Savings and Goals Journal #7

This week was another busy week working on buying a car. It’s such a big investment, but we finally got things mostly settled by the weekend. I hope we won’t be car shopping again for a long, long time.

The weather has been hot and/or windy in the afternoons, so I’ve been outside working in the yard before 7:00 am most days.

In the Kitchen

I think sticking to our meal plan is one of the biggest ways we save money in this area of the budget. I did do a pick-up order at WalMart, but stayed within my budget. I was even able to do a bit of stocking up on pantry staples. I am surprised at how much rice we go through at this house!

Part of our meals were based on foods we had been given. One meal was beans given to my husband by a co-worker and we had a ham steak with our breakfast for dinner meal that was given to us by my stepmom’s mother.

For our breakfast for dinner meal, I made cornmeal griddle cakes for a change from regular pancakes. I used a recipe I found on the internet. They were not anything like the ones my mama used to make! I am going to call her and see if she still has the recipe she used when I was growing up because hers were delicious! Mine were not!

I tried a new recipe last week, the Pizza Casserole. It was a big hit. Next time I make it, I might try it without meat, but Grampy likes lots of stuff on his pizza. We loaded it up with bell pepper, mushrooms, sausage, pepperoni, olives and of course lots of cheese. It was delicious.

This week’s meal plan:

• Monday: Philly Cheesesteak Casserole (another new recipe I’m trying), salad
• Tuesday: Leftovers
• Wednesday: Chicken/Broccoli/Rice Casserole, salad
• Thursday: Leftovers
• Friday: Eggs and Rice, veggies
• Saturday: Burgers on the grill, veggies
• Sunday: Leftovers

I’ve gotten rid of some unneeded items in the kitchen. We are working toward having more space for bulk food storage. I moved my bread maker, which I rarely use except for at the holidays, out to where I keep my canning supplies in my shed. This freed up a shelf where I can put several gallon jars of rice or oatmeal, which we use tons of.

In the Garden

The spinach I had planted in a planter is bolting already, but the greens I’m growing in my planter that gets lots of shade should be ready soon. My tomatoes are taking off. I spent some time pruning the lower branches of the plants to keep them from touching the dirt. This helps keep disease from spreading from the soil to the plant. The green beans are growing and stretching toward their trellises. I love home-canned green beans!

We are harvesting strawberries. Not a whole lot, but enough for a snack. And the raspberries are nearly ready. We had one ripe one. I gave it Grampy. He loves them.

Home and Family

My decluttering journey continues! I am enjoying the added space from having fewer belongings and the restfulness of more organized spaces in our home. And I’m just starting!

I don’t have full days to devote to decluttering, so I try to spend at least 30 minutes per day getting rid of stuff. Areas I sorted through this week were: my sewing box, a pile of projects, garden seeds and supplies, books, clothing, and craft supplies. I am far from done, but I’m making progress. I don’t sew often these days, so I’m pretty sure I don’t need all of those eight spools of white thread!

What I’m reading:

In my decluttering, I found a book I’ve had for several years. I read it a while back, but I am rereading it now. It’s called Money Secrets of the Amish. I’m finding it useful not so much for the money-saving tips, but for the reminder about distinguishing between wants and needs and being content with what you have.

We took my first load of things to the thrift store, which is now open for shopping and donations. I found several pairs of longer shorts and a couple of pair of capris. I’ve lost around 40 pounds in the last year and don’t have many clothes that fit well any more. But, the dressing rooms are not yet open. (I didn’t know this until I was ready to go try things on.) I really don’t like to buy clothing unless I try it on, so I put everything back and will wait.

I have unloaded a shelf and my daughter and I are going to swap it with a different shelf. I think this will help with toy storage for the grandbabies. We are not having too many toys out at a time, as they mostly just like to dump things out.

One of my favorite things to do is to swap furniture around for a new look and no money spent.

Well, that’s about all for our week. Not too exciting and not a ton of savings. Just lots of trying not to spend if we don’t have to.