Saturday, March 30, 2013

I'm Still Alive Here....

...but barely.

Now I know I am going to burn in hell for posting this today.....Holy Saturday as all you Christian types know.
But this is too funny.....or maybe in my drug induced stupor, it's just funny to me. 
Whatever.....you know I am wacky and I'm apt to do things like this.

Anyway, enjoy some humor!




Sluggy

Monday, March 25, 2013

What I Haven't Been Up to Lately + More


I know some of you are shocked as can be that you're reading a post from ME!
I have been MIA off and on for about a month now.
The reason being?....March has been kicking my ASS!

My tooth ordeal is finally about over but I've also had a major case of not giving a crab about anything.
Nothing on my To-Do List has gotten done.....and I don't really care.

I've physically felt like warmed over manure for more than a month.  I'm swollen and can't breath and I need to get up to the dr.'s to have some tests run but I have the energy of a slug and can't seem to get myself organized enough to do that either.
Can I add that I am sooo tired of this Winter weather?!  We had snow on the 1st Day of Spring and here it is March 25th and it's snowing.....AGAIN!!

I sit and psyche myself up, and I try to concentrate on one goal and can't get that done.....I just keep spinning my wheels, get tired and give up.

I haven't even been to the grocery store in more than a week.  I just send Hubs or one of the kids to pick up a few things.  Depression and sickness do keep you from going out and spending unnecessary money, don't they? So it can't be all bad, right? lolol

My oldest son graduates college in a mere 6 weeks from now.  He just found out he's graduating Magna Cum Laude too.  While I am thrilled for him, the thought of having to drive out to the school and attend the Commencement makes me just want to crawl back into bed and hide.  I so don't want to deal with the crowds and hassles.

Add in the hijinx of the youngest kid lately, hijinx being code for "he has been making my life miserable", and I just want to call a taxi and go somewhere nobody knows me.

Do you see all the loveliness I have saved you all from by being quiet this past month? ;-)

The ONLY thing I stayed on top of was the Secret Sister Swap.  I had fun filling my swappee's wish list.  And I hope she enjoys it and posts about it when she gets time.

So let me close with the "Secret Sister Swap" package I received.....

I got mine like super SUPER early.....the end of February early.  So I held off posting it until the mailing deadline.

I had to email Carla just to be sure that this WAS my swap package, since the swapper didn't mention the swap at all in little handmade card that accompanied the package.....

I am assuming my swapper made that card...it's so crafty.

And here is what Debby sent me.....

A sewing project.  It's a pattern for a quilty-like casserole "cozy" and all the fabric pieces cut out and labeled.  All I have to do is just make it.
Thanks for sharing your love of crafty, quilty sewing things with me Debby.
Just don't be looking for me to actually attempt this one anytime soon, as the pile of my sewing projects(sewing clothes)is stacked quite high. ;-)



 Sluggy

Monday, March 18, 2013

Meal Planning March Week 4 & Food Spending Week 3


Here is what actually got served last week....

Sunday-Leftovers or Pizza
Monday--Sloppy Joes on Rolls, Corn
Tuesday--Stuffed Shells, Caesar Salad, Garlic Bread
Wednesday--Leftovers
Thursday--Roast Chicken, Carrots, Onions, Potatoes
Friday--Breakfast for Dinner-pancakes, eggs, sausage
Saturday--Leftovers or Find Something Yourself LOL
 
 
The Tacos and Fish Fry never happened.  They were replaced by a Roast Chicken dinner and a Leftovers meal.  I basically didn't eat these dinner meals until Thursday because of my dental issues.
My appointment on Wednesday took care of the problems and I am now a chomping champ again. lol
 
The food spending the last week?
Between not feeling well and having car issues, I never actually went to the grocery store last week.  The daughter and Hubs picked up items along the way last week, but no actual proper grocery shopping was accomplished.  Nevertheless, we did NOT starve since we have plenty here in the pantry/freezer.
A couple of trips to the local Shursave affiliate where a total of $29.62 was spent.  Food spending for the month is now at $127.69, leaving $272.31 of my $400 March food budget to cover the next 13 days.


As for leftovers rolling into this week--there is some roast chicken and veggies and some breakfast sausages.  Hubs is working out of town the beginning of this week so the kids and I are on our own for dinner until Thursday.

***********************

Here is what is getting served this week.....
Sunday-Chinese take-out
Monday--Soup, Broccoli or Fend for Yourself
Tuesday--Green Bean Casserole, Mac and Cheese
Wednesday--Veggie Fajitas
Thursday--Corned Beef, Cabbage, Carrots
Friday--Fish "Fry",Coleslaw, Veggie TBD
Saturday--?

Needed at the store to serve the meals I am making this week?  
Peppers for the Fajitas, Cabbage to go with the CBeef and to make the Coleslaw.  And when I figure out Saturdays dinner I may need to buy something for that. lol 
We also need fresh fruit and milk this week.  If I can get Daughter to do the shopping I may not go to the store again this week too! Yeah, I live on the wild side.....
 
The freezer is getting a bit empty now, as I've been using up some things here and haven't been restocking.  Unless some incredible meat deal comes my way, I am holding off on stocking up on foods to throw in the freezer.   And I still have to figure out what to serve for Easter dinner.  It looks like we may have 7 at the table this year so I've got to find out what everyone can/will eat this year. sigh.  The only definite are the Deviled Eggs....lol

We did have some food waste this past week.  A Tupperware of chicken stock with bones that got pushed to the back lower corner of the fridge went bad before it could be used or added to the dog's dinners.  I hang my head in shame. 8-(

What's on your menu for the week?  
Any good deals at the grocers this week?
Did you have any food waste this week?

Sluggy

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Celebrate the Old Country

From my delving into my family genealogy I can now count among my ancestors, with surnames the like of....
McCarthy, O'Brien, Sullivan, Redfern, O'Neil, McGovern, Flynn, Bourke and Roche.
And those are just on my father's side.

While mom's side is mostly peopled with English and Scottish ancestors, there are a few Irish predecessors thrown in for good measure.

But the whole world is Irish today, so raise a pint with me and pray for peace between the Orange and the Green.....




Sluggy

Friday, March 15, 2013

J udy Update

Well folks, hurry over HERE to catch up with J udy.
Don't know how long she'll be back, but for now, she is.
I think I am going to start referring to her blog as the Houdini Blog......now you see it, now you don't. ;-)

Sluggy

Just Something Fun for a Friday


I truly believe this might be the way to get more people into Barbershop Quartet singing......or rather this is the way to bring back Barbershop. ;-)

Never mind that it's not a foursome but a fivesome. lol 
Just have fun with it!



Sluggy

More Teen Driver Talk

I think I opened up a can of something on Tuesday when I posted about my youngest getting his drivers license finally.

Seems everybody has things to say on this subject, and rightly so!

My experience as a teen going through the driving process varies greatly from that of my own teens.

Back when I was a teenager.....back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth....in Virginia, the state I grew up in, a teen could get a Learner's Permit at 15 & 9 months. No test, just get your parent to sign the form and you got your Permit.
This permit allowed said teen to drive with a licensed parent in the car beside them.

I don't know if the public high schools all had a Driver's Education Class, as I attended a private high school.  The public high school down the road from our school had a driving course set up on the school grounds, complete with intersections, a working traffic light, etc. so I know that at least some of the schools taught Driver's Ed.
At my high school, we were allowed to use the public school's driving course for our Driver's Ed class.  A generous car dealer in the area who had kids attending my high school, had donated 6 new cars(nice tax deduction for him!lol)for our Driver's Ed program.

Driver's Ed ran one full quarter of the school year, and was taught 2 x a year so there was competition to get a spot.  There was a fee of something like $25 over and above the yearly tuition the school charged.
You had to have your Permit to sign up and then your parents had to sign more forms and waivers saying they wouldn't sue the school or the instructor if something bad happened.  We actually had to drive out on the road to get to the other high school and when we graduated the course we had to drive in traffic, but otherwise, we stayed on that course and practiced our driving skills.  I remember the instructor made a big deal out of practicing parallel parking and we practiced that a LOT!

As for my parents, they hardly took me out driving at all.  My mother was not around during this time and my father, when around, was much too busy to bother.  Actually he HAD taken me out one time and we ended up sideways in a ditch and after that, well, he didn't offer and I didn't ask. lol  But that's a story for another time.

On your 16th birthday(and beyond) you could go down to the DVM and take a written driving test.  IF you passed that, you then could come back (the next day if you wanted to)and take the road test.

I went down soon after turning 16...my brother drove me down.....and I passed the written test.  I remember this test was quite long and difficult.  You really had to know the rules and all that stuff in the driving booklet the state put out.

I went back as soon as my brother had the time and inclination to take me back to the DMV for the road test.   The DMV was in an industrial park area across from a residential neighborhood.  The examiner had me leave the DMV parking lot, cross the secondary roadway into the residential neighborhood, where I made a loop around the development, back across the secondary roadway back into the parking lot of the DMV.  I never got over 25 mph and drove about 1.5 miles total. lol
I passed.
And there was NO parallel parking, for which I was crushed as my BEST skill was parallel parking. 8-)

But they didn't give you your license then and there.  You were given a temporary license and assigned a date to show up at the courthouse within the next couple of weeks.
This class was a courtroom full of teens who had passed both of their driving tests.  We were all required to listen to a judge talk about the responsibility of driving.  Then we had to watch a film that showed you some scenarios that might come up while driving and how to handle those situations.  Then the State Trooper talked about all the bad things that can happen to a teen in a car and he showed his gruesome movie. Altogether it was like their version of an episode of "SCARED STRAIGHT"-Car Edition.
Then they called you up one at a time to get your license, if you weren't in the bathroom puking from the movie.

At this point, you were a legal driving Adult in VA.
No junior licenses, no restrictions on when or whom you could drive by the state.

My father was very happy the day I got my drivers license.  We had moved 1 hour away from my high school while I was in 9th grade.  We had been living in the city and I took the public bus to school or got a ride to school.  After we moved out of that town, there was no public transportation between the 2 towns. He had been paying for private school bus transportation for me every day to school, as the private schools in VA at that time did not get free school bus transport.

After I had a license in hand, he went out and found a used car for me to drive and stopped paying for my seat on the school bus.
I was expected to drive myself to and from school every day, a 2 hour round trip, on very heavily traveled roads in a major metropolitan area.
I had very little experience actually driving on a public roadway.

My ffather bought a stick shift car home on a Friday.
Did I mention that the only cars I had learned on and every driven were automatics? lolol
So I had a car I couldn't drive and I had to get myself to school now.
My brother took me out one time on the neighborhood roads and tried to teach me to drive a stick that evening.
It was more like he drove and then yelled at me when I tried......he's more like our father than he thinks. hehehe

After that session I spent the weekend going up and down our street, clutching and stalling out, over and over again, until I got the hang of it.
I HAD to learn and quickly.  It's amazing what you can do when you have no alternative. ;-)
I started driving to school on Monday.


Now let's compare my experience with my own kids' modern day experiences here in PA in getting a drivers license.

In PA currently, when you turn 16, you can go down to the DMV and get your Learner's Permit.  You have to have a dr. fill out a part about you being medically healthy enough to drive on it, as well as the parts you and your parents fill out.  You also need to bring your SS card and other proof of identity and a check for the license.
The DMV people do an eye screening and you have to pass a Knowledge Test.  The test is about 18 questions and you can't get more than 3 wrong.  If you fail the Knowledge Test you have to wait a full day to try again.
(1 try per day until you pass.)
Once you get your Permit, you have to wait 6 months from the date of your permit issuance to take the Road Test.  You also have to have 65 Hours of on-the-road driving practice in order to take the Road Test.(It use to be 50 hours but got bumped up to 65 in 2011.)  This practice can be through a Driving School(which you pay for) or with your parent(s).  You are suppose to keep a log of the practice....times, conditions, where, etc.  You have to be able to show that the teen has practiced driving in all types of weather, both during the day and at night for at least 65 hours total.

You schedule the Road Test online and it's usually 3-4 weeks before you get a slot.  When you go to take the Road Test, the Instructor makes you parallel park before taking you out on the road.  If you can't parallel park, you never get out on the road.
Once you parallel park successfully, you get to go out on the road.
If they don't fail you for some little infraction, which they often do arbitrarily, you pass and get your Junior License.
Your Permit is good for 1 year and you can take the Road Test up to 3 times before you have to reapply for a Learner's Permit.

A Junior License is for a teen under 18.  For the first 6 months of having this license, the driver is allowed to only have 1 passenger who is NOT a family member, unless accompanied by a parent or legal guardian.
After the first 6 months, and the driver has no driving violations or a reportable crash, they are allowed to have up to 3 passengers under the age of 18 in the car without a parent accompanying them.  If at any time until the driver turns 18 and has a violation or a crash, the driver goes back to only allowing 1 passenger who is not a family member in the car with them.

Once your teen driver turns 18 they get a permanent regular license and all restrictions come off, except for the ones that cover all Adult drivers in the state.


I do feel my kids were/are more prepared for driving than I was at their ages.  Each of my kids had hours of instruction in all kinds of conditions before taking their Road Tests.

While the state puts plenty of restrictions on teen drivers here, Hubs and I also have our own restrictions.
We enforce the 1 passenger rule for the first 6 months.
We also require good grades if you want to drive. 
Our car insurance has our new drivers complete a course, which, when they pass, we receive a discount on our insurance rate.
Our teens only ride with approved drivers.  There is one friend our teen is not allowed to ride with because she is such a bad driver.  He knows this and agrees with us...heck, he told US we shouldn't let him ride in her car. lol
Anyone our teen wants to ride with has to be cleared by us.  This usually means we have to know the kid and/or his parents.
You have an accident and it's your fault, you pay for the damage. So far letting them know any accidents they cause will hurt their wallet has kept them accident free(except for Daughter's CVS incident).  You cause an accident, you will also probably lose your license to big bad Mom.  You cause an accident and the insurance goes up, you will pay that extra charge out of your wallet.
We also have a rule about cell phones in cars.  They are shut off while in the car.  You need to call someone?....You pull over, turn the phone on and call, then shut the phone off again.  You get caught using a phone while driving, your license gets confiscated indefinitely by big bad Mom.

Everyone knows we don't believe in giving teens cars...new or otherwise.  We feel kids appreciate rewards more if they have "skin in the game".....meaning they have contributed to the reward in some way.
We made this same offer to all three of our kids.  If they wanted their own car, we would match whatever dollar amount they saved up to buy a car.  IE--Save up $4K and we'd kick in another $4K so you can buy an $8K car.  If the teen had to work for that car money, they would probably take better care of that vehicle and appreciate it more, right?  The offer expires once you graduate high school.
Not a one of them took us up on that offer.  Seems they wanted the car but wanted to put the money they earned from part time jobs toward other things.

Instead, we ended up getting a third family car because the oldest get into the Young Scholars Program at the local college and he needed a vehicle to commute to class 3 days a week.  We ended up buying my mother's old Toyota Corolla from my brother's estate for that use and we've been a 3 car family ever since.  We have a Buick Century instead now and the Daughter uses it to get to college and her job.  #2 Son uses my car when he needs to go to work or band rehearsals, and once the Daughter leaves later this year, he'll get exclusive use of the third car unless he does something to show me he is not ready for the responsibility. 

We are hard asses here about teens and driving and other privileges.

Sluggy



Tuesday, March 12, 2013

Some Good News!


No, not my tooth, but......

#2 Son passed his Driver's road test on Saturday!
And there was much rejoicing through the land.....






Now I get to have my car insurance bill raised a bazillion $s for another under age 25 driver, and a male one at that.
Ugh.
At least #1 Son will be getting kicked off the car insurance in the not too distant future, as soon as he graduates and procures a real job.  Until then, he's still on the plan but paying for his share of it as soon as he graduates.

But it's good to have all of them FINISHED with the trials of learning to drive.  At least Hubs is glad that part of parenting is finished with for him.  Yes, he taught all of them to drive.  I volunteered to do it but after Daughter ran into the front of the CVS that time, for some reason nobody wants me to teach them anymore.  Good thing, because I don't think my nerves could have taken it. lol

More money going out to the big car insurance company.
The trade off is no more having to chauffeur the kids around to lessons, jobs, practices and friends houses.
Yes....yes, I can live with that! ;-)

And we are the evil parents who do NOT buy new cars for the kids when they get their licenses.
From what my kids have always told me, we are the ONLY people on the planet who don't reward their kids thus.  ALL their friends' parents buy them new cars.
Right.
Who would do that?......give an expensive machine to a 16 year old without a fully developed brain?
Please tell me that I am not the only one who thinks that this would be a silly idea.

But then again, I keep thinking back to that first case in the 1980's where a Long Island teen killed his father because he made the son drive one of their old cars to school and not the new car.
We hear about one or two of these situations every year now, along with teens killing their parents over not letting them do other things, like date some one or throw a party, etc.
Obviously these kids haven't been raised right to begin with and in order to keep the peace(such that it is)it's easier to just give in and pray the kid leaves home as soon as they turn 18.

I find it disheartening and sad though, what our culture and peer pressure, if given full reign over the parental authority, can turn our young people into.

At any rate the car deal here is thus......
We, the parents do NOT buy you a car just because you get your license.  We have a 3rd car you can drive but you have to work out scheduling with your sibling, who is also driving that car.   We pay for the insurance and maintenance.  You pay for the gas, unless you are driving to school, then we pay that part of the gas expense.
#2 Son has grumbled a bit but he knows he has it better than some.  One of his friends is not allowed(per his parents)to get his license until he can pay his share of the car insurance.  This is in addition to any gas he uses.
Finding this out gives me a little leverage.....I can always threaten to make him pay for his share of the insurance should his grades take a nosedive due to all the joyriding he'll want to be doing now. ;-)

So tell me, if money were no object, would you give your newly minted teenage driver a new vehicle?
What about the other costs of a car?......would you as the parent pick up the costs of registration, gasoline, insurance and maintenance too?
Would you have any conditions attached to the car and it's use?

Sluggy


Monday, March 11, 2013

Meal Planning March Week 3 & Food Spending March Week 2 & 1


 


 
I never got around to my Meal Plan/Food Spending post for last week due to my dental issues and not feeling up to much of anything the last few weeks.  Sorry about that!
 
I never actually made a meal plan last week because I didn't cook much if any last week.  I've been living on soups and soft foods and the family just hasn't wanted to join me on this exciting menu....go figure! lol
So some things were pulled from the freezer or cobbled together without my find hand being involved.  Then the Daughter decided she'd had enough of your father's halfa$$ed meals and stepped up and volunteered to cook a couple of times.  Of course those evenings were hard on ME because I had to be handy to answer a billion questions because the child refuses to follow a recipe.  And then she gets all mad when things don't turn out right and blames me. ugh!
I. Can't. Win.

All I can recall was they had pork chops with cabbage and sweet potatoes, a tuna noodle casserole, a pizza, there was some Chinese take-out......
I really didn't care really what they ate.
I knew they weren't starving was good enough for me. lol
 

The food spending the last 2 weeks?
Yes, it's 2 weeks worth since I didn't report in last week.  $98.04 has been spent of the $400 food budget.  That includes $5.78 spent at the Bread Outlet on the one day I felt human and stopped in there to get some bread and rolls while out running errands.  21 days left in the month and we have $301.96 left in the budget to spend.


As for leftovers rolling into this week--I think there is a pork chops and 2 sweet potatoes leftover.

***********************

Here is what is getting served this week.....
Sunday-Leftovers or Pizza
Monday--Sloppy Joes on Rolls, Corn
Tuesday--Stuffed Shells, Caesar Salad, Garlic Bread
Wednesday--? Depends on how the dental appt. goes
Thursday--Tacos
Friday--Fish "Fry", Broccoli
Saturday--Breakfast for Dinner

Needed at the store to serve the meals I am making this week?  
Ground Beef, Romaine lettuce and I might be out of Cheddar Cheese.  Daughter is doing Slim Fast shakes so we are running through milk and soy milk this week as well.
$35-$40 in spending should be enough this week.


What's on your menu for the week?  
Any good deals at the grocers this week?
Did you have any food waste this week?

Sluggy

Friday, March 8, 2013

$20K Savings Challenge....FEBRUARY Update

In our family we save money.
It is important to us to put money aside for "rainy days".  You know.....those unexpected days when things happen in your life that you can't plan on, but that DO happen and they cost you money you didn't know you'd need to pay out.

Our income is mainly the salary my Hubs draws from his job.  We have money taken off each paycheck from the top to put into savings, before we even get our hands on it.  This money that's taken goes into various pots....life insurance, investments and retirement savings.  It's automatic so we are never tempted to NOT put it into savings.
Once the automatic savings, plus taxes and medical/dental/vision payments are taken out, it leaves what we get to "live on".  From this amount we budget for bills, both monthly and irregular bills(semi-annual, etc.) and our variable bills(like food, eating out, etc.)  Anything left over once our monthly expenses are paid, I put aside into a Savings Challenge. 

For 2013 I am continuing my Yearly Savings Challenge.  I am going to keep the Goal amount at $20,000 again this year.

On to the February report.....

I have posted my FEBRUARY 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 February in the black!
The extra cash amount we ended the month of January with?.......$1,375.97

Income
We had $1267.88 left over from our income after our monthly expenses were deducted. 
Add in a per diem check for mileage for some business traveling, some bank interest and some rebate checks, and we get another $108.09.  This brought our gain to $1,375.97 for February.

*Hubs did get a Bonus for the year in Feb.  I don't count that because this money is earmarked to go right into the College Account for the kids' educational expenses.  Yes, we could have gone and blown that money on a very nice trip, a new car, a full bathroom and kitchen remodel, or many other ways.
But since we are out of debt, have no mortgage and fund our retirement account, we feel it's better spent on funding the college costs.  We have taken yearly bonuses for many years and tucked them aside for college money for the kids.  With what we have now, we are just about $10K short of having enough to fully pay the last kid to go to college(a state school).  If next year Hubs receive 1 more bonus, even a small one, we will have finished funding college the year BEFORE the last kid here needs to enroll.  I never thought all those years ago we'd be able to have the money ready and waiting BEFORE the last one got to college!  That gives me greater satisfaction than any new car smell ever could. ;-)

Outgo
As for the expenses this February, here are the good and the bad side of things....

HERE are the GOOD THINGS
*  The credit card bill was $385 lower.
* The "cash" withdrawals were $100 lower.

HERE are the BAD THINGS
*  The electric bill(which includes heating)went up by $99.  Feb. is our most expensive month for electric.
*  The semi-annual car insurance bill was due this month.
*  The dental bills were high due to my tooth problem and a dentist bill I paid for Hubs work in Dec.

The Food Budget costs for FEBRUARY are in another post, which is located HERE
We managed to stay within our $400 food budget in February.

The 2013 TOTAL so far.....
With 2 month behind us, our Savings Grand Total for 2013 stands at $4,137.03.
We just missed our $1,666.67 target goal for the month, but not by much.  Considering the high electric bill every Feb. and the car insurance and unexpected dental bills, I'd call Feb. a WIN for us on the money front.

Looking ahead for March......
 

*  We have the Municipal taxes due this month.
*  The electric bill should start going down this month(thankfully!).
*  I'll pay the yearly sewage bill in one lump payment instead of quarterly.  It will save us about $10 a month this way and I have the cash aside for it so why not? ;-)
*  Medical bills will be a little higher since we are working on paying the deductibles to our limit, so the co-pays aren't kicking in yet til we get those paid off.
*  I was looking at the credit card bill to be about half of what it was in February until Hubs tv died last weekend.  There went $400 on the credit card and the bill is hovering at $900 now between that purchase, the $50 I spent on new nightgowns for myself and $100 of spending for #2 Son's birthday last month.
Between all this and cash withdrawals Hubs makes, we'll be lucky to hit $1,666.67 in savings after all is paid in March.


So how was your February financially?

Are you still paying off debt from last Christmas you put on credit?
Did you spend less than the income you made in February?
Did you received any "extra" or unexpected money in February and what did you do with it?
Did you stay within your budget or not?
Did you pay off any debt or put extra toward your mortgage principle?

If you posted your financial progress on your own blog, leave a link in the comments so we can go check you out your progress too and celebrate with you!

Sluggy

Thursday, March 7, 2013

FEBRUARY 2013 Budget Results....Food & Toiletries Spending




Here are my FOOD BUDGET spending totals for FEBRUARY 2013.

I have posted February's totals on the right side bar under Total Grocery Savings for 2013 and updated the Yearly Totals.
I am listing subtotals for each store I purchased from in February.  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(4-5 at home this month)& 2 dogs. No kids under 16.
******************
OLLIE'S
OOP  $20.57
Value  $42.09
Savings   51.13%

RITE-AID
OOP  $0.00
Qs/Ads/+Ups/Gift Card  $97.63
Value  $97.63
Savings   100%

SHURSAVE STORES(small local independent affiliated stores)
OOP  $138.50
Qs/Ads  $84.61
Value  $223.11
Savings  38%

WEIS MARKETS
OOP  $204.23
Qs/Ads  $112.20
Value  $316.43
Savings  35.46%

I am no longer adding my rebates received into my food budget directly. I will use them on food on occasion and will note that when used.  I will keep track of rebates/gift cards/certs received here as before however.

REBATE CHECKS RECEIVED IN February.....$16.99
GIFT CARDS and CERTIFICATES....$15.00
TOTAL Value of Cash/Store Checks/Gift Card Rebates Received...$16.99

COUPONS and FREEBIES
Zero

*********************
My best 3 Store Savings Totals were the Rite-Aid at 100%,  Ollie's at 51.13% and Shursave affiliate market at 38%.  l only shopped at 4 different stores this past month. 8-)


TOTAL Out of Pocket........$363.30
TOTAL Coupons & Store Sales Savings...$315.96
TOTAL Value of Items Purchased............$679.26
TOTAL Savings of...................................46.52%

This closes out the February food/toiletries spending.

THOUGHTS & COMMENTS for this month.....

I went into February with $400 budgeted for food/toiletries for the month.  I have $36.70 leftover in my February food envelope. 
I didn't count the number of Qs that were redeemed in Feb. but I do know it was quite low.   The little I bought at Rite-Aid for no money greatly affected my savings rate this month. 
Looking ahead to March---We'll stick to our $400 food budget again this month.  It seems to be working for us at this amount. 

 
And here is the run down of my Food & Toiletries Spending for 2013 so far--
2013 Total Saved $769.55

2013 Yearly Total Value of Items  $1,423.09

2013 Yearly Total Spent $653.54

2013 Yearly Savings Total of 54.08%


How much did you spend on food in February?
 
Sluggy

Wednesday, March 6, 2013

February's To-Do List Final Tally


Here is my final report on my February Goals from my To-Do List....

Make new Price Book--DONE!

Clean out InkFrog files & Close Account--Not Done...still re-evaluating whether I want to do this or not.

Scan 1 scrapbook of photos--In Progress and about halway through this scrapbook.  I need to ramp this up or I'll never get all these books of photos digitized.

Read L. Seabrook Book--DONE!  It's a great book for History buffs interested in the Southern view on things.

Read RG Williams Book--In Progress  This book is slow going and a little "dry".

Do Taxes--DONE!  Thank you God!!  Now Hubs has to do the local taxes.

Do FAFSA--DONE!  Only had to do 1 this year.

Declutter and Make 1 Load for SA--DONE and it's been taken to the Salvation Army.  I have begun another load too.

List items on local Tag Sale site--Not Done.  The local site isn't worth even posting things on.  The local economy is so bad nothing put on there is selling unless it's a necessity, like a car or a space heater, etc.  I'll take a FAIL and take this one off my agenda.

Dental Appt.--Done....sort of.  I go back in 1 week and will either get relief or have this tooth pulled.

I had a good month overall, since I got all the paperwork and the Price Book done, did some decluttering and read 1 book.  Other than taxes, my February wasn't very aggressive or chocked full of goals, was it?

I am off to figure out what goals I want to set for March.
How did you do in Feb. on your list of things to do?

Sluggy
 

Sunday, March 3, 2013

2 Quickies


I forgot to post a tiny trip to Rite-Aid a week or so ago.....



2 x Dove Men's Body Wash $2.50(Raincheck)=$5.00
I used 2 x $2/1 ManuQs to bring my cost down to $1.00 for both of these bad boys.
I paid with a $1 + Up Rewards.

This Trip......
Value of items bought....$12.58
 +Ups Used.....$0
 +Ups Received....$0

**GRAND TOTALS FOR FEBRUARY**

Out Of Pocket....$0.00  cash
Value of items bought.....$97.63
Savings Rate of  100%
Rebates due......$0.00

+Ups at beginning of month...$20.00+
+Ups used....$28.00+
+Ups received...$17.00+

Gave my Daughter all my +Ups to use....
+Ups currently...$0+   


Just 3 little trips to Rite-Aid this month.
My $9 in +Ups were expiring on Thursday so I gave them to my daughter to use, meaning I have Zero +Ups now.
I'll be taking a break from Rite-Aid for a couple months, unless something incredible pops up that I really really need.


The other thing is that I cobbled together a load of goodies to take to the Salvation Army 2 weekends ago.
Here is the Porn.....








Not a huge load but some choice bits, some of which you can't really see in the photos.  Trust me, I made a written list and they are there.....lol

My tooth hurts worse than BEFORE the dentist worked on it last Wednesday!
I'll be calling them tomorrow morning.  If I can't get some relief I may just have the tooth pulled before the appointment on the 13th.  I have a feeling that's where we are heading anyway, so why spend more cash on a tooth they aren't going to be able to save?
Ugh!

I'll be back when I feel more human.....
Until then I'll be throwing crap into boxes to haul out of here to charity.  That's about all I am good for when I am feeling this way.

Sluggy