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Home > Archive: January, 2025
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Archive for January, 2025
January 25th, 2025 at 06:21 pm
The end of January is nearing and it's been what I'd call a typical winter for the Midwest, at least as it used to be: cold and snowy. We had some measurable snow and lots of cold temperatures. Previous years we had warmer temperatures so having a "cold spell" has been different. But I remember growing up to lots of snow and cold, so maybe we are reverting back to what it had been. The nice thing is we have had quite a bit of sunshine. A lot of times we have little to no sun and the days seem especially gloomy and depressing.
DH and I have continued working on finishing a room in the basement. Fortunately he is a handy type guy and I'm willing to try and learn new things. The advantage is we don't have outside stuff to do so we have time to work on it. I have called Menards "my home away from home" since we have been there a lot. Fortunately they have had what we needed. I wonder if home improvement stuff will see a huge increase in prices as both the hurricane victims and the wildfire victims start to rebuild -- the whole supply and demand scenario.
One good thing about winter is I don't mind running the oven. I have been trying to bake different things. I saw a recipe for making English muffins and tried it. I always thought they were baked, but this recipe called for cooking them on top of the stove in a cast iron skillet. They were pretty good for my first attempt. We had homemade cheese and egg sandwiches that night with them and even with the price of eggs, a reasonably priced meal.
I have continued crocheting and some loom knitting. On Facebook is a site called "Random Acts of Crochet Kindness USA" where people crochet a little thing, put it in a plastic bag with a note saying it is a free gift to make one's day and then leave these items and suggest people post a pic and where they found it. I live in a small town that has some of those little free libraries so I thought I'd crochet some bookmarks since I had some crochet thread. I have them crocheted and hope to get them distributed soon.
Speaking of crochet, a friend of ours is a woodworker and quite talented. I teased him and said I bet he had never made a crochet hook and he said he hadn't and so he did. He made the handle a little bigger so it is easier to hold. Wasn't that super cool? He said he likes a challenge. So, I crocheted a small basket for him and put some Hershey kisses in it as a "thank you."
For my birthday, DH gave me Kristin Hannah's book, "The Women." Talk about a powerful book. I was little during the Viet Nam war, but have read a lot about it and how the vets were treated after they returned. In this, it was even worse because the lady nurses weren't considered "vets" although they went through a lot as much as the men.
I currently am using 6 of those receipt apps. I figure it is free money. On three of them, we donate the money for our mortgage reduction for church. Granted, it isn't a ton, but we figure every little bit helps. I continue to look for digital coupons and sales at grocery stores. One of the grandsons thinks I'm funny to do this. He's 20 and I just smile and think, "Wait until you get on your own." I wrote some companies to get some coupons. I'm tired of a lot of them saying they don't send out coupons and to check our local paper. I learned the hard way that newspapers can buy different coupon packages and the local paper we had bought the cheapest ones which were basically ads to mail order stuff, hardly any useable coupons at all. But Celestial Teas and Land O'Lakes did send me some coupons which was generous of them. My husband is good about wanting to save money and he is happy that I want to find ways to continue to do so.
Life remains busy here at "Hummingbird Hills." That's what my husband's late wife named the property. Each day brings lots of things to do and more things to discover and winter is a nice time to do different things.
Posted in
Food / Groceries,
Saving Money,
Shopping,
Crocheting/Knitting
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6 Comments »
January 14th, 2025 at 08:13 pm
Recycle and reuse has been something that we've heard over and over. And then news reports come out stating that a lot of the things we were encouraged to recycle weren't really recycled. One thing I miss living out in the country was the recycling program that the small city had. I'm trying to be more creative and reuse stuff.
We both drink coffee so we go through quite a bit. I miss those metal coffee cans, but am trying to reuse the plastic ones we get. I washed one and then put waxed paper in it to give DH's grandson some cookies when we visited him at college. A large one I washed and decoupaged some scrap material on it and use it store my cookie cutters. I've been looking at Pinterest to find other ways to use them.
This grandson stayed with us during part of his college break and he saw I had baked some cookies and had them in one of those clamshell containers. He asked if he could have a cookie and I told him to help himself and he did, and proceeded to head to the garbage with the container. A perfectly reusable container. I asked him nicely not to throw it away and said I'd wash it and reuse it and I could tell he thought I was nuts. I had some of these before Christmas and I used them to take cookies in for our church bazaar. It saved us a little money by not using plastic bags and I felt like I at least got another use for them.
Years ago there was a Paula Deen show (before she became famous) where she and a camera crew would go to someone's house and use whatever the person had in their fridge, freezer, and pantry and make dinner. I imagine it was planned a head of time to make sure someone had something in their house beforehand, but after reading some of the frugal sites on Facebook, I'm wondering how many people keep some food on hand because one person posted about making biscuits with what she had and how some of her friends couldn't imagine how she did that. She said she always has flour, baking powder, some sort of butter or oil, and some time of milk whether it is refrigerated, condensed, or powdered and her friends seemed amazed.
Last night it was cold and neither of us wants a super fancy meal. I had made chicken noodle soup from scratch a couple of days ago, I had baked bread that afternoon. I asked DH if he wanted a slice of bread with his soup and he said yes, if I put some jam or jelly on it. What a blessing to head to the basement and the storage room where I have some of the stuff I canned and choose a small jar of homemade jam. Not a fancy meal, but a cozy one on a cold night.
Are you reusing or repurposing things around your house to save money? Are you fixing things to get a little more wear out of them? DH is quite handy so he has fixed and repaired a few things. Sadly there is something called planned obsolescence where manufacturers are making things harder to repair, get parts, so people are forced to replace instead of continuing to use after a repair. So, that is limiting; I get that selling is what they are all about, but even if you can find someone who can fix stuff, sometimes it is impossible to fix.
Posted in
Saving Money
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7 Comments »
January 5th, 2025 at 09:44 pm
Lots of and lots of that white stuff has fallen and even more is forecast this evening. We've had some warnings ahead of time and living in the country, we try to keep things stocked up and ready. DH has a small tractor (a little larger than a riding mower) and he put the plow on it and we bought diesel fuel. I had my first snow plow lesson this afternoon. I most certainly need more lessons and practice, but it was fun learning something different. I shoveled the walk and St. Bernadoodle Murphy thought it was a game, barking and biting the plastic shovel. The dogs frolicked in the snow, playing and running. It was a joy to watch them.
We had been stocking up on things as they went on sale so other than picking up a few things like milk and fruit, we didn't have to do the big worry of panic shopping. We went Friday morning and casually bought our milk and fruit and got in and out. I guess by Friday evening the panic shopping had begun and I guess the shelves were ravaged by last night. I'd rather buy things on sale and stock up then being forced to buy stuff at regular price due to immediate need. I have a friend who does as we do and he was saying he was delighted he didn't have to fight crowds with a well stocked pantry and fridge. Another friend who is also retired decided to hit the stores yesterday and then complained about the shelves being empty and the bad attitudes of many of the other shoppers. I get it if someone has to work and has no choice to shop then, but a retiree with plenty of weather warnings really has no excuse.
Today is my 64th birthday. My husband said he wanted to bake me a birthday cake and since he didn't know how, would I help him? I said yes. I already had the ingredients and so we baked the cake yesterday and then frosted it last night. He's a good student and listened and asked questions. I let him do it all, just read him the recipe and gave him hints. I haven't had a homemade birthday cake since my mom died in 2006 and the fact he wanted to bake it for me although it wasn't in his original skill set means the world to me.
My DH also fixed us our Sunday dinner. Growing up, I never had the family Sunday dinners. It was usually a baloney sandwich on white bread and maybe some chips. No family gathering or sitting down, just basically fending for yourself. A few weeks ago we had a grandson staying with us, so we did a Sunday dinner with turkey, mashed potatoes, green beans, cheesy muffins, and brownies for dessert. So, DH decided with just the two of us, he would take care of our noon meal, setting the table, fixing it, and cleaning up. That was a special treat for me as well. It was warm and loving and cozy as the snow flies outside our dining room window.
The best part is I am not fretting about this snow. I am content. I am blessed. I have a wonderful husband, a lovely home, two sweet pups, and the feeling of being safe. If you are in the path of this storm, hope you are safe and warm.
Posted in
Food / Groceries,
Shopping,
Ramblings and nonsensical chatter
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10 Comments »
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