Up to my neck in tax work

This has been my week to figure our tax obligations for the past year. Every year, our taxes get just a little more complicated. Every year, I have one or more new forms to fill out. This year is no exception. And I do our taxes all long hand.

I think the IRS is in cahoots with the manufacturers of OTC headache medicines. I had a headache on Tuesday, again on Wednesday, in the night Wednesday night and again on Thursday afternoon. I'm done figuring our taxes, but still have to proof everything. I'm not out of the headache woods just yet.

But there is an end in sight. Ah light, beautiful light at the end of the tax tunnel.

You may be thinking, "why doesn't she just use tax software?" At this point, I'm now wondering that very same thing. Oh, there's a part of me that likes a mental challenge (or is it that I'm mentally challenged?). And then there's that old-fashioned part of me that has always done the taxes long hand, so why change things now? But the real answer is this, sometimes I am just too plain old cheap to spring for the $12.99 for tax prep software. After all, if I CAN do the tax work, why not just do it.

So, I spent about 10 hours doing our taxes, and I saved $12.99. So, in effect, I earned myself a whopping $1.29 per hour. Arrrrrgh! Some frugal activities may not really be worth the time spent -- just an FYI. But of course, you already knew that!

Hmmm, on the positive side, my little gray cells got quite the workout this week. Maybe keeping my mind sharp is worth 10 hours of my time. Yep! That's how I'm gonna spin this.

Have a great weekend!

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How I deal with those super large blocks of frozen leafy greens

I buy frozen spinach and collard greens in 3-lb blocks at the restaurant supply (Cash & Carry). Last month, I found the frozen spinach on sale for $2.49/3-lb block. This works out to about 83 cents per pound, or about 52 cents for the equivalent amount in a 10-oz box, typically sold in the traditional grocery store.

The caveat? A 3-lb box of frozen greens isn't so straightforward to deal with. So, how do I use this large of a package?


When I get my groceries home from the store, I set the block of greens on the counter and allow it to sit for about 10 minutes or so, while I put everything else away.

At this point, the block is still mostly frozen, but I'm able to cut it into chunks.

I use my serrated bread knife, and cut the block, packaging and all, in half.

Then I cut each half, in half, leaving me with four 12-oz portions. I wrap each smaller block and pop into them freezer.

It's a few minutes of extra work, but saves me money in the long run.

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Getting it all done

You know the kind of day that I mean, you're rushing from one place to the next, still need to get the laundry in, have nothing available for breakfast the next morning, and dinner is now late to the table.

That was my day last Tuesday. So, when I came in the door from my volunteer work, I had to prioritize the last of the chores. Laundry -- we'd need clean things for the next day. Laundry takes a while, so that had to be job 1.

Next, dinner - we needed to eat. I had cooked rice and some beans on hand, so that's what we'd have for an easy dinner.

Last, we were out of bread and granola. We would need something easy to grab and go for the next morning.

So, while the Rice & Beans was cooking,

I got a batch of muffin batter put together (this time, dried cranberry-orange zest). I've made the same basic muffin recipe for so many years that I have it memorized. And it's the same basic recipe that I use for both pancakes and waffles, as well, just altering the milk/liquid addition as needed for consistency of the batter. Because I don't need to consult a recipe card or cookbook, I can get a batch of batter ready to go into the pan in 5 minutes.

While the muffins baked, I put together a green salad and a fruit salad, to go with dinner. I had brought home some leftover, cut-up fruit from the reception where I hostessed. For the fruit salad, all I needed to do was add a banana and make a dressing with sour cream and jam. A dressing for the green salad was simply chive blossom vinegar, salt, dried garlic, dried onion and oil -- very quick and easy.

When the muffins came out of the oven, the rest of dinner was finished. We ate our dinner while the muffins cooled on the counter. Muffins were bagged up and set on the counter for the morning's breakfast.

One more day managed.

Thank you for reading, this morning, and have a lovely day!

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Getting a real beefy flavor and texture using ground beef

Let's face it, ground beef is often (though not always) the least expensive beef, but also when used as mince, it seems to lack that beefiness that I crave.

Soooooo, if ground beef is the only beef I can afford, I like to prepare it in ways that maximize the beefiness. For me, that means, serving it in chunks, like meatballs, burger patties, Salisbury steak, meatloaf (if there aren't too many "stretchers" in the mix),

and baked in a sheet, using this method, then cutting the cooked ground beef into strips to use in beef with broccoli and for making French dip or bbq beef sandwiches.

I take 1 pound of ground beef, mix in some salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and herbs. My favorite herb with beef is thyme, but oregano will also add flavor.

While you can use fresh garlic and minced onion, I find the powder diffuses flavor through the whole batch of beef better, and those little "bits" don't fall out of the cooked meat strips.

I press this meat mixture into a rimmed baking sheet, like a jelly roll pan (to catch drippings). If the beef is very lean, I grease the pan first. The beef should be about 1/8-inch to 1/4-inch thick all over.

Bake in the oven, about 425 degrees F, until browned all over, and thoroughly cooked, about 15-23 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to rest for 1 minute,

then cut into strips for topping a French roll, for French dip sandwiches, or, adding to the stir-fried vegetables at the last minute for beef with broccoli, or, topped with bbq sauce, and placed on small buns for bbq beef sliders.

For the French dip sandwiches, you can make an easy au jus with just beef bouillon granules, onion and garlic powders, heated in water.

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Woohoo -- Oh No!!

So, Monday morning, after dropping my daughter off at the transit center, I stopped in to Fred Meyer to pick up an essential. I always make the rounds of the markdown spots (but you knew that already). In the produce department, I found some more boxes of leafy greens. Perfect! I'll buy 2 boxes. We'll have salads again for a couple of days. The sell-by date was still a a day away, so the greens should be decent quality still. Or so I thought.

Imagine my disappointment when I opened the first box to find the lettuce laced with slimy brown leaves. No, I don't mean one or two bad leaves. I mean loads of bad leaves. I washed and sorted both boxes of leaves, picking out all of the decomposing ones, then repacked the boxes, lining with a tea towel to absorb any excess moisture. I composted 3 heaping cups of bad leaves.

I was thinking I should take these back. But it would have cost me more in gas to make that return than I would receive in a refund.

So, what's a consumer to do when they buy a product and discover it falls way below their standards? (And you know that I can be rather unfussy about some purchases, right?)

I went online and filled out a customer comment form. I made the comment as informative as possible, giving product codes, dates of purchase, sell-by dates, the amount of wasted, edible product, and I emphasized that this product should have never been made available to the consumer, and I'm informing them so that they can continue to work towards their goal of providing excellent groceries at a decent price.

I was nice, but to the point. I gave as many details as I could about the product, so that they could follow up on this item. And of course, I gave them 3 ways to contact me, a phone number, a street address, and an email address. So now, I await a response from them and will give you the info on how they handle my comment.


And just why am I telling you all of this? Because I want you to feel empowered to contact product manufacturers when you find something to be inferior to your expectations. There was a part of me that wanted to say, "oh well, live and learn" and just not do anything about it. After all, it was only $1.98 that I spent.

But I remembered another blogger's tale of contacting a manufacturer about a frozen turkey purchased a couple of years ago. Her turkey came missing a wing. This isn't something that you can see through the opaque wrapping. She felt it her duty and right to bring this to the attention of the company.

That incident stuck with me, and gave me the push that I needed to do something about this past-its-prime lettuce that I purchased. I hope to do the same for you. Give you that little nudge to make your concerns known.

And now here it is, about day after emailing my comment, and I have indeed heard from the customer service department. They thanked me for informing them of the problem and have snail-mailed me a coupon for use in the store. I have no idea what the value of that coupon is, but that wasn't my point.

When I have to make a complaint about a product or service, I don't really count on "getting" anything in return. The thing that I look for in a manufacturer or retail establishment is courtesy and promptness in addressing my concerns. I want to feel like my concerns matter to them.

I'll continue shopping at Fred Meyer, and enjoying good deals. But I will look more closely at all marked down items that I buy in the future.


Have you ever had to make a customer complaint? How did you handle it? Did you feel you were taken seriously?

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The one kind of food that I will not eat after the sell-by date

You all know that many foods are still "safe" to eat after the sell-by date. But there is one type of food that many experts agree that you should NOT eat after a use-by date.

That is cured, packaged meat, like cold cuts and hot dogs. The issue with these meats is listeria, a bacteria that unlike many other germs, can grow even in the cold of the refrigerator.

And this isn't just a phobic reaction on my part. Listeriosis is serious. Here's a link to foodsafety.gov with more information on this type of infection. Read for yourself, and you decide.

I did have to throw away some hot dogs, a while back, because I let them go a couple of weeks beyond the use-by date. I hated to throw them out, but it was one of those instances of better safe than sorry. If those hot dogs were just one or two days past the use-by date, it's possible that I could have just boiled the bejeebers out of them, insured a high internal temperature, and then maybe they'd have been "safe" to eat. However, these were about 2 weeks past that date, and I was taking no chances. There's a good chance that they would have tasted off by this time, anyways.


So, what do I do when I find a great deal on soon to expire hot dogs or lunch meat? I freeze these items the same day I purchase them. When I'm shopping, I have to factor in, "do I have time today to repackage this, if necessary, before freezing?" Only really an issue with large packages of meat, but I do need to think this through. Fortunately, with hot dogs, they can just be tossed in the freezer, and somewhat easily used one at a time, pried apart, even while still frozen. I just had a lapse with that package a couple of month ago.

How about you? Would you eat hot dogs or lunch meat past the use-by date? Do you think I'm just being overly cautious? Have you ever had food poisoning? Did it turn you off from eating that food ever again? I won't eat Vienna Sausages, after a very bad episode with them many years ago.

If I don't keep up with my mending pile,

then a little thing like this

becomes something more like this -- Granny Thongs

But with just a quick zig-zag stitch, doesn't even have to be a matching color thread (c'mon now, who's going to see what color thread I did my mending with, here?), I can get many more serviceable weeks out of this pair.

And that holier-than-Swiss cheese pair? I can get a little more wear out of them, too, with a zip on the sewing machine.

Not glamorous, but it'll do. ("Aw, Mom!!!!! You've got your undies on your blog today!!!")

Hope I made you laugh today! Have a great weekend.
warmly,
Lili

This week's lunch round-up: making do with less fresh produce

We're in the phase of the year when we need to make do, as much as possible, with regards to fruits and vegetables. My kids love produce, so sending them off for the day with just a sandwich and some nuts just won't cut it. It also wouldn't be terribly healthful.

I am out of carrots and oranges. These are my usual winter lunch-box staples. We're just very low on fresh produce for the time being. So, I inventoried the frozen and canned fruits and veggies in my kitchen and came up with: frozen crabapple sauce, some wrinkly fresh apples, potatoes, frozen spinach, canned pumpkin, canned tomatoes, and home-dried prunes.

For lunches this week:

• cooked the wrinkly apples and combined with some frozen crabapple sauce
• mashed potatoes with cottage cheese, garlic and spinach
• individual snack-size containers of prunes and peanuts
• veggie lasagna with pasta, canned tomatoes, garlic, cottage cheese, tofu, herbs and spinach
• pumpkin pie
• peanut butter sandwiches

When I made out my plan, I realized that I had 4 dishes to cook up with this lunch round-up. So I made my cooking do double-duty. What I prepared for lunches, became Monday's and Tuesday's dinners (or at least part of), as well.

Everything I made this week had to be completely vegetarian, as on many days, it could sit out in a heated room for several hours, so no using animal fats for sautéing vegetables, and limited egg use. And it all had to be "safe" to eat without reheating, in a pinch. The spinach lasagna may be tastier when heated, but it would still be good and "safe" if eaten cold. (I like cold pasta, myself.)

Full disclosure, here. This was a lot of scratch-cooking for me on Monday. I also had financial matters to tend to, and be out the door for my class by 4:45. So, as you can guess, my hair did not get combed, nor my face washed until 2-ish! I did shower and dress early in the day, as I'm more productive if I'm dressed and in shoes. A day when I ate standing up at the kitchen counter, had an empty bag in the middle of the kitchen floor for garbage, and many things were set on the floor, table, or chairs, as I was constantly running out of space!

Good music blaring, a plan and timetable, and I was cooking up a storm in my kitchen. Good times!


And just for fun (accounting purposes), I did a little cost estimate.

the lasagna . . . about $3 for 10 servings
the spinach-cheese potatoes . . . about  $2.25 for 10 servings
the pumpkin pie . . . about $1.35 for a whole pie (10 small servings)
the apple-crabapple sauce . . . about 15 cents for 7 servings (apples and crabapples from our mini-orchard, 15 cents for the sugar)

If any one of us ate all of this in one sitting, it would have cost $6.75, (and they'd be exploding), still a lot cheaper than one meal in the cafeteria at my daughters' university, at $9.25 for ONE meal!


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Seeing the potential in markdowns at the grocery store: the dairy case

Whether it's an item marked down to clear (about to reach the sell-by date), or a really great advertised sale, to really reap the benefits of a low, low price, I've found that I need to look way past those sell-by dates and my usual uses for the items.

Many dairy items keep long past the sell-by date, and I've had success freezing and using all dairy products, by knowing how best to freeze each type, and how to use the thawed item.

All dairy products can be frozen. However, freezing changes the texture (water separates from solids). But frozen, then thawed dairy items are still very useful in cooking and baking.

Dairy products will also "keep", unopened, from 7 days to several weeks past the sell-by date. This means the window for fresh use is much greater than one would think.

When I am shopping, and find one of these awesome deals, I run through my mind how many different ways I can use the item (will it solve a shortage dilemma somewhere in my current food supply), as well as how much freezer space I currently have. So, I've identified the "best features" for each item that I find in the dairy case, on markdown, as well as best uses for previously-frozen dairy items.

sour cream
best features

• creamy for soups, sauces and toppings
• adds moisture to baked goods

uses, fresh only

• mayo substitute in salad dressings, add vinegar, salt for flavor (I'm currently out of mayo. Best price on mayo, here, is $2.19/30 ounces. My find on sour cream was $1.58/32 ounces. The sour cream will fill the role of mayo substitute for the next month.)
• top soups
• strain to make a thickened sour cream for scones and topping desserts
• make guacamole or other dips for crackers or chips

uses, previously-frozen or fresh

• add to casseroles for creamy sauce
• make stuffed baked potatoes, to freeze
• add to coffee cake for moisture
• add to sugar cookie recipes

Freeze it to use in baking later. The texture changes, so it's best for baking or cooking purposes.

Fresh, use within 7-10 days past opening.
Any left over at end of the week- freeze in small portions to add to creamy soups and sauces, or amounts for adding to specific baking recipes.
With regards to that sell-by date, I've had unopened containers of sour cream remain good to eat for a couple of weeks past the sell-by date.
How to know if it's gone "bad"? Look for a pinkish tint, mold or an "off" smell.

cottage cheese 
best features

• it's creamy
• meltable as a cheese
• high in protein

how to use cottage cheese, besides the traditional "dieter's plate"

• protein boost to smoothies
• mixed into hot mashed potatoes, or making twice-baked potatoes (can be frozen for future meals)
• use a ricotta cheese substitute in lasagna and other Italian pasta dishes that call for ricotta
• as an open-face sandwich topping, spread on crackers or toast, add salt/pepper and sliced tomatoes
• a lo-cal/high protein/lo-carb "cheesecake" type dessert for Atkins dieters (this recipe was popular in the 70s, my mom ate this a lot) basically, it's eggs cottage cheese, vanilla extract, artificial sweetener -- baked in the oven until knife inserted comes out clean
• can also be substitute for cream cheese in the regular high fat cheesecake
• filling for blintzes and crepes
• a hi-protein/lo-fat ice cream substitute. Puree, add sweetener, a bit of liquid in the form of lemon juice, coconut milk or other milk (depending on flavor you want), flavorings, like lemon extract, vanilla extract, almond extract, cocoa powder, then put in an ice cream maker.
• add to homemade mac and cheese, to boost protein and cut amount of hard cheese needed
• filling pastry for cheese-filled danish or Greek spanakopita
• making a creamy/cheesy spinach casserole

Use within 7-10 days of opening.
Cottage cheese freezes well, but separates after thawing. Best if using in cooking.

whipping cream
best features

• it whips to fluffy consistency
• creamy texture

When I find this on markdown it has just a few days until expiry, so it's best if I plan on freezing it. I freeze it whipped and sweetened, in ready-to-use mounds.
I also freeze in ice cube trays, to add a bit of creaminess to cooked soups and sauces.

half and half creamers
best feature

• creaminess

I use half and half, fresh, within 7 days of sell-by date, kept refrigerated.
I freeze it in ice cube trays to stir into coffee to use in cooking in small amounts later

some ways to use extra half and half

• add to milk when making homemade yogurt, to add creaminess
• make eggnog
• make homemade ice cream (this is a great way to "keep" the half and half in the freezer for future use, IMO, already made up as ice cream!)
• use in baking, soups and sauces, for moisture and creaminess

milk
best features:

• great source of calcium, Vit D and protein
• adds creaminess and moisture to cooking and baked goods

My family has no problem drinking previously-frozen milk. When they were younger, and pickier, I sometimes put the thawed milk through the blender to reincorporate any separation, or would make chocolate milk either in the blender or just by stirring in chocolate syrup, or added to smoothies. But only when they complained loudly. It isn't every container that will have a separation issue, just FYI.

I use fresh milk up to 7 days past the sell-by date.
I freeze it in the gallon jugs, with a it removed for expansion when freezing.
Milk that is souring, I freeze in 1 cup containers, to use for pancakes, waffles and coffeecakes.

yogurt
best features

• protein
• calcium
• creamy

For eating yogurt as is, yogurt is best fresh. It separates when frozen. However, there are many ways to use frozen yogurt.

• substitute for sour cream in baking (either sweetened or plain)
• adds creaminess to sauces/soups
• add to smoothies for protein/calcium
• strain plain yogurt for a soft cream cheese substitute to spread on crackers, or, use in lasagna or other pasta dishes calling for ricotta, or, top desserts, or, make cheesecake-like dessert
• with plain yogurt, use as a starter for homemade yogurt
• make dips for veggies, chips or crackers
• substitute for mayo in salad dressings (makes a great dressing for fruit salad, with a little honey or jelly added)

Yogurt will keep a couple of weeks past sell-by date, if unopened. It may have separated. You can either pour off the whey for baking liquid, or stir it back in. Not an issue for most folks, and separation does NOT indicate that it has gone bad (or has a plethora of bad bacteria).
You can freeze yogurt, but the texture changes. So it's best used in cooking or pureeing like in smoothies, when thawed.

hard cheese
best features

• meltable
• high protein

Hard cheese, still unopened will keep a long time in the fridge.
But also, it freezes well. It becomes a bit drier/more crumbly. To use as you would not-frozen cheese, in sandwiches, you would need to pre-slice loaf cheese before freezing.

soft cheese
best feature

• creamy
• protein source

If freezing, try doing so in cooking or serving portions. Some of the water will separate upon freezing.
Cream cheese has kept, unopened, for months past sell-by date, in my refrigerator.

uses

• use in frostings
• spreads and cheese balls
• creamy soups and sauces
• add to mac and cheese

butter

If keeping in the fridge, try to use within 2 months of sell-by date.
Otherwise, just pop it into the freezer. It will keep frozen for 9 months past the sell-by date. No special wrapping or packaging, just toss the butter in the carton, right into the freezer. If you by your butter in just a waxed paper wrap (restaurant supply stores carry butter this way), then toss it into a freezer bag, just to keep off-flavors out.

margarine

You can freeze margarine, and it will stay fresh-tasting for up to 8 or 9 months past that sell-by date. It may pick up off-flavors past 9 months.
But even kept in the fridge, margarine will be fresh-tasting and safe to eat, up to 5 months past the sell-by date. That was a shocker to me when I read that!


So, by looking past that sell-by date, and thinking of new ways to use the items, I can take real advantage of these unexpected deals. If I had a smart phone while shopping, I'd be tempted to quickly google uses for an item that I found on markdown, to give me an idea of how much I should buy.

Perhaps you live in an area where marked-down dairy is unheard of. These same ideas also work for that about-to-turn last cup of milk in the jug, or that half container of cottage cheese that you don't know what to do with. Or maybe you're an empty-nester and you want to still reap the benefits of buying the most economical size of sour cream, milk or yogurt. It's not a bargain if you have to throw half of it away. Knowing how to use and freeze each item saves me money, month after month.



Input? I'd love to hear what you have to say on this. And if you find this post helpful, please share, as that's what I'm trying to do, here, share what I've learned so that we all can meet our financial goals. Google+, FB, pinterest, all have the potential to reach more folks who could use this information.

Just call me queen of the markdowns?

Running errands on Wednesday --

I hit the jackpot at Fred Meyer. I always make a pass by the packaged produce section, dairy case, and the marked down meat bin when I stop in a store. I was tired and had a head cold on Wednesday, s nearly didn't make these usual stops. Am I ever glad that I did!

I was only going in for eggs ($1.25/dozen), but halfway through shopping, I had to upscale my shopping cart from the small one, to the large!

I found eleven 8-oz cartons of sliced white mushrooms for 79 cents each. I'm cooking some of them in butter, to freeze for future use.

four 10-oz clamshells of broccoli crowns for 99 cents each

three 5.5-oz clamshells of 50/50 baby spinach and spring leafy greens for 99 cent each

nine gallons of 2% milk for $1.50 each (I could have bought more, but that's the limit of my freezer storage

four 16-oz containers of sour cream for 79 cent each

two 16-oz containers of cottage cheese for $1.09 each

and two 1-lb packages of 93% lean ground beef ($3.89 each) and one 1-lb package of 93% lean ground turkey ($2.49)

I left with a large shopping cart filled to the brim, and spent about $50. Not bad!

It varies from one store to the next, but each store usually has several markdown (reduced to clear) spots.

• bulk produce, where you'd find pieces of fruit or veggies, especially bananas
• packaged produce, where you'd find ready-to-eat, preached items in plastic clamshells or bags such as lettuce, fresh spinach, mushrooms, cut melons, fresh broccoli tops, and sometimes tofu
• the dairy case, where you'd find containers of yogurt, sour cream, cottage cheese, canned biscuit dough, packaged cookie dough
• the milk cooler, where you'd find cartons and jugs of milk, whipping cream, some non-dairy creamers, some non-dairy beverages like some cartons soy milk, and sometimes "fresh" orange juice
• the egg cooler (I've only once found eggs on mark down)
• the fresh meat department -- meat may be in a special section of the meat dept, or it may have markdown labels on the packages in it's regular spot
• the packaged deli/meat dept, for items like fresh sausage, bacon, hot dogs, lunch meat, cheese, sometimes tofu
• a dry goods clearance section, where discontinued, post-holiday, and about to expire items that do not need refrigeration, often at the back of the store

A few of these marked-down-to-clear items, such as fresh melon cubes and lettuce, need immediate consumption. But for most of them, they can be easily frozen, with minimal preparation.

Cartons of liquids (like "fresh" orange juice, milk) will need room in the carton for expansion while freezing, and I'll need to pour a small amount off and use it right away. Some items may need a small amount of preparation, such as pre-cooking the mushrooms before freezing, or blanching fresh broccoli crowns, or whipping the whipping cream, spooning into mounds on waxed paper, then freezing. But many of the items, like the tofu, whole bananas, lunch meat, bacon, hot dogs and fresh meat can go in the freezer in the package that it was purchased in.

And then, a few items store in the fridge for many weeks past the expiry date, such as fresh eggs, canned biscuit dough, refrigerated cookie dough, cottage cheese, sour cream, and chunk or loaf cheese.

Of course, those pantry items, like boxed pasta, that are merely discontinued or post-holiday, will keep on the shelf for many weeks beyond your purchase, if unopened. I buy our holiday candy (such as Valentine's, Easter and Christmas candy) each year, immediately after each holiday, on clearance, then save until the next year.

Some great deals to had. But it is hit or miss!

Do you look for clearance markdowns? What have you found marked down to clear at the grocery store? Tell me what your stores will mark down. Are you in an area that only marks down very old bananas? Or do you find meat on mark down, too? What's been your *best* deal, ever?

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Lessons from my art class

I'm taking an art class this quarter and my instructor has given me a couple of pieces of wisdom that could really apply to other areas of my life.

After I've been working on a piece for a while, she'll come around to me and remind me to stand back a bit, and look at my work from a distance. She can see that I've become entranced with the details of my work, and overlook my progress with the "big picture".

If you like to craft or do needlework of any sort, then you've likely experienced this over-focus on the details. You see the flaws, because you are close to your work, but nobody else even notices what you perceive to be monumental errors. It isn't until I step back and try to see my work through fresh eyes that I can think to myself, "yeah, this looks pretty good!"

And I tend towards this narrow vision, in life itself. I focus on specific areas, those with which I feel I'm most failing. With my role in our family's finances, I sometimes feel I should be doing better -- more exacting, more precise, more perfect. I pretty much know that I'm doing great with our grocery budget. And I feel comfortable with how much we spend on utilities. But I do feel I could do better with other areas, like shopping around for a better rate for our car/home owner insurance. Or taking more economical vacations.

Then I'm reminded to step back, and look at our financial "big picture". We're on track with our goals. We are comfortable with our giving. And even when I'm critical with my spending choices, overall, we are quite sensible with our spending. While details do matter, fussing too much with the details detracts from my overall satisfaction with our finances.

There are no grades in my art class. I either show up and do the work to learn new skills, or I miss out. It's the process and not the final piece that matters. When I'm sewing a pair of pj pants for one of my daughters, I know I won't be graded on the final product. I could very easily buy a pair of pj pants of similar or even better quality than I sew. But that's not the point. The love is in the "making". And fortunately, there won't be a financial report card issued at the end of this life. If I don't manage every aspect of our finances perfectly, we'll still be okay. The big picture looks good.

January 2015 Grocery Money Journal: making progress!

Oh boy, I've got a large deficit coming into the new year. $117.41 in the hole to carry into this month, leaving me only $42.59 for the entire month. I know I'll likely spend more than that, but I should be able to bring the deficit down quite a bit, anyway.

Here goes:

January 1. First day of the new year. It even feels lighter and brighter now that we're into January. Perhaps this is a good omen for our financials for 2015. Anyway. . . stopped in Dollar Tree and picked up 4 quarts of soy milk, enough to get through the month. Spent $4

January 6. Bartell's, the local drugstore chain in the NW, has a large electronic board right at a major intersection on my drive to and from local errands. They're advertising Seattle's Best Coffee, $3.99/12-oz bag. A bag of decaf would be very nice to have. I pick up 1 bag. Also, they're advertising Guittard chocolate chips for $1.99/12-oz bag. This is a brand that I find to be quite good -- very creamy. And they often have the white chocolate, as well as milk and semi-sweet. I buy 2 bags of white chocolate chips (good melted, for dipping cookies, or for drizzling over the tops of desserts), and 4 bags of semi-sweet. I spend $15.93

Also on January 6, just down the road is Dollar Tree. If I'm gong to make my favorite oatmeal-cranberry-pecan cookies, I'll need some pecans. They've been carrying small bags of pecans halves all fall and now into winter (I don't have one of the bags in front of me, but I think the price per pound was about $10-something, decent enough for our area). I buy 2 bags and a box of baking soda (59cents). Spent $2.59

January 8. Walgreen's has eggs on for $1.49/dozen. This is not a stellar price, but we are needing eggs, and this may just be the new normal on egg sales, for the time being. I decide to buy 4 dozen. While there, I find markdowns on lunch meat ham, milk, and turkey bacon. The turkey bacon and lunch meat ham are 99cents/package. The milk is $1.99/gallon. I buy 10 packages of turkey bacon, 9 packages of Oscar Meyer ham and 1 gallon of 1% milk. I also peruse the leftover Christmas candy section and find both Special Dark Hershey's Kisses and the regular Milk chocolate Hershey's Kisses, 8.5-oz bags for $1.04 each. I buy 2 Special Dark and 1 milk chocolate. Total spent at Walgreen's today -- $29.88

January 24. We are really needing some produce these days. The transit center where I have to pick up one daughter is near the Cash and Carry wholesaler, so I swing by there, and buy 3-lb box of frozen spinach ($2.49), almost 6 lbs of bananas for 49cents/lb, 5-lb bag frozen peas ($3.54), large bag of medium-sized avocados, 16-count ($6.98 -- that's about 44cents for each avocado, great deal for our area), a 5-lb bag of carrots ($2.15), 1 head of green cabbage ($2.00), 1 19-oz package of firm tofu ($1.54), and 3 large cans of party peanuts (56-oz cans, for $5.95 each, that's $1.70/lb). Total spent today, $39.47

So far, we're up to $91.87. I won't need much more in these last few days of the month. But still I will carry another deficit into the next month.

January 28. Dollar Tree to pick up some flour tortillas and a box of crackers for the gang at home, for when I'm away over the weekend. Spent $2.

Well, well, well. I didn't need another single thing this month. Total spent for the month of January, $93.87. I reduced my deficit from $117.41 to $51.28, going into February!! Whoopee! Yeah, yeah, if I hadn't bought the chocolate chips or clearance Christmas chocolate, I'd have done better. But those treats will be welcome in the coming months, and will prevent me from buying other, more costly treats. (That's what I'm telling myself, anyway.) I've already used some of the white chocolate for dipping my favorite oatmeal cookies. And I'll be using some of the dark chocolate for dipping strawberries for Mother's Day, and making English toffee for Father's Day. If I get to it, I'd like to make truffles for Valentine's Day. And of course, some good old chocolate chip cookies sound like a plan sometime in the next month. See, at least I have a plan!

And a bit of good news on income. My husband received a cost of living raise, effective in January. This means I can raise our grocery budget a smidgen. Next month, we'll have a budget of $175 for groceries, instead the $160 we've been living on. I know we can do this!

How are grocery prices in your area? Are you seeing any relief on some of the basics, like eggs, milk and meat? Or are prices remaining high?

Wishing you all well.
warmly,
Lili

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