2020 To-Do List....May Update

*PLEASE NOTE--Posting may be a bit sporadic over the next week or so as I am sort of on vacation between getting stuff done here in Virginia and don't feel like writing blog posts worth reading.
I'll try to write something worth reading a few days a week.  Thanks for your indulgence on this.


Let's see how we did at getting stuff done in May.........

* Pay Bills  DONE
Always number one on the list and always done.

* Read 1, 2, 3 Books  PASS
I only got 2 books read in May.
First off was this lovely tome..........

"The Land Will Be Deluged in Blood: a New History of the Nat Turner Rebellion" by Patrick H. Breen

This one read like someone's Master's Thesis that they expanded a bit.  Very boring for the most part especially if you don't like reading about history.  But I say that reading a book is always ok if you learn something from it.  Specifically I learned about the dual justice/court/legal systems in the Antebellum South which I was totally unaware of before this book explained it in great detail. 

and then there was this one...........

"Shakespeare's Rebel" by C.C. Humphreys
If you enjoy historical novels and are in love with all things of the Tudor/Elizabethan era and Shakespeare's plays then run and get this one!
The protagonist is a deeply flawed character called John Lawley, a drunk, ex-soldier and sometimes actor/sword master and fighting choreographer. Lawley is a fictitious character who interacts with historical persons of the era: William Shakespeare, Richard Burbage,
Queen Elizabeth I(my 4th cousin), Sir Robert Cecil(father in-law of my 10th cousin), and Robert Devereux the 2nd Earl of Essex(my 6th cousin, etc.).
I didn't get through a 3rd book in May.
Ah well.....


* Hold Giveaway  DONE

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  The first winner never contacted me in the 48 hour window so I drew another winner and she has received her goodies and is enjoying them.

* Do a Sewing Project FAIL  Nope, didn't get anything sewn.

* Cash in a Savings Bond  DONE  We had a  Bond mature in May so it got cashed in.  Don't let US Savings Bonds sit if they have fully matured.  It's like putting cash under your mattress and letting it sit and not earn a penny.  Put it somewhere it will earn at least a little bit(or better yet, if you have debt, throw that cashed in bond toward your debt).

* Mail Cards  DONE  I needed to send two sympathy cards out to 2 friends.  The rack of cards was decimated at the store, the sympathy ones, I suppose due to Covid 19 victims lately.

* Plant Garden  DONE  

We planted our usual garden along the backyard deck. Dan planted green bean seeds along the back of this area but nothing came up so after that the buckets behind the fenced barrel in the photo below, holding the collard plants I finally found at the nursery well after everything else was planted got put where the green beans didn't germinate.

And greens were planted in the 2 half barrels on either side of the backyard deck garden.

* Make a New Garden  DONE
We have an old dog run from when we had our beagles which has just sat on the back side yard for years.
I finally had a good idea on how to use it in the flat circular area of the backyard where our pool us to be................

We moved the dog run there and I had Hubs build raised garden beds inside.  Not a lot more space but enough to grow a bit more veggies this year and expand the garden with a built in fence to keep the deer and rabbits out.
Go us! :-)


*  Start Seeds  FAIL  I just didn't find enough time to get this done.  Then we got a spat of very hot unseasonable for us weather so the seeds went right into the ground instead.

* Bathe and Groom Dogs  DONE

The perpetual motion machine Dixie and the guardian Chester after being bathed.

* Change out Clothing for Summer  PASS  I got everything dragged out and changed over.  I threw out a few worn out items and will be glad when I finally get a few more pounds off for good so I can donate a few more clothing items once our thrift stores open back up.

* List Items on eBay FAIL  No motivation at the beginning of May and then since I was going to be out of town I figured wait until I was back to list anything in late June.

* Pack my Bags to Get the Helloutta Here!  FAIL  Nope I didn't get my luggage packed even though I got the Summer clothing out since I didn't know for sure until the last minute whether this trip was going to happen.

* Plan Goals for 2020  PASS  We have very few goals for 2020 at this point in the year.  Maybe a vacation in the Fall and a few house projects with an eye toward moving.  I am working on getting the ball moving on that moving/relocating goal this week.

That's about it for the highlights from my May.
What did you(or didn't you)get done in May that was on your list of stuff to do?

Sluggy

To-Do List.....the May Edition

Here's how the progress on the May To-Do List turned out............

May

* Pay Bills  DONE  Always at the top of the list and the first thing I get done.

* Read 1, 2 Books  DONE
I read this one..........

"Blood Brothers:The Story of the Strange Friendship Between Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill" by Deanne Stillman
The title is a bit misleading once you get into this one.  Mostly it's biographical information on various people of this era-Sitting Bull, Buffalo Bill, Annie Oakley, George Custer and a few others and how their lives intersected along with  general history of the end of the "Old West".  
There really wasn't much of a "friendship" between these two other than Sitting Bull spent 4 months touring with Buffalo Bill's show in 1885.  The author uses this brief acquaintance as a jumping off point to delve into the events such as the Battle of the Little Bighorn(Siting Bull was for decades thought to have been the one to kill Custer), the Ghost Dance and Massacre at Wounded Knee and the Murder of Sitting Bull.  A few interesting stories but more an easy, light read(except for all the Native American slaughter and such). 8-(

And this one........

"Ten Hills Farm:The Forgotten History of Slavery in the North" by C. S. Manegold

This book traces the life of John Winthrop, the first Governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony(the second colony founded in what is now Massachusetts), his descendants and other families who owned the farm-five generations of slave owners who profited from human misery at Ten Hills Farm.

Winthrop owned the 600 acre farm which is where Medford MA now stands called Ten Hills Farm.  It is Winthrop who wrote the first law in the New World condoning slavery and owned a large number of slaves that toiled on his farm there, all the while proclaiming their colony as a beacon of enlightenment and justice.  
Slavery was an entrenched way of life in New England but it is rarely recognized or admitted to.  Many of these founding fathers in MA not only owned slaves but traded in slavery(even when it was outlawed)but also owned slave sugar cane plantations in Caribbean lands(most notably Barbados).  And this doesn't even touch on the New England shipping industry that profited from the Atlantic triangle of trade between the New World, the Caribbean plantations, the shores of Africa and England.

These New Englanders of the gentry class also suppressed religious freedom other than the mainline Puritan teachings(exiling and/or killing those who didn't subscribe to the Puritan ways).  Among the native peoples they made and broke treaties to suit their needs, looked upon the natives as lesser forms of humans and started wars with them so as to sell the captives into slavery and ship them off to their Caribbean plantations. 

It's a long sorted past that the North refuses to acknowledge and it's a breath of fresh air to read this awesome book and see the truth of how widespread this cancer was rooted in the Northern colonies.
Slavery wasn't just a stain upon the Southern parts of America, it was an affliction upon all of it.  The North just got rid of slavery sooner than the South as the North due to weather conditions ended up as an industrial economy while conditions in the South was more conducive to an agrarian economy.  

John Winthrop's legendary "city on a hill", the example for the world of rightful living and a model of "Christian charity" was anything but to anyone other than it's leading citizenry.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interesting in American history and New England history specifically.


* Hold Giveaway  DONE

* Mail Giveaway  DONE  And it's winging it's way to Sue L. as I type this.

* Go on ED Plan  DONE

So far it hasn't turned up any foods my system/my HS doesn't like.   Except my body doesn't like eating only potatoes.  I'm ok as long as it's not a potato monotrophic diet.  I haven't added back in dairy(other than a bit of cheese on that cheeseburger last Thursday)and there were no issues in the 24 hours after eating that.  My HS symptoms haven't changed since going on this ED either(for the good or bad).  

* Start Home Projects  DONE  The Monday after the Daughter pulled out of the driveway we began the purging and cleaning.

Things have been uncovered that haven't seen the light of day since the Daughter moved back home 3 years ago.  The living room has become the dumping ground for items leaving and for items we have to keep and find a new place for.
We have completed a few tasks and we are deep into this project now.
It's a process people! 8-)

* Email a Company  DONE

I emailed Alka-Seltzer about their informing my entry was invalid AFTER the window to resubmit it closed(and they told me to resubmit it!)  Radio silence from them so I am putting them on my AVOID THEIR PRODUCTS list and moving on.
I did return the product to the store for a refund of course!

* Purge Garage Again  IN PROGRESS
We got lots of things removed from the garage, including the evil Dreadmill which Daughter packed into her POD.  However the garage doesn't look like much progress has been made yet since it's packed with garbage cans and trash bags awaiting being carried off by the garbage company.  Daughter and Ex-College Boy have filled so many trash bags that we've had to space out throwing them into our trash collection pile for pick-up over the last three weeks.

This morning 2 large trash cans, plus another 5 trash bags and a large broken exercise bike got picked up.
We only have a large broken desk sitting on the front porch to send to the garbage now.

This is a shot of the garage this morning before Hubs took one of the garbage cans to go back and live on the side of the house as we usually only fill 1 can, but we've been filling two cans+ for the last 3 trash pick-up weeks.
See the clear pathway through the garage?  We haven't been able to walk out of the garage on this side since Daughter started packing and throwing shit out.

* Sort Through Seeds  DONE
I went through my old packets of seeds and found quite a few things I can plant this season.  I put some mesclun salad mix seeds in the half barrels with the broccoli and cauliflower plants.  I've got some basil to sow among the tomato plants later today and in late August I'll plant some spinach seeds after the cukes and Summer squash are done.

* Buy Plants  DONE

Plants were bought in early May from our favorite nursery and everything got planted by mid-month.


* Plant Garden Beds  DONE

We've had lots of days of rain(too many days!)but the plants are hanging in there.  The broccoli and cauliflower are loving the cooler temps though.

* Cash in Savings Bond  DONE
Cashed in the first chance I got to go to the bank and the proceeds are squirreled away with all the other funds from cashed in matured Savings Bonds.

* Move More $ Into a CD  DONE sort of
I got this accomplished on the last day of May(so it was still processing until June).  I say sort of did it because I moved the $$ but I didn't put it into a CD as the rate was lower than the rate to just move the $$ into an online savings account.  I didn't move that much, just the portion of interest earned last year on a previous CD since I didn't roll that CD over fully into a new one.
That $4K+ in interest is now sitting in my "Misc." Fund at Capital One and earning 1% instead of .25% at the brick and mortar bank.
This is just temporary until Hubs and I can sit down and talk over what we want to do next with this $$.

* Help Daughter Pack  DONE

All packed into the POD and her car and the POD got picked up the day after she left for Louisiana.

* Start Selling Locally  DONE

I put a few things on the FB site but the only thing selling are the diapers and pull-ups.  That's fine by me because I had 3 large boxes filled with diapers.  I still have quite a few left(about 30 packs)but I've made $115 so far.
I really don't want to do a garage sale(and I really don't have enough stuff to make it worthwhile)but Summer is not the time to list stuff on the FB site around here as people just want to go to garage sales now. sigh.
Plus people around here answering my FB ads are driving me crazy.  Morons, imbeciles and idiots, the lot of them!!!


Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the August 17th Edition

Let's take a look around and see what frugal-ness we had here at Chez Sluggy this week..........

* We closed out credit union account.  While not frugal per se, it makes our finances a bit simpler.  We moved the money to an online account via the other brick and mortar bank we use.

*  While at the bank depositing the check, we also cashed in a US Savings Bond as it had matured.  Not point in letting it sit there once it's not earning any interest!

*  Speaking of money...........

I found some more of it!  Two pennies in two different parking lots.

*  While out we hit the bread store for the month......

All this for $10.50.
2 loaves of bread, a pack of bagels, a pack of English muffins, 2 packs of Hawaiian sweet buns, a pack of dinner rolls(can use for sliders), a pack of donuts, 2 bags of stuffing, and 2 bags of spicy chips.
I would have gotten more bread and not the snacky things but at this time of year it's hard to keep bread from going moldy(I just don't have room right now to throw it into the freezer). The chips and stuffing were 2/$1....can't beat that price with a stick. lolz  The muffins were free since I spent $10+.
72.66% savings rate over paying full retail price and we are good on bread now until Sept.

*  I also went back to Weis on Wednesday before the sale week ended and bought this.........

2 more boxes of Tetley tea bags because I found 2 more $1/1 Qs so .99¢ per box and I got a rain check for the classic/reg. variety as they have been out of that all week.  Hopefully I can score some more Qs for it before the rain check expires.

2 OM Deli Fresh lunch meats, on sale for 2/$6 and I had .75¢/1 Qs that doubled to $1.50 off, so $3 off $6=$3 or $1.50 for each package.
We have been eating a lot of BLTs due to the tomatoes ripening fast and furiously here(plus we like BLTs).  I got the deli meat(smoked turkey)so we could have a little variety and have club sandwiches now and then besides the BLTs.  ;-)

 I also bought these........

9 x Snickers B2G1FREE sale=$6.00
3 x 3Musketeers B2G1FREE sale=$2.00
I had 2 x B1G1Free 3Musketeers Qs=$2.00 and 4 x .50¢/2 Snickers Qs(doubled to $1 each)=$4.00.
$8 in candy bars-$6 in Qs=$2 for all 12.  Under .17¢ per bar?  Yes, please!
Of course the 3Musketeers went right into the freezer hiding spot, the Snickers go into the family grab bag/giveaway box prized/the fridge bag waiting on Halloween for trick or treaters.  8-)))


*  We hit a Shursave Market in the adjacent town that takes printed internet coupons(and doubled to $1)because mine doesn't take them.  They had a deal on Chex cereal and I had Qs to use!

3 boxes of Chex were $1.99 when you bought 3.  My .50¢/1 Qs doubled to $1 so .99¢ per box.  Rice Chex, Raisin Bran and multi-grain Cheerios are my favorite cereals.
I also got a turkey breast on their one day sale for .99¢ lb.  I know these will be going on sale closer to Thanksgiving but I don't have any now and wanted to do a turkey meal so it got bought. lolz
I also found 2 good dairy discount sticker deals-those mozzarella blocks had $2 off stickers so where $2.69 per lb./piece and those 4 packs of Greek Yogurt were on sale 2/$3 AND had $1 off stickers on them so .50¢ each package. It's a good thing I like strawberry flavor.  ;-)

*  We continued to pick veggies from the garden and attempt to use them all..........

*  I already blogged about my Rite-Aid scores this week.......

No money spent OOP(just $21.98 in Bonus Cash)and I got back $4.25 in cash rebates for doing all this.(I was able to reload the $2 Pop-Tart rebate so could do it twice.)

And $3.40 of my WAM on all this(Hey! I actually spend MONEY at Rite-Aid this week!).

That's about it for us this week.
And remember, in the words of the Most Frugal Man on the Planet.......

What frugal wins did you have this week?

Sluggy

Frugal Friday......the May 4th Edition

Let's see what frugal wins we had last week.......

*  I got hungry while out running errands so I picked up a sub to bring home for lunch.  Dug out my Subway rewards card and it had enough points on it to get a sub for free, which is what I did. 8-)

* Snagged a few straight-up freebies at Rite-Aid this week.....also got two pain cream samples but didn't get those in the shot either. Oops.

*  One of our US Savings Bonds matured so we went to the bank and cashed it out........

No point in letting a fully matured bond sit in the safe deposit box earning ZERO.  Cash those suckers in and throw them into something that earns interest(as little as it may be). ;-)

*  I had a 10% certificate for Ollie's(Good Stuff Cheap!)that I had earned that was expiring in a few days so Hubs and I went there to see what we could find that was a good deal.......

Seasonal flavors of oatmeal packets(pumpkin and gingerbread)for $1.16 a box after 10% off.

3 Cheese blend Kraft grated for $2.24 after 10% off(can't even buy this that cheap on sale and w/a Q at the grocery store here!).

I was out of green chiles and Ollie's had them for .71¢(cheaper than the grocery stores).
The large no beans chili was $1.79 and the MASSIVE can of chili beans was $1.61 after my 10% off card.

The best deal were these boxes of cold brew coffee pods(not K-Cups)for making iced coffee.  At 75% off they were .37¢ a box and looking at my receipt now it seems the cashier only rang up 3 boxes. 8-)

*  Last Friday's Weis Freebie was procured by Hubs....

A free package of Weis cookies.

*  On the not-so-frugal front.........

We bought Chester a toy at Ollie's.  Even with the discount it was pricey but hey! it was a name brand(Animal Planet)and he's worth a new toy every now and again.  It was made of an indestructible fabric but I should have checked the seaming work on it better.

 5 minutes after giving the toy to him here is what I turned around to see........

His alligator toy is now in pre-op for surgery. ;-)

Hope y'all had a frugal week!


Sluggy