Savings and shopping

I just got back from shopping. I got all of The Little Princess's stocking gifts at CVS and all the candy for the stockings for everyone. There was a nice surprise when I realized that my shampoo was on sale and I had coupons for lots of sale items.

Then it was off to Roche Bros for a few odds and ends. I've been trying to only buy fresh items and the few things that I need to add to my stockpile. So far that has meant only spending $200 this month. We're halfway through the month and I won't need to buy much else. I got lots of deals at RB's today as well and got to restock the supply of hot chocolate for less than it costs me to make it. The kids like it better as well. The rest was fruit, veggies, milk and bagels and cream cheese.

Today also brought my big box of craft supplies from Oriental Trading Co. It was all on sale and a good price, plus I got free shipping. In addition, I got cash back on Ebates. I'm loving getting things I need and getting cash back through them. It would be even better if I could get my curriculum from them as well. I had to buy some midyear additions from Rainbow Resource and although I got free shipping, I didn't get cash back.

The bread for the next 2 weeks is now in the oven. I also have the turkey carcass in the pot for more broth to be canned up. This time the turkey was drier than usual, but it still got eaten up anyway. I'm not really sure why it was dry this time, maybe it was the fact that it was a bigger bird. Tonight will be turkey pot pie with any meat I can get off the carcass, the broth and veggies from the garden. The crust will be made with the lard I rendered. It's a pretty inexpensive meal from things that most people throw away. My family loves it as well.

My parents sent out their Christmas letter last week. My mother decided to write it this year as my dad has a tendency to get a little morose some years. She decided to have a little fun talking about all the wierd things that I do. Things like the ever increasing garden and rendering my own lard. Things that wouldn't be so weird 100 years ago. Oh well, I enjoy it.

Now I'm off to help R get a bunch of computers into his truck. He's been incredibly busy so I got to learn how to rebuild a machine. I did the grunt work on 7 computers this weekend to help out. If I hadn't he probably wouldn't have slept for a few days. We also cleaned up and rearranged the attic workshop to make it much more functional. Its truly amazing what moving a table to a different place does to a room. I feel great for all that I'm able to do to help him. Of course the rest of the world thinks I do too much. Sometimes you just do what you have to do.