Another day of no spending.....

My homemade pizza crusts have risen, and are ready to be topped and baked (and consumed!)....

Interesting bit of news. Received a call from my in-laws this afternoon -- they bought a new car (a hybrid), and have very generously offered to essentially give us the car they are replacing. It's a Honda, like the one we currently drive, but a few years newer. Obviously we don't need three vehicles, so we will mostly likely look into selling ours....

Just came back from a big PTA-sponsored potluck dinner at Russian Lass's elementary school. She was excited to go, so we took her, met her teacher, saw her classroom, and so forth (as homeschoolers, it was a new and interesting experience for us). Her school has many international students, and there were wonderful ethnic dishes from all over the world (I was partial to a (vegetarian) Rwandan stew, and metioned as much to the woman who made it. She in turn insisted on giving me the leftovers!). I myself brought garlic bread I made (from a .45 cent loaf of day-old french bread I bought last week and sliced/froze-- very easy and eh, they must have liked it as every crumb was eaten), as well as hummus and carrot sticks (from the free carrots! They were all eaten too....). Anyway, it was great to get all of us in the family filled up so cheaply (we did pay a dollar-per-person fee to cover the cost of dinner ware, etc) and with such little effort -- no dishes for me to wash or anything (and the the $5 it cost us tonight has been our only spending in the last 2 days...).

Had a nice lunch with an old friend today. In the past, she and I have been known to meet at local restaurants during her lunch hour (she's a working gal), but not today. Instead, she came over to my house to eat a home-cooked meal (miso soup with tofu, brown rice, and green onion pancakes) -- saving us both money. It was fun and we'll have to do it again soon....

The lunch's ample leftovers will double again as our dinner, when DH and Russian Lass join us. It'll be just a small matter of heating it all up just a bit. Ah, it feels very luxurious to have dinner all taken care of already -- going off to celebrate with a relaxing cup of hot tea and a homemade biscotti....

Staying up to make biscotti. Because why the heck not? It's not like I need sleep or anything (the entry may state 9:11 GMT, but here it's 11:11).... Anyway, I made a double batch and it just baked it's first round (25 minutes). Now it's cooling on the counter (for at least 15 minutes), waiting to be sliced and baked again (for another 5 - 10 again on each side). It sure flattened out on me this time -- the batter must have had too much moisture. I was in a sloppy and reckless mood when mixing it up tonight, and didn't feel like taking too much care and being precise. Guess I keep forgetting that one can't really get by with that too often in baking. Cooking? Yes. Baking, no....

Well, the weekend was anything but low-key -- but there it is. And now a new week upon us (even though I rather feel like I could use a weekend to recover from the weekend, heh).

Our little Russian lass has been with us two days now -- no problems there....

Saturday was a bit of a wash. Spent the entire day doing little more than driving all over creation burning fossil fuel and schlepping the children to their various, too- tightly scheduled destinations around town (a meeting, two classes, rehearsal, a birthday party (DD and Russian Lass having a wonderful time), a symphony concert (free tickets!)). I also found myself shopping in between schlepping, which I hadn't expected to do, but oh well. Spendy spend spend -- but at least I did run across some deals. A quick stop by the neighborhood asian grocery to pick up some fresh produce landed me with a whole mess of free carrots --probably close to 15 pounds or more. They were given to us 'for our bunny' by the shopkeeper (she knows we have a pet rabbit). The carrots were bagged, but in each bag you could see that there one or two squishy ones, so she gave us the lot. The vast majority of the carrots were perfectly fine though, and it was a simple enough task to open the bags, dump it all in my big laundry sink and pick through, composting the questionable ones. Now we are rich in carrots! Rabbit nothing -- oh sure, she'll get her share, but we'll be nibbling on 'em too...

Stopped by a large chain supermarket as well where I raided the scratch and dent discount bins. There I found pouch upon pouch of Mrs. Wages tomato dry canning mixes (which I actually really like), for .50 cents a bag. They are ordinarily close to $2.50 or so -- so I rifled through them and stocked up. I can always stick them in my freezer if need be. Most of the mixes were Ketchup, but I did get several Spaghetti Sauce's (Mrs. Wages (http://store.yahoo.com/mrswages/tomsaucmix.html) is an 'add your own tomatoes' kind of a thing for canning -- very handy, especially for making ketchup in particular).

Also in the discount bin were a bunch of dented (26 oz) cans of Hunts spaghetti sauce in assorted flavors, discounted to .60 cents each. I dug deep and snatched all the meatless ones....

Additionally on saturday, I stopped by an estate sale I noticed while driving across town. I have a 'thing' for estate sales -- like a moth to a flame. If anything, I am perpetually nosy about houses, any house, and love opportunities to see inside -- especially the grand, old ones (like this one). But, I'm attracted to all the Stuff too of course. Saturday I showed real restraint however, and made it outta there with only a $1.00 tablecloth, and an quaint old $2.00 basket thingie, despite an abundance of interesting clutter (my particular estate sale weaknesses are old linens, practical-looking baskets, and old wooden boxes...). But I knew perfectly well I didn't need to spend the money, and probably even more importantly? I do NOT need more Stuff....

Yesterday proved eventful as well, despite the gloomy weather. On a whim, we ended up hosting a very spontaneous and impromptu dinner here for some friends of ours. There were nine of us in all. It was lively and fun -- and I managed to cook mostly from my pantry. On my menu was 'Couscous with Seven Vegetables' -- a rich stew chock full of veggies (including CARROTS). Although I did need to make a quick stop at the HFS to pick up couscous from their bulk aisle since I was out, that was all --the rest of the ingredients I had on hand. To accompany the stew, I also quickly pressure cooked garbanzo beans (from my bulk-purchased stash) and whipped up a big batch of hummus -- with what else? CARROT sticks (as well as a bit of sliced, discounted 'day-old' french bread from the H.F.S. -- priced at .45 cents) . Our friends brought salad fixings, which was a nice addition. Last but not least, however, was the dessert I made -- 'Pineapple Upside Down CARROT Cake' (do you see a pattern here? Heh, getting a lot of mileage out of the free carrots ....). Oh, and lots of peppermint tea. Anyway, the party was fun, the company enjoyable and the food ample and well turned out (despite the cake running over a bit in the oven and burning on the bottom nearly smoking us out of the house) -- not too terribly shabby for somebody who woke up with no particular plans for the day whatsoever....

Aside from the several bills I managed to get out in the mail this morning, today was a no-spend day for me. Just one of MANY more to come, if we are indeed to make our budget this month as planned, ahem....

Spent a goodly chunk of time crunching the numbers this a.m.. DH was paid just a few days ago, yet most of the money is already spoken for. The bills just never stop piling up, do they? Everytime I think we're caught up, our friendly neighborhood mailperson so thoughtfully brings us another stack. Heh, it's going to be a looooong month....

Cooked out of the pantry tonight -- spaghetti and homemade sauce along with meatless 'meat'balls I made last month in bulk (from TVP) and froze in meal-sized batches. Also peas and the homemade bread leftover from yesterday. Attempted to 'dovetail' my cooking efforts-- so that I had enough leftover pasta to pack for my son's lunch tomorrow (while he's at rehearsal), and enough leftover sauce for tomorrow night's pizza....

Our little Russian lass temporarily joins our family tomorrow, for the next 11 or so days. Should be interesting....

After much on-going confusion this past week, it looks as though our friends/neighbors' plans to adopt an additional Russian daughter are ON, yet again (as per the official telephone call they received at 4:30 or so a.m. this morning). Therefore we *will* indeed be hosting their nine-year old here with us for the better part of 2 weeks, starting tomorrow when her parents fly over there to finalize the arrangements.

What a roller coaster ride this has been...!

Had to purchase dog food this afternoon -- we were running out and it could not wait another day. Since our preferred brand was on sale, I purchased two 20 pound bags at $16 each (as well as a sack of doggie treats). Yes, I do spring for the quality canine victuals. I find the cheap stuff is mostly just filler, so she only ends up eating more of it to meet her needs, and then we don't come out ahead anyway....

Filled the gas tank too while I was out (at a $1.89 a gal). And, as if all this wasn't enough, DH is on his way to Blockbuster right now, AS I TYPE, to rent a recent release he simply can't WAIT to become available through our local library! Woo hoo, are we going CAH-RAZY over here, or WHAT...??!!

(To our credit at least, we haven't rented from Blockbuster in months....)

On the frugality front today, I did wash (in cold) and hang two loads of laundry, and cook from our pantry (chili, oven fries, and homemade Anadama bread). Not too many plans for the coming weekend either -- so hopefully we can keep it low-key and low-cost....

I worked out my natural foods buying club order last night (it was one day late, so I kept it short) and sent it off. I had a large order last month with lots of bulk items, so I'm mostly set in the way of flour, oats and such. But there were a few other items I had in mind. Fennel seeds, mostly for tea, but also for cooking -- ordered a pound of those (less than $4.00). A pound of yellow mustard seed as well (less than $3.00) -- because I've been wanting to experiment with DIY mustard. I ordered bulk peanuts -- for granola and general snacking, but also for 'emergency' peanut butter. But my biggest splurge by far was the non-hdrogenated margarine (Earth Balance's "Buttery Sticks"). I had to order a case (12 containers I think?) -- the smallest amount I could get. Still, it will be so much cheaper getting it through my buying club than our (pricey) health food store (although admittedly still WAY more expensive than the typical, store-brand stuff). A *ton* of margarine I know, but it ought to last a long time. I rarely buy or even use margarine (and never 'vegetable shortening' -- Crisco et al), preferring olive oil for most cooking, etc. But recipes do occasionally call for margarine/shortening, especially in baking -- including a few in the Make-A-Mix book I've been wanting to give a go (plus my daughter likes margerine spread on her toast). I've picked up the Crisco (generic or otherwise) cans in the stores from time to time -- but always put them right back on the shelf upon reading the labels. I just can't reconcile the costs vs. the hydrogenated oil/trans fat issue -- and typically find myself back at the health food store for the (expensive) non-hydrogenated stuff (hey, it's still no health-food I know -- chock full of fat. But, at least not the severely artery-clogging kind.....)...

Well, now it seems the Russian adoption by our friends/neighbors, that was supposed to be happening this coming week, may be falling through due to some sort of bureaucratic snafu in Moscow. So, it looks at this point like DD's best friend may not be staying with us afterall. We'll see -- I told her parents we will remain on standy-by, and will be there and ready for them if they need us....

We have a fabulous gourmet bakery here downtown, that offers ever-so- lovely European-style breads and pastries. At one time my kids' dance studio was located on the very same block, just a few doors down. Many a night after class we could be found in the bakery, checking out their display cases -- our faces practically pressed up against the glass. A few cookies here, a loaf of bread there -- over the years, we probably spent more on their goodies than I'd ever care to admit (sigh) ....

Our studio relocated across town 1-1/2 years ago however. Between logistics and my frugality efforts, we never go to that bakery anymore. My son still requests it though-- specifically, their (pricey) foccacia. He loved it more than anything else, even their fancy pastries -- and would still ask (actually 'nag' is more accurate) for it from time to time (like, any time we were anywhere near the general vicinity). Well, I finally promised him a few days ago that I can make a foccacia every bit as good as theirs. He doubted me, harumph. But I showed him -- finally whipping some up for our dinner tonight. I didn't have sundried tomatoes and greek olives on hand, as the bakery uses -- but I made suitable substitutes. And the results were delicious! A soft-crusted foccacia, just like the bakery's -- with olive oil, tomato, red onion, olives, rosemary, and a sprinkling of salt. Even DS had to admit it was yurmmy...!

In a few days, our family is going to temporarily increase by one. DD's best friend will be residing with us for the 10 or so days it takes her parents to travel to Russia to adopt another child. DD's friend (who also happens to be a neighbor) was herself adopted from Russia two years ago. She's a delightful little girl who has transitioned really well to her new life here in the states. She already spends lots of time at our house playing with DD, so we are very used to having her around --still, it is likely to be an adjustment for us all at first. Feeding her will be interesting too, since she's a bit of a fussy eater, while my family is most decidedly not. I plan to serve very plain, basic food while she stays with us, just to keep things as simple as possible....

Today has been A-MAZ-ING!!!! 63 degrees and sunny as all get out (rather unusual for Feb I must say). My, did it ever feel like a treat! I turned off the heat and opened the windows, to let the fresh air and sunshine in. Felt great! Hung laundry out on the the line too. What a relief to have even a small break from running the furnace today, because our heating bills are *killing* us this season. It's not to last though -- snow is predicted for tonight yet, and a high tomorrow of only 35 degrees.

Oh well....!

DH is paid this week and our mortgage is due the day after that, so there will be lots of shuffling of money around here and there in these next few days. As I balance the checkbook this morning, I see we do have a little $$ leftover at the end of this pay period -- perhaps not as much as I would have *preferred* (our heating bills are eating a LOT this winter, despite our efforts to control it) , but there's a little something at least. Some will go to the cc balance, some to savings -- and then it's on to the various savings challenges of this coming pay period.....

I've calculated what I've spent on food so far this month now that it's half over -- $138.74. This includes our little family outing last evening as well. Since V.D. was on a Monday, we were thinking for some time it would be fun to take the kids to our fave little veg restaurant for its' all-u-can-eat vegetarian buffet for $5.00 a person on Monday nights. So in celebration of V.D., that's where we ended up last evening for dinner ( spending a total of $20). Rather extravagant by our standards, since we ate there just last month for DH's birthday. But, it was a fun time for all -- and now with V.D. behind us, I see no other occasion to eat out again until next month, when we will be attending the out-of-town conference.....

Well, well, well. What a spendy day this is turning out to be, for a wet and rainy day at that (sigh). After an impulse run to the grocery store earlier this afternoon, to pick up assorted odds and ends we were running low on (sugar, cocoa powder, peanuts, decaf tea, a valentine goody or two, orange juice concentrate, etc -- for a total of about $30), I spent another unexpected $10.00 just now, on a neighborhood kid (and best friend to DS) selling frozen cookie dough door to door to raise money for his school band (Just what we need..., not! At least I chose the minimum available-- a 3 pound bucket). And let's not forget tonight's chorus concert as well, although it looks like it will be just me attending at least (saving us 20 bucks), since I've made arrangements for the kids to go to grandma's.....

DH will be singing in a big local choral concert tonight, so naturally I feel like I should go and take the kids to see him. But the tickets will be $10.00 each -- for a total of $30 for all three of us. Ouch! I don't know.... Don't want to hurt his feelings, but still.... 30 bucks....

More 'mix action' at our house. Yesterday morning, DS made muffins (Molasses Bran) using the muffin mix, and then later I simmered up a huge pot of the book's 'Pinto Bean Mix' (more Y2k beans bite the dust!), to store in the freezer in meal-sized portions. While I do have two separate pressure cookers I put into near constant use (almost daily), and generally have lots of success cooking beans in them on a regular basis -- it willl still be VERY handy and time saving to have already cooked and seasoned beans frozen and at the ready for 'emergency' chilis, burritos, tacos, casseroles, etc, etc, etc. No more temptations to reach for those handy (/pricey) canned supermarket beans, y'know?

Later tonight I will do the pizza crust thing, probably from the 'Hot Roll Mix' again, that DS and I made from the book last week .....

Made up another big batch of our favorite granola this morning. Had no nuts this time around, but added chow mein noodles for a little crunch instead (and I can always add some peanuts to it later if/when I pick some up ). The sunflower and sesame seeds I mixed in rounded it out as well. Instead of the honey it calls for, I substituted the homemade banana butter/syrup I made yesterday. Should be interesting. Heh, I never make granola the same way twice....

Today will be day three-in-a-row of no spending by me -- although I will have a few bills that will need to be taken care of in the next couple of days. I did get the the latest c.c. bill yesterday, and there were perhaps a few more dollars in transactions on DH's part this past month than I would have *preferred* (as I've said before, my frugality instincts run a little deeper than DH's at times but no biggie. As for keeping on track -- so far, so good....

My family is looking forward to a 2-day conference we will be attending in a few months. It's several hours away and we go every year -- for a nice little family get-a-way. Because DH and I always volunteer many hours at the conference (providing childcare to toddlers no less), we all receive free registration, AND a free hotel room for two nights (!). Therefore, as usual, our primary expenses for the trip will be gas and food. And I'm determined to keep the food part of it low this year, by packing and bringing much of our own (stuff that doesn't need refrigeration). I figure I can bring some or more of the following:

Dinner packed to eat in the car on the way up there (veggie dogs-in-a-blanket or pizza wraps, etc)
Muffins, bisuits, etc
Crackers
Bread
Peanut Butter/jelly
Fruit (apples, bananas, oranges)
Veggies (carrots, cherry tomatoes, avocado)
Trail Mix
A container of my granola
Asceptically packaged, single serving size soy milk boxes (for the granola)
Breakfast Bars
Baked Tofu 'Jerkey' for sandwiches (it travels well and would last w/o refrigeration through to lunch the first day at least).
Instant drink mix (to point the kids toward when they start eyeing the hotel soda vending machines...)

If this can take care of our breakfasts, lunches and snacks for the two days, perhaps we can find a cheap place to eat out for dinner that second night. Taco Bell or sub sandwiches would be a HE-OOOGE treat for the kids of course. However...., there also just happens to be both a 'Whole Foods' and a 'Trader Joe's' within a few miles of the hotel -- two of our most favorite retail establishments EVAH, that we actually don't have in our own little town (so it's a big treat whenever we have access). We could in theory pick up our dinners there, like we did last year (except that we were exactly like kids in a candy store, heh. The food/deli was all so tempting and attractive, we spent a TON of $$$!!-- dont' know if we can trust ourselves to try that again or not!)...

Speaking of granola, as of this morning we're out again. Time to make another big batch ....

I called our mortgage lender today, to up our automatic monthly payment amount just a wee bit more. We were already paying a little extra every month, but now I've set it just a little higher. We'll see how it goes. I'd like to continue adjusting upwards as much as we can tolerate, but gradually of course. We can always back off if necessary. But really, I'd be ever so happy to get our mortgage (actually a combination of two loans -- one large, and one small) paid off as early as possible (and who wouldn't???).....

I'm giving a few of my small kitchen appliances a workout today, and how handy it is. I was able to throw a stew in the crockpot before the party this afternoon, therefore now that we're home, I can hang out as it bubbles away. Decided a side of fresh bread would be good to serve with the stew, so I fired up the bread machine and now it's doing its' thing as well (I'm making "Sage Walnut Bread", with fresh sage picked from my herb garden). How relaxing it feels to have dinner all taken care of like this, ahhhhh...!

This morning DD and I made one of our favorite breakfasts with yet another handy kitchen appliance -- our 'sandwich maker'. I picked one up years ago (second hand of course), and have used it for making grilled cheese, etc. But recently, DD and I have been putting pancake batter in it, along with a filling of some sort. It makes perfect, toasted, filled 'turnover' thingies -- good topped with a touch of syrup for breakfasts and snacks (or dessert!). This morning we made a filling of mashed banana, grated apple and a sprinkling of coconut. It works like this: a bit of pancake batter dabbed on the bottom, followed by a spoonful of filling, with another 'blop' of batter on top. Close the sandwich maker and let it go. Easy and cheap. Tasty too.... (I should experiment with cake or muffin batter as well, to see what that does....).

Well, after just a wee bit of grumbling, the kids set to work and did a GREAT job on their valentines, and having a ol' grand time while they were at it. The cards are far nicer and more special than anything we could buy at the store. DD cut out paper hearts, colored and applied stickers. DS didn't want any fussiness, so he chose to cut out cute characters and faces from the sunday comics (saved for him by my parents, since we don't subscribe) to paste on cards he cut from stiff paper. Both kids are most pleased.....

I will be helping out at the homeschool valentine party this afternoon. I did pick up a few things for it yesterday -- some candies and stickers to use for a party game I will be leading -- spending a total of maybe $4.00 at the 'Deals' ('Everything For a Dollar') store (Eh, I *could* turn in my receipts and get reimbursed -- but will probably just chalk it up to a 'donation' of sorts....).

My kids have a big valentine party to attend tomorrow. I did not buy them packaged valentines to pass out, and at this late date I'm not going to (although that's what they would have preferred). We have PLENTY of craft/art materials scattered around here and they are perfectly capable of making their own (although they'd better get a move on -- I think they will be needing over 30 or so)....

The other day when I was organizing my canning supplies, I ran across the little collection of small, old glass medicine bottles I have, and had totally forgotten about. They were my aunts from way back when, and were passed to me when she moved into an assisted living facility several years ago. I decided they would make perfect spice bottles, so my project for yesterday, after washing them all, was to fill and label them. To economize, I generally bulk purchase my herbs and spices, either through my co-op or local health food store. Consequently, even though I always intended to organize them in some way (I do have a small spice rack to keep some in, but not all), they were usually kept as a jumbled, convoluted mess of little tied baggies tossed in a heap in in a container in the cupboard. Often, searching for any one thing in particular was a production in itself, heh -- and, if I'd forgotten to label them, well, you can imagine the guessing game that could turn out to be. Depending on them as I do for all my scratch cooking, you would think I'd have taken care of this long ago -- but, now that they are finally properly bottled and labeled, finding what I need at any given time should be much easier......

After several days of unusually spring-ly weather in these parts (enough to bring our yard garter snakes out to sun themselves, and snowdrops to perk their heads up), conditions today felt a little more like winter-as-usual. Overcast and chilly, I decided it called for a big pot of homemade soup to simmer away on the stove and warm us all up. So I threw together a minestrone -- and a whole lot of it, with onions, carrots, cabbage, celery, tomatoes, green beans (from my big stash of frozen garden beans), kidney beans, macaroni, all in a richly seasoned, flavorful base. Economical, filling, and De-lish.....

While I was chopping up onions for the soup, I went ahead and cut up several extra ones to throw in my freezer. Not only were these onions trying to get sprouty on me, but I've found it really handy lately having a bag of frozen, chopped onion at the ready for busy evenings. Same with peppers. In fact, if I do this regularly with some of our standard pizza toppings, and always have a few chopped and frozen on hand, I could save myself lots of chopping time on our saturday pizza nights. I've had success in the past freezing mushrooms, after slicing and sauteeing them in a little olive oil. Next time I see a fantastic deal on them I want to stock up and do just that, for quicker pizza production.....

Off to hang laundry....

I'm eating leftover pizza for breakfast -- my typical Sunday morning fare (lurve cold pizza -- dont' ask me why), since we make pizza for dinner nearly every Saturday night. I baked the crust last night from the 'Hot Roll Mix' DS and I made the other day (from bulk-purchased flour) out of the "Make-a-Mix" book. Not bad -- I just may make it from now on. The yeast I used was given (actually 'sold' for a penny) to me by a friend/neighbor, when she was setting up her kosher kitchen for Passover (when all leavening products must be removed from the home). I've kept the yeast (it was a lot!) in a bag in the freezer all this time (but it still bubbles away like fresh). I also whipped up a pizza sauce, adding my secret 'special ingredient': The Relish (finishing up the last of another whole pint!). The pizza toppings (onions, peppers, mushrooms, olives) were purchased either cheaply or on sale at one place or another around town. Though I'm too lazy to do it, if I were to figure the cost per slice..., well, it wouldn't be very much.....

Dh loves his stereo (a motley collection of new, old, used, salvaged and recylcled components), but realized his (20 year old) speakers were wearing out. He figured out the foam 'surrounds' inside were deteriorating --and upon a little online investigation, found a mail order repair kit he could buy to replace the parts, at a cost of $15. New, or even used, speakers of the same quality would be considerably more than that. The kit came last Friday, so that's been his weekend project. He's pleased as punch....

This morning? Blueberry muffins (with some of the blueberries I got free from our neighborhood grocer, and froze) -- what a treat! They are excellent -- I couldn't have done a better job myself. And this morning DS was flying solo in the kitchen, with no help from me whatsoever (in fact, I went off and took a bath).....

I'm so glad he has this interest and is learning this all important skill -- baking know-how is worthy, and handy, to possess (even for 11 y.o.'s)....

My extended run of spend-free days have since been followed up by several consecutive spendy-spend days it seems, ahem....

Yesterday found me at the 'Deals' ('Everything For a Dollar') store, checking out those very deals -- and spending just over $12.00. DS is INHALING pasta these days, and we were running low. So, I picked up two three-pound boxes of macaroni, for a dollar each. Three pounds of bananas for a buck, and so on. Then it was on to Osco's, the next store over, to address a 'battery emergency' we were 'having'. DS was to be stranded at the studio on the other side of town for several hours last night waiting on rehearsal, and though he brought his gameboy (x-mas gift from grandparents) along, he had no charged batteries to use. Now, we maintain a household collection of rechargeable batteries -- and I can usually count on DS to be very responsible about keeping his supply charged. But because he had accidently left his gameboy bag at a friend's house this week, there wasn't time to charge any up after we retrieved it yesterday afternoon. So, I gritted my teeth and headed over to Osco's to see what they had. I was in luck, because the store brand of batteries were on sale for $1.00 a pack. I picked up a few packs, but still didn't stock up despite the great price. I *REALLY* prefer to use our rechargeables, not only for cost, but for environmental reasons. Discarded household batteries corrode in our nation's landfills, gajillions every year, and leaching out narsty heavy-metals and contaminants in the process. A local environmental organization once offered battery recycling in our town, and although they hope to re-initiate the program, it was closed for lack of funds. Therefore, I will be holding on to our used batteries as long as it takes for the recycling program to reopen (I even bring home the stray discarded batteries I find on the ground from time to time, to add to our collection). Hopefully that will happen sooner than later -- still, in the meantime, but for a few exceptions, we'll try to stick to our rechargeables as much as possible.....

Just got back from a follow up with the vet concerning my poor dog's recent tooth extraction (22 of 'em!). Since we certainly don't want anything like this happening again, we'll go with the doc's reccommendation to daily brush her remaining teeth. The doggie toothpaste (poultry flavored!) is sort of expensive though. Perhaps I can find a cheaper alternative somewhere. Otherwise, guess I'll just chalk it up to responsible pet ownership.....