stay well and minimize your risk.  Mask up, wash your hands and keep to yourself as much as you are able.  I want you all to be healthy and safe.

I don't think anyone will be snuggling with him like this for a while

Oh!  And Jack tangled with a skunk around two in the morning Saturday.  Not only does he stink, but so does our front yard.  What can I say?  It's been fun.

 

Take care and we'll talk again soon.

 

 

Thank You

 

Thank you to all of your wonderful ladies that ordered items 

from my Etsy store.  

It means the absolute world to me.

Making Things Better #8

 

I did a weird little project the other day and I'm really glad I did.  I have a set of Pampered Chef bamboo utensils that I've had for over twenty years.  I love them and I've used them all the time when I'm cooking and baking.  They were looking a little rough with burn marks on the handles, gouges from being smacked against the edges of pans and bowls and let's just say they had developed a little more "patina" than I was comfortable with.  So I took a sander to them and gave them a makeover.  Once I had sanded them smooth and even done a little reshaping they got a bath in hot soapy water.  After they had dried they looked pretty darn good.  I bet I get another twenty years out of this set too.

 

Gross, but not as gross as I was expecting
What a mess of cords, lines & venting!

A bigger project happened a couple weeks ago when I decided to clean the laundry room, particularly underneath the washer and dryer.  I've had this set for about twelve years and when the delivery people delivered it they talked me into setting them up opposite of how I usually have them and I stupidly agreed to it.  The washer and dryer setup has been driving me nuts ever since because the hoses, drain line and dryer vent had to be extra long in order to crisscross and stretch across the room to facilitate the way they had set it up.  The added bulk from this arrangement also made them protrude away from the wall and stick out further than they should.  All so they wouldn't have to flip the dryer door.  I have been unhappy about it and put up with it this way the entire time.

 

This could be a problem

Laundromat style - this will work

I finally decided to put the washer and dryer in their proper places and plumb them the way they should have been done when the "professionals" arrived to do the original install.  I had already pulled them away from the wall so I washed the walls and scrubbed the floor.  I also gave the appliances a good wipe down.  Then I disconnected the dryer vent and pulled the plug figuring it was easier to do the dryer rather than the washer.  I moved the washer into place behind the dryer, then moved the dryer to the other side of the washer.  I shortened the dryer venting and cleaned it out (I was a little past due on this chore) before reconnecting it.

 

I cleaned out and shortened the vent hose

It may not seem like it but this setup sure fits nicer
and it makes the room seem much more spacious

After pushing the dryer into place both units fit much better and the set now sits a good two inches or so closer to the wall.  It is amazing to me how much nicer and more spacious it feels in there now and how much better it looks as well.  I flipped the dryer door, the washer door isn't able to rotate so they face each other, but I think it is still workable.  I have figured out the reason they didn't want to put them like this is in the first place is because they had brought me the wrong washer.  I never even realized it at the time.  It isn't perfect but still, I'm very pleased with the new arrangement.

 

Since I was on a roll I cleaned and reorganized the shelf unit I keep in the laundry room to store our supplies.  I have laundry detergent, softener, bleach, stain spray and scent beads on the top shelf.  Light bulbs are kept on the next shelf.  My Swiffer duster and refills are kept on the third shelf and extra kitty toys, dishes and their grooming brush is on the bottom shelf.  I found a few items that needed to go elsewhere to they were moved to their proper homes and I even tossed some things out that we no longer need or use.

 

Time to purge, too much stuff!

We keep our winter hats, ear warmers and gloves in this cute red enamelware bucket.  Most of the items in here belong to my youngest so I had her go through it to see if there was anything we could purge.  She added a few pair of gloves and a hat that was too small to the donate bag we have going in the garage.  Now everything fits inside much better.

 

Shiny, clean & organized

That is my great grandma's washboard on the wall 😊

I was actually surprised to find items in the laundry room to declutter and purge.  It just goes to show you though that we are never really done with the decluttering process.  It feels good to know now that the only items in our laundry room are what we use on a regular basis.  Keeping this room clean, neat and tidy makes it so much nicer and easier to get the laundry done.  Far more enjoyable too.  I'd say that definitely makes life better.

 

Revisiting An Old Post - Hamburger Patties

 

Looking back at old posts I'm always amazed when I see how long ago some of these were actually written.  Oh my goodness, how quickly time passes.  Six years ago I shared a post about pre-making your own burger patties but with a twist.  In this post I have many ideas for a variety of delicious flavor options to bring your next burger up a notch.  I hope you will check it out.  Click here to check it out.  And be sure to try some of these out.  Yum!

 

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

Sunday began with a huge surprise from my girls.  The needed my help to pick up and deliver an early birthday present they had bought me so I was up, showered, had my coffee drank and was where I needed to be at 9:00 am to pick up a gorgeous Lazy Boy recliner.  I had found one on Facebook Marketplace that I was interested in getting to replace mine that was worn out and no longer comfortable.  Because I have just returned to working full time I am really hesitant to buy anything right now.  Unbeknownst to me my oldest daughter contacted the seller, checked it out, negotiated a price and made the purchase.  The girls just needed someone with a truck to help them get it home.  We picked it up and it is truly lovely, in great condition and extremely comfortable.  We listed my old recliner for FREE on Facebook Marketplace, set it in front of our garage and it was gone within a couple of hours.  That made me happy too.

 

My greatest blessings! 😍

The last week was a weird one for me.  Tuesday I went in to the doctor because my right ear was bugging me and felt like I might be getting an ear infection and I wasn't feeling well.  At that appointment she discovered my blood pressure was sky high and my heartbeat was erratic so she sent me to the ER (ugh, not again!).  My heart was acting up but I was not in danger of another heart attack so they let me go home.  The issue with my ear remains elusive and now they want me checked for other issues.  I told them I'm headed to the Mayo Clinic soon and I'd rather have it checked out there and they agreed.

 

The thing with my ear is so strange and made me feel really ill for about four days and then began to subside.  There are a lot of other weird things going on along with it.  It is so very odd.  I told the ER doctor I just need to get by until I can get myself to Rochester, MN and he felt I would be fine until then.  Thankfully.  My actual birthday was Thursday.  I tried going to work but knew an hour in that wasn't going to work out too well so I gave up and headed home.  I spent the day resting and watching TV.  Friday was much better and I knew I had a three day weekend ahead of me so that was encouragement enough.

 

More amazing blessings

Saturday morning I awoke to an inbox filled with Etsy order confirmations, which I was absolutely thrilled about.  So grateful and blessed to have those orders coming in.  I got those all packaged up, labeled and ready to go to the post office on Tuesday morning.  Then my daughter took me to the grocery store to pick up a few groceries I wanted to get that were on sale.  I stocked up on five packages of our favorite sausages and got those into the chest freezer in our garage.  I also picked up quite a bit of fresh produce that was in the markdown bin.

 

We finally got to have my birthday dinner that evening.  I sautéed some squash and the youngest and I shared a New York strip steak.  It was very Keto and very delicious.  The rest of our evening we spent watching a couple TV shows and called it a day.

 

I stocked up on butter $1.88 a pound

THINGS WE ATE LAST WEEK:  Taco soup, pesto pasta, pan seared steak (keto) & sautéed squash (keto), grilled cheese sandwich, pork verde (keto).

 

A small haul from Fred Meyer and Cash & Carry

THINGS I CLEANED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS: 

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - Washed bathroom rug, vacuumed floors.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Kitchen & Dining Room - Vacuumed & spot mopped floors, washed chair covers.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - Washed bathroom rug, vacuumed & dusted, mopped bathroom floor.  Daily swish & swipe. 

Other - two large loads of laundry.  Vacuumed & dusted living room, hallway & both entryways.

 

I stocked up on these sausages $2.97 per package

THINGS I DID TO SAVE A SMALL BUNDLE OF $$:  We did not use our A/C units, I washed out a Ziploc bag to reuse.  We ate our leftovers and I made mindful purchases at the grocery store.  I downloaded a few digital coupons to my grocery store rewards card.

 

THINGS I DID TO EARN EXTRA $$:  I sold some eggs to a friend.  I had A LOT of Etsy orders last week.  Thank you so much to each of you who made purchases.  I feel so very blessed and grateful.

 

Pork verde & spanish rice

How was your thrifty week?