If you celebrate Christmas, did you have a ham? We did, complete with ham bone. We had multiple meals from that ham and I have saved the ham bone. We did a grocery run yesterday to pick up a few things to tide us over until the next major shop. I didn't have enough dry beans to make ham and beans so I bought a bag...97 cents. So, with the ham and ham bone, chicken broth I canned, some carrots, celery, and onion I already had, a reasonable meal. I imagine we will have enough for a couple of meals. The chicken broth was made with vegetables and the carcass of a rotisserie chicken. I have corn meal and flour and sour cream and other items, so I plan to make some cornbread to go with it. A reasonably priced meal all in all.

We debated on whether to go out to eat on New Year's Eve, and after looking at the prices of the special menus, decided to forget it. Instead we went to a local meat market, bought a couple decent steaks, and we will eat at home, using potatoes I bought on sale and fixing up some leftover green beans I had in the fridge. More expensive than most of our meals, but far less than going out. 

I'm a big fan of Pinterest. I like looking for recipes and craft ideas. Since I often look at their frugal pins too, I get some interesting ones suggested. One is about homesteading. I always thought homesteading was living off the land, but I guess the defintion is getting looser and if so, I guess I'm a homesteader. We had a garden and am planning for this spring, I can, I dry herbs, I mend clothes, and I make things by crocheting or sewing. Plus I make do with a lot of things instead of going out and buying new. DH was surprised the other day when I was mending some of my work jeans and I said there's nothing wrong with them a few stitches can't fix. 

One thing I normally do at least once a year is polish my leather shoes. I was thinking about them as I worked on them. I have 4 pairs of shoes and two pairs of ankle boots and I realize I have not bought leather shoes or boots in 8 years or more. Granted, none of them look new, but they are still servicable and comfortable. A number of years ago I started buying well made shoes because my feet hurt all the time and it made a difference. As I could afford them, I bought more pairs. And I wore these shoes often, so I have more than gotten my money out of them. My expense has been the shoe polish and a bottle usually lasts for a lot of applications. And taking care of these shoes has paid off. At least I think so. I can't see a reason to buy new shoes if these are still wearable. 

I have been baking our bread for the past few months and trying new recipes. Today was no different. DH was shocked the other day when we went to the grocery with a bakery to see how much a normal loaf of bread is that looked homemade. Not sure if it is frugal or not, but it seems like we are wasting less bread and using what we have. I've been working with a sourdough starter and have even made loaves that with a strong starter rise like those with yeast. I figure I'm learning a new skill as well as feeding us and sourdough is supposed to be good as far as gut health. 

I'm hoping I'm being frugal, not cheap, but at this point, it is my life. I take care of things I own, I use what I have. And I try to save money on many things so we can enjoy the things we like and have the money for it. 

Hope you have a wonderful and propserous 2025! Or should I saw a frugal new year? 

Hopefully everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is looking forward to 2025!

My Christmas season was very, very busy. Besides shopping and baking and sending cards, I also tackled the storage room with the many, many, many Christmas decorations of my new husband and his late wife. We went through every tote of stuff, and he chose a few items he wanted to keep, but the rest we boxed up and donated to our church bazaar.  A lot. Hopefully someone else will get some enjoyment out of this stuff. I just smile when I go into the storage room because it looks so much neater. My DH has some of his tools down there and he said he wanted to finish putting a piece of drywall on a wall that he's put off because he couldn't get to it with all the stuff there. I see a label maker in my future when we put away our decorations this year.

Sadly my bubble light tree died. It was over 50 years old. My electrical engineer husband looked at it, but it on one wiring circuit and since one of the bubble lights quit, they all quit. Unless we can find the lights with the small base, guess it's dead, but I've enjoyed it all these years. I shared it with a grandson when we were putting it out and he thought it was really cool -- kind of nice a 20 year old would think something so vintage was cool. 

We spent a lot, but all our bills are paid so no outstanding bills. I heard on the news that many people are still paying for Christmas 4 months after. That is just plain scary. We gave a lot of practical gifts or else money or gift cards. 

Hope your Christmas was amazing and hope the new year is as well!

It's the time of year when my oven gets a workout. We had our church bazaar and one of the big draws is the cookie walk. People line up early to get in to buy cookies by the pound. Prices have not been raised in a few years so it was $7 a pound. 

There is an insurance company that is sort of affiliated with our church synod, and I wrote for a grant to help cover the cost of some of the baking supplies. The insurance company was generous and gave us $250 to buy flour, sugar, butter, etc. I baked 21 dozen cookies, four loaves of sweet breads, and a dozen cupcakes to donate. We had a lot of stuff donated and a lot of it was purchased so that's good since the profits are used by our ladies guild to send to different missions.

But, I've been baking and cooking for gifts as well. Most of the people I know don't need more "stuff."  But they seem to like homemade stuff or jam or jelly I have made and canned. I have a fudge recipe that my grandmother used to use and would sell her fudge by the pound. One of my friends asked for it a couple of years ago and tried to make it and said it didn't set. The same thing happened last year. It's very simple so I have no idea why it didn't -- don't even need a candy thermometer. So, I stopped by their house last week and we made it together and it came out perfectly. I'm wondering if they interpreted the recipe differently than how it was written. I learned a long time ago people don't always connect to verbal or written directions the same way. But doing it with my friend seemed to help. 

I continue to experiment with bread and my sourdough starter and discard. I've been making our sandwich bread for months. I've successfully made a soft sandwich bread with no yeast, just the sourdough starter. It takes hours for it to rise, but if one isn't in any hurry, it is really good. 

My husband bought us tickets to a concert in St. Louis so that will be a great Christmas experience. Our little town has a festival of lights which just has a free will donation so we have gone through it at night and it is amazing. Most of our gifts are practical to each other and we aren't going into debt to get them.

I'm going to include the fudge recipe in case you are interested at the bottom.

So, are you watching what you are spending for Christmas? Are you doing more shopping or more of baking or crafting? 

Grandma Pannek’s Fudge

4 cups white sugar

1 12 oz can of Milnot or evaporated milk

8 ounces of semi sweet chocolate chips

1 stick butter or margarine

1 13 oz jar of marshmallow creme

1 tsp of vanilla

Chopped nuts (optional)

9 x 13 buttered pan. 

Have everything ready before you start because you cannot leave the stove. I have the chocolate chips ready to go and the marshmallow creme opened and ready to spoon out. Put these and the vanilla aside. Have the buttered pan ready.

In large pot, melt butter and add evaporated milk or Milnot. Then stir in sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Boil 5 minutes. Take off fire, add chocolate chips, marshmallow creme, and vanilla. If you are using  nuts now is the time to put them in. Stir until everything is mixed in and pour into the greased pan. Cover with foil and put in a cool place. It will set up and be somewhat firm after a few hours. You can then cut it into pieces.