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Rosa, I am sorry to hear about your husband but glad that it was caught early.
Got my first paycheck in about 21 years today! $62! lol And happily I make more than minimum wage! $7.75/hour. I really like what I am doing. Everyone has been nice too. I've been working 2 weeks and been shopping 3 times. :|( I have been marking down prices and know where all the 70% off deals are. lol But really, the shopping has been pretty planned. Dog food & groceries mostly. Oh, and cold meds. :( Today I bought 3 bags of snow melt on clearance. And 4 sets of 2 mittens for $.60 each. (Tyler wears them for running) Also got myself a pair of those cleats you hook to your shoes/boots so you don't slip on the ice. So we'll be set for next winter. Plus I got myself a shirt for $1.80.
One thing I'm not crazy about - getting up at 4:30 am to be at work by 6. I really like starting work that early. But 4:30 comes way, way too early.
Frugals: Found out we will save a ton of gas money & $15 in entrance fees because Tyler's indoor track team will not be travelling to Grand Valley to compete tomorrow. YEAH!
I have $.57 left in grocery money until payday on the 24th. I also have about $1 in bottle returns. I am going to give it my best shot to not go over it.
I forgot to thaw something for dinner yesterday. After much debating about what to do I remembered I had some frozen spaghetti sauce & some meatballs so decided to make meatball sandwiches. DH wanted them on sub sandwich bread so he went to the store & bought some. I'm not counting that as going over because he paid for it himself. ;)
Been taking lunch & snacks with me on the days I work.
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Thanks, Azure. I'm glad you are enjoying your job; I was wondering about that. Now the trick will be to make sure that you make more money from Target than they make from you :)
So yesterday was a planned indulgence that I feel fine about because it was pre-medidated mindful spending. I took the day off for a vet visit in the AM, but had told DH that I wanted to take him out to lunch (from my allowance cash stash). So we went out for a nice lunch to celebrate the fact that he is doing so well and that we have been cigarette free for over a month. It seemed like we were due for a little bit of celebration. (We don't go out eat very often and hadn't taken ourselves out since early Nov when we were out of town for some concerts).
We also went to the Salvation Army store and dropped off three bags of stuff, and I bought a pair of pants for $2.50 to use for fabric to make draft blockers for the front and back doors. That will be a frugal as long as I actually make them! I also saw our good friend who works there and told him I am in the market for a salad spinner and a stovetop percolator. He says they get these items often and he'll be on the lookout for me. (I'm totally sold on the concept of second-hand shopping, but there are very few thrift stores near me).
I cleaned the fridge in the afternoon. Having extra time on a Fri was a good opportunity to do this since we buy groceries on the weekend, so fridge is the least full on Fri. Gave myself un-frugal dope slaps for all the stuff I threw away. We clearly have condiment issues because nobody needs seven different types of mustard going at once. We also buy designer jams and condiments from places like Stonewall Kitchen that are crazy expensive, and we never seem to use them up before the expiration date. I'm really vowing to improve in this area because this is truly a stupid waste of money. :|(
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Rosa, jams can go bad only if they're moldy but certainly can go past their expiration date. Why not pour a little boiling water into the remaining jam to make sauce for ice cream or pancakes? That's an Amy D. kind of thing. Glad to hear about your smoke free month. Has food been tasting better? I've heard that from friends who stopped smoking. Be well!
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Great news on the no smoking front, Rosa! DH did that about 15 years ago, and it was really rough on him -and me too, lol. And I second what Merski says - we use up lots of things well past the expiration date - it's not like the product can read the carton and say "well, yippee, today I get to start poisoning people":~) -KWIM? The dates are useful info, but no more than that for most foods. And you can always heat them up, if you're worried about bacteria. Frugally, I took lunch and dinner to work for a couple days last week when I stayed in town to attended a free evening lecture series/taping of a PBS show about generational dynamics with Chuck Underwood. FFF!! And since I was staying after work, I got a lot of filing, etc done. Worked on my own time, true, but it's DONE.
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Was all hyped up to pay for, myself, training supplies a woman whose dog I'm training will need. She is well-off, I am not, so I'll figure we can do without unless she wants to buy them.
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We have been volunteering at church for the Wednesday night church meal for a few months. The cooks are contractors - I may think the price for a family meal is a bit steep but we serve many families which makes me think that between work and other commitments, it makes sense for them - and they are great people to work with. They are very committed to using local, fresh, sustainable product. And from a frugal standpoint, anything that volunteers want to take home -beyond our dinner- we are welcome to. Sometimes, they just can't re-use so it's you guys take it or we toss it.
On Wednesday, we brought home 18 meatballs and more cake/cupcakes than I choose to admit. We both had meatballs through the week as dinners for one while one of us was out for meetings and tonight I threw that last 7 in a tomato sauce for spaghetti night. Delicious and cost effective!
But mostly what I get out of the experience is the interaction with families and the kitchen staff/volunteers!
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Congratulations on your first paycheck Azure!
Last night we had card night with our friends. We hosted this time so we could put the baby boys to bed early. They were tired. The older kids, ours and theirs, watched movies while we played spades. It's always a good time.
The friends we played cards with are our neighbors and also go to our church. They went to the Saturday evening mass and told us that there isn't child care today. Their daughter offered to walk over this morning and take the little kids over to their house while we go to church. It doesn't save us money, but it does save us a huge amount of hassle. I love that girl. She is really good with the boys.
The friend I spend Friday nights with got the new baby some clothes. Her aunt gets a lot of Gymbucks from Gymboree (rewards dollars) and she gave them to my friend. Since my friend's kids have tons of clothes she used them to buy some cute little baby girl clothes for Charlotte.
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Merski & Early: I think you are absolutely correct, but DH is a stickler for those dates. I think the really important lesson for me is to not buy all that stuff in the first place since we clearly don't eat it. I would be better off keeping my wallet closed!
Chrissie: Free food is an excellent bonus for your volunteering efforts!
Lark: I think you are right to leave the spending to the more affluent owner, unless she wants to reimburse you.
Stella: Your card night sounds like FFF indeed.
I helped Mom with some decluttering today, and she gave me a salad spinner that she hasn't used for years, so that was a frugal score. I also had a frugal repurposing recently. Our office is moving to electronic files, so we have all these file holders that people used to have on their desks but don't really need any more. I brought home a nice heavy metal one with my manager's permission, and I put it in the cupboard to hold baking dishes and pans, etc. in a nice neat fashion, since they previously were just in a jumbled pile. I think I might bring home another one.
DH made a yummy chicken stew today with enough left for two more meals, and groceries came in within budget.
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Rosa, why not keep these jams & jellies all on the same shelf with a magic marker sell by date written on the lid and then you can use them up better. I do agree that not buying them in the first place is probably better. You could also look for those teeny tiny one serving jars that you'd get in a hotel with your toast. That might work...
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Made noodle for the first time ever yesterday. I don't think I rolled the dough quite thin enough but DH really liked them. Served them under hamburger stroganoff.
For DH's birthday I searched for quite a bit before I found a recipe that he would like that I actually had all the ingredients for since my pantry is running a little thin. We had blueberry buckle for birthday cake. Had some leftover cool whip in the freezer to serve with it. No gifts though. When I ask what he wants he always says nothing. So that's what I got him. Not that I had any money for a gift any way lol
I put bean/kielbasa soup in the crockpot this morning then realized that it would be done cooking too late for dinner tonight. Instead I guess I'm going to make grilled ham & cheese and smoothies for dinner.
