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Thread: April Frugals

  1. #1
    Yppej
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    April Frugals

    March was the first month I came in at or under budget this year and I am hoping for a repeat in April but I have a couple of unknowns including my state mandated annual auto inspection. My fingers will be crossed that I pass without needing any repairs. I don't own a diesel Volkswagon that is rigged to pass.

  2. #2
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    April 01
    --Leftovers from an Easter dinner which was turkey with all the trimmings
    a very large turkey that served 3 and sent dsil home with leftovers.
    --the reminder has been frozen in pkgs of 8-10 ozs. plus 3 pkg. of bones for soup
    --no spend, no drive day
    --set up spreadsheets for this month and balanced bank accts for last
    --called bank and closed a small savings acct that was not making much interest and paid off
    some of line of credit.(paying more interest on it)
    --our food challenge has gone really well but, there is still some stuff in freezer so we are
    adding another 10 days to it.
    It has been a great challenge that has taught us a great deal about what we actually eat and
    what we need to be buying and not buying.

  3. #3
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    As of last night - using up the last of the ham from Easter. Also got a free turkey breast that I cooked Monday and finally dealt with last night.... each breast individually wrapped and in the freezer, remaining pickings added to the Easter ham for dinner last night. Started another donation box and have about 3 items in it. Most of my frugals for April are currently "thoughts" getting ready to turn into "actions"... lol. Good luck to all.
    To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer." Mahatma Gandhi
    Be nice whenever possible. It's always possible. HH Dalai Lama
    In a world where you can be anything - be kind. Unknown

  4. #4
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Frugals so far for April:

    - brought home some leftovers from the Easter repast at DD's house and have used them throughout the week.
    - last night's dinner was beef shanks rescued from the grocer's price-cut bin, but since I had no time to slow-cook them, I put them in the pressure cooker. Yum.
    - aside from one turkey in the standalone freezer, we have worked through all of our frozen meat. Now to finish off the frozen vegetables and make some odd meals out of what's left (a couple of servings of chicken soup, a pizza).
    - "not spending" a lot of money by not pulling the trigger on a few bigger-ticket purchases: summer tires for my car (too busy to research), my new bicycle (weather has not accommodated test rides). Unfortunately this also includes shopping our insurance. That's mostly a matter of printing out our current coverage and making an appointment with the broker. But it hasn't happened yet.
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  5. #5
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    A question to those who use crock-pots:
    We thought we scored a bargain on some cheap chicken breasts. They were thick and looked fine and we thought cooking them in the crock-pot would make them pretty tasty. However, they actually turned out dry and bland. Our theory was that these thicker chicken breasts are not a bargain at all because they're just too big to cook down even after hours in a crock pot.
    Does that sound right?

  6. #6
    Yppej
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    Got some free salad at work and the only thing I have spent money on so far this month is gas.

    I thought about price shopping for my homeowners insurance up for renewal soon but that would involve costs to unlock and later relock my credit freezes.. I called today to ask if the freezes would impact my renewal but neither the insurance company nor the agent seemed to know.

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    Lainey...I think the chicken breast are never that good in the slow cooker, they end up over cooked and dry out which sounds odd when
    they are in liquid, I know. If they are not all eaten they might be good in a sauce or soup? I have had those in the past and sliced them into
    cutlets, pounded, breaded and fried/or oven baked and they were very good.

    Jun 6...to date
    --My freezers are almost empty of anything that was bought before 2018..this is a major relief like a big weight off
    my shoulders. Because Dd can't eat the same foods I do, going forward we will be cooking our own meals.
    At 70 this is completely new for me to only have to look after me...I think I am liking it....lol..
    --My blood work from a doctors check up shows I have high Cholesterol and Triglycerides again 70 and this is
    the first time this has showed up. Of course I know the answers (exercise and weight loss).
    I have loss weight but, still need to lose 15 lbs so here goes and of course exercise would help that too!
    Not sure how this is frugal but, I guess walking instead of driving, less wine and less eating out, (not that those are in excess now).
    --sold one item on Kijiji
    -- clean out cupboard with cream, makeup stockpile and did an inventory so I will not be replenishing things I already have.
    Probably have enough body wash and lotion to due me; if I live to 90...lol
    --So our next challenge is to eat down the pantry, today we organized and sorted so all the oldest items are in front to be used.

  8. #8
    Senior Member SteveinMN's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lainey View Post
    Our theory was that these thicker chicken breasts are not a bargain at all because they're just too big to cook down even after hours in a crock pot.
    Does that sound right?
    A crockpot really is nothing more than a portable oven that doesn't cook higher than 200-250 degrees. Thicker chicken breasts would cook in a regular oven; they'll cook in a crockpot.

    [EDITED]How were these cooked? Were they skin-on? Bone-in?

    Unless they're of the "injected-with-a-solution-of" variety (and maybe not even then), chicken breasts don't have enough moisture in them to self-baste, so air-cooking them for several hours at crockpot temperatures would result in the unappealing pieces of poultry you got. They also could have gotten overcooked. Were they mushy at all?
    Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome. - Booker T. Washington

  9. #9
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    The chicken breasts were no skin and no bones. They were basically dry, not mushy. Oh well, I'm not even an average cook so I made an assumption about the crockpot that I shouldn't have.
    The good news is that the turkey we got for Easter and cooked in the oven turned out great. Served 6 adults and we're still eating those leftovers.

  10. #10
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    I notice the supermarket now is selling frozen wild-caught Alaskan sockeye salmon. I paid $11.39 per pound. Except for the skin and 4 bones there was not a bit of waste. Awesome with a butternut squash and a spinach & fenugreek-sprout salad. And wild rice (still consuming what I harvested with gratitude in a canoe last summer).

    Also the store has marked down the maple syrup. I believe they are moving out any inventory of syrup that was tapped in 2017. It may be a regional thing (MN-WI, VT-NH-ME-MA?) ...

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