Using disposable pans are great when your making something with a sticky mess but when I make something that can be cleaned up easily I keep & reuse them. I also reuse foil and storage/freezer bags only if the first use was clean or dry ingredients such as bread (all meat bags get thrown away). By the way this drives my husband crazy. Ha Ha but it saves me money. As you can see in the first picture there is a lot of of foil all of it was used while cooking Christmas dinner and all of it folded and put away to be reused later. I never know when I need to wrap up something yucky to throw away. The mini loaf pans I've reused several times making quick breads. I just scrub them with a toothbrush which is designated for the kitchen. I consider this thrifty not cheap, it's just seems like a waste to use it once and then toss it away. What is your opinion?
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Wow it's hard to believe that this is the last day of the year, so much has happened over this past year. May your 2018 be happier, healthier and prosperous. Happy New Year Everyone!!
I had to work today so I knew I would be traveling quite a few miles so I packed a cooler of leftover goodies to eat throughout the day. First thing to go in was 4 slices of spiral ham and 2 slices of provolone cheese. Next was the veggies leftover from the veggie tray. Plus a small container of ranch for dipping. Followed by a banana and 2 bottles of water. A frozen ice pack kept it all cold. Another thing I took but it didn't go into the cooler was a bag of mixed nuts. I snacked on most of it while driving. Yep I do that all the time. I took out what I wanted to eat before leaving my first store so I wasn't distracted while driving. We have been eating leftovers since Christmas some as they are and some made into other meals. I see scalloped potatoes & ham soon in the future. YUM! I've already made stock from the turkey bones and have it bagged and in the freezer. I'll post more on what I've done or made with our leftovers. We are loving the leftovers!
This year even tho I had the money to buy all the gifts I decided to make some too. Surprisingly they were fairly inexpensive to make. For my guys I made a BBQ Dry Rub and for the gals I made a Lemon Sugar Scrub both things were inspired by Pinterest. I could spend hours on there but i don't have that much to to devote but I do love Pinterest.
I also made homemade banana bread, double chocolate bread, chocolate dipped pretzels, butter toffee bars brownies and Chex Party Mix (used their seasoning packet). I still wasn't as prepared this year but everything all worked out. I enjoyed putting some thought into what I wanted to make and following thru making the gift. I don't think that I spent $40.00 on gifts and now I can pay on some of my bills early and actually be head starting the new year. (I used jars that I had saved to no expense for those and made hand written labels too). Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas! We all have those dreaded monthly expenses but why pay more than you need too. Don't be afraid of contacting the companies you pay every month and ask if your bills can be reduced. Shopping around for the best deal on car insurance cell phone(s), credit cards, etc. can save you money too.
I get a discount on my cell phone plan through 1 of the companies I work for. A few days ago I switched to a different plan and saved almost $40 in addition to the normal discount. That may not seem like a lot for some of you but to me that will almost pay my car insurance for the month. My car insurance renewed in October and I was paying way to much for the year of my car so I started getting quotes from other companies. I was able to save over $1000.00 in a year. That is an incredible amount of savings!! Plus the policy is for 12 months not 6 like the previous company. I got the new insurance before cancelling the other policy so there was no lapse in coverage, then I called the other insurance company cancelled my policy and got a REFUND of money I had paid last month. We got rid of our internet almost a year ago so we don't have that expense anymore. I upped the data on my cell phone and use it as hot spot for my computer. It cost less doing it that way and it's faster speed then the old internet. The internet in my area (rural) is so SLOW I don't miss that. Free TV is what we watch or movies we own. We got rid of satellite too. That was a little harder to adjust but we have now. Electric, water and propane all are priorities over paid TV. Depending on your income you can get a discount on your electricity-at least here in Arizona you can through APS-Arizona Public Service. Saving money is always in the forefront of my mind and thrifty living is huge part of who I am. I know that we will always have some type of monthly expense but I refuse to pay more than I should so I continually look for ways to reduce our monthly expenses. Don't be afraid to ask for a discount, you may be surprised how much money you can save too. We like having a cat she is funny, sometimes moody and complete bed hog. The part that's not fun about having an indoor cat- is cleaning out the litter box. I've tried a few different brands and kinds of cat litter from clay to clumping. The higher the price doesn't necessarily mean it's going to work better than a cheaper store brand. We were running low on cat litter so when I stopped at Family Dollar I decided to try their brand of clumping cat litter. The price was good too is was $4.50 +tax for a 10 lb jug. It's about 1/3 of the price of the cat litter I was buying. It works like it's supposed too so I'm sold, I'll keep buying it. Our cat doesn't seem to care what is in her box, she just wants it keep clean. I grateful she's not picky either. Yes we do enjoy having a cat (especially when we can't smell the box...ha ha).
Thanksgiving was enjoyable and I was blessed to spend time with my family. Today however I'm enjoying spending time at home. Yes I will always have chores to do but today is more relaxing than normal. I got all the dirty dishes done before I went to bed and I dealt with the little leftovers we had so I'm already ahead of the game. Ha ha. I'm am not a black Friday shopper because I don't like crowds or fighting over those deals. So you won't see out & about today...I'm spending today at home.
I don't know about you but I like to have fresh vegetables in the Winter. I always start lettuce & spinach to have fresh salad greens throughout the winter. I cut some of the leaves and let them grow back. This year I also started radishes and carrots but so far only radishes have sprouted. Another tray will be started soon but I haven't decided what else to grow. The temp dipped down below 30 I'll be bringing the pans inside to put in a sunny window. You can do this too it's easy and good for you.
Not the ideal way to spend a Saturday but I hoping that next year my gardens will produce more than the last couple of years. I was disappointed in the garden results needless to say. I live in a rural area there is always neighbors with animals that produce more manure than they know what to do with....that's why I was able to get a truck load of horse manure that was pretty broke down already. It took me almost 3 1/2 hours to unload it (mostly by myself). I unloaded 7 wheel barrows then got smart and moved the truck closer to where I wanted the manure to go and tossed it over the fence and that help cut the time tremendously. I topped off all my raised bed gardens and the last amount went into my compost area. This is an inexpensive way to fertilize my garden and I'm truly grateful to have great neighbors like I do. Don't be afraid to ask your neighbors for compost items-manure, used straw, wood chips, etc. I wouldn't have thought about getting a truck load of manure until a neighbor read my WANTED sign out by my driveway. I was happy! I know that sounds funny I guess I'm easily entertained. Ha ha! I will post more on the results in the spring. I'm hoping for lots of moisture this Winter whether it's rain or snow. See why I said what a way to spend a Saturday...ha ha ha.
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AuthorHello I'm Michele & I'm the matriarch of the Leverone Family Farm. I'm a wife, a mother of 2 grown/married sons and have 4 adorable grand kids. Thrifty for more than 30 years. I love gardening, cooking and saving money. Archives
November 2021
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