Money Mastery

 

I don't have a roundup of crafts for all of you right now. I really haven't managed to get anything completed. I think I just might have hit a brick wall craft wise as the remaining projects are taking much longer than I thought. So I thought I would try something different today.

There are so many ways that a frugal and thrifty person can save money. Yet the main and probably easiest way is controlling our shopping habits. 

This is one reason I try and have no spend days, and only shop every two weeks. If I don't have something I need I will either try a substitution or do without.

Today I am going to go over some of the ways I save when shopping.

1.  I love shopping at my Co-op grocery store. People say the prices are higher, but I find if you shop their sales and are a member getting money back on what you spend for the year, it is pretty much the same as Sobey's here. If you find a store with good prices, and great merchandise do patronize it as often as you can. 

2.  You can save lots of money by purchasing clothes off season. Most retailers are trying to get rid of the items to make room for the new season clothing.

3.  Shift to thrift stores for kids clothing especially. Children outgrow their clothes very quickly. You can get inexpensive children's clothing very inexpensively. You can often find good quality clothing for yourself as well for an excellent price.

4.  Plan just one big supermarket trip. Use a list and unless something is a big markdown do not purchase if it isn't on the list. Shopping a couple of times a week often encourages us to add extras to the cart.

5.  Shop early to miss the crowds and not have to wait in long lines which might tempt you to add one of those magazines or candy bars to the cart. Always eat before you go, never shop hungry.

6.  Decide how much you want to spend before you go. By limiting your spending, you will be less tempted to splurge on non-necessities. 

7.  Add items to the grocery list as you run out and then check to see if they are on sale. This way you won't forget anything.

8.  If you are always shopping the same store organize your list by aisle. Something that can be difficult as many stores are constantly changing things around.

9.  Menu plan using what you have in your fridge, freezer and pantry. Then you only need to add a few ingredients that you do not have any longer, or you may find that you only need things like dairy, fresh fruit and vegetables.

10.  Look high and look low. Groceries tend to place the more expensive items at eye level.

11.  Try out those store brands instead of the name brands. You may just like them more and in many cases they cost much less.

12.  Check the per serving cost. 

13.  Try and cook from scratch more. Processed foods are more expensive and cooking from scratch enables you to make your meals more to your taste.

14.  Make your own spice mixes. The packages are only for one meal and your own spice mixes can be made to handle more than one meal and for at least half the cost.

15.  Grow a garden in season and freeze or can the harvest. If you can't have a garden due to room constraints, perhaps there is a Farmer's Market you can pick things up at a more reasonable cost.

So there are just a few ways to save money on shopping. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Tuesday Tidbits and Stuff

 

As usual during the winter, it has been a quiet day on the old homestead. I did my mending, worked on my embroidery for a couple of hours, did the household tasks, and admired the work Harvey has done restoring the dining room table. 

Late this afternoon my yogurt maker arrived. Tonight I will sterilize the containers and start my first batch of Greek yogurt, using products I already have in my fridge (bought purposely for this). Pretty sure this will save us money in the long run and give me my yogurt fix every day. It will also enable me to use up some of the jam from two years ago. This machine will also make soft white cheese so I will be trying that as well. I am really looking forward to producing more of my own products, especially if those dang tariffs and the tit for tat ones that will occur as well come to fruition.  

I got our first power and gas bills for the year, and actually they are not too bad. Mind you December was pretty mild over all. So waiting a couple of months to see what the change will be is a good idea. 

There has been a bit more decluttering, a piece here and a piece there. It will surely add up over time, or at least I hope it does. 

Off to get supper in the oven and then to visit a few of you before we eat.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Tips For Saving On Shopping

 

Or perhaps some tips those of us who have been following the frugal pathway for awhile and have forgotten.

Saving On Grocery Shopping

1.  Start with some basic tasks like creating a grocery list after checking your cupboards, freezer and pantry, use a calculator to check the unit costs, and always check your receipts for errors.

2.  Price match if available where you are.

3.  Comparison shop. Do this while shopping and make a price book of the least expensive.

4.  Use any coupons you can find.

5.  Use cash back credit cards (only if you can pay them off monthly).

6.  Buy in bulk if possible and you have the storage room.

7.  Buy produce in season. One can always freeze or can any extra you can find.

8.  Buy generic, but only if you like that specific item. It is not saving if you try something and waste it because you don't like the taste.

9.  Avoid purchasing pre-packaged food. 

10.  Stock up during sales.

11.  Buy local. This can be done at Farmer's Markets.

12.  Grow your own veggies.

Just a few more money saving ideas. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek Money Saving Tips

 

Once again it is the middle of the week and getting very close to being the middle of the month. 

Today I thought I would share some money saving tips with you all. Some I have used for years, while others I have tried and stopped doing due to them not fitting in with our life at this point in time. But they were used at one time or another.

1.  Check your fliers and shop at the store or stores with the best sales. Don't go out of your way though or you will spend more in fuel and time than you save.

2.  Until you get a good stock pile, plan your menus around what is on sale.

3.  Buy things like toilet paper in larger quantities as that is usually the least expensive per roll choice and around her the bigger packages go on sale often.

4.  Avoid purchasing prepared foods.

5.  Store your produce properly so as not to waste food and your hard earned dollars.

6.  Pay your credit cards in full every month.

7.  Don't use your credit card to withdraw cash from a bank. I made this mistake once by complete accident and was shocked at the interest charged.

8.  If you can't pay off your credit card every month don't shop with it. Use cash instead until the balance is zero.

9.  Don't accept credit cards that are offered to you. 

10.  Know your tax deductible expenses and keep the receipts in a file folder to use at tax time.

There are many more but I will share those with you at another time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

 

While I have gotten cleaning and projects finished this week has been more of a figuring out how I can manage to up my frugal measures in the coming year. Prices keep rising, our sons may need a bit more help over the coming years, and I want to leave this planet in better shape. 

Things could be a bit different on the old Phillips homestead over the upcoming year. I am still working on a few plans, but here is what I have come up with so far in addition to what I talked about in my last post.

This upcoming year is all about cooking with my appliances. I figure a person could save quite a bit with 110 electric over using the oven. It isn't like there are not a great many appliances in this house already, and cutting back on electric use would help save the planet as well as cash. I am also planning more use of the BBQ and smoker this summer. Hey, we own them so may as well use them. I even have a side burner on the BBQ that could be used as well.a

Another method I am going to use to save this upcoming year is plant more food items. Harvey always plants the garden, but I think I will add to the harvest by using pots to plant a few more veggies that I can harvest and process. The same goes for herbs and things I can use to make salves, lotions and potions. Things could be slightly different when it comes to flowers this year. I am actually pretty excited about this. 

I also plan on foraging a bit more or seeing if I can manage to get fruit for a minimal cost. I already forage dandelions, but I plan on doing much more of this. I know there are people in my city that want to get rid of apples and such every year and next fall I am going to take advantage of that.

It will also be a continuation of a no waste/little waste year. I have found that using everything up that I possibly can is an awesome way to save. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

 

Wow it is the end of September, and since we have been home for a bit I have been trying to be as frugal as possible so as to save cash for our next cruise. Yes, there will be another one. Just have to find the Greek Island cruise we would love to take and it must be more than 7 days considering how much it costs to fly there. 

So my frugal 5 for this week are as follows.

1.  Went shopping a bit early in the week to take advantage of some great sales. My grocery bill says that I saved $45.00, which is the best I have done in a very long time.

2.  Windows open to cool off the house so no air conditioning or heat so far. Mind you it was pretty chilly in the house this morning. I wrapped up though and managed quite well.

3.  Continuing with walking for free exercise. I will be looking on YouTube for some new chair exercises until I get some muscle built up.

4.  We were going to go out for brunch on Sunday, but our usual place was packed. So we came home and Harvey made us a lovely brunch for a fraction of the price. 

5.  Reading a free book on my ereader. 

6.  Sending in my spending so as to get points and I have actually gotten quite a few surveys done as well for extra points. Saving those points until something strikes my fancy. 

Costs are rising, and keeping within budgets is probably something those of us that live in smaller rural cities are struggling with. 

Being mindful of how we are spending is one way to fight against these rising costs. Choosing what we are willing to spend on is why we are frugal and thrifty. I figure the best way to make it through any financial dealings is playing a game. The game being called, "How Low Can We Go". 

Right now I did not get asked to help with the Bible Study at the church this fall. At first I felt like a used tissue, just thrown to the side after my supposed "usefulness" was done. Now I am thinking I will be saving on gas, wear/tear on my vehicle, and manage to get more done around the house. I can always find a Bible Study to follow online, and probably something free as well. My first step in the "How Low Can We Go" game.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Thursday

 

A few thrifty things happening here this week, and some not so thrifty, that will become thrifty later on.

It still is not nice enough to hang things on the lines outside so I am continuing to use the lines downstairs.

Using up all leftovers in other meals and cleaning out the ready meals in the chest freezer, as well as any other items that need using. 

Baking bread, muffins, turnover type items, and pies to use up pumpkin, rhubarb, and cherry pie filling that was in the chest freezer. Things are going down and I should have it cleared out before this year's harvest starts.

Kris started lots of veggies for us that we will not have to purchase starter plants for. Of course there are a few that we either saved seeds or needed to purchase.

Harvey started some garlic downstairs, and I am hoping we get a good crop from this. I had to purchase the garlic but if this works we will be set.

Sewing replacement items for my spring/summer wardrobe (pictures later probably in a couple of weeks).

Bought Kris some double sheets/pillow cases for a great on sale price with a savings of around 75%.

Now the not so thrifty things.

Working on purchasing my herb starters and flowers for the decks and yard (priceless when you live in an area that is pretty much colourless for 6 months of the year). I hope to save some of the flowers by over wintering them and of course the herbs save me from having to purchase things like sage, thyme, oregano, parsley, chives, and even dill (planning to dry that this year as well). 

Seeds are costly but in the long run will save us lots of money not having to purchase veggies and freezing the extras.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Midweek Once More

 

Wow, the middle of the week and a new month begins. Since a new month is starting I did our budget yesterday. Way under for groceries but over for household maintenance which covers cleaning products, paper products, and other such things. I am hopeful that once we finish (or I finish) stocking up on enough of those items to last us the year that will fall as well. 

I am still using things up in the fridge freezer and that is going well.

Today was shopping and I am still overwhelmed by how much prices go up in just over two weeks. I happened to purchase my usual Degree Antiperspirant today and was amazed that the price has risen $1.00 and the package has gotten smaller. 

Gas for the car has risen $0.20 a liter just since Christmas. Good thing we no longer use a lot. Combining errands and not shopping every day is helping us keep this under control. 

Menu planning and using up all that we can helps in the grocery area. However sometimes one just has to pay full price. This is what happens when you live in a small city on the prairies and one reason moving to some place bigger could in fact lower this budget line. The bigger centers actually have yellow stickers on some items. 

I did some baking this week. 

I used up a package of frozen rhubarb to make a rhubarb cake.

Used up some of the package of dried cherries to make a dozen cherry muffins for breakfasts.

Made a rather rustic apple tart to use up the remaining phyllo sheets, 4 rather wrinkled apples and the last few dried cherries. Harvey just loved it.

Continuing to use up, bake my own bread (thinking of doing my own English muffins as well), mend what needs mending, fixing things around the house, and just plain watching what we spend and how we are spending.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Once Again Playing Catch Up

I am going to start this post with my weekly menu plans.

Monday

Since we will be out in the city for an appointment we will be eating out.

Tuesday

Leftover pork roast from the fridge freezer made into a really large stir fry, served over rice. The extra stir fry has been put into a container, and will be kept in the freezer downstairs until needed.

Wednesday

Soup and Sandwiches. I will probably make a veggie soup and serve salmon sandwiches with it.

Thursday

Leftover ham made into a casserole. Served with coleslaw. 

Friday

Eggplant Parma.

Saturday

Depending on when Kris has to leave to head back to the city this will either be our Easter supper which means turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, salad, a veggie, gravy, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. 

Sunday

Homemade pizza. 

Saturday and Sunday are able to be changed at the drop of a hat.

Lunches will be sandwiches or leftovers.

Now on to Tuesdays regularly scheduled post.

I have tried to be as thrifty as possible this week, but things were a bit confused.

I didn't go to Walmart this week as I managed to buy enough of what we needed there for a full two weeks (hope to do the same this week).

Grocery bills were down. I actually managed to save another $9.76 and got my turkey for 99 cents a pound. Pretty happy about that purchase.

Couldn't hang clothes outside on the lines, but I am hopeful that I will be able to do so this week. Instead I hung as much as I could on the downstairs lines.

I used up more of the strips of fabric to fashion another 2 quilt tops.

Altered 4 skirts to fit now and tried on a few that were tight last year. Those tight skirts now fit nicely. I shouldn't need to buy any dressy clothes at all for spring and summer.

My monthly challenge is finished!!! I got that 3 drawer plastic storage case out of my sewing/craft room and hopefully next month I can pick another challenge in that room and get it completed as well. I am thinking something to do with yarn this time. My stash of this seems to have grown by leaps and bounds.

Tomorrow I will share how I am doing on my monthly goals, and fill all of you in on what has been happening around here to cause me to play catch up once again.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Budget Round Up July

The past month was just so, so as far as sticking to the budget. We were under on some lines and over a tad on others. 

I had hoped to be lower on the grocery budget line, but I think buying more of our food and other products from Canadian companies instead of American added a bit as far as spending goes. To help this out this month I am trying to eat down the pantry, freezers and fridge. You know, making do with what I have on hand. 

Even buying the bare necessities seems to cost more with the ever rising prices everyone seems to be facing. Having a garden does help a bit though and now that things are coming in fast and furious I hope to be able to cut this budget line down a great deal.

I will be trying to make more from scratch, not buying expensive desserts or side dishes. Trying more of the cook once eat twice types of meals and making sure that nothing goes to waste. Today I froze blueberries to make sure I could keep them longer. 

While electrical and gas costs were below budget, having the very hot weather we seem to be getting has caused us to use the window air conditioners a bit more. I get all excited when we have cooler weather and I can just leave the windows open.

Television, mobile phones, and internet take a big bite of the budget and I need to figure out a way to lower those costs. I may look into getting rid of the landline and just rely on our cellphones. It scares me, but we no longer have children at home so babysitters do not have to get us for any problems. We like our faster internet and really use it for movie watching, playing games, and just putzing around on the computer. Television, well once we get an android box for the TV downstairs I think we could drop some of the packages we have cutting our costs down a bit.

Fuel goes up and down and usually we are well underbudget. This month however there were numerous trips to football games and my vehicle needed a service job. Those oil changes seem to cost a great deal, but Harvey does not or should I say will not do his own and as he does so much other maintenance in the house and yard I am not going to ask him to add this to his repertory. 

I guess all one can do is cut a bit here and a bit there and perhaps by the end of the year there will be big savings.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Saturday Roundup

Thought I would share a few pictures from this week on the old homestead.

My anniversary roses. I am actually amazed that they are still alive today.

The finished vest. Not bad, but I can tell it has been awhile since I knit this pattern. I may have to make another one in a blue colour just to keep my hand in.

Once again I have a winery in one corner of my kitchen. Oh well it keeps Harvey happy and busy and considering that he has been kind of depressed lately seeing him want to do something is awesome.

The summer tunic top, just needs a good pressing and it will be put in the closet to be worn next summer.

I collected some of the leftover sock yarn and partial balls of worsted. I am going to be knitting socks for awhile. Those are the only things that seem to be keeping my feet warm this winter. One can never have too many socks.....right! It also allows me to use up all those leftovers I seem to collect. No wasting which saves money and keeps me busy.

Everybody have a wonderful evening. 

God bless.

Grocery Shop And A Goal Began

My first grocery shop of the new year and I came home with this. I have started my goal of buying store brand products. This week it was eggs, rice, frozen veggies, butter, and chubs of sandwich meat. 

I am hoping we like the taste of these and keep buying them adding each week to the list. While this week the savings weren't great I did manage to save $6.79 over and above the sales prices by buying these products. Some of these were on sale as well. I did notice the prices while lower than the brand name versions, are not as low as could be expected.  Penny here and a penny there all adds up.

There are a few items we buy that I will not even try the store brand. I have tried the store brand toilet rolls and was not at all happy. The same with yogurt and bread flour. Still when those items go on sale they are actually cheaper so I will stock up at that time.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

I am happy with the Christmas gifts I made this year. All the knitted items were made with yarn left from other projects, and all the sewn items (except for the pj's for Harvey) were made from remnants from other projects.

A very thrifty Christmas will be happening this year.

First the rice bags made with some of the remnants from the pj bottoms I made Harvey.

One for Kurt, one for Kris and one for Harvey. 

Next the quilt. Not my best quilting until towards the end of that part of the project, but I decided that perfection is over rated.

All the fabrics were cut from either clothing or from smaller remnants. The slashing and borders were cut from larger remnants. The backing is an old flannel sheet that I had saved for just such a purpose.

These infinity scarves were made with leftover knit fabrics from other projects over the year. I often wondered why I was keeping these remnants but I am sure glad I did.

Then of course there were the soup bowl cozies I made and posted about previously. The fabric was larger remnants and the batting was an old cotton blanket that I had been considering using for rags. 

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Rising Prices

In reading all my favorite blogs over the past few weeks, I have noticed one common theme. Rising costs seem to be the norm right now. 

Grocery prices, even when I am careful, buy on sale items and use a few coupons seem to be creeping ever higher. There was a time that after I had done my major stock up shopping my weekly bills were kept well under $100.00 for at least three months after. Now, well I am happy if I am not too far over the $100.00 mark. 

To keep grocery prices as low as possible, I have started a soup and sandwich night once a month, and of course the usual meatless or fish meal once a week. Then one day a week we have a clean out the fridge night, though this week that is touch and go. Instead we could be having a use up small amounts of veggies and some of the bacon by my making a quiche. That would also get rid of the last frozen pie shell. 

The other volatile area for increased priced is fuel for the car. I haven't really done anything different. 

I have always combined errands, walked when and where I can, and try very hard to stretch out the time between filling up my tank. 

The last time we had the vehicle serviced Harvey asked me to get nitrogen put in the tires instead of straight air. Supposedly there is less up and down pressure during the winter, and with less up and down and keeping the pressure at the right level I should get better gas mileage.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Well It Has Arrived Hopefully Not Bringing Higher Electric and Gas Bills

According to the many weather pundits here in Canada winter was supposed to arrive today. When I woke up this morning it was a bit chilly (wrapped myself in a shawl to do my usual morning coffee and computer time) but not a flake had fallen.

Wait an hour or so and this is what happened.

It continued snowing for most of the day. Then at around 4 things started to melt a bit, that is going to make the roads just lovely for tomorrow's errands. I did notice that the cars coming up the highway and traveling down our street were in fact moving a bit slower. Perhaps the crazy drivers are beginning to learn to slow down for road conditions.

On the home front I stayed curled up with my knitting today after all the household chores were completed. I also got to drink copious amounts of herbal tea. My throat is a bit sore and tea with honey soothed the scratchiness away. 

We were a bit over budget this month due to the purchase of Harvey's season tickets to the provinces professional football team's games next year. However, by buying them now we paid the same as this year, and they are throwing in playoff games as well. Pretty good deal over all, and even though we are over budget I am sure we can cut spending down this month. 

Yesterday Harvey decided it was time to fix the front door. The weather stripping had deteriorated on the bottom and the seal around the door was going. He replaced the weather stripping at the bottom and added some felt around the door just in front of the seal. Hopefully that helps keep the cold air from coming in. Next year we will purchase a new door, this year we had over spent on house maintenance, so this capital expense will be added to next years projects.

I have pulled the draft dodgers out and will start to use those in front of the doors once again in the evenings. We are hoping to cut our electrical bills by a bit over the next while as well. Reading more and more about LED lighting has led us to slowly but surely replace our CFL's with LED's. They last longer, the light is brighter, and according to everything I have read use less electrical power.

We have a small oil filled heater in our room again this winter. I make sure it is turned down during the day and turn it back up about an hour before I go to bed.

As usual lights are turned off in rooms not in use, and only turned on when it gets too dark to see. 

The thermostat is turned to a temperature that while not overly warm, keeps us comfortable. If we get chilly there are always quilts and knitted blankets to cover up with.

Grocery items are well stocked. I should only need to buy fruit, veggies and dairy for the next while. I will however keep my eyes open for any really good deals on canned goods and meat. May as well get them at a lower price or with a coupon when possible. I am also keeping a very close eye on waste. I read that in Canada we waste 20% of our food. I know we are below that, but I am going to make sure nothing is wasted (must remember to check back of fridge when Harvey has been rummaging). Having two meatless (or should I say no red meat, pork, or poultry) twice a week will also help cut our bill.

Off to watch a bit of television and do some more knitting, before heading to bed with a book.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Sunday Ramblings

After a very chilly evening of football it was lovely to get home and thaw out. Of course because we were in the big city (well big to us at any rate) we did our prewinter stock up (though I did miss a few stores as Harvey did not sleep well the night before).

Yesterday evening was spent portioning and packaging chicken, beef and pork.

All was done before I called it a night and went to sleep.

This morning I managed to portion the fish. We bought some lovely, large fillets of salmon and trout.

Now after a pick up of a few items from my favorite grocery store here in town (they are having a 10 for 10 sale, though some items are 5 for 10 or 2 for 10) we will be set in the meat and staples department for at least three months (must buy a turkey for Christmas though).

I still have my fabric haul to photograph and put away, but that can wait until tomorrow. I am having too much fun gazing at it and caressing  I mean touching everything. I even bought some new stabilizers for my embroidery machine as I am wanting to add a few touches to any winter dresses I sew this year (perhaps even a skirt or two will be embellished).

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Frugal Friday

Ahhh, what can I list for this Friday's Frugal Five.

1. Spent some time harvesting herbs and drying them for this winter.

2. Picked green and yellow beans as well as peas. The peas are just enough for our meal on Sunday, but the beans will be blanched and frozen tomorrow.

3. Got a "voucher" from Costco for a bit of money.

4. Dried all loads on the line, even the towels. I told Harvey he could stand crunchy towels for the length of time I can use the clothes line.

5.  I only bought the necessities when I went shopping.

6. Got my Visa bill today (it will be paid in full) and I noticed that my cash back is the highest it has ever been and it has only been 6 1/2 months. Should have enough cash back to buy a couple of Christmas gifts this year.

Tomorrow I will blanch the beans, go through some of my books and list them on a few of the garage sale sites. Hopefully I can make a bit of extra cash.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

I have already changed my menu for the week. It seems some smoked sausage got pushed back to the rear of the fridge and it really needed to be used.

There wasn't enough on its own for a meal for the two of us, but with the help of an onion, some green peppers from the garden and some thin slicing I managed to make a meal. Kind of a pepper and sausage saute. Filled us up perfectly and there is enough left for Hubby to have some for his lunch tomorrow.

This means that what I had packaged up and put in the freezer to use today will be used for another meal down the road (probably later this week).

I found some rather scratchy yarn a few weeks ago and as my bath puff is getting worn out I made some spa type cloths. I hope they lather just as well. If they do I may make a few more. I will post a picture of them later this week. I do know they should last much longer and cost just a fraction of what a new puff would cost.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Thrifty Tuesday

Today we got our power and gas bill and my questions on whether we are doing enough to lower our consumption have been answered.

After the over payments from November and December bills were added up and our consumption for the past little while actually read, our bill was only $12.38. I was expecting that they would owe us some money, but considering the boys were home and more heat used I am quite satisfied with the result. Seems making sure lights are off, line drying as much as possible, turning down the heat in our room during the day (when it is warm enough to do so) and all the timed thermostats we installed are working. Now just hoping we can keep this up.

Gas was low as well only $94.86. I think this is because of the warm December and the fact that when we have the front drapery open the heat coming from the sun into the south facing living room radiates through the older portion of the house keeping it nice and warm.

It has turned much colder now so I expect that the cost of heating the house will go up a bit, but as winter is slowly drawing to a close I am hopeful that we will be well under budget for the year.

I have also been having fun looking up recipes on the internet to use up our leftovers in wonderful new meals. Some of which will definitely be going into the menu rotation, others will need a bit of tweaking.

Everybody have a wonderful evening.

God bless.

Menu Monday

I did a bit of a change around of the menu for the month. Seems, as I was putting the packaged chicken in the fridge freezer I noticed something unsettling. Bagged and packaged leftovers piling up.

Now we all know that not using something up is not at all frugal, and leaving things to languish in the freezer is part of this category. My menu now takes into account all those bags of yummy food in the freezer and they will be used up post haste.

Monday

Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwiches (this will use up a container of soup in the freezer).

Tuesday

Some of the Leftover Chicken made into a casserole of some type (bag of frozen chicken out of freezer). I will probably serve some fresh veggies and dip along side (even though the only fresh veggies I have are 1/2 green pepper and some celery).

Wednesday

Leftover Ham from freezer along with some mashed potatoes and peas... This could become scalloped potatoes and be served with peas.

Thursday

Clean out the fridge night. I will make some biscuits to go along with whatever is left in the fridge.

Friday

I work today, but plan on making some lazy perogies. I may get a start on them the night before and just pop them in the oven when I get home.

Saturday

Baked pork chops, rice, and green beans.

Sunday

Pork roast, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots.

So there you have it the weeks dinner menu, this menu will remove a few bags and a container from my freezer. I hope to have the fridge freezer cleared out in no time.

Everybody have a wonderful day.

God bless.