saving money update

Well, the fridge we drove all the way to Genoa to get did not work right. The freezer got cold enough to freeze my chicken, but just barely. The fridge part, after 4 days of trying, never did get cold enough. We will not be out the entire $65 we paid for it since Glen is getting a $30-35 check back from some energy thingy. That makes Glen feel better. Me, too.

We did find another used fridge in Fallon (one of the serendipitous things where someone who had a sister with an extra fridge overheard me talking to someone else about looking for one) and it is huge, clean, and only about 5 years old. I love it...wish it fit in the kitchen as I'd rather have it as my main fridge over the one we bought last fall, but it's just an inch too big.

I tried to sign up online for just Sunday delivery for the RGJ so I could get the coupons. Turns out the smallest subscription they had was a Sunday & Wednesday delivery, so I signed up for that. That next Sunday I didn't get a paper, so I called, they said they'd credit my account and notify my delivery person. Then we were out of town and when we got back they still hadn't delivered any. I called. Told the lady where the mailbox was. She said she'd take care of it.

A few days later I get a phone call. Apparently you can't get just a Sunday/Wednesday subscription in Fernley or Fallon. The smallest for our area was a 4 day subscription. Why didn't the lady I talked to the other day know that? I said never mind and canceled my order. Uncle Jim says he'll share all his stuff with me. I hear that when you buy papers off the newstand that they often are missing their coupons because other people take them or they aren't inserted to begin with. Don't know if that's the case here. Might look into it.

Does anyone know if the LVN paper carries the same coupons as RGJ? I never paid attention before.

The purchase last week that I learned about from my dealstomeals subscription that made me happiest was peaches for 50¢/pound at Smart and Final...I had never even been there before. I now have 50 pounds of peaches waiting to be canned tomorrow (OK, we are eating the peaches, so I have less than 50 pounds but more than 25). I never got a hold of any peaches last year, so I'm excited.

I'm looking into buying a pressure cooker/canner, so if anyone knows anything about them I'd appreciate the input.

I also want 2 qt canning jars...I can get 6 jars from an online source for $12... and then shipping is $19. Does anyone know if there's a place in Reno that sells them? I'll call Resco in Reno tomorrow and see, but from the company's website it looks like they might only carry jelly jars.

Made a batch of yogurt Friday with my new yogurt maker. I saw a site that recommended using Greek yogurt as the starter because it doesn't have pectin in it (and it's gluten-free according to the carton's label). I tried it, but don't know, I might prefer the regular kind. It'll be fun to play with.

For a long time now I've been thinking I needed to do something about the "vampire power" in my house. Then a few weeks ago one of my Netflix choices was Bill Nye's Stuff Happens. I ordered it simply because it was the only Bill Nye they had. Turns out it was a series on conservation of energy. I was afraid he'd come off too drastic as I know he's really into "green," but I really enjoyed the episodes we saw.

One episode dealt with vampire power. He mentioned using power strips. With that little reminder I went out and bought several surge protector/power strips for our 2 TVs and the Wii area. I learned that there are different levels of surge protectors when I went shopping and you need to read the label and make sure you are getting the proper kind. I don't know how long it will take to recoup my costs, but I do feel better shutting off the strips to the TVs when not in use...of course the computers already had them, but I never shut off the power strips at night. Now I do.

Will I be able to tell next power bill? Since we went on vacation for a week, I won't be able to tell if a lower bill reflects that no one was home or that the surge protectors were really saving us money.

Our goal is to have our house paid off by next Independence Day. The plan is to live off Glen's paycheck and have all my subbing money (after tithing) go to the mortgage. Any minor emergencies will disrupt that, but I really think the end is in sight. Any money I can save in the household budget along the way will help. I'm really excited about this.

So, I'm still on my saving money/food storage kick and still learning lots. Hope to get the coupon thing down soon.