The little thing that thrilled me this week

Okay, so 2 things thrilled me!

First . . .

I bought this packet of bell pepper seeds at Dollar Tree for 25 cents, in spring. We don't exactly live in a place known for summer heat. So, it was a gamble (but for 25 cents, I thought I could swing that).

Anyways, I planted some of the seeds, and took reasonably good care of the plants. And well, looky here.

I've got about 10 baby bell peppers growing! I was so tickled when I first spotted one. On my morning rounds, I check my babies to see how they've grown. I count each and every one, to make sure I didn't count wrong the first time. I make guesses as to how soon they will be big enough to use. I make plans for how I want to cook them. I don't think I've ever had an organic bell pepper before. I know I've never had one fresh off the plant. I wonder if they are sweeter, tastier, juicier, when home-grown. I wonder if I'll be able to control myself and not eat them right out of the garden, as I've been doing with most of the tomatoes as they ripen. These are my excitement of the garden this year.

We've got 1 more month of good growing weather, here. I'm hoping for lots of sun and warmth, for these babies to reach their maturity.

So, my cost was 25 cents (and I still have half a packet of seeds left for next year). If I do get 10 bell peppers that reach maturity before frost, that will be 10 for 25 cents or the equivalent of 40/$1 pricing! I think my best price on peppers at the farm stand is 5/$1, so this blows those bargains clear out of the water!

Of course, if you live some place where peppers practically fall off the plants, they grow so well, then understanding my thrill may be difficult. I just never expected to be able to grow peppers in my back yard.


And my second thrill . . .

After a couple of days of rain and clouds, the sun popped out yesterday!

Friday is the day that I wash and hang dry all the towels. Having sunshine on the day I do the towels means they can dry in the sun. Which means they have that nice outdoorsy smell. And they actually dry in one day, instead of a day and a half, as when I have to dry them indoors on a rack.

I wasn't expecting sunshine at all. It was gray and cloudy, with a bit of drizzle, when I awoke. I had resigned myself to hanging towels indoors. And just as the wash load was finishing its cycle, the sun began to peek through the clouds. Before I knew it, I had beautiful Seattle summer back in my yard.

My towels did, indeed, dry nicely. I am one of the rare birds who actually likes the board-stiff towels. I have no idea why. But it tickles me to pull them off the rack and have them practically stand up on the deck beside my feet. My husband tells me that he believes air-dried towels dry wet skin better. I'm not sure if that's true or not, but if he's willing to believe that, then I KNOW he's on board with all our little changes around here.


Anyways, that's what thrilled me this week. How about you? What little things thrilled you this week?

p.s. I am told that I am very easily amused.  ;-)  

Saving even more money on gas for our cars

We have two cars. One is the primary car, and the one at home with me during the week, but used by all on weekends. The other is my husband's car, driven 1.5 miles to and from the bus stop for the commuter bus to downtown Seattle, 5 days per week.

We've been budgeting $10 every two weeks, for my husband's car for gasoline, which is not quite 3 gallons with today's gas prices.

We fill the primary car with gas every other week. We use a gas station which has the least expensive gas, within close range of our house, 3.1 miles away.

My husband doesn't have the option of just stopping in at a gas station on his way to/from the bus stop. He had been going out on weekends to get gas.

But now, instead of him making a separate trip out to the gas station that we frequent, I bring gas cans in the car's trunk with me, when I buy gas for the primary car, and fill the cans in the same transaction as refueling the primary car. We have 2 gas cans, totaling 3 gallons in capacity. My husband pours the "gas can" gas into his tank when he has time. This eliminates the need for my husband to drive out and back to get gas.

Old way -- husband drives out to get gas for his car, when it's convenient for him, and separate from fueling my car
New way -- pick up gas in gas cans to bring home for hubby's car, when getting fuel for my car -- one trip out/back eliminated


Our Savings

Gas is averaging $3.67/gallon with store loyalty card.
My husband's car gets 17 miles per gallon, according to an online calculator for his make/model/year.
The round trip to this gas station and back is 6.2 miles (as calculated by Google Maps)

The formula is this:

cost of gas per gallon, divided by mpg, equals cost per mile (which is 22 cents for hubby's car)
multiply cost per mile, by round trip mileage, equals cost to drive out/back to get gas (which is $1.36)

The end result is that we've been able reduce the budget for hubby's gas, as my husband is no longer spending gas to go buy gas.

So, by using gas cans to get hubby's gas, we save $1.36 every two weeks, or $35.36 per year. Again, not an overwhelming savings, but every last bit is helping us close the gap between income and outgo. This savings translates to $2.95 per month (which is the amount that we've reduced our gasoline budget by, on top of the savings from me not driving kids to and from school anymore), bringing our monthly reductions to:

Original electricity savings of $35/mo, plus natural gas savings of $10/mo, plus new use of toaster oven saving $1/mo, plus gas savings using gas cans for hubby's gas of $2.95/mo,  totals a savings of $48.95/month.

There's an added bonus to buying my husband's gas this way. Every couple of months, I have a 10 to 30 cent per gallon reward on my store loyalty card. By paying for both car's gas in the same transaction, both cars get to use that reward, saving us an additional 30 to 90 cents on his fill-up, in addition to mine.

By the way, you can use that formula above, to figure how much it costs to drive to gas stations, that are not along your regular route, or figure any of your driving costs. Use Google Maps for the mileage between two points. The mileage comes up on the same page as the directions.