Hello there Adventurous Friends, greetings from South Dakota. How you doing? Happy New Year! A word I choose for this year is contentment - to have satisfaction living a simple life, preparing for retirement May 31st 2024. I started the month inspired & motoviated to get back to some old habits: drink more water, eat more fruits & veggies, no snacks after supper, go outside for at least 15 consecutive minutes every day for the sunshine & exercise, read before going to sleep.
I participated in the Uber Frugal Month Challange. Yes, I'm a frugal weirdo. This is Sentence a Day where I join others & write a little something about each of my days, wrote in a long drawn out sentence or 2. Let's see if my New Year - New Beginnings inspiration & motivation continued throughout the month.
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| A cold start to a brand-new year. |
* Celebrating a New Year - Had Christmas in the camper, the best Christmas I think I've had in years since being far from family, went from tent camping to a truck slide in to a toy hauler, found new caves to explore with the Grands when they visit this summer, got a new Grand back in June, she made #8.
Week 1
* Weekend 1st & 2nd - 2 days off work, stayed inside mostly, relaxed, cooked, cleaned, read, did laundry, watched tv, took apart the rest of the Legos, played with Rose.
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It's too cold for Rose's feet, so I'm getting in my 15 minutes of sunshine & exercise by myself. |
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| Sunday snowday chocolate gravy & biscuits. |
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| I love the clothesline in the basement, let me tell you I did not like it at all at 1st, I actually thought it was hideous & wanted it took down, now I could do without the dryer & not the clothesline, not using the dryer makes a noticeable difference in the electric bill, unplugging the alarm clock during the day doesn't make a difference, I know from experimenting. |
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| She thinks I'm going to get her new bone, look at her ears laid back & she's looking at me out of the corners of her eyes. |
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| The amaryllis sprouted a flower stalk, wondered if it was going to bloom a 3rd year in a row. |
* Mon 3rd - Back to work another year, same ol same ol, went to Club meeting, there was a pizza casserole & ice cream, more talk about having the gun show, talked about having burgers in the park sometime during the summer.
* Tues 4th - Blizzard conditions, Club's hosted community blood drive was rescheduled till March, cooked chicken in the crockpot to make meals the rest of the week, called to get retirement annuity estimate, 5 to 7 days wait to get it.
* Wed 5th - Made appointments to get yearly well women exam & a mammogram for the same day Kevin goes to the demonologists to have a growth removed from his elbow.
* Thurs 6th - Paid the insurance for the side by side & 4wheeler, wrote check for Club dues, got gas, dropped off the water bill, ordered checks at the bank, didn't need any groceries, Kevin made some brownies, I ate one two, watched Christmas with the Kranks.
* Fri 7th - Finished taking down the Christmas decorations at work, ate a couple more brownies.
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| Getting in my daily sunshine & exercise walking to work & not using up the gas in the car. |
* Sat 8th - Cold, finished off the last brownie with a 2nd cup of coffee, made chicken salad using the leftover chicken, made a sandwich for sampling, it was good.
* Sun 9th - Took a ride in the truck to the dollar store, had chicken salad sandwiches for a picnic lunch, stopped in the hardware store, chose a pot to replant the Christmas cactus, price check was $33, put pot back on it's shelf, planned summer visits with Daughter.
* Mon 10th - Got annuity estimate in the mail, whooo hoooo, better than expected, bought plane ticket to go visit Daughter & Moma.
* Wed 12th - Got letters in the mail from each of the Grands, did a little extra cleaning at work, no one showed up to do the cleaning, Kevin got a sooner appointment to get his growth removed.
* Thurs 13th - Did an online training module at work, 2 more in the queue to be done by June, picked up 4 needed items at the grocery store, resisted getting the chocolate bridge mix, did bank business, didn't need any gas for the car, made oatmeal raisin cookies with Kevin after supper, there was oatmeal & raisins that needed to be used up.
* Fri 14th - Listened to the wind howl around & around the house while doing morning reading, had to work all day instead of getting off early because the boss hit a deer on her way to work, got Grand's plane tickets for their summer visit, got property tax invoice in the mail that's due the last day of April.
Week 3
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| The amount left in the bottom that won't pump out will last about a week. |
* Sun 16th - 2 days off work, got a dusting of snow, Kevin made the chocolate gravy & I made the biscuits, planned some activities for Grand's visits, started Valentine letters to Grands, washed a couple loads of laundry, hung clothes on the clothesline to dry, made those prize-winning cookies & some blueberry bread.
* Mon 17th - E-checked Kevin in for his dermatologist appointment, folded laundry, did some cleaning around in the house, looked on Pinterest for chalk art & playdough ideas, took Rose for a long walk, Club meeting, ate at #3, had enough left over for lunch.
* Tues 18th - Went with Kevin to have his growth removed, it went well, he'll need to go for another removal deep down to make sure all the cells are gone, stopped by Runnings, got some trail mix to snack on, ate supper at Culver's before heading home.
* Wed 19th - Didn't get in the mood to work on the household to-do list, did some blog reading, attended a benefits & retirement webinar, watched episodes of Undercover.
* Thurs 20th - Got the grocery items on my list, Rose needed dog food, Card statement was a BIGGIE with vehicle insurances. plane tickets, photo puzzles, Legos, My Zoo Box, books about whales...everything goes on that card for the award points then the balance is paid in full when a payment is due.
* Fri 21st - Got a dusting of snow, went into work a little early to shovel the sidewalks, very windy in the afternoon.
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| Went on a good long walk in the buttes. |
* Sat 22nd - Gathered free printable activities to go along with the Bible story Jonah & the Whale, made a delicious tator soup from ingredients on hand that we'll eat on all week.
* Sun 23rd - Cleaned the coffee maker, watered the flower, had a picnic, finished up Grand's Valentine's letters, need to get teething crackers for Baby since she's not ready for candy yet.
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| Having leftover soup hot from the thermos. |
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| The amaryllis sprouted 2 flower stalks, Grand's craft/artwork in the background. |
* Tues 25th - Up at 3 am with a sick dog, guess those nilla wafers & peanut butter that we enjoyed so much together didn't sit well with her, a dusting of snow turned into several inches of accumulation, read Frugality Is My Hobby, E-checked myself in for appointments, made snow cream, ordered carry-on luggage bags based on buyers guide top picks.
* Wed 26th - Felt starved for breakfast & coffee because couldn't eat before appointment, glad to have physical & mammogram over with, went by myself since Kevin already had his appointment, got items on list at Walmart, needed hangers & craft/art supplies, got a burger & fries at Culvers drive-thru.
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| Treat for the drive home. Have you tried these? |
* Fri 28th - Achy, woozy, sore arms, headache & upset stomach, came home from work early, laid on the couch then went to bed early, watched the last episodes of Undercover & Major Dad.
Week 5
* Sat 29th - Feeling better, worked later doing inventory, last day of Netflix for a while.
* Sun 30th - Did a couple loads of laundry & hung on the line to dry, picked up stuff here & there around in the house, put stuff away, did some blog reading & relaxed, started watching Little House on the Prairie DVD collection.
* Mon 31st - Folded the clothes off the clothesline, Kevin got an appointment in April to have the final removal of his growth done, cooked ham steaks, okra & butternut squash for supper.
** I stuck to my old habits most every day. Yay! There was a snack or 2 that was eaten after supper, I probably skimped on the other items a time or 2 too, but overall, I think I did good. Some frugal things this month were: rinsed out ziplock bags to be reused; intentionally ate more foods from the freezer & pantry without stocking up on more items; took lunch, snacks & drinks to work every day; had a laptop carrying case on hand & started using it as a lunchbox when my backpacked needed to be replaced, canceled the Hallmark movies streaming channel till next Christmas, cancelled Netflix for a time to watch DVD collections.
These are some of the things that's been going on in my neck of the woods, how about you?
