Frugal Hits & Misses: January Report

    Another interesting month, getting used to a totally different lifestyle. 

     We're not that far from Civilization -- a 10-minute drive gets us down to the highway, and another five minutes puts us in Fort Garland. Another ten minutes gets us to Blanca, and Alamosa is about 20 miles after that. Technically it's not much different from when we lived in Sedalia. 

      But we don't tend to go. Partly it's because there's very little to DO in Fort Garland, other than the post office, a gas station, tiny grocery store, dollar store and a few restaurants. Good, but not great. Blanca has a diner, and our church. But not much else. (Also a gas station and RV park. We don't use either.)

     And Alamosa? Plenty of fast food, a terrific Mexican restaurant (Calvillo's), grocery stores and Wally's. Two thrift shops, both mostly full of  raggedy, faded, Really Used items. (I did not realize how spoiled I'd gotten from the Castle Rock shop, Treasures in the Park.) Sure, they have Safeway and City Market (their version of King Soopers) -- but the prices have been consistently higher, and sale items largely nonexistent. (No rainchecks anymore, either.) No Sam's Club. The local library is 'okay' -- beautiful, but again, recent titles are sparse. (Again, spoiled from the wonderful Castle Rock library.) 

     Sigh. 

     I feel certain this is ennui is due in part to being the newbie in town.  Time will endear this more. (And we'll find some better restaurants.) Certainly the people we've met are kind and friendly. There's a ton of history here, which we both love. And due to the holidays -- and the weather -- we haven't had a chance to explore much, even on our ten acres. Thanks to two weeks of flu, it's been a blessing to hunker down and rest, too. 

     But it's been very, very quiet. 

     On the plus side, we've been making good friends at our church. Planning ahead, when we do make the 3-hour trip north, means we're using our time and money a lot more wisely. Amazon delivers. And we've been spending less money, too. 

     Dentist appointments meant we needed to go to Denver this past week; we added stops at King Soopers (oops, some sale items nonexistent there, too), the thrift shop -- and Sam's Club. Plus a Vietnamese restaurant for lunch with Daughter #1, which we loved. But traffic was horrible. We just crawled along most of the time -- and we didn't go that far into Denver. This drove us both NUTS. In comparison, the drive south...and home... was nearly deserted, and quite peaceful. (After Colorado Springs, that is.)

     I'm not sure I ever saw it that way before. And the following is definitely true this month:

FRUGAL HITS

(some of these are from late December)

*Cleared out a lot of misc. Christmas presents stashed away in the fifth-wheel. Both sets of kids got 'goody boxes' that included plenty of candy, sauces and other items... including bags of candy 'coal.' (Because they haven't always behaved themselves this past year! Snort...)

    This is actually a sort of homage to The Mama -- she loved to send boxes of sausage, cheese, crackers and sweet things to us at Christmastime. It cost a ton to ship, but I could not get her to stop doing it. Guess I'm continuing the tradition. 

*A $5 Michael's coupon popped up in my in-box, and was splurged on half-price iridescent crystals. I completed a $2 survey, and earned another gift card for volunteering. (I exercised, too, which will eventually earn yet another gift card.) Still using Swagbucks; another month should be enough for a $25 gift card. Bit by bit, these add up.

*A romantic hot dog supper at Sam's Club -- an all-beef hotdog and large drink are one of today's best buys, at $1.50 total. AMAZING....and the hot dogs are great, too. (Sam's believes in sauerkraut, as well -- an extra bonus.) Something odd happened this time -- while I was standing in line, a guy came up and said, "I ordered too many hot dogs -- would you like it?" 

    Ruby loved her extra hot dog. (Yes, Dad gets her one, as well...though he is not so far gone that we buy her a root beer, too. We keep her unused cup for future visits.)

*Cleaned out the refrigerator and freezer in the fifth-wheel. Long overdue. Carried more bags of Stuff in, and put them away. Ruby ate a lot of the freezer-burned items, but the cake we'd gotten at one of the investment dinners (and stashed away) was still tasty! Go figure.

    The best part of this: now we could turn off electricity to the fifth-wheel. And yes, we'll keep cleaning until the fifth wheel is completely done. 

*The Brick changed the oil and the filters on the truck, saving us a bunch of money. He also fixed the fridge, which had been making odd "breathing" noises. He is amazing.

*Didn't buy much Christmas candy on sale -- we still had plenty from Halloween. I did get a half-priced box of chocolates, and a few presents for the birthday box.

*Enjoyed a church potluck and supper at a friend's house...then asked a few friends here for Sunday dinner. And Daughter #2 and Son #1 stopped for a quick visit! 

*Watched the championship game at Kneeknockers in Alamosa. (Go, Blue!) This is the country club at Alamosa's golf course, by the way -- and one of the few places in town to watch sports. Yes, it cost us $$ for supper -- but this game was important, and we don't (still won't) have cable. 

Do we care about the Superbowl? Not really.

*Played on Worship Team for church. 

*Waited to put away Christmas decorations until Three Kings Day (Jan. 6), per the Brick's request. (That man...) I did put away Christmas gifts earlier, and we burned the torn wrapping paper, boxes, etc. in the woodstove.  Two rolls of wrapping paper went in the closet for next time. (Storage is wonderful!)

*Stayed away from sales. And boy, that was hard. But next month's credit card bills show it was worth it. Dealing with flu helped; I just didn't feel like going out much. 

*Bought stamps before the price went up. Only 6 books worth, and only a two-cent raise...but it helps.

*Found money:  29 cents and (I think) a Russian rouble in the coin cashing machine!. I tallied up the money found for 2023:  $1.54.  (In 2022, it was $2.32.) This doesn't count $45 in bills I found in a drawer while cleaning out the fifth-wheel. Or should it?

    I'm not the only one who 'picks up pennies,' but the Brick thinks it's hilarious. Let him. As Katy at The Non-Consumer Advocate says, "watch the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves." Donna Freedman's also a big fan of picking change up. I follow in the steps of giants.

*Made another double payment on the house loan.  (See how that 'found money' helps, Brick??)

*A small raise in our monthly Social Security payments. (I took mine early last year, and haven't regretted it one bit.) 

*Cashed in my Colorado PERA account, started long ago when I was substitute teaching. Haven't subbed for decades, but the money was welcome. 

*Saw the Rose Bowl at a friend's house. (Thank you, Bob!) I should be embarrassed by our screaming and jumping around -- but he was yelling just as loud. (After the championship game, he confessed that he'd been backing The Other Team all year.) Ruby, on the other hand, was NOT impressed. Must have hurt her ears.

Sigh...

*Kept the wood rack filled -- and use of propane low (for heat). Keeping the southern exposure windows open during the day -- and closed at night -- has helped. 

*Used sale-priced baby carrots as a snack for Ruby. They're cheaper than dog biscuits.

*Green chile, made from homemade chicken broth and cans of chilies in our stash. The stacks have steadily been decreasing . I was able to restock two loads of canned soup and vegetables from 'storage' to our kitchen pantry -- whoo hoo!

*Two trips into Denver: one for the Seven Fish Dishes and 'Christmas' celebrating, and one for dentist appointments.  -- a big savings on gas, compared to other months. Turned away from buying food on road trips -- though I knew the Brick would stop, if I asked.  (KFC, you are sooooo tempting!) 

*Delayed some income into January -- including payments made for earlier jobs.

*A beautiful hutch -- hauled from Arvada. My birthday present from Daughter #1 and Adopted Son #2. It makes the guestroom look nice, and houses my fabric stash. 

Thrift shop buys:  a half-off coupon let us get several needed items -- especially a lamp and cloth napkins. I also snagged some DVD series, a handful of free Christmas cards, plus a few holiday CDs. (The latter were 25 cents each.) Plus Valentine's cards, a Deluxe Boggle set ($4) and a birthday present for the Brick -- plus 20% off overall. The biggest buy, though, was at King Soopers -- a 90%-OFF birthday present! 

*Baked our $2.99 pumpkin! It was starting to spoil...but I'm not a big pumpkin-lover, anyways. The pulp will make a few pies, and I saved some seeds to plant in the spring.

Grocery buys:  Red Baron pizza ($2.97), half-gallon milk (97 cents), and chicken breast at $1.27/lb (Safeway). KIND bars for 86 cents each, chocolate kisses for $4.25/lb, cans of Dinty Moore stew for $1.93, and Pad Thai noodle kits, 40% discount (Amazon Warehouse Deals). Half-gallons of milk, $1.19 each, green peppers, 79 cents, large dented boxes of Rice Krispies and Special K, $2.06 and $2.41 (King Soopers). Buying cheese at Sam's Club was $2.75 a pound, versus Safeway's and King Soopers' 'sale'-priced $4-plus; I also got an 8-pound bag of crinkle fries for $1.08/lb. (And we gassed up the truck for at least 15-20 cents a gallon cheaper.)

I've been trying to stick to 'My Tireless Retirement's' $50/month grocery challenge.  It's difficult, even if you factor in $100 for two people. The noodle kits were a splurge, at roughly $2.50 each -- but one kit, with veggies and meat, feeds both of us at WAY less than a restaurant meal. (Besides, it's difficult to get good Thai food here.) 

    I haven't gone a lot over, if you don't count the Sam's Club run -- $118.50, and what I bought was on sale. I guess that counts for something. Kinda.

*Safeway didn't cheat me this month! Instead, one of my coupons (shrimp for the Fish Dishes) double-rang up; "It's our mistake, you keep it," said the clerk... after I managed to pick up my jaw off the floor.  (I did have to write two letters, to the Safeway in Boulder and the Wal-Mart in Alamosa, about overcharges. Still waiting to hear back from them.)

*Ate a lot of leftovers. Leftovers from a big pot of Hoppin' John actually went out to three people as 'good luck' New Year's presents. Salvaged as much as we could from the fifth-wheel, too. 

The girlies, with Grams. This is our 'missing' month -- The Mama died Jan. 22, two years ago, and our beloved dog Charley died just a few weeks later.

FRUGAL MISSES

*Sales tax for our company, Brickworks. This time, we needed two forms: one for Sedalia, one for Fort Garland. I hate doing paperwork for sales tax. And of course, federal/state taxes are looming on the horizon.

*The 'w' key on my keyboard is still troublesome. sticking occasionally... but doing better. Unfortunately, I can't get the capitalized version to work much. Did you realize how often you start a sentence with 'w' capitalized??

*The Brick changed the oil on the truck. Don't even ask how much filters and oil cost for these vehicles, let alone installation.

*Let a few leftovers spoil, including an orange and some things in the fifth-wheel freezer and fridge. Shame on me. 

*Got the bill for our monthly internet -- and it's more than we used to pay. ($63, vs $50.) At least we have access to it now. 

*Lunch at New Saigon -- nearly $100 for three people. At least we all had Vietnamese-style coffee with our entrees...but still. The food was not as good as I'd remembered, either.

*More sweatpants for the Brick, since he liked his Christmas ones so much -- but I had to pay more for these. (sigh) I also paid full price for a birthday present -- but I knew he'd like it, too.  (Yes, I am a Hollander. Yes, this bothers me.)

Last month's report is here, and last year's January report is here. (2021's version, as well.) Upward and onward...