Monday, February 20, 2017

Weekend Update

Hello to all my frugal friends.  :)

Last weekend I ended up hurting my back while lifting a garbage bag into our county dumpster, so much so that I went to the doctor who prescribed me pain medicine and a muscle relaxer. The pain was rough and while not 100% yet, is better than it was. I ended up working every day this past week even with the pain.

My long term sub job ended on Friday and since Monday is a federal holiday there will be no school. But, I do have a job lined up for Tuesday already. 

My daughter stepped up to the plate for me this week as making dinner was causing the pain to be even worse. We made it through though and did not succumb to any take out food. 

My daughter received her scholarship funds within the last week and created a very detailed budget for every dollar. She moved some of the money into her savings account and will use those funds to pay her monthly car insurance until September when her next scholarship funds come through.  She is very good at managing her money, has no debt, makes sure all her bills are paid on time, and is a whiz with couponing, which saves the whole household money. I'm very grateful for this. 

Friday was payday for me, so I've been going over my budget the last week with a fine tooth comb. I transferred money into both our emergency funds savings account and our "new home" savings account. I have five paydays left until the end of the school year, and I want to make sure that my budget will work based on my income and our expenses during the summer will be as small as possible. 

Our electric bill was down this month to $133 instead of the $200 bill from last month. We've had a mild winter here this year, hardly using any heat, and our bill reflects that. 

Some deals that we were able to get in on this week include:

24 boxes of Barilla pasta for 4¢ each. Here is a video my daughter made about the deal. 


Since we have all this pasta, I'm going to be making a pasta salad for lunches this coming week. I like to combine ranch dressing with Italian dressing for the sauce in my pasta salads, but I am out of ingredients to make my homemade version. 

I do have some Greek dill yogurt dressing that my daughter bought but did not care for, but I think I can substitute it in the pasta salad and disguise it. That will save money over buying ingredients for homemade ranch and I'll be using this dip instead of tossing it, a win-win situation. 

For dinner on Saturday I made soup using up the remainder of a pork roast that I had stored in the freezer, along with carrots, potatoes, onions, and corn. I seasoned it with a bay leaf, Hungarian paprika, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper. 

Then on Sunday for lunch I thickened the soup with some cornstarch and turned it into a stew for lunch ad served it with bread and butter slices. 


Other frugal things this past week...

- I received a $25 Amazon gift card this week for renewing my Norton antivirus protection last December. 
- Picked up a free newspaper at school with the sale ads inside instead of paying 50¢ for one. 
- The last three days I've stayed home to rest my back as much as possible, so it has been a no spend weekend. Did not use any of the gas in my car either, so a win-win situation there as well. 

How was your weekend?
Belinda
~ Living within our Means ~

16 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness -- I'm sorry you've hurt your back. The back pain is a funny thing -- it can make you miserable all over.

    It's great that your daughter was there to help out. It's also great that she budgets and keeps her finances in order. You've taught her an invaluable tool.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you! She is so helpful to me and I am so grateful for her.

      Yes, back pain can make you miserable all over.

      Hope you have a good week. :)

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  2. Broke down and bought tax software this year as I just can't do our taxes anymore w/out it(we had rental income in 2016). glad we can deduct that expense on next year's filing though. 8-)
    Also bought Hubs a coffee grinder so he can use the oodles of bags of whole bean coffee in the stockpile. It was on sale, I had a $5 reward to use on it and a 20% off coupon so it was almost 1/2 off reg. retail.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great deal on the coffee, SLuggy. Can't beat that. :)

      I KWYM about the taxes. I let someone do them for me as I would rather pay someone to make sure they are done correctly.

      Delete
  3. I cant believe that you could make yourself go to work on those day with your back. Ouch! But I understand; you had to. So good of Bailey to take over the meal prep for you. I think it's the posture of standing at the counter or stove, with the top of your body slightly bent forward. I've had pain with that, too, in the past, when I've injured my back.

    That deal on the pasta is beyond awesome! You couldn't make scratch pasta for that price. Enjoy it all.
    Have a restful day, Belinda! I'm glad that you've got a sub job lined up for tomorrow.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Lili. It was rough, but I made it through. It was easier as the week went on as the pain was better manageable. I was tickled to death over the pasta deal So glad she was able to get that for us. I hope you have a good week.

      Delete
  4. I am so impressed with your daughters budget plan! My goodness, you have been a wonderful role model.
    I hope your back continues to improve. Sometimes it is difficult to keep going but it seems your goals are motivating you. :-)

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Susan.

      I hope you have a good week. :)

      Delete
  5. back pain is no fun.....take good care of yourself

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  6. Sorry about your back Belinda. Looks you your daughter is starting out on the right foot. 4 cents for pasta! I'd be eating lots of it too at that price!

    Hugs
    Jane

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    1. Thank you, Jane. Hope you are having a good week. :)

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  7. Sorry to hear about your back. I pray it is better soon. Bailey has become a coupon master. I bet you are happy to see your stock pile
    add up for the summer. It was nice of Bailey to help with meals.
    Blessings,
    Patti

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Patti. Blessings to you too. :)

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  8. Just caught up on your blog and am so sorry to hear about your back. It's amazing how simple movements can take us down. Sounds like Bailey more than pulled her weight, you're so lucky. You raised her well.

    Hope you are feeling better and are up and about. We've been having the warm weather here, as well. I haven't had the heat on in two days. Wonderful!

    Have a good weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Mary Lou. She is a keeper for sure. LOL

      My back is feeling so much better, it is almost back to 100%, so I am very happy about that.

      Great that you are having warm weather there too. I love not having the heat on!

      Hope you have a good weekend too. :)

      Delete

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