My Tireless Retirement - Week 43 - A Low Spend January

 

We have just completed the first four weeks of 2023 with only a couple more days left of this month.  I think that my endeavor to take things one day at a time and really just focus on the day at hand while keeping an eye aimed at the future is making a huge difference in how I feel, both physically and emotionally.  I'm enjoying my life and that is how it is supposed to be.  Do I feel like time is rushing by?  Somewhat, but I do think I'm getting enough done each day to feel productive but not so much that I feel like I'm constantly running a marathon.  I'm allowing for plenty of downtime and time for reflection each day.  Still, I'm always amazed when Friday shows up.

 

I made soup using all items I already had on hand

Jars of split pea soup

When I set out on my pantry and freezer challenge I didn't think I'd need the better part of a month just to clear things out of the kitchen freezer.  I'm not complaining, I'm just surprised at how much I had squirreled away in there.  It has been nice to have a break from cooking because I was able to focus some significant time to other things and I did some canning.  So far this month I have canned a huge pork roast I had in my chest freezer out in the garage as well as a five pound package of Italian sausage.  I canned some of my dry beans I had in the pantry as well as well as a large pot of split pea soup in order to have some "convenience" food on the shelf when I do start cooking again.  Looking forward I would like to make up some sloppy joe filling and some more soups to add to the pantry.  The only problem is I'm about out of jars.  What was really nice is that none of the items I canned cost me anything extra.  All of the food I used as well as the canning supplies I already had on hand.

 

I got this cheese on sale and used a gift card to pay for it

I sent this pan of lasagna home with my friend

About the only thing I actually cooked this month was a pan of lasagna I made and I invited a friend over for supper.  We had been talking on the phone and both agreed it was something neither of us had eaten in a very long time so I made sure we took care of that.  I was able to put four servings of the lasagna away in the freezer (more squirreling) to eat later, I had three meals of it the week I made it and I sent an entire foil pan of lasagna home with my friend.  I only used one box of lasagna noodles, a pint jar of home canned Italian sausage, two pints of home canned pasta sauce, a container of markdown cottage cheese and a package of mozzarella I got on sale and it fed two people for several days!  That was a bargain.

 

The pea soup was delicious

This past week I finished up some of the split pea soup I had left over after canning along with a piece of cornbread I had in the freezer.  I made, sort of, some salisbury steak with hamburger patties and beef broth I had in the freezer and served it with leftover rice I had in the refrigerator from the week before.  I have found that if I cook up one cup of rice it will usually give me six servings.  I think I have a lifetime supply of rice in my house.

 

I've decided I don't like lentils, in any form

I thawed some lentil soup I had in the freezer and had that with a piece of leftover garlic bread I had in the refrigerator.  I fixed bacon and a fried egg and had that with some pumpkin pancakes I had in the freezer a few times for brunch.  I still have more pancakes in the freezer to work on.  I also removed two of the servings of lasagna I'd put in the freezer a couple weeks ago and I roasted some veggies I had in the freezer with sliced carrots from the fridge as my main side dish.  They were delicious.  Another week of basically heat and eat meals, but I think I'm going to start really cooking again this week because my kitchen freezer is pretty much cleared out.  The pantry and freezer challenge continues!

 

Freezer pumpkin pancakes, bacon and a farm fresh egg

Salisbury steak & gravy, a little bit of rice and some roasted veggies

I want to make sure I'm mindfully spending on things I need this year so I am doing a low spend year.  So far I think I have done rather well.  As you know already from Friday's post I didn't spend very much on groceries and nothing on nonfood items so I'm really pleased with that.  I do have a monthly Pocket Money allowance of $25 that I can spend on whatever I want with no justification or explanation.  I spent $8 on some wine, $1.25 on a package of stickers and $14 for a flat of quart jars.  Did I need any of these things?  Nope, they are totally want items.  I wanted to drink a little wine, have some stickers for my journal and use the quart jars to make my pantry a little more organized and pretty.

 

My freezer is getting bald spots, but I still have some work to do here

I decluttered all of these plastic food containers last week

I have made adjustments to my electricity use.  I knocked the thermostat down a couple degrees and dressed warmer and I'm mindful of leaving lights on and only plugging in what I'm actually using.  I was pleased to see a decrease in my bill this month over last so my efforts have paid off.  The adjustment to the heat hasn't made me uncomfortable in anyway either so I'll leave it as is for now.  Once spring weather starts I'll be making more adjustments at that time.

 

I started a new bag for donations and it is already half full!

Roasting vegetables in my toaster oven

I hope you've been doing well and staying healthy.  Have any of you been doing things to save on your utility bills?  How about groceries?  Is it cold where you live?