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