2024 Frugal Friday File, November 29...

1.  Worked three days this week.

2.  Though I have made some Amazon purchases lately, they've not been impulse purchases because of Black Friday pricing.  I've bought some Christmas gifts.  I've bought a craft supply to make Christmas gifts that I couldn't find elsewhere. 

I did notice that the printer I bought earlier in the year was 40% off for Black Friday, so I sent its link to a friend who needs a printer and had discussed mine's capabilities with me several times.  Didn't save myself any money, but I am happy to help a friend save some.

3.  Bought T-shirts at Goodwill.  Made sure all the tags were the color of the day to get them for half price.  Will use them to make T-shirt yarn to make a Christmas gift.

4.  The end of fall semester is almost over, and the girls will be home from school.  They have contacted their former place of employment about working during the holiday, but weren't able to get on the schedule.  Hopefully I can hire them to help me get some tasks done around the house where young muscle will get needed things done.

5.  The only thing Kasey asked me to contribute to the Thanksgiving feast was a Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie for which I had all the ingredients on hand.  

On the menu this week:

Saturday:  C: leftovers, me: skipped supper

Sunday:  out for Chinese food

Monday:  homemade pizza

Tuesday:  leftovers

Wednesday:  pot pies

Thursday:  Thanksgiving feast at Kasey and Beau's

Friday:  Ham or turkey, Macaroni & Cheese, veg

The monster in the machine...

Blogger will not upload my photo.

That is a problem for another day. 

I 'think' the email issue is figured out.  I have lost count of how many techs I have spoken to.  The last one spent at least an hour trying to figure it out.  He said that my email was working fine, but that it was a problem with Google.  I had tried to relog into Google, but it insisted on sending a code to my email address on file...you guessed it, that email wouldn't go through to my inbox.  A wicked, WICKED circle of doo-doo.  (Doo-doo is apparently a technical term, as I once had a gastroenterologist use it in response to my question to him about my mother's colonoscopy scans.  I then asked him how many years he attended school to use such big words.  I mean seriously did I look like such a rube that I wouldn't understand if he said fecal matter?)

But I digress.

I finally told the tech at my email service to enter a note on my 'ticket' that customer went into hysterics and asked to please end the call, because her head was exploding as I cunningly let my voice crack with the sound of impending tears.  He was appropriately sympathetic, and did as I asked.

After a short cooling off period, I went back to Google and requested the sign in code be sent to my phone, and miracle of miracles it somehow worked.  It previously had NOT worked because I had to be signed in for my phone to receive new messages also.

Anyway, I am still not sure what I did wrong, or right, or when it will all happen again.  At least maybe I will feel a little better when I enter my new password, because it includes a bad work, and it's not DOO-DOO!

2024 Frugal Friday File, Nov 22...

 

1.  Grocery order this week was made with an eye for the future.  'Tis the season for turkey, and my receipt shows that I paid $2.17 for a 14.5 pound frozen turkey.  It went straight into our freezer to be roasted at a later date, for sandwiches, soups, and casseroles.  Hams were also on special, so splurged on one to go with my homemade mac & cheese, and then more sandwiches and soups.  Large package of boneless beef rib meat was cubed by me, then half went into a slow cooker beef stew, and the other half was vacuum sealed and put in freezer for another stew later.

    This week's grocery order total was way higher than usual, but the proteins purchased will stretch much further than just one week of meals.  The high total also included the purchase of mixed nuts and other snack items which made a big batch of trail mix, which I packaged into grab-and-go individual servings.  We frequently skip lunch, and just grab a high protein snack instead.

2.  Using the same holiday decorations collected over a lifetime.  Will make an attempt (again) to  downsize the collection by donating some.  

3.  The trip was an inexpensive one aside from transportation (which was budgeted and paid for months ago).  We entertained ourselves with our craft supplies (I took my own with me), and talking.    My friend doesn't claim to be a good cook, but she IS.  The first night I was there she made a delicious meatloaf dinner, and since meatloaf sandwiches are one of my favorite things ever (and I discovered they are one of hers as well), we ate those on other days, along with crackers and cheese, pumpkin scones, and other treats I know I'm forgetting.  She made some shrimp tacos one evening when her family came over; SO good.  I have already made those for Carey since I've been home.

4.  We dropped off our recycling, and got our DQ treat.  Rudy loves recycling trips and treats!  Fun for the whole family, and cheap as "dates" go.  :)

5.  I'm having a challenge with my e-mail.  Almost nothing is coming into my inbox.  I've called our provider each of the past two days.  I've done what they suggested.  It is still not accepting most e-mails.  Very frustrating.  I've had the same email account for 25 years, and am not excited about having to change.  Is this frugal?  Meh.  Not really, but it was on my mind.  And if anyone leaves a comment, I won't get an email reminder to publish the comment.  :(

On the menu this week:

Saturday:  Homecooked meal from freezer

Sunday:  Family Supper at Kasey & Beau's

Monday:  me: Hot & Sour Soup, C: pot pie

Tuesday:  Shrimp Tacos

Wednesday:  Honey Roasted Veg & Sausage sheet-pan meal

Thursday:  Beef Stew and Cornbread

Friday:  leftovers

**designates meatless meal

A lovely visit and back home...

 

I was gone last week to visit my friend Debbie.  We laughed, and made cards, and laughed, and ate, and laughed.  I was able to attend a book group with her, and also tour the inside of their beautiful Orthodox Church.  

The photo above is of me and her cat...talk about a balancing act!  I bent over to get some stamp supplies out of my case, and he jumped up on my shoulders.  :)  I would have shown a photo of Debbie and I together, but since I didn't ask permission, I figured I'd stick with the cat.

We worked on Christmas cards.  I made five or so prototypes, but haven't settled on one that I will mass produce to send out.  Debbie is aiming to make one hundred cards to mail out!  I will be making well less than that (if I get them done at all).  I've got to decide and get busy, as I want to mail them the end of November.

I made my menu for the week, and ordered and picked up my groceries.  The tab was high, but there are planned overs included into the menu plan, so will restock the freezer with homecooked meals.   My order included a turkey since they were on sale; it is in the freezer to use later.  I also bought a large package of beef boneless shoulder ribs, which I cubed for stew meat.  I put half into the crock pot with vegetables, and at six o'clock tonight I will be thanking myself for the supper already being done.  The other half of the cubed meat I vacuum sealed and put in the freezer for another future meal.

The girls will be home this weekend, and we will be making pizza together.  They are both good cooks, but haven't tried their hand at pizza dough yet, so I thought I'd share the quick and easy method I've been using for awhile now.

I put up the Christmas tree on Tuesday.  I don't like to do it before Thanksgiving, but with Thanksgiving late this year, and me having to work all of Thanksgiving week, I wanted to get it done.  I haven't added the ornaments yet, but hoping to later today.  I have presents to wrap and get under it too.

So that's what I've been doing.  How 'bout you?

What I'm reading Wednesday...

 

The Librarianist by Patrick deWitt

This one is an ebook checked out from the library.  I've been reading it for awhile, I'm maybe a little less than halfway through.  Been busy.  Good thing it's on my super old Kindle Keyboard on which I can turn off the Wifi...my library books get returned from my Amazon account, but they stay on the Kindle Keyboard till I turn Wifi back on.

2024 Frugal Friday File, November 8...

 

1.  Back when I was cleaning out the garage, I loosened my purse strings to pay for a month of Audible, so I could listen to a book while working in the heat.  I immediately cancelled the subscription when its purpose had been completed.  Since then they have been sending me "special" offers, which were not special enough to get me to subscribe again.  But the night before I left for retreat, my email inbox had an offer of 99¢ a month for three months along with 1 free book credit per each of those months.  So $3 for 3 months and 3 free books.  Yeah, I can spring for that!

2.  I paid right at $300 for 3 1/2 days and 4 nights at the quilt retreat.  It was very reasonable for what we received.  Each full day that we were there, we received a continental breakfast, and lunch, dinner, and desserts cooked on site.  The rooms were shared; I was in a room for 3, but only 2 of us were in there.  My roommate is one of my favorite people, and it was like a long slumber party with lots of laughs, and someone to share the nervous energy during the election returns.  The meals were very good, and all we had to do was come to the table when we were called.  That meant we had as much uninterrupted sewing time as we wanted.

The retreat also arranged for a car detailer and a massage therapist to come in for those who booked and paid separately.  And there was a wine tasting by an independent winery who came to the retreat.  I did not book any of the extras while I was there, but thought it was awesome that they were available for those who chose to.

We've already reserved dates for next November.

3.  I worked on UFOs (UnFinished Objects), so no new fabric was purchased.  I thought I might have to buy fabric to add binding to the table runner I took (it was finished ages ago, except for the binding).  I had picked up a small scrap as I was packing of what I hoped to use, but wasn't sure it would be enough.  It was enough, barely, so crisis averted.  

4.  Carey was able to feed himself from the homecooked freezer meals in the freezer while I was away.  He had two smallish servings of Dublin Coddle thawing in the fridge when I got home.  Thursday I made a fresh batch of cornbread to stretch the meal for two.

5.  I finished (and thoroughly enjoyed) my library book shortly after getting home.

What I'm reading Wednesday...

The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie:

A Flavia de Luce Novel

by Alan Bradley

This is one I picked up from the library a couple of days ago.  It's the first in this mystery series, and I put it on reserve after seeing the series in Juhli's post about her book store wish list recently.  It is a hoot.  A mystery whose main character and sleuth is a precocious eleven years old who is a chemistry whiz.

I'm scheduling this post on Friday night (for posting on Wednesday) and I'm only about 1/4 of the way into it.  I'm not sure if I will have much time to read while I'm away at the quilt retreat, so finishing it is up in the air at this point.

Since I cancelled my Audible subscription after the first month (and my garage clean out), the company has been emailing me 'special' deals.  Today (Friday 11/1) they sent one I was totally on board with.  

In case there is election talk at the retreat that I want to tune out, I have charged my ear buds and downloaded this Audible book:  

Libby Lost and Found by Stephanie Booth

I believe it is about a megastar author who is behind getting her next book finished, and is hiding the fact that she is starting to suffer the onset of dementia.  She enlists the help of a superfan of her previous work to keep her on point with past story details.

Quilting by hand is something that doesn't take a lot of concentration for the most part, so there is nothing I love more than being read to while I do it!

Those are my books for this week.  I'm not sure how much time I will have to spend with either of them until I get home, but surely some, even if it's only in the car.  The Audible way...I don't read while I'm driving!  :)