Budgeting My Way To Retirement - Week 8

 

It is hard to believe we are already eight weeks into the new year.  I feel like it is going really fast.  How are you all doing?  I hope world events aren't too overly distressing.

 

I had a longer weekend having taken Monday off as a vacation day.  I'm trying to have at least one three day weekend per month.  I enjoyed a quiet weekend and then ran a couple errands on Monday morning.  I wanted to get some items that were on sale at Fred Meyer as well as scout for markdowns.  I was thrilled to find some low carb bread marked down.  It is so expensive to buy full price.  I noticed the cheese I bought is now more expensive and being sold in six ounce packages instead of eight ounce packages (sigh).  After the grocery store I stopped by the feed store to pick up hay for my daughter's bunny only to find out they didn't have any but they tracked some down at another store across town.  I ended up buying two bales there in hopes that the extra bale will help us weather the shortage on hay.  At this time they have no idea how long it will be before they get more in stock.

 

Once home I got all the groceries put away and then I pulled out a very large package of stew meat I had purchased on markdown for $3.88 (boy, those were the days).  I chopped up an onion and sautéed that in some olive oil before browning all of that meat.  It was more than enough for a pot of stew so I put up two freezer containers and used what was left.  In my medium sized slow cooker I put the rest of the meat along with vegetables, minced garlic, beef broth I made using a beef bouillon cube and a brown gravy packet.  I let that go all day and simmer for our supper with plenty of leftovers for lunch the next day and another supper.

 

Our work/school week was busy, although only four days long, and we arrived at Friday completely beat.  My oldest had tickets for us to go and see a student opera production of Pirates of Penzance so after work we drove over to her college to join her, her boyfriend as well as several of her friends.  The play was wonderful and we enjoyed it very much.  We got home around 11:00 that night and headed straight to bed.

 

I slept hard that night and woke up at my regular time ready to begin my day.  I headed off to Albertsons at 8:30 that morning to pick up meat that was on sale.  I used digital coupons and a $30 gift card I had earned from one of their promotions to shave off a lot of the cost of my little shopping venture.  I was super excited with everything I was able to get.  I'll go into more details about that in a post on Friday.  It was a great shopping haul!

 

When I got home I got busy preparing all of that meat for long term storage.  I will be doing another post on what all I ended up doing with it next week.  I was pretty pleased with how that project turned out  Even happier to mark another goal off my list.  Be sure to watch for those upcoming posts.

 

How did your week go?  Anything exciting happen for you?

 

 

This Month's Grocery Spending - February 2022

 

The only things on my list this month was fresh produce, fresh dairy and anything good on sale.  I was hoping to find some good deals on meat and I found quite a few good items on markdown.  A whole chicken marked down 50%, some smoked sausages, pork chops and even some ground beef I got on sale and had coupons for.  I was really pleased about all that.

 

Markdowns and super sales ruled the month ✌

Great finds in the reduced meats

Eggs, marked down bread & cheeses on sale

I kept my shopping fairly minimal and only bought items at the lowest prices I could find.  I even got some things for FREE, special offers given to me by the stores I shop at regularly.  I used a store gift card to pay for all of my purchases from Albertsons too which equated to more FREE items including three 12 roll packages of toilet paper.  FREE stuff is always appreciated.

 

FREE salad dressing

FREE mac & cheese

I purchased these items with a gift card...

...as well as these two coffees

My total this month came in at a whopping $64.05.  We were able to get everything we needed and we ate really well too.  I am super happy with how this month's shopping turned out.  Did you find any great deals?  Do you get FREE stuff too?

 

Making Fresh Produce Last Longer

 

Fresh produce is difficult to keep nice sometime, but I've been doing something lately that seems to be help us keep it fresher longer.  As soon as I get home from the store I was all my produce, even my berries, in cold water with a good splash of white vinegar in it.  I swish it around and let it soak for a bit before removing, rinsing and draining.  Then it goes into the refrigerator or fruit basket.

 

Grapes and berries get a spa treatment

I'm finding our oranges don’t get moldy and last much longer.  Our lettuce stays fresher and doesn't wilt as fast.  Mushrooms and carrots don't get that slimy film on them and celery doesn't go soft.  We really struggled with strawberries going bad with a day of two of purchase, but now they last the week.

 

Even the "pre-washed" stuff gets a vinegar bath

And with good reason
That water was disgusting!

I don't do this with bananas, potatoes or onions yet, but pretty much everything else I buy gets a bath.  Anyone else bathe their produce like this once they get home?

 

Budgeting My Way To Retirement - Week 7

 

Sunday was the day before Valentine's Day with the actual day, Monday, as a work and/or school day for me and my girls.  We managed to all get some time and decided a Sunday brunch to celebrate the holiday would be best for us this year.  I made a nice big spread using items I already had in the fridge and pantry and the three of us enjoyed a really nice morning.  It was very good to see my oldest daughter and get to visit with her.

 

I started a new compost bin using a one gallon ice cream bucket I had washed out and saved.  Anything that is compostable, but can't go out to the chickens or into the stock pot will go in here.  So far I've only added coffee grounds, tea bags and some stems trimmed from the bottoms of a bouquet of flowers.

 

This egg carton has the remnants of a cracked egg inside
I am adding it to our compost bin

I pulled lots of odds and ends out of the freezer for meals this week including coconut curry soup, refried beans and ground beef for tacos and burritos.  We ate up leftovers from the previous week and our Valentine's Day brunch the first half of the week with freshly made salads.  The frozen items kept us well fed until the end of the week with minimal effort in the kitchen.  I saved onion skins and the core from a head of cabbage in the bag I keep in the freezer for my next batch of stock.  One of our chickens has started laying again and gave us five lovely eggs last week.  It won't be much longer before the other girls will be joining in.

 

I worked a full and very busy week with overtime.  Because of the pace we've been keeping, even before this pandemic began, we are beginning to experience some burnout on my team.  To get me through it I am keeping my eye on the prize and focusing on the bright spot ahead - retirement!  I spent a fair bit of time in financial and retirement planning mode.  It was a very good place to be.

 

On payday I was blessed to be able to push my entire check into savings.  I checked on my tax refund status and although I don't have an actual deposit date yet, it is in process with an expectation of around March 1st.  I am super excited to have that land in my bank account so I can push that into savings too.

 

I made two batches of foaming hand soap solution to top up all of our dispensers.  I have one in the kitchen and one in each bathroom.  Making my own instead of buying it or buying new dispensers each time saves me so much money.  I can make my own for just pennies per batch.

 

I washed out a couple of gallon sized Ziploc bags to reuse, packed my lunches to take to work, made my own coffee and coffee drinks, helped myself to tea that was offered at my work, added a bunch of stuff to the recycle bin for curbside pick up and kept our trash and other waste to a minimum.  I am also reassessing what items I can add to the compost bin instead of the recycle bin such as cardboard which promotes earth worm activity.

 

I hope you had a wonderful week last week.  Did you do anything new or extra thrifty last week?

 

No Budget, No Cost Valentine's Day

 

I knew a while ago that I wasn't going to have a Valentine's Day budget for gifts, treats or anything else for that matter.  By thinking ahead a little I was able to pull it off and it didn't cost me a dime.  I was thrilled!

 

I placed the treat bags filled with dipped pretzels on my daughter's plates

I used pretzels I'd purchased just before Christmas and leftover melting chocolate and almond bark left in the pantry from Christmas 2020 to make dipped pretzels.  I dressed them up with sprinkles (purchased on post-Christmas markdown 2020) I already had in my cabinet.  They turned out really nice.  I put them in Valentine themed treat bags I already had in my gift bag organizer.  I had plenty of leftover dipped pretzels to take into work and share with my co-workers.

 

A wonderful brunch with my girls 💗

Using only items I already had on hand I made a wonderful brunch for all three of us the day before.  My oldest was able to join us and that was a special treat all on its own as we hadn't seen her since Christmas.  I made apple muffins, homemade yogurt & frozen berries, fried potatoes and sausage as well as scrambled eggs.  My oldest brought sausage links and orange juice.  We had a fantastic meal and a great visit.

 

We ate so well that day ❤

I had saved a thick cut of prime rib roast from our New Year's Day meal knowing I could use that to make a special meal for me and my youngest.  Leftover cooked macaroni from the freezer was reheated and tossed with butter, pesto and parmesan as a side.  I made up a bit of au jus using up a half packet of mix I had left in the spice cabinet.  I made a delicious cabbage salad using part of a leftover cabbage and a carrot.  I used a rubber scraper and cleaned out the mayonnaise jar which gave me the perfect amount to make a nice dressing.  I added some ranch salad dressing as well as a little bit of my homemade dressing mix to season the mayonnaise.

 

This was delicious!

So was this simple little salad

I used up a ton of odds and ends I had in the freezer and refrigerator to make two wonderful meals and some nice treats too.  No one would have a clue about that either.  It was fantastic and I have to say that because it turned out so well and didn't cost anything extra it made it even more enjoyable.  Now, I just need to pull it off the same way for Easter.  I think I can manage that.

 

My Frugal Coffee Habit

 

Ask anyone, I love❤ my coffee.  If someone were to tell me I couldn't drink my coffee anymore I'd cry buckets.  It is just something I truly enjoy.  I drink two cups first thing in the morning and then I enjoy a Keto coffee mid morning.  That is the one I really enjoy the most.  Usually I make it with a cup and a half of flavored coffee and 2 tablespoons of heavy cream.  I put it in my travel mug and take it to work with me on the weekdays.

 

To make my coffee I have an electric drip coffeemaker my daughter gave me, a cone and a pot, a French press, my grandmother's vintage enamelware percolator and an electric K cup coffeemaker.  Not to mention an electric kettle for boiling water.  I'd say I've got all of my bases adequately covered.

 

Dollar Tree coffee & filters

For regular every day coffee I use espresso grind, something my grandpa taught me, so I end up using less coffee for each pot.  I order my grounds online in bulk or quite often I can buy it at Dollar Tree.  They have six ounce bricks and when I first purchased it I was pleasantly surprised.  I stocked up on quite a bit of it when it was still $1, but at $1.25 it is still a great bargain.

 

I think this one is my favorite

I buy my flavored coffees in twelve ounce bags when I find them on sale and especially when I have digital or paper coupons to go along with that price.  I try to keep it as close to $3 a bag as I can.  I do the same with the K cups in 12 count boxes.  But I find buying those in bulk when on sale is the most economical.  At Christmas time I bought an eight count variety pack of flavored K cups for $16.99 making them only 21¢ each.

 

I bought this on sale at Christmastime

I brew my pots of coffee using only two scoops of coffee for a full pot.  And then I reuse those same grounds, another thing my grandpa taught me, by adding one rounded scoop of coffee and brewing another pot before sending those spent grounds to the compost bin. It works out very nicely and tastes great every time.  Similarly, when I use a K cup I always brew twelve ounces of coffee instead of eight so I get the most coffee from each one.  The flavor is perfect.

 

My grandma's vintage enamelware percolator & my vintage rooster cup ❤

Because I do not drink an entire pot of coffee in one day I take any leftover coffee and pour it into quart sized Mason jars, put a lid on it and store it in my refrigerator.  Then I can pour myself a cup of coffee and reheat it in the microwave.  It reheats perfectly and still tastes fresh brewed.  My grandpa taught me that part too.  A brick of coffee will usually last me about six weeks or more and a bag of the flavored coffee will last me three months.  I typically only use on average two K cups a week so as you can imagine an eighty count box of K cups lasts me a good long time.

 

Keto coffee

I put heavy cream in my one 12 ounce Keto coffee every day and to save money on that item I purchase it in half gallon containers at a restaurant supply store.  It keeps in the refrigerator for about a month and that is perfect because that is about how long it lasts in our house.  It is the one luxury item I will continue to purchase as long as it is possible.  That Keto coffee is my daily treat and I absolutely love it.

 

Another favorite of mine

So there you have it.  My main luxury in life right now is my frugal coffee habit.  What is your luxury item?

 

Budgeting My Way To Retirement - Week 6

 

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Last week was a very productive week for me.  I managed to get a lot of small tasks completed that added up to big progress and that made me very happy.  Sunday morning I went to Albertson's and Fred Meyer to pick up some items on sale.  At home I did some writing, cooking, laundry and my daily chores.

 

Oranges, milk & potatoes on sale plus some markdown salad mix & bread

Work was insanely busy, however I still managed to get things done before and after each day.  I was glad to go through all of my oils, vinegars, herbs and spices, clean the shelves and inside the cabinets and reorganized everything as I put it all away.  I also did the same with my baking supplies in the pantry.  This allowed me to get a better grasp on what I have on hand, what needs to be used up and what I need to consider stocking up on soon.

 

A whole chicken at 50% OFF went right into the freezer

I made simple and delicious meals from things I already had on hand.  I put bone in chicken breasts in the slow cooker to make crack chicken and once the meat was pulled from the bones I added the bones to a bag I keep in the freezer to make stock later on.  I made rice and a big salad to go with the chicken.  I used half a pound of ground beef and a cup of black beans from the freezer along with some pantry items to make taco soup and cornbread muffins.  We had plenty of leftovers to eat throughout the week until Friday when we made chili dogs with buns and smoked sausages that had marked down at the grocery store.  Home canned beanless chili was the perfect topping along with grated cheese and some finely diced onions.  I was very pleased to be able to feed two people really well using only two chicken breasts halves, half a pound of ground beef and three smoked sausages.

 

Flavored coffees that were on sale

I sold something on eBay that I no longer needed.  I washed out some Ziploc bags to reuse.  I made valentine treats using only items I already had on hand.

 

Saturday I went to the feed store to pick up extra chicken feed and some cat food.  They had the best prices too.  In fact, it appeared they had yet to raise their prices over what they've been charging for the past couple of years.

 

I hope you are all doing well.  How did you week go?  I hope it was wonderful.

 

 

Making Our Groceries Go Further - Freezing Meats & Bread

 

With prices on the rise and the shelves looking pretty thin on any given day it makes a lot of sense to implement a few things to make what we have stretch further.  I've already told you how we are making soup once a week, not only as a budget stretcher, but to also use up odds and ends to keep food waste at a minimum.

 

There are still some deals to be had
Scoop them up whenever you find them

I've recently had some good luck at the stores with the sales and markdowns in my last two shopping trips.  Two 3# packages of ground beef, a ten pack of boneless pork chops, a package of smoked sausages as well as four packages of marked down steaks and a package of pork chunks.  It was a really nice and very affordable addition to our meat supply.  I also picked up a few marked down bread products.  Now my goal is to make as many meals as possible out of all of it.

 

Half priced steaks that I used for two separate meals

To begin with, I took the packages of ground beef and cut each one into four equal portions, wrapping them in plastic and then placing the packages all together inside a larger Ziploc bag.  Instead of using a full pound of meat in my recipes I will only use three quarters of a pound, which will make last longer.  I doubt we'll even notice.

 

Next I wrapped up the pork chops in individual meal portions, two each, and placed those packages into a larger Ziploc bag.

 

These were on sale plus I had store coupons for additional money off

Because I am the only one who likes rye bread and I won't eat the entire loaf before it would go bad I divided it into smaller packages as well.  I placed four slices of bread into a freezer bag and did the same thing with a twelve count package of English muffins placing five each into a freezer bag.  I put all of these individual packages into a larger Ziploc bag too.

 

3 pounds of ground beef divided into four parts
We'll just use less meat in our recipes

Double bagging protects the meat & helps prevent freezer burn

Double bagging everything helps keep it fresher and better ward off freezer burn.  It also has the added benefit of helping me keep things better organized.  Once I had it all portioned out, wrapped and into the larger Ziploc bags I got everything into the chest freezer in our garage.  I'm excited about all of the wonderful meals I will be making with all of this food.

 

Bread & english muffins divided up and double bagged for the freezer

What are some things you are doing to combat the rising meat prices right now?