What a hot, dry month -- we kept the south windowshades drawn most of the time, and I was forced to water pretty much every day. Thankfully, most of our plants -- with the exception of a lavender plant, which the dogs rolled on -- survived. Temps in the 100s for Denver most of the month? Yup, and in the 90s for our mountain home. No fun.
It was a relief, toward the end of August, for a little rain and lower temps to roll in. I am REALLY looking forward to autumn.
FRUGAL HITS
*Stopped by Dollar Tree before the rumored upcoming price rise. We are big fans of their frozen Korean dumplings ($3) and chocolate-covered grahams ($1.25), in particular.
*Made $2 on a survey, and earned a $5 Swagbucks giftcard, as well. (Which I promptly spent on corned beef hash. Hey, priorities!) It's easy to earn points toward giftcards, just by shopping and/or doing your regular searches. Go here to find out more.
*Found money: a quarter from the Walmart change machine; two dimes and a penny by the washing machine (though I suspect one dime is a return traveler); 89 cents from Safeway's change machine and 21 cents from City Market's (on the same day!); another penny at City Market. $1.57 for the month -- not bad!
*A Lord and Richards zoom meeting helped reinforce how we've been doing financially. We also signed up for a special 4.2% interest rate from one investment -- provided we deposit a set amount every month. (So far, we have.)
*Thrift shop bargains: an armful of fancy label leggings ($4 each), a new fan ($10), and several dollar DVDs, including Nicholas Nickleby and Oliver Twist (Nazarene Thrift Store, Monte Vista). A $7 pair of jeans for the Brick, and four 'new' Blue Willow and English blue-and-white plates ($4-6 each). Plus a 20% seniors discount, and 6 loaves of free bread! Some got eaten, some went in the freezer...and the last loaf went out for the birds (Treasures in the Park, Castle Rock).
*Plants, courtesy of a sale at Lowe's: $2 chrysanthemums (the pots said $4.98!), Russian sage ($2), snapdragons ($1)...and a big pot of lavender -- 3 plants inside worked out to $5.33 each. (I really hope the dogs don't roll on this batch.) We considered adding some fruit tress, but held off for now. I also found a large tomato that had fallen off a plant; "You can keep it," said the clerk. Delicious with a slice of Swiss, some bacon -- and a thick slice of free olive bread.
*The Brick got a scholarship: for the upcoming national conference in September for the Convention of the States (COS). It will cover his hotel and travel bills -- hooray! He also volunteered two days at the COS booth during the state fair. (I stayed home and watched the dogs.)
*Unpacked more of the Michigan trailer. Making progress, though slowly. Daughter #2 and Son #1 took out a bunch, as well.
*Continued to stack the firewood we bought last month. Ordered propane to top off the tank, after we'd researched several companies. (We use propane for the dryer, the stove and hot water.) The best price: $1.59/gallon, though we were quoted prices much more than that. So what, you'd be tempted to say. What's 42 cents difference a gallon? Well, since we'll be needing at least 400 gallons..at least $168.00!
*A trip to Denver -- a full day of appraisal appointments, and an overnight with Daughter #1 and Adopted Son. (Several errands run, too.)
*Bought more books. I love books -- did you notice? But I especially love buying frugal living books, well, frugally. Second Sale, one of my favorite Ebay sellers, announced they would start charging for shipping in September. No problem -- I just ordered three batches of 'Buy 3, Get 1 Free' books now, including some Christmas presents. Free shipping, as well.
I also edited out books from our collection to add to the Free Little Library in progress. (The LFL is done, but still needs to be set up on a post on the church lawn. Sigh.)
*Sold my Red Robin stock again -- and made money. Yes, I buy and sell this stock off and on. We love their burgers, after all. I also saved a few bucks by purchasing RR giftcards from Safeway.
*Grocery deals: ground turkey, $2.67/lb (Walmart). A quart-sized container of vanilla yogurt - $1.99; jalepeno/cheese smoked sausages (about $2.30/lb); cups of red grapefruit sections in juice, about 25 cents each (SLV Amish Grocery). Half-gallons of milk ($1.27 ea), bacon ($4.47/lb), crunchy peanut butter (16 oz., 99 cents) and gallons of apple juice (also 99 cents), blueberries $3.77/lb, and $10 off $75 purchase (Safeway). Palisade peaches -- the best! -- for $1.77/lb; crunchy peanut butter (16 oz., 99 cents) and gallons of apple juice (also 99 cents), a dozen roses for $3.32 (City Market). Dried cranberries, 16 cents/oz -- WAY less per oz than usual; cans of Armour corned beef hash (15 cents/oz), a basic standby. (Amazon).
Daughter #2 and Son #1 also bought us groceries -- the dears.
*Babysat our granddog Freya most of the month -- so Daughter #2 and Son #1 could work at various rock/gem shows throughout the state.
*Two gray longer v-neck t-shirts, found on sale on Amazon: $6.99 each. That's close to the $5-7 I usually pay at thrift shops now -- and they're new!
*Took advantage of Chili's 3-For-Me specials: chips & salsa, drink and burger/fries for $10.99. Yes, we brought home partial burgers for a second meal.
*Two free meals out: one from our black-spot friend (more on this soon), and one for listening to a talk on cellular therapy treatments for our arthritis. (Hey, if the latter gives us a nice dinner at a quality restaurant, I'm all for it. We stretched the leftovers into a snack and second meal, as well.) Plus -- we linked the second meal to a leisurely day trip we'd been wanting to take along La Veta's "Highway of Legends."
*Stayed away from the stores much of the month. We also watched free movies, including some from Daughter #2 and Son #1's Roku.
*Repaired pillows chewed up by you-know-who.
*Finished up some appraisal reports. Did some research for other clients - who decided not to proceed.
*The Brick put in an outside faucet for watering on the back deck. I don't have to carry pitchers of water outside anymore! A handy man is a wonderful person to have around.
*Started an editing project; this will take several months. (More as it progresses.)
*A few belated bills were paid by clients, which helped a lot.
*Two free Rocky Ford cantaloupes from a friend at church. THE BEST MELONS, bar none -- even better than Michigan's 'muskmelons.' (A third melon, bought at City Market for $1.99 -- not so good. Hmmm.) He also gave us a few mini-watermelons. If there's anything Colorado does well, it's melons -- and Palisade peaches.
*Gave souvenir tote bags, stuffed with goodies from the European trip, to both daughters, Son and Adopted Son. Cheesecake (4 slices only) for Daughter #2's birthday cake. She loved it, and we didn't waste one bite. Also dropped off Daughter #1's birthday presents, and took her and Adopted Son out to celebrate. (Happy Birthday, Jess and Angel!)
FRUGAL MISSES
*A 1 1/2 hour trip to Safeway was a huge waste of time. After we'd filled a shopping cart with bargains (er, groceries), the store clerk informed us that the computers were down. After being hustled out, the store closed in our faces. Ironically, this was the same day, on the way out the door, that I found a bunch of change in their machine. (See 'found money.')
*Allergies ran amuck all month, aided by smoke in the air from faraway wildfires. It was a choice of feeling dull from the allergies -- or feeling dull from the medicine we had to take in order to deal with the allergies.
*And, of course, we had an extra-large credit card bill to pay off, thanks to the European trip. (But we had planned for that, thankfully.)
Last month's report is here, along with the trip report. (Coming -- it's coming!) If you're curious about the monthly report for 2024, it's here. August 2023, too.
Goodbye, Summer 2025-- it's been nice knowing you.
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