Thrifty and Frugal Thursdays

Thrifty and Frugal

Made a slight mistake via credit card. Hopefully the payment and the payment from us goes through okay. Man I guess I didn't read things correctly. Not a frugal or thrifty thing to do at all as we could be charged interest on the overage. 

I did have some thrifty and frugal happenings here though. 

1. Decluttered a few more items and gained some space in a couple of areas.

2. Been using up various food and non food items. Ended up not having an entirely wasteless week as a small piece of cheese had gotten pushed to the back of the fridge and dried out (mainly because Harvey forgot to close the bag).

3. Picked sage, oregano, and thyme to dehydrate. Used some of the older dehydrated leaves to make infused oils (sage and oregano). 

4. Hung clothing on the lines to dry.

5. Working on turning off lights which most of the time is going great.

6. Harvey making beer from a kit he got from Kris for Christmas. It can be said it is almost free (except we needed to buy filtered water).

7. Darned a pair of socks.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek

 

I am really needing to stay calm since this is the last full week of the month, and of course as is usual I gave myself way too many projects to try and finish. Most of the projects this month have been fairly large and there is hope that I will get a few more of the smaller ones completed yet.

It has been awhile since I shared any thrifty and frugal tips with all of you so I decided to share a few that I don't think (though one never knows as my mind seems to forget things) I have shared before. 

Here goes.

1. Never buy anything at full price if at all possible. When it comes to big ticket items, we never pay full price. Always wait for a sale if possible. Now, saying that, I always end up paying full price for my milk and a few other basics. This is because in Canada milk prices (at least where I live) never go on sale, and bread flour rarely. 

2.  Invest your money into quality items that you use all the time. While I did get many of my appliances on sale, I bought the best that I possibly could. My bread maker was fairly expensive when I purchased it 10 years ago to replace a less costly one (that one broke down in 4 years) and use it at least 3 days a week. Same can be said for the toaster oven and other such items. My hand mixer is probably 30 years old, and I am thinking finally might need to be replaced so I am looking at sales to get the best quality possible for the lowest cost.

3. Avoid purchasing convenience food. By batch cooking one can have homemade convenience food.

4. Use any credit cards for the points and pay the card off every month.

5. I also use old technology as long as I possibly can. This is especially true with our phones. Heck as long as they work who cares if they don't have all the bells and whistles of the new ones.

6. It isn't that I love working on my budget, but I have found that paying attention to it and tweaking it where I can makes a difference.

7. Save your change, and any change you find on your walks. I do this and what we have saved does pay for our family reunion every two years.

Hope those help and there are a few new ideas.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tidbits and Stuff

 

My new pear tree is in the ground, just a bit of work needed to fill in the hole with some wood chips as the landscape fabric is tacked in already. Now hopefully with this tree we will be lucky and get some pears very soon. 

Harvey mentioned that there were plum trees and apple trees at the beginning of the season as well. I told him that perhaps we should make an orchard of the backyard (or back garden as people in the UK call this area). Still working on moving things around and putting things together properly. That tree overhanging our yard will be getting a clipping very soon. 

We will be trying to cut down on lawn filled areas, but this is a big area to control. 

My sister stopped in for a visit and it was wonderful to catch up before the celebrations in the village Harvey comes from and she still lives in. It is really not a place that I have called home, and I don't think our oldest son does either. This is even though he spent the first 3 years of his life there. I have a feeling Estevan and perhaps Shaunavon feel more like home to him. Youngest really would only remember Estevan as being home. 

Kurt will be back here sometime on Friday so we will need to figure out some way for him to get into the house as we won't be home until fairly late (well late for me in any case). I think just using the code lock on the door would be our best choice. Just have to give him the code and I am pretty sure he knows how to work that type of lock. 

No dehydrating done the past couple of days. I will pick oregano tomorrow morning and get that started before I head out to do some errands. One of which is to pay for our trip. I couldn't do that today as the travel agent was not at work, it was her day off. So paying that and getting some groceries will be done tomorrow. 

Off to visit, and then get supper started. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

 

Time to post my menus for the week and once again to note how quickly the month is passing by.

Monday

Baked spaghetti, corn on the cob and the leftover salad.

Tuesday

Soup and egg salad sandwiches.

Wednesday

Leftover Baked Spaghetti, corn on the cob and salad.

Thursday

The container of chili from the freezer downstair (brought it up already). Served with toast.

Friday

Tuna Pasta salad.

Saturday 

Eating at the celebration in Torquay.

Sunday

Either leftovers from Friday (unless Kurt has eaten most of what was left) or BBQ hot dogs, coleslaw and either onion rings or fries.

So that is what our meals will be this week. I have actually changed things around a few times in order to use things up. Not too sure if the corn goes with the meals, but we need to use those 4 cobs up as well.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

 It has been a quiet and rainy day here on the old homestead. I got up after a very restless night, and some aches and pains. It made sitting in a pew at Mass very difficult. I told Harvey no going out for brunch, I just wanted to get home and put some heat on my back. 

I sat at the loom with the heating pad for an hour. I am actually within a few inches of getting the first tea towel completed. I will use the new way I found of finishing the ends so they will not fray or move around on the warp. Once done the item will be removed and the warp retied for the second one. Hopefully this second one goes a bit quicker and I may have enough for a third but that will need to wait for a bit.

I have also worked on the embroidery for a little while. I hope to get back to that now that supper is started and cooking very slowly in the oven. Pretty sure there will be enough for another meal later this week. Simplifying my meal prep is going to be next on my journey to a simple balanced life. Warming items up and picking sides takes no time at all in comparison to making whole new meals almost every day. I do love to cook, but it does get a bit tiring at times, and Harvey does not mind leftovers at all as long as they are not served two days in a row. 

Off to visit with you all a bit, and then back to embroidery and then cutting pieces for the rug project that I have planned for later.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Weekly Roundup

 

It has been cloudy and windy all day, but the forecasted rain keeps missing us. Seems the clouds go to either the east or west of the city. We really do need some rain, and need it quickly. 

So what have I been up to this week that I can share with all of you. 

Over the week I have added many inches to the first tea towel.

I will need to add another 12 inches to the whole thing before I can finish off this first one.

Then I finished 10 pairs of mitts.

These are the smallest size I have a pattern for, and I will do the next size up next month. Probably another 10.

These are the bags of chunky/bulky yarn I have cut in readiness for the rug project once I start that.

Working on the rose embroidered quilt squares once again. I am getting a bit faster at these now.

I planted the two orange seeds that Hubby found in his seedless oranges. Not sure if they will grow, but there is no harm in trying.

The beginning of the sage infused oil. Hopefully by the beginning of August I will have some sage salve to show all of you. 

I think dehydrating will be taking place this month. This is a bit early but the thyme, and oregano have pretty much gone a bit crazy. I will probably have enough to refill my spice jars and make some oregano salve, must check and see if there is a thyme salve as well. 

I hope to share pictures of my flowers next week, things are starting to happen in that area. Wish that things were larger and fuller but what will be, will be.

Off to set the table, make a salad and then spend some time visiting with all of you. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Moving To A Simpler Life

 As I work towards a more simple life, I am finding that I can enjoy things much more. I was out picking sage a bit ago and for the first time in a very long time I could actually take the time to breathe in the scent and imagine what I was going to do after dehydrating it. I know the house will be smelling just wonderfully as the sage dries. 

My steps this week were more decluttering of clothing, using up bits and bobs of yarn and making plans to use up more yarn. I measured my table and will probably make a tablecloth once I find the perfect fabric in my stash. I learned my table is a very strange size so purchasing one would just not work. 

As I sit and weave on the loom, plans for what to do with the harvest this year go through my mind, as well as the knowledge that I need to use up what is already canned and frozen before making more. I do know salsa is gone, and by the time tomatoes are ready I will need to freeze more and perhaps even make tomato sauce. 

Meals are using up bits and bobs from fridge, freezer and pantry. Of course I will eventually need to restock, but right now the only things I am purchasing are on sale, or replacements for personal care items (toothpaste, and such). 

Slowly but surely we are both figuring ways to cut down on yard work, and maintenance of the house. I am looking forward to being outside next month painting some doors and then painting the trim around those doors. 

I have also discovered that being organized and having a place for everything really does help one achieve a level of simplicity. Knowing where to find something saves time and in my case gives me a sense of joy. So many times I have put something away and forgotten where on earth I put it. This causes me to worry and wonder if I should purchase another. All I would need is another dehydrator, or Instant Pot. 

I am even looking forward to the trip to Hubby's little village he grew up in. I don't know if we will spend the entire weekend there, but I am pretty sure Hubby will be happy to see any friends that have made it back to the 100th Anniversary of the village. While I have never really felt a part of the village life I will get to visit with my sister who still lives there. I do get to go to the province and city I grew up in when we travel east for our vacation. Ontario and Toronto, here we come. This Scarborough girl is coming home for a bit.

I have decided that life can be as simple or as complicated as I make it. The complications in reaching a simpler life are just something that one needs to go through in order to get to the final outcome.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.