This lovely month has been busier than I'd thought it would be, thanks to appraisals, the blog and work around the place. At least it's been somewhat cooler, and we both seem to be more active, as a result. The heat of August just took the stuffing out of us. The dogs were sick, as well, which didn't help.
Next month, we'll head for Michigan. We'll stay at The Mama's barnyard, eat apples and drink cider, watch football and enjoy Michigan's glorious fall reds, golds and oranges.
 |
| Gold - Colorado's favorite autumn color |
FRUGAL HITS
(some of these, like the misses, are from late August)
*Dollar iced tea and other drinks on our trip home. (We didn't bring the trailer, and drove straight through - so no hotel needed. But judging from our stiffness and creaky joints, we may not do this much more.)
*Daily Deals stop in Grand Rapids during our Michigan trip -- inc. $1 half-pound packages of sliced roast beef, a 99-cent tube of salsa verde (LOVE this stuff) and some items for Christmas stockings.
*Returned a bag of clementines -- some were mushy and tasteless. (Got a replacement bag.) Quarts of blueberries at $2.77 -- some went in the freezer, but more went into our mouths.
*A free large drink while gassing up. (Diesel fuel has been lower since we got back than we can ever remember -- and from what we hear, it was even cheaper in March and early April, thanks to Covid.)
*Half- and full-priced goodies from Treasures, our Colorado thrift shop: 50 cents and $1 each. All meant for Christmas stockings and presents, as well as a wedding present. A huge batch of videos for $1 each. (A number were classics I'd always wanted -- like the first three movies in the Jurassic Park series - that package was $2!)
While I was at it, picked up free bagels, croissants, rolls and bread. (They put these out periodically.) Most of these went in the freezer for future use.
*Some appraisals. This will pretty much be it for the year, since we plan on doing a lot of traveling. Some free books to patient clients, who had to put up with delays, due to our trip back to Michigan in mid-August.
*Michigan thrift shop buys: $4 Michigan t-shirt for the Brick, $8 jeans for me. (I don't even think they've been worn.) Plus a 15% seniors discount. (I guess turning 60 was okay for this, after all.)
*Five hundred business cards: $20. Vistaprint does good work, too.
*Starting Social Security payments for me -- early. Why? I'll deal with this in an upcoming post.
*Accidentally washed/dried one of the standard 'paper' masks -- and found that it handled it just fine! That means the supply I'd bought on sale (about 25 cents per mask) will stretch much further.
*Repairs: fixed a pair of jeans, and added a button to a pair of shorts for the Brick. Checked my fall/winter clothes for repairs, which I did where necessary.
*A loaf of homemade bread, plus a bag of pears from The Mama's fruit tree. (Thanks, Mom!)
*Cancelled the Ancestry.com membership -- originally three months for a buck. They wanted big $$ to renew.
*IKEA threw in a nice birthday coupon: $10 off anything! (And yes, I stretched it...used another $5 coupon, as well. But it was a HUGE hassle that took a long time. Sigh.)
*FINALLY credited for the Virgin Atlantic tickets we weren't able to use when the flight cancelled. (And they didn't tell us. Really.) Did we get the money only because they decided to try and stay in business, instead of going bankrupt? Cynical, yes, but...
We still haven't been reimbursed for the world-cruise-cut-short, with no sign of CMV doing this, since they filed for bankruptcy. We did get notice of a class action suit, filed by the Americans (only about 100 people in the 900 passengers), that we'll join soon.
*Got a royalties check from Ghosts & Legends.
Looking forward to getting one from the new book, whenever it comes out. (I've got some additions/deletions to do.)
 |
| Norman Rockwell agrees. |
*Stocked up on long-term foodstuffs we can use, wherever we go: cheese powder, sour cream powder, dried milk and dried eggs. Also, canned chicken, corned beef and corned beef hash, as well as walnuts and pecans for holiday baking -- for less. (Well, they're essential to us.) Made my own pizza and cinnamon rolls -- and shared some with our landlord friend. (Gotta keep him happy!)
*Baked beans, out of a #10 can that needed to be used up for ages. Do you know how long this takes, for two people?!? Brought some to meals with friends, the Brick used some for his night of cooking...and we finished off the rest here and there. (They were good.)
*Safeway's $5 deal: 1 each of lb. of sausage, a large orange juice, a dozen eggs and 1/2 pound of shredded cheese. At $5, that's a STEAL around here. Also New York strip steaks for $4.77/lb, and a free package of plant-based 'beef.' (Okay, but nothing to write home about.) Found a dime (two nickels' worth!) in the change cup while paying. (Don't people ever check ??)
Free package of hot dogs from King Soopers. A free chicken sandwich from a friend. (Both were delicious.)
*Free birthday burger from Red Robin. (Thanks, guys.) Meals thrice with friends, who provided the entree. (We helped out, too.) Free birthday lunch from Daughter #2 and Son #1, the sweethearts.
*Cashed in Swagbucks for a $25 Amazon giftcard. Didn't cost us a cent -- you can do this, too.
*Swapped an automatic chicken coop door, a leftover from our previous life, for a few months of 'rent' at our current spot. Did some appraising for part of August's rent, as well as painting trim on the house. Cleared out our remaining stuff from our landlord's garage, to his relief. (He's been really patient about this. Except he said it wasn't enough: "You should have taken some of my stuff, too!")
*Watched Miss Karmalater, our granddog, while Daughter #2 and Son #1 were out gallivanting.
*Beautiful pale pink roses: $6/dozen! A big batch of red glads (gladiolas) for The Mama: $4.99. And a lovely yellow rose bouquet from friends.
*Bought some Bigfoot books for my birthday (some at a 20% discount, but still...), plus a Starship Troopers' threesome. (The latter was an excellent buy at only $9 from Amazon.) So spank me.
*Drum lessons! Drumsticks and a practice pad weren't too expensive.
*Had to return a damaged book to Amazon -- but was credited for it. Found a copy of Angel Has Fallen at the library book room -- $2 is a lot cheaper than I was planning on paying through Amazon.
FRUGAL MISSES
*An immersion blender. I've always wanted one. At least this was one of the best-rated, lower-priced...and I got a slight discount on it. It will store better than a regular blender, and I plan to make a lot of smoothies and creamy soups with it.
*'Rent' went up some. Still a very good price -- I'm not complaining. (This was our doing -- not our kind landlord's.) And we helped out with some work, as well.
*Some bad DVDs. One or two were returned to the library used book room; a few others could not be redeemed, including one of my favorite buddy, Richard Sharpe. (Fortunately, we had a duplicate.) Replaced some missing Sharpes for $21 and change -- a great deal.
*Our plans to get lots of fruit in Michigan were a bust -- their prices were as high or higher than ours in Colorado. The few times I broke down and got some peaches anyways, they weren't that great. Even the Rocky Ford melons I got this summer were just 'okay.'
Hope springs eternal -- maybe we can stock up on apples in October.
*Got a new sewage pump. (Oh joy and celebration.) At least the Brick can install it himself. We are also planning on taking the trailer back to the shop, to get its brakes fixed. (We'll stay with our long-suffering friends while that's happening.)
*Bought some new clothes for myself, including a summer dress for an upcoming trip to Mexico in December, and sweaters, plus some Christmas presents. (Bad kitty...but they were on sale.) Also got a 'turquoise' costume necklace from the thrift shop.
*Had yet another pair of sandals disintegrate. Just like last month. What -- do they talk to each other??
It is hard to believe that I've been doing these 'Hits & Misses' reports for four-plus years...but I have. Reading back not only reminds me of what was going on back then, but what we did to make our money stretch further. This isn't as critical now as it's been some years, but I'm a Hollander -- I can't help myself.
See Sept. 2017 here.
And Sept. 2018.
And Sept. 2019!
On to October.
No comments:
Post a Comment