As you know, I've set this month aside to NOT spend any money.
You may remember that I also mentioned that my laptop was on it's last legs.
Those two forces met and combined into a wonderful, combustible mess last week. The laptop is dead, and I'm not spending any money. The result? I'm writing this on a Chrome Book that I borrowed from the library. It's a nifty little laptop that really gets the job done! I happen to have 4 days in a row off of work, so I'm uploading a LOT of posts today that I've written the old fashioned way - with pen and paper - and will be setting them to automatically release over the next week or so.
Speaking of Chrome Books... my library loans them out for a week at a time. 7 days. FREE. Talk about a bargain! This would be a game changer for anyone who doesn't have the means to buy a computer of their own. The ability to search for jobs, apply for jobs, take classes... all things that those of us who have regular internet access take for granted. I'm curious - does anyone else know what devices their local library lends?
AND - in the wonderful world of electronics all breaking spontaneously - my iPod Shuffle (circa 2008) has finally died. I had hoped to run it to the Apple store yesterday and see if they actually carried batteries for the thing - but now I can't find it. I'm in a bit of a quandry here, as I'm going to need to have some music loaded on a device soon. What am I going to do?? Stay tuned for what is certain to be a Series of Unfortunate Events.
AND- My Kindle. Second generation Kindle, BTW. I love that thing. I've used it almost constantly. It's no longer functioning. Again, I've got an event coming up soon and I'd really like to have my Kindle on hand. Damn it all! This is no Spenduary! What am I going to do! I know, I know #FirstWorldProblems. 20 years ago, I didn't need or have a Kindle, a Laptop, or an iPod. I've gone soft over the last 20 years! Our library quit carrying Kindles last year - and it would have been loaded with someone else's choice of literature - not mine.
Oh, oh, oh, one more whine and bitch here - we have baseboard heaters in our house. Very inefficient way to heat a house, but it's what we have. I've been replacing them as I get the money saved up. With parts and labor from a qualified electrician, replacing each heater runs around $750. We've replaced 3 in the house so far, out of 9. Guess how many have died in the last week? No, not the last 6 (thank God for small mercies). Only 3. I'm glad we have a wood stove and that it's been a mild winter so far. I'd like to hold out and replace them over the summer, before next fall rolls around. I've got my fingers crossed.
So, are we actually saving any money this month? Well, I haven't put out close to $2000 to replace the electronics or the next $2000 to replace the heaters.... That's $4,000 I need to save up - PLUS the money to replace the roof, as well as (hopefully) paying off the Civic this year..... I'm beginning to have my doubts that any of this is actually going to happen in the way I think it will.
As I sit here in a Starbucks, tapping into their WiFi, nursing a $4 drink that I bought with a gift card I got for the holidays, I am counting my blessings. In spite of everything, I have a wonderful family, a roof over my head (that doesn't leak), plumbing that works, and wonderful people to work with. I'm looking forward to knocking an item off of my Bucket List soon... So yes, in spite of the inconvenience of luxuries not working the way I want, life is very good.
Showing posts with label NoSpenduary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NoSpenduary. Show all posts
Friday, February 16, 2018
Friday, March 17, 2017
Baked Potato Bar (No Spenduary)
I love baked potato bars. Not only do you fill up on healthy food, you get a chance to empty out some of the leftovers from the freezer. You put the potatoes in the oven ahead of time, and then you let them bake while you get the chance to interact with your family.
The list of possibilities is endless. You are only limited by your own imagination! The cost of a meal like this is minimal, and everyone gets to eat as much as they want. Best of all? Because much of this meal is make ahead or made from leftovers, you won't find yourself spending a lot of time in the kitchen!
So, what kinds of toppings do you use? These are my favorites:
Steamed Broccoli
Bacon
Shredded Cheese
Chili (leftover)
Chick Pea Stew (leftover)
Sauteed Mushrooms
Sauteed Onions
Our potatoes, onions, mushrooms, and broccoli came as a part of the $25 produce bundle that I get from our local farmer who runs a year round farm store. While she doesn't grow all of the vegetables, she IS sourcing everything from small family farms within a 100 mile radius of home.
What are your favorite toppings on a baked potato bar?
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
NoSpenduary Week 6
Our savings account continues to slowly creep upwards. Knock on wood, we will have no major expenses before we renovate the hallway bathroom in March!
Things We Did This Week to Save Money:
1) Checked out DVD's from the library - AND we returned them on time so that we didn't have to pay overdue fines.
2) I worked on daughter's quilt. Okay, not sure how this is saving money, but since I'm not actually out spending money because I'm trying to finish the darn thing, technically, this counts!
3) I picked up a couple of extra shifts at work to help add more money to the budget for the bathroom renovation.
4) I packed my lunch every day that I went to work.
5) I looked long and hard around the yard and found a place to put my garden this year. It's time to lay that puppy out! I currently have it marked on paper - but I'm going to get out this weekend and mark it out with string.
What We Ate for Dinner This Week.
1) Vegetarian Chili
2) Burritos made from the Vegetarian Chili
3) Some really hideous combination of vegetables that I put together in Spring Rolls. It ended up tasting just as hideous as it sounds. I think my biggest mistake was trying to broil them - hoping they'd taste more like egg rolls. Yeah, no - don't do that. It really doesn't work!
4) Salmon Pasta Salad
5) Latkes and a big green salad
6) Baked potatoes (made with the potatoes we didn't use for the Latkes) and the leftover chili and veggies from the spring roll disaster. Surprisingly, this turned out to be really, really good!
7) I picked up a box of Jammin' Jerk Shrimp from the grocery store before I went to work last night. I had mine over brown rice with a side of green leafy stuff. Husband had a side salad of green leafy stuff and foraged through the leftovers in the fridge. He made a small batch of biscuits and had those with all of the leftover vegetable soup from last week.
Keeping my fingers crossed that nothing breaks before we get the bathroom replaced!
Things We Did This Week to Save Money:
1) Checked out DVD's from the library - AND we returned them on time so that we didn't have to pay overdue fines.
2) I worked on daughter's quilt. Okay, not sure how this is saving money, but since I'm not actually out spending money because I'm trying to finish the darn thing, technically, this counts!
3) I picked up a couple of extra shifts at work to help add more money to the budget for the bathroom renovation.
4) I packed my lunch every day that I went to work.
5) I looked long and hard around the yard and found a place to put my garden this year. It's time to lay that puppy out! I currently have it marked on paper - but I'm going to get out this weekend and mark it out with string.
What We Ate for Dinner This Week.
1) Vegetarian Chili
2) Burritos made from the Vegetarian Chili
3) Some really hideous combination of vegetables that I put together in Spring Rolls. It ended up tasting just as hideous as it sounds. I think my biggest mistake was trying to broil them - hoping they'd taste more like egg rolls. Yeah, no - don't do that. It really doesn't work!
4) Salmon Pasta Salad
5) Latkes and a big green salad
6) Baked potatoes (made with the potatoes we didn't use for the Latkes) and the leftover chili and veggies from the spring roll disaster. Surprisingly, this turned out to be really, really good!
7) I picked up a box of Jammin' Jerk Shrimp from the grocery store before I went to work last night. I had mine over brown rice with a side of green leafy stuff. Husband had a side salad of green leafy stuff and foraged through the leftovers in the fridge. He made a small batch of biscuits and had those with all of the leftover vegetable soup from last week.
Keeping my fingers crossed that nothing breaks before we get the bathroom replaced!
Tuesday, February 7, 2017
No Spenduary - Weeks 4 and 5
I did not buy a new computer, or a new phone, despite the ongoing technology issues. I am going to tough it out. Days will go by when I don't post, and I apologize, but I'm not giving in. I am going to the public library - NOT the one I work in - when I am off work and using their computers. The laptop is working much of the time, but the poor thing is close to 10 years old. My tablet is new, and I am using that for much of my posting & communicating with friends.
Its been a really warm winter here in the Mid-Atlantic. As a result, we've not been using as much energy to heat the house. I've been diligent about opening the curtains once the sun is up to catch as much solar warming as I can, and then closing the curtains as soon as the sun sets in order to hold onto as much of that heat as I can. I'm not certain if it's working or not, but we did manage to cut our energy bill in half for the same time period last year. I'm going to credit the new thermostats on the baseboard heaters, the warm winter, the ceiling fans set on reverse, and the passive solar heating. I don't care how you add it up, when you manage to cut your electric bill by 50%, I think it's worth being excited about!
I haven't been journeying out much in the car, except to go to work, so I haven't spent a lot of money on gasoline. I've been running errands on my way home from work, so I'm not spending extra gas money to go run errands.
Hey, every little bit adds up, right?
I did stop by and pick up a produce bundle ($25) from our local farm store. Most of our meals for this past week came out of that bundle. I supplemented that with more from the freezer. I've moved everything from the older, upright freezer back into the now defrosted deep freezer. We're cleaning out that freezer, and have plans to sell that. We honestly don't need two freezers now that we aren't feeding as many hungry kids on a regular basis.
I've been posting what we had for dinner on here, but I didn't do that for the past couple of weeks. As a result, I've forgotten much of what we've had. I know we had a couple of salads, a couple of stir fries, a pot of beans, had a leftover night or two, some pasta with a lot of veggies cut in, a baked potato bar, tacos (made with leftover bean soup that I mashed and fried). I'm going to do a better job of keeping track for the next week!
I did use my Christmas gift card from Starbucks and picked up a Very Berry Refresher. This one wasn't clear water, but it was made with apple juice instead of water. What the heck? I'm beginning to wish that we had another coffee shop option in this town. Ever since the Bagel Bakery burned down a few years back, Starbucks is all that's left. I wonder if Panera has a similar option?
Its been a really warm winter here in the Mid-Atlantic. As a result, we've not been using as much energy to heat the house. I've been diligent about opening the curtains once the sun is up to catch as much solar warming as I can, and then closing the curtains as soon as the sun sets in order to hold onto as much of that heat as I can. I'm not certain if it's working or not, but we did manage to cut our energy bill in half for the same time period last year. I'm going to credit the new thermostats on the baseboard heaters, the warm winter, the ceiling fans set on reverse, and the passive solar heating. I don't care how you add it up, when you manage to cut your electric bill by 50%, I think it's worth being excited about!
I haven't been journeying out much in the car, except to go to work, so I haven't spent a lot of money on gasoline. I've been running errands on my way home from work, so I'm not spending extra gas money to go run errands.
Hey, every little bit adds up, right?
I did stop by and pick up a produce bundle ($25) from our local farm store. Most of our meals for this past week came out of that bundle. I supplemented that with more from the freezer. I've moved everything from the older, upright freezer back into the now defrosted deep freezer. We're cleaning out that freezer, and have plans to sell that. We honestly don't need two freezers now that we aren't feeding as many hungry kids on a regular basis.
I've been posting what we had for dinner on here, but I didn't do that for the past couple of weeks. As a result, I've forgotten much of what we've had. I know we had a couple of salads, a couple of stir fries, a pot of beans, had a leftover night or two, some pasta with a lot of veggies cut in, a baked potato bar, tacos (made with leftover bean soup that I mashed and fried). I'm going to do a better job of keeping track for the next week!
I did use my Christmas gift card from Starbucks and picked up a Very Berry Refresher. This one wasn't clear water, but it was made with apple juice instead of water. What the heck? I'm beginning to wish that we had another coffee shop option in this town. Ever since the Bagel Bakery burned down a few years back, Starbucks is all that's left. I wonder if Panera has a similar option?
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
No Spenduary - Week 3
What we did to save money this week:
1) We have electric baseboard heat throughout the house. The thermostats on the heaters are original to the house (1970). Husband replaced the thermostats in the rooms where they were not working effectively. i.e.- our room, the thermostat is either on, and the temperature is over 80, or it's off. He replaced 2 thermostats. We'll see if there's any savings reflected in the next electric bill.
2) This one isn't mine so much as middle child's. He is getting ready to go back to school, where he does much of his own cooking. We put together a ton of mason jar meals for him to take back with him. While we were at it, we made up several other jars to take up to his brother for his birthday. I'll post pictures from that escapade later this week!
3) I'm in the middle of cleaning out the big, sopping mess from the chest freezer. I've been looking at the rubber gasket, too. I think we might need to replace that - there's several places where the seal isn't what it should be - and I think that's why there's as much ice as there is inside of the freezer.
4) This is my third week without a Starbucks run! I'm not sure whether I should be proud of that - or appalled to realize that I've been stopping by there for tea quite so often....
What we had for dinner:
1) Salmon Filet - with butternut squash cubes and slices brussel sprouts (sauteed in olive oil)
2) Salmon with Rice Pilaf - from the leftover salmon filet. Husband made the pilaf with lemon juice instead of vegetable broth. The lemons were leftover from the clearance rack find. We had a side salad to go with this to round out our veggies.
3) Homemade Pizza, with homemade sauce pulled from the freezer. I'm still experimenting with recipes for gluten free pizza dough. This recipe wasn't "THE ONE", but it was good! We topped the pizza with onions, bell pepper, and spinach.
4) Spaghetti- made with - you guessed it - more homemade sauce from the freezer!
5) Black Bean Soup
I made this recipe that I found on Smitten Kitchen. You know I didn't make the creme - dairy allergies and all... It's an excellent, stand alone bean soup recipe! I made corn bread to go with this!
6)Lettuce Wraps
Using ground turkey, they were supposed to take like P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps. They weren't that good, but they were okay. I made a vegetarian version for daughter.
7) Ramen Stir Fry
This one's a little harder to explain. I found gluten free ramen noodles. Years ago, I used to make a stir fry recipe with ramen noodles. There were no seasonings in this recipe, though. I took the leftover ground turkey from the Lettuce Wraps. (Yes, two pots were going here - one vegetarian, one meatatarian.) I heated up the meat, and then added a bag of frozen veggies. I split the bag of ramen noodles between the two pots, added about a cup and a half of water to each and brought it to a boil. I added bullion to each pot, and I added some of the seasonings I usually use in stir fry. (Crushed red pepper, ginger, etc.) 10 minutes later, dinner was ready. THIS STUFF WAS AWESOME! Better than the original lettuce wraps!
What did you do to save money this week?
1) We have electric baseboard heat throughout the house. The thermostats on the heaters are original to the house (1970). Husband replaced the thermostats in the rooms where they were not working effectively. i.e.- our room, the thermostat is either on, and the temperature is over 80, or it's off. He replaced 2 thermostats. We'll see if there's any savings reflected in the next electric bill.
2) This one isn't mine so much as middle child's. He is getting ready to go back to school, where he does much of his own cooking. We put together a ton of mason jar meals for him to take back with him. While we were at it, we made up several other jars to take up to his brother for his birthday. I'll post pictures from that escapade later this week!
3) I'm in the middle of cleaning out the big, sopping mess from the chest freezer. I've been looking at the rubber gasket, too. I think we might need to replace that - there's several places where the seal isn't what it should be - and I think that's why there's as much ice as there is inside of the freezer.
4) This is my third week without a Starbucks run! I'm not sure whether I should be proud of that - or appalled to realize that I've been stopping by there for tea quite so often....
What we had for dinner:
1) Salmon Filet - with butternut squash cubes and slices brussel sprouts (sauteed in olive oil)
2) Salmon with Rice Pilaf - from the leftover salmon filet. Husband made the pilaf with lemon juice instead of vegetable broth. The lemons were leftover from the clearance rack find. We had a side salad to go with this to round out our veggies.
3) Homemade Pizza, with homemade sauce pulled from the freezer. I'm still experimenting with recipes for gluten free pizza dough. This recipe wasn't "THE ONE", but it was good! We topped the pizza with onions, bell pepper, and spinach.
4) Spaghetti- made with - you guessed it - more homemade sauce from the freezer!
5) Black Bean Soup
I made this recipe that I found on Smitten Kitchen. You know I didn't make the creme - dairy allergies and all... It's an excellent, stand alone bean soup recipe! I made corn bread to go with this!
6)Lettuce Wraps
Using ground turkey, they were supposed to take like P.F. Chang's lettuce wraps. They weren't that good, but they were okay. I made a vegetarian version for daughter.
7) Ramen Stir Fry
This one's a little harder to explain. I found gluten free ramen noodles. Years ago, I used to make a stir fry recipe with ramen noodles. There were no seasonings in this recipe, though. I took the leftover ground turkey from the Lettuce Wraps. (Yes, two pots were going here - one vegetarian, one meatatarian.) I heated up the meat, and then added a bag of frozen veggies. I split the bag of ramen noodles between the two pots, added about a cup and a half of water to each and brought it to a boil. I added bullion to each pot, and I added some of the seasonings I usually use in stir fry. (Crushed red pepper, ginger, etc.) 10 minutes later, dinner was ready. THIS STUFF WAS AWESOME! Better than the original lettuce wraps!
What did you do to save money this week?
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
NoSpenduary - Week Two
Things We Did to Save Money This Week-
I am working on cleaning through the freezers and pantry. My goal is to eat through a good chunk of what's in there so that we can get rid of one of the two freezers. After all, my in-laws left one of the freezers here when we bought the house. It's over 40 years old. You can't convince me that it's not eating more energy than it's worth! Sooooo.... this leads to item number one:
1) The big, old freezer has been filled with everything from the chest freezer. The chest freezer is unplugged, and being defrosted. Once all of the ice on the sides is melted off, I'll clean it completely out and shift everything back over to the chest freezer.
2) I turned the ceiling fan switches to "winter" mode. They run backwards, pulling the warm air down from the ceiling and back down to the floor - where we need it!
3) I finally went grocery shopping this week. I haven't been since before Christmas. But, we had finally run through the last of the fresh produce in the house, so I made a quick stop at a couple of places to pick up a few things. I went to two year round farm stands in addition to the grocery store. At the first farm, I picked up a 50 pound bag of potatoes and a 20 pound bag of onions, and some lettuce. I also got several bags of their "save these veggies". These are bags of veggies that are not perfect, and could turn soon, but are awesome if they hit a soup pot in the next couple of days. At the second farm, I picked up a box of produce and some eggs. At the grocery store, I picked up the staples I didn't already have on hand: carrots, oatmeal, sugar, coconut milk, etc.
4) I made cakes for the kids' birthday celebrations - sorta. Daughter had a lemon cake. I'll share the recipe here later this week. It took surprisingly few ingredients. Even better, you couldn't tell that it was gluten and dairy free! For middle child's birthday, I was working. His sister made him a cookie cake. She made a batch of chocolate chip cookie dough, and then spread it out on a pizza stone, leaving about a half inch around the edge. Her masterpiece was gluten and dairy full, so I did not get a taste of it. However, since it disappeared within a day, I'm assuming that it was acceptable!
Dinner-
Teriyaki Chicken
So, this is a freezer meal that's been sitting in the big freezer downstairs for way too long. I pulled this out, thawed it out and tossed it into the crock pot before I left for work. We had A LOT of chicken left over. (This really isn't one of my favorite recipes. I think that this is why I've had a couple of the pre-made bags laying around the freezer for so long.)
Chicken Wild- Rice Casserole
I found this recipe HERE on The Kitchn's website. This IS one of my favorite recipes! It is traditionally a freezer meal, but we can never keep it in the freezer for long if we know it's there. We really, really like this recipe! I swapped in the leftover Teriyaki Chicken in place of the raw chicken the recipe calls for. I also used one of the way too many boxes of Long Grain and Wild Rice that I have sitting in the kitchen cabinet!
Taco Night
aka Taco Tuesday! I made 2 huge messes of taco meat, one with real meat and one with fake meat. I served it along with Corn, Refried Beans, and Spanish Rice. We ate a lot of it, but not all of it. It was messy and wonderful! I saved the leftovers to use another night. (This was dinner on middle child's birthday!)
Taco Salad
Combined with lettuce and a bag of Fritos, all of the taco leftovers make one of the best salads known to our family. Seriously, it's an easy meal, and picky eaters love it. (Heck, even I eat it willingly, and I'm not known to love salads!)
Baked Acorn Squash stuffed with Quinoa
I had picked up two big bushels of winter squash for $30 back in the fall. These hardy winter stalwarts last for a long time, but they do need to be eaten! Tender acorn squash are sliced crosswise into rounds, and filled with a vegetable quinoa stuffing. It's filling, healthy, and a great way to warm up the house on a cold winter's evening! You can find the recipe here: Baked Acorn Squash.
(I made this for daughter's birthday. It's one of her favorites!)
Bean Soup
Made with a pound of dried beans.
Baked Beans
I took the leftover bean soup, poured it into a casserole pan, and then drizzled molasses over the top. Baked at 350* for an hour, I thought it was pretty good!
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
NoSpenduary - Week One
The goal at the end of this three month period is to have a nice chunk of change saved up in order to renovate the hallway bathroom. So, here's what I did to save money this week:
Dinners This Week
- Lowered the thermostats throughout the house to 65*. We have baseboard heat throughout the house, so we lowered the thermostats as much as possible.
- I took lunch to work every day. Usually, my lunch was leftovers from one of the other meals.
- Breakfast every day was oatmeal. I picked up a Dairy Free version of Egg Nog just after Christmas. I made overnight oats with my Dairy Free Egg Nog, Craisins, and Pecans. Not too shabby for a quick overnight meal!
- I turned out lights throughout the house in the rooms we weren't using.
- Husband's birthday was this past week. We made his favorite cake for him - German Chocolate - from scratch. I also made a kick-ass stir fry for him. We took him out to the movies for his celebration. (I used a gift card to the movies that was given to us for Christmas for admission.)
Dinners This Week
- Bean Soup. With the leftover ham bone from Christmas, I made a huge pot of bean soup with the little white beans. (Dried). I had leftover roasted veggies from Christmas that I added to the pot. (Carrots, leftover baked potatoes, onions, etc.)
- Baked Beans. I took the leftover bean soup, poured it into a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish, poured a drizzle of molasses over top, and baked it at 350* for 30 minutes.
- Sloppy Joe Potatoes. When we went to my Mom's house to celebrate Christmas two weeks ago, I made Sloppy Joes for dinner. I made two batches - one vegetarian and one with 2 pounds of ground turkey. I froze the leftovers. I pulled them out, and we had that served over baked potatoes for dinner.
- Baked Chicken Fajitas. Believe it or not, I found the recipe on Facebook, via a Tasty feed. (Let's see if the link works! Chicken Fajitas) It was quick and easy! We had leftovers, which I took for lunch both days. (For lunch, I wrapped the leftovers in corn tortillas.)
- Salmon. I found a bigly fillet of salmon on sale this week. We cooked it up for dinner one night. I served it with a huge salad and the leftover sweet potato and pomegranate salad, and baked cabbage steaks. I saved back a portion of the salmon for dinner the next night.
- Salmon Pasta Salad. Made with the leftover salmon.
- Kick Ass Stir Fry. I made this with the last of the leftover ham from Christmas, a couple of scrambled eggs, and all of the raw veggies that were still left from the Christmas veggie tray. (Celery, Carrots, Cauliflower, Broccoli, and an onion.) I used brown rice instead of white rice as our base.
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