2022 Frugal Challenge

Below freezing again this morning but we may get a little thaw tomorrow. Sun is lovely on the frozen snow. Quilt guild plans cancelled so that affects the whole day. Didn't have to get up early, but still have to go grocery shopping. Was going to pick up chinese for dinner, but not going that way now so I need to come up with something else. Wanted some restaurant coleslaw (because DH likes it and I don't want a whole cabbage in my fridge for weeks) but it's out of the way now, too. Have a short list for the grocery store but expect it will go over $100 anyway, cat food alone is going to be $15-20.

Have a couple of very cold days coming up later this week and thinking of doing as others have, taking food out of the big freezer and letting it thaw. It's an old fashioned one that builds up ice inside. I could get back an entire shelf worth of space. It will be 50-ish in the garage, teens to 20's outside. My only concern is animals, we have feral cats out back. Also, it's going to take all my towels to mop up the mess. Last time, I had half soaking up water, the other half in the dryer and we kept changing them.

Thinking of picking up a home-bake pizza at Aldi, adding toppings for dinner. DH will be ok with that.

Dlr, glad the dog is doing better. Those digestive problems can be tricky to figure out.

Hope everyone gets off to a good start this week.

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.

Yes really is a whole chain of things of weather, drivers and where you live. even just getting the containers unloaded at ports. the major port here tried to put a enivro thing that the trucks couldn't be more then 10yrs old..like what..how they are maintained is the important part. imagine having to get a new huge truck like that all the time.
rainy here. dh and I went to see the kings men movie..good ..he was dinner out too ?? so guess we were overdue for date night but the nacho cheese was off or something cus nope no dinner just home after hitting grocery store by the theatre for milk kcups etc. some basics.

puttering ..decluttering..went though basket of mail etc put up decor I got ages ago. pulled out valentine stuff and put xmas wreath away. our house is pretty cluttered of our collections etc spring clean mode but gets done. started new hat. donated to local wildlife place. did some work.. have to do cheques for volunteer expenses. my car needs to go into the shop but I have to figure it out when hopefully one of those problems that isn't $$. and my work can get done first.
craving indian food so maybe tomorrow..is a good deal. we got one big paperwork to do done just needs mailing and there is a list of course. need to go to post office too. of course always housework.

A turkey was taken out of the freezer and DH can smoke it if he wants. I have powdered potatoes and canned whole potatoes along with gravy packets for the turkey. We're out of fresh fruit so I told DS2 that we have some fruit cups and canned fruits. I don't have any money coming in so I have not shopped. Nothing spent for a week. DH hasn't gotten paid yet. Maybe next week from picketing.

DS2 asked if we had notebooks. I said check school supplies. I asked why he didn't check for this a week ago and why, right before class, did we just notice this? I said that if he has a binder and loose leaf, then it will have to do.

I went through my stockpile since the church bake sale is coming and I had gotten clearance mixes for it. Church woman said that the church kids are online and the mom group and mops group are dissolved. So, she felt that we won't have as many bakers this year and we need to bake a lot.....Well, I'm making 2 cakes, 2 dz cupcakes, 2 dz kiss sprinkle cookies, and 2 dz GF chocochip cookies.

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.

It's been cold and windy here.....then it gets up to 70's for a few hours and boom it's back down to being cold and windy again.......my old body is feeling it....when I was about ten I dropped one of those cast iron iron on my foot....it fell from a shelf...it was the kind you heated on the stove and ironed with it.....then last year a really heavy vase fell on same foot....now, that foot is really hurting me and I'm having a problem walking....they say RA attacks your weakest part of body so I guess it's my foot now.....haven't felt like doing much but trying to stay active....somedays I just want to stay in bed....

Did a curb side grocery pick up today....I really wanted fresh fruit but found nothing that I liked....so settled for some canned...

Son in law, only 48, had a massive heart attack last week but thankfully he pulled thru....long road to recovery. I doubt he will ever be able to work again. His heart is badly damaged....

Middle grandson moved into his apartment tonight....I think....his sofa is sitting in my garage....probably got too dark to move it....I hope he will come tomorrow as my living room is stacked full of stuff for his apartment....I picked up the sofa at an auction from the wealthy part of town... very clean...very heavy......paid $7 so I think I got a good deal...also picked up a really nice gold parson chair....Then today I picked up some lamps from a different auction and they were suppose to come with shades and you guessed it....no shades....and one lamp was broken....sent them an email and told them they need to advise me what they want to do....I got the lamps purposely because they had shades.....just scrolled on by the ones that didn't have shades....shades are expensive....

Ordered our free COVID tests....we also have some that husband's boss gave us....hopefully we don't have to use them...

Great grandson got covid from school....he is recovering just has a wicked cough....won't go back to school till next week even tho school said he could come back....nope....

Hope everyone is healthy.....stay safe.....

Below freezing this morning, supposed to get worse with wind and maybe light sprinkles or flurries. Most of our snow is gone though.

Our cats like "watching" TV in the evening too. I was never much into it, but these last 2 years I've watched more than I ever did the previous 20 years. Of course it's much easier to find something I enjoy these days, being able to look up internet previews and reviews, and DH records stuff so we can watch when we want to. The cats know when it's time, and they get snuggled in for a couple of hours of heavy petting.

Going to start the great defrost today. Big freezer badly needs it, been many years since I last attempted it. Almost had it emptied at the end of 2019 and felt the need to fill it back up in early 2020. There's 4-5" in places. Got boxes and tubs, going to put everything on the back deck.

Tacos for dinner. Meat is already cooked, just need to thaw it. Will make some spanish rice and guacamole, use up the last of the chips.

Have a nice day.

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.