A Thrifty October Recap

 

TO BEGIN WITH:  I began the month of October with $102 in my checking account, $18 and some coins in my wallet, a quarter tank of gas in the car and half of a tank of fuel in the truck.  Not a bad way to get the month started off.  I topped up my car and prepared for my trip to Minnesota.  With my first paycheck I was able to pay all of our monthly bills and the mortgage payment for November.  I also made all of my savings goals.  My next check was much smaller due to the fact that I missed quite a bit of work while at the Mayo Clinic the first half of the month.  I used all of that check to pay some of my travel expenses  I used the money left over from September to fund our grocery budget.

 

NEXT STEPS:  I used some of my savings to cover the balance of my travel expenses so I will want to replace that as soon as possible.  Our annual car insurance bill is due in November and I have the money in savings to cover that in full.  Then I will be working to save up for the next one due in 2022.

 

WAYS I SAVED $$:  We were super careful with our power use, we made sure to have virtually no food waste, and we only spent money on items we needed.  I packed food from home and took my small crockpot as well as an electric skillet to prepare my meals at the hotel.  I also had a microwave and small refrigerator in my room.  While in Minnesota I went to the grocery store to get food a couple times using my travel money and helped myself to the daily breakfasts offered each morning.  I was gone for 18 days and the only time I ate out was on the last day of travel coming home.  I spent less that $14.

 

LOOKING BACK:  Despite the lower paychecks and the added expense of my trip to Minnesota I was able to pretty much break even which is much better than I was expecting, quite honestly.

 

I was blessed with gorgeous scenery

LOOKING AHEAD:  I have much more ahead of me in the coming months and a lot to be thankful for.  I'm a little nervous, but also excited actually.  With the holidays coming up we have plenty to look forward to and I'm happy about that.  Even with all of the challenges I've had this year I know I'm a very fortunate person and have much to be grateful for.

 

A Quick Little Christmas Gift

 

While I was at my hotel I got an idea for a cute little gift for my girls.  All three have us "go bags".  The idea behind them is to have enough supplies gathered together for us to grab and head out the door and keep us going for a 72 hour period of time.  Now these bags can serve a variety of purposes.  A quick weekend trip out of town, an unexpected hospital stay, the need to leave home due to a mechanical issue such as the heat goes out or a tree lands on your roof, or even the dreaded zombie apocalypse.  At least you have enough necessities to hold you over until you can make better arrangements.

 

I picked up A LOT of tiny bottles of shampoo, conditioner, lotion and other toiletries while I was staying at the hotels during my latest adventure.  The ones I collected were nice brands of really great smelling soaps and lotions that I really liked.  And it made me think my girls would like some of these too.  And then I thought, how about if I put some of these into containers for their go bags.

 

I picked up a couple packages of these plastic snack/food storage containers at Dollar Tree and they worked perfectly.  I placed a shampoo, a conditioner and a lotion in each one and the lid snapped tight over them just right.  The containers have seals on the lids to keep them from leaking which is nice, especially with soaps that can get all over everything.  I plan to tuck one into each of the girls stockings and I made one for myself too to resupply my go bag now that I am home.  Love it! 😍

 

October $100 Grocery Budget 2021

 

This was a very different shopping month for me.  At the beginning of the month I picked up a few items on sale that I wanted for the upcoming holidays, mostly baking supplies and some cheese.  Then I didn't shop again until the 23rd of the month since I was out of state most of the time visiting the Mayo Clinic.  That shopping trip was a good one!  Because the sales were so good and we were able to get everything on our list plus a lot of things on next month's list I ended up pulling funds I had set aside for November.  We basically ended up shopping for two months on one Saturday.  It was great.  And!  We also picked up items for our prepper pantry.

 

Our nonfood budget in October was used to pick up facial tissue and some supplies to make homemade laundry detergent.  The total amount I spent on non food items came in at $18.52, well below my $25 monthly allotment.

 

The total I spent on food came in at $122.59 which means I'll be carrying over a deficit amount into November.  I'm totally fine with that since most of what we bought is for November and December.  I have plenty of food for our holiday meals, holiday baking and all of our regular meals as well.  I began the month with an extra $1.64 so my deficit to roll over will be $20.95 leaving me with a November starting balance of $79.05.  That may not sound like a lot of money for groceries and it isn't, especially as we head into the holidays, but for us it will be plenty.

 

Prices have definitely been on the rise and I do see a lot of bare spots on the shelves again, but I find that as long as I'm willing to be patient, shop around and go to different stores and wait for the sales I'm still able to keep to my budget and get the things we need and most of what we want.  How are you fairing?  Are the prices rising beyond what you can handle?  Are you still able to find what you need?  How about the sales?  How those where you live?

 

More Prepping On A Dime

 

Once I had established our basic needs in our prepper pantry last year my goal moving forward was to maintain and enhance it.  Rotating items out and replacing them with new items so nothing expires and goes to waste is really important to keeping our prepper pantry functional.  Variety is also important to us so once the beans, rice and other staples were taken care of it was time to add the other goodies that make life nicer.

 

 Soups 88¢ each, tomatoes 59¢ each & antibacterial wipes were FREE

Our prepper pantry is a combination of canned goods, vacuum sealed dry goods and dehydrated foods.  We have a lot of canned meats, soups, sauces, seasonings, fruits and vegetables.  Rice, pasta, oats, baking essentials too.  Dehydrated onions, green beans, corn, peppers, apples, blueberries, etc.  We keep a fully stocked chest freezer in our garage and our regular pantry is well stocked also.  We are prepared for a long term change in circumstances.

 

Pasta sauce 97¢ each, tissues $1 each & salad dressing was FREE

Prepping can be an expensive proposition, but it doesn't have to be.  It is an affordable option for anyone.  I am a bargain hunter, no doubt about that, and I've been feeding my family for three decades on a very slim budget.  We eat very well.  Healthy and nutritious meals are a regular occurrence around here and we have never had to worry about food scarcity, thankfully.  So when I decided to add a prepper pantry to our home I approached it in the same manner as I do our regular grocery shopping.

 

This month I was able to add to our prepper pantry with sales items and freebies.  Facial tissues were on sale for $1 a box, pasta sauces were 97¢ each, soups for 88¢ each, FREE salad dressing and anti-bacterial wipes.  You can't complain a out FREE.

 

We like these soup mixes and are now contemplating adding these to our prep
They can be pricey, but if you just do a few at a time it won't impact the budget too much

By keeping my eyes open, checking the dollar stores, keeping tabs on the weekly sales flyers and downloading digital coupons and FREE offers I'm able to affordably establish and maintain a really nice prepper pantry without blowing the budget.  Peace of mind without going into debt or strapping the finances.  I think that is the best part of all.

 

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

I made it home Monday morning at 11:00.  Nothing felt so good as to cross that Idaho border Sunday night, but it felt even better to pull into my driveway the next day.  I was pooped and exhausted and elated.  I made nice with the kitties and smoothed over their hurt feelings for leaving them.  Lots of hugs and head rubbing seemed to do the trick.  It didn’t' hurt either that I had brought them back a set of catnip toys, which they love.

 

Even though I was pretty tuckered out I took a brief break and then emptied out my car and loaded up my washing machine to start a giant load of laundry.  I got about ninety percent of my stuff put away and all of the laundry done and then it was time to sit in my recliner with the kitties for more apology petting.  I think I am now forgiven.

 

This girl is very happy to have her mom home

I probably should have taken Tuesday off work to recuperate, but I didn't.  I was back to work in the office for a nine and a half hour day and everyone was happy to see me.  We were swamped.  Wednesday morning I had my annual dentist appointment first thing before work and then I put in another full day.  Thursday my boss threw an impromptu pizza party to celebrate my return which was really nice and completely unexpected.  I worked overtime all four days I went in last week, which helped me make up my missed hours for Monday so I won't need to use too many PTO hours.

 

Not only is the workload tremendous, but something weird is going on at the corporate level which has everyone on edge.  Upper management has decided to make some changes and while I personally am not worried, I can't say that for the rest of my crew or the company.  It is surprising that when we are so incredibly short staffed and overwhelmed with work that anyone would want to rock that boat, but I've often questioned some of the decisions made by the top floor.  I've said it before and I said it again this past week that this company is just one big dysfunctional family.  We'll see what shakes out.

 

I hadn't done any real grocery shopping all month so Saturday morning the young one and I headed out with list in hand, digital coupons loaded and a plan.  We hit up all four of our favorite stores - Fred Meyer, Albertson's, Winco & Trader Joe's.  It worked out perfectly as we were able to not only shop for October, but November too.  We pretty much have Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day meals covered plus all of our holiday baking supplies.  And we did some prepper pantry stock up as well.  She was pretty excited about it and so was I.

 

I had a $2 OFF digital coupon for this roast

The worst part of all that shopping is having to haul it into the house and then get it all put away, but we managed it just fine.  My daughter headed off to work and I headed into the craft room for some well earned rest and relaxation.  I made a few Christmas cards and a huge mess, but I am always happy when I am doing that.

 

THINGS WE ATE LAST WEEK:  Soup & sandwiches, Hoisin chicken w/rice & broccoli, potstickers w/Miso soup & salad, grilled tuna sandwiches.

 

I stocked up on canned goods

THINGS I CLEANED IN 15 MINUTES OR LESS:  My darling daughter had gone through the entire house and had it clean and tidy when I got home so I didn't have much to do at all last week. 

Laundry Room & Half Bathroom - Daily swish & swipe. 

Kitchen & Dining Room - Daily swish & swipe. 

Bedrooms & Main Bathroom - Daily swish & swipe. 

Other - two large loads of laundry.

 

THINGS I DID TO SAVE A SMALL BUNDLE OF $$:  I made a big batch of foaming hand soap refill solution and filled up four of our dispensers.  We downloaded a gob of digital coupons for loss leader items and freebies at the grocery stores.  We shopped the sales and stocked up accordingly.

 

Holiday items on sale

How was your thrifty week?

 

 

Another $5 Prep

 

I was able to fit in another mini prep with the help of my daughter and I only spent $5!  We both got a FREE offer for hand soap at Albertson's so she picked those up for us and I hit up a Dollar Tree.  I grabbed four more of their vacuum sealed 6 oz. espresso grind bricks of coffee and a package of filters.  Not a bad little haul and this completes my coffee prepping goal.  I am really enjoying these little prepping hauls because I don't feel like I'm spending much and it is quick and easy.  Plus I always feel like I'm making good progress when I do this.  Have any of you stocked up on anything or done some prepping?

 

 

Pumpkin Pancakes! Oh Yeah!

 

One of my very favorite things about the fall season is pumpkins.  I love pumpkins.  I love to look at them, but I also love to eat them.  There are so many wonderful recipes for pumpkin and one of those is to make up a big batch of delicious spicy pumpkin pancakes.

 

In 2011 I shared my recipe for pumpkin pancakes.  I make these a lot.  Have any of you tried this recipe?  If not, I urge you to give it a try.  You won't be sorry.  And if you like gingerbread, try this recipe.

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

Last Sunday morning I awoke early in my hotel room and washed some laundry in the tub with detergent I had brought from home.  I used the hotel hangers to hang everything on to dry.  I find doing small batches of laundry helps a lot to keep me in clean clothes while I am here.  It is surprisingly easy to wash laundry in a bathtub.  I got a small cup of yogurt and a banana from the daily breakfast offerings and made coffee in my room.  After a hot shower I got dressed and headed out to Aldi to pick up a few fresh produce items.  Preparing my own meals in my hotel room each day not only saves me money, but I have much healthier meals this way too.

 

I stopped in at Dollar Tree and purchased a few office supply items and a bottle of clear nail polish.  When I got back to my hotel I gave myself a manicure and used the office supplies to draw up some landscaping plans I've been working on lately.  I also wrote a letter and then walked down to the post office to mail it.  It was a lovely day in Minnesota and I thoroughly enjoyed my quiet Sunday.

 

In between appointments I was able to work remotely Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  I appreciated the diversion and the opportunity to earn a little bit of income.  Thursday and Friday were full days, but then I was kicked loose and got to start making my way home taking it low and slow.  I was just really glad to be headed in that direction.  I am more than ready to be home with my kiddo and my kitties.  I miss them so much.

 

At this time I still have some future appointments to complete but all of the testing is done for now, thankfully, and while I do have some answers I don't have them all yet.  I am still very much a work in progress.  All I want to do now is get home and sleep in my own bed.

I hope you all had a wonderful thrifty week and I wish you all the best for a great thrifty week ahead.

 

Making Things Better #9

 

I have steadily been working to make things better around our home.  I keep it neat, clean and tidy.  I've been decluttering on a regular basis and I'm still always amazed at what I find to get rid of.  As I've worked in my home I've managed to pull quite a few more items out of drawers, cabinets and closets and added them to the bag we have in our garage to collect donation items in.  I've added quite a bit to our recycle bin as well.

 

I have decorated for fall and this year I decided to use fewer items and have a grocery bag of items in the storage bin that I'm probably going to donate this year.  I'm ready to let them go and make room for something new or maybe nothing at all.  At the same time I gathered up all of my spent candles and melted the leftover wax in the bottoms of the glass jars.  I had enough wax to make a "new" candle using a wood wick and a glass candle holder I already had.  The empty glass candle jars went into our glass recycle bin and then were hauled to the local collection pin at our neighborhood grocery store.

 

This area has always been a challenge to work with and keep tidy

Our garage is still very much a work in progress.  Not too long ago I added more storage shelves to our garage but I'm still working at decluttering and organizing what we keep there.  Last year I got our décor culled down and finally into labeled bins.  This year I wanted to work on the tools and DIY items I have on our metal shelving next to our chest freezer.  I went through everything and was able to corral all of my power tools along with their blades and manuals into a new bin I picked up at Wal-Mart.  I got rid of items I no longer need or use and re-organized what was left.  Each shelf has a purpose - the top shelf is for automotive, the next shelf if for my tool box, fasteners and my compound miter saw.  The next shelf houses my new power tool bin and some DIY items.  The bottom shelf is for lawn and garden supplies.  I am very pleased with how I have things now and with how much I was able to part with.

 

So far this is working much better for me
Getting rid of things I no longer need, use or want has helped a lot!

Other than the one bin I purchased everything else I used to organize this set of garage shelves were items I already had.  I love that the bins I've downsized and decluttered are now available for other organizing projects.

 

Something small that makes a huge difference was to order replacement lids for some of my Pyrex storage bowls.  They get cracked over time and it is so nice to get new ones.  I'm able to keep my favorite storage container fully functioning and they look nice too.

 

💖  Love!!!  💖

I mentioned before that I gave my laundry room a mini makeover by swapping the washer and dryer as well as re-running the vent, lines and drain.  It has made a huge difference in how this room looks and feels now simply because the appliances fit better in that room.  I never realized just how having them sticking out a few inches further than they should've would impact the function of that room.  Now that the appliances sit back it makes the room feel more spacious and everything looks so much neater.  I absolutely love it.  Now my laundry room is definitely not Pinterest worthy by any means, but I do like it to look nice and I've place the items we have and use in there in such a way to make it not only useful but also decorative.  It has been really nice and I enjoy doing our laundry even more now.

 

And another small fun project I did was to upcycle another glass peanut butter jar as well as one of my Snapple bottles.  It was super quick and involved some copper spray paint I had in the garage.  I gave the lid to the jar and the bottle a few coats of the paint and allowed them to dry overnight.  Now I have a new canister for my flavored coffee as well as a bottle for olive oil I keep in my spice cupboard.  Just that little extra touch makes such a difference in how they look and feel to me.  No extra cost for me to repurpose a couple items that most people would toss in the recycle bin or trash and I fulfilled a need I had for a couple containers.  I added some new coffee scoops to my Amazon order and I just love my new coffee canister.

From peanut butter jar to coffee cannister

It always amazes me how making simple little improvements can add so much to our lives and rejuvenate us in ways you just don't think they will.  But, any time you can improve something, your life will always be better as a result from it.  😊

 

 

 

Trying Homemade Laundry Detergent Again!

 

Where I live there have been certain items this past year that have been harder to get than other things and if I do find it on the shelf it is at a much higher price than I've ever paid before.  Laundry detergent is becoming one of those things that isn't fully stocked at the stores and the prices have soared.  Last year and the year before I had stocked up on jugs of liquid laundry detergent I found on sale or at Dollar Tree for 99¢, $1.49 or $1 each.  Sometimes I even had coupons which shaved 50¢ or $1 OFF the sales prices so I was able to stock up for pennies, which was fantastic.  But, once the pandemic hit all of those great sales, coupon offers and better prices went right out the window.  A combination of panic shopping and supply chain issues had played a huge part I'm sure, but regardless of the reasons things have dramatically changed.

 

1 grated (Zote) laundry bar, 3 cups soda, 3 cups borax,
3 cups powdered laundry detergent or Oxyclean, 1 cup scent beads (optional)

In the past I've tried making my own homemade laundry detergent using soap shavings, washing soda and borax powder.  Initially it seems to work well, but over time I became less and less impressed with its cleaning power.  My laundry began to look dingy, feel different and developed an odor, especially with our towels.  So I ditched the homemade stuff and went back to using commercial liquid detergent.  

 

Looks like laundry soap

Prior to trying the homemade detergent I was using Kirkland brand powdered detergent from Costco, almost exclusively.  In an effort to be thrifty I decided to go ahead and try purchasing only detergents I found on sale and had coupons for.  That worked for quite a long a while.  Over time I amassed quite a collection of various brands of liquid laundry detergent.  My laundry was bright, clean and it smelled great.  I've looked back and really put some thought into what I've been doing as far as laundry isconcerned and realized, now that I'm no longer brand loyal in anyway, I've been consistently rotating the types of detergent I've been using for several years.  I believe is this what has allowed us to keep our laundry really clean and fresh.  Changing detergents on a regular basis keeps the build up on our clothes and linens at bay.  Plus, I don't notice any funky odor or build up in my front loading washing machine anymore either.

 

I like to use white distilled vinegar in place of fabric
softener, especially when laundering towels, to help keep things fresh

With this in mind I decided to explore homemade laundry detergent once again and I researched some of the recipes others have been using too until I came up with a recipe of my own to try.  I made a new batch and it filled up my one gallon Mason jar perfectly.  My plan is to alternate using the new homemade detergent along with some commercial detergents to see if I can successfully keep my laundry clean and the costs low.  I've been using this new detergent for about a month and so far it seems to be working pretty well.  As soon as I suspect it is losing its cleaning power I'll run a few loads with commercial detergent and then switch back.

 

Keeping this space clean, tidy, warm and inviting
makes doing our laundry much less of a chore

This is all really experimental at this point, but I think it is really important for me to consider alternative options at this time.  As part of my prepping as well as for daily use I want to expand our laundry supplies in an efficient and affordable way with items that are easily obtainable.  As things evolve I will keep you posted and let you know how it goes.  Do any of you use homemade laundry detergent?  If so, how has it worked out for you?

 

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

 

Last week was not at all how I expected things to go.  Sunday morning I awoke and felt fine, but by 9:30 that morning I was having issues with my heart again.  I'm not going to go into details about it because I don't really know anything concrete yet, but I'm doing okay and feeling much better than I did a week ago.  I had planned to post a couple of times last week, but I just felt horrible the first half of the week and exhausted the rest.

 

I am so happy to be here!

I checked into the Mayo Clinic on Tuesday and they are now on the case!  I have had loads of tests done and have more to come.  At this time I am unsure of how long I will be here, but I've told them I can stay "as long as it takes".  We have to get to the bottom of this and they agree.  I am very glad I am here.  The appointments and testing are exhausting, but I've had plenty of downtime over the weekend to rest.  Yesterday was completely test-free.  Whoo hoo!

 

I hope you are all doing well.  My hope is to get back to regular blog posts soon, because we have a lot to talk about, but in the meantime I need to get this health stuff worked out.  Please be patient with me, especially if I don't answer your questions or respond to comments right away.  Know I am always thinking of you.  It feels wonderful to have so many great people in my corner.  

Also, today is my 10 year blog anniversary.  Hard to believe I've been blogging that long, seems like only yesterday I made the made the decision to launch my very first post.  How about that?!  Isn't it crazy?  And you all came along for the ride!  Thank you so much for your love and support all these years and for hanging in there with me.  Take care my friends.