Saving Money…
The Garden:
I wanted to tell you that my garden is growing very well. So far, we are eating radishes (well, I am, John doesn’t care for them) and all of our salads are coming from the lettuce I grow. I snip off just enough each day to make our salad. Did you know that radish greens are eatable? It’s been raining so I’m saving on water too! One of the simple pleasures I have is returning from a week of work in the village to see how much my little garden has grown.
Canning: I have done much this year already and and plenty of jam. The olives are done and I’m looking forward to getting some apples on sale to make apple sauce and pie filling.
Today, John and I have finished the green olive cure and here is the result: 
Also, look at these jars of quince that I canned: They will be used for pies and jams this year. Please click on the photo for a larger view. 
Bargains: I bought a ready made pizza on sale at the Lidl (German store) for only 1,40€ after the 30% mark-down. I put on some mozzarella cheese, and parmesan to it’s skimpy presentation and John and I had a fairly decent supper for a good price.
Blessings: We have received some really great blessings from friends. I honestly believe that the Lord is providing for us in this special way. Here are some of the recent blessings from Joye, Debora and Sue:
Jerky, TP, toothpaste, candy, bath soap, pretty smelling bath things, dried cherries, deodorant, 8 cans of albacore tuna, spices, office supplies, lip gloss, tea and more!
I am excited to think of all the recipes I can use that albacore in! I am so thankful for these gals and the wonderful surprise of packages in the mail! It’s a real treat!
Tom and Jeanne sent me the money for my ticket to France!!! Wasn’t that the nicest blessing? I hadn’t seen these grands, or ANY grandkids since they came for Christmas last year. They are so cute and it was the loveliest of treats to be with them. The flight is only 1 hr and 20 mins from Madrid.
Ways I save:
- I have purchased dried beans; pinto, red beans, white and black beans. I then pressure cooked them separately, divide them in baggies and froze them. I thought at my .49¢ (euro cents) a jar was a good price for the cooked beans, but I can get 6 portions of beans for the price of 2 if I buy them dry, cook and freeze them.
- Today I once again used my pressure cooker to cook 1 lb (about 500grs) of stew beef. This small amount will stretch to make 3 meals: ♥Shredded beef tacos for today+re-fried beans and salad.♥Nachos (with fried tortilla chips I make, lettuce, salsa, beans & cheese) for Sunday and ♥rolled tacos+ Mexican rice+salad for Monday♥Plus, the added bonus of about 3 cups of really nice beef broth to make a soup.
- I saved the juice of the pickles I canned last summer and added 3 hard-boiled eggs to it. In 3 or 4 days, these I will have delicious “pickled eggs”.
- I snip off the tops of my onions from the garden to make “scallions”. I use what I need and dry the rest for future use.
My trip to France: I had a fun trip to France to see Anita and 2 grands, Elijah and Ana. It was relaxing but the weather was rainy the whole time. We got out of the house a couple of times but then, I went to see them, not have fantastic weather.
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Comments
One more thing!
I am making rolled tacos for dinner with my corn tortillas and the rest of the leftover chicken that you bought us. YUMMY! I made fresh salsa last night.
-a
This is a great time to stock up on turkeys. I was surprised to see that our neighborhood, Frys store had them on sale for 47 cents a pound. We bought a 10 + lb. turkey for $4.72. With the prices going up all over the place, it is still refreshing to find a good deal, and we feel blessed. The Lord has also provided and elk and a deer this hunting season for us. This will definitely help out with our food budget.
Our Pastor mentioned a challenge for us… to spend ONLY for necessities for 30 DAYS… In the Bible, needs were clothes and food, but in today’s culture, we need to add housing and transportation. If we don’t pay a house payment for a month… we could be in trouble..
So…. the first day wasn’t too bad.. bought food. The second day, I was to pick up a prescription.. The price jumped from 12.00 to 79.80. I didn’t get the medications because the dosage was not on the generic low pay prescription list. (I am still working with my Dr. on this one..)
Now… how do I justify hair color in this scenario? In a month, I will look ghastly..
PLEASE tell me, is there any EASY way to accomplish this?? I need help!
Sue, hey! what a great deal! It sure makes me glad for you and grumpy for me! Turkeys in Spain are expensive!
Also, great on the challenge! Keep up the good work! Anita colored my hair (ummmm, not that I need it)when I was in Aix with her. Saved me a ton!
Hey, what’s with the prescription??? what a rip off!Can you take 2 of smaller dosage or 1/2 of a larger one?
Love you sis, Bobbie
I’m thinking I can barter for a hair color.. (my hairdresser is coming to my Friday morning Bible Study this week, and maybe I can find something around the house she may want to trade for…
Also… I am working with the Dr. to do just that… to take 2 pills of 20mg. each instead of a 40mg. tablet.. Don’t know if we can do it that way, but I am sure not spending 80 buckos for medicine at this point.. whew!
Your ways of saving money reminds me of the years when I was a stay-at-home mom with young children. It looks way too time consuming and exhausting for me now. I don’t cook or bake like I used to. But we don’t eat very much either. Wish you could come and be our personal chef. That would be great!
We don’t have cable tv or go to movies or rent videos much. Our entertainment is getting together with friends. So that saves us money. I don’t do the whole fake nail manicure bit. Too much money and doesn’t work when you play the piano. I do spend money on coloring my hair. That is NOT a luxury. It is a necessity! 
We also try to do all our errands at once to save time and money.
It is fun to see the different ways people save money - it depends on their time schedule, life-style, priorities, interests, etc. There is no set formula. What works for one person may not for another. You have inspired me to take another hard look at ways I could save. Maybe next month I can save even more!
Madrid
30°
I know, the weather had been dreadfull. We did have two nice days in a row after you left and I even took the kids to the park. They ran around delighted to be outside for an hour and a half. I sat in the warm sun and read my book. ahhhhh…
When you come in May it will be gorgeous, I am sure of it!