Frugal Challenge - Grocery Spending Update

I am trying ever so hard to stick to a tighter grocery budget. This means more work on my part as I am having to prepare more food from scratch. This of course is good as processed foods are not really that good for you. I still like to proving delicious snacks for lunches and quick breakfasts.

Pickled eggs are a favorite. I save old jars of juice when we eat the pickles and then boil up some eggs, peel and put in the juice for at least two days. The longer the better. Pickle juice is also a great way to add flavor and moisten pasta and potato salads. My recipes for those are here.

I never throw away a banana. Just pop in the freezer. They are ready to peel after about ten minutes on the counter. Throw them frozen in smoothies and thaw for banana bread.

Last week I spent $112 at the market and $24 at my local produce store which also sells bulk grains and marked down bread. I can tell the kids miss the quick snacks but I told them once they are gone then you make a snack, eat leftovers, etc. They are good about this. I don't buy a lot of packaged foods. We are already out of lunchmeat for the week. Leftovers, tuna sammies and wraps will be made for lunches until Friday.
I have decided to remove the pet food and OTC/Health and beauty category from my food budget. It was too hard to merge the two. I now have a separate budgeted amount for those items.
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Easiest Way to Cook Dried Beans

Okay, second full week of the New Year's frugal challenge. Trying to cook more from scratch and it doesn't get more basic than dried beans. Lower in sodium than canned and much cheaper when you buy them dried.

This week I made my black bean salad. Trying to make healthier options for lunches for hubby.

Bag of dried beans was a $1.56. I can make 4 to five batches of my salad from this where two cans of black  beans is around a $1 if not on sale.

So easy to get the beans ready yourself. The night before I rinsed what I wanted to use and let them soak overnight. I then drained and rinsed again and put them in the crockpot with water cover about two inches about the beans and put on low for about 5-6 hours. My crockpot runs hot so adjust for yours. You may need to put on high.

When I felt they were done I rinsed them with cold water and made my salad. Super easy. No sodium added.

Here is the salad right before I mixed it. Doesn't it look pretty. The recipe for the black bean salad is here.

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Sunny Simple Sunday Linky Party

Last night we attended Bandorama for my daughter's high school. It was held at a local college. I was blown away. Really, we often don't realize how talented these young people are. My daughter is lucky to attend this  school that has one of the top four music programs in our state. She earned a piano chair in the jazz band. They were magnificent. I nearly cried. I am so happy my daughter gets to be a part of such a great group of talented kids instructed by one of the best directors in the state. We enjoyed her shcool's marching band, concert, woodwind, jazz, drumline and the most wonderful group of bagpipers. All teens. The marching band has earned its 9th spot in the Rose Parade for next year.

When they closed, it was so moving. Picture this; a lone bagpiper starts Amazing Grace and then is joined by the other pipers, followed by the woodwinds, then percussion. It just built so powerfully that when they ended again with the lone bagpiper, it brought down the house.

There are indeed good things happening in our public schools today. I am so glad I listened to my daughter when she told me last year this was the place she wanted to be. 

No one way is the only way, and I am glad she is just where she needs to be.

Now onto Sunny Simple Sunday highlights:

Heritage Homemaker shared a bread recipe I am going to try this week when we use up all our bought bread. 

And for some awesome cuteness this week, check out Julie's Little House. Is that not the most cuddly kitty. I just want to rub that belly.

Around the Table shared a recipe for birthday potatoes. I love potatoes and I see these on the menu this week. Yum!

Too Empty?

The Christmas tree is down and the rooms swept clean. I find the open spaces refreshing don't you after all the holiday fluff? We have this funny front room in our home where our piano stands but it is sort of pass through to everywhere and other than a few things along the window we have left the room bare of furniture.

Our winter tree is in a wagon on an old trunk in the front window. I love to pull up and see the glow from the front window. Soon it will have hearts for Valentine's Day.

You know our house is always full of stuff here and there. We don't even have a rug in here any longer. I am wanting a braided oval rug for the room so hopefully this year I will find one at a good price.

So do you think it looks too bare?

Sunny Simple Sundays blog party will be up this afternoon. See you then.

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My Favorite Sky Ever

Of all the skies in southern California, this is my favorite. I black looming sky with the bright sunset shining on the houses across the street. That golden Sycamore bright against the black clouds. This is my most favorite view from my kitchen window. I always tell anyone in the house, "Come see the sky."

A New Blog on the Block

As many of you may or may not know I have been homeschooling my kids for almost 20 years. I have decided to start a homeschooling blog to share my journey as I start again with a four year old but also share what I have learned teaching my older kids, two who have gone onto college.

I think I have much to share and I know when I was starting out, the older moms gave me much needed support and advice and now I am here to do the same. Sharing my journey with my youngest will also be great fun. What will I do the same, what will I change.

I of course will still by busy blogging here at Sunny Simple Life but if you are interested in homeschooling or just want see what Q and I are up to, please follow along. Please come see my new blog Sunny Simple Homeschool. My first post is up today. Thanks.

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Farm Girl Blog Fest

January Garden Update

I am so glad that I made myself garden through the winter this year. Usually by now the garden is full of weeds and a bunch of work to prep for spring. But not this year. By planting haphazardly but fully, I have kept the weeds at bay and produced wonderful organic food for my table.

Look at this Swiss chard. Gorgeous. We love it. I chop it up for stir fries and it so delicious. Started from seed. It is simple to grow. Put some in early spring and you will not be disappointed.

My bell peppers languished in our hot summer we had but now they are producing the best peppers I have ever had. Look at the size of this baby. I am so glad I did not pull these plants out.

This week, with the sun on my back, I cleaned up some empty patches and planted more chard, bok choy, more lettuce, multi colored carrots, and some various greens. See my tomato plants? Still giving me a few a week.

I think the wall the garden backs up to retains the heat of the sun and helps keep the garden warm at night.

This robust volunteer tomato plant I decided to keep. It is so darn healthy looking that I want to see what it does. I slapped a tomato cage around it and we will see.

It has blossoms but whether they will set for tomatoes I am not sure.  Time will tell.

 This month I harvested:
2 kinds of peppers
collard greens
Swiss chard
lettuce
chives
tomatoes
Not bad for December.

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Frugal Challenge - Room By Room and my Faves from the .99 Cents Store

I have been doing some inventory in our house examining where we can save in each room. We have had brief meetings at the kitchen table reminding the kids of ways to save around the house. So I thought I would take my money saving challenge around the house and share with you so I will be doing my Frugal Challenge Room by Room.

It will challenge me to see where I can save in greater detail in each and every room.

Also wanted to share what I think are good buys at the .99 Store. Basic cleaning supplies are a good buy there and since I am committing to making as many of my own cleaners cheaply, I stocked up.

Today, I took a few bucks and bought some things I use for basic cleaners. I bought ammonia, cleanser, scouring pads, bleach (you can't find it for .99 anywhere else around here) and some dish soap.

The ammonia and dish soap go to make my homemade laundry stain remover. It will easily last the year.

The Zote which I grate for my home made laundry soap, is .59 a piece at the .99 Store. Better price than any where else.

I also buy rubbing alcohol that I mix with water to use as my all purpose spray cleaner. It is the best glass cleaner ever and I use it on counters as well. The recipe is here. You will see other items I use like vinegar and baking soda. So stay tuned for my Frugal Challenge Room by Room.
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Sunday at Home

We decided to stay home all day today. Stayed in my jammies cleaning and then took a bath and put on clean jammies. Love that! It was cool and crisp here and the kitchen always calls for a warm meal on cold days. I wanted to show you my calendar that I put up for the new year. Do you see a theme here? Didn't even realize it till it was hung that it coordinated so well.

Makes me think this shelf on the other side of the window will be changed up to the red, black and white color scheme. Hubby did this decor after Christmas but I see the wheels in his head churning. I know he will change it. He is sick I tell you. I am watching football and he is making up vignettes.

A beef roast in the crock pot with sauted veggies and rice for dinner. The leftover beef will be in tacos tomorrow night. I am really watching the food budget and using everything.

Another day at home catching up. It is such a good feeling. Of course we were trying to move a heavy piece of furniture and as we called to the littlest one to get out of the way, a big crash and she got bumped in the mouth by something falling. It scared the crud out of me. You would think after all these years we would know what we are doing. My oldest (the nurse) checked her over really well and thankfully all she got was a bump on her lip. She was fine but we felt awful because it sounded so terrible. I am so glad she was out of the way just enough.

You can see my hubby's changes for the kitchen shelf here.

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Sunny Simple Sunday Link Party

Another family birthday this weekend. They seem to bunch up around here.

I hope you all are warm on this winter weekend. Now let's enjoy some highlights from last week.

Hoosier at Heart shared her new kitchen. I would kill girl for that pantry cupboard. Two of mine could fit in there.

So happy for you in your new home.

I am so into your winter scenes since I don't get any snow here:

Our Neck of the Woods shared her snowy day with us. Oh it is like a Christmas card.

A Happy Gram shared her snowy porch. It is so cozy and festive.

Now share your links with us and happy Sunday!!

Frugal Challenge - Shopping the Loss Leaders

Remember the term "loss leaders?" It referred to the items grocery stores would put on their front page of sale ads to lure shoppers in knowing they would not make money on those items but the other items you would pick up while in the store. Well, I am not sure if there are any items they will loose money on but the stores all still have those bargain items to lure you in. The reason I bring this up is I am doubling down on lowering my grocery budget. Seems impossible but I want to closely track my spending and see if I can achieve this.

I used to be a big coupon shopper but have really cut back as we no longer have any stores that double coupons in our area. (Thanks Extreme Coupon shows) The value of the coupons is so much lower than before and I could not justify the rising cost of the Sunday paper so I cancelled it. I also would spend hours cutting and listing my shopping deals to find most items already bought out or out of stock and felt it was not worth my time.

So now I am going to try a new approach. In my daily travels of running the kids around I pass all the markets in our area. I will keep track online of any good deals and if it is worth a stop, I will pop in to snag the deals. Keeping to my list and not picking up extra items unless needed.

Here is what I have picked up so far this week and what I spent:
At CVS two lotions I really needed. Spent $6.85 with a prescription to get $6 back in extra care bucks (ECB) plus a $5 ECB for my last quarter shopping so I have $11 to spend next time. Good day to me.

At Albertsons they had the large packs of toilet paper and paper towels for $4.88. You can buy two a day for three days. Eight rolls of paper towels for $4.88 is a good buy in these parts when you can easily spend a dollar per roll or more.
I also bought:
Large beef roast (two meals will come out of this)
box of turkey burgers
buns
lettuce
tomatoes
3 boxes cereal
granola bars
large pack paper towels 8 rolls
large pack of toilet paper 16 double rolls
Used $1 coupon
total: $40.49 Not the best deals but worth buying

Next time I will share what I think is worth buying at the 99cents Store.
Sunny Simple Sunday will be up this afternoon.


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A Blogging Thank You!!

I am so glad to be this thing called a "blogger." It has been such a blessing in my life. I have made friends I see in person and friends who have sent me e-mails and messages that I have enjoyed receiving. Cards in the mail and phone calls from other bloggers helping me to spiff up my blog. I want to whole heartily say thank you.

Finding others interested in the same pursuits has widened my horizons and educated me. All from the comfort of home which is my favorite place to be. I saw that I was inching up on a 1000 followers as New Years approached and when I clicked on New Year's day I had passed that mark. Many have moved on from blogger and it doesn't really mean you have a 1000 followers but it made me smile. So thank you if you ever clicked that little button.

I have been blessed by those that have added me to their side bars. I am visual person and love scrolling down the blog lists of other bloggers to see where I want to click that day. I try to add those who have added me to my side bar list. If I have not added you then let me know and I will work on getting you on there. The kindness of others doing that for me has sent me so many nice folks who I would not have heard from otherwise.

I wish I could comment on every post I read. I just find I am on for a bit here and there as life calls us to what is really important, our homes and family. I hope I have been able to be a small part of your blogging life as well. And for the non bloggers that take the time to send me e-mails, you are very dear and sweet to take such time. Again, thank you from Elaine (me) at Sunny Simple Life. And it is sunny today. I am about to head out and let the chickens out. Good day everyone!

Frugal Challenge - 2013 Money Saving Challenge

The reality hits now. Once again I am joining Frugal Makes Cents for the 2013 Money Saving Challenge.
If you at all pay taxes or rely on an earned income for your living, you are going to pay higher taxes. The payroll tax holiday ends and everyone working will pay 2% more in taxes. If you earn $50,000 that is a $100 month less you will have to live on and if you make $100,000 that is $200 less you have each month to pay bills. Wow!!! I am sorry, but that is a lot of money to me. A weeks worth of groceries or a couple of utility bills worth. This with higher and higher costs for food and utilities, we are all going to have to get by with less. Plus like many others our health insurance has gone up once again. Hundreds less when the New Year turned over. Scary stuff!! Let me say this. I would happily pay this, I am not kidding, if I knew it would really go to pay down our countries massive debt. If other areas of the government spending were cut, but they are not and will not make any cuts. They just want more money to spend MORE AND MORE money. Can you imagine if you ran your house that way?

Okay, the rant is over. No onto the brass tacks. Here is where we have to make serious cuts in our spending.
My husband and I are pledging a year of austerity. Not as if we lived high on the hog before. Every facet of our budget and home is being examined. Our church just finished the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University. Whether you like Dave or not, his idea of every dollar on paper before the first of each month rang home to us. A plan for every dollar. We are not going to take a real vacation this year, nope, first time in all of our marriage. We will take long weekends to visit family and use points to take a long weekend at the beach in a hotel this summer and that is it. We are committing to reaching some of our financial goals this year. You cannot cut the every day expenses you have to pay that much, but we can cut out a vacation and use that money for other goals.

We are looking at our utilities and other monthly bills. When our cable TV contract is up, we are going to go without. We will watch movies online and just watch regular TV. Basic cable is so high, that at least for a period of time, we will go without to recoup that money. We are listing line by line all areas we think we may be able to cut back on. Don't be afraid to call and negotiate for a lower price. All they can do is say no.

Our monthly grocery and household supplies expenses need to be cut. I am not sure how I can cut any more but I think what I need to do is really get back to making as much of my own supplies as I can. Here are a few recipes I will be using. I also want to make more food from scratch. Growing as much as I can from the garden. For a packet of seeds, what I can harvest is really amazing.

We will continue to maintain our vehicles. They are ten years old, nine years old and four years old. Every month I don't have a car payment is a blessing. I HATE car payments. Even with repairs, we are money ahead. It also means lower insurance rates and state registration fees. I am beyond caring about what I drive. If it starts and gets me there, I love the car even more when it costs me less to drive it.

Sitting down and looking at every facet of your finances is not always fun. Not fun at all but I am determined to really examine our budget more than we ever have. We have committed time to sit down and see what we can cut line by line. What choice do we all have? I am not excited about living on less through no fault of our own but it is the reality. I will share with you our progress.

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And So a New Year Begins

It was a wonderful day to start the New Year. We gathered with family and friends to celebrate one of my girl's birthday. Just before our guests arrived when the house is set and waiting.

I was going to buy some flowers but decided to use beauty from the yard. Gathered warm hued candles and ripe oranges from the garden. Why not think of unusual but no less lovely items to grace our tables.

It has been a year of changes for us. Some very good, some I resisted but have learned to adapt to and thrive. It has been a year of some good changes personally and I think as a woman ages there is a freedom you gain. Time has lent us enough wisdom to know what we really want out of life. There are things I will never waste any time or energy on ever again. You are older and know what your focus is and what brings you the most peace and happiness. None of us knows what lies ahead and what the coming year will bring but I am so thankful to have my life really centered on what is best for the family and for myself. Here I am. What you see is what you get as they say. Thank you so much for another year of friendship and support. You all find a way to confirm what I am thinking and feeling. A group of women drawn together by a love of home.

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Happy New Year

In the quiet of the morning on a brand new day in a brand new year, I am up. Coffee in hand, the chickens have been let out and the big dog has gone to do her thing. She sneaks into a daughter's bedroom to curl up on the foot of a bed. Our animals are very spoiled here.
We stayed in last night. Declined two invites but just felt like staying home. We barbecued a delicious tri tip and fell into bed by nine. A dog at my feet and my hubby asleep next to me. The perfect way to ring in the New Year.
This is a busy week for us as we host Christmas and a family birthday on New Year's day. We are making a big turkey dinner as we had Mexican food on Christmas day as is not uncommon in Southern California. So hubby and I will begin our scurry in the kitchen. The turkey is in the brine and I cannot wait for the wonderful smell of it roasting in the oven.
I feel good about the coming New Year. I look forward to sharing the frugal challenge coming in the next few days. This will be a high priority for our household this year.
No resolutions, but I have been watching the calories lately. I actually lost a few pounds in December so I think I will keep that up. My daughter is running track and I refuse to let her head out for a run alone so I throw Q in the jogger and we chase her as best we can. Good for all of us. I will re-join a yoga class I have not been to in months as it really helped my flexibility. Move it or lost it right?
From my home to yours.... Happy New Year!!

Winter Red

I love red. After Christmas, the reds that remain, cheer me.

As the sun streams in, it says, "Hello morning."

Winter berries left in a crock .

Every few years I leave one of the small trees up for a couple extra months. I decided my winter woodland tree would be perfect.

Hearts that were bought our very first Christmas when we had a huge tree and no money to decorate it, will start to appear as we think of Valentine's.

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Sunny Simple Sunday

Getting back to normal around here. Always sad to see the Christmas decor be packed away but the restoration of normal is also very comforting. Things back where they belong. Had a nice day. Decided to wake the girls up and head out for an early breakfast and then a trip to the camera store for a new lens cap and cleaner. 

Now for a few features from last week:

A Sugar and Salt Scrub recipe from Family Home and Life. Perfect for that dry winter skin.

Call Her Blessed shares her "Pantle" with us. A piano that doubles as a mantle. Hey I have have one of those too. I love the winter scene she has set.

Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson  shared the most darling post of her daughter's vintage VW bug all set for the holidays.

Now onto what you have been up to this week. Thanks for linking up and joining the party: