End of Month Goals and Shopping

Although my month started out poorly, I did manage to accomplish some goals. Check out my progress here. My biggest success though was coming to a decision about the house, even though it wasn't really on my radar....at least, not in my conscious mind. Everyone so far has been very encouraging.

My new diet is much more expensive these days. A lot of my frugal meals from the past included fillers like grains, pulses and beans. When it was just myself, my Sweetie and my son living here, I got away with $75 a week ($25 a week, per person). I used coupons a lot more and I could serve a meat dish with potatoes, breads, and pasta. I know that the price of food has also increased a lot over the past few years, but mainly it is the cost of vegetables and dairy that affect my bottom line. My month begins from the date my government pension goes into my bank account, which is approximately the 27th of the month. In February, it was the 26th  (3 banking days before the end of the month)  From that weekend until this past Tuesday, I spent a total of $396.06 on food items alone. Actually $343.16 was taken from my account because I spent my $25 gift card on food and $27.90 from my lottery winnings of $43 went towards food. The point is I ate just under $400 myself for one month.

 I spent $28.75 on non-food items at the grocery store. I spent $18.06 on dog food and $127.12 to the vet. I paid for the dog's license, but that $15 was left over from the lottery winnings (so no out of pocket). I spent $22.76 on postage to mail out a parcel, and $54 on hobby supplies. (planting soil, beads, macrame cords, A2 sized envelopes).  I spent $29.49 on a LOL doll for my youngest grand daughter's birthday (also through Amazon Prime) and e-transferred another $25 for her birthday present. I usually give $50 to each grand child for their birthday presents. I spent $32 on Avon this past month, but they are all gifts for others that I have put away for Christmas. I only spent $50 on gas this month. I bought lunch for myself one day when I was out with a friend, but I have counted that already in my food costs. My  expenses for non-food items for this past month were...$387.18  My food cost me $343.16, so my total variable expenses cost me $730.34  Fortunately I was gifted a $25 gift card and I was given scratch tickets that won me $43, so that was a bonus this month. I was left with $55 which  I applied as an extra c.c. payment.

I will not tell you how much I bring in or how much my fixed expenses are. My own pension and my husband's survivor pension come in on the first of the month and that is also when all my fixed expenses come out automatically from my bank account.   I have put out this  list of money I paid out on variable expenses so we could see what there is to cut back on. I can already see that I paid too much on craft materials. I will seek out projects using up materials that I already have. A friend has already announced that she has jute to give me for my macrame, and Bless suggested I use several strands of cotton yarn (which I already have). Growing a veggie garden should certainly help with food costs during the summer months and I already have several packets of seeds. Any other suggestions for me?  Sometimes it takes an outsider to see the obvious. I will be making up a new list of goals for April in just a few days.

April Showers Have Arrived Early

All the snow has gone from the backyard. The rain has certainly helped with that. The robins have been digging for worms and the crocuses in the front garden have started to bloom. Spring may finally be on its way.

 The blue crocuses are out and to the left of them the alium has started to emerge. Up against the wall, the daffodils have just made an appearance.

 These daffodils were nowhere in sight yesterday.

 I have continued to work in my Craft Room all week. There isn't really anything to show you in photos because it is such tedious work. It reminds me of the week I spent before Christmas sorting through all the pieces of hardware and organizing it into containers on shelves or in drawers. It takes a lot of effort but I will be happy when it is all done.

Yesterday I sorted through my stickers. The bottom bin contains just stickers while the bin that sits on top have 3 dimensional stickers. The cardboard box to the side contain the ones that I will take to my grand kids to use in their craft space. 

 

I also have die cuts, vellum quotations, rub-ons, washi tape and lots and lots of scrapbook borders. Once I sorted through all the stickers and removed them from the larger rolling storage unit in this picture, I was better able to separate those items to make it easier to find and use them in the future. The top drawer holds my clear sentiment stamps and the  second drawer holds my clear image stamps. I also have rubber stamps, but they are in another location right now. You may notice I have two empty magazine racks. That's because I got rid of all my crafting magazines. I have been adding stuff to my yard sale bins. I kept most of my crafting books though.  I am always surprised when I realize it is 1 PM and I need some lunch, because it doesn't feel like I have been at it that long.

I had to go out this afternoon. I checked the Post Office and found an appointment to have a colonoscopy on April 9th. So I will have to delay my trip to Elliot Lake until the following week.  I also received a package of wooden beads that I had ordered a few weeks ago from Amazon (I had forgotten all about them). They cost less than $4 I believe and had to come from overseas somewhere and so the long arrival date. They will look fantastic with jute. I also stopped at the Municipal offices to pay for Satchel's license. It was $15 today, but next week it will cost $30. They didn't send out reminder notices last month, so I am glad I remembered.

 The No-Frills store was really busy. I should have gone yesterday like I wanted. I needed the 2 doz. eggs, more mixed frozen veggies to make a stir fry tomorrow, and some more sweet potatoes to take with me to Smith Falls on Saturday. I bought more frozen berries, cottage cheese and another block of cheddar. Total cost was $29.02  I will calculate this from April's budget because my government pension is in the bank. Since I had $55 remaining from March, I applied that as an extra payment against my c.c. This weekend I will add up the total of all my food, non-food, and gas expenditures from the month of March. Have a wonderful Easter holiday, no matter what you do. Stay safe on the roads if you are traveling. 

 

 

 

A Good Day to Stay Indoors

It was cool and overcast when I got up this morning, and now at 2:30 in the afternoon, it has just started to rain. I just got back from the Post Office where I mailed off two encouragement cards and picked up my mail. This morning I responded to  my email messages before I went to the Craft Room to resume my cutting and purging of black card stock and all of my patterned paper. I did not cut these. I just put together in page protectors any large pieces that were predominately one colour. I also separated Fall and Halloween papers, from Easter patterns, and Valentine backgrounds so they are all together in separate packages so I don't have to scout out where they are or cut into fresh unused sheets. My Christmas papers are in a lidded container of their own.

This way I will use up all my scraps to make cards and pack up the whole unused sheets to go to the apartment when I am ready. If I were smart, I would always use up just the scrap pieces for my card making and save the large sheets for scrap booking only. Besides the loose sheets of patterned paper, I have 12 inch by 12 inch paper pads and 6x6 inch paper pads. I never have to buy patterned paper ever again in my life time.

When I finished,  it was well after 1 PM and I realized I hadn't made my turkey vegetable soup for lunch, so I did that quickly. While that simmered, I emptied the dishwasher and started loading it up again. Then I watered my indoor plants, before walking over to the Post Office.  I am eating my soup now while I post this. It was a good day to stay indoors but it is also a day that saps my energy and makes me feel very tired.

Grocery Shopping This Week

I expressed the hope last week that I would not have to do any more shopping until the end of the month. That didn't happen. After sorting and purging in my Craft room for three full days and part of a fourth, I decided yesterday to take a break to do up my laundry and go into Kingston Freshco again to pick up some more veggies, dairy  and berries.

Since I cannot have any complex carbohydrates like rice, pasta, lentils, beans, or anything made with flour, I end up eating a lot of vegetables and meat. I can have sweet potatoes sparingly (they have a high glycemic index) and the occasional turnip; but mostly it is above ground vegetables. These veggies and frozen field berries cost $27.43

Dairy cost me $18.63 The yoghurt was still $1.69 each and the 400 gm block of Monteray Jack with jalapeno cost only $3.75  I needed to buy the whole milk and since the cottage cheese was not on sale, I bought only one container of store brand at $2.99  I lo-o-ove cottage cheese.
I didn't plan on buying meat but the chicken thighs were only $1.99 a lb. so I bought a pkg. of 9 for $4.04 

The Oktoberfest sausage was also on sale, so after picking up these two packages of meat I paid $6.53, bringing my total food expenditure to $52.59 for this week.

The only craft project I completed this week was a knit dish cloth. I worked just a tiny bit on my embroidery.

I mentioned already that I plan to pack away all my whole sheets of card stock (except for black and my card weight white card stock) and the 12x12 inch patterned scrapbook paper. I gathered all my scrap  pieces of card stock and cut them to usable rectangles sorted by colour. This is what I will make my future cards from. I still have to do the same with my patterned pieces of scrap.

My goals this week include finishing up the Craft Room purge and organization. I will also need to empty the large pieces I hope to sell on-line and get them listed. I need to get my financial papers over to the accountant to have my taxes prepared. Any other spare time I have, I will prepare items for the yard sale early in May. That will mean another week of no card-making Thursday.

Daybook: Monday, March 26/18

My SIL arrived last Wednesday morning. Before we settled down to "get right to it", we talked a lot about how I was feeling and we went through each room of the house to discover which of my possessions I should get rid of. I shared with her my financials and it was during this discussion that I decided that the house was just too big and too much  to keep up. So I made the decision to put it up for sale this year and move into an apartment. Once I decided that, things sort of fell into place. I knew what I had to get rid of and I felt immense relief at having made a decision. That afternoon and the following day we both spent time in the craft room purging and organizing. It is a huge job that I continued both Friday and Saturday after she was gone. I will try to sell it "as is" because there is no way I can sink any more money into this place. I am hoping the double lot will get me the price I need, as I am very sure who ever buys this place will bulldoze the building down anyways to erect a duplex or triplex for rentals. At the very least, they could build their dream house immediately behind this house and live here until it is completed before then tearing it down. Fingers crossed.

Outside my window.....it is sunny but cold outside. The snow is almost completely gone again.

I am thinking.....I have made the right decision for myself.  I am nervous, but feeling relieved at the same time. Paying rent on a two bedroom apartment will be less than my remaining mortgage payments, gas, electric, water and sewer, property taxes, house insurance, furnace and hot water tank servicing contracts,  maintenance, etc., etc. I will have more time for living instead of maintaining the yard and gardens in summer and shoveling  the driveway in winter.

I am thankful.....for all the advice that was offered for me to ponder and take into consideration.

From the kitchen.....I roasted 9 chicken thighs last night. I ate 3 with a sweet potato and Brussels sprouts last night, and took the meat off  3 this morning to add into a stir fry later this week. The last 3 are frozen and will  provide another meal later on. This morning I shredded and sauteed a head of cabbage to which I will add cooked ground beef for dinner tonight. I  peeled, chopped,  boiled, and mashed a turnip for future meals. I took the meat off the turkey wings and leg I had in the crock pot overnight to make soup later on this afternoon.

I am wearing.....black jeans, black socks, a gray long sleeved T-shirt with my red with white polka dot zipped hoodie over top.

I am creating.....a more organized Craft space to keep all my crafting materials. I will pack up all my whole sheets of patterned paper and card stock and work only from the scraps that will be cut into usable sheets and sorted by colour. I have already purged so many items that I will never use. I did not make any more cards this past week, but I did manage to mail out the kids' Easter cards and some "Thinking of You" cards that I had already made up.

I am going.....to the Post Office on my way to a grocery store to pick up some cardboard packing boxes.

I am hoping.....to make a final stab at meeting my March goals. I need to look back at them to remind myself what I had hoped to accomplish since I was majorly derailed this month. I also hope to spend most of my time finishing the sorting and purging of stuff from my Craft room this week.

I am hearing.....traffic outside on the highway, as well as the cries of seagulls.

Around the house.....I will need to empty the pieces of furniture I hope to sell online on  Kijiji. I  will pack everything in Rubbermaid bins or boxes and label for either the yard sale in May, or items going with me. It could take a year or more to sell this property.  I will also need to go through each room and wash, pack up, and "price" everything for the first sale. If I sell the house this year, there will be more items to sell off.

One of my favourite things.....about this past week has been about making a decision. Some of my favourite things I have to get rid of because I cannot take them with me. I have strong emotional attachments to things which makes it hard to let go.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....include a trip to Smith Falls this Saturday with my son and his fiancee for Easter dinner with my brother and his wife. There is nothing else on my calendar.

Here's the picture I am sharing.....

When sorting through the Craft Room, I found a bag of pennies. I rolled up $4.50

My Apologies

I need to begin by making apologies to the many people who have responded to my Daybook post by commenting, emailing and phoning me. I didn't mean to alarm people. This is the reason why I should never try to post on my blog when I am feeling down in the dumps. Everybody knows I have been treated for Depression most of my adult life and they are afraid of the worst. That is why I was quick to point out that I am not clinically depressed....just feeling down. I already attributed this to Spring Fever and I am sure that is all it is. Every Spring I used to talk of moving and I would look through the Real Estate pages. I think it is human nature to feel restless this time of year. Anyways, your concern was not all for naught because you gave me several ideas for consideration. And I am considering. This morning my SIL (the one who suggested a big cull of my personal possessions and yard sale)  is actually coming to help me over the next few days. She will be a sounding board as well and will also be offering advice. This is the same SIL who came last winter and Spring to help me purge out a lot of "cobwebs" so I could move on. Nathalie was quite correct to remind me that I already have a strong support system here where I am presently and both she and Bless have advised me to talk with someone and actually write down pros and cons before making any major decision. So I will be doing that for sure. Yes, moving is a big deal. I would have to sell this place first. I won't be doing that any time soon, but I can be preparing for that eventuality. In the meantime, I am paying all my bills. It is just very difficult getting ahead with any kind of savings when the cost of living just keeps going up and up, and all those life events that keep happening that require money to fix things. *laugh*  So I will be talking to people and asking for advice and suggestions, and I am giving consideration to all ideas that have been presented already. Thank you. I really appreciate the feedback.

So I had a wonderful time Friday night at Montana's. For dinner, I ordered a Cobb salad and tea for dessert. You will be happy to know that when I was presented with a humongous piece of ice-cream cake on a plate with 5 spoons, I did not have any of it. Nor did I have a glass of wine, much to the disappointment of my friends....but I am committed to staying away from the sugar. My dinner was paid for and I received several lovely cards with lottery scratch tickets inside. I won a total of $43. One of my friends gave me 3 tickets and every one of them was a winner. When the birthday cake was delivered to the table by the waiting staff, it had a sparkler lit on top. They also presented me with a very large set of moose antlers to wear for a Polaroid photo to be taken, so I have a memento of that night. I look like the Grand PooBah of the Moose Lodge. Ha,ha. The next birthday in the group won't be until August. And August is also the month that we will be getting together for our Girls' Weekend, near Ottawa.

Well, my SIL has arrived, so I am signing off for now. Talk later.

Daybook: Monday, March 19/18

Outside my window.....it is a beautiful, sunny day. The kids are back in school this week after their March Break. Road traffic seems a little heavier.

I am thinking.....about going North for a week to visit with my Dad. Of course, my sister and BIL have also moved up there with my mother, so I could also spend some time with them.

I am thankful for.....early detection of cancer. My DIL does not have a date for her radiation yet, but she will be getting treatment. I just learned yesterday that one of my husband's cousins went to Emergency Services recently and they discovered multiple cancers throughout. There is nothing they can do for her. She will be returning home in a few days for palliative care.

From the kitchen.....this weekend I cooked a beef roast in the crockpot for dinner Saturday. I shredded and sauteed a cabbage as one of the sides. I didn't get company as I expected, but I have been enjoying lots of roast beef for my suppers.  I baked more dog biscuits for Satchel.

I am wearing.....black denim jeans, black and white fuzzy socks, and a gray thin knit sweater.

I am creating.....a pillowcase embroidery project that will likely be finished this week, and a knit dish cloth that will be finished by the end of today. I was given some napkin rings that I will use as beads in my next macrame plant hanger. I will be mailing out the kids' Easter cards this week, as well as some more encouragement cards.

I am going.....nowhere today. It has been really tough to get up in the mornings and face the day. I am feeling very down, not depressed. Part of it I think is still getting used to the time change and part of it is "Spring Fever". I am keenly aware of the stress I am feeling regarding the health of people close to me and I am also feeling stressed about my finances. One of my SILs tells me I need to have a huge yard sale to get rid of a lot of my possessions and bring in some more money. She is right of course. At this juncture, I don't know if I will be staying in this house or even in this area. If I move, I may move myself entirely and start a new beginning. I am so conflicted right now.

I am hoping.....that I can pull myself out of this funk.

I am hearing.....the patter of Satchel's paws as he walks around the upstairs rooms. I hope he isn't looking for trouble. Ha. I can hear traffic outside and the hum of my computer. It is very quiet.

Around the house.....there is much to be done and no energy or motivation to get it done.

One of my favourite things.....right now is my dishwasher. I got to appreciate it more after I had to wash dishes by hand last week.

A few plans for the rest of the week.....?? I have nothing on my calendar. I need to find a pain killer for Satchel that I can afford. I took him to the vet Saturday morning and paid for his Wellness exam and a Leptospirosis vaccine. I still need to buy 3 months of flea and tick medication. The pain killers he is on cost $220 for two months. These are the pills my daughter's vet put him on when she was looking after him in Bradford. I had no idea she had paid that much for his pills. If I go to another medication, there will be a "washout" period where he won't be able to have anything for his arthritis pain until I can start him on the new medicine. . I have some hard decisions to make.

Here is a picture I am sharing.....

 After the vet appointment, I dropped into the Napanee Shopper's Drug Mart and purchased these items that were on a 2-day sale. I needed the eggs at $1.99 a doz. The cottage cheese was only $1.99 and the 450 gm of block cheese was only $3.99 each. I had to take advantage of this terrific sale.