Saturday, August 6, 2022

Saturday Roundup

 


It has been a fairly busy week but not so busy that I didn't have time to work on my projects. I really didn't make a list of projects for this month as I want to get my carry over completed and that seems to be working right now.

I finished the knitted blanket, have done a couple of corners on the tablecloth and started the third corner. Just one more after that and I can set up the center portion with the pattern, then just a few more days work and it will be done.

I cast on another knitted blanket last evening and am midway through using up another small ball of leftover yarn. My goodness do I have lots, never in my wildest dreams did I think I had that much.

Slowly going through my closet and drawers. I have a few things to drop off at the Salvation Army thrift store, and some that I might refashion (if I don't do that I will probably cut them down to usable fabric). 

I am finding meatless meals to add to our menu. Meat will slowly become a smaller portion of our meals. Also looking up new ways to use leftovers in order to get the most from them.

The garden is producing and I now have three quarts of dills made (one done today). I may be doing these one at a time as I am not getting many cucumbers when I pick. Still every quart I make means I will not have to purchase a jar. I plan on processing all that I possibly can and eventually will be asking my neighbour if I can pick her apples and crab apples. 

Looking at using some of the larger pots from my replanting to bring in plants to overwinter. Buying potting soil will be much less expensive than buying both pots and soil.



I really feel that most countries will be entering a recession if they haven't already. That means interest on savings and investments will not be as good as they have been. Scary for us seniors that saved for our retirement and now see those savings dwindling. 

Rising costs means finding new ways of doing things. Here, perhaps one of the few places we can save is on groceries. I am well stocked on pretty much everything (well not sandwich meat, but we can work around that) but I do not want to eat down absolutely everything. That would just mean replacing all with more expensive items. So I will continue to buy on sale meats, and stretch them as far as possible. 



I don't know about other countries or provinces here in my own country, but our electrical costs are set to rise. So I am thinking of new ways to cook. Over the past few years we have been slowly moving from CFL (still have some bulbs to use up) to LED saving a bit that way. Eventually I hope to have all switched to LED. They last longer and use less power.

This winter I plan on using my toaster oven and other appliances to cook. Might even purchase a plug in burner to use (or one of the double ones). 

This is another area that we could save a bit. Working on that.


I will continue this for another day....Don't want to scare too many people.


Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.


5 comments:

  1. I think most people here in the UK are already worrying about these things, so I wouldn't be concerned about frightening anyone. I think your ideas will be very helpful for people.

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  2. I am using my small top oven rather than the larger fan oven. We have to try every little way of reducing costs, dont we.

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  3. I'm not sure I can convince my son to eat less meat, but we don't eat big portions thankfully. But I hadn't thought of using my toaster oven as an alternative. At this time of year, I use the outdoor grill a lot, and may have to continue that in the winter.
    I did manage to keep two ivies overwinter and used them in the containers this year. Neither seems to have grown much, but I'll definitely pull them and bring them back in this year. I don't have a lot of sunny spots in the house so I'm limited. But I will try again with geraniums (last year they froze), and plan to let my petunias go to seed in the fall so I can try seeding my own in the spring.

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  4. We also use our crockpot quite a bit, when we have the opportunity. It saves on cooking costs, but mostly, it saves me time, which allows us to avoid eating out on busy days. Always a money saver! We also use our outdoor grill quite a bit. It doesn't heat our home in the summer, which helps us avoid using the AC. We've been so lucky this summer, to be able to use the AC quite sparingly.

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  5. We are using our toaster oven more and more and also make really good use of the slow cooker in the winter months. Luckily for us we live in an apartment and our heating costs are included in our rent. The building management does charge us $150 for extra hydro usage with using a/c and unless it's extremely hot between now and when winter sets in we've lost money on that one. LED light bulbs have been in use here for a couple of years just because we know they're better for the environment.

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