Some bits & bobs

September starts. I blink. October starts. That's how fast the months are passing by these days. September was an expensive month, but it's all because of stockpiling & Christmas shopping.

• I'm almost done with Christmas shopping. I decided to finish my Christmas shopping early, due to all the shortages. I only need one more gift for both DS & DH. I have gcs to pay for those. I'm just waiting on a decent sale on those items. I also need to buy a bunch of gift cards as gifts, but those aren't urgent. Nobody's rushing to buy gcs. 

• One of DS's gifts were already cancelled. I was upset. Then I changed what he wanted and have already received the item. Makes me glad that I shopped extra early.

• I didn't even buy my own gift from DH this year. There's nothing that I need. There's several things I want, but I'll be happy with just gcs. That way I can shop the clearance sale at my leisure. He always insists on putting something tangible under the tree for me, so I'll just have him pick up some books from my favorite authors. Heck, I even go to Ollie's make a list and take pics for him, then send him to buy the books. Saving him money and stress. Darn, I'm a good wife...lol 

• Don't fall off your chairs...lol I bought 2022 calendars in August. I couldn't find any calendars at the beginning of this year. I use separate calendars for business, personal, finance & other things. I'm one of those straight/clean lines, black & white (no gray areas), got to compartmentalize things, kinda person. I like things neat & tidy in their own little boxes, so I keep everything separate. So I went online and printed a few calendars. All good & well, but I have a laserjet printer that only uses black toner. I don't like the black & white calendars. Too bland for me. So when I saw calendars at DT in August, I bought 3. They all come with the mini calendars and at $3 + tax, I needed no second invitation.

• We needed more fruit last week, so I headed to the produce market. I figured I might as well just do a big shop since I'm already there. First I told myself 'no boxes. you don't have time to process a whole box of apples again' (I don't know why I bother...lol) At the entrance to the store they had a pallet full of strawberry boxes for $2. Shut the front door! The pallet was about 6ft tall (at least 2 meters). Each boxes contained 8 lbs. So there I was digging through the boxes. Every box had at least one container that had bad mold, so not too many people were interested in buying. Then I told myself that the store wants to get rid of the strawberries, so they won't mind if I build my own box. So that's what I did. I removed the bad containers from my box and replaced it with ones that are still good to eat. 

• Then inside the store, they had more strawberry boxes in the clearance section. These contained 2lb containers. 4 Containers per box. So I picked up another box. They also had green & colored peppers for $1 a bag. Each bag contained 8 large peppers. I bought 5 bags. When I got home and removed all my receipts to scan, I saw that the cashier never rang up my strawberries. That's the first thing I told her about. I even showed her the number with my fingers and pointed to the boxes in my cart, because I know it's hard for most people to understand what you're saying with the glass dividers and everyone wearing masks. 

• Most of the strawberries were washed & frozen for smoothies (2 gallon bags) Same with the peppers. I sliced many peppers (3 gallon bags full) and diced a quart size bag to freeze. The diced ones are for eggs and omelets. While I processed the produce, I kept asking myself 'WTH were you thinking' (because this is a lot of work). However, I'm always happy that I can just pull things from the freezer when I need it, without having to worry about slicing/dicing or prepping anything. I love time savers and having my life simplified, especially in the morning. Don't ask me to cook in the morning. Just give me coffee and give me some quiet time. 

• I bought myself 3 pairs of athletic shoes. I don't have any extras and needed to get new ones. I was gonna wait for Black Friday, but then I read about how it's on the list of hard to find items this year. So I searched and compared prices of many different stores. Finally found my favorite brand on clearance at JCP and bought 3 pairs for $111. Not the best clearance price, but not a bad price either. As I was checking out, my first choice said it's OOS. No friggin way! So I decreased the quantity from 2 to 1 and added an extra pair in the other style. That did the trick. I bought 3 pairs to avoid paying $9 shipping. When I checked the next day, those shoes were all sold out. I heaved a huge sigh of relief when I got shipping information this morning. 

• Most stores have very little inventory, so I'm not sure if we're gonna see it on sale during Kohls BF sale this year. If they do have a deal on it, then I'll buy an extra pair or 2. 

• I paid $52 for socks for DS today!! Holy cow. I'm not used to paying so much for things. He needed new long socks for winter. I don't think I bought him anything last year. I remember getting some from the stockpile. So I bought 5 sets. I'm not that mad, because 2 of the sets are short socks for next year. We wear select brands, so I figured I might as well get some while it's available. Remember how I struggled to find his favorite underwear? There's a global shipping backlog. Talked to my SIL who works in shipping and she said they have huge backlogs in South Africa too. No shortages yet, but I told them to stock up while things are still good. They're usually behind our pandemic curve. 

• I thought that DS might need new winter pjs, but when I switched to winter pjs, I saw that his pjs still fit and are in great condition. He still has 7 new winter sets in the spare closet, that I bought at Kohls a few years ago. I remember that it was clearanced to $4 per set and there were coupons to stack and I paid with gcs. I bought different sizes, so he's good for a few more years. Look at me. I didn't know back then that we'd end up having all kinds of shortages. 

• I did another Walmart stock up shop today. We only needed eggs, but I'm still adding to the stockpile. I do this, because I keep seeing how much emptier the shelves are. I want us to be good for at least 6-12 months (excl meat & dairy). I'm being a little more aggressive with my shopping. I'm buying 3 boxes of cereal at a time. Same with canned goods. I've noticed that Walmart stocks the cereal at the front of the shelf to give shoppers the illusion that the shelves are fully stocked, while only having 8-10 boxes in stock. 

• The canned mushrooms price has increased again. Grrr This is the 2nd time in 3 months. Crazy! I spent $90 at the store today. I couldn't believe it, although my cart was almost full. I had to get my favorite CFA sauce too. I can't live without that stuff. 

• I cringed when I had to pay $1.50/dozen eggs. DH always looks at me funny when I buy the limit of 5 x 18ct eggs when Kroger has it on sale for $0.99. THIS is why I do it. Besides, the Kroger large eggs look like Jumbo eggs. I feel like I'm eating 2 eggs (while using just one), it's so big. 

• I'm back to cooking Friday night meals again. Friday is normally my yard sale/thrifting day. I'm normally too worn out to cook when I get home, so we just get carry out. That's $20 per week. My own food tastes far better than fast food & my body's sick of eating junk. Today I made Italian sausage with caramelized onions & peppers, fried potatoes and baked beans. Easy peasy and it tasted good. Not to mention, it cost less than half the price of fast food and there's leftovers.  I need to get more Italian sausage at Sams. 

• I now have a system for Fridays. Homemade tacos (I make my own refried beans too), homemade pizza or Italian sausage. We can just rotate those 3 meals. We can add salad or veggies to any of those meals. 

• Last week I stocked up on D Donuts coffee at Costco. They had the 45 oz containers on sale for $13.xx. Limit 5. I only bought 3, because I need decaf too (which they don't sell). The next day, I read that coffee is on the list of future shortages too. Good thing I bought 3 canisters (I did it only because of the price and it's my preferred brand). I'm hoping that Sams will have a free shipping day soon so I can stock up on Decaf.

• My friend in DC told me that she couldn't find any t/p at Costco. She said she had to pay $30 for 12 rolls at a different store (I don't know which one). It's weird that she paid so much, because my Walmart had a decent supply of t/p. So do the drugstores.

• A few months ago, I bought a large bottle of Lysol cleaner. I've never seen that size before, but after doing the math (I always calculate unit cost), I found it to be way cheaper than buying it at Walmart (who always has the lowest price around here). Now I'm hearing that cleaning supplies will be just as scarce as t/p. All I can say is "The Lord works in mysterious ways". 

• I stopped at Wags today to stock up on deodorant for DS. They had the Old Spice for 2/$11. Buy 2 get $4 WC. The kicker is that the DQ is for $5/3. So I bought 4 at a time, used $10 reward. Paid $8.xx OOP and earned $8 WC. I did this deal on both our accounts, so DS has way more than enough deodorant. The deodorant (Captain) is the same scent as his b/w. I wish they had the spray in that scent too, but it's only available in Canada. 

• I tried a new muffin recipe with my Ollie's almonds and craisins. The boys have declared it their new favorite!! I have to admit that the flavors are fantastic. The muffin still needs work though, because it's very dense. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to food. I made it twice and switched some things up (I always edit recipes to kick things up a coupla notches). I like to bake a different flavor muffin every week, but these guys insist I add the almond one too. I need to get more almonds and craisins and Ollie's and keep an eye out for fresh cranberries. 

I'm beyond thankful that our needs are more than met. I worry about those families who can't afford to stock up. I know that not everyone's in the position that we are. I know that some of my siblings are struggling too. They've had lockdowns again this year. Unlike in the US, they don't get stimulus checks. I have some plans to help if they need it. Some of them will just tell me that they're okay, even if they don't have. I don't want to tell them about it. I first want to assess everyone's needs and then decide what to do. I participate in Secret Santa every year, but charity begins at home. So I need to pray and ask God to show me whose needs need to be met this year. 

Today an old neighbor of ours told me her husband's brother passed away from Covid. This neighbor and her family were very close to us. They moved into the new town shortly after we did and we were like family to each other. We knew their entire family (in laws and outlaws..lol) and vice versa. The neighbor is disabled and my mom helped her with a lot and always went places with her, because she's legally blind too. She's just the sweetest woman. I've always sent her letters, cards and pics from the time I moved here. I'd print everything in a large font, so that it's easy for her to read. She has 3 sons and every day I'd buy bread for both our families, then go across the street to take the bread and visit with her. I'd call my mom from work every day (just to ask what's for dinner...lol). If my mom told me the neighbor was out of something, I'd go and buy it on my lunch break or on my way home from work. She'd always bake pies and bring some over to us. I know that she's been lost since my mom passed. She would always tell me how much she misses my mom and give me updates on the new people who bought my parents' house.  Most of the old neighbors have moved away, so I still keep in touch with her. Thanks to modern technology, we can chat every day. 2 of her sons live abroad, so I know that she's lonely. My heart just broke for their family, because I know her husband's brothers. A few months ago, she told me that 2 of them had Covid. I was worried, because she &her husband both had the flu, but that's thankfully all it was. She's 70 years old, which puts her at a higher risk. I just wish that I was closer, because I know that she needs someone there for her. 

I will post numbers tomorrow or Sunday.

Okay, I give up on trying to get the bulleted list fixed or aligned correctly.  I've finally figured it out, but I'm too pooped to try and change things now. 

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!