Muscle Memory

Oh, yes, the days of having to scrimp and save and build margins where there are no margins... I apparently remember it well.

I might have mentioned how much the Lago Vista Friday food giveaway has helped us this past year. It's truly been invaluable. 

 

Sometimes we go and our number is picked pretty early; that's when we end up with hauls like the ones pictured above. Other times, our number is later and we get a few carrots and some bread... but it's still free food! Also, I anticipate late spring and summer will feature the return of produce in a quantity that isn't there during the winter.

Furthermore, I've gotten back into mystery shopping. I have done a couple of jobs, have a few more scheduled (including one at a portrait studio where Mal has to be the subject... and he's getting the pay for that one! He has his eye on some action figures that he wants), and am picking up random gigs here and there.

Yesterday, for instance, after we dropped Mal off at school, James and I went to have blood drawn for a medical trial. We each got $45 for that!

And tomorrow I'm doing an online marketing focus group for an hour for $150.

It's not James's "career-level" money, but every little bit offsets something on the other end.

Also, we're trying to think of other streams of income we might be able to create.

Whatever, it seems like we might be in this season of unemployment for a hot minute.

Now we just need to see some prices come down. So who wants to work on that?

I KNOW I said I wasn't going to do a whole post about my hair...

 ... but here's the deal: There's a lot.

First of all, when I realized I was getting some grey hair, back in late 2018, I decided that it was time to stop coloring my hair red and let it grow out. 

My rationale was that I didn't want to be one of those white-headed ladies with obviously fake red hair and shocking white roots.

It took about three to four years, but I was finally able to cut that last bit of dyed hair off and had my natural brown back, with some grey "highlights."

But THEN my hair had started changing into the wavy hair I mentioned a few posts ago. My hair had been absolutely straight, no body at all, my entire life. I guess it's perimenopause hormones, but it made my hair curly. 

Last summer, a hair-dresser misunderstood me when I said I didn't want layers and thought that I wanted my hair to match my "fringe," so she cut about 6 inches off of my length. 

What THAT did was to get rid of the remaining straight hair I had. 

Truth is, I needed that cut but was too much of a wimp to ask for such a drastic cropping.

It's so weird. This wavy hair came out of my head! New hair after half a century!

Well, I realized today that we're in another kind of "grow it out" waiting game.

In summer 2023, I started taking minoxidil. At the time, I assumed that I was losing hair because of perimenopause but now know that hair loss is a symptom of hyperparathyroidism. Regardless, my hair was thinning more than I was comfortable with when my hair was still mostly straight and very fine (it's still fine, but it looks thicker because of the volume).

Now, I figure we have about 18 months until my new growth catches up with the length I am keeping my hair these days.

I'm sure something else weird will happen by then and we'll get to start this process all over.

Austerity Measures

Back in the day, when I lived in Sherman and had much more time than money, I clipped coupons. The local Kroger would double coupons up to $.50 and it would triple coupons up to $.35 (so that was the BEST coupon to have!). I'd shop on Wednesday morning as soon as the store opened, and the specials from the past week's circular AND the new week's circular were still in effect. 

In this manner, I made do with $75 per week for groceries for a family of 3.

Over time, paper coupons weren't worth the newspaper subscription. As we got busier and were able to be a little less fussed with cost, I came to value my time more and started doing eMeals for weekly menu planning, and just bought what was on that list. It helped me save money, having a plan, but it was less of an on-the-fly kind of planning I'd done before, and it was a time-saver.

Once eMeals integrated with shopping apps and I could just pop my list over to Walmart and have it show up on my doorstep within 24 hours (we have In-Home, so we don't have to tip... but it's not as fast as Walmart+ Door Dash delivery). 

Well, it's been MONTHS since James got laid off. Grocery prices do not seem to want to drop at all. Tariffs are about to make things even more expensive! 

So I decided to try a little experiment and -- gasp! -- go to a grocery store. 

This morning, I got up just as the stores were opening, and I arrived at a Randall's by about 6:40. It was good I hadn't knocked down the door, because they were just starting to do daily mark-downs at that time.

I went through the store a couple of times, and ended up with enough stuff both to make all of our meals for the week (with some help from our pantry and some produce James and D got for free last night at the Lago Vista food giveaway), and some "snacky" kinds of things Mal likes (granola bars, yogurt, pudding) for $65ish. 

In Sherman, I'd aim to save 33% on my shopping trips. Today, I saved 48%!

Some of the biggest wins were: berries are all buy one/get one free. Brownie mix is usually $3 and was on sale for $1. I found 1/2 price yogurt cups, plus had digital coupons for them in the app. I got a pound of ground turkey for $2 and 3 pork chops (bone-in) for just under $3. The only thing I bought that wasn't either on sale, expiring and marked down, on clearance, or had a coupon, was 5 pounds of flour, which I needed and which, at $2.79, was one of the most expensive things I purchased.

When I got home, I browned all of the turkey because it was already looking sad. I added some seasoning, then put half of it in the refrigerator. I took the other half, added half a bag of shelled edamame and two diced carrots, and made some "peppery bacon" mac and cheese James had gotten for free at the giveaway months ago.

It was delicious, and enough food for the three grown-ups in the house (Mal is always the wild card; he doesn't like mixed flavors, and so I have to make sure we have fruit, chicken nuggets, and yogurt to keep him happy). 

I also made this lentil "meat" loaf recipe that I'd sent my parents, because another thing James got last night was red bell pepper. We had everything else (except the celery), and I just wanted something around for everyone to eat or make sandwiches out of, so I don't have to cook again until Monday.

Then I prepared one of the two boxes of brownie mixes that I'd bought. I used the "flax seed egg" mixture mentioned in the lentil loaf recipe, because at this point, flax seed is cheaper than eggs. So unless the egg is acting like an egg (scrambled, boiled, crepes, creme anglaise, etc.), it's going to be flax! You do have to make sure that you cook whatever you put it in, as people have gotten botulism from raw flax seed. 

Anyhoo... it's been a throwback, and not a bad way to spend my morning. 

We're not in trouble yet, but there's no harm in reeling things in a little bit. If Mal were as good an eater as D was at his age, this would be a lot easier! I might have to start asking him to take a "yes/no" bite of everything that I make, to see if he can develop a wider taste palate.