I Haven't Fallen Off The Earth!

I apologize for not checking in with you more often. My time has been taken up with my dad, getting him to his treatments and doctors' appointments, and, of course, visiting with him more and more. We will get the news Tuesday afternoon if the chemo has done any good or if it is the end of treatment.

You know, I get sticker shock every time I buy a loaf of bread. I can never find anything for less than $2 and most of the time it's more like $2.39 or more. So, I have started making my own. I had some false starts a couple or three weeks ago and the loaves came out inedible. I've fine-tuned my recipe and I'm getting a much better product. The only bad thing about it is that since there are no preservatives in my bread, it only lasts about 3 days or so. I have loads of bread flour, yeast, and all the rest of the ingredients, so, I am able to use up quite a bit of stockpile items.

I'm not doing as well as I'd hoped with my cash outlay every month. Last month, I figured that I would have to cut down to $75 a month for the rest of the year to make my goal. I've gone over that by $100 this month. I just bought 42 lbs. of cat litter today. Walgreens had a great price, I had Qs, and some RR to use. I did buy some other things there. Sometimes the deals are just so good that you can't pass them up.

I haven't been eating much lately. My appetite just comes and goes. I'm trying to eat all the stuff in the fridge and I am always looking over stockpile to see what I can make that's quick and easy. Most of the time, though, I just say, "forget it."

I think I may have mentioned last week that I cleaned out the closets and gave away all my clothes that no longer fit. The rescue mission was thrilled to get them. I think there were 93 articles of clothing, plus I gave them a lot of toiletry items. Since I cleaned out my closet, I realized that I had nothing to wear! I didn't have a single pair of shorts and only a couple of pair of jeans and a pair of wool slacks. Now, I've probably mentioned this before, but, I HATE to clothes shop. I was slightly inspired to go looking the other day and went to America's Thrift Store. I like that store because they have very good quality clothes with nothing wrong with them. I bought 6 pair of shorts, 4 pair of capris, and 3 pair of dress slacks. My friend gave me 19 tops of all varieties and seasons for Christmas, so, I am set for the next 5 years! Oh, I should mention that for the 13 garments I purchased, I paid a total of $35. That's my kind of shopping.

When I find great frozen food deals and stock up, sometimes I have to store them at my dad's in his extra fridge in the basement. The last time I got a good deal (BOGOF + double Qs) on bacon, I bought about 15 pounds or so. I had to store it at Dad's. Now, my dad has never been really big on eating bacon, but, since he's been sick, he's had a taste for eggs and bacon at any and every hour of the day. I told him to help himself to all that was in the freezer at his house. I guess that I could count all the bacon he's using as part of my daily goal of using 3 stockpile items, right? I'm just happy that he's eating. He's lost a lot of weight since his diagnosis.

Later this week I will figure up my costs and savings so far this year. I got several free glucose meters with Qs and with each one I redeemed, I got a free Q for Crest toothpaste. Then, I heard of someone over at Hot Coupon World who works at a vet's office where they serve a lot of clients who don't have much money. When she said she was gathering blood glucose meters to give to clients there, I knew just what to do with all these. It was a bit pricey to mail 9 glucose meters to her, but, I was happy to do it to help out pet owners who want to do the best they can for their animals, but, may not have the money to do all they can for them.

I scored $50 in CVS GC with prescription purchases a couple of days ago. I just wish that their deals were as good this week as Walgreens. I don't have a GC for Walgreens right now and that's where I shopped this morning. That's O.K. It will all even out in the end.