It’s time for another edition of Today I am . . .
- Happy to see the rain return to Portland after a week of unpleasant sunshine. ( <– This is how you can tell I’m a true Oregonian.)
- Thinking about how I read that you should have everything in your home “be like a fork.” As in, you never wonder where the forks go, as they have a specific, logical and permanent spot. (Can’t remember where I read this though.) Makes me think of how many grapefruit spoons my house contains.
- Proud that with the exception of cat litter, I put out no garbage this week. This is despite sharing every-other-week garbage pickup. I do have garbage that could have gone out, but it was so little that it wasn’t worth having to put a new bag in the can.
- Laughing at the vintage $5 garage sale mirror that I painted a silver color. I wanted to try covering the wood with copper leaf from the art supply store, but decided that I should use what I have (leftover spray paint) instead of buying new. Why am I laughing? The muted silver color makes it look like a sideways TV.
- Enjoying my new roll of silver duct tape that I picked up for free from a garage sale yesterday. Who gets rid of duct tape?!
- Saddened by the daily news coming out of Bangladesh about the factory collapse. This article has very up to date and balanced information.
- Bummed that I missed my older son’s apparently beautiful goal on Saturday because I was at work. (He usually plays defense so he rarely scores goals.) However, I am happy that I got to witness my younger son’s goal and subsequent celebration dance yesterday.
- Kind of disappointed in the book Money Secrets of The Amish. I had high expectations, but it read like a lengthy magazine article and never really explored beyond the obvious.
- Paying 25¢ per day in library fines for the 24-disc audio book of Fall of Giants. I’m trying my darndest to motor through the book, (which I’m enjoying) but there was simply no way I could get it read in the three weeks allowed by my library system. I’m on disc 16, so I’m too far in to stop. (I sure wish it would renew.)
- Planning another bulk-buying shopping extravaganza at Winco, as I scored another $10-off-$50 coupon from my mother’s rental cottage.
- Jonesing for a day of thrift shopping. It’s been a few weeks and I’m starting to develop a tic.
Now your turn. What are you doing lately?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
{ 28 comments… read them below or add one }
Ditto *Money Secrets of the Amish*. Maybe I’ve read too many similar books over the years, but this didn’t strike me as being at all original. I will donate my copy to the library. Hopefully there are others who will get more from it than I did.
The tips from her friends were laughable.
Katy
I had my library order it based on the discussion on the Facebook page. I was also disappointed. Anyone with a frugal bone in their body is already doing more than her friends. *sigh* At least I didn’t pay for it myself!
Glad for the info on the book…was thinking of putting it on my list to get from the library….now I know not to bother.
Today I am:
Cleaning baseboard and wiping down cobwebs
Making spaghetti for when our son visit for supper…husband isn’t that fond fo spaghetti but he doesn’t have to eat it often and son loves it
Crocheting a scarf for a friend who admired one I made…shhh..it is a surprise for her
Writing out get well and sympathy cards…seems like there has been lots of sad and hard things happening around us lately
Used up leftovers for lunch…I mean planned overs and they tasted pretty good
Reading “Scratch Beginnings” about a young college man that starts out with $25 and on his own to prove that you can make it in America on your own…apparently this is a little! harder than he planned
Catching up laundry
Trying to figure out why my dishwasher is leaking
Wishing the sun would come out!!
SAD that I can’t hang my laundry outside because it’s been drizzling all day, but…
HAPPY that it’s warm enough that I can turn my heat off.
PLEASED that I’m pretty well stocked up on non-perishables after three consecutive weeks of $5 off $40 coupons at my grocery store, and…
HOPING that ground beef goes on sale next week in my last week of $5 off $40 coupons. (Last year it went on sale for $1.99/lb some time around Memorial Day weekend. It might be too early.)
CONSIDERING whether I should redeem my swagbucks for a $5 amazon gift card (where I can shop carefully and get the most bang for my buck), or if I should squander it on a luxury like Starbucks.
PROUD of my 16 year old daughter who was very responsible and grown-up on a four day school trip this past weekend, but…
AGGRAVATED that she was back to her old evil ways this morning, when she turned off her alarm and slept late enough to almost miss the bus. (Only reason I woke her is because I refused to drive her in.)
The inconsistencies of teenagers is nothing but consistent. 😉
Katy
Today I am
Cooking a pork roast I got for 1.69 a pound.
Getting my hair cut which just happens to be next to the goodwill!
Retro fitting the deck rails so my granddaughter can fall off the deck.
Finishing up on laundry.
Working my way through the new online doctor thing to make an appointment for my husband…technology!?!
So, you want her to fall off the deck??? LOL
Well, you know, my horrible two finger typing on the reader!
Linda in Indiana…ifmyournground beef doesn’t go on sale, try to see if there is a chuck roast or London broil the right price amd grind it. You can use a kitchen aid, a grinder that our grandmothers used, or the food processor.
I stock up on chuck roasts whenever the local store has them for $2.49/lb which is as cheap as they go and grind them myself. You get about 85% ground beef and it is a much higher quality than the pre ground stuff, plus I know it came from just one cow.
I was a library volunteer for several years here in VA. For those non-renewable items, patrons would sometimes bring them back and ask us to check them back inand directly back out to them. If no one was waiting for the item, we were happy to oblige. Your library may do the same. 😀
Sadly, there are holds.
Katy
Today:Enjoying HOME. Cleaning up bedroom,fresh sheets on bed. Will swim in pool (is going to 100 degrees today!) Will make a vegetarian mushroom goulash.Will use up all the tomatoes that are almost round the bend! Listening to Pandora music and will watch an episode or two of “Fringe” tonight.
Well Katy,
That evil Winco coupon sucked me in. Just got back after spending $97.00 I had it all planned out on paper too !!!
Dog food $24.99
tp 6.99
coffe 6.99
Then all my bulk things.
Well, I splurged on a better coffee, then they had all sorts of things, that were really useful, not needed now but useful!!!GRRRR
I did really well at Winco. Everything from the bulk or produce sections except for a jug of vinegar, butter and a paper package of flour tortilla mix. And even though I didn’t try to do the math, the total was $51, so $41!
And I bought the limit of four 2-pound containers of strawberries, which I’ll turn into freezer jam tonight. Sadly, they did come in clamshell plastic though.
Katy
Getting ready for the movers and NOT cutting off part of my finger today – I tore the lettuce this time. 😛
I just found a blog by a young single mom in the UK. A girlnamedjack.com Check it out. She was unemployed and had to live on ten pounds a week for food. That is between $15 and 17 a week for herself and a toddler. She figured it out, blogged about her recipes and might have a book coming out. She has also gotten a lot of press about participating in the UK’s Live Below the Line Challenge. You have to spend only one pound a day on food for five days. It’s hard. I thought all your readers would enjoy her experience and get some different recipes.
It’s raining in CT, had workmen here, went to my Sewing Group, and then the gym. Can’t clean up until the workmen are done. Ann
25 cent a day Donation to our wonderful library system. There, don’t you feel a little better?
I did until i found out that the money that i pay doesn’t go back to the library but into a tax “pool” here in NC. They explained that the fines didnt’ cover the library’s needs so that aspect was good but I felt bummed that my fines weren’t directly helping the library. Oh well. Glad it is still open. They get used a lot!
Today I made my monthly on line purchase of grass fed, humanely rasied pork and beef. The lowest price is $6lb for ground beef. The highest, $10/lb for flank steak. I don’t flinch for one second. We made a commitment that we weren’t spending a dime to support farmers/ranchers that raised their animals in in-humane conditions. we would just eat less meat.
I too used to also look for the lowest prices for meat sales but I just can’t even consider it now. It costs real money to raise those animals right. Just like it costs real money to keep those Bangledesh employees in decent safe working environments.
We have to get away from always looking for a sale when the price is too high (ethically, morally).
The hard question, where do you draw the line? People. animals, too much waste, plastic, environment, etc.
Katie, maybe that could be a post and ask these questions. i’d sure be interested to hear your readers answers.
I do remember a friend and I discussing our financial melt-down experiences. We both had enormous debt and looking at foreclosure. We were working our way through it, they were not. She wanted to buy organic food, as did we. We both agreed that since her situation was worse, she should continue to shop at the stores that carried the “cheap” meat as she just had too many other things to consider first. So it does feel like a “first world” strategy.
The rain also came back up here in Seattle and I was so happy! Our rental got uncomfortably warm during just those 3 or 4 days that it was around 65 – 70 and now that it’s cool again, it’s BakeFest 2013. I’ve got to fill the freezer up with muffins etc. before the next “heat wave”. (People from other parts of the country are always surprised to find this out, but most homes here are NOT air-conditioned; yes, we don’t need it that often but if a place gets up to 75 degrees inside on a 70 degree day, you can imagine how hot it is in here in July when it’s 80+ degrees.) I can’t wait to move out of this place in a few months. It’s very cheap but really doesn’t work for our family. So today, I am: looking for another place to live!
Today I am:
– Itching to get my laundry on the clothesline. It rained all day when I did laundry Friday and I had to use the dryer. I miss the “dried in the sunshine smell”
– Embarassed how excited I am to start composting! My husband is almost done making my compost bin. Nobody should be this excited to watch things rot
– Looking forward to finish reading “The Girl Who Played with Fire.” Picked it up at the library yesterday again…got halfway through reading it a month ago and had to return because we were moving.
– Putting in my first delivery order at the local dairy farm. Friday I will receive organic milk in reusable glass bottles, fresh eggs, and goat cheese on my doorstep. Met the family at their open farm day last weekend. They are wonderful people I am excited to support them.
I loved the Fall of Giants! I listened to some of it on CD while walking for exercise but also couldn’t get through it fast enough. I ended up returning it to the library and then just borrowing the book to read.
today I am
working, so we all can have health insurance.
after work-taking, my son to soccer practice, as long as the rain holds out today. (two weeks til he can try out for travel)
anoyed– at people at work with their not so smart comments.
thinking- of all the things I want to get done, or need to get done!
Katy, I’m impressed that you’ve managed to practically eliminate your garbage! Curious, though, how big are the garbage cans in Portland? The smallest ones we can get in my city are 40 gallon, and we can usually go 2-3 weeks before it needs to go out. Less than most of our neighbors, but hard to gauge overall waste.
Portland garbage cans are mostly 32-gallon, which is the size we share with our neighbors.
Katy
Today I am:
Watching the rain.
Eating leftovers for lunch.
Finishing piecing a quilt top.
Picking out a backing from my stash for the finished top.
Wishing I could be in Key West.