[RedSpruce]

@dlrcpa , I’m waiting for end of winter sales too. Just not sure I’ll find a size 7EE that’s got a good walking sole for packed snow, and is waterproof, for a decent price.

Tried a new app called FlashFood which goes against my recent decision to use cash only for groceries. You pick food that’s just before it’s Best Before date online and pay by cc. Then go to the store and pick up. We paid $12.75 for slice kolbasa, deli black forest ham, liberté vanilla yogurt and a box of fruit that included about 6 lemons, a dozen limes, 2 apples, an Asian pear, and 6 oranges. I see marmalade in my future. The kolbasa will go on tomorrows pizza.

I decided every time I pay for anything on my cc I’m taking cash out of the appropriate Cash envelope and putting it in a special cc envelope to pay off the cc when it comes due.

We also went to the discount grocery this morning. They had a 97 cent sale on. We bought tomatoes, pears, avocados, and red peppers for 97cents per pound. We also picked up a whole smoked ham 50% off and 5 lbs of breaded scallops for 75% off. Bought lettuce 50% off to make a salad and use in tacos.

 

[dlrcpa]

Red, interesting. I checked FlashFood and the closest participating store is 14 miles so I won't be trying that yet. I have learned and do look for the mark-down stickers and racks.

I have been thinking a lot about home modifications to enable us to live here longer. We'll be spending money on just a couple problem areas for now:

• high ceilings and incandescent flood light bulbs - going to replace all w/ LED bulbs because they should last a very long time and not require replacement. Hubby ordered 1 to try out for light quality and we like it. Everything currently is dimmable and many bulbs don't work well with that.
• deep narrow closet in the master bath with a very narrow door - going to measure and try some pull-out racks/drawers since it's just really towels and similar shower stuff.
• exploring Google Home app and how it can be used. Discussing buying one of the doorbell cameras to install and connect.
• Looking at portable power station. When our garage door lift broke recently we determined we can't manually lift the door without electricity - i.e. cars trapped in the garage. Portable power stations useful in many situations. Need to determine best size we would want and cost.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Good deal, DLR.No painting today. As soon as the electricians arrived, I realized it wasn't going to work because they would be working in the same area. Unexpectedly. But an examination of the paint stir stick showed the paint had dried just fine overnight at 55 degrees, so we won't have to turn the furnace up as anticipated. That will be a savings in these -20s temps. The paint also looks normal after drying so I think it will be okay to use.

 

[RedSpruce]

There were actually 15 limes and 8 oranges in that fruit box. I have enough of them and the lemons to make another batch of marmalade. However I just made a batch of marmalade from that fruit box and got 11 - 1/2 pint jars, so I’m good for a while. I also made lime bars, which we are eating faster than we should. I’m thinking I will freeze the remaining limes and lemons, and use the oranges with the apples and a banana for fruit salad.

I’m trying hard not to spend money here. A lot of that means displacement activity for me. I want to buy a new ink cartridge for my business printer, but I’m already over budget in business from last month. It’s frustrating. I also need more business cards, but that can wait. It’s the cc that gets me every month. I just have to stop using it. So my displacement activity is going to be finishing up projects I already have started.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Maybe use the excess fruit to make some Christmas gifts?

I got 2 coats of paint on 2 of the 4 sheets of siding and it looks good. I've used about a gallon of paint so far, so being able to use the free paint included with the house has already saved us around $50. Still have 2 more sheets to paint sometime, so there will be more savings on paint.

I realized a couple days ago one single 8' knotty pine T&G board costs $12. 😳😳😳 The wainscoting using the T&G is 4 boards high, plus different knotty pine boards for trim top and bottom. Not gonna pay that.We have some areas where we must have that wainscoting, so I'm going to remove it from places we don't need it and reuse that where we do. That will save a couple hundred, at least.

We will have 24' of lights left over from the sanctuary after using 16' in the new living room and 16' in the new sewing room, so we're going to use the extras in the basement shop. They will provide wonderful lights there for free.

 

[RedSpruce]

Maybe use the excess fruit to make some Christmas gifts?

i’ve already promised two jars - one to my niece and one to my sister. I could make more, but that seems a bit of overkill in the marmalade department…even for gifts. I have plum jam, apple jelly, pear jam, peach jam, relishes and pickles, etc. that I used for gifts this year.

Do you have any ideas for good gifts made from those ingredients? Baking is off the table with this health conscious family. I used to give it, but they requested I not.

Instead they were interested in my sewing and canning this year. It’s different every year. i ask them what they want. They don’t need anything. But I’m really the crafty one…and the one with time, tools and skills to can. So they ask for that sort of thing. One of them is a career woman working long hours, with a high maintenance husband and special needs adult daughter. The other is newly retired, but with lots to do on their large acreage, and also has a special needs adult daughter. I try to provide quality, not quantity. Experiences are preferred over stuff, but I find experiences a tad expensive for my budget. So they were given canning and sewing last year.

I’m thinking I’ll peel, section and freeze the remaining three oranges for snacks. The peel can join my lemon peel in the hm vinegar cleaner I have.

The remaining limes and lemons were put in the freezer today. I must admit to a surplus of limes and lemons in the freezer.

 

[Contrary Housewife]

You can always use the juice as an ingredient in cooking. For example, salad dressing, marinades, sauces, etc.

 

[RedSpruce]

Hubby told me today that he considers my new iPad case a household Computer expense, not an expense for my business. That’s fine by me! That’s $30 less to come out of my cash envelopes this month when my cc comes due.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Forgot to mention we hauled a van load of trash again Saturday. We dumped 1,800 lbs for about $30 in dump fees and $7 for gas. Good savings vs using a service.

Also found out J didn't charge us for his time to take his big trailer out, and the fees for all that debris was really cheap because of him getting the contractor rate and only charging us cost. We paid $57 for a large trailer filled with mostly lumber and Sheetrock, heavy stuff.

 

[ressa]

I designed myself a spreadsheet...wow, I dunno how many years ago! It is a combo budget sheet and check register. I have separate columns for misc, groceries, gas and bills. A certain amount goes into each column monthly and I debit out of the appropriate column. Similar to cash envelopes but work better for me. I can see at a glance how much is left in each catagory. Any extra at the end of the month is set aside for stocking up in groceries (never happens) or automobile expenses in gas. I have not updated my budgeted amounts for a few years. hehehe Just cut some spending if need be.
Credit card purchases are immediately entered and subtracted from suitable column.
Easy to balance accounts. Easy enough to search for certain expenditures. Just works for me! Savings account on there too, I make a new one yearly. One saved on the computer and a copy in the cloud so I can use my phone to check it when out and about.
Have cut out some grocery items out of pure stubbornness. Switching to powdered laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent and measuring carefully.
Mind you we each have a set aside amount for whatever we want. I can only crochet so fast so end up buying things for the grands
Carry on!

 

[RedSpruce]

I designed myself a spreadsheet...wow, I dunno how many years ago! It is a combo budget sheet and check register. I have separate columns for misc, groceries, gas and bills. A certain amount goes into each column monthly and I debit out of the appropriate column. Similar to cash envelopes but work better for me. I can see at a glance how much is left in each catagory. Any extra at the end of the month is set aside for stocking up in groceries (never happens) or automobile expenses in gas. I have not updated my budgeted amounts for a few years. hehehe Just cut some spending if need be.

This sounds great @ressa! I have something like this running alongside my cash envelopes to keep me on track. Only I’m using an old ledger book for it. But I just tally up the expenses in the columns as I go. Starting with the budgeted amount and subtracting as you go makes more sense to me. Then I’d know right away if I was overspending.

 

[ressa]

This sounds great @ressa! I have something like this running alongside my cash envelopes to keep me on track. Only I’m using an old ledger book for it. But I just tally up the expenses in the columns as I go. Starting with the budgeted amount and subtracting as you go makes more sense to me. Then I’d know right away if I was overspending.

If I understood you correctly I guess that is what I am doing. Example: I add $250 to grocery column. Then every time I spend on groceries, I debit that amount in the grocery column. It is set up to add/subtract and the sum at the bottom shows me how much I have left. I made a mess of it when I tried to do the math myself on paper.
I use a filter to hide the cleared transactions so all that I have to look at is the ones that are still outstanding. Makes reconciling a piece of cake!
Hard to explain. Glorified check book register with added budget envelopes. Ha ha! But man, I cannot live without it now!

 

[Spirit Deer]

Didn't do a lot today to save money except clean up after the guys. Well worth the effort. Husby removed another portion of a wall.

We're looking into buying a rotary hammer but they're expensive and IMO we wouldn't have much use for it beyond removing a 3x8 section of floor tile. But we have agreed to try breaking up the tile with a 10-lb sledge hammer instead. I suspect it might produce the same result, and we already own it. Nothing to lose by trying it.

 

[Spirit Deer]

Well, the sledge hammer idea is going nowhere. I smacked the tile a half dozen times and didn't even crack it, and barely got a minor scratch once and a small chip when I hit it right on the edge. A pry bar and hammer works but will be tedious. It's such a small space it's doable though.

 

[Spirit Deer]

A hammer drill and fat bit didn't work either. We'll be buying a masons chisel and 3-lb maul instead. Not worth buying a rotary hammer, so that will save money.

 

[RedSpruce]

Pulled out a baggie full of watches with dead batteries, etc. Took them all to a watch repair shop to ask if any of the broken ones were worth repairing (“only if you’re going to wear them!”), and to replace batteries in a couple I really like. Total cost $16.00.

While out I noticed Northern Reflections had a sale on jeans. A $100 pair my size was marked down 50%. Then there was another 40% off that. So for about $35 CAD I bought a new pair of jeans that fit. Normally I can’t find my size at thrift stores or regular retail stores. In fact, I’ve given up trying to find it at thrift stores. The thrift stores here all took the change rooms out of their stores because theft was so high! I won’t buy clothes without trying them on. So thrift store shopping for most clothing is out for me.

 

[Spirit Deer]

I ended up using about 2.5 gallons of paint on the siding, so having the excess house paint left for us by previous owners saved us well over $100.

Husby spent 2 hrs vaccuuming the entire house yesterday while I painted, saving $300-400 vs having electricians clean up after themselves. Easy money for us.

 

[RedSpruce]

I was paid by Ko-fi today. Another ~$14 in my account.

I paid my VISA bill today… I used cash from my envelopes to cover all of my portion. I had some extra change sitting around, so deposited it all in the bank…about $184 CAD.

 

[Spirit Deer]

We bought 6 gallons of paint on a B2G1 Presidents Day sale, a very pale blue for my new sewing room, a pale yellow for the kitchen, and a darker yellow for the pantry, plus 2 gallons of white for all the interior trim we will be reusing. I also bought the pale yellow that had a pinhole leak in the lid after being mixed. They sold it to us for only $5! Regular price was $42, and I know we will need it. I don't know why or how, but bargains seem to find me even when I'm not looking for them.

 

[marthamfi]

that is a deal spirit! paint is so pricey now