March 8 (cont'd): John washed a mixed load of clothes today.
That consisted of colors, whites, towels, etc. We seldom separate our
clothes preferring instead to wash a full load two or three times per
week. John hung clothes to dry today, forgoing the use of the dryer.
When he came indoors later with the towels he did something I've done
many times myself: he held them to his nose and inhaled deeply, "GOOD!"
That's one thing the dryer is not going to give us, that lovely line
dried aroma of clean laundry. Fresh air and sunshine are
FREE and no artificial perfume will ever duplicate that aroma try though candle and freshener manufacturers do.
Peaches to Beaches yard sale stretches for about 250 miles from the
start of the peach growing district to the coastline of Georgia. I've
attended this yard sale regularly for the past few years but this year
I'm skipping it, as much as I've enjoyed it in the past (and the weather
is lovely today!). In years past I've spent about $40, my personal
limit for the yard sale. I have that amount in my purse at present, but
I'm
saving $40 and the gasoline usage. I don't have room for
more 'stuff' at present and I need other things I never find at
yardsales or thrift stores. In the meantime, I figured I'd hold onto my
money for a bit.
Made sloppy joes from scratch today. I made up my own sauce. A can of sloppy joe sauce costs $3 these days. I saved
$2.50 making my own sauce.
Made my own BBQ sauce, too.
Savings $2.59 the cost of one bottle of sauce.
March 9: No expenses connected with this day except the small
amount of electricity used. We stayed home, didn't do any work aside
from heating our dinner and putting it on the table. John watched
Rugby, which I'd never seen before and rather enjoyed watching, too. I
now know the word "Scrum"...knowledge
free, lol.
Filled my Swagbuck quota today doing searches. I had enough points at day's end to order another gift card.
Savings $5.
March 10: Spring Forward today for Daylight Savings Time. We
set our clocks back last night prior to going to bed. I'll appreciate
the later evening hours, especially now that the cold weather will soon
be passing. It will give me extra time I can spend in the yard.
John had an errand he wanted to run today. It took us over an hour away
from home. We were both surprised that it was so much further than
we'd thought it might be. On the way back home again, now well into the
afternoon, he decided we'd stop for lunch. $5 for a footlong sub, $3
for two drinks and eating al fresco under the big covered patio at the
place enjoying the warm late winter afternoon,
FREE. We had many
options, all of which would have cost a good deal more than our $8
meal, but you can't beat atmosphere. We overlooked a city park and a
row of lovely old houses opposite. The birds sang, it was reasonably
quiet for an area near a highway and was so pleasant we lingered for
over an hour after eating!
That little patio made us think hard about what we like. We've always
enjoyed picnics and eating outdoors. we frequently plan a picnic into
any long roadtrip from home. John mentioned twice how much he was
enjoying himself and I said the same at least two times myself. I
finally looked at him and said, "At home we have a front porch, a deck
and a patio...Why don't we make our own outdoor areas more attractive
for use?" I think we're going to be working on those areas this
Spring. We have almost all the furnishings we need to do this. Our
only expense might be the purchase of an umbrella for shade for the
patio. Inspiration
FREE.
Bought the Sunday paper while we were out. Coupons galore this week, more than enough to offset the cost of the paper.
Savings $2.
March 11: Morning spent in the kitchen. I made 1 dozen egg rolls.
Savings $1 each or $12. That's what they cost at the Chinese restaurant and mine are just as good. Perhaps even better, as we bake them.
Cleaned the top of the stove. No fancy cleaners required, even though
there were 'baked on' stains from the past month's meals. I used
baking soda, a bit of Dawn detergent and a green Scouring pad. I buy
the pads in 8X 4 sheets at the hardware store for $1 each. I cut them
down into four 2X4 pads. I'll get more use from the pad yet and have
three fresh ones in reserve. Not buying a special cleaner is a
savings of $4.
Roasted a whole chicken for our lunch today. I'd planned to BBQ it but
didn't. While I was prepping vegetables for the egg rolls, I made up a
nice coleslaw. That finished off 1/4 head of cabbage that likely would
have languished and been tossed (
savings $.30) and 1/2 an apple
(savings $.50) that had been in the fridge since Thursday and was obviously not going to be eaten otherwise.
Made up 16 slider type sandwiches. I used Smoked turkey legs and wings
from the freezer for the meat, dinner rolls we'd bought and put in the
freezer, and my homemade BBQ sauce. Having that convenience meal on
hand for 'heat and eat' meals
saves $8 (the cost of 1 dozen White Castle Burgers), and every bit as convenient to microwave.
John has new suspenders, the sort with teeth that grip the waistband of
the pants rather than hook onto his belt. The teeth bit hard into the
fabric and to prevent wear he asked what I could do to help save the
material. His pants only come in one length when he orders them and so I
typically cut off about 5 inches of fabric from the bottom and re hem
to his length. I save this material as it comes in very handy. I've
used it to patch pockets, repair tears, etc. over the years. Today I
took some of the material, cut into strips and made tailored patches
that I sewed to the waistband in the spots where he hooks the
suspenders. This should be an effective way of extending the life of
his pants. It took about an hour or so to do but his work pants cost
$50 a pair. I'm counting this as a savings over purchasing a new pair
next year...
savings $50. And by the way, that means my hourly 'wage' for that task was $50.
March 12: Plundered through the fridge and freezer for this
meal: 1/2 package Kielbasa (7 ounces these days, since the packages have
been reduced from 16 ounces to 14 ounces. Yep they got us again!). I
found 1 cup of Green Peas left from a meal late last week. I dug about
under the counter and came up with a sprouting onion, three potatoes
that were beginning to age a little...One casserole later I'd used all
the ingredients to make a meal.
Savings: $2.00 for items that nearly weren't used.
John did a home repair job. The facings inside our double windows have
been looking steadily worse over the past two years. He removed the
inner windows, cleaned, spackled, sanded and painted the interior
framework and then replaced the windows when it was all dry. To do two
windows took just over an hour of real work time. Our goal is to do one
room every other week until all are refurbished. It cost us the price
of a new tub of spackle ($6.97) which will do all the remaining windows
as well. We had paint on hand. We figure a handyman would have charged
us $20 an hour and would have added in the cost of waiting on the
spackle to dry etc.
Our DIY job saved us $50.
March 13: John washed a full load of clothes, hung to dry.
I've been waiting to wash a load of dishes until the dishwasher is
full. I thought I'd have enough after breakfast this morning but no,
there's still room in there. I'll hold off until tomorrow.
Out with Mama today. I spent $3. I skipped going into the temptation
filled store and stayed in the car. My expense was the cost of ice
cream (our usual dessert when out) for the two of us. I used a $5 and
put the change aside to add to my
savings account deposit $2.
Mama shared produce she'd bought yesterday. A half pint each of yellow
and red grape tomatoes, 1/2 a stem of green grapes and 1/3 of a pound of
radishes. These are bonus foods for us and saves her having them
spoil. How I wish she could buy just what she needed loose, but I am
the one who benefits from her overage. It will extend our fresh produce
here and means we can eliminate some of the pantry items from our menu
this week.
Savings to me: $5.
New pantry shelving arrived this morning. John had it together in about
five minutes time. It's light enough to move easily when empty and
sturdy as can be. I think we got really good value for that $42
purchase.
Came home this afternoon and put the new pantry shelving into order.
We're very pleased with the shelving we purchased. It fits the space
perfectly and we now have MORE storage room for further stocking.
That's one bonus we hadn't planned for,
doubling our storage space for
free. Because
the length is shorter I can now stack the resealable buckets at the end
of the unit, freeing up floor space in front of the freezer. That's
another added bonus we didn't plan for but are certainly grateful for.
March 14: Prepped vegetables for chicken fried rice for
tomorrow's dinner, the last meal from this roast chicken. The chicken
cost me $3.20. We will have had 4 meals from that chicken and I've not
yet made broth from the bones and skin. That works out to about $.80
per meal. I expect we'll have enough chicken fried rice for TWO meals.
That will reduce the costs even further.
Used the last of the potatoes that were getting older.
Savings $.50.
Refilled two water bottles for John's work supper.
Savings $1.50.
After dinner today, I finally had the dishwasher filled to capacity. I
waited two full days beyond the day I thought I might wash dishes.
Since the water must be hot when you start the machine, I filled a
measuring cup and the coffee pot for later use while the water was still
cool, and when the water was warm, I ran some in the sink to handwash a
few items. I washed them quickly and had hot water just in time to
rinse those dishes from the sink. Then I turned on the dishwasher to
begin it's cycle with really hot water.
I've recently followed another blogger's example and reduced the amount
of soap I put in the dispenser. I've found that the 1 tbsp she uses is
sufficient for thoroughly cleaning our dishes. I should double the usage
I get from this bottle of detergent, a
savings of $2.29.
Total $186.18
