2026 Buying and Eating: October

 Allotment  $390  vacation started on October 31

 Cushion   $1212.62

  Days  281 days at end October 

What We Bought:

Tops:  chips, pretzels, digiorno pizza (2), broth (2), eggs, pasta  $15.11  all on sale

Aldi:   Mayo   $2.89

Aldi:   Sour cream, tortilla chips     $3.64

Tops:  chocolate chips, ground beef (6#)   $28.57       Both on sale

Salvage #1.    Cereal (4), pasta (4), crackers (3), broth (3), dried fruit(4), canned fruit (3), mixed nuts, olives, dry beans (2), wine vinegar (3), mayonnaise (4), baked beans (3), peanut butter (3),  coconut, prune plum filling, enchilada sauce     $53.49

Aldi:   Cottage cheese, plain yogurt   $5.84

Salvage #2:   Wonton strips (2).baked beans, slivered almonds (3), coffee (4), raisins (2), granola bars (2),  pecan sandies (4), cereal (2), peanut butter (2), flour (16#), oatmeal(5#), ketchup (2), sugar free syrup, karo syrup, lemon pepper, rosemary, blue cheese dressing, Greek dressing, coleslaw dressing, Asian dressing, sugar free jam, molasses    $42.33

Aldi:  oyster crackers, pears,mushrooms (3)    $8.65    All on sale

Tops:  butter(3)  cheese(2#), ricotta (2#), sausage links, crackers (3)    $31.74    All on sale

Aldi:  saltines crackers (2)   $3.70

Total  $191.89   Including two salvage shops 

Eating Out :

$10  Mike lunch at the hospital 

Tuesday lunch with Mike     $7.99

Lunch with Mike      $9.53

Lunch with the ladies    $10

Lunch with Mike $21.07

Total $43.59

What We Ate:     Garlic chicken salad with baked potato skins.         Potatoes and beef casserole, turban squash, cottage cheese and mandarin oranges (2)        Chicken cordon bleu casserole, green beans with dill pickle and feta,  cottage cheese  with onion and tomato (2)           Taco salad          Grilled pork loin, country apples , fried cabbage (2)     Glamorgan sausages, potatoes Anna, Lima beans        Cheesy meatloaf , baked potato, roasted broccoli          Pasta carbonara with peas, cheesy garlic bread, salad  (2). Hot meatloaf sandwiches with mashed potatoes and cabbage, onion and apple medley 🥗 ;         Bacon, olive and cheese bread,  onion,apple and onion medley, potato skins;       Kielbasa with sautéed veggies and perogies,Garlic and cheese biscuits, applesauce (2);           Taco salad         Philly cheesecake pizza, chips      Orange chicken, Asian dumplings, Chinese green onion pancakes, Asian slaw        Vegetable stir fry, Asian wings, Asian coleslaw          BBQ pork, cornbread casserole, jello with fruit and cottage cheese      Clam chowder and grilled tuna and cheese         Grilled pork loin, baked sweet potatoes , tossed salad#3.       Potatoes and beef casserole, jello and cottage cheese , winter veggie medley            Chicken cordon bleu casserole, poached pears, vegetable medley:;        Tossed salad and corned beef sandwiches          Bean curry, curried potatoes, rice, pear sauce          Meatloaf, mashed potatoes and gravy, maple glazed carrots      Mashed potato pancakes, scrambled eggs with cheese, toast, banana

Grocery  1267.23+191.89=$1459.12      $5.19/day          $2.59/person/day

Eating Out.  457.08+43.59=$500.67     $1.78/day           $8.90/person/day

Total.     1723.99+235.48=$1959.47         $6.97/day.        $3.48/person/day 

2026 Household and Personal Care: October

 Household

Car step stool. $8.47.     Harbor Freight 

Dry cleaning     $10.30     New blazer

Sandwich bags (2), liquid hand soap (2)     $2.40      Salvage

Two parts for our food processor   $40      Amazon 

 Laundry Detergent    $15      Amazon

Fabreze car freshener for the garbage can     $1.99     Salvage 

Remaining allocation  $75.00

Personal Care

Haircuts.  $24.99.     Great Clips 

Remaining allocation  $19.77

2026. Frugal Things In October

 1.     I used a 25cent cake mix as the base of an apple breakfast Bread.

2.  We froze cabbage, broccoli, grape pie filling, sweet peppers, 

3. I used a coupon to get $7 off the. Cost of my haircut.

4.  I made a loaf of overnight oatmeal bread and a pizza crust

5.  We did a salvage shop to start restocking our pantry.    As expected, prices were higher than last year, but we still saved a lot of money.  I compared the salvage costs to Walmart and we paid $53,.49 for groceries that were worth more than $200.

We did a second salvage shop and paid $48.33 for groceries worth about $200.

We have two more to do in November, then we will hopefully have enough to take us through the winter.

6.  We repaired our cusinart food processor rather than replacing it.  The cost was $40.  Good for the budget and the environment.

7.   We earned $20 in free groceries by getting our needed immunizations.  We will pair this with store sales to make the money go farther.

2026. Linus Project and Such: July-September

 Linus Project.    3

  Gift for Sharon.  1     Afghan 

Gift for Joyce      1     Afghan

 Operation Gratitude Scarves:   11

 Chema Caps    17

 Gift for Ginger   3 washcloths

YTD chemo caps 43

YTD gratitude scarves    55

YTD Linus blankets   18

YTD chemo squares 25

YTD Afghans as gifts   2

YTD Dishcloths as gifts   3

18 skeins for $19.27          $1.17/skein       Couldn’t pass it up !

11 skeins for $11.                $1.00/skein.      Ditto            

15 skeins for $13.00            $.86/skein         Ditto

Total  $43.27 for 44 skeins    $0.99/skein     Again, ditto

2026.Household and Personal Care : August, September

Remaining allocation $44.76

Personal Care:

Body powder    $1.25       Dollar Tree 

Household:  remaining allocation   $143.16

3small bowls, glass, and one loaf pan.    $6.    Thrift Store 

Cupcake liners.  $$8,78.    Walmart 

Fall decoration.     $0.84.     Thrift Store 

Kitchen Aide repairs. $96.

Command strip.  $4,48. Lowe’s 

Rectangular bin.    $1,59.  Dollar Tree 

2026. Buying and Eating: September

 Allocation:  $390

Cushion:   $1030.12

Days:  250 as of the end of September 

What We Ate:          Scottish Eggs, roasted cauliflower.         Smoked sausage and sauerkraut, green beans and bacon with onions and peppers, Caesar salad (2).       Surf and turf with fresh Italian green beans for our anniversary dinner.         Steak salad with fried green tomatoes.       Pork elephant ear with sage brown butter, broccoli         Baked beans, hamburgers, potato salad with homemade mayo, corn on the cob (2)     Italian sausage w peppers and onions, corn on the cob        Pizza and cheesy potato rounds         Hummus , home made falafel, homemade flatbread , homemade tzatziki       BBQ ribs, dauphinois potatoes , corn on the cob        Buffalo style wings, corn on the cob, salad         Liver and onions with potatoes and applesauce          Salmon noodle casserole, Greek cauliflower cheese,  salad         Porcupines with pasta. Fried green tomatoes, tossed salad #3   (2)   Chicken and vegetables over biscuits, pears and bleu cheese, tomato salad        Chicken and baked vegetables, Waldorf salad, corn, bagel with garlic      Italian vegetable soup, cheese and crackers (2)      Reuben sandwich with homemade sauerkraut, popcorn, homemade pickles       Beef stew and homemade bread, pears with bleu  cheese        Bean curry, Indian potato and spinach, corn on the cob, rice       Avocado and crab pesto pasta , tomatoes and onion salad, garlic bread          Cabbage rolls soup, crackers and cheese     

What WeBought:

Walmart:  sliced almonds    $9.48

Aldi:  broccoli crowns (3)   $1.53     On sale

Tops:  cheese, pasta, bananas       $3.38  all on sale

Aldi:   Saltines, eggs (2), avocados (3)    $6.30   Avocados on sale 

Aldi:  cottage cheese, maple crème cookies   $6.34

Giant Eagle:  corned beef (6.5#)    $34.56       On sale

Country Fair:   Eggs    $0.99     On sale)7

Tops:  eggs (2) ,   Cream cheese, chicken breast (6.40 #)    $15.28    All on sale

Country Fair:  provolone (2#), swiss(2#), eggs   20.88   All on sale

Giant Eagle:  cheese (2.5#)  $5.82    On sale 

Aldi:  petite  sirloin (3)     Lamb loin chops (4)  $20.50  all on sale

Total  $125.06

Eating Out:

$3.00.  Mike lunch.  Costco

$22.50. Joyce birthday lunch

$11.99.    Lunch with Mike used a coupon

$5.30   Mike breakfast with the Gannon guys.

$20.   Lunch at Springhill 

$6.    Lunch in Mentor 

$8.26.   Lunch with Mike

$5.30.   Mike breakfast with the Gannon guys

TOTAL   $82.44

Grand Total  $207.50

New Cushion   $1212.62 

YTD grocery      $1141.94 + 125.06=1265.03    250 days =35.714 weeks $5.07/day   $2,53/person/day

YTD Eating Out $374.55+82.44=$457.08 250 days =  $1.84/day   $0.91/person/day

YTD TOTAL $1516.49+. 207.50= 1732.99.    250 days=35.714 weeks $6.90/day.    $3.45/person/day

2026. Frugal Things in September

 1.   We froze green beans, yellow squash, tomatoes, yellow beans, cauliflower, broccoli and I made pressure cooker sauerkraut with a head of cabbage showing its age.  All from the CSA.

2.  I made a fresh apple pie, old fashioned egg custard, Mediterranean flatbread, apple crisp.  The apples were from the CSA.

3.  I used twenty five cents worth of dried garbanzo beans and seasoning to make ten falafels, two meals and two lunches worth.  Delicious and inexpensive.

4.   My mixer is back from being repaired so I had fun making bread for the first time in awhile.  I made wheat and rye bread.

5,  I made a pot of Italian vegetable soup for approximately $2.  It made six good size servings.