Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

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Dgflorida
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Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Dgflorida »

Great job Red and Janet!
alliesmama4
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Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

I am trying to make do with my food to stretch my food budget so that I can buy things for my garden as well as to buy some almond and fruit trees. They will all be food eventually so it seems logical to use that area of my budget to buy these things.

While going through my fridge freezer found a nice sized container of sliced ham.. woo hoo. I had already decided not to buy ham for the Easter holiday since it is only me and I have a problem with freezer storage space. I bought this ham at Aldi's for half price plus I had cashed in some soda cans, free money, so afterwards it came to .94 cents for a whole spiral cut ham. I may start to oink but so far have had some with my breakfast egg yesterday and today. Had some chopped with my salad last night. Made ham salad for lunch today and tomorrow and also chopped more for adding to my salad tomorrow. Still have some left in the freezer.

I have given up drinking soda at home as well as when out.It allows me more money to buy real food. I am trying to cook more from scratch..My biggest problem is I get tired easily since food prep can be very fatiguing. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
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Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

It will soon be the end of the month of March.. Yikes! we are just zooming along this year. I think March was a decent month for me. Saved some money in some areas but looking to try to cut back even more. With winter winding down and warmer days ahead, in theory lol, I can cut back on my electric. The utility company has already said they will be cutting back on my budget billing next month but only by $10.00. However that is $10.00 I can save or use somewhere else.

I needed bread today since I was out of crackers and bread so made socca. It is a unleavened bread from Southern France made with chickpea flour and baked in the oven..I used the last of my fresh basil in it.. The plant was on its last leg so the leaves needed to be used.. The bread was ok but not something I will make again. Too much work. So tonight I am going to make unleavened pita bread..I have all kinds of flour and want to try to make things at home from scratch.. Should be healthier.

I have been doing an inventory of what is in my fridge freezer and found 2 Italian sausage links. They are baking right now and I will save one to use when I make homemade pizza and the other will be served with sauteed onion and peppers both from the freezer. I have boiled eggs to make egg salad or tuna salad and some deviled eggs for tomorrow. Found a partial bag of shredded potatoes and will make a small cheesy potato casserole with it to go with my salmon patties for dinner tomorrow night.I have the last of some fresh strawberries to be eaten tonight and tomorrow. I just like to eat them fresh without anything on them. My aide and I had combined a produce purchase together and they cost $2.00 but normally if bought separately almost $4.00 so they are a nice treat.

Looking forward to April as a new fresh start and to look for ways to save more money. Janet Alliesmama
Last edited by alliesmama4 on Fri Mar 30, 2018 10:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Janet Alliesmama
Dgflorida
Posts: 4381
Joined: Wed Oct 07, 2015 8:10 pm

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by Dgflorida »

Janet, I am glad you decided to give up soda at home. We stopped buying it and now just drink water. It is almost "free" from the tap and ran through a brita filter, good tasting. No calories or artificial stuff. Very healthy. Now just coffee and water. Very frugal too.
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Dgflorida wrote: Fri Mar 30, 2018 7:49 am Janet, I am glad you decided to give up soda at home. We stopped buying it and now just drink water. It is almost "free" from the tap and ran through a brita filter, good tasting. No calories or artificial stuff. Very healthy. Now just coffee and water. Very frugal too.
I wish I had wised up sooner after reading how bad it is for you in addition to throwing money away on something that is not healthy. I bought True Lime and True Lemon. to put in my water sometimes for a treat or if it is really hot as a refreshing drink. They had a buy 500 get 500 free sale last year with free shipping. I prefer the lime. I like to cook Thai food and it does use lime juice and this way I always have some on hand. Same with making other foods like hummus that require lemon. No need to go to the grocery store to buy a fresh lemon or lime. When I do buy either one I try to buy organic only and I zest them and keep the zest in my freezer for when a recipe requires one.. Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
alliesmama4
Posts: 8591
Joined: Sun Aug 30, 2015 10:10 pm
Location: Southern IL

Re: Starting our 2018 No Spend Challenge

Post by alliesmama4 »

Good afternoon sort of..lol. I am in use it up mode and made some blueberry muffins using almost all of the regular flour I still have. I used the baking powder I still had in my pantry and the muffins did not rise like they should have. They are dense but still tasty and edible. However not what I envisioned. So need to put baking powder on my stock up list. Then I was making a miniature cheesy potatoe casserole to use up the very last of some shredded potatoes from the freezer and feeling good about my frugalness and then pride goeth before a fall..lol. I was adding salt and maybe just a little bit of pepper.. Forgot I had taken the lid off of the grinder yesterday to spoon out some for my socca bread and boom half of a pepper shaker of pepper in my skillet.. So I scooped out what I could taking some of the potatoes with the pepper making my small casserole even smaller.I am thinking that the filling that had to be removed with the pepper can somehow be cleansed of a lot of the pepper and used in an omelet filling with other veggies or maybe added to a quiche. A lot of the pepper will just have to be washed away..no way can it be saved and used again. I keep thinking I can cook( I am delusional) but I was never a cook since I never had to feed a family so the need was never there.. I am hoping by the time I turn 75 I can boil water without a problem..lol.

Of course I was seeing April as the beginning of a new month to save money but doggie nephew is having some problems and if he is not better by tomorrow he will have to go to see a vet...I know I should never make too many plans in advance for saving money. It seems something is always waiting to move in and take it away.

It is a lovely spring day today and for the first time in a long time the sun is out and the temp decent.. Still chilly outside but I turned my furnace off to save money. The curtains and drapes are open and I am hoping to stick it out this evening and not turn the furnace on but with the incoming rain tomorrow the chill will be back. Still a day without the furnace on is a great start to decreasing the utility bill.

Janet Alliesmama
Janet Alliesmama
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