My 2020 Challenge

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

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

While driving home today from my eye Dr appointment I saw a sign about a new CSA Farm in our area. I went on line to check it out. They are closed now but I signed up for information about it. It is on the edge of town and has satellite garden spots in other areas to grow food. This is their first season. I am so happy to see one in my area. They will deliver to my home for a small fee. I will wait until they are open next week to see what they are offering and how to order. Really makes me happy to see CSA farming expanding. They also sell at our local Farmers Market in town. However I am not up to walking on the gravel there and they are usually really crowded. Although I think right now they are still doing drive throughs.

Received a good report from my eye Dr about my most recent cataract surgery. I have one more visit in a couple of weeks and then will be discharged, I think.

Today I washed some sheer, embroidered curtains, to hang in my bedroom. They are lovely. They are hand me downs from one of my aunts and they are about 40 years old if not older. They were made in France. I am sure they cost a pretty penny back when she bought them. There is no way I could afford to buy something like them now and maybe they do not even make them like this anymore?

It rained buckets off and on today and especially rained very hard when I went to the eye Dr. I do get discouraged about what people think makes their facility handicapped accessible. The Drs office stands on a big mound of dirt and they have a steep walkway thinking that it makes it handicapped accessible for wheelchairs. Wish they knew how hard it is to push a wheelchair up that grade and in order to take someone down it, without them toppling out, you have to back down it. Also if you are a disabled person on foot the steep grade is more difficult for me to walk on especially due to using a cane. Today was an adventure having to use a cane, holding an umbrella and dealing with high wind and driving rain. My medical Dr was another one that had a steep incline to get in to her office. She built her office from the ground up with it too having a steep incline. After she moved in I asked her what was with Mount Kilimanjaro at her front entrance. She looked at me and laughed and said, " it is our natural wheelchair ramp." Since her practice was primarily geriatrics it was difficult for people like me. The parking lot handicapped area is on such a step incline the door keeps trying to shut when you are trying to get out. I thought some people just do not think things through. Both of these practices wanted to have basements for storage of records so only dug half way down and then put their building on a built up mound for their main business area..They should consult with real people with real problems before they build.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I have not even looked at my budget for July. I know I went way over with the computer problem and some other things so decided to start fresh in August with a new budget. I have to add in some other things I had not planned on so hopefully will be able to do blackbelt frugaling. There are so many things that I need and there are some wants also. The main thing is to get my property taxes paid on time. My brother was sweet enough to pay the first two payments but the last two are still pretty hefty for someone living on Soc. Security.

Due to my severe back problem I am hoping to buy a new desk chair for when I am on my computer. The one I currently have was from a neighbor and that was back in 2000. He had it for quite a while before I got it. My neurosurgeon said I need extensive back surgery but I refuse to even think about it right now due to covid-19 so the best thing I can do is take care of my back as best as I can while waiting for surgery. My neighbor lady said she knows someone that might be able to come in and clear out the weeds that keep springing up almost as fast as I am pulling them. I do hope so, and of course that will be extra money out of my pocket not planned on, but well worth it if I can find someone to do the work. It will take the strain off of my back.

The CSA farm is not going to work out for me. They posted what was available and a pint of cherry tomatoes cost $4.00 with a minimum of buying 3. I cannot afford that plus there is no way I could consume that many cherry tomatoes before they went bad. I can buy organic cherry tomatoes at Ruler a whole lot cheaper. Oh well it would have been nice to get local produce and support them but I cannot do it. Hope there are others with the cash? They might be pricing themselves out of business. I hope not.

I have started a budget for August on my computer using my Money CD. I will only use it to work on my budget. I like that it shows you how much you have left in your budget and then I know where to go to shave a few extra dollars off and relocate them somewhere else as needed. I will not rely on it for keeping track of my checking and savings accounts since that is what I did previously and everything was lost when my computer crashed. I did do back up but never transferred it to a disc so lost the information. I am still trying to recreate my banking on paper it is slow and tedious.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Off day today. I have not accomplished what I had planned on doing. Last night I put some frozen chicken breast in the fridge to thaw out overnight. I poached two breast to make meals for Teddi and I saved two for myself. I am going to cut mine in to chicken strips to give them more of a uniform size then tomorrow will be making chicken parmesan using up some panko crumbs. I still need to cook a pot of rice for Teddi to go with his chicken. Also I baked off 5 bratwurst. I had 3/4 of one for lunch on gluten free bread with mustard and onion. Teddi had the other 1/4 in small bites from me as a treat. Dinner tonight will be another brat sliced and diced and then added to a stir fry of cabbage and onions. I will have a single serve cup of applesauce with it.

I did some meal prepping for tomorrow. I had some leftover slices potatoes in the fridge so diced them up and diced up some onion from the fridge and will cook them tomorrow to make fried potatoes using a teaspoon of bacon fat for seasoning. I will also have a fried or scrambled egg with the potatoes and if I find the energy I will cook off a pound of pork sausage this evening to go with my breakfast. I have just been rummaging through my fridge and freezer seeing what is in there and then making menu plans accordingly.

I have been in and out with Teddi he just wants to sit in the sun and enjoy it and the cooler weather we are having. While he is sunning himself I putter like vaccuming the spider webs in the garage with my shop vac and knocking down the wasp nests that keep popping up. I knock them down yet they do not get discouraged just rebuild them..gggrr.

Today checked on my peaches. I have three semi-dwarf trees. They are not loaded like they were a couple of years ago but there are enough for me to enjoy. However saw three were rotting on the tree. They were a nice size but the peaches are not ripening like they should. I think they have brown rot! Bummer. Combination of I did not get the trees pruned as much as I should have in the spring due to the rain and the foliage is dense plus the heat and rain we have been having is another problem. Also the wild grapes have invaded the trees and are growing heavily on some of the trees. Some of the grapes are starting to ripen. If I can find enough I will make a small batch of grape jelly. Wild grapes are not edible raw too sour. I will have to pick them as they ripen and freeze them until I get enough to make a small batch of jelly. I did not have mulberry's this year due to the cold snap so it will be nice if I can make some grape jelly. Grape is not my favorite but the grapes are free so trying to make use of what is available.

I also plan on making a vinaigrette style salad dressing for my salads for the coming week.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I spent money today buying new kitchen curtains. I have been looking for some for years and just could not find what I was looking for. Everything in my house is neutral. The walls are white and the cabinets oak.. yuck. I need something cheerful. Finally found some I like. They are white with a few embroidered daisy's scattered about. The bottom has a little bit of a scallop (red) with a small band of red gingham. Just enough color without being too overwhelming. I have earned $25.00 in cash on My Points and I had $3.00 cash from another survey site so total of $28.00. After using that I will still have $21.90 left to pay out of pocket. I am trying to step up my game at other sites where I earn cash so over the next couple of months hopefully will earn enough to pay myself back. If not that is ok. I think the curtains will add a lot of warmth to my kitchen. I hope to one day paint the cabinets white using chalk paint. That is on my long term plan of home improvements.

Nothing exciting going on in the way of food. Eating leftovers. Making Teddi dog food with poached chicken breast from the freezer and rice. I poached chicken breast yesterday and today. They have a solution injected in to them so when you cook them they shrink. I will not buy that brand of chicken again. I always have rice on hand so I made a pot of rice to combine with his chicken. Also made a frozen dinner for myself. A while back had some leftover chickpeas and had opened a packet of Indian Dal from Big Lots so I combined them. Thus stretching the Dal for more than the usual two portions per packet and using up the chickpeas. I had two extra portions from the one packet of Indian Dal so decided to add some of the rice to it and freeze it for a quick meal someday when I am busy or not up to cooking. Dessert was generic cool whip with a little bit of peppermint extract, a few sugar free mini chocolate chips. If I had taken the time to wait for it to freeze it would be almost like eating choc chip mint ice cream. That is my favorite. However even though the base was fluffy it was still tasty and satisfying.

Today I was suppose to go for a B-12 shot but had a problem with my right knee during the night. It is ok now but I was just too tired to make a 50 mile round trip to the NP's office for the shot. I might go during the middle of the week when my aide is here to drive me.
Janet Alliesmama
BevMoore
Posts: 1012
Joined: Thu Aug 27, 2015 11:04 pm

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by BevMoore »

Janet, can you send me a list of survey sites you use? I currently use about 3-4. I have made almost $100.00 in the past 4-5 months. I started doing surveys when the pandemic started an I knew I would not be working. I cashed out $80.00 which I will be getting via PayPal and will cover half of my books purchase. It's hit or miss. Occasionally I will get lots of surveys I qualify for and other times its hit or miss. I know of one site you use, Pine Cone, but have yet to score an invite. Any ideas on how I can get in on it? If you like I can send you the sites I use.

Sheila PM'd me the sites I currently use but can always use more. TYA

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

Re: My 2020 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

BevMoore wrote: Mon Aug 03, 2020 8:46 pm Janet, can you send me a list of survey sites you use? I currently use about 3-4. I have made almost $100.00 in the past 4-5 months. I started doing surveys when the pandemic started an I knew I would not be working. I cashed out $80.00 which I will be getting via PayPal and will cover half of my books purchase. It's hit or miss. Occasionally I will get lots of surveys I qualify for and other times its hit or miss. I know of one site you use, Pine Cone, but have yet to score an invite. Any ideas on how I can get in on it? If you like I can send you the sites I use.

Sheila PM'd me the sites I currently use but can always use more. TYA

Bev
I know several people told me they have tried to get in to Pine Cone and been denied. I do feel blessed to have been chosen by them for so many years but feel lately that due to my age (75) I have been turned down when accepting their invitation to certain surveys. I would love to hear from you the sites you are using. Seems my age is a factor now that I am 75 more and more are not accepting me. I will send you some in a private message and please send yours to me also. Thank you.
Janet Alliesmama
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