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Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2018 9:49 pm
by alliesmama4
Momof2Still wrote: Thu Aug 02, 2018 7:30 pm
alliesmama4 wrote: Wed Aug 01, 2018 11:13 pm
Momof2 I am ok. Just have been busy and can only get so much done before I get tired.. The old gray mare ain't what she use to be...lol. When I had my total knee replacements I was told I could not go back to my job as a physical therapist assistant so decided to go back to school to become a teacher. However I had just started with some preliminary classes when I was diagnosed with ALS.. I have a rare inherited form of ALS. It is not fatal just have progressive problems.. It is more active in the summer and if I get lucky sometimes it goes in to remission in the late Fall until early spring.

Good luck with your new school year.. What do you teach? A grade level or certain class like history or English. If that is too personal to reveal I do understand.

Janet Alliesmama
I am glad you are okay. Don't overdo, there is always tomorrow.

I teach students from Kindergarten through 8th grade that have some type of disability. I really love my job, and it is such a joy to watch a child that has worked so hard on a concept finally get it. Granted often times it is much like beating your head against the wall, but for those times they do accomplish things independently, it is well worth the hard work and much frustration.

I understand what you are saying.. I worked with children too in physical therapy..One year a local school, that had a lot of children with disabilities, decided to send them for therapy to our hospital.. They came two times a week and there were two groups of children. So sweet and yet so up beat.Yes it can be frustrating too. We had one little guy that was Down's syndrome. He suddenly died of a heart problem. He was an only child. His parents adopted another Down's syndrome child. They said that their son had brought them so much joy and happiness they wanted to help another child.. Have to admire them. Janet Alliesmama

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 5:26 pm
by alliesmama4
It has been a while since I reported in. I am doing well with staying in my budget.. Have been working hard on trying to get extra gift cards for the things that are somewhat of a need as well as a want.. I have been very fortunate with Pine Cone research sending me surveys on a regular basis. They do not send out daily ones but on a rotation basis. They are usually good for $3.00 each time which is about half of what I need to buy a rotisserie chicken which will last me for 4 to 5 days depending on what I use it for and if Teddi is also sharing it with me. On Tuesday of this week I bought a chicken for $3.00 using survey money. I made chicken broth overnight with the bones, skin, and scraps of meat left on the bones. I strained it this morning and added some dehydrated onion, carrots, and celery from my pantry. I am going to make dumplings to go with the broth. Also threw in a large meaty chicken thigh that I bought really cheap the other day.. .69 cents a lb.. Cooking three of them in a separate pot for Teddi for his meals for the next several days.

A while back I had obtained enough points from My Points to buy a case of LaChoy rice noodles and 8 cans of albacore tuna from Amazon. One day a couple of weeks ago I realized I had free coffee for breakfast.. free tuna in my sandwich and for dinner I had an Asian salad similar to Applebee's and it was almost free. The chicken was free with money from Pine Cone Research. The lettuce was .99 cents a head and the basic salad dressing was so easy to make at home with things I keep on hand and the rice noodles were free. Teddi has been eating free Pupperoni from Amazon and my Vitamin D pills are also free.

I was disappointed that I had worked hard to get $25.00 in cash to be transferred to my Pay Pal account from My Points but when it came time to claim it they would not allow it. They said some offers are not always available. I tried for the $25.00 Visa card same thing.. Bummer.. So I had to go with small $5.00 gift cards for Amazon and bought the rice noodles and tuna.. Kinda of irksome. I do not like the bulk buying on Amazon and feel like they make you buy things.It is ok if you are a family but I am just one person with a small puppy dog. Anyway I did get something I like and use but would have preferred the cash or Visa card to use in my community for grocery shopping. Still everything was free.. I think I had to pay something like $1.08 out of pocket since I did not have enough in gift cards so that was acceptable.

My peaches are starting to ripen and I hope I can get enough of them picked and canned or frozen before someone comes in and strips my trees.. They have done that several years in a row under the cover of darkness. I would like to get a driveway alarm but just cannot afford to buy one.

I guess I have somewhat updated what is going on here.Will try to post more often.. Janet Alliesmama

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 6:17 pm
by BevMoore
Alliesmama,

Great job on scoring the freebies! I am still trying to get myself motivated since I am cutting work hours for now. I have been able to cut back on spending by pulling the plug on cable TV, getting the senior discount on my family pack cell phone bill (I share a plan with DS) and gassing up my vehicles at Sams Club or Costco. I needed some clothes for work so I shopped at Khols during one of their big specials and saved about 30% on top of things that were already on sale. It was on Wednesday and I told them I am a senior but they don't let you stack discounts. The 30% was the better deal so I went with that.

I am searching for other things to cut back on. Next cut will be washing two of my vehicles (which are white) and cleaning them myself. My red one will have to go to a car wash because the water here leaves spots on it.

I am also going to trim bushes and do a few other things around the yard so I don't have to pay the gardener extra. They ae basically a mow and blow service which works out for me because I don't have to worry about keeping up the yard for the most part.

Bev

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Sun Aug 12, 2018 9:31 am
by alliesmama4
BevMoore wrote: Sat Aug 11, 2018 6:17 pm Alliesmama,

Great job on scoring the freebies! I am still trying to get myself motivated since I am cutting work hours for now. I have been able to cut back on spending by pulling the plug on cable TV, getting the senior discount on my family pack cell phone bill (I share a plan with DS) and gassing up my vehicles at Sams Club or Costco. I needed some clothes for work so I shopped at Khols during one of their big specials and saved about 30% on top of things that were already on sale. It was on Wednesday and I told them I am a senior but they don't let you stack discounts. The 30% was the better deal so I went with that.

I am searching for other things to cut back on. Next cut will be washing two of my vehicles (which are white) and cleaning them myself. My red one will have to go to a car wash because the water here leaves spots on it.

I am also going to trim bushes and do a few other things around the yard so I don't have to pay the gardener extra. They ae basically a mow and blow service which works out for me because I don't have to worry about keeping up the yard for the most part.

Bev
Thanks Bev..It is amazing what those little bits of income from surveys can do to help stretch the budget.

My SIL use to give me her hand me down clothing but she has lost a lot of weight so that will not be a source for me any more. There are several Good Will stores in my area that are near malls and I found that if I went there when the stores were doing there seasonal changes many times I would find clothing from the stores still with their original store tags on them. Brand new and for pennies compared to buying them. Not sure if you have charity shops near your Malls but it might be worth looking in to..

I am constantly reviewing and changing my budget.. back in the olden days, when I was working, I just had a yearly budget and stuck to it. Now since I am no longer working I can try to re-work things to get a little more out of my money. Good luck on finding ways to save money.. Janet Alliesmama

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Tue Aug 14, 2018 5:26 pm
by alliesmama4
Plugging along here with a few fill-ins from the grocery store..fresh dairy, lettuce, tomatoes etc. Bought some chicken thighs the other day for Teddi, as well as myself, and they were only .69 cents a lb.

I did not like the chicken broth that I made from my last rotisserie chicken it was seasoned with herbs and the broth was very dark and unappetizing in looks and did not have a good fresh chicken broth taste so threw it away.. A bit of a loss due to the dehydrated veggies I used but basically it was water, skin, and bones so no big loss. Our local store has decided to only sell herb seasoned chicken. However when questioned more the deli said they could cook a "seasoned" chicken without the herbs but I will have to special order it. They have a sale this week on rotisserie chickens for $4.99 and I earned $3.00 from Pine Cone over the week-end so I plan on ordering a chicken on Thursday and will make chicken and dumplings on Saturday..So for around $ 2.00, due to taxes, I will have protein for meals for about 4 to 5 meals if not more.
I am using up things in my freezer and pantry as side dishes. I ate the last of my tuna fish salad today today for lunch. The tuna was free and the eggs (3) were only .08 cent each. The mayo was from Dollar Tree and the onion was just bits of odds and ends left from other things I made. I think this is the 4th meal lunch or dinner from that one can of tuna so very inexpensive..Still drinking free coffee in the morning and I have gone back to drinking milk in my coffee and it is only .89 cent a half gallon. Drinking the milk since I ran out of half and half and had a half gallon of milk in the freezer.

I am making a cheese cake with plain Knox gelatin and cream cheese from Aldi's. I bought a brick of cream cheese from Aldi's on a trial basis for $1.29 however I do not like it for my savory keto dishes.. It is too sweet. So I am making a cheese cake with it.. very simple with Knox gelatin a little bit of sugar, cream cheese, and vanilla.. I am adding a little bit of strawberry flavoring to it, along with the vanilla, to give it a little bit more of a summery fruit taste. Speaking of strawberries.. I picked 5 off of my plants today and have a fresh peach from my trees and will make a fruit salad of sorts.. not a lot to work with but I am the only one eating so it will be a nice snack this evening.

I am getting ready to make a loaf of gluten free bread and need to check on how to proof my yeast. The yeast has been in the freezer for a long time, and really well past the use by date, but it should still be viable just need to check to make sure. Janet Alliesmama

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Posted: Wed Aug 15, 2018 8:46 am
by alliesmama4
Did not make my gluten free bread. My yeast was ok but after going over the recipe I realized I did not have enough of the various flours that were required. GF bread requires a lot of different combinations of flours to try to give it more taste and texture like wheat based flour. Will have to look through my gf cook books to find a recipe that fits what I have on hand.

I had to use the last two bricks of my cream cheese to make the cheese cake. I thought it only required one. It is an ok recipe especially for summer since it does not require baking. However I do prefer my recipe for cheesecake that is baked and uses 4 bricks of cream cheese. It is of course not frugal but yummy..

Forgot to mention that I had $10.00 in Amazon gift cards from various sources and was saving up to buy a much needed garden hose. However Teddi has dry skin and needs a special shampoo that cost $14.45 on Amazon and at Petco so I went ahead and used the gift card money for the hose on his shampoo and since I needed more of a purchase to get free shipping I went ahead and bought the hose.. I will just have tighten the money belt somewhere else. Janet Alliesmama