Our 2019 No Spend Challenge

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alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Our 2019 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I saw my orthopedic physician's assistant the other day. I was thinking there was something wrong with my total knee replacement and my hip but it turns out it is my spine.She showed me the x-rays and it does not look good. In fact she said this is "very serious." Having worked in rehab all of my life I am starting to do things differently at home to not put as much strain on my back as I have been. I am training Teddi how to jump up on the bed. I have a reproduction of an antique canopy bed and it sits really high. So he is jumping up on the recliner, then on to the cedar chest at the end of the bed, and then up on to the bed. It is still a bit of a jump for him so will need to find something to make it less high and to find something to make the cedar chest less slippery. I do have some padding that was to go under an area rug to prevent it from slipping but will have to find it in the black hole also known as my basement. I had the area rugs taken up due to my husband having a problem with them with his wheel chair. Once I have my taxes paid off, and that will not be until next February, I will have to have the bed remade by a man who does furniture repairs. I have a difficult time getting up from a bed that is on a metal frame and need to have something a bit higher than the average person. So unplanned money out the window next year.

I forgot to mention my brother bought a new mail box for me so the money that I had set aside was used toward groceries and the order from Oh Nuts. So much is going on I cannot keep up with things and have not crunched the numbers. Right now I am doing ok with money and with food so no complaints just not able to get it all down in writing. At least I know that this month that one really big credit card will be paid off and in January another one too. So that will make things more easy around here.

Teddi went for his grooming appointment yesterday. It was only $20.00 but I always give them a $5.00 tip. They do excellent work and they are so popular you cannot make an appointment with them. They have not taken new clients in at least 2 years. So I am grateful that they do such a good job at a reasonable price.

While he was being groomed I went down the road to Ruler to pick up a few things. I needed some fresh produce. I bought two cans of crushed pineapple. They only had a few cans of pineapple of any variety on the shelves so I went ahead and bought 2 cans one each for my Thanksgiving and Christmas cranberry salad. They use to cost .89 cent a can now up to .95 cents. Still cheaper than even buying it at Dollar Tree for $1.00. I also bought 2 containers of their generic cool whip .79 cents each. I bought some applesauce in the individual cups to have on hand after my surgery on my esophagus on the 26th. I caved and bought some BBQ sauce. I am just not up to standing and watching and stirring sauce. It was .95 cents and in retrospect I think it is cheaper than making it from scratch. I am in need of something in the morning that does not require a lot of work so bought some organic gluten free blueberry muffins ( 8 ) for 1.89. I could not make them this cheap at home at least I do not think I could. I had two this morning with a little bit of peanut butter and a little big of blueberry jam and ate them like toast. A nice change. I am having a hard time giving up cheese more so than coffee. In a way it is due more to recipes that I had planned. I wanted to make a spinach quiche but not enough cheddar cheese and saving the last little bit of mozzarella for either a pizza or lasagna. So bought a container of feta cheese ($ 2.99). A lot more than the cheddar at $1.69 but suppose to be healthier. Also I had complete amnesia when I bought a gluten free 4 cheese pizza for $4.99.I have been craving pizza and thought ok you can buy this an add toppings that you have at home. I was halfway home before I realized I was suppose to be eliminating cheese from my diet.. That is my story and I am sticking to it...lol...Really it did not even register with me until on the drive home. I always have pepperoni in the freezer and it hard to estimate the cost of adding it to the pizza since I have been using it off and on. Added some chopped green pepper from the freezer and a little bit of fresh onion from the fridge. It was ok. Not outstanding but lot better than the one time I bought a gluten free pizza from Domino's and a whole lot cheaper. Did a little bit of stock up of toilet paper two big bundles of toilet paper. $5.49. I realized that I am doing more shopping at stores in a different area and no sense running to Ruler to buy TP. I finally found what I consider a reasonable price and the TP is not like sandpaper or too flimsy. So every time I am in the area will stop to pick some up. Also bought a variety of chocolate chips for winter time baking.
I guess I am somewhat up to date on things.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Our 2019 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Breakfast was two gf blueberry waffles with a little bit of butter eaten like toast. With tax the waffles came to about $2.02 so they cost .50 cent for 2. Had a cup of English Breakfast tea with a splash of almond milk. Not sure of the cost. Lunch was the last of the BBQ pork on a bun with a pickle and a side of potato chips. I cannot remember the total cost of the country ribs but there was enough meat to provide 4 hefty sandwiches and I froze plain pork to make pork fried rice in the future. It was around $2.74 for the ribs. Dinner was BBQ beef on a bun with a pickle. I was rooting through the freezer looking for potato soup when I found a container of cooked ground beef with onion. I had planned on using it to make pasta sauce. It was too late to make it so I chipped some off threw it in pot with some BBQ sauce and then slapped it on a bun and called it dinner. Also had a dill pickle on the side. Dessert was vanilla yogurt with a tablespoon of blueberry jam.
I was too tired to do much else.

My neighbor lady, who cuts my grass, announced she is cutting my grass tomorrow. So that meant I had to go out and pick up sticks. The last thing I had planned on doing and the last thing I needed to do with my current back problem was pick up sticks. I did mention to her It is suppose to SNOW tomorrow. She fluffed it off saying it is only an inch and not suppose to stick. She said she had waited until the leaves had fallen off of the trees so she could mulch them. I told her I could care less about mulching leaves and thought the grass should grow longer for the winter. However my brother had paid her up until Nov 1st and she had not mowed then so I guess she is getting it done now. We are suppose to have rain change to snow and have 30 mile per hour winds. If she does not get it done I will not go out and pick up sticks again it hurt my back too much.

Since I had planned on using the cooked ground beef and onion in a pasta sauce I found a jar of plain tomato pasta sauce in the freezer and am thawing it out. Also I have a small container of cooked sausage in the freezer and will add that to the beef to fill out the sauce. Also I will add some of the green bell peppers that I bought cheaply this summer and have already diced. I have fresh yellow onion in the fridge leftover from another meal and will add some of it and a small can of mushrooms. I am using spaghetti squash for the "pasta." I froze several packages a while back and I like it as a low carb substitute but it is thin an does not add much bulk to the dish. So the mushrooms and veggies will add some bulk to the meal. I still have some Parmesan cheese that needs to be used up.I am going to try to be in more of a use it mode instead of stocking up. In fact the fridge freezer is stuffed to the point where I had to remove the ice cube holder for the automatic ice maker. It is good to have a lot of food but there is a time to use up instead of stock up.
Janet Alliesmama
floridacatlover
Posts: 8060
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 7:21 am

Re: Our 2019 No Spend Challenge

Post by floridacatlover »

alliesmama4 wrote: Sun Nov 10, 2019 9:56 pm Breakfast was two gf blueberry waffles with a little bit of butter eaten like toast. With tax the waffles came to about $2.02 so they cost .50 cent for 2. Had a cup of English Breakfast tea with a splash of almond milk. Not sure of the cost. Lunch was the last of the BBQ pork on a bun with a pickle and a side of potato chips. I cannot remember the total cost of the country ribs but there was enough meat to provide 4 hefty sandwiches and I froze plain pork to make pork fried rice in the future. It was around $2.74 for the ribs. Dinner was BBQ beef on a bun with a pickle. I was rooting through the freezer looking for potato soup when I found a container of cooked ground beef with onion. I had planned on using it to make pasta sauce. It was too late to make it so I chipped some off threw it in pot with some BBQ sauce and then slapped it on a bun and called it dinner. Also had a dill pickle on the side. Dessert was vanilla yogurt with a tablespoon of blueberry jam.
I was too tired to do much else.

My neighbor lady, who cuts my grass, announced she is cutting my grass tomorrow. So that meant I had to go out and pick up sticks. The last thing I had planned on doing and the last thing I needed to do with my current back problem was pick up sticks. I did mention to her It is suppose to SNOW tomorrow. She fluffed it off saying it is only an inch and not suppose to stick. She said she had waited until the leaves had fallen off of the trees so she could mulch them. I told her I could care less about mulching leaves and thought the grass should grow longer for the winter. However my brother had paid her up until Nov 1st and she had not mowed then so I guess she is getting it done now. We are suppose to have rain change to snow and have 30 mile per hour winds. If she does not get it done I will not go out and pick up sticks again it hurt my back too much.

Since I had planned on using the cooked ground beef and onion in a pasta sauce I found a jar of plain tomato pasta sauce in the freezer and am thawing it out. Also I have a small container of cooked sausage in the freezer and will add that to the beef to fill out the sauce. Also I will add some of the green bell peppers that I bought cheaply this summer and have already diced. I have fresh yellow onion in the fridge leftover from another meal and will add some of it and a small can of mushrooms. I am using spaghetti squash for the "pasta." I froze several packages a while back and I like it as a low carb substitute but it is thin an does not add much bulk to the dish. So the mushrooms and veggies will add some bulk to the meal. I still have some Parmesan cheese that needs to be used up.I am going to try to be in more of a use it mode instead of stocking up. In fact the fridge freezer is stuffed to the point where I had to remove the ice cube holder for the automatic ice maker. It is good to have a lot of food but there is a time to use up instead of stock up.
My friend who is super healthy gave me a box of edamame & mung bean fettuccine to try and it is good. Gluten free, 0 sodium and 20 g. of carbs. She bought it on Amazon but I found it at Publix. Expensive ($4/box) but I’m thinking it is the type of product that might show up at Big Lots because it is “odd.” Might be something to look for next time you are there.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Our 2019 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

floridacatlover wrote: Mon Nov 11, 2019 8:33 am My friend who is super healthy gave me a box of edamame & mung bean fettuccine to try and it is good. Gluten free, 0 sodium and 20 g. of carbs. She bought it on Amazon but I found it at Publix. Expensive ($4/box) but I’m thinking it is the type of product that might show up at Big Lots because it is “odd.” Might be something to look for next time you are there.
Florida Cat thank you for the tip. I will keep my eyes open for it.The combination does not sound like something I would normally buy but then sometimes things do surprise me.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Our 2019 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Nothing went as planned due to my back pain. I had two gf blueberry waffles for .50 cents. Just toasted them and added a little butter and ate them like toast. English Breakfast tea with a splash of almond milk.
Lunch was a chicken sandwich on a bun with some potato chips. Dinner was gf rye bread and the very last of my cheddar cheese made in to the very last grilled cheese...sniff, sniff. I had a can of tomato soup which I was saving for an emergency and today was the day.

I need to stop eating so many carbs they are not good for my diabetes. I am hoping tomorrow to make the pasta sauce with the spaghetti squash.

We have had snow all day. I love snow but we also went from yesterday ( 66 F) (18.8 C) down to about ( 23 F) (-5 C) just a little while ago. So about a 43 degree change in about 24 hours. This kind of weather cold, damp, and drastic change in temp plays havoc with my arthritis and fibro. Hopefully I will be ok or at least better tomorrow.

I have been on and off of my computer spending time in my bed and watching TV or taking a nap. The good thing is that one of the sites I go to has offered me an ongoing survey for 3 months. I am not allowed to say what it is but at the end I will receive a $25.00 gift card for an online company. Also I had set a goal of making $1.00 a day on one site and so far I have accomplished that. I just need to earn .10 cents before bedtime tonight. If I can maintain the $1.00 a day I can hopefully get free groceries more often.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Our 2019 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Did not get as much done in the way of cooking due to sleeping. I did not get to sleep until after 3:00 AM and had to take a muscle relaxer to get to sleep so had drug hangover all day which required naps.

Breakfast was a bowl of old fashion oats with dried mulberries (Big Lots), cinnamon, butter, and a few chopped walnuts. No coffee or tea.

Lunch was late due to a nap so I made pizza bread with the last of my buns. There was 1 and a half buns left. I cut the top bun in half long ways to make more pizza bread. Used the pasta sauce that I had thawed out to make pasta sauce for my spaghetti squash. Added some pizza spices, pepperoni, onion, and mozzarella. I toasted the buns first before adding the sauce and toppings and then broiled the top until the cheese melted. I still have enough mozzarella cheese left to make another pizza but froze it for the week-end. It has been open for while and I do not want it to mold before I use it.

Dinner was bacon, egg and two slices of my gf rye toast with butter. The bacon was free BOGO package and the egg was .58 cents for 12 eggs so around .04 cents. The bread was almost half price but cannot tell you the cost since I did not count the slices. I do not miss my coffee any more and did not even bother with tea this morning.
Janet Alliesmama
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