Savings and Goals Journal #42

It’s been quite a while since my last post. May and June were difficult months for our family. In the beginning of the May, I came down with Covid. Thankfully, my case was quite mild. I was on the couch for several days and felt pretty bad. It took me a while to regain my energy (I took lots of naps) and I’m still waiting for my sense of taste and smell to fully return. Then near the end of the month my dad passed away due to an accident. He was 78, and I knew I wouldn’t have him next door forever, but losing him so suddenly has been hard. Three weeks after losing my dad, my stepdad passed away. It has been a lot to handle. I’ve been taking some time off, but I’m slowly returning to my routines.

I’m paying closer attention to our finances this week than I have been over the last few weeks. I often made some easier but more expensive choices just because everything was so overwhelming. We are a bit off-track with our budget. My attention was elsewhere and we ended up overspending on several things.

There are lots of things in life that can derail our budget. I’m reminding myself that May and June were very, very difficult months. But I’m starting over in July now that things have calmed down a bit. Using my normal money-saving activities (meal planning, shopping the grocery ads) and just paying close attention to our spending again will help us get back on track pretty quickly.

Here are some little ways I’ve saved money over the last few weeks.

In the Kitchen

I made a batch of Baked Oatmeal. As the weather is warming, I like to eat a quick breakfast and head outside to work while the weather is still cool. Baked Oatmeal is great because I can make a batch and just reheat a serving each morning.

Grampy and I did a little grocery shopping. We purchased several packages of chicken breast at $1.77 per pound and several packages of 93% lean ground beef at $3.77 per pound.

Meal planning has gone out the window lately, but I should be back to doing that next week. We’re keeping meals pretty simple. The weather has been incredibly hot and so I’m looking for easy, cool, lighter meals. We’re having lots of salad.

In the Garden

Grampy and I planted our garden. I find working in the gardens very relaxing. We finally got our last eight pepper plants put out. They are the ones we started late from seed. Our PVC watering system is working great. I’m trying to haul several wheelbarrows of mulch each day to cover the pathways. One day I will finally have all that mulch moved to its proper place!

I ran drip irrigation lines in the kitchen garden. My zucchini and Canada crookneck squash are happily growing in their swimming pool gardens. I pulled up my spinach plants that had bolted and planted zinnia seeds in their place. I’ll try spinach again in the fall. I transplanted marigolds that had spouted in a planter into the raised beds where I’m growing squash. I gave lots of marigolds to my stepmom to put in her garden. They’re her favorite.

I’ve been using a plant identification app on my phone to find out what some of the plants are that are growing here on our property. I learned that the wildflowers that grow in the center of our circle driveway are called Colorado Four O’Clocks. They come back each year and are very pretty when they bloom.

Grampy bought me some plants for our wedding anniversary (25 years in June) :-). I’d planned not to purchase any new flowers, but it’s been nice to have some new additions to the flower gardens and planters.

Home and Family

I haven’t done much work lately on my home improvement projects. Outdoor projects have kept me busy and with everything that was happening, home improvement projects were low on the to-do list. We did sell our giant coffee bar. We replaced it with a small cabinet. I made a backsplash with material left from the kitchen backsplash. I purchased a shelf on sale to display seasonal decor. The area near the table feels much roomier now.

I still need to paint the north wall and finish the pantry. Rather than spending the money and time to build sliding doors for the pantry, I purchased curtains. The pantry area has just been open shelves for years. I think I’m going to like having it covered, and maybe if I’m not seeing the food there on the shelves, I’ll eat less! 🙂

Hopefully I’ll be back to blogging every week now, and sharing photos and updates of our gardens and projects.

Have a wonderful week!