Cheap Pagan Bitching

Blessings Darlings!

So far with this unemployment I've been doing the usual stuff.  Looking at the finances to see how long before we have to start taking money from the emergency fund, moving money from the places I've already been taking surveys for cash, finally being able to weed the garden and get a big planting of green beans in.  

Today I move into 'Cheap Pagan Bitch' phase, and see how to live on less cash.  Obviously this is going to require plenty of garden work to get us fed.  And I suppose we might qualify for about $20 a month of food stamps until my social security retirement actually starts arriving.  (I didn't realize that their info 'you can apply up to 3 months before you want to start it' meant 'it takes at least 3 months to get you into the system.  Apply REALLY EARLY".)  

 So no one's getting more clothes for a while.  No paid entertainment - free concerts at the Amp, bringing picnic dinner is still a go. No buying more music, it's free radio apps.  And I quit smoking, which will save us about $30 a month.

Used books are allowed.  New books . . . so tempting!  So many of my friends are authors and I'm already behind on buying ALL THE BOOKS.  But I'll live without them.  OTOH, I'm NOT stopping the money for Patreon's I'm in.  

And, clearly, I won't be harassing Byron Ballard and Amy Blackthorn and all the others at Free Spirit Gathering. 

I can't change what we pay for rent (which is pretty low for the space we have) or health insurance.  We need the medications we're on (well, I might be able to reduce blood pressure meds soon, but we'll see.) 

 We have to eat, and we will reduce our spending on that with the help of the garden and cooking from scratch - but we were already spending relatively little on that.  I certainly will be making more food from scratch - all the loaf bread, egg roll and dumpling wrappers, all egg rolls and dumplings, maybe even all corn and wheat tortillas.  But not the English Muffins and biscuits - only the Chubby Hubby eats those and there aren't small recipes for biscuits.  I'm going to continue to buy those because I don't want to stand over a hot pan cooking English Muffins at this time of year (and I don't think we have the round things to pour the batter in.  I've done this enough to know that the thinner poured batter ones are better than the bread/muffin like cut-and-cook ones.)  Bread will be baked outside in bread maker.  Much baking will be done outside in toaster oven.  Air frying will be done outside in . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . . air fryer. 

My husband will pitch a fit if I switch from good Chinese thin and thick soy sauces and go to big bottles of Kikkoman JAPANESE soy sauce.  He might just have to live with that.  You know how some folks have lots of different types of vinegars?  He's like that with soy sauce.  And a little bit with vinegar, too, really.  But I digress . . .

Cars - I could take my car off the road, rather than get new tags and pay personal property tax on it.  I probably won't, and just get 1 year tags instead of two year.  

Electric bill - Might go up a bit, with more home cooking.  AC is set at 80 days, 77 nights.  If the heat dome hits here the bill will go up.

Hell if I know what I'm going to do about propane for winter heating.  The tank is at 20% now, fine for the water heater.  The 'poor tax' for partial fills (the delivery charges, same if you get 100 gallons or 500 gallons or 50 gallons) is at least $35 per delivery.  I don't know if the cost per gallon is going to go up or down from where it is now.  And the company hides the cost it is per gallon now until you put in an order.  Snort.

We'll get by well enough.  I have assets I could sell.  I have a little money left in my IRA.  I'd rather not tap them at age 66, of course.   And I'll probably start very actively (vs the low-key stuff I've got going on now) look for a job in a few weeks, after I decompress.  Anywhere in Maryland (and I'm 2 miles from the border) pays more an hour than I've been making, which should offset increased gas cost in driving there.

Frondly, Fern

Breathing Room

Blessings Darlings!

Long time readers of this blog know that money - well, lack of it - has been a feature in my life for a bunch of years now.  Things have FINALLY eased up for a bit!  Since this ease is from FINALLY having some serious work for our home-based business ... we don't know how long this will last.

Still, rent being due is no longer panic inducing.  And bills that we've had to ignore are being paid off.  It feels really nice.

Of course, since the financial reality is still 'future uncertain', the basics of our lifestyle isn't changing.  I'm able to re-stock the staple foods we got very low on (flour, canned veggies for specific dishes we make a lot, coffee, tea, etc) but still did it with the 'low-end' replacements (generic tagless tea bags rather than nice loose tea, for example.)

That said ...  it's the Chubby Hubby's birthday.  The Spawn is treating us to the Maryland Renaissance Fair.  The Fair is a 2 hour drive from here, so we're planning on getting a hotel room for the night before, and are planning meals at three of my husbands favorite restaurants in the Annapolis to Baltimore corridor.  We'll use my employee discount at the hotel, and his senior discount at the Fair.

It's going to be a 30 hour or so family vacation.  With most of our money (vs the Spawn's) spent on food, since the motel won't be much.  Our first vacation in ... 20 years. 

I'm chuffed.

Frondly, Fern

EOM

Blessings Darlings!

Have you noticed that the 'end of money' EOM keeps coming earlier and earlier compared to the "end of month" EOM?  Here, where we're supposed to get 2 paychecks a month, we've only gotten 2 1/3 since November 1.  That's ONE THIRD of our usual/budgeted for income for the last 3 1/2 months.  We're hurting.  Our emergency fund is dry.  We're running really really late in paying some bills.  We've even taken withdrawals from the Chubby Hubby's IRA!

Normally, this would be mitigated at least as far as our grocery money by our son paying 1/4 of his income for buying groceries, but his hours have been cut drastically at work.  Partly because they cut every one's hours, partly because the restaurant he works for has had a cut in customers due to Lent, partly because even before Lent the 'labor costs' at the restaurant were higher than they wanted. They can't cut cooks, they can't cut salaried management, servers get paid less than hosts so cutting them isn't as 'useful (tho' they HAVE sent them home as well), so the Host gets sent home and management seats customers and handles the cash register.

AND - our electric provider estimates our bill most months.  The last bill was estimated, and we paid about half of it.  But they estimated LOW, even by normal usage standards - and the month was COLD COLD COLD so our electric usage for heat was HIGH HIGH HIGH.  We're going to get slapped by a particularly high electric bill next month, on top of what we already owe them.

So, here it's all about trying to stretch what we already have as far as we can.  Car tires are a bit over-filled to increase MPG.  My afternoons are spent sitting under blankets on the couch - not watching TV, but sewing patches on pants in a 60 degree house.  The water supplies to the two toilets that run on have been shut off.  My lunches have been featuring soup and small potatoes/sweet potatoes, leftover veggies, and small sprinkles of cheese, and the Chubby Hubby's lunches are the same soup plus half a sandwich of cheap lunch meat (on home-made bread). The only meat bought each month that isn't 'reduced for quick sale' is one 10 pound bag of chicken leg quarters for $7.90 total. 

One good thing - the Chubby Hubby has finally started to do some needed household repairs, which help make things more efficient around here.  Like - the cold water filter into the washer is now fixed!  I no longer have to carry buckets of cold water from the kitchen to the laundry room to wash clothes.  Because you KNOW I'm not using hot water for my laundry and rinses!  He also spliced a new plug on to the old iron, so it works for ALL of us.  For the past few months I was the only one who could bend the cord 'just so', which allowed some broken wires ends to meet.  He used a cord we had salvaged off something else, years ago, to replace the old plug, so it only cost him time/effort. 

This next weekend we'll be working on the running-on toilets.  I'm hoping we won't have to buy parts for them, just clean calcium and rust deposits off the inside of the tanks and flappers. 

The Spawn has even stopped buying his occasional fast food, instead coming home and eating instead.  I may have to keep some pizza dough half-baked baked, or make him some bagels, so he can whip up home-made pizza fast.

What things are you doing to keep from having to spend money?  Share your ideas here or ....

Have I mentioned that I started a Frugal group on Facebook?  You can join that and share your ideas there, too!  It's at https://www.facebook.com/groups/457503407646133/?bookmark_t=group

Frondly, Fern

Freezer Eatin'

Blessings Darlings!

The funniest part of Eating While Broke - and there really are LOTS of funny things to it - is the 'creating meals out of the stuff buried in the freezer' part.  We're spending almost no money at the store any more - only milk, cat food, and a few odds and ends this week (small yogurt, can of water chestnuts, egg roll wrappers, etc) - but the Chubby Hubby thinks this week's menus are totally outstanding.

Sunday - Home made pizza, salad, fruit.
Monday - Stir Fry using Reduced price Mystery Raw Meat, home grown cabbage, home sprouted       bean sprouts, and rice.
Tuesday - Shish Ka Bob, using reduced priced beef, home grown zucchini, and onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, served in home-made pita. May need yogurt for sauce.
Wednesday - Korean Seafood Pancakes and ... probably seasoned bean sprouts.
Thursday - Kalbi (Korean BBQ Ribs) using reduced price thin flanken, rice, green beans, salad
Friday - Fried Chicken - from reduced price chicken, potatoes, broccoli, salad
Saturday - Pulled Pork - last of those 50 cent a pound pork shoulders, cole slaw, rolls, fried leftover potatoes
Sunday - Egg Rolls from scratch, using the pulled pork and some salad shrimp.  Will probably buy rather than make wrappers.
Monday - Rumaki - we now have a bag full of frozen livers from whole chickens we've bought. Will need to buy a can of sliced water chestnuts, spicy green beans, rice, salad

And when I type reduced price I mean the meat was already on sale but hadn't moved, so the store knocked the price down lower.  Cabbage, bean sprouts, and green beans from the garden are the main vegetables used this week.  Zucchini will start taking over next week.  Garden cucumbers and more cabbage are in salads.



The fried chicken and the rumaki are the only things that use 'intact' pieces of meat ... and in the rumaki's case the pieces are accumulated livers from whole birds made extraordinary.  The rest all use meat cut small and mixed with other stuff.

I've got sweet corn, but no idea where to fit it in.  I may freeze it.  Also have 6 granny smith apples, which I'll probably bake for desserts.  As a result of that ... we may need to buy some whipped cream.

Frondly, Fern

Summer Scarcity

Blessings Darlings!

The Chubby Hubby is home from his business trip and visiting his mother (at this time she's NOT going into a nursing home).  My barely-there garden is peaking, at 2 pounds of beans and 4 cucumbers a week.  The weather has cooled down to merely summer from the incredible heat and humidity of this last July.

As is always the case after CH's summer trip, we're broke. We'll have to take money out of his IRA to pay bills, and the Spawn will probably be buying all our groceries.  Luckily, they are understaffed at work so he's getting more hours than usual.  Unfortunately, since he was at work for 15 hours last Friday, he's been hit by a summer cold and been out sick today and half of yesterday.  I have the cold, too.  My sinuses are like Dr. Who's Tardis - they may SEEM normal, but I assure you that they are far far bigger and more swollen than you can see from looking at them from the outside.  They have swolled to house size on the inside.

Did you know that there is a Chinese dish that uses cucumbers as the vegetable?  Well, there are probably several, but I'm referring to Bon Bon Chicken Salad.  I'm making that for dinner Friday night.  Because that's the veggie I have the most of.  Tomorrow will be .... probably a pork or tofu stir fry with bean sprouts and cabbage and a carrot for color.  I sprouted the bean sprouts myself, of course, and grew the cabbage.  I did not grow the carrot.

I'm trying to figure out a way to afford high-quality 'facial tissue' to get us thru' the cold.  I just don't think it's ethical to head to the store that has it on sale, use the coupon that requires we buy two packages of 3 packs each, and then return one of the 3 packs.  That way we'd end up with only the one 3 pack we need, and use the entire coupon on it.

If I don't spend any of the house money on food, or pay the credit cards, then I can afford car insurance.  I'm very glad the garden is peaking now!

Sorry about all the whining.  I'll be more uplifting and discuss puff pastry based treats sometime soon.

Frondly, Fern

Garden Time!

Blessings Darlings!

Now that it's February it's time to start your garden.

Yes really.

Time to map out what you want to plant, and where, in your garden.  And in what order: if you plan on planting some spreading vine type plants (squash, sweet potatoes) you can put early harvested crops (spinach, lettuce, radishes, turnips) in the path of those vines.  You'll have eaten and/or stored the food by the time the vines reach that part of the garden.  

Order a few seed catalogs to look over vegetable varieties and get an idea of what area they take up by the time they're harvested.

It's also time to start seeds.  I've started herbs and onions so far - not that they are starting well.  Being low on money I'm using OLD seeds, and only the thyme is doing really well,  Still, one parsley seed is up, a bit of oregano, one red onion.  There's still time for them .... and it's not like my house is kept at 70 degrees as they'd like!

I'll be starting more seeds today, Gods willing and if the creek don't rise.

I don't use grow lights or any fancy set up.  I'm using a sunny room, south and west exposures.  I'm starting the seeds in potting soil and using egg cartons instead of pots.  They are set in old baking pans. I'm REALLY low tech here (oh, the irony!).

In a month or so they'll be day tripping on the deck on warm days to start hardening off.

Considering all the challenges my gardening faced last year (clearing sod, wet spring, drought in summer) I had GREAT crops.  I'm hoping to do as well this year .... AND have better deer protection!

The garden is a fundamental part of everything in both the preparedness / prepper / survival / survivalist line AND in the broke / cheap / cheap eats / broke line as well.  Start now.  You won't regret it.

Frondly, Fern

The Writing Life

Blessings Darlings!

We have our own business.  It's primarily writing software for B2B applications, mostly involving HID class devices (Keyboards, mouses, etc) and TCP/IP applications (remoting controlling your shark tank).

But it JUST dawned on me that I can't think of this as a "technology business", but that it's FAR more like being (or being married to) an author. 

Not only is the process of creation the same ... but you don't get paid until/unless the work is written and edited.  And if one project takes longer than projected, you don't get paid when you expected to be.  And, again, if one project takes longer than expected, you ALSO don't get to work on, and then get paid for, the NEXT project on time.

Which explains why I'm not doing my Big Shopping Trip this month.  Which is okay, the usual trip lets me get a bit more of all staples than we usually use each month.  But, fundamentally, we'll be spending half of what we'd be getting on food stamps this month. 

So, we'll be eating lots of bean sprouts.  Lots of beans.  We ALWAYS eat lots of soups, so that won't change. 

I'm a bit concerned that my grand plans for paying off our debts by a huge amount this year won't be happening, let alone the planned increase in our savings. 

OTOH, I DO have some plans on ways to increase income, but they won't be immediate .... but that's par for the course, isn't it?

How are your New Years Plans working out so far?

Frondly, Fern

Kotatsu Heating

Blessings Darlings!

Winter has finally arrived here on the east coast of the US. It's 31 degrees F as I type, and not due to get much warmed today.  A second round of freezing rain is due tonight/early tomorrow morning.  Nothing particularly out of the ordinary.

Being broke, cheap, and green, I keep the heat here turned low.  The house is set for 60 F right now.  Spawn has a tiny space heater he occasionally runs in his bedroom, Chubby Hubby has a larger space heater in his lab. My areas - the kitchen and my office - have no space heaters.  I feel the cold less than they do, for one thing.  Second, when I'm in the kitchen I'm cooking and otherwise moving.

But in my office I'm sitting at my desk all day. And my office is in the basement. With the heat vent closed. What I do to keep warm on days like today is, well, first line of defense is dressing warmly, but what I'm typing about today is a modification on the Japanese Kotatsu heating system.

Kotatsu heating is having a small heating element under the table you are working at.  Houses in Japan aren't the Tyvak'd air-tight things we aim for here in the US - they allow air in, so here weren't problems with carbon monoxide poisoning!  So you'd have the tiny smoldering fire under the table, a light table cloths, and you'd be kept warm in a cold room.

Now they use electric heaters.

Me, I've got another system going. I have one light tea light candle, in a glass jar.  My desk has a partition (so my legs don't show if you were sitting across from me) so that side holds in the heat, and it has sides on the left and right.  My legs go into the cubby hole ... and I have attached a curtain (using Velcro) to that opening.  This keeps the heat in.

It really makes a HUGE difference in my comfort level on cold days.  I'm not saying my upper back is very warm, it's not (I might put on a sweater on colder days), but my legs are VERY happy and my hands are very happy (I can put them under the curtain for warmth, but they don't seem to need that with my legs warm.).

And tea candles are cheap!  Craft stores have them for about a dime each on sale, and I get the for way less at garage sales. 

One candle. An unused piece of material. Hours of warmth for a nickle.

I'm a happy Fern.

Frondly, Fern

Winter and Honor

Blessings Darlings!

I'm writing this on Friday morning, tho' I think it'll be posted on Tuesday next week. (I'm trying to post almost daily thru' Monday thru' Friday right now).  And tonight we're due to get some Seasonally Appropriate Weather, for the first time this winter.  A few inches of snow overnight, followed by sleet then rain tomorrow.

Which means the Spawn has to go to his job obnoxiously early tomorrow morning on snow-covered roads (they don't plow here unless there is more snow).

Being our son, he will be there and be there on time.  Normal weather is not a reason to not go to work.  Even tho' I'll be the one driving - because our car won't run if it sits out in the rain all day in the parking lot at work.

His job. His honor.  My getting up and being out of here before dawn.

Oh well.  That's life.

Frondly, Fern

Soup Stock Making

Blessings Darlings!

So, you already know I'm cheap/frugal/broke-ass. And Green.  So I made stock yesterday, from bones and veggie scraps.  Having an open can of tomato paste from a previous day I added some of that, which of course made the stock that much nummier. 

Husband and I discussed that nummier-ness.  I mentioned that Emeril puts tomato paste on veggies and roasts them before using them for stock.  But I use the peeling of carrots, ends/leaves of celery, etc in my stock (being cheap, ya know), etc so don't roast them.  OTOH, I NEVER have enough onion scraps, so I can put the tomato paste on sliced onions and roast THEM before making stock next time, along with roasting the bones.  (BTW, I tried putting tomato paste on the bones before roasting them, but the tomato paste burned before the bones were well browned, wetter veggies are the way to go if roasting tomato paste.)

So that's the plan for next time.  Which could be soon, because I sure go thru' a lot of stock in winter!

Frondly, Fern