My son and DIL are at a conference this week, so they asked if I could come house, kid and pet sit while they are away. Being retired means a big fat YES. Even better, with the hubs mileage plan, me and FD were able to fly here for $11!! I have thoroughly enjoyed my time with my Cali babies!! Mom and dad come home tomorrow, and we fly home on Sunday. It's been such a rewarding week. I LOVE having the freedom to do stuff like this!
While the hub was home this last rotation, we bought an upright freezer on sale and stocked it full of meats and quick meals. Now I will watch for sales and keep it stocked while taking advantage of good prices. With all the turmoil going on in the world, we felt it was a good idea to do a little stockpiling just in case. I have to say, it feels great to know we are prepared. I also saw a sale on canned goods and stocked up on canned veggies. I already had a stockpile of beans. I still have several 5lb food storage buckets and plan to use those to store flour and sugar.
The first few months of retirement was a period of adjusting to our new budget. We were hit with a fair share of unexpected expenses (well repair, tires for our trailer, etc) but thankfully, things have settled down and we are back to living on our budget and having money left over for savings.
Earlier this week, Costco had a flash sale on Alaska Airline gift cards. $500 for $449. I bought 6 of them, which will last use most of 2022!! I generally budget $500 per month for the hubs travel expenses, so I will have savings paid back in 6 months for the gift cards.
I took advantage of Kohl's Black Friday sale today and bought 10, good quality, warm fuzzy blankets at $8.50 each. FD and I will add hand warmers and other goodies and hand out to homeless later this month. I am budgeting $150 total for these or about $15 each.
I hope all is well with everyone. I am looking forward to catching up on the blogs!
November 6th, 2021 at 01:05 am 1636160745
I also have a decent stockpile of food, paper and personal care items. Between inflation, supply chain issues and just general uncertainty in the world, it just makes sense.
November 6th, 2021 at 02:51 am 1636167105
November 6th, 2021 at 03:31 am 1636169486
Great deal on Kohl’s as well, I just can’t believe Black Friday is happening already.
November 6th, 2021 at 05:55 am 1636178116
I wonder how much of the supply chain issues are caused by our fear of supply chain issues. Black Friday sales in October in case there is no merchandise late in November. The stores will be empty but our gift stashes will be full…and we’ll say ‘I knew I was right not to wait.’ Self fulfilling prophecy…some people will buy too much because they associate ‘shop’ with ‘holiday activity.’ I’m not criticizing - this is universal…
November 7th, 2021 at 12:20 am 1636244402
November 7th, 2021 at 09:14 pm 1636319699
November 7th, 2021 at 11:54 pm 1636329248
November 13th, 2021 at 11:26 pm 1636845979
November 21st, 2021 at 07:44 pm 1637523885