Frugal Hits & Misses: The March Report

    March did happen... didn't it? (For that matter, I'm not so sure about February.)

After two bouts of pneumonia/flu, we went on a Mexican cruise -- and promptly caught "the cartel crap," as one friend puts it. More than two weeks of fevers that came and went, lots of coughing and achy bodies. We're starting to get over it....but the least little effort seems exhausting. 

Mustn't grumble. Many people have it worse. 

LOTS of wind. Very little snow in the beginning of the month, but by the end, we were OPENING WINDOWS. (gasp) The dogs love this, because they can sniff for deer. I love it because it freshens up the winter-stale air. And the Brick enjoys pretending to being SHOCKED (shocked, I tell you) because we're letting warm air out. (Even though the woodstove isn't going.) What a guy.

I did what work I could -- but it was an effort. Still is, even as I'm writing this. The report's coming out a bit early, too...I have some other deadlines to meet by the end of the month. 

FRUGAL HITS
(some are from late February)

*No thrift shop visits. 

*We didn't celebrate St. Patrick's Day much. I just haven't felt like it. I did have an Irish Blessing wallhanging for the front door - $1 from the thrift shop. And eventually I cooked up a chunk of corned beef Daughter #2/Son #1 brought us. 

 Friends are asking us over for Easter, so that solves that problem. (I'm bringing deviled eggs.) Daughter #2 and Son #1, along with friend Amy, stopped by a few times on their way to selling for various shows, and I did cook for them -- but it was nothing fancy. Our regular meals haven't been that elaborate, either -- but we get fed, and so do the dogs. My meal choices have been both experimental (using up things) and skewed toward Asian, thanks to my buddy, the Japanese Salaryman. The Brick finds this amusing: "Miso soup and hot dogs??"

*Grocery deals:  $1.79/lb ground turkey and turkey patties, $1.59/lb Johnsonville sausage; 50-cent cans of Chef Boy-R-Dee 'beefarinos' (macaroni and beef); big boxes of crackers, $1.29 ea--and I splurged on a $6.99 gallon of apple cider (SLV Amish Discount). Cans of tuna for about 70 cents each (I plan to donate most of these to the local food bank); cans of Spanish white anchovies, around $4 each; servings of Motts cinnamon applesauce for 26 cents each -- less than the Amish store (Amazon Warehouse Deals). Cartons of high-end Egglands Best eggs, $2.25 each, plus a dozen 99-cent eggs (digital coupon for the latter); BOGO eggrolls and other frozen Asian goodies, plus BOGO half-gallons of milk (City Market). 

Son #1 likes these as much as I do -- they're usually more than double this price.

     I behaved myself and didn't buy any of City Market's overpriced flower bouquets...though I wanted to. And I walked away from several tempting bags of chips and candy. Losing some weight, from being so sick, makes me reluctant to gain it back. Have you noticed that many canned goods may be the same price -- but hold a lot less? Yet another something to pay attention to.

     We now get $54 worth of groceries (x2) through our Medicare supplement plan. I bought several marked-down bags of produce, plus frozen pizzas, eggs and milk -- and came out only having to pay $3.26! This is a huge help. The only bad part: you must use it monthly, or the money disappears. 

*Little Caesar's Pizza -- large one-toppings for $5.99 each. Yum! We talked about a sitdown meal, instead; Chili's $10.99 Three for Me is a real bargain, too. But I just didn't feel like it. 

*Bought an early 20th cen. kids handkerchief quilt!  Didn't expect them to...but they accepted my $200 offer. (They were originally asking $750.) Yet another lesson in the value of Best Offer.

This is Buster Brown and his dog Tige, by the way -- the comic started in 1902.

I also bought some postcards -- buy 3, get 1 free, with free shipping. 

*We dragged ourselves to practices for the 'Ritardando' band gig at Lu's Cafe in Blanco. And yes, we did the performance, too. Came home and made supper...then crashed. (And had dear friends offer to bring us tea, or groceries from Alamosa. We were ok -- but I am very grateful for friends like these.)

*Paid our commitments for the year to the missionaries and causes we support. The $$ for the daughter we support via Compassion comes out monthly. I don't say much about this, but we do tithe our income monthly, as well. God has been so good to us -- it seems only right to give some of it back to Him.

*Found money:  one shiny dime found by a gas station pump, on the way home from Galveston. (See below)

*Very low credit card charges -- good, because property tax payments are coming due. When you're not feeling well, you're not spending much. 

*NOBODY -- a movie that's surprisingly good! A bit gory, too.... but hey, the bad guys deserve everything that happens to them.

To my surprise, the Brick seems to be enjoying the Godzilla/Titan series, Monarch, too.  Normally he's not a fan. 

MEXICAN CRUISE HITS (and a few misses)

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*Total cost for two people on a 7-night cruise?  $668 and change. I am not making this up. We also got a free upgrade to a balcony cabin. Ummm...what's the difference between a regular and a deluxe balcony cabin? Beats the heck out of us...but it was nice.

*The kids took care of Bo and Tiger for us. We care for granddog Freya a lot, but this was really nice of them.

 *We drove to Galveston, TX in the Highlander -- and saved a lot on gas.

*Packed two suitcases, plus a carryon and our snorkel equipment.  If you're not flying, who cares!

*Careful as usual for food while traveling there. I also packed a few snacks.

*TWENTY DOLLARS for a stretch of toll road in Fort Worth?!?  Incredible. And of course, we didn't find out about the cost until returning home. Sneaky, sneaky.

*Stayed at a Motel 6 seaside the night before.  We paid more than usual -- but were able to park the car there all week, free of charge. (The hotel room was okay, just not spectacular.) 

*Ubers got us to the cruise terminal -- and back to the hotel -- with a minimum of fuss.  If you enjoy cruising, you really should try Galveston. It was much less crowded; 45 minutes after walking in the building, we were in our cabin! 

*Kept our excursions limited.  After all, we'd been recovering from being sick. We did take a $75 cab tour one day to/from a snorkeling beach, plus a stop at a Mayan chocolate factory. (I got a $20 decorative box of chocolate samples to pass around at home.)  Unfortunately, some kind soul (at the chocolate factory, we think) gifted us with:

*More sickness, three days before cruise end!  The Brick came down with it first -- then it was my turn. We had one day of feeling 'sort of' good -- but by the time we left the ship on Sunday, we were both miserable.

*A stop at our favorite souvenir shop in Cozumel: Soriana, a grocery/department store.  We just followed the crew members going and returning with bags of snacks, esp. potato chips. I got galetas, Mexican vanilla and horchata mix. Two reusable tote bags, too. 

*Two free 'Seascape' mugs dropped off at our cabin, thanking us for our "feedback." Only -- we didn't give them any! Still puzzled aobut this. (We gave one to friends Bill and Debbie.)

*Tips for the crew:  $112 x 2.  Our waiter certainly deserved this; our steward, unfortunately, didn't. 

   Was it worth it?  Of course. Being sick wasn't fun, but we enjoyed the shows, scenery, warm air and especially the evening meal food. And the company. Normally, when we find a bargain like this, we'll book TWO cruises, back to back. This time, we didn't...and I'm so glad. 

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*An extra-low Excel bill: $26 and change. Because we weren't here to use the energy, maybe? (Actually, we're now members of a 'solar garden,' which charged us about $25. So in the long run, we saved $2 and change. That hopefully will increase as the months go on.)

*Thanks to our new Medicare supplement insurance, the Brick's med renewal went from $81 -- to $5!  Now that's the kind of math I enjoy.

*Found a canopy for the back deck -- half-price.  We get a LOT of sun around here; the canopy should make our deck much more usable. I'm hoping it will help grow the garden box contents, too.

*The daffodils are blooming!  Our rose bushes survived nicely, thanks to being covered by dogfood and birdseed sacks. (I'll do this again.) I also planted some greens and peas -- will see how they do.

                                       'Brick House' Roses -- the plant came through beautifully.

FRUGAL MISSES

*Some food spoiled while we were gone -- the kids didn't take it with, and it was a bit iffy by the time we got back. I did manage to use up what was left of a gallon of milk in bread, rolls, rice pudding and other goodies.

*Canned goods seem to be the same price in stores. Until you notice that they're much smaller, that is. Do grocery store people honestly think we won't notice?!?

*Struggled to keep the woodrack filled...especially during the cold weeks. Thankfully, it's getting much warmer around here. 

*Used up a lot of canned stuff from storage, and the freezer is starting to empty out. (Or was, until our one shopping expedition.) Then again, that's what it's there for.

*Barely made it in time to the post office to pick up packages -- before they got shipped back.

*Washed clothes -- A LOT. Used the dryer a lot more, too. I washed all the trip clothes, as well as a big pile of 'sick' stuff that had accumulated. 

*Walked away from some freebies:  pumpkin/spice Cheerios (which I do NOT like) and some instant oatmeal (which we did not need).  This is a big step forward for Mrs. Hollander.

*Haircuts:  $54, including tips. I guess I should be grateful that we get a slight discount for being seniors. 

*Really high gas prices.  Fortunately, we made it back from the cruise without too much of a sting...and haven't been feeling like driving anywhere, anyways. We've had a very dry winter, which the ski resorts are griping about right now. And gas $$ are not going to help our tourism, either.

February's report is here.  Last year's March report is here, plus the year before. March is always a "what the heck?!?" kind of month -- you never know what's going to happen. April will be much more stable. (right?) Meanwhile, we'd love to have snow, instead of dry sagebrush.