Frugal? No

Things have not been frugal here this month. Yes, there were frugal days, especially the days we got snow and ice, and there were several of those. I just don't go anywhere on those days so no money spent. But I sure made up for it on the other days. I really don't want to see my credit card bill come. It seems I was always running out of various everyday food items, like milk, eggs, bread, plus cat food and litter. I tried to stick to my list as much as possible and not make unnecessary purchases but everything I needed seemed to be expensive. I did find one good bargain though. I had been wanting a new pair of athletic shoes with velcro closings. They are so much easier for me than tying shoestrings. The pair of New Balance ones that I have been wearing for years are looking a bit ratty thought they are still in good shape and I wear them a lot. They just don't look very nice when I go somewhere. So I had been thinking of looking for a good sale on the same shoe online, knowing I would have to spend at least $60 or more. But as I was riding down the aisle in the electric cart at Walmart, I saw a clearance table full of shoes and boots. I looked the boots over as I need a pair of winter snowboots, but there were none in my size. The rest were mostly childrens shoes. I was about to move on to the grocery section when I noticed some boxes of . . . white athletic shoes with velcro closings! I stopped to check for my size, thinking there wouldn't be any since there were none in any of the other types of shoes. But. .. wait! There at the bottom is a pair of 11s! And for only $13. They had been almost $28. Even at regular price it would have been a bargain. They are Dr. Scholl's brand and I have had other type shoes of that brand that worked out fairly well. I have worn them a couple of times and are comfortable. So that made my day.

Since my cat, Felix, is getting to be an old man, and is drinking and peeing a lot, plus eating a lot more, he is costing me a lot of money. I spend about $25 every two weeks for litter alone. $50 a month just for litter! And now he doesn't want to eat his usual dry cat food, but wants to make a meal of his treats all the time. Not cheap! And not the best for him. So I got some wet cat food in packets and he starts eating that before I get the packet empty! Now when he wants it he sits by the dish and stares at it, waiting for me to notice. And if I ignore him, he comes and pats on my leg to get my attention. Or he will bat at a newpaper to make noise, or push something off the table. And if I keep ignoring him, he gets louder and more persistant. Funny animal. I think he may have diabetes from his symptoms, or one of the few other serious diseases that I have read about online. I also read that treating a cat with diabetes can cost between $2,000 to $4,000! I am sorry, Felix, but I can't afford that, so we will have to live it out whatever may come. Last week I thought we were nearing the end as he was obviously not feeling well one day. But the next day he perked up and he has become more his normal self again all this week. He is even more playful than he has been for awhile.

Yesterday I was in Walmart again and among the other necessary things I needed a frame for the counted cross stitch wedding picture I had done. It needs an odd size - 10x13. I did find a few in that size but selection is not as good as the more usual sizes. I finally found one for $13 that I thought would work best, one of the more expensive ones. And, like when I found the shoes, I rode by an island shelf unit with all $5 frames! And there were about 3 styles in the size I needed. I found one I like even better than the expensive one, so put that back where I found it. The wedding is May 4 so I only have one week to get it finished. I will try to remember to take a picture before I wrap it and post it here later. I need frames for the other cross stitch projects I finished but will look for those later. I am afraid I will have to have some custom made as they are very unusual sizes, and that isn't going to be cheap. I won't have them do the mounting, however, as that costs way too much and I know I can do that myself. I wish I knew someone here with a miter saw and I would have them cut up some trim molding to make frames. Years ago I remember a Ben Franklin store that had frame components for sale. They came packaged with 2 pieces of the same length, so that you could buy two packages with each length you needed, plus the hardware to put them together. I have looked online for that but have not found anything yet. I will check that Ben Franklin store one of these days, too, but I have a hunch they don't have them anymore. I might have to resort to driving 50-60 miles to the nearest Michael's Craft store when they have 50% off custom frames if I get desperate.

Since I was in spending mode again, I decided to buy a couple things that I had been putting off because they didn't fit the budget. But since the budget was already blown, what the hey. I seem to have lost the remote to the DVD player some time ago. So I got a universal one. I sat down to program it and discovered I needed AAA batteries. I had looked on the package in the store to see if I needed batteries an what size, but could not find that info until I had cut the package open and got the directions out. grrrr. So I had to wait until the next trip to the store to get batteries. I have them now but was too tired to mess with it last night. Maybe I will get to it this afternoon.

I have run out of computer time for this morning so it is time to leave for now.