This Month's 2025 Grocery Spending - April

 

The focus this month was to continue eating from my kitchen freezer to use up anything remaining from 2023 as well as to use up what was currently in the refrigerator and pantry.  I made it all the way to the end of March and can now officially call this pantry challenge complete.  All food in the freezer and deep freezer is now 2024 or newer and the items in the fridge and pantry all fresh and current with very little food waste so far this year.  Yes!

 

On sale, digital coupons & markdowns!

More sales & digital coupon savings

Because I was using up things I already had on hand I was able to focus more of my grocery budget on stocking the freezer with good quality meats at a very good price as well as some more dairy and toward the latter half of the month a good bit of fresh produce and some frozen broccoli florets.

 

Stock up LTFS items

Digital coupons & markdowns saved me a bundle

I am vacuum sealing everything I buy
now before it goes into the deep freezer

Most of the meat I purchased this month was on markdown and included steaks as well as preformed one-third pound beef patties (my version of fast food) and a ten count pack of pork loin chops.  Pork breakfast sausage was on sale for $2.99 a package so I picked up four of those packages and because they were already vacuum packed I was able to add them right into my deep freezer.

 

$2.99 each for these packages of sausages

Score!

A couple weeks later a sale Italian sausages at $2.99 a package allowed me to restock the deep freezer as I had no Italian sausage in there.  I enjoyed some of the steak and burger patties, but then I repackaged all of the remaining meat into meal sized portions and vacuum sealed it before tucking it away in my deep freezer.  My beef shelf is completely full, the pork shelf is full and has overflowed a bit onto the chicken shelf.

 

I decided to vacuum seal four sausages in each package
before placing them in the deep freezer makes them $2.40 each

Two pork chops per vacuum sealed 
package making them only $1.00 per package!

I added dairy items – cream, sour cream, cottage cheese, two pounds of butter, yogurt and milk, all of which was on sale or I had digital coupon offers making all of these things much more affordable.  The butter was vacuum sealed and added to the deep freezer and I am hoping to add more butter in there as the year progresses.

 

Delicious & nutritious meals!

Fresh produce was purchased on sale or with a digital coupon offer.  After using up every last bit of what I already had on hand I was able to restock the crisper drawer in my refrigerator the last half of the month.  With asparagus in season I was able to purchase plenty to blanch and vacuum seal.  I added three one pound packages of asparagus spears to the deep freezer for only 99¢ each.  Doing it myself saved me $3 per package over buying it in the frozen vegetable section at the grocery store.

 

Another item checked off my restock list

My nonfood purchases consisted of two tubes of toothpaste bought on sale for 99¢ each, a bonus size bottle of shampoo and a bonus size bottle of conditioner at $1.25 each.  These were items on my LTFS nonfood restock list and I was happy to be able to check them off of my list.  Total spent on nonfood items rang in at a mere $4.48.

 

As you may recall, last month I went way over budget, but since I had extra cash on hand it didn’t adversely affect me overall.  I was blessed with a nice tax refund so I used part of it to get a jumpstart on my restock list and take advantage of some really good sales.  Nonetheless, I do want to get back on budget so I had to be a little bit creative this month with my budget.

 

Last month two lovely people 😍 were kind enough to buy me coffee last month and I wanted to honor that and make very wise use of their gifts so I used those proceeds to cover the cost of some of my grocery purchases.  Adding that to my monthly budget helped me to shave quite a bit off of that deficit I began the month with.  My food purchases this month came to $66.05 leaving me with a rollover deficit of only $10.84 which means I’ll be starting the month of May with a budget of $89.16.  I think I’ll be right back on track moving forward, especially as my deep freezer is pretty full and my stock up list is now much shorter.  How did you do this month?  Any great bargains too good to pass up?

 

 

Thrifty Meals – More Breakfasts!

 

There are so many wonderful and economical breakfast ideas that I just couldn’t fit them into one post so I figured I’d better do another one.

 

Breakfast Breads – when my children were young and I was a hard working mama breakfast breads were not only delicious and nutritious, but also very handy because you could cut a slice and put it in a Ziploc bag and head out the door.  They are very portable.  I would always make mine using half all purpose and half whole wheat flour to make zucchini, pumpkin or banana bread.  From there you can add nuts, dried fruits or switch out the zucchini or bananas for finely diced or shredded apples or some applesauce.  Vary the spices, add chocolate chips (my kiddo’s favorite), add raisins, dried cranberries, dried blueberries, chopped dried apricots.  Pair a slice of this bread with a scrambled egg, maybe a slice of ham or bacon.

 

Mini Quiches or Egg Cups – again very portable if that is something you need.  Our favorite is a zucchini egg cup that uses grated zucchini, carrot, onion, cheese and bacon bits.  Another favorite is to make them with browned sausage and a bit of grated cheese.  They are easy to pull together and the options for flavors are endless.

 

Breakfast Casseroles – these are a great way to utilize leftovers, extra potatoes and even stale bread.  At this time in my life I don’t need to make these on a regular basis so I don’t, but if I was feeding a crowd this could easily be my go-to.  French toast casserole uses up cubed stale bread, a few eggs and some milk with added cinnamon and vanilla.  Baked to puffy perfection you simply cut it into squares and serve with warm pancake syrup.  Another is to shred or dice up some potatoes, onion and leftover ham.  Pour three well beaten eggs mixed with a cup of milk and seasoned with a salt and pepper over the top.  Bake until set and serve.  Again, you have endless possibilities with these.

 

Breakfast Burritos – this is one of my favorites.  I scramble a couple eggs with either diced bacon, ham or some ground and browned sausage plus some diced onions and bell pepper.  Divide amongst three warm flour tortillas and top with cheese and salsa or hot sauce.  Roll them up and you are good to go.  Another portable option as well.  I like to make these when I’m out camping.

 

Omelets – simple beat up an egg or two and pour into a well greased skillet over medium heat until the egg is set.  Add whatever you happen to have on hand – leftover sausage, ham or bacon, vegetables and some grated cheese.  Fold in half and place on a plate.  Let it sit for a bit to allow the cheese to melt.  These are also very good for dinner.  I find by making a three egg omelet and cutting it in half it is the perfect amount for two people.  Serve with a buttered slice of homemade toasted bread.  So good!

 

Fruit Salad – when we had extra fresh fruit to use up I’d cut it all into bite size pieces, slice a banana and then toss it with some homemade yogurt.  By adding some thawed frozen blueberries the yogurt takes on a pretty lavender color or frozen raspberries will make it pink.  Sometimes I’d add a can of drained mandarin oranges or sliced peaches cut up in smaller pieces.  Fruit cocktail is also nice.  Serve on the side or with muffins, scones or a slice of breakfast bread as the main dish.  Perfect!

 

Kuchen or Coffeecake – I will often make one of these if I have company.  There are so many wonderful ways to prepare a kuchen which I will make to use up extra jars of homemade jam or apple butter.  Coffeecake with a crumb topping is a timeless wonder.  On its own or served with scrambled eggs it is hard to beat.

 

I’m sure I could come up with more ideas for thrifty breakfast ideas but this will have to do for now.  Do you make any of these?  What is your favorite breakfast?  How about breakfast for dinner?  Yum!

 

 

My Tireless Retirement – Week 160

 

It has just been so busy around here that I feel like I am racing through the year and now we are about to head into May.  May!  Does anyone else feeling like this year is going by way too fast?

 

The past few months I’ve had a boatload of houseguests and other company.  With all that fun and frivolity comes extra housekeeping, extra laundry, extra cooking, higher heat and water bills, etc., etc., etc.  I’m not complaining at all, because I’ve been having a really good time, and my friends have been spoiling me rotten with dinners out, movie tickets to the theater and contributions of wine, beer and some grocery items, which I have really, really appreciated.  Because of all of that I have barely touched my Fun & Leisure budget so I’ve had that extra money to cover any increases in utilities and groceries.  It all evens out.

 

Now that I am no longer battling the flu, or the aftermath, I felt it was time to get into the kitchen and make a batch of homemade yogurt.  I nearly had heart failure at the grocery store when I saw the price of the all natural yogurt I used to purchase for $3.99 a quart is now holding steady at $5.99.  Before I ran out of the store bought I reserved half a cup to use as my starter and using whole milk I already had on hand whipped up two quarts for the fridge for only $4.59 (the price of the milk) making each quart only $2.30 each plus I also have an extra half pint leftover yogurt to use as the starter for my next batch.  I even reused a couple of the yogurt containers too.  Yes, I’d say it really does pay to make your own yogurt.  Plus!  I get to control what goes into it.  To be honest, I think is tastes better than what they sell at the store too.

 

Saturday I made a beautiful Keto lemon blueberry cheesecake (recipe to come) for our dessert on Easter.  While the cheesecake chilled in the refrigerator I got busy and put together a couple of goodie bags to give to my loved ones on Sunday morning.

 

We had a slow start to our Easter Sunday with coffee and conversation.  I got up early ahead of everyone else and made a double batch of cranberry almond granola.  It was still warm and we enjoyed it on top of the homemade yogurt I had made for a quick light brunch.  Our Easter dinner was nice and simple – grilled salmon, baked potatoes with sour cream and sautéed green beans.  The cheesecake I made for dessert the day before was delicious and went perfectly with our dinner.  Along with some chocolates earlier in the day and a glass of wine too.  It was a great meal and a great day.

 

The remainder of the week was pretty much me just going to work and puttering around the house getting things done.  I managed to get the fruit trees sprayed which I was very happy to cross off the “to-do” list.  I also pulled A LOT of weeds so the chickens were eating really well.  Things are starting to look pretty good around here.

 

I hope everyone enjoyed a lovely Easter.  How was your week?  Are you able to be outside enjoying the sunshine?  How about yard work?

 

Carefully Reinvesting In Retirement

 

Although I am retired and no longer bringing in a full time income that doesn’t mean I don’t want my money to work as hard for me as I worked to get it in the first place.  One of the tools I used to grow my retirement accounts it to safely reinvest a large portion of my money in a high interest yielding IRA CD that guarantees me a 5% interest return over a twelve month period.  At the end of the twelve months I take out the profit I have made and put it into my savings account.  Then I roll the principle amount back into another high yield IRA CD and let it go another year.

 

There is no need to just let it sit there while I deplete my funds

Since I retired I have yet to touch any of the proceeds from my investments.  Instead I allow them to sit in this savings account, which is completely separate of my regular checking and savings accounts.  In fact it is at a completely different financial institution, also a credit union because I choose to not keep all my eggs in one basket.  Right now I consider this savings account as another emergency fund, not to be touched unless absolutely necessary.

 

Right now no penalty short term IRA CDs have the highest rate of return

At the end of the year I will look at my overall earnings from my part time job and then move some of my retirement funds I have in an IRA over to that same savings account and only enough that I won’t have to pay any taxes on that particular distribution plus my CD earnings.  I will continue to carefully siphon off just enough each year to keep it under the annual amount I can make before I owe any taxes.  It is a process, but in the end it will definitely be worth it.

 

I can easily grow what I already have without risk

Once that savings account reaches a certain amount I may, as long as I keep working my part time job, go ahead and reinvest it into another high yield IRA CD and allow my earnings to earn even more.  It will also give me a tax break when I do file my taxes that particular year.  Or, it might be used to put a new roof on my house.  Or something else, it is hard to say, but at least I have it and I have choices as far as how I want to use it.  Even better, I can continue to grow my hard earned cash, expand my wealth and have greater peace of mind as I age and head on into the future.  Retirement doesn’t mean we have to stop earning.

 

Giving The Subaru A Spa Treatment!

 

Now that the weather is warming up I am turning my attention more toward outside projects and chores.  One of the projects I’ve been working on, once again, is the interior of the Subaru.  When I acquired this car back in January I was impressed with how much of the regular maintenance and all of the upgrades and repairs had been documented and kept up on.  The car had new tires and brakes done as well as oil changes and a few other things.  While the mechanical stuff was well attended, it was pretty obvious that the previous owner wasn’t too concerned with keeping a clean car.  When I bought it they did go ahead and vacuum it out and run it through the carwash, however it seriously needed a deep clean.  Inside, the care smelled really bad.  A mixture of horse barn and something else combine with a vanilla tree deodorizer, which quite frankly I don’t think was really helping matters all that much.

 

All of the seats looked like this

Once the weather started to warm up, and especially if the car was parked in the sun, the odor inside of that baby was much worse than when it was freezing cold outside.  It was a nice blast of some kind of special fragrance when I opened up the door.  I was chomping at the bit (pun intended) to get in there with my carpet shampooer and start cleaning seats and the carpet to finally eliminate those horsey smells.

 

Ewwww! 😖

I had already scrubbed up all the hard surfaces twice, vacuumed the entire inside twice and washed the inside of all the windows.  I had also left the sun roof open and windows down to air it out whenever I could but the only way to truly freshen up that car was to get those soft surfaces clean and for that I just needed on really warm day.  I finally got that.

 

Drivers side under the floormat

After a solid three hours of scrubbing and extracting I got all of the seats, headrests and carpeting clean.  I used spot remover on the seats and floorboards and vinegar water in the carpet shampooer.  A drill brush took up the dirt and stains from the upholstery and carpet while the vinegar water rinsed it all clean.  I didn’t stop until the water I was extracting ran clear.  By the time I finished the seat I had started with was dry so I left the car sitting in the driveway with the windows down and the sun roof open and let nature finish my hard work.

 

It's like brand new inside! 😲

Check out that clean seat!

Since then I have cleaned the interior once again, vacuumed the entire thing from one end to the other and rewashed all of the windows inside.  I also replaced the floor mats.  The original ones smelled so bad and were pretty worn out so I tossed them in the trash and bought a new set at the auto parts store.

 

Gorgeous!

Front to back - even the hatch got the treatment!

I also added this sunshade to protect her from the summer heat

Now I am officially done with refurbishing the interior of the car and can now enjoy opening the door and getting inside without hesitation.  It smells clean and fresh and looks absolutely amazing inside!  I am thrilled with how well it turned out, but even more importantly how much it doesn’t stink anymore.  I enjoy this car so much more now.  Hurray!

 

Making Smoothies

 

One thing I’ve noticed is that when you eat a really clean diet of primarily plants and animals you aren’t hungry all of the time.  Two small meals, quite often only one with maybe a small snack, and I am pretty much good to go.  Sometimes though, I realize that I’m probably not always getting all of the nutrients I should have.  If I make a large veggie packed salad I’ve got it all covered, but I don’t eat one of those every day.  I needed to come up with a good alternative.

 

Smoothies have never really been my thing.  I just never got into them, especially the ones that taste weird or like lawn clippings after you just mowed the grass.  But, as with anything, things do change.  Recently I figured out a way to make smoothies that I actually enjoy drinking.  They are not only healthy and packed with nutrients (which is the theory behind a smoothie, I think), but they taste really good to me.  Surprisingly, they are fairly low in carbohydrates too.

 

I start with the base – a cup of organic whole milk (Darigold Fit has 40% less lactose (sugar)) and two heaping tablespoons of organic vanilla whole milk yogurt.  The nutrients I’m after here are calcium, vitamin D and protein.  Next I add a quarter cup of berries, a small handful of spinach leaves and half a small banana or a third of a regular size banana for vitamins, minerals (like potassium) and a touch of sweetness.  I also like to add half a scoop of JUCE which is a concentration of powdered beet root and other fruits and vegetables that are deemed to be heart healthy and also give another boost of essential vitamins and minerals.  It also tastes pretty good.

 

A couple weeks ago I added a Magic Bullet to my kitchen for the sole purpose of making smoothies, my homemade salad dressings and sauces.  After blasting salad dressing all over my kitchen using my immersion blender I felt it was prudent to add a small blender appliance like this to my kitchen.  Deciding to make smoothies on a more regular basis helped me to go ahead with that plan and make the purchase.  I love that thing!

 

For a while now I have been adding unflavored collagen to my daily Keto coffee which I do think is helping my arthritic joints.  After determining it was helpful and not a waste of money I went ahead and invested in a chocolate protein version so I can add that to my smoothie base and make myself chocolate “milkshakes”.  I do add the banana and spinach which, by the way, you don’t even taste the spinach.  I can also add the unflavored collagen powder to my fruit smoothies if I wish.

 

Once I began making smoothies I realized I could make so many different varieties using berries, unsweetened cranberry and/or pomegranate juice, unsweetened pineapple juice or the chocolate protein powder and of course you can make a ton of combinations.  I can tell you I do not care for a chocolate and peanut butter combination, but berries, strawberries or straight chocolate make me happy.  I do keep track of the macros on each ingredient so I don’t overload the carbohydrates.

I try to drink a smoothie about three times a week to supplement my regular meal or meals I eat each day and make sure I’m getting those important nutrients and antioxidants.  Do you have a favorite smoothie combination?  Have you ever supplemented your diet with collagen powders or something like JUCE?