DON'T READ THIS; IT'S BORING!

February Food Spending Week 2, Meal Plan February Week 3

2012-02-13T11:14:00.000-08:00

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012. You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs HERE.

Check it out. You might find some new ideas for incorporating frugality into your life there!*

I love searching around for old photos and advertisements featuring kitchens from years gone by. These are mostly the kitchens from my youth in the 1960's or earlier.

This week I give you the 1940 Polka Dot nightmare.....

Love the linoleum floor with the black line design, hate the pink color on the metal cabinets but at least it's not as intense as the pink on the chair covers. It's got a good working "triangle" layout(the stove/oven is behind the black desk thing/opposite the sink and the fridge is just off the left edge of the picture). A large chunk of the space is taken up by that clunky black desk and area next to it where you can see the sewing machine too. Our neighbors at the first house I was born into had a kitchen table and chair set like that, minus the polka dots. The table was metal and could be folding in upon itself or unfolded to make it larger and there was a drawer in the table like in the picture where they kept their flatware.
My most favorite part of this kitchen? All that glass block! Glass block became popular back in the 1930's at the end of the Art Deco period(notice the Deco design on the floor too). When I was growing up and well into my adult years, having glass block in your home was very unpopular and dated your house as being old and unstylish. The first apartment Hubs and I shared was a basement dwelling in Baltimore. One entire wall in the bedroom was glass block. I suppose in order to legally call it a bedroom, it had to have that block since there were no windows in the room, as 3 sides of the room were underground.
I think it's about time for a resurgence of using glass block in home design. ;-)

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)

Last week's meal plan is in the books. Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Subway Sandwiches(Hubs Super Bowl request)

MONDAY--leftover pizza or grilled cheese and soup

TUESDAY--Lasagna(with some shredded veg), Tossed Salad

WEDNESDAY--homemade Boston Baked Beans, Cornbread, Green Beans

THURSDAY--Enchiladas, Mexican Rice w/peppers

FRIDAY--Hot Dogs on rolls, Carrots and Cauliflower
SATURDAY--Leftovers

Pretty much had what was planned.
I talked about what I bought at the stores last week HERE.

The weekly spending was $36.26.

2 Weeks in and I've spent $120.63 of my $300 February food budget. $179.37 left for the month plus $92.32 leftover from January that didn't get spent.

Going into February Week 3, we have leftover Lasagna(1 large portion), a small helping of BBBeans and leftover Enchiladas(a meal's worth). I froze a portion of the Lasagna and the extra enchilada sauce I made, to use/eat at a later date.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Burger King burgers(in celebration of an excellent report card, at #2 son's request)

MONDAY--leftover Enchiladas

TUESDAY--Hubs is taking me out to local Asian restaurant, I'll make cheese steak for #2 son

WEDNESDAY--Spaghetti & Meatballs(homemade meatballs leftover in freezer), Spinach Salad

THURSDAY--Quiche, Green Bean dish

FRIDAY--Roast Chicken and Veggies
SATURDAY--Leftovers-from spaghetti/quiche/roasted chicken

This menu gives us 1.66 meals out/take-out, 2 nights of leftovers and 3.33 newly cooked dinners.
I plan on using up some frozen items.....homemade meatballs, a pie crust and some swiss cheese that's been hanging around. I'll see what veggies I have languishing in the freezer that I can throw into the quiche too. We'll also use up the leftovers from last week plus the bags of salad still left(2 bags) from what I bought a week ago Saturday.

Items needed for this menu are...eggs for the quiche, and a whole chicken. Since I don't have a chicken in the freezer whether I buy a chicken will depend on the prices I find this week...if it's more than .88lb I'll go to Plan B. I don't usually plan a meal around a protein I don't have on hand but I'm just craving roasted chicken right now! If the prices are too high, I'll go with Pork Roast or Chops or Baked Fish instead of the Chicken. Hey, when you are frugal you CAN have what you want to eat but sometimes you just can't have it WHEN you want it immediately!lol
I have the crust, filling veggies, cheese for the quiche. I don't plan on buying cream though. I'll use a combination of 2% milk, evaporated milk and dry milk....all items on hand.

Besides the needed food items, we'll be buying milk as usual. The only stocking up opportunities I see so far are cans of frozen OJ at $1.66 at the independent grocer. I do plan on buying eggplant(.79.lb)and strawberries(BOGO-if they are FL or CA ones).

I'm figuring on $40 or so for this week's goodies.

So what is everyone else eating this week?

Sluggy

Something to Watch To Get Your Day Started

2012-02-12T23:50:00.000-08:00

Now go have your coffee, tea or soda....whatever your eye opener of the day may be.....then go watch this TED talk.

I know, I know....asking you to think on a Monday morning.
But this video is so worth it.
It's Sir Ken Robinson on how our educational system fails our kids.
He's spot on about some of this stuff.
It's well worth watching. 8-)

And if you dig this kind of stuff, go watch this seminar too....

Sluggy

What I Bought Last Week....Boring Food & Toiletries Photos

2012-02-12T09:03:00.000-08:00

Here is the extent of my shopping for this past week...Sunday to Saturday.

Hubs actually did this transaction for me last Sunday......

The independent grocer had a special on Chef Boyardee canned pastas at .88¢ a can. I like to have this on hand for quick snacks for the teen that he can fix himself. I'd rather have him eat a can of this than a bag of chips or a box of doughnuts. ;-)

There were $1/5 ManuQs expiring last Sunday(2/5) so my 10 cans for $8.80 ended up costing $6.80 OOP. Reg. retail was $12.90.

I stayed out of the stores after that until Saturday.
I had $20 in +Ups expiring that day so I did this at Rite-Aid....

I know there was other stuff I could have gotten cheaper or for free but it wasn't stuff I needed. That plus the items that were giving extra +Ups last week, I could find enough quantity of item to buy enough to trigger the extra +Ups in each deal. Dagnabbit!

So everything I got was planned....the gum and candy for Hubs for Valentine's Day(shhh, don't tell him!!), the headphones(which were free with a raincheck from before Christmas)for #2 son for V-Day, the cookie mix for #2 son to fix himself for a snack, the lightbulbs & facial tissue because we needed them, ditto on the TP(who doesn't need TP, right?lol) and the toothbrush?.....well I REALLY didn't NEED that after +Ups and stacked Qs, but it was free so whatthehell. ;-)
My total after Qs and $20 in +Ups came to .50¢, which I put on my free Rite-Aid gift card so no cash was used. Reg. retail was $55.10.
And I got $5 in +Ups back($1 Toothbrush, $1 Cookie Mix, $1 Candy, $2 Light bulbs).

Oh, and almost everything I bought counted toward the Winter Resolution Spend $100/Get $20 +Ups Deal. I had $31 toward the Reward going in and I have $50 toward it after this transaction. Halfway there and I've only spent $4.77 in actual cash monies.....yay!

Then it was back to the independent grocer to stock up on a couple of items......

6 bottles of apple juice on sale 3 for $5.00.
8 cans of hash(corned and roast beef varieties) on sale for $2.00 ea.
Both are for #2 son.

Throw in a gallon of milk at some point for $3.50 and I spent $36.26 OOP on groceries last week.
I think 1 more week eating down the freezer and I can defrost it. Got to get that puppy defrosted so I can stock up on meats again!
Spending so little of the weekly food shopping so far this month and last month, has left me with extra cash for a stock up when I get around to it.

Sluggy

Friday Fun with Red Nose Day

2012-02-10T07:57:00.000-08:00

If you've gotten the Downton Abbey bug, you will chuckle at this Parody.

Every year in the U.K. there is a "Comic Relief" type event for charity called Red Nose Day. The day is devoted to raising money for charity. The BBC runs many comic shows/events/programs that day.
One of the shows "spoofed" in 2011 was Downton Abbey.

Check it out below. It's in 2 parts....

If I don't post again today, have a good weekend!

Sluggy

Oooo Baby....I'm Hot for Decluttering P*rn!

2012-02-09T06:33:00.000-08:00

Starting off February right!

If the above photo doesn't make your heart race, then read on and check out the rest of the photos
below for a thrill! 8-)

I finally got the Daughter to go through the boxes of crap in her old room. This would be all the junk she left strewn about her room when she went away to college for the first time last Fall, that I then boxed up and stacked in the closet.

After she brought the boxes of things downstairs, I went through everything she designated to throw out before it was pitched. 4 garbage bags of actual trash left 2 weeks ago. Sorry, I forgot to take photos of that....

And here is what I gleaned from the designated crap that can be recycled via Salvation Army.

1 Pr. Rubber Boots
12 Assorted Hats
3 Guitar Books
1 Art Case with some Art Supplies in it(pastels/colored pencils)
3 Stencils
4 HeadBands/Bandanas

1 Make-up Case(filled with hair bands, clips)
1 Fan/Water Bottle Spritzer thingy
8 YA Books
2 Purses
1 Personal Planner
2 Silly Hats
4 HeadBands/Bandanas
1 Flat Iron Hair Straightener

And yes that's a flat iron hair straightener and it works! She had to have that expensive tool once upon a time. Do you know how many Rite-Aid +Up Rewards it cost me???!!

I also gleaned various HBA products that still had stuff in the containers. These went back into the toiletries supply closet and drawers or her personal box of "in use" toiletries. When she comes home she's using these up before she opens a new product! Just because I don't pay money for toiletries doesn't mean she can throw out products when they are only half used!
Argh!!!

In addition to the half-used HBA goods, I gleaned a fistful of pens and pencils, cork board thumb tacks, some change(???!!!), 10 notebooks(with only a few pages used so I ripped those out and I have 10 new notebooks!), college prep books, knitting needles, novelty jewelry, her French Honor Society & National Honor Society pins, Academic Letter(for her letter jacket) and a perfectly good cell phone.

She was throwing away a working cell phone.....actually it was TWO cell phones but when I told her they were in her garbage pile, she went and took one out.
WTF?
Ok, the one she still wanted to throw out was "old" and not "fashionable" and didn't have a qwerty keyboard.....who could possibly be expected to use that one?! *insert eye rolls here*

The next time she loses her phone or something happens to it and she is desperate for a "phone fix", I'll sell her back this one she can't be bothered with. ;-)

After Hubs emptied his car at Sallie's last month, I got busy filling it back up again with new toy/old eBay inventory......

1 Small Soldiers Board Game
1 Small Soldiers Slot Car Set
2 Fisher-Price Briarberry Doll Furniture Sets
1 Cinderella 50th Anniv. Doll
1 Blackbeard's Ship Model Kit
3 Star Wars Concept Vehicles Sets
1 Box of Cinderella Trading Cards
2 Replica #1 Spider-man Comic Books
1 Johnny Lightning Partridge Family die-cast Bus
1 Box Star Wars metal trading cards
1 Power Rangers PVC White Ranger Figure
1 101 Dalmatians Night Light
1 Matchbox Replic Double-Decker Bus
1 Racing Champions Surf Rods die-cast Car
1 Racing Champions Set of 5 KISS die-cast Cars

58 more items this trip makes 108 total for the year(added to last month's 50 item donation).
2 donation trips down for 2012, lots more to go!

Sluggy

Social Coupons Suck....or How to Piss Off a Slug

2012-02-08T10:29:00.000-08:00

Ok, I take about anything good I EVER said about Social Couponing!

You know what I'm talking about, right?
Those companies that offer "Deals" on goods and services(and even trips now).
Like reduced price gift cards to stores, or reduced price stays in B&Bs or spa/salon treatments or admissions to gardens or museums.
They count on the lower price point to be made up for by selling HUGE quantities of the deals.

The customer gets a deal, the, target business gets massive sales and the company arranging the deal gets a commission or percentage on each deal sold.

That's a well and good, except when the company and/or businesses involved take the customers money and then don't provide the deal and/or change the deal after it's paid for.

I've got 2 situations now with 2 diffrerent social couponing companies and/or their clients and I am Peter Finch style "Mad as Hell"....

Anybody ever heard of SAVE MORE?
They are based out of Dallas.
They were hot and heavy around Christmastime offering nice Social Coupons.
The one I bought was a $25 Barnes&Noble gift card for $15.
Hubs is a bibliophile and I love saving money when he spends on books, so you know I had to grab this one, right? 8-)

I "bought" the deal on Dec. 2nd. Plenty of time to get if before Christmas if they sent the voucher in the next day or two(which most companies like this do)and then a week for the mailing it to me part.
And even if they didn't ship right away I could give it to him just after Christmas.
So I bought the deal on the 2nd.
And they sent me the "voucher"(the code to buy the card)....December 14th! 12 days to email me the stupid code. Grrrr

I went ahead and redeemed the Voucher/code on December 14th, the day it was received by me.
And then I started waiting.....and checking my Save More account on their website.....every few days.....and grew angrier with each passing day as my account status didn't change.

So on January 12th-a full MONTH after purchasing this deal-I called their Customer Service. When I finally got through to a live human, I was told that this particular deal had been back ordered. She went on to let me know that it would be shipping next week.

Today is February 8th.
Can you guess what still has NOT arrived in my mailbox?
So I called one last time to Customer Service.
And now I get a recorded message.

I just got off of live chat with my credit card company. They opened a dispute with SaveMore and are issuing me a permanent credit on this so I don't have to worry if SaveMore pushes back on this that I won't get my $ back.
SAVE MORE....unethical Hacks!

And on to my other "mad as hell" item du jour.

I bought a LIVING SOCIAL deal back in Nov.(might have been Dec.?)and gave it to #2 son for Christmas.
It was a set of McDonald's Coupons.....5 for FREE Big Macs and 5 for FREE Large Fries.
#2 son has band practice 2-3 times a week and there is a McDonald's almost next door to the high school, so he and his buds often walk over there between the end of school and the start of band practice for a mid afternoon snack.
My "beef"(groan) here started being with this particular McDonald's, not with Living Social.

Here's the Deal I bought....

#2 comes home after practice last night and tells me that when he went over to McDonald's after school that day and tried to use the last set of his FREE ITEM coupons, the cashier and manager told him the coupons(which are clearly marked you get the item for FREE!)are NOT for getting food for free.
Huh?
Yes, they charged him $1.50 CASH for his 2 items that he had FREE ITEM Coupons for!!!
And he paid it!

That was me swallowing my tongue......

Let me say that, over the course of the last 6 weeks since Christmas, he has used the other 8 FREE ITEM coupons at this same McDonald's.
So it's not like they didn't 'accept' these coupons at this particular Mickey D's.....which I was told were valid at ANY McDonald's when I purchased them over at LIVING SOCIAL.
I know for a fact that the registers at this McDonald's have a dedicated KEY on them for these Living Social coupons. I had a conversation with the drive-up window gal a few weeks back and she told me this.

Here is what I thought.....
The owner/manager of this Mickey D's has gotten A LOT of these Free Item Coupons redeemed in their location.
And they don't like the idea of giving stuff away for FREE.....of course, I PAID for these Coupons so they are NOT giving it away for FREE now, are they?

AND they pulled this scam "You owe us $1.50 for your FREE items" on a teenage boy.....who was there with OUT a GROWNUP/PARENT.
Teenage boy less likely to stand up for himself in the face of a store manager/authority figure so this McDonald's are more likely to GET AWAY with UNSCRUPULOUS UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR when they pull it on kids!

So I start rooting around online for information.
Seems #2 son was lucky as he redeemed 8 of his before this happened. I see now that other McDonald's started charging to use the FREE ITEM coupons they bought back in Dec.
Go read this HERE.

People bought these coupons and saved about half on the future purchase of 10 Mickey D's items. So Mickey D's decides to charge $1.50 for the Big Macs and $1.00 for the Fries at point of sale.....so now anyone uses these FREE ITEM Coupons is paying AT LEAST REGULAR RETAIL!

What a ripoff!

So am I angry?
Yep....you betcha!

Am I on the warpath with McDonald's?
You KNOW IT!!!

Will I also let LIVING SOCIAL know they suck?
Well...Duh?!? lol

SHAME ON YOU McDONALD'S!
SHAME ON YOU LIVING SOCIAL!

Please don't buy ANYTHING from Save More and don't buy ANY McDONALD's Deals on Living Social.

Sluggy

I Don't See What the Big Deal is Here....ALL YOU is NOTHING NEW!

2012-02-08T07:44:00.000-08:00

Back, oh.....about 2+ years ago, a new magazine was created by Time Inc. called ALL YOU.
I found this blurb online describing this new magazine....

"ALL YOU is a new magazine that speaks directly to value-conscious American women. In each issue, you'll get helpful articles on taking care of yourself, healthy and fast ways to feed your family, clothes you can wear and afford, do-it-yourself home repair projects and relationship advice."

From that it sounds just like some other "women's magazines" that have been around for a very long time....Women's Day, Good Housekeeping, Ladies Home Journal, Redbook, McCall's and Family Circle, to name a few.

Everyone in the online couponing world was abuzz about this new publication though as it contained a high number of Coupons! There was even a "coupon index" so you could find them all without having to hunt through each issue.

At first, I did find it curious that this new magazine was ONLY available at the store/newsstand level at Walmart to buy at a per copy price. It is available per subscription directly from the publishers and their designated sales agents online. I wonder what kind of deal Walmart struck with Time Inc. to be the sole per copy outlet?

Anyway, back to the magazine.....
I didn't subscribe to the publication for the 1st couple of years it was available. I did hear that there were many high value coupons printed within each month's edition. I don't often shop at Walmart personally so I wasn't tempted to buy a single copy and you know I wasn't about to pay the overinflated single copy price anyway!lol

I finally broke down and bought a subscription late last year. I had gotten a group coupon deal on it so why not?, I thought.
I've received about 5 month's worth of the magazine at this point so I feel I can give a knowledgeable review of this magazine now from a savvy frugal gal's perspective.

The articles?
I find them pretty lame.
None of the tips are earth shattering or things most of us don't already know or have seen before. I bet I can find all the information in the current articles this month online somewhere for free. Us older gals probably read them in other magazines in earlier decades.
Why pay to see them reprinted in this magazine?

I especially find the frugality or 'savings' tips to be banal. Anybody over the age of 30 who's lived a frugal life has more ninja frugality in their pinky toe than is contained in an issue of this magazine.
I guess all that newly "debt-ridden/need to become frugal" crowd needs this information and will find it new and mind blowing.
But not so for us ladies who've been around the tightwad block! ;-)

And there is a list of 31 readers who "helped create this issue" on page 7. Now it doesn't say how they helped.....did they submit tips/information, did they suggest articles, what?
If they supplied substance to this issue are they getting compensated?
Or is the magazine using whatever they supplied to create the issue and "paying" them by listing their names in the edition?
Women is this culture tend to undervalue their worth in many ways. I see an issue here with a business using these women's lack of business savvy and acumen to take advantage of their earning potential.
Yes, I said it.....Time Inc. is getting free fodder for their magazine from these 'helpful women'. The women gain nothing and the business makes profits by turning around and selling this magazine to the very same audience it is stealing intellectual property from.
Wow, does Time Inc have a pair of balls or what?

If nothing else, that's enough to make me boycott this rag from now on!

The recipes are so-so.
The only one is this issue that even speaks to me is the "Slow-Cooker Lamb Stew with Rigatoni". It's a variation on a Pork Ragu sauce over rigatoni pasta....but with lamb instead of pork. It calls for 2lbs. of lamb. I find it laughable that a magazine that touts itself as a read for the "value conscious American woman" has a recipe calling for lamb which averages from $10-$15 PER lb. in most parts of the US. That makes for some really REALLY PRICEY pasta with meat sauce!
They give a serving as costing $3 and this recipe makes 8 such servings, so all the ingredients should cost you ballpark at $24.00 to make this dish.
I think the cost is underestimated given the price of lamb, but even at $24 for 1 meal(they figure 1.5 oz. of pasta per serving, which is NOT the amount most people eat at a meal, so I don't see this 8 servings covering 2 meals at all for a family larger than 3 people), it's a lot to spend on 1 dinner when you have to provide 7 dinners per week on a modest food budget.

So onto the true reason many people buy this rag.....the coupons!
Maybe because all the manufacturer's have cut back on coupons and cut back on the highly value ones, but I find there is very little in the way of couponage in this magazine that I can or will use.
The current issue in my hand claims to have a "Total Savings of $52.60".
Going over the list of brands/values of coupons in the index, at most I'll be using $4.05 worth of these coupons.
And very few of these coupons are for FOOD products. Most are for HBA/OTC meds/non-food items and many of those are for obscure brands or types of items some people don't use on a regular basis.

Banal articles.
Lame recipes.
Worthless coupons.

Nothing really worth buying an ALL YOU subscription for.

Here's a thought......same your money. If a fabulous coupon(s) turns up in the magazine some month that works for your budget/spending plan, go to Walmart and buy lots of single copies of that issue for the coupon(s).
That way you keep your money until buying the magazine does you some good at the grocery or drug store register.

Sluggy

Week #1 Decluttering & Low Spend Challenges Done with Photos

2012-02-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

First the Low Spend Challenge.
Week #1 I spent only on food.....$91.17 through today, Tuesday.
We had take-out once....Subway sammies on Sunday.

Because my mini vacuum broke while cleaning my room as part of the Decluttering Challenge we went out to window shop for a new one on Monday.
I thought I'd blow Low-Spend next week because of having to buy a new vacuum. 8-(

But before I had Hubs take the old one out to the trash can last night I told him to plug it in and give it a try One. More. Time.
And it WORKED!lol A miraculous healing. Am I the Ernest Angley of the Vacuum Cleaner World?

Oreck Pro Mini Vac.....you are HEALED!!!
Praise the gods of suck......

Or I am now the Vacuum Whisperer.....

Think like a vacuum. Understand the signals your vacuum is sending out. Speak the vacuum's non-verbal language. Use your body to show dominance over your vacuum. Be the leader of your vacuum pack.

Whatever!
At least now I don't have to shell out major $$$s to replace my "precious" mini vac.

Onward to the Decluttering Challenge Results.
I'm reposting the BEFORE photos along with the AFTER photos.
And away we go.....

Shot 1 BEFORE

Shot 1 AFTER

Things have been moved and the sewing projects thrown in the corner between the sewing machines have been purges and what is left has been folded and put into the blue tub of projects. The current projects are on the back of my sewing chair. The box under the ironing board will stay there, as it has a twofold purpose.....holding gifts/Xmas presents and it keeps whatever I am ironing/working on from dragging on the floor.

Shot 2 BEFORE

Shot 2 AFTER

You will notice the cedar chest is CLEARED OFF...yay! I also weeded through the sewing projects(in the blue tub)and said tub is tucked at the foot of the bed now. The 12-packs of soda will leave as soon as #2 son comes home and can move them for me to the garage(except for the 2 I will hide in the closet). My rocking chair aka Hubs clothes rack is HUB'S to deal with, not mine. lol And I made my bed.....!

Shot 3 BEFORE

Shot 3 AFTER

My dresser and nightstand are cleaned off and items put away in the correct places. Papers and photos are filed away. I can actually get into those little drawers on top without an avalanche of stuff falling on the floor. lol

Shot 4 BEFORE

Shot 4 AFTER

The boxes against the wall are sewing notions, patterns. There is a box of dolls I have kept from my youth that are important to me. There is a Yellow Submarine Lava Lamp. I am still undecided on what to do with it. On top of the white drawers is my stack of uncut fabric for projects. I've draped a Spongebob towel over the lot to keep what is under it from getting dusty. This way the fabric doesn't get dusty and I can shake out or wash the towel on a regular basis.

Shot 5 BEFORE

Shot 5 AFTER

My challenge here was not about getting rid of clothing, since I do that twice a year when I change out clothes for the seasons. I got everything off the floor so you can walk around in there without tripping. I also straightened the shelves and organized it a bit. I ran out of time to take it all down and reorganize but things are with "like things" now and easier to find.

And here is everything that left the room.....

The Holiday decorations that never got put away.

Bags of Rite-Aid pillaged booty that were hiding in my cedar chest, can now be put away with all my excess toiletries in the "toiletries dresser" in Daughter's old room.

Box full of children's keepsakes can be put into their respective boxes for each child, which are stored in closet in Daughter's old room.

Books I've read can be put away on bookshelf elsewhere in house(2 of them)or given away(1 of them).

Food and other things that need to live in the kitchen.

More foodstuffs for kitchen pantry or stockpile in garage.

2 large plastic zippered cases(from comforter purchases). To be repurposed to hold out of season bedding or thrown away.

A bag of new/unused cosmetics I am not going to use to put with the toiletries stash or with Giveaway loot.

3 bags of items to take to Salvation Army or give away or sell.

Bags of trash. There was another full bag that Hubs put out last night for pick-up before I took these shots.

Empty shopping bags for the bag stash in the garage for reuse.

A box of beanie babies to sell or donate.

A stack of 2 year old magazines. I'll skim them for recipes and then out in the garbage they go too!

The box lid and box on the bottom are sell or donate items. The white box is old letters I need to go through and sort. I'm hoping to get that pile condensed and filed away with my other old letters.

So I have many items leaving the house from that room. Hubs just got home and came downstairs after changing his work clothes and remarked on how empty the bedroom is. 8-))
I still need to get in there and use the mini vac some more.

As for the small mini-challenge of a food bank donation......
I like to make large food bank donations so instead I made up a small bag of items for my BIL-who lives on the edge of "having enough" in this world. It's some food items, paper goods and toiletries I pulled from my stockpile for him.

3 tubes of toothpaste
2 bottles of shampoo
2 packs of tp
2 boxes of spaghetti
1 big bottle of ketchup
1 packet of taco seasoning

Not much actual food because they don't eat a wide variety of foods. None of the canned veggies or rice or dried beans or flour or stock or marinades or peanut butter or canned tomatoes or spices I have are things they will eat. They only eat convenience foods or raw foods as they don't "cook".

So that's the Results of my Week of Challenges.

How did everyone else do?

Sluggy

February Food Spending Week 1, Meal Plan February Week 2

2012-02-07T05:02:00.000-08:00

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012. You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs HERE.

This week I have NO vintage Kitchen pictures. Working on my Decluttering project has left me no time to search around the Interweb for more kitchen fodder for these posts.

Oh well. Maybe next week.

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)

Last week's meal plan is in the books. Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Italian Sausage Sandwiches, Cauliflower

MONDAY--Taco Bell(I'm having leftover Chicken & Dumplings)

TUESDAY--Homemade Pizza, Salad w/Fruit

WEDNESDAY--Tacos, Corn

THURSDAY--Tilapia, Sweet Potato fries, Brussel Sprouts

FRIDAY--Leftovers or Burritos
SATURDAY--Homemade Pizza(Hubs out of town)

Pretty much had what was planned, except the Lasagna, which moves to this week. I had Hubs pick up 6 fresh pizza dough blobs at Price Chopper(as it was Buy 1/Get 2 free)and we used 3 over the course of the week and put 3 in the freezer for later. The local grocer has Fresh Express Salad Kits for $1.99 ea. last week. I bought 8. I had 1 for lunch every other day. I rather enjoy them, plus it's a healthier option for me for lunch and at $2 a pop, a good deal, so I pick those up when they are that low.

I also had a chicken breast(leftover from when I made Chicken & Dumplings)still, so I bought some grapes last week and made chicken salad. I got 4 sandwiches from that(3 lunches for me and Hubs took a sammie to work one day).

For the week's menu I picked up salad greens and salad kits, grapes, pizza dough and milk. As for other shopping...

*I hit the bread store, as we hadn't been since December and were out of everything bread related.

*I hit the local grocery for lots of salad greens and frozen veggies early in the week and then on Sat. for more greens(for This week) as well as a slew of Mexican type items like tortillas, taco shells and enchilada sauce, canned chili(for the menfolk to have with their burritos), whack biscuits, celery, sliced deli cheese and sour cream.

The weekly spending was $84.37(including the Rite-Aid OOP). Pretty high week for me, huh?

1 Week in and I've spent $84.37 of my $300 February food budget. $215.63 left for the month plus $92.32 leftover from January that didn't get spent.

Going into February Week 2, we have a little homemade pizza leftover but that's it. All the other leftovers got eaten for lunches last weekend or on Leftover Night.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Subway Sandwiches(Hubs Super Bowl request)

MONDAY--leftover pizza or grilled cheese and soup

TUESDAY--Lasagna(with some shredded veg), Tossed Salad

WEDNESDAY--homemade Boston Baked Beans, Cornbread, Green Beans

THURSDAY--Enchiladas, Mexican Rice w/peppers

FRIDAY--Hot Dogs on rolls, Potato Salad, Carrots and Cauliflower
SATURDAY--Leftovers

This menu gives us I night of take-out, 2 night of leftovers and 4 home cooked meals this week, of which 2 are meatless.....well the beans are meatless except for the bacon in the dish.lol

Items needed for this menu are...maybe a red bell pepper as I haven't check if I have any left in the freezer yet.

I have spent $6.80 on Sunday already. I also plan on buying on sale this week....corned beef hash(#2 son's request), apple juice, a bag of oranges and croutons(I have Qs for them). If I get up to Price Chopper this week, I'll be doing the Full Circle Catalina Deal. Plus milk as #2 son sucks it down during the course of the week. I'm figuring on $40 or so for this week's goodies including what I've spent already this week.

So what is everyone else eating this week?

Sluggy

Working on Week #1 Decluttering Challenge is Nostalgic & Costly

2012-02-06T08:17:00.000-08:00

I spent a good piece of the weekend(when I wasn't at Rite-Aid or the local grocery store)working on decluttering my "Personal Space" for Carla's Challenge.

At some point on Sunday I found these among the piles of stuff in my bedroom.......ok, not the actual teenager but what he is holding.....

It's a pair of Osh Kosh overalls he use to fit into.
Pictoral proof that yes, he has grown a wee bit since he was born almost 16 years ago...birthday coming later this month.

And after moving many boxes and bags of stuff around and/or out of the room, this gave up the ghost.....

That's my beloved Oreck mini vacuum. With all the hardwood floors in the house now, I can't imagine living here without one of these to get all the crud/dog hair/crap that piles up in the corners/crevices/edges of the floor.
We just wore the poor thing out so now I have to replace it.
Anybody have any recommendations on what they use/like for sucking edge cleaning?

This is one of the few times when I want an appliance that really SUCKS, if you know what I mean.lol

Doing my whole bedroom is looking like I bit off more than I can chew within 1 week at this point.
It's kicking my butt......

Sluggy

Saturday Shopping...Junk AND Real Food

2012-02-05T18:01:00.000-08:00

Yes, sit down for this.....I actually spent actual money at Rite-Aid on Saturday!
I went in to use my expiring $6 in +Ups and then a new cashier happened to me.
I wanted to do the double dip--the Buy $15 in Game Day Snacks/Get $5 in +Ups and the Pepsi/7-Up soda deal(Buy 3 12-packs for $9.99/Get $2 in +Ups)that also qualifies toward the $15 purchase.
3 12-packs of soda, 2 bags of chips and a can of "Pringles wannabe chip like substance" gets my total to $15.28.
Sadly, no coupons were used as there are none for these items currently available.

I used my expiring $6 +Ups, so my total was then $9.28.....but new cashier said my total was $12.28.
I was fiddling with the stash of +Ups to dig out enough to pay so I didn't catch that he either didn't scan one of the $3 +Ups I had already given him OR the register scanned both but didn't subtract one of the $3 +Ups. I used more +Ups to pay and put the .28¢ on my gift card.

After I got to the car I saw that only 6 of the 7 +Ups I gave him showed on my receipt so it was back into the store. The only solution we(cashier, me and manager)could come up with was for me to spend $3 more(since we couldn't know which $3 +Ups scanned and which didn't and if I just took one of them back it could be the "dead" one and when I went to use it next time, it wouldn't work).
So even though I didn't plan on it, I did the Game Day Snack deal AGAIN......
This time I subbed a box of Cheez-its(I had originally planned to buy those but the store had hidden them in a different part of the store and I didn't see them until I went back into the store)for the "Pringles wannabes", so it was 3 12-packs, 2 bags of chips and a box of Cheez-its.
I rolled the $7 in +Ups I had just gotten, used the $3 +Ups plus another $1 +Up. My only +Ups left is a $20 one from the Resolution Reward, too large to use, so I paid $4.77 OOP. I could have put this on my gift card, but I chose not to.
Though I hated actually spending money at Rite-Aid, 6 12-packs(for #2 son, the soda addict), 4 bags of chips, a container of chip like substance and a box of Cheez-Its, all for less than $5 isn't bad.

Oh, and the BEST THING about these purchases?
Rite-Aid turned on the tracking/qualifying for the new Winter Resolution +Up Reward Deal early and everything qualified toward the Deal, which starts 2/5. I have $31 toward the $100 in purchases I need.

Then it was over to the small independent grocer for REAL FOOD.lol

I dropped $48.69 there.

1 bunch celery on sale=$.99
6 bags of salad greens at $1.99 ea.=$11.94
3 bags of flour tortillas at $1.66 ea.(have to buy 3 to get price)=$5.00
4 cans of enchilada sauce at $1.00 ea.=$4.00
5 cans of chili at $1.00 ea.(have to buy 5 to get price)=$5.00
2 boxes taco shells at $1.25 ea.=$2.50
2 packs of pepperoni at $2.99=$5.98
2 packs of rolls at BOGO=$3.18
1+ lb. Cooper cheese at deli on sale $5.49lb.=$5.60
1 container sour cream on sale=$1.50
3 whack biscuit rolls at $1.50=$4.50
1 gallon milk=$3.50
SubTotal....$53.69

Coupons Used(They don't take IPQs so everything is a ManuQ here.)
2 x .50/1 Chi Chi's tortillas(doubled)=$2.00
1 x $1/2 Hormel pepperoni=$1.00
1 x $1/3 Grands biscuits=$1.00
1 x $1/1lb. Cooper deli cheese=$1.00(the deli girl gave me this vendor Q)
Coupon Total....$5.00

$53.69-$5.00=$48.69 OOP

Regular retail was $85.10
Savings rate of 42.79%.

Total spending for February to this point is $53.46.

Sluggy

If You Are Looking for Judy......

2012-02-05T03:36:00.000-08:00

Go HERE.
She is back but with a new Blog Title "Finally Frugal and Happy" and URL.

Go welcome her back!

Just Something Fun on Friday

2012-02-03T12:29:00.000-08:00

I am dedicating this to my bloggy friend SonyaAnn. Her Fab Abs Friday is getting her down lately so I am upping things a notch! I know she'll be dancing around and singing along with this video.

It's just something fun and funny to kicked off the weekend. Get it?...."kick".....Super Bowl....lol

If you are easily offended by sex stuff, don't click on the video.
You have been warned.....

Hopefully I don't lose any new followers because of this, but c'mon!....it's funny!lol

Sluggy

"My Personal Space" Decluttering Challenge....The BEFORE

2012-02-03T10:06:00.000-08:00

I'm taking part in Carla's February Challenges which you can find HERE.

Week 1 in the Decluttering Challenge is about cleaning up a "Personal Space".
I chose my Bedroom as that space.
Though it grieves me to do this, here are the BEFORE Photos I snapped.
It is NOT pretty, so don't view them on an empty stomach......

Here's from the right at the door. This is my sewing area with my machines and ironing board. Hubs dresser is on the right of the shot. You can see a hint of all the crap on his dresser. Next to the overlock machine is a tub of sewing projects, an air cleaner and a humidifier on the floor along with a bolt of fabric. You can't see the large box of merchandise under the ironing board or the child's rocking chair and sewing projects piled onto it in the corner of the room, behind the sewing machine....

Here's from the right at the door looking further toward the back of the room. My rocking chair which Hubs has filled with clothes at all times! Argh Notice the romantic ambience of the 12 packs of soda(keeping them in here so they are out of the reach of #2 son).lol The pile of stuff at the foot of the bed is hiding a cedar chest/bench.
And no, I didn't even make the bed!

Here's moving left over on the other side of the bed on the back wall of the room. That's my nightstand, my dresser on the left(piled with crap). I have a set of plastic storage bins that are all nice and organized, holding important photos and papers and stuff but piled onto and next to them are fabric lengths, plunder from Rite-Aid that never got put "away", a box of beanie babies and stacks of Christmas stuff and extra gifts that didn't get "given" this past Holiday. Doesn't everyone's nightstand hold a rack of sewing patterns, an Alice Cooper car toy, a stack of books, extra Christmas cards, an extra wallet, a very tall lamp and nose spray?

And here's the same shot but standing back to the door....
You can see all the crap on my dresser clearly now! A craftsman vase we bought 20 years ago at an art festival which is jammed full of plastic shopping bags(mostly from Rite-Aid), packages of unopened cosmetics and lip gloss(more Rite-Aid plunder), fabric scraps from 2 different sewing projects(1 I finished 2 years ago, 1 still undone), a bag of combs, a Pfaltzgraf serving bowl I won at a Chinese Auction about 10 years ago(it was previously in the hall linen closet and got moved when I cleaned that out the end of last year), 2 bamboo cutting boards(Hubs and I bought 2+ years ago for Xmas presents when we were in Rehobeth DE on one of our mini vacations, but we haven't figured out WHO to give them to!lol), my jewelry boxes, a Tom Clark gnome that was my brother's but it was dropped and the head came off so it needs to be repaired, a set of Presidential Election Pins(from 1996)from the Hard Rock Cafe in Philly, 2 Fenton bowls I call "crap catchers" because anything bowl shaped around here ends up with crap tossed into it, a Brita pitcher still in the shopping bag sitting randomly on the floor, papers that need to be filed in the other room.......and on and on.

That was sort of a 360 view thing if you missed it. ;-)

And here is the closet.....

The clothes(to either side) in here are fairly organized and purged already. The shelving unit in the center(on the back wall of the closet)needs some work. It holds all my family's photo albums plus all the scrapbook type photo albums I inherited from my mother(I am the family records keeper it seems.). My gift stash was/is also on the shelves, as are my tubs of sewing supplies(threads, buttons, notions). I need to rework this space....

You may have noticed I don't have things hanging on my walls and bunches of tchotchkes(knickknacks, geegaws, etc.) sitting around to decorate.
I used to but not since I developed some bad allergies which left me with sinus infections that necessitated seeing an ENT doctor for my sinus problems after #2 son was born.
He convinced me that the best way to conquer the problem was to remove allergen holding items from the bedroom, as this is the easiest room to control and the one place where you spent the most time per day/night.
So carpeting was banned(well, I do have a small rug under the rocker now so the bamboo floor doesn't get ruined), curtains also(I do have a valance now) and bedding is enclosed in allergen barrier cases. Blinds are easier to keep allergen-free because you just have to wipe them down. We also run a cool mist humidifier which not only helps with the dryness in Winter when the heat is on, but also knocks down any dust floating around the room so it's less likely to be inhaled. We also have an air cleaner. I don't decorate since pictures needs to be dusted and is just more places dust can hide/cling. We did have a set of original artwork on the walls but after we painted, they don't go with the new room color. I may end up putting something on the walls again, but it will have to be cleaned every week.
Or maybe I won't since I'm too lazy to keep after the dust like I'd have to. ;-)
These steps can't make your bedroom allergen-free but it sure helps.

So having piles of clothes, fabric and general crap laying around the room is NOT good for my health! I really need to get this room ship-shape again.
Bring on the challenge!!

I'll be back early next week with photos of the result.
Stay tuned......

Sluggy

$20K Savings Challenge.....JANUARY Results for 2012

2012-02-02T07:05:00.000-08:00

Ok, here is my first Savings Challenge Update post for 2012.
This post is NOT about bragging or showing off. It's just what we are able to save given our income and being able to hang tough against so much spending.

Just to update, My Savings Goal for the Year in 2012 is $20,000. It's well below what I've saved in previous years I know. But we also have a goal this year of paying for 4 home improvement projects at Chez Sluggy this year. We plan on cash-flowing these projects with the additional money we save.

On to the January report.....

I have posted my JANUARY End of Month $20K $AVING$ CHALLENGE Totals.
Check out the side bar to your right for the specific numbers.

I have 2 goals each month.....
The 1st is to actually finish each month in the black and not the red.
The 2nd is to hit the targeted savings amount of $1,666.67.

I have to report that we finished up January in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of January with?.......$1,104.76!

Income
We had $1,095.76 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted.
Add in $9.00 in Rebates applied against the food expenses & you get a total of $1104.76.

Outgo
As for the expenses in December......

HERE are the GOOD THINGS

* While the electric bill was high(as our heat is electric and it IS Winter!), the mild temperatures in Dec./Jan. kept our bill lower than previous year's bills. The Dec. bill was about $100 LOWER than the Nov. bill! The electric bill was also $100+ lower than LAST January's bill!

* The cash withdrawals were relatively low and I way underspent on the food budget in January.

HERE are the BAD THINGS

* We had an unexpected $707.75 car repair bill for Hubs commuting car.

* The credit card bill was still a bit high. With retrieving kids from college(and I back again), there was more gasoline bought on the c/c in Dec. Seeing as Christmas happens that month also, I don't think it was "that" bad a bill though. ;-)

* There was an unexpected doctor bill from this past summer. One of the kids had to see a doctor while working at the summer camp and our medical plan refused to pay their part. So we had to break down and cover an additional $111 in medical bills.

* I had a Kohl's bill this month due to buying clothing & bedding for the kids in December.

The Food Budget costs for January are in another post, which is located HERE. I underspent my food budget by about $100, as we were sick(and didn't eat)and we ate down supplies from the freezer/stockpile last month.

YEAR-TO-DATE GRAND TOTAL.....
With 1 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2012 is $1,104.76.

We missed our monthly goal by $561.91 in January.

Adding that amount to next month makes our February goal $2,228.58. I don't foresee saving that much this month, so we'll save what we can and see where we stand at the end of February, and go from there.

So how much did YOU save in January? Did you spent all your income or did you put something aside?

Do you have an emergency fund of 6-8 months worth of expenses?
Do you have debt?

Start living below your means NOW and put some money away for emergencies and/or start paying down your debt.
And once you get debt-free, continue to throw that debt repayment money into savings. You won't believe how fast you can accumulate wealth once you have no debt!

It is NEVER too early or too late to SAVE SOMETHING.
And the amount you save is NEVER too small!
Anything you can spare will go a long way to make you more financially secure in this crazy unstable world we live in.

So come along and Challenge Yourself to Save Money each Month Toward a Realistic for YOU Savings Goal or Debt Goal!

Not everyone can shoot for $20K, I fully get that!
But everyone can shoot for some number, right!?

Find a money goal that works for you and put that number out there for everyone to see. Put it into paying down your debt, put it into savings, invest it or put it toward the principle in your home mortgage....just get busy and do this!

It will help keep you accountable to your goal if other eyes are on you.
Put it out there online and let us all stalk your money too. ;-)

So how was your January financially?
Did you spend less than you made?
Did you stay within your budget or not?

Leave a comment and share with us what you did with your money, both the good and not-so good. Do you have any tricks or tips that help you to end your month before the money runs out? Let us know!
If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out too!

Sluggy

Art or Fashion? Edward Scissorhands Meets the Country Club

2012-02-01T09:27:00.000-08:00

I wanted to share something with you all today.

Now I have an art background.
And I have a rollicking sense of humor....or at least, I've been told I do. ;-)
But this made even me say WTF?!?

Here is a video of a recent Fashion Show by a well known American Designer.
This is his Fall 2012 Menswear Collection.

I want you to watch this, watch it CLOSELY and then tell me if this is big elaborate and very expensive joke or does he consider this a serious collection that buyers will want to purchase for their stores?

Or is what he is doing art with little regard for the profitability of his line of clothing?
And if you are a guy.....tell me if there is anything you see here that you would buy(if money was no object)and you would subsequently wear?

I'd like to hear your impressions or thoughts on this video as well.

You can also go HERE for a slideshow and/or collection of photos of the fashion show.

Sluggy

We May Be Poor, But We Are Happy was hacked!!

2012-01-31T15:38:00.000-08:00

Judy wanted me to post that her blog got hacked into today. She says she'll be up and run as soon as she get things fixed. Right now if you go to her blog, it's showing no blog exists by that name/url.

I'm sure everyone joins me in saying Good Luck Judy!

Sluggy

**UPDATE**
Judy has a new blog!
You can find it over HERE.

January 2012 Budget Results.......Food and Toiletries Spending

2012-01-31T05:25:00.000-08:00

Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for JANUARY 2012.

I have posted January's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2012 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in January. If you aren't interested in that much detail, just skip to the bottom for the Totals Summary.

My spending includes Food, Toiletries/HBA, Pet Supplies, Cleaning Products, Paper Goods & tax where applicable.We are a family of 5(3-4 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 15.
******************

BIG LOTS
OOP $22.67

Value $42.91

Savings 47.17%

CVS

OOP $19.15

Qs/Ads $77.74

Value $96.89

Savings 80.24% *Not counting the $11.77 in CVS gift cards I have left.

OLLIE'S

OOP $43.01

Value $71.08

Savings 39.50%

PRICE CHOPPER

OOP $2.89

Qs/Ads $0

Value $2.80

Savings 0%

RITE-AID DRUG STORE
OOP $10.58(put on my free Rite-Aid gift card), so ZERO cash spent
Qs/Ads/+Ups $431.88

Value $442.46

Savings 97.60% before gift cards OR 100% after gift cards

SAVE-A-LOT

OOP $55.40

Value $75.86

Savings 27% *And that's basically all on meats.

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP $43.85

Qs/Ads $19.14

Value $62.99

Savings 30.39%

WEIS (local chain Grocery store in my town/doubles up to $1 total)
OOP $20.71

Qs/Ads $3.28

Value $23.99

Savings 13.68%

I don't track Rite-Aid's +Ups here, nor CVS's ECBs & Walgreen's RRs. They will be included when used on purchases under "Coupons". I'll keep track of what rebates are received monthly. Rebate money/gift cards will be considered 'income' & will go into the Food/Toiletries budget, offsetting the Out of Pocket. Cash will go immediately into the Budget kitty, while Gift Cards will be calculated in when spent.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN JANUARY
Pinecone...$9.00
Subtotal........$9.00

GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES
Nothing

TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$9.00

COUPONS and FREEBIES

Progresso.....free can of soup

Pinecone....product to test

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were Rite-Aid at 100%, CVS at 80.24% and Big Lots at 47.17%.

Hmmm, not a single grocery store in the lot. lol
I shopped at 8 different stores in January.

TOTAL Out of Pocket........$207.68

TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$611.39

TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$819.07

TOTAL Savings of...................................74.64%

TOTAL of CASH Rebates........................$9.00
TOTAL Out of Pocket After Rebates........$198.68
TOTAL Savings including Rebates...........$615.72
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$819.07
TOTAL Savings After Rebates...................75.74%

This closes out the January spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....
Even though I only spent 2/3 of my food budget money for January, we still ate well. We ate down a large piece on what was in the freezer and stockpile. Plus there were leftovers from December still for part of the month. Having assorted members of the family sick for part of the month lowered the grocery spending as well since nobody wants to eat when they are sick. ;-)

LOOKING AHEAD TO FEBRUARY.....

I plan on eating down the freezer again this month. I need to defrost it so we need to empty it. I hope to get into meal planning again after letting it lag in January(due partly to illness around here). I don't plan any stock-ups in the coming month, but I do plan on purchasing more fresh produce and greens so I'll keep the budget at $300 for the month.

How did you do in January with your Food Budget?

Please leave a comment or link to your post and let us hear about your progress! By sharing our struggles and efforts we can help each other stick to our budgets and learn to be better guardians of our resources.

Sluggy

January Food Spending Week 4, Meal Plan February Week 1

2012-01-30T13:24:00.000-08:00

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012. You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs HERE.

Today's kitchen......

This is from a 1953 KitchenAid magazine ad. While it's before "my" time, my brothers were around during that year. I seriously doubt this was anything like the kitchen in my parent's house at that time, seeing as my parents were very poor when my siblings were born and they didn't own a house until shortly before I made my appearance into the world.

But for 1953, this was cutting edge in kitchen technology--metal cabinets, a stove in the center of the room with a recessed range hood, a breakfast bar with stools, a stylish linoleum floor with a yellow accent stripe(which matched the formica countertops!). The laundry room was right in the kitchen too, with built in ironing and drying racks. And did you notice the little rolling dirty laundry hamper/bin with the yellow counter top on it, in front of the iron board?

Now the oven position & style is a little odd, the fridge is pretty ordinary for the era, but the television set sitting in the kitchen in 1953!? This family was upper middle class for sure to even own a tv in 1953!lol

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)

Last week's meal plan is in the books. Here is what actually happened....
SUNDAY--homemade Pizza, carrot & celery sticks w/dressing

MONDAY--Leftover Chili or Burritos or both

TUESDAY--Denny's for Birthday Grand Slam

WEDNESDAY--Soup and Sandwich or leftover Sloppy Joe

THURSDAY--Chicken & Dumplings with carrots

FRIDAY--Chinese take-out
SATURDAY---Red Robin for Birthday Burger

I used up the last of the frozen pizza dough. I had some odd pieces of chicken getting old in the freezer so I made Chicken and Dumplings out of it. I tried a different dumpling recipe(the one in the Joy of Cooking with calls for egg as an ingredient), which gave a lighter/airy dumpling. I didn't care for it much, preferring my old recipe which makes a heavier/gummier dumpling.

There wasn't much other cooking last week, just more using up leftovers, heating up canned soup, opening canned/jarred fruits and more Birthday eating out.

I also didn't step foot into a grocery store all week...AGAIN!. Hubs picked up milk one evening and #2 and I went to the Ollie's closeout store and bought some foodstuffs on another night. The weekly spending was $46.75.

4 Weeks in and I spent $207.68 of my $300 January food budget. $92.32 leftover for the month. I'll roll this amount into February's food budget, giving me $392.32 for this month.

I don't plan on spending it all in February, the extra will cover if I go over my usual $300 in the coming month. Any leftover amount at the end of February will get thrown into my Savings Challenge fund and I'll start at $300 going into March.

For February....

Going into February Week 1, we have a little bit of Chili leftover and a couple of helpings of Chicken & Dumplings from Week 4.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--Italian Sausage Sandwiches, Cauliflower

MONDAY--Taco Bell(I'm having leftover Chicken & Dumplings)

TUESDAY--Homemade Pizza, Fruit Salad

WEDNESDAY--Tacos, Corn

THURSDAY--Tilapia, Rice, Brussel Sprouts

FRIDAY--Lasagna, Tossed Salad
SATURDAY--Leftovers

This menu gives us I night of take-out(except for my dinner), 1 night of leftovers and 5 home cooked meals this week.

Items needed for this menu are...pizza dough(getting from Price Chopper tonight), fruit and salad greens. I've got all the proteins I'm serving and all the dairy and noodles for the Lasagna here already.

I'll pick up extra salad greens this week, some fresh produce and fruit as well as any good deals I find this week. I haven't checked the sales ads yet so I don't know what I'll be picking up, if anything in the way of good deals.

Before good deals, I'm figuring on $30 spending this week for immediate menu food 'needs'.

With my leftover cash, I'm starting February with $392.32 in the food budget.

So what is everyone else eating this week?

Sluggy

Hopes/Goals for 2012

2012-01-30T10:52:00.000-08:00

Since it's still January....ok, just BARELY.....I can still post my Goals for 2012.

Since I didn't achieve all my Goals for 2011 IN 2011, I'm building my Goals for 2012 from where 2011 left off.

Sluggy's Personal List of Goals for 2012

1. Get all the tax and college Paperwork completed and filed by the end of February.
2. Convert all my vinyl LPs to CDs and purge the LPs from my life.
3. Continue to Declutter everywhere. Finish the garage and move what's in the living room into the garage so that the house is 100% done by April. Be out of the storage unit by December.
4. Complete 4 house projects in 2012. 2 inside/2 outside
5. Read 20 books this year.
6. Rework the stockpile. Make it healthier and more compact.
7. Finish up the eBay sales by May.
8. Get the sewing going again. Go through projects in-progress and alterations pile and get rid of stuff. Sew clothes for myself for a change!
9. Get the Etsy Store up and running.
10. Spend more time with family, especially Hubs.
11. Lose 40 lbs...there, I said it! Now I have to do it!!
12. Continue the Savings Challenge with a goal of $20K for 2012.
13. Continue to be Frugal whenever possible and live well below our means!
14. Take at least 1 REAL vacation and ENJOY IT!
15. Just in case I think of something else later, I'm leaving #15 empty.

So tell us dear readers, what areas of your life are you going to be concentrating on making better in 2011?
We need to know!

Sluggy

Doing the Double Challenge Month over at Carla's Blog

2012-01-29T13:07:00.000-08:00

CARLA over at "My 1/2 Dozen Daily" is hosting a “Double Challenge Month” for February!! After holding a January Low Spend Challenge, she's doing another “Low (no) Spend Challenge”, and a “Decluttering Challenge”! You can join in both challenges, or just the one you’re most interested in!
Go check it out HERE .

Here’s how the Low (no) Spend Challenge will work:

1. Choose a financial goal for the month!

Other than food/HBA spending, some eating out, and bills, I just don't spend money each month! So if bills & food shopping aren't 'spending' then I just have no demons to tame here.
I don't shop for fun, heck I don't even go to the mall!lol My money isn't running out a faucet like some people's seem to do, as I have a tight grip on that spigot after the years I spent in my youth wasting money on junk!
I spend so little on wants these days that a "Low(no) Spend Challenge isn't a challenge to me. ;-) Since I give myself practically no discretionary spending anyway, my goal setting will work differently than most.....see below.

2. How will you achieve your goal this month?

But I still want a financial savings goal this month so here's my approach to this....

I went through the usual February bills we seem to always have(using last year's bills as a guide)and when I take those away from our projected February income it leaves about $1,600 in 'unspoken for' income. I'm giving myself $200+/- for unforeseen bills and another $200 for #2 son's birthday which leaves $1,200 for a financial goal to put toward my 2012 Savings Challenge.
So my target to save is $1,200 in February. This $1,200 will go into my Savings Challenge ING Account that was set up 3 years ago to hold these funds.

If I see ways to cut back on the February bills I will put this money in with the $1,200 I am targeting.

**And before you hate on me for having such a big target, remember that I have no debt at all....no credit cards, no student loans and my house has been paid off for almost 5 years. Once you get into this position, you too can save money at an amazing rate no matter your income as long as you have discipline and don't blow large wads of cash on crap. ;-)

3. How will you allot your spending this month?

We are paid every 2 weeks. After payment comes in, I pay bills as they come in and/or until I run out of the current payment. In which case, I wait for the next income check to hit the bank and continue to pay the bills. Bills are paid via check or directly online to the company from our bank account. Eating out and gasoline purchases are put on the credit card. Any unexpected purchases are also put on the credit card. Most importantly the credit card is paid off EACH MONTH no matter the amount.
As for food/HBA purchases, I take cash from the bank and all food/HBA purchases are covered with this. Hubs also takes cash each month to cover his incidental purchases like lunch, coffee, picking up milk on the way home, paying for son's music lessons, etc.

4. Track your purchases!

I track all my spending anyway. Every receipt goes into my notebook and each transaction gets listed and posted on my blog at the end of each month.
I try to get Hubs to save his receipts so I can see where his cash withdrawals go but it doesn't happen on a regular basis. He resents being held accountable...... 8-(

5. Are there any “exemptions” for the month?

The only unusual purchase will be #2 son's Birthday cash and meal out, which I have accounted for in my Financial Goal above.

Here’s how the Decluttering challenge will work:
1. There will be 4 main challenges for the month. I pick the theme, you pick the challenge!

Since I am still in Decluttering Mode this year, after the Great Purge of 2011, I am all in on this Challenge too!

Week One: Personal Space Challenge--This week will be all about my bedroom.
Week Two: Family Space Challenge--This week will be all about the den.
Week Three: Productivity Challenge--This week will be all about the living room/dining room.
Week Four: The “Dreaded” Challenge--This week will be all about the garage.

The Tossing/Selling/Donating 29 items part?
Oh, I have this down in SPADES!lolol
I'll probably toss/sell/donate that many items A DAY!

I'll be documenting all via photos.....both befores and afters. Good times!

So go see Carla and sign up for one or both of these Challanges!

Sluggy

What I Bought at Rite-Aid Last Week & What's Ahead for This Week

2012-01-29T12:06:00.000-08:00

After Hubs and I had my free Birthday meal at Red Robin on Saturday afternoon, I bopped into Rite-Aid on the way home and bought this.....

2 x Mentos UP2U Gum on sale=$2.00
1 x mentos Pure Gum on sale=$1.00
SubTotal....$3.00

Coupons Used
2 x $1/1 UP2U Gum ManQ=$2.00
1 x .55¢/1 Mentos Gum ManQ=$.55¢
Coupon Total....$2.55

$3.00-$2.55=.45¢ OOP
I put that on my free Rite-Aid gift card and received $1 in +Up Rewards for buying 3 packs of qualifying gum.

So .15¢ per pack of gum and $1 more in Rite-Aid Conscript.
And nothing out of pocket. ;-)

This week I have $6 in +Ups expiring on Saturday 2/4 so I'm looking at what to get.
As there is nothing we 'need' in food or HBA that's a deal this week, I am looking at getting stuff we can use that will rolling these +Ups. I don't see any rolling opportunities so far.

I have a $2/1 Tide ManuQ and Tide is $5.99 this week at R-A so that would make free Tide with a couple of $s left to use up.
I already did the Colgate toothbrushes Spend $30/Get $10 +Ups Deal so that's out.

There is a +Ups Deal double dip....the Snack Foods/Soda Spend $15/Get $5 +Ups also includes a Pepsi buy 3 12-packs/Get $2 +Ups Deal, so if you buy the Pepsi 12 packs as part of the $15/Get $5 +Ups, you'll get $7 +Ups instead, meaning you get almost half back in +Ups on what you spend OOP.

Hmmm, I'm going to marinate in this one a bit before deciding what to do this week.

Anybody out there have any Rite-Aid plans/deals they are doing this week?

Sluggy

Is eBay Selling Worth Your Time Anymore?

2012-01-27T23:23:00.000-08:00

While I wait on tax documents to get here so I can power through the taxes, and the much dreaded FAFSA(yes, I said that word!), I've been going through and calculating my eBay numbers.

Yes, if you sell stuff on eBay it's income and you had better report it.
I'm just sayin'.....

Even with just selling stuff for 2 months last year, the amount of paperwork and numbers I have to wade through is mind numbing. It took me three solid HOURS to get through it tonight!
Ugh.

After deducting all the fees, supplies and the costs of the goods I sold, I netted a whopping.....you'd better sit down for this!......$1710.10.

And that's not deducting for the portion of the storage unit fees I incurred to store the things I sold. I "could" deduct that IF I could come up with an acceptable formula to divide the storage unit fees between the square footage the eBay stuff occupied and the square footage where all the non-eBayed stuff sat. I could also try deducting lots of other things too....like part of my internet connection cost, part of the cost of my computer/printer/paper/ink/etc. But all that takes documentation and effort and sends up audit flags. I'll just take that hit and not even bother. I am beyond caring to go there.lol

So in the end all the fees I paid to sell this stuff?
It almost cost me as much as I netted!

I will not depress myself by figuring what my hourly wage was to make that $1710.10.
But I suspect I'd be better off wearing a paper hat and asking if you want fries with that! lol

This all just confirms my belief that selling on eBay as an income stream is so not worth it. Might have been years ago but now?.....nah!

It's a great way to get rid of things you have laying around the house and such. Or selling off things you don't want anymore.
But as a sustainable fulltime job? Not so much.

I'll stick to Focus Groups and some Survey work.....though my patience for that stuff is wearing thin too lately. ;-)

I need to find someone who wants to pay me to sit around and drink adult beverages!
Yah, now THAT'S the kind of work I could so get into!! 8-)

Sluggy

What I've Done....Er, Mostly Avoided This Week

2012-01-27T07:15:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday I dragged my self out of bed long enough to take #2 son to the eye doctor. He had failed the vision test at school...uh oh.....

At the doc's office, #2 son learned he has joined the family "bad vision" club on Tuesday, as he is now nearsighted.
Plus got the astigmatism from dear old mom's genes.
Double bonus!

I had my vision checked as well since it was time and yes, the doddering old mom's eyes have gotten worse in the last 2 years. Pretty soon they'll be fitting me for a white red tipped cane and/or a big guide dog in a harness to haul my carcass around.

I don't mind eye exams.
It's the picking out new frames I can't stand.
Why must they change all the styles every 2 years?!? I find a style that doesn't make people turn away in disgust at my face and then the next time I need a new frame, the style is gone and I have to ferret out another style that works with the few good points on my visage.
It's so totally unfair I tell ya!

After the psyche scarring episode over at Pearle Vision Center, #2 son and I went down the strip mall to Ollie's.
Ollie's is the local discount/closeouts store, much like a Job-Lot, Odd-Lot, or the now defunct Value City. I am a card carrying member of Ollie's and they had mailed me a 15% off Coupon to use before Valentine's Day.

Since I've spent so little from the food budget this month, we stocked #2 son up on vital junk food and I got a few deals as well......

I got 5 boxes of kitchen bags-45 count for $4.24 after 15% discount. A real good price! Between this lot and what I already have in the stockpile that I got for no OOP at Rite-Aid over the course of last year, we should be set for garbage bags at least until the Fall.
4 bottles of 100% juice for $1.69 each.
3 jars of mandarin oranges for $1.35 each(ignore that 1 is already empty!lol)

Then for #2 son's dining pleasure....
4 boxes of Mac and Cheese "crack" for .76¢ each.(close-out because it's jack-o-lantern shaped)
2 packages of cookies for .76¢ and $1.69.
1 package of kettle popcorn for $1.27.
And a huge 2 foot tall container of pretzel logs for $4.24. *Not pictured as it's already disappeared into the depth's of his room.*

I spent $43.01 with tax.

Afterwards we met Hubs and went over to Denny's so I could cash in my Free Birthday Grand Slam Meal Coupon. Mmmmm.....French Toast, a couple of eggs and assorted breakfast meats made my tummy happy. #2 son got a Grand Slam and Hubs got a Chicken Sandwich. We dropped a $20(including a righteous tip) and headed home.

And other than chauffeuring duties, I haven't left the house since then.
I wander around the house and think about cleaning and decluttering or doing laundry and then I go lay down and rest instead.
Or I go read emails/blogs until the feeling passes and then I go lay down instead.

I can't seem to shake this thing. Being sick on your birthday blows, ya know?
Plus I've been in a major funk. Having relationship issues with the daughter lately doesn't help.

Don't mind me. I'll just be over here in the corner wallowing in self-pity for a bit longer.

Sluggy

January Food Spending Week 3, Meal Plan January Week 4

2012-01-24T11:03:00.000-08:00

*I am taking part in Precious' MONEY SAVING CHALLENGE again for 2012. You can find her blog FRUGAL MAKES CENTS and a list of other participants and their blogs HERE.

Today's kitchen......

Here's a 1960's beauty! The rustic country americana kitchen look. Wooden cabinets with those black iron handles that allude to a barn door and the requisite RED wallpaper. I'm surprised there is no chicken motif going on as well!
While the '60s saw the end of metal cabinetry in the American kitchen in favor of wood, the colorific appliances were still hanging on.
And those lovely yellow appliances....just makes your mouth water, or would that be your EYES WATER?!?lol

Enough of that, onward to the Meals and Food Spending. 8-)

Last week's meal plan is in the books. Here is what actually happened....

SUNDAY--Chinese Take-out *I wasn't feeling too well

MONDAY--Sloppy Joes(with ground turkey or chicken), Rolls, Green Beans

TUESDAY--homemade Chili, Cornbread

WEDNESDAY--?

THURSDAY-- ?

FRIDAY-- ?
SATURDAY--homemade Chicken Pot Pie-Daughter made this and it was good!

Yes, those are question marks for 4 days of my menu. I was sick all week with sinus problems. I hung in there for 2 days and made a couple of crockpot meals(just throw the main components all in the pot and make the rest of the family sort it all out)but I didn't eat any of it. I had soup and applesauce and bagels or Hubs got me some Egg Drop Wonton Soup at the Chinese place. The family fended for themselves with leftovers and whatever they wanted to fix the rest of the week.

I was beyond caring what they ate by Tuesday. lol

Since I wasn't on top of my food waste game last week(and no one else here seems capable of dealing with this issue), we lost some items while I was indisposed.

I also didn't step foot into a grocery store all week. Hubs and daughter picked up some rolls, milk and eggs along the way as needed and threw the receipts on my desk.....how thoughtful. The weekly spending was $8.31.

3 Weeks in and I've spent $160.93 of my January food budget. $139.07 left for the month. There isn't much in the sales ads that is thrilling me, so I may not be venturing into the stores again this week. You'll see better why I don't need to shop below.

Going into Week 4, we have Sloppy Joes and Chili leftover from Week 3.

This week's menu.....

SUNDAY--homemade Pizza, carrot & celery sticks w/dressing

MONDAY--Leftovers or Burritos

TUESDAY--Denny's for Birthday Grand Slam

WEDNESDAY--Red Robin for Birthday Burger

THURSDAY--Baked Potatoes with Toppings, Mixed Veg.

FRIDAY--Lone Star for Birthday meal
SATURDAY--Chicken & Dumplings with carrots

Items needed for this menu are nothing. 2 of the meals planned but not fixed last week are here and a whole bunch of free birthday meals so not much cooking this week. The only new item this week is chicken & dumplings
While my meals will be FREE, the Hubs and son's meals will come out of the Entertainment funds for the month, not the grocery funds.

So what is everyone else eating this week?

Sluggy