2022 Frugal Challenge

Cold and sunny here today. Dh came home early, but has hvac issues at work. Has the computer tied up trying to get it to work. We saw a dog out on the neighbor’s porch yesterday. Had been there for over an hour. Dh went out to feed the stray cat that comes around and went over to talk to the neighbor. He said it wasn’t his and had never seen it before. Dh said he’d take it in and try to find its home. Neighbor asked a few times to keep it. Posted everywhere and no one has lost a dog. Dh just took it to the vet to get it scanned for a chip. Tomorrow we’ll take it to the shelter. It’s closed today. We are suspicious of the neighbor, because we’ve seen pit puppies there before. I think they stuck it outside and hoped it would leave.

Going to run some errands this afternoon. We need to get some straw for all the muddy areas in the backyard. Return some dryer parts. Oh yeah, did I say I got a new dryer? The old one didn’t start. It finally died. It’s a long line to run for the dryer vent. Dh did it different this time. Instead of all flex hose, he ran some steel piping for the longer runs. It shouldn’t clog up with lint as much.

Dinner tonight will either be shrimp boil or Mexican zucchini.

Sunny and warming up today. The only thing I want to do is get some milk and get a refund for the difference at walmart. I was waiting for the returns to slow down before I tried going back in. I'll have to dig the box out of the closet and take it in. I know the manager just took my info to calm me down a few weeks ago. She didn't do anything.

Ds' wife took the dog home with them last night. Ds doesn't want to keep it because it's going to be bigger than he'd like. I'm not thrilled because it's a pit bull. Dh will take it to the shelter today. I guess it's a long process for pits. We took it to our vet to get scanned and they gave it a cortisone shot for the itching. It nipped the vet tech, so we do have to report that. I think it could be a great dog, in the right home. I think our neighbor's house will be tagged now, because that's where we found it and they already have a pitbull.

We'll go out for taco tuesday tonight. Ds asked if we were going this week. We tried a new place. It's Mexican Street food. It's set up like Chipotle. We feel like it's a little healthier eating there, than the old place we used to go to. It's owned by the same people. Dh's brother eats there 4 -5 times a week. He works down the street from it. Ds really like it and I figured out what to get dgd so she doesn't waste the food.

Now to start going through the Christmas stuff and organizing and downsizing some of it. Found extra tree lights. Glad I didn't buy any. Time to start clearing out the basement and donate or give away a bunch of stuff. Laundry piled up while we waited for the new dryer. Dh used it yesterday cleaning up after this dog.

Sunny and cold today. Walmart was a bust. They scanned the box and told me it was $80 instead of $59 I show online. They told me I got a great deal at $68. It was my receipt and when I click on the item it comes up $59. Whatever. I'm done.

Dh took the stray dog to the shelter yesterday. Ds' wife insisted on taking it home the night before (to give us a break). Now dgd is devastated. She loved the dog. She wants a dog so bad. She cried all afternoon and all night. So we and ds were looking for puppies. His wife doesn't want a puppy. She's crying that she can't keep the house clean now, and it will pee everywhere and chew up her things and she has school, blah, blah, blah. This situation is her fault and she better treat dgd well or she's getting an earful. She didn't have to take the stray home. I hope it gets adopted. I'm not a fan of pitbulls, but this was seemed really sweet.

Need to get some more laundry done and make a run to Sams. We are almost out of dog treats and dh wants more oranges. I'll figure out something healthy for dinner. May see what there is at Sams. Also need to go through and organize the Christmas stuff.

Sunny and oh so cold. The snow missed us. Yeah!!! Dh has had to work outside a lot today. He needs to keep some warmer clothes at work for days like this. Ds comes back this afternoon. Dh will pick him up. We took ds' truck to get the oil changed yesterday. We ended up eating tacos again. We really like this new place and it was just down the street from the dealer.

I have taco soup in the crock pot for dinner tonight. Dh said that sounds really good right now. I need to get some tortilla chips to eat with it. Some like chips, some like crackers. I like either. Made a texas sheet cake for dessert. I try to make special things when ds is here. He doesn't get treats very often. I have a couple of loads of laundry to fold. It's so nice to have it dry in one cycle again.

Dgd will come to spend the next couple of nights. She loves her uncle and wants to spend some time with him before he leaves. I don't know if her family will come over too, but I made enough soup for everyone.

Sunny and warmer today. Ds2 left a package that needs to be mailed to Canada. Thanks! I know he left it, because mom will take care of it for him. She does that. It's fine to send a package but I don't like filling out the customs forms. Hoping I can do it online. It's easier and you can read the address when you're done. The forms at the PO don't always go thru all the layers when you fill them out. Dh wants more green onions, so I'll stop while I'm out. Also pick up some more ritz crackers and goldfish for dgds. They raid my snack stash when they go home. That's why it's there.

Saw on facebook, that ds' wife's sister is in line for a covid test. Ds' wife and the girls are going to her parents for a visit. If the sister has covid and they've been around her, guess what? You guys get to quarantine until I say you can come over again. She'll say something like, "we're vaxed so we're okay". Nope. Ds2 was vaxed and he still got it. You can still spread it. Sorry. Dh says it's all over work. He tries to be careful, but one day...

Still need to do laundry. Still have decluttering and organizing to do. Just not motivated enough to do it. Dh wants salad for dinner. Not sure what I'll eat. I picked up a few "healthier" frozen meals for me to eat when he wants some weird meal that I don't like.

Sunny and warm today. Rain/snow coming over the weekend. Glad I don't have anywhere to be. Not much going on this weekend. We'll watch some football here and there. Dh says he's going to fix chicken wings. I may make a Sam's run and get some chicken nuggets/bites. A Youtuber I watch showed some nuggets she gets from there and they look really good. Real chicken, not the formed whatever is in the nuggets. I don't care for chicken wings, so this would be something I would eat. So would dgds. Have been looking for goldfish crackers for dgds. Everyone is out of the individual bags. I can find all the different flavors in larger bags, but the girls like grabbing a bag to take home. May just have to get a big bag and divide into smaller snack bags myself.

Need to clean out the ice tray in the freezer. All the ice freezes into one big mess. Need to organize the freezer too. Dh brings stuff up and then doesn't eat it and it goes into the freezer. It's so packed full I can't find anything.

Not sure what we'll do for dinner tonight. Last dh didn't eat anything. Had some popcorn later in the evening. I ate one of the frozen meals I got. It was okay. But it gives me an idea of a meal to make myself. It was grilled chicken penne in a lemon basil sauce. Had one little piece of artichoke in it. I think I would load mine up with artichokes if I made it myself. And the peppers wouldn't be mush and it would have more yellow squash too.

Cloudy today. I don't remember what they said about the storm coming in. I know it's supposed to start raining tonight. I just hope it doesn't turn to ice. I'd rather have a bunch of snow that a little ice.

Picking up a walmart grocery order. I fed the dogs for the first time in a while and saw that we are almost out of dog food. Getting dog and cat food, bird seed and the usual milk and eggs. I'll probably run inside and pick up some blueberries and maybe strawberries for dh. I could have added to the pickup order, but dh is a little too picky.

I did get the ice tray and top drawer of the freezer cleaned out. Need to work on the bottom. Dh asked me to bring up some chicken wings from the freezer in the basement. I told him there wasn't anymore room in there. He cooked half of them and then found a spot in the freezer. I haven't bought any food this year so far. Only a few really good loss leaders, fresh fruit and perishables. Nothing else has gone into the freezer. Oh, I did buy some more chicken wings. They had just stocked them. With the NFL playoffs and super bowl coming up, I wanted to make sure we had plenty. Dh makes a lot of chicken wings. It's something he can throw in the air fryer for lunch, if we don't have any leftovers. It's a quick meal when ds comes over too.

Not sure what we'll eat tonight. Something from the freezer.

Cloudy and cold today. Dh took my car in for the recall and the front end noise. They drove it around for a while just trying to get it to make the noise again. Finally heard it. Just made a note for the next time. I didn’t have to go pick him up. He stopped at McDonald’s on the way home for breakfast. Very inattentive in the drive thru. 3 cars went thru in the other line before they took his order. Messed up the order and he had to go inside. Saw the problem. The girl was busy with her phone. People just don’t care any more.

Dgd came over to spend the day. She had to do some of her homeschool. Now she’s busy playing. We’ll take her to gymnastics tonight and then home. I think she’s too much to handle sometimes. Ds is trying to work from home and today is his busy day.

Not sure what we’ll eat tonight. Dh saw a Taco Bell commercial last night and said it sounded good. May get some on the way home tonight. Yesterday we had beef stew. It was the leftover pot roast and veggies from the freezer. Added some beef gravy. It was good. Found some frozen rolls in the freezer to use up. Now it looks like there is plenty of room in there.

Going to be a nice sunny day, then turning COLD tomorrow. We'll get most of the snow melted today. Good day to run a few errands. Going to a health food store today. They have a sale and a couple of free items. Was trying to schedule a mammogram, but will need to call. It didn't look right on screen for insurance purposes. I want to make sure they pay for it and I don't get any surprise bills. Going to stop at target for some dog food. They have a sale with a coupon, so it will be cheap. Just bought some, but will put this away in storage for the next refill. Need to pick up some pillows from Kohls. Dh wanted the king size pillows. I didn't have any new ones in that size.

Stopped at Aldi last Friday and the meat section was a little bare. The rest looked okay. Walmart market gets pretty low on supplies sometimes, other times it completely stocked. Just need to time it right.

Going to go through some stash containers today that are in my closet. Can't remember all that is in there. Just a bunch of misc. craft stuff, I think. Do a load of laundry. It's starting to pile up. Will just have to do some half loads.

Taco Tuesday tonight for dinner.

Cold today. It was nice yesterday. I may do a target pickup today. I just need to double check on the wet dog food first. Inlaws dog is eating more and more of the wet food. She had teeth pulled years ago and with getting old, it's probably easier for her to eat. Not sure how much longer she'll be with us. Did get two small tubs emptied and clean out. Mainly just combined them from 4 to 2 tubs. Found more yarn. I'll probably just give it away. I do need to keep a little bit. Dgd wants to learn to knit, but I think we'll do crochet. I can handle that. I haven't knitted in over 40 years.

Peg - sorry to hear about your son in law. Hope he heals quickly and can get back to a somewhat normal life.

Went to bed last night not feeling well. When I start getting sick I first feel it in my eyes. It's a different warm feeling. Took some cold medicine last night and slept until I woke up today. My throat/voice is a little off this morning, but I did have a bit of acid reflux last night too. Dh said he's feeling congested today. Every time Ds' wife goes to visit her family, someone comes home sick. And then they immediately come here. If dh and I are sick this time, this will be the last time that happens. I don't care how much dgds want to come over, they'll just have to wait.

Not sure what we'll do for dinner tonight. I forgot to get some celery yesterday for a bean soup and want to make. I don't have to put it in there, but it would have been nice. I think for tonight it'll be something easy. I have zucchini to use up, so maybe Mexican zucchini. I want to make some homemade meatballs too. Will probably just freeze them for later. Been craving pasta.

Sunny and cold today. Not sure if I'll venture out today. I could do a target pick up, if they have everything in stock. We'll see.

We have one of those poop boxes sitting here. When dh agreed to it, he had no idea what it entailed. It's been sitting here almost a year now. The thought bothers him. I told him he could do it the way I do, just get the colonoscopy. He doesn't want to do that either. Then the holidays hit and with the way the post office runs these days and extra packages, etc., he decided to wait until after the holidays. I can only imagine what the people say when they open these boxes.

Going to fold laundry today. Make a grocery list. Don't need much, just fresh fruit and veggies. Maybe wet cat food and dog food. We have a stray that comes around occasionally. Dgd gave me a list before going to sleep a few nights ago. Beans, sour cream, red pepper, olives, salsa, chips, pretzels and BROCAMOLE. She was watching a video and they were making the layered dip. I'm glad she still has a few things she doesn't pronounce correctly. It was so cute I made her say it a few times. Didn't correct her yet. That's something she can help make.

Not sure what we'll eat tonight. I'll come up with something. Maybe some BLTs. I have some tomatoes to use up. I'll see if I have any beans in the pantry for baked beans.

Sunny and cold today. The temps dropped 10 degrees within 2 hours yesterday while I was out. Then it looked like it was going to storm and then the sun was out again. Crazy weather. Probably not going anywhere today. I need to bake a cake for dgds to come decorate for their mom. Ds called and asked if I could make a cake for them. He's so busy with work right now, getting W-2s ready he doesn't have time for it. I don't know how much her mom will appreciate it. She has plans all day. Getting her nails done and then going out with a friend. Oldest dgd loves parties and always wants to decorate. Too bad her mom is so selfish sometimes.

Have a couple of loads of laundry to fold. Will do that tonight after everyone leaves. Have another to wash. Organized the pet food shelves last night. Nice and neat and easy to get to. I think the condiment shelf is next. I'm sure there is stuff pushed way back in the corner that is old and needs to be thrown out. I buy things thinking we need it and get home and find I already have 5 bottles. It's just such a mess.

Couldn't decide on dinner yesterday. I knew I needed to have something for dh to take for lunch today. Ended up getting chicken. At one place during a certain time, you can get 8 piece legs and thighs for $5.99. He had enough for lunch, dinner and another lunch. I really didn't want chicken, but I had to think of him.