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Home > Mortgage,thermostat wars, the garden, and pantry-clean out meal plan

Mortgage,thermostat wars, the garden, and pantry-clean out meal plan

January 3rd, 2015 at 02:40 pm

A lot of random things have happened.

-The first mortgage payment of 2015 posted today, and we knocked $975 off the balance. We now owe $40,206.30. Inching toward mortgage free!

-Hubby is crabby because I have the thermostat turned down to 65 (from 69) and it's either put on a sweater or fire up the wood stove. While he was gone the other day, I turned it down to 60. I told him to ask "What would Jimmy Carter do?" and that shut him up!

The kids haven't noticed, maybe because they are running around. We used to have it low like that all the time, then we had the kids, and opted to keep the house a little warmer because there were babies in the house. I guess we got used to being all soft and warm and cozy. They aren't babies anymore, so down goes the thermostat!

-My youngest decided to Hulk Smash through all of his clothes during winter break. I cleared out all the clothes that didn't fit and he only had two pairs of pants left! I ordered him three more pairs of pants on clearance through OldNavy.com, but for some reason never received a confirmation email.

Well, I go back to the Web site and for whatever reason everything was still in the cart. Something went wrong and I never checked out. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Between then and now, they added another promo, so I got ANOTHER 20 percent off of the order, in addition to the clearance prices. Maybe it was my guardian 'cheap' angel doing me a solid on that one.

-Every year for Xmas I ask my family to forgo presents and buy me seeds and fruit trees instead. They drive me bonkers because they usually ignore me because seeds and trees aren't 'fun' and buying me random things I don't really need is more 'fun.'. Ugh. I digress.

This year, my mom gave me $100 cash to buy seeds and plants, namely because the company I buy through (Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds) only does e-gift certificates, not cards and she didn't realize she could email it to herself them print it to give me as a gift.

Well, the cash turned out to be a big bonus, as my garden club just said if we order through them (for the same seed company!) , we get free shipping AND a 20 percent discount. Because I have cash, I can order through the club and save. So, mom just did me a favor and saved me 20 percent on the cost of seeds I was planning to order anyway. That is a bonus.

-I'm in full-blown cheap mode because money was tight last year and I didn't full fund my IRA out of my freelance checks. It just went to expenses. So, I'm trying to catch up on last year and this year with cash flow.

That means, time to eat down the pantry.

I cleaned and organized the pantry today, and I'm trying to design meals based on what we have. Using it up, so to speak. I'm going to try to keep grocery spending to a minimum this month. Home cooked, no full meals out (we will take the kids out for dessert and play date combos because I've declared I'm tired to cleaning up more just so kids can come over!)

So, this week's and early next's budget pantry meal plan:
-bean soup with ham, using leftover Xmas ham frozen in soup-size portions
-whole baked chicken and beets and home-canned applesauce
-chicken enchiladas from leftover chicken
-beef stew over mashed potatoes
-cheese-stuffed baked pasta shells
-lentil soup with jalapeno corn bread
-breakfast for dinner: frittata, bacon, pancakes or waffles with homemade blueberry syrup.

The first 529 plan contribution posted today too, so dear son one has $200 more socked away for college.

7 Responses to “Mortgage,thermostat wars, the garden, and pantry-clean out meal plan”

  1. scfr Says:
    1420298829

    You have gotten the new year off to a great start.
    To make 2015 even more frugal, just tell the kids to stop growing. Big Grin

  2. VS_ozgirl Says:
    1420318562

    Congratulations on the great savings!

  3. Bluebird Says:
    1420320001

    My DH and I always disagree on the thermostat! I can stand 65-67, but 63 or lower during the day is a little rough! We turn it down to 63 at night. Nice deals on your seeds and son's clothes!

  4. Looking Forward Says:
    1420323567

    Baker Creek Seeds has a store in our town - love it. Smile

  5. FrugalTexan75 Says:
    1420325315

    I get cold inside my place even with layers upon layers of winter type clothing on. I have my temp at 64 ... can't imagine 60!

    Good deal you got on those clearance clothes!

  6. ThriftoRama Says:
    1420331168

    I admit at 60 I lit the wood stove and sat in front of it. But it saved us money!

  7. chloe Says:
    1420345425

    Brrrr! I'm so glad that since our kids are little we can keep the temperature up. I'll be sad when we have to lower it again. My husband runs hot all of the time, but I prefer to be toasty warm.

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