Sunday

Frugals this week eating from home mostly though we did cave yesterday and bought Taco Bell for lunch.

Friday night we made Sub pizza's and Sub sandwiches for dinner.  I found a Italian bakery that makes the best 8 inch sub buns so I usually buy a dozen of those freeze them and we use them every Friday night for our meals instead of buying take out pizza's.

Frugal today was coloring my own hair.. Revlon hair coloring at Kroger Marketplace was $2.99.  I never go to a hair salon, trim my own hair it's very long and I just trim it and go.  I always wear my hair in a pony tail as I can't stand having it flying around in my face and dh doesn't want me to get it cut short.  It has saved me literally thousands of dollars over the course of 20 years.  I also hate having hair stylist in my face talking, not cutting it the way I want or if I get a good stylist the next time I go back they are gone.

This past week I made blackberry jam and blackberry jelly from frozen fruit I bought at my store using my employee discount and coupons they sent me.  Made 13 jelly jar sized containers.

Tomorrow I also hope to find time to make cranberry jelly if not maybe on Thursday which is my next day off.

Anna

Good Things Come To Those Who Wait

I have been looking at a certain chest deep freezer for at least the last 6 months or so.  It went on sale about 6 weeks ago for $169 which I thought was great but decided to wait a little longer as I needed to clean space in the basement to fit it in.  Finally decided yesterday to get the freezer.  It had been marked down to $158 then they were having a extended Black Friday sales event so I ended up getting it for $140 including taxes.  It will be delivered tomorrow morning.  I have been finding such great deals at my store and literally at this point my stand up freezer is so full you couldn't fit a slice of cheese in there sideways I don't think.. what a blessing but need more space.

I bought 4 turkeys on Wed. this week for $5 to $6 each, would have bought more if I had had the room.  Just cooked one today which will be for meal planning and the dogs meals instead of buying them more expensive chicken meat.

Anna

Wednesday Cherries

This morning I took out 5 lbs. of frozen tart cherries from the deep freezer, letting them thaw in the fridge and tomorrow morning will make Cherry Jam or Preserves.

I also bought 2 cans of Crushed Pineapple and next week will make Pineapple Preserves, some will go in a gift box to my son in law who loves it.

Anna

Frugals This Month

I have been so busy with work, the new puppy and life I haven't posted here for awhile.

Frugals:

Had my friend Melissa's brother fix my bathroom and kitchen sinks.  $90 versus his usual rate of $275.00.

7 weeks of not smoking.

Went to our companies Employee Appreciation Dinner Sunday night.  Free food and a gift certificate was given to each of us for $65.00.

Unfrugal Plans:

Someone hit the utility pole we had cemented at the end of our back yard to prevent them hitting our fence.  Not only did they knock the pole out of the ground while hitting it with their vehicle but also tore up the fence and knocked a support pole of the fence out of the ground too.  So money will have to be spent to have someone repair the damage.  This is the second time in 20 years that someone has knocked our fence down.  GRR!  And of course they never leave a calling card saying they did it and will pay for the damages.

Microwave bit the dust this morning, throwing out sparks so will have to buy a new microwave this morning.

Someone stole the pop cans I had in the driveway. If they had ask I would have given them to them.

Ordered a case of sausage from work, special order and found out it had beef in it so will have to give it away.  Dh liked it but it made him sick after the dinner party Sunday.  I didn't know he was sick at work yesterday and ordered it, too late to cancel the order.  So we will have to give it away to neighbors and the food pantry.

So for the month of November, a few ups and downs on the frugal train.

Anna

Saturday

As always these past couple months busy busy busy LOL!

Todays frugal.. my friend Dallas is not being dependable here lately so the sinks he promised to fix he reneged on this week.  I called my friend Melissa's brother and he came over and fixed both cheaply.. so Yay on the frugal find of a back up handyman.

Got a lot of discounted food at my store this week, mostly cheese marked down so my fridge is stocked up good!!  5 lbs. of Pepper Jack $14.00.

Anna

Sunday

Frugals today?

Will be eating leftovers from the past week that are in the freezer or fridge.  I made a big pot of veggie soup yesterday so we'll eat on that, maybe later BBQ Pork Sandwiches that we cooked last weekend (big dbl. rib I bought at work on discount).

All meals from home this week I hope.. I have a board meeting Tuesday night at CWA so if I'm not organized with my time we could fall into the trap of fast food, sigh!

Anna

Sunday

Gosh how life changes in just a few days:

Friday when I got home from work, dh has been looking at Pets Without Parents website every day at work and saw that they had a batch of puppies just come in.  I came in the house, pulled up the site, saw the adorable babies and the bad condition they had been rescued from and fell in love.  We immediately got in the SUV and went up to look at them.  Just adorable even with their bellies full of worms.  So hard to choose but we finally decided on one they called Giselle, strange name but she's a cutie.  They are daschund hound mix they think?  Look more to me like mixed with golden lab, odd bunch.  2 are golden yellow, 1 is white with short ears (Giselle) and 2 are are choc brown colored (the two boys).  The boys were the cutest but we only do girls.  So we filled out the application and got approval today.  We will have to wait till Thursday evening as they are getting fixed on Thursday morning.  So frugal just went out the window this month.  $175 adoption fee, trip to the Vet $45 and then Cocoa is due for her shots this month so another $200 for her.  Doggies are not cheap but so worth it.  We don't do vacations or go out to fancy restaurants, we stay home with our babies instead.

Oh one frugal on this:  We already have cages here that we have saved for the past 20 years a large one and a medium one so all set up for any new arrival.  I was trying to figure out what we could do about newspapers for the new pup since we don't get the newspaper anymore and we can't trust anyone else's used due to the threat of bed bugs in our city, what to do?  Remembered I have a roll of painters paper in my closet that I used to use for stamping designs and wrapping my soaps.  I think a roll now runs about $15 these are huge!  They are the same kind of material as paper grocery bags are made from.  So got the roll to start with and will buy more from Lowes as needed.  A good healthy alternative.  I thought about butchers paper but I think it's lined with wax which could slide around and hurt the pup.

Addendum:  This new little pup will in no way replace Windi but will help us in our healing and give a shelter dog a chance at a good life.  We don't give up on our dogs no matter what so no chance of her being sent back to the shelter.

Frugal was made a big batch of chili today for dh's lunches for the next 3 weeks.

Tomorrow dinner will be cheeseburgers and fries.

Tuesday I am off work and will make a big batch of veggie soup and possibly a meatloaf so that I can use up all the potatoes before they go bad.

Anna

Wednesday

As always lately been busy with work and life.  I'll be printing coupons from my store this morning to buy bacon $2 off.  Can't remember how many pounds it is but we like right now BLT's using the last of our tomatoes from the garden.

Did a mini grocery run yesterday.. used more of the coupons Buy 3 Hunts spaghetti sauces, get a box of Kroger brand spaghetti noodles free.  I probably have about 20 lbs. of noodles assorted stocked up now but we have Spaghetti or Rigatoni once a week so no where close to what we need to have for a year of stock up.

I have also started stocking up on meats, the plan for now is to have at least 30 days worth of meat not counting canned so that I am less likely to fall off the frugal wagon, if you have meat you can make a dinner plan.

Life is still very lonely here with our precious Windi gone.. her little footprints are everywhere in my house and yard and in our hearts.  My comfort is that someday we will be together again in heaven, all of us free from pain and stress of this earthly life.

Frugal is keeping my budget in line, putting money in the savings account every week, paying my car payment 2 weeks early again this month.

Being grateful today that I still have a job.

Anna

Monday

I have been so busy that it seems I never have time to catch up on here but have been trying to be frugal:

Sunday was my dd's birthday, we drove down to her house on Saturday.  I took her candles, jelly, jam and Pineapple Ice Cream Topping that I had made earlier this summer.  Alex's birthday is tomorrow and I bought him a giant Rice Krispy Treat bar and gave him money since it's hard to know what he's into.  He turned 12.  It was a beautiful day, we resisted the temptation of buying fast food though dh was awfully grumpy coming home without eating since breakfast. We came home and made pizza's instead of caving and ordering a pizza for pick up on the way home.

On Sunday CWA had their annual Cat Caper 5k Run.  As you know from reading my post on here I spent a lot of time doing fund raising for the raffle.  We ended up with 57 prizes, combining one huge lot of gift certificates totalling $300 in one gift along with tons of other gift cards and items that were donated.  We actually sold out of raffle tickets.  Peggy my former boss made a run and bought another roll so we could continue to sell tickets.  I don't know what we made but I know people were buying tons of tickets, they were priced very cheaply $1 a ticket, $5 for 8 tickets.  Wow, what a turn out and great weather.  I had a wonderful time took 97 pictures LOL! My Vet and his wife were there which was nice.

Windi our dog has been very sick for over a week with a bleeding ulcer in her tummy so I've been spending a lot of time with her.  I gave her a warm water enema this morning and she finally after a week had a large bowel movement, solid waste so I am thanking God today for his guidance and wisdom to not allow us to cave in and have her put down.  We have had Windi since she was a puppy and she is 13 years old now, love her more than anything in this world as I do my other doggy babies.  God guides me in my travels through this earth and has given me the guidance to buy certain things that prepared us for this time like rubber gloves, the enema kit (emptied and used just warm water), those sheets that are plastic for adult's who have accidents in bed, can't think what they are called but I give credit to God for telling me to buy them at the thrift store for 99 cents and put them back for the "what if's".  He often speaks quietly to us, we just have to listen.

Frugal this week is continuing to stock up on food, from what the Farmers Almanac is saying we are going to have another very bad winter so making sure we have ample food in our home.

Another frugal is I quit smoking last week.  I am using the ecigarette and am not missing cigarettes very much, they now smell awful to me and taste pretty nasty too.  Dd and her husband were both smoking Saturday and I had no desire to light up a real cigarette.  Eventually I'm sure I'll let go of the ecigarette too.

Have a great week everyone.

Anna

Thursday

Frugal Today?

Made candles for my dd for her birthday:  Satin Sheets, Pina Colada, Pumpkin Pie and Fresh Linen.

New Car bought gas milage for dh to drive to and from work 5 days a week:  $10 a week for gas, Yay!! Versus at least $30 a week before.

Made homemade vegetable soup with items on hand and homemade (boxed) Corn Bread for dinner, plenty of leftovers and Oh was it good!


Anna

Saturday and Sunday

Frugal was getting the scratches fixed on our new car free at the dealership.

Frugal was using 2 complimentary coupons I received from a customer at work for 2 free meals at a local restaurant yesterday.. value $21

Frugal was getting my flu and pneumonia shot free at Krogers today with my insurance plan. Working in a grocery store I am exposed to all kinds of germs so hopefully this will give me a added layer of protection.

Unfrugal is Windi our oldest dog is very sick.. she has a bleeding ulcer, cost us over $300 yesterday and more meds purchased today.  What can we do?  We love her and don't want her to suffer.

Anna

Thursday

Today is my day off.

Frugal so far:

The 25 lb. bag of flour I bought last week at my store $9 I am packaging up into quart canning jars with 2 bay leafs in each bag to kill any weevils that might hatch in it.  I save my lids from previous canning jobs and am using those with the caps to keep my flour organized and ready when I need it.

I will be going out to the stores here shortly and will be concentrating on stocking up some today for the winter and hard times.  My job has not been very stable here lately with some inner office issues that may mean losing my job or changing positions in the store that don't give as many hours.  I hope it all resolves itself but there are no guarantee's and finding another job right away may not be possible.  So keeping that in mind and knowing we may go back to just dh's salary I am preparing for the future by stocking up on frugal food items to keep us all fed frugally and healthy.

Today's stock up will be dog food for my girls.  Peanut Butter and spaghetti items.  I have the flour which I can use for making bread, cookies and homemade noodles for chicken and noodles this winter.  I'm also still working on organizing my basement storage.  If it isn't being used, it is getting tossed or put away for yard sale season next year.

I will also be buying more sugar when I go back to work tomorrow and thinking about buying frozen fruit (have a coupon) to make freezer jam.  Now that winter is coming I am less leery about storing items in the freezer and having a power failure that might mean loosing some of that food.

A friend posted this link to another site yesterday and if this prediction is true (lets hope not) I want to be ready.  I have been getting my truck worked on for winter readiness frugal is my having my friend Dallas do the work instead of hiring a expensive repair shop (thank you Dallas).

http://empirenews.net/meteorologists-predict-record-shattering-snowfalls-coming-soon-bread-milk-prices-expected-to-soar/#.VBENHn4bxAw.facebook


Anna

Monday

Thanking God today that he has granted me more time on this earth.  My 2nd mammogram and ultrasound came back negative, I do not have cancer.  It is just a cyst nothing to be worried about. Feeling very grateful today.

Anna

Sunday

Quiet weekend at home, no working this weekend.  I will work 4 out of the next 5 days this week and have the weekend off again it looks like, at least Saturday.  Nice!

Unfrugal was fast fooding Friday and Saturday nights, sigh!  Friday was our anniversary so yeah, excusable but Saturday night dh wanted pizza and wouldn't order unless I ordered too.  Total $55.00 spent that shouldn't have been.  We have a freezer full of food dh is bad lately about not wanting anything we have here, a lot is sports on TV influence.  Gotta start thinking of things we don't usually eat but would appeal instead of fast food like making our own pizza's (gotta buy pepperoni) and maybe putting stuffed bell peppers on the weekend menu (buy bulk peppers at my store).  Cheaper than fast food and healthier.

Frugal today was eating from home.

More truck expenses seem to be looming in the future.. I think the brakes are going bad on the truck starting to hear a little grinding noise.  Dallas knows how to change them so we'll save money in labor cost again letting him do that after we buy the brakes ourself.

Anna

Saturday

Unplanned but grateful frugal:  Took Windi to the Vet this morning, she's had this growth between her toes, a large tumour. I was afraid it was cancer but it's just a infected skin gland they drained it with a needle and syringe, told me it'll probably come back and just to bring her in.. $15 is all it will cost.  Thanking God nothing is wrong with my dear old girl.  She's 13 now.

Started new job training yesterday:  Now working in the cooler unpacking boxes and putting items in the coolers.  It is COLD in there!  They have some jackets but the only one I could find was a size 4X definitely way too big for me.  And of course I am still doing cashiering, winter is coming so I went to the thrift store, bought 2 black fleece type jackets and a couple more work shirts in different colors. Also found a nice small wooden table with slider doors on it to replace a stand in my bedroom that doesn't work.

Anna

Thursday

Finally on Monday afternoon got my truck tune up done.  Frugal is all the things that needed done including Dallas's labor less than $200.00.

Monday I bought 25 lbs. of flour for $9 and 10 lbs. of sugar for less than $5 from my job.  I use a lot of flour in the winter for homemade noodles, want to get back into making pizza dough and try my hand again at homemade breads which taste so incredibly good!  Gotta research and try to find the recipe I had for no rise pizza dough.

Goals is to start stocking up now on pepperoni for the pizza's this winter.

Today's frugal is paying my new car payment ahead of time.  I pay it online through our bank but it's a envelope payment so it takes longer to get there, I'll need to try to track how many days so I know how soon it needs to be paid to get there on time sure don't want any late payment penalties.

So though work has been incredibly hard and stressful this week I feel blessed to have a job and work with good people and of course have money to pay my bills and have a little something left over.

Anna

Saturday

Posting late now Sunday early am.

Saturday worked 8 to 4pm, busy day. I thought with the OSU game that we'd. die down after the game started, nope it got busier than ever.  Whew!  A no spend day though so that part was good.  I was tempted to pick up a few needed items but nothing that can't wait till I am back at work on Monday.. blah!  First time in my career that I have worked on Labor Day but time and a half so Yay! extra money next week's paycheck.  I will work 8am to 2pm that day.

Friday I hung laundry outside to dry so less time using the dryer.

Tomorrow is my day off so will do chores around the house, pick up any needed items since I'll work 4 out of 5 days this week and sure don't feel like doing anything after work.

Still waiting to connect with Dallas to get my truck tune up done.

Winter will be here soon so trying to get as much done as we can.

Surprise bill:  Our insurance agent told us our prices would only increase by $5 a month when we told him what type of vehicle we were going to get.. got the bill today $30 more a month.  I have a email in to him now with a copy of his quote.  GRRR! not happy about that little surprise.

Anna

Thursday

This week has been busy as usual.  Our friend Dallas has been over several times this week working on our shed.. we had rats in there though fortunately none seem to be in there now.  They did some serious damage to the particle board walls so Dallas fixed those up and dug up around the outside foundation put in aluminum flashing 50 feet and then shored it up with cement blocks (the big ones) so hopefully no critters will get back in.  He also worked on my downspout, there was a huge bird's next in there that he removed but now we have discovered a honeybee nest up there.. groovy!  So I have to go and get bee spray and Dallas will go back up and spray the hive.  I hate to do that with bee's becoming endangered but they will eventually move into the roof and walls and then we'll have structural issues.

Dallas will be back over tomorrow if it doesn't rain to do a major tune up on my truck, it wouldn't start the other day so he's changing the oil, spark plugs, ignition switch module and ???? can't remember what else.

Frugal on all these is because we are friends he charges us a very small fee to do all this work.  Next up is fixing my kitchen pipes.

I am blessed to have a job to help pay for these extra expenses.

I am working this morning on apples I picked from my tree the other day.. picked 2 five gallon buckets, didn't weigh them though.  I gave one bucket to Wanda (she accidentally burned her apple butter) and am canning mine here in a little bit.

I have clothes hanging on the clothesline, peaceful day here in the holler.  Dh is taking tomorrow off work to spend the day with me, thinking of going to the Millersport Corn Festival.

Anna

Wednesday Part II

Sharing with friends:

The apples I picked the other day.. I never have had time to can them so I gave them to my friend Wanda tonight to make a small batch of apple butter with.  Plenty more on the tree, hopefully next week I'll find time.

I didn't do the fundraising today.,.. I felt bad but there was just so much housework here to do, grocery shopping, etc. that I called off.  We have about 2 weeks left before the deadline so hopefully next week I'll have more time and be more energized.

We will be going to the candle store this weekend to buy new supplies.. they moved and are now 36 miles away from my house.  And we will be going to a farm supply store somewhere along that route, I need more pine tar.

Frugal:  Sold $25 worth of Pine Tar soap today.  Stock is very low hence the need to buy more Pine Tar.

Surprisingly the Pine Tar Soap and The Dirt Soap are my best sellers, both stinky soaps LOL!  But the Pine Tar helps with all kinds of skin rashes/itching and the Dirt Soap the hunters use, I have a steady base for both of these types.

Anna

Wednesday

I have been so busy with work, fundraising and housework I just have not had time to post anything.

We bought a new SUV on Monday so budgeting is really going to be in play for the next three years... it's a lease so we saved about half what it would have cost if we'd. bought it.  In 2 1/2 years we can turn it in for a new one and have the same payments.

I'm no longer doing food demo's at work, working days as a cashier now.. will be getting training for meat cutting soon.

I'm tired today, it's my day off but have to do a lot of housework and do some more fundraising today at some point.  Back to work Thurs. and Friday and hopefully off the weekend.  I got called in on Sunday my day off because someone called in sick.  I didn't have to but extra money is always good.

Anna

Thursday

Just got back in from picking apples off my apple tree this morning.. will have to work hard to get those peeled and canned today (late afternoon).  The tree is loaded but most are in the upper branches so I'll need to get a ball to get them down and maybe some kids to help out.  My friend Wanda wants some to make apple butter.  I'm canning mine up in chunks to use for apple crisp or for just packing for dh's lunches.  Last year I opened a jar, heated it and put vanilla ice cream over top.. Yum!  These were from last years harvest.

Anna

Wednesday

Wednesday I went out again for awhile after working more on my basement decluttering project.. I organized all my canning jars by size and put them in plastic sweater boxes all in one place so I can find them when I need them.  Stopped at the shelter and dropped off a gift card (Thank You Lowes) and notes on other places I had been to and loved on the kitties including Mrs. Beasley who has been with the shelter the longest, sure can't understand why such a sweet kitty has never been adopted out.

Frugal has been continuing to resist fast food in the restaurants I'm stopping in at, sure hard to do.

Anna

Monday and Tuesday

Spent yesterday again door to door soliciting gift cards for the shelter.. got $220.00 in cards, Yay!  Will be doing it again today for a little while, have to work tonight.  Frugal is resisting buying all the good stuff at the restaurants I have been stopping in at.. better for my waistline and my budget LOL!  Such a wonderful generous community I live in!

Next fundraiser is the Home and Garden Show but will most likely pass on that one though I'd love to do it.. it falls on the weekend of our wedding anniversary, have to spend some time with the hubby for that one.

I'm blessed to have found the talent in myself to get out there and not be shy about asking for donations.  It truly helps when I believe in what we are doing which is saving cats from being euthanized and hopefully adopted in to loving homes, it's so very hard to resist taking one or twelve home with me they are all so beautiful and loving.

All meals from home.. yesterday was baked chicken and potato salad.  Today I will make dh Rigatoni to have ready to heat and eat when he gets home tonight.  I cooked 2 lbs. of chicken burger yesterday morning in preparation for this.  I like working the night shift but I don't like the coming home in the dark and the whole evening is pretty well shot.

Have a great day everyone.

Anna

Sunday~Day of Rest

Ran to Krogers to pick up meds. and Weilands Mkt. for a couple Ohio tomatoes.

Made BLT's for lunch and homemade choc. milk shakes.

Staying close to home today, reading and taking a nap spending time with dh as this is the only day of the week we have off together.  Been a rough week with dh working OT every day and then the truck repairs.

Anna

Thursday

I guess the only frugal thing yesterday was getting my friend Wanda's son Beau to give me a ride to and from the auto mechanics.

Dh drove the truck to work, got in the lot and steam was coming out of it and antifreeze pouring out from underneath.  I drove out there, dropped off the car, called AAA and got the truck towed to the auto shop.  $670.00 later we now have a new serpentine belt and water pump.  Told us we need a new muffler too another $226 dollars.  Not in danger of falling off, no holes in it so it can wait till we get this bill paid off.

Frugal today (Friday) paid $100 towards that bill.  Dh is working OT and we should be able to pay it off in a months time but no money being saved for now towards a new car.

Next month I change jobs.. full time cashier and I think will be working days instead of nights and weekends. I have a meeting with my store mgr. tomorrow.

Frugal today also making pizzas at home tonight.  And found the discount bin at work, got buffalo chicken wraps (mini) marked down from $12 to $2.  I bought 4 boxes as I'm not sure what size mini means, they are awfully thin boxes.

Anna

Hitting the Pavement For Charity

Today I donated my time and energy to going to local businesses for donations for our raffle fund at the 5k Cat Caper on Sept. 21st.  I got either gift cards or services for subs, meals and even 5 half hour massages from a Chiropractor totalling around $400 in pledges or gift cards so far.  That is so awesome that there are so many people who care about the cats and our shelter.  I still have more businesses I want to contact but it'll have to be later this week and next week as I'll be going back to work.  All the businesses were so incredibly nice to me.. I did not get one No.  I even got a free lunch from one sub shop in addition to the gift cards.

Unfrugal is I stopped at Krogers, bought a whole chicken for the girls, came home and forgot it was in the car trunk all afternoon in the sun.. had to throw it out so I lost $5 today.  I was talking to dh on the cell phone when I pulled in the drive, came in talking to him, doodled around the house and took a nap.

So... sigh!  Had to go to Aldi's for more chicken after dinner, girls got stuck eating our leftover spaghetti for dinner till I could get over there.

Two friends of mine who own businesses also donated to the Cat Caper in goods or gift certificates.  Thank you to Barb and Terri.


Anna

Thursday

Shopped GFS saved $10 with their in store coupons plus employee discount of 10%.  I bought another big box of chicken $39.99 and then minus my employee discounts.  It will make 7 meals for dh and I.

Canning apples this morning.. saw a interesting recipe in the Ball book for canning the apples with the red hot cinnamon candies so may do that the next batch.

Got my detergent on sale at GFS, the last bottle I bought was 5-22-2014 so it lasted quite awhile. EcoSense is the brand.

Anna

Tuesday

Frugals today?

Walked my rott, free exercise and peace of mind being out in the beautiful early morning weather.

Lunch today?  Leftover pizza from last night.

Picked 15 lbs. of apples off my tree this morning.  They are now peeled and sitting in lemon juice water solution to be canned tomorrow morning when I have more time to devote to it as I work this evening and need to get in a mini nap before going in.

How do I know how many pounds I picked?

I have a household weight scale.  I weigh myself then me holding my basket or in today's case small trash can, deduct my weight and it gives me the balance of weight which is what the apples weigh.

Anna

A few days worth

It's been a few days since I've posted, have been incredibly busy with work.. have been called in several times this past week to cover shifts.

Frugals have been paying bills on time.

Continuing with stocking and preparing food for winter and emergencies.

Organizing my canning supplies.

Twice in the past 7 days have taken Krogers online survey gleaning 100 points on my fuel perks card to save on the purchase of gasoline.

Anna

Frugal Drink Choices~Koolaid

Another thrifty choice versus buying premade bottled products.  I just clicked on one powdered product unsweetened on the Koolaid site but of course we know there are many many choices out there.  Yes, it takes about 5 minutes to make but so much cheaper than buying flavored soda pop's or those premade single serve packets like Juicy Juice.  Also you control the sugar content, these can also be made with Splenda for diabetics or to watch your sugar content even better.


Koolaid:  Cost Per Packet approximately 15 cents
Sugar:  Bag Aldi's 4 lbs. approximately $1.69
Water Pitcher with lid Thrift Store Approximately $2.00

Water Pitcher is reusable.





http://www.kraftrecipes.com/Products/ProductInfoDisplay.aspx?SiteId=1&Product=4300095587

Plus:

http://www.rubbermaid.com/Category/Pages/ProductDetail.aspx?Prod_ID=RP091194

Anna

Frugal Drink Choices~Sun Tea

Instead of buying this:

Premade Tea's

http://www.drinkarizona.com/productcart/pc/viewCategories.asp?idCategory=2

Buy This Instead:

Ice Tea Pitcher

http://www.acehardware.com/product/index.jsp?productId=20351376&KPID=15552035&pla=pla_15552035

Plus:

http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=173010&catid=184325&aid=338666&aparam=173010&kpid=173010

And a bag of sugar:

I suggest looking in the thrift stores for you tea pitcher or a dollar store where they are cheaper.

Huge savings versus buying premade.  I see a lot of people buy the green tea by Arizona or other commercial brands, Lipton sells green tea bags, same thing except you control the sugar content and the cost.

Oh and as to how to make it:

Just put 4 or 5 tea bags in the sun tea pitcher, add water to fill and set it out in the sun.  In the winter, boil water, add the tea bags in the sun pitcher and it's ready to go after it's cooled put in the fridge.  Yes, it takes a few minutes of your time to do this but the savings is huge plus much more gentle on our environment when you consider the containers you buy the tea in, recycling cost and manufacturing cost where it all started out.

Anna

Tuesday

Got a 20 minute walk in with my big dog this morning, free exercise while the temps. were cool.  Today is going to be a scorcher from what I hear... I am grateful to work in a job with central air that's for sure.

Frugal today:

Free Exercise

Working which will bring in money for our new car fund.. slowly but getting there.

Packed my lunch for work and snacks.

Dinner:  Veggie Burgers, Chips and Coleslaw for dh, salad for me.

Anna

Frugal Health

Took Cocoa for a early morning walk.. brought smiles to the folks in my neighborhood driving into work.  Not only is it good exercise for both of us, being out when it's cool and quiet it brings serenity to my day feeling at peace with nature.

Anna

Sunday

Saved 50 cents off a gallon on fill up of our truck using my Kroger fuel perks.  Friday filled out a online survey for Krogers getting another 50 points free for filling it out.  Took gas prices down to $2.97 a gallon with the perks today.

Stayed home most of the day except going out for gas and stopping at Aldi's for chicken meat for the dogs.

Anna

Friday and Saturday

Working days.. almost no money spent.  Saturday bought a bag of shrimp filled ravioli for dinner and lettuce for salads, that was it.

Anna

Thursday Good Day

Just wanted to share a couple things that happened to me today.

I was at the VOA today in line... found the cutest broach ever! It's a cat in a front load washing machine with a box of soap on the top, LOL! Anyways... I wa standing in line and these two guys came in from the Columbus Foundation, not sure what that is yet. But they were doing 31 acts of random kindness and paid for the ladies purchases in front of me. Had us all crying, it was such a wonderful thing to see. They took pictures with the lady.

A older gentleman came to my door today... I live next door to a gas station that is run by people from India. They sent him and his elderly mother over here to get directions on how to get to 315 North. I gave him directions then remembered I had to go to Krogers on Olentangy, was able to flag them down and had them follow me and blew my horn and put my signal on to show them where to turn off to 315 North. A act of kindness that cost me nothing but it sure made me feel good to be able to help someone in need.

Anna

Thursday

Yesterday afternoon the contractors for AEP came and cut down my maple tree.. Yay!  Such a huge difference and they did it for free.  They were so courteous and respectful of my property, moved my clothesline so it wouldn't get damaged, stacked the wood they couldn't grind up in a neat tidy stack and even raked my yard of all the fallen leafs.

I just called and gave them a good rating for the wonderful job they did here. It's funny when I started out I could just hear her pausing to hear the complaint she thought I was going to launch.  So few people take the time to call in when someone does a good job, only when they don't LOL!

Here is the company I used through AEP.  They are in Millersport, Ohio.

reg061@asplundh.com

Anna

Thursday~Mini Stock Up

I will be doing some mini stocking up again today.

Will buy another case of water at $1.99 each at Aldi's.

Will buy another large can of coffee.

Will buy Scott TP at Family Dollar, it's on sale 12 large dbl. rolls $5 with their coupon.

I keep 2 to 3 gallon containers in the kitchen, use it daily for the dogs water, refill, use it for my coffee pot, making dh's tomato juice and refill. That way we always have fresh water to at least get started with before going into reserves.

Anna

Wednesday~Grumpy Cat

While this isn't exactly a frugal thing it is something near and dear to my heart and that is the well being and care of cats and dogs in shelters.

Last year the organization that I volunteer for.. Cat Welfare Association was the beneficiary of the following program sponsored by Grumpy Cat and Friskies Cat Food.

Please help the shelters to continue to feed the cats by watching the video.  Each time it's watched a can of cat food will be donated to one of five shelters that have signed up.  So exciting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GT1oCrqfmC8&feature=share

Anna

Tuesday

Todays frugals:

Cooked all the chicken breast I bought for the girls this morning:

Have a meatloaf in the oven from the chicken burger I got on sale yesterday.  Average price was $1.57 a lb. Oh had some leftover blueberries that I threw in the meatloaf, will be curious to see how it taste LOL!

Have 2 Cinnamon Quick Breads in the oven, bought these on sale over the winter less than $2 each.

Dinner will be meatloaf and homemade mashed potatoes with cole slaw.

Dessert will either be the quick breads or sugar free ice cream with my homemade pineapple and strawberry topping.

Monday

Frugals today?

My rain barrel is overflowing, took rain water in a 5 gallon bucket and mopped my floors.  I used 2 5 gallon buckets to mop with total.

Krogers had a lot of reduced/clearance items.

I bought 6 lbs. of chicken burger marked half price.  Today I will be making taco's for dinner, tomorrow will be meatloaf.  I will freeze the rest to use later.

I also got organic chicken breast marked down, will use these instead of whole chickens for the dogs meals this week.  Same price as the whole chickens but chicken breast is a lot easier to cook than cooking the whole chicken and deboning it.

Got organic banana's marked down to 44 cents a lb. verus 59 cents a lb. for regular store banana's.  I eat 1 to 2 banana's a day especially on the days I work.

Got a bag of lettuce for the tacos on clearance 99 cents versus 1.99 regular priced.  Geez!  that stuff has really went up in price.  I buy a large bag of spring lettuce mix at my store for $3 but I wanted crunchy lettuce for the tacos so this will work.

Resisted the urge to go to the thrift store.  I need something from there but couldn't remember what it was so till I remember will stay out and away from the temptation of buying aimlessly.


I think that's about it so far today.

Anna

Sunday

Tip Of The Day:

From my brother in law:

When you are barbecuing grab out several different meats, hamburgers, chicken breast, hot dogs, etc. cook all your meat at the same time, freeze your cooked meats in the freezer.  Or leave a few out in the fridge, easy to prepare a quick and easy meal if the meat is already cooked.  During this coming week, when the kids are hungry (they have a 11 yo girl and 14 yo boy) it's easy for them to pick out a burger and microwave it.

Anna

Saturday Late Evening

Frugal the past few days has been working and trying not to spend money.  Bills paid on time.  This evening made $1 sitting on the porch, a neighbor who buys my incense sticks walked by, ask if I had any of the sticks he likes so much.  I knew where they were at, came in, got them and made a $1.00.  Yay!

Frugal today (Saturday) was dh made us frozen doctored up pizza's for dinner when I got off work, it was sitting here waiting for me when I walked in the door.  Tomorrow a trip to the Pharmacy for meds should be the only money spent will also have to put gas in my car, probably the truck too.

I have 30 cents off at Krogers in fuel perks per gallon so will utilize those savings.

Anna

Tuesday

Todays frugal is finding a new accountant.  My old one we've had several years is dying and we had to start looking for a new one.  Interviewed one today, very nice, in my neighborhood instead of across town and $75 cheaper than the one we had.  Gave me a hour consultation, went over all our paperwork for free.  Yay!

Very important to keep up to date on taxes so that we don't end up owing at the end of the year or getting audited.

Anna

Thoughts For The Day

~If you can start the day without caffeine..
~If you can get going without pep pills...
~If you can always be cheerful, ignoring aches and pains...
~If you can resist complaining and boring people with your troubles...
~If you can eat the same food everyday and be grateful for it...
~If you can understand when your loved ones are too busy to give you any time...
~If you can take criticism and blame without resentment...
~If you can ignore a friend's limited education and never correct them...
~If you can resist treating a rich friend better than a poor friend...
~If you can face the world without lies and deceit...
~If you can conquer tension without medical help...
~If you can relax without liquor...
~If you can sleep without the aid of drugs...
~If you can say honestly that deep in your heart you have no prejudices against creed, color, religion or politics..

~Then, my friend, you are almost as good as your dog.

Author Unknown

Blueberry Jam

So far today I have made 15 half pints of blueberry jam plus one extra from 2 batches of leftovers that is in the fridge.  I have another batch to do this morning but am taking a break to go out and mow the grass as I'll be back to work for the next 3 days.  Bummed I'll be working all day on the 4th of July but being the new kid on the block didn't feel I should be asking for time off when we really didn't have anything super important going on.  Dh will bake in the roaster 2 racks of ribs with BBQ Yum!

Anna

What Will You Do When The Lights Go Out?

It is storm season here in Ohio and across the country.  I'm starting a series here with links to my local news station that shows coverage of the last major storm to hit our area on June 29th, 2012.

The first is on water storage:

Knox County (Ohio) Residents Receive Drinking Water Thanks To Federal Funds

http://www.10tv.com/content/stories/2012/07/02/mount-vernon-knox-county-residents-receive-water-thanks-to-federal-funds.html

As you can see from reading this article one guy had 18 gallons stored and it wasn't nearly enough.  We all need to think and evaluate how much water we use and don't be smug thinking "I have a well".  My sister does too and no electricity meant no water coming to the house.  Fortunately for them it was winter and they were able to gather snow from outside, let it melt in the house to flush their toilets with.

So what will you do when the lights go out?

Anna

Sunday~Day of Rest

Today we stayed home, rested up and enjoyed our time together.  No money was spent, no gasoline was used.

Dinner was lasagna and for me 2 salads instead of the lasagna.  I just am not too hip lately on hot foods of any kind except the egg sandwiches I've been enjoying this past week.  And Mac and Cheese yesterday.  So I guess narrowing it down it's more of a meat thing that hot food so much.  Weird but I really am in heaven with the salads I've been having.

No if I could uncrave desserts LOL!  We had lemon meringue pie for dinner tonight.

Anna

Saturday~Tip Of The Day

This tip was given to me by a customer Friday while discussing a family reunion we are planning for 2015 at my sister's house which she will be hosting.

In any case, I was speculating on what we would do for chairs as there will be over 100 people plus children there.  He said "Contact one of the local churches and ask if you can borrow their chairs".  Brilliant!  Most churches always have a lot of fold up chairs that they use for events and give them a donation for the use of their chairs everybody wins.  They make a little money for the church and we save money by not having to rent out from a professional place that rents these kinds of things.

Anna

Thursday & Friday

Not too much frugal here lately.  Thursday I went to Target to get my dogs corn free food, they still don't have it in stock.  In the meantime though, they did have the pants that I wear for work on sale $22 instead of $29 so I bought a pair.  Also had flip flops buy one get one 50% off so got 2 pairs of those.

Today I have paid my bills online and paid on time so no late fee's.

We will have frozen Tombstone pizza's for dinner tonight instead of buying fast food pizza's.

I am cooking a chicken right now for the girls meals this weekend, will take out some for us to have BBQ chicken sandwiches this weekend.  We will also have turkey hot dogs this weekend for a meal with french fries instead of buying fast food.

Anna

Monday and Tuesday

I worked 4pm to 9pm so that was different for our schedule.  Got dinner prep. stuff done so dh could come home, have dinner and serve the girls their dinner on time.  No money spent day.

Interesting.,.. as most of you know I am a Prepper.  Not because I think the world is going to end, etc. but because of so many power outages in our city over the years so I try to keep things stocked up and ready at a moments notice. So anyways.. Monday night was my first time working my store and closing.  Part of closing is to sweep, mop the floors and straighten the shelfs and freezers.  We get delivery trucks Friday, Monday and Wednesday.  It was a little scary in thinking of life as we know it to find the freezer were very empty and what would happen in a emergency situation.

Tuesday I had off:

I went to the thrift store and bought for $16.

3 sets of kitchen curtains
3 Corningware casserole dishes with lids
several tins for 50 cents to 1.00 each
1 tshirt type dressy top for me
1 ceramic soap dish which I am using in my cabinet as a catchall for my watch and whatever other jewelry I take off at the end of the day.

I think that was it.. pretty good bargain I think.

Sunday

Quiet day at home, no real meal plan.. just ate this and that.  Week 5 of no fast fooding Yay!  Tomorrow dh will work OT, I am working evening shift 4-9pm blah! Really messed up our meal planning.  Dh will have a frozen pizza when he gets home.  I have cooked a chicken for the girls will have their food in their bowls ready for dh to serve along with Windi's meds in her bowl.

I forgot to mention on Saturday.. part of my stocking up plan was buying a box of powdered milk.  I will put it in a glass container with the exp. date and instruction sheet in the jar.

No money was spent today.

Anna

Saturday Recycling Project & Stocking Up

As I continue to stock up for winter, financial disaster, summer storm outages.. I bought a dozen cans of soup this week along with:

1 Big Container Coffee
2 pkgs. of baby wipes 56 ct. each 85 cents each
Dog Food
Tuna
Refried Beans

At work yesterday I was watching one of our stockers take frozen meatballs in pkgs. out of these boxes. The boxes were extra nice, long thin and with a flip fold side instead of the standard boxes.  I thought.. Hmmm. .. those would be good for putting cans of soup, etc. in so I ask for a couple of them.  They are white so easy to label what's inside and will become part of my storage plan.  I'll have to keep a eye out for more of these boxes, they break them down as soon as they stock the freezers.  These will also easily fit under my bed.

Anna

Saturday~Tip of The Day

Homemade Tomato Juice

6 oz. can of tomato paste, add 18 oz. of water (3 cans of water) and it will make 2 16 oz. bottles of tomato juice.  We do this to control the sodium content but if you want it a little saltier, just add a tiny bit, stir or shake till you get the taste you are after.

Friday June 20th, 2014

Worked hard all day.. was supposed to do the cash register, the girl who was designated to do Food Demo called off so switch in plans.  Good thing I had the mental set that she might not show up (she gave her resignation 2 weekends ago).  So busy day, tired when I got home.

Frugal yesterday other than paying bills and putting gas in my car didn't spend any money nor did dh.

Anna

Thursday Frugals & Tip Of The Day

So far this morning:

Colored my hair $2.25

Devoted 20 minutes while my hair color was setting to work on my bil's afghan which will be his Christmas gift this year.

Getting my grocery list together, will not go to my store today as we really don't need anything that can't wait a few days or pick up after work when I'm there tomorrow.  Not making the trip today will save me gas and time.


Tip Of The Day:

Homemade Broth-Boil a chicken or chicken parts save the water aka broth, freeze it and when you need broth for a soup base you already have it, free!

Anna

Wednesday Evening

It has been really hot here today high of 94 whew!  We got out the box fan and turned it on instead of turning the AC higher ( or actually I guess it would be lower for lower temp).  Perfect in here now.  It's 7:30pm and I don't have the lights on in the house now except the kitchen, will try to hold off till at least 8pm.

Today I reviewed a lot of Prudent Homemakers frugal tips that readers send in each week.. I copied it to Word the other day because I didn't have time to read it all and didn't want to loose my place where I stopped at, so copied downward all that I hadn't read and pasted to my Word program.   It gave me motivation to think about what I was doing this week and I went through and turned off all the lights this morning.

It's getting ready to rain here so I better go get blanket off the clothes line.

Anna

Wednesday

So far this morning.. I have weeded some in my garden beds that we are allowing to be dormant this year due to still waiting for AEP to come out and cut down the maple tree in the back yard.  Frugal is taking a bucket so far of dirt from last year around to the front flower bed where I have planted 4 tomato plants.. well 3 need to plant the last one, it was looking pretty wimpy yesterday and needs to be in the dirt.

Other frugals planned today:  I need to wash some blankets and hang outside it's going to be a scorching hot day so they should dry fast.

All meals from home:  Baked Chicken, Corn on the Cob is on the menu for tonight.  The baked chicken is precooked so all I really have to do is heat it in the oven (it works better than in the microwave) for 20 minutes and dinner is done.

Anna

Tuesday No Spend Day~Almost

I stayed home all day yesterday till the Cat Welfare Board Mtg. where I donated money for the shelter.  Living frugally allows me to be generous each month with donations to the animal shelters, Cat Welfare and Pets Without Parents.

Anna

Monday

Dh stayed home today all meals yesterday and today were left overs or meals we had cooked on hand. Yay! Using what we already have so not wasting food.

I had cereal for breakfast, nacho chips with cheese for lunch and a big salad for dinner.

Frugal Exercise:  Took my rottweiler for a walk this evening after it cooled down.  Need to start doing this more often as she growled at 3 different people on our walk she's never done that before so we need to work on social skills again.  She didn't lunge or pull to get at them but she did low key growl.

Wish I could say the day was totally frugal.. had to buy gas for the truck $40, meds for me, dh and the dog $76, misc. money spent for milk, hard tack for dh for work, etc. haven't tallied but I'd say probably another $20.  Oh and money pulled out for yard work and money for dh for work $50.  Ouch big spend day.

I am off work till Friday this week which bites!  Small paycheck next week.  I like my job but they are really wishy washy with the hours you work, which is true in all retail stores with the exception probably of Krogers which is a union shop.

Anna

Sunday~Tip of The Day Dog Food

Pet Food- It pays to do your research.  The kind we use has to be corn free as one of my dogs is allergic to corn.  Krogers and Giant Eagle in our area are usually around $19 to $24 for the kind we use.  Walmarts and Target $12 or less always.

Saturday~Tip of The Day Paper Napkins

Instead of buying paper napkins I use cloth dinner napkins that I find in yard sales or thrift stores.  I have paid as little as 15 cents and no more than 30 cents for each one.  You can also buy a cheap package of wash cloths to use instead.

Friday Frugals

No money spent today other than paying bills.

Got new power lines to my house compliments of AEP, did my neighbors while they were here.

Worked today so earned money.

My friend and neighbor will do our weed whacking for us this summer, we have a huge back yard and front yard not so huge.. will do it for us for $30 a month.  Dh's not able to do it right now, having trouble with his knee's so this will save him wear and tear on his knee's and getting it done at a very reasonable price.  And will help our friend earn a little extra pocket change.

Anna

Friday~Savings for Thursday

Spent $63 Saved $28 with store coupons and employee discount.  Continued with the stocking up plan and buying easy to fix food so we're staying away from the fast food joints.  Week 4 of no buying fast food or pizza's.  Savings:  $132.00.

Today's frugal?  Paid bills on time or ahead of time online.  Yesterday put most of my paycheck in the savings account.

Anna

Thursday

Today is payday.  Yay!

I am going up to my store here shortly to do my weekly shopping trip.  I have a coupon $15 off of $75 that I plan to use today and also my employee discount of 10% off.  Still working on my list of what I need from there this week.

We are having trouble with our house electric, lights keep flickering power goes off and comes back on.. have a call in to AEP this morning, they will come out today and check the outside power lines to make sure it isn't a problem outside before I call a electrician.  So that nice fat paycheck is likely to go to the electrician if it's a inside the house issue.  Praying it isn't.

Yesterday at Lowes I bought on clearance 3 battery operated flourescent lamps the kind with the handle that you can carry.  They were on sale for $4 something.  It takes 8 D batteries that cost $10 a pack..Ouch!  I bought 3 packs of batteries.  We put one lamp together last night and sure enough early this morning as we were preparing for dh to go to work the power went off for about 5 minutes.  I grabbed a flashlight out of the bathroom cabinet where I keep them went in my craft room grabbed that lantern and we had a whole room of light!!  So that was a right on time buy.

Anna

Wednesday Afternoon

Went to Lowes (not at all frugal) bought pet resistant rat poison, rat cage, rat sticky traps.. so I have a full arsenal.  The plan is to put the rat poison in the rat cage, catch the rat in the cage where hopefully he'll have taken a snack of the poisoned bait and die in there.

I also bought dirt and 4 tomato plants and a american flag we are late putting one up this year.

So not frugal but the rat issue if we don't get it taken care of come fall/winter he'll be deciding to move him and his family into our house, chew wires, get into whatever food he can find.. so frugal is getting rid of them now.

I also went to Aldi's and stocked up on 3 month supply of peanut butter, what our household uses for 3 months.  And a months worth of tomato paste for dh's homemade tomato juice.

This past weekend I planned to shop on Sunday for tomato paste and a few other things, ended up working that day and got home right before the store closed and I was so tired after being on my feet for 6 hours straight so plan ahead on things we use the most to keep stocked up.

Anna

Wednesday

Frugal so far today?

Duct taped the seat of my favorite chair in the kitchen.  It's called a "Lucy" chair, retro 50's or 60's vinyl covered metal chair, the vinyl is red metalic looking.  It's comfortable but sadly as with all vinyl of the past to present over time it cracks and splits.  So I bought a roll of red duct tape and covered the cracks and tears.  I will use that chair till it can't be used anymore.  I wish Target still sold them.

I didn't make it to Lowes yesterday so am heading there this morning and to Aldi's for a few stock up items and of course, more chickens for my girls.  It's really been nice having 4 days off work, am getting things accomplished which is a good feeling.

It rained heavily last night so can't mow at least not this morning, maybe this evening before it rains again. The birds sure are happy just saw a blue jay a little bit again, they are singing happy tunes right now.

Have a great day everyone.

Anna

Tuesday

Probably not so frugal.. doing a lot of laundry today clothes, blankets, etc. it's to rain today so am using the dryer for the most part.  Trying to get everything caught up before returning to work on Friday.  The store mgr. says I am doing in nicer words than he said "One heck of a good job" and he wants me to start working more hours starting next week.  So that is more money towards our savings to buy a new vehicle and paying down debt too.  It's hard work though so have to find the fine line between how much I work and getting rest in between.

I will also be heading out later this morning to pick up a couple things from the stores and dropping off items to the local thrift store, books sigh! so many books and misc. stuff a baby blanket that I will drop off at Pets Without Parents for the puppies.

Have also been continuing with putting items in containers so that no rodents or bugs can get into them, which is frugal in that if they did I would have to throw the food out.  So far nothing in the house but still have not caught the rat I saw in the shed.  That's one place on my list today is Lowes for sticky rat traps.. if that doesn't work then later this week I'll go to Harbor Freight and get a actual metal walk in trap and see if I can't catch it that way.  Not sure yet what I'll do with a live rat, wish I knew someone who had a pet snake.

So off for now to continue with housework.  Dinner tonight will most likely be:  Baked Chicken and Corn on the Cob.  Coleslaw or pasta salad on the side.  That may change to veggie burgers, not sure yet.

Anna

Busy Day Off

Did laundry, went to Meijers, my job to pick up a container of nuts, thrift store for tin cans.. cake tin, tall tins, etc. cheap prices and will use to store things like cake mixes (saved the instruction sheet with exp. date).  Got a basting brush to baste oil on to my pans instead of using paper towels (frugal).  Made a big batch of chili yesterday, packaged it up into containers and put in deep freezer.  Dog food jarred up to keep mice, rats, etc. away.  Saw a rat in my shed last Wednesday so far haven't caught the bugger he's eating the peanut butter lightly spread and leaving the trap set, tomorrow will go to Lowes or F Dollar and get sticky traps and see if I have any luck with those.  Ick!  Frugal is continuing to package everything in metal or glass containers no midnight snacks for the rodents.

Anna

Saturday

Worked demo half a day worked the register half a day.  I've worked 6 days out of 7 this week, the boss ask if I could work tomorrow afternoon and into the evening.. whew!  Big paycheck this coming week.

Frugal?  Took lunch to work, bought coffee creamer at work instead of making a special trip to Aldi's.

Anna

Friday

Still busy with work, today is food demo day.  I have been learning so much this week working the cash register, there is a lot more to it than just scanning and bagging items at least at our store where we deal with both the general public and businesses.  All good though knowledge is a good thing to carry forward to another job some day if I needed to.

Pizza at home tonight.  I cooked 2 chickens yesterday for the dogs and us.  I shredded chicken last night, added BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Rays) and made chicken sandwiches along with leftover mac and cheese from last weekend's meals.

I have food bought to make meals with this week so avoiding the fast food train.

I will have to go to Aldi's for a couple things on Sunday couldn't get the other day when I was there as I had too many groceries in my car to fit anything else in there.

Transferred money today to my savings account and paid a bill on time so all good financially (fingers crossed).

Anna

Wednesday Win Some Loose Some

I saved with coupons and my employee discount $28 today but sigh! was setting up the iron to iron clothes for work and the iron slipped off the ironing board, hit the cement floor just right and broke into a million pieces.  So I had to run across the street to Family Dollar and buy a new iron $15.

We are stocked up for 5 weeks (6 total) on precooked breaded chicken for meals.  Will be great with corn on the cob and cole slaw.

Stocked on pizza's for this week and hopefully next though we may have pizza's twice this weekend?  Not sure.

Dog food restocked.

That's about it.  Busy week working a lot of hours so I haven't been able to post for a couple days on here.

Anna

Sunday

Getting Organized For The Week:

This week if I'm not careful will be a tempting one to pick up fast food.  I will be working a lot of odd hours this week totaling 38 plus, one day I have to be there at 6:30am.. Yikes!  So I need to stay focused on keeping the laundry together (doing that this morning) making things ahead of time so I have them ready to go (dh's ice he takes everyday, his tomato juices I make and pack for him every day. Getting our meal plan together of fast and easy things so when we're both home and tired we don't cave on the fast food train.  It's been 2 weeks now of not fast fooding.. $28 a week, over $50 still in our pockets!!  yay!

I will be leaving here shortly for Krogers to pick up meds and our frozen pizza's for Fridays dinner.  Dh will be making his big batch of chili this afternoon.. all items on hand as I have stocked up for 2 months worth right now.

Anna

Saturday

Worked all day doing food demos had a great day.  No money was spent in our household.  Dh made dinner.. Shrimp egg rolls so when I came home all I had to do was sit down and eat, good hubby.  This coming week I will be working a lot of hours, crazy shifts but the money will be good.  Some will go to the savings account, some will go to pay our vehicle tags a month early.  So that is frugal.

Anna

Friday

Yesterdays shopping strategy didn't go exactly as planned with the couponing and employee discounts.  I need to start taking a calculator with me.  I was trying to get enough in my cart to equal $75 to get the $15 off your purchase of $75 or more.  Sigh!  I ended up after the discounts with a purchase total of $100 and then had to go back after I realized I had forgot 2 things were on my shopping list.  So I spent $120 and saved $29.00.  While we will use all the items purchased and some went in to my winter stock up cabinet, gotta do better at figuring out what the total price is in my shopping cart LOL!  Another comforting thought is the winter stock up is going good, less heavy items I'll have to try to carry through the snow this winter, less trips out and preparing for any financial or natural disaster with having ready made items in stock.

Frugal today is paying 4 bills ahead of their due date Yay!  I'm so thankful for my job and the ability to stay ahead of the game on the bills, no late fee's.

Yesterday's plan delayed me putting more money into the savings account for our car fund but will do better next week.

Frugal today?  Will be making pizza's at home for dinner tonight, dh will have them ready when I get home.

Anna

Thursday

Getting a game plan in place for my shopping trip this morning to my store.  I have to print out the store coupons it's going to be a big shopping trip today and I should be eligible for one of the coupons and of course my employee discount.  They still have Pepsi on sale 3 for $9 so I'll be picking up more of that.

I want to stop at Aldi's today too and get a few chickens.. maybe Krogers instead?  I want to make chicken for us for Saturday instead of buying it premade.  BBQ pulled chicken.

Anna

Frugal and Healthy Tip

We don't use Pam cooking spray in our house because of all the bad things in it and it is a aerosol spray.. we try to avoid aerosols of any kind.  So we've been using a paper towel to swab cooking oil on our baking pans until recently a member on another group suggested this as a alternative.

She uses a silicone oil brush to brush oil on pans..so cool!  A small BBQ brush would work too but I think the silicone one would be much easier to keep clean.  So no aerosols and no wasting paper towels.

Anna

Wednesday

Today I had to work 8am to 4pm so a no money spent day.  As always I took a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with me something like, with protein and filling to get me through the work day.

Came home, made turkey hot dogs, potato chips and coleslaw for our dinner instead of being tempted to buy fast food.

So my paycheck next week will be a little bigger than normal which will help keep tucking that money into our savings plan for the new vehicle.

Anna

Tuesday

Today was not particularly frugal but it was a day when being frugal allowed me to do a kind deed.

Yesterday Pets Without Parents Columbus, Ohio sent out a We need help notice on Facebook that they were in desperate need of Puppy Dry Food.  So today I went out and got a big bag of dog food for them, got my dog's which was on sale and did some other errands all in the same area so I didn't waste gas.  Took it to the shelter, played with the puppies and kittens (free therapy) and came home.  So many beautiful little innocent kittens of all colors.

Anna

Parsley Plus

I demo'd. this product at my store over the weekend, we had free samples which I was allowed to bring one home (frugal).  I really like this product and no heavy fumey smell.

http://www.ecos.com/parsley.html

Anna

Sunday

Day of rest though I did make a run to Aldi's for weekly staples and to Family Dollar for hair conditioner and cosmetic puffs for our dogs to clean their ears.

Day 9 of no fast food Yay!

Tonights meal:  Dh had a frozen pizza, I had a big salad.

Anna

Saturday

Frugal:  Worked all day, money going towards the goal of saving for a new car.

Bought a 4 lb. bag of sunflower seed kernels for $8.99 after my employee discount versus 5 oz. of a store bought one at $4 per jar.  I love these in my salads and now that summer is here I have been eating a lot of salads for my lunch or dinner.  While this is quite a bit I will have to put it in smaller containers and put in the freezer to keep them fresh all summer.

Anna

Friday Frugal

Today I will be working and will not spend any money.  Dh is making pizza's for us tonight so we will save the $25-$28 we would normally be spending on take out and putting it towards our car purchase fund.

I will be emailing my insurance company today to find out about leasing versus buying.

Anna

Thursday Frugal Shopping

I didn't save huge but did save $5.08 with my discounts.  And of course price comparison to other stores I saved a lot that way too.  I noted details on the laundry detergent because I had no idea they even put formaldehyde in detergent, yuck!  This detergent should last us about 3 months I would guess at least.

The wings is enough for at least 2 complete meals, gotta account for the bone weight in that one.  Dh will cook these for us on Saturday evening along with some of the corn on the cob, the rest will be for a meal during the week.. I'm thinking baked chicken, corn on the cob and cole slaw.



4 lbs. of Buffalo Chicken Wings.. uncooked $8.99
1 bag of corn $3.59
Pepsi 3 for $9.00
120 ct. trash bags $3.59
10 lbs. of sugar $4.31

170 oz. of Natural Detergent ECOS Free and Clear Brand 85 standard loads, 170 HE Loads.  [B]$8.99[/B] This is a earth friendly produce Formaldehyde Free, Free Surfactants, PH Balanced, 1, 4 Dioxane Free Made with Coconut Oil.

I also picked up flowers for dh to take to his parents and uncles grave.. for 3 graves $13 at Dollar General and it included one wreath that said "Hero" on the banner which I've never seen before.  His one uncle died in the Korean War at age 17.  We are the only ones alive now to remember the sacrifice he made for his country although dh never met him, he died before dh was born.

Anna

Wednesday

Off work today, on call all week.. they hired a lot of teens for the summer and existing staff that are students during the fall/winter/spring are on break so not a lot of extra hours right now.  So as they say "Make Hay While The Sun Shines" today I finally got around to making my Candy Apple Jelly.  Waiting now for the second batch to come out of the canner.  It's so pretty!  I made 10 half pint (jelly jars).

Other frugals today?  Staying home, have to run across the street today to Family Dollar for bandaid patches for our dog Windi.. she is slowly, slowly healing from the hot spot infection she got last summer and I keep the patches on her to keep dirt and bacteria out of it so it can keep healing.  I have these on her loosely and attached with Scotch tape, it doesn't stick tight and doesn't hurt coming off.  The matt finish type.

Anna

Projected Plan This Week

The store I work for has a coupon that came out yesterday 10% off your total purchase, no minimum amount of purchase required.  I also get a 10% off discount as a employee so I'll be combining those two on my shopping trip there this week.  Still stocking up for the coming winter.

Anna

Tuesday

Frugal today is logging in to Krogers Feedback, doing their survey and getting 50 points toward my fuel perks to get a discount on our gas.

Plan to mow my grass today, so frugal is doing it myself instead of hiring someone to do it.

Yesterday I talked to the lawn maintenance guy that works for the gas station next door to us.  He has friends and family who do different types of maintenance work.  We will hopefully soon be getting a large tree cut down in our back yard by contractors for AEP.  They will leave the trunk of the tree for us to get rid of.  I am guessing this will be way too heavy for dh and I to try to handle, so I talked to Lonnie who came over and looked at what needed to be done and he will do it for us.. not sure on the price yet but he is reasonable and a hard worker.

Yesterday dh switched to a different medicine, one that he will not have to go to his doctor's office every month to have blood draws done which means he won't have to take time off from work to go for, saving us money as he doesn't get paid for that time off and there have been times when he has actually lost overtime pay because of having to do that.  They also gave us 2 months worth of free samples to try.  We called our pharmacy from the doctor's office to compare prices on 3 different brands of this med. to get the cheapest and what our insurance will cover.  THANK YOU KROGERS! for taking the time to check on it.  The office manager went online to get the print off for side effects and found a coupon making the med $10 a month instead of the $25 our insurance coverage would have cost.  So no extra money for the med. for at least the first year.

That's about it so far today.

Anna

Projected Future Frugal Planning

We need to get back to the grindstone on eating less fast food:  While it's nice to pick up a pizza on Friday nights we need to start buying more Tombstones and making more of our own meals.. we're spending $100 a month on Friday night dinners and that is not helping our goal of saving money for our new car.

Krogers was nice enough to send me a coupon for a free Tombstone Pizza so that is a good start to getting back on track.

The chicken I cooked today I will save some out of it for us, perhaps Saturdays dinner will be BBQ pulled chicken sandwiches along with coleslaw and chips.

Anna

Monday

Today so far my frugal is cooking 2 whole chickens 95 cents a lb. on the stove top and will be deboning here in a bit.  This will be my dogs food toppings for the next 7 or 8 days.  I also save the broth as they love it in their dry food too.. no food goes to waste.  And it's so much healthier for them than buying nasty canned dog food, ick!  That stuff smells bad, looks bad and when it comes out the other end smells even worse.. mystery meat.

Dh is off work today, has a doctor appt. so we're just hanging out here at home today.  Its a beautiful day outside Yay!

Yesterday was a little more organization day:  I have a lot of hot peppers left from last summer in the deep freezer, handy for quick freezing was using freezer bags but they do tend to jumble up the freezer.  I have been buying a little at a time freezer containers (Made In The USA) and yesterday I took 2 freezer bags of stuff out and rehomed them into the proper freezer containers so less chance of being attacked when you open the deep freezer and stuff starts sliding out.  These containers purchased at Meijers Dept. Store are all $2.29 smaller ones have more containers, larger less but very affordable and designed for the deep freezer. I can't remember what the brand name is but they have been around at least the last 20 plus years.

Anna

Saturday & Sunday

Worked yesterday, came home dh made dinner, went to bed by 8pm.  I was tired and sore from being on my feet for 7 hours.  Today got up early 6am, got laundry done, hung some outside (frugal) and ran some errands.. Aldi's and Turkey Hill (used Kroger points 30 cents off a gallon).  Took a nap and just enjoyed a quiet day at home.

I'm "On Call" for work till Friday and Saturday when I do my demo's again so not sure what my weeks frugal plans are yet.

Anna

Friday

Not a lot frugal.. took lunch to work, spent no money till this evening when we bought our weekly pizza.

I did pay my bills on time or ahead of time and online.

Tomorrow is another working day..going to bed now as my hip and feet hurt.

Anna

Thursday

Used a $6 off $60 purchase coupon along with my 10% off coupon for groceries today.  Also used a coupon for $3 off my dog food purchase.  Sigh!  Totally undid my frugalness today by buying 2 pairs of post earrings, one pair of ruby studs and one pair of sapphire studs.. Umm.. I did get them at 75% off prices, does that count as frugal? LOL!

Have a great day everyone.

Anna

Wednesday

More frugals on Tuesday:

As I mentioned in the previous post yesterday I didn't have any powdered pectin.  I tried to save time and money called Lowes they still don't have their canning supplies in.  Called Ace Zettler Hardware theirs was $5.99 a box (WHAT?) you gotta be kidding me on that price!  Called the nearest Krogers to me, they don't carry canning supplies at all.  So sigh! bit the bullet and drove to the Graceland Krogers (about a 2 mile drive) and found they had their Kroger brand powdered pectin on sale $1.59 a box normal price is $1.79 a box.  I bought 10 boxes!  I am just tired of not having enough or the right kind for a recipe when I'm feeling creative so I bought enough to last awhile.  Also frugal was I bought nothing else but what I went in for.

I am working today so I won't have the time or energy to make my jelly today but hopefully tomorrow.  My dd is coming up this weekend so need to work on dusting up the house, mopping the floors etc. tomorrow too.

All meals from home this week.. dh wanted veggie burgers for dinner last night.  I had left over tuna casserole.  Tonight he will make a frozen Tombstone pizza for dinner and I'll have more leftover tuna.  I love that stuff so not suffering from food boredom.

All bills have been paid on time this week and money put into the savings account as we try to reach our goal of saving enough money for a down payment on a new vehicle.  We aren't sure yet if we will do a lease or buy new.  We're leaning to a lease since we don't put a lot of miles on our vehicles.

Anna

Tuesday

I missed posting yesterday meant to do it last night then we had a power failure in the neighborhood till 11:30pm last night.

Not much frugal yesterday ran errands, scheduled everything including a refill of meds for one of my dogs at the Vet's office all in a direct route saving time and money.

Frugal last night was being prepared when the electric went out.  I keep my flashlights in the same place, always.. so was able to go directly to where they were at and use them.  I have one flashlight that has truly been a very frugal investment.  It looks sort of like a lamp with a handle it's a LED flashlight.  I hesitated on the price back then, bought at Walmarts for $15 but that flashlight has lasted over 3 years, it lights up a whole room and we have not had to change out the battery.  During one outage that last almost a week we used it every day.  I am definitely going to buy another one soon at BatteriesPlus, I think last time I looked they are now up to $24 but well worth the money.

I was going to make Candy Apple Jelly today but in looking at my recipe realized it calls for powdered pectin and all I have is liquid.  Pooh!

Anna

Carrot Cake Jam

Found this awesome recipe from Ball Canning Site:

Makes about 6 (8 oz) half pints

Sweetened with crushed pineapple and spices, this sunny fall jam tastes just like carrot cake. It makes a perfect gift for any occasion.

You will need:

1-1/2 cups finely grated peeled carrots

1-1/2 cups chopped cored peeled pears

1-3/4 cups chopped pineapple, including juice

3 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cloves

6 Tbsp Ball® RealFruit® Classic Pectin

6-1/2 cups sugar

6 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with lids and bands

Directions:

1.) PREPARE boiling water canner. Heat jars and lids in simmering water until ready for use. Do not boil. Set bands aside.

2.) COMBINE carrots, pears, pineapple with juice, lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a 6- or 8-quart saucepan. Bring mixture to a boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Reduce heat, cover and boil gently for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and whisk in pectin until dissolved. Bring mixture to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down, over high heat, stirring frequently.

3.) ADD sugar all at once and return to a full rolling boil stirring constantly. Boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Skim foam if necessary.

4.) LADLE hot jam into hot jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band and adjust until fit is fingertip tight.

5.) PROCESS in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes, adjusting for altitude. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed

Sunday Mothers Day

Frugal today is staying home.  I will not be running any errands, cooking anything fancy.. every man for himself day today.  Dh's going to have left over lasagna today, I am having chicken from a box (Banquet type).  We thought about KFC but though we love their chicken, it is so full of salt we literally end up drinking gallons of water after eating it, the boxed chicken doesn't do that and it's a whole lot cheaper than KFC.

I want to work on crocheting today though I am reading a book series by Christine Feehan so may just keep reading instead.

This coming week I want to try to make a batch of Candy Apple Jelly.

I was just thinking.. we may treat ourselves today to a milk shake from Dairy Queen.

Anna

Sunday

Happy Mothers Day To All My Frugal Friends.

Anna

Friday and Saturday

Worked both days, spent no money.  I also have started making a list of items I want to buy from the store I work for.. they have been sending out email coupons pretty often and I want to make sure when I buy that I am spending enough to get the coupon discount instead of buying a item here and there that would have added up to the price of the coupon discount.  For example:  Last Thursday I had Get $6 off off any $60 purchase plus my employee discount.  I waited till payday and bought all the items on my list getting all the discounts off my purchases at one time.

Also frugal was I bought a pre made frozen lasagna Thursday.. we thawed it out Thurs. and Fri. in the fridge and dh cooked it this afternoon having it ready when I got off work, so no fast food purchase because I was too tired to cook and nothing sounded good here.  We will have leftovers tomorrow for lunch.

Anna

Frugal Find Thursday Afternoon

I went to the store I work for which as I think I've mentioned sells in bulk.  I was looking at a big box of mini pancakes we had marked down in our clearance section,  original price $25 marked down to $10.  It had 24 pkgs. of 45 ct. each.. way too many for us though I did think about sharing with my neighbors.  A co worker was there and said she'd. looked at the box too but it was too much for her and her 2 daughters too.  We decided to share the cost.  I used my employee discount and a coupon $6 off any $60 purchase... we are allowed to use both on a order.  We split the box and it cost us $4 each for 12 pkgs. each... we'll have pancakes for a long time!!  I looked at a single serve box similiar at Aldi's.. almost $4 for one little pkg.  Quite a savings for both of us.  Communication with my co workers is going to be key in the future on big box deals like this though right now it would be hard to even fit a mouse in my deep freezer (blessings).

I also started my winter stock up plan.. I bought 4 5 lb. cans of chili beans, 1 5 lb. can of diced tomatoes, 1 5 lb. can of peaches. will continue to do that weekly by winter I will have my entire winter season stocked up so no big cans of anything or boxes of anything to carry in the house.  Will also be doing the same with dog food.  And of course, should a natural disaster strike as it has in the past here.. I have plenty of ready made food to see us through.  Same with a financial disaster.  I'll be stocking bulk size cans of canned meats too.

Anna

Canning: Getting Started Supplies list

For those of you who have wondered about canning and how to get started I am listing what you will need to begin with:

I will be covering mostly Water Bath Canning For Fruits as I don't can meats or vegetables anymore.  For those who are interested in doing so I suggest buying the Ball Canning Book.  You can find it in any store that sells canning supplies.

A Water Bath Canner
Tongs
Funnel
Canning Jars

http://www.goodmans.net/i/4119/ball-10730-water-bath-canner-kit-enamel.htm?sc=GOOGLEBASE&k=BL-10730&utm_source=GOOGLEBASE&utm_medium=datafeed&utm_campaign=BL-10730&gclid=COfJi62VnL4CFckWMgodmWcA_g


I am including a link that has a good picture of the above mentioned items.  These can be purchased at most large grocery stores like Walmarts, Kmarts, Target and Meijers.
Canning fruits is very easy, just a little prepping and you are on your way.

You will need to copy and paste this to your search bar as for some reason clicking on the link isn't working here.

Thursday

Frugals:

Got my first paycheck from my new employer.. Yay!

Will return library items due back today so no late fee's.

Will be hanging clothes I washed last night out to dry this morning, gonna be a hot one in the mid 80's so they should dry quickly.

Getting prepped to cook another chicken for my girls.. I didn't get this one cooked day before yesterday as I had planned.

Still need to cook that 2 lbs. of hamburger today too, will use one for dinner tonight.

Anna

Wednesday

Taking lunch to work with me as well as my own coffee.  We get it free there but any time you are on the floor a customer is likely to ask where something is at or if we have something in stock.  Since I'm new, it's best to avoid that for right now so take my own with me.

Frugal will be wearing my thrift store tops.

Frugal is I have a Tombstone pizza in the fridge for dh to fix when he gets home.  Cheese is grated, pan is ready.. all he needs to do is preheat the oven, add his toppings and bake.  I'll probably have a big salad for dinner when I get home.

Anna

Tuesday

Frugal yesterday was getting 40 cents off a gallon using my Giant Eagle perks card brought gas down to $3.12 a gallon.

Also yesterday I went to Goodwill and found 4 polo type tops for work.. $17.00.  Much better than the price I paid for one shirt at Target last week when I started my new job $15.00.

Todays frugal so far is I am cooking a chicken (organic) I got on clearance yesterday at Krogers for us and our dogs.  I will freeze most of it for later meals.  I have a second one in the refrigerator I bought on Sunday that I will cook once the first one is done (my pot isn't big enough for 2).  I am boiling them and then deboning when they have cooled down.

This weekend a meal option will be BBQ chicken sandwiches with coleslaw instead of caving in after working all day and buying fast food. Love the job but the standing on your feet all day is hard on my back, legs and feet which leaves me unmotivated to do anything but Veg out on the couch when I get home. Having meals ready for the microwave will be the way our future.  I will be working a lot of hours the last 2 weeks of this month and the first week of June as we cater to the needs of the high school grad. crowd.

More frugals today is thawing out now 2 lbs. of turkey burger, will fry them later today with onions and freeze one of the 2 lbs. for later use.  These will be added to Rigatoni meals.

Anna

Monday

I forgot a frugal yesterday.. I made a double batch of tuna casserole and froze it for later meals.  We ran into the issue Saturday of I had planned on veggie cheeseburgers for dinner when I got off work.. no hamburger buns.  So this week I'll plan a little better.  We also had fajita chicken strips already cooked but after demo'ing them for 2 days that was definitely not on my list of things I wanted to eat LOL!

More frugals today is taking my bank keys back to the bank and turning them in.. we have a security box there but don't use it plus the bank has started charging a hefty fee for it so get rid of it.

Anna

Sunday

A few frugal things today:

Have checked Aldi's Ad online since I won't get the flyers till this evening.

Strawberries are on sale $1.29 lb. will buy those after Monday when I find out what my work schedule is so that I can make more preserves for us and have the time I need to do them.

I have done one load of clothes this morning, dried part in the dryer my work clothes.. dh's jeans will hang outside after I come back from Aldi's and mow the yard.  I also need to wash a couple blankets will line dry in the house and outside today.

Getting things organized for the upcoming work week... my work clothes washed, ironed and in order in case I would get called in when I'm not scheduled.

I have a employee meeting tomorrow night at 8:30pm.. none of us are thrilled to be out that late, it probably won't end till 9 or 9:30pm but it is mandatory that we all be there and that's the only time when the store isn't open that we can all be there together.

Anna

Saturday

Not much frugal today.. worked all day.  Took my lunch with me.  We did buy pizza for dinner ($10) as dh could not think of what to cook, we were missing some things like hamburger buns.

I will try tomorrow to make a double batch of tuna casserole.. one for during the week and one for the weekend when I'm working.

Anna

Frugal Work Day Friday

Frugals today:

Paid bills on time online.  No late fee's, No postage stamps used.

Packed lunch, coffee and snacks to take with me to work so no money will be spent.

I am working on doing dishes up and putting things in the deep freezer so that food doesn't go bad before we can use it, so that's a frugal.

I also need to jar up the second bag of dog food I bought yesterday, did one bag last night. Frugal is keeping it jarred up so we don't loose it if a mouse or bug gets in the house. Even on sale at $10.99 that is still a loss of money if it is contaminated. 

Yesterday another frugal was using coupons for items I needed to purchase.  $2 off razors and 75 cents off each Tombstone Pizza I bought.  Total Savings $3.50.

Today I will be returning a $60 pair of Nike tennis shoes that I bought for work.  They are black which is the standard for my jobs dress code requirements and they aren't leather or suede so they allow your feet to breathe.  The problem is they pinched my toes a little so I need a half size bigger.  Famous Footwear allows you to return shoes for the first 30 days which is great!

Anna