Well. I certainly had plans for Cheepie this year, demonstrated by the last post.  Look at that lovely list of ideas.  I still like ’em all, but have managed to accomplish exactly zero of them! Not even my weekly lists.  I have been posting on Facebook and Instagram more often, but not here.  2019 has been a year of refocusing, and I think I’m finally ready to get back to my small contribution to the internet.

That’s my planner, and while it’s now full-up after a scheduling session, very little of the time blocked off is anything I’d choose–it’s mostly stuff for other people. This blog has always been one of the things I do just because I like to, so this week I’m making time for it.  Hopefully every week, but we’ll start with this one step.

So, what have I been doing lately on the budget-friendly front?

• I’ve been on a push to eat what we’ve got in the freezer, always a way to trim a bit from the grocery budget.
• I’ve made a lot of soup stock, turning it into gumbo (leftover chicken & leftover sausage), carrot ginger soup (Sprouts had that 3lb bag of organic carrots on sale) and something we’ll just call ‘Need to Eat This Up Now with noodles’ soup.
• The kids eat a lot of granola, so I started making it.  Teen Boy is fond of it on yogurt and Tiny prefers bars. Tiny also wants all granola to have chocolate chips, and I’ve found that I can use the tiny chips and that way use less and make the bag last longer.
• The day-old bread rack is one of my favorite things.  I made a breakfast bread pudding with bacon and cheese and a marble rye.  I was out of crackers, and a sourdough made a ton of little toasts to eat with dip when friends came over.  A cheese focaccia can be sliced in half and turned into a pizza in no time.

I’ll post a couple last-minute deals you can catch tomorrow later on tonight. In the meantime, I hope you’re glad to see me posting!  Cheep cheep!