Thrifty And Frugal Thursday

 Thrifty and Frugal

Mostly just the usual frugal practices this past week, it was difficult to add any when our sons were home and washing their clothes or snacking. 

I will say however that nothing more was purchased to see us through the festivities. We had and still have more than enough. Mind you I have run out of fresh fruit, and as far as fresh veggies are concerned there is only a small amount of cabbage and a few carrots in the crisper. Using up all that I can before I head out the door to pick up some groceries. 

Perhaps the thing I am most proud of is the 23 no spend days for the month of December. Combining errands, making sure I did not decide to leave the house and spend money foolishly helped extend the days. I don't know if I will be able to continue that for the month of January, but I am sure going to try my best. 

Did a bit of decluttering, mostly some cords that Kris said to get rid of. 

I pulled out our old portable DVD player and will hook it up to the TV once I find the cords I need, or if Kris finds some in one of his boxes. I really want to be able to watch the collection of DVD's I have. Some haven't even been watched. That is a waste and I need to rectify that. 

Hopefully next week I will have some new frugal and thrifty things to share with you all.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

 

As The Old Year Goes Away

 

The year is drawing to a close, and in the middle of the week as well. I guess it is time to reflect on what the past year brought to us.

Harvey and I both had to find a new doctor and were very lucky to find one that is so very thorough. Mind you after finding the nodule in my lung I am so glad she is so thorough. Both of us went through lots of tests this past year, and from the looks of the new year there will be still more. 

I have been managing to simplify my life a little more each month. More of a decluttering challenge to make room for what really matters. Part of the decluttering process right now is finishing off projects I started and set aside, or using up yarn, fabric and scraps to make useful items that can be given as gifts. I went through my clothing and pulled many items to either be donated or refashioned. I hate to think things I had bought would be sent to a landfill. Still have way too many clothing items, but I will be cutting those down as time passes. 

Organizing is helping me to realize that I don't need as much as I thought I would even just a few years ago. Things that I thought held sentimental value really didn't so were sent away for donation. I did take a picture of those items that tugged at my heart strings a bit. 

I worked on getting things to help me save space in my freezer. Silicon molds entered into play. I plan on popping out the frozen blocks and storing them in bags. They should take up much less room or at least be easier to stack in the freezer. I need to purchase some smaller ones in order to really be able to freeze what we will use in the correct size. 

Pantry has been a life saver when the weather has been iffy. I am planning a kind of re-stock by doing the $5.00 a week purchase especially for the pantry. But because I only shop every 2 weeks I will be spending $10.00. 

One of the things I wanted to work on was lowering our electric bill and so started using my appliances to cook more. It seems to have worked to a certain extent, so I will continue to do so as much as possible. 

Self-care wise, did not go as well as I had hoped. It kind of fell by the wayside. I tried to follow a skin care routine, but fell back to using just soap and water. Tried walking more, but always found something I wanted to do instead. I have managed to drink more water though, which I suppose is at least one good thing happening. I am also pretty much doing the intermittent fasting thing, but man it can be tough some days. 

Financially we were under total budget for the year and I was under budget for groceries (though there were a few times I went way over budget by quite a bit). The amount I was under budget in groceries paid for the dining room chairs, the repairs to my car, and our new passports. Now just have to work on paying back the money spent on the stove, and perhaps part of one of the partial plates Harvey needed this year. Mind you taking off the under budget grocery line, from the yearly underbudget I think that the stove and one partial plate could be said to have been paid. I will need to check on that a bit. Knowing that because of being frugal we made the cash back for those items makes me very happy. 

Outside we expanded the garden at the end of the season, picked up some Honeyberry/Haskap bushes, and Harvey purchased another pear tree. I gave some of my larger pots to Kris for his yard. He got them fairly late in the spring so they were not used, but I think that next spring he can use them for some more container gardening. I plan on doing more container gardening as well and finding some more medicinal plants (Kurt bought me a book for Christmas with lots of herbal recipes and ideas for plants). 

I loved having monthly goals and plans. Mostly for projects I wanted to do or complete but those did help me work through all the crafts I wanted to get done. It even helped me to finish projects that I had started and set aside. 

Learned a new craft, weaving, and I just love it. I still need to work on it, and I rather doubt I will move on from my rigid heddle loom to a floor or table top loom. So much to learn.

Now I get to think of some goals for 2026.  

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

All Is Quiet

SHHHHH

The boys have gone home and I am trying to clear things up around the house. 

I decided this year to remove or take down our decor a bit (okay a lot) early. I want my house to be back to pretty well normal by the end of the year. I also want to start decluttering in earnest this year. I am sure Harvey is a bit worried about this aspect of my decluttering, but at my age of 70 and his of 75 (going on 76) it is time. I really want to move to the city and be closer to our youngest and 2 hours closer to our oldest as well. I am continuing to look at various  purchases and will keep working on getting Hubby to agree. I do know that he wants to stay in our home as long as is possible.

I got gifts that were both extremely usable and a couple that I kind of shrug my shoulders at..... Still I am thankful for all that I have gotten. Pretty sure our sons feel the same way.

I got a phone call yesterday that my sewing machine is ready to be picked up. Dang I really wish it would have been last week, but I am just thankful they managed to fix it and I do know where to take my machine if things go haywire once again. 

I turned 70 yesterday, and today feel every day of that age. I did not sleep well last night and in looking at photo's over the holidays I do see a great deal that needs to be checked out and improved. I did get a phone call from my doctor re those scans I have had. My ultra sound showed nothing irregular and as I am using muscles that were causing problem back when the scan was finally done, I know it was soft tissue damage. 

My CT scan showed a slight growth in the nodule in my lungs. I am supposed to get into the doctors immediately if I find myself short of breath, or spitting up blood. My next scan will be in a year.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless. 

An Early Christmas Wish For You All

 I am going to take some time away from posting, at least until Kurt and Kris head home on the 28th. I want to enjoy spending time with them both and with other family members.

May this Christmas fill you with peace, joy, hope and love. Exactly what the Advent candles represent.

God bless you all.

Saturday Roundup

 I will start this post with a picture of our sunrise this morning. It heralded a lovely, if cold sunny day.

I love the quiet mornings when I can gaze out our front window and see the sky lighten.

Kris called today and his cough is much worse, no vomiting today (well I guess a bit this morning) but he is drinking plenty of liquids, eating soup and resting as much as he is able. However, it seems his boiler has decided not to produce hot water for his taps. I am just hopeful that the heating portion of the boiler continues to work. He phoned the company he leases it from and the earliest they can come to fix it is Monday between 10 am and 2 pm. So this could mean he won't be able to get here until Tuesday depending on how long it takes to fix the problem. Poor guy, sicker than he has been in a very long time and boiler problems to top it all off. 

So here are a few pictures of the projects I have actually managed to complete in the last little while.

I finished number 7 embroidered block and I started number 8. Getting a bit ahead for those projects next month.

The balls of reclaimed yarn from the various sweaters I took apart. There is more underneath these top balls.

Now what could be in this bag?

Could it be 60 pairs of mitts for Kurt to deliver to his school? Of course.

My scraps of flannelette cut into squares to be used in the bathroom by me. I can now rid the collection of some rather worn cloths. 

I made two smallish toys for Kris's Eiko, but got them wrapped before taking a picture. I used some felt, stuffing I had, and some catnip to make two bright yellow gingerbread men for her to toss around. 

Started a wreath to use some decorations that we will not be using on the tree. I still need to do a bit of work on it so no picture as of yet. 

Here is a picture of the other snowperson in the hallway.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

 

Life Is Actually Getting Much Simpler

 

I have to say that this year Christmas preparation seems to have been so much easier than other years. 

Perhaps it is because there was no rush to complete things this week before Christmas, whereas other years I would be working on one or two gifts done before our sons arrived home. This year all is done and while I could perhaps make them each one more item (a pickle to hang on their trees) I will save that for next year. 

The list of projects is finished as well, and what hasn't been baked by tomorrow is not at all important for our holiday celebration. 

I kept things simple this year, one small, skinny tree decorated. Some decor scattered through the house (with plans for next year). A bit of baking but I did not really go overboard on this. A menu plan that while tweaked, will be easily done with appliances and the stove top. 

The house is fairly clean. I restocked the coffee and the toilet paper. Pulled a few items from the hall pantry and put them in the kitchen pantry to make sure I had the kitchen pantry stocked up. 

Little things that make life so much simpler.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty and Frugal Thursday

 Thrifty and Frugal

Another thrifty and frugal week has passed by. The only perhaps nonfrugal/thrifty thing I did was my shopping this week. Still I only bought the items on my list and the total cost was not as bad as I had anticipated it becoming. I am also very hopeful that I will not be heading out shopping again before the new year. 

So here are my thrifty and frugal wins for the week.

1.  Using appliances more for cooking this past week and I will hopefully continue to do so in the coming weeks.

2.  Baking bread and trying to get ahead on this before our sons come home for the holiday.

3.  Used up many of the leftovers in the fridge and will continue to do so.

4.  There were small amounts of jam in jars in the fridge so I made Thumbprint cookies to clear those out.

5.  Making yogurt today which should see me through at least another week. After that is gone it will be toast, oatmeal or muffins until I go shopping in the new year. 

6.  Watered plants using saved water.

7.  Found thirty cents on the floor in the basement which was added to the change jars. 

8.  Did some tweaking of the menu for when Kurt and Kris arrive a bit earlier than thought. Most of the tweaked recipes will be cooked via electric roaster, top of stove, microwave, or toaster oven. Hopefully saving on the power bill. 

9.  We had three lovely sunny days and with the drapes open in the living room the furnace did not cut in as much. This saves on natural gas and electric.

10.  Made some more bathroom cloths from leftover bits of flannel. The edges need to be sewn and will do that tomorrow. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.