2025. clothing

January 

-0-

February 

-0-

March

Sandy.    One scarf and one top from New Zealand op shops.  $6.00

April.     New watch for Mike.    Walmart.  $10.98

May

Sandy, 4 tops (cold water creek, Talbots, j. Jill, ).      $10.20

Sandy      sundress.    Goodwill.     $6.16

Sandy.       Summer skirt.    Goodwill. $4.83

Sandy.       Summer skirt, 3 summer dresses.    Goodwill     $29.95

Sandy.        Summer dresses.       Goodwill      $3.35

June

Sandy.       Wool blazer.        Norway thrift store      $20

Sandy         1 skirt for summer, two tops     Salvation Army.       $2.97

July

Mike     New sneakers       Costco      $35.99

Sandy     Sneakers        Costco         $19.99

Sandy      Top        Goodwill             $3

Sandy       2 tops       Goodwill       $6

Sandy        2 tops and  1 sweater     $6

Sandy        Summer skirt     $1

August

Sandy Dress slacks (2)  $5     Salvation Army 

September 

Boxer shorts for Mike (6)       $14.98   Sam’s 

Sandy     Two nightgowns, sweater, shoes    $20     Amvets

October 

-0-

November 

Sweater dress.  Thrifty shopper.   $8

Leggings (3).     Goodwill.        $17.97

Blazer.      Salvation Army.     $1

New watch.   Kohl’s.           $32.84

December 

Sandy.     Long winter coat.     Amvets.      $15

Total Mike.     $61.95.     GREAT!

Total Sandy.    $212.26.    Not great but still under budget of $250

The budget for 2026 will stay the same at $250/person.   Mike may need to buy more and Sandy needs to buy less.

2025 Linus and Such: October-December

 Linus:     8

Pet blanket:     2

Chemo Squares :     32

One pound yarn.      $3.       Amvets

Year End Totals:

Chema squares.      79

Operation Gratitude Scarves.         23

Linus Blankets         37

Pet Blankets          13

Chemo Caps          56

Dishcloths          8

Total          216 Items

Yarn     

Skeins Purchased     285

Skeins Donated        104

Cost   $270.28           $0.95/skein

Next year I will continue trying to help one item at a time.    I will also work on using up more of my stash.

2025 Household and Personal Care: October, November and December

 Personal Care 

Hair cut for Mike.    $9.99.  Great Clips with a coupon saving $

Hair ties for Sandy     $2.50     Dollar Tree 

Pedicure      $40

Purple conditioner, purple shampoo, pain relief ointment    $4.94  plus $30 from coupons 

Mike haircut     $14    Great clips 

Total     $61.43 for three months.

  $30/ month budgeted   So under budget by $28.57

Household

2026 calendar.     $1.25.      Dollar Tree

Kitchen drawer organizers.       $11.        Dollar Tree 

Shower curtains.     $41.50.      Walmart 

Poinsettias for urns.   $21.       Dollar Tree 

Artificial wreaths for porch.    $6.       Salvation Army 

Total.    $61.43 for three months

$30/month budgeted So under by $28.57

YTD Total 

Personal Care      Under by $180.95

Household        Over by.   $98.69

The two worked to balance out on the plus side.

For 2026.  The Personal Care budget will be reduced  and set at  $2O/month.

                   The Household budget will be increased and set at $40/ month.

                   The category amounts have changed but the budget is unchanged.

2025. Frugal Things in December

 1.  I drained the broth off of homemade vegetable soup, made mashed potatoes and created a cottage pie very inexpensively.  The broth, with crackers, will be my lunch.

2.   Once again, we used points for a hotel room.

3.  I made white bread, soda bread, cinnamon rolls, rustic rye bread , Irish barm brack and English muffins       all much cheaper than buying them.

4.  We continue to rely on the stockpile for our meals.

5.   We used our 50 year old artificial Christmas tree again this year.   Still looks fine.   Some of the ornaments and decorations also go back that far.  Because we still use them, memories are everywhere.

6. Using coupons, we saved $30 on four health and beauty items.

7.  We saved $14.50 on cat litter by using a coupon.

2025. Buying and Eating: December 1–20.

 Allocation:   $260   

Cushion $1139.74

End of December Number of Days:   314

The 20th on we are on vacation and meals are provided.

What We Ate:     Pork fried rice, pineapple and cottage cheese salad, apple cider muffins;     Ham and bean soup with grilled ham and cheese sandwich;     Soupa Toscana, garlic cheese bread , yogurt ;        Philly cheese steak with fried potatoes;      Bleu cheese pasta with Italian sausage, tomatoes and spinach, garlic bread(2);.    Cottage pie, Waldorf salad, fried cabbage;       Chili with cheese and crackers;     Cheeseburger casserole, butter beans, cottage cheese with onion and sunflower seeds ;      Chicken piccata with pasta, mixed vegetables, applesauce ;          Turkey pot pie, cabbage, butter beans, apple sauce ;       Welsh rarebit, cheesy potato rounds, roasted carrots, applesauce;     Sausage with bleu cheese pasta, garlic bread;     Macaroni and cheese with crab, Waldorf salad, glazed green beans, marmalade bread ;     Beef stroganoff over wild rice, butternut squash, grapefruit and yogurt;      Philly cheese steak with popcorn 

What We Bought:

Tops:   Pasta(2), apples    $2.77

Tops:   Pasta, butter, cream cheese(2), Swiss cheese, Jiff pb, green peppers(3).     $10.63

Aldi:   Greek yogurt   $3.69

Sanders:   Strawberry Yogurt, butternut squash    $4.68

Tops:  chicken breast(8), eggs(18).   $ 14.49

Aldi:     Mushrooms  $1.69

Total    $37.95

Eating Out:

Lunch with Ginger.    $10.59.      Honey Baked ham

Lunch to NY.      16.18.         Burger King 

Mike breakfast with Gannon guys.    $6.46.    McDonald’s 

Total.    $33.23

Grand Total.  $71.18

YTD 314 days   I don’t budget for vacation days.

Grocery.    $1437.55.         $4.58/day.         $2.10/person/day 

Eating Out.      $660.36.      $2.10/ day.       $1.05/ person/day

Year Grand Total.         $2075.21.          $6.61/ day.        $3.31/person/day 

We had a very successful year.  Our daily allocation will remain at $13/day.  Or.  $6.50/person/day.  

I look forward to the challenge.