Saturday, February 7, 2015

My Crap-tastic Week

Last week was not so great.

The weather here has been sucking big-time!  Not just snow but it's been so COLD!  Trying to balance keeping the house warm enough to not be uncomfortable, but not let the electric company suck up too much of our income paying that bill.

Between the grocery ads being dreadful and the bone-chilling weather I didn't leave the house for 6 days!

Stir crazy for me in 6 days.  That's went I broke down and left the house.

I went to Rite-Aid for a "quickie" Friday afternoon......


I forgot to take a picture of the .22¢ truffle filler item I bought too.

2 tubes of Colgate on sale=$5.98
I have a $1/2 ManuQ so $4.98 +.22¢filler=$5.20.
I used a $5 +Up Reward and paid .20 OOP.
Got back 2 x $2 Colgate +Up Rewards.
I have a $5 +Ups and a $1 Cat I have to spend by Saturday 2/14 and this new $4 in +Ups to spend by 2/20.

Almost spent them all down so I can take a break from Rite-Aid until late Summer I am figuring.

I spent most of last week in TAX HELL......yes, doing state and federal taxes.

I have the state form done and we owe so that one won't go out until April something.
Needed to do/figure the state first so I can plug some of these numbers into the federal form.

Just need to finish figuring the Education Credit Boondoggle(I get it wrong every year...it's totally incomprehensible!).  Then the federal is finished except for the printing, collating, signing and filing.

Then it's onto the dreaded FAFSA. Since College Boy isn't eligible for any scholarship $s or state grants I may just save myself the hassle of that torture this year.
It doesn't get us anything since we are among the super-rich(or so they tell us). ha!

Heck, if hubs gets another awesome bonus this year we wont' even be able to take the Education Credit Deal on the 2015 taxes.
Well on the other hand, not having to do that jolly little exercise in futility for the taxes would be a welcomed change! ;-)  Plus we would probably owe federal taxes next year too so I should get hubs to change his # of exemptions at work, huh?

I have also been working on College Boy's taxes(state and federal) which are a "trip to an amusement park" in comparison to ours.  I am also the "go to" person for our oldest son for help, tips/information on dong his(which I helped him through this past week).

And I don't even do the LOCAL Taxes.  I leave that for Hubs to slog through(though it's really not a big hassle like the other ones).

I go for blood work next week to see how/if my numbers have changed, in anticipation of a 6 mo. checkup/office visit with my primary HP.  Oh joy!

I need to schedule 2 tests as well at the hospital which are both overdue a bit.....because of the iffy weather I haven't done that yet.  I'll schedule those for mid March and hope we satisfy our $4K deductible by then(but am doubtful that will happen by then).
The refill of the expen$ive medication happens late February but between that an other medication refills and the blood work and OV we should be nudged up over the $2K mark at least, possibly $3K.

In blog news---I have changed my settings so that anonymous persons may no longer leave comments.  I am sorry if this impacts any of my known and/or loyal longtime readers/commenters but it had to be done. I had a slew of comments which I didn't publish last week which were harsh, rude, unpleasant, derogatory, nasty and just plain mean.  I am good about publishing people with other viewpoints(or at least I think I am)and am tolerant of other's views.  But I really don't need to see some of the absolute vitriol some folks have tried to leave on the blog.
Here's a tip-if you can't say something nice(or something not-so nice in a pleasant/positive way)shut up!

And here are 2 tips to other bloggers---don't EVER show pictures of what you eat on your blog if  you are not a size 2. ;-)  I got a lot of nasty comments on that post as well on some other ones along with the usual spam stuff I never publish.  If someone doesn't like what I post then they are free to move along to another blog.
And if you leave a comment that is ultimately constructive, don't be condescending in your tone.  The whole "attract more bees with honey than vinegar" concept, ya know?  When some folks hide behind anonymity they reveal a side of themselves that is very unflattering.

Last week's not-published comments hurt me to the quick and has been debating on whether to continue to blog(or take the blog private, or disable comments altogether).

On the good side of things last week...........
I didn't spent any money(besides that .20¢).
I got some bookwork completed.
I finished overhauling our financial/personal files and sent a trash bag of old stuff to the garbage and another smaller bag to the shredder.
I am beginning to see empty space in the freezer from eating down the frozen stockpile.

So that's all I have to report on.


Sluggy

25 comments:

  1. Sluggy, unfortunately, the Internet has plenty of trolls who relish in offending others. Agree to disagree with me on an issue, express your view-fine. Gonna get nasty? no thanks! I also require people to log in with a name, trolls went away as a result.

    ReplyDelete
  2. If I posted what I ate, you'd mostly see coffee and cookies :-P
    One of my blog friends just took her blog private and she sent invitations to all the readers that she knows or has had interactions with. You could go that way if you're not looking to expand your readership and then those spammers, flamers and haters can just go pound sand.

    ReplyDelete
  3. You can check their IP if you attach an IP checker or something. I really don't want to work that hard to see who is a mean, hurtful jerk. The only thing I saw in your food intake might have been the second hotdog, but it all depends on what else you had to eat that day or even over a few days. So, judgmental people often don't know what they are talking about. I agree--why the vitriol?

    Did you get that coupon for toothpaste from coupon.com?

    I, for one, do not think you can lay of couponing/RA/sales for that long!

    Why did you eliminate the url designation?

    ReplyDelete
  4. THat's a lot of news, indeed
    I rather fancy the notion of being at home x 6 days but studies show it drive most to insanity or murder

    ReplyDelete
  5. OH PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not stop blogging! You are one of my favorites! I love your blog!!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. I too, have had to deal with some terrible D-bags too. And it is ashamed that they do stuff like that. I have thought about quitting blogging too cuz of them. In the end, I decided that I love my blogging friends and I want to be a part of this community. So to hell with the people that can only post things anonymously. They are vampires. They hide in the dark.
    I love you.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sluggy that is terrible that people would hurt you. Shame on them. Okay your blog did make me hungry. But I love you even though you are super rich! I am super rich in life because you are my blogging friend and I look forward every day to your post. You want Sonya Ann and I to go beat em up? I am going to make cookies and post pictures and I am not a size 2 but my neighbor across the street is, I call her Mrs. Perfect, she is perfect it is so disgusting. She is nice, super organized , super clean, super everything, I bet calling her Mrs. Perfect would hurt her feelings. Need to think about that.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow - I'm so sorry you had to go through all that hurt! I agree that anonymity brings out the ugly side of people. Good for you for doing something about it, calling them out and putting them on notice. Your blog is honest and it's a shame that you are attacked for it. Eff those mofos and keep on blogging gurrrrrl!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Wtf. People can be such a-holes. I Liked the food pictures!
    The pretzle buns are so hard to find here, and if you do they are hard as cannon balls. I'd have lunch with you anytime Sluggy!!

    There are lots of things that I read on many blogs that I don't agree with but more often than not I learn and also feel almost privileged that the blogger shared what is happening in their world.

    I Have a private blog that is more of a diary now. It helps purge lots of thoughts and I use colourful language...just like I do in real life!

    ReplyDelete
  10. So sorry to hear about all those negative posts.
    Hope you did not feel that my comment on the Irish family tree was condescending? Please let me know if you would like me to use my access to Ancestry UK/Irish records to help you out. Just as a genealogical "random act of kindness".

    ReplyDelete
  11. No don't stop blogging I thoroughly enjoy your financials, lists, trips ,,menu's and day to day living on the other side of the world. Plus will take me another year to work out these Rite-aid deals you have over there! Even your tax system is interesting compared to ours. Your blog is one out of thousands I choose to read please do not change the content just to avoid negative people. Ruth Australia.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Don't let the crazies get you down.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I do not understand why people have to leave nasty comments. I for one would really miss your blog. But I also can see why you would not want to put yourself out there, vulnerable to anonymous attacks.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Trolls - they truly suck bigtime. No life so they think they need to take down others. Keep on posting food pictures - this is real life. We who like reading your blog wish to you to continue on as you were :) Six days without leaving the house? Anyone would go stir crazy. I have been a bit homebound with the new puppy and was happy to go to Home Depot yesterday to get a key cut.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Hahahahaha, I am laughing about your comments on the food blog, photos and the size two thing. I do mainly a food blog and it is absolutely what I eat. I think I was a size 2 when I was 8 or 9 but have not seen a single digit dress size since the birth of my oldest son. I agree about the comments from nasty anonymous posters, but I figure that is what the delete button is for. I am old enough that I dont give a fat rat's fanny what anyone (especially anyone I don't know in my everyday 3-d world) thinks of me.

    So please keep posting! I love seeing how other people really eat!

    ReplyDelete
  16. I guess I've been lucky. Apart from an occasional spam comment (and both g00gle and Wordpress seem to be good about weeding out the idiots), no one has given me any grief. I don't know why people think that's the thing to do!

    Next weekend is Tax Weekend for me. Fortunately, mine are relatively simple, though I have a fair amount of business expenses this year and little income to offset them, and that means the Schedule C is a pain.

    Peace <3
    Jay

    ReplyDelete
  17. Sluggy - I really hope you keep your blog going. I really enjoy your posts - especially the savings challenge which motivates me. I don't understand why people feel compelled to say something negative - it is a shame they have nothing better to do. Anyway - hugs from a loyal reader. BTW - I love your food pics - I hate writing down what I eat - never thought of a picture log before!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Thinking warm thoughts, it is difficult being shut in for days due to bad weather. Don't let the haters chase you underground, ignore them.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Don't quit blogging Sluggy...please! I LOVE reading your blog. Another blogger i know changed her's to "invitation only". We gave her our email address and she sends it to us (starting tomorrow). It's an option. There are a lot of idiots out there...don't let them get to you!! HUGS!!

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh, Sluggy, I am sorry you got hurtful comments. I think you should keep blogging but definitely disable anonymous comments. You should be able to say what you want to say on your own blog.

    People that leave hurtful comments are just assholes.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I've never thought of taking pictures of my food, but now that I think about it, it might help me avoid the mid-afternoon M&Ms, if I knew I had to photograph it & report on it. ;-)

    Hope the weather improves!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. I am so sorry that nasty people got into your blog!!! Please don't quit blogging! Your financial, geneological, foodie, frugal wit is appreciated by so many that know you for the awesome person you are.
    Oh and I had the pretzel bun at the hospital cafeteria during one of my many visits there this past month and it is REALLY delish! ALSO, I tried the pretzel crust at Little Caesars Pizza! YUMMO!!! You've got to try that!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I would hate to see you quit blogging as much as I disliked that your feelings were hurt by unwarranted comments...you stated from the start that you were looking to get an idea of what you are eating and portions...I guess there will always be haters....
    I enjoy your blog and many others...I myself do not blog...I am much better at the reading part!
    Hope you are having a much better day today!!

    ReplyDelete
  24. Oh, & please, please, please don't stop blogging! Love your posts. Ignore the trolls.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Sluggy, love your blog! I'm not a big comment leaver, but needed to let you know that I enjoy your coupon/saving tips and your cooking is amazing! Thanks for the great blog.

    ReplyDelete

Hey there! Thanks for leaving a comment.
All Anonymous commentors will be deleted.
Please include your name in your comment, or choose the 'Name' option and put your name or whatever you call yourself, in the box. Thank you.

Though I moderate it's partly to keep trolls at bay but also partly so that I read every comment. I don't often respond to comments so if you need me to answer you please write me at my email addy posted on my "About Me" page, linked on the side bar.