Finding Joy In Teeny Tiny Budgets

 

I make my money work very hard for me, especially since I know how hard I worked to get it in the first place.  Right now our economy has created a lot of challenges for a lot of people, not just here in the United States, but worldwide.  Inflation has caused many to go without basic essentials like food and heating.  I've heard that in England utilities have tripled and even quadrupled in the past year making it nearly unaffordable for many to heat their homes.  While it is hard to find joy in that, it is fun to see how my frugal friends across the pond are bundling up and making the changes necessary to stay warm this winter.  I find their creativity and ingenuity inspiring and something I can learn from.  Their "can-do" attitudes motivate me to stay the course and do better.

 

Personally find it a super fun challenge to see how much I can get for as few dollars as I can spend.  I'm not cheap however, I do want the best quality possible for those dollars spent.  Rather than get upset, become anxious or frustrated because it seems impossible to work with so little money I've always considered it a challenge to make it happen, regardless.  All my life I've always maintained it isn't the amount of money we have but rather what we do with it that matters most.  If you set your mind to something, anything, you can do it.

 

There are loads of people that are getting creative and finding ways to stretch their dollars and I enjoy hearing their stories and watching them on Youtube.  I find a lot of good ideas and inspiration for meals, home improvements, recycling and upcycling.  All designed to save money and take care of our needs.  I've even joined in with them for "Canuary" (didn't even know that was a thing until this year) and I did some home canning.  There are a lot of people doing pantry challenges too so I was in good company.

 

There is something truly satisfying about saving money on something or scoring a great deal.  Living deep and contentedly within our means.  If you find yourself dealing with limited funds or self imposed tiny budgets I'd love to hear about how you are managing.  Building a community of like minded people to share tips and ideas is something I want to have on this blog.  Some of you have commented already about ways you are coping with the rise in prices.  Let's keep that momentum going, shall we?  Take care my friends!

 

Organization After Decluttering

 

It is true that you cannot clean and organize clutter.  I know this because many years ago I used to try.  It simply does not work.  All you end up doing is shuffling your stuff from one place to the next and getting frustrated with the result or the lack thereof.  I do not even try to organize my things until I'm done decluttering a space and getting rid of anything I do not need use or want anymore.  I'm also known to go back and declutter again once I think I'm done.  And you know what?  I always find something else to get rid of.  As many of you already know I did a whole house declutter in December and I filled up a large space in my garage of things to donate.  I also filled up the trash and recycles bins a couple of times too.  Then in January I started over and did it again.  I found some more items to remove from my home, more than I thought I would, but that is how decluttering works.  You build up those decluttering muscles and the more you do it the easier it gets.

 

Banker boxes are ice for storing items, they stack and have handles
I like to use them to store books, DVDs, photos, etc. because they don't get too heavy to lift

My personal desire for my home was to make sure I organized and kept like items grouped together.  This is what makes sense to me.  I also didn't want to spend a whole lot of money on a bunch of fancy containers.  I wasn't going for Pinterest worthy results but rather practical organization that works for me.  Everyone is different in their organization style and it takes some time to figure it all out.  At my age I think I've finally done that - like with like.  I don't do well if things are spread out all over the place.  I want all of my items that go together grouped together.  I am also a micro organizer meaning I like to have categories within categories.  This is especially true with respect to my crafting and sewing supplies.  While some people are happy to have all of their craft supplies in one box I need to have those items within the box neatly organized.  Not everyone is this nuts about organization, but apparently I am. 

 

I now have all of the ribbons in one spot, the same with laces & trims
The one on the right is new as I needed one large enough to hold ALL of these items in one place

Once I was done decluttering I was easily able to organize and store the items I wanted to keep.  I grouped my like items together and for the most part was able to reuse a lot of the empty containers I had been collecting and setting aside as I decluttered.  After I organized my items into their containers I labeled them so I know what is inside each one and can easily find what I am looking for.  It is working very well and so far I'm quite pleased with how things are organized at the moment.  Although, I still think I have too much stuff.

 

Containers provide boundaries for the amount of items we keep
I whittled down all of my freezer food storage containers to fit in this basket

I did invest in some new containers because over the years a lot of the containers I had were worn out, broken and some were missing lids while other were missing the container and all I had was the lid.  Some of my containers were too big or not big enough to store the items I needed to put in them too.  It was only after I had things grouped that I was able to figure out what type and size of container I truly needed.

 

I reused this container to hold all of my art supplies
I personally prefer clear bins for most of my organizing

If you are uncertain about what your organization style is and what types of systems will work for you there is a test you can take to help you figure it out.  I took the test and it confirmed what took me ages to figure out on my own.  I wish I'd known much sooner as it would have saved me a lot of time and money on stuff that didn't end up working for me.  Plus it would have confirmed that my micro organizing obsession was completely normal.  If you want to take the test head over to Clutterbug.  It is free and you may find it very helpful.  I sure did, that's for sure.  I'm a Cricket by the way.

 

This basket holds all of the lids I use with my Mason jars
I like open containers for items I access frequently

Remember decluttering and organizing is a work in progress.  It is ever evolving and changing too depending on our interests and the stage of life we happen to be in.  I know quite a few of you are on a declutter journey.  I'd love to hear how you are doing.

 

My Tireless Retirement - Week 44

 

Hello, hello!  Another week has slipped by and February snuck in I see.  That is okay because I'm ready for warmer weather and the only way for that to happen is to get through these colder months.  It has been cold here, that is for sure.  We made it into the single digits one day last week! With most of our lows in the teens.  Yikes!  Not a lot of sun either, but it did come out for a bit here and there.

 

I went through my spice cabinet once again and put everything into small Mason jars I had
I used some white return address labels I had in with my office supplies to make the labels

 

I've made it through my decluttering checklist for the second time now and I've filled up two more trash bags with donations (still need to drop off), taken in another full bin of glass to the recycling collection container at the supermarket, filled up my big blue wheelie bin with recycling twice and my trash wheelie bin once.  Despite the cold winter temperatures I did make it out to the garage and went through quite a bit of what is out there.  I went through most of my home improvement supplies, yard and garden stuff as well as all of my auto maintenance and cleaning supplies.  I got rid of some stuff and then reorganized what I had decided to keep.

 

Got a little touch up painting done on the cabinetry throughout the house

More decluttering in the pantry and I pretty much have the top shelf clear
with only my extra egg cartons up there and some catnip, for obvious reasons

I grabbed one of my craft paint brushes and a pot of paint in the garage to do a little touch up on my cabinetry throughout my house.  I'm impressed that my paint is holding up as well as it has and that it has been well over two years since I last touched up anything, but sometimes you ding a door or scratch a drawer and it just needs a little dab of paint to make it look good as new.

 

"Yeah, if you could come back later and make the bed that would be great"
He was so worried I was going to kick him out, but I came back later

I decided on one of the really cold days last week I'd heat up the oven and do some baking.  I was low on bread so it made sense to get it all done in one big session.  I made a couple loaves of whole wheat bread, two loaves of pumpkin raisin bread, two loaves of apple cinnamon bread and a dozen and a half blueberry muffins.  A friend came by for coffee and I sent her home with some bread and half of the muffins.  I wrapped and put most of what was left away in the freezer and that should keep me well supplied for quite a while.  I won't need to bake anything for a good long time and I'm ready next time someone shows up for coffee.

 

I didn't use the tots, cheese or peas & carrots yet, but hopefully this week they will see some action

After spending the majority of the month cleaning out what I had squirreled away in my kitchen freezer I was expecting I might need to do some cooking this past week, however I still had leftovers to work through until Wednesday.  Then I shopped my freezer again and pulled out meat to make a meat loaf and some veggies I thought I might use as well as a package of cheese.

 

Blurry picture, but delicious anyway 😃

I used some of my "regrown" scallions to garnish the baked potatoes
They are almost as tall and full as when I originally bought them

I did make the meatloaf in my medium sized slow cooker and baked four potatoes in my smallest slow cooker which worked out perfectly.  They were both done at the same time.  I steamed some broccoli and cauliflower to serve along with the meatloaf and a baked potato.  There were loads of leftovers to keep me going the rest of the week.  On Friday I made a half recipe of crack chicken in my smallest slow cooker and between that and the meatloaf I was pretty much set for the weekend and I still have leftovers.

 

I had three of these in the freezer and they were starting to get a little frosty

Eight lovely pints of meatballs in tomato sauce for my long term food storage

Last summer I had happened upon a great deal on sausage meatballs marked down to $1.99 a package so I purchased several of them.  I cooked them, made some seasoned tomato sauce and got all of those canned up along with a stray package of Italian sausages that I found in the chest freezer out in my garage.  I had cooked some of those meatballs a few months ago and found them rather salty so I put them into my medium slow cooker with a lot of water to cook them and leach off some of the salt.  I also didn't add any salt to the tomato sauce I made.  Hopefully those two things balance it all out and they won't be so salty now.

 

I finished up the pumpkin pancakes I had in the freezer and the bacon last week

How was your January?  Did you tackle any projects or work on a particular goal you had set?  I hope you all enjoyed the first month of 2023 and stayed warm and healthy.

 

Spending LESS $$

 

I'm going to admit I spent a fair bit of time last year on the good ol' Amazon website scrolling for things I thought I needed.  I'd add items to my cart and while I wasn't so quick to pull the trigger and purchase everything right away (I have a rule - wait at least 24 hours before I checkout) I do think I purchased too much stuff.  Last year I re-landscaped my entire yard and I updated and refreshed one of the upstairs bedrooms, both of which were big ticket items.  I also updated all of the doorknobs through my entire house.  While I was super careful to keep my spending to a minimum it was still a lot of spending at the time.  After all of that and some Christmas spending coupled with the rising prices on pretty much everything I ended the year of 2022 with what I refer to as spending fatigue.  I got really tired of watching money head out the door.

 

One of my goals in 2023 is to spend less.  On everything.  Less at the grocery store, less at the gas pump, less on clothing, less on entertainment, less on stuff I truly don't need.  Instead I want to funnel my dollars in a more mindful direction.  I only want to spend money on things that will improve my quality of life, but at the same time I need to remember that thoughtless spending does not improve anything.

 

It was funny how just last month, as I was thinking ahead for Valentine's Day, I briefly thought I should go to Hobby Lobby for some new décor.  But then, just as quickly, I thought "No, I really shouldn't."  I have plenty of things around my home to decorate and prepare for Valentine's Day, which I have never really been one to go all out on in the first place.  I definitely don't need to spend any money on anything for that particular occasion.  Instead, I began to think of what I can do to celebrate and decorate without spending a penny and I came up with plenty.

 

Instead of spending I'm actively looking at ways to cut back and save my money.  I've knocked the thermostat down a couple degrees and put on a sweater to save on the heating bill.  I'm mindful of how much water I'm using when I wash my hands or brush my teeth to save on the water bill.  I'm careful not to overuse toilet paper, shampoo and conditioner in the shower  or the amount of dish soap I use to wash my dishes so I'm not wasteful.

 

I'm watching free movies and TV options and pulling out the DVDs I own to enjoy again after a long hiatus so I am adequately  entertained.  I'm wearing the clothing and shoes I already have, using the linens and towels I've had for ages, eating off the same old plates and bowls and drinking from the same cups and glasses because I truly don't need anything new.  I'm using what I already have and I'm appreciating that I have it.

 

Rethinking purchases and spending less money is empowering.  It puts me in control as I choose what is most important to me and who I'm willing to give my money too.  It also sends a clear message to retailers that I'm not willing to give them my business unless they can offer me something of true value.  Are you on any type of a spending hiatus this year?  If so, what are some of the things you are cutting back on?

 

Learning From The Past

 

I was extremely blessed to have known two great-grandmothers, a very sweet great-grandfather, my two grandmothers, maternal and paternal, as well as my paternal grandfather and my maternal step grandfather.  When I was married I got to know my ex-husband's grandparents quite well too.  I was also very blessed to hear a lot of stories as well as to learn many practical things from each of them.  They all had something to tell me and teach me and I'm so grateful for that knowledge as well as the time I was able to spend with them.

 

My great grandpa (my great grandma pictured above) with my uncle

One of the things I learned from the older generation that lived through the depression was that I didn't need a lot of things in order to do a lot of things.  Basic tools are all that is required to take care of my home.  As a new homeowner I started out with a hammer, a set of screwdrivers, a pair of pliers and a shovel.

 

My great grandpa on the left with his family prior to immigrating to the U.S. from Switzerland

A basic washing machine and a clothesline is more than adequate to get my laundry clean and I don't need a bunch of fancy detergents and softeners to get the job done.  I didn't own a dryer until I was thirty five years old.  I still have my great grandmother's washboard hanging up on the wall in my laundry room and while I was glad to have it to use when I needed too many, many years ago I'm just as happy to have it as wall art now.  I do appreciate my modern appliances.

 

My other great grandmother

One thing I found in common amongst all of my grandmothers was in how they prepared meals, especially when they had company.  They would prepare a small amount of meat, but there were always a lot of side dishes as well as some type of bread with butter and jam on the table.  Dessert too, but it was a simple thing like a sheet cake, a fruit or custard pie, homemade ice cream that the kids would take turns cranking on, or just a bag of popsicles from the grocery store.  I still smile when I think of my ex-husband's grandmother who, no matter the occasion, even Christmas, would always boil a package of store brand wieners in a little pan on the stove to add to the meal.  We used to poke fun, but I'm sure it was her way of making sure there was enough meat on the table since there were always a lot of us crammed into their little house at the holidays or any given Sunday.

 

My other great grandpa, he passed long before I was born

The older generations always seemed to grow a garden, my great grandma and grandpa kept chickens for eggs and meat.  They all hung their wash out on the line.  My grandmothers shopped weekly with a list after perusing the grocery store ads to figure out what they would buy and they meal planned from what they had on hand.  Some of them canned and prepared for winter, many kept a chest freezer for meat and bread, they all baked a lot and always cooked from scratch.  They mended their clothes, polished their shoes and took care of everything to make sure it lasted.  They all had collections of matchbooks, rubberbands and twist ties in a drawer, miscellaneous screws and nails kept in coffee cans, glass jars on a shelf to reuse and a stack of newspapers to wrap up something nasty before it went into the trash or to crumple up and wash the windows with.

 

Even though a lot of us are of the age that we no longer have our grandparents or even our parents with us anymore we can still learn from those who came before us.  We can read books and old magazines about these times, research the internet and watch Youtube videos.  I started out my adult life utilizing many of the things I was taught by my grandparents and I still find myself doing things their way.  As I get older I want even more to do things like they did.  It is a nice way to live and in our current economy I feel it is even more important to follow their lead.  By going back in time we can successfully move forward.

 

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?

Investment Cooking - Frozen Pizza

Everyone has one of those days where they don't know what to fix for dinner, don't have the energy or enthusiasm to fix dinner or they just want a pizza.  When that happens it is very tempting to grab the phone or log on and order a pizza delivery and end up spending around $30 by the time all is said and done.

 

Most delivery or take & bake pizzas are super salty and super greasy and while delicious, not the healthiest option for us to consume.  I like to spend a little time and do some investment cooking and make some healthier pizzas (or just pizza dough balls if you prefer) and keep them in the freezer.  I begin by making the dough in my bread machine, but you can do this by hand or with a stand mixer and dough hooks too.  Here is my go to pizza dough recipe I use.

 

Since it is just me these days, most of the time, I make a small pizza, about ten inches in diameter, top it with some marinara sauce or pesto, some mozzarella or Monterey jack cheese and whatever toppings I like.  I place the pizza on a pizza pan (the ones at Dollar tree work great for this) or cookie sheet and place it in my chest freezer for a couple hours until it is frozen solid.  Then I transfer it from the cookie sheet to a plastic Ziploc bag, push out all the air while I seal it up and then label it before placing it back in the freezer.

 

Now I have a pizza anytime I want it and I can have it out of the freezer, into the oven (400° for 10 to 15 minutes) and baked before a delivery driver can arrive at my door.  While it bakes you can even prepare a little salad to go along with it if you like.  And you just saved a bunch of $$ in the process and you are eating a much healthier meal too.

 

Make some pizzas.  It's fun!  And really, really tasty.