Savings and Goals Journal #33

Winter is here again. I’d enjoyed the nice weather we’d been having, but now we’re having snow and very cold weather. It’s been a great time to work on projects in our cozy little house!

In the Kitchen

I saved lots of money this week by simply not going grocery shopping. I was busy working on our kitchen makeover project and just didn’t go. The money I didn’t spend on groceries was a nice addition to our home improvement fund.

The first part of the kitchen makeover was this window above the sink. It was in serious need of some cosmetic help!

We did have one meal out. It just so happens that a taco place is conveniently located right next to the home improvement store. And wouldn’t you know that Grampy likes to be paid in tacos for helping me with my projects! So when we went to get materials for our project, we also came home with tacos. The restaurant gives a discount to firefighters, so we saved a little.

I moved some meals from a previous menu to this week as I didn’t make them when I’d planned.

This week’s meal plan:

• Sunday: Chicken parmesan, noodles, veggies
• Monday: Leftovers
• Tuesday: Pork with mushroom gravy, brown rice, green beans
• Wednesday: Leftovers
• Thursday: Blackeyed peas (from freezer), cornbread
• Friday: Ham and Green Chile Breakfast Casserole
• Saturday: Leftovers

I’m trying to keep the menu simple this week as my kitchen is destroyed. I had tried to do a little bit at a time to keep it from getting messy, but we had to move everything to install the backsplash. I’ll be glad to get it back together.

In the Garden

Before the weather turned nasty, I did some tidying up in the kitchen garden area. I’m hoping the area won’t get too much shade for tomatoes to grow well. I’d like at least one tomato plant there for snacking.

I’ll need to make the kitchen garden area more secure this spring. It’s adjacent to the kids’ play yard. BooBoo the dog is allowed in the play yard when we are outside, but right now she’s able to get into the kitchen garden area. And she is a big-time hole digger!

Home and Family

I discovered that I had been overcharged on a medical bill by $90. I was glad for my careful recordkeeping. I was able to call and talk to someone at the medical office, and sure enough, a $30 payment I’d made had not been credited, and a $90 payment I had made had been credited as only $30. It’s all fixed now.

I realized that I had forgotten to post a picture of the kitty cake my daughter made for my granddaughter’s birthday. She’s my junior crazy cat lady in training!

I did income taxes for a family friend who insisted on paying me. I used that money, plus my spending money for the month to buy the supplies for our kitchen makeover. It is taking longer to finish than I had thought, but it is already looking much better than before. The most difficult thing for me was figuring out where to cut the holes in the beadboard for the electrical outlets. That is something I do not want to do again!

Grampy loves to feed the birds. He and the grandkids made a treat for the birds by covering a big pine cone in peanut butter and rolling it in birdseed. The birds are enjoying eating it and the kids are having fun watching them through the window.

Stay warm and have a wonderful week!