Frugal Friday File 2022, week 21...

 

1.  Packed lunches to work or came home all week.

2.  Forgot to place meal order for this week in time, so have been cooking at home.  Not sure it was a great savings over the subscription, but it was a savings over eating out which we did not resort to.

3.  Carey rotated my tires, and gave my car a good once over in anticipation of my road trip this weekend.  He may be an amazing jack of all trades, but his very first trade was car mechanic, so he is amazing to keep around.  :)  I'm driving seven hours alone to visit a friend and my sister.  Very exciting.

4.  Because we cooked at home this week, there are left overs to hold Carey over while I'm out of town.

5.  Jared has been in Chicago for two weeks for some work training, and left his car here rather than long-term parking.  Carey will pick him up at the airport later today and park in the free cell-phone lot where you can park and wait for the passenger to call you after they are through baggage claim and waiting at the curb to be picked up.  I love that they added that lot  and keep it free.

Frugal Friday File 2022, week 20...

 

I was even scarcer than usual around here this week.  I had an out-of-town work meeting that threw me off.  So here is my frugal file for this week.

1.  We have already had temperatures over 100⁰.  Last weekend Carey noticed something was up with our 27-year-old air conditioner.  He took the cover off of the unit and found that the insulation surrounding three wires had worn away due to their constant vibration against each other over the years, and once the now uninsulated wires were in contact with each other they became, for lack of a better description, welded together and a real danger.  My fabulous husband, who was outdoors painting on the house, not only immediately noticed the change in sound coming from the air conditioner, he was able to diagnose, replace, and repair all in about 3 hours.  No waiting days in the stifling heat and humidity for an a/c tech to get to us, no bill, the house didn't even heat up much in that time.  I know I say this all the time, but his skills are amazing, and marrying him was my best frugal decision EVER! 

2.  A coworker at another branch offered to drive a group of us to the work meeting which was about three hours away.  She will be reimbursed for mileage, so we didn't have to share the expense (though I will be sending her a thank you with a little something tucked inside).

3.  My company paid for a nice, and very comfortable, hotel room for of each of us.  A king-size bed all to myself is something I haven't had since Carey retired.  :)

4.  We went out for one meal before the meeting officially began, for which we requested separate checks.  After we got home, the driver of my group emailed each of us instructions to submit the receipts for reimbursement, which I promptly completed.

5.  I thought about going to a book festival this weekend in the city.  It would have been nice as there were lots of authors there for small group talks.  However I know I would have purchased books that I hadn't budgeted for.  So since I was really tired, and wanted to get some things done around here this weekend (as I will be gone next weekend for a rather long solo road trip), I decided to give it a miss.

Frugal Friday File 2022, week 19...

1.  I cancelled a subscription that wasn't as I had hoped.

2.  I finished my library book just a few days into the borrow, so I passed it on to Carey who is now reading it.  Doubling up the free entertainment.

3.  Enjoying playing The New York Times' Wordle on my phone.  There's something nice about a game that doesn't suck me into huge blocks of wasted time.  This one limits me to one short game a day, and it's free.  And I love that my granddaughter recommended insisted I try it.

4.  Continuing to learn about Medicare plans before I have to make selections.

5.  Made it through another week of work!  (Strains of Huey Lewis' Workin' for a Livin' running through my head.)  

What I'm reading Wednesday...

Ghost Ship: The Mysterious True Story of the Mary Celeste and Her Missing Crew by Brian Hicks

 Pretty sure that I've mentioned that my boss and I are both readers and are having a bit of a competition this year.  He outpaced me early, when I started out the year with an 800 pager, but I have since caught up.  

He came into the office with this book last week, and it sounded so interesting.  If you've not heard of the Mary Celeste, it was an American cargo ship that was found floating near the Azores in December of 1872.  There was no one on board; all the crew, along with the captain's wife and two-year-old daughter who were sailing with him, were nowhere to be found, and no hints as to what had happened.

Paul is willing to let me borrow it when he finishes, but I had just finished my last book, and checked the library website and found they had the hard copy available.  I started reading it on Saturday, and it is so hard to put down.  

I haven't told Paul I am already reading it yet.  

Lucky me...

This arrived in Saturday's mail...

My husband used to ask me quite often, "Why haven't you..." to be filled in by any number of things imagineable.  My answer was always, "I just haven't got around to it!"

Guess that answer will no longer fly.

 

Frugal Friday File 2022, week 18...

 

1.  I haven't finished my library book yet...less than 10% to go...and the borrow expired yesterday.  Rather than get back on the reserve list and wait a month or more, and rather than paying $14.99 for the ebook from Amazon to finish it, I remembered on Wednesday to move the borrow to my old Kindle on which I can turn off the wifi.  With the wifi off, the old Kindle can't communicate with Amazon, so the book stays on it and is readable.  It may sound like cheating, but the borrowed ebook is returned from my Amazon account to the library where it can be checked out by the next reader.

2.  Took my lunch to work every day.

3.  In anticipation of my 65th birthday in the fall, I asked around to see if there is someone local who could help us figure out the confusing Medicare plans and supplemental insurance options.  We met with someone who was recommended this week, and it was very helpful.  We haven't made a final decision, and we may continue to research the options, but I feel proud of myself for not waiting till the last minute, and arming us with information that will help us make good choices.

If anyone has any suggestions that you have found helpful, please let me know.

4.  The electric bill arrived, and it is the lowest of the year so far.  I will pay this one with pleasure, as I have a feeling there won't be any low ones going forward.  The forecast is for 100° temperatures both Saturday and Sunday, and mid to high 90s all next week.  The Texas summer is upon us.

5.  I finally placed the Amazon order for essentials only...removing one item which I found more affordable locally.  I made a "Congratulations Graduate" card using the recipient's school colors.  Switching my work wardrobe to the summer choices, and not buying anything new.  Was notified this week that our company is increasing starting wages to stay competitive in the hiring market; so will also be giving current employees a pay increase to compensate.  Made dessert for Sunday family supper last week incorporating Easter candy so it didn't go to waste.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

Small World by Jonathan Evison

I'm over halfway through the 480 pages of this library ebook.  I don't generally like books that travel back and forward in time repeatedly, and/or have each chapter in the voice of a different character.  This one does both, and for multiple members of multiple families, as it follows characters from the 19th century through present day.

And yet the story is good enough that I have trouble putting it down.