Sluggy's 2015 in Review

It was a hell of a ride in 2015 here at Chez Sluggy!

Let's recap the year a month at a time, shall we?

*January--Lots of snow later in the month.  Lots of dark too.
Highlights were my birthday and visiting my brother in Virginia for a couple of weeks.
Of course I brought the bad weather with me to Southern Virginia.........


* February--We met our medical insurance deductible this month due to expen$ive drugs plus assorted medical tests.  Good news came that the spot on my lung detected 2 years ago is not a tumor.
This month we also finished up those nasty tax return forms and the dreaded FAFSA.  Glad that was over for another year!
The snow continued in drips and drabs but the worst thing was the EXTREME COLD the Winter of 2015!
I started genealogy research on my paternal side in earnest, solving a long standing family mystery in the process.

* March--There was great sadness in Sluggyland here when Rite-Aid did away with their +Up Rewards Program late in the month.
We bought a "new to us" car this month paying it in full using most of Hubs yearly bonus.  I used my credit card to pay(and paid that off 2 days later)to get $250 in free gift cards.  Truly I am always working the deal.

I started the ball rolling on joining one of the many genealogical societies I qualify for due to my illustrious maternal ancestry.  The ball didn't roll very far however as I lost interested in doing this.

March was also the beginning of the Cataract Surgery Saga when I went for my initial consultation.
It was a full month after that before I actually got the first surgery.
I also began an exercise routine this month, riding a recumbent exercise bike my daughter left here when she moved away to Louisiana.

* April--My eye surgery went well but now I needed the other eye done to see like a normal person again.  They made me wait 11 weeks for the second surgery which put a big crimp into my traveling plans for 2015.

The end of this month I got my new Rite-Aid Plenti Program Card.  It's been a mixed bag of good and bad this new program but at least I no longer have to run to R-A to use a Wellness Reward within 2 weeks.  The new program points don't expire for 2 years upon issue.

* April--I began to record short shopping trips in vlog form, but alas my readership numbers did NOT soar.
This month also saw the formation of the Bloggers United Federation.  Boy, that didn't last long did it? lolz
We also made a trip to Allentown in April to visit a Meadery which was one of Hubs Christmas presents.

And the yearly de-cluttering began with the first yearly trip to Salvation Army.

* May--The highlight of this month was our road trip to Louisiana.  Lots of interesting sights and good local food.  Oh, and a tornado.....such fun!!

My first eye was cleared and the eye doctor scheduled my second surgery on the other eye for TWO MONTHS after this date.  There went any traveling plans for this Summer as I wasn't cleared for all normal eyeball activity until late July.

Hubs and I finished our yard project-a rock bed/garden with a bench.
I also broke down and bought a chest freezer, after being freezer-free for 1.5 years.
We got the garden planted(mostly)right before our road trip.

* June--This month I bought a metric ton of cheese for little money during the Weis Markets Kraft Promotion.
Hubs had a health issue come up which we are still working on 7 months later with no end in sight.
Eldest son got a teaching job offer this month 2 years after graduating with his degree.
We got the front flower beds planted.

* July--This month was spent driving back and forth to Fredericksburg Virginia to find Eldest son an apartment and then moving Eldest son into that apartment.  That was in between another cataract surgery and follow up appointments.

Another highlight was meeting a fellow blogger on the way down to Fredericksburg and having dinner with another blogger I have met before.
The lowlight of this month was experiencing the "shit hole" apartment. lolz

* August--Before August started really, we had company at Chez Sluggy when Lorraine and Hubs Chris stopped for a visit on the way home from their NY trip, giving us just long enough to throw some gang signs............

The rest of August was all about just keeping my head down and plowing forward with the usual chores and getting College Boy provisioned and then sending him back for his second year of college.
Then I prayed for lower electric bills with CB gone.

I also found an old newspaper account of what so far is my most notorious ancestor, Abner Redmond, "The worst man who ever lived in Charlotte County".

I organized the stockpile this month and the garden turned out to be pretty much a washout, except for yellow Summer squash and Collards, which we were practically buried in!

* September--This month saw more visitors to Chez Sluggy when Kim and Joel stopped by while touring the East Coast.........

Hubs and I sat down and solidify our retirement financial plans in September.

 This month was also when a friend/fellow blogger took his life.  I still feel unbalanced over that event.

We also went to my Family Reunion and brought Eldest son with us since we had to pass right by where he now lives.

I also thought I had developed a blood clot in my foot in September and after the doctors and tests could find nothing medically wrong with me they sent me to physical therapy, which did NOTHING for me, but drain dollars away from my wallet.  I took a hiatus from the exercise bike until the PT was finished.

My daughter came home to visit for the first time since leaving home 2+ years early.  Since I was bedridden for a week with that foot injury(that medically didn't exist)we didn't spend a lot of time together but we did manage to squeeze in a couple of visits to brewpubs in the area.  It was a good visit anyway.

I also found two of my cousins(I only have 3)on Facebook after trying to get information out of my Aunt(their mother)for 2+ years.  Hopefully we can reconnect on a broader level at some point but this is a start.

Koolickles also happened here in September.  Need I say more? ;-)

* October--The highlight this month was another road trip to Illinois to see Sonya Ann and Den.  I always enjoy my time with SA and we really don't have to do anything for the time to be special. 8-)

Sonya Ann and I crashed a Drumming Circle in IL.

Of course, Den decided to be the center of attention this trip but we'll give him a pass anyway.

Then we had lunch with Hubs sister on the way home........

Hubs and I had an outing one weekend South of here to a Chinese Auction.  We also had our annual outing to a Church fundraiser auction this month.  Lots of entertainment spending in October.

I also got the bulk of my Christmas shopping finished this month.

October began the quite unseasonably warm Fall weather in our region.  The benefit of this trend kept my heating/electric bills unusually low.

* November-- I was able to make a large food bank donation of goods this month by working the grocery store deals.

I also took myself to the movies this month.  I hadn't been to the movies in over a year I think.

I tried something new for Thanksgiving-a different preparation for my turkey, and it turned out well.

I did my Black Friday Weekend shopping at Rite-Aid.  $500 worth of goodies for .05¢ OOP.

* December--The good deals at Rite-Aid continued into this month.
More time was spent in December on getting ready for celebrating the Winter Holidays and I ramped up the de-cluttering again and made 6 more donations of said clutter to charity stores.

Throughout 2015 I saved, spent and reported in on how I did.  Hubs and I re-examined our retirement goals at various points in the year.
I held 6 blog giveaways throughout the year.

And I was able to save a nice chunk of our take-home pay for retirement.

2015 was a good year despite the ups and downs.

Bring on 2016!


Sluggy