My efforts at frugal living

[Kaleva]

48. Update 1/10/13 Edited 1/12/13

Last edited Sat Jan 12, 2013, 10:09 PM - Edit history (1)

Got the garden area pretty much ready last year. Will be adding the compost I have in the spring when the soil is ready to be worked again and I'll probably add some very old manure too which I have access to. The Gurney's seed catalog came in and I got the bug and placed my order on line after I made a plan on what to plant where using the square foot gardening system.

Gurney's offered a instant on-line $25 coupon for orders over $50 which I was able to use and that paid for the shipping and handling and 3 of the tomato plants.

Did my first on line grocery shopping last night at Walmart.com. I ordered:

Purina Dog Chow Healthy Life Nutrition, 8.8 lb (2)
Great Value: Oven-Toasted Quick Oats, 42 Oz ( 2)
Great Value: Pure Sugar, 5 Lb (1)
Orville Redenbacher's Movie Theater Butter Microwave Popcorn, (10ct box)
Log Cabin: Original Syrup, 64 oz. (1)
Great Value: Clover Honey, 16 Oz (1)
Great Value Peanut Butter Crunchy, 40 oz (2)

Since my order was over $45, I got free shipping and the stuff ought to arrive next week. I budget $136 for food for me and my dog of which $16 of that I figure on spending for the dog food.

Did a bunch of walking today paying bills, getting a haircut and then finally ending up at the Family Dollar store where I bought bread, canned soups, crackers, tuna and they also had hot dogs and lunch meat at 50% off so I bought several packages of those. I was pretty whooped and sore by then and a lady working there called up the local transportation company and they arrived in a few minutes to give me a ride back home for 75 cents. It would have been a killer to walk back carrying the groceries.

I think I'm going to start tomorrow rearranging things in the basement. Empty out and take down the pantry room which is right at the bottom of the stair way, move the work bench from the west side of the basement wall to that spot which will greatly increase the clearance at the bottom of the steps and put the pantry back up again where the work bench used to be. I can't work for much of any length of time but I got a long time to do the job as there is no rush.

It's damn nice having all, except one, of the bills paid off and while I don't have much, all the regular monthly and routine expenses are covered for and I have some spending money left. The one remaining bill I have is at the local hospital and I'm paying $150 a month on that and it ought to be paid off in about 12 months. That is assuming no further charges are added to it in the meantime. Even after I paid for the seeds and plants for the garden, my quarterly home insurance premium, the quarterly bill for garbage pickup, 5 cartons of cigarettes, my dog's and my medication, the monthly utility bills, $150 on the hospital bill, the phone and internet, the winter property taxes, $79 on food so far, and $10 on a haircut, I still have $111 left for the next 32 days. Plus I'll be getting back $150 back at the end of this month my ex-wife had borrowed from me. At least she tells me she's going to be paying me back.

Edit: Just completed the basement project. I am tired and I hurt but there sure is the space now! Instead of just a 1 1/2' clearance from the bottom of the basement step, I have 5' of clearance. I emptied all the shelves, took down the pantry carefully so I could re-use the wood, moved the work bench to where the pantry was and re-built the pantry sehlves on the west wall.

For food storage, I now have 4 11" deep X 73" long shelves and 4 11" deep X 68" long shelves plus there is 21" of clearance at the bottom of both sets of shelves for containers. Using spare nails and scrap pieces of wiring, I hung up my extension cords, trouble light, hoses, hand saws and pipe wrenches under the basement stairs so they are out of the way, easy to get at and nice and neat. I also made sure I left room there for a 5 cubic foot chest freezer if I were to get one in the future.

I should have taken a before and after picture as it seems I have twice the room now in the north half of the basement. I didn't haul anything out and I reused everything, including nails and screws, so it didn't cost me anything.

Tomorrow I'm going to start on the basement stairway. I'll scrape down the walls, paint them pound in nails to hang up the pots and pans I dodn't use often so that would free up kitchen cupboard space.

Tomorrow I'm going to start on the