what did you do today to save a penny - Part 2

[Littlesister]

Ambergris.  Thank you for that info. I saved it to my computer books. That is a great list to know about. 

[Peg]

We live in a deep valley so in order to see any kind of news or generally watch any tv we have to have satellite. We couldn't put up a digital antenna tall enough due to city ordinance. Anyway, I got our bill cut from $118 per month down to $35 per month. I can work with that.

[Littlesister]

We have cable for telephone, TV, and internet. We went to basic for cable and got down to 118.00 for all 3 down from 180.00. Now they have put a 15.00 surcharge on cable. Not sure if it's because of the 5G network or not. But not happy. Looking into the firestick and some other options. the phones are the house phones as we only use our AARP cell  phones for when we are out and about. Those are cheap. 20.00 a month for 2 cell phones. The internet we can't find any cheaper around here for less than 59.00 a month. .  House phones are 9.99 a month. Now our bill is creeping back up to 149.00 a month..  So doing some looking around for TV and hopeful find cheaper internet as well. We dropped satellite a long time ago because of the prices creeping up. So now the cable is doing it and it needs to go as well. 

However we did save this week on OTC meds, food, gas, and other stuff we needed.  2 for 1 sells and lots of coupons at the BJ"S wholesale club. Their coupons with manufacture coupons.  Came out to about $45.00 savings. Not bad for what we bought there.

[kappydell]

added a new store to my weekly bargain survey.  The Food Depot is a lower priced grocery, meat cuts are select and not choice cuts for example, and brands are sometimes odd.  However, they also are a LOT cheaper on some brands we normally buy - so I have decided to start stopping in weekly to see if they are having a sale on things we use. 

 

Today they had canned Libbys veg for 15 cents a can LESS than walmart (cheapest I have found so far) so I got another 12 cans.  (I find buying in sets of 12 gives me a once weekly serving for 3 months and helps me calculate in my head on the run how much of a good sale item to buy.)  

 

I am also considering buying a little of their (tougher) meat to pressure cook - to simulate how they would be canned -  if quality is acceptable they might be a good source for canning meat cuts....

Edited March 2, 2020 by kappydell

[Littlesister]

Good find Kappy..   Wish we had something like that around here.  Did no shopping for anything today. But after we got though cooking collards for the market we bought some home to freeze all free. Does that count?

[kappydell]

That definitely counts!!  Putting up garden produce is the best way to save pennies and enhance your meals!  And I LOVE collards!  Our local garden center has early transplants in - bought collards, broccoli, romaine lettuce, and picked up what I call "farmer seeds"....this garden center buys seeds in bulk for farm markets, sells for 50 dents an OUNCE (I qas shocked) so I got seeds for rattlesnake pole beans, blue lake bush, half-runner beans, and wax beans; also for okra (clemson spineless).  If the marker farmers are using them they must be reasonably well adapted to this area, and at those prices I can afford to gamble.  We'll be checking back every Mon to see what else he gets in; for transplants as spring approaches.  Have had best luck with his stuff from all transplants we have tried (and he is the only one that handles autumn transplants, so we want to encourage that!)  We have also had good luck with his shrubs & fruit trees. I guess it pays for us to buy local in his case.

[Littlesister]

We need to go check out our garden center. They should be starting to get things in around here now. Though some of the garden things are still a bit early. I really need to get into the yard and get some weeds pulled and other things done to get ready for garden. 2 green houses to put up and a hot box. Need to get son in law over to help me.  DH wants to plant okra this year. Haven't done that in a long while. Not since we had the monster garden next to the Farmer's market. That property now has a 7-11 on it. I have pictures of that garden. DH's cousin owns the Farmers Market and the land the 7-11 now sits on. He rents the land to them and they put the building on there. The land was not the greatest for a garden but did really well for what we had planted. 

[The WE2's]

Vacuum sealed and re-packaged foods for re-stocking the pantry and freezers.

[kappydell]

My orders for oxy absorbers (quart jar size) and dessicant packets (5 gal pail size) arrived, along with my food-safe 45 gal pail liner bags (used for marinating stuff in 5 gal pails).  

It is so humid here that I thought dessicant packets would help with things stored in those pails.  WM has 5 gal pails marked down $1 off....nice.....so I got some.  Still no hand sanitizer available anywhere in town so I was pleased to find mrs S' directions for making it   It sounds neater than just pouring alcohol over hands and rubbing briskly, though that is a consideration as well.  I can get aloe gel (saw it at Big lots) yet, but even that is disappearing.  Maybe I will get more rubbing alcohol...(need an emoji stroking its chin in thought).

Meanwhile am compiling recipes for using home canned meats from various sources and ordered from thriftbooks.com a couple of fix it and forget it cookbooks  at less than half price plus free shipping.  I always look there before anywhere else when I want a book, especially an older one.  Free shipping trips my trigger.

[Littlesister]

Paid off all my bills just to find out that 2 of the bills I paid on Feb. 29th are lost in mail. I know when I go to post office they won't do anything but say they can't trace them. Went through that before.  So going anyway to see what they do this time. Then have to come home and call both my cable and cell phone provider. This is so frustrating. And no excuse for these mail carriers to keep loosing the mail. 

But other than that I have my charge card paid off again. Saving by not using those for a while. Cash only for a while or by debit card.

[Jeepers]

Just thinking about charge cards. They might be the safest way to shop right now. Money is filthy. To think I take it from everyone in change, and then carry it around in my purse. Ugh. 

[Littlesister]

The 2 bills that were mailed 2 weeks ago got to where they should have been yesterday.  So they were late but paid. They saw the dates and said no late fee will be applied.  As for Netflix, we have cancelled come April 7th as they are having a big problem with the computers taken visa cards. Their computers won't take anything. I needed to change the date on my new debit card as I got the new ones in. Netflix is a direct payment from my bank. So one bill I will no longer have. May not bother to get it back after the 3 months it will take them to fix the problem. Told DH to start getting used to prime movies as we pay a yearly fee for Amazon prime so start watching that as it cost nothing extra. 

So we are now saving by not having Netflix. 

[The WE2's]

Made up a container of personal (baby) wipes instead of buying some.  We have 4 more packages but we use them daily and that will run out if we don't go out to purchase more.  I've got a feeling they'd be in high demand and maybe not available in the stores during this stressful time.  Also made up a pint of homemade instant vanilla pudding (got the recipe from Noreen's) and will be making up a batch of homemade cream of chicken soup mix for the pantry. I can add mushroom when I cook some up if I want cream of mushroom soup.

 

[Jeepers]

Littlesister, I watch a lot of Prime Video stuff on my Kindle Fire tablet. I really enjoy it.

[snapshotmiki]

Hit a yard sale this morning! 100 jars assorted (but 3 of quarts) for $25! Woohoo!!! It's too rainy out to unload them right now, but very happy!

[TheCG]

Stayed home.  Does that count?

[Homesteader]

Received a FREE Vitramix (old one) from a good friend. I was thinking it was more like a juicer. The thing was huge and would take up too much counter space for being a blender on steroids. Some of the parts were missing but worked well after DH fixed the switch. Friend got a new one for Christmas (almost $500 mfg.).    I cleaned up the blender and sent it back to the former owner so that she could give it to someone else. My old blender still works and takes up about half the space on the shelf. 

 

I did send DH over there with the blender and a big bag of Meyer lemons. She was thrilled for the gesture. It's hard out-giving her.  

[Mother]

I LOVE my old old old vitamix.  I use it for so many things.  I especially like it for making raw soup with. It not only blends but gently heats it from friction.  

 

I saved a penny today by starting two jars of sprouts and planting a flat (inside) of microgreens, 1/3 broccoli, 1/3 clover, 1/3 lettuce.  And another of pea shoots.

[Dee]

I saved a penny today by taking the, maybe 3/4 cup, leftover rice, and instead of throwing it away, I warmed it and put cinnamon, raisins and sugar on it for DH's breakfast.  I also warmed a couple slices of zucchini bread, made last summer, from the freezer.  He said, "This rice is really good.  You haven't done this for a long time."  How easy and cheaply I made the man happy this morning.  

[Jeepers]

That does sound good Dee!

[The WE2's]

On 2/13/2021 at 9:32 AM, Mother said:

I LOVE my old old old vitamix

 Ours is the stainless steel vintage and I love it.  'Nuff said! 

[The WE2's]

Eating "unusual" meals...LOL...from the frig and from the freezer here.  Son brought me a couple of boxes of food...so we're trying to get it eaten.  He loves mushrooms so I ended up with 6 boxes...had to jar up some half pints.  Tonight had soft tacos...actually just a big bowl each of taco salad with a ramikin of homemade taco sauce and some small soft tortillas.  Dessert...some leftover fruit.

[Mother]

WE2'S  My Vitamix is also one of the old Stainless Steel ones.  I bought it second hand for $75 years and years ago.  It came with two containers. The one with the spigot and a grain grinding/bread making one.   It's a bit noisy now but still works GREAT.  Those early ones were really built to last.  

[Annarchy]

It doesn’t sound like saving a penny, by spending it.  I need to go to Sam’s to pick up bulk meats.  The closest Sam’s at home is 100 miles, one way, here in TX, it’s a 5 minute drive.  Plus, the price per pound is much more than $1. cheaper than we can find in AZ and better quality & variety.

[Homesteader]

I volunteered at a temporary food pantry this week. It was lots of fun and I met many wonderful people at the church that was sponsoring the give-away. The teens were so much fun to tease, and they took it like champs. There were lots of left-overs that couldn't be forwarded to a 'real food pantry' because the big boxes were either opened or the food was perishable.

 

My SIL filled up her arms, walked to my car after distribution, and filled the back of my little trunk. I have apples, potatoes, lots of frozen convenience meats, and too many bags of chips/cookies. I'm not a chip/cookie person so will dole out those, with the ice cream cups, to mom and DH. They love sugar and salt. 

 

I separated out two boxes and took them over to an elderly couple next door. It was good to check up on them and give them some extra food that their little grandson also likes. I think I'll start once-a-month volunteering at that church food pantry. The fellowship was priceless.