The Year in Review 2010--Part III

No, I am not celebrating the New Year yet!
Mimi over at LIVING IN FRANCE is doing a Linky Thingy...don't ya like my use of technical terms?

Anyway, you are suppose to post your life's highlights from 2010.  This installment is covering July, August and September.  Be sure and check out the other bloggers' posts too....



JULY

After a rather late start to the growing season we finally have our first Harvest in early July....yay!

I start my Christmas gift shopping this month.  By buying throughout the year you can pick things up for discounted prices and save a ton over waiting until the Christmas season when discounted prices are hard to come by, if not impossible to find!  The key with shopping this way is to be O-r-g-a-n-i-z-e-d!  Keep track of what you buy and whom you need to buy for.  Otherwise, you'll find yourself spending way more than you need to or planned to.

It is a very hot month here in my corner of the world.  I don't do well in the heat....never have.  Despite that, I keep my donating momentum going and many more items are sent off to Sallie's.  I also glean the stockpile again and send off a large donation to the Food Bank in July, as well as a nice healthy cash donation. 

I talk about striking a balance between store bought/processed foods and making everything from scratch and the cost implications.  About that same time #2 son has a meltdown with me over not getting fast food anymore.  Imagine having a mother who cares enough about you to cook from scratch....why, I have alot of nerve torturing him that way, don't I?!?

I do some Rite-Aid shopping(not much really this month)and I hold a bevy of giveaways on the blog.

Our beagle is diagnosed with cancer.

AUGUST

This month I attempt to not spend money at the grocery store.  We eat from the stockpile/freezer, the garden keeps us in veggies and I supplement what the garden didn't supply with produce from the farmstand.   I keep track of how many pounds of food we grow and we pass the 29lb. mark this month.  

I reminisce about my Shopping Triumphs of 2009--The great Catalina scores and KMart Double Coupon shops that just seem to have not happened in 2010.  I shed a wistful tear or two.

Hubs & I take a short vacation to Maine for some decompression time.  We go sightseeing and visit  friends.  It is relaxing because we have no set itinerary.  We just play it by ear each day and chose something to do/see from our list and don't try to cram every possible entertainment in.  It is also a very frugal vacation since we stay in an RV, or with friends, eat cheaply or use coupons at restaurants whenever possible and do free or almost free activities.  We even Christmas shop at discount stores as one activity.

I turn my minivan into a solar oven.  #2 son and I make chocolate chip cookies.  They are excellent, cheap to cook(free energy!) and we do it all without heating up the kitchen or the house.

The fridge breaks and I can't get anyone to come fix it.  We buy a new fridge.  It is a necessity as....

#1 son returns home from his summer job.  He brings with him a friend from England who stays with us for a week.   Just guess how much food 2 19 year old guys can eat in the course of 1 measly week!

I actually sew....patch and hem pairs of  pants for #1 son.

As a thank you for sewing his pants, #1 son leaves home to go back to college, taking with him the other "Eating Machine".  My wallet sighs in relief.....

SEPTEMBER

By the end of this month, we top 77lbs. of produce from our garden...wow!

I hit a 75% clearance sale on food items at Rite-Aid.  Most of this goes to the Food Bank.

I put out a call for all Eastern/Central PA Bloggers to link up together.  Nobody answers the phone....

Just about the time I was running low on dog food, Weis Markets runs a Purina Catalina Deal and I take advantage of it.
Synchronicity?....I think so!

This month also sees those $5/5 Kraft Cheese printable coupons.  Many people end up with many many packages of shredded cheese for $1 a pack, myself included.

I talk about how to effectively complain to a company about a product to obtain refunds, free product or high value coupons.
I then complain to anyone reading the blog about how our local newspapers are inconsistent from one to the next with which coupon inserts are included on Sunday.  Maybe I should follow my own advice and complain to the newspaper companies and not y'all. ;-)

The neighbor's RV saga begins when I complain about how they leave that huge thing parked in their driveway and block my sightlines.  I get some Anonymous nasty comments over that one.  Hmmm....perhaps the neighbors read my blog?  Naaaahhh!

By the end of the month, the garden is still producing....especially Giant Alien Cucumbers.   Now there's a title for a Sci-Fi parody......"When Giant Cukes Attack!"

The Final Installment, PART IV, is coming tomorrow so I can get this finished before 2010 is over.

Sluggy