2026. Frugal Things in May

 1.    We sent a new prescription to the pharmacy at a grocery store and received $15 credit towards food.

2.  I  mixed leftover vegetables soup and leftover beef barley soup, adjusted the seasoning and used it as a base for cottage pie.  It was easy and delicious.

3.   I made a large batch of Cuban black beans.  Part was eaten as soup and part was turned into spicy black bean burgers.    The leftover burgers became burritos.

4.     I had two containers I needed to fill with artificial flowers.   I couldn’t find any I liked at a price I wanted to afford.  So, I went to three different thrift stores and bought premade arrangements.  I then took them apart and used the flowers to fill my containers.  They look bright and cheerful and only cost a total of $25.

5.   I made rye, white and soda bread for quite a savings over store prices.

2026. Buying and Eating: May 1-31

 Allocation.    $13x31 =$403

Cushion.    $ 592.08 at the beginning of May

YTD. As of end of May.  104 + 31=135 days

YTD grocery.  $345 + 369.89=$714.89      $5.30/day   $2.65/person/day   As of the end of May.           This includes the $300 CSA cost for the summer.

YTD eating out.      $74.20 + $38.88=$113.08  $0.84/day    $0.42/person/day as of the end of May

YTD total     $499.92 + $8,27.92=$1327.89      $9.84/day     $4.92/person/day as of the end of May 

New Cushion Amount  $573.31 at the end of May.  Including the CSA, we were $18.77 over budget in May

What We Ate:  leftover quiche, dauphinois potatoes and zucchini          Leftover chicken pot pie, broccoli citrus salad, roasted beets.                 Fried bologna sandwich and cheesy potato rounds     Corned beef and noodle casserole, broccoli citrus Salad, green bean casserole       Pork schnitzel , pierogie, pears with bleu cheese ;         Tacos and bean dip with chips (2)         Beef barley soup with cheddar biscuits          Cottage pie;      Lobster roll and buttered noodles with garlic, cheese and peas;       Pasta with lobster,   Broccoli, pears, biscuits;      Cottage pie, fruit salad, cabbage salad       Vegetarian tikka masala, tortillas , rice, fruit salad.        Cuban black bean soup, crackers, fruit and yogurt      Steak on the grill, Asian spicy soy noodles,  baked beans, applesauce          Grilled pork loin,   Three bean salad, potatoes Anna.       BBQ chicken, baked beans, bean salad, baked sweet potato         Frozen pizza, chips       Huevos ranchero’s        Black bean burgers, macaroni salad, pickled beets         Tuna macaroni salad, homemade soda bread, fruit and yogurt, corn on the cob           Asian orange chicken, fried rice, onion pancakes     Black bean tortilla bowls, guacamole and chips corn        Glazed ham steak, garlic and butter asparagus, deviled eggs, potato pancakes        Angel hair pasta with clam sauce, homemade garlic bread sticks, jello with mandarin oranges        Salisbury steak with noodles, fried apples, onions and cabbage, jello with mandarin, garlic bread sticks        Hot chicken salad, roasted Brussels sprouts, applesauce  (2)      Clam Chowder, assorted salads          Mexican pizza with chips and salsa 

Eating Out:

Lunch with Joyce    $12.37        Taco Bell 

Mike lunch in Cleveland    $2.68      Sams 

Lunch with Mike         $8.47     Arby’s 

Mike breakfast with Gannon guys  b$2.53  McDonald’s 

Lunch with the ladies   $12.83

What We Bought:

Mason Farms:  15 week CSA.      $300 or $20/week. Went into the cushion to cover

Tops:   Doritos, cheese.    $4.87.     Special coupons for both 

Tops.     Italian cheese.   $0.88.      Spec sale 

Tops.     Sweet potato (6), butter, eggs (2), cream cheese, pasta, potato chips.  $9.32.  All sale items 

Aldi.       Boneless  Pork but roast  (11#), mushrooms (2), avocados (2).     $25.13.   All sale items. We will make Italian, breakfast and kielbasa sausage with the pork 

Aldi.       Carrots (2#).       $1.99

Sanders:   Potatoes,corn, onions.    $ $5.56    Two sale items 

Tops.       Bush’s beans, hamburger buns, asparagus     $6.68         All sale items

Aldi.      Chips(3), cheese (5).  13.08.    Sale items

Walmart.    Popcorn.     $2.38

2026. Frugal Things in April

 1.  I took advantage of a $0.79/# spiral ham sale to pre buy for next Easter.  I saved $17.52 off of this year’s normal price.  Who knows what next year’s price will be.     

2. Processing leftover salad veggies:  chopped and frozen sweet peppers, frozen leftover spinach, cucumbers in a vinegar brine, blanched and frozen mushrooms.  I will use most in recipes, and the cucumbers will become a salad side dish.

3.  While vacationing, we booked tours independently and saved a lot over using the pre booked tours

4. I used half of a bag of 60 cent green split peas and some homemade ham broth and meat off the bone, to make soup.  I got 8 servings, about 8 cents per serving.  I have enough broth and meat for two more batches of soup.  I see lentil and ham and beans in our future.

5, I cooked this year’s ham( purchased last year in the after Easter sale) and ended up with 4 breakfast ham steaks, ground ham to make a ham loaf and ham salad for sandwiches, and seven packs of slices for sandwiches, casseroles and salad.  Some frugal meals there.

6.   I bought a black Talbots blazer for $8.  I know I saved 90%, if not more.

2026. Household and Personal Care: March and April

 Personal Care   Allocation $20/ mont   Over by $54 for two months

Pedicure.    $32

Haircut Sandy.     $47

Haircut Mike.     $15

Household    Allocation. $40/month   Under by $75.07 over two months

Wax paper.   $2.54

Ammonia.    $1,89

2026. Buying and Eating: April 11-30

 Allocation:   20 x $13 =$260

Cushion $535.27 + 56.81=$592.08 as of April 30

YTD as of end of April:  87 days + 17=104 days

YTD Grocery.  $206.59 +138.49=345.08       $3.32/day        $1.66/person/day   As of April 30

YTD Eating Out.   48,50+25.70= $74.200         $0.71/day           $0.36/person/day  as of April 30

YTD Grand Total.    $335.73 + 164.19 =$499.92        $4.81/day          $2.41/person/day as of April 30

What We Ate:

Ham steak, butter beans, cheesy potatoes, pears with bleu cheese, honey glazed carrots ;         Mexican pizza and fresh fruit salad;       Steak on the grill, baked potato , spinach salad ;     Homemade split pea soup;    Oven roasted ham, cheesy potatoes , apple sauce , zucchini , garlic bread;     Ham loaf , macaroni and cheese , spinach salad ;       Ham salad sandwiches on homemade bread ;     Pizza         Spaghetti and meat sauce       Huevos rancheros, refried beans  corn (2)        spinach and seafood quiche. Dauphinois potatoes -)

Low carb days:     A few pounds followed us home from vacation.

Roast beef with onions over steamed cabbage, broccoli, salad, cottage cheese and onions ;     Garlic chicken and almonds salad;     Mexican meat and cheese salad;     Marinated pork loin, zucchini, yogurt and blueberries;  Asian stir fry, cottage cheese and cantaloupe ;     Philadelphia cheese steak salad;     Lemon chicken, broccoli,  Greek salad;     Pepperoni salad;     

What We Bought:

Aldi:   Frozen vegetables (5), cream, plain yogurt, feta, cottage cheese, bleu cheese, cream cheese (2), avocados (2), mushrooms (2), sweet peppers (3),:romaine hearts (3), zucchini (2), broccoli crowns (2), grape tomatoes, cantaloupe, English cucumber, carb control wraps   $49.43  for low carb

Aldi:      Spiral ham, eggs (3)   $14.86    $0,77/# for ham

Walmart.       Fresh spinach      $1.97

Tops  Breyers ice cream, chicken thighs (6.25#), ground beef (5.25#)cheese (3)$36.74 good meat sales

Tops:  eggs (3), oj       $6.96

Aldi:   Greek yogurt, pink lady apples (3#),  mandarins (3#)   10.00    Fruit on sale

Aldi:   Pork schnitzel, avocados (2)    $10.49  a treat

Sanders:     Italian bread, pumpernickel bread,potatoes (5##)  bologna$8.04     All on sale

Eating Out 

Lunch with the ladies  $15.86   Panera

Lunch with Mike  $3.28     Sams

Mike’s breakfast with Gannon guys      $6.56

2026. Linus and Such: January-March

 Operation Gratitude Scarves:     15

Project Chemo crochet:       21

Linus Project Blankets:     6

Chemo Caps       10

60 skeins of generously donated yarn for free 

2026. Frugal things in March

 March is not a month of specific good deals but more a month of general frugality that adds up to savings.  I made a lot of things from scratch:  biscotti, artisan bread, white bread, oatmeal bread, Chinese onion pancake, Italian polenta, pasta sauce, Italian sausage, breakfast sausage, corn muffins, etc.    The price per item adds up to quite a savings. 

I currently have a batch of vegetarian chili simmering, a corned beef in the oven and a pan of cheesy potatoes cooking low and slow with the corned beef.  I try to take full advantage of the oven heat by cooking at least two things at the same time.

We have been eating down leftovers from the freezer.  It’s almost like eating for free since the cost of the meal was computed the first time I served it.  Perfect for busy days, too.

And, as I am sure you expect, we have been relying on our stockpile for meal ingredients.  For example:  a 50cent cake mix made biscotti; stockpiled flour makes a variety of breads; cornmeal made polenta and corn muffins, a 34cent large can of crushed tomatoes was the base of spaghetti sauce;  a mixture of ground meats bought cheaply was the base for Italian and breakfast sausage.