Midweek

 It has been sunny and very warm here today. I am hoping that most of the ice will disappear from around our home. I would love to be able to get around a bit before the snow comes back the middle of next week. Quite a bit is forecast to fall so we will be back to seeing a white covering over everything.

I have not gone out today as I have once again been trying to get things done around the house and online. There were a couple of contracts I needed to renew if I wanted the early discount. Still even though I renewed my costs will be higher for the next two years, but lower than if I had not went into a contract. Canada has the highest internet and wireless costs in the world. I so wish our phones only cost $60.00 a month for the two of them, or that our internet was half the cost like so many. Oh well we do what we have to do. 

Bob wants outside, and there is no way we can allow him out. He is not very happy with us at this point in time. I am going to see if I can find all of Shania and Eiko's toys and see if I can get his mind off of "outside". Hopefully tire him out a little bit as well. 

With costs rising I am going to be going over our budget and see where costs can be cut. Of course there are lots of costs not coming in as of yet, which means I won't have a good idea of totals for a bit yet. The things I can begin to control right now are groceries, cleaning supplies, water costs, electrical costs, and heating costs. Days as sunny as today are wonderful as the drapes are open and I am taking advantage of the solar heat through our south facing windows. No furnace cutting in as of yet. 

Water wise I will need to see if there are ways of saving on that as well. 

Working on having more no spend days in the month as well. The longer I stay out of stores the better for our chequing account, I also want to cut down on the number of cheques we write as the cost of those is eyewatering. 

Right now I feel that the main way to save on rising costs is groceries. Isn't that the usual way us frugal people try first. We shop the sales, look for markdowns, and begin to purchase store brand items. However some store brand items just do not taste very good at all.

We have all become great at stretching meals out from very little and making our own breads as well as growing what veggies we can to add to our menus. 

This year because we are going away in the middle of the summer, Harvey says he is not going to plant as big a garden. I do believe there will be potatoes, carrots, corn, some pumpkins, tomatoes, onions, and cucumbers. I am not too sure if there will be any peppers and probably no eggplant this year. We will make do with whatever we can harvest and grow.

What ways are you going to use or have been using to keep your costs down?

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tidbits And Stuff

 

It has been a treat to have Kurt home so soon after his last visit. He has helped in the yard (and will do some more today), enjoyed talking with us, helped Harvey bottle the beer, and even washed dishes by hand. He leaves at some point tomorrow and we probably won't see him again until Thanksgiving.

I did not get all my projects and goals finished in June. I have carried over the weaving, and embroidery. I also did not get the fries ready for the freezer either. Still I did manage to cut the pieces of chunky/bulky yarn to be used in a future project, declutter, work on clearing out and organizing the sewing/craft room, knit 10 pairs of mittens, get some infused oils started, and a couple of small projects that I added on done as well. 

July will hopefully see me finish the weaving, finish the one block and start another, sandwich the 4 quilt tops, copy out another 20 or so recipes, get some patterns organized and in a binder, dehydrate more herbs, knit some more mittens in the next size, and start Kris's woven rug. Looks like another very busy month. I should be able to make some of the herbal salves as well. 

I did up the budget today for the month of June and surprisingly we were under budget once again. I had hoped that I would do better with the grocery line, considering we had company twice that month being about $250 under budget was quite good. The savings on the grocery budget for the last few months have paid back what we spent on the new dining room chairs, and has actually given me $50 towards the cost of the new range. I should have the range paid off in about 4 or 5 months. What we save on other budget lines is helping pay off Harvey's two partial plates. 

After a big loss on our investments in the first quarter, things are starting to rebound this quarter. We have almost made the losses back, just a bit more to go. I am keeping my fingers crossed on that front, with various tariffs it is hard to know what will happen. 

Using up lots of bits and bobs from the fridge, freezers, and pantry. This saves on the grocery budget a great deal. Perhaps not as much as I would like, but enough to make a difference, even if just a slight one. 

Foraging will be taking place over the next while. My BIL says I can come out any time and pick chokecherries from their bushes. Probably will be doing so in the next few weeks. I see jelly and syrup in the future stocked in the pantry. In a week or two I will also be picking mint to make mint jelly. I will dry some for tea after the jelly making. 

Weeding and watering will also be taking place much more frequently as it is warming up so much. Also because of the warm up the mosquitos are out and biting early in the mornings or if I am in the shade. 

Life is about to get much more complicated especially as I want to get as much done as humanly possible before the end of the year. Add in Christmas gift making, harvesting/processing and I am going to be a very busy person the next while.

Next week I get a phone appointment with my doctor and the Echocardiogram at the end of the week. Of course, there will be another phone appointment with the doctor after that. My dental appointment for a cleaning has been moved until August. That is probably a good thing in my mind. Too many appointments drive me crazy. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

 

Wow, Saturday already and I have nothing completed to show for the week. Made good starts on things, completed the Bible study homework before the meeting, baked bread and managed to blanch and freeze two more bags of tomatoes. I also cut four scraps of various knit fabrics into what I need to use on the rug. Realizing that I need much more, and I am not too sure where I will get what I need. 

I have pulled out the patterns and fabric for the robe, pj bottoms, and even a couple of sweater knit tops. It seems like I am short winter dress tops and winter sweaters. Guess once Christmas is done, I will get the needles working on some warm clothing for me. 

Shopping was done, and while I dreaded what the total would be, I was actually pleasantly surprised that it wasn't much higher. Still having a well-stocked pantry and freezer enables me to just hit the sale items. There are warnings going out on various news sites that we have not seen the end to rising prices. Now that is scary, I so worry about those that can't manage and are living pay cheque to pay cheque. 

I have two small pumpkins that should be ripe enough to process tomorrow. More homegrown goodness in the freezer. 

Menus are being switched around to use up leftovers, and plans are in the works for more appliance cooking. If costs of electric and gas go up, I do want to do everything I can to keep those costs as low as humanly possible. Cutting costs where we can is just smart economics. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.