Spending the weekend cooking from the freezer & pantry. My Sat, Sun & Mon are the rest of the worlds Mon, Tues & Wed. I have the most to do on the week ends, then get my break on Tues, Wed & Thurs. Just off from everyone.........again: Contrary1. The name seems to fit.

No spending today again. Worked in the yard, sunny here in the Seattle area. Warm enough for no jacket! Have my bed ready for the tomatoes, compost all hauled in there today. The yard is starting to look like a gardener lives here! Mowed the lawns for the first time yesterday.

I've got my 100 trees from the state nursery; I just need enough motivation to start planting them. This is an inexpensive way to add trees to your property if you have more than a city lot. Not much choice and the size varies each year, but the price is right for my budget. Pennies per tree! I've done this every year for 17 years now, and some of my first ones are getting quite nice!

Enjoying the Olympics, especially since my yarn & needles came! I'm getting the baby gifts done while just sitting.....I love knitting, it makes me feel productive while I'm just sitting around.
I also refuse to go to the baby showers without a hand made gift of some kind. Both of these babies are coming into exceptionally frugal families too.....so my gifts won't be the only hand made items.

Still haven't done much on my Feb goal of seeing to the outdoor lighting situation here. Just because the days are getting longer, we're using less, but that isn't what I meant!

Just in case I wasn't totally SURE .....in case I had any nagging bit of a wish for a horse of my own still........ This morning I see 2 of the 4 horses calmly applying fertilizer to all my gardens & lawn (several acres) By the looks of the prints outside, they have been everywhere but inside the house.
One call to their "people" and I just got to watch the show. I did get the front gate closed....but noticed they had been outside the gate too! They must have been out all night. The grass should grow well, I got some exercise & my horse fix is all taken care of! The fence repair is not my responsiblity either!!
It's a no spending day here........got the big mower fired up and mowed all of the lawns I can get to, things look really nice. Have the burn pile going (the rural way to clean up your yard) and dinner is from the freezer.
I'm going to settle down for an evenings worth of Olympic events.......with a glass of wine.

After 13 months, my autistic kiddo had a major meltdown this afternoon after just getting off his bus. I was totally taken by surprise. Now, I'm just exhausted, brain dead and waiting til I can quit for the night & it's lights out.

It was a no spend day..........one good point for the day. The sun was out, which for the Seattle area is a new & unusual thing! I did some more prep work in the yard, getting ready for the gardens.

I had 2 more emails re; the knitting classes. One sounds possible. My needles I ordered on line came today........now I'm just waiting for my yarn. I need to get some projects in the works if I'm going to have students. Important for them to have samples to see I think.

I'm still listening to the audio book, The Richest Man in Babylon. Very good... started me to visualize the money coming into the household and the money going out. I need to get this more clear in my mind, and create a place for the savings part.......Too tired to flesh this out in my head.

Praying tomorrow is better; praying for wisdom to know what to do in these meltdown situations!

My own horse. I was sure I wanted one, before I died.........even moved to a house with a barn & all the fencing in. But, I've come to the conclusion it is no longer on my want list!!
I leased the pasture out to a woman with 4 horses.......so I get to see them, hear them and go chat with them if I choose. But, the responsibility and the financial liability isn't mine this way! With our nasty weather this week, the horses have been spooked and have been tearing up their blankets, and other destructive little behaviors. I just made a phone call........and didn't have to deal with the details myself. I am pleased to find all this out about myself without having to spend the big bucks!! I'm more than satisfied to watch someone elses' horses!!!
This is a good lesson......before jumping into something all the way, try to find ways I can get involved to see if is a fit for me.

On another note..........the new fridge is here today. It is newer, energy efficient & all that. I had to move the food from the old fridge to the new one and found a couple things I hadn't used up in time. (slapping my own hand here) I will continue to work on this business of managing my fridge space & the leftovers situation.

I had 2 inquiries re; knitting classes today. I don't think either of them will sign up, as they are too far away from my home. Craigs list pulls from a large area, even tho I listed the county I was in.

Another no spending day here. All meals at home. No driving either. Worked in the garden, prepping for strawberry plants I'm being given sometime in the near future. I've been putting the word out to anyone that will listen, that I'm up for any plants, veggie or flowers. Hoping to fill out this yard without spending much.

we've been experiencing a bit of a wind storm since the middle of the night....power out, cable out, etc. Just came back on & everyone scurried off to their electronic devices! (Including me!) We did OK, kids were reading, knitting, playing games, etc....I'm pleased to say, we all remembered how to do things that weren't powered by something.
It's a no spending day, although we had plans to buy something for dinner if the power didn't come back on, but the crock pot is simmering away with our very frugal chicken dinner.
The first of the paychecks came in the mail today, so I can start the February book work here. The rest of the monies should be in by Monday night.
My business cards came in the mail today, so I'm ready to spread them around. I'm confidant I'll scare up some sewing customers soon. Once it starts, I believe I'll be busy. Can't wait. Money for the challenge.

I was planning a trip out for errands, spending a bit on assorted things that have been on "the List" for weeks now...........but, when checking the calendar, discovered it's a no school day. Since I can rarely get my autistic kiddo in the car to go anywhere, and if I do, I wouldn't be able to concentrate..........we're staying home.
So, chalk up another no money day!
I did have to run the dishwasher due to extra folks here last night....but am consistantly remembering to use air dry & no heat.
Took a close look at one of the water heaters, it has a box on the top of it with dials, switches, etc. Was set on #3, lower temp. I moved it to #2 which says smart saver. #1 says Smart. Think I'll see what sort of change #2 makes, as this is the heater the water comes from for the kitchen.
Water heater number 2 has no box, so I presume it is operating under expensive & stupid (compared to the other one!!)
The heater is in a closet in the bedroom wing........I'll try to open the doors to it at night, since the closet is always quite warm. Have to wait until after C goes to bed, due to his compulsion to close doors.
Using half of yesterdays roast & making BBQ beef for tonight. Will package leftovers in meal size portions for the freezer. Just like money in the bank!!

I made pancakes this AM for the bunch & found out I was all out of my pre measured sacks of dry ingredients for pancakes.........so, I just finished up 7 of them for the cupboard. What a time saver that is. I can be half asleep & still make pancakes!! Refuse to pay someone else to measure out the dry ingredients for me!!! These taste better anyway. I would love to experiment with different flavors & add ins, but the kids are stuck with choc chip & banana.....so we just alternate. Boring for the cook! I did sneak in an apple cinnamon day when I had a dab of applesauce leftover!
Roast in the crock pot with tons of garlic, the house is going to smell great soon....... Home made split pea soup thawing out for kids lunch. So, again, all 3 meals from scratch....and we'll have plenty of the roast beef for several other meals this week.
I read other posts here & am struck by how many people eat out so often. Makes me realize how much money I'm saving by cooking at home.
I discovered this AM I have a secret weapon re; electricity used here....... the autistic young man that lives here is obsessing lately about turning out the lights. (I've got the energy saving bulbs anyway) He does a few other things obsessively too that drive me nuts, but I decided to be grateful today about the lighting!
I have some outdoor lighting to switch to the new bulbs, but for the life of me, I can't figure out how to get the fixture apart to get to the light bulb. They are all on timers too.......which is good I guess, but so far, I can't figure out how to turn the lights on & have them stay on....there are some times I would love to do that! Will have to move outdoor lighting to my February TO DO list. I loved someones post here that picked one thing to focus on for each month..........that will be my February focus. Outdoor lights! I've got several big flood lights too, on timers, but I don't know if they have replacements that would be more energy efficient, will have to research.
The idea of being proactive re; my finances has really taken hold with me. I'm an avid list maker, love to research & am addicted to seeing progress in paying bills off.
Here's to another no spending day!!