A Year of Savings in 2013

February 8:  Grocery day.  I came in well under my budgeted amount this week, as well as under the usual amount I spend.  I'm sorry to say that while I have a set budget we typically are about $30 over it at the end of a day's shopping.  So you'll understand that I'm especially proud to have come in under the $10 under my budgeted amount.  That's a savings of $40.

I earned enough Swagbucks the last week to acquire another $5 gift card.  That's $5 I can spend on household or personal needs that didn't come from our budget!

Put $3 into the vacation/call time fund after we returned home today.

Came close to buying a bottle of French salad dressing but after questioning John, we decided I'd make more of my own.  Bottled dressing at the store cost $2.29.  I figure my savings $2.00.

Paid $2.00 for Bleu Cheese today. The packet of cheese will make two jars of Blue Cheese dressing.  The jar of a similar dressing in the refrigerator section goes for $4. I save $ 5 making two jars at home.

 I prefer to buy bread at Publix, but this week I just plain forgot.  We picked up two loaves at Aldi ($1.29 each, a savings of $3) and I told John I'd make a batch of homemade bread (a savings of $4.50) to make up our usual four loaves per pay period.  He was agreeable to that, as he really likes the homemade bread, just finds it a bit too tender for making sandwiches for work lunches.

February 9:  Use it up!  Found the tail end of a bag of french fries at the bottom of the freezer.  There was just enough for two small servings so I baked them in the oven.  We skipped our more usual chips with our supper sandwich.  Small savings to be sure but savings nonetheless of about $.50.

February 10:  I had green onions in the fridge that just didn't get used as quickly as they ought.  I stripped off the bad green portions, trimmed the tops and then diced them down to about 1 1/2 inches above the root ends.  I had about 1/2 cup of chopped green onion that went into the freezer.  Then I took those root ends and set them in the window in a glass of water.  I've been reading on Pinterest how these roots will grow more green tops and I'm all for getting more for my money!  Savings $1.29 for not wasting the onions and a possible future savings of the same if they grow as well as predicted.


Today was all about using things up, too.  I finished off the last of the free full sized bottle of dish detergent sent to me via a survey program in December, by rinsing out the bottle well.  That was the last drop and I saved $2.99 by using all of that bottle of detergent and not buying another bottle.

Took one hot dog and two baked potatoes and made up an entree for our Tuesday dinner.  That meal is from leftovers (and if I remember it will be a Leftover Makeover feature).  Served with a salad and a second vegetable, it will make a great low meat meal for the week and I can save meat for another meal, stretching my budget out that much further.  Savings estimate: $3  the cost of 1/2 pound of meat.

Made the last bits of chicken (1 breast and 1 thigh) into a chicken pot pie for today's main dish.  I put the bones, skin and fat into the freezer to use to make broth.  Incidentally, the broth used to make gravy for today's pot pie was the liquid drained from the roasted chicken the other day.  That triples the savings from that little bird.  One chicken equalled 1 pint broth, 3 full sized meals (we have enough pot pie leftovers for another meal) and a future quart of homemade chicken broth from the bones and skin.  I paid $4 for that chicken.  The broth alone is a savings of $1.50, bringing the cost of the chicken down to $2.50.  Which means I averaged $.30 a serving for chicken dinner.  Who says you can't save money by eating at home?!

Feb. 11:  Employed that shop at home trick once more in my pantry.  I 'bought' mayonnaise, olive oil, butter, coffee, juice, and peanut butter.  All bought on sale at best prices.  I saved $10 over the usual store prices buying on sale.  I saved even more by not having to go to the store and steer through the impulse laden shelves...

Feb. 12:  I so love cell phones.  Yes, they cost you to use but I have to say this for sure, the built in long distance is a huge bonus to a mom with kids who all live in the distance.

Of concern to me has been the responsibility of protecting the music that John has written.  He's seen to copyrights, but the physical pages with lyrics and chords represent 10 years of work and really concerned me, since the copyright process was merely recorded CDs.  We've had the discussion a number of times about this for three good reasons.  First was a book I'd begun writing on floppy disk, only to discover that was obsolete before I'd finished.  When our computer died, so did the book, since there was no physical copy.  Then John began recording his music on CDs.  However, the latest machines now use flash drives.  I feel strongly two things  will not be obsolete: pen and paper.  So we decided to make copies, but safe  storage was a big concern. We finally settled on our safety deposit box...and then when the copies were made we realized we didn't have enough room in it.

We upgraded to a larger size.  Honestly the savings here can't even be calculated at this point but peace of mind knowing his work is safe is priceless.

We got our tax refunds back this week.  First we tithed, then we put money in savings ($1,000) and finally we splurged.  Our big splurge was a trip to the grocery where we limited ourselves to a $20 splurge fest.  Our favorite snack food (one salty and one sweet each) and steaks for dinner. We saved $1.89, what we had left of that $20. Just call us big spenders. 

Only 1 item in this week's sale paper for the local grocery seemed worthwhile.  I bought green bell peppers for $.50 each, a savings of $.19 over the best price I've seen anywhere.  savings $1.14.  I have a plan for them.  I'll make up a batch of stuffed peppers and put them in the freezer for future easy prep meals.  I'll chop the other two peppers and freeze to use in other recipes.

Feb. 13:  A refund was due us on the smaller safety deposit box.  I had it applied to our new box rent.  Savings: $6.46.

A trip to Walmart used to mean pointless items tossed into the buggy.  Today's trip I stayed on target by thinking hard about what I'd pick up before we arrived.  I chose to purchase OTC pain relievers and a special brand of lotion we like.  I saved $6 purchasing those items at Walmart instead of elsewhere.

I priced some of the items on that shopping list I have. Pillowcases were the same price at Walmart as they were at Ross last week but the ones at Ross were a higher count and much better quality.  Quality wins out in this case.  I kept my money in my pocket for my next trip to Ross. Savings, albeit temporary: $11.00 (cost of 2 sets of pillowcases).

Feb. 14:  Valentine's Day is a quiet thing in our home.  We didn't buy one another cards.  For goodness sake, this man tells me I'm beautiful right off the bat each morning and any man who can do that doesn't need to buy me a card!  And honestly?  I've yet to read a single card that says what I feel about him, so why go for second rate?  We saved $10 right there.

No flowers either, not even a grocery store bouquet.  Saved $10 there, too.

What DID we do?  We kissed one another and said "I love you."  I made a meal I thought he'd like and he did.  We shared our usual after dinner bite of chocolate over cups of coffee.

Lest you think we are completely lacking in romance I did buy him something.  Two king sized Tootsie Rolls, his favorite candy treat which he savors whenever I spy them and purchase them for him.  And yes, I'll have chocolates too, but not yet.  At my earnest request he's buying me a BIG box of chocolates.  Tomorrow when they are half priced!  What can I say?  I'm greedy when it comes to chocolate and I'm frugal, too!

This week's Savings:  $1128.27

This Week's Meals

Brrrr!  A deep cold front came in this weekend and it's about as cold as it will get here.  Yesterday the wind shook the house and rattled the windows it blew so hard.  Today, thankfully, the wind is quiet.  However, it was a perfect weekend for the meal my girl Katie requested for her visit.

One meal down...six to go for this week.

Vegetable Beef Soup, Cornbread
I'd thought I'd make a dessert but John brought in boxes of chocolate yesterday, one for me and one for Katie, so we let chocolates suffice.  The soup is a bit of leftovers (roast, some beef stew) and a few cans of vegetables.  Not a pricey meal to make but it really did hit the spot today.  Since the majority of it consists of leftovers and my family doesn't much care for leftover soup, I expect the dogs will eat well for a day or two, but I'm not aggrieved over that.  Their food costs more than that pot of soup did.  

Tacos, Whole Kernel Corn, Green Salad with Ranch dressing
I've been craving tacos for a week.  I don't have tomatoes to top these with but lettuce and cheese and sour cream and green onions will do well enough, right?

Fried Chicken, Coleslaw, Potato Salad, Black-Eyed Peas w/ tomato jelly
I'll pick up chicken from the local diner, make the rest of the meal here at home.  I have a hair appointment this morning, it's Harvest Day and I'll need to pay bills and pick up the local sales items while I'm out, so I'll definitely cook ahead.

Leftover Chicken, Green Beans, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Dressing, Cranberry Sauce
I know we'll have leftovers from the chicken.  There's a pan of dressing in the freezer so I'll just heat it up and I'll put the green beans in alongside.  I've got instant potatoes and I'll make homemade gravy from broth  I've stored in the freezer.

Vegetable Pizza, Salad
Grocery day usually finds us eating hamburgers at Sonic but I think I'll change up our 'routine' and we'll bring home a nice homemade pizza.  I'll have it prepared and in the fridge ready to just pop in the oven when we get back from the store.  I won't get all the groceries put away before dinner will be ready.

Ham and Cheese Sandwiches, Chips,  Grapes, Chocolate Chip Cookies
Should my husband look at me and say, "Let's go off somewhere today," as I suspect he might do, I've got a picnic menu in mind.  I can prepare it quickly and pack it right up.  And if he says no such thing and we end up staying at home, never mind.  It's still a nice easy meal to prepare.  I might go the extra pace and grill the sandwiches, add a nice canned soup to the menu.

Corn Moussaka, Tomato and Cucumber Salad, Warm Pita Bread, Puff Pastry Fruit Turnovers
I love this recipe for Moussaka with it's rich flavors. I've been making it for 30 years now and it never fails to wow those who eat it.  And it's so easy!  I'll buy the turnovers from the freezer section at the grocery.  They aren't very expensive and taste so good for an occasional splurge dessert.

Weekly Meal Plan

Here it is time to plan meals all over again.  I've made a pretty good start thus far.  I have at least two meals in the fridge and a third one planned, so minimal effort on my part to finish off the week.  Let's see how well we can do with that last bit of planning.

Chicken Pot Pie, Coleslaw, Coconut Cream Pie
Leftover chicken, broth, frozen mixed vegetables and a pourable crust.  It's an easy enough meal to put together on the first day of the week.  Mama made the pie for my birthday last week.  It's homemade and tastes pretty good, much better than that frozen one I was going to buy myself!

Bones and skin from the chicken went into the freezer to make broth with later on.

Beef Stroganoff, Noodles, Green Salad with Beets and Egg Yolks, Russian dressing, Dark Rye Rolls
I'm making stroganoff from scratch using sirloin I bought on sale last month and froze.  I plan to use baby Portabella mushrooms which have a meatiness all their own that will allow me to cut down on the amount  of meat the recipe calls for.  The dressing will be homemade.  I've got a recipe in my file that I plan to try, since the homemade French and the homemade Blue Cheese dressings have been such a hit. 

Twice Baked Potato, Green Peas, Green Salad, Biscuits
Since John took me out to eat on my birthday, I didn't make the meatloaf and twice baked potatoes I'd planned for last week.  The potatoes were baked and in the fridge, so while I made Chicken Pot pie today I went ahead and prepared the potatoes.  I had a hot leftover from supper one night so I sliced it up and added to the potato mixture before stuffing the shells.  I think this will make a nice hearty main dish from my leftover potatoes.

Leftover Chicken Pot Pie, Pineapple Salad, Lemon Pudding
We had enough pot pie to serve us another meal.  I think with the addition of the salad and the pudding we'll find we've had just enough food.

Pepper Steak over Rice, Snow Peas, Tangelos
I should have enough steak to net us a second meal that will stretch nicely with a trio of bell peppers (green, orange, red) and onions.  I'll serve over rice with the snow peas on the side, but they could be tossed into the stir fry, too.    The last of the Honeybells should be eaten this week.

Waffles, Sausage, PanFried Apples
Sweet Potato or Pumpkin?  That's my big question about waffles tonight.  Which will I choose?  I do love breakfast for dinner and it's been a long while since I've made it, but who says we can't have breakfast for dinner even if we do eat dinner midday?

Corned Beef, Steamed Cabbage, Mashed Potatoes, Cornbread
I know my husband...a week of eating meat in bits and pieces in other dishes won't generate complaints but he'll start to prowl the kitchen and look 'for something'.  He's a meat eater and so am I, and though I do like to cut back here and there, we really will be ready for a solid meat main dish.  I bought a corned beef a few weeks ago and put it into the freezer. I think it will be delicious on a cold blustery day, don't you?

A Year of Savings: February 2013

February and a new month to begin saving anew.  I thought I did fairly well in January and our repayment of that car loan shows the hard work we put into savings.  We are just a few dollars shy of breaking another 'barrier'.  I want to go as far below that mark as we possibly can.  So I'm looking for ways to amp up the savings.  There are just 28 days this month to make a dent, so I'll have to work a bit harder than last month.

February 1:  I know I'll have to go to the store this weekend and it's my own fault.  I didn't buy milk nor cat food this last pay period and I knew I'd need them both.  However, I want to stay away from the store until at least Sunday  when I will go into town to buy the Sunday paper.

In the meantime...I'm out of more than milk and cat food.  I haven't got any of my favorite purchased cleaners for the bathroom.  I do however, have a decent enough substitute in three items: that powerful homemade shower cleaner (works very nicely on tubs and sinks, too) and plain old baking soda and vinegar to clean the toilets.  Worked beautifully.  Trip to town avoided.

Savings: $4 the cost of cleaners

February 2:  I like to have an easily prepared meal for our Shabat day meal.  The less work there is in putting a meal on the table, the less clearing up after, the more real rest  the day affords.  I planned ahead on Friday and made pizza dough.  I mixed it up until it was a firm ball of dough, then put in a zippered plastic bag to sit overnight in the fridge.  Cooked beef and onions on Friday, too, and had the vegetables in the freezer all prepped.  All I had to do today was to 'toss' the dough until it began to feel light and stretchable, then spread it on my pan, top with the prepared toppings and bake.  It took me a whole ten minutes today to prepare the meal.

We could have gotten take out, or even frozen for the day, but home made is always the best in my opinion and for just a few minutes work I saved $10.

February 3:  Today was the day to go into town.  Milk was gone and the cat food bin was empty.  Sunday papers were on the shelves.  The hardest part: deciding where to shop.  Where was the least temptation to overspend?  Our local grocery was the spot.  Their prices are a bit higher than the stores a few miles away, but the range of products is limited and the higher prices kept me on target.  Besides the local store had potatoes for $.29/pound about the lowest price I've seen on potatoes in a long time.  Even at Aldi they haven't been that cheap.  I saved $2.99 the cost of a five pound bag elsewhere.


Not going into the dollar store today saved me money as well. My 'setpoint' for that store is about $35.  Going to the grocery saved me $8 off that setpoint.

John is going to a super bowl party tonight and didn't want a heavy dinner.  He wanted me to pick up something for dinner today and not make a big meal.  He paid for the take out from his allowance, a savings to our budget of another $5, the cost of a Subway sandwich.

February 4:  I was out of French dressing today and it was important to have it to go with my salad.  I went online and looked up recipes but found nothing quite like what I wanted. I  decided to wing it.  After all most all salad dressings are based on oil and vinegar, sugar and salt, right?  It's just getting the balance right and then adding whatever flavor is best suited to the salad.  I used ketchup as the flavoring (I wanted a paprika tomato base), mixed up my ingredients and tasted until it was just right.  It was so good, I think I might just mix up my own from now on.  I saved $3.29, the cost of a bottle of dressing, and discovered that I am developing my own little recipe file of dressing recipes to make up: blue cheese, thousand island, and now French.

Made a roast chicken for dinner and discovered as I rooted about in the fridge that half an apple was sitting on back of the shelf, where it had been pushed  a few days before.  It wasn't spoiled, just a little dried out on the edges, which I trimmed.  Then I used that apple and some onion to fill the cavity of the chicken, which imparted good flavor and kept it moist as it roasted slow and long.  I used another apple in the salad which polished off that batch of apples.  Using all the apples saved me about $1.50, because we buy apples individually per my husband's request and they are always pricey compared to bagged apples.

John's birthday tomorrow.  He's a man of simple tastes: yellow cake with chocolate frosting.  I made a cake from scratch, using a recipe that makes just a 8-inch single layer.  That cake didn't cost me as much as a boxed mix and frosting nor anywhere near as much as a cake from the bakery!  I saved about  $4.

February 5:  While we were up visiting with Katie we went into a bookshop.  She began to look at Bibles and mentioned that she needed a new one.  We looked and looked at the various versions, styles and covers and finally she sighed, "What I really want is my old Bible!"  Her dad asked where it was and she said she'd left it at the church we left during her senior year.  That was almost four years ago!

John took a chance and asked our former pastor's wife to check.  We told her about where Katie thought she'd left it...and then we waited. Bless April, she found the Bible near the area where Katie thought it might be and offered to meet us so she could return it.

I'd happily have bought Katie a new Bible, but I know how lovely it is when you're used to a certain one and you can turn to just the book you want and know just about where to read, when you just feel comfortable with a certain translation, etc.  I'm not counting savings here because it's intangible compared to having something lost be found, something loved and thought gone forever to be returned.  I'm sharing only because this was the saving this day, the opportunity for my daughter to know that someone besides just us cares for her enough to make a little extra effort, to take the time to go out of their way for no reason other than love, as April has done several times now.

February 6:  Today was my husband's day to spoil me and I do love it.  I'm not a fussy person, like simple things and he knows that.  We went out to dinner at The Bullock House in Warm Springs, ate our meal from the buffet and then John ordered a single serving of dessert which we shared.  I wandered about the grounds and into two of the gift shops without damage to our bank account, lol.  I spent my allowance on my purchases and came out under $20.  By the way, our dinner and ride up was under $20 as well.  I could have asked for a pricier meal at a chain type restaurant without half the charm and John would have happily provided it. However, charm costs a good bit less than chains.  We saved about $20.

February 7:  We meant to buy groceries today but the rain began at 7am and didn't stop until 3pm.  We joked about 'high water' marks on the house but that rain was much appreciated and badly needed.  And yes, we postponed buying groceries.  Extending ourselves by one more day is a savings because it's one day less of groceries I must plan to buy.  Savings $14.25 our average daily expenses per our budget.

Total:  $73.03

A Year of Savings: January 2013 Totals

January 22:  Feeling splurge-y.  Well I was this day at least.  I didn't feel well, didn't have an easy meal in the freezer, didn't feel like making a meal from scratch.  Take out?  I opted for grocery freezer section which is generally less expensive than take out and marginally healthier than most options.  I needed Blue Cheese dressing but at $4 a bottle locally, I was definitely not feeling like that much of a splurge.  I came home and made my own for about $1.25 worth of ingredients, including the blue cheese, which offset the cost of my splurge a little.  Savings in making my own dressing at home: $2.25

January 23:  A dozen oranges languishing on the fruit stand...Every time I walked by them I checked them for spoilage but then I found one with the telltale soft spot.  Once one goes, they all start spoiling.  I was just not going to lose my money by throwing them out.  So I spent an hour or so this afternoon, peeling long strips of zest from the rinds.  I sectioned the oranges and put them in the freezer (along with the rind in a separate bag).  I'm sure to get my money's worth from them now.  Savings: $2.29

January 24:  There's a fact out there that 20 minutes in a store equals $20 overspending on impulse purchases.  I told John I had a short list for Aldi and so I did.  My goal: get out of the store for $20.  I spent $17.  Savings: $3.

We've been using a dealership to service our cars for sometime now.  It was time to have the oil changed in the Toyota and we debated where to go.  Should we go to the dealership where Mama had the car serviced?  To the dealership where we purchased our newest Honda?  To the Honda place across the city?  We finally settled upon the dealership where Mama normally had the car serviced...After all it couldn't be much more than what we'd been paying right?  Turns out the Toyota dealership is rather luxe.  John and I were a little worried about the cost, but we'd committed ourselves.  We were used to paying upwards of $50 for service.  We crossed our fingers, settled in and waited.  Humph.  Turns out this luxe treatment was just the way they treat their customers.  Service was half the cost of the other place.  Savings to us: $25.

John offered to take me out to lunch and suggested a variety of places.  I know we're going out to eat this coming weekend.  I suggested we go to Sonic.  Savings: $20

January 25:  Last night I noticed as I drank my milk that it tasted just a bit 'off'.  I'd been  meaning to make yogurt and decided to do so before the milk spoiled.  2 quarts of milk made into yogurt and incubating, I still had milk to use up. I looked up a recipe for gingerbread after recalling my favorite Grace Livingston Hill author mentioned sour milk in gingerbread several times.


The yogurt did not set up.  I thought it was a big loss but after reading online I discovered that I'd essentially 'saved' my milk.  Seems that yogurt cultured milk is good for about a month even if it doesn't 'set'.  I plan to freeze mine in 1cup portions to use in baking.  Savings: $1.50, for a half gallon of milk that didn't get tossed out.

January 26:  Another rescue mission: 1/2 dozen Gala apples that got a wee bit wrinkly.  I cored  and chopped them and steamed, then mashed with the potato masher and made the best homemade applesauce.  The apples were so sweet that I didn't even need to add any sugar.  Savings: $1 for half a bag of apples.

January 27:  Off to visit the kids and we ate our dinner out today.  Lest you think we are spendthrifty I'll share that this meal did not come out of our bank account and no it wasn't a 'free' meal either.  John and I paid for it with allowance/gift money that we'd set aside.  We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.  I won't list the 'savings' but the peace of mind we had knowing we'd taken the kids out and we wouldn't have to pinch and scrounge to make up for it is just about priceless.

January 28:  It was a big spending day today.  How much did we spend?  $260.00.  How much did we save?  $250.00.  How's that?  We didn't spend a penny that wasn't already set aside for the services we purchased today except $10.  That's right.  We only spent money that was already allocated for the services we purchased, except that one small amount.  Now that is truly savings!

January 29:  We'd contemplated new floor mats for the Honda and I wanted new ones for the Toyota as well, until John priced the Honda mats at $147.  Wow.  While he's researching Honda mats from someplace other than Honda, he decided to clean mine.  Are they perfect?  No, but the majority of the dirt and stains from spills that Mama and Granny made in the car were removed.  We hadn't gotten around to pricing them, but I'll bet they cost at least (and very likely more) than the Honda mats.  Savings $147

Over this past week I've heard at least 6 times, from myself or John, "Oh we're out of ----, better go to the pantry and get some."  That pantry has been the greatest boon for us.  Yes, it cost a bit to get it stocked, but we did it in increments, a little at a time.  Yes, it takes up space. But when you figure that for every twenty minutes you are in a store you spend $2/minute, and you note that no less than 6 times this week we had an outage, filled from our own freezer or pantry, then you can see that  is equivalent to say three trips to the store and I'll wager we'd have spent $15-20 each time.  Figured conservatively, I'll say we saved $45 easily.

January 30:  I planted peas today.  Last year I harvested two pods but this year I'm certain they will do better.  I waited a little longer to plant them, I have a better idea of the sun requirements and my pot has better drainage.  Gardening isn't hard.  It's all about learning what you did wrong and NOT repeating the same mistakes again.  I did not purchase new seeds.  I had seed left from last years packet.  I know many will tell you not to use the seeds from year to year but I thought I'd see how they do.  Ultimately, if they germinate I will have lost nothing.  Since I use the square foot method of planting (yes you can do this in a pot, too), I use fewer seed.  There's a savings in that as well, since using few seeds mean I can stretch a packet to cover more than one crop. Not a huge savings but about $2.00.

January 31:  Two big savings today.  First, I was out with Mama today, instead of yesterday.  We visited three stores. I went into two, but purchased in only one.  My store of choice for shopping was Ross.  I had a list, looked only in those areas related to my list.  I stayed right on target and no doubt saved myself money.  However my real savings came in a bit later when we went to the two other stores. I stayed in the car at Target.  There's always something I want at Target.  I average about $50 a trip when I go in, so I'm counting that as my savings today.  It might sound iffy to you, but I've talked about spending setpoints before where we condition ourselves to spend a certain amount at a store.  That is my setpoint at Target.  Staying in the car for certain saved me that much money!

Second big savings was coming home and making cookies instead of stopping in at the grocery to buy them.  I haven't baked in a few weeks since we had plenty of candy from after Christmas sales and fig bars we bought at Aldi.  However, John made comment earlier this week that we were down to the 'dregs' of the candy and cookie jars and he was right!  There was very little left in either one.  I had plenty of cookie dough in the freezer so set two rolls in the refrigerator to thaw while I was out today.  After John left for work, I made cookies, two batches, the equivalent of two packages.  Of course, my homemade cookies taste far and beyond better than store bought, but the savings is substantial.  My homemade cookies saved us $8 the average price of two packets of cookies.

Total for this week: $557.04

Total for this month:  $1231.33

Weekly Meal Plan

I have been so happy to spend so much of my time at home this week.  I've accomplished something every day except Wednesday when I was out with Mama and that was just sheer 'I don't wanna', because I had plenty of energy and time to have done anything I wanted.  January to me is the perfect month to declutter and re-organize and re-think what isn't working.  So far I've cleaned out more stuff than I thought possible, considering I pretty much have de-cluttered twice a year at least.  I'm not a pack rat, but...well, things do accumulate and now and then it's good to see what you have, discover what you'd forgotten, think about what you own and what you're letting own you, etc.

I can't say I'm anywhere near done, because I've only done a bit here and bit there, not even finished one entire room yet (scarey thought!) but I can say that what has left the house hasn't hurt my feelings one little bit.  I look forward to continuing this project until I've been through every room in the house. 

I've been  more on target with my menu this week.  I think because I really thought about what I'd like to eat this past week.  I didn't take into account exactly how much some of these meals make, for all that they were low on meat.  There was enough Sweet and Sour Chicken for John to have a portion for his dinner on Wednesday.  I still have rice left (it's very good stirred into pancake or muffin batter by the way).  Then the Shepherd's Pie we had today for dinner is definitely going to serve us again.  Instead of making Chicken Gnocchi Soup, I made Spaghetti Diable with the second chicken breast and half that went into the freezer for a future convenience meal.  There's enough Cheeseburger Soup for another meal despite my eating it for supper.  Amazing, truly, how food can stretch!

And that leaves me with three meals I never made in any shape or form.  It's like money in the bank!  I won't boast too hard.  I'm having buyer's remorse over that huge head of cauliflower I purchased last grocery shop and haven't used a morsel of yet.  Sigh.

Here's the plan for this week.  You'll note I start out with a proper 'meat' meal.  I've noticed we go along fine for about six days without a meal that focuses on the meat and then we start snacking a lot, trying to fill that craving for Bvitamins, iron and protein.

Fried Chicken, Potato Salad, Black Eyed Peas with Tomato Jam, Biscuits and Gravy
I never did make biscuits this past week...well I didn't make them but I did buy the canned biscuits John enjoys.  I like a good homemade biscuit myself and plan to make them this week.  I'll double the recipe and put a pan or two of unbaked biscuits in the freezer for future meals.

This menu is feeding my "I'm Southern and I want MY food" craving, the sort of meal I grew up eating.  Mama always served her potato salad warm and that's the way I like it.  Leftovers go in the fridge and John considers that a treat.  No competition from me on that score, I am loathe to eat cold potato salad!

I'll cook a few extra potatoes when I'm boiling them for the salad.

Roast Beef Hash, Garden Peas with herb butter, Coleslaw
I discovered a portion of roast beef in the freezer, which should be just enough for two if made into hash with the extra potatoes I cooked.  If there are any leftover biscuits I'll add those to the menu as well.


Chili Dogs, Sweet Potato Fries, Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad
Our favorite brand of hot dogs are on sale this week and I couldn't be more pleased.  They are pricey and only come 7 to a package but we get two meals off a packet.  John found a deal on canned chili (a good brand) at the grocery a couple of weeks ago and we bought several cans.  I prefer canned chili on my hot dog...The leftovers of the can will make a supper of nachos or Mexican pizza one night for us.


Mock Filet Mignons, Cauliflower Au Gratin, Tossed Salad with homemade croutons
 One of the meals I didn't get to make this past week was the mock filet mignons.  I think the cauliflower will be a good accompaniment. If I find, as I suspect I will, that there's still going to bea lot of leftover cauliflower, I'll blanch and freeze.  I can always use it later that way.

Chicken Tostados, Corn with cumin butter, Avocado slices
One chicken breast will stretch nicely to serve two.  If you need to serve more, you could spread refried beans on the tostado.  I've got a half cup of leftover kidney beans I'll mash and toss into the meat as it simmers in the taco sauce which isn't quite going to stretch the meat but will help add to the proteins in the meal.

Chicken Curry with Cauliflower, Rice Pilaf, Tomato and Cucumber Salad, Pita bread
Some of the cauliflower can most certainly go in with my chicken dish.  The pilaf is just plain white rice with add-ins like a bit of green onion, coconut, raisins and sliced almonds.  It's a nice side for curry dishes.


Leftovers Day
This week taught me that we will have leftovers of something from most meals, even though I've gotten very good at reducing recipes.  The main culprits are those 'meat stretcher' meals which serve far more than two.  I don't have a meatless meal this week but with a leftover day, that's a huge savings right there.  However, if I change my mind we could do a meatless meal of bean soup, mac and cheese, etc.

That's my menu plan for this week.  What's yours?

Are Coupons Worth It?

I had a question from Karla this week:    

I notice from your menu plan that most of the foods you prepare/cook/plan are not processed foods (which is very helpfully inspiring). What percentage of coupons do you say you actually use from the paper since so much of it is processed foods? That's the only reason I stopped getting the paper but I'm thinking of signing back up for it to use the savings. 




You're perfectly right that we eat more whole foods/basics than we do processed.  That's because I like knowing how to pronounce the majority of what I eat, prefer to control our sodium and sugar (I'd rather have a handful of homemade cookies or a handful of chips than sugar/salt I hadn't planned to eat).  But make no mistake there are many ways to save with coupons besides food, like those other things that tend to get lumped into our grocery budget (pet food, cleaning, paper products, personal care items, etc.).

I confess that my current interest in coupons is three-fold: #1. I'm inspired by "Extreme Couponers" even though I don't think I'll ever have the stockpile that some of those folks have.  I just can't imagine it.  I do understand that many of these ladies also provide for shelters and foodbanks in their areas or send care packages to soldiers, but I just don't believe I see a need in my life for dental cream when I don't have dentures, etc.  I can't fathom the number of products they buy...BUT I learn a few things every time I watch that program.

I loved the rotation system a homeschooling mom of seven had in place.  It gave me ideas for a smaller scale system in my own pantry.  Two of the couponers I watched recently both bought a product with both a manufacturer's coupon and a full rebate offer, which meant they were being PAID to buy that product.  That money was used to purchase meat in one case and in the other, the couple reapplied the saved money to their grocery budget.

#2.  Most all of these folks have a STRICT budget that is far less than my own, but they have built their stockpiles from that budget.  Nearly all of them spent 50-75% less than I spend.  I could so use an extra bit of money each month!  I have worked hard to get my budget to the place it is now, but I would love to see it go lower still.

Once upon a time, long long ago, I would write out a check to pay for my groceries when the teller told me the total, then I'd hand over my coupons and get 'cash' for the coupons.  This was an accepted practice as they knew they were getting their money, but it's now frowned upon.  At that time I'd take the cash and put into our vacation fund.  Now I'd like to do that again, but I'll have to 'pay myself'.  And it won't go into the vacation fund, but the repayment of our car loan.  True some weeks it might hardly seem worthwhile if I save only a dollar but  I learned with eBay that those $1 and $3 amounts add up each month.  I just have to be BELOW my usual budget for those amounts to truly be a savings.  I can't spend the same amount AFTER coupons or more than usual and say I had savings, if you see what I mean.

#3  One girl said she NEVER paid out of pocket to buy shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, laundry detergent, etc.  And she was strict about not buying it if she had to pay for it!  The truth is, she's not doing anything I haven't done at times in the past.  I may not have 50 coupons for the product but almost every single week there are sales on some personal care/cleaning product that I use for which I have a coupon.  I find these sales are generally best at CVS with the extra cash bucks program. I got $35 worth of products FREE Christmas Eve.  Mostly personal care items which we are still using.  Because I also used coupons on those ECB offers and had some ECBs to redeem I stocked up on John's favorite candy.  It cost me NOTHING.  Chocolate for FREE!

Which coupons do I clip from magazines/papers?  Every single one that I even remotely think I might use, even if I normally don't purchase that product because I am only brand loyal in a few areas.  Otherwise I'm open game.  I won't buy more than one of a product I've never tried even if they are free, but if I've tried it and liked it I'll certainly happily buy all I have coupons for at the time.  And yes, even those preservative ridden coupons get clipped too, but I confess I seldom will use them.

I recall we once picked up about ten of those Hormel shelf stable meals that we found on sale when I had a plethora of coupons for them.  We gave them to our son who was working part time at that time, while attending college and his roommate had just lost his job.  They were very happy to have those meals and we were happy to be able to help out.  I've often let my kids come in to 'shop' my extras when they were in a tough patch.

When Katie married she took a stockpile of groceries with her to her new home, all bought with sales/coupons.  All she had to purchase was fresh meat and produce for her first grocery trip.  She called me after to tell me she'd wandered the aisles and looked at prices and was astonished that I'd been able to be so generous with her.  I had to point out the power of shopping with coupons and sales was the reason she had such full shelves at home.

Our paper costs $1.50 to $2 depending on where it's purchased.  If I get only three coupons out of it and use them,  I've recovered my costs.  I usually get far more, but the percentage is hard for me to figure.  I sometimes use only one or two coupons in a shopping trip and other weeks I might use twenty or so.

So yes, I think coupons are worthwhile and the purchase of a magazine such as ALL YOU or the Sunday paper (and in some cities, such as our own paper,  the Wednesday edition, too) for coupons.  You can also print off coupons from online sites BUT don't print them until you see the sales.  It's not worthwhile if you waste ink printing and then don't use unless you have a super efficient printer.

I am excited to see how coupons help me in this 'Year of Savings' and in accomplishing that goal of paying down that car loan!

* I wrote this last night.  Today I had a chance to shop earlier than usual for my weekly groceries, taking advantage of some good sales at Publix.  One of the purchases was deodorant for John.  I bought 4 and paid just $.55 each for them.  I won't have to buy deodorant for him for a number of months now.