Frugal Friday: I took another day to 'cook and prep' for the weekend and week ahead this past Friday. I put some things in the freezer (macaroni and cheese, stuffed peppers, creamed corn). I'll appreciate these quick meals in the future. I also made ahead sausage patties and biscuits, and pancakes and bacon for the weekend meals. It was so nice to have those prepared meals waiting instead of having to plan and prepare all weekend long. Free to us: a box of Betty Crocker au gratin potatoes. I think I got these through an offer in their weekly e-newsletter. I'm finding more and more companies are giving special offers to e-news customers. It's well worth a little space in my email box to get these offers. If you don't want your usual account clogged with these e-letters devote a separate account to them. I'm reading packages a lot more carefully these days, too. Often there is a rewards program, information concerning free coupons, rebate programs, etc. right on the package. Courtesy Coke reward points we've gotten two new magazine subscriptions for no money out of pocket. Planning ahead could net FREE items for next year's Christmas gifts! I did such a thorough and careful job of shopping last week that we needed nothing at all from the grocery this weekend. Praises be! I can't remember the last time we weren't flat out of something that I desperately needed. Nice to feel all secure in the knowledge that yet indeed we only needed a paper... Our supper at home consisted of leftovers Sunday night as did our lunch on Monday. I purposely cut my pork loin roasts a little larger than usual, opting to make them 3 1/2 pounds or so. This allows extra sliced meat for sandwiches. $1.49 for home baked pork loin vs. $3.99 pound for bologna...Not much of a stretch to figure out which is the better buy there! I made a beautiful cake from scratch this past weekend. It tasted wonderful, but honestly that cake was a bit much for us, all by ourselves. I think I'll make a 'half' cake next time we want a layer cake. That's one layer cut in half and stacked and frosted on top and outside edge only. We'll enjoy it without feeling overwhelmed at a whole cake...I can always freeze the second or third layer if the recipe makes that much. This week's planned dessert is a recipe for cupcakes that makes just 1/2 dozen. Funnily enough I thought I was just cleaning this week when I started wiping down the back door. Turns out I was really doing a makeover. We tend to sit on the deck more in the winter months because it's so sunny and warm in the afternoons. So my front porch chairs were moved around to the deck, a big pot of fountain grass was moved and the whole deck looks transformed, the entry more welcoming. When I packaged hamburger for the freezer, I packed it in 1 1/4 pound packages, a little more than I'd normally package. I put it down to being tired and not thinking as I ought, but it worked in my favor this week. I took one package and used a half pound to make BBQ Beef Cups and the rest was made into chili for Cincinnati style Chili when the 'light' rains turned out heavy and the day cool and dreary. With care I should be able to stretch the rest of the packets as well, if by doing nothing more than making a burger for Chance's lunch box sandwich. How many bottles in your home are upside down right now? I just emptied a bottle of laundry detergent I'd had upside down. Do you know I had enough detergent to wash another load of clothes in the cup just from the drip alone? I also have an upside down bottle of syrup in the fridge (about 3 tbsps in that), an upside down bottle of aloe in the bathroom (enough to treat several more scrapes and burns), an upside down bottle of cooking oil (there's at least 1 tbsp in the cap). My family knows never to toss a supposedly 'empty' bottle in this house. Only Mama declares something empty, lol! Long ago Susan asked that I send her a certain regional magazine that is not available in North Dakota. At the time the subscriptions were so very high that I opted to take Mama's gently read copy and mail it to her, but with the higher cost of postage that has become a hefty price to pay each month (more than the annual subscription). This weekend as I clipped coupons, I happened to read over an 'advertisement' page that contained no coupons. Lo and behold, it was a subscription offer for the same magazine at an 'introductory' price (less than $1 per issue). I'm sending in the registration with Susan's address and a money order so she can get her favorite magazine at home. I've been thinking long and hard about Christmas gifts this year. My desire to give is simply not matched by my budget and though I have several gifts already on hand, I have quite a bit of shopping to do yet. One thing I'm trying to watch carefully isn't my budget but 'gift guilt', that guilt we feel when we are certain that our giving is not comparable to what others will be giving to us. Well, truly, I wish I could do more, but facts are facts. So I'm trying to watch out for the 'guilt' purchases and instead truly trying to match the gifts to the personality of the recipient and my budget. I've been getting a lot of those mailings from book clubs of late. I haven't belonged to a book club now in nearly three years, but I make good use of the mailers. I keep a page in my notebook just for books and movies I'd like to read/see. Then I look for them at the library or order from Netflix. Much less expensive than ordering and no additional clutter in my home. I'll reserve my shelf space for books and movies worth reading/seeing time and again. Granny's birthday is today. She is 93. She long ago asked that we stop gifting her with more 'stuff' to sit around and collect dust or be put away and never used. When I talked to her this morning I listened for verbal cues of what she really wanted. Today that was ice cream and 'big apples, not those little hard knobbly things in bags.' So while out with Mama today I bought her just that: ice cream and big apples. She was pleased as punch when I stopped by later to give them to her. Since I was headed to the store to shop for Granny, I made note of the items on sale this week that would be a budget bonus for our next pay period: Cheese blocks, cream cheese, and vitamins were on my list of sales items to purchase. I'll take that amount off my next pay period's budgeted amount, and mark those items off next week's shopping list. I locked my keys in the trunk of my car this morning. Silly of me, but to make matters worse, I'd made double sure to lock the car doors first...We had another of the remote door lock thingys here at home, but alas, no spare housekey where I could easily get to it. It certainly wasn't frugal to drive down to Chance's work place to get his spare key to the car. In future, I will be sure to do something I've heard my husband do for years now. Before locking any door he asks first, "Where are the keys?" Why is he so wise? Because he's a former locksmith and knows that nine times out of ten people who lock their keys in the house or car are usually distracted from what they are doing. I have a few favorite long necklaces, but recently three of them broke. Rather than call them a loss and toss them in the trash, I asked Kay (whose eyesight is far better than mine even with glasses) to repair them. She did and now they are all back in use. It's the end of the day and I am tired, but I don't much feel like running back to town for takeout, nor cooking...My solution? I have a few quick cook items in the freezer that do very well despite being frozen: formed burger patties, a couple of steaks, frankfurters. All these items cook up quickly and none of them will require my spending money elsewhere this evening. | 
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