This has been a tighter month than most -- due in great part to some unexpected truck expenses. Last month's property tax payment sucked up the extra cushion we normally have, and left us scraping bottom. We made it through, but not without dipping into the emergency fund. Hey --that's what emergency funds are for!
It has snowed a lot this month. The first was more than 2 feet. Another snowstorm was 'only' a foot. But thanks to our bright sun, it's melting fast. Typical for Colorado. (And typical for March in Colorado.) Whenever I get tired of gray and white, I read Brandy's blog at The Prudent Homemaker -- her garden photos are wonderful, and she makes a gracious life for herself and family on a miniscule budget.
Spring, you are coming back... right?
FRUGAL HITS
(Some of these are from late February)
*We went to our first local auction -- with many of our attendees Amish and Hispanic. (I had trouble not staring at one swaggering vaquero, complete with cowboy hat and pistol on one hip, tucked in a leather holster.) When the dust cleared, we'd spent only $65 for a floor jack. (The cup or two of dust consumed was free.)
*Finished the USPAP update class paid for in January. (Expensive, but I had no choice.) This is required every third year -- so now I'm good through 2026.
*Made a quadruple payment on the house loan. It stretched us more than a bit, but we made it. (Would I have done this, if I'd known about the truck expenses? Will we regret it in the long run? )
*Used surprisingly little propane for heat, thanks to our trusty woodstove, large windows with southern exposure... and a generous supply of cut and split wood. (Thank you, Mr. Hawkins!) I'm looking forward to warmer weather, when I can stop using the dryer and hang clothes out, instead. That will cut our propane use even more.
*Red Robin gift cards - at 20% off! We'll use these for presents, as well as ourselves.
*Used up some peppermint lotion by adding a little water. (It was too thick, anyways.) I cleaned out several other bottles of Stuff this way.
*Found a wad of $2 bills while cleaning in the fifth-wheel: $110! (I'm getting as bad as The Mama, stashing money in places, then forgetting where it is.)
*Friends are coming for Easter dinner...I'll be serving several things from the freezer, including ham, frozen peaches (smoothies, maybe?) and apple tart. No colored eggs, though.
*Bought 8 frugal living/finance books on Ebay -- for the price of 6! Most paid was $6.50 - the rest were $5.50 or less.. I grouped the more expensive books together in one order, so the 'buy 3, get 1 free' applied to a higher price. (The third order of 4 was cancelled - and money refunded. See below.) Went back and bought 8 more, with 2 free -- this time, mostly on Great Lakes shipwrecks and lost treasure -- plus two copies of an especially good frugal book, How to Survive Without A Salary. Two more books, one heavily discounted to $3.99 from $14.95, from Amazon. Free shipping on all the books. (Not being close to a library really wears on this booklover. And yes, I used my allowance.)
*We waited to go to the local hot springs -- then got the senior discount. Less than $25 for two, which is a real steal here in Colorado. This was our 'vacation' -- one of the few years we haven't gone somewhere in Feb. (for the Brick's birthday) or March. (We'll make up for it a bit in April.)
*St. Patrick's Day corned beef hash -- made from canned corned beef in the pantry, onions and local potatoes. (we are in the middle of a huge potato-growing area.) The leftover corned beef was combined with a box of Kraft macaroni & cheese -- surprisingly delicious.
*Made two gallons of milk stretch for almost three weeks. Didn't visit the grocery store much, either, though the Brick got me a gallon of milk while running errands. Even paying a little more for milk pays off if you don't get anything else.
*Expanded one burger to feed both of us -- by adding a can of kidney beans and barbecue sauce to the crumbled-up burger. Voila: sloppy joes! I could have made the mixture go even further by serving it IN the bun, instead of on top, openface-style. (It was good, too.)
*A free pizza from Daughter #2 and Son #1...who also stopped and picked up some extra groceries (milk! eggs! steak!) on their way here to visit. (And wouldn't let me pay, the sweethearts.)
*The Brick fixed a clogged toilet and a leak under the kitchen sink. A handy man is wonderful to have around.
*Ate down the freezer -- because we needed to. Among other things, we made roast beef, peach smoothies, beef pad thai (tiny piece of beef), orange chicken, one (small) chicken potpie, a leftover cinnamon roll, 'freezer' chili (tomatoes, roasted green chilis, leftover salsa -- and a few hamburger patties), pea soup and Korean dumplings. (What a burden -- limp hand to forehead.) I do NOT want to find myself in the position of the Collins house -- when we dumped the barely functioning freezer with food still in it.
*Planted basil, onions and chives. Jerusalem artichokes are next, when the snow melts.
*Binge watched Person of Interest. We both love this series -- just finishing up three seasons.
*Dollar Tree buys: bought seeds (4 for $1), plus a few 'reward' gifts for my piano student, and a paperback from one of my favorite authors, Jenny Colgan. $1.25 each!
*A friend at church gave me a series of beginner piano books for my student. Saffyra is playing out of the first one now. (Thank you, Karen!) My student's mom paid with a loaf of challah and some tamales. (Thank you, Rebekah -- yum!)
*Royalties from the Crazy Quilts e-book. Also a small check from Quora. Every bit helps!
*Did you know you can freeze mandarin oranges? (Peel, then freeze separated sections on a cookie sheet. Store in a plastic bag.) They'll be a refreshing treat this summer.
*Gave a book away. Did a few appraisals... and finished up several reports.
*Played and sang on the worship team at church.
*Visited Sunshine Salvage Country Store during their inventory reduction sale. This bare bones Amish place not only has all sorts of things in bulk, but offers a range of discounted/salvage items similar to my beloved but past tense Friday/Saturday Store.
We trotted out of there with two huge boxes stuffed full of goods, everything from chocolates to cereal to teriyaki sauce, for less than $60. The Brick found reasonably-priced LED bulbs, and I snagged several items from the 'free box' for Ruby. I also found dollar bags of chewbones for her. We took a friend who had never visited there; it was a pleasure to watch him digging excitedly through boxes, and exclaiming when he found a treasure.
*Heart-shaped waffle makers -- for even less than the one I ordered at discount a few years ago!
*Several birthday, St. Patrick's and Easter cards went out.
*Grocery buys: 25-cent containers of Progresso soup-in-a-cup and boxes of Keebler cookies; dollar boxes of Ferrero Rocher and Russell Stover chocolates; boxes of stuffing mix (2 for $1)...and a variety of other sauces, soups, cereal, etc. for 50 cents to a dollar each. Yoww! (Sunshine Salvage). Free pizza; $3.97/lb sirloin steak (same price as sausage and pork chops? And only 50 cents more than regular hamburger? Really??), half-gallons of milk, $1.17 each; 1.5 qts of ice cream, $2.77 each; a pound of ricotta cheese for $2; mushrooms in bulk, $2.55/lb. (Safeway)
*Got an 'iffy' package of bratwurst from Safeway -- and returned it for credit. And yes, had to stop and fix yet another mischarge. (Why is it always in the store's favor??)
FRUGAL MISSES
*LOTS of truck-related expenses: tools, labor and parts. (We're past $1500, and headed for a cool $2000 now.) The Brick saved a great deal by doing some of the repairs himself.
*Paid full price for groceries -- milk and eggs. We needed them. (Yes, I know this sounds silly. But I do pride myself on buying even necessities on sale, if at all possible.)
*Got a bad book from the Ebay order -- not only was it grubby, with a garage sale sticker, but the back cover was half torn off. But something surprising happened -- the third 'cancelled' order of books, showed up, anyways! The seller graciously let me keep the 'cancelled' books. A nice bonus.
*Some of the Progresso cup-of-soup toppings were stale. (The soup, on the other hand, was fine.) And of course, I had to serve it on the same day our breakfast sausages also tasted 'iffy.' Sigh...
*Spent a lot more on gas than usual. Between our friend's therapy appointments and truck parts and maintenance, several trips to Alamosa were needed. We did not go to Denver at all this month.
*Trouble with my 'w' key again, which spread to the '2' key. Then suddenly cleared itself up...
*No found money this month -- though I looked. (Well, except for the $2 bills.) Darn it.
Here's last month's report. March 2023 is here...and March 2022 is here.
Upward and onward.
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