How Are Things Going To Change For Me Now?

 

Now that I’ve hit the three year mark you might be wondering, or may not, how things are going to change for me now that I’m done with my super thrifty living.  Well, the short answer is – not much.

 

This past three years has taught me a lot.  The biggest, and most surprising, was that I don’t need much to live a very content and comfortable life.  Now that I am no longer raising a family and even though I do have occasional houseguests it doesn’t cost me nearly as much money to run my household as it used to.  I also don’t consume nearly as much food as we used to as a family even though I often have friends over for meals and I make a lot of food to share with others.  You can imagine how happy I was that the funds I had earmarked for the first three years of retirement were more than enough to take care of me.  Moving forward I am going to loosen up the purse strings, so to speak.

 

I’m going to allow myself to be a two car household once again.  I was able to purchase, license and insure the Subaru using extra funds I had left from my three years of super thrifty living.  Not bad, huh?  As a lone driver having two vehicles is definitely a luxury, no doubt about that, but it is a luxury I enjoy and it also has the added benefit of giving me extra peace of mind having a backup in case either the car or truck needs to be serviced for example.

 

I may or may not do some traveling.  I absolutely LOVE to be home and thoroughly enjoy my own company.  As a card carrying member of the devoted homebodies club (I just made that up) I am not going to put any pressure on myself to hop on a plane or jump in the car and do any hardcore traveling.  However, having said that, if something pops up that interests me I’m going to do it.

 

Now that I feel I have more wiggle room in my budget I’m focusing more on quality over quantity.  Rather than go out to eat a lot at cheap places I’d rather go out once in a great while to a restaurant that serves better food and leave a nice tip for a hard working server.  I am purchasing better quality new clothing and shoes when I need to replace something I’ve worn out or no longer enjoy.  When I go to the grocery store I take my time to read labels and compare my options so I bring home better quality food.

 

So, as you can see, I’m not going to go crazy or anything, but I am going to do little things that give me a better quality of life.  I don’t need a lot to be happy or content and I know that buying stuff won't make me feel happier or bring me more contentment.  I love the simple things and I’ve already got that.

 

Three Years In!!

 

Wow!  Holy cow!  It has been three years already!  Unbelievable!  Time certainly does fly when you are having fun and I am having fun!  Yesterday marked the third anniversary of my retirement and looking back I’ve come a long way baby!  Has my life gone the way I had planned it when I first retired?  Nope.  It’s even better!

 

By doing a lot of planning and preparing ahead of time I have been able to manage all of the financial aspects of taking early retirement which included a super thrifty lifestyle for the first three years.  I knew in order to make it work I would need to be very careful the first three years of retirement for the numbers to work out the way I would need them to.

 

Many of the things I initially planned to do when I started the planning and preparing process for retirement did not happen.  But, that is completely okay.  I had to work around a few health issues that cropped up and made early retirement even more important to me.  I did something that isn’t always easy for me to do.  I kept an open mind, loosened my grip a bit and made adjustments in order to get through whatever I needed to get through to make my retired life work.  And it has!

 

As I sit here now I am healthier and stronger, both physically and mentally, than I have been in quite a while and I couldn’t be any happier about that if I tried.  I do more things that bring me joy and make me feel active and productive.  I spend more time with my friends and my circle of friends is expanding.  It is a joyous life in my tireless retirement.  I am happy.  I feel so grateful for where I am right now.  I’m ready for year four!

 

Thrifty Meals - Breakfasts!

 

Whether you are dining alone or feeding hungry teenage grandchildren breakfast is the most economical meal you can prepare.  Especially, if you make everything yourself and even considering the current price of eggs!

 

Egg Sandwich – one or two slices of toasted bread with a little butter, a slice of crisp bacon cut in half and an egg fried and seasoned with salt and pepper.  You can even add a slice of cheese or sprinkle a bit of grated cheese on the egg while it is cooking.  Tastes delicious and cost next to nothing when compared to the Egg McMuffin.

 

Pancakes & Waffles – a basic recipe, that can easily be doubled if necessary, will provide you with a nice stack of delicious pancakes or waffles.  A touch of butter and some hot homemade pancake syrup, homemade jam or fruit butter is a perfect topping.  Stack leftovers with a piece of waxed paper in between and place in a Ziploc bag to freeze for a future meal.  They easily reheat from frozen in the microwave in as little as thirty seconds.

 

Biscuits & Gravy - make up a batch of baking powder biscuits and some sausage gravy using only a half pound of ground sausage, a little bit of flour as well as some whole milk and you’ve got a stick to your ribs meal.  To make this even more economical dilute the milk 50/50 with water to stretch it further.  Season the gravy with a bit of salt and plenty of black pepper.  Serve alongside with a scrambled egg for more protein.

 

Sausage biscuits – divide a pound of ground pork sausage into eight equal portions, roll into balls and then flatten.  Fry the patties until cooked through.  Place a small thin slice of cheese or a bit of grated cheese on top of each patty and allow it to melt.  Slice a warm biscuit in half, butter each side and slip in a sausage patty.

 

French Toast – beat up one to two eggs with a bit of milk.  Again you can use diluted milk here.  Briefly sock slices of stale bread turning over to coat both sides.  Fry in fat until nicely browned on both sides.  Serve with a touch of butter and some hot homemade pancake syrup, homemade jam or fruit butter.  You can even dress it up with a sprinkle of powdered sugar.  Fresh fruit also makes a nice topping.

 

Quiche – a quiche can be as simple or elaborate as you choose and is the perfect way to use up leftover items you might have hanging around in the refrigerator.  You can make a pie crust if you choose or simply butter a pie dish and go crustless.  Start with three well beaten eggs, two tablespoons of flour and a cup of milk plus some salt and pepper.  From there add whatever you like – diced ham, chopped bacon, cooked ground sausage, grated cheese, chopped onions or peppers, chopped broccoli, sliced mushrooms, leftover cooked vegetables, cooked diced potatoes, the sky is the limit!  Leftover quiche freezes and reheats nicely.

 

Breakfast Hash – is an easy combination of diced potatoes, diced ham and diced onion along with some salt and pepper.  Cook in a bit of bacon fat until potatoes are tender and crispy around the edges.  Add two well beaten eggs and scramble into the potatoes and ham mixture.  Serve with fresh or canned fruit.

 

Bacon or Sausage, Hashbrowns & Eggs –the classic breakfast is still very economical.  Fry up a slice of bacon then fry a small shredded or diced potato in the rendered fat.  Once the hashbrowns are done remove from pan, add a bit of fat or butter and fry an egg to your liking.  It’s a great and timeless combination.

 

Oatmeal – make the oatmeal according to the package directions.  I always like to make extra because it warms up nicely in the microwave.  Top with pancake syrup, some raisins or dried cranberries and a sprinkle of cinnamon.  Peanut butter and jelly or jam or just some apple butter is a great way to top a bowl of oatmeal.  You are only limited by your imagination.

 

Homemade Granola – make your own using this recipe.  It makes a delicious topping for your homemade yogurt too!

 

Scrambled or Hardboiled Egg & A Muffin – make a batch of homemade muffins of your choice and pair with an egg.  Use some homemade jam or fruit butter as a spread for you muffins.

 

Round out these meals with a small dish of applesauce or fresh, canned or frozen fruit to add additional nutrients and flavor.  I would often slice up a couple of large navel oranges or cut up a couple large apples into wedges and it was plenty of fruit for three or four of us in addition to the meal itself.  Adding variety and changing up your meals makes them not only more nutritious but staves off boredom as well.

 

Whether you eat these meals for breakfast, brunch or, my personal favorite - breakfast for dinner, you can incorporate some really tasty healthy meals for next to nothing.  Most of these come in for less than a dollar a meal.  You can’t beat that!

 

My Tireless Retirement – Week 156

 

I cannot believe we have just finished the last full week of March and that April begins next week.  That’s okay because it is officially Spring, my favorite season, and the weather seems to be settling down and warming up a bit so it actually feels like spring outside.  I’ve got tulips and daffodils popping up through the ground all over the place.  And peeps!  Yes, I’ve got peeps, a sure sign of spring, and my sweet little girls seem to be doing very well in their new home so far.

 

One week old!

I worked all day Friday, arrived home exhausted after a busy and chaotic adventure at the senior center and was happy to sit in my recliner, once I got home, with a small glass of wine (should have been a big one) and then reheat and eat leftover leftovers for my supper while watching the final two episodes of Grimm.  Needless to say I slept like a log that night.  Those seniors wear me out!

 

Saturday I cleaned the living room and re-arranged the furniture putting it all back into its original place.  Just the way I like it.  I get kudos however for trying something new and giving it nearly six months before I put it all back.  My super powers just did not allow me to enjoy the change I made back in October, but I gave it a solid try.  The only thing I did not put back in place was the accent chair because little Miss Daisy bunny has decided she enjoys sleeping under it in the downstairs bedroom so I am letting her have it for the time being.  No, she isn’t spoiled or anything.

 

I had company for dinner that night and made a simple sheet pan dinner of roasted veggies and cooked up a large steak I had marinated and then sliced thinly.  I deglazed the pan with a bit of wine and poured that over the sliced steak.  It was delicious!  I’m just sorry I didn’t get a picture of it to share with you, but it was so good there wasn’t much in the way of leftovers.

 

I was cleaning up some trash that had blown in my yard and found this
Finally!  Something I can use! 😃

After a cloudy rainy Friday and Saturday the skies cleared and the sun came out.  I am very grateful for all the moisture we’ve been having so no complaints about the rain, but I did enjoy seeing the sun come out again.  With the warmer temperatures I’ve been able to keep the house comfortable with the thermostat set much lower and just using the fireplace here and there.  I celebrated the sunshine by going out to lunch and then coming home and making a strawberry cheesecake.

 

Things are really starting to wake up out here
I managed to get this apple tree pruned this past week

Our weather warmed up quite a bit on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday giving us a taste of things to come.  After turning off the heat I opened up the windows and aired out the house which was glorious.  I spent a fair bit of time outside soaking up sunshine and puttering around the yard cleaning up flower pots and pulling a few weeds.  I got the apple tree pruned too so that made me very happy.  Thursday was rather cloudy but still warm and enjoyable.  By weeks end my tulips and daffodils are really starting to grow, my rhubarb is poking up and I noticed the buds on my fruit trees are beginning to open up a bit.  Things are really taking off!

 

I finished out my week by running a few errands and spent some time working on a couple of projects in the kitchen.  Details about that will be in future posts.  I also spent loads of time with my peeps, which has been a lot of fun.  They are growing bigger, eating a lot more and are very healthy and active.  Everything you want to see in a new set of chicks.  I just love watching them being silly and happy.

 

How was your week?  Has your weather warmed up where you live?  Anything blooming?

 

 

This Month's 2025 Grocery Spending – March

 

I am just going to address the elephant in the room straight away.  I went way over budget this month.  I had received my tax refund at the end of February and I had the funds to invest in extra groceries so I made a second trip to Costco and did some investing.  I feel really good about it too.

This was a really good deal!

As was this!

At the beginning of the month I had made my first trip to Costco for a couple of items on my list and resisted the rotisserie chicken since I was still using up items I had squirreled away in my refrigerator and freezer.  I picked up a couple items for my LTFS while in there mainly shopping for clothing this time.

 

I was able to restock the freezer with steaks and add more salmon

At the beginning of the month a really good sale on sirloin steaks at Albertson's compelled me to go in there and purchase two large packages of their good quality meat.  I also picked up a package of salmon fillets.

 

Trader Joes on the left, Winco on the right 😊
I used a gift card I got for Christmas to cover TJs

Winco and Trader Joes allowed me to do a nice shopping trip to pick up items on my list to replace some things I had pulled from my LTFS where I shopped my shelves during the month of February.  I also stocked up on some dairy items as well as some fresh produce.  With that we were back in business.

 

A little rewards certificate to help lower the cost on my trip to Costco

Beef stew meat for a home canning project I had planned

My next trip to Costco was for the sole purpose of picking up some beef stew meat I had checked out on my last trip in as well as a rotisserie chicken.  This time I did not resist temptation and enjoyed every bite of chicken.  That chicken carcass wasn’t wasted as it was added to a bag of veggie scraps I had in the freezer and made into a delicious broth which I canned and was able to restock my LTFS shelf.  I also canned all of that wonderful stew meat which allowed me to add fourteen pints and one half pint of beautifully cooked and seasoned beef to my LTFS.  I have no regrets about that!

 

This deal was an unexpected, but happy surprise!

I was able to score a really good deal on a case of Libby’s green beans at Walmart.com and they even delivered them for FREE!  I added them to an order I placed for canning jars as my local store was out of the ones I wanted so I had to order them.  The green beans were $6.92 making them less than 58¢ a can.  I have used up quite a few cans from my LTFS over the past year and I had a bit of an overstock at the time, but now I will be able to replace some of the ones I used and be properly stocked moving forward.  While I was in Wal-Mart I was able to pick up two jars of ground ginger as Winco was completely out of it when I was there.  I put one in my spice cabinet and one in my LTFS.

 

I had good luck this time at the markdown produce bin

My last trip to the store this month was to pick up some more milk and a couple avocados to go with a couple dinners I had planned.  While I was there I perused the produce markdown bin and found a nice bag of oranges for $1 and a bag of bell peppers for $1.  Perfect!

 

My nonfood purchases this month were for canning supplies.  I had run low on lids and I had used up all of my jars.  This year I am working to expand my LTFS so I decided to invest some of my non food budget into two more flats of pint jars and another flat of half pint jars so I am ready for future canning projects.  I also restocked my canning lids, both regular mouth and wide.

 

This month I spent a total of $186.08 on food!  I used up all of the rollover funds I had from the beginning of the year and went over by $44.79 leaving me with a deficit going into April.  I’m completely fine with that.  I will be starting the month of April with a budget of $55.21.  All in all, I am quite pleased with how my month turned out and I wouldn’t change a thing.  Did you score any great deals on food this month?  Are you stocking up on anything?

 

A Purpose Driven Life

 

I recently had the extreme privilege of having some wonderful conversations with several of my coworkers regarding the reason why we chose to work where we do.  Most of us are retired and we all seem to agree that this job we’ve taken on is to fill a deep need inside of us to make our retirement as good as we can possibly make it.  I personally derive a great deal of satisfaction from serving others.  It fills my tank to overflowing.

 

Additionally, I want to be the best possible version of me that I can.  I want to be kind, helpful and someone that others feel they can depend on.  I was recently told by my supervisor at work that to her, I am that person.  I was also told that same thing by a close friend who was in need of my help a couple weeks ago.  A couple months ago another friend told me that if she was ever in trouble I would be her first call.  It is an amazing thing to be trusted and counted on.  I am absolutely thrilled that my circle is able see me in this way.

 

While planning my retirement I envisioned myself seeking a purpose driven life with a major portion of it devoted to serving others.  I was hopeful that it would include working with the elderly and I’m so pleased that I am doing just that.  I also find myself in a mentoring position with high school age and college students.  They will seek me out for advice, information or assistance.  Just the other day I showed a group of high school students how to use an old style manual can opener.  They thought that was so cool!  I thought their reactions were so cool!

 

In my current walk of life I am dealing with people that have with a variety of different issues.  Some are simply aging or have significant medical issues.  Some are dealing with homelessness in their golden years.  Others have mental health issues like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.  Others are dealing with dementia, Alzheimers or the aftermath of having had closed head injuries.  With each of these people I am focusing on being kind, loving, patient and compassionate while making sure they maintain their dignity.

 

I have a friend going through a divorce after years of domestic violence due to a partner’s mental illness.  While it is difficult to watch them go through this, I am grateful to be able to offer the assistance she needs right now to make the necessary changes to her life.  To her I am a safe haven.  Wow!  That feels incredible.

 

I do not need any praise or accolades.  The feeling of fulfillment I get from serving others is more than plenty.  In the process I am learning and growing so much.  Knowing that I am achieving this goal for myself is very empowering.  I am working hard to live a purpose driven life and I can see that I am succeeding in that endeavor.  I am becoming a new person, an improved version of my best self and my cup overflows.