Hey friends (all three of you) how are you holding up? This whole Covid-19 situation is really starting to wear me out, how about you? I’m exhausted. I ache. I want to hug people. This sucks. That’s really all there is to say about it.

People are dying at such incredible rates, and there doesn’t seem to be any slowing it down. Luckily, my parents have gotten their first dose of the vaccine and they get their second shots today! I am so grateful that they managed to get on that list, my heart rests a little easier now.

Alright so let’s see, what frugal things have we been up to lately?

I have been really good about using up the food in the house and not going to the store. This is good for a multitude of reasons: I am saving money by eating what I already have, I am not wasting food, I am not buying random goodies that always manage to get snuck into the cart, I am not around people who could potentially have covid, I am not able to spread the often invisible illness to my community. Among others!

I used some of the MANY carrots that were languishing in the produce drawer to make carrot cake cupcakes (my favorite) because obviously we couldn’t very well let the carrots NOT be made into cake. Right? Right.

I have been outsmarted by my thermostat. I have a Nest installed that allows me to schedule the temperature to go up or down at a set time of day. It’s wonderful. Well normally I have it set at 68 during the day ant 66 at night (during the cold and wet winters here in the PNW) but the other morning I noted just how chilly it was. Turns out, my thermostat had restarted and gone into “money saving mode” or whatever it was called. The house had gone down to 62 overnight and was set to 64 during the day. Oof, let me tell you, that’s too chilly for me. And my dogs, let’s blame it partially on the dogs. So I did adjust it but not by much: 66 during the day and 62 overnight. The dogs sleep in sweaters (don’t judge me they have short hair!) the cat sleeps under the covers with me and I generally wear a sweatshirt to bed. During the day we bundle under blankets and generally I am happy with this temperature setting. For now. And hopefully this will save us some money!

I have been getting take out from a local Mexican restaurant once a week in an effort to help them keep the business afloat. There have definitely been days during the week where I am tired and just want to push the easy button and order food. But I remind myself that I am making a conscious decision with how I want to spend my money, and supporting Rocio’s is where I currently am focused in that regard. I have plenty to eat and when Saturday evening rolls around it feels like a treat to have take out.

I read my favorite blogs daily. Reading blogs about how other people maintain their frugal ways, even during all this craziness, helps keep me on track. It reminds me that I am not alone in this, and every little bit helps. Sometimes it is hard to see the positive, especially in the middle of a global pandemic, but I can do this. And so can you friends.

Sending you my love.