* I ran my errands in a big loop, saving gas. Have you seen the price of gas lately??!!
* I filled my car's tank while I was out, as prices are expected to keep going up. We have 2 gas stations within spitting distance of each other. The one on the northbound side of the road has $3.47 per gal. gas. The one on the southbound side of the road has $3.55 per gal. gas. The cheaper gas was on my side of the road heading out to do errands, so I filled up as I passed it. No point in doubling back on the way home to get the cheaper gas.
* I hit the $ Store.
I got some junk foods to send in #1 son's college care package, but I did find some real food too....Lasagna noodles, Sweet Potato Fries and Scrapple. I don't buy processed french fries usually as buying a bag of potatoes is much more cost effective. But for what sweet potatoes would cost me at the grocery store per lb. in a 'raw' state, I couldn't make them into fries cheaper. Lasagna noodles at the grocery store are never $1 a box here, since they are never included in any dried pasta sales. The Dollar Store also had a few other good food deals....frozen fruit, as well as ravioli and pierogies. I was tempted by the Hunt's 'No HFCS' Ketchup but I have quite a supply of Ketchup already so I passed on that one.
The local $ Stores stock these Airwick brand solid air fresheners. I don't usually buy air fresheners(unless I get them for free from Rite-Aid and then I sell or give them away). I do buy the pet odor ones in the warm months to use near the dog crates since they can get smelly. But these LILAC scented ones were irresistible....oh, they smell sooooo good! Lilac makes me think of Spring and I am so ready to think Spring. ;-)
Anyway, I spent $9.12 w/tax.
*Then I hit the bread outlet.
I haven't been in about 4 weeks and we were down to our last few slices of bread. I chose a very good day to go since they had alot of items on the discounted racks for $1 or .89¢. I spent $14.23 for $70.04 worth of bread/bakery products. I got an assortment of bread, bagels, rolls as well as some danish and doughnuts. This should last us about 3 weeks or so. I store them in the frigid garage(almost as good as in the freezer)so they will keep 3 weeks or longer. What doesn't get used by then will go into the freezer.
* I made my own Sloppy Joe Sauce for dinner. I could have used a can of sauce(I have 1 or 2 left that cost me $1 a can) but wanted something less sugary. I find the canned stuff is too sweet for me so I've taken to concocting my own so I can control what goes into it. There are tons of different recipes out there you can use as a guide to making your own. None of them are difficult...most just are a matter of dumping ingredients in a pan and heating it up. I use some tomato paste, tomato sauce, a touch of vinegar, a dash of garlic powder and if I want some sweetness I'll squirt a bit of ketchup into it or add a little hunk of brown sugar. I dice some onions and fry that up with the ground beef as well. If I have some peppers, I'll add that if I feel like it. The point is that it takes very little effort and even less money to combine a few things in your pantry to make your own sauce. Heck, you can even use BBQ sauce as the base if you have an old bottle of it malingering on your shelves. Why spend for a new can of Sloppy Joe Sauce when you have everything you need to throw together your own custom blended sauce. I won't be buying Sloppy Joe Sauce again since it's not a multi-tasking product, unless some deal comes along and the store wants to pay me to take a case of it home. lol
* My Netflix DVD arrived. I watched that, as well as another movie instead of renting 2 movies at $1 a piece or instead of going to the cinema and plunking down $6 per movie for a couple of matinees. 4 hours of entertainment on the cheap.
* Worked on my Meal Plan for the week. Yes, I am very late getting it finished. We've had Spaghetti w/Meatballs and Garden Salad, Subway sandwiches on a crazy schedule night and Sloppy Joes w/Corn so far.
Tonight is Fish, Sweet Potato Fries and Spinach Salad.
Thursday is Corned Beef, Cabbage and Potatoes.
Friday is homemade Pizza w/Pepperoni, Onions and Peppers.(Plus Olives on my pieces.)
Saturday is Chicken & Broccoli Casserole.
* I washed a full load of laundry in my HE washer, using 1 tablespoon of detergent I got for free at Acme in Aug. 2009 and 8 squirts of Spray n' Wash. I hung the clothes to dry on racks in the upstairs hallway.
*As it was a bright sunny day, I opened the drapes on the southern facing side of the house to let in sunshine/warmth and closed them after the sun moved to the other side of the house. With the nice sunlight I kept all lighting off during the day except for the task light on my computer desk when I was working at my desk.
What did you do to save money?
Sluggy
* I filled my car's tank while I was out, as prices are expected to keep going up. We have 2 gas stations within spitting distance of each other. The one on the northbound side of the road has $3.47 per gal. gas. The one on the southbound side of the road has $3.55 per gal. gas. The cheaper gas was on my side of the road heading out to do errands, so I filled up as I passed it. No point in doubling back on the way home to get the cheaper gas.
* I hit the $ Store.
The local $ Stores stock these Airwick brand solid air fresheners. I don't usually buy air fresheners(unless I get them for free from Rite-Aid and then I sell or give them away). I do buy the pet odor ones in the warm months to use near the dog crates since they can get smelly. But these LILAC scented ones were irresistible....oh, they smell sooooo good! Lilac makes me think of Spring and I am so ready to think Spring. ;-)
Anyway, I spent $9.12 w/tax.
*Then I hit the bread outlet.
* I made my own Sloppy Joe Sauce for dinner. I could have used a can of sauce(I have 1 or 2 left that cost me $1 a can) but wanted something less sugary. I find the canned stuff is too sweet for me so I've taken to concocting my own so I can control what goes into it. There are tons of different recipes out there you can use as a guide to making your own. None of them are difficult...most just are a matter of dumping ingredients in a pan and heating it up. I use some tomato paste, tomato sauce, a touch of vinegar, a dash of garlic powder and if I want some sweetness I'll squirt a bit of ketchup into it or add a little hunk of brown sugar. I dice some onions and fry that up with the ground beef as well. If I have some peppers, I'll add that if I feel like it. The point is that it takes very little effort and even less money to combine a few things in your pantry to make your own sauce. Heck, you can even use BBQ sauce as the base if you have an old bottle of it malingering on your shelves. Why spend for a new can of Sloppy Joe Sauce when you have everything you need to throw together your own custom blended sauce. I won't be buying Sloppy Joe Sauce again since it's not a multi-tasking product, unless some deal comes along and the store wants to pay me to take a case of it home. lol
* My Netflix DVD arrived. I watched that, as well as another movie instead of renting 2 movies at $1 a piece or instead of going to the cinema and plunking down $6 per movie for a couple of matinees. 4 hours of entertainment on the cheap.
* Worked on my Meal Plan for the week. Yes, I am very late getting it finished. We've had Spaghetti w/Meatballs and Garden Salad, Subway sandwiches on a crazy schedule night and Sloppy Joes w/Corn so far.
Tonight is Fish, Sweet Potato Fries and Spinach Salad.
Thursday is Corned Beef, Cabbage and Potatoes.
Friday is homemade Pizza w/Pepperoni, Onions and Peppers.(Plus Olives on my pieces.)
Saturday is Chicken & Broccoli Casserole.
* I washed a full load of laundry in my HE washer, using 1 tablespoon of detergent I got for free at Acme in Aug. 2009 and 8 squirts of Spray n' Wash. I hung the clothes to dry on racks in the upstairs hallway.
*As it was a bright sunny day, I opened the drapes on the southern facing side of the house to let in sunshine/warmth and closed them after the sun moved to the other side of the house. With the nice sunlight I kept all lighting off during the day except for the task light on my computer desk when I was working at my desk.
What did you do to save money?
Sluggy
Who remembers what happened yesterday? LOL
ReplyDeleteToday I made a casserole using a package of wild rice that's been in the cabinet for a while, some leftover venison steak, some leftover brown gravy. I'll serve it with leftover veggies and a chocolate cobbler I made this afternoon from scratch.
Same as you, I washed a load in the HE washing machine and hung the clothes to dry on racks. I used one T. of homemade detergent and no fabric softener.
I made my grocery list based on the sales in today's grocery ads, the inventory already in my pantry and my weekly menu plan.
It's an overcast day, but there is still enough natural light for most tasks without turning on the lights.
I printed out a recipe (as my desktop computer is no where near my kitchen) on the back side a handout that Kat brought home from school using the most efficient setting on my printer.
I wore shoes and a sweater with my normal clothing to stay warm instead of turning up the heat.
Today I saved money by deliberately forgetting to send a check with one of my daughters for piano lessons!
ReplyDeleteI guess I'll have to send it next week...
I did not turn on the heat at all since it is no longer a balmy high 60s-low 70s. Plus, I had an outrageous heating bill from when we had snow and subfreezing temps for a week. Today,I wore shoes, socks, pants and a tee and sweat shirt. I cooked ten lbs of leg/thigh quarters and froze them. The broth will be cooked with finely chopped vegetables as soon as I get it cold and skim the fat. Then, I will add noodles and a bit of the meat. This is a gift to a friend who helped me. Oh, yeah, he got all ten lbs of frozen thighs and legs. He will bring back leftovers for hens.
ReplyDeleteMy friend brought back his meat scraps for the hens. Since I buy no chicken food, they had one of their own eggs scrambled with powdered milk and oatmeal. Since I am overrun with eggs once again, they get one each day when they need the nutrition.
He helped me get to my big freezer so I could get two 1-lb packages of ground beef. I brought back one of sausage and one of ground beef. Tomorrow, I will make spaghetti, using a jar of canned spaghetti that was on sale for 50 cents. The pasta and beef were free, so I am all set.
I did NOT save money today. Meredith's birthday is Friday and since she is working that day and evening, we went and took her and the boys out to dinner. And gave her a little cash give. I am poorer now. Good thing I get my annual bonus next week!
ReplyDeleteHubby loves sloppy Joe sauce from the can but I think it's too sweet! Thanks for giving us a quick recipe on how to make our own. I have one but yours seem much simpliler!
ReplyDeleteI'm with Annie I have no idea what I'm doing today so yesterday is all but a blur. LOL
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great weekend!