My Tireless Retirement - Week 99

 

Another fabulous week is in the books my friends.  I started off Week 99 with some rainy and snowy weather but the sun peeked out every now and then.  I was able to celebrate Valentine’s Day over the three day weekend of the 17^th through the 19^th  (President’s Day) when my BFF arrived in town for a work trip and some meetings.  As I already shared with you last week we enjoyed a homemade diner meal of hamburgers and French fries and it was so good!  There was also chocolate and wine, but I can tell you that didn’t last long.  We made short work of that!

 

I made a trip to the feed store to pick up another bag of horse pellets for the bunny’s litter pan as well as a 50# bag of scratch grains.  I still had some scratch grains, enough for the remainder of the month and well into March, but I figured that since I was there I’d go ahead, save myself and extra trip and grab that too.  I still have one full 50# bag of layer pellets and some hay for the bunny, but that is getting low.  Next time I have a nice sunny day and the bed of my truck is dry I plan to go and pick up a new bale.

 

One of the fun things I did last week was to do quite a bit of paper crafting.  I made another journal for my other friend that I was hoping to give one to.  I am planning to deliver it to her today.  I just love having opportunities to bless others, especially for the best reason – just because.  Along with the making that journal I also paper crafted a bunch of stuff for my own journals.  I had a blast just sitting and being creative.

 

Ways I Saved $$: 

Gasoline prices at the pump continue to slowing creep up, dip a bit and then creep back up. That alone has definitely kept me quite motivated to ride the bus and walk whenever I can.  I logged my trips on Share The Ride and am on my way to earning a gift card.  It takes a good long while to earn enough points to get one, but I’m riding anyway so I figure the gift card is just an additional bonus for my efforts.  I rode the bus four times and gave my sweet little truck the remainder of the week off. 

After doing some surveys during the holidays I’d collected enough rewards points to earn a $25 Amazon gift card.  I went ahead and redeemed it to use on my first Amazon order of 2024 and the first order I have placed with them since October.  I’m really being intentional about my spending this year.  Be sure to check back on Friday to find out what I got and how I used it.  I’m excited to share my latest low spend 2024 project with you. 

In my endeavor to use up my overstock of Bath & Body Works shower gel I made foaming hand soap solution and refilled all of the soap dispensers I have in my house.  I collected some onion scraps in the freezer to save for the next batch of broth I will make.  We had no food waste last week.

 

Things I Used Up: 

We used up the low carb hot dog buns I had taken out of the freezer the week before, used up the bag of carrots I bought in January (I still have the new bag of carrots I bought this month), finished off a jar of minced garlic (added the jar to the recycling bin) and finished a container of sour cream as well as a brick of cheese that I had purchased during the holidays.  I also used up a bunch of odds and ends of items I had squirreled away in the freezer to prepare meals this past week.

 

Meals I Prepared: 

The two servings of pork verde enchiladas that I’d put away in the freezer earlier this month made their appearance on my menu plan last week.  I made fresh green salads to go with those meals. 

In my mini slow cooker I made a delicious beef barley soup that I have wanted to make for quite some time.  I used a can of roast beef from my LTFS with a partial bag of frozen vegetables and some leftover beef broth I had frozen after the holidays.  I also had low carb dinner rolls in the freezer that I thawed and served with the soup.  With the cold and wet weather we had it was very comforting.  Two servings of soup went into the freezer to enjoy later. 

In the pantry I had a pint jar of home canned ground turkey and one of black beans so I combined them with some taco seasoning to make a delicious taco filling.  I used corn tortillas I had leftover from making the enchiladas, some grated Monterey Jack cheese and shredded lettuce to dress them up.  Half of the taco filling went into the freezer and I plan to use that in a meal sometime next month.

 

I emptied four pint jars of my home canned food last week and after they were all washed up I added them to my stash of empty jars I keep in my garage.  So far this year I have emptied eighteen pint jars and six half pints.  I’m eager to get to work and do some more canning soon and get those jars refilled.

 

How was your week?  Did you do anything fun?  What wonderful meals did you prepare?  Have a great week!

 

FYI - My retirement week runs from Friday through Thursday.