My friend/CPA completed my taxes, and I will be receiving a total refund of $3514 (combined federal and state). I have decided to use some of the money to stock up on some food. I want to stock my freezer with some meat, more frozen veggies, and a few shelf stable items. The rest will go into savings. The price of food is just going to continue to rise, so stocking up now just makes sense to me.

The March senior center food distribution was last Friday and included a one lb. pack of ground meat and a bag of frozen fish fillets. I also received a gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, and a variety of canned goods and dry goods. Thanks to this program my pantry is very well stocked with pasta, pasta sauces, soups, canned veggies, tuna, peanut butter, oatmeal, mac and cheese, and rice and beans. These are all items that I eat and will use. I am very, very grateful. 

I am so happy that my elderly neighbors finally agreed to register with the senior center for the food distribution! I took them with me on my last trip so they could see how it worked and be comfortable with it. Their daughter came for a visit this weekend (she lives about 3 hours' drive away). She is a single mom of 2 kids and works a lot and can’t get here to visit as often as she might like. I was invited over for dinner on Saturday, and she gave me a bunch of sweet potatoes and a few baking potatoes that she brought with her that she had too many of as a thank you to me for looking in on her parents. It was a very sweet gesture, and we had a really fun time. 

Last week I did a CVS deal on TP. I bought 3, 12 packs of Scott TP. They were priced at $9.99 each. I used a combination of coupons, CVS extra bucks earned on previous purchases and my $10 Carepass rewards for the month to pay for it. I paid a total of just .58 cents out of pocket for tax. And I earned another $5 of extra bucks to use on a future purchase. This was 100% savings!

The weather today will hit the upper 70’s with some rain on the way. Next week it’s supposed to get cold again with a chance of a mix of snow and rain. I will take these warmer days, so my heat doesn’t need to kick on. The price of utilities keeps going up along with gas prices. We are at $4 a gallon.  

My thoughts and prayers continue for the people of Ukraine.