Saturday, November 2, 2024

Thrift

 After a very warm Halloween, things cooled down last night. Tim spent November 1st deer hunting (no luck), but was thrilled beyond belief that he'd "put six turkeys to bed", which means that he'd watched six turkeys roost in an old hemlock at nightfall. They will stay there all night, quiet and protected from the things that roam in the dark. They will come down at first light. All that Tim needed to do was to get up early enough to be waiting when they 'unroosted' (for lack of a better word). So he was up and gone at the crack of dawn. 

Yesterday was my adventure in the thrift store. Man, that was a pleasant hour. I rarely get time to do that, and I don't know why, really. It just seems like I've always got something that needs to get done getting in the way of something that I'd like to get done. 

Another thing is the car situation. We still have only one car. My car is fixed and ready to be inspected, but to get the salvage title changed to a regular title that allows the car to be driven, we will need to pay sales tax on it, which galls Tim. We paid sales tax when we bought it several years back. We bought it from the insurance company for $400, but we are required to pay sales tax on the blue book value of the car. In effect, we pay sales tax twice on the same car. Plus the enhanced inspection. Plus the tags and title transfer. 

We just paid our final installment on the property and school taxes, which we've been paying monthly since September. Now that this is done, we can turn our attention to getting my car through the required hoops to be put back on the road. 

Always something. 

Anyways, in addition to thrift shopping yesterday, I made a stop at Aldi's. They had small two pound-ish sliced hams. They were a bit pricey but I got a small one for $8.41. The nice thing about those little hams is that you can do so very much with them. Right now, I have a pot of potatoes simmering away with that ham, some celery and some onion. Once the potatoes are tender, I'll make a cheese sauce using cheddar and half and half to add to the soup. Cream of Potato is one of Tim's favorite soups and he's looking forward to supper. 

I still have 2/3s of the ham left. I froze 1/3, and I put the other third into the fridge. It will be a nice pairing for grilled ham and cheese to go with some home made tomato soup using stewed tomatoes from this summer. It's also a good way to use up the rest of that half and half. 

Even after that, I'll have enough ham left over to make a nice ham and cheese omelet at some point. And still there is a third of that ham waiting in the freezer to be used. 

When you break it all down like that, that $8. ham makes 5 or 6 good meals, which justifies the expense. Venison provides most of our meat for most of our year, but this year, we ran out (although I did find 3 more packages of hamburger that I did not realize that I had.) So we've been going to a grocery store that offers 5 packages of meat for $24.99. We buy mostly pork, chicken, italian sausage, and steaks, but those five packages of meat can be divided into Tim and Debby sized portions and tossed in the freezer. They will last us nearly two weeks. 

People complain about grocery prices. We don't see it that way. We choose where we will shop, and we shop carefully and mindfully. We are lucky to live in an area where farmers sell their produce and eggs at roadside stands. Next year, hopefully, I will once again have a garden to tend, and just maybe we'll have a wild turkey for Sunday dinner tomorrow.


32 comments:

  1. I love thrift store shopping. I've have found some wonderful things there and you can't beat the prices usually. Of course, every now and then a treasure that I really don't need just speaks to me and I have to take it home but we all deserve a little treat now and then, Debby.

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  2. Our municipal taxes are drawn automatically 10x/year. They don't have to be, but we opted for the convenience. Same with our water bill, but that is only 4x/yr.

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    1. Property taxes are sent out in August, and must be paid by mid-November. School taxes are separate, but happen in the same time frame. So...$8000+ going out the door in a 4 month period makes things a bit tight. We usually have money set aside, but we had the city snafu. The transmission went in Tim's car and so he had to buy a new one. Then a car ran a red light and hit him in June. So... we didn't really have a chance to build up our nest egg as usual.

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  3. I can't wait to see photos of your garden next year Debby.

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    1. Me either. It will be done on a smaller scale than your garden, sir!

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  4. Everyone whines about the high price of groceries but somehow manages to fill their shopping carts with potato chips, boxed junk cereal, ice cream, and processed foods. So we can't be doing all that badly. Sounds like you're a savvy shopper.

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    1. People do not understand how much processed food adds to their grocery bill. I think the biggest misconception is that people don't believe they have the time to cook.

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  5. Thrift shopping is always fun. I try not to do it because I don't need more stuff, but I always enjoy myself when I go!

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    1. We went again today to return a pair of pants. Tim bought three pair of pants. I looked at coats but didn't see anything that really called my name.

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  6. Eating well and healthily need not be expensive, as you'e shown.

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    1. It doesn't. Right now, I've got 1 cup of white northern beans soaking, and 1 cup of pinto beans. After the beans are softened, I'll add hamburger, chili powder, a couple cans of chili beans, onion, pepper, I will make a half recipe of corn bread, and tomorrow's dinner is taken care of. For supper, we've can take our choice...left over spare ribs, potato soup, or the chili left over from dinner. I do love crock pot season!

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  7. That ham is definitely a bargain as it provides so many meals. I do similar things with large packs of meat that are being sold off at a reduced price. The freezer is my friend.
    I am no longer able to eat cheese - which limits my meal options somewhat - but otherwise I would have really enjoyed all your recipes.

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    1. Freezers are great for stretching your food dollar!

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  8. Everyone here whines about grocery prices, but the restaurant parking lots are full! I am going to Aldi today to see if the hams are here yet. The cooler was cleaned and waiting earlier this week. I divide mine and freeze, too. Casseroles, soups, and sandwiches for days. I have barely raised my grocery budget because of bargain shopping and cooking at home. Yesterday we had spaghetti with sauce I made from my frozen garden tomatoes. We had family members in and out all day and they all said "I don't know what you are cooking, but it smells delicious" and it was - you could taste the tomatoes.

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    1. We just got back from working. We stopped at the grocery store. We got six packages of meat, which is more than enough to last us through the next two weeks, with what we already have.

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  9. Ham really is perfect for so many different meals. I've never cooked a wild turkey.

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    1. We find that it's best to lay bacon across it. It adds both flavor and moistness. Wild turkey is pretty dry.

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  10. We just pay what it is. No point complaining about prices.

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    1. We pay, but we also compare and we meal plan. Well. I do. Tim eats planned meals without complaint.

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  11. Small packages and ready meals always put the bills up.
    I love having a well stocked larder and buy in bulk where I can

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    1. I'm trying to use up everything in my cupboards and bins right now, so that is kind of what is 'driving' our meals.

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  12. You make me miss cooking my own meals.

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    1. I do have to say that I really enjoy winter cooking a lot. I love soups. I love being able to throw things in a crock pot and let them simmer, and come home to a meal. And there really are so many types of soup. I must say though that in the summer, I get tired of cooking.

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  13. That sounds incredibly cheap for ham. I've never had homemade tomato soup and I doubt it would taste anything like tinned soup.

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    1. It was $4.49 a pound, which is a lot more than I normally spend on meat. How much is it there? Bear in mind that .45 kilo = 1 lb.

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  14. You forgot to mention that you cook things from scratch. that really saves money and it's much better food.

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    1. That does make a big difference, doesn't it?

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  15. I would love to thrift store shop, but they're just awful where we are. Seems like the good ones are way east of Washington. That potato soup sounds really good.

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    1. That potato soup is delicious, take my word for it. It is a big favorite here. Boy, Allison, we went back to two thrift stores today. They had big sales going on at both of them. One had every item of clothing in the store going for 99 cents.

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  16. Glad to see your blog back in readable format. The Russians must have given up.

    Doing the grocery math is a necessity. I am amazed at the cost of a lasagna (one of our more expensive home meals) but when I figure that it makes us about 8 meals and divide the cost, it comes down to less than $5/meal which is pretty cheap if one counts eating out as the alternative. Most of our meals consists of some sort of vegetable/chicken/sauce concoction with rice and probably is less than $1/meal.

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    1. It always surprises me how many people simply run to the grocery store for 'something quick' Multiple times in a week. I try to minimize the number of times that I go to a store, buying my week's worth of meals in one shop. With what is in the cupboard I generally can go for a week without returning for anything other than milk.

      Now...if I could just work out toilet paper math...

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