TIGHTWAD TUESDAY - Intro & A Cookout

Dave and I both work hard at stretching our dollars as far as they will stretch while still meeting our needs, and with good quality at that.  I think it is good that we are both Penny Pinchers; otherwise, it could be the grounds for some good fights, and we certainly don't want that! (although the making up could be nice, lol)

We have both been thrifty, penny pinchers, scrimpers, scrapers, tightwads, etc. for so long (our whole lives I would guess to say) that it just seems to come naturally. It comes so natural and automatic, in fact, that we often don't even realize that choices we are automatically making are that of a scrimper's and not the average person's. To us, it just seems to be to be the thing to do, the right way, the 'normal' way (although I am not saying that people that aren't tight are wrong).

My mom has always said that she never saw anyone stretch a dollar as far as I could. To this day, her mouth still drops and her head shakes in amazement at some of my thrifty purchases (or lack of needing to make a purchase). And I have always joked and said that my middle name is "clearance."  When I say that (my middle name is Clearance), I just mean I am ultra thrifty. But some people actually look at me with gullible bewildered amazement and ask, "Really?"  That cracks me up!

Dave is always saying that he is a Confirmed Tightwad. But he isn't a Tightwad like so many other men are, in that he won't spend a penny on anything, but in a very practical sense, and I sooo love that about him! He does an excellent job at acquiring the necessities, and some frills, so inexpensively at times it would make your jaw drop. It was just Saturday he presented me with the most beautiful bouquet of flowers (looking every bit professional) that he had picked out of his yard.

So we have decided to devote a weekly segment of our blog to sharing with you, many of our thrifty finds and ways. We really toyed with what to call this segment, but I really liked Dave's term of "tightwad" so, Tightwad Tuesday it is. Tightwad Tuesday will cover a very wide range of our money saving techniques, from the common place to the odd and unusual.
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We will kick off this segment with the wonderful dinner we had yesterday. Yesterday marked eight months together for us. And unlike so many men that would think those little one month 'anniversaries' were silly, Dave is definitely a romantic at heart and looks as forward to those milestones as I do. But we are both extremely short on funds at the moment and had very little to work with. But we didn't let that stop us.  And, after not getting to see each other in person for the past few weeks (sometimes I do enjoy having a cell phone), just being together was the most important part, anyway.

As I said earlier, Dave surprised me on Sunday by bringing me the most beautiful bouquet of flowers he had picked out of his yard. They were as beautiful as anything he could have ever purchased at a florist. Sorry there isn't a picture. His camera is needing batteries and the card in mine was full. I didn't make it to clearing any pics out before the flowers began to wilt a little in the heat. They are still absolutely beautiful, but definitely fading by the time I cleared some pics. And I want the image of them I remember to be the one in my head, of what they looked like the moment he surprised me with them. So, no pic of them.

He also brought me  a little bit of fresh, ice cold goat's milk that he managed to swipe from his nanny goat before her kids begin to drink it all. Oh, what a treat that was!!! I was getting so hot out at the flea market Sunday, then he brought out this little ice chest (which I had picked up for him awhile back at the flea market) with icy cold, fresh, raw milk. Oh, did it ever hit the spot! But I did have to save just enough to later make me a cup of hot chocolate with it. Best hot chocolate you will ever drink!

Then we went shopping for something to cook for dinner (lunch) the next day.  We ended up with a 10-lb bag of chicken leg quarters (49 cents a pound - total $4.90), some wonderful BBQ sauce we got on clearance and some all natural Honey Crisp Apple Cider that was also on clearance for .99 for a half a gallon (still well within date, just out of season now). Plus, I had on hand, a fresh pineapple we thought would go good with it all.

I had planned on bar-b-quing the chicken for Dave, but as many of you know, I am still battling an acute sinus infection and I just wasn't able to stand in the smoke of my grill. So Dave ended up doing the cooking with me helping with what I could. And it was some wonderful, quality time spent together .... much better than sitting in a stuffy restaurant waiting on someone else to cook our food for us. The day was absolutely beautiful with all of Spring's colorful beauty surrounding us, temperature prefect, sun shining, breeze ever so slight, and spending all that time together and outside, enjoying a cookout and a picnic, was absolutely the best!! We couldn't have asked for a better day and a better way to have our little celebration.

And, of course, the food tasted FANTASTIC!  I will admit though, the BBQ Sauce wasn't totally natural, but it was within reason, and for 50 cents, you couldn't beat the price! We do hope to eventually make all of our own natural sauces, but until then, that Apple Maple from World Harbors is some of the best I have ever eaten (you can visit them here  They have great recipe ideas, too.)  So the final total for our most fabulous celebration dinner was approximately $12.00. Yes, the pineapple was a little pricey, but it was huge and I had the excuse that I had gotten it to help clear up my sinuses (more on that Friday). And all that food ended up making about 3, very filling meals! So when you actually divide all that out, and consider the quality of the meal, times 2 people, that was some pretty cheap, scrumptiously delicious eating! (well, the pineapple only made it through 2 meals)

It was all so tender and juicy!

 
And as you can guess, it was some pretty messy eating. But no, we didn't go through, and waste, a roll of paper towels. We wet and used old dish cloths to clean our messy fingers with (what we didn't lick off, of course). We do hope you enjoy our new Tightwad Tuesday segment. And we truly look forward to hearing your comments, suggestions and tips! So please, don't hesitate to jump right in and give us your thoughts. Have a great and thrifty week!