Burgeoning spring?

I'm sorry. You're going to have to humor me these days. I'm afraid I'm a bit excited for spring, when it's still too cold to spend much time outdoors.

The hyacinth and grape hyacinth are up! I moved those potted bulbs from the garage floor, to the deck, yesterday. If we get a severe cold spell, I'll bring them in overnights. I need to get a plan together, quick, for when, where and how to transplant these beauties into the garden. Getting out my mental pen and paper as I write!

The tulips, daffodils and crocus are still burrowed deep in their pots of soil. Have no fear. I'll be sure to let you know when they pop through, too!

Any signs of spring where you are right now? (And in some places, signs of fall?)

It's only the beginning

On a gloomy and cold January day, I started our spring garden. Indoors, of course. I took over the kitchen for this work. It's a messy job. But if you have to make a mess indoors, the kitchen is a good room to do it in. I prefer to undertake the task of starting seeds in a quiet house. I don't want to feel that I am in someone's way, or rushed to get the job done. I want to take my time, imagine the salads I will harvest and savor this quiet, thoughtful moment.

I had only part of a bag of seed starting soil, and about the same amount of regular potting soil. Not wanting to make a run out to the store to buy more seed starting mix, I combined the two and will hope for the best.

I filled the small holes with this soil mix, and planted lettuce seeds. It's green, leafy salads that I'm most dreaming of, right now. And lettuce seeds can take a while to sprout. I'll have time later this month to add some kale and cabbage seeds to the flat. Those seeds are quick to poke through the soil, and then grow like weeds in the sunshine. Starting the two kinds of seeds, together would result in overgrown kale and cabbage, and lettuce that is rushed into the outdoors, long before it's ready to handle our chilly blustery late-winter days. So, I start only half the flat right now.

After gently tucking those tiny seeds into their beds of soil, I popped the whole flat under the light fixture. The lights will give off enough warmth to encourage those seeds to sprout. And now I wait.

Working on one of my financial goals for 2016

I never did share what my goals for this new year are. Something about saying it out loud, or putting it in writing, makes me think that my goals will be jinxed!

Anyway, one of my goals is to take as many areas of our spending as possible, and investigate ways to save and still enjoy the same quality of our life. That doesn't mean that I will actually cut spending for every line item, but that I will look into cutting the cost and see if there are ways to do so, but keep our life enjoyable. Some areas of our budget may actually see an increase in spending, as I balance spending with enjoyment.

This past week, I found another item to spend "better". If you've been reading my grocery journals closely, you know that I've been buying onion powder, from the bulk spice section of Fred Meyer, since last winter. Onion powder (at the least the stuff that I buy) is only made of onions, no additives. I like the flavor boost that it gives to dressings, dips, sauces, soups and gravies. Add to other spices and seasonings, it's part of a delicious seasoning sprinkle for oven-roasted potatoes or otherwise plain meat, similar to Lawry's Seasoning salt, just considerably less salt.

I went back through my grocery journals and found that since March 2015, I had bought about 8 oz of bulk onion powder, and spent about $3.75, in small amounts each time, at a price of $7.19 per pound. I told myself that I would check Cash & Carry's price on canisters of onion powder, as it was clear that I could go through a full canister in a little over a year. And last week, onion powder did go on sale at Cash & Carry, for $3.25 for a 12-oz canister, that's $4.33 per pound. That's a savings of about 40% per pound, by buying onion powder in a canister at Cash & Carry, over buying in the bulk spices section of Fred Meyer. And I've proven to myself that I will go through this larger amount in a reasonable time.

Just another item in my budget where I've found a way to cut our spending, but keep the same quality of enjoyment. Maintaining our satisfaction with life is an important aspect to us, within our frugal living choices.

This isn't anything newsworthy, buying something in a large package, to save on unit cost. But revisiting all of our spending, has paid off for us, time and time again.

Other items that I've found a less expensive venue for purchase this month include: full spectrum light tubes for our grow light operation (bought through Amazon instead of the place where I had bought the entire set-up, saving $9 per tube, when bought in a 5-pack, as opposed to buying 2 tubes at a time -- I have 3 spares, now, and 2 will last me about 3-4 years), buying a specific book as a gift for a friend, again through Amazon, instead of the shop where I originally saw the book (saving $8 on the book), buying a large bottle of lavender essential oil, instead of the 10 mL that I usually buy at a time, (saving  so much per ounce that I kept thinking I must be doing the math incorrectly, it's literally a fraction of the cost per ounce to buy in a larger size). In addition, I'm doing things differently, not just shopping differently, to save a bit of money. I recently went into the city to visit with a friend. I chose to take the commuter bus, instead of drive and park downtown. Parking downtown is very pricey in Seattle. My bus ticket, round trip was $7. If I had driven, I would have spent a minimum of about $4 in gas, and $8 in curb parking for 2 hours, or $12 total.

In one instance, I got exactly what I wanted, just with a bit of a time delay. In two other instances, I got a surplus, to keep on hand for future use. And in the fourth instance, I got a more favorable experience -- I didn't have to drive in traffic, actually find street parking, or watch the time to make sure I didn't go over my paid limit of time. So, I'd say, it's been a win!

Learn to live on less and you'll never have to accept a job that is beneath your dignity

I tend to agree that any honest day's work is good work. But I also can see that not all work is afforded respect by others. In fact, the disrespect can make an okay job feel like one that is beneath your dignity.

In my teen and early adult years, I had my share of jobs where I was treated as less-than, primarily in restaurant work and department stores. Undignified working conditions exist in every field and at every level. Even when I held positions of authority, I was subjected to the moods and insults from diners, customers, fellow employees and supervisors/owners. Presently, at my age, I feel that I have had enough disrespect to last my lifetime.

I recently had someone suggest (and quite lovingly, at that) I should take on some part time work at a fast food restaurant, coffee house or even the graveyard shift at the nearby gas station/convenience store, to increase our family's household budget.

My response was that I had learned to live on less, so that I would never "have" to take on work that I didn't want.

Don't get me wrong. I actually do want to work at a paying job (and currently do work for pay, very part time), and I am looking for the right position. But by adopting frugal living techniques, I can take my time to find the most suitable job to use the gifts that God has given me. In other words, I'm not looking for any old job, for the extra money. I'm looking for paying work that I find fulfilling, and where I am treated with basic respect.

We all are given choices in this life. We can choose to work for pay, more, so that we can afford luxury items of desire. Or we can choose to work for pay, less, and not indulge in full-price luxuries.

For me, I choose to focus my energies on activities that I find enjoyable, yet still fulfill our frugal objectives, so that I can take time to nail down that dream job of mine.

Along these lines, at a meeting the other day, I was talking with a gentleman about the nature of my blog. He asked if I had interest in extreme couponing. I told him, no, that I take a different approach to some frugal activities. I told him that I learned to bake bread, so that I wouldn't have to rely on finding coupons or sales for bread. Personally, I'd rather pursue the activity of baking than coupon collecting. That's my preference.

Sometimes, our choices and actions really go against the grain in today's culture. And sometimes, it's hard to be forthcoming about our frugal endeavors, with some family and friends who just don't get it. For instance, that our lovely new sweater was bought at Goodwill, or that we dine in restaurants just a handful of times per year, or that we cut our own hair, or have our husbands do it for us. Many of our friends and family have chosen "the extra paying work to afford luxuries" route. This can make defending our choice to live on less, well, awkward, some of the time.

But I think I would rather have that awkward conversation or two, than sacrifice my dignity by working for a nasty-tempered boss, or have to placate unhappy customers, or work hours that would rob me of needed sleep.

If a job is a means to an end, the end being enough money to pay my way in this world, isn't being frugal just a different means to the same end, if I can trim the fat through frugal endeavors, so that all of our bills are paid?

Knowledge is power. Teaching oneself how to do for ourselves what we have been paying others to do for us, generates power over how we can choose to live out our lives. I wasn't born knowing how to bake bread. My mother never baked bread. I learned this on my own. Likewise, my mother never made her own window cleaning solution, nor did she replace broken underwires in her bras. With each new frugal frontier that I conquer in my own life, be it large or small, I gain confidence that I will be able to conquer the next frontier. And I can see that all of my efforts when combined, make a significant difference in our finances, enough of a differnce to off-set working without pay.

And you know, I don't feel that I "have" to bake bread or hang laundry. I am choosing these activities, sometimes as the lesser of two evils. I would rather bake and cook from scratch, and hang dry my laundry, than feel a part of me is "owned" by an employer. I have chosen to live on less, so that I will never have to accept a job that is beneath my dignity.

And what about that argument that I am "training" my daughters to only see themselves as potential homemakers? What I feel I am teaching my daughters is that they have choices in this life. Yes, they could decide that they want to work in the home. But they could just as easily use what they've seen in me to pursue careers which are not financially lucrative, yet are personally fulfilling, by using the many frugal living techniques that I've modeled, to make ends meet on a shoestring income. I hope that I am modeling "choice" to my daughters and son.

Choices. I've widened my view of just what my choices are in this life. As a result, I have so many opportunities before me.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers for mid-January

Monday's supper -- I used snippets of the rosemary,
 from the plants I brought indoors for winter

Friday
hamburgers on homemade buns
w/mushrooms and mozzarella cheese
seasoned, oven-fried potato wedges
green beans

Saturday
homemade mushroom, olive and onion pizza
frozen peas
baked apples

Sunday
tortilla chips, salsa (chips from Dollar Tree, salsa a Christmas gift)
refried beans (made extras) and cheese
brown rice
carrots sticks
oranges

Monday
rosemary potatoes
kale and onion frittata, with mozzarella and topped with leftover pizza sauce
baked tiny squashes

Tuesday
crockpot ham, potato casserole
frozen green beans
pumpkin pie (from freezer)

Wednesday
Shepherd's pie (beef/turkey blend, onions, garlic, celery, corn, tomato-based sauce, covered in mashed potatoes), made 2, froze 1  (My family thought it was good, but I just didn't care for it. Maybe it was the smell of the meat cooking, but I was feeling quite ill by the time it was ready.)
frozen peas
leftover pumpkin pie

Thursday
refried beans from freezer, rice and cheese burritos in homemade tortillas
corn medley, with green peppers, onion, garlic and chunky tomato salsa
carrots sticks
apple cobbler, made with frozen apple chunks


I was so looking forward to Wednesday's dinner. Comfort food -- who wouldn't want some?! But then the cooking. Browning of the meat was making me quite queasy. Sometimes the smell of meat just puts me off from eating it. This happened once when I was a young adult, living on my own. It was so bad that I became a vegetarian for a couple of years after that. When I was pregnant, all meat smelled rancid to me. I remember not being able to cook dinner one night, so I sent my husband out to get McDonald's for himself, just an orange soda and fries for me. When he walked in the door, he offered me a bite of his Big Mac. I nearly declined, as the thought of meat would send me gagging all the way to the bathroom. But I did take him up on his offer, a bite, I thought. I could handle one bite, for the sake of the baby (iron and all, from the beef). I ate his entire Big Mac and had to send him back to McDonald's for his own dinner. But that's how powerful a bad meat smell can be for me. So, Wednesday, really looking forward to this supper, and wowsers, was it ever awful in my mind. The second one in the freezer will be set aside for a night when I have alternate plans for my own supper.

But it does reinforce a point that I am common to make -- learn to enjoy your own cooking and you'll have enough money for the things that really matter in your opinion. I think my sister would be shocked that our family eats at home, almost every single night of the year. We grew up in a family where dining out was a regular event. And she, now, stills eats out, a lot, IMO. I'll be chatting with her while she's in the drive-thru at a favorite So Cal burger joint. Sometimes she'll ask what I'm having for lunch. It's usually something humble, like a banana and oatmeal, or peanut butter on toast. I do occasionally salivate over the burger and fries lunches she gets. (I did get my burger and fries meal for Friday supper.) But there are things that my not spending money on take-out has afforded me.

In looking back at my many Cheap & Cheerful Supper posts, I really didn't see many restaurant dinners. And I'm okay with that. The foods we eat on a daily basis are just humble foods. I try to make sure it's tasty. I don't keep up with many food trends. And, as far as spending time on gourmet recipes, I'd rather spend my time in other endeavors.

Do you know what I love about tea?

You can make yourself a nice cup of tea, pour more boiling water over the bag or leaves, and make yourself another cup, for nothing more than the cost of the boiling water.

Or, if you've made tea for two, but a third drops in, you can stretch that tea with extra water, and let it steep just a bit longer. You can't do that with milk or soda.

What was in my cart at Walgreen's this week? (And what was my minor blunder?)

In an attempt to reduce my spending on all household goods and health and beauty items, I am reading sales ads very closely and trying to match with coupons found online.

Last week, I made a bottle of spray glass and window cleaner, using ammonia, isopropyl alcohol, dish soap and water. My daughter does the windows, here. And she told me it worked very well. So that's a keeper. (recipe here) At 12 cents a pint, it cost less than half of what the large refill jug of window cleaner costs per pint at Dollar Tree.

This week, I thoroughly went through Walgreen's online Sunday ad, to find their deals.

So, the daughter who does windows (yay for that!), prefers spray cleaner, a squeegee, and paper towels. Who am I to argue with her supply list, if the result is I don't have to wash windows? So, the other week, I bought paper towels for the first time in years. My best deal, on the spur of the moment, was Cash & Carry at 69 cents per 65 sheet roll. That's .0106153 per sheet. Walgreen's has their house brand of paper towels, on sale for 50 cents per 56 sheet roll, or .0089285. I bought 4 rolls and saved just under 38 cents.

Cerave is my moisturizing cream and face wash (I "wash" with the cream). I've been paying about $12.49 per container, when on sale, at Bartell's. Walgreen's has it on sale this week, as a BOGO1/2 off. The shelf price is $15.49. BOGO1/2 off gives me a price of $11.615 each. I went online to find a coupon, and printed out 1 coupon for $2 off any purchase of two Cerave items, bringing my cost down to $10.615 each. I bought 2 containers and saved $3.75. On top of the savings, these were bonus packs. each canister of moisturizing cream came with a trial bar of their moisturizing soap. Yay for useful free stuff!

When I'm paying, I use drug store cosmetics. When someone else is paying (the birthday freebies that I get from Sephora, or birthday/Christmas gifts from family members), I am happy to use department store cosmetics. (Both my son and my husband gave me Sephora gift cards for Christmas this year.) Anyways, drug store cosmetics can be quite good, even for someone like myself who is allergic to many ingredients in cosmetics. I like Neutrogena's loose mineral powder as a very light foundation. I've been buying it at Target, when on sale, for about $12.99. Walgreen's has all of their Neutrogena cosmetics on sale this week at BOGO1/2 off. Their shelf price for this powder is $14.79. They only had one compact of my shade. I inquired, and the cashier said she would sell me 1 compact at 25% off (which is what the BOGO1/2 off works out to). Good deal, as again, I had gone online and found a coupon for $1 off any 1 Neutrogena cosmetic item. My powder came to $10.09, after coupon, saving me $2.90 on that item.

In December, Walgreen's had cream cheese on sale with in-ad coupon for 99 cents each 8-oz brick, limit 4. I tried a couple of stores and found very little stock, so I requested a rain check. I used one of my rain checks and bought my 4 packages.

So far, so good. With these next 2 items I made minor blunders. 1000 sheet bathroom tissue was on sale for 50 cents/roll. When I bought bath tissue through Staples last spring, I paid (pre-tax) just under 48 cents per roll. But the other day, I mistakenly compared the after-tax price, of 51 cents per roll. I bought 6 rolls of Walgreen's 1000 sheet bath tissue at 50 cents per roll, pre-tax, costing me an extra 2 cents per roll, or 12 cents total.

And with facial tissue -- Walgreen's has boxes of their house brand facial tissue on sale for 99 cents. I usually buy facial tissue at Dollar Tree for $1. I thought I'd be saving 3 cents total, on 3 boxes of tissues. However, the Dollar Tree brand boxes contain 175 tissues per box (or .0057142 per tissue), whereas the Walgreen's boxes contain 160 tissues (at .0061875 per tissue). This minor blunder cost me just over 22 cents, total.

Despite my two minor blunders, overall I had a healthy savings of $6.69 (not counting the savings from the cream cheese rain check, as I wouldn't buy cream cheese if it were priced over $1, anyway).

The benefit of making small blunders, like these, is they create a mind-set of vigilance in me, preventing me from making similar blunders in the future. I'm not likely to make the same mistake on facial tissues again. And now I know, Dollar Tree does have a good price on tissues.

January is a good month to . . .

Save gas and stay home, for a change. All of the activities and shopping surrounding the holidays meant I went through more gas than usual in December.

Get back to a fitness routine. All of that activity and shopping meant that I had little time to workout. I started back up with indoor jogging last week, just 15 minutes worth, 3 days a week. that doesn't sound like it could benefit me very much, but it's a start, and is getting me back into the "habit" of fitness.

Take stock of my grocery inventory, use what I have, and buy less food for the month. I now have loads of baking and cooking goodies in my pantry, fridge and freezer. This is a good month to begin using some of it up.

Put on a sweater or long undie bottoms, or start up some housework that really gets me moving (with good music to add fuel to my fire), when I feel chilled in the house. Saving on the heat bill, now, will give me some fun money, later.

Make candied orange peels. January and February are the months that I buy the most fresh oranges. Making candied orange peel, for baking with in chopped form, or dipping in chocolate for candy, uses all of the orange (or almost all). And I do love free candy! Candied orange peel freezes well. So along about Mother's Day, I can add some to a batch of scratch scones to have with brunch.

Find those projects that I bought the supplies to, eons ago. I have fabric for making chair and sofa cushions, that I bought in 2013, if you can believe that! I'm now getting around to making a cushion or two for the family room.

Hole up with a good book, or an entire season of a favorite television series on dvd -- both from the library of course. I'm reading An Everlasting Meal, by Tamar Adler. I read Amazon's sneak peak, online and was intrigued, so I put it on hold at our library. I also completely missed Downton Abbey season 4. I checked out that dvd from the library, as well. Working my way through the episodes. And contrary to what I feared, seeing this season out of sequence hasn't spoiled the watching at all. Still just as fascinated, as I wonder why on Earth does someone need a lady's maid, to hand her some gloves and earrings? I understand how nice it would be to have someone do my washing and ironing, but aside from buttons or zippers down the back of a dress, I think I could get myself dressed and undressed without the extravagance of a maid. But I love the storylines, despite the extravagance.

Make vacation plans for later this year. At least half of the fun is in the planning, so I plan to plan as much as I can! And if I put on my sweater, often enough, instead of cranking up the heat, maybe I will have saved some extra cash to go towards a fun vacation.

Make those appointments that should have been made a couple of months ago. Those items now glare back at me from my to-do list, as I try to ignore their need. But I will make myself call for my appointments.

Get organized for tax time. Ugh! Another item from my to-do list which I am having a hard time, to-doing. One step at a time. I have a little list of items, to get me organized with taxes, on my computer notepad. Today, I set out a box, for paperwork as it comes in, and memos to myself to remember certain items which never have a paper attached to them.

Make a spending, saving and giving plan for the year. If I plan it, it will happen practically effortlessly. With charitable giving this year, we plan on setting up a direct transfer of stock, to donate mutual funds shares to our church for our tithing. This mutual fund has appreciated since purchase. If we sold the mutual fund shares to give cash, we would have the tax burden of capital gains on our investment. By donating the mutual find shares directly, we avoid capital gains on any of the profits. Making our gift this way will allow us to be more generous, in the end.

Sit down with a cup of blueberry tea with honey, and savor the quiet that follows the excitement of the holidays. Today, there is time for a quiet moment. I'll savor it before the madness of spring gardening begins. I think I'll use one of the good cups.

My potatoes are "going" faster than I'd planned

Sunday lunch of mashed potatoes topped with a meatball and veggie gravy

I live such an exciting life. What was it? New York, Rome or Paris this weekend?

Oh, yes. Saturday afternoon found me in my kitchen, peeling almost 10 pounds of potatoes, after finding a couple of potatoes going moldy in one bag.

So I peeled, cooked and mashed a huge pot full, yielding 5 quarts of mashed potatoes. I've frozen most of these, to use later. The rest we had for Sunday's lunch (topped with a mushroom, vegetable and beefy gravy), and again today, topped with Cheddar and packed in some of the lunches.

I have 40 pounds remaining, of my 100-pound purchase. About 15 pounds of those look like they need cooking soon. The other 25 should keep for a while longer in the fridge.

As I peeled and peeled and peeled, I consoled myself with the thought that I was actually doing something very productive. I now have several containers of mashed potatoes, ready and waiting for thrown-together, quick dinners.

As my freezer has emptied of my stockpile of ingredients, I have filled the empty spots with ready-made entrees and sides. Having these ready-made items will afford me more spare time, in the late afternoons for some projects and crafts. That's worth spending a Saturday afternoon peeling potatoes.


Frozen, the thawed, mashed potatoes need some beating to get their texture back. I'll typically reheat in the microwave, then beat with the mixer, or use the masher, and add more milk, butter, and/or cheese or cream cheese. They're then perfect for a side dish or topping a Shepherd's Pie.

Cheap & Cheerful Suppers to start the New Year

Celery Salad from Tuesday

Friday
It'll be pizza and a movie night at home for us. We've checked out a movie from the library, and I have homemade pizza sauce in the fridge. I'll make a scratch pizza crust (using this recipe). As pizza is finger food, and we'll be eating while watching a movie, I'll add other finger foods. We have some cola leftover in the fridge. It's likely a bit flat, but we're not picky and will drink it anyway. I have a sliced lime in the fridge, too. I like cola with lemon and ice in it, but we'll give lime a try tonight. So, here's the New Year's dinner menu:

homemade pizza (cheese, olives and onions)
carrot sticks
celery sticks
orange segments
apple wedges
cranberry-oatmeal-pecan cookies
cola

Saturday
meatloaf (I'll make a double batch and freeze half for a future meal)
gravy
mashed potatoes (I'll make extras for a quick potato-onion soup tomorrow)
caramelized onions (the leftover onions will go into tomorrow's soup)
frozen peas
pumpkin pie (making 3 pies, for leftovers to get through early in the week, and 1 for the freezer)

Sunday
rosemary-turkey-potato soup
bread
leftover pumpkin pie

Monday
leftover rosemary-turkey soup
Yorkshire pudding
celery sticks
leftover pie

Tuesday
homemade tomato soup
toasted cheese sandwiches
celery salad
pumpkin pie

Wednesday
kale, onion and ham quiche (making 2, 1 for tonight, the other for the freezer; the pie dough is from the big batch I made on Saturday, rolled out these last 2 crusts and put into pie tins, kept in the fridge for a few days)
oven-roasted winter squash and potatoes

Thursday
(Christmas un-decorating party tonight, which means snacky foods for dinner)

crackers
cream cheese and pepper jelly spread
carrot and celery sticks
olives
deviled eggs
meatballs
orange segments
peanuts
chocolates and the last of the homemade peppermint ice cream


I have to admit, my favorite dinner this week was the meatloaf. I just love my beef these days. Along with a gravy, some mashed potatoes and freshly-baked pumpkin pie, it was all so delicious.

You may have noticed, we're eating a lot of carrots, celery, oranges, onions and potatoes. 'Tis that season. I'm hoping for more variety in early spring, when produce stands open for the season.

The January vegetable garden

My finger tips are frozen into useless stumps, as I type this. There is black ice on the street in front of our house. And I had a 1-inch thick slab of ice to toss off of one of the garden row covers when I went out to harvest some kale. That is how cold an early January day can be, here in the Pacific Northwest.

Yet still, there are vegetables that I can harvest. They somehow have the gumption to outwit the freezes and snow that mother nature hands out to us here.

I harvested a full bucket of baby kale with which to make 2 quiches. I could have harvested more, but my fingers were fumbling in their numbness.

What else has survived? I saw Swiss chard, mustard greens, radish greens, sorrel, beet greens and watercress, all in edible condition. The cabbage, sadly, did not survive, even under a row cover. But we shall relish having fresh vegetables even in these short days of January.

It should be noted that not everything that survived was under a row cover. Some of the kale, the radish greens, beet greens, sorrel and watercress are all out in the open. The baby kale in the photo, above, came from a spot in the open.

Anyone in the maritime northwest contemplating trying a winter garden should be encouraged that many greens can be grown through winter, here.

Grocery and household shopping plans for January

For the most part, we are well-supplied with food items, right now.

I am running low on brown rice and vinegar. I have a constant need for heavy whipping cream (though maybe not as much as previously), whole milk, instant powdered milk (as a protein and calorie boost for one daughter, mixes in to many things), and nuts for snacking (sunflower seeds are our most affordable nut/seed, with peanuts not far behind, but almonds are definitely a preference for snacking). I've also just used the last of the onion powder, which is nice for quick soups, sauces and gravies, and the last of the solid shortening for making pie crusts.

With regards to produce, we have some fresh oranges and a handful of apples and pears remaining. January is a good month for finding oranges on sale, so I'll be looking for those, priced below 40 cents/lb. In addition, I usually find avocados at a reasonable price in January and February. At Cash & Carry last February, I found medium avocados in a 16-ct bag, for 44 cents per avocado. I'll be looking for similar pricing on avocados again. As well, we are back to buying bananas from Trader Joe's twice per month. At 19 cents each, Trader Joe's has the best deal going on bananas in my area.

I'll be watching the ads, online, for Cash & Carry and Fred Meyer for the best deals, and quickly peruse the front page of the mailed ads from Albertson's and QFC. Interesting, Albertson's ads have been looking strikingly similar to Safeway's ads this past year. I did a bit of research and discovered the two companies merged early in 2015. And now their sales duplicate each other. This is great when an item is a loss leader, if I need it immediately and one store is out of stock. But it's lousy for variety in weekly sale items (and potentially for competitive prices). For me, this does save me time looking over the ads, as I can just skim one store's ads, and ignore the other's. For non-traditional grocery stores, I'll also make a late-in-the-month pass by Imran's, the nearby ethnic market that carries a small, but well-priced selection of produce. I'll be looking for fresh apples (last spring they had apples, still crisp, for 39 cents per lb).

And that's about it for January grocery shopping plans.

In addition to food items, I have a few household items that I'm looking for. For the last year, I've been taking one household item at a time to find a less expensive version or way to buy/make it.

I'll be looking for bathroom tissue, again. Last May, I bought a case of 96 rolls online, from Staples. We are now running low, and I'll need to buy a new supply soon.

I am also looking for laundry detergent. Mid-summer, I found an institutional-size package of laundry detergent at Cash & Carry, priced competitively to my homemade soap. The commercial stuff really does a better job on "man smell". But my skin (eczema) prefers melted, sensitive-skin bar soap. So, I've been alternating between the two. I'm about out of the institutional-size package of laundry detergent, but have plenty of melted soap, to use until I find a deal on commercial stuff.

I also opened the last box of automatic dish detergent, yesterday, so I will be pricing the various brands, looking closely at institutional sizes. I've been pretty satisfied with Sun brand, sold at Dollar Tree for 20 oz. I'll compare that one to what I find at Cash & Carry.

Other household items on my list include low watt lightbulbs, plastic wrap and window/glass cleaner. The window and glass cleaner is on my list for trying a homemade version. One of my daughters cleans the inside of the downstairs windows, as well as all mirrors, each week. She prefers to use a spray bottle of solution. And we just finished off our supply of bottled glass cleaner.

Commercial window/glass cleaner costs $1 at Dollar Tree, in the refill jug (64 oz). This is the recipe I'll be trying for this Saturday. This homemade version cost me just under 48 cents for 64 oz, with far less plastic waste. The majority of the window cleaning solution is water. No sense paying for the water, or the larger plastic jug to hold the water. I'll make it up 16 oz at a time, so I don't have to store extra, and this amount will work well in our spray bottle. Plus, if I don't like how it works on glass, the individual ingredients are still available for other uses.

Homemade window/glass cleaner

2 oz. 70% rubbing alcohol
12 oz water

pour alcohol and water into spray bottle and shake up. Add the following ingredients, and shake to combine:

1 tablespoon ammonia
1/8 teaspoon liquid hand-washing dish detergent
more water to fill to 16 oz

Dollar Tree sells ammonia in 64 oz bottles. That should last about 2 years, at 1 tablespoon per recipe. I picked up 1 bottle of rubbing alcohol at Fred Meyer on Senior Day, yesterday.


And, although I am all shopped out, I will be making one more pass by Penney's and Macy's at the mall, later this week, checking out their clearance in the men's sections. There are a couple of winter men's accessories that I realized after I was done shopping that both my husband and son could use. So, I'll be looking for those items on deep discount, and save them for next year.

So, I got this fantastic deal on spring-flowering bulbs . . .

. . . but our ground was too frozen to dig for planting.

Not exactly gardening weather in my neighborhood these days

In late November and early December, I bought 80 daffodil bulbs, 20 Dutch hyacinth, 15 grape hyacinth, and 40 tulip bulbs, for 75% off the original price. My obstacle was how to plant them, with frozen soil and super cold temperatures. No one in their right mind would want to be out for long, working in the garden this time of year.

So, I rounded up my stash of pots, set them in the garage, and partially filled with soil. My daughters helped me pot those bulbs, and top with more soil. I bought 3 bags of garden soil, to fill the pots. I had planned on improving the garden soil where these bulbs would be planted, anyway. So, I don't see the expense of buying the garden soil to be a waste. It will help and amend the areas where the bulbs will eventually be planted.

I now have all of these potted spring-flowering bulbs waiting in the garage for temps to moderate a bit. Although these types of bulbs can tolerate freezing soil, in the ground quite well, in pots they're more susceptible to freeze damage. I'll move the pots to the deck later this month. Then plant the bulbs in the garden, when the soil can be worked again.

I'll be honest, planting all of these bulbs was a chore. If it weren't for my daughters's help, I don't think I would have been nearly as cheerful in the planting as I was. It was a messy and bone-chilling chore. I am thankful for daughters who will happily lend a hand, in my pursuit of more spring flowers. I think I owe them a bouquet when the bulbs bloom.

Some cooking and gifting highlights from my blogging break

Preparing a feast, bringing a gift, or just plain planning ahead, there was much rushing about in my kitchen this last month. I could be heard muttering, "I need another hostess gift", repeatedly, for a couple of weeks. Like a child, standing in front of the open refrigerator,  and claiming "there is nothing to eat", I, myself, stood in front of my pantry shelves, unsure if I could find yet another gift, for another impromptu invitation, or a made-from-scratch holiday treat for our celebrations.

Fortunately, pantry shelves hide many treasures, waiting for inspiration and festive packaging, yet with minimal fuss.

I did get that Buche de Noel done. I baked, filled and rolled up the cake and kept it frozen until Christmas Eve day. On the 24th, I took it out of the freezer and iced it. Then shortly before serving, I added some leaves (baby kale), and "berries" (red skittles), plus a dusting of snow (confectioner's sugar). I didn't make a side branch on my yule log, as I sometimes think those make the log look too stumpy. Plus my serving tray is long and narrow. I'm not sure a side branch would have fit very well.

I needed a last-minute hostess gift for a family we know. They are vegan and eat very little sugar. So, this was a challenge for me. I came up with a jar of trail mix, combining dried cranberries, pecan halves, roasted sunflower seeds, roasted almonds and pretzels. All of these were pantry items for us. And the jar was one of those nice square jars that I salvaged from the recycle bin at our church. I tied the neck of the jar with some raffia and red and white twine.

I found half-pints of heavy whipping cream marked down to 25 cents each.  I bought 4 half-pints. At least half of it I used to make some rich chocolate ice cream, to save for my daughters's birthday this March. It's in the freezer right now, packed in a 1-qt container, with a sheet of plastic wrap between the top of the ice cream and the plastic lid. That should keep frost to a minimum.

I needed a small gift bag for another hostess gift to some friends. I turned to printed out sheet music and some reused red satin ribbon to make my own.

A couple of gifts for girlfriends came from my home canning, a jar of spiced fig jam and a jar of sweet cherry preserves. Simple presentation of jars tied with raffia, red and white twine and a sprig of rosemary.

she sighed and finally said, "this should be enough" -- December 2015 Grocery Shopping Journal

December 1. Fred Meyer for Senior Discount day.  10% off all house-brand foods. Bought 6 half-gallons of whole milk for 89 cents/half gallon, 1 pint of heavy whipping cream for $1.79, 1 box of Stash tea for $2 (with coupon), 3 2-lb bags of confectioner's sugar, $1.35 each, .46 lb of pecan halves ($7.28/lb -- I had bought lots of pecans in November, but with this good price, I'll freeze these for using much later in the year), 1.45 lbs of blanched, slivered almonds ($5.60/lb), 1 mushroom, for a pizza (33 cents). Not a whole lot I was interested in food-wise this month. I spent $24.98

December 2. 2 stops at Walgreen's on my errands today, for cream cheese, 8-oz, 99 cents each, limit 4 w/coupon. I buy 5 so far (and got a raincheck for 4 more, as one store only had 1 package available). Spent $4.95 There's another Walgreen's on the way to choir practice tonight. I'll stop in there and also pick up something I forgot on my other stops (forgot my little slip of paper with my list at home).

Dec. 2 evening -- went by Walgreen's on way home from choir practice. I picked up 4 more packages of cream cheese (99cents/each) and 1 8-oz jar of Maxwell House decaf instant coffee (99cents). I'm not a huge instant coffee fan, but for 99 cents, I'll use it. There was a section of marked down items at the register. The coffee is the only thing that tempted me. (and I got the hydrogen peroxide that I forgot earlier in the day, 3 bottles for $1) spent on food -- $3.75

So far, month to date, I've spent $33.68

Dec. 5. I stop in to Walgreen's for more cream cheese, after dropping daughters at choir practice. No cream cheese, but I find several gallons of milk marked at 99cents. My fridge and freezers are full. The sell-by date on the milk is in 3 days. I see 2 of the gallons are whole milk. Even though we are well-stocked with milk, and couldn't possibly freeze or drink this milk, I buy 2 gallons of the whole fat milk. I do so with the intention of turning this milk into yogurt, and then straining a good share of it to make yogurt cheese. Homemade yogurt will keep up to one month, if the jars were properly sterilized, and kept in the fridge. This will prolong the usability of this milk by almost 4 weeks. An by turning it into yogurt cheese, to use over the holidays in place of cream cheese, I will save about half the sale price of cream cheese, in holiday foods that I make this season (a cheese spread one night, and a cheesecake later in the season). So, I got a raincheck on the cream cheese, to use sometime in the next 2 months, and I bought 2 gallons of milk. Spent $1.98

Dec. 5 Dollar Tree for a couple of "special" items for the holidays -- pretzels, crackers, one more box of mini candy canes. Spent $3

Dec. 8 Fred Meyer. They offered one extra Senior Discount Day this month. I bought 4 8-oz bricks of cream cheese, for 89cents each. Spent $3.56

Dec.18 QFC has half hams on sale for $1.29/lb, limit 2. I buy 2. Also, I found half-pints of heavy whipping cream for 25 cents each, to use within 1 week. I buy 4. Spent $26.19

month to date spending -- $68.41

Dec 18. Albertson's -- find 24 oz containers of cottage cheese marked down to $1. I buy 1. I use this for lasagna. Spent $1

Dec. 21. Fred Meyer for celery, lowest price I've seen this year in my area, 69cents/ lb. I buy 2 bundles, plus 1 1-lb box lasagna noodles ($1.17), and I find 6 cartons of repackaged eggs at $1.19/dozen. I spend $10.61

Dec.28. Fred Meyer for milk, on sale half-gallons for 99cents each, limit 6 w/coupon. I buy 6. Spent $5.94

Dec. 28. Go by Trader Joe's for bananas. They're priced at 19 cents each. I buy 14, and spend $2.66

Dec.30. Fred Meyer for gas, while there I buy 2 more half-gallons of milk at 99 cents each. Spent $1.98

Month to date spending -- $90.60

Items bought in the month of December

produce
1 mushroom
2 bundles celery
14 bananas

dairy
14 half-gallons whole milk
1 pint heavy whipping cream
4 half-pints heavy whipping cream
13 8-oz packages cream cheese
2 gallons whole milk
24 oz cottage cheese
6 dozen eggs

meat
2 half hams, bone-in

pantry
1 18-ct box of Earl Grey Double Bergamot tea (one of my favorites)
6 lbs of confectioner's sugar
almost 1/2 lb of pecan halves
almost 1  1/2 lbs of slivered almonds
8-oz jar instant decaf coffee
1 bag pretzels
1 box crackers
1 box mini candy canes
1-lb lasagna noodles


Finally, what is in the pantry, refrigerator and freezer should be enough, for a while.

Coming into the month of December, I was $93.78 over budget. With a monthly budget for food groceries of $200.00, that left $106.22 to spend this past month. I spent $90.60, which is $15.62 UNDER budget!!

I never felt like I was depriving myself of anything, all month, never felt I was limiting my purchases severely. So, this must mean I have bought all I wanted to buy, and am well-set for the coming month or two. I'll still pick up great deals as I find them. And I will replenish milk supplies as needed. But January should not be a big spend month for groceries for me.