Last Wednesday when the grocery ads came out, I did my scrounging to see what we needed and what was on sale. I was also trying to buy stuff ahead as far as Thanksgiving. Plus, DH was running out of soda and I was hoping to score a decent deal. Last spring there was a buy 2 get 2 free of 12 packs of his favorite kind and there it was this week. He doesn't drink a ton of it, but likes a can every so often and we have room to store it. All in all, I did a deal on English muffins of buy one, get one free, and other things on sale and saved over $34 on things we either needed or planned to have for upcoming meals. This puts us at having saved over $225 in coupons since July. Not a bad deal. We need to buy a couple more things for our meal and the quantity will depend on how many are coming. We will be spending more than $4 per person (sorry Walmart, can't beat your deal), but I like fresh things like celery. But at least I felt like I'm saving some money while buying the things we want and will use. 

I do 7 grocery apps. Two I don't get much from, but every so often I score a little on them and I figure it's better than nothing. I just cashed out another app for $10 and DH wanted some batteries from Amazon so they are basically free. Yay! 

Boer's Head had a settlement and I got $26 from that. I see Amazon is going to have settlement sign ups in December so I hope we can sign up for that. Sorry they have to do that, but if we're deserving, then we should get our piece of the pie, so to speak.

Our Thanksgiving won't be huge and boisterious. We put out an invite for people from our church who might need a place to eat and we are having two of our three families coming. When we see the need out there for so many who are struggling, we realize we are very blessed to have plenty of food and a nice home, and a little extra for things. Hope it is the same in your lives as well. Hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving and have much to be grateful for.

A few months ago I said I was creating a spreadsheet that listed how much I saved using coupons on stuff we would normally buy anyway. I had started in July so it isn't a full year, but as of today, we are up to $144.58. Fortunately DH is on board with using coupons and finding stuff on sale. I was commenting about how much grocery prices have increased...the brand of toilet paper we use was around $7 a year ago for a package...it's now over $11. Coffee has increased at least $4 for the same package. I'm sure everyone is seeing the same thing. So, the coupons are sort of helping with the extra increases. 

Happy first day of fall! After suffering through extremely hot and humid temperatures, we are finally receiving some rain, rain we haven't seen in almost a month and a half. It's deary out today and sort of cooler, so it feels like fall.

Since the end of July, I've been keeping a running tab on how much I've saved using coupons, digital and paper. I'm not counting mark downs, just coupons. I hit just a few cents over $74 this weekend. This is for stuff we normally buy, but I'm trying to pair the coupons for either keeping the pantry/fridge/freezer stocked or something we would use for every day. I guess that's not bad. Sadly, most of the things we buy, I can't find coupons for.

I try to give blood every few months. I received a $15 gift card for Amazon for doing so last month. It isn't why I donate, but it was a nice benefit.  I do a bunch of receipt apps and just got to a $20 gift card for Amazon as well. We live in rural America so DH often orders things off of Amazon that are not available locally, or even 30 minutes away. I consider it found money.  Again a lot of things we buy do not give us bonus points. 

I try to stay out of thrift stores because I'm often tempted to buy things I don't need, but I was on a mission to replace mixing bowls. The ones that were here had those cracks on the inside that bacteria can grow in. When I divorced, I didn't take everything out of the kitchen so I really wanted decent mixing bowls. I cook and bake a lot. I found a set that were clear for $20. Vintage, but safe! As a result, I was motivated to clean out some cabinets and reorganized a few things to get rid of the other mixing bowls. Hopefully it will make me a little more efficient.

I often use my Discover card to pay for things. I am getting a little over $100 back after a few  months. That will go into savings. 

As we head into the last quarter of the year, do you think you did enough to save money? I'm not talking about things that were out of your control, but just everyday things that helped you save? 

Yesterday we went to Hobby Lobby so I could buy some yarn and some orange paint. Our craft store choices are limited here in Central Illinois, so I shop where I can. I was shocked at all the Christmas out at Hobby Lobby. I would bet almost half of the store. DH wondered if they ordered stuff ahead of the tariffs so they had plenty. 

Needless to say, we didn't buy any Christmas decorations; we have plenty already. But, I wanted some orange paint for my fall project.

One of my goals this year with the garden was to plant pumpkins so I could decorate with them this fall. Well, one lone, small pumpkin isn't going to cut it. Oh, well. And being frugal, I didn't really want to spend money on anything else for outside. Then it came to me...why not make use of all the metal cans and plastic lidded containers I've been saving? So, two bottles of paint later, I'm working on these items to make them into pumpkins. We have plenty of twigs and sticks for stems. I did "splurge" and spend 25 cents on some green felt to make leaves. Hopefully these will turn out decently and I can use them for a few years. I'm hoping that I'm not only keeping these items out of the landfill, but also reusing a few things we have.

One of my newer hobbies is making candles. I made a couple a few weeks ago and burnt one of them and yesterday, pulled the wick out of it and melted what was left and added wax to it to make another candle. These are not fancy or huge, just something fun to do and enjoy. 

I was thinking yesterday while looking at all the Christmas and fall decor at Hobby Lobby, how I pleasure is pulling out the indoor decorations I have and most were bought at thrift stores. I wonder if some people buy new every year, hence the overstocked shelves at so many stores. I did go crazy this year and make some new pumpkins...DH bought a pool noodle to put in the garage so we didn't hit and chip the paint on the car door. He cut off a small section, so I cut it into pieces and used some leftover yarn to make "pumpkins" by winding yarn around them, again using some small sticks for stems, and some brown ribbon I had to tie a bow. 

Do you decorate for fall?

Hummingbird Hills has become pickle palace! Our two cucumber plants have gone wild and besides eating them now, I have made sweet pickles, bread and butter pickles, dill pickles, and sweet relish. My pantry is filling up and hopefully there is enough to share during the holidays with family. 

DH and I have already had serious talks about the garden for next year. We started a compost pile, but it won't be ready for when we tear up the garden and pull the plants. We don't think we want to plant much more, but would like ot make the garden a little bigger just for ease of getting around it. 

I had hoped to get enough tomatoes to can a few jars, but not sure if that is going to happen. At least we are getting fresh tomatoes. We've had extreme heat and little rain, so it's been a hot job watering and even if the plants want water, those pesky weeds can grow no matter what. 

We picked our second watermelon. The first one was around 27 pounds. I think this one is close. 

We planted sunflowers at the end of May and they didn't come up so I planted some in July just to see if the seeds were bad. I planted them in a different place and they all came up. I'm hoping we get some nice blooms before it gets cold so I can harvest the seeds for next year. 

One of the goals this year was to plant more butterfly and hummingbird friendly flowers. I hope that worked and my observation skills are spot on. I've seen more butterflies this year than last year and we have a couple of hummingbirds who seem to be visiting frequently. 

We have been eating a lot of stuff from the garden which means we aren't buying as much at the grocery store. That has helped with the grocery budget. 

A lot has been going on so I didn't know what else to title this than Potpourri.

My last post was I would start keeping track of how much I saved using coupons, digital or paper. This week Kroger has a special on Quilted Northern Toilet paper, the digital coupon was $5.99 for a 9 roll package. It's normally over $8.49 at Kroger and at other stores, it is $9.99. I bought some a few months ago when they had it down to $5.99, but we just opened our last package the other day, so I was hoping they would be running a special. They did, and they had a limit of 5. The kicker is I had an addition $2 off a package that was on the digital coupons  a couple of weeks ago, so that made it $3.99 a package. I had a few other things on sale with coupons, so my coupon savings this week was $22.49 and a total over the past two weeks is $25.09. 

My husband has been calling me his prairie woman because I do things he thinks prairie women do. We planted a garden and the bulk of the responsibility is mine, but we do share some of the labor. Our cucumbers have been coming on which is a blessing. I've made the refrigerator cucumbers and onions with vinegar and sugar that we keep a jar of going all the time, and I've made a lot of cucumber dill pasta salad to eat with our lunches. But my first project was to make sweet relish. I had to buy bell peppers for that, but had some onions I had planted and have made 3 pint jars and 3 half pints thus far. I've made sweet pickles and bread and butter pickles too. I had to purchase more half pint jars but there is a reason behind all this. Our plan is to give a jar of each to each one of DH's kids and their families as part of their Christmas presents. I picked wild black raspberries and made jam and I have enough to gift each one a half pint jelly jar of it. The berries weren't as robust as last year because we had very hot temperatures and little rainfall during the time the berries were starting to blossom and then ripen. But it's free fruit and I'll take advantage of it. Plus, I'm adding to my own pantry. 

We planted some tomato plants and one called "Early Girl" is producing small, but delicious tomatoes. I started a small herb garden by the side of the pole barn and although the strawberry plants I planted, well, all but one died, but then there was this other plant that came up. It's a volunteer heirloom tomato plant. They are small little bulb shaped tomatoes, but hey, free food is free food, right? 

I planted a bunch of watermelon seeds and was discouraged that only one plant came up originally. Well, that plant has been a powerhouse because it is taking over the garden. I planted some more seeds and have another plant that is following in the other's plant steps, because they are reaching out. We picked our first watermelon this week; it was almost 27 pounds. We have another one that is growing long and a small one that has started. So, that is exciting. We may be sick of watermelon by this fall if they all grow so big, but at least it is healthy. 

My husband has a woodworking machine called a CNC machine. He's learning to use it, and has a laser on it. I found these small cutting boards at Dollar Tree that are made of bamboo. Bamboo is considered a good wood since it is easily sustainable and if someone doesn't want to use it as a cutting board, they could be used as a decoration. So, we decided to experiment with them. I've designed different things and DH figured out the program and made these beautiful board designs. Again, we will be giving these to the kids as part of the family Christmas gift. But we also made some for other folks. 

I made a solar oven the other day with a shoebox, but my experiment didn't work well with it. I need to find a better recipe, but figure I might as well use what I can as far as solar. We have solar panels where we live. DH is a retired electrical engineer and installed them himself. Since he has an electric vehicle, he put more up last year and I helped with that. But if you are interested in solar panels don't believe the sales folks who claim you won't have an electric bill. Do your research. 

It's been busy here, but it's been a good busy. We've spent some money on materials, but overall, we feel we have saved some money as well. Hopefully the kids appreciate the pickles and jam and the cutting boards. We plan to give them a gift card to a meat market as well as their family gift, but wanted them to feel like they have other stuff too. I kind of like thinking we are doing our Christmas shopping early. 

Do y'all remember the Extreme Couponing shows from the past where folks would have their notebooks of coupons and plan a big trip and get cartloads of groceries for very little? I enjoyed watching them and I looked on YouTube and there are a few there. I was always amazed at how their built their stockpiles on so very little. But then, I always wondered, how they really did it. 

Our local paper had pathetic coupons. I learned that there were different coupons packages the papers could buy and of course our local one bought the cheapest which was basically a couple of coupons for the grocery and mostly ads. The Chicago Tribune had better coupons, but the paper was a lot more too. 

Then there was the fact none of our local grocery stores would double the coupons. So, I resigned myself to never being able to make such great deals, but I still liked the idea of it. Plus, I don't need 50 boxes of cereal or jugs of laundry detergent in my pantry, garage, or basement or wherever I could store it. 

Years ago in the book, "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn," the author made a comment about one of the characters. Flossie was a minor character and amongst all the characters in this tome, they were all basically working poor. But Flossie had a hobby, and that was to dress up every Saturday night and enter a contest and if she won, she would receive a silky, colorful parasol. The parasols were useless, but she displayed them proudly and the author as the narrator stated that people who are poor, like to display things they collect. So, I sort of wonder if that is the case with those extreme couponers...they liked to display all their products. I remember a couple talked about doing a shop where they would donate the stuff to a charity which was great, but most were just wanting to add to their stockpile. I wonder if they ever used everything before some of it went bad.

Well, I digress. I spent a few minutes this morning writing some sites to ask for coupons. I do the digital coupons at the stores that offer them. I no longer get a printed copy of the paper so no coupons there. Rarely does the store have those little things that offer you coupons on the shelves. But I have no problem writing companies and asking. Earlier this year Land O'Lakes and Folgers sent me coupons and I used them. Land O'Lakes actually sent 4 coupons, two of which were for products I don't buy, so I put them on the shelf next to the items for someone else to take advantage of. Hopefully someone used them and saved a little bit. 

I was discussing the saving money and couponing with DH and he said I should start keeping track of what I save with coupons and see just how much it adds up to. I was thinking that might be a good project. There are a lot of products I don't buy that coupons are offered for and I'm not going to purchase the item just because of the coupon. I remember some friends who would get coupons emailed to them by a couple of businesses and they would rush to go the store or restaurant to use them since they received them, even though they weren't planning on going and really didn't anything from the product. I'm sure the businesses were glad, but not sure how financially responsible they are.

So, my challenge is to start keeping track of how much I save with coupons. There will be times I save more than others. Right now I'm not buying a ton of stuff because we are using what we have from the garden of what's in the freezer. But I think it will be a worthwhile project just to see if it is worth the time and trouble. What do you think?

When I was a kid, my parents gave me a piggy bank to teach me how saving a little adds up. So, I've always sort of had a bank of some sort to save coins. I no longer have a "piggy bank" but rather a Mason jar. It was getting full, mostly pennies, and I decided to cash it in and put the money into our savings account. 

As they say, no good deed goes unpunished or something like that. Our bank no longer has a coin counter, so I was told I had to roll the pennies. But they were stingy with the wrappers. I had some "silver," but not a ton. I counted out everything and took the wrapped pennies and the other coins and was told all the coins had to be in rolls. 

Seriously? I had $2 in quarters, $1.20 in nickels, and a little over $6 in dimes. The wrappers stated I needed $10 in quarters and $2 in nickels, and $5 in dimes. So, I don't have enough of anything to wrap besides the dimes. This is just ridiculous. It's not like I'm bringing a huge bottle of coins in (think those big bottles of bottled water.) It wasn't like they had customers in line waiting for the tellers either. I was the only person in the bank at that time besides the employees. 

So, the pennies and dimes are wrapped and will be taken back to the bank at some point. I put the rest of the change in my purse and will use it for a small purchase somewhere. Sort of defeats my purpose of "saving" money.

I realize we are moving to a more cashless society, but talk about frustration on my part. Does that mean once we are cashless, we will need less tellers? At the rate our bank is going, they have cut back drastically already. We are lucky to have two tellers, and one mans the drive up window, usually another person who directs you to a teller or a personal banker or can help solve mini problems, and a personal banker. And this is a big, well known bank name. 

Yet, more businesses are charging a fee for using your credit card and encourage one to pay in cash. Talk about a dichotomy! 

Some of the frugal sites I follow on Facebook have been touting "No Buy July." 

I'm just wondering if any of you are thinking of participating? It seems like we are keeping our spending down so far since prices continue to rise and to be honest, we are a little worried with the state of economy. We've been doing a lot of using what we have around here and making do. 

Hmm? You wonder, where's Hummingbird Hills Homestead. Well, located in Central Illinois. It's our little patch of land. My husband's late wife dubbed it Hummingbird Hills and I added the Homestead part. It's been a busy week here trying to keep on top of stuff and then we have had the extreme heat.

Work on the vegetable garden is ongoing. We fenced around it, but apparently bunnies or something still figured out a way to get in and proceeded to munch on a few of our vegetables. Not all our seeds germinated which was a disappointment. But, things are starting to grow. I've replanted a few things. We enjoyed a couple of ripe tomatoes...a bit early, but a nice treat. We've had lettuce and radishes and green onions so far. The radishes are finished, unfortuantely, they were super. The green beans have started over since something ate all the tender leaves off of them. I had started two celery plants from the bottom of a stalk and whatever ate them as well as two bell pepper plants so it has been work trying to figure out how to keep things from being eaten.

I resorted to cutting the top and bottom off of juice bottles to put around some of the plants. Not pretty, but hopefully effective. I restarted another celery plant and hopefully it will get a chance to mature. I replanted some things that didn't come up, hoping it was the weird weather we had earlier. One cucumber plant is really going to town, so I'm hopeful we will get lots of cucumbers. I like to make relish besides eating the cucumbers raw. 

Sadly the weeds have been abundant. I've been working on filling in this flower bed with lots of perennials, but ther eis this invasive vine that I pull it up and the next day it reappears, even if I got the roots. I told DH it would make a great horror movie if this thing got really huge; it could take over a city in a matter of days! 

In good news, I bought a box of wildflower seeds at a Dollar General this spring hoping they would come up since they are supposed to be flowers that hummingbirds and butterflies like. It seemed like it took forever, but the plants are up and there are even some blooms! 

We've had some other projects going on here as well. But with the extreme heat, we are not overdoing it. I'm watching the wild black raspberries because I'm thinking they will be ripening at some point. I made jam with them last year and would like to do the same this year. 

I read an interesting book that I checked out from the library. It's called "The Feast Nearby." It from 2011 about a lady who was divorced and lost her job and moved to what was to be a vacation cabin which became her home. She talked about living on very little, foraging, bartering, and canning. The author's name is Robin Mathers and she worked for the Chicago Tribune before losing her job. She included recipes. She is way more resourceful than I am, sad to say. But it was an interesting read. One thing she talked about was supporting the business people around her such as farms. 

Well, guess I should get on my work clothes and get busy!

Forty two years ago today (May 21), I graduated from college. I was exhausted, but excited. I had worked my tail off and graduated with no school debt. I did without things while in school, looked for ways to save money, and worked a lot. Would I say it was worth it? Definitely yes. I graduated with a teaching degree and although I didn't go into teaching right away, it did become my profession and I went on to get my master's and then hours beyond my master's so I could be at the top of the salary schedule when it was time to retire. A friend from college and I always celebrate our anniversary and talk about where we came from and where we are now. 

Do I believe having my college degree made a difference in my earning? I believe it did. If I planned to  stay in the little city where I grew up, it was one of the better jobs. Our city used to be major blue collar, but so many factories either shuttered or moved away. 

I was thinking today that I also learned a lot out of school. I just came from the garden where  I picked radishes I had planted. It was nice seeing the lettuce coming up, as well are the green onions, green beans, and peas. My Papa taught me about gardening. When we lived in the country, we always had a small garden to supplement. Am I a master gardener? Heck no. But I'm trying things. I have some potatoes planted that have come up from potatoes that started to get eyes and I have two celery ends that I have planted that I hope to get more celery from, in addition to buying seeds and a few plants. 

In addition to this, I've learned a lot reading blogs and forums on this site. Today's lunch was basically using a lot of things we had. I had a couple of potatoes, a sweet potato, a bell pepper, an onion, some mushrooms, and some broccoli as well as some chicken breasts. I roasted them all together to make a decent lunch with olive oil and herbs and spices. The grandson wasn't thrilled, but he's learning sometimes you don't get what you want all the time. It was filling and nutritious and even better there are leftovers for hubby and me! 

Forty two years ago I knew that I didn't know it all. And all these years later, I still don't. I'm still learning. But I'm gratified that my learning has provided a decent living and is helping me continue to save money and live a good life. 

Bet that title make you scratch your head! 

But, I did have to spend some money so I could save some. The little town we live near has a small, but active library. Unfortunately since we live on the outskirts of town, we don't pay library tax which means I couldn't get a library card unless I paid the equivalent of what we would pay in taxes to the library. I contemplated it before taking the plunge. I didn't want to get the card and then feel like it wasn't worth the cost.

This little library is pretty busy as far as activities. I've taken advantage of a couple of craft nights which had everything included. Another one is coming up this week with stamping kitchen towels. That sounds like fun. We've also sat in on "True Crime Night" where the library director gives research on true crimes. 

I've missed being able to check out books and since it is part of the system of interlibrary loan, even though the library itself is small, I can still get books from other libraries.

So, I spent the money to get the card and according to the little receipt, I've already "saved" money by checking out books. I have gotten some nonfiction how to books plus some mysteries. I believe having a library card is being frugal since I will use it. 

So, I spent money to save some! Books are expensive!

After a long day on my feet, I'm taking a little rest and decided to check the blogs. Glad to see a few more people wrote a blog. 

The past couple of weeks have been ones of working in the yard. On Easter we are invited to purchase an Easter lily and can designate it as a remebrance or a thanksgiving. We bought two since they were $8 and after Easter service, brought them home and used them as table decorations for the two tables we had for our Easter dinner and our family coming. I then planted them in the front garden near the ones we planted last year that are starting to come up. Yesterday when I went to church to fill the altar candles  and attend ladies' Bible study, one of the ladies was going to get rid of the leftover ones so I snagged two more. It rained yesterday and today so I need to wait to plant them. I know I won't see them bloom again this year, but that's OK. I figure it is a good way to reuse the plants and with the two free ones, it's something else nice to have in the garden. 

Sadly I have spent money on some plants to put in the front flower garden, and then also bought two plants for a smaller flower garden at the back of the house. We are trying to make it a pollinator garden to attract butterflies and bees. I read where you could put different sized rocks in a bird bath and it helps the butterflies and bees get a drink, so I did that. Some of the rocks were ones I dug out of the ground when I mowed. There are lots of rocks in the land around here. DH had said we could buy a bag of rocks, but I figured I might as well use what we had. I'm sure the butterflies and bees won't mind. We also bought a "bee house" to put out in the pollinator garden. It is scary reading how many honey bees we've lost in this country.

We have a Dollar Tree in the small town we live near and I was surprised to see some perennial bulbs. I bought a few and planed them in the front garden. I spent $3.75 and tax. Figure if just a couple come up, I'm money ahread. Dollar General had a box of flower seeds for hummingbirds and butterflies so I spent $2 and bought that and planted them in two different areas. It is supposed to have both perennials and annuals in the seeds. I have a small area near the front steps that I planted some since the tulips are starting to die back. I found some black landscape border in the pole barn so before I planted the seeds, I put it in around the tulips and the rest of the bed, hoping that will enhance the area. 

I read online where you could plant potato starts if potatoes had started growing the eyes. I cut them up and dried them for a couple of days and planted them. I did buy grow bags because I honestly didn't want to have to dig them up in the soil. It seems like it has taken forever for anything to pop up, but I'm seeing leaves so I'm hoping my "free" potato starts do well. 

The big thing was we tilled up a small area in the very back to make a vegetable garden. I have been saving coffee grounds, tea leaves, and egg shells and DH tilled them in the soil. I planted lettuce, green onions, radishes, and carrots. I want to make sure there is no chance of frost and hope to plant peas, cucumbers, tomatoes,  and green beans. I'm hoping we do well on this garden, not only because fresh vegetables are wonderful, but hopefully it will offset the grocery bills. 

In the front flower garden was this small plaster decoration that said Cubs. My husband is a Cubs fan. Sadly, the paint had totally faded on the red part that said Cubs, and the blue circle around it was faint. I bought some red paint at Dollar Tree  and we had blue paint, so since I could not work in the yard due to rain the past couple of days, I painted the red and blue. DH is thrilled. It did revive it and better than buying new. It was nice working in the room we finished in the basement just for crafting. 

My other project today besides putting together dough for homemade sandwich bread was to clean and organize the pantry. We have a reach in pantry and I'm ashamed to admit it was a mess. I looked on Pinterest for suggestions on organization and honestly, some of those folks either don't have a lot of stuff, or are far better at organizing than I am. I did not want to buy anything, just wanted ideas. I did use some of my canning jars to put cornmeal and oatmeal in, but it helped that I took everything out and then reorganized everything. A few items found homes in better spots. Fortunately nothing in the pantry was expired, so at least I haven't let that happen. 

After baking bread and making supper, I think a relaxing evening reading a library book sounds wonderful. 

In the past I've mentioned my sourdough starter, Sammy. He's around 5 years old. I started sourdough because I wanted something to do during the months we couldn't do anything or go anywhere during the Pandemic. I know I have learned a lot and have more to learn about sourdough bread, but it sure is fun.

The interesting thing is sourdough has become big. I mean, really popular. Just this past couple of weeks I've seen "classes" for showing people how to start a starter. I guess that's wonderful, but it's a skill one can learn for free. 

A friend of mine, when I offered him some starter a couple of months ago, turned me down, saying he didn't want to be bothered. He visited a family member and is suddenly interested in starting his sourdough journey. So, when I head to the city he lives in later this week, I will be sharing a little Sammy with him so he can start. Although he can start his own, mine has that good sourdough taste from years of fermenting. I'm still amazed at how 1/3 cup of fed starter and 3-4 cups of flour and some honey, extra virgin olive oil and some salt can make a delicious sandwich bread if let rise overnight. 

My loaves aren't the fancy ones with the designs. I have thought about it, but honestly, the bread I make is for every day stuff like toast and sandwiches, so we like the softer crusted stuff. Plus, I like to experiement with different types of flour, which I sometimes add to give it a different flavor and crumb. 

Guess I missed my chance to make money on teaching people to make a starter. I didn't look into the classes, but I wonder if people have to bring their own jar or if that is provided. The cost is $10. I take that back, one class offered by an extension group was ten dollars and people had to bring their own jar. But I think they learned about it and got part of a starter besides. 

So, my Pandemic hobby continues. I have baked our bread since last summer. I think I've saved money because Artisan bread is expensive. Are you doing any of the hobbies you picked up from being isolated at home during the Pandemic?

Yesterday was a day I could head to a Kroger store in a nearby larger town. Since we live 40 minutes away, I try to bunch my errands so I don't make a lot of unnecessary trips and with gas prices on the rise, I especially don't want to spend more on gas and wear and tear on my car.

I had a list created. Most, not all, of my items were either on sale or I had digital coupons. I was fortunate that I found a couple of things that I wanted on clearance so I saved even more. Even so, I wound up spending almost $120 and only one item was meat. I did splurge and buy some teeth cleaning dog chews simply because the pups like them and its cheaper than getting dental work done on them. I try to write out my list based on the store layout so I don't forget stuff or make additional visits to aisles. The longer I spend in the store, the better the chance I wind up buying stuff I don't need. One item was buy one, get one free and although expensive, it was far more reasonable than regular price. 

I kept seeing some of the same people making many of the same purchases I was making -- stuff on sale, stuff on clearance, stuff with digital coupons, or items with paper coupons. According to the cash register tape, I saved over $40 and if that can be believed, that's a nice chunk of change. The gal ahead of me in check out had a full cart. But of that cart, I bet she didn't have more than 5 items at regular price. Everything was either on sale or marked down on clearance: very little snack foods, mostly fruits, vegetables, and bread.  I saw the same pattern with the older man ahead of us. Very little was regular price in his small basket. I think there is a trend developing. I think this trend is going to continue as people feel more of a squeeze as prices increase and money doesn't go as far as it did. The thing that bothers me is the people who can least afford high prices are the ones who need help and as programs are being cut, they won't get the assistance. I hope I'm wrong, but I'm thinking as everyone suffers, the folks who were generous to donate to food banks and things like that will cut back because they will be afraid themselves.

I'm hoping if you are going to the grocery you'll report on what you are finding. I'm curious if you are seeing the same thing or doing the same thing. 

Based on the market dropping and prices increasing, do you think we bound for a recession? I keep reading and hearing that our economy seems to be ripe for one. To be honest, it is frightening because it seems like our world is topsy turvy with all the wild things coming from the news. The trade war and prices increasing and the marketing losing money doesn't seem like a good thing in the near future. Are you planning on doing anything to combat this?

I feel like we are already trying to save money. Granted, we are spending money on things, but DH and I were discussing what else we can cut back on. Which just feeds into more economic woes if enough of us do that. 

We already planned on planting a small garden. I've started a few things from seeds and have them on the sunporch. Hopefull they will sprout. I continue to make my own bread. I buy things on sale. But even so, we spent almost a hundred dollars at the grocery store yesterday and we didn't bring home a whole lot. Fortunately we can afford it, but I don't know how people who are already struggling are going to make it. 

So, what are your thoughts?

Here in Central Illinois it isn't exactly warm, but it isn't freezing either. When we don't have the usual gloomy winter days, it makes me think spring is around the corner and I'm getting excited.

We have this lovely sunporch on the back of the house. Although it is early to be planting a vegetable garden, I'm getting excited about doing so. Scratching around here, I found a metal pan and asked DH if I could use it to plant some seeds in it and have it on the porch. The porch seems warmer than the outside with the afternoon sun and the way it is built, it doesn't get super freezing cold when the weather is cool outside. So, I bit the bullet, put some potting soil in it and planted some radishes. Hopefully they will come up and we can enjoy some. I saw this dude on Facebook stating you could start strawberries by planting a small slice of a strawberry in dirt, so I did that as well in the plastic containers and those too are on the sunporch. 

We've been throwing out ideas on what we want to plant for this year. Last year we tried a few things and some where successful and some were a failure. DH had this wooden raised garden and the soil just wasn't deep enough to grow tomatoes or cucumbers because of the way it was made, the soil dried out so fast. We had some fierce, hot days so it made it tough to keep things alive. We bought one of those small raised metal garden rings too and planted tomatoes in that and they did really well. So, we bought a second one and that's the plan for this year -- 4 tomatoes in the two of them, two each. We are going to till up a spot and fence it in for other things like cucumbers, onions, and other things. I have garlic planted already and a small herb garden in a small area as well as strawberries. So hopefully we will get some good things this year. I'm hoping to preserve some of the things we have. With grocery prices we hope to have some fresh produce. I'm also hoping that the rhubarb and the black raspberries produce a lot too. 

Last fall I planted tulip bulbs and I'm looking forward to when they break through the soil. I plan to take a photo of the three spaces in case I need to fill in spots. I can plant things, but we have two dogs who like to dig so I think some of the bulbs have been moved. 

I seem to concentrate on food a lot, but since it is a necessity, I'll validate it that way. A few months ago I bit the bullet and bought a large toaster oven. I always had one to use for smaller things to bake, but when I moved out with the divorce, I didn't take the one that was at the house. I missed it. We have a perfectly good oven, but I know ovens are a big energy pull so unless I can bake more than one thing at the same time, I prefer to use a toaster oven to save on electricity. Lunch today was a casserole and heating up a vegetable, both fit in the toaster oven. As I have watched my retirement accounts decrease the past few weeks, I feel a little better knowing I'm saving a few cents here and there. It adds up as we go along. 

One thing that probably isn't frugal, but I have been crocheting little items and leaving them with a note that it is a free gift and if the person can, post a photo of it and where it was found. I crocheted bookmarks and left them in the Free Little Libraries in our small town and one person posted a photo on the Random Acts of Crochet Kindness so that was cool. I'm going to leave shamrocks this week around town. Most people who post talk about it being a day brightener. I hope it is. 

This has little to do with my post, but I can no longer post photos on my blog. Any ideas on how I can do that? I always get an HTTP 400 error. 

I am thinking of posting this on one of the Facebook frugal sites, so I thought I'd run this by all of you to get your feedback:

Pinterest -- I have a love-hate relationship with it. It's a good source for a lot of things, but sometimes the stuff isn't what it claims to be.

I like to read articles and blogs on ways to save in case I'm missing something. But  if they are true sites, they say the same thing, and mostly general stuff. I belong to a couple frugal groups on Facebook and there are people who post that they are new to this and want ideas on saving money. It makes me realize that there are newbies that some of these general statements are just that -- general and if one doesn't know how to do it to begin with, it could be overwhelming. I was thinking that perhaps things need to be explained more fully for those who don't know.

For example, there is almost always the topic of meal planning. That sounds great, but what if someone hasn't done that before, it could mean they don't know where to start. A frugal meal plan is going to look different than one from someone who isn't looking to save money. I think it should be better explained. Such as, figure out what you have in your fridge, freezer, and pantry, and  decide if you have to go to the grocery and supplement it. If so, what are things that are on sale that will go with whatever one has. Stick to your list and don't buy extra. Find deals like the loss leaders and digital coupons. If you have a little extra money and there are nonperishables on sale, stock up a little since grocery stores tend to have sales cycles, and try to build a small stockpile of things you like to eat. Most importantly, don't buy something you really have no desire to eat just because it is on sale. 

When you meal plan, try to fix enough of things for more than one meal. I know when I was working it meant some planning on my part, but I would figure out what I could fix ahead of time and then bake off when I got home from work. One of my coworkers asked me how I did it and I said I would often buy chicken on sale. If I got a whole chicken, I cooked it in the slow cooker. If it was a slow cooker I would add vegetables and spices so I could then have chicken broth.   If it was other stuff, I would brown in the pieces and depending on what I got, would then take it off the bones, then use the bones with some vegetables and spices to make broth. Then I would make casseroles, depending on what I had in my pantry and fridge or whatever I got on sale. I tried to change it up each week so we weren't eating the same casseroles, but it sure saved us a lot of money because I would then put these casseroles in the fridge and I could bake them when I got home from work, and if need be, add a vegetable and have our meal. I made a lot of soups and stews as well and would use whatever I had and since there was usually quite a bit, I could make more than one meal or freeze some for a day when I didn't feel like cooking. I bought cheaper meats and learned to love my slow cooker. It might mean prepping the stuff the night before and then putting it in the cooker that morning and turning it on, but what a relief to come home to a meal. I treated it like a challenge -- what can I make that is filling, nutritious, and cheap? 

Studying the sales is important. I read somewhere that grocery stores often do an 8 week cycle on stuff so putting away a little money and then stocking up on things that you like when it is on sale is smart. Plus, it is fun to shop your own cabinets knowing you are saving money. 

The next idea isn't really cooking and shopping, but planning is important. I admit I like looking through recipes and cookbooks and seeing different things. But in reality, I rarely made any of those fancy dishes. But I started with simple recipes that were good and then would tweak them. Then I would write them down. I have a love affair with index cards so I have a double recipe box with recipes that I use and have, in my opinion, improved upon. I learned that although I thought I'd remember a recipe, if I didn't make it for a while, I would forget all about it, then need a refresher. I went to the library and looked through cookbooks of simple recipes, not gourmet ones, and copied them on index cards for my try pile when I had the ingredients. If it was a good one, I kept the card. If not, I threw it away.

Figuring out what to do with things that are leftover is another way to save money. For example, if you make chili and don't have enought to have another full meal out of it, can you add some sauce and serve it over pasta and stretch it? A restaurant chain does this and calls it "chili mac" so if they can serve chili over spaghetti, why can't you? 

An important thing is use what you have. Even with egg prices on the rise, they are still a decent deal. My dear husband likes soft buns and I don't know why brat packages (bought on sale of course) have one less than the 6 buns, so what do we do with the bun? Of course one could use it for a sandwich, but then again, why not make an egg casserole? I often will do that -- tear up the bun into small pieces in a greased casserole dish, then do a fridge clean out of leftover cheese and vegetables  combined  with milk, and a two-three eggs (It makes a small casserole). I mix the egg and milk together, add the vegetables and cheese and pour over bread and refrigerate overnight. I bake at 350 for an hour or until a knife comes our clean in the middle. One can add meats or different cheeses to make this different. I like to add herbs to give it a different flavor, but it is a great way to use up what I have.

My other suggestion and personal goal  is to never have an oven that just has one thing in it. Ovens pull a lot of energy and baking one small thing isn't the most economical. Sometimes it can't be helped. But trying to fill the oven is always a good plan. For example, yesterday I  did a bunch of prep of stuff. I had our supper to bake at 350 and since I was going to put together dough for sourdough sandwich bread to be baked the next day, I had the flour out. So, I put together the ingredients to make cinnamon apple muffins. I also made dog treats. Each rack was full of stuff when I had the oven on. It doesn't always work out like that, but if it does, it is a good way to save money. 

My Papa always told me to never stop learning. He was a Depression Era kid and had me late in life. He said if someone wanted to teach me something, learn, even if I didn't think I'd use it, one never knew if it would come in handy. I'd say the same with cooking. I know the fancy chefs get all the publicity, but it is the person who can make a delicious meal out of what they have is a true gem. 

I learned a new word the other day: Grandmacore. If you aren't familiar with it, it's basically someone who does things grandmothers are usually known for like crocheting, knitting, baking, sewing, gardening, and stuff like that.  My DH looked at me and said that fit me to a "T."

I have a quirky sense of humor and read a columnist who has a webpage called Sean from the South. He wrote a column about  missing glass bottles amongst other things and I would have to agree. I remember all those wonderful glass bottles food and other items came in. Granted, shampoo probably shouldn't be in a glass bottle, but other stuff, well, in my opinion, should. I remember drinking soda pop and returning the bottles. My mom used glass mayo jars for canning because we had them. I know I latch onto glass jars of stuff I buy and reuse them because I like things in glass. You probably remember an email that was shared years ago about this lady at the checkout who was told by the young cashier she didn't understand recycling and the older lady talked about returning glass bottles so they could be refilled, reusing paper bags, and things like that. 

In my full grandmacore mode, I also have a button jar. I have cut off buttons off of clothes that are worn out or so badly damaged and kept the buttons. It is handy to have those extra buttons. I have been crocheting little gift card envelopes and I pulled buttons out of the jar today to sew on to them for the flap. I was thinking of a gal I worked with a number of years ago. The button on her khakis came off and I suggested we find a needle and thread to sew it back on and she said no, she'd just throw them away. I was shocked. I asked if she knew how to sew and she had no desire. I offered to sew the button on and was turned down. 

But many of these grandmacore things do save money. I reuse bottles and jars. I wash  my plastic bags and foil to reuse. I crochet and sew things. For example, I found some curtain panels at a thrift store for a room we are finishing in the basement. They are too long, but I will shorten and hem them so I will have curtains for around $5. 

Last year we planted tomatoes, cucumbers, onions and radishes and we enjoyed these fresh vegetables when they were available. We had a rhubarb plant and I used it to make a crumble as well as to make some jams and jellies, and we had both  mulberry trees and wild black raspberries and I picked those and made jam. We have a black walnut tree and I used those for some of my baking. I planted some herbs and dried them in the fall so I would have them to use this winter and spring.  Last fall I planned ahead, expanding our garden. We planted a couple of strawberry plants, two blueberry plants, some asparagus, and some garlic. Sure, these items cost money initially, but I'm hoping to be successful and getting some of this food in the coming years. I've concluded gardens are forward thinkers since blueberries and asparagus aren't supposed to yield a harvest right away. 

Since I mentioned baking with the nuts,  I've been baking our sandwich bread for over 7 months. My husband teases me how much please I get making a loaf of bread and then filling the house with the wonderul aroma of baking bread. Speaking of the oven, I went all out and bought a toaster oven so I could bake smaller things without heating up the big oven and having a large enery pull. I bake dog biscuits for our pups because they like them and it although we buy some commercial ones, the ones I bake are cheaper. I have to move the oven to the island to use it, but it is worth it. I'd like to explore making a solar oven this summer when the sun is overhead and hot. And we are discussing making a rain barrel to save money when we water the garden that we are increasing. 

I remember a friend talking about his mom and how she washed dishes in just a small amount of water in the sink. I asked him what he meant by a small amount of water and he said you know, less than half full of water. I'm thinking she was smart...didn't use a lot of the precious resource of water and still got things clean. She was frugal and as a result had a decent savings. Truly in grandmacore mode!

So, are you buying into the grandmacore? 

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. 

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. 

TV has advertised these great "bargains" as far as groceries for Thanksgiving dinner. However, there are certain things I'm picky on, so my price is more than what they are advertising.

But I play what I call the "Grocery Game" throughout the year. I check digital deals and then also check Ibotta to see if I can get a good deal. I use three other receipt apps too. My husband teases me about being frugal, but he has told me repeatedly how proud he is of me to save money.

Kroger recently has had turkeys on sale. Not name brand, but their brand. I got one for 69 cents a pound. I ahve limited amount of freezer space so I had to wait until this week to get a second one. I could only use that coupon for the 69 cents a pound for one, but did get the smaller turkey for 99 cents a pound. I waited and they put potatoes on sale. I had hoped to snag some green beans, but it seems they sell out of those quicker than anything else. So, I'm on the search for green beans that are reasonably priced. I have some in my stockpile, but hate to hit it. We are having more people for our meal than originally anticipated, so would like to buy what I need as far as our meal.

As I was rearranging the freezer, I noticed a pound of ground sausage. I thawed it and with some eggs, some leftover onion, a leftover Brat bun (why do Brats come in packs of 5 and buns in packs of 6), some leftover cheese, some milk, some herbs and spices, I made a breakfast casserole, It afforded us two  meals, and reasonably priced as well. The other day we had what I said was a free meal. We had met another couple for supper the other night and I brought home half of my chicken. So, I heated it up, had leftover risotto, and some leftover cooked carrots. It sort of balances out those times when we go out and spend money or have to use extra money for different meals.

My church has their Christmas bazaar coming up. We sell cookies by the pound so I will be baking soon. I normally get my sugar, flour, eggs, and butter at Aldi and have already bought some flour and sugar and butter. But there is this insurance company called Thrivent which offers grants for different church projects so I wrote a grant proposal to ask for some money for our church and they awarded the money, so we bought more baking supplies like vanilla as well as basics for everyone to share with so it will help alleviate the expense for those who might find it more difficult to buy these items but would like to bake. 

Are you finding any good ways to save money on groceries? 

A few years ago I read about making a sourdough starter. It seemed easy enough...flour, water, and time. I named my starter Sammy and I've kept him going ever since. I've made sour dough loaves and used the extra or discard for other things and even given away discard. Then the bane of my existence...I was looking at Pinterest and it showed an easy recipe for sourdough sandwich bread that looked far less crusty than normal sourdough. I kept thinking, it won't rise without yeast, but figured I could try and if nothing else, redo the dough and add yeast. Much to my surprise, it did rise and made a beautiful loaf of bread. It just takes longer to rise and one has to make sure the starter is bubbly and ready to go. But it pleased me. My husband teases me and calls me his Prairie Woman since I'm baking bread and trying things like this.

Well, it goes beyond that as well...I'm always trying to figure out ways to reuse things. I tease about Pinterest being the banke of my existence, but I do get some good ideas from the stuff on there. Most work; a few do not. I'm working on making my own Pine Sol. We have pine trees and vinegar is cheap. Hope it works! 

I planted strawberries and blueberies  for next year and years beyond and I read where coffee grounds are good for the soil. Our soil is very clay like, so I have been adding it to other places as well as I have added sand, hoping it improves the quality of the soil. 

My husband's late wife was quite the crafter and in the basement are a lot of things. I've never mod podged stuff before, but a few YouTube videos showed me how, and I have been using material I have to decorate plastic containers of things. The other day I sent cookies with the grandson back to school in a coffee container. I save all the plastic things we get and reuse them. I sent cake home with my husband's daughter the other day in containers that were for something else and she laughed and said she liked my frugal ways. 

I had a doctor's appointment Friday and since we had to drive to town 40 minutes away, we decided to do some other errands to make it worth our while. We thought we'd get a quick lunch at a local chain restaurant. We were shocked...a sandwich, chips, and drink for each of us was over $30 before tip! So today after church we had vegetable soup I made the other day and put in the Crockpot to heat and some bread I had made for lunch. Far less than $30 and probably far better for us too. 

I was going to include a photo of the bread, but whenever I try to post a photo, I get an error message.

My post from last week asking about stocking up had some great replies. The sad thing is, I guess there was a run on toilet paper and paper towels because local stores had signs limiting these products. I wan't suggesting people hoard, just be prepared. 

It's been a few months since I've been able to post. I went to the forum and commented and the IT person made suggestions, but nothing worked. Once a week I would come and try and it wouldn't work. So, I'm hoping this goes through.

Life has been going on. I've been busy with church things as well as getting ready for Christmas. We spent over $39 in postage for Christmas cards and I'm thinking we need to cut down our list considerably, especially to those we see often or use social media. I like a nice card and I like sending them, but this is getting crazy.

Our landline went up to $95 a month. A friend suggested we get a cheap cell phone since someone didn't want to give up the number. We have Consumer Cellular and they have great to work with as far as cell service. AT & T wasn't very helpful, but Consumer Cellular said they would do a three way call if need to be to move the number over. So, for  an additional $14.95 to my cell bill, we have the number at quite a savings.

Sadly we gave up our newspaper subscription as well. It used to be a daily, then the paper started not delivering on holidays. Then no paper on Sundays and Mondays. I think they were having problems getting people to even deliver and the paper got thinner and thinner. As a person who likes having a newspaper in my hand I miss it, but my bank account looks a little healthier.

The group at my church was busy making over 800 hats as well as dish cloths and scarves and blankets. Hats were given to the school we adopted, four classrooms for the teachers in our congregation, a soup kitchen, and a cancer care center where the lap blankets also went. The dish cloths were given to a food pantry to hand out with the Christmas baskets. Our congregation also was asked to adopt 50 first graders and give them Christmas bags with some items to open. We gave them socks, gloves, a hat, a coloring book, crayons, a slinky type toy, and some candy. 

Hope your holidays are going well and you have family or friends to cherish. 

Merry Christmas!

I spent the day a week or so ago washing and waxing my car. I like to do it once a year and go over carefully to make sure there isn't damage I may have missed. It cleaned up pretty nicely and I was very pleased with the end result. I also cleaned the inside. I was just thinking about how much I spend on this vehicle and its maintenance (amazing where your mind wanders when you are working). 

I don't begrudge any of the money I've spent so far on the vehicle. I had to break down and buy more car wax, but while I had it out, I also washed and waxed the charcoal grill we have that sits outside. It doesn't look perfect, but I think the coat of wax helps it weather a little better. 

So then my mind went to other things. I usually get my leather shoes and boots out and put polish on them to keep them looking nice. 

And as I sit here cooling off after doing housework and vacuuming and mopping, I think this is maintenance as well.

All time and money well spent, keeping things going and working and hopefully looking nice. And in a way, saving money in the long run. Maintenance on my car hopefully keeps it running with fewer problems and keeping it looking nice should help with the resale value when we decide to get rid of it. My shoes and boots, well, some of the shoes are  quite a few years old and I think polishing them has helped them look good. I rotate my shoes so I don't wear the same pair every day during the fall, winter, and spring and I bought some really nice ones a number of years ago. 

As for the housework, I like a clean house, but I also think keeping dust off of stuff helps, especially electronics. And keeping the floors clean helps by not letting grit scratch the vinyl and hardwood and we won't even talk about the ick in carpeting if it isn't vacuumed. 

So, this is my take on it -- taking good care of stuff is hopefully saving me money.

Although I've been busy, I really haven't had anything of consequence to actually report. It has been a bit expensive lately. 

We recently went for our dental check ups. DH had a tooth extracted and I had a crown as well as another tooth having a filling replaced. We have no dental insurance so it was all out of pocket expenses. Ouch. But any of the dental insurance available to us isn't really cost effective and we like our dentist and don't want to change.

My laptop was slowly dying so that was replaced. I got 7 good years out of it so I can't complain too loudly. 

Like many, we've had extreme heat and I keep pushing the a/c up so it won't run as much. Lots of water for the garden so that goes up each month.

And need I  comment on the groceries and how expensive they are? It seems like every week we pay a little more for the same items we bought the week before. 

It's getting tougher to save money.

As many of you know, I'm pretty involved in my church. And like all things in our personal lives, prices have gone up for things at church too. The power bill has increased. Insurance increased for the few employees, the cost of materials like paper has gone up. 

A couple of weeks ago we passed a deficit budget. And that is scary since it is often a crapshoot on giving to begin with.

I'm friends with the treasurer and he and I have been brainstorming ideas on ways to "fundraise" to make extra money to throw at the church mortgage to get it paid off sooner. If the mortgage was paid off, it would free up money for the regular budget.

I like doing research so I worked on that. Sadly Amazon is discontinuing its Smile program so that was out. But Kroger grocery stores does have a community outreach program where they donate a small amount back. So, we are working on getting people to sign up for that if they haven't already allocated these funds elsewhere.

A local meat shop is going to designate a week this month and whatever we buy and say we are from Mt. Calvary Lutheran, he will donate 10% back to us. 

I know Rural King also has a Church Week program once a year so hopefully we can get some money back from that.

I have been playing around with sourdough, and I think I might have tweaked a recipe that is pretty good. I gave a loaf to a friend to try and asked if she thought it would sell. She said yes. I gave a loaf to my treasurer friend and he's going to try it and give me feedback on it as well. 

And this weekend I also talked to a couple of ladies who liked my crocheted dish cloths and I asked if I brought some to them, if they might be interesed in purchasing them.

I do these receipt apps and two of them does PayPal, so I am going to donate my money for the mortgage. It's what I consider found money. It's not a huge amount, but more than what we had to begin with. 

I know not one of these items is going to pay off the mortage, but I think it is like our personal lives where we chip away at stuff a litle bit at a time. Plus, having the Kroger store and the local meat shop giving back, we are helping our community by shopping, especially the local meat shop. 

So, off to look for more fundraising ideas...

When I was a kid, we struggled financially. It wasn't because my parents were lazy, it just that money was tight. I saw resourcefulness as well and hard work and believe I was raised with a Depression Era attitude.

Once I finished college and landed my full time teaching job, I listened to some of the older teachers talking about pensions, retirement accounts, and things like that. My dad and mom had to rely mostly on Social Security come retirement, and I can attest it was nothing but a struggle. I found a financial advisor who was willing to work with me because in 1986 teachers didn't make squat. So, $50 a pay period went into a 403b. And let me tell you, $50 a pay period was tough back then. I kept telling myself it was for my future and my retirement. 

Last week at the grocery I saw a very nice looking older lady. She was dressed clean and neat. I am nosy so I was waching what she took out of her cart. One potato, a loaf of bread, a bunch of celery, some canned vegetables, a couple other fresh vegetables. She paid most of it with the Link card and I could tell she wasn't proud of that, but she also had to pony up some other money. My heart went out to her. She looked like someone who probably had been an upstanding citizen her whole life, but found herself unable to make it on whatever she was getting, I am assuming Social Security. She was careful with her shopping -- no snacks, no junk food, just wholesome food. I imagine she is careful in other areas of her life as well.

Knowing how my folks struggled and seeing her is incentive to try to save. I was fortunate -- I could save in a 403b and a Roth and I have a decent pension. I'm not getting rich by any means, but I'm careful. I know when my mom died and I was paying bills, I realized how close to the edge she skated each month to not having enough to pay for things. In fact, a few of the bills she wouldn't have been able to cover if she had still been alive. 

I wonder if people who keep thinking they can't afford to put money in retirement accounts -- I'm not talking about the truly poor -- I'm talking about those who make good money, but tell themselves they will save later -- if they would have the incentive to save more for retirement if they had people like this lady tell them how the struggle is real. Then again, would they think it would apply to them?

We recently received our power bill and it was the most we've ever spent! It wasn't unexpected, but it still was painful. And this next month's will probably be more since we had that Polar Vortex with Winter Storm Elliott and it seemed like the furnace was running an awful lot.

In the bill was a flyer with suggestions on how to cut energy costs. I almost had to chuckle. The suggestions were things we've done for years such as turn the heat down when we leave for any extended time, make sure windows and doors are closed, and unplug any appliances you aren't using. I wondered who put together that list. I guess I was disappointed in not finding better information. Then again, those of us at SA are probably ahead of the game. 

One of my friends gave me a gift card for a meat market. I'm looking forward to using it. Last week I did our weekly grocery shopping and spent over $130 and wondered what the heck was so expensive since I only bought one package of chicken. And it was a small package! But prices keep rising and just buying basics and fresh fruit is getting more and more expensive.

We had some turkey left over from a meal last week. Actually we've had two meals from the turkey breast and there still was some left. I made turkey and wild rice soup for lunch today and there's enough to make a casserole for tomorrow night's supper. Plus, there is a little soup left which we will be having for lunch tomorrow. I don't want to waste anything! 

We used to buy a lot of crackers because we are big soup eaters. But I have been baking fresh bread and we have a slice of that instead. I did a sourdough starter a few months ago and use it and the "discard" or "excess" as well. The nice thing about using the excess sourdough starter is it adds moisture to what you are baking and  you use less eggs. And we know how expensive eggs have become.

As much as I enjoyed the holidays, I am looking forward to spending less. I did a lot of baking for Christmas, some as gifts and some for our church bazaar. I'm wondering if I will need to cut back on baking for next Christmas because I don't see prices dropping. One can hope, right? 

Every September I get all our paperwork out and compare our net worth from the previous year. I don't know why I did it in September a few years ago, but now that's when I do it. We lost a lot from our retirement and investments in the past year. It is disheartening. I know experts say to hold on and that's our plan, but it still hurts. 

In other money matters, I do those apps to get cash back when I shop. I work with Fetch, Ibotta, Receipt Hog, and Checkout 51. Although Fetch seems to be the best, I am cashing out over $32 from Checkout 51. It has taken a long time to get to that, but I decided since I haven't been able to scan anything with them, I might as well have the money so they are going to send me a check. I don't have tons built up on Fetch or Ibotta and not really sure about Receipt Hog. I don't order a lot of stuff online so Rakuten doesn't seem to be something for me. 

Our Kroger store has a kiosk that will buy back phones. I have an old one and I wondered if it had any value. So, I charged it, erased everything and put it back to factory settings, and took out the SIM card. I got $3 for it. Granted, not a lot, but $3 is better than nothing and I feel like I at least recycled it to an extent. 

I continue to bake with Sammy the sourdough starter. I've made lots of things with the discard as well. I have given some away and some we've eaten. I have shared some of the discard with some friends too.

One thing we've been doing is instead of having sandwiches with commercially made bread, we've been eating some of the sourdough with our soup. It has cut down some of our food costs. This afternoon using some of the dicard I made Irish Soda bread and the ultimate price was so much cheaper than Artisan bread at the grocery or a bakery. As grocery prices continue to rise, I continue to look for ways to save money, even a few cents here and there. My husband has been laughing at me because I have been saving our old bread bags and used them for this and that, but I also have been using to store our bread in after it cools. I already wash out our plastic bags and such to reuse. I have been sharing things with a friend and I guess he has figured I'm frugal -- he has washed out the plastic bags I've sent stuff home with him and returning them! A man after my own heart!

There was a story on the news the other night that said people are hitting their 401Ks to pay bills. It's sad that people are having to resort to that. I guess it is better than accumulating more debt. But sad nonetheless.

I have most of our Thanksgiving dinner bought other than potatoes. I've been buying things here and there so it isn't one huge chunk in our grocery budget. I use potatoes most of the time and buy them when we need them. They aren't anything we can stockpile.

A friend from church is coming over tomorrow and we are going to make multiberry jam. I make a fruit salad each week for us and I cannot use all the fruits, so I freeze what we do not use. So, I have small containers of frozen fruits that I intend to thaw and we will cook down and make jam. She's never made jam or even canned before so I'm hoping she will enjoy the experience. I will share the product with her so she'll have some and we'll have some. A friend gave me a case of jelly jars so I have those. My friend asked what she could bring and I said an apron. I have everything else. It should make for a fun afternoon.