Cents To Save

A Little Spendy This Month

2012-02-27T17:18:00.000-05:00

What the heck happened to my grocery budget this month? Over $500.00 dollars?? That was my first reaction, then I remembered that my husband and I "moved" back from my parents house and we had to re-stock our pantry and refrigerator. All perishables in the fridge were disposed of. And when my kids were here checking the house out or picking up stuff to bring over to my mom's, I always told them to take what you need. So yeah..... we had to replenish.

Groceries for February:

2/6/12        Aldi's: 69.41
2/9/12       Publix: 50.44
2/13/12 Walmart: 84.19
2/21/12      Aldi's: 80.98
2/22/12   Publix: 107.48
2/25/12 Winn Dixie: 26.56 ( $10.00 flour and yeast for bread
making)
2/27/12       Aldi's: 61.39
2/27/12    Walmart: 36.55 ( $18.50 ingredients for homemade detergent)
2/27/12     Publix: 10.54
TOTAL:               527.54

For March, we are going to keep the costs down to around $400.00 or less. I think we can do it!.

Menu Plan Monday ~ Feb 27~

2012-02-27T09:01:00.000-05:00

Happy Monday! This week I will be trying to use up items in my freezer for my menu planning. Sometimes it gets so piled up in there that I can't see what all I have.

Monday: Pot Roast in the Crock Pot. Super easy and delish. If you use your crock pot, dont forget to use the Crock Pot Liners. They sure make clean up easy!

Tuesday: Beef pot Pie using the left over roast.

Wednesday: Breakfast for Dinner. Spinach and Egg Fritatta.

Thursday: Grilled Chicken in Lime marinade.

Friday: Salad and Frozen Pizza. I know....too easy, right?

Saturday: Baked Spaghetti. This can be made ahead and heated up anytime.

Sunday: Dinner with mom and dad, so it will be from their favorite restaurant.

For more great menu ideas visit The Organizing Junkie!

Sunday Night Chit Chat

2012-02-26T19:17:00.001-05:00

It is that time again. Time for Sunday Night Chit Chat with Carla

My daughter and I: we are never serious!

My husband and Princess.....:)

Reading: Just started reading "Co-dependent No More". Hoping to learn and move on. Will keep you posted on that.

Watching: A Star Is Born with Judy Garland. Great movie!

Listening to: Princess is snoring. Again.

Cooking/Baking: Yesterday and today I have been baking bread! Thanks for the motivation Carla :)

Happy you accomplished this week: Baked bread. Happy that I did quit the job that made me so physically ill with stress.

Looking forward to next week: Applying to part-time positions as a sonographer. Also may go thrifting again for re-sale purposes.

Thankful for today: I am thankful for the love of my husband and my family. I am truly blessed.

2012 Financial Goals Progress Report #2

2012-02-26T06:53:00.000-05:00

I am borrowing this format from Laura at NoMoreSpending to help me stay accountable to my 2012 goals.

1.   Pay off credit card debt this year. Yep, it has got to go. We have about $11,5000 in stupid credit card debt. With our current living arrangements (we moved in with my sick parents to become their caregivers) our expenses are low(er). There is some good news here. We have reduced the credit card debt to $7900.00!! I moved some money from savings and with the extra money from my mom we were able to get the balance down quite a bit.

2. Increase Emergency Savings from $1000.00 to $3000.00. Right now our emergency fund carries about $1200.00, but by the end of the year we would like to increase that to $3000.00 for a little more piece of mind. Emergency savings is at $1000.00. Any extra will go to debt, at least for now.

3. Building online income.   My work situation has changes totally. I am now a fulltime care giver for my dad, and soon for my mom. I will be able to (hopefully) find time during the day and night to learn more about HOW to successfully do that. You know I did join the $30,000 Online Income Challenge, right?   Job situation has has changed AGAIN. I was employed but very briefly. Still unsure which direction I will be going. Online income is small, but I am grateful. For February, it was about $100.00.

4. Christmas 2012.   I again will be working my $500 Holiday Challenge. I was able to stay pretty close to the spending/ shopping budget this year, so I am pretty happy about that.   Acquiring gifts all year round at deep savings really helped the bottom line.   Still NO shopping yet, but I am still auto-transferring to my Christmas ING account.

5. Have more fun! Life is short and I know that saving money, budgeting, and being frugal is important. But....   having fun and enjoying life is just as important!   Living in Central Florida provides many opportunities to visit theme parks and be a kid again. We have not yet decided which park we are going to get a year long pass for, but I am leaning towards SeaWorld. And next year.... Disney World. I will be getting passes for me, my husband and my grandson. Money well spent. DONE. Right now my daughter's family and myself have the SeaWorld pass. When my husband does go, we will get him one too. His work schedule is a little crazy right now.

6. Plan a Trip out West. We want to go to San Francisco, visit Alcatraz ( I find that place to be very fascinating), Cross the Golden Gate Bridge, to name a few. It may not happen this year, but it will happen. I plan to save at leat $4000.00 dollars towards this goal. Back burner for now. Need to secure stable employment first.

7. Roth IRA..... hello.... you remember me, don't you? My retirement planning has taken a BACK seat lately. Time to get all that back under control. I have a 401k with a previous employer that I need to do something with..... and I do recall a Roth IRA too. I am a huge slacker when it comes to this stuff. Help please. Fail. ~~There is the rest of February to get it changed~~. Lets see what I can get done in March.

11. Get our wills done.   Enough said. This has been on my goals list for the last two years. Nope, not yet.

So, there you go. Not much progress, but that is okay. These last few months have definitely been different. Looking forward to normal again.

Saturday Things to Do

2012-02-25T08:23:00.001-05:00

Today's List of things to do include:

credit

1. Make a bottle of "Fake Febreeze". Saw this on Pinterest and am going to give it a try. Hoping that it works, because Princess the bulldog can get a little stinky at times.

2. I am going to be hitting up a few thrift stores today to find a bread maker. Since I saw Carla's post on how she makes bread, I so want to give it a try! In the past, I have seen bread makers at the thrift store for around 5 bucks or so.

3. Supervise the installation of the new slider in our living room. For the last three weeks, we have been living in a cave of sorts. The boys removed the old French doors and tried to replace it with a standard slider. The standard slider did not work. Had to special order a door to fit. The wood panels have been in place since then. This is why I still have my Christmas tree up. the decorations are down and put away, but the tree provides a nice source of light. Guess that will have to be put away today too.


Our "temporary" slider

our light


We are going to recycle the wood panels from the temporary slider and use them for a chicken coop. That sounds ambitious, doesn't it? Again, I have spent too much time on Pinterest and stumbled on some great ideas for chicken coops. A friend and her husband built their own chicken coop in their backyard...and now I think we could do the same. Another project we don't need.... but it could be fun, right?

That is the plan so far for today. Lots to do and its a beautiful day to get it all done. Fingers crossed!

Tomorrow I will be updating my credit card debt and other financials.... Fun Stuff!!
Have a great Saturday!

The New Job...... Is History

2012-02-24T13:13:00.000-05:00

No, that did not take long at all. The new job is in the the past. The determining factor was the stress and its effects on me. When I am stressed to the max, I experience vertigo. Vertigo so severe that I cannot even get up out of bed til noon. That is what happened today. The vertigo is a sure sign that I will have to call it quits. It is not worth it to me to be physically ill over a job.

Yes, It will suck until I can secure another job. But for now, I will be just fine. This afternoon I will be taking my grandson to the park..... and that will definitely make me happy and relaxed. Tomorrow is a new day! Thanks to all for your support!

This New Job..... Is Kinda "Iffy"

2012-02-23T06:39:00.001-05:00

Princess, she makes me smile.

This new job may not be the one. Oh I know it has only been one week. But there are definite signs of trouble in paradise. I went to work on Tuesday and by all accounts the studies I was turning in were acceptable. Come to find out, that was not the case. According to one of the radiologists, she referred to my studies as "garbage". That is a real ego booster, let me tell ya!    After my conversation with her I then found out from my supervisor that I was going to be partnered with another technologist for the remainder of the day so she could critique my images and assist me with improving the quality of my studies.

Luckily the technologist I was partnered with is a very nice individual and easy to get along with. She was able to help me with improving my manipulation of the ultrasound machine to get better images. And I really did appreciate her help in this area!   She also helped me with the scanning protocols that these radiologists prefer. All in all, it was beneficial in many ways. It was also stressful and eye-opening as well.

This particular center is high volume in vascular studies. I reeeaalllllyyyy have never liked doing a lot of vascular studies. Did I know this going into the job? Yes. But, I thought I could overcome my dislike for these particular studies and rise above it.    Not so much.   My dislike for vascular studies stems from the fact that I struggle with them. I have had help learning how to do them, but I still struggle.

Tuesday was different to say the least.   And here it is Thursday and I have called in sick. I have been throwing up most of the early morning...... I don't handle stress well at all. It pretty much handles me.

Yep, probably going to let this job go.

Here is the outcome:

It is Almost Time for Bed.....Again

2012-02-20T21:51:00.000-05:00

Day three of work and I am happy to report that I still like it. It is mentally challenging for me because it has been so long since I worked. The studies that we perform have a set protocol for scanning based on what the radiologists require. So for the last few nights I have been going through my notes and books to refresh my memory. I guess I never thought I would want to scan again.

My menu planning is non existent this week. We have enough in the freezer and pantry to get us through this week. Except for bread. It always runs out before anything else. I have been eating protein bars for lunch at work. With the anxiety from going back to work, I can't really eat anything else or it gets caught in my throat. Crazy, but in time it will get better. I think tomorrow I will try a pumpernickel and hummus sandwich. That might go down okay.

I have been so busy getting use to my new schedule that I have had little time to stop by your blogs to visit and comment. I am hoping that will get better very soon.

Time for bed.

Sunday Night Chit Chat

2012-02-19T21:23:00.001-05:00


SOCCER FANS IN NEW ZEALAND

Happy Sunday evening! The picture above is courtesy of my cousin who happens to live in New Zealand. I like this picture because all those people in the street represents all the voices in my head. Yes, there is a lot going on in my mind these days! But nothing I can't handle.

Reading?
I am going to start reading "Codependent No More" by Melanie Beattie. I purchased the book about 3 months ago. And when I had time, I did not even pick up the book. Now that I am working, I have decided to take the book to work and read it on break.

Watching?
Watching Ax Men. Love this show!

Listening to?
Our Victorian Bulldog (Princess) snoring on the couch.

Cooking/Baking?
I put frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot with a box of butter garlic rice and some chicken broth. I am hoping that it turns out because if not we will have to figure something else for dinner tomorrow night.

Happy you accomplished this week?
Happy that I re joined the work force. I worked Thursday and Friday last week and it was exhausting but satisfying.

Looking forward to next week?
Yes, I am looking forward to going to work next week. I am also looking forward to having Wednesday off and taking my grandson to SeaWorld.

Thankful for today?
I am thankful for all the chores I finished today. I was able to plant some border grass around one of our large oak trees, wash 2 loads of clothes, and clean washroom out.

Hope you all have a great week! Thanks Carla for hosting!

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Food Waste Friday: A Day Late

2012-02-18T08:41:00.002-05:00

This week has been super busy, but for all the right reasons. I returned back to work and my mom has regained enough of her health that she and my dad want to get back to their normal too.
Earlier this week, I went through my pantry and discarded items that were out of date or never used. Now posting my before pictures is a bit embarrassing but confession is good for the soul.

TOP SHELVES OF PANTRY

MIDDLE SHELVES OF PANTRY

BOTTOM SHELVES OF PANTRY

Sometimes it is just easier to close the door and not look at all the clutter. But thanks to Carla's De-cluttering challenge... I have been motivated to purge the unnecessary.

What follows is the purged items......

EXPIRED DATES....

JUST ANOTHER VIEW OF THE WASTE

COULD THE PILE GET ANY HIGHER??

EXPIRED IN 2008!!! SIGH......

Now that the truth is out there and the expired items and unused items are disposed of.... here is the result of the decluttering

BOTTOM OF CLEAN PANTRY

TOP SHELVES OF PANTRY

MIDDLE SHELVES OF PANTRY

So there you go! My worst nightmare of de-cluttering so far. The pantry has never looked so good and it sure does feel great to be able to open the pantry door without stuff falling out!

linked to the Frugal Girl

Wrapping Up Wednesday: One hurdle down, one to go

2012-02-15T21:22:00.001-05:00

This makes me smile! :)

Tomorrow is my first day back to work. I have been staying busy all day trying not to get too nervous. This morning I went down to my mom's to take her to see the neuro-onocologist. We had to arrive 45 minutes early so she could fill out paperwork before the appointment. The tech called us back on time, but we still had to wait for the Doctor for another 45 minutes. During the appointment is was determined that she did not need chemotherapy at this time and she will go back in 6 months for a follow up.

We then had to go to Medical Records and pick up her AFLAC forms. She has a cancer policy with AFLAC this particular policy did pay her a considerable amount the first time she was diagnosed with Breast Cancer. Since the cancer has metastasized it wont be as much, but still a pretty good amount.

After that, we went to the grocery store and then the credit union. This is where things got a little complicated. I had been keeping a running total of what we had been spending on the bathroom renovation, the new bed, and the groceries I had been buying for the last 8 weeks. I told mom that total. I think she was shocked. I don't know why.... the totals were kept in a notebook on the counter in her kitchen. Then we talked about compensation for me. If you recall, I had just started a new teaching job after being on unemployment for 3 months. 9 days into the job, I get a call from the ER nurse that my mom is being admitted because she has had a stroke.

Mom gets on the phone and wants me to go to her house and check on my 90 year old dad.. and there I stayed for 9 weeks. I have no income during this time, only my husband's. We are a two income family. And after 9 weeks of living with my parents and taking care of them .... well, mom has recovered enough to resume her normal life. I thank God daily that he has answered all the prayers that were being said for my mom.

Getting back to the money. Mom and I went back and forth and discussed the amount that seemed fair to both of us. We decided on an amount, but when she was done with her transactions at the teller window, she handed me a cashier check that was more than the amount agreed upon. What a relief and a blessing as well.

Tomorrow is the first day...... my nerves are jumping and my stomach is turning. "I can do it!"

A Million Things To Do Today and Happy Valentine's

2012-02-14T09:17:00.002-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day

Here it is 9:00 in the morning and I have been up since 5:00 AM. My list of things to do today is long and I need to get with the program.   What I was doing this morning was getting all my stuff together for taxes. Normally, I am more prepared but with the move, my mom's hospitalization, getting settled back in our home, and major de-cluttering going on, I am not ready.   Heck, I still have my Christmas tree up. But for a good reason. We need the light in the living room. Our french doors are being replaced with a new slider that had to be custom ordered and it will take 3 weeks. So, we left the tree up because it keeps the room less gloomy.

Oh yeah, back to taxes. I am fairly sure I have all the paperwork I need to take to the tax preparer.   With the rental, and Ebay, I need to make sure that I get all the forms filled out correctly and this is why I am going to see a professional. This is one of those times that paying someone else is definitely worth it for me. Change of plans on the taxes. The office called and the preparer is SICK! Boo! Working on a time to reschedule.

Next on my list is to turn in the paperwork for our homestead exemption on the new house. Man... this one just about got away from me. The last day to turn it in is Feb 29. The county courthouse is 35 miles away and it is all country roads so it will take time to get there.   Done. Now off to pick up Birthday Cake.....

Today is also my husband's birthday. We will be going out to dinner at a later date, because going out for dinner on Valentine's Day is crazy. All the restaurants are slammed and the wait time to get a table is at least an hour. We will celebrate at home with grilled steak and baked potatoes.

I am feeling the pressure of getting back into a work routine and I have not even started my job yet. It is not a bad thing, but I need to remember to take one day at a time. I am also getting nervous about the new job. You know.... first day jitters.

Time to hit the road and get to the courthouse.

Bathroom Remodel Project Begins (or how to spend $1500.00 at Lowes)

2012-02-13T07:15:00.005-05:00

Among other things we did weekend, we spent a lot of time and money at Lowe's and Home Depot. Back when my mom was diagnosed with brain cancer and was in the hospital, it was decided that we would move my parents out to out home and take care of them. Well, a lot has changed. My mom has recovered to the point that my parents will not yet be moving in with us. At least for now.

Before her recovery, we all agreed that we needed to update our primary bathroom for my parents and put in a shower and remove the tub. Well, we have removed EVERYTHING out of the bathroom and now we are moving forward on the renovation.

Sidenote: Just found out we still have to chip up the tile on the floor.

Cents To Save was included in "The Zombie Edition Carnival" at 101 Centavos

The bathroom..... or the room with great potential

Shopping for new the new stuff was fairly easy. We went with the same tile that we put in our other bathroom at the rental. T

new toilet

new tile

light fixture

After picking up all the items for the bathroom re-model we went ahead and picked up a new water heater too. The water heater in the house is the original one, (19 years old) and we would rather be safe than sorry. Not shown is the water heater timer my husband is also installing. This way, you can set the time for the times you will actually need hot water and this will save on electrical costs. Oh.... and we picked up a " insulating blanket" for the water heater too. The blanket is suppose to help with saving energy too.

new water heater

I Am Re-Joining The Workforce

2012-02-11T08:32:00.000-05:00

Happy Dance!

Well, how do you like that? Yesterday morning I received a call from the HR director at the potential new job. She greeted me and then began to explain the company benefits. After a few minutes of going over the benefits, she said " What are your financial requirements for the position?" I told her. ( I went a little high on the advice of a coworker) She said that number was "fine!"    That "number" is about $2.00 higher than the position I was laid of from in August and $4.50 higher than the job I had before that.   I did not have to go back for a scanning interview, I was hired over the phone!

This tells me that God's hand was definitely in this. The process was easy, short and very rewarding. All praises go to Him! Thanks to all of you for your support during these last few crazy months!    I am thrilled to be employed again!!

With the good news yesterday, I was again very motivated to work on decluttering my stuff.    Great progress is being made and I will post pictures tonight. Since I will be working again, I have gone through my EBay stuff and decided to donate it back to the Thrift Store. Yes, I could have a garage sale, but I just am not feeling that. I so much to do and finish right now. But.... there is about a truckload of stuff ready to go!

Frozen Yogurt is Crack! @ Budgeting In The Fun Stuff

Pinterest: Harmless Fun or Enabler @ So Over Debt

Sh*t My Tenants Say @ Your Finances Simplified

Is It Worth Having A FSA Account @ Ultimate Smart Money

Amazon 25.00 Gift Card Giveaway @ Retire By Forty

8 Ways To Justify Buying Anything @ Cult of Money

How Realism and Creativity can Get you Out of Debt @ My Broken Coin

3 Tips For Staying On Task @ Black Freelancer

End World Hunger: 5 Ways You Can Make A Difference @ Prairie Eco Thrifter

Time to get back to the work at hand. Lots of stuff to go through and ~~pitch~~ donate!

Have a great Saturday!

photo credit

Update on Job Interview

2012-02-10T08:29:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I went to a job interview. It is a radiologist owned imaging center about 30 miles away. Okay.... everything is about 30 miles away from where I live job-wise. The imaging center is beautiful and has modern state of the art equipment.   I arrived 10 minutes early and checked in with the receptionist.   Of course I had extra resumes and a letter of recommendation from the imaging center that mis-hired me in August. My interview was with the Radiologist assistant and she was busy helping with a biopsy.

I took a seat in the lobby and waited. And waited. Yep, I was in the lobby for about an hour. I actually thought it might be a test :)   But I know from experience that when you are helping with a biopsy, things do not always go as planned.

Eventually I was called back and met with supervisor. We talked for about an hour and I shared my employment history and she asked me a bunch of questions. I enjoyed talking to her and I kinda hope I didn't talk to much. Anyway, I got to meet the other ultrasound techs, in fact one of them is a previous co-worker from about 9 years ago. I think the interview went well!

In fact, my previous co-worker texted me later on in the day that she heard I did well on the interview and things might be going my way. I will probably go back for a scanning interview, ( so they can evaluate my scanning skills) next week. So, today I will be waiting on a call back. Either way, the interview was a good experience.   If by chance this does not work out, I as suppose to have an interview next week at another outpatient center.

image credit

Food Waste Friday: Brrrrrrrrrrrr! A Little Frosty!

2012-02-10T08:00:00.000-05:00

linked to the Frugal Girl

It is that time again, time to search out the refrigerator and see what is lurking in the deep dark recesses. The refrigerator is actually okay, but the Freezer..... well, that is another story all together.

My freezer is pretty full, so full in fact you can;t really tell what is in there. I dumped most of the stuff on the counter this morning and discovered a few frosty items that need to go.

These meatballs are left over from a birthday party in June.

Here they are up close......

And this hunk of frozen ham bone, well I had good intentions to make homemade bean soup, but instead I will be throwing it away. Boo!!

Next week is another week! How did you do with your food waste?

Thursday Notes,Updates and Changes

2012-02-09T06:25:00.001-05:00

Everyday is different around here. We have moved back home from my parent's house. Mom's recovery has been quite remarkable and she and dad are ready to be back on their own. The last two days, mom's blood pressure has been steadily climbing. It has been running around 150/106, sometimes less, sometimes more. I emailed her primary doctor with the info and she has an appt with him today.

I don't have to take her, she has a neighbor that will take her to that appointment. She also has another friend taking her to physical therapy in the afternoon at 1:00 PM. My husband will be picking her up at 4:00PM and dropping her off at her house. I understand being independent and wanting to do things on your own. She and my dad have always been fiercely independent.

So, I still have lots to do around the house. The painting continues. In fact, the formally brown bedroom has had THREE coats of yellow paint plus primer and that darn brown is still bleeding through. Seriously, I want to scream. Oh crap, I just remembered it left the lid off of the white trim paint. Great.

Another change, I have a job interview today at 11:00. Yep, I am attempting to step back into the workforce again. It is a full time position, four 10 hour days with Wednesday off. Talk about a big change! How does this affect mom and dad? Well, my husband and I both feel as if mom wants us to move forward in our life. I have offered to stay at her house, to regularly check in on them, but she pushes me away. Fine.

So, If I do get the opportunity to get back into the workforce I will not quit my job again to take care of them. There will have to be other arrangements in place besides me and my husband. So there you go. Everyday is different around here.

$500 HOLIDAY CHALLENGE 2012 week 3

2012-02-08T05:10:00.004-05:00

There are some ways to earn a little extra spending cash that are easy and won't cost you anything. One of the tools I used last year was SwagBucks. Swagbucks is something that is 100% free and you can make money on the site every day. It truly is easy money and I wish I had found them earlier.

The difference between this rewards site and others is that you get paid to use their search engine which gives you most of the same results you would get if you use Google. Rather than go to Google for my surfing, I use the Swagbucks search engine that randomly rewards me with Swagbucks that I can then redeem for all sorts of things like iTunes gift cards, Amazon.com gift cards, cash and so much more. Everything is free so it really is a no brainer.

What I did learn last year is that you cannot use your Amazon.com cards to redeem for other gift cards.

The things you can do for free include take surveys, watch ads, trade in electronics, play games, and of course surf the Web. All those things pay you in Swagbucks which you then take to the Swag Store to turn in for the things you really want.

If you are super dedicated to getting as many SwagBucks as possible, After you have downloaded the Swagbucks toolbar, you can go to the earn category and select SwagBucks TV. When you watch the selected videos(lots of categories to choose from) you earn points. Here is a hint, when you are surfing the net, you can run the SwagBucks TV with the volume on low while you are reading blogs and catching up.

What ways have you found to earn extra spending money online?

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2012 Financial Goals Progress Report #1

2012-02-07T15:18:00.000-05:00

I am borrowing this format from Laura at NoMoreSpending to help me stay accountable to my 2012 goals.

1.   Pay off credit card debt this year. Yep, it has got to go. We have about $11,5000 in stupid credit card debt. With our current living arrangements (we moved in with my sick parents to become their caregivers) our expenses are low(er).   No Change. In fact, due to remodeling... it is going up. :(

2. Increase Emergency Savings from $1000.00 to $3000.00. Right now our emergency fund carries about $1200.00, but by the end of the year we would like to increase that to $3000.00 for a little more piece of mind. Same.

3. Building online income.   My work situation has changes totally. I am now a fulltime care giver for my dad, and soon for my mom. I will be able to (hopefully) find time during the day and night to learn more about HOW to successfully do that. You know I did join the $30,000 Online Income Challenge, right? Situation as caregiver has changed. Online income is small, but I am grateful. For January, it was about $300.00

4. Christmas 2012.   I again will be working my $500 Holiday Challenge. I was able to stay pretty close to the spending/ shopping budget this year, so I am pretty happy about that.   Acquiring gifts all year round at deep savings really helped the bottom line.   No shopping yet, but I am auto-transferring to my Christmas ING account.

5. Have more fun! Life is short and I know that saving money, budgeting, and being frugal is important. But....   having fun and enjoying life is just as important!   Living in Central Florida provides many opportunities to visit theme parks and be a kid again. We have not yet decided which park we are going to get a year long pass for, but I am leaning towards SeaWorld. And next year.... Disney World. I will be getting passes for me, my husband and my grandson. Money well spent.   Nope, not yet.

6. Plan a Trip out West. We want to go to San Francisco, visit Alcatraz ( I find that place to be very fascinating), Cross the Golden Gate Bridge, to name a few. It may not happen this year, but it will happen. I plan to save at leat $4000.00 dollars towards this goal. No change, BUT I might include FINCON12 into this.

7. Roth IRA..... hello.... you remember me, don't you? My retirement planning has taken a BACK seat lately. Time to get all that back under control. I have a 401k with a previous employer that I need to do something with..... and I do recall a Roth IRA too. I am a huge slacker when it comes to this stuff. Help please. Fail. There is the rest of February to get it changed.

11. Get our wills done.   Enough said. This has been on my goals list for the last two years. Nope, not yet.

So, there you go. Not much progress, but that is okay. These last few months have definitely been different. Looking forward to normal again.

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Six Ways to Re-Purpose Common Household Items

2012-02-07T06:37:00.001-05:00

One of the greenest things you can do is purchase long-lasting products and then find ways to re-purpose them once they’ve served their usefulness. After re-purposing, there’s recycling. However, if you’re creative, you can first find new uses for almost anything before recycling. Here are some ideas…

[image via Sprig]

Re-purpose coffee cans: Use old larger cans to make amazingly lovely planters. See how! See even more Recycled Garden Containers at Mother Earth’s Garden.

Re-purpose that old spice rack: You know those sit-on-the-counter spinning spice racks? Most folks don’t want those anymore because they take up valuable kitchen real estate. I know that many folks have switched to in-cupboard or wall mounted spice storage which means there’s a ton of these spinning spice racks hanging around. You can re-purpose yours to hold beads, sewing odds and ends, stickers for the kiddos, rock collections, little kid hair supplies (barrettes, rubber bands), and more.

Re-purpose bubble wrap: Obviously, you can reuse bubble wrap to send new packages, but you can also use it in your fridge veggie and fruit drawers as a liner to prevent tossed in produce from becoming bruised.

Re-purpose a tablecloth: Vinyl or oilcloth tablecloths aren’t so eco-friendly, but if you’ve moved to cloth tablecloths, how do you re-purpose your old ones? By making a lunch bag of course. Or make three or four for the whole family – also makes a great gift.

Re-purpose a leaky old garden hose: Into a much better, more eco-friendly, soaker hose.

Re-purpose old bedsheets: I like the idea of making a body pillow, because they’re cozy, but you can also use them to save energy in the summer if you live in a humid area. Take your old sheet, dip the whole thing in water, wring out so it’s not drippy, and hang across your window in the early morning. The air coming through the cool, damp sheet will take the sting out of summer heat and maybe allow you to turn down the AC. See 20 more ways to use old bedsheets.

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Menu Plan Monday ~ Feb 6~

2012-02-06T06:33:00.000-05:00

We are getting back to normal around here. We moved back into our own home this weekend. Now we will go and check up on mom and dad a couple of times a week, and if they need more we will adjust. Mom is doing great since her brain surgery and we are thankful for her almost complete recovery.

Monday: Grilled Pork Chops, Grilled Zucchini, Brown Rice
Tuesday: Slow Cooker Pot Roast, Salad
Wednesday: Easy Quiche
Thursday: Chili, Cornbread
Friday: Leftover Chili over rice
Saturday: Pizza
Sunday: Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, broccoli

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This post is linked to Organizing Junkie

Sunday Night Chit Chat

2012-02-05T23:17:00.003-05:00

The Fort at St. Augustine at night.

Joining Carla for her Sunday Night Chit Chat!

Reading? I have not read a book in a long, long time. I read a lot of blogs.

Watching? Opera Presents Master Class with Jane Fonda.

Listening to? Pandora: The "Iz" channel

Cooking/Baking? Ooey Gooey Strawberry Butter Cake

Happy you accomplished this week? We moved back home from my mom's. She has made a miraculous recovery.

Looking forward to next week? The decluttering is still waiting on me.... and maybe look for a job.

Thankful for today? My mom's recovery, my family and especially my husband.

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Happy Saturday Morning and Links

2012-02-04T07:11:00.022-05:00

stop and take time to visit the blogs below

Happy Saturday Everyone! We are making progress on the painting and decluttering. Pictures are coming soon with the progress. There is lots to do so this will be brief. But, do check out the links below... Great reading and a chance to win some money!

Joe at Retire by 40 is sponsoring a $25.00 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway

Andrea at So Over Debt explains why hating your bank may be your fault.

Elise at Black Freelancer shares her progress on her 2012 SMART goals

Aloysa at My Broken Coin shares her no spend January. Well almost no spend.

Karl at Cult of Money shares his earnings with Prosper.

USM at Ultimate Smart Money shares his 6 tips for winterizing your home

YFS at Your Finances Simplified shares 10 tips for saving on Car Insurance.

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Food Waste Friday: All Clear Around Here

2012-02-03T07:54:00.003-05:00

linked to the Frugal Girl

Today I am happy to report that we have no food waste to report. Our grocery shopping consists mostly of the few necessities like bread, milk and eggs. My mom's church family has been so generous with bringing food and the meals are enough for two days.

The curvy road home

Today we get to go home for a weekend. We are having a new bed delivered to the house today. This is part of our plan to set up two households to take care of my parents. This is the first time we have been home together for a weekend in 9 weeks. It sure does not seem that long....... okay, maybe it does.

We have many projects to complete. The painting, the Decluttering of the garage..... Or we may do nothing at all and just take a break. Some habits I just can't break. The evidence is in this post at my other blog. (Maybe I am a "hoarder" at heart! )

Have a great weekend!

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Debt SnowFlake Challenge Week 5

2012-02-03T06:07:00.002-05:00

To help keep my on track with my debt elimination progress, I have joined Melissa at Mom's Plans in her Debt Snowflake Challenge. To the best of my ability, I will update my own debt snowflake progress every Friday.

Progress: This week I did receive a payout from AdSense for $103.00. That was a nice little chunk of change. But that was it for the week. It has been a little slow to say the least.

The items I listed on Craigslist have not produced any interest yet. Actually these vintage Christmas items would probably do better on Ebay, but I will wait until I get back t~~o my home before I start Ebaying again~~. I already started list some items on Ebay. I think we will be able to be home more so on a smaller scale I am getting back into Ebay again.

Total SnowFlakes for 2012

$424.00

Debt Update will be at the end of the month. I still use my credit card for my mom and dad's purchases and they pay reimburse me once a month. Upside to this: I am using my Marriott Rewards card, so more points. Downside to this: The card is still in my wallet. It is not quite the end of the month yet, so no reimbursements have been made. ~~Soon. Very Soon~~. Ahh........ NO payments yet. Still some more purchases for the transition upcoming.

Join in my $500 Holiday Challenge!

Week four of the SnowFlake Challenge

Week three of SnowFlake Challenge

Week two of SnowFlake Challenge

Week one of SnowFlake Challenge

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