My 2021 Challenge

Want to up your frugal game? Join one of our challenges.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2021 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Still using up what I have in the house. The amzing thing is I found a whole head of lettuce in my fridge, from when my neice was here in May, and it is still fresh! It was still in the original plastic wrap, in the plastic grocery bag. It was on the lower shelf in the back. Maybe that kept it from going bad? Whatever the circumstance I am happy to have some lettuce to make salads again.


I have been creative with some things. One day I wanted some dip to eat with my chips, while rooting around in my pantry found a can of refried beans (.89 cents) and decided to make my version of Frito/Lay bean dip. A long time ago I came up with this recipe. All I do is add leftover pickled jalapeno juice to the beans until I get the the consistency that I like. To me it taste the same and is a whole lot cheaper. Maybe it could use a little bit of cumin or some seasoning but to me it tasted good just as it was. The next time I make it I might take the time to chop up some pickled jalapeno peppers to give it a little bit more zip.


My aide brought me some food from other sources. One of her clients received some kind of commodies box from a government agency. She did not want everything. She picked out what she wanted to keep and told my aide to give it to anyone that might need it. I have had this box before and it really is starvation food if they expect people to live off of it. However the box had a small can of chili I forget how many oz but it was small. There was a tiny tin of tuna fish salad. It weights 2.9 oz. That includes the tuna, mayo, textured soy flour, water chestnuts or carrots, egg yolk, onion, celery and water. I wonder how much tuna is actually in it? It is made by Bumble Bee and has 230 calories. There were packets of saltines for the chili and Club crackers for the tuna fish salad however due to the gluten could not eat them so gave them to my aide. Also there were 4 single serve cups of apple sauce, and 3 single serve cups of fruit. There was a cup each of pineapple, peaches, and mini orange sections. She also brought me some fruit from another give away. There were 2 small red apples, 3 small oranges and 2 mini boxes of single serve raisins. A while back she brought me 6 mini boxes of single serve raisins. Also she brought me two bananas from her home because she knows I like them and things are tight. I am enjoying all of the food gifts.

The other day I decided to make nachos with the last of my hard corn tortillas (3). I opened the can of chili and added it to the last of the bean dip and nuked the mixture. Added shredded cheddar cheese and chopped up some pickled jalapeno peppers, a dab of picante sauce from the fridge, and ate it for lunch. For dinner I shredded some lettuce and nuked the leftover chili/bean mix, added some sliced cherry tomatoes, cheese, pickled jalapeno peppers and a little bit more picante sauce. For lunch I added half of the pineapple fruit cup to some plain yogurt and for a snack I had the other half of the pineapple with plain yogurt. I am enjoying using the raisins in my morning oatmeal. Sometimes I will have an apple with peanut butter for breakfast or an afternoon snack.

I am out of milk and cream for my coffee. I have a powder that is suppose to make heavy cream. Nope! I looked online to see what to do to make it more like heavy cream. I need to cook it and add butter. Not sure I am going to do that. However I will use up the heavy cream powder and use like I would for milk in recipes. Right now I still have some evaporated milk to use in my coffee. Also I have buttermilk powder that needs to be used so I made some the other day and plan on making cornbread and some other baked goods with it. Right now things are tight and yet with all of the extras from my aide and her other client I am doing well.

Last year one of my aides other clients was cleaning out her closet and told my aide to take the things to a charity shop of her choice. She asked if she would mind if she gave them to another client and she told her that was great. Also my aide has brought me a lot of things from her own closet that she was getting rid of. So clothes wise I am doing pretty good for tops. I do need to look in to getting some nice slacks and some shoes but for right now things are going well.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2021 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Not too long after I posted yesterday that things were going good despite some problems the bottom dropped out of my budget I was putting the garage door down for the night and decided to see if I could figure out the problem with the pulley for the garage door if the power should go down. I heard a loud pop and the door crashed down and would not move with the electric remote or manually. Then went in to the dining room about 5 min later to put the blinds down for the evening, pulled the cord and the whole set of blinds fell out of the window frame. Yikes. I can live without the blind but will have to put up heavy duty drapes due to the west facing windows receive some really brutal heat in the summer and that is where my thermostat is for my furnace. The curtains I have now are lovely but not very good insulation against the heat. Fortunately I still have the heavier drapes. They will not look as nice as the curtains but right now need the protection of the heavy drapes. Today was able to get a garage repair company to come out to repair the door. It was a broken spring..

My budget is now busted. Take one step forward and three back. It is going to take quite a while to rebuild any kind of emergency fund. Things were tight now they are squeaking.

I hear thunder in the distance so need to sign off/shut down and unplug my computer. Quite a few years back my house was hit by lightning so I try to unplug as many things as I can when we have wicket storms.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2021 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

They say things go in threes. I had been working on a lengthy update and all of a sudden everything disappeared.. I hope this is the end of my bad streak. I am too tired to rewrite it today.. Will try again tomorrow.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2021 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I had grandiose plans to not buy anything for myself in the way of food until August however as I mentioned I was in La La Land at the time. I need pork roasts for Teddi for food and my aide is off tomorrow. It is a planned day off but I just did not make my plans that far ahead. I am not up to going in to a grocery store right now so made a Walmart curbside pickup for tomorrow. I tried to keep it as close to the $35.00 minimum as possible. It came to $36.63. I have been having tummy problems. I have gastritis and I read in my leaky gut book that I should stop eating raw fruits and veggies. So some of the fill-ins that I needed for my order included frozen spinach, cheese, a few canned goods and personal care products. The good thing is I finished the last of my lettuce and cucumber yesterday and the last of my store bought Ranch dressing the day before. I had one apple and 3 oranges that were free from my aide and I ate the apple for a snack today. Will work on the oranges the next couple of days. I have used up a lot of things but will not bore you with details. I used some of the $50.00 in cash from InBox Dollars to pay for the Walmart pickup so I consider everything free.

Teddi is not handing the storms well that we have been having daily. One of the nice ladies on the forum suggested Rescue Remedy. I found it on Amazon. Fortunately I had $15.00 in gift cards there. I also have Prime since it was offered to be a while back for free. I have it until July 7th. So I added gluten free crackers and some turkey snack sticks to the order. I had to pay $6.84 out of pocket but here again using money from InBox so it is free. Going through the $50.00 very quickly however I have earned $28.00 there since I last cashed in so more free money for backup when I want to cash in. Also have a lot of points elsewhere for gift cards. So not doing too badly right now.

I had hoped to keep the cash for my trip to Mexico but will just have to go with the flow and do what I need to do right now. I have gone through my budget and done some projections and I think after July things will loosen up. There were unexpected car expenses and then the garage door spring breaking this past week. Cannot do anything about the past just need to keep my eye on the future and do the best that I can. Compared to what so many other people are having to deal with around the world I have no reasons to complain.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2021 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Our storms and rain are over until Wed next week. Teddi is still not himself due to the stress from the thunder, lightning, and heavy rain. I thought we would get a reprieve until next week in order for him to recover. Nope! Last night someone was setting off fireworks. I ordered some botanicals that are supposed to help with anxiety. I started to give them to him as soon as the noise started. I had to repeat it several times. He was still anxious but maybe not as bad as previously. He finally hid under the table next to my chair. Today I put some of the drops in his water since they said they could be put in his food and water. To my knowledge he has not had anything to drink today. He is so fearful that he will hardly walk away from me when I go anywhere. Just a few minutes ago I walked him out to go potty and stopped to take down my laundry when there was a big "boom." It sounded like it was next door. There is a big field between our houses. I assume they are getting ready for the fireworks tomorrow. Last year they did a big display. I got Teddi in to the house and put him on my bed and gave him some of the botanicals in anticipation of what is to come when the sun goes down. He refused to eat his breakfast and after much encouragement ate some of the freshly baked pork roast. Glad I was able to get one meal down him before the noise picks up as well as to go out to potty. What irks me is fireworks are illegal in IL. However we live just across the river from Missouri and they have huge fireworks stands all along the road to the bridge.

Today I baked a spaghetti squash and added 2.4 leftover meatballs and pasta sauce. The meatballs were part of package that cost $5.00. I have eaten them in various meals and with what I ate today, with enough left over for lunch tomorrow, I will have had 6 meals from that one package. I added some parmesan cheese for extra flavor. I have half of spaghetti squash leftover. I will have to find another way to use it. I think somewhere I saw a recipe for spaghetti squash alfredo. That sounds interesting.

Eating oatmeal for breakfast most morning. I add raisins, cinnamon, and walnuts. With a tiny bit of butter and a little bit of milk. The raisins are free. My aide has brought me numerous boxes of individual servings of raisins. She said they were a part of a give away from her grandkids school and they will not eat raisins.

I have used up all store bought milk except have a tiny little bit of evaporated milk left. Tonight I will make some heavy cream using a powder. It really does not reconstitute like heavy cream but makes a good sub for milk.

I had to give up coffee again due to gastritis. So drinking hot black tea with milk and sugar sub. My stomach does feel better already.

I have been making an effort to unplug things not in use and to turn off ceiling fans when I know I will not be returning to the room for a while. I have been enjoying the cooler air and opening the doors and windows. However had to close up the house and start the A/C about an hour ago and isolate myself and Teddi in the master bedroom. I hope it will muffle the noise if there are more fireworks noise later.

Today washed and hung sheets on the clotheslines in the garage. Really enjoyed the smell of them when I brought them in this evening.
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: My 2021 Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I was invited to one of my nieces homes for the 4th of July for a BBQ. It was so nice to be able to get out and see some of my family. My DB and DSIL were also there. We had a nice visit. We have not had a family gathering since before the pandemic. Although we did see each other at the wedding in TN in May. My niece sent home all kinds of leftovers, enough to allow me not to cook until today. I still have half of a baked potato left that I plan on using tomorrow.

For dinner tonight I had the last of the spaghetti squash with leftover canned chili and parmesan cheese. I know it might sound yucky but it was sort of like chili mac except the squash has a tiny little bit of crunch to it.


The other day I noticed there were two big branches of my pear tree touching the ground. The limbs are thin and there is too much fruit. Yesterday, with the assistance of my aide, I tied the branches up using a "rope" that I crocheted a few years back. At least two maybe three years ago this same pear tree had a limb that was doing the same thing. I used some heavy tan yarn and chain crocheted a "rope." The rope is still holding the limb in place and is still strong.

I finally caved today and bought cottage cheese, a half gal. of whole milk, some vanilla ice cream, liverwurst, and fresh strawberries. The berries were a good price $2.89 a quart. I have been wanting something to snack on and have nothing so picked up some cheese popcorn that was on sale. I bought the milk and ice cream at Dollar General. It is at the other end of the parking lot from the grocery store. The actual grocery store prices were much higher for the milk and ice cream. The other items bought at the grocery store were their brand so lower in cost. The grocery store does give rewards. I have earned $6.00 there. I rarely shop there any more due to the cost but when I can find something comparable to Walmart I buy it at the grocery store to get the rewards. I am going to let the money ride until there is a much bigger cash out amount and then do some serious stocking up. I usually wait until the holiday seasons when things are on sale. I have not crunched the numbers yet but I think most everything was paid for with the money from InBox dollars.

I am suppose to avoid fresh fruit and fresh veggies due to my gastritis. It seems improved so I hope I can enjoy the strawberries without a flair up. Now I can have one fresh fruit a day and "berries" was on the list. However I am dying for a salad.

I earned another $6.00 this month from Pine Cone research. I did an online survey and received $3.00. Then their client sent me a product to test in my home. I did a follow up survey the other day and received another $3.00. Friends have told me it is really hard to be accepted by Pine Cone. They have tried and been denied. I cannot remember how long I have been doing surveys for them but it has been years and years. They do not have daily surveys. They send things out on a rotation basis and it seems to be infrequent but worth the wait for the $3.00 each time. I am up to $24.00 there. I have cashed in numerous times with them over the years. I also have a (2) $15.00 e-Mastercard from them to cash in. Just not sure what I want to buy with them.

Teddi had a medicated bath today, $30.00 plus a $5.00 tip. They just recently raised their price. It use to be between $20.00 and $25.00 depending on what he had done. I hope the bath helps with his severe itching. The place where I take him never charges extra for anything like a medicated bath. Where I use to take Allie the groomers always charged extra. So lucky to have them as his groomers. They are so popular they have not taken any new clients in about 3 years. So glad he is established with them.
Janet Alliesmama
Post Reply