We cancelled our satellite tv service almost a year ago and wow I'm so glad that we did.   Our bill could range from $80 to $120 per month without any special channels.  That's a savings of $960 to $1440 for this past year.  At first we bought an (rabbit ears) antenna which wasn't always reliable especially during storms but yesterday I purchased a digital antenna and what a difference!  We went from having 4 channels to 12 channels.  That may not seem like a lot but when you only have 4 channels and nothing to watch on those channels that sucks.  Luckily Fox was one of the 4 so we watched that often.  I don't know why I waited so long to get a digital antenna but I/we sure are happy we did!!  

I saved money too on this shopping trip, I used a $5.00 off $25.00 coupon. It was like I paid for the antenna and got the other items for free.  Score!!

Wow, it has been cold!  It snowed on Monday & Friday of this past week.  Yesterday when I got up the thermometer said it was 18 outside and 55 in the house. Hubby & I both fell asleep watching a movie and neither one of us stoked the fire during the night. BRRRR! Needless to say I started a fire before I started coffee which almost never happens, I have to have my morning coffee before I can function. Ha Ha. 

I'm lucky enough to have a flexible schedule from my 3 (part time) merchandising jobs so I stayed home both Monday & Friday. Since I was staying home and inside I made breakfast for hubby and I all on the wood stove. I started with frying some diced potatoes.  Hubby asked for pancakes so I pulled out my trusty old Betty Crocker Cook Book and mixed up some homemade pancake mix. Doubling the recipe made extra that he ate the next morning while I was at  work.  Then came diced onions and ham that I added to the fried potatoes. To finish off the breakfast we had over easy eggs from our chickens. Surprisingly it only took about an hour to cook it all. Yes that may seem like a long time but I was in no hurry because I wasn't going anywhere, only outside to feed & water the chickens & ducks.

This breakfast was inexpensive because the potatoes I buy in 10 to 15 pound bags, the eggs are from our chickens and the pancake mix I made.  The wood stove was already heating our house so no need to use propane to cook with. Nothing like a hearty breakfast on a cold winter day. 

Have you ever opened your freezer door and something falls out on your foot?  Well I sure have. My refrigerator freezer doesn't have a shelf, it never came with one. Wow I can't believe how much of a mess it gets.  I try to freeze most things flat so they will stack but that isn't always the case.  The small rack and the black food container only helps so much as you can see. I ended up pulling turkey, turkey stock and the last of the ham leftover from Christmas and pressure canned them so now they are shelf stable.  It still needs to be organized but has so much more room.  Can you relate? 

With the exception of dairy products we have been eating what we already have in our pantry, cupboards, freezer and refrigerator over this past month.  I haven't done much shopping since the beginning of January.  I recently quit 1 of my 4 part time jobs so my income has decreased so I'm looking for additional ways to save money. I consider myself a extremely thrifty person but figure I can always learn new ways to save. 

I'm the type of person that likes to make as much of my food from scratch whenever possible and none of our food goes to waste.  What we don't eat goes to our chickens & ducks.  Over this past month we have ate a few of the same meals that hubby & I both like.  I feel that if I would have started at the beginning of the month by looking in all cabinets and the freezer I could have came up a monthly meal plan instead of just winging it like I did.  Some days I opened the pantry and just stood there looking and thinking what am I going to make for dinner.  That's hard sometimes when nothing in there sounds appealing.  I ended up making several soups, scalloped potatoes & ham, chili, spaghetti, other hearty and filling meals.  Having salad or vegetables and bread helps to round out most meals.  Luckily I had canned potatoes, beans and some meats that I home canned and used to make a quick meal on days I worked.  

My biggest take away from eating this way is that I need to plan and prepare ahead of time.  You can eat healthy, hearty food and save money doing it.  Now I need to replenish my pantry and freezer but that will take some time but hopefully I be able to find some good sales.  Would I do this again?  Absolutely!!