1. Sold 1 dozen eggs.
2. Sold a used book on Amazon.
3. Went to the bent 'n' dent. I spent just over $35.00 this time around. I think I did a better job of buying staples last week instead of just going crazy with junk food or processed food that we don't need. Here is a breakdown of what I bought:
Nuts (cashews & almonds)- $10.22
Pasta- $6.00
Junk food (candy, chips, sweets, etc.)- $6.25
Cereal- $3.00
Spices- $2.25
Dessert mixes- $2.00
Tea- $1.25
Rice & Beans- $1.00
Evaporated milk- $0.85
Ramen noodles- $0.75
Chocolate chips- $0.75
Vinegar- $0.50
Some of my best deals were actually the nuts ($2.00-$3.00/lb.), pasta ($0.75/lb.), rice ($0.25/lb.) and black beans ($0.50/lb.), which are healthier items we may have bough anyway. I figure that 30% of my purchases were on unneeded items that we wouldn't have bought, for example: junk food, cereal, dessert mixes, ramen noodles, etc. While I can still use these items, the fact is that I spent $10.00 on things that might have been a good deal, but we ultimately didn't need. However, I believe that the deals I found on staple items probably outweighed the extra I spent. In the future, my goal is to spend a higher percentage on things that I would buy anyway, and a lower percentage on "treats". Though I think it is still a lot of fun to buy junk food at the bent 'n' dent.
4. Canned 14 pints of applesauce. Our trees didn't produce well this year, so I took the opportunity to get some free "drop" apples from a friend.
5. Canned 9 pints of tomato sauce/pulp. After processing the tomatoes, I let the juice sit overnight in the fridge so the pulp and water would separate. Then I ladled the pulp off of the top of the pot to can. In previous years I have flavored the pulp to use as enchilada sauce, spaghetti sauce, etc. However, when I go to use these flavored sauces, I still add more spices anyway. So this year I've decided to can unflavored sauce. It is a lot easier during this hectic season of canning, plus it will be more versatile this winter.
6. Bought two mini orchids at Home Depot on sale for $3.00 each. After years of unsuccessfully keeping orchids, I believe I've found a method to keep them alive and growing. Every Thursday, I run water through each pot until the growing medium is saturated. Then I sit the pots in the sink to let the water drain completely. This had nurtured one of my two full size orchids back to life (the leaves were turning brown and cracking off, and the roots were rotting), and it has kept my newer orchid alive and producing new growth.
7. Made cheese.
8. We ate several meals of leftovers this week. Lately if I make way to much of a certain meal, I will freeze what is left and serve it at a later meal. Because there are only two of us, it is not hard for me to cook too much. Before I started freezing leftovers, I would just put them in the fridge and hope they would get eaten before they went bad (probably half of the time). If they did get eaten, usually I just served it as a side. Hubs wouldn't touch the leftovers, which meant my meal was leftovers and his was the fresh Cannfood.
When it is primarily leftovers being served, one has no choice but to eat them. However, since they have been frozen, they are almost as fresh as they were when we ate them the week (or two weeks) prior, so you can't really tell that they are leftovers. Using these "frozen dinners" saves money because there is less waste, but more than that it saves a lot of time and bother for me.
Goals for Next Week
1. Make more applesauce & tomato sauce.
2. Clean out pantry.
3. Make soap.