I'm back!

Hi everyone

I apologise for not responding to comments sooner. We just returned from a vacation to the east coast. For security reasons (businesses at home), we never mention beforehand when we'll be away. I only tell my closest sibling in case I don't respond to them immediately, in case of emergency.

That vacation was way overdue and we enjoyed every minute of it. In fact, I'm ready to go on vacation again...lol. One week was not nearly enough. 

Some frugal things we did while away : 

* Packed snacks from the pantry. We ended up bringing snacks home, because we had too much. That's a good thing, right? 

* Used very little of the Starbucks & Dunkin Donuts gcs. 

* Took our single plate electric stove to cook breakfasts in our room. I paid $2 for that stove around 10-11 years ago & it is one of the best things I ever purchased. Also packed breakfast food and coffee. We took our big french press. This way we could have all the coffee we wanted.

* Only spent half of our food/restaurant budget. We ate out for lunch & dinner. I'm shocked, because we splurge on meals when on vacation. Frugality goes out the window when it comes to dining on vacay.

* Did zero shopping on vacation. I didn't even buy any souvenirs (something I love to do), because I just didn't get a chance.

I finally stepped foot inside a Safeway and got sticker shock at the east coast prices. Safeway is beautiful and reminds me a bit of Kroger. Now I know that everything costs more on both coasts, because my cousin from NY always raved about our low prices whenever she visited. $2.99 for Bush Baked Beans, compared to $1.99 we pay. Yikes. I saw many other price differences, but can't remember it all.

I did notice that some stores double coupons up to 99c or $1 (no doubling around here for years now). I can't remember which store it was, could've been Weis. We did pass Safeway, Weis, Food Lion & Giant.

We finally ate some Five Guys burgers in Pittsburgh. I've never tried it before, even though we have them around here. I was impressed with how good their burgers are (I'm a food snob. true story). I didn't care for their greasy fries, but they make a darn good burger. I also love that you can add any toppings for free. 

We couldn't get a hotel room at the PA/Ohio border (all fully booked), so DH decided to just drive the rest of the way home. We got home in the middle of the night and after 5 hours sleep, DS & I were up again. Boy was I dragging. I ended up doing laundry the entire day and went to bed early. 

On vacation, I dreamed that we came home to all kinds of ripe garden produce. That dream did not disappoint. I'm loving fresh tomatoes with my eggs every morning. Picked my first cucumber (I've never planted cucumbers before. I have 3 plants and they took over my entire patch) and what a monster it was. 13" long and thick. I'm gonna have to start pickling cucumbers. Chillies, that I forgot I planted...lol. I thought it was my green pepper plants that were slow to produce. Peppers & squash.

I'm so far behind with everything. Work, home, shopping. I need to weed the back and clean the front yard. I weeded the veggie patch before vacation and there's now a ton more. Ugh, I can't keep up with the weeds. I had to go grocery shopping. Actually, we mainly need produce and milk. I'll try to write a post tomorrow, because I got sticker shock at Walmart again. This is nuts!

I'll respond to comments tomorrow. My body still feels like it's on vacation and I'm not getting enough sleep. I have to try to go to bed a little earlier every night. Maybe that will help.