It's been awhile since I posted & was active. Have been too busy with other things.

I just got my credit report. It says I'm $30k in credit card debt. Oh well, I can't do anything with the way my husband manages the finances. I can only control myself.

Made 30 h/m burritos for school lunches & snacks from h/m beans. The girls like them & they're cheaper than buying them.

For dinner, we ate chicken & gravy, boiled potatoes, & peas. The potatoes were free from the gleaners club & the peas were homegrown. The chicken was leftovers from the roast chicken we had a few days ago. I had some leftover mashed potatoes, so I added it to the gravy. Tomorrow we're going to have chicken stew from the leftovers. All I need to do is combine everything & add some cooked carrots. From the chicken carcuss, I plan to make chicken soup with h/m noodles. So that will be 4 meals from one chicken. But we'll probably have leftover stew for another meal.

We got cases of salad dressing & chocolate dip from the gleaners. I have been giving it away to people who are needy & to some friends. The girls have been making chocolate milk with the chocolate dip. What's really neat about this is that most of the dressings are in individual packets, so the girls can take them in the lunches with raw veggies. Pretzels work well with them too.

Tomorrow, I hope, I am going to make h/m granola cereal. About a month ago, I quit buying cold cereal. It seemed like that was all we snacked on, and by the time dinner came around, no one was hungry. The girls don't want the granola, but it will be a nice snack for me when I want something sweet. I think they will eventually eat it too.

I have been making h/m snacks for their lunches. They would prefer the processed stuff, but when they grow up, they can eat all the processed stuff they want.

Last night, I made some rice for a snack. My daughter opened a can of tomato soup. Both of us had only a little left over. I combined the 2 with the idea of giving it to the dog. I looked at it for a moment, & then put it in the frig. I'm going to have it today for lunch. Sorry Chessie.

I made some old fashion popcorn for a snack today. I used the cheese powder salvaged from the last batch. If I hadn't been thinking frugally, I would have thrown out that powder.

The girls will be gone all day with their friends. I gave them each $10. Of course it's only a loan. Banks are closed so they couldn't get any money.

Instead of getting gas at my usual place, I got it on my way to pick up girls from school. It was $0.04 per gallon cheaper. At 20 gallons, I saved $0.80.

Re-order cigarettes on-line. Saved $6.00 per carton. I know, I know I would have saved $19.00 if I didn't have to buy cigarettes. I also order my husband 3 different types of cigarettes that will amount to an additional $6.00 savings. If he likes one of these brands, then I can save even more in the future. If he doesn't like them, he'll smoke what I have bought, and I won't order them any more. Hopefully he likes them.

We were invited to supper at church. Do you know the difference between lunch, supper, and dinner? Lunch would be a sandwich or something similar that you would take to school. Dinner is an evening meal. Supper is a large meal that you would normally have in the evening, but you have it for the afternoon meal. It took me a while to figure this out as we always called "dinner" supper.

DD got grass stains on her white jeans. I put them in a stainless steal pot & added a little laundry soap & dishwasher soap. I used the hot water on the wood stove. Hope this works.

I received a Valentine card from my husband on January 14. I was insulted. I figured he sent it in January so he didn't have to remember Valentines Day. He couldn't understand why my feelings were hurt. He thought it was cute because it had a dog on it, and he knows I love my dog. So in retaliation, I sent him is birthday card. Only his birthday isn't until October! Well, last week I received a Christmas card. Oh that little bugger! But bless his little heart, he sent me a beautiful Valentine Card. I received it late, but that's ok because he did send it just before Valentines Day. Kinda reminds me of the old days when we were dating. We use to play practical jokes on each other.

On my way back from picking up the girls, we stopped off at walmart. No so smart. Must of been lonely or something. Spent $45 and the only thing I needed was coffee & catsup. I bought 2 baby gifts for future giving. They had sleepers 50% off, & since I always need baby gifts (3 women at church are pregnant), I purchased them. I also picked up some toys for the little girls I sometimes babysit. This way they'll have something to do. Then we picked up some birthday presents for 2 girls that are having birthday parties today--one today & one tonight. At least I didn't waste any money on me.

watched video that I had rented at the library. The library is too far away just to go to it, so I go when I have to take the girls to church, was is almost right next door. I had rented these last week, but I was gone & couldn't watch them. So I renewed them over the phone today thereby saving potential late fees.

Watered the plants, but the water was too cold (well water) for them, so I warmed it with the hot water from the bucket sitting on the wood stove. That way I didn't have to waste hot water. I used the liquid plant food. It is measured in drops. The little bottle that I have will probably last me my entire life. Probably only cost a few dollars, but I don't remember as I bought it about 5 years ago.

Ate h/m burritos from h/m refried beans for lunch. I have a supply in the freezer. I came up with a recipe that the girls really like. Their friends say they taste like the frozen ones from the store. Sometimes the girls trade their burritos for something else from another child at school. Gives them more variety.

Made chicken vegetable soup from my last chicken carcus for dinner. Used the pressure which probably saved an hour of cooking time. I used the carrots & cabbage that was on the verge of going bad and a 1/3 c. rice.

Washed laundry & hung dry it. It was warm enough to dry the sheets outside. The rest of the clothes I hung in the house. I have to wash on warm water because well water is too cold to activate the laundry soap. I only used about 2 T. of laundry soap because we have a front loader. I don't need fabric softener because hung laundry doesn't have static electricity.

Woke up with no water again. Just a trickle. I was able to take a sponge bath. Washing my hair was difficult. Too old & short to bend over kitchen sink.

Will be gone until next Saturday. It saves a lot of money in gas & food, plus & can't spend any. No where to spend it. Unfortunately it is at the cost of some one else. The person that houses me pays for it, & my neighbor pays for the cost of transportation of my girls. I feel guilty about it. None will accept any payment. I am in debt so much to the people who help me. I praise God for putting these people in my life.

Since I am gone except on Saturdays, I only have one day to prepare for the week for the girls.

Baked Moist Banana Pudding Muffins for the girls' breakfast or after school snacks. I'm hoping they don't like them so I can take them with me next week.

I made 4 dozen peanut butter cookies. Ok, ok, so my daughter made these. I was going to make them, but she volunteered.

I am also in the process of making about 30 burritos that I will freeze for their lunches. They can also have top ramen (generic kind) or sandwiches.

Since I wear my clothes twice before washing, I can just leave my suit case packed. I won't have to wash clothes this week.

Total amount I spent for January was $673.60. Ok, so I'm not going to count the $640 I loaned to my daughter because she is suppose to pay it back when she gets her tax return.

This month, I'm going to be giving my sister $150 to pay for her nursing assistant license, so February won't be so good.

I didn't eat anything all day, so on my way home I could resist the temptation. I spent $4.40. Had to come home to take the girls to school as my neighbor is going out of town tonight. I will be taking her girls to school too, then I will go back to Montana.

My dogs wounds are improving. I don't think she is in any more pain. Hopefully she will get off this kick of being top dog. It seems that pride hurts not only the human race but also the animal kingdom.