Small Economy Instead of a Huge Waste

 Sometimes, a small or large package of wipes, whether for just wiping hands or sanitizing anything, dries out. The package either gets the flap knocked loose or it is not closed correctly. Sometimes, the wipes are in a canister, sometimes in a soft, plastic flap pack. Bummer! However, I never waste them. 

These wipes are very thick and tough. I take a very dried out wipe and pour a bit of water from my drinking bottle and splash the tough and dry wipe. It works just as before--to clean my fingers, mostly. Of course, if you need something dry to absorb liquid, there is no need to douse the dry wipe with water. 

I never wet the whole dried lot of wipes because I think it might spoil, either grow mold or become rancid, grow bacteria. I just want the water fresh as possible. 

Since March 2019 I have used more wipes than I have in my whole life! I stocked up on all types--Clorox, Lysol, plain wipes, canisters, flat packs, diaper wipes. I don't think I have had more than two of any one kind since I just got my one-pack allowed of whatever came in. 

And, I did not stop at Ninja Fireworks!

Do you ever rehydrate a wipe that has dried? Tell me about a small economy you have had lately. What have you salvaged? We all do this. Your actions would be an inspiration.

Small Economies

Buying Soft Soap is not something I am willing to do often. Sure, I can get it for $1 apiece. But, I like free soap. I refuse to buy the refills. So, today, I used Suave Essential Sun-Ripened Strawberry Shampoo to refill my small pump bottle for Soft Soap. It has strawberry extract and Vitamin E. It really smells good and washed my hands nicely. This is the pump soap I keep at the kitchen sink to wash my hands. Dawn is there, also, in case I have touched meat or my hands are greasy. The bottle of Suave was free, so I wash my hands for free! And, it smells delicious. 

Both pair of my very old black pants needed mending. One pair had a run in the back on the left side about six inches below my waist, and the other pair was coming apart at the back center seam. Plus, one had a small hole in the front of the leg. Now, both pair are no longer holey. 

I had no needles when I moved here. I asked Tommy if he had a needle for hand sewing. He brought me a cute little tin with sewing supplies. His mother last used them 57 years ago. The needles were sharp and smooth with no burrs or rust. So, I did not need to buy a needle. 

When I bought vine-ripened tomatoes on the vine, I cut one for dinner. I did eat half of it. It was so awful, I had no intention of eating anymore of it. Tommy ate the other half the next day.  He did not like it, either. Monday, I took the other two tomatoes on the vine back to Publix and got a refund on all three since I had my receipt.  They were $1.85. So, that went back into my pocket. 

The bread with October 5 date molded, so that went back and I did not have to throw it away and lose money. We still had more than a half of the loaf left. 

A neighbor mowed the yard because Tommy cannot. That is a huge economy!

Drying clothes in the house saves money, so I do. Until I get a dryer rack, Towels and such do need the dryer. I save where I can. 

This next item is saving me from eating soybean oil and it saves money. I have a 3.58 ounce bottle of Alessi olive oil that may or may not be good olive oil. I have read in the past that Alessi had sold adulterated olive oil and passed it off as virgin. 

I like Kraft Italian dressing, but I brought home Kraft Zesty Italian. Well, there is too much zest for me. So, I had about three inches left of olive oil in this tiny bottle. I managed to get out the bottom part of the zesty dressing and added it to the olive oil. Now, I can have just a little zest and much less soybean and canola oil.  So, it is a little economy. 

We are under a tornado watch until 8 pm tonight. Since it is after noon, maybe I should change from my nightgown and into real clothing. This is a threadbare white cotton, knit gown, so it would be like a fully body wet tshirt if I were out in a ditch. 

Okay, time to cook dinner. Do you count small economies and are happy for the savings.

Small Things/Small Economy

I know this is silly, but I received a small gift from Arm and Hammer for Earth Day. The post card is embedded with seeds. I am instructed to put it on soil and cover with thin layer of soil and water daily. I received this Tuesday and am still tickled pink. Now, I will have a pot with colorful annual and perennial wildflowers. Did anyone else receive this? I think I had to request it.

Tommy asked me if the plant he was looking at was a bell pepper. Well, I did not see which plant. However, I knew there were two Sweet peppers, so, I said it was. Tommy said it was a perfectly round thing on the plant. The next day, I could not see a pepper where he was standing when he asked, so I asked him and he showed me. The pepper was on the front of the plant that I could not see from where I was looking. It's actually a red pepper, still green. Now, I look at it all the time It is no larger than a quarter, but it thrills me. It is for him since I hate red, green, or orange peppers. This will be for a salad or something that he will eat.

I was looking for my debit card in my purse and found a penny. I was surprised because I had no idea there were coins in my purse. I do have a container of coins in the house, but nowhere near or in my purse. It felt funny to hold a coin.

Looking for something under a sofa cushion, I found one Christmas Kiss. YUM! There is nothing better than surprise chocolate, amiright?

I got rid of a bunch of small things--fireants. Bait works.

Tommy said to me that he was wrong and I was right.  Whew! That was a first-time admission. Every time I get upset and then find out I am wrong or I tell him the wrong turn or something, I tell him I was wrong and sorry that I told him wrong. Well, every time I say I am wrong and sorry, I point out that there is no shame in being wrong, but that a person can at least say so when the person has insisted he/she is right. So, he did it once and maybe it will become a habit. But, once will do.

A bit of insurance to go into the freezer--Today, I froze the first milk jug to go inside in case there is a power disruption. Sure, it is a huge jug, but small security until I add more jugs. Tommy was new to this concept.

If I disappear, it is not me. From the wall to my laptop, there are four pieces to connect to use the laptop. The two tiny pieces have disappeared and I sit in one place and use it. I may have to go buy new ones. Ugh, so this small thing caused a problem. 

Thanks, Kylie.

This and That and Small Economy

The paper inserts this week have three coupons for Ball jars, Ball lids and bands, and a new Ball jar shape. This week, I will pick up these pink envelopes that people leave by the curb. Look in your Sunday paper to find them if they are not thrown in your driveway in a little pink bag.

Last night, Tommy peeled 5 lbs. of potatoes. It was so late, I just put them in a bag and left them in a cool place. I hope they are okay. These will go into a cooking bag with some sort of seasoning and meat. While he was working on potatoes, I cleaned strawberries and made us a smoothie with mostly strawberries.

Today, he can peel apples for pies. He likes peeling things because it is food he can eat...lol. Not once have I ever had to push him, encourage him. He just does it when I ask or even mention peeling.

Today, I don't have to water my plants on the porch. It is raining so hard that they are being watered well. This is forecast for the rest of the week. My back was hurting while watering the few plants.

Last week, when we went to Walgreen's, WG included a card with the meds. It said, "Happy Thoughts and Good Vibes." The envelope was unmarked, but the card was. Today, I used the bright orange envelope to mail coupons to my friend. Yes, it is a small economy, but it saved me paying for an envelope.

I am going to cut the off the front with the saying and include it with a gift.

Okay, I have to work on things.

Do you save clean envelopes from greeting cards to use elsewhere?

Small Economy, Grocery Shopping, Church Program

As you know, or maybe you don't know, I never pay full price for Christmas cards. I buy them on sale, rock bottom reductions, at yard sales and at thrift stores. They cannot be musty.

Well, Tommy's niece has a small economy I would never even think to use.

She used a PANTONE color chip to send him a birthday greeting. One side is blank. So, she wrote "Happy Birthday the L*******S", his address and her return address. And, there is a postcard stamp.

I think this small economy is very clever. Now, I would never just collect free color chips to do this, but, nonetheless, it is clever. These chips are postcard sized, not the tiny chips I usually see.

Clever and thrifty? In my book it is.

I used a $.75 coupon on Ronco Spaghetti. It is my favorite brand and the brand we had at home growing up.

Ragu spaghetti was bogo at Publix, so I got only two.

I had a $.75 coupon on two half gallons of a2milk. I have another to use later.

I think I saved $5.46 at Publix.

The European cucumber was cheaper than elsewhere--$2.50. I need it for the cucumber sandwiches after church tomorrow. Tommy said he wants me to go, so I am.

I have never had Nutella. I may be the last person on Earth who has not tasted it. I found a tiny 1 oz. bottle for $1. Even though I am allergic to hazelnuts, I will try a bit of this. It is the first time I have tried a nut that I am allergic to since I found out about my nut allergies. It is several hours later, and I am not having a reaction. I do have a headache on my eyebrows, but that is allergy-related but not from nuts, just dust.
and took the bread from the freezer. Tommy had some of the European cucumber in his dinner Saturday night. When I went to bed, I told him to wake me at 7:30 so I could put the sandwiches together.

He woke me after 8 am on Sunday, and I had been awake until 4 am. I had him slice the cucumbers for me--1/8 inch. Well, he was slicing them thicker than 1/4 inch so he "would not slice his fingers." I had him slice the thick ones in half, and I told him to be careful. The butter was not soft enough to spread, so I had to microwave it. He spent the rest of the time using a fork on the cream cheese mixture to get it soft enough to spread.

I no longer have a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter. So, I spent time in Publix scouring the shelves for something with a narrow diameter to use to cut bread into circles. I settle on Beechnut Baby Food in jars. I know a glass makes a good biscuit cutter, but this glass jar was wide glass even though the jar was tiny. So, it was really hard on my hands and fingers to cut the bread. Plus, the circles seemed rough.

We needed to leave at 9:30 am to get to Sunday School by 10 am. But, at 9:40 I finally got the sandwiches on a dish and covered and in a bag. I hurried though my preps and we got to the church by 10:30.

As it turns out, the church provides the fried chicken and sliced ham. I cannot eat much at one time, so I brought home my ham, cheese, and a roll. I noticed Styrofoam boxes had been brought from the kitchen. All the women were getting meals for themselves, mothers who could not attend, and for themselves. I brought a chicken breast for me and a thigh for Tommy. He also wanted more ham, so he has that, too.

There was no preaching service, just the choir singing and then lunch. We have been eating Kisses and Miniatures today and watching Christmas movies.

Tomorrow is his birthday and I have gotten him nothing! He changed his attitude Saturday night. He finally took me to stores. So, tomorrow will be spend shopping for him and making him a dinner from the leftover turkey legs and chicken breast. They need to be eaten tomorrow. So, he loves the casserole with Stovetop Stuffing, cream of chicken soup, eggs, and dried cranberries. My dehydrated cranberries are in the dump and I will not use Craisins. I might make a green bean casserole since he loves that, too.

At his church there is a board with slots and everyone's name. It is for Christmas cards. That way, there is no postage. I was going to get ours because our names are together on one of the slots. He told me to leave them there until the Sunday before Christmas. So, I put them back. A woman walked in and did not hear what he said. She brought the cards to me. I asked him in front of everyone who heard him make me put them back if I could keep them. He said I could.

At home I got into my box of cards. It was a chore finding envelopes that fit the cards. I need about 30 cards and have found 17 matches between envelopes and cards. I have more here because I brought them with me. None of my cards were purchased full price. So, this is not costly. First, I took out cards for three bloggers, and some bloggers whose addresses I know, and for my children. My goal is not to buy cards until they go on sale. Dollar General always has had cards marked down 25% before Christmas. They are some of the prettiest cards I have bought.

I need to go to bed because I am exhausted.

Do you like cucumber sandwiches? They are labor intensive to make, although simple.

TMI and Free Stuff/ Small Economy

Yes, I know this and hope someone has a little insight. Since my stomach does not empty as it should, I have been told to eat a low residue/low fiber diet. So, there go the apples with skins, sweet potatoes and regular potato skins, and a lot of other things--nuts, seeds, good things for me.

Just as the diarrhea was horrific, the opposite is worse. I have had two bottles of calcium citrate and Sprite, plus a gallon of water with not solid results! I cannot walk or exercise, so I sit on Tommy's rollator seat and march 50 steps per session. At first, it helped. Now, there is just pain.

I think I may end up in ER if this continues.

END OF TMI

I went to bed for a nap on Tuesday instead of cooking the chicken, but it is in the refrigerator thawing. I hate both the sweet potatoes, so Tommy gets those. That will work with the chicken. Plus, I have lettuce and tomato.

After I had been here about three days, I asked Tommy where his refrigerator crispers were--under the table. Why did you take them out?--I don't know. How long have they been out?--about 3 years. ??? One day, I will wash them and put them back in. They don't appear to be filthy or anything.

The guy wheels out the food at the food bank and loads it into the vehicle. We decided to never bring in what we do not want, to donate it to someone who might need it and like what we don't need or like. We also received a loaf of bread and pita sandwich things. And, i got a white towel and hand towel. The towel was not the cheapest, but not expensive. The hand towel had a "Hilton" tag and said guest on the tag. Right now, I can use these kind of things--small economies.

We stopped by the Farmer's Market, but there was nothing I wanted. I am still waiting for one guy's second tomato crop. There weren't many vendors there today. I almost bought two fried pies, but knew we were getting sweets from two places. The food bank thankfully gave us only one sweet--a package of four muffins, two banana and two chocolate chip. Since Tommy cannot abide bananas, I ate those even though chocolate is my favorite.

At CVS they have some sort of wellness thing going on. At the front of the store is a bin with the tiny packages of Kleenex and masks. Evert time I go in, I get one of each. So far, I have four masks and four packages of Kleenex. This is an instance of small economy.