My Tireless Retirement - Week 223

 

Hello my friends!  It has been another quietly productive week in retirement.  On Friday I got the garden fertilized and watered, cleaned up the chicken pen area a bit (stirred up a mouse in the process) and got the A/C units installed upstairs, one in each bedroom.  They will stay there and cool the house until Labor Day weekend, give or take.  Looking ahead at the weather report we were slated to have hot weather and we did.  With temps in the high nineties and tickling eh century mark I was super grateful to have those two units installed and cooling my home.

 

One of my rehabbed dolls in a holiday dress I made

Saturday was Independence Day and we stayed home with the kitties because they get anxious with the neighborhood fireworks going off.  The chickens seemed like they could care less, same with the bunny.  We celebrated with a grilled steak and a salad for a late lunch/early supper and some ice cream for dessert.  It was a nice, definitely not a quiet, low-key day.

 

Downstairs I kept the air cool with a new addition.  Last month I invested in a portable swamp cooler.  The upstairs A/C does a good job keeping the entire house comfortable, but when we have those marathons of one hundred plus degree weather the lower level can get stuffy, especially when the overnight temps don’t get low enough to cool it down.  Adding the cooler downstairs has been really nice to have.  I just fill it with cold water and add an ice pack to the tank to keep the air chilly.  It works so well I sometimes have to turn it off for a bit to warm up.  First world problems!  LOL

 

Another new summer addition to my home this year is a new set of ice trays, but not just ordinary ice trays, the ones that make the big round balls of ice.  I love them.  I also love that I just need to grab one ball of ice to keep my drink cool and it melts slowly so my drinks don’t get as diluted as with regular ice.

 

Empty bins!

Inside, I continued decluttering, I cooked, I cleaned, mopped the tiles and vacuumed the carpet, did my laundry and washed my bedding, including the pillows and mattress cover.  I binge watched the entire ten episode season of Dexter New Blood.  I also did some sewing and made some “new” cleaning cloths after cutting up an old bath towel I had in the rag bin.  I went around the edges so they won’t fray and sent them through the wash to test.  That will work!

 

A big project here last week was to completely go through and assess the LTFS.  Monday I was able to clear some items, pack it up and send it home with the BFF.  This will make it much more manageable for me as I often find the volume of it a bit overwhelming at times.  It is a lot of work to dust, keep inventory and rotate items to make sure the older products are up front and get used.  At this time we have no plans to add to it any further.  Unfortunately he wasn’t able to transport any of the frozen food, but thinning out the shelf stable food and some of the nonfood items feels much more balanced to me and I’m quite happy to share the load.

 

I still have plenty of home canned foods

Since then I have restocked my working pantry as well as the freezer in the kitchen from the LTFS to keep me going throughout the month and well into August.  I’m also going to focus on consuming more of the home canned items I’ve put up over the past two years.  I am so well stocked right now that I do not plan to do anymore canning for the remainder of the year.  After reorganizing and reassessing my current inventory it simply isn’t necessary at this time.  One, or two, can only eat so much.

 

I had to ask the BFF to stop buying me coffee 😆

As it sits I am feeling tremendously thankful and rather pleased after all of the hard work I’ve put into the LTFS over the years and I’ve really enjoyed the process.  Right now I feel like I’ve won the lottery as I’m able to use and maintain it, not just for me, but also another entire person as well.  For me, it is going to help a lot to bridge the gap from when I left my job to when I get my first Social Security check in October.  Knowing I do not have to worry about buying groceries anytime soon is absolutely priceless and I am so thrilled.  This is what a LTFS system is for and I get to put it to the test.

 

I am storing items for a future yard sale in this closet

I hope you all enjoyed a blessed and happy week as I did.  Nothing too terribly exciting happened and that’s AOK!  I’m rather content to just calmly and peacefully make my way through the week one day at a time.  I much prefer a drama free existence.  How was your week?  Anything exciting happen?

 

"You Have Arrived At Your Destination"

 

A couple weeks ago I received a comment to one of the posts I shared where basically the commenter was suggesting that what I had worked hard on needed to be completely redone.  I’d like to believe that this wasn’t meant to be rude or critical, but to a certain extent it could’ve been, hard to say.  Although I have a strict policy to only allow positive and kind comments I decided to go ahead and allow this one.  Because, again, I thought it quite possible it was coming from a good place.  More importantly, it confirmed something I had long suspected.

 

I’m doing really well.  Comments like that are a whole lot less about me and tell me far more about the person writing them.  Regardless of the intent behind it, I wasn’t reactive or hurt, I was reflective.  This comment didn’t bother me because I am rock solid.  I am happy and content with what I have and I don’t need more or something different to try to make me happy.  I don’t need the latest and greatest in order to feel content.  I’m already there.

 

If you’ve read my blogs for any length of time you’ve probably come to learn that I’ve never really been one who is motivated by material things.  Bigger, better, best is not my mantra.  My happiness and joy is not derived by having the latest and greatest.  I have no desire to purchase or acquire more things.  In fact, quite the opposite.  I don’t constantly need to have something new.  Good enough, is good enough.

 

I personally would never criticize someone’s choices or dare to suggest how someone should spend their money, but that’s just me.  I do know that there are a lot of people in this world that do that and they probably do it a lot.  Again, I think that speaks more of them than the person they are talking to.  I choose not to be one of those people.  And, I’m not.  In anyway.  And I love that about myself.

 

I am someone I can look in the mirror at each day and smile with confidence and a sense of peace about the person I’ve become.  I love who I am.  I’m also extremely happy with my current lifestyle and home.  Even more importantly, I’m really grateful that I’m not easily influenced or adversely affected by the way other people treat me.  I feel like I’ve been on a long journey with tons of bumpy roads to get to this point, but now I know the truth.  I’m good.  I have arrived.

 

Cooking For Two - Sour Cream Enchilada Stack

A few weeks ago I made this enchilada stack and I thought I’d share it with you because it was so delicious and easy.  I had a cup of leftover green chile enchilada sauce in the freezer and a can of chicken breast just past its best buy date so I was eager to use both of those things up.  You could totally substitute a cup and a half of cooked chicken for the can I used if you don’t have a can and some broth or water.

I emptied the can of chicken breast into a pan with its broth along with the chile verde and some diced onion and let that simmer a bit.  I seasoned this with some dried garlic and some cumin about a teaspoon each.  Then I removed it from the heat and stirred in a half to three quarter cup of sour cream.  I didn’t really measure it.

 

I then took a pie pan and about six or seven corn tortillas and a cup of grated cheese and started layering.  I placed a small amount of this chicken mixture in the bottom of the pan and then arranged three tortillas, half of the remaining chicken mixture, half of the cheese and then repeated to make a second layer.  I let this spin in the microwave for five minutes on high and it came out perfectly.  I cut this into fourths and topped each piece with a dollop of sour cream.  I also had leftovers for another meal.  So good!

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 222

 

Good Morning and, if you live in the USA, Happy Independence Day!  We are 250 years old which is quite a milestone.  I remember as a kid celebrating our 200^th birthday in 1976, going to a parade in the morning, a picnic in the afternoon and then fireworks that night.  It was quite a celebration for a ten year old, as I remember.  This year it is just me and the kitties hunkering down and I’m quite fine with the low-key approach.  I’ll probably grill a steak, make some potato or pasta salad and call it good.

 

Lots of kitty snuggling this week.

Our weather had been cooler and wetter lately which I’ve been quite happy about.  Last Friday morning I awoke to gray skies and stormy weather.  Because it was so much cooler than it had been I opened up the windows, set the fan at the back door and invited in the cool fresh air as it began to rain.  I love the feel and the smell of a summer rain.  It was simply lovely.  Later in the evening we got a good storm, complete with lighting and wind, and it dumped.  I got to repeat that again over the weekend and on Monday morning.  The bird bath was filled to overflowing.  I truly appreciate it when God does the watering for me.  We are on track for a much hotter week ahead, however.

 

I am very much enjoying not my having cabinets and drawers stuffed

I’ve been going through my things and doing some more decluttering as I feel I simply have far more stuff than one person needs.  I have been steadily decluttering since the day I retired and over the years I have let so much stuff go, but I continue to find things I am not using or no longer want so the adventure continues.  This time around I’ve decided to collect and price items to put in a yard sale next spring.  I have an extra bedroom downstairs to store these things in.  My plan is to have my sale next April on a Friday and Saturday.  I am also planning to list some items, like old video game consoles (the kids don’t want them) on eBay, probably closer to Christmas.  I plan to take and invest all of my proceeds for my future endeavors.

 

In addition to decluttering I’m also making a point to use up things, including food.  Hence the banana cream pie I made the previous week and this week I made a peaches & cream dessert to have when I had a friend over for dinner Thursday.  I will be sure to post the recipe soon, because it turned out really nice and it is low carb so we enjoyed it completely guilt free.  I’m pulling things that have been hanging out for a while and focusing on using them up while also making recipes I haven’t made in a long time.  A culinary walk down memory lane, ha, ha.

 

I also needed a dessert for an upcoming get together with the caveat it be easy to serve and clean up after.  My initial thought was to bake cookies, brownies or cupcakes, but after looking ahead at the weather report I thought turning on the oven didn’t sound like something I wanted to do.  So I cheated.  Wednesday morning I went to Fred Meyer and picked up three boxes of ice cream sandwiches on sale for $1.99 each.  Done!

 

I made cheeseburgers & potato salad 😋

It was a quietly productive and fun week of retirement for me.  I was pleased with how things went and what I was able to accomplish.  I’m finding on this go around of decluttering my entire house that I feel far more willing to get rid of things I’ve been on the fence about or thought I’d use, but haven’t and do not plan to.  I think in the past four years I’ve really dialed in what I enjoy and how I want things to be like going forward.  Are any of you decluttering or working on a project this summer?  Have a safe and Happy 4^th of July!

 

Independence Day - 250 Years!

 

Have a safe and beautiful 4th of July celebration!

My Other Simple Thrifty Bathroom

 

My home has two bathrooms.  The main bathroom is upstairs and the second bathroom, a small half bath or powder room is downstairs off the laundry room with just a simple sink and toilet.  It is small, in fact the BFF has said it is like peeing in a closet, but I can tell you it is an absolute luxury, as many can attest, to have a second bathroom when raising a family or having company over to visit.  It is small, but mighty.

 

Like the upstairs bathroom I do not keep anything in there that is not used on a regular basis.  Over the toilet is a medicine cabinet and it is actually used to store medicine.  All of my prescription and over the counter medication is kept on the top shelf.  On the bottom shelf I keep an extra hair brush and deodorant as well as a set of nail clippers simply for my own convenience.

 

Since this room is so small I want it to feel as open as possible.  On the bathroom counter I keep a hand soap dispenser and a bottle of lotion.  That’s it.  No décor, no clutter.

 

Underneath the sink I keep a small bin with first aid supplies.  On top of that bin is another bin that stores my cleaning rags and mop heads.  In front of those I keep an extra hand towel.  In the middle, a smaller bin holds just the supplies I need to keep this room clean and tidy.  There is a small trash can and behind that a bin that holds the extra rolls of toilet paper.  And that concludes the tour.  Nothing more, nothing less.  It is simple, easy to clean and thrifty to maintain.  Exactly how I like it.

This Month's 2026 Grocery Spending – June

 

This month I tried a new grocery shopping strategy, the 5-4-3-2-1 Method and I found it both challenging and a lot of fun.  What I really liked about it is that it got me to really think, get creative, and find ways to pay as little as possible for the things I needed this month, even if it meant going to different stores.  This is what my list looked like at the beginning of the month.  Because I did not need any proteins this time I substituted two more produce options instead.

My list - I substituted two more produce items since I
didn't need any proteins this month

From Fred Meyer

With one small shop (I was at the Fred Meyer garden center so I made my trip count) to get me started I was able to find some nice apples in the markdown bin so I got 2 bags for $3.00, bananas at 55¢ a pound, two cans of evaporated milk to add to my LTFS for $1.90 using a digital coupon and a FREE bottle of salad dressing I got on special offer and donated.  I also picked up a two pound block of cheese on sale for $4.99.  This entire shop ended up costing me a whopping $10.83!

 

Winco haul

A few days later I stopped into Winco and picked up the rest of the items I had on the list.  A can of pineapple chunks to replace one I had used the previous month, an extra bag of flour, fresh produce and some dairy.  Done!  And super easy!

 

A few fun things from Trader Joes using a gift card

I also treated myself to a gift card shop at Trader Joes and I was thrilled to leave with a full bag and money still left on my card for another visit.  I didn’t add these items to my shopping expense since I didn’t actually spend money here and I was feeling a bit lazy.

 

Cash & Carry

At the end of the month, with the Independence Day holiday coming up as well as some other planned events I had planned to do another 5-4-3-2-1 shop which also included a small Costco haul.  My new list looked similar to the first one, but with a few different items including two proteins this time.  However, after much reflection I realized really I didn’t need anything so I decided to wait.  Instead I popped into U.S. Food Stores (Cash & Carry) and picked up a carton of cream to tide me over.  It was the only item in the house that I was running low on.

 

Dollar Tree

The only nonfood purchase I made was for $2.50 to pickup two packages of toothbrushes at Dollar Tree.  Three count packages for $1.25 each is still quite a bargain and I didn’t want to pass it up.  I added then to my current stock in the linen and won’t likely need to buy anymore toothbrushes until well into 2027, if then.

 

Here are my total expenses for the month of June.  I’m not unhappy about this at all and I think I have an idea of where this is going and how it will lead to more efficient shopping and spending.  I am rather intrigued as to how it will play out if I continue to do this for a little while longer.  What do you think?  If anything it makes for a nice change of pace.  Check back at the end of July to see how well I am doing and if I feel like it is working the way I hope it will.