Frugal Hits & Misses: March Report

 We're just finishing up nearly two months of volunteering for Ethnos360 in McNeal, AZ. The Brick is now 'supervising' the house renovation, thanks to being the longest volunteer in residence. He finds this amusing, since he says he's been learning to do these skills himself, rather than overseeing them. Group #2 of volunteers leaves this weekend, and we'll follow them shortly. 

    Although I can suffer from "Gee, it's on sale at Amazon!"-itis, it's been rather frugal living this month. We did have to get parts for repairs, and we restocked on groceries. (I wanted to make sure we had enough for the wandering period, too.) But I also was able to poke through Ethnos' "Missions Barrel." It's had its share of trashy, well-worn stuff...but also a few bargains. For no charge! 

Here's a strange thing: we nearly always get a good dose of flu in January/Feb. There were a few 'iffy' days this year, but we both recovered quickly. Is that what happens when we limit contact with others?? Arizona finally lifted all Covid restrictions this week. Maybe I can go into a store now without struggling to breathe through a mask. (Yes, I'm one of those people -- but wear it when I'm required to.)

    Another strange thing: it is now a year since our world cruise was cancelled -- while we were still on the boat. (It took a month to get back to London, then another week to get a plane to the U.S.) Our cancelled-but-paid-for plane tickets were refunded. In spite of several efforts, including filing with the cruise company and the credit card companies, we still have not received one penny in refunds -- even though the cruise company promised it. (They declared bankruptcy and went out of business soon after we finally made it home.) 

A few drops of rain fell here-- Whoo hoo! Now I better understand why Brandy Simper makes such a fuss when this happens. (And I thought Colorado was dry...) This week, we even had an evening of fairly steady rain, with a few showers the next day, along with a cool thunderstorm. The mountains were snow-topped -- but the snow (not the mountains) quickly disappeared.

Welcome to Arizona.

After we leave McNeal next week, we'll wander for a bit until Daughter #2 and Son #1 roar into town for Tucson's annual gem show. Then we'll join them. 

Ethnos360's hangar... that's a Robinson helicopter getting checked out. (I'm not sure whether this is an R44 or an R66.) They work with small planes, too -- that's the white wing in the foreground.

FRUGAL HITS

*Put in a little work every day, keeping things tidy in the fifth-wheel. Cleaned out the vents. (A ton of doghair in there.) Did the Brick's chores, as well; since he's doing more volunteer work than I am, it seemed only fair. Used some free cleaner left behind by another group to polish the kitchen and bathroom cabinets.

*Volunteer stuff: The Brick continued to renovate the house for staffers moving in soon. He did drywall, worked on the shower, hung windows and doors...and planted trees at the Ethnos entrance.

     I gave piano lessons. Taught a multiweek quilt sampler class. Babysat. Helped set up and clean up for some events. Made meals. Some editorial work. Kept the laundry building, including the bathrooms, clean and mopped. We are still benefitting from free electricity, sewer, water and laundry, as well as free "Missions Barrel" visits. What a blessing.

*Planted Sweet William inside - bought seed packets (4 for $1) to put in Easter cards purchased at the dollar store. Lots of babies up, but they look a little leggy. I'll wait for their first true leaves, then repot them.

*Cancelled plane tickets to the Caribbean cruise-that-got-cancelled some months ago. Actually got that money back. We'll use the credit for something else.

*Cancelled plans to go to Florida -- for now. (We had planned to go on this cruise with cousins...) We'll hang around Arizona for a few more weeks, instead.

*Got our stimulus checks. I appreciate the money; I do. Once again, most of it will go into savings for future expenses.

*Did an appraisal. Did another appraisal. Updated a few others, and scheduled some for our return to Colorado in June. (Got my royalties payment for Ghosts & Legends, too.) Now on to taxes (sigh).

*Signed the contract for the upcoming children's book based on Ghosts & Legends.

     Ghostly Tales of Colorado's Front Range will be out May 24th!

*Chicken breast for 99 cents/lb. (And I used every bite, including homemade broth using the bones and skin.) Whole chicken for the same price -- but we paid extra for bacon and sausage. (Don't even ask about beef. Our corned beef this year was out of a can.) 

     Fresh veggies here are surprisingly cheap (peppers for 25 cents!), compared to Colorado prices -- but they get you on things like flour and cheese. Even our 'budget' restaurant meals usually cost more than what we would have spent in Colorado -- but this may just be the Covid effect.  Amazon buys: canned meat, walnut pieces and Alaskan pilot crackers on sale, for storage in our 'basement.' 

*Ate a lot of popcorn -- and some 50% off baked cheese curls. Better for me than potato chips. (Ok, I had some of those, too.)

*Used up our juice stock. Made iced tea. Helped stretch our milk consumption -- an important consideration when the nearest store is miles away. (Neither of us are big fans of plain water.)

*Went through the cupboards and did inventory: what needed to be used up? Cleared out the fridge. (The freezer is next.) Restocked where needed.

*Hosted supper for volunteers -- fed them on food we had on hand. (No time to run to the store, after all.) Made some other meals, as well. 

*When two bouquets of $3.99 carnations wilted, I cut some new-blooming rosemary, instead of buying more. The rosemary grows in huge bushes out here all year-round...if it's protected by a large building. Go figure. (We're out in the open, so have dry bushes and grass to look at, instead -- slightly greener, now it's rained a little.)

*Chose a bone-colored toilet, instead of a white one: $80 saved. Though it cost $270. Toilets for fifth-wheels are not cheap to replace. Fortunately, the Brick knows how to do this. He also re-mounted the bathroom sink himself. What a guy.

*A few items picked out of the "Missions Barrel:" I'll use them for Christmas and Mother's Day presents. A heavy plaid shirt for the Brick, a wonderful vintage ceramic Christmas tree that lights up, a St. Patrick's Day linen towel, plus some handfuls of trim perfect for future Crazy quilts. Donated some clothes back, for other people's use. 

*Watched dozens of lectures, even after the Williamsburg Antiques Forum was over -- a great way to absorb more fully. And it was free, thanks to the scholarship I got last month. Almost signed up for a lecture on 18th century glass on another website, but realized it was the same one I'd listened to from Williamsburg! ($10 saved) I have learned so much from these lectures! 

*Another free lecture -- on analyzing an object and establishing provenance. This skill is critical for appraisers.

*Went out to eat a few times with Sower friends (other people who are also volunteering) -- and ordered dessert. And Cokes. Most unusual for us. We've been out more; a restaurant 6 miles away has a Friday night fish special that's delicious. (It's also the only night all week that they're actually open.) We suddenly realized that a 4-piece meal fed us just as well as two 2-piece meals...for a lot less. So we've been ordering that, instead. (Red face, looking down. Why didn't I notice sooner??) Some other stops, including a Chinese buffet (sushi!), while we were out getting supplies.

*Got quilt kits for students -- bed-sized quilt kits, for less than $100. Picked up one for myself, as well as some extra tools (50% off). Mixed in other fabrics -- and was gifted a wonderful piece of Indonesian fabric by one of my students. (The sweetheart. She was a missionary for years there, so these weren't that big a deal to her.) Found an Indonesian fabric drawstring bag in the "Missions Barrel" that I intend to cut up, too.

*Digital credits from Amazon, for letting them ship a little slower -- enough to buy an album or e-book.

*Picked up the dogs' poop. A disgusting but necessary chore.

*Bought some ETF stock shares at discount; they recently dropped some in price. So far, they've seesawed a little, but are up nearly 10% from what I paid. (This may be a win in the long run -- we'll find out.) Bought more index fund stocks that have dropped a bit...but I think it's ok. My stock totals are slightly down; I don't understand this, considering most of the stocks are up and the market overall is up. Maybe the hit I took with GameStop is still affecting it?

*Watched a lot of free TV channels. Some were connected to Amazon Prime (which we share), some were just plain free, like Hulu. The Brick enjoys watching the political news talk shows, as well.

*A free helicopter ride! We enjoyed this very much. A trip to see the sandhill crane refuge was also a bonus. They're gone now...heading up north. 

*Picked up rocks. Found some nice ones here and there, like this piece of copper silicate. I love that blue-green color.

FRUGAL MISSES

*As mentioned -- No money back from the world cruise, in spite of our efforts.  We haven't given up yet. If anything, it's a reminder that we need to protect ourselves better, legal-wise, next time.

*Something's wrong with our newest batch of checks. Apparently they weren't printed properly -- because the bank is rejecting them. This means using cash, or paying via credit card -- which we usually do, anyways. Fortunately.

*Ate out once a week in March -- more than we normally did in February.  It's easier if we've gone to a bigger town, anyways, and it 'makes more sense' to treat ourselves. (Ha!) We're still careful on menu choices, though.

*I'm still letting vegetables spoil. Not many, but aarrgghgh. Green peppers get mushy at lightspeed around here. I missed a few other things in the back of the fridge, but managed to salvage most.

*Repair parts were needed, for the bathroom sink and the kitchen sink. Both had lost supports and were destabilizing. Luckily, I have a clever husband who fixed the bathroom sink (it took a LONG weekend for him, poor guy) and will work on the kitchen sink shortly. We made trips to all of the hardware stores within a 40-or-so-mile distance, but were eventually forced to order most parts via Amazon. 

*Lost my appointment book for 2021. It must have slipped out somewhere on our trip south. (Daughter #1, I misplaced your box of Valentine's presents, too. I'm guessing it went with the appointment book.) Made another from a $3 dollar store notebook, but still...

*Bought quilt kits for my students. Yes, they were on sale and reasonably priced, but...I also bought some extra fabric and tools, too. Gave away some books, as well. (Taking a line from Reese's: not sorry, either.)

These really are pretty...

February's report is here.  We were still on the ship in March 2020, so I didn't do a report last year. (Really, really bad access to the internet.) So here's March 2019's, instead.

Where will the road lead next, in April? It will be interesting to find out.