Monday, July 31, 2017

Last Week's Thrifty Moves


Sunday we had friends come for supper.  I cleared out the crisper drawer and made up a broccoli salad and a pasta salad.  I also sliced up veggies and made a up a platter for fixing sandwiches.  I went to Fred Meyer and picked up bread and a few other items to fill out what I already had on hand and to get us through the remainder of the week.

The last of our company cleared out on Monday morning.  We washed up the bedding and hung it all outside to dry.


Over the weekend I noticed one of our kitchen drawers wasn't sliding very well.  Later on it was beginning to tip when we pulled it out.  Wednesday I finally had the time to take a look at it and determined the piece on the back had simply come loose.  I found a screw to replace one that was missing in my can of miscellaneous screws and got it put back together in nothing flat.  Now it slides in and out just fine with no more tipping.


We dined on leftovers and sandwiches the better part of the week which made for easy meals and no food waste.  I grilled a large chicken breast and sliced it nice and thin for sandwiches.  I also browned and seasoned some ground turkey for taco salads later in the week.

Broccoli Salad (recipe coming)

On Friday I came home from work and made a scrumptious veggie pizza to take over to a friend's house.  We needed some adult girl time and had a great visit.  I left the girls with the other half of the pizza dough I had made and let them fend for themselves.

With all the salads I've been making the chickens had plenty of good kitchen scraps to dine on.  I also gave them bread scraps, scratch grains and mealworms.  They were very happy hens.


Despite the mid to upper 90° temperatures we managed to keep the house relatively cool inside.  Fortunately once the sun went down so did the temperatures.  It cooled enough that by morning I was able to open up the windows and set the box fan at the back door to bring in cool fresh air each day.  Amazing how much that makes the house feel better.  And according to our latest power bill it is doing wonders for that as well.

To be more efficient and keep up with the lawn watering I've been setting up the sprinklers on one section of lawn each morning about thirty minutes before I leave for work.  I turn them on to water that area and then shut them off as I head out the door.  We have three sections to water and each day I just rotate sections.  I'm finding it saves me a lot of time and hopefully some water too.  Despite the hot weather the lawn looks pretty good.


On Saturday the girls and I got up fairly early.  The oldest and I spread out some composted chicken manure onto our lawn for added nutrients and to prep the next area we need to re-seed.  I've been putting off any reseeding until we get all of the broken fence posts replaced.  We also need a little cooler weather.

When our chores were finished we went to the mall to do some back-to-school shopping.  I'll share more about that in a post later this week.  We hits some unbelievable sales so it deserves its own post.

How was your thrifty week?




Friday, July 28, 2017

Chicken Coop Upgrade Project


As I've mentioned before our winter was really hard on things.  Not the least of which was our chicken coop.  In five years it has stood strong, no matter the weather, and even with almost three feet of snow piled on it at one time it held fast.  Normally we don't get much snow and even when we do it rarely sticks around for very long.  That was not the case this year.

Demo girl!

Once the snow melted off and it finally stopped raining I was able to get outside and check around for damage.  The roof to the coop had sagged in the middle and while it posed no immediate threat I definitely wanted to get it taken care of before another winter.

Pulling apart the old gate frame

We went from lots of rain and cold damp weather to a blast furnace of summer heat.  I can work in the heat better than I tolerate the rain so over the period of two weekends we used the cooler morning to our advantage and got busy.  First thing was to remove the old roof.  My oldest volunteered to hop up there and do the demolition.


Edith always has to inspect our work
And she's checking out the new roost

She also volunteered to climb inside to help me jack up the roof so we could place a reinforcement beam across it.  We used the frame from our old gate, pulled it apart and removed the nails for this part of the project.  Once we had our measurements and the angles figured we cut the wood and then screwed the pieces into place with screws I had leftover from when we built the fence.

No more sag in the roof

We also put in a new roost for the hens using a hickory closet rod I picked up at the FREE WOOD bin near my work.  Once cut to length we installed it and finished up inside with a quick cleaning and some fresh bedding in the nests.  The girls then laid us four eggs that day!


The next day we went to Home Depot to pick up a piece of PVC corrugated roofing.  I had checked this out beforehand and new this would be a perfect solution for how to roof the coop.  It was also long enough that when I cut it in half it would cover the roof perfectly.  I also figured out that to buy the rubber washers for the screws I planned to use would cost a small fortune.  Four washers for 89¢ would add up really fast.  So I bought a box of 100 roofing nails with the washers already on them for $4.


The following weekend we were up bright and early to put the roof on.  I tried cutting the roofing material with a jigsaw but quickly realized that wouldn't work well.  I thought a circular saw might be overkill so I ended up using my handsaw and cut it the old fashioned way using my muscles.  It worked like a charm.


Next the youngest volunteered to hop up on top and screw it into place.  The oldest took the washers off the nails and put them on the deck screws I wanted to use.  We get enough wind that I didn't want the nails to come loose and lift the roof.  Screws would hold it down much better.  We put the naked nails in my can of roofing nails to use later and the rest of the box will be saved for a future project.


The next day I went back to Home Depot to pick up a piece of flashing to finish the roof and further help keep water out when it rains.  To save buying a pair of tin snips I had one of the employees cut the flashing to the length I needed and was on my way.  I used the nails with the washers to install the flashing and then declared this project completed!


It feels really good to know my ladies will have a solid roof over their heads this winter and the coop will remain safe and secure for them.  Plus it was a project we all worked on together as a family.  My daughters learned a lot and my youngest learned how to use a power drill.  I love teaching them how to do things like this.



Thursday, July 27, 2017

My Grocery Budget 2017 - July Update


We entertained this month!  Holy cow!  And it was great having so many visitors, but it also meant there was a lot of food to prepare and many meals to serve.  Literally half of the month we had houseguests as well has people coming over for meals.  I also had my girlfriends over for pinochle and I even made some meals to take to a friend who has been ill.  My kitchen was busy!

First haul was from Dollar Tree

In order to keep grocery expenses under control I really shopped the marked down items this month.  I wanted to keep a lot of fresh fruit on hand for snacking so I picked up bananas, apples and things on sale like cherries and blueberries.  It was also extremely hot outside so I wanted to keep meals light and refreshing.  I made several types of salads and kept a lot of things on hand to make sandwiches.

A few items for the 4th of July


Luckily I was able to quite a few items on markdown and was fortunate enough to get a lot of my produce this way as well.  The items I had stocked up on in previous months came into play as well.  I did spend more, but not nearly as much as I had expected.

My big Trader Joes haul

Here is what I got:

Groceries

 $$$







Rice (2)

              2.00

Dollar Store
Pepperoni (2)

              2.00

Dollar Store
Artichokes (3)

              3.00

Dollar Store
Apples

              3.34

Fred Meyer
Bananas

              1.48

Fred Meyer
Coleslaw mix (2)

              2.00
Sale
Fred Meyer
Strawberries

              1.25
Sale
Fred Meyer
Sour cream

              1.25
Sale
Fred Meyer
Tortilla chips

              1.25

Fred Meyer
Steak

              6.39
Sale
Fred Meyer
Steak

              7.22
Sale
Fred Meyer
Ice cream sandwiches

              2.50
Sale
Fred Meyer
Ice cream 

              3.99
Sale
Fred Meyer
Bread

              0.99
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Bread

              0.99
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Salad mix

              0.99
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Spinach

              1.49
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Green beans

              2.99
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Mushrooms

              1.39
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Veggie tray

              3.49
Markdown/Coupon
Fred Meyer
Tomatoes

              0.59

Fred Meyer
Bananas

              1.29

Fred Meyer
Strawberries

              1.25
Sale
Fred Meyer
Milk - 1 gal

              1.79
Sale
Fred Meyer
Parmesan romano

              2.69

Trader Joes
Turkey burgers

              2.99

Trader Joes
Angus beef patties

              6.99

Trader Joes
Salmon burgers

              6.40

Trader Joes
Veggie burgers

              3.69

Trader Joes
Almonds

              5.99

Trader Joes
Blueberries

              2.99

Trader Joes
Sunflower seeds

              1.99

Trader Joes
Celery hearts

              1.79

Trader Joes
Carrots

              1.49

Trader Joes
Bananas

              2.47

Trader Joes
Avocados - 6ct

              3.49

Trader Joes
Mushrooms

              1.69

Trader Joes
Cauliflower

              2.69

Trader Joes
Lettuce

              0.99

Trader Joes
Romaine

              2.49

Trader Joes
Lemon (2)

              0.98

Trader Joes
Lime

              0.29

Trader Joes
Watermelon

              2.99

Trader Joes
Peanut butter

              1.99

Trader Joes
Blueberry jam

              2.99

Trader Joes
Lasagna noodles (3)

              3.00

Dollar Store
Cheese (8)

            12.00
Sale
Fred Meyer
Pasta sauce (2)

              2.00
Sale
Fred Meyer
Canned tomatoes

              2.07
Sale
Fred Meyer
Egg noodles (2)

              2.38

Fred Meyer
Vegetable oil

              2.29

Fred Meyer
Peanut butter

              1.19
Sale/Digital Coupon
Fred Meyer
Almond milk

              2.24
Sale/Digital Coupon
Fred Meyer
Italian meatballs

              3.79
Sale/Digital Coupon
Fred Meyer
Spaghetti (2)

              1.88

Fred Meyer
Soup

              0.85

Fred Meyer
Butter

              2.49
Sale/Digital Coupon
Fred Meyer
Shrimp

              5.99
Sale/Digital Coupon
Fred Meyer
Cod

              2.74
Sale/Digital Coupon
Fred Meyer
Cottage cheese

              1.69
Sale/Digital Coupon
Fred Meyer
Cream cheese

              1.19
Sale/Digital Coupon
Fred Meyer
WW tortillas

              1.59

Fred Meyer
Pesto

              3.19

Fred Meyer
Baby portobellos

              2.90
Sale
Fred Meyer
Sliced mushrooms

              0.99
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Stir fry veggies (2)

              2.98
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Broccoli florets

              2.49
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Tomatoes

              1.17
Sale
Fred Meyer
Cheeries

              4.34
Sale
Fred Meyer
Blue corn toritilla chips

              1.49
Sale/Digital Coupon
Fred Meyer
Red bell pepper

              1.25

Fred Meyer
Blueberries

              3.99
Sale
Fred Meyer
Red onion

              1.02

Fred Meyer
Apples

              3.08
Sale
Fred Meyer
Cucumber

              0.59

Fred Meyer
Bread (3)

              2.97
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Apples

              3.20

Fred Meyer
Apples

              3.17

Fred Meyer
Mushrooms

              1.19
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Stir fry veggies

              1.49
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Coleslaw mix

              0.79
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Coleslaw mix

              1.29

Fred Meyer
Salad mix

              0.89
Markdown
Fred Meyer
Tomatoes

              0.57

Fred Meyer
Tortillas (2)

              2.58
Sale
Fred Meyer
Bananas

              1.52

Fred Meyer
Potato chips

              1.69
Sale/Digital Coupon
Fred Meyer
Potato chips

              1.69
Sale/Digital Coupon
Fred Meyer





Total

 $      216.89



$216.89 ÷ 31 days ÷3 people = $2.33 per person per day!

Another run to Fred Meyer
Still, not bad.  How did you do last month?  Any great bargains?


This budget month runs from July 1 through July 31



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