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My son and I went to Winco Foods and I ended up with four bags of groceries, even though I only had a few items on my list. (Pinto beans, white beans, fresh ginger and cleaning wipes.) The traditional money saving edict is to always “stick to your list,” but I dislike this advice as I find it to be short sighted. Why? Because to only buy what’s on your list means you aren’t stocking up on unexpected sale items. A good example of this are the above English cucumbers, which are all the rage right now thanks to Logan, aka the “Sometimes you need to eat an entire cucumber” guy. 48¢ is a screaming good deal for
safe sex cucumbers,English cucumbers, so I bought two. Were they on my list? Nope, but this variety of cucumbers are popular for a good reason as they’re tasty, healthy and versatile.My grocery total was $54.12, here’s what I bought:
• 18-pack carton of eggs — $3.66 This is the price for “the first one” only.
• Can of green salsa — $1.03
• Peanut butter — $2.88
• A bag of frozen mixed vegetables, perfect for stir fry — $2.48
• A bag of frozen tater tots — $2.68
• Fresh ginger — 60¢
• Container of cleaning wipes for the bathroom — $3.19
• Bag of fresh spinach — $2.28
• Bag of frozen peas — $2.98
• Bag of sweet mini peppers — $2.98
• Two English cucumbers — 98¢
• 4.13 pounds of great northern beans — $4.45
• 1.5 pounds of pinto beans — $3.22
• 3.11 pounds of garbanzo beans — $1.76
• Bananas — $1.83
• Two big tubs of Fage Greek yogurt — $11.58 (My husband prefers this budget buster brand for his work lunches.)
• Two 8-ounce containers of cream cheese — $2.98
• Flour tortillas — $3.08Winco generally has the best prices in town, but this is a not a truth universally acknowledged. I stock up on two-pound loaves of Tillamook cheese when they’re less than $6.50, which happens often enough at Safeway. Winco had theirs at $10.85, so this was a hard no. Luckily I stocked up on Tillamook cheese when it was on sale. Like the stock market, you “buy the dip!”
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I showed my son that he was paying more per ounce on the larger bag of frozen blueberries when compared to the on-sale smaller bags. This is a lesson for everyone, (even me) that the larger package is not necessarily the cheaper choice.
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My husband and son had a 5:30 P.M. soccer game this evening, so I started rice in the rice cooker and programmed it to not start until an hour later. We then came home and cooked Trader Joe’s potstickers in the cast iron skillet and doctored up a salad kit with extra lettuce and a chopped cucumber. Having a plan for post-soccer dinner saved us the expense of eating out. The plan doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to be thought out. I try to keep a couple of easy meals on hand for this very reason.
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• I deliberately cooked extra rice to use for veggie fried rice at a later date.
• I finished reading my “Lucky Day” library copy of Tom Lake, by Ann Patchett. So so good!
• I sold a pair of glittery vintage pumps* that I’ve had on eBay for ages. $30 and I’m happy to see them go!
• I sold a $20 bloody clown costume through Facebook Marketplace.
• I picked up an enormous $2.49 butternut squash at Trader Joe’s and used half of it to make a large pot of butternut squash soup. Heavy produce is actually a bargain at Trader Joe’s as they charge per item instead of per pound. Butternut squash, cauliflower and cantaloupe can be a great deal!
• I thrifted a soft drapey cardigan sweater for just $3.50, as it was the half-off tag color. It was the only thing I bought. -
No treasonous Cyber trucks.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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* This is an eBay referral link.
{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
Wow, you made quite a grocery haul.
1. Resuscitated some graham crackers that had gone soft by placing them in the oven to crisp back up. Method: I baked quick bread, turned the oven off, and put the tray of graham crackers in to use the residual heat.
2. Put one of the sets of flannel sheets on our bed that we received from my sister-in-law last year. Pure bliss!
3. Inventoried my stash of Christmas cards and will not need to buy any this year.
4. Received a huge area rug from Buy Nothing. Spent a pretty penny to have it thoroughly cleaned and picked up/delivered, but it was worth it to us.
5. Recent favorite concoction using up the vegetables in the fridge: Made a Thai Peanut Bowl of leftover rice, carrots, red cabbage, edamame, broccoli, red pepper, cucumber and some cilantro on its last legs, topped with a dressing of peanut butter, rice vinegar, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and ginger. My mouth is watering just typing this.
That was a neat way to revive the graham crackers. I’ll have to remember that.
Spent the weekend in Charlotte, NC on a dog show assignment. Visited the Goodwill boutique where designer and high end items including decor were beautifully merchandised. I bought one top for 4.99
Renewed my vow to eat meals from what’s on hand. Only buying fresh produce this week. I’m going to combine spices we have rather than buying salt or pepper with added spices.
We’re attending a wedding this week. It’s a coworker from another department
There is a registry however it is primarily asks for $$ or gift cards. I do have some new items in my stash that would be appropriate gifts. I did receive a $50 Visa gift card as a judging gift however I was saving that for the upcoming holidays
Thoughts?
Kathy, I might be behind the times, but I think a $50 gift card for a co-worker in another department is a fine gift. You’d be honoring their wishes and not wondering if they’re going to like or use a gift from your own stash (unless you know this person really, really well). From discussions with others about unsolicited gifts, we graciously accept them but then usually give them away.
MB I’m taking your and several others advice and giving the gift card
Put it in a picture frame? Getting married is one of the most photo-full days of life, though a lot of the pictures are never looked at again.
I stock up when food is on sale too. I then make meals out of what we have.
1. I went to the dermatologist. I had one thing cut off and a biopsy done at another spot. My mom and daughter both have had skin cancer so I make sure to go every year.
2. Hubby and I went to my sister’s to help her move furniture and other chores. She is a single mom and has a special needs son so we try to help as much as possible. My parents came too so I got to see them as well. They all live in Connecticut. We brought home her corner curio and a cast iron pot. We took down shelving in her garage, we made room for her fridge, stove and dishwasher. She is getting new floors and a new kitchen but is keeping her appliances. Hubby installed a new smoke/carbon monoxide detector. She is now ready for the floors to be ripped up on Thursday. I brought onion soup, Italian bread for all of them. My parents also got sauce and meatballs. My mom sent me home with a gift for my son’s kitten. We hate to pay to ship stuff.
3. Hubby got up early Sunday and helped his dad do a garage sale. I sent him with lunch. He came home with more tools for our kids.
4. I made a huge pot of chili with tomatoes and peppers from the garden. I threw in extra beans too. Most of it went into the freezer for future easy meals.
My son came for dinner and brought his kitten. He had gone to Aldi in the morning and grabbed me some grapes. I sent him home with lots of cherry tomatoes, an open pack of Oreos and chili.
6 I lost 4.8 pounds. Hence why my son got the Oreos. I can’t have them in the house. I still have a ways to go but I started. Last doctor’s appointment I was told I was pre diabetic so I really want to watch what I eat and lose some weight.
A good plan Marybeth to install the fire/carbon monoxide detectors. My husband told me his friend just had a house fire & the fire detector awakened him. I suggested he check the batteries in our detectors just to be safe. You just never know.
1. Earlier this summer, I’d hung up some clear Xmas tree lights on my covered patio. I wanted a few more to fill in a blank area so I bought some at Goodwill for $4 and change, using one of their (20% off donated items) coupons. (Which you get by donating something to GW.) The string of lights were sealed in a plastic bag and the clerk said they would all burn OK. But when I got ’em home and started putting them up, they were hopelessly tangled and about the first 1/4 of the string didn’t light up. I saved the receipt and took them back for a refund. (Usually all sales are final at thrift stores, but our local GW allows returns with a receipt. Which is very helpful!)
2. I just happened to go to another thrift store for another reason, and voila! I found a string of — you guessed it! — clear Xmas tree lights. These were wrapped around the lid of a pizza box, not sealed in a plastic bag, and the store let me plug them in to test them. All the lights burned. The lady at the cash register charged me a whopping 50 cents for the whole string. And she even punched my discount card. So I saved about $4.
3. At the same store, they had brand new shoes from the local factory being sold for 5 dollars a pair. It wasn’t the same brand as before, so I bought only one pair to try them out. I gave them the “acid test” by wearing them to my cashier’s job. Yes, they have the same good arch supports so my feet were not tired after my shift. Oh, and they are really cute old-style “tennis” shoes, too.
4. On my day off, I took some soda pop cans to the Habitat Re-Store as a donation; they recycle aluminum cans for cash and plow this money back into the homebuilding charity. While there, I looked around. Found two tall kitchen trashcans for $2 each. One was not the kind that came with a lid; the other was missing its lid. But guess what? One of my kitchen trashcans developed a big split in its side, so only last week, I put it in the curbside plastic recycling. The new one is exactly the same as the one I tossed out….but I’d kept the lid, so now I have a complete set again. (BTW, this past year or so, I’ve found about 4 or 5 perfectly clean indoor trash cans at thrift stores. Including two small metal, step-on-the-pedal to open the lid, ones designed for bathroom use. They are much, much cheaper than what you’d pay for new ones! Who would’ve thought?!)
5. Our church is getting ready for Trunk or Treat. Over the past year (and it took a whole year!), I have collected random pieces of peppermint, hard candy, and lollipops from candy dishes put out by bank tellers, restaurants, desk clerks, home & garden show vendors, or PTA in the teacher’s lounge (only one or two pieces at a time, mind you); or given out by the pizza waitress or Sonic car hop, to have a big bag full. (The store sells such bags for at least 6 or 8 dollars.) Mine won’t be spooky-looking Halloween-themed candy, but it is generic enough that if I have any remaining, I can use it for Xmas. If not, then in November, I may buy some heavily discounted leftover bags of Halloween treats, the kind with regular candy that does not have Halloween motifs, for upcoming holidays.
1. Our elderly lab was prescribed a medication. The vet wanted to charge $360 for it. I took a prescription instead. After calling around, and looking at online prices, I found a place that charged me $150 for them. I try to buy local but this was too much to swallow.
2. Neighbor gave me a dozen dog food bags that originally held 40 pounds of feed. I use them as garbage bags. Last year I used fewer than 10 regular plastic garbage bags because of giving dog food bags a second life. We go through 2 forty pound bags of dog food a month at our house but welcome the neighbor’s contribution.
3. A friend gave me 10 pounds of mooseburger for a birthday gift.
4. My friend is in a nursing home and it looks like it she will never be able to leave. When I visit, I take my old magazines to give her and about every other week I bring a potted plant and take home the one I brought last time. It takes about two weeks for a plant to begin to show signs of distress from the inevitable mistreatment it endures in a place where people have more to do than water a plant. I have three plants I rotate.
5. Connected to #4, I found a sale on amaryllis bulbs and am staggering starting them so for all of Feb and March I will be able to bring her a cheerful and vivid potted plant.
Love your plant rotations!
And amaryllis are a great plant for lifting spirits. They also survive as cut flowers in water, if you have one that topheadedly tips over.
Poinsettias also make good cut “flowers”, as they are really just leaves. I would use cut ones for centerpieces rather than the whole plants if I was in charge of decorations somewhere.
Lindsey, your plant rotation for your friend is brilliant–as are your visits to her generally. I sometimes wish I could assign required listening to John Prine’s song “Hello in There” to everyone who has an elderly relative or friend, whether they’re in institutional living (like your friend) or still living in the community but unable to get out much (like my next-door neighbor).
John Prine was only 22 when he wrote that song. He was wise far beyond his years.
RIP John Prine. When we lost him, we lost a national treasure.
I remember when he passed away – I knew my husband listened to him but so did my dad! They had a nice conversation about him and his work.
Lindsey, from this and your other comments, it’s clear you are a good friend. I am going to look up friend in the dictionary to see if your picture is there! I’ll probably see A. Marie there, too, as she is a phenomenal friend to her neighbors. Both of your stories stand out to me.
I love your plant rotation. What a great way to cheer someone up without going broke.
Brilliant idea about the plants! You are so sweet and caring to make sure your friend isn’t forgotten about in the nursing home. When my relatives had to go to nursing homes, most of their friends totally abandoned them — didn’t even send ’em Xmas cards or anything.
@Lindsey – Yeah I am all for local too but $210 more for a one time or recurring Rx is a bit much for me also. Even as much as I love my vet/clinic.
That is a brilliant idea to rotate the live plants – and to visit with enough frequency to check on both friend and plant. I love amaryllis. I just received a catalogue that had “waxed” amaryllis bulbs (no watering required) and the price was $20-$30 depending in how fancy the wax was.
The elderly relative we have shared caregiving (5 months each year) for the past 8 years is now in an assisted living facility (not a moment too soon) five hours away in another state. She has been there 2 weeks and not pleased to be there which is hard on my in-laws who are doing their best to facilitate her adjustment to a very nice community. It is a necessary move for her, but difficult. I would suggest a plant rotation ( and maybe I will in future) but right now my in-laws have their hands full. She loves sweet treats so I am going to haunt the post-Halloween sales and send her some candy.
FFT, Wedding Anniversary/Halloween/Etc. Edition:
(1) My late DH and I would have celebrated 45 years of legal hitchitude on Oct. 30, and the Bestest Neighbors’ 37th anniversary is Oct. 31. I have suggested to the BNs that we celebrate by going together to a local peace-and-justice group’s spaghetti dinner on the 30th. Donations for the dinner = what one can afford.
(2) We no longer get enough trick-or-treaters on our street for me to justify buying candy (with the associated temptations). So I was just going to turn off my front lights at dusk on Halloween and hole up in my office. But the neighbors on the other side of my next-door neighbor have just announced plans for an alternative Halloween party for adults. Go ahead, twist my arm!
(3) After this Saturday’s local JASNA group’s meeting (in which we discussed all our adventures at the recent JASNA Annual General Meeting in Cleveland), my JASNA Panera friend passed along over a dozen Panera souffles that were day-old and would have been thrown out otherwise. In turn, I (a) brought JASNA Panera two bags of stuff from her mother (who still lives in my city); and (b) passed along most of the souffles to my next-door neighbor, who loves them and needs to gain weight anyway. Win win win!
(4) Since we still haven’t had a killing frost here (most unusual for Central NY by now–but helloooo, climate change!), I am taking a leisurely approach to fall garden clearance. In particular, my arugula in the Easy Washer tub with the fire-pit cover is still going strong, and I’m planning a BAT (bacon, arugula, and tomato) sandwich for dinner with a couple of tomatoes passed along by the Bestest Neighbors.
(5) And after running other errands in that area this morning, I drove by one of the suburban early-voting sites in my county–but when I saw that the line was already clear out to the road and people were parking along the roadside because the parking lot was full, I kept on driving. I think I’ll do better by just showing up at my local polling place (a short walk around the corner from me) the minute the polls open at 6 am on Election Day. But vote, people, vote!!!
Happy anniversary, A. Marie! I hope your day will be filled with good memories of your late DH.
What a sweet way to celebrate your anniversaries together while at the same time supporting the peace and justice group. I love this. I know it must be hard because of how much you must miss your wonderful DH. Spending time with good friends and neighbors on that day will surely be comforting.
Happy Anniversary!
Your cucumber comment is hilarious. I like you!
Nooooooooo! Cucumbers are certifiably the work of the Devil. Vile smell, vile taste, vile texture/mouth-feel. Just…yuck. My mother was in her 80s when she mentioned that she detested them. Then my sister chimed in to say that she hates them too. Then I added my two penn’orth of detestation. One of the rare food things we ever agreed on. Ugh…
Katy, you did great at the grocery store. One of those cukes is $1.79 here.
Late in the winter I machine washed and air dried my L.L. Bean wool winter slippers that were nasty and stretched out. Put them away clean and just started wearing them again. They fit so much better. I lost a half size in shoes along with losing 70 pounds and was afraid the slippers would wind up being donated because they were so loose, but laundering them did the trick.
Today I found a quarter on the pavement while putting gas in my car. I have no idea what kind of stuff is going on behind the global scenes to make gas hit $2.53 a gallon here, but that helps. Used a $3 off coupon on cat food that was on sale at 25% off. Turned the last of some lettuce into a nice little salad. Found some raisins and walnuts in the cupboard that needed to be used and made a big batch of raisin-walnur-cinnamon oatmeal for breakfasts.
After paying what I deem an extorted price to dry clean an LL Bean wool blanket, I decided to wash mine at home. Worst case it became a throw blanket and I purchased another one. Gentle cycle (had the option of eco cold water but just did cold) and air dry in the dryer. I cleaned the lint trap every 30 minutes. It is no worse for wear. Next year I won’t wait until so late in the season and line dry it.
Ruby, take consolation on gas (petrol to us in the UK).
I’ve just done the conversion $:£, US gallons to UK gallons.
Your $2.53/gallon equates to £1.95 per US gallon.
For any UK readers, that’s £2.60 per UK gallon.
We actually pay pretty much double your price: $5.03 per US gallon.
I need a lie-down with a cool compress on my forehead…
All my frugal things are tiny.
1. I cut the mold off a block of parmesan cheese, grated the rest and put it in the freezer.
2. I saved the water from heating my shower to flush the toilet.
3. I used some mperks coupons at Meijer including a couple 50% off.
4. I baked some sad potatoes in the crockpot.
5. I’m avoiding election news stories because it’s making me anxious. Preserving my mental health is frugal.
I think a lot of little things add up to bigger frugality. You did good!
I’m very nervous too about the upcoming election as are many of my family and friends. It seems I can’t help but watch the news although I’m trying hard to be like Whoopi Goldberg and disregard the polls. It’s just too close for comfort.
Jill and Christine,
I’ve gotten so anxious and stressed out about this election that I’ve started breaking out in pimples again. Like I did when I was a teenager and continually upset about _______ [whatever].
I’m 69 y.o.!
Better half and I have had the discussion about the election. Regardless of what happens, we’ll be fine. We’ve lived a frugal life, saved, saved for retirement, zippo debt (no student loan debt for us or the kiddos). Those that should be nervous are the ones who saved squat for retirement – social security was meant to be supplemental, not the only source of income. Also nervous is those who can’t manage their money/live beyond their means. Yes, that mean you who is paying so your kids can budge to the front of the line at Disney but you have no emergency fund and are not saving for/short changing retirement. I am fed up with people who are not happy with their lives (aka their choices) blaming others. There is a minority who have just had bad luck but again, they are the minority. If applicable, no one told you to have without consideration of the 18 year per kid cost. Off soapbox.
I respectfully beg to differ. The stakes of this election are not financial, they are life altering. The results could be the death knell for plenty of environmental regulations, the abolition of the rights of various groups, the use of the military against our own citizens, and on and on and on. Read excerpts from the 2025 plan, it will make the hair on your neck stand up.
And I hark back to my parents and grandparents, who owned outright a farm and between the Soviets and Nazis ended up in concentration camps and then displaced person camps. I take nothing for granted at this point.
Thank you, Lindsey.
I cannot imagine being “fine” just because my finances are when one of the candidates has just held an explicitly white supremacist, fascist rally and donned the colors of the Proud Boys.
I agree wholeheartedly, Lindsey. This is outright fascism and is terrifying to see America teetering on the brink of democratic destruction. The rest of the sane democratic world is holding its anxiety-ridden breath.
Unfortunately, there are those who for a variety of reasons, were not able to save for retirement and must rely solely on SS and perhaps working a job for which they are no longer physically suited. I also don’t overlook the gifts I was born with that enabled me to have the wititude to plan and execute that plan for the future.
While I’m lucky enough to be OK, many others aren’t because of unexpected things in life. A divorce that decimates one’s savings, an ill child or other relative ditto, a car accident, disability…the list goes on. One friend of mine has a son with schizophrenia and he absorbs any extra cash available. Another’s husband died too young. Most people are not stupid enough to squander their savings on Disney line passes, despite the popular cliches.
I hope I am not as strident about other people’s choices.
OMG – me too! I had a pimple last week and thought “where did this come from?”. Election anxiety is a real thing and I can’t wait for the voting to be over. I am saturated.
These are really good grocery prices. We go through lots of cucumbers in our household, Katy, thanks to your Tea Towel Salad Dressing, which is my go-to!
My frugal things:
1. Found a quarter.
2. Got my free (through insurance) flu shot at my local pharmacy and accepted a free promotional calendar on my way out.
3. Hemmed two merino wool dresses and sold the scraps for $30.
4. Found a blue chambray shirt in great condition in my size on somebody else’s stoop. This is something that had been on my thrift list for a while!
5. Cleaned out my closet and placed several good items on my stoop, perpetuating the cycle and ensuring good stoop karma.
How/where did you sell the scraps? Did you make a scarf from them, or… ?
The scraps were from a brand of merino wool dresses that has a buy/sell/trade Facebook group. I had seen similar scraps go quickly so figured I’d try mine! Not sure what the purchaser has planned.
1. I just took two pumpkin breads out of the oven. I’ve never tried this recipe before, and it uses only one 15 oz. can of pumpkin. It smells good but I’m hoping it tastes pumpkiny enough.
2. I drove an elderly friend to the registry so she could get an ID. She took me out for lunch as a thank you.
3. I made a detailed grocery list for shopping for my once-a-month grocery trip tomorrow. I do this every time to prevent impulse spending (I do go about halfway through the month for milk, half & half and fresh fruit).
4. I found more Christmas cards at my church’s thrift shop for my friend in the nursing home. These were free as I was given them for helping to set up the Christmas room for the Harvest Fair. She may now have more cards than she needs but they have a wonderful activities director at the facility who can maybe use some of them for crafts.
5. My beautiful Italian tapestry backpack/purse my granddaughter gave me finally fell apart. I have been mending it and tweaking it for what seems a long time now, so I am donating what’s left of it to St. Vincent de Paul. I don’t know about other states but here in Massachusetts it is now illegal to dump cloth or shoes in the trash so everything in these categories gets donated. I have another purse a benefactor at the cat shelter I volunteered at gave me years ago which for some reason has stayed in pristine condition, so I am happily using that one.
That is a great deal on cucumbers!
Went through sweaters, purged a bag full to donate at community closet.
Put away summer clothes, changed the summer down comforters to winter weight comforters, put an extra quilt on each bed. Got out the wool socks.
Purchased a 10 lb chub of fancy German style bologna (normally $10/lb, I got the whole chub for $10). I sliced it on my ancient slicer that I bought off a deli going out of business eons ago, vacuumed packed into 1/4 lb pkgs and froze.
It is very tasty and no preservatives.
Sold 2 chainsaws and a gas leaf blower on FBMP. yay!
I live in an area full of wineries. This year many vineyards either did not have enough pickers or did not sell their grapes, so have been offering them up to anyone for free. We picked 100 gallons of grapes and used my 2 steam extractors to make delicious pinot noir grape juice.
My frugal five continued hurricane edition:
1) We were able to save our freezer foods by taking most of them (the meats and casseroles) to a friend who had power when ours was out during the hurricane. We have been eating them since then because I am not sure how well the quality will keep even though they are food safe. I am also cleaning out our pantry and other food reserves to keep our grocery bill as low as possible so we can make $$ donations to those in need. Also, we will be remodeling our kitchen next year and it worries me that I have so much in the freezer and my cabinets!!
2)I have been able to clean out some unwanted items to donate to our church’s Harvest Fest Bingo/White Elephant prizes. I have also given away some big items on our free Facebook Community Page. Making room for my son’s belongings as he moves his stuff here from Asheville.
3)I replaced the buttons on my favorite denim shirt using buttons from my button jar. I wear this shirt as an overshirt when the weather is quirky so it will get lots of use for another 10 years.
4)While we had no power and no internet or cell service, I had lots of “free” time so I re- upholstered my kitchen chairs (I had the fabric – just needed the elbow grease and motivation).
5) I have gotten more exercise with cleaning up the yard after the storm. Now that it is a bit cooler, I hope to keep this up with long walks in the neighborhood.
Sort of a frugal fail: I opened one of the bags of Halloween candy early because we had lots of neighbors and friends around after the storm. It is amazing how happy people are when you offer them Halloween candy, especially adults doing things like installing your internet lines or eating a meal with you while the power is out. Good timing to buy it early this year even if I have to go back for more!
I think that is an excellent use of the Halloween candy. Sorry you had to go through one of the hurricanes and hope things are getting a bit better.
Loving all the inspiration here as usual.
My 5:
*Working through the bucket of green tomatoes I picked due to frosts. So far, I’ve canned salsa verde, pickled tomatoes, green tomato pie filling (weird and new one for me this year and it smells/tastes amazing), and tomorrow I’ll be canning piccalilli.
*Purchased my annual bushels of locally grown potatoes from the Boy Scout drive. This year I bought an extra bushel as I tend to give away a lot of them. The rest live in the basement and last us until late spring/early summer.
*Found large quantity boxes of Wednesday Addams fruit gushers (cheaper than the other types of candy) and this will be the Halloween treats for trick-o-treaters. Halloween is my favorite holiday and my boys are grown, so I like to see the parade of costumes at my house each year.
*Spent Sunday cleaning out crap from the garage. I made a big free pile and mentioned it on Buy Nothing. It was completely gone by today.
*Using items I already had stockpiled around the house, I made two small emergency bins to grab should we ever need to be evacuated. One just never knows and it’s good to be prepared.
I LOVE piccalilli. I have made my own, but the results were “Meh” at best. When we go to England, I buy about a dozen jars to bring home.
A few small things for me this week.
1. I glued some sandals back together. I used rubber bands & banker’s clips to hold the sandals together until the glue could dry.
2. I was going to make a tinman hat for my costume from scratch. I decided to spring for a funnel at Dollar Tree. My BFF gave me a large box of spray paint. I painted the funnel silver. I used an old straw hat I had for hubby’s scarecrow hat. I made a pointed tip for it using a stiff mailer. He then spray painted it with brown paint. We put a band around the crown using a strip of leftover burlap.
3. I got myself a donut at Dunkin for a 1$. (My appetite is still off from my sickness a week ago. I decided to treat myself.) I found a quarter & a penny in the drive thru at Dunkin.
4. Looking for a gift for my SIL. I may give her one of my hand made luminaries & a candle w/ votive cup to go inside. I likely have some candles in my gift stash. Her b’day is the Wizard of Oz themed party. Homemade costumes & homemade gift on my part. Gotta love it!
5. Hubby sanded the shelf I found. I’ll put a coat of stain on the sanded top. I found the unopened can of wood stain. I think there is a can of clear coat in the box of spray paint my bestie gave me. That will be my sister’s Xmas gift.
I’m very impressed with your Winco grocery haul. I recently got Fred Meyer coupon in the mail entitling me to $10 off a $40 total order. I thought that was a pretty good deal, but I think you did better at Winco without coupons.