This Month's Grocery Spending - March 2022

 

I did a little bit of shopping at the beginning of the month, worked on my prepper pantry mid month and then finished up by doing another shop for fresh produce and to fill in a few gaps at the end of the month.  Those few shopping trips were quite productive.  I shopped the sales and made a trip to Grocery Outlet (mostly for prepper pantry items).  We also took advantage of FREE offers from Albertsons, which my daughter picked up and netted us a pound of butter and a 10#bag of potatoes.  On another day I netted FREE fish fillets and a head of lettuce with a customer appreciation $5 OFF a $5 purchase digital coupon.

 

I shopped all sales and special offers plus a markdown!
The fish fillets & lettuce were FREE!

Fresh produce & dairy with a few pantry little items

Once again I was thrilled to come in under my $100 a month budget.  Especially right now with the prices soaring.  But if you watch those sales flyers and stock up on the loss leaders and really good buys as well as check those markdown bins and clearance items you will be amazed at how much you can still get and stay within your budget. 

Markdown produce for $1 each & FREE salad dressing

I spent a bit more this month than the two previous months because I splurged on a corned beef for St Patrick's Day, which we enjoyed thoroughly.  Nonetheless, still way under budget so I can't complain about that.

 

Budgeting My Way To Retirement - Week 12

 

I was in a mood to bake stuff Sunday morning.  I made a loaf of wheat bread for a friend, biscuits for Sunday brunch and a depression era chocolate cake (recipe to be posted soon) for us to enjoy throughout the week ahead.  I forgot how good that simple little cake is and had to wonder why it had been so long since I'd made it.

 

I sold an 18 count carton of eggs to a friend for $4.  That money goes toward their feed and helps to make them more self sufficient.  In the summer I can often sell enough eggs to cover most of their feed.

 

I made up a batch of foaming hand soap solution and refilled our dispenser at the kitchen sink as well as the one in our downstairs bathroom.  By making it myself it costs me just pennies rather than replacing the dispenser or even purchasing the refill kits at the store.  Plus is keeps a lot of plastic dispensers out of the landfill when you reuse them.

 

Our kitchen sink had started leaking around the drain basket.  I removed it, clean up the old putty, cut a new paper gasket to replace the old one out of a box from our recycle bin, put on some new putty, replace the rubber gasket with the new paper gasket and put it all back together.  No more leak!  And because everything I used, including the plumber's putty, I already had on hand in our garage it was a FREE repair too!

 

Our weather has warmed up a fair amount so I took the chance the last half of the week and we turned off the heat.  I'm hopeful it can stay off and we can have a much lower electric bill for a while.  The warmer spring weather has sure been nice.

 

I hope all is well in your world.  What thrifty things did you do last week?

 

Curbing Our Food Waste

 

I've been doing a lot of different things in preparation of my big day.  Since December we've been experimenting quite a bit with ways to save and be more frugal.  We've changed up the way we cook, eat and use our leftover food with a huge emphasis on NO food waste and so far it has been pretty amazing.  The easiest thing of course is to eat your leftovers and make sure things are used up before they go bad.  But taking it a step further, before we toss something out, we consider how else we might use it first.  This has led me to keeping a gallon sized Ziploc bag (previously used and washed out) in our freezer to collect vegetable scraps for making stock.  Meat bones are saved for that purpose as well.

 

I've been doing a fair bit of canning over the months in an effort to add another element of long term food storage.  Recently I browned up six pounds of ground beef which I drained before canning in beef broth made from bones and veggie scraps I had in the freezer.  The drained fat was placed in the refrigerator overnight and in the morning, once it had solidified I popped it out of the bowl and discovered I also had a cup of beef juices underneath.  I placed the fat into a bag (another Ziploc I had washed out to reuse) and plan to melt it and mix it with scratch grains to make suet cakes for our chickens.  The remaining juices were added to some gravy I made which not only allowed us a larger batch, but added some great flavor as well.

 

When we didn’t finish the milk before it went sour I used it to make stroganoff and in a batch of biscuits in place of buttermilk.  We also stretch our milk by buying whole milk and diluting it 50/50 with filtered water. Sour milk is often called for in a lot of recipes in vintage cookbooks.  There is nothing wrong with sour milk, it just doesn't taste very good to drink or put on your cereal.  But for baking and cooking it is wonderful.  I'm only buying our milk when it goes on sale and in the meantime if we need some and don't have any fresh I have a pint jar of powdered milk in the pantry to use until I buy more at the store.

 

Again, before anything gets tossed I make sure first if I can use it some other way first.  After making beef stock all of the skimmed fat and spent veggies went out to he chickens.  The bits of meat went into soup and the only thing that ended up in the trash was the bones.  I froze some of the broth, made a batch of soup and the rest was canned and added to the long term storage pantry.  I have also made chicken broth from a roast chicken carcass and saved veggie scraps as well as ham broth from the bone and saved drippings from the Christmas ham.  I froze all of those broths in saved cottage cheese and sour cream containers.  Some of that delicious ham broth was used to make a batch of delicious split pea soup along with the ham bits that came off of the bone.  It was so good.

 

Bacon has been hit hard by inflation and the prices have sky rocketed.  Fortunately I was able to stock up when it went on sale.  Although we have plenty we want to make it last so we aren't going crazy with the bacon.  I cook less of it for a meal now, but surprisingly we aren't missing those extra slices.  We're just happy to have it.  And of course all that wonderful rendered bacon fat is saved and used for cooking.  I keep a pint jar in the refrigerator and each time I cook bacon I had the drippings to it.  When I cook meat, eggs, make country gravy or sauté vegetables I use that fat which adds so much wonderful flavor to the recipe.  Once again, we don't feel at all deprived.

 

My girl Edith

Stale bread can be used for toast, croutons or made into bread crumbs.  My chickens love it too and consider it a treat.  Since we've been extra careful lately they don't get much bread these days, but I still make a point to share with them a little bit.  Tortilla chip crumbs in the bottom of the bag are saved in a jar and used as a topping for taco salads.

 

Another thing I am doing is composting.  Since I've been doing so well reusing the veggie scraps my compost bucket typically only collects coffee grounds and filters, tea bags, and crushed up egg shells.  I will talk more about composting in a future blog because I think it is super important that we do this, especially now.  I'd also love to hear some of the ways you control food waste.

 

 

Coats, Hats & Gloves

 

Where I live in Idaho we enjoy all four seasons - Spring, Summer, Winter and Fall.  I think it is important that each of us invests in a good solid winter coat that will accommodate your particular climate as well as a hat and a good pair of gloves to go along with.  I recently purchased a new winter coat for myself after my old one wore out.  It is well insulated with a hood and is machine washable.  I have a nice pair of gloves as well as a knit hat and an ear warmer, both of which I made myself.  Knit scarves or neck warmers are nice additions too.

 

For milder temperatures I have a couple of lighter weight fleece options, a hoodie and a zip up jacket, which I can layer with each other, depending on the weather.  I wear a sweater over my tops practically every single day.  In the winter time they are nice to keep me warm as well as inside air conditioned buildings during the summer.  I personally feel the A/C in most places is set far too cool to be comfortable so I always take a sweater along, especially in the grocery stores.

 

Thrift stores are a great option for coats & jackets

When my children were growing up I made sure they always had a good coat, a sweater and a fleece jacket, all of which could be layered if the weather was extreme.  Lots of the inexpensive knit gloves you can buy for around a dollar as kids tend to lose them and a handmade knit hat and scarf.  Now that they are adults they both see the value in investing in a good coat and have done a great job choosing one that will keep them warm and is appropriate to wear for pretty much any occasion.

 

This coat would've been out of reach for me to purchase had it not been on clearance

I try to purchase the best quality items I can afford.  I found my new winter coat on clearance for 75% OFF making it much more affordable so I was able to get a really good quality coat for my money.   I try to do the same with my lighter weight jackets and sweaters.  Thrift stores are another great option.  I make sure to check them over really well for any issues, but I've found a lot of nice coats, jackets and sweaters secondhand. Careful laundering as well as taking care of any mending as needed helps them stay nice and last longer too.

 

Budgeting My Way To Retirement - Week 11

 

Another whirlwind week sped right on by.  It was busy and hectic and required a boatload of overtime.  I was also pretty darn tired by the time Friday arrived.  Needless to say I was in bed pretty early that night, but I did manage to run some errands right after work so I could have my weekend free and clear.

 

I was super excited about these!

I stopped in and dropped off my eyeglass at the doctor's office to get new lenses put in. Them I treated myself to a brand new pair of summer sandals.  I love my Clarks, but I've never had a pair of their sandals.  I had rewards points and a coupon for DSW so since I was in the neighborhood I stopped in to see what I could find.  I was thrilled to only pay $20 for my sandals once the rewards and coupon came off the regular price of $39.99.  On the way home I stopped in at Fred Meyer to stock up on cheese, cottage cheese and sour cream that was on sale.

 

Spiffy clean & I know what we have

Saturday was spent catching up on laundry and tidying up the house.  I cleaned and reorganized the fridge and freezer in the kitchen.  I washed out several gallon size Ziploc bags to reuse, added more tea bags, coffee bags and crushed up egg shells to my compost bin, shared some stale bread with the chickens and kept our food waste to pretty much nil.

 

Reuben sandwich

I did manage to make corned beef and cabbage for our supper on St. Patrick's Day, much to my daughter's delight.  We love a good corned beef dinner around here plus all the reuben sandwiches to follow.  A little corned beef hash is nice too.

 

I made this amazing salad for my dinner Saturday

I hope you all had a wonderful week.  Did any of you do a corned beef for St. Patrick's day?

 

 

Gratitude = Contentment

 

There is a direct correlation between being grateful and being content with what you have.  I am exceedingly grateful on a daily basis for the things that I have, the things that I can do and all of the endless possibilities that lie ahead of me.  I will thank the Lord each day for all that He has blessed me with and because of that I am content in life and content in all that surrounds me.

 

I know that I am blessed, I have no doubt.  For one thing, I am here.  I am whole and healthy and stable.  While some may think my home is small and plain, I love my home.  It is warm and cozy and it is my safe haven.  I like to work on my home and take care of it.  I love, love, love to be here.

 

I have a simple life and in that simplicity I find great contentment.  Because of that I continue to work on ways to keep that simplicity and for it to evolve into greater things that bring me joy.  By dialing back on life in general and embracing simplicity I've been blessed with more contentment than I ever thought would be possible.  And I'm extremely grateful for that.  It is a repeating circle within my life.

 

Making Our Groceries Go Further - Eating Less

 

One of the ways we manage on a very low monthly grocery budget is that we are not huge eaters.  I think we can all agree that in America it is really easy to overeat.  Supersize portions have been the "normal" way of eating for a long time and most Americans are overweight and over half of us are in or near the obese category.  Put quite simply, we eat too much.

 

I've never been a breakfast eater, which we've been told  for eons is "the most important meal of the day".  My mother used to get so frustrated with me because of this too, but I just wasn't ready for food first thing and I'm still very much that way.  So are my children.  We do not eat food in the morning.  Quite often we don't each until lunchtime.  Turns out we've been intermittent fasting long before I even knew that was a thing.

 

A Sunday brunch

I always start my day with black coffee and then about mid morning around 10:00 a.m. I will fix myself a large flavored coffee with cream in it, no sugar or sweetener.  By noon I'm hungry and ready to eat and so are my kiddos so we'll usually have lunch, which is typically leftovers from the night before or I'll make a breakfast or we'll have sandwiches.  Then later in the evening we'll have dinner.  I'm only preparing two meals a day and that is plenty of food for us.

 

Our meals tend to be rather simple

Along those lines we eat a regular serving size and seldom go back for seconds.  Serving sizes have grown a lot over time, but if you actually look at what a true serving size of meat or pasta is you'd probably be surprised to find it is much smaller than what is typically consumed.  We stick to true serving sizes and bulk up on vegetables.  I make a lot of fresh salads and we eat a lot of vegetables.  When I do have seconds it is usually the salad I want more of.

 

By limiting our portion sizes on meats and starches, the two most expensive items on the grocery list we not only save money, but it helps us maintain a healthy weight as well.  By focusing on more veggies we are adding better nutrition to our diet and feel satisfied after a meal. Overall, we eat less often and we eat less food.

 

Budgeting My Way To Retirement - Week 10

 

It boggles the mind that we have just completed ten weeks of 2022.  I'll be honest, I have mixed emotions about it so far.  On a personal level I'm feeling pretty darn good, but on the grander scale, the state of the world has me more than a little concerned.  This past week I found myself struggling a bit with the weight of things.  The reality however is that there is very little I can do about most of it so worrying and fretting isn't going to do anyone any good, especially me.  So, I decided not to get too worked up over it and focus on the things I can do.  I know that I am doing my best and doing all I can right now and that is all any of us really can do.  And I pray.  A lot.

 

After my big shopping excursion with my two beautiful daughters the week prior I spent the past week being super thrifty.  I just went to work and came home each day and tried not to look at the signs at the gas stations on my way to and from.  I'm not sure what I was doing in my sleep at night, but while I was sleeping gas prices crept up quite a bit several times.  Anyone else have that same problem?  Needless to say, I won't be doing a whole lot of extra driving.  It's nuts!

 

I made some good meals and we made sure to eat our leftovers and not waste any food.  We've been extra mindful not to waste anything for that matter.  I washed out three Ziploc bags to reuse and cut open a tube of moisturizing cream to make sure I scoop out every last bit before I toss it.  I am composting tea bags, coffee grounds and egg shells right now and collecting veggie scraps in a bag in our freezer for our next batch of stock.

 

No signs of life yet, but I'm hopeful

I used some toilet paper rolls I've been collecting to make seed pots and then filled them with potting soil.  I started tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins and cantaloupe seeds.  As I acquire more rolls I'll start more seeds in the coming month.  In the meantime I'm making garden plans.

 

Delicious leftovers

I hope everyone had a great week.  Let me know what you've been up to.

 

Shoes, Socks & Underwear

 

There are a lot of things to consider when prepping.  My first concerns were to cover my basic needs - food, water and shelter.  Once I was comfortable with what I had done in that area I moved on to household items, first aid and medications.  Then pet food.  Next on my list was to prep shoes, socks and underwear.  These three items fall into the category of things I prefer to purchase new as opposed to second hand.  They also fall into the category of difficult to make so most of us will need to purchase them.  Where you live and your particular climate will determine exactly what you will need.

I had picked these up in January on clearance, with a coupon + rewards $$

I live in an area with four distinct season of winter, spring, summer and fall.  We get snow and rain and very cold winters as well as hot and dry summers so I wanted to make sure I had adequate footwear for all of the seasons.  First on my list is a pair of water resistant insulated winter boots to navigate the cold wet snowy winters.  Since I already had a good pair of boots that was an easy one to cross of my list.  Next was an extra pair of daily wear shoes.  I purchased a pair of good quality sneakers, on clearance and with coupons so it was affordable.  The last item on my list is to invest in a pair of good quality sandals which I am planning to get next week.  I have a pair in mind and a $10 store coupon plus a $5 store reward to use on that purchase. 

We buy a lot of our shoes at DSW and we are signed up with their store rewards program

With kids shoes, a lot of times they'll 0utgrow something before they outwear it so I've often found good shoes at thrift stores, especially winter boots or dress shoes that aren't worn as often.  I always bought them new good quality sneakers for daily wear as they got older and started school.  As long as you are choosy with thrifted footwear you can find some good stuff, but if you prefer to purchase new items like I do check the clearance racks and shop at stores that offer coupons or rewards points for extra savings.

 

Our latest acquisition was 10 pair of socks for $6.99 - I split this with my daughter

Good socks are another thing I want to make sure I have.  Periodically I will inspect my socks for holes or wear and replace them.  I decided to add some extra pairs in various styles including warm fuzzy socks for cold weather days.  I do the same with underwear and replace them as needed with a few extra pairs too.  Fortunately I do know how to make underwear and I have the materials on hand should I choose to make some. Outlet stores, clearance racks and sales are the way to go to save when purchasing socks and underwear.

 

I also added two new bras to my underwear drawer - 50% OFF the pink price tags!

I have always been one to think ahead and have a planned replacement routine in place for these items, not just for myself but my children as well.  I used to buy ahead with larger sizes for them to grow into and pass gently worn items from the oldest to the youngest whenever possible.  Right now I think it is a really good idea to make sure we have a good supply of these items on hand.

 

 

What I Did With All That Meat

 

After a recent shopping trip I came home with some bacon, beef and chicken to put up for our prepper pantry.  I wanted to add more home pressure canned meats to our long term storage.  I have commercially canned meat products, but I really wanted some home canned meats because I know exactly what is in that jar and I can put more for far less money than what store bought canned meats are going for.  I think having both options is a good thing.

 

On day one I cut up all of roasts and chicken breasts into large chunks.  I put the bones and beef trimmings into a large pot to brown.  Then I divided them up into my slow cookers along with a bag of veggies scraps I've been collecting in my freezer for a while to make beef stock.  I deglazed the pan with some water so I'd have all that wonderful flavor in that stock.  After adding some more veggies and water I let those slow cookers simmer all day long.  Our house smelled really good.  The bacon and steaks went right into the freezer.

 

I pan seared the bones & trimmings to enhance flavor

Simmering beef broth

The next day I skimmed the fat from the strained beef stock and pulled frozen chicken broth from the freezer and a container from the pantry too.  The parts I had strained off and the fat from the beef broth went out to the chickens so nothing was wasted.  I ended up with over a gallon of delicious flavorful broth.

 

A busy kitchen

Sterile jars waiting their turn

The meat chunks were packed into jars and topped up with broth, then into the pressure canner to process and seal.  The leftover broth went into jars too and was pressured canned as well.  By the time I was done we ended up with eight jars of roast beef and ten jars of chicken breast plus nine jars of broth - one chicken and the rest beef.

 

Roast beef packed in broth

Chicken packed in broth

Each pint jar is enough meat for four meals so one jar will feed four people one meal, two people two meals or one person four meals.  I did the math and compared to what I spend for a 12oz can of commercially processed roast beef and my own home canned 16oz jar of roast beef I saved 10¢ per ounce, but most importantly I was able to select the quality of the meat I processed and control the ingredients I put into it.  Plus, I ended up with all of that broth.  The home canned chicken was an even better deal at 7¢ an ounce compared to 19¢ an ounce for the store bought cans.

 

I used the leftover money after purchasing the meat to get a new case of jars

Beef broth

I feel it was well worth my time and trouble even considering the cost of lids (recently purchased for $1.99 a box) and electricity used to process my jars.  And there was a lot of prep work and clean up.  It did take a lot of my time because I devoted the better part of an entire weekend to this job, including the shopping trip.  But I do very much enjoy home canning and preserving so for me there was a lot of entertainment value as well.  I am very pleased with my latest home canning venture and I'm looking forward to my next one.  Now to decide, what should I do next?