Here We Go Again...And a Bunch of Links

It looks like we are headed towards pandemic lockdown version 2.0 soon.  Our governor asked everyone to stay home for a couple weeks but everyone is still out and about so if our covid numbers keep spiking there is talk that most businesses will be shut down again...yikes!  We are pretty much stocked up on everything but we ran out to Walmart this morning to pick up a few things for our Thanksgiving dinner for two and we saw that the ammo (first shelf) was nearly all gone and the toilet paper aisle (second picture) only had a couple packages of toilet paper left.  I think we will avoid Costco and Sam's Club because I heard both places have been packed with people for the last few days.  In other news...here are a bunch of interesting links...

• We have a lot of mining activity in Nevada but I had never heard of mining for denim before!
• I just found out I am a taphophile!  I love photographing cemeteries and helping people research old gravestones like on Find A Grave.
• This looks like an interesting app for free podcasts although I haven't had time to try it yet.
• I used to love looking through Sears and Montgomery Ward catalogs when I was a kid; here's some interesting facts about those old catalogs.
• Also, I hadn't heard much about Romney Travelers in ages but here is an interesting story about them.
• Finally, here is some interesting info about how the pandemic has impacted businesses.

The Covid Dilemma

We seem to be in an unending holding pattern.  First the bars opened up, then they shut down when our covid numbers started to spike.  The casinos are still open but there are always rumors they will close as well.  Our unemployment department was sued for not paying people (myself included), but so far the judge keeps giving them more and more time to get their act together (it's been a couple months since the lawsuit started and yesterday the judge once again said to give them a couple more weeks before he makes a decision).  Our schools were going to stay online for the upcoming year then they were going to partially open for a couple days a week now it looks like they will stay closed and all school will be done online.  Hubby's weekly bowling was going along then one of the members (no names were given so we don't even know if it was someone hubby bowled with) came down with covid so no more bowling.  I guess this will be the way of things for a while longer...

On another note, the SIL is coming to visit tomorrow with her friends (in the middle of a pandemic...eeekkk) and the guy who lives down the street murdered his girlfriend last week (he is some actor I've never heard of).  At least it is monsoon season so we will get a break from the 110 degree weather and hopefully some summer storms...

When Everything is Awful

Sometimes it seems like we are being bombarded on all sides with awful news.  Fortunately awful days are few and far between but today just seems pretty sucky...

• I opened my feedreader and this post came up on top.  I've followed Cheapchick's blog for years and this was just terribly sad news.
• Since yesterday the conspiracy boards have been lit up with the Wayfair pedo conspiracy.  Who knows if this is true but literally it seems like there is a new scandal that sets off the internet every. single. day.  
• And this headline, 'US is approaching one of the most unstable times in its history' certainly didn't do anything to improve things.
• It's ridiculously hot here.  So no outdoor activities at all.
• 32% of US households missed their July housing payments.  This is certainly foreboding and will impact our entire economy...or what's left of it.
• Personally I am feeling fat and frumpy and disappointed that the state is dragging its feet on unemployment as I had hoped to use that money to pay off the car by now.  Apparently our state is out of money to pay unemployment so there's that.
• We are heading into what will most likely be a nightmare election season.
• Fights--physical fights--over masks are a daily occurrence.

Just a downer day.  Hopefully things turn around but it looks like things will get worse before they get better.  Also, I couldn't comment on Cheapchick's blog but her and her family have my deepest prayers...I will definitely be praying for a miracle for her and her family!

It's Busy in Las Vegas!

People really want things to get back to normal in Las Vegas.  As you can see above, both bowling and Costco are busy as ever.  Occasionally I will check our state's Covid dashboard just to see how the numbers are.  They are up a bit but not nearly as bad as they were back in March and April.  Hubby and I are out and about but still keep our distance from people, sanitize our hands like crazy, and wear masks when we are in any store or business as this is mandated by the state.

Our school system is dead set against reopening, our state is going bankrupt at an astounding rate (the entire state is heavily dependent on tourism and gaming revenue to stay afloat and none of this is really generating money yet), I haven't received unemployment yet and this has become a class action lawsuit (I've been watching the court hearings online), our weather has been ridiculously hot so no outdoor walking or otherwise exercising unfortunately...altogether it's a really weird "new normal".  I've been browsing charming old houses along the remote Maine coast on Zillow but hubby is not a fan of snow, gigantic heating bills in the winter, anything remote, or too many trees.  I would just like to cash out our house and move while we still have a lot of equity in it and the housing market is still--surprisingly--booming.  Hopefully you all are having a wonderful summer!

Back to Quarantine?

Things were looking up a few weeks ago when businesses and casinos in my city reopened.  Now, and I'm not sure if it was the casinos opening or the protests or people flocking to the beach at Lake Mead or for other reasons, our covid numbers are increasing and people are saying we may end up in another lockdown!  eeekkk

So hubby and I have decided to stay out of the fray and just stay home for the past few days.  Today we made empanadas for the first time using this recipe and they came out really good (I took the meat out of a couple for me).

Meanwhile, our days have been sunny and hot (around 105 degrees!) but this coming week should be ten degrees cooler which is nice.  I really really miss walking every day!

In other news...

• Waymarking sounds like an interesting kind of scavenger hunt.
• And I had no idea that ploughing contests were a thing.
• The pandemic has spawned parodies and the protests have spawned memes.
• And NASA will pay someone $20,000 to develop and astronaut toilet!
• Finally, you can teach yourself computer science here for free.

Today in Retail

On our rounds today we found...

...that the Goodwill was packed with stuff and packed with people, maybe because it is 40% off senior day.  Hubby found a couple pairs of pants, I didn't find anything.  I don't seem to want to shop still.

...that our local grocery store is packed full of stuff; that's quite a change from the first month of the pandemic!

...our local Ross Store, on the other hand, seems to have supply chain issues.  I asked if they were closing since many racks were empty but they said no, they just weren't getting much stuff in yet.

...and even though there was supposed to be pork shortages, we can still easily find it on sale for $1.99 a pound at our local store.

...our local gun store was packed with people when we drove by (we went by so fast I didn't get a photo).  The cars were spilling over into the lot next door and I'd never seen it that busy.  I'm guessing the protests and looting are inspiring people to buy guns.  We already have enough guns to fully arm ourselves but, in some good news, our protests last night were really calm which was nice to hear this morning!

Precisely 2.5 Months of Quarantine

Seriously, I thought 2020 would be a great year full of wondrous possibilities.  So far it has been a really weird year.  We began our self-imposed COVID-19 isolation and quarantine (basically staying home unless we needed to get groceries) precisely two and a half months ago, since then we have endured boredom, supply shortages, food shortages, food prices increasing dramatically, the debate over mask vs no mask, lines for people just to get into stores, filing for unemployment, and the latest, protests in our city which are not pandemic related but seem to be the icing on an already crappy cake.  Fortunately our local protests have been pretty calm, but it seems like the world, or at least our country, is on the fast track to destruction.  Yikes!

Fully a third of our population is unemployed, and our entire state is pretty much funded by casinos and hospitality businesses which will have a tricky return to "normal".  I was really looking forward to working at the WSOP this summer, and hubby and I are putting on the pounds because it seems like all we do is cook and eat!  I miss walking, and it seems like summer came a month early with 100+ degree temps in May.  I'm just waiting for the earthquakes and locusts to show up...

But enough with the pity party.  Hubby and I have actually been really fortunate over the past few months.  We weren't impacted financially by the pandemic, we had plenty of food and supplies, and it was kind of nice to only fill up the gas tank in the car once in more than two months because we stayed closer to home and walked everywhere to do our errands.  I filed for unemployment and will patiently wait for it to shake out, meanwhile some people have gone 12 weeks (!) without any money at all so I really can't complain.  Our casinos are reopening next week, hubby's bowling league is excited to get back to bowling (???), and we have actually saved a lot of money over the last couple months because we haven't been shopping for anything but food.

Since I have literally nothing to do this summer, I have decided to make this the most amazing summer no matter what happens.  I have a plan (sort of), and there are several things I want to accomplish (I'm writing up my list and will post it when it's done).  Here's to a wonderful summer for all of us!

Getting Back to Normal?

It seems we are slowly getting back to normal.  Our stores are now stocked back up...

And our city is slated to "officially" reopen on June 4th, at least as far as the casinos go.

Hubby's bowling group sent out an email that they will start bowling again on June 10th which seems a little too soon to me as the entire group is all in the high risk category (all elderly, mostly male) so we will see what happens with that.  Hopefully as we inch toward "normal", things will go OK and we won't see a spike in covid-related hospitalizations or deaths.  On the other hand, I am still going to be stocking up on supplies and food just in case we see a big increase in coronavirus cases in the fall as some researchers are predicting.

It's Hot...And Some Great Links

As you can see, it's getting hot here!  We probably won't walk at all this week because even at 7am, it is already pretty warm outside.  Unfortunately our indoor malls and casinos are also closed so there is literally nowhere for us to walk when the temps get as high as they will this week :(

In other news...

• I found this interesting subreddit called 'Random Acts of Cards' which looks pretty cool.  You can send and receive cards from people all over the US and even the world!
• We use an over-the-air antenna instead of cable TV and get 50+ free stations.  I saw on the news that there is some sort of new OTA system so I rescanned our antenna and it does look like we are getting several more stations now.  Maybe this is new all over the US?
• My unemployment claim is still up in the air I guess.  I will keep filing weekly and see what happens but it looks like a lot of people are having trouble with this system which was built like the regular unemployment system so it really isn't optimal for things like temp work. contract work, ride share drivers, etc.  I don't really need the money now, so I will wait a while to contact them to figure out my claim since there are tens of thousands of people in my city who really really need the money and so far haven't been able to contact them or receive any money even though they have been out of work for months!
• I saw another news story about people who live in nursing homes and these nursing homes are taking their residents' $1200 stimulus checks.  I personally don't know anyone in this situation, but if you know someone this happened to, it is illegal for nursing homes to do this!  Here's what you can do about it.
• Finally, hubby is a disabled veteran.  Getting through the disability claims process is pretty much a nightmare since you can be badly wounded in the military (hubby literally can't hear because he worked in the engine room of navy ships for years back before they offered hearing protection) and they will still decline your claim.  Hubby's sister used this company which helped her get her disability claim submitted and approved so she told hubby to try it.  I can't say this is good or bad as he hasn't completed the process with them yet but it is definitely something for veterans to look into.

100 Frugal Food Tips

Many news sources are reporting big jumps in the price of food, mostly due to the pandemic and supply chain issues.  While we haven't seen that happen here yet, it may be because we are usually super frugal when it comes to food everyday, not just during a crisis.  Here are a bunch of tips for saving money on food...

1. If you qualify, apply for SNAP benefits.  If you have kids, apply for WIC.  Especially during this difficult time, apply for any help you qualify for!
2. Hit up food banks, food pantries, and other free meal sites.  
3. If you qualify, sign your kids up for free or reduced meal plans at school.  This is a great way to stretch your food and food dollars for those who qualify.
4. Ask friends and relatives for food if necessary (most parents would love to give their kids any food they need, even if said kid was 50 years old!).  
5. See if your community has food share/private food donation systems in place.  There are also Facebook pages for this!
6. Start a small, inexpensive, garden.  If you don't have room at your home for this, look into community garden plots.
7. Google for free seeds and other freebies for your garden.
8. If you aren't into gardening, consider sprouting and re-growing food scraps which are simple activities that require very little work on your part.
9. Ask to glean farmer's fields after the harvest.  Even neighbors with fruit trees may let you pick what you need just for asking.
10. Forage in your area for wild edibles.  Also look for wild apple/nut/fruit trees, wild berry patches, etc in your local area.
11. Barter for food with others.  If you bake and your neighbors have chickens, a loaf of bread for some eggs would be a great trade.
12. Shop sales at your local grocery stores (check out the ads online and make a list before you go shopping for best results).
13. Use the grocery store's app if it will save you even more money.  We always get amazing deals with our local grocery store's app.
14. Shop at $1 and 99 Cent stores but only buy things that actually save you money (ie: some canned items are 88 cents a can at Walmart yet $1 a can at the Dollar Store.  Also beware of smaller packages of popular items like half-sized cake mixes for $1 when you can buy a whole cake mix at the regular store on sale for $1).
15. Shop at ethnic food stores.  For some reason our Mexican and Asian grocery stores have really good sale prices compared to regular grocery stores, like six avocados for $1 compared to 88 cents per avocado at a regular store.
16. Stock up on sale items when possible (if the limit of an item in two per purchase, we will either go to the store a few days in a row to buy two of the sale items in order to stock up or hubby and I will shop separately and we will each buy two of the sale item).
17. Shop at membership stores like Costco or Sam's Club if it makes financial sense for you. 
18. If you don't shop membership stores often, go with a friend who has a membership and pay them for your items after checkout.
19. Keep a grocery price book so you will know what a "good price" on each grocery store item is (it's hard to remember the lowest price you pay for every single item in the grocery store).
20. Also use coupons, double coupons, etc. when possible (although videos of people spending 20+ hours a week on this are a bit cringe-y).
21. Cook from scratch.  Almost always, it is cheaper and healthier to make food at home than to buy processed products.
22. Use your freezer.  We freeze a lot of items that we buy on sale in order to extend its shelf life, we freeze leftovers, we freeze excess produce, sauces, etc.
23. Cook double batches of food and freeze half for a future meal.  We do this all the time as hubby doesn't like leftovers but he does like being able to pull out a frozen meal, heat it up, and eat with minimal work and fuss.
24. Learn how to preserve your own food.  This can range from canning and pickling to drying, freezing, and smoking excess food.
25. Buy things in the least processed form possible then cook it up yourself.  A can of beans may cost $1 but an entire bag of dried beans which would make the equivalent of several cans of beans may also cost $1 so buy the dried beans and boil them yourself.
26. Speaking of cooking things yourself, I happen to love my Instapot (bought on sale for half off, of course).  I tend to burn beans and rice when I cook these things in a regular pan but an Instapot cooks them perfectly.
27. Also consider bulk cooking either once a month or each weekend in order to save time and effort over cooking three meals each day.  I usually cook an entire bag of steel cut oats in the Instapot then freeze individual portions which I can then take out each day and have a whole breakfast in minutes instead of trying to cook steel-cut oats every day.
28. Drink water with your meals.  Or better yet, only drink water.  This is healthier than soda, juice, milk, and any other beverage except maybe tea.
29. Take your meals to work and school everyday.  This is way healthier and cheaper than buying your breakfast/lunch every day.  Obviously a free school meal is cheaper but probably isn't healthier than what you can make at home.
30. Be sure to rotate your food, both canned and everything in the freezer/refrigerator, regularly so you aren't wasting food due to spoilage.
31. Go meatless more often.  Ideally everyone would go vegan--it's a super healthy way to eat--but the less meat you eat, the less you will spend on food and the healthier you will be.
32. Avoid restaurants and fast food.  This is one of the most expensive, and often the least healthy, ways to eat.
33. On the rare occasion we eat out, hubby and I will split a meal, order water to drink and no dessert, and often still have leftovers to take home.
34. Take advantage of free meals out.  We use hubby's casino comps for meals out (it's a free bonus so why not?), and occasionally get freebies through deals we find online like a free Whopper at Burger King.
35. Sign up to receive free food and treats on your birthday!
36. Carry food with you (or keep a supply at work or in your school locker like granola bars, jerky, etc) so you won't be tempted to use the vending machine or eat out because you forgot to bring your lunch from home.  We also keep a supply of bottled water and granola bars in the car for the same reason, otherwise it is too easy to pick up fast food when we are out and about and get hungry.
37. Invest in items that make your to-go-from-home food easier to take with you.  We have Contigo thermoses to take hot and cold drinks from home, plenty of individual-sized reusable food containers, sporks, ziploc bags, and reusable wax wraps all of which make taking food with us to eat on the go simple and easy.
38. Don't get addicted to places like Starbucks.  The morning coffee at the drive-thru habit will become the bane of your existence (speaking from experience here).
39. If you do have a particular addiction to a popular restaurant item, Google for recipes to make the exact same thing at home (the internet is loaded with copy cat recipes for most all popular fast food items).
40. Consider learning how to cook staples like bread, tortillas, soup, granola, etc.  Again, there are recipes and how-to videos galore on this topic and making these items yourself is both cheaper and healthier than similar store-bought items that are loaded with preservatives.
41. Make a weekly menu based on store sale items.  For example, one $5 roast chicken from the grocery store deli can make a half dozen meals--chicken dinner, chicken tacos, chicken Caesar salad, chicken pot pie, chicken fried rice, and chicken soup.
42. Experiment with cooking your favorite ethnic food dishes at home.  We love a range of ethnic foods but in order to avoid eating out, we can pretty much skip Asian, Middle Eastern, and Italian restaurants because we can easily cook these meals at home (thanks mostly to YouTube!).  I am still not good at cooking Indian food but I am working on it. 
43. Consider making your hobbies food-related such as hunting, fishing, shell fishing, truffle hunting, etc,
44.  Stretch your food dollars by making meals that "stretch".  Spaghetti, tacos, soups, fried rice...these are good ways to stretch meals with minimal amounts of food over, say, the cost of a slab of steak for each person in the family.
45. Don't let food go to waste.  After using the meat off a chicken the carcass can be used for soup.  After cutting bread, the crumbs can be saved for breading fried foods.  After peeling vegetables the peelings can go in the compost bin.  Bits of leftover meat and vegetables can be used for fried rice, soups, stews, etc.
46. Stock up when items go on sale.  You might not need ten cans of tuna, but if tuna is on sale for 50 cents a can, buy all you can for future use!
47. Eat less.  I'm not talking about starvation levels of sustenance, but the average American meal has morphed from 500-800 calories per meal to 1200 to 1800 calories per meal (which is why Americans are so fat these days!).  
48. Stop the endless snacking.  Growing up, I can't remember anyone doing the non-stop snack thing like most people do these days.  We had breakfast, lunch, a small snack after school, and dinner.  That's all.  These days people can easily eat every single hour of the day because snacks are so easy to buy and accessible.
49. When you do make after school snacks and desserts, make items that are big yet inexpensive.  A bowl of ice cream per person can be expensive but popcorn is an inexpensive, filling treat.  Ditto a cake (without the frosting is fine) which can cost $1.50 to make yet feed a dozen people.
50. Don't grocery shop every day.  It's easy to spend extra money at the store just because you see something interesting but by shopping only weekly or every other week (with a list!) you can save a lot of money.
51. Similarly, it is a good idea to pick a couple of nearby stores to patronize weekly instead of going to a dozen stores each week.  You won't be tempted to spend extra money and you will save time and gas as well.
52. Use the internet to find thousands (literally!) of ways to stretch your food dollars.  Both reddit and YouTube are fonts of information on the topic as is general Googling.
53. When you host a party, consider making it a potluck in order to both have an enjoyable event but also save money on food.
54. Make cooking a family activity.  Whether it is baking together, growing a garden together, or trying new recipes together, the whole family will learn valuable skills by doing this, be more inclined to eat what they make, and save money both now and in the long run (I know some college kids who never even learned to boil water so they eat out for every single meal!).
55. Make it a point to try one new kind of food each week.  Make "sloppy Joes" out of cheap lentils (it's cheaper, healthier, and introduces the family to a food item they may have never tried before).  A big bag of chia seeds is around $5 at Costco and is an interesting item to try in chia pudding.
56. Occasionally eat your food stockpile down to the bare minimum.  This allows you to skip shopping for two or more weeks and also challenges you to use up the food that you have (definitely an exercise in creativity!).
57. Look for alternate sources of food like a local food co-op, a local u-pick farm, a CSA (community supported agriculture program), etc.
58. Make your own beverages.  Herbal teas can be made from scratch as can "sun tea".  For people with an appetite for alcohol, wine making and home brewing can be fun hobbies with a useful end product.  And if your family must drink soda, consider getting a soda maker.
59. If you have friends and family nearby who are also trying to be frugal with food, consider buying large amounts of food in bulk, splitting the cost, and sharing the item (like a 50 pound bag of rice divided by 5 people, ditto a 50 pound bag of flour, buying a half a cow, etc).  Make sure the price of this works out better than buying smaller sizes.
60. Speaking of which, always pay attention to unit prices of each item you buy in order to make sure you are getting the best deal.  Many times I've noticed that the larger item may look like a better deal but when you look at the price per ounce compared to a smaller size, it actually costs more!
61. Hit up thrift stores to buy good quality yet very cheap cooking implements.  A good pan makes cooking so much easier and turns out better results but they can be expensive if you buy it at a department store.  My favorite, very expensive crepe pan only cost a few dollars at our local Goodwill.  Ditto cast iron pans, waffle makers, knives, etc.
62. Most people can't live without coffee and will spend thousands of dollars each year on the stuff at Starbucks/coffee stands/Keurig cups/etc. when it is super easy and super cheap to make your own coffee at home.
63. The presentation of food can make a cheap meal something special.  Cheap, simple food presented in a bento box in one example.
64. Look for substitutions if you can't find or can't afford certain items your recipe requires.  Here's an example.
65. Do without.  Years ago when year-round produce was either really expensive or unavailable, the answer was to do without.  We often ate canned tomatoes until they came available the next growing season.
66. Similarly, try to eat in season as this is usually cheaper.  Strawberries in the spring are cheap and tasty.  Strawberries in the winter are often expensive and don't taste that great (except for frozen strawberries, so be sure to freeze lots of these when they are in season for late winter eating!).
67. If food is your addiction (a la My 600 Pound Life), do what you can to kick the addiction.  Much like alcohol, drugs, etc, fixing an addiction to food will save you money and make you healthier at the same time.
68. Look towards poorer cultures to learn about stretching food dollars.  China, India, African countries, etc. all make amazing food out of very cheap ingredients.  There are many YouTube videos and recipes online to introduce you to these amazing food cultures which will allow you to save money at the same time.
69. Check out local farmer's markets, especially at the end of the day on Sunday when the farmer is much more likely to discount their items so they don't have to pack them up and take them home.
70. Be aware of all of the tricks grocery stores use to make you buy more (and don't fall for them!).
71. Always check the day-old bread rack, the discount meat bin, and other discount areas of your grocery store to find great deals on older/discontinued/scratch and dent items.
72. Check bulk bins if your store has these, and see if the prices are cheaper than buying the same items in the regular grocery section (oats, rice, lentils, etc may or may not be cheaper when bought this way).
73. Keep a range of spices on hand.  Good spices can turn bland and boring food into interesting, tasty food in a snap.  Note that spices can be cheaper at ethnic stores as well as when you buy them in "spice jar sets" at Walmart or Target.
74. Consider raising your own animals for food like chickens for eggs or goats for milk, pigs, cows, etc.  Of course you will want to figure the cost ahead of time and see if this would actually save you money.
75. If you pay your credit card off each month, consider using your credit card to pay for groceries if it gives you cash back on your purchases.  If you don't pay off your credit card each month, don't even consider this.
76. Consider dumpster diving for food.  It sounds weird but there is a whole subculture of people who do this, sometimes with amazing results!
77. If you must get a job during college or a second job to pay off your bills, consider getting a job that comes with food (I waitresses through college and basically ate at the restaurant five days a week which really saved me money on food).
78. Never turn down leftovers.  Whether it means taking home a doggie bag from your restaurant meal or graciously taking home leftovers from a party or potluck, food is food and this will save you money.
79. If you are in a special group where you can get food, take it.  Many schools, elementary through college, have food pantries for kids to take food home to eat over the weekend for those in need.  Many veteran's organizations have tables of food for vets who come to their events to take food.  Community meetings often provide snacks for attendees.
80. Store your food appropriately so it doesn't go bad.  Store 50 pounds of rice or other grains in pest-proof buckets.  Store cereals and crackers in air-tight container so they don't go stale.
81. If you have something nice, or not nice, to say about a food product, write the food company with your rant or rave, often they will send coupons or even totally free products to people who do this.
82. Consider gimmicky ways to get free/free-ish food like the Never Ending Pasta Pass, doing a food eating challenge, or using the power of social media.
83. Process your food as soon as you get home from shopping.  Hubby has a whole system which includes dating items like eggs or plant milk so we use the oldest first. He also cleans and de-veins shrimp before freezing them in single-serve packages, opens bulk packages of meat and divides it up into single serve portions before freezing, etc. 
84. Buy food in the cheapest form possible than process it yourself,  If a block of cheese is cheaper, shred it or slice it yourself,  If a side of pork is cheaper than a certain cut, buy the side and cut it up yourself.
85. If you eat a lot of salads, cut up all of your vegetables salad bar style so you can throw together a salad in minutes right before meals or heading out to work.
86. If you must eat out, consider cheaper times (lunch instead of dinner, happy hour), using coupons or Groupons, going to a buffet, splitting meals, and skipping premium items like drinks, appetizers, and desserts.
87. Also if you must eat out, consider picking up take out yourself instead of using Door Dash/Uber Eats/GrubHub.  It will save the cost of delivery and tip which can really add up over time.
88. When shopping, use a calculator to keep track of the total cost of your purchases.  Hubby does this every time we shop and we often find that items don't ring up right so we catch it immediately instead of paying more than we should.
89. Experiment with different brands then make notes in your price book about the results.  We've found some store brands and generic brands are really good so we buy them instead of name brand items.  On the flip side, some store brands just aren't the same as the name brand item (like baked beans) so we make note of this for future purchases.
90. Generally try to only buy items you will actually use even if the price is really low.  Just because a sale is good, it won't matter much if you won't eat it.  If you do end up with these 'great sale but we won't eat it' items, consider donating them to a food bank.
91. Keep track of how much you spend on food each month, divided by groceries, restaurant, and coffee shop/vending/bar/etc.  This will show you exactly where your food money is going (many people are shocked at how much they spend monthly at the coffee shop!) and will show where you may want to make changes.
92. Make your own serving-sized snacks instead of buying them.  The cost difference can be huge between buying a small packet of M & Ms ($1) and a giant container of M & Ms at Costco ($10) and putting them in snack-sized ziploc bags.
93. Each week, clean out your refrigerator and freezer and make dinner a "buffet" of any leftovers in order to get rid of them instead of letting them go bad in the back of the fridge.
94. Organize your pantry and fridge/freezer in a way that makes it easy to write up your shopping list each week.  My pantry has a row of beans, a row of spaghetti sauce, a row of salad dressing, etc. so when something is missing, it's obvious and gets written down on my list.
95. Consider making your own kid food and baby food.  These specialized foods are often cheaper and healthier to make at home.  Don't even get me started on extruded chicken nuggets...
96. Be intentional when you go shopping.  Leave the kids at home, be sure you aren't hungry, don't be rushed...these things will make it less likely that you will overspend when you go grocery shopping.
97. Do grocery budget challenges occasionally and see what happens.  There's the SNAP challenge, the $1 a day challenge, the Elon Musk challenge, etc.
98. If you have a problem with overspending when you shop for groceries, leave your credit and debit cards at home and bring only cash.  This will keep you within the hard limit of your grocery budget.
99. Gift homemade treats instead of expensive wine or pre-made food baskets.  We always bring food treats (homemade cheese cake, cakes, pies, etc) to events we are invited to such as parties, dinners, wakes, etc.
100. Consider the many ways you can save money on food when you travel.  Of course a big splurge on great meals is part of travel but there is no need to make every single meal a splurge (ie: breakfast in your hotel room is often a great way to save money). 

5 Things from Today

In no particular order...

1. Our apricot tree is blooming like crazy so I have been having apricots everyday for breakfast!
   
2. We walked by a nail salon today and I had to pop in and take a picture.  Each little foot spa was surrounded with plexiglass and people stuck their feet under the partition to be worked on!
   
3. I filed my weekly unemployment update online and it is such a mess.  None of the questions pertained to my job that was supposed to start tomorrow so I filled it out to the best of my ability and it all looks wrong :(  Of course it is impossible to call in for help so who knows how this will turn out...
4. It looks like I will need to hit the treadmill soon.  Hubby and I have been walking every day but this week the temps are supposed to reach 110 degrees so walking may be out of the question.
5. I haven't tried this yet, but I came across this website to get a free Tropical Smoothie!

The Great Bicycle Shortage

On our walk today we saw that there was no line at our local Ross store so we went in.  Hubby found a few things he wanted but I couldn't find a single thing I either needed or wanted (after 2.5 months and I didn't need anything?? Wow).  And while there was no line to get into the store, the checkout line was about 50 people long but it moved pretty fast.  Then we stopped by Target and I noticed that like yesterday at Walmart, there was not a single bicycle available to buy!  Apparently it is the same all over the US.  We have definitely seen a lot more people riding bicycles in Las Vegas, especially along the Las Vegas Strip, which was pretty much unheard of before the shutdown.

In other news, here is some information about using your HSA to buy feminine hygiene and other products which many people didn't know was possible.  Also, I didn't know there was such a thing as Facebook groups that do free-cycling and other no buy/sharing of stuff which can help people in need which sounds particularly useful during these difficult financial times.  I Googled my local area and quite a few of these groups/pages showed up!

I Still Don't Like Shopping

I used to love shopping (years ago when I was maxing out my credit cards and "keeping up with the Joneses").  Then we went cash only and debt free and shopping got a lot less interesting (maybe buying only what you actually can afford will do that to a person?).  But now I pretty much loathe shopping.  We had to drop off some food to people today so we made a quick run through a shopping center that we rarely get over to because hubby wanted to pick up some Filipino desserts that have been hard to find lately (we go the last box!).  They seemed to be out of a lot of items.

Next we went to the Asian grocery store and the lines were so long we didn't buy anything because we didn't want to stand in line with so many people.  Next up was Walmart.  It wasn't very busy there so we grabbed some fish food and a few other things and got out of there quickly.  I did notice that you can walk through Walmart and get a quick snapshot of what items are in demand by the general public.  Apparently bicycles are a high-demand item these days...

Next we went by the Ross store in the same shopping plaza and they still had a long line, since there is nothing we absolutely need we just skip any store with a line these days.  Finally we stopped by the 99 Cent store to get some garlic (another item in high demand?  They only had a couple of meager packages left).  And I was particularly horrified to see that your basic rubbing alcohol which cost about 79 cents six months ago was now selling for $4.99!!!  eeekkkk

Memorial Day Weekend Already?

These are the first apricots off of our tree this season!  It's hard to believe it is Memorial Day weekend already--where did the last three months go?  Well I know where the time went, it passed as we mostly stayed home, and we will probably do the same this weekend as well.  Even though many places are opening up in Las Vegas--except casinos which will happen in a week or so--we really don't want to be out at the locals lakes and parks and mountains with tens of thousands of other people who are eager to escape from their homes after months of being stuck there.  One local park said they are limiting the number of people there to 2000(!).  On a side note, I got an email today that said I was qualified to get unemployment so I will be filing every week for the duration of what would have been my six-week work gig.  Hopefully it works out--all of that extra money, including the additional $600 per week from the CARES Act, will get our car paid off within a few weeks!

And a Few More Links

Not much happening today.  We walked by Ross again on our daily walk and there were only 50 or so people in line to get in which is, I guess, better than the 100 that were in line yesterday?  Here are some interesting links...

• 50 Tips from the Great Depression
• If you are a first responder, you can get free TMobile service for 10 years!?!
• NASA is looking for people to spend eight months in isolation
• This weekend is Memorial Day; here is a list of Memorial Day sales
• Chain stores that are closing in 2020

Shopping...

...sort of.  I heard that Ross stores would reopen today so hubby and I decided to take a detour on our morning walk and see how our local Ross store was doing and maybe shop a bit.  Apparently everyone had the same idea because when we got there, a couple hours after the store opened, there were more than a hundred people in line to get into the store!  Needless to say we just kept walking and will check it out again maybe next week.  Even the local news was there taking pictures.  And of course I had to take pictures too...

Later in the day we went to our local grocery store and using their store app we got lunch for SIX CENTS.  Occasionally free things will pop up on their app so we got a free roast chicken from the deli and six ears of corn for a penny each!  We also got two cases of water for 99 cents each and butter for $1.67 a pound.  We are slowly but surely stocking up our food stores in case we end up in lockdown again in the fall.

Also today, I filed for unemployment.  I've never filed for unemployment before in my life so this was a new experience.  I have to believe that the people who design the unemployment website have never had to actually use it since it was pretty confusing to use.  At least I think my application went through.  Since my job that I do every summer was cancelled, I read that if a person was scheduled to start a job but that job is no longer available due to the pandemic, you can apply for unemployment through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program so I gave it a shot.  If I get paid that will be great, if I don't that's OK too but since this is a unique situation, why not try to get extra money?

A Few Links

Just cleaning out my favorites file...

• Here's an interesting living wage calculator.
• And here are some cool lifehacks.
• A couple of websites that are more interesting to peruse than the news can be found here and here.
• Here's an interesting guide about herbs you should put in your tea garden.
• Here is a list of bank discounts for young people.
• And a really long read about the impact of the pandemic on consumer spending.
• Finally, here are a few subreddits to help you stretch your food dollars here, here, and here.

An (Almost) Normal Day

Today was surprisingly kind of normal.  We started out by taking the SIL's car to get the tinting fixed since there were bubbles in the tinting that shouldn't have been there, then we did our weekly drop off of food to people, then swung by the Asian grocery store.  I was surprised to see that my favorite Thai restaurant was now open for dine-in service so we stopped and had a (very belated) birthday lunch. 

There were very few people in the restaurant--although there was a mountain of food waiting for Door Dash and Uber Eats to pick up--but overall it was great.  The food was amazing as it always was before!  Finally, on the way home I was reading the local paper online and saw that Kohls was going to open starting today so we stopped by and took a quick walk through the store.  There were not many people there and also no sales so we were a bit disappointed that they wouldn't have some great sales to get rid of their old inventory.  Today was almost...normal!

Falafel!

According to hubby's record-keeping this is day 63(!) of our home quarantine.  During that two months we have spent maybe five or six days each week at home and one or two days each week out and about doing errands.  Wow.  That's a big change from our usual schedule where we may have spent one day a week at home and six days each week out and about.

As usual, we continue to try new recipes.  Today's experiment was "air fryer falafel" which turned out really good.

And a couple of useful links...

• How to put together the best teleconferencing set up at home.
• And if you live on the East Coast or the Gulf Coast, here's how to prepare for hurricane season.

I Saved $200 Today!

I got my annual web hosting bill today which runs about $200 per year.  When I used to host a lot of websites I thought that was a great deal but now, I only host a half dozen sites for some very small non profits.  Since I do these sites for free, I don't make any money at all from webhosting and maintenance so spending $200 is more than I want to "donate" to the cause, so to speak.  I looked at the various options--free webhosting platforms which all had pretty iffy reviews, and cheap webhosting platforms which would still run me about $100 per year--and figured I need to find a free-ish way to do this. 

What I ended up doing was whipping up free Blogger sites for these tiny organizations then repointing the domain names from their hosted sites to their new Blogger sites.  Now the only cost is the annual domain name renewal fee (about $10 each) which I am happy to pay for.  The information they need to share with their readers is still available, and while the sites could look better (if I get time I will go in and mess with the HTML and see if I can improve the look of the sites), this is better than getting a big bill every year!