Monday, September 28, 2026

This Month's 2026 Grocery Spending - August & September

 


As I had mentioned before I arrived at my new with a starter pantry of items I brought with me in the car so I wouldn’t have to start completely over from scratch.  That turned out to be a very wise decision.  I moved into the house with only one week left in August and a shopping list to round out what I already had and a $300 budget to do it with.

 


My first trip to the grocery store πŸ₯«

My first order of business was to put in a nice sized Butcher Box order to fill my little freezer on top of the refrigerator.  I had brought some frozen meat with me, but having that Butcher Box order arrive made me very happy.  A trip to Wal-Mart allowed me to get most of the items on my list and I was back to making home cooked meals in no time.  Despite needing quite a few items I was happy to come in under my budget.


Not too bad! πŸ˜„


My 1st Wal-Mart delivery order turned out pretty well

The first week of September my goal was to continue cooking delicious meals and see if I could finish procuring the items I wanted which would allow me to have a fully stocked kitchen once again.  I attempted to shop in the stores and did fine at Safeway, but the local Wal-Mart is being remodeled and on the day I went there it was total chaos.  I ended up going home and placing a delivery order instead.  That worked out better than expected.

 

Safeway haul

My next trip was to Safeway because their ad had more of what I was looking to buy that week.  Each week I look at the local store ads and I check and compare to Wal-Mart prices.  This particular week Safeway was the winner!  I went in and only purchased sales items with the exception of a pound of lard.  Wal-Mart didn’t have it and Safeway did.  Now I can make pie crust and I’ve been wanting a really good quiche lately.

 

A little bit of extravagance 😎 


I took advantage of an online Swiffer sale and picked up two boxes of floor dusting cloths and a box of Mop & Glo floor wipes.  Now that I pretty much have all bare floors, except for the bedroom I thought these would be advantageous in helping me keep up the floors.  This purchase is kind of an extravagant treat for me and they should last a really long time too.

 

I got this chicken for $1.77 per pound at Safeway

This Wal-Mart delivery order finished the list!
I will be very happy when they are done remodeling

These past couple of months I wasn’t so great at taking pictures, but I was really good at getting items on sale or at the best possible price.  Now that I’m feeling like I’m back in the swing of things, and with fewer move-in tasks on my plate, I should be better at documenting my shopping trips next month.

 

One of you lovelies bought me coffees so I put it to very good use 😍

The items marked in yellow are for my new LTFS

Next month in October I plan to make my way to the “big city” and do a winter ready stock up so you won’t want to miss that.  My final totals for this month came in at $98.44.  I think I did really, really well.  What do you think?

 

 

Saturday, September 26, 2026

My Tireless Retirement - Week 234

 


I don’t have a lot to report this week.  It was a lovely quiet week for me with some mountain thunderstorms and rain about every other day so that has been nice.  In between storms it has been sunny and warm.  I’m noticing the leaves are starting to change on the trees.  It is definitely Fall here now.

 


I worked some more on the laundry shed retrofitting it to accommodate the little washing machine and dryer.  I had to cut holes for the water lines, power cords and the dryer vent.  Then I got everything all installed, hooked up and the shed itself moved into place on the existing platform.  It is working out rather well so far.

 


$1.27 per pound!!! 😁

Wednesday I got a bit of a jumpstart on my October grocery shopping list and went to Safeway to pick up some sales items for the pantry as well as two packages of boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.27 per pound!  I wasn’t about to pass that by.  This week Safeway had a lot of really good loss leaders so I took advantage of that so I could add several more items to the pantry.

 


My list for October is rather long as I’m trying to complete the restocking of my kitchen and get myself winter ready.  Having these great sales pop up really helped me to make a nice dent in that list without having to spend a bunch of money.  I was able to add eight individually vacuum sealed chicken breast halves and three packages of sliced strawberries to the freezer and then cross that part off of my list, along with quite a few other things.

 

I unpacked this cat I had brought with me πŸ˜‚

Currently I find myself at that stage in my move where I’m unpacking much more slowly and deliberately as I select a bin or box and find the contents a home.  I also find myself coming up with better ideas for storing items and reorganizing things a different way.  I expect that to be something I find myself doing often in the coming months.  I feel like I made significant progress this week because I can now step into the shed and actually see what is left inside of it.

 


How was your week?  Did you find any amazing deals at the grocery stores?  How about that chicken?  I haven’t seen that price in a good long while.

 

Friday, September 25, 2026

A Simple Day In The Life

 


I thought it might be fun, maybe even a little bit boring, to share a day in the life experience with you all from time to time.  What do I do on a daily basis?  What occupies my time and keeps me busy.  What fun (or trouble) do I get myself into?  Is this something you would find of interest?

 


On this particular Monday I, for once, had nothing on my agenda.  I’m finding that Monday seems to be a good day for me to just enjoy a more leisurely day to unwind from the previous week and weekend activities.  I am under no pressure to do anything, which is a good thing, so I start my day in my nightie and a cup of hot black coffee.  Jack and I sit and snuggle and he gets a lot of good head rubs and chin scratches.  He is in heaven.  By about 9:30 or 10:00 he is ready to move and so am I.  In the time it takes me to brew my 10:00 coffee with cream, about three minutes, I collected the trash, got dressed and made the bed.  Then it was time to sit, watch some Youtube and enjoy that frothy cup of coffee.  It is easily the best part of my day.  The worst part, that last sip.


 


I decided giving the bathroom a good tidy up would be a nice idea so I grabbed my cleaning supplies out from under the kitchen sink and headed in there.  It didn’t take me long to clean the shower, the toilet and the sink.  Then I shook the rug and mopped the floor.  When the floor was dry I put the rug back in place and called that chore complete.

 


All spiffy clean 😊


This bench comes in handy when I need to shave my legs

After gathering up all the trash in the house I proceeded to waste a tremendous amount of time trying to find the key to the shed.  It’s on my “To-do” list to stop in at the hardware store to get a spare made, but I’ve yet to so.  Anyway I located it, in of all places, my can of miscellaneous screws.  The fact that I even had the thought to look in there for it seemed rather miraculous to me at the time.  With key in hand I was able to retrieve the trash bag and load everything into the car.  Normally I walk to the dumpster, but on this day I also had the car filled with cardboard boxes and packaging from deliveries I’d received so I chose to drive.

 

Back in the junk drawer where it belongs 😌



Homemade refritos are the best! πŸ˜‹

On Sunday I had put some black beans and pinto beans into my little red Crockpot and allowed them to cook for several hours with the idea of making refried beans.  I used the same pan I had cooked a couple of hamburger patties in to brown the remaining half pound of lean ground beef I had saved for just this purpose.  After removing the meat I added a heaping tablespoon of rendered bacon fat to the fat in the pan and used that to make the refried beans with.  Once they were done I removed two cups for plain beans, added the meat and combined well to make burrito filling.  I removed two cups of the filling for a meal or two later on down the road and the rest was for the week ahead.

 




I made my big meal of the day, a beef and bean burrito with a salad on the side and a little bit of salsa too.  After eating I rinsed the dishes and did a preliminary clean up in the kitchen.  The dishes of beans and filling got labeled and leftovers were put in another dish for the fridge.  I like to use a piece of tape and a sharpie to label my Pyrex dishes because I don’t want to write directly on the lids.  Once the bowls were cooled down I put them in the freezer, the pink dish went into the fridge.

 

I'm calling that a success!

I typically only do my dishes once a day for a couple of reasons.  1.  It’s easier and a lot less work.  2.  It saves water and soap.  3. I have to wait for the hot water to heat up before I can wash up.  A lot of newer RVs and park models have switch in the kitchen that you flip up when you are ready for hot water and the twenty gallon hot water heater is ready in less than a half hour.  I then fill the sink with hot soapy water and let them sit for a bit before I wash them and rinse them.  The minute I am done filling the sink with hot water I flip the switch down so I don’t forget and the remaining water will stay hot for several hours.  It is more than enough for me to have a shower before bed.

Not too messy

He's the best! 😻
 


This particular day I was a bit late in getting those dishes washed up because I spent a considerable amount of time playing with and snuggling Jack.  I really love that I now have so much more time to spend with him and I can tell he really loves it too.  He is absolutely precious.  Once he had had enough and was ready for a nap I got those dishes washed up.

 

A mid afternoon sweet treat


With all of that work under my belt I settled in for some true crime on the TV and put my feet up for awhile.  I was exhausted!  Not.  While I watched my murder shows I wrote in my journal and did some blog writing.  It was a bit of a gray and cloudy day so I also lit one of my candles and enjoyed it while it filled the house with hazelnut crΓ¨me scent, my favorite.

 

It's hard work being a kitty, he's so tired 😸


It was a quiet, lovely and slow paced day, but very good.  No rushing, no stress, no over thinking and no worries about anything at all.  Just calm.  Peace.  Contentment.  I finished out the day with a snack that evening and when I felt tired I got ready for bed.  Jack was kind enough to scoot over and make room for me to climb in bed.  He’s so sweet that way.  That was it.  Nothing over the top or spectacular, but as I wrote in my journal it was “another beautiful day in paradise”.

 

Wednesday, September 23, 2026

Setting Up My New Bedroom

 


The next room that needed my attention was the bedroom.  This house has only one and it was showing a bit of wear and tear.  The walls needed the paint touched up, but more importantly the carpet needed to be replaced.  It was worn out and the previous owners dog had left its mark so getting that carpet pulled up and out of the house was a top priority for me.

 

Time to go!



I bought replacement carpet from Home Depot and after pulling up the carpet and pad I touched up the wall paint, there was a can left behind thankfully, and I repainted all of the base trim along the floor.  Then I installed new carpet and pad.

 

Nothing quite like fresh clean new carpet! 😍



A new bed frame ordered online was the next order of business followed by a brand new mattress, pillows and bedding.  A fresh new start deserves a new bed and bedding.  I chose to downsize to a full size bed from the queen size I used to have because it fit the room better and as it turns out, it is plenty of mattress space for me and my kitty, who prefers to sleep dead center in the middle.

 

New bedframe

New mattress & cover

I had packed the night stand I had redone and used to have in my guest room simply because I like it and it fits perfectly next to the bed.  The room is still a work in progress.  I will be working on storage solutions in the closet and more dΓ©cor, but for now it is nice to have a clean and comfortable room to sleep in at night.  I will keep you apprised of future updates as they happen.