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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