I Suck At Gardening

I give up...

Our good start on our vegetable garden tanked.

I've watched loads of videos on Youtube.  I've read my square foot gardening book and my homesteading books.  I really thought I could do it, but you know what?  I'm just not a gardener. 

I'm not.

Despite all of my very best efforts the strawberry plants died.  Most of our seeds started and then croaked.  We were careful about the lighting, watering, soil and it was just no good.  

I've always said I have a black thumb.

I even told the girls that the next time I get it in my head to plant a garden to tell me "NO!".  I've wasted more than enough time and money trying to be a gardener.

It's okay though, because I've come to terms with it.  I have plenty of other things I actually am good at.  So that is what I will focus my time and efforts on.  And I will continue to admire other far more talented gardeners and their bounty.

After all we can't be good at everything now, can we?

It's all good.

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Last week was a much more satisfying and productive thrifty week for me.

After a busy and rather hectic month of March our poor little home was a bit neglected.  Sunday the girls helped me spring clean our living room, dining room, hallway and laundry room.  We also cleaned the kitchen, both bathrooms and mopped all of the floors.  I did a ton of laundry and even washed bedding too.  It was not the typical restful Sunday we usually try for but it sure felt good to have everything nice and cleaned up.

Banana muffin, scrambled eggs w/ homemade salsa, fruit salad

The weather was nice enough I was able to open the windows and air out the house that day too.  Fresh air makes the house smell so nice.  Makes it feel cleaner too.

My youngest went through all of her clothes and pulled out items she has outgrown.  She had a big bag full for us to donate to the thrift store.  I added a couple items to her bag as well.  We stopped on the way home from track practice Tuesday so she could drop it off.

I used a really ripe banana up by making a batch of delicious whole wheat banana muffins.  We enjoyed those for several days at breakfast.

We went to the library to return the books we finished reading and checked out some new ones.

I did a Fred Meyer store survey and added an extra 50 bonus points toward a fuel discount on my rewards card.

It was time to replace my toothbrush so I stopped in at the dollar store to get a new one, a few toiletry items, a box of sandwich bags and a large bottle of fabric softener.  I also got an Easter card to send to my aunt.  I spent $9.

Beef Stroganoff, sauteed green beans

We concentrated on preparing meals using items we already had on hand in the pantry, refrigerator and freezer.  As a result we had some really good meals which included Hoison Chicken with rice, Beef stroganoff with bowtie pasta, Taco Salad made with vegetarian chili, Sirloin Steak with baked potatoes & a nice green salad, Salmon with leftover veggies I reheated, plus loads of leftovers for lunches and additional suppers.  We also had a lot of fresh fruits and veggies to add to our meals and eat as snacks.

I got some serious mileage with some soap last week.  I added water to rinse out the last bit of laundry detergent in the bottle which allowed me enough to wash a load of clothes.  I also rinsed out the fabric softener bottle to add to another load I ran.  In the kitchen I added water to the tail end of a bottle of dish soap and washed dishes for another four days.  I rinsed the gooey soapy residue off of the cap and washed an extra sink full of dishes with the soapy water it made.

Freezer haul

Saturday morning I went through the freezer in the kitchen and pulled out all kinds of goodies - leftover vegetable lasagna, chicken verde and some pot roast.  It hardly made a dent.  Turns out I have more stuff stashed in there then I thought, which is often the case.  Needless to say the girls and I won't be doing a whole lot of cooking this week, which is great because we have a fairly full schedule.

I received another JC Penney $10 OFF $10 purchase coupon in the mail so I decided to incorporate a trip to the mall into my regular Saturday morning shopping trip.  I picked up a nice Christmas gift for my youngest daughter and only spent $7 out of pocket.  I'm pretty happy about that.  I also used the other free item coupon at Bath & Body Works to pick up a mini shower gel.  I put that in my stocking stuffer stash.  I now have two lotions and two shower gels.

Saturday morning groceries

I washed out several ziploc bags to reuse.  I composted tea bags, coffee grounds, egg shells and banana peels.  We gave our kitchen scraps to the chickens.  They laid oodles of eggs too so we are really well stocked.

How was your thrifty week?

My Uber Thrifty Month In Review - March

The month of March started off with a very short paycheck with February having only twenty eight days.  This check was missing two days on it, but since that happens pretty much every year I was prepared for it.  Despite the lower funds it was still plenty to pay the monthly bills, ahead of their due dates too, and get groceries.

Between paychecks I received a bonus check.  That more than made up for February being a short month.  I waffled between whether or not to put it in savings or toward my debt payment goal.  After a lot of thought I decided to put it toward the debt goal and I'm really glad I did.  It made a really big impact.  Now it looks like I am just a few more months away from paying it off instead of by year end.  I am getting so excited.

I did manage to make deposits into my retirement savings including an extra one due to the bonus check, but nothing into my regular savings account.

At the beginning of the month I had almost a third of a tank of fuel in the car.  I only bought one tank of gas last month.

I was extra careful with our spending and kept our extra purchases to a minimum.  I did "splurge" a bit and picked up a few clothing items for the girls and new work shoes for me.  I strategically used coupons to cut the costs of these items quite a bit.  Needless to say JC Penney isn't getting rich off of me, I'm afraid.  Total spent on shoes and clothes so far this year comes in around $115.

I did spend a bit extra on the groceries last month.  Although it was nice to be able to go in and get whatever I liked with a more liberal budget, the warm fuzzies didn't last long so I'll probably be going back to my regular budget.  After all these years it's a hard one for me to break out of.

So bills all paid, a large amount of money put on the debt repayment goal, retirement savings goals met and a few well priced items of clothing made for what I feel is a very successful and thrifty month!

Goals For April

March was a very busy month for us and I'm amazed I was able to get as much done as I did, to be perfectly honest.  Not as much fun and play time as I had hoped but we'll just work harder on that part in April.

I made some candles with some leftover wax I had

This is what I have planned for this month:

1.          Make or purchase a gift for someone

2.         Send a card or letter to someone

3.         Family Nite Out or Outing

4.         Be creative - sew or craft something

5.         Do some investment cooking

6.         Continue walking outdoors - three times a week

7.         Learn to do something new

8.         Take my children out for a thrifty date

9.         Spring clean the chicken coop

10.       Try a new recipe

11.        Prune fruit trees

12.        Enjoy a Family Movie Nite or a Family Game Nite!

13.        Complete a small home improvement project

14.       Complete a retirement house project

15.        Invite guests over for dessert, appetizers or a meal

While most of these seem a bit repetitive, and they are, they also help me stay the course and get the things done that need to be done around here.  They also help me not to forget to have fun.  Having fun is a pretty important part of life, if you ask me.

Getting this light and having a friend install it for me
was hands down the best accomplishment last month!

This is how I did last month:

1.          Make or purchase a gift for someone

2.         Send a card or letter to someone

3.         Family Nite Out or Outing  Robots!

4.         Be creative - sew or craft something

5.         Do some investment cooking beans

6.         Start walking outdoors again - rain or shine

7.         Learn to do something new watching Youtube videos

8.         Take my children out for a thrifty date

9.         Research some new hiking trails

10.       Try a new recipe  Orange Cranberry Scones, vegan chocolate cake

11.        Plant more seeds indoors for the garden

12.        Enjoy a Family Movie Nite or a Family Game Nite!

13.        Complete a small home improvement project  new bathroom light/fan/heater

14.       Complete a retirement house project

15.        Invite guests over for dessert, appetizers or a meal

I was able to complete this from last month when I fixed a leak under the kitchen sink:

13.        Complete a small home improvement project kitchen sink (more like a repair, but still counts!) 

I didn't get everything done on my list but I'm happy about the things I did get done.  Hopefully this month I'll get to do more of the fun and creative stuff.

And remember my challenge to you last month?!

Challenge:  Make a list of 10 things you would like to complete in the month of March and share them in the comments.  Next month when I post my April goals I hope you will share how you did and have a new list ready for April.

If you took me on let me know in the comments what your goals were and how you did!

Then let's get busy and we'll see what we all did in about a month.  Don't forget to make a new list for May!!

Eating For Health - Grains

Adding more whole grain foods to our diet has been something I've been working on for quite some time now.  It is an easy thing to do too.

Whole Grain Breads

I like to bake my own bread from scratch.  When I buy bread products I really read the labels so I make sure I'm getting good quality items with minimal processing and little to no additives or preservatives.

Whole Grain Cereals

I've cut down dramatically on the amount of ready to eat cereals I buy.  I focus on whole grain cereals like plain Cheerios, shredded wheat, corn flakes and rice krispies.  Mostly now we eat oatmeal and homemade granola.  We love oatmeal and it is really delicious with fruit and nuts added to it.

Rice & Pasta

We prefer white rice over brown and regular semolina pasta as well as whole wheat varieties.  We eat rice and pasta fairly often but we are careful not to overeat it buy consuming huge portions.

The biggest thing for me with regard to whole grain foods is limiting the amount of sugars, corn syrup, sodium, additives and preservatives in these foods.  Reading labels is a very important part of making healthy choices.  The fewer items on the ingredient list the better.

My Grocery Budget 2017 - March Update

I decided to change things up a bit and focus more on purchasing fresh produce and try shopping early on Saturday mornings instead of after work during the week.  I also gave myself permission to purchase pretty much what I wanted without worrying so much about cost and guess what?  It was pretty awesome:

Here is the very long list of what I bought.  The items highlighted in red are my stock up items:

$213.52 ÷ 31 days ÷3 people = $2.30 per person per day!

How did you do last month?  Any great bargains?

This budget month runs from March 1 through March 31

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Using Fred Meyer coupons I had received in the mail I made a produce and dairy run on Sunday morning knowing we had a busy week ahead.  It was good to know the house was well stocked for quick meals as we worked around our crazy schedule.

My oldest made a batch of pie crust and used a huge apple we had to make some mini apple tarts.  She took some of those with her to snack on for the college visitation trip she went on at the beginning of the week.

My daughter belongs to a college prep group called TRIO.  This chapter is based out of Boise State University and they work with area high school students to assist them in their pursuit of higher education.  The college visitation trip was fully funded by TRIO including all of their meals and even a night out to the movies.  She will also have free access to SAT prep classes and TRIO cover college application fees.  Additionally they will assist her with scholarship and financial assistance applications.  It is a fantastic program and I am so happy she is part of this group.  My youngest will be joining next year.  If you have access to TRIO I strongly recommend looking into it for your children or grandchildren.

I used funds the hens had accumulated from egg sales to purchase them a 50# bag of feed.  We also enjoyed quite a few meals made from eggs.  I love having that steady supply.

My darling little one had to have two teeth extracted as part of her orthodontic treatment.  Because the insurance it covering her orthodontics 100% they covered this procedure as well.  We are so very blessed to have this coverage.  I also want to thank all of you who have wished her well.  She is doing great and is very happy to have this part behind her.

Thursday was the annual regional competition for robotics so we spent the latter half of the week cheering on my oldest and her all-girl team.  Man it is fun to watch those robot teams compete.  Like last year it I am still amazed at how much talent and ingenuity goes into creating these machines and the course itself.  So cool!

Now with the bulk of our after school activities completed I'm hoping for a quieter and more productive home routine.  We still have a few band and orchestra concerts as well as my youngest's track matches, but I think it will be much more manageable.  It has been a little bit crazy lately.

How was your thrifty week?