Frugal Friday

 

Well first the news of the day. We are finally dug out for the most part. Clear run from the driveway to the one lane that is cleared on the road, and Harvey's parking space out front is cleared as well. He is however still parked behind me on the driveway at this point in time.

I notified Kurt and Kris that things were cleared out and if they wanted to chance the journey home we were ready for them. 

Kris is a bit nervous at being on the roads right now. He has terrible tires on his vehicle and managed to get stuck 3 times going to work on Wednesday (I think) and his car does not react well to ice. He has decided it will be best to stay put (especially as he again got stuck twice going to get some groceries). He has promised to come home on his next EDO weekend.

Kurt informed me that it was snowing pretty good where he lives in Alberta and was going to stick at home today. Since we are supposed to start getting more snow within the next couple of days I have a feeling he will not be able to come home either. 

This will be the quietest Easter ever for Harvey and I. In fact Harvey came upstairs and said "You aren't going to make the turkey are you?" Of course I answered no, it is a darn big turkey as I like sending leftovers home with the 2 K's. Lots of other food around so there will be no problem changing the menu.

So what frugal things have we been up to.

1.  We did all of the snow clearing ourselves, much to our sons dismay. The snow blower did most of the work with just a bit of shoveling from the two of us. Not at all like the old days before the blower. So we saved on hiring anyone to do it.

2.  Neither Harvey or I drove anywhere at all for three days, thus saving fuel and wear/tear on the vehicles.

3.  Been using appliances to cook meals and have noticed a bit of a drop in the power bill.

4.  Working on using up bits and bobs from my various craft stashes (pictures tomorrow hopefully).

5.  Making sure lights are off in rooms not in use (sometimes difficult as Harvey has a habit of leaving them on in rooms I do not go in much).

6.  Making sure the dishwasher is as full as possible before starting it. Still our water usage is up a bit so I need to figure out how to lower it a bit.

7.  Picked up our income tax and we are getting a very nice refund. This will pay for a new lawn mower (giving the old one to Kris), an electric/gas tree branch trimmer, and if I bat my eyes at Harvey a loom with lots leftover to pay our taxes. 

8.  We get our Carbon tax rebate sent to us differently this year. It is in quarterly payments instead of one fell swoop payment. Our payments will pay for our gas for our vehicles for at least a year or will pay our energy bill for a year. Love having that energy efficient furnace.

Well that is all I can think of right now. 

My back is pretty good right now. I don't over do things, get up and walk frequently, and if I feel any pain at all rest. Hopefully this keeps up, though changes in the weather do affect my back, hips, wrist and knees. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.