I'm headed out to the grocery store & the library. I've have left to spend on groceries for the week & pet food. I'm going to do my best to incorperate alot of the ideas you all gave me in my saving $ thread. I've had 2 wonderful but busy days and am feeling it now. I watched my 15 month old grand daughter all day on Thursday (daycare was closed). See's an absolute joy, but sooo busy. Yesterday I had my gyn appointment then met both my daughter-in-laws at my old work to show off my grand babies. The newest one is 7 weeks old. After that we had a nice lunch & went to the zoo. It was so wonderful. The 7 week old slept, but the 15 month old had the best day of her little life. She loved the swings, and every animal had her so excited. What a joy she is! It was a perfect day for me! However, nana's paying for it today. I can barely move & feel like I was hit by a truck. It was worth it though. I'm going to the library to pick up some books to read since I plan on laying around the next couple days to recop.
Oh a new baby! Congratulations!
Enjoy your new books!
dbmy3,
It was so nice to read about your day with your grandkids. Thanks for sharing.
I went grocery shopping yesterday with . Had my small list of things that I needed to buy. The store had this deal where if you got one at regular price, you got another one for free. I picked up two bags of salad greens and then picked up a cooked chicken that was on special. If, I'm careful, I can get 4 meals out of it.
The other thing on my list was cat food. I picked up only 6 cans of the Fancy Feast and hoped that my girls would eat it. The one likes to sniff it and then stick her nose up in the air. After that, she will try to cover it as if it was a piece of poop. I tell her,"You got two choices. Either eat it or starve. I'm not opening another can! It cost to much to just toss it in the trash." After about 2 hrs of the standoff, she will eat some of it. I wash the dish before I put fresh food into it, so it doesn't smell of stale food. I hope that your pets aren't as fussy as my one.
Marisa
"After that, she will try to cover it as if it was a piece of poop" That's funny, one of my girls does that too. My down fall is the bag of Fancy Feast, I just have to get that for them. I leave a bowl of it out all the time for the grazers in the crowd. For their regular meals, they'll eat what ever food is on sale or that I have a coupon for. I mix a can of food with some dry. Thank goodness they're none too picky.
I didn't do too bad @ the store, but I did go over the $ 45.00 I had. (the orthopedic Dr. will have to wait until Thursday for me to mail his payment). Guess I need to take baby steps first, since I usually spend 0-0 each week. Food Lion had a lot of Buy One Get One Free's this week, and they let you get just one so really I paid 1/2 price, plus I had coupons for some of the BOGO
At the library I checked out Frugal Living for Dummies, How to Survive without a Paycheck, The Simple Living Guide. Maybe I'll get a few ideas.
Sounds like you're doing great! Congratulations and continued success.
I was thinking about how hard my grandparents had it, but they survived and made a good life for themselves. My grandfather was a coal miner during the depression, and there wasn't much to go around for raising a family of 3 children, but they did it. My grandmother taught herself to sew. She would make patterns out of newspaper, get her design ideas from catalogs and then made clothes for everyone in the family. And nothing was wasted - when clothes were worn out, she would cut out the zippers, save the buttons and then use the cloth for making quilts, dish cloths, or rag rugs. Nowadays we feel like there is so much we HAVE to have, we don't appreciate all we already have. I really need to work on that!
Hillhoney, my grandparents did all of those things too and they had 14 children. They raised their own meat, had chickens for eggs and planted a huge garden and canned the veggies. They seemed very content and happy.Good luck to you on your budget. My husband retired this year and I'm hoping to work half time this year so we're economizing too. A whole roasted chicken is the best deal around. My hubby and I get at least 3 meals out of it with all the tiny scraps going to our grand dog.I also make a vegitarian lasagna with spinich instead of meat.It's not too expensive if I get the ingredients on sale andwait until I have all the things I need. I can take one recipe for 8 to 10 and divy it up into smaller portions after I cook it, freezing smaller portions in aluminum foil for easy meals. I usually make it when I'm having the kids to visit and then freeze the rest for us. We live by the sea in Monterey and have found we can buy fresh fish directly from the fishermen for wholesale prices. I save all my stale bread and make breadcrumbs that I can use to stretch meatloaf, or in meatballs.
Can you grow any food? I have an herb garden and try vegetables sometimes. Costco can be a deal if you're careful. I can get a huge tub of baby greens for about :00.
We grow a small garden with cucumbers & tomatoes. My parents are close by & have a huge garden with lots of fresh veggies & strawberries. I grew up on a small farm. I rarely buy vegtables except for lettuce in the summer. I'm expecially thankful for this luxury this summer, it will surely help out. Many nights in August dinner is corn on the cob, sliced tomatoes, cucumbers & onions with watermelon for dessert. Can't beat it.I know I need to start freezing leftovers. I always think it will get eaten the next day and it never does. Alot of food gets wasted. Then I am pinching pennies when I grocery shop. The sad think is that the fresh foods that are healthy are the more expensive thngs. Meat and produce, and dairy are all so much more than junk food. It is convenient to buy pre made meals but they have so many preservatives in them. You guys are making me think more carefully about the money we spend on food. And DBMY, you are making me hungry for tomatos and cucumbers!
You guys are making me hungry with all of this talk about fresh vegs.