To-Do List......the February & March Updates

FEBRUARY

* Pay Bills   PASS

* Read 1 Book  PASS

I read this one.........

"Rivals Unto Death: Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr" by Rick Beyer

Not a big book but interesting about the love/hate relationship between Hamilton and Burr.  Sometimes they were friends and allies and at other times they were on opposite sides of an issue or down right enemies.  The term "frenemies" may have originated with these two.  If you didn't read the Ron Chernow book or you want more on this part of history then pick this one up.

* Organize Pantry  FAIL  Just didn't get to it.

* Hold Giveaway  PASS

* Mail Giveaway  PASS  It was mailed and received though I hear the chocolate didn't last long. lolz

* Clean out Inserts/Coupon Envie  PASS  

The stack of old expired stuff that got pitched.  Go me.

* Finish Editing Old Photos  FAIL  Didn't get to it all but I did a bit.

* Post about Old Trips  FAIL  Nope.

* Work on Genealogy  PASS  I was on fire in February with genealogy research!

* Re-Organize Toiletries Stockpile  PASS  The guest room/toiletries room got done.  I don't think I took a photo though(can't seem to find one anyway).  But with all the freebies I've got at R-A since then it's a big old mess again. sigh.

* Fill 6 more Giveaway Boxes  PASS  I didn't take a photo evidently but trust me, they are sitting stacked up on the floor of the dining room(well 4 of them that are left are).

* Roll/Spend ECBs  PASS  Yep, did that.

* Roll/Spend Bonus Cash  PASS  Yep, did that too.

* Clean my Desk  HALF and HALF  Cleaning my desk is an ongoing chore/project.  As soon as I pitch stuff and/or organize things it just accumulates more stuff.  I'll either keep this on EVERY To-Do list or just drop it altogether because we all know it's something that needs doing every danged month! ;-)

* Stay Warm  PASS  Yep, I managed to drop the heat a couple of degrees and donned a sweater or hoodie to keep warm without letting the electric bill get outta control!

* Eat down the Freezer/Pantry  PASS  We got down a level or two on the archaeology dig I call a freezer.  Of course, with new deals I managed to add back a new layer. lol

MARCH

* Pay Bills  PASS  Always at the top of the financial things to complete each month.

* Read 2 Books  HALF and HALF

Well I only read one book, not two.

"Hottest Heads of State Volume One: The American Presidents" by J.D. and Kate Robson

I totally misconstrued the title of this book when I bought it at Ollies(Good Stuff Cheap!).  I thougnt "hot" meant foul tempered, mean, rotten, etc. not "hot" as is handsome, a dreamboat or desirable as a mate.  lolz  My bad.

But still, it was a light, fun read full of sarcasm, which I like.  And I still learned a couple of quirky things from it.  It was fun and funny and a change of pace for me and parts of it did make me LOL.

* Have Financial Meeting  PASS  Hubs and I had two meetings in February.  The immediate issue was about taking a 401K withdrawal to cover some irregular bills like the taxes, etc.  That was the easy part.

Then we talked about what made sense for us in terms of starting to take Social Security.  Now since I'll be claiming on Hubs since mine would be much lower than half of his we need to figure when he should claim since I can't claim until he his.  If he waits until full SS at 66 years and 10 months that pushes my claiming back until I am 66 and 1 month.  We did some calculating and with all our savings(401K/non 401K)and our annuity we actually will be more than fine if he claims later this year(and then I can claim too).  Still stewing some stuff over but right now that's the plan.

* Organize Pantry  PASS  Yep, I finally got to straightening the pantry out.  Now I just have to straighten out the stockpile in the garage....again.

* Hold Giveaway  PASS

* Mail Giveaway  PASS

It got mailed out quickly and received in a timely manner and was much appreciated by the recipient.

* Clean out Inserts/Coupon Envie  PASS  No photo of this clean out but enough inserts got pitched as to fill up my small wastebasket. 

* Finish Editing Old Photos  HALF and HALF  I did edit a few photos on the computer but I worked more on scanning old family photos from my mom's scrapbooks to digitize them.  Here's an example.....

This is my maternal Great Great Grandfather(my mother's paternal Grandfather), Robert William Harper taken in 1950.  Born in 1881, Robert had a hard childhood with both of his parents dying before he turned 15.  He outlived his wife, 7 sisters and a daughter as well.  He was 69 in this photo and had written on the back "Looking good for 69.".  He died before I turned 2 so I have no memories of him.  I'll have to ask my brother who is 6 years old then me what he remembers the next time I see him.

* Post about Old Trips  FAIL  Nope.

* Work on Genealogy  PASS  See the item above on photos. lolz

* Roll/Spend/ECBs  PASS  I managed to extricate myself from the CVS merry-go-round in March.  No more ECBs to roll and I don't plan on going back(at least until Black Friday if their deals tempt me enough). ;-)

* Roll/Spend Bonus Cash  PASS  Yep!

*Clean my Desk  PASS  I did clean it good in March.

* Eat down the Freezer Pantry  PASS  We had a low spend month again in March and managed to eat from the freezer/stockpile a good bit instead of bringing more into the house(besides Ibotta deals).  Go us!

So now I am caught up at least for a few days until April ends. lololz

Sluggy

All My Stuff......Where Does It Go?

 A commenter(I think it was T'Pol over on "Frugal @ Istanbul")asked recently about all the deals I get and what happens to all the "stuff" that Hubs and I(plus sometimes Ex-College Boy)don't/can't use.

Here's where it all went in 2020.......

* First I give food/toiletries to extended family, which includes a Brother in-law, the Nephew and my Brother and his wife when I travel down to Virginia to see them(I always take a bag or two of goodies with me to VA).  When we travel and stop to see friends we take toiletries to hand out but the only trip in 2020 that included seeing friends was to Daughter's wedding in early January.  I believe I asked but the two friends we stopped to see didn't want anything so we only brought some items to Daughter on that trip.

* Next are the Giveaway Boxes.  I gave away 15 boxes of goodies in 2020.

January saw 2 Giveaways!

First this one....

Then this one.........

February was this one....

March was this one...

April--2 more Giveaways.

First a Pandemic Themed(Stay at Home Amusements")one........

                                      

Then a regular box of goodies..........

May saw this box given away.......

June saw this box of goodies leave my house.....

July's box was for the menfolk......

August........This was a different giveaway.  A free book written by my cousin/friend Sonya Ann to promote her latest novel, "Their Hellfire" which is still available for purchase through Amazon.  Though I gave her book away, I didn't do a box of goodies that month.

September saw this bunch of goodies given away.....

October was this array of items.......

November saw THREE Giveaways.....

Then this one..........

And then this "Girlie" box of goodies.....

December's giveaway rounded out the boxes given away in 2020 at 15 total......

Plus I had to cover the postage for all 15 of those(ranging for $8-$13 each)which came to quite a bit of change OOP! ;-)

*  I also made two donations of goods to the local food bank in 2020.....

All this baby food was gotten in February but I had to hold onto it until April since the food bank closed to donated goods for awhile during the early part of the pandemic.

I was finally able to take in the above donations in April.  Not going out much and the worry about being able to buy food due to supply chain issues early in 2020 meant less of a donation from Chez Sluggy.

Between everything in this photo above(which I was unable to bring in in November, and everything in the snapshots from my car below(didn't have time to set up a photo shoot of it all before I had to take it in).........

It all went to the food bank in December. I didn't write down what I brought so I can't tell you everything in those bags but it was mostly cereals, detergent and a few boxed pantry items. The table shot is pretty self explanatory. ;-)

* The local American Legion also put out a call in November for donations to send to US military troops serving overseas for care packages for the Holidays.

I filled two large shipping boxes with snacks and toiletries and had Hubs drop them off at the local Legion Hall.

Oodles(2-3 dozen tubes)of Toothpaste in the bag on the chair on the left........

Oodles(again 2-3 dozen packages)of razors in the bag on the right on the other chair......

Closeups of what is on the table......blister stuff, feminine needs, contact lens solution, shaving gel, protein and granola bars, lip balm....

Shampoo and conditioner, deodorant, dental floss, toothbrushes, cough drops......

 

bar soap, body wash, body lotion and topical pain relief(ben-gay type stuff).

* I also sent some friends online some boxes of goodies, sort of a random act of kindness thing for folks who I knew were struggling during the pandemic because of a job loss or other reasons. I even hesitate to mention this as I like to keep some things in my life private. 8-)

*  In other years/times I've been known to have Stockpile/Garage Sales or go set up at the Flea Market and sell stuff(buyers get a deal and I get a few $$s back in my pocket to get more deals)or sell on a local FB site.  But none of that happened this year.   Three guesses why?....Yep, Covid.  Plus I just didn't have to "oomph" to organize myself enough to do this.

We keep some and we give a lot of it away to spread the love. 8-)))

Sluggy

2020 To-Do Lists.........January Edition

Here's how the January To-Do List turned out...........


JANUARY

* Pay Bills  DONE  It's always done early or on time each month..

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

"Tethered Citizens:Time to Repeal the Welfare State"
by Sheldon Richman

I am going to use an excerpt from an Amazon buyer's review here as it sums up my feelings so well about this book.
By A. Locke.....
"'Tethered Citizens' is truly an eye-opener.  Sheldon Richman illustrates persuasively and with much historical evidence why our welfare system fails and why it will always fail.  He shows that in fact our welfare system, which many believe helps the poor and uneducated, in fact tethers and enslaves them to the state.  He proves convincingly that welfarism does not work no matter where it has been implemented and in what fashion.  He also shows how the idea and methods used to implement welfare are inherently wrong and inhumane.
I especially enjoyed Mr. Richman's detailed historical examples which help to brilliantly illustrate and prove the point he is making.  Not only does it show the blunder that is the welfare state, it also proves that it is a blunder created not by one of the two major parties, but equally by both......"

I was given a stack of this book by one of the Porcfest speakers, Jacob Hornberger, when I attended his lecture last June, with an eye to distribute it among my readers who wished to read it.
If anyone would like a free copy of this book, email me.  I'll send them via media mail until I run out.  Just pass it along after you read it if you want or keep your copy.

And this one...........

"The White Princess" by Philippa Gregory

At Bosworth Field, Henry Tudor(later King Henry VII of England)defeats King Richard III of England. One is affiliated with the House of Lancaster, one is of the Houses of York and these and additional cousins have been battling over the crown of England, also known as the War of the Roses(Lancastrian sides' emblem was a red rose, Yorkist sides' emblem was a white rose-thus the name given to their ongoing struggle over who ruled England in that time).

In order to unite the country Henry Tudor must take as his bride Elizabeth of York, reported to have been Richard III's lover before his death in battle, and the oldest sister of the 2 Princes(Edward and Richard)who were locked up and purported to have been murdered by Richard III.
But even after wedding Elizabeth of the enemy's camp, Henry VII can't unite England, due to the unknown nature of whether the 2 princes are dead or merely in hiding.  The House of York supporters plot to put a York on the throne and it drives everything Henry VII does as king. (Spoiler Alert-Henry VII was NOT a popular king. lol)
Elizabeth is torn between her familial ties(she was also the daughter of King Edward IV-my 1st cousin, 18 x removed)and her new role as a Tudor Queen and her children, including the future King of England.

I enjoy reading these English historical fiction books by Philippa Gregory and this one didn't disappoint either.  After all, the subject of this one, the White Princess aka Elizabeth of York is my 2nd cousin, 17 x removed.  Her husband, Henry VII is also my 3rd cousin, 17 x removed.
They were the parents on good ol' Henry VIII whom everyone is familiar with(as well as his 6 wives). 8-)))
These Gregory books are an easy and enjoyable way to expand your historical knowledge of the ruling class of distant English history.  They are part history and part filling in all the details of all those interpersonal relationships/emotions that are lost to history but are plausible, the fiction part.

*  Hold Giveaways  DONE

2 Giveaways were held.

* Mail Giveaways  DONE
Both were mailed, one on Friday and the other on Saturday.  Still waiting to hear from Wendy if she got her box a ok.

*  Go to Louisiana  DONE
We drove to LA for the wedding.  Between the cost of flying and getting to the airport and driving and those costs it was a lot cheaper to drive there.

*  Wedding  DONE

It was a lovely evening and my daughter glowed.  More on the wedding and our trip another time.

*  Come back from Louisiana  DONE
We had some fun both on the way to and on the way home but of course there was a clusterfu**k on the last leg of the journey since of course this is how my life goes. lolz  More on that later too.

*  Put Christmas Away  DONE
It took about a week to get it all put away once we got home so mid January before this got accomplished.  But then again, we were in no hurry.

*  Declutter Linen Closet  DONE
With Hubs and Ex-CB shoving stuff in there all willy-nilly the linen closet had become unmanageable.  So I tackled that mess.
Before......

After.....

It's more organized now, stuff taken out and other stuff put in and more stuff moved around to make better sense.

*  Declutter Pantry  FAIL
I didn't get around to this item so it goes on February's To-Do List.

*  Clean House  PASS  
While I didn't get a deep clean accomplished between  putting Xmas boxes away, cleaning the living areas and a bit of garage reorganizing most of the house saw a good deal of cleaning.

*  Prefill Giveaway Boxes  DONE
I couldn't finish cleaning the living and dining rooms until I finished this item since filling them meant spreading toiletries and candy all over two rooms. lolz

But it's done now and I have 7 giveaway boxes ready to deploy when needed.
Added bonus(ie-cleaning....all the giveaway items left after filling these 7 boxes fit into 4 Rubbermaid tubs and are neatly stacked away.

*  Clean my Desk Area  FAIL
Again, parts got straightened up but it's still a mess.  I may need a better system and just less stuff kept there.
And I didn't take a picture of this mess. lolz

*  Celebrate my Birthday YAY!  DONE

It was a nice low key celebration....a cake, a steak dinner out and a matinee discount movie.  That was plenty for me though. 8-)

*  Have Dixie Fixed  FAIL
Well this didn't get accomplished due to not being able to book an appointment with the vet until February.  It's scheduled and getting done in February though.

*  Have a Financial Meeting  DONE
We got the meeting about our finances finally done right before the month ended.  With so much going on in January I didn't get the 2019 calculations finished until mid to late month, then we both needed time to sit down separately once I had all the numbers written out to ponder areas we needed to take action in.
But it's done and at any time in 2020, if we feel the need to reevaluate and change course that will happen too.

*  Plan Goals for 2020  IN PROGRESS
I am still working on what Big Goals need accomplishing in 2020.  Mostly these would be home repairs/improvements to get the house ready for market, any big trips/vacations, and some projects I need to progress on....more of those later in another post.

So it was a pretty good month with many things accomplished.
Three fails but one is not my fault. lolz

Onward and upward to February!  I still have some items to add to my To-Do List for this month.

Do you keep a To-Do List?
How did you do knocking items off your list in January?

Sluggy