imafirecracker's Journal

I need to make belts this week (a sample one by the 17th), that I'm going to sell at a Holiday craft fair. I'm way behind schedule. Going to a specialty sewing store tonight for better buckles.

I've been sewing drapes for my extra bedrooms - I'm trying to keep the cold air out.

I started sewing a handbag for myself. I just need some fusible material to attach a silk ribbon, then I'll be done for a cost of about $1!

Also, my mother was complaining about a draft coming out of her laundry closet. I have some fabric which is the color of the room the closet is in, so I want to sew her a draft dodger as a surprise, and bring it up for Thanksgiving.

I better get busy!

The spouse isn't going to do the original part time job he found. It's ridiculous- he has to pay all this money up front and hope that he makes it back.
We'll also never see each other if he does it. He'll call today and cancel his training.
I'm thinking about doing something part time after my day job - we'll have to discuss it.

I want to start my Christmas shopping this week. That way I can take advantage of sales and spread my dollars out over the holiday season.

My husband has an interview next week for a job just for the holidays. Hooray!!
It means not spending our evenings together, but it would only be for December, and we definitely need the holiday money.

I insulated our big walk in closet this weekend, all by myself as my husband was working. My staple gun decided to stop working as I was putting up the vapor barrier though, so I'm not quite finished.

Our big closet runs the length of the wall behind our bed. Since we don't have a headboard, you can definitely feel the cold coming out of the wall. Also, from looking in other walls in our old house, we know that there's no insulation in the exterior walls (aside from what we've put in). I'm so glad that I put this in - I can't believe there was none! I had enough leftover from when we did our attic that all this project cost me was about $5 for the vapor barrier plastic sheeting.

All I need at the grocery store this week is eggs and cat litter.
I can't believe it! I've never pared down this much. It's a combination of not much being on sale, stocking up in the past and using what I already have.
This will bring my grocery spending average way down.

To celebrate, I made molasses cookies last night which was super cheap. Yummy.

I'll have day off of work tomorrow. My plan is to make curtains for my two extra bedrooms upstairs. One window has blinds, but the other is bare. I bought some really heavy fabric (on sale and with a coupon) to help keep the heat in and the cold out. I might switch them in the summer to something lighter, but this should help with our heating bills tremendously.

I've made all of the curtains for our house. It was actually cheaper to buy a brand new sewing machine and nice fabric, than to purchase them ready-made.

So the dentists say I need all four wisdom teeth removed. Yeehaw.
Since I scheduled it to happen a few days before we lose our insurance, it will only cost us $200, but I'll miss 2 days of work and be miserable.
Maybe I should have had them removed when I was in my teens. Alas.

I'm in so much pain - I think I need one of my wisdom teeth removed. I've had it since Friday, but it's severly worse today. I can barely eat, can't close my mouth all the way and am speaking with an impediment. Not good for business!

At least this happened now, and not in December when we won't have any health/dental insurance.

Just when you think you're getting ahead SLAM, in comes something new to pay for.

I was very naughty this weekend. I went out to lunch with an old friend of mine who wanted to see my new house. We could've stayed at home and I could have made something. Alas, I was too tired for that. I hate it when my body wimps out on me.

HOWEVER, I spent $44 on $86 worth of groceries. I totally cleaned up! The grocery stores in my area have been a offering buy one get two free deal lately, and I've been reaping the benefits!

My husband quit his job yesterday. It was for the best - he was miserable there and it was just a dead end. He's in the process of starting his own business, so it's not a backwards step.

Just interviewed and was given a once a week job, to fill in between the cracks. It will be a challenge, but we can do it! We've certainly done it before.

What's happened in the time the site was down? Mmm..we went hiking, and my husband visited a chiropractor several times. He needs to go 6 times: his back is killing him. It's nice to use up the money in our tax-free healthcare reimbursement account, because if we don't use it we lose it. We contributed way too much.

I also received a bill from an opthalmalogist for my co-pay, when I already paid it. Those offices are out of control - I always have a problem. DivaJen- I sympathize!

P.S. I promise, I won't brag about the Red Sox. Really.

I've been concentrating on food/groceries as a way to reduce our spending in the last few months. This week I made Chinese beef and broccoli with white rice on monday, tues. we had leftovers with fresh rice. Last night I made fried rice with the leftover rice and added some frozen veggies and fried eggs and bits of sausage. It was great! We stretched three dinners out of one seemingly inexpensive meal. Wahoooo!

I'm proud of myself - I ate three whole cantaloupes all by myself.
Two weeks ago they were on sale for buy one get two free: so I brought 3 home. My husband won't eat them, so I've been eating some with lunch as they ripen.

I'll be all done with them today, after lunch!

Life is a bit up in the air right now. My husband may quit his job today - his job is a complete nightmare. So...I'm wracking my brain trying to think of even better ways to save money so we can survive the interim. I don't know if I can come up with much more...

On the other hand, my company gave us a free lunch today in a ballroom...quite grand it was. And then they gave us the rest of the day off but I'm still at work because I don't have my own car to drive myself home (I take 2 trains and then a 40 min. drive).

Oh well....back to work and brainstorming.

The husband and I decided to go hiking this weekend, to take advantage of the fall foliage, get some exercise and have a fun free treat. Well, it did cost some money for gas, but other than that it was a free outing.

I made a cake last night, with homemade chocolate frosting. I didn't need a double boiler like everyone says: I broke the baker's chocolate into pieces and melted it in a saucepan. It turned out perfect.

I have an old friend from high school coming down to visit tomorrow, unexpectedly. I'm hoping I'll have time tonight to put together a pasta bake, which I can just pop in the oven. We can't afford to bring her out for dinner.

On another note, last night was the only night this week that I wasn't busy or it wasn't raining, so I filled a "planter" that I bought used for $2 with rocks, dirt and some mums. It looks great - even though I did it in the dark. My neighbors must think I'm nuts, but I'm too busy during the day for these things!

Got the electricity bill yesterday, it was only $19. Our elec. company provides a history of our usage. It was interesting to see that last October we used the same amount of electricity too. I wonder why October is the cheapest electricity month for us....

I've started baking again now that it's not steaming hot outside.

I have a weakness for sweets. I'm always tempted when I go down the cookie aisle, but I'm always good and never get any. I know they're overpriced and full of preservatives and things I can't pronounce.

So I decided not to deprive myself (and oh yeah, my family too) of sweets any longer. I want to bake at least one treat a week: that's my new goal. I made lemon squares, and German apple cake this weekend.
I'll post the recipe for lemon squares - I couldn't believe how easy it was to make. I was always intimidated before, but it was actually easier than chocolate chip cookies to make.

Happy munching!

Yep - we bought a fixer upper all right. We spent the first year working on the house every weekend, and most weeknights. It's our second year in the house, and we haven't been doing as much lately.

We do need to put siding up on an addition, which we've been putting off. Now that we've had frost, I'm thinking this weekend is the time to do it. That means we'll have to rent a truck to bring home the siding and spend all weekend putting it up. Then, I'll prime and paint it. The fun never ends.

I decided that I shouldn't feel as though I have no decent clothes to wear when I have a box in my closet of clothes to be handwashed or repaired. I also had a huge stack of clothes to be ironed.
Soo....I spent about 3 hours on the pile this weekend. I also rearranged our closet so that all of the pants, shirts, blazers are together so it's easy to sort through what we have. While I have a lot more to do, I'm so glad that I made such a difference with only elbow grease, some water and detergent.

I feel like I have a new wardrobe!

We bought a stationary exercise bike a few weeks ago (on sale of course).

As I was working out last night, which happens to be the first night our furnace kicked on, I started sweating, naturally. So, when I took a shower afterwards I set the termperature much lower than I usually do. I usually take showers in the winter just to warm up!

I'm so glad we bought this bike - we get to work out in the convenience of our own house and take showers in our own, without worrying about someone stealing our stuff in lockers. I also never have to wait for the machine.

I went to my follow up visit at the doctor's office today. I was just waiting for them to charge me another co-pay the whole time, so I was very relieved when they said I was all set.

I know it's a deterrent so you don't go to the doctor's all the time, but it's also highly aggravating to pay thousands upon thousands for insurance, to just have to pay more when you actually put it to use.

Well, I just had an expensive weekend. I had to go to the ER for a virus in my eye. Read: $50 copay plus medication.
Then, we put in a new water heater and had our furnace maintained.
While that was expensive, it will save us money in the long run. Our furnace is ancient. We also had the air regulators/valves replaced on all of our radiators. Tested them out and they're working much better.

As if that wasn't enough, we had two tons of wood pellets delivered on Saturday for our pellet stove. The guys were nice enough to help us bring them into our basement this time. Wahoo!

Soooo yeah, we're still eating those nachos. It's incredible. We had them with some home fries because I had leftover potatoes and it proved to be very filling.

I'm all alone for dinner tonight, so I'll be finishing them up. Those nachos have stretched over three dinners. I'm amazed.

My husband surprised me last night.

I had to work late unexpectedly, so he went to a great Mexican restaurant and got some stacked nachos to go - for only $8! It fed us both heartily for dinner and we'll have enough for tonight's dinner as well. It was great to not have to cook when I was tired, and finally eat out!

Crushed tomatoes are the saving grace of our kitchen. I make some form of pasta once a week, for which I require one 28 oz. can of crushed tomatoes.
I just got VERY lucky and was able to get 12 cans for 33 cents each! I'm ecstatic. I bought 8 cans for 39 cents during the winter and was bummed when I ran out.

Is it unethical to purchase more when the limit is 12? Does that usually mean 12 per purchase, or 12 per family? The flyer didn't specify.

We just got back from picking our own apples. $17 for half a bushel.
While this is more expensive than from the grocery store, I felt great supporting the local farmers and the apples are as fresh as can be.
I hate eating waxy produce that I know is covered with pesticides. Ugh.

I'm off to bake some apple goodness!

I was weak this morning. My husband and I both bought some Dunkin Donuts because we didn't make any at the house as we usually do.

I figured it was ok as I made dinner last night for 80 cents. I'm so proud! 80 cents which fed two adults, and there's enough left over for lunch today.

I'm thinking about preparing a recipe book/binder for myself with meals that are under $1 per person to prepare. That way, when I see ingredients on sale in the flyers I can look through my binder to locate a recipe and make sure I have everything else I need before I hit the grocery store. Does anyone else do something like this?

I'm not quite sure what to make for dinner tonight. I have leftover rice with veggies from last night that I'd like to use up, but it's not enough for a meal. I haven't made a complete dinner since we got back. (Ok, I confess. We ordered a pizza in the night we got back in the US, my inlaws gave us some money).

Another discovery when we returned was water stains on our kitchen ceiling. So.....we'll be up on the roof fixing it this weekend. Sounds like fun!

We sent off our complaint letter to the airline last night. I hope we get some reparations. We checked their website for their own policies on what we should receive in the event of a significant delay and we only got one of those offers. We have quite a case.

On a different note - when we got back I had two HUGE cucumbers that were hardly growing when we left. It's salad for lunch for the rest of the week...
The only other thing I've harvested from my garden so far is some lettuce which wasn't enough for a salad. I've only been putting some on sandwiches once in a great while.